“Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to Rosemary,” Mato said. The entire household had gathered in the lab. Mato was standing next to a woman. She was a bit taller than Jake, and was wearing a lab coat. She had purple hair that flowed down to mid-back, and was wearing glasses over her green eyes. Her face was incredibly cute, and she was very attractive. Rosemary smiled at the 11 people in front of her after being introduced.
Jake took the initiative and stepped forward, holding out his hand. She shook it. “Um, hi, nice to meet you. I’m Jake. Are you, like, an old friend of the professor’s?”
“Oh, no,” Mato said. “We only met a few months ago. You see, Rosemary will be taking over Barbara’s position as my assistant for-“
“WHAT!?” Yuta screamed. “You’re replacing Barbara!? She’s never coming back!? WAAAAH!!! WAAAHH!!!”
Her crying was deafening. Everyone except Rosemary covered their ears. Mato tried to yell above Yuta’s crying, but it was no use.
With no end to the crying in sight, no one knew what to do. Then Rosemary just smiled, walked forward, put her hands on Yuta’s shoulders and playfully started kissing her on the lips. After a second, Yuta stopped screaming and started kissing her back. By the time everyone elses ears had stopped ringing, the two women had stopped kissing and everyone was just staring at them.
Rosemary reached into her ears and pulled out a pair of ear plugs. She shrugged. “I heard about Yuta’s reputation, and luckily felt like being prepared in case she wanted to sing a song for me.”
“Anyway, Yuta,” Mato continued, “Rosemary is not here to take over Barbara’s position. I just needed a lab assistant for the time being. I’m not saying she’s never coming back.”
“You mean she’ll be coming back soon?” Yuta asked excitedly, her eyes gleaming.
“Uh, no, I didn’t say that either, but...”
“Please let me explain, sir,” Rosemary requested. She smiled at everyone again. Her smile was so disarming, pretty much everyone took a liking to her. “You see, the professor and I met during the last Neuro-biologists Convention. We were both there serving as guest speakers, illustrating the effects of hypnosis and mind control on the humanoid brain. He was so impressed when I discussed my reasoning on why visual stimuli like spirals can cause the victim’s eyes to assume a matching appearance, even though there is no physical stimuli to cause the body to change in such a way, which can be explained by...” She trailed off as she noticed the blank stares on the others. “Okay. In a nutshell, he was impressed. We got to talking after the conference and became friends. During one of our communiqués, I found out that he was short a qualified lab assistant, so I offered my services. I felt it would be a good opportunity to expand my horizons, and who could refuse the chance to work with a great mind like Professor Mato?”
“Someone without nuclear death-ray insurance,” Jake muttered.
“Actually, I have that,” Rosemary said, producing a document and handing it to Jake. It clearly read ‘Nuclear Death-ray Insurance’. Jake, amazed, handed it back.
“Um, if you don’t mind my asking,” Jen said, “how did you know to kiss Yuta to calm her down, and why did you do it?”
“Oh, the professor was quite talkative during our communiqués. He told me so much about all of you. He especially went into detail of what was quite easily his greatest creation, the ‘hypnotic school girl robot.’ I know how much she likes to play ‘games’, especially with girls. What better way to make a first impression than to do someone’s favorite activity with them?”
Everyone had more questions, but Mato intervened. “I’m sorry to cut introductions short, but Rosemary and I have a lot of work to do. If you’ll excuse us?”
“A moment please, professor,” Rosemary requested. “Let me try to make sure I’ve got everyone elses names right.” She looked thoughtful, then pointed at everyone one at a time, saying their names. “Your grandson, Jake, the genie, Jen, Lucia, the angel, Her Royal Highness, Princess Katia of the Elven Realms, um, Officer Sarah, army officer Jessica, the popstar Siren, Fawn, um, Dawn, the succbus, Yuta, obviously, the magic girl, Mina, and...” She paused when she reached Diana. Diana was smiling, happy to make a new friend. But after several moments, Rosemary was still thinking, and Diana was getting a little upset. Then Rosemary said, “Um, Precious?”
Diana’s heart sunk. “Actually, it’s Diana.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Rosemary apologized. “I think the professor told me about you, but I forgot. Please forgive me.”
“It’s alright,” Diana said. You didn’t forget anyone else's name, she thought glumly.
“Well, Rosemary and I must now work on inventing a better mouse trap,” Mato said.
“Why are you inventing a better mouse trap?” Katia asked.
“Because I can!”
The group left the Mato and Rosemary to their work.
***************
Several days later, Jake was out walking around the neighborhood, feeling depressed. He was absently kicking a small rock in front of him repeatedly. He was so lost in his depression that he bumped into someone, causing them to drop their grocery bags.
“I’m so sorry,” Jake said, picking up the bags. He looked up to see that he had bumped into Rosemary. “Oh, hi.”
Rosemary accepted the bags with that cheery smile of hers. “Hi, Jake. What are you up to?”
He sighed. “Not much, really. Just a bit bored.” Rosemary chortled. “What?”
She stopped laughing. “Sorry. It’s just, the idea of a hypnotically empowered, adolescent male, who lives with 8, no, 9 beautiful women, who possesses the ability to make them do whatever he wants, saying he’s bored, is just funny.”
Jake laughed a bit too. “I see your point. It’s just, well, hypnosis won’t really help me with what I want to do right now.”
“And what’s that?” Rosemary helpfully asked.
“I just got a new video game, and it’s two player. Unfortunately, none of the girls want to play, and those that I hypnotized to help me just aren’t good enough. In fact, I don’t know anyone at my level of gaming who could play with me.”
“What game is it?” Rosemary asked.
“Super Auto Slambastic Melee.” The words were barely out of Jake’s mouth before he was being dragged back towards the house. Before he had time to comprehend what was happening, he had been forcibly pulled to his room, and a controller was shoved into his hand. He then realized Rosemary was sitting next to him, a controller in her hands as well, and Super Auto Slambastic Melee was loading on the game screen. “Uh, Rosemary...?”
“Quiet!” she barked. “You have no idea how much I’ve been wanting to play this!”
Jake kept quiet, and they started playing. Jake quickly discovered that Rosemary was at the very least his equal when it came to gaming. They spent the next 10 straight hours playing, without a bathroom break or anything. When the others tried to get them to come down for dinner, they both just growled menacingly at them without taking their eyes off the screen, scaring them off. They finished just before midnight, and were given a code for beating the game. They entered the code into the game’s web site online, and were told that they were the first ones to beat the game in the world. They cheered, hugged each other, then fell asleep from exhaustion on the spot.
**************
A few days later, Dawn entered the house. She had been expecting everyone to be gone, so she was a bit surprised to see Rosemary and Yuta, both in their underwear, making out with one another on a couch. Dawn smiled. “Looks like you’re playing your first round of ‘Mistress Yuta.’”
Rosemary looked up from kissing Yuta, and Dawn was again surprised, this time by seeing that Rosemary’s eyes lacked the tell tale Yuta signature spirals. “Actually, we were both bored and felt like having some fun.”
“You continue to surprise me, lady.”
Rosemary smiled and disengaged herself from Yuta, leaving the very happy robot girl to rest on the couch. She got dressed and pulled Dawn to the side. “By the way, Dawn, I have a favor I want to ask,” she whispered.
Dawn started to chuckle. “Obviously you don’t know me as well as you think you-“.
“I want you to steal something.” Dawn shut up and listened. “You see, a friend of mine is out of town. He’s quite wealthy, and his home is empty. I know where he keeps his valuables. Most of his profits are in precious gems. Interested?”
If Dawn hadn’t just seen Rosemary nearly naked, she would have believed she was wearing a wire tap. However, she was still suspicious. She looked Rosemary straight in the eyes.
