Sentinels in Training

[experimenter73]

Maise Yazzie smiled as she entered the lounge. To her, the room felt downright opulent, with plush leather couches and a massive curved flatscreen television. On the screen, an epic battle played out, the hidden speakers in the room making it seem as though she were in the middle of the action. She shook her head, laughing aloud.

"I don't think laughter is what the director was going for, Shawnee," another voice spoke, breaking Maise's reverie.

"Oh, sorry!" Maise responded. She hadn't realized there was anyone in the room, the sight of Jade curled up on the couch obscured by its high back. Of course, Jade wasn't the other girl's real name, just as Shawnee wasn't Maise's. Though they were all beginning to get to know each other here in the training facility, their true names and identities were carefully guarded secrets. Not that it really mattered to Maise. She didn't have anything to hide or anyone to protect. "I didn't mean to intrude. I'll let you watch your show."

"No need for sorries," Jade replied, turning to kneel on the couch and look back at Maise. The other girl offered a broad smile, the expression seeming to dominate her freckled cheeks. Jade flicked off the television and the room plunged into silence. "I wasn't really watching it anyways. So what made you laugh?"

"All of this," Maise answered, offering a nervous smile. "I mean, a week ago I was a cashier for a sporting goods store, getting by with a little extra from guiding tourists out on the river. And now, I mean, it's just so different."

"I know, right?" Jade's smile broadened even further. "It's amazing. Unbelievable. You're a bona fide superhero, training in a secret base to use your powers for good. I can imagine that's a pretty big shock."

"Yeah, the biggest," Maise sighed. "One minute I'm checking out a customer at the store, the next minute the place is filled with that strange gas and then I'm watching the world go by in slow motion. Unbelievable is the right word."

"That's so cool," Jade nodded. "Is it like that now? The whole slow-mo thing, I mean?"

"Oh no," Maise shook her head. "I realized pretty quick how exhausting it is to keep moving like that. That's why they brought me here to train. Right now, if I do it for longer than a few seconds, I end up panting and ravenous."

"But, oh, the things you can get done in those few seconds. I saw you finishing up in the training room yesterday. I'm so jealous of the last part, by the way," Jade giggled. "It must be nice to eat whatever you want."

"You'd think that, but I'm learning it's more of a curse," Maise chuckled. "Eating ten thousand calories sounds like fun until you've got to shovel that much food into your mouth every day."

"I'd still take it, anyways," Jade shrugged. "Of course, I'd go bankrupt on pizza."

"Another perk of being here. I'd have never been able to afford the grocery bills on my old paycheck," Maise smiled, a little more genuinely. "If it's not too personal, what kind of abilities did that storm thing give you?"

"Nothing," Jade grinned.

"Nothing?" Maise furrowed her brow. "Then why are you here?"

"This is why I'm here," Jade answered, pulling a heavy tome out of her leather satchel and placing it on the back of the couch. The book appeared ancient, yellowed pages tattered and peeking out from around its edges. Maise could see that the book didn't even close properly, the pages within seeming to strain out against the buckled strap that held it closed.

"A book?" Maise asked.

"It's more than a book," Jade grinned more broadly. "Believe it or not, it's a spellbook. I know what you're thinking. Magic's not real, right?"

"Well, I guess I can't rule anything out after what's happened to me," Maise answered, trying to hide the skepticism in her voice.

"Trust me, I thought the same thing, probably more so than most," Jade spoke softly. "I was a street magician, you see. So I knew how to see through every fake's attempts. Then I find this book, see, and I start reading through it. The next thing I know, I'm making magic. Real magic."

"Magic? Like, what kind of -" Maise began to ask, but she was cut off by the sight of the television turning back on of its own accord. She immediately recognized the red-flashing screen it displayed. This was a base-wide call for help.

Jade sprung up from her seat to turn and face the television, appearing for a moment to be the one blessed with superhuman speed. Maise saw that the other girl was wearing a short blue Kimono, hugging the form of her slender body and tied in place with a . The outfit stood out in stark contrast to Jade's Irish features, frizzy red hair and pale skin complementing her freckles.

"Attention Sentinels," the base computer system's voice spoke through the speaker system. "A level six incident is occuring at Tinder Manufacturing. Lightly armed militants have taken administrative staff as hostages and are demanding concessions from the local government." The picture changed from the warning screen to show the interior of an office building, a grainy picture seeming to be from security camera footage. A group of men and women huddled in the center of the room on their knees, faces pressed to the floor. Around them, a half dozen men in black swat-style gear brandished pistols on the hostages. "The militants have threatened to begin shooting hostages 13 minutes from now if their demands are not met."

"Damn, that's horrible," Maise said softly. "With the Sentinels elsewhere, I guess the local police will just have to take care of it."

"Local police?" Jade turned to face Maise, her mouth open in shock. "You've got to be kidding me. People are going to die! We've got to do something."

"Us?" Maise gasped. "I only just started training. Nobody wants me running out to take care of something like this. Besides, I'd be so tired I'd be worthless by the time I got there."

"You wanted to see what the book does, right?" Jade grinned. "Well, here's your chance. I can transport us right into that room we saw on the video, then you can take it from there."

"Take it from there?" Maise asked.

"I saw you with the training bots yesterday, remember?" Jade narrowed her eyes. She unbuckled the strap holding the book closed and it seemed to spring open on its own. Maise thought she could see a faint glow emanating from the yellowed pages. "Don't play coy with me. We both know those thugs won't stand a chance. We can do this, Shawnee. It's why we're here. We're heroes, and those people need us."

Maise could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Jade was right. She could handle those men. She could save the lives of those poor civilians. She could be a hero.

"Give me a minute," Maise answered quickly.

Closing her eyes for just a moment, Maise felt the world slow around her. If she was going to go deal with this problem, she wasn't going to do it in jeans and a t-shirt. Leaving a wake of air in her path, she sped out of the room to her quarters. In a flash, she was out of her plainclothes and changing into the costume that the organization had supplied to her.

It had seemed strange to her when she had first met with the organization public relations department. She'd never thought that superheroes would have to consider such things, but in retrospect it seemed like an obvious thing to consider. With her Native American background, they'd decided on the codename Shawnee for her. It represented her heritage, which made her happy, and made her feel a connection to her warrior ancestors.

She pulled on the supple, laced leather leggings of her costume and then slid her feet into the soft suede ankle boots, decorated with fringe at their tops. She replaced her bra with a simple strapless one and then laced into the matching suede bodice, fringed at the bottom like her boots and laced on the side like her leggings. The final touches were a pair of fringed bracers for her forearms. The costume left her arms and a section of thigh bare, the leggings similar to thigh-high stockings. She had expressed some reservations when it had initially been presented to her, but apparently it had done "quite well" in the team's focus groups. She had to admit that it was extremely comfortable and performed its job well.

As she ran back to Jade, Maise made the final touch, drawing her jet black hair back into a long braid that reached the small of her back. She could see the look of shock on Jade's face when she skidded to a stop in front of her, just finishing the braiding. While it had felt like she had been gone for at least ten minutes to Maise, she knew that the actual time elapsed was closer to that many seconds. She panted slightly from the exertion, but gritted her teeth.

"Let's go," Maise said, trying to sound more confident and bold than she felt.

"Yeah, let's do this," Jade grinned in response, nodding. "The teleportation can be a little disconcerting, but I'm going to land us right in that room. I'll do my best to shield us, but I'll be relying on you to take care of those goons. Got it?"

"Got it."

Holding the open book in one hand, Jade began to gesture with her other. She spoke, softly at first, words that didn't seem to make any sense to Maise. It wasn't like listening to someone speak in an unknown language, though, she realized. There was more to it. There seemed to be something wrong with the words themselves, as if they could not possibly be understood. It was as though the words themselves were just wrong.

