Vivian

October 13, 2007. 1:43 p.m. Mission hall. Everyone’s dressed up in their superhero outfits. Feels good to finally be in this again. I forgot how comfy it was. Been here for about 35 minutes so far looking for the perfect mission… and no one can agree on what to do. A.D. wants to bust drug rings. Will wants to hunt invasive species and donate the meat to local food banks. Yuko doesn’t really want to do anything, but she’ll tag along anyway. As for me, well… I just need something with some basic black and white morality. I want to fight and get violent without ever having to question the morality of my actions. I want to feel like a hero for once. We’re all sitting around a desk with folders, files, and fliers. A.D.’s been dead-set on three particular missions. Will is still trying to negotiate a mission with A.D. Yuko’s just been filing her nails with her feet on the desk.

“I’m telling you.” A.D. presses his fist against the table. “We need to get drugs off the streets. Families are getting torn apart out there.”

“A.D. Sir. Buddy.” Will sighs. “It doesn’t matter how many people you imprison for selling drugs, someone grosser will just take their place. I guarantee it.”

“But what if we try really hard though? We can do it.”

“Feel free to do that vigilante stuff on your own time. We have to do something that actually helps people. That’s why I’m insisting we go hunting.”

“You sure that’ll be enough meat?” A.D. leans back and crosses his arms.

“Of course it will be.” Will points to me with a grin. “We can just make a bunch of tiny food and have Vivian grow it up and distribute that.”

“Already did that.” I nod.

“Pardon?” Will turns to me.

“Yeah.” I nod. “Been going up to some shelters every weekend and been donating big food.”

“When did you start doing that?”

“Nnhn.” I shrug. “Bout a month ago?”

“Well I’ll be darned.” a genuine smile flashes across Will’s lips. “Good on you, Vivian. Thank you for doing God’s work.”

“Why thank you. I couldn’t have done it without Yuko’s help though. She showed me to some cool food banks and shelters.”

“Don’t make this about me.” Yuko suppresses a smile while filing her nails. “Just finish deciding on a mission and get this over with already.”

“Right.” I lean over the table and rub my temples. “How about this? Trouble seems to find us no matter what we’re doing, so let’s just wander the city for a bit and see what happens, kay?”

“I’m down.” Yuko kicks her feet off the table, stands up, and starts walking. “Anything to get out of this place.”

“I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that…” A.D. nods and follows Yuko. “Nothing wrong with a good patrol.”

We exit the mission hall and cut through the park to get to the bus stop on the edge of campus.

Will looks up at the sky. “Good gravy! Everyone stop!”

“What?!” My eyes shoot up to the sky to see something burning. It looks big… but not like earth-shattering meteor big. More like the size of a school bus. A school bus crashing to earth lit ablaze with the fire of the cosmos, but still just a school bus. It crash lands smack dab in the middle of the park. Fortunately, only a few trees were hurt. The impact shook the ground beneath us and sent a wave of dust and dirt shooting out over everyone in the park.

“Whoa… Yo, guys let’s check this out!” Before I knew it, my feet were already scrambling towards the fallen object. What could it be? An asteroid? An alien? Some sort of cosmic treasure? A warning from a god? What if the alien’s hot? Aw yeyeyeyeye!

Me, Will, and A.D. book it towards the object while Yuko just takes her time. We and a bunch of other students crowd around it and wait for the dust to settle. When it finally does, we find a satellite in a sizable crater. Judging from the logo emblazoned across the body, it’s a broadcast satellite. Has a huge hole torn straight through it. Looks about ready to fall apart too. The hole doesn’t look mechanical. Almost looks like someone punched a hole through it. The hole’s uneven. Some parts inside even have some kind of burnt goo residue on it. I’m not even going to try and touch it. I don’t know if that goo will give me horrible chemical burns or make me pregnant. It’s a good thing Angela isn’t here… she’d be all up in there…

“The hell’s a satellite doing here?!” Yuko finally catches up, stores the nail filer in her shirt, and rests her chin on my head.

“Why are you surprised?” Will turns to us. “That’s the fifth satellite shot down this month.”

“How was I supposed to know that?” Yuko responds.

“It’s in the school paper.”

“We have a school paper?” Yuko asks.

“Thank you, Yuko.” I look up at her.

Before any students start poking and prodding at it, a bunch of people in hazmat suits cut through the crowd and start sealing off the area. “Alright, students. Get back to whatever you’re doing. Please don’t touch this. Headmaster’s orders.”

“Gotchu.” I shoot them a thumbs-up. “Guys wanna get going?”

“Yeah, I’m bored.” Yuko takes my wrist and leads me out of the park. A.D. and Will follow.

We wait for the bus and take about a twenty minute ride. I dunno where exactly we ended up. I’ve… never actually taken public transportation before. It’s not my fault. Socal has horrible public transportation. All I know is that I don’t want to touch anything on those buses. I feel like I’m going to get an infection just sitting in them for too long. My local geography’s also horrible, so that doesn’t help much. I know the country geography of every continent by heart, but can’t find my way around the city I work in. Fantastic. Great use of that headspace, Viv.

We’re sitting in the back of the bus. According to Will, we’re two stops away from our destination. Yuko’s looking out the window. I’m resting my eyes on Yuko’s shoulder. A.D. and Will are debating about whether or not Vegeta should be the protagonist.

Soon enough, we reach our destination and get off. Let’s see what we got nearby here… Old theatre, new theatre, old pub, new vegetarian pub advertising $17 tofu hamburgers, some people passed out on benches here and there, but ultimately functional. There’s a bunch of new fancy looking stores and some huge business buildings nearby. I just hope there’s a good burger joint around here… I haven’t had a burger in far too long.

We wander around a little bit and don’t find any evildoers. We did help a girl catch her dog, helped groom and feed some people on the street, and even did some Tech tricks on some corners. Gotta say, being a friendly neighborhood superhero’s kinda fun. Low pressure and it’s fun to just unwind and talk to locals. It’s nice. The four of us turn a corner and see Oso smoking a fat cigar on a bench right under a no smoking sign. No trench coat or anything. Just sitting there all oily with his mask, some basketball shorts, and an old Hulkamania t-shirt on.

I… can’t move. I’m not doing anything, but my heart feels about to burst. My hands and legs are trembling wildly.

Yuko puts her hand on my head. “You. Calm. Down. You’re okay. We’re here.”

“Oso…” A.D. grits his teeth and points. “The hell are you doing here?!”

“Hey, Oso!” Will waves his hand and approaches him. Everyone quickly follows except me. Yuko grabs my wrist and pulls me towards Oso.

“Huh?” Oso takes a fat exhale and turns to us. “Oh, hey, traitor. What are you doing here?”

“A better question is what you’re doing here!” a small blue glow starts emanating off A.D.

Oso looks around him before looking back at us. “Having a smoke, thinking ‘bout stuff.”

“Where did you get that cigar anyway?” Yuko inhales deeply and smiles wide.

The three of us look at her.

“What?” she asks while readjusting her grip to hold my hand. “It’s a nice cigar.”

“Good to see someone on this team is cultured.” Oso laughs before exhaling a fat cloud of smoke in front of all of us. “Havana. 2003.”

I reach for my stop sign necklace and enlarge it to roughly the size of a dagger. “C’mon. Test me again. You want to go? Give me a reason.”

Yuko whistles. “Nice. Got any spare to sell me?”

“Nope. They ain’t for sale.” The bastard completely ignores me.

“Really?” Yuko bounces a little.

“I don’t do business with hoes.”

I enlarge the stop sign again and take a swing at Oso’s head, but he deflects it with a slap and breaks it in half. “C’mon, girl. You know hating me’s a bad idea.”

A.D. and I stumble backwards to make some distance between ourselves and Oso and get into fighting stances. “Just come with us, villain.” A.D. is getting excited. “Nice and quiet now.”

“Oh, c’mon.” Oso rolls his eyes. “You really want to ruin both of our days’ off? I didn’t even steal anything at the museum.”

“Oso.” Will pinches the bridge of his nose. “You shot several people and caused at least a million in property damage.”

“Oh yeah… No one died though, so what’s the big deal?”

“You’re a villain and a danger to people.” A.D. starts charging up a fireball. “Just come with us and we’ll turn you in. No impalings have to happen today.”

“Do you know how easy it is to make cops hate you?” Oso inhales a third of the cigar in one breath. “I’d be out of jail in no time.”

“He is right, you know.” Will sighs and puts his hands on his hips. “Just… don’t cause trouble today, okay? Please?”

“Yeah, yeah. I hear ya.” Oso leans back with a chuckle.

“Thank you.” Will closes his eyes and nods for a sec before opening them back up. “How’s Oliver doing? He holding up okay?”

“I’m not allowed to discuss such details.” Oso crosses his arms and locks eyes with Will. “And I’m supposed to break you in half again just for mentioning that name.”

“I see… Sorry.” Will slides his hand down to his whip.

“Oliver’s doing better.” Oso lightens up a bit. “Got some hummus up his nose, but nothing too serious.”

Oliver huh… Never heard that name before. Is that another associate of Doc’s?

“Heh…” Will chuckles. “That was only a matter of time I suppose.”

“He also wants you to come back so that he can finish whooping your ass at mahjong.”

“I’m not finishing that game.” Will insists. “Oliver cheats.”

I’m rummaging through my pockets, but can’t find anything super useful… just… calm down, Viv. Calm. Down… You can’t fight him if you’re pissed… or about to piss yourself.

Yuko bends down and whispers in my ear. “Viv. I got you. He’s not going to hurt you.”

My spine relaxes immediately. My breathing steadies slightly. My limbs are no longer shaking like an abused puppet. “Thank you, Yuko…” I face her and nod.

“No he don’t.” Oso breaks out into another chuckle. “I watch you two play. You just suck and you don’t know the rules.”

“Yeah yeah… whatever.” Will slides his hand off his whip. “So… see you around I guess?”

“See ya ‘round.” Oso does the Revolver Ocelot hand gesture.

“Hey, Oso.” Yuko speaks up.

“Yes?” Oso takes another huff.

“Know any good burger joints ‘round here?”

“Yeah, actually, there’s a-”

BZRTLKBTZHG

The horrid sound of a thousand microphones screeching all roared out at once.

All of us except for Oso fall to our knees and plant our palms to our ears. “The hell is that?!” I yell out.

After about seven seconds or so of audio violence, the screeching stops and a voice is broadcast through the air. I look around, but can’t see anyone speaking.

“Viv! Look up.” A.D. points up to the roof of a tall building. There’s a series of comically large speakers and a large display affixed to a bunch of other mechanical nonsense I can’t make any sense of.

“Ahem… Is this thing on? Oopsie.” A voice rings from the speakers. It’s… weird. It sounds both young and old at the same time. “Darnit. The display’s not working. Hold on, fair people of L.A. Your savior shall appear before you shortly.” The display turns on and reveals a stout man dressed in a bleach bottle costume, thick goggles, long rubber gloves over his arms, and his legs are covered in layer after layer of saran wrap. He’s bald, but has a thick, red beard and is as pale as Will. “Aaaah there we are. Now where was I…?”

Everyone on the street as well as the bleach man stare at each other for one minute in silence.

“Aaaah there we are! Ahem!” the bleach man continues. “Everyone… the Earth is filth and must be made pure. Germs, dirt, fungus, and insects plague the land and our homes… they must be purged from this Earth! Humanity was put on this planet for one thing and one thing only… to purify it. Not through blood, not through war, not through extinction, but through bleach… millions upon millions of gallons of bleach.”

People on the street begin laughing. Me included. Is this dude serious? This… this has to be a jape. He has to be doing this for an internet video.

“Because I am such a generous custodian,” Bleach man presses a button and causes a giant bucket to rise out of the top of the building. “I will give everyone two hours to evacuate the city before it is purified. Ciao.” the broadcast shuts off.

People stop laughing and start panicking and running away.

The broadcast resumes. “Oh, one more thing. You’re welcome.” Bleachman waves to the camera before shutting off the broadcast again.

“Welp.” I feel a grin spread across my face. “Guess we found the perfect mission!” I clap my hands. “C’mon everyone! To that building! Let’s go, Lovers!”

“Right!” A.D. punches his fists together and follows me.

“Don’t call us that!” Yuko protests, but follows along anyway.

Will stays behind and talks with Oso. “Are you going to help us with this?”

“It’s my day off. I’m not getting involved with whatever crap that is.”

“Understood… See you.” Will runs off to join us.

“Orihime’s garbage!” I hear Oso yell in the distance.

“You shut your mouth! She does her best!” Will protests and quickly catches up with us.

Rush into the lobby, accidentally bump over some fleeing office workers, and some more office workers, and some more office workers. How many people are in this building? I eventually manage to anchor onto the front desk and see a young woman about my age sleeping behind it. Cheek planted firmly against a notebook, drooling all over, complete with some painful sounding snoring. I slam on the table. “Hey! Wake up!”

“Bwah!” The woman reaches under the desk, pulls out a gun, and points it at us. Thankfully she has great trigger discipline. “Who are you?! What have you done to my lobby?!”

“Whoa whoa!” I step backward and slowly raise my hands with the rest of my team. “Ma’am! Put the gun down! We’re the heroes here!”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Oh,” she glares at us and lowers the gun. “Then why is my lobby in disarray?”

“There’s a dude on the roof about to douse the city in bleach in two hours.”

“...” she blinks. “Are you serious?”

“Why would we lie about this?!”

“I dunno…” She clips the gun back under the desk. “The whole idea just seems a bit… bizarre?”

“Ma’am, you’re talking to an idol, a secret agent, a video game character, and a weeaboo cowboy. Everything about the current situation is bizarre.”

“Hey.” Will protests.

“Fair enough…” she shrugs before sliding her hand under her desk once more then tosses a key to us. “Use this in the elevator to get roof access. I’ll stay here and make sure everyone leaves the lobby safely.”

“Thanks.” I snatch the key, my team and I fill up a nearby elevator, unlock the roof button, and mash that button. Doors close and we’re on our way up to the roof. Compressed, but smooth jazz music fills the elevator as we ascend. Fourth floor, fifth floor, sixth floor.

“Hey, Yuko.” A.D. breaks the silence. “You got some ketchup on your stocking.”

“What?” Yuko looks down and swears. “Dammit… I just washed this too.”

“How did you get ketchup on your stocking?” Will asks. “I didn’t see you eat any burgers or hotdogs today.”

“I wasn’t. Was just eating some ketchup.”

“Yuko…” I want to vomit. “Why would you do that?” Eighth floor, ninth floor.

“I wanted to have an omelette, but didn’t have any eggs, so I settled on the next best thing.”

“So… no potatoes, no omelettes, no bread? Just ketchup?”

“Did I stutter? What, is that weird or something?”

“Yuko, this is beyond abhorrent.” I want to cry. “Please don’t ever do that again.”

“Aw c’mon,” A.D. chuckled. “I don’t think that’s so weird.”

“You drink raw eggs.” Will rattles his spurs.

“They’re nutritious and efficient.” A.D. defends himself. “What is wrong with that?”

“Salmonella’s what’s wrong with it!”

ding

The elevator stops at the sixteenth floor, the doors open, an office worker shuffles into the elevator, and pushes the 22 button. The doors close and our journey continues. He looks completely average. Average height. Average build. Average complexion. Only thing that stands out about him is his hairline. His scalp looks forty years older than the rest of him.

“Sir.” I tap him on the shoulder. “There’s a super villain on the rooftop threatening to destroy the city in two hours. You need to evacuate.”

He turns and looks down at me. Without a shred of hesitation in his voice or emotion in his eye, he says, “Just let it happen.”

Upon hearing that, I feel all air and happiness vacate my body.

ding

The elevator opens up once more on the twenty-second floor and the office worker leaves. Yuko mashes the door close button and we resume our ascent.

23. 24. 25. 26.

Yuko begins humming something to herself. Regardless, I’ve never heard the song she’s singing. It doesn’t sound improvised either... It’s mild and I can just barely hear it over the elevator music, but it’s nice. Calming even. I can’t tell if that’s just my personal bias or if that’s her Tech at work. I can do this… We can do this. This is going to be the mission. I can feel it.

Rooftop. The doors open and we pour out onto the rooftop. I’m briefly blinded by the sunlight, but my eyes adjust quickly enough. We see the bucket and frankensteinesque display system from earlier. Geez it looks even more horrifying and convoluted up close. If I were an electrical engineer, I think I’d crap myself just looking at this thing. Oh. My. God… It… it isn’t even plugged into a generator or an outlet. It’s just connected to a giant ball of potatoes and lemons haphazardly stapled together. I’m getting anxiety just looking at it, so I won’t. I turn my head to the left and see Bleachman in an old reclining chair watching a tv that is also hooked up to a lemon-potato ball. He’s chuckling to himself with a bag of chips in one hand and a glass full of bleach in the other.

“Ohohoho… Janeway…” Bleachman shakes his head. “You are just the worst.” he chuckles to himself before taking a sip of bleach as if it were a martini. “Aaah.”

“Stop!” I reach into my pocket and wield a shrunken stop sign as a bat. “Surrender to us, foul villain or face the wrath of Team Lovers!”

“Vivian…” A.D. whines. “That intro was so lame… why didn’t you let me do the intro?”

“A.D.” Will rolls his eyes. “Now is not the time, boy.”

“Wuehehehe…” Bleach man speaks up in a booming voice that does not fit his appearance at all. “You cannot stop me… That bucket is set to rig in two hours no matter what.”

“Sir…” Will asks in a concerned tone. “Do you have medication to take? Do you have a caretaker we can contact?”

“I am not mad!” Bleachman throws his glass onto the floor, shattering it. “It is the world that is mad! Everyday people live in filth… roll around in squalor as if it’s nothing… Diseases once thought antiquated and extinct now plague the streets of this city… I am not here because I choose to be. I am here because the earth must be cleaned… No more shall this city be covered in grime. No longer shall insects and disease ravage nature… The future… The future…” he sounds ready to spit his own lungs out. Take a breath, dude. “I have seen the future… and it is beautiful… Clean… Disease and dirt and disgusting insects no longer plague the land. Through bleach, humanity has finally turned earth into the haven it was always destined to be.”

“Uh… huh…” Yuko walks over to the lemon-potato ball powering the bucket. “What if I just unplug this thing?”

“No no don’t do that! That’s illegal!”

“Imma unplug it.” Yuko bends down to the plug.

“You dare unplug that and Flopsy here gets it!” Bleachman pulls a bunny and a knife out of his beard and presses the blade against the poor bunny’s throat.

“Pffft.” A.D. charges up a fireball. “You really think that’s going to deter us? I can make some good stew out of that.”

“Whatever happened to no killing?” I ask A.D. while keeping my eyes locked on Bleachman.

“There is a world of difference between killing a rabbit and killing a human!” A.D. replies.

“Hands! Off! The bunny!” Yuko shouts.

“Then step away from the bucket and go back to whatever chinese cartoon convention you were attending!” Bleachman motions his knife towards the door.

“Not to me!” Yuko spits. “Let go of the bunny, you fat balding bastard! I’m going to rip out your teeth and shove them up your ass!”

“What?” Bleachman leans forward. “I can’t hear you!”

“That’s it!” Yuko balls her fists. “Team, lullaby.”

“Got it.” we cover our ears and Yuko begins to sing a lullaby.

Bleachman looks unimpressed and confused. “What whalesong are you belching out?”

“What the hell?!” Yuko yells somehow even louder. “How did it not work?!”

“Hah! I covered my ears with wax!” Bleachman proudly sticks his finger in his ear and pulls out a string of candle wax. “No bugs are getting in there, no sir.”

“I’ve had enough of this, I’m just going to fire.” A.D. is about to launch his fireball.

“A.D.” Yuko locks eyes with A.D. and points to the bunny. “If that bunny dies, I will sew his hide onto you in your sleep! Got it?!”

“Okay okay!” A.D. instantly backs down. “You don’t have to yell!”

“I’m giving you all ten seconds to leave before I gut this little ball of fluff!” Bleachman caresses the bunny’s body with the knife. “Ten.”

C’mon… Think, Viv… There’s gotta be something.

“Nine.”

Yuko begins backing off to the door.

“Eight. Seven.”

Will begins backing off with his hand still wrapped around his whip.

“Six. Five.”

A.D. is still bursting with energy. He won’t budge.

“Four.”

C’mon… c’mon… there has to be something I can do… Even if it’s a bunny… I want to do at least one perfect mission… Just one mission where nothing dies… Please…

Bucket and potato-ball to the left. TV and couch to the right. Bleach Man in the center. There’s… nothing I can do right now. I can’t take a step and A.D. can’t attack. Damnit! Why couldn’t I have a ranged Tech?

“A.D. Retreat.” I turn my back and run back into the open elevator with Will and Yuko.

“But-”

“Now!” I bark.

A.D. grits his teeth before falling back.

Yuko mashes the close door button and the elevator closes.

“Alright, Vivian.” Will pats my head. “What’s the plan?”

“What?”

“You know, the plan. How we’re going to resolve this.”

“I dunno… what makes you think I got a plan?”

“Ain’tchu supposed to be the smart one?” Will looks as dumbfounded as I feel. “If you don’t have a plan, I’m going right out there and solving this problem.”

“You really think I’m smart?”

“I reckon so.” Will says.

“I thought you knew.” Yuko tilts her head.

And thus, young Vivian felt her heart grow three sizes that day.

“Debatable.” A.D. shrugs. “We wouldn’t need a plan if you all weren’t such cowards.”

“A.D.” Yuko smiled. “Do you want to suck your own dick? I can arrange that.”

“You wouldn’t da-”

“I can shrink your dick.” I add.

A.D. just looks at the floor and sighs. “Fine fine… What’s the plan?”

“Give me a sec…” I sigh and look at the floor.

Yuko also sighs. God her breath reeks of ketchup and booze. Like a bloody mary, but the tomato juice is replaced with ketchup. She totally would make something like that.

“Wait… I got it!”

Will’s and Yuko’s faces light up. “Whatcha got?”

“Yuko, I need you to blow me.”

“Excuse me?” Yuko’s voice cracks.

“I need a volunteer.” I turn to the boys. “Who wants to get big?”

Neither responded. They just look at each other for a sec.

“Kay. Both of you then.” I grab both of their arms and shrink down, way, way down. Tiny enough to fit through the crack between the elevator doors.

I turn on the team earpiece that comes with my suit. Probably should’ve turned that on sooner. “Yo! Yuko! Can you hear me?” I wave my arms and jump.

“I can hear you.” Yuko bends down and squints her eyes. “Ah, there you are. What am I doing?”

“Pick me up and blow me through the crack in the door right onto Mr. Bleachman. Can you do that?”

Yuko lies her hand on the ground and I climb up onto her palm. “Are you kidding me? My aim isn’t that good.”

“Right… Just open the doors then and do some weird pose to distract him or something. Sound good?”

“Sounds good.” Yuko nods.

“I can distract him.” Will shoots me a thumbs-up.

“I can pose.” A.D. says while looking at how small his gi has become.

“Alright, on three. A.D. opens the door and Yuko blows me at Bleachman.”

“Got it.” A.D. nods and bends over the open door button.

“Please call it something else.” Yuko shakes her head, but takes aim regardless.

“One… two… three!” The door opens. Bleach Man is once again on his chair with the bunny being held hostage in his beard.

“Hey! Mr. Clean!” Will waves his arms and shouts. “Could you give us some bleach? There’s some nasty toilets in the building that we need to clean.”

“Aaaah of course. Just give me a moment.” he takes a glass from atop the TV, presses the side of his nose, and bleach starts pouring from his nostril into the cup. Don’t like that.

“Now, Yuko!”

Yuko steadies her aim, then blows me off her palm and right at Bleach man with a single shot. The wind knocks me a little off course, but I still land face first onto his forehead.

“Ow!” Bleach man stumbles backwards clutching his forehead, trapping me between his forehead and his hand.

“Are you okay, sir?” Will asks.

“No… Geez, I think a bug just bopped me in the noggin.” Bleach Man still confines me to his forehead.

I plant my palm against his forehead, and proceed to grow back to my full size. The bunny falls out of the beard, Bleach Man shrinks down to the size of a bunny, and I pick up the knife. It’s just a standard kitchen knife. Sturdy and sharp. It’ll get the job done, but not much else.

My team comes rushing out of the elevator. A.D. unplugs the bucket and tv. Will calls the authorities. Yuko retrieves the bunny and cradles it in her arms.

“Well well well.” I step on the tiny Bleachman. “Any more ace in the holes?”

Bleach Man looks up at me. “No… for now, but you cannot defeat me… You cannot defeat the human desire for cleanliness and purity. As long as people exist, I too shall exist.”

We wait for the authorities to arrive, get everyone back to their normal size, shake some hands, pose for the press, call in a demolition crew to clean out and disassemble the bleach bucket. Once Bleach Man’s driven away, the press disperse as quickly as they gathered, all the employees flood back into the building, and the city streets continue on like nothing happened.

“Well that happened.” I put my hands on my hips and look around at the all too calm city streets. “Good job, team.” I clap. “Good teamwork.”

Yuko nods and continues cradling her newly acquired bunny.

“I agree.” Will stretches his back. “It feels good to have a mission not go completely off the rails for once.”

“Yeah… didn’t it feel just a little too easy though?” A.D. rubs his chin.

“A.D.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “Please. Sometimes a dumb mission is just a dumb mission… I don’t want any more plots, people, and conspiracies to keep track of.”

“But what if he is another character in a conspiracy?” A.D. crosses his arms.

“Then we’ll get to that when we get to that, alright? We’ve done enough for one day.”

rumble grumble

My stomach lets out this eldritch screech.

“I agree, Vivian’s stomach.” Yuko laughs. “What sounds good for lunch? Any ideas?”

“Oh! WAIT!” I clap my hands. “I know just the place! I’ve had this thing planned for weeks.”

“What’s the idea?” Will tilts his head.

“You just gotta trust me.” I grin and head off to the bus station. “It’s a surprise.”

Vivian

October 13, 2007. 5:14 p.m.

Mission complete. Meat-lovers pizza acquired. Managed to convince Yuko to blast us all up to the roof of the grocery store across the street from campus. It’s sandwiched right in between an ice cream shop and a taekwondo school and overlooks a small park. There’s a nice sherbet orange sunset going on right now that reflects off the park fountain juuust right. I go over to the side of the roof overlooking the park, sit down, and let my legs dangle off the side of the roof. “C’mon everyone,” I set the pizza box down to the right of me, open it, and let the scent of hot meat juice hit my nose. “It’s gonna get cold.”

My team follows me and sits down. Yuko sits on the right side of the pizza box and has her new bunny chilling atop her head. Will sits to my left and A.D. sits to Yuko’s right.

I give each of us a slice and prepare to dig in.

“Wait, Viv.” Yuko says with the slice already hanging out her mouth. “You got any ranch in there?”

“Of course. Wait a sec.” I reach into the box and toss her the little ranch container.

“Thanks.” Yuko shreds the container open and empties it fully onto the slice. The slice is now more ranch than pizza at this point. While everyone is on their fourth bite Yuko’s already on her second slice.

“How’s the pizza, everyone?” I ask looking over to Will then A.D.

“It’s pizza.” Will shrugs. “Not much to comment on.”

“It’s so greasy…” A.D. grimaces as oil drips off the slice. “But the protein will prove useful.” he takes another bite. “Dang… still good though…”

My chest starts to feel warm. I look out over the park and watch some people. Some are talking by the fountain, others are walking dogs, others are just taking a nap on the grass. I can’t see their faces or hear their voices from up here, but they kinda look like us right now. I take a deep breath. Ahh… The fall evening breeze is still warm. It feels so good. Inhale. Exhale. I close my eyes, lean back, and simply watch the sunset while a slice of pizza hangs out of my mouth. Everything else in the world fades away except the sunset, the taste of meat, and the voices of my teammates.

“Why did you pick the roof of the supermarket?” Will asks before taking a bite of crust. “Wouldn’t a park be better for things like this?”

“I thought about a park, but then I realized I’ve never been on the roof of a supermarket. Just wanted to know what it was like, you know?”

“Did it meet your expectations?”

“Yeah.” I smile as I feel a spicy sausage chunk hit my tongue. “It’s different. Plus it’s just more private up here.”

A.D. nods. “I can understand that. Quiet is necessary every now and then.”

“I don’t get it.” Will shrugs and takes another bite. “It’s just a rooftop.”

“Yeah, but now you can say you’ve eaten dinner on top of a supermarket. How many other people can say that?”

Yuko and Will laugh a little.

“Fair point.” Will comments.

“The view’s pretty sick.” Yuko says with a mouth full of cheese and meat. I can even see a chunk of bacon fly out her mouth and into the parking lot below. “Didn’t even know we had a park here.”

“Yeah…” I nod and take another deep breath. Might as well say it now. “Hey, guys?”

“Yeah?” the three respond.

I take yet another deep breath. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m glad I met you guys. I know we’ve barely known each other, but I’m happy I get to call you guys my teammates.”

Yuko’s face melts into a smile as she nearly drops her pizza. “Just teammates?”

I feel my heart sink into my chest. “What do you mean?”

“Are you kidding me?” she points at me with her pizza crust. “After all you’ve done, you better consider me a friend at the very least.”

My heart rises out of my stomach as Yuko looks like her heart just fell through her ass. “What did you just say?”

“I said we’re friends.” Yuko’s cheeks grow flush as she takes a bite of the crust. “If you make me say it again, I’ll push you off this roof.”

“Aaw.” I rustle Yuko’s hair. “You’d catch me even if you did.”

“Let’s not test that right now.” Will laughs from his gut.

My chest grows warmer and warmer. “What about you, Will? Teammates?”

“Just teammates for now,” he crosses his arms. “But as teammates go, you’re pretty alright. Even now I can’t take Oso on 1v1.”

“Aw c’mon, I didn’t take him on 1v1. I had all of you guys helping me. I would’ve been dead in a second if I didn’t have you guys.”

“Thank you for being realistic.” A.D. swallows what remains of his crust.

“What about you, A.D? We cool?” I can’t get this grin off my face.

“We’re cool. I wouldn’t say friends, but we’re cool.”

“How many times do I gotta spar with you until we’re friends?”

A.D. shares my smile. “Now you’re speaking my language. We’ll find out the number.” He punches towards the sun.

“Yeah! One for three, I’ll take it!” I leap off my seat and accidentally fall off the edge of the roof. “Crap!”

“Viv!” My whole team reaches out and catches me. Will’s got my left arm. A.D.’s got my right arm. Yuko’s got my hair. It hurts, but I’m alright.

“Pfft… Hahahaha!” I’m crying and laughing at the same time. I don’t know why. “Thank you!”

“Don’t laugh, you idiot.” Yuko pulls my hair up with an agitated smile. “You almost died.”

“But I didn’t.” I point up at them and keep laughing until my cheeks grow sore and all my tears are gone.