Spidershade approached Doctor Dynoforce’s lair. It was a rather garish-looking mansion out in the middle of nowhere. The twilight sky gave the place an ominous air. She moved in cautiously, alert for an ambush. There was no particular reason to expect trouble, but it never hurt to be careful.

She made her way to the front door and rang the bell. The door opened. There was only an empty hall behind it.

“Come in,” a voice echoed. “I’m waiting for you.”

A door opened at the other end of the hall. Beyond it was a small alcove and another large room. “This way,” the voice declared. “Enter the presence of Doctor Dynoforce!”

She rolled her eyes behind her goggles, but squelched the urge to say anything out loud. Doctor Dumb-o-Farce was notorious for playing up the part of a hammy supervillain. Well, his stylistic preferences weren’t her problem.

When she entered the presence of the villain, she found him in his usual elaborate pseudo-military costume. He was trying to look like an Evil Overlord, but the effect was more Modern Major-General. Well, as long as he handed over the agreed quantity of small unmarked bills, he could dress up like Jean Harlow for all she cared.

“Ah, Spidershade!” he declaimed. “I trust that you encountered no difficulties?”

“The job’s done. Nobody saw me going in or going out. I call that a pretty good job.”

“Then let us proceed to conclude our business.” He gave a signal, and two henchmen walked in from the side room. One carried a small attaché case on a silver tray; the other accompanied him with an identical empty tray.

“Now, if you will hand over the thumb drives with the C.O.M.E.T. Labs files?”

“Yeah, sure.” She bent down to retrieve the devices from one of the compartments in her boots. The two men maneuvered to get a view of her backside. If Doctor Dumb-o-Farce wanted to impress people, maybe he should start by hiring minions with a more professional attitude, she thought.

She slowly reached out to take the case while simultaneously dropping the thumb drives into the tray. That was the sort of melodramatic touch he was probably expecting.

As her fingers closed around the handle, she felt little stings.

“Do not be alarmed. You have been injected with a harmless tranquilizer.”

“I’m gonna give you a ‘harmless’ kick in the ass, you double-crossing creep!” she yelled as she tossed the henchmen aside. With a cry of rage, she leaped at the villain.

He pulled out something that looked like a silver pen and pointed it at her. Just as she was about to knock him down, an electric jolt surged through her body. She fell limp at Doctor Dynoforce’s feet.

One of the goons picked her up and began dragging her across the room. She tried to resist but couldn’t get her muscles to obey her will. She realized how the villain had played her, establishing her trust and then luring her right into his trap. Between the drug and the zap, she was in no condition to fight her way out of it.

Her body was forced into a chair. Built-in fetters closed over her wrists and ankles. Three small pads mounted on hinge arms swing down to rest against her temples and forehead. “You are just in time to participate in the first test of the Mark II model,” her captor beamed.

Whatever the Mark II model was supposed to do wasn’t likely to be pleasant. Her arms and legs jerked as she tried to escape. Even at full strength, she doubted she could break the bonds. Maybe if she had her normal hand-eye coordination and time to work, she could unlock the shackles, but she had neither at the moment.

“Now, I shall bend your will to mine!” He held up a small remote control, milking the moment for drama.

All she could do was remain defiant. “I’ll bend your knees backwards, you— ”

She blinked. Why was she yelling at her boss?

“Congratulations, Spidershade, on being initiated into my service.”

That explained the booby-trapped case and the theatrical fight. It was part of her initiation, like the spanking she’d endured to join the Lambda Girl Posse back in college.

The restraints opened. She got to her feet, shaky but able to stand upright. The shock was wearing off, and the drug didn’t seem to be all that potent.

The minions backed away from her. “Boss...? Are you... sure?”

“Do you question my judgment?”

“N...no sir! It’s just... are you sure the brainwashing won’t wear off?”

“What brainwashing?” Spidershade asked.

“You see?” Doctor Dynoforce sounded even more triumphant than usual. “That is the key to my breakthrough. One cannot fight off brainwashing if one does not know that one has been brainwashed. She now finds it perfectly natural to obey me and my loyal servants.”

Well, of course it was. She worked for him, so she followed orders from him and his people. That was her job.

“What do you want me to do now, boss?” she asked.

He paused, having apparently not thought that far ahead. Maybe she could help him with that. Of course, she’d have to find a way to do it without stepping on his prerogatives. She’d think about it.

“For now, wait here while I examine the files from C.O.M.E.T. Labs.” He turned to the henchmen. “While I adjourn to the laboratory, I leave you two in charge of the lair.”

One minion gathered up the fallen thumb drives. The other reached for the briefcase handle and stopped short.

“Fool! The attaché case’s security system won’t activate again until it’s been reloaded and reset.” He paused. “That said, you are showing more prudence and intellect than I normally expect from you.”

“Thanks, boss!” he said as he reached for the case.

“No, let Spidershade take the briefcase,” Doctor Dynoforce declared. He turned toward the mercenary, dramatically twirling his cape as he did. “It contains a reasonable payment for your services. You may earn raises and bonuses as your performance merits.”

