Warriors way...
Warriors way...a roll of the dice
New story in the growing Hekawi universe!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Las Vegas June, 2016
The door of the elevator slid open revealing the well maintained hallway of the upscale condominium Marcus and his mother had been living at since their recent move to Las Vegas. Marcus dropped his skateboard to the smooth tile floor while hopping on it for a slow ride to his door at the end of the long hall. His mom always took the cheapest place to rent in any building that her work secured for her use, so that the family could save some of the housing stipend for other long term goals and that usually meant their place she finally picked or agreed to ended up being far from the elevators. But Mark never minded that modest inconvenience, because being that far down any hallway meant he could be a little more noisy, or rowdy and the end units usually had the great views.
Kicking the board to his waiting hand with practiced ease, while pulling a key ring from his pocket and selecting the door key from the small number of keys on the ring, one for this door, one for the storage unit in the basement and the last was to his bike locked up inside it. Mark could tell be the silence that he had opened the door to an empty condo yet again.
Marcus sighed knowing that his mother was not home on time again, she was or should be off on Wednesdays from her job at the museum. But she always seemed to be doing ever ongoing research into some old dusty thing or equally dusty old text and forgot to come home for hours past nightfall or even days in some cases.
The teen boys first stop was to his room where he hung up his hoodie on the back of the room's door and placed his board on a set of pegs on one wall that showed off his collection of a dozen finely made and kept skateboards. Marcus was not one to scratch up a board 'grinding' it on railings all day and if he did, it was one of his older boards with plastic guards made just for that sport.
Along the other longest wall of the room was arranged several boxes, all stacked five high and all along the wall from one end all the way across to the other. Each of the boxes was not your normal moving box, but a very high quality one with built in handles and each had a well made list in a plastic sleeve along its side listing the contents of each box stacked along the wall.
Unlike his mother, Mark never really unpacked his personal things because eventually she would want to move again pursuing her near insane pursuit of those 'dusty' historic things of the past. That was right, he did not share her love of history any longer it or any love he had of the subject had been burned out of him years ago with move after move for her to work at this museum or that one, or do a dig here or there, or lastly maybe even steal a few items she hungered after and she had done that one more than once that he was very sure of.
Mark strolled into the condo's kitchen to grab a snack and some soda while he did his homework. After finding the snacks he wanted, plus making a huge PB&J, he took the small assembly of supplies back to his room on a large plate and laid out on his bed for a second skimming over a school book and his notes for any further needs before he started settling down to work.
He found one dire need of his studies today right off, "Shoot need a book of mine...darn it." he muttered out and he set his notebook down to grab a 'smart pad' from his nightstand and quickly swiped it on, then swiped over to data entry. He put in the book title he wanted and a short list appeared back on the screen to his entry, "Box #18, or stack #4, third box down." Yes, Mark had all the room's boxed content, his possessions listed on a smart pad! He had too, because with his mom's constant moving all over the world or soon enough he'd lose track of where any of his personal stuff was hiding inside of all the boxes within one move or two and his mom had done of sudden or quick moves over the years, in some years they did several!
Mark slid off of his bed up to his feet and walked over to the stacks of boxes lining the one wall of his room. At the fourth stack he pulled out two boxes, then pulled the cover off the third box and then yanked out a math text book for today's study that he would need from the collection of school texts.
A few hours later the door of the condo swung open to Sophia Hapgood, Mark's mother who tossed her wide brim fedora onto the waiting hat/coat stand in the corner of the entry and then hung her well used leather jacket under it. 'Used' as in old, repaired tears and a few repaired knife holes, plus even a few bullet holes for that matter! Not all of the young mother's work was inside the safe hallways of a museum and some of her work outside of the pristine buildings of learning was a bit unsavory to say the least and very dangerous!
Sometimes she had to make deals with thieves to obtain certain items of history that she craved after, ones that would prove all of her research was right, not crazy and earn her a better standing with her doctorate, plus maybe a book deal or two or even a higher paying spot at one of the major schools of the world!
"Mark...honey I have great news!" she sang out to the silent condo and nobody replied.
Ignoring his mother's call, but he just rolled over on his bed not wanting to hear what she normally called 'Great News' because each time she said that happy line...the family moved once again!
"Mark did you not hear me?" Sophia said once more just as she entered his room.
"Yes Mom I heard you...we are moving again!" he barked then went angrily back to his homework.
Sophia or Doctor Hapgood within the walls of her museum or job, walked slowly into her son's room, not wanting to really upset the growing teen anymore than she was about to, "Well it is great news honey, in this move we get a bigger place out of the deal and its all paid for by the new job!" she sings hoping to lighten her son's mood some.
"Mom, frankly I don't care anymore about how big the place we live in is, or nice or how expensive it is" he started shouting now, "I care more about living in the same spot for a year or two and not the just a few months that I have been dealing with!" he raged back to her, " and that is why I get into fights at school mom, I don't or can't make many friends before we move yet again."
"But Mark, its an adventure to move and see the world. Isn't it?" she asked trying to calm him down.
"You know mom, I could accept all the moving about if we were in witness protection or space aliens running from some evil empire or even that you were a serial killer that had to keep moving to stay ahead of the law...but no! You are chasing after some 'BS' dusty thing I have no idea about and dragging," he sassed suddenly, "Me along for the ride and I hate it all!" he barked once more as she sat on the end of his large bed, the one and only large piece of furniture he had to his name! His mom, Sophia had promised him several times over the years that they would settle down as a family and that he could buy a desk to study from and several other bedroom items to make the place finally be a home...all of the promises fell through just like they always did in the teens mind.
"Mark, we are moving again and I am almost sure this will be the last time." she said softly and tried to soothe the teen by rubbing his back.
"Mom, I know and you know just about 100% by now I did not get any of yours or who ever my dad was....any of either of yours mutant traits and I am not going away to Wh...ever the heck its name is up in the east coast or any other place like that. But I want to go to a boarding school next term none-the-less, because then only then and only then, can I have one place to call home for the next four years till I graduate damn it!" he demanded and knew that his mom had the money 'socked away' just for that need and even more, so the whole idea of his was easy to accomplish money wise!
"But Mark, I want you near me honey and don't you want that too?" she pleaded.
"It's either boarding school or we never move again. Or I leave and those are the only choices you have MOM!" he warned her of his leaving on his own if he did not get his way. Sophia thought to bark back at the teen, to demand that the boy listen to her right now as the adult of the family but she knew if she did...he would leave when she glanced away for a second and he knew how to stay under the radar of most cops, because she taught him well in case he needed that knowledge in his life. Because she had messed up taking, or stealing one of her valued trinkets and the family or he had to run for their lives!
"We will talk later hon...when you have thought on this some and so have I." she said getting up to leave his room and softly closed the door to give the boy time to ponder the situation laid before him and Sophia as a family.
Sophia placed a frozen dinner in the oven for both her and Mark, then sat down at her small desk. The small simple desk was one of many IKEA types that she had owned and it seemed that every few moves she needed a new one because the last one fell apart during a move. It was not because she could not afford a good one, a well built and made one. Sophia just did not want to blow good money on a desk that might need to be smaller or larger to fit their next place.
With dinner cooking away and not going to be ready for at least an hour, Sophia pulled an old leather covered notepad from her satchel, pulled off the clasp and flipped it open to a marked page with a drawing of a small shield on it. The notes at the bottom were very fresh, but most of the page showed the wear of at least a decade since it was first drawn by her..."Well it's almost done, the last major part of the set is this small shield and I will have one full set guard style armor...minus the weapons and the heavier battle armor parts will come later. It took all of my time since I was ten to find all of just this one set and I lost many a friend to my crazed pursuit of this crap. Far too many friends found themselves between me and that next one item and I always chose the item over their friendship. So most of those friendships ended right there by my persistently crazy choices!" she sighed out, "But now this part of my life is over and maybe I can get this drive out of my system by seeing one set all finally finished and complete, together all in one spot after what should be five thousand years of them being separated!"
Sophia flipped through the rest of her dog-eared pages, each one tabbed section showing one part of a suit of armor and each group of pages or tab had dozens of pages of notes on just the one item it showed on the header page, where it might be, who saw it last, where it was seen last, any connections or leads to any of the above and so on till the last entry showing date and time, plus where she found it or bought it, or lastly stole it and in some cases who or what she stole it from!
That is why Sophia was so good at this historic work, her mutant powers let her see the easy, fast way through many a puzzle or alarm system or finally the locks guarding the items she sought themselves! This woman had yet to meet a system she could not bypass or break outright, or lock, or safe or anything with a puzzle for a lock. Be they numbers, letters, or anything under the sun!
Sophia had found it almost funny that the lighter armor of the set, this was the one to be completely found first and not the heavy stuff made for full on war. She had a few pieces of that set, but not a full set and she even had a few pieces of some other linked sets. But this set was part of the very first pieces she had found as a young kid when she was not even yet ten years old!
Maybe it was that very first piece that lead her on to the others somehow and she knew that the set was truly a 'set' but the engravings on the inside of the armor and outside fully matching...much like someone's name being put on them or made into part of the set or each piece!
Sophia got up from her desk, opened up her closet and pulled at a hidden latch to open a small doorway going back to a hidden room at the very back of the closet, then she slid into the small space itself. There was just enough room for her to work, a dressing dummy and a large locked chest. The chest was already opened and the armor was pulled from it, then placed on the dressing form. Even with what looked like a full matching set placed on the dress form, minus the arms and legs because most dress forms did not have them! There were still several mismatched pieces of armor or equipment still left inside the chest, each one individually wrapped within a cloth or other similar padding.
The whole armor assembly should have shown the passing of thousands of years of ageing, yet it shone like the very day it was made! Certainly this armor had magic bound within it, woven into it, hammered into it, and finally cast upon it! Sophia could almost smell the magic of the armor when she assembled it all for the first time a month ago.
That was when she had received the last major part, a greave that covered the right leg its protection was from ankle to just above the knee, then wrapped fully around the back of that section of leg like a big boot and that was the last part she needed to complete the 'lighter' set. The heavy or full battle armor set still had a bunch of missing pieces for Sophia to find in the world and she was doing just that each day at work...on the side for the most part!
This armor was a full set and it's appearance to the untrained eye would place it as Greek or maybe Roman by the skirt Pteruges to Romans used or Pteryges from Greek word meaning feathers, refers to the decorative strips of leather or lappets that flowed about like a skirt did to just above the knees. Most armor of that era did not have thigh armor, but this set did and on down fully to the ankles. On top was a thin decorative head armor, that shone in the rooms light brightly, as did the breastplate and the armor sections that covered both arms from shoulder to wrists.
The armor shone like silver in some ways, but was not and was thus far, shown to be far, far stronger than any steel she had tested it against...she always thought it might be Elven mithril or something they might use. But nonetheless, this was armor made for a human for fighting in the employment or service to a GOD and that human was a clearly female anyone could tell by the breastplate's shape!
Maybe these women were the legends of the Amazons, or the Valkyrie or other races of warrior women from around the world. But from what Sophia had found during her vast research into the subject, this group most likely was in-service to some ancient God from earth or maybe not in some cases she had found too and it also seemed that this one god was a ruler over several worlds or dimensions! She never found any information on the 'who' or the 'what' the god in question was or if they are even still around!
Sophia sighed slowly as she picked up that last piece of this armor only received a few days ago. She had found it in an online auction of all places and they did not know what they had in their hands because the greave looked so new and not aged like something that had seen well over two or more thousand years! The auction was easy pickings for one of her knowledge, the engravings on the armor's interior could not be fake because they had never been photographed that she knew of and that alone proved the items authenticity!....she bought it for a song...$100 bucks!
She placed the greave back at the dress form's bottom leaning up against the standing brace that held the form up off its rolling base next to both of the vambraces that covered the arms. "Maybe I will have Mark dress in this set so I can finally see it all fitted out correctly and take some pictures of it all tomorrow. I know that he will not like it, but I can bribe him with a new video game or two!" she smiled and left the small room locked behind her.
But I have to thank, Both Branek and Nuuan for their vast input and the ability they both have to 'bounce' off ideas and improve them!
To all my readers who have e-mailed me and given support--THANKS!
Please feel free, to add a review to this story and others. As those kind words are 'cookies' that keeps that muse well fed on the 'sometimes' long breaks between stories!
this warning is for our story stealers off site, not the BC family of readers we all know and love!
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Warriors way...crapped out
So what will happen now, the story goes on!
New story in the growing Hekawi universe!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Las Vegas June, 2016
The next morning Marcus was heading towards his first real class of the day. Math, one of his best subjects when he spotted 'them', the bullies of the school and his grade for the most part. Marcus tried as best he could to blend in at each new school he arrived at, some of his attempts were better than others and he tried desperately to make new friends all the time. But moving SO much and so often kept that from being an easy thing to do for the most part and like most schools the 'new' kids stood out from the crowd, then add that Marcus easily aced all his classes because he was smart, plus his mom tutored him on the side all the time and she had several doctorates to her name beside being a mutant exemplar.
But Mark's main problem with most of his schools over the years were bullies, they saw him as easy pray, all because of his tallish very thin, slender frame and that would be ripe for the pickings target for a pack of them. But his thin frame made him fast, easy to runaway or twist or doge his way out of most fights.
In most of his fights with a bully, Marcus could match one his size or bigger with his fighting skills that mom taught him over the years, then add his speed and sometimes he could fight off two if they did not fight very well. But in this case, there were five of them, the odds too great and then add to that Daren the pack leader or 'Mongo' as Marcus had nicknamed him after the movie 'Blazing Saddles' because the kid was big, really big (plus having been kept back a full grade!) and even dumber than the guy portrayed in the film!
Marcus found out quickly, that this situation was going to be messy and unavoidable as two of the leader's toadies filled in quickly behind Mark, thus cutting off his only avenue of quick escape. Daren strolled up to cornered Mark like the big man on campus he played into and stuck out an empty palm towards the boy while he growled, "Lunch money now!"
"But Mongo like candy?" Mark almost laughed back to the bigger kids face.
"What is this mongo crap and hand it over now!" the huge boy demanded not knowing the movie at all because of his age.
"I am sorry, but no lunch money today. My mom forgot to give me some!" Mark gave the kid his excuse, knowing that his mother can't really forget anything with her mutant enhanced mind and anyway, just because of this very bully his cash was stashed in relative safety inside his school books, hidden within the pages!
"Bullshit!" that is when the normally calm Cathy that was Daren's girl socked Mark right in the eye and leveled the poor kid. Most of the school thought that Cathy was a slow to mutate kid as she was just thirteen, but already nearly six foot tall or that she was a hidden Fae of some sort because of her height and higher than normal strength that she just showed!
Mark hit the ground a second after the savage blow hit his head, he pulled out his empty wallet and tossed it at the girl's face, "There ya go bitch...nothing in it like I said!" he barked.
Cathy snatched the flying wallet before it even came close to her face and flung it open with a quick flick of her wrist finding nothing inside the billfold area like Mark had insisted, "Well you owe us then and we will take this instead for now and you can buy it back later!" she said pulling Mark's game frame from his backpack ,then tossed the wallet back into Mark's face.
"Hey that's my frame and worth far more than five bucks!" he yelled as Cathy slipped the slim device into her back pocket.
"Mine now!" she purred evilly to him.
Mark nodded back to her, "Fine, take it you thief!" as he said covering himself for later when he'd call upon the schools dean to get the frame back for him. Because game frames like his were coded to the user/owner and could only be transferred via a very lengthy process that made buying a new one easier at times, so anyone having his...meant they stole it and he just reinforced that to a surly hidden somewhere school security camera!
After the group of bullies left Mark, he made his way into the school's main office.
An hour later after the event, Mark was noting his eye once again and how bruised it was in a mirrors reflection as the boy's dean spoke to him, "So she...Cathy Elwen took your game frame at what time?"
"Nine ten, just before second period just before my math class and inside the long outside passage to the quad." he described and the dean pulled up that footage from a nearby set of cameras.
Mark was not worried about the bully's retaliating, because by the time they got around to it, because of being suspended for a long time or maybe jailed for theft. He should be in yet another city and in another strange school fighting new assholes like he always did each time the family moved!
The dean found the time frame need and it was showing exactly what Mark had described to him at length. He nodded to his screen in agreement, "Yep you are indeed right Mr. Hapgood, this is not only bullying, plus assault on a school member. But in this case, outright theft and felony level theft because you have a very custom and expensive frame for a person your age?" the older man questioned as well stated the facts.
"My mom wanted a good one for me that could double for my main pad in a pinch and link with her personal frame from work, plus her work's mainframe too just in case I had to in a pinch or she had to borrow mine, because she keeps misplacing her's!" he smiled back knowing that Cathy was in very hot water now, because he had genuinely forgot how much his frame did cost!
Next stop an hour later was all parties involved seated in one of the many school meeting rooms, "Well Cathy what is you defense, the camera shows you punching Mark in the face, stealing his frame from his pack and the mikes picking up him calling you out as a thief!"
"I...he gave it to me...." she stuttered a lie or tried too badly.
"I don't believe you and the evidence shows us all a different story. We are going to wait for your parents to show up and with them we are going to decide if or if not to charge you with assault and theft of property over two thousand dollars.
"Two thousand dollars....no game frame costs that much, they are just toys!" she yelled out her reasoning and tried to stand up from her seat, but the school's resource officer kept her in the chair with a firm hand to her shoulder!
"The frame you stole from Mr. Hapgood is not your run of the mill normal game frame, but it's a high end one made for scientific work and links with other main frames. AKA a high end tool for genuine research work like his mother would use daily and the reason why he carries one. It's too bad that you did not know what you were stealing or holding hostage!" the dean smiled.
"And Daren, your place in this is as leader of this pack of bullies and your punishment is going to be light. Because I found no video of you doing anything more than being part of the crime so far...your punishment is...two weeks suspension or until I find farther video evidence of any of your crime in the past and have you expelled via that new evidence!" the dean barked as he worked on filling out paperwork for the now in trouble kid, whose parents were still on the way to pick him up.
A few hours later after Sophia had arrived to pick up her son and nod in agreement to what was being done to punish the assembled bullies and the girl that had stolen his game frame or her emergency replacement work frame. Sophia sighed out as her car finally drove out of Las Vegas's hot sun and down into a short ramp leading into the condo's underground garage, "I am sorry Mark I did not know it was going bad for you here, you should have told me baby?" she asked and apologized at the same time.
"Mom, each of our moves goes this bad for me...each and EVERY one MOM and if we are going to move once more. Please send me to boarding school, because I am done with this crap!" he warned her as she parked the car in their units spot and Mark hopped out instantly, then slammed to car door to emphasize his point.
Sophia sighed to the now empty seat, "I am so sorry, but this is my life too and I do try Mark." then she thought on, 'It's not easy to raise a son alone and I know if I told you who your father was," she sighed again, "You would hate him and me for even being with him for sure."
On her way up to the condo, Sophia stopped off on the building's main floor and waved over to the concierge Manny, "Did I get a package today Manny, one from overseas and that need a sig?" she asked the far older man who ran the desk.
"No packages today Doc, but I'll be on the lookout for one and call you if it comes in this afternoon" he smiled back to her.
"Funny it should have been here today?" Sophia said pulling a frame from her pack and started to check the shipping company webpage for updates. She sighed out "Well SHIT!" at what she found, "Package delayed for one day, US customs recheck on contents." was the notation on her tracking number.
"Ma'am?" the older man questioned as Sophia checked her phone.
"It's all good Manny, the package was delayed and will be here tomorrow." she smiled to him.
"Like I said, we will sign for it and keep it safe till you get home Ma'am...have a nice day!" he said just before Sophia slipped back into the waiting elevator and the door closed.
Finally in her condo, Sophia checked the mail that Marcus had grabbed on his way up and left on the entryway table for her to read. "Mark..." she called out and got an instant whine back from his room, "Whaaaaattt Mommm?"
"Mark can you please come here, we need to talk and make a few plans," Sophia shouted back to the boy.
Mark strolled into the kitchen from his room, then hopped onto one of the breakfast area barstools, "So what are we deciding?" he asked taking a pack of chips from the basket of them.
"Well Mark, I spent most of today on the phone and e-mailing this new job I was going to take." she started
"And?" Mark said nonchalantly.
"This job at a museum and teaching staff with a college up in northern California was okay with taking me only for one year. BUT after talking to them, they will extend the offer to a full three under contract and does that fit into you plans, a full three years in the same spot. We might even be able to fit a full size nice house into that plan, one with a real yard and not just a condo like we always had." she offered.
"I like this new plan mom, this is something I can get behind and thanks for listening to me." he said while jumping up to give her a hug. In his mind he did indeed have plans to leave if she kept at it, LA was only one short hypertrain ride way from here in Las Vegas and that city could hide an army!
Sophia broke the warm hug, then pulled a bag off the far counter and slid it over to the boy who was taking his seat once more, "Now this is for you, one game is a 'make-up gift' and the other is a straight bribe for your help or favor."
"Mom...favor...bribe?" Mark questioned in a low voice as he gave her the 'stink eye' and opened the bag, thus showing him that mom did indeed blow some cash on top end games as bribes!
"I want, well need you as a dummy for an hour or two?" she laughed.
"Dummy?" Mark said while tilting his head to the idea.
"Yep, Dummy as in a mannequin for one of my armor sets. I need to get some pic's of a person wearing the full set and you are just tall enough and besides I can't really take pictures and wear the armor at the same time...now can I?"
"Doesn't that old dress dummy fill that need and besides that armor of yours is made for a Gurrrrl!" he whined out.
"A woman, "his mom corrected, "and you can wear a sack over your head if you are embarrassed by the act of helping me out. But I need the full on a person armor set, photo-ed and Mark you are more than available!" Sophia giggled to him and his growing pain.
"Fine, I'll do it and only do it because you bought me Knights Fall. The only game out that lets you play as an evil knight and you even paid for the year on-line service too!" he easily gave in to the substantial bribe from his smiling mom.
Just after dinner, Sophia had Marcus dress in his thinnest summer pants and a thin long sleeve shirt to give the boy some cushioning to the armor's edges and temporary backing that barely held it all in-place now. In the far past she had noted that most armors used leather or some other kind of padding under the armor plates to prevent long term chaffing or some of the bruises caused by savage blows that came from battle.
With some of his mother's help, Mark spun around as he lowered the last part onto his head and that was a thin skull cap that had a long tail to cover the back of his neck.
The light helmet was not the best in armor of the time, but in this case it was more ceremonial wear with 'just' a bit of added protection and would have more if it had the padding most historians had shown. But Sophia did not have access to those parts, let alone they were very rare and fragile, plus making a replacement was expensive and she was not going to make up all of that for just a set of reference photos!
Mark searched over his body to make sure that everything was in place and ready for his mom's needs, "Well is this all and does it look okay mom...or what?" he asked turning around from looking at himself in a large mirror to see that his mother was busy getting a camera ready for use.
"Looks good to me honey, that lower arm guard might need to slide up a bit and the left shoulder part is a little low too." she offered and he was busy once again correcting the fit on parts of armor again.
"Well looks good now and woof mom this chick. the one that wore this was not even close to being flat chested, this girl was built like a brick shit house!" Mark's eye knowingly winked as he rubbed on the ample breast plate.
"Most of that I am sure was decorative and for padding blows to the chest." she pointed out to him.
"I don't know mom, this chick was a big girl. The gauntlets fingers barley fit me and the leg armor shows that she was really tall for the time. You told me that historically for hundreds of years, that anyone being taller than say five foot four was unusual and this girl...."
"Woman!" Mark's mom cut him off suddenly and corrected his term use.
"This WOman!" he sassed back, "she was big, very big for even now and certainly was a giant back then at what I think must be six foot or more?" he reasoned while mentally measuring the armor in comparison to his body size and even his five foot nine height did not even come close to filling it all out!
"Okay the camera is ready and the ambient light in here is good enough, plus add this camera has a good flash...we should be good! Mark did you want to cover your face or just have your face 'be' in each shot I take of this armor?" she asked the teen while making the last few adjustments to the camera's lens.
"It's fine mom, I have this Halloween face mask left over from last year." Mark said while pulling off the helmet to place the simple plastic half face mask on his head, then added the helmet back to its spot once again.
"Nice Mark, I like that one! It is the one you painted in superhero style for your wall and it will add to the armor's looks in a good way." Sophia smiled as her camera snapped its first shots and those would be the first of easily a hundred that she wanted or needed to fully document the armor all set up on a person.
"Is this the full set mom, the set you have been after long before I came along?" he asked as his mother slowly changed places to get a full set of pic's of the armor on this pass and would add even more with other lenses he was sure of!
"Well hon, this set is almost done or complete. I was going to get the last part this afternoon, but the shipment was delayed by customs for some silly reason. And so you know, I was chasing after several sets of armor. But this one only came into my sights after you came along, so I kind of tie it into you and that is why I might have chased after it more than the others I have in my notes?" she questioned herself and the idea that the armor did indeed seem to come into her purview soon after Marcus was born.
Mark flexed is arm in the armor as he posed and added with a short laugh, "Even as big as this woman is, I'd still like...no love to meet her!"
"I am sure you would!" she smiled evilly to the boy's embarrassment, "Now hold still!" she asked and took more photo's.
"What is that last missing piece mom?" Mark had to ask!
"OHH its a small 'buckler' style shield, one for blocking swords and close in fighting. Not one you would use in a full blown battle with arrow and spears flying around, but I might have a line on that bigger one too!" she said thinking of the several heavier armor parts she had leads on and that she wanted a sword to make a set that could be displayed...as everyone wanted the sword for show too for some reason?
Sophia grabbed a few more photos to be sure of covering every possible pose, then started to put her gear away, "All done Mark, you can get a can opener and get out of all that. BUT, I need a few more photos tomorrow when that last piece of this armor shows up and I verify that its real and made for this set!"
Mark only nodded in agreement as he quickly squirmed his way out of the armor!
But I have to thank, Both Branek and Nuuan for their vast input and the ability they both have to 'bounce' off ideas and improve them!
To all my readers who have e-mailed me and given support--THANKS!
Please feel free, to add a review to this story and others. As those kind words are 'cookies' that keeps that muse well fed on the 'sometimes' long breaks between stories!
this warning is for our story stealers off site, not the BC family of readers we all know and love!
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Warriors way chapter 3...Wheel of fortune
So what will happen now, the story goes on!
New story in the growing Hekawi universe!
Read the others in this new universe
Meagan's Tail
Nuuan's
“Necessity is the Mother of Invention” and “Déjà vu”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day.....
Mark was fresh off of getting out of school and had an hour or two to kill before his mother headed home from work. So he headed into the huge mall anchored on the north end of the Las Vegas strip and skateboarded his way down its long balconies overlooking the rest of the mall below. Most of the time, the cops or the mall cop donut eaters jumped on him for doing this, but today they were nowhere in sight!
As Mark rounded the corner into the mall's enormous food court, where he was headed to get a few cheap chilidogs for a snack and then maybe head home to play a few games, or maybe the new ones he was given yesterday by his mom! Suddenly when his fav spot came into view, a leg flew out from behind the nearby column and slammed into his chest with blinding speed and he flew back from the fierce blow. Mark knew instantly it could only be one person and that was Cathy or Mongo's girl he had fight with at school just the other day!
