Chapter Four: Apogee’s Alter Ego

Mindy was having a relaxing day flying over the south side of Auburnville. She was wearing the costume, and persona, of her hero-self, Apogee. It had been several days since the welcome party for the Superhero Conference. The Conference was winding down and most of the heroes had left for home. Not she. Last night, she called the Crimson Cowl, who had been "watching" Sacramento in her absence, and asked how he felt about making his arrangement permanent. He seemed enthusiastic, so she told him she would contact City Hall and let them know she wouldn't be returning.

In all honesty, she didn't care one way or another what the Cowl's answer was, but Jack had told her she had to maintain the Apogee identity for a while until he tells her she can let it go and get down to being the proper fuckdoll that he deserves. It was such a relief to know she wouldn't have to deal with the stress of hero work much longer. The only stress she would have is to do her best to please her Master, and she loved every second of it.

She was going through the motions of a patrol when her communicator activated.

"Apogee," she heard Laura, the HeroGuild support staffer on monitor duty, over the link, "we have a bit of a situation. Can you lend a hand?"

"Of course," she replied in a friendly tone. "Where do you need me?"

"We got an interrupted emergency call from the east side branch of Auburnville Federal Bank. I'm feeding the address to your GPS."

Apogee altered her heading toward the bank. "Any reason why the local police aren't checking this out?"

"According to Dispatch, they sent a car and lost contact. Since everything else is tied up with the bridge, they handed it off to us."

"Bridge? What bridge?"

"Oh, you didn't hear?" Laura sounded surprised. "Big chemical spill on the Golan Street Bridge. The city's emergency services and all the Guild heroes are working to get everybody to safety. It's a mess."

She glanced to her left and saw in the distance what looked like a funnel of air pulling presumably noxious fumes away from the ground. Zephyr's work, no doubt.

"Got it. Anything else I should know?"

"That's all we have. I would suggest a recon sweep if nobody is in immediate danger. Keep the channel open and be careful."

"Will do. Thanks, Laura. I'm almost there.

"Everything looks quiet from the air. I see the police car parked out front. No sign of the officers. I'm going down to peak in a window."

Apogee floated above one of the front windows of the bank and peered inside. "Oh, my."

"What is it?" Laura chirped in her ear. "What do you see?"

Inside the lobby were about thirty people. Ten of them were forming an orderly production line, removing deposit boxes from the vault, packing the contents into cardboard boxes, and placing the boxes on a pallet inside a ten foot wide circle that had been drawn on the floor. They seemed completely oblivious to what the other twenty were doing.

It was an orgy. Bank employees, customers, even the two police officers, were fucking each others' brains out. Nobody was completely naked, rather apparently removing, pushing aside, or in a couple cases ripping away only the bits of garments that were directly impeding their carnal activities.

"I think we have a mind controller," she told Laura, relaying the basic situation. "I don't see anybody issuing orders, and there isn't an obvious mechanism causing this."

"Probably magic," she heard a silky voice behind and above her. As she instinctively spun, she felt a force glue her lips shut as well as stick her knees and ankles together and her arms to her sides. "Now, now. Let's not do anything rash," she heard coming from a ripple in the air a few feet from her. She had been practically upside down as she spied through the top of the window, and her captor hadn't done anything to correct her orientation.

"Who was that?!" Apogee heard Laura over the radio. Unable to respond, she growled slightly in frustration.

"Come on inside," the voice said, and Apogee floated through the wall of the bank as if it weren't there. She saw the ripple pass through the wall as well, then part to reveal an attractive woman in her mid twenties, wearing a short denim dress and a men's leather jacket. A large book floated beside her, with a chain coming off its spine and wrapping around the girl's waist.

She touched down gently, almost daintily, on the floor and stepped up the inverted heroine and raised her head up to her level. "And what are you called, sweetie?" she then touched Apogee's lips, removing the restraint on her mouth.

"I'm Apogee," she stated with more bravado than she felt. This was a bad situation. The woman was obviously a magic-user, and the book was almost certainly a focus for her power.

The lady mage grinned, "Pleased to meet you, Applebee. Do you like the show?" She gestured broadly to the orgy. "It's more of an audition, though. The ones I like the best I'll be taking with me. Speaking of which," she waved her hand and Apogee rotated upright and rested on the floor. "Let's see what we have to work wi--Whoa!" She gaped at the heroine's height. "How tall are you??"

