The Pop Concert That Went Wrong (bondage story)

This is a damsel-in-distress bondage story featuring non-consensual scenarios and a lot of sexist points of view that I do not in any way endorse! Please exercise reader discretion and give it a miss if such elements are likely to upset you.

1. Natalie

One hour to go, Natalie thought nervously. Sixty minutes before everything changed.

The dressing room seemed empty without the rest of the band. The pretty blonde 23-year-old had arrived early, but Hana would probably be late, and she wasn't completely sure that Victoria would arrive at all - one more thing for her to worry about. Natalie couldn't understand why her bandmates worried so much less than her, while they probably didn't see what there was to be so stressed about; they were all so different. But that was partly why the band worked so well, Natalie thought. They weren't identikit brats off the stage-school conveyor belt: they were three individual, independent young women with their own lives and hopes and dreams. The fans responded to that. That magical chemistry had made Spice Riot one of the most successful girlbands in the world.

The most successful, Natalie reminded herself... or they would be after tonight, if all went to plan. It was Spice Riot's biggest ever concert, taking place at an enormous stadium, and simultaneously broadcast live at other venues across the world. After tonight Spice Riot would be huge.

Trying not to think about the time, or to wonder where the other girls had got to, Natalie started to put on the costume she had chosen for the show: a smart white tuxedo that she considered to be the perfect blend of style and dignity. Natalie was strongly against clothes that could be perceived as objectifying, as were the rest of the band; looking at the crisp, elegant shirt, bow tie and tails in the mirror she thought to herself how proud she was that they had achieved so much without compromising on their feminist ideals. They didn't feel the need to dress provocatively to get attention, to make pop videos full of cleavage and sensual dancing or pose in their underwear for men's magazines. After checking her appearance carefully in the mirror, Natalie sat down to wait for the others, and picked up the book she had been reading, The Beauty Myth.

2. Ricky

Making his way through the labyrinthine corridors and tunnels backstage at the stadium, Ricky was both hopelessly lost and furious. As always when annoyed by small inconveniences, his thoughts began to drift to bigger problems, namely his so-called career and how it went wrong. He had come so close to success: several years ago he took part in a reality TV show called Battle Of The Sexes, in which a boyband and girlband were selected and trained and then competed to win the Christmas number 1. Ricky had been selected for the boyband, a trio of confident young men who called themselves Boyz 4 Reel and were sure they would triumph. But they lost easily, even humiliatingly, to their female rivals, Spice Riot. After two more miserably unsuccessful singles the boys were dropped from their label, and had struggled to get work ever since, while the girls went from strength to strength. The boys were very bitter about this.

But Ricky allowed himself a smile, knowing he would soon be able to get his revenge... if he could only find his way through these stupid corridors.

3. Hana

Hana climbed unhurriedly out of her car, a Ferrari two-seater, and threw the keys to the valet. In theory the dark-haired Korean beauty was in disguise; she was wearing a generic short skirt and tight top from a high-street chain, and big sunglasses covered much of her face. But the valet knew exactly who she was, and asked for an autograph. She said no, and laughed. "Sorry," she said, "but I'm in a hurry. Also, I think autographs are ridiculous."

They were ridiculous. Everything about being a 'celebrity' struck her as ridiculous, even now. The 25-year-old ought to have got used to it, having worked in girlbands far longer than Natalie or Victoria - she joined Spice Riot from a Korean group, having grown sick of the way K-pop idols were treated back home - but it still seemed weird. She was conscious that many other women were doing far more important work for far less recognition, and often wondered if show business had any value at all. Then again, she reminded herself, many girls and young women had been introduced to the concepts of fourth-wave feminism through Spice Riot's music, and this would be especially true of the new album the band would be unveiling tonight: Girl, Woman, Other.

Hana walked into the stadium where the band would be performing that night. She was running a little late, but despite what she said to the valet, didn't seem too bothered, and she stopped to answer her phone. It was her agent, and they spoke at length.

4. Peter

Peter was stressed out. As the manager of Spice Riot, he was extremely conscious of the importance of tonight's concert. Tens of millions of fans around the world would be watching, any number of things could go wrong, and he would be blamed if they did. It was a thankless job. A precarious one, too: the band grudgingly accepted that he was good at what he did, but made no secret of their dislike of the idea of having a male manager. He knew they had spoken to several potential female replacements.

