Counterparts: Cleaner Magic 1

Victoria Watting smiled when she saw the object of her interest. It glowed under the artificial lights. It told her to come get it and take it away.

And that's what she planned to do thanks to her ability.

She looked around the room. No one spared her a glance as she walked up to the display case.

She felt her face split as she grinned. The next few minutes would be priceless. It was too bad she didn't have a camera.

Victoria's outer shell sloughed off in a cloud of flakes and strings. She hit the case with a fist made of something that looked like refuse from a vacuum cleaner bag. The protective cube bent away from the impact.

She smiled. It had been designed to stop bullets. Of course it would warp from the hammer she had used instead of breaking like a regular piece of glass.

She wound up and hit it again. The display cover split in two, fragments sticking to each other as the plastic tried to stay in one piece.

Vicky reached in the wreck and plucked out her prize. She sunk it in her body. Her body broke it down and spread the material across her form.

She could have waited for the museum to empty, and broke in at night. It was more fun for her to commit her robbery in the daytime. It gave her a thrill to play cat and mouse with the police.

They couldn't stop her without special equipment in any case.

Vicky walked toward the front door. Someone had called security. She smiled at the rent-a-cops as they got in front of the exit to stop her.

"We'll need you to come with us." The bigger guard raised his hands. "The police will be here in a few minutes to talk to you."

"Too bad they will be too late." She threw herself at the guards with a smile.

Vicky swamped the two men with her spreading body. The impact slammed the two into the walls. Part of her hit the door and kept going. That pulled the rest of her outside in the street.

She loved the way her body could change shape at will. It made her the queen of the block. She had only met one person who could stop her. That was a fly in the ointment, but she could do what she wanted as long as he wasn't around.

The Pixie always ruined her fun.

She wanted to shove that wand of his somewhere it would take a mining operation to get out.

On the other hand, he looked so handsome in that yellow mask and butterfly wings. The wings made her melt every time she saw them. They were so cute.

Vicky bounded down the street, bouncing along the asphalt. She turned into an alley, and leaped to the top of a building. She slid under the roof access door.

She wanted her love to notice and pursue her. She also wanted to play hard to get. He would so totally understand.

It wasn't like she needed a priceless jewel for anything but to make herself more beautiful for her butterfly man.

Vicky called on her disguise so she could play hard to get. It wasn't any fun if her lover found her too easily. That took the fun out of things.

And they both so loved their fun. It gave spice to the chase.

She checked her new face in a bathroom on the way down to the front door of the building. Everything looked good to her. She smoothed out the fake dress and imitated a woman on the town as she went to the elevator and rode the rest of the way down.

She wanted to go back to the museum in her disguise, but decided that wouldn't extend the pursuit. Her love would see through any disguise she wore with his keen eyes. That would defeat the purpose of the game.

She wanted him chasing her until she was ready to be caught. She didn't want him to catch her before then. Going back to the scene of the crime wouldn't let her have her way if he started looking hard for her nearby.

It would take the fun out of things.

Vicky turned and walked away from the robbery site. She worked on making her walk girlish and attractive. It was good practice for when her man caught up with her.

She wanted to impress him with her skills. She had even learned to boil an egg.

She wanted to amaze her man with her awesome cooking prowess. He would never stray to a tarty waitress while she had eggs at home for him.

She still needed to work on her toast making skills.

Vicky smiled at the thought of toast throwing its lure of love in the air.

She so wanted to enjoy a meal with him when he sat down to the table. It was too bad she didn't eat food anymore. It would make meals awkward unless she could pretend to eat convincingly enough to fool his sharp eyes.

She would have to watch some more television to get it exactly right. Mrs. Cleaver taught her all the good stuff.

She wanted her Pixie to be able to relax after a hard day on the job. She knew he would love to settle with her in their love nest.

She needed to watch more Cinemax for the right responses to his advances when they were alone.

She hoped he would like the nest she had built for him. It was so nice, and only the two of them could enter it. He would appreciate the privacy for their lovemaking.

