In the fraction of a second that has passed since my eyes first locked with that of the infamous Miss Murmur, it feels as though an eternity has passed. A harsh eternity, within which countless civilisations have came and gone, endless wars have raged and uncertain peacetimes have only shortened in length each time they would arrive. The conflicts in my mind all warring within the span of a single second, before I can begin the slow inhale through my nostrils and straighten the slump in my back. The roots are already in place, I just need to guide them to my target before she has the opportunity to reveal her methods of twisting the minds around her. I've trained for this... I just need to-

"Gotcha!" I exclaim a little nervously, feeling my power wrapping around the crook's ankle and then dragging her mind down deep into my orchard. I almost can't believe my victory, but Murmur does not move... she really is incapacitated. Now my work is done, I simply need to wait for backup to come in and finish the mission. Hivemind should be here soon, just a matter of time.

I observe the Orchard cautiously, the scene is as quiet as the thief's approach. Murmur is standing by a tree, her gloved hand cupping a hanging apple before gently prying it from the branch. Her calm demeanour makes it impossible to discern her current state of mind. Is she frustrated that she was caught? Or perhaps searching for a way out like a true professional? It makes no difference, there is nothing she can do now that my roots have taken hold. This is the crowning achievement of my career! Though, of course, I'll leave it up to Nova to decide how much credit I receive... I need to be a good hero for her after this. I mean, that's my duty...

"You're pretty cute, kid." Murmur breaks her silence, taking a crunchy bite from the apple in her hand as she looks around to see if I have a form in this space. Her voice is deeper than I had anticipated from her appearance. The woman looks to be around her late twenties or early thirties, with unkempt, raven black hair. Her hazel eyes are surrounded by subtle dark circles, lines suggesting a lack of healthy sleep, the woman's well toned figure betrayed by her sluggish posture. To say that Murmur is not what I had expected would be an understatement, this supposed master thief looks like I do after pulling an all-nighter for an assignment I had put off until last minutes... with a goth coat of paint. 

"Excuse me?" I cannot help but respond, intrigued by the out of the blue complement considering current circumstances. It is more than likely that the thief never even got a good look at me, only now in the Orchard have I been able to take in the woman's appearance. It was just a flash of those tired eyes before. 

Murmur cracks a smile, taking another bite of the apple without a hint of worry. "Saw you on tv before, I think. You're one of those that goes around saving kittens from trees and other friendly neighbourhood shit, right? I like that... and I adore your cute little apple costume, so endearing. No doubt goldy wants to dress you up all professional like, huh? Damn shame. Crying shame... I'd cry if I could, at least."

She's eccentric, that's for sure, but I have the time to humour a conversation. The fact that she could identify me is disconcerting enough, but she seems to be aware or at least suspect my affiliation with Miss Nova. "Goldy? I don't know what you mean, my agency is-"

"Soon to be signing off on a transfer, right? Gratz on the promotion hon, so happy for you. Take it I'm what sweetens the deal, not bad at all. You must be swelling with pride right about now, hm?" The oxymoronic small time supervillain lays down in the grass and settles on staring up into the sky, she must assume that I'm observing from above and she wouldn't be incorrect. 

I feel relief wash over me as I come to the inevitable conclusion that despite all her words, this washed up thief is all talk and nothing else now. I had not expected her to seem so immature, she reminds me of a more cynical Laura. The complete opposite of Nova, there's nothing to be scared of here. Still, her deductions are a little too accurate. "Hah, guess at my career prospects all you like, I can neither confirm nor deny. Any minute now you'll be in cuffs, you can watch me on the news from your cell to see if you were right or not."

Murmur laughs, picking at apple skin with a chipped nail. This woman is a mess, is she really the villain that has escaped even the clutches of Nova herself? "Oh yeah? I may have reinforced the entrance a little to give us some more time, set a few traps too just for good measure. I've been excited to meet you all week, the chosen one heheh... the golden girl. You may not think so, but I'm exactly where I want to be right now. Nurse Murmur has arrived to force uncomfortable truths down your throat, so be a good girl and listen close. Unless you'd rather retract your roots and settle this with a good old fashioned scrap? You'd have a decent chance, the last time I threw a punch was back in those halcyon days, Rosary had me winded on my back before it could connect."

