The Anti-Tyranny Team

Evony wandered into her new home and leaned against the front door, sighing deeply.

To the right was the living room, now dark and mostly silent, save for the man snoozing on the couch against the wall. Evony swallowed a chuckle, eyeing her father as he slept lopsidedly on the corner of the couch, his head slumped to the side and his mouth slightly agape, glasses having slid halfway off his nose. He appeared to be slightly sweat-spotted along his brow, his neat and combed-back hairs just a bit messier than usual, his jacket having been shed and the sleeves of his white button-up rolled up to the elbows. He was a slightly out-of-shape man, not terribly so, but just enough to wear him out from whatever work he'd been doing on the house in her absence.

And, as she could see, much work had been done; her father and her uncles had cleaned the living room spotless, hung new curtains over the front window, and removed all the dirty dishes from the bar counter that separated the kitchen from the living room, the dishes all stacked and clean now, the surfaces all shiny and freshly wiped down, a faint hint of lemon cleaner still lingering on the air. They'd also hooked up Alejandro's new 3DTV, added a cable box, repaired a single hole that remained in the living room's roof, and finished it off by adding a vase with a few plastic flowers to the middle of the coffee table.

Evony spared him a smile, then headed to the stairs before her, climbing them one creaky step at a time. At the top—as she'd expected—was a narrow wooden door to the right, the door to the attic room, a room that her uncles had repurposed into a bedroom before her arrival here in Silverhollow.

She pushed the door open, peering inside and observing her new bedroom. The ceiling stood high, stylishly shaped with a sharp and pointed incline matching perfectly with the home's outer roof, a bed against the left wall, a small round window just above it, a dresser next to the bed, a desk opposite the dresser, and a larger window on the opposite side of the room, which overlooked the isolated path and the surrounding treetops all around the home. The dim, ominous glow of the early evening moonlight shone into the room cozily from either side, and Evony gently eased the door shut behind her, crawling into the comfortable embrace of the thick down comforters and resting her head to the pillow.

She lay in silence for a while, mulling over all the exciting things she'd experienced during her first day in Silverhollow—from fighting the mayor's daughter to making a new friend at the diner, from being impulsively hired by the celebrity Osric Azarias to befriending the equally famous green man, Aldric—it all ran though her mind in profound, vivid waves, every thought and emotion attached still lingering on her with the utmost of persistence.

But, eventually, the thoughts lulled her into a long, much-needed slumber.

-----

The day Evony set aside to settle in was surprisingly free, as her father and uncles had already done much of the work the night before.

So—she was free to roam, to stroll about in her new dark jacket and explore the life of Silverhollow in the late morning, observing as people traveled in groups, talking and laughing, often venturing on foot rather than taking a car, which was evidently commonplace here. The thrift shop had a homey feel inside, styled like a log cabin and lush with numerous pelts along the floors of the interior—and the diner was full of people enjoying early lunch breaks from work, Evony purchasing a few seal-ka-bobs before strolling off once more.

Now—she marched down the snowy path with a smile, feeling truly delighted at her new environment, seal-ka-bobs in one hand and another new jacket draped over her other arm, this one intended for someone else. She headed off toward Silver Peaks, trekking up the path and sliding over the railing, breaking left and marching into the distant trees.

During the time when Evony was on her way through the woods—Aldric was pacing inside his shack for perhaps the tenth time this morning, repeatedly combing his hairs back and tapping two fingers rapidly to his chin, his eyes darting from image to article along his wall of pictures, written notes, and news pieces, making several connections between them and still knowing for certain that something was missing.

"Tunnel—tunnel—no tunnel—𝘢𝘢𝘢𝘨𝘩, tunnels?!" Aldric grumbled through gritted teeth, his finger planted to the images of several familiar places, sliding across the wall and tapping each one.

He ran his fingers back through his hair yet again, baring his teeth harder and looking frustrated.

"There's no tunnels there—not here, not in Silverhollow. No, the labyrinth was here—here—here, up there, and here—but not this far south. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 here. 𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦 of 'em were."

He spun around and paced to and fro, closing his eyes as his mind raced a mile a minute.

