Chương 19: Bk 1 Ch 17: Discussion

Halloween is a big night for both me and the Sun Eaters, cause it's the first time we're hosting a rave more or less on our own. Mark's been taking the lead on it, he definitely has ambitions of becoming my chief lieutenant, and I'm not entirely opposed to the idea. I still trust Jess and Dave the most, but they've been content to take more of a back seat and focus on growing rather than anything else.

The place he got for us is another warehouse out in west Franklin, pretty close to the one that hosted the first rave I went to. I fly over immediately after I finish work, well before the event is set to start. Mark is already there with a few of his people, and so are Hyperkube, Chris, and a couple other DJs I know. Currently, they're in the process of unloading equipment from the back of a pickup. I'm a little nervous about the mix of people from my two lives, but so far my costume has stood up just fine.

If Anja and Tyler didn't recognize me, I doubt anyone here will. I land a few feet away, causing a few people to jump or swear when they notice me. Mark is well-used to my shenanigans by now, and I see him stifle a grin.

"Hey, boss. Good timing, we're just getting started."

"No problems, I assume?" I ask.

"Nope, we're good to go. This is Hyperkube, he's in charge of the music side of things."

"Schwarzschild," I say, keeping a straight face as I shake his hand.

"A pleasure."

"Yeah, for sure. Thanks for putting this on," he says, hiding his nerves pretty well.

"Can I assist?" I ask, gesturing at the equipment.

"Uh, sure, if you want," says. His eyes widen as the entire pile floats up into the air and towards the warehouse.

"Damn, that's convenient. Just, uh, put it all over there at the far end, we can take it from there." I do as instructed.

"So, uh, are you gonna stay?"

"No. I have business to take care of. If there's any trouble, Mark can contact me."

"Alright, cool, cool. I, uh, I heard there was some trouble last weekend, there's not gonna be a repeat or anything, right?"

"There won't be. That particular problem has been dealt with," I say.

"Well, that's, uh, that's good," he says, nodding nervously.

"Anyway, I think we're pretty much good to go here. Thanks for the help." I talk briefly to Mark again, just making sure he doesn't need anything else from me, then fly home. I eat a quick dinner and get changed, finishing just in time for Cassie to arrive and give me a ride back with my albums and stuff. They're about done setting up when we get there, and people are starting to arrive.

"Oh, hey Gabby, how's it going?" says Chris as I walk up.

"Not too bad."

"Have you met Mark yet?"

"Nope, is he the new organizer?"

"Uh huh. Here, lemme introduce you." I follow him, carefully hiding my amusement.

"Hey, Mark, this is Gabby, she's playing the set at 2."

"Nice to meetcha," I say cheerfully, shaking his hand.

"I think I might've bought a joint from you at that event out in the country last month."

"Yeah, you look kinda familiar," agrees Mark.

"Glad to have you, lemme know if you want anything. First one's on the house."

"Sweet, thanks. I'll definitely grab something in a minute." Part of me wants to mess with him a little, drop a couple hints. I think I will probably do that if I ever decide to unmask to him, but there's no real reason to right now, so I restrain myself. I also kinda want to take ecstasy, but it's probably a bad idea since Alex isn't here. It's really a shame her parents decided to get worried, since the one time we took it together was a lot of fun.

Oh well, it's honestly probably better to take it when we can get some privacy anyway. Instead, since I've still got a good few hours until I go on, I decide to try mushrooms. Anna's been experimenting a lot with cooking them into different forms, and her chocolate bars have definitely been the biggest success. I get a couple little pieces from Mark, each one the equivalent of a little less than a gram; I want to take it fairly easy since it's my first time.

The chocolate is honestly really good, I can't taste the mushrooms at all. It takes a while for anything to happen, long enough to start wondering if there was anything but chocolate in it. Slowly, though, Gabby starts to notice that all the colors are getting more intense, like someone turned up the contrast on reality. Gabby keeps dancing, staring avidly at the patterns traced out by lasers in the fog.

She feels like a veil has been pulled back, letting her really see the true beauty of the world for the first time, and she's sure she's on the edge of even greater revelations. This beauty that she's currently experiencing only exists because she created it. She sculpted this tiny little piece of the world into something better than it had been before. That's what power really is, and Gabby has only touched the very edges of it.

There's so much more she can do, and she can see it all laid out in front of her even if she can't quite put it into words, a vision of utter perfection. A future where every day is like this, where all her friends can escape their demons just like she has. Someone tugs on her arm, interrupting her reverie. She looks over and blinks a couple of times, trying to focus back on the physical world, finding Cassie standing next to her.

