Chapter 56
Jax woke up on the day of the big event to a series of repetitive, loud, banging sounds. He cleared his eyes of their morning goop and looked over to see that Ken was already gone, likely working out, so he got up and opened the door.
He yanked the door open, and Cecilia stumbled inside in a flurry of exasperation. Tears rimmed her eyes as her voice quavered. “The permits...they were denied,” she croaked. “We have nowhere to have tonight's event.”
Then, before Jax even had time to react, Connor and Spencer came crashing through the doors. "I'm sorry, Borealis," Connor choked, "a bunch of auction items have fallen through. Apparently, the donors heard that our event might not align with their corporate values. I'm not sure who got involved or why, but between yesterday afternoon and this morning, something changed."
Jax took a deep breath and tried to push down the panic rising in his chest. "Okay," he said, trying to inject a sense of calm into his voice. "We can figure this out. We'll find a new venue. We'll get new auction items. We can make this work."
But everything was about to get worse as Cecilia’s Onyx phone alerted her to an incoming text. “Fuck, the food trucks just got word that the permits were denied. They are out. Apparently, someone knew of the venue cancellation and called them, offering an alternative event, and they accepted.”
“Huh,” Jax said under his breath. “Something’s off.” Was it too conspiratorial to think that The All-Stars had something to do with this? Would they stoop so low as to sabotage his team to get ahead in the competition? Of course they would! “Okay, new plan. So, we need to start from scratch. If I’m right about what’s going on, then we’ll need to redesign the entire event, and we only have eight hours to do it! Someone get Bobby, Bailey, and Ashley. Oh, and where’s Ralph? I need him, too. Meet in the living room in 10 minutes. Got it?”
“Yes, boss! Everyone said at once. A few moments ago, their spirits had been at their lowest, but the realization that their captain had some ideas and was rallying the troops lifted them instantly.
While the rest of his team was out gathering in the common room, Jax washed his face, got dressed, and worked up a plan. The best-case scenario would be if Shortfin Mako or the OPF CEO had a new venue in mind. The rest they could figure out, but outside of throwing the party here at The Spire, the clients' connections were likely The Challengers’ only hope. Whatever happened, Jax was sure his team could come together and succeed. They were some of this generation’s most powerful and competitive metas, after all.
Once everyone had gathered, Jax addressed the team. “I’m sure everyone’s heard the bad news. It seems that Florida might be off the table as a host for our big event tonight.” Mutterings threatened to overtake the room, so he spoke a little louder for the next part. “However, we still have seven and a half hours to fix this and put on a show. Does anyone think we can’t rise to the challenge?” He figured the best way to motivate this group was to make it a competition within the competition. When no one piped up to disagree with him, Jax continued, “Great! Because I’ve known you all long enough to know that this group can achieve anything if we put our heads together and keep pushing forward. So, first things first. We need a new location for the party. Any ideas?”
“Actually, I think I do have an idea,” Ashley answered quickly, hand in the air, standing up from her seat. “When Shortfin and I met with Katherine Wallace, The Foundation’s CEO, it was at the Roquefort Bay Aquarium. Guys, it was so cool! We actually asked about holding the event there, but they said there was an afternoon engagement that they wouldn’t be able to turn over fast enough from. But maybe if we offer to do the turnover?”
“Get on the phone, see if it’s an option,” Jax ordered. Ashley jumped to action and darted to her room for some privacy to make the call. So, Jax continued, “While she’s doing that, we are going to need to line up some items for the auction. Um, Connor, what do we have currently?”
“Basically, just a bunch of gift cards, a few pieces of signed sports memorabilia, and one romantic weekend at a winery in Napa.” Connor ticked the items off one by one.
Before Jax could follow up, Ralph jumped in, “I actually have an idea for generating donations to OPF and Shortfin’s other partnerships. Leave that one to me, boss.”
“Okay, so we just need to wait for Ash-”
“It’s a go!” Ashley said as she darted back into the common area. “We can use the Aquarium. But we need to get a team out there after three o’clock West Coast time to do the changeover. They even said we can re-use the tables, seating, and whatever floral arrangements are left over.”
Jax sighed with relief. “Bobby, can you get the Band, DJ, and all the equipment out to California?”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“You betcha’ boss!” Bobby saluted the team captain.
Jax wasn’t sure if there was a level of mockery at play, or perhaps what level of mockery was at play, but he didn’t have time to worry about it. As long as Bobby came through with the musical entertainment for the evening, all would be well.
Ashley’s phone dinged with another text notification. “Oh!” she practically squealed. “We may be getting lucky on the food front, too! Apparently, high-end food trucks are coming to the aquarium’s man-made beach since the afternoon host booked them for cocktail hour. They’ve all agreed to stay for the evening and provide food for us, too! Oysters, Banh Mi sandwiches, Dim Sum, and a couple others. I’ll shoot the details over to you, Borealis.”