He knocked on the door of the girls' dressing room to ask if they were ready, and if they knew how soon the concert started. "Stop worrying," Natalie laughed, a tiny bit hypocritically. "And don't take this the wrong way, Pete, but for God's sake will you please leave us alone!"

5. Natalie

Annoyed by Peter's nagging, Natalie stuck out her tongue cheekily, and then went back to her book. "Why do we have to be managed by a man?" she wondered rebelliously. "What does that look like when we're supposed to be feminist icons?" She hated being told what to do, but particularly hated being told what to do by a man.

There was another knock on the door, and Natalie got up and threw it open so she could tell Peter to get lost. But it wasn't Peter.

6. Ricky

Ricky smiled when he saw how shocked Natalie was to see him. "Hi there, old friend!" he said, laughing. "Aren't you pleased to see me?"

"Oh, of course I am! How are you?"

She tried to act naturally, but it wasn't easy. The soft-hearted girl had always felt guilty about the way their careers had diverged, Spice Riot to awards parties and sold-out concerts, Boyz 4 Reel to supermarket openings and day jobs.

"Aren't you going to ask me in for a drink?"

"I'd love to, Ricky, but I need to get ready for the show. I hope to see you afterwards, though!"

"Isn't that nice. But I'd prefer to see you right now," Ricky said, no longer smiling, and pulled a gun from his pocket. "Sit down, and keep quiet," he added, pushing his way into the room and closing the door behind him.

7. Victoria

A bus pulled up outside the stadium, and a young woman got out. It was Victoria, the third and final member of Spice Riot. Despite her beauty - the 26-year-old redhead had flawless pale skin and a stunning figure - none of the other passengers paid her any attention. Dressed in jeans, trainers, an old hoodie, sunglasses and a baseball cap, she was a lot better than Hana at blending in. Why was an international pop star taking the bus? It was a matter of principle. She did not believe in car ownership, and always caught the bus to the band's shows.

Lost in a podcast, Victoria was barely thinking about the concert. She planned to leave the band soon and concentrate on her activism.

8. Peter

More worried than ever about the band being ready on time, Peter knocked nervously on their door and asked how things were going. "I can't answer the door right now," said Natalie in a faint and wobbly little voice, "I'm a little tied up. But don't worry, everything is fine."

Peter reluctantly accepted this and walked away.

9. Hana

Hana passed Peter in the corridor and managed not to be spotted; she knew she was running late and didn't want to be told off. She reached the dressing room, slipped inside and closed the door behind herself. She turned... and almost cried out with shock.

Her pretty bandmate Natalie was bound tightly to her chair. She was squirming and wriggling helplessly, and trying desperately, but in vain, to communicate with Hana through a white cloth gag, her eyes wide and terrified.

For an odd moment Hana found herself fascinated by the details of Natalie's stringent bondage. Her shapely legs had been tied tightly together at ankle, knee and thigh, with the ankles further secured to the base of the chair so she couldn't kick out. Her chest was wrapped with cord above and below her breasts, while rope had been tied around her waist and used to anchor her into the seat. A further rope descended from the waist bindings and disappeared downwards between Natalie's thighs, and Hana knew enough about kink practices to guess what this was for. And the damsel's arms, Hana saw finally, had been roped securely behind her back, hands facing each other palm to palm, wrists wrapped with six or seven cinched loops of thin cord. Her elbows were bound tightly together too, which forced the poor girl into an uncomfortable and humiliating posture with her chest thrust forward flirtatiously, as if she was offering herself up.

And this was the strangest detail of all: poor Natalie's breasts were especially prominent because someone had changed her outfit. Gone was the dignified tuxedo; in its place was an old-fashioned babydoll nightie in sheer green silk, cut high at the leg (a matching pair of green silk panties were clearly visible) and with a plunging neckline that showed off ample creamy cleavage.

Objectifying, demeaning and humiliating, it was perhaps the least feminist outfit anyone had ever been forced to wear.

"What the hell happened?" Hana gasped.

10. Natalie

Natalie struggled furiously against her bonds, trying desperately to warn Hana that Ricky was standing behind her, to no avail. The ropes were viciously tight, and had been tied with great care and skill; the knotted cleave gag was thoroughly silencing, preventing any comment beyond a plaintive "Mmmpphh!" It was incredibly frustrating.

