They had all gathered in the diner. They could hear Master Juro in the kitchen, dishes clattering amongst the hiss of running water and the fry grill. He had filled the diner with the smell of cooking ham.

Darius couldn’t believe how hungry he had suddenly become.

“So… like… who are you guys… anyway?” Brock asked.

Master Hiruko dipped his head slightly and gestured for them to sit at his table. Doctor Joy was sitting on the customer side of the counter in the line of chrome banded swivel stools. Badrik had taken up his comfortable spot on the tall metal stool behind the cash register.

“They are the gods of luck,” Darius answered.

Master Hiruko looked at the other two adults. “Who told you?”

“Badrik kinda hinted at it,” Darius replied.

Juro’s face appeared in the peek-a-boo window. He wore a stern look and thumped on his service bell.

“Ding—ding—ding!” It rang out harsh and loud. Darius had never seen Juro show anger before. He wagged a mean-looking finger at Badrik.

“Hey! Hey,” the big man said, leaning away from the window. “I never told him straight out.”

“Well, you kinda did,” Darius said after a moment of reflection.

The tea towel flicked through the window with a quick “snap.”

“Now, now. Temper. That is not appropriate of a master.” Badrik said, grinning. And then, with a more serious look, “We were running out of time.”

“What time do we not have?” Nova asked.

“Chaos sent those others to find us. They have undoubtedly been scouring the planes for us, and find us they finally have done. Chaos will be along soon.”

“What planes?” she asked.

“Astral or ephemeral. Whatever is in your traditional lexicon to call them.” Badrik raised a long arm to the plate window of the diner and the desert sand and blocks of stone of the horizon. “The world beyond, the realm of the in-between,” Badrik replied.

“The place between the tables,” Brock added.

“Why does he come?” Nova asked.

“To stop you.”

“Because you recruited us.”

“Yes. As agents for change.”

“We are just ball players. Just kids. Engineered, enhanced kids, but just ball players.”

“I see great potential in all of you,” Master Hiruko said. “This is your beginning. Your chrysalis.”

“What will Chaos do when he comes?” Darius asked.

“He will simply be himself. He will create chaos. It is his purpose to destroy any advances in harmony that is created,” Master Hiruko said, opening his hands and gesturing to everything around them.

“Can’t we? Can’t you stop him like Master Juro stopped things at the pool?”

“No. And Juro was only holding things. He held the small sphere we were in for a short time. He did not stop the inevitable chaos of destruction. No one can stop Chaos. As his opposites, we can try, and with a little luck, we can deflect things. Application of our agency can divert the path of Fate just enough so that a death can become an injury. Fate can be nudged and twisted, or held, but all eventualities become what they must.”

“Master Hiruko can slow him down, though,” Badrik said. The old man gave a slight bow. “He is the true God of Luck. There used to be seven of us, and now there are four. None of us is anything like the master.”

“I have absolutely no idea what any of you are talking about,” Doctor Joy said.

“You will remember.”

“Everyone keeps saying that.”

“Where did the other of the seven go?” Brock asked. “Something at the pool was said about this. You and Mr. Mercury were talking about… belief?”

“That’s right. Our strength is if others believe in us, the same as Darius gains strength because of his connection to the belief he knows his grandmother has in him. A spiritual connection. We all experience these connections. The connection between twins across great distances. The connection between loved ones. A daughter is suddenly in jeopardy halfway around the world from her mother, who immediately senses the danger or at least an unease. How much she is in touch with her own inner spirituality dictates her level of natural ability and active caring. Does she know her daughter is in danger, or is she only unsettled that day?”

“My grandfather also believed in such things,” Brock said.

“The three of you are unique,” Badrik said. “Your spirits shine in the ether like diamonds among stones. Your souls are strong and vibrant. I see you as one sees lighthouses. Nova, you were designed part Sami. Brock and Darius are also sourced out of DNA from indigenous peoples. The corporations intentionally did this to allow you all to be inserted into indigenous lands in your countries of origin. Free government-funded child-raising. It cost them nothing, but the unplanned result is your belief, and your spiritual makeup creates strong conduits in you for what we are attempting.”

“Attempting to move us from one table that was about to be destroyed…” Brock said.

“To different table to help machine,” Nova finished for him.

“There is no proof of any of this,” Joy said. “And there are scientific explanations for all of it.”

“That is right, Doctor. Tell us about healing through prayer,” Badrik said.

