Bella Blake - Creating a Female Superhero Challenge entry #CAFSC

This is an entry sent in by Jules Harley. It's being added in late, but she had it written on time; it's late because I posted it late, so it is being included in the competition.

photo courtesy of Fyfe Photography

Name - Jules Harley

 Word count - (Not including these details) 730

Anthology: Yes

Charity - Because I am a girl

Name of female superhero: Bella Blake

Name of human alter ego, if different: N/A

Superhero appearance: 15years old. Long straight chestnut hair with flame red streaks. Green eyes intense and burning. 5ft6 and slim build.

Human alter ego appearance (If she has an alter ego): N/A

Costume: Blue flared jeans, a white long sleeved shirt with the top two buttons undone, a black velvet waistcoat and a gold necklace with a small tear drop ruby. Black converse shoes.

Personality: She's a teenager and has the passion and attitude that you might expect from one. She is very caring and would do anything for her family and to protect her brother. It takes her a while to get on the right path with some ups and downs on the way. Fiery, protective and a braveness that almost goes to the point of stupidity. Direct and to the point.

Brief Description of how the super heroine gets her powers: She's born with them but they don't manifest until puberty. Her brother discovered his own ability age 14. Bella would probably have recognised hers at 13. No one else in their family have special abilities.

Powers: 'Extreme gardening'. Flowers grow beneath her feet as she walks. As she develops her talents she learns how to grow deadly plants, lethal thistles and even forests to lose people in.

Anything else important: Her ability is very mood based. I'm bi-polar and though I didn't want her to officially have any mental health issues, I have enjoyed her moodiness and exploring how her talents are effected by her feelings.

A walk in the woods

By Jules Harley

Bella walked along, looking at her feet as she did so. She loved what she could do and never tired of it. OK it wouldn't change peoples lives like her brothers ability did, but it was pleasing all the same. She liked to walk through the woods each day if she could. She found it relaxing and it kept her fit. She would take different routes. She knew many ways staying on the path and wander off it. When she'd had an emotional day, this was the only way she knew how to unwind. Of course anyone else walking the path after her would know her moods too. Blue bells and snap dragons if she's joyous. Roses in varying shades of red if she's in love. Daffodils and primroses when she's relaxed. Thistles and ragwort when she's angry, and snow drops if she's confused or anxious. Of course very few people knew what she could do to be able to make the link so she was safe.

Today the snowdrops appeared beneath her feet. She was indeed anxious. Her brothers ability had been found out by the authority’s and now they wanted to recruit him for the British Special Powers Army. They thought he would make a useful soldier and weren't giving him much of a choice. Bella's brother Stephen had the ability to share how he was feeling. If he touched your skin, then whatever emotion he was experiencing, you would enjoy or endure too. Right now, he was feeling sad and angry with the situation. Bella was avoiding his touch! She just wished there was something she could do.

She walked past the church yard. It was a mess. Weeds and debris and one lone man crouching in front of a new grave.

She glanced at the man and he glanced at her. Bella was surprised, it was the General from the BSPA. He looked distraught. Bella leaned down, grabbed a handful of Snowdrops and presented them to the General.

"Here," She said as she handed him the bunch, "The grave shouldn't be empty."

The General took a moment, then accepted the flowers with a smile and a small nod.

"You're Stephen Blake's younger sister, aren't you?"

Bella nodded her head.

"He's a good boy, your brother. He'll make a fantastic soldier."

"No he wouldn't." Her nod turned to a shake. "His ability, have you actually thought about it?"

"Well of course! We get any of our enemies to touch your brother and they'll be ours. Easy."

Bella sighed sadly.

"Depends what mood he's in though. If he's happy, then they'll feel happy. More to the point, if he's angry, maybe because he's being forced away from his family, then your enemies will feel that too and that could make things a whole lot worse."

She stopped talking, took a few more steps forward, picked a fresh bunch of snowdrops and put them on the grave next to the one the General stood by.

The General screwed his face up thoughtfully. A truth uncovered by a child. He said nothing.

Bella continued.

"For years the government tried to imprison those of us with special talents. Now we get forced into an army. We are just slaves to persons of normality. When are you going to learn that prejudice of people who are different in some way is wrong? Let us make up our own minds for these matters."

"Your saying, ask your brother to join us, and if he says no, then leave him be?"

Bella nodded and took another step towards the general.

"Leave him and take me instead!"

That took him by surprise.

"I'm sorry kid. Your talents nice and all, but I hardly think it will be useful in a battle!"

With that Bella closed her eyes in concentration. She took one more step, leaving her right beside the General. In front of them stood an 8ft thistle with razor sharp thorns.

"I can do that." She stated, "I can also grow a forest 20ft high, an impenetrable maze. You need me." She glared into his eyes, "My brother doesn't want to go, but I do. When are you going to let the minority have the right to choose?"

The General nodded, and Bella knew that now her life was really going to begin.

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Divine Light - Creating a Female Superhero Challenge #CAFSC

This is my husband's submission to the anthology. It is not eligible for the prizes due to his being part of my family, but he wanted to take part anyway. His entry for the Creating a Female Superhero Challenge is called "Divine Light." This is part of a longer story he has been writing for a while now. Find out more about the challenge here. Last chance to enter is at midnight tonight (PST).