Ricky stepped forward and quietly announced his presence to Hana, putting one finger to his lips to command silence and waving a gun to demand obedience. Waving a fake gun, Natalie thought to herself... she had noticed this moments too late, just as resistance and escape had become equally impossible, the tight constricting ropes and humiliating gag transforming her into a decorative damsel in distress. "Mmppppphh!" she mewled at Hana. The gun's not real! But Hana couldn't understand a word she was saying, and had other things to think about.

11. Ricky

Ricky was having the time of his life, ordering around his former rivals and scaring them with his big, admittedly fake, gun. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this good, or this powerful.

While Natalie squeaked and mmmphed rather adorably, he ordered Hana to turn around so her could gag her firmly: he used a large shiny black ballgag that silenced her very effectively, shoving it deep in her mouth and fastening the strap as tight as he could while she moaned softly. "Try and call for rescue, I dare you," he told her laughing, giving her a chauvinistic smack on the ass as encouragement: Hana blushed and did her best to alert security but found her voice stifled to an inaudible mewl, accompanied by an embarrassing quantity of drool.

Delighted by this bonus humiliation, and now far less worried about anyone hearing what was going on, Ricky ordered Hana to take off her skirt and top, which she did reluctantly but obediently, and handed her another improbably skimpy babydoll nightie to put on, this time in red silk. "This is your new costume," he said, smiling. "And I think it will suit you far better than those silly outfits the three of you usually wear on stage. Pretty girls should show themselves off, not hide away under manly clothes."

Blushing more than ever, Hana began to put on the demeaning garment.

12. Victoria

Realising there wasn't much time left before the start of the concert, Victoria wondered if she should hurry, or maybe even run. She wasn't sure she could be bothered. Besides, the dressing room was just around the next corner: she had enough time. In any case, the fans wouldn't mind waiting.

And there were more important things to do! She had spotted Peter, and needed to speak to him. Ignoring the poor man's look of anxiety she launched into a long-winded discussion of his male privilege, and how he could properly make amends for it. She then produced a reading list of books about intersectional feminism and pressed it into his hand.

"These will make everything clear," she said seriously.

Peter tried to look interested, and managed not to express his concerns about her timekeeping; Victoria did not respond well to criticism.

13. Hana

Hana was now fully dressed in the embarrassing, girlish red nightie, which had been accompanied by matching panties and high heels. The skimpy outfit showed off her cleavage, her long legs and her pert ass to great advantage: the whole effect was something like a 1950s pinup, or the kind of politically incorrect Barbie doll they wouldn't be allowed to sell any more. It was intensely humiliating to be objectified like this, dressed up like a man's old-fashioned fantasy of what a girl should look like, and was even worse because she had been rendered silent, utterly unable to object to her treatment or make any comment whatsoever, by the huge ballgag filling her mouth. Yet it was all oddly... liberating at the same time, Hana realised with a shock. Being a strident political icon could be exhausting at times, and part of her had missed getting to act like a pretty bimbo, being looked after and told what to do. But no! That was no way for a feminist to think...

This confusing train of thought was interrupted by more soft mewling, and she wondered why Natalie was mmmpphing so desperately, if ineffectively. "She must be trying to tell me something," she thought. "But I don't see what. I know we're in danger, Nat! There's a maniac waving a gun in my face!"

Afraid of the gun, Hana decided not to put up any resistance when Ricky approached with several coils of strong thin cord, and allowed herself to be quickly and efficiently bound hand and foot. Ricky began with her wrists, lashed tightly together behind her back, the cords yanked and cinched until they cut painfully into her soft skin. Unlike Natalie, whose hands were tied in a relatively comfortable position behind her ass, poor Hana had her wrists crossed upwards so they were behind her neck, fingers pointed to the ceiling and shoulders twisted into an agonising posture. It was fortunate she was so supple from regular yoga sessions, but even she found this position difficult to achieve. He wrapped her chest with more rope, looping it snugly above and below her breasts; between the framing chest ties and the change in posture enforced by her painfully bound arms Hana's bosom was now firmly on display for all to enjoy. Ricky was enjoying the sight, at any rate. To make sure she maintained this pleasing posture he ran a cord around the back of Hana's neck and in front of each shoulder, then connected it to the rest of the chest harness. This made the perfect anchoring point for her bound wrists, which were now immovable against the nape of her neck.

