"You really are good with anything that shoots lasers!" Wessy complimented Jace as the two played the light-gun arcade shooter, Time Crisis, which was still relatively hot and new. Like he always did, he seemed to have already bounced back from the Charlie incident a few weeks ago. "You wanna go for a high score?"
"I get pretty stressed out just watching other people try to beat records," Jace said, secretly referring to his modern day on-off obsession of watching game speed-runs on YouTube. "Why don't we just see if we can beat the game first?"
"Sure, yeah. I totally get that."
The whole gang, with Celeste in tow, was having an arcade-focused get-together at the amusement park, sort of as a way to belatedly celebrate their good showing at the tournament over a month ago. While no one really won that big game, the group had come to accept that they really did put forth a good effort together.
"Aaagh, dang it, Celeste," Sadie huffed at the next cabinet over, as her friend gave her a playful sneer after beating her again on Street Fighter II. "How is it that you have so many fighters' combos memorized? Your Chun Li is scary."
"It's all about setting up her drop and spin kicks," Celeste explained. "Hey, if you're tired of getting beat, the air hockey table is free again."
"No way—until I win a round, I'm keeping my feet planted right here."
Celeste shrugged, laughed, and put in another token. "Your funeral."
"Guys, check out this new game," Colin said at Wessy's side as he shot at the screen. "The pixel-graphics are crazy good. They would make Brian drool."
"My dad says the park's already secured a copy, too," Arthur added.
Wessy glanced over when he had a chance, to see that Colin was holding industry promotional material for a new side-scroller shooter called Metal Slug, set for release later in April. He only had a second or two to look before turning his attention back to his current game, but gleaned from the screenshots that it had intense shooting action like Contra—plus cool-looking rideable tanks used to navigate the war-torn levels.
"Looks pretty awesome, bud," Wessy replied. "Nice to have a place like Galaxy Hub around that always gets these new games so quick."
"Nice of the twins' dad to give us all those half-off park ticket coupons, too…" Colin added. "Makes it feel just fine to stay in here all day instead of waiting in long lines for rides we've been on a dozen times already. Still got games in here I haven't tried."
"Kinda figured his dad could just get us in for free whenever we want."
"Yeah, not happening, Wes," Arthur groaned and leaned against a big pillar.
"By the way, Jared and Zach are totally going for the high score on Area 51," Colin mentioned. "Last I checked, they already beat your newest one."
"Are you kidding?" Wessy grumbled and slid his gun back into its cabinet holster instead of inserting another coin on the latest 'Continue?' screen. "They told me they'd stop trying to knock me down, at least for a bit. I was already in 8th place…"
"Well, 9th now."
"C'mon, Wes. Let it go," Arthur said with a sigh.
Wessy hesitated, then shook his head. "Nah, it's cool. I just want to watch. Oh, and sorry, Jason, if you wanted to play more. Thing's a coin hog, though."
Jace gave him a shrug and set off with the others—Sadie and Celeste also finishing their round and joining them. Whether or not the game interested them, everyone wanted to see someone in their circle of friends hit a record score.
"Wes, is it true Vanni beat you the first time that game was here?" Celeste asked.
"Ugh, I still beat it, and it was close. Besides, that was a prototype version that isn't even here anymore. It probably had bugs. And also, I still beat her score… later."
"Here's someone that won't be beating any high scores…" Sadie commented.
They stopped to gawk at the Sega Rally cabinets, which were connected together to enable two-player racing across two screens, seats, and steering wheels. Ash was racing through the countryside sufficiently enough on her side, but on the other…
"Pfft, haha, watch this crash!" Millie exclaimed as she swerved her steering wheel crazily and repeatedly rammed her polygonal race car into the surrounding barriers.
Ash crossed the finish line and turned to her. "That isn't really the point of this game… Or any game. You do know how to play games, right, Millie?"
"Yeah, yeah—sure. I'm not very good at most of them, though. So, I guess I get more of a kick out of just messing around and trying to break them, or my characters."
"Guys, why is Millie trying to hang out with us now?" Sadie asked quietly. "I don't want to be mean and tell her to buzz off, but… like, who 'invited' her?"
Jace averted his gaze. Millie ran out of time to finish, resulting in the announcer shouting out what would one day be the game's infamously classic, "Game over yeeeeah!"
"You're pretty good at that one, Ash," Sadie complimented her.
"Uh-huh. And yet somehow, someone found it funny to slip me another note recently. 'Never, ever drive on April 7th, 2003,'" she said in a mocking tone. "The hand-writing was better on that one, though… That's not you doing that, right Millie?"
Millie hopped out of her driver's seat and replied assuredly, "I don't do pranks and practical jokes. Even on April Fool's. Besides, why would I do that to a new friend?"
"… Don't make it weird," Wessy said coldly. "You trying to be nice to us doesn't make up for years of spying and being… you know, weird. Besides," he crossed his arms, "we're already kind of a group of nine now. How much bigger are we s'posed to go?"
Millie winked and elbowed his arm. "Well—I—think you can fit in one more."
Wessy just sighed, shook his head, and got back to heading towards Zach and Jared to watch them blow up a UFO. The pair were just nearby, and their intensity and teamwork had built up a small crowd of onlookers.
"Look…" Jace said once he was tagging along at the back with Millie. "I know you're trying to get closer to them, but if you screw up, your job will only get harder."
"Hey, who says this has anything to do with my job?" she replied with a grin.
"You really have been weirder than usual lately."
"Yeah, there it is!" Zach shouted and shared a high-five with Jared once they had beaten the final boss and earned a few claps from the audience. "That's 7th place for us!"
"Good game, man…" Jared panted. "Whew. Hope we stay on the board a while."
