Aegis at Titan's Cove

It felt good to be back in Angel Falls. The muscle-bound woman smiled as the wind whipped through her mane of thick ginger hair as she soared overhead. The citizens down below gasped and pointed excitedly, fingers jutting upwards towards the amazonian woman as she raced across the skyline. Faces pressed up against windows from the many skyscrapers that cluttered the horizon, all hoping to get a glimpse of the superheroine flying past them. No matter how long anyone lived in Angel Falls and no matter how many heroes and heroines had made this their protectorate, it always seemed like they never got used to seeing such sights.
It was a warm sunny day, with just the right amount of summer wind coming in to keep a person from sweating too badly. Even the villainous underbelly of the city must have been feeling the nice weather as there hadn't been any real disturbance all day, something for which Aegis was incredibly grateful. She banked to the right, and flew in low towards the white, sandy beaches that lined coast.

Breathing in the salty sea air coupled with the delicious smells of the nearby boardwalk she cut across the water just fast enough to leave a wake but not so fast as to create anything dramatic. A volleyball sized swath broke the surface of the cool, blue waters before crashing back down in on itself as she passed by. She had been away far too long. The reunion with her father had gone well and Sally was glad that the city was almost exactly as she remembered it. Soon enough she would have to catch up with Walkiria, Soviet Superwoman, and all her old friends. Near sunset, the busty red-head had moved past the vacationing spots, past the volleyball games and hordes of swimmers out enjoying the beautiful day and was making her way through the more rocky, craggy areas to the north of the boardwalks when she spied something glinting in one of the coves. Aegis moved towards the object and arched an eyebrow as she drew closer. It was a series of workout equipment for what appeared to be a large, well-out-of-the-way weight-training exercise area. Sally landed near the deserted equipment and moved in to take a closer look.

The entire area was fenced in with a strange blue metal and had row after row of incredibly large barbells. As darkness spilled onto the gym, lights appeared seemingly from nowhere and cast the entire area in shadows. At the back of the gym, stood a metallic red sign with black lettering: "Welcome back to the Falls, Sheild of Athena." Sally smirked, then pushed on the gate and was somewhat surprised there was no lock. The well-oiled gate swung open with nary a sound and she stepped inside. The mats on the floor were comfortable to walk on and left slight impressions from her footfalls that slowly popped back up and regained their shape as she made her way past the various workout benches. Aegis ran her hands over the oddly hued metal weights. They came in three shades, a dazzling gold, deep crimson, and cobalt blue. Each seemed to be man-made and incredibly unique. Aegis's mind raced at the possibilities. What where they? She wondered what their properties were, their levels of ionization energy, their electromagetivity, and what their different densities were! She grabbed hold of one of the blue weights and lifted it off the rack. The number stamped on the side indicated that it was half a ton. Aegis quickly did the math in her head as she rotated the weight around in her hands. It had to be incredibly dense, about ten times that of iron to hold that amount of weight and be that size. Sally was placing the tremendous weight back when a huge shadow suddenly fell over her. Aegis whipped around, dropping into a defensive position.

In front of her was a gigantic man nearly 20 feet tall! He had swarthy complexion, a long mane of thick black hair, and a build best described as very athletic but not hugely muscular and bulky. He was incredibly fit and toned, with his olive skin gleaming with sweat. The giant being wore on an exotic looking sarong and gladiator style sandals. He smiled down at her in a non-threatening manner and held his palms up.

"Ho-ho!" the man exclaimed. "I don't mean you any harm my dear. My name is Titan and this..." he smiled proudly , waving an arm over the area, "this is my cove. Titan's Cove!"

Aegis relaxed a little. She had seen many strange beings here in Angels Falls, everything from Lovecraftian-style elder-beings, to a demonic invasion to a cybernetic monkey bent on global conquest. This giant being seemed to be non-threatening and technically she might have trespassed on his property.

"Sir, I'm Aegis, and I apologize if I trespassed here." Sally said, maintaining eye-contact.

The giant threw his head back and chuckled. "Trespassed? My dear, the entire reason for this location is for you and your friends to come and hone your bodies into chiseled, glistening works of muscular art! It is I who trespassed upon you this day, shield of Athena!"

"Right..." Aegis nodded, still not fully at ease with the stranger. "Sir, does anyone else know about this location?"