And then the world around them began to swirl, colors running into each other as though melting. When they began to reform, Maise could see the room from the surveillance footage beginning to appear around them. For a brief moment, she stared at her surroundings in wonder. Could magic really be real?

"No, please don't!" A woman's voice screamed, abruptly yanking Maise back to reality.

"Time's up," a man's voice answered.

The office workers were still in the center of the room, all but one of them on their knees with faces pressed against the tile floor. Five masked and armed men stood around the ring, while a sixth held the last coworker by her hair, the barrel of his gun pressed against her head.

"Shaw-" Jade began to exclaim. Before she could finish the word, Maise was in motion. Fuelled by fear for the crying woman, she exerted every ounce of power that she could muster. The room seemed to stop as she darted forward. She barrelled into the shooter at full speed, grabbing his arm and easily yanking the gun away from the woman and then driving her shoulder into him to send him flying. The impact threw her off balance and she dove forward as she fell, holding tight to the gunman as she landed and then throwing him into the wall at the other end of the office.

"-na!" Jade finished as Maise slipped back into normal time when she hit the ground hard, knocking the wind from her.

"What the fuck?" one of the other militants exclaimed as her first target hit the wall hard across the room in an explosion of shattered cubicle and office supplies.

Maise went wide-eyed at the explosive boom of a gun firing, the sound seeming to fill the room. Mind still reeling from the unexpected and jarring return to regular time, she sped up as quickly as possible, but her power came reluctantly. Scanning the room quickly, she felt a moment of relief when she saw that the shooter was aiming at her. And then the sight of the bullet approaching dismissed the majority of that relief. She didn't have enough speed yet, she realized. There was no way she could speed up fast enough to dodge the bullet.

A flash of red appeared in the air just before the bullet impacted her chest, and Maise watched in wonder as it melted away to nothingness. Darting back up to her feet, she felt her speed increasing quickly and spared a glance back at Jade to see the smile on the other girl's face. Magic was definitely real, Maise realized, and it disintegrated bullets.

On her feet, Maise began to run in earnest. She could see that the men were beginning to slowly turn to bring their guns to bear on her. Even after a long, eventful week of practicing with her superhuman ability, she was still amazed by what she could do. With her opponents practically standing still, she ran from one to the next, yanking guns out of their hands to throw them across the room and out of harm's way. As she disarmed each, she hit them hard, aiming for the ballistic armor that shielded their chests and then watched in satisfaction as they went flying across the room away from her.

As the last man was flung away, Maise released her power and skidded to a stop in the center of the room. At once, exhaustion struck. She had never used her powers to this extent before and, as such, she had never experienced the level of exhaustion that struck her now. At once, every muscle in her body seemed to lose its strength and fail her as her lungs burned with the effort of drawing in air. She fell hard to her knees and then forward onto her hands, barely able to keep herself in even that position as she panted.

"Shawnee!" Jade exclaimed, running through the crowd. "That was amazing!"

"G-get," Maise groaned, "get th-them out of here."

"Everybody out," Jade ordered. The sorceress muttered more of those magical words and then a beam of magic lit the room and simultaneously opened the exit doors.

Maise struggled to recover, lifting her head to watch with satisfaction as the terrified hostages ran from the room. They, at least, weren't trampling eachother. Jade came to Maise's side, squatting down to help lift her up onto her feet, leg muscles trembling as she leaned in heavily on the smaller girl. She could tell that Jade struggled with the effort of holding her up and began to make their way toward the exit.

"You did it, Shawnee," Jade whispered excitedly. "Now let's go let the-"

Maise heard it first, the sound of a puff of air and then the clanging of something metal against tile. She tried to call up her power, but it was like trying to draw water from an empty well. Turning, she saw the source of the sound as a spinning canister bounced across the ground toward them, expelling green gas. Jade released her, pulling out the book again. Maise tried to take a step toward the bouncing cannister, but only succeeded in falling to her knees once more.

As Jade began to speak, the cannister reached them, filling the air around them with its gas. The scent of it reached Maise, surprising her that it smelled almost sweet as it reached her nostrils. At once, her vision began to swim and what little strength she had began to leave her limbs. By the time she hit the floor in front of her, she was too groggy to feel the impact. She blinked her eyes once, and then was asleep.

 

[experimenter73]

Chapter Two: Packaging


Maise began to wake to the sensation of something firm and cool being closed around her throat. Her head ached, a pounding in her skull, as her eyelids slowly began to flutter. Through the haze, she heard the sound of a metallic click and then a mechanical whirring sound, followed by a low humming noise.

Suddenly, the events of the day caught up to her. Eyes flashing open, she looked out of a wide doorway on what appeared to be a rooftop. She moved quickly to press herself upward, calling up her power. To her shock, she felt nothing change. The world continued to move onward at its normal pace.

"This one's waking up,"a gruff voice announced.

Having barely lifted herself off the floor, Maise suddenly felt a dozen hands on her body, pressing her back down onto her stomach on the floor. She cried out in pain as one of them yanked hard on her braid, turning her head sharply to look into the eyes of a masked man as he squatted down to her level.

"Listen up Pocahontas," he growled menacingly. "You might think you're pretty tough, but that nullifier collar and the cuffs we're about to lock you in were designed to restrain a much stronger princess than you. So just settle down."

"No, get off me!" Maise screamed, trashing with all her strength against the hold of the men.

"Last warning, Princess," the man hissed menacingly, sending an icy chill down Maise's spine. "After what you did to my team, I am just itching for a little payback. This already isn't going to be a nice trip for you. No need to make it nasty. Got it?"

While she stared back, wide-eyed, at the man, Maise felt her arms yanked back behind her. Heart pounding in her chest, she did not resist as hands were forced into the shape of fists. She felt them pressed inside a smooth metal tube. Right before the point where they should have touched behind her, there were a pair of clicks and another metallic whir. The material around her hands and arms seemed to compress. She felt metal bands within the tube wrapping around her wrists and forearms, squeezing them tightly and filling all of the empty space around them. When they finished, it was as though her arms were welded in place behind her back. It felt as though the entirety of both of her forearms were enclosed in the solid metal.

"Wh-where are you me?" Maise asked softly. She hated how small her voice sounded as she stammered. The weight of the restraints on her arms and throat felt oppressive, somehow seeming to be heavier than the metal they were made from should be. She struggled to breathe as the weight of them pressed her chest down into the floor.

"You busted up our little party, Pocahontas, and definitely not in the way the boss planned," he chuckled. "But we're packaging you two up anyways. Better than leaving empty handed."

Maise felt hands on her legs, drawing them out behind her. And then more of the restraints were closed around her ankles, clicking and whirring. She tried again, futilely, to call up her power, but there was no response. It was as though the events of the last couple weeks had been a dream, and she had now woken into a nightmare.

"Good talk, Princess," the man spoke, and then she felt his hands on her face, squeezing her cheeks and forcing her mouth open. A moment later, a thick rubber ball was thrust between her lips. Someone pulled back hard on its leather straps, driving it within until it wedged back behind her teeth to force her jaw wide. The straps bit into the corners of her lips as it was buckled in place. Then the world plunged into darkness as a padded leather blindfold was pressed over her eyes.

"Hey, Pocahontas," another voice whispered in her ear. The touch of his hot breath on her lobe sent a shiver down her spine. "The boss said he wasn't going to go for a little payback if you didn't fight. But I didn't say nothing like that."

