As the hero zipped through the city as fast as she could fly, she did her best to hide her grin, because though she was incredibly thrilled by tonight's change of events, she knew the rest of the city was not. She systematically flew through the streets of downtown, covering the high traffic areas first because she knew how much Toxic loved an audience.
"You're getting warmer." The villain would encourage through the city’s now hijacked P.A. System.
"Woah... colder!" He laughed when she seemingly made a wrong turn. He was leading her towards the port. Galaxy Girl reached the docks and began searching through the multitude of lots filled with storage containers.

"Marco!" The super-criminal's unmistakable voice called out from the water beside her, rippling just like the waves did. Galaxy Girl stopped in midair, pulling her fold-up night vision glasses from their compartment in her utility belt, and she used them to gaze out into the pitch black body of water. "You’re supposed to say Polo." The voice asks in disappointment, and though she couldn't see him, she just knew he was shaking his head. 

In a blinding flash of light, a large vessel was lit up. Vague at best through the night vision goggles, she drew them back from her face to see that Toxic had converted a huge trash barge into what could only be described as a death trap.  Over the top axes swinging like pendulums, rotating blades, spikes and mace, each undoubtedly made from titanium, lazers mounted on all four corners, and in the very center of it all was the Mayor; the man was bound, gagged, and clearly distressed. The Mayor was trapped inside a clear bubble, filled up to his neck with Toxic's demobilization goo. 

Toxic was standing on a pedestal atop the bubble, a wicked grin carved onto his glowing face. She closed the distance, stopping right above the floating eyesore.
"Welcome to the party Galaxy Girl. The entire city is going to watch you fail tonight." He motioned back to the shore, this encounter being displayed on every screen in town.
"Look at this deathtrap, seriously?" She brushed away his threat.
"On a garbage barge of all things. How 80's." Galaxy chuckled.
"I'd say it's a bit excessive, but you don't have a shark tank so..." She'd never say it, but she actually kind of liked the retro. 
"Wait a minute..." A twinkle appears in the hero's sky blue eyes.
"Didn't my dad and your dad...?"

"Yes, 1987!" Toxic grins, happy that she remembered.
"Right over there." He pointed at a nearby spot in the water about 50 yards away.
"That's the same pendulum too." He pointed at the giant axe swinging back and forth. 
"Nice touch." The hero couldn't help but laugh.
"But don't you remember what happened that day?"
Galaxy Girl called out. 
"Just like my dad did back then. You know I'm just gonna break right through all that. Impervious remember?"
She reminded him smugly, watching the news helicopter that was now circling the scene, admittedly enjoying the limelight.
Man it was good to be back.

"True Hero, quite true." He said, as he began pulling off his gloves.
"But you are not your father now are you? He's impervious to my radiation..." Toxic places his glowing hands onto the bar in front of him. "You're not." his face strained as he pumped his green aura, lighting up every blade, spike and titanium weapon of his barge.
"Guess who finally found a conduit."

"Oh, great." Galaxy Girl grumbled under her breath.
Toxic watched with a childish glee as the color disappeared from her usually rosy cheeks. He had finally done it, yes he had created a substance that could, for the most part, carry his raw radiation to a level that theoretically, could affect Galaxy Girl.
His entire life; he had tried and failed to find a suitable conduit in which to carry his green aura in its most raw form, because once the unearthly green glow left the direct vicinity of his body, it becomes effectively harmless. 

But his recent discussion with his father had changed his perspective about his own creation and his abilities. They had sat side-by-side in full body restraints, the prisoner transport pod on the way to Super-Max; a new prison on the moon built under the direct supervision of Captain Galaxy. This event marked the first time both father and son would be in the same prison at the same time. 

"I should have told you the entire truth about what happened to your mother." Mastermind had broken the silence first, peering over at his only child.
"Why yes Father, I can vouch that finding out from my long lost, insane soviet relatives was not exactly ideal." Grumbled Toxic.
"Just tell me the truth Dad, that's all I ask." This threw Mastermind off, his son had almost never referred to him as Dad. The older Stockman took a deep breath. "I started injecting your mother with radiation from a shard of the meteorite as soon as your heart started beating..." Spoke Mastermind. "And for my own selfish reasons, I did it without your mother's consent or even knowledge, one of my few regrets in life is that I couldn't resist the temptation to create the ultimate weapon." He had admitted with a heavy heart. 

"Also..." His father sighed, equally surprised at how easy this decades buried secret was pouring out of him. "The idea of becoming a father, it terrified me." Mastermind watched his wife's brown eyes staring intently back at him from within his son.
"In my lab, I've fathered many monsters, my abomination creations of science, unnatural living things birthed from chemicals and test tubes, but the idea of fathering a tiny, defenseless human being, something natural, something created by love... now that stirred feelings and fears within me that I didn’t think I was prepared to handle." 

