Scientific Progress Is Simply Pathetic

While Jessica takes Jake to a spa to help him get over his newfound fear of hypnosis, Mato begins performing his experiments on the others.

A few weeks have gone by, and Jake’s adoptive family in the alternate dimension has noticed some strange behaviors on his part. What kind of behaviors? Well…

Dawn was watching TV with Katia one afternoon, a soap opera which made little sense to anyone of the male type. Jake just happened to be walking by when he heard the conversation about the car that was being driven by the main character.

“Isn’t it pretty?” Dawn commented.

“Yeah, pretty,” Katia agreed breathless.

“Hypnosis?! Aaaaahhhhh!” Jake suddenly tore out of the room, leaving two confused girls to look up from their program.


* * *


Fawn was showing a photo album of one of her tours in her room to Mina and Diana. “See? Here’s the finale!”

“It’s so beautiful,” Mina was star eyed at the photos

“Yeah, it was a great tour,” Fawn agreed

Jake just happened to be walking in the room to let the girls know lunch was ready when, “So Fawn, can you tell me which song is your favorite?” Diana wanted to know.

“Let me give you a hint…” and with that Fawn took a deep breath to sing the chorus of her favorite song.

“Hypnosis?! Flee in terror!” Jake shouted as he ran straight across the room and jumped through the closed window, leaving all three girls stunned as well as covered in shattered glass. *Sweat drops on all girls*


* * *


Mato was showing Lucia his latest invention in the lab while Jake was giving him a hand. “Now dear, I’m sure that this latest design of mine will leave you stunned and speechless!

“Really? What does it do?” the angel inquired

“Look carefully,” Mato held the machine up towards Lucia’s inquiring gaze

But of course, “Hypnosis?! Noooooooo!” Jake ran over and snatched the machine away. He then threw it to the ground and began stomping on it as hard as he could.
Professor Mato looked sad and depressed. “He just destroyed the only working model of the VCR I made that can be programmed by anyone

“Bad Jake!” Lucia said sternly


* * *


Sarah walked into the kitchen. She was dressed in a button down shirt in a half-knot and shorts, which had replaced her uniform as her most common clothing choice since being forced to take an extended vacation. She poked her head into the fridge for a drink.

“Sarah?” she heard Jen’s voice. “I think we all should have a meeting about Jake. Very soon too

“Why do we need to do that?” Sarah straightened up and started to open the can of soda she held. She dropped it in surprise at what she saw. Someone had used a meat mallet and destroyed several appliances. Jen was looking at her, with Jake staring at the broken machines wide-eyed as he cowered behind the blonde.

“Well, call it genie instinct,” Jen said

Jake pointed wildly from behind her, “The coffee maker was using hypnosis!

Jen looked at him over her shoulder in disbelief, “Jake, the coffee pot can’t use hypnosis
“That’s what it wanted you to think!


* * *


So it came to pass that evening, Mato and the seven beauties that lived in the house met in the dinning room to discuss the odd behavior of the other male in the household. “So, do we ship him off to the loony bin now, or get a professional opinion?” Jen wanted to know

“Don’t speak of my future king like that!” Katia said

“Yes! Jake has done so much for us! Surely we shall assist him in his time of need!” Lucia said

“Maybe you forget, but most of the stuff he does for us involve us being mindless and doing his bidding,” Jen pointed out

“No, we should come together like a family and deal with this,” Fawn said

“Did you hear that Sarah? We’re sisters!” Dawn teased

“Don’t ever try to associate me with you, you pathetic witch!” Sarah said, slapping her hand on the table

“What did you just say to me?!” Dawn stood up, then Sarah stood up, and soon the old foes were glaring at each other across the table

“How about a new approach?” Jessica looked expectantly to Mato

“Well, it’s obvious what the problem is,” he replied

All seven girls suddenly stopped their conversations and looked at him, “What is it professor?” they all said at once

“Stop talking all at once! I can’t understand any of you

The gorgeous females all looked at each other, “But we’re all saying the same thing! How can you not understand us?” they replied

“Oh, dear me you’re right, I’m very sorry,” Mato apologized, and then simply sat there
“Well?” everyone asked

“Well, what?” Mato asked. *All girls fall down and groan* “Oh, Jake!” *All girls jump back into their seats* “As I was saying, the solution is obvious. After Fawn moving in, Dawn regaining her hypnotic abilities, and an evil clone playing games with everyone’s minds, I’m afraid Jake might be close to a mental break down. The stress of all this, combined with his own usage of hypnosis, has finally made him crazier than all of you at a sixty percent off sale.