Even being called good girl by this shady woman has that strange effect on me, perhaps it's that husky voice which still carries a feminine charm of its own. I cannot deny that my curiosity towards other women has suddenly blossomed during my time with Hivemind, though I consider it a safety risk to let this spill to Laura or her alter ego. "I-I don't have to listen to a word you're saying."

The villainess grins, bouncing one leg on the other's knee as she lays back in the soft grass of my orchard. "You kinda do, though. I promise it's an interesting story and trust me it very much concerns your pretty self, unless you want to end up as much a ghost as me. Just a faint murmur in the air, navigating radio wire and coasting through this life unseen. No, Joy, you want to hear me out. I've come to steal much more than precious metals, I intend to rob Nicole of her rising star for the second time. Hopefully the last, if this orchard of yours can be put to better use than tying up loose ends."

"Wh-what are you even talking about? How do you know my name? I uh, I mean, that's not my name. Ah shit, you're confusing me." I wish I could just render the woman unconscious and be done with it, she seems dead set on casting doubt on Nova of all people, a woman I only want to be useful for in uncomplicated golden glee. How dare this serial thief attempt to play the victim mid trespass, she should take a look in the mirror... perhaps brush her hair as she does so.

"What's the harm in just listening, even to a deluded madwoman's rant, eh? You've been trained well to resist suggestion, no? So nothing to worry about." Murmur does make a compelling argument, but a voice in the back of my head warns me with golden cadence to disregard this villain's words as quickly as they come. 

"Speak then, I can hardly stop you. Just don't expect me to hang off your every word, I know well who to trust and who to ignore thank you very much." 

"Well trained indeed!" Murmur throws her apple, letting it roll beneath the nearby tree. I make sure to inspect her carefully with watchful eye, even if there's no threat she can pose while wrapped within root. "And if I told you that your little training process doubled as conditioning to turn you into their newest pet prodigy? Nova and her lackeys have been grooming you for over a week and you so easily let them that you no longer catch the irony in your words. Heheh, I understand completely, I was just like you once upon a distant time. Bought into Nicole's bullshit, ready to become her willing chess piece. I was young and naive and wanted to save the city, be a true hero and all that crap."

"What you're saying isn't true, you're just trying to--"

"Shut up and let me speak, you deserve to know what you're getting yourself into. How easily you're letting them play you, I know just how compromised you already are after a little one on one with your bestie Laura. Or Firefly, she's a fun departure from the mass of goody two shoes heroes that you and your ilk represent. A wolf that forgoes the sheep's clothing, how refreshing. Well I say one on one but another girl was there too sticking her damn tongue down my informant's throat here and there. Neither knew I was there, I did learn some invaluable lessons from my time in your shoes. Namely that subtle coercion can be just as effective as all those little tricks they've been teaching you about and breaking you down with."

I know I said she could speak, but I wasn't aware she was going to try and talk my ears off. Miss Hivemind neglected to teach me protection from such droning drivel, this is a pity party for one and I'm a helpless spectator. So Murmur interrogated Firefly? What the hell does that two-bit vigilante know about my.... ah, she did catch me after my last session with Hivemind and I must admit I'll have a hard time living that down. Still, it was all in the name of justice... right? Hivemind assured me as much and everything she tells me is the tru--

