The Femme Defenders in: Six Little Heroines

By NoComeupance (nocomeupance@gmail.com)

Part 6: If You're So Smart, Why Is Your Rear Throbbing?

Author's note: This story follows from Enter the Mind Mistress. You can probably pick up on everything you need here, but reading that story will provide a better introduction to the characters. All characters are my original creations. Or, where stolen, they've at least had the serial numbers filed off.

A river of viscous clear syrup poured into one of the transparent aluminum tubes, pooling at the bottom as it drained out more slowly than it flowed in. After a few minutes a familiar dirty-blonde woman, naked but for her soaked-through Peace-sign panties, splashed into the pool. She sputtered and looked disgusted as syrup continued to pour onto her, coating her darkened, sticky hair and pushing it down over her face.

After long minutes, the torrent slowed to a trickle, then stopped, and the syrup level slowly lowered as the sticky liquid drained out below. Flower Power now stood, glistening and moist and sticky, in just her soggy undies. The nudity she didn't care as much about; her fellow heroines had already given her a dozen warnings about wandering naked through the base and she still did it with some frequency. But the artificial, man-made, machine processed gunk that coated her, penetrating to her very essence, had shaken her to the core.

Velvet Glove was laughing in her tube.

“Awww, Ms. All-Natural Organic got herself gunged up. Just a bit of advice; once we get out of this you should start looking up all-natural holistic homeopathic remedies for yeast infections,” the haughty heroine taunted.

“Sound advice from an expert on genital diseases,” snarked Jacky, then turned to Flower Power, “How are you doing, Flower? What happened up there?”

“She-she-she...” Flower Power sniffed, “She distracted me with a butterfly, and then I jumped in a river of... of... of corn syrup!”

Silence.

“So... the trap was....” said Jacky.

“It was really nice until it got gross!” said Flower, who was now trying to wring the slimy syrup out of her hair.

“That sounds terrible!” said Zoe, “I'm so glad you're okay!”

Flower Power glared at Zoe, a rage burning in her eyes that none of the heroines had ever seen in her before.

“I am not okay! My chakras are completely fucked up! It is going to take me months to rediscover my chi after this! It's just... Just... NYAGH!”

The hippie heroine lashed out by slamming her fist into the wall, which was the first time any of them had seen Flower Power react physically to anger. In fact, it was the first time they had seen her angry at all. Even Velvet Glove was cowed into silence.

The mysterious figure spun around, chuckling.

“Hey there, Flower Power, not feeling so grooooovy? I'm especially pleased with that trap, I have to say. I mean, I had to capture you, obviously, but I spent a surprisingly long time coming up with just the perfect way to get you. I mean you are a total ditz, so the capturing wasn't the hard part. But I just get soooo irritated by how you're always going on about your crunchy vegan organic nonsense, definitely my least favorite Femme Defender, so I really wanted to find a way to get you that would just completely disgust you. How was it?”

Flower Power clenched her fists, visibly trembling.

“You violated the sacred temple of my body, you perverted my soul essence with your poisons, and you used a butterfly for evil! When I get out of here, I am going to realign your being so thoroughly you'll never even remember what it was like to be aligned! I will multiply your essence and scatter it over the entire cosmos! I will make you one with fucking everything!”

The mysterious figure only laughed.

“Just be happy I didn't go with the dumping-animal-blood plan!”

“Constructive criticism? Not cool!” said Zoe, looking considerably less enthusiastic about having found a fandom soul mate in her captor.

Velvet Glove cracked a wicked grin, pleased to see that something had finally gotten a rise out of the moon child. Jacky just looked worried; an angry Flower Power was beyond anything in her experience and she really wasn't sure how to deal with it.

Bronco Buster let out an awed whistle. Tain't never seen nothin' like this afore, an ah hope never tuh see it again. Fer all she likes tah jaw 'bout fairies an magic an other sech nonsense, ah ain't never seen anythin' could break through ole Flower's air uh calm. Ah wouldn't want tuh be that filly if ole Flower gets outta her cage...

Flower Power just breathed heavily through her nose, glaring, before suddenly dropping into a cross-legged sitting position and beginning to meditate angrily. The others couldn't quite make out the mantra she was chanting, but the snatches they could hear seemed exceptionally un-mellow.

At last Velvet Glove broke the silence.

“So, looks like I'm about to get even richer,” she said, eying Jacky, who was grumbling under her breath, “If we get out of here, of course, which, given that we're now totally relying on Girl Genius, I do not have high hopes for.”

“I'm sure she can do it! She's the smartest person ever!” said Zoe, but the others could tell that there was a certain desperate edge to her enthusiasm, like she was frantically trying to convince herself of her words.