“Are you sure?” Fawn looked worried

“Poor Jake” Lucia looked like she might cry

“Yeah, are you certain Mato?” even Jen seemed concerned

“Well, I could do a more in depth analysis of him

“What can you do?” Sarah asked

“Well, we just need to remove the stress off his mind,” Mato placed a chainsaw on the table. “Once we separate his mind from his body, he should be…” he then noticed all the girls were staring at him mortified. “What?”

“Um, do you have a treatment he’ll actually survive?” Katia spoke up

“Well, of course! Giving him a restful two days before school starts should be all he needs to recharge his batteries. But that won’t help push the boundaries of science like this. Now, with this chainsaw…” Dawn tapped the chainsaw, and it melted into an undistinguishable mound of metal. Dawn gave a victory pose while laughing. Mato hung his head, “Oh dear. That’s two inventions gone the way of the dodo this week. Oh, boundaries of science!” He thrust his hands into the air, “Are you doomed to stand still?

“I hate to say it, but Dawn actually did something useful,” Sarah suddenly shook herself, “Oh God, I feel so dirty saying that

“Now back to this,” Fawn said

Jessica crossed her arms, “Just leave everything to me.” Everyone turned to the red head.
“You sure?” Jen asked

Jessica gave the genie thumbs up. “No problem. If the military has taught me one thing, it’s what to do after long periods of stress

“Does this mean we don’t need my laser drill?” Professor asked with another power tool in hand. “He might survive that


* * *


That evening, the girls all forced their way into Jake’s bedroom. Jake was under the covers of his bed. “As much as this and thirty seconds with my pendant would fulfill practically every fantasy I’ve ever had, could you all please go?

“No way Jake!”  Dawn said

“I’m hiding form hypnosis!

Lucia cocked her head, “Hiding from hypnosis?

“Hypnosis will never get me! Especially if I stay under the covers! I’m invincible under my covers!

Sarah grabbed the covers and started to pull, “Come on, Jessica came up with a solution to help you

“I like MY plan,” Jake said pulling against her

Jen tried to help Sarah, “Come on Jake. Try it out. Your plan is stupid

“So is wearing the same outfit everyday, but I don’t make fun of you

“You made fun of it just this morning!

“Well, really who has a thousand copies of the same outfit?

“Fine then,” Jen grabbed the covers and pulled with Sarah. Together the two got the covers down past his head

“Jake, you’re coming with me to a spa,” Jessica told him. “You need to blow off some stress

“Really?” Jake kept pulling, but seemed to think it over. “I don’t know. Seems kind of girly

“No, many men go to spas! I have seen it!” Katia chimed in.

“Well, I guess I can try it…” Jake said, “Operation Bedtime isn’t fool proof

“Especially with you!” Dawn put in

“Hey!

“Perfect! We can leave right now!” Jessica beamed

“Okay, if you’ll just give me a minute,”

“Sorry!” Jessica said, and with that all seven girls grabbed the covers. “1, 2…”

“NO! Wait I’m…” Jake tried to stop them, but it was too late.

“Three!” All seven pulled as one and yanked the covers off to reveal Jake. ALL of Jake. The girls all blushed.

“I…uh….kind of…like sleeping this way…”

All seven screamed as one, and Jake found himself flying out into the hallway face first. His door slammed shut behind him.

“You can come back in when you have pants!” Fawn yelled

Jake jumped up and began banging on the door, “All my pants are in there!” He became aware that Mato was standing next to him, “What are you looking at? Take a picture, it’ll last longer

“Okay,” Mato pulled out a remote, and cameras popped out of the walls and ceiling. Many flash bulbs began to fire off, as Jake stood there, his brain not comprehending the last twenty seconds. “Oh, for your sake, I hope it was cold in there,” Mato remarked

“I HATE THIS DIMENSION!!!!!


* * *


(In a mansion somewhere outside of Yoto)

Vice was enjoying all the luxuries that villainy seemed to bring forth. “Hey, I could get used to this life style old timer

Stenson just waved him off, “When you get your pay, you’ll be able to afford much better. For now, we have other matters of concern

“Yeah? Like what?” Vice began to play with the controls on the recliner he was sitting in

“First of all, you’re now an employee. But seeing as you’ve had no training I want you to avoid Jake Mato and any of his friends. We don’t want you ending up in the authorities hands.

