Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 03:03:11 -0000
From: Ann Douglas <ann_douglas@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Adventures Of Ultra Woman And Mega Girl - 1

The Adventures Of Ultra Woman And Mega Girl
		by Ann Douglas
           (ann_douglas@hotmail.com)

Part One

	If you don't need me for anything else,"
the blond young man said as he picked up the
small pile of folders off his boss's desk.  "I'll put
these away and take off."
	"Of course Tim," Jacqueline Kirby
smiled.  "Enjoy the weekend."
	As the 22 year old assistant closed the
door behind him, Jacqueline leaned back in her
chair and pulled a magazine out from the top
drawer of her desk.  It was the latest issue of
"The Adventures of Ultra Woman and Mega
Girl", a book she'd looked forward all day to
kicking back and reading.
	At 26, Jacqueline had been reading
comics for over 20 years.  Not surprising since
her Uncle, Michael Kirby, had founded Creative
Comics in the mid 1960's.  Since then, the
company had enjoyed moderate success, but
never came close to challenging the industry
leaders.  Not until four years ago that was.

	Fresh out of college, Jacqueline or Jackie
as her family called her, had gone to work for
Creative.  It seemed the natural thing to do at the
time.  After all, she'd been working there part
time since she was 16 and had learned the
business from the ground up.
	Then, four months after she'd started,
Mike Kirby had a major heart attack and decided
to retire.  As the majority stockholder, it was his
decision that Jackie replace him.  He'd worked
too long and hard to hand `his' company over to
someone outside the family.
	For the first year, Jackie made few real
changes.  After all, some of the people now
working for her had been in the business when
she was in kindergarten and didn't readily
appreciate interference from a 21-year-old who
inherited the job.
	All that changed, however, the day Joanna
Simon showed up in the outer office. Jackie
remembered that day well.

	In her ten years as the receptionist for
Creative, Karen Wilson had seen too many young
men and women like Joanna to take her too
seriously.  A portfolio under her arm, the
17-year-old had patiently waited all day for a
chance to "show her stuff".  Dozens of hopefuls
showed up every year, especially towards the end
of school.  They made the rounds of the major
comic companies, and then tried the smaller ones.
Each was convinced that they held in their case
the next Superman or X-Men.
	One of the few changes Jackie had made
when she took over was that these aspiring artists
and writers not be given the bums rush that too
many companies gave them.  Even if their ideas
were worthless, what could it hurt to take a few
minutes to look them over and offer some advice.
After all, these were the people who brought your
product.  Also, one day you might actually strike
paydirt. You never know, she always reminded
them.
	The problem was that Joanna, or Jo as she
liked to sign her work, had come by on the worst
possible of days.  A good part of the office had
come down with some sort of virus and everyone
who was left was scrambling to take up the slack
against a rapidly approaching deadline.
	Karen had suggested that she come back
another day, but Jo insisted she would wait.  She
had used almost all of her savings for the bus trip
to New York City and was sleeping on her
cousin's couch.  She couldn't afford to come back
next week.
	So she'd sat quietly in her chair, watching
people rush in and out of the Editor In Chief's
office.  Mid-morning soon gave way to afternoon
and then it wasn't long before the clock on the
wall neared six.  Karen began to pack up her
things for the railroad ride home and then
remembered the young girl.

	"I'm afraid you're not going to be able to
wait any longer," Karen said with as much
sympathy as possible.  "Maybe you could come
back Monday when it's not so hectic?"
	The look of disaster on the young girl's
face touched a soft spot in the older woman's
heart.  She looked again at the wall clock and
thought she could always catch the 07:10 train
home.

