You know , I used to love Halloween. I got to help my dad make my costume, dress up, and mom always knew the statistical breakdown on which houses had the best candy, and the best routes to avoid raisins. But as a senior in high school the magic seemed to have left.
Ray, Claire, and I were making our way through the under-city, on our way to the de facto hiding place for things to dangerous to be above ground. I knew from the day I found that dragon statue that it was dangerous. Heck, even then I understood that anything with an inter-dimensional protector was dangerous. Sadly I had made the mistake of thinking that I was immune to it.
Early today the inscrutable machine and I had been working in the base when I heard a high pitched squeal. Honestly, over four years of being a villain, and then a superhero that was not too far out of the ordinary. It was never a good sign, but it was pretty normal. The thing that made me worried was that it was coming from my trophy room. I kept some dangerous stuff in there.
I hightailed it over there while sending Ray, Claire, and my dad a text from my suits internal systems. Ray was there before I was, the jerk. "
"Yes, my dark mistress?" he said in his ever so odd, ever so sexy English accent.
"Ray, grab a protective suit, and get back here. Dad should be on his way." I said in my best leader of a successful hero team voice. He looked a bit surprised, until he heard the sound coming from the trophy room. He connected the dots and turned and ran for the supply closet.
Closet may be underselling it a bit. It was a collection of all the useful equipment that me, dad, and every villain we took down could build. I knew for a fact that the blast suits that dad had given me were still in there somewhere, and those were Ray and Claire's best bet for avoiding an ill effects of whatever was going off in my trophy room.
Claire jogged up to me, already in her protective suit. Of course she was. Claire had an amazing power, a gorgeous body, and was secretly one of the smartest people I had ever met. Not a mad scientist smart, but she could keep up with my mom in chess.
"What have we got going on here ?" Claire asked through the suits protective filtration systems speaker.
'I wish I knew. I have dad on his way for backup, and Ray is getting suited up as we speak. "I tried to keep my voice I steady and professional, but it was always a bad day if something in the trophy room was making noise.
"Understood. We ll head in as soon as Ray gets back, in case the noise is a time sensitive matter ." Claire managed to stay as aloof and seemingly uncaring as always, even when discussing life or death noises.
Ray made it around the corner as she was talking, suit on, and legs pumping like there was an all you can eat buffet on sale.
I gathered my troops and we made our way into to the trophy room. As we entered I saw the notification on my helmet screen that Dad was here. He must have driven like a mad man to get here so soon. We lived close to the school, but still. We entered through the airlock that dad had give me, and into the half museum, half storage unit that was the trophy room.
It took me about three milliseconds to realize just how deep the hole we were standing in was. The statue was one of my first, and most dangerous trophies. The guardian that had been keeping it safe was no joke, and it had nearly taken down Mech. Not to mention that the coins it held could mess with the minds of some of the most powerful people in the world. For goodness sake, it was even able to confuse Claudia.
There was a black dot over the bowl of the statue, and it seemed to be pulsing in time with the SqUeellING noise I had heard outside. The only difference was inside the airlock of the trophy room it was more like the sonic device that BoomBoom had used on me last year. Thankfully mine and dads protective gear had included dampening tech. Claire and Ray both tripped a little, but stayed standing. Dampening wasn't perfect, and this was a noise to be reckoned with.
I opened a video link to the suits Claire and Ray were wearing.
"Ok guys, this may be a bigger problem than I thought." I said over my video link.
"Yeah, no kidding." Claire said with a shocking amount of worry. On any one else that amount of worry would be mild concern, but for a Lutra that was the next best thing to incoherent babbling.
"May I suggest a retreat?" Ray asked.
"Yes!" I exclaimed over the ever growing noise coming from my statue.
All three of us backed into the airlock, and through the back door.
Dad was there waiting on us, looking shocked.
"Pumpkin, what is going on in there?"
"Dollar in the jar when you get home. I reminded. The statue is going off, and we need to figure out a solution, fast."
"The statue that had an inter-dimensional horror guarding it?"
"Don t remind me, dad." I muttered. "I think we may need the machine to eat it, but I have no idea what will happen if we do."
"That may be the best action we can take, but you re right. I have no idea what destroying an artifact that strong may do either, but I doubt it will be something pleasant."Dad was WAY too worried for comfort.
"How about the undercity?" Ray said with as much forced calm as he could muster.
"Good plan. I ll head upstairs, and put the dome up." Dad turned tail, and headed up to the top layer of my lab.
The dome was a protective countermeasure he had designed when he first found out about the lab. It was the same dome he had on our house, and it should be strong enough to keep the norms safe if we failed to get the statue under control.
I ran back into the trophy room, and grabbed the statue. I was it's mistress, according to my sorceress friend Barbara, so I should be safe from whatever was going on with it. I ran into the corridor, and the inscrutable machine and I ran as fast as we could towards my under-city entrance.
We made good time, but the noise kept growing louder, and the dot was growing at an alarming rate. Ray just pulled the door off its hinges, and I jumped down, not even using the ladder. The spring loaded hover disks in my suit activated with a blink from me, and slowed me down just before I hit the ground. Ray just did an oh-so-traditional superhero landing, and Claire came soon after with her signature grappling hook.
Ray led the way, his super speed coming in handy, and his knowledge of the under-city coming to even more use. He had spent more time down here than anyone else alive( with the possible exception of lab rat ) , and he knew it as well as anyone we had found. We had used Evolution s lair for a few items that were too dangerous for the upstairs world, and we all knew that was our best bet.
We turned a corner past the sunken house, and ran past the field of mutated grain. There! We had almost made it. I had no clue what our timeline was, but I was taking no chances. Just a few more seconds and we made it into the lair of the worlds most legendary superhero. It was a jumbled mess of what were certainly powerful artifacts.
I set the artifact down as gently as I could, and started spinning the machine on my wrist. My baby could eat anything, including energy. I only hoped it would be fast enough. I threw the machine down on the artifact, and yelled "EAT!" to activate it. Claire and ray stood behind me, obviously scared, but neither looked ready to run. The machine started chewing on the base, but the sound only grew worse. We stared, transfixed. The black orb on top of the bowl just kept growing.
