Start Of The Plan Ch 02

Chapter II

Sparkler scowled as she stomped back to her bike. She'd just spent an hour standing still while two zoinked-out security guards held her at gunpoint. After that, she'd spent an hour with the police after she'd called them in. Having to admit to them that Mesmeri got the drop on her had not been fun.

She'd given them a description of the van and the women with her adversary, but that was everything she had. No names had been used and license plates had been missing from the vehicle. So the only good Sparkler had managed to do tonight was saving two people from getting blown up or arrested as accessories to the theft. Instead, they were admitted to the hospital to see if Mesmeri had kept her word.

Even the watch Mesmeri had used as a timer couldn't be used as a clue; it had belonged to one of the security guards. The bombs might give up a clue and of course the police would try and find out when and where the guards had come into contact with Mesmeri.

The superheroine consoled herself. 'At least they'll keep Mesmeri's involvement quiet for now. That should keep the League from sending "help" and give me time to right this mistake instead.'

Absent-mindedly, she deactivated the protective coverings on her bike and retrieved her helmet. She donned it while she climbed aboard. 'Better not go home right away. I need to calm down or I'll trash something. Probably something real expensive and way too delicate.'

Her helmet's systems turned on at the same time she started up the bike and a flickering display greeted her. The edges of her display were awash in psychedelic colors that flowed like waves. Less annoying was that the audio system had turned to her favorite radio station on its own.

Sparkler suppressed the urge to climb off the bike and kick it. Or bash her helmet against a wall. 'Argh, will anything go right tonight?!' Taking a few deep breaths, she tried not to think of Mesmeri for a moment. 'No, calm down. Just listen to the music and go for a ride.' Not that techno was calming music but it wouldn't leave her angry either. Just pumped. 'You'll feel better afterwards.' Oh yes, she knew just what she was going to do with that energy too. 'And then you can find Mesmeri and kick her shapely ass!'

That wasn't helping her control her anger, but it did direct her ire away from expensive things the crime fighter would have to ask the League to replace if she trashed them.

So she rode away from the scene of the crime and towards the highway. As she hit the I-41, the flickering settled down, leaving Sparkler to look at the world through a broken kaleidoscope. 'Don't think,' she reminded herself, 'just ride.'

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Amanda's bare feet paddled across the carpeted floor. Her smelly clothes lay forgotten on a pile next to the door. She'd just come out of the shower and her hair was still damp but she couldn't wait any longer. If she hadn't wanted to look her best for Mistress she wouldn't have even taken the shower.

She took a now familiar position on her chair, her legs thrown over armrests to better expose her snatch to the webcam. The seating was stained and still damp but she simply sat in it and waited for the computer to boot up. Activating the appropriate program her eyes went even softer as the screen showed a black-and-white spiral.

There had been a time when she would have just looked at it and shook her head. A time when she thought it foolish that something like that could hypnotize people. Now it sucked her in and owned her mind in a moment. Her hands began to type her report without conscious thought. She didn't know what she was typing, exactly, although she knew she had carried out her instructions successfully.

Having sent the message, she waited, her puffy sex already wetting from how unresisting she was, how completely automatic her compliance had become. Words appeared on the monitor. Amanda didn't really read them or remember what they said, but she understood them.

With a moan, she activated reward program 05 and shuddered as her well-trained mind began to imagine a skillful tongue swirling around her clit. Her mouth began speaking, reminding her whom she should be grateful to. "Thank you Mistress. For allowing me to obey. To obey is bliss."

In the middle of the screen, a display counted down the time she had left until the program completed.

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Sparkler drove straight through the wall and the short tunnel it hid. Behind her the forcefield came back on, hiding the fact that this was one of the entrances to her base. It wasn't large, and a lot of space was used up by a suitably-big screen hiding a powerful computer and a few other machines, like an automated med-bay.

Above her she had a basement apartment where she could be Emily West--something she did more than she originally hoped for when she took this assignment. On the other hand, she'd had a breakthrough in two cases because she used her Emily West persona. It had its uses.

Bopping her head to the beat, she stepped off and made her way to the computer. Rainbow colors were still obscuring the edges of her vision but she'd gotten used to them. She took off her gloves and threw them on a workbench as she passed it. The protective gloves were great for fighting, but they made typing a real pain.

