<Part 2>

"Me?"

"Yes. You." Terry flinched at the small, cold smile Danielle gave him. "Because this is your one chance to stop me. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to wake up and check a news site, or a news paper, or maybe just do a search for top new headlines. It doesn't matter where I look, because every front page is going to be the story of what you're doing today.

"I want those children punished.I want the heroes and officials and policemen who looked the other way held accountable. I want every single person involved in this tragedy to know they didn't get away with it. And I want to be satisfied, truly satisfied, when I read about what you did to give my son justice. And I suggest you record the whole thing, because I will find out if you try to deceive me about any of it."

"Dani, I don't have the power to do that!" Triumph cried. He didn't even try to make a move towards her. He'd felt how fast she'd taken it away. She could see his mind racing, trying to find the right words now that all his strength had betrayed him.

"You do. You really do. I should know, I just felt every last drop of it. You have the power to do almost anything, you just don't like how you're going to have to use it." Danielle tilted her head, distantly surprised at how calm and unsympathetic she felt in that moment, after a lifetime of self control and empathy. "And I don't even know what to tell you to do that would satisfy me, because I don't know, I really don't. But if I read that headline tomorrow, and it falls even a little short of making things right...

"Oh. Oh my." Danielle shook her head. "You do not want to find out what's going to happen then. No more rules, no more playing nice. Just a mother who's lost her child, and the world that took him away from her. That's it."

"Dani, please. Don't-"Triumph started to say.

"Nope, we're done here." Danielle strolled over to pat Triumph on the shoulder. "You have one day to save the world as we know it and possibly everyone in it. Better get going." And Danielle left him, walking back towards the parking lot, thoughts once again turning in a strange direction.

The hero, a paragon of integrity and decency, forced to make hard decisions for the greater good. Possibly even forced to use evil's own cruel methods to defeat it. Is that a cliche? Maybe. Then again, maybe it just depends on how far it gets taken. Either way, can't wait to read about it tomorrow.

Danielle stood over the grave of his son as the rain poured down, one thought looping through her mind.

God this is such a cliche.

A horrible thought to have when she could have been remembering all the times she'd had with her son.

But to be fair, it really was a cliche. The pouring rain and clouded sky mirroring hir grief. The solitary figure alone over the interred body of her son. Heck, it was even late fall so all the trees were barren of leaves. She contemplated stopping the rain, but everyone with sufficient power to control the weather was currently out of range, and there was something almost soothing of having the very weather reflect how you felt inside.

How did it all turn into a cliche? Danielle wasn't even sure how long she'd been standing there, let alone how many times she'd asked himself that same question. I've spent my entire life avoiding the cliche. Changing the story, making the unexpected happen. Well, you didn't expect this, did you?

"Hello Danielle."

Danielle glanced over her shoulder, saying nothing. Even if she wouldn't have recognized that voice anywhere, David had sensed him approaching from miles away, a warm little glow in the back of her mind, and they both knew it. The handsome man with a bodybuilder's physique was only a few paces away, sheltering under an umbrella in a formal black suit.

"I'm so sorry for you loss."

Danielle remained silent, turning back to her son's headstone.

"It wasn't supposed to happen the way it did." The visitor tried again, the barest hint of strain entering a voice that normally held nothing but pure confidence. "You know how kids are, especially ones with real power. It goes to their head. They get reckless, egg each other on, make mistakes. And... and I can tell you that they're really torn up about this. They're having a hard time accepting wha-"

"So that wasn't them celebrating their big win a few nights back, partying the night away? Toasting the highlights of their 'epic battle'? Did their mentors even scold them once they knew, or hand wave it away as the cost of raising the next generation of 'heroes'?" Danielle interrupted, looking over her shoulder again. "When was the last time you tried to lie straight to my face? It's been years, at the least."

The man said nothing.

"Well answer me this. Are you as Triumph, or is it just Terry today?" Danielle asked. "I would genuinely like to know."

"I don't know," He shrugged. "What would help you more right now, Dani?"

"I don't know either." Danielle looked back at the gravestone, one last time. Wow, you are just full of cliches today, aren't you?

"I'll tell you this though." Danielle finally turned away from her precious child's resting place, giving her friend and career-long nemesis her full attention. "I'm a little surprised you came alone. My best guess was that you'd have brought half the League for an ambush. You know I'm not just going to let this slide, so you would have tried to nip it in the bud."

"You know me so well." Triumph smiled sadly. "I actually did try to do that, but, well..."

"But no one believes the Prankster is actually a threat. After all, she's just a joke. A clown who pops over inflated egos and isn't worth the effort of catching. No one ever really gets hurt fighting her. No one innocent ever dies. I bet they laughed when you tried to tell them."

"I know you're strong, Dani, stronger than you ever let on. Stronger than most of the League." The warm glow in the back of her mind brightened, as Triumph gathered his power. "But so am I. You've never seen me go all out before, and I'm sorry today you-"

Dani reached out and took the warm glow away. She didn't flex or quip or move at all. One moment, Triumph was indestructible and strong to level a building with one blow, mentally preparing himself, and the next, it all belonged to Dani, and Triumph was left impotent. She'd always been able to feel the powers of the supers and villains around her, instinctively known she could just reach out and take them.

But honestly, where was the fun in that? It had always seemed to boring, to just take it all. The fun had been in taking little slices, and then still pulling off the joke. So little no one ever noticed it was gone.

Danielle wasn't really in the mood for fun anymore.

"How..." Terry was kneeling on the ground, arms shaking. It seemed like there were some side effects to having the entirety of one's superpowers ripped away. He looked up at her, and for the first time in their long rivalry, Danielle saw real fear etched into him. "No, that doesn't matter. What are you going to do?"

Danielle looked down at her hand and squeezed it into a fist, felt the inhuman strength pulsing through her. She could have cracked a diamond with the power she'd just exerted. It would be the work of minutes to fly through the air, smash into the tower of those arrogant little children and make them regret every choice they had ever made to bring them to this point. She wouldn't even need to use Triumph's power to do it, she could just take theirs away as well, and the powers of anyone who tried to stop her. On and on, until there was no one left but her.

A supervillain seizing power and swearing revenge on an unjust world, using any and all means to reshape it into whatever they desired. Heroic last stands and brave speeches to rally anyone and everyone to stop the madwoman. Just like everyone expected. Just like how the story always went.

She didn't want to do that. She wanted a different story. Something people wouldn't expect. Something that might actually change the stories that were told.

"God, even now, I can't help but hate cliches." Danielle murmured to herself.

And then she let the power go, the warm glow rushing back to its original owner.

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do." Danielle said as Triumph rose back to his feet. "I'm going to walk over to my car and go home. I'm going to cook my meals and talk with a few friends as they try to console me, and I'm going to mourn my child. I'm going to spend the entire day ignoring everything else in the world, just me and my memories, and then I'm going to go to sleep. The real question is what are you going to do?"

<Continued in Comments>