My baby kept chewing, not even fazed by the noise. Tiny plates of pure jade started popping up on the machine, and it only ate faster. Scarily the orb only kept growing, exponentially faster. None of us knew what we should do, but we all knew the machine was our best bet of surviving what ever was happening. I grabbed Ray s hand, and squeezed. Claire grabbed my other hand, and we all knew that we were in this crap show together.
Looking back on it now, we should have run as fast as we could. But, in that moment all we could do was stare at the statue. The globe, for it was a globe now, started to pulse. My power seemed to kick in, and I got images that I will probably never understand. I saw millions of earths, numbers, symbols, and so many other things I cannot describe. Never the less, my body stayed still. I don t know if it was a side effect of the orb, or just adrenaline. The orb pulsed one more time, and exploded. It was nothing like a bomb. I knew bombs, heck my power LOVED bombs. This was more like an implosion. The blackness seemed to pull the three of us into the void, and we flew towards the pin point of light I could now just barely see.
I have no clue how long we were in the darkness. When we finally stopped the light had gone from a pinpoint to absolutely blinding. It took me a hot minute to realize that the blinding light was actually the sun. Yeah, for a super powerful mad scientist that took an embarrassingly long amount of time.
Claire
When the pulse had started I assumed the worse. Honestly, over the course of four years of hero work I had never been so scared. I hid my emotions well though, mom had made sure that part of my training was well ingrained. The most famous cat burglar in the world, a legendary grifter, and renowned seductress. My mother. I loved the women, and everything she had taught me, but no one can prepare your for being a real hero, or villain. But, she did prepare me for a lot, and being thrown into a strange place with no idea how was actually one of them. When I was 10 we did drills where I would wake up in a new city, and have to get home on my own. She always watched me, to be sure I was safe, but I had to make my own way. Penny was the leader of the inscrutable machine, but I knew far more about survival in a new place.
I started with a good look around. A city, which was a good sign. A sign said Brewster hardware . Ray collapsed on the ground, head buried in Penny s boobs. Wait! What? Never mind, I ll tease them for that later. Another sign for McDonalds. Well, two English signs, good start. A Starbucks! Perfect!
I walked over to Penny, and pulled Ray out of her cleavage. They were both slowly waking up, Penny first, then Ray. Penny looked dazed, and then muttered sun, obviously you idiot.
Ok, first things first, I needed to get on Wi-Fi and do some research. My phone was a custom model that Brian Ack had made me when he found out that I was into a bit of lite hacking. Maybe I was a bit too mission oriented, but really, if Penny was fine, then Ray had to be.
That man had started out strong, and boy, had he gotten stronger. He seemed to grow stronger and faster every week. If I knew my super-humans( and I do ) then he was going to be on the mid end of strong men in the next few months. The amazing thing was how his speed and reflexes had kept up. Bull would always be stronger, but he had near human speed, like most strong men. Ray on the other hand could give our speedy friend Will a ( pardon the pun) run for his money.
I pulled the two slowpokes off the ground, and headed towards the hardware store. "Penny, you need to get into civies, and five minutes ago. Ray, you and me need to get out of these suits, and need a place to stash them."
I turned my power on its stun setting, and went for the hardware store. I found a tool chest big enough for our suits, and grabbed a pair of coveralls for Penny. That handled I paid the googoo-eyed clerk, and headed back to my team.
We ducked out of site for a quick change session, with both Ray and Penny a mixture of stunned and groggy. Mid-change Penny had the presence of mind to ask the question that was number one on the obvious questions list.
"Where the heck are we?" She asked, voice only somewhat slurred.
"Were about to find out." I said in my best no non-sense voice. But first, coffee.
I got the team to their feet, and we headed for the starbucks. Thank the gods for caffeine and free Wi-Fi. Once inside I grabbed us all some sweet, sweet caffeine, and headed back to the still dazed duo. Ray, holding Penny s hand, looked at me expectantly as I sat down with the drinks.
"Brewster, Illinois!" I announced proudly.
"We went all the way from LA to Illinois!?" Penny gasped as she sipped her latte.
Ray had the same shock painted on his face. He had come a long way since getting superpowers, moving out, and becoming a recognized hero, but new places and situations still put him more on edge than the rest of us.
I nodded to the team as I hooked up my superphone to the Starbucks Wi-Fi. The woman at the counter was all to happy to tell the adorable little girl everything I asked.
"So it seems." I said out loud. "Give me a moment to find out exactly where, and I ll call Brian to arrange transport home."
Penny nodded in agreement. "Good plan, he's probably still outside the dome, and worried sick."
I got our coordinates, and called Brian s number. My shock must have peeked through when my phone said number not found .
Ray immediately asked "What is it?"
I ignored him, and turned to Penny. "Penny, you know Brian's number by heart, right?" She looked a bit sick at that, but nodded. She recited it, and I knew something else had gone very wrong.
I cycled through my Mom's number, Lucyfar's, BB's, and all had the same result. Will's number had been picked up by someone who had never herd of him, and the same happened with Cassie's.
Penny and Ray watched on with ever more worried looks as I made my calls, and they all ended with no good news. I flipped up my power a little, and got the date from an unsuspecting hipster sitting near us.
I turned to the team, and started."The good news is that we can rule out time travel. The bad news is we can't rule out much else. I'm not sure if we changed the fabric of reality, or got shoved through it."
Penny looked sicker than ever, and Ray looked like I had just told him Christmas and thanksgiving had just given birth to a combination holiday.
"So you're saying my parents don't exist here!?" Penny exclaimed far too loudly.
"I don't know about that, but what I am saying is that I can t get in contact with anyone. I tried. I need time to see if I can track down our parents and friends, but something definitely changed with that, I guess... implosion."
"Definitely implosion." said the much happier, and quieter Ray.
"What the heck you two?" Penny asked angrily. Our family, our friends, our world , may be gone, and you're concerned with implosion versus explosion!
I knew I had to play the calming friend role, or Penny may do something stupid.
