Not-So-Peaceful Transfer of Power (Ch.2)

The President clenched her fists and threw her head back to cope with the enormous power beginning to course through her entire body emanating from the medal around her neck. Elevated in the air, Elena's feet instinctively pointed down towards the floor while her arms began to stretch outwards. The pain was incredible, yet, as the pleasure of her transformation began to slowly kick in, the agony was eventually cancelled out. The euphoria of fresh energy flooding every cell and re-making her before the assorted onlookers was, of course, overwhelming, but the commander-in-chief still felt somewhat in control.

As before, her assistant Rachel clung to her notes yet soon even she found herself needing to raise a single hand to protect her eyes from the increasingly blinding white-bluish light that engulfed her boss. There was also a force being cast from the bubble that she was encased in, with it slowly moving across the room and pushing those watching gently back against the walls of the facility. The only one that remained on their knees was Sam; the now weakened hero who could only view her empowerment with regret and horror.

It was his erstwhile might that was now filling her up and making her more dangerous than anyone possibly ever had been. The most powerful person politically on the planet was now becoming the most powerful person physically on Earth. Was there a way he could stop her? He couldn't think of one in that moment, and even if he did come up with a plan, he no longer had the strength to fully act upon it.

There was a person, though. He knew that much. One single person out there that might stand a chance, but before he could ponder yet further, he noticed Elena's growth.

Her business suit began to give way as her muscle mass increased. More and more President Machtig did grow. She wouldn't stop until she was as big as Sam had been previously. She wanted everything. She wanted to be the best. The tops. The apex. Her thighs then tore through her pants, and her biceps split the seams of her shirt and jacket. She didn't think it was possible that anyone could feel as strong as she felt now...

And then, just like that, the process ended and her transition was complete. Elena fell to the ground, landing perfectly on her feet, yet with body and head bent over. She panted for a second and got her bearings. Perhaps understandably, her mind was slightly clouded due to the extraordinary ordeal it had been put through. Her body felt heavier as she slowly drew herself up again. There was an audible gasp from those surrounding her as she finally stood tall. She opened her eyes and began studying her new form, quickly finding herself confronted with bugling, veiny biceps and thighs, rock hard abs, and mountainous back muscles. Her hair had spilled out of its bun and now flowed down both shoulders, obscuring her huge traps.

"Well, guess I won't need Secret Service protection anymore!" she laughed before literally dismissing her detail.

Her sleeves were in absolute rags and hanging off her arms. Around her brawny neck and still intact was the Presidential medal of Freedom that she had taken back from Sam and placed on herself. She quickly removed it then and held it in front of the others with disdain.

Sam looked up and realized that if he somehow could get hold of it he might be able to turn himself back to his old self and save the day; yet, as he reached upwards for it, his vain heroism caught the eye of Elena.

"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" she snapped before placing the medal itself into the palm of her hand and making a crushing motion. It didn't take long before the metal emblem was bent and twisted beyond all recognition. When she was done, she turned her hand sideways and dropped the destroyed device onto the floor. Sam grabbed it as quick as he could but realized it was utterly broken.

"There is no going back now," she proclaimed. "Your powers are now mine."

"You don't realize what you've done," he replied. "The world needs me. The country needs me."

"Nonsense," she scoffed. "They have me now."

As she said this, she began flexing her muscles once more, causing what was left of the sleeves to tear off and fall to the ground. She took a piece of the ripped fabric in her fingers then and joked about needing a new tailor. She even thought of taking Sam's superhero costume, but thought it rather tacky and obvious. Despite this, she took the time to pull his American flag cape free only to tie it around her own throat and allow it to drape around the remains of her grey business suit.

She turned to Dr. Rath then.

"I know this wasn't part of the plan, but I'd call it a successful experiment, eh?" she said.

The doctor nodded his head and smiled. "Very. And judging by my data it is a permanent change for you."

"I really can't go back to the way I was?"

"I don't think so. At least not without the medal or some similar device," he said.

"Excellent," she replied. "I can't thank you enough. I'll make sure you get all the funding you-"

"You're a fool, Machtig," Sam interrupted. "Get all the funding? Like I said before, you're no longer going to even be leader after what you've done. This just makes things even worse. Once people see what's become of you, how insane you are, they'll rebel. You might be physically powerful, but your days of holding real power are over."

"So sure are you?" she replied sarcastically, reaching down and grabbing Sam's narrow shoulders and lifting him off the ground in front of her. "I partly took your strength because I knew it would keep me safe and in a position of-"

"But apparently he is right," Rachel interrupted before coming to her side. The small woman was now dwarfed by the enhanced size of this new super president. "Look, word has already gotten out, and your VP has taken immediate action."

"She's what?!" asked a startled Elena. Rachel showed her a video on social media of vice president Lilly Alden making an announcement that she would seek impeachment and application of the 25th amendment to have Elena removed.

"So, while I was having my fun here, she was having hers? Typical," revealed Elena, still rather unconcerned. "If she thinks she can just sweep in and take away the office from me just like that, well, she has another thing coming to her."