So, if Ralph had the auction covered, Jax only had booze and logistics left to worry about. “Okay, great! So, I need you all to split into three groups. One needs to get out to California and flip the venue after the previous party is over. One needs to get videos and invites out to all our attendees, notifying them of the change in time and location,” Jax stopped to think for a moment. The ideas were coming fast now. “Uhhh, let all the VIPs know we can handle instant transport, but maybe we need to open up the invites to local influencers, too. And then, one last group needs to figure out drinks and bartenders. I don’t care if you hire a local contractor or go buy up DrinkMore and man the bar yourselves, but we need to lube up the crowd to get maximum donations for OPF. I know it’s not the ultimate goal of the challenge, but we might as well make something good out of this shit show, right?” Everyone sat waiting for more direction until Jax said, “What are you waiting for, let’s put on a show, people. Move!” and they all jumped to action.
Since their powers were the most adaptable, Bobby, Bailey, and Ashley offered to handle getting the event location ready in the short window they had between parties. June roped Ken into helping her with the guest list, and Joel joined them when he realized he wasn’t a clear fit for any of the groups, and theirs was the shortest on people. The remaining four challengers teamed up to take on the glorified “beer run.”
While Ralph holed himself up in his room, Jax took a moment to breathe before reaching out to Shortfin and explaining the situation. She graciously offered herself up to help the group get the slapdash event up and running, so Jax considered which tasks she would be most useful for. After eliminating “team bartender,” he considered getting her to the venue early to help set up and liaise with her connections there. However, he decided the best use of Shortfin Mako’s celebrity would be to have her send out some new videos and schmooze the VIPs to get them comfortable with the change in location and start time.
***
Bobby arrived at the venue about an hour after Ashley and Bailey had begun cleaning up the banquet hall at The Roquefort Bay Aquarium. Ashley had gone from table to table, reinvigorating the centerpieces, as well as the flower wall and the floral step-and-repeat. She had even had time to replenish the kelp garden for the room’s aquatic habitat. As Bobby arrived, Bailey was in the middle of going around writing “Launder” on all of the tablecloths, drapes, and area rugs, pushing her power through and watching them magically turn from filthy and stained to clean and fresh. She used soapy water to write “Polish” on the temporary dance floor as well to make sure all the scuffs were buffed out ahead of the night's entertainment.
For his part, Bobby introduced his bandmates to his dormmates and went to work getting all of the audio equipment set up for the night’s festivities. He was positively giddy thinking about the big surprise he had confirmed just before his arrival in Roquefort.
But his musings were interrupted when Ashley came over to him with an idea. “Hey, K.G., the aquarium staff just showed me the connecting room to this space, and if we can, like, get it decorated and stuff, I think it could be a really cool bar area. Come check it out.”
Bobby nodded as he plugged in the final cable, completing the audio setup, and followed Ashley into an amazing underwater dreamscape. The magical room was surrounded by water. Even the ceiling was made of glass. A variety of sharks circled them in the relatively small space, creating a feeling of fluidity and danger.
“It’s pretty small, but for a bar area, it could work,” Bobby said.
“That’s all you have to say?” Ashley was shocked that Bobby hadn’t been more astonished with the space. “A wraparound shark tank! This is the closest you can get to swimming with sharks without actually swimming with sharks!”
“I mean, what do you want from me?” Bobby was actually confused. He and Ashley weren’t exactly friends. They had been friendly enough, but mostly interacted with each other during mandated challenges or because their friends were friends.
Ash frowned, let down by his bluntness. “Fine. Whatever. Well, I was looking around at the dust and broken chairs and tables, and I thought about that song. Bibbidi Bobbid-”
“Yeah, I know the one.” If he had a nickel for every time someone asked him to be their fairy godmother, Bobby would be extremely wealthy. “First of all, my power has its limits. But in this case, I can help you out.” To Ashley’s surprise, he didn’t start singing the song. Instead, Bobby started speaking, “You tame pigeons, you turtledoves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to gather: The good ones go into the pot, the bad ones go into your crop."
A bunch of birds materialized from the words that Bobby’s voice had conjured and flew around the room. Some dusted the room with their wings, some ate up all of the garbage, swallowing it whole, and some moved furniture around until, eventually, Ash and Bobby stood in a spotless bar and lounge area.
Bobby stopped speaking the story, and the birds dematerialized into an explosion of letters.
Ashley, mouth agape, asked, “Magic birds?”
“Yeah,” Bobby answered, “I tried conjuring a fairy godmother once, and let’s just say she and I don’t see eye to eye. So, magic birds.” He smiled at his blond cohort and headed to check on the band. After all, he didn’t want to miss sound check.