Chapter IV
Sparkler felt fantastic. Not only had going to that massage parlor given her the break in the case she needed, the massage had done wonders, too. Even now there was this core of mellow arousal inside of her, keeping her from getting impatient or distracted.
She took another survey of the building.
The parlor only occupied the ground floor; the three floors above it were rented out to a number of companies. Further electronic investigation revealed all of them to be dummy corporations linked to the same, very real, company. One that had absolutely no ties to criminal activity, let alone Mesmeri.
'Which only means the League missed it,' Sparkler concluded. 'And once I've taken a look for myself and gathered some evidence, that won't be the case anymore. Not to mention that it will secure my reputation.'
This time she wasn't going for some dramatic roof-entry. Mesmeri probably expected that, and it stood to reason that her actual hideout had a lot better security than the harmless front. So she was going to gain entry to said front and break in from the inside.
A quick sweep with her scanner revealed that the parlor was protected by a reasonably effective security system, but it was still commercial-grade, and Sparkler's equipment fooled it with a simple press of a button. The lock itself followed soon after, and the superheroine was in.
Trying to listen for any unusual sound over the soft music wasn't easy, but it didn't even dawn on Sparkler anymore that she should have stashed her helmet with the bike. It didn't matter anyway, because the dark building was quiet.
Instead of taking the obvious route through the stairway the mesmerized businesswoman had used, Sparkler accessed the ventilation shaft. It was something of a cliche, she knew that, but it was effective, and Sparkler only needed it to get to the first floor.
It took a while, even with a complete map of the ventilation system, since Sparkler didn't want to alert anybody of her presence. She stopped at the first grate on the first floor just to get a sense of the environment. She looked down on a hallway and, for a moment, Sparkler wondered if she'd made a wrong turn somewhere.
The corridor looked exactly like what she'd seen on the floor below, a simple carpet and white-painted walls. No sci-fi metal walkways, screens every few meters with spirals or something like that. It looked... harmless. And empty; she couldn't see or hear anybody walking around.
Sparkler moved on and took the next shaft branching off the main one. 'I won't get far like this. I can chance moving through the hallways if nobody is using them.' That didn't mean she was just going to drop right in.
The roster she peered through this time showed a changing room. There were shelves and hooks holding a wide range of clothing. A few were still empty except for some scraps of fabric that resembled the uniform she'd seen on those women in Mesmeri's base. 'Jackpot!'
Her vision seemed to flicker for a second. The room was as deserted as the corridor, but Sparkler took care when she removed the covering and slithered out of the shaft. Another look around the room assured the crime fighter she was alone. Replacing the covering, she was halfway to the door when she thought she heard something. ------------------------------------------------- Amanda was standing. She knew where, and knew that she had been doing that for a while now but she was not getting bored, she was getting happier. Mistress had instructed her to stand at this spot and what to do if certain contingencies came to pass. And she was carrying out that instruction faithfully, without question or distraction. The memory of a finger slowly sawing in and out of her pussy counting the seconds, minutes and hours of her compliance,
standing on standby like a robot, ready for new instructions. Fresh arousal stained the scrap of cloth that barely covered her pussylips at the thought.
The thong was part of the uniform Mistress liked to see her property in. Completing the set was two small triangles of fabric covering the tips of her breasts, practical sandals and a delicate, silver chain around her neck.
Dressed in that, Amanda stood there like a statue, becoming more obedient through obeying the instruction. She didn't stop doing that even when Sparkler removed a grate and entered the changing room. Because her new instructions hadn't told her to acknowledge the superheroine's presence.
She felt no amazement when Sparkler's gaze swept over and past her without hesitation. She didn't raise an alarm or challenge Sparkler's presence. She simply waited.
The superheroine began to make her way to the door and Amanda's head swiveled to follow. Words entered her mind and left her lips. "Emily, remind Sparkler to put on a uniform."
Sparkler stopped immediately and looked around but once again didn't seem to see Amanda. The superheroine looked back at the shelves holding Mistress's uniforms, then at the door.
Amanda watched with total concentration as Sparkler began to put on a proper uniform. A second phantom finger joined the first. ------------------------------------------------- Sparkler adjusted one of the straps of the bikini. Taking a last look at the room, she made sure she left no hint of her presence behind. Her uniform was hidden behind the grate, so the superheroine wanted to verify that there was no glinting or hints of red to tip anybody off. 'Getting this disguise was a real stroke of genius. Sure, I can't take my belt with me but I still got my main weapons.'
The crime fighter thought she'd heard something just before she got the idea, but that was obviously ridiculous. 'There's nobody here. I'm safe.' The inner core of mellow arousal that had been with her since that afternoon pulsed.
She looked at her feet. 'Odd that Mesmeri has her toys wear these. They might be comfortable, but they sure aren't decorative. Unlike the rest of it,' she thought as the thong rode into her crack again. Shrugging off the thought, she walked out into the hallway, trying to look hypnotized and like she knew where she was going. All without showing how much she wished the outfit covered more of her. The superheroine decided not to poke her head into any rooms until she got a better feel for the activity on that floor. So she strode through the corridors, taking a turn every now and then.
'Is it me or is this place bigger than it has any right to be?' Any speculation on the reason for that was aborted when Sparkler finally encountered the first human being. She'd just turned to the right at the next intersection when she encountered one of Mesmeri's slaves. This one looked like an amazon, with defined muscles visible under her ebony skin. She was so much taller than Sparkler that the superheroine was looking straight at the slave's impressive bust. Both of them stopped at the same time, with about three yards of space between them.
The disguised crime fighter had to fight the urge to jump or react in any way. Sparkler just stood there, and was doubly glad she'd put on the disguise; taking this one out would have attracted attention. Especially when she would have to give away the element of surprise to close the distance first.
It was only then that Sparkler noticed that her own disguise hadn't been perfect after all. For one, the woman was wearing a slender golden chain around her neck. Additionally, the woman's skin had been oiled until was shining. Sparkler freely admitted to herself it looked beautiful, but it presented a problem.
'At least she won't be able to see my neck because of the helmet...' Sparkler frowned at that notion. There was something off about it. The core of languid lust within her pulsed and Emily's expression cleared. 'Nothing's wrong, I'm perfectly safe. My uniform is perfectly fine. I just have to act my way out of this.'
Which was easier said then done; Sparkler had no idea what one of Mesmeri's slaves would say in this situation. She was about to just walk away, hoping that would suffice, when the woman spoke. "Your uniform is out of order," the voice rang with an unexpected authority.
Sparkler looked up to better study the amazon's face and was startled by the alertness in her eyes. There was nothing docile there. "You will follow me to the Preparation Room to have it corrected. Follow me."
For a moment, the superheroine pondered her options. But the memory of the amazon's eyes told her she had no hope of taking the woman out without incident. So she started to match the pace of the slave, who hadn't even looked back.
"I obey." The words tumbled out of her mouth without thought. They felt right, like what a real hypnotized slave would say.
And the black amazon apparently agreed. "We obey," she chimed in. Her voice was devoid of any authority now. It was soft, eager and it sent a shiver down Sparkler's spine.
The walk wasn't long, but none of the doors gave any clue to what was behind them, so Sparkler barely stopped in time when the other woman turned around at one of them. The authority was once more radiating from her. "Open the door and walk into the circle at the center of the room. Wait there for further instructions."
Sparkler didn't hesitate this time; she'd already formulated a plan. She would disable anybody in the room and then escape through the vent. 'Whoever's in there can't be a tougher opponent than this one.' The only weakness of that plan was that it required the door to be closed. Otherwise, it would simply give the mesmerized amazon reinforcements.
