Aphrodite had commanded that her triumphal parade be attended by all, and like the good pets they were, the people of Spire City obeyed.

They had no choice, after all. With the Spire Guardians, their valiant superhuman defenders, captured and defeated and at her mercy, there was no force left in the city capable of stopping her from seizing the city. Throughout every civil institution, sleeper agents long planted took control, while her hypnotic powers turned enough of the Spire City Police Force against itself to render any counterattack feeble and disorganized. Across every airwave and electronic device, the subliminal carrier wave her scientists had developed in imitation of her powers reverberated in every home and across every street, playing at the minds of the citizens until obeying her was the most natural thing in the world… which of course, it was. Even the various criminals and supervillains who’d long sought to take Spire City for themselves had bent the knee, finally recognizing her superiority, that their petty efforts were but motes of dust on the wind when compared to her magnificence. Yes, she had won, and now it was time to celebrate that victory.

And there was no better way to do that then holding a triumph. In better days, when the civilized world had openly venerated her as the goddess she was, the greatest heroes and mightiest rulers would hold triumphal parades in their own honour, demonstrating their glory to one and all. And a key feature of any such procession were the defeated enemies left on display to the amusement of the mob.

And what enemies did she have to display today…

Tens of thousands of people crowded the Way of Heroes, the thunder of their devotion eclipsing any storm, and Aphrodite drank it all in from the prow of the float, a gargantuan replication of an ancient Greek trireme, its prow raised a full thirty feet off the ground. Beneath her, a hundred burly slaves pushed the float along via a series of wooden poles at its base, while a swarm of drones buzzed around the moving edifice, broadcasting the image of the seven-foot-tall goddess to the immense TV screens that lined the road, so that not one of Aphrodite’s new subjects could fail to take in her beauty. She raised a hand in benediction, and the fervour of the crowds reached a fever pitch, drowning out the world, and she smiled, pleased with herself. They were as they should always have been; an unthinking herd, minds drained of everything but the desire to obey and please her, and they stared up at their new goddess to drink in the sight of her.

And of the five helpless prisoners hanging from the float, wriggling in their bondage like the worms they were. “Do you see, my dears?” Aphrodite asked, her divine voice cutting through the din of the mob like a blade in midwinter. “Do you see now how little your efforts actually counted in the end?”

“Mmmpppggghh!”

“Nnnngghhh, mmmppgghhh!”

“MMMMPPPPGGHHHH!”

A chorus of gagged protests, barely audible above the tumult, sounded in answer, and Aphrodite gave a vicious smirk as she strode along the trireme’s rails. From wooden beams jutting out of the top deck, the Spire Guardians hung over the raving mob, five beautiful superheroines left helpless and exhausted after Aphrodite’s ministrations, trophies of her conquest. Steel manacles secured their wrists together and forced their legs spread, while another band of metal clasped about their waists to help support their weight, while from these points of restraint, stout chains suspended them from eyebolts driven into the beams. Leather bondage mittens kept their hands locked uselessly into fists, even as stout muzzles banded tight about the lower half of their faces to swallow their cries. Finally, the inhibitor collars about their necks ensured there’d be no using their powers to escape this situation. After the punishments they’d already received, Aphrodite had ordered their costumes be restored about their feminine figures. The time to expose their nakedness before the mob and so complete their humiliation would come. Until it did, each of them would be left stewing in their own fear, knowing the moment would come and knowing too they’d be unable to stop it, and the villainess savoured their dread anticipation as if it was fine wine.

On the starboard side of the float, strung up like sides of beef, were Nightshadow and Fireborn, dark-haired assassin and flame-haired pyrokinetic, the first a figure of terror for Spire City’s underworld, the second a beacon of light and joy for the common citizen. That they were lovers, everyone knew, and Aphrodite had delighted in using that love against them, forcing one to obey by threatening to harm the other. As she passed overhead, Nightshadow craned her head up to observe her captor’s passage, the Asian woman’s eyes narrowing in impotent rage. You’ll learn to obey me, one way or another, Aphrodite promised silently, a cruel smile manifesting at all the torments she could inflict on poor, sweet Fireborn. Perhaps hand her over to the other villains who now followed her banner? Regrettably, her hypnotic powers did not work against other superhumans, but they’d follow her to the ends of the earth for a chance at the beautiful redhead…

