The Addled Mimic, a popular watering hole for geeks that’s been serving the Chattanooga area now for around five years. The outside looked no different than most other buildings around it, however the inside was truly a sight to behold. The theme of the bar was designed around geeks and geek culture with chairs, tables, and even the bar itself were all modeled after a fantasy world only imagined in stories and manga. Behind the massive oaken bar stood a muscular bespectacled man with reddish brown hair and an immaculate beard that trailed passed retriever torso softly polishing a simple glass with a white cloth. A charming warp whistle tune fluted triumphantly as the doors swung wide. The man stopped polishing the glass placing it on a shelf behind him then turned to Merlynn and company his hazel eyes peering over the rim of his glasses. “Lady Merlynn a pleasure as always.” The man greeted Merlynn with a curt nod as he grabbed three empty potion bottles setting them neatly in front of him. “Ah Corey, always good to see you too.” Merlynn smiled as she waltzed into the bar like she owned it. Gloria followed in suite leaping onto a cushioned barstool spinning in a slow circle. Abbey stared in amazement taking in everything as quickly as she could, slowly walking forward to join Merlynn and Gloria at the bar. Merlynn let out a chuckle as she awkwardly straddled a worn barstool.
Corey smiled softly as he retrieved a silver inlaid decanter from a locked cabinet to his right and poured an ounce of shimmering pale liquid into the bottles then returned it. He then grabbed some grenadine and Midori which he added to each bottle as well. Finally, he took a pinch of a strange yellow powder sprinkling some into each bottle and corked them. With a slight jostling and swirl he handed each of them a bottle, the contents slowly swirling into a singular green color that seemed to glow on their own.
“Bottoms up girls!” Merlynn shouted as she popped the cork from the bottle with just her thumb. Green obnoxious smoke plumed from the bottle neck which Merlynn hastily blew away then downed in the next breath. Gloria and Abbey joined her both tossing their corks then swallowing the drink in one go. Abbey winced as flavors of caramel, bittersweet green apples, and a nutty presence burned her throat and tickled her nose. “What was that! It felt like a Granny Smith apple pie just set fire to my throat!” Abbey coughed as she reached for water that wasn’t there. Corey smiled timidly then pushed a glass of water into her outstretched hand. “I call it a Health Potion! It’s a bit of common local liquors and a secret liquor from a distant planet called Flameria.” Corey explained as he rinsed the bottles and returned them to the shelf.
“Flameria eh? You're talking about that place Merlynn always seems to be going as of late right?” Gloria asked as she leaned over the bar and grabbed a twelve-year-old bottle of Balvenie Doublewood Scotch. Suddenly a silver knife slammed into the wood of the table piercing Gloria’s coat sleeve. “In the old days people who were found stealing were branded with a letter ‘T' and those discovered repeating that crime would be again branded but with a ‘R'. Finally, those who were caught one finally time with both were executed on the spot. “Corey smirked removing the bottle from Gloria’s hands and returned it to the bar.
“Well, ain’t no “T" on me! Jeez a simple no would have sufficed.” Gloria grumbled as she pulled the knife from her sleeve and tossed it onto the bar. “Thank you, Corey, I haven’t let Gloria into the good stock since the Wailing Wendigo incident.” Merlynn thanked him as she made a motion with her hand and a beer floated over into it. She flicked the cap off and began nursing the beer turning to face the doors. “Wait…how come Gloria can’t but you can just get whatever you want?” Abbey asked confused and flustered from her prior drink beginning to digest. “Simply because this establishment belongs to Madame Merlynn and you will do good to remember that.” Corey answered as he placed a plate of fries in front of Abbey which she dove knuckle deep into and began cramming fistfuls of fries in her mouth. “Easy now Corey, you will treat Abbey as you would me, do I make myself clear?” Merlynn spoke without turning, pressing the bottle to her lips again as she took another powerful pull from the beer. “Yes mam' forgive a cautious fool for his discretion.” Corey bowed at the waist swiftly then proceeded to cleaning. “Wow Lynn how come you never told me about owning a bar.” Abbey chuckled as she shoveled more fries into her mouth. “It’s a long and complicated story Abs, too long for today perhaps but I’ll tell you about it sometime.” Merlynn answered half into her beer. “So, we headed home now or what? My soaps are calling my name.” Gloria yawned leaning back on her barstool.
“You’ve got a point Gloria. What to do now…” Merlynn pondered as she finished the last of her beer. The expression on Gloria’s face soured as she leaned towards Merlynn. “Huh!? You mean to tell me this is as far as you’ve thought!” Gloria asked, her voice growing louder. “Well to be honest slaying alien assholes wasn’t originally on me to do list okay. I still have other things I need to do before heading to Flameria.” Merlynn thought out loud as Corey quietly slipped another beer into her hand. She flicked the cap off and pressed it to her lips without taking a drink. As Merlynn continued to ponder the warp whistle sounded again as a rather plain looking young man with black hair and amber eyes entered the bar with a determined look. “Welcome to the Addled Mimic! Have a seat anywhere and I’ll get your order momentarily.” Corey greeted the man whom thanked him in a soft polite voice.
