Support Team, page 2
part #6 of Damsel Series
That had to stop.
Taking a deep breath, she focused on a single movement, traveling to a place she never had before. Not on her own. Directly into a specific circle of brightly glowing blue rocks. In the Never. A different reality. She got ready for a struggle over it. For the move to be hard, or even painful. For an epic battle of will and hardship. One that might well kill her, since she was refusing to give in or fail.
Even if it was the last thing she ever did.
Instead of that, she actually popped into place as easily as if she’d been trying to go to the next room. Well, faded into it. Her move was still too slow, and had probably taken forty seconds or so. That was down to her having gotten lazy, not holding a movement ready at all, being that she’d been contemplating the lifestyle of a hermit for a while. The non-teleporting kind.
No one was there, visibly, so she focused harder, changing her location again, ignoring the green, orange and red world, with its fancy highlights of blue feathered trees and delicate purple bushes, and went back to her rather white seeming apartment in the city. It was tempting to just go and get John, instead of making proper preparations first, but she shook her head. There was work to do, after all.
The real kind that had to be done carefully, from now on.
Even if she felt uneasy as hell about going out into the world, it had to be done. She realized that her funk, even if well earned, had been her letting herself be a victim. That wasn’t allowed in her world any longer. That she’d done it for nearly a week was kind of galling, she had to admit, now that she understood what had been happening with her that way.
There had been a problem, a serious one and then, instead of figuring out how to fight it, to win against it, she’d sat on her sofa, wondering if she should go into hiding for the rest of her life.
Taking a deep breath, getting showered and dressed first, she went to get her small clutch bag, and actually thought for a moment, before heading out. Teleporting, to a place she’d been before, and where her concealed carry permit actually counted. Walmart. It was still in the state, but not in the city at all. She had to scout the place out first, and appeared, walking already, in a location where the cameras wouldn’t notice her doing it, even if she was just planning to shop, not steal or anything. That was just so security wouldn’t have to spend resources following her around, after seeing something weird going on. People had powers, but most people with them weren’t trusted all the time.
Then she went and got a shopping cart from the front of the place, inside. There was a decently large, empty alcove, filled only with metal wheeled baskets. Large ones. That was a novel thing for her. She’d filled such devices a couple of times and even pushed one once, so had that part down, but getting one for herself was an adventure.
Once inside, she had to walk around for half an hour, finding bags of candy, as well as the bulk foods section, and some prepackaged bake goods. The bulk area was honestly hard for her to figure out, at first. In her whole life she’d never even seen such a thing. Even if the idea was one that was sensible, on an economic level. It reduced packaging and allowed people to get exactly what they needed, amount wise. Helping herself to scoops and tongs was different for her, as well. At first she’d kind of stood there, waiting for a salesperson to come and do it for her. Thankfully she realized, from watching an older woman do it, that she had to write a number on a strip of twistable paper, for each item she got, and fill the clear plastic bags herself.
That wasn’t the only exciting new adventure for the day, since she also had to put her own groceries, which was mainly, but not exclusively junk food, including a dozen bags of corn and potato chips, on a black conveyer belt, all by herself. Again, she sort of messed it up, not putting a divider between her things and the person ahead of her. That was a man who nodded and did that part for her. It was a bit embarrassing, but she smiled at the older fellow.
“Thanks. I’ve never done this before.”
He didn't reply, just giving her a strange look. As if it was odd for a woman in her mid-twenties to have never been shopping for food in a store on her own. Still, she knew how to run her card, and the older woman behind the clear plastic screen, there to prevent her from getting Tri-D, a trick which wasn’t going to work, who had tightly permed, poorly dyed red hair, had clearly heard her shameful admission of never having had that kind of experience before.
“Would you like to buy some bags? To hold the food?”
Being helpful, as well as making a sale, the kind lady pointed at the blue and green cloth ones on a rack behind her, not the plastic that everyone else had been using. Almost everyone. About a quarter of the people had their own, she noticed. Probably being adult about it and not killing the planet, or something intelligent like that. Meaning she should be doing that same, if it was an option.
“I would! This is all going...” She shrugged then. “It sounds weird, but I know some kids that are out in the woods, so, you know, treats? They have to live off the land, otherwise. Snickers don’t grow on trees. Not that I know of, anyway.” It was, oddly, just possible there.
That got a nod.
“It’s that season. I heard that they cancelled the fireworks on the Fourth this year. Still, my family is doing a picnic for it. We need to pull together now. After that... Well, you know. Everything.”
Hannah nodded at the words. She honestly did know.
“That’s... I should do that, too. A picnic. Um, when is the Fourth? I mean, the Fourth, but what day is it now?”
“June... Twenty-third. I always have to look, too. So, we get some time. That will be four-seventy-six and sixty-three cents.”
Hannah handled the payment portion smoothly, then moved, with the cart, to clear the spinning food staging area at the end of the line. Some of the bags were on the floor, but they were all packaged up tightly, so it wasn’t a big problem. It wasn’t until she was picking those up that she noticed that everyone else in the other lines had simply put things in the cart for the people behind the counter, as they went. It was, she decided, a thing to recall for the next time. Feeling a bit awkward, she got her receipt and then, as she walked outside, as she moved again, teleporting home.
