Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

It's a small, small (superheroine) world (For BRR & MMRS)

MildmanneredRedSonja

MildmanneredRedSonja

Star
Joined
Jun 16, 2017
Some might call it a cupboard. Others might call it a curio cabinet. It wasn't that big, really. Perhaps thirty centimeters wide, sixty centimeters high, and just deep enough to accommodate a handful of figurines. The cupboard itself was of more than adequate workmanship. Nothing fancy, mind you. No detail work or scrolling on it. But it had the look of being crafted by someone who, if not artistic, was a more than capable craftsman.

He place it in the shipping box first.

After that, he added a bottle of talcum powder, the sort that could be bought at any small store. He added along five candles, still sealed in the wrappers they were bought in. Each of the candles was of a different color: black, yellow, red, white and green.

Beside the candles, he added a little hand written note that read

罗盘

He then added a miniature set of bellows that, unlike the cupboard, had intricate carvings on the handle of little cupids in various poses.

Then he added five action figures, each approximately fifteen centimeters (six inches) tall, each still in their original package, and each marked "Mint." And each was of a different superheroine.

There was one of Storm from the 2000 movie, a second of Emma Frost from the movie X-Men: First Class, and one of Zatanna from the TV series "Smallville."

The fourth one was unusual, as it had a picture of the packaging of Lynda Carter's Portrayal of Wonder Woman with the words "25th anniversary" also boldly printed on the package.

But it was perhaps the fifth one that took the cake. The figurine inside the package was definitely Power Girl. Or at least she had Power Girl's body and was wearing Power Girl's costume. But the hair was all wrong. The hair appeared a shade or two darker blonde, and instead of the short hair cut associated with Power Girl, this figure's hair reached the upper portion of Power Girl's signature breasts.

A sticky note attached to the package read:

VERY RARE!!!!!! In 2010, there was a rumor that a Power Girl movie was being made, with Diora Baird being cast in the title role. Someone jumped the gun at the licensed factory, and did an initial run, but got the hair all wrong. Only one run made, not complete, and most destroyed. Perhaps only five in the world still exist. ---J

He filled the box with enough styrofoam peanuts to make sure everything was secure, then wrote a note.

You can either collect or you can play. You can't do both. Magic is a fragile thing. Fail to be gentle, and the magic will fail.---J
PS---Figure things out, and perhaps I might send more.

He then sealed the box, wrote the appropriate address on the box, and sent it on its way.
 
Leo was the loner sort. At eighteen, he still lived with his father, though he was gone so often he might as well be lining alone. From a young age, he had always been more confortable in a corner with a book that in the center surrounded by others. It's not that he disliked people. Far from it, in fact. But he was shy, and growing up with a pair of yet-undivirved parents who were always angry and would explode at even the smallest slight, he had learned it was best to be quiet and out of the way.

Leo wasn't an ugly teen. He had been told he had a cute face, though he guess that meant young. He was a solid six feet tall, thought he often kept his head down, making himself seem smaller. He was thin, probably too thin, as he wasn't the best at always remembering to eat. He wore a pair of thick glasses, a medical necessity that had been a source of bullying and mockery for as long as he can remember. His eyes behind them were a vibrant green, almost unnaturally so. As for clothes, he went simple with T-shirts and jeans most of the time. His hair was light brown, always a bit messy no matter how hard he tried to straighten it.

When he received a package from a distant relative earlier this week, he had of course been skeptical. After all, he couldn't even remember ever meeting the man. So why he would send him anything was a mystery in its own right. But even more confusing were the contents itself. A cabinet, mint condition action figures, and other random goods? It was all just strange and thus he ignored it.

That had been Tuesday. Friday was graduation, an event to which no relatives came and he had no friends to share a tearful goodbye with. He was out of high school and onto the next phase of his lonely life. It was at this low point, this place of wishing for some sort of connection, that he decided to figure out this bizarre puzzle. It was almost certainly nothing, just the scrawlings of a crazy man who believed magic was real, but it was still a connection with someone that cared enough to get him a very nice (albeit strange) gift.

So as darkness settled over the house, Leo got to work. He was pretty sure he understood the basic meaning of the note. By collect, he meant to keep them in the box in their mint condition state. As such, he assumed play meant taking them out as they were mutually exclusive. He knew these would have to be worth a ton of money. After all, the rare toy market was incredibly lucrative. Leo could either sell them, or open them in a desperate attempt to connect with this unknown relative. A few minutes later, all five figures were out of their packaging, arranged neatly on the shelf of the cabinet, committing himself to this fool's errand.

Next came the note with candles. Sadly, he didn't speak Chinese, meaning he had to try to translate them. However, it turns out there were way, way too many characters in the language, forcing Leo to search through them one at a time. It took over an hour, but he finally found what he was looking for. With the help of Google translate, he found the meaning: compass. He guessed this meant the candles had to be arranged like a compass. He began to search the sent items along with the internet for anything that would indicate which color went with which Cardinal direction.
 
