I know time to time I’m just a little paranoid, but sometimes I’m paranoid for a reason; I have a very good reason when someone like The Lady wants to get and keep her hands on me. Whoever is behind that door is no doubt working for her. I took too long to decide what to do next and now it’s her move.

Likely it’s more the move of her slaves, but whether it’s a pawn or a rook it’s still her move.

Chess is not a game I was ever good at. The whole serial recruitment game was one I became progressively better at. Being a super heroine saving the day seems to be my game. Here’s to hoping my beginner’s luck hasn’t finally worn out.

“Two old friends.” The voice isn’t one I instantly recognize, but that doesn’t mean a lot. There have been at least twenty different people who would have reason to say that only including new acquaintances in the past year and a half. Villains have this tendency to instantly claim you are their nemesis even if you only defeated them once and then only by dumb luck.

I try to think of any groups of two I might have pissed off but I’m drawing a blank. The only group that springs to mind is the Slut Squad, and that would very easily make five. Dust and Pink are both on my floor so it can’t be them.

My thoughts are rather swiftly interrupted when the door falls in half. Taking too long really was not good for my security deposit. Standing in the doorframe is quite the lovely sight. With her sword pointed at the ground as it must have landed after breaking my door is the busty silhouette of a woman clothed from head to toe in black. Her formidable bust is tightly wrapped as her face is well hidden. Her black hair is tied back in a ponytail.

It hasn’t been nearly long enough for me to forget the sight of Nightshade.

Just behind her and to the left is a sight I was just about sure I’d never see again when she disappeared after we stopped the Argentum Array. Sometimes a villain actually stays missing, and I really had my fingers crossed. When Mourning Frost didn’t show up afterwards either, it seemed more likely.

Her familiar bodysuit clings tightly to her like a second skin and the mechanical components glitter in the dim light as does the metal over her fingers. Maybe the metal is her fingers. Her black hair flows elegantly around her face and down her back, and her full lips are curled in a very twisted grin.

Once someone has seen Mind Bore, they don’t forget her.

Before she speaks she briefly motions down to the pieces of door on the carpet. “Tiiiny cameras. All the rage. Don’t worry, you and your friend won’t be thinking much longer. They can be like shadey here.” She knocks on the back of Nightshade’s head; the ninja’s head doesn’t even move. Her face is slack, her eyes are blank, but as she slowly adjusts her stance she looks graceful as a deadly jungle cat. “You take out everything soft, and voila, someone who actually listens.”

For a moment I’d actually been feeling a lot better. Now, I’m just feeling better about my choice not to approach the door. Nightshade would be a welcome thought if Mind Bore hadn’t given her the brain replacement special. I’ve only even seen her twice, but she saved me from the Slut Squad and that damned school of theirs, once. Mind Bore is a sight that shouldn’t be making me feel so wet and weak, but my eyes flutter anyway. I can still feel her programming just under my skin.

Even trying not to, I can feel ethereal whispers of her fingers pressing into my ears. I can feel the socks clinging to my legs making my eyes want to roll back into my head. My mouth waters at the thought of that ambrosia she made from my own body.

Somehow I fight through the arousal, through the eye fluttering bliss, and force a smirk onto my face. “Friend . . .? And uhm . . . you know, you should never bring a katana to a spark fight.” Shaping my hands once again like guns I hold them out in front of me and narrow my eyes to try and help myself focus on the negative feelings and not the subtle urge to kneel again and be claimed by Mind Bore’s metallic grasp. “I am having a really, really bad day. I think it would be best if you waited until the next issue. I’ll even glue the door back together.”

I must look ridiculous: tits still wrapped up in the too-tight top, platform heels making me look like a streetwalker or worse, lipstick and hair dye no doubt still making me look trashier than I can ever remember looking . . . but I’ve got a job to do. My mind wants to just buckle, my toes want to curl and my thighs want to clench, but I have to be strong. I have to be stronger than my cravings!

Just because I know how much easier it would be doesn’t mean I should submit. Whatever that light inside of my head did, it tore Tanda out of me and I can’t let that be for nothing even if I want to pull those fingers into my ears until I hear that familiar click.

I fire several sparks from both of my hands and mentally cross my fingers that if I can take down Mind Bore, Nightshade can be recovered. In a blinding flash of steel moving with the superhuman speed and reflexes I’d expect from a ninja, Nightshade thrusts her sword between the sparks and her controller. Sizzling and crackling against the blade they melt down to the hilt, which is either very well insulated or whatever Mind Bore did to her makes her immune. Neither is good for me.

