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Heroes on the Halfscreen (pods6827 and MMRS)

Steven nodded. "I was referring to the western elements of fire, air, water, and earth," he explained. "Though some cultures had similar sets that substituted 'void' for air, or used wood or metal instead."
 
"Oh my aching head," Zatanna replied, rubbing the temples of her forehead. "This is was beyond me. Though I do want you to bring me over if you ever do figure things out. And even if you don't," she added with a miniature saucy wink.
 
"Oh believe me Zatanna," Steven said, his grin matching hers as the stage magician winked at him, "I have a feeling that we'll be getting to know each other very well in the future."

A brief look at a clock showed Steven that their conversation had been going on for a bit longer than he'd thought; it was approaching the end of the hour long time limit since he'd brought Zatanna out of the TV! "It looks like we don't have much time left before you need to go back," his voice was tinged with a bit of sadness at that, though he knew he could see her at almost any time her show was on. "Any last thoughts before you go?"
 
"Nope," she said with a sigh. "I wish I could be of more help. But if you do figure it out, make sure you hook up a DVD to your television so you can hit the pause button, and not worry about the time limit. Or maybe they'll do a Zatanna marathon," she added with a laugh. "Okay, I'm ready to go back in," she added, holding her tiny arms out, indicating she wanted to be picked up.
 
"You've been plenty of help," Steven assured Zatanna, "I feel like I'm a bit closer to figuring the answer out already, to say nothing of these magic items you gave me." He gently picked her up, carrying her over to the TV stand. "I'll see you around Zatanna, take care of yourself." Giving her a moment to respond if she wished, Steven then placed her back within the television as it returned to normal.
 
Zatanna disappeared into the screen, and the Smallville program continued, as if nothing had happened and one of the recurring characters hadn't disappeared for almost the entire episode. But just before the episode almost ended and the credits rolled, Zatanna appeared to looked out past the screen and give Steven a saucy wink.
 
Grinning at Zatanna's wink Steven started flipping channels, searching for another show to test if he could access it. There was no shortage of possibilities, he mused, after a quick check of the TV Guide, Buffy was on, as was a showing of the original X-Men movie, among others.

Deciding that the movie could wait for a bit, Steven changed the channel to Buffy. It was an episode from midway through the show's run, showing the title character and Faith fighting some kind of monster. He wondered which one of them to bring in, but decided to test if he could even access the universe first. He didn't want a repeat of the Game of Thrones after all, or with Xena attacking him.

Reaching inside he thought of a stake, trying to pull it out through the screen.
 
"Heyheyhey, I need that! We're setting up for...what the hell?"

Steven had indeed pulled out a stake. Or something that looked like a stake, that had been decorated with the school colors of one Cordelia Chase, who was looking around at the giant world that she had been dragged into. Looking up at Steven, the surprise tinged by a number of different emotions coalesced into something akin to disdainful privilege.

"Okay, where am I, how did you screw up and how are you going to fix this?"
 
Steven had been pretty surprised when the stake he pulled out had a person holding onto it, the smaller form of Cordelia Chase hanging on as though for dear life. "Oi, who says I'm the one who screwed up?" he asked, one eyebrow raised at the sight of the young woman, "I was just testing whether I could access your universe by grabbing a small object, you're the one who held on."

"And as for how I can fix it, well, that's simply a matter of sending you back through the TV." He paused for a moment, "Though there's really no rush; no matter how long you spend here no time will pass at all there. Feel free to take a little time to relax from whatever you were preparing for if you like."
 
Even those residents of Sunnydale who actively and consciously ignored the strange occurrences that took place in their not-so-sleepy town knew, on an unconscious level at least, that strange things happened to those who lived near a hellmouth. So whereas any other human being might be freaking out at having been dragged out of her school by a being more than twelve times her size, Cordelia was handling it in stride, more or less. And she was, after all, Cordelia Chase.

"Relax? Relax? The Fall Festival is not going to set itself up, thank-you-very-much," she began, her hands on her hips, her legs set apart, her hair flipped aggressively to one side and her chest thrust out. "I have a whole herd of freshmen who are going to make an entire mess of the thing. So I don't know what YOU did, but you need to UNDO it right now!" she added with an assertive and final huff.
 
