Special Number 3

The two women looked at each for a very, very long time before daring to say anything. Opening up that particular package was meant to be a source of happiness in the Driscoll household but, instead, it brought about bewilderment and even a hint of sadness.

“Hmmm, sis… this doesn’t look like a Batgirl outfit to me!” Clare finally blurted as she bit her upper lip.

Rose held the glossy attire up high and nodded her head.

“You’re right, it certainly doesn’t… they must have made a mistake back at the store. It’s pretty, though.”

“Pretty” was definitely an understatement as deep inside, she was sure to never have seen something so thought-provoking in her life. However, it was not what she had ordered which meant, much to her sorrow, that there was only one possible course of action:

“I’m going to have to return it right away, and hope they have my real costume lying there somewhere, otherwise Josh is in for a world of disappointment.”

Josh Reynolds was her boyfriend. He had been the first guy she had ever kissed, but also the third… and the sixth. Ever since the beginning, their relationship had been a troublesome one, with lots of break-ups and following reconciliations. It seemed they couldn’t be close to each other for long, but, when they were apart, it was even worse, to the point of almost being unbearable. Perhaps, it wasn’t the healthiest of interactions between two people, yet they somehow managed to make it work because, in the end, their mutual interests outweighed their various differences of heart.

One such interest was the convoluted world of comics, of superheroes and supervillains, filled with contradictory stories, alternate universes, and other impossible scenarios. It filled their imaginations with fantastic and hopeful visions, for a world of humans beyond humans meant there were lots of possibilities worth exploring, instead of succumbing to conformity and resignation whenever things went south.

However, there was also the kinky factor involved as all the tight clothes and revealing cleavages that populate these exotic universes are an open invitation to sex and lust, giving rise to many fetishes. Rose definitely had her share of those and Josh wasn’t any different. The Batgirl outfit she had fallen in love with was sure to have other uses besides being cute Cosplay material at the Wondrous Dreams Convention.

“I think you should try it on before you do that,” her sister said, with a little hint of jealousy.

“Tempting, but no… It’s someone else’s fantasy,” and having said this, Rose returned the suit to its cardboard box, closed it the best way she could and dashed towards the door, saying: “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Fantasy Realms was the name of the store. It wasn’t the most original one, and the place hadn’t opened up with a bang either but, ever since day one, the outfits on display had managed to captivate her imagination, awakening both the inner child and the lascivious woman at the same time.

It had taken her two months to find the guts to go inside and get herself a custom-made costume, though. One might argue that giving up to a capricious whim was quite an easy feat to accomplish, but not in her case. Rose liked to ponder things, to check and re-check arguments until she was sure she was doing the right thing. She was also against buying things by means of plastic, much to the despair of every major credit provider in the city and, as such, only when she managed to amass enough money from the bar tips, did she indulge herself.

With all these things in consideration, it’s not difficult to understand why it was so hard for her to open the front door and get inside once again, this time to complain.

She noticed two things the moment she stepped in the threshold of that fantasy sanctum: the first was that the air was laden with some kind of incense mixed with something else she couldn’t identify, which gave the place a more ethereal atmosphere than usual; the second was that the owner stood smiling behind the wooden counter, and he too looked a little different than the last time they had seen one another. As strange as it sounded, he looked way shorter and his face was also slightly emaciated but, then again, it could all just be a trick of the light….

“Good morning, Miss. How may I serve you, today?” the man asked, slowly twirling his thin mustache.

“Good morning. I’m not sure if you remember me, but I ordered a custom-made Batgirl outfit a couple of weeks ago and asked for it to be delivered in my place,” she placed the package on the counter and slowly began to open it. “Well, today this came in the mail but, as you can see, it seems there was some confusion. This is not what I ordered!”

The man looked at her, quizzically.

“Actually, I do remember you very well, Miss – unfortunately, we don’t get a lot of customers! – and it seems to me that the confusion is actually on you,” he said as he glanced at the outfit. “That’s exactly what you asked for.”

“No, I already told you… My order was for a Batgirl outfit and…”

He interrupted her, mellifluously.

“Miss…,” a pause to awaken a memory within. “Driscoll? That’s your name, isn’t it? What I do remember is the following: you did come in here looking for a Batgirl outfit, but then you had a change of heart after going through our catalog. That suit, our Special Number 3, was what you ended up choosing in the end, and you even asked for it in shades of dark green. I measured you in the room at the back after that and then proceeded to have your order taken care of. Surely this rings a bell!” he concluded with an adamant conviction.

