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“Please let me go.”
Indomitable’s limp protests fell on deaf ears. The B-ranked hero sat powerless across the limousine from a woman who sat much taller than her - both in size and power. The driver of the limousine, sleeping with his gold-coloured eyes open - a trademark of the deadly supervillain Hijack’s power - lowered the window nearest to the little mouse, somehow making her feel more trapped. The tigress smiles.
“You sure you don’t want any wine? I mean, I just made about six hundred thousand dollars from that bank robbery. I can afford the expense.” She paused, then tilted her head, trying to get a good look at the heroine.
The mousegirl’s overly-simplistic superhero costume - form fitting, slightly torn white fabric with a helmet for protection and gauntlets to avoid roughing anybody up too much - struck Hijack as odd. Low budget. And weirder still - she was scared. Any hero worth their salt would know that even the best among them get captured from time to time.
“You think I’m in your thoughts, don’t you?”
Indomitable was used to this mindfuckery by now. She was savvy and experienced enough to know that she was probably already under Hijack’s control, but not savvy enough to tell what exactly the big cat was thinking.
“Why on earth would I make that assumption when I’m in a limousine with the queen of mind control?” Indomitable mused sarcastically. “You’re right, I’m being stupid. Maybe I should follow you home and suck your dick to make it up to you.”
“No way,” Hijack replied. “I like you, Indomitable. If you’re really that uncomfortable, I’ll have our driver here pull over and you can step outside, and you’ll never have to see me ever again. Of course, that’s assuming you don’t want to see my secret base first.”
Indomitable paused. Shit, she thought. I can’t seriously be considering this.
“Will I be able to leave once I get there?”
Hijack leaned in close, her eyes flashing gold. The adorable mousegirl squeezed her eyes shut to try and keep her influence out, but it was too late. Her entire body froze as the world seemed to disappear around her. Her muscles tensed, and her brain numbed to all sensation.
And, just as quickly as the feeling set on, it faded. Her heart raced as she tried to piece together what happened.
“That’s what being Hijacked is - just so you know what it feels like. Alice, right?”
Fuck.
“Of course you would know my real name,” Indomitable pouted. “Just get it over with - am I still under your control? Am I a brainwashed slave now? Come on, spit it out, asshole.”
“My name’s Amanda, not asshole. And no, you’re not”
-----
The door to Amanda’s - no, Hijack’s - smaller-than-expected apartment opened in front of her. The limousine driver, eyes now brown and legs now running, caught the corner of Alice’s eye.
“You let him go?”
“They make a lot of news about us. I’m not so bad, really. I just wanted to get to know the girl I picked up at the bank.”
Amanda paused, taking a moment to assess her maybe-captive’s state. Her wrist, haphazardly bandaged from the earlier brawl, was clearly a bit purple under the gauze; she took hold of her wrist and continued.
“What’s the hero association like for you?”, the villain asked.
A subtle interrogation, no match for the mighty Indomitable’s wits! She was going to do what any aspiring hero would do in her situation: play dumb. “Hero association? What hero association?”
Not that dumb!
“The one you’re B-ranked in. The one that sent you to stop me, an S-rank villain, from stealing three hundred grand from a tiny bank for some reason.” She paused. “If you ask me, it sounds like they were just trying to get rid of you.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about. They take care of me. I make a lot of money. And I - “ Realisation dawned across Alice’s face.
“S-Rank?”
“Yeah. I mined that information out of Hurricane’s head the last time I fought him. Either you got promoted and didn’t know, or they were just feeding you to the wolves. Sorry, cutie.”
Cutie. The word fizzled out of Alice’s comprehension just as quickly as it entered - She was now blushing, with no obvious culprit. The villain continued.
“You gonna watch a movie with me, or are you just gonna keep turning beet red? Expecting me to set up a camera?”
“Kind of, yeah. There’s no way you’re not just playing with your food right now.”
The tigress cooed, subtle like a rock against a windshield. “When have I not? You clearly find me attractive. Don’t lie.”