Mark's back bounced off the titled floor and he tried to roll back up to his feet, but that hit was painful as his lungs labored for each breath, "Cathy...you bitch, why?" he yelled out knowing the real 'why' all the time, but he had to demand an answer nonetheless!
"Because you got me expelled and now I have to go to a SHIT North LV high school and not our good one! Then add dead meat....I lost my spot on the volleyball team and my chance at nationals!" she howled as Mark finally stood up.
"So where is Mongo?" he had to laugh.
"He left me and I don't need him to bust you up, little shit stain!" she barked and paced out the last few feet towards him.
Cathy never made it because one of the LVPD showed up on their bike's and skidded to a stop between us. The cop hopped off his bike to make a grab for her, but Cathy ran from the cop's shortened reach and was instantly headed into the back hallways of the huge mall. The cop dropped his bike on the spot and was right behind her for a short sprint, but the far faster girl quickly out paced the cop weighed down by all his gear.
While the cop was gone chasing after Cathy and Mark thought genuinely that he was not coming back to talk to him because most cops blew off mall rat kids like him for the most part. Mark chased down his skateboard that had rolled off during the short fight, then headed over to his hotdog spot to place an order to go and this time he doubled it because he was fed up with life right now and chowing down was one of his ways to relax while gaming!
When the cop finally showed back up after loosing Cathy with his bike in tow, he spotted Mark waiting for his meal and making more room in his backpack for it. "Hey kid do you know that girl that jumped ya and do you need or want a report made?" he had to ask since the boy had taken a pretty serious blow from the obviously bigger and maybe older girl.
"I know her, she just got into hot water at my school for stealing my frame and they expelled her for it!" he barked glancing down at this ticket number for his food when a person called one out and it was not his...'five more to go' he thought.
"Name...." the cop asked flipping out a comp pad, one that was far less advanced than Marks by a decade!
"She is Cathy Elwen, I think she is thirteen or about the same age as me and used go to my high school...Ralph Lamb high." he said.
"So the charge was felony theft from your encounter at school and they expelled her for that?" the cop asked as his partner rolled up on his bike shaking his head to his partner, "Nope did not find her, she must have run off into the casino complex across the street or lucked out and grabbed a tram on the strip."
"Shoot we'll get her later...But kid she was expelled you said?" the first cop asked again.
"AHhh ya that is what she said, I did not know till just now she had got the AXE from our school and she indeed earned all of it!" he growled out and winced a bit in pain from breathing to fast.
"Hey do we need to call in medics for you, are those ribs of yours okay?' the cop had to ask.
"They are fine, I have had a few busted from skating and this does not feel even that bad?" Mark said just now hearing his food order number and paused the officer's questions politely as he was going to grab his bag of food, then placed it all in his pack.
"Well give me your ID kid and I'll fill out a full report for you and that can be added in to the girl's charges if they choose to do so. At sometime in the next few days a detective might call you for more info and to tell your parents, so please tell them tonight and here is my card, plus the temp report number for today. Just add today's date to the end to reference the permanent one when its made please. AND take it easy?" he offered taking the kid's ID, then giving it back after the card reader was done scanning it.
"Got it all officers," Mark said finally slipping the card into his wallet with his ID.
Back at the family condo
When Sophia opened the condo's door, then placed her bag and keys on the kitchen island. She knew instantly something was wrong by all the bags of food and snacks in the kitchen, some empty, others half finished and then one bag left alone with what Mark surly left for her dinner. The poor boy did this every time, he literally ate his anger then would go out and skate for hours or hold up in his room playing games all night!
She listened to the home for a second to hear that Mark was in his room, she could just make up his game banging away as he must be 'blasting' something or someone to bits in one of the games she bought him. Sophia sighed at first then tried to use her more cheery voice to call her son in, "Mark I am back, plus I have that last part of the armor and it's a way cool shield you should come see!" she asked while pulling the large box from her even larger leather messenger bag.
When Mark heard his mom's voice he was a bit apprehensive to come out and see her, then have to explain what Cathy did at the mall this afternoon. But he did really want to see this shield for the armor set his mom had craved for so long to complete and it being complete might mean that she will lay off chasing after old things for awhile!
Mark ran into the kitchen, then hopped up onto one of the free stools lined up on the center island and smiled to Sophia, "Well let's see this thing and then maybe the whole set together?" he asked as she was busy cutting open the box and breaking the last plastic customs seals.
As his mom worked on the box to open it safely and not to damage to contents! She sighed out a question, "So what happened to get you so upset or mad?"
"Mom it was Cathy the girl that stole my frame at school, well she jumped me at the mall with a roundhouse kick and then the cops chased her off." he admitted.
"You hurt bad?" she worried out for her son.
"Naaaww, she just knocked the wind out of me and sat me on my pampers for a sec!" he growled out.
"The LV cops saw all of this happen and they did not catch her?" Sophia asked her rage to whack the kid barely incheck!
"Nooope," he shook his head back, "she lost them in the access halls behind the shops, she worked there last summer and knows the place too well....Besides she is real fast and I wonder at times, is she a mutant or a Fae?" he had to say.
"Well if she is either, I will see her get charged as such. I hate doing it to a kid, but you have to stop this early or you get the next Dr Evil and one more hairless cat to jail!" she laughed out hoping to mellow the mood and the boys laughing back told her the plan had worked!
Sophia checked the shield as it came free of the box and its cushioning quilted cotton bag. One did not use plastics on things this old, cloth was best for shipping and it was easy to work with. "here we go have a look while I get my tools and we clean it together." she said starting to walk off.
"Hey let's just clean it all in your office, work room and besides the light is better there. Then add we might need even more stuff to get this even close to being clean?" he said flipping the shield over to see the deep engraved front and then over to the back or inside to see more fine engraving there too resting under a thin layer of grime!
Mom's office and workroom was the condo's third bedroom and just about as big as Mark's, it held her cheap S-mart brand desk that was a bit cheaper but a little more better built than a IKEA brand one, her weight gym setup and then the biggest piece of furniture the family had. Her work table, that was four foot, by six long and four tall and made much like a drafting table with an edged that ringed to top to keep things from falling or sliding off. The table had, all four sides filled with drawers for tools and locking cabinets, then two very nice work lights above it, then add one more hanging from the ceiling on a swing arm to brighten up your closer work if need be and the last was a built in air system for tools and blasting off dust!
Sophia placed out a fresh clean cotton work mat for the shield to lay on while they worked on it and Mark placed it on top, then slid open a drawer to get the tools out he knew his mom would need or use. He had helped her clean many an artifact and knew the process well.
With most of the tools needed laid out, Sophia went right to work by first taking a few pictures of the shield as it had arrived and after a few sets of both sides, then she checked them all on her frame to be sure they were what she needed to track this item's cleaning process.
The first step was blasting off as much of the loose dirt as she could in a sealed air box for dust, breathing and keeping her office clean! Then she moved on to a 'wet' but gentle cleaning that Mark knew well and could help her with, they found that process quickly removed most of the caked on mess of the ages. Under all of that grime, the shield started to actually shine up very well just like the rest of the set did and the metal colors matched the silver and gold of the rest. She tested the metal content and her frame paired analyzing wand came back with the same conundrum as the armor's....no match found in metallurgy currently known and that included Mithril, plus Orichalcum the magic metals that the Fae used and made!
"Well Mark the analyzer says this is the same stuff the armor is made out of and I would bet this shield could take a small cannon round and not have a dent in it!" she smiled as she printed out the results and filed all in a folder for the armor.
"Yaa take the hit AND send the holder flying back a mile I bet!" he laughed.
Long into the night both of them cleaned up the shield to match the cleaning job Sophia had done over the years to the rest of the set, Mark interrupted his mothers work for a second as he refilled a cleaning bottle with more solution, "Mom I should head to bed for school tomorrow." he stated
"You stay right here, you are not going to school tomorrow because two days going this week and two fights on both days...you deserve a break. Besides we need a set of photos with the set and lets get that all done tonight, then tomorrow we go over to the MGM park and have fun!" she suggested and Mark quickly grinned as he nodded back, "Sure!" he yelped in happiness at the thoughts of riding all the coasters the huge place had.
A few hours later, Mark had pulled on the thinnest set of sweats he owned and was placing the last part of the armor in place on his thigh when his mother came into the living room with the shield, "Here we go that last part and now the set is all together again after who knows how many thousands of years!" she beamed with pride as Mark took the shield from her hands.
Sophia smiled to him, then went to grab the camera off the kitchen island, "One set of good photos hon, then we are done for good with this set and maybe I can display it somewhere at the museum till we move or find it someplace inside our new house on display?" she asked.
"This set would make a fine hallway display if we find a place with one or one that is big enough?" he said sliding his left hand gauntlet on a little tighter on his wrist and hand then grabbing the set of braces and handles on the shield's inner side.
As his left arm slid into, then through the brace that ringed his arm and he grabbed for the last handle to hold the shield. He heard and felt a very distinct 'click' that felt like the shield locking into place on the gauntlet!
There was a steady glow from the etchings on the shield's inner side that he instantly saw, then Mark felt very funny like he was up on something high and getting dizzy. the next strange feeling was that he felt his pants get tight on his butt and legs....then he had trouble breathing, when he looked down at his chest he knew why...his CHEST HAD GROWN OUTWARD!
"MOM!" he cried out in a voice now alien to his ears.
His mom spun instantly around from the frame that she was making ready for holding her coming photos and saw her boy...or the larger woman or very tall teen girl that stood there where Mark WAS only a few seconds ago!
"Mark is that you?" she had to question the strange person!
"Ahh I think so..." and he grabbed at his or she pants front, "IT'S GONE mom and I have BOOBS!" he shrieked out.
"What's gone?" she panicked!
"IT, IT you know IT!" he or now she cried!
"Quick take all of that armor off as fast as you can, don't worry about damaging any of it!" she yelled and Don't panic!" she tried to suggest, as she herself...panicked!
"Panic mom, I am WELL PAST PANIC!" mark shouted and started to peel off the armor as fast as he could, pieces flew off all over the room. His mom jumped in to help and pulled at parts or their temporary straps.
Mark yanked off the last part, it fell to the floor across the room with a clatter and he stood there in his slightly torn sweats, "Mom if that was how I was going to change back into ME! It did not work and why?" he asked clutching at his or her rather large chest.
"Shit, shit let me think!" Sophia asked as Mark started to look sick, like toss up cookies sick!
"I, I...." that is when Mark 'threw up' into a trash can next to the living room couch that was lucky to be there after his large meal after school!
"I know, let me call Lee! That darn girl knows everything and will help us or you?" the frantic mother said grabbing her frame and whipping through a list of contacts to settle on one that she tapped.
"Hi Sophia...wh..." was all the other person got out before she laid this mess all out to them.
Mark went into his room to check out what he looked like in his door mounted mirror while his mother was making the call and his appearance had drastically changed! He or now she was taller, like nearly six foot tall or right at it and she was fit looking girl with black hair replacing his normal lighter brown. The new face stared back at him with utterly blue eyes, over his old green ones and he pulled at his top, "Ohhh shit...big boobs! I knew this girl was stacked, but this!" he shouted out.
Yes they were big, big or huge to him never ever having had any! But not that big and nowhere porn star BIG or anything close. Poor Mark was panicked when he walked back into the living room to hear the person on the frame tell his mom what might be up with him.
"Well if could be a full blown curse and he is now this new form for good. Or maybe it's only day or night time one or maybe temporary?" the person sang out her growing list.
"Permanent...MOM!" he cried or really started to sob
"It's not permm....honey you are shrinking!" Sophia gasped at the sight of her boy slowly returning to normal!
"Well there ya go Sophia, it was temporary. But you can try the armor on yourself and see if it works for you or maybe have Mark try it out and see what happens!" the frame person smiled innocently to her.
"Lee I know you love finding out new things, but please do so without using my kid as a guinea pig...please!" she sassed the person.
"Well he might of had powers, strong or armored or fast or fly or even laser beam eyes!" she bubbled on and on to the mother.
"Laser beam eyes....lady I had boobs!" he barked at the frame.
"You might like them if you try them out?" she laughed, "you do know half the world has them?"
"What!" he barked again, but thought of the list she just gave, strong and flying! That did sound cool and fun, but as a girl? Mark pondered the only drawback to being a comic superhuman if that new form did indeed have any powers?
"Well Sophia girl, at least try on the set for yourself? What harm can it do, you get bigger and you are already a girl!" she offered.
"I'll get back to ya on that!" and she hung up.
"Who was that mom, I don't think I have meet that one from your work and she is real strange?" he had to ask.
"That was Lee, I worked with her on that project in France three years back and she is strange. Like mutant or really a goddess I think?" Sophia thought back to their introduction and how the boss described the tall blond woman.
"Goddess, mom a goddess you worked with one?" he asked, shaking his head to the strange thoughts.
"Well goddess or really old, like tens of thousands of years old!" she admitted to the boy.
"So what now, call the DEHA or the magic cops in on this?" he worried to himself, was this armor magic or some hidden tech of ages past? One never knew until it was tested out fully by experts!
"Well I am game, I am trying it all on and let's both see what happens?" she boldly said.
"Mom are you going nuts?" he barked at his mother.
"If we test it out and find its secrets, then its all ours and not the museums or some guy with a 'name' in my business!" she shouted at the room and now the worried teen.
"Okay, you always dared me at times to make me be bold and this is freaking BOLD even for you!" he huffed out.
As he leaned down to pick up a piece of armor, his mom slapped his hand away instantly, "AHhh no! We will not let you touch this or any part for now on young man!" she ordered and grabbed the part for herself.
She noted standing up with a part of thigh armor in her hand, "Well no POOF?" she shrugged to the teen, "So we move on and test out the rest."
Not much later Mark was admiring his mother housed inside the full set of armor and only the last part...the shield was to be added in last just like he did. "You don't fill it all out as I did, you are a few inches short mom and other measurements."
"Well, at least I have a chest to fill the breastplate!" she sassed jokingly back to him with a huge evil grin.
"Okay mom, when I put that on. It slid in then 'clicked' when it did, it must have hit home and activated the rest maybe? I also think the gauntlet is molded to the shield backing, like a puzzle piece?" he suggested.
"It might be that way for all the parts, in the heavier suit the left gauntlet is missing and they all might fit or should fit?" she thought back on to her notes over the years on the armor.
Sophia wiggled her hand as she slid the shield onto her arm, it 'clicked' and nothing happened. "Maybe it only had the one charge or needs something else?" Mark suggested.
"I'll give it one more minute, then I put this away...no I will lock it away and then have Lee maybe look at it all later, she should be able to figure it out in a month or maybe a decade?" she reasoned out.
A few minutes had passed by and Sophia had to finally give up on this puzzle and giving up on puzzles is not exactly what she liked to do! It was her mutation doing the talking, it always helped her out with any puzzle or riddle and leaving something undone was one of the great "NO-NO's" of how her mutation worked with the world in general, solving puzzles or locks was what drove her on most days!
"Well I am at a loss on how this worked on ya and I don't want to experiment on my only kid...now if I had like three of you?" she jested to the boy and he glared back at her, then started to giggle about it, "If you had three of me mom, you would never get any work done and this armor would have never been finished...So its a good thing you did not have three of us!"
Sophia started taking off the armor and laying it out on her work room table for later study when the mood to do so struck her again. She dropped a few pieces on the way from the living room to the work room and Mark bent over to pick one up and nothing happened? So he felt the need to tempt fate and place the one right arm bracer on his lower arm and tighten the strap a little.
As he did the sound of clothes being stretched to their limits filled the room and his surprised gasp changed in pitch higher...."Mom, I think I figured it out!" the renewed 'she' cried out.
"TAKE that off now before you get hurt!" Sophia barked and ripped the bracer off his arm instantly.
It took what seemed to Mark forever, but to the rest of the world or to his mom it was about one minute to ninety seconds and the tall teen girl shrank back down to a thin teen boy that was the normal Mark.
"Are you okay now?" the upset mother asked her son.
"Holly shit that actually feels kind of good, like I am filled with power and strength!" he buzzed out quickly.
Sophia paused as her brain thought over the several ideas now forming inside her head, then grabbed her frame to call Lee back! "Lee, Sophia again...Mark changed again and it seems that only one part of the armor is needed for him to change fully and it does not work on me...then add the change seems to last a proportion of time that the item and change are left alone and running?" she blurted out insanely quick to the blond woman who surprisingly kept up with ease to the whole stream of questions.
"Okay, that makes sense and this armor is magic I'd bet and now attuned to Mark for good. So you not being changed by it means its 'locked' to him for good or till he dies maybe? Then the time proportion, if you kept records of the first change and how long he was in contact with the armor during that first change and how long it lasted after removing it all...then you can work the math from there...as long as the magic has the same idea...because magic can do and will do strange things...I once dealt with...." Lee kept going on till Sophia had to cut her off, "thanks Lee call you back soon, maybe a few days to talk this over?"
As Sophia hung up, Lee barked out an unheard warning that never finished, "Don't let Mark use it too much....." she got cut off from there, but on her end said "he might get addicted to the feelings it gives..."...'I tried?' Lee thought.
Mark squealed as he picked up the bracer and nothing happened, "See mom I have to be actually wearing it and not just touching it...neat! I want to try something?" he blurted out and ran all the way into the office and over to his mom's extensive weight set.
He quickly strapped on the armor, then waited as he grew and he sighed out slowly at the feeling it gave him 'Such power!' he thought innerly. Next he grabbed his mom's fifty pound curling weights that she used to keep her 'exceptional level three' strength in shape and to know when she was getting soft. This weight was at the far upper end of her best and sometimes she could not lift it and had to regain some of what she lost by being lazy...but most of the time this was her daily workout weight.
Mark grabbed both, curling them with ease and then tossed them about like nothing! "See mom I just blasted past your limits and lets try this!" he said as one of his or her hands made a grab for Sophia's largest barbell at over two hundred pounds and he lifted it one handed with ease straight over his head in one long stroke.
"Take the armor off now Mark, who knows if it might be permanent with three uses!" she worried for her boy.
"Ohh shit!" he nearly giggled with the power he felt now, then dropped the barbell to the floor with a small clang and quickly started taking off the bracer.
Sophia counted off the seconds, then several minutes as her boy stood there... or now a large girl stood there. Mark started looking mighty worried for himself when he finally felt the slow change back to 'normal' wash over him and his body shrank down to his old normal size!
"WOOF mom for a few seconds there I thought I was stuck, but that was great...the feeling of being that powerful and I bet I could take gun shots and not feel a thing!" he wondered out loud.
"Let not test that idea just yet and let me lock this all up because you seem to be out of control there?" she wondered out and though Mark might want the change, the power the armor offered more than he worried about being a girl? Then add what else does this armor have inside it, a ghost that might take him over or corrupt him in bad ways or eat his soul as fuel to come back to our world! the list was endless in Sophia's mind, as she had studied most of just that over the years.
Sophia pulled the trunk lid open where she stored the full set, plus the other armor bits 'n' parts and started laying it back to rest. Once most of it was back in the box. She stopped at her large whiteboard covering most of one wall and wrote down numbers, One set labeled 'one' must have been Mark's first change with times that she made a good guess at and the last 'three' was this last one with him lifting weights.
When she was done, she stared at the numbers, then made a quick formula of all of them, "Mark it looks like the change last a certain amount of time, but that line is on a curve and who knows how bad it gets....One minute of change might be an hour waiting to change back to normal soon enough or even worse? AND a few more of these changes might take months or years to change back from...unless you like being a girl, please stay away from this armor or...you get the idea?" she warned and underlined the number that gave the answer she sought in a flowing line to reinforce her words of warning to the boy.
"Yes mom," he sighed as he secretly pocketed that bracer in his sweats!
But I have to thank, Both Branek and Nuuan for their vast input and the ability they both have to 'bounce' off ideas and improve them!
To all my readers who have e-mailed me and given support--THANKS!
Please feel free, to add a review to this story and others. As those kind words are 'cookies' that keeps that muse well fed on the 'sometimes' long breaks between stories!
this warning is for our story stealers off site, not the BC family of readers we all know and love!
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Warriors way chapter 4...Double down
So what will happen now, the story goes on!
New story in the growing Hekawi universe!
Read the others in this new universe
Meagan's Tail
Nuuan's
“Necessity is the Mother of Invention” and “Déjà vu”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marcus ran straight into his room once his mother had locked away the rest of the armor, he locked the room's door, then leapt to his bed and cradled the small treasure in his hands and he waited until he was very sure all was in the clear for him to examine what this armor, this thing could do for him or to him more specifically!
As he flipped the long curved piece of metal over and over in his hands, he noticed that nothing changed on his body, "So now I am sure you don't or will not change me until I wear you like armor should be worn!" he smiled to the shinny armor, then flipped it over to the thin leather backing with two small straps that held it in place. His mom had added this backing onto the metal piece to replicate how it might have looked ages ago, but it was only temporary and very flimsy at best!
For the most part the armor piece was long, plus curved to fit on the outside of the arm from where the gantlets ended to protect the arm up to where the elbow began and it was one of the smaller pieces of the full set. It being so small in comparison to the rest is why Mark choose to take it, so that his mom might not miss it and keep packing away the rest or the armor set without notice!
Mark squirmed out of his shirt, then stood up topless to his rooms largest mirror mounted on the rear side of room's door and then placed the armor on his left arm, then tightened the straps in place. A wave of immense power rolled over his body, as it changed over to that of the girl one he had been before.
She stared at her new self in the mirror, "I knew this girl was big up top and her face....what a beauty...I look gooood!" she breathed out leaning closer to examine her now narrowed blue eyes and squared face, plus running fingers through her long black hair as Mark noticed how in shape this new body was. Not bodybuilder big, but more like fitness girl bigger than his old thin self and a true warrior this new body indeed looked like!
Mark was getting quickly carried away by his new body and senses as he finally braved touching both breasts, "Ohh shoot the longer I do this the longer I stay changed!" he yelped out in fright, finally snapping out of his amazement of the changes and then quickly started undoing the straps that held the armor on his arm.
"I hope it...this change back to the regular ME does not take long?" she sighed, then Mark suddenly snapped his or her new fingers, "Shit I should have been timing all of this so I'd know how long being changed equals to how long until I change back to normal!"
In a fit of being mad a himself, Mark opens his laptop and searches for what box in his room has his stopwatch within it? Mark nods at the result coming up, "Ohh ya box 17!" he fingers across the screen and stands to get it.
Mark finds that lifting boxes of stored stuff in this changed, or supercharged body feels much like lifting sheets of paper, "Shit I am strong!" she smiles while lifting a whole stack up with one hand, then opening the lid of the bottom box up with the other.
The stopwatch was by luck laying right on the top, so Mark grabbed it and tossed it to the bed and after replacing the storage boxes, then sitting down. He now or she realized that he had no idea how long he had been wearing that armor piece and how long it it had been off his arm and no longer affecting his body!
"I have to keep notes, track each and every second when I am changed and how long the changes last after I take this armor off. Next part is that I have to test what I can and can not do with this new power!" Mark huffed grabbing a new spiral notebook from the nightstand drawer to make notes.
A few more tense minutes passed by, then the feel of 'change' washed over his body and Mark changed back into the normal teen boy he had always been, "Thank God that is over! Each time I change, I might not change back?" he said and thought more about that situation, being a girl for the rest of his or her life...but that power felt during the change...Mark indeed craved that power!
"Humm now how can I get outside to test myself even more?" he pondered next while making a ad-hock note for tonight's times spent changed and how long it took to change back...AKA he guessed!
Mark laid there on his bed for a long time thinking about what he wanted to test about his new powers, "Strength, how fast I can run and jump, can I fly, can I stop bullets" that is when an idea popped into his head.
"That camo tracksuit mom bought me a few months back, it would be perfect for that new me!" he excitedly thought, then he rolled over tapped his laptop on and found the box it was stored in... and as usual , it of course was at the bottom of the stack!
After several minutes of shifting boxes around, Mark had is tracksuit in hand. This was one of many of his mom's shopping finds, she would go out on weekends with him in tow shopping out the far off factory outlet malls and finding bargains and how that lady found them he never understood! She found a Gucci wallet for twenty bucks, that was worth way over five hundred on one of her trips!
This tracksuit was one of those very finds, when she bought it. It was to large for him, but not beyond how big Mark could gain in a year or two? So she bought it on sight for him! Sophia was sure he would grow into it by high schools end or use it in college somewhere?
The tracksuit was an expensive brand name made in an urban night camo that blended real well and made your eyes go kind of crazy to see it...you just wanted to mentally 'not' look at it...so you missed it! Then the fabric of the suit was a technopath made one that not only stretched like mad, but was nearly un-tearable and the darn stuff was almost knife proof, then add slightly bullet resistant or so he had heard off the net?
Mark quickly changed into his loosest set of underwear, then pulled on the loose tracksuit over that and added a pair of his bigger running shoes that had a quick tie feature that only used a twisty knob to make the sneakers a tighter fit, or a tap of a twisty knob loosened them right up! Then add to that cool feature, these were styled after the Reebok 'pump' of decades ago. You pumped a big rubber button on the shoe and it took in air to fit better. Lastly he added a small note pad to in pocket, then closed the velcro flap to make sure it did not fall out and looped the stopwatch's cord around his neck.
A large backpack was added in as a last choice to carry some ID just incase, then some of Mark's older clothes added into the bag incase he was wrong on the new size of his body and tore his way out of the tracksuit! He decided on heading down to the lowest level of the condo's garage, where only a few older cars were stored and some storage boxes for those who wanted or needed the extra space. He knew there were almost no cameras down there because you had to pass by a few layer of great security to even get down there, Mark knew this because he practiced skating down there out of sight many times and that is how he was able to get so good at the sport over the last few months!
Mark slipped out of the condo with ease, because his mom slept like a rock with growing up in a dorm room during her schooling years! Next step was the ride down to the lowest basement level and the parking area it held and once finally there he checked all around for anyone using the space or accessing one of the storage boxes, "Yep two AM and no one around just like it should be!" he smiled and ran off to one of the far corners to hide himself even better while busy testing new limits!
In a dark corner Mark placed his bag on the trunk of a covered up old car, then his note pad next to it and the stopwatch on top of that pad for ease of use. Now he pulled that armored bracer out of his pants cargo pocket and put it on, pulling the straps tight against the tracksuited arm. His body grew in height and a little in size as wave of buzzy feelings washed over him. It all lasted until what only cold be called a teen Amazon stood there, "Wow that feeling of the rush of power, I do so love that!" she said clicking the stopwatch on the backpack to start it counting off the now precious seconds.
Mark quickly checked out his new body in the tracksuit, "Good, no tears and actually it fits real good!"
"Now as quick as I can, lift the cargo box and then push it back and forth...if I can?" she smiled going towards the tasks!
Mark found that what could be a several ton cargo box, was an easy lift from one end of the oblong box and then sliding it across several yards of the parking area concrete was easy...but aiming to replace it into the same spot was a bit hard!
The new Amazon ran back to her pack and clicked the stopwatch after she took off the armor, "Shoot I went a whole seven minutes, change plus with that test and now we see how long the change lasts?"