"Think think think think think…" he chanted quickly under his breath, fingers thumping fast atop the counter as he sauntered by it. "The labyrinth had a network and the network went west—somewhat west and three places east, countless places north and several places center, and it had more and more openings on the surface the warmer the area was—but never here, 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 here. The labyrinth never had any openings that let out here—which means there're no 𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘴 here—which means they shouldn't be showing 𝘶𝘱 here. So how could they—𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺—?"

Something clicked in his head—and Aldric then skidded to a stop, a light of realization sparking in his eyes.

"Oh," he breathed. "Oooh, that's… just… 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 not good."

Someone knocked on the door, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Aldric swallowed, inching toward the door and peeking out the narrow crack in the frame, seeing the vague shape of Evony standing outside. He then let out a breath, opening the door and waving her inside.

Evony stepped into the shack, hurrying to hide from the cold as he closed the door behind her.

"Here—breakfast, or lunch, whatever," she smirked, handing him two of her four seal-ka-bobs.

"What? Oh. Thank you," Aldric uttered, taking them and nodding at her. "Thank you… ah, I just realized something that's… fairly concerning."

"M'kay," Evony mumbled, her words somewhat muffled by her mouthful of food. "Shoot."

"Well…" Aldric nodded sideways, scratching his cheek and sliding his hands into his pockets. "I dunno if you've heard about the little convention they throw in town every December, but it sees lots of important folks. The great and the good… which, in common-folk translation, basically means the wealthy. Lots of business owners and politicians and whatnot."

"Yeah… I just got a job at that place. I've heard."

"Right… well, I… think I figured out how the reptoids are gettin' here."

"How?"

Aldric took in a heavy inhalation, his expression taking on a sense of severity.

"I used to think my old man was paranoid when he'd say stuff like this… but I've seen it once or twice now," he mumbled grimly. "He'd say the wealthy ruling class never let a crisis go to waste. Whenever something bad might happen… like, the bombing of my home city, for example… the great and the good would use that tragedy as a catalyst for enacting something."

"Enacting what?"

"I dunno. Whatever it is they'd wanna enact… it's something they wouldn't be able to do under normal circumstances. Like… if life is going normal, then the common-folk wouldn't be okay with the government enacting all kinds of restrictive laws and measures and such. But, if there's an emergency going on, and if everyone gets real good and scared… then they'd all run to the government for help. They'd let the government do whatever they want out of fear."

"Right… I'm with you so far."

"Okay—now take all of that, and throw in the circumstances we have here," Aldric explained, gesturing as he spoke. "We have lots of the great and the good meeting here every single year—and we have random reptoids showing up in a place that should be impossible for them to be. The great and the good like to use a crisis to set their agendas into motion—and what's the number one cause of crisis in human society now? Reptilians."

"Yeah."

"So maybe—I dunno," Aldric uttered, pacing again and tapping along the counter. "I dunno—I dunno if they'd go this far—but it's possible. It's entirely possible that someone in that powerful little club of rich folks is bringing the reptilians here. They wanna make a crisis happen on purpose. I dunno why yet—no idea what their agenda could be—but it's possible. Especially here, seeing as how Silverhollow plays host to all the great and the good for a full solid month every year."

Evony nodded quietly, allowing all of this to sink in and pondering on Silver Peaks.

"If that's the case," she said, waving a finger at him. "Then something might go down at their convention this year. Silver Peaks is the place all those people meet. If anything happens, it's probably gonna be there."

"We'd have to go," Aldric mumbled, gazing past her as he mulled over the thought. "We'd have to be there…"

The two paused, meeting eyes and thinking along the same lines.

"We can," Evony told him.

"Can we…?" Aldric replied. "It costs a lot, dunnit?"

"Employees get a free room for the whole convention," Evony said with a smile. "And their rooms are pretty big. We could both stay there through all of December if we wanted to."

They stared at each other again.

Aldric made a mild nod. "Huh… well… good. Then we'll do that."

"Yeah. We have a while before that happens, though," Evony remarked. "We've got weeks to kill first. Weren't we supposed to go meet a friend of yours about a gun or something…?"

"Oooh, right—yeah," Aldric smiled and clasped his hands, giving her a nod. "He's one of the two real friends I've actually managed to make in this town. Good bloke to have as a friend, too—considering the grand string of insanity that comes along with the vigilante lifestyle."