"Penny ," I said with my calmest, most placating tone "we don't know anything for sure yet. What we do know is that all of us are alive, and safe. We were at the epicenter of the blast, so if were alive, they must be too. We need to get back on our feet, and address this like the professionals we are. Let's take stock, and find a place to lay low."
Penny calmed a bit, and Ray held her close on the couch.
"I have my suit, Vera, Brenda, the night-night gun, my teleport bracers, the hover disks, and the machine." Penny listed off.
Ray held up his gloved hands, and said "blast gloves, night stick, and my mask."
I had my phone, some cash, lock picks, and a couple of fake ID s. Back in my costume I had my anti-grave insoles, and grappling hook. Oh, and the push rod.
"Ok guys, we need cash, and a hidey-hole." I stood, grabbed my tool chest, and phone. I googled the nearest landfill, and led the other two out onto the street.
"Penny, you remember back when we were playing villain at the dump? I think we may need to do a repeat performance"
She got what I meant in no time, and popped out her light bike. I grabbed my new and improved anti-grav insoles, slipped them into my shoes, and we started off. Penny had obviously put my phone up on her helmet display, as she shot off without needing directions. I was still a bit worried about her mental state, but I trusted her to keep cool head. If she could keep calm through potentially world ending threats, she could keep calm through this.
Ray still needed directions, so I convinced him to pick me up, and we started moving along as quick as he could run. It only took a few minutes to make it to the much uglier dump. I suppose California had aesthetic standards to maintain.
Ray
I started running, Claire's weight not even noticeable. I was feeling a little guilty about Penny. I know I should have been more sensitive, but the opportunity to live my life without my parents was too amazing of an offer to pass up. It had been hell ever since I had gotten my emancipation. I wanted to feel a desire to go home, but with my two best friends here I had all I needed.
Claire guided my way to the dump, hand signals used over speach while I ran. We were nowhere near as fast as Penny on her light bike, but we made good time. We did get some looks, but nothing that made me worry. It hadn't occurred to me until then that we may be somewhere that super powers were not as common, or even non-existent. Thankfully that did not seem to be the case. I still felt guilty when we got to the dump, but I had no idea how to address it. Instead I just grabbed my girl in a hug, and tried to apologize.
"It occurs to me that I was a total ass back in the coffee shop." I whispered into her ear.
"It's fine Ray, I just want to be back home. But Claire is right, they have to be alive, and we can find them."
"I agree, we need to focus on that right now. We are professionals, and we can solve this. Lets grab some resources, and find a place to plan, and sleep." I tried to tamp down my excitement and be supportive, but I admit, it was a struggle.
"Come on you two! We need to get in and get out, this is not the time to get in trouble for trespassing." Claire was yelling from up on one of the hills.
"Let's go, my love. Claire is correct, as usual." I pulled Penny into my arms, and jumped the fence over to the mounds of garbage.
"Machine! Eat! Recycle everything you eat into one foot by one foot bricks. Whenever you have excess materials make mini-machines with the same directions. Gold is the only exception, bring all of that to me.' My darling Penny gave directions with the same authority she used to direct heroes in battle.
We watched the machines for a while, hand in hand. Claire was typing away on her phone, doing only god knows what.
"We'll be ok." I whispered to her, squeezing her hand lightly.
"I know. I trust you and Claire with my life."
Claire started walking over to us , phone still in hand. "Guys, we are have definitely traveled interdimensionally. This place has VERY different heroes, different villains, different people, and, I'm sorry Penny, but no sign of our parents."
Penny sank a bit in my arms, but stayed standing. I gave her a squeeze, and asked Claire "What else did you find out? I assume that wasn't all you managed to dig up?"
"It was not!" she said with all the pride a Lutra could produce, which was quite a significant amount. "We re still on earth, in America, and LA still exists. That all should be obvious, but I still checked. Super-humans here are called Supers as short hand. They also seem to have people with powers, but no control. They'll soon be a thing of the past though, a test group just graduated the HCP. The HCP is a training school for heroes. They stil-"
"Wait!?" Penny belted. "They have a school for heroes here?"
'They have a full program to train heroes here. Like a college degree, but in hero work. They're at actual colleges too."
"I had to interject. Wait, do you have to go to college to be a hero here? What about younger heroes?"
Claire went on at that prompt. "There are no younger heroes. Here you have to go through the program to be a hero. It seems like they are a mix of our heroes, and the military and police. Very efficient of you ask me. They do still seem to have an obsession with crazy costumes, though. I see one guy on here who is lugging around a baseball bat, and wearing a cowboy hat. He seems to be a local, and one of the former powereds. Oh! They're the guys with control issues! It looks like a few just got to be heroes, made it through the program as part of testing the procedure that made them supers."
A voice carrying a southern accent broke over the hill, and a yell of "Hands up fuckers! We need to have a serious talk about super tech and trespassing!"
Claire gave a small gasp and she said "Shit. That would be the bat guy."
Roy
Finally. A call that is something more interesting than a robbery. Dispatch came over the earpiece with her usual pseudo-European accent." Ettin, we have a report of three individuals using super tech at the Brewster landfill. Reason is unknown. One is a known super, and we assume that the builder of the technology is also in attendance. The super seems to have enhanced strength, and we have reports of enhanced speed. No other powers or weapons known at this time. Your orders are to take Coma to the site, and investigate."
Roy nodded, and then, realizing that he was on the earpiece, said "Will do. Is Titan coming along, or just us two?"
Dispatch replied immediately. "Titan is currently engaged in another mission, and you are the closest to the incident. Coma will be coming as ranged support."
"Acknowledged" Roy replied. Coma was good support, and the only subtlety hero on the gentle hammers team. A telepath with a useful secondary ability Coma had graduated from Korman university. Titan was allowed two interns, and he snatched Coma up, knowing that The Gentle Hammers needed someone to handle the information gathering. She also came endorsed by his boyfriend Jeremiah, which meant she was very good
"Coma!" I bellowed, grabbing my bat "We got a mission, and it s me and you, babe!"
Coma rolled her eyes in a way that made me even more interested.