"Your silence is curious, I'd say you're quite interested in what I have to say after all, eh? There's a good girl, Joy, let me tell you about the last time they manipulated an up and comer to their own ends, past the breaking point. A young hero by the name of Mist. By day she was just Miss. T, so you can see where the name came from. Those were the days haha, a teaching assistant fresh out of college who made little name for herself for the first year of crimefighting. That all changed when she was approached by the most famous hero agency in the city if not the whole world, of course she was starstruck. You see, they wanted Mist's ability to alter the city's memory, the young hero's haze had the power to nudge perception here and there. The rising star only thought to use her ability to misdirect criminals, becoming as shifting mist until disarming them in a flash. Nicole wanted something more grand, a mass cover up of her very public blunder." Murmur's eyes narrow and she stares up into the orchard's imaginary sky hoping to make contact with my invisible gaze. "Don't worry girl your mind is safe, my power has burnt out completely. At first I was disillusioned by such a petty request from my role model, but I soon started seeing things her way. I saw everything through those golden lens, led into their flock and twisted into nothing but a willing puppet, eager to serve and please. Starting to sound familiar? No matter how much training they put me through, regardless of how desperately I wanted to be a good girl for Nicole and earn her respect, her love... in the end I still had to tell her I couldn't do what she wanted. Such a large scale extension of my power was simply beyond me, with meek, pleading eyes I delivered the bad news. Given that you don't remember any melt down from that unblemished public record of hers, I'm sure you can see where this is going right?"

I'm trying to imagine a world where any of this is possible, but all I hear are the desperate lies of a petty crook who finally met her match. Like she said, Nova has never had any such scandals, as big a fan as I am I'd surely be the first to know. Silent I remain, waiting for her lies to run thin, that spinning yarn to fray and fall.

"When I told her I couldn't oblige her request, the woman simply replied... Sure you can. Her stare of submission took control before I could even protest, that gold shining so blindingly bright that I found my mist dancing to her tune despite the toll it'd have on me. I felt suffocated as she pumped her power into me and let it amplify mine at great cost, all to keep her image. I loved this woman and she used every last drop of my mist to cover up her own embarrassment, once she realised I was spent afterwards I was summarily abandoned. A disappointment she called me, having hoped to debut me as Rosary's sidekick once her fall from grace had been swiftly undone. The heartbreak was the least of my problems, Joy! That golden light burned into me like a second sun and never cared to leave, my entire world tinged that gaudy colour symbolic of the woman who violated me. I can't blink, I can't sleep, I can't call my mist. I really am just a murmur of the woman I used to be, little much left. I learned a more reliable way to twist minds, one that could never be burnt out unless you were to rip the chords from my throat. Spent the last... oh I've lost track, did I tell you I'm an insomniac? Days mean so little now. I've spent the last however long it's been baiting supers with my petty thefts to assess their usefulness in granting me revenge. I'd even ran into Nova herself not long back, but my words could only do so much, I need a more specialised touch to really leave my mark on that vile woman. Heard the rumour that the astronaut named Nicole died in that blackhole millions of miles away and whatever returned was the extraterrestrial life she fused with? Not so, I think she's monstrously human. Suppose you still want to be so good for her though huh? A useful pawn for her illustrious career?"

"Okay, enough! I-I've heard enough, are you quite done? I..." 

"Still don't believe me? No it's not that, I learned a little fact from your cutthroat superfan that not many know. We can't exactly lie to you in this orchard, hm? A shame that they got to you first as I finally found the hero I was looking for. You know that I'm telling the truth, but I'm sensing that their hooks are already deep in flesh. I'd accounted for this, so it's no real bother." Murmur holds out her hand and the previously discarded apple begins to lift up on a blanket of mist, returning to the villain's hand as she wipes the surface and takes a satisfied bite. 

What did she just do? Does she really have no powers? 

"I can taste your confusion in the apple pip I just accidentally swallowed, ehe... I can't use my mist anymore due to Nicole's intervention, but this place is just a manifestation of our collective conscious, no? My thoughts swirling within a cage of yours, dressed up into the scene of an idyllic orchard. Why shouldn't I be able to call my mist from that nostalgic memory, of a hero cut short, it was a power of mind to begin with so this is quite the fitting stage for a final flaunting." Murmur sits up and the mist forms behind her head as pillow. "Of course it could never manifest physically, I'm just proving that this is definitely not a physical space, had to make sure we weren't in something as scary as a pocket dimension. No no, just your weak, compromised mind. Should be child's play to break out then, I'm a master thief don't you think I've cracked vaults far more secure than this one?" 