“No… I…,” she muttered, baffled. “I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“That’s certainly strange,” the man said as his hands began searching for something under the counter. Eventually, they found it: it was a small book with a handmade crocodile paper binding, where he kept a record of all his orders. Hurriedly, he flipped through its pages and then opened it on an entry with the date May 7th on it. “Ah… Perhaps this will jog your memory, then! Isn’t this your signature, Miss?”

Rose looked at the all too familiar handwriting and got even more confused. Indeed it was, and the item referred next to it had the initials S.N.3, with the word “green” scribbled in the left corner of the page.

“I honestly don’t get it,” Rose mumbled even though the truth was right there before her eyes.

“I think you should try the outfit on to clear any doubts,” the man said with an uncanny glint in his eyes. “You can do it over there if you wish,” he concluded, pointing to the well-lit dressing room on his right.

“No, I… I just want to return this and…”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible. Had it truly been a mistake, I would take haven full responsibility for it, but it’s obvious you’re the one who’s equivocated. That costume was diligently handmade and all the hours of hard work and sweat poured into its design can’t simply be thrown away just like that. Just put it on, Miss Driscoll, for I can’t think of any reason that would have you continue thinking about returning it, once you do.”

The glint returned, becoming more of a sparkle. Rose’s heart skipped a beat and she suddenly ran out of the store, feeling terribly unnerved. She failed to notice, however, that she was still holding the package firmly as she did so, and that realization only came to her, half an hour later, when she was already back in her house.

Clare had already left for work when she returned. With no one else around, that meant that she had to deal with the bizarre sequence of events on her own, a thought that was far from agreeable. Trying to rationalize it all also proved to be a rather fruitless effort.

The main problem was that she really had no recollection of all the things the store owner had said and shown her, and such a memory lapse was perfectly incongruent, to say the least. She also had a looming sensation about the man himself, a feeling entirely different from the one she had experienced in their first encounter. Out of the blue, her mind suddenly started thinking about old sci-fi movies featuring humanoid replicas or Pod People. The laugh she got out of such nonsense helped clear the air a bit.

In the center of it all, of course, was the costume itself. Special Number 3, as it had been named, was undoubtedly unlike anything she had ever seen, and it was quite hard to describe the sexiness it exuded.

Rose wasn’t sure if it was made of latex or not, but it felt slick and tight. Emerald green was its primary color, but the asymmetrical, malleable metal plates around the breasts, shoulders, and kneecaps were of a darker and glossier tone that she was really fond of. In terms of accessories, it came with opera gloves, a hood, a very small facial mask and a pair of patent boots that were simply to die for.

Overall, it gave off the vibe of something both futuristic and supernatural, the kind of ensemble a sexually dominant Techno-Fairy would use to ensnare the unwary humans that crossed her path, and the thing she liked the most were the various naughty zippers scattered everywhere, as they made her imagination run faster than anything else.

When she eventually gave in to the temptation to try it on and faced the mirror, she immediately felt a rush of erotic energy coursing through her veins and was amazed at how the clingy fabric modeled her entire body into an overwhelming spectacle of curves. The extra pounds she had always wanted to lose over the years simply vanished before her eyes, leaving only a walking wet dream in its place.

“Oh, wow…” she muttered, irrevocably aroused by her own transformation, as she proceeded to touch every inch of the costume from head to toe to make sure that the tactile ecstasy was truly real and not just a figment of her estranged thoughts. Each impression was electrically charged with whirling rapture, as she became one with this new identity. “If only Josh could see me now…”

“That’s going to have to wait a bit,” cooed an alluring voice that lived within the green delights and now within her soul. “There’s something you’ve got to see, first.” and her right hand moved on its own making the nearest TV screen come to life with a single twitch of a finger.

The special news report was a very intriguing surprise. Apparently, a group of armed individuals – their exact number had not yet been determined – had invaded the facilities of the First National Bank’s headquarters less than an hour ago and were now barricaded inside with more than twenty hostages at their mercy. It was all very Hollywoodesque for such a small town and yet, it oozed a primeval appeal.

“They don’t want to admit it,” continued the uncanny manifestation with a supernatural conviction “but the police forces on the scene are a bit baffled as to the right approach to this whole situation. They’re inexperienced and I’m afraid prolonged hesitations will result in a dreadful outcome.”