Without the armor, Mark went about the same tasks in general until she or a returning he felt the changes coming and stopped for safety's sake! Mark looked at the time on the pocket watch and was a bit surprised at the sight, "Nearly forty minutes to change back...ahhh that is a factor of about five or one minute changed equals five till I am normal!" he noted and wrote down all the all the numbers...7-38.5...5.5 on his pad.
"Well this part is over, now lets try something else...I know running!" he grinned.
Mark repeated putting on the armor and that buzzy feeling washed over him once again and this time he felt even better at the changes, "Lets get moving!" she nearly giggled in glee while starting the watch counting that valuable time once again!
This time Mark ran, jumped as best could be done in the ten foot tall garage area and even tried her luck at leaping over cars! "Well I bet I could get up to maybe thirty-five outside in the open and jumping from building to building like those urban runners do might even add to that speed in town!" she smiled clicking the watch off and quickly taking off the bracer.
Mark noted the time once more, then wrote it down while the watch counted off how long this change lasted for, "Well I got over ten minutes it this time as a test and lets see what happens now for the time to change back?" she wondered writing down 10-35 as a time note
At the fifty minute mark, the teen became very worried that he was not going to change back to his normal self! Then after starting to pace the garage in worry and at a little over sixty minutes...at sixty-four to be exact! The feelings that showed that she was changing rapidly back to normal hit her body and the old 'he', Mark had returned with them..."WOW I got worried there," he nearly yelped, "I was sure it should last only about fifty or so minutes and I went WAY over sixty?" he shook his head at the numbers, ten minutes thirty-five seconds changed and sixty four minutes till he changed back....it went up from 5.5 or so to 6.4 ratio during one use? Could it be the longer times that changed the ratio or just using it more often, one change right after another with little or no real break?
"Enough for tonight, I had better give this a rest and re-run my figures a few times, then maybe have my computer crunch on them too and be sure of my conclusions" Marks said taking off his tracksuit top and packing up all his gear from this ad-hoc test.
The next day
Mark went to school the next day without a hitch, but all the time he spent in class. He was crunching those numbers from last night and all of his mom's numbers that he had copied down off her whiteboard. All day, he pondered the mess and none of it made sense, the end result ratio drifted all over the place. From very low at the start, the first time he changed, over to really high during one of his 'middle' ones and his last one seemed to be lower in comparison to those middle ones? Then the numbers made no sense if he used the power of the armor more?
One time he was rechecking his numbers in class, Billie one of his classmates looked over at his papers and smiled, "Is the time between times the same or drifting too? Then the first set looks off and the second set looks about right?" she asked him.
"Well, yes the first set numbers are a guess, but the guess-er or guess-ee, you could call it? She has an incredible grasp on the passage of time and rarely goofs!" Mark said tapping his pencil on the paper thinking about his mother's mutation that included a brain with perfect recall and her knowing what time it was down to the second.
"Humm, the next test, in my opinion...should be all the same. Time tested, time waiting and time between. Then you know your numbers are good!" she suggested and Mark nodded to Bille, one of the few kids that took the school's college credit math classes!
After Mark arrived home from school, he found a note stuck to the fridge from his mom, "Money for dinner in the jar, order a pizza for both of us with sides and make them for both of us! You the wings if you like and mine will be the cheese sticks as usual and do your chores..." and in big block letters at the end, "Do not touch that armor for any reason!"...love mom.
Mark sighed at the note, but it contents were fine with him and at least now he did not have to cook dinner! He took to his chores of tidying up the house, making sure the trash was out and his room cleaned...as if all his packed stuff ever got out of control. One day he thought to 'toss' his room up to a mess as a form of protest to his mom, but why...he'd have to clean it up later!
When he was all done and the time was about right. He texted his mom, "Coming home on time? OR should I wait? Or order just for me because you are staying late?"
His frame beeped back with a new message instantly, "In car coming home right now, order dinner as planned please."
That message meant in 'mom' ...'I just left the building and I am on the way' he laughed innerly! His mom did stuff like that, little white lies to keep the gears of the family moving along!
Mark clicked his frame over to the net, then to the pizza place and dropped the order into their queue for delivery and paid for the order on the family account. A beep a few minutes later confirmed the order was being made and then gave a countdown till it should show up.
He noted the time on the fridge whiteboard for the order coming, then sent the order's time and what eatery was coming down to the complex's concierge computer, so they could send it up without bugging Mark first!
While Mark waited for the pizza order to come and his mom to arrive, he pulled out his notes on the armor tests and went about rechecking his numbers against his mom's whiteboard ones to be sure that no mistakes were copied off it by him. He found none, his numbers matched to the board number for number and as he was about to feed it all into his computer as Sophia opened the door and sang out to the condo, "Home again, home again jiggity jig!"
Mark tossed the note pad into his room and greeted his mom coming from the hallway and out into the kitchen, "Hey mom, dinner is coming and it looks like they might be late...so we get it free!" he boasted.
"Humm I like free hon, but lets wait and see? Because sometimes that delivery guy uses the sidewalks with that motorbike of his to make deliveries on time!" she laughed.
Twenty minutes later
Both of them were sitting at the kitchen counter eating a very free dinner on the pizza place, evidently they fired the old delivery guy and this new gal was not up to the task of riding her bike like a drug crazed maniac like the last guy was!
"Well Mark, I am trying to get Lee to come over from her place in LA and I think I got her attention with this armor. So I am reasonably sure, that she will fly in on Saturday morning and very early morning if I know her!" she smiled over to him.
"So we go to the airport and meet her, or she is taking a ride to here of some sort?" he asked because he hated the airport, all the tourists and the high rollers made the place a mess to even get near, let alone enter!
"No hon!" Sophia laughed, "Lee can fly herself right up to our balcony and land right there!"
Mark did an instant 'spit-take' with is last bite of pizza and nearly choked, "She flies!"
"Yes dear, of course...she flies...she does have wings!" Sophia said nonchalantly!
Hours later
Sophia had gone to bed, Mark had stood by listening for any sound his mom might make and when he was very sure she was fast asleep. He laid out his notes, the stopwatch and the armor bracer to begin testing Billie's theories! Over the next several hours, he ran to a tight schedule to the split second and was finding as he went along. That the armor did indeed have a sliding ratio that was gaining in numbers with each use!
He sighed, "At this rate of use, the armor will keep me changed for months if I keep this up...But god what a feeling I get and I bet no one could take me from school!"
He stuck to testing one theory out per night and tonight was the theory that Billie gave him. Now tomorrow was testing outside for speed and that meat running far off the condo complex's ground for the room.
With his testing done for the most part, Mark wanted to try one thing out tonight and he was sure that he had the time. 'What if I put the armor back on 'before' I change back!
Hours later Mark in his girl body was pacing out his room, running to the bathroom mirror to check on any changes and he found none! "Did I goof and make this permanent! OR did the ratio change, because we are at double the time changed right now, but did the ratio double too!"
Mark reran the numbers on his computer again to be sure, if the time while changed doubled and the time to change back doubled. he should be back to normal by now, but if the rising ratio had doubled too?
That meant he was stuck as a she well past time to get up for school and that is when his mother knocked at the door, "Hon get up and get ready I am going in early!"
"Ohh shit mom is up and I did not even hear her!" Mark still in a girl's body worried out.
But I have to thank, Both Branek and Nuuan for their vast input and the ability they both have to 'bounce' off ideas and improve them!
To all my readers who have e-mailed me and given support--THANKS!
Please feel free, to add a review to this story and others. As those kind words are 'cookies' that keeps that muse well fed on the 'sometimes' long breaks between stories!
this warning is for our story stealers off site, not the BC family of readers we all know and love!
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Warriors way chapter 5...Showtime!
So what will happen now, the story goes on!
New story in the growing Hekawi universe!
Read the others in this new universe
Meagan's Tail
Nuuan's
“Necessity is the Mother of Invention” and “Déjà vu”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sophia knocked on Mark's door to make sure he was awake and heard water running in the room's bath, "Well at least he is up and getting a shower done..." she smiled and turned back to the kitchen to make a quick breakfast before she left for work.
Inside his room Mark was panicking, his worry at not changing back faced him in the room's mirror via the girl he now was being reflected back at his eyes and he was more genuinely worried about mom being furious with him than actually being a girl! For right now the shower being on was only a delaying tactic and how long before mom came back and yelled once more for him to get moving and be ready to go to school?
Mark tried jumping in the shower to at least 'sound' like he was washing up, the strange new feelings of showering as a chick were very far from his worried mind right now, so he showered on hoping all would be fine. Back out in the condo, Sophia finished up with her light breakfast and noted the time on the room's clock.
She walked over to Mark's door to bang on it once more, "Hey if you are not ready, then you will have to take the monorail to school and pay for that trip yourself!" she barked out the now standard punishment for his being late in the mornings.
"FINE!" she heard muffled from beyond the door, "Okay, but you be on time home and no hanging out after school!"
"FINE!" came again as her answer and Sophia walked back to the kitchen, grabbed her bag before leaving the condo for work.
Back in his room, Mark fell to his bed and sighed out, "Woof I thought I was a dead man or dead girl right then! Well let's see if this fades or I am stuck as a girl for good?"
Mark was getting antsy while the clock on his nightstand clicked on and the stopwatch held in his shaking hand ticked off the growing seconds. He was about to shout out in the growing madness when he felt that 'feeling' wash over his body and he instinctively clicked the stopwatch's count off and stared at the time shown, "Woof over two hours well past the time I thought that I should have changed back to normal?" he questioned the numbers, then sighed out slowly as he started to mentally do the math, "The ratio did change by like double or better!"
At his small desk Mark worked over the numbers and found them very confusing, but at the same time they made sense in a strange way, "I stopped the clock to change back to normal when I put on the bracer once again and then the ratio doubled the time changed into an Amazon, then quadrupled the time to change back to the normal me!"
He realized that all night during his tests the ratio was climbing slowly up and up, and he would be changed for longer and longer times. But that on last test re-using the bracers Magic before it was done with changing him back, it really tossed a wrench into the works and who knows what numbers it might toss out if he did that same thing ever again!
After Mark had calmed down farther, he dressed for school and this time he added the tracksuit to what he was wearing today and packed the top into his backpack, then added the bracer into his cargo pocket to keep it near, "You are staying with me...just in case!"
The teen's day at school was uneventful with most of his personal bullies gone for good or still on punishment, so he treasured this day and thought of days to come at a more permanent home that the family would be moving too...unless the museum here wanted mom bad and she would stay here, they really did like her and paid VERY well to obtain her services on the museum staff.
A long ring of the school bell system told Mark that the day was done, so he decided to go by the skate park on his way home and the mall. He knew this was all against his mom's orders, but he had dealt with a lot over the last few days and he needed some personal fun time away from home!
Mark rolled up into the park on his board, kicked it up into his waiting hand then took a spot on one of the lower level bleachers to watch the action down in the skate bowl better and see how much 'airtime' skaters got off their runs. One skater stood out like all the times she skated here. This girl was a mutant and most would call her scary by the way she resembled a full blown monstrous Medusa, she had a human body on top of a long snake body and that body was nearly fifteen whole feet in length!
The skating Medusa went by the handle of "Euryale" to most, but her real name was Erin and she used the other name because it was one of the three sister Medusas of history. Erin had on the basic pads on top of her human body, all topped off with a sticker covered helmet and below she had no less than three full boards strapped along her very long body in strategic places, the tip of her tail had a plastic cone with a spark maker on the end that she would drag along for a show of sparks now and then!
Erin made a show of going fast over the rolling part of the skate course by rolling her long body along it, this built up speed towards the bowl or the large for height jumps. She swung her long body over towards the bowl and went right into the huge bowl at blazing speed and skated leaps off the edges for height, then corkscrewed in the air till she had to line up her body on a path back down into the bowl.
She leapt in and out of the bowl several times building up even more speed then made a run at the tallest ramp at the course's end and 'snaked' or slithered her long body all the way to build up even more speed and at the ramp she did a crazy body loop that resembled the Ouroboros symbol of ancient times! Her next set of tricks was a long set of body corkscrews and finally one more for height...boy she got some huge airtime!
Mark clapped at the show, "Great go Erin girl!" he yelled a few times over the crowd already cheering for her.
When Erin was done with her show, she skated through the crowd slapping upheld palms offering praise to her skills and then over towards Mark where her gear was laid out on the bench, "Have not seen you down here for a few days Mark?" she smiled to his pleasure.
Mark was a little taken by the snake girl, she might have resembled an ancient monster or terror to most? But to his tastes she was very nice and a great plus her face was utter beauty and her human part of her body matched! Mark had made quick friends with her at school, because one he was not scared of any snake considering the number of places he had grown up where waking up to a cobra in your bed was a distinct possibility!
Then add his mom over his formative years, had SO many strange mutant friends that he thought it was very normal to be VERY different from the rest of humanity! "Heya Erin, I was dealing with personal stuff over last few days." he worried out a bit.
"I heard that Cathy tried to steal your frame and then tried to whack you at the mall!" she said giving him a hug and she felt a little cold to Mark, but that was normal for Erin! Only in the heat of a Las Vegas day, did Erin do her best and if she still lived in snow country, she could never go out in those lower temperatures as a reptile based mutant and that is why her family moved to here from Idaho when she changed.
"Yep Cathy was after me!" he laughed.
"Want me to go bite her for ya!" she hissed and her long tongue flicked out in anger!
"Ohhh no and have the FEDS come down on ya. The Department of Exo-human Affairs can be a bitch and that is why I'd move to cali to have that state's MCA run interference?" he warned and asked why she did not move there for better protections?
"No cali for me except summertime, that place gets too cold in winter and even LV gets too cold. I know the DEHA is a bitch and that cali's Meta-Human Control Agency is better for us mutant types...unless you are Fae...then M&M's is your bitch!" she laughed back.
Erin started to pack up her gear and boy did she have the best gear money could buy! She had a built in cash stream with her mutation, because most venomous snakes only put out a few drops of venom when 'milked' for making anti-venoms, but in her case she put out a gallon of the stuff in one good bite and that made her some serious cash with the medical manufacturing companies!
As Erin packed away her gear, up farther on the bleachers a girl flipped out her Frame and tapped out a message on it "Cathy, that asshole is here and seems to be heading to the mall I think...Want me to follow?"
Mark noticed that all her boards were brand new, "New planks I see?" he said handing her one to place inside the large gear bag.
"All a gift from Universal Biotech for last months venom draw, they are trying to swing me over to them as a permanent supplier. But I don't like them, I get the stink eye from the staff way too much for my likes!" she spat.
"Well unless they pay double, fuck-em!" Mark laughed taking the lead towards the monorail station at the park's end.
"Heading home?" Erin asked.
"Going to the mall for food and maybe a new set of wheels?" Mark offered.
"I'll go with ya after I drop this pile of mine at home, if you want to wait a few at my stop for the next mono?" she asked.
"Yep we can do that!" he added with a quick smile.
Up on the bleachers the girl overheard the two's plans for heading to the mall after Erin dropped off her bag, "Cat, he is heading to the mall with snaky girl and they are taking the mono!"....."Follow them for me and keep me in the loop. Meet you there!" evil smiley face!
Just a few stops off 'The Strip' the main boulevard of the city and where most of the largest casinos in the city showed off their best to the wide street in order lure in customers to gamble. Erin had her stop and Mark waited for her return at the small station while she dropped off a large skate gear bag at home.
Erin quickly returned to an impatient Mark that was busy checking over his math once more for the changes he tested last night and he was still not sure of the numbers the results gave him. An ever increasing ratio to being changed to changing back and the possibility of it growing at an even faster ratio if he made that mistake of putting on the bracer before he fully changed back to normal!
"Ohh you're back!" Mark sputtered, then started putting the math notes away.
"Yep, doing homework?" Erin asked, "You know I can help?" she smiled.
"Ahhh it's a personal project of mine dealing with a set time and a set result for ahhhhh chemical to make a change of color back and forth with being re-excited," Mark stumbled out a quick cover as best he could.
"Well when you feel you need help, call me Mark. But lets get going to the mall!"
On the ride down 'The Strip' Erin noted Mark's pants, "Why the baggy pants, I know the brand is a top one, but the fit is way off for you Mark?"
"I wanted to see if baggy pants would help me do better stunts on my board and they don't!" he admitted after testing it out a few times today.
"Well at least you now know, but here is our stop and what did you feel like eating?" Erin asked slithering off the monorail car and onto the platform, then looked around at the mall's offerings for food.
"Go over to Jim and Sam's for a pizza. I love the games they have in the place!" Mark stated looking forward to the huge arcade that had a restaurant at it's core.
"I can do that!" She grinned back, "My treat, because I got a huge raise last week and need to celebrate with somebody!"
As they walked, or in the case of this pair. Mark rolled along slowly, his board's wheels clacked at each gap in the floor's tiles and Erin slithered long in a smooth motion with her long body. That is when four girls jumped out of one of the stores packed with displays that hid them to the slow moving pair and three of the set went at Erin and the last one being Cathy smiled evilly Mark's way, "He's mine!"
"Run Mark, I got these three easy!" Erin barked, then started hissing like made at the three, "You messed up, I can not only take all three of you...but kill you all with ease!" and she spat at the floor laying between them, where her venom filled spit sizzled on the bright tiles!
Mark ran as he was told too, he knew Erin could handle those three and even more...with no sweat! He made a 'beeline' towards a doorway leading to the service corridors of the huge mall and he knew several ways out of the mall from there!
As he went, Mark kicked his board as fast as he could muster in the tight space, then slammed right into doors open them and luckily did not fall his speeding board from the hard impact that he needed to open them. Right behind him was a very mad Cathy who was gaining ground quickly and as he passed by a few garbage bins, Mark tossed them to the floor trying to impede or slow down Cathy for now!
Mark rounded the next corner with Cathy still far behind stumbling over garbage cans and assorted empty boxes. She howled at his back, "When I get you, I am busting both of your legs!"
When he rode out of sight, Mark pulled his camo top out of his backpack and slammed the bag into a can as he passed by. A plan formed in his mind, 'Get to that lighting panel, shut off the lights and fight her in the dark as the NEW ME!' he grinned over his shoulder checking if she had turned that last corner and may have ruined his plans!
Several bangs came from around the corner as Cathy made her way through the mess that Mark had left behind in her path and at the electrical service panel for the hallway Mark hefted his board, then used it to slam the small lock off the panel's door and once the lock gave way, he opened the panel to flip all the switches off!
Now in the dark, Mark tossed on the tracksuit top, then added the bracer to his left arm and noted the time on his wrist watch. The changes washed over his body in the darkness and as they did he noticed for the first time that his vision of the dark black hallway became very much easier to see in! "Hey I got night vision too...cool beans!"
Mark dropped his board into yet another garbage can, then turned to face the long dark hallway as he heard Cathy round the counter with a growl, "It being dark in here is not going to help you asshole, I see really well in the dark!" she boasted and walked his way.
As Cathy stalked in the darkness towards Mark or the now bigger Amazon her, Mark opened one of the side doors then tossed a box out of it, "Run Mark I got this bitch!" he faked yelling at himself to fool Cathy into thinking this was a new person and that Mark was now long gone!
"Girl I am going to pound you like a steak for helping him!" Cathy hissed a warning to the new girl.
"Not today bitch!" Mark yelled picking up a large can and hurling it at Cathy!
Cathy dodged out of the can's way with surprising ease, then yelled at Mark, "Get out of my way and you will leave here in one piece!"
"Not going to happen bitch!" Mark howled out in his new voice and charged right at a now surprised Cathy!
The two girls clashed at the intersection of the hallways with a huge thud, Mark being the slightly bigger of the pair shoved Cathy back and she fell stumbling down to the floor. On the floor her hand found a long pipe that fell out of one of the many upended trash cans and she swung it at the attacking girl.
Mark was on some newly found instinct that helped him block the pipe's blow with her bracer covered left arm, the clash sounded out with a very loud CLANG that echoed down the hallway and that is when Mark saw that the was pipe bent, 'no' really came close to wrapping around her outstretched arm. "Ohh you are SO going to pay for that, you were trying to kill me bitch!" Mark shouted back to Cathy.
Cathy took this chance to standup while Mark was busy yanking the bent pipe free of her arm and retreated back to one of the hall's corners to make a grab for a long piece of wood that was sticking out of a can.
As Cathy leaned down to pull the long thin board from the can as Mark took a wild swing aimed at her head and Cathy barely ducked away from the fierce blow that took out a huge chunk of the wall spilling several busted cinderblocks all over the hallway. Cathy gasped at the sight, the new hole in the wall was so large it even exposed the wall's rebar!
If Cathy's head was still there in the arc of that swing, her head would be gone and just bloody pulp all over the walls of the hallway! "Ohhhhhh SHIT!" she gulped realizing she was greatly out matched by the bigger girl and even though Cathy had, plus knew more martial arts than the new girl...one hit connecting like that again and Cathy would surely die!
Mark stared at the utterly huge hole in the wall he had just BASHED into it and saw light coming through it from the shop beyond the wall! The hole was just large enough for a small kid to wiggle through into the room beyond it!
"Ohh shit," Mark mumbled out, "I nearly killed her, but she was trying to kill me...so it's still on like donkey Kong!" he ended up yelling towards the end at the now retreating Cathy!
Cathy took the short Pause in the battle to stumble back out of reach....AND RUN for her life. She knew if the fight went on any longer, she would not go home today!
As Cathy ran down one hallway, the cops entered from the mall's side of the intersection and yelled at Mark, "Girl stay where you are, don't move!" one cops shouted while tossing loose cans and boxes out of their path.
"Fuck that!" Mark yelled out to the cops, then ran VERY quickly back down the hallway to his waiting skateboard and grabbed it as she ran past its hiding spot. At the first exit door, Mark ran out while taking the bracer off his or her arm and once outside found her path blocked by a short wall that was a drop off ending up at the mall's huge loading dock forty feet below. Seeing no real option, Mark leaped over the wall guessing that the fall was nothing to his newly enhanced body!
Mark landed with ease, then ran across the loading docks and out of the Mall's lot. The next obstacle to freedom was to make a leap over a twenty foot wall into one of the city's many storm washes and into the huge tunnels that run under the city for rain run-off. Once hidden by the darkness of the tunnel, Mark noted the time and did a quick math puzzle inside his head.
"Okay this long changed, at the ratio from last night's run annnnd I get about forty-five more minutes changed into a girl to deal with and then I can move right on out of here unnoticed by any cops. Because they will be looking for a big tall girl and not a thin normal height boy, I'll get past them all easy!" she sighed waiting out the time hovering in the shadows and keeping a wary eye out for the cops.
Mark nodded to his watch as the forty-five minute mark came and went, "Well that sucks, maybe my numbers are off a bit?" he questioned, then felt the first waves wash over his body and strangely they took longer changing him back this time than any of the other times!
He thought about why changing back to normal took longer this time than last and the only conclusion his brain could come up with, was that maybe he used more energy during that fight and had to fill back up before changing or maybe it was slowed by the same lack?
Glancing down at his watch as he ran up the small hill leading out of the storm wash Mark noted the time, "I'll make it back just before mom gets home and still have a little time to clean myself up a bit!"
When Mark entered his Condo building his frame rang with an incoming call and it was Erin! "Hey you good?" she asked, very worried that Cathy had got him and hurt him bad!
"I'm good, had some help from a strange girl and ran off while she kept Cathy very busy!" he lied, trying to add a good story in to cover himself for later!
"I'll have to meet her and buy lunch!" Erin smiled.
"Ohh I am sure you will both meet, I got her info and will try to get in touch with her later?" he lied again wondering how to work that all out with his time limits of being changed!
"Give that info to me and I will thank her personally today!" Erin added in gratefully for the help this strange girl offered!
"Nope, she is all mine and I am not sharing for now. But bye I gotta run, clean up myself and the house!" he chirped, then cut the line to her smile and knowing nod.
An hour plus later Sophia opened the door to the condo and found Mark was busy cleaning the living room and cooking dinner in the oven, "Hey mom, I put a tray of lasagna in the oven and it should be done in about a half an hour."
"That's nice hon, anything happen at school today?" she asked and Mark held back a short laugh while he was busy dust mopping the living room floor.
"Ahhh nothing mom, came right home after school and jumped on my math, then started to clean and make dinner!" In Mark's mind that was partially true...he did do some math. But it was all for his tests at how long he would stay changed into powerful a girl by the armor!
Later on that night
Hours ago Mark made it through a nearly silent dinner with his mom and they talked about Lee coming over Saturday. And that fact left Mark with only one real test night before Lee might come and take the armor back to LA with her for further study.
Not long after Mark was sure that his mom was fast asleep, he crept his way out of the condo and down the hallway, then slipped out the parking garage into the dark night of Las Vegas!
To the south of his home, 'The Strip's' glow was filling the night sky with all the bight lights coming off the casino filled adult playground when he slipped into a even darker alleyway to hide his testing. First on his long list was jumping for height and falling or leaping down to see how far he could muster and this information would help him out later with escaping away from any cops!
A dozen blocks from his place in a slightly shadier section of town, Mark arrived at what he was sure would make a great testing spot. This place was hidden down a dark alley, that ended up in a large hidden parking lot that was surrounded by a ring of two to four story buildings.
In the darkness of the place, Mark checked out the area for anyone still hanging around for several minutes and found no one hidden in the place. Then add the streets around this section of town only seemed to work during the daylight when most businesses were open their regular hours.
Mark changed into his tracksuit that was now quickly becoming his very own 'supersuit' and laid his backpack down on an over turned box for now. Next he placed the stopwatch around his neck and synced it to his frame, he had to look up how to do that on the net and was luck that this stopwatch even had the feature...bluetooth was SO last millennia!
He was about to start his tests, when a woman dressed in a long trench style coat walked down the dark alley and four men were following her every step from a few dozen yards back. Mark slid into the shadows next to the building for better concealment and watched as the group of bad looking dudes came closer to the woman.
The woman had quickened her pace by the growing tempo of her high heels clicking on the blacktop and almost seemed to be at a run now as all four men slipped into the alley from the street. She entered the hidden parking area behind the shops and was surely cornered by the pack of bad men!
As the pack circled her Mark grumbled out to himself, "WOMAN, why did have to choose my dark alley to get cornered in and why guys did you HAVE to choose tonight to be stupid?"
Mark shook his head to the next thought in his head, "I am going to have to 'rescue' her and beat them all off...then get away CLEAN before the cops show up here, so I don't have to answer questions I don't have any answers to darn it!"
The pack hooted and hollered at the cornered woman like a scene from a cheep action flick! They yelled out the sad lines as if on cues, "Hey baby want to party!"..."Lonely girl I am your man!" among several cliché others!
It seemed to be going bad quickly as the men circled in closer to the woman and Mark shook his head to the action, "Well I can't just sit here and watch when I have the means to act...mom did not raise wimps!" So he placed the bracer on his left arm and cinched it on tightly, "No need to have that fall off during a fight and me go normal when I need to be Amazon!"
