A little over a week later

John pushed the door to the bar open, smiling as he took a quick few strides to the bar and pulled up one of the stools. “Hey, Robert!”

Robert, the bartender, smiled at John. “Kid, I told you just call me Bobby. Your teacher does.”

“Yeah, but it always looks like you get annoyed when he does that,” John replied, grabbing a glass of water that Robert had slid towards him. “Plus, you’re, like, twice my age. Feels weird calling you Bobby.”

Robert rolled his eyes, picking up a glass and starting to dry it. “Whatever. How are you doin’ today?”

“Pretty good,” John said after sipping his water. “Finished my chem project with Moira, Kelli, and Titus. So that's a nice weight off my shoulders. Plus, we called ahead and found that the arcade is actually going to be open today so Alex, Cho, and I can actually do what we planned last week.”

“What was wrong with the arcade?” Robert asked.

“Apparently some kid in there got sick playing one of the games. And he vomited. A lot.”

“Okay, no need to explain any more,” Robert said with a grimace. “Took them a week to clean it?”

“Nah, but Cho has a family thing on Sundays and I have this through most of the week. Plus, Alex does things with her dad on Saturdays. Fridays were the only day we could all plan to do things together without having to worry about school in the morning.”

“Smart plan,” another voice interjected, walking from the back and taking a seat near John. The large man grabbed his own glass of water and took a light sip. “Gotta stay in school, kid.”

“Thats what I said!” John agreed, giving Danny, the bouncer, an approving nod. The man was terrifying in stature and looked like he could throw the moon if he really tried, but after spending some time talking with him between training and school, he learned the man was an utter softie. Probably the nicest guy in the whole of Springfield. Assuming you weren’t someone who had to get thrown out of the bar, that is.

“Well if today is your arcade day, what are you doing here?” Robert asked. “Shouldn’t you be enjoying the one day you aren’t working out?”

“Moira asked me to drop this off,” John said, procuring a letter from his inventory. “Drop it off to Erik, that is.”

“Drop what off to me?”

John turned on his stool, seeing his teacher standing there looking… well, a bit more cleaned up since when they first met. His hair was a bit more tamed, and his beard had seen a razor sometime in the past week. He was drinking out of a coffee cup, and was clearly still dressed in more relaxed clothes with sweat pants and an old t-shirt.

John passed him the letter. “From Moira. She asked me nicely not to read it, so no idea what it says.” As Erik opened up the letter and began to read, John turned back to Robert. “Any luck on the fateweaver thing?”

“Sorry, kid,” Robert said with a shake of his head. “I contacted the weaver that made my bar, only to hear nothin' back. For all I know they're dead or no longer a fateweaver. Or just really good at avoiding my calls.”

“Damn,” John muttered. “Moira also couldn’t get ahold of the Order’s ordained fateweaver. Apparently he’s off in Alberta learning something about keeping rats out.”

“Why’s a fateweaver learnin’ about rats?” Danny asked.

John shrugged. “No idea. Moira really didn’t go into it all that much. But I was really hoping you’d find one. I have no idea how else to learn how to make an illusion barrier.”

“Don’t your weird powers let you just try shit and have it work?” Robert pondered.

John shook his head. “Well, yeah, but no. I tried doing it by myself but got nowhere. I honestly don’t even know how to start or even envision making a separate dimension all on my own. Maybe if I had learned some sort of creation magic from the start, bu-”

“Yeah, yeah. We get it kid,” Erik interrupted, slipping the letter into the pocket of his pants. “Aren’t you supposed to be off being a normal kid for a bit?”

“I’m 18.”

“And still a kid in my eyes,” Erik said with a smile. “Now get out of here. Or else I’m going to assume you don’t feel properly worked out and need to give me a few dozen laps around the block. At full speed.”

“Aww, shit, would you look at the time!” John said, pretending to check a non-existent watch on his wrist. “I’ve gotta go be anywhere else! Shit, well, hate to drink and run but bye!” John gave Robert and Danny a wave, which they reciprocated, and made his way out the door.

However, just before he could fully leave the barrier, he overheard Robert speak up behind him, “Want a beer, Erik?”