	"Wait one more minute," she said. "I'm
not promising anything, but I'll try."
	Instantly, Jo's face lit up with a thankful
smile.
	Stepping into the inner office, Karen
explained the situation to Jackie.  How everyone
was so busy today that she hadn't even been able
to get the young girl ten minutes with any of the
editors.  She hated bringing the matter to Jackie
but hated even more telling the girl to come back
Monday.  Especially if she did, only to be told
that her work really wasn't as good as she thought
it was.
	"Well we can't have that, can we?"
Jackie said as she signed her name to the last of
the pile of papers on her desk. "Give me five
minutes to clean up and I'll see her myself."
	"Thank you, Ms. Kirby."  The 46-year-old
said. Karen had never been able to get used to
calling her boss by her first name.  Even though
she had two daughters older than Jackie was.

	Truth be told, Jackie was dead tired.
Getting everything out before the 5 o'clock
deadline had been a real struggle.  Still, she
agreed with Karen, they couldn't simply send the
girl away.  The thought that if her last name
hadn't been Kirby, she wouldn't get past the front
door was never far from Jackie's mind.

	The five foot seven brunette took three of
those five minutes to use the small private
bathroom.  It was one of the few luxuries that her
Uncle had allowed himself.  Running her hand
through her long shoulder length hair and then
across her neck, Jackie thought that running this
place was a lot harder than Uncle Mike had made
it look. Competition was fierce and some of their
major titles were beginning to lose some of their
popularity -- with the resulting drop in sales.
	At times it seemed like the job required a
20-hour workday.  She was an attractive woman
she reminded herself as she looked into the
mirror.  When was the last time she'd gone out on
a date?  Probably just a month less than the last
time she'd been laid she answered herself.

	"Hi, I'm Jacqueline Kirby,"  Jackie said
with a smile as she reached out and shook
Joanna's hand.  "Why don't you have a seat and
we'll take a look at what you've got." she added
as she guided the younger girl to the conference
table.
	Joanna was a half foot shorter than Jackie
with short strawberry blond hair.  She still carried
some of the baby fat of her early teens as well as
braces that showed when she smiled.  She was
dressed in what Jackie guessed was her very best
dress.
	"Joanna Simon,"  the young girl said.  "My
friends call me Jo."
	Her nervousness evident, Jo sat down and
emptied her portfolio out onto the table. Jackie
had to hide a smile at the girl's awkwardness.  In
many ways in was like looking at a reflection of
herself only a few years ago.
	"Can I get you something to drink?"
Jackie asked, trying to put her at ease.  "Some tea,
or maybe a Coke?"
	"A Coke would be nice,"  Jo stammered,
remembering that she hadn't eaten since breakfast.
	Jackie produced two cans of Coke from
the small refrigerator behind her desk and placed
one in front of Jo.  She also laid out some of the
leftovers from lunch.  Taking a sip of her own
soda, she told Jo to help herself as she sat down
and began to spread out the storyboards on the
table.  She really hoped the girl had enough talent
that she could let her leave with some words of
encouragement.

