Chapter Eleven: A New Thrall for Steed
======================================

:Author: Gospodin

.. meta::
   :shs-title: The Enslavement of Marie
   :shs-author: Gospodin
   :shs-part: 11
   :shs-keywords: MFf, latex, mc, bd


Catwoman Marie sashayed down the front walk as briskly as her paw-boots
would allow. She opened the rear door of the taxi and stepped inside, a
vision of glossy black latex.

"Lemme guess: Castro street party?" Her taxi driver was a heavy-set
bearded man in a large sailor suit.

Marie did not reply, her eyes bulging as the tail, squeezed between her
back and the car seat, inflated sudenly within her. Gathering her
composure, she just smiled and handed him the card with the address on
it.

"Hmmm, that's gunna be tough from here what with all the streets closed.
I'll have to take Divis. around to where I can cross Market, is that
okay?" Marie just looked out the window and nodded, irritated that all
San Francisco taxi drivers seem to want to get the rider's opinion on
the best route.

The ride was uneventful, if circuitous. Several competing neighborhood
costume parties provided plenty of visual entertainment for Marie, and
she was startled when the taxi pulled into a narrow SoMa alleyway and
stopped. She handed the driver a large bill and left the cab without a
word, strutting into a dark brick archway as her tail flicked behind
her.

A young man in a bellhop outfit ushered her into a large cage-like
service lift, swinging the accordion door closed and squeezing the
controls to go up.  Marie imagined herself kept in a wire mesh cage, the
ferocious wildcat of Hamburg. She'd be kept on display at the zoo, and
people would pay admission to see her tear gashes in her trainer's
uniform.

The lift whined its way up to the top floor, and the young man slid open
the gate to let Marie out again. She stalked down a long hallway and
reached a heavy iron door. Reaching up, she pulled on a wooden handle
attached to a chain dangling from the ceiling. A tinkling bell sounded
from the other side of the door, and a pair of eyes emerged from behind
a tiny rectangular slot.

She did her best to smile and look as though she belonged, and the slot
slid shut again. With a clang, the iron door swung inward, leading into
a dim candle-lit gathering.

Marie tiptoed on her velveted rubber paws into what appeared to be
someone's loft apartment. All around her, she spotted men and women in
various rubber and leather costumes, each with an identity-concealing
mask of some sort.

"Ah, you must be the new thrall. We were told you'd be coming as a cat,
but I must say your costumer has outdone himself!" Marie turned quickly
to find the source of the voice: a tall, slender, film-noir femme fatale
leaned against a pillar, one knee bent beneath her long red rubber
evening gown. Her arms were clad in opera-length red rubber gloves, and
between her gummy fingers she balanced a long cigarette holder. Her
black hair hung in a bob, her wide bangs resting atop a red rubber
domino mask that matched the shade of her ruby lips perfectly.

The lanky woman took a sip of smoke from her cigarette and puffed a
perfect ring into the air between them. "Welcome to the party, little
one. Most of the guests have yet to arrive, but I'm sure they'll all
want to meet you. We haven't had a new thrall at our gatherings in ever
so long."

Marie cleared her throat, trying not to appear nervous. "Um, what
exactly do you mean by 'thrall'?"

The lady in red straightened up and creased her lips in an amused smirk,
"Oh yes, they'll *definitely* want to meet you, little one."

Marie frowned as the woman slinked off toward the bar, thinking that
perhaps she needed a drink herself. She always hated going to parties
where she didn't know anyone. Here it seemed, her reputation preceded
her, and she wasn't sure tht was the best thing.

"Cosmo?" A man in a leather three-piece suit and bowler hat held out a
martini glass filled with a pink fluid. Marie looked up at his black
rubber domino mask, and smiled as she took the drink.

"Thank you, that would be perfect." she sighed, "I'm afraid I'm at a
loss. I don't know anyone here, you see, and..."

"Oh, that's really the point!" the man's green eyes sparkled behind his
mask, "Nobody here knows who anyone else is. Perhaps we're all
strangers, or maybe we met before. We could be reincarnations of
lifelong companions or old pets!  Don't worry, my dear, there are plenty
of icebreakers planned. A gathering like this really needs structure,
wouldn't you say?"

"Ah, oh..." Marie stammered a bit, sipping her drink, "Yes, yes, I
suppose that's good. Erm, what should I call you then, if we're not
supposed to know who everybody is?"

The man reached up with a menacing looking steel umbrella and pushed the
brim of his hat up a little. "Steed. John Steed. Sorry I couldn't find
anything in pinstripe, but I came in rubber *last* year."

