[Corruption, Brainwashing, Secretary TF]

"TITAN! GIVE ME BACK MY FRIEND OR I WILL BURN EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR STUPID FAKES UNTIL I BURN THE WHOLE DAMN BUILDING DOWN!"

The violent voice of one Magmaiden echoed out through the ground floor of Titan Industries. She was a Hero that was known for her temper and her ability to turn herself into a stream of magma that could consume everything around her. It wasn't exactly the most heroic kind of ability, and in fact she had been recognized as a bit of a Villain in her initial days. But she just didn't know how to control herself.

That all changed once she met the Ice Queen. A fellow Hero who had been looked down upon thanks to the way she could freeze minds and take them as her own, making them into soldiers that followed her every other. But she didn't use that power for evil, even though she very well could. She used it to thin down the hordes of minions that many Villains employed, using her powers for good when she could've just as well used them for evil.

Ice Queen, who went by the name Hvid when she wasn't on duty as a Hero, told Magmaiden that she was better than she thought she was. And together, by melding their powers, the two could serve as a force that might not be able to deal with Villains very efficiently, but they could certainly serve as backup for those that were much better at dealing with them. This way, they could protect more citizens and they could slowly but surely be seen in the eyes of the public as genuine heroes instead of threats to their security.

And the fact that she had disappeared during the rise of Titan Industries, a public security firm that wanted to replace Heroes with efficient mockups that had some of their powers... There was only one possible cause in Magmaiden's mind. They had to have taken her. They were the cause behind all of this. And this was the one time she'd sink as low as a Villain, if it meant that she could save her best friend from monsters like them!

"Please refrain from causing chaos." The dull voices of the identical looking Titan Drones echoed as a line of them formed. There was nothing individual about them. All of them had short bobcuts and they wore leotards that dug into their curves, making them not only impossible to distingush to make sure one of them was on the verge of being taken out by excessive damage, but also annoyingly lewd. What was this company thinking of, making them eyecandy for the public!?

Magmaiden and her long flowing red hair served to contast that of those Titan Drones. Her thick red bodysuit was coated in small veins that allowed her to store some of her transformed self even after she had returned to normal, keeping her nice and hot and ready to brawl. It was also a way to avoid causing too much damage by transforming into the living stream of magma, because she didn't always need to cause property damage.

"I'LL CAUSE AS MUCH DAMNED CHAOS AS I PLEASE IF IT MEANS YOU ASSHOLES GIVE ME BACK MY HVID!" Magmaiden shouted as the magma in her arm started to flare up with heat, the girl dashing forth as she headed at the horde of Titan Drones. One way or another, she'd crush every single one of them to bits until there was nothing left of them. Then she'd feast upon them with her magma and turn them into fuel for herself, so those assholes couldn't just recycle them and make new ones using the data they had farmed with them. She wasn't going to give them an inch!

The Titan Drones locked onto their enemy as their fingertips unscrewed revealing a set of exhausts. The cold air from within spewed forth as they fired tiny pin-like needles of ice at such a fast speed that it was very much possible for the needles to collide in the air, but this velocity was necessary to inflict any sort of meaningful damage on their opponent. Even if the elements were not in their favor in this one matchup.

Unfortunately, even when piled on that much cold, Magmaiden was one of the hottest Heroes in Trinity City. It would take Ice Queen at her full power to cool her down when she was this heated. "I'M MAGMELTING YOU BUCKETS OF BOLTS!" She shouted as she clenched her fist and activated her power the second she slammed it into one of the Titan Drones, causing her fist to explode into a burst of Magma that was sprayed across the lobby and onto every single one of the many Drones that tried to impede her.

Despite the fact that they had a short time to remain active, all of them kept on firing. It was their duty to follow the orders that had been programmed into them. Which meant that they had no choice but to continue firing at the cost of their possible continued existence. Not that Magmaiden would let any of them live when they served as a mockery upon her dearest friend.

Magmaiden watched as the drones just kept on trying to fire their weak icy needles at her, and she grit her teeth and clenched her fist. Or rather, her fist emerged from the magma underneath them and clenched around them, crushing the remainder as they mellted into her and fed into her magma, making the pool grow as it slowly started to retract into her suit. "Those damned assholes. They don't just want to keep the city streets safe. They want to get rid of us in the process. I'll make sure that they regret ever trying to anger me. THEY'LL REGRET TRYING TO TAKE MY HVID AWAY FROM ME!"