She found her building. She didn't go inside. Instead, she walked down the alley beside it. That was the real entrance to her home.

She flowed up the wall, dragging her disguise with her. She couldn't leave the empty shell where anyone could find it. That would lead her love right to her door before she was ready for him.

She squeezed through a crack in the wall. She had made the flaw herself with her hands. She used an air vent to get to her hidden apartment at the top of the building. She smiled at the decorations she had placed everywhere.

He would love the pinned butterflies mixed with the pieces of colored glass she had gathered.

She hung her disguise in the closet with the rest before puttering around in the kitchenette she had constructed. She still needed to practice boiling water.

She wanted everything to be perfect for her life with her beloved. She felt like working on a cake to celebrate.

Where was that recipe book?

2

Tom Tanner glanced at his watch. He had everything in order, and early at that. He could spend the rest of his day cruising the Internet for information on fairies. He had a blessing and a curse that needed to be taken off his hands.

When he had made his deal, he hadn't quite anticipated the idiots he would have to deal with as part of his obligation.

He should have known there was some kind of practical joke going on before he agreed to the deal.

"Do you have the report for the Merco account?" Rita Kemp stuck her head into his cubicle. She wore her hair in a pony tail, and casual suits. Word was a plastic surgeon had worked miracles to keep her looking young.

"Yes." Tom got up and handed her a pile of paperwork he had constructed from the receipts and end of day reports. He had put that one together first since it was marked a priority on his planner.

It had taken about two seconds thanks to his wand.

"Are you sure this is everything?" Rita took the pile. "I thought it would take you longer than this."

"I work fast." Tom checked his watch. "Do you need anything else, boss?"

"Not right now." She frowned. "Do you have an appointment?"

"No." Tom looked at his planner to make sure. "Why?"

"You always seem to be checking your watch." Rita didn't say she thought it was because he wanted her to leave him alone.

She considered it rude, especially when she was asking for something.

"Bad habit." Tom stared at her, hands behind his back. That should keep his eye from stealing a glance at how much time of his time she was wasting. "Would you like anything else?"

"I'll need the Gladstone-Mallard numbers by the end of business day." She gave him another look. He stood there as if he wanted to be doing anything but talk to her.

"I will have them for you." Tom shifted a little to hide the mentioned paperwork in his out tray.

Being too efficient was just as bad as not being efficient enough.

"Don't forget." Rita took what she had and went back to her office. She insisted on paper when he could just as easily send her the spreadsheets to use on her office computer at any time.

Tom sat down at his desk. He checked his planner, and his watch. Everything he needed to do for the day was done. He put the planner away. He started surfing Google and other search engines for anything that might help him.

He had rigged his computer to reject any spyware, give false logs to anyone checking on his work history, and generally make it look like he didn't use the world wide web at work.

The major reason he had done that was to keep his job since surfing was considered a waste of time and monitored. It allowed him to do what he had to do while making it look like he wasn't violating company policy.

Other reasons beyond the violation of policy being the way he wanted things were there, but outside of keeping his job, he also wanted to keep his other identity secret from the general populace. That kept his membership in the Theater a secret. That prevented a lot of trouble from people who might show up to look for either side of him.

His other side attracted those kinds of people.

His computer monitor began flashing an alert. He looked around before he opened the message. He didn't want anyone seeing the message.

He frowned at what he read. Icky Vicky had robbed a place a few blocks over. He groaned. He hated dealing with her. She had a crush on him and went out of her way to draw him out. He had plainly told her to get lost, but she kept coming back with schemes to make him fall in love with her.

He asked if any of the other Theater members were available to deal with her. Maybe Denver would like wasting his time tracking her down.

The others said they were busy with their own enemies at the moment.

He covered his face with a hand. He didn't want to give the nut even more reason to keep trying to date him while wrecking things.

Tom stood and looked around. Everyone else in his department seemed too busy to notice what he was doing. He had to get out of there and deal with his enemy as fast as possible. The problem was he couldn't just leave.

He needed to fool everyone into thinking he was still working on his reports.