With arms and chest secure, Ricky moved on to the lower half of his prisoner - for a prisoner she certainly was by this point, there was no doubt about that. Poor Hana received her own crotch rope, anchored to a cord about her waist in front and behind, complete with a fat knot calculated to slip inside her and create friction at the worst (or best) possible place. Ricky then bound her legs securely together at ankle, knee and thigh, removing any possibility of escape with the practised ease of a cowboy roping up a disobedient filly. She could barely stand, let alone run away.

"There, that should hold you!" Ricky said, laughing as Hana tested her bonds, squirming and straining and wriggling. He was quite right; she was utterly helpless. But she remained defiant, glaring at the former boyband member and refusing to sit down to be attached to her chair.

Ricky had expected this. He produced a set of strong belts from his bag, and set to work reinforcing her bonds. Each rope binding gained a matching leather strap secured over the top, cinched to the tightest possible hole: that made eight belts in all, any one of them more than capable of resisting a slender young lady's best attempts at escape. Compressed and constricted, the poor girl was soon squeaking with discomfort... but she wasn't yet ready to submit.

14. Natalie

Seeing her friend's defiance, watching her put up far more resistance than she herself had offered, Natalie found a new emotion creeping in with the fear and humiliation: she was enormously proud of her brave friend. Hana thought the gun was real, and knew Ricky was bigger and stronger than her, but was still doing her best to defy him.

But this thought was accompanied by yet another. How shamefully she herself had behaved by comparison, submitting to captivity so quickly and easily. Am I a natural damsel in distress, she wondered. Did I want to be captured?

15. Ricky

Ricky was mystified by Hana's unwillingness to co-operate; after all, he had a gun! Natalie had done exactly what she was told, so why wasn't her friend doing the same? She was disrespecting him, he decided.

Annoyed, Ricky had another look in his bag, and fished out a large roll of duct tape. "You've made me do this," he said. "If you were obedient, it wouldn't be necessary." Silly wench, he thought. She's going to make me late.

Working quickly he wrapped the silver tape tightly over the rope and straps around Hana's wrists, chest, waist, thighs, knees and ankles, then applied a layer of tape over her ball gag for good measure. Finally he smacked her on the ass. "I hope you're quite finished acting out," he said severely. "You're going to do what you're told from now on."

"Okay, okay," she said, or tried to say. "Mmmkkmmphh, Mmmkkmmphh!" She sat down obediently, trying to ignore the strange and almost intolerable pleasure it gave her to submit.

16. Hana

Hana was going through some confusing feelings. She thought about the pain of the cord, and the bite of the straps, and now the extreme constricting tightness added by the tape, and found she quite... liked the experience? Being a defeated and powerless hostage, objectified by her humiliating outfit, put in her place by a sexist man and treated like property... it should have been insufferable, but she was more turned on right now than she could ever remember.

Ricky, that silly failure of a man she had always pitied, was being very dominant in his treatment of her, and he struck her as oddly attractive in a way she had never previously considered. What a strong and masterful man he is, she thought.

17. Victoria

Victoria finally let Peter go on his way and opened the door of the dressing room, still calling out over her shoulder the names of feminist authors he absolutely must check out. But what she saw inside the room rendered her instantly and uncharacteristically silent. If Peter noticed the sudden quiet, he must have been too relieved to investigate.

Victoria was horrified to see both of her bandmates securely bound and gagged on their chairs, dressed up like sex dolls and wriggling and mewling for rescue. Although she saw at once that Hana was considerably more secure, and wondered why that was. Natalie was helpless enough in her ropes and cloth gag, but Hana could barely move a millimetre. People often focus on the wrong details in a crisis.

It was only now that Victoria noticed Ricky standing in the corner of the room, waving a gun at her. He closed the door quietly and instructed her to turn around so she was facing away from him. Unable to see what was going on, she half expected a bullet in the back - but instead she felt a gigantic ballgag shoved into her mouth and strapped tightly in place. Better to be gagged than shot, she thought to herself, trying to be positive, as drool began to drip down on to the front of her hoodie.

"It's time to change into your costume," Ricky said, laughing as he held up a skimpy blue babydoll nightie.

18. Ricky

With Victoria dressed in her humiliating costume, tits and ass gloriously on show in a way she would have complained about loudly if she hadn't been firmly and effectively silenced by the gag, Ricky went to work with his cord. He quickly bound her hands tightly behind her back, then shoved her elbows together and tied them in place, forcing her to stick out her bust. "This suits you," he laughed, enjoying the sight of the usually tomboyish Victoria forced into this demeaning, sexualised posture, before tying her chest and legs with lots more rope.