Evony giggled. "Yeah…?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah—definitely. My mate is runnin' a whole buncha gun-running operations. His family owns the whole gun company, don't worry. His business is legit. Mostly. I'unno. Y'wanna go meet 'im?"

"Yeah. You're good to walk through town, right?"

"I am now." Aldric held up the sleek black jacket she'd brought for him, grinning at it and cocking his head. "Aaah, this is nice—this is 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 nice. The sleeves are meant to roll up and look fancy at the same time, but I can keep 'em down when I need the arms put away. Very nice. Much appreciated."

"Glad you like it."

"Oooh, I do—I really do."

Aldric shed his tattered cloak and tossed it carelessly aside, glancing quickly around until his eyes landed on a nice white button-up hanging from the edge of his table. He snatched it up and slipped out of his current shirt—Evony politely looking away, accidentally stealing a glimpse of his smooth, slender frame—and he dressed himself neatly in the seconds following, buttoning up the shirt before sliding his arms into the jacket. Once he was finished, he looked like an entirely different person—like someone who most assuredly wasn't living like a lost vagrant in an abandoned shack. He appeared sleek and clean-cut, popping his collar as the jacket remained open, the sleeves styled to remain folded up around the elbows, his ominous arms still visible for the time being.

"Blimey—like it was made for me," Aldric marveled, turning and surveying himself all over. "You really picked this out just for me, dinnt you?"

"'Course," Evony agreed. "I feel like you're overdue for something decent. No offense."

"No, no, none taken—you are 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 right."

Evony let out a laugh, Aldric grabbing a small metal can from his countertop and spraying its contents over himself in one fast swipe. Evony was about to ask, but hesitated once the smell met her nose, realizing it was cologne.

Then, Aldric tilted his head, facing her fully and wearing a whimsical smile. "Shall we?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

The two of them prepared to leave, Evony bracing herself just before the blast of freezing air met her once again. She and Aldric left the shack, wading through the snow and trekking through the open trees for a while before eventually emerging at the edge of town. Aldric rolled his sleeves down, covering his arms before they ventured on.

Evony slowed her pace, glancing over at him and suddenly feeling hesitant. Aldric's skin tone wasn't entirely noticeable, nor his dark shade of hair, but she wondered how others might see it—or if the townspeople might react.

However—as they both strolled down the main road, wandering past the shops and waltzing by the townspeople—the folks passing by didn't spare them a second glance, making her feel a tinge of relief.

Aldric smiled at the buildings in passing, clearly pleased to be among society again. Evony observed him for a moment, feeling somehow comforted by his peaceful smile—and then, her phone began to vibrate loudly from her pocket. She slipped it out and surveyed it, seeing a new text from Cally.

𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮: 𝙝𝙚𝙮, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣? 𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩? 𝙞 𝙜𝙤 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙪𝙗 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙖𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮. 𝘽𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙪𝙧𝙖 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣𝙩 𝙜𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚

Evony bit her lip, glimpsing between her phone and Aldric and feeling conflicted.

He turned to her, perking his brow and spotting her change of expression. "What's a'matter?"

"No, nothing, just…" Evony sighed. "I made a friend yesterday, and now she wants me to go meet her at some isolated bar on the mountain or something. I don't wanna blow her off, but we're kinda in the middle of something right now…"

"Well…" Aldric nodded sideways. "We can meet your friend when we go and meet mine. We can all hang out at the same time, if ya' want."

"Okay… but she wants me to go up to this bar up the mountain."

"Oooh, I know that place—blisterin' cold up there, and it's a hellova walk. I mean, we can go there at some point, but I wouldn't recommend it right now. Might take up our whole day if we do."

"Well… then I'll just tell her to meet us at the other place instead. Where're we going to meet your friend, again…?"

"The Silver Hollow. Hidden little nook of a club that's on the outskirts."

"Oh… I think she knows that place. That's perfect…"

Evony began typing with her thumbs again, sending the new info to Cally before pocketing her phone. Then, she turned and gave Aldric a curious squint.

"What're we gonna do, then?" she wondered. "We have some time to kill before we go."

"We could…" Aldric wheeled around on his heel, surveying the many shops all around. "Ahm… shop?"

"Well… yeah," Evony mumbled halfheartedly. "But I don't have much money…"

"Nor me."

