Last week, we witnessed the birth of a dark being of terrible power. The Chauvinist rose! Now he sits in his former body’s dorm room. He is not contemplating his next move, for The Chauvinist needs no such foolishness. Planning is the mark of wizards and other wimpy weaklings. Those with power have only to reach out and seize what they deserve.

So it comes as no shock that The Chauvinist begins his reign of terror immediately, smashing the walls of his dorm with the chains and sending them throughout the building to strike at the helpless co-eds living inside. As the chains wrap about their forms they leave behind a tattooed collar about the women's necks.

Initially, they struggle, trying to throw off the magic of these manacles. But slowly they discover that their limbs are no longer their own! In horror, the women can only bear witness as they sit docile waiting for a command.

Then The Chauvinist begins to march forth from the collapsed section of the building. Smashing through the concrete foundations with ease, he parades out to the field in front of the building and begins to assemble his army of unwilling women.

As they begin to move, many of the girls begin fighting anew. They move like puppets in rapid bursts of motion as if invisible strings dragged them along. Many fight back against the compulsion of the collars, but the insidious magic of Thorm Athow remains as potent today as the moment the spell first were cast. So despite the resistance they find themselves marching to the field and standing before the chain-clad villain.

A few moments punctuated by the protestations of the girls passes, and then The Chauvinist bellows, "SILENCE SLAVES!"

Not a sound comes from the mouths of the girls. The field is silent as the women find themselves unable to speak no matter how they try. At first, the crowd is agitated, then they begin jostle one another as panic starts to set in.

"You females who stand before me now are my property from this moment forth! I am your master, and I command you to stand still and wait for my orders!" At this, the ladies find themselves bound, unable to struggle or continue to move about. So one and all they direct their attention to the man standing before them, however unwillingly.

"Today I shall take back this city, returning you females to your proper place as servants of man. Know this; my chain binds you. Put any thought of resistance out of your minds immediately. You will do as I say and the mere thought of disobedience will merit punishment the likes of which your pathetic 'democracy' has never seen. Now go my slaves and secure more of your kind so that I may grow my army!" With a flourish, The Chauvinist dismisses his unwilling attendants.

At this, the women sprint off, quickly seizing the other girls about the campus and those bystanders who happened to venture to close to the mass of bodies. Then, despite resistance, the collared women drag their captives before The Chauvinist whose chain reaches down and encircles their necks adding to his growing army.

For now, The Chauvinist has his run of the city with the campus police quickly overwhelmed as they try not to hurt the clearly captive corps. Yet while they try to avoid harming the women, they have no reservations about harming The Chauvinist!

One brave guard that we may recognize from his previous job as an armored car driver manages to draw a bead on The Chauvinist only to watch in amazement as the supernatural speed of the chains proves faster than a speeding bullet!

In dumb amazement, he lowers his weapon and says, "Golly gee! This mob is some kinda feminine mystique! I wonder if that's what Eldritch meant when she said all women have power?”

Then recoiling as though an idea has just hit him with the force of a 1-2 punch, he exclaims to himself, “Heck, speaking of Eldritch I'd better get her attention otherwise this guy's gonna make Liberty City one ironic name!"

Spinning away, the guard manages to rush over to one of the many reporters converging on the scene, standing in front of the camera he sends out a desperate message, "Hey lady heroine, Eldritch! The city needs ya!"

Then, his attention drawn by the temerity of the guard's attempted assassination, The Chauvinist sends his snaking chains towards the reporter and guard. Wrapping about the guard's arm before he can spin about and send any more bullets at the supervillain the chain begins to drag the guard back towards the center of the mob. Digging his digits into the earth, dragging himself into the angle of the downed camera, the guard shouts, "Eldritchhhhhhhhhhhh haaaaallllllppppp." Finally, he disappears from the screen, leaving behind only a fallen wig.

Far across the city, in an ordinary classroom Mr. Memley is finishing his honors government class lecture for the day. "So you see class, the Association helps coordinate the efforts of governments to protect the public from supervillains. Fortunately super humans are extremely rare but as many of them can cause great hardship in the form of property damage and loss of life it is critical that governments have a body dedicated to assisting those brave heroes who choose to fight back against the supervillain menace."

With a smile, he looks out to the class to see one of his brightest pupils with a raised hand. “Yes Hailey?”

“Don’t you mean heroes and heroines Mr. Memley? We women do a lot of heroic things too.”

Mr. Memley chuckles for a moment and then replies, “Indeed you are correct Ms. Penze. There are quite a few female superheroes, ahem superheroines and unfortunately quite a number of villainesses as well. We all recall the incident with Malefic last year and the manhunt, well wo-manhunt, for Wiccan in the weeks leading up to it. Who can name some female superheroines or super villainesses from outside Liberty City?”

Quickly perusing the room, his eyes settle on a few raised hands. One in particular calls his attention, deciding the risk is worth it he calls out, “Yes, Ginny?”

“In the Northeast, near us: Man-Eater, Fatal Femme, all four Queens in The Deck, Lady of Lace, Becca, and every member of The Coven to name every super villainess active in the past four years not in prison or dead. For the heroines: Bubble, Panto-mine, Sunrise and Sunset, and Jennifer. Although two of them don’t really count. Jennifer is retired and she wouldn’t have been here if it wasn’t for Becca and Becca… well she’s Becca.”

