Tomorrow, again

I wake up with the excitement of a  toddler on Christmas morning, beaming from ear to ear into my mirror as I apply far more makeup than I have ever bothered with before today. I need to impress them, or at least Nova, so I'll make sure to look my best. After straightening my messy hair I grab my roommate's expensive perfume and give it a curious sniff... while not nearly as potent as Hivemind's overpowering scent from yesterday afternoon, it's a far cry more impressive than the half empty bottle I received for my birthday nearly three years ago now. I use it to freshen up and tip toe around my sleeping roommate, who'll likely still be there when I get back. Suiting up into my freshly ironed costume and heading out into the brightly lit street, I find myself on the edge of skipping to the provided address. This is one of the rare times in my life that I'm seriously living up to my given name.

Half way to the meeting place I curse myself for not bringing something to sign, then I curse myself again for acting like a total fangirl instead of a vigilant heroine. I need to collect myself before I enter the abandoned looking warehouse in front of me. Is this really the place, I wonder, double checking the address before giving the door a cautious knock. To my surprise, it swings open almost immediately, the wordless motion beckoning me inside as I follow that sweet scent thick in the air. I know this heady odour well, it's the same flowery perfume that Hivemind wore in the alley yesterday. I almost passed out on my feet when I took a concentrated inhale. 

My nostrils flare and I follow the scent on autopilot, not noticing how heavy I start to feel as I do. Before long, I stop thinking about where I'm going, only snapping back into the scene when one of Hivemind's drones snaps her fingers in front of my face. I find myself in a multipurpose training dojo mostly used for combat than resistance, but the level of discipline required remains the same. Once my bearings have fully returned, I give the other woman a questioning look which is met with a sly smile. 

"See? This could be one of the methods that Miss Murmur uses to subdue her assailants. Gases and pheromones are air based attacks that can slowly ease their victims into a state of comfort and disarray, before you know it you've switched off and are malleable enough to go along with suggestions. I used this perfume we confiscated from Florasma last year as a primer yesterday in the alley, then let you fall back under its sway once again now." The drone holds up a vial of the borrowed fragrance to accentuate her point. "The best way to build up a resistance to these sort of solvents is exposure." Without warning, a mist of pleasant smelling perfume is sprayed inches from my face, causing my entire body to seize up in surprise. Debilitated by shock, my flared nostrils inhale the full force of the villain Florasma's trance inducing pheromones. As I stare straight ahead my eyes begin to lose focus, attempting to remain in the room, toes curling in the tan boots of my custom outfit once the pleasurable wave of submission and stimulations rocks over my sensitive body. Young and inexperienced, the powerful aphrodisiac hitting me at full force has my mind and body buckling in equal measure, as though competing to see which can crumple first. 

Hivemind gently places a hand onto my shoulder and rests it there. Even though I know it can't be, the hand feels unbearably heavy right now as everything else feels unnaturally light. I feel so light that I could float, starting to genuinely believe that Hivemind's hand is the only stopping me from floating up to the ceiling of the dojo. I only realise my jaw is hanging open when a line of drool spills out into what little cleavage my outfit could afford to show with my child-friendly image. 

"As you are, well, we can both see that you'd be putty in Miss Murmur's expert hands... you can't even stay on your feet, can you?" With the lightest pressure feeling like a ten tonne weight, Hivemind pushes me down onto my knees with laughable ease. I feel too distant, too far away from the room, so instead of a response I simply roll my head down towards my chest and add to the hanging line of drool. My entire body and mind feels like a series of random tingles, like an ASMR response dialled up to 11. While the rest of me feels impossibly light and distant, my head filling up with air like a balloon, the area between my legs becomes increasingly warm. The warmth reaches outwards like a ripple, but it stays centred on my crotch, making me slicker than I've ever been before. I want to touch myself, to rub some relief into that pleasure zone that begs for my sole attention, but my arms feel so light that they simply float up into the air like the stems of plants searching for sunlight. I'm unable to hold back a needy whine when the back of Hivemind's fingers stroking my face affectionately. Rubbing my hot cheek against her in a desperate nuzzle, I start hoping with all my heart that she will do me the favour of playing with my worthless cunt... wanting nothing more than to shake and writhe in bliss as I dutifully cum my brains all over the glossy hardwood floor. Hell, in this state I'd press my face into the ground and clean it all back up to a spit-soaked polish with my slutty tongue, looking up at anybody around for praise and validation, or even mockery and disgust. Knelt here as I am, mind buzzing with singular focus and lusty haze, I can barely tell the difference so long as I am being well used. 

