The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Light and Shadows X: Eclipsed

by J. Darksong & Gbrn32e

* * *
When you think all is forsaken,
Listen to me now
You need never feel broken again—
Sometimes darkness can show you the light
—from The Light by Disturbed

Prologue:

Another mission, the powers have called me away
Another time to carry the colors again
My motivation, an oath I’ve sworn to defend
To win the honor of coming back home again
No explanation will matter after we begin
Unlock the dark destroyer that’s buried within
My true vocation, and now my unfortunate friend
You will discover a war you’re unable to win...

Katie Frasier hummed tunelessly along to the song playing on her iPod as the elevator she rode in reached the top. Stepping out, she found herself on the roof, taking a moment to simply enjoy a breath of fresh air. Just like the song she’d been listening to, she truly felt ‘Indestructible’. She was about to do the impossible, to not only meddle with the very forces of creation itself, but bend those forces to her will. It was both exciting and quite daunting... and as was usually the case lately, she found herself feeling torn in two directions. Her long blonde hair fluttered lightly in the wind as she stared out over the city, lost for the moment in introspection.

My city, she thought to herself. My home. Oh, Jess, I wish you could see it, how much everything has changed. So many sleepless nights, so much effort… but it’s all been worth it—

«Hah. Worth it? Bunch of stinking slimy little insects all of them!»

Katie shook her head briefly. But… that doesn’t matter now. Soon, sweetie, soon, you’ll be able to see it again with your own eyes.

«Yes! And back to take your revenge against the one that took you away from me in the first place! Filthy fucking piece of shit! I’ll claw his eyes out, rip out his throat, and toss his severed head to you as a gift—»

I just… just need to rest a bit, Katie said wearily, shaking her head again. I just need to conserve my strength… to prepare for what I have to do—

“No! No, I can’t,” she said furiously to herself. “I... we can’t do this. If I, we do… anything could happen. People could be hurt—”

«No! Fucking chickenshit wuss! Afraid to do what’s necessary? Wasn’t that your motto? Your solemn vow?!?»

“But… we’re talking about innocent people—”

«Fuck ’em! Fuck the whole goddamn lot of ’em! What do you care about the nameless faceless masses anyway? If this works you just bring them back as well... and better, less annoying versions of them this time around! Besides, are any of THEM more important than the woman you love?»

“ENOUGH!!!” Supernova screamed loudly, silencing all the other voices in her head. At least for the moment. She’d argued with herself, literally, for hours on end. But when all was said and done, she was committed to her goal. She’d already done so much… sacrificed friendships, betrayed loved ones, all with the goal of making River City a crime free paradise that Jessica would have been proud of. And, she’d succeeded. Her re-education program assured that no one living in her city would break any law, big or small. Every criminal was either locked away serving time, or, following re-education, now worked alongside the other heroes and law enforcement. In ridding her city of crime, she had done the impossible.

Now, it was merely time to take things one step further.

It… will be fine, she reassured herself. I’m just doing what I have to do to bring Jessica back. To that end… no sacrifice is too big.

Yeah. Exactly. You’re just doing what you have to do. And collateral damage, if it happens, is just a part of life. You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

“I’m just doing what’s necessary,” Katie whispered softly as she made her way to the exact center of the roof. Sitting down cross legged, she closed her eyes and concentrated on focusing her power. Altering reality on the small scale was one thing. To truly bring her beloved back from the dead, she’d have to do more than simply bend the laws of time and space. To do this, she would have to break the rules completely, shatter them like a pane of window glass. She had the power and the ability to do so.

All she needed was time.

* * *
Hello darkness, my old friend...
I’ve come to talk with you again...
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision, that was planted in my brain—
Still remains... within the sound of silence

The words of the song echoing in the back of his mind, Jimmy Frasier pulled off to the side of the road a mile away from the city limits, and stepped out of his car. Turning towards the city he simply took a moment to stare. Home sweet home, he thought drearily, or an unreasonable facsimile thereof. Seriously… I’ve heard of placing having an air of despair about them, or a dark cloud hovering over it, but this is ridiculous. Indeed, over the center of the city, near the business section, a large dark grey storm cloud sat in the otherwise clear sky. Green colored lightning issued forth now and again, giving the scene an eerie feeling. Even more ‘disturbing’ than the song lyrics, was the knowledge of its source, and ‘vision in his brain’ had been planted, not through some random or indistinct dream, but shared with him through his girlfriend Devon’s psychic gifts. He knew exactly what was happening what happening to his city; the only question was, could he somehow manage to stop it?