Rosemary just shook her head, amused. “Don’t bother. I’m wearing special contacts so you can’t hypnotize me. If you want to profit, you’ll just have to trust me. Should I continue?”
Annoyed, Dawn nodded.
“Don’t get it into your head that I do this often,” Rosemary continued. “It’s just, my salary isn’t that large, at least not for my tastes. Anyway, I designed the security system for his gems. With these instructions,” she handed Dawn a sheet of paper, typed, no handwriting, “you’ll be able to get in. They also list the types of gems I want. You can help yourself to some of the other gems. Just don’t steal so much that he’ll notice their absence immediately. Besides, he’ll probably profit from the insurance he has on them.” She held out her hand. “Deal?”
Dawn smiled and shook her hand. “Deal. You continue to surprise me, lady.”
As soon as Dawn left, Mina rushed into the house, looking distraught. She started tearing around the living room, looking for something, so distraught that she didn’t notice Yuta, underwear clad, lying on the couch. When she failed to locate what she was looking for, she saw Rosemary and ran to her, burying her crying face in her lab coat.
Rosemary gently hugged Mina and tried to calm her down. “There, there. What’s wrong?”
Mina looked up at Rosemary. “Oh, it’s terrible! I’ve lost it!”
“Lost what?”
“My spell book. If I don’t find it, the teacher who loaned it to me will turn me into a toad. For a week! I know I had it yesterday. I’ve tried retracing my steps, but I still can’t find it!”
Rosemary looked thoughtful, then had an idea. She pulled a palm pilot like device out from one of her pockets. “What was the name of the book?” After Mina supplied that information, Rosemary tapped a few keys and handed the device to Mina. “There you go. This will detect the magic energy that emanates from the book and lead you right to it.”
Jumping with joy, Mina grabbed the device and hugged Rosemary fiercely. “Oh, thank you! Thank you!”
************
Katia was hard at work in her room, trying to do her advanced physics homework. Unfortunately, it was quite difficult, and she wasn’t making much progress. Frustrated, she slammed her fist down on her desk, causing a large crack and cursed in Elven.
“No offense, but what you just threatened to do to the author of that book is physically infeasible.”
Katia looked to see Rosemary standing in her doorway. “Oh, hello Rosemary. Please come in.”
Rosemary entered the room. “Thank you, Princess Katia.”
Katia blushed. “Oh, everyone just calls me Katia.”
“Perhaps, but you are still royalty. Therefore, if it’s alright with you, I’d prefer to call you by your proper title.”
Katia smiled. She took a deeper liking to Rosemary. “If you’d like to, please, go ahead.”
Rosemary pulled up a chair. “So, what was so offensive that you felt like uttering a curse that would make an Elven sailor blush?”
“You speak Elven?”
“<Among other things>,” Rosemary replied in Elven, with barely an accent.
“Well, this physics homework is just so confusing. No matter how many times I look at it, it doesn’t make any sense.”
Rosemary looked over Katia’s homework. “That’s because you’re failing to apply the Seventh Rule of Thermodynamics before you attempt to calculate the end result.”
Confused, Katia reviewed her work with Rosemary’s advice and soon figured out what she was doing wrong. “That’s amazing. How did you figure it out so quickly?”
“You know that chapter you’re working on?” Katia nodded. “I wrote it.” They both laughed.
*************
Jessica was trying to tune up her Lucky Lady robot. The machine had recently stopped functioning properly, and Jessica was trying to fix the problem. When she found what was causing the difficulties, she hissed loudly and threw her wrench in a random direction.
“You should really look before you throw.”
Jessica looked up to see Rosemary holding the wrench. She had apparently caught it in mid-flight. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Are you alright?”
Rosemary shrugged. “Pretty much. Fortunately, I was star catcher for the high school women’s baseball team. I just helped Sarah tune up her cybernetic implants, so I decided to see if you needed some help.”
Jessica sighed. “Thanks for the offer, but I really doubt you can help.” She tossed Rosemary a circular component from Lucky Lady.
Rosemary examined it. “It looks like this servo shorted out.”
Jessica raised an eyebrow. “Okay, maybe you can help. Man, is there anything you can’t do?”
“Plenty,” she replied. “I just try to keep informed in a wide range of subjects.” She looked at the servo again. “Looks like a V-38. I could probably find you a new one for a discount.”
“I don’t need a new one,” Jessica complained. “What I need is a T-16.”
Rosemary looked surprised. “A T-16? That’s older than I am.”
“I know, but the previous servo lasted for many years, and that new one lasted only a few weeks. Unfortunately, they’re no longer produced, and the ones that were are probably all burned out by now.”
Rosemary thought for a minute. “I might know a few good sources that could supply you with a new functioning T-16.”
Jessica brightened up. “Really?”
Rosemary nodded. “But it’ll probably take a while, and it won’t be cheap.”
“That doesn’t bother me.”
“Wonderful. Now why don’t you get down, clean up, and come eat dinner?”
“Sure.” Jessica entered the house with Rosemary, thinking she had made a really good friend.
**************
It was Friday night, and Rosemary and the high schoolers of the Mato household were at an indoor school basketball game. They were seated on bleachers in the gym, watching the home team, the Yoto Ninjas, face off against the Bashin Bashing Bashers. There was quite a turn out for this game. The bleachers were full. Right now, the Ninjas were leading, but only by 31 to 29. Rosemary was actively engaged in conversation with the others, except for Diana, who was seated at the end.
“So, Jake, why aren’t you on the team?”
“Two reasons. One, I’m not that good. Two, I prefer video games.”
There was laughter. Rosemary started asking about the players.
Mina was pointing out each of the players she knew and talking about them. Eventually, she reached the star player. “He’s Walter. He’s the best this school has to offer. He gives his all to the game. People keep saying that if he was just a bit better, he might be able to go to nationals. He keeps trying to improve, but it just seems that he’s reached his limit.”
“Is that so?” Rosemary said, smiling.
When basketball was over, in which Yoto won, 33 to 32, it was time for women’s volleyball. The players were all wearing those brief like shorts and tight shirts. Jake was drooling as he watched the jumping and the bouncing, and had to be smacked in the back of the head several times to be brought back to reality.
Mina was again identifying players. She eventually reached the team captain. “That’s Amy. She’s the star player for the team. Coincidentally, she and Walter are a couple. Like him, she’s almost good enough to go to nationals, but she’s just shy of that skill level.”
Interesting.
Throughout both games, Diana was just sitting, staying quiet, no one giving her any attention.
***************
After the games were over, both of which were wins for Yoto, Walter and Amy were walking to their homes, arm in arm.
“Great game tonight, Walter.”
“Thanks, hon. You too.”
That was as far as their conversation went. They were both depressed. They both believed they had reached their limits as sports players. They wanted to go further, to take their games to the next level, but it seemed beyond them.
As they were passing by an alley, they heard someone “Pssst!” at them. Curious, they looked.
Someone was leaning against the alley wall, twirling some kind of circular band on their finger.
“So, I hear you two have been wanting to increase your performance level.”
**********
Later that night, after the group had returned home, Jake had a quick meal and went to bed. A few hours later, in the dead of night, a light knocking at his door woke him up. Shaking the cobwebs out of his head, he sat up. “Unless you look older than thirty, come in.”
The door opened, and in walked Rosemary, wearing a purple night gown and undergarments that perfectly matched her hair. Jake blushed at the sight. Rosemary quietly closed the door behind her, walked up to Jake, and kneeled at the side of his bed.
“Um, hi, Rosemary.”
“You can call me Rose, if you want to,” she told him, smiling at him and looking him over. “Yuta and Katia were right. You are cute.” Jake blushed even deeper.
“So, what can I do for you?”
“I have a favor to ask of you,” she whispered. She leaned in close to him, staring into his eyes. “Could you hypnotize me, please? Make me your slave?”