Maise cried out as she felt another tug on her long braid, pulling her head back. She felt her cuffed hands pulled up further behind her back as well. When the tugging and pulling stopped, she lowered her head once more and then immediately felt the pull on her bound hands behind her. The bastard had tied her braid to the cuffs, she realized.

She heard the sound of a powerful motor coming to life and the sound of rushing air. Only then did she realize that the view she'd had earlier was out onto the rooftop through the open door of the helicopter that she was lying in. A moment later, she felt her stomach drop as it lifted off. The grating sound of a heavy door closing filled the small confines and then the sounds of rushing air and rotating blades became muted.

Lying on the floor under the weight of her restraints, Maise felt the men release her as the helicopter lifted up off the ground. At once, she tried to rise from her stomach, but she quickly learned that the collar and ankle cuffs were attached to the floor in some unseen way, preventing her from rising. As she twisted back and forth in her bonds with each movement of the chopper, her mind replayed the moments of the day since the alert had interrupted her convesation with Jade. She found herself focusing on the way she had let the other girl convince her to make the trip at all. She should have left it to the authorities. She'd known she wasn't ready for this.

But then again, she had saved those people, hadn't she? In her misery, she tried to focus on that fact. But her mind would not allow it, replaying over and over her initial clumsiness in the fight with the men. If she had been more efficient, would she have had the strength to deal with the canister grenade? Could she have saved them both from whatever these men had in store for them?

As if its owner could read her mind, a hand came to rest on the small of Maise's back. At first it seemed to be nothing more than a stabilizing presence, stopping her from flopping as much with each shift in the helicopter's course. When the second hand joined it, however, the purpose of the contact became clear. It came to rest on her bottom, slipping up beneath the fringed hem of her costume to press its fingers into the firm globe of her ass.

"Unngghhh!" she cried out into the gag, trying unsuccessfully to squirm away from the contact.

"Definitely not the cargo we thought we'd be bringing back," one of the men spoke.

Maise grunted as she felt a hand on her shoulder, lifting it slightly off the floor and twisting her body. The hand on her ass continued to move, slipping fully beneath her costume now to fully grip her bare ass cheek, squeezing and groping it.

"But pretty in her own way, right?" another voice asked.

Maise felt her belly knot up in fear as a pair of hands moved to where her chest had been lifted from the floor. She tried desperately to squirm away as questing fingers slipped beneath the top of her costume to find her breast beneath. Between the attachment of the collar and the hold of the man pulling back on her shoulder, she was left no room to move.

"Yeah, I think she's exotic," a voice in front of her spoke.

Hot tears stung Maise's eyes, held in place there by the blindfold, as she felt the material of her costume and strapless bra beneath moved aside to bare her small, firm breast. She tensed, breathing out sharply through her nose when a pair of fingers began to play with her nipple.

"Hey, get a picture of this," the voice in front of her spoke again.

Maise cried out into the gag as she felt those fingers pinch down hard on the base of her nipple and began to pull. Panting hard through flared nostrils, she arched her back as much as her bonds would allow to try and avoid some of the wicked pull on her sensitive flesh.

"Lick it," another voice said. "That's be a great pic."

Maise's cheeks burned flush with humiliation when the wet tongue make contact with her stretched nipple. Tongue tip played across her flesh like wet fire while she squirmed, fighting to hold back the sobs that threatened to consume her. It seemed impossible, almost as if it must be happening to someone else.

"Oh, I've got an idea," another voice spoke excitedly.

Maise tried to focus her attention within, to ignore the men and their hands on her body. She could hear the electronic clicks of their cameras as they explored and exposed her body, each coming up with new ways to pose with her. She realized that she had not heard any sign of Jade since waking. Was the other girl still asleep? Was she on a different helicopter? Was she actually present and just unable to speak? Maise felt a new shudder of revulsion at the thought that the redhead might be witnessing what was being done to her.

Though she was doing her best to ignore what was being done to her, a new instruder quickly grabbed her attention. She felt the hand slip inside the front of her costume, moving insistently beneath first the outer bodice and then into her panties beneath. Fingers played along the line of her pussy lips, making her squeeze her eyes shut behind the blindfold and bite down hard on the rubber ball in her mouth.

"Getting close, boys," a new voice spoke. "Time to get things packed back up."

At the man's announcement, Maise felt the hand on her nether lips give her most intimate flesh a firm squeeze. It and the other hands then began to retreat from her body, setting the misplaced pieces of her costume back in place as they left.

"I can't wait to post some of these to the message board," a man chuckled. "I mean, like I said, not what we signed up for, but still not bad."

She felt the helicopter set down and then the men were lifting and carrying her out. They placed her back down on her feet. Standing, the weight of the restraints was even more oppressive, and she struggled to stay aloft, knees wobbling. One rough hand on each arm, the men dragged her with them through the darkness beyond her covered eyes. She struggled to walk, but the short chain combined with the weight of the fetters left her unable to keep up.

She felt the air around her change as they travelled, obviously passing from the outside world to the climate controlled interior of a building. The men were silent as they brought her through twists and turns. Finally, they paused for a moment and she heard the sound of a door opening. They travelled another short distance before stopping again. Maise heard a click and felt a light tug on the collar around her neck, followed by a light tug to the restraints on her ankles.

Suddenly, the mens' hands left her arms and the blindfold was pulled away. She blinked rapidly at the sudden light in the room, eyes trying to adjust. Without their support, she began to fall under the sudden need to support herself and the weight of the restraints. She felt herself caught by her collar. As her vision returned, she saw a cable running from it up to the ceiling of the room.

Turning slowly, carefully, Maise surveyed the small room in which she found herself. It was no more than 10 feet square. She was standing in the center of it and turned in time to see the men leave the room and close its steel door behind them. Looking down, she saw the cuffs on her ankles for the first time. The restraints were even bigger than they felt, massive constructions of gleaming chrome with a short cable between them. That cable was, in turn, run through a ring protruding from the floor. She lifted one foot experimentally, wincing at the weight of the thing against her slender ankle bone.

Looking back upward, she continued her turn. Her eyes passed over a simple metal desk with a leather office chair behind it. On the wall next to the door, there was a floor to ceiling mirror. The sight of herself in the mirror sent a chill down her spine.

Her eyes were wide over the thick white rubber ball that split her lips. Her chin was wet, glistening from the drool that had slipped past the rubber gag. The collar was a massive construct, gleaming chrome like the cuffs on her ankles. The cable from the ceiling did, as she'd suspected, connect to the front of it. Turning slightly, she could see that her unseen assailant on the helicopter had, in fact, tied her braid around the center of the heavy metal tube that contained her hands and forearms.

Maise jumped as she heard the door to the room suddenly open. She turned awkwardly to see a woman step into the room, carrying a tablet. In stark contrast to the men in their paramilitary uniforms, this woman was dressed casually, as though she had just woken up and was still working on her first cup of coffee. Her blond hair was pulled back in a haphazard ponytail and she wore loose gray sweatpants and an unzipped hoodie sweatshirt, a pink t-shirt underneath. The soles of her athletic shoes squeaked softly on the floor as she walked, breaking the silence.

Walking over to Maise, the woman shoved the tablet into the waistband of her sweats and then reached up to unbuckle the gag. Maise groaned as the thick rubber was pulled free of her lips, a tendril of her drool following it for a moment before breaking and slapping on her chin. She slowly worked her jaw, feeling it threaten to cramp.

"Th-thank you," Maise spoke softly, her voice hoarse. It felt a silly thing to say, but the woman's silence was unnerving, and she seemed different than the men who had brought her here.