Apogee sighed and rolled her eyes. "Seven feet," she answered. Somebody always had to say something about how tall she was.

"Ooo!" the mage became very excited. "I know exactly what role you should have!" She grabbed her book and flipped through the pages, quickly finding the one she was looking for. "I've always wanted a larger-than-life enforcer. 𐑚𐑦𐑒𐑳𐑥 𐑛𐑮𐑧𐑕𐑑 𐑨𐑟 𐑱 𐑛𐑭𐑥𐑩𐑯𐑱𐑑𐑮𐑦𐑒𐑕 𐑯 𐑩𐑕𐑵𐑥 𐑞 𐑮𐑴𐑤 𐑝 𐑥𐑲 𐑣𐑨𐑐𐑩𐑤𐑰 𐑛𐑦𐑝𐑴𐑑𐑦𐑛 𐑕𐑤𐑱𐑝 𐑥𐑦𐑕𐑑𐑮𐑦𐑕," she recited.

Apogee felt the magic embrace her. Her arms and legs were released, but she was shocked to inaction as she felt and saw her costume unmake and reform around her. It was about this point that she stopped hearing Laura in her ear. She felt herself go on her toes as her footwear changed. The rest of her attire assumed the standard for a dominatrix; black thigh-high boots with four inch heels, a corset, a choker collar with a short, thick chain connecting it to the back of the corset, and a thong that was almost too small. She was shocked when the corset and boots suddenly began to constrict. Then, it felt as if her thoughts just fell into place.

"Ooo, perfect," the mage smiled approvingly, circling the busty, muscular, heroine. She addressed tall woman. "I am the Director. I am collecting slaves to play whatever scenario I desire. You, Applebee, will keep the people I acquire in line for me." It was not a question.

"Yes, Mistress!" Applebee's grin was eager, but not kind. She knew the kind of discipline the Director wanted her to instill.

"Good. The vault is just about empty. It's time to pick out my keepers." She regarded her new slave. "Take the ones I pick and put them in the circle." She chose ten women from the writhing throng, including the female police officer. After the former hero did as directed, she and her new Mistress also entered the circle. The Director opened her tome and began to read. She recited more words Applebee didn't understand, and felt the grip of magic around her as the contents of the circle was teleported away.

-----

"Mmm," the Director groaned as the teleportation spell completed, depositing them and their prize haul into a large, plushly decorated room. "I'll have to remember to reward myself with a little fun later. Right now, though, it's time for a little interviews.” She gave her enforcer a quick idea of what she wanted.

"Yes, Mistress." She turned to the women who were standing, sitting, and laying confused and disoriented in the circle.

"You're all new here," she said loudly, getting their attention. "I am Applebee, the Director's personal enforcer. She will now be interviewing each of you for potential roles. Until your interview is over, you will do whatever I tell you, or you will be punished. Is that clear?"

They looked nervously around, some at the tall, muscled woman, some at the Director. Several answered in the affirmative.

"I can't hear you," she barked. "Say 'Yes, Applebee!'"

"YES, APPLEBEE!" they shouted in unison.

"Better," she smirked. "Now strip! I want your clothing piled in the middle of the circle, and all of you standing at attention in front of your pile."

She stepped back to join the Director.

"That's much better," she observed.

***

Sigil Seraph entered the bank moments later, to see the employees and patrons that were left behind starting to recover their senses. She checked a few and told Laura to call Emergency Services to come by and check everybody out. "At least a few will need therapy."

"On it, Seraph," Laura replied over the comms. She had contacted the sorceress as soon as she realized magic was involved. "Do you have eyes on Apogee? She's not responding to her comm."

"No, she's not here," the winged heroine told her. "But, there is a very distinct magic signature in the air. I'll start searching, and let you know when I find her."

"Please, hurry," Laura requested. "I'm worried."

"So am I."

"Yeah, but I'm the one who sent her into it."

"Did you get any other details on our mystery mage?"

"No, she said something just before I lost contact, but I couldn't make it out."

"Did it record?"

"I think so. You want me to play the last couple seconds before I lost contact?"

