The Amazing Adventuress: Harper Shogan

Book 1: Reunions

Tonight, I have to close up the place on my own; something strange has to happen. All my life, these events only happen when I’m on my own. But now, I don’t know what to do. There’s a comic book in the air, glowing in a godly form, asking to be explored. I might be a natural explorer in my own ways, but I don’t think work is the right place to do it. Just this once, I think to myself.
“Oh well, hope it's somewhere pleasant,” I say as I touch the floating portal. A cry of surprise and joy escapes my lips as I’m sucked into the portal of another dimension: my favorite dimension. I, Harper Shogan, have been mentally traveling dimension since I was a kid in my dreams. Even though I never told anyone about my adventures, it’s been obvious that I wasn’t the type of kid to be immersed into my surroundings. I was always daydreaming about the places I would go, and this dimension has always been my favorite.
When I arrive, the heroes welcome me with open arms, and then go off on a mission.  The first time I was here, I had everything I would’ve had in real life. In the past, they’ve always been happy to see me. I wasn’t inherently strong, but I had the skills and the knowledge to solve any problems the heroes had on scene, every time they had one. This time, they decided to put me on Disturbance Duty. It’s kind of like a “woman–in-the-chair” type of thing. I’m their eyes. Although I love the action, the memories, and all of the things I’ve done to help, I can’t help but acknowledge the fact that this is useful to me. In the comics, there are rules of course; something this luxurious and independent doesn’t come without such specific rules. I have to be back to the portal before the shop opens and the energy of another shifter (though I don’t have a clue who it is) arises , otherwise I’ll get erased from both universes. That’s why this is great for me and them, but I already miss being part of the action.
Right now, I want to be a part of the action. The worst villain is in town, and I know the heroes will need my help. I let out a sigh, pushing myself from the corner to the other side of our control panel. Wildwire, one of the heroes, rushes past me with a limp Lovearrow in his arms.
I start to get up, until I hear: “Harper! We need you out here!” from Stant. I race to my armor, and pull my bracelet up to the armor. My bracelet (although not important right now) allows me to copy anything I want and shapeshift into it. My armor forms around my body while I run into the portal that Wildwire came through.
As soon as I make it through, Frostbite shields me from an electric blast of energy.
She yells to me, “ Get into the building and escort the civilians out!” I nod as I slip through the fog cloud Frostbite and Firefly make into the building. I’m powerless, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help.
I ask the woman who’s crouching on the floor behind the desk, “How many people are here?”
She looks at me, hope glistening in her eyes and replies,“15; Nobody is injured, but there’s kids here,”. I nod at her, advancing to the back of the building. I stop halfway, watching a thick black substance mope around the round. There’s a fire extinguisher next to me and I grab it, sneaking up on the demonic being. I’ve never used a fire extinguisher in my life, so I take my dagger and stab it through the side in the container. Its foamy contents explode, leaving the moping figure stuck to the ground. The civilians cheered, but it was short lived. I hushed them quickly, and ushered them out the back door to the waiting squads of police. The officers nodded at me, but I ignored them and got back into the battle. Frostbite and I blocked the path of the destructive, gigantic mechs; while Firefly, Stant, and an injured Wildwire were trying to attack them.
“How do we kill these things?’’ Stant angrily yells. Their powers are doing nothing to the machines. It leaves me to conclude that they’re being controlled, and we have to deactivate them. I step to the side, where Frostbite has her shield up to cover the civilians and trap the mechanical monsters. 
“Can you cover me? I think I know how to fix this,” I say. Frostbite nods, and I start running down the streets in the main city. I check my phone while I’m running: 9:58. I have 9 more hours. I stop right before the building. The billionaire’s plan to rid the world of heroes who could stop this world from going into absolute poverty by robbing them of their powers. This sounds like something Lex Luther would do in a Superman comic, but no. It’s the governor. I slip past security and into the elevator. I open the shaft and climb out of the elevator. I felt the elevator begin to move upwards and stop on the 28th floor. I crawl through the vent in the elevator shaft into the control room.
The mayor says, “I’ve been expecting you,” I grab my dagger, and throw it close to him, pinning him to the wall. I tie him down with the rope from the elevator shaft, which I cut down to keep people from following me. I deactivate the machines, stabbing my other dagger through the screen in pure disgust of him.
Stant flies up to the floor, and breaks down the door.
“So it was him controlling the robots?” he asks me, a disgusted tone in his words.
“Yeah, but he didn’t make it. It was Gunter,” I reply, nonchalantly gesturing towards the other meeting room.
“Wire and Frosty are downstairs dealing with the press. You better hurry, our issues are coming out next week,” he warns, stepping onto the floor.