Without speaking, the woman reached down to tuck the leather strap of the gag into the waistline of her sweatpants, leaving the wet leather ball to hang down in front of her crotch. And then she pulled out the tablet and moved over to the desk, sitting down in the chair. She leaned back, propping her feet up on the desk and crossing her ankles while she tapped at the screen of the tablet.

"Wh-who are you?" Maise asked. "What do you-"

Maise's question was cut off by the sudden whirring sound of a pulley, followed by a sharp tug to the cable from her collar. She cried out in surprise as the pull of it yanked her up onto her toes, feeling the metal press so insistently against her throat. She whimpered softly, trying to keep her balance as she drove the toes of her ankle boots into the floor to try and keep the pressure off her neck.

"You don't know me," the woman said without looking up from the tablet. "We don't have a history, yet. So you don't have any way of knowing that I am, at this moment, a simmering cauldron of rage just looking for an outlet."

The woman looked up, her face still almost entirely expressionless despite her words. Maise met the woman's steel gray gaze and felt a chill run down her spine.

"But you know that now," the woman offered the faintest of smiles and then tapped the screen on the tablet once more. Maise gasped in relief as the cable lowered slightly, still keeping some pressure on the collar, but at least allowing her to place her soles firmly on the floor once more. "And that's why you're going to be quiet as a church mouse. You will speak only to answer the questions I ask you."

Biting her lip, Maise tried to steady her breathing. Her chest rose and fell quickly behind her top with each breath as she struggled to keep herself from crying. She sniffed hard, feeling the tears beginning to well in her eyes. Her body shook softly as the first sob welled up and wracked her form. She felt a tear slip from her eye to roll down her cheek.

"So then, who the hell are you?" the woman asked, finally looking up from the tablet. "I've searched every metahuman database I can hack into, and I'm coming up empty."

"I'm Ma-" she began and then cut herself off, sniffing again before trying to stand up a bit more proudly. "I'm Shawnee. I'm with the Sentinels."

"Oh God," the woman laughed, a genuine smile filled with mirth, overtaking her features. "Did you just almost tell me your real name? My my, you are a green one, aren't you?"

Maise bit her lower lip, turning her gaze away from the smiling woman.

"So then, Shawnee, you're clearly telling me the truth about being with the Sentinels, because I don't believe you'd have been able to hack in and get the special message that I sent just for them. But you're also clearly terribly inexperienced, which means you must be part of that new training program they started up," the woman sighed. "It was a risk I took, sending them such a low-level threat warning. But it was my hope that a certain special someone would be the one to answer the call, since she has the speed, and that she'd come alone, since it wasn't a big threat. Now, imagine my surprise when my little net just brings in the two of you."

"Don't worry," Maise said softly, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "You'll get your chance soon enough. You know they wouldn't just send us out without watching, right? Rookies like us? They'll be crashing in here any minute now."

"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" the woman asked, tapping on the tablet again. "But since you arrived, I've had no sign of anything from them. My scanners are very good, too, and there's no sign of them or anything else anywhere near us. So tell me, did you and your friend jump curfew?"

"They'll be here," Maise responded, speaking more to herself than the woman.

"What's your friend's name?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?"

"It's always tricky with these magic user types," the woman smiled again. "You let them talk and people start turning into frogs. We'll be just keeping her gagged, thank you very much. But you get to be her voice. So, her name?"

"It's Jade," Maise answered, a part of her feeling like she was betraying the sorceress somehow.

"Well, something matches the outfit at least," the woman tapped on the tablet. "What's the deal with that, anyways? Why does an Irish Ginger dress like that and call herself Jade?"

"I don't know," Maise said softly. "We haven't had our first tell-all slumber party yet."

"Oh, that's good," the woman grinned wryly. "With all that sniffling earlier, I was worried that you might not have any fight in you."

"Take off these cuffs, and I'll show you how much fight I have in me," Maise let out a sharp breath as she spoke.

"But of course we will, pet," the woman laughed. "Those nullifier restraints are certainly not necessary. It's a tremendous waste of resources just having them powered up on a C-list trainee like you. We'll remedy that shortly and get you into something much more appropriate."

Maise swallowed hard, feeling the collar seem to tighten around her throat. The thought of having her restraints removed was appealing, but there was something ominous about the way the woman said 'something much more appropriate' that definitely worried her.

"How old are you, princess?" the woman asked, tapping at the tablet screen again.

"None of your business," Maise answered firmly.

Without looking up, the woman tapped the tablet screen. At once, Maise felt a brutal shock rip through her body, emanating from the collar. The sudden surge made her body immediately tense, back arching as her mouth opened in a silent scream. It was over as quickly as it started, leaving Maise quivering in pain, trembling visibly as she struggled to regain her footing.

"How old are you, princess?" the woman repeated, no change to her voice.

"I'm," Maise began softly, sniffing again. "I'm nineteen."

"And how old is Jade?" the blonde asked.

"I don't know," Maise answered, then quickly added. "Really, I don't. We only just met. I think she's older than me, but that's just a guess."

The woman looked up from the tablet, meeting Maise's eyes once more with that steely gaze. Her finger hovered over the tablet screen for a moment and Maise tensed in anticipation of the shock, toes curling in her boots. But none came. When the woman turned back to manipulating the tablet screen, Maise let out a soft sigh of relief.

"Shawnee, huh?" the woman asked. "Are you an actual member of the tribe? I'd hope so, because Apache or Comanchee would have definitely been more impressive names."

"Yes, I'm a member," Maise answered softly.

"So, Shawnee, let me explain how this is going to work," the woman spoke, pulling her feet down off the desk and standing. She tucked the tablet back into the waistband of her sweats. "I'm going to take a few moments to gather myself. I'm going to get all zen and shit and figure out how to recover from the massive outlay of time and energy I've waisted on this operation that you and your friend decided to fuck up."

The woman moved around the desk and came to stand directly before Maise. Reaching out, she placed a hand on the bound girl's bare hip, fingernails playing lightly along her flesh and sending up goosebumps in their wake. The woman's other hand reached up behind Maise and pulled down on her cuffed hands. Maise felt the tug on her braid, forcing her to look upward.

"The boys must have been really pissed at you to get this creative," the woman chuckled. "They're normally so unimaginative."

"They're sick," Maise hissed, staring up along the length of the cable above her.

"If you think they're sick, you are in for quite the rude awakening," the woman slowly released the pressure on Maise's cuffs as she spoke. Though she was free to do so once more, Maise did not make eye contact with the woman, simply staring into space.

"Then, because I'm a big girl, I'm going to get dressed for work," the woman smiled. "Just like you did, right? You put on your special new outfit and came out to fight crime."

Maise nodded numbly in response, feeling her belly knot up as the woman's other hand came to rest on her other hip.

"But before I go do the boring work stuff, I have a special opportunity," the woman yanked on Maise's hips, forcing her up onto her toes again and pulling her body forward. "You see, because I'm the boss, and I don't always have to do the day-to-day stuff."

Maise's breathing quickened, chest heaving behind her supple leather top as the woman spoke menacingly, continuing to keep her pulled forward in her grip. She turned her eyes to find the woman's, searching for some sign of mercy in them.

"So, I'm going to treat myself. I'm going to take a couple days to get all my frustrations out on you and your pretty friend. I'm going to get to know you very, very intimately, and I'm going to," the woman paused for a moment there, holding Maise's gaze. The grin left the woman's face, her expression earnest. "Well, to be quite frank, Princess, I'm going to hurt you. I'm going to hurt you like you've never been hurt before. You're going to suffer and scream and cry and beg. And then we're going to begin all over again."

Maise felt her stomach drop at the woman's words, so calmly speaking of such horrible things. She opened her mouth to speak, but could not find her voice. The woman's fingers moved back over Maise's ass, gripping it firmly for a moment. And then the hands released her and Maise staggered back into balance.

