[M&M OW] When Djane Met Serene

[Djane]

"A student! Impressive."

The man with the gun held Jane's wallet, leafing through her cards. "A law student. Ha. It's funny how life works, isn't it? Maybe I can hire you someday – "

"Don't even joke about that." Jane and the man with the gun turned to the second one present, who was fiddling with a plate glass case. "We aren't gonna need any lawyers. We're taken care of. Don't jinx it."

"I'm not, I'm not." The man tossed Jane's wallet back on her lap. "Relax, sweetie. You'll be outta here soon as our driver gets here."

Jane didn't say anything. Inside, she ran through the possibilities. They were all wearing masks. All of them, the two in the room with her and the one on lookout, were using codenames. Tom Hanks for the man with the gun, Chevy Chase for the man working on the plate glass case, and Bill Murray was on lookout out front. At least they were smart. She felt a little better about that.

She looked over at the plate glass case that Chevy Chase was trying to open. Inside of it was what she'd attended the auction to fantasize about affording: a one of a kind Zippo lighter, with a ruby embedded in the base, a strange tint to the metal and concentric circles etched into the finish. Over eighty years old. Thought to be a prototype for a lighter that was never produced. Someday, she told herself. Someday all her studying would pay off and she'd buy herself something like that.

Why was he opening it, though…?

"Why are you opening it?" Tom Hanks looked askance at Chevy Chase.

Chevy Chase shrugged. "I wanna touch it."

"The boss is paying us so much money that – "

"He'll never know. I wanna touch it. Just to say I did."

Tom Hanks threw his hands up and walked away. Jane adjusted her posture in her seat. She looked down at her wallet.

Jane Taylor. 21 years old. Law student. Her wallet had her credits cards (a little behind on those) and her loyalty cards and her ID. She thought back to the man on campus asking her to get an organ donor card. She'd laughed him off. Right now, she wondered if she shouldn't have.

Chevy Chase popped the case open. He reached a gloved hand inside, and pulled the lighter off of its plush cushion. He whistled. "Man."

He flipped the lighter open. He smiled, and flicked the flintwheel. There was a spark, and then…

Then the lighter started pouring smoke. Chevy Chase's eyes widened as the smoke poured forth – all different colors, black smoke, white smoke, red smoke, all mixing together. It shimmered in the light. Jane felt the hairs rising on the back of her neck.

"What the hell?" Chevy Chase waved his hand through the smoky cloud…

There was a buzzing sound, and then a puff of smoke, and then Jane just stared as Chevy Chase was turned into a red-haired, seashell-clad mermaid.

She flopped to the ground instantly, a long fishlike tail unspooling behind her, the lighter rolling out of her hands. She stared at the lighter, and then down at herself. "I – what – the – "

The smoke cloud grew. Tom Hanks ran back in the room. He stared at the cloud. "Oh my God, you idiot you broke it you - " He stared at the woman on the ground. "Woah."

The cloud seemed to turn, to focus on Tom Hanks, and it expanded outwards, growing by the second. Tom Hanks staggered backwards as the cloud washed over him. There was another flash and another puff of smoke. When it faded, Tom Hanks had been turned into a small corgi. It yipped softly.

The mermaid shouted. "Zack! … I mean, Bill Murray! Get in here!"

Bill Murray ran in, even as the cloud continued to expand. The cloud rippled, and there was another puff of smoke. Bill Murray vanished. In his place was a perfectly painted oil canvas likeness of Bill Murray, in an ornately wrought frame. It tipped over and fell to the floor.

The mermaid tried to crawl away, even as the cloud rippled again, and the mermaid and the corgi froze in place and turned to stone. The air rippled, and then it began raining skinless bananas. Jane finally couldn't hold it in, and screamed for help.

She leaned backwards, tipping her chair, and wriggled free. She thought of running, but a part of her reminded her: sure didn't do them any good. So she dove under the cloud, and grabbed at the lighter, trying to force the cap shut…

And suddenly, she understood.

The lighter contained raw magic. The cheat codes of the universe. It was impossibly ancient – before it was a lighter it had been a lantern, and before that, an oil lamp. For a long time, the power of the lamp had been bound to its occupant – a genie, a being of incredible magical might. The genie had gone, but its power had stayed. And without someone to restrain it, to focus it, to interpret how it was used, it was simply attaching it to whatever stray thought floated nearby it, and growing by the second.

