Traveling Magic Shop Part 16 (Patreon)

"Did you bounce up and down a couple of times?" Rose asked as Taylor walked out of the bathroom.

"I'm going to need a new bra," Taylor replied, unwilling to admit that she'd jumped up and down a couple of times to test how much her upgraded breasts bounced.

"That sounds like a good reason to go shopping," Rose replied as Myst walked out of the back room holding a silver bracelet.

"There goes the rest of my money," Taylor muttered, not looking forward to emptying her account to get clothes that would fit.

"Easy come, easy go," Myst offered as he walked over and set his elbow on the counter and held the bracelet out toward Taylor. "One defensive bracelet, free of charge."

"Are you sure?" Taylor asked, not sure how she felt about taking more charity since he'd already given her a fitness and a height boost for free.

"It's fine," Myst assured her. "I had a bunch of silver and gold coins from the last world that were just going to sit in a box collecting dust and Harry's metalworking power lets him twist the coins into various shapes, including bracelets."

"What exactly does it do?" Taylor asked as she took the silver bracelet covered with celtic knots.

"It gives the person wearing it an invisible force field, increases their cold resistance, protects against sunburn and acts as a bra replacement," Myst explained.

"Bra replacement?" Taylor asked in surprise.

Myst shrugged. "It was a rather popular enchantment where I went to school, lots of girls wanted a certain amount of support but didn't want to deal with actually wearing bras. If you touch the bracelet to a bra you can add the appearance of the bra to the bracelet and swap between them by touching the bracelet with a finger and selecting the image you want from the menu."

"Is there a reason you didn't upgrade the bracelet so that it could mimic clothes?" Rose asked.

"You run into clipping issues," Myst replied.

"Clipping issues?" Taylor asked, not sure what he was talking about.

"You'd see your clothes through the illusion," Myst replied with a shrug.

"That sounds like a good way to get noticed and not in a good way," Taylor agreed.

"Unless you're wearing spandex," Rose mused.

Taylor shook her head, thinking about Rose's earlier costume. "I'm not wearing spandex like a porn star."

"More like this," Rose replied as she shifted her outfit to blue spandex bike shorts and a purple sports bra. "Perfectly legal and I doubt anyone other than religious nutcases would complain if you walked into a shop."

"Did you miss the fact that it's the middle of winter?" Taylor asked Rose.

"Did you miss the fact that the bracelet has cold resistance and the ability to cover you in an illusion of whatever clothes you want?" Rose asked with a smirk, taking a bit of pleasure in shooting down Taylor's argument.

"It would also give me something I could enchant to increase your defenses and it would save on buying clothes, especially if I included an always clean enchantment," Myst pointed out.

"How much would you charge for the shorts?" Taylor asked.

Myst glanced over at Rose then focused on Taylor. "If you bring me a pair of high end bike shorts and you agree to model them for Rose, I'll enchant them for free."

"Deal," Taylor replied without hesitation, not seeing a problem with stripping in front of the girl if it resulted in gear that was even half as useful as the bracelet let alone just showing off a pair of bike shorts. "How good is the force field?"

"I wouldn't jump on a tinkertech grenade or stand in front of a tank or someone like Purity but it should protect you from stray shots," Myst assured her. "Treat it as really nice body armor rather than an all or nothing forcefield and you should be fine."

"Is there a reason you didn't upgrade the sunscreen enchantment to include all types of radiation?" Rose asked.

"Because I wasn't thinking about it," Myst admitted as he used his upgrade ability to check the upgrade options on the sunblock enchantment rather than just checking to see if the enchantment was working. "Huh, there's already a framework for safe levels of energy," he mused as he spent the mana to upgrade the protection to include all radiation, turning the simple enchantment into something that would protect her from just about anything that could be considered radiation. "That should make you resistant to most types of radiation."

"How resistant?" Taylor asked.

"I'd avoid walking into Behemoth's kill aura or getting hit with a nuke but it should give you a decent amount of protection against most types of radiation," Myst offered.

Taylor nodded. "Thanks, that should help with search and rescue for Behemoth fights."

"That's the idea," Myst agreed.

"Do you have a way to knock villains out?" Rose asked.

"I have a couple of ideas for drones but I haven't had the resources to build them," Taylor admitted.

"Is there a reason you haven't robbed one of the gang's yet?" Rose asked.

"I'm not bulletproof…" Taylor trailed off as she realized that her bracelet would stop bullets and that her power would let her track them down since she knew the general area.

"Bracelet," Rose teased.