“Such as…?”

“You already know the answer to that question: hostages, desperation, and loaded guns are never a good combination, my dear.”

“But… what can I do? I like to fantasize being a hero sometimes, but I’m certainly not one…”

A wave of fiery delight emanated from the lower regions of the costume empowering her at the same it made her gasp for air. If Rose hadn’t reached for the bed stand, she would have fallen flat on the floor.

“That may have been true before today, but now that we’re together you can pretty much be whatever you want…”

It was only at this point that Rose regrouped some of her own thoughts and managed to ask out loud:

“Who are you, exactly? How is it that you’re in my head?”

The answer she got was one enigma wrapped in another, and another, like a Russian doll that keeps on revealing smaller copies of itself every time you open one.

“I’m all the dreams of every dreamer, that special spark that turns unfeasible into reality… I’m the potential every soul carries deep within and also the embodiment of Lust. By trying me on, you invited me to dance with you, Rose… Shall we embrace the fire and teach those goons a lesson before it’s too late?”

“I… I don’t know…” she garbled.

“I guess you need an extra incentive, then.”

The sentence wasn’t even finished and Rose was already feeling the effects of an orgasmic explosion too powerful to ignore. The suit became even tighter, rubbing itself against her oversensitive skin. The conflagration of both weakness and strength was a forbidden pleasure, but one she didn’t want to end. In-between the heavy breathing and the uncontrollable sequence of moans that escaped from her lips, her head jerked forward as her knees buckled.

However, she didn’t kneel. Instead, she started to feel that the energy unleashed was being dispersed in short bursts to better prepare the path ahead of her. She stood up, positively aglow, and, for a brief fraction of a second, she even defied the laws of gravity hovering over the bed. When the boots fell on the carpet once again, there was a deeper reality hiding underneath the sexy attire.

A new hero was born.

The O’Malley brothers – Conor, Ryan, and Kieran – had done many silly things in little over than two decades of existence, but none of those had foreshadowed the stupidest decision ever, the one that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

It had begun as a random comment about how the best way to solve their money problems was to go the bank and simply take what they needed. After all, if the economy was in shambles and they were out of work, it was pretty much the bankers’ fault, with their risky investments and little or no care for the actual welfare of their clients as well as the rest of the populace.

Conor was the first to verbalize its frustration but, as it usually happens amongst brothers, once he did so, the two younger siblings followed suit and, soon, their imagination shifted from the possibilities of trying to find a job to the thrill of a well-planned heist that would set them for life as long as they didn’t get caught.

Though things were meticulously planned, the truth is their intelligence levels combined weren’t exactly a guarantee for success and, what they thought of a fool-proof plan, had actually more holes than the sinking Titanic. However, one was all it took.

Kieran should have never been given a gun. His twitchy fingers couldn’t handle it properly no matter how much he tried to stay focused on the task at hand. The shot fired the moment they had walked through the front door was a direct result of his nervous persona and, once the panic was triggered, everything went downhill pretty fast.

Ryan had wanted to turn tail and flee but Conor didn’t want to give up on the money he thought he was entitled to. As the two brothers practically head-butted each other, Kieran’s gun went off a second time, hitting the teller that had just pressed the silent alarm button in the chest. Thus, a foolish dream became a terrible nightmare.

Now, locked on the inside of the bank’s facilities, with a possibly mortally wounded man bleeding on the floor and everyone else sitting on the floor trying to control public manifestations of fear, the O’Malley brothers were involved in something far too big for them and, if there was any possible exit out of such a mess without major repercussions, no one could see it.

“We’re completely surrounded,” said Kieran as he peeked outside from behind a curtain. “I’ve never seen so many police officers in one place, before!”

“And who’s to blame for that, Mr. Butterfingers?” Ryan asked as he slapped his brother on the right cheek, whilst maintaining both eyes on the hostages. “If you hadn’t decided to use that weapon of yours, we would already be long gone, on our way to the nearest border!”

“It was an accident, okay? I already said I’m sorry, Ryan! How many times do I have to say it before you leave me alone?”

The response came in the form of another slap.

“Sorry, my ass! Because of you, now we’re all going to rotten in prison, assuming we don’t get killed first!”

“ENOUGH, you two!” intervened Conor exhibiting all of his angry faces at once. Such display of ferocity usually did the trick to resolve most arguments and, once again, he was successful.

