Shackles Ch. 15

And up, and up, until Trinity could start to see them in her eyes.

It always felt good to truly let loose with her power like that, but this time, the moment was ruined. Trinity was still doing her best to hold back, but the unfolding events had already shown her that it was useless. Trinity felt like a mere conduit - an agent of Radiance's will, as her own power channeled itself through her, all according to Radiance's plan. It would have been so easy to resign herself to helplessness, but for how uncomfortably intimate it all felt. This was her power. It was her hand around Pheramona's wrist. And she was the one Pheramona was looking at with those shocked, angry eyes as they started to change color.

The contact only lasted a moment before Pheramona managed to wrest her arm away from Trinity and stumble a few paces backward.

"What the fuck?" she spat. She was plainly still dazed from the unexpected betrayal, and the lingering effects of Trinity's shimmer weren't going to back clear thinking any easier. "What are you doing?"

Trinity didn't reply. She couldn't. She was still bound by Radiance's order not to reveal anything. Instead, she glanced at her superheroine handler. Trinity had been fully expecting Radiance to intervene once things went awry, but she didn't. She just stood and stared and watched. From the irresistible pull she still felt, Trinity realized she was going to have to see it through by herself. The words Radiance had spoken to her before they arrived were echoing in her head, loud and clear.

Defeat Pheramona. No matter what, you will defeat and subdue her.

"Why?" Pheramona demanded. She was breathing hard, and her face was full of fury. "Why are you doing this?"

Trinity wanted to answer her. She owed her an answer. But she couldn't give one. Her jaw was held shut just as surely as Radiance's chain was fastened around her wrist.

"Sometimes I think they're right to call us villains. All we ever seem to do is stab each other in the back." Pheramona wasn't wrong about that. Infighting amongst villains was a constant of life in Future City's underworld. Neither Trinity nor Pheramona were above it. "Why won't you all realize what we could achieve if we worked together, for once, instead of squabbling over whatever scraps fall off the table? I thought you were better than that, Shimmer."

Pheramona started moving, circling Trinity, looking for an angle. Her fists were raised. Trinity matched her movements. Radiance simply stood aside, watching impassively, and with each step Trinity took the supernatural chain connecting the two of them lengthened, allowing her to move unencumbered.

She was certainly going to need that advantage, if she wanted to stand even the slightest chance against Pheramona.

"Let me guess," her opponent raged, "I'm a loose end, right? You gotta clear up that money trail. Can't leave anything behind that might ruin your precious new start. Nothing at all. Is that it?"

Trinity could barely hear her over the sound of her own heart pounding in her ears. Even though the last thing she wanted to do was fight, her instincts were fierce and her body was flooded with adrenaline. One wrong move, and she was in serious trouble.

"Or did you just get greedy?" Pheramona continued, snarling. "What, was ten percent too big of a cut? You need every last cent, huh? I guess that makes sense. You've only ever really looked out for yourself, after all. Maybe soon you'll be one of the big shots you used to be so pissed at, looking down on us little people from one of those fancy skyscrapers."

Despite everything, her words stung.

"Seems like I don't even deserve an answer." Pheramona barked a harsh, guttural laugh. "Fine. Doesn't matter. Soon enough, you'll be begging for the chance to tell me whatever you want."

The significance of that threat wasn't lost on Trinity. Already, she noticed the distinctive, intimate scent of the supervillain's pheromones starting to hang heavy in the air around them.

She was already running out of time.

Trinity had seen more than once what Pheramona's power could do to people. Calling her pheromones a blunt instrument for mind control would have been an understatement. When she really let loose, it was like a bomb going off. On one occasion, Trinity had watched her reduce an entire building's worth of people to little more than drooling puppets. Unlike Trinity and Radiance, she couldn't exactly tell people what to do - but she didn't need to. After enough exposure, they'd be falling over themselves to please her.

Her pheromones effectively shut down rational thought, inhibiting areas of the brain that were responsible for planning, decision-making, and maintaining priorities. Conversely, it kicked your animal brain into overdrive, inducing a powerful hormonal response of lust, reverence, and loyalty, all directed at Pheramona.

The way the other villain had explained it to Trinity was simple and evocative: once you were drunk on her power, you were like a wolf in a pack - and she was the alpha. Everything that followed was pure instinct.

"What's the matter?" Pheramona jeered. "You're looking a little unsteady there."

Trinity's mouth went dry. It was already affecting her.