"Lets go, horn dog. We have robots to investigate." She started floating out the base door, and I followed, enjoying the view.
We made our way, her flying, and me getting some jumping practice. I still wasn't as good as Titan, but 8 months of practice had narrowed the gap. The dump was shockingly close, or given the location of our base, not so shockingly close. Titan had made things better for the Hammers, but we still kept the base, just with some improvements.
We came onsite, Coma heading around to the back of the pile they were standing on, and I made myself known, with style.
I gave a call out to them, and they all turned at once, robots working around them. The weird beetle things moved around the hills of garbage like it was a massive anthill. The three of them was just standing there, two holding hands, listening to the cute little girl. Damn, she was just too cute, like a puppy and a panda put together.
I was starting at her for some time, when Hershel's voice broke into my head. "ROY! Wake up, you've been staring at that girl for almost a minute. She is obviously a super, and you need to snap out of it!"
I shook my head, still a bit fuzzy. Eyes closed I could think again. She must have some sort of distraction ability. I opened my eyes, staring at the ground, an tried to get a gauge of the battlefield from their feet. The girls were still standing together, but the teenage boy had started walking towards me, hands up. Good, at least he was not opening with an attack.
"Please don't attack!" He yelled across the piles of crap.
"Give me some reason not to! You kids are trespassing, and using some sort of super tech to do only god knows what! I need an explanation, and fast." I tried to keep my voice from being to mean, but still let them know that I take no shit.
"We were dumped here, and we needed to make some money. The machine is a recycling machine, and this dump is going to be filled with all sorts of metals we could sell for cash. We mean no harm, but we have to survive."
The boy looked to be telling the truth, and he had kept his hands up, not attacking. I knew dispatch had said he was a strong man type, so he was not likely to be bluffing an attack.
I lowered my bat, which I had forgotten I had raised. "Tell the mind girl to turn off her power, or this is going to go badly!" I yelled.
"Claire!" He yelled behind him, and the fuzz covering my head went dead. I looked up, safe to look around again. The two girls were still standing behind him, but one had put on some funky bracelets up and down her arms.
"Coma!" I whispered into my earpiece."I need a read on those three, and fast."
"They're telling the truth, and have no desire to attack. The problem is that they are either VERY far from home, or we have a memory super fucking with peoples minds. I am going to drop them, and I need to you grab them. This is something big, and we need a full-fledged hero on it now." Coma was deadly serious, voice containing enough worry that I knew shit was going to fly, and soon.
Right at that thought the three dropped to the ground, unconscious.
Titan
When I got the call from Dispatch saying to get my ass home( though in more work appropriate terms) I knew something bad had come up. You don't just pull someone from a DVA meeting for lunch time. I was with Blaine, and we were going over the one year report of my time with the Hammers. It was going smoothly, but I honestly wanted to punch something out of boredom.
When the call from Dispatch came in I wished I had kept my mouth shut. The worst part was that Blaine got a call on his cell phone at the same time. We both answered immediately, a call during a meeting was going to be vital information.
"Titan, you are needed back at the gentle hammers base immediately. We have a possible threat on site, though it is contained. Zero is also receiving a temporary activation for the mission, due to the unknown powers at work." Dispatch, calm and collected as usual, rattled off the message in my ear.
I stood, pushing back my chair a little harder than really necessary, and looked at Blaine, who nodded.
"I have been temporarily reactivated, much to my displeasure. We will leave now. Transport will arrive in 15 seconds."
True to his word, 14 seconds later the door flew open, with Mr. Transport pushing it.
"Let's go, gentlemen." Came tumbling out of his mouth, and with a pop, we were off.
No time later we appeared back home, in the Hammers base. It was still a rundown warehouse, but now it was a homey rundown warehouse. Deadlift and Kaijou stood at attention, obviously waiting for us to show up.
Deadlift spoke immediately. "They're in the shelter Sirs. So far they have not been at all combative, but it's the story they have to tell, and the fact that Coma is backing it up that brings you here. I'll give you the cliffs note version on the way down."
The shelter was actually a renovated storm shelter that Coma, along with help from Ettin's classmate, Technomancer had modified. They had turned it into a safe room, a place to hold secure conversations, keep assets, or get laid if the upstairs was occupied. On the surface it was a shabby lounge, ugly couch and mini-fridge included. The tech, both human and super, that had gone into it made it a surprisingly secure room, safe from teleporters, and more mundane threats, like listening devices.
Deadlift started right in, walking and talking. "Three suspected supers showed up on dispatches radar for using super tech in a landfill. Ettin and Coma were sent to investigate, and apprehend if needed. Once there Ettin began a conversation with the three, while Coma was on hand to fact check via her telepathy. Once inside their minds she got some information that disturbed her enough to bring the three in for further investigation. Apparently they believe themselves to be from a different earth, or separate dimension. She dropped them, and Ettin and her transported them back to the base safe room for questioning. None of them have shown any hostility, and all claim to be heroes on their home earth." Deadlift had reached a hatch in the floor, and stopped talking to bend and open it.
"Coma came to the conclusion that we either had someone who made them honestly believe their story, or they were telling the truth. Either way, she felt justified bringing them in for further investigation."
Titan had been a hero for a long time, and Blaine had also had a full career. Both knew that neither option was good. The ability to modify memory was such a rare gift, and the other option was even more terrifying. Many heroes had spatial powers, or could manipulate reality and space. Some could even manipulate time, though those were some of the rarest supers in the world. Never had a super been found that could prove or disprove the multiverse theory, and none had shown the ability to travel between said universes. Still, new supers got new powers every day, and anything was possible.
We descended down a steep flight of stairs to the safe room.I could feel that Blaine had reactivated his field around us as a safety measure. We entered to see three kids sitting on the ratty couch, drinking sodas, as Coma stood watch. They all seemed at ease, if a bit rattled.
Coma introduced the three to the entering Heroes. "Hey! These are Penny, Ray, and Claire!" pointing to each in turn. "They were found recycling ( said with air quotes ) a landfill to make some cash, but they forgot to get the companies permission to be onsite." She seemed more amused than angry or worried.
