Defeat

"Listen carefully, Texas," the lapine performer began. Her voice had lost its earlier exuberance, levelling out to a droning cadence as the pendulum spun back and forth, making strobing little rays from the light of the sun. "I am a great thief; the greatest thief. You try to catch me, but you always end up chasing my cute tail. Defeat after humiliating defeat; you dream about me laughing at you. Now I've snuck into your mind and like a beautiful rogue you can't help but envy, I'm opening all the locks on it. Click click click; can you hear them open? You can feel them release their hold on you and leave your mind open like a little (very little) treasure chest for a beautiful thief to take whatever she wants and put anything back." Texas could only nod along, staring at the pretty pendulum, letting the rabbit's words brand themselves into her increasingly pliant mind.

"Just seeing me makes you so furious you can barely think straight, because I stole something from you. Do you know what I stole?" Texas stared dumbly ahead, waiting to be told. Penelope smirked. "I stole 'no' from you, Texas. It's gone. The word 'no' doesn't exist for you anymore, nor the idea. When you try to say 'no,' it slips away from you, like something you've forgotten how to do, and you just remember again, that Penelope the hypnotist took it away from you. You can't deny anything, can't refuse anything no matter what you want, and if you don't have 'no,' then all you can say is 'yes.' And you're such a good girl, Texas; so chivalrous, so trustworthy. Your word is your bond. You would never even think of going back on your word, or even failing to follow through on something you couldn't steadfastly deny, no matter how disgusting or disgraceful the act. Honesty was more valuable than gold to your mother, and you'd ~never~ let her down."

The sheriff stared helplessly as her world was rewritten behind her eyes, the ability to refuse taken from her utterly, replaced with a perversely caricaturized notion of her sense of honour. She could only fall deeper into the pendulum's spinning lights, gently swaying with its motion.

"And you'll know it's that honour of yours that's making you lose again and again, but you won't be able to do anything about it. Even if you wanted to, I took 'no' away from you. You'll know that it's your own fault every time you get stomped flat, every time you're used as a buttrag, and definitely every time you let a criminal get away with doing whatever they want. All your fault for letting me steal your 'no.' And with every defeat, you'll hear me laughing at you, just like this:" She let slip a caustic laugh that defied the her friendly appearance and embedded itself in Texas' mind, finishing with a happy little sigh. "And that will make you want to catch me so much more, even though you know you'll only ever catch frustration. You'll try and try again, but don't forget the most important rule of being 'good.' Remember my words as your mother's, teaching you: You must always hear a criminal out before trying to bring them to justice. Listen to everything they have to say. You might forget this rule, but you always remember it at the last second."

The pendulum twisted and spun, back and forth, back and forth. "And the more you fail to catch me, the more it will prove to you how much cleverer I am than you; how much faster, how much *better* I am. You'll envy me so much even as I frustrate you again and again that you'll tell everyone about Penelope the hypnotist and how she beat you, and how you're going to catch her for sure next time even though everyone will know that you'll just get embarrassed again, because that's who you are now, just another part in my grand act. You get to be the clown; the buffoonish sheriff who can never catch the beautiful and clever rogue. Now I'm going to count to three and snap my fingers, and when I snap my fingers, the locks will all shut again and no one but me will be able to get them open, but I can do it so easily whenever I want, can't I? Penelope the thief just has to say 'click, click, click,' and your mind is wide open again. I'm the only one who can give back your 'no.' Understand? That's a good girl. Now, one... two... three." Snap!