The power needed someone to control it. If necessary, to control it forever.

Jane's life flashed before her eyes. A life of watching her parents as they acted indifferent to her grades, never giving her the praise she wanted for the good ones, or the attention she craved for the bad. A life spent learning the lesson they taught: no one mattered more than Number One. A lesson she'd taken to law school and to life. With all of that, there was no reason she wouldn't just run as far as she could and let someone else clean up.

But nonetheless, she held the lighter in both hands, understanding what it was, all that it was, and she spoke.

"Yes."

The cloud surrounded her. She felt it seep into her flesh all the way down to the molecules, down to her very soul, down to the very meaning of her name. She felt it twist until a new name felt true and the old one felt false, and the rest of her followed suit. She dissolved into mist, leaving her clothing and all of her past-due credit cards and student ID cards behind. The mist was sucked back into the lighter, which clicked shut.

The police eventually came. They were curious why the three men kept babbling about some killer cloud – one of them kept crossing his arms across his chest, another kept sniffing the back of the paddy wagon, and the third, well, he didn't say much, or move very much, either.

All three of them went to jail. It turned out that they did need a lawyer – not that it did them much good.

As for the lighter... well, that was another story.

[z-Watchwoman]

White Tiger wasn’t sure what warned him but the feliod criminal ducked. He wasn’t quite fast enough to avoid the whole blow, but the boots that were aiming for his shoulder blades landed a glancing blow on his left shoulder instead. The catman hissed and regained his balance, just as Watchwoman landed in a crouch, releasing the line she’d been swinging on. The catman smirked, a surprisingly natural expression for a man with feline’s face, and asked, “Looking for some of what I gave the Watchman. I’ve got that and more for you.”

The black-clad for spun in a fast arc and White Tiger howled as two throwing stars struck him in the shoulder. Hissing, he pulled them out and threw them back, only he didn’t know what he was doing, and the stars wobbled off into the dark. A loud growl ripped out of his throat as he pounced at her, his claws sweeping down. She dodged easily and made her own downward sweeping motion. A pop was followed by the shhhhh of escaping gas, and smoke billowed up around them.

White Tiger lunged for the edge of the smoke, knowing that the lack of visibility would hinder him. He landed just as he heard something metallic roll to a stop just in front of his feet. White Tiger looked down, his yellow eyes widening with fear when the realized it was a grenade. The explosion knocked him into the air and dropped him into unconsciousness.

When he woke up, he was hanging from a light post, bound in the Watchwoman’s swing cable. Half-a-dozen cops were looking up at him, laughing. “Wakey-wakey, Kitty-kat. We’d like to have a few words with you.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A very disgruntled Watchwoman sighed as the police took the growling White Tiger into custody. She’d wanted to talk to him, but he hadn’t woken up before the police had responded to the disturbance from the fight. Watchman would have handled that better, she thought as she turned away and began to swing her way home. He’d taught her so much, but he hadn’t been able to impart most of his wisdom before his death. Her chest hurt, just as it always did when she thought of her father. Watchwoman pushed the emotion aside; it would only distract her.

There was one consolation: she’d gotten the stolen goods he’d been carrying on him. Alan would see that they were returned to the proper owners. For now, Serene had a date with a massage from Alan and a hot bath. It had been a long, fruitless night and she needed to relax.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Serene sighed as her father’s manservant—technically hers, but she was still having trouble thinking of him that way—seized her deltoid and lightly shook it, pulling it away from the bone and stimulating the sore muscle. He’d already done just about every other major muscle group, including her skull and face. As if her thoughts had been a dismissal, Alan ran his hands down her shoulders and back to end at her feet. “Do you need a hand, ma’am?” he asked in that formal way of his.

“No, thanks, Alan. I’m just going to lie here a moment and then take my bath.” Serene luxuriated in the sensation of a thoroughly massaged body for a long moment before sliding out under the sheet. She’d wanted Alan to leave so that she didn’t have to put a robe on in her own suite of rooms.

