The Femme Defenders in: Six Little Heroines!

By NoComeupance (nocomeupance@gmail.com)

Part 5: Turn On, Tune In, Wash Out

Author's note: This story follows from Enter the Mind Mistress. You can probably pick up on everything you need here, but reading that story will provide a better introduction to the characters. All characters are my original creations. Or, where stolen, they've at least had the serial numbers filed off.

Zoe found herself spiraling downward, downward, into the darkness, along with a small waterfall from the melting ice. Then-

*Sploosh!*

She stopped. Beneath her was a fine mesh strainer, through which water was passing, but she was not. She idly looked around, a puddle of peach, green, yellow and red, with a pair of blue eyes, looking at her surroundings. Mostly... it was dark. And wet.

At last, a small sluice gate opened up on one side, allowing her liquified form to pass through, then closing behind her to keep out any water. Another tumbling, pouring journey ended abruptly as she found herself in a strange round chamber. A mesh grating ran a circle around the room, with about a foot of space between the wall and the grating.

The room began to spin. Not too quickly at first, not enough to really affect Zoe, but soon it sped up. As the room span faster and faster, Zoe found her liquified form edging toward the sides of the room, pushed outward by the centrifugal force. At last she was fully pressed against the mesh. It hurt, but was also kinda fun, like those rides at the amusement park where they strap you against the wall and spin it around super fast, then take the floor away. She always used to call those rides the Whirl-N-Puke with her friends.

*Splort!* *Splort!* *Splort!*

Drops of Zoe were passing through the mesh grate. She tried to angle her eyes to see, but she was getting dizzy and, honestly, a little sick. At last she managed to spot the outer wall: It was covered in splotches of green and yellow liquid. The green and yellow parts kept sifting through, while the rest stayed inside, for minutes on end, until finally the spinning room slowed to a halt. Zoe slopped down the mesh walls and pooled on the floor, her eyes spiraling with dizziness.

A hole opened in the bottom of the chamber, allowing Zoe to pass through into a pipe. Well, parts of Zoe anyway. The green and yellow parts on the outside went into one pipe, while the peach-red-white-and-miscellaneous parts went into the central pipe. She poured downward until she found herself in a tiny compartment with a closed drain at the bottom. The area was clear, allowing her to see another compartment next to hers. Actually, three compartments, one above, two below. The bottom ones were identical, the top one larger. She saw the green and yellow liquid pouring down, filling up the compartments.

As the compartments filled, Zoe was able to make out their shapes: Two boots at the bottom, a one-piece lace-up suit with a yellow sash at the top.

“Oh, hey!” Zoe shouted, “that's my outfit!”

When the two molds filled up, Zoe felt a sudden drop in the temperature. The molds got the brunt of it; ice crystals began forming on the outside of the clear plastic molds. After a few minutes, the green liquid had solidified. It now looked exactly like Zoe's old boots and costume.

The molds abruptly broke apart at heretofore-unnoticed vertical seams, sending the costume falling into the darkness. A moment later, the drain beneath her opened, sending Zoe to follow her outfit.

***

*Sploosh!*

Zoe fell down to the floor of the command center with a splash. She soon realized that the room was a more comfortable temperature than the heatlamped obstacle course above, and that the chill of the molding area had restored her to some approximation of her accustomed physical state. She strained a bit, but soon recovered her bearings and popped back into shape.

“Whoah! Where am I? This room is so cool!” Zoe was staring wide-eyed, turning her neck rapidly to take in the whole room as quickly as possible, awestruck by all the awesome comics and videos and collectibles. “You have the limited collector's edition Death of Captain Amazing figurine! I waited on line for hours to get that and I still just missed it!! I am soooooo jealous!”

Before Zoe even had a chance to notice her fellow Femme Defenders, the mysterious figure had swung around and was chatting with Zoe a mile a minute.

“I know, right? I thought I'd miss it, too, but I had a connection through my comic shop who knew a guy at the manufacturer. It's totally the centerpiece of my collection!”

“Oh, totes! I would love to get my hands on one, but what are the chances of that happening? I do have the limited first edition Ultra-Femme Rebirth figurine-”

“Shut the F up! The one with the manufacturing error?!”

“Yep!” Zoe beamed, “The stars are yellow instead of white! I had it appraised and it's worth a couple thousand dollars in its current condition!”

“Jealous!”

“Oh my God, I thought this couldn't get any worse,” moaned Velvet Glove.