“Fine for now. Those losers really tick me off,”

“The lab has gotten started on your test results, so we can develop a training regime as well as try and figure out how Mato gave Jake, and by extension you, your powers. Once we are able to duplicate them, Slaves International will be unstoppable!” Vice continued to play with his chair. “Now, in the mean time make yourself at home, and try to find ways to practice your powers to get used to them. We should use all the resources at our disposable to their utmost capabilities. Now, any questions?

“Woooooooo!!!” Vice found the heat massage controls on his chair

Stenson sighed, “Good help is so hard to find these days


* * *


Sunrise found Jake waking up in a bed that was not his own. He yawned, and then made his way to the common room where Jessica awaited in the apartment the spa had provided them. “Tell me again why I had to be up and dressed by seven?

“Because there’s so much to do here! I come here after long missions to relax; it’s a really nice place Jake. You can’t waste any time in bed!

“My plan sounds a lot more relaxing than yours,” Jake grumbled

“Don’t be like that! Professor Mato said you need to relieve some stress so you can get over your hypnosis…” Jessica watched Jake dive behind the couch, “See? That’s the type of thing I’m talking about! You need to just relax,” she grabbed his arm and began to drag him out of the room

“I think we should go home,” Jake protested. “I’m not sure that the two of us, the only sane people, leaving the house is a good plan.

“Come on, what’s the worst that could happen?

“You so did NOT just say that…


* * *


Mato peered out of his bedroom door. Nothing. He tip toed down the stairs and soon was deep within his underground lab. He began operating control after control, turning machines and cameras positioned throughout the entire household. Soon he had the six girls still in the household, asleep in their beds on the monitors. “Home shield online. Password is boobies.

<Welcome to the home shield system>

“Initiate program, Mato’s Funhouse.

<Program is authorized. Scanning six female targets.>

“Jake will kill me if he finds out. But these ladies owe me! They stood in the way of science. Plus, I haven’t figured out what girls to study next. If I don’t collect any data soon, I’ll fall behind. I can’t become the laughing stock of the scientific community.” Mato pictured all his admirers laughing at him. “I just need some data!” Mato checked the clock. The girls could start waking up in as little as an hour from now. He resumed setting up.


* * *


Sarah had just finished dressing herself. “Another boring day,” she sighed. She hated being on such a forced extended vacation such as this one. The days were so boring. And Sarah had recently felt as if all her energy was just sapped, drained away from boredom, an enemy almost as bad as Dawn. Sarah didn’t even try to work out anymore. She felt pathetic and unnecessary. Sarah walked out of her room. As usual, she was the first up. Even on vacation. (I should’ve gone with Jake and Jessica, at least they’re relaxing). Sarah made her way downstairs and was passing through the living room when the TV suddenly turned itself on. Curiously she looked over. It was just a blue screen. “Someone leave this on?” she asked out loud. No one responded so she simply picked up the remote and hit off. The screen instead began to shift colors. “Dumb thing’s busted. Mato can invent anything, why is the TV on the fritz?” Sarah began to walk over to simply unplug it. But she found her eyes drawn to the screen. It was just shifting colors beautifully. “That’s kind of pretty…” At least it wasn’t making some horrible noise. Sarah found herself staring, as the colors shifted across the screen. It was so beautiful. Soothing even. It made her forget the mood she had woken up in; forget she didn’t like not working. Sarah sighed. Her breathing slowed, and her red eyes began to glaze over as she stared. Yes, this was just what she needed. The picture slowly faded away, leaving an entranced girl by herself.

<Officer Sarah, your presence is requested in the lab> Sarah didn’t bother to think why the security system would be talking to her. She smiled as she walked out the room to the stairs leading down to the lab. Nothing mattered, everything was fine. As she began walking down, she thought she might have heard someone calling. But no one else told her what to do. No, Sarah kept going to the lab as she was told. It didn’t even occur to her as odd that she was following orders without question. When she came down to the lab, another screen in front of a treadmill suddenly lit up with the same enchanting colors shifting across the screen. Sarah sighed again as she walked directly towards it, stepping onto the treadmill in the process. It began to move, and soon Sarah’s walk was not fast enough to make her move towards the screen. Then a word appeared on the screen with the colors shifting all around it. RUN. Sarah nodded to it, as if it was the best idea she’d heard all day. She began to run, hypnotized, and soon she was at a good pace with the machine matching her speed so that she was in essence jogging in place.
Mato watched for almost a half hour while Sarah was placed into a deep trance, “This data on cybernetic humans should really help. Especially if hypnosis can help overcome fatigue.” Mato watched Sarah keep up the pace. The girl hadn’t even broken a sweet, the relaxing colors taking away anything but the relaxation.


