When Worlds Collide

Maeve felt her mother's barrier like a cage dropping down on her and had to fight the urge to test the barrier. With so few magic users of her caliber left in the world Morgan Le Fey had grown sloppy when it came to concealing her magic. A skill Maeve had perfected before leaving the castle. She tightened her shields without pausing in her amateur examination of Claire's pictures. The shields would keep her magic hidden and she hoped that the convention was enough to keep her physical form hidden from sight.

"So, how do you and Jimmy know each other?" Maeve asked Claire as much to distract herself from worrying about her mother as out of genuine curiosity.

The woman with the long red hair gave Jimmy a shocked look. "You haven't told your girlfriend about me yet?" she inquired as if it was a scandalous omission.

Maeve shifted her attention to her knight who coughed nervously as he placed another picture into one of three piles. "We've had more interesting things to talk about," he said as if trying to sound dismissive despite fear of retribution.

"Oh really?" Claire smirked. "And what have you two been 'talking' about?" Her look implied that she had an idea, but wanted the details.

Jimmy blushed at the innuendo. "Why don't we focus more on these pictures," he said as he pulled another one from the folder, glanced at it, and then hastily put it back. His blush deepened. "On second thought, why don't you tell us more about this producer you want to impress?"

"Why? What is it about that picture that's making you blush?" Claire grabbed her folder and looked at the offending photo. "Aww, you're embarrassed about seeing this little thing?"

"May I see it?" Maeve asked when Jimmy failed to stammer a coherent reply.

"Sure Maeve," Claire said as she handed the folder over.

The younger redhead opened the folder and stared in shock at the picture. She knew from her mirror that lovers could see each other naked, and she had often been nude with her mother when bathing or performing certain rituals, but for Claire to have such a clear picture of her naked body in a folder intended for a stranger's eyes was beyond Maeve's experience. She wasn't sure is she should be scandalized by this woman's audacity, or impressed by her courage.

"If you're interested I can get you a shoot with my photographer," Claire said casually while looking Maeve over. "You look legal and you have a body almost as hot as mine. Maybe we could even do a group shot and give the guy a nosebleed." She chuckled at the image in her own mind.

Maeve hid her blush behind the picture. She was flattered, embarrassed, and a little confused by what Claire was saying, but drew on some of her mother's lessons on courtly behavior for her response. "I already have a very satisfactory photographer and prefer my image to be captured by someone skilled in the craft."

"Well then maybe your photographer should have the honor of taking that picture of us?" Claire said while casting a knowing smirk to Jimmy. She was clearly enjoying the embarrassment she was causing, but despite the friendship that was forming between the two women, the thought of Claire posing in front of Jimmy, especially in the nude, stirred an instinctive thought in Maeve that could best be translated as MINE.


Morgan Le Fey suppressed a snarl of frustration. That demon had said he could sense Maeve here and she didn't need that mongrel device of his to sense the residual energy this close to their daughter, but there wasn't enough to pinpoint the source. The fact that some of these convention buffoons actually had some magic potential with, at best, only an instinctive understanding of shielding, made the search that much more difficult. It was like trying to find a diamond in the shadows amidst a collection of cubit zirconium and other, les valuable stones resting in direct sunlight. The distracting presence had led her into the men's privy once already. Much to her annoyance, she was mistaken for one of the cross dressers wearing her outfit. "Perhaps my search would be easier if I hadn't taken out Etrigan," she mused. But she knew he would release Maeve's demonic power in a controlled manner to protect this city, and for tonight's ritual to proceed the way she envisioned it, those powers must remain bound until she was ready to drain them.


Etrigan muttered a string of curses in a language lost to the human race as he regained consciousness "I should have snapped her neck when I had the chance!" His words were further emphasized by his fist slamming into the roof. The barrier now sealing the building was the only thing that kept his fist from going through. "I could have mounted it over the fireplace as a going away gift by now."

"And then Metropolis would have become a smoking ruin," Jason stated in the demon's head.

"We don't know that for sure," Etrigan countered halfheartedly as he got to his feet and noted the lack of damage to the roof. "It appears we were merely the escort service and weren't invited to the family reunion."

"Can you break the barrier?"

The demon studied the energy for a moment. "I can set up the spell, but she's bound it to the building with a considerable amount of power. The only way I can break it without smashing the building is to have a direct line of sight on her." He looked around and staggered over to the skylight. "If we're lucky, we'll either see our enemy, or our daughter," he said as he looked through the clear Plexiglas onto what looked like a dining area. A flash of demonic energy, too small and brief to register on the EGPS and invisible to those who didn't know what to look for, directed their attention to a table where a red haired young man was leaving two lovely red haired women in a manner that Jason recognized form his youth.

"I remember that walk from when Aunt Lenora met a lady I was courting. I had to leave the conversation with the excuse of getting both ladies drinks before I passed out from embarrassment."

"I remember. Recurring nightmare #37 I think." Etrigan smiled briefly at what he considered to be one of Jason's more amusing embarrassments. "But if that flash means anything, one of those females is our daughter. She's probably feeling some negative emotions towards the woman she's with. A fire elemental by the look of her aura."

"Can you tell them apart?"

"Not at this distance. The auras of fire demons and fire elementals are so close many have theorized about a common ancestor."

"Will the elemental be a problem?"

The demon smiled. "Only for the witch."


Mercy muttered a curse as she watched the security cameras. She had just gotten out of a meeting with representatives of the other convention sponsors when she was told of the unusual lockdown. Now she was trying to figure out who had generated the energy field while at the same time putting a plan into place to keep the convention attendants from panicking. What she couldn't figure out was who was doing this and why. True there was some technology being showcased to the public, but it was entertainment technology. Most of which was just a new application of tech that already existed. Nothing worth the cost of a force field this size. So who had done this and what were they after?