She went on. "Don't you boys worry, I scanned their thoughts, and everyone is peaceful."
I looked the kids over. No obvious super traits, but that hardly meant anything.
Interesting. Very interesting. Young, seventeen or eighteen maybe, but the looked like they had been around the block a few times. If their story was true then maybe they had.
I stepped forward, introducing myself. "Hi there, I'm Titan. Coma tells us you have had quite the day."
Roy stepped forward, bat in hand. "I ll say. It seems that the Halloween curse is still in effect, if these three are telling the truth. Coma here says they are, so I'm leaning towards believing them, no matter how bat shit crazy it may sound."
I grabbed the easy chair, and pulled over another for Blaine. "Ok you three, I got the fast version on the way here, but this is a story that needs to be told in person."
Penny
Titan was a beast of a man. Heck, he looked like he could give Bull a run for his money. He came in, and after introductions he asked for our story. We gladly gave it, and the psychic girl, Coma, nodded whenever he or the other man looked to her for confirmation. I still had no idea how she brought us down, but it was impressive.
Titan looked concerned, and nodded in all the right places. Everyone present seemed to be taking the story well, which was shocking, honestly. When we finally got to the part where Claire was kicking me awake in Brewster he stopped me.
"So you woke up, with no sign of that statue to be seen?" He asked in a voice that wanted confirmation, not with disbelief.
"Yeah!" Claire said with far too much enthusiasm. "I thought the machine must have finished eating it, but I can't be sure."
So. She was back in her "cute little girl who was far to innocent and adorable to be a threat" gear.
I agreed with her, and finished up the story with no more interruptions. Titan looked thoughtful, and Blaine looked at us with a serious expression that was much scarier than I thought a man so ordinary could produce.
After a moment he stood, and spoke to the room. "I am going to do something that is a deeply held secret of mine, and I expect it to stay that way. My abilities allow me to nullify any leftover vestiges of a supers ability in another person. For the sake of our own world I must insist you three allow me to use this technique on you. This is the only way we can be sure that this is not a mental manipulation power at work."
"Of course!" I said immediately. "We're happy to do whatever is needed to prove our side of the story."
Ray did not look happy at all, but he and Claire both nodded after I spoke.
The older man walked over, and held out his hand. I gave him mine first. What kind of leader would I be if I expected the others to go before me?
He took my hand in his, and a light tingling started where our flash met, and traveled up and through my body. A pressure released in my head, and I realized that the small voice that always knew everything in the back of my head had gone completely silent. Dead silent, in a way I had not experienced since my emergence in 7th grade. I tried to keep calm, and I stayed as stoic as I could, but it was a scary experience. It lasted for almost a minute, and then he let go of my hand. After just a second it was back, muttering as always.
I looked at Ray and nodded to him, and then to Claire. "It tingles, but no pain, I swear to you both." Ray still looked more put out than I expected of him, but he complied, and then Claire after, all with the same effect.
The man took a step back, and looked at Coma. She nodded, and then said aloud to him and Titan "They still have the same thoughts and memories going through their heads. I have to say they are telling the truth, no matter how many questions that brings forth."
Titan nodded slowly at the three of us, all still seated on the couch. "I think I may be able to help you all out with money, both short, and long term. For now I know we can keep you off the streets, but I have another idea that may be able to sustain you all long term. What did you guys do for aftermath cleanup back home?"
Titan had indeed gotten us taken care of. Ray went off first, to a wonderful lady named Miss Daniels. Next up Claire went with the aptly named Mr. Transport to meet up with a young lady named Alice. When it was my turn to head out I asked who I was going to be with. Titan looked amused, and just said "One of the only people who may be able to keep up with your tech head."
I opened my eyes after the Poof the teleportation gave off faded. Seriously, this transport guy was amazing! I opened my eyes to see a lab that almost held up to my dad's specs. A short gangly young man was at one of the work benches tinkering with a staff. The whole thing screamed superscience weapon . A weird blade that my power seemed to like, a glowing crystal, and buttons and hatches all over the thing made it look like something Red Eye, or the expert would be selling in china town.
Titan startled the man with a grunt. "Ahem. Will, this is the young lady I told you about. She seemed like she would get along with you and yours."
Will stood, recovering his poise. "Ah yes! The young traveler. I do want to hear more on that story. Welcome to my home!"
With a look around I saw some out of place touches, like a couch with a blanket and pillow, and a hotplate and fridge. It took me a moment, but I realized that he did in fact live here, not just work here.
I stepped forward to introduce my self, and we shook hands. "Penny Ack. Back home I was the hero Bad Penny. Mad scientist and lover of all things nerd. Nice to meet you!"
"Will Murray" , he responded. "I am sorry, but you don t yet have clearance to learn my hero name. Also I must warn you that if you deduce my name from context, that is a secret you must keep under any circumstances."
"Understood." I quickly assured him. "I never want to get to personal when it comes to the hero side of our lives."
"Ah yes" he muttered. "Titan told me that you had been doing hero work for some time, back on your home earth. You must tell me about that also. I cannot fathom a child being sent to into our world so young."
"Well to be fair, my friends and I were an exception to the rule." I started to dive into the story, but Titan interrupted us.
"I am sorry to have to go so soon, but arrangements must be made with the DVA. Power assessments and such have to be setup. I will be in contact. Have a good night Penny, Will." With that he was Poofed away by Mr. Transport.
I turned back to Will. "Well, as I was saying."
Still Penny, cause reasons.
I had been here for three days, and I was getting antsy. Will was ALWAYS working, or asleep. I knew he couldn t tell me about his days, because he had his secrete identity, but that still put a major damper on conversation. Not to mention that he was almost always out doing actual hero work. The heroes here seemed to spend a lot more time on the job than we did.
I had seen Ray and Claire once, and they were both adjusting well. We had all met at Miss Daniel s house for Sunday dinner, in typical southern fashion. Sally( she insisted we all call her Sally ) was an amazing host, and seemed to be doing Ray a world of good. She always complemented his appetite, and he always loved her cooking, which was amazing.
