Rides and Riders (Magistation Mind Control) (Patreon)

And we are back!

Sorry for the break folks, hopefully I can keep on top of things this month. I need to do some tinkering with my work schedule, see how to streamline things to try to get rid of this kind of interruptions.

But that's for later! For now, let's kick back in with a story - returning to the magical, slightly futuristic and possibly far too mind controly world of Magistation, starring Sandra Hawk and Melony Peil, last seen Here!

Hope you enjoy!

-----

“I’m faster.”

“It’s not a…” Melony Peil paused, wincing. Wrong choice of words. “Okay, it is a race, but it’s a vehicle race, you can’t compete.”

“I know! That’s why I’m saying, I’m faster.” Sandra huffed, folding her arms over her chest as she gazed down at the race track. Dozens of teams down below were working on enhancing their craft. The redhead shook her head – this was one ‘sport’ she’d never understand. “Why even bother with any of this?”

“Most people don’t have their name inscribed on eleven pages of the Book of Fate, dear,” her partner sighed, trying not to roll her eyes at her beloved’s antics. “This is the fastest way they can get around.”

Unsurprisingly, the other woman wasn’t convinced. “That doesn’t mean anything,” she grumbled. “They’ll put anyone in that book if they’re bored enough. If these guys can’t keep up, quite frankly it’s just a skill issue.”

Melony scratched her cheek, not entirely able to stop herself from laughing. “I’m not sure that’s entirely true, dear…”

Sandra Hawk’s speed enhancement magic was legendary tier, after all. In all of the world, there might only be four or five other mages who could compare to her, and none who could surpass her. She might well have been the fastest flier in history.

So it was a little bit unfair for her to judge other mages by her own standards. The truth was that if she’d decided to pursue racing as a career, she might have demolished the sport all on her own. Every airbroom rider out there could thank their lucky stars that she’d taken to a career in law enforcement and investigation instead.

“Anyway, I didn’t bring you here to argue about broom racing.”

“I mean they’re not even brooms anymore! That one right there has more apps on it than my phone! And that one couldn’t clean a spot of dust on a white tiled floor-!”

“I said I didn’t bring you here to argue, dear.” Melony gave her beloved a loving smile – one that Sandra correctly interpreted as ‘Shut up or you’re on the couch tonight’. “We’ve got official business to take care of.”

“Fiiiine.” The redhead huffed – but there was never any actual chance of her refusing her partner. There was a reason that the two of them had been together for so long. “What are we looking for?”

Melony nodded, and then pointed at a team who had just arrived, getting started on setting up their area. “Them. That’s the team I want you to investigate.”

Sandra nodded, tilting her head and squinting her eyes. Around her head, the invisible enhancement spells she maintained for herself activated, granting her far, far sharper vision than any regular human. And with it, she saw…

“Ooooh.” She looked away abruptly, her face going red as she raised a hand to block that area from her sight. “Okay, that outfit can’t be road legal.”

Her partner laughed. Ah, there was the bashful redhead she knew and loved. “Apparently it is! It’s just not very protective. If they choose to wear it, then that’s up to them, I guess.”

“More like choose not to wear it…” Sandra muttered. Melony couldn’t blame her – there were revealing outfits, and then there was whatever the Red Flash group uniform was. Bare bellies. Cleavage windows. Tight thighs. No outfit on the team was the same, all of them wore their clothes uniquely, but each one seemed to be in competition with the rest to show off as much skin as possible. The mechanics, the runners, even – especially – the riders, all of them were in on it.

These weren’t the uniforms of a racing team, they were the uniforms of a particular kind of bar that the two of them only visited on special birthday occasions!

But there they were, strutting about the pit like they owned the place. Like they were a real race team, ready to win. No one was stopping them, either, so they really did have the right to be there. Though plenty of people on the other teams were staring…

“Okay, well, we’re not the decency police,” the redhead finally muttered, once her cheeks had stopped burning. “That’s more Zerri’s department. We can call the church and see if they’ll let us borrow her, but that seems like overkill for a slutty ‘racing’ team.”

She did finger quotes around racing, because of course she did.

“Cute,” Melony said, ignoring her. “But no, we’re not here because they’re dressing like… like that.” Okay, maybe she wasn’t entirely above the bashfulness of her partner. “Or, not exactly. We’re here because I think there’s something else going on here.”

