Chapter 11
Lizzy was not shocked that, despite his previous claim, Artie was not a great party planner. She arrived alone at the All-Star loft midway through the second trial, and the Top Seed broadcast was playing on multiple screens in the main living space. No one had yet completed the trial, though Zzz and Hieroglyph were approaching the finish line. Ashbury was halfway down Kings River on her raft without a statue, and the rest of the competitors were just waking up atop Mount Olive. Her cousin Ken was just coming to, but Lizzy had no worries that he wouldn’t complete the trial.
The entire loft looked like a frat house the day after the year’s biggest rager. Soiree Town supplies were strewn about haphazardly, the furniture arrangement was ill-suited for entertaining a large group of people, and Hanzel and Artie sat on the living room sectional watching the show.
“What are you two useless idiots doing?” she demanded moments after her entrance.
“Uhhh, we needed a break?” Artie answered.
“Don’t worry, luv, we’ll have this place looking tip-top in a jiffy,” Hanzel answered, noting that Lizzy had that familiar look of horror and anger mixed together.
“I never should have left you morons alone to plan what is sure to be the most highly viewed social event of the year.” Lizzy whipped her Onyx phone out of her stylish and completely unaffordable handbag. She quickly dialed her mother’s assistant, “Hey, Becks! I need a huge favor. Info tasked us with throwing a party for The Show, and I need you to arrange a few things to be delivered to our loft in The Spire.” Lizzy barely needed to pause before Becks was ready to take notes on her last-minute demands. “Ok, so first, we need food. Caviar from Petrossian, pastries from Eleven Madison. Oh, and we need to fly Niki out for the event.” Lizzy turned to a stunned Hanzel and Artie and stated matter-of-factly, “Her sushi is to die for!” Then, without missing a beat, went back to the conversation with Becks. “Okay. So, have Mom’s event and glam teams head over here from The Coin’s Tower within the next hour, and I can work with them on décor, entertainment, makeup, and, of course, my outfit. The party’s theme will be Gods and Goddesses.” Lizzy smiled at the thought of the racks of clothing she would soon get to go through to choose the perfect ensemble for tomorrow’s festivities.
It was only about twenty minutes later that Lizzy opened the apartment's front door to Becks and over a dozen individuals dressed alike.
“Where do we start?” Becks asked.
Lizzy pointed to different areas of the loft and answered, “Food is there, the décor team can set up there, entertainment in the corner over there. And the glam squad can set up in my room up the stairs and to the left, past the library.”
The Coin’s event team jumped into action, bustling around the loft, like Santa’s helpers on Christmas Eve. Lizzy went over to Hanzel and Artie, who were watching the second trial on the biggest screen in the loft. Onscreen, Ashley was in the middle of her tussle with Rabbit, springing her initial trap.
“Man! I really didn’t think that was gonna work,” Artie said, defeated.
“Oi mate, nature always wins,” Hanzel said, trying his best to be a wise sage.
“No way she’s making it past the next round, though!” Artie said with bold determination as he handed Hanzel a five-dollar bill.
“Wanna double down?” Hanzel winked at Lizzy as he collected his winnings.
“Hell yeah, you are going down this time!” Artie replied.
Lizzy jumped in, seeing a golden opportunity to make a buck while simultaneously messing with Artie. “Why don’t we make it more interesting and raise the stakes? Pick the final twelve. Whoever gets the most right wins.”
“What are the stakes?” Artie asked nervously. Hanzel and Lizzy were much more popular. Not only were they making more money from movies and merchandising, but their Herald salaries were also much higher than his. City and district heroes made scale, basically the minimum wage for metas. As you rose through the ranks of Herald's levels, your pay also rose. That is why Artie really wanted to win the Top Seed competition. Not only to show everyone that he could work alongside the best of the best, but also to improve his quality of life.
Lizzy looked first at Hanzel, then over to Artie, with a mix of pity and amusement. “Don’t worry, your little head, Artie. I know you and Hanzel aren’t exactly high rollers. Let’s say the loser becomes the winner’s sidekick for 24 hours. Whatever the winner says, the losers must do for an entire day… Within reason, of course.
Hanzel and Artie smiled nervously and looked at each other. Hanzel answered for both of them. “You’re on! How long do we have to make our choices.”
“An hour,” Lizzy quickly answered, still sitting on the sofa with the boys. “Becks! Can you bring us some paper and pens?” she shouted into the ether. In the blink of an eye, Becks had arrived from the back of the loft with pens and paper in hand.
“Thanks, luv,” Hanzel said, knowing that Lizzy rarely, if ever, said thank you to anyone… for anything… ever.
“Think nothing of it,” Becks said. “Is there anything else that you need, Miss Lizzy?”
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“Not at this moment, Becks.” Lizzy dismissed her mom’s assistant.
“The glam squad should be set up and ready for you in 10 minutes Miss Lizzy,” Becks said as she returned to manage the different crews that were busy setting up for the television event of the year.
As Becks returned to her post, Ritchie entered the loft, assessed the situation, and headed over to Lizzy and the boys. They were busy scribbling their lists for the bet. Ritchie was nervous about interrupting but needed to relay a message and get a status update for The Show’s office. He cleared his throat to get their attention. Hanzel and Artie looked up, but Ritchie wanted Lizzy’s attention, so he cleared his throat a bit louder.
Without looking up, Lizzy asked, “Who is making that dreadful noise, and what do you want?”
