Toys!!
The Supers in Toyland! (Well, not quite)
Here’s the weekly refresher on our daring group of supers, last seen in Remember.
(Check out all the Stories here)
Conduit - established hero, energy absorption and reflection
Blink - trainee, teleporter
Awareness - trainee, telepath - able to sense and send images and feelings
Reset - trainee, able to send himself back in time and change his actions, healing ability
The newest Portal appeared in Central Memorial Park in Downtown Calgary. Nestled part way between the Cenotaph and the Public Library, surrounded by the Park’s statues, the flowers in full bloom, the grass and trees the lush green of late spring.
Frankly, Blink was disappointed.
I mean, he could have walked there from home.
Last week, the Portal was close to Jasper. The jump from Awareness’ cabin to Jasper was almost 500 kilometers! (Although, Pete… the linguist… not “Pete the Mapmaker”… so what does he know… pointed out that that was the driving distance. “As the crow flies”, it was only “351.73” kilometers. Thanks… Pete….)
Regardless, Blink’s range was continuing to improve, so having a Portal within walking distance was a bit of a let down. He did still have to go get Awareness, but that’s practically like walking to his kitchen now.
He had to admit, the portal world did look intriguing. Not a somber museum like the one by Jasper, this one looked like a child’s playroom! The scale seemed a little weird, like someone had left the Portal on ‘zoom’ and dropped it on the ground. That was always hard to gauge due to the Portal’s two dimensionality. There was a crayon the length of a nearby park bench that was especially disconcerting.
And then Conduit and Reset stepped through. The Portal’s view was accurate. The two men moved through carpet fibers that came up to their calves, Conduit gave the crayon a test shove and it ponderously rolled away.
The scientists suddenly snapped into action, this was changing a number of assumptions they had made. During an earlier visit to a cute village called Millcreek, they had discovered the village had actually been miniaturized. The Portal had scaled everyone passing through - that didn’t seem to be the case here.
As there was no immediate danger, Conduit waved to Blink and he stepped through and tested his teleporting. It seemed to work fine, but he was astounded by the size of the room. Unlike last week’s museum, this wasn’t a large room with human sized displays - this was a room clearly built for giants. However much he tried to contain himself, Blink was already shifting from foot to foot in his eagerness to explore.
Awareness reported she could sense a few minds nearby, she identified them as “probably human, and a couple of animals”. She held off on “peeking” through their eyes, she had been cautioned by a fellow Agency telepath that this could lead to various unwanted effects. Again, Conduit’s constant show of restraint proved a good example to the team. They wanted to expand their powers, but a mission was not the time. Especially a recon mission.
Except, of course, the super that seemed built for recon - Conduit gave Blink the nod and Blink was instantly on top of the highest shelf he could see. He slowly rotated to give his body cam a full view of the room, his head snapping around in his eagerness to see it all. Judging by the height of the nearby window this room was in a basement. As soon as he finished his camera rotation he blinked to the window sill.
Sadly, his view was limited by a gigantic metallic window well, confirming that it was a basement window. Apparently the giants lived by the same building code as Calgarians. Craning his neck, he could make out the brickwork of a neighboring building, but not much else. He fought against the urge to teleport through the window. He could already imagine the admonishment he would get from Conduit, “Just because the atmosphere in the room is safe doesn’t mean the atmosphere outside isn’t toxic.”
He satisfied his curiosity by looking around as he made his slow 360 degree turn for the cameras. Stifling a giggle when he saw Awareness playfully treating the foot of a stuffed teddy bear as a punching bag. He did let out an audible gasp when he saw the boxes high on a shelf on the opposite side of the room. He simply couldn’t resist ‘porting over. He could always do the camera work again, but if he was right about what he saw…
He was. He’d recognize that costume anywhere!
He quickly surveyed the size of the shelf and activated his earpiece. “Hey team? You’re going to want to see this! Everyone - stand and face the window. Keep facing the window until I say so.”
He waited impatiently as they inevitably tried to spot him in the room. He knew they couldn’t see him on this high shelf from where they were. Conduit may have suspected a prank, but he also understood the importance of trusting his team on a mission. He took a deep breath, faced the window and motioned to Awareness and Reset to do the same. Blink ‘ported down and grabbed Conduit first.
“Thanks,” he said as he positioned Conduit on the ledge facing away from the boxes. “This will be awesome.”
Two more ‘ports and the team was where Blink wanted them. They were surveying the vast room in awe as he dashed back to the boxes.
“OK!” the glee was evident in Blink’s voice, “turn around!”
Awareness’ hands went to her mouth as she gasped. Blink had to appreciate that she let herself be surprised, she was a good sport. Reset… well, Reset just smiled. The cheater probably did a reset so he could seem cool, but Blink knew he was impressed. And Conduit? He looked almost as shocked as Awareness. His serious demeanor cracking in to confusion.
They were face to face with honest to goodness action figure versions of themselves!!!
In cardboard-backed plastic packaging! With logos and everything!
Granted, the trainees had yet to pick costumes for themselves, but Conduit’s was unmistakable. Dark blue cloth layered with metallic upper body and leg protection covered his body. And on his chest - Conduit’s signature bright blue diode!
Conduit may have hated that diode, but Blink had always thought it was iconic. He had to admit he was tickled to see that his action figure’s green body armor also sported a chest diode. He had been contemplating wearing a diode as an homage to his trainer, and he had to admit the design looked great!