“See, Sarah . . . I get to do the ‘hard cases’. What we do, is we drill a hole here . . .” She points to a spot on Nightshade’s unresponsive head, “Here . . . here . . . here . . . and here . . . Oh! And here! Then, we install a zipper here . . .” One of those gracefully long fingers traces down along the back of the ninja’s head and a shudder spreads down my spine. “For easy access, straight to the part of the brain that lets people know what to and what not to do . . . and well . . . that’s it. Free will. Choice. The whole sex and conditioning thing . . . it doesn’t matter. Person gone. Right Nightshade?”

She doesn’t react. She doesn’t blink. If I didn’t know any better, I would say she doesn’t even breathe.

“Exactly.”

“Did The Lady send you? And of course my home would be covered in cameras . . . As long as nobody was watching me go to the bathroom I guess it’s not any more humiliating than any other Monday.” Without turning my back on them I slowly ease back in front of Olivia. Nobody is going to get to her if I have absolutely any choice in the matter. Not Nightshade, not Mind Bore, not The Lady. No one. “Really, I don’t see the point in coming all the way out here for just little ol’ me. We had some fun, and then I got rescued by a witch, spent some time pale, made a come back . . . I was kinda hoping that video would be the last I would ever see or hear of you.”

Her lips curl into a smirk far superior to my own pitiful attempt. “Mmmm . . . New boss. Same as the old boss. Trying to convince her that everyone needs a brain enema. Eh, maybe if I give her one she’ll agree.” A horribly shrill laugh echoes through the room and all of my body tenses at the sound.

It’s the sort of laugh that makes me want to kneel as much as it makes my spine shudder and my face feel pale. Being used against your will is a horrible addiction to overcome. Maybe I’ll need a twenty-four step program.

“Well, I was your old boss, sort of, remember? I think I wore my hair up back then, and called myself The Domina? Maybe we could hold up the deal we had going back then?” There is no way I can take on Nightshade like this. They don’t want me dead, but I have the feeling that she wouldn’t need to turn me into a kabob to bring me down. I have more than just my sparks, but she moves way faster than I can. Maybe I could try blinding her with a barrage of bursting sparks, but even that seems like a long shot.

“We were in the limo. You’re coming with us.” Almost too quick to see, Nightshade’s wrist flicks. Something too small to make out - but definitely metal and sharp - flies towards me and I only even try to move once it’s almost reached me, and even the sharpest twist away only stops it from cutting the tube-top off my body. Instead the knife slices across my shoulder just enough to sting like hell.

The wound isn’t bleeding but I still grab it tight as I can and keep it that way and dull the pain. I use a couple of sparks to dim the sensation, but that only makes it worse. “Ow! It’s like a ninja paper cut! Fuck!”

If I didn’t have Olivia and Aurora to worry about, I could maybe jump out the window and make my way to Gale. As it is, I’m outclassed and my left arm does not feel so good.

“Neurotoxin . . . You have about thirty seconds.” Her shrill laugh rings out even louder than before, but this time it doesn’t feel good at all. It just makes me feel small and weak. Outmatched. “When you wake up . . . I’ll show you the parts of your head I cut out. Mmmmmkay?”

“Thirty . . . fuck . . .” This is really, really not good. There are a lot of parts of my brain I want to keep. So much is already making me dizzy, I try to step a little further back away from them and cry out when I trip over Olivia. At least I can be thankful Olivia is a little too gold and passed out at the moment to really feel it.

Mind Bore steps in closer and wiggles her fingers in a wave much like I’m fond of using. “Ah . . . No, kidding. I don’t actually do any of that. My assistants and such do . . . Machines . . . I don’t really like touching brain bits and- E . . . r . . k . . .” Her expression instantly goes from very pleased to quite surprised.

She seems quite shocked to find Nightshade’s katana spinning around and stabbing into her stomach. “Wise woman micro manages.” Nightshade spoke before, but it didn’t sound at all like this. “Ends up with less steel in gut, and less people faking mind cuts.” My vision doesn’t swim and fade the way I was afraid it would, and I’m once again quite glad to see Nightshade.

I’ve never met a ninja sort with the skill of making anything sound like a proverb, but Nightshade has the skill in spades. “What . . . Thanks for you know, not killing me and all, or even poisoning me and all but . . . what the hell is going on?!”

“Infiltration.” Nightshade swiftly pulls the sword back and Mind Bore sinks to the ground. Blood stains the carpet when she coughs. Trying to stand, I swear I hear Mind Bore utter something like “bitch.” Nightshade, quite unfazed, is already cleaning her blade. “Execution.” Her sword slides back into its sheath in a slick motion and I breathe more than a soft sigh of relief. “Didn’t trust badge system. Fears proved founded.”

