Chapter 75
After everyone was released from the medical area, the Top Seed contestants were transported to a parking lot where shuttles waited to take each team back to The Spire. Joel stayed with Bobby and Bailey, who wanted to wait for Ashley to get patched up by the healers. So, they were the last ones to make it to the loading area. Ritchie and Joan each stood next to a different shuttle, indicating that The Challengers and The All-Stars would be riding back separately. Before they allowed the competitors onto the vehicles, Joan addressed the group as a whole.
“Congratulations on surviving War Games. As you all know, we usually have an awards ceremony to update the leaderboard immediately after each challenge. But for a couple of reasons, the ceremony for this challenge won’t happen until tomorrow evening.
“Why?” one of the All-Stars shouted from the back.
“Well, for one…” Joan continued, “...we released a poll out to America asking them to vote for their favorite competitor in the War Games. So we need to give America time to vote, and The Show needs time to tally the votes. Also, we want you to get some rest so that you can enjoy the awards ceremony itself. It’s likely to be a star-studded event. Now, no more questions. Challengers on the left,” she motioned to the shuttle on the left, “and All-Stars on the right.”
Ritchie summoned Joel and his friends over to their shuttle on the left. “Hop onboard, and we will head back home.”
Bobby slowed as he leaned in close to whisper to Joel, “Hey. I don’t know about you, but I’m still amped up on adrenaline.” It had been a month of little to no sleep for Joel as well.
“I get it. But I cannot wait to crawl into bed tonight.”
“Sure,” Bobby continued, “But I think the whole group could use a little normalcy. A little wind down.”
Joel was skeptical. He knew Bobby’s proclivities and had a feeling nothing good was going to come from this line of thought. Even so, his curiosity was piqued. “What kind of little wind-down?”
“Well, remember when we won the teambuilding thing, and our prize was that we were allowed to pick an activity to force everyone to do?”
Joel remembered. He nodded, “Yeah, but won’t it piss everyone off if we force them to do something crazy when they haven’t slept in their own beds for a month? I mean, don’t you think the comedown is about to hit us hard?”
“Maybe. But I wasn’t thinking anything crazy. And I’m not intending to force anyone to do anything. I just think we should calmly suggest a little outing to a bar with some dancing. Surely you know a spot in town…”?
Bobby let the statement hang in the air as though it was a question. Joel sighed, “Yeah, I think I know a spot where a lot of my friends would go. I’m not really a big dancer, but I’ve always liked the vibe at Arkade. They even have some vintage video games for the non-dancers.”
“Yeah, Yeah. Sounds great.” Bobby climbed the steps onto the shuttle but waited at the front while all his fellow challengers slid by and found their seats. “Hear ye, hear ye. I have an announcement to make. Tonight, for one night only, my pal Joel and I invite you to take part in a night you will never forget!”
Boos and hisses came from the captive crowd of exhausted twenty-somethings… and Spencer. Everyone was worn down and tense, tired from the month-long endurance challenge of War Games and fretting about how they had done and how many points they may or may not have achieved.
“Guys!” Bobby shouted at the group with an uncharacteristic sincerity. “Look, I know we are all tired, worn down, knackered, disheveled, burnt out, whacked, just plain pooped. But if we go home right now, we will all be wired from the adrenaline, and our minds will be racing, wondering how many points we will be getting tomorrow. We need to wind down a bit. And what better way than drinking, dancing, and Defender?”
Joel watched as his most trusted friend and ally tried to rally the troops. He expected resistance, but the first objection came from an unlikely voice.
“I’m sorry Kidd Grimm, but I have orders to get you all back to The Spire as soon as possible,” Ritchie apologized.
Bobby turned to the nervous assistant and stared daggers at him. “Get on the line to your boss and tell him that some of The Challengers want to get drunk and turn up at a club. I’m sure he will be A-okay with the idea.”
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Joel could see Bobby’s point. Most reality TV was either drunken fights or diehard competitions. If Top Seed could be both, they would be competitive across the board. Not that their little show wasn’t already kicking ass, but Bailey always promoted “juicing the ratings,” and this seemed like a prime example of that concept.
Another voice rang out from the back of the shuttle, “Sit down, asshat! We are all “pooped,” as you say, and we don’t want to waste our rest time with your dumb fucking antics. Some of us need our beauty sleep.”
Bobby sighed dramatically. “Fine. I’m not going to force anyone. Just remember the prize that Joel and I won during the balloon team-building thingy. We discussed it, and we would like to cash in on our reward tonight. Those that took place in the balloon hunt should feel obliged to come out with us. But, we aren’t gonna force anyone. Joel and I are gonna head out and have some fun while we can. We didn’t get a break between The Tycoon Challenge and War Games. If that happens again, I, for one, am going to have at least one night of fun to think back on.”
Even Joel realized the strength of the argument. Bobby clearly had the gift of gab. He could sell a lifetime supply of bacon to a pig. That is if the pig could understand English. Joel guessed that Bobby could have had Ariella translate. For some reason, his weary, wandering mind latched on to his talk with Athena earlier that day. He really wanted to figure out how to meet up with her and verify her story.