Wobbling on her bound feet, tits out at the front and ass out behind, Victoria tried desperately not to fall over, and was relieved when Ricky put out his hand and steadied her. "I've got you," he said, smiling at her vulnerability and enjoying his power over her.

19. Victoria

Getting a glimpse up close as Ricky moved to steady her, Victoria suddenly realised that the gun was fake - obviously fake, in fact, with a bright orange section just behind the muzzle! How had she been fooled by it? She started to resist, but it was far too late: she had been bound tightly and thoroughly, and was completely helpless. Her hands were immovable behind her back, her legs roped together at so many points that they might as well be a single limb. And as for calling for help... She mmmmpphed and moaned as loud as she could, but the gag was so big and effective that she could hardly hear herself. It was incredibly frustrating.

"Trying to get free, are we?" said Ricky. "We'd better make sure you're extra helpless, just in case."

He wrestled Victoria to the floor and thoroughly reinforced each of her bonds with straps, yanking and cinching until the drum-tight leather cut into her soft skin. When this didn't change her behaviour, he produced a roll of duct tape and did his best to virtually mummify the poor girl, although he was careful to leave her cleavage and ass on show. Finally, he used more tape to cover the ballgag and to reduce still further her ability to call for help. "Women should be seen and not heard," he told her with a satisfied look on his face. Surely that would be enough.

20. Ricky

It was not enough.

Rather than intimidated by the effectiveness and discomfort of her bonds, Victoria appeared to be absolutely furious, and she struggled and mmmppphed more than ever. Surprised and annoyed by the damsel's defiance, and worried that her vigorous thrashing might even be enough to loosen the bindings, or at least make more noise than he was happy with, Ricky realised he had a challenge on his hands. Taming such a feisty wench would be extra satisfying... but did he have time?

Sighing, he produced a bundle of slim chains from his bag, and carefully locked them around her arms, legs and body, all drawn so tight the links dug in painfully. He added a heavy cloth over the tape and ballgag in her mouth, finally reducing her moans and complaints to an acceptable level.

"About time you learned to keep quiet," he said. "See that you remain silent."

She had no choice but to obey.

21. Hana

Hana looked at her bandmates, and found that she was massively turned on by their helplessness and humiliation. Natalie, revealed as a natural submissive, caught and bound with such delicious ease; the strong and indomitable Victoria, subdued despite her defiance, overpowered and secured with such an excess of bindings that she could barely move a muscle or squeak for the rescue that was now her only hope. Minutes earlier they had been independent young women, idealistic feminists confident in their career paths and uninterested in performing for the male gaze. Now they were dressed up like sex dolls, trussed up so tightly they could hardly breathe, gagged into obedient silence, and the powerless prisoners of a chauvinistic man they thought they had vanquished. It was the rapidity and thoroughness of their defeat that was so bewildering. Hana felt intoxicated.

Being bound like this is far more fun than performing on stage, she thought. I'm glad we won't be able to do the concert after all.

22. Ricky

Ricky was entertaining similar thoughts, and he gloated out loud about the fact that Natalie was behaving as obediently as ever, that Hana appeared to be turned on by her tight inescapable bondage ("You're just a happy little ropeslut, aren't you?" he said mockingly, and it took every ounce of her self-control not to nod), and that Victoria was completely helpless and silenced, even if she remained defiant.

There was a knock on the door. Cautiously, Ricky opened it a crack, then, relieved, opened it completely to let in two men of roughly the same age. It was Justin and Paulie, the other former members of Boyz 4 Reel. Neither of them gave the impression that life had been kind; they had old trainers and a bitterness about the eyes.

"Cheer up boys, it's time for our concert," said Ricky, smiling ominously at the helpless girls.

23. Peter

It was half an hour later, and the crowd were growing restless, chanting for the band to come out. Peter was worried - more worried than usual, that is. This could get ugly. How much longer were they going to take? But then, at last, he was relieved to see a thumbs up from a crew member at the side of the stage. The lights went out, and the crowd went crazy in anticipation.

The curtain rose, and Peter was aghast when he saw what had caused the delay. The girls had been placed in their usual positions on stage, but instead of their sensible and dignified planned costumes they were wearing old-fashioned babydoll nighties in different colours: green for Natalie, red for Hana, blue for Victoria. These garments did little to protect the girls' modesty, being so skimpy that their breasts and panties were almost completely uncovered and so sheer that any concealment they did offer was largely theoretical: three pairs of perky nipples, for example, could clearly be made out through the near-transparent silk. The poor girls were quite unable to hide their pretty bodies from the audience, or worse still from the numerous cameras picking up footage for simultaneous broadcast around the world. Millions of teenage boys had just had their prayers answered.

