Despite her earlier arguments, Daniel had never seen Carmen so excited to get Chinese before.
As soon as the wave of energy washed across the sky, a new announcement appeared in the Messages section of their menu. But, Carmen was determined for them all to see it at the same time, because the One rarely ever made wishes outside of the Ultimate Versus tournaments. She didn’t want to be spoiled before they could sit down and digest it together, and though Raph protested, Daniel thought the same.
If it was such a big deal, they had to tackle it together.
And so, Mr. Stone roared a few careful miles over the speed limit over to the Chinese place Raph had chosen to order from and back to the Maroon Sports Bar. They carried the food over to their usual table, and Daniel sat in the seat facing the door, closer to the bar counter. Once they got all the food set out and distributed, Carmen opened her menu and opened the announcement as Mr. Stone did the same.
Do you want to read it out loud first, Mr. Stone?” she asked, tilting her head, eyeing the announcement like a difficult math problem.
Mr. Stone shook his head. “No, I’ll read it silently at the same time. Go on, Carmen.”
Carmen cleared her throat.
> To all Fighters of the realm,
>
> With a gaze cast upon the battles that resonate throughout the tapestry of existence, I, The One, humbly extend a new revelation to the arena of combat—Bursts.
>
> Bursts are your newfound power, replenished every two rounds. Simply call out the term, "Burst!", and let the cosmic energy surge within. There are two types of Bursts, triggered contextually; the weave of my words shall guide you through this new paradigm.
>
> Aggroburst grants your next strike dominion over defenses, enhancing your power to shatter guards like glass. Call out "Burst" and feel the tempest of aggression roar as you cleave through all obstructions. But, be wary. A strike too obvious will only be dodged, and your power will go to waste.
>
> Guardburst is your sanctuary amidst the tempest. Speak the word as you block to enhance your guard. On your next attack, a shield of unseen might shall restore balance by shoving your assailant backwards. Escape the clutches of relentless combos, and return the chaos to Neutral.
>
> Embrace your Bursts, for in them, the cosmos itself resonates. Though, one must not wield these Bursts lightly, for they require two rounds to recharge for a second use. Strategy and timing are the keys to harnessing their might.
>
> I have deliberated over this decision for years on end. All bearing witness to this moment must know that my timing was deliberately chosen, so as to not compromise the next Ultimate Versus tournament, when a new challenger may lay claim to my divinity.
>
> May your battles be glorious, and may destiny be swayed by the cadence of your every move.
>
> With unwavering divine presence,
>
> The One.
Their Beijing beef was fire, but as Carmen started reading, Daniel had to pause chewing, to instead focus his attention on every word. Once she finished, Carmen took a deep breath and skimmed over it with her eyes.
Mr. Stone nodded. “Interesting…”
“It sounds simple enough to me,” Daniel said. “The Guardburst sounds like a new way to escape combos, and the Aggrobust sounds like we can make ours even better when someone keeps puppy-guarding.”
“How do we use it again? Do we have to say the whole name of the thing?” Raph asked, taking another bite of his noodles.
“No, no. It sounds like we just say Burst, and we’ll either trigger an Aggroburst or a Guardburst based on whatever we’re doing,” Carmen responded.
“The Guardburst sounds especially interesting,” Mr. Stone said. “It’s an attack that directly works based on the timing of an enemy attack. It sounds like—”
Daniel gasped. “Are they giving everyone a counter? Seriously?!”
Carmen finished a crab rangoon, a golden fried wonton wrapper with crab meat and cream cheese on the inside. “That was my kneejerk reaction, but…I don’t know.”
“No. It’s almost the same, conceptually, but not in practice. When you use your Counter, Daniel, you get a window of time to attack your opponent in any way you wish, right?” Mr. Stone asked.
Daniel nodded.
“Guardbursts sound much more straightforward. If they attack your block, you push your opponent away and return to Neutral.”
“Oh! So, it’s not as good as mine. I get it,” Daniel said, nodding. “Returning to Neutral is a weird way to put it.”
“It prolly just spaces y’all out as you were when the round started, and gets rid of whoever had frame advantage,” Raph said.
“But, if you know someone’s probably getting ready to use a Guardburst, you can probably get them to waste it!” Carmen said. “And the counter to the Aggroburst is just getting out of the way. This is a really balanced patch, Mr. Stone.”
He nodded. “Indeed.”
Daniel went for another spoonful of Beijing beef. “What do you mean ‘patch’?”
