Dark was the night when our tale was begun…

Nothing auspicious, mind you… It’s just that it was half past 8, and at this time of year, that meant darkness. Especially in Canada. And the Super Dear’O was on a quest of significant importance… one that could very well shape the future of many. Perhaps even the entire XWF, if she failed.

And she’d come to appreciate the XWF over the years. Its fuzzy-haired owner, her epic battles with Sarah Lacklan, winning the Golden Gobbler and the Anarchy title,… even the obnoxious tirades and shenanigans of guys like Charlie Nickles became an almost fond memory, although he had literally tried to hang her from a noose once. Nostalgia was a powerful thing. And of course, it had given her Centurion, the most precious treasure of all.

But tonight wasn’t about him. It wasn’t even about herself. It was about finding evil and understanding its source, so that she could extinguish the flame that had been lit anew. But in order to accomplish such a monumental task, she wouldn’t need a miracle… she would need some help. Some super powered help. And there was only one man up for the job.

Ruby walked along the streets of Joliette. It was a small town, even though it had an airport and an ashgrove, about fifty miles North of Montreal. It was cosy and drama free, and one of the last places you’d expect to find a fellow hero to reside. Granted, he was MORE than semi-retired, although the GHOC, Grand Hero Overseeing Committee, still kept more than an eye on him due to his unique and potentially destructive, nay apocalyptic, skillset. It was exactly that which Ruby had need of. Luckily, she was on the GHOC’s ‘good girl’ list, so she only had to check in once a year for a short interview with the IoH, Inquisitor of Heroes, to get another stamp of approval in her Heroic Compendium that detailed all of her exploits. Heroic Compendiums were basically any hero’s ‘family tree’, so to speak. A book that showed exactly how amazing you were, how powerful you were, how many people you’d helped, and where you stood on the depth charts in terms of karma, heart, strength, and many more heroic traits. It made the superhero game slightly competitive, but Ruby saw nothing wrong with heroes trying to one-up others, as long as that meant they’d do some good in the world. You could compare it to girl scout badges, or medals.

Ruby eventually arrived at the address she’d been looking for. It was a nice house, semi-terraced with a clean front garden displaying a freshly mown lawn and a flower bed of poppies, roses, tulips and chrysanthemums. It would probably have been prettier in broad daylight, but the light that burned on the porch added a nice atmospheric touch. She skipped along the driveway and rang the bell. The Super Dear’O was slightly nervous. Her arrival was unannounced, and heroes like these were always unpredictable. Nevertheless, she enjoyed one of the best reputations in the Heroes Guild, so she hoped that would speak for itself. Her Heroic Compendium was thick and tidy, after all.

The door swung open, and Ruby put her game face on. She saw the old man, who had a beard like an Istari, slightly hunched over due to old age and undoubted wear and tear.

Ruby: “Wa-heyyyy! WarpZone! My old friend! How are you doing, ol’ buddy, ol’ pal o’mine!?”

The old man frowned and shook his head.

Man: “Désolée, mademoiselle, est-ce que je peux vous aider?”

Ruby: “Come on now, my guy! Wh-…? Ohhh, HOLE UP! My bad.”

Ruby retrieved her green mask from her backpack and snapped it into place.

Ruby: “Sorry, my dude! I was still wearing my civilian disguise! Can’t be too careful, don’t want to upset the peeps strollin’ round the lovely town of Joliette!”

Suddenly, the old man’s demeanor changed completely. His back straightened, the wrinkles around his eyes vanished, and he started looking left and right before peering at Ruby.

WarpZone: “Ruby!? What’s the Super Dear’O doing on my doorstep, pray tell? Last I heard you were living somewhere down the neck of the woods!”

Ruby: “Not the neck! Actual woods!”

WarpZone: “You know what I mean! What brings you here? I haven’t seen you since…”

Ruby: “…since iHeroCon! I know! Isn’t it a flippin’ shame two friends should go so long without seeing each other?”

WarpZone’s eyes turned to slits.

WarpZone: “You need something, don’t you?”

Ruby: “WHHHH-AAAT? Does a Super Dear’O need an excuse to-”

WarpZone: “Rubes, your Super Codex clearly states you can’t lie!”

Ruby: “Fiiiiine! I need a favor! A big’un! But can I also say, in the spirit of not lying, that you look flippin’ great and your beard looks less grey than it used to? So thick, and lush and supple! You’ve been using beard oil and balm like I suggested, haven’t you?”

Not even the most powerful superheroes were insusceptible to flattery, and WarpZone slowly caressed his whiskers.

WarpZone: “I might have…”

Ruby: “I knew it! So, are we going to spend all night out here, or are you going to invite ya girl in, my guy? It’s flippin’ freezing!”

WarpZone: “So, you’re not wearing that superheated lingerie set that LavaLamp gave you? That was old, powerful magic, that. Always kept you nice and toasty without burning you. He sure had the hots for you back in the day… A priceless gift, that was.”