Humming to herself, Serene walked from her sitting room—which was a physical therapy room now instead of a place to receive visitors—to her bedroom. Grabbing her towel, she tossed it over her shoulder and walked through her closet to her bathroom. The entire suite was painted in soft golds and blues; it had been pink until she’d turned ten and decided that was for babies. So she had moved into the guest wing for a week and come back to an adult room.

The bathroom had a shower with four different kinds of faucets, but she bypassed its decadence for another kind of self-indulgence: her bathtub. The white marble tub was large enough that she could completely submerge herself, and a narrow drain ran around the tub. It allowed her to fill the tub to the very top and slosh water out without drenching her floor.

The cabinet held the bubble bath bottles, and Serene pondered a long moment before selecting a peppermint and lavender mix. She started the bath, squeezing a generous amount of the spa-quality bubble bath into the tub. She could have had Alan do all this, but Serene had been in her full-body suit all day, and being completely naked felt wonderful right now.

This was almost perfect, but Serene paused after turning off the lights. Her candles; she hadn’t lit them yet. The thick white columns were melted into the corners of the marble bath. Frowning, she engaged in a futile hunt for her stick lighter. Annoyed that her bath was being delayed by the lack of a lighter, she retraced her steps, hunting for anything that could make a flame.

A glint of red and gold caught her eye once she was back in her sitting room. On the floor was a lighter she’d never seen before. Remembering that she’d set White Tiger’s bag of loot on the counter above this spot, she decided it must have fallen out. I’ll return it after my bath.

Her tub was full by the time she got back, and Serene turned it off. Eagerly, she leaned over the first grouping of candles and flicked the wheel on the lighter.

[Djane]

Serene flicked the flint wheel, and...

* * *

Inches and a world away, Djane gently set the book back on the top shelf of her library.

The hardest part of the last year had been trying to figure out the language all the books used - or rather, the master language that all the sub-languages derived from. She'd made progress, but it was like learning to walk. Your impatience was what drove you, but that didn't make it less infuriating.

She contemplated what to do to relax. She could read in the library, or figure out a new dish to make with the reserves in the storing house that never seemed to deplete themselves. She could go for a swim in the outdoor pool. She could -

She felt a jolt of magical energy. She immediately flew out through the window and looked skywards. The sky around the palace was always ruby-red, lending the world a fiery hue. Beyond that point was the wall of the ruby itself, which she had pressed against and pounded on, at every angle she could find, for a solid week before accepting that it was unbreakable.

It was still unbreakable, but the skies had cleared, and Djane had a distorted, dizzying view of what looked like a person's house. Someone picked up the lighter. Oh my God, they might let me -

The nature of the ruby changed. Instead of the walls keeping her in, they were now forcing her out. Djane felt herself transform into smoke and expand rapidly, outgrowing the palace in moments. She felt a strange distortion as she was forced out the nozzle of the lighter.

Everything was far less red on the outside. Her perspective shifted as she gained size and mass. Serene saw a billowing cloud of smoke exude from the lighter, a cloud that condensed and solidified into a woman - a blonde woman with ruby red eyes, clad in silks and a veil like a harem dancer. She floated in midair, looking around. Then she locked eyes with Serene. The very naked Serene.

"I - " She froze, trying unsuccessfully to make eye contact. "... hello... master." She swallowed thickly. "I am the, uh, the genie of the lamp, and am yours to command." She paused. "You're very not wearing clothes."

[z-Watchwoman]

A bath, a warm, comfortable bath. Was that really so much to ask? Was there really some reason that she was being denied, or was the universe just having a chuckle at her expense?

,,

Serene had stepped back when the smoke started to pour out, reaching for her utility belt. It wasn’t there, of course; it was in another room. Instead, she found the next best weapon—her toilet plunger, the ornamental but sturdy handle half-hidden behind the toilet. By the time the smoke had formed into the woman, Serene was armed, if you had a broad definition of armed.

,,

However, the words took her aback. Not the bit about being naked, though that was troubling because it meant she was without weapons. Far more worrisome was the bit about genies and lamps and commands. Serene straightened out of her combat stance and blinked. “Come again?” she asked, breaking a cardinal rule of crime fighting. You always needed to pretend that you knew everything, even if you didn’t.