Her head felt thick and heavy, and her thoughts were racing uncontrollably. It was more than just the adrenaline and the panic, and it was a far cry from the agonizing clarity she felt when Radiance was controlling her. Her own body was becoming a gnawing, burning distraction. Trinity was uncomfortably aware of beads of sweat forming on her skin, causing her clothes to cling to her body, and a throbbing between her legs demanded all her attention. She tried focusing on Pheramona, her opponent, to banish the distractions, but that was a double-edged sword. The other villain's body was every bit as distracting as her own. Her eyes kept wandering to Pheramona's toned arms, or her broad, imposing shoulders, or to the way her hips were bouncing as she kept light on her feet.

This was bad.

She'd counted on having longer. Pheramona's power was a fickle thing. It waxed and waned with the force of her emotions, and normally it took some time to ramp up.

Her partner in crime must have been really, really pissed off at her.

Trinity glanced over at Radiance, hoping to see that the pheromones were getting to her too. If they were, she wasn't showing it. The superhero was as impassive as ever.

Typical.

"Ready to give up already?" Pheramona mocked. "C'mon, aren't you going to make a move? Or are you so scared of a fair fight you'll let me melt your brain for free?"

"Shut up," Trinity grunted. Unfortunately for her, Pheramona had a point. It was on her to finish the fight she'd started, before the pheromones overpowered her.

Thanks to Radiance, she quite literally did not have a choice.

Throwing caution to the wind, Trinity darted forward. She knew she wasn't as good as Pheramona in a fight, but all she needed was a few more moments of contact. Her power would do the rest. Odds were, the other villain still hadn't quite recovered from her first dose. Maybe, thanks to that, she'd be just a little bit slower than she needed to be. Maybe.

No such luck.

Pheramona danced away from her with the finesse and agility of a boxer. She made it seem effortless, a vicious smirk on her face the whole time. Trinity couldn't touch her, and she knew it.

All she had to do was wait.

Which each punch she threw, Trinity got more and more tired, and her head got foggier and foggier. And each time she bobbed and weaved out of the way, Pheramona's heady, mind-altering scent was left hanging in the air behind her. Just being near her was overwhelming. If not for Radiance's commands still binding her, Trinity was sure she would already have fallen to her knees. Instead, she was forced to stagger onward, even as her blows got slower and less coordinated.

"Just give in," Pheramona sneered. "You're already tapped out. I can tell. Make it easy for me, and I'll go easy on you - you and your new pet, both. I guess I get to have fun with her after all."

Trinity wanted to get mad at her, but she couldn't. She couldn't feel anything except for desperate arousal, and a crushing urge to submit. More and more, Pheramona's presence felt awe-inspiring. Overpowering. Her words had extra bite to them; extra gravitas. She seemed invincible. Why was Trinity trying to fight someone like her? It was obviously futile. Pheramona was stronger. Better. Wasn't it absurd to think she could bend such a mighty villainess to her will?

Trinity shook her head madly, trying to throw off those thoughts as they assailed her like a cloud of flies. She had to keep going. It wasn't up to her.

Defeat Pheramona. No matter what, you will defeat and subdue her.

Those words in her head were warring with what her new, warped instincts were screaming at her to do: kneel, submit, beg. Her whole body was burning. It was so hard to think with anything except her cunt. Every time she stepped forward, trying to match Pheramona's rhythm, her thighs rubbed together and made her want to scream with pleasure. She wanted her opponent to touch her. To use her. It was blindingly intense. It was all she could think about. She was experiencing the delirium of an orgasmic high, but deep in her gut she knew the only thing that would satisfy her would be falling to her knees in front of her new goddess.

Meanwhile, her movements were getting sloppier and sloppier. After one particularly clumsy punch that landed only in midair, Pheramona simply stepped past her and delivered a single jab to her side. She could have hit Trinity much harder, but even that blow was enough to leave her head spinning. All she could hear was the sound of her own blood pumping, and the mocking laughter of the other supervillain.

Trinity couldn't win. It was completely and utterly hopeless.

There was a kind of relief in that, but she still couldn't stop her addled mind from taxing itself to the limit to try and find a way out - any way out.

How could she possibly win this fight?

She couldn't.

Maybe the only way to win was not to fight.

Defeat Pheramona. No matter what.

Her head scrambled beyond reason, Trinity's legs gave out beneath her. She slumped to the ground, twitching and groaning in defeat. Pheramona's scent dominated her senses. Her pheromones were roaring through her. It felt so right to finally give in and listen to them.

"Told you." Pheramona shook her head theatrically. She clearly took no small amount of pleasure in seeing Trinity submit. "It didn't have to be like this, Shimmer. It was your choice. You could have taken your money and walked away. But since you didn't..."

Trinity could barely hear her. She was twitching and drooling from need, and pawing at herself in a useless quest for satisfaction. Even submission was torture. She could still feel Radiance's chain, tight around her wrist. It was as if her mind was ripping itself in half.

