Mod Superhero

Chapter 5.20 - Plans

After breaking into the demiplane of the Felwardens, Emmett's group laid low that weekend. Emmett continued making servers while Athena experimented with the stolen magic staff. Clara alternated between looking over their shoulders, doing yoga, and meditating.

It was Sunday afternoon, and each day more and more traffic was coming through the city. Outside the apartment window, there was a steady stream of workers and trash trucks. Emmett felt like they were pushing back the tide a second time—only this time, it was the tide of destruction.

"Aha!"

Athena's voice broke the silence of the room. Emmett sucked in a breath. Thankfully, his robotic arms and hands hadn't flinched, otherwise he would've miss-soldered the server he was working on.

He glanced at Athena. She was holding the magic staff out triumphantly and it glowed with a soft UV light. Clara had been meditating on the floor. She leapt up and went over to the counter.

"I've finally got it." Athena reached over toward the haphazard stack of appliances and pots on the kitchen counter. She set a toaster by itself on the counter.

Athena uttered magic words and the light around the staff flared. This time, even Clara held a hand up to shield her eyes. Most magic glowed blue in Mod's UV vision, but now the light from the staff changed color. It shimmered like the surface of a lake, dancing with blue and purple light.

Athena touched the tip of the staff to the toaster, and the appliance vanished. She cackled with delight.

Clara stared at the empty spot on the counter. "That was pretty cool. ...What exactly did you do?"

Athena smiled. "I opened up a demiplane. ...An admittedly small one, but I also figured out the magic words and intent to use the staff. The hardest part of using an item like this is gaining the initial command of it."

Emmett added, "So not only did you have to sever the mage's control of it, you had to gain control over it?"

"In short, yes. If the staff had been made for me, then it would've been easy—as simple as slipping on a suit of magical armor. But it was made for someone else, so it took some magical convincing."

"But the staff is yours now," Clara said. "So what are you going to do with it?"

Athena shook her head. "I don't think the staff is ever going to be easy for me to wield. I'm not a mage, and I'm not a Felwarden... But it at least responds to me now. As for what I'm going to do... Right now, I'm going to bring this toaster back."

Athena uttered the same words again, her inflection changing slightly. She waved the staff and pointed it toward the same spot on the counter.

Magic sputtered in the air, then fizzled out.

Athena frowned. "This is why I don't do magic."

Emmett added, "That's our only toaster."

"Don't worry. I'll bring it back. The toaster and the demiplane are still there. I can feel them. I just can't pull them out yet."

Now that Athena mentioned it, Emmett could still see a flicker of magic in the air where the toaster used to be. It was nothing like the Ferris wheel portal—it was a magnitude smaller, for one—but the longer Emmett stared at it, the more similarities he saw.

"It's not your imagination," TINA said. Her voice was quiet and in his head. "There is a similar pattern between the Felwarden's portal and this one. Both are demiplane spells, so despite their sizes they both share characteristics. But they both were also created by the same magic staff."