Looking slightly flustered at her response, Mr. Memley sputters for a moment then replies, “V-very good Ms. Napp. You are correct that Becca does not actually belong in a list of ‘local’ problems and we may all thank the good lord for that! Your encyclopedic list is completely accurate, except that it applies the definition of ‘female’ to strictly. You’ll have to get less mechanical with this Ms. Napp. After all, you forgot three supers. Can anyone name them?”

Glancing around the room again, he lets his eyes drift for a moment before settling on a hand in the back, “Yes, Bella.”

A girl sits up in her desk, pushing up her glasses she speaks animatedly. “You mean the supers who don’t have a clear gender right? Like Segulok?”

Mr. Memley puts his hands out as if to calm down the girl’s enthusiasm just a notch. “You’ve hit it right on the head Ms. Atropa. Although Segulok is certainly not a local, he or she is probably the most famous example of a super whose change robbed him or her of any gender traits. Some supers will tell us their previous gender and all we have to do is ask. In rare cases, like that of Artemis, we can look at the timing of the change and compare that to a list of people in the area. However, most of the time a location isn’t ironclad because accidents happen and people end up in strange places. But for some locations, this isn’t the case as Artemis demonstrates. Locally, we have three of those. I assume you can name them Bella?”

“Of course I can Mr. Memley! Restrictor, Leaf Lord, and Wendigo. Next time you’ll have to ask a hard question.” She rushes through her answer with a smile and joke at the end.

Unfortunately, for Bella Atropa, her joke does not go over so well with the rest of the room. Many of the students shoot her disgruntled looks of disdain. Bella isn’t a know it all, but she does have the sophomore’s valedictorian slot securely locked up. Of course, much can change in two and a half more years and a number of students would like nothing more than to see anyone topple the untouchable Bella from her perch atop the rankings.

But for now she holds on despite the quiet dislike directed her way. Her friendship with a few of the football players, stemming from her willingness to tutor Jake through over half his classes, has made it a faux pas to bully her openly anymore. With a growing friendship between her and our clique from this morning, Bella is finally starting to grow beyond the books. Although her favorite haunt remains an out of the way corner in the back of the school library’s encyclopedia section.

So, the grumbles of the malcontents quiet after a few admonishing looks from Theo and the girls. Mr. Memley is quick to regain control of the class, beginning to return to the topic of the day. “Well, that’s all the women in the area. Let’s return our attention to the Association, who ca-”

Then an out of breath teacher rushes into the room, Mr. Memley frowns at the interruption and asks, "Mr. Glass, Philip, please calm down. What seems to be the issue?"

"Tu-" pausing to breathe for a moment Mr. Glass then continues, "Turn... turn on the news!"

Quickly moving to the lone TV hanging in the corner of the room Mr. Memley turns it on and after a moment increases the volume loud enough for the announcer's voice to reverberate throughout the room.

"-oever this 'Eldritch' is we can only hope they respond quickly to the events unfolding today at Liberty University. We go now to replay that stunning footage from moments ago where one of our very own LCNN cameras managed to get close enough to record this short clip of the perpetrator of today's events. We caution our viewers that these images may not be suitable for children..."

The overwhelming sound of static and screaming takes over the screen as the camera that the guard previously fought to reach lies still recording. Slowly the grainy image shifts as a chain wraps itself in front of the display moving with the absence of any visible manipulation. Inexorably a throne forms from the moving strands.

Now sauntering into view with several of his captives pacing next to him, The Chauvinist strolls over to his throne and sits himself down. The women arrange themselves like ornaments, dripping off the sides of chair and clinging to his legs. Then the camera angle shifts as the chains begin to lift the fallen device bringing the devastation of Melvin's former dorm into full view and the full extent of The Chauvinist's army into full view.

"Liberty City, for too long have you ignored the natural dominance of man over woman. For too long have you allowed women to engage in upstart activities like education. At this University, a shrine to decadence and unnatural female aggrandizement, I have chosen to make my first move. I will return the men of the city to their proper place. Together we will correct the foolishness allowed by your henpecked leaders. Join me! Together we will put these upstart females back in their place and restore the dominance of man!"

Then the camera falls down, cutting off the recording and leaving the classroom in a stunned silence. To the surprise of everyone, Theo speaks first, "What a nutter! 'Women in their proper place?' The only proper place for a woman is wherever she decides. Besides," he intones with a sudden grin and glance about the room, "I kinda like girls getting an education, if they weren't here school would be way worse. And I do know the football team would be way less motivated!"

At his pronouncement, even Mr. Memley cracks a smile. Together the students share a few laughs as the tension of the broadcast begins to fade. Then Mr. Memley speaks, "Okay students, with the situation I think it's best if we all head to the basement and engage in the same protocol we use for tornadoes. We should be safe there."

But as they file out of the room, a pair of girls disappears in opposite directions. Ducking out of the crowds and into less populated areas of the school these two girls find themselves alone and in one corner the sound of a snapping pair of fingers reverberates throughout the hall while in another the hushed whisper of an arcane cant rings. Then, a few moments later the pair takes off into the sky, one flying with the assistance of metallic wings and the other floating mere inches above the rooftops as she races towards Liberty University.

As they race towards one certain confrontation with a menace unlike any other our pair of heroines also race to another confrontation neither could have predicted! Join us next week as we see the first meeting between our two favorite teenage heroines in... "Vis a Vis!"