“We don’t need this kind of crap, right now!” he continued, relaxing his facial muscles ever so slightly. “The best way to deal with this unfortunate situation is to assess things with a clear mind. Everything has become more complicated, that’s for sure, but we have to adjust to the difficulties together.”

“Do you have a plan?” Kieran asked.

“Not yet, but I’m thinking of one, which is why I need you two to stop whining and let me concentrate, okay?”

“Fine,” Ryan conceded. “But concentrate fast, because all the noises outside suggest that things are about to get even uglier.”

Suddenly, a phone rang. It was the one connected to the bank’s main telephonic line. At first, the three men ignored it but the tones kept on escalating, becoming more and more annoying by the second.

“Shall we answer it?” Kieran finally asked.

“Not unless you feel like talking to the police yourself, little brother,” responded Conor as he moved to the source of the aggravating noise. “We’ve all seen the movies. They’re going to try to negotiate, make us talk whilst assessing our numbers and our ability to resist pressure.” Removing a pocket knife from the inside pocket of his leather jacket, he cut the line. “It’s best to keep them in the dark for the time being. They can’t make a real move without sufficient information because of them.” and pointed at the hostages with a dry smile. “They’re our leverage and the more we hold onto it, the more our chances increase!”

“If you say so…” Ryan sighed. It was pretty obvious he wasn’t entirely convinced but, since he had no alternative solutions at hand, it was easier to agree with the mastermind instead of trying to replace him.

Leaving Kieran’s side, he headed to the water cooler and poured himself two glasses, which he then drank very fast, without even pausing to breathe. Without the proper amount of fluids circulating in his system, the stress of it all would destroy him in a heartbeat. As he looked at the reflections on the water inside the plastic container, he saw a green blur between blinks and, immediately, his subconscious mind realized that someone else was inside the building with them.

Rose was already aware that her new outfit was like a bag full of magic tricks, yet each new revelation was fresh, exciting, and even more empowering than the last. When she left her home to rush to the bank, she ignored the door and leaped graciously from the bedroom window into the roof of the house ahead, beating the Olympic record of women’s triple jump in a single thrusting motion. As she landed, the shiny boots kept her balance on the limits of perfection and she laughed with joy.

“It feels good, doesn’t it?”

“Good? This is freaking amazing!!!” she replied as she surveyed the distance she had just crossed and looked for the fastest way to reach her destination.

Allow me to help you with that…. Her body moved to the east and she saw a series of floating beacons of light marking the route with pinpoint precision. “I suggest running instead of jumping. The speed you’ll achieve once you gain enough momentum will allow you to cross all gaps ahead of you, whilst ensuring no one actually sees you doing that….”

“Don’t tell me I’m as fast as The Flash, now!”

“Even faster, my dear! Together, there’s nothing you and I can’t do! Shall we go on, then?”

“Oh… Absolutely!”

Rose started to run, the clinginess of the outfit heightening her every step instead of restraining them. Such freedom was exhilarating, everything she had ever fantasized and more, because this particular fantasy felt more real than the world around her, as if she had awakened from a cryogenic slumber of millennia to finally tap into the roots of what made the fabric of certainty, only to realize that no mathematical equations could ever hope to explain why all laws of the known universe were now utter and completely shattered. It was a new paradigm, a new dimension of thought and being, a new meaning that expanded and contracted alongside her heartbeats.

She kept on running, faster and faster, fast enough to see the colors all around melt into one another and compressing Space as they did so. To her eyes, it created the illusion that she was now traversing an undulating tunnel, following the mysterious beacons despite the fact she only got fleeting glimpses of them when she had already left them behind. As she approached the end of her journey, the impression of the heaving passageway lost consistency and the sunlight hit her face again. With a well-timed jump, she literally flew above the myriad of police cars and officers and found her way into an air duct that was easy enough to open.

As if it were an aquatic slide, she allowed her body to enjoy the ride into the deepest bowels of the financial institution, “that loan facilitator and mortgage hunter” as Clare used to say, only using her gloved hands to control the speed of descent when she heard the voices of the bank robbers a few metres below her position. Using the heel of her left boot, she slowly removed the nearest ventilation grate and saw one of the perpetrators drinking water like there was no tomorrow.

“The real action begins now. I hope you’re ready.”

“Trust me, I am.”

“Then go get them, girl!”

She contorted her legs and waist to allow for a better entry angle and dropped down to the primary stage of the crime scene.