	"Hmm,"  Jackie murmured as she looked
at a few of the drawings.  "Most of these are
pretty good."
	"You really think so?" Jo asked, her eyes
lighting up.
	"Yes I do,"  Jackie answered, surprised at
the level of professionalism in Jo's work.  The girl
had definite talent -- that was sure.  If it wasn't for
the fact that she might be faced with laying off
staff in a few months if sales didn't improve, she
might consider hiring Jo as a staff artist.  She was
certainly better than some of those she inherited
from her Uncle.
	"You are talented,"  Jackie repeated.
"Didn't they tell you that when you went to any of
the other comic companies?"
	"Oh I haven't gone to any other
companies,"  Jo replied with a new confidence in
her voice.  "I wanted to come here first."
	"Why here?"  Jackie asked out of
curiosity.  Usually the kids hit the big companies
first.
	"I grew up reading Creative Comics,"  Jo
grinned.  "I used to dream about writing and
drawing my own and having them appear under
the CC Logo."
	"I guess we should be honored." Jackie
smiled back. In her mind she was trying to think of
the best way to let this talented girl down. "We're
pretty well staffed here right now," Jackie lied as
she looked at a few more drawings. "You might
want to try some of the other companies and. . ."
	Jackie paused in mid-sentence as she
opened a thick sketchbook. Laid out throughout it
was the equivalent of at least a half dozen
completed issues of a comic. The title on the front
page was "The Adventures of Ultra Woman and
Mega Girl."
	"What's this?" Jackie asked.
	"That's just a strip that I created for fun."
Jo said. "I forgot it was in there." She added a
little embarrassed.
	"I think this is very good." Jackie said as
she flipped through the pages. "Very good
indeed."
	"It is?" Jo asked in surprise.
	Jackie was indeed impressed. Every
aspect of creation was there. Pencils, inks,
coloring, lettering - all of it done professionally.
	"How long does it take you to do a page?"
Jackie asked.
	"You mean doing everything?" Jo asked,
to be answered by a nod of Jackie's head.
	Her answer made up Jackie's mind. Even if
it meant firing some of the useless jerks her Uncle
had kept on staff, she was going to hire Jo Simon.
	"Well I couldn't offer you a lot, at least at
first." Jackie smiled. "But what would you think
of this as a starting salary." She asked as she
wrote down a figure on a blank piece of paper.
	"Oh yes!" Jo gushed as she looked at the
figure on the paper. It was more money that she
was earning in Taylor's Dry Goods back home.
	"It's really not a lot," Jackie admitted.
"Especially if you plan to live here in the city.
But you would gain a lot of experience and
hopefully in time I'd be able to increase it."
	"I'll take it." Jo said. "When can I start.?"
She was eager all right, Jackie thought, almost as
eager as Jackie herself was a few years back.
	"How bout you come in Monday morning
and we'll get you settled in." Jackie said. "I'll
see what department I think you should start out
in."
	"Oh thank you, Ms. Kirby." Joanna said,
her voice filled with the excitement of a dream
come true.
	"Do you mind if I keep this for the
weekend?" Jackie asked as she held the home
made comic. "I'd like to read it and see if you're
as good a writer you are an artist."
	"Okay," Jo said a little hesitantly. It was
obvious that she didn't really want Jackie to read
the story but wasn't about to risk her new job.
	"Fine, then I'll see you early Monday
morning." Jackie said as she escorted her new
employee out the door.



	That had been four years ago. Over that
weekend, after reading "The Adventures of Ultra
Woman and Mega Girl" a dozen times, Jackie
changed her mind about where she would put Jo.
	Rather than make her an apprentice to one
of the more experienced authors or artists, Jackie
had decided to let her take on her own title. In
fact, she had decided to publish the Adventures of
Ultra Woman and Mega Girl.
	That decision had been met with some
derision from her staff. That she was out of her
mind was one of the louder comments from the
'old hands'. That she was throwing away money
the company could ill afford was another. The
bottom line, however, was that it was her
decision. One of the senior editors went so far as
to call Mike Kirby and tell him what his crazy
niece was doing to his company.
	Mike Kirby had called his niece five
minutes later and asked her one question. Did
she really believe in this book? Then he wished
her luck.

