In a shopping mall there is a small store. In comparison to the shops that surround it, the store seems out of place and anachronistic. In this store there stands a strange figure.... "So he finally filled out his Guild Forms?" the mysterious figure said to apparently thin air. \Yes, that is correct sir.\ "Excellent. Then it is time to begin." \Sir?\ "Yes? What is it?" \Is this all really necessary?\ "Are you questioning my decisions?" \No sir. Of course not. I am simply wondering.... It is considered very bad form to interfere with another shopkeeper in this manner. To compete over a sale is only natural but this.....\ "But this is something else all together, yes? How long have we been together?" \Longer than many stars have shone in the heavens.\ "Precisely. I know that I can often be.... capricious, but in this case I have a good reason for what I do. All your long years we have been friends. Trust me as you once did." \You ripped that off from Gandalf.\ The figure smiles as he says "I never could put anything past you. Now come, we have work to do." As the figure walks off into the back area of the store his bathrobe swirls around him. A moment later the store disappears as if it was never there.... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- One of Those Shops an experiment in alternate universes Begun by Farsan de Arnibia Continued by Shaun Kronenfeld 9B: Trouble gets Spelled out ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- Miro was upset. Miro was unhappy. Miro was suffering from a migraine and the beginnings of an ulcer. And worst of all Miro was starting to realize that this was becoming the norm for him. All around him was chaos. Rikura had apparently accidentally eaten some magic hyper candy and was now bouncing off the walls, literally, thrashing the shop. Kimihiko was currently looking through everything that was in the store in an attempt to figure out a way to help her. Theodore was bweeing like crazy on the counter in his little blue piglet body (what you were expecting black). Wu Pon was standing in front of the counter giving Miro an earful about destroying his spell book (see Rikura). And finally behind him.... /Master? Please it is very important that we talk about our future..../ "Not right now Pochi. Look Mister Pon I'm really sorry and will try to help you but first I have to...." Miro, Pochi, and Wu Pon all quickly duck as Rikura passes right through the space where the heads, and in Pochi's case body, had been. As Rikura bounces off the wall Miro notices to his disbelief that she is giggling loudly. "As I was saying," Miro continued "I have to help Rikura first." "Is that all?" Wu Pon shrugs as he reaches into his pockets, pulled out a strange device, and points it at the bouncing Rikura. She immediately freezes in mid-air and uncurls onto her back as she gently floats down to the ground. Kimihiko quickly rushes over and examines her. "She's asleep." Kimihiko stated. "Aye and she likely will be for some time. I merely advanced her personal time till the sugar rush wore off. And since she had a hyper sugar rush, she is now suffering from a hyper come down. But in a couple of hours she should be fine. Now getting my back to my book...." "You. Could. Have. Done. That. At. Any. TIME!!!" Miro was practically shouting by the time he finished. Wu Pon was not someone who easily intimated but the small red vein that had begun to pulse on Miro's forehead was very disquieting. "Well yes." "Why didn't you... And if you say I didn't ask so help me...." "Umm... Yes... Well.... Ahem. That's not really important at this moment. Now what about MY book?" As Wu Pon's thoughts returned to his destroyed merchandise he felt his confidence returning to him. "It was priceless and filled with many powerful and destructive spell. I would never normally lend it to a rival shopkeeper but I knew you wouldn't be going anywhere for awhile so I felt it would be safe. But it would seem I was wrong. Really young man first you have your shop steal a piece of my merchandise in violation of ALL protocol of shopkeepers. And now you can't even keep a single piece of merchandise intact for a few hours. I thought I had seen great potential in you but now I'm... ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME ?!? Wait.... What are doing?" Wu Pon shouted. During Wu Pon's speech Miro had picked up the tattered remains of the book. He then closed his eyes and begun to concentrate. He pictured the spell book in his mind and thought of the feel and texture of the cover and pages. He remembered the spells he had read, the flowing script of the handwritten letters. In short he remembered and recreated the book. "Oh. Sorry Mister Pon, I was trying to recreate the book." "You shouldn't have been able to do that. Not at your level. You shouldn't be able to create that book." "Well no if I had tried to create it from thin air I'm sure I would have failed. But I had the remains of the book and I had looked through it so I thought if I try to recreate it..." Miro stopped at the stunned look on Wu Pons face. It quickly turned to a smile. "I see now that my initial impressions of you was correct. I must say I am impressed. You are absolutely correct that recreation is easier and less costly than creation. However to recreate this book would require a significant amount of energy. Indeed I was so upset because I do