He pulled out his wand. He cupped his hand over the star to hide the glow. He needed to make it look like he had never left.

He tapped his computer. It projected a light in front of it. The light looked like him. He nodded. He hated to do this.

He glanced around. No one seemed to be looking his way. He tapped the floor of his cubicle. He nodded at the empty office downstairs. He dropped through the hole, and closed it up from the other side.

He used his wand to summon his working clothes. He shrugged the bright butterfly wings that grew out of his back as he went to the window. He stepped through the window and took flight.

He checked his watch as he headed for the museum. Why had Vicky struck there? It had to do with some new scheme to earn his love.

It was always about her stalker love for her.

He didn't have the time for that.

He dropped down to where the police were setting up tape to keep people out. He folded his wings on his suit as he looked around. The cops frowned at his masked face.

"I heard Icky Vicky was back in town." He checked his watch. "Can I look things over?"

"Just hold on." One of the policemen held up a hand. "I'll get a detective."

The policeman anchored his section of the tape and went inside the building. The masked man checked his watch as he waited. The sooner he could get done with this, the faster he could be back at his desk.

The policeman reappeared with the detective stuck with the case. She didn't look happy to see the wand wielding vigilante. She waved him up to the entrance of the museum.

"I knew you would be here when I heard your girlfriend had hit the place." She gave him a frown.

"She wants to be my girlfriend." Tom walked inside and looked around. "Stalkers with a crush need not apply to the position."

"I understand that." The detective frowned at the wings. "Can you track her down?"

"Given enough time." Tom went to the setting where the jewel had rested. "She's counting on it."

"What kind of name is Pixie anyway?" The detective stood at his shoulder.

"I lost a bet." Tom tapped the stand with his wand. A glowing line of dots appeared in the air.

He started following the dots.

"What did you do?" The detective was at his heels.

"Vicky touched the stand when she grabbed the jewel." Tom didn't pause. "I made the traces of her that were still in the air glow."

The splashes against the walls glowed also where they remained after soaking the guards.

"So anybody can follow this trail?" The detective hurried to keep up.

"No." Tom stepped outside and spread his wings. "I'll let you know when I have her."

"You can't do that!" Her words fell on ears already headed into the sky.

3

The Pixie soared on flapping wings. He paused when he lost the trail of glowing mass. He landed at the last spot where he had seen anything.

Vicky must have covered up her skin somehow. That was a new trick in her repertoire. He needed a way to counter it.

He needed it fast.

He looked at the glowing spot. He had a weird idea. He thought it might work.

He used his wand on the glowing spots. It gathered together in a floating glob. It started flying across the city. He leaped into the air after it.

It should take him right to Vicky. Then he could get the jewel back and try to stop her. Where did she get the idea he loved her?

He needed a surefire way to disabuse her of her infatuation. He was tired of chasing after her because she had a crush on him.

He didn't have time for something so stupid.

The glob floated over a particular block. It refused to move anywhere else. He nodded. She had to be in the building somewhere.

How did he narrow down his search?

He needed to take the thing inside and see if it could find the rest of itself.

The Pixie landed on the target building. He used his wand on the emergency exit to get inside without setting off the alarm. He followed the floating tracker down the stairs.

Where was she hiding? Her semi-liquid body made it easy for her to squeeze into the tiniest of holes. He might have to take the building apart to find her.

The glob stopped floating on one floor. He pushed the door open for it so it could start down the hall. It stopped in the middle of the corridor as if unsure of things.

The Pixie paused as he checked his watch. Which apartment could she be in? How did he take things apart without wrecking the place?

He needed an X-ray machine to look through the walls.

He smiled.

He didn't need a machine to see through the walls. He could just make the walls invisible long enough to check things out. That should work fine.

He pointed his wand at the left-hand section of the hall. It became transparent long enough for him to see that his quarry wasn't there. He tried the right-hand side. He didn't see Vicky there either.

He tried the ceiling. He shook his head at the absence of anything but ductwork.

He tried the floor. He found a chamber built into the building. He smiled. It was something he would do.