“Sorry for the interruption,” Ritchie said shakily, “but The Show would like a status update. We would like to go live with cameras in just under 24 hours, and I just got word from The Coin’s office that you have been a little more ambitious than we anticipated when we asked you to throw this party in the first place.”
“Look, whoever you are,” Lizzy continued before Richie could respond, “Anyone knows that if Lizzy Morgan throws a party, it won’t be red cups and beer pong. This is not a fraternity. This is The Council of Heralds. I have a reputation to uphold, after all.” Ritchie tried to reply, but Lizzy did not allow it. “You go back and tell whoever sent you that we have it under control. Tomorrow, the whole world will be allowed behind the velvet rope and will get a glimpse into a world that previously they could only dream of. More importantly, our challengers will get to see the advantages of the life they are fighting for.”
“Okay,” a resigned Richie said as he placed his business card on the coffee table in front of them. “Just let me know if you need anything. And keep in mind that we will be sending our lighting and sound departments over tomorrow morning to get set up for filming and, if anything...”
“Whatever,” Lizzie cut him off, sensing Ritchie had run out of useful information for her. “And next time you want to interrupt our planning, make sure your orders come directly from Flint or Info.”
“Thanks for stopping by!” Hanzel quickly followed up. “We’ll let yah know if we need anything.”
Ritchie nodded his head on his way out of the apartment. Which looked super awkward, considering he was holding it so low.
Lizzy turned to Hanzel. “Who was that?”
“That’s The Show’s assistant, I think,” Hanzel answered. “You could afford to be a little nicer.”
“To whom?” Lizzy asked, doe-eyed.
“I dunno luv, everyone maybe?” Hanzel replied with a smile
Lizzy laughed. “I don’t know what you are talking about, darling. I’m delightful. Ask anyone.” She knew what people thought of her. But Lizzy didn’t have time to coddle every single person who wanted her time or attention. “It’s better to be feared and loved,” she said.
“I believe it’s ‘better to be feared than loved,’” Artie corrected.
“Why do I have to choose just one?” Lizzy grinned back. “Okay. Time to meet with the glam squad to plan my look for tomorrow.” She scribbled K-E-N as the twelfth name on her list, folded the paper in half, and tucked it into her cleavage. She put a few names on her final list that she knew had no chance of making the final twelve, but she didn’t want to telegraph her ability to assess people’s strengths and weaknesses to the boys. It would almost be worse to get them all correct than to lose. Almost. “No cheating, you two. When you finish your lists, you can give them to Becks. I'll collect them from her later.” She confidently got up off the couch and walked, like a runway model, upstairs to her room.
***
Ashley blinked into a small room where Ken, Joel, and Bailey stood chatting in front of a small craft services table of snacks and sandwiches. Bailey glanced over as Ashley popped into existence.
“Oh! Hey, welcome to the winner’s circle!” Bailey cheered.
Ashley made her way over to the small group. “Um, hi! Did I, for reals, finish fourth this time?”
“Yep!” Bailey answered. She gestured towards Joel, “I’m Heiroglyph. Zs here put everyone to sleep except the two of us, so we had a bit of a cheat code. And then, shortly after we arrived in this quaint little room of rest, Samurai Tortoise there popped up. He was just regaling us with the tale of his exploits!”
Samurai Tortoise, that’s an odd hero name, and so is Zs; and what’s a cheat code; and, this Hieroglyph woman seemed very dramatic. Ashley hated drama but decided that, for now, it was best just to lay low and not ruffle feathers. Throughout her entire life, everyone had told Ashley she was too confrontational, abrasive, and argumentative. Ash gave her best impression of a Betty Boop laugh and urged the group to continue, “Don’t let me interrupt. By the looks of Samurai Tortoise, his exploits are probably exhilarating.”
“Not entirely,” Ken responded in a monotone. “I was just expressing my guilt for stealing an idol from another competitor at the top of the mountain. Sometimes, I am not entirely myself in my shifted form.” Ashley thought it was an odd thing to reveal about himself as Ken continued. “I hope I did not stop that Rabbit woman from completing the trial. I did not come here to steal another person’s dream for myself.”
Ash went white as a ghost. Should she tell him that she stole Rabbit’s dream of making the final twelve, not him? He would likely find out on his own after The Culling was complete and they returned to the real world. “Sooo… not to interrupt, but I fought Rabbit after you had already completed the trial. I made a little trap near the finish line. I let you pass, Samurai, because I didn't know if my power would be effective against you when I saw you transform before crossing to the finish island. But Rabbit followed a while after, and I sort of trapped her in a hole in the ground and stole her idol.” Ashley put on her best innocent voice as she told her story. “So, you don’t have to worry. I’m the bitch that stole her dream, not you.” Ash debated turning on the tears here but thought it might read too disingenuous.
Joel spoke up for the first time since Ashley had entered the waiting room, “You did nothing wrong. You didn’t break any rules. You did exactly as the challenge asked. We all know what we’ve signed up for in this competition, and the stakes are high. Whoever wins a spot on The Council will be in a position to change the world.” Joel pulled back a bit as his little motivational speech climaxed, “Or, you know, book better acting gigs.” Joel smiled wide at Bailey.
“Oh shut up, you jerk,” she playfully jabbed back at him. “Not everyone can be as noble as you, your highness.”
Everyone in the room laughed. It was nice to have this moment of normalcy before whatever heinous challenge would come next, Ashley thought.