“That’s what people call it when the current One uses their wish to change something about how Fighting works,” Carmen said. “Like, the last last One wished for the referee to also repair most destroyed surroundings.”
“Indeed. The strategy within the timing of using your Burst is particularly fascinating to me,” Mr. Stone said. “It recharges every two rounds, so, if you use it in the first round, you won’t get it again until the last round. But, if the match doesn’t last for three rounds, you won’t get a burst at all.”
Daniel finished the last of his beef. “And so then on the flipside, you could save it, but then your opponent gets a round where they can use their burst because you won’t!”
“And that means if you can make it through that round when your opponent uses their Burst, you get to use yours in the second round when they can’t!” Carmen exclaimed, squealing in excitement afterwards. “Oh, I gotta go test this out in a training round. Can we go back to the Fighting Center, Mr. Stone?”
“Unfortunately, not. We’re supposed to be getting a visitor today,” he said, taking another chopstick-bite of his noodles.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Who?”
“John Bubbles, Daniel’s representative from Jazz Hands insurance. He’s supposed to be visiting today to lay out the terms before we begin our travels.”
Daniel gasped. “Really? His last name is actually Bubbles?”
Mr. Stone chuckled, too.
“Oh, this is a crazy day. When’s he supposed to show up?”
Mr. Stone glanced at his watch, checking the time, but before he could even speak, the bar doors opened. A clean, dark-blue suit framed the man’s wide, imposing figure, eyes hidden behind his dark sunglasses framed by light-brown skin and a bald head.
“Afternoon, Jonathan Stone, Daniel Chase,” he said, voice smooth and deep, with a curt undertone. “If possible, I would like to speak somewhere more…” He paused, glancing around at the entire bar. “Confidential.”
Mr. Stone nodded slowly, and glanced back at Mrs. Garcia at the bar counter. Mrs. Garcia laughed, shaking her head. “To close the store during a lunch rush…oh, only because it’s so important. Mi carino! Where are the door keys?”
“Back here!” Mr. Garcia called out from the kitchen.
John Bubbles remained in the center of the room like a statue as Mrs. Garcia disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing soon after with the key in hand. She introduced herself as she passed, but he only nodded and wordlessly returned her handshake, without so much as a smile. She continued across the room to lock the front doors and flip the sign to closed, but Daniel had already decided that he didn’t like this man.
“Please, Mr. Bubbles, have a seat.” Mr. Stone gestured to the empty seat across from him at the table, between Raph and Carmen, earning a chuckle from both of them at his name.
“Call me John. Mr. Bubbles is my father.”
Daniel frowned on the inside. The least the guy could do is actually smile while making a joke.
The chair creaked as John sat down. “Daniel Chase, your performance during the South City Beginner’s Tournament was impressive. I’m glad we could finally meet.”
“Yeah. Charmed,” Daniel said, leaning against his fist.
“I believe you recently made a trip to a Fighting Center. Did you make any changes to your moveset?”
“Yo, what? How did you know? Are you secretly an FBI agent or somethin’?” Raph asked.
“In the age of the internet, assume that everything is tracked by everyone. But, I am not an FBI agent. I decided to pursue a more stress-free environment.”
Carmen raised an eyebrow. “And you chose insurance?”
“My stress tolerance differs from my peers. Regardless, Daniel, what did you change about your moveset?”
Daniel shrugged. “Just broke a few stats, you know. Broken Damage, Broken Meter-Gain. My Counter can absorb damage now, but I lost the shockwave from Hard Punch, and I can’t do long combos anymore.”
John cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. You lost the shockwave from Hard Punch?”
“Yeah? That’s what I chose to give up for the Broken Damage with my counter.”
At Daniel’s words, John pinched his nose.
“What?”
“Truth be told, my superiors in charge of endorsing the tournament’s victor were glad to see it was you, because of the destructive potential of Hard Punch’s shockwave.”
“Wait, you guys specifically wanted a power that destroys more? Am I hearing you wrong, or is that a little messed up?” Daniel laughed.
“A little. But, we’re an insurance company — the more that’s broken, the more we can repair.” He lowered his sunglasses, glaring at Daniel over the top of his sunglasses. “Creation cannot come without an initial destruction.”
He let his words hang over the air, earning a tense silence.
“But, the difference in your moveset is my superior’s problem, not mine. Mine is laying out the first term of your Fighting Abroad program.”