“The study of nanotechnology is fully underway that would give these results. Its incorporation into our normal everyday lives is growing at an exponential rate.”

“Having a drink of water miraculously appear out of thin air?”

“Simple. Hyper-rapid atmospheric condenser technology.”

“Magical command of energy?”

“We all can control simple static electricity. Nikola Tesla revealed his command over completely wireless energy almost two hundred years ago.”

“Magical barriers?”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“Magnified surface tension through increased cohesion of liquid or the adhesion of gas molecules. Only the scientific amplification of natural environmental barriers. The surface of a bubble under scientific manipulation could be called a magical barrier.”

“What about magical fires then, or pyrokinesis?”

“Particle agitation.”

“Now tell me, Darius,” Badrik asked, “Do you understand the spiritual aspects of what we have been discussing? Or do you better understand the scientific aspects? Do you see a man in a hospital healing himself from cancer through prayer and visualization? Or do you think that nanotechnology he is unaware of acted to heal him on a cellular level?”

“Ah, I don’t think I really know. But my chip in my cheek was put there by science.”

“Thank you,” Dr. Joy said.

“And that is fine. You can believe in science and, at the same time still exist as spiritual beings. You aren’t created by your thought processes. If you need to imagine tiny, microscopic machines healing someone instead of the healing power of spiritual belief or magic, then there is nothing wrong with that, just in the same way as if there was an island filled with a million that believed in the practice of voodoo that gives me strength. If science is your basis of reasoning, then I want you to use that reasoning to do things I would consider magical. Will you remember that?”

“Yes, Badrik. Yes, I will.”

There was an old-fashioned black phone hanging on the wall behind the cash register, behind Badrik, beside the peek-a-boo window, and now that phone rang. The twin metal bells on the top of it clanged. Once. Twice. Three times, and then fell silent.

Badrik crossed his arms and turned to gaze at Master Hiruko. Juro’s face popped into the window and had a worried look.

“Yes, Juro. Best finish quickly, or we will not get to enjoy the fabulous meal you have created for us,” Master Hiruko said.

“I didn’t expect that phone to work,” Doctor Joy said. “I was trying to fix it all day yesterday. I couldn’t get an outside line.”

The phone rang again. Master Hiruko raised a hand and gave a nonchalant wave. The wire that ran from the telephone up to the ceiling fizzled and popped like a firecracker. The phone fell silent.

“I can only delay him,” the master said.

The service bell rang out, one “bing,” and Juro was sliding plates full of food onto the pass window ledge. Badrik rose from the tall stool and began pulling the plates out of the pass and placing them on the counter in front of the doctor.

“Joy, if you would be so kind as to help me set the tables. Nova, Brock, and Darius, if you would all be so kind as to go outside and lock the shutters over the windows, then we can all sit down and eat.”

“I don’t remember there ever being these shutters,” Darius said as he turned and looked out the expanse of glass that comprised the corner walls of the diner.

“I thought they would be necessary,” Master Hiruko said.

The three of them hurried to pull the tall steel-hinged panels across the windows and clip the heavy padlocks into place. Behind them, on the horizon, it looked as if a storm was coming. They squinted against the grit of dust that the wind was kicking up.

“What do you guys think of all of this?” Darius asked.

“You would think crazy if we talk of this to others, but we know it happening. We saw Bucky with hole in chest screaming screaming screaming. I could see through hole. No one can live from this. And not walk around and just moan like hit with fastball,” Nova said. “It impossibility. He would die from this hole.”

“So we’re dreaming?” Darius asked.

“No. We’re not, man. This stuff is all real. Just like it’s real that we’re standing here talking right now before some evil demon or god-thing may arrive in that storm right over there. We’re here, all in it together whether we like it or not, whether we believe it or not. This is happening. We better get with it. We’re between tables, or better yet, we’re between bases.”

“All right. It’s time. We have to become a part of this. An active part. We’re in the game,” Darius said. “You can’t steal second and keep your foot on first.”

“Excellent. Game on!” Nova said. “I will fight good.” She smiled.

“But I have a question to ask them first…”

The three of them were back in the diner. With all the window shutters closed and locked, the interior was dark and shaded. Night was falling outside, and the oncoming storm was growing. They had enjoyed the meal together, almost like a family or a group of old friends. The ham roast and side plates were perfectly prepared by Master Juro. Darius had no idea how hungry he had been. And for that matter, couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten, but it felt like they had been living at the diner and his grandmother’s for at least a week.

