Book 1: My Charmed Ones!: Ch2

“Book 1: My Charmed Ones!”

By:  (Mister) Jimmie Ray Giboney.

Chapter 2: “The Charmed Ones Go Underground”

Princess Paige said, “Hey! If you say ‘manhole cover’ or ‘manhole’, no one gives it much thought. But if you were to say, ‘woman hole’, people are likely to think of something sexual, right? Then if were to say, ‘woman hole cover’, would you think of a pair of panties, a bikini, shorts, or some old-fashioned, feminine hygiene product?”, as her sisters laughed and/or smirked at the visual imagery that came to their respective minds. Princess Prue was removing an old manhole cover that had been fused to its rims where it had been resting for years. The stench would have made them retch, in the past when they were mere human witches. They found it annoying still, but they weren’t made ill by it. They waved their hands in front of their faces and held their noses nevertheless. Princess Pepper Ann smiled and then said, “Maybe we should knock first?” Princess Piper smiled and then knocked on the manhole cover, or lid, that Princess Prue was still holding onto, even as Princess Phoebe and Princess Paige said, “Are there any ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ down there?!”, down into the dark depths. Their shouts echoed back to them.

Princess Prue set the lid down next to the hole, before forgoing the ladder in favor of leaping down. She called for the others to follow her down and they did, leaping down or dropping down, one at a time. Being able to see in the dark as well as they could see in light, they had no need for candles, flashlights, flares, glowing crystals, torches, lamps, or night-vision goggles. Yes, they were in their so-called “Superheroine Mode”, but they had obtained plenty of marital bliss fringe benefits, and being able to see in any lighting condition or darkness condition was one of them. So if you were watching this on a monitor or television set, you’d feel frustrated about now, having only their voices to hear alone and maybe some ambient light to look at, now and then. So just use your imaginations here! The old, sewer system lights went dead a long time ago!

They began walking in the one direction they had to walk, singing the theme song to “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” as they did. They completed the song by the time they got to the end of the tunnel. They were disappointed that there had been no light at the end of it. Other than singing the song, as they walked the Princesses picked up objects they found. Some objects were litter, and others were old toys, shoes, or other items like that.

The litter went into one “Deep Pocket”, a brand name in competition with “Magic Pocket”; the lost objects now found, went into another “Deep Pocket”. Their walk affectively cleaned the tunnel out. Discounting what should be there, that is. The litter would become material for recycling. The lost objects would be repaired and/or restored to like-new condition, and returned to their owners if possible. Well, make that feasible. As the old saying goes: “Finders keepers! Losers weepers!” (Don’t ever think it is, “Finders keepers! Loser sweepers!”)

If they encountered the remains of dead life forms, they tagged the bodies, or remains, and the bodies or remains, were then teleported and/or transported away to the morgue at home. Well, not in their quarters! But in their new, orbiting “home town”, the geostationary orbiting platform known as, Space Station San Francisco that was built to replace the old, land based city they were in now. It was stationed right above the old city ruins, so at night it would be visible.

No plants, dead or alive, were found, but there were a few dead sewer rats. None of them looked like “Splinter” though! No other signs of turtles or even alligators. Some dead sewer workers, of the Human type were found however. The station’s morgue laboratory would verify the rats as rats, before putting them in jars filled with preservatives like formaldehyde. The Humans would get an autopsy, which was policy, but in this case not just to confirm the cause of death, but to identify the remains. Then their families would be notified if any could be found still alive. The Princesses had the Super Power of “Total Recall”, also known as a “photographic memory”, but that didn’t help other people. So every time they found something, or someone, they had paused long enough to take holographic scans, for the record. They felt more like “C.S.I.” this way, and less like tomb raiders and/or relic hunters. But yet, they only had to sing the song once! Now they were at a junction in the tunnel. Perfect! Princess Prue could take one. Princess Piper could take one. “The Twins” as they were often enough simply referred to as, Princess Phoebe and Princes Paige, could take one. Princess Pepper Ann could take one too.