"Oh—oh, oh, oh—wait a sec," Evony breathed, suddenly remembering something and reaching into her coat, pulling out a shiny and expensive headband. "Let's find a pawn shop."

Aldric eyed the diamond-studded headband, raising his brows and giving her a look. "Ah… I don't… really come into town much. I dunno where there's a pawn shop…"

"Neither do I," Evony smirked. "So… we're gonna be discovering everything for the first time together, I guess. If we sell this, then we can just splurge today."

Aldric's eyes narrowed. "You really wanna sell your…?"

"It's not mine. I got it for free yesterday."

"Oh." Aldric's voice suddenly lightened, revealing a grin. "Well, good—then let's go splurge. I dunno how to do that, though. I never usually do stuff like this."

"Well'p… I lived in the city," Evony replied coyly, sauntering past him and tapping him once on the arm. "So I do. C'mon."

The two of them trekked off through the snow, marching toward the shops again and making conversation as they observed many of the things on display through the windows, some of the places already showing their Christmas décor.

After a while, they found a pawn shop on the west side of town, and Evony managed to sell the diamond headband for a large sum of money—freeing the two of them to run amok in the town and happily indulge in several fun purchases. It was small things at first—a Santa hat, a music box, and a sleek black tie, fitted to Aldric's new outfit and matching it perfectly.

Later on, however, they found a shop called 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑨𝒛𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒔, and the inside was a stark contrast to all the relatively ordinary shops through the rest of Silverhollow. All the shelves were filled with various types of technology—including the bot butlers, which were identical to the robot called Olliver that Osric himself owned, save for the little black hat.

There was one whole shelf dedicated to the bot butlers—the round little bots lined neatly down the shelf's surface with their face screens dark and powered off—and underneath them were much smaller devices, all of the same design, but with various different colors, all with the same brilliant shine. They were thin pen-like devices, a little less than a foot long, complete with a round, barrel-like end and a single button around the handle.

"Oooo," Aldric beamed, hunching down and surveying the devices. "Zappers!"

Evony pocketed her hands, shooting him a questioning look. "Yeah, um… we didn't have a lot of Azarias tech up in Starrylake. So… can you tell me what a Zapper is?"

"Oh—they're brilliant, 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 little things," Aldric grinned from ear to ear, collecting the shiny green one from the shelf and holding it upright. "You can use it like a weapon or a tool. They shoot out a little burst of energy, and they can loosen hinges, or screws, or whatever—or you could just aim that energy at a person and give 'em a shock. They're fun."

Evony perked her brow. "You want one?"

"What? No. What?" Aldric stammered, straightening up and facing her. "Nooo—I don't need one. I basically 𝘢𝘮 one of these things, just supercharged fifty-fold. But you could use one."

Evony blinked. "Yeah? I thought I was getting a gun?"

"Well…" Aldric shrugged. "You could get both. I imagine they might frown on you carrying a gun all the time in Silver Peaks. You might have to stash the gun somewhere and carry something else sometimes."

"Oh. Well, that's… a good point," Evony mumbled, eyeing the device in his hand. "Kinda expensive, though."

"Still way cheaper than a bot butler," Aldric remarked. "Besides—I made money on the side when I lived further north by tinkering with these kinds of things. I know how to up their power a bit. I can take 'em apart and make 'em stronger."

"Well… if you can do 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵," Evony said with a smile, sliding it out of his fingers. "Kinda makes it worth it."

They both grinned, then sauntered up to the front counter and purchased the device, speaking briefly with the man behind the counter before Evony claimed the Zapper as hers. She and Aldric marched outside and ventured into the blistering air again, peeling the box apart and examining the Zapper thoroughly before sliding it into her pocket.

"So… how'd you meet this friend?" Evony wondered, pocketing her hands and beginning to follow Aldric's lead, as she had no clue how to get to the Silver Hollow. "Seeing as how you never come into town."

"Well…" Aldric nodded sideways. "I've come into town a 𝘣𝘪𝘵 here and there. Had to eat something every once a week or so."

The two strolled down the snowy street, veering off into a narrower and more isolated path, which seemed to stretch off into the trees in the distance, both of them meandering steadily further away from the buildings behind them.

"Had to prioritize making a friend outta him, anyhow," Aldric mumbled, gazing straight ahead with a thoughtful visage.