"Hey, something's come up," she says.

"Pretty sure it's not dangerous, but you might want to deal with it now if you think you're up to it." It takes Gabby a moment to remember how to speak.

"I think I'll be okay once I…" Right, she should be careful, even if the music is probably too loud for anyone to overhear her.

"Here, can I just follow you?"

"Yeah, sure." Cassie takes her hand, leading her out of the warehouse. There's a very light mist falling outside, the droplets sparkling entrancingly in the air beneath the streetlights. Cassie pulls her along before she can get distracted staring at them. They walk for a while, Gabby isn't really sure how long, but eventually they come to a stop in a dark alley somewhere.

"Alright, I think we're safe, go head and do your thing," says Cassie. Gabby nods and transforms. … Wow. That was definitely an experience. My mind clears in just a few seconds as my supernatural regeneration burns through the mushrooms. I can't quite make sense of everything I saw while I was sort of observing myself from the outside, but the feelings stick with me. And that was a pretty moderate dose, too; I'm not sure what a heavy dose would be like, and I'm not completely sure I want to find out.

I shake my head, dismissing it for now, and focus on Cassie.

"Alright, I'm good. What's up?"

"Couple guys from the Syndicate showed up. Told Mark that Huntsman wants to talk to you. They're still hanging out, waiting to hear back."

"Shit," I mutter, making my phone appear in my hand. Sure enough, I've got a missed call from Mark, from just a few minutes ago. I immediately call him back, and he picks up after the first ring.

"Hey boss, glad you called back. We got a couple guys from a, ah, larger conglomerate who might be interested in a business partnership. They want to know if you're available to meet with their, ah, local representative."

"I see," I reply.

"Immediately?"

"Pretty quick, yeah."

"Acceptable. Where?" There's some muffled background conversation.

"2340 West 8th. It's just a block north from here, same kinda place. He wants to meet on the, uh, top floor. That work for you?" On the roof of a nearby warehouse, in other words.

"That's fine. Thank you. Is there anything I should know?" More muffled conversation, and then, "Don't think so, no."

"Good. Then you can tell them I'll be there in ten minutes." I hang up, making my phone vanish again.

"Thanks for the heads-up," I say to Cassie.

"I doubt I would've thought to check my phone for another couple hours at least, otherwise." That was something I'd probably need to address if I planned to keep getting high for raves, which I did.

"Yeah, no problem," she says.

"What d'you think they want?"

"Probably to ask me to join," I say, shrugging.

"You think you will?" I shake my head.

"No. Not right now, at least." Honestly, I'm really not sure if I ever want to join. That sort of vision I'd had while on mushrooms, it hadn't included a superior. I don't think they'll force the issue, at least not right now, but I'm not sure how I'll respond if they do. Oh well, just have to see how it goes and play it by ear.

"Anyway, you can head back if you want."

"Right. See you in a bit." She walks out of the alley. I stay for a few minutes longer, to try and obfuscate the fact that I was already here. Then I fly up out of the alley and back towards the rave. Heading a block north, I immediately spot the place; Huntsman is already waiting for me, leaning against an airconditioning unit with his rifle propped over his shoulder. I descend about twenty feet away from him, keeping my staff out for now, although without the blade extended.

For a couple of seconds, we study each other in silence. He's still much stronger than me, but I feel like the gap between us has narrowed noticeably since the first time I saw him. Interesting. After a moment, he pushes himself up, letting his rifle dissolve into white light.

"Schwarzschild, I presume?" I hesitate for a moment, then let my staff vanish as well. It feels like some kind of protocol, giving the other party a chance to get a feel for your strength, and then demonstrating that you're not looking for a fight.

"I am. You must be Huntsman."

"That's me," he says, walking forwards until we're just a few feet apart, although he doesn't offer to shake my hand.

"Figured it was about time we had a chat. You're an interesting one. We've been looking for you since you took care of our little Firestorm problem for us, but we didn't get so much as a name until a few days ago. It's rare for a magical willing to pick a fight like that to also move so carefully."

"Well, here I am," I reply neutrally.

"Say your piece." He nods.

"I've got a question and an offer. You seem smart, so you can probably guess what both of them are. Question first. What are your intentions here in Franklin?"

"I intend to claim the territory that hasn't already been taken by the Syndicate or by Surf 'n Turf, and prevent any other black masks from attempting to muscle their way into the city."