"What are you going to do?" asked a worried and still dangling Sam.

Elena smiled. "Ever see Superman 2? That part where they drop into the White House? Well, I always loved that scene..."

With that, she trailed off and dropped the defeated, exhausted former superhero to the floor. He fell in a heap and again struggled to draw up the strength to even challenge her. Elena herself simply turned to her assistant instead.

"Rachel, let them know that I'm on my way. I want them to wheel out the welcome wagon for my triumphant homecoming. I'll even give them some time to prepare."

Rachel smirked and began typing away on her phone. As she did so, Elena placed her hands out and tried to simulate floating, just like Sam had once been able to do. Twenty or so seconds later and she was gingerly flying above them. A smile grew on her face, and her angular jaw moved outwards to accommodate her almost gurning, excitable expression.

"Meet you later at the White House, Rachel."

She looked upwards at the roof then and moved towards it. As she got closer her speed increased. It all felt second nature to her now, yet at the same time Elena knew she was taking a big risk. Would she be able to stop herself? Would she fly straight into space? As she reached the ceiling, she raised one of her curvy, bulging arms and pointed a fist upwards, crashing through the rafters and safely escaping the lab. Beneath, the debris fell down upon those below and left inside.

Rachel braced herself, but when the noise subsided, still found her body in one piece, albeit covered in dust. The scheming young woman smiled at the president's amazing new abilities before calmly leaving the room in the direction of the exit, seemingly ignorant of the panic all around her.

When free of the structure, her boss made every effort to halt her quick advance into the atmosphere. It wasn't easy, but she soon learned how to control this new power over gravity itself. For a time then she practiced, swooping up and down in the ether. When fully comfortable with it, she stopped and allowed herself another, brief chuckle. It was incredible. She was incredible.

Now well above ground, Elena could see for miles all around her and searched the horizon for the Washington Monument. Her eyesight was now such that she easily caught glimpse of it, and, when ready, lowered herself into a horizontal position, and pushed her arms and fists out straight in front of her. Building up a lot of internal energy, she then let rip and blasted herself across the sky in the direction of, she hoped, the White House. As she did so, there was a loud boom that rocked those below who were left to look up in bewilderment or despair, or maybe both.

When she arrived near the building, her VP Lilly Alden had indeed set a course to formally have her removed from public office with the help of the other branches of government. But Elena wasn't having any of it.

The National Gaurd had been called in reaction to Rachel's warning, but did they even stand a chance? They waited with baited breath as a figure could suddenly be seen crash landing in front of them just down the street from the White House. A large cloud of dust appeared subsequently that obscured their view, and yet, something was moving in there, something confident and mighty.

Elena Machtig appeared from the fog then, still in her tattered presidential suit and accompanying stars and stripes cape. The guards weren't sure how to react. Nothing in their training prepared them for such an absurd scenario, yet soon the order came through to open fire. Current President or not, she was now a threat.

"Open fire? That's only an order I can give!" she informed them as the bullets started ricocheting off of her chest and face. She stood there, hands newly on hips, and let them onload on her. It wasn't long before their ammo ran low and they were forced to stop and rethink their tactics, taking cover behind a platoon of four Abrams tanks.

"Aww, where are you going?" she asked, mocking their retreat. It was only then that she noticed the lead tank's turret shuddering and the vehicle jerking backwards. A shell was vomited forth and right in her direction, but she actually caught it and pointed it upwards instead, letting it swirl and explode.

"Silly boys," she said. "It's not the 4th of July yet!"

She walked over to the tank then, and suddenly her expression changed to one of absolute fury. She smashed her fist through the front of the machine and proceeded to pick it up. Terrified, the occupants jumped out and fell painfully to the ground before fleeing. Despite all of her strength, it was still difficult to lift such a heavy object over her head, yet she managed to do it. Growling, Elena threw the tank down the street into another, sending both through the front of a nearby building, thus blocking the path of the remaining armoured vehicles. Nothing would stop her approach to the White House it seemed.

She lifted herself off the ground and floated forward over the remaining scattered troops who were left powerless to stop her, though some tried, pointing their guns up and pulling the trigger; yet, inevitably, it made little difference.

When she landed on the lawn, she was confronted by a Secret Service that would once have risked their lives to protect her but now we're risking their lives in order to stop her. The minute they pulled out their guns, she raised her hands and slapped them together. The sheer force of their impact produced a shockwave that sent the agents flying. With one simple motion she had removed this newest obstacle. All that was left now was to enter the Oval Office itself.

But, when she finally crashed through the large windows and landed by the desk, she found no one inside except a single 4-star general who had actually been waiting patiently for her. He had a hard face, and showed no overt signs of fear.

"Madam President," he said relucantly and with a grunt.

"You're new to me?" replied a confused Elena. "But what do you want? And where is my treacherous VP?"

"She's not been treacherous at all," he replied, unmoved. "She's trying to do her job. The truth is, you're not fit anymore for duty."

As he said this, he pointed down to a single white piece of paper on her desk, and a pen by its side.