We all got to meet some more friends of the family. A silver haired man named Vince was there, along with his girlfriend Eliza, Sally s son Hershel, and his girlfriend Mary, plus Claire s chaperons , Alice, and Nick. They all seemed to be in freakishly good shape, which I took as a sign of hero work. Of course I stayed away from personal topics like that, since I am a professional, no matter what earth I was stuck on.
I was a bit worried about Claire. She seemed to be taking to Alice a bit too well. When I heard talk of a shopping trip Mary and I both had the same "Deer about to be hit by a school bus" look. I had a feeling that Alice had a similar reputation to Claire's when it came to clothes.
But crimminey, was I ever bored, just sitting in Will's lab for so long. He had made it clear I was allowed to leave, but I had no idea what to do. For the past years my life was all about the inscrutable machine. Now that part was stripped away.
I did some tinkering, but I avoided making anything so that I didn't use up all of Will's supplies. Thank Lucyfar that Titan came over when he did. I was minutes away from having the machine eat and re-assemble the building.
He came in with a grin on his face, and I knew something was up.
"Do you remember what I told you about cleanup contracts around the country?" He asked in a jovial voice.
"Of course!" I exclaimed, looking forward to doing literally anything not inside the apartment.
"Well" He replied, grin still in place "Blaine has gotten your identities taken care of with the DVA. They have a lot of experience making them for heroes, so your guys were not a problem. Now that you officially exist in our world you can start picking up some work with that machine of yours."
I grinned like Ray at thanksgiving dinner. "So this means I can start helping out again, and make some money!"
"That it does. I have a friend, former hero turned industry giant that said he wants to give you a hands on interview. IF you want, that is." He looked at me with a look that said he knew very well that I wanted to go to that interview.
"YES YES YES" I yelled, jumping up and down with excitement.
"I thought it might interest you, just a bit. And I have to admit, that machine of yours is one impressive piece of tech. Will even told me he can t make heads-nor-tails of it."
"My dad said the same thing, and so did every other mad scientist back home." I tried to explain how mad-sci tech was broken down into levels back home while grabbing my shoes, and my tool kit. Just because I was off hero duty doesn't mean I get to go out without my toys.
We made our way out the door, and down to street level. Titan had a truck that was oddly similar to Bull s, but it looked much more road safe for us normal sized humans.
We headed to a more downtown area of Brewster, making good time, but never speeding. When we got to our destination I was a bit confused. It looked like a simple one level office suite. When we got inside it was clear that something far more interesting went on here. All around the office people were scurrying around, some in costumes, some with obvious physical traits to mark them as superhumans. In the center of the room was a selection of 6 giant boards, hovering in a way that said a super had been involved in their creation. We headed towards that area, and the tiny man in costume that seemed to be the epicenter.
"Patch"Titan bellowed "I brought a friend !"
Patch , the tiny man in costume turned towards the noise, which barely broke over the din on the room, and broke into a smile.
"Titan! You bastard! I can t believe you are allowed to look that good after all these years!" Patch spoke with a good natured frustration, and it was clear these two had history.
"Genetics can be a bitch!" Titan said laughing. "I brought along the young tech genius I told you about. I think she may be able to do some good work for you."
"Ah yes, the girl with the recycling machine. I have a little interview project lined up for us." Patch walked us along the floor of the still bustling building to a heavy man in overalls who was arranging and re-arranging lists on one of the floating white boards that were around the office.
"Kickback!" Patch yelled over the noise to the heavy set man at the board. "I need to hop over to that job we discussed in Port. Vallans. We have an interview today!"
The man turned immediately to Patch, and started walking over quickly.
"Yes sir!" He said it like a man who had been military for years. "I have you marked for right before the next trip over to Kansas." Turning to Penny he stuck out his hand and introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you, young lady. I m Kickback, transport specialist for PatchJobs. I ll be getting you three to Port Vallans and back today."
"Nice to meet you, Kickback, Penny Ack, at your service. Are you taking Titan too? You said all three of us."
"That I am Miss. He said he was a mite curious as to how this would go down, so we offered to let him tag along. If you re ready we can head out now. " Kickback spoke with a tight accent, and he definitely gave off the military man aura.
"Ready when you are!" I said, containing as much excitement as I could, which is to say, not that much.
Patch grabbed his shoulder, and we followed suit. A second later I understood why his name was Kickback. The recoil was shocking, but not painful. I gathered my wits, and then realized how much more humid it was.
"Where is port vallans, Might I ask?"
"Louisiana" Patch said with a chuckle. "Titan mentioned you were new to the area, but not that new. This is a pretty major city."
"Sorry." I said sheepishly. "I ve not picked up all the geography yet, but I ll learn quick."
"No worries. We are just about two blocks from the job site. Lets get a move on." Patch started walking and we all followed, no questions asked. He just had the air of a man who knew he was right, and we all trusted him.
It took almost no time at all for me to see where we were headed. What looked like a rubble pile stood where a section of buildings should have been.
"Woah!" I exclaimed. "Is that my audition?"
Patch chuckled. "That it is Miss Penny Ack. Titan tells me your machine can recycle anything, so I want to see it in action. If you would." He pointed to one of the smaller sections of the pile, as he spoke.
"You know I can't make him recycle the building back into shape right?"
"Of course not! I just want you to have the machine sort the materials into stacks, according to what they were before they came down. Timber in one, brick in another, wire, et cetera. From that point the others I have working on the project will be able to move the materials and sell them off. That gives us a blank space to build the new building onto."
I nodded, and gave the machine his orders. "Machine! Eat the smallest stack. Recycle everything back to its old shape, and stack it according to materiel type. Make mini-machines as needed."
My baby did what it was told, as always. It started off small, but soon got some steam built up, and started spitting out Mini-Machines. In about fifteen minutes the whole pile had been consumed. The watchers just stared in shock, which for our worlds was a real compliment.
Titan spoke first. "Well, shit. I have seen some impressive stuff in my time, but that makes my top ten for sure."