Jake moaned, closed his eyes, and sunk his head back into his pillow. “Pinch me,” he muttered, certain he was dreaming. Suddenly, he felt a pleasurable sensation on his mouth. He opened his eyes to see Rosemary kissing him with her purple coated lips. “Okay, that was a lot better than a pinch,” he said. “But, I thought, you and Yuta, shouldn’t you be asking her?”
“Oh, no,” Rosemary dismissed. “She couldn’t hypnotize me like you could. Besides, we just have fun. It’s not like that.”
Jake was both glad and disappointed. “So, you want me to hypnotize you?” he asked, making certain.
Rosemary nodded. “Yes. You see, I’ve devoted a large portion of my professional career towards the study of hypnosis and mind control. The effects it has on people, the methods of inducing such a state, treatments, inhibitors. But I’ve never been hypnotized. I’ve never been a helpless thrall to another. I want to know what the experience is like. I’m just so curious. That’s one of the reasons I asked to be Mato’s assistant. I knew it would provide me with the opportunity to be hypnotized by a good, trustworthy person like you.”
Jake smiled, both from the compliment, and from the opportunity he was being presented. “You sure? You’re so pretty, I don’t think I could resist having a little fun.”
Rosemary just kept smiling. “Have all the fun you want,” she invited. “ It wouldn’t be the experience I’m hoping for if you set those kinds of limits on yourself.” The smile faded. “But Jake, I want you to promise me one thing. Promise me you won’t ask me any questions about myself.”
Jake was confused. “Why?”
“Please, just promise me. There are just some things I’d rather not let anyone know, and I’d feel so much safer if you promised me you wouldn’t ask me anything. Please.”
Jake just liked her so much as a friend and found her so attractive that he promised.
Rosemary resumed smiling. “Okay. Thank you. Now, please make me your slave.”
“Your wish is my command, for now,” Jake said slyly, getting out of bed and walking over to his desk. He opened a drawer to reveal a whole bunch of trinkets, including his preferred induction tools. “Let’s see. What kind of hypnosis are you looking for? There’s physical contact. Eye to eye. Love trance. Flashy lights. Pendulum like. I might be able to manage spirals...”
“Pendulum like and flashy, please.”
Jake pulled out the orange gem that Mato had given him when he first came to this dimension. It had been a while since he had used it, but he felt he was up to snuff. He turned to see Rosemary sitting in a chair, at attention. She seemed as eager as Jake felt.
Jake dangled the gem before her face, and her eyes fixated on it. “Keep looking,” he softly said. He focused his energies, and the gem started to glow. Rosemary silently gasped, then relaxed. The light glow from the gem started reflecting in her green eyes. Jake began to slowly swing the gem back and forth before her. Her eyes followed.
“Follow the gem with your eyes, Rose. Follow the gem,” Jake intoned. “Back and forth, back and forth. Keep your eyes on the gem. Never lose sight of the gem.” He focused a bit more, and the gem glowed like fire. Rosemary was becoming more relaxed. “The gem is fire. The fire is relaxing. You must keep following the fire, never losing sight of it. Are you calm? Are you happy?”
Rosemary’s head bobbed a little in a nod. “Yes,” she dreamily whispered.
“That’s good. Keep following the fire. Let the fire wash over you. Let it take away your doubts, your fears. Just give into the fire. Give into me.”
Jake kept swinging the glowing gem in front of her eyes for several moments. Rosemary never lost track of it once, and her eyelids were beginning to droop.
“You are getting very sleepy. That’s alright. It’s okay to sleep. Even in sleep, you will see the fire, feel the fire, and hear my voice. My voice and the fire are one. Listening to the fire is wonderful. Doing as it says. Obeying it.”
“Obey,” she murmured, her eyes almost closed, but still following the gem.
“Even while sleeping, you hear the fire’s voice. You will do as it commands. Do you understand?”
“...yes...”
“Then close your eyes, and sleep.”
Rosemary’s eyes closed and her head slumped forward. Jake put the gem away, smiling.
“Rose, do you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Your mind is now open and willing to all the suggestions I give you. I am your master. You are my slave. You will obey me in all things.”
A dopey smile played across her lips. “Yes, my master. I am your slave. Do with me as you will.”
Jake was looking forward to this very much. “Open your eyes, but remain in your current state.”
Rosemary opened her eyes. Her green eyes were now glassy, empty. But she still seemed so happy. She looked at Jake and smiled.
“What may this slave do for you, master?”
Jake didn’t have to give that question much thought. “Stand up,” he commanded. She did as he said. “Now take off your gown, and let’s have some fun.” Her arms moved to obey him.
As soon as she had complied, he guided her to his bed and ordered her to lay down on it. He joined her. He began running his hands over her body, and she responded in the same way.
Later, when Jake had had his fun, he ordered Rosemary to her feet again and was finishing up.
“And when you awaken, you will still retain the experience of what it was like to be hypnotized. Do you understand?”
“Yes, master,” the contented Rosemary sighed.
He had one last passionate kiss with the woman and felt her up a little, then ordered her to awake.
Rosemary blinked, and her eyes once again were their normal green. She looked at Jake and grinned.
He grinned back. “Was it what you were hoping for?”
She nodded. “Yes. It was incredible. Thank you. Not only was it such an amazing experience, I think it’ll even help my research.”
“I was glad to help. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Rosemary started to leave, then stopped at the door and looked at Jake over her shoulder. “I think we’ll have to try that again sometime,” she suggested slyly. Then she left.
Jake laid back down on his bed to go to sleep, feeling much happier about himself, and he now appreciated his friendship with Rosemary even more.
A video game loving, girl and guy liking, hypnosis fascinated, intelligent, cheerful, very beautiful young woman who thinks I’m cute. I think I’ve finally hit the jackpot. I might actually fall in love with that one.
**********
Elsewhere, at the instant he thought that, Katia and Yuta awoke with a violent start, silently screaming. Then, deciding that they had probably just dreamed Jake saying he loved another woman, they got back to sleep.
***********
The next morning, everyone was seated at the breakfast table. As they were enjoying breakfast, Jake and Rosemary kept exchanging quick smiles with one another which no one else noticed.
“Have you had any luck tracking down a T-16 yet, Rosemary?” Jessica asked.
Rosemary shrugged. “Maybe. I think I’ve located someone who has one, but they haven’t responded to my inquiries yet.”
“When you have time, Rosemary, do you think you can help me with some more homework?” Katia requested.
Rosemary nodded. “Of course.”
“And could you then teach me more social customs?” Lucia asked.
“And help me tune up my car?” Jen added.
“And fix my favorite microphone?” Fawn put in.
Most everyone at the table asked for Rosemary to spend some time with them. And Rosemary agreed to each of their requests. It seemed she was becoming a welcome addition to the ‘family’.
************
Over the next few days and nights, Rosemary was becoming more and more popular. She was getting on everyones good side. She was helping them. And she and Jake were having more ‘sessions’, utilizing different induction techniques each time.
Jake came downstairs one morning, Rosemary making breakfast, having already woken up after their previous night’s encounter.
“Hi, Jake,” she said. “Want some toast?”
“AAAAAAHHH! Killer toaster!” *Jake grabs the toaster and throws it out the window far into the distant horizon, leaving a little glittering star when it disappears from sight.*
*Sweat drop on Rosemary.* “Ooookkkaaayyyy, there are so many questions I want to ask, while at the same time feel I may regret it when I ask them.”
Rosemary was making things so cheery that it took awhile before anyone noticed that Diana had been coming over to visit less and less frequently until she had stopped coming altogether.
********
Knock knock knock. Someone was tapping at Diana’s bedroom door.
“Come in,” she said.
Mina opened the door and entered Diana’s room. Diana was lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.
“Hi, Diana.”
“Hey.”
“Where have you been recently?”