,,

“Hello, master.” The ‘genie’ was having a hard time speaking; her eyes kept darting downward. “I’m the genie of the lamp, and am yours to command.” There was a pause as the blonde woman finally made eye contact. “You’re… do you have something you could wear?”

,,

Serene considered the floating woman in front of her for a long moment, long enough that the blonde’s eyes lost their ability to focus on her face and dropped lower. Turning—which didn’t help the genie’s visual issues—she went to get the dark blue robe off the hook. Sliding the silken garment around her body, she turned to face the woman as she cinched the robe shut. “You need to explain what is happening here. Start with your name and go to how you got into the lighter… lamp.” Serene held up the object in question. “Whatever.”

[Djane]

Djane exhales, her smokey form condensing somewhat, growing legs clad in puffy pantaloons and silken slippers that lightly touched the floor.

,,

"My name is Ja - " She grimaced at something. "Was Jane, now it's Djane with a D and a J, it's magic and it'll do that. That thing - " She waved at the lighter. "Is my little home away from - I'll start over."

,,

Serene was good enough at reading people to know that Djane was a little flustered - whether it was embarrassment, or from a long time with no social interaction, or even possibly physical attraction. "I was a law student. I liked to attend auctions for rare art. Think about what I'd buy once I had the money. They were showing this tacky thing and then someone showed up and robbed it and took me hostage. They opened it and flicked the wick and weird stuff started pouring out. Smoke that would change things around. Raw magic."

,,

To illustrate, she summoned a tiny puff of smoke between her hands. "Left unchecked it would just grow and grow and somehow, when I got close enough to try and shut the lighter's cap, I knew it. Without a genie it was raw and unfocused. So..." She shook her head. "Stupid of me. But I let it take me and fit me into the hole the genie left behind. Now I'm a genie. Just like in the stupid cartoon with Mork from Ork as the blue guy. I've been living in there... I dunno. About a year, maybe? I don't know."

,,

"So now - " She gesticulated animatedly. "I can channel the power, but whoever holds the lighter can in turn control me. Even if someone could wish me free - and I don't think they can - the same thing would just happen all over again. It'd become a time bomb. So someone has to do this. Which is bullshit, I don't mind saying, but I have to be truthful to you since you're the last person to hold it. I'm Djane. I'm the genie of the lamp. I'm yours to command, master. Don't be a bitch about it, okay?" She paused. "Please."

,,

Djane looked nervous.

[z-Watchwoman]

Serene looked intent and even a touch angry. Later Djane would learn that was really her worried/scared face, the mask she wore when she was trying to hide her feelings. Mulling over her thoughts, she returned the toilet plunger to its spot and took a seat on the closed lid. She crossed one leg over the other, revealing a long length of her calf as well as her foot.

,,

She stared at the genie, thinking. The problem was that Serene needed more information, data that she didn’t have. She wasn’t even sure it would be in the library. There would be myths and legends about genies, certainly. But Djane was proof that they were real, and Father had always said that reality generally laughed at myths and legends.

,,

“So you have to follow my orders.” The statement was said flatly, with no evidence of delight or disdain. Serene could play a mean game of poker.

,,

Djane swallowed. “Yes.”

,,

“What are the limitations of your powers? Don’t worry about the ethical or moral limits; I’m very cognizant of them right now.” She sounded like Father in his suit, though she wasn’t in her suit. Her training was a comfort to her, allowing her to shut down her emotions and deal with the situation dryly, rationally. “I just need to know what is beyond your scope.”

[Djane]

"I can use my magic five times a day, before I must retire to my lamp to rejuvenate myself." Djane waved towards the lighter. "Rejuvenation takes about a day."

,,

"As for my limits, I... I don't know. I've never granted a wish. You're actually my first ma - the first person to use the lamp. So... I don't know. Why, did you have a wish or two in mind?"

[z-Watchwoman]

Serene twitched slightly. There were always things that people, that she, wanted but she wasn’t sure she should open that door. The temptation was massive to ask for Father back but she didn’t ask. That felt wrong in a way she couldn’t verbalize, despite her father’s death being the darkest day of her life.

,,

Her second wish also felt wrong, just in a different way. And if it went badly, the only person hurt was herself. That flimsy justification offered just enough substance for her to nod slowly. “Yes. I have one, and it will test the limits of your powers sufficiently.