Titan nodded. "First, please don't call me sir. Titan will do. Second point: three at the very least. One is a woman named Connie, who is a strikingly tall amazon of ginger persuasion, much like yourself, with but one eye and a penchant for smoking. The other is a dark-haired Russian woman named Olga who grows a bit larger every time she works out here with her usual grueling regimen. The third is the hugely muscular and exceptionally strong Fantastic Lin."

Aegis put her hands on her hips and looked around. "Sir, Mr. Titan."

"Just Titan will do, thank you."

"Yes, sir." She says holding up the half-ton dumbell like it was a toy, "Do you mind if I ask what these metals are? This one in particular seems to have a molecular density of at least 78.7 grams per cubic centimeter if my guess is correct and..."

"Ho-ho! You are a brainy one aren't you. That is called Athenium, a name for which I am sure you are familiar. It is easily the strongest metal of the three at about a thousand times the tensile strength of carbon steel. It is also incredibly dense as you have discovered. The red metal is Mjolnorium named after the mighty Norse god of thunder and storms. It's the densest at twenty times the density of iron and about 100 times as durable. It is also superconductive! The gold metal is called Resium. It's named after the Egyptian God Re, their sun god. In addition to being five times as dense as iron and twenty five times as durable, it also--unlike every other known metal--is almost completely non-conductive. Does this satisfy your curiosity my dear?"

"It certainly answers some of my questions, sir. But I..."

"Perhaps you would get to know my metals and weights if you worked out with them for awhile. You seem to be another beautiful woman of staggering musculature and strength. Come and try them out for yourself."

"I would hardly say stagegring, sir." Aegis nodded looking around at the weights. Olga had been here apparently and so had the Crimson Conservative and even possibly Lin. Sally wasn't on the friendliest terms with the 9' conservative, but Olga was a good friend and she would have to ask her pointedly about Titan and his cove. As for right now he seemed good-natured enough and non-threatening. Aegis moved to rack one of the bars with a set of the Mjolnorium weights when Titan made a tsking sound.

"Come, come! You cannot workout on a glorious day like this dressed in a uniform such as that! Surely you would be more comfortable in a bikini of some sort, like your friends."

Aegis wrinkled her nose. "I'll pass then. Thank you, sir. The temperature isn't bothering me at all and being a red-head, I tend to burn easily."

Titan folded his arms. "Well I am afraid I must insist, besides you have a Mediterranean complexion."

Aegis put the bar down and folded her arms in kind. "Guilty as charged, sir. It still doesn't matter; that isn't going to happen. This is a public beach. Despite the seemingly isolated location, I can see based on the few pieces of litter and the depressions in the sand that people come here, probably to see the scantily clad heroines working out. Now I know Olga doesn't place as much emphasis on modesty. She grew up during a war and bunked with soldiers, almost entirely men, and I have no idea how you got ultra-conservative Connie to shed any clothing, and well Lin does modelling, but if this is your dress code, then I must graciously decline your invitation, sir."

"Oh, come now! Is it really such a great thing to show off such a dazzlingly sculpted body? Why you have a physique to rival Penthesilea herself!"

Sally shook her head. "If you'll excuse me then, sir. I have more of the city to patrol."

Aegis nodded once politely and made her way past the enormous man back towards the gate. As she passed by him, the man chuckled and leaned down, intercepting her with his palms out in front.

"Very well, very well. I yield. I would not want to miss the opportunity to see you and have more conversation over something as trivial as a swimsuit. You are free to return and workout whenever you desire Aegis, shield of Athena!"

Sally smiled in response. "Then, sir, I may very well have to return and give these curious weights a try, thank you." After she checked with Olga on this individual she thought to herself. It would give her an excuse to see her old friend and catch up in any event.

Titan watched her as she let herself out the gate and flew back off into the azure sky.

"I hope that you do my dear." he whispered to himself.

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Aegis and Titan are creations of . Please ask before using.

Mentioned but not appearing are Soviet Superwoman , Walkiria , and Fantastic Lin

All appear with express permission of their respective owners/caretakers.

Titan's Cove is a joint creation of myself and Soviet-Superwoman. It is free for use as long as the gym rules are respected. For details, feel free to contact me. Mjolnorium, Athenium, and Resium are also open source and free for use within the confines of Angel Falls. Please keep in mind the properties of the metals. Feel free to contact me for information on each.

This story takes place in a small cove of

Story written by: with edits by

Art by