* * *


Lucia looked downstairs but couldn’t find anyone. She could have sworn she heard the TV. Well, she was up now. She decided to take advantage of being the only female awake and went to the largest bathroom. The girls had to share three, with Jake and Mato taking the one of the smallest ones. The one Lucia was in contained a nice big tub and she gleefully began to pour herself a bubble bath. She kicked off her pajamas and got into the tub, allowing herself a rare soak without anyone pounding on the door. “Ah…” she breathed out contently. (I hope Jake is getting half as much stress out) she thought. Lucia decided to go call and see. She got up and wrapped a towel around her when suddenly the ceiling slid back. The angel was surprised to see a light descend and begin filling the room with a strange green glow. “Hello!” she said cheerfully. Of course the light did not respond. It couldn’t. Still Lucia beamed as she tried to figure out what part of the house this was. “Maybe I should go ask Jen! She’s always around. She might be…helpful right now. I hope that…she isn’t still…sleeping…I’d hate…to wake…her…” Lucia didn’t notice her mind was slowing down. The green light was everywhere. It was impossible to get it out of her head. Lucia tried to open the door, but found it locked. “What is…going…on…?” It was becoming hard to think. Hard to do anything but be in the light. Lucia’s cheery smile slowly faded as her face became impassive. Her arms went limp and brushed the towel wrapped around her body so that it fell to her waist and left her chest exposed. Soon she stood dazed and helpless. Wordless commands seemed to whisper into her mind. Suddenly the light clicked off and the door opened itself. “Must go to lab…” the white haired beauty’s arms came up and she walked zombie style down to the lab. Without paying any attention to an equally entranced Sarah running in place, Lucia marched through a heavy door into a wind tunnel. A gigantic fan began to blow, but her wings unfolded from nowhere and she began to fly against it. Soon she was flying with all her might against the artificial wind. She was too out of it to notice Mato behind a glass wall, taking video recordings which were then transferred into aerodynamic data.


* * *


The door to the small restaurant opened and Vice walked in. He found it fairly empty. A pair of young female elves was at a booth, and a cheery blonde girl in a waitress uniform walked up to him. “Hello! I’m sorry; the cook is trying to fix the stove. I’ll go back and check on him, but can I get you a drink while I’m back there?

“Just some coffee,” Vice replied. While the girl went away, Vice turned his attention to the elves.  One had short blue hair, and the other long black hair. (Practice my powers?) Vice walked over to the girls. “Excuse me?” The two elves looked over at him. Before they could ask what he wanted, Vice had his pendant out and began to swing it as it glowed. Both girls gasped, their eyes locked onto the jewel. Without a word, Vice was taking their minds away, as they helplessly watched it go back and forth. The first one began to slump in her seat while the other smiled, dreamily watching the crystal. Vice just smiled. (It’s too easy at times) Both girls’ eyes were getting heavy; they had to strain to keep them open. Vice just stood there as the first girl finally sighed and slumped against the wall, deeply asleep. Vice turned his full attention to the other girl, who was beaming like an idiot at the jewel. Vice thought he might actually have to speak but no, soon her eyes glazed over and she stood still and silent. (I bet that loser Jake doesn’t have this much control over his powers!) He noticed both seemed to be wearing sorority letters on their shirts, and one of them had a college button on her backpack. “Looks like prime recruiting grounds…” he mused.

“Sorry, but it’ll be just a little longer sir,” Vice turned around to see the blonde waitress back. “Would you like your coffee now?” she held up the pot.

“I’d love everything this place has to offer,” Vice replied. Beams came from his eyes and struck hers. She gasped, and her mind began to fade away. Much faster than when he hypnotized Dawn; the girl had far less resistance. “Let’s see, what do you have that I want?” Vice began to laugh as he walked towards the helpless babe, who was becoming so relaxed that she dropped the pot and it broke on the ground. She didn’t seem to care; she could only feel herself growing lost within those eyes…


* * *


“Okay, I admit, THIS part I like,” Jake said. A beautiful woman was massaging him as he lay on his stomach wearing only a towel.

“Yeah, I love this part,” Jessica was on the table next to him, a muscle clad man taking care of her.

