“Did you just threaten a room full of high powered dungeon bosses, Ray?,” asked

Johnny Mac. “Is that what I just saw?”

“That is exactly what we saw,” said Buble. He rubbed his furry face with his hands.

“We could have been discorporated.”

“What do you think will happen to Chevren?,” asked Ishvar. She looked at the closed

door.

Ray rubbed his face with his normal hand. He looked at his group. He shook his head

at them.

“The Duke wasn’t going to do anything in front of Woad,” said Ray. “And your sister

has problems if Woad and the Duke think she is too dangerous to have around.

Eventually she would try the same scheme again if they let her live and keep her

magic.”

Ray pointed at Johnny Mac.

“And you’re the one with a rifle ready to shoot anything that moves,” said Ray.

“It’s not like bullets would work on the Duke,” said Johnny Mac. He handed the rifle

to Buble. The butler put it in his jacket for storage.

“They might,” said Ray. “Especially here. So you’re going back?”

“Yeah,” said Johnny Mac. “I know I said I wanted to be out of the weirdness, but

Buble and I can do things there that I can’t do on my own at home. Getting my record

clean for my mom was a huge draw, but here I can have it clean and get paid to save

people.”

“Are you going back to your tower, Ishvar?,” asked Ray.

“Yes,” said Ishvar. “There is no place in the world for a magician like me.”

“You know that’s wrong,” said Johnny Mac. “We would love to have you on our

side.”

“Really?,” said Ishvar. “And why’s that?”

“Because we’re going to be chasing monsters and villains,” said Johnny Mac. “We’re

going to need a cannon on the job, and your real face will get us entry into parties.”

“Do you really think so?,” said Ishvar. She seemed to be trying not to laugh.

“Tell her, Ray,” said Johnny Mac.

“They’re going to need someone with a level head,” said Ray. “Someone like you

who knows the scene, and how to get around. I think you could stand to hang around

the younger crowd for a bit even if you don’t have anything in common.”

“Why aren’t you going back, Ray?,” asked Ishvar.

“I have a family to get back to, a company to run with a few hundred employees I’m

responsible for, and thousands of customers that have to fleeced,” said Ray. “I can’t

drop all that to move away. If I could bring my family over, and keep the company

running, I would consider it.”

“We might need your help on a job, Ray,” said Johnny Mac. “We wouldn’t have won

if you hadn’t taken the brunt of things.”

“You would have,” said Ray. “You would have just needed to change your focus a

bit.”

“If we needed temporary help, would you consider that?,” asked Johnny Mac.

“Maybe,” said Ray. “But I wouldn’t get my hopes up. On the other hand, we could

recruit adventurers through the company if we got desperate enough. We would have

to ensure their safety so they wouldn’t die because we yanked them to Grimsmir.”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?,” asked Johnny Mac.

“Maybe Brain,” said Ray. He put on a squeaky voice. “But I don’t know where we

can get a thousand dancing hippos.”

“What?,” said Johnny Mac. “No. You’re talking about boss raiding on Grimsmir with

your game company. That’s crazy.”

“I don’t understand,” said Ishvar. “What are you two talking about?”

“It’s a stupid idea for an instant army,” said Ray. “There’s no way we could do it.”

“But if we could, we would be able to drop down on bad guys and take them out in

mass any time we wanted,” said Johnny Mac.

“I understand the idea, but I still don’t understand how you would do anything like

that,” said Ishvar.

“Neither do we,” said Ray. “It has potential in case the Abyss invades, or something

large scale happens like underground monsters suddenly invading the surface. I just

don’t see Woad allowing it since he seems to prefer single champions instead of

teams.”

“They all do,” said Johnny Mac. “I wonder why.”

“It’s the balance of power, Master John,” said Buble. “One man, or woman, by

themselves can’t really alter the landscape as much as say a team. If His Grace

decides to honor your request, it will be the first time that a permanent relocation of

an alternate influence is allowed. All of his peers will see you as his hands in the

world, especially if I am detached from my house duties to accompany you.”

“And if they have a problem with the way he’s doing things, or the way I do things,

I could expect a visit from someone like Lightner, or Ray,” said Johnny Mac.

“I’m afraid so,” said Buble.

“That could be great, or bad, depending on the situation,” said Johnny Mac. “I think

we can take them.”

Buble’s ears drooped at the statement.

“I think you need to write that letter to your folks,” said Ray. “They’re going to want

to know what happened to you. And Buble is going to have to figure out how to move

any gold you get to Earth so you can pay their bills while you’re here.”

“Thanks for reminding me,” said Johnny Mac. “Can you help me with this, Buble?

I don’t know what to say.”

“I will be glad to, Master John,” said the butler. “Let’s get a table and a chair, and

some writing things. I think we should stick to the truth as much as possible without

telling them what is really going on.”