Jace overheard Wessy mutter to himself, "We'll see about that…"
• •
"Yeah, me and Jared got into it for a bit on that game," Adult Wes commented on Jace's retelling of the day's events later that night. "Vanni stopped playing it, but the two of us competed for the top scores for years. Sometimes we played on a team instead, though. That's when he really started getting into games, like, coming up with pro-strats and stuff, memorizing enemy behavior, that sort of thing. When Half-Life and Starcraft come out in '98, he'll get obsessed with them both. And… really good, too."
Tonight, they were playing Donkey Kong Country 2 together, with Wes playing as Diddy and Jace playing as the chimp's girlfriend Dixie on their quest to rescue the kidnapped hero ape Donkey Kong. Like the first game, it had a pseudo-3-D look and cutting-edge graphics for the Super Nintendo console, and would become one of its best-selling games. But what Wes was really looking forward to seeing in cartridge form was Mario's isometric adventure Super Mario RPG, coming in mid-May.
As they played, Jace brought up something, "It was a pretty good day, no drama, but… what about Millie? I'm guessing she didn't start hanging out with you originally."
"Yeah, no. She never stopped being awkward or anti-social. We can ask that meddling ninja brat what he thinks, but we'll want to keep an eye on her while we're still here. She knows better than to mess with stuff—but she still could, just by being there."
"What am I supposed to tell her? No, you can't try to make friends?"
"I know. And I get that she's probably just trying to get closer so she doesn't always have to spy on them instead, but… Well. Warren said she was important. What am I supposed to do? I pretty much answer to him now. He's the kid with the quartz."
"After what he made your younger self go through with Charlie, I'm having trust issues with him, too… I don't like that he doesn't tell us why he does what he does."
"At least we're on the same page there," Wes said and turned the game off once the credits were done rolling. "That's enough for tonight. News is coming on."
"You've been watching the local every night for a while. Waiting for something?"
He changed the TV input in time to see the last half of the eleven o' clock's opening montage of city events. "Yeah, sorta. I don't remember the exact date…"
"For what? Some big story about to break?"
"Nah, it's nothing huge. Might not even be worth reporting."
For twenty-eight minutes, the anchors didn't talk about anything too interesting.
"And there's a big surprise coming in May," anchor Kelly Duncan said as a black and white photo of an astronomical object appeared in a box by her shoulder. "NASA believes that the comet Hale-Bopp should be visible to the unaided eye in early summer. It would certainly give Royal Valley a spectacular sight while it visits."
"Can't wait for that, Kelly," Larry Bradshaw replied and smacked the desk with the edges of his papers for the twentieth time that night. "Finally, an unusual arrest was caught on film. It happened earlier today at the Palm Shopping Plaza."
Wes zoned back in and upped the volume with the remote as the video played. It began with what looked like some college students making a commercial or film at the plaza, but the camera quickly panned over to show federal agents carrying out file boxes from a nearby business. Then Eddie himself was led out, but he wasn't going quietly.
"I'm innocent!" he shouted wildly. "It wasn't me! It was that time traveler! His name is—" thankfully, only a beep came out, "—he did this to me!"
"Local independent broker Eddie Meeks was arrested today on suspicion of insider trading and fraud. A nearby student film crew happened to be there to capture his… I don't know what else to call it, Kelly." The camera went back to the anchor to show him chuckling. "Raving? Would you call it raving? … Too strong a word?"
She laughed right back. "I wish my financial advisor was a time-traveler."
Wes, wide-eyed, muted the TV as the duo laughed some more and cracked a few last jokes before saying their goodnights. He looked at Jace, staring right back.
"… Just so you know, I had nothing to do with that," Wes explained. "He went to the white-collar slammer in the original timeline, for exactly this, all on his own. I knew it was coming, so… I pulled all my money out. I didn't expect it to be filmed, though."
"Wes, uh… What if that clip goes viral and even one person believes him? What if the FBI or whatever comes looking for you next?"
"N-nah… A time traveler named Nick Deckard? They'll all just think he's crazy. Heck, they might even feel sorry for him and take a few months off his sentence. Also, nothing can go 'viral' yet. This'll probably be forgotten by, like… tomorrow."
"Wait… Did you pick him because he gets arrested? That's kinda scummy, Unk."
"No, I picked him because no one would believe him if he ever ratted me out." Wes began channel surfing, adding, "Give me some credit. I do try to minimize risk."
• •
The school computer lab's dot matrix printer was working hard and endlessly, but given the nature of the day, not every kid was using it for legitimate reasons.
"Mr. Huggins!" Spice called for the lab monitor after seeing a folded-up stack of print paper. "It's doing it again! And my fashion design pictures still aren't coming out."
Two of her classmates snickered together as Huggins waddled over. He read off the top sheet and then cancelled the rest of the prints before the lab ran out of paper.
"Who did this?" he asked as he held up the print, designed to look like an error readout. "Wasting school resources isn't funny. Copying and pasting thousands of lines that say 'Error: Computer is Exploding' isn't, either," he said, getting more laughs from the attendees. "The next person that does this gets banned from the lab… for a week."
"Yeah, knock it off! I got important things to print!" Spice added.
Jace was sharing a screen with Wessy today. Behind them were two more buddy-pairs: Arthur and Jared, and Colin and Brian of all kids. The two sitting next to Wessy made for an odd duo, too—Ash and Millie were solving a tough case on Eagle Eye Mysteries together. Ash seemed to tolerate her a bit more than the others; she must not have had the pleasure of being one of Millie's "subjects" in years past.
"Okay, I admit it, this game is pretty good," Ash said. "But I don't know how you figure all this stuff out so quickly. Some of these cases are pretty hard."
"Ya gotta have observational skills. I've sharpened mine since first grade."
"Uh-huh. Maybe you could better make use of those skills outside of just, like, sneaking around, giving kids the stink-eye, and scribbling in a notebook while grinning."