“Hmmm… guys…” Ryan began mumbling. “I… I think we have company.”

“What on Earth are you talking about?” complained Conor, visibly aggravated at having his thoughts disturbed once again.

“Oh, I’m pretty sure he’s referring to me!” replied Rose as she appeared in the center of the group of hostages, to everyone’s surprise.

“What the…? Kieran’s voice faltered at the sight of the green-clad woman whose curves were impossible to describe.

“I thought Halloween was still a few months away…” mocked Conor who didn’t seem impressed by her sensuality at all. The machine gun he was carrying was directly aimed at her head. “Who are you and how did you enter this building?”

“I’m not going to bother with names for now, but I got in the same way those cops outside will the moment they decide it’s time to end this little charade of yours. Of course, I plan on having everything solved before that happens, so….”

“You’re here to stop us?” the mocking tone continued to be evident. “That’s funny because I only see three guns in this room and none of them is in your hands.”

“Oh, spare me… who needs those toys, anyway? Guns are so… overrated!” she replied. “I honestly don’t know why, when they’re always jamming at the most inappropriate of hours and some models can’t even maintain their molecular structure intact when I do this…” she snapped her fingers, producing a bright flash of light that spread out in one hundred concentric circles, lighting up the whole division like a Christmas tree.

No one understood the meaning of it all until the strangest thing began to happen. One by one, the O’Malley brothers watched the impossible phenomenon of having their weapons start to dissolve in their hands as if they were made of soap. Their hands almost instantly got covered with a gooey black substance that, not only was extremely unpleasant to feel, but also to smell.

“What sorcery is this?” Ryan freaked out as the water he had already swallowed came rushing up his throat and he vomited where he stood.

Rose jumped away from the circle of hostages and touched the forehead of the middle brother with her right index finger.

“I’m not sure if sorcery is the right word, see? I just imagined your guns becoming soft and useless and everything happened the way I wanted to. I’m still getting the hang of this thing, but I think that’s pretty much the gist of it, silly little wannabe bank robber!”

“But that… that’s… impossible!”

“And yet, it came to be! Isn’t that interesting? Let’s try this again, shall we? I wonder what will happen if I start thinking about hard and heavy things….” Rose snapped her fingers once again.

Ryan stopped breathing for a second or two, his eyes unable to hide the sudden discomfort he was now feeling. At the same time, both Kieran and Conor were experiencing the same embarrassing situation that involved heavily swollen protuberances with two big weights dangling on the sides, trying to cut a massive hole right through their pants.

“I’m flattered you’re putting together such a spectacle for me, boys,” Rose giggled and took a curtsy bow. All of the hostages had the same flabbergasted expression on their faces, and some of them were starting to drool as the waves of power reverberated and hit them, too.

“Un…be…lie….vable,” Conor muttered whilst being dragged into the cold, marble floor by the additional thirty pounds he had gained underneath. The three of them fell flat simultaneously, the entirety of their bodies acquiring a temporary rock-like second layer of skin that kept them completely restrained, unable to move a muscle.

“That’s more like it!” She giggled one last time. “If I had the time to play with you a little bit longer, I wouldn’t hesitate, but there’s someone else I got to see so I’m afraid this little session is now officially over. I’m just going to unlock those doors there…” and with a single thought, she did just that… “And when the police come in, you should be able to move again, with no permanent side effects… I think.”

She then turned to the hostages, biting her lower lip, seductively.

“As for all of you, I’m terribly sorry you got caught up in all of this but the situation is already resolved, as you can see. Now, you’re free to tell the authorities what exactly happened here but, most likely they won’t believe in you. I sure I wouldn’t if someone told me about a woman wearing a strange green outfit that saved the day thanks to her superpowers, but It’s all up to you, okay? Bye.”

Rose ended her little victory speech with a warm smile and sprinted across the bank’s front doors before anyone could even bat an eyelid.

After leaving work, Josh Reynolds picked up the first bus that came along and headed towards his apartment for a well-deserved rest. As he got there, he noticed the front door was open but wasn’t alarmed at all. Having nothing of interest to steal, he knew no burglar would be stupid to break in and, besides, the lock hadn’t been forced in any way, but clearly opened with the only spare key there was in existence.