As Magmaiden continued to shout with righteous fury and hate towards the one that had wronged her, shutters slammed down to block her path forward. Though strangely enough, only a few of them did. The ones that led deeper into the Titan Industries complex. The ones that led into the factory where all of these Titan Drones were processed...

It could be a trap. That's what Hvid always told her. To consider her surroundings and think more critically about her path. But Magmaiden wasn't the type to do that. Especially when that very same girl was in danger. She was going to make them all pay for taking her away. And she was going to burn this entire goddamn building to the ground if that was what it took. Heading further down t make sure that she melted all of it only made sense.

"YOU CAN'T STOP ME, TITAN!" She shouted as her entire body started to pull itself apart and melt into a larger stream of magma while she approached one of the iron shutters. Her body was heating up to the point where every step she took was leaving an imprint on the ground, her fury unable to be contained. Especially as she slammed her fist forward and pierced straight through the iron that tried to stop her. "I WILL FIND HER! AND YOU WILL FEEL MY WRATH!"

Looking beyond this first shutter, there were so many more ahead. All of them seemingly slanted as the path led further and further down. But that wouldn't stop her. Not when she had a friend to save. Not when she had a company to dismantle.

With one poignant scream the Hero erupted into a massive wave of magma that poured down the slanted path, consuming anything in the way. Though it seemed awfully focused as it didn't touch the walls for longer than necessary, mostly to course correct, and the floor itself managed to avoid being caved in thanks to her fury being focused. If she was the same girl that she was back before she met Hvid, she would've sunk straight through the floor and ended up god knows where. This was her putting everything she knew to the test. While at the same time acting entirely on her anger. She had learned, yes, but she was still a ball of fury at heart...

No matter how much they tried to put in her way, she bowled through all of it. It wouldn't stop her. Not when the life of her friend was on the line. She didn't know what they had done to her, she didn't particularly care if she had agreed to it consensually either. What mattered was that Hvid was gone, and she wasn't going to stand for it.

Once the last shutter slammed straight down on her body and got melted instantly as a result, Magmaiden reformed into a humanoid shape as she took her first steps into the underground facility buried deep beneath the main Titan Industries building. If she had counted all those shutters right as well as the corners and the general slope of the paths she had gone down... This was at least ten stories beneath the ground. Putting it closer to the kind of environment that she favored, and yet at the same time it only made her angrier. Because this meant that they were probably planning on grabbing ahold of her next and converting her into an asset too. Those bastards..!

"Halt. Do not move beyond this point."

Magmaiden glared straight ahead as several Titan Drones were plonked down in front of her. Though these ones were incomplete, as they were missing their hair leaving them even more featureless than the normal ones. They were even missing their fingercaps, showing off their weaponry then and there as they hopelessly pointed towards her...

Nothing shot out of their hands. There was no way that they could carry out their duty. And yet that was what they had been assigned to do. They were staring in the face of their proverbial death, and they did not flinch. They did not waver. Their job was to stop any intruders from causing chaos, and the girl in front of them was the one that had caused a good 40% of the building to start melting. They needed to stop her. Right here. Right now.

Magmaiden just rolled her eyes at the token effort put up by these mass produced machines. They were an insult to the eyes. So much so that she just wound up a swing and tossed a single ball of her mass at them, only to then clench her fist and have that magma shoot out in tendrils, penetrating the rest of the Drones and melting them into her mass in the process. "Get out of my way." She said as she walked past their melted remains, her body expanding for a brief moment to suck them all up.

Looking around, the machinery that made up this factory was rather simple. It seemed as if they kept pouring down a single mercury-like liquid down several tubes as it was given several treaments. Only to then be poured into a mold where it was cooled by some sort of clear ice-like water, and then a plain looking Titan Drone was retrieved from that mold. It was... Not the most complex process, even Magmaiden could follow along with it. It was just an annoying one because it definitely seemed like there was more at play here than just a simple set of two kinds of liquids.

"My my. Here's a face I expected to see a few days earlier. It seemed as if you've only just realized the scope of what you're dealing with, Miss Mika."

Magmaiden felt her body tremble and twitch with anger as she whipped towards the source of that annoying sound. That ever mocking voice that she was very familiar with. Why of all people was SHE here?! She thought she had seen the last of her after she burned down her office for what she forced her to do!

"Inside Trader! I should've known that you were behind some of this junk! WHERE THE HELL IS MY HVID, DID YOU FORCE HER INTO ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR AWFUL CONTRACTS!?"