"Hm… Can't really think of anything else to do with them."
"Guys, check this out," Colin said. "You have to see these things."
Wessy and Jace paused their artillery-shooter game Worms game and turned around in the chairs to see the image files that Brian had just loaded into an art program. Although he looked a little embarrassed about showing off the pictures, he had nothing to be ashamed of, as they were quite good—and in full color, too.
"Zach… s-said I should p-print these out and we can hang them in the… you know," Brian eyed Mr. Huggins, on patrol, "the secret place. But, I'm not s-sure."
"Yeah, he's trying to add a 'personal touch' to it," Arthur said and looked over. "Oh, nice sprites! And they look a little familiar… Kind of, like, in two different ways?"
With his game knowledge from both the present and future, Jace could recognize all the characters on the screen, and also realized what Brian had done: replace their heads with pixelated versions of Dump regulars. Wright had become the telekinetic-wunderkind Ness from Earthbound, Delilah was the tough space heroine Samus, Zach became a shade-wearing Mario—and Jared, appropriately, was his brother Luigi. Colin now had huge muscles after turning into the gorilla Donkey Kong. Princess Toadstool, still in her pink dress, was Felicity, while Jace became Link from the Zelda series and Carson had been transformed into a 1996 Sonic the Hedgehog "original character."
"Whoa, Brian!" Jace said as he rolled his chair up to the desk. "That's amazing."
"T-thanks… I tried making you, Wes, but Kirby just looked weird with a human face. I'll c-come up with s-something else. They're… all club-goers from our class."
"Kirby, huh…" Wessy stared at Brian for a second, but then smiled. "Can't say pink's my thing, but these are still great. Felicity might just kill you, though."
"I have an idea," Jared said with a snort. "Make the princess Millie, instead."
"Huh?" Millie responded upon hearing her name, and turned around to look. She nudged her glasses and sighed. "Um, no. Do not make me the Mario princess, Brian."
"Okay. S-so… I guess I really will p-put these up, if you all like them…"
"Zach has been saying there's too much 'corporate imagery' there," Colin added. "For the record, I thought it was hilarious that he made me Donkey Kong."
"So that's what you were laughing about," Arthur replied. "Hey, Brian, these are cool. If you get to me, make me Dr. Mario? Maybe? Or one of those Contra guys."
"Oh… S-sure. Those are two really different characters, but… sure."
"Wow, those are so cute!" Ash exclaimed once she noticed them as well. "Hey, someone go get Sadie! She has to see these."
Jace was closest to the aisle, so he volunteered by standing up. Sadie was playing something with December in the back, but they looked like they were watching out for Huggins and ready to close their game at any time. He walked over and peeked to see the high-speed 3-D racer The Need for Speed filling the screen, with a low frame rate. Sadie looked up guiltily at Jace and gave him a quiet, nervous grin. The two were obviously being rebels, playing something they weren't supposed to. Jace could respect that, so he headed back and returned to the others. Sadie could check out the art later.
• •
Brian's work was winning compliments even before he had taped up the last piece, of Link-Jace. The limitations of the printer had turned them all black and white, but that didn't deter him or make anyone prefer to see the same-old mass-produced art up for another day. As kids studied the characters and guessed who they were in pixel form—Carson was particularly amused by his Sonic-self—Jace walked over for a chat.
"Hey…" he said once Brian had pocketed the roll of tape. "Sorry that I forgot to get back to you about the whole art program thing…"
He smiled and stopped him. "It's all right, you s-said enough. I talked to my dad, showed him a few Nintendo Power issues, a-and… It worked. Well, he said he w-wants me to help make those Madden games when I'm older, and then he told my brother that he had to get into one of those games. I hope he's j-joking…"
"One step at a time, right?" Jace snickered. "Glad it worked out for you."
"Yeah… So, t-thanks for the advice… I g-gotta… stop being so nervous all the time. It's weird having people look at my art, but… they seem to like it."
"What's up, what's up!" Zach exclaimed as he made his grand entrance, strolling between the pair of bouncers, Delilah and Hutch. "We only got about eight weeks to go before we are outta here, so let's live it up! Oh, those look nice." He pushed down his shades to study the Jared-Luigi. "Brian, dude, I told you these would be a hit. Oh, here, Carson," he added and gave him a snack. "Who else wants some? On me."
"What'd you bring today?" a boy from Zach's class wondered.
Zach smiled, unstrapped his backpack, dug into it, and began pulling out Fruit by the Foot rolls of various flavors. He tossed one over to anyone who asked, and he had plenty to go around. He didn't bring snacks for everyone every day, but still, he had given out enough to make Jace wonder just how he could afford it.
"Got any Fruit Roll-Ups?" a girl from another class asked him.
"Eh-heh…" He winced. "Yeeeah… I don't… do those."
Sadie, now an infrequent visitor, was hanging out with the rest of the gang. In fact, The Dump had never been so popular. Zach's reign had attracted more kids from the other fifth-grade classes, his own especially, and the place had doubled in typical occupancy. It turned out that having an owner who both attended the actual club and its school, while actively promoting the place, could help the numbers.
"Park, my man!" Zach greeted him with a grin and took a peek into his front-facing backpack at the current wares. "What'd'ya got on sale today?"
"April Fool's special." He took out a sealed bag of fake vomit. "I got puke, dog poop, hand buzzers, snake-in-a-cans. The classics. Emptying old stock."
"Nice, good stuff." Zach looked at the Princess Felicity art next and chuckled. "All right, everyone! Keep keeping it real. I gotta check on my crew."
"Hey, Zach," Jared greeted him from the wall where they were hanging out. "Looks like you're making it work. But I hope you're not breaking bank."
"What, on the snacks? Nah, my parents get plenty. More than I can eat. Sadie, you doing okay?" he asked her, who was leaning back with crossed arms and a cool smile. "I never thought you'd keep hanging out here after a first visit."