“Have you come to surprise me today, Rose?” he asked as he pressed the switch to turn on the light. Much to his astonishment, the lamp flickered but refused to illuminate the entrance hall. The same thing happened in the living room, the kitchen and the bathroom. Only his bedroom defied the shroud of darkness with a dozen colorful candles lit by the door and three times that number on the inside.

Josh walked in, somewhat eager to find out why the need for such a moody atmosphere when he saw her lying on his bed, pretty content with herself. He only recognized her because she had her freckled face exposed, as the rest of the body encased in that sultry outfit was totally different from the one he had explored so many times, whilst trying to learn human anatomy in Braille.

He also didn’t fail to notice the velvet seat chair that had been placed in the center of the room.

“That seat is for you, lover,” she purred, sending a feverish tingle down his spine. He removed his jacket and did what she asked, getting aroused by the game she had prepared for him even though he still didn’t know the rules.

“That outfit is really something else! Where did you get it?”

Rose got out of bed like a cat in heat, exhibiting sexually dominant traits that were new in their relationship.

“You know…” she said insinuating her red lips close to his. “I’m not in the mood for questions, Josh! I came here for a little bit of fun….” Out of nowhere, two pairs of furry green cuffs appeared in her left hand.

“What kind of fun are you talking about?” Josh asked, his manhood already beginning to twitch.

“I thought I’d start by giving you that lap dance you’ve always wanted. However, first I have to make sure you play by the book. Hands behind your back, sweetie! As you know, when it comes to these, you can look, but you can’t touch.” As he complied, she leaned seductively and made him a captive in his own house. The funny thing is: he never saw the handcuffs disappear from his sight at all but, in a moment he could move his hands and feet and, in the next, they were totally immobilized.

“What’s gotten into you, Rose?” he asked, bewildered.

“Shhh… if you ask any more questions, you get no dance and I’ll leave you there the rest of the night.”

Josh held his tongue as the way she spoke gave no room for doubt. She was dead serious and displeasing her at that precise moment would be a tomfoolery.

“Good boy… now, bring on the music!” she clapped her hands and the bedroom became the birthplace of a conflagration of exotic sounds. Rose swayed her hips from side to side and started playing with her full, taut breasts, the rhythm following her moves and not the other way around.

Soon afterward, she showed him the full lusciousness of her glorious ass, leaning closer and closer to have him smell the fabric and yearn for the chance of planting a kiss in such perfect vision. Her cascading, fiery hair tickled his nose as she executed a backflip over his head and then rubbed herself all over the back of the chair, touching some of his anterior erogenous zones in the process.

Josh tried to look at her, but she moved too fast for him to follow. His neck was still in the middle of the semi-rotation movement and she was already in front of him again, this time, extending one of her legs forward so that the tip of her thigh-high boot stopped one inch away from his pulsating erection. He was already beginning to sweat like a madman, betrayed by the libidinous desires of his second brain and, if she kept on teasing him like that, he was going to… he was going to… God, he wasn’t going to be able to hold on much longer!

Rose removed the boot from the proximities of his crotch, only to place the other one instead, producing the same erotic effect. Then, as he licked his lips and tried not to blink to avoid missing any part of the action, she placed her delicate hands on each side of the chair and started a series of increasingly swift pelvic movements, fucking his mind and body by just stirring the air between them. Josh’s response was to struggle fervently against the manacles so that he could have her in his arms without delay, yet the fight was doomed to failure right from the start.

Powerless to stop her advances, completely devoid of any longings other than the ones she wanted him to have, his cock exploded in an amalgam of creamy white that left a stain so big it descended from his genital area to the middle of his pants. It was only at this moment she stopped tantalizing him and, with another slap of her supercharged fingers, the cuffs vanished into thin air.

“Oh, Jesus…” that’s all he could say… “Jesus, Rose… that was… Oh, Jesus!”

“Jesus was a holy man and I’m feeling anything but holy tonight, pet!” she teased as she slid her tongue inside his right ear.

“No kidding… Holy Mother of… I… have no idea how you pulled that one off, but…”

“You want more, is that it? Because that was only a taste of what I can do, you know?” she asked, exuding mind-bending seduction throughout her every pore.

“I believe you…” he responded, cleaning the drops of sweat from his forehead and arms. After such an exhibition, he was ready to believe in anything that came out of her attractive, wet lips.

“But if you want the full package, you and I have to strike a deal, right here, right now!” she declared firmly, her words hitting him like a stingy whip.

“State your terms, dear!” he replied.