The Walk of Princess Prue:

Princess Prue chose the first tunnel to the left. The junction had a sign that at one time had a legible warning label on it. Other than that, there were no artifacts to be recovered there. Her chosen tunnel appeared to be level as she crossed the entrance point. Looking ahead, the tunnel appeared to be litter free. That was good! The tunnel also appeared to be dead rat free. That was better! The tunnel also appeared to be dead human free. That was best! She surmised that the rats and workers closest to the manhole cover had tried to make their way there to exit. The rats too big to fit through the keyhole, were trapped. The Humans couldn’t open the lid, because it had been fused shut before they got there. That explains that. As for litter, well this tunnel was too far away to be affected by litterbugs and storms above. As Princess Prue finished that line of thought, she was walking, as stealthy as a breeze.

Eventually, she came to some rubble. She named the pile of rubble “Barney” as a point of reference for herself, in her mental mapping efforts. There was some sunlight above, which she realized was from a storm drain. She saw no point in removing the rubble. So instead she leaped up to the storm drain, and hanging on to the edge, she pulled herself up just high enough to see the view of the outside world from this vantage point. Then as she pulled herself through the storm drain, happy that it was impossible for her to become overweight and/or obese, another marital bliss fringe benefit, she thought of how she had never been in the sewer tunnel before, but she recognized the location outside. Once all the way outside, she stood up. Slowly rotating, she surveyed the area. In the past she wouldn’t have given this storm drain much notice. But now she had found herself by their old elementary school playground. As memories came to her mind of her long ago girlhood youth, her eyes’ tear ducts began to cry.

The Walk of Princess Piper:

Princess Piper got the second tunnel from the left as her route to explore. The sign had been worthless to her too. The tunnel, as she entered it, appeared to slant downwards. But it wasn’t as if she were wearing high-healed shoes. If she had some on, she would have felt level still on this slant or grade. She would look silly walking around barefoot. But because she was wearing long pants, silver with black stripes, the boots were barely noticeable anyway. She suddenly realized she was distracting herself from what she should be doing. No longer thinking about her clothing, she proceeded down the slanted walkway of the tunnel. Her tunnel was also a clean one.

She must have walked at least a kilometer if not a mile, without incident. Then she detected a trap! Traps were always so fun! Besides, her husband was with her, if she needed help, but she doubted it. So she tapped the trap with her left boot, testing how much pressure was required to set it off. A very large rat’s weight wouldn’t have set it off. Heavy trash, maybe? Something like an alligator or heavier would do it. She could peek and see what sort of trap would be released, but that would spoil the surprise! She had once tagged along with Princess Lara Croft and Princess Sydney Chase, two more of the wives in the Harem-Bevy, during one of their relic quests. Ever since then, Princess Piper had been smitten with that sort of activity as a fun hobby for herself, including the traps. Anyway, she decided to set her full weight down, and then she tensed in anticipation. Her wait wasn’t long!

She could hear the darts, the bolts, and the arrows flying towards her! Should she get some exercise and practice in, by blocking and dodging them? Or just let them hit her? Her curiosity won out, wanting to know where the impact points would be. So she stood upright, and very still, almost at attention. No surprise then, that most of them tried to hit her heart’s general area. Whoever had designed the trap, had taken variable heights into consideration. So some bounced off of her face. A few bounced off of her abdomen.

Some bounced off of her crotch, hips, and thighs. Some hit her shoulders and arms. One hit her left hand. The rest bounced off of her bust. Some shattered on impact, some merely dropped. Most ricocheted. She waited for them to cease flying about. Then she giggled! She didn’t have to check her clothing for damage, or her flesh for harm. She was still spotless. She had enjoyed the tickling!

When the giggling stopped, she cast a spell that gathered the weapons into her “Deep Pocket” for found objects. She too holographic scans of the trap set-up, for later analysis. She wanted to pull the whole thing apart, to take home for her collection of traps she had accumulated over time. But she had to settle for the floor plate. Once she had removed it, she was ready to go the rest of the way.

The second trap had two horizontal blades, one from each wall that tried to decapitate her. She ducked, and the blades had reset into their wall niche. This time she took not just the floor plate, but the two blades from the wall. She had ducked to avoid damaging them. Then she changed her mind about the previous traps’ wall pipes. She went back and removed them from the wall. Then she realized she was letting her hobby distract her from her mission. No fair! So she cast a spell that gathered every detectable trap, intact, and let the magic do her work for her. That done, she could proceed with no more such distractions!

Cheating like that with her hobby had made her think of something else. How could the sewers survive the earthquake, the flooding, and the bomb blasts?! That was easy to answer! Magic! Why were there traps down here? Somebody, mystical perhaps, had something to hide, and/or protect. It is a wonder the sewer workers had managed to avoid this area. Unless magic covered that too?