“We’ll be right back once you’ve had enough time to let the scented candles relax you more,” the woman said as both she and her coworker departed.

“I never thought I’d tell a babe not to hurry back, but man this is nice,” Jake said. “I could just sleep right now,” he looked over to notice Jessica strangely quiet. “What’s with you?

“Jake, remember what I said about Vice when he was taking over everyone’s minds?
“Yeah?

“I lied. He didn’t surprise me. I asked him to hypnotize me when I thought he was you
“Huh? Why would you do something like that?

Jessica seemed to just stare at the wall in front of her, “I’m a solider. Everything is just life and death with us. Relaxing, even in times of peace, is hard to do because of how we’re trained.” Jake tried to imagine what the woman had seen, to be suddenly sullen as she was now. “Things like this spa, my intense physical training, everyone assumes that it’s because I like being in great shape. But the truth is, I have such a hard time relaxing. Getting my mind off the fact that a mistake could cost my friends dearly. So…after I learned you could hypnotize…I just wanted to see what it was like...to be carefree and not responsible for a change.

Jake seemed at a loss for words, “I’m sorry you have things so rough
Jessica smiled, “You’re sweet. No, it’s probably not as bad as you think. I just thought I’d found something to help with my stress, but its all right.” She turned onto her side so she could look at him, and found Jake holding his pocket spiral. It began to spin so beautifully. Jessica could have sworn she had seen it before. The spiral enraptured her mind, holding it hostage while she stared breathlessly at it. She felt like she was falling into it, the fiery vixen unable to tear her gaze away. Soon each of her eyes had a spiral dancing inside them, as she was open mouthed in surprise and hypnotic contentment.

“It’s fine Jessica. Just don’t look away. You were kind enough to help me try and overcome my fear. Now, let me help you,” Jake was surprised at how quickly he had decided to hypnotize Jessica. He’d thought it would be at least a week before he tried anything like this. (And after all that’s happened, I never thought that you could use hypnosis to actually help someone). “Jessica, you are totally relaxed, just like you want. Everything you do will put you in a deeper and more relaxing trance

“Yes, Jake…” came the standard monotone reply

Jake actually felt good about this time, for totally unselfish reasons. (Well, I guess I’ll just leave her under until they come back) Then it hit him. He had Jessica totally under his power. They had a set of rooms back upstairs. And there was something he REALLY wanted to do. “Jessica, you are going to follow me back to the room. Once there, you will do whatever I say, because you are deep in my power. Do you understand?

“Yes, Jake…” Jessica began to stand up

(I can’t believe this is going to work!)


* * *


Dawn was floating unconscious in a tube, naked but with all the high tech gear taking her vitals she actually had more covering her than the night wear she had possessed. Mato was simply looking at the screens, and not the demon in front of him. “Now, let’s see…who’s up next?


* * *


Jen walked out of her room, yawning. She had slept fairly late into the morning, but that was because she was so used to Lucia or someone else coming in and waking her for some reason or the other. “Man, can’t a girl get any peace around here?” Just then she noticed the house was silent, and she was getting nothing but peace. “Huh, someone grant my wish for a change?” Jen asked aloud. Silence answered her. This was good, since she had to think about her recent problem. Vice had forced her to create a bottle. This meant once again, she was bound to grant three wishes to whoever possessed it. She currently had it hidden in her closet, but she really needed to have someone wish her free from it again. She just hadn’t figured out who to ask. Mato and Dawn at least were out of the question. Mato would only study it, and she could just imagine what Dawn would wish for. Her best options were Jake, Lucia, or Sarah. Sarah preferably, as Jake might be tempted as a guy, and Lucia might accidentally make a naïve and dangerous wish. But even Sarah might be intoxicated with the fact that a single wish could finally help her catch Dawn. The fact of the matter was that no one was immune to greed when they had the powers of a genie at their disposal. She just had to…Jen stopped as a disk about the size of a plate floated up the stairs and hovered in front of her. The genie stared at it interested. The disk suddenly knocked her on the head. “Ouch!” Jen rubbed her forehead. “Hey! What’s your problem buddy?!” She looked up at the disk. This promptly bopped her on the head again. “HEY! Who do…” the disk suddenly rotated forward to show a pattern of lights on the top. It began to spin rapidly as the lights blinked and began mesmerizing the genie “you…think…you…are…?” Jen leaned forward, her entire upper body rapidly growing limp. Her eyes were quickly half shut and glazed over. The disk floated up into the air an extra foot, and the blonde also rose up off the ground to keep her face level with the entrancing lights. The lights simply reflected in her eyes as she limply floated off the ground. Her arms were limp at her sides, and she was leaning forward as she stared. The disk began to float down stairs, and Jen was helpless to do anything but follow.