not presently have the energy to spare to create or recreate it. I'm intrigued that you would waste so much of your energy to assist me a rival." /Actually he is correct Master. That was a foolish expenditure one that we could not truly afford at this time. At the very least now that the damage is done we should keep the book to sell it. There are ways to ensure that Wu Pon cannot reacquire the book. We..../ "NO!" Miro said, "This is all my fault to begin with. Mister Pon lent the book to me in good faith and I won't let that faith down. Here you go Mister Pon and I'm sorry for the inconvenience." Miro held the book out and waited as Wu Pon stared at him for a few moments. Pon then solemnly took the book and placed it in one of his seemingly endless pockets. "I.... Thank you lad. I have never quite encountered a shopkeeper quite like you before. I realize that you did use quite a bit of energy on my behalf. You didn't have to you know. The book may have been in your possession but it was my decision to do so. It would have served me right if you had teleported away from this dimension the moment you returned to your shop. So since I can't give you the energy back I will instead do you a favor. Or rather a couple of favors." Wu Pon then reached into another of his pockets and pulled out a strange slip of paper. He then reached over and placed Theodore on the ground and put the piece of paper on Theodore's head. There was a flash of light and then a human and fully clothed Theodore stood in the shop. He looked around for a moment and then, with a panicky look on his face, ran out the door. Wu looked a bit surprised and then shrugged again. "I wonder what that was all about. Oh well lets move on to the other part of my favor: advice. Now young man let me ask you a question. Why are you still here?" "I don't understand what you mean." "No I would think it rather self-explanatory Miro. Why are you still here in this dimension? For what information I have encountered you are from this dimension originally and only a few days ago bonded with your shop correct?" "Yes that's right Mister Pon." Miro replied. "Well didn't your shop inform you that you need to start acquiring energy if you want to make it big, much less survive?" /Actually I did Master Pon/ "Well then what are you still doing here?" "Wait," Miro said in surprise "you can here Pochi?" "You named your store POCHI? Oh well no matter. Of course I can hear it. I am a shopkeeper after all. But that is besides the point. You still haven't answered my question. You will never be able to acquire significant energy in a small backwater dimension like this. Indeed the only reason I am still here is that I have energy to burn at the moment and can afford to wait for the request that brought me here. But it will be quite some time before she arrives. You should be moving on. Someone with your obvious potential could make it big out there." /Master Pon is correct Master. Indeed it was this very subject that I was about to bring up with you. We have serviced your friends quite extensively but it is time we moved on and.../ "No." /No? I don't understand master./ Miro turned to face the small fairy that was currently Pochi with a stern and determined expression on his face. "I mean no I have no intention of leaving. This is my home. This were my friends are. Were my mother is for gods sake. A mother who I might mention I haven't seen in days. I'm... We're not leaving." /But.../ "WE ARE NOT LEAVING AND THAT IS FINAL!!!" Miro shouted. Kimihiko paled at the tone in Miros voice. She knew that he almost never got really angry but when he did... It was like a volcanic eruption. Between being unable to follow part of the conversation and the personal matter being discussed she really felt like leaving but she couldn't just leave Rikura here. Miro took a couple of deep breaths and attempted to calm down. He continued to speak although it was clear he was only partially successful in his attempts to reign in his temper. "Look. Mister Pon and Pochi I don't mean anything personal by this but.... I wish neither of you had ever entered my life to begin with. Don't you understand? Before I bonded with Pochi I was leading a normal and happy life. I had friends and a mother who cared about me and more importantly who I cared about. I was enjoying my life. Alright so maybe I lacked focus and maybe I didn't always get along perfectly with my mom. So maybe my life wasn't perfect. Whose is. It was still my life. I was living it. I was making my own decisions. But then you came along Pochi. You bonded with me. You didn't ask for my permission. Now I understand you were weak and didn't have complete control over yourself but that still doesn't change the facts of what happened. Maybe if I had a chance to decide things would be different. My point is just because this craziness had entered into my life I'm not going to give up control. I've been growing more and more certain of my feelings as time passes. I'm not going to some other dimension and having a hundred years pass while I am gone like that man who rode on the turtles back. I'm going to stay here and get what energy I can from doing small things. I'll travel all over the world. I'm prepared to make that concession. I understand that I can't stop making sell or I'll lose energy. But I'm only going to make enough to survive. No more, no