Instead of beginning the opening dance number the girls were as still as statues, bound on their knees so tightly and thoroughly that they could barely move: wrists and elbows secure behind their backs, legs lashed together, chests shown off by framing bindings, and their intimate areas invaded by intrusive crotch ropes. (Even in this moment of confusion, Peter's practical eye noticed the differences in the nature and severity of each girl's bondage, Natalie bound only with rope and cloth, Hana and Victoria suffering the addition of leather and tape and chain respectively. He mentally filed away this information for later analysis.) Instead of singing, they were moaning and mmmphing through effective, silencing gags: please help, they were presumably trying to say, but it was hard to be sure. The three were wide-eyed and red-faced with embarrassment, but there were other emotions too: Natalie looked frightened, Victoria furious, and Hana oddly... happy?

The crowd became completely silent, confused and shocked to see their idols captive, displayed and humiliated in this way. Being taken prisoner, bound and gagged, put on show like pleasing decorative objects... it went against everything the band stood for.

But then Boyz 4 Reel burst on to the stage, smiling and waving as if nothing was wrong. Ricky stepped up to the microphone and explained that the boys were back, that they had decided to take over the concert, and that the girls had agreed to be their backing 'performers', since they were better at being decorative prisoners than at actually singing and dancing. (There was a small element of truth to this. None of the girls were especially gifted in these departments, and it was widely suspected that they had been selected for the band on the basis of their looks. The success of the records, of course, was largely down to the songwriting and production, which was all done by other people.) He added that they had changed their name from Spice Riot to The Damsels In Distress, and looked at Hana for confirmation. Almost fainting from pleasurable waves of humiliation, she nodded and blushed more furiously than ever.

And so, just like that, the concert began. The music played, the boys sang and danced, the girls wriggled and struggled helplessly and mmpphhed furiously, and nobody came to their rescue. Peter looked around to see where the police were, but as insane as this seemed, it appeared that nobody minded what had happened: the crowd were beginning to enjoy themselves, and the stage crew seemed okay with the whole thing too. Based on their expressions, in fact, Peter suspected some of them were quite pleased to see their employers get their comeuppance. And when he thought about it a little more he realised that he was quite pleased too. No more complaining, no more nagging, no more reading lists of feminist books. Peter shrugged, and sat back to enjoy the show.

24. Victoria

Whatever else you could say about the evening, Victoria reflected, you had to admit it had been one of the band's better received concerts. No, scratch that: it had been indisputably the most successful of their entire career, dwarfing even the greatest triumphs from Hana's K-pop days. Following the initial confusion there had been a truly rapturous reception in the stadium, and she had overheard enough crew chatter to understand that it had been a sensation around the world. Most of this overhearing had taken place in between songs, when the crew had approached the girls and manhandled them, nervously at first, but later casually, like the stage props it increasingly appeared they were.

Sometimes The Damsels In Distress found their bindings modified or reinforced, perhaps in response to particularly energetic struggling, although it was clear to Victoria that none of them stood a chance of escape. These extra bindings were more about adding to their humiliation than making it any more difficult for them to free themselves or call for help. At one stage, for example, they were all given large ballgags in bright colours to match their outfits, which was somehow extra humiliating because it made them look even more decorative. At another Victoria was singled out to be trussed up with tinsel and Christmas lights, then hung from a giant tree while the boys sang a festive number. Later a few male members of the audience were invited up on stage and handed cord, tape, leather straps and chains and invited to make the girls as helpless as possible, but while they did this work carefully and well, it was mainly an excuse to allow them to 'accidentally' stroke and grope the girls' tits and asses.