Or rather, could he stop her.

“Katie,” he murmured aloud, closing his eyes. Damn. This close to you, I can actually feel the pain you’re feeling. But… what the hell happened? I knew you were hurting before, that despite the happy face you put on for everyone else that you hadn’t fully gotten over Jessica’s death… but this? You were doing so much better when I left. Being with your friends, Sioban and Tawnya, made you so happy. And I can’t imagine those two letting you descend this far into hopelessness with them around…

Suddenly Jimmy gasped, and slapped his forehead. “Dammit. Goddess-fucking-dammit!” he growled, slipping back into his car, and pulling back onto the road. “And I’m supposed to be the SMART one?!? How the hell could I have missed it?” Stomping on the gas, he shook his head in dismay Katie, sis… I didn’t give you enough credit. This isn’t some random occurrence. You planned this, and planned it well. You waited until we were all out of town—me, Mom, Dad, Aunt Eva, Uncle Parker, Nigel, Sioban, and Tawnya—anyone that might have had a chance to stop you, or talk you out of this. The timing was perfect. And the way you kept everyone at arm’s length, not letting Eva scan you, not letting me link to you through our bond—you didn’t want anyone to know what you were up to!

As he hit seventy-five MPH, coming up onto the city limits, Jimmy mused darkly on what he might be facing. Devon’s warning had struck home: Katie, mad with grief, and fueled by rage, intending to bring her dead lover back to life, using her power to literally destroy reality itself to make it happen. To anyone else, it might have seemed ridiculous, impossible, completely unbelievable. But Jimmy knew. Not only was it possible, it was extremely likely. And unless he was able to stop his twin sister, it would happen.

Crossing the city limits, Jimmy winced, finding the telltale flashing lights of a police cruiser behind him. “Dammit… I don’t have time for this,” he grumbled, pulling over to the side of the road, only to sigh in relief as he recognized the officer approaching his car. Oh, finally, a bit of good luck for a change! “Officer Redgrave! It’s me, Darklight,” he stated, showing his badge. “Look, I know I was going pretty fast, but I’m on Super related business here. I have to get to the center of the business district as soon as possible—“

“License and registration, please?” the dark haired officer asked, pleasantly.

“Um… yeah, sure,” Jimmy replied, taking out his wallet. “Look, like I said, I really have to get to the business district—“

“Thank you, Mr. Frasier,” the officer said, handing back the wallet. “Do you know how fast you were going?”

Jimmy frowned. “Yes. I was going between seventy-five and seventy-seven miles per hour. But really, we don’t have time for this right now. This is an emergency! I need to get to the business district right now, or a lot of people are going to die!”

“Well, that does sound serious,” the female officer stated, as she continued writing on her pad, “but the speed limit laws are clearly stated. And the law is the same for everyone, Mr. Frasier. I can’t simply excuse you because you are having an emergency. If I left you off the hook, then I’d have to let others off as well. And if no one obeys the laws, you end up with anarchy and chaos. And we certainly don’t want that, do we?”

“Er, no,” Jimmy said dryly, “we certainly don’t want that.” Is this woman for real? I just told her that people’s lives are at stake, and she’s writing me out a ticket? I’ve helped her out on three separate cases, and she’s never acted so stiff or anal before. Something’s weird here. “All right, Officer,” he said aloud, nodding. “I’ll remember that in the future. So, if you’ll hand me my ticket, I’ll be on my way—“

“Not so fast, Mr. Frasier,” the officer stated, frowning, staring at her pad again. “Frasier… James Ian Mackenzie Frasier,” she said slowly. “Yes, yes. You’re one of the Supers on my list. You haven’t been re-educated yet. I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to come with me to the precinct.”

Jimmy sighed heavily. “Okay. Look, I’ve tried to be nice. I’ve tried to make you understand how absolutely vital it is that I get downtown as soon as possible. Now, I am telling you straight out—I need to leave. Now.”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot allow that,” Officer Jenny Redgrave replied grimly, pulling her side arm. “Mr. Frasier, please step out of the vehicle and place your hands over your head.”

Jimmy nodded slowly. “All right. You win,” he said raising his hands. Jenny gasped suddenly, her eyes darkening, glazing over, the gun clattering harmlessly to the ground below. Jimmy guided his power up into the stunned police officer, using the shadows pooled around her feet to control her, the inky black tendrils linking them mind to mind, as he read through her recent past. Wide-eyed in shock, he broke off contact, causing her to stumble slightly, standing dazed and confused. Damn… worse than I thought. Katie… how could you do this? Brainwashing criminals into compliance is one thing, but the police? Government officials? He sighed deeply.

