The next day, I bring the team together to discuss in our back room. "We got interrupted last night, but we need more cash if we're going to make this little gang work. We need weapon and equipment stashes, alternate safe houses, bribe money, eventually if we get big enough lawyers and legitimate businesses we can use to launder money. To say nothing of what happens if and when some of the rest of the underworld starts noticing us—we'll need expendable muscle if crime bosses like Puffin or Persona Noir decide they don't want us on their turf."

"You're not wrong,” says Stephanie. “Shame this little kitty got in the way of our heist..."

Cat Lady hisses, glaring at Stephanie. "Of course, my Queen,” she says to me. “I know of somewhere in Chelmerton that we could raid, which might help, but it's very risky..."

I smile. "I'm listening, and not averse to a little risk. Tell me about it."

"Roberts Manor. Heard of it?" She grins, knowing that everyone in Chelmerton has heard of Dwayne Roberts—but not everyone knows his secret.

I whistle. "I have. One of the richest men in the world—and I've never heard of his home being robbed. He must have hella security."

"Indeed,” Cat Lady says. “I figure, given enough time, I can get us an 'in'. But, as I say, it's risky. And timing will be crucial. Why bother? Well, there are secrets within that Manor..."

"Sounds like fun. What do we need?"

"Careful planning. I can take care of Dwayne, get him out the way for the night, but we'll need to hack into the security. And Dwayne doesn't live alone, so you may have to use your... skills to persuade his companions to let us in."

I nod. "Wrench and Jay, sounds like you're on figuring out the security. Let me know as soon as you have it solved, and coordinate with Cat Lady to set up timing. Delia, you'll be with me on the actual robbery." I turn back to Cat Lady. "Sounds like you've scoped the place out pretty well. Anything in particular we should look for once we're inside?"

She moves elegantly and gracefully toward me. "Oh, it's not the Manor we'll be entering. At least, not from the main entrance." Standing right next to me, she whispers in my ear. "Beneath the Manor, a certain Shade has his lair..."

My eyes widen. "Wait, Dwayne Roberts is—wow, you weren't kidding about risk! But the toys we could find…"

"Sssshhh...” Cat Lady chides. “It'll be our little secret. For now, at least. I need Dwayne to trust me, for this to work."

I nod. "It's a hell of a secret, kitten. But I'll hold it." I turn back to the others. "Stephanie, Jay, get to work. Let me know if you need anything or run into any problems. Otherwise, we'll talk again when you've figured out the security." As usual, Stephanie will handle what's hackable and Jay can handle mechanical alarms and locks. Delia, get yourself some solid firepower, we might need it. Explosives, too."

"Yes, boss!" Delia says enthusiastically. Obedience is second nature to her now, her surrender complete, and she’s excited about the explosives to boot.

A couple of days later, once all the ducks are in a row, I call another meeting. "OK, we have our entry point for the caves under the manor. Wrench, is the security hacking something you can handle from a laptop in the car, or do you need your full toolkit?"

"This is a biggie, Mistress,” she replies. I'm gonna need all my stuff to crack this one..."

"Gotcha,” I reply. “You're mission control, then. Keep an eye on the security systems and on us, and let us know when Cat Lady signals us."

I turn to Cat Lady. "You're keeping Roberts distracted. Signal Stephanie when we're good to start, and again when time runs low and we have to get out."

Finally, I turn to Jay and Delia. "Ladies, you're with me. Delia, you're muscle and demolitions. Jay, you're lockpicking, safe cracking and mechanical alarms. We can't be certain of what's waiting for us, so be ready for anything."

"Got it,” says Delia. “Ready for anything. As ever!"

Cat Lady points to a map of the area. "You'll be approaching from the south. There's a stream in the woods nearby, which, if you follow it, will take you straight to a large cave. There's all kinds of security around it, but if all goes according to plan, you can just walk in."

"Excellent. And that will bring us to the chamber under the manor you told me about?" I look around. "It sounds like a plan. We move tonight!"

"Good luck,” says Cat Lady. “I'll see you on the other side!"

I lead the team as planned, in our intended getaway car—it's easy enough for me to find a random Chelmertonite and… persuade them to loan it to us. Not deep enough work to make permanent changes, so they'll likely report it stolen eventually, but it should last long enough to give us all the time we need. We park a little way from the hidden cave entrance and make our way in—me, Jasper, and Delia, with Stephanie monitoring us and Cat Lady through earpieces from her Wrench lair.

From time to time, Cat Lady checks in with her progress, letting us know when she arrives at Roberts Manor; that she and Dwayne have left; that they’re sitting at a high-end restaurant I’ve barely heard of. I’m still reeling at the revelation that not only is fuckboy billionaire Dwayne Roberts secretly Nightshade, but his vapid socialite girlfriend Kylie Lune is secretly Cat Lady! And they’ve known about each other for years!

I put those thoughts aside as we enter the cave. At first it seems like an ordinary, natural cavern, but we turn a corner and suddenly there are paved floors and LED lights.

"Well, well, well.... who goes there?" asks a young man in black and red spandex, mask, and cowl, stepping out of the shadows of the cave.

Stephanie’s voice crackles over the radio. "Oh, shit..."