“Oh! Hey, V.G.! Ummm... Why are you in your undies?” Zoe asked.

“Probably for the same reason you're in your undies; because your new best friend is putting our costumes on display,” said Velvet Glove.

Zoey turned to look more closely at the display case. She instantly recognized her just-remolded costume, along with Jacky's, Bronco Buster's, and Velvet Glove's. Then she looked down. She was nearly naked, prompting her to quickly cover her bare breasts. The only thing she had on was a pair of white cotton underoos, white with red elastic trim, complete with fake fly. On the front was Jacky-of-All-Trade's exploding J logo, and on the seat was a colorful comic book drawing of a smiling Jacky. Zoe blushed as she looked over at Jacky, embarrassed by the naked heroine-worship on display.

“Awww, that's sweet!” said Jacky, “Thanks for buying my merchandise!”

Zoe perked up instantly. “No problem! They were suuuuuuper cheap! I got, like, a dozen pairs on clearance. They were practically paying me to take them!”

Jacky went from pleased to crestfallen in half a second, while Velvet Glove ostentatiously snickered into her hand.

“Sooooo...” said Zoe, “I guess it's up to Flower Power and Mind Mistress now, huh?”

“Ugh, either the hippie-dippie screw-up or Ms. Smartypants,” moaned Velvet Glove, “Who wants to bet on our next guest? My money's on Daydream Starlight Moonshine blessing us with her celestial presence. I'll even give you an over/under: I'll bet her tie-dyed ass pops out of the tube in less than five minutes.”

“That's terrible!” said Jacky, glaring at Velvet Glove, “Flower Power has a lot of extremely valuable skills and is an important contributor to our team's shared success! She's very... insightful. And she brings a... unique... perspective to challenges...” Jacky paused a minute before adding, “So I guess what I'm saying is, I'll take that action.”

***

“You know, if you would just open your mind to the possibilities of the inexplicable infinite, you'd be a lot happier,” said Flower Power.

“First, my mind is at its maximal state of openness regarding all unsettled matters, of which there are remarkably few. I am deeply interested in methodological, rigorous inquiry into presently ill-understood phenomena, and perfectly willing to adapt my view of things to accommodate new information as I receive it. For example, when I first met you I reached the conclusion that you had suffered some form of brain damage. Now I have come to the rather less charitable conclusion that you have actively decided to shut your brain off. Second: I'm perfectly happy as I am,” huffed Mind Mistress.

Flower Power walked closer behind Mind Mistress and placed a hand on the alien woman's right shoulder.

“I sense a lot of sadness in you. You miss your home. You miss the life you had. You miss the people you thought were your friends.”

Mind Mistress stopped short, pulled out of the moment by Flower Power's words.

“You're... not incorrect...” Mind Mistress stumbled over her words, finding it difficult to express her emotional side in words.

Flower Power smiled.

“Just let me find the right crystal for you and we can begin the journey of emotional healing that your soul-self longs for.”

That snapped Mind Mistress back to reality, where she was much more comfortable.

“Never mind that. It's neither the time nor the place for your pabulum. Here, we're almost to the next room. It's...”

“It's glorious!” Flower Power completed Mind Mistress's thought.

The pair found themselves standing in a grassy field, surrounded by rolling hills. A babbling brook in the distance ran between them and a lovely stand of shady trees. Tranquil ruminants wandered around, grazing and staring idly at the pair of heroines.

“This can't possibly be real...” Mind Mistress kneeled down and scooped up a handful of dirt and grass. It seemed like the real thing... But it could just have been brought in to create the illusion of earth. She stood up and spun around, only to find the door they had just entered through was gone, replaced by clear blue skies and a hilly green horizon. She reached out carefully, unsure what she might discover. As she did, her fingers pressed against solid air. She pushed harder, adding her other hand, feeling around. Definitely a wall. The door must have closed behind them, and an image was being projected onto it. Still, the verisimilitude of this room was striking...

The alien heroine whirled back to address Flower Power.

“We're in another room. It's an artificial-”

She stopped short when she looked down and saw Flower Power sprawled out in the grass, her billowy blouse and long, tie-dyed skirt blossoming outward beneath her.

“Mmmm, this is the best I've felt all day. I can feel the lay lines and my chakras coming into alignment. I'm at one with my oneness and the oneness of everything, even you!” Flower Power smiled and stretched, closing her eyes and enjoying the, clearly artificial, sun beating down on her.

Mind Mistress put her right hand on her hip, looking down at her companion.

