Jack found himself standing in what he now considered his everyday clothes of

  Deadpool shirt, jeans, and sneakers. He needed to change his look. Maybe he should

  go with the black suit all the time.

  Elaine stood beside him, wearing a simple white tunic with a symbol on the front. She

  looked around, hand pushing back her dark hair from her face.

  “I don’t remember seeing this in your wardrobe,” said Jack.

  “I gave it up,” said Elaine. “I couldn’t follow the calling any more.”

  “Why are you two in my dreams?,” asked June. She wore her track suit and running

  shoes.

  “I think we are in each other dreams,” said Aviras from above them. “This is my

  rightful size, but I don’t usually casually sleep.”

  “Pick me up,” said Matilda, holding up her arms. “You are so tall here.”

  “I thought Jack was exaggerating,” said Beatrice. She crossed her arms and looked

  up at the blue dragon towering above them.

  “I wouldn’t do that,” protested Jack.

  “Ha,” said Alicia.

  “Where are we?,” asked Melanie. “Why are all of you in my dream?”

  “We’re sharing the dream,” said Elaine. “I don’t know why.”

  “I guess the Society wants to meet all of you,” said Jack. “Maybe talk about the

  Enterprise.”

  “Why wouldn’t they want to talk about the great big starship in orbit overhead?,”

  asked Josie. She rubbed her face. “This is great.”

  “Hello, kids,” said a resigned voice. “You are supposed to do the jobs and go home,

  not hang out.”

  “It’s Mister Warner, Josie,” said Jack. He put on his grin as he looked at the shopkeep

  and former champion of order in his bowtie and jacket. “I didn’t think they could

  reach Earth to pull you into a dream.”

  “I’m not on Earth,” said Warner. He gave Jack an irritated look. “You’re smarter than

  that.”

  “You came here after I sent the letter?,” said Josie. “You could have sent us a reply.”

  “Looking old, Mister Warner,” said June.

  “What are you doing here?,” asked Warner. “Don’t you know this world is dangerous

  for dumb people?”

  “I invited her to talk to Jack, but nothing seems to have gone right with that

  decision,” said Josie. “Instead I have two people keeping secrets instead of just

  coming out with it and sparing me the headache. And I got Pete’s Dragon on top of

  that wanting to steal all the ice cream in the city.”

  “I don’t want all the ice cream,” said Aviras. He picked up Matilda and put her on his

  head for once.

  “What are all these kids and a priestess of Kord doing here?,” said Warner. He

  gestured at the Ducklings and Elaine.

  “I haven’t been a priestess in a long while,” said Elaine. Her face firmed up under the

  question.

  “And these are Josie’s kids,” said June. She almost had a grin to match Jack’s as the

  old man’s frown deepened.

  “They are my adopted sisters,” said Josie. Her tone spoke the volumes of

  unreasonableness she was about to invoke. “And they are great.”

  A door opened in the cool night air. Twelve people in suits came out and took their

  places at the stone chairs forming a semi-circle in front of the group. They sat down

  as the door closed.

  “This is the Society,” said Jack. “Society, you know Josie and Mister Warner. This

  is June, my sister, Beatrice, Laura, Melanie, Angelica, Alicia, and Matilda. The

  dragon is Aviras. I don’t why he is so big, but he’s smaller in the real world.”

  “We have several issues that we wish to address,” said Center right. He rubbed his

  chin as he regarded the crowd. “We thought it would be more reasonable to deal with

  everything all at once.”

  “Before we get into all that,” said Jack. “You know you guys are invited to the

  wedding when we have it?”

  “We will consider it,” said Center left, exchanging a glance with Center right. They

  looked like a married couple to Jack.

  “I just wanted to come by to talk to the kids,” said Warner. “After I am done, I am

  going back into retirement.”

  “The watch will remain yours,” said Center right. “It won’t work for anyone else. We

  learned our lesson with your ring.”

  “We could take some years off of you,” said Jack. “I have been wanting to experiment

  on some things in the back of my mind.”

  “I think I will take my chances,” said Warner.

  “Jack did turn a guy into a baby,” said Josie. “He might have refined the process

  enough to be useful to you.”

  “We’ll talk about it,” said Warner. “I’m about a day out from Hawk Ridge.”

  “We have an airship,” said Jack. “We can pick you up.”

  “That was a nice piece of engineering if I say so myself,” said Hap.

  “I thought so,” said Jack. He stuck his tongue out at Josie.

  “I will rip it out of your head,” Josie whispered. The glare was easily readable by

  everyone involved.

  “Let’s get back on track,” said Center right. “Oliver, if you want to visit and help out,

  it would be appreciated, but we will let you stay in your own world if you want. Now

  let us talk about these children and the dragon.”

  “There’s nothing to talk about,” said Josie. “They are under my protection until the

  end of time.”

  “Really?,” said Center left.

  “They have helped with our quests, and Aviras is turning into an all right counselor

  when he isn’t trying to get ice cream,” said Josie. “I’m not turning them loose into the

  city to fend for themselves.”