"It's growing on me." She eyed the five car tree fresheners hanging off the dumpster. "And I think those are helping. How do you get so much stuff?"
"Dad owns a few gas stations, remember? He keeps some of the things the customers damage. Believe me… gas station shoppers are not about being careful."
"Heads up, guys," Arthur said with a cautious tone.
Zach turned around and watched with the others as Felicity arrived and started looking at the art. As she grew nearer to her depiction as a fanciful monarch, the attendees grew quiet and still, some of them with fruit rolls hanging down from their mouths. Felicity noticed the hushed reactions and the eyes on her, but moved onto the dangerous art without suspecting much. After anxiety levels in the place topped out and Zach acquired a grimace, she turned and looked at everyone curiously.
"Are these supposed to be video game characters or something?" she asked.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Felicity seemed to be one of the few kids at the school who wasn't up to date in the artistic medium of pixelated violence.
"Um, y-yeah…" Brian replied, a little nervously. "I made them."
"Huh. Not bad. All those little squares… It's… interesting."
"Hey, Zach!" some boy suddenly called out. "It's getting crowded here!"
"Oh, hm…" Zach rubbed his chin and then exclaimed, "Then let's take the party out to the playground! Who says we gotta stay cooped up? Let's make all of recess our dump!" He then told his friends quietly, "Let's move before Felicity does a little research."
"We're leaving?" Brian asked. "So… I gotta take my art right back down again?"
"No worries, I'll put them up for you tomorrow," Zach promised him. "Now let's take this show on the road. We might even see some cool pranks on the way!"
After a quick teardown of the club, all thirty or so of the present kids headed out, flanked by Delilah and Hutch, who now took on the appearance of bodyguards for the owner. Zach checked the corner to make sure Mr. Drake wasn't watching, and they began their march out into the bustling, sun-drenched playground.
Even if everyone wasn't joking around or fooling friends, there did seem to be a livelier, more carefree air to recess today. Some kids were even back on the swings; there was clearly more actual playing than just the usual standing around and chatting.
As he led his party, Zach shot a mischievous grin at Mr. Drake, on guard by the doors. He glared right back, as if to say, I'll bust you one day, for whatever it is you're doing. All most of them wanted to do for now was walk with swagger and play it cool, a few of them still eating their rolls of processed fruit on the way. They passed by Wright, doing his dares again for a group of onlookers. Robby was espousing the benefits of outdoor adventures to Gerald, while Spice was giving December a tutorial on some fancy hair styles. Zach continued to give his grins, or finger-guns, to everyone they went by.
"Yo, Willa!" Zach called to her when they stopped at the big fort, where she was looking plaintive. "Didn't see ya in the cool place today! Come hang out, we're mobile!"
She looked up from her knees and gazed out at all the eyes of those waiting to add to their numbers, regardless of how clingy and eccentric certain kids may be.
She exhaled, "No thanks… I'm sad today. Poor Gramps is going to jail, again…"
"Ha-ha, that's a good one," Zach said with a laugh. He waited futilely for her to stop staring blankly at him. "Well… if you change your mind, chase us down. Ehh…"
"Hey, Millie, move!" Tamatha shouted at her from the top of the fort's slide—she was sitting at the bottom and jotting some notes. "We want to come down!"
Millie looked up at them, scoffed, and closed her composition book.
"C'mon, hurry up, Harriet!" Trudy added, getting a laugh and a snort from her BFF. "Yeah! You see the preview for that new movie yet? Harriet the Spy? That's you!"
"Ingrates…" Millie muttered and got up to join the roving clubbers. "It was a book first… One of my favorites. Nickelodeon's probably going to ruin it…"
"You don't have to join us, you know," Felicity told her.
"Now, now, she's a regular, too," Zach replied. "Hey, uh… Millie. What's up?"
"Hm…" Millie studied the event. "Yeah, I'll walk with you, just because this is… new. The place got a little too popular and mainstream for my taste, though."
"Sorry about that? Guess I can't please everyone."
"You never did seem to like big crowds," Sadie noted as the walking resumed.
"Because I'm not a social butterfly like all of you. And… I may be a little socially awkward. I guess you could even say that I made fun of you butterflies in my own way."
"Yeah, by being creepy and studying us for the last five years," Jared groaned.
Colin added, "Ugh. I remember being 'Subject #9'. I hope you burned that book."
"Nope. But the truth is…" She took a deep breath and put her eyes elsewhere as she made a painful admission. "I'm trying… to get a little… Erm… Better. About… it."
"Hm, what was that?" Arthur asked her jokingly. "I don't think we all heard that. Maybe you should write it down in your little notebook and… show us everything inside."
She took on a playful sneer and pretended to threaten his arm with a punch, but pulled back after he winced and sidestepped her a bit, which got a chuckle from Jared.
"But, seriously…" Millie said to Jace, and only Jace. "Maybe… a few friends my own age, you know… wouldn't be so bad. Ahem. But don't think I'm going soft!"
Jace just gave her a nod as they stopped at the edge of the playground and the chain link fence coated in a soft brown rubber. Following Zach's lead, they spread out and gripped the wiry diamonds with their fingers, as if to show they were trapped inside.
"End of the road," Zach said. "But out there… Freedom. And soon."
"H-hey, Zach…" Wessy confided in him, but was close enough for Jace to overhear. "I actually… asked my mom for some advice about… him after what happened. And she said some pretty smart things, about… old friends."
"Oh, yeah? What'd she say?"
He shook his head. "Not really important. But, after all the stuff that's happened this year… And after some of the things Vanni told me… I dunno. The past is nice, and the future might get… strange, but right now, and here—this is where I wanna be."
Zach patted his shoulder. "Glad to hear it, bud. Yeah. Live in the moment."