,,

“However, before we start, I’d like to make something clear. I consider you to be someone trapped in a bad situation rather than my personal flying wish-monkey. I will treat you with respect but I’m not comfortable with this… relationship.” Serene shifted slightly on the seat and added, “I’m Serene Falil. I have… more things to tell you, but first, I would like to know your limits.

,,

“I’d like you to make me human.”

[Djane]

"I... I appreciate it." Djane visably relaxed at Serene's assurances of their relationship. "This is all new to me too. I - "

,,

She paused. "Wait, you mean you're not? You look human. I mean, except for the red rash around your, ah... ah, I didn't look too cloOW ow ow, wow, I really can't lie to you, yeah, sorry, I did. I didn't really want tOW I did."

,,

Serene could see Djane blushing from embarassment behind her veil - embarassment and maybe, just a bit of attraction.

,,

"Okay, if you're not human, uh, sure, I can do that. I don't know if it'll help me to know, but if you're not human, what are you? I think mutants legally count as human. Are you a mutant? Uh, did I use the right word there?"

[z-Watchwoman]

Serene looked away for a second, her red eyes filled with uncertainty. She remembered belatedly that she was without her goggles, so her eyes were visible and she was giving away tells. Her eyes darted back to meet Djane’s as she hastily blanked her expression.

,,

“I’m not a mutant, I’m a hybrid.” She forced her breathing to be even as she began to tell the story that few people had heard. “My mother is an alien, though my father is—was human.” She swallowed tersely and added, “I’m telling you this in confidence, of course. No one knows—outside of my household—that I’m in any way not a normal human being. I live as a shut-in to preserve that truth.”

,,

Shifting slightly on the seat, Serene asked, “Do you have any more questions? Before you’d want to start?”

[Djane]

"You live here all the time?" Djane looked around, taking in the ornate nature of the bathroom, and surmising that the rest of the dwelling must be similarly ornate - and large.

,,

She must get lonely.

,,

"Ah, no, no, you can wish for it if you want. If that's what you really want, that is. I'll do my best to give it to you." Djane rolled up poofy sleeves and flexed her fingers. "All right. First wish. Ready when you are, master."

[z-Watchwoman]

Serene stared at Djane for a long moment, her red eyes boring into the other woman. “I’d feel far more comfortable with this if you wouldn’t call me master.” As Djane blushed, Serene said, “I know you were raised in the same society as me, so you can understand why that feels so very wrong.”

,,

Djane nodded but was silent, waiting for Serene to give the word. When it didn’t immediately come, the silence lengthened between them. “Maybe… not today.” The words were dragged out of Serene and she rose quickly, gathering her robe hastily about her. “I want… wish that you would change the water in that bath into steam.”

[Djane]

"Sorry, ma - Serene." She exhaled. "Okay. I can do it. It's just a reflex."

,,

Djane waited for long moments for Serene to speak. When Serene made her wish, Djane's eyes unfocused, and her gaze turned towards the tub. She pointed her fingers at it, and thick white smoke poured forth, surrounding the tub. There was a *puff* sound and then the bathroom was filled with thick steam, like a sauna.

,,

Djane coughed. "Uh, you still there?" she asked an indistinct shape in the fog. "Sorry, I forgot to subtract the mass so it's all still in here, it's just all steamy..."

[z-Watchwoman]

The steam parted, brushing over skin and silk alike as Serene stepped forward. Her glowing spots, diffused through the fog, helped Djane see her face. The lovely half-human reached through the created fog and caught Djane by the hand. A thrill shot through Serene’s body; she’d never held hands with someone before today.

,,

Hiding the excitement Djane’s touch caused, Serene drew the woman out of the bathroom and into a closet and dressing room. Djane had never before seen a closet large enough to have a chaise lounge. Serene continued on through to a lavish bedroom, then further into a seating room. “Would you like something to drink?” she asked the genie. “Or to eat?”

[Djane]

"I, uh, yeah. Yeah. I could eat. I mean, there's a larder in there but it's not the same. Wow." Djane looked around the spacious mansion as she was led through it.

,,

"Are we still in the Megacity? Where exactly are we? This place is huge. Is there anyone else here?"