Typical. As bad as I think the situation is, it seems to get worse and worse the deeper I dig. Well, fuck it. Its time to go to the source, he thought to himself, pulling his car into drive, heading deeper into the city.

* * *
There’s too many men, too many people
Making too many problems
And there’s not much love to go around
Can’t you see this is a land of confusion?

Venus Satore nodded idly to the beat of the music as she rode along the preternaturally quiet city streets, glancing about the seemingly deserted city. She had to agree with the song: this was definitely a land of confusion. She’d spent a large part of her life in this city—not counting the years spent locked away in an asylum trapped in the mind of a child watching fucking cartoons—but she’d never seen the bustling metropolis this quiet before. Something strange was definitely going on... something more than Parker Albinn clearing the streets for their showdown, or Eugene Frasier’s warning to stay clear of her if anyone came across her. Even for a goddess such as herself, she found it all.. unnerving.

This is the world we live in
And these are the hands we’re given
Use them and let’s start trying
To make it a place worth living in...

“Wow. Fitting song, don’t you think, Goddess?” Lieutenant Regina Baker asked her from the driver’s seat, causing the redhead to glance over at her. “Once Albinn is out of the way, and you’ve taken control of this city, you will literally be making the world into a place worth living in.”

“Yes, yes, dear,” Satore replied with a sigh, “a good song, though I preferred the original. Phil Collins certainly did much less.... screaming.” Glancing out the window, she frowned deeper. “You are sure we’re heading in the right direction? This is where you sense the ‘greater threat’ against me is coming from?“

Regina nodded, biting her lip slightly. Her Danger Sensing powers had been enhanced by her Goddess’ will, letting her sense specific or general threats from greater distances than she could have ever managed before... but it was still a vague power at best, like radar or sonar, giving her a general direction and area instead of a pinpoint destination. “Yes, it’s definitely at the center of the city, in the business section. But... it’s like I said before... it keeps... changing.” She growled softly in frustration. “It’s hard to explain. It’s like its flickering, going up and down, bright then dim. But the location is steady, and not changing at all.”

Satore nodded. “Good enough. I’d be willing to bet that whatever strangeness is affecting this city, we’ll find it there, at the center of the city.” She glanced up as a bolt of green lightning flashed in the sky above once again. She sighed inwardly. This was definitely strange... but she was confident that she could handle who or whatever had dared to challenge her. By the end of this day, River City would belong to her. And with the power of more than a thousand Supers at her command, the rest of the world would soon follow suit. It was all just a matter of time.

* * *

Jimmy groaned loudly as he swerved, wincing as Jenny let out a loud squeal of burning rubber as he made the sharp turn. Behind him, the trio of police squad cars followed closely, their drivers taking pot shots at him with their guns. Of all the rotten luck! I dodge a bullet with Redgrave only to run into TWO MORE officers heading in to check on her when she didn’t respond to their call. Well, this is what I get for being impatient. You’d think I would have learned after my run in with Regina Baker all those months ago! I should have stayed behind and cleaned up her memories about meeting me, or had her call in some kind of bullshit report over the radio. But noooooo… I was in too much of a hurry to get to my sister. Now I’m going to have to dodge the entire River City police force… and that’s certainly going to slow things down.

Turning another sharp curve, he smirked slightly as one of the police cruisers slammed to a stop, running into a nearby newsstand, unable to corner as well as Jenny. His amusement was short-lived, however, as two more cars pulled in to replace the one out of commission. Worse, Jenny’s scanners alerted him to activity directly ahead of him—a pair of police setting up a spike strip. Uh oh. Looks like they’re getting serious. Still… maybe I can use this to my advantage. Sliding down a small panel on his console, he sped up, rocketing forward towards the spike strip and roadblock.

I really hope this works, Jimmy thought fervently, as he pressed the flashing red button in the center of his console as he neared the spikes. I just got her back after getting blown to pieces by those damn devil girls, and haven’t had a chance to test out this particular enhancement before. Oh well… no time like the present… Crossing his fingers, not even daring to invoke ‘luck’, he pressed the button. The large heavy titanium struts beneath Jenny suddenly shot outwards as the engines were injected with a small blast of nitrous, giving her a sudden speed boost. The midnight black Charger shot forward, propelled up over the spikes, reminiscent of how the show ‘Knight Rider’s’ titular character activated the ‘turbo boost’. The police cars chasing him, however, were not so lucky, each of them driving over the spikes, deflating their tires in the process.

