The Inventor Calls For Help
by JMD

"Again, I’m sorry,” the inventor said.

“And again, you’re forgiven,” his sister sighed, slowing turning the lingerie hanger over, examining it thoroughly.  “Now, stop apologizing, or I swear I’m going to take that little toy of yours…”  She nodded to the Linge-Ray that her husband was holding.  “…and turn you into something nice and quiet while I try to figure out what happened here.”

“Sorry,” he said again.  When his sister reached for the Linge-Ray, he quickly added, “It’s just that I know how much you were looking forward to your… uh… experiments.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, looking up with a wistful expression.  After a moment, she looked back to her brother.  “Well, lucky for you I wasn’t available to take your call.”  She stopped and turned to her husband.  “What was I anyway?”

The tall woman in the bathrobe holding the Linge-Ray smiled.  “A French teddy.”

“Really?”  She considered it for a second, then asked with a smile, “Tight?”

“Very.”

After a playful wink, she turned her attention back to her brother.  “Anyway, the big lug here managed to convince me that some things are more important than our experiments.  Even helping…”  She held up the hanger.  “…her.”

The inventor shared a look with his brother-in-law, who just shrugged.  They waited a few more moments while the woman continued to examine the hanger.  

After a bit, she let out a heavy sigh, letting the hanger drop to her side.  “Well, this is pointless.”

“Pointless?” the inventor repeated.

“Pretty much.  I’m a scientist.  This is magic.”

“Witchcraft,” her brother corrected automatically.

“Well, whatever you call it, it’s not my area.”

“But,” her husband countered, “this happened when she used the Restorer.  That’s science, isn’t it?”

She considered that.  “Maybe.”  She glanced at the identical hanger on the closet door.  “You said she used it on that.”

Her brother nodded.  “She called it a test subject.”

“To see if it could restore something changed by magic?”

“Witchcraft,” he corrected again.  “And yeah.  That’s what she said.”

“So,” his brother-in-law wondered, “does that mean that hanger used to be something else?”

“I guess so,” the inventor answered.  “Or someone.”

“Someone?”

The inventor just shrugged in reply.

“Who?”

His wife answered for her brother.  “If I had to guess, I’d say it was probably the woman he created from a pair of her panties.”

“Why her?”

“Because she’s the only person involved in all this craziness that’s currently unaccounted for.”

The inventor found it impossible to argue with his sister’s logic, so he didn’t

She suddenly handed him the hanger.  “Here.  Hold your wife while I check out this other one.  Maybe it’ll have a clue.”  She took the hanger off the doorknob.  After checking it carefully, she shrugged in defeat.  “Nothing.  If I didn’t know any different, I’d say they were both plain old lingerie hangers.”

“So, what do we do?” her husband asked.

“How should I know?”  She nodded at the Linge-Ray.  “I still don’t know how he got that crazy thing to work.  Much less the Restorer.  And now, thanks to his crazy wife, we’ve thrown magic…”

“Witchcraft.”

“…into the mix,” she finished with a scowl.  “This is all outside my understanding of the way the world works.”  She sighed heavily.  “The only thing I can think of is leaving her like this and hope she’s right about transformed things returning to their natural state eventually.”

“How long will that take?” her husband asked.

She looked to her brother for an answer.  

He shrugged.  “She says it works that way, but I’ve never seen it actually happen.  Anything she’s ever changed is either still what she made it, or she changed it back herself.”

“Well,” his sister said, “as one of the THINGS she changed, I can say that I never felt like I was going to turn back on my own.”

“Something else to consider,” her brother pointed out.  “Even if it normally works, it might not this time.”

“Why not?”

“Like you said, this is a mix of science and witchcraft.  We don’t know how that will affect things.”

“That’s true,” she admitted.  She thought for a bit, then sighed heavily.  “I guess we have no choice then.  As much as I hate to suggest this, I think you’re going to have to call in someone from her side of the family.”

The inventor took a deep breath before replying.  “I already did.”

She eyed him dangerously.  “You did?”

Her brother sheepishly nodded.

“Who?”

“That would be me,” came a reply from the corner of the room.

They all turned to see a young red-haired woman standing there.  The inventor noted that she was on the other side of the room from the door.  There was no way she could have gotten there without being seen.  But that didn’t surprise him, considering who it was.

“Rhiannon,” he greeted her.  “You sure got here fast.”

“Of course, Douglas,” she told him impatiently.  “You said Hazel needed my help, didn’t you?”  She turned to his sister.  “Mary,” she acknowledged.

“Marie,” the blonde corrected.  

“Sure,” Rhiannon shrugged.  “Whatever.”  She eyed the woman standing behind her.  “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Um…” Marie stammered.  “This is… uh… Michael.”

Rhiannon’s brow arched.  “Your husband?”  

Marie nodded, then added a sheepish shrug.  

“Well now,” Rhiannon said, her face brightening, “this trip might not be nearly as boring as I thought it would.”  She turned back to the inventor.  “So, tell me, Douglas,” she inquired.  “What new trouble has Big Sister gotten herself into this time.”

In answer, Doug handed her the hanger.  Rhiannon stared at it for a few moments before looking back up at her brother-in-law.  He just shrugged at her.