“Oh, right! Her. Excuse me, I have to take care of something really quick...” said the mysterious figure, who then turned around and busied herself at the console.

Jacky closed her eyes and said a silent prayer.

“Please, please, please, get us out of this, Mind Mistress...”

***

Mind Mistress walked cautiously down the darkened corridor. This one was surprisingly long, compared to the others. She estimated she had been walking for about 4.35 minutes when the next room came into sight. She slowed down, trying to scan the room ahead before she arrived to avoid any unpleasantness like her capture with Flower Power a few rooms back. Her mind raced as she considered that she was the last free Femme Defender. Curiously, she still had no idea who could have been behind all of this. She searched through her mental database of villains once again, both those the Defenders had faced in the past and those that other heroes and heroines had confronted, and this base and the challenges contained within didn't match up with any of their profiles.

At last she reached the threshold of the room. A number of strange devices were littered throughout. Some were activated, with great turbines spinning and shooting out blue sparks. Mind Mistress used her sub-dermal neural implant to scan them and begin the process of deciphering what purpose they could serve. Her concentration was interrupted by the mysterious voice.

“Hey. Umm... Hi, Mind Mistress. What's up? How's it going?”

“I am presently deciphering the purpose of the machines you have placed in this room. They appear to be oriented toward thwarting some type of technology that I've never encountered before...”

“Yeeeeaaaaah, so, this is kinda awkward. You see, building an evil lair takes a lot of time and money, right?”

“I have no direct experience, but, based on my knowledge of manufacturing and contracting for high-tech construction, I will accept your premise.”

“Cool. So, I overheard earlier that you guys figured out that this whole base was pretty much designed to capture each one of you in turn...”

“We did surmise that, some of us sooner than others.”

“Weeeeelllll... When I designed this base, you weren't on the team yet and Future Girl was. So I kinda built this room to take care of Future Girl, buuuuut, she's not around anymore.”

“Ah. I see.”

“It puts me in kind of an awkward situation.”

“Well, I don't know what to tell you. Sorry to disappoint?”

“Oh, no, it's not your fault! Just, you know... I did spend a lot of time on all these things, so it's kind of a bummer that I don't get to see if they'd have worked. I mean, it'd obviously suck if they didn't work, so it's cool that that's not gonna happen, but still, really irksome.”

“I can only imagine.”

“And if this were, like, a month from now I would totally have built a room just for you, and it would definitely have been kick-ass.”

“I'm sure it would have been.”

“But, well, here we are. But... you are from the future, right? You don't happen to have a future suit like hers? I could totally let you out while you got it if you promised to come back...”

“Sorry; Future Girl's suit came from a different era than I do. Plus I'm reasonably certain that it came from a drastically different timeline than ours, so the workings are more or less totally unknown to me.”

“Nuts. Well, that's that, I guess.”

“I suppose that it is. Now, we do need to determine how best to proceed from here. Given my considerable intelligence and the extraordinary likelihood that I will foil your plot and rescue my teammates, I would suggest that the most mutually beneficial course of action is for you to surrender. I would be willing to testify as to your compliance and would prevail upon my comrades to do the same.”

“Okay, so, that's not going to work for me. How about you just give up and I win?”

“Unacceptable. It appears we are at an impasse. You have no traps designed to thwart me, and anything you might derive on the spot would be no match for my superior intellect.”

“Maybe, I guess. Ooooorrrr, I could just do this.”

Mind Mistress heard a loud clicking sound, then lost her feet as a large trap door swung open beneath her. She reached out and grabbed at the edges to hold on to, but the rush of air from the downward suction of the tunnel was too much for her when she had such poor leverage. Her hands slipped and she disappeared into the blackness.

***

Mind Mistress landed with a *Thump!* in a metal chair. The moment she landed, *shikt!* *shikt!* *shikt!* *shikt!*, four metal bindings emerged, enveloping her wrists and ankles and rendering her unable to move. Yet another white room. The chair Mind Mistress was strapped into was positioned on a conveyor belt that disappeared into the side of a rather large machine. Mind Mistress strained her neck, but was unable to make out anything in the darkness within.

“Hey,” said the mysterious voice, “So, this is my emergency backup method for stripping you down, just in case one of you got through a test without losing your clothes. I call it my Costume Collector. It's designed to remove your outfit with as little wear and tear as possible, then perfectly preserve it for display.”

With a lurch, the chair began to move, bringing Mind Mistress closer and closer to the machine.

“Once again, I reiterate my offer to seek leniency if you will just stop what you're doing, release us, and surrender to the proper authorities.”

“Seriously? I've already won. Why would I ever do that?”

The chair was on the cusp of entering the machine.

“Because, clever though you are, I can assure you that I am exponentially cleverer.”