The waves of power washed over him and Mark noted one new thing as he clicked the stopwatch around his neck to start its count of precious seconds, then added a countdown timer to remind him of that precious time, "That change seemed to go much faster than the ones from last night? Those took nearly a minute to complete late night and this new one was only about twenty seconds in comparison!" he worried and noted it for later pondering when someone's life was not on the line!
The first man was just making a grab for the woman as she shouted 'NO!' to him and added in a fierce "Go way I don't want you to touch me!', that is when Mark yelled in his new female voice at the men 'Leave her alone unless you want to mess with me!'
"Ohh good we have a two-fer deal here buddies!" one man shouted as he leered at Mark and one more added, "Hey less waiting for my turn baby, there is enough men to go around!"
The woman on the other hand seemed to be VERY surprised to see the teen girl interceding in this crime, like she had it all in hand and as she pulled a golden rod from under her jacket Mark knew why!
A golden rod about two foot long was in the woman's hand and she flicked it once to make it extend to over six feet. Then she slammed it into the blacktop where the pole made a huge 'BANG!' into the surface and lengthened even farther up as lights sprung out from its top to illuminate the whole parking lot with dancing, flashing lights much like a strip club might have!
With a whip of flare, the woman tossed her long coat at and over the head of the nearest man. AND now with the coat gone, reviled her fit hardened body that was dressed up in tall heels and clothes that only could be called 'stripper wear!' to anyone reasonable. Next she swung a leg around the tall pole by the knee and used it to twirl her body fast and kicked out at blinding speed to the surprised man covered up with the coat. The savage blow sent him flying for several yards back into the darkness!
Mark could only gasp at the sight, this was a local heroine or vigilante...."Pole Dancer!" A women that suckered in dark men that were about to act bad and maybe rape, harm or kill a woman and she beat them to a pulp...she never killed one...but several never harmed anyone again because of the damage she dished out!
One of the tall men closest to Mark flicked his wrist and a blade snapped open in his hand, "I may not be able to hurt that hero bitch, but I am going to skin you alive before she can get to us and save your dying ass!" he growled to the night.
Mark lowered his body's stance and got ready for the man's first strike! The man leapt forward, striking out with his knife and Mark reacted instantly! He grabbed the man's hand so quickly with his hand, that it surprised Mark and then he closed the grip on the man's hand until the sound of several bones crushing under the pressure was heard and that stopped the now crying man dark man, Mark let go of him know that he was finished for the night by the amount of fresh blood pooling under the man's arm.
Mark looked over to Pole Dancer from what he had just done and found that she seemed to be going faster or getting stronger as she 'stripped' off her lose clothes and with each piece of clothing left to fly off and fall to the ground. Her blows came faster and faster and hit harder and harder each time!
One man flew off from the fray via one of Dancer's wild kicks, landing right next to Mark and the man rolled back to his feet pulling a gun out. As he made aim at Mark's face, Mark struck out as the gun fired with one hand defecting its aim and the other balled into a fist striking the man's chest with a very savage CRUNCH that sounded like several ribs shattering or even his whole ribcage!
The man fell to the ground and was instantly wheezing badly and coughing up gouts blood. Pole Dancer took care of the last two men still standing with a huge wild swing of her legs and a few lashes from her swinging arms. When she saw the man next to Mark and that he might be dying right now, she ran over to them both.
"Ohh this is bad, let me guess this is your first time out and you don't know your powers?" she asked like a true mother only could!
"Ahhh ya and I was trying to save you?" Mark had to say.
"I had this, but deary how could you know that? But please get some training and find your limits...because this guy might die and I don't want any deaths on your conscious...this was my fault for not checking out the alley first!" she chastised herself.
Pole Dancer stood up as she made a call via her frame to 911 and had an ambulance coming. The sight of her in nearly nothing took Mark's breath away...she was gorgeous and with her being this close drove Mark crazy!
His stopwatch beeped to remind him that ten precious minutes had past by and the change back would last well over an hour so far! "Ohh you are only a baby, please get some training or meet up with an existing team or maybe go to one of the schools that tries to train us supers and mutants better?" the woman worried for the child before her.
"Ahhh I gotta go!" Mark said snapping back into reality because of the warning beeps from the watch.
"Are you sure dear, I can give you a false drop to contact me and I could train you some myself...." Dancer said as she went to gather up her coat and yanked the pole out of the blacktop.
"Sure...I gotta go now!" Mark sang while grabbing his own hidden bag.
"Well leave me a note on the...," Dancer trailed off saying, as Mark yanked his bracer off his arm and leapt over a building as the first ambulance drove up shining its many lights into the dark parking lot.
An hour plus later Mark was laying on his bed still changed into a girl and nervously counting the seconds as they passed by, hoping he would change back before morning came and his mom might find out what he had done.
He glanced over to his frame that showed the latest news stories, "Want to be rapist nearly killed by unknown vigilante!" Mark was not worried about the headline, LV was very mutant and super friendly because it was so close to California and LA and their laws had made their way to here via the influx of Californians over the decades!
The law in most cases of supers of mutants stopping and hurting criminals was simple. Was the person or criminal DOING an actual crime and if so did the vigilante, mutant or super stop the crime from happening and save lives or property? If the answer was a simple 'yes', then no crime was committed by the vigilante, unless recklessness or vengeance was shown!
Time passed by slowly, so very slowly and as Mark almost gave up hope the changes back to normal washed over him slowly and showed to him that he was right to worry back in the alley...the changes did happen faster to a Amazon for the lack of a better term in his mind and now even slower back to his normal self!
The next morning
Mark was very ready for his normal ride into school this morning and wanted to be sure he showed that nothing had changed at all. At the drop-off his mom leaned over to give his a small kiss and reminded him, "Since Lee is coming over tomorrow, I am staying home to give it one of my deep cleans. So did you want me to set the rug cleaner bot off in your room, I am sure the rug will be dry by the time you get home?"
"Ahh ya mom, my floor is clear of my stuff, just don't go looking for my nudey mags under the bed!" he jested before closing his door and waving bye.
When Mark was in class, his mom was on a cleaning rager on the condo! Sophia started by vacuuming the carpets with the bigger vacuum, because the smaller bot was only for keeping it looking 'okay' and not for good deep cleaning. Her next step was the far larger rug washing bot that had to be borrowed from the condo's maintenance department down stairs.
Sophia had just come from claiming the larger bot affectionately named R2 from the lobby and was leading it out of the elevator by its remote when Mary greeted Sophia from her door down the hallway, "Hey doing the big clean? she asked.
Sophia waved back to the woman, "Yep having guests over tomorrow!"
"Anyone I know?" she giggled out knowingly!
"Nope no one from school and not a known hero at large!" she laughed back, being one of the VERY few who knew the Mormon mother of eight's hidden secret....that she was soccer mother by day and at night...she was Pole Dancer...vigilante of 'The LV Strip'!
Sophia shook her head to the thoughts, Mary was a long time friend from her boarding school days and during the day was a very prim and proper, no cussing allowed mother of eight. But at night she changed into Pole Dancer and became a stripper costumed or 'lack of costume' heroine that tried to clean up the city at large. Mary's husband had moved the family to LV to be an accountant for one of the largest casinos and they rented out the last three units on the far end of this floor, busted out the walls and remade the place to fit the whole ten of the family!
"Well do you need any help girl?" Mary asked quickly, being one who loved cleaning for some strange reason!
"Nope, but we can chat while I work and last night I heard there was an incident...a bad one?" she questioned the hidden heroine and mother of eight.
"I was there, but the most of the bad damage was done by a kid... a teen girl, just a baby!" she said back while strolling with Sophia towards the condo's door.
"A new vigilante!" Sophia breathed out in surprise as the door opened for both of them and the larger cleaning bot.
"It appears so, she was just a baby. A teen at best!" Mary worried out only like a mother could.
"So we have a new, untrained kid out there with powers?" Sophia asked as she filled a large bucket with hot water for the carpet cleaning bot and went about filling the bot's tank, then sent it into Mark's room via the remote.
"Yes very untrained, she almost killed one man that had a gun and surely crippled the hand of another, but he had a knife...SO he earned that maiming!" Mary barked, still mad at the man for trying to kill a kid while she watched!
"So you going to go all mentor on the kid and teach her the ropes?" Sophia questions as she went about cleaning the kitchen.
"I might, but first thing I would have to do is get the girl a better suit. Because that camo tracksuit made by Fendy, you know the one in night blending camo and made of that technopath...you have heard about it, the un-rippable stuff?" Mary smiled.
"Really?" Sophia stopped working on cleaning and was thinking about each word Mary said.
"Yep, I am sure that was all she could find and it makes sense if you could get the suit cheap. Its durable and blends into the night like crazy!" Mary added in helping out with cleaning up the stove top.
"Was the girl very tall for her age and fit, with black hair, blue eyes?" Sophia asked and was quickly coming to a bad conclusion!
"You have seen her too, She has this one armored plate covering her left arm?" Mary said while motioning from her wrist to her elbow to show what she noticed better.
"Was that plate, gold and silver in color?"
"Yes." Mary said knowing it sounded bad as Sophia left the kitchen and started to tear into her closet as she watched from the hallway.
Shortly, Sophia walked over to Mary and handed her a metal plate, "Was it like this one?" she asked, hoping it was not!
"Yes, very much like this or almost exactly like this?" Mary wondered as she flipped the plate over and over to examine it closer.
"Thanks Mary, can I get you going? As I have something personal to do right now."
"Sure, but if you need help...please call me, I am only yards away!" Mary sang and hugged Sophia as she left.
Hours later
Mark came into the condo's entry and sang out, "I'm home mom, what's for dinner?"
He dropped his bag on the kitchen counter and found his mom sitting in her chair in the living room looking VERY cross at him, "Hey Luuucyyyy....Yu have sum eXSpanlinggg to doooo!" she deadpanned in the Ricky Ricardo accent.
"What mom, what did I do now?" Mark asked hoping she did not know his secret!
"GO to your room right now Marcus Hapgood and look at your bed!" she ordered him.
Mark walked towards his room like a condemned man walking the last green mile and found the Amazon armor all laid out in human form across his bed...minus one piece!
"NOW explain it all to me!" his mom yelled from the living room!
But I have to thank, Both Branek and Nuuan for their vast input and the ability they both have to 'bounce' off ideas and improve them!
To all my readers who have e-mailed me and given support--THANKS!
Please feel free, to add a review to this story and others. As those kind words are 'cookies' that keeps that muse well fed on the 'sometimes' long breaks between stories!
this warning is for our story stealers off site, not the BC family of readers we all know and love!
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Warriors way chapter 6...Showgirl!
So what will happen now, the story goes on!
New story in the growing Hekawi universe!
Read the others in this new universe
Meagan's Tail
Nuuan's
“Necessity is the Mother of Invention” and “Déjà vu”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I can explain it all mom!" Mark barked back in defense of himself and pulled out the one piece of armor he had been pocketing all day, then shook it over at his mother Sophia to empathize his points, "This makes sure even with being the smallest kid in my class or moving around all the time, that no one...AND I MEAN NO ONE!" he shouted out even louder than before, "Bullies me or uses me for an impromptu punching bag!"
"I am fixing that, I was told today we can either stay here on permanent staff or we can move to one of at least five places and I will even let you choose that place! All with no argument, questioning or anything from me...you tell me where WE as a family are going Mark, you are in charge now if it makes you let go of that armor?" she asked and hoped her son would listen to reason.
"Me let this go, let go of the power it gives to me and why would I do that? I love the feeling it gives me and no one can touch me when I am wearing it!" he smiled and Sophia was taken back by that look on her son's face, she had seen it many times at her old boarding school...the classmates that went evil had it!
"Mark, that armor it changes you into a girl! I know that is not a bad thing in this day of age...but you can see that it's drastic at best?" she reasoned with him.
"I really don't care...don't you always say fifty percent of the world is girls or women on any given day? So why does it matter in the long run if I change, because being a boy or a man someday is not really helping me get by each day...just right now!"
Sophia stood up, ripped the piece of armor out of his hands, then stomped her way into Mark's bedroom and she began packing the armor back to its box at blinding speed. Mark yelled at his mother as she worked, "Even if you lock that away, I'll get to, take it and leave!"
When Sophia was done, she locked the box's lid then tilted the large box back onto it wheels and started to roll it all out of Mark's room, "Not if I have anything to do with it, now stay in your room please till Lee gets here tomorrow and maybe she knows what we or I can do with this damn thing!"
Mark did as he was told for now, years of unintentional training of being a kid under a strict mother saw to that and only in the last few months or really days had he strayed off that path. The next few days might be telling for the teen and his relationship with his mother!
The next morning even before the sun had rose.
"Mark are you awake honey, I'd love to let you sleep in? But Lee always seems to be the first in or up at any job I have meet her at and she did say that 'just after sun up expect us!" And I am not too sure who that 'us' really is? So please get up, straighten your room while I go over the house one more time and we will have breakfast as soon as they all get here!" she sang to the closed door.
"I am up mom and I am already cleaning up my room. I'll be out in about ten minutes or so after my shower...please?" Mark's voice told the mother from beyond the door and she was happy that he was still there!
A short time later Sophia was pulling a tray of fresh baked biscuits out of the oven and getting some frozen orange juice made up and she noticed that Mark had finally finished with his morning chores, "Mark be a dear, please open the drapes for the balcony and unlock the door for our guests."
Mark did as he was told, but had to ask, "So you were not kidding that Lee had wings and fly's?"
"No I was not kidding and so does her whole family....I think...ohh except for her girl!" Sophia said and added some more batter to the waffle maker she was busy using to make a huge breakfast for her coming guests!
Mark helped out his mother as best he could with her being a tornado of food preparation right now and when he was out in the living room straightening up the couch's pillows a sudden tap startled him from the balcony glass door!
A large man with wavy brown hair and strangely wearing a shirt and tie. But the most striking feature he had was the huge brown wings on his back and he smiled to the teen while motioning to open the door for him. As Mark slid the door to greet the man he spoke, "You must be Marcus? Hi, I am Tim and I am sure we are all expected?"
"Yep, but I was told to expect...Lee?" Mark asked sliding the door all the way open to let the man in.
"Lee is still coming, but do I have your permission to come in and so does the rest of my family?" he asked while still standing on the condo's wide balcony and seeming to be stopped by an invisible line at the doorway...As if the much smaller Mark or anything could stop this huge guy!
Mark was puzzled by the man's question as his mother spotted them both at the door and sang out, "Come on in Tim, you and the family are welcome!"
Tim smiled entering the condo and nodded her way as he spoke, "Hi Sophia, long time no see! I think the last time I saw you was at the DC research library?" he greeted her, Mark noted that Tim searched out every nook of the home with his eyes seeming to check for any threats...Mark found it very strange that Tim only seemed concerned with him afterwards!
"Where are the rest of the family?" Sophia asked while starting to place breakfast out on the dinning table for all.
"They are delayed, the kids seem to take more time these days than the last time you saw them." he said walking over and leaning on the counter to hear better but not in the way of her work.
"Ohh I bet they are big now!" she laughed while nearly running past him with even more food to lay out.
"Ohhh my they have grown and I think both of them are nearly the same age as Marcus here?" he said and never seemed to take a wary eye off Mark!
"Humm it has been a long time since I have seen you all then!" she laughed once more while passing a few dishes to Mark and motioned for him to place them on the table.
Tim studied Mark several times as he walked past the counter and was busy placing out the food as his mom hand it all to him, "So we are here about your find Sophia and what it might be doing to young Marcus here?"
"You can call me just Mark...Tim." he said passing by and not really like the sound of his full name...ever!
"Okay 'Just Mark'..." Tim smiled to the teen and received a grin back.
"Yep the darn thing changed Mark here and might even be getting worse? I'll tell Lee all about it when she gets here!" Sophia added and started laying out the last of the food buffet style across the counter top facing the dining area.
Mark was busy with placing out a stack of napkins and making sure each place had a set of silverware when an utterly beautiful blonde woman landed on the balcony and folded up her large black as night wings. She waved to another blonde woman to land next to her and she did so with a long flap of her brown wings. Then the newer woman yelled out towards the sky, "Come on you two, we have to be good guests and put away your buds when you land!"
The two teens were next to land, they were surly related to the first blonde by the color of their wings and the fact the teen girl was drop dead gorgeous and the boy was just as handsome even to Mark! Both landed with a short flap of twin black wings and then took out stereo ear buds to be put away in a case and quickly pocketed away.
"Hi Sophia we are all finally here!" the first blonde sang out and walked quickly into the condo to give Mark's waiting mom a quick hug.
"Nice to see ya Lee and my the kids have grown!" Sophia smiled and shook each teens hand. "And who is this!?" she asked pointing over to the other blonde.
"Ohhh yes Sophia, it has been a long time and that is my Becky! She finally joined the rest of my winged kind and is now fully one of us Lords..." the one his mom called Lee said and nodded to the new women that was just breaking a quick hug with his mother.
"So you are now one of Lee's kind...just like her Becky?" she asked very surprised at the fact.
"Not all the way...not just yet really, maybe in a few thousand years I'll catch up with her help?" Becky grinned back to Mark's mom.
Lee took a few steps over to Mark who was still a little busy setting up the table to eat, "So you must be Marcus or Mark I am told you prefer?"
"Yes ma'am I am and Mark is just fine with me." he said back trying to show his best manners.
"Well Mark let me introduce the rest of the growing tribe!" she waved over to Tim at the counter, "You meet Tim already and just so you know he is kind of adopted into my family." Tim waved back from his spot.
Then she gently pulled the other woman over to show him and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, "AND this is my love...Becky, you can consider her my insignificant other and those two demons over there being all too silent for a change..." she grinned at the two teens that looked very embarrassed at being pointed out, like all teens do!
Sassnick is my daughter and Velmeran is my son! They usually answer to Sass and or Vel if you want their names to be easier?" she asked him.
"I can do that if they want?" he had to ask knowing the personal embarrassment a parent can add to a teen's day at certain times!
"Fine with me Mark," the girl said and almost at the same time Vel added in his approval, "Fine with me too Mark."
"Ohh then there is me, I am Kyley Barron and your mother stuck me with Lee in her mind for some reason and I don't mind..." Sophia interrupted with a short laugh, "Lee, I called you that because there was like five others in the research group that had a KY at the start of their names and calling you 'Lee' got your attention much faster on most days that I could even GET your attention!"
The tall blonde nodded back over to Mark's mother, "Well that explains that, I just never asked ya why you called me Lee! So it's Lee or Kyley, all your choice Mark?" she asked the teen with a warm smile.
"I like the Kyley name, it fits you much better...your mysterious looks and exoticness!" he blurted out and seemed a little embarrassed at the sexy thoughts racing through his mind right now!
"Humm I get that from others and I'd also say many, many others before I met you Mark. But thanks!" Kyley said back to him with a knowing smile to the teen that could embarrass an angel or even a Succubus!
"Hey lets sit down, have breakfast and chat it all up while we eat?" Sophia asked the small group and Kyley's kids nearly leapt at the already assembled meal.
Kyley laughed at the sight of her two teens raiding the counter and quickly filling their plates, "To be safe, please keep your arms and legs away from them...AND you'll be just fine!"
As both kids were the first to be seated, Mark had to ask when he noticed that their wings magically disappeared when they sat! "Your wings are gone?"
Vel chuckled to Marks puzzlement, "Yep we all can make them disappear at anytime we want!
Sass jumped in with her quick jest, "It really helps in small cars!"
When they were all seated, Sophia had to ask about something bugging her, "So Becky?" she asked and got a quick nod of acknowledgment from the blonde, "You were human once and now you are just like Lee, or her kind?"
"Ahh like I said, not all the same. I have to grow very much older, gain tons more experience over the years and then maybe I can make that leap up to her level with my love's help?"
"She wanted to be closer to me, so I helped!" Kyley smiled to her love and even took her hand for a short squeeze, then added in a small kiss on top of it.
"Ohhh you should have seen the paperwork! The Department of Exo-human Affairs or DEHA, the Federal agency for mutants and the Ministry of Fae and Magic had a fit with my change! All the questions, all the demands to know how and why I was changed?" Becky sighed out
"So how did you get it all done?" Sophia asked knowing that a low level mutant like Becky changing into a very high level one or something close to a Great Old One...was not even close to normal!
"Simple I filled in her paperwork with a very plain, flat out....I am a Goddess or GOO...then added the word "AND?" in huge caps with a question mark after it. They basically shut-up and took it 'as is' from there on!" Kyley laughed.
"WoW!" Mark added in, "My classes on mutants says basically it takes an act of god to change your classification that drastically..." Mark face palmed when he thought over his own statement...Kyley is a GOD!
"Well let's get down to Mark's issue then?" Kyley asked and Sophia quickly nodded back, "So when you change because of the armor's influence, do you feel strange at all with being a girl, a female...Instead of a male?"
"Strangely no Kyley I don't? I do find myself very attractive, but not a single strange feeling at all and it feels very, very normal to me when I am changed for some reason!"
"Hummm and are the times you stay changed growing or lessening in duration after you take off the armor or leave its infuance?" Kyley asked just before taking a bite of her pancakes.
"Getting longer each time I use it and it seems at an exponential rate!"
"Longer to change back and slower, the add the change into an Amazon for lack of a better description is faster too...or slower?" added in her next question.
"Longer, slower change back on all parts and its gotten way faster to change to a girl over the last few days, then way slower to change back to a boy." Mark quickly explained what he had noted during many personal tests.
"Well so far it sounds like this armor is bonded or attuned to you permanently and there might not be a way back without some pain and trouble along the way? I'll have a look at this armor when we are done eating Sophia and then I can give you a better, more informed opinion. Then maybe some options on how to deal with this magic from here on out too." Ky said waving her fork around to emphasize her points as she spoke.
"But you think its really bonded to Mark?" Sophia gasped already knowing that a truly bonded magic item was a very bad thing to have!
"I am pretty sure that this armor is now fully bonded to Mark, because...One it did not work for you at anytime before and you were around it more than he ever was or had been. Then two, it keeps working for him when he wanted it too and the time it affects him is growing longer with each use. Then...Three, he does not seem to think changing into or being a female as a bad thing. So with all that, the armor is his in a way...magically so to speak." Kyley pointed out farther and as she made each point, it all drove Sophia to worry even more for her son!
"I learned about this sorta thing in class," Mark started, "Magic and Mythos" laws state, that a magic item once it imbues a person with its powers is theirs forever! Because if the last person that possessed the magic item was the 'true' owner in a magical sense, would not the item...because magic is smart... imbued them with its powers at that time? Or 'AKA' if an item does not work for ya, then you are only the custodian of the item waiting for the true owner or user to show up!"
Kyley nodded his way, "Yes that is how it all works for the most part, one of the few things about magic that you humans got right!"
After breakfast was finished, Sophia showed Kyley the armor still housed inside its storage box and left her alone with it so it could be all studied farther. Not long after being left alone, Kyley walked out of Sophia's office with a bracer in her hand, "Sophia there seems to be only one of these and it's the left arm one. Do you know where the right side or armed one is?"
Sophia instantly glared over to her son, "MARCUS HAPGOOD!" she barked out at the teen.
Mark came clean instantly at his mom's roar of anger and pulled the missing part of armor from his cargo jeans pocket, "Mom this is the truth, I found this one under my pillow when I woke up this morning and have been carrying it around ever since...It makes me feel safer for some strange reason and I even dreamt about it being stored in its box last night too?"
Kyley took the bracer from the teen's hand and started to examine it closer, "Is this the only piece you have had the longest time or the most contact with or lastly been testing out your new powers most often...Mark?"
"Both, I took that bracer the first day or so and have kept it with me ever since." he admitted sheepishly, knowing that mom might come down on him later for doing that.
"Humm I can see that its linked to you magically now and I'd bet that no matter how far away I took this, by the next morning it would be somehow near you again." Kyley stated while still examining the small plate of armor.
"So can we shield Mark from its influence somehow and stop this process that way?" Sophia questioned as worry for her son's well being grew.
"We can try? But I am very sure that. Maybe using lots of Mithril or Orichalcum might do the trick, but you would need many feet of thickness to accomplish that goal and that is impossible. But I do know Excelium or my Asterix could stop the magic fully! Excelium is ungodly expensive and Asterix is my personal metal, that you can't have. I know that some of the anti-magic vaults have Excelium linings, but they would charge you steep amounts for the use or you have to tell the DEHA the 'whys' of your sudden need and then you have issues dealing with them and Mark forever!" Kyley warned.
As Sophia paced out the room while she thought over Mark's and her current predicament, Kyley called to her kids and Becky to come over and see something interesting with this armor, "Now each of you hold this, focus on Mark a little like I taught you and you can see that magical connection they both have right now," she handed Vel the bracer first and she grinned on as each in turn did as told.
The two teens nodded like this was normal during their turns. But when Becky took her turn holding that bracer, she grinned like mad at the discovery she must have seen, "Ohh now I see what you have been saying to me for the last few years, the connection between them...it's very clear!"
"Great Becky you are learning! Now kids you are used to this, but each time is different and you have to see each one yourselves to learn." she stated to both of them as they nodded back.
Mark was listening and took in what they were saying, but when it all finally hit him...he was shocked, "You can see a connection to me and THAT already and that easy!"
"Ohh yes Mark, but don't worry much." Ky tried to comfort the worried teen, "I doubt that many more than maybe a dozen others in the whole world could spot or really see that connection, because it's that well hidden! I only showed it to my family as a teaching moment, because magic items having a connection to their user or owner like this one is doing with you are extremely rare."
"Kyley the company you work with, it stores magic items and I am sure has a vault just made for blocking it. So can you store this armor for us?" Sophia had to ask.
"No I can't, I have never needed storage from them in the past and asking right now would lead to some very serious questions from the DEHA for sure! The feds don't really trust me that well." Ky had to admit...the feds don't! They see her as a potential threat someday, like the Fae were fast becoming over the last few decades.
Becky broke into the conversation, "My love is right, just getting my information change to show that I had indeed changed on a body and personal level. Made huge waves with the feds and now they actually think I am pretty sure...that Ky can simply wave a hand and change thousands of normal humans or mutants into her race with nary a thought!"
"Even I had to hide my change when Kyley was still attending her boarding school and after she graduated. After she was done with her schooling, I just did not care to hide it any longer." Tim admitted.
"Okay so you can't put this in a vault and I know it costs way to much to do ourselves, then telling the feds is going to make huge issues in life for my son....So what do we do?" she asked.
"Well Mark can just lock it away and never use it again? Or his other choice is to accept it as a gift to a new life and embrace it! " Ky smiled to the teen.
"So my son, my baby becomes a superhero to something?" Sophia gasped.
"Or a supervillain! But we really don't need yet another cat stroking Doctor of something or other!" Ky nearly giggled out, "So I suggest one of the schools like the one you and I went to. There is a rather nice one in LA that I sit on the board for and I can recommend Mark's entry so that he does not end up being an evil minion at the least after graduation or when he grows up?" Ky laughed, but was still very serious!
"How much does this place cost I have to ask? Because I saved only so much to meet my old schools needs incase Mark mutated much like I did. Because we all know the mantra, mutant parent or parents mean higher chance of being a mutant child!" Sophia added in the old adage.