“Thanks in advance, tell Frosty I need a soft landing, and I’ll get us some food,” I say, dragging the tied up man towards Stant and leaning my body off the floor. I look down the shaft to see a dangerously dark elevator, and sit down on the ledge. I hear Frostbite open the elevator doors with a grunt. Another grunt follows as she pulls her body out of the elevator, and uses her powers to allow me to slide down the wall into a pool.  I slide down the slide, and Frostbite pulls me out before I can get to the pool.
“Save that for him. I’m coming with you,” she says. I nod at her, and we crawl back into the elevator shaft and walk out the backdoor and down the alleyway.  We step out into a busy street of  PNN reporters, cameras, and microphones that they shove in our faces as soon as the door. Frostbite looks like she’s about to say something, but I grab her arm and push through the crowds to a store. Once we’re inside, Frostbite puts a long beam of ice between the door handles, locking us inside.
“Frosty, you know I have to go soon, it’s almost morning for me,” I whine, grabbing us a seat by the window.
“Of course I do. You can’t make it home if you’re packed in a room full of people burning with questionnaires,” she replies, taking a small sip of her coffee and a bit of her bagel. “We’ve missed you, you know. We haven’t seen you in over a decade, and you’ve grown so much. Anyways, care to explain how you ended up here?” she stares at me curious, waiting for a ridiculous answer.
“Well…I jumped into a portal during my work shift at the comic store,” I say sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head and suddenly finding the urge to stare out the window.
“You what?” she yells, and everyone in the cafe goes quiet. They stare at us until Frostbite glares at them and scoffs. They suddenly get much louder, trying to cover up our conversation.
“Yeah, I was unloading comics and one of your new issues started glowing and this cosmic portal opened up-” I started explainings
“So you decide to go in!” she interjects
“Yes.. I was bored out of my mind. Plus, don’t you want me to be an adventurer  Mom?” I say, teasing her with the nickname. She always acts like my second mother when I’m here, and I appreciate her, but it’s hilarious.
“I don’t mind you calling me that, but if you ever tell anyone about it I’ll freeze your tongue off. Got it?” she warns, leaning forward with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
“Yes ma’am. Anyways, I should be heading off now. The boss on shift is so strict, and he always sneaks up on me.” I say, finishing the last bites of my bagel and coffee. I get up and walk to the door, pulling the small but heavy ice beam out from under the door handles.
“Alright, be safe,”she calls, sitting by the window. I can see the sadness in her eyes, so I walk over and hug her tightly.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” I whisper before I let go. I walk out of the store, and break out running down the boulevard. I check my phone with a glimpse, and I slow down once I see that I have some time to spare. I decided to walk around the park nearby, knowing that I can stay here to avoid the press and provide an easy getaway once I feel ready to return. I sit, listening to the sound of birds and watching the leaves fall. I should come here more often, I’m sure Mr.Turner won’t mind, I think to myself. I slowly stand and walk to the portal, longing for a more peaceful time.
I push my hand on the statue, feeling my hand past through it to feel the crisp air of the storage room. My bracelet doesn’t deactivate as I step through, almost faceplanting to the floor as I walk in. I sit on the crate, suddenly feeling sleepy.
But a “Harper?” in a low whisper snaps me out of my sleepy state, and throws me into a state of panic. I recognize that voice, but not in the way I’m supposed to. Not here, not now.
“Harper,” he calls again. I turn around to face him, smiling like a madwoman.
“Yes Mr. Turner?” I reply, scooting away from him.
“What… What are you doing?” he asks, cocking his head to the side, and then stepping forward and looking around. I sat, thinking for a second. He didn’t mind it, because it was 4 in the morning and I “had” been here all night.
“I’m… I’m trying on a costume for Halloween next week. I just got it from the store an hour ago after I was done cleaning and I had to make sure it fit,” I say, rubbing my eyes. It was a dumb lie, but I had to come up with something.
“Then.. how didn’t you get locked out?” he says, now seeming suddenly concerned about my integrity as his employee.
“Sammy gave me the keys, remember?” I say, quickly picking the keys up and shaking them. The noise of the keys seems to shake his expression into a softened one.
“Those are the keys to the storage Harper. But yes, I remember that. Since you seem tired, why don’t you get home and come back in two hours?” he proposed, no longer having concerns about my loyalty, but now my health.
“Sure, that sounds like a good idea,” I say, going over to my time-in sheet, clocking out and grabbing my bag.
“See you later Harper,” he calls.
“Goodbye Mr.Turner,” I reply. Everything was fine, or at least that’s what I thought.