It was a beautiful day to be outside, and the N.C.U. campus courtyard was as good a place to be as any. But today was no ordinary day. Today the courtyard was filled with witches, and warriors, demons and angels, superheroes and villains alike. It was the first of the local cosplay group's costume contests, and there was barely a person to be found wearing normal attire. It was also the perfect place for a little recruitment. But as three figures hid in the shadows of the dorms, their target was easy to spot.
Cheyenne had been a cosplay enthusiast for years, and as such her sewing skills were on point with her passion for the art form. And luckily for us her thin, strong figure allowed her to squeeze into just about any cosplay outfit she might like. Today she was wearing the uniform of a flying, invulnerable, solar powered superheroine with an allergy to green rocks from her homeworld. (Supergirl...she was dressed as Supergirl.) The version she picked was designed to show off her...assets as best as possible. The short blue skirt with red trim, and sports bra-like blue top with a gold and red 'S' left her perfect midsection completely visible. The knee high, red, high-heeled boots didn't hurt either, and added about two inches to her already rather tall frame. Her hair, which was normally light brown, had been dyed golden blonde to complete the image.
From the shadows, the three figures watched the young pseudo-heroine as she played her part and tried her best to impress the patrons and judges of the contest. It was time to begin their plan. The first to emerge from the shadows was Laura, dressed from head to toe like a medieval elf. Complete with a pair of boots, skirt and top that looked like they were made from...uh...'natural resources'. She even had fake pointed elf ears sticking up out of her curly blonde hair. She began to move through the crowd, addressing everyone in a fake british accent and calling them all "m'lord" or "m'lady". It was actually kind of charming the first few times...and then got very old, very fast.
From the shadows, the two remaining figures split up. One came out wearing a dark purple cloak that covered their entire body and hid them from sight. While the other, Jackie, stepped out of the shadows in a very skimpy french maid outfit. Unlike most of the other cosplay characters around the courtyard, Jackie's costume had clearly been store bought for Halloween. But nonetheless, it left nothing to the imagination.
With all of the pieces in place, Laura made her way through the crowd and poked Cheyenne in the sides from behind. The heroic cosplayer spun around as she let out a high pitched squeal, only to come face to face with the smiling elf. "Laura!" she shouted "Oh, you made it! Thank you so much for coming!" She hugged her friend tightly, towering over Laura thanks to the added height of the heels. "You look fantastic!"
Laura smiled as she bowed. "Thank you m'lady. Your attire doth suit you better then whom it was made for, if I do say." Again, she said this with a very thick British accent.
"Ok, you can stop that shit..." Cheyenne said as she glared at Laura.
"Oh fine." The defeated Laura replied as she switched back to her normal voice. "So you got my email about the psychology sorority right? How we'd like you to join so we can have some subjects for our hypnosis sessions?"
Cheyenne tried to hide her disdain for the idea, and her eye roll from Laura. She failed miserably at both. "Oh come on, you keep trying to get me to agree to 'try being hypnotized', or 'see if you can go under', or 'you are getting sleepy'." Cheyenne mocked. "You know it's never going to work. Just because you guys found a few people to pretend to go under doesn't make it real." Said the superheroine to the elf.
Laura kept her cool despite the aggressive rejection from her friend. "Oh it's real, and you would think someone who cosplays and roleplays as much as you do might see the benefit of using your imagination." Her response had a slightly sharp tone to it, but it wasn't mean. In fact her comment was designed to keep Cheyenne looking in Laura's direction. You see, Laura was following a carefully set up plan. And physically, she was exactly where she needed to be. Directly behind Laura was Jackie, who was wandering the crowd, unaware she was about to be used as an example.
From the crowd, the cloaked figure began to slowly stalk Jackie...moving closer and closer behind the young maid. When she was within reach, the cloaked figure raised her gloved hand and softly tapped Jackie on the shoulder. The brunette turned around, only to come face to face with a brilliant light show.
Woven into the gloves were several LED lights that activated as soon Jackie turned around. The myriad of colors played across the young woman's face while the cloaked figure expertly moved her fingers as if she were casting a spell over the captivated Jackie.
As the cloaked figures' hands moved back and forth, and the colors splayed across Jackie's face, the brunette's eyes began to flutter and roll up into her head. She had started to sway from side to side not long after the lights in the gloves had turned on. Her head swayed from side to side as she was subjected to the lights, and as the motion moved through her body it gave her the appearance of a snake slithering across the grass. Until finally her eyes rolled all the way up into her head as it lolled back completely and she sank to her knees, sending her arms falling limply to her sides and her head down to her chest.
Cheyenne couldn't help but notice the scene unfold behind behind Laura, and she wasn't the only one. Several people began to applaud the scene, as if it were all a preplanned act. Which of course it was, they just didn't realize that the cloaked figure had really hypnotized poor Jackie.
As the crowd began to disperse, the cloaked figure took out a black dog collar and strapped it onto the hypnotized maid's neck. The chain leash it connected to disappeared into the sleeve of the cloak as the mysterious figure gave it a gentle tug. Jackie rose to her feet, keeping her head down in a sign of submission.
"See that..." Laura interjected as she pointed out the cloaked figure and Jackie. "That took imagination. If the girl in the maid outfit really believed she was that person's slave, believed in the 'magic' that they were using, it would have put her under their spell. A hypnotic spell." she added emphasis to the last part with a smile.
