GOLDENMAYNE: RETURN TO RIVER CITY

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WITH BOTH HER FATHER AND DR. DiSALVO'S FATHER DYING DESPITE HER BEST EFFORTS, AND GINGERLOXX OUT OF THE CRIME-FIGHTING PICTURE FOR GOOD BECAUSE SHE EXPOSED HERSELF IN CRONUS'S TRIAL. SYLVIA ROTHBERG RETURNS TO RIVER CITY WITH A HEAVY HEART. HAVING STAGED HER OWN DEATH TO ENTER THE WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM, GINGERLOXX HAD BEQUEATHED THE BROWNSTONE THAT HOUSED HER LAB AND PENTHOUSE APARTMENT TO HER FORMER COMRADE IN ARMS IN THE PROMISE THAT SHE CONTINUE FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT FOR JUSTICE.

IN THE FOUR YEARS SINCE, SYLVIA HAD ENTERED AND GRADUATED THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI'S SCHOOL OF LAW AND PASSED THE BAR. SPECIALIZING IN TAX LAWS, THE HENCHWOMAN-TURNED MILD-MANNERED MOUTHPIECE MAKES A COMFORTABLE LIVING FOR HERSELF, ESPECIALLY WITH SO LITTLE CRIME ON THE STREET AFTER THE CAPTURE OF HER ESTRANGED GRANDFATHER. UNFORTUNATELY, THINGS ARE ABOUT TO CHANGE...

Dressed in her modified costume--a black eye mask, black leather long-sleeve leotard with a black and yellow yin-yang symbol on the front, black tights, and the black lace-up boots all coated with the same bulletproof liquid compund Gingerloxx invented--Goldenmayne soars above the River City skyline on what seems to be yet another pedestrian patrol of the metropolis until...

The loud sound of glass shattering and an alarm shatters the quiet of the night. Goldie promptly swoops down to the source--Falkland's Jewelry Store on the corner of Main and South 10th Streets. A nonosecond after she touches down, Goldie promptly senses something amiss with her psycho-kinetic sixth sense. She unholsters her billiard bopgun as she enters the now completely obliterated storefront. She detects movement in the enclosed back room, but none of the display cases out front appeared to have been touched.

"There's something funny going on here," she thought to herself as she treaded softly toward the back room door. "I just can't get a read on wha--" Suddenly the door bursts open, knocking the blonde onto the floor. Two musclebound men in dark grey pinstripe suits, black derbys and black eye masks run out and quickly throw the door off her. Before Goldie can react, the men quickly each grab one of her wrists and pull her to her feet.

"You were right, Boss!" One decalared with a southern drawl as a still shaken-up Goldie weakly grunted and tried to tug herself free of her captors. "Goldenmayne came runnin' just like you said she would!"

"Indeed." A third man of decidedly smaller and skinny build replied with a British accent and dressed in the same garb as his heavies as he emerged from the back room with a sneer curling his lip and a burlap sack full of the diamonds from the safe. "Was there any doubt?"

"Unh! Let go of me! Urrnnh! Let go!" Goldie, now completely over the impact of the door and at full strength, snarled defiantly, as she used her tele-kinetic powers to rip an intercom speaker off the wall and send toward the criminals.

"Aah, aah, aah!" the miniscule mastermind said and shot a red beam from his eyes to blow up the speaker in mid-air. "We'll have none of that, Miss Goldenmayne." He added coolly, then ordered his minions, "Quickly, knock her out! I want her alive!"

Removing a chloroform soaked handkerchief from the breast pocket, both men promptly covered Goldie's mouth and nose. The mastermind laughed as she mmphed and grunted until she was rendered unconscious.

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WHEN GOLDIE CAME TO, SHE FOUND HERSELF IN A DARKENED ROOM WITH A SPOTLIGHT IN HER AND HER HANDS AND FEET SHACKLED TO WHAT APPEARED TO BE A MEDIEVAL RACK. THE STRANGE THING ABOUT THE SHACKLES WERE THAT THEY WERE A FLOURESCENT GREEN...

"Where am I?" she thought as she tried to tug herself free of her binds.

"Ah, I see you've awaken, Miss Rothberg?" the same British accent echoed and chuckled. Goldie eyes doubled in disbelief at the villain adressing her that way. "You're probably wondering how I know who you are? Well, let's say that we go way back, young lady." He quipped and chuckled again.

"Well, whomever you are, you aren't that bright!" Goldie remarked as she looked at the shackle on her right wrist, summoning her tele-kinetic powers to unlock it. "Not only do you have these glowing chains on me, but you put a spotlight on me as well. As long as I can see, I can use my--ahh!" Goldie suddenly screamed as she got a shock. "What the hell?"

The captor scornfully guffawed, then said, "That is where you are wrong, Dear Sylvia. I am well aware of your inability to use your powers when you cannot see. However, I have come across a second weakness, one that you were not aware you even had!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The glowing shackles I've chained you with are no ordinary shackles. They are coated with an incandescent phosphorous paint. Phosphorous in its gaseous form is harmless to you, but turn it into solid or liquid form, then apply liberally to your skin, it creates an electric charge, renderring you are as helpless as a kitten!" The captor gloated and laughed.