“Okay,” she stated, sitting on the bed.  “I’m going to need a little more information.”

-----   -----   -----

“Let me get this straight,” Rhiannon said after getting the full story.  “You created a device that turns people into women’s underwear?”

“That’s right,” her brother-in-law replied.

“And then, you turned that around and created a woman from a pair of Hazel’s underpants.”

He just nodded this time.

“Why?”

“Because it’s cool,” Doug and Michael answered in unison.

“No,” Marie cut in.  “Because he’s an idiot.  But that’s a whole different problem that has nothing to do with your sister’s current situation.”

“Actually,” Rhiannon corrected, “this… um… panty-woman might have more to do with Hazel’s problem than you realize.”

“Really?” Doug asked.  “Why?”

“Because I think Carrie here is right about her being our second hanger.”

“Marie,” Marie corrected with a sigh.

Rhiannon waved her off.  “Sure, whatever.  My point is that this makes her a hybrid of sorts.”

“Hybrid?” Doug and Marie said together.

“Exactly,” Rhiannon nodded.  “She was first transformed by science.  Then, by witchcraft.  That’s a unique combination.  In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it happening before.”

“So, what does that mean?” Michael asked.

Rhiannon shrugged.  “We’re in unexplored territory, folks.”  She gave them a moment to take that in.  “Now, I have another question.”  She held up the hanger that was her sister.  “Are you sure this is Hazel.  You didn’t mix these hangers up on some point, did you?”

“No,” Doug answered.  “I never took the other one off the closet.  Marie did.”

Marie nodded.  “And I’ve had this one in my hand ever since.  Why?”

“Because I can sense the spell on that one.”  She took a moment to look over the one she was holding.  “But I’m getting nothing from this.”

“Nothing?” Doug repeated with a bit of concern.

“Nada.”

“So…”  Doug swallowed.  “What does that mean?”

His sister-in-law shrugged.  “Unexplored, remember?”

Marie put a hand on her brother’s shoulder.  “So, what would you suggest?”

Rhiannon gave it some thought before shrugging again.  “Not sure, honestly.”  She eyed the hanger in Marie’s hand.  “I guess I could reverse the spell on that.  See if that does anything.”

She waited as her brother-in-law shared a look with his sister, who just shrugged.  “What could it hurt?” she offered.  

Doug still looked uncertain as he turned back to Rhiannon.  Without a word, he nodded.

“Okay, then,” Rhiannon said, setting the Hazel-hanger on the bed.  She reached out to Marie, who handed over the other hanger.  Moving to an open part of the room, she set it on the floor before stepping back.  “This shouldn’t take but a second,” she stated.  She made several hand gestures at the hanger, reciting something quietly to herself.

The effect was almost instantaneous.  The hanger was engulfed in a glow that held its shape.  After a few seconds, the glow began to change shape, taking on a familiar outline before starting to fade.  As it did, it left a naked brunette in its place.  Doug recognized her instantly.  

“Is that her?” Michael asked.

“I think so,” Marie answered.  “I really only got a glimpse of her before she hit me with that damned thing.”  She nodded at the Linge-Ray.

“That’s her,” Doug confirmed.

For her part, the woman looked around between the people surrounding her.  “What the fa…”

Her question was interrupted by a groan from behind them.  As one, they turned to see Hazel sitting up on the bed, still wearing the towel that she’d had on when she became the hanger.  “What the fuck?” she said, holding her head.

“Honey!” Doug called, rushing over to her.

She looked up as he took her in his arms.  She looked over his shoulder, seeing Marie standing with a woman in a bathrobe she didn’t recognize.  Next, she spotted her sister standing there.  “Rhea?  What are you…”  She stopped as her eyes came to rest on the last person in the room.  “Oh, hell no!” she shouted, pushing Doug away and standing up.

“Hazy?” Doug asked, standing up behind her.

She ignored him, completely focus on the naked woman who was trying to back through the bedroom wall.  “No way,” she said firmly.  “You’ve caused enough trouble around here.  It’s back to the hamper with you.”  Without another word, she raised her hands and made the necessary gestures.

“Please…” was all the woman was able to get out before she was again engulfed in light.  This time, her shape grew smaller until it faded, leaving a simple pair of panties hanging in the air.  Without a sound, they dropped to the floor.

Everyone in the room stared at the panties for a moment before turning back to the woman her had created them.  Hazel stood with a satisfied look on her face.  “There.  That takes care of that.”  She looked up at the people that were staring back at her.  “Now, who wants to tell me wha…   Oooh!”

The other four people in the room all took a step back as, just like the naked woman had a moment before, she was engulfed in light.  In a moment, the light had reshaped itself and faded.  A moment later, an identical pair of panties dropped to the floor where Hazel had just been standing.

Again, everyone in the room stared at the new pair of panties.  After a moment, the three non-witches shared looks of both confusion and disbelief.  Only Rhiannon continued to look at the panties that had just a moment before been her sister.  With a curious expression, she looked from them to the other pair across the room.  

She went back and forth between the twin panties a few more times before smiling.  “Well, now.”  As the confused group turned their attention to her, her smile grew wider.  “This just keeps getting more and more interesting, doesn’t it?”