less. I don't care about any supposed potential I have. I don't care about making it big. All I care about is living a good life and being happy. And that includes staying here with the people who are important to me." Once Miro finished silence reigned in the store for a time. Finnaly Wu Pon decided to respond to Miro's impassioned rant. "Look Miro when you get right down to it none of this is really my business. So I am going to go ahead and leave. But before I do I just want to say that I think you are making a big mistake. You shouldn't stay here and not just because you would be wasting an obvious talent. I don't think this world can sustain you for very long. You could end up stuck here without anyway to make enough energy to continue surviving or leave. "Why do you care Mister Pon? I thought all shopkeepers were rivals. Wouldn't you be happy to lose another potential competitor?" Wu Pon got a hurt look on his face as he answered Miro. "Happy? To see a fellow shop and keeper die? Are you crazy boy? Yes it is true that Shopkeepers are rivals with one another for individual sales. But ultimately we are all part of the same brotherhood. When a shop or its keeper dies it affects us all. So yes I DO care what happens to you. But lets say you are right and able to survive on this world. There is more to life than just simple survival. I've seen you accomplish things in a couple days that take most Shopkeepers years to master. And then there is your bond with the shop. For most people it takes time for the bond and the ability to communicate fully with a shop to develop. I'm guessing yours however was this strong almost instantly. Why with your ability you might even someday match the Wizard himself." "The who?" "You haven't heard of... No of course not. Alright. I will tell you about the Wizard and then we are even. After this you are free to do whatever you want and I won't make any more contact with you unless you initiate it." Wu Pon lapsed in silence for a few minutes as if lost in his own thoughts. Then he cleared his throat and began to speak with an air of great seriousness around him. "Amongst the great beings of the multi-verse there are tales of a great man. Both angels and demons alike follow his actions. All who know of him respect him. For Shopkeepers he represents the duality of what we may become. He is the ultimate example of the wonders deeds we may accomplish and the terrible entities we may become. He is known simply as the Wizard. If any do know his true name they do not speak of it. There are many rumors to what he is. Some say he is a fallen chaos god trying to spread his unique views on life across the multi-verse. Others say he is one the great wizards such as Gandalf or Merlin who grew tired of his old life. Some say he was the first Shopkeeper and the creator of the system that all of us follow now. None know for certain and most likely none ever will. What is known is that he IS the oldest shopkeeper to currently exist. I have been running my shop for over 10,000 years but I am still a newly born infant compared to him. It is also known that even before he bonded with his shop he had great power. You may not know this but the true power of our shops is to change the fates of those we help. But as we grow in power and strength we can actually change reality in a localized area around us. But the Wizard can do far more than that. He change a dimensions entire reality completely. This dangerous power would be bad enough but then there are the actions he takes. He is completely unpredictable. One moment he may be helpful and kind the next harmful and cruel. In my time as a Shopkeeper I have only encountered him twice. These are a perfect examples of what the Wizard is like. The first time was on Halloween on another Earth. A father and his young son were trick or treating. The mother had left them a couple of months earlier but the father, who was a good man, was doing his best to raise his son. They wondered into the Wizard's store where he gave them a drink of brandy and a piece of candy respectively. As they walked out of the store the drink and candy turned them into 19 year old, horny, big breasted bimbo sisters named Brandy and Candy. They had no memory of there old lives and as far as the rest of the world was concerned the boy and his father had never existed." Miro looked at Wu Pon in shock and disbelief. "But... But... Why would he do that? What purpose could it possibly serve? I don't understand doing something like sounds so horrible and pointless." Wu Pon nodded "That is my point exactly Miro. There was no point to that. But before you start assuming anything let tell you of the second time I observed the Wizard at work. It was another world similar to this one. A beautiful young girl of 14 entered the Wizard's shop or at least she would have been beautiful. Her beauty was marred by the constant verbal and physical abuse and torture her mother and father inflicted upon her. The Wizard offered her a potion that would turn regress her into a baby and wipe away all the pain and horrible memories of her current life. He then promised to leave her with a kind and loving couple who were unable to have a child of their own. The girl instantly agreed and moments later she had vanished from the store on her way to her new life. A minute later the girls parents entered the store. The