The door to the room opened. Maise expected to see more of the militant men who had brought her here. Instead, her eyes went wide at the sight of the two figures that entered the room. They were either robots or men entirely enclosed in powered armor of some kind. They were bulky and obviously heavy, but they moved more gracefully than Maise expected as they came to stand one on either side of the bound girl. She felt their firm grips on her upper arms.

"Pawns, I am sending you detailed instructions on the method of transport and destination for our pretty little squaw here," the woman pulled out the tablet again, tapping the screen. "Be as gentle with her as her level of compliance allows. She has a long night ahead of her."

"Affirmative, Mistress," a pair of robotic voices replied in unison.

Maise felt the cables from the floor and ceiling detach from her restraints, and then the woman turned and left, leaving her in the care of the pawns.

 

[experimenter73]

Chapter Three: The First Ordeal


Maise had only a few moments to consider her options as the two robotic pawns approached. Freed from the ceiling and floor, she considered trying to dodge between them and run. However, she was still locked in the heavy restraints and, more importantly, she still had no access to her powers. She did nothing as they approached, one coming to stand on each side of her and take hold of her upper arms.

Maise struggled to walk between the two hulking robotic "pawns" through the hallways of the bunker-like building. Unlike the men earlier, they did not carry or lift her. In fact, they did nothing to help her at all, leaving her to deal with the heavy restraints locked on her body.

The collar was heavy chrome, sealed seamlessly around her slender throat and seeming to want to drag her to the ground with every step. Her arms ached with the effort of keeping her bound hands up behind her back to avoid pulling on the braid to which they were tied. As vulnerable as these left her and as uncomfortable as they were, the fetters on her ankles were worse. Massive and crafted of the same metal, they made every step a torturous ordeal as she shuffled forward, the soles of her suede ankle boots scuffing the floor. As before, crafted of heavy metal as they were, the restraints seemed to be even heavier and denser than they appeared.

"This would go a lot faster if you helped," she said to the pawns as they continued at their snail's pace.

"Negative," the robotic voices replied in unison. "We have been tasked with only escorting. To quote Mistress, this will be a good opportunity for the property to become more acquainted with the level of your helplessness."

"And what about if I just stop?" Maise snapped angrily, their words infuriating her as she dug in her heels and came to a stop.
The pawns said nothing in response. Working in unison, the one on her right let go of her arm. The one on her left moved behind her while the one from the right pivoted to stand directly before her. She felt the one behind her take hold of her right arm as well and then lift her upward until her feet left the ground. The pawn in front of her lifted its right arm, and Maise watched as a long prod began to protrude from the top of it.

"Failure to move equals noncompliance," the robotic voices spoke together. Suddenly the prod began to glow bright blue, sparking with electricity. "And we are authorized to administer punishment for noncompliance."

"No!" Maise cried out as the pawn abruptly thrust the tip of the prod up between her legs to drive it against her bare thigh. And then she was screaming and convulsing as the charge wracked her body. When the electricity subsided, Maise was left panting and shaking in the hold of the robot.

"Increasing gravitic enhancement by one level," the robots stated and then asked. "Is the property prepared to walk to the destination?"

"Yes!" she cried out through her sobbing, still quivering.

The pawns set her down and moved into position on either side of her once more. At once, she felt a difference in the restraints. They seemed to be even heavier than before, leaving her barely able to lift her feet off the floor at all. She was about to say something before she noticed that the prod did not retreat back within the second pawn's arm. It was no longer charged, but it hovered there out before her as she forced herself to move forward once more.

Maise walked in silence between her robotic captors, struggling to find a way to move with as little discomfort as possible. Every step required titanic effort in the heavy shackles with the short cable between her ankles. The level of powerlessness the restraints inflicted on her, however, was in its own way worse than the discomfort they caused. She had gone through her whole life powerless. Bouncing from home to home in the foster care system until she could finally escape to a life of her own at eighteen, she had always felt that she was in control of nothing. Even when she was on her own, her extremely limited earnings had left her feeling no more in control of her life, forcing her to live with roommates just to get by.

But all of that had changed with the strange silver cloud that gave her these wondrous powers. For two weeks, she had known what it felt like to have power. And then, to be recruited by a group of heroes like the Sentinels? It had been a dream come true. But now, all of that was gone. She had no power. She was more helpless than she had ever been in her life.

The robots seemed unphased by the snail's pace at which they traveled through the long hallways of the place. They had been walking for so long that Maise was surprised when they actually came to a stop in front of a steel door that looked exactly like the one to the room she had previously been in for her questioning. After a moment, it opened on its own and she stepped across the threshold.

"Wh-what?" Maise whispered softly at the sight of the room, her heart skipping a beat. She looked back and forth between the expressionless faces of her robot keepers, desperately seeking some sort of sign that this was just a cruel joke. In her tour of the Sentinels facility, she had seen the high-tech detention cells that they used to hold powered villains. They had looked scary in their own right, stark cells with powered force fields and the like to ensure that those captured could not escape before being turned over to the authorities. She had expected and feared something similar here.

That tour and experience, however, had done nothing to prepare her for the sight before her now. Entering the room, she found herself stepping back in time into a place that would have been right at home in the darkest recesses of the Spanish Inquisition. Everywhere she turned, she saw implements of torture. Every wall, column, and pillar in the massive hall seemed to be fitted with rings and chains. Massive constructs of wood and metal filled the space, all designed to hold their captives in far less humane fashion than those employed by the Sentinels.

"It really does take your breath away, doesn't it, pet?" the Mistress's voice spoke through one of the speakers on the robots. "Some of the pieces are originals, like that heavy metal boot you see off to the right there, with the nasty spikes in it. Some of the pieces are recreations, like that horse to your left."

Maise's eyes moved to what the woman's voice described as a horse, though it looked like no equine she had ever seen. Instead, it was a wooden triangle, held up off the ground by chains from the ceiling. A metal ridge ran along its roof-like peak. She felt the grip of the pawns tighten on her arms, and they lifted her now. They carried her toward the center of the room. A large area had been cleared there, leaving only a pair of heavy wooden stockades and a chair that made Maise's eyes widen.

"And then others, like this chair, are my own creations," Violet's voice spoke through the speaker. "I'll leave the pawns to get you situated on it."

The chair was built of heavy metal, at its core no more than a simple armless chair with a large base that sloped down to the floor in front of it. It was the many additions to the chair, however, that made Maise squirm in the grip of the robots that carried her. The entire seat of the chair was covered in wicked-looking metal spikes. On either side of the seat's base, a shackle hung open. An additional pair of manacles was attached to the base of the chair's back.

"No, please don't!" Maise screamed as the pawns carried her to the chair and then turned her so that her back was to it. She thrashed as hard as she could against their grip as she felt them slowly lowering her onto the seat. "Don't do this! Please!"

The pawns maneuvered her carefully, one moving to take hold of her upper arms behind her while the other re-positioned itself to grab her cuffed feet. She felt the one with her arms slip the chair-back between her bound hands and back. The pawn in front placed the soles of her boots down on the slanted surface of the chair's front. The robot released her feet and, immediately, Maise felt the soles of her boots slipping down along the smooth surface of the chair front.

Maise howled in pain as the spikes felt like a hundred needles plunging into the backs of her thighs and ass. Even through the places where she was protected by her leggings, it felt as though the spikes must surely be about to plunge deep inside her and draw blood. She quickly thrust her body upwards, pressing her armpits into the seat back and her feet against the front panel. Her thighs trembled with the effort of keeping her feet pressed downward against the slanted surface to barely hold herself aloft.