"Jesus. You've really got it bad, huh?" Pheramona looked hungry, as she approached the kneeling Trinity. In Trinity's eyes, she was as great and radiant as the sun. "Well, it's your lucky day. I'm in a forgiving mood, and I'm not much a sadist." As she said that, her face pulled itself into a twisted smile. "Now, just tell me what you need."

"I..." Trinity's speech came out slow and slurred. Her mouth had been dry before; now she was salivating like a hungry dog. "I... n-need... ugh... nnnneeed?"

How was she supposed to answer that? How was she supposed to condense the enormity of her urgent need into simple words? With each step Pheramona took toward her, it got harder and harder. She was drowning in pheromones, and the object of her wild, submissive lust was almost within arm's reach.

"Oh yeah?" All of Pheramona's fury had dissipated. Instead, she was swelling with pride and victory. She moved with a slow, easy swagger, loping towards Trinity like a cat to a cornered mouse. "Need? What do you need, pet? Use your words."

At first, Trinity's only reply was a keening whine of protest. How long was Pheramona going to torture her like this? All the same, she couldn't stop herself from trying to obey. Following the supervillain's lead seemed as natural as breathing, now.

"Nnnneeeeeed," Trinity gurgled. She reached out to Pheramona with a weak, flailing hand. She'd never been so viscerally aroused. Her brain felt like it was boiling, "y-you."

"Me?" Pheramona gestured to herself in mock surprise. She was now standing only a couple of feet away from Trinity. "But what would you need from me, Shimmer?"

"Y... you... y... your..." Trinity shivered rapturously, still drooling all over herself. Her gaze was completely and utterly fixed on just one spot: the front of Pheramona's pants.

Even though Pheramona's clothes were loose-fitting, it was plainly obvious that she was very, very turned on by what she'd done to Trinity - just as turned on as Trinity would have been if their positions had been reversed. The sight of her large bulge steadily growing in her pants was making Trinity see red. She'd never needed anything more in her life. She needed Pheramona to use her cock on her, or she needed to worship it, or whatever her new idol wanted.

"Wow," Pheramona giggled. "You're cute. But... this? I'm not sure you deserve it, Shimmer."

At that, Trinity let out her most desperate whine yet.

"But maybe I'll let you earn it," the other villain continued, before a sudden, wicked light appeared in her eyes. "No, even better. I'll let you buy it."

Trinity just nodded. She was past caring. She'd give Pheramona whatever she wanted.

"And it's going to cost you some serious money," Pheramona licked her lips, relishing the moment. She loomed effortlessly over Trinity, allowing the subjugated supervillain to bathe in her strength and her confidence. "The other ninety percent of your score, actually. How does that sound?"

Before she had even finished asking, Trinity was nodding fervently. Money was the last thing on her mind.

Pheramona howled with laughter. "Deal!" she exclaimed, before stepping forward and reaching down to cup her hand on the back of Trinity's head. Trinity was utterly incapable of resisting as Pheramona forcefully pushed Trinity into her, grinding her face into the huge bulge in her pants. "You're even more helpless than I thought! Trading away all your hard-earned cash just for some good dick. It's pathetic, honestly. Maybe pathetic enough that you'll actually learn your lesson."

Her cruel words were little more than a ringing in Trinity's ears. At that distance, the other villain's pheromones crashed over her in torrential waves with each breath she took. Her heart was pounding so hard that she thought it was going to explode. Trinity was nothing more than a bitch in heat. Without a thought to spare for her own dignity, she was already desperately lapping at Pheramona's bulge with her tongue.

"Well, go ahead." With a lopsided grin on her face, Pheramona moved her legs slightly apart, and folded her hands behind her head. "Unlike you, I keep my bargains. Help yourself, slut."

Trinity closed her eyes and sighed blissfully. Hearing those words was so sweet. In that moment, she wanted nothing more she wanted Pheramona's cock. She wanted to be her bottom. Her bitch. That desire was her whole self. It was all her thoughts, all her feelings. She wanted to lose herself in it for hours.

It was almost painful that she couldn't.

No matter what.

This time, Pheramona was caught completely and totally off-guard when Trinity surged up at her, clamped her palms around the villain's head, and hit her with as strong of a burst of mind-controlling shimmer as she was still capable of.

Moments later, Pheramona slumped to the ground, insensate. Trinity was on the verge of collapsing along with her. After that exertion, she had nothing left to give. She was still drugged up beyond the point of reason by Pheramona's power.

It was simply that Radiance's control had proved even stronger.

As she tried to bring her breathing back into rhythm, there was nothing else for Trinity to do but look over at Radiance. The two of them were still shackled together, and the superhero hadn't moved so much as a muscle in minutes. After meeting Trinity's gaze, though, she slowly folded her arms, and smiled.

"Good girl."