It wasn't until her head hit the backrest of her chair that Sparkler realized she was still wearing the helmet. 'And now I'm getting forgetful,' she thought, exasperated. There was no anger in the thought, though; that had drained out of her with the ride.

She had to blink after taking it off, a little disoriented by the sudden change in view. Removing her eye mask helped because it allowed her to rub her eyes. It didn't stop her from calling up Mesmeri's file. Emily wanted to get to know her opponent better.

The file's information was pretty much a more-detailed version of what she remembered from her briefing. She still skimmed it. 'Real name: Shelley Cook, former psychiatrist, mind control, planner, likes to recruit superheroes, highly intelligent, blah blah blah.' Really, no nugget of information that would point toward her likely hangouts. The League had only found one that was really Mesmeri's base, and it had been destroyed completely to cover her escape.

But the file did have something Sparkler had lacked. It gave her adversary a face. Mesmeri's hair was cut like her own but was raven black. Her features were mature, but she still looked good.

It was her eyes, however, that really drew Emily's attention. Brown, so dark they were almost black, staring into the camera without fear or anger. This had been taken after she'd been captured, which made the look of commanding confidence even more impressive.

There were more photos of Mesmeri, photos taken of her in action. Although most of that action consisted of her watching confidently as others fought for her, including several superheroes.

Emily clicked through them; they didn't tell her much. She did stop at one that showed gas being sprayed from her fingers into some unsuspecting cop. 'That makes two weapons she's got on her: dart launcher and gas dispenser. Both in her hands and both non-lethal.'

But she could learn nothing more from the picture, so she moved on. There were only a few pictures left when she came upon one showing Mesmeri and several other supervillains battling the Manhattan Five. It had been one of the few occasions when Mesmeri had gotten involved in direct combat. And the only time she teamed up with others of her ilk without having control of their minds.

'Got to give it to her, at least she's an equal opportunity slaver. Good or bad, she takes 'em all.' Emily took another look at Mesmeri. 'Damn, I hope I'll look that good when I'm 38. She obviously stays in shape even if she doesn't fight.'

It was starting to get warm too. That wasn't surprising; she'd been in uniform for more than 12 hours now. She did love her suit: it gave just the right amount of protection and freedom of motion for her fighting style. Unfortunately, it did slightly too good a job of keeping her warm. She stripped out of the upper part of her suit, leaving her in her sports bra. The slight breeze from the ventilator immediately started to cool her sweaty skin.

Her gaze returned to the screen, her hand idly playing with a strap of the bra. Emily's eyes gravitated towards Mesmeri's butt and, for some reason, stayed there. 'She looks real good for a woman in her thirties. Damn fine shape.'

Her tongue licked her suddenly dry lips. 'Great ass,' she appraised. That thought startled her. 'Wait, am I checking out a woman?' It was only then that she noticed her hand had descended a little and was now caressing the upper swell of her breast. 'And a supervillain?'

Yanking her hand back like it was burned, she stood up. Not bothering to shut the computer off, she speeded towards the elevator. 'Okay, I am going to take a nice cold shower and then I will take a very long nap.' She made sure not to even glance at the monitor again.

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Sparkler sped back home through the early hours of the morning. She'd spent the night hitting her informants for information--quite literally, in the case of the less forthcoming ones--and had caught bubkes. Half hadn't even heard about the robbery yet; the other half only had second- or third-hand accounts of what was reported in the news.

She also managed to forget--more then a few times--to take off her helmet. It hadn't slowed her down; but she preferred being recognized. The fear made getting information from some of the weasels easier.

Not that she was the only one to hit dead-ends in the investigation. The police had found the van torched just outside the warehouse district. The bombs had actually been assembled by the guards, who had bought the components themselves. Which the police knew only because they'd traced them back to the security guards. The guards hadn't known because Mesmeri had been meant what she said: they'd completely forgotten they'd ever met the supervillain or done anything out of the ordinary. It was looking like the criminal had managed to think of everything that could lead back to her.

While she was sure the continuing glitches in her helmet systems weren't Mesmeri's fault, Sparkler had felt the urge to blame the criminal for them anyway. It went away as she continued to ride her bike; it always did. Driving her motorcycle always relaxed her, but tonight it felt even better. Part of her wanted to keep driving, but there was work to be done.