“Just here.” Diana didn’t really seem to feel like talking.
“Why? We’ve been missing you.”
“We?” Diana repeated half-heartidly.
“Yes, everyone who cares about you noticed you hadn’t been coming over. Which means everyone but Dawn.” Mina laughed, hoping to get Diana to perk up.
But Diana didn’t perk up. She just kept staring at the ceiling, not even looking at Mina.
“Diana, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“Remember who you’re talking to. You’re obviously troubled about something. Maybe you can get Rosemary to help-“
Diana suddenly hissed fiercely, cutting Mina off. “NO THANK YOU,” she enunciated.
“You don’t like Rosemary?”
Diana sighed. She finally sat up and leaned her back against the wall, staring out a window. “Yes, and no. She doesn’t give me any attention, and I guess I am resentful for that. But mostly, it’s what she makes me realize about myself.”
Mina sat down on the bed with Diana. “And what’s that?”
“She’s made me realize that I’m pathetic, useless, and uninteresting.”
Mina couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Diana-“
“It’s true. I’ve figured that the reason she doesn’t talk to me is because she knows that, compared to the rest of you, I’m nothing.”
“That is ridiculous.”
Diana finally looked at Mina, and her gaze was none too pleasant. “Oh yeah? You know what I’ve heard every time I’ve gone over since she moved in?”
(Flashbacks. Scenes Diana is in or overhears involving Rosemary and a different person each time.)
“So, Jake, you actually saved everyone when they were hypnotized at Mato’s amusement park?”
“Jen and Katia, is it true what I heard? That the two of you apprehended a villain during the Sinister Scavenger Hunt by yourselves?”
“Lucia, you were the one who saved Yoto from that zombie plague? That’s incredible!”
“You mean to tell me you saved the day and deprogrammed everyone hypnotized by that hypnotic nurse, Yuta?”
“I know about Dusk. You mean you actually beat her in combat, Dawn?”
“Sarah, you were the one who saved the mayor from those kidnappers?”
“You actually dove into a video game to save all the others? That is so brave, Jessica.”
“Your hypnotic singing was what stopped that vicious mob? You are so clever, Fawn.”
“You mean you overcame a malignant spirit in magical combat? You truly are incredible, Mina.”
<End flashbacks.>
Diana finished, and stared back out the window.
Mina bit her lip. “That doesn’t mean anything, Diana.”
“Yes, it does. It proves that I don’t belong with you guys. All of you have done something heroic. You’ve all saved the day in the adventures we’ve been through.”
“Diana, you’re looking too much into this. I mean, we’re not a bunch of role-playing characters. We don’t go looking for adventure.”
Diana’s teal eyes tightened, and she started crying a little. “But adventures still find their way to us. And every time they do, I’m the one who always needs help.”
“That’s not true.”
“Yes it is!” Diana burst out suddenly. Taking a breath, she calmed herself. “Who was one of the first one’s to fall back under that evil clone Jake’s control? Me. Who was hypnotized by a freaking mirror at that nightclub? Me.”
“We’ve all been hypnotized at one point or another, Diana.”
Diana was crying more. “But not like me. I was turned into some kind of undead monster by that vampiress. I was turned into a total bitch by that Atlantian girl. And I found out what that creep Tsavan was going to use me for if Jake and you hadn’t rescued us. Face it, Mina. I’m useless. I don’t have magic. I don’t have hypno powers. I’m not a genius. Nor am I a soldier, a cop, or a genie. I’m just me.”
Mina laid one arm across Diana’s shoulders. “Yes, you’re just you. You’re my best friend. And we all care about you.”
But Diana could not be consoled. She shrugged Mina’s arm off. “Please, just leave me alone.”
Realizing she couldn’t do anything more at the moment, Mina just nodded and left.
**********
In a sparsely populated, downtrodden portion of Yoto, a man was sitting at the counter of his small, unprofitable shop. He sighed, thoroughly depressed. His name was Mr. Balding, owner and only worker of Balding’s Sports Apparel. His life was not going well at the moment. His bills were rising, he was overextended on several sizable loans, and his profits were nonexistent. If he didn’t get a huge stroke of luck soon...
At that moment, someone entered the store. Mr. Balding looked up to see someone approaching him.
“May I help you?” he asked.
“Actually, I think there may be a way we can help each other.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Let’s just say, I think I have a lucrative business proposition to offer you.”
**************
Diana had finally brought herself to the point where she was able to return to the Mato house. As she entered, she noticed no one seemed to be around. She then heard what appeared to be a loud and heated argument coming from the lab.
As she entered, she saw Jake and Mato, screaming at one another. She walked up to them, and Jake took a moment out of arguing to say ‘Hi’ to her, then went back to yelling at Mato.
“I am telling you, old man, that there is no way you can deny it!”
“Ha! I laugh at that assessment! A good mind always leaves open the room for other possibilities!”
“Then accept the possibility that you are wrong!”
“NEVER!”
“It’s what everyone else believes! And there is so much proof!”
“And I’m telling you, the proof is not there!”
“Look!” *Jake holds up a cat in one hand, and a confused Diana in the other.* “There’s your evolution!”
“Jake, that’s ridiculous! Everyone knows the world was created by a crazy old man who traveled backwards through time!”
“Did this guy leave any physical evidence?”
“Uh, nooooooo...”
“Well, your theory has just been rendered defunct.”
“But it is science! You cannot debate SCIENCE!!!”
“Well, I just did.”
“YOU CAN’T DEBATE SCIENCE!!!!!!!!”
Jake, having felt he had won the argument, just shut Mato’s words out of his head and left the lab.
“No respect for his elders,” Mato muttered, going to work at a computer console.
Diana took a deep breath and gathered her courage. “Excuse me, sir?”
Mato turned to look at her, having only now registered she was present. “Oh, hi. How are you, Diana?”
“Okay, I guess. I was wondering if I could talk to you about something.”
“Anything my dear, anything.”
Diana knew she shouldn’t be doing this, but she just wanted to anyway. “I heard you gave hypnosis powers to Jake when he first came here, and accidentally gave Fawn her hypnotic singing.”
“Um, I guess that’s kind of true.”
“Well, you see, the thing is, you see... could you do the same thing to me?”
Mato blinked. “Come again?”
“Could you make me like Jake and Fawn? Could you give me powers of some kind?”
After recovering from surprise, Mato mulled it over. “Hm, a young, naive, beautiful cat girl I could experiment on that’s actually volunteering? Maybe I-“
“Professor!” Rosemary’s voice called from further in the lab. “I’m waiting! And this tachyon pulse bomb isn’t going to upgrade itself!”
Mato slapped his forehead. “Oh, right! Sorry Diana, but because of Rosemary’s great assistance and advice, there are too many projects to work on, and I have no time to help you. Later.” He ran off.
Diana’s heart sunk even deeper, and she fell further into her pit of despair than she had been before. Without another word, she just left the lab and went home.
************
The next morning, Jake walked out of his room and headed downstairs. Rosemary stepped out of her room and joined him down the stairs. The house laundry machines were on the fritz since Dawn and Sarah had used them as clubs to battle one another, so Rosemary’s clothes were all at the laundromat, being that she was unwilling to trust the clothes to Mato’s nuclear powered ones. Jake had lent her one of his shirts.
They smiled at each other at the base of the stairs, and as Rosemary walked towards the kitchen, Jake watched her go, still smiling.
*Suddenly, the screen goes black, except for Jake. A thin beam of white light zooms by the screen horizontally at his eye level. Sensing something is very wrong, Jake slowly, oh so slowly, turns around. What he sees is Katia and Yuta, both gigantic, staring down at him from a hundred feet above, very pissed expressions on their faces. Jake shrinks to an even smaller size under their scrutiny.*
“Jake?” they said together menacingly.