"Reasonable," he says.

"No greater ambitions than that?"

"That depends on what happens," I reply.

"Money is just a tool, I'm not interested in starting a war over it. But I am interested in how the city itself is run. I'd prefer if that was something the three of us can come to an agreement about." There's no real need to state the other option. Huntsman hmms.

"Anything in particular?"

"Obviously, I want the police to keep away from our business. But I don't want the city to become lawless. People don't go out when they don't feel safe," I say, gesturing in the direction of the rave.

"The Syndicate has a similar philosophy," says Huntsman.

"So I guess that brings us to the offer. Why not just join now?"

"What exactly does joining the Syndicate entail?"

"First and foremost? We're a business. You could think of us like a franchise. You'd still be the one to manage your territory, and maybe the rest of our territory in Franklin too, if you prove we can trust you. But we've got standardized ways of doing things, to make sure everything stays professional. You'd be expected to follow those guidelines. And if a bigger fight breaks out, you'd be expected to show up.

The flip side is that you get our suppliers, our lawyers, whatever else you need, and if anyone fucks with you? We come down on them like the hammer of God."

"I appreciate the offer. But I have my own way of doing things, and I prefer it like that."

"Thought you might feel that way," says Huntsman. I tense a little, but he just keeps talking.

"From what I've seen over the years, new black masks come in three flavors. First, you've got the kids who think they're hot shit, who haven't figured out they're still on the bottom of the totem pole even if they've got magic. That includes the ones who go psycho right off the bat, too. Our friend Firestorm was one of those. I think you can probably figure out what happens to most of them." I nod.

"Then, you've got the ones willing to be a little more reasonable," he continues.

"That's a little rarer, most kids willing to sign up with someone just sign up with ABRA. You need to have some ambition, some independence, but not too much. I'd say I fell into that group, back in the day. And last, you've got the kids who think they're hot shit, and are actually right about it."

"Here's a little history lesson for you. The seed the Columbia Syndicate grew from was this gang called Underworld. Back in the real early days, before '92, you didn't really get magical gangs, the feds were too trigger happy. But after they repealed the Interdiction Act and it was clear they really were finished shooting anyone who so much as looked at a magical for too long, there was a whole big scramble of magicals founding gangs, or taking over existing ones.

So by the end of '93, you had probably close to a dozen little competing gangs in Portland alone. One of 'em was Surtr and Lilith's, and one of 'em was mine. Called ourselves the Hunters, kind of a stupid name looking back. But I was the first magical the two of them approached about maybe starting something bigger. The moment I saw them, I knew they were going places, and I knew I did not want to fuck with them. So I said hell yeah, and haven't regretted it."

"Honestly? Whatever they have, you've got a little of it too. Defeating two magicals in two months on your own, that's a real achievement. Problem is, you're about five years too late. Country's a smaller place now than it was then. All the big cities are already owned by someone, and now we're starting to look at the smaller cities like Franklin, too. It's not our highest priority, the Grizzlies are putting up a real fight up in Seattle and we can't be too aggressive without pissing off the white masks.

But the Golden Empire Cartel has started pushing north now that they're done with their little shake-up, so eventually we will need to fully take Franklin to secure our flank. When that happens, I'm gonna need to tell Surtr whether I think you can be trusted, or whether I think you might start sizing his back up for a knife a few years down the road." I can't deny that it sends a little thrill through me, hearing him say he thinks I might be a threat to Surtr in a few years.

I'm careful not to let it show, and once I'm sure he's done talking, I ask, "So where does that leave us, exactly?"

"Well, that's kind of up to you. My current orders are just to keep an eye on things, make sure the Cartel doesn't try and steal a march on us while we're not looking, but to leave the locals alone as long as they don't start shit. Joining up now would make things easy, but there's advantages to waiting, as well. Prove you're competent, that you can handle shit on your own, and that your power isn't gonna plateau too soon, and you could maybe earn yourself some special considerations.

Maybe we'd even leave Franklin to you entirely, as a buffer between us and the Cartel. But you'd have to really convince us that you're never gonna try and become a competitor, or worse, sign up with the Cartel instead." I nod thoughtfully, considering.

"We don't have a reliable supplier for ecstasy," I say after a moment.

"Sure, that's a good starting point," says Huntsman, nodding back.

"For our own people, we do forty thousand a pound for uncut molly, and four and a half for pills. For you, we'd be willing to do fifty and five and a half, respectively, as long as you're willing to make us your exclusive supplier." It's a significantly better deal than what we currently get, which mostly comes through the Syndicate anyway.