Author name: Robert Fyfe
Word count: 928 words
Anthology: YES
Charity: Because I Am a Girl

Name of female superhero: Divine Light

Name of human alter ego, if different: Angelica (surname to be added later)

Superhero Appearance (hair, eyes, body type, etc.): petite, straight dark hair, wears white, has wings

Human alter ego appearance (if she has an alter ego): normal human young woman attire

Costume: white outfit and sword, sword is hand-jewelry that transforms into a blade

Personality: sarcastic, witty, strong in character and purpose, fearless, self-reliant

Brief description of how the superheroine gets her powers (i.e. born with them, radioactive accident, mad scientist experiments on her, etc.): She was an angel born into a human world, but she was mostly unaware of her powers until, as a teenager, the angel Gabriel fully unleashed her powers.

Powers: She is the vengeance of God, wields the Sword of God, super strength, ability to smite, fly, agility, power of an angel, glows, invisibility to humans and more

Anything else important: She has a rough life before finding out her purpose, but came through it without letting her spirit be darkened. She doesn't choose her targets. She is sent after only the ones who are past redemption.

art found on Pinterest here

Divine Light
by Robert Fyfe

He watched as she pulled back her arm and then plunged her hand into his chest. He could feel it slice open his ribcage and reach his heart. He felt her pull the heart free, and he stood looking into the eyes of the petite woman in front of him as she presented his still pumping heart to him as if awarding him a trophy. He wouldn't be killing any more innocent women now.

His grip now gone, his hands fell away as he collapsed to his knees and slumped onto his back. His head hit the ground with a clunk. She followed him down resting on her left knee, her arms spread as if to conduct an orchestra.

She watched the life drain from his eyes, then closed hers. From her lips, she spoke the language of the ancients, quoting the words that opened the gates of Hades and ushered the keeper to account.

The air around them cooled and the sun set, the sky darkened and tinged with red - not just as if the sun bounced off the clouds, but colored a hue that changed the very pallets that daylight would paint the world. Sounds muffled as if snow fell but a rumble from the furnaces of hell grew till the dirt around danced to its sound.

Divine looked into the light as the gates opened; her stare never wavered, her resolve complete. From a light that would ignite a human and turn them to dust, a shape appeared. A tiny dot that grew slowly as the creature approached, running as if on four paws, each head appearing to want to lead the charge to the human realm.

“Come on Cerberus, I don’t have all day!” Divine shouted into the abyss at the approaching creature.

The three headed dog almost appeared to have ignored her but the eyes of each narrowed as if annoyed by the contempt in her voice.

Cerberus burst into the world and landed adeptly by her side; one head growled at her while the other two sniffed the air about, either seeking confirmation that they were alone or looking for an opportunity to cause mischief before returning to his home.

The hound then changed shape and metamorphosed into the shape of a man. Taller by a clear two feet than Divine who, at the moment, was crouched over the body. He turned to Divine and with a voice that matched that of his beast self he sneered at her while he spoke.

“How are you, assassin? You been keeping busy, I see?” he growled.

A slight smile crossed the lips of Divine, but still her gaze showed no emotion and she stood up to her full height, flicking her hands out so that all the blood slipped from her fingers and clothes as if they were water repellent.

“I still have enough time to muzzle you, if you like?” she replied, which wiped the sneer from his lips and replaced it with a snarl.

“One day girl, you will be mine. One day, you will slip up and anger your lord, and you will face me as a sinner.” It was almost barked at her, the spit flying from his mouth.

“It would almost be worth it, just to show you how far you can shove your head up your arse, but then with three heads you probably already know that,” she stated.

He stood there, his fists clenching and unclenching and she knew he was weighing up the odds to which he already knew the truth. They were never to battle. They were never to touch; to do so would see the beginning of the end of everything. Yet she loved to goad him. He apparently loved her goading, or he was just really bad at witty conversation.

She pointed at the body at his feet as if to remind him why he was there and after a moment he refocused his attention to the task at hand.

Cerberus closed his eyes and then transformed back into the hell hound he was. All three heads turned to the body and lunged at it, grabbing not the flesh but the soul from within. It tugged and pulled, ripping it from the body that had held it for too few years, ignoring the screams and pleading that emanated from it. Then without looking back, it leapt back into its own realm that closed leaving the alley dark and quiet now the Sun had set.

Divine moved to the body and waved her hand over it as if dismissing it from her mind. Instantly the mortal wound closed, the skin showing no marks to witness the method of execution that had befallen this creature. All signs of her involvement vanished; the blood she had wiped from her arms dissolved into the surface it had soaked into, and the heart folded back into the cage it had belonged.

Divine moved to the unconscious woman who she had rescued by enacting God’s divine justice on the man who had been attacking her.  She placed the tip of her index finger from her left hand onto the woman’s forehead. She lowered her head in prayer and then stepped back and waited. Divine then left to watch the alley from a distance.

Within moments, the woman appeared from the alley, waving frantically at two men who were walking on the other side of the road. They ran to her assistance, and then both ran into the alley behind her, one taking his phone from his pocket.

Divine smiled and went home.

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