Wessy's progress made Jace smile. And he, too, wanted this to last, a little longer.
• •
"Well, I'm afraid I don't really know much about April Fools' Day," Ms. Porter said, replying to the same question that sprung up every holiday. "Some say that it isn't even a real holiday…" She walked back to her chair and double-checked for glue, tacks, or anything else that might've been slipped in since she last got up. "Oh, you are a nice class. You haven't pranked me once… You should've seen the kids I had last year."
"Did you get any of your teachers?" Gerald asked. "I think it's all kinda mean…"
"Not always—as long as the jokes are funny for both giver and receiver. But, yes, I do have to admit that in fourth grade… I may have put one of my older brother's stink bombs in Mr. Craig's desk, and rigged it so it'd go off when he opened his drawer to get some of the gum he chewed all day. Oh, that was so annoying, and he was mean, so the whole class clapped… He gave us all detention afterwards, but…" She smiled in a nostalgic way like Wes often did. "We all pretty much agreed that it was worth it."
"Whoa, you did that?" Wright exclaimed. "That's hardcore."
"Geez, Ms. Porter," Sadie added. "Who knew you had it in you?"
"Y-yes, well… I was your age too, once. Back in the 60s. We didn't have video games yet, but otherwise, there were a lot of similarities between our generations! Hm. In fact…" She poked her glasses and grinned in a rather devious way. "We actually had a secret little place where me and my friends went to get away during recess. Our school had two floors, and there was a bit of space under one of the staircases."
It felt like the air in the room had been sucked out as the kids listened intently, some of them no doubt wondering just why their teacher was telling them such things.
"A… secret place…" Delilah murmured.
"Oh, yes. With just enough room to hide five or six of us, if we could sneak back into the building from the playground—knowing that if that nasty old Ms. Mayers ever caught us, we'd be shut down. But it was great. We hung posters, used flashlights as lamps—and sometimes we even smuggled in a portable record player and listened at a low volume to rebellious stuff like Dylan or Springfield. Those were the days…"
Jared audibly gulped. If Zach was in the class, even he might've had trouble keeping his cool at this point. With another smile, Ms. Porter got to the point.
"Of, course… If we had to, we might've settled for a club near a dumpster, too."
"Please don't tell the principal or Mr. Drake!" Delilah exclaimed. "Uh, I mean…"
"Guys, it's okay!" Ms. Porter said with a laugh. "Your secret's safe with me. I found out about the place two years ago. I'm just impressed you've all kept it going."
"You… won't tell anyone?" Park asked.
"Nah, I don't see any harm in it. Just don't let Mr. Drake find out. He'll probably try to find a way to move the dumpsters and block off that whole area just for the 'fun' of it. Oh, and… you might want to limit how many of you are there at once. I doubt you can all fit inside that big metal smelly box if you need to suddenly hide."
"Ms. Porter…" Colin spoke timidly. "Y-you're… seriously amazing."
"Best teacher ever," Arthur added, more confidently.
"Aw…" She looked a little red in the face. "Unfortunately, I still have to give you that test today. Now, where were we… I almost forgot all about your lesson."
"Ms. Porter, really quick?" Trudy said with a raised hand. "Since you're an adult who knows about… that place, can you maybe tell me why it's so great? It's just stinky."
The teacher gave that a little bit of thought as she looked around at the room's educational posters—along with several drawings her students had made over the course of the year. As scatterbrained as she was at times, she could still dish out good insight.
"Special places are memory-makers. Even if that's not what you're thinking about when you find—or make one… We just like good memories. And a big part of them is where they happen. Locations are like the anchors… of the time we have together. Am I making sense?" She looked at all the pondering faces. "If you don't know what I'm talking about yet, you will someday. I just hope you remember at least one little thing that happened in this classroom we all shared. And next year, I'll teach a new class, like this one and the one before you. Personally… I try to remember all my students."
Jace took a moment to look back at his time in this classroom, not too far from his other fifth grade room in the future, and while it hadn't given him as many of those special-place memories Ms. Porter was talking about, he had gotten his share of special video-watching days, videogame tip-trading, and at times, even idle gossip about the happenings of other students. She had certainly been a nicer teacher than his previous, as well—that guy had probably been closer to that old Mr. Mayers she talked about.
"Okay, we really need to get back to work before the superintendent barges in. Turn to page 104 in your textbooks and we'll learn about multiplying those fractions!"
• •
At the end of another busy school day, everyone gathered up by their bus rides home to chat about the next big plans. The main event this week would be Zach's birthday party on Saturday, which he was still keeping under wraps.
"Don't worry, guys, it really will be awesome," he promised his friends as kids of all grades rushed to their rides. "When have I ever let you down?"
"But it's seriously going to be… just at your house?" Jared wondered.
"No restaurant, no arcade or mall, not even another visit to the park?" Colin added. "Hey… I'm next, and now you got me thinking even I might do more than you."
"Yeah, what's up?" Arthur questioned. "Last year, we went to the mall, then the airplane museum, then Pizza Hut, and then a movie, and then we played video games at your place until ten. I still don't know how your parents made all that happen…"
"Uh, because they're awesome?" Zach laughed. "Seriously, it'll be worth it, there's a big surprise and I have plans about how to use… uh, the big surprise."
"Hm, I haven't actually been to your house in a while…" Wessy mentioned. "Is something weird going on there?"
"Oh, did you get a cool treehouse?" Colin asked. "Like, with electricity?"
Zach groaned. "What? No. We already got one—yours. That's your scene."
Sadie took her guess, "Did you get a basement, and fill it with game stuff?"
"No! Just let me throw you all a surprise party, okay? I know my big reveals can be nerve-racking and teeth-gnashing, but wait five days and you'll see." He walked over to the bus, and added from its door's steps, "And don't go sneaking around my place!"