“Okay,” Jax said from his seat on the bus. “I’m in,” he turned to June and said, “and so are you.”
She sighed. “Well, If I’m getting dragged into this, then I’m not getting pulled down alone.” She twisted her head to look at Ken, who was sitting across the aisle, and Ashley and Bailey in the seat behind him. “You three are coming with me!”
Bobby could see the dominoes fall and shouted to the driver, “Take us to Arkade, good sir!” Then he announced to the shuttle, “Those of you who want to join can get off at our stop. Those who want to be boring can just stay on the bus and head home.”
Ritchie sighed and grabbed his phone to call his boss while motioning to Bobby to take a seat. After an uncomfortable conversation where he convinced The Show that this could be a good opportunity for some drunken drama footage, he drove the shuttle to Arkade and dropped off those who wanted to let off some steam.
Cecilia and Megan decided to head back to The Spire, as did Spencer, whose excuse was: “I’m too old for this der’mo.” Joel suspected that the actual reason for declining was possibly due to Hazmat’s power being a little worrisome in a crowd of non-metas. The rest of the Challengers exited the shuttle just before 10 PM, still in their customized black Herald uniforms, barely on their second, third, and fourth winds, but ready to paint the town red.
Ritchie must have called ahead because the group of newly minted reality celebrities walked right past the bouncer into the bar without having to pay the 20-dollar cover. Customarily, only beautiful young women received such treatment. The club’s interior was much more impressive than its drab, small-town, main street exterior. Booming bass vibrations rumbled at its entrance, where bright purple and red neon lighting bounced off its walls. As Joel turned the corner into the main bar area, he took in the dance floor right in the middle, a wall of arcade games along the back, and a huge bar to his left. Booths and hightops sprinkled the area where small crowds and cliques mingled, and servers served. Arkade wasn’t glitzy or trendy. It felt like an upscale dive bar turned dance club. It suited the group perfectly.
Joel and his group were led to a small VIP area right off the dance floor. They grabbed a booth where bottle service could be had.
“Wow!” Bailey shouted so as to be heard over the bumping beat of the music. “What’s with the VIP treatment?”
“We are celebrities now, remember?” Bobby answered. “Better start getting used to it. Hey, who wants shots?” He started to count the raised hands before saying, “Fuck it! I'll just get a whole round, and we can deal with whatever is left over. Hey, Hieroglyph, come with me to the bar. I need another set of hands. I grew up in a dive like this; let me show you a little trick. There is always a small bar somewhere that has a smaller line.”
Joel watched Bailey comply, exiting the VIP area with Bobby and wandering over to a small bar located around a corner and behind “Arcade Row,” where the vintage arcade machines held court. The encounter struck him as odd, but he couldn’t place why. He didn’t have time to dwell on it, though.
“Hey! Aren’t you Dreamy Z?” A young woman asked from a few feet away outside the red velvet rope that separated the VIP area.
“Dreamy wha?” Joel was taken aback, not used to strangers approaching him. It was odd thinking that someone knew him without his ever having met them.
“You know. The Challenger from Top Seed?
“Oh, yeah, that’s me,” Joel blushed.
“Mind if we get a selfie? It’s my friend's birthday, and this would be an amazing birthday gift!” she giggled.
“Um, sure,” he answered.
“I’m Mindy,” she introduced herself unprompted and then pointed to her friends as she waved them over. “That’s Moira, Steph, and Carla.”
Joel bashfully waved at the girls and got up to greet them. He realized that as all the other Challengers were either blocked from view by a pillar or facing away from the crowd, he must have been the only recognizable contestant. He thought about calling some of them over as reinforcements but decided since he didn’t know who would be okay with the whole situation, he would just jump on this grenade solo. “So, who’s birthday is it?” he inquired as he made his way over to the group.
“Oh! It’s mine. I’m Carla,” the smiling redhead at the end responded.
“Go stand next to her, right in the middle,” Mindy ordered. She was clearly the alpha of the group.
“Oh, of course,” Joel bumbled over and stood next to the birthday girl.
Mindy summoned a waiter over to take the photo, and Carly whispered to Joel, “Thanks for doing this. We are big fans.”
“No problem,” Joel started to say as one of the other girls, whose name he had forgotten interrupted.
“Where’s Hieroglyph? I was shipping you two before she got into that fight with Ashbury. Now I think she’s kinda shallow. Hieroglyph, not Ashbury. I know there are some people who think you and Kidd Grimm are together, but I don’t think that’s happening. We just watched tonight’s live episode before coming out, and I think you and Olympian should hook up.” Joel spit out the sip of beer he had just taken.
“Me and Olympian?” His face was bright red, and he bent down to try to wipe up the beer he had just spewed all over the floor. “Well, right now, I’m just focused on the competition.” As he stood back up, the four women posed, so he smiled for the photo. While the waiter was counting down and telling them all to say cheese, Joel couldn’t stop thinking about how interesting his life had become. Meanwhile, Mindy had wiggled in on his left while the birthday girl still stood to his right. As their photographer ended the countdown, both girls unexpectedly leaned in for a kiss as their photographer ended the countdown, forcing his face to appear sunburned, sandwiched in between the two pairs of lips, in the final photo.