Wizard took on look at them and then turned them into dust mites and proceed to Windex the spot of ground they were on. The whole point of these stories are so you understand just how unpredictable and dangerous the Wizard can be Miro. Sure we all sell dangerous stuff at one time or another but we always make sure people know what they are getting into. Also the rest of us can only affect destiny and reality so much. Take Theodore's father for instance. If he hadn't stopped him something else would have. The effect I have had on this dimension is not really that large scale but really only on a couple of individuals. But the Wizard is different. Well anyways now you know. I have to go, I do have a business to run after all. And look.... I don't normally do this but I like you boy. I really do. So if you want to talk I will be around for at least another week. Just don't do anything rash. Being a Shopkeeper can be a great life and a lot of fun just think about it for awhile." With that the old man Wu Pon walked out of Miro's shop leaving behind a confused and thoughtful Shopkeeper. Neither of them realized that this would be the last time either saw each other for quite some time.... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- "Well how about that. Wu Pon just went and did me a huge favor." \Yes his telling of your exploits and power will make our task all the easier.\ "Our task? That implies that you have decided you want to do this instead of merely humoring my desires. What changed your mind if I might ask?" \Two occurrences actually. First of all the fact that Wu Pon would mention you at the perfect time for your plans can only mean that greater fate approves of your plan and is working toward its successful completion.\ "I see and the second reason?" \Miro's attitude towards being a Shopkeeper is unacceptable. Without our intervention he and his shop will surely be dead within the year. This is not an occurrence we can allow.\ "I see." \Question.\ "Yes?" \Is that the reason you have chosen to implement this plan?\ "Well that is a small part of it yes. But as for the main reason... Well like an old friend of mine would say: that is a secret. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- As Wu Pon entered his shop he noticed a strange shadowy figure standing behind the counter. "Hey what do you think you are doing th..." Wu Pon was stunned into silence as the bathrobed figure moved forward out the shadows, a cold smile on his face. "Why if it isn't my old fried Wu Pon. I see business is going well for you. Actually that's why I am here. You see I think I some advice that you will find very useful for the continued success of your shop.... Leave. Right now. Now, can I trust you to follow my advice?" the Wizard asked with a strange smile on his face. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- Moments later The Mysticism and Power of Ancient China disappeared from it current location.... And was instantly replace with another small shop. A couple of minutes later a woman came walking up to newly arrived store. Her ungrateful and lazy son had disappeared a couple of days ago while supposedly out looking for a job and she was determined to find his slacking but and kick it back into it action. Or at least so the woman pretended. In reality of course she was terrified something had happened to her beloved son, especially in light of the recent strange attacks by that madman, and was out desperately searching for him. Some sort of strange compulsion had brought her here and she was about to move on when she notice the store. 'Maybe someone in there has news of my son' she thought to herself. And if not... Well a store named Spells R Us was sure to have something useful in it..... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- It had been nearly six hours since the talk with Wu Pon and Miro still had not said anything. Kimihiko was beginning to get seriously worried about her friend. She had never seen him like this before. Rikura, who had woken up about hour ago, was also clearly worried and appeared to be working up the courage to speak with Miro. Kimihiko was not really paying all that much attention at this point however. As much a Miro's current actions were bothering her, she kept finding her thoughts drifting towards the Wizard Wu Pon had spoken of all. Someone with that kind of power of people and reality made Kimihiko shudder. Suddenly the three young people's thoughts were interrupted by Theodore throwing the door open, running inside, and quickly slamming the door shut again. He was panting and out of breath as he slid onto the floor leaning against the counter for support. "Theodore what's wrong?" Miro asked concern showing on his face as he looked for the first time that afternoon. "They... They...." Theodore panted out "They are after me." "Who is..." Miro was unable to get any further as once again to door to his shop was slammed open. This time the person entering was a woman, a very familiar woman to Miro. "MOM?!? What's wrong?" Miro asked in a near panic as mother staggered into the shop and fell face first onto the ground after only a few steps inside. As she did what appeared to be container of some sort fell from her hand. Suddenly to Miro and the others horror, his mother began to fade away from view. It was only for a second but it was immediately clear to everyone what was happening. Miro's mother was disappearing. "Oh my god..." "Miro what's happening?" Miro ignored the others as he raced over to his mother. With Theodore's help he moved her to the bed in the back. She had faded 2 more times by the time they had her on the bed, causing them to almost drop her. She was unconscious and very pale. /Master come here quickly!