* * *


(Meanwhile, at the halls of…oops, I mean the spa)

Door seven nine four was closed, with the sign asking for privacy hanging off the handle. No one was around to hear the two voices behind the door.

“Yeah…that’s it…come on babe…

“Whatever you wish master…

“Good, now…right there…ohhh…

“I live to obey…

“Good girl…now just…no not there!...Yes…oh yes!...

“I obey…

“Harder…almost there…keep going…

“Yes…

“Jessica…

“Jake…

“Yes! Yes! YESSSSSS!

*Beep! Level twenty completed* Jake jumped up on the couch and did a victory dance as he shouted “We finally did it! We got past the guardian!

Jessica was still holding her controller as she stared silently at the screen, “Yes, Master Jake…”

“This is great! I don’t know why I didn’t think of hypnotizing any of you to play video games with me! I was never able to get anyone to help, even Lucia!” Jake sat back down and picked up his controller, “Follow me in, it’s time to finish this!

“Of course Jake…


* * *


Katia woke up and stretched, happily sleeping as late as she wished in the morning. She got up, wearing a sliver nightgown only a few shades darker than her hair. She wondered why no one had tired to wake her up. Katia noticed it was past ten in the morning. She didn’t care though; she should sleep in before school started up again. The elf got out of bed and went to her vanity, ready to start trying to catch up on the seemingly endless amounts of information the royal court kept trying to send her. She then noticed a vase of flowers in front of her. Curious, she went over. The card held only one word, her name. “Oh! My beloved surely must have sent these to brighten up my day!” she giggled. Katia was sure they smelled nice. She inhaled deeply. Yes, they were nice. Very nice. She felt incredibly good afterwards. So good that she did it again. Katia felt even better, smiling broadly. She decided to sniff the flowers a third time, and buried her face into the sweet smelling plants. As she came up, she felt a little dizzy. As she stumbled backwards she thought she caught a glance of herself in the mirror. If she had been able to think clearly, she might have been wondering why her eyes looked so glazed. But the sexy elf could only fall backwards on the bed, the flowers being dumped on and all around her. Soon the entire room began to smell heavenly and Katia could only smile, unaware that she was being watched.


* * *


Stenson made his way back to the house Vice had appropriated from his corporation. He hadn’t planned on coming back, but the guards had been relieved by what they called, “Mr. Vice’s replacements”. Stenson used his credentials to get past a couple of babes wearing the standard Slaves Inc. uniforms. (This can’t be good)

It was worse inside. Many beautiful girls, most around college age, were dressed in maid outfits and busy keeping the mansion spotless. He strolled past them with purpose, to find Vice in a chair in the study, a young blonde looking lifeless as she stood humbly next to him.

“Old man! Pull up a chair. Can she get you anything?

“What’s her name?” Stenson asked cautiously

Vice glanced at her, and the young woman responded, “I have no name. I exist only to serve Vice and fulfill his desires,” came a monotone reply.

“I wiped their personalities. Gets in the way of a good servant,” Vice happily stood up and walked over to the old man. “So, to what do I owe you coming back so soon? I…”
WHAM! Stenson smacked Vice on the head with his cane, hard enough to send the young man to his knees. “Hey! What did ya do that for?!

“I’m seeing if I could knock some sense into you. Did it work?

“I’m going to kick you’re a…” WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! And now Vice was holding his head and seeing stars.

“You’re pathetic Vice. I expect more of a lowly recruit, much less one born into this world with your powers.

“Why are you being a pain?” Vice asked.

“Where did you get all these girls? Wait, let me guess. A local college?” Vice nodded. “We try to maintain a low profile. The world does know somewhat of our existence. And what do you think will happen when around fifty females from an area mostly centralized around a college will happen?

Vice shrugged, “It’s not like any of them have free will anymore. This ain’t catch and release I’m planning

“Be that as it may, I must ask you to be more conscious of the fact that we are an UNDERGROUND organization. Be more selective next time, and don’t just fill out your support staff.

“What in the hell are you talking about?