“Did you . . . Did you really have to cut me . . .? Her guard seemed pretty let down well before you flung that . . . shuriken? Knife?” I pull my hand away from my shoulder and breathe a sigh of relief that the cut is really just a scratch even upon closer inspection. “Really though, I . . . Well . . . I’m impressed. It’s nice to see you again. Been awhile, huh?”

Seeing her makes me think about Jade. It makes me think about the Slut Squad too, but mostly Jade. We’ve had some run-ins since I got my silver back, but she’s mostly retired from the green-clad archer heroine life. After what happened I really don’t blame her too much. It is a dangerous lifestyle.

Why wasn’t I suspicious of the badged supers at all? Chronos was a mercenary group. Jade and Nightshade met in one, but I get the feeling it was much different. Still . . . It was a nice dream.

“She will die slow.” Mind Bore tries to crawl away from Nightshade, but with another flick of her wrist two knives pin her clothes down to the floor. Blood keeps spilling out onto the carpet, but honestly, by this point I’ve given up on ever seeing that deposit.

I don’t know why I ever did – this was bound to happen sooner or later. I would be a lot happier to see Mind Bore rot in jail, but well . . . it is better, even if it’s not the kind of better I’ll admit to enjoying.

“She deserved worse . . .” There’s no whisper of apology in her eyes or her voice, but her words come out differently when she looks to my eyes. “They are moving tonight. Could do nothing to help you before . . . They will be there in an hour. If you leave now, you can get there first. I know you have a matter of honor with the blonde. I will watch your child if you wish.”

“First things first – am I at all poisoned . . .?” Just because I’m not collapsing doesn’t mean there’s nothing foreign in my system I should keep in mind. It’s just safe to ask. “And second . . . yeah, she really did deserve worse. That’s a really nice sword by the way . . . and where will they be? You’re going a little bit too quick for me. I appreciate it, but I’m still more than a little out of sorts, and if you could watch Pink and the dust bunny too . . . but be careful, the later might be bound up and sparked out of her mind but I’ve seen her turn into specks of dust before. I don’t know if that will hold her.”

“You are not poisoned . . .” She reaches up and pulls a pin from her hair before pricking the back of Dust’s neck. “But she is. She will go nowhere. And the authorities. They are moving on your . . . friend’s . . . new business.”

It’s really not fair. Ninjas get away with using drugs and looking cool, but when I do it there’s an aura of cheating to it. Even when I was Patina it felt like that. Maybe if I’d gone for more of a ninja look it would have been easier to take out the project and Quillspawn, or maybe not. It was tricky enough to learn how to function without being Silver, it would have taken a lot longer to learn Ninjtsu and such.

“Do you mean the real authorities, or the fake ones? I don’t know where her new factory is if that’s where she’s heading . . .” Even with her on my side she’s still out of my league. “Sorry to be so clueless, I only got involved in this conspiracy around nine o’clock this morning.”

“Real. The factory is not your concern . . . She will still be at her office. A few bodyguards. A few normal guards. She may be tipped off by the authorities, but she will be expecting you.” Ceremoniously, Nightshade administers the same drug to Pink and I relish the sight a little bit too much. Keeping her giggly little head turned off is what she always wanted anyway, wasn’t it? If she was conscious enough to think I’m sure she’d be happy.

Once I realize this means going back and confronting Jesse, the first thought that occurs to me is that I do not have my wheels. Fuck. “Sounds . . . sounds like a lot of fun. And sorry, wrong old friend. I have a million of them coming out of the woodwork lately. You know where I can grab some wheels? Maybe borrow the limo?”

“The driver does what she’s told.” Nightshade nods toward the broken door. “There is no one else in it.”

“Thanks a lot. After all of this is over . . . I’ll buy you a coke.” I head out the door and lean back into the doorway to wave much like Mind Bore at Nightshade. “I appreciate it.” She doesn’t respond but I didn’t expect her to. She’s a mysterious woman with a mysterious way of acting. It’s her shtick and who am I to deny her the right to act strange?

So many bad things go through my mind as I head for the limo. I am really not looking forward to this, but in a strange way I really am. Finally there will be answers to some very difficult questions, and I’ve been waiting for those for . . . a very long time.

The limo is waiting just where I left it. I slip in through the passenger side door in the front and stare at the only person inside. The driver is a very beautiful girl, naked except for a pair of heels, driving gloves, a tie, and a chauffeur’s hat. She stares mindlessly ahead and doesn’t even react to my presence. That was just sloppy. A chauffeur should be programmed to only respond to a select few, and be a good decoy to boot.

At least she’s good eye candy, and heels . . . a woman can’t be truly naked without a good pair of heels. Jesse must have learned the same lessons from porn as I did. “We’re going back to HQ, and step on it.”