Storm and Mountain

Missy is already dialing numbers into her phone

Eddy sighs to himself. “Right, there’s six… no… five maidens…” Pixel had been trickling knowledge of the Maidens into his mind. “Listen, I need to get back to the shop, Viv can only cover for me so long…”

Missy is on the phone. “Hey, Helen? It’s Missy.”

Eddy sighs. “Too late…” he pulls out his phone and calls the shop.

Vivian answers. “Samurai Subs, home of the thousand cold cuts, is this for delivery?”

“Viv, this is Eddy. I’m… caught up in something, it’ll take me a bit longer to get back to the shop.”

“Oh. Uh… Alright, I can cover a bit longer.”

“Thank you so much, I owe you big time.”

“Beware when I come to collect!”

“Oh, that’ll be fun. I’ll be back as soon as I can, Viv, you’re a life saver.”

“I know.” She hangs up.

Eddy sighs again. “Alright, Missy, I’m all yours.”

Missy ends her call. “Yeah, Helen isn’t happy. We need a peace offering.”

“What do you mean a peace offering?”

“Well, she likes this meatball sub thing.”

“Meatball sub… wait… big lady? Six-foot-something tall? Flame red hair?”

“Yeah, that’s her!”

“She’s one of our regulars…” Eddy groans. “This makes that call I made pointless… Back to the shop!”

Missy closes up and travels with Eddy. They run at their superhuman pace. Missy is mildly shocked he can keep up before remembering he has Pixel’s crystal.

The trip back to the shop takes only a minute or so. They step inside, there aren’t any customers currently; odd for the lunch hour, but lucky for their situation.

He spots Viv at the register. She’s wiping down the counter. She looks “Welcome to Samurai Su-WEET LORD WHAT HAPPENED!?” She runs around the counter and looks Eddy over. “Who’s blood is this!?”

Eddy rubs the back of his head. “It’s… a lot to explain right now, alright? I promise I’ll explain. I needed to come back for a sandwich.”

Viv looks him over for a second more… then smiles a bit, clearly still worried. “Alright, I trust you.”

She steps back behind the counter. “What kind do you want?”

Eddy smiles back. “Mighty Daimyo Meatball Dynamite Footlong.”

“Coming right up.”

A thought comes to Eddy. “Missy… do the others like sandwiches? If they do… I could have a couple peace offerings ready to go. It’s about lunch time, and bad news is easier to deliver with good food.”

Missy looks around. “Come to think of it… we used to eat here after battles. I mean, I was 12 at the time, but I’ve always been observant.”

“Okay, good. That’s lucky for us. Let me think, we have seven regulars at this location… you’re one of them… so is this Helen lady… the others are all women except one guy, he’s a shut-in that lives with his mother…”

Missy shrugs. “Don’t know a guy like that.”

“Figured not. That means…” Eddy closes his eyes to think.

“Chunin Philly Cheese, add ketchup, that’s the office lady with the fake glasses… Ronin Roast Beef, Ara Au Jus on the side, the nurse that’s always on call… and… Futon Flatbread, ham and Swiss, the librarian…”

Missy just stares wide-eyed at him.

“So… your group is a mother of three, an office lady, an OR nurse, a uni student, and a librarian. Is that right?”

Missy nods. “That’s… kinda scary…”

Viv chuckles. “He’s kind of a freak like that, his head is a filing cabinet of people and their sandwich preferences.”

Eddy grumbles. “It’s not that weird…”

Viv has been making the sandwiches as Eddy describes them and is wrapping up the last one. “He starts making people’s orders before they order, and he’s always right.”

“I can just tell what people are about! It’s not weird…”

“Yeah yeah, here’s your sacrifices.” She puts the sandwiches into a delivery bag for Eddy.

Eddy grabs the bag. “Thank you, I double owe you.”

“Damn right you do!”

He and Missy head out of the shop for Helen’s place.

As they travel, Eddy nags Pixel for more information on the Maidens. She tells him of the final battle.

The Enchantress stood at the apex of Halflight Towers, and the six Maidens stand in defiance of the end of the world: Victoria, Helen, Malorie, Missy, Nellielle, and Lea.

