[ManolisV]

Contestant’s Name: Manolis Vamvounis
Judge’s Name: Mark
Character’s Name: Lady Mastermind

The Book of Dirt: Conclusion.

Chapter 6: “Jail Bait”




“Well, Dr Sofen, I am impressed. This is the first prison I’ve been to where the guards sleep merely a few cells down the corridor from the prisoners.”

We were deep inside Thunderbolts Mountain, the government’s newest initiative: hire the criminally insane to keep an eye on their like. For the past 7 weeks, that included my Mistress, my Lady Mastermind. Not for much longer, though.

There was a plan in motion.

“Dr Sofen. Have you forgotten my family’s ties to the current administration? My assistant, Mary, here. Mary printed off all your classified personnel files. I pored through them this morning over breakfast.”

My slave name was Dirt. Even now, acting out the role of my arrogant past self, I did everything for her. My lady had extinguished the entire population of a suburban town called Serenity. All except for one. “Bloody” Mary here, the axe-yielding Desperate Housewife. My Lady had unlocked something dark in her that day. Her instructions were clear, written with dried blood on pieces of cloth, snuck between her toes, smuggled into my mouth through our quaint greeting ritual on each of my visits.

“This boy Penance, who you say she has taken a liking to. Former teen hero responsible for the 612 deaths in Stamford Connecticut. Joined by a Nazi Baron’s heir who allegedly skinned his own sister to dress the hilt of his sword, a radioactive Russian, a Schizophrenic bomber with a pumpkin fetish and a cannibalistic alien parasite.”

We had finally reached the psych ward. Penance was there, dressed in his iron maiden armour, the monster Venom, the Swordsman and a dozen armed guards, all stood outside her cell door. The monster turned to me, its white shark slit eyes contrasting the pitch black skin, twitching and coiling like boiling tar, a human orca whale:

“I’m on a strict Atkins diet these days. Why won’t anyone let me forget my past binges?”

The Swordsman chuckled behind him. I was surprised they hadn’t simply asked her to join them.

I could see my Lady now, being taken out of her cell. The restraining helmet screwed tight on her head, blocking her illusion casting. Her trademark dominatrix facade gone, replaced with the harsh reality of a scarred, anorexic, plain girl. We were here to see her out of solitary, and into the infirmary for a bath and dressing her infected wounds.

“There you are, Dirt. I’m off to my revitalising sponge bath. Won’t be needing you, tonight though. My new pet here will scrub my back with those lovely scratchy fists of his. Won’t you, Robbie? ”

She sounded as delusional as when I first met her here. She had been experiencing withdrawal symptoms, unwilling to accept her true self. Her system must have kicked the habit, but she kept appearances, faking spasms, pretending to talk into thin air, keep the element of surprise.

“All these big men with their impressive phallic guns and nasty teeth and pointy swords and spikes. Just to escort a Lady to her bath. You’re still afraid of me, aren’t you, Sofen? Powerful Super-Bad Girl like you, scared of the smelly powerless cripple. Analyse that, you badly bleached menace.”

Dr Sofen grunted and excused herself to the Director’s offices. Mary supported Regan as the Guards led us on through the long corridors. The stench coming off her had clogged my nostrils. No matter what, she was still my Mistress, though. I’d sacrifice anything for her to get out of here.

Suddenly, Mistress let out a shriek and fainted. Mary tried to grab onto her lip body before it hit the floor, but the weight pushed both off balance. Mary grabbed onto Penance for support, her hands sinking hard into his spikes. His armour cut both ways, outside and in, the pressure from her weight sinking the spikes inside his body, the pain jump-starting his powers, creating a shockwave, knocking Mary into the air.

She was steering her body mid-air to land on Venom. The monster had made headlines after biting off and eating a super-hero’s arm on their first missions. It had famously developed quite an appetite for human flesh. Mary squirmed in his arms, pretending to cry for help as she pushed her bloody hand against its drooling jaw. The monster licked the blood off her hand with its long coiling slimy tongue. It was enough to kick-start its bloodlust. Letting off a chilling roar, it sunk its teeth into her, chopping off her arm. She screamed in agony. Yet, I could detect a tint of accomplishment in her voice. She was doing her own penance for murdering her kids back in the Serenity affair.