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“Are you…Lady Merlynn?” the man asked in a timid voice. “Perhaps. Perhaps not it all depends on who’s asking.” Merlynn answered, her body slumping a little as the alcohol worked into her system. As she adjusted in her seat her coat fell away from her hips and legs exposing them. The man blushed immediately turning away causing Gloria to giggle madly. “Awe that’s cute, I think he likes you, Lynn.” Gloria continued to giggle. Merlynn looked down at herself realizing it looked as if she was seated while not wearing anything past her waist.
“Shit…” Merlynn cursed as she stood up fixing her shorts and coat. “I…I…am Hiro. I mean my name is Hiro, I was accompanying my master when she suddenly told me I had served my purpose then vanished.” Hiro announced in a timid tone. “Whoa let me stop you right there. I don’t do detective work, if that’s what you're after try Chicago and the last thing I need right now is an apprentice following me around. So, I can’t help you find her nor can I teach you magic.” Merlynn spoke crossing her arms. Please mam’ I don’t know what to do, all I’ve known is my master’s lab and a name she spoke every day.” Hiro begged dropping to his knees. “Let me guess it was my name, wasn’t it?” Merlynn asked with a scowl. “Yes mam.” Hiro answered without raising his head. “And let me guess again, Morgana is your master…isn’t she…” Merlynn asked with a more infuriated growl.
“Yes mam. Lady Morgana is indeed my master and creator.” Hiro replied slowly rising from his knees. “Creator? Dude that’s a weird way of saying mother ya know.” Gloria chimed in after she had retrieved another bottle of liquor from behind the bar, which was cheap liquor this time. “I saw that.” Corey spoke in a stern voice but didn’t take the bottle away from her. “He legitimately means creator Glory, he’s not even human it seems.” Merlynn replied to Gloria as she walked closer to examine Hiro further.
She noticed his face was softer than she realized, and his body lacked any form of defined muscle. With a gesture of will, Merlynn’s eyes flickered green then a burning pale blue enhancing her sight to see past the physical layer. She cast her enhanced gaze onto Hiro and saw exactly what she expected. Veins of energy ran along his body like a normal human's nervous system however the rate at which they traveled was nearly tenfold. He bore no recognizable organs or really any kind of organs, only a tiny spherical core that traveled constantly throughout his body. “Can you change shape? Seeing you’re basically a slime like Abbey’s pet over there I doubt this form is your original.” Merlynn asked rubbing her eyes.
“Yes and no, I've made this form my original through choice a long time ago, I can shapeshift, but I always revert back to this form after I’m done with the chosen shape. I can only hold another form for so long, usually the bigger the form the shorter the duration. I can, however, change my appearance as a human for as long as I please for the most part.” Hiro rambled as Merlynn raised a hand silencing him.
“Whatchu mean mostly?” Gloria chimed in; her curiosity piqued. Hiro blushed slightly then responded with a stammer. “I uh, uh, well it varies the more stressed I get the harder it is for me to hold the disguise.” Hiro rambled blushing harder. With that Gloria shot from her seat strutting up to him with a sultry wicked grin. “Prove it.” Gloria grinned harder showing her teeth.
Without balking Hiro nodded as he began to visibly show discomfort. “Chicken, duck, bear, moose, go!” Gloria rattled of in rapid succession. After a sporadic series of different forms and excessively detailed complaints by Hiro Merlynn raised her voice stopping them.
“Enough! Your definitely one of Morgana's creations, only something she made could rattle on like that.” Merlynn whined as she tenderly rubbed her head. “Despite what you are my answer remains the same. I don’t want or have a need for an apprentice and I’m damn sure not hunting Morgana’s reclusive ass down.” Merlynn spoke sternly looking Hiro in his eyes.
Hiro visibly slumped in on himself like he had lost stability and melted a little. “Who’s Morgana?” Abbey asked twiddling with a straw in her mouth. “Merlynn's twin sister, not bad blood per say but things tend to get…unique…when they are together.” Gloria answered quickly shushing Abbey with a finger. “I am regrettably sorry Madame Merlynn. I didn’t mean to trouble you…” Hiro quivered as he reformed enough to slump his way towards the door when Merlynn spoke again. “However, you are a creation of hers and I would feel more comfortable if you came to stay with us until we get this sorted out. I’m not going to hunt her down as I said but I can send her a message at the very least.”
Hiro quivered again spinning tightly then snapping back to his original form beaming with happiness as he threw himself onto Merlynn. Merlynn quickly side stepped letting him fall full force into the floor splattering into thousands of tiny drops. Everyone’s mouth fell agape staring in shock at the floor. “You killed him!” Abbey stammered as she snatched her pet Eyed Goo from the barstool beside her holding it tightly in her arms. “You stay where you are Slime Slayer!” Abbey sneered pointing at Merlynn her grip tightening on her Eyed Goo.
Suddenly the tiny droplets quivered then began rapidly pooling together slowly reforming Hiro. As the droplets collided into the bigger puddle everyone could swear, they heard the chorus of a thousand “Yays.” Upon fully reforming Hiro tried throwing himself onto Merlynn again only this time Merlynn stopped him pointing a finger in his face. “Cardinal rule one, no touchy.” Merlynn said in a stern voice. “Yes mam'!” Hiro exclaimed tightening his body into a military stance with salute included. “Oh, great your one of those types.” Merlynn rubbed her forehead as she walked past Hiro towards the door. “Come with me, you can walk with us back to the house.” With that Merlynn motioned for the girls to follow her as well as bidding Corey goodbye as they all left heading towards Merlynn’s apartment.