Stenson laughed, and stood up, “Do you really have no intelligence? Part of the reason you are here is to help us. Jake and his friends would obviously love to see you punished for your crimes, including the many of today. What do you think you’ll do if they find you? Can your maids fight the genie, or the angel, or any of his companions?” Vice looked sullen, and upset at being ridiculed. “No, of course not. You took a big risk today, for what? Some adolescent fantasy that does nothing to further my goals. You’ve got a lot to learn Vice,” and with that Stenson left.

Vice picked himself and sat back down in his chair. His maid, he had never even bothered to learn her name, just stood there. (Jake and those witches won’t beat me! I won’t allow it! Still…) the old man had made loads of sense. Maybe he needed a new plan. Vice was Jake. The two were as similar as you could be. Stenson had said a couple of times before, when Vice sat in on meetings with his staff, that Jake and his friends were very powerful. Suddenly, a plan formed in Vice’s head. (That’s a tall order, even for someone as badass as me to fill. But, let’s see what happens)


* * *


Fawn looked around the empty house. “This is creepy…” the girl hugged herself, her tight sweater and jeans doing nothing to stop the chill crawling down her spine. She couldn’t find anyone. Not since Jake’s clone had anything this quiet been done. But she couldn’t find any of the girls turned into mindless zombies, and calls to Mina’s house had her mom check in on her and Diana. The two teens were in the living room. Fawn had decided not to bother them. But then what was going on? Fawn went down a hallway. Suddenly the grandfather clock struck for half past ten. “Eeek!” Fawn jumped nearly three feet, the sound startlingly her. Seeing it was just the clock, she breathed a sigh of relief.  She watched as the pendulum swung back and forth. She had to do something; needed to figure out where everyone had gone off to. She found her gold eyes watching the swinging portion of the clock. It seemed to be almost shining. (Must be my nerves). She thought she felt a bit better looking at the clock, and continued to watch. *Tick. Tock* Fawn tried to come up with a plan. *Tick. Tock* (That clock is nice. I never really noticed it before) Fawn found herself starting to sway in time with it, just letting its constant sound help her relax. *Tick. Tock* (Yeah…that’s it…I just need to…think…) Fawn didn’t notice she had the sudden desire to stare, to not look away from the pendulum. She watched, spellbound as it swung back and forth for several minutes. *Tick. Tock* The popstar was swinging in time now, her eyes growing heavier by the second (So…nice…) some part of Fawn’s mind might have wondered about how she was feeling, but for now she could only watch. The girl was spellbound, she found herself helpless in the clocks rhythmic power. *Tick. Tock* Fawn didn’t question this; she didn’t even care. She felt the strongest urge suddenly. Nodding, her hands floated up to her sweater and pulled it off her head. *Tick. Tock* Her eyes, which had been half lidded already, were covered and then revealed again, only now they were glazed. Her submissive eyes stared forward as she smiled. Another urge came, and her hands slid down to her pants…

*Tick. Tock*


* * *


It was early evening, and now Mato was studying an entire days worth of work at his main desk in the lab. All around him, beautiful females were being hypnotized and experimented on. “Well, today science has surely moved forward! In fact, I bet I can win the next five conferences with just today’s data alone.” Mato suddenly became extremely happy, “And these girls are so perfect! Jen’s suggestion she cook turned out so well, I think I’ll tell them all to become my assistants!” Mato suddenly gazed into space, as he pictured himself accepting an armload of scientific awards as the six beauties he had ensnared stood behind him in assistant uniforms applauding. He was lounging in his lab as they preformed experiments for him, and fawned over his great intellect. The old man suddenly shook himself out of it. “Well, that’s definitely something to think about in the future. The best part is, I can get away with this since Jake is off at a spa! Too bad Jessica went with him; I could use another body around here.” Just then Mato became aware that someone was tapping him on the head. He whirled around and found himself face first in Jessica’s lovely chest. “Jessica! Hi there!”

*SMACK!!!* Mato was knocked to the floor and holding the bump on his noggin while Jessica stood there in anger. “Idiot…What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Those aren’t a headrest!

Mato pulled himself up to his knees, “That’s no way to treat an old man…” he suddenly jumped up with a hypno pistol pointed at her, “…especially when I have this!” Suddenly a hand reached behind him and took it away. Mato turned to find Jake there. “Jake my boy! What are you doing back so soon?”

“Figured I’d want to spend my last vacation day with everyone. Maybe I should let Jessica hit you with this, and KNOCK SOME SENSE INTO YOUR DUMB HEAD! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!” Mato was knocked to the floor by the sudden volume change, and came up on his knees begging.

“Please! I’m so sorry! I just wanted a few measly experiments done!