He scanned the secret room until he saw his stalker. How could he handle this as quickly as possible with a minimum of consequence to the rest of the building? He didn't want to cause anyone to be hurt over a nut trying to get a date with him.

He was supposed to preserve things as much as possible according to his deal.

He turned part of the floor into a floating cloud so he could drop down inside the secret room.

"My love?" Vicky seemed happy and confused at the same time. "You're earlier than I expected."

"I'm not your love." The Pixie pointed his wand at her. "It's time for you go back to whatever asylum you escaped from, and quit this stalking. You're a waste of time that I need for other things."

"How can you say that?" Vicky looked crushed for a moment. Then she smiled. "You're just testing me by playing hard to get."

The Pixie grimaced. How could he get it through this monster's head that he hated her? What did they do to human stalkers? Didn't they lock them up where they couldn't hurt anyone? Very few prisons could hold Vicky's shifting mass of whatever it was.

How much time was this costing him?

He couldn't do anything to her body. It was too alive for him to warp with his wand. He decided to try and bottle her up. If he could do that, he could put her someplace where she would have to work to get back in his life.

Maybe somewhere on Pluto would do.

He ripped up the floor and sent it at her. He needed to keep her moving and off balance while he found something to put her in.

Vicky let the debris hit. It wasn't going to hurt her. Her liquid body had proven invulnerable to everything that had been thrown at it so far. She doubted a piece of concrete would do what countless other projectiles had failed to do.

The floor passed through her like she planned. Her hands smashed her love against a wall. She stuck him there with a large grin.

Now she could practice those mating rituals she had seen at long last.

"I have so many things planned for the rest of our lives together." She clapped her reformed hands with a laugh and smile.

Mrs. Victoria Pixie sounded so great when she said it in her mind.

"Really?" The hooded man glared at her. "You know this stuff isn't alive when it's not you anymore, right?"

"I don't understand." Vicky raised hands enlarged into giant mallets.

The Pixie struck the goop holding him. It blasted away in a stream of sparkling light. He dropped to a part of the floor he hadn't torn up. It looked like Vicky had been blinded by the sudden flash.

He had to hurry if he wanted to take advantage of his tactic.

The wand sent a tornado spinning across the room. It wrapped around the liquid menace, spinning her like it was a blender. The only solid parts he could make out were her eyes and the jewel she had taken from the museum to attract his attention.

It was time to end this.

He needed a container. He spotted a vacuum cleaner. More importantly, it was a vacuum cleaner with a detachable bag. It was almost exactly what he needed at the moment.

He pulled the bag off of the machine. He pointed the open end at the tornado. He tapped it with his wand to set it in motion. The bag sucked the tornado into its dark maw in a second. He ignored his stalker's cries as he made the bag impervious to her powers.

He let the jewel pass through the bag with another tap of his wand. He needed to return that after he was finished getting rid of Vicky.

The Pixie sent the bag on its way with the wave of his wand. He looked around the room. He returned it to its original state. He flew up to the upper floor he had used to get to it. Then he closed the cloud for good so no one fell down into the space.

That left him with the goop he had used to track Vicky down. He didn't want her to use that to get back to Earth. He sent it after her. He didn't know if she could switch between bodies and fragments. He didn't want to take the risk.

He hoped she enjoyed her new home. Maybe that would keep her out of his hair while he researched his problem.

He doubted that was the last he had seen of her. She was just too tenacious to be kept down for long.

He passed through a wall and took to the air. He had to return the jewel and tell the detective what he had done with Vicky. She probably wouldn't like that he had basically kidnaped her suspect and sent her in exile to another planet.

He felt he could live with her disapproval since he had a shrinking period of time to figure out the answer he needed to solve his bigger problem.

He should never have made the deal in the first place.

The Pixie soared over the city with his butterfly wings. Never trust a fairy. He should have known better.

He headed for a landing at the museum. He checked his watch. He still needed to make sure his reports were handed in. He needed to make this fast.