I feel my fists balling in the world outside, while I peer down into my orchard in frustration. "M-my orchard is infallible! If I'm listening correctly you intend to turn me against Lady Nova and trap her in this place too, so you must understand how impenetrable it is."

"Oh of course, but it is still just a fortress of the mind, of willing consciousness. I'll simply convince it to release me, that is, convince you to let me free." Miss Murmur laughs. "I think your resolve a simple lock to pick, dear girl. I'm sure that just looking at my sleepless face is making you tired? That's good, if I can make you sleepy I can steer you towards suggestibility. See how easy this is?" The raven haired crook stands and walks over to one of my rooted trees, dragging those unkempt nails down its bark with a smirk. "I bet they've been working you to the bone preparing you for this moment, you must be exhausted from all the pressure and stimuli. They still whipping out Florasma's stockpile? That woman hasn't been active since the golden age yet her addictive chemicals still find purpose, they probably told you it was safe to use but..."

"But what? Hivemind said that I was building a tolerance, not a dependency. Everything she tells me is--"

"A barefaced lie or half truth at best, you know they planned to brand me a criminal and turn me into another of her hosts to help keep me silenced. Once Nic realised I was the only one left with knowledge of their cover up she returned to where I'd been dumped to finish me off, but I was gone like the mist she stole. Henceforth a Murmur, evading that tying of loose ends and forced into the life of a criminal to get by undetected. I considered a false ID, but even my face would be picked up by Hive's many watchful eyes. So yeah, she's a liar at heart. Florasma's concoction alters your brain chemistry dramatically and I'm afraid the effects are very permanent."

I exhale to try and calm my rapidly increasing nerves, this woman has to be finding a way to bypass the orchard's defence against deceit and yet... I'm far too curious to deny her the follow up, letting my lips spill traitorously. 

"I... what do you mean, permanent? What sort of effects?" It's hard to deny this mess of a woman has been through the ringer, I don't want to admit that she could be a mirror of what I'm to become if I remain on this golden path but the signs and hints are getting harder to ignore. I remind myself vigilantly that the moment I believe even a single word out of her mouth without question, I've fallen into that silver tongued trap she's attempting to set. Just questions to humour her should be enough, let her think she has any chance of actually escaping while Hivemind finds her way back into the building. Little do I know that only metres away from where I stand, my best friend of nineteen years stands poised to ambush my mentor's many hosts. The vigilante Firefly took little convincing when Murmur span her a tale of the danger her beloved Orchard finds herself in, not even a need for deceit with that coercion. Suppose they see this as some fucked up intervention of sorts. 

Murmur's smile darkens. "It opens your mind up like a blooming flower ready to be pollenated. Simply put, you become more suggestible to the words of others, less resistant to control. Florasma made her thralls docile and obedient so that she could plant her garden without having to rewater them every few hours, of course it's not just a temporary state are you stupid? It's not something you build a tolerance to, it's something you get used to. Come to accept. You can sense it even now while I talk to you, that urge to just do as you're told even from street scum like me. It doesn't discriminate."

I gulp, unable to fully deny the truth in her words. Maybe Florasma's chemicals have some lasting effects but the big four had good reason to keep exposing me, without that training I would have fallen under chemical influence all too easily. Not that Murmur wields chemicals... nor subliminals, nor drugged lipstick. Only wily words that spell danger the more I listen, if only I could hope to shut her out.

"You'll forgive me, I hope, for taking advantage of that bloom as I land upon your budding mind a buzzing bee. I'll spare you my sting in return, hehe, instead just lending you more whispered truths that I hope will help. Help you see things the way you should, the way I want you to. So many lies have spilled into your pretty head I'm surprised the orchard has not come to flood, I hope to pull the plug and drain them. It'll be so easy to convince you in the end, see, not only because of Florasma's bloom opening you up and reducing all mental defence... but also Nicole's golden glow having primed you to follow instruction and trust the truths of others more than those in your own mind." Murmur kisses the bark sardonically, making me shudder. She's making a show of turning me to her point of view, so smug is she to think that I'll fold.