My Lady had gotten up on her knees with a sinister smile, crawling towards the startled frozen Penance, climbing up his legs, the spikes grazing her palms. The Guards had raced to Mary’s help only to be thrown around by the berserker Venom, the collective roar and screams drowning all but fragments of the Lady’s muttering to the boy:

“... that’s one more on your tally, Robbie, pet. 613 is it now? ...you’ll catch up to me in no time, pet... you have the genes for genocide... believe me, I can tell...”

My Lady’s late night talks with Penance and that intolerable gossip Sofen had paid off. His psyche profile had emphasized his extreme reactions to all references to the Stamford deaths. Penance shivered and recoiled on the floor, gathering in a foetal position, spikes simultaneously cutting into his entire body. The resulting kinetic shockwave was strong enough to knock us back into the walls and explode all the lamps in the corridor. The alarm sirens had been activated. The emergency lights flashed every 5 seconds, briefly illuminating the dark room with their blood red tint.

FLASH. Venom driven wild, biting and clawing at the guards and teammates.

In the darkness I felt for my Lady’s head, trying to pry it open. The bolts were screwed inside her skull. I felt her move away.

FLASH. The Swordsman kicked to the ground, my Lady frantically grabbing for his weapon.

I felt my way around, pulling Mary aside. Her arm had been chewed off clean to the elbow. She had passed out, a subtle smile on her face. I could relate.

FLASH: The sword blade sweeping down, severing the Swordsman’s hand.

Of course. The reports said, his sword activates his powers through direct skin contact. His scream joined the dozen others as the monster continued its meal.

FLASH: My Lady, holding his severed arm around the hilt with both hands.

The sword was releasing a bioelectric charge, wrapping her body, crackling with static around her head. The helmet cracked open and fell to the floor. Her mind was free. I heard her voice inside my head again after so many weeks of loneliness. My eyes watered. She was with me.

“Well done, Pet. You won’t believe the doggy treat you’re getting tonight. Now to take care of business!”

Our psychic connection was active again. She was out to play, reaching out to the warden higher up in the mountain facility. The man that used to call himself the Green Goblin. She had peeked inside his mind, seen the bombs he had hidden as an irrational defence against his insect phobias. She cackled and whispered to his mind:

“Oh, Normie, you naughty boy. You’ve been caught with your hand in the pumpkin jar! And we both know what happens to naughty naughty little goblins when they misbehave!”

His mind filled with red and blue, a whole army of... spider-men crawling from out the floor, walking on his ceiling, coming in from the windows, making fun at him, cracking wise. He was soaked in sweat, his eyes twitching maniacally in fear. Instinctively he went for just what she wanted. Under his desk, he clutched at the activation switch. The thundering booms of the explosions were coming from every direction.

“There’s no prison on this mudball that I can’t break!” my Lady Mastermind gloated--just before the falling debrii came crashing over us, knocking me unconscious.

...


...



“It’s over,bitch. Noone escapes the Thunderbolts for long.” I recognised Sofen’s voice, as I opened my eyes. I was inside the cell, my Lady’s cell. The Warden and Sofen were standing outside. “Your plan would have worked out too, if you hadn’t overshot your aim. Your friends made it out barely alive because of your stunt.”

I felt... odd. I looked at my hands, so much smaller. My hair was longer, my face smooth, but filled with cuts.. I touched my new breasts. I felt my head compressed from the restraining helmet. The illusion was perfect, to even fool my own senses. I looked into the mirror on the wall. I was the spitting image of my Lady in her human form. I was captured in her place. But where was she?

I heard footsteps outside, and saw myself –my real self- outside my cell, covered in dust and gravel and blood, but standing proud. A bait and switch right under their noses. She/Me was berating Sofen for the accident, in my face, with my voice. I heard her voice again, tickling my mind:

“You’re been a good pet. A girl’s best friend. Now, stay. Mistress will be back for you.”

My Lady Mastermind!

“No, pet, not anymore. Regan’s sick and locked up in the looney bin for killing those poor housewives. Now it’s time for the new and improved Lord Mastermind to return. It’s a man’s world out there!”

...I sat there, alone, naked in my empty cell... Watching my old self turn his back to me and walk away...

...I would keep quiet, do my own penance in her place...

...she said I was a good pet. I was happy. It was the simple things...