More Sleepy Adventures - Part 14
Sara
Gauntlet)
While The Gadgeteer was recovering from her inadvertent exposure to The
Confectioner's drug, completely unaware of what had happened, The
Anaesthetist had decided to allow one of the heroines her only chance
of freedom. Working on the principle of "first come, first served",
he decided that Geist should earn that very special honour.
The villain had decided on a fairly simple test for the young heroine.
Basically he wanted her to "run the gauntlet". If she could make it
down a particular stretch of corridor, which he would carefully
prepare, then she would get to the exit and would therefore be able to
escape. Of course, if she failed to reach the exit for some reason,
then she would lose and her only prize would be to wear one of The
Gadgeteer's control collars.
It took him some time to set up the gauntlet, but he was determined to
provide an appropriate challenge. Of course, being a villain, he was
not entirely "fair" with the devices he chose to seed the corridor.
But then, that was one of the benefits of setting your own rules. When
he was finally satisfied, The Anaesthetist turned his attention to the
superheroine herself.
With practiced-ease, he unbound Geist, leaving her sleep mask in place
for the moment. Next, he removed a small patch from his pocket, and,
after carefully peeling off its back, he smooth the small plaster over
his captive's groin. In the few seconds he had, before the adhesive
set hard, the villain made sure that it was perfectly positioned.
Her baggy, figure-concealing outfit had been totally inappropriate for
a heroine, he had decided. So, in deference to her modesty, the villain
decided to give her a new, more daring costume. Using a special
formulation, "borrowed" from The Gadgeteer, who intended to use it
for her own new uniform, the villain literally sprayed on Geist's new
clothing.
In moments, the heroine was coated from the neck down in a sheen of
silver. Only her hands and feet were uncovered, but the substance was
so fine, it did nothing to conceal and in fact seemed to draw attention
to her nakedness. The Anaesthetist paused for a moment to admire his
work, adding a little of the spray here and there until her was
completely satisfied.
Before he left, The Anaesthetist removed Geist's sleep mask, then he
settled himself in a separate room, watching developments through the
lair's surveillance system. Slowly he counted to himself, knowing
precisely when the heroine would rouse. As he reached zero, the villain
activated the recording devices.
Geist fought the urge to move as she gradually became aware of her
surroundings. She found herself blushing as she remembered the
over-powering feelings which had led to her capture. Then, abruptly,
she was shocked out of her train of thought when an electronically
magnified voice spoke directly to her.
"Good evening my sleepy friend, I trust that you enjoyed your
rest."
For a few seconds Geist tried to maintain the façade that she was
still asleep, then the voice spoke again.
"I know that you have recovered from your medicine, please allow me
to introduce myself, I am The Anaesthetist, and of course, sedating
beautiful women is what I excel at."
Knowing that there was no point in continuing her ruse, the heroine
rose slowly to her feet. She was stunned when she saw the outfit in
which she had been dressed. A shiny, silver body stocking, which seemed
to cling to her body, revealing every detail. Once again, the heroine
found herself blushing, her embarrassment over-riding her fear for the
moment at least.
In his observation room, The Anaesthetist admired his captive. He noted
her flushed features with wry amusement. This would no doubt prove to
be a most stimulating trial.
"Now, although I had you completely at my mercy", the villain
began, noting how she could not stop herself from shivering when he
spoke, "I am no without a sense of fair-play".
The irony was not lost on the heroine, but she did not seem to have any
option but to listen to his monologue.
"The challenge for you is very simple, if you can make your way down
this corridor", he continued, as an exit opened in Geist's cell,
"and through the hatch at the end, then you will go free".
Geist peered through the door, seeing a narrow passage leading to a
large door. The door looked heavy, and had a large wheel in its centre.
She halted her brief check, because the villain had started talking
again.
"Naturally, if you can't make it to the exit, then you will be
mine, to do with as I wish". Once again, The Anaesthetist enjoyed the
look of horror and the involuntary shudder from his victim as he
suggested her fate.
An ominous silence replaced the villain's voice, and Geist once again
focussed her attention on the corridor in front of her. The floor,
walls and ceiling all seemed to be covered in the same ceramic tiles.
Diffuse light came from above, but the heroine could not locate its
source. Her attention was drawn to two small "turrets" which slowly
tracked back and forth, each covering a different part of the passage.
Although there were no other, obvious defences, Geist was sure that
other traps lay between her and the exit. Despite her trepidation, she
could not think of any other approach than simply trusting to her
powers, and moving as cautiously as possible. So, after several deep
calming breaths, the young superheroine focussed her mind, and silently
faded from sight.
The Anaesthetist watched with fascination as the girl disappeared. He
quickly cycled the surveillance cameras through the electromagnetic
spectrum, but there was no sign of his quarry. Even the seismic sensory
and motion detectors registered nothing, and yet, he knew that even now
she must be starting her journey into the gauntlet.
Geist kept glancing at the turret nearest to her, waiting for it to
swivel towards her. But, to her relief (and not inconsiderable
surprise) it blithely continued its slow movement. She reminded herself
that it certainly wasn't going to be this easy, as she crept
forwards, each step bringing her closer to salvation.
The Anaesthetist rested his finger lightly over a small dial, wondering
how long he should wait. Then, without warning, there was an explosion
of activity in the corridor.
Geist's powers had evaded several traps already, even though the
heroine was not aware of this. The sensors did not notice as she broke
invisible beams, and, as the villain had discovered, even the most
sensitive detector would not react to her presence. Unfortunately, the
thin tripwire was a purely mechanical trap, and as such had no
"brain" to fool.