"Yes, please." Seraph listened, catching the other mage's comment about having a larger-than-life enforcer, then heard the words that crafted the spell. "Well, I know why you lost contact. Part of the spell transformed her outfit, which her com gear is built into."

"Which would destroy her coms," Laura concluded. "What did the other part do?"

"What?

"You said part of the spell transformed her outfit. What did the other part do?"

After a short pause, Seraph replied, "I have to chase something down. I'll call you back if I have anything," and broke the connection. She quickly dialed another contact. "Jack? I need to talk to you. It's about Apogee."

-----

An hour later, Jack had arrived at the bank and filled Sigil Seraph in on what she wished to know. All through their conversation, Seraph was using chalk to mark the circle on the floor, in preparation for tracing the teleport.

"That about does it," she stood and turned to her boyfriend. "Are you sure about Mindy?"

Jack nodded. "Pretty sure, if the spell did what you said and enslaved Apogee. Magic is your wheelhouse, not mine. Speaking of which," he tilted his head toward a nearby desk, "are you sure you got enough from the security footage to deal with Miss Bitchy Witch?"

She nodded with a chuckle. "Laura was able to run facial recognition to get a name, and I am familiar with that book."

"Okay, just don't do anything stupid. I want you back in one piece." He grinned and kissed her cheek.

"Be back in a few," she winked and stepped into the circle. The chalk marks on the floor glowed briefly, then disappeared with her.

"Good luck," Jack muttered after she was gone.

***

Applebee had had a very busy hour, although it really only involved herding writhing flesh.

The Director decided to have a "Welcome to the Troupe" party for her new recruits, which essentially became another orgy, but with the Director as the focus. This new enchantment she'd placed on them allowed them to think more clearly and remember who they were, but with attitudes molded to serving the her.

Since the boss was having her fun and the recruits were following her lead, it fell to Applebee to "direct traffic" as it were. She hadn't had a chance to join in, but she didn't mind. She was serving her Director. Although the unaddressed horniness was starting to show as her patience with the recruits was wearing thin.

She was relieved when the Director's magic book chimed and she pulled the group out of the lust-filled stupor.

"That's good for now," she called out to them. "Line up against the wall, single-file, and put your clothes back on. You may converse quietly with each other, but no complaining."

Applebee smiled at the order, as she heard several groans of disappointment. As they followed their instructions, she returned her attention to the Director. "Do you require anything else, Mistress?"

"Mmm," her boss pulled a robe on and stepped up to her. She paged through her tome with one hand while she absently ran the other over her enforcer's corseted chest. Without looking up from the book, she commanded, "Get the girls started setting up their room. I'm going to take a shower, then I'll show you the cabinet you will stay in when I'm not using you."

Applebee frowned. "Cabinet..?" She then felt the Director's hand tighten painfully on her tit.

The Director now gazed into her enforcer's eyes, "𐑿 𐑩𐑛𐑹 𐑞 𐑲𐑛𐑰𐑩 𐑝 𐑚𐑰𐑦𐑙 𐑕𐑑𐑹𐑛 𐑤𐑲𐑒 𐑭𐑯 𐑭𐑚𐑡𐑧𐑒𐑑 𐑢𐑧𐑯 𐑯𐑭𐑑 𐑚𐑰𐑦𐑙 𐑿𐑟𐑛. Is that a problem, slave?"

The former heroine's expression changed to one of happy anticipation. She loved the idea of being stored like an object when the Director didn't need her. "No, Mistress! Thank you, Mistress!"

Before she could properly appreciate her change in attitude, the Director perked up. "Somebody's teleporting in."

Applebee assumed a fighting stance. "Where?"

She indicated the place they had materialized. "There. I have a trap that automatically shunts anybody 'porting into the house right there and forward in time several seconds." She glanced at her enforcer. "When they appear, neutralize them by any means necessary. Coming in two seconds."

"Yes, Mistress!" Applebee suddenly wrapped her arms around the other woman and lifted her from the ground. Before the Director could protest, they were twirling around like a top, spinning toward the entry point.

Sigil Seraph appeared and, before she had even registered that she was there, she was struck hard in the head by the Director's whirling Tome. She literally cartwheeled across the room and crumpled against the far wall, unconscious.