"So why not do the decent thing? Just resign instead. Save us even having to remove you. Save yourself," he advised.

"Not a chance," she revealed to him, taking the paper up and crushing it. "I won't leave, and you can't remove me. You can't stop me. In fact, no one can."

"Don't be so sure," replied the general.

She just smirked and then sat down in her chair, putting her feet up on the table.

"Go on then, take it away from me," she said, throwing her arms up and pointing around the office.

Before he could react, however, there was a ruckus coming from outside. Elena turned away from him as a result and noticed the arrival of back up. But this "back up" wasn't government mandated nor a plan by the general. It was what the media had once described as "The 13" i.e. a loose group of thirteen vigilantes or superheros that came together and worked at times as a unit to overcome serious existential threats to society, and this was certainly one of them. They were also friends of Sam and weren't too pleased with what had now been reported.

All thirteen had arrived in Washington from the surrounding states, and upon Elena's appearance, had set upon the building and decided to take her down. Perhaps as one they could overcome her immense power.

Indeed, they wasted little time in tackling her. Some of the heroes had powers, others were just incredibly skilled fighters. Each covered their face and hid behind pseudonyms to protect their identity. The leader of the band was known as Altomir, a mysterious character whom the others in the group followed without question. He led the assault but looked on with increasing concern as the thirteen brave attackers were repelled which each effort.

Elena laughed and took great pleasure picking up and flinging them across the room, the hallways, even though a wall or two if they were robust enough. One was even thrown through the roof and crashed back down again. No matter how hard they tried to tag team or triple team or quadruple team her, they always ended up on the losing side. Eventually, Elena had had enough.

"I'm bored of this now," she declared, picking up Altomir by the scruff of his neck. "Call them off! Call them off or I'll snap your neck right in front of them. Then, I'll hunt your team down one by one and do the same to them. Do you really want to be responsible for that?"

"This isn't possible" he replied, struggling to get free. "We've never been defeated when we've teamed up together."

"That just means you've never gone up against someone like me," she replied, switching him to her other hand and placing it around his throat. "Now what did I say? Call them off or I'll kill them off!"

Altomir stared into her uncaring eyes for a second or two and then looked towards the others. He raised his hand and commanded them to stand down.

"That's a neat trick, eh?" she smiled. "I wouldn't mind having a strong entourage like this myself. Thirteen, like strips on the flag, eh? I wonder, could you possibly make them pledge allegiance to me? After all, I am the President, and I am wearing the flag."

But Altomir hesitated. As he did so, Elena's face grew cold again and her whole demeanour appeared to become even more menacing than before. Every second he dallied, she squeezed even harder. Before he passed out or worse, he managed to nod in agreement. When she finally let go and he had caught his breath again, he convinced his twelve reluctant but faithful companions to relent and, at least for now, follow the orders of their commander-in-chief. Their survival apparently depended on it. The survival of others within the building might also depend on it.

"So," she started, turning back to the aforementioned general. "Where is the VP again?"

He hadn't budged despite all of the action that had broken out around him. Even Elena secretly respected him for that. In fact, unlike the 13, she realised that picking him off then ground and threatening him wouldn't work. He was too hard-nosed. But before she tried interrogating him further, she had a revelation of her own.

"The bunker!" she gasped. "Of course. That's where Lilly is hiding. She's right below us, isn't she?"

The general was left mute, but Elena didn't even need to hear a response from him in order to act. Instead, she joyfully floated out through the broken windows and onto the lawn again, tearing down under the ground so she could grab hold of the exterior of the bunker that resided many meters below. If lifting the tank was a bit of a challenge to her, then ripping the bunker open was truly going to be an ordeal, yet she quickly went about her task with gusto. Inside, however, the occupants weren't so enthusiastic. All they could hear now was concrete being smashed, and metal being manipulated and bent backwards, as if Elena was opening their hideout like a tin of sardines.

"Hello down there!" she cried to them when done. "Is my former VP around by any chance? I need to have a word with her. Ah yes, there she is," finished Elena, floating down and picking up her second-in-command.

Dragging her back up to the remains of the Oval Office she pulled Lilly Alden close to her face then. "I heard you were thinking of removing me? Well, let me beat you to the punch because I'm here to inform you that your services as a VP are no longer required. In fact, there isn't even a need for a VP anymore, so get lost!"

With that, she let Lilly go. The same with those crawling out of the bunker beyond. She warned them, though -and the general as well- to never show their faces again. As the building slowly emptied, only President Machtig and members of the 13 remained. Smiling, she reached and easily pulled over her desk and chair. She sat down then and placed her feet back on top while putting her hands behind her head.

"Ahh, all in a day's work," she said, finally content. "Sam is gone, Alden is gone. There is no one better than I now. No one. All of my enemies are smoked."

However, as the general left the grounds, he found himself beside the retreating, apparently former VP.

"How can we stop her now?" she wondered aloud.

The general nodded.

"But that's what I tried to tell her before I was interrupted. We have a secret project of our own. OK, she has all of that power now, and the 13 stripes on her side, but us? We still have the fifty stars.

To be continued...