With that, the chair plunged into the darkness. After a few moments the conveyor belt stopped and the machine whirred to life, lights flashing, pistons pumping, flywheels spinning. From outside the sounds of scuffling and muffled shrieks could be heard as the machine went about its business. A panel on the top of the machine slid open. After a few moments Mind Mistress's jacket, sealed in Mylar, shot up out of the opening and into the air, where it arced semi-gracefully to the ground. It was followed by her gloves, bound up together in the plastic wrapping, then her boots, then her belt. Finally, her stretchy skin-tight yellow-and-black top and pants made their appearance.

The conveyor belt re-started. The chair emerged from the other side of the Costume Collector, carrying with it an exceptionally put-out looking Mind Mistress in all her green-skinned, purple-haired glory. The ultra-genius heroine was now completely naked but for a pair of blue panties with black elastic, covered in cartoon pictures of chocolate chip cookies and the words “Om Nom Nom!” on the front.

“Oh! Um, that's a bit surprising...” said the mysterious voice.

Mind Mistress cocked an eyebrow.

“Why? Has your extraordinarily inefficient machine functioned differently in the past?”

“No, that's not it. Just... your undies are a bit... well, never mind. Anyhow, every trip through the Costume Collector also includes a visit to the Derriere Destroyer at no extra charge!”

“I didn't pay to go the Costume Collector, despite your implication that I did. One cannot have an extra charge when there was no initial charge.”

“It's... It's just banter. Why do you have to make everything so hard?”

“Why do you have to make your banter so imprecise and inaccurate?”

The voice emitted an annoyed grunt as a tone sounded. With a series of mechanical clanks, Mind Mistress's chair began transforming, leaning her forward until her face was parallel with the ground, then swinging the back and seat around until they rested under her stomach and in front of her legs. She was now positioned, leaning forward, with her underwear-clad butt high in the air behind her.

The chair approached another machine, but this one was well-lit inside, giving Mind Mistress a view of what lay in her immediate future. First, a series of half a dozen metal paddles, swinging in wide circular arcs with the flat ends of the paddles positioned to swing directly through the space Mind Mistress's rear end was soon to occupy.

Mind Mistress winced.

“It occurs to me that I was, perhaps, slightly hyper-critical when discussing your banter abilities earlier. Taking into account the standards of this time period, your banter is actually well within a standard deviation of adequate.”

“Was that an apology?”

“A... reassessment.”

“Oh, good, I was worried I'd have to stop the machine.”

Mind Mistress's time was running out.

*Woosh!* *Woosh!* *Woosh!*

Her rear was coming closer and closer to the first of the spinning paddles. She tensed up as she felt the wind rush by her side.

*WHACK!* “Ooo!”

The first paddle struck Mind Mistress firmly in the butt, causing her to jolt forward slightly. The paddle continued to press forward against her rear until her continued movement caused it to slide off the right side of her buttocks.

There was no opportunity for relief, however, for no sooner was one paddle gone than another took its place, announcing its presence with both force and determination.

*WHACK!* “Aah!”

This one felt even more painful, causing Mind Mistress to bite her lip to distract from the searing pain in her ass. It didn't help.

*WHACK!* “Eee!”

Another blow caused Mind Mistress to futilely try to kick her legs, but they remained bound to the modified chair.

*WHACK!* “Ffff-” *WHACK!* “Ggg!” *WHACK!* “Yow!”

At last Mind Mistress's chair passed the final paddle and she exhaled in relief. The spanking portion of the ride was over and she turned her head to look at what lay ahead.

Her eyes widened when she saw what appeared to be a wall-mounted machine gun, taking careful aim at her approaching rear.

*RATATATATATATATATATATAT!* “Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!”

Mind Mistress, on some level, was relieved to note that the machine gun was firing ball bearings rather than bullets or some other form of more deadly ammunition at her tortured tuchus. That note of solace, however, was more than drowned out by the feeling of hundreds of BBs colliding with her rear at a velocity of 200 ft/s. The gun carefully shifted its position to make sure that every inch of Mind Mistress's rear was well-plastered with munitions until, after an excruciating two minutes, the chair had moved to the point where the angle of attack made further firing unproductive. Saddened by the end of its tour of duty, the gun slumped back down to neutral position.

A hundred tiny welts new peppered Mind Mistress's rear. She strained against her bonds, desperate to rub her hurting hindquarters, but was forced to content herself with gazing with trepidation further down the conveyor belt. What she saw made her subconsciously clench her buttocks even tighter. A set of heating elements, of the kind one might find in a toaster, was positioned to pass millimeters from Mind Mistress's already swollen rear. The red coils stretched into the distance as far as she could see.