So she rode down what looked like a sewer tunnel and up the ramp that had lowered from the ceiling. She stripped out of her suit completely this time before even taking a seat. The boxer shorts and sports bra were good enough in the pleasantly warm room.

'I've been over most of her file already, but I... forgot to look at the last few pictures,' she thought with a blush. A few keystrokes later, Mesmeri's skintight outfit was again on the big screen. Sparkler's eyes automatically moved away from it, though, taking in the rest of the picture instead.

It showed the inside of Mesmeri's base--a lab to be precise. Crimson Bandita had just gotten up from the platform in its center and was powering up. She was a supervillain but, that time, she hadn't been in control. Around Crimson Bandita there were several women, all of them wearing nothing but skimpy bikinis, advancing on the superheroes.

Sparkler's attention returned to the mindcontrolled supervillain. She was still wearing her outfit even if it didn't cover all that much. For one it gave Emily a very good view of her cleavage. 'That getup really shows off her juicy tits.' Her breath hitched as the thought registered. It was only when she shook her head to dislodge the errant thought that she noticed the extra weight. 'And I forgot to take off the helmet again,' she grumbled.

Getting annoyed about that felt good; it distracted her nicely from her earlier thoughts. But only for as long as it took for Sparkler to put the helmet away. That done, she was more comfortable looking at Mesmeri. She was off to the side with half of her form hidden by a control console. Not seeing anything more she hastily moved on to the next picture.

And groaned when her eyes were drawn right away to Mesmeri's retreating backside. 'That's it! I'm so frustrated I'm ogling women. Once I catch Mesmeri I'm letting Joseph know our on-again-off-again relationship is no longer off.'

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"Oooh, I'm a bad girl," Emily moaned as she slipped a hand under her shorts. On the screen a slide-show of the more up-close pictures of Mesmeri played.

It had been more then a week now since the robbery and there still hadn't been a breakthrough. She'd reported to the League that the police were now convinced Mesmeri had only stayed in Bay City for a couple of days and had left right after the foiled heist.

Sparkler hadn't believed that and had kept looking. Although, somewhere along the way, looking had turned into simply driving around for hours on end. 'About the same time riding my bike started to feel so fantastic,' the superheroine mused. 'When the hum of the motor beneath me became arousing.'

A lot of things were turning her on these days. Her bike, women... Mesmeri. A shiver ran through her as her mind returned to her growing obsession. Sparkler knew the League might get concerned she was devoting too much time and effort on catching this one person, but she couldn't stop. Thinking about how easily the supervillain had outplayed her, the confident way she'd instructed those security guards and then had strutted away like she was a queen, left Sparkler antsy, left her needing a second confrontation.

Of course, jilling off while watching pictures of the woman wasn't healthy. Sparkler knew that. She'd fought the urge for days, fucking herself on her bed upstairs. It had only wetted her appetite, had made her wonder how much better it would be to do this while staring at Mesmeri's face. 'The answer is lots,' her mind provided as she ground her clit against the palm of her hand.

That thought didn't make this right; it simply made it irresistible. 'Once I've caught Mesmeri, if Joseph isn't interested, I'm going into a bar and I'll grab the first good-looking man I find. Or woman,' she added. That addition sent her over the edge and, with a grunt, she came.

On the screen, the slide-show was still playing. Sparkler only watched it with half an eye as she regained her breath. Then something caught her eye. She stopped the slide-show and went back a frame. It was the one showing the Crimson Bandita but Sparkler wasn't looking at her.

It was a screen in the background that made her sit up. That monitor was displaying a building with some information besides it. She couldn't read what it said but the building in the picture looked familiar. Zooming in, she hissed at what she read.

'Selene's Massage Parlor, Totterstreet 56, Bay City... A clue! A fucking clue!' she exulted. Pumping her fist in the air, the crime fighter shouted, "woohooo!"

A plan began to form. 'This calls for undercover work, because I have no idea what connection or interest Mesmeri has in the place. For all I know she's going there to get some stress relieved.' Not that Sparkler actually believed anything of the sort.

With her mind busy working out the details of her investigation of the place, Sparkler never noticed the swirling colors filling the edge of her vision, the beat pounding in her ears, or the weight of her helmet.

To Be Continued