[Third Person Pov]
Lala soared through the expansive corridors of the massive alien fortress, her bat-like antigravity wings slicing the air with effortless grace. The vast halls stretched endlessly around her, lined with towering metallic structures and strange, pulsing conduits that hummed with alien energy. She glided smoothly between them, weaving past support pillars and hanging platforms as if the labyrinth were nothing more than an open sky.
Her eyes scanned the path ahead while one finger rested thoughtfully against her lips. She tilted her head, quietly pondering the maze of identical passageways. "Now which way am I supposed to go…?" she murmured to herself, searching for any sign that might point toward the main weapon room.
"Make a right at the first chance you get, Lala-sama," Peke replied casually from his usual perch. He was already used to Lala's free-spirited antics and simply did what he did best—look after her.
"Eh? You know the way, Peke?" Lala asked in genuine surprise. She hadn't expected that at all; after all, Peke hadn't been built with any sort of navigation system.
"Yes. You can thank Kal-El and Sol for that," Peke explained as they continued to casually maneuver through the obstacles ahead. "They sent me the exact path you'll need to take."
"Then I'll leave it all to you! Lead the way!" Lala declared merrily, her earlier uncertainty vanishing in an instant. She trusted him completely and began following his directions without hesitation.
"Make a left next, then take another left, followed by a right," Peke instructed more professionally now, taking his role a touch more seriously than was strictly necessary.
"Now a left—Look out!"
The warning came a fraction too late. Both of them noticed the danger only as a spray of sizzling green acid shot toward them. The corrosive liquid struck Lala's right wing, melting straight through the delicate membrane.
Lala cried out as her antigravity systems began to malfunction. Control slipped away in an instant. She plummeted, crashing hard onto the metal floor with a heavy impact that sent a sharp jolt through her body.
"Lala-sama!!" Peke cried out in pure worry. "Are you alright?! Are you hurt?!"
Lala winced lightly and rubbed the side of her head. "I'm okay, Peke. I'm not really injured… but my wings…" She looked over and saw the ugly hole burned clean through the membrane, the edges still slowly corroding.
"Alright, coward!! Show yourselves!" Peke shouted, enraged that anyone would dare attack the princess. "Do you have any idea just who you're messing with!?!"
"A coward?!" a deep, booming voice protested from above.
Groribas stood atop a high platform, looking down at them with open disdain. His body was enormous and heavily muscular, covered in mottled shades of green. He had no eyes on his head. In place of hands he possessed gaping mouths lined with razor-sharp teeth that resembled grotesque crab claws, and a long, sinuous tail ended in yet another snarling head.
"I am Groribas!" he declared. "One of the Generals of our leader Boros! I fear nothing and no one! And anyone who plans to interfere with Lord Boros's plans will be met with an unsightly death!"
"You brainless brute!!" Peke roared, his rage transforming into pure wrath. "You just attacked none other than Her Highness, Princess Lala Satalin Deviluke, daughter of the Emperor of the universe!!"
"Peke… my wings, please," Lala said wearily. She couldn't fly without them, and time was already slipping away.
"Right—forgive me, Lala-sama," Peke answered at once, focusing his energy on reconstructing the damaged membrane.
"Daughter of the Emperor?" Groribas's boisterous laugh echoed through the corridor. "Perfect! We'll take her for ransom and claim a hefty reward for her capture!" Already he was imagining how pleased Boros would be with such an accomplishment.
Peke clicked his tongue in disgust. "What a fool."
By the time the last of the corrosion had been purged and the wing fully restored, Lala had already summoned her winged sword. She spread both wings wide, the repaired membrane gleaming once more.
"I'm sorry," she said firmly, meeting the towering general's gaze without a trace of fear, "but I'm in a bit of a hurry. I can't waste any time on this. I was given an important mission by Superman, and I refuse to disappoint him."
Lala took off in an instant, her restored wings beating hard as she shot upward through the air. She charged straight at Groribas with both hands locked tightly around the hilt of her winged sword, the blade gleaming as she closed the distance in a single aggressive rush.