"Done," I agree, not needing to think about it too hard.

"We'll take a pound of pills to start with, and see how things go from there." Huntsman steps forward and sticks out his hand. I shake it.

"Pleasure doing business with you. I'm glad to see not all the new kids are complete dumbasses." He releases my hand, and a cellphone appears in it instead, which he passes over.

"It'll take a couple days for us to get the product together, we'll contact you when its ready." I make the phone vanish, getting a small nod of approval. I hesitate, then decide to push just a little.

"Tell me something. Did you offer a deal like this to Barracuda and Obsidian as well?" He chuckles slightly.

"I offered Barracuda a place in the Syndicate the first time I met her, yes. It ended poorly. Neither of them have shown any particular interest in dialogue since." That's a very carefully worded answer, and I'm pretty sure there's more to learn from what he didn't say than from what he did. I doubt I'm going to get anything else out of him, though, so I just nod.

"Their loss, then. My people will handle it from here. Assuming everything goes smoothly, I'll contact you again when we need more."

"Then I hope we speak again soon," says Huntsman. Before going back to the rave, I call Mark, meeting him a couple of blocks away so I can tell him what went down and hand over the phone. Given that the Syndicate apparently already knows who he is, I'm happy to put him in charge of the hand-off. He seems excited, and also very relieved that the Syndicate isn't about to squash us flat. I fly a couple blocks in the other direction before dropping my transformation and heading back in civvies.

I'm a little disappointed that my trip got interrupted, but it's too close to my set to take more mushrooms. Instead, after I fill Cassie in on what happened, she offers me a little bump of coke, which brings my energy right back up. The upside of Alex not being here is that there's no limit to how late I can stay, and no one to question how I'll get home on my own. My set goes off without a hitch, and then I go right back to dancing, staying until the very end when the sky's starting to lighten.

At school on Monday, the GSA meeting has a few more people. One of them is even actually gay for a change, a Freshman named Milo. He seems a little overwhelmed by all the positive attention he gets, especially from Alex, who's delighted the group is starting to reach the people it's supposed to. I'm more interested in Anja and Lisa deciding to show up, or more likely, Lisa dragging Anja here with her.

"Hey, thanks again for movie night," she says.

"It really meant a lot."

"Yeah, of course," I say, smiling.

"How was the rest of your guys' weekend?"

"It had some ups and downs, but not too bad overall," says Lisa.

"Good," I say, understanding her real meaning.

"Glad you decided to come today. It always helps, knowing there're people who've got our back." Anja huffs a sigh.

"You guys don't have to talk around it like that, I know what you mean." I snort.

"Yeah, alright, fair. In that case, how are you doing?" She shrugs.

"I dunno. Fine, I guess. Sometimes good, sometimes less good. But I haven't, uh, you know, since that night."

"Then I think you're doing good," I say.

"How's everything else going? Doing anything fun?"

"Well, we're putting on the first play of the year starting next week. I don't really have much of a part, I wasn't really in a good headspace for it, but we're doing The Tempest for winter, so I'm hoping to get a much bigger role in that."

"Cool, hope you get it."

"We were talking about going down to the mall tomorrow after school, you wanna come with?" asks Lisa.

"Yeah, maybe." I go to the mall all the time, but only for work; I've rarely been just for fun.

"Hey, Alex! You wanna go to the mall with Lisa and Anja tomorrow afternoon?" She wanders over.

"Yeah, sure. Maybe you can finally show me that place you work at. Is it cool if we come a little later? I don't want to skip my workout."

"Yeah, that's fine, we're probably gonna go back to my house first anyway," says Lisa. Cassie's wandered over as well, so Lisa turns to her and asks, "You wanna come too?"

"Eh, the mall's not really my scene, I was just gonna head over to the skatepark with Ty. Guess it'd be kinda fun to see your lame job, though," she says, glancing at me with a small grin. This isn't something I should need her for, so I grin back and wave her off.

"Nah, you do you. I don't want you getting me fired cause you got bored." She laughs.

"Have fun, then." We chat for a little longer before Alex starts the actual meeting. Later, after I get home from school and working out with Alex, I find I've got a message from Elliot on my landline asking if I want to meet up at the usual spot tonight. I'm glad to hear from him, I haven't seen him since I told him about the Sun Eaters, and I'd been starting to a get a little worried that I'd misjudged things. I fly over to the park we always meet at around ten, finding him already waiting.