"I bet I can get Mark's situation covered under the M and M research group, because this armor's magic is not human based magic or even Fae based magic and they would love to see, study it or even test it out! With Mark's and your permission of course and who knows what they might find out about it?" Ky questions the two.
"So I change into a girl with this armor and go to a school out in LA?" Mark asked.
"I would recommend doing just that or choice two...lock the armor away and forget it exists, then hope its absence does not hurt you too much?" Ky stated and Mark looked deep into her eyes and those eyes told him in a their own way...this woman knows what she speaks of and no matter the choice he made, it was going to be a tough one he'd have to live with!
"Ahhh man, Move again and I was just getting to like Erin down at the skate park, we hang out and like the same stuff too!" Mark sighed.
"The snake girl, the one that has a body like a medusa and sells her poison to the medical companies?" Sophia asked.
"Yep, her!" Mark admitted.
"I might be able to fix this with an idea or two of my own? Give her a school card and tell her to apply there? Maybe they can carry her too because of her unique mutation, not to mention she might have the money to enter on her own!" Ky said knowing that a snake of human size making venom in huge amounts was worth tons of money to the medical industry!
"Ohh she has the money, but she might not like it being colder out there?" Mark worried.
"There are several magical ways around that little issues and the school would show her those or give them to her for nothing...I'll make sure of it and guarantee it too if you want?" Ky offered.
"So what about this school, when do or would I start?" Marks asked.
"I'd say start next term in a few months and until then get used to your changes. Ohh and I would not go to school here if you do choose to change, keep that information and change to a small close group of family and friends. No need for the world to know and burden you with that!"
"And if he chooses none of that and we lock away the armor somehow?"
"Then we all find out if it pains Mark to be separated from it and go from there and any choice you make Mark...I'll be there if you want me to?" Ky offered again and even added on to her last one.
"What will mom do if I go to LA?" he had to ask Ky and his mom!
"Well hon, I will move out to LA or stay here if you'd like. I have a good offer already out in LA, it makes a lot less and has no housing allowance, but I can make due easy. Or I stay here at the museum and they pay great, then add LA is only...what three hours at best away and on the weekend schedule the trains run faster!" Sophia smiled to her son, "But it's all your choice and I told you...you choose the place this family goes to next and that is not changing!"
"Can I think about it some before I choose?" Mark asked unsure if he would have time to even think about choices in the coming days of his life
"SURE!" everyone nearly shouted in unison!
"Mark, I would insist that you do and if you ever change your mind...I would back that too!" Sophia said hugging her son close.
"I'll do the same, besides whatever choice you do make for your life, this armor intrigues me nonetheless!" Kyley admitted.
"Well we have a hotel to get to and we booked up this week and the next! So do you want Kyley to take your armor away for the night and see if it hurts you a bit now or let it stay here? I am sure my love will give you one night at the least in her personal storage to try it all out?" Becky asked both and Kyley nodded back her agreement to the question, then Becky pulled out her frame to confirm the family's reservations for the night and the weeks beyond.
"Lock it all way for tonight and lets all see what happens to me or does not happen in the morning!" Mark stated and everyone could tell that he was not too sure of his choice!
Kyley had to ask one more time to be sure, "This is only for tonight as a test?" Mark nodded back in agreement as Ky took the last bracer from Mark's hand, then placed it inside the storage box with the rest of the set and all the extra pieces. Next she dropped a sealing spell over the whole box, "Waaahhhooo...I felt that, it got all grayish where I feel that armor...whatever it does to make me feel safer!" Mark gulped out.
"Want me to stop?" Ky asked while she studied the teen for reaction that could harm him and found none to worry about.
"No keep going, lets see what happens next?" he bravely added.
"Okay," Ky said then waved her hand in the air and a circle of glowing blackness formed at its passing, "Tim if you would please?"
Tim stood up from his leaning on the kitchen counter, picked up the large storage box with ease and walked towards the large black circle, "In the family vault?" he flatly asked.
"If you would and add the runes for extra protection tonight." Kyley ordered.
A few minutes later Mark felt one more wave wash over him, "Ohh it must be locked away now...its all...that felling is gone and it's all black or dark now!"
"Yes, you are indeed correct! Tim just closed the door on the family vault and is coming back right now. When he gets back I would suggest us adults have a nice chat in the living room and you kids get to know each other over snack or video games in Mark's room?" Kyley asked the group.
"I like that!" Mark said with glee and the fact that he did not really have to many guests his age, "Mom just gave me Knights fall and it has the online expansion, so we can all play together!"
Tim finally came out of the hovering ring of black and with a wave of his hand it closed behind him, "All sealed away for now my lady, anything happen to Mark while I was gone?" he nodded towards Kyley and she smiled back, "Thank you Tim, nothing happened to Mark and we will still wait till morning to see if anything does of course,"
Mark spotted a glance from his mom and that look said 'time to vanish!' all over it, so he grabbed a huge bag of chips of the counter then opened the fridge to his guests, "Vel, Sass...please grab what you would like to drink and lets get our GAME ON!" he laughed.
With the teens behind closed doors, the adults could talk out this issue with Mark better,
"Lee I have to ask why are you letting us have only one day in your personal vault, can't you keep that armor forever and save us some effort in finding another place to store it if that is what Mark chooses to do with his life?" Sophia had to ask because it was bugging her to an extreme, but did not want to discus it with her son in the room!
"Sophia, I have boundaries that were set upon me when I was re-made here and one day I might grow past them, but for right now that is all I can offer you or Mark...unless you or he wants to join into my growing family?" Kyley asked the mother.
Sophia shook her head vigorously to the question, "Ohhh no, I know what that means and for now I prefer to stay a 'neutral' in the games you GOO play in or at!" and Sophia would not put this question to Mark unless there was no other option to save his life!
Inside Mark's room.
Mark closed the door behind him, then pointed out what his room could offer for seating, "You can choose the bed or one of the beanbag chairs and let me get the TV turned on and that game warmed up!"
Both of his guests grabbed a beanbag chair and set them both at the bed's foot as Mark turned on the TV on that wall his bed faced. Mark was lucky among teens, his mother bought him a huge Seventy inch flat screen-3D holo TV and this model even had the extra options to play games at higher resolution, plus super high frame rates!
When Mark was done getting the game all set-up, he handed each of his guests a game controller and took a seat behind them on his bed, "Lets choose our avatars, unless you already have one set-up online?"
"Nope, neither of us have this game, but I hear only good things about it!" Vel said and tapped his controller alive and started rolling through creating a character to play with.
A very curious Mark was dying to ask both teens a few questions since me met them and their parents, "Ahhh where do your wings go...like now you have none showing? But when you came flying in you both had huge ones and so did your parents!"
Since Vel was busy with the game for now, Sass took the question, "Well we do this!" and she stood up and her huge brown wings appeared instantly from nowhere on her back.
"Neat!" Mark laughed enjoying a ad hoc magic show.
"Then we do this!" Sass explained and her wings vanished and next she lifted up the back of her shirt, "When I guess you can call it stored or put away...they look like fine tattoos across our backs! Unless we are trying to hide even that from someone?"
"How or where do the wings go?" Mark asked.
Vel stood up to answer his questions as his sister set up her character to play with, "Well we are quite a malleable race!" He grimaced as if concentrating hard, then his body started to shrink in height as his hair grew in length and Mark noticed that Vel's polo top was tightening across his chest as he formed some quite large breasts. The next thing Mark noticed is that Vel's jeans got extremely tight around his waist and then his face shifted slowly to that of one of the top Playmates of the year!
"Holy shit, you look just like Jessica, the playmate of the year!" Mark nearly shouted standing up to get a closer look at the sex goddess now in his room and was more than taken back by a near naked playmate right in his bedroom, just a few inches away!
Vel let out a breath of air, like he was holding it and trying to concentrate, "Well that is the best I can do, but Sass my time is getting better! That change took only a few seconds and I held that body for over five minutes."
"Sure ya did bro," she Sassed back at him, "now watch this Mark!" Sass smiled as she stood up and placed her controller on the bed for now.
Sass studied Mark for the barest second, then her body shrank about two inches to his height while her impressive breasts vanished along with her hips and beautiful butt!
Her hair shorted as the color grew darker to a brown from its normal blonde, then her eyes changed color right along with her face and now Mark was looking into a mirror. An exact clone of the teen boy stood where Sass was only a few seconds ago and she mirrored Mark's every move as a joke for several seconds.
"See I can do WAY better than my 'older' bother and hold this shape or any shape I please far longer than Vel can!" she sang out in Mark's voice!
"Hummmmm!" Vel started, "but I am the better flier!"
"So?" the twin of Mark sassed back, then changed shape back to her old self.
"Is there anything else you two do?" Mark was dying to know!
"Well...there is magic, multidimensional gate physics in our heads, just about every language on the planet because of Becky hounding us both on them, we both fly and we have our armor too!" Sass grinned and a flow of silver covered up her body in a wave, then she started posing sexily for Mark.
"Show off!" Vel laughed to his sister.
"Magic way cool, is it hard to learn?" Mark queried.
"GOO magic is easy as walking for us, but when we both go to school in a month or so from now. We have to start learning Fae and human magic AND that is going to be hard Mom says. Because it does not flow like ours, she says and that style of magic makes little sense to us GOO at times!" Vel explained.
Sass picked up a small five inch figure off Mark's desk, "Just so you know, this lady right here is our...or will be our teacher this next term!"
Mark nearly gasped, "You know the twins!"
"Yep, they taught us lots of fighting skills over the years and now they will be part time teachers for our Fae magic class." Vel let on, taking the small figure from his sister's hand.
Sass grabbed the other one that was posed next to the first and started 'play' fighting with the one Vel was holding, "Did you see the Drow twins last picture?" she asked.
"Yep! I even have the collector disks and that maquette of both of them on that shelf. " mark pointed out the ten inch statue of Drow twins fighting an unseen enemy.
"We could get that signed for ya...if you go to school with us?" Sass offered.
"Sass, we could get that signed easy even if Mark does not come to our school, please don't temp him! You know mom said not too and you might get into very deep trouble for doing so?" Vel warned.
"Well I have to try, you know that mom wants a bigger family and Mark can be one!" Sass smiled in a heart melting way to Mark!
"Rule number one! Mark as to be an adult and mom like even adults to be past twenty five before she offers anything like that!" Vel warned once more that little sis was crossing the family lines!
"What are you two even talking about?" Mark asked totally lost for what the two were discussing?
"Ohh joining the family and pledging all to mom...you know a bond with a GOO on a higher level, surely they taught the basics of that in your mutants and magic class?" Sass smiled yet one more red face making grin Mark's way!
"OHHHH NO!" Mark said shaking his head violently back and forth, "I was told in class to never do that...you loose everything in those deals!"
"Not exactly true, but we'll have to wait to explain it all to you someday Mark." Vel let on and picked up his controller to start the game.
Most of the night the adults talked out Mark's issue if he had one come morning and what options were available to the family in any case they could think of. In Mark's bedroom the three teens played on the game console totally oblivious to the outside world until at nearly midnight Sophia came into Mark's room and told them all that the Barron family or Lee's family was going to the hotel to rest the night and get cleaned up for the trip in to Las Vegas.
Both Mark and Sophia headed for bed after the family had flown off down the LV strip towards their hotel. Once back in his room, Mark got ready for bed and started to watch TV shows desperately trying to get to sleep....but that strange 'feeling' he could not shake it, it was like he had no defense to anything with that armor out of his possession!
When morning finally came, Mark glanced at his clock bleary eyed. He had not slept once that night, only kind of falling off until that defenseless feeling grabbed at his heart and woke him with a jolt of fright!
As he went about getting up, the teen dragged his body along and found each task of just getting up was taxing him. When Mark left his room to eat breakfast, his mom saw how bad off he was physically and felt his forehead for a fever.
"Well you are not sick and let me guess. You did not sleep a wink last night?" Sophia worried on about her boy.
Mark plopped on one of the kitchen stools, then banged his head comically on the top of the counter, "Not one second of sleep last night, each time I fell off to sleep...BANG! I was woke up thinking something was in the room or something was missing? Mom I just can't do this, that armor made me feel safe and I feel so strange...so naked without it!" he whined out.
Sophia hugged her son close as he sat in the chair, then her warm voice started to comfort Mark, "Hon if that is your choice, then its the choice I will back you on forever. So Lee will be over in an hour or so I am sure after her brood has a meal and she will check in on you, then return your armor to you...it's all yours from now on dear."
Just over an hour later
Tim landed on the condo's balcony, then slid the unlooked glass door open, "May my family and I come in Sophia?" he had to ask, because he was bound not to pass into another's domain without permission. That is how Kyley kept her family safe, by gaining permission from a place's owner, meant that all her vast powers were free to use at anytime and not limited by the owner!
"Come on in Tim and bring in the rest of the family!" Sophia sang form the kitchen as she slid a roast in the oven to cook for dinner, then set the timer so the over would start cooking it a few hours from now.
"Thanks Sophia, they are coming right now." Tim smiled back from the open door then leaned back out to wave the rest to come in.
Kyley was the first to land and walk into the condo, "Morning Sophia and Mark...how are you doing?" she asked, even though one could tell from across the room that the teen was not in good shape.
"I did not sleep even one second last night, kept on waking up thinking or jumping in fright that something was out to get me and I missed that feeling of safety that armor gave me." Mark grumbled tiredly out.
"Well let me check you out with you and your mother's permission of course?" Kyley was bound to asking first.
"I am fine with it, are you a doctor Kyley?" Mark asked.
"Yes she is and please check Mark out for me Lee." Sophia nodded over to Ky and stepped up to the couther to be closer to Mark, "And just so you know Mark, Lee is one of the best mutant doctors or specialists in this part of the world. You are in good hands hon!"
Kyley touched her hands to both sides of the teens head and felt out with her powers, "Humm you are tried for sure. I can see that cutting off that armor's influence was a bit harsh on you because you had become very used to its presence." she felt out farther and saw a thin string of magic stretching off the teen, one that was seeking out its other end to link with and it found none.
"Ohh and your magical link with it is severed, I saw that last night and expected you to react somehow and you certainly have. So let me fix that feeling for now and you can make better choices with a clear head and a better feeling body." Kyley's hands gave off a glow to those who could see it, as she feed energy and her healing powers into the teen.
Mark gasped out at the feelings, "Wooooo, that's like drinking a whole case of red bull... Thanks!" he smiled as Ky let go of his head.
"You are welcome, but remember that is only temporary and will only last a few days at best?" she warned Mark.
"Kyley I am sure after last night and all that stuff grabbing at me. That I'd rather have the armor and all that comes with it...for good or bad. I kind of loved what it gave me." Mark sighed out thinking about what it did do for him.
"IF your you are fine with your choice...then great. But remember if you change your mind from here on out and use the armor's powers, it will be lots worse breaking free of its influence on you at a later time! The price of freedom will be very much higher and might even be painful?" Kyley warned.
"I understand and I would love to go to the school you suggested with your kids!" Mark beamed out knowing that he would at the least have two good and close friends to count on.
"I can get most of that done for you and I am sure whatever your mom has saved up for that need will be more than enough considering we do trade in some value for examining you and that armor, plus what it does or how it works!" Kyley explained.
"Ohh and maybe hon...you can ask Erin and she can come along too!" Sophia added in.
"The more the merrier!" Becky laughed.
"In your case, I would use the armor to change you about an hour a day for a week or so then go to two and track the time you use it versus how long you are affected by it. With those numbers we can make a plan to have you fully changed over 'sex wise' buy next term in about ten weeks and then you can go from there. AND to be sure there are no other issues, I'll stay here in town most of the time or visit you at least every other day to be sure!" Kyley offered.
"Great, now Mark did you want me living here or get a job and a permanent place in LA? It's all your choice hon..." Sophia asked.
"I thought that over last night, since LA costs so darn much for housing and the job here in town offers way more. Let's just stay here, but buy a new place before I change too much and it gets really noticed!" Mark told the group.
"Great, that sounds like a plan Mark!" Sophia said hugging her son close.
But I have to thank, Both Branek and Nuuan for their vast input and the ability they both have to 'bounce' off ideas and improve them!
To all my readers who have e-mailed me and given support--THANKS!
Please feel free, to add a review to this story and others. As those kind words are 'cookies' that keeps that muse well fed on the 'sometimes' long breaks between stories!
this warning is for our story stealers off site, not the BC family of readers we all know and love!
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Warriors way chapter 7...Winner on Penny slots!
So what will happen now, the story goes on!
New story in the growing Hekawi universe!
Read the others in this new universe
Meagan's Tail
Nuuan's
“Necessity is the Mother of Invention” and “Déjà vu”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next week of Mark's new life was just a blur!
Once Mark made up his mind about using the armor's powers and allow the change its use imposed on him permanent, Kyley set up a small but loose schedule to help with his change over to a new sex. The next few days were to be well planed out times of him being changed, with set time limits to better acquaint the teen with this new life in small bites so as not to shock him or the new her too badly!
Those first days were quite the learning period for Mark, she learned things the old he never knew about and having to learn how to act more like a true girl and far less like a roughhousing teen boy would in public but would that boy ever really leave that mind fully?
During this time, Mark's mom immediately started to find a new place for the family to base its huge restart in! But Mark very much wanted to do one thing before the change fully took over his old life and her new life began. Mark wanted to show Erin what was happening in his life and see if she would come with him or the soon to become her to this new school out in LA?
Since it was Friday, Mark knew for a fact there was one place that Erin would be right after school was out. The skate park to practice or hang out before the weekend and he headed out to meet or look for her there!
Mark was already in the park waiting for school to end when he spotted the long snake bodied Erin sliding into the park's entrance and he waved over to her from his spot on the bleachers where she almost always left her bag when going to practice. "Hey Erin!" he called out to her and she waved back instantly with a huge grin.
"Heya Mark, you have been gone for a long time and a no show at school. Are you good?" she asked worried that maybe he was sick or something even worse.
"Erin I have several things to tell you and ask you about," Mark said while taking a seat on the bleachers.
"Go on bud, I have answers or evil ideas!" Erin smiled as she started pulling skating gear from a huge gear bag.
"Erin have you heard about the mutant school out in LA?" he asked.
"Yep, I might have gone there if I did not find a nice spot here in LV and the kids here seem to like me so far...why?" Erin added, next thinking about what Mark might be after today.
"Can you keep a secret Erin?" he begged.
"You know I can, we talk all the time and you are one of the few guys from school I love hanging out with!" she beamed over to him.
"I will be going there next term and I wanted to ask if you would join me?" Mark whispered in a low voice very unsure of how far he could stretch a life changing question like this to Erin!
"Mark...you mutated or are mutating?" Erin asked in the lowest voice she could muster.
"Kind of and I would have to show you in private...like at my house or someplace like that?" he worried.
Erin stopped unpacking and grinned evilly to him, "Let's go right now and I'll show you mine if I can see yours!" she played with him and started slithering towards the monorail station!
Once back at home, Mark lead Erin to his condo's door and let her inside, "Nice place your mom got from her work place Mark and I can see that you are packing to move?" Erin asked noting the new moving boxes lining the kitchen counter and most of the living room.
"Yep, Mom and me finally had it out and I told her to settle down, buy a home so I can have one spot to call mine or I was leaving to make one for myself," he explained the short parts of the last few weeks!
"Well then where too?" Erin asked while dropping her large bag on the living room floor.
"Here in Vegas somewhere? Mom is looking for a nice place in Henderson or Boulder, one that is big, has a pool, nice yard and a few other needs she wants or I wanted." Mark said opening the fridge, "want a soda?"
"Nope,"she beamed, "I am good! So what is the mystery mutation Mark hummmm!" Erin hummed out playfully.
"Well my mom found something magical during her work and the more I use it or are around it...the more it changes me." he admitted.
"Changes you? Change you into what...a dragon!" she hissed out playfully and rose up like one, "or a unicorn!" she played horn on her head, "or maybe, a genie!" she blinked playfully like the TV show of the 60's.
Mark was ready for this part and already had on one of the new looser fit track suits that Sophia had bought for him over the last few days among other somewhat more embarrassing things. Like underwear, mom wanted her kid to wear silk and the teen stuck with regular cotton! Sophia wanted cute or slightly sexy silk bras, but Mark stuck with sport tops when needed for now!
"Well Erin, this is what it does." he said pulling the armored bracer onto his left arm and yanking the straps tight, then starting his stopwatch to mark the passage of time it changed his body.
Mark's body flowed quickly and almost silently into the larger and taller Amazon, now the new teen girl stood in Mark's place, "Well what do you think?"
"Ohhh my," she gasped out in surprise, "now that is MAGIC! When did you figure this all out?" she asked sliding over towards Mark to get a better view of the changes she had just witnessed.
"Almost two weeks now." She sighed, "And I am getting used to it all, then add I am not the weak kid at school anymore and I took on Cathy and won that fight at the mall last week with this!" Mark boasted while lifting her arm to show off the bracer to Erin.
"So Mark, have you chosen a new name yet?" purred getting closer to the new girl.
"I was looking for a good one, maybe one of the ancient Amazon ones?" Mark pondered in his new body, "Mom and I have been thinking it over for the last week. She wants me to have my grandma's name and I even looked up a whole bunch online or I have no real good ideas of my own that grab me?"
"I think you deserve the queen of the Amazon's name, Penthesilea or we can call you Penny. Like in good or bad Penny and it's a great name!" Erin hissed into Mark's ear.
"I like that one, she fought Achilles and everything!" Mark or the new Penny beamed
"Then Penthesilea or Penny it is!" Erin added with a smile and hugged the new Penny close to greet her into this new world!
Penny hugged Erin back, but then started to squirm a bit as Erin started wrapping her long tail around her, "Ahhhh Erin you are squeezing me a bit hard!"
"Ohh I am, that is because this new you is so very much warmer than the old you and just so you know. I like girls and boys and I thought if you stayed around long enough we might be come a thing. But this is JUST perfect I get the BEST of both worlds all wrapped in one body, be that boyfriend or girlfriend and this body seems to be so much stronger!" she cooed into Penny's ear noting that Penny was indeed much stronger than the old Mark by how easily Penny was able to shrug off Erin's strong coils!
"I thought you were with David?"
"Ohh Davey was so very last month," Erin rolled her eyes, "and not as much fun as I think you're going to be!" Erin purred on and added a sexily hiss to one of her smooth playful licks across Penny's face.
"But us go out?" Penny almost stuttered.
"Why yes, that is what couples do!" Erin purred once again and was dragging Penny towards her or his room!
"Wait, I have to take off this armor or face being changed for hours and then add Kyley, plus my mom would get VERY mad at me for going not following their schedule!" Penny yelped as she pawed at the armor and finally got it off as Erin tossed her to the bed with a flip of her long body!
Sometime later that afternoon
Sophia was giggling like mad as the elevator stopped at her floor and she held the door open for Becky and Kyley, "I so love shopping now that you can scan someone like Mark and buy most things without them having to actually there to try each piece on for size!"
"Well what we got should be very close in size and then add we did not buy any real tight fitting clothes until Mark agrees to them." Becky added.
"Has Mark chose a name yet, I know that I asked yesterday. But he has to choose sooner, rather than later!" Kyley warned.
Sophia opened her door, then walked in placing her bags on the couch for now, "Looks like Mark is home, his backpack is on the counter and he has a guest?" she noted by the huge gear bag resting on the floor near it.
Kyley smiled as Sophia was about to open Mark's door, "I would not do that, he does have a guest and it's a 'she'!"
"You can tell?" Sophia asked a little louder to get the kids ready for the door opening!
"She can feel it," Becky smiles, "And my love is never wrong about that kind of stuff!"
Sophia quickly swung open to door on Mark's room and found her desperately trying to get a t-shirt back on. Then a snake bodied girl giggling as she tried to do the same but was failing because her laughing was growing by the second and it finally stopped her with belly laughs!
"MARCUS HAPGOOD! You know better than this, we have rules here!" the now mad mother yelled at the two teens.
"MOM!" Penny cried back, "this is my room and you know the rules...knock first! Then come in and besides Erin helped me pick a name!" she smiled trying to change the subject!
"That's nice and what is it. Then add changing the subject does not make your punishment any lighter!" she warned.
"I choose Penthesilea, the queen of the Amazons or Penny for short!" she said finally getting the top on and up off the bed.
"Nice I love it Penny, but get cleaned up and both of you come out. Then we can have a few introductions between all the guests."
"Guests?" Penny asked wondering who that was.
"Yes Mark, Kyley and Becky are here. AND she is here to check in on you!"
It took both teens more than a few minutes for the pair to get all cleaned up and look presentable once again. Erin was the first out the door as Penny stayed to clean up her room better, "I am Kyley. So you must be the Erin Mark or now Penny talks about?" Kyley said introducing herself with an extended hand that Erin shook as Kyley noted the teens mutation, "Humm, so are you taking up Penny's offer to attend school out in LA...." Kyley leans in to whisper to the girl, "Just so you know I am on one of the boards and teach there too!"
"Hi and you teach there?" Erin pondered as Kyley did not appear to more than eighteen herself!
"I am Becky and Ky is far older than she looks!" she giggled while introducing herself.
"Humm, I have though about it more than once over the last year since I changed. But LA out on the ocean can get cold and I really can't stand the cold that well with being a snake mutation and all," she explained.
"Ohh that can be fixed and like most hybrid human and animal mutations I know. You have some magic flowing into you and I can show you how to use it to keep warm...I think Fae magic would be best for you to learn?" Ky though out loud and studied Erin again with her multiple dimension sight, "Yessss Fae magic will work for well you!" she said noting the small, but intense Ley lines running to and from the teen.
"Are you sure, the M and M's told me I had no magic in me?" Erin asked.
"Ohh I am sure, I could teach a box of rocks basic magic. It's easy once you set your mind to it," Ky beamed to the teen
"Says the GOO!" Becky sassed with a giggle.
A few weeks passed.
In Los Angeles Cathy Elwen had awoken early because of her parents ongoing rage with her. Somehow someone...some interfering nobody had told the council about her several fights at school and her getting into deep trouble stealing Mark's costly frame. When the counsel ruling over her family found out, they demanded that the whole family come to LA and not to some small office of a lowly administration person, but to the main tower the council owned...where only the top leadership worked!
Cathy knew deep down being called here was bad, VERY bad and she was in deep trouble if her father could not talk his way out of it in the family name.He had more than one friend on the counsel and all of them turned their back on him and to this matter of his eldest daughter's fate!
When the family arrived at the tower, the girl running the greeting station and administration desk almost growled at Cathy as she pointed out the elevator bank behind her desk to go up over eighty floors.
Cathy's next clue that she was in deep trouble was when the next receptionist told the family to stay here and that Cathy was to head up to the office a few floors above. Going directly to ones office was bad in her community, only official business took place there and normal family or community matters were normally spoken of in one's home or in the atrium on this floor, this was bad!
Her family found a place in one of the many coves that were hidden amongst the huge atrium that filled this floor and soared up a few more floors of this huge skyscraper in LA. Cathy gulped when her daddy shoved her into one of the waiting cars, "Mind your manners and do not fail us!" he demanded of her.