"Ma'am. Perhaps we should locate the reporters from the Daily Planet," one of the guards dressed in a Babylon 5 security uniform suggested. It was a theme for the convention that the overt security members were dressed as security officers of one sci-fi or another.

"Why? Do you think they may be involved with whoever saran wrapped the building?"

"Well no, but you know what they say about Lois Lane…"

Mercy had to suppress the urge to reprimand him for giving voice to popular rumor, partially because she had been thinking along the same lines. Practically the entire city knew that, when there was trouble, Lois Lane could usually be found in the middle of it. "Fine, locate them," she said as she grabbed a communication unit and headed for the door. "But covertly and let me be the one to approach them. If Lois sees a bunch of uniforms keeping an eye on her she'll know something is up. If you need me I'll be in the convention proper."


Lois looked around carefully to make sure Clark and Jimmy were no where near as she approached the dealer. After making such a fuss about covering the convention it would be embarrassing for them to find her indulging in this guilty pleasure. The only reason she was risking this purchase was that merchandise related to her favorite sci-fi was hard to find and the last time she had bought one of these off Ebay she wasn't happy with the condition it came in. Here she could examine it before buying. Fortunately she had a bag to hide her prize.

"How much is this?" she asked as she examined the figure to make sure there weren't any missing parts.

"Ah, I can see you have an eye for quality," the dealer a heavyset yet well muscled man in a Star Wars flight suit turned to her with a practiced smile. "That is a…"

"I know who she is," Lois said as patiently as she could manage. "What I want to know is how much and do you have the accessories?"

"She?" The dealer's face brightened and his smile turned genuine. "Then you're a fan of the show rather than the questionable video game." He rummaged under the table and pulled out a small Ziploc bag containing the weapons and clan banner. "I've lost too many accessories to thieves and klutzes to risk displaying them with the figures."

"How much?"

"Well, normally I'd charge $50.00 for such a rare figure in this condition, but for a fellow fan of the series, $45.00."

"$30.00 and I mention you favorably in my article."

"So the famous Lois Lane can haggle." The dealer was impressed as he wrote the information on a notepad. "Mention my website too and it's a deal."

"Everyone has a website these days," Lois muttered. "Alright I'll see what I can do but no promises on that part."

"Fair enough." He tore out the note out and put it, and her purchase, in a box before taking his pay and handing the box to her.

"Hey Lois." Clark's sudden appearance almost caused the raven haired reporter to drop her prize. Fortunately for her and the dealer, who visibly paled, she hastily regained her grip and slipped the box into her bag without her partner seeing it. "Are you ready to join back up with Jimmy and Maeve?"

"Yeah, I'm just finishing up an interview. They're at the food court right?"

"Yep. We better hurry if we want to eat before the next event."

"Lead on Smallvile."


"And you're sure that's a good idea?" Maeve asked wide eyed.

Claire had to stifle a laugh. Maeve's naiveté was almost as unbelievable as it was endearing. Jimmy had left a few minutes ago to get food. Leaving Claire to give some much needed advice to Maeve, who was fast becoming a surrogate little sister. "Trust me girl. It's never failed me."

"But Jimmy seemed embarrassed to see me in my undergarments. If I were to wear the outfits you suggest…"

"Yeah, that may have been too much too fast for the poor boy. Just save the idea for when the fires of romance seem to be dying. Trust me Maeve. You won't regret it," Claire said in a way that showed that she knew what she was talking about.

"A shame you'll never get a chance to use that advice," a woman's voice stated. A voice that to Claire all but screamed British nobility. They turned to see someone dressed like Morgan Le Fey. Maeve cringed, but Claire took a different approach.

"Excuse me, but this is a private conversation." Claire moved to stand between the woman and Maeve.

"A conversation that is now at an end. I'm taking my daughter home." The woman moved to go around Claire, who moved to maintain the block.

"Well it's clear she doesn't want to go home. So I suggest we sit down and talk about it," Claire said, trying to keep things civil.

"Insolent harlot! No one tells Morgan Le Fey what to do!"

"Look, I don't care what cross dresser Icon you're dressed up as. Maeve's a friend of mine so I'm not…" Claire was blasted aside before she could finish.


"Claire!" Maeve screamed as her friend was sent over the table.

"Don't worry child she's merely stunned," her mother said as she walked over to Maeve and quickly manacled her wrists, thus binding her body and her powers. "I hate to do this, but those should keep you from using your magic until tonight's ceremony. Now let's leave this gathering of freaks. A lady such as you should not be exposed to such uncouth influences." She dragged her daughter away from the table by the chain linking the manacles and was about to cast the portal spell to the ceremony location when something struck her in the back and broke her concentration.

Jimmy couldn't believe what he'd done. He was on his way back with a tray of food when he saw Claire get taken out by a person who must be the real Morgan Le Fey. The smart thing would have been to pull back and signal Superman, but when he saw her chain and start to drag Maeve away he didn't stop to think. He just dumped the food and threw the tray at her like a rectangular Frisbee. The impact broke the spell, but now he was facing a very angry spell caster.

"Jimmy Run!" Maeve shouted snapping him out of his shock but not in time to dodge the spell that sent unbelievable pain shooting through every nerve in his body. He heard a scream, possibly his own, and then the world turned black.


Clark that sounded like…" Lois trailed off as she turned to find Clark had done one of his disappearing acts again. One of these days she planned to ask him about that, but right now she had to run to the food court where she knew Jimmy and his girl were in trouble.