Ruby: “LavaLamp needed to take several chill pills, my man. I donated that stuff to someone who couldn’t afford heating because of these ridiculous energy prices. Haven’t heard from LavaLamp since he left Reykjavik and went to live inside an active volcano. He did NOT take my rejection well.”

WarpZone: “Such is the way of the warm-blooded. Anyway, come inside, Ruby dear, you’re right. It IS proper chilly out here tonight.”

Ruby: “So chilly they should rename this place Santiago! That was a Chili joke.”

WarpZone: “… okay. If we’re making chili jokes, how come you’re not wearing your scotch bonnet?”

Ruby: “Because Madame Jeanette took it from me!”

WarpZone chuckled.

WarpZone: “Still quick of wit, I see. Let’s get you inside, Ruby dear’o.”

WarpZone motioned Ruby to follow her, and she politely closed the door and took off her shoes as she entered. The inside of the house was like a science fiction movie. Everywhere, there were machines beeping and booping, holograms being projected, simulations being run. It was quite the spectacle.

Ruby: “Flip me, Dub Zee, aren’t you drowning in energy bills with all this machinery?”

WarpZone: “Oh no, I operate off of a battery powered generator. LoverVolt comes by once a month to charge it for me at no cost. He owes me for life after I zapped him 500 years into the future so he could marry the princess of the alien invaders. After all, 8-Ball prophesized he would. And it came true, apparently! Stopped a whole invasion of planet Earth to, so win-win-win!”

Ruby: “Ah yes, good old 8-Ball. Being able to see the future, now there’s a power I’d be scared to have. Like, I’m one of the few GHOC sanctioned heroes without actual superpowers, but I’ve often wondered what it’d be like to have some actual ones. Seeing the future is NOT on my shortlist, man.”

WarpZone: “Are you sure? I could zap you into the future I you want a glance at future you. See how it goes, eh? Maybe check if you have a husband, or some kids? You and that Centurion fellow have been together for a while now, eh?”

Ruby: “Nah, not a big fan of spoilers. Que sera, sera, eh? Whatever will be,will be. I’d love it if we did those things, but wouldn’t be disappointed if he wasn’t up for it. As long as we’re together. But anyway, WarpZone, I didn’t come here to spill the beans on my lovelife. Came here to ask you for a pretty big favor.”

WarpZone sighed and put a kettle on for tea. He straightened his back one more as he looked at the warming water.

WarpZone: “Of course you do. Few heroes have the power to change history like I do…”

Ruby: “Hey, I’m not looking to change anything! I just need some insight, and you shot me across time, space and dimensions once before. But apart from that, I’m legit happy to see you, my dude. I’m sorry for not visiting more often. I get that it must be annoying for you to always have people asking you favors the second they see your face. I mean, I don’t mind! I love it when that happens, because I love helping people! But you’re a bit older than I am, eh? I’m sure I won’t be as ready, willing and able in sixty years’ time. If only because I won’t be able to help as well as I know I can.”

WarpZone: “There’s some truth to what you say. But I don’t mind helping people either. It’s just that I have to be so careful. If I help someone, it could cause time and space to collapse in on itself, destroying our entire reality. If you help someone, they no longer have to worry about their kitty cat being stuck in a tree.”

Ruby: “That’s true. I trust Mister Niggles is no longer climbing up the peach tree in the back after I had to rescue him?”

WarpZone: “Thankfully not. Which is a subtle way of reminding me that I still owe you, isn’t it?”

Ruby: “I’m sorry, my guy. I don’t like throwing my weight around. And you’re right, if you want to help people it could have far-reaching consequences! But I really need this!”

WarpZone: “Fine. I trust you. I know you’ll be careful and respectful. I’ll help you, but on one condition. You’ll tell me the full story of why you need me to help you in the first place. “

Ruby: “Fine. That’s about as fair a price to pay as I could’ve hoped for.”

The tea kettle went off and WarpZone poured the pair of them a big cup of nettle tea, freshly pulled from his backyard earlier that millennium. He handed Ruby hers, and they took a seat on WarpZone’s couch.

Ruby: “Alright my guy, here’s the dealio… As you’re undoubtedly aware, I had a bit of a run-in with a certain faction of villains They called themselves the Brotherhood of Baddies, and they were led by a particularly unpleasant character that called herself Miss Fury.

Now, I did my thing, as superheroes like us do, and ultimately she ended up being her own biggest problem. However, she regretfully passed away.

I say ‘regretfully’, because even though she was wicked in life, I wish death or harm on no one. She was a troubled person, but she also was strong. And powerful. And charismatic. She held much sway over a lot of powerful people, and it made her one of the most influential and powerful villains I’ve ever come across.”

WarpZone: “I see. She passed away, so you want to travel back in time, to see if you can steer a younger version of her away from the path of evil?”

Ruby: “No no, that’s not what I’m asking. I know you’d be creating a ton of different timelines if you did that, and you’d have the GHOC on your hind quarters before you could blink. Besides, I don’t think there was ever any changing her. She was destined to be who she was. Destined to be my true nemesis, perhaps even more so than the great Sarah Lacklan.”