"I'd still need a costume and a way to deal with the normal gang members," Taylor pointed out.

"The Magicians Monthly should have us covered," Rose told her as she walked over to the magazine rack by the counter.

"Magician's Monthly?" Taylor asked.

"It's a magazine filled with wacky and often dangerous magic items, with a catalog for those who wish to try them at home," Rose explained as she flipped through the magazine, looking for something that would help.

"Wacky and dangerous magical items?" Taylor asked warily.

"Things like magical costumes that provide magical powers but have a chance to stop working randomly or if the outfit gets dirty or wet or crowns that increase your psychic powers at the cost of your sanity," Rose explained as she set the magazine on the counter, grabbed a notepad and copied down the item number for a box that combined magical items using a lightning rod. "The old shopkeeper used to complain that the products never worked right but Myst should be able to upgrade them so they'll work."

"In theory," Myst mused as he looked at the ad for an enchanted rubber mask that removed people's faces and let them look like anyone, if you didn't mind looking like your face was made out of rubber. "You'd have to be insane to test some of these."

"There's a reason a lot of wizards have minions," Rose replied absently as she scribbled down the item number for a remote control that conjured telephone booths that contained naughty Supergirl outfits that were enchanted to give people flight.

"Do you think the telephone in the booth actually works?" Taylor asked, wondering if she could use it as a replacement for a cellphone since the remote was only forty nine, ninety nine.

"It's worth a shot," Rose replied as she flipped the page. "Ooh, can I get a Cosmic Earthquake Machine?"

"Why do you want a device that causes earthquakes?" Myst asked, figuring she was messing with him.

"Because it's an out of this world vibrator," Rose replied with a grin.

Myst sighed. "Yeah, no, you're not buying a sex toy from a shady magical catalog."

Rose snickered as she glanced over the rest of the wacky inventions on the other page then flipped the page. "What about a ranged mellon explosion generator?"

"No, bad witch," Myst told her, trying not to laugh.

"What about the Ass Breaking Paddle 3000?" Rose asked, not even bothering to keep a straight face.

Myst stared at the picture of the machine that looked like someone had strapped various giant spatulas and wooden paddles to a giant mad science flywheel that was connected to a rack for a couple of seconds before he decided that he really didn't want to know how it worked. "You're insane, you know that right?"

"Yep," Rose replied with amusement as she flipped the page. "Ooh, a do-it-yourself golem doll box."

"Not just no, hell no. You're not making Chucky," Myst complained.

"Just because I'm crazy doesn't mean I'm stupid, naming a doll Chucky is just asking for trouble," Rose replied as she glanced over the next couple of wacky inventions that didn't look interesting or remotely safe, having fun teasing Myst. "Ooh, the Minion Zapper 9000!"

"They should have gone with nine thousand and one," Myst mused.

"Why?" Taylor asked as Rose wrote down the item number.

"Never mind," Myst muttered when he realized the girls had probably never watched Dragon Ball. 'Is this how old people feel when I talk about computers? Probably.' He frowned when Rose flipped the page and he saw the travel booth that sent people to alternate dimensions without a way back. "Not responsible if the device is just disintegrating people? Lovely."

"They probably needed to include the disclaimer for legal reasons and your power can probably tell how it works," Rose pointed out.

"Add it to the list," Myst suggested, not worried about the price since he had a couple of crates of gold coins in the back thanks to the Starfleet guys and it was under a hundred dollars.

"How can you read the fine print upside down?" Taylor asked Myst, having trouble reading it right side up because of the style of the font.

"I've had a lot of practice over the years reading things upside down," Myst replied. "What do you know about the local gangs?"

"There are two or three major gangs and a couple of minor gangs, depending on if you consider the Merchants to be a major gang," Taylor explained. "They've got three low to mid tier capes and a bunch of drug addicted minions but they don't really hold territory that anyone wants."

"What about the other two?" Rose asked as she finished flipping through the magazine.

"The Azn Bad Boys or the ABB as they're more commonly known by have Lung and Oni Lee, Lung can change into a dragon if you give him enough time and Oni Lee can teleport and create clones. The Empire Eighty Eight has over a dozen capes, including Purity who is a flying blaster that can destroy entire city blocks if she lets loose and Hookwolf who can turn into a metal wolf made out of whirling blades."

"A dragon?" Rose asked warily.

"He's a brute that gets stronger the longer a fight continues, eventually turning into a dragon that can hold back an endbringer," Taylor explained.

"Note to self, avoid the dragon," Rose muttered as she walked around the counter so that she could grab the phone.