The Enchantress’s Dark Champions stand by, poised to see the downfall of their evil mistress’ foes: Deathborg Maximum, The Wolfman, Anu Shemra, Beitilde the Destroyer, and the Vampire Seductress.

Five years of conflict had lead to this final confrontation. One way or another, it would end tonight. As they-

Eddy interrupts. He needs more than that. He demands that she start from the beginning. If he was to be her avatar, he needs to know everything. Where it started, who all the key players are, all the bloopers and outtakes.

Pixel relents, and soon a never-ending stream of magical girl episodes piles into his head.

They arrive at Helen’s house. Eddy knocks. The door opens, and in the doorway stands the Amazonian frame of one hell of a mama. She stands contraposto in the doorway, one arm rested on the door knob.

Her bright red and ginger hair is tied up in thick ponytail. Some loose strands around her head betray the untamed waves and curls that are barely restrained.

She stands six-and-a-half feet tall at least, and the athletic clothes she wears show her truly Amazonian physique well.

She cocks a slightly annoyed eyebrow at him as she looks him over. “You? You’re the one that released the enchantress.”

Eddy clears his throat, fishes her sandwich from the bag, and presents it to her. “Best foot forward.”

She squints at him for a second… then takes the sandwich and unwraps it. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

Eddy chuckles a bit.

Missy steps up. “We need to talk ab-“

“Shush… Momma’s first love is this sandwich.”

Missy grumbles.

Helen bites into the sandwich and gives a satisfied groan. “Mm…” The marinara sauce oozes out of it as she bites, but doesn’t escape the wrapper or sandwich.

They sit quietly for a second while Helen eats.

Eddy breaks the silence. “So… how are the kids?”

Helen perks up. “Hm?” She swallows. “Good, still in school. Tommy’s in debate, Jason’s in drama, Tina’s dancing.”

Missy cocks her head. “Debate? At his age?”

Helen smirks. “He’s very smart and very mature.” She bites into her sandwich again.

There is a bit more silence. Pixel continues to fill Eddy's head with a torrent of magical girl episodes. He feels a tinge of guilt building slowly as he realizes the weight of events both prior and to come. "This..." Words are difficult to form that would explain his thoughts properly. "This was... an accident. One that nearly got me killed. I... wanna do what I can to make this right, I can fight, too."

Helen stops eating and sets her sandwich aside. "Well... we beat her once." She looks him over again. "And if our Pixel isn't on the sidelines anymore, I guess that makes you..." She gets a smile like she's up to no good. "Pixel Perfect!"

Missy groans.

Eddy clears his throat again, trying not to be flustered. "I... choose to take that as a compliment."

Helen finishes up her sandwich. “Mm… Well, we’ve got Pixel back, that means we can transform again. The Enchantress doesn’t stand a chance.”

Eddy perks up. “I can do that too, actually. Um… is it alright if we step inside for this?”

Helen smirks. “Ooh, how can I say no when a cute boy wants to show off for me?” She steps aside.

Missy and Eddy step inside. Eddy concentrates for a moment and touches his gem. He changes once again to the ribbon-clad form. Helen gives a little whistle and covers Missy’s eyes. “Even comes gift-wrapped!”

Missy growls. “Hey! I’m twenty-seven!”

“Sorry, force of habit.” There’s a look in Helen’s eyes that suggests a hunger not satisfied by sandwiches.

Missy pulls Helen’s hand away and looks at Eddy. “Wow… Uh, anyways, we have to go get the others.”

Helen leans down to grip Missy’s shoulders. “What, you’re not going to thank the man for a show?”

“Helen stop being gross, this is serious!”

“Alright, I’ll go get the van. You know, the seats lean pretty far back if you want to thank him, miss twenty-seven.”

Missy throws her hands up. “Helen! Ew!”She storms out of the room and back outside. “No wonder you have three kids!”

Helen huffs. “Three wonderful kids that are a blessing, I’ll have you know!” She smiles back at Eddy. “Well, let’s show you off to the others, Mr. Perfect.” She taps his gem and gives him a little wink.

Eddy is stunned silent by Helen as she walks off to the garage. He reverts to normal and steps out to join Missy.