My entire body feels sweltering hot, sweating away in my costume and becoming far too dizzy to even make sense of my surroundings. I try to focus on the woman in front of me, forgetting the particulars of who she is or why I'm here. I just stare up at her with half glazed, half pleading eyes, wishing beyond all else that she would tear off this stuffy outfit that clings to my body and cool my burning sex with her heavenly tongue. 

"Seeing you like this, I really do wish I could induct you into my collective... however, seeing as you have done no crimes that I'm aware of, let alone something serious enough to grant me permission... I'll have to refrain from succumbing to my urges. This is your first lesson, Orchard, I'll make you some tea." Her hands pull away from my cheek and shoulder, leaving me floating in an empty void with nothing to grab onto. Without a focus, I spiral down into a deep pit from which I will surely never recover.

After an undisclosed amount of time, my senses begin to return, the 'on duty' phone I take out with me left on the side table while I sit on a floor mat across from a woman I have never met. Holding a cup of freshly brewed herbal tea, the woman smiles and I notice the taste of said tea on my tongue, I must have taken a sip while my consciousness was still adrift. 

"This is brewed with the antidote to Florasma's concoction, give it a few moments and you'll be back to a fully functional state of mind. It's Hivemind, I had to switch vessels due to an unrelated failure with the other woman's body." The woman sets down the tea in a saucer next to her and reaches out to pry open one of my half open eyelids carefully, inspecting my diluted pupils. "Hmm... maybe another sip." 

It takes a while, but eventually I feel myself again. My first thought being... what the hell was that just now? My cheeks burn red and I fail to make eye contact with Hivemind's new drone, feeling utterly humiliated by the experience I just had. Sure, I did sort of agree to this but I was never told how... intense... the training would really be. "Is... is it addictive?" My first question surprises myself as much as it does the other hero, who chuckles. 

"No need to worry, this training is to build immunity not develop a dependency. After we're done with this arduous week, a spray to the face with this same mixture should make you falter but ultimately remain standing, in control of all your mental faculties if a little hot under the collar. This is but one method, however, which is why the other heroes have gathered to introduce the other potential methods. They may show a little more restraint than I, but I think it was necessary to give you a taste of just how overwhelming these mental assaults can be."

I nod, reluctantly surrendering to the woman's cold logic. Unsure as to what I appear to have singed up for, I resign myself to this fate and stand up from the mat. My excitement once again begins to build when I am reminded that the other members of Nova's elite, including the woman herself, are going to be here shortly. 

The first to arrive is Discoman, who shakes my hand with an irregular motion before popping two makeshift looking earphones into my ears and pressing play on the bootleg mp3 player in his hand. I'm given more warning this time, the world's funkiest hero having explained to me that audio laced with subliminal messages can condition the unguarded mind without the victim ever even realising they were under attack. A eurobeat track starts playing through the earphones, an intense array of noise flooding into my ears without pause. I've been instructed to try and focus on the dot on the board held by Discoman, while repeating my name aloud every few seconds. The problem being that the subliminals laced within the energetic beats are compelling me to close my eyes and forget my name, supposedly.

It's easy at first, staring dead ahead at the whiteboard with a single black dot placed in the centre. I repeat my name without any difficulty, unable to properly hear my own voice over the music track but feeling the vibration of my vocal chords well enough. As the track proceeds, I occasionally break concentration, losing track of time for a few seconds here and there, like reading a book when you're too tired to focus and having to re-read the same line over and over. Eventually, my eyelids begin to droop and I start to feel confused and frustrated. I can't hear anything strange at all, just upbeat music, so why am I suddenly so sluggish and... and... 

Forgetful?

My name, what was it again? I think it starts with a J... it does, right? 

I chew my lip nervously, before pulling the buds out in a sudden panic. "W-w-wait, I shouldn't be saying my name... It's a secret... why did you make me say my-"

I'm cut off by the sound of heels clacking against the hard floor, my eyes still half lidded from the potent subliminal audio. Strong arms hook under mine and pull me up from a sitting position to my feet, the same arms then spinning me around to find myself face to face with the one and only Wild Rosary. I'm still too flustered over being tricked to reveal personal information that I'm unable to fangirl over meeting a personal hero of mine, Wild Rosary second only to Nova. Before I can slip out any further questions, the woman's curled cherry red lips descend upon my own as I am softly kissed by the third highest ranked hero in New Cassiepeia. Once more, my thoughts scatter to the far corners of the room and I am left a limp, weak mess of confusion and need. The disorientation from the drugged lipstick hits me like a truck after being weakened already by Discoman's subliminals, so when Wild Rosary demands me to tell her everything she wants to know, I can't help but let slip all of the personal information I vowed never to breathe whilst donning this costume.

"There, much more effective. Let's not dance around these things and waste time, Discount-Man." Wild Rosary holds me in her spell, standing still as a statue, while she addresses her colleagues. 