“Well yeah, someone’s set up an entire fake racing circuit-”

“Dear.”

“I’ll behave.”

She rolled her eyes. “No you won’t. But I’ll take care of that later.” Business before pleasure. “Anyway, that team, Red Flash? Ophelia got a job with them last month.”

“Ophelia? What, from the Whitegraves?” Sandra raised an eyebrow, trying (and failing) not to blush from what the other woman had just said. “Huh, didn’t take her for the type.”

“Neither did I. But this is what she’s posting on social media now.” She handed her phone over to her partner.

“Wha- Woah!” Only Melony’s quick reactions saved the device as it slipped from Sandra’s hands. “What the hell is she wearing?!?”

“I believe it’s called the ‘Race Queen’ style,” the brunette said, before nudging her head towards the team down below. “Otherwise known as the Red Flash uniform.”

The redhead was still staring into the space where the phone had been. “I didn’t even know she had tits that big…”

Melony twitched.

“Uh!” Sandra straightened up, suddenly sensing extreme peril. “B-because I wouldn’t, would I? You know how she dresses normally. She’s more conservative than Zerri. Haha.” She gave her partner a nervous smile. “I swear that’s all I meant!”

Hmm. “The only tits you get to care about are mine, dear,” the brunette reminded her beloved, tapping her fondly on the nose to let her know she wasn’t actually mad. “Just you remember that. And also, yeah, you’re right, I had no idea either. How many times have we fought together and she was hiding those under her top?”

The Whitegraves were a small bounty hunter group – a family business, a mother and four sisters. The five of them were longtime… Was friends the right word? Allies certainly wasn’t, they’d fought on opposite sides far more often than they’d worked together… Eh, whatever, why let small stuff like that be an issue? The five were longtime friends of the two investigators, and they were all serious heavyweight mages in their own right.

“If one of them is involved, then yeah, something fishy’s afoot.” The redhead was frowning, finally taking this all seriously. Good, good.

“And if something’s gotten Ophelia wearing that outfit, there’s definitely some kind of mind control going on,” Melony added, glancing at the picture again.

That got a snort out of Sandra. “Man, she’s going to be so upset that she owes you a favour when you break her out of their control, isn’t she?”

“Welll, I don’t know about thaaaat…” The brunette tried not to chuckle too loudly. Ophelia was a dear friend – but more than that, she was a fierce rival. She and Melony had fought to a draw far too many times to count. Either of them getting one up over the other was a very valuable prize that both women would eagerly chase – not that they’d admit it. “This is just a regular investigation of suspicious activities, that’s all!”

“Mmmhm.” Sandra nodded, a smug smile only just slightly tugging at her lips. “Well, if it’s just a regular investigation, that’s fine then.” She looked back towards the racing team, before pausing. “Wait, Wendy isn’t involved in this, right?”

Wendy was Sandra’s personal rival in the Whitegrave family.

“Not as far as I know,” Mel disappointed her with a shrug and a pat on the shoulder. “Not yet, anyway. But hey, if we nip this in the bud now, maybe she’ll owe you for stopping things from going that far.”

“That’s not going to count…” The redhead whined, before sighing and straightening up. “But fine. Whatever. No helping it. What’s your proposal here.”

Her partner nodded, getting down to business. “Okay, so, this morning I signed on with their team as an engineer…”

“What?” Suddenly Sandra turned, grabbing her partner by the arms. “You did what?!”

Oops. Yep, she should have been prepared for this. Everyone knew who wore the pants in this partnership, but there was one thing that would fire Sandra up like nothing else – Melony putting herself in danger. That was something she took absolutely seriously.

“It’s fine! It’s fine.” The brunette tried to calm her down. “You know how good I am with engines, it was a snap to get hired, and it’s only so I can open the door and let you do a proper investigation. I’m not in any danger, really!”

The redhead glowered at her, before letting her go with a huff. “You should have told me first.”