"Delia," I order. "Keep him busy while I work on him." I check to make sure my tiara is in place—this is a golden opportunity to spread the idea that it's the source of my power. It pulses and glimmers as I concentrate. This could only be Shadeling, the protege of Nightshade, and the Shade is notorious for finding ways around mind-controlling villains. I can't trust that I'll be able to affect him quickly or easily. I decide to go with anxiety and hesitation as a first attempt, see if I can get him to second-guess himself against Delia.

Delia moves forward, grinning slightly manically. "Hey there, big boy... What's someone like you doing in a shitty cave like this?"

He raises an eyebrow, steeling himself. "Jester’s Daughter, right? Keep back. You know I can't let you past."

Delia keeps walking towards him. "Now, now, don't be nasty..."

I nod to Jasper to keep back for now. I need to work subtly—he probably has some kind of cognitive techniques to push past emotions, that seems a very Nightshade thing to do from all the rumors I've heard. But he probably hasn't mastered them. I don't want to push too much of any one emotion for fear of making him realize what I'm doing, so next I try helplessness and confusion.

He shakes his head as if trying to dislodge something from his mind, but he doesn’t seem consciously aware of it. "I won't ask nicely again. Keep back!"

Now for distraction. Stepping out of the shadows, I pose for him, my long, sinuous body on display in tight purple and gold, my full breasts seeming barely contained by my low-cut leotard. As I do, I switch to pushing attraction and arousal—and give Delia a subtle hand signal to attack.

His eyes flick between Delia and me. "W-wh-who are you?" As soon as Nightshade is distracted, Delia moves, quick as lightning, behind him.

"I'm Chelmerton's new goddess," I say, stepping a tiny bit closer—but still well out of reach of even a lunge. I continue pushing attraction, and add awe.

Wrapping her arms around Shadeling, Delia grins. "Goddess is so clever..."

Wordlessly, his eyes grow wide as he tries to struggle against Delia's grip, but fighting her and what I’m doing to his mind seems to be more than he can handle.

I hit him hard with helplessness, continuing with the awe and attraction but trying to make him feel like his struggles won't work, can't work. It's a lot, and if he is trained in defending against this sort of thing he'll know it's happening now, but it's a risk worth taking while Delia has him. "Shh, little boy," I tell him. "There's no need to struggle. Nothing bad will happen to you at the hands of your goddess."

He continues to struggle, but his mind is betraying him, making his muscles weak. "N-n-no! G-get… get out of m-my head!" But his body is already growing limp.

"Good boy... relax now..." Helplessness and lethargy alongside awe and attraction. "Bind him up carefully, Duella," I order. "I'll keep an eye on him as we go deeper, I don't trust him not to be able to escape whatever we put him in, but I don't think he's going to try while goddess is watching, are you, boychick?" More helpless admiration and awe. "It's about time you all knew what we're really doing down here, what all this security—and Shadeling—are guarding. We're raiding the Shade Cave."

He shakes his head, ineffectually, as Delia binds him tighter. "N-no, c-can't—can’t let that happen... Shade—"

Stepping closer, I run a finger down his cheek. "Shh, none of that. Quiet for me now. You wouldn't want to have anyone else involved, now would you?" A touch of pride alongside the awe, pride and protectiveness of others. "Wouldn't you rather have me all... to... yourself?" A surge of arousal, now.

He gulps, torn between trying to resist and leaning forward to kiss me. "Yesss..."

I smile. "Good boy." More arousal, pleasure, mingled pride and submissive awe. "Come along now." Taking his rope, I stay behind him a couple of arm lengths, while Jasper and Delia go in front, looking for threats to fight and traps/alarms respectively. Together, we continue on, my attention focused on keeping Shadeling at a steady simmer of confusion, helplessness, and need.

"Don't hurt him too much, please,” says Stephanie, and I remember suddenly the rumors about the Wrench and Shadeling when she worked with the Nightshade team. “Oh, wait, I can see another heat signal down there—be on your guard!"

"Understood,” I reply. “Delia, be on guard, we're not alone." She nods, and we proceed, carefully.

Scanning the way forward for traps and alarm triggers, Jasper misses the tripwire on the floor beneath us. Suddenly, alarms begin ringing, ultra-sonic frequencies designed to distract and almost paralyze.

Fuck, that's not good. "Wrench, Jay, get that shut down NOW!" Using my powers takes focus, concentration, exactly what I can't muster as my head begins to fog. I pull Shadeling closer—I'm no fighter but he's tied up, I might be able to knock him out before he's fully out of my mental grip. I try punching him, inexpertly, in the back of the head, receiving bruised knuckles for my efforts.

From the shadows, a young woman in a similar outfit to Shadeling back deep blue instead of red, springs into action. "Get off of him!" Shadette growls.

In all this chaos, instinct—panic—takes over. I can't focus my powers, I don't know what Delia and Jasper are doing, so I let go and back away. "Delia, defend me!" I manage to call out, struggling to regain composure.

Hissing, Delia leaps forward, intending to strike out against Shadette. Jasper looks on helplessly, attempting to shut down the defense systems. Delia and Shadette begin to trade blows, and as they do, Delia edges them gradually closer to me.

I try to push hesitation and uncertainty, as I did with Shadeling, but the effort to do so through the disorientation of the alarms is building into a vicious headache, and I'm unsure whether anything is taking hold. I keep trying regardless, but there doesn’t seem to be any effect.

The alarms are overwhelming me. There’s only one word for it: I’m powerless.