"So… anyone have any idea what it is?" Arthur asked the others.
"Could be anything," Jared replied. "His parents are loaded."
"They are not," Sadie chided. "His mom just won the lottery a few years back and gets monthly cash they can do whatever with. It's not like they save it up."
Their gossip took a break as Lucy went by, her hair still in the style the girls had given her. She had a pep in her step, a part of that glimmer of newfound self-assurance. She was alone, for the moment, but maybe that was an improvement over being with her "friends," who she was likely just avoiding for now and had yet to ditch entirely.
"Lucy's changing, Wes," Ash observed. "You better be nice to her."
"Yeah, yeah…" he sighed back. "You're always telling me that."
"Zach should put her in the running for next Dump owner," Sadie joked.
"Uh-huh, okay. You know she wouldn't go for that. Probably won't even visit it."
Thinking back to the sleepover where his mom got that restart on her social life, Jace also remembered, once again, the big fight. That was weeks ago now, but he had still only rarely seen Wessy and Jared actually talk to each other outside of idle chitchat. Maybe that would change before the quiet feud inflicted any lasting damage, but what good would any progress do if that jealousy-exploding Toy Run trip was inevitable?
"So…" Millie suddenly interrupted everything as she slid over. "I overheard about Zach's big party… Not like I expect to be invited or would go even if I was, but if you want me to, I could probably find out what his big surprise is."
Everyone looked at one another as if to seriously contemplate the offer, though it only lasted a moment before Sadie answered for them, "No way, we don't spy on each other, Millie. If you're going to… ugh, hang out with us…"
"Stalk us," Jared murmur-jected.
"Then you gotta stop that. But if you do actually want to maybe show up, ask Zach instead of just, like, sneaking into his house or whatever. But don't you hate parties?"
She just shrugged. "Haven't been to enough… to really know."
With nothing else they really wanted to say to their gang's newest fan, everyone but Jace and Millie headed into their bus. Figuring that she might have something to say just to him, Jace reluctantly stayed put for a moment longer.
"Hey, um…" Millie looked rather sheepish again. "You know this is all still a bit weird for me, and them, but I just wanted to tell you that… Whether it's right now, or sometime in the future, I got your backs—you and Wes."
"That's… nice of you. But don't get too close to any of his friends. I know that sounds mean, but maybe… try to make your own? Ugh, this is coming out all wrong… Make them think you're okay, but… Look, just let me be born."
She snorted, smiled, and then laughed. "I've seen all the Back to the Future movies, too." She added in a playful nagging tone, "Don't wooorry, I'll be caaareful."
"Thanks. Um… If you haven't figured it out yet, Lucy's my mom."
She faked a gasp. "Impossible! Your uncle's only sibling is your mom? Really?"
"S-shut up…"
• •
Adult Wes treated himself and Jace to a nice dinner that evening, which had only happened a few times before, usually when he just couldn't go another night of eating the cheap stuff. Under a slowly setting sun, they ate in the outdoor seating area of Venetian, a relatively upscale Italian restaurant on Main Street.
As they finished up their meals, Jace stared at his uncle, sipping the last of his white wine. It was still strange watching him drink alcohol.
"… Do you actually like that stuff?" Jace asked him. "You kind of wince when you drink it. I know it's expensive, but you don't have to force yourself to drink it."
"I've had it before…" he replied with a cough. "I'm still not big on wine, but white, I can… tolerate. We're at one of the city's best restaurants—I had to splurge."
"You're just drinking that because Mom knows her wines… Trying to make yourself used to it isn't going to 'impress' her or make you seem sophisticated."
Wes snorted a bit. "Look at you, insulting me in more… mature ways."
Jace finished his last meatball and asked, "What are we celebrating, anyway?"
"Nothing in particular, really. But I did set up the monitoring equipment again today. Mostly because I'm just curious when, exactly, that door comes back to life. And if Warren cuts the wires this time, he'd better have a damn good reason."
"I don't really get why we still have to be here. For his plans, I mean. Whatever they are. I do want to graduate, again. If… just to end all this proper-like."
"You like your time at the school? Other than the work part of it?"
"Y-yeah… It's a lot different, not worrying so much about grades and everything, and mostly just looking forward to what's gonna happen on the playground. Today was pretty good, too… Zach took The Dump for a walk, and then Ms. Porter told us that she knew all along about the place… Man, she is so much better than my teacher."
Wes stopped chewing the remainder of his calamari to think for a moment, then swallowed and replied, "Oooh, yeah, I remember that. That was when I think she really solidified herself as the coolest teacher we ever had at Desert Tree."
"Zach says he's going to pick the next owner soon. Any spoilers you can share?"
He shook his head. "Nah, just wait and see for yourself. Be in that moment."
"H-hey, Wes… Are you really going to stay in the past a little longer, alone? Did you change your mind about that? Because I think you should come back with me…"
"Hm." Wes stared at the last of his pasta and twirled it around his fork. "Hm…"
"Come on, what more are you going to do here after we all graduate? You're always telling me how you don't like your middle school years much. Are you just going to stay inside and re-watch all your 90s shows as they come out for the millionth time?"
"Jace…"
"Y-yeah? What? … Hey, stop looking at me like that, like it's something you're still seriously thinking about. I feel like I've seen everything I needed to see. I know I'm a lot better than I used to be. You seem happier, and we fixed a lot of things. You've been back here for almost two years, it's… time to come home."
Wes exhaled and fell back into his chair instead of going for that last bite. After several seconds, he finally looked ready to give Jace his answer…
When something strange happened. His fork full of noodles, leaning against the side of his plate, began to rattle. It was barely perceptible; there wasn't enough vibration to actually move the fork, but it really was trembling as if a subwoofer was playing below the table. Wes also felt something beneath his seat, subtle, like there was a diesel engine underground. Jace didn't even seem to pick up on any of this.