“Yes?” he squeaked.
“Why is Rosemary wearing your “Siren Is Great” shirt?”
“Would you believe me if I said the situation is completely innocent?”
“NO.”
“Oh, okay then. Alright, here’s what I have to say. STAR KATANA JUST ENTERED THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR!”
Both girls turned away from Jake to look at the front door. With their momentary distraction, Jake bolted for the kitchen.
“HEY!” both girls yelled, chasing after him.
Luckily, once Jake had reached the kitchen and cowered behind Rosemary, both girls stopped. Rosemary explained the actual situation to the two girls. Being that they both liked Rosemary so much, they trusted her and left. *Huge sigh of relief from Jake.*
“Thanks,” he told Rosemary.
“I know how you can thank me tonight,” she said, smiling suggestively at him.
Jake smiled back.
“WHAT WAS THAT?!” Katia screamed from the other room, her Elven hearing excellent.
Jake started to panic, but Rosemary just calmly called out, “We were talking about video games.”
“Oh.”
I think I’ve really hit the jackpot, Jake thought.
***********
It was evening at the high school once again. Basketball and volleyball were being played again. The turn out for these games had been as good as the previous ones. The high schoolers of the Mato house and Rosemary were sitting at the same spots as last time. The only one missing was Diana.
“Where’s our blue-haired friend?” Jake asked Mina.
Mina felt that she shouldn’t talk about Diana’s problems, at least not yet. “She’s working through a few things,” she told Jake.
“Ah,” Jake said.
The Yoto Ninjas were doing much better in this game than the last. Or rather, Walter was. His playing was incredible. Every time he got the ball, he scored. Every time an opponent with the ball got near him, he stole the ball and scored. Every time someone tried to make a long distance shot when he was near the basket, he blocked the shot, stole the ball, and scored. It was easy to keep track of him among all the other players, as he was wearing some new kind of sweatband around his head. The game ended with a score of 93 - 30, Ninjas favor.
After the game, volleyball was up. Incredibly, Amy’s game was up another notch, or maybe several. Every time the ball came her way, she was able to knock it to who she wanted to, which allowed for great shots. Every time she was able to spike the ball, the opposing team always missed knocking it back. And every time that the ball was heading anywhere remotely near her, she always saved it. Amy was also wearing some kind of sweatband, just like Walter. The score ended at 15- 3, Yoto’s favor.
When both games were done, and the cheering from the bleachers had subsided, both Walter and Amy were brought to the center of the gym and asked about their performances.
“How did the two of you improve so much in such a short time?” one of the school reporters asked.
Walter and Amy blushed a little. “Well,” Walter said, “we were walking home after the last game, and someone stopped us to talk to us. Apparently, this person was a representative of Balding’s Sports Apparel. They recently came into possession of a new type of sweatband.”
“We were offered free ones,” Amy continued for him. She started passing around another sweatband so everyone could take a closer look. The sweatbands were completely black except for the front. The front looked like a six petaled red flower, with a small yellow bead in the center. The band eventually made it back to her. “Ever since we started wearing them, our performance has just kept improving. I really think the bands made a difference.”
“And all they asked in return for giving them to us,” Walter finished, “was to tell you all that they’re great products, which they are, and where they can be purchased if anyone wants to buy one. Here’s the address.”
As he told them, everyone with either pen and paper or a cell phone saved the address, eager to obtain one of the miracle bands.
***************
The gang returned home after the gang, excitedly talking about the performances they had seen.
When they were finished, Rosemary asked, “Do any of you think you’ll buy those sweatbands?”
“I don’t think so,” Jake said. “I think my run of luck’s been really good enough as is, lately.” He quickly winked at her.
“And I’d never wear one of those,” Katia scoffed. “Not only do I not want to, the royal court back home would never hear of it.”
“And I don’t think black would go with what I’m wearing,” Yuta said.
“And I don’t really have the money to spare,” Mina pointed out.
The group all went to their respective rooms to sleep.
***********
Late that evening, Amy and Walter returned to the alley where they had met the mysterious person earlier. They waited there for fifteen minutes, neither one of them saying a word, nor moving a muscle. Unlike earlier, the yellow beads in the center of the flower design of their sweatbands were glowing very dimly.
Eventually, someone approached them. “Very good performance tonight, my drones.”
“It is as you ordered,” they responded together, their voices lacking all emotion.
“It’s amazing what the body can do when one’s own mind is not in control of it. Anyway, I have new tasks for you.” They were handed several sweatbands. “There are some people who may not want to join in the new fad you’ve started. I want you to convince.”
“As you wish.”
***************
Not long after that, Rosemary had forced Diana into a sick situation. Basically, Dawn and Yuta had been placed in death traps, and Rosemary said that Diana could only save one of them. Diana had almost lost it at that point, but her sense of smell told her that neither Dawn nor Yuta were real. Both girls had distinctive smells to them that Diana could detect. As they were only holograms, Diana just walked past them and out of the room without saying a word to Rosemary.
“I must say, I am somewhat impressed,” Rosemary told Diana through the speaker system. Diana didn’t answer. “But those last two are going to pale in comparison to the next.”
“Why are you playing these games?!” Diana demanded. “You could just kill us, or trap us!”
“I could,” Rosemary replied. “But I am enjoying this far too much. Besides, it’s an excellent chance to test the abilities of my fortress. Don’t disappoint me.”
Diana just kept walking. Eventually, she entered what appeared to be a library. Someone was seated at a desk, reading a book. It was Mina.
“Mina?” Diana said automatically.
Mina looked up, looking cheerful and friendly. “Oh, hello Diana. It’s so nice of you to join me.”
Diana knew she couldn’t trust Mina right now. “Don’t get in my way. I’m going.”
Mina stood up. “Oh, but you must stay and help me test out these new spells I’m learning from Rosemary’s books.”
Mina held out one hand, fingers outstretched towards Diana. Diana, on instinct, leapt to the side. Just as she did, lightning shot from Mina’s finger tips and destroyed the door that had been behind Diana. Diana looked at the door, mouth open, then looked back at Mina.
“You’re a quick one, aren’t you?” Mina teased, still being playful. Mina pointed at Diana, and a fireball flew towards the neko.
Diana dove down to the ground, avoiding the attack. This low, she had the advantage of cover, and there were a lot of desks spread around to hide behind. She scurried from desk to desk, very quickly.
Diana’s ears told her Mina was moving around, looking for her. “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty kitty,” Mina called out. “Here, kitty, kitty.”
Diana, trying to stay calm, pulled out her taser gun and pointed it in the direction Mina’s footsteps were heading. As soon as Diana saw Mina’s legs, she fired.
Mina twitched once and fell to the ground. Relieved, Diana stood up and went over to her.
“Aw, phooey,” Rosemary said over the speakers. “Foiled again.”
“You are a sick, sick person.”
“That’s a matter of opinion. Well, I guess now you’re going to take that band off and free her from my control, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am.” Diana reached for the band on the unconscious Mina’s head. But, just before she grabbed it, a thought struck her and she stopped. “That was too easy.”
“What?”
“That was way too easy. You wanted me to beat her. And you wouldn’t suggest I take the band off, unless....” Diana stared at the ceiling in rage. “You want me to take the band off!”
Rosemary applauded from wherever she was. “Very observant.”
“What would have happened to her if I did!?”
Rosemary sighed. “Basically, if you don’t turn the band off with my remote before removing it, you’ll destroy the wearer’s mind, and they’ll be vegetables for the rest of their lives.”
Diana screamed in animal fury. “YOU WILL PAY FOR ALL THIS!!!”
“Come and get me if you can.”
Diana left Mina and ran through the next door.
*************
It had torn Jessica apart to do that to Sarah. But what other choice had she had? Sarah was suffering, and she utilized the only option she saw available. She shook the tears out of her eyes and moved onward, doubling her determination to reach Rosemary and end this.