“Well you would have stopped me…” Now who was whining? “A-anyway, I can’t just sit on the sidelines all the time letting you handle all the dangerous stuff. I’m in just as many pages of Fate as you are, I’m not just some damsel who can’t… W-who can’t…”

She trailed off, stuttering, before finding herself wrapped up in Sandra’s arms again – this time far more gently than before. “Shhhh. C’mon, babe, you know it’s not like that. You’re far more powerful than me.”

The brunet snorted into her partner’s chest. “That’s debatable.”

Sandra laughed. “I’m pretty sure our battle record in the simulator puts that debate to rest pretty firmly. But Mel…” Her finger slid up under Melony’s chin, lifting it so that the pair of them looked one another in the eyes. “You’re still recovering, you know?”

Her shoulders slumped. Yeah. Yeah, she knew.

It had been a case two years ago. Should have been an easy assignment. She’d gone in, overconfident as anything. And then someone got a lucky shot in, and crippled her mana reserves in an instant. All of her magic had shut down right there, in the middle of the fight. It would have been humiliating if it hadn’t also been damn near lethal. She would have bled out right there and then in the middle of some nobody villain’s base if Sandra hadn’t been there to get her to the hospital (breaking half of every speeding law on the planet in the process).

It had been the height of arrogance, and it should have cost her everything. But she got lucky. The wound had been bad, but not unhealable. In time, and after a lot of therapy, she’d been able to regain the ability to use magic – first slowly, and then with mounting speed. By this point, she was fully capable of levelling mountains just like she used to be. It was only her speed which hadn’t really recovered yet – in actual combat, she just couldn’t pull out spells fast enough to protect herself from the enemy and win at the same time. Until she could, she was supposed to be off front-line service – orders from the Captain of their unit herself.

Her entire life had revolved around her career – jumping into the fight, saving people, protecting them… One injury had taken it all from her in an instant.

(She hadn’t even been able to get her revenge. As soon as the doctors had said she was stable, Sandra had broken the other half of the speeding laws shooting back to the lair and absolutely laid waste to the place. The woman was Protective with a capital P.)

“I just want to help this much. Just a little,” she muttered, trying not to pout. “I’m not jumping into combat or anything. If a fight breaks out, I’ll run and take cover. But I can do this much, okay?”

She gave Sandra the puppy eyes. Sandra could never resist the puppy eyes.

“… Ugh. Fine. Fine! I don’t like it, but fine.” As predicted, the redhead caved immediately. You can get me in. But that’s it! Just let me poke around in their area and look for any suspicious activity, while you go and tender a quick resignation, okay?”

“Okay.” Mel smiled and leaned in, pressing a quick kiss against her partner’s lips. “As long as you find what you need in there.”

The pair enjoyed a touching moment, before Sandra pulled back, her eyes flashing. “Even if I don’t.”

That got a giggle out of the brunette as she properly pulled away, spinning out of her partner’s grasp. “If you don’t then it’s a perfectly legitimate racing company and I can play with their engines without any danger~”

Sandra was non-plussed. “You already have a job, and you actually do something worthwhile there, instead of playing around with these… toys.” She waved her hand at the track dismissively.

Melony rolled her eyes again. “Fine, fine, I get your point. We’ll talk about it later, though. Maaaaybe I can convince you otherwise!” She flashed her a smile and a promising wink, before backing down with a giggle at her partner’s bemused swat. “But for the moment, let me go let you in to their pit box.” She waved for the other woman to follow her as she began to walk away. “You should be able to investigate undisturbed while they’re focusing on tuning up the broom out front…”

-

Sandra already knew something was wrong the instant that she stepped into the building through the back door. It wasn’t just what Mel had already told her, either, it was instinct. Years of serving as a Magistation officer, years of investigation, alerted her to the problem the second she was inside.

It was too quiet.

The pit box should have been a cacophony of noise. It should have been deafening! Not just the sounds of machines and computers working away, magic thrumming through the air, but also people yelling orders, or screaming gossip at one another while they worked. This place was supposed to be in full swing, so where were the swingers?

… She probably could have phrased that better. She must be hanging out with the Captain too much.

Anyway, something was definitely wrong, and nothing made that clearer than the door slamming shut behind her, and locking with a click.

Still, even though her instincts prepared her for it, the sheer pained shock of being betrayed by her long time partner, her beloved, her one-day wife if they ever managed to challenge those stupid old laws, made her hesitated. Just for a moment, just for a second, as her mind scrambled to try to come up with a reason why things might not be as they appeared…

And a second was more than she could afford.