/ Pochi said with some great urgency. Miro was in such a state of shock he didn't even argue as ran back out to the front of the store. The physical representation of the store was hovering over the container that Miro's mother had dropped. /Master look at this/ Pochi said pointing at the container. Miro carefully picked it up and read the label *Spells R Us Vanishing Cream-Remove wrinkles by removing the cause itself- Warning this cream will cause anything it is applied on to vanish from reality in fives days- use only as directed* "Spells R Us? What the heck is Spells R Us?" Miro asked to himself out loud. "Why it is my store of course." A voice said from behind him. Miro spun around to face the doorway and saw standing there a strange old man in what appeared to be a bathrobe. /The Wizard/ he heard Pochi whisper as he stood up to confront the old man. The others had come out from the back room to see what was happening but stopped at the sight of the old man. "Yes that is right Pochi, I am indeed the Wizard of which Wu Pon spoke about earlier. I am also as you can surmise the person who sold that vanishing cream to your mother Miro. She was worried about the wrinkles that were being formed and wanted something to make them disappear. I told her my vanishing cream could help her with that but warned her to read the instructions first before using it. Of course she failed to heed my warning. They always do..." Theodore had heard enough. Although he did not understand what was going on it was clear that this old mans was responsible for whatever had happened to Miro's mom. Without any warning he charged the old man planning to beat some answers out of him. He got no farther than a few feet when something strange happened. He turned completely to stone. "Now, now none of that please young man. If I were the rest of you I would listen very carefully to what I have to say. After all his mother's life hangs in the balance. I have the only cure for the vanishing cream over in my store. I will give it to you to use on your mother if you can reach a certain dimension. The dimension is very far off and you do not have nearly enough energy to travel there directly. So instead you need to take the long route gathering energy as you travel from world to world. Now don't worry about your mother while you are out doing this. I have here a spell that will put her in a state of suspended animation giving you as much time as you need to reach your goal if you agree. If you don't... well start saying your good byes as your mother will fade away in five days. And don't think about trying to make something in here to help her. You don't have the skill or energy to counteract one of my products. The same goes for any other Shopkeeper as well. I don't have the reputation of the best for nothing after all. If you agree you will be able to bring along your friends if you like. I don't care. I will even let you in on a little secret. To bring people along all you have to do is hire them as employees and they will be able to travel with under the same protection of the shop as you posses. Well Miro what do you say to my generous offer. Hurry up now I don't have all day after all." Miro hesitated for a second and then sighed. He had no real choice after all the Wizard was holding all the cards. "Alright. I accept." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- Authors Note First of all let me apologize for the poor quality of the ending. The impro curse decided to strike me and mess up my computer the on the original due date for my part. This forced me to quickly try and reconstruct as much of my original part as possible. Unfortunately as it came down to the wire I was forced to cut corners to get near my original end point. I didn't even have time to get pre readers to proof-read as is surly evident from the many mistakes in the fic. Hopefully I will at least be able to correct that later. In my original part I had a lot more depth to the ending and the confrontation with the Wizard. I also had some more comic relief in the form of the mob chasing Theodore and a scene with Suzahara were she has some.... problems with her new pet slime. ? These scenes would of also helped in making this a part where people basically talk each other to death. But oh well sacrifices have to me I guess when one is pressed for time. I am still proud of the part as I did accomplish my 2 goals of bring the SRU Wizard into the fic and jumpstarting the plot in a new direction. Now Miro can out amongst the multiverse without simply copying what is happening over in branch A. Finnaly about the Wizard himself.... I tried my best to capture the strangeness, malevolence, and (paradoxically) the charm of the character. I hope I more or less succeeded. For future authors remember The Wizard is not outright evil or a villain. It's just that individual human life have no real meaning to him. Well hopefully this part won't get me stoned to death on the Improfanfic Message board. Either way, later.