More student appeared and tried to stop her, but Jessica just tore past them, using double taser guns when necessary. She just rushed past any obstacles Rosemary put in her way.
She rushed into a room, students hot on her trail. She slammed the door shut and bolted it. She then surveyed her surroundings.
She was in a stone room, with no decorations at all. And blocking the only door out was...
“Dawn?” Jessica, gun raised, gingerly stepped forward, trying to see if Dawn had a sweatband on.
When she got within ten feet, Dawn raised her head up and hissed. Jessica fired, but Dawn avoided it and rushed forward, knocking the gun out of her hands.
Currently unarmed, Jessica raised her arms in a defense posture, praying that she could take on a succubus.
Dawn went on the offensive, lashing out at Jessica with a series of punches and kicks. Jessica was able to avoid or block or deflect most of them, but she still took a few hits.
There’s no way Dawn is this weak. Rosemary must be holding back her strength so she can enjoy this twisted little show.
Whenever Jessica tried reaching for the band on Dawn’s head, Dawn was always able to block her. Jessica decided her only chance was to keep Dawn down long enough to run through the door. She was able to do a swiping kick that knocked Dawn down to the ground.
Jessica ran for the door, but just before she reached it, it opened. Sarah, with the sweatband Jessica had placed on her, entered and shut the door behind her. Jessica just froze.
Sarah had no such problem. She started attacking Jessica, and Jessica had to repeat the whole procedure she had just gone through with Dawn. Like Dawn, Sarah was also holding back her full strength.
Jessica was getting tired. Sarah’s attacks were relentless and untiring.
While trying to spot an opportunity to escape, Dawn, whom Jessica had forgotten about, got behind Jessica and grabbed her arms, trapping them behind her back at waist level. Jessica struggled, but Dawn had a vice grip on her.
Sarah reached into her pocket and pulled out another sweatband. She held it out before her and started walking forward, heading straight for Jessica.
But Jessica didn’t panic. She was a soldier. She was trained to deal with situations calmly. Straining with all of her might, she was able to move her hand enough to grab Sarah’s taser gun that she had taken earlier. Getting it in her hand, she awkwardly pointed it at Dawn and fired at point blank range. Dawn was knocked backwards and fell unconscious. In an instant, Jessica had the gun aimed at Sarah and fired again. Sarah, too, was knocked out.
Deeply relieved, Jessica put the gun away. But, before she could examine either of the girls, the door she had bolted was broken through. Students started pouring into the room towards her.
Jessica ran for the door Sarah had stepped through and threw it open.
And as soon as she did, she came eye to spiraling eye with a smiling, purple ribbon wearing Yuta.
Jessica was caught in Yuta’s eyes. They kept spinning, and spinning. They were so wonderful to look into. She began to feel so calm, and happy. She had been tired from running through this crazy place, and from fighting her friends. She had been working so hard. And staring into Yuta’s eyes seemed to be her reward.
She kept staring into Yuta’s eyes for several moments, then Yuta spoke.
“You want to obey me, don’t you?”
Jessica smiled and nodded.
Yuta held out her hand, something clenched in it. “Then take this band and put it on.”
Still smiling, Jessica did as Yuta commanded.
***********
Rosemary smiled. Three down. She was gaining a great insight into the capabilities of the Black Rose. Also, she was gaining wonderful experimentation subjects. Fawn had her hypnotic singing that could be studied. Sarah was a cyborg, which made her a valuable specimen. Jessica was a trained soldier, which made her usable as either a specimen or a guard.
But as for that cat girl....
Rosemary watched as Diana made it through another of her obstacles with those annoying cat skills of hers. She was useless to Rosemary. She had no special talents for her to exploit or study. Therefore, it was time to get rid of Diana so she could focus on Jake and call it a day.
**********
Diana had just made it through another of Rosemary’s twisted designs. She hoped she was getting close to Rosemary. She couldn’t keep up at this pace forever. She briefly wondered how many of the others were left. She might be the only one.
But she would not let that deter her. In fact, she used it to motivate herself to press on. She had just entered yet another stone hallway, but this one was wide and very long. She started running down it.
**********
Rosemary observed Diana on her monitor. Her finger hovered over a button. “Bye bye.” She pressed it.
*********
The floor beneath Diana opened up and she fell. It was a good twenty feet before she hit the ground. Luckily, she landed on her feet and crouched to reduce the impact. She looked around.
She seemed to be trapped in a stone walled, square shaped pit. The walls were maybe twenty feet apart on all sides. She looked up and hoped she could reach the top.
Calling on all her strength and feline features, she crouched down and leapt upwards with all her strength. But it wasn’t enough. She was within a foot or two of the top of the pit before she fell back down.
“A valiant effort, my little cat,” Rosemary announced. “But it’s time you got out of my hair.”
The walls started closing in on Diana.
**********
Rosemary switched off the monitor on Diana. There was no point in watching. The neko was dead. She could not escape. And there were no more friends to help her. Jake himself was nowhere near her. He instead was closing in on Rosemary’s control room.
Rosemary smiled, looking forward to her encounter with Jake. Her victory over him would be so satisfying. She adjusted the controls to turn the heat in the room up. She then quickly changed into some appropriate clothes for their upcoming meeting.
*********
Jake was getting tired. He had been in this fortress for what felt like eternity. He had been through traps and tests to try his body and his spirit. He just wanted this to end. And as he burst through a set of double doors...
He arrived in a large, technology filled area. The room was filled with consoles, tables, chemistry sets, monitors, and control boards. And, sitting in a chair, watching him enter, in front of a set of security monitors, was Rosemary.
She was wearing her lab coat. She gave him that smile he had at one point loved.
He lifted his taser gun and aimed at her.
She stood up and held her arms above her head. “I’m not armed,” she told him.
Jake was panting, he felt so exhausted. But he kept the gun trained on her. “....I just don’t know what to say, Rosemary. All that time we spent together. Everything we shared. Everything we did. And then you go and do this to everyone!”
Rosemary started to move closer to him, slowly. “I feel no guilt or regrets or any remorse at all. All I have done I did because it suited me.”
“You’re a monster. You have no redeeming qualities what so ever.”
Rosemary bit her lip. “Actually, Jake, I may have one. I do love you.”
Jake wanted to believe her, very much so. But he knew it was a lie. “You can’t fool me, Rose. If you had even the tiniest capacity for love in you, you wouldn’t have done any of this.”
“You want to know something, Jake? You’re almost as much to blame as I for all this.”
Jake started sweating. It was so hot in the room. “What do you mean? That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? Do you remember all those times we were together at night?”
“I can never forget them. They are among my happiest memories.”
“And how many times did you have me hypnotized? Plenty. And if just once, just once, you had asked me about myself, you could have found out what I was planning. Then, with just a few words, you could have stopped me and prevented all of this.”
There was a measure of truth to her words that Jake didn’t want to admit. “But you asked me not to question you about yourself. I was being a good friend by not asking.”
“You mean you were a fool. You could have asked me whatever you wanted, and I would have never known. But you let your morality and friendship and conscious get in the way. And that is why you can never beat people like me. Because you set limits on yourself.”
Jake had had enough of this. He was hot and tired. “That’s enough. Now tell me how to free everyone from your control.”
Rosemary seemed resigned. “Oh, very well.” She wiped at her brow. “But would you mind if I cool off a little first? It’s just so hot in here.”
She unbuttoned a few buttons of her lab coat and pulled it off. This revealed her beautiful body underneath. She was dressed similarly as the night when he had first hypnotized her.
Jake’s attention was immediately drawn to her figure. No matter how many times he had seen it before, he could never grow tired of it. She was so very beautiful.