“I’m tired of all our petty discussions, I’m tired of breaking up with you and then starting things again a few months later, I’m tired of us postponing the idea of building a future together. The truth is I know I’m meant to be yours in the same way you’re meant to be mine and it’s time for us to accept that once and for all. If you don’t feel the same way about me, then we might as well go separate ways… permanently!”

He was taken aback by her sincerity. In good honesty, he had had similar thoughts in the past but when things seemed to start to get into gear once more, there was always a pebble or a big boulder getting in the way. The Rose wearing that outfit, though, obviously had the strength of heart and will to crush whatever thing threatened her search for happiness, and her feisty demeanor was exactly what he needed in his life.

“There’s no way you’re leaving, Rose!” he exclaimed and stole her a kiss. “I’m not letting go of the one who was always there for me since day one. We’ve had our rough days, and I’m to blame for most of them, but you’re right… It’s time to end this charade once and for all because I am and will always be madly in love with you! You are indeed mine and I’m yours, always!”

As their lips interlocked, a promise was sealed in every corner of every dimensional plane in a kiss that rewrote the meaning of Eternity. When they were finally able to separate themselves from one another, Josh’s mouth was completely dry and ecstasy was more than just a state of mind.

“That’s more like it!” she said, smiling from cheek to cheek. “But look… It’s almost as if I drained all of your saliva… you poor thing! I bet you’re feeling quite thirsty right now, aren’t you?” Rose asked, mischievously.

“Yeah, I really am. Could you be a dear and grab me a beer from the fridge?” he asked, only looking for an excuse to see her tight ass in all of its alluringness one more time.

“A beer?” she grinned and looked down at the naughtiest zipper of her emerald fantasy. “Why settle for something so trivial when I have just the right beverage for you, lover boy?” She drove his hand to the Promised Land underneath and allowed him to expose it all. “Oops… I forgot my panties at home…”

Though a first between them, Josh didn’t wait for any more directions and knelt before the ultimate shrine of devotion. He loved her, and that meant loving all of her, anytime, anywhere. From that day on, no matter the situation, he would never be thirsty again.

They ended up spending the night together, exploring all kinds of pleasurable positions and even inventing some new ones. The outfit amplified her energy and resistance, but he was only human and eventually got tired and fell asleep. Before she permitted herself to rest with him, though, she had one final interchange of words with the mysterious voice.

“You did a very good job, today! The bank teller will definitely survive his injuries and no one of the hostages told anything about your little exhibition. The crooks tried to, but they were pretty much the laughing stock of every officer in the scene.”

“That’s good to know. Thank you.”

“I think you’re ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“That’s something you’re going to have to ask someone else. I’ve already done my share of the work.”

“I still don’t completely understand what you are.”

“But I already told you that. I’m the potential every soul carries within… I’m you, Rose! I’ve always been you, hiding underneath the masks of normalcy.”

“Great, so I’ve been talking to myself this whole time!”

“And was that such a bad thing? You needed to talk to me to understand how this outfit can be important, and now that you have found out more about yourself, I’ll keep on living inside your mind, but these small conferences of ours will eventually come to an end.”

“That’s funny… I think I’m going to miss you whispering in my head!”

“You can’t miss yourself but thank you, anyway. Pleasant dreams.”

“Good night,” Rose muttered before closing her eyes and starting to dream about the family she wanted to have.

Early in the following morning, she returned to Fantasy Realms, hoping to finally get some real answers to the innumerous questions that were still pirouetting inside her mind. She didn’t wait for the store to open but, instead, invited herself in courtesy of her telekinetic abilities. The proprietor – or whatever was posing for him – was already waiting for her, sitting on a stool and smoking a golden pipe.

“Welcome back, Miss Driscoll. I trust you’ve had plenty of opportunities to test Special Number 3’s distinctive characteristics, and have already given up on the idea of trying to return it to me because that’s something I’ll never accept.”

With the outfit on, she could now catch a glimpse of what was hiding beneath the guise of a human being: it was a rainbow silhouette with an energy signature that didn’t correspond to anything planet Earth had to offer.

“Before we talk about anything else, I want to know two things: what kind of creature are you and what have you done to the real owner of this place?”

“Hmmm….” He blew a circle of smoke into the air. “The second part of your question is easy to answer: he’s right there in the back, in a state of stasis, so to speak. Don’t worry, he’s perfectly unharmed and will be waking up, soon.”

