Down the Rabbit Hole (IC)

[Electra]

"Sorry," Erin said firmly to the dog-faced creature, "but it's not your choice whether he stays or goes, no matter how good he... smells. Whatever. He gets to make the choice on his own, and we're going to make sure he has the opportunity to make it. So why don't you all take a big step back and give us some room." She reached out to pull the threatening spear away from the dog-faced creature, but made no move yet to draw her own weapon.

[Cyroa]

Erin's hand blurred out and grabbed the weapon before the little fellow had time to blink; apparently he was caught off guard by the manuever. Nor could he hope to compete with her to hold on to it. In the blink of an eye, she was holding the spear. It was also at this point that she noticed that the head wasn't actually sharp at all. It look purposefully rounded and had no edge to speak off.

The man kind of blinked in surprise. "Um...yeah. Ok, let's all just chill. I'll go back. Just for a little while ya understand. Got some things to take care of..."

"NEVER! Fecundians, attack!" With a cute roar, the horde of little 'people/animals' surged forward...a lot quicker than they appeared to be.

[Cyroa]

James grinned, highly amused as Erin decided to not be patient with the little yapping fellow. Unless these guys had way more going than they appeared to, he doubted there would be any trouble at all. The only thing that did kind of make him reconsider was the sheer amount of magic in the area. Well, that and the fact that they somehow could dimensional travel. Still, he might have to seal that off.

“Well it’s on now,†he said with a cold grin…

[Cyroa]

The little denizens speed caught even Wander off guard, moving before she could respond. There was a swarm of them, so many and so fast she simply couldn't get out of the way. Of course, that didn't seem to matter as their little weapons, fists, claws and teeth barely qualified as being noticeable to the super tough heroine. Within the blink of an eye, she had dozens of them climbing all over her as if he was some kind of large jungle gym. Their little weapons stabbed and hacked. They pulled and pushed, trying to topple her. At least she thought that was what they were trying to do considering how incredibly ineffective they were against her. Within seconds, Wander couldn't be seen through the large pile of them on her, not that it seemed to slow her down much. James for his part wasn't nearly as invulnerable though they didn't have too much luck on him either. But there were a could significant gashes as they piled on him as well...

[Electra]

The little creatures may have gotten the jump on Erin, but she'd gotten her start fighting against swarms of implacable enemies, and she didn't let them keep the advantage for long. Of course, these harmless little creatures were hardly zombies, and she kept herself firmly in check as she began mowing them down, tapping them to knock them unconscious rather than trying to take their fuzzy heads off. They didn't take a lot of fighting. She started with the ones surrounding herself and James and began working outward, so fast she was almost impossible to see. After a few moments of that, she started feeling like Little Bunny Foo-foo among the field mice, but there were some situations where some simple head-bopping was clearly called for.

[Cyroa]

James' contribution to the fight was...well, really not noticeable. With Erin tearing through the little fellows like there was no tomorrow, the actual number of opponents to deal with anywhere close was minor. Obviously she had this well in hand. So James did what any bored young man in this situation would do. Grinning, he grabbed any that remained conscious (by some miracle) and simply threw them at Erin. That would pretty much guarantee and end to the squirmy little fellows. And it was funny too!

[Cyroa]

While the guard stood by watching dumbstruck, the various inhabitants were sent flying or dropping to the ground in the whirlwind of destruction that befell them. The little denezins realised, a little too late, that, tactically, attacking Erin was a blunder of historic proportions. The guard gaped and did his best to try and calm the situation with the occassional "uh, hey...there's no need...that's enough of that...". Meanwhile, the horde of attackers were now decimated. There was a cry of "Run Away" that filtered quickly through them as they turned and quickly ran off at impressive speeds!

[Electra]

Erin broke off when it became obvious the retreat was in full effect, holding her bat and observing the wide swath she'd cut through the room. There was no real carnage, hardly even any blood, just a whole lot of dazed and sleeping little animal critters. "Right," she said, leaving the bat open for the moment, just in case. "I guess that's taken care of. But I still can't find the little rabbit thing that took my beacon." She walked a few steps, as though she might miraculously spot him among the unconscious attackers on the ground.

[Cyroa]

James shook his head ruefully as he looked around the area. He seriously doubted these folks would ever forget the day Erin had wandered through them and decimated hundred...and never even noticed their resistance. Probably keep them from sticking their noses back into our dimension again too, he though, amused. Still they did need to find her beacon and return King Stinky home.

[Cyroa]

'King Stinky' just blinked as the whirlwind of destruction known as Erin came to a hault and wasn't even winded or scratched. "Uh, you mean Lenny? Ah don't really know his real name, can barely pronounce it. So I call him Lenny." He looked around and shrugged before yelling. "LENNY! YO! LENNY, WHERE ARE YA?" And a moment later, 'Lenny' (the same, it seemed, little fellow what had taken Erin's beacon) stepped out from behind the throne. "Uh...yes my lord? How may I serve you?"