He closed the door to the cabinet, suddenly getting an idea. He went to his computer and began his search, finding exactly what he needed. The word compass wasn't in Chinese just to be read; it was referring to the Chinese association of colors with the cardinal directions. With that, he pulled out his phone. Using it as a compass, he placed the candles on top of the cabinet. To the north went the black, to the south was red, the the east green, and the the west white. In the center went the yellow. He lit all five of the candles, wondering if something would happen. He even opened the door to look at the five figurines.
 
In five miniature heads, five versions of "WTF?" were occurring simultaneously. On the top shelf, Ororo Munroe had been in her study grading papers, when in the blink of an eye, she found herself facing...

Emma Frost? That couldn't be Emma Frost. Emma Frost had died decades ago. But the woman in revealing lingerie looked exactly like the pictures she had seen.

So naturally Ororo's first instinct was to use her atmokinetic powers. Except the wind would not be summoned, nor any other related weather element.

Emma Frost didn't know where she was either. One minute, she had been mentally manipulating General Armivolkoff in a Moscow hotel room, the next, she found herself facing a young black woman with long, white hair. A woman who was making motions with her hands and arms. Motions which Emma instinctively interpreted as the harbingers of a mutant attack. Emma's immediate reaction was to transform herself to her diamond form and mentally probe the mutant before her.

Except Emma's body refused to cooperate. And for one of the few times in her life, Emma found the thoughts of another human being a complete mystery to her.

On the shelf below, Princess Diana, in her guise as Wonder Woman, had just finishing aiding Major Steve Trevor in defeating a Nazi plot on American soil, when she suddenly found herself...

Well, she didn't know where she was.

"Diana? Where are we? How did we get here?" the question was asked by a brunette in a tuxedo. Well, half of a tuxedo. The bottom half was missing. Was very definitely missing.

"Do I know you?" Diana asked the brunette.

"Zatanna. You..." Zatanna's eyes darted over Wonder Woman's costume, and lingered for a second over the Amazon's cleavage. "You look very different."

Before Diana could respond, a voice behind said "Zatanna? Diana? Where are we?"

Both women turned around to see a statuesque woman with past shoulder length dirty blonde hair and wearing a white, form fitting costume that definitely drew attention to her bust line.

"Who...are...you?" Diana and Zatanna said in unison.

"Kara. Kara Zor-L. Power Girl," the buxom blonde answered, as if it was an obvious answer.

"I...I know Kara Zorel," Zatanna replied, her gaze lingering this time on the exposed portions of Power Girl's breasts. "You don't look anything like her."

"I don't feel like I should either," Kara replied. "I feel like someone roofied me with diluted green kryptonite."

On the top shelf, Ororo and Emma, not deterred by their unexplained loss of powers, were grappling each other. On the bottom shelf, Diana, Zatanna and Kara were trying to understand their mutual recognition and/or lack of recognition, as well as their sudden loss of power. Strangely enough, all five seemed not to have taken notice of the gigantic Leo nearby.
 
Leo couldn't have moved if he wanted to. His entire body was frozen as he watched the scenes unfolding before him. He hadn't actually expected this to work. Yet here he was, watching a a set of figurines come to life. He had looked the figures over before. There was no battery or power source to them. They were just regular action figures. Emphasis on the were.

As he watched them play out, he could also hear them speak, another feat that should've been impossible. This was becoming almost too overwhelming. But at the same time, he felt more drawn in than anything else. He felt like Alice, falling in the rabbit hole. He needed to know whete it led.

"Umm, hello," he said, keeping his voice down. He didn't know if the movies were true where big things would sound louder to small people, but he decided it was best to play it safe. No need to deafen them.
 
The physics of magic being what they were, Leo's voice was not as loud or as reverberating as he might have feared. But it was loud enough to stop Storm and Emma Frost in mid-struggle, and definitely loud enough to stop Zatanna, Wonder Woman and Power Girl in mid-discussion. Five tiny bodies remained motionless as five tiny eyes focused on the giant who had uttered on those syllables, as five tiny minds considered what it meant to appear in a strange place, powerless, in the presence of someone more than ten times their size.
 
"Umm..." he muttered, not sure what to say, his shyness kicking in as he felt those little eyes burrowing into him. He always had trouble being stared at, and as it turned out the size of the eyes didn't effect that feeling. He looked away, his face turning red with embarrassment as he tried to figure out what to say. "Sorry," he finally settled on, apologizing as a default response. "I didn't think it would actually work."
 
The five figures were unwavering silent for a minute, before Zatanna asked (in a voice louder than one would suspect from a woman so small), "What exactly did you not think would work?"

This, of course, led to Storm and Emma Frost looking over the edge of their shelf and down at the three DC heroines, startled to see three costumed women in the same predicament as they were. Which of course surprised the bottom trio, to see two Marvel heroines looking down at them. All questions were put on hold, however, as all five women focused on what kind of answer the giant male would provide.
 
"Umm...uhh," he stuttered again. Nothing was making sense and he was quickly starting to become overwhelmed. He closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths. He did nothing but focus on his breathing, something he did when he began to panic. Freak out averted, he opened his eyes and tried to focus on the women. "Right-okay," he started, trying to figure out what to say.