Patch just nodded to him. After another brief pause He spoke up too. "Penny, if you want the job you can start tomorrow. That is possibly the most impressive super tech I have seen put to work. Or at least the most impressive tech that was not about to try and kill me."
I just grinned. I knew my baby was amazing, and now they did too!
"I'll take it!" I may have been jumping, just a little. I was not, and am not the type of girl to be stuck at home, so I was thrilled to be able to do something.
"Well Miss" Kickback started "let s go get on the paperwork. There is a mighty load of it."
"Of course!" I squealed "Machine! Detach yourself and let the Mini-Machines finish their work. Have them recycle themselves back when they're done."
I grabbed Kickbacks arm, and we got started on it.
Ray
Miss Daniels was amazing. Truly, I was beginning to understand what Penny and Claire had gotten to experience at home. The cooking was another thing. Miss Daniels said she had gotten experience with her two sons, Roy and Hershel. I had met Hershel a few times, but apparently Roy was working. I suspected that working meant hero work, but I never wanted to get too personal.
Home style cooking had always been a luxury that I got to enjoy at Claire s house, but never something that I enjoyed on a regular basis. I had moved out at fifteen, once we all came out to the community as heroes. It had been shockingly easy to be granted emancipation with two world famous heroes advocating for you. Brian and BB had gotten much more involved when the IM went public. They had gotten me setup in an apartment( payed for by money that I had acquired in my time as a villain. ), trained the three of us in hero work, and even helped the IM make the transition to heroes.
Still, until my time with Miss Daniels, or Sally, I had not gotten to live in a home with such a loving atmosphere.
For the first few days we just got to know each other, with Mr. Transport coming home every evening. For a civilian she knew a shocking amount about the hero world, and she was happy to share her knowledge, to a point. The culture here was different, but most of the rules remained the same. If you knew someones secret, you kept it with your life. This world seemed to have more violence than back home, and it reflected that in its heroes.
That was a scary thought to me. I had never taken pleasure in needless violence. That was one reason I had wanted to get away from the villain world. At least being a hero let me have a purpose for fighting. The heroes here were skilled, and all were scary. None were the money hungry type that sometimes popped up back home. They all had gone through years of work to get to their jobs, and it showed.
Eventually we talked about my past. Sally looked like she wanted to commit a crime herself when she found out the age we started hero work. I tried to explain, but she was having none of it.
"Children your age have no place in that sort of work, much less any younger! I ll have none of it, don t even think of going back out there until you get certified!"
As I said, she was having none of it. When I expressed my interest in going back into the hero line of work( after getting certified, I made sure she knew that) she arranged for a workout partner to help me get back into shape.
I have to admit, I did not expect Ettin to show up for our appointment.
"Hey there, robot boy! How s the new world treating yah?" Ettin was, let us say, enthusiastic to be there.
"It is an adjustment, but Titan and Sally have been amazing, more than I could hope for."
"Yeah" He chuckled "They have their moments. Especially M- Sally. Good people. So I hear you want back into the hero game. It s going to be rough, but you may know that better than any other freshmeat to come into the HCP."
"I have done hero work for the last 4 years of my life, I know what I'm asking for." I tried not to sound annoyed, but I have to admit that going back to being a child was frustrating.
"I m sure you think you do. Let s see how that serves you in a fight though." With no warning he charged me, reminding me of Bull in an odd way. I jumped over his charge, and with no hesitation he twisted and headed for me again.
"Damn boy, you remind me of Chad. I look forward to taking out some unresolved anger on yah. Let s do this."
Claire
Alice was amazing. I had never met someone with so much poise. It was obvious she was a hero, no one was that well trained, in that good of shape, knew that many heroes, and just went to an office job all day. She never mentioned her work in detail, but I knew a bit more than she expected. Just because I had gotten sent off from home didn t mean I was going to slack on my job.
Her father had left her controlling share in her company, and from what I gathered, several others. When she left every morning she said she was off to the office, but her story didn't line up with her actions. I think she knew I had caught onto her lie, but she trusted that I could keep a secret.
One day, while trolling around the internet I found an interesting rabbit trail down a server I had not found before. That in itself was not to unusual, the darkweb was always changing, people moving proxies, or changing names and locations. The real kicker was that this one seemed to be an advertisement. I knew these types of boards from my hero ( and if I am being totally honest, my villain) work. They were usually a job board, and the security was a proof of skill. I was bored, what can I say. Just because I couldn t do active hero work didn t mean that I was going to sit on my fine derriere all day. Welllll, I may have spent some time working through the security, just to kill time, I swear! Once I got through though, I knew something was up.
"Hey there, EC. I know you ve been snooping around. Let s meet. 39.7985 N, 89.6554 W"
EC had to be Eclair. Only a select few knew about that part of my life, and most of them were on a separate earth. I was hooked. All my training told me to leave it the hell alone, but I d been stuck sleeping in an apartment for days, and I needed a challenge.
I sent Alice a text about going out on the town, and borrowing some clothes. I got on a subtle enough dress, but one that still showed enough skin to be appealing. The coordinates were easy enough, the challenge was finding out who knew me well enough to have heard that part of my story. I walked into a busy town square. The perfect place to have a clandestine meeting. People always coming and going, and everyone to busy with their own lives to care about you.
I found a cute bistro shop, and got a coffee and biscotti. Half of cat burglary is finding your entrance, and being patient enough to wait for it. So I sat, and watched. After 5 minutes of enjoying a truly nice cup of espresso, a bump.
Just subtle enough to play it off, but for someone who had trained with Misty The Minx Lutra it ma as well have screamed pickpocket . Normally I would be breaking some poor, unfortunate criminals fingers right now, but I suspected that this may be more than some poor saps attempt to get the fake wallet I was wearing. I waited, and under the guise of getting a tip for the waiter, I found exactly what I expected. A note had been slipped into my wallet.
This was an old tried and true tactic. I do love the classics. Palming it while setting down the cash I got up from my seat, and slowly made my way into the crowd. I quickly got a look at the note, which was thankfully not long winded.
"EC. Blue shirt, plaid pants. Sunglasses. Let's play a game."