"Listen to me, you stupid calculator! Those spikes are going to kill me. She doesn't want that, does she?" She cried out to the pawn by her feet, looking at it pleadingly as tears began to well in her eyes. The machine showed no reaction to her plea, simply holding tight to her left calf as it removed the heavy shackles from her ankles. "Tell her not to do this, please!"

With the weight of the cuffs removed from her ankles, it eased some of the strain of keeping herself lifted off the spikes. Then, Maise's eyes went wide as the robot took hold of her left ankle and began pulling it to the side of the seat. Tilted slightly and only able to keep herself lifted with one foot now, she cried out as her left thigh made contact with the wicked spikes once more. Screaming in pain, she felt her foot drawn into place against the waiting metal of the seat's shackle.

"The chair is making you so very sad, isn't it, dear?" the woman's voice spoke through the pawns.

"Yes, please! It's too much," she sobbed openly, chest heaving as she strained to keep herself up. She hated herself for the words as they poured from her mouth, cheeks reddening in her shame. "Please, please don't make me sit on it. You can keep the big cuffs on me, just please not the chair."

"Silly heroine, I can do whatever I want to you," the woman chuckled. "But I've already explained that you can't keep your pretty nullifier restraints because you're not worthy of them."

Maise squeezed her eyes shut as hot tears stung them, feeling the painful press of the spikes into her flesh despite her best efforts. She broke down into full-fledged crying as she felt the shackle begin to close around her ankle on the side of the chair.

"But there would be a certain special dichotomy to moving you from the most high tech restraints ever devised to one of the most primitive, I suppose," the woman spoke, almost wistfully. "Pawns, I've sent you new instructions."

"Thank you, oh god, thank you," Maise sobbed as she felt the shackle released and then the robots lifting her up off the chair.

As they turned her into a new position, she got a glimpse of the chair and was surprised and relieved to see that there was no blood on the spines. Despite that discovery, she could still feel the pain all along the back of her thighs. The pawns brought her to the two stockades she had seen earlier. Getting a better look at them now that her attention was not so focused on the chair, she saw that one of them had two slender holes and was fastened to the floor with a metal bracket. Set into the floor just behind it, a tall antenna-like pole rose. The other had a big hole in the center and a smaller hole on each side. They were both crafted of heavy wood, with metal bands wrapped around the interior of each of the holes. She saw heavy padlocks on the outsides for their latches.

Maise watched the other pawn open the padlock on the side of the two-holed pillory. The latch swung open and then the robot lifted up on the device's top. It swung open easily on its hinge to leave the bottom and its waiting half circles open on the floor. Maise's breathing quickened as the pawn holding her brought her forward to the waiting device. Standing before the openings, she considered fighting for a moment. Her legs were free, after all, and that was clearly about to be taken from her.

But what could she do, with her arms so tightly bound behind her and her powers nullified? The memory of the shock in the hallway was too fresh in her mind to risk defiance with no true hope of escape. Better to play docile and wait for a real opportunity, whenever one might come.

She felt something hard press against the back of her leg and allowed the pawn to guide her down into a kneeling position. On her knees in front of the open stocks, one of the robots guided her ankles into place inside the waiting cutouts. She heard the creak of the hinge and then felt the top settle down into place. Twisting her body to look back awkwardly over her shoulder, she watched the lock close back to secure the pillory closed.

Her eyes were fixated on the sight of the second pawn turning the dual cranks on the top of the stockade that trapped her feet. With each turn, she felt the metal banding on the interior of the cutouts tighten on her ankles until she winced with pain. Now that she was up close to the devices, Maise could see that the antenna-like post came up to about the small of her back as she knelt and that a little red button was set in the top of it. Finished with the lower stockade, the second pawn rose and moved to join the first where it stood behind her. She felt a robotic hand close on each upper arm and then firmly turn her to face forward, away from the action behind her.

Maise moaned with relief as she felt her braid release from the cuff tube behind her back, neck aching as she bent it forward for the first time since the helicopter. With a whir and a hiss, the powerful cuff released her left arm. Before she could move or react in any way, the robotic grip slid easily down to her wrist, metal fingers wrapping around it in a tight squeeze. Even ready for it when her right arm was released, her powers still dampened, Maise could not avoid the capture of her second wrist.

"It looks like things are progressing quite well," the woman's voice announced.

At first, Maise didn't realize that the voice was not being broadcast from the pawns as before. While one powerful robot held her wrists behind her, the second moved around to stand before her. And then the sound of high heels clicking on the stone floor, accompanied by a soft mewling sound, made Maise realize that the woman was, in fact, in the room. Maise turned her head to see the source of the sound.

If she hasn't heard the familiar voice, Maise would not have recognized this as the woman in sweat pants from her arrival. Gone was the ponytail, replaced with an elaborately coiffed fall of blond curls, one bouncing almost jauntily before the woman's face. The sweats were replaced with a black satin gown. Calling it a gown, she realized, didn't tell the whole story. While it had a high collar and wide bustle, the front was barely more than a miniskirt, allowing the sight of bare thigh above her thigh high boots.

"Shawnee, I recognize that I do clean up nicely," the woman chuckled softly with a grin, "but do stop staring and say hello to Jade."

As Maise began to turn her attention beyond the woman to look for Jade, she suddenly felt the heavy collar swing free from around her neck. At once, her power came rushing back in to her. Functioning on instinct, everything slowed around her. The abrupt return of her speed felt euphoric, her whole body tingling as the power filled her.

Her mind raced as she looked around the room. She was strong for her size, but certainly not strong enough to break the stockade from her feet by yanking on it. If she could get her hands free, however, she was confident she'd be able to build up enough speed in a strike to shatter the wood. For a fraction of a moment, she tried to squirm her hands free, but she might as well have been held by a statue that had been carved around her. Taking stock, she had only one option with the hope of building up enough speed to be effective. In a flash, she leaned forward as far as she could and then drove her head back with all her speed into the holding robot's chest.

Maise had never attempted a headbutt before, either before or after acquiring her powers. She prayed that the same aspect of her gift that protected her hands when she punched objects at high speed would do the same for the back of her head. The powerful blow landed with a satisfying crunch of metal, and Maise felt the armored chest buckle at the impact. And then her world erupted in pain as the pawn's body sent a powerful arc of electricity coursing through the held girl's body.

"Poor Shawnee has discovered one of the nifty little defense mechanisms built into the pawns, Jade," the robots' mistress spoke, clicking her tongue as Maise came crashing back into regular time. Her mind reeled, both from the after effects of the shock and the exhaustion brought on from the use of her power. "It looks like pawn 763 is going to need to go to the repair bay after they're finished getting her settled."

Panting hard, dazed, and still firmly held in the grip of the pawn behind her, Maise could do nothing to stop the robot before her from picking up the other stockade and bringing it to bear around her neck. While that one held the open device against her, the damaged one moved her wrists into place.

Maise fought to hold back tears as she felt the heavy wood swing closed around her neck and wrists. It was substantially lighter than the ponderous metal restraints she'd previously worn. While it lacked that other's ability to dampen her power, the rough wooden yoke felt no less effective in its task. While the pawns set to work tightening the cranks to press the interiors of the stockade more forcefully against her throat and wrists, Maise felt dread pressing in on her from all corners.

"And would you look at that," the woman spoke with a cruel laugh. "Our little speedster's powers nullified by $12.35 worth of hardware from the Home Depot. I told you that I didn't need those fancy cuffs for you, Shawnee."