She felt a moment of resistance as she stepped forward, and instantly
knew that something was wrong. Without a thought, the young heroine
threw herself backwards. A deluge of liquid sprayed from concealed
holes overhead. If she had chosen, in that split second, to roll
forwards, she would still have been caught, but luckily the trap had
been set, assuming its victim would have continued to press forward,
towards freedom.
Almost as soon as the liquid hit air, it began to solidify. Thin
streams of the white, sticky mess congealed on the floor. Geist knew
that she had only narrowly avoided been buried under it, vulnerable to
whatever else The Anaesthetist had planned.
For a moment the villain thought that it was all over, slightly
surprised at how short a time the heroine had remained free. But the he
saw how the capture string had piled upon itself. There was no heroine
trapped in the midst of it, invisible or not. He smiled happily, she
had made it a quarter of the way to the door, and that seemed a
sensible time to "even the odds" a little. With that, he turned the
dial carefully to its first setting.
Geist was rolling to her feet when the small patch activated. She
stumbled as it buzzed to life, its attention perfectly focussed where
it would be most effective. The superheroine let out a small whimper,
before biting her lip in an attempt to silence herself. The buzzing
continued, and she could feel her attention slipping.
"Oh God", she thought, "it's happening again!"
The Anaesthetist saw a slender shape on the monitors, which seemed to
flicker in and out of existence. The nearest turret also detected
something, and immediately swung to engage. A high-pitched whine issued
from it, as it fired a salvo towards the stricken girl.
The heroine struggled to calm herself, and regain her composure. An
instant later, hearing the strange whining noise, she was hurling her
body to one side. A cluster of tiny needles struck the patch of floor
she had just vacated, where they shattered into fine dust. Geist was
moving as soon as she rolled to her feet, at the same time pushing her
power as much as she was able.
Once again, the girl disappeared from his screens. That first shot had
been so close, and he wondered idly if she might have gotten a partial
dose when the crystalline drug shattered so nearby. Grinning now, he
turned the dial again. "Let's see how good that concentration
really is", he laughed to himself.
Meanwhile, Geist was clawing at the silver material, trying to get to
the patch beneath it. Although thin, the costume seemed unusually
strong, and she was making little headway. That all changed when the
buzzing advanced to the next level. The heroine's body almost went
into spasm as a wave of pleasure threatened to drown her. Her nails
ripped through the material as she convulsed into orgasm.
Of course, she was immediately visible again, and lying on her stomach,
in plain view, she should have been an easy target. But luck was on her
side, the turret did not have a clear shot (its line fire partly
obscured by the hardening mass of capture string). Of course, even for
a heroine, luck can only take you so far. Although most of the needles
shattered impotently before they reached her, one fragment had enough
momentum to reach her.
Geist didn't notice, she was still recovering from that first orgasm,
and the needle was too fine. The crystal punched into her raised
backside, instantly dissolving into her bloodstream. But, even as the
buzzing began to push her towards another climax, her fingers closed on
the small patch, and she ripped it off, cursing as the adhesive pulled
her skin.
The first turret had exhausted its supply of needles now, and the
second turret did not have enough range to strike her. The Anaesthetist
saw her pull the patch free, and silently cursed. Part of him would
enjoy seeing her escape, if only because he knew that she would return
and let him try to capture her again, but it was frustrating none the
less.
She didn't think that this moment of calm would last much longer. But
now that the patch had been dealt with, it was so much easier to exert
her powers. She was breathing a little hard now, but that was to be
expected. She concentrated again, and felt herself fading from view.
Picking her way down the corridor, wary of more tripwires, Geist
advanced.
The Anaesthetist decided to try one final trick, it lacked elegance,
but sometimes practical solutions were necessary, no matter how ugly.
He estimated that his captive would be almost three quarters of the way
to the exit by now, and at that point, he activated all the remaining
defences. They had no target, but merely fired randomly into space.
The world erupted into life around a somewhat startled Geist. The
second turret whined into life, disgorging needles seemingly at random.
Another capture string dispenser sprayed widely into the corridor.
Segments of floor opened, revealing slippery shafts that led away into
darkness. Even jets of gas vented themselves at random points. It took
her several terrified moments to realise that she had not triggered any
hidden trap, and that these attacks were not aimed at her. Her slow
progress had caused the villain to active his trap too early, had she
been where he thought, there was no way she would have been able to
escape.
She waited, eventually the traps ran out of ammunition, the shafts
remained open and an eerie silence fell over the passage again. Geist
stayed still for a few more minutes, just to be sure, then she stole
forward again, glancing warily at the turret. She reached her goal
without any other reaction.
In his observation room, the villain saw the large wheel begin to turn.
He was surprised that she had escaped his last-ditch attempt to stop
her, but not particularly upset. She was a remarkable woman, and he
looked forward to their next confrontation.
Geist struggled with the wheel, it was oily and slippery and her recent
exertions seemed to have sapped her strength more than she realised.
But eventually, the wheel turned and the door swung ponderously open. A
glance told her all she needed to know, the hatch opened into a steam
tunnel. Sparing one backwards glance at the gauntlet, Geist stepped
through the hatch which obligingly closed behind her.
The Anaesthetist chuckled to himself, the superheroine had managed to
escape, but of course, he never played an entirely fair game. He had
taken the liberty of coating the door with a powerful drug. Given how
long it had taken for the wheel to turn, he imagined that she must have
received a significant dose. He could only estimate how long it would
take to affect her, but once she could no longer use her power, it
should be easy to locate her.
After all, he reasoned, he had been true to his word, she could escape,
it was just that he would capture her again soon after....