The door slid open to the floor she was instructed to be on and a tall impeccably dressed man was already waiting for her there, "Follow me," he ordered and she did, Cathy had no choice in the matter!
the man led her down a hallway that was made of the finest woods and stonework and looked VERY out of place in a modern skyscraper in LA. "This hallway should be inside a castle," she thought.
He opened a door for her and waved a hand to go inside, "Wait here for your appointment, they will open the inner door...then you can enter." is all he replied.
Cathy did as the tall man ordered, he closed the door as she took a seat in one of the many huge leather chairs in the room that sat around a huge stone fireplace or other small conversation tables.
She scanned the walls of the room for any clue who Cathy was meeting with and found two names displayed on the longest far wall on either side of the main office doors. One was the 'right hand' person of the leader of her community and the other side's name was the 'right hand' of leader of the community that Cathy's council had never really got along with during its long history...but for right now they were at an unsteady peace.
Two people, belonging to or representing two very different, very separated factions...but shared the same last name!?
But I have to thank, Both Branek and Nuuan for their vast input and the ability they both have to 'bounce' off ideas and improve them!
To all my readers who have e-mailed me and given support--THANKS!
Please feel free, to add a review to this story and others. As those kind words are 'cookies' that keeps that muse well fed on the 'sometimes' long breaks between stories!
this warning is for our story stealers off site, not the BC family of readers we all know and love!
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Warriors way chapter 8...they use twins in magic shows!
So what will happen now, the story goes on!
New story in the growing Hekawi universe!
Read the others in this new universe
Meagan's Tail
Nuuan's
“Necessity is the Mother of Invention” and “Déjà vu”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few weeks passed.
In Los Angeles Cathy Elwen had awoken early because of her parents ongoing fury with her and her past acts in high school. Somehow someone...some interfering nobody had informed the elder council of the teen's several fights while attending school and her getting into deep legal trouble by stealing Mark's very costly frame. When the council ruling over her family has found all of this out, they demanded that the whole family come to LA and not to some small office of a lowly administration person, but to the main tower the council owned...where only top leadership worked!
Cathy knew deep down being called here was bad, VERY bad and she was in deep trouble if her father could not talk his way out of it in the family name. He had more than one friend on the main council, plus several on the elder council and all of them turned their back on him and to this matter of his eldest daughter's fate!
When the family arrived at the tower her meeting, the girl running the greeting station and administration desk in the main lobby almost growled at Cathy as she pointed out the elevator bank behind the desk that lead going up over eighty floors to the office's floor.
Cathy's next clue that she was in deep trouble was when the next receptionist told the family to stay here in the vast atrium area that covered the floor and that Cathy was to head up to the office a few floors above all alone. Going directly to ones office was bad in her community, only official business took place there and normal, family or community matters were normally spoken of inside one's home or in the atrium on this floor, this was bad!
Her family found a place in one of the many coves that were hidden amongst the huge atrium that filled this floor and soared up a few more floors of this huge skyscraper in LA. Cathy gulped when her daddy shoved her into one of the waiting cars, "Mind your manners and do not fail us!" he demanded of her.
The elevator chimed as the floor she was instructed to be on came, the door slid open and a tall impeccably dressed man was already waiting for her there, "Follow me," he ordered and she did. Cathy had no choice in the matter!
A well dressed man led her down a hallway that was lined with some of the finest woods and stonework she had ever seen and looked VERY out of place inside a modern skyscraper in LA. "This hallway should be inside a castle,' " she thought.
He opened a door for her and waved a hand to guide her inside, "Wait here for your appointment, they will open the inner door, then you can enter," he instructed.
Cathy nodded while silently doing as the tall man ordered, he closed the door while she took a seat in one of the many huge leather chairs arranged about the room that surrounded a huge stone fireplace or ringed other small conversation tables.
She scanned the walls of the huge outer office and greeting room for any clue who this person Cathy was meeting with and found two names displayed on the longest far wall just on either side of the main office doors. One's official title was the 'right hand' person of the leader of her community and the other side's name was the 'right hand' of leader of the community that Cathy's council had never really got along with during its long history, but for right now they were at an unsteady peace.
Two people, belonging to or representing two very different, very separated factions...but shared the same last name!? This was very strange indeed to the teen.
Cathy had been sitting in the outer office and greeting room for well over an hour before the huge wooden doors that guarded the inner office 'clicked', then swung open silently.
"Cathy come in here and have a seat," a woman's voice demanded from within the office and Cathy noted that the voice offered no greeting or even a 'please' at the demand's end!
The teen shrugged her shoulders to the voice while standing up, "Now to face the music," she silently sighed to herself.
As Cathy strolled into the main office slowly, she noted that the office was divided up into two distinct halves and the desk that she saw first was vacant. But she kept walking deep into the huge room to see if anyone was at the other desk slightly hidden from her sight right now by a few large tall back leather chairs.
The young teen walked into the office just enough to see who had called her and when she finally recognized who it was, Cathy had to keep her fear in check and keep from running in terror from the room. Behind that huge ornate desk was a single woman Drow, a being so rare among the Fae or Sidhe that Cathy had never seen one in person and add to that fact that Elvin mothers had used the Drow as boogie men or women in scaring young elves into obedience for thousands of years. Even Cathy's mother had done so to her or her brothers many, many times! "Go to bed and be good or the Drow will come and get ya!" her mom had said many times of the years to all the kids.
The Drow pointed out a large chair right in front of her desk, "Sit there and be silent until I finish with this paperwork," she demanded in a cold voice, one that scared Cathy to her core.
Cathy sat down that is when she noticed a Pixie dressed in Violet trimmed leather armor standing on the desk's edge closest to her with a spear out and at the ready. This Pixie never stopped staring intently at her, as if the little Fae was guarding her or keeping Cathy from doing anything she should not. The small Fae creature never seemed to relax even when Cathy adjusted her clothes to keep up well groomed appearances out of boredom.
Her dad had read Cathy many stories of Pixies that protected small children over the eons, but none of the legends mentioned that they would work with a Drow? It seemed strange that a Pixie 'a hero' among several legends would be working with a legendary evil in many of those same legends!
Well over fifteen minutes had passed by since Cathy had entered the office and the Drow never slowed down on intensely scratching at the paperwork covering her desk. The teen was about to say something when a twin to Drow entered the room from a hidden door that Cathy had missed when she came into the office and the new Drow barely noted the teen's presence while she strolled over to a twin desk of her own.
This is when Cathy knew for sure what or who she was meeting with. She was meeting with 'the twins'! The Drow twins that have appeared in several movies over the years and had an unmatched reputation among the Sidhe and Fae creatures for fighting skills. These two had trained the Queen's guard and the guard of the council of elders, then add they basically wrote the book for martial training of all Sidhe warriors!
The newer twin went about stacking several piles of loose paperwork on her desk to neaten it up a little, then placed one file on her twin's desk while she pulled a large chair over to be in on the coming conversation.
This new twin made herself a bit more comfortable in the large chair while opening that slim folder and that is when yet another hidden door opened up to a girl dressed in violet or was it purple trimmed armor Cathy guessed at. Then she settled down on the trim was a more Lilac in color. This new arrival carried a large tea service tray in her hands that she placed on the desk and handed a ready cup to the Drow in the chair and placed one before the desk's owner.
The new girl once done with her serving sat on the desk's edge while placing a plate of several cookies before them all and started to nibble at one as she spoke, "Ji ph'udos xundus nindol xor zhal'la Usstan fridj belbau nindol impetulant dalhar olt ph'zhin sidloruten lu'tlu rid d'ilta?" she questioned to group in a language that Cathy had never heard before and she knew three Sidhe languages, then add several other Fae ones too!
(So are we doing this or should I just give this impetulant child its walking papers and be rid of her?)
"Yes let's start," the Drow at the desk said with an evil fang filled grin that truly terrified Cathy right now.
"Fine by me," said the twin before she turned towards Cathy, "So little girl do you know why you are here?" she asked.
"No Ma'am, I do...," Cathy started and then was interrupted suddenly by the other Drow barking at her, "It is not ma'am, we are not humans! We are Drow and the correct term for us to be addressed by is Jabbress. You should know how to address your betters by this point in your age, no wonder you are in such deep trouble. Your parents have coddled you all your life and left off many items you should be well drilled in by this point in your short life!"
Cathy quickly nodded to being corrected, "No Jabbress, I do not know why I am here?"
"Hummm I find that hard to believe!" this first Drow growled, "But the reason why you are here, is that your family has coddled you far too long and they should have sent you to one of the Sidhe or Fae academies years ago! There is a reason why general practice for our young is to alternate one year human schooling, then one full year at a Fae academy and that is to challenge you youngsters for your own betterment."
"I did go to an academy in the past for a whole term, was that not enough and I thought the family had the choice to send its children to one or not?" Cathy asked, but deep down she knew the Drow was correct and she had chosen the easy way for her schooling.
"Yes in many situations, but in yours, NO!" she barked again, "Your family should have had you tutored by a Fae or Sidhe master or mistress on the side at the very least and required you to at the very least take summer classes somewhere? But no in both cases!"
"I did not know Jabbress." she offered.
"LIAR!" both Drow shouted at her in unison, plus the one behind the desk jumping up to slam a fist into it and the act sacred Cathy so much that she jumped back in fright deeper into the chair, "We Drow can tell when others lie to us and little girl you just did!" one twin barked as she took a seat behind her desk once again.
"Cathy be truthful with yourself and us. You somehow convinced your family to give you the easy way in your schooling and they did. Then add even with attending a human school...genuinely your grades SUCK at best. You are getting 'C's and 'B's most of the time, then add a few 'D's and for a Sidhe that is a shameful showing. It shows to all concerned that you lack discipline or a wanting to excel."
"Sorry?" she tried to play, she had always felt that schooling was beneath her place and that the family name was more than enough to get her whatever she desired!
"SORRY JABBERESS!" both Drow corrected the teen with a shout and Cathy meekly whimpered back, "Sorry, Jabbress."
"Not only is your schooling lacking, but you are fighting with the humans at your school and bullying those who can't fight back. AND you did this to the point of being expelled because you stole from one. How far must you fall, before even one as dim as you seem to be notices it!" one twin demanded of the teen an answering to all her recent faults.
"That littl...Marcus...he tricked me!" Cathy stuttered out her weak answer.
"Ticked you...WHAT!" one corrected Cathy again.
"Jabbress," she corrected quickly hoping this meeting would not get worse.
"That was the last time I or my sister corrects your addressing us, the next time your are going to regret it!" a Drow warned her.
"You can't?" Cathy started, but never finished before the girl dressed in Lilac trimmed armor leapt up at great speed and slapped the unruly teen once into silence.
The first Drow gazed menacingly at Cathy still cupping her now red cheek, "That was only the start, keep up these bad manners of yours and you will be cleaning your own blood out of my carpets. Do you understand us?"
A now teary eyed Cathy whimpered back, "Yes Jabbress, I understand."
"Good!" Both barked out, then the one behind the desk started, "This next term you will attend the Sidhe-Fae academy that is part of the Hekawi academy here in Los Angeles and you are going to be our personal little project. We Drow are going to ride you very hard for all four years of your enrollment and you had better get all 'A's in your classes or you will be an ohhhhh so sorry child. You will not fail us or you will regret it!" she warned with a deep growl that sent shivers down Cathy's spine.
"Now get out," the twin in the chair demanded, "AND don't even think of asking dear 'daddy' to get you out of this mess of your own making! He does not have that kind of pull with the elected Queen or the true Queen or the elder council and we both do in spades!"
"Yes Jabbress," Cathy cried as she stood and walked to the door.
"Be sure to close the door on your way out and go cry or snivel to your parents. But be at school on time and ready or you will regret it!" the Drow at her desk shouted at Cathy's back.
Cathy walked out of the office like a condemned man on the green mile, stepped into the first elevator going down and then found her worried family waiting for her return when the door slid open several floors below. "What happened?" her dad asked the crying teen.
"They demanded that I go to the academy here next term, I seem to not have any choice in the matter and they promised to make my life a living hell there for the next four years daddy!" Cathy cried on.
"That is not fair for my girl!" her mother raged out, "Do something Adanell for your daughter."
"I'll call Arl Qinceran honey, he maybe a second cousin to me and one of the family's best partners. But he always comes through when I press him, he has very high contacts in the elder council," Her dad offered while trying to soothe the distraught teen by rubbing her back a little while starting his calls.
Her dad was on the phone seeming to wait to be connected to Arl, a person Cathy only meet with a few times during her life. But her brother knew of him from his time at the Sidhe academy here in LA. Laelithar was entering his third year there, but Cathy wanted nothing to do with the place and deep down she wanted the easy life that her dad so far had laid out for all of her life.
Cathy noticed that her dad was strolling farther and farther away from the waiting family as he became agitated by the call with someone in the family tree that should be able to help her out of this mess with ease?
After several tense minutes of her daddy conversing with Arl he finally came back over to the waiting family and flipped out his frame to engage the speaker phone feature, "Can all of you hear me and please say so?" Arl asked.
"Yes we all hear you Arl, we are all here." Cathy's mother Synnorha said to the device and the fellow Sidhe on the other end.
"Cathy are you there too, I have to be very sure you hear all of this for yourself?" he asked once more and this sounded like really bad news even more.
"I am here Arl," Cathy said still sniffing back her tears.
"Cathy you have no choice in this matter and you are going to the Sidhe academy next term." Arl said in monotone at left no feeling behind his words.
"I can't, I won't and daddy will fight this!" she cried back.
"No he will not!" Arl barked back, "If your father does try to use his influence on the elder council, he risks censure and barring from council matters for the rest of his life. Then add if he is silly enough to appeal to the Queen, the whole family will be excommunicated for life and the only ones in your immediate family free of that stain will be your yet unborn kids."
"They can't do that!" Synnorha gasped and hugged her baby girl closer.
"They can and they will!" he warned once more, "the two people your daughter just saw are not your normal Sidhe...they are the Leigh twins and they have the ear of the elected Queen, then add the true Queen on top of that!"
"The Drow twins...'the Drow twins'?" her older brother asked twice to be clear about what his sister had just said.
"Yes the same ones and they called me over an hour before your meeting Cathy to warn me that your father would pull this maneuver. They told me to cut him off and end this mess right here and now!"
"Sis, mom, dad," her older brother began, "Leave it all be as it is and Cathy has to go to the academy as told or there will be gigantic trouble for the whole family!"
"I can handle it." her dad started.
"Ahhh no dad you can't. The twins virtually run the military arm of the council and if pressed they will fall back on old Sidhe covenants. Then use them to personally challenge you to duel to the death...and either of them can off you with ease, even half blind drunk with a broken leg!" Laelithar warned while shaking his head to his father.
"The boy is right Adanell, I personally have known these Drow for years. They even went to the same school as my nice did and they do not play fair, they always win in the end!" Arl added to Laelithar's dire warning.
"I will use other means at my disposal and approach the council without your help Arl." Cathy's father nodded to the frame.
"And you will fail Adanell. They have means past yours and I already told you that they have already cut you off and pressing them will get you killed. Those twins do not like any of the old Sidhe families such as your's and will seek vengeance on your family for pressing the matter as one or acting like one of the privileged class." Arl counseled the defensive father once again.
I was leading the way for us both with my twin Rehanna taking up the rear by keeping up with our many calls. Rehanna went off to grab some wine for our guests tonight at the fine wine store next door to the Swartz bakery that I was already heading into. Inside the insanely yummy bakeshop we used all the time, I smiled to the owners wife and then noticed that her husband was involved in a very hot debate with two rough looking men.
"Ariel is there something wrong here?" I had to ask as the closest man finally took note of me walking in from the street.
"Nothing I am sure, now!" Leah the wife of the owner of this Jewish bakery huffed out angrily.
"Time for you two gents to leave my establishment, I am not paying for any protection 'service' from a gang of hoods!" Ariel shouted at both men that seemed to 'buck up' and get even angrier at Ariel's defiance!
"Time to pay up old man, we are moving into this hood and the fee is due today with a surcharge for our extra effort!" one man yelled out and who seemed to be the obvious leader of the pair.
"What is going on here?" Rehanna asked from just coming in the door several feet behind me and placing her bag of wine bottles next to the door out of any line of fire.
"I was about to ask myself sister!" I barked to the room while I walked slowly into the business to be closer to Ariel and his wife if these two gangsters got stupid!
"Both of you two office bitches had better leave before you both get hurt or worse!" the one nearest me ordered, while insulting us both for the fine office suits we wore and drew a pistol from his back.
"Humm don't let the Versace suit fool you boys, us girls are a hand full and will hurt you badly if you don't leave right now?" I asked.
The other man pulled his out his pistol as he yelled, "Get me the money now or the bitches die!"
"Leah, please go into the back and stay out of this. While you are there, please get the bucket and mop...as we are about to get lots of blood on your nice floor." I asked the wife and she nodded back to me while walking away, "Yes I will and please don't make too much of a mess this time?"
"We will try Leah." I offered not sure if I could...this time.
"Well let's do this," Rehanna said from the door, "Gentlemen...Manners...Maketh...Man!" she quipped while locking the door and the only way out.
"You like that movie too much" I immediately sassed over to her.
"So? Rehanna questioned me, "you did too and its a great line that fits right now!" she smiled back at me.
"Fine whatever!" I blew her off with a grin then glared at the pair of men once again, "We are not what or who you think we are!" I said as both of our forms shimmered as our illusions fell away.
"Elves?" the leader asked while he noted our strange colored skin and pointy ears.
"Well of course! Many elves or the Sidhe or Fae shop in my bakery all the time, who else but them pays one hundred bucks for a rare chocolate brownie!" Ariel huffed out while pointing out the locked display of them.
"Yummmmm your brownies are the best!" Rehanna moaned out sexily.
"Shit elves, we don't fight elves!" the man nearest me barked to his buddy who was leading this mess.
"What can two elf girls do, man up you have a gun!" the leader warned.
"We are not elves, we are Drow," Rehanna corrected him, "and our kind would consider us two the "Baba Yaga" of our race." she evilly laughed on.
"Really?" I sighed out, "John wick quotes and what is next a pencil?" I asked her and Rehanna smiled back while pulling a bright yellow colored one from nowhere!
"I could use this one on these two and it would be lots less messy then using our blades?" she shrugged back to me with a giggle.
"Enough of this shit!" the leader yelled at me and started to aim his pistol at me. I dodged out of the line of fire as I sliced off his gun hand. The hand fell to the shops tile floor with the pistol clattering away and his severed stump streamed out blood all over. To finish the fight, I smashed my swords butt into his chest nerve cluster and locked his muscles up body wide...now he stood there like a statue waiting for us Drow to choose what to do with him alive or let him bleed out slowly to death.
The other man spun on to me at seeing his buddy defeated and his aim started to level with my head. But he never made it, Rehanna made a Ticonderoga pencil vanish into the man's head with a nasty sounding crunch of bone being smashed, as the simple yellow pencil penetrated his skull and the brain beyond its thin protection to her attack.
The dead man fell over with a thud to the smiling Rehanna.
"Well mine was far neater than yours!" Rehanna boasted with a grin.
"Ya and he is dead now? So now I have to kill mine or he talks!" I sighed in defeat.
The still living man was sweating, he knew what was coming and it was death! "Do you want to live?" I asked him while tapping a nerve on his neck to at least give him control of his head.
"Yesssssss" he cried to me.
"Good," I said while heating up my blade with a spell to a now glowing hot and placed it on his still bleeding stump to seal the end up. The wound hissed and smoked as the heat burned and sealed the stump from bleeding anymore.
He screamed like a wounded dog and whimpered to me from the massive pain, "Please?"
"I want you to go back to your boss and tell him the who and the what that protects this whole section of LA around the mega block just across the street." I said talking about our office towers and other buildings that covered several blocks, "We Fae creatures own it all and the city for a minimum of twenty blocks in each direction. If we catch you or your human gangs trying to run any 'biz' within that zone and we catch you...you die. Tell them!"
He nodded back meekly to me as I yanked his wallet from his inner jacket pocket and I whipped out his ID then pocketed it, "I am keeping this, you go tell them and then call me here," I said while marking a phone number into his arm with a spell, "During your call I will tell you where to meet me and how long you have to make amends or close your last affairs. Just so you know the cops of LA are on our side and not yours. So do not even think of going to the cops, you do and they will tell me. That would be a bad thing for you and your gang, a life ending thing!"
"I thought you were not going to kill me?" he whimpered to me.
"I am not, but my plans for you will end your current life and start a whole new one. That means your old human life as you know it ends before the new one begins and if you think of running from us...I will hunt your wife and kids down, then kill them very slowly over a coarse of weeks while you watch the whole thing!" I growled at him, knowing I would not hurt kids. But my threat was enough to scare this simple human!
I finished emptying his wallet and his buddy's of any cash, then handed the whole wad to Leah as she showed up with the mop and bucket. "Now go and call me in twenty four hours and no more!" I continued to tell the man.
"Yesssss," he cried and ran out of the store's now open door hiding his bloody stump under this jacket.
With the man gone, I helped Leah clean up the floor a bit with a few well placed spells and made sure there was no evidence left behind. Rehanna was busy picking out sweet treats for tonight's party.
Ariel rang up our bill and Rehanna checked it out to be sure he or she got everything, "You left off the charge for the brownies?" she questioned.
"Of course I did, you should get something for this?" he stated simply.
"Ari, we asked you to carry those rare brownies that are made with super rare coco beans and who are you going to sell them to but us Fae? Your normal human customers would die from even licking one let alone nibbling on one!"
"Okay, okay...Add three hundred and call it even!" the baker offered cutting his own price and dramatically raising his arms in surrender.
"Done!" we both sang out in unison.
But I have to thank, Both Branek and Nuuan for their vast input and the ability they both have to 'bounce' off ideas and improve them!
To all my readers who have e-mailed me and given support--THANKS!
Please feel free, to add a review to this story and others. As those kind words are 'cookies' that keeps that muse well fed on the 'sometimes' long breaks between stories!
this warning is for our story stealers off site, not the BC family of readers we all know and love!
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Warriors way chapter 9...bad Penny part 1
So what will happen now, the story goes on!
New story in the growing Hekawi universe!
Read the others in this new universe
Meagan's Tail
Nuuan's
“Necessity is the Mother of Invention” and “Déjà vu”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Penny slowly rolled herself out of bed with a long yawn as she pawed the sleep from both eyes and thought back to last night. 'I had that strange dream once again about finding a sword that would fit right into the backing my small shield. But this time I remember what the place looked like, the building itself and it reminded me of a museum I saw as a kid, like the one in Chicago or near similar in building style to that old ass one?'
This was the third night in a row the same dream came and seemed more waking dream than terrible haunting nightmare, like the sword was calling to Penny in the night via the dream and maybe Penny should talk to mom more about this specific dream and the few others this week!
After leaping up from her bed too quickly, Penny almost stumbled over a few extra boxes left sitting on the floor next to her bed as she walked into the bathroom and taped her favorite settings on the control panel for the shower to start up, "Gonna miss having a cool shower like this one, but mom said she'd see about getting me one in our new house!"
Penny stepped into the huge shower feeling it out with her fingers to make sure its water was up to the proper temperature and found it was. So she slid into the waves of water flowing from over a dozen jets or nozzles covering the walls and ceiling of the shower stall.
The showers hot water danced across Penny's body as she spun around in the large space of the finely titled shower, then the water's flow slowed down to a very light simulated rain as the program ran from the control panel allowing her time to suds up and clean her body with a wash cloth, "God I going to miss this thing and taking a shower as a girl is far better than a guy ever was!" she sighed out as the water renewed its flow.
After exiting her refreshing shower, Penny swiped at the shower's very complex control panel and sent all of those personal settings over to her desk top computer to be saved or used as a base for a shower system her mom would be installing in the new home.
Penny shook and fingered at her long hair with a towel, then applied a blow dryer on low so as not to harm it and painfully took her time trying to dry the mess of hair she gained from changing only a few weeks ago. Her now much longer hair was beginning to become a daily chore or annoyance that Penny was not enjoying much and she was seriously leaning towards getting a styled very short pixie cut that her mom did not like even the suggestion of! But the newly minted girl was personally wanting it, because all of this hair would dry much, much faster and still look great in a shorter cut!
With her hair now dry, the teen wiggled on an athletic top to keep her 'top' in check, not wanting a bra for such a busy day of packing for her trip to see a school out in LA and making sure that this was the place she wanted to end up schooling in for four more years!
Over the last few weeks Penny had pretty much left the old Marcus behind by keeping a part of that magical armor on her person all day, every day and all night. Thus even if she broke contact with its magic right now, it would be several months before she changed back to the old normal teen boy she was in the now growing past.
In the mean time her mom Sophia, had taken the teen down to the local testing center so that she could at the very least obtain a Department or Exo-human Affairs, DEHA federal mutant or possible 'other' card then get the local Metahuman Control Agency ID, MCA that California issues within their state that as long as one stays within the state supersedes the fed one!
Also during the past week or so, Mary Adams AKA 'Pole Dancer' a street heroine that just happened to live down the hallway took to teaching Penny her limits as a teen and how to improve her fighting skills and subdue without harming the criminal or outright killing them with the teen's new far greater strength!
To the newly changed Penny, the training sessions got a little to personal for her tastes because for some strange reason or mental hang up, Mary only became more resilient, stronger and faster in her Pole Dancer persona as clothes came off. The more skin Pole Dancer exposed, the greater powers she had in strength and speed, no one knew if it was really her power or just a mental quirk she personally had!
During some of the practice fighting sessions Penny would become more than embarrassed by one of Pole Dancer's fighting moves or when the street heroin would pin the teen down to loud giggles from Erin or "Euryale" who was watching the show... "Euryale" was Penny's mutant snake girl friend from school and she became involved in the training to learn herself. Only this past week Euryale had chosen to follow her friend Penny and her mother to LA to view, plus tour the campus and see if the place fit the growing needs of a mutant teen like her too!
The Erin or "Euryale" relationship had grown closer over the last few weeks when Euryale told Penny that she was going to ask the old Marcus out on dates very soon and become an item, but the new Penny was just as fun to the very open minded snake girl!
Penny stood at her dresser pulling needed items for the LA trip over to her bed and thought about her dreams last night, then started to pack them away in to her travel bag. when she filled it, she hopped down the hallway into her mom's room, "Mom I had a dream last night and the last three nights of the exact same thing."
"What honnn?" she asked from the master bath while she freshened it up a bit for the week.
"That I found a short sword that matched my shield and my armor I think in that museum you worked in Chicago when I was about ten I think? It was in the Greek section, in the long case of blades third from the left on the bottom row." Penny said thinking back to the many dreams and the real exactness that those dreams had held!
"Okay?" Sophia questioned and thought back to classes on the subject at her old school for mutants, "Did this dream or the other dreams seem more memory or one that said that you walked or were actually there last night or over the last few nights?"
"More like I was there and 'BANG' here is the blade you need to complete me...like the armor was talking to me?" Penny answered trying to convey the deep feelings she had over the last three nights.
"Humm...hop on your computer and look up this museum. I think they now have a 3D virtual tour of all the main halls and see if you can find this sword?" Sophia thought of the museum and was very sure it had such a service even while she was personally working there.