"I... what? You mean the Stare of Submission? That only lasts as long as it is held, any Nova fan could tell you that!" This time I've caught her in a lie, hands as red as those pristine apples hanging above her head. 

Another playful laugh and my confidence shatters, why am I suddenly so rapt to her words. Oh, this must be the effects of Florasma's concoction that she spoke of, it really is potent... "If that were really so I would be able to blink instead of needing constant eye drops to keep that hazel you're so lost in from drying out. I'd be able to see in colour rather than shades of gold so enthralling that my lids would not dare obscure them for a fraction of a second. I could lay down on my pillow at night and drift into a restful slumber to take a break from my busy life of crime, doesn't that sound so nice Joy? Drifting into a state of relaxing sleep in which our heavy burdens cannot reach? Nicole's golden stare ensnares us both, I know you can feel it now, pulling my words into the forefront of your thoughts even at the price of replacing your own."

It's getting harder to think clearly, I hate to admit. I... there's too much riding on this operation for me to fail now, the pressure is so heavy that I suppose it would be nice to escape for a while. I imagine a reality in which I could simply sleep and escape this mounting pressure that piles upon me. In this instance, I concede, Murmur may be right. It's okay to relate in a single area, no? I can't really help it when the after effects of Nova's Stare of Submission are the reason I'm so helpless to begin with. It isn't my fault that Murmur is starting to make more sense as time goes on, telling myself that makes it all so much easier to accept! Way to go, Joy. 

"Thaaat's right, Joy. I can see you slipping, or at least sense it. I do so wish we could talk face to face, are you sure you're not able to return me to the room so we can have a more personable chat?" Murmur giggles, tapping her nails against the tree bark in a gently rhythmic motion, a set of four repeated clacks at set interval. 

"I... shouldn't... that's the one think I can't do, no matter what. You're hypnotising me, trying to get me to free you." I'm no simpleton, I can tell what she's doing even if I may be powerless against it. 

"You admit I'm hypnotising you? Doesn't that mean I've hypnotised you. Hey, doesn't that mean I've won? I get that you're confused, but people usually stop fighting after they've already lost, Joy. Why don't you be a good girl and forget how to resist me, Joy. I think you should admit that you're too confused and lost to keep up your end of the conversation, Joy."

She's overloading me with too many different things I can barely keep up. No, I can't keep up. By the time I've processed her last sentence I struggle to remember the first, was it a statement, command or question? I'm being hypnotised, that much is obvious. Does that mean she's hypnotised me? Wait, I really am confused, it's like logic and reason have been put to the wash and I'm waiting on a tediously long drying cycle. I need to resist her, but I think I just forgot how. I can still blame Florasma and Nova's lasting effects, right? I should say something, but I think her mouth is still moving as those words spill directly into my thoughts and... ah, I just realised! As Hivemind kept reminding me, this orchard is a mental projection, an ability of the mind. Even if my body is taken control of I can conjure out roots and subjugate foe. On the flip side, if my mind truly begins to err and I do not make effort to correct course.... I'll be unable to make proper use of this power. My orchard will fail. 

Murmur hums as she walks to the edge of my mind and begins to cut herself a hole with sharp claw, a circle torn into that idyllic blue sky like a cat burglar cutting into skylight. I watch helplessly as the woman frees herself and deep hazel eyes beset upon mine once more.

"Hello, Joy. Mind if I step closer?" Murmur looks just as she did in the orchard, as the woman approaches I notice tiny specks of gold painting the centres of her pupils, telling me that she really wasn't lying. Wait, I never got to answer, my mind is running too slow. "It's okay, you're a pretty little thing, not as lithe as I though I'm glad one of us is still eating well." Her fingers run into my hair and I'm reminded of the bark, still just a tree rooted into ground with ripened fruit ready for cultivation. I'm ready for... 