That meant stopping before she ran the silver basket into her coffee table, of course. That was unloaded, quickly, as she started a new move for the metal wheeled device as soon as she could. Sending it back carefully, to the point she’d just left.
More accurately, she left the cart close to where she’d gotten it, but at the same store. Near, but not in the line of other such things, so that she didn't accidently merge two of the things, and cause an explosion. That would be rude, and might even hurt someone. Plus, loud.
Then she forced a smile.
“Go hard, Hannah. Go hard.”
She picked up everything, which she was barely able to do, the weight of the goods being nearly twice her own, then focused, taking another forty seconds to get herself back into the circle of faintly glowing rocks. This time there were several people waiting for her. At least, they were there.
Instead of sitting or acting bored, they all seemed to be talking to a rather sketchy seeming man. He was actually fine looking, but he had goat legs, ram horns and hooved feet, as well as a rather hairy, but toned and lean stomach and chest.
The sketchy part was that he was completely naked, and had an uncircumcised erection hanging out that was of decent size, and kept staring at the various kids as he made subtle thrusting motions with his hips, as if ready to screw them the second he thought it wouldn’t get him killed.
Daniel, the Pan of the place, the leader, at least of the Lost Children, noticed her suddenly appearing, and went wide eyed.
“No More!” The words had everyone turning toward her. The goat man did the same, and then...
Went soft. It was impressive how fast he did it, really.
Which wasn’t what Hannah would have figured would happen. She was dressed down a bit, in jeans and a baggy, oversized, shirt, but she was still more or less cute, she hoped. Not the best in the world that way, but she had makeup on and her hair didn’t leave her seeming like a boy any longer, at the very least.
She smiled anyway, since even she got that her suddenly appearing like that was what had probably done the trick. All the goat men thought she was hot, no doubt.
“Hey, all! I brought some stuff? Treats, not to trade. Who’s your friend? If it’s not rude to ask, I mean.” After all, the guy might not be a pal. He also could be. Claiming he wasn’t could make that happen there, so she was being careful that way. It could be anything, of course.
She didn't know, so waited for an answer, if one was going to come.
The being bowed.
“I am Clearance Tumult, Great Witch. I... Actually, came to see if any of these fine men and women would allow me to have congress with them, in return for some information I hold?” The man, who looked to be about twenty or maybe thirty, through the bearded face, didn’t seem to think that was an odd thing to be doing at all.
The kids there, and all of them looked to be under sixteen, even if they were probably decades or more older than that, nodded. As if it were a normal thing to consider. Trading information for sex with goat men.
She kept her mouth shut, and let them handle their own lives. They looked young, so even if she wasn’t exactly the motherly type, part of her wanted to shoot the man for being a pedophile. Only, of course, he wasn’t being that at all. It was just too hard for her to make sense of the idea, for the moment. So she pasted a smile on her face, ready to back her friends up. Even if that meant her screwing the guy, instead of them having to take the man on.
One of the girls, a familiar one, waved a bit.
“I can do that? Though, you don’t really have to trade for it, Clearance. We all know how difficult your condition is for you. We won’t just leave you suffering constantly.”
The man grinned at the slighty plump girl. She looked to be about fifteen or so, and wasn’t fat, by any means. Just normal. Hannah was just used to being a judgey bitch that way, instead of an actual person. It was her upbringing, having gone to private schools then living in the eye of the press for ten years.
In fact, she was nearly anorexic, and comparing the girls there to her was skewed in a very real, very damaged, way. Not one that made her look good, either.
The goat fellow moved toward the girl who spoke, his hard-on coming back as he did it.
“Thanks, Patty! Um, I still have news? The pirates are planning a raid, later in the week. On the centaurs. I know that relations there have been strained for you lot for a time, so, if you give them the warning, that might help smooth things over?”
Danial Pan went still for a moment, then nodded.
“I’ll see to informing them, immediately. Do you have any specifics?”
It turned out that the goat man did. He hurried though, obviously anxious to get busy with the teen girl. She seemed relaxed enough about the whole thing. Cool, even.
Hannah realized that Patty was one of the people she needed to speak to about things, so waved at the girl, who nearly jumped at the motion.
“We need to talk later? I’ll be back here, possibly, with John Fawks. I need to get permission, but the plan is to make him immortal. We should get you hooked up with some powers as well, if I can get that cleared with the committee?”
Everyone stopped, turning to look not at Hannah, for saying weird shit, but at the other girl, who took a very slow, deep, breath.
“It’s time, then?”
She nodded, the order of whom she was supposed to tell a bit off, she thought.
“Almost. I’m supposed to pass that to you, after I talk to Marina and tell her that the man in the mask said that it’s time. I don’t know if that means anything to you?”
The girl sucked in air so fast that she nearly bucked.
“Marny is still alive? It’s been... At least a hundred and twenty years over there!”
Hannah nodded. There hadn’t been more than the one name for Marina, but Hannah only knew one person by that name, since it was a bit odd and Reese, even being from the future, would have told her if it was someone else.