For some reason, she started a dance of some sort. It was so captivating, the way her body moved. It seemed so smooth and graceful, like water. Jake couldn’t help but watch her. She was radiant, like a goddess.
The combination of his exhaustion, the heat in the room, and her hypnotic dance was too much for Jake. His mind ceased to think. His arms dropped to his side, the gun fell from his hands, and his eyes went glassy.
************
Rosemary felt incredible satisfaction. She watched as Jake succumbed to her power. After being under his control so many times, this was what she had been hoping for. Taking Jake without any gadgets, or special powers, or anything like that. Hypnotizing him with using only her body, and her mind.
That was one of the reasons she had spent so much time with Jake at night over the weeks. The experience of being hypnotized had been instrumental in developing her dance technique. It had allowed her to determine what states one would be most suggestible in, and what stimuli could work. Besides that, her time with the boy had been fun.
She ended her dance and walked to the still standing Jake. She placed a finger under his drooping chin and raised his face until they were eye to eye. He was clearly under her power.
“Jake? You will obey me.”
Jake was helpless to resist her. ‘I... will... obey you.”
She smiled. She turned and walked away. “Follow me.” Jake complied.
*********
A short time later, Rosemary was back in the control room. She had changed her clothes and was now wearing shorts and a comfortable shirt.
She was proud that she had hypnotized Jake, the ‘wonder boy’. But she was no fool. She knew that there was no guarantee she could keep him under her control indefinitely, even with her new technology. So she had placed him inside a stasis tube nearby. There he would remain, in suspended animation, for as long as she deemed fit. It would allow her to decide later whether she wanted him as a servant, a plaything, or a specimen for experimentation or dissection.
She had decided to go and get some sleep. She now had plenty of things to keep her occupied the following day. Even when the students disappearances were reported, they would never be able to track her. And even if they did, she had her wondrous Black Rose to protect her.
But before she went to bed, she wanted to survey her handiwork one more time. She walked back over to the monitors and surveyed all those she had in her control. There was Fawn, and Jessica, and Sarah, and...
Suddenly, she saw a shadow appear in front of her. Spinning around, she saw Diana swinging down at her head with a piece of equipment. Rosemary was barely able to move away in time.
Diana’s blow dented the control panel. Rosemary skipped backwards, gaining distance between the two of them.
“YOU!!” she screamed. Diana stared at her, with something that went beyond revenge lurking behind her teal eyes. “You’re dead! You can’t be alive! There is no way you could have escaped that trap!”
“Too bad you didn’t try to get to know me. Then you may have known otherwise.”
***********
Flashback.
The walls were closing in on Diana. Her best jump was still not enough to get her out of this situation. The walls would be on her in thirty seconds.
But she did not panic. She was past the point of fear. No one would come to help her. She knew that. She had only herself to rely on. So she kept calm, and came up with a plan. She remembered a trick she had once performed in gym class.
When the walls were ten feet or so apart, she did a quick run and jumped for the middle point of the wall in front of her and called upon all the agility she possessed. As she hit it, she immediately pushed off of it with her feet and launched herself at the other wall. She did the same thing again as she hit it. This pushed her up high enough to get her out of the pit only seconds before they smashed together.
She lay down on the floor, exhausted. She was amazed with what she had done. After resting, she got back up and continued onwards. She noticed that she no longer possessed her taser gun. It must have fallen off when she fell into the pit and was now crushed.
End flashback.
***********
“How did you escape!?” Rosemary demanded.
“You’re the evil genius. You tell me,” Diana retorted.
Diana’s eyes fell upon the monitors. They displayed students and so many of her friends throughout the fortress, mindless drones to Rosemary. She also saw Jake in some kind of tube, apparently asleep.
She turned and stared at Rosemary. Diana was now beyond any kind of anger she had ever felt before in her life. At first, she had disliked this woman. Then she had feared her. Now, now Diana possessed nothing but hatred, rage, and vengeance for this, this, this manifestation of humanity’s dark side.
Rosemary attempted to regain her composure and calm. “So, the little kitty cat’s angry. But what are you going to do?”
Diana noticed the remote control she had seen Rosemary use to take control of Katia lying near the monitors. Quickly she grabbed it and glanced over the controls. Her gaze settled on the button labeled ‘Deactivate’. She pressed it and looked gloatingly, at Rosemary, expecting to see her lose it.
But Rosemary was just smiling. The control started flashing and beeping. Diana threw it away from her. A few seconds after she did, it exploded with the force of a small grenade.
“Do you think I’m stupid?” Rosemary said. “Do you really think I’d properly label the button that could defeat me? What kind of a villain would I be to do something like that?”
Diana flexed her hands, and her claws emerged. “Tell me how to save them.”
Rosemary jerked her thumb over her side, indicating behind her. “The control has been transferred to a panel over there. But to get to it, you’re going to have to go through me.” Rosemary pulled a hairband out of her pocket and used it to bunch her hair together. She then assumed a martial arts stance. “To be fair, I should tell you that I was captain of the karate team at school.”
But Diana didn’t care about that. She was past the point of caring. All she wanted to do was defeat this woman, maybe even kill her. Rosemary did not deserve to live.
“You have put me and my friends through hell. And I don’t care how weak I am, or how strong you are; I am going to KICK YOUR ASS!!!”
Calling to mind some of the defense training Jessica had given her, Diana rushed forward to clash with Rosemary.
Diana started slashing away at Rosemary with her claws, fast and furiously. But Rosemary was calm, and collected. She kept ducking under Diana’s advances, or backing away, or interrupting her attacks with her arms.
After playfully sparring with her for a few seconds, Rosemary grabbed both of Diana’s hands and pulled her forward, kneeing her in the stomach and knocking the wind out of her.
As Diana bent over in pain, Rosemary backed off a little, surveying her handiwork.
Diana forced her self to ignore the pain. She straightened up and tried to calm down. This time, she waited for Rosemary to come to her.
She didn’t have to wait long. Rosemary went on the offensive and launched at Diana with punches and hand chops.
Diana used her natural talents and agility to keep trying to avoid the blows. When she couldn’t move fast enough, she tried to block with her arms. She took a number of blows, but tried to weather them. She kept this up until she saw an opening. When Rosemary’s defense was down, Diana slammed her right palm straight into Rosemary’s nose.
Rosemary stumbled back, and Diana tried to catch her breath. Blood started to pour from Rosemary’s nose, and her glasses were now crooked and busted. Without taking her angry eyes off Diana, Rosemary calmly reached up, took hold of her glasses, pulled them off her face, and dropped them on the floor.
Rosemary had at it with Diana again. This time, she used her feet as well as her hands. Diana couldn’t hope to counterattack against this fierce onslaught, so she just tried to defend herself. But she was failing. Rosemary kept landing strikes on her stomach, her face, her chest, everywhere. She kept forcing Diana to back away further and further.
Eventually, Diana’s back was pressed against the wall. Rosemary lunged forward and seized Diana by the throat. Her hands closed, and she started to choke the life out the teenager.
Rosemary had no witty repertoire this time, no snide comments, no insults. All she had was anger. And she was letting loose on Diana.
But Diana held more than anger for Rosemary, and she was letting loose as well. She was the only one who could save the those she loved, and she would not allow herself to fail. She sunk her claws into Rosemary’s arms and kept pushing, digging them deeper and deeper.
Rosemary could only take so much pain. She was eventually forced to let go and pull her arms back. As soon as she did, Diana leapt forward and clawed at Rosemary’s face.
Rosemary yelled in pain and covered her face. That was a mistake. It gave the Diana an opening to let go with all she had. She mercilessly punched, scratched, kicked, whatever. She even used her tail to trip Rosemary off her feet onto the hard ground. She hit her head and apparently fell unconscious.