“Nah, trying to cut down.”

A moment of silence followed, and John leaned a bit closer to the inner door to listen better. “He’s a good kid, ain’t he?” Robert said after a moment.

“Who says my drinking habits have anything to do with him?” Erik said gruffly. But as John turned to leave, he heard Erik say softly, “Yeah. He is.”

“Took you long enough, dork.”

John grinned at his two friends, who were waiting for him right outside the Springfield mall. Cho was dressed in his usual form of casual wear, with jeans and a graphic tee. This one happened to have a picture of some baby chickens stuck onto a large magnet with the phrase “Chick magnet” right across his chest. Alex, meanwhile, was dressed in tight black jeans and a black tank top that hugged her curves in ways that made John drool ever so much. She had a light jacket on over all that, but it was unzipped, letting John see her midriff and generous cleavage.

“Sorry, had to talk with Erik for a few moments.”

“He better not have tried to get you to stay on your day off,” Cho remarked.

“Nah, if anything, he was threatening me to get me to leave.”

“Good,” Alex said, standing up from the bench she was sitting on. “With that out of the way, we have something we need to take care of.”

“Something that has been needed to be handled for a long time,” Cho added.

Alex pointed an accusatory finger at John before almost yelling, “You! Have been avoiding our DDR challenges!”

John chuckled, holding up his hands in mock surrender. “I told you guys, I’m shit at DDR! I didn’t want to embarrass myself.”

“Yeah, but where else can we get **** videos of you?” Cho asked before coming over and grabbing John’s arm. “You’ve been working out, you owe us a proper challenge at DDR now!”

“Oh, come on, as if working out and training to fight translates to DDR skills!” John protested.

Alex grabbed his other arm, and the two of them dragged John into the mall. “No buts, Newman. You have been avoiding our challenges for years now, no getting out of it this time!”

“Especially since the kid puking on it had a chance of ruining the machine. We gotta have our battle before the machine gets ruined forever!”

John laughed and grimaced at the thought of the puking kid. “Okay, okay, but ONLY if you two agree to also challenge me in games you guys aren’t as good at.”

“Sure, sure, whatever,” Alex said with a dismissive wave. “Now come on! DDR is waiting!”

John rolled his eyes, and after pulling his arms free, the three of them walked through the Springfield mall together. John took a moment to look around at the various shops that populated the shopping center. There were the usual suspects, a Hot Topic, Spencers, Aunty Em’s Pretzels, Claires, all the classics. But there were a few special ones that caught John’s gaze. Something called “The Dungeon Trove” which seemed to be a nerdy D&D/collectible shop thing. There was another one called “Making a Kilning” which had a lot of pottery and local art, and was owned by a rather kindly old gentleman. But the one that caught everyone’s attention was easily “Felicity’s”, which was the lingerie store to end all lingerie stores. Not only did it sell articles right out of most boys' wet dreams, but it also had the mannequins all set in the most sexual and provocative poses possible. It was the kind of store that made heads turn just by its mere presence, and was a place that John desperately wanted to explore at some point.

However, being a young man without a girlfriend to buy for, he would have been seen as little more than a pervert and freak if he went in on his own. So, for now, the other stores would have to satiate his need to explore.

Thankfully “Felicity’s” was not too far from the arcade the three friends were going to. Known as “Level Up!” the arcade was formative for John, Cho, and Alex as a group. Many weekends and summer days had been spent in this place, perfecting various skills through fighting games or pinball machines. It’s where John found his love for video games, and where the three friends would all develop a friendly rivalry with certain games.

Speaking of certain games…

“Perfect,” Cho said, rubbing his hands together. “DDR machine is open. Let’s get in there and finally settle who is the true dancing champion.”

“Ah, yes, two people who have been locked in an eternal championship, and one guy who tripped over his shoelaces on the regular a couple of weeks ago.” John rolled his eyes. “I really don’t get what you think this will prove.”

“It will finally give you a place on the scoreboard,” Alex said, paying the front teller. The arcade let you stay as long as you like and play as many games as you want for a simple $20 entry fee. Though if you wanted to buy tokens for some of the prize-