“My mother. She’s alive and kicking, in fact. I didn't know that you knew her. Then, I didn't know she was a hundred and twenty odd years old. She never mentioned that part, for some reason. Larina just mentioned that she was older than dirt and they’re twins, so...”
Patty nodded.
“I used to play with them, a long time ago. Before I nearly died and came here. I... Should I go, now?”
She actually glanced at Clearance, and then down at his dick, as if not wanting to miss out on it. That was a bit different seeming, but Hannah shrugged. There had been a time in her life that she would have offered to help with that part of things. It was tempting even then, to be honest. She’d been with a lot of people, more than she’d bothered to count, but never a goat man.
She grinned, realizing she was staring at his dick.
“We get some time. I need to run some things past some aliens, actually. I’ll be back later. Time can be a bit funny, here, so... I’ll call out when I get back? I’m not going to cockblock Clearance here though, so, if we end up waiting for you, we do.”
It was weird, but everyone relaxed a bit, on hearing that. She wasn’t certain why, but Patty took the goat man by the hand and took off, into the thick brush.
Daniel fixed her with a stare then.
“John Fawks has earned immortality from you? That’s a heady thing, for your world, isn’t it? Common here, of course.” He grinned then. “Also... no one brought you?”
She nodded.
“I finally admitted to myself that I can just teleport over here. It’s a bit scary. I’m pretty strong in magic here, and can do a lot that way. I mean, we all can, but I can give people superpowers here that will work in my world. I’m sort of afraid of becoming too strong, though. I mean, who am I to play god, right? Which is why I need to get with the committee for that and let them tell me what to do.” She’d never spoken most of those words to the kids there before.
They weren’t children, for all they looked like it. Not at all.
Daniel chuckled, just a bit, at her words.
“Good. Not that you’re uneasy about your powers, but that you know enough to give that part some thought. You’ll do well, No More. I have great faith in that. I think we all do. You’ll be looking out for Patty? She’s been in exile here for a very long time. Longer than any of us here. From before the time of Dorothy Pan, even.”
She just nodded, not knowing the name at all. They had a yellow brick road and an Emerald City, off to the East. That was off in the direction of the space station that hung in the air, in the distance, she thought. It wasn’t visible to her at the moment, through the thick feather trees of the magical forest, of course.
“I will be. I don’t know the plan there, but if she needs me, I’ll be there for her. I was flat out told that it wasn’t my story, so, you know, I’m only on support for that one.”
The kids seemed curious about what she’d gotten them, and poked through the bags, but didn’t tear into them. There was a collection of items, most of it just candy, but she’d gotten power bars as well, which acted magically for the kids, since they believed that they did, and wasn’t that shocked when one of the other girls, who was a bit younger seeming than Patty, picked through one of the bags, and gasped.
“You... found Pixie Sticks?” That caused the whole group to murmur and go wide eyed, crowding around at the large box of the things that was pulled out. “Ten of them? This is... We can use these to bring them back! Finally!”
Daniel yelped.
“What?” Running to the collection of people, he stood there, the thin, short, pale boy with slightly pointed ears, shaking. “After all this time... This...” He turned to Hannah, started to bow, then moved in, hugging her instead. “Thank you! We lost them, so long ago. This will allow us to bring them back. Ten of their kind at least. There used to be thousands, but the pirates exterminated them, in a genocide the likes of which this world had never seen before.”
Hannah blinked.
Then shrugged.
“It will work, to bring them back, unless they don’t want to come. If they’ve moved on, or become a different type of being already, that won’t work, so be ready for that, but otherwise, it will. I can get more of these, too. Even if I have to learn to make them.” She meant it, but was let go, with Dan and the others looking at her, very strangely, for a moment.
Then they smiled. All of them.
“How long does it take for this to work?”
She got what they were doing, of course. She’d started to define how they functioned, not bringing back people who couldn’t come, at the moment. It occurred to her, that they might not have actually known for certain that the Pixie Sticks could bring that kind back, after so much time.
She knew that they could, of course. It was why she was so good at the magic there.
“If you go to a place where a pixie was known to be at some point, and sprinkle the contents of the tube on the ground, they will appear. First as a ghost, then, after you explain to them what’s going on, they’ll have a full body, strong and as powerful as they were at their best, before. One container will be enough for ten pixies, if they were ever in that location at all. That is actually a circle of about ten feet from where you drop the powder, and goes up a hundred feet in the air. It will take ten seconds for them to appear, and be totally without pain or discomfort as it happens.”
Daniel nodded.
“We’ll see to that, as soon as we send word to the centaurs. Thank you, No More. This is turning out to be a rather grand day! You’ll be returning, later?”
She was planning that, so nodded.
“Not that I control the decision of the committee on what I’ll be doing. I’ll be back, regardless. I should go and do that now. I need to send some messages to people.”
Also, to hold her teleportation field ready better than she’d been managing. She’d been distracted, mainly by the naked goat man with his dick hanging out. A thing she had to put out of mind, so she could get back home. It took thirty seconds, which was faster than going in had been, but this time, as she sat down to pen a letter, or actually, two of them, she actually managed to stay ready to move. Herself or other objects.