Epilogue

Victoria Watting fought the spin that held her pliable body. She gripped the edge of the bag she had been sucked into by her love. She would have to talk to him about that.

She formed her other hand into a set of talons. She cut through the bag in a single swipe. She frowned at the cold drifting in through the tear. Then the wind vanished through the hole. She rode with it because she couldn't stop the rush of air.

At least her other hand retained a grip on the inside of the flying bag. She hung from that hold with her arm acting like a rope between them.

She saw blackness with lights. Then she saw a red planet sliding by as she watched. She frowned at the sight.

She let go of the bag. She floated in the same direction but now she could control her path if she kept her head.

She spread her arms like wings. She formed her lower body into a tail. She bent her middle to try and turn.

She headed feet first after the vanishing bag.

She needed some way to propel herself.

She spread out her body like a great big sail. She reached as far and as thin as she could until she was a sheet on the black void. She felt something beat against her skin.

Sunlight pushed against her without an atmosphere to block it. She smiled as she had a thought on how to use this to her advantage.

She twisted her body until part of it was catching the light. It was enough for her to change direction. She didn't think she could get back to Earth. She needed to land somewhere else and work on a better way to travel than what she had at the moment.

Without a means of propulsion, she could only delay the inevitable of being sent out of the Solar System by the Sun.

She nodded as she saw the red planet drifting closer. If she could get close enough for gravity to take over, she could land. Then she could think how to get back to her boyfriend, Pixie.

Her speed picked up a little. Gravity, weaker than what she was accustomed, pulled on her. She drew in her body to speed up the process. She wanted to land somewhere solid.

She drifted into the weak atmosphere of the planet. She gauged her speed by watching the craters on the surface of the planet grow larger. She flattened out when she thought she was close enough to the surface. She drifted down at a slower speed.

Vicky landed gently on the red desert. The air wasn't what she would have wanted, but beggars couldn't be choosers. She inspected the nearby rocks for a moment as she tried to think of her next move.

Maybe she should have waited to see where the bag was going. Her love must have been sending her somewhere more pleasant than this. She had messed up jumping from the bag.

What could she do now?

First she needed to gather together what she needed to get home. She had to show her love how self-reliant she could be. Men loved women who could handle themselves in an emergency.

The local rocks seemed to be rich in iron. Maybe she could use that somehow. She decided to walk until she had an idea of what she wanted.

Maybe she could build a boat of some kind. How could she get it into space from the surface? What could she use for propellant? How could she get home?

Being self-reliant was harder than she thought.

White attracted her attention. It stood out against the endless red. She walked toward it, realizing that it was frozen water. It was an ocean of frozen water.

She might have a way home after all. She just needed a little more patience, and time to get things the way she wanted.

What would the Pixie think of her now? She was the best wife ever.

She walked into the frozen water. She absorbed as much as she could through her skin. She grew as the white dwindled around her. This could be exactly what she needed to get home.

Where was the Earth?

She needed to find it before she launched from the surface of the red planet. She couldn't get out in the void without a direction. She could wander around forever if she did that.

She rested in the snow and grew bigger. She scanned the sky for the one blue planet she knew about. Things looked different from where she was.

Maybe she had been wrong about the Pixie after all. Maybe he didn't love her. Maybe the bag had been his way of sending her away because he hated her.

No! He loved her, and she loved him. She refused to believe anything else. She would prove her love by returning to him.

Once she was home, he could no longer deny his love for her.

She wanted to see the look on Pixie's face when she arrived.

Vicky picked up a rock with a long arm. She wound up the limb like a catapult. She threw the rock into the sky. She didn't let go. She extended her reach until she was a long rope from the ice to the stone.

She retracted her body until all of it was on the flying rock. She formed into a balloon as the rock reach the top of its arc. She floated high in the thin air.

She floated higher until she was heading into space. She jetted some of her extra mass to change direction when she saw the blue speck that had to be home. She aimed the rock for it and smiled.

She didn't know how long it would take to get there but she was heading for home. She would have her love.

She could almost see the look of rapture on her love's face when she finally landed.