I smiled. Finally, something that appealed to my more active side. With the description it took almost no effort to spot the target. Across the square, hot dog in hand.
He started moving almost as soon as I spotted him. Well, if he wanted to play, I ll play.
We started walking, him eating a hot dog, me watching him through my camera phone. We started slow, but he picked up speed. He headed through a crowd. Cute, but I m better than that. Walking out the other side I noticed he had changed his sunglasses, and added a hat. At least he was trying. Moving even faster he ducked into an alley. I followed on, and saw him hitting a roof top. I followed with a quick blast from my grappling hook, and we took it to the roofs.
My mysterious friend started sprinting across the roofs, and I followed. He was in damn good shape, or he had some physical enhancements. I saw him jump, catch a ledge, and flip up, making it look almost as good as I do. We continued making our way along, until he caught a fire escape, and dropped down to the ground. I shot my hook onto the same fire escape, and continued what was now a mad dash after him. I saw him spin around a building, and head inside an office buildings front door.
Now, I may be new to this earth, but I doubted much had changed when it came to security. I followed, taking no more than a second to hide away my grappling hook. I turned on my power just enough to have a general cloudy affect, and went into the same door way. There he was, making his way through the office like he owned the building, and the people in it. He had ditched the glasses, which was smart. They made him look like an ass.
I followed, giving the dumb struck guard a quick smile, and walked right by, keeping a bit of distance between my quarry and I. He walked into the main hall, and to an elevator. He pressed the up button, and I sidled up next to him, still on my phone, doing my best 'ditsy millennial" impression. We got into our car, me turning up my power just a little to convince everyone else that I really did need the whole elevator just to my self.
The young man turned to me and said in possibly the most snarky voice I've heard "Well, Clarie, how was your workout?"
"Workout? That was a light jog, at best. Next time I want a challenge. " I did my best to match the snarky tone, which was much easier than I wanted it to be.
"Actually, I have a challenge for you. That is the purpose of this meeting." With that remark he pulled out his phone, and the elevator froze in place.
"When you came into our world I began to do some research on you. The fact that you are living with my girlfriend not withstanding, I wanted to know all about the mysterious kids who appeared in the middle of Brewster. I had a friend of mine do some telepathic snooping, and low and behold, you happen to be from my metaphorical side of the tracks." He spoke with an ease that made it clear he was dangerous, without needing something as obvious as huge muscles, or a flaming aura.
"Your side of the tracks? I have no idea what you mean. You may have to enlighten me." I said, with as much fake innocence as I could muster without activating my power, and turning him to mush.
"I mean that while your work alongside heroes, you have a different way of approaching things. You are not the one who goes into battle and begins punching at monsters, you re the one who finds the creator of the monsters, and make sure he is neutralized. You re on the side of the light, but still play in the shadows."
I had suspected from the start that he was like me. A brain, more than a powerhouse. Now I knew for sure. He was like me, and I was thrilled to have a friend who was in my line of work.
Claire
"So I need to play distraction. Why not just have me pull up a bench and watch? I'll have just as much fun." I sounded a bit bitchy, but oh well.
"I want to employ you, and I need to get a sense of how potent your power is. This gives me an opportunity to do so in the field, and it gets you out of the house." Nick s voice had morphed from snarky and sarcastic to the voice of someone who had experience commanding troops in battle. I was curious as to what a man this young had seen, but given my past I was not going to question his experience.
"So I have to go along with this plan you have, with no information on the targets, and just use my powers for your gain, and I get nothing. You re going to need to offer me more than a chance at a job here." I may be pushy, but this was my comfort zone, and I knew I needed to lay down the law now.
"How about a jump start on the HCP? I know you and your friends are going to enroll next year. I also know in depth what the curriculum is, and hoe to best prepare in your limited time before enrollment. I can offer you knowledge that most students outside of legacies never get, and I can offer VERY profitable employment down the line."
So. He knew his shit. I was impressed, he had managed to push all the right buttons. Help me, my friends, and give me a shot to stretch my legs. Plus if he was telling the truth about a job later on, I would never be opposed to a cute paycheck.
"Ok. I like what you re selling. Just one more thing. I'm not going to use my powers on a mission without knowing the goal. What do you need a distraction for? And what s your name?"
"I m Nick. What do you know about the Charles Adair scandal ?"
The safe house was secluded, to say the least. I can respect that, but I always preferred the hiding in plain sight method. The plan, at least my part, was to turn my power up to its maximum, and draw out the agents inside. Apparently they had a ranged way to take down the people hiding inside, but no sure fire way of drawing them out. My power worked over a good range, so I should be able to encompass the entire house, putting everyone in side under my spell.
I had never liked using my full power. It made me feel almost dirty. As a kid my max level was enough to draw in some one, and make them loose focus, and make them highly suggestible. Now my high end was near brainwashing. I hated to use it at all, but sometimes you had to do something unpleasant to succeed in a mission. I had my grappling hook, and my energy gloves. I wanted to stay defensive, and the ability to throw an energy attack away from my self and my team seemed like my best bet right now.
Nick had showed up with a tall Asian man named Jerome, and the young hero I recognized as Coma.
"Ok nick, I m making my approach. Coma may be immune to my power, but I doubt you or Jerome is. I recommend closing your eyes." I turned my power up to it's max, and slid up to the house in my bear costume.
"Hey in there!" I yelled with my "cute and innocent" voice. "I have cookies for sale, and I would love to give you all a sample! Come on out!"
The poor bastards had no chance. My power at this level would be enough to make someone shoot their best friend, so getting them to walk outside for cookies was a joke. As soon as they were out Coma started walking up. She was smart about it, keeping to the shadows, but she could have walked up with a full marching band and they wouldn't have noticed.
They went down easy. Four professionals, who had seen combat and horrors, taken down by a girl with cuteness powers.
Author note
Hello all. I want to apologize for the issues with this chapter's punctuation. Thanks to the person who told me to fix my damn quotation marks! There was an issue during upload, and a lot of my original punctuation and formatting got removed. I am editing both chapters now, and will double check the upload in the future. So sorry for the problems.