Groribas did not simply stand and wait. He opened the fanged mouths that served as his hands and unleashed a powerful spray of corrosive acid in a wide, hissing arc. Lala twisted and banked, ducking over one stream and under the next, carefully angling her wings so none of the deadly liquid could touch them. Wherever the acid landed—floor, railings, support beams—it immediately began to melt through the metal with a sharp, acrid sizzle.
The general tracked her flight path with the head on his tail, adjusting his aim, until Lala dropped onto the same elevated platform he occupied. The moment her boots touched the surface she rushed him, sword tip scraping the metal and throwing up a continuous shower of sparks as she kept a low, aggressive stance.
She zigzagged across the platform, elegantly flipping over sweeping claw strikes and snapping tail lashes. The two of them collided in a rapid exchange of blows that shattered the platform beneath their feet, chunks of metal raining down into the depths below. Thin cuts opened across Groribas's shoulders, face, and arms, purple blood welling from the wounds. He retaliated by lunging with the toothed mouths of his claws and swinging both arms and the long tail in heavy, crushing arcs.
Lala dropped into a perfect split to slip beneath the nearest bite, then snapped upright in one fluid motion and drove a powerful kick into his midsection, launching him backward to create space.
As Groribas was thrown, his tail flicked toward her and unleashed a dense storm of acidic breath that swallowed Lala whole in a billowing green cloud.
"I'll admit, princess," his voice rumbled from within the haze, "you're an admirable warrior, but—"
Inside the corrosive cloud Lala's leg muscles tensed. She exploded forward at super speed, bursting free of the acid in a streak of motion. Parts of her clothing had already melted away, but her body remained completely unscathed. She drove onward in a bold, straight rush; the remaining acidic mist parted around her sword as she appeared directly in front of Groribas and swung in a single, blinding flash.
In the next instant she stood behind him. Purple blood coated the length of her blade. She flicked it clean with a casual snap of the wrist.
A single clean line ran from the top of Groribas's head straight down through his torso. He managed only a choked, "…How—" before his body split cleanly in two and the halves collapsed parallel to each other on the broken platform.
Lala stood proudly over the remains, a confident smile on her face—while the last of her damaged clothes finished melting away, leaving her stark naked. Her smooth skin caught the light, the curve of her buttocks gleaming with a soft sheen.
"Lala-sama, your clothes!" Peke shouted in alarm, unable to allow the princess to remain indecent for even a second longer.
"No time!" Lala answered as she broke into a full sprint across the crumbling platform. "I have a mission to complete—fix them along the way!"
"Lala-sama, please! Someone could see you like this!!" Peke cried in despair, already pouring energy into reconstruction.
Suddenly a thunderous eruption roared from deep behind them. They both glanced back to see a massive wave of fire and flame surging outward, consuming everything in its path. Groribas's bisected remains were swallowed by the blast and instantly reduced to ash.
Lala's eyes widened over her shoulder; she only increased her speed. "Peke, I'm counting on you!!" she called with a bright, undimmed smile.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!" Peke shouted in panic as Lala reached the edge of the platform without the slightest hesitation and dove off spread-eagle into the open air.
The explosion and the wall of fire rushed after them, swallowing the entire platform and the space around Lala and Peke. For a single heartbeat everything was white-hot flame—
—then Lala shot upward out of the inferno, her wings wrapped tightly around her body like a protective cocoon. The membranes unfurled, and the flames dissipated at once.
She was no longer naked. A sleek pink-and-white superhero uniform now hugged her figure, a bold letter S displayed proudly across her chest. Leather-like wings extended from her back, and a long, heart-tipped tail swayed behind her the same as the insignia in her chest.
"Dun-dun-dun-DUN! Super Satan Lala is here to save the day!!" she exclaimed, striking a bold pose in mid-air. "Name is still pending!"
"Please be careful," Peke warned, his voice strained. "I used a great deal of energy for that instantaneous construction. Further repairs will be much more difficult if I don't get some rest."
The caution seemed to go in one ear and out the other.
"Let's go, Peke!" Lala proclaimed, already charging forward once more. Her new skirt fluttered brightly in the wind as she streaked deeper into the fortress.
********************************************
+20 advance Chapters on: patreon.com/Shadow_D_Monarch3