He leaned back from his plate and took a long look at Master Hiruko who was sitting across from him. The master also laid his utensils down, along with his napkin, and took up Darius’ gaze.

“We have been here a long time. Longer than it should only take one meal to feel comfortable again,” he stated.

“Yes. In this place, you will experience existence differently. Time passes here differently.”

“And you can all come here. The others came in the car with… Bucky. But Grandmothers… it is different. Only Badrik comes there.”

“As only he can. It is your mind. Your mind palace that you have created.”

“He came and found me there. In a different place. Just like he contacted Master Juro at the pool when Mr. Mercury asked Badrik to help him.”

“Yes. All correct. That is Badrik’s ability. His action. He can walk in minds.”

“This diner, the garage, the gas pumps, those all came after. You needed to know what I would find normal. I expected these things, told them to Badrik, and you created them.”

“We needed you to describe what you were going to expect. You are very aware now but still, you must learn as you go. There is no other way. But Badrik didn’t create all these things. He bridged the gap to your mind, but you created this diner just as much as Badrik did. This is a wider place accessible to beings of a broader nature. It is fluid. Malleable. For someone new here, to be shown everything at the initial moment would be shocking to someone unaccustomed, don’t you agree?”

“Yes. They may even think they were going crazy or even lose their mind altogether. When Badrik first found me, I was having trouble. You taught me to focus and visualize what I expected.”

Badrik nodded.

“So what is next?”

“You will be on your own. Sometimes, the bad things, the bad luck, helps us, forces us further down the path of dominos. Bad luck can be as important as the good.” Master Hiruko raised his hand and pointed at the telephone. Sparks leapt down the connecting wire, and it began to ring again. “Sometimes we need a little chaos in our lives to help us down the path, get things moving, so to speak.”

“Like me losing the feeling in my legs and being scheduled for surgery.”

“Yes. Sometimes agents of change for the better are allowed in by the bad,” Badrik said.

The storm shutters thumped and shook under a sudden strong gust of wind.

“And then that same change for the better allows chaos in to shadow that path, always seeking balance,” the master added.

The ringing of the phone seemed to get even louder. Juro and Joy stood, collecting the empty dinner plates.

“Leave those things,” Master Hiruko said, rising from his seat. “Our time here is ended. It has been a pleasure getting to know all three of you.”

The storm shutters thumped, thumped again harder, and then the third shake didn’t seem like it was from the wind anymore. It seemed like a blow had been struck against the wall. The phone stopped its incessant ringing. The lights, rectangular fluorescent panels on the ceiling, went dark. With a gesture from the master, the lights came back on. Another blow struck the steel shutters, this time with enough force to crack the glass.

“This is like bomb at pool. Explosion come and we be somewhere else,” Nova said.

“No,” Badrik replied. “Darius has to escape this one on his own.”

“And how do I do that?” he said, his voice jumping to a higher pitch. Another shuddering blow struck the building, and the ceiling above their heads broke with a wide crack. The lights went out again, and the ceiling panels buckled down into the room. Dust fell onto them.

“The bridge is how you cross over to your mind. I can’t go there right now; I have to stay here and help. You need to get away. Cross the bridge now while we distract Chaos. It is you he wants. You are the only one who can move to the next stage. You will find Brock and Nova on the other side.”

Another blow crashed into the ceiling, forcing it even lower. The metal shutters bowed and snapped inwards creaking under the incessant strain. More glass shattered as the steel shutters on the windows bowed in.

Nova had his hand in hers. “Come! The back door of kitchen!” She yanked him away from the table, crashing his chair to the floor. Brock was behind him, his hands on his lower back, guiding him through the rubble-strewn room. Nova led him through the kitchen door, around the narrow cook-space and down the short hall to the locking bar on the fire door. She skidded to a halt. The door jumped in its frame, and dust and wind blasted around the door casing as if a small bomb had gone off just outside.

“You guys have to come too!” he yelled to them.

She shook her head “no.”

“No, buddy. Badrik knows what he’s talking about. It’s ok. You’ve got this. It’s your mind, so you gotta get over that bridge. You’re going to figure this all out. You have to. I think that is the idea here. It’s all up to you.”

“What if I don’t?”

“Well, then, I don’t know, bro. I guess we all get caught trying to steal second base, and it's Valhalla forever? Or something like that. But don’t worry about it. This is just another tough play back in the ball diamond. Like Badrik said, man, we’ll see you on the other side.” And then Brock shoved him through the door.