Bright red runes flared to life under her feet, chains of red light springing up from the ground and binding her in place in that one moment of weakness. Magical rites activated and wrapped around her, suppressing her magic and dragging her to her knees.

Damnit. “This is why,” she gasped, gritting her teeth and straining against the restraints, to no avail, “I don’t want you going off on your own like this, Mel…”

“Oh, now don’t go too hard on her,” a familiar voice called out from the shadows. “She took down twenty of my men despite them being ready for her. And her resistance to the helmet was far beyond anything anyone else has managed. She did her best to defy me – it simply wasn’t enough.”

Footsteps echoed from out of the darkness, and into the red light stepped a woman that Sandra knew far, far too well.

“Eliza.” She grunted, glaring up at the high-heel wearing figure. “I should have known it was you as soon as I saw the uniforms.”

Eliza Zest had been on the Magistation Most Wanted list for five years in a row, in connection with a sweeping spread of crimes that ran from bank robberies, international piracy, and postal fraud. A former archaeologist and expert on old civilizations, the blue haired woman had apparently turned to crime after being corrupted by an ancient artefact that granted her knowledge of forbidden mental manipulation magics. That was the official story, anyway. Sandra, personally, thought the woman had just embraced her dark side as soon as she realised she now had the power to do so.

She and Melony had both brought Eliza in a half-dozen times over the years (after some embarrassing incidents that didn’t need to be recounted now), but the woman had always escaped from custody. Either her hypnotic expertise was more potent than they knew, or her connections ran deeper than they imagined. Whatever the truth, it had created a twisted kind of rivalry between the criminal, and the Magistation officers most likely to bring her down.

“Oh, you certainly should have!” The haughty woman laughed, throwing her long hair back over her shoulder. She was dressed, somewhat unusually for a lady with such extravagant tastes, in a red set of mechanic’s overalls – far less revealing that the clothes worn by the members of Red Flash. “Who else could have come up with such a magnificent scheme?”

Sandra grimaced, twitching – no, the restraints still wouldn’t budge. “Don’t worry, Elly, no one could ever be as harebrained as you.”

Another roll of smug laughter. “Oh Sandy. You mock, but it’s only because you can’t overcome your seething jealousy of my brilliance! It’s fine, dear, I forgive you.” She reached out and stroked the top of the Investigator’s head, pulling her hand back just in time to avoid her snapping teeth. “In fact, I’m going to help you get over that nasty little personality flaw of yours~”

If it wasn’t for the direness of the situation, Sandra would have groaned. Eliza only had one solution to any problem that faced her. It was why she was on the Most Wanted list. “That’s not going to work this time, Elly,” she growled. “I’ve trained to resist you stupid brainwashing magics. You’re never going to control me again.”

It had been humiliating enough the first few times it had happened…

“Now now.” A gloved hand lifted her chin, the smug, blue-eyed face of Eliza Zest grinning down at her. “Never say never.”

Then something heavy was pushed down on her head. Tch, a helmet? It felt like metal from the weight and the chill, but she couldn’t tell much more than that. There was a glass visor over her eyes now, clear with a blue tint, that was as much as she could see from here.

“You might be immune to my magic,” the jumpsuit wearing mastermind continued to gloat. “But I can be just as effective with technology. Want to see? Somehow, I don’t think your ‘training’ is going to hold up~”

Damnit…

Sandra glared through the visor. “And then what? What’s your scheme here, Elly? Did you seriously set all this up just to capture me?”

“Oh, don’t be so egotistical, Sandy, it doesn’t suit you.” The villain patted her cheek. “I’m just a race fan who wanted to own the winning team. That’s all.”

The winning…? Wait, hold on. “The winning – this is about airbroom racing?”

The blue haired woman nodded. “It’s been my sport of choice since I was a child.”

“Buh… You…” Oh this was so much stupider than she’d thought. “That… Can your team even win?”

It seemed like a good question. Eliza was good at brainwashing people, but she wasn’t exactly a broom maker…

And judging by the way the villain’s cheeks were flushing, she’d hit the nail on the head. “There have been some issues on that front, I admit… Ah! But don’t worry, I thought of a way around that.” Her embarrassed frown twisted into a victorious grin. “Maybe I don’t have the fastest broom on the track, but that won’t matter at all once I have the fastest driver!”