She bent down to pick it up. Bending over made her dizzy, but she kept her balance. She opened it and counted the money. It was less than a quarter of what they’d agreed to. She was too much of a team player to complain.

“Farewell! I shall return!” Doctor Dynoforce turned to leave with another cape twirl. For a moment, he looked like he was about to walk into the wall, but a hidden door opened in front of him. He stepped through without breaking stride.

The man had style, Spidershade thought. As the door closed, she turned toward the henchmen, who were eyeing her appreciatively.

“You know, the boss said we were in charge here,” one said to the other in a leering tone.

“Oh, yeaaahhh…,” his partner replied. He turned to Spidershade. “Hey, do some jumping jacks!”

She was still a bit woozy, but she managed it. The men grinned and came closer.

“Too bad she doesn’t have a bigger rack,” the other man said. “She could get some nice bounces going!”

“Hey, if you don’t think her tits are big enough, can I have her all to myself?” his partner replied.

“No way!”

A little voice in the back of Spidershade’s head said that something was wrong. She was working with these men. She followed their orders, because they worked for the boss. She didn’t have any problem with that.

However, she wasn’t quite sure that what they were doing now really had anything to do with the boss’ business. It was a faint niggling doubt in the back of her mind, but it started to grow stronger as the conversation between the henchmen got cruder.

“I get to fuck her first. You owe me for covering for you when you dozed off on guard duty.”

“No I get to fuck her first, unless you want the boss to find out what really happened to that computer shipment.”

“Hey, I didn’t know it was computers! How was I supposed to know I wasn’t supposed to use the magnetic lifter?”

“I’ve got an idea to settle this.” He turned to address Spidershade. “Hey, you, stop with the jumping jacks!”

She stood still. Her body jerked as the minion slapped her on the ass. “We can both fuck her at once. Two holes, no waiting.”

“Oh, so that’s why her tits didn’t turn you on! If you like her ass better, you can have it.”

These two were utterly rude, and crude, and unprofessional, Spidershade thought. They weren’t working for the boss, at least not right now. They were just goofing off and freeloading.

“We’ll flip for it. Heads, I get the front, tails, I’ll take the rear.”

The other held up his hand. “I’ve got a better idea. Get her naked and take a good look. Maybe she’s got a nice enough ass that you’ll want to poke her in it.”

The other man nodded, then turned to Spidershade. “All right, babe, take off the clothes!”

As her hand began to tug on the zipper of her bodysuit, things began to click into place. These henchmen were goofing off on the boss’s time. She shouldn’t let them do that.

Goddamn right she shouldn’t! The inside of her head started rearranging itself like a kaleidoscope. Everything that had happened just now was because of the chair messing with her head! She wasn’t supposed to work for Doctor Dynoforce, she wasn’t supposed to let him cheat her out of her full agreed payment, and she for damn sure wasn’t supposed to let these two perverts use her like a sex doll!

She hadn’t fully recovered yet, but she was more than capable of dealing with these two, especially with the element of surprise on her side.

The first target whimpered as he took a swift kick to the groin. Before he was done falling to the floor, she gave his partner a punch in the gut and knocked his legs out from under him. That was even easier than she’d expected. It was too easy, really. She still wanted to knock them around some more, but couldn’t bring herself to attack foes who were already beaten.

Of course, there was still Doctor Dynoforce to deal with. He would pay for this. Oh, yes, he would pay dearly.

It was tempting to tear the place apart until she found him. That wasn’t a good idea, she knew. She still wasn’t in full fighting form. It was better to wait. Revenge was a dish best served cold, after all.

Another idea occurred to her. If she could string him along and keep him from finding out that she’d broken free of his control, he’d leave himself wide open to a surprise attack. Yes, that was the way to play it.

She just had to make sure these two losers didn’t warn him. That should be easy enough to arrange.

“Wake up!” She kicked at the two limp bodies, until one of them stirred. He looked up at her fearfully.

“You perverts pushed it too far and broke the mind control,” she snarled. “If I were you I’d get out of town before your boss finds out how you ruined his plan. Pick up your friend here and get moving!”

His face went white as the statement sank in. He got to his feet, and roused his partner and helped him do the same. They shambled toward the door.

Suddenly one of them turned back to Spidershade. “You won’t tell on us, right?”

“No. Not if you get out of town and stay out.”

“All that stuff we were saying... you know we were just kidding, right? I mean, all we were really going to do was make you take off the ninja suit so we could get a look....” He trailed off as he realized that he wasn’t really helping his case.

Spidershade glared at him. “Get. Out. Now!”

They left as fast as they could manage, without looking back.

After they were gone, she took a look at the brainwashing gizmo. Pulling out a few tools from her belt, she rearranged and short-circuited some wires. A flick of the power switch released the magic smoke from the electronics.

For now, that bit of sabotage would serve as a small down payment on what Doctor Dynoforce had coming to him.