---

Pain. Darkness. Seraph felt as though she had been hit by a truck. She groaned and placed a hand on her head. At least that had been the plan, but she quickly realized that her hands (and legs) were bound and she had some sort of gag which also held down her tongue. She opened her eyes to find herself spread-eagled on a large bed. Her head felt fuzzy, and she realized something she was wearing, likely the gag, was disrupting her ability to focus on her magic in any productive way.

"Well, hello," a voice said beside her. Seraph turned her head and saw the Director laying on her side next to her, a glass of wine in one hand, and her book in the other. "You must be Sigil Seraph," she stated with a friendly grin.

Seraph's reply was muffled, but not difficult to interpret.

"It is an honor to meet you. I admit, I'm new to the magic game, and I certainly haven't done any networking in those circles, but even people in the mundane world have heard of you.

"Applebee has told me more about you than the public knows," she gestured at the leather-clad slave standing at the foot of the bed. "How lucky for me that I claimed a protégé of yours who could give me the 'inside scoop,' as it were."

Applebee? Seraph thought, knowing the tall girl was Apogee. Where the hell did she get that name?

The Director misinterpreted Seraph's expression. "Confused? Hmm. Your ability to focus your magic is disrupted, I suppose your ability to focus on other things may be impaired as well. Let me refresh your memory," she held the book up. "Do you recognize this?"

Seraph nodded.

"I got the spell that enchanted your little mouthpiece from here. It will only work on someone if they can use magic." She shifted to get off the bed. "But don't worry. When I'm done, you'll be able to think clearly whether you're wearing it or not."

Seraph didn't like the sound of that.

She smirked at her. "Then I'll give you some new things to think. But that's for later. Right now, we have to get you so distracted you lose even the tenuous grip on your magic you still have. Applebee, eat our new friend out while I get things set up. But don't let her come. Keep her on the edge until I'm ready. I want her to go off when this spell does."

Applebee grinned and crawled up the bed between Sigil Seraph's legs.

"Remember" the Director added, "keep her on the edge until I say."

"Yes, Mistress," she nodded. She lowered her face to the sorceress' pussy and went to work with her tongue.

Seraph tried to ignore the feeling, but that didn't work for long. She struggled, but the bonds and the amazon's skillful technique kept her pinned to the edge of climax. Worse, her friend knew just what got her motor running, and wasn't holding back.

The Director looked up from her book. "Wow. You really know what you're doing. Were the two of you a couple?"

"No, Mistress," Applebee paused long enough to answer, "she's been single for as long as I've known her," and went back to work with renewed gusto. Seraph threw her head back with a muffled cry, voicing what the Director believed could only be sobbing at her helplessness and sexual frustration.

Applebee grinned and slid three fingers into her mentor and stroked the most sensitive spots while vigorously rubbing her clit with her thumb. She watched the sorceress buck and writhe. Her back arched and her moaning was louder and more intense than the Director had heard all evening.

Seraph screamed into her gag as her mind was overwhelmed by the climax. She was lost in the waves of pleasure when the standing woman spoke while holding a small wooden box, "𐑜𐑤𐑦𐑓𐑕 𐑝 ·𐑕𐑦𐑡𐑩𐑤 ·𐑕𐑧𐑮𐑩𐑓 𐑩𐑚𐑨𐑯𐑛𐑩𐑯 𐑘𐑹 𐑥𐑦𐑕𐑑𐑮𐑦𐑕 𐑯 𐑚𐑰 𐑒𐑩𐑯𐑑𐑱𐑯𐑛 𐑦𐑯 𐑞𐑦𐑕 𐑮𐑩𐑕𐑧𐑐𐑑𐑩𐑒𐑩𐑤."

The glyphs and symbols floating in Seraph's hair flowed away from her into the box, the white color draining from her hair moving with them as luminous strands, leaving the hair a dishwater blonde. As the last of it filled the box, the Director slid the cover shut and held it up triumphantly. On doing so she staggered, the effort of the spell starting to take its toll. After a moment, she addressed Applebee. "I'm going to put this someplace safe, then maybe lie down for a while. Watch her." She stumbled out of the room.

Applebee moved up beside Seraph, still in a post-orgasmic haze, and stroked her hair. "That was quite a show, wasn't it? Don't worry. Mistress will be back for you soon."

Seraph seemed to be coming to her senses. She looked like she wanted to say something.

Applebee smiled and undid the gag. "I suppose we don't need this any longer..."