“All right!” Jimmy cheered triumphantly, fist pumping with one hand, holding onto the steering wheel with the other. His joy was once again short lived, however, seeing where the out of control police cruisers were heading, and cursing loudly, he pressed a second button on his console, firing out a pair of pitons out from the side of the vehicle. Embedding into the brickwork of a nearby building, the pitons spread out, and a line of steel mesh webbing emerging. The runaway police vehicles slid into the net, which groaned loudly but held tightly, preventing them from crashing directly into the building.

Woo hoo! Go Speed Racer go! Still, talk about a close call. As much as I hate being hounded by these guys, I don’t want any of them getting hurt if I can help it. Brainwashed or not, they’re just doing their jobs.

Turning the corner, however, Jimmy found himself facing a sight he hadn’t anticipated. Slamming on the breaks, he drew to a stop just in time to avoid ramming into the pair of women waiting for him in the middle of the street. Both girls were dressed alike, in red and white costumes, one with a line of white plus signs running down her sleeves, the other with a row of minuses. Ah, hell… the twin terrors, Minerva and Maxine Munn, he thought as he slid out of his car. This just keeps getting better and better.

“Excuse me, ladies,” he said loudly, darkening his sunglasses, hiding his eyes. “I’m not sure if you know this or not, but there are a buttload of police officers behind me, just around the corner. And they seem to be in a really bad mood. You should probably think about finding someplace else to be…”

“Oh, we know about the police, don’t we, Minnie?” Maxine asked her big sister.

“We certainly do, Maxie,” Minerva replied with a smirk. “In fact, that’s the reason we’re here. We’re working with them, after all.”

Jimmy blinked in surprise. “You’re… working with the police?” he asked dubiously. “You two?”

“You got that right,” Maxine stated with a single nod as she and her sister revealed their police-issued badges. “My sister and I have reformed. We now work on the side of the law, of good, and of right. It’s our duty and our privilege to aid law enforcement in the capturing and re-education of law breakers. Law breakers such as yourself!”

“Wait, wait, I think there’s been a misunderstanding here,” Jimmy protested, backing away as both sisters advanced on him. “I’m a member of the badged Supers program myself, see?” he said, flashing his own badge. “I’m not a criminal. In fact, I’m trying to get to the business section of the city in order to stop a major catastrophe from happening!”

The sisters paused, frowning, considering his words. “Okay. If you’re not a criminal, then why are the police after you?” Minnie asked.

“It’s like I said: just a little misunderstanding. An officer pulled me over for driving too fast, and I tried to tell her—“

“You were speeding?!?” both sisters gasped in apparent shock. “That proves you’re a criminal! You just admitted to breaking the traffic laws!”

What the bloody hell?!? Jimmy thought, staring at the look of appalled anger on both women’s faces. Did I miss the exit for River City and end up in the Twilight Zone by mistake?

“Look, ladies,” he said, swallowing a bit as Maxine began using her power, growing to mammoth size, “I don’t want to fight. I certainly don’t want to hurt either or you, okay? I just need to get downtown, to the business section, to stop a catastrophe. Really! IS that too much to ask?”

“You’re a criminal,” Maxie growled, now towering over the dark haired youth at her new height of twenty-five feet. “You must be dealt with! We must keep our city safe! Those who break the law will not be tolerated!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jimmy replied grimly, backing away steadily, “says the former criminal and hired thug.”

“My sister and I USED to be criminals,” Minerva shouted, moving towards him as well, shrinking down to one-fourth of her normal height, her greater mass and strength allowing her to pick up a parked car as she strode forward, lifting it above her head. “But we’ve both been re-educated. We now know what it means to love and obey the law. So you have two choices. You can come along quietly and surrender, and let us take you to the precinct to be re-educated as well.” She smirked wickedly, tossing the car, which tumbled and landed—right on top of Jimmy’s car with a loud crash. “Or, you can resist… and we can drag you back kicking and screaming. Either way, you’re coming with us.”

Jimmy stared at his car, growling. Jenny was basically okay, structure wise. After all the mishaps over the years, he’d constructed the latest version of his car with heavy duty reinforced steel-titanium frame, the entirety of was completely undamaged. In fact the only real damage was to the windshield which had cracked slightly from the impact. Nevertheless, Jimmy was livid.