"Yeah?" Evony asked. "Why?"

Aldric let out a sigh. "Tools and connections he has. Anything ever happens in this town—he's gonna be the guy to talk to about fighting back. Trust me."

Evony's eyes narrowed at him. "What… he's like a tough guy?"

Aldric choked out a sudden laugh, sparing her a glance and shaking his head. "Nooo, no no no… but he's got all the tough guy tools. He's a good bloke, 'bout our age, fairly charismatic… and he's got access to a variety of things that'd make most civilians in the Empire shudder. But… no… he's not a solider at all."

Evony gave him another odd look, then fell silent.

The two continued marching on, the heart of town now lost somewhere far behind them, and they wandered farther down the path in the woods for a while as the late afternoon set in, the sun beginning to set.

A short while later, Evony looked down, only just noticing that the snow on this path had been flatly beaten down by countless other boots and shoes before them, meaning that numerous other people walked this path on a regular basis.

Then, she thought to check her phone, seeing that she'd gotten a response from Cally a short while ago. The text read;

𝘾𝙤𝙤𝙡! 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚. 𝙈𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 :3

Evony nodded and slid her phone back into her pocket, raising her head and realizing that they were approaching the end of the trail now.

The path led directly toward what appeared to be a gigantic mound of snow, the entrance to a building masquerading as a massive white hillside, and a single set of doors was built into its side, perfectly facing them. The metal double-doors had several signs and papers taped onto it, a flickering OPEN sign posted just above it, and at the top of the rounded metal wall, a sign of mismatched neon letters spelled out;

𝓢𝓲𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓗𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀.

Aldric smirked, rolling his sleeves to his elbows and striding toward the doors.

"What're you doing?" Evony said, eyeing his arms, then giving him a look.

"He knows me," Aldric replied, grabbing the metal handle. "Blokes in here are used to seeing my light-bright arms. No worries at all."

At that—he pulled the door open, instantly releasing an echo of distant music, and he stepped inside the dark interior, Evony following closely behind him.

The door swung shut behind them, and Evony blinked, adjusting her eyes to the sudden change of atmosphere. She stepped forward, trailing after Aldric as the two of them ventured forward, approaching a large crowd, ambiance of chatter and laughter, echoing music all around, and random multicolored lights sweeping across the scene from several directions.

The place appeared like many clubs Evony had seen back in the city—with pool tables, dart boards, mirror balls, strobe lights, tables, booths, and a bar filled with customers and booze—but this club was different in a way, decorated with mounted animal heads and Americana décor, star-spangled banners and pro-gun posters along every wall. And, at the far side of the spacious and bustling room, a stage resided, giant speakers on either side, sweeping colorful lights overtop, and several dancers were just finishing their act when Evony and Aldric wandered forward.

They moved through the crowd, slowly approaching the stage—Evony blindly following Aldric's lead, as she had no clue where he planned to go or who he planned to talk to—but just then, a small girl emerged from the crowd and rammed into her arm.

Evony blinked and turned—staring directly into Cally's beaming face, her eyes alit with joy.

"Hey!" Cally grinned, yanking her into a quick and sudden hug. "I can't believe you found your way here! I was just about to call and give you directions! How'd you get here?!"

Evony gaped at her, glimpsing between her and Aldric's back, wondering where to start. She'd only just remembered that she had a brief argument with Cally about whether or not Aldric even existed—and now, she'd met and befriended the green man before allowing him to lead her here.

Before she could summon an answer, however—Aldric turned to face her again, spotting Cally and revealing a smile.

Cally blinked and gasped, flashing another beaming grin and pulling Aldric into a hug as well.

"Oy!" Aldric laughed, patting her back. "How ya' been, blondie? Where's your boyfriend?"

"He's not my—wait," Cally barked in response, her eyes shooting between Aldric and Evony. "You guys 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 each other?"

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 guys know each other?!" Evony breathed in equal shock, ogling them both.

"Mutual friend of a friend," Aldric smirked.

"Yeah, sorry—I could've told you more about him when we talked about it, but I'd just 𝘮𝘦𝘵 you," Cally told her. "We don't usually go around telling everyone that we're best friends with a living legend."

Evony gaped at her wordlessly for a moment.

Cally giggled. "I told you he was real."