As her mouth was freed, Seraph rasped, "Water..?"

Her captor nodded and rose. "Don't go away." She stepped into the washroom and filled a cup from the tap. When she returned, Seraph was sitting on the edge of the bed. "How did you get free?!"

The sorceress didn't move from the bed, but smiled. "Oh, come on. You know my glyph shroud isn't my only magic."

"That's impossible!" Applebee moved close to tower over the other woman, glaring down. "I saw you crying as Mistress was about to strip your power."

Seraph took the water the other woman had forgotten she was holding and took a long pull, then grinned. "That's the funny thing about ball gags: it's almost impossible to tell the difference between someone sobbing in despair and someone laughing with relief."

"Relief?"

"I admit I was starting to worry. There was a moment when I thought I might be done. But when you protected my boyfriend, I knew I would have an out, Mindy."

True menace appeared to radiate off Applebee as she gripped Seraph's shoulder in preparation for a beatdown, as she growled, "You know better than to call me Mindy."

Completely unintimidated, Seraph regarded her tall friend. "Jack told me everything."

Applebee blinked. "W-what?"

"He told me everything. And he wanted me to give you a message: Drop the facade and assist Julia."

Applebee's eyes closed briefly. When they opened, she had a friendly smile. "Hi, Julia!"

"Hi, sweetie," Seraph replied. "How are you?"

The dominatrix/fuckdoll quickly sat beside her friend. "Oh, my God, I am so bored! This Director lady, whatever her name is--"

"Sandra Wilmington. Laura tracked her down from facial recognition from the bank video. She's a treasure hunter, buying past due storage units looking for anything of value. Apparently, that's where she found that tome."

Mindy shook her head, she really didn't care. "Anyway, she has no plan at all. She calls herself the Director and says she's recruiting these girls as actors for some troupe, but she doesn't appear to be committed to that gimmick. She just wanted sex slaves.

"We got here and she got them all naked and fucking, while I'm on the sidelines making sure to keep all the bodies in play, like some sort of cunt herder! I was so bored. And horny! Bored and horny. I wasn't having any fun at all until you showed up."

Julia grinned. "So glad I could liven things up." She took her friend's hand and kissed it. "Come on. If she's as inexperienced as she let on, she'll be sleeping for the next few hours. If I can get the glyph shroud back, we can free the girls, separate the Director and her book, and have her in a nice cozy jail cell by the time she wakes up. Any ideas where she hid the container?"

"To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if she hid it under her pillow."

***

She had.

Later, at the HeroGuild base. Jack, Julia, and Mindy were relaxing in Julia's quarters. Jack had his head buried in her crotch, licking the sweet taste of her after-sex pussy. Mindy was laying on her stomach, her head on Julia's hip, her arm draped across the older heroine's abdomen, gently massaging her breast, her other hand lightly rubbing Jack's cock, which was beginning to stir. Mary had just come in with a tray of snacks for the heroes, completely unfazed by the carnal display she walked in on.

"What was that with the cabinet?" Jack asked as he pulled his face from Julia's wet sex. "You said that was the clue that let you figure out where the book came from?"

Julia sighed happily, smiling at Mindy and stroking her hair. "That's something the Guild had in the archives. A couple decades ago, a guy called The Collector found a magic tome like the one Sandra had. He was a bit of a pervert, and he would use it to kidnap women, strip them of their personality, and stuff them in cabinets, then he would use them as fuck dolls whenever he liked. I think it was Radiant who finally caught him, back in the late '80s."

"87," Mary remarked absently, then looked embarrassed.

"Mary's a bit of a super history buff," Julia remarked with a smile, covering for the maid. "Anyway, they were able to recover most of the women he had stored, but the book disappeared down an evidence room rabbit hole. The Collector claimed the book was making him do those things, and there was enough corroboration from magic investigators that were hired by the court that he was acquitted. Sandra is making the same claims.

"When we told the police about the book's disappearance from evidence way back when, they agreed to let us store it in an antimagic vault here at the base until the trial."

"So what's going to happen with the Director and the others?" Mindy asked.

"Probably, probation for the former and a lot of therapy for the latter."

Jack grinned. "And what about the former enforcer?"

"We're keeping the outfit," Julia and Mindy replied in unison, then giggled.