Awareness’ outfit was a dull black and they had incorporated a hoodie, which suited her. And Reset’s was slate grey - but they had given him a glowing watch!
The three trainees wore masks, which Blink knew would give Awareness and Reset some comfort. Conduit had never worn a mask - his power had manifested so publicly it was folly to pretend he had any sort of secret identity now. As Blink dashed around to the back to read the packaging the other three slowly approached their plastic counterparts.
“Still in original packaging.” Reset noted.
“That’s nice, I guess.” Awareness replied.
“What could this possibly mean?” Conduit wondered aloud.
“IT’S TIME TO BLINK!” Blink shouted triumphantly.
They all stared at him as he sheepishly stuck his head out from behind the boxes.
“I… uh… I have a catchphrase,” he offered by way of apology.
Awareness smirked and shook her head, “Ohhhh, I hesitate to guess what mine is.”
“I know how you feel,” Blink intoned from behind her figurine. Her hands covered her face and she massaged her forehead with her fingers.
Blink’s eyes met Reset’s. He smiled as he could see Reset’s eyes widen and words forming. He looked about to say something when they were interrupted by a monstrous “WOOF” and the sound of claws scrabbling on a tiled floor above them.
The paws dashed across the floor above, followed closely by a ponderous thumping sound. The noise was almost unbearable, crashing like the loudest thunderstorm. All four retrieved hearing protection from their belts. A quick mic check and the team looked to Conduit for direction. But it was Blink who spoke first.
“Should we stand really still?” He immediately regretted the words as he faced the three dumbfounded gazes, but he soldiered on, “You know… like we’re toys?”
Conduit looked away for a second, hiding a smile, then replied, “Let’s try hiding first… but I’ll keep that in mind.”
Still didn’t stop Blink from blushing.
The team gathered close and Blink moved them all to the farthest corner of the room, behind a Parcheesi game he had spotted earlier.
There was the brief sound of gigantic claws scratching at the door before it flew open and the enormous dog charged in to the room. A huge boy followed close behind, “What do you hear, boy?”
They were thankful for the ear protection, the volume was tremendous. The words came out in a deep bass, almost inaudible from the distortion, each word stretched out. The dog immediately focused on the Parcheesi board and froze. Body taut. Nose, eyes, and ears pointed directly at the hidden supers.
Conduit smiled at Blink, “To be fair, I think both of our plans were equally out of luck with a dog in the picture.”
The giant dog wuffed in agreement.
With the boy eagerly moving toys aside on the shelves, Conduit looked to Reset with a shrug. Reset pointedly looked to his watch, then nodded back. Slowly, Conduit stepped out from behind the board game. He looked down at the boy and dog.
Slowly, he shouted through cupped hands, “Hello... We didn’t mean to startle you.”
“CONDUIT!!!”
“Uh… Hi!” Conduit gave a shy wave.
“You’re voice is so squeaky!!! Wait!!! Are the rest of the Portal Explorers here??”
Blink had to admire the quality of a child’s mind that allowed them to adapt to the unexpected. The boy, Gronny, had initially thought his toys had come to life, and was rolling with that assumption. He didn’t bat an eye when Conduit told him they were humans from another plane. Seems that was the plot of “Conduit and the Portal Explorers”…
The animated show…
As it turned out, it was the team that was flabbergasted by the thought that they were the subject of a TV show in this world. A world, that as far as Gronny knew, had no superheroes. And everyone was “regular size”, although Gronny did proudly declare that his Daddy was tall, so he was hoping to be really tall, too!
There was a moment of panic when Gronny discovered the glowing portal down in the corner of his playroom and went to stick his finger through it. A loud ‘tink’, like tapping on a window could be heard as his finger abruptly stopped. Blink snickered as he thought of the reaction on the other side as the tree sized finger charged towards the containment team.
Blink sat on Gronny’s shoulder and asked, “How come our action figures are still in the box?”
“Oh,” Gronny blushed slightly, “those are my brother’s collection, I’m not allowed to touch his set.”
“You have another set?”
Gronny smiled, then walked to a drawer and opened it. Inside was another set of the action figures that had definitely been played with. The clothes a little more bedraggled, the joints a little looser. It actually made Blink feel good to see that they had been well enjoyed.
Blinking down to take a closer look at his own figurine he paused. The paint was starting to flake off, and there were noticeable dents. He looked up to Gronny and asked, “Does your Blink figure get into more fights?”
Gronny grinned and scooped up the Blink and Conduit figurines. “Nope! It’s because of your power.”
Blink’s head quirked to the side, but Gronny had already assumed a heroic pose.
“‘Blink, there’s something behind the teddy bears, go check it out’” he said sternly as he shook Conduit’s figure in time with the words.
“‘Ok, Conduit! IT’S TIME TO BLINK!’” - and with that, Gronny threw Blink’s figurine the breadth of the room. It crashed in to the wall and dropped as fast as Blink’s jaw.
Blink could hear Reset chuckling over his earpiece, “I’ve watched that five times now, and it is never not funny.”
This is my response to the Indie Ink Fund’s Week 10 Portal Prompt - The Giant’s Toy Room
As fun as this was to write, it actually does have some odd ramifications - if the Giants have a TV show about the Supers and the Portals, what else could they know?
Hope you enjoyed!
Dave
Dave, these are amazing. and i especially loved this one. ✨🦋
Very cool! I was concerned the dog might try to lick them. I could just imagine how that might go…