Steven raised an eyebrow, slightly amused by the fact that Cordelia wasn't at all concerned about being so aggressive to someone many times her own size. "I can't help but think that talking like that to someone who's quite a bit larger than you isn't a very good idea," he commented, "But if you want to go back to your world then I won't stop you." He reached out and picked up Cordelia, pausing just before putting her back inside it. "Hope you have fun with your party," he idly commented, before preparing to put her back inside the screen.
 
He returned Cordelia to the screen, pulling his empty hand back out when he was finished. "Alright, so I can definitely access that universe," Steven muttered under his breath, "Now I think I'll try to pull out someone else..." Thinking about it, he tried this time to bring out Faith Lehane, the dark-haired Slayer definitely being the type to catch his interests.
 
An intense burning sensation seemed to consume Steven's hand, though when he pulled it out, the hand was injured, and the pain gone.
 
Steven cried in pain as his hand seemed to burn within the TV, and he immediately pulled out. Though the pain disappeared immediately it was a shock to have such a thing happen, and so he didn't move for a moment. He reached over to the Journal and opened it. "So, any chance you know why my hand just felt like I plunged it into a fire when I tried to pull someone out?" While the A.I, or whatever you wanted to call it, had limits, hopefully it would have an answer for him.
 
Hey Grandnephew! How's it going?

Hmmm, sounds like you have a specific problem, and I don't think I have a specific answer. But let me give it a shot.

Remember that every world has its own rules, and sometimes they have interesting denizens. Maybe someone in the world your reaching into doesn't want you reaching into it, and has the means and ways of stopping you. I don't know. Zatanna might know, though.

And if you get your hand slapped, be careful. The next time, it might be more than a slap.
 
"Hmm, so odds are someone or something didn't want me to bring Faith out here," he mused, "Maybe because she's the Slayer? If so then Buffy's probably off-limits as well. But I could grab Cordelia, so ordinary humans might not be."

Setting the journal down Steven looked at the screen as the episode continued. "Hmm, I could try to bring Giles here to test that, and if it succeeded I could ask him for help with the riddle!" He decided to try that out next, though Steven was ready to pull his hand back at the first sign of any pain.
 
"Gah!" Steven cried out when he heard the voice behind him, immediately spinning around to see the two figures standing there. Whatever smile he might have had on his face was gone, replaced by a growing sense of trepidation as he realized that whoever these people were, odds were good that their presence here wasn't a good thing for him.

"Well, I don't believe I've ever been accused of being a genius," he said, a sheepish attempt at levity as he stepped away from the TV. "So, what can I do for you two?"
 
"He probably needs to give us a gift," the male figure said.

"It is customary," the female figure replied. "And he needs to know reaching for Cordelia is okay."

"And Harmony," the male figure added. "She hasn't been turned yet."

"All good advise," the female figure concluded. "As is giving the customary gift. Now." The last word had a chilling and final feel to it.
 
"Of course," Steven agreed, quickly looking around his room for anything that he could offer them. He imagined that it would need to be something substantial, that if he gave something too small it wouldn't end well for him.

His eyes eventually landed on his nearby desk, where a few books were stacked, among them his best copy of American Gods, a leather bound edition of it. Standing up Steven grabbed it from the desk and offered it to the duo. "For my esteemed guests," he said, tone respectful as he waited for their response.
 
"Intriguing," the male figure said, taking the book and looking over it.

"Manifestations of the Powers That Be," the female figure said, taking the book from the male figure. "Irony."

"Four screens and pause," the male figure said, gesturing toward the television. A remote that looked as old as the television appeared right beside it. The controls were basic, except for one button that was marked "1<>4" and a second marked "Pause."

"Does he know the riddle?" the female figure asked.

"The crowns were filed down before he was born," the male figure replied. "His wits were undoubtedly filed down as well."

"We should take our leave then," the female figure replied.
 
"I thank you for this gift," Steven said, pointedly ignoring the insult that they'd casually dropped as he turned the remote over in his hands. "Safe travels to you then," he commented as they mentioned leaving. He didn't really think that they needed such, but in this case it didn't hurt to be polite.
 
Waiting a few moments after the figures left, Steven let out a sigh of relief before turning his attention back to the remote. He gave it a look like he was expecting it to bite him, but then started examining the strange buttons on it. "Let's see, what was it that guy said?" he muttered to himself, "Four screens and pause? I wonder, will this let me split the screen?" Deciding to test it out, the young man tentatively pressed the button marked with a 4.
 
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