[V2] Chapter 17: A "Friendly" Reminder
Date: Still the Same Day
Location: Tactical Bomb Diffusion Class
Mission: Dylan
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I can go against Malachi, beat him in the MP System, and once we catch the mole, we broadcast that we stopped an infiltrator trying to take him down.”
Nikki went silent. I could tell she was thinking hard about it, weighing the risks. Then, finally, she spoke.
“That’s not bad. But we need to find ways to gain MP first.”
“Missions?”
“Too slow. Plus, you got a mallet for your first mission. You really want to risk your life for a butter knife next time?”
“Uh… uh… uh… hmmm.” I searched for another option. “What about that football thing?”
“Mage Football?” Nikki said. “They don’t allow Perks in that.”
“Says who?”
She shrugged. “You could paralyze the entire team with a tap. That’s an instant win. MP would roll in, and since the YMPA administration loves making things hard—”
“Mostly.”
“Exactly.”
“Do you have the pamphlet?” she asked. Then she sighed. “Wait, no, of course not. Tisiah has it. What period do you have next?”
“Recreation.”
Nikki nodded. “Yeah, obviously. Everyone kinda has that. Meet us there, and we’ll figure out what Mage Football is all about.”
“Got it, Nikki.”
I hung up just as two very familiar heads leaned back—Jamal and Maddie.
They had already finished passing out the papers, which I still hadn’t touched. But they weren’t standing up. Not yet.
I exhaled. “See ya later… Dylan,” I muttered before tucking my phone away.
Jamal was going to hear the name Nikki, and when he did, I had no idea whether his face would light up, darken, or both. Either way, I was about to experience a few minutes of serious discomfort.
And no, I couldn’t just use my Perk.
Perks were nerfed on school grounds, and for good reason.
Which led me to another realization.
I couldn’t sign up for Mage Football as a Perk user—Mr. Drails wouldn’t allow it. Since he was my actual father, that made things even more frustrating. Rules were rules.
Was it a problem? Yes.
But there was a loophole.
In EMO sports, Perk users had to follow so many guidelines that they might as well be playing blindfolded. But if I signed up as a regular player—acted like I didn’t have a Perk—then I’d be good.
Mr. Drails wouldn’t be able to stop me.
Hopefully, we’d have time to figure out more once we were outside.
Later, during recreation…
“Yep, that’s him. Top of the board,” Tisiah said as we all stared at the leaderboard.
Sure, we had leaderboards on our tablets, but seeing it on the big screen? That was different.
“Malachi, that little fox,” Nikki muttered. “The real question is, who’s the mole?”
“I don’t think they’re even installed yet,” Tisiah said.
Nikki scoffed. “They definitely are. They needed us to get Lowman so they could pinpoint the location. Once they had that? Boom. They’re in.”
“And it could be anyone,” she added. “But we don’t have any leads.”
Then something clicked.
“Wait,” I said, eyes widening. “Remember when I went to the bathroom?”
Nikki and Tisiah looked at each other, then back at me.
“There were three guys—friends of Malachi. One had Goku hair, another had that one style with the hair to the side. He’s Black, by the way. And the last one? He was lighter than you, Nikki, with, like, a white bowl cut.”
“Joining a cult doesn’t get you MP, Connor,” Nikki deadpanned.
“Real funny, Nikki,” I said. “But they know Malachi.”
“So, you’re saying we should look into Malachi’s friends?” Tisiah asked.
I nodded. “That would be a great place to start.”
At the edge of my vision, I noticed them—Malachi and September, sitting with a few others.
Mostly just them, though.
“Nikki, do you have any listening devices or something?”
“No. Are you trying to listen in?”
I nodded.
“Get closer,” she said. “Or, I don’t know—use your mallet to wake up your ears.”
“Nikki,” Tisiah sighed. “Not the time.”
I exhaled.
Then something weird happened.
Malachi’s friends got up—about to leave—but before they could take a step, Malachi raised his hand.
They all sat back down.
It wasn’t natural.
It suddenly made the idea of the mole being one of Malachi’s friends feel a lot less likely.
Malachi and September walked up to the leaderboard, Malachi still comfortably in first place—while I wasn’t even on the board.
“Didn’t see that coming,” Nikki muttered.
Malachi smirked. “Love the sarcasm. You’re just behind me.”
He gestured to the rankings. September nodded, smiling. “Thanks for the mission, I guess.”
The three of us just watched them.
“Probably would’ve gotten there anyway,” Malachi added. He lifted his arm—like he was about to put it around September—but stopped halfway. Instead, he lowered it.
That shoulder’s mine.
Malachi sighed and pulled out his phone, swiping a few times before glancing at her.
“Bro, how?”
“How what?”
He turned his phone toward her. Even from a distance, I recognized it—an 8-ball game on iMessage.
“Oh, yeah. You’re cooked,” September said, pulling out her own phone.
“Wow,” Nikki muttered. “I don’t think anyone’s ever gotten close to beating her at 8-ball.”
“Nikki,” Tisiah warned.
Nikki raised her hands in surrender. “My mistake.”
“No, no, no. It’s fine,” I said. “It’s just that…”
Then I saw them.
Jamal and his friends.
“Oh, Jesus,” Nikki muttered.
The three of them were walking toward me.
“Hey, what up, buddy!” Jamal shouted, holding out his hand for a dap-up.
I was too frozen in fear to react.
Jamal’s eyes flicked toward Nikki. A smirk crossed his face.
“Just gonna borrow him for a sec, alright, sunshine?”
Nikki furrowed her brows. Jamal grinned. “Cool.”
Then, he gestured for me to follow him behind the bleachers, where they huddled up.
Jamal leaned in.
“Did you tell her about me?”
“…Uh.”
I had no reason to. And yet, somehow, I had.
Jamal slammed my shoulder. “Come on, man. I really don’t want you getting beat to a pulp by Malachi. Do this for me.”
“I’m kinda dealing with something else right now.”
“Bro, your personal life shouldn’t interfere with mine,” he said. “Just tell her. Cuz I think she’s into me.”
“Who?” Codename Goku asked.
“The shorty. Nikki,” Maddie hissed.
I wanted to laugh. But I also valued my life.
Jamal squinted. “Do it, and you’ll survive.” Then, after a pause, “By the way, what were you guys talking about?”
Whoa, whoa, whoa. What else did he mean? We haven’t talked about anything else but September and—oh, dear.
"Hey, bro, bro. Desmond’s calling you bro,” Codename Goku said. Jamal glanced at the two of them, then behind him, to which they all walked away. But before they even reached the area, they had taken a good look at me before even fully removing their presence.
With that, Tisiah and Nikki ran to me. “Bro, what did he say?” Tisiah asked. I looked at him, and I took a deep breath. “We gotta follow them,” I said. “We have to.”