"And now," Aldric murmured, slipping his hands into his overcoat pockets and gazing up at the stage. "A word from our sponsors."

Evony and Cally followed his eyes up to the stage—just when the lights shut off, making the crowd erupt with gripes and gasps.

Then—they suddenly blasted back on when a new song began to blare from the speakers, two women sauntering out from either side of the curtain, one dressed in a sparkly blue dress, the other wearing an equally sparkly dress of red and white.

The tune played loudly over the crowd, a 1920s rhythm with an upbeat feel, the two women dancing smoothly and sensually toward the edge of the stage, slowly working their way around the edge and maneuvering ever closer to each other.

Just when the two women crossed paths and danced off in opposite directions—the velvet curtains flipped abruptly back, a man whipping them open and striding out to the center of the stage, marching between the women as the song carried on.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥… 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘶𝘺, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦, 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺… 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘥, 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭… 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦!"

Cally scoffed out a laugh, Aldric's smile widening as he watched, Evony standing alongside them and staring up at the show with interest.

The man strode forward—husky and just the slightest bit pudgy, though it didn't detract from the vibrant flair of his showmanship at all. He wore a sleek black suit and a feathered top hat to match, spinning a cane around effortlessly as he sauntered forth. He had a jovial face, wavy black hair mostly tucked under the crooked hat, a bit of it growing on the edge of his chin, his big brown eyes shining with life as he flipped the cane around his hand and tossed it up high, making it flip several times before swiftly catching it and planting it firmly to the floor.

"Javari, Javari… and now it's a party," Aldric murmured with a smile.

Evony glimpsed over at him before returning her attention to the man on stage—the man who, evidently, was called Javari.

Then, she spotted something else—three things appearing at the back of the stage, just before the curtains. In fact, the curtains were no longer visible—as a long metal wall had slid out in front of them from either side.

Evony squinted at it in confusion.

The three things appearing in front of the metal wall became clear when the spotlight shone over them—three red targets, suspended by robotic arms that expanded from somewhere up high.

Javari flipped the cane around again—then clicked a button on the side and twisted the bottom of it cleanly off, revealing the barrel of a firearm. He turned around—held the cane out—closed one eye—and took steady aim, finger resting on the tiny trigger tucked inside the cane's handle.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴… 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘖𝘯𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦… 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘥, 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭… 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦!"

Javari opened fire—the end of the cane brightening with the blasts of muzzle flashes—hammering the trigger and penetrating all three targets in concession. Evony jumped at the deafening noise—and within seconds, all three targets had several fresh holes riddled into their centers.

The crowd exploded into cheers, applause, and whistles of approval—Javari wheeling around and giving them all a wide, childlike smile, spinning the cane around once more before placing its bottom back on.

"New, from the 2-A Tyranny Terminator Collection!" Javari announced in a loud and boastful voice, waving over the crowd and holding the cane up high. "Cane Cappers! For when you absolutely, positively 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 to bust a cap off in a moment's notice—and when you also have to attend a formal get-together where you gotta look damn fine doing it! Cap those bastards with a charismatic flair!"

"Hah," Aldric grinned up at him.

"He's so freaking full of himself," Cally chided with a laugh.

Evony hesitated, merely staring up at Javari with intrigue. "Well'p. Welcome to the south…"

"Stay tuned for the next big reveal tomorrow, where I'll show you another new thing from the 2-A Tyranny Terminator Collection!" Javari announced with robust conclusion, making a fanciful gesture over the crowd before giving them a dismissive nod. "𝘈𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘶!"

At that, the song suddenly changed again, the lights all returning to their original states.

The crowd began to disperse into several directions, returning to their tables, booths, and stools—and Javari leaped swiftly off the stage, landing just before Aldric and adjusting his feathered hat.

"Brilliant," Aldric remarked. "Where do I get one?"

"What, this?" Javari smirked, holding up his cane. "You get one when they release next month."

"Aww—c'mon now," Aldric said, tilting his head. "What kinda riches d'you think I've got? I'm asking for a friend price, here."

"Yea, well—my sister's riding my ass right now," Javari replied. "If she catches me cutting deals again, then she is gonna shit."

"Right, well… as much as I'd like to be arrested by that delightful imagery," Aldric said curtly. "We've actually gotta talk to you. Back room?"