  “We can send you back to your world, and cut you off,” said Center right.

  “You do you,” said Josie. “The kids are staying with me until they are ready to leave

  on their own.”

  “And the dragon?,” said the bow lady.

  “He’s mine,” said Matilda from the top of Aviras’s head. “I am taking care of him as

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  best I can.”

  “He’s ours,” said Beatrice. “That’s just the way that is.”

  Everyone’s eyes turned to look at Jack. He grinned back, hands in his pockets. He

  decided that if Josie could stand up like a momma bear, he could ease back and try

  to change topics to something no one could argue about.

  “We still have to fix all these women that we have aboard the Enterprise,” he said.

  “Any suggestions?”

  “You could try to separate their base form from the added goblin tree taint with the

  transporter,” said Hap. “I know you did something like that with your magic form.”

  “I guess I was hoping for something easier to use,” said Jack. “I could set up an area

  to just PET scan them and then zap anything that looks like a fungus.”

  Hap nodded.

  “We still need to set up housing for them,” said Josie. “Guin and Jane were supposed

  to look into that. I need to call them.”

  “Would it be okay if I signed up to be a champion of order,” said June. “Josie said I

  should talk to you about the job.”

  “Why would you want to complete quests for us?,” asked the sword man. He tapped

  his blade against the sole of a boot.

  “I’m having some problems back home, and I am taking on my last fight,” said June.

  “I thought I could come here and start over.”

  “Really?,” said hat man. Jack thought he saw some of the wings move as he fiddled

  with the hat in his hands.

  “Juniper Esmeralda Lee,” said Center right. He leaned forward in his stone chair. “To

  be our champion, you would have to be little more honest, a little more willing to

  fight for others. Do you really think you can do the same thankless work we drafted

  Oliver Warner, Josephine Fox, and your brother to do?”

  “We know about the debts,” said hat man.

  “I can do the work, and I owe a lot of money,” said Juni. She frowned at the way

  things had been exposed. “I can be more than one thing.”

  “I think we shall put your assertion to the test,” said Center right. “Hap, we will need

  a watch for three personas. Juniper Lee, you can pick three personas to put on the

  watch. You will have the three days you were going to hide out fulfilling the quest.

  If you are not successful by the time the sun goes down on the third day, you are to

  go home and take your punishment.”

  “Right,” said June. “I’ll have Jack and Josie to help me. It will be a snap.”

  “You will do this alone,” said Center right.

  “Sir,” said Jack. He didn’t know why he was sticking up for his sister. This was what

  she wanted, but he knew that she needed help just to get started. “In the interest of

  fairness, June is going to need someone to show her how to navigate the world.”

  “Do you really think so?,” said Center right. “You didn’t.”

  “I have been trained by the Army to make things work out,” said Jack. “I spent time

  chasing around strange places, talking to strange people, trying to complete strange

  objectives. June is a weak gladiator. She can’t handle what I can.”

  “I am not–,” started June.

  “Shut up,” said Josie. “You are about to wreck yourself.”

  “I think one of us should be there to give her some coaching,” said Jack. “We had

  already decided to give her a com band so she could keep in touch in case of trouble.”

  “That would be fair, I suppose,” said Center right. He smiled. That made Jack smile

  on the inside. He was about to get June out of this mess since the three champions

  present could easily do any quest. Three days wasn’t a lot of time, but he could do it.

  “Matilda Raylen of Karieda, step forward.”

  Jack felt everything going sideways like a crashing plane.

  “Me, sir?,” asked Matilda. She indicated herself with a thumb.

  “Yes,” said Center right. “Come here.”

  Aviras put Matilda on the ground and the two of them advanced. Fire played on his

  snout.

  “In this next quest, you are responsible for making sure that Juniper Lee is coached

  to her goal,” said Center right. “If you don’t want to, we will send her home to deal

  with her problems like the responsible adult she is.”

  Jack covered his face with a hand. He turned a glare on his sister. She didn’t look too

  happy about what was going on, but he didn’t care. He knew this was going to be

  trouble.

  He knew it.

  “This is a test, isn’t it?,” said Matilda. “Not of Juni, but of me and Aviras. You don’t

  think Aviras is a good guy, and you want to see what he will do with someone who

  doesn’t know him. You know I can’t stop him from causing problems, but you want

  to see what he will do.”

  “We also want to see what Mistress Lee will do with unlimited power,” said Center

  left, a small frown on her face. “Some will give in and become more horrible than

  they ordinarily would.”

  “I understand,” said Matilda. She looked up at Aviras. She patted his leg. “We can do

  this depending on the quest. Aviras is really smart, and I am a good reader.”

  “So you will undertake this quest?,” said Center right.

  “We’ll have to consult with Josie and Jack first,” said Aviras. “Then we will start on

  what you need us to do.”

  “We will give you five minutes for a consultation with Master Warner present,” said

  Center left. “After that, your task will be started because the sun will be coming up

  in the waking world.”