Diana just stood above Rosemary, staring at her. She wanted to do more to her. To make her hurt more. To make her suffer. But there was one thing she did not want to do, and that was become what she hated.
With Rosemary no longer a threat, Diana ran through the door Rosemary had entered from. As she had expected, she found Jake inside the stasis tube she had seen on the monitor. Working the controls for a minute, the tube deactivated and opened. Diana shook Jake awake.
He groggily awoke and sat up, holding his head. He glanced at his friend. “Diana?”
After being alone for so long, Diana was so happy to see one of her friends. She grabbed up Jake in a hug and cried, so relieved. “Jake, oh Jake,” she sobbed.
Jake carefully returned the hug. “Uh, hi Diana. What’s going on?”
Pulling away and wiping her tears, Diana gave him a brief run through on what had happened. Together, the two of them walked back to the control room. And when they entered, Rosemary was no where to be seen.
“Where did she go?” Diana exclaimed.
“Warning,” a computerized voice said over the loudspeakers. “The self-destruct sequence has been activated. The self-destruct sequence has been activated.”
“Oh, come on!” Jake shouted. “This is ridiculous! How many survival horror games has she played!?”
“The complex will self-destruct in fifteen minutes.”
Jake and Diana ran over to the control panel Rosemary had indicated to Diana earlier. Working together, they were able to permanently disable all the sweatbands and control units Rosemary had created.
All over the Black Rose, people were coming back to their senses, wondering where they were. When they heard the announcement of the self-destruct, they started to panic. Fortunately, the sequence had highlighted the ways to all the exits, and everyone hurried to exit the fortress.
Fourteen minutes later, everyone Rosemary had taken control of, plus Diana, were standing by the transporter they had used to arrive. They watched in silence as the sequence finished and the fortress exploded, a bright contrast to the dark background.
“What the hell is going on?” one of the students asked.
Jake held his head in one hand and sighed. “Alright, who’s turn is it?”
Yuta raised her arm excitedly and started jumping. “Oh, I’ll do it, I’ll do it!” She faced the students, her eyes transforming into spirals. Within seconds, they were all entranced, and their memories being altered. When their minds had been wiped of this little chapter of their lives, they were sent back through the transporter and sent home.
While Diana was filling in Yuta, Dawn, Mina, and Katia on what had happened, Jake was just staring at the burning remains of Black Rose. An appropriate phrase from an episode of Star Trek came to him.
When Diana was finished, Jake said, “You know, I’ve been living in Yoto for a while now. Things are sometimes a bit complicated. There didn’t seem to be such things as truly good or evil; it all seems to be a shade of gray. And then, you get to know someone like Rosemary, and you realize there is such a thing as truly evil.”
Everyone just stared in silence for a minute as Black Rose finished burning, then stepped through the transporter to go home.
********
Not far off, someone else was watching Black Rose burn, with sorrow, and with anger.
Rosemary was sitting on her motorcycle, wearing her biker outfit. She was thinking over what had happened. After Diana had beat her, she knew she had to flee. She couldn’t get assistance from her drones in time, so she activated the destruct mechanism and fled. Black Rose had had to be destroyed. She would not allow her enemies access to it, or leave evidence of her involvement.
All that time of planning, and waiting, and then being given the opportunity to work with Mato. Everything. It had been going perfectly. And now it was all gone. Ruined. And why? Because she had failed to take into account one little girl.
Rosemary brought her hand up to her right cheek. There were three scar lines there now, thanks to that scratch from Diana.
Rosemary composed herself. Yes, she had been defeated, but she was still alive and free. And that meant that there were always more opportunities to accomplish ones goals.
Taking one last look at her home of such a short time, Rosemary declared, “I swear, Diana, one day I will make you pay for this. I will use all the cruelty I have and make you suffer, and you will beg me for death before I finally grant it to you.”
With that oath made, Rosemary rode off into the sunset.
*********
It was evening in the Mato home. Diana had just finished telling the entire story to Jake and the seven girls. Everyone was speechless.
“Diana,” Mina started saying, “you mean you went through all that-?”
Diana held up her hand for Mina to stop. “Please, everyone. I am so very tired. I just want to go home and sleep.” Nobody stopped her as she got up and left.
Everyone sat in silence for several minutes. The girls who had just learned about Rosemary’s true nature were still accepting it.
“Diana’s done so much for us,” Jake finally said.
“Yeah, she has,” Katia concurred.
A thought occurred to Mina. She smiled. “You know, I just thought of something.”
*********
As soon as Diana got back to her home, she snuck to the bathroom so her mother wouldn’t see her in her battered condition. She took a nice long, relaxing hot shower, got some dinner, and went straight to bed.
At seven o’clock the next morning, her telephone rang. Diana ignored it, but it kept ringing. Finally, still tired, she answered it. “Hello?”
“Diana? It’s Jake. Could you please come over here right away? It’s important.”
Diana just wanted to get some more rest before school, but she consented. “Okay.” She got dressed and walked over to the Mato house.
It was so early that there was only a little light available. As she entered the house, she noticed that everything was completely dark. “Hello?” she called out. She heard noises coming from the kitchen, so she went there.
As soon as she stepped inside...
“SURPRISE!!!”
The lights came on, and Diana saw Jake, Mina, Katia, Dawn, Fawn, Jessica, Sarah, and Yuta holding up a huge banner that read, ‘WELCOME TO THE CLUB!’. They were all wearing party hats, the table had on it a huge cake with an illustration of Diana with a superhero’s cape, and there was food all over the place.
“What’s going on?” Diana asked, bewildered.
The gang put the banner away.
“Well,” Jake said, “Mina told us the reason you were depressed shortly after Rosemary’s arrival. You know, the whole, ‘we’re heroes and you’re not’ stuff you were thinking?”
Diana looked at Mina, who just smiled.
“So, all us ‘heroes’ decided to officially acknowledge you as one of us,” Jessica proclaimed.
“But, but...”
“Diana, face it,” Mina pushed. “Don’t you understand everything you did? You went through hell and back for us. You were incredibly brave and determined. You succeeded against all odds. You saved each and everyone of us. And to top it all off, you were the only one who wasn’t hypnotized!” Mina and the others laughed. “You’re a true friend! And a real hero!”
Diana just started crying on the spot. She was so happy. In fact, she didn’t think she had ever been this happy before. “Thank you,” she whispered, smiling. “Thank you all.”
“So why don’t we just party for the rest of the day?” Fawn said.
“But, some of us have school,” Diana pointed out.
Jake smiled. “Actually, we don’t. You see, last night, Yuta paid a visit to the whole school board. There is no more school for the rest of the week. The missed days will be made up at the end of the school year. We figured you could use the break.”
Diana smiled again. “Yeah, I really could. Thank you.”
“So, let’s eat,” Dawn said, cutting into the cake.
Sarah klonked her on the head with her night stick. “Wait for Diana! And why are you even here!? It’s a party for heroes!”
As the argument between the two rivals heated up, everyone else started conversing and enjoying themselves.
“You know,” Katia said, “I’m never going to live down the fact that I wore one of those awful looking bands.”
Everyone stared at her. “That’s what you’re never going to live down?” Fawn asked incredulously.
“Actually, I liked those sweatbands,” Mina said. Everyone glared at her.
“You know what would make this party more fun?” Yuta asked, smiling.
“NO MORE HYPNOSIS!!!”
Suddenly, the door opened and in walked Mato. “Hello, everyone.”
*Jake instantly picks up a chair and breaks it over Mato’s head. Mato develops a large bump.* “Hey, you made me break my favorite chair, old man!” Jake screamed. *Jake picks up another chair and breaks it over Mato’s head.* As Mato is lying on the floor, Jake rips his PAT watch off of him.
“Is that how you treat a genius!?” Mato shouted.
“No,” someone announced. A cherry pie was thrown into Mato’s face. “That is!”
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