From the port side, meanwhile, Hypersonic and Aether struggled fitfully against their chains. The former was a newcomer to the business of superheroics, a trickster who delighted in raising spirits and tweaking the noses of her foes, Aphrodite included, so it was a real pleasure to see the despair sinking into her green eyes, athletic figure writhing helplessly beneath her form-fitting blue bodysuit, blue locks flapping about in her frantic efforts. Aether, meanwhile, was a veteran of the trade, wife and partner to the late and most beloved Bastion, and she was a rather clever and dangerous bitch, even with her psychic abilities supressed. On the first night of their captivity, the beautiful blonde superheroine had managed to escape her bonds and even tried to tamper with her inhibitor collar before Aphrodite caught her in the act. She’d paid for that display of disobedience, and now hung limp in her chains, grey eyes screwed tight with pain and only the feeblest moans escaping past her gag. “Mmmpppgghhh…”

And finally, there was the greatest prize of all, and Aphrodite strode back to the bow of the float where Exemplar thrashed and fought like a cornered beast, still unbroken despite all she’d endured. Not that she minded all that much. Breaking the leader of the Spire Guardians leader would not come easily, but the victory would be all the sweeter for it, and eventually, she and her teammates would obey her just like everyone else. Inhumanly strong hands threaded their way through the superheroine’s brunette locks, drawing fresh tears from her blue eyes. “Mmmpppgghh! MMMPPPPGGGHHH!”

“Do you not see?” Aphrodite chided her mockingly, tugging her captive’s hair so she was forced to watch the sea of humanity surrounding them, all of them staring back at the villainess with unbridled adoration. “You tried to raise them up, my sweet, stupid Exemplar, tried to pretend they were something greater, and look at them now! Nothing but cattle, base creatures who can do naught but obey! Just like you and your fellow tarts will eventually…”

“MMMPPGGGGHH! MMMPPPPPGGGGHHHH!”

Exemplar would obey. They would all obey. And then, with the Spire Guardians her obedient pets, Aphrodite would see the rest of the world grovelling at her feet, bent over in worship of their true goddess. She would have it all, and dreamt of the glories to come, the sensation so hypnotic that she did not register the foreign voice intruding at the edges of her mind…

“How long can you keep her like this?”

********************

“Long enough for the SHRD to take her into custody,” Aether answered Exemplar’s query, her beautiful, aquiline features left pale and drawn, both from the night’s perils, and from the strain of continually employing her powers. “Is everyone all right?”

“We are now,” Hypersonic admitted, giving a weak smile. The doors to Aphrodite’s harem were flung open, the bonds that had secured them long since removed, and now the Spire Guardians stood in a circle about their would-be enslaver, eyeing her prone form warily and with no small measure of disgust. “What exactly did you do to her?”

The blonde shrugged. “What did you see?”

“I saw her storm towards you when you were trying to disable your inhibitor collar,” replied the speedster. “Then before she could hit you, she stopped, then smiled, then just lay down. You managed to use your powers on her, didn’t you?”

Aether nodded. “I implanted a psychic illusion deep into her mind. As far as she knows, she’d managed to stop me before I could disable my collar. And with us as her prisoners…”

“There’d be nothing to stop her from taking over Spire City,” Exemplar finished, sick to her stomach. She’d failed that night and nearly doomed her teammates in the process, and the only thing that had saved them was Aether’s long experience as a superheroine, and the slim piece of metal hidden on the blonde’s person that picked the lock of her manacles. Aphrodite was secured now, so hypnotised by Aether’s telepathic illusion that she had not struggled as the Spire Guardians repaid her earlier hospitality by leaving her chained and gagged, the same inhibitor collar that had left Exemplar powerless now clasped tight about her own neck. Yet that didn’t change how close they’d come to outright disaster, and the leader of the Spire Guardians faced her teammates with eyes made dull and heavy by guilt. “This is my fault, everyone. I shouldn’t have been so overconfident. If I hadn’t been so intent on bringing her to justice--”

“It’s not your fault,” Fireborn consoled her, ever the voice of compassion. “Besides, you suffered the worst at her hands. We should be apologizing to you instead for being captured in the first place.”

“But I made the wrong call. How can you trust--”

“We don’t obey your orders just because you’re pretty,” Nightshadow interjected, arms coiled protectively about her redheaded lover as she addressed their leader. “So the bad guys got one over us. It certainly hasn’t been the first time, so suck it up and learn from it. Now, can we make sure the SHRD gets here sooner rather than later? I’ve had enough of this gaudy hellhole to last a lifetime.”

Exemplar gave a great sigh. Nightshadow was right; beating herself up over the night’s events would do her no good. For in the end, a major supervillain had been brought down, she’d spend the rest of her life in a cell inside the Black Box, and with any luck, the criminal organization she’d established would go down with her.

And perhaps the next time her teammates willingly obeyed her orders, those orders would be good ones…