"Hey," I say as I land, not trying to startle him for a change.

"How's it going?" This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"It's going alright," he says.

"Sorry I took so long to call. I just thought a little space might help me figure everything out."

"Well, what've you figured out?"

"I guess I figured out that, uh…" He lets out a sigh.

"Well, I guess I missed you. Like, I've got a few friends at school, but I kinda have to keep them at arm's length so they don't figure out who I am, and I can't really hang out with them outside of school either cause it's already too late by the time I get done with work. So it's like, what's the point of being able to actually do stuff if there's no one to do it with? And… Honestly, it's been really nice, having someone I don't need to hide anything with.

I even missed sparring with you, even though you always kick my ass." I laugh a little.

"You've gotten a lot better, you know. I think you probably could've beaten Valkyrie, or Firestorm."

"Maybe," he says, shrugging.

"I guess you'd know better than I would. I'm still not really sure about… about that whole thing. Part of me still feels like the right thing to do is run screaming to ABRA. But they've never really done anything for me, and you've done a ton for me, so that doesn't seem right either. I asked around a little about the Wildfire Boys, everyone who interacted with them at all says they were a bunch of assholes who got what was coming to them. So… I don't really know what the right thing to do is, anymore."

"You're still asking the wrong question," I say.

"Haven't you noticed by now that whenever someone starts telling you about right and wrong, the right thing to do is always the thing that benefits them? And the wrong thing is always something that could undermine their power? People talk about right and wrong like it's one thing, but it's not. It's just something people make up, and whoever has the most power gets to enforce their version on everyone else. Stop worrying about what the right thing to do is, and ask yourself what you want to do."

"I… I'm not sure if I agree with that," he says slowly.

"Just because people lie about what's right and wrong doesn't mean there's no such thing at all. It doesn't mean we should all just… do whatever we want all the time." I frown slightly.

"When I say you should do what you want, I don't just mean, like, whatever feels good right at this moment. I mean…" I pause, thinking for a moment about exactly how to phrase it, and my mind goes back to the mushroom trip a couple days ago.

"I mean you should figure out what kind of life you want to live, what kind of world you want to live it in, and then you should do whatever you need to, to make that world into reality. Maybe there is such a thing as right and wrong, but no one can tell you what it is. You have to figure it out for yourself."

"... Huh," he says.

"I dunno. I'll keep thinking about it. For now, though… Maybe you're at least a little right, cause I do still want to keep being friends, whether it's the right thing to do or not." I smile broadly.

"I'm glad." Funny; this is almost the exact same conversation I had with Anja. The thought gives me an idea. I turn it over in my head for a few seconds, trying to decide whether it's a good idea or not. I can't think of any obvious huge risks, but it also seems like the sort of thing that might blow up in unexpected ways. Is it worth it? I think it could be.

"Hey, listen, I'm going to the mall tomorrow with a couple of friends. Wanna come? They're all people you met at the party the other week."

"Oh! Um… I won't be able to make it over until like 7: 30, is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine, we probably won't get there ourselves until like 5 anyway."

"Alright, then sure. What are we gonna be doing?"

"Well, my girlfriend wants to see the place I work, so we'll probably end up there. It's a little lame, but there's arcade games and shit." He laughs.

"Yeah, that sounds kinda fun. Is, uh, is Cassie gonna be there too?"

"Nah, she's too cool for the mall, she's going to the skate park." He laughs a little more, sounding both disappointed and relieved.

"Right, makes sense." Afterwards, we do end up heading out of the city and sparring for a while. He really is getting better, he manages to catch me with a new trick, surrounding himself with brambles right before I close the distance with him and entangling me. I don't respect them enough, and the half-second it takes to free myself is long enough for him to actually land a hit on me. He's torn between surprise, elation, and concern, the last of which I quickly put to rest.

His arrows definitely hurt, but it feels like it would take at least five or six to actually break my transformation, and the resulting wound takes less than ten minutes to fully heal. While we wait, he messes around with some pine saplings, growing them into trees with duplicated trunks that spiral around each other in a helix. The next day, I head over to the mall with Alex in the late afternoon. When we get there, Lisa immediately insists we all go clothes shopping.

Clothes shopping just for fun isn't something I've done a whole lot of, given that my range of allowed outfits was pretty narrow for most of my life. But I realize pretty quickly that we're not really shopping with the intent to actually buy anything; it's more like we're playing dress-up. I have to admit, it's kinda fun trying on clothes I wouldn't actually wear around. I've even got a reliable way to tell how good I look, based on how hard Alex blushes.