“What about the first part?” Rose asked, her boots tapping the floor.

“That’s… trickier. I’m not sure I can even be called a creature in the common use of the term, but I can tell you this: I’m a Master Tailor, the last of my clan actually, and I have the skills to produce special outfits whenever special people and special situations require them.”

Rose leaned her head, quizzically.

“You were already here in the store, hiding somewhere when I ordered my original outfit, weren’t you? And then you did something to my mind when I came to return Special Number 3….”

“That is correct. I had to confuse you just a little in order for you to accept the gift. It was made specifically for you. Other people can wear it, but the powers within are only unlocked by the connection established to your physical body.”

Each new revelation was even more confusing than the one that came before.

“What’s so special about me to receive such a valuable present? I’m just a poor girl in a poor city that works in a bar for a living!”

“Your genetic code and certain forces I’m bound to, say otherwise. Heroes appear when they’re needed and dangerous games are being played in the rim of the galaxy that will require for them to rise. I wish I could tell you more, but I’m forbidden to do so, and there are some mysteries you’ll need to uncover on your own.”

“You mentioned you were the last of your clan…” she remarked. “If that’s so, then I’m correct in assuming there are others similar to you out there, other Master Tailors?”

He put down the pipe, the human-like eyes becoming darker, but not to the point of exhibiting any kind of menacing influence.

“Yes, and not all of them use their abilities for the sake of righteousness. Some are neutral when it comes to the great resolutions of this Universe and all of its parallels, but others are just plain evil. My outfits bestow many abilities to those who wear them, but if a person tries to use them for completely deviant purposes, they instantly disintegrate. Other outfits made by other Tailors do the same, however, the skills bestowed upon them aren’t…” and he suspended the sentence at the awareness that his words had already been perfectly assimilated.

Rose looked at the way the energy before her caused tiny, little ripples of dislocated air and matter to extend in every direction. She touched one of them with her gloved hands, feeling the manifestation of a rift of tremendous power.

“I’ll keep the outfit, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be using it from this day forward.” She concluded.

“Do what you think is right. The gift has been passed on as well as all the knowledge I’m at liberty to divulge. My time here is almost reaching its term for now, but I hope we get a chance to see each other once more. Whether that happens or not, I’ll know what choice you made.”

Its imitation of human skin irradiated the full light spectrum from within and compressed itself into a little grain of dust that fell quietly on the wooden floor. From the room behind the counter, Rose heard the muffling sound of someone about ready to get up and sprinted back home.

That very night, she climbed to the top of the highest building of the city and sat on its edge, lost in thoughts of what exactly she was supposed to do. The Master Tailor’s answers hadn’t been entirely conclusive but hinted at the importance of her role in many decisive moments that were to come. Nonetheless, she wasn’t sure she was ready for such a mantle.

Every superhero has an origins story and, in a way, she had had hers the moment she put on the outfit and gradually began to understand the extent of its powers. The experiences of the previous day had been undoubtedly awe-inspiring, but not all stories need to reach a satisfying conclusion. Sometimes, they just begin and are easily forgotten, its pages buried in the flow of the History until the weight of all mundane events chokes what life they still have left.

The night was cool and clear, allowing her to see the spectacle of constellations in all of its splendor. The way the stars twinkled ever so slightly was a soothing vision, and she needed one of those to reach a conclusion.

All things considered, there were only two possible choices, two immediate outcomes: one was to slowly remove the magnificent outfit, dress the civil clothes she had brought in a plastic bag, take the elevator down to the plane of normal human beings and carry on her life with Josh as if nothing had happened to begin with; the other was to keep the green temptation on, jump down and accept the fact that she was now heading towards an unexplored path, one where she would have to continuously grow as a person to overcome the massive obstacles that would surely present themselves, sooner or later.

The first choice was the safest, and playing it safe was no shame at all, because of her now strengthened relationship. The second was dangerous for its chaotic ramifications, for defying the principles of predictability and turning everything she took for granted upside down.

After more than two hours of conflicting ponderations, she felt a touch of coldness beginning to settle in and got up. Once standing, Rose looked at the stars, then at the service door, and once more at the endless sky. There were no messages coming from above, nothing at all except the ultimate rule of free will.

Teary-eyed, she took five steps backward, followed by another five, and stopped. Turning around, she, little by little, approached the point where human-built materials gave way to the vast richness of Mother Nature, took a deep breath of fresh air and then…

… she jumped.