The woman's lips mash against my own and I gasp, overwhelmed by the sudden sensation. She's a good kisser, I think, though I suppose most of my experience has been wiped away by the effects of that cold drug. Despite my best interest, despite my pride as a hero and despite my loyalty to Lady Nova... I find myself attempting to return the kiss. Up close it's startling how tired Murmur appears, those dark circles worn like a villain's usual mask. Just looking at them makes me want to fall asleep. "And with that, you're mine."

I pull away from her lips with a pant and a whine, staring at her through half-lidded eyes. "N-no I'm not, what was that? What do you mean? I'm resistant to drugged kisses if you're--"

"Not a drug, but an antidote. It should clear your mind of those nasty effects I mentioned along with that deep rooted conditioning fertilising your mind. As a result, your enforced resistance and animosity towards me will fade too, making you far more amenable to my suggestion. Much more agreeable." Murmur cups my chin and I try to spit but only end up drooling like I had under the effects of such heavy suggestion in the past. An antidote? Does that mean I should be thanking her? I'm getting so confused again, why did kissing another girl just turn me on? I'm not gay... I'm not a...

Lesbian slut.

Hivemind's words from our impulsive phone sex, how could I forget such a strange and inappropriate exchange? Is this a result of Murmur's antidote? I'm remembering every immoral deed impressed upon me, as impressionable as I clearly was. Still am.

"M-Murmur..." I realise how pathetic I must sound, but this woman really might be trying to help me after all. I lean against her as she holds me and I tilt up for another kiss pleadingly. The thief smiles wryly, kissing me on the forehead with another dose of her antidote. Have the four just been using me, as they had this victim before me? I'm supposed to be a superhero, aren't I? Can I support such injustice, a tale that ends with a prospective newcomer being chewed up and spat out by villains masquerading as heroes? No, I'm Orchard! If all these terrible violations of privacy, decency and hope go unchecked... I'll become this jaded husk of a hero in front of me. Pity wraps me around its finger and loyalty brews. "I'm... I'm a superhero... I want to do the right thing."

"Of course you do sweetie, that's why I'm trying to help you see the truth. I don't want anyone to go through the hurt I have, I want to be a hand to guide you away from that false golden path and into the comfort, the safety of night. You won't be alone, Firefly is loyal to my Murmurs and soon we'll have an entire network of reformed criminals at our disposal too, a veritable sleeper cell."

She's talking about Hivemind, is the plan to convert her too after she's done with me? Maybe the twisted woman deserves it after manipulating me for so long, after toying with my sexuality and taking advantage. Not like Murmur, who only does what she must to help me see the light. Or the dark, in this case, a sanctuary from that false light... that golden glow. No wait, Nova would never... ah but she has, the proof is in front of me. My hero is a villain, which leaves room for a villain to become my hero?

"I can see it in your eyes, you're starting to see the truth. I'm so proud of you Joy, weaker heroes would shy away from such an uncomfortable reality. I'd know." Murmur strokes my hair and kisses my jaw, making me blush and swell with pride. I really am turning a new leaf, I forget at what point in the conversation I forgot to disregard her words and started falling for them. Falling for her? I can't say that I don't love her touch, but having a crush on another woman is... I trace my lip with a finger idly and remember this kiss, recall tilting for another so easily. Oh, I see. 

"Proud of... me? I... ahaha, I'm just way over my head here and trying not to drown. You're... amazing, Murmur. If all that happened to me I'd probably have given up." I'm helplessly attracted to her, when did it happen? I run my mind back and remember the way my heart jumped upon first meeting soft hazel. That was just nerves, right? 

"Hmm, resolve is not so easily earned. Don't put yourself down, it took me a long time of wasting away with a needle to pass the time before I picked myself out of that dark hole and made better use of night. We don't have time for that right now, so why not let me instil a little confidence in you through trance? You're familiar with the process and to be honest you're hanging on by a thread, ready to fall for me the moment you accept it the right thing to do. Your moral responsibility to let me hypnotise you and helpfully restructure your chaotic thoughts to better serve our shared goal. Doesn't that seem fair, pretty?"

