Chapter 22
Shit, shit, shit, shit. Joel’s head was on a swivel. He was completely lost and utterly overwhelmed as the image consultant at the makeshift table explained the customizable uniform concept, including the potential branding opportunity of designing a logo along with signature colors and iconography. Joel had no idea what kind of costume he wanted. He hadn’t even taken the choosing of his Herald alias seriously. On top of that, it must have been super obvious that he was in over his head because Bailey just gave him a pity thumbs-up, which frankly only added to his feelings of inadequacy. He tried to pay attention to Jax and Bobby’s answers, but his anxiety was in full swing, and could only focus on the fact that he was going to look like an idiot.
Ken had designed a very basic black costume that resembled Samurai pants and a Haori, which apparently is really cool-looking Japanese outerwear. Bobby’s costume was a super unique goth-punk-inspired getup that would also be all black and grey. Jax was mid-way through designing his more modern take on a superhero costume, but as he specified the custom Jordans to match the over-ear Beats headphones, their consultant started looking nervous and sweating a lot. June happened to be walking by with a really neat-looking multicolored neon jacket when she noticed Jax’s design and proceeded to yell at him about how hard he was making things on the PR team. Joel hadn’t realized how much went into brand integration, but it seemed like the group consensus was that the custom Jordans and Beats headphones might be a long shot. Instead, The Show’s team would create similar items that they could sell for profit.
By the time it was Joel’s turn to design a costume, he had literally no original ideas to give to the suit.
“And you?” The public relations rep asked Joel.
“Umm. Look, I don’t really know what would be good here. Whatever you think will look good, I’m sure will be fine. Maybe something like Jax has?”
“You want a short sleeve black t-shirt and baggy jeans, with purple headphones and matching hightops?” Jax teased.
“Or maybe he wants my look. Although I’m not sure if you can pull off black skinny jeans, buddy.” Bobby added.
Joel audibly groaned. “I’m not like you all! I haven't been thinking about being a Herald for years. I didn’t even think this would be possible a month ago!” Oops. Joel really needed to start thinking before speaking. Luckily, Jax came to his rescue.
“It’s okay, Joel. I think all of us are overwhelmed, to some degree at least. I’m sure Darren here is used to working with people that need his help crafting an image. Or he’d be out of a job.”
“That’s right,” Darren, the suit, chimed in cheerily. The last thing he needed was one of his new clients melting down. “And, we have time. I’ll mock up some designs this week and send them your way. You can tell me what you like and don’t like, and we can go from there. As for today, though, why don’t we nail down just your logo?”
Joel’s mood changed from thankful to Jax for jumping in, to relieved in not having to nail down the whole look right at that moment, to anxious at needing to come up with a logo on the spot: a logo that would represent him to the world from now until the end of time. “Um, maybe just three lowercase Zs inside a little cloud?” Not awful, Joel thought.
“I think we can do better,” Darren said. But, after seeing Joel’s eyes widen in fear, he added, “But, I like the lowercase Zs idea. It's a good jumping-off point. I’ll start there and send some preliminary sketches your way in the next couple of days.”
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Joel’s nervousness lessened as the consultants packed up and left the dormitory. A bunch of The Challengers were still lounging in the common area and open kitchen, talking about what they were going to do with the rest of their day.
“Well, now that that is done, I cannot wait to get to training,” Ken said while prepping a bunch of fruit, micro greens, and protein powder for his morning shake.
“Oh,” June followed his lead, “Can I join you? I could use some competitive sparring to keep my skills honed.”
The last thing Joel wanted to do was use his powers in front of his fellow competitors during downtime. But Ken was beaming. “I would be honored. Hopefully, I will be able to keep up. From what I have heard about your performance in The Culling, you may be tough to handle.” Ken blushed at his accidental flirting and added: “..In a one-on-one fight, that is.”
The subtext went over June’s head anyway. She was too excited to have a sparring partner that actually wanted to be there. “Let me get changed, and I’ll be ready to go. Make me some of whatever shake you are fixing up, there!” she shouted as she headed to her room.
Jax shook his head and laughed. “We’ve been a pair for 23 years. And within one day of being here, she’s replaced me with a better model.” Ken started to apologize, and Jax cut him off, “I’m just joking, man. Please, take her. The more you spar or train with her, the less I have to. But, I was thinking we could maybe get a group together of whoever wants to… to maybe play some sort of game to get to know each other. I was thinking I could maybe run a Ruins and Ravens one shot tomorrow for those that want to play.” Jax didn’t expect to get many takers, but he thought it could be fun and was excited to have this many new people around in one place that might be down.
Ken answered first, “I will be there. You are my new roommate, and I would like to see what hobbies you enjoy.”
Bailey popped her head up while lounging on the couch with a pillow over her head. “I’m totally down. My friends had a game that they played online back home, but I never got a chance to join. It sounds really fun. And I’ll rope Joel in, too!”
Ashley wandered in from her bedroom and asked, “Rope him in for what?”
“I was gonna play anyway,” Joel half mumbled.
Ignoring Joel, Bailey answered, “Jax is gonna run a Ruins and Ravens one shot tomorrow. You should play with us!”
“Sure,” Ashley said skeptically. She had heard of Ruins and Ravens, of course, but thought those types of dice games were just for the nerdiest of nerds. “But, only if someone will come shopping with me right now. I need to grab a few things and want to see what stores Meta-Eden is working with.”
After a few moments of silence, where Jax, Joel, and Ken all looked at her with puppy dog eyes, Bailey gave in, “Okay, let me grab my sunglasses and handbag.” She stayed on the sofa for another minute before building up the motivation to hop up and get ready to leave. While she was stalling, Ritchie entered the common room of the dorm after knocking twice at the front door and announcing his presence.
“Hi all! Before you get going for the day, I have a quick announcement. We will need a few of you to hang around the Spire for the day, and to keep your phones on you at all times, so we can get your confessional interviews filmed later. So, Ken, Connor, Jax, and Cecilia. Please be ready when your call comes. Everyone else, enjoy your free day!” Ritchie quickly exited to avoid being roped into any shenanigans.
With the pressure relieved, Joel giddily headed to the kitchen to prepare some late breakfast when Ritchie popped his head back in and added, “Oh, And Joel. Sorry. I must have missed your name on the list. Stay close by too. Bye again!”
Joel’s anxiety threatened to overtake him as he dropped the spoon he was holding and dashed to his room to find the outfit that would best represent him in his first interview in front of a worldwide audience. Today was off to an awful start. He hoped it would improve soon, but seriously doubted it.