  Jack waved everyone into a huddle. He turned his gaze on his sister. She winced at

  the furious look he gave her.

  “What are you doing?,” he asked. “How could you drag Matilda into this?”

  “Focus,” said Warner. “You can be angry later. We need to get June kitted up with

  something she can use since the watches don’t give exact matches for abilities.

  We need a mage, a fighter, and a backup. Any animal hero will be the animal.”

  “Can she get a subset of our abilities?,” said Josie. “We can give her a version

  of Zatanna, or Zatara. They operate with wish magic instead of backwards talk.”

  “Ask,” said Warner. “Think about what you are familiar with, June.”

  “Can she get characters from our watches to use for this quest?,” asked Josie.

  “No,” said Center right. “We don’t want to duplicate powers.”

  “All right,” said Warner. “That cuts all Marvel, DC, and the public heroes used

  by Dynamite.”

  “It cuts the licensed books from those companies too,” said Jack. “No Joes,

  Transformers, most of Dark Horse and IDW.”

  “That leaves Image, and anyone who went out of business except for Charlton and

  Fawcett,” said Josie. “Except for maybe Ditko’s guys like Static.”

  “That gives us Archie, Dell that Shooter turned into Valiant, First, Comico, maybe

  Pacific, maybe Broadway, maybe Moore’s ABC, maybe Malibu,” said Warner. “The

  Turtles, and the Tick.”

  “Harvey,” said Josie. “They had superheroes too.”

  “I’m familiar with Image, especially Astro City, and Valiant,” said June. “I know a

  little about some of the rest.”

  “Does Image count as a universe as a draft?,” asked Jack. Everyone gave him blank

  looks. “Hey, does Image count as a universe, or is it studio to studio with them?”

  “Studio to studio,” said the owl woman. “Also universe to universe.”

  “Crap,” said Jack. “Thanks.”

  He took a moment. They could still use Image, but it would be a little tougher than

  he had thought.

  “Three minutes left,” said Center left.

  “We can’t use the original universe for Image,” said Jack. “We can only use the

  individual books. So we can get Invincible, but nothing from Liefeld, Top Cow, or

  Spawn.”

  “I could get Astro City,” said June. “I know a lot of the characters.”

  “They won’t be the same,” said Josie. “And you only get three to pick for this one

  quest. Winged Victory would probably be the closest to the original, but Samaritan,

  the Gentleman, Cleopatra wouldn’t be the same.”

  “We have to gamble,” said Warner. “I don’t like it, but the only other universe that

  will give us a wizard out the gate is Archie. Shooter didn’t use magic in Valiant or

  Broadway, and we might have the same problem with Pacific, Comico, and First, that

  we have with Image.”

  “You’re talking about the Crusaders,” said Josie.

  “Yeah,” said Warner. “Can you think of a mage from Astro City? That will be the

  fastest way to find things and complete the quest.”

  “Simon Magus,” said June. “He was in the story where the aliens infiltrate the world

  and start rounding up the heroes.”

  “Simon Magus, Winged Victory are two,” said Jack. “Who do we get for the third?”

  “Two minutes,” said Center left.

  “None of the animal heroes like Nightingale, Flying Fox, or G-Dog,” said Josie. “We

  need a movement specialist. If we get M.P.H., will it give June his super speed?”

  “If I pick the Hanged Man, will it give me his ghost powers?,” asked June.

  “Maybe,” said Warner. “Also there is a charge issue that we didn’t cover.”

  “We don’t have time now,” said Jack. He considered all the heroes from Astro City

  they could use. “Matilda will have to massage things with her brain power and help

  Juni get done.”

  “I can do it,” said Matilda. “And Aviras will be my assistant and he is way smarter

  than I am.”

  “June will have to test this limited watch,” said Aviras. “She will be the one whose

  life depends on being able to use it.”

  “All right,” said June. She clapped her fists together. “I think we’re ready to go.”

  “I’m really mad at you right now,” said Jack. “I’m not going to sabotage you over

  this, but there were better ways of doing things. I could have built you a custom

  watch given enough time.”

  “And you’re in trouble and you hid it,” said Josie. “We would have helped you

  without concern if you had leveled with us. And you dragged one of my kids into this

  too. I’m close to wringing your neck right now.”

  “You guys are missing the point,” said Warner. “This is more than a test of character.

  I don’t think they are going to give June the character base she wants. I think they are

  going to give her the characters they want her to have and dare her to overcome the

  obstacles.”

  “So even if she picks three, she might get someone like Jack in the Box,” said Jack.

  “She might get three random characters from the Ultraverse,” said Warner. “What is

  she going to do with Solitaire?”

  “Oh crap,” said Jack. He could see that everyone didn’t know what that meant but

  they knew it was bad for Matilda and they didn’t like it.

  “Time’s up,” said Center left. “Step forward, Juniper Esmeralda Lee. It’s time to start

  you on your quest.”