Shackles Ch. 10

"So," Trinity said, turning to Radiance and striking a pose. "How do I look?"

Radiance's mouth opened and closed for a brief moment. She was compelled to answer, but she seemed sincerely unsure what to say. "It's... very..."

Tired of hesitating, Trinity prompted her: "It looks good, right?"

Immediately, the purple in Radiance's eyes shimmered as those words worked their way into her head. She brightened at once, and replied in a calm, pleasing voice: "Yes, it looks good."

Trinity blushed a little, as she realized what she'd just done. "No, wait, I mean, what do you really think?"

"It looks good," Radiance repeated immediately.

Trinity cursed herself. "No, no, like..." Before she could figure out a way to rephrase her question, Trinity stopped herself. Hearing Radiance tell her she looked good was really nice. Really, really nice. Maybe it wasn't so bad to make Radiance encourage her. Should she really be using her power for something like that? Probably not. But what was the harm? It was easy for Trinity to convince herself that it barely even counted as breaking any rules. She'd already hypnotized Radiance, after all. Making her say some nice things too was nothing.

"You think I look really, really nice," Trinity told Radiance, who nodded eagerly.

"I think you look really, really nice."

"You think your old costume suits me perfectly, and I look very pretty and heroic in it."

"I think my old costume suits you perfectly, and you look very pretty and heroic in it."

Even hearing Radiance echo her words back to Trinity was gratifying, especially since she could also see her blank eyes widening slightly with admiration.

"You love seeing me like this."

"I love seeing you like this."

Trinity blushed a little, and giggled to herself. She knew she should stop there, but she couldn't resist adding just one more suggestion: "You think it's hot."

"I think it's hot," Radiance repeated obediently, and it became her truth.

"So," Trinity said, striking another pose, "what do you think?"

She turned to face away from Radiance and threw her head to one side, resting her hands stoutly on her hips. She had her legs spread a little to make herself seem more imposing, and the pose made sure Radiance got an excellent look at her figure - and especially, at her ass.

"It's..." Trinity heard a sharp intake of breath from behind her, "really great."

Trinity purred and preened. She knew Radiance's emotions and reactions were probably a little muted from her shimmer, so hearing her breath catch and her voice drop a little was all the more satisfying. She turned and struck another pose, this time with a hand outstretched to lean against the wall, and her chest stuck out proudly. "Yeah?"

Radiance's eyes dropped to stare at Trinity's tits. "Yeah... you look amazing."

Trinity giggled like a schoolgirl. This was so much fun. More than anything, listening to Radiance praise her filled her with warmth and confidence. She wanted more. "And heroic?"

"Yes." Radiance nodded emphatically. "Very heroic."

There wasn't a trace of insincerity in her voice.

Somehow, hearing that really made Trinity's cheeks burn. She looked down. "I'm doing a good job, aren't I?"

"You're doing a good job," Radiance repeated after.

"T-thank you," Trinity whispered. She knew her shimmer was the only reason Radiance was saying that to her, but that didn't explain why it caused such a strong reaction. Why was her stomach doing loops? "Say it again."

"You're doing a good job."

Trinity retreated from her pose, folding her arms over herself bashfully. Her whole face was on fire. What was happening to her? Inexplicable desires were suddenly blossoming within her, and before she could get a grip on them, one of them made it to her lips.

"Tell me I'm a good girl."

The moments before Radiance obeyed felt like an eternity.

"You're a good girl, Trinity."

The word 'blushing' was completely inadequate to describe the shade of red Trinity turned upon hearing that. Somehow, despite everything that had happened to her since being captured by Radiance, this was perhaps the most embarrassed she'd ever felt. She was about to explode. Before anything more could happen, Trinity rushed out of the bathroom and into what passed for a bedroom. She needed to catch her breath.

Once she did, she scolded herself for being so self-indulgent. There were far, far more important things than having fun with Radiance.

Like becoming a hero.

She turned her eyes to the door. Without Radiance or her chain, there was nothing to stop Trinity unlatching it and leaving. She looked back towards the bathroom, where Radiance was waiting. Probably, if she left her alone, much of her mind control would wear off after a few hours. Radiance was strong-willed, and Trinity hadn't made much of an effort to get too deep into her head. That was fine. Trinity had never intended to keep Radiance permanently brainwashed. That would have been wrong. She just needed to make the superhero give her a chance.

"I'll be back later," she called out, and slipped out of Radiance's safehouse and into the streets of Future City.

***

Candace sighed, as she watched the woman she'd just mugged run off out of the alleyway. She took little pleasure from it, especially when the rewards were so slight. She weighed the woman's purse. It was light. What had she been expecting? It wasn't like anyone carried cash these days. But if she was lucky, maybe there would be a few valuables she could pawn. She looked up at the sunset sky. Evening had just started to settle across Future City. Maybe she had time to hit up somewhere else before too many superheroes came out to play. Or too many supervillains. They were just as dangerous, whichever side of the law you were on.

The down-on-her-luck mugger rubbed her head. This sucked. Future City was a terrible place to be a petty criminal. Too bad it was also her home. Times were getting hard, and there weren't exactly a lot of opportunities for a girl like her. She didn't fit any of the recruitment profiles the big corps were looking for, but she had to make rent just like everyone else. The best she could do was try to only pick on people who looked like getting their wallet snatched would only ruin their week, not their life.

"Stop right there!"

Candace wheeled to face the direction the bombastic, feminine voice was coming from. She clutched at her knife, knowing full well she didn't know how to use it - and that it probably wouldn't be much help, if she was dealing with a super.

She lowered her weapon a little, though, when she saw the person who had yelled at her emerge from the shadows.

It was a woman about her height. Candace couldn't have said anything about her hair or her face, because that wasn't what she was looking at. It was completely impossible not to stare at what she was wearing. Her outfit was something like a porn parody of a superhero outfit - Candace couldn't tell if it was just two sizes too small, or if it was actually designed to make her body look so lewd. Either way, this woman had curves for days, and she was showing all of them. But Candace knew she couldn't get too distracted.

"What do you want?" she shouted.

The strangely-dressed woman grinned, and rested her hands on her hips.

"My name is Shimmer," she announced. "And I'm here to bring you to justice!"