The alien heroine took a deep breath and closed her eyes. While the sort of meditation Flower Power did was superstitious nonsense, in the distant future Mind Mistress had received training in scientifically valid pain suppression techniques as part of basic training to help Space Patrol agents resist torture. She concentrated on quieting the portion of her brain devoted to the reportage of pain stimuli and redirected her concentration toward computing powers of 2. Her lips moved in a silent mantra:

“24816326412825651210242048409681921638432768655361310722621445242881048576-”

Her rear end reached the heating elements and immediately began warming up. Mind Mistress, however, was deep in her mathematical trance and didn't even register the searing heat on her buns.

“209715241943048388608167772163355443267108864134217728268435456536870912-”

The seat of Mind Mistress's cookie-print panties was beginning to blacken and toast, and the faintest sizzling sound could be heard. The auditory intrusion slightly distracted Mind Mistress, causing her to momentarily lose concentration on her math and take note of the intense signals coming from the pain center of her brain. Her equilibrium was being upset, she quickly realized, and just as quickly recalibrated to maintain her trance state.

“1073741824214748364842949672968589934592171798691843435973836868719476736-”

As her buns continued to toast, they began emitting a familiar, pleasant smell. It wafted on the stale, recirculated air, drifting outward, the intoxicating, enticing aroma at last penetrating Mind Mistress's nostrils...

“1374389534722748779069445497558138881099511627776- Ooo, is that bacon?”

Mind Mistress had created a nearly impregnable fortress in her mind, blocking out all the unpleasant sensory perceptions from her pain receptors and ignoring the unpleasant signals from her ears. But the sinfully intoxicating aroma of sizzling bacon had slipped past all of her barriers, pushing through her olfactory nerve and demanding attention from her consciousness. Too late, Mind Mistress realized that the pleasant odor of her seared buttocks had hijacked her brain, breaking her out of her trance. Three minutes of searing ass pain slammed into her all at once.

“YEEEEEE-OOOOOWWW-OOOOOOWWW-OOOOOOOWWWW-OOOOOOWWW-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUCCCCHHHH!!!”

Mind Mistress's world became pain. In a dark mirror of her earlier trance, her powerful mind was now consumed with the overwhelming signal from its pain sensors, utterly incapable of any rational thought except the lizard-brain struggle to do anything and everything to alleviate the excruciating, throbbing heat that was frizzling her posterior.

After another long minute, Mind Mistress's chair passed the end of the heating element. She breathed a sigh of relief as a large doorway signaled the end of her torment.

“Hey there, Brainiac,” said the annoyingly chipper mysterious voice, “Got anymore comments and criticisms for me?”

“Butt... butt hot... hurty...” was all the normally loquacious alien could manage.

“So, I have a little bit of bad news for you...”

“Wuh?”

“See, I need to bring you down here to my master control center, buuuuut... I kinda had to build the exit duct from that room on the other side of the Derrierre Destroyer. Load-bearing walls, stuff like that. I yelled at the contractor, but there doesn't seem to have been any better way. Anyhow, that means....”

Even in her dazed state, Mind Mistress knew what that meant.

“Nuh-uh! Nuh-uh!” She vocalized, frantically shaking her head as the mechanical whirring of the conveyor belt halted, then restarted in a slightly different key as her chair reversed direction, moving inexorably back into the Derrierre Destroyer.

*Sizzle!* “YAAI-AI-AI-AI-AI-AI-AI-AI!”

*RATATATATATATATATATATAT!* “Ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch!”

*Whack!* “ACK!”

*Whack!* “OO!”

*Whack!* “AAA!”

*Whack!* “EEK!”

*Whack!* “YEOWCH!”

*Whack!* “YEEARGH!”

At last Mind Mistress emerged from the Derrierre Destroyer. Every muscle was relaxed, her eyes were at half mast, her mouth hanging open. Her rear, clad in panties with a thoroughly blackened seat, throbbed and pulsed, swollen significantly from its original size. The genius heroine had been captured, stripped, spanked, shot, and then had her shapely round buns quite thoroughly toasted, twice. At the moment, she was feeling considerably less enamored with her own intelligence than usual.

“Alright,” said the mysterious voice, “You're all set. Care to favor me with any more pearls of wisdom before we meet in person?”

Mind Mistress blinked twice, her eyes unfocused, then opened her mouth as though to speak. Her tongue rolled out and hung lazily, dropping a long strand of drool.

“I thought not!” said the voice, “See you in a few!”

With that, the bindings on Mind Mistress's wrists and ankles came undone and the former-chair back she rested on tilted forward to a 45-degree angle, sending the heroine sliding forward into a hole that opened up in the ground in front of her.

Mind Mistress's world was darkness. Darkness and ass pain.