Marie giggled, remembering her days of watching The Avengers dubbed into
German, always relishing the scenes where Mrs. Peel or Kathy Gale were
bound and tormented by some criminal mastermind.

"Ah, come with me, my dear. The first activity is about to begin." Steed
took her clawed hand in the crook of his shoulder and led her down into
the main floor of the loft. Marie looked around at the crowd and
realized that they were all dressed as heroes and villains from comic
books and spy series.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Masters, mistresses, slaves, and thralls! The
first competition is about to begin!" A man dressed as The Joker waved
his purple pork-pie hat around for emphasis as he announced the event.
Standing behind him was a girl in a red and black latex Harley Quinn
costume, a leash strap running from her chin down to the Joker's left
hand. In her hands she held a small metal gong and mallet, which she
used to punctuate the magician's cries and get the crowd's attention.

"Since our theme this year is heroes and villains, the first competition
is a classic! This building was once a stockhouse for the Southern
Pacific Railroad, and we've always been meaning to make use of the
leftover supplies." He released the leash and Quinn walked over to a
vinyl curtain and pulled it back, revealing a room covered in winding
sections of railroad track. "So pair up and grab a bundle!"

The crowd murmur rose as couples began to choose and head into the room.
Steed turned to Marie and smiled, gesturing inquisitively. She nodded
hesitantly, and followed him into the track room. As they passed through
the curtain, Steed grabbed a neatly-tied bundle of hemp rope, and fussed
with it as he spoke.

"I think the best bet is to grab a curved section of track. I have an
idea that ought to have them all kicking themselves!" Steed was like a
little boy, excited with anticipation of the results of his clever idea.

"Oh, um, sure. Er, what exactly are we doing?" Marie scanned the room,
and saw all the women in the party laying across or along the tracks,
while the men unwound the bundles of rope they had picked up earlier.

"A classic scene: the damsel in distress! Bound to the railroad tracks,
with the 10:30 local barreling down the right-of-way completely
unawares! Now my dear Catwoman, I realize that you are the villain in
our little team, but tradition demands that you be the one to lay across
the rails. Allow me."

Marie furrowed her brow beneath the rubber cowl as she was assisted in
laying down in a C-shaped section of track. He turned out to be quite
quick and adept with the rope, binding her right wrist to the top of the
outer rail, and her left ankle to the bottom. He connected her other arm
and knee to the center of the smaller C of the inner rail in front of
her, and connected a line from the center of the outer rail to provide
tension on her waist, pulling her taut.

"If only you could see yourself! The feline rampant, awaiting her doom!"
Marie rolled her eyes as he tugged her into an uncomfortable shape,
immobile on the frame of steel and wood. She was thankful that he had
positioned her somewhat on her side, so that her tail curled behind her.

"So what--oof!" Marie gasped as the waist rope was pulled even tighter
against her corset's cinchpoint, "What exactly is the prize for the best
display?"

"It looks to be a bottle of champagne, which I would love to share with
a beautiful woman such as yourself. Now, if you'll excuse me, there are
a few details I must attend to. But don't worry, I'll be back, true to
form, to whisk you away in the nick of time!" He winked playfully and
walked away. Leaving Marie craning her neck to try and see what else was
going on. She saw a woman dressed like Aeon Flux and a man dressed in a
Spawn costume going over each damsel in distress with clipboards and
pens.

"Welllll..." hissed a gravely voice behind Marie's head, "It lookss like
thiss evening we have a new thrallll!" Marie turned her head as far as
possible, and saw a short busty girl in a white catsuit and high-heeled
go-go boots squatting on the rail behind her. Her yellow eyes had
vertical almond-shaped pupils like a cat's, and her face was made up
expertly with a snout and whiskers. She glared down at Marie with envy
and contempt.

"Excuse me?" Marie craned her neck, trying to make out the expression on
the white catgirl behind her. "What exactly is a 'thrall'... around
here?"

The catgirl extended a white gloved hand, tracing an elongated plastic
fingernail down the pit of Marie's taut right arm. "Mmmm, you *are* a
fresh little piece of *new meat* now aren't you?" Her nail ran over the
curve of Marie's breast, tripping over the raised outline of the jeweled
nipple ring. "A fresh little thrall like you must have been *awfully*
naughty to get the three-rings treatment so *early* in your training!"

Marie went from suspicious to nervous. "What training? Who are you?"