"What was the place's name, I don't remember it?" the teen asked turning on her main computer and taking a place sitting at the small desk in the teen's bedroom.
"Chicago Hellenic Museum on the upper east side dear, that is the one I worked at for nearly a year and then we moved to France after that." Sophia said closing her door and walking into her new daughter's room, that was being packed away for a coming LA trip and move to come beyond and finally to a new family home.
Penny found the link with ease, then scanned the long list of 3D walk-throughs of the small museum and found one on weapons of Greece. Next she put in a search for swords and the museum showed her links to four display cases that matched the limited input so far. The first two listed and shown were not what she thought the display case fro the dream should look like, but the third matched EXACTLY to the one from her dreams!
Next she waited for the 3D program to load up and then scanned that bottom row display from the dream and found the blade from that very dream hovering in a clear plastic holder within the display AND right were it should be!
When her mom looked over her shoulder, Penny pointed out the blade to her, "That one is the one!" she said more than excited at finding the blade with such ease!
"Please click the links for it?" Sophia asked instantly intrigued that this sword was actually there, exactly as her daughter described and right where Penny dreamt it would be!
Penny clicked the link next to the blades 3d pic and Sophia read over the most basic information that the webpage provided, more detailed information would be available to scholars that knew how to ask for it. Sophia pointed to a date at the bottom part of the listing, "There ya go, that is why I never saw this sword while I was working there...Discovery found in Greece and only two years ago!"
"So what do you think mom?" Penny asked as she clicked through the sword's many pictures.
"It matches the style your armor has and the apparent age from what I can see! I'll contact them about this and see what I can work out?" Sophia thought and started thinking about how to gain the blade, trade, buy if she could, or lastly steal the darn thing if it was a match!
"I hope it does, because I need some sort of weapon besides my fist or a kick to the head to be a good fighter!" Penny smiled.
"I really did not want to hear that you 'need' or 'want' a sword to fight with anyone!" Sophia barked to the teen and her embarrassment!
Penny closed the link after sending all the needed info over to her mom's computer frame for later and smiled, "Well lets get back to packing I guess?" she tried to change the subject from the sword...fighting and anything!
In Los Angeles that night
Two dark female forms appear out of nowhere on the dimly lit street to start pushing their way through a small but growing crowd of concerned neighbors and a few news crews setting up for their shots for late night news TV. The crowd was being held back from a darkened home by yellow glowing police tape and a few uniformed LAPD, plus a few LACO sheriffs in the mix.
One of the darkly dressed women finally made it to the police tape and lifted it up for her partner to get under. An LAPD officer quickly placed his hand on her chest to stop her progress into the cordon, "So where do you think you are going!" he barked without actually looking at her.
The woman on the cop's side of the tape looked down at the officer's hand on her chest, "Either remove that hand or I'll gift wrap it for your kids as a reminder of manners!"
"You said what to...." the young officer started to say, then just as quickly stopped when noting that he was talking to an ELF! And not your normal everyday elf, but one of the few Drow known!
In Los Angles, elves or Fae in general were a VERY rare sight around the area for the most part and a little more common inside the more affluent areas like Beverly Hills or Malibu! But down here in a South Central LA or Compton they were never seen at all! (At least that the cops or general population knew of, because most Fae moved among humans wrapped in magical dinguses or glamour's to remain unseen and unnoticed, but most of all unhampered!)
But one thing all Fae had in common was a reputation of not being something regular humans should ever messed with unless you were one of the few super mutants or had a death wish...even cops learned that at the academy!
At a glowing flash of her blood red eyes, his hand leapt back then he lifted the tape and waved both of the woman past his cordon line tape, "Sorry you might want to see the group already in the home or in the basement I hear ma'am or ladies?" he gulped as the second Drow passed by him without a care that he even existed.
Both women passed through the crowd of law enforcement with ease once the officers noted that both were Fae by either very evident pointy ears or their very striking and unusual dark skin color....or it could be how dangerous both appeared to be, all dressed in matching leather armor and with very decorative swords hanging at their belts!
At the home's door they passed by one detective who seemed upset at having to wait for the Fae investigation to finish up first before his even could begin, "When are you forest finger wigglers going to be done, I have a dozen crimes here and a few bodies to process!"
"When we are done and not one day sooner!" the first Drow woman growled implying that the process could take several days! Then started to stare at the man, like he was unworthy of her time while she barred the door with an arm and kept from him entering the home while her twin walked in!
A human woman standing at the door dressed in a 'Ministry of Paranormal Affairs' marked jacket passed a clipboard to the Drow not currently growling at the detective, "Humm a pair of Drows," she puzzled out at the strange sight of the pair, "well sign in please and I need to see an ID to let ya both in."
With a small flourish of fingers one Drow passed an ID over to the agent who noted the name off the ID shown while she wrote it down, "Rohanna Leigh....as in 'THE' Leigh twins?" she asked in a suddenly wavering voice.
"Yes and this is my sister...." she thumbed over her shoulder to a twin still angrily eyeballing the human detective.
"Rehanna!" the other barked after finally staring the detective into submission!
"Nice to meet you and I was told that none of us Humans are to go past this point until you Fae are done with your part of the investigation." she gulped at the idea of the Drow pair being so close to her, two very famous and yet dangerous Fae it was said to her very often around the office. It was one thing to see them in action in a movie, but a whole other when you have been told legends of their more bloody real world work and now they are standing right in front of you! Only inches away and too close for somes comfort.
"Hummm...strange, never heard of that being done before. Let alone us being called in by the royal council and the council of elders." Rehanna questioned why we were even here, us Drow are not exactly what you would call to track down someone within the huge city of LA!
Both Drow walked into the run down home, passing several rooms filled with what appeared to be drug labs and processing equipment for making illegal drugs to sell. Rooms filled to the walls with dirty beakers, bottles, heavily used bunsen burners and pill presses covered in who knows how may layers of old chemical dust from making illegal pills. Some of the rooms had bunk beds with arrays of seized weapons laid out on them and other belongings including stacks of cash, most of the floors were covered in layers of trash. For the most part the house was just one huge mess and had the looks of always been that way!
"Over here, down the stairs," an elf waved over to the twins to follow him.
The stairs leading down were well hidden at one time by a bashed in door and walking down those few stairs, the twins noted a huge difference right away. This level of the huge home was clean, very clean and immaculately so...like a real lab in fact would be!
Rohanna tore away some of the silver-ish paper that covered the walls of the staircase leading down, as she felt and sniffed the strange but tough paper it came to her, "Mithril and Excelium bonded to a paper and cloth backing?"
"Let me see that!" Rehanna reacted to hearing the words and held out her hand for the sample.
"Looks like somebody did not want any magic leaking out of here or people like us teleporting inside here!" Rehanna finally said after taking the small piece from her sister and noting the properties of the material to block teleports and the flow of essence for magic.
"That's not all!" a familure voice said in ancient Elvin from a part the basement just now coming into view of the pair, "This smaller section of this basement is covered in 'Gossamer', on top or in place of all the other parts,"
"What human would blow this much on material bonded with Mithril and Excelium, then blow even more on 'Gossamer'. A metal that is like a one way mirror to Fae magic and magical essence!" Rohanna asked the voice in the same old language to keep humans from knowing what the three are talking about.
Rehanna was the first to spot the Fae who was talking and he was standing next to a body laying on a bed surrounded by medical contraptions and runes that covered the wall and floor....the speaker was Arl Qinceran, who had known the pair since their school days back east.
"Good day Arl and why does the council, through you need us here?" Rehanna asked in greeting.
"A good day to you guardians and protectors, this is something I thought was just a passing fad among the silly humans. But this is the third one of our kind found dead, that we have seen over this last eighteen months and this problem does not seem to be going away like it did in the past, but instead seems to be growing faster!" he added in a sad voice.
"SO what is going on Arl?" I had to ask as Rehanna examined the quickly decaying Fae body closer. Most us Fae after we died, our bodies would decay into nearly nothing but dust or dried bits within a few hours and that is why humans never found the skeletons of dead elves or Fae before us Fae reemerged from hiding. Even now our numbers are just starting to show growth in numbers.
"Humans years ago figured out a way to siphon HIGH magical essence off us Fae and even more essence as they kill us or we finally die of the results of being drained so. Then they harvest into a elixir form for drinking and gain supercharged magic for a temporary time. In the past it was an extremely expensive process and very hard to hide from the rest of us Fae finding out and reacting...but now...this mess!" he barked while pointing out the metallic paper covering the whole lab's walls with a finger and then ripped some of the fabric glued to the short ceiling.
"So they are hiding behind this stuff and using Gossamer to filter the magic aura, thus it flows in past Gossamer into here, but not back out to be detected by us Fae?" I asked and theorized on the spot as I ripped my own piece of fabric off a wall to examine closer.
"Yes...But they are stepping up their operations now that some silly human found a way to make even more potion from us Fae and FAR more if they are killing us while doing it. THEN add when we Fae die, they get a small amount of supercharged potion that is crazy powerful!" Arl said getting even madder if that was possible.
We Drow had heard that there was something like this on the streets for sale, a drinkable magical essence for humans and human mages that used it became super powered nuts for about an hour. But this new potion gain on our deaths was a new thing to me.
"What is this new potion or process Arl?" Rehanna asked noting how young the dead Fae was, barely a teen!
"The old normal potion is called 'alakazam' on the street and by a few other just as strange names. But this new potion is a game changer, it can make a very normal person into a mage temporarily and very untrained mage at best...but still a very powerful one that can be devastating if they lucky and not to blow themselves up with their first spell attempts!" Arl told us.
"What is that potion called," I had to ask.
"That one is 'Death blossom', and is made in very small amounts only when one of us Fae die or is killed during the process. It is created during the body's last gasps to remain alive, life making any tries it can, clutching at straws, anything to remain alive!"
Rehanna pulled a wallet from a pile of clothes just under the table holding the body and flipped through it to an ID, then comparing the ID card the body's face on the table for a few seconds, "This kid was human at one time, but seems he was well on the way to becoming a Elvin changeling!" she gasped out.
Arl visibly sagged when he heard that discovery, "I had heard of this, that they search out humans becoming our changelings and do this process on them. The potions they gain off a changeling's transformation process and finally death are wickedly more powerful than the best 'Death blossom' they would ever gain from a normal Fae's death!"
"How much so?" I asked while I felt Rehanna stewing in anger, I barely kept my own in check!
"Enough to permanently change a normal human into a mage and light that internal well to gain essence forever like one of our kind does and if a regular human mage took this crud...they would be a danger to everyone and a nearly world class danger."
"Why have not we heard of this till now?" I had to ask for both of us, feeling that rage grow off Rehanna via our mental link and mine was not far behind it!
"Well till this last year or so it was not cost effective and we might see about two or maybe three of these cases in a year to eighteen months. But some mutant techy or maybe with a mage joined in and figured out how to get even more potion out of one of us Fae. Then even found a way to get huge amounts out of a changeling in comparison to the old process and all of that new tech made the whole process cheaper and cost effective!" he sighed out.
"Cost effective...one of us dying?" I shouted back at him, hating the choice in words. Us Fae were not a simple commodity, that humans could spend or waste!
"Yes and you hid this from us? Hide it from those of us that defend our kind and would hunt these monsters out!" Rehanna roared at the now cringing Arl.
"Hey both of you..." he shouted back, "Like I just said...only in the last year or two did this process jump up in numbers enough to be even noticed and we are reacting right now. This place was only found because the leadership was cheap" Arl barked while sweeping a hand across the rooms around us. "AND tried to combine making regular human street drugs above, with all of this hidden in the basement!" Arl barked while sweeping a hand across the rooms around us.
"Yes I understand, I did notice coming in that the neighborhood might look a little run down. But this house on the outside at least, was well taken care of and it seems that everyone entered through the back or the new attached garage leading to the alley?" I shrugged to Arl.
"Yes it is, they tried to hid in plain sight and used a 'crack house' across the alley to sell product and distribute into the hoods from." Arl said pulling out a computer frame to show us the layout of the area and the glowing home outlines of the homes involved.
"So how did this place get found out?" Rehanna asked covering the body once again and placing the ID on its chest for the detectives to come.
"Simple cops doing their job for months of undercover work. All in all they got real lucky and someone in here messed up and the undercover agents figured it all out. One way or another some humans are going to die over this...all this Mithril, Excelium and Gossamer impregnated or coated fabric cost millions...someone will pay for it!" he tried to chuckle.
"Well you feed us the info and us Drow will handle whatever you find OUR WAY!" we growled in stereo and Arl nodded back his agreement.
But I have to thank, Both Branek and Nuuan for their vast input and the ability they both have to 'bounce' off ideas and improve them!
To all my readers who have e-mailed me and given support--THANKS!
Please feel free, to add a review to this story and others. As those kind words are 'cookies' that keeps that muse well fed on the 'sometimes' long breaks between stories!
this warning is for our story stealers off site, not the BC family of readers we all know and love!
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Warriors way chapter 10...bad Penny part 2
So what will happen now, the story goes on!
New story in the growing Hekawi universe!
Read the others in this new universe
Meagan's Tail
Nuuan's
“Necessity is the Mother of Invention” and “Déjà vu”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Sunday finally came Sophia gave her new daughter Penny the family credit card so that the teen could buy more clothes to better match her new body with a shopping trip to the mall, then pair would meet up later at Creaser's Place to have lunch at their mall. When she was handed the credit card Penny happily nodded to her mom, "Cool and I'll take Erin with me to help out!"
Sophia smiled in agreement silently because she was still in the middle of a remote video meeting with the museum curator and her assistant discussing if the blade Penny foresaw among their small collection might be matching to the existing armor set and in the mean time while the teens shopped she would try and negotiate for the blade to add to Penny's armor if it was tested to be a match.
Penny chose shopping in the largest mall in Las Vegas that was not only huge, but was sitting right on the infamous strip too and Penny was trying her hand at window shopping for now until Erin showed up with her expertise and would help the new teen in picking out fashionable clothes to fit her new body as well as sex!
Penny paused strolling through the vast mall at one very interesting window display and started checking out the new selection of denim pants shown on the fashionable assembly of manikins pondering the fact that she personally still liked the idea of wearing pants over a skirt or dress right now. She was mentally marking one pair in the window for her list and the matching leather jacket slung on the manikins shoulder when her eyes noticed Daren or "Mongo" her old male self's bully or nemesis across the way in the window from her and 'he' was very much checking the new 'her' out!
Even the idea of that coming true let alone close made Penny mentally vomit! But an evil thought came over her mind and she winked over at him..."Lure him in, see how close I can get and if I can get Mongo alone...POW!" she mused evilly pondering the damage she could do to the bully now with this new body.
A slight hint of a friendly wanting smile from Penny and Daren was easily lured into walking her way. Penny quickly glanced around for anyplace around here that could make a perfect spot for a trap and spotted a door leading off from the public mall areas and into the back access halls for store's use. But Daren was being cut off right now and pulled by his pack of buddies from heading her way, then being lead down to the escalators that journeyed deep down to the parking levels below.
Penny grinned at the new chance! Mongo was heading into the parking structure where the city's so called 'bad boys' hung out and practiced their skateboarding out of sight of the REAL crowd of skateboarders of LV at the mixed sport park! Ones that might pick on the tough crowd of boy and rightly so because most of the 'bad boys' in town truly sucked at boarding!
Mongo was already on the escalator going deep down into the parking structure below the mall when Penny hopped on close behind the pack of noisy unruly boys, she pulled her hoodie up to hide her face a bit, but not too much from Mongo so she could smile to him once more to freshen the bait a bit to lure him in closer.
Darren/Mongo took the bait as he stopped for a brief second with his buddies on the next landing and she smoothly walked right past him only glancing his way briefly once as a further enticement! "Hey guys I'll catch up later on!" he shouted to them quickly hopping on the moving stairs continuing downward after the unknown girl.
Penny was just out of Mongo's sight as she began leaping downward four escalator steps at a time and kept doing so till she hit the bottommost level where nearly no cars parked and most of the area had been given over to storage for the mall high above and the high end apartments that sat on the top most floors of the tall building over the mall's several shopping floors.
Once at the bottom she wheeled away on her skateboard from the glass enclosed escalator area and went a few dozen yards into the deeper parking lots. Mongo finally caught up and just barely spotted her boarding away from him. A running start and a few kicks and he was quickly on his way to catch up on her or at least trying to keep up, "Hey hold up babe gotta talk to you beautiful!" he sang.
Penny gave Mongo one quick alluring glance before she started kicking up greater speed on her board away from his sight and into the storage areas away from the few cars parked this far down into the ground. She rounded a corner quickly and pulled off her hoodie to turn it inside out to its very black lining that 'Pole Dancer" had given her for just this sort of occasion...laying a trap or ambushing someone!
Now out of sight, Penny slipped into a dark place between the storage containers on this level and stayed utterly silent. Daren started to roll down the slight incline her way as he search about for this mysterious cute girl that had caught his eye, "Hey where ya at girl, lets talk babe?" he sang once more to the echo of the parking structure and the growing darkness all around him.
Sadly for Daren he was looking the wrong way when Penny leapt from the black shadow hiding her and out came her new larger right arm that 'clotheslined' the poor Mongo and sent his body flying back with skateboard still flying forward with its rider. His body hit the concrete with a hard bounce that dazed him instantly and the arm blow knocked the wind from his chest. Penny's next evil move was three swift kicks to his sides and one to his legs.
Daren rolled over and up to his feet (Penny let him, wanting the fight to last a bit longer and be a more savor full revenge!) Once on his feet, Daren swung out with a right cross that Penny caught with ease in her left hand and yanked him forward twisting the arm till it popped at the shoulder!
As Daren screamed from his shoulder being wrenched nearly from its socket, Penny quickly pumped five fists into his ribs that left a few of them busted and then she swept his legs out from under him with a foot letting his body fall away to the hard concrete once again.
Daren rolled in pain form the fall, then tried to look up to his attacker and see who it was. It was the beautiful girl that he was following and she was kicking his ass with ease...extreme ease!
Penny leaned down to lift Daren off the cold concrete by his shirt, finally bringing his face close to her's...but a face still hidden by the shadows of darkness! She fired off three controlled blows to his face so as not to kill the teen boy with her new found strength, each blow she dished out to his face felt immensely wonderful, almost freeing to her and she relished each one to the point of having to hold back the fourth one with a great effort of will on her part!
The feeling flowing through Penny right now was liberating and she wanted more!
"Why?" Daren cried to the teen girl looming over him and he tried to see her face better in the darkness.
"Because Daren, revenge is best served cold and your butt getting kicked by a girl is too funny...Karma my little bitch for beating up the other kids at your school!" she shouted down at him.
"I don't know you?" Daren wondered if he even did?
"No you don't know me, but I certainly know you and if I ever hear about you bullying other kids in your school again," Penny growled through her teeth down at him now, "I'll find out, then find you and tear off that arm and beat you into a cripple with it!" Penny warned, then she dropped him.
To show that she really meant business, Penny picked up Daren's skateboard from where it had rolled to stop minus him and busted the tough layered wood over her knee in one savage blow and tossed both busted ends into the darkness. Then as a 'cherry' on top for insult, she used a foot to roll him over exposing his back, then grabbed on to his rear jeans pocket that she ripped open to revel his wallet and quickly emptied it of all cash...only twenty bucks? Penny was disappointed in the amount, but it was something at least for all the cash Darren or the bully Penny nicknamed Mongo had taken from the old Marcus!
Penny finally grabbed her board and stood over the ex-bully once again before leaving, "Don't even look at me, don't search for me or tell cops or your mom...bad idea!" Daren nodded instantly, he knew in the long run the cops only did so much and usually failed to act fast enough in matters like this and that left the person who reported very hurt or worse...dead at the hands of a person like this girl.
Back up in the mall,
Penny took time to turn her hoodie back from inside out to show its normal nice bright blue outer color and artistic mess of skateboarding company logos. She loved this hoodie now, it came in very handy to hide her identity and help wrap her in the darkness of the parking lot below! 'I am going to need to buy several more jeans exactly like this hoodie or something very much like it! Maybe some dress pants of some sort too?' she mentally pondered away while strolling slowly away through the vast mall.
Soon enough Penny spotted a pair of jeans in a window that she loved, ones that were mostly deep black denim and had leather covering what would be your belt line on down to the knees on the fronts. The capper to the look was the decorative silver stitching covering parts of jeans fronts, this what grabbed her eye to begin with!
It took sometime for Penny to find the rack matching the display, but now came the hard part finding out what her new size really was? As Penny checked out on set of jeans after another that is when Erin came slithering silently up behind her and surprised the heck out of the teen.
"How ya doing and that one is way too short girl!" Erin shouted out making Penny jump at Erin's sudden shout of greetings!
Penny dropped the jeans on the spot and spun to meet what she thought was a threat, "Don't do that..." Penny said stopping herself from hitting Erin when she realized who was surprising her, "I was thinking to kick your ass into next week!"
"Humm what has you that jumpy in a mall?" Erin asked picking up the jeans that Penny had dropped in her fright and placing them back on the rack, then picking out what pair she thought was the right size for Penny.
Penny took the pair of jeans from Erin with an evil smirk, "I just got even with Daren and he should be crawling his way out of the parking lot below us in search of some ice and a good doctor!"
Erin gasped, "You hurt him bad?" she had to ask knowing Penny could lift a truck's front end off the pavement!
"Ohhh nothing permanent...a few busted ribs, dislocated shoulder and lots of body wide bruising is all!" she nearly giggled. Penny very much wanted to do a villain laugh right now to celebrate...'MUhahhhahah!' But held it back.
Erin winked to her friend, "Good, he needed it and since you did nothing crippling or permanent to him, then no foul in my opinion!"
Penny was placing the Jeans against her front for size when she smiled once more, "And I busted his skateboard like a twig just to put a cherry on top!"
"Nice!" Erin grinned.
For the next hour or so Erin stacked up quite a selection of clothes for Penny to try on in a small cart, then pulled at Penny to go with her to try them all on and Erin joined her inside a larger fitting room made for mutants or the handicapped.
As they both whittled down the stack for size, then fashionable looks and Erin noticed something, "Penny you are still leaning towards guys clothes or fashions I see?"
"I guess?" Penny muttered meekly back, then firmly stood her ground, "Because so far, the only skirt I am going to wear is along with my armor and that is only because it is Greek or Roman styled and I don't have a choice for protection!" she insisted.
"Fine by me! It's not like with a body shaped like a snake I can really wear anything else?" Erin giggled as she handed Penny a top to try on.
Without to much effort Erin helped Penny fill out better than a weeks worth of wardrobe, most of the selection was jeans and sporty styled tops that more than matched what Penny had when she was 'Marcus' for the most part. The only major changes was to Penny's choices in underwear, with sport bras and simply styled underwear below. Penny had instantly balked at the idea of anything 'frilly' for now and might get back to that idea later on in life?
"Do you know if this school in LA has uniforms?" Erin asked as they stood by a cashier ringing out the last of Penny's buys and bagging them.
"I don't know? But you know most private schools have some sort of uniform standards or make you wear theirs most of the week!" Penny said back thinking of how much of an average school week they might demand she wear one?
Penny picked up her last bag off the sales counter as she noted the time off her watch, "Gotta get moving if we want to meet my mom for lunch at Caesar's palace!"
Moving out of the mall and hitting the next monorail that cruised down 'the strip' was easy. But once they exited the car at Caesar's palace, the place was crowed with tourists or what both were certain of the other crowd maker in town...Dreaded conventioneers!
Conventioneers was something the city needed and advertised for all over the world. BUT in some cases the city was visited by morons that took the city advertisement of "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!" too literally and got into loads of trouble during their short or maybe long (after they broke the law) visits!.
On most days of the past Penny never had an issue with the horde of short term visitors, but this time a pack of them hailing from a what surly was a mid-west small town spotted both of them and the especially the strange to some snake-girl that Erin was!
Erin was slithering by the slack jawed mixed group of guys and a few gals when one man leaned down to touch Erin's tail as she slid past, "She's real!" he boasted to the small group.
"Hey BUB no touching!" Erin growled because touching her there, was like feeling up her butt in the past!
Since Penny was leading the way for the snake girl to help clear a small path for Erin to slither by in, she paused a second to turn back and see Erin was being quickly surrounded by the small group!
One man quickly stood next to Erin and wrapped an arm around her waist, "Take a pic of me and her Sammy!" he laughed to his friends.
What must have been 'Sammy' held up his cheap computer frame and took a picture with the built in camera and that is when the man hugged Erin even closer as he spoke into her ear, "My you are warm unlike a real snake and soft too!" he added with a slur of being certainly drunk off his ass!
The group rapidly started taking pictures or juggling their enormous alcoholic drinks to do so, as Erin dropped her bags shoved the man away from her body and slapped him across the face hard!
"Get off me you creep!" the teen girl shouted at the much older man.
The guy must have been fueled by booze bravery when he reeled back to hit Erin, because she was MUCH bigger than him in several ways! Erin flinched at what was an incoming blow she did not have time to block, with a bag on her arm holding her only free arm!
But Penny caught the man's arm mid swing in a death grip before it struck, "You keep this up buddy and you go home in a box!" she growled to him.
One of the gals tossed her huge booze filled tourist glass right at Penny's head, but Penny saw it coming, blocked it with a quick swipe and after that attack Penny reacted by swinging the man she already had in-hand at the woman, plus the small group standing all around her.
"Here take this bozo back bitch!" she screamed over the now growing crowd of random tourists showing up to watch the fight.
Before the nearly flying man hit the unruly drunk pack, most of them tossed whatever was at or in hand at the pair of teens. But after the man's body hit the woman, she fell taking two others of the group taking most of them down with her.
Erin reacted to being rained on by assorted glasses and booze on the spot, by dropping the rest of her shopping bags to the pavement and out from her fingertips came viscous claws! The oldest man of the small group must have been spooked at the sight of seeing Erin's sharp claws out! Because he pulled a small revolver from behind his back, "I knew it, Mutants always trouble!" he growled out.
That is when Erin lashed out with her long tail, sweeping the legs out from under the whole group and then some! "They all fall down!" she shouted in glee that the desperate move had even worked this well!
As the man fell to the walkway, his gun fired off into the air and the bullet sailed off into the open sky striking nothing. But now the cops were coming and with the sound of a gunshot even more were on their way to the small fight.
"Marvin you idiot!" one of the groups woman shouted, "You pulled a gun on teens?"
"Mutants...Mutants Stacy, they are Mutants!" he roared back just as the first cops came up and the crowd pointed the man out on the spot..."that's the one!" most shouted to the four cops.
One cop drew his weapon, "Freeze or I shoot!" he warned as the other three cops moved in on the lone man and finally one cop took the gun from the older man's hand after he surrendered and the other two rolled the old man over to cuff both hands behind his back.
"Now you...snake girl calm down or be put down!" another cop warns Erin while he covered the teen with both a tazer in one hand and a pistol at the low ready in the other.
"Hey you got me Pikachu, NO need to shock me!" Erin grinned as she raised both arms a little to show she was surrendering peacefully to the cops.
"Okay want started all of this?" one cop asked that seemed to be in charge by the three stripes on his sleeves.