Jake looked around, “Why is Fawn naked?

“Well…” *Sweat drop*

“And Dawn’s in a tube, Lucia is flying in place…

“There is a logical explanation for… *More sweat drops*

“Sarah’s on a treadmill, Jen is floating in mid air, and why is Katia lounging in a bed of flowers?

“If you’d let me talk I’d…” Jessica reared back at Mato’s sudden courage, “No! I’ll be good! Please, I just needed some more hypnosis data! No one was going to be hurt!

“You mean, no one was going to find you with your hand in the hypnotic cookie jar.” Jake put in.

“Please don’t tell! I promise never to do anything like this again!” Mato was really sweating a river by now.

“Well, still think it was a good idea for the sane one’s to leave?” Jake asked Jessica.
“You’re not going to let it go, are you?

“Nope

“Fine. I guess we can overlook this.” Mato jumped for joy. “Let me just go get Sarah so this can be legal, and then we’ll take care of it.” Jessica started to walk towards her friend. Mato suddenly hit a button on his desk, and a monitor popped out of the floor in front of the red head, and showed her a pretty spiral. It wasn’t long before the solider was swaying, lost within the hypnotic trap.

“Phew! That was a close one,” he looked over to see Jake in an unbelievable amount of rage and shock. “What?” He then looked at what he’d done, “Oh. Oops.
“Oops?! You just promised to not do that to them!

“I’m sorry! You can’t expect me to go cold turkey!

Jake held his head in his hands, “I can’t believe this. You’re so lucky I’m no longer stressed out.

“Jake, I swear let me wipe all this out of their heads, and I’ll do anything!” He noticed Jake with an evil look in his eyes.

“Anything? Even finally sending all the mermaids back?

“Do…do I have to?” the scientist whimpered

“It’s either that, or I tell the girls what you did…” Mato thought that scene over. Instead of the girls as his willing assistants, he saw them as extremely upset and taking turns kicking him in the crotch. Hard. With high heels on.

“Aaaaahhhhh! Okay, you win!

Jake smiled, “I knew you’d see it my way!

“Do I really…

“Yes!


* * *


And so, Jake went to answer the doorbell the next morning in the first good mood he’d been in for over a week. Mato was locked away in his lab, studying the data he’d collected (Jake hadn’t the heart to make the old man destroy all he’d collected. If the girls had to suffer, at least something should come from it) and trusted government agents had already taken the mermaids home after their extended vacation. Jessica had gotten up already, but Jake didn’t expect to see any of the other girls until the afternoon. Apparently, Jake and Jessica’s homecoming had really ‘tired them out’. In reality, Jake had placed powerful hypnotic suggestions in their pretty heads to forget the strange occurrences of yesterday. But still, all the girls who’d been in Mato’s lab were exhausted from the full day of testing they received. So Jake opened the door.
Mina and Diana were there. “Jake! When’d you get back?

“Oh, we came back early,” he told them. “Why are you two here? This is the last day of vacation for you to sleep in until next vacation.

Diana shrugged, “Well, we just came to see people. Is anyone here?

“Almost everyone is asleep” he replied

“Who is awake?” Mina asked.

“Oh, just Jessica. She and I are…” Jake looked thoughtful for a moment. “Say, would you two like to join us?

“Join you in…?” The girls didn’t get a chance to ask as Jake whipped out his pendant and began swinging it in front of their eyes. Gasps escaped both as they found the jewel enticingly hypnotic as they always did.

“Watch it go back and forth. Don’t look away, just let yourself go, falling deep under its hypnotic sway. Can’t look away, you don’t want to look away, just feel yourselves falling…” Diana was going limp and sleepy, while Mina was smiling and swaying underneath his power. Jake carefully led the two schoolgirls into deep trances. Soon both were fast asleep under his command. “Girls, follow me.

“Yesssss…

“Sure…

Both young beauties followed him into the living room where Jessica sat. The TV had Jake’s video games plugged in. “Girls, pick up some controllers. You’ll be helping me and Jessica get past the massive dragon at the end of level twenty-three.” As Jake found himself sitting on the couch with three gorgeous babes, he had to admit, surely life was good.


* * *


Epilogue

Life was very good. Vice sat at a computer in his mansion. He printed out the list he had pulled from Slaves Inc. databases. “Good place to select,” he said aloud, the blonde girl and elf maids standing to attention, like the mindless robots they were. “Let’s see if this impresses the old man and his board.