The cowgirl outfit isn't bad, at least once I tie up the plaid shirt to show some stomach. The sleeveless black dress is a big hit, too. But the winner is definitely the schoolgirl outfit, complete with stockings that don't quite manage to reach the bottom of the skirt. I have to really resist the temptation to actually buy that one; it's a little too close in appearance to my costume to be safe.

Badgering Alex to try stuff on is fun as well, although in the end we both agree that her regular style definitely suits her best. Lisa also demands we spend plenty of time judging her and Anja's outfits, claiming that we're the most qualified to objectively say how cute they look. I'm not a hundred percent sure she's right about that, but I'm not about to complain when low-rider jeans are involved.

Anja's a little less daring than Lisa, but we eventually get her to try on one of those loose shirts with the real wide neck that leaves one shoulder bare, along with some tight black leggings. Everyone agrees it looks great on her, and she seems to like it as well.

"Think you'll get it?" asks Alex. Anja's face briefly darkens, before she quickly smooths her expression.

"Dunno, maybe. Not sure if it's the kind of thing I'd wanna, like, wear to school."

"I think you should go for it, you can totally pull it off," encourages Alex, but I think she might be misunderstanding the problem.

"Want me to get it for you?" asks Lisa.

"Call it a late birthday present." Again, I catch the tiniest flash of a scowl.

"Nah, that's okay, I dunno if it's really my style. Lemme try something else." She retreats back to the changing room before anyone else can comment, but she doesn't seem to be having as much fun after that. I'm pretty sure Lisa notices too, cause she announces that she's hungry just a few minutes later. We all change back into our original clothes and head to the food court. Lisa decides on Panda Express; I just follow her, while Alex goes off in search of something allegedly more healthy.

I trail a little behind Lisa, who sticks determinately right next to Anja while they order, making it clear they're together. When they reach the register, Lisa goes to pay for both of them without hesitation. Anja starts to snap something at her, then restrains herself. After getting my own food, I head over to the table they picked. As I sit down, Anja heads off to get some water. I take the opportunity to lean over towards Lisa.

"Hey. Does Anja, like, not have very much money?" She grimaces a little, confirming my suspicions.

"Try not to say anything to her, okay? She's embarrassed about it, and she hates accepting help from anyone."

"Right," I say, nodding a bit thoughtfully. By the time we finish eating, it's passed seven, so we just hang out in the food court for a while longer until Elliot shows up. I reintroduce everyone, and then we head over to X-citement.

"Oh, hey Gabby," says James, the guy working the door.

"You working tonight?"

"Nah, I'm a customer today, my friends keep insisting they wanna check this lame place out," I say, grinning. He laughs.

"Cool, cool. Five, then?"

"Yup." This time, I insist on paying for everyone, citing my employee discount. Lisa gives me a grateful look.

"So yeah, the dancefloor's over there, that's where I work. That corner over there is the foam sword arena, and the rest of the place is pretty much just arcades and shit."

"Gonna play something for us?" asks Alex, grinning.

"Fuck that, I have to listen to their awful music enough as it is. Come on, I wanna actually check out some of these games for a change." We spend a little while wandering through the place, just seeing what's available. It's a Tuesday night, so it's pretty empty, not more than a couple dozen kids aside from us wandering around.

There's a fair amount of pinball machines, and claw machines with prizes, and those games where you have to actually toss a ball at a target or whatever, none of which are super interesting to me. In terms of actual video games, they've got all the classics like Pac Man and shit of course, a wide selection of racing games, and a handful of fighting games.

They don't have any of the excessively gory ones, that probably wouldn't go over real well with the parents, but I can't resist dragging everyone to play Magical Mayhem II. Elliot snorts but doesn't comment beyond that, and even gets a bunch of quarters out of the machine for us. Me and Elliot go first. He picks an East-coast white mask named Valiant, while I of course pick Sparkle Princess. Neither of us really have any idea what we're doing, just hammering on all the buttons at once.

The first round, I beat him by blasting him with a giant beam of rainbows, and then lose twice in a row while trying to figure out how I did it. Laughing, I step back, encouraging Anja to take my place. She takes a little while looking at all the options, which gives me a chance to look them over as well. They've got forty fighters, all white masks. Merchandising black masks is an extremely fraught proposition, but companies do still try it from time to time.