The fastest… Oh. Oh no. No no no no no.

“… That’s why you’re doing this?!” Sandra couldn’t help but gasp. “You’re kidnapping and brainwashing Magistation agents to win a race?!”

“Yep. With a light enough broom, you can just carry it straight over the finish line.”

She said it so simply, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Maybe it was? The redhead really didn’t understand racing fans…

“That might be the dumbest plan I’ve ever heard of. And I’ve been in this job for years.”

“Really?” Eliza chuckled. “Because your partner sounded completely onboard with it!”

Sandra was suddenly aware of a presence at her side, a familiar hand clamping on her shoulder as the other was thrown up into a salute. “Happy to help, Mistress!”

The villain smirked. “As you can see, Melly is as eager to see your racing debut as I am.”

Oh no.

The redhead strained, trying to turn around and look up at her partner. As she did so, she could see that the woman had taken advantage of her absence to get changed. The practical outfit she’d been wearing was gone – replaced with a red tank top and miniskirt that proudly showed off her figure. “Mel, you have to fight her!”

“Oh, baby, I know that I should,” Melony said, kneeling down next to her and giving her an apologetic smile. “But you’re going to look so hot in uniform…”

Oh for- “That’s why you gave in?!?”

Mel gave her a helpless shrug, before leaning in and lowering her voice so that only the two of them could hear. “Well yeah – I mean, I already hacked the place’s network before they got me. The Captain’s watching everything through the security cameras, she knows what’s going on. Elly’s doomed. So why not have some fun with it? I mean if I got a bit brainwashed, shouldn’t you get brainwashed too? Couples are supposed to share these things.”

Sandra’s eyes flicked to the walls of the building she could see. There were cameras everywhere. Several of them were focused on her. She could just imagine her unit’s Captain watching everything with the biggest smile on her face…

God damnit.

“Mel…” She tried to convey with her eyes just how much trouble the love of her life was going to be in once she got out of this.

It didn’t work. “Hush, you’ll enjoy it,” Melony said, bopping her on the head as she got to her feet. “The helmet feels really good! And then I’ll get to enjoy your new outfit~”

“I already have it ready~” Eliza was already basking in her victory, the idiot.

“Honey, could you use the brains in your head instead of the ones between your legs just this once?” Sanda looked up at her idiot beloved. “Please?”

She got a bright smile in return. “Nope! Now let’s turn yours off too!”

There was a click, and the helmet surged into life, whirring and buzzing quietly around her head. The visor lit up, but obviously she’d already slammed her eyes shut. A low thrum began to buzz through her skull, the hiss of static filling her ears.

Okay. This was it. Elly’s stupid new tech was going to try to rewrite her mind. She was going to have to do her best to resist. If she held out for long enough, then hopefully-

Zzzt!

Sandra gasped as she felt a strange energy rush through her mind. It was sort of like a spreading headache, only not painful. This strange throbbing that buzzed through her skull. She could feel her thoughts vibrating, shaking in her grip. She git her teeth, trying to tighten her hold. She wasn’t going to-

Zzzt!

Ngh… Her head felt so… so fuzzy. Like, fuzz was spreading through her brain at speeds almost as quick as her. Her mind was becoming clouded, foggy… It was difficult to think, difficult to try to work out what was-

Zzzt!

A-ah…? What was… what had she just been thinking?

The redhead licked her lips uncertainly. What was going on? Where was she? Why did she feel so strange? Her mind felt like it had been reduced to a thick paste, so slow and goopy that her actual thoughts couldn’t get through it. The answers to all of her questions were so close, she could feel them, but she couldn’t- She couldn’t-!

Zzzt!

S-she couldn’t remember what she was trying to remember! Oooh, her head was spinning, her thoughts sloshing, none of them making any sense. Was she in danger? What was this thing on her head? Why was she holding her eyes closed…?

Without thinking about it, she opened them to take a look.

