<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/8/85/Dione2.jpg)</div><strong>The Countess, Laprade Spire</strong><br/>“Of course, Mr. Mayor, I would be honored to host the opening,” Dione Laprade said graciously into the phone. “And please, there’s no need to thank me about the donations. I am always more than willing to help better the city in any way I can.”<br/><br/>She bid goodbye to the mayor, then hung up the phone, smirking in amusement. What did the mayor love more, her supposed good deeds to the city, or the money that she had behind her name? It was likely the money, as Laprade Enterprises was one of the few things holding Ursa City together, and the company had plenty of money to go around. Whatever it cost for the mayor and the city to dance through her little hoops was well worth the investment.<br/><br/>Of course, there would come the time where he would drop to his knees before her, then literally kiss her ass. It was one of the moments that Dione dreamed of: he would plant his lips firmly on her cheeks, and she would relish the look on his face right before she sucked the life right out of his weak little body. That day could never come fast enough.<br/><br/>From her penthouse office (http://leonardharman.com/FILM/IMAGES/AngelOffice4.jpg) atop of Laprade Spire, she finished up her day of ‘ordinary work.’ The days were difficult and long; it wasn’t easy being the CEO of one of the world’s most powerful industries. But unlike most CEOs, she could take out her frustration and anger out in a completely different and more satisfying way.<br/><br/>She packed her things in her briefcase, then went to her private elevator, but she had no intention of leaving through the front door. As CEO, she had private access to a personal garage, but she had no plans of going home. Instead, there was a cleverly hidden panel next to the elevator buttons, and inside was a screen that scanned her palm.<br/><br/>“<em>How may I help you, Miss Laprade</em>?” said a pleasant, prerecorded voice.<br/><br/>“‘There is no good and evil, only power and those too weak to seek it’,” she quoted. The elevator doors shut, and the car began to descend. It quickly passed the length of the building, but then proceeded to go deeper, past the sub-basements, and even past the parking garage.<br/><br/>When the doors opened again, she stepped into the halls of The League’s Headquarters. Stone caverns reinforced with metal beams stretched in every direction, but she knew the maze like the back of her hand. She had built it, after all, completely in secret from her own company and the entire city.<br/><br/>The first thing she did was go to her personal quarters and change out of her work clothes. She stripped off the sleek black blazer and professional skirt, and slipped into something far more comfortable and appropriate. Though it like latex and had a similar feel, it was actually a super fine weave of ballistic resistant clothing, developed in Laprade Enterprises’ weapon division. The pants were a shiny black, hugging every contour of her shapely hips and thighs, and the top was a red blazer, trimmed with black waist cincher. It was a little tight, so she was forced to leave the top few buttons undone to giver her ample chest some breathing room from behind its lacey bra.<br/><br/>She turned and left her quarters, no longer Dione Laprade, billionaire bachelorette, but The Countess, the evil scourge who plagued Ursa City.<br/><br/>She entered the conference room in her typical sultry stride, the whisper of latex thighs creaking teasingly. Most of her subordinates had already arrived, and she was pleased at their punctuality.<br/><br/>“Welcome, my fellow colleagues,” she greeted, taking her seat at the head of the table. “I take it you are all prepared to discuss our next plan of action?”