Diploid

penetralia | indirah

Indirah Kaye hissed in annoyance as her grasping fingers slid off of Shocker’s mask.

The self-proclaimed “superhero” shot a bolt of blue lightning at her. She spun out of its way—barely—ducking and rolling and feeling the electricity whiz past her. A tendril of it leapt up and connected with her skin, but the adrenaline pumping through her blood numbed the pain, at least in the moment.

Shocker’s face was screwed up in concentration—or at least what she could see of it. Most of his face was covered by a half-mask, bright blue in color, that hid his facial features from the eyes of the public.

Indirah hated him for that.

She concentrated as well, trying to summon up all her power as she continued to duck and roll under Shocker’s attacks. She knew he was tiring out (he hadn’t made a pun in the last ten minutes) but, unfortunately, so was she.

She shook out her hand angrily, worry suddenly entering her as she realized that she was running low on power. Still, she grit her teeth and forced her skin to harden to copper once more.

Shocker’s hands began to crackle again, though a duller blue this time. He was breathing hard, but this time his mouth opened and he yelled, “You’re toast!”

Indirah disliked him for his puns as well—he reminded her of her ex.

But what she hated about him wasn’t important. No, what was important was that she take him down so she could continue saving the world. She had to win, and quickly, before someone else showed up.

Shocker released the lightning he’d been building up from his fingertips, and this time Indirah didn’t dodge.

There was a limit to how much electricity she could take, even in this form. But if it was low enough—low enough that it could be entirely contained by the conductivity of her skin, then it was perfect.

The electricity sparked across her copper skin, arching and leaping this way and that before settling in a more calm series of darting lines across her arms. She took a deep breath, braced herself, and absorbed the electricity into her body.

There was no other way to put it, really. Her energy was suddenly doubled, no, more like tripled, and her eyesight sharpened. She grinned. “Thanks for that,” she smirked.

Shocker swore (although she suspected he didn’t realize he did so out loud) and dove to the side as Indirah dove at him, right arm outstretched, desperate that this time she’d rip the mask off his face.

Shocker caught her arm and pinned her to the ground. She screamed as he twisted it unnaturally, feeling her bones scrape against each other in ways that were not supposed to be possible. Her eyes suddenly widened in fear: was he going to kill her? She was at his mercy now. But then she noticed that he was breathing harder than she was, that he was shaking and that his left hand was beginning to crackle again.

“Tired?” Indirah asked, a lazy smile crossing her face. She wasn’t sure why she said it, or why she ever even spoke in battle, but it just came out like it always did when she was feeling trapped.

Shocker let out a noise that sounded like a growl, and Indirah immediately wished she hadn’t said that. “I’m perfectly fine,” he ground out, and then added, “All these electricity puns. . . my head hertz.”

Indirah winced, not from the pun but from pain. “Now that you’ve got me,” she drawled, the words slipping out of her again, “aren’t you going to question me about my motives?”

Shocker glared at her. “You’re a villain. That’s all I need to know.”

Indirah gaped at him for a fraction of a second. He thought she was the villain? Who had tracked her to her house, attacked her with no warning, and (she really hated him for this) given her a supervillain name on television? She hadn’t asked for any of this. She hadn’t even asked for a fight, he just came here like always, desperate to stop her quest for a better world.