"Y'know despite your name and appearance, you really don't know how to have a little fun, huh? You know I love to dance, baby." 

"She's not a toy for us to play with, lets be professionals alright hon?"

"Says the one who just tied tongues with her." 

"I did no such thing." Wild Rose rolls her eyes dramatically, I know because I'm staring straight ahead. 

"But you wanted to. Think she tastes like apple?"

"She... doesn't." Hivemind blurts out, before looking down at her knees. The other two turn their attention to her with questioning glances, forcing the woman to admit. "Well, she was so zoned out and I was curious... her tongue was basically hanging out..."

"That's messed up." Wild Rosary suppresses a laugh and Discoman suddenly crosses his legs.

"Well anyway... We have one more demonstration once Nova arrives, I hear she's running late dealing with some minor insurgency on the other side of the world. I think she'll be another five minutes. Should we wake her up?"

Wild Rosary closed my jaw with her hand and wipes the mind whiting lipstick smear from my mouth with a handkerchief, before looking directly into my eyes. "Joy, I mean, Orchard. Forget you told us all of that private stuff, would you? Everything's perfectly normal, we're all friends here okay?" 

I slowly work the muscles in my mouth, every slight movement feeling like a monumental task. "Oh...kay." I repeat absentmindedly, more repeating the sound than signalling my understanding. The suggestion does however implant itself nicely in my mind like a cosy blanket thrown over the memories I'm told to forget. 

"Good, then go ahead and wake up." She snaps her fingers in front of my face unceremoniously, no countdown or gradual lift back into conscious ness, just a harsh snapping back to reality with a sudden headrush. Needing to sit back down again and finish my tea, I try to process the events of the past thirty or so minutes. Everything feels like a blur, this training is going to be a constant mindfuck isn't it? Even so, I won't have to wait long before I can meet my idol, so I can grin and bear the rest of this for her... it's the least I can do, really. 

After what feels like the longest four and a half minutes of my entire life, I hear the hatch on the ceiling window snap open as my personal hero descends into the room with the grace befitting of the world's number one guardian. Nova looks between the four of us with a serene calm that even sets my fangirling nerves at ease... somewhat. 

"Good morning, heroes. Sorry I'm late, did I miss much?" She lowers to the ground and steps towards us, Wild Rosary tracing a gloved finger over her lower lip and Hivemind licking hers. Discoman just taps his feet, fidgeting with the scrappy mp3 device in his hands to distract himself. Meanwhile, I feel like the only one recognising and respecting the demanding presence of woman before us. 

"N-no ma'am!" I gush, perhaps too enthusiastically, I realise these are the kind of fan interactions that famous people tend to dread. "We uh, we were just..." I trail off, realising that I lost track of what exactly we actually were doing. I forget when exactly Wild Rosary even made an appearance.

"We were just awaiting your arrival, to demonstrate yet another method that the cunning thief Murmur may or may not incorporate into her infamous vanishing acts." Hivemind quickly kickstarts the conversation, gesturing for Nova to take the floor. 

"Ah, of course. This isn't a technique I often need to use, but it does prove useful during interrogations with criminals hiding crucial information."

"Oh I know exactly the one you mean!" I start, before catching myself and toning it down. "It's your stare of submission, right? Most famous from when you used it against Girl Fawkes to make her tell you where all the bombs were hidden on November 5th uh... I forget the exact year haha..." I know the exact year, but if I act like a walking Nova encyclopaedia I might blow my chance to make a positive impression. 

"That's the one." Her smile is as genuine as my nonchalance, but I figure she must have heard fans recite her highlights countless times, so I can hardly blame her for finding it a bore. She's displaying her compassion by not just telling me to shut up already, if anything. "So you know..." Lady Nova's hands softly clasp around my shoulders, pulling me a little closer and lining my eyes up with her own. "...that when my eyes take on this glow..." Those eyes of hers begin to glow a radiant gold, too bright and commanding to tear my gaze from. "...the stare of submission has already taken hold, right?"

I feel warm all over again, but this time with a different kind of heat. This is pleasant, serene, pulling me into a soft calm that makes all of life's worries seem insignificant. Makes me feel insignificant. I'm pulled into her world, a spark of gold appearing in the edge of my vision as my eyes too begin to glow, reflecting her brilliance. 

"Yes." I whisper, my chest rising and falling like perfectly uniform waves rolling over a deep, endless sea. 

"Yes, what?" Nova prompts, our eyes distant lovers locked by divine magnetism. A fervid, indomitable desire to do nothing but fall into her begins to eat away at the very core of my being. This is the stare of submission, if Miss Murmur has even a fraction of its pull then this operation may just be hopeless. 

"Y-yes Goddess."