Light filled her vision. Twirling, spinning, flashing rings of red and blue, swirling around and around, looping between one another so much she couldn’t tell where one pattern ended and another began. Her eyes fluttered as she tried to follow along, and instead she just found her foggy mind losing itself in the sea of colour.

With her thoughts already scrambled, there was nothing that the Investigator could do to resist its pull. Her jaw dropped open, drool already starting to drip from her lips, and she went slack in her bindings as her head emptied out – all of her thoughts and struggles vanishing, drowning in the whirlpools of colour. Her mind was a blank slate.

Perfect for someone to write some new rules onto.

Obey

Pretty standard. At this point, Sandra had been brainwashed enough to have that one on speed dial. Her brain knew what to do with it, and slotted the command into the centre of herself. She was a slave, and she would obey her Mistress.

Sexy

Also not unusual! Hey, Sandra had an excellent body, and she knew how to use it. Immediately, all of her normal concerns like modesty and embarrassment melted away, while pride and flirtatiousness surged. If her Mistress wanted her to show off, then she was going to show off! Mel had nothing on her game~

Race!

Ironically, here was where the process faced the most resistance. Race? What was the point? She was the fastest around, no one could compete. There wasn’t anything fun about it, no mountains to climb, no hurdles to push herself over. It was like asking a world champion chess player to take part in a preschool chess club tournament. It wouldn’t even be fun!

But in the end, the helmet was a machine, and Sandra was only human. Her resistance exhausted itself, and was eventually overcome. Her Mistress wanted her to race, and so race she would. And she was going to do it well. She was going to be the best.

By the time the helmet finally dinged, its job was done. Her brain had been well and truly washed of all that useless stuff like free will and restraint. The chains around her dissolved, her magic returned to her now that her freedom was well and truly sealed. Confident hands pulled the helmet off of her head, and she looked up to find a smug face grinning down at her.

“Well, Sandy?” Eliza stroked her new slave’s cheek. “How do you feel?”

There was only one answer she could give.

“I feel great, Mistress! Ready to race!”

“Perfect.” The blue haired villain snapped her fingers. “In that case, get her into her new uniform!”

“Can do, Mistress!” Melony saluted again, before grabbing Sandra and pulling her to her feet. She’d obviously been waiting for this moment all day, and, judging by how she was already pulling her lover’s clothes off, she wasn’t going to be waiting a second longer!

Suspiciously, though, she took an awful lot longer dressing her partner back up than she took stripping her down. Funny that. The new uniform was red, obviously, which went with her hair. Honestly, this was kind of skimpy even for this team, but complainants weren’t in Sandra’s vocabulary anymore. Still, she’dve been more clothed naked! This top was just half a bra, cut so it just barely covered her nipples, while the skirt was clinging tight enough to leave nothing to the imagination at all. Both were leather, obviously, and paired with a ludicrous set of red high heels…

“Perfect!” Melony cheered when the last of it slid on, clapping her hands in delight. “Oh, you look amazing, honey. Totally worth all the… y’know.”

Sandra just giggled, sliding her hands around the other woman’s waist. “Dear, you didn’t need to hypnotise me to get me in a slinky outfit. You could have just asked~”

Her partner grinned, bopping her lightly on the nose. “Liar You’d never wear this of your own free will. You’re suuuuch a prude. It’s adorable! But this is sexy”

“Well-“

“That’s enough lovey-doveying! You have a race to win!” Mistress Eliza smacked Sandra on the behind, getting a satisfying sound from the tight leather of her skirt. “Now go out there and show them who the fastest race team is~”

“Yes Mistress!” Sandra saluted, releasing her pouting partner and hurrying off to do as she was bidden. She couldn’t even be upset at not getting more time to snuggle with Mel – there’d be plenty of that later.

But… she didn’t think Mistress had actually thought this through. After all, if she loved racing, why was she asking Sandra to obliterate the entire sport? It didn’t make much sense to her. No one was ever going to catch up to the records she was about to set.

(Especially not after the Captain stormed the place. Mistress hadn’t asked about backup plans or anything, so this entire operation was about to go completely tits up… This was why it was important to ask your slaves the right questions when you caught them, folks.)

Oh well. Not for her to question, but to serve. She was just going to look hella sexy while doing it~

And if she utterly annihilated a stupid sport so that she never had to hear about it ever again, who was she to complain?