The woman known as Inside Trader gently brushed a bit of dust off her shoulder, smiling softly as she didn't seem too bothered by the flaming fury headed her way, courtesy of the endlessly loud screams leaving Magmaiden's lips. She was also dressed for the occasion, wearing her suit and tie and jacket, adjusting said tie ever so slightly as she stepped closer and conjured up a tiny little contract in her hands.

"Now now, Miss Mika. I'm sure that we can leave the past behind us. You performed adequately for me when I needed you to deal a swift blow to that criminal syndicate, and in exchange I arranged the necessary elements that allowed you to meet Miss Hvid. It was thanks to your meeting that she agreed to go along with my terms, serving as an important part of the current workings of Titan Industries' latest and greatest project. A project that they hired me to keep an eye on, to ensure that nothing would go wrong with it." Inside Trader paused as she carefully ran a hand through her hair, idly letting her middle finger graze against her crown-like braid. "It really is a tough job, especially when Heroes like you find it in you to try and shut down a perfectly legitimate business venture. What a shame."

Magmaiden, whose real name was now out in the open thanks to the loose lips of the Villain Negotiator in front of her, grit her teeth as she tried to approach her. However, just by listening to her she had begun to enter into the Negotiations phase of her power. Which meant that she couldn't lay a hand on her head until they came to an agreement. "You forced her into helping these bastards... That's why I can see that ice cold water cooling those annoying drones down! You're melting her and acting like it's a good thing, you piece of inhuman garbage!"

Inside Trader sighed as she listened to the abuse hurled her way. "Even a year after all that we went through, you still have that same fire in your heart. And here I thought I was doing you a wonderful favor, giving you the chance to use that fire for something good. But you seem to have taken all of this in the wrong way. No matter, I'm sure we can come to another agreement, once I delve into that mind of yours and find something that we use."

"I refuse!" Magmaiden cried out as she steeled herself. The main power that Inside Trader possessed was her ability to look into another person's mind and then pick out something that she could exploit. From there she had been able to develop a skill that keeps people in place to allow for these mentally manipulative negotiations. But there was no way that she would allow something like that to happen. Not after it had happened the first time. And as long as she kept refusing, then..!

Inside Trader narrowed her eyes a bit as she dodged out of the way of the girl who suddenly came rushing at her. "Please stay still, Miss Mika. I do not wish to pry too hard into your mind to understand why you would go this far, but you leave me little other course of action if you remain this aggressive." She said, adjusting her shirt's sleeves ever slightly while her jacket remained carefully placed on her shoulders.

"GO TO HELL, I DON'T WANT TO NEGOTIATE WITH SLIME LIKE YOU!" Magmaiden said as she kept on trying to block out the hand trying to rummage around inside her head. She was going to defeat this bitch, and then free Hvid from whatever Titan had placed her inside. It didn't matter if she had technically consented to one of these annoying contracts that Inside Trader issued, the same kind of contract that had made her burn down an entire city block to try and weed out that criminal organization she had been tasked with culling. She was going to free her from its shackles and deal with the bitch that issued them in the first place!

Inside Trader smiled a little as she squeezed her hand tight. "Let's talk about Miss Hvid, shall we?" Her eyes glowed for just a brief moment. She knew exactly what she could use in this negotiation. "You love her, don't you?" And she laid her trap. Because there was no way that an emotional girl like Mika could stop herself from agreeing.

Magmaiden stopped for but a single second as she heard the accusation, her cheeks flushing redder than when they were turning into magma. And thus she fell into the Negotiation, her body trembling as she was forced to face straight towards Inside Trader. "T-The hell do you think you'll get out of this, trying to use her against me!?" She shouted, still trying to refuse as much as she could internally. And it was working, because her body was jittering from her spot bit by bit. If she could just explode into magma, she could deal with this awful woman.

"Now now. We both know that I have something that you want. And I'm more than happy to let you have it. I just need you to do a tiny favor for me, Miss Mika. One tiny favor that will square your debt away. As an added bonus, I'll make sure to never get in your hair ever again. I'll make sure that I won't get involved with anybody you perceive as close to your heart. And all you have to do is do this tiny thing for me. That's all I need. Then you get not only your beloved Miss Hvid, but you get the peace of mind knowing that you've done a good thing, and that you'll never see my face ever again." Inside Trader started to talk, all while walking towards the magma heroine. Which in turn caused the heroine to walk a bit backward in response, because Negotiation meant that the two parties had to be a certain distance from one another, something that was enforced on the other party due to her power...