Swallowing hard, Maise tried to ignore the taunt and turn her attention to Jade. The red-haired girl was still in the same blue dress she'd been wearing when they left the Sentinel base, though the satchel with the book was gone. Jade was barefoot as well, little toes curling against the cold stone floor. Where Maise had been brought to this room in the heavy dampening restraints, Jade had only a pair of police style leg irons on her ankles and another pair locking her wrists behind her back.

At first, Maise felt a little flutter of jealousy at the sight of how differently she and Jade were bound. The handcuffs looked almost feather-light compared to the heavy wooden stockade pressing down into Maise's shoulders. Then she noticed two things that immediately changed her mind.

The first was that Jade was still tightly gagged with a red rubber ball gag similar to the one Maise had worn. She grimaced at the way its straps cut into the corners of Jade's mouth. The second made Maise's heart sink as she watched Violet maneuver the freckled girl in front of the spiked chair.

"No, you can't!" Maise called out. The undamaged pawn continued to grip her shoulders while the damaged one gathered up Maise's former restraints and silently left the room.

"Now, you be silent, Shawnee. You had your chance to take her place on the chair and you refused," the woman narrowed her eyes, glaring at Maise. " You're going to scare poor Jade even more than she should be. If Shawnee speaks again before I'm finished, 768, give her a shock she won't soon forget."

Maise clenched her teeth in anger, but then stilled when the pawn placed its extended probe directly between her legs, holding it there threateningly. She had to twist her waist to watch as the woman positioned Jade standing with her back to the spiked seat of the chair. She could hear the slender ginger mewl softly behind her gag, could see the trembling in her limbs.

"Now, Jade, you will learn very quickly that you are going to want to do everything in your power to avoid pressure on those spikes." As she spoke, the woman stepped in close to Jade, reaching around her to slip both hands under the girl's skirt and then pull it up to bunch around her waist. Maise swallowed hard at the sight of the sheer black boyshorts that would offer so little protection against the cruel spikes.

"We're going to sit you back now," the woman spoke calmly, almost soothingly. "Keep your feet pressed against the panel to keep your body up while I work on securing your hands."

Jade's body convulsed as the backs of her bare thighs and panty clad ass made contact with the spikes. The red head howled desperately into her gag, thrusting herself upward most of the way off the wicked points. Maise watched the girl press her bare feet against the slanted front of the seat, leg muscles tensing.

"Now, the good news is that they shouldn't break flesh," the blonde said as she drew Jade's cuffed hands over the back of the chair. As the sorceress's arms were drawn down until the top of the chair back pressed into her armpits, Maise saw the tortured girl's feet scrabble for purchase on the slanted panel to try and relieve some of the pressure from the spines. "The bad news is that they sure do feel like they will."

Jade was crying desperately now, nostrils flaring as hot tears streamed down her red cheeks. The woman had hardly seemed to exert any effort to lift Jade up onto the chair and position her. Regardless of how light Jade might be, Maise realized that their captor was much stronger than she looked. Despite the poor girl's attempts to keep herself lifted, Maise could clearly see the spines pressed deeply into the girl's flesh, vividly recalling how they had felt and knowing it would be even worse for Jade.

The woman appeared utterly unphased by Jade's crying as she worked. She drew the sobbing girl's hands to one side of the back of the chair and then closed the waiting manacle in place around her wrist. Only after that one was secured did she remove the conventional handcuffs. The woman then easily brought Jade's other hand to the waiting manacle on the other side of the chair base, locking it in place as well.

"Almost there, then we can let you relax, such as it is," the woman spoke as she moved to squat before the chair. Jade's eyes went wide as the woman took hold of her bound ankles. Violet unlocked and removed the police cuffs.

When the woman began to lift Jade's recently freed left foot to the side of the chair seat, Jade screamed into her gag. Maise could see her friend struggling against the movement, but Violet moved it to the waiting cuff with seemingly no effort at all.

"Now, I promised the two of you suffering and that's exactly what you're going to experience," the woman spoke menacingly as she drew Jade's other foot out to the cuff on the other side of the chair. "This isn't an interrogation. This isn't proof of life. This isn't a ransom situation."

As if on cue, the remaining robot took hold of Maise's long braid and pulled backwards, forcing her into a back-bend. When she was almost horizontal to the ground, she felt the touch of the antenna and its button to the small of her back. As the robot continued to pull, she was forced to arch her stomach upwards awkwardly to avoid making contact with it.

"This is purely my wrath and retribution, for your destruction of so much hard work," the woman continued while Maise felt sharp little tugs at her braid beneath her. Bent backward, Jade had a direct view of Jade's perilous perch on the seat.

"So here's how it's going to work, my brave little heroines," the woman mocked. "Big strong robot-busting Shawnee is going to want to keep herself up off that post beneath her back. As tempting as I am sure it would be for her to lean on it for some support, if she pushes the button it's going to deliver quite a nasty shock to poor Jade."

Maise felt the robot release her hair. At once, she tried to rise, but then cried out when she was brought up shirt with a sharp tug to the braid. Bending back as far as she could, she could see where the end of her braid was secured to the stone floor with a metal band. She couldn't see them, but pulling up made her realize that band was not alone.

"Now, Jade, you're going to want to keep yourself up off those spikes as much as possible, and not just be because they hurt like hell." As the woman spoke, Maise watched her draw a pair of posts up from within the chair on either side of Jade's thighs. When they were fully extended, a padded bar flipped over the top of the girl's pale thighs and snapped into place. "Of course, we wouldn't want you to be able to get fully off them, would we?"

At once, Maise could see the increased pressure on Jade's already straining muscles to keep herself up against the pressure of the lap bar.

"Should you ever allow your full weight to come to rest on the spikes, they will retract into the seat until you lift yourself again," the woman continued. Maise tore her eyes away from as the woman gave the girl's thigh a gentle pat and then began walking toward the stockade, heels clicking once more on the stone floor.

"Now, I know, the thought of those spikes retracting seems like a promising one," the woman chuckled as she came to stand by Shawnee. "But, for as long as they stay down, Shawnee will be the recipient of some rather nasty shocks. I imagine you're bright enough to understand that if the two of you both fail enough, you're going to reach a point where you're just continually shocking one another."

"Wh-who are you?" Maise asked softly, her mind reeling as she tried to make sense of what was happening to them both.

"I suppose there's no harm in telling you," the woman answered. Maise watched her carefully gather her skirts and then sink down next to the stockade, facing away from her now. The woman's hands moved to Maise's thighs, fingernails playing lightly along them until they reached the tops of her leggings. She felt them slowly drawn down until they were bunched beneath her knees.

"After all, if through some bizzarre twist of fate and heroism you are freed from this place, it's not like that damned mentalist isn't going to recognize me from your thoughts."

Maise winced as she felt her knees lifted from the floor, forcing her to adjust the way she held herself upright and almost making her fall back onto the post.

"Ow! Fuck!" Maise cried out as she suddenly felt something pointed pressing up into the soft spots on both of her knees.
While the woman's hands lingered on Maise's trembling thighs, they did nothing to help support her. Digging her toes into the floor and arching back hard to use her own hair as extra support, Maise heard the creak of wood from the stocks on her ankles as she tried to pull herself up off the cruel spikes beneath her knees. But try as she might she could not lift herself fully off of them, only succeeding in lessening the pressure somewhat.

"The name's Arclight," the woman spoke, looking down on Maise now as the stockaded heroine opened her eyes once more.

"You're going to pay for this," Maise hissed through clenched teeth.

"Oh, dear, then I do hope you take American Express," Arclight laughed, "because I plan to wrack up quite a tab and I could use the mileage perks."

The woman stepped out of Maise's view, affording her a look directly upwards at Jade's perch on the spiked chair. She could already see the strain on her friend's body as the girl pressed her wrists and ankles hard against their cuffs to try and keep herself up to the minimum spiky contact her lap belt allowed.