Ray watched as the two moved down the hall and set up. They would be great

partners if they didn’t kill each other first. He might be looking at a pairing to rival

Holmes and Watson.

“How would this instant army work, Ray?,” whispered Ishvar. She watched the

partners with her arms crossed.

“Like I said, we don’t have magic where Johnny and I are from,” said Ray. “We have

a lot of things that could be taken for magic if you didn’t know how they worked. Part

of that is something called the Internet. People from all over the world can talk to

each other instantly. They can share moving pictures and music. Part of the Internet

likes to play games where they are in the moving picture as something called an

avatar.”

“All right,” said Ishvar.

“What we are talking about are creating avatars on Grimsmir for people from my

world, and telling them that it is part of the game and they are doing a raid on a

legendary monster, or location,” said Ray. “If the avatar is destroyed, they are sent

home without being hurt.”

“An instant army?,” said Ishvar.

“An instant army with magic spells, or weapons, that isn’t afraid because they can

only be exiled and not killed,” said Ray. “Woad would lose his mind if anyone tried

that. I think all of them would.”

“But it is doable,” said Ishvar. “There was a legend before my time that one of the

great kings needed to fight an army to save his kingdom. He called forth a horde to

destroy his enemy. After he had won, he ruled in peace for many years until he died.”

“Did the legend say how?,” said Ray.

“No, but what if it was like this game of avatars you described?,” said Ishvar.

“You’re saying someone like me was the king and he knew how to create an army

from nothing and unleashed it when it was necessary and killed his opposition to keep

his throne,” said Ray.

“Maybe not quite like you, but close enough,” said Ishvar. “No one has ever done the

same thing since.”

“Johnny Mac could do it if Buble backed him up,” said Ray. “I would hate to think

what kind of trouble he would be in if he decided to try something like that.”

“It could make him a king,” said Ishvar.

“It could get him killed because everyone would be afraid of what he could do,” said

Ray.

“The world might band together against him,” said Ishvar. She nodded. “On the other

hand, he might not have to resort to that much violence to change the world.”

“Are you going to help him?,” said Ray.

“I don’t see why I should,” said Ishvar.

“I think because you’re lonely is good enough reason,” said Ray. “That’s just me. I

don’t know. Maybe you like living in your TARDIS shack with people too scared to

visit, but I don’t think that’s you. I think you like to adventure, but you don’t have the

right crew. Plus as a woman, you’re probably looked down on and you don’t like

that.”

“You know me so well after only days of working together,” said Ishvar.

“I think I have a good read,” said Ray. “And I think you need Johnny and Buble to

remind you there are people who will fight for you if you want that.”

“I can look after myself,” said Ishvar.

“I’m just saying,” said Ray. He made a gesture with his hand to show it wasn’t that

important to him.

“If you didn’t have your ties, would you stay on Grimsmir?,” asked Ishvar.

“I don’t see why not,” said Ray. “I only saw a little bit of the world, and the part I saw

didn’t seem that dangerous until the end.”

“I have thought about traveling the world,” said Ishvar. “Most of the people who visit

me want me to cause some destruction for their enemies. I usually just take what they

offer, and give them nothing.”

“This might be a chance for you to get out of your rut,” said Ray.

“I like my rut,” said Ishvar. “I have everything I want, but maybe just staying home

is not the greatest of choices for someone like me.”

“I get it,” said Ray. “I don’t like to travel myself, but it’s part of my job. I learn

something new every day.”

“How much do you teach?,” asked Ishvar.

“I have no idea,” said Ray.

“Ray,” called Johnny Mac. “I think I got it. You said you would mail my letter to my

folks?”

“I would be glad to do that,” said Ray. “Don’t worry about stamps. I can cover that.”

“Thanks, Ray,” said Johnny Mac. He handed over an envelope with an address

written on the outside.

Buble put the table, chairs, paper and pen back in his pockets without a flourish. He

assumed his standard attention pose at Johnny’s elbow.

“I have been talking to Ishvar,” said Ray. “She doesn’t get around much, and she was

thinking about joining your team.”

“That would be great,” said Johnny Mac. “Are you sure?”

“Not yet,” said Ishvar. “What do you think about the idea?”

“I think we would be unbeatable,” said Johnny Mac. “Anybody we wanted to bag

would go down like that. And you and Buble know everything about magic and how

to get things done. I don’t know enough about your world to do things without help,

but with the two of you, the sky’s the limit.”

“Clean hands, Johnny Mac,” said Ray. “This is a second chance. You won’t have an

excuse to mess up.”

“I know,” said Johnny Mac. “Thank you for helping me.”

“Thank you,” said Ray. “You guys did the work, and saved the day.”

“Just like the Powerpuffs,” said Johnny Mac.

“Just like,” agreed Ray.

The door opened.

“Come in,” said Woad. “We’re ready to sort things out.”

Ray led the way.