The lucky ones usually end up getting sued and shut down by the government, allegedly on behalf of the victims, but really because they don't want anyone glamorizing black masks. The less lucky ones offend the black masks themselves. The first and only guy to try selling Black Panther T-shirts famously got found hanging out his office window, from a rope made of strips of his own shirts. I rotate back in after a little while, playing against Lisa and then Alex.

When I step back to offer my spot to Elliot again, I find him in a conversation with Anja.

"Like, I get it, it's exciting. And I guess in some ways, it does kinda seem like magic is meant for fighting, with like the way all magicals get their own weapons and stuff. But that doesn't mean you have to use it for fighting. Like, even the strike teams spend more time helping out with regular emergencies and disasters than they do fighting black masks. It just seems like kind of a shame it's the fighting everyone always focuses on."

"I mean, someone has to do it though, right?" says Anja.

"Otherwise, the black masks would just take over everything. And, like… There's not a lot of things that only magicals can do, aside from fighting other magicals. Like, even take Sparkle Princess, for example. What would she be doing if there weren't any black masks to fight? I guess she could probably, like, help build skyscrapers or something, and it'd probably be faster and cheaper, but we can already build skyscrapers on our own, you know?"

"I dunno, maybe we're just not being creative enough," says Elliot.

"Like, yeah, we can build skyscrapers on our own. But I bet Sparkle Princess could help build, like, a space station or something if she had the time, that's not something we can do so easy, right?"

"We can build space stations ourselves, though," I interject while Lisa takes my spot again instead.

"Actually, they were talking about building a big collaborative space station with the Soviets before they collapsed. And if we just rely on someone like Sparkle Princess to carry stuff into space for us, we'll never get any better at making rockets, you know? But what Sparkle Princess maybe could do that no one else can is go kick the shit out of all the warlords fighting over what's left of Russia, and then they'd be able to start thinking about things like rockets and space stations again."

It's kind of an inherently funny conversation, three magicals talking about magicals without any of us being able to admit what we are. Elliot gives me a slightly annoyed look and takes the bait.

"Okay, well, what about like Apollo, then?" he says, blushing only slightly.

"Regrowing limbs isn't something we can do on our own."

"I think she's got a point," says Anja.

"Like, the Gottfried Clinic used to actually make prosthetics, do they even do that at all anymore? Apollo can do it cheaper, faster, and better, and that's great for the people he heals, but it means we're not trying to figure out how to make better prosthetics ourselves anymore. And Apollo's still just one guy, he can't heal everyone." Elliot huffs an annoyed sigh.

"So, what, should all magicals just fight all the time, then?" I shake my head.

"No. It's like you said, not even strike teams get into fights that often. The important thing is that they can. If Sparkle Princess wants to take up building space stations as a hobby, I think that'd be fucking awesome. But unless she wants it to be just her up there, she's also got to show everyone that she'll come down and stomp anyone who causes too much trouble. Like… It's one thing to build a space station. It's another thing to build a world that can build a space station itself.

That's what magicals can really do."

"Or just stop other magicals from breaking it," says Anja, frowning slightly. I shrug.

"The world wasn't exactly a perfect place before magicals showed up. At least we aren't worried about dying in a nuclear war anymore, right? If magicals can make the world a better place, why shouldn't they?"

"I dunno if anyone should have that kind of power, to just, you know, change society however they want. Even if they've got good intentions, what if… What if they fuck up?"

"They do have that power, though," I say.

"Deciding to keep things like they are is still making a decision." Anja doesn't respond immediately, still frowning.

"What're you guys talking about?" asks Lisa as she and Alex turn back to us.

"Oh, just magicals and shit," I say, grinning slightly.

"Anyway, it's your guys' turn," I say to Anja and Elliot.

"I think I'm good for now," says Anja, waving me off. I see right away that she's starting to spiral a little, and Lisa sees it too.

"Yeah, why don't we play something else for a while? Here, they've got Mario Kart over there, come play with me." She takes Anja's hand and pulls her along, the rest of us trailing after. Anja loses, but it still manages to distract her and break her out of the forming spiral. We play arcades for another half hour or so until we run out of quarters, then follow Alex over to the foam sword arena. This, I have actually checked out after work a couple of times, although only briefly.

The arena is basically a big bouncy house, about thirty feet on a side. The swords are made from the same stuff as pool noodles, or something like it, with some kind of slightly stiffer material in the center so they don't just completely flop around. I'm sure it's probably fun, but actual fights have completely ruined it for me. I still let Alex pull me into the arena, where we spend a couple of minutes laughing and flailing at each other.