“I’m not sure I found you this pretty before you went poking around in my head. Sure, I totally believe I’ve always thought you were the most beautiful woman in the entire world. Like that checks out. Maybe attractive, but still.” The tigress blushes and says nothing, letting the comment sit in the air.
Alice shuffled uncomfortably, but still made no effort to distance herself from the woman across from her. “Fine. I’ll humour you.”
-----
The movie passes without incident. Alice’s favourite - “Thunder and Lightning”. Amanda knew implicitly that it was what made Alice make the decision to become a superhero at all. The cute little thing had snuggled up closer and closer to her throughout the night, and finally, the credits began to roll.
“You’re awfully close to me right now for my new arch-nemesis, you know that?”
“Whatever. I’m cold and probably brainwashed, give me a break. And I am not your arch-nemesis.” Amanda frowned. The big cat stood up, retreating from the indignities of the couch to a wine cooler in the kitchen. They watched each other, for a moment - Amanda’s frown grew as she saw Alice’s legs activate, ready to sprint for the door. Alice, sensing her place (And golden eyes piercing the back of her neck) sat back down, pouting.
“Tsk, tsk. Do you think I would set up all this if I wanted you as a puppet? Is there truly no way I can convince you otherwise?”
“Tell me what’s going to happen to me in a way that makes sense to me right now.” The cute mouse sunk back into the admittedly comfortable couch, resigning herself to her fate. “Please.” Her neck craned across the headrest, getting an upside-down view of her “captor”, if you could even call her that. No point in struggling anymore, she reckoned.
Amanda, sensing this surrender, sat back down on a barstool, directly behind the mouse. Some wind taken out of her sails, she began again; this time, softening herself, to avoid upsetting the hero further.
“The Heroes Union decided you’re not worth keeping on the payroll, and decided to put you in a situation where you would be plausibly “compromised” by a dangerous villain as an excuse to fire you. The same thing happened to Gunpowder, if you’re familiar, except she chose to stay with me.”
Gunpowder. Indomitable could not get her name out of her head the entire night - Gunpowder had fought against Hijack a few years ago, and lost. Hijack controlled her for years, brainwashing her and parading her around as her “perfect super-girlfriend” and “slutty hypno-bitch”, among other derogatories.
“Gunpowder chose to live with you?”
“She liked me, I liked her. I had enough money to support her after she got laid off in the same way you probably will. The feeling of having someone else make decisions for her appealed to her after having to look out for herself for so long. Kind of like you, Alice.”
“Where is she right now?”
“Can’t say. Cabin in the woods somewhere. She wanted out, and I let her. I’m not expecting you to go on a second date with me, but if you are -”
A slip of paper burned itself into Alice’s memory - a phone number. The two looked at each other, Alice’s flimsy front of strength contrasted with Amanda’s confident power. Then, Alice’s phone buzzed. She wasn’t expecting it - the vibration made her flinch against the crackling tension of the room.
“Do you want some more wine, or do you not already know which one of us is very recently unemployed?”
“Go fuck yourself. Pour me a glass, then I’m going.”
-----
Alice looked down at her phone, waiting for her ride to get to her. It was raining outside, but there was no way in hell she would stay inside of Hijack’s apartment for any longer than she needed to. Her finger trembled at her unread emails - could that monster have been telling the truth about Gunpowder? About her?
If I’m fired, it’s over for me, she thought. That’s the only thing that can prove I’ve been brainwashed - I need to talk to my handler, and make sure I’m not out. Please, god, just look at the email. Look at the email, Alice, look at the FUCKING email -
The subject line included all of the information she needed. She wanted to cry. Her childhood dream, dead, from a look. She felt she could crush her phone in her hands. Her eyes stung, forced to be the keystone holding herself together when all they wanted to do was squeeze the world out and cry.
And then, warmth. A text from the number Hijack - no, Amanda- burned into her mind.
“I had a lovely time with you tonight. Would you like to get dinner with me tomorrow? I know a great Italian place.”
Her hands stopped trembling.