Toxic had stared blankly at his father as he listened. It was such a shock, to see his father like this, so open, so raw, and even though it had happened right in front of him, the younger villain could barely believe it.
"Your mother loved you from the instant she realized she was pregnant, on a level only an empath can feel, and son let me relate to you; that there is nothing quite like the love of an empath." His eyes lulled, remembering.
"I don't need to remind you of the long list of enemies I've made during my time as Mastermind. I wanted to make certain you'd be strong enough, I had to ensure you could not only survive but conquer the trials that would come with being my child." His father had explained. 

"It was never my intention for you to produce this radiation, I was hoping to make you invulnerable, or give you the powers of flight, and I was trying to mimic what the meteorite did to my nemesis." Stated Mastermind.
"To day I still don't know what I got wrong... I was so careful with my dosage. But you must know I never meant to harm your mother. I loved her, oh God did I love her." He squeezed his eyes shut and leaned his head back onto the headrest. 

"Father." Toxic cleared his throat.
"You do not need to ever defend your love for her to me." He gritted his teeth, locking eyes with his father.
"If there has ever been one thing that has always remained undoubtedly clear to me, it is the knowledge that my mother was the only thing you ever did love."

"Oh son..." Masterminds eyes softened, he looked at Toxic with a pained pride. "She's not the only one."

This exchange had given Toxic an entirely new piece to the puzzle that was channeling his power. He had coated every titanium weapon aboard the barge with a diluted mixture of what the Russian Speedsters had failed to disperse during their scheme, stolen from the London police department’s evidence locker. Upon further examination, Toxic had discovered that the mixture was made using what appeared to be the last remaining fragment of the famed Stark City Meteorite. Since learning that his radiation was as unearthly and alien as the rock itself, he had finally realized why nothing earthly he tried to use had ever worked to conduit it. 

"Oh please." She said, placing her hands on her hips.
"You try a new conduit out on me every time we fight, and every one of those times, it fails. I think by now the entire world knows only your raw radiation affects me. I really doubt this time is gonna be any different." She shrugged before hurling herself towards the glowing green vessel. Galaxy Girl plummeted as hard as she could against the first pendulum, only to be swatted down like a fly. The blade sliced across her chest and knocked her body to the wooden floor with ease.

Both Toxic and the Mayor gasped at the sight of the hero knocked across the deck like a mere mortal. The villain’s heart was in his throat, and he found himself exhaling a sigh of relief when she stirred. Galaxy Girl sat up in shock, and immediately her hands went to her chest, there was an obnoxious slice across the golden star on her chest. 
She pulled at the material but was thrilled to find not even the smallest scratch.
She carefully stood up to avoid any of the other rotating deathtrap pieces.

"Like I said, the whole city is going to watch your defeat tonight." The villain grins arrogantly.
"You cannot stop me without your precious powers." He calls victoriously 

"Oh no!" Galaxy Girl exclaims.
"If only I had thought about what I would do if this day ever came!?!"
She mocks surprise.
"Oh wait..."
the hero made a sarcastic pause. 
"I have." She ducked under the pendulum and leapt off the barge, shooting back to the shore in flight, and grabbing the nearest light pole, gripping it tightly, she ripped it from the ground. 

"I will give you credit, this is better than your previous attempts!" She cried before striking the pole against the base of the rotating spikes, it cracked free of the barge and landed in the water several hundred yards away.
"But yet again you've failed." She whacked again, and this time another weapon was sent flying.
"Sure this new stuff might weaken me, ground me, but my skin is still impervious!"
Toxic turned his lasers on her, blasting the light pole out of her hands, another blast forcing her out of the air and back onto the barge, surrounded by the radiation; she lost the majority of her strength and her ability to fly.
Toxic groaned, using his body as a battery was taking its toll.
Soon; each of the four cannons were on her, but even in her weakened state; they did nothing but sting just slightly. Thinking quickly, she grabbed her cape and used its deflective setting on his lasers, in just a split second the entire death trap was shredded by his own weapons. She then set sights on the villain.

Toxic quickly pressed his emergency escape button and before she could reach him, his pedestal lowered into the teleportation chamber below.
"I'll get you next time!" He cried, and in a silver flash, he was all gone.
"That's right, you better run!" She laughed. The hero walked over to where the Mayor was being held captive, and with one swift punch, she freed him from the goo filled bubble.
"Thanks Galaxy Girl." Spoke the tired politician.
"I'm really getting to old for this." 

The flashing of police boats could be seen in the distance, and after the mayor was safely in the hands of the E.M.T.'s, Galaxy Girl took off to go chase down that infernal Supervillain.

________________

A/N: Happy Thursday guys.
Only one update left on this book. :(