"Is… something up?" Jace asked.
"Don't you feel that? It's like there's…" His fork stopped vibrating. "Wait… it's gone. Man, did you seriously not feel…" He suddenly remembered something he had learned in middle school about this aspect of nature, and looked over at the restaurant's indoor dining hall, at one of the hanging lights. None of the patrons seemed to notice it, either, but the light was definitely swinging ever so slightly.
"Do you see daemon stuff?" Jace looked a little panicked and darted his eyes about. "Is that what's going on? Eyes, tentacles… worse? What am I looking for?"
"Was that just a microquake, or a fore… shock…" Wes murmured incoherently.
"W-Wes…?" Jace exclaimed, his eyes suddenly as big as the dinner plates.
Wes turned around to see what he was looking at, and watched in disbelief as the traffic lights at a nearby intersection moved about in a windless evening. But it wasn't just all the lights in the area; the two could also feel something propagating into their feet and up their legs. The ground was shaking, and some distant car alarms were already filling up the city air that had just a second ago become unnaturally quiet.
"E-earthq-q-quake?" Jace stammered as local pedestrians sought cover under building entrances, or fell to the ground trying. "Y-you never said anything about a—"
"Shut up and get under the table!" Wes shouted.
The two scrambled to do so, following the example of the other restaurant patrons and some of the nearby staff. Wes didn't think it was an incredibly strong earthquake, but he didn't feel confident enough to walk to a safer space. Thankfully, while the sounds of groaning metal and popping concrete and asphalt were terrifying, nothing big seemed to be crashing onto the table.
"Is this really happening?" Jace asked after some cars on the nearby street either came to a screeching halt or rear-ended each other. "W-Wes, what do we do?"
"Stay right here and wait for it to end. C-come on, kid… They t-teach us about quake safety back in third grade… Did you s-skip that day?"
"N-no, but… Why isn't it stopping…?"
"J-just ride it out." Wes watched as his plate rattled right off the table and shattered. "We're under s-solid metal, we'll be fine… Juuust fine…"
Jace, feeling helpless and afraid, covered his eyes. But Wes observed and took in the sight of downtown Royal Valley under attack by tectonic movement, an event that had indeed never happened in the lifetime he knew. Across the street and a block away, a wobbling Victory Plaza sustained some damage when stress fractures appeared on its side and ran across the windows, shattering several dozen into a flurry of glass shards. In the other direction, the inner city's last and historic gas station had a gas pump explode into a tower of fire. Amid this chaos were hundreds of people still out in the open.
Wes braced himself for it to get worse, and thought of all the possible effects and consequences of this disaster. For all he knew, the future he had come from was already forever altered, maybe unrecognizable. This would change so much—like venues that would close before their time, and the new ones that would open in their place. Then there was the damage to infrastructure, King Arcade included. And the friendships…
He turned to Jace, still cowering, and realized that as of now… he probably wouldn't even exist. But he was still here, for the time being. Any changes decades away didn't seem to arrive instantaneously; maybe there was still time to correct…
*Wait, correct?* Wes thought. *How the hell do you prevent an earthquake?*
Then it stopped. The low rumbling sound disappeared, and the shaking abated, though Wes could still feel it in his bones. He hadn't been counting, and he knew that it likely felt as if it lasted longer than it actually did, but if he had to guess, it took about two minutes to conclude. Nearby gasps of relief and concern joined the chorus of car alarms, falling debris and burning fires. After another minute, once Wes felt confident that it was truly over, he slowly stood up as vehicle sirens added to the cacophony.
"J-Jace…" Wes knelt down and jostled him. "You okay, buddy? I think… I think we're okay now. H-hey, we gotta… We have to see if the car survived."
After taking a few stress-filled breaths, Jace shakily got to his feet and kept close to Wes. They began shuffling away from the restaurant, too afraid at first to even lift their legs off the ground. And while Wes could have easily walked away without paying for his meal, he double backed upon realizing the check hadn't arrived. Figuring it was enough, he took out a fifty-dollar bill and tucked it under the table's last intact plate.
The car was parallel parked just a block away, though given the fracture in the street they had to cross—and the mild to moderate destruction that surrounded them— the trek felt much longer. Many of the vehicles were hard to identify right away, as they were partially covered in dust and other debris. Jace found theirs first and pointed it out. Wes was disappointed, but not entirely surprised to see that a small chunk of concrete had fallen on the windshield, cracking the passenger half. He just hoped it still ran.
After getting in, he muttered a "Come on…" as he tried the ignition for the third time, which did thankfully start the car. "Okay… Okay, let's get out of here before fire trucks trap us here… Ah, oh, man…" He put his arms on the steering wheel and breathed out. "Just… holy shit, kid… I can't believe that happened."
Jace stared at him from his seat. "Do you think it was our fault?"
"I… I don't know. Maybe, over time, we made so many butterflies, that…" He sighed and shook his head. "There's no point making up theories. Let's wait for Warren. And maybe… see what the damage is like in Desert Tree."
He pulled the car out and started down the road, with two blaring ambulances passing them within seconds. The route home was mostly clear, a notable exception being one of the older billboards that had fallen over and blocked a lane. Wes was pretty sure it was one of the many in town that had been plastered with a King Arcade advert.
• •
The main entrance to the neighborhood was blocked by police cars and fire trucks, so Wes drove past it and turned into the smaller, secondary road that Mansion Street connected with—a dead-end lane also blocked by fire trucks. Everyone who lived on the cul-de-sac had been evacuated from their homes and now formed a crowd at the end of their street. The lamps still worked, and provided light under a twilight sky.
With swirling red beams filling the car interior, Jace looked out, remembered who lived here, and asked Wes, "W-wait, pull over. We should see if they're okay…"
"Who? It looks like a gas leak. I'm sure it's under control."