	When the first issue of The Adventures of
Ultra Woman and Mega Girl appeared on the
stands, it was an instant sellout. For the first time
in the history of Creative Comics, a book went
into a second and then a third printing. With it
came a storm of controversy, which only
increased sales. People either loved or hated the
book. There seemed to be no middle ground.
	At first look, the series seemed to be an
unlikely success - having almost none of the
elements of any of the current popular titles. In
an industry where publishers seemed to find hot
concepts such as mutant superheroes and then
work it to death, it seemed too risky to go out on
a limb on something new and different.
	First of all, the series was set in the late
1940's, a time few comic readers were familiar
with. At first glance, the two main characters
followed an old familiar formula. Ultra Woman
was the secret identity of a policewoman who had
tired of being delegated to traditional 1940's
female roles. Mega Girl was a teenage girl she
had saved from the streets. Neither had any
special powers, relying instead on training and an
assortment of gadgets.
	The stories were pretty basic too, although
they seemed to carry an underlining sexuality that
you no longer found in Batman and Robin - the
series they were most often compared to.  In fact,
just like the early years of  Batman and Robin,
there were complains from certain quarters that
the underlining sexuality of the series was one of
homosexuality.  Or more appropriately in this case
-- lesbianism.
	That accusation had made Jackie laugh.
Aside from a single clothes-changing scene
where you saw the two heroines in bra and
panties, there wasn't a single slightly erotic scene
in the book. In fact, unlike many of the costumes
wore by present day heroines, Ultra Woman and
Mega Girls were almost comical in the amount of
clothing they wore.
	No more amply endowed that Jackie or a
vast majority of the women in the office; Ultra
Woman hid it under a full double-breasted red
tunic that resembled the police uniforms of that
day. Mega Girl wore a simple long sleeve white
pullover blouse with red trim and cape. The skirts
both of them wore would do a catholic schoolgirl
proud.
	Of course the bad guy, or girl in this case,
wore something a lot more daring. Yet even that
was more than most girls wore on any public
beach.

	A year after the first issue hit the stands,
Jackie was able to walk into the office with a
pride in her decision. Each issue outsold the last
and it wasn't long before the series went from a
bi-monthly book to monthly and then just last
week to a twice-monthly publication.

	Today, Ultra Woman and Mega Girl
topped the lists of favorite books. It was another
source of self-satisfaction that four other Creative
Comic series held places in the top ten. Of these,
two were also Simon and Kirby productions.
	With success came additional revenue in
the form of Ultra Woman games, dolls and even
lunch boxes. The final nail in the coffin in all
those naysayers would come next month with the
release of the live action film  "The Adventures Of
Ultra Woman and Mega Girl"  in theaters across
the country.


	"Jackie, you have a minute?" said the
voice from behind the tall brunette as she reached
out to open her office door.
	"Of course Jo," Jackie smiled as she turned
and saw the bright face of her protege and partner
"Just give me a few minutes to get organized and
come right on in."

	The confident young woman who stepped
into Jackie's office five minutes later bore little
resemblance to the nervous girl of a few years
before.  Jo Simon had lost the last of that baby fat
as well as the braces.  At 21 she still looked 17 but
had lost all of her youthful awkwardness.
	The nature of their relationship had
changed over the years as well. The energy that Jo
brought to Creative transformed the company.
She proved a quick learner and took on more and
more responsibility.  Many of the old guard,
irritated at having to work for Jackie in the first
place, became positively livid at now having some
kid give them orders.  Many quit, to be replaced
by much needed new blood.
	The personal relationship between the two
women changed as well.  The sisterlike bond that
formed almost immediately grew and grew as the
5 year difference in their ages lessened with each
passing year.  At times, it now even seemed like
Jo was the more mature of the two.

	"What's up?"  Jackie asked as she poured
a cup of coffee for both of them.
	"I was wondering if you had any plans for
the weekend?"  Jo replied.
	"Just a good book and a bottle of wine,"
Jackie laughed. "Why?"
	"Comic-Con is this weekend, down in
D.C."  Jo said.  "I was thinking it would be fun if
we went."
	"I wasn't aware that we'd been invited to
be on any of the panels this year."  Jackie said.
	"We weren't,"  Jo said.  "I don't mean
going as guests.  I meant going as fans and really
having some fun."
	"Oh."  Jackie simply said.
	 She knew what Jo was getting at.  When
she first started at Creative, they went to all the
Conventions.  It was a lot of fun, mixing with the
fans and basically being a little crazy for a day or
two.  Unfortunately the price of success had put
an end to those days.
	It wasn't like the two of them were known
to people they passed on the street.  The fans,
however were a different story.  They'd appeared
in many of the trade magazines and had appeared
in countless discussion panels.  When they'd tried
to simply walk around after a panel last year they
had to be rescued by security from adoring fans.
This year, with the movie coming out, it would
only be worse.
	"You know what happened last year."
Jackie reminded her friend.
	"I know," she replied.  "And I've got that
all figured out."
	"Do tell."  Jackie smiled.
	"We don't go as ourselves,"  Jo suggested.
"We go as someone else."
	"Such as....?"  an intrigued Jackie asked.
	"Well a lot of people go to the Cons in
costumes,"  Jo said.  "As characters, so to speak."
	"Costumes, characters...."  Jackie
repeated, guessing where this was going. "Any
particular characters you have in mind?"
	"Well you do have those costumes the
studio sent over in your closet?" Jo said in a
suggestive tone.