"Before I leave you to it, I feel you should know one more thing," Arclight spoke as she moved toward the door. "This is the first of three torments you are going to endure at my hands. And let me be very clear that they will get much, much worse from here. I promised that you would suffer, and I mean to make good on that promise. I'll leave you to it, then. See you in a few hours."

The remaining pawn fell into step behind the woman as she gathered her skirts and then made her way through the room toward the door. Maise watched her pause at a few of the room's other devices lightly play her fingers along their surfaces before she reached the door to leave.

"Hang in there, Jade," Maise called out as the door closed behind their captor, leaving them alone in the room. "We're going to find a way out of this."

Even as she said the words, Maise doubted herself. Though she had access to her speed power, it may as well have been gone. She had no room to move. Without room, she couldn't build momentum. Without momentum, there was no way she could break free of her bonds. Already, she could feel the weight of the yoke on her neck beginning to strain her back with the effort of keeping her back up off the post beneath her.

"Jade, I wish you could talk right now, because I could really use some encouraging words back from you."

"Unnngggfffhhh" was the only response Jade could offer.

Working in silence, Maise explored every inch of her restraints that she could. Unfortunately there was very little for her to discover. Thanks to the tightened inserts around her wrists and ankles, she could not even twist in them. The tightness of the one around her throat made breathing slightly more effort than she would have liked.

The stockade on her ankles seemed to be securely attached to the floor. None of her efforts to dislodge it yielded anything. In the end, she was in no better position than when she started, and she was truly beginning to feel the strain. A thin sheen of sweat covered her exposed flesh, she was breathing hard, and her back and shoulders throbbed from the impossible position.

Just then, she heard a squeak and a gagged cry from Jade. Looking up at her fellow captive, she could see that the tortured girl was barely hanging on. Hands balled into fists, the girl's thighs quivered with the effort of holding herself up against the rubber pad, the spikes of the seat pressed insistently into the girl's underside.

"So did you pick the name Jade?" Maise asked, looking up into the red-head's eyes. She was searching for something, anything, to get the girl's attention away from the torment of the seat. And she could use a distraction herself as those wicked spikes pressed ever upward into her knees.

For a long moment, it seemed like Jade had not registered the question. Maise tensed in anticipation of the inevitable shock that would follow the other girl's plunge downward on the seat. And then, after a seeming eternity, Jade shook her head negatively, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I didn't pick my codename either," Maise focused on the girl's eyes, trying to hold her attention. "I had a bunch picked out, but Kesegowaase was my favorite. It means swift in Algonquin. That's my tribe's language. But the PR team thought it wouldn't catch on. They wanted something simple. So we decided to go with Shawnee, just the tribe name. Did they change yours, too?"

Maise saw a blush rise on Jade's cheeks as the girl bit down hard on the thick rubber ball in her mouth. And then the red-head shook her head again.

"No?" Maise asked, barely getting the word out. Her toes were cramping from the effort of pressing her ankles up against the wooden stocks, back aching, but when she tried to shift her position, she succeeded only in pressing more of her weight down on the knee spikes. She cried out in pain, jerking in her bonds before she lifted herself once more as best she could.

"Were you adopted, then?" Maise finally managed to ask when she had recovered enough to speak again. "I don't mean to be rude or insensitive. It just seems a little weird. The outfit and the name are, like, Asian, and you don't look Asian at all."

Eyes squeezed shut, Jade shook her head once more. And then, at once, he girl's legs gave out and she came crashing down onto the seat. With a click, the spikes disappeared into the body of the wicked device. Jade's chest heaved as she sat there sobbing. Maise heard a sound like a bicycle chain turning.

"Jade, please, get up." Maise pleaded as the grinding sound continued. Her eyes widened as she looked around fearfully. There was no response from the red-head, who just sat there quivering and shaking in her bonds. Still, the sound continued.

"Jade, God da-" Maise screamed, but then her cry was cut off by a wicked series of shocks that poured into her body. The electricity seemed to come from every point that she had contact with her restraints, radiating upward through the spikes at her knees and outward from the metal inserts around her wrists and throat. She convulsed upward against her restraints as every nerve ending in her body seemed consumed by the pain at once.

Just when it seemed like the surge would never end, it was over at once. Maise felt her body instinctively relax, beginning to fall downward. But for her power, she would surely have fallen down onto the button poised beneath her back. Instead, she felt the world slow once more. Opening her tear-filled eyes, she saw that Jade had pressed herself upward once more. She saw the spikes pressing upward into the underside of the other girl's ass and thighs.

The pain to her own body was excruciating. The use of her power seemed to make the after-effects of the electric shock linger longer and to make the spikes press even more fervently up against her vulnerable knees. She kept the world in slow motion nonetheless, waiting until she was sure she could return without falling. As she let it pass and the world returned to normal, she could hear Jade's labored breathing around the gag, drool sputtering past it.

"So, if you're not Asian and the PR team didn't pick it," Maise struggled to speak after a long pause. She wanted to scream at the other girl for the torment Jade's lapse had caused her, but no good would come from that. Instead, she focused on the mystery of the girl's name and outfit. "Is it something to do with the book?"

The use of her power had definitely drained Maise's strength, already taxed by the many exertions she had endured since waking up on the helicopter. If Arclight truly was going to leave them like this for hours, she knew that there was no chance that she would make it that long before touching the button. Already, the stockade seemed heavier than the powered restraints she had been kept in earlier.

Maise saw Jade's jaw clench, biting down hard on the thick ball in her mouth, as she continued to keep herself lifted up against the lap bar as best she could. And then the red-head opened her eyes again, looking down on Maise as her chest heaved. Slowly and purposefully, she nodded.

"That's," Maise began to answer, but then she cried out softly as one foot gave out beneath her, making her knee press down hard on the spike before she could scramble to get sore toes back in place once more. "That's actually kind of cool. I mean, I wonder if it's like the original spellbook of some ancient Jade Sorceress or something. It's like you're carrying on some powerful legacy, I guess."

Jade seemed to offer a weak smile around the gag, but Maise could see that she was barely hanging on once more. Remembering the bite of those wicked spikes, Maise was surprised that the other girl was holding out as well as she was.

"Jade, I'm going to try something," Maise said softly. "I don't know if it will work, but it's the only thing I can think of that might stand a chance. The only problem is that I'm going to have to hit the button to do it."

Maise saw Jade shudder in response. The other girl had seen firsthand what the shocks did to Shawnee and certainly would not relish the thought of receiving them herself.

"To use my power, I need kind of a running start," Maise tried to remain calm as she explained, but the thought of what she was about to attempt sent an icy chill down her spine. "I think Arclight knows that. That's why she set this stuff up so I really don't have any room to move. But, if I bend all the way back down toward the floor and then turn on the speed, I might be able to come up fast enough to break my hair free of the clamps back there."

Jade's hands clenched more tightly in their restraints, but Maise saw the girl nod.

"If I can get my hair free, I should be able to smash this wood off on the ground in front of me, too," Maise continued. "But, then again, I might just end up scalping myself from the first attempt. That'd be kind of ironic, wouldn't it?"
Jade nodded slowly.

"I'm getting really worn out here, J-Jade," Maise's voice caught in her throat as she spoke. "But if I try this and it doesn't work, it's going to be really bad. I don't know what else to do, though. I think it might be our only chance."

At Jade's nod, Maise closed her eyes and summoned up her power once more. She let herself fall backwards, feeling the small of her back make contact with the post as the hold to her hair grew slack. When the stockade was nearly to the ground beneath her, she shot herself back up again with every bit of speed she could muster.