"He also has a teleporting serial suicide bomber as his second in command," Taylor warned them, thinking of the annoyingly graphic pictures she'd seen of some of his victims. "I'm still not sure why he hasn't gotten a kill order."

"The heroes probably don't want to put him in more of a corner and are just waiting until someone kills him to sign the kill order," Myst suggested, fairly sure the actual reason was they didn't want to deal with a rampaging Lung. "Or the gang bribed someone."

"Sounds like the Merchants are a good place to start cleaning up the city," Rose mused as she dialed the number on the order form in the back of the magazine.

"They're still dangerous," Taylor warned her.

"I'll make something to deal with toxins," Myst said as he headed for the workshop, wanting to make sure Taylor didn't end up with a contact high from dealing with the Merchants.

"Thank you for calling Magicians Monthly, how may I help you?" a pleasant sounding male voice asked over the phone.

"I have a couple of products that I'd like to order," Rose told him.

"Excellent, do you have an account with us?" the voice asked.

"No, do I need one?" Rose asked.

"No but it provides a five percent discount on our products, speaking of products, we're not responsible for any damages that occur due to using the products we are selling, you'll have to sue the inventors directly," he warned her.

"That's fine," Rose assured him.

"Would you like to set up an account?" the man asked.

"Not currently," Rose replied, not all that concerned with saving a couple of dollars if it meant that some magical company had her name and location.

"Understandable, but I have to ask, it's part of my job," the man admitted. "Can you tell me the product numbers?"

"I wrote them down," Rose replied.

"Nice, you'd be surprised at the number of people that try to describe the products," the man complained. "Give me the numbers."

Taylor started looking through the items behind the glass on the counter while Rose listed off the numbers for the magic products.

0o0o0

Reggie sighed in relief when he saw Glory Girl arrive carrying Panacea. "Thanks for coming."

"What's up?" Vicky asked Reggie and Officer Davis as she set Amy down next to the fire truck, curious why a group of jocks had been chained to the top of a flagpole in nothing but their letterman jackets and their underwear.

"Get us down!" one of the jocks screamed, not in the least bit happy about waking up chained to the top of the flagpole and having a bunch of people laughing at him.

"Shut up!" Officer Davis told them, tired of their insults, complaints and general lack of common sense that had made things more difficult than they had to be but not surprised since he'd had to deal with these idiots a couple of times for various minor offenses.

"We can't cut the shackles, they're either tinkertech or some alloy that we can't even scratch with the torch we brought," Reggie explained.

"Do you want me to break the chain?" Vicky asked, wanting to make sure she had permission before she damaged something.

"I'd appreciate it if you can," Davis said, knowing it would take at least forty minutes to get a better torch or a diamond bladed saw since Reggie had already eaten the blade he had in the truck trying to cut the chains.

Vicky flew up and carefully snapped one of the chains then lowered the jock to the ground.

"Took you long enough," the jock complained then shouted when Vicky dropped the chain and flew back up to grab the next person, "Get these fucking shackles off!"

"Sorry, they're evidence," Vicky replied as she grabbed the next chain and broke it, a bit impressed as it was durable enough that she had to actually try to break it. She lowered the second jock down to the ground then went up to grab the other two.

The jock turned and glared at Amy. "Are you going to heal my arms?!"

"No, she's not," Davis told the jock, glad that he'd already turned body camera on. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

"What the fuck?!" the jock demanded.

"You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?" Davis asked.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" the other jock demanded.

"You've been accused of chasing a girl into a shop with intent to rape her," Reggie offered, knowing that his friend couldn't actually say anything leading without getting in trouble.

"We didn't fucking touch her!" the first jock that had gotten rescued snapped. "The fucking shopkeeper shot us with a tinkertech weapon!"

"Do you have any proof?" Davis asked, doing his best to sound like he didn't believe him, mostly since he already knew the assholes had tried to assault Danny's daughter and that the shopkeeper had knocked them out since the shop's assistant had told him before he'd gotten the call.

"Search the fucking shop!" the other jock snapped.

Harry smiled slightly as he used his metal manipulation ability to yank the jock towards the cop when Davis turned enough that the camera wouldn't have a clear image of the jock being yanked instead of willingly attacking him. He winced slightly when the jock hit the officier with the stackles in the chest. 'Sorry, that's going to leave a mark, probably worth it,' he mused, thinking about the three gold coins he'd given the cop to make sure the assholes ended up spending some time in jail.