	Sitting in the office closet were two
costumes for Ultra Woman and Mega Girl.  They
had been sent over from the movie studio to be
used in a publicity campaign.  When the film
opened, Creative would hire two actresses to play
the parts and appear at various theaters.  It was an
old gimmick but the fans loved it.
	At first thought, Jackie considered the idea
of dressing up in a costume and going to the Con
pretty ridiculous.  After all, she was the head of a
rising company and that wasn't the type of thing
CEO's of companies did.  Then she thought about
how that was exactly the type of thing a younger
Jackie Kirby would have done and how much fun
she would've had doing it.
	More importantly, she could see in Jo's
eyes how important it seemed to be for her.  It
had been a rough year for her friend.  The loss of
her mother after a long illness had been followed
two months later by Jo's sudden break-up with
her boyfriend.  That had taken Jackie by surprise
as much as everyone else.  She would've bet
anything that Jo and Bill Thomas were going to
announce their engagement at the office Christmas
party.  Instead, Jo had showed up alone and said
that it was all over and that she didn't want to
discuss it.  To this day she hadn't mentioned it
again.
	"What the hell,"  Jackie laughed.  "It's
crazy enough to be fun. Okay, we'll go."
	"Great!"  Jo exclaimed.  "I already got us
two tickets on the Washington Shuttle flight
tonight and a room at the hotel."
	"Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you."
Jackie said.
	"Well we know who you have to blame for
that."  Jo smiled.  "The flight leaves at 09:00 so
you should plan to be at LaGuardia by 08:00."
	"Aren't we leaving together?"  Jackie
asked.
	"I promised Doctor Giordano that I'd stop
by the children's ward and do some sketches for
the kids."  Jo explained.  "So I'll meet you at the
terminal."
	The excitement on her friends face told
Jackie she'd made the right decision. It would be
an interesting weekend and probably a lot of fun
as well.
	"But if we're going to fly out of here
tonight,"  Jackie thought to herself as the assistant
Editor In Chief left.  "I'd better get cracking on
this paperwork.

	The day passed quickly but the pile of
papers on Jackie's desk didn't seem to shrink any.
She considered asking Jo to stay a while and help
but then discarded the idea. A few personal
drawings for the kids at City Hospital was more
important than anything she was doing right now.
Whatever she didn't finish tonight could wait until
Monday.  She'd work until the last minute and
then just leave it all.
	The clock read 06:40 when Jackie finally
pushed the last pile of folders into her side drawer.
Enough was enough.  She had sent the last of the
office staff home an hour ago, not wanting to
keep them for trivial stuff.  There was enough of
that during crunch time.
	Jackie rubbed the ridge of her nose.  Right
behind it was a slowly growing headache.  Too
much paperwork.  She'd have to have Tim make
another appointment with the optometrist and get
her eyes checked again.  She'd been told to take it
a little easier on her last visit, but of course she
hadn't.
	 "I need some aspirin."  Jackie thought.
The last thing she wanted to do was get on an
airplane with a headache.
	A quick search of her desk produced only
an empty bottle. A further search of Tim's desk in
the outer office likewise came up empty.  She
recalled Tim mentioning that she'd wiped out the
bottle of Tylenol he usually kept in his desk and
he'd pick up more when he went shopping over
the weekend.
	"Well I know Jo keeps all kinds of
emergency supplies in her desk."  Jackie thought.
"She even came up with a needle and thread the
other day when one of the guys split his pants.  Of
course she just handed it to him and told him to
fix it himself."