"Okay, so in my world, you guys aren't...real," he said, already feeling stupid. Could he even explain this. Nonetheless, he continued. "We have stories about you in comics and television, but not in real life. You're really popular, so there are action figures as well. Someone sent me...well...you," he said, gesturing to all of them, "along with hints for a spell. Apparently, I cast the spell, and here we are." He had no idea if his explanation made any sense to them, but he hoped it would at least help.
 
Except for Zatanna, all the women remained silent, trying to let this sink in. Zatanna just shrugged.

"Multiple universes," she said nonchalantly. "Apparently, the five of us are from different universes, with some overlapping. Could you tell me something about this spell...and I guess you know who we are, but we probably should be calling you something besides 'Hey you."

"Hey, who put you in charge?" Emma Frost yelled from the top shelf, which caused all five women to begin loudly 'discussing' the subject among themselves.
 
The sudden eruption of bickering once again caused him to be flustered. He was still very unsure of what to do with this situation. Still, it seemed like they weren't going to settle their disputes anytime soon. "I'm Leo," he said, breaking their talk by speaking louder than before. "And while I don't mean to take sides, if Zatanna knows about these things we should probably listen to her." He proceeded to give her a rundown of the spell, explaining the cabinet, the note, and the candles in as much detail as he could. He then watched, hoping she'd have some insight.
 
Again, the 'discussion' among the five women came to an abrupt halt when Leo reminded them of his presence.

Zatanna listened to his description with intent interest, nodding at different times as Leo described what he had done. "Leo, if you would, could you pick me up and set me down among all the objects that you used? And were there any other objects that you might have received?"

On the top shelf, Emma Frost immediately protested. "Hey, who put you in charge?"

"Unless someone else is versed in the mystical arts, I'm the obvious one to go investigating," Zatanna answered.

"Well, maybe I should help Leo. I'm pretty sure he would find the 'investigation' a lot more interesting," she added, turning her attention to Leo with a sultry smile and not so subtle arching of her breasts in his direction.
 
This made Leo blush. He had absolutely no immunity to women, even if the women in question were only six inches tall. After all, every one of them was a beauty. "It can't hurt to get a second opinion," he told Zatanna. He reached out a hand towards each of them, letting them walk onto his palms before lifting them up to the top of the cabinet. Once they had stepped off to be amongst the candles, he went over to retrieve the bellows and the talcum powder. The whole time, his confused mind only seemed to speed up. He was also feeling immensely guilty. He had ripped their consciousnesses from their timelines and implanted them into dolls. Hopefully he could help to right this wrong of his. "Here's the rest," he started, walking on his knees the short distance back to the cabinet. As he did, he stumbled, causing him to accidentally squeeze the bellows, sending a woosh of air down at Power Girl and Wonder Woman. "Sorry," he quickly apologized.
 
Both Wonder Women and Power Girl stumbled at the blast of air, but other than have their hair put into disarray, nothing happened.

Zatanna walked around the candles, kneeling and knocking on the cabinet, then turned back to Leo. "I want you to lay everything on the floor. Besides the cabinet, that is. Put everything, including candles, on the floor. Then put everyone except me back in the cabinet."

"Hey, why you?" Emma Frost interrupted.

"Because, if I'm right, I'll send everyone back home," Zatanna asserted.

"Oh, right then," Emma said, then turned to look up at Leo. "You heard her. Put me back in the cabinet."
 
"Okay," he said, reaching over so his hand could once again serve as a platform. Once Emma Frost was back in position, he began following Zatanna's orders. He placed everything on the ground as she ordered. However, as he did so, he couldn't help help but be worried. Could this spell be undone so easily. And did he want it to. His honest answer to the second was no. He had just met these new people. He didn't want them to go away so soon. But what they wanted mattered. Bringing them here against their will and impeding them from leaving would make him a kidnapper. So he went along with the small magician's commands.
 
"Put me down among the items, so I can take a look at all of them," Zatanna asked Leo, "And then put everyone else back in the cabinet."

"Yeah, hurry up, I want to get out of here now," Emma complained.
 
Leo didn't bring up any objections. He let the girls walk onto his hands, returning Emma to the cabinet while Zatanna was placed on the floor. "What about you?" he asked her. "If you're not in the cabinet, how will you go back?"
 
"I want to observe something," Zatanna said. Emma Frost looked like she was going to launch yet another objection when Zatanna interrupted. "Close the door quickly, Leo!"
 
He felt bad closing the door in their faces and cutting her off. However, he had already agreed to help. Plus when he was yelled at, he instinctively followed. So without much thought, the door was closed, effectively trapping the four women in darkness.
 
He did as he was told, opening up the door. He was very curious to see what the end result of these actions would be.
 
The four tiny women were gone, and in their place were the four original action figures.

"Well, that explains that," Zatanna said with a nod. "Now, before we do any more investigating, why don't you remove those four figures from the cabinet. I need to ask you some questions, and we'll probably need to do some research on that computer of yours."
 
For some reason, he felt substantially lonelier with them gone. He was strange and got easily attached, that much was clear. With great care he removed the plastic models, taking care not to damage them in any way. Once they were out, he picked up Zatanna and carried her over to the computer. "What do you need to know?" he asked, interested what she was going to do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom