It just wasn’t the same.

As much as he preferred the quiet atmosphere of this back alley place, it just wasn’t the same as Peace Café.

Judging from the damage in the pictures Manami sent him, he wasn’t even sure if it would ever open again.

“Hey, Goblin Shark,” Liliana waved her hand lazily from across the small table. “I know I’m cute and all, but could you not stare at me so much? People are going to get the wrong idea.”

“Yeah, I think we’re making everyone really uncomfortable,” Ocean said, his voice droning. There was literally no one else in the café.

The middle aged man working there had gone into the back a long time ago. The faint sound of a baseball game coming through a speaker told Ocean that he wouldn’t be coming out any time soon.

Ocean rested his cheek on his fist. “Also, Goblin Shark?”

“Yeah,” Liliana smiled. “They’re really ugly.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Liliana picked up her cup of milk tea and took a noisy sip. “What was your brother like?”

Ocean wrinkled his brow. “Where’s this coming from?”

“What does it matter where it’s coming from?” Liliana gave him a glare. “What was he like?”

Ocean sat back in his seat and let out a long sigh.

“You won’t tell?” Liliana asked.

“He was an idiot,” Ocean snapped, but then recomposed himself. “It wasn’t like he didn’t do well in school, he was just the type that believed everything he heard.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“Like you know all those ghost hunting shows?” Ocean asked. “He was like those people.”

Liliana tilted her head. “Aren’t those guys on those shows pretty skeptical?”

“Liliana, these are people that make their living off of walking around in dark buildings and screaming at the slightest noise,” Ocean said. “Come to think of it, most of them probably don’t even believe in any of that crap. North was different. If it was supernatural, he believed in it for real.”

Liliana paused for a moment. “Do you miss him?”

“What the hell kind of question is that?”

They both sat quietly for a few minutes, letting the faint sound of the television fill the silence for them.

“What do you think he’d make of yesterday?” Liliana took another sip of her drink.

“I’m sure he’d think it was the work of aliens or something,” Ocean said.

He thought back to the explosion yesterday. When people started running, they both sort of got swept up in it all. Before they knew it, they were separated from Quinn and Xavier, sprinting down the street.

As for what it was, he was hoping to find that out today.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the door to the café open. He turned his head to see Ruby standing there dressed in a red jacket that went down to her thighs.

“Ruby!” Liliana called out, waving her over.

“Hi Lili,” Ruby said. “Am I late?”

“Not at all,” Liliana smiled. “We’re still waiting for two more.”

Ruby pulled out a chair at the table and sat down next to Liliana.

Ocean’s first instinct was to tease her about changing her mind about helping them, but he stopped himself. For once, he wanted to keep his stupid mouth shut. After all, she had every right to be mad at him.

Ruby looked around the empty café before turning to them. “So who are we waiting for?”

“Two really amazing people we met yesterday,” Liliana pounded her fists on the table in excitement. “You’ll never guess who they are. You’ll never ever guess. They’re with the KPW!”

“You didn’t even let her guess,” Ocean said.

“R-Really?” Ruby stammered. “I-I-I don’t think my daddy would want me meeting someone like that…”

Ocean sighed. “And your dad would want you to try and hunt down a murder?”

Ruby jumped in her seat. “I… guess not.”

“Don’t worry Ruby, they’re both really nice,” Liliana said. “Besides, if anything weird happens we’ll just throw Octopus at them and run.”

“But that’s so mean!” Ruby pouted.

“He’ll be fine,” Liliana said with a snort. “An octopi’s tentacles can still move around after they’re cut off. Cool, huh?”

“Charming,” Ocean said. He looked over to the front counter. The man working there hadn’t come out when Ruby arrived, so he must have been either too engrossed in the game or indifferent to customers until they rang the bell sitting next to the register.

“I-I need to tell you both something,” Ruby suddenly piped up. “It’s a secret though, so please don’t tell anyone. I’ll be dead meat.”

“What is it?” Liliana asked.

“You need to promise!”

“I promise, I promise.”

“Ocean, you need to promise too,” Ruby pointed at him sheepishly.

“No promises,” Ocean said.

“T-Then I can’t tell you.”

“Just promise her already,” Liliana kicked his shin from under the table.

“Alright, I promise already,” Ocean winced.

“Okay… I guess I should just show you,” Ruby took a deep breath and held her hand over the table. “Wait, there aren’t any cameras here, right?”

The three of them glanced around the room, but it didn’t look like there were any. Besides, he doubted a little place like this could even afford them.

“Okay, here I go,” Ruby put her hand back out again.

“What the-!?” Ocean and Liliana scrambled back like a snake had just been thrown into the middle of the table. Ocean’s cup was levitating.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

“I’m… a magician,” Ruby whispered. The cup slowly drifted back down to the table.

“Well that was some magic trick,” Ocean was dumbfounded.

“No, it’s not a trick,” Ruby said, her cheeks turning a hue not unlike her namesake. “I’m magic. I mean, I can do magic. Real magic. Like, m-magic, magic. I-I just broke a really big rule in telling you.”

Huh? Was Ruby really trying to play a prank on him? Ocean wasn’t used to being on the receiving end.

“Anyways, I think I could be some help,” Ruby said. “I-If that’s okay with the two of you, I mean.”

“Ruby,” Ocean started. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Wait, how did you do that?” Liliana laughed nervously.

“W-With magic,” Ruby’s face wasn’t going to be returning back to its normal shade any time soon. “I’m a magician. Everyone… in my family is.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Liliana waved her hands in front of her. “Slow down for a second. Are you serious? Seriously serious?”

“Y-Yes,” Ruby nodded. “Seriously.”

“Do something else.”

“Okay…” Ruby brought her hand back up and twirled her finger in the air. At the same time, Ocean felt his body leave the chair beneath him.

He grabbed onto the table, his eyes open wide. “Did I just float for a second or am I going crazy? Are you seri-”

“I’m serious!” Ruby pouted.

He couldn’t believe it. Ruby had magic powers?

“Do me too,” Liliana yelled, pushing her chair back so that it was away from the table.

“Uh, okay,” Ruby said. She moved her finger so that it was pointed over at Liliana instead. Sure enough, Liliana floated up, about a foot from her seat.

There were fireworks going off in Liliana’s eyes. “This is awesome.”

“Huh?” Ruby smiled nervously. “You’re not freaked out?”

“Why would I be freaked out?” Liliana gently landed back into her chair. “I’ve been dreaming of this moment my whole life. All that needs to happen now is that I found out I’ve been a secret princess this whole time.”

Liliana could speak for herself. Ocean was freaked out enough for both of them.

“Besides,” Liliana went on. “After what the KPW showed us yesterday, magic being real is almost a given.”

He supposed she had a point. Watches that stopped time weren’t exactly ‘normal’ either.

“You weren’t kidding,” Ocean took a deep breath and sighed. “With something like this, I think you might be the most important person in our whole group.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah,” Ocean said. “Do you think that you’d be able to stop someone from moving with that?”

“Hmm, I might be able to, but it might be hard if they struggled too much,” Ruby looked up at the ceiling. “I could probably do it if Celeste was helping me.”

“Wait, is Celeste a magician too?” Ocean nearly fell out of his seat.

Ruby slapped her hands over her mouth. “Uh-oh.”

“Were you… not supposed to tell us that?”

“Oh no. Oh no, no, no,” Ruby cried. “You have to forget, okay? Celeste is gonna kill me.”

Forget? The only thing that was going to make Ocean forget that was if he was hit by a train.

“Do you think she’ll help us out?” Liliana asked.

“M-Maybe…” Ruby stuttered. “I would have to talk to her.”

“Please do,” Liliana grabbed her by the hands. She had a huge smile on her face.

Ocean could feel himself smiling too. For the first time, he understood how North must have felt. If magic, super heroes, and time stopping watches were real, what else was out there?

The door to the café opened again. This time, it was Quinn and Xavier.

“Salutations, young ones,” Xavier grinned, crunching down on a toothpick between his teeth.

“Hello,” Quinn gave a small wave. Instead of her pizza delivery outfit, she was wearing a flower pattern sundress this time. The outfit didn’t exactly match the weather outside, but Ocean supposed it was probably some Oregon pride thing he didn’t understand.

“Glad you could both make it,” Liliana said. “This is our friend, Ruby. She might not look it, but she’s going to be really useful.”

“So… so mean…” Ruby’s mouth dropped open.

“Oh? And what might be the specialty of our little lady here?” Xavier asked, taking a seat at the table directly next to theirs.

No one answered.

“Please, do not worry,” Quinn said. “Xavier is not as creepy as he sounds.”

“Well… this is all really sudden,” Ruby mumbled. “I don’t really know if I feel comfortable telling…”

“She can do magic,” Liliana said. “She can lift people up and hold them in place.”

Ruby’s face drained.

“A magician, huh?” Xavier laughed. “You don’t mind working with the likes of us?”

The likes of them? What was he talking about?

“You’re… from the KPW, right?” Ruby asked, suddenly becoming somber.

“Yes,” Quinn said.

“That means you’re both… abnormals then?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Ruby looked down in her lap.

“Ruby, what’s wrong?” Liliana asked.

“I-It’s kind of hard to explain,” Ruby looked up at her. “But magicians… don’t think very highly of abnormals… People like them, I mean. Their powers aren’t the same thing as magic.”

Quinn’s cool exterior didn’t change. “Is that how you feel?”

“No…” Ruby said. “Well, I’ve never even met a real abnormal before so… I guess it isn’t right to just assume things about them.”

“It brings tears to my eyes,” Xavier laughed. “Only in Portland could a meeting such as this take place! We could be setting an example for generations to come.”

Ocean became very aware that he wasn’t a participant in this conversation. It was like when two of your friends that had never met each other suddenly bonded over something you knew nothing about.

“So, we can get the pleasantries out of the way at a later time then,” Xavier said. “I think you’ll be interested to know about what happened yesterday.”

That’s right, he had almost forgotten. When the explosion happened, Quinn and Xavier ran in the opposite direction than they did, meaning they saw what happened first-hand.

“Xavier and I engaged in combat with three different magic users,” Quinn said. “At least one of them was a familiar.”

A magic fight? He couldn’t help but think about Cory and North. The two of them would be more excited than words could describe.

“What’s that?” Liliana asked. “Fa…miliars?”

“Hmm? Familiars?” Ruby seemed like she had forgotten that they only just learned about magic moments ago. “They’re magic. Sort of like pets or… personal assistants?”

Those two things were nothing like each other.

“In any case, we were both knocked unconscious,” Quinn crossed her legs. “It seems that escape was their primary goal.”

“Do you think they have anything to do with the one that stopped time?” Ocean asked.

“I doubt it,” Xavier grunted. “If they did, I don’t see why they wouldn’t have just frozen us to get away instead.”

“What did they look like?”

“Two were tall with red and blue hair respectively,” Quinn said. “The other wore glasses and was likely teenage. All female.”

“Well even if they aren’t the ones that did it,” Ocean looked around at each of them. “I’d say it’s more than likely that they know something about this that we don’t.”

“So what do we do?” Liliana asked.

“I’ll post about them on the Clock Link group and see if anyone knows anything,” Ocean said. “In the meantime, I want to run my idea by all of you for how we’ll catch the one that did this.”

Xavier leaned forward. “What did you have in mind?”

“Do you both already know about the watches?” Ocean asked.

“Watches?” Quinn fiddled with her dress.

He was relieved to find that he actually knew something they didn't.

“You probably won’t believe it, but there are watches that can stop time,” Ocean said. “You just press a button and it stops everyone around you. I know, because Cory… my friend had one. And he was attacked because of it.”

“I see,” Quinn and Xavier spoke in unison, nodding their heads.

“Wait, that’s it?” Ocean frowned. He was kind of hoping for a bigger reaction to be completely honest.

“Our policy is to trust everyone until they give us a reason not to,” Xavier smiled.

“That’s… kind of a risky policy, don’t you think?”

“Maybe,” Xavier responded. “But it works for us.”

“Now that that’s all out of the way, what’s the plan, Shrimp man?” Liliana stuck out her tongue.

Ocean took a moment to make sure they were totally alone in the café. He could still hear the muffled sound of baseball on TV.

“I just thought of it a minute ago, but if we can figure out who it is, we won’t have much time before they activate the watch, right?”

“I guess so,” Liliana said.

“Well that’s where Ruby comes in.”

“Me?” Ruby pointed at herself, a frown forming on her face.

“Xavier, how long do you think it would take you to attack him with your sword?” Ocean asked.

Xavier didn’t wait a moment to respond. “Two seconds. Three if I have to close a gap.”

“That’s it then,” Ocean smirked. “Ruby holds him for three seconds, and Xavier cuts off his hand before he can do anything. The rest of us jump him after that and it’s all over.”

He gulped as he was met with silence from the other four sitting around him.

“A fine plan,” Xavier put his fist into the air.

"Wait, what if they're magic too?" Liliana hopped up, slamming her hands on the table. "Will you still be able to stop them, Ruby?"

"Well I don't think the watch has anything to do with magic," Ruby fiddled with her hands in her lap.

"It doesn't?" Ocean asked.

"Magic can't really do things like stopping time," Ruby said. "It's more concrete than that, like making fire or water... or electricity."

"Wow, you can do all that?" Liliana's mouth was wide open.

"Y-yes," Ruby recoiled. "I'm not all that good though."

"Well if that's true, then hopefully we won't have to deal with someone that uses magic," Ocean sighed. He couldn't even imagine how he would plan for that.

"Do not worry," Quinn said. "If it comes to that, Xavier and are more than capable of using deadly force against them."

"Alright," Ocean nodded his head. "We'll just have to hope that we're dealing with someone... normal."

Ruby hung her head.

"Sorry, 'normal' isn't the right word to use," Ocean panicked. "I just meant..."

"No, it's not that," Ruby said. "I just can't imagine a magician doing something like this."

They went quiet again.

“In any case, this all hinges on whether or not we can find him,” Ocean broke the silence. “What we really need is for someone to send us a good lead. Once we have that, this will be a…”

“Home run!” the middle-aged man’s voice erupted from the back room.

The timing was a little too perfect for Ocean’s taste.