John laid his briefcase on the table with a heavy sound, and rolled the code on the side. As he lifted the lid, the ceiling lights reflected as golden rays beaming from the three sets of brand new uniforms.
“Would you like to try them on?”
----------------------------------------
Up in his bedroom, once he finished changing, Daniel stared at himself in his mirror, jaw dropping to the floor. It was a set of a sleeveless workout shirt and baggy sweatpants, both colored the same golden yellow as his previous puffy jacket, the one he lost during the attack on the dojo. There was a logo of Jazz Hands insurance plastered along the chest that stuck out like a sore thumb, sure, but he couldn’t fight just how perfect the material felt on his skin!
And the new jacket felt perfect, too. They gave him a new puffy black jacket colored just like his last one, with a new yellow cap that felt comfortable to wear backwards. Out in the hallway, Carmen came from her room and Raph came out of the bathroom, both changed into their uniforms. Carmen got a, black set of a sleeveless shirt and leggings with yellow highlights, too, while Raph’s alternated between streaks of black and gold along his tracksuit.
They came down the stairs like a set of matching bumblebees, each with the logos of Jazz Hands insurance plastered along the front.
Mr. Stone nodded. “They sent me proofs of the outfits online, but this is even better than I could’ve imagined.”
Mr. and Mrs. Garcia smiled from behind the bar counter, beaming at Carmen. “My little mija has a sponsor?!” Mrs. Garcia continued in spanish, pulling Carmen into a tight hug.
“I provided input on the design — namely on the accent color of golden yellow. It was the only common color theme between Electrica’s lightning, Rex’s typical yellow tracksuit, and Chase’s signature puffy yellow jacket. I also chose the inversion of the colors, Chase,” John said.
“You chose this?” Daniel smiled. “Awesome, man. I didn’t take you for the artistic type, you know.”
“Many don’t. Many also wouldn’t believe that I paint with watercolors in my spare time. But, even one with a high stress tolerance needs time to unwind. Now, if you would please come take a seat. And don’t worry, Mr. Stone, there’s two matching tracksuits coming for you, too. You receive an extra by prestige of being their teacher. But, our next subject is the Fighting Abroad program itself.” John placed his suitcase back on the floor, and cleared his throat as they sat back down.
“Daniel, you and your school will be given free flights to different locations across the world. The flight back home will be paid for, too, and so will your stay at a specific hotel chain for one week in each destination. But, there are two conditions.” John raised a finger. “First, all three of you are required to wear your given Jazz Hands insurance fighting outfits during any fight that will be televised to the public. But, that’s minor, compared to the second one. The number of locations you are able to visit will depend on a ranking goal that you set. I have discretion to give up to four, based on the answer you give to my question.”
John shifted forward in his seat. “What is your goal, Chase? Where will you rank by the end of this program?”
Carmen raised her hand before Daniel could answer. “I have a question. Hypothetically, what happens if we don’t reach the rank goal he sets?”
“Simple. If you fail to make that goal, your school will be billed the cost of all flights, hotel stays, and any further expenses incurred during the program,” John said, curtly, as if he didn’t just threaten to bill the school thousands of dollars. Daniel’s heart skipped a beat. “And that bill will depend on how high of a goal you set. If I’m correct, you all just recently reached a numbered ranking not long ago.”
“So, what if I say we’ll reach the millions?”
“Then you get one flight, for one week. But, if you failed, the price for that flight and the week of hotel stays would be billed back to your school.”
“What if we reached the hundred thousands?”
“Two flights. Two weeks.”
“What about the ten thousands?”
“Three, but that’s the highest we can go, as we’re also counting your flight back home.” John rose. “I’ll give you a moment to convene with your teacher about your goal. If you’d like, I can return—”
“Nah. We know where we’re headed,” Daniel said, glancing around at Carmen and Raph, both smiling. Mr. Stone gave him a soft nod. He jabbed a determined finger into the table. “We can reach the top one-thousand. How long can you give us for that?”
For the first time since they had met, a smile spread across John’s face. “Four flights, one month. Your ambition is admirable. Is that the number you’re going with?”
“I don’t know, do we have to shake on it?” Daniel said, grinning.
“I have a better alternative. I’ll return tonight at about seven with the formal paperwork,” John said, picking up his briefcase. “But, we’re running behind schedule on our end, so we need to get this in as soon as possible. When I return, I’ll need to know your first destination. Decide before then.”
Daniel nodded. “We’ll be ready.”