[Electra]

"That's the one," Erin confirmed, glaring at the annoying little monster. "He got my beacon and ran off with it. If I don't take it back with me, I'll never hear the end of it." She put out a hand. "So why don't you give it to me now, and there won't be any more trouble." She gave a significant glance to the piles of unconscious and dazed creatures before returning her glare to Lenny.

[Cyroa]

'Lenny' blinked at Erin, ears twitching. "I did? I don't recall. I do seem to pick up quite a few little trinkets. Nevertheless, we wouldn't want anymore unpleasantness," he said hastily. "Let's just see what I've picked up recently." He began reaching into this little pockets on his vest, pulling out all manner of items. From a shoe to a rubber chicken to a used SAM missile launcher to a half-eaten hot dog....the bizarre mix continued on and on, creating a rather sizable pile around the little fellow. But one item of note was Erin's beacon, complete with a piece of used gum stuck to it.

[Electra]

Erin snatched up her beacon, flicking the gum off it without twitching a hair. "All right," she said, sticking the beacon back into her pocket. "Let's get out of here before the audience wakes up and gets frisky again. Can you get us out from here, James, or do we need to get back outside?" She kept an eye on Lenny, making sure the weird little creature didn't try anything.

[Cyroa]

James nodded with a smile. "Nice place you have here. Love the decor. Oh, and one last thing Lenny, don't ever come back to our dimension ever again. EVER. Or we will come visiting yours and not be so nice about it either." If Wander mowing through several hundred of them without blinking could be considered nice that is. Still, James figured that particular event would leave quite the impression on them.

Stepping back, he concentrated. He couldn't take them both the normal way. King Stinky was just too massive to take without some extra effort. Still, a moment later and with the faintest whiff of brimestone, they were back in the department store standing over the empty shoes. "Home again, home again," he said with a smile.

[Electra]

Erin breathed a sigh of relief to be out of that weird, weird little world. "All right, job well done, I guess." She put away her bat and handed the "king" his shoes. "Here you go. Try to stay out of alternate dimensions full of cartoons from now on." She looked over to James. "We done here?"

[Cyroa]

James laughed lightly, and took Erin's hand. Leaving the bewildered and somewhat forelorn guard in the store, they vanished, reappearing back at the school's rec room. "Well, that was easy. Very wierd, but easy."

[Electra]

"That may well be the weirdest thing I've ever done," Erin said, shaking her head. "But you're right, once we got past the giant dog, beating up a bunch of cartoon characters wasn't too hard. I kept expecting something bigger and badder to show up. Is that the sort of thing you have to do every night, run out and pick up people who've gotten pulled out of our dimension?"

[Cyroa]

James chuckled. "Sometimes, not too often though. Usually it's the otherway around. Something trying to get in here rather than someone from here getting lost. Sometimes, well more than just sometimes, its a fight because they're trying to screw something up, but occassionally they've just gotten lost. Random portal event kind of thing." He shrugged a little. It was a subject rather close to Erin's heart since she was not native here as well. And Phantom's guidelines were not the easiest to follow. Still, he did the best he could. "It's nice when they're willing to talk first. But that is far from the norm really."

[Electra]

Erin grimaced at that. "Yeah, that part sucks. But I guess sometimes someone really dangerous could get through, and that would be a problem." She paused and thought about that for a minute, then decided that she would intentionally overlook the irony there. She sat down on the couch instead. "I wish we'd done this before Mark and I had to go do that stupid magazine interview. They asked what our strangest adventures were. I could've told them about rescuing King Stinky the security guard from the Legion of Excitable Fraggles."

[Cyroa]

James nodded. "It's more than just an occassional threat, believe me. It's been keeping me busy as all heck," he said, not using the hell word like always. Patrolling the dimensional borders was more than a 1 person job. Phantom had only been doing it for a couple years by herself and he had no idea how she managed. Though she was far better with the magic thing than he was honestly. Still, he'd be happy when she was all settled in and able to take some of the load back. Then he might get a break...in 3 or 4 years, he thought with a chuckle.

He grinned at Erin. "That would have been a wonderful quote I'm sure," he smiled. Inwardly, he thought of something to do first thing in the morning. A nice, well funny, gift fort his friend. "I've avoided the press so far, though I'm due. Probably going to have to not mention the whole dimensional guardian thing."

[Electra]

"That's surprising, given your background, but you are pretty elusive," Erin allowed. "Even those of us who know your habits find it hard to keep track of you these days. Keep an eye out for Mark, though," she advised. "Eventually he'll probably pin you down and throw you to the lions at Teen Hero. Getting an interview with Hellion would be a way bigger coup than one with Wander, especially given that their main audience is teenage girls. The fan mail will come pouring in," she teased.

[Cyroa]

He chuckles. "I don't mind the press. I'm used to it. It's just that I've been busy. I do so little with YF these days. I barely see you guys." He shrugs. "But I'm not exactly that guy the press knows anymore either." He grinned. "Heck, I barely have time for dates now. The horrors, I know," he said with a wry grin. Though, as much as he missed his regular social activities, he missed Erin and the others more. "Still, it'll ease up tons once Phantom gets back up to speed," he said hopefully. He was still committed to his path, he was just hoping for some more downtime.