"Officers that letch grabbed that teens backside then unwantedly hugged her and then fondled her breasts!" a grandmotherly age woman barked from the large crowd.
The officer walked over to the older lady as the crowd gave way to letting her sit on one of the benches lining the monorails walkway that lead into the casino and mall shops. One cop snapped open a computer frame and leaned down to let the woman see what he was doing, "Lets see what the city cams and the casino cams picked up of this mess and I take your statement too ma'am?" he asked.
It was very easy for the cop to pull up over fifty camera views of the fight from different angles and there was even sound on most of them too! So this case had all the evidence at hand and was an easy close for any DA that eventually took it!
In the meantime the rest of the officers could easily see where this mess was heading to and cuffed up the rest of the small group. One cop broke off from that group walking over to both teens, "Hands down now girls and hand me your ID's...all of them please?" he asked and was implying that he meant all ID's...as in Mutant ID's too if they had them!
Erin handed the cop three cards, one being her normal state ID, another one is a mutant Federal DEHA ID and the last was a California only Mutant MCA ID card as that state had its own regulatory agency that kept the federal one at bay and mostly OUT of the state's business!
Penny handed him only one real card, her state issued ID that anyone had and one sheet of paper with official seals on it from the DEHA, Penny could only get a temporary ID until she was tested farther at a much larger facility that Vegas did not have and possibly a M&M one for covering any magic Penny might have!
"This is all I have, just changed a few weeks back...sir?" Penny offered.
The cop took the ID and papers, "Humm let me check this out." he said snapping a frame out to scan the ID and document.
A minute or so passed by as he got a reply back from the federal data base, "Humm only a few boxes checked for increased strength, speed and durability...your basic 'brick' or 'tank' and lots of checked boxes in the 'maybe' section," he started to lest them off, "Possible magic, curse, magic item, Fae magic, human magic, GOO magic and a listing for unknown on top of that mess? You better get this all checked out before you make a mistake and blast the whole city on a bender kid," he warned handing the ID's back toi both girls.
After Penny pocketed her ID's the sergeant came over to the pair and his partner cop, "Let the kids go, we have the male on video groping her and she is under sixteen and that's a felony times three. the shooter gets his beef for the gunfire. Then add the rest get an assault beef on the kids times two each and add all while drunk in public!" he laughed.
"Okay both of ya stay out of trouble and have your parents call the desk sergeant or the lead detective on shift about this mess. Also just so you both know with the video evidence we are pressing charges no matter if you personally do so or not, so its your choice or your parents choice to file or not to file along with the DA's." the cop told the pair and handed them a personal car with case numbers on the back.
Later on inside Caesar's palace large casino building and adjoining shopping complex,
Sophia was walking as quickly as she could without breaking into a full out run so she cold make a lunch date with Penny her new daughter at the best restaurant in Caesar's Place! She was just dying to tell the teen that a deal was made for the sword if it matched her armor set, right now it was being sent to the condo by courier and would be there by midnight for sure and from there they could evaluate it before finalizing the full deal already made.
The deal itself was simple and a steal in Sophia's opinion, she had found a set of coins many years ago. Three of the set were silver in various sizes and mintage dates and four were gold in the same size and all had the same date. It was a long lost set that was only minted for one brief month and the curator of the Greek section of the museum was simply dying to get his hands on a full set!
So Sophia made the offer of them in trade for the blade, to her the coins were an extra surprise find during her very early post college graduate days. So personally the set really mattered little to her over trading for the blade and IF it truly matched the existing armor set it was a true bargain.
She started searching the area around the large restaurant and spotting Penny was easy, as she was with Erin, as if a fifteen foot long snake tailed girl could blend in with regular human tourists! "Hey you two over here, I hope you are hungry?" she yelled a greeting their way and was spotted in return by the pair.
Penny looked a little troubled to her mom as the pair walked up and a mother easily picked up on that, "What's wrong baby?" she quickly asked the teen.
"This," Penny started simply handing mom a card, "A man molested Erin, she slapped the crap out of him. He was about to punch her in the face, I blocked his blow by grabbing his arm and then his woman tossed a drink at us both and another guy pulled a gun...it fired after Erin tail swept the lot of them all and then the cops came." Penny rattled off quickly without even pausing for a breath.
"Ohhh and Mrs. Hapgood, the cops gave us information cards if we want to press charges on the group or men. But they have enough evidence to hold them all, even without us personally filing charges. But in my case personally, outside of whatever you and Penny do. The agents who handle selling my venom to pharmaceutical companies...they will press charges in my name and then they will sue...they always do for protecting my brand and their product." she sighed out.
"Hummm?" the mother worried on thinking what to do, "I think since the cops already have it and your guys are going ahead on this, We'll leave Penny out of it for now and leave that till someone drops the ball and then we will act from there dear. So lets go eat, I have lots to tell Penny!" Sophia beamed pocketing the card for later and changing the topic for the better.
But I have to thank, Both Branek and Nuuan for their vast input and the ability they both have to 'bounce' off ideas and improve them!
To all my readers who have e-mailed me and given support--THANKS!
Please feel free, to add a review to this story and others. As those kind words are 'cookies' that keeps that muse well fed on the 'sometimes' long breaks between stories!
this warning is for our story stealers off site, not the BC family of readers we all know and love!
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Warriors way chapter 10...bad Penny part 2
So what will happen now, the story goes on!
New story in the growing Hekawi universe!
Read the others in this new universe
Meagan's Tail
Nuuan's
“Necessity is the Mother of Invention” and “Déjà vu”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the three ladies had their expensive celebratory lunch at Caesar's Place, Sophia waited at the monorail station while Penny took Erin home and made sure that all of them would meet up early tomorrow morning at the high speed rail station to go see this school out in LA. Then after seeing the place for themselves Penny would choose to go there or not too next term and maybe seek another school to attend.
It pleased the mother that Penny had many more choices in schools for mutants or the 'enhanced' than she did as a child. During her school years, all you had was one choice back east and one choice in Europe. And that last one, did not have the best of reputations as it leaned to teaching more of the evil villain set or agents for not so nice governments.
But now children had a far better choices to make in their education, with two schools back east, one in the north and one deep in Florida almost at the tip of the long state. Even the ones offshore were much better choices now, with two newer ones built in Europe over the last decade or so. But they were very small and for the elite rich that could afford the tuition or the student that was developing very marketable skills or powers! Then there was Japan that had a great one run by the emperor, in hand with the larger companies of the nation and Korea had one of the best in the AsianPac partnership!
Back at the family's condo
Sophia took time out to cook up a fine late dinner of Penny's favorite, her meatloaf and low and behold! At Eleven O'clock the concierge rang up to the condo telling Sophia that the courier was here a whole hour early, she approved the man coming up to her place and the courier dropped off the sword's carry case.
While signing for the package she had to ask while giving him the small coin collection from Sophia's personal stash, that was to return to the museum for a quick check over and approval on their part of the trade if they all agreed to go ahead with the deal for the sword. Sophia was sure that the Greek museum would love the coins and at best the curator would get some valuable data off the coins during the short time trade if the deal indeed fell through!
"So how did you get here ahead of time?" she asked handing back the courier his part of the mass of paperwork.
"Ohh I got a 'gate' over to LA via the Fae and took the train for the short hop here to Vegas." he said rechecking over his part and unlocking the sword's case for Sophia and then locking up the coins in their new traveling case, then dropping them into his backpack.
"The Fae let you hitch a ride very 'strange' that they even did that for you?" she pondered about the very secretive people they could be and were for the most part. Most humans never really knew what the Fae as a race were up to in the world at anytime and they ran so very much of the human's world from behind a curtain of secrecy most thought!
"I was delivering something for and to them, so this stop was on my way,kind of?" he smiled and started heading to the door. The man was in a rush, the more packages he dropped off, the more he got paid!
Sophia called to Penny, the girl had to remain hidden because the mother did not want the courier to tell anyone that her son was now a girl back at the Greek museum and start trouble brewing with them maybe calling the DEHA, aka the mutant Feds!
Penny bounced into the room very excited over the blade being finally here and as she drew closer to the blade, she felt a very personal connection to it instantly! It was like seeing a long lost friend after being away for years, "Mom I feel this is mine, like we belong together!" she grinned ear to ear.
"Well it's decorations match your bracers spot on and the metal looks the same to me. It's just a little duller, maybe needs to be cleaned up I suppose?" Sophia said examining the blade and comparing it to the armor they already knew well!
The blade itself was what one might call a 'short sword' or very much like a roman issued centurion sword in looks, shape and style! It had a general silver color with a gold spine running its middle and a leather covered hilt ending at a spike surly meant to ram into people's body's or heads when the opening showed itself to use it as such!
"Let's see for sure!" Penny yelped picking up the blade as her mother tried to slow the teen down a little bit with her protective 'motherly' instincts kicking in!
When Penny's hand wrapped around the blade's hilt, the dullness of the metal and leather hilt faded away instantly with a wave of light that shone out of the blade starting from hilt to blade's sharp point! Now the blade looked as if it was crafted just hours ago, not a scratch or dull spot left behind on the whole length to show the centuries that had really passed!
"Well Mom, I think this is mine!" Penny beamed and started to swing the sword wildly about testing its balance out like a professional.
Sophia watched her child wave the blade about like and expert only could, flipping it over her hand and over the back of her hand and tossing it into the air and blindly snatched it out of the air like she knew where hilt began or sharp blade ended by instinct!
"YEP honey that blade is most certainly yours!" she almost yelped out in fight, as the teen wildly showed off her suddenly acquired blade skills!
"Watch this!" Penny said as her free hand snatched one of Sophia's best chefs blade from the block of them and swung the sword at it...when the blades met...the sword cut the expensive chef's knife in half with no resistance!
"Okay no more of that! You do know that darn knife cost me over one hundred bucks and is now junk?" Sophia admonished her new daughter.
"Sorry mom?" Penny said more than embarrassed for not thinking, "I was carried away by all the fun of getting this blade is all!"
"Fine no more of that chopping up my or your valuable stuff just to test a blade...agreed?" Penny's mom harshly warned her child.
"Agreed, but let me get my shield because I am sure it just slides right in this slot I spotted the last time I was messing with it!" Penny yelped out as she ran from the living room to where the armor was for now kept in the condo's office.
Penny ran back into the living room as she was mounting the medium size round shield to the arm brace and its built in bracket made for mounting the shield. Next Penny picked up the blade and easily slid it into what seemed to be the shields top as it was oriented on her arm right now.
"See mom made just for it!" Penny noted as she was busy pulling the blade in and out if its new sheath, then she tried putting the blade in the opposite way via what would be the bottom and found it still fit and locked in place until her hand actually pulled at it.
"Humm it does not seem to fall out, must be a lock in there somewhere?" the teen said shaking the shield, then looking deeply into the slot, "But I don't see anything mechanical to hold it in mom?"
"Penny I bet it's magical like the rest of the armor and what it did to you?" Sophia laughed at her teen being so perplexed.
"Ohh ya, I'm sure it is!" she beamed and took off the shield with the blade with in its home.
Sophia noticed something on the back or inward side of the metallic disk when Penny took off the shield, so she went to the office herself with Penny walking closely behind because the teen 'knew' that 'look' mom got most of the times when she remembered something very important!
Once in the office Sophia opened the storage box that held the armor and pulled out the chest piece and its backing part, "Honey will you slip this on please?" she asked handing the form fitted armor to Penny.
Sophia mulled over that stray thought, 'form fitted'. More like it will 'form you' or formed Marcus into Penny to fit its needs better and that is exactly what happened to the teen!
Penny took off the shield for now and slipped into the clamshell armor that covered both her front and back, from her neck all the way to her waist where the long armored skirting would (if it was in place) start to cover up her legs. With the armored top on she gave the temporary straps a gentle yank to cinch them up.
"What now mom? Ohh and we got to work on making this fit better and the straps are not holding too well!" Penny warned.
"Ohh I would bet they will fix that for you at whatever school you finally pick. This armor is yours and has to fit properly!" she smiled handing the teen the shield once again.
"What now mom?" Penny questioned as her mother rotated around behind her and noted a slot going crossways across the teen's back, "Penny leave the shield on and try to pat your back and feel around for a slot?" she asked tapping the teen's armor where she wanted her to touch.
Penny did so and found a slot with her fingers that the shield suddenly slid off her arm and right into with a light 'click'. Penny moved her arm away and the shield stayed on her rear armored plate for now and since Penny had left the sword sticking out of the bottom instead of the top of the shield, it was now orientated upwards for her right arm to grab easily from her back!
"Way cool mom, kind of like General America's shield goes on his back! Only I don't toss mine like a Frisbee!" the teen laughed and pulled the blade from its new place a few times with her right arm to get used to the motions!
"Well who ever made this armor certainly thought it all out, they seem to have thought of everything you would need so far?" Sophia smiled wondering what parts of this armor might still be out there in the wide world yet unfound or no connection made back to this set...yet!
"Humm nice!" Penny said more than pleased at finding out something new about her armor!
"Time to get all ready for tomorrow's trip and get some sack time dear, so time to get you out of that can!" Sophia jested walking out of the room and took her over shoulder messenger bag with her so that she could reread some notes she had made on the armor and make a few more on tonight's discoveries!
Mid-morning the next day
Penny shouldered a backpack as she grabbed her wheeled luggage bag after their High speed rail from Vegas finally stopped inside Union Station, the huge downtown rail hub of the Los Angles area and she started dragging the bag towards an elevator going lower down into the main metro rail system station under this more main level of the vast network the city had, "This way mom, we take the orange line down towards the harbor and jump over to a special train from there, or that is what our instructions say to do?"
Sophia stopped and pointed at the much nearer escalator, "This is faster dear."
"Mom Erin...snake...long body...sharp pointy steps!" the teen reminded her!
"Ohh shoot I forget, I just don't think somedays Erin! I just see ya as a normal kid?" she explained and switched paths with Erin already taking the lead.
"No prob Mrs. Hapgood, I like that you don't even notice and wow no one here in LA even seems to care what I look like!" Erin laughed on as she slithered her way towards the elevator car that Penny was already holding and noticed another mutant walking by with small set of bat wings sticking out of her back!
Once the door slid shut Erin had to say, "I wonder if she can fly or are the wings only for looks?"
"Unless she has a hidden power to back them up hon, there is no way she is getting off the ground!" Sophia said knowing far more about mutants in general than the pair of teens. Her alma-mater had seen to that!
As the Orange line finally came to a stop at a small station at the end of its run, Penny pulled an info packet from her backpack and opened it, "This is where the instructions on how to get to Hekawi Academy became real weird!" she thought.
First off the long list of instructions, was everyone going onto the academy had to wear their personal ID badges on necks...'just having them or having one it a pocket was not enough'...a small warning noted at that step's end. Next part was walking to the end of the station's platform beyond a wall that will vanish? "What the heck is this part mom?" Penny questioned the last bit pointing it out.
"I'd bet it's a magic wall that hides the platform from the other subway riders dear, I have seen that used before where I went to school," Sophia said grabbing her own luggage as the subways doors hissed open to the last stop of the line.
"Ohhh neat!" Erin bubbled pointing to the end of the platform, "You wear your ID and the wall vanishes...no ID and its there!" she demonstrated again taking her ID on and off her neck several times.
Penny put the ID lanyard around her neck and now she could see the platform was many yards longer and Lee's teen aged kids waved back to her from beyond where the wall used to be, "Heya Penny, mom sent us down to fetch ya all!" Sassnick the girl of the pair of teens greeted the small group.
"Who are they?" Erin asked slithering that way.
"They are Kyley's oldest kids...you remember the tall blonde...the unearthly beautiful one at my place that one time?" Penny answered.
"'Ohhh her', well her daughter certainly takes after mom!" Erin said with a crooked smile and almost panted. Penny could tell she was lusting after that girl and her drop dead good looks!
Sophia hugged Sassnick as she came close and that is when Erin finally noticed Velmeran her brother and she was instantly taken by the boy! "Hiya Mrs. Hapgood! and this is Erin I heard," he smiled taking the snake girl in a warm hug.
Erin was in heaven, the teens body was soooo warm and she felt soooo good right now, "Ahhh you are so warm," she just had to say a she melted in his arms and kept hugging him far too long!
"All my race run a little warmer than humans do and mom was right Azanah-Shuggoth do hug one well!" he said noticing that Erin was wrapping all of her long body around the teen boy right now to her sudden embarrassment!
"Azza-what?" Penny questioned as a now red face Erin uncoiled herself from being around Velmeran.
"Azanah-Shuggoth is basically translated to 'snake-woman' or Medusa or Lima from our native language." Sassnick informed giving Penny a hug in greeting, but one that was far shorter and less personal than Erin's!
"Well the train should be along in seventeen seconds if its on schedule and it normally is 'dead on' time!" Velmeran smiled taking Erin's bag for her.
"What is you name?" Erin asked forgetting to ask sooner!
"Velmeran or Vel for short and my sister is Sassnick or just plain Sass or Sassy!" he jested his sister and her head shook to the playfulness of her brother.
"Yep he's Vel....short for village idiot!" she played back as the train came rolling into the station and the last two cars of the line stopped on their side of the invisible wall.
Strangely none of the other passengers made way to the empty cars, but shoved their ways into the other six making up this train.
Sass smiled at them, "They can't or don't see us or the last two cars. You could jump up and down, call their names, insult them and they would not even notice it!"
"Ohh I SO am going to have to learn magic mom!" Penny giggled at the sight and gave one man the next car over 'the finger' to see if he would react...he never did even when staring right in her direction!
"Magic is not easy and most of us humans never get it unless we were born to it hon?" Sophia told her teen.
"Ohh magic is easy...we can teach ya!" Sass offered.
"Ohhh no, none of that GOO magic Sass! Your mom does not like that and you know it." Sophia warned her.
"Okay we can teach her normal," Sass air quoted with her fingers, "Human magic' and maybe Fae style magic then it will be fine Mrs. Hapgood!"
"Had better!" Sophia warned again just before Erin finally woke up with a jump from being enthralled by Vel, "What do you mean human" Erin paused thinking about the idea that the pair were not human for a second, "both of you are not humans or mutants...you and your sister?"
"Nope," Sophia quipped back shaking her head to the now aware teen, "Not human at all...GOO," the mother spelled out slowly "...great old ones, deep ones, dark ones, old gods, new gods, the risen, enlightened beings, daemons, demons, angels and so forth." she quickly listed off to the teen's growing surprise!
Erin had to ponder over that long and strange list versus her new found lust for the pair. Especially Velmeran!
When the subway rolled out of the station it was connected to the rest of the main train for only a few minutes before the last two cars broke away with a small bump and headed down their own track at an even higher speed. The school used many of the LA Metro rail system lines, most of those only showed up on the very oldest of the systems maps as 'abandoned' even at that time, but the school kept them all in tip top shape!
"Where is this going to and in such a hurry!" Penny asked.
"We or the school has its own branch line that feeds out to the island, one part is subway high speed rail and the other is high speed cargo for our weekly needs out there off the coast." Vel smiled as the cars started to slowing to a stop at the school's private station.
The car stopped and Erin was still asking Sophia about Vel, his sister and their mother, "So not human at all and they look like this?" Erin questioned the idea with a wave of her hand towards the brother and sister pair.
"Yep and if you ever saw them as they are normally without that 'disguise' you would go insane or just plain drop dead on the spot...its a coin toss!" she laughed to the teen.
"Well I think I'll go for the wild side and maybe, if Vel agrees go on a few dates with him. If Penny thinks that is cool?" she asked the newly changed girl.
"Fine by me, we can share!" Penny grinned back, "Or make arrangements somehow?"
Sassnick elbowed her brother as she helped him gather the bag of their guest for the day, "Way to go BRO! Now maybe you can try shifting your form into something more like her body shape for practice? Because you have not done anything but regular humans up until now!"
"Shape shifter powers too!?" Erin squeaked out.
"Well ya when you really don't have a set one, you can be anything you really want to. But we mostly stick to humans though, because that is what our race used to be eons ago." Vel explained as he held the car's door open for all the ladies.
The small group walked off the subway and Sass pointed to one of the very large waiting elevators in a long line of ten of them, "Up we go!" she said hitting the button for ground level just as Vel being last in scooted past the closing door.
"Darn thing tries to eat me every time, I swear the safety system is cursed not to recognize my race at all!" Vel shouted at the now closed door!
"It just does not like you Vel, it never closes on me brother of mine!" his sister sassed back keeping very much to her nickname!
The elevator doors opened up a few second later to the huge lobby that was styled much like the Union Station's was in LA, where the high speed rail that carried the group from Las Vegas had its last stop. This huge lobby and its surrounding building was a southwestern pueblo styled affair of stucco walls and red tiled floors with lots of dark wood trim. Art deco chromed trim that showed the buildings age of being built in the 1920's or there abouts, then add the murals on some of the walls from the era.
Sassnick took the lead for her guests and Vel was in the rear with him towing two bags for the ladies. She waved on as the lobby opened up even more to show small mall unto itself! "This is where you can buy your basics if needed she pointed out the line of shops ranging from clothes to snack food and more than basic needs for a student...personal needs, class supplies and other needs.
"This was the main administration building back when the island was a huge military base." Vel pointed to a huge ramp going back down, "Below us are just miles of tunnels and other underground bunkers. Ohh and be warned, don't go exploring down there. Please stick only to the mapped out and marked out sections. Because some parts of down below are very extremely dangerous and off limits to all students." Vel added with a warning.
"Don't worry about that too much, we students use the tunnels all the time when its raining or too hot and like Vel said stick only to the main parts, you'll be just fine," Sass said while pointing out a map covered wall showing all of the island and a detail of this very building with a directory of all of its many levels, "Most of this building is used for the school's daily admin and as a gathering point for the students. This map also shows you the general layout of the island."
"The north end of the island is allocated to Fae students only part of the school and a grove?" Penny pointed out the sectioned off part of the map and the wilder looking area on the far north end of the island.
"Yes that was a major part of the mandate that founded and funds this school, one that states that the Fae have their own private schooling, classes and student housing to fit their special personal needs for both learning and living environment." Vel said.
"But you can take many of their classes if you first learn the basic language that Elven or Fae races use. I would highly recommend do just so, with your armor being magically enhanced and most certainly made on a large part with some sort of magic assistance." A familure voice said just as the lobby's door swung open and revealed Kyley to the group.
"Heya mom, we escorted them all here just as you asked us to." Sass grinned to her mother.
Kyley held open the door for the group, "Well if you are all set, please lets continue with your tour?" she asked.
Once the group reformed outside, Kyley pointed out a large bronze sculpture of a an American Indian medicine man in full dress standing on a cliff seeming to reach out, stretching his right arm out for something very important!
"This is the academy's statue representing the tribe that this place is named for and one of the huge reasons why the Federal government leaves us alone here! He is striving for knowledge in this pose." Kyley told.
Sass whispered to the two girls, "We students really think he is a moron and he is falling off the cliff!" she giggled and even Vel joined in on the mirth.
Vel took the time to stop and tossed the girls bags onto a waiting cart, then waved the driver off, "Take them to their assigned rooms and they will check in later...thanks."
"We are staying here mom?" Penny questioned thinking they would be staying at a hotel on the mainland for a few days, to see the campus plus the sights in and around LA!
Kyley spoke up before Sophia could, "Why not stay right here, its summer session and we have more than enough room with most of our students being either at home or out doing summer class work study off campus. Then add we expanded the campus and will be opening vast new student housing for this coming term."
"Ohh mom did you get them into the way cool senior housing on the cliffs facing out to the pacific?" Sass beamed a question over to her mother.
"Yes I did of course, only the best to show this place off to my old friends!" Kyley smiled back as she led the group off across the campus and then pointed out a huge building looming up on their path, "This is, the 'Chief Wild Eagle' Memorial multi-sports and entertainment complex, the chief was a big factor in getting the academy started and he head up the feds not being able to bother us out here!"
"What is going on in there today?" Penny asked noting the huge banner and animated 3D display showing robots fighting inside a forest it seemed?
"Ahh that's the robotics and tech students having the end of summer battle, it decides class rakings going into the school's full regular term and session. That honor lasts until we have battles at midterms. Most of the major classes or mutant powered have some sort of rivalry or competition going on all year!" Kyley told the teen.
"You guys compete in that too?" Penny asked Vel and Sass next.
"Ahhh not really allowed to, we are GOO or something similar to that term. So they really don't like us competing with and maybe hurting the other kids." Vel replied with his personal disappointment showing on the matter in his manners.
"But we do it anyway and call it 'practice!'" Sass whispered over to Penny.
For the next hour or so, Kyley showed the mother and two teens most of the campus. The newly built student housing, all the labs for different sciences ranging from cutting edge medical to beyond reason robotics! The mass of classroom buildings scattered amongst the island boggled the mind and the list of various classes they offered Penny as a student was insane in its scope.
The Academy had its own large service docks in the island's sheltered cove in case the school needed to receive something so large only a ship could carry it and its own hidden airstrip plus hanger complex buried in one hillside. These were all leftovers from the island's war service years. This place even had a hidden underground sub pen, not mention the several subway lines that connected the place back to the mainland.
The last part was Kyley leading the group into a huge tunnel entrance that headed into one of the cliffs ringing most of the campus at the island's center, it lead to a large glass windowed cafeteria that hung off the cliffs facing out into the pacific ocean. Penny grinned at the place, "Nice mom, what a view to eat by!"
The cafeteria was a large several story glass bubble that covered the cliff face from the peak all the way down a few stories into the ocean's waves washing against the glass! A few of those stories were below the tide line so you could see fish swimming by as you ate!
Food service was a mostly buffet style that seemed to operate 24/7 and offered all meals during the day. You could have breakfast at night and grab dinner in the early morning! Kyley also pointed out one of the place's many levels, one even offered a more personal dinning service for the school's staff and guests.
Next Kyley lead the group on a short elevator ride up that opened to onto a well appointed lobby that looked like it was from a five star hotel and then she lead them down a long hallway of dorms it seemed and she finally ended the tour at one of the doors.
That door opened up to what she called one the "Senior year suites" and they were top notch to say! Each one was a huge central gathering room that connected from four to six one person student units, each with its own bath!
What nearly floored Penny and Erin was that 'gathering room' had a balcony that overlooked the west side of the island facing out into the pacific...an ocean view worth millions here in LA.
"I am going to leave you all here to unpack and rest up. Please meet us in the cafeteria for dinner. Maps to this building and the whole island are on the table and feel free to go anywhere not marked as off limits or locked...please for your own safety." Kyley asked as her kids left the room.
"Will do 'K'!" Sophia smiled to her old friend.
Kyley ended the short tour with a question as she closed the door, "So I am sure you would love it here, but sleep on it and tell us your decision when you want."
But I have to thank, Both Branek and Nuuan for their vast input and the ability they both have to 'bounce' off ideas and improve them!
To all my readers who have e-mailed me and given support--THANKS!
Please feel free, to add a review to this story and others. As those kind words are 'cookies' that keeps that muse well fed on the 'sometimes' long breaks between stories!
this warning is for our story stealers off site, not the BC family of readers we all know and love!
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.