“We need to keep going. The others can't be far away.”

“You're never going to succeed if you keep thinking in linear space-time. You need to open your mind and allow possibilities to flow through you. Unlock the cages that keep your mindspace trapped and free yourself to explore the Universe's endless possibilities!”

Mind Mistress sighed.

“I'm finding the exit. It has to be around here... Oh!”

No sooner did she say the word “exit” than a section of the landscape in front of her slid to the side, revealing a black corridor.

“Well, there's the exit. Literally all we have to do is walk through it. Just get up and follow me.”

“Not until we re-actualize. Whatever we're facing ahead can wait until we're properly aligned with the universe's vibrations.”

Mind Mistress brought her finger to her temple, closing her eyes in thought. The situation was not ideal, but... while their odds of survival were not great, she determined that they would be marginally better if she proceeded alone, rather than sitting here and waiting for whatever danger was inevitably waiting to swallow Flower Power up. She turned to her hippie friend.

“I am walking through that door right now. You can come with me, or you can stay here. If you stay here you will be captured, just like the others, and it will likely be unpleasant. I won't force you to come with me, but I also won't allow the mission to fail because of your tenacious failure to grasp reality.”

Flower Power just smiled sleepily.

“Maybe you're the one who fails to grasp reality...”

Exasperated, Mind Mistress threw up her hands and stomped across the grass to the black hole in the world. She passed through and it slid shut behind her, leaving Flower Power alone in her calm, sunny meadow.

Flower Power just lay back, feeling the tips of the grass brush against her hair and ears like the million tiny fingers of all the universe's atoms tickling her potentiality and teasing her with the wonderful multiplicity of the spirit essence of her being. The sunlight beat down on her, warming every strand of her physical beingness while nourishing her soul with the radiance of all-love.

Time passed slowly, and yet instantaneously. A beautiful multi-hued butterfly, purple and green and yellow, fluttered into her vision and alighted gently on Flower Power's nose. She smiled with the innocence of a child, contemplating the butterfly. Was she dreaming this butterfly? Or was the butterfly dreaming her? It fluttered off and, on a whim, Flower Power stood up to follow after it, wondering if it might have more secrets to share with her.

As Flower Power walked across the meadow in the glorious afternoon sunlight, it occurred to her that it was a shame to be so close to nature, so surrounded by the glory of the all-loving Earth-Mother, and still separated from oneness with it by the trappings of man's so-called civilization. Without a second thought, she flung off her blouse and tugged down, then stepped out of, her tie-dyed skirt, then kicked off her vegan moccasins. She now wandered through the meadow toward the stream and the copse of trees, wearing only a pair of white panties with rainbow peace signs printed on it, the sunlight beating down on the bare skin of her shoulders, the curve of her back, her slender legs, her tight tummy, her gently bouncing breasts. Her dark blonde hair streamed behind her, flowing and shimmering.

At last she arrived at the stream. Without a moment's thought she dived in to swim across to the inviting trees that lay on the other side.

She immediately surfaced.

“YYYUUUUCK! What is this?!” she screamed.

Flower Power was now covered in a weird, viscous liquid, sticking all over her, matting her hair, dripping from her nipples, and infiltrating every nook and cranny. She tried to swim ashore but found the liquid just too sticky to move through, and the stream was deceptively deep, preventing her from just standing up.

“Hey there, Flower Power,” said the mysterious voice, “I'm glad you're enjoying the calm meditation room I set up just for you. I'm especially proud of the river I made. Looks exactly like a tranquil, babbling brook, but it's filled with extra-sticky totally clear high-fructose corn syrup. Hope I didn't harsh your mellow?”

The heroine could only sputter and thrash, her mellow quite thoroughly harshed. Not only had she been trapped and covered in gunge, that gunge was just about the most processed, least organic substance imaginable! She felt the artificial sweetener poisoning her pure life essence as it seeped into her pores, got into her mouth and ears and nose and... various other orifices.

“So, good news: I know you're all about togetherness and all-one and such, so get ready to join the rest of your friends down in my control center. See you soon!”

Flower Power tried desperately to reach the bank of the stream, but forward motion was simply impossible; the more she pulled and strained, the more the syrup pulled her in. Suddenly the air was filled with the sound of liquid flowing down a drain and Flower Power found herself being swept forward into a whirlpool, circling slowly as she drew closer and closer to the center. At last she reached the middle, span around a few times as she lowered, and disappeared from sight.