Javari opened his mouth to reply, but said nothing, glancing over and only just seeing that Aldric was in the company of an unfamiliar newcomer.

"She's important," Aldric told him seriously. "Trust me. C'mon."

Then, without waiting for a reply, Aldric marched past him, heading for a small doorway that resided near the edge of the stage. Javari, Cally, and Evony all followed him—and they stepped through the dark blue curtain, leading to the back room of the club.

The back room, unlike the rest of the place, was fairly quiet, the distant ambiance of the crowd just barely audible from behind the blue curtain. This room was small, wooden, dingy, dimly lit, and mostly empty—except for a long leather couch against the wall, a foldout chair sitting nearby it, and a splintery old coffee table in front of them, the walls covered with the same kind of posters that decorated much of the club's main room.

Javari peeked out the curtain for a second, ensuring that nobody was close enough to eavesdrop, then flipped it closed and faced the other three, wearing an expectant expression.

Cally plopped down on the couch and leaned back over its large fluffy arm, Evony gently sinking down on the other side of it. Aldric remained standing, facing Javari and giving him an intense sort of look.

"There have been new developments, my friend," Aldric said.

Javari's eyes narrowed, giving him a look of interest. "What. In town?"

"No," Aldric replied, shaking his head and tapping his temple. "In here. I figured a lot more out since we last talked—and a recent close call seems to confirm it all pretty well."

Then, he took a deep breath and explained everything to Javari—his theory about the reptilians living somewhere nearby, the possibility of human elites assisting in their invasion, and the close call he'd encountered in the woods when he first met Evony.

When he finished, everyone was silent for a moment.

Javari folded his arms, leaning back against the wall and releasing a cloud of breath.

"Well… that's all shady as fuck, I'm not gonna lie," Javari commented. "But it doesn't actually confirm anything, Aldric."

"Ohh… you know how my mind works," Aldric replied ominously, gently tilting his head and wearing a knowing sort of visage. "It all connects at light speed, well beyond my control. And all the things I've pieced together make more sense than any other possibility out there. The only way they could pop up in this climate, running around on foot, attacking people like me… is if they've got some stable way of living here. They've got some place to live that's warm, and they've got some way of getting here that's entirely off the radar."

"They couldn't really do that all by themselves," Cally mumbled.

"No. They couldn't," Aldric agreed. "Someone's helping them. Someone in this town."

"Well… they'd have to have some endgame goal in mind, then," Javari figured, pausing and giving Evony a glimpse. "Ah… who is she, by the way?"

"Oh, right… this is Evony," Aldric introduced, stepping aside and motioning to her. "She stepped into that little reptoid altercation to help me out of it… and she's kept on helping me ever since. Part of the team now."

"Hah," Cally grinned, shooting Evony a snide little smile. "I knew it."

Evony blinked, giving her an odd squint. "What…?"

"I knew you were a freaking warrior," Cally bragged.

"You… is this… is this just what you guys do?" Evony wondered, her eyes shifting between all three of them. "You guys just meet up and make plans to deal with some crazy threat that may or may not ever come to anything?"

"'Course we do," Aldric nodded with a nonchalant shrug. "It's not like we can trust the mayor in this town."

"Or his daughter," Cally added disdainfully.

"Or anyone 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 in power," Javari agreed. "Because this kind of stuff always gets swept under the rug… and, if someone really is helping the reptilians to invade the area, then… it's probably someone with some power here."

"Meaning, we can't trust the folks in power to actually deal with the problem," Aldric surmised. "Hence… me trying to do it on my own."

"Well… you're not totally on your own here," Javari told him. "Or else we wouldn't be 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 right now…"

"Fair point. You got any guns?"

"What?"

"I mean—free ones," Aldric clarified. "Something you can afford to give away?"

Javari stared strangely at him. "Dude, you're a walking nuke. The hell do you need guns for—?"

"No, no—not me," Aldric assured. "But you and Cally are working all the time, and Evony here has kindly offered to help me in all my endeavors outside of your illustrious establishment. She's the only person who's gonna be around for a lot of it—so, I'd like her to be armed, just in case the need to be armed arises. Again."

Javari hesitated for a second, sparing Evony another glance and nodding mildly.