"Who are--yahhh!" Goldie asked before getting shocked again as she tried to struggle.

"You mean to tell me you don't remember me?" the captor asked as he entered the spotlight, and removed his eye mask. "How about now?" he asked in a normal voice as he stood over his prey with a sneer from ear-to-ear.

Goldie's eyes bubbled in shock and disbelief. She began to gasp frantically as she stammered, "Ch-Ch-Chancellor Augustine? But-but-but th-th-th-that's impossible! I killed you!"

"No, no. You thought you killed me." He said. "You see, when you launched me through that plate glass window, impaling me on one of the shards, you missed my heart and other vital organs by fractions of an inch. I came to before the police arrived, and used my power of levitation to extracate myself, then hobbled away on foot. It took months of recovery. But by then, you had jetted off to Europe. I thought I had missed my chance to exact my revenge, but fortunately for me, your mentor/lover had been gunned down in front of the courthouse. I knew that would send you back to America. Before his capture, your grandfather shared with me the secret of the phosphoric compound he used in addition to his stolen tele-kinetic powers from your father to weaken you severely. For years, I waited, I watched, I followed you as you got your law degree and enjoyed a plush life--all the time unaware I was in the shadows, salivating, planning, and dreaming of my opportunity to pounce. And now, you're mine! No former professor, and no knight in red and black armor to save you." Augustine explained and cackled.

"What are you going to with me?" Goldie asked as a lump grew in her throat.

"That's for me to know, and you to...NOT!" Augustine replied. "I'll give you a hint, though. I hope you're comfy, and can keep yourself together." He quipped and laughed then retreated into the dark slowly.


WHAT DOES THIS OLD FOE HAVE IN STORE OUR HAPLESS HERIONE? STAY TUNED...

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Being in no mood to find out what Chancellor Augustine (aka Professor Swift) had in store for her, Goldie quickly began to ponder a way out of phoshorous shackles. Even the slightest fidget could send a paralyzing shock throughout her body. Suddenly, she heard a odd sound like a churning stream of water.

"Oh, My God!" she thought. "He's going to drown me!"



"By the way, Miss Rothberg, that is not water that is filling the chamber!" Chancellor proclaimed over a loud speaker hidden somewhere in the shadows. "It's...



"SULFURIC ACID!" Goldie screeched, smelling the unmistakenly putrid aroma.



"Mixed with Hydrocloric Acid for an exponential corrosive tang! HA, HA, HA, HA, HAAAA! Goodbye, Goldenmayne!"



Goldie knew she had to think fast. Suddenly, she remembered a little trick Simon taught her. Using deft concentration to not move her restraint and shok herself again, she used her pointer and middle fingers of her left hand and reached into her hair to pull out a bobby pin she used to keep her hair out of her eyes. Then, she quickly began picking the lock of her right hand's shackle. It came loose within a fraction of a second, then with her free hand, she undid her other restraint.

"Looks like you taught me something useful after all, Big Brother." She said to herself as she sat up and free her ankles as the table began sink as the acid ate away its foundation.

Now free of her bonds, Goldie used the light from the shackles to concentrate on the door. As the table sank lower and lower to the floor, Goldie used as much strength as she could muster to finally dent, and then knock down the door with her telekinesis. The acid sailed out of the chamber and out into a well-lit hallway. To avoid having her feet burned, Goldie floated outside and guided the trail of gushing acid toward an exteror wall, using it to make an exit.

Seeing all this from a set of closed-circuit monitors in a hidden room. Chancellor Augustine roared with fury and baned his fists on a table.



"AFTER HER, YOU FOOLS!" He ordered his cohorts as they chased her out of the hideout.



This time, Goldie was ready for these two oafish mastodons. Using her telekinetic powers once more, Goldie uprooted a weeping willow and sent it flying toward the two men at full force. By the time they could see it coming, it was too late. It whacked them so hard, it toppled them both like a 7-10 split. Goldie left both men pinned and struggling under the tree, then came back for Augustine.

Augustine had already used a secret hatch beneath the hidden room to climb down to an underground tunnel. Confident he had shaken Goldenmayne he sauntered to his getaway car and climbed in. He was approaching the exit when he was stopped dead in his tracks by Goldenmayne standing before him with her arms folded. He picked up speed trying to mow her down, but with the use of her telekinetic powers once again, Goldie not only stopped the speeding Seville, but also tipped it upside down.

A dazed and defeated Chancellor crawled out the driver's seat window, and looked up to Goldie standing before him.

"I suggest you stay down this time, Chancellor Augustine!" She said folding her arms.

The Chancellor groaned and angrily began crying as he kicked and punched the ground as he lied on his stomach.

AND ONCE AGAIN, RIVER CITY IS SAFE THANKS TO GOLDENMAYNE!!!!