"You... you think I'm pretty?" I really am hanging on by a thread, still replaying that sapphic swapping of spit in my slipping mind instead of focusing properly. Oh that's right, I have to be a good superhero. Right, they'll need my help converting Hivemind so I have a responsibility to not be this distracted. Clearly that isn't working, I can't seem to control myself well enough, so I should do as Murmur suggests. "I mean uhm, yes, you can hypnotise me." Did I really just say that? This operation has gone so far off the rails that I've crashed into the ocean and find myself sinking to seafloor. 

Murmur grins in victory, a well earned one at that. The woman pulls me up to stare deep into her gold flecked eyes and gives her own stare of submission, this one a willing surrender from one hero to another. "Fall deep for me now, Joy, it's your duty to enter trance so that we may rebuild Orchard into a force for real good and not false heroism. No longer used by those around you, instead supported by those who cherish you. If that sounds like something you want then on the count of three your mind will fall into my grasp. Do you understand, Joy? Do you understand, Orchard?"

I give the woman a relieved smile and nod, eyes glued to hers and my body already light as I remember it feeling in trance. Heavy eyes, light head, empty mind. This resistance training only made me more susceptible as I recall the sensations perfectly. 

"Then sleep for Miss Murmur." The woman snaps her fingers and my head drops into her soft chest, her arms holding me close and her lips falling onto my mess of hair. "Such a good girl for me, Joy. Deep asleep, mind getting so blank as you remember your duty as do-gooder. Hehe, you're adorable, the apple in my eye." Murmur cackles, fingers tightening around me as she takes on a more possessive, smug tone. "Of course, I can tell you now. I don't need to tell you, but I want to, while you're too mindless and stupid to understand what I'm saying. You didn't consider that your orchard's will can only be imposed on those whose own will is weaker, hm?"

I smile into her chest, not sure what she means, I'm going to be a good hero from now on. 

"I lied, Joy." Murmur's fingers roll over my form freely, manipulating me in body and mind. Her toy for the taking. "I lied about Florasma's cheap perfume and Nic's golden stare, your assumptions about them were correct to begin with but they made for such invaluable placebo to crack open your mind like a brittle nut. As did my white lie about these kisses being laced with antidote, though I'd call that a half truth given the power of metaphor!" My new role model removes the cape from my costume and works the zip slowly as she confesses her sins. "I lied about my tragic origin story, but it was oh so convincing wasn't it? A heady concoction of sympathy and self preservation along with credible detail from what you've seen and lived. It made you fall so quickly I even surprised myself this time." Another giggle, the villain gently peeling costume over my shoulders and past my naked breasts. "I lied about my noble intentions, but I'll make sure you see me in the best possible light even when I sin before your very eyes. Orchard turns a blind eye to her hero's misdeeds, justifies them in her pretty little head however she can and forgets entirely if that proves too great a stretch." The woman's soft caress slips into my leggings and her fingers press against leaking mound, I'm so wet for her. With a little pressure she dips inside and runs her finger up in a curl, her long nailed thumb moving to eclipse and dominate my clit like nobody ever has. I'm helpless against her touch, needing it more than oxygen in this very moment, my mind a lapsing lump of flesh. Putty to be reshaped, molded into Murmur's preferred state. "I lied about my powers, too. I never had any to begin with, yet I've become oh so competent at taking those of others and using them more efficiently than they ever could. Take your orchard, for example. With my stronger will I even managed to conjure a convincing fake. I'll put it to greater use than you could ever have dreamed to. Say thank you Miss Murmur."

As I find myself buckling against her touch and riding out my first orgasm against another woman's fingers, I moan out the words I was instructed to repeat. My mind is hers. 

"Th-thaaank youuu... haah...  Miss Murmurrr!"