"Willa, Wright, and Robby all live here. Please, Wes? I'm… kind of worried."
Wes had no arguments, so he pulled off to the side and got out with Jace. As he sought his classmates, Wes took the opportunity to look for damage. Other than some cracked roads and sidewalks, it seemed that only spotty gas leaks afflicted the area.
"Wright, now you're the one with an obsession," Robby's voice broke through the local diesel engines and crowd noises. "Look what's happening to the neighborhood!"
Jace spotted them under a streetlight, playing a Pogs game on the sidewalk of all places, of all times. But Robby was only actually a spectator—Brian was the one Wright was playing against, and he was looking desperate to win as he held up a slammer with a shaky hand. Brian was just waiting on the curb, looking like he wanted to go home.
"Just one more…" Wright huffed. "If I can flip just a few of these and take 'em, I can start winning back the rest of my collection…"
As he got closer to investigate, Jace noticed four empty tubes by Wright, and a pile of won Pogs near Brian; some of them the cheap cardboard cartoon character kind; others, the more special plastic holographic types, glinting under the cone of light.
"What's going on here? Other… than the fire crews?" Jace wondered.
"Oh…" Brian breathed out. "I came over here to do a l-little friendly Pogs game with him—I like t-trading them around and s-stuff, but the earthquake happened right as he was about to s-slam my stack, and I ended up winning all of his instead."
"Um, okay, I still don't know how the game works myself, but, Wright? Your priorities are kind of messed up. Brian's parents are probably worried about him."
"Okay, okay—we can continue this tomorrow," he replied and tried to aim his metal coin with one eye. "Just one more slam, lemme try to win back a few of mine."
A bicycle bell rang just as Wright let loose, screwing up his aim. Having missed, Brian took his turn and, without trying, flipped Wright's last small stack. He scooped up his winnings and pocketed them all as Wright pounded the pavement in disbelief.
"Gah! My entire collection, gone because of a stupid earthquake!"
"I'll g-give them back if you really want me to…" Brian offered.
"Holy crap, man, are you seriously playing Pogs right now?" Jared asked, having arrived with Wessy and Colin on their bikes. "Whole city shakes, and you're doing this."
"Hey, g-guys," Brian greeted them. "What's up?"
"We're going around, seeing what's happening," Colin replied, his bike the only one with an actual light attached. "Couldn't get Zach to come out, though. He's freaking out about something—almost as much as Wright is about some cardboard circles."
"Y-yeah…" Brian stared at the big gambler. "C-can I go backsies with one of you for a r-ride home? I think he needs s-some… alone time right now."
"Sure," Wessy said and patted his bike's luggage carrier. "You good, Jason?"
"I'm… fine…" he murmured. "I'm with my dad."
"Okay, cool." He then told his friends once Brian was with him, "Hey, the twins' house is just past Brian's place. Let's check on them, too."
They peddled off into the coming night, and Jace turned back to the streetlight, where Wright was still having a very uncool fit. Robby had left him, too, to be closer to Willa and her parents. Her dad held her three-year-old brother in his arms, who seemed to have fallen asleep amidst all of the commotion, while she grasped her mom's hand and looked quite worried about her home. Her cat ears were nowhere in sight.
• •
Annoyingly, commercials were playing on the TV when Wes first switched to the local station after the two got home. But the ads gave them a moment to settle onto the couch before Kelly and Larry appeared on the screen for a special ongoing news broadcast that had preempted all of the normal Monday night programming.
"And we're back with our ongoing coverage of today's earthquake," Kelly began, having done this for an hour straight with minimal makeup. "We had some numbers come in during the break from the USGS and our hospitals, which Larry will share with us. Larry, what's the damage from the trembler?"
"Well, most importantly, there have been no serious injuries reported. But the cost is already expected to be into the millions." An epicenter map appeared over his shoulder, showing how the quake had originated about thirty miles to the northwest. "A sister fault of the San Andreas may have 'slipped,' resulting in a quake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale. This comes just weeks after the blackout, so many people are still…"
Wes lowered the volume when he heard the deadbolt unlock itself. Warren came right in, locking the door behind him and removing his mask. He was out of breath, and his armor had several grazing scorch marks that made Wes more worried than angry.
He got up and tried to ask, "Warren, what…"
"No time," he panted with a raised hand. "Too dangerous—cops are after me."
"Warren, did we…" Jace spoke up. "Did we cause… like… a timequake?"
The ninja shook his head, replying, "I don't know if this was us. I'm still looking for the cause—there has to be a cause. This never happened before, all the times I time-traveled beyond today. It's only when this you arrived, the… pair of you on ticking time."
"Not making much sense here, kid," Wes grunted. "Look, you gotta tell us something real. Obviously, we—any one of us must have screwed something up."
"Maybe not…" Warren reached into a side bag, pulled out two quartzes, and gave them to Wes and Jace. "Keep them safe. They're synched; one goes, and they both do. Failsafe is tomorrow morning. Give me time to figure this out. I'll get back to you."
"You're scaring me, kid. You wouldn't give us these things if you were making a promise. What have you gotten yourself into? You look exhausted."
"I've been at this for a while… Jumping back and forth, trying to solve a puzzle. The earthquake always happens now." He grabbed his self-replenishing water bottle and gulped down half of it before wiping his mouth and adding, "It didn't used to."
"What are we supposed to do? This isn't a reality I'm used to anymore. It's all going to start to diverge into some dark alternate universe. When will you come back?"
"Soon." He took a breath and headed to the door. "Real soon. Maybe just take a few days and see how bad things get… It'll make you appreciate what you had."
Wes wanted to ask what exactly he meant, but couldn't say another word before Warren vanished into the night. He and Jace, both confused, looked at each other and silently pondered just what would come next after such a major detour in the road.