	"Let's see," Jackie said as she opened the
large top drawer of Jo's combination desk and
drawing table. "Batteries, pencils, oh here we are,
extra strength Tylenol."
	Downing the two gelcaps with a glass of
water from the cooler, Jackie noticed that Jo's
bottom drawer was slightly open.  That was
unusual in that she was somewhat fanatical about
locking up her storage drawers.  Not that she
thought anyone was going to steal anything, it was
just that she hated anyone seeing works in
progress.
	"I guess she was in such a hurry to get to
the hospital she forgot." Jackie said as she reached
down to close the drawer.
	After two tries it was obvious that
something inside was jamming the drawer open.
Jackie pulled the drawer all the way out and began
to empty it to find the obstruction.
	At the bottom of the drawer, Jackie came
across a thick manila folder filled with so many
drawings that it had to be held together with a
couple of thick rubber bands.  Curiosity got the
better of her and she pulled off the bands and
opened the folder on the large drawing table.

	"Oh my God!"  Jackie exclaimed to the
empty room as she spread out a half dozen of the
drawings she'd found.
	The pictures were all of characters from
the Ultra Woman comics, but not the type you'd
ever find on the newsstands.  She picked up the
closest sketch, it was one of Mega Girl being held
captive by their arch-enemy - the Black Cat.  In
this case, however, Mega Girl was stripped to the
waist and had her face pressed between the legs of
an equally semi-naked Black Cat.  It was so
detailed that you could even see the dark hairs of
the Cat's pussy.
	It suddenly occurred to Jackie that the
picture was also familiar.  She'd seen it a year ago
when one of the editors had downloaded a half
dozen erotic fan drawings off the Internet.  He
had attached them to a memorandum suggesting
that they follow the lead of some of the larger
companies and try to sue the artists for copyright
infringement.
	Jackie had tossed the memo into the trash.
She looked at the pictures in the same light as
fan-fiction.  The artists weren't selling them, they
were posting them to share with other fans.  If
anything, Jackie had said at the time, they should
think about trying to hire a few of the amateur
artists -- some of the pictures had been quite
good.  In one case at least, the Editor In Chief
now knew why.
	The next picture showed the same two
characters.  Only this time, Mega Girl had on her
full costume and was down on all fours, her skirt
pushed up over her back -- exposing her pussy.
Buried deep inside it was a large strap on dildo,
worn again by a semi-nude Black Cat.  The look
on Mega Girl's face was pure delight.
	Ultra Woman appeared in the next three
images.  Twice with her younger sidekick in
various stages of undress and then once by herself
with her fingers buried deep within her pussy.
	"Hmm, its a pity we can't publish these,"
Jackie laughed to herself.  "Might give some of
those self-righteous assholes who complained
about the book a few heart attacks."
	Totally captivated, Jackie began to go
through the rest of the pile.  She found two more
images she recognized from the Internet. It wasn't
until she looked at about twenty five more of the
drawings that Jackie abruptly realized that there
was something conspicuously absent from the
collection.  There were no men in any of them.
	There was no shortage of male characters
in the Ultra Woman series.  In fact, at least half of
those original Internet pictures that had been sent
to her last year had been of Ultra Woman and
Mega Girl being fucked or giving blow jobs to
those characters.  Of course none of those images
had the quality of those she now knew had been
drawn by Jo.
	"Is Jo into women?" Jackie asked herself
as she looked at another dozen images. "Is that
why she broke it off with Bill Thomas?"