"The only way you're going to get that out of me is if you personally serve me dinner as a maid and quit all this negotiating shit!" Magmaiden grit her teeth. She knew better than to agree to one of these tasks. It would probably result in her taking a mild stint as a villain just to make ends meet. And that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted nothing more than to see her friend again. See her bright smile on her face. That was what drove her to do all of this.

Of course she neglected to notice that the further she was pushed back, the closer she came to the edge of the walkway they were standing on. It was reinforced, sure, but it was also tiny. And if somebody were to topple over... then...

"Is that all I need to do to convince you, Miss Mika?" Inside Trader chimed as she slowly took off her jacket, folding it up and carefully placing it on the ground below. "If I must show my utter dedication to serving you to apologize for everything that I've done to you, then I would gladly do so. If you'd just allow me a few moments to show that dedication, then I'd be happy to show you where Miss Hvid is kept. Then we can return to your home, and I can change into something more appropriate."

Magmaiden's blush started growing as one of her worst enemies was... Well she was just straight up stripping in front of her, carefully placing every single garment of clothing in a few neat piles to show what part of the body they were intended to cover. All while she maintained as much eye contact as possible to send shivers down the Hero's spine, before finishing up with a Dogeza-style prostration, the negotiator putting herself on the line as a chip in this agreement...

"S-Stop. Stop, right now, I don't want to see that!" Magmaiden cried out as she voluntarily stepped backward, just far enough away to keep within the confines of the agreement. Which would also serve to put her balance right over the edge of the walkway, her head immediately tipping over as she realized what had happened a moment too late. "W-WAIT-"

Inside Trader lifted her head with a smile as she watched the magma Hero fall over the railing straight into the machinery below. Right into one of the large funnels that led into the many pipes that were designed to transport the various liquids all around. And she knew exactly where that pipe was going. It was just a matter of making her transform into something that could traverse through the pipes more easily.

Not that she needed to do anything. Because she had already made the preparations. The machinery in this facility were made to force those that could transform into liquids to take upon that shape, something that became readily apparent as a press started to sink straight into the funnel, with the Hero down below shouting violently as it approached.

"DON'T YOU CRUSH ME!" Magmaiden cried out in frustration as she quickly started to turn into thick magma so she could stay safe from this press. She'd even try to punch straight into it, just to make sure that it wouldn't push her through all of this...

Only for her arm to melt even harder as the press was much hotter than she was, a look of pure shock overtaking her face as she was forcibly melted into a more liquid form, her body slowly pouring through the pipes as she was guided through the rest of the facility until she reached her final destination, a destination that seemed awfully similar to the mold that she had seen when she came into the damned place...

Magmaiden regained control of herself once she was poured into that massive mold, though she wasn't really able to do much while she was in it. Mostly because she was still in a liquid state and she really couldn't move around due to gravity. But she could definitely think. 'When I get out of here, you are going to pay, you awful, AWFUL bitch!'

Inside Trader adjusted her tie after putting all of her clothes back on, carefully brushing one of her fingers against her braided crown. She was used to using her body as a bargaining chip, but this worked out entirely in her favor. "What a shame, Miss Mika. Now we won't be able to make a deal that centers on your benefits." She said, looking up at the other pipe that led into the mold that the girl was stuck in. "But I'm sure that Titan Industries will enjoy their newest acquisition instead. So I've done everything that they asked me to do, in accordance to the deal that I made with them.

'YOU ABSOLUTE BITCH I WILL KILL YOU-' Magmaiden's thoughts were so violent that the mold itself started to melt from how intense her anger was, but that wouldn't last. Not as an icy cold stream of pure water started to pour onto her body, cooling her utterly and completely to the point where there was no more heat inside this magma Hero.

She knew what kind of water this was. This was indeed Hvid's water. Or rather, her ice melted to the brink of freezing. If it was given even the slightest chill it would seize up completely and block the pipe that it all came from. But here it was. Pouring down on her. Letting her get a taste of the subjugating powers of the Ice Queen like she had done back when they first met.

It was... It was completely cooling her head. Extingushing the flame inside her. She hadn't been covered with this much of her cold before, but she could totally understand why it made people obey her now. But since it was melted into a liquid form, the connection and the loyalty she felt towards the Ice Queen was not nearly as solid as it should've been. In fact, she barely felt any sort of loyalty. The only loyalty she felt was the kind that was earned...