“Okay. You know... I have to tell you ladies that, yeah, for half a second, I did actually consider surrendering peacefully. Just to get this nonsense over and done with. That is, until you went after Jenny.” He scowled, wrapping his entire body in black inky shadows. “Do you have ANY idea how many times I’ve had to rebuild her?” he shouted, causing the twins to actually take a step back. “How many freaking hours of love and care I’ve poured into that car?!?”

Maxine shook her head, and raised a foot high into the air. “Enough about the damn car! Last chance to surrender, or I’ll crush you like your oh so precious car!” To her surprise, Darklight merely laughed.

“That’s funny. I was just about to say the same thing to you!”

A little put out by the young man’s confidence and apparent lack of fear, Maxie glanced over at her sister for confirmation. “What are you waiting for, Sis?” Minnie chided her. “You outweigh the guy by at least a few hundred pounds, and you’re five times his size! Crush him!” Grunting, Maxie agreed, bringing her big boot down hard… only to grunt in surprise, finding her foot stuck, unable to descend the rest of the way down.

“You know,” Jimmy said from underneath her heel, holding the gigantic foot aloft with his bare hands, I was actually hoping you’d do that.” With a massive upward shove, he sent the foot rocketing back upwards. Maxie let out a startled scream, suddenly finding herself tossed, flipped up and over, only to land on her backside on the pavement. Before she could react, however, she quickly found herself lifted again, held aloft by the tiny shadow cloaked man. “Time to say goodnight, Gracie,” he quipped before tossing her forward, sending the hapless giant careening headfirst into a nearby skyscraper.

“Ooooofff!” Maxine grunted as she slammed into brick before sliding back down to the pavement again. She groaned softly, seeing stars, completely stunned. Big or small, she’d never taken an impact like that before. Dazed, she didn’t react when the tiny black clad man approached her again. And when he climbed atop her chest as she began to sat up and delivered a not-so-gentle chin tap, a soft sigh escaped her lips as her eyes crossed, leading her into swift sweet unconsciousness.

“MAAAXXXIIIEEEE!” her sister screamed in fury, charging full speed at Jimmy. Determined to make him suffer for hurting her baby sister, she ran and leaped, shrinking to her minimal height as she flew, a lethal living compact bullet traveling with enough momentum to shatter concrete or pierce steel. Expecting to fly through the man’s chest and out the other side, she was likewise stunned and shocked as she instead bounced off him, hitting the ground to lay in a sprawl on the pavement.

“Uugghhnn… damn, that hurt,” Darklight growled, picking up Minnie Munn, glaring down at her. “Hell of a body check you have there, shorty. I’ve taken automatic fire that hurt less.” A light tap to the top of the head, however, and she joined her sister in unconsciousness. “All right,” he said with a sigh, depositing her on the ground next to her sister, “back to the matter at hand. I’m heading out now… and nothing or no one is getting in my way.”

“We’ll see about that!” a loud voice shouted, causing Jimmy to glance to his left. About thirty uniformed police officers stood in his way, each with their weapons drawn and raised. “Freeze! Put your hands up and surrender now, or else!”

“Ah, dammit… you guys caught back up with me eh?” he said ruefully. “Looks like I took too long. Man… what a drag. How could this possibly get any worse?”

“Oh, I could think of a few ways,” a new feminine voice called out, surprising Jimmy, causing him to whirl around. A flame of bright red fire burst forth as a very familiar auburn haired woman drifted down lightly from the sky, to land in front of him. “Okay, law breaker, I hope yer ready for a hot time in the old town tonight!”

Jimmy groaned loudly, more from the bad pun than the appearance of another brainwashed Super. “Oh great. Inferna. Haven’t seen you in a while. What the heck are you doing here? No, let me guess... you’ve been ’reformed’ as well, and are working with the police just like the Munn sisters?”

“Heh heh. You got it, inkblot!” the fire-powered hothead replied, arms crossed at her rather ample chest. “I have to say, it feels really damn weird being on the good guys side for a change. But, considering that you’ve proved yourself to be a criminal, and a violent one at that, and the little bit of history we have, I have no qualms about going all out on you.” She grinned wickedly, both hands glowing with flames. “But don’t worry, pal. I AM one of the good guys, after all. When I’m done with you, you won’t be completely dead, just mostly dead. A few hundred skin grafts and some intense physical therapy, and you could still lead a relatively normal life! So... last chance. Surrender now... or I’ll light you up!“