She realized her activity had managed to attract someone’s, or something’s, attention. She could hear movement. She opted to stand her ground and let it come closer to her. Knowing full well that she had the upper hand. She could see them, hear them, smell them, and feel the vibes of their movements. If she stuck her tongue out, she could probably taste them from the molecules in the stale air. Her pheromone detectors were repulsed by them!

She had stumbled into the lair of some thirsty looking vampires! She, Princess Piper Halliwell Free Spirit, also known as, Princess Piper Halliwell Dragon, was no screamer however. She just stood her ground like a statue.

The Walk of Fraternal Twins Princess Phoebe & Princess Paige:

Princess Phoebe and Princess Paige, although not identical twins, just fraternal twins, hated to be separated for very long time periods. Their other sisters would tease them, and say that they practically like conjoined twins! (Popularly known as “Siamese Twins”.) Joined at the hip. They had dubbed their chosen tunnel as “Tunnel Three”. Their tunnel was level for awhile, and then it sloped down, and leveled off again, plus it was a clean tunnel and easy going for both of them.

But now their tunnel was broken and blocked! There was a giant piece of steel-reinforced concrete slab in front of them. They opted to push against it. As a team they pushed it forward slightly. The ground rumbled and grated, and dust, gravel, and other bits of debris fell down towards them, before bouncing away leaving them still spotless. Suddenly the huge slab fell away from them with a large “THUD!” and the slab became part of an avalanche of debris that slid down a slope and away from the sisters. At one time, the sisters would have fallen too, but now they were still standing on what had become a ledge. Despite the dust cloud that had erupted around them, there was noticeable sunlight suddenly shining on them.

The twins had stumbled onto one of the bomb blast craters. They didn’t cry out any alarms either. But they did have some memories and shed a few tears of their own for their once beloved city.

The Walk of Princess Pepper Ann:

Princess Pepper Ann, she got the very last tunnel, “Tunnel 4”. The other’s tunnels must be more interesting she thought. With twists, turns, slopes, and maybe some length worth mentioning. She had a clean tunnel too. But she got about fifty (50) yards, when she came to a ladder. She climbed it of course, and she had to unseal the fused shut, manhole cover, before she made her upward exit of the tunnel. Of course, she was still in the Rads’ colony! As she looked around, she tapped a foot. She was the only one whose costume had a micro-mini-skirt. But this was no breeze up it! She went back into the manhole, pulling the lid back into place after her.

At the bottom of the ladder, she went back the way she had come. This time she ran! The others were not at the junction. She had to decide who to catch up with now. Or so she first thought. For suddenly, everyone but Princess Piper was standing next to her. That was the thing about Superspeed running! Unlike the glow of Orbing, or Teleporting. There was just the sound of wind zipping. Then suddenly the runner would be there, like a starship dropping out of warp speed!

Princess Prue’s costume was like Princess Piper’s. Long pants. Princess Phoebe and Princess Paige wore identical hot pants outfits. Also known as “short-shorts”, or “Daisy Dukes”. Princess Pepper Ann had the only skirt on, of any kind. She didn’t mind though as it made sex a whole lot easier. Princess Prue and Princess Piper may have had long pants on, but where Princess Piper’s costume as a whole, was silver with black trim, and a gold belt buckle. Princess Prue’s was golden with black trim, and a platinum buckle. Princess Pepper Ann was still amazed that when they wore these outfits, people thought of them as “Superheroines”. They could wear goddess togas, or be nude. They could wear traditional, or “Halloween-style”, witch costumes, and they were still the same powerful beings. Yet unless they wore these sexy costumes, with the black masks, people wouldn’t think of them as “super-heroic”. She thought that odd!

She, Princess Pepper Ann, was going to start another train of thought, as they waited for Princess Piper. Instead, Princess Prue told them that perhaps they should go to Princess Piper instead. But Princess Pepper Ann, she then told them where she had been, which prompted them to say where they had went. Princess Prue’s anecdote was the most poignant to them. Princess Phoebe’s and Princess Paige’s, was interesting enough too. Princess Pepper Ann, hers she decided was the boring one. Then when she was done, they ran to Princess Piper’s location in her choice of tunnel.

The End of Chapter Two!