She could feel her body pulsing. Like there was something living inside her. That must be the remainder of her heat. The remainder of her magma. But since she had been cooled off, it would be more appropriate to describe her as one big living slab of obsidian. Not unlike the metallic Titan Drones who were made out of some sort of mercury-like material before being subjugated to the Ice Queen's specifications. What a strange way of mass producing help, but one that seemed to be awfully effective considering how many of them she had faced.

Slowly but surely, Mika was released from her mold as she fell like a rock onto the walkway below. And indeed as she looked at herself, she seemed like nothing more than a living slab of obsidian. She was completely naked and almost featureless to the point where she could probably fit in with the Titan Drones. The only thing that stood out about her compared to them, minus the color, was the fact that she still had her hair. Though the fact that her fire had been put out left it looking a lot shorter, barely reaching down to her shoulders and remaining completely and perfectly still.

"Facisnating." The formerly hotheaded Hero said to herself as she looked at her body. She knew that most of this was due to the Ice Queen's ability to subjugate, but she did not expect that her fury could be quelled so effectively, nor that she could remain so perfectly calm and logical. It was a whole new experience for her. And... She did not have time to explore it. She still had some answers to coax out of certain individuals, most importantly the Ice Queen herself, as well as Inside Trader for luring her into this arrangement.

Inside Trader dusted herself off a bit more, she really shouldn't have put all those clothes down on the walkway, now she needed to get them all washed earlier than planned. "Very well, Miss Mika. I'm afraid that I have to strongarm you into a bit of an agreement." She said, pulling out a contract and presenting it to the obsidian girl. "Due to the fact that you've rather unlawfully made use of the Titan Industries machinery, letting yourself be converted into a much cooler form... You are now legally treated as one of their assets. However, if you perform a certain few tasks for me, I will ensure that you maintain a certain level of autonomy in exchange. Not only that, but I can help you gain a deeper understanding of what your body is now capable of, thanks to your remolding. If you refuse these terms, then I'm afraid you'll most likely be subjected to a greater dose of Miss Hvid's cooling waters, and will likely face complete identity erasure as a result."

Mika looked at the contract, and reached for her face before popping a pair of obsidian framed glasses out of her face. She could still mold herself into different forms, it was just a bit more limited. "...Would you perhaps have access to a course in secretarial work, Inside Trader?" She asked, pushing the glasses back into her body as her face heated for a moment. "If your terms are as they are written, you plan to nip the head off Titan Industries after about a year of letting them run without restraint. If that's the case you need a proper right hand woman to make sure that you keep all of the necessary elements of your hostile takeover in check."

"My my. That stuff cooled you even more than I expected." Inside Trader nodded as she handed the contract over, procuring a pen for the young obsidian lady to sign off with. "And what about Miss Hvid? I don't suppose you have any desire to bring her from her shackles any longer, Miss Mika?" She asked, knowing how close the icy girl was to her.

"The Ice Queen can wait." Mika replied as she signed off, bowing respectfully as her body heated for a brief moment. Only for a deep black secretary's uniform to pop free from her body, complete with the glasses popping out once again as she adjusted them. "She is a key part of Titan Industries' plan to replace heroes. Without her cooling ability, the Titan Drones will be without orders. I plan on visiting her several times during the course of our plan, to make sure that she knows what she's singed up for. Not only that, but I plan to pay her back for everything she's done for me, and make sure that she agrees to her role in our plan. When the time is right, we will dismantle this company from the inside, convert the higher ups into Titan Drones, and you will have new assets available for you to use and abuse at your leisure, Inside Trader." She explained, bowing her head slightly out of respect for her fellow Villain.

Inside Trader smiled. The extra potent dose had done exactly what she had hoped for. As she took back the contract and prepared to store it away, she took a look at the name signed on the dotted line. "...Obsidious? That's a lovely new name for you, Miss Mika. I hope you live up to it."

Obsidious raised her head back up as she smiled from ear to ear. Oh yes. Unlike her rage-filled approach before, she had all the time in the world to dismantle those that had wronged her. And when everything was said and done, the Ice Queen would be hers again.

For now, she would serve Inside Trader, for the sake of inflating Titan Industries until the planned moment the bubble would pop. Only then would she rise at the negotiator's side on the winning side.

With her beloved Hvid in her arms, loving her even in this cold and cruel form...