"Here, I'm the *favorite*!" the catgirl giggled, "And I worked very hard
to catch the attention of Jack Gummi so that I could wear one of his
creations tonight.  I didn't spend eight months greasing the wheels just
to have some *greenhorn slave* blunder into my party with a newer model
and steal the spotlight."

Marie looked back over at the judges, who were still working on the
other side of the room, taking notes and sharing jokes with the bound
women on the floor around them. She turned back to the white cat above
her.

"I don't know how you got that outfit, girlie, but you have no right!
Ah! I think this is just the accessory I was looking for!" To Marie's
horror, the catgirl reached out her clawed hands and unclasped her
utility belt. She pulled the metal belt from Marie's hips and fastened
it around her own, letting it hang in front of her furry crotch.

"No! Give it back!" Marie cried, horrified. Twisting her neck again, she
saw the judges still busy two rows away, seemingly oblivious to her
problems.

"Mmm, yes, that's purrrrfect!" the white catgirl cooed, "But you know
what I love most about Jack's designs?" She picked up marie's black
rubber tail, which was twisting back and forth as Marie struggled
against the rails. "It's his insistance on *functionality*!"

As she spoke, she twisted Marie's tail between her white clawed hands,
wringing air out of the elaborate rubber tube and pumping up Marie's
rear plug with each squeeze. "Enjoy your Jack Gummi creation, dear. I
hope you find pleasure from the parts I let you *keep*."

Marie gasped at the sensation of the plug swelling quickly within her,
and screwed up her face beneath her mask. By the time she caught her
breath, she turned over to see a white catsuited girl in a silvery
utility belt strut out through a doorway, her white tail flicking back
and forth as she walked.

"Help! Heeeelp! My utility belt!" Marie wailed, aware of her obscene
rubber cunt lips exposed for public view. "Please! Somebody
*heeeeeelp*!"

"My my, this is an interesting twist!" Marie looked up, panting, to see
Aeon Flux and Spawn standing above her, making marks on their
clipboards.

"Oh please, you have to help me. She took my belt, and I *have* to get
it back!  Please! She just left through that door behind me! Just get me
my belt back!"

Aeon turned to Spawn. "I think she's my favorite so far!"

"Agreed!" The man nodded behind his colorful rubber hood. "I always
thought real supervillains were fools for letting Batman keep his
utility belt when they trapped him. It's a nice twist to have Catwoman's
belt taken from her!"

"Full marks for roleplaying!" Aeon cheered as she checked off various
things.

The two judges turned away and finished working the room. Marie
whimpered and pleaded, but no one took any notice. After a few minutes,
there was a commotion on the other side of the room, followed by cheers
and applause. Marie shifted as best she could to ease her tired muscles,
and was relieved to see various people untying the victims around her.

"Well my dear, they loved your performance so much, they gave us first
place!  Congratulations!" Marie looked up to see Steed down on one knee
before her, a bottle of Krystal in one hand and a pair of champagne
flutes in the other.

"Oh, Steed! While you were gone! This other cat girl, she--" Marie tried
to explain, but the loud report of the erupting cork startled her into
clenching her sphincter. She winced as the tail shot out straight behind
her.

"Here you go, my dear pretty kitty. Drink up! You deserve it!" Marie
opened her eyes to see that Steed held a glass to her red rubber lips,
and was pouring it gently into her mouth. Marie drank thirstily, the
bubbles flowing through her mind and easing her concerns that she seemed
to be the only damsel still in distress.

"Well Catwoman, you appear to have made a hit for your first party.
They're saying that you're the new favorite!" Steed sipped from his own
glass and poured another for Marie. Behind him, a rubber spiderman took
photographs from various angles with an expensive-looking camera while a
woman in a leather Captain Hook outfit held a reflecting screen.

"That's what the white catgirl said... the *favorite*..."

"Mmmm? Who?" Steed mumbled into his glass as he drank.

"I kept trying to explain! This girl in a white costume sort of like
mine--she took my utility belt and ran off through that door behind me!
She said she was the favorite, and that's why she stole it. It has my
house key and everything in it. Please, can't you get it back for me?"

A boyish grin spread across Steed's face. "A quest for the modesty of a
beautiful pussycat maiden? Why, I'd *leap* at the very opportunity!" At
the word 'leap', he sprang to his feet and hopped jauntily through the
doorway.

"No! Wait!" Marie craned her neck toward the empty doorway, shaking her
limbs against the ropes. Spiderman took the opportunity to stand over
her and take several close-up photos.

"You forgot to untie me..." Marie sighed as the shutter clicked and
whirred above her.

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