WarpZone: “Okay, so then why do you need my help? If she’s dead, and you don’t want to change her younger self to save her, what can I do?”

Ruby: “Because… she’s an abomination. She lives the life of the undead, and not in a cool way like my Veetest of Valenteens is doing.”

WarpZone: “Ah yes, the vampiric Pink Mist. I had so hoped to run into her at iHeroCon!”

Ruby: “I know, right??? Such a shame. Anyhullaballoo, Miss Fury is a walking carcass, with barely a sensible thought to string together. So are people like Raab and Cashe, but that’s not what I mean. She’s a composition of festering, rotting flesh… knit back together by ungodly tools and means to serve a madman’s agenda.”

Ruby sighed. She looked down at the ground for a second before reinitiating eye contact with her fellow hero.

Ruby: “I want to put her down. Again. But back in the day, I wanted to put her down because it was the right thing to do. Because she was running roughshod over the XWF and she had to be stopped. Now, putting her down wouldn’t be an act of war. It would be an act of mercy.”

Ruby felt a tear welling up in her left eye. Even though Miss Fury was her greatest nemesis, she wept for the fate that she had suffered. Nobody deserved it. She was no longer a person. She was an instrument to serve a sick man’s pleasure. Driven by forces of evil and an insatiable, unrelenting hatred that could not be argued with.

Ruby: “She was resurrected. Somehow, someway. And I don’t just want to understand how, I want to understand what makes them tick, and how to reverse the curse laid upon them. Because as much as the bodily remains of Miss Fury hate me still, I feel the need to help her. Because her fate is one more cruel than death. She is living hell. And I want to free her from it. But I can only do that by destroying her.

And throughout history, there has only ever been one other instance where someone who pieced together and walked the Earth through such nefarious means. The monster called Franken-Fury is derived from the monster of Frankenstein. And that’s the source I need to go to. To understand what makes Franken-Fury tick, I have to go back to the very source, like Neo in the Matrix. That’s the only way to beat her. That’s the only way to release her. That’s the only way to save her from herself, and the bottomless pit of hatred.”

Eventually, WarpZone rolled his eyes and c-clasped his hands together.

WarpZone: “Are you sure you don’t have actual superpowers, Ruby? You could convince a rock that he’ll get soft by sleeping underwater!”

Ruby grinned a banana-lime grin.

Ruby: “I knew you’d come through for me, my dude! Take me back through time, all the way to the creation of Frankenstein’s monster! Let me see what created this curse… so I know how to undo it.”

WarpZone: “Fine, but not funny business, you hear? The time and space continuum is a very volatile-….”

Ruby: “Come on, Warpz, do I look like a rookie? Do I talk like a rookie? Do I act like a rookie? I’ve been through the ringer, I know the drill. The timeline’s safe with me!”

WarpZone: “If it were anybody else, I’d be doubtful. Now, where is that machine of mine…”

WarpZone went to his garage for a minute, before rolling out the machine that recognized from iHeroCon. She wondered if RubyHood had ever managed to beat the Themis Temptress. She probably did…

WarpZone: “All right, you know the drill! I made some upgrades, so it should be a lot more intuitive and faster… and with less chance your entrails will be sent to another dimension.”

Ruby: “Wait, that was a risk before??”

WarpZone: “Yeah, but you still have plenty of guts. Touch the rods, Ruby! Let me power this thing up.”

And as Ruby did as instructed, WarpZone took control of the yoke at the front of the contraption. Channelling his inner thoughts towards the opening wormhole, he projected where to send Ruby to.

WarpZone: “Here we go! To the creation of Frankenstein’s original monster! One, two,…”

And before he could finish, Ruby was zapped through time and space.

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Ruby landed on the floor. The first thing she noticed was how soft her landing was. As her other senses caught up with her, she wasn’t surprised. She smelled the typical smell of carpet. Odd. Not the thing you’d associate with a mad scientist’s dungeon.

Scrambling to her feet, she noticed that she wasn’t where she was supposed to be. She was in an old mansion! And not too far from her, she saw someone sitting on an old school sofa. She was a young woman, quite pretty, and even sitting down you could tell she was exquisitely tall. She looked familiar. And she seemed quite surprised.

Woman: “Excuse me, who are you? How did you get in here? How may I help you?”

Ruby gasped as she finally seemed to recognize her.


Ruby: “Wait… Angie?”

Mary: “Angie? No, miss, my name is Mary. Mary Shelley.”

Ruby hit her face with the palm of her hand.

Ruby: “WarpZone, you numpty! This is not what I meant!”

Mary: “Please, miss, you’re scaring me, with your weird clothes, accent and sudden appearance!”

Ruby: “Fine. Sorry, miss Shelley. You look a lot like someone I know. I didn’t want to intrude, it’s just… I would like to ask you about Frankenstein’s monster…”

Mary Shelley gasped, and clutched the book in her arms to her chest.

Mary: “How do you know about my book? It’s not even finished yet!”

Ruby: “It’s not? Well then… I think we have a lot to talk about.”