"Officer under attack!" Davis shouted as he grabbed the jock, twisted around and slammed his face into the ground. "Stay down!"

Vicky glared at the other jock, her fear aura hitting the entire group as she floated down with the other two jocks. "Don't move!"

Harry smiled when he noticed the number of students recording videos of the jocks' pissing themselves in terror. 'If this doesn't get them expelled or at least suspended for the rest of the year, I'll be surprised.'

'Great, we're going to have to listen to another lecture on public image,' Amy complained.

Harry watched Vicky and the cop put the jocks in the back of the cop car after covering the seat with a black plastic bag, making their situation very obvious. 'Best three gold I've ever spent,' he mused as he started walking back toward the shop now that the show was over.

0o0o0

Myst looked up when the bell over the door rang and he saw an attractive blonde girl and a girl with mousy brown hair and too many freckles step into the shop. "Welcome to the magic shop, can I help you?"

"Magic shop?" Amy asked, wondering what the shop sold.

"Yep, I sell everything from wicked magic cards and magic books to beds that will give you a great night's sleep," Myst told the girls.

"Do you have any unicorns?" Vicky asked with a smile.

"Sorry, fresh out," Myst replied with amusement. "I have some snow globes that record memories and some candy that will let you fly for an hour."

"You're selling hallucinogens?" Amy asked warily.

"I’m referring to actual flight," Myst told her, “anything I have that would cause hallucinations would only be available for religious uses.”

"How much for the candy?" Vicky asked thoughtfully.

"Three dollars a bag," Myst replied with a shrug as he grabbed a small bag of lemon drops and set it on the counter.

"How do they work?" Amy asked as she walked over to the counter.

"Magic," Myst replied with a smile. "Joking aside, I know they're safe and that they let you fly for an hour then you float down to the ground and land safely."

"Why so cheap?" Amy asked.

"They're lemon drops, there's ten in a bag, how much am I supposed to sell them for?" Myst asked.

"If they can actually give people flight for an hour, at least ten times that, probably more like a hundred times that," Amy argued then stopped as she realized she should probably buy a bag before she talked him into jacking the price. "I'll take one," she said as she pulled out her wallet and handed him a five, figuring her power would nullify any toxins in the candy.

Myst chuckled as he took the five and opened the cash register and pulled out two dollar coins and handed her the change. "I'll take it under advisement."

"Naughty Witches?" Vicky asked when she noticed the trading card game that she'd never heard of.

"It's basically a trading card game with cute witches and magic," Myst replied as the girl with freckles opened the bag and tossed one of the lemon drops into her mouth.

"Tastes like lemon…" Amy trailed off as she found herself floating off the ground. "What the hell?!"

"I told you what they did, why are you surprised?” Myst asked blandly, trying not to laugh.

"I didn't expect them to actually work!" Amy said as she wobbled in the air, not quite sure how to control her temporary flight.

"Happy holidays," Myst replied with a grin.

"How many bags do you have?" Vicky asked.

"Nine," Myst replied with a grin.

Vicky pulled her wallet out and quickly handed him a ten and a twenty. "I'll take the rest."

"Pleasure doing business with you," Myst replied as he set the rest of the candy on the table.

"Are there any side effects?" Amy asked, wishing she'd asked before she'd tossed them in her mouth.

"Not that I know of," Myst asked as he checked the girl with freckles with his upgrade ability, feeling like an idiot when he realized who she was. "Everything looks fine, you have another fifty nine minutes on your timer."

"Everything looks good? How can you tell?" Vicky asked.

"One of my powers," Myst replied with a shrug.

"Shouldn't you be a bit more concerned with admitting that you're a parahuman?" Vicky asked.

"I don't have a secret identity and I doubt you're going to run down the street telling people that I can boost the candies to last longer," Myst replied.

"How much longer?" Amy asked intently.

"Days, weeks, maybe years?" Myst replied with a shrug.

“How much to boost them?” Amy demanded.

“Full physical upgrade for me and the kids,” Myst replied. “Do that and I’ll upgrade to the max I can.”

“Deal!”

“I’m so getting a bed from here,” Vicky said, spoiling the mood.

“What?” Amy asked, wondering where that had come from.

“If the candies work the way he said they do, then so do the beds and a guaranteed full night’s sleep is priceless,” Vicky told her floating sister.

Amy opened her mouth, paused and then nodded. “Call Aunt Sarah, have her bring a moving van and some money.”

Myst just smiled, pleased he was actually going to sell some furniture so he could get some new stock to examine.

0o0o0