I bow out after that, mostly so I don't have to keep pretending to have no idea what I'm doing. Then Anja steps into the arena. I know for a fact she's just as talented at hiding things as I am, but her judgement definitely leaves something to be desired. She proceeds to beat Alex from one side of the arena to the other with absurd grace, her shitty foam sword looking like almost an extension of her body. I sneak a glance at Lisa and find her biting her lip nervously. Even Alex notices something's up.

"Damn, you're pretty good," she says after a couple more minutes.

"Have you done this before?"

"I actually took martial arts for a few years when I was younger," says Anja, grinning. I honestly can't tell whether she's lying or not, which is fairly impressive.

"Oh, cool," says Alex.

"How come you gave it up?" Her grin fades, and she shrugs awkwardly.

"Mom, uh… couldn't really afford it anymore." Whether she's lying or not, deflecting using a topic that clearly makes her uncomfortable is a smart move.

"Ah, that sucks. Well, I'll let someone else give it a go, unless you've already scared 'em off," says Alex, stepping out of the arena.

"Yeah, sure, I'll try," says Elliot. Part of me wants to interfere, but I can't think of a good excuse, and then he's already taking the sword from Alex and stepping in. What follows is… a little ridiculous, honestly, and I'm glad no one's watching except us. I think Anja's figured out she might want to hold back a little more, and Elliot's not quite as good as her since he doesn't actually fight with a sword. It still looks like something out of an action movie.

There's absolutely zero hesitation or pauses, each clash leading seamlessly into the next, and neither of them can so much as graze the other. At least they're obviously having fun, both grinning hugely, but that only means they escalate even more. Anja leans back, letting Elliot's sword pass about two inches from the tip of her nose. Elliot twists out of the way of her retaliatory lunge, turning the movement into a spin and swiping low at her legs.

Anja uses the bouncy floor to do a full flip over the swipe, bringing her sword around in a downwards slash as she lands. Elliot hesitates, freezing up for just a moment, and the sword thwacks him solidly in the side. Anja cheers loudly, still grinning.

"Holy shit, that was awesome! Do you, like, take classes or something?"

"Uh, my parents signed me up for fencing when I was younger," says Elliot, also mustering up a grin.

"I guess more of it stuck with me than I thought."

"Wanna go again?"

"Nah, I need to catch my breath for a minute," he says, stepping out of the arena.

"I'll give it one more try," says Alex, taking the sword from him. Elliot waits until Lisa is distracted watching them, then comes up next to me.

"So, uh, when were you gonna tell me that Anja is Valkyrie?" he whispers. I snort.

"You're lucky she didn't figure it out too. Honestly, why am I the only one here who understands the concept of subtlety?" He crosses his arms, still looking at me expectantly, and I sigh slightly.

"I wanted to let you get to know her without any preconceptions."

"Why?"

"Why not?" I say, shrugging.

"The situation's complicated, and I can't explain it all right now. But like I told you before, the only reason why I do things is cause I want to." He huffs a sigh, keeping his arms crossed.

"Alright, fine. But I wanna hear that explanation later."

"Sure." Alex gets demolished again, although not quite as badly as the first time.

"Hey, you wanna go again?" Anja asks Elliot afterwards.

"Actually, we should probably get going, my parents will be here to pick us up pretty soon," interjects Lisa.

"Really? I thought they weren't coming until 9," says Anja, frowning slightly.

"8: 30," says Lisa, shaking her head.

"Oh. Huh, I guess I must've misremembered. Well, whatever." She shrugs, then turns back to Elliot.

"That was fun, we should hang out again sometime."

"Yeah, maybe I'll see you around," says Elliot, his smile only slightly forced. Anja isn't deterred.

"Hey, Lisa, you should invite Elliot to your birthday. Her sweet sixteen is coming up in a couple weeks, her parents are throwing a huge party for her."

"I can ask them, sure," says Lisa.

"Anyway, thanks for hanging out! We'll see you guys later." She takes Anja by the hand, all but dragging her off. I watch them leave with narrowed eyes. Lisa's not as good of an actress as Anja, but she's more perceptive, and maybe more unbiased as well. I think Anja's lack of self-worth might be blinding her to how superior her physical abilities are compared to a baseline human's, and poor Alex has no reason to ever suspect anyone here might be a magical.

But Lisa knows exactly who Anja is, and therefore how absurd it is that Elliot can go toe-to-toe with her. I hope I haven't just miscalculated.