"Let me go through some stuff," he said. "I'll find her something… but it's gonna take me a while to find something that Trisha's not gonna miss."

"Blimey," Aldric muttered. "Does she just keep tabs on every single gun in the business?"

"All the ones anywhere near me, yeah," Javari grumbled. "She's looking for any reason to try and get me kicked out of the paperwork so she can take over the company by herself."

"Hey," Evony spoke, a thought just occurring to her. "I have a question."

Aldric, Javari, and Cally all turned to her.

Evony sighed, fidgeting with her sleeves before raising her head again.

"Osric Azarias," she said. "He's in power too… right?"

"Er… yeah… sort of," Aldric replied. "Why?"

"Well… do you think he's part of… whatever shady plans they have going on?" Evony wondered. "Because he doesn't seem like he's…"

"We don't know," Aldric told her honestly. "But… I would like to find out more about him. Until I do, I can't go to him with anything, regardless of how capable he'd be of stopping it all. I can't know for sure if he's in on it or not. I still don't even know what 'it' is right now. Too many things not answered… too many things up in the air."

Evony nodded down at her lap, then met his gaze. "I'll find out for you."

Aldric's eyes narrowed at her. He traded thoughtful looks with Javari, then faced Evony again, looking intrigued.

"He kinda made me into his own personal assistant," Evony informed. "So… I'll try to get a read on him and figure out what he's all about. Okay?"

"Wooow," Cally breathed. "He must really like you."

"Yeah," Javari agreed. "Dude, you're lucky. A lotta people here would kill to be that close to Azarias. That's pretty cool—"

"Wait wait wait," Aldric cut them off, swatting the air and rounding on Evony, giving her an intent and questioning stare. "He offered you a place 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 close to him? Just like that? 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 when you met him?"

Evony slowly leaned back, staring up at him and making a nod. "Um… yeah…"

Aldric straightened up, still staring at her and appearing to be deep in thought.

"Oh," he exhaled, more to himself than anyone else, gazing down at the coffee table. "Ohh… he's seen it. He's seen all the same things we have, and he's made all the same connections. That's why."

Everyone else stared at him in confusion.

"That's why he waited for a total outsider to come to town," Aldric explained to them. "He didn't let anyone close to him until a brand new person came along—someone who wasn't connected to anything that ever goes on here. He knows there's something going on—so he doesn't trust anyone here, either."

"You jump to a lot of conclusions," Javari commented, giving him a look. "Y'know that?"

"Aaagh—I can't wait for your brain to catch up with mine," Aldric responded, rolling his neck and making a face. "I know what I'm saying, so just trust me. Evony—if you get a good read on him, and if it turns out we really can trust him, then we'll go to him with this stuff later. Yeah?"

"Yeah," Evony affirmed.

"Good. Cally—I want you to keep hanging out with the pep squad," Aldric requested, jabbing a finger at her. "Tell me if you hear anything new about the mayor from his daughter. Any related info is helpful, and I know those girls gossip more than they breathe, so bring me whatever yammerings they have to offer."

Cally giggled and nodded.

"And you—you just keep an eye out for a good gun for my friend here," Aldric concluded, giving Javari a nod. "I dunno what might happen around this Christmas season, but I know it's not gonna be a peaceful holiday this year."

"Aye-aye, Captain Green Freak," Javari grinned with a two-fingered salute, jutting a finger in the air. "Anti-Tyranny Team, 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘢𝘢𝘺!"

"Oh my God, Javari," Cally groaned and rolled her eyes, standing and flicking him in the forehead. "Would you 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 trying to 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 us that? It is 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 gonna catch on."

"Oh—the 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 you say!" Javari replied with a grin, waving a finger through the air. "I run a freaking 𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦—and it's all '𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢, baby! We're a freaking militia right now!"

"Yeeeah—a militia without a single freaking gun that we can actually 𝘶𝘴𝘦," Cally chided caustically. "Ooo, 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘵!"

They all marched out of the back room and laughed as they continued to bicker—Aldric and Evony sharing a smirk and a few chuckles as they trailed along behind Cally and Javari.

The three of them headed to the bar, sat together, ordered drinks, and made small talk for a long while thereafter.

And during this time of levity and ease—Evony, strangely enough, felt happier than she ever remembered feeling back in Starrylake.