The attentive stage crew had more on their minds than the girls' bindings; the Damsels' clothes and position on stage were also changed from song to song in order to enhance the spectacle and expose them to ever more humiliating mockery. For one romantic song they were placed, still securely bound, on literal pedestals to be sung at while the boys tried to keep straight faces; for a silly song they were put in bunny costumes, complete with floppy ears and fluffy tails on their pert behinds, and made to hop around the stage before being 'captured' by Ricky dressed as a hunter and tightly hogtied to loud laughter and applause. A routine near the end had a medieval theme so the girls were put in wenchly skirts and corsets and bound tightly to wooden stakes before being rescued and carried off by a trio of knights; these absent-minded heroes somehow neglected to untie the wriggling maidens' bonds or remove their gags, focusing instead on throwing the damsels over their shoulders and giving the audience a good view of their (skimpy and not very period-appropriate) underwear. And a series of quick costume and set changes that had been intended for a Spice Riot song about the heroism of working women was hijacked to show instead the misfortunes of a policewoman, a nurse and a French maid who somehow managed to get themselves gagged and bound (and lose most of their uniforms) while going about their duties.

25. Hana

At the climax of the show, Boyz 4 Reel performed their big single - the one that Spice Riot had beaten to the number 1 chart position at the start of their career. It was called "A lesson in love", and was appallingly cheesy; Hana cringed when she heard the intro music. As the crew area buzzed with activity, the girls were surprised to find themselves released from their ropes and gags, but held firmly by strong stagehands while they were quickly dressed in highly revealing school uniforms, complete with super-tight white shirts, ultra-short pleated skirts, striped ties, long socks, high heels, pigtails and painted-on freckles. Looking at herself in a mirror, Hana blushed deeply with the humiliation of it all: it was exactly the sort of exploitative, cheap titillation that Spice Riot had refused to participate in.

She was pushed down into a chair, as were the other two girls, just as the lights went up again and the boys burst on to the stage singing the opening lines of the song. "When it comes to romance, I'm like a headmaster..." Hana remembered why it had done so badly in the charts; it was awful. She looked around to see if they could make a run for it, but there were burly stagehands lined up in the wings holding ropes and cloths and she was enjoying being unbound for a change. Best to play along, she thought, and Natalie and Victoria had evidently reached a similar conclusion.

The boys were really going for it, closing their eyes and crooning passionately into their microphones as they hit the chorus. "Ooh baby, you gotta learn a lesson in love, a lesson in love, from meeeeeeee." Hana put her hands over her ears and grimaced. But the audience seemed to be responding to the music: instead of booing, they were singing along, and there seemed to be a sense of expectation... and then Hana remembered how the middle eight went, and leaped panicking out of her seat. "You're gonna get SPANKED SPANKED SPANKED by my loving..." crooned Ricky, but Justin and Paulie threw down their mics and dashed towards the 'schoolgirls', whipping cords out from under their academic robes and grabbing Natalie while she squeaked in surprise and alarm. In moments they had her trussed up like a Christmas turkey, hands and elbows bound behind her back, ankles and knees roped together, and her school tie knotted between her teeth as a cruelly tight cleave gag. She mmmpphed in protest as they pushed her over the desk and tied her down in that position; her tiny skirt flipped up over her back and exposed her panty-clad behind, which Justin began to spank loudly and mercilessly.

The element of surprise was now gone, but Victoria and Hana had nowhere to go. Every time they approached the wings, burly stagehands tried to grab them; Victoria was slightly too slow and had her wrists bound behind her back before she could get away. Hana considered leaping from the stage, but it was surprisingly high, and she thought that landing on her high heels could give her a broken ankle. And so, eventually, the girls were cornered by the boys, securely trussed up, gagged with their own ties, tied down to desks, and spanked within an inch of their lives. It was all obviously meant to be symbolic, representing the boys finally getting their revenge for that musical beating all those years ago, but the pain in Hana's ass was very real.

26. Victoria

It had been an exhausting ordeal, lasting the best part of two hours. But now it was over, the audience had departed and the venue was mostly quiet, the silence broken by only two sounds: heavy equipment being shifted around, and pretty young women trying to speak through their gags. Hana and Victoria, as if they were part of the stage set, were being trundled out of the venue on trolleys, to which they had been secured with great care and attention. Their wrists were handcuffed together behind their backs, and their ankles, knees, thighs, waists, chests and throats were held tightly to the trolleys with strong but relatively comfortable leather straps; Victoria was frightened when she realised that this meant the bindings were intended for long-term use. They were also silenced with heavy leather panel gags that had large built-in rubber balls to fill their mouths and prevent intelligible speech. The two girls' wild looks of protest and muffled pleading for rescue were ignored, much as a removal man would ignore the expression on a statue he had to carry from one house to another. They were wearing more than the average statue maiden, but not by much: their final stage costumes had been removed and carefully packed away, and they were now dressed in thin, functional cotton shifts. There was a draft blowing through the venue and Victoria was shivering with the cold. Her nipples were hard too, poking through the thin material. This felt like an unfair extra indignity.

As she was carried away Victoria could see Peter deep in conversation with Ricky; the two seemed to be on the best of terms. She could hear Peter talking about the promoters and venues that had been in touch, asking for the band to visit, and realised with a shock that he was well on the way to planning out a lengthy global tour. "Pppggrrr, pllmmm hmmmpphh," she tried to beg, but he didn't even realise she was talking to him.

It was at this point that Victoria discovered what had happened to Natalie, who was now led out on a leash, and why she had not been secured to a trolley like the others. The blonde beauty had accepted a new job... as a serving wench.

27. Natalie

Natalie had been given more freedom than her bandmates, but this wasn't saying much. She was able to move around under her own steam, at least, but this involved hopping tentatively and trying not to fall over: her ankles, as well as her knees and thighs, were trussed tightly together with slim cord, more loops of cord secured her arms and chest above and below her breasts, and her wrists were bound in front. These were connected to a snug crotch rope which kept her hands in a position of old-fashioned demure submission.

Natalie was also privileged to wear somewhat warmer clothes than Hana and Victoria. She had been dressed up in a dirndl, in the style of a German beer waitress, albeit a particularly revealing and fetishistic version of this outfit; the skirt was unusually short, the bodice unusually plunging, and the blouse unusually tight and see-through. The apron had little frills around the edge and was decorated with the words OBEDIENT WENCH in pink rhinestones. The roadie handed Natalie's leash to Ricky, who complained about how long it had taken for the band's new serving wench to turn up for work, and came over to join the group of crew gathering around Hana and Victoria.

28. Hana

The crew, several of them suppressing giggles, were discussing the best way to store the large quantity of ropes and electrical cables that had been used in the stage show. "How about we..." said one. "Well, it would save a lot of space..." said another. And so, openly laughing now, they began to wrap the cables and ropes around the two already helpless damsels. "We should have thought of this years ago! What a convenient solution to the storage problem," chuckled a third stagehand, as these improvised bindings grew tighter, and tighter, and tighter. Eventually all of the ropes and cables were securely wrapped around Hana and Victoria, who were so enveloped that they looked like Egyptian mummies... although the crew had somehow contrived to arrange the bindings in such a way that their scantily covered breasts and bums were still on show, and their blushing cheeks and wide eyes could still be enjoyed.

"What about this roll of duct tape?" asked the first crew member. "If I wrap it around the girls, it saves space." This seemed like a sensible idea, so the tape was wrapped tightly around their arms and legs, and over their mouths, so that barely a millimetre of untaped skin could be seen - although again, they were careful to avoid covering up the most visually pleasing areas. "And what about these cable ties?" These were quickly secured around elbows, wrists and ankles, over the already formidable layers of rope and tape. "And the boxer shorts the band wore throughout the concert? We should save space in the laundry basket." These were placed over the girls' heads, filling their nostrils with the acrid smell of male sweat, and secured in place with bright pink ribbons.

"They're so well covered now," said one particularly cruel member of the crew, "that they don't need the shifts." And so, while the girls squeaked and mewled in protest, the stagehands carefully cut away the thin cotton, piece by piece, until they were naked. The strips of cloth weren't wasted, either. These were used to blindfold the poor girls, and then as extra muffling layers over their gags, reducing their pitiful moans still further until they could barely hear themselves.

Still laughing about the innovative storage solution they had come up with, the crew began to pack the two girls into their tour bus... or rather, into its luggage compartment, where they were safely stowed alongside the boys' suitcases and gym bags. Hana strained her utmost to get free, but it was plain that she had no hope of escape: the straps and handcuffs alone were quite strong enough to keep her a helpless prisoner, but the loops and loops of sturdy stage rope and power cables, plus the gratuitously constricting duct tape and cable ties, meant she couldn't move a muscle. While the poor damsels tried to get comfortable in their bonds, occasionally emitting a muffled squeak pleading for rescue, the boys climbed into the passenger section where they lounged gloating on the chairs and sofas, while groping and fondling Natalie as much as they wanted. And as the door of the compartment slowly began to close, Hana could hear Ricky demanding that Natalie bring him a beer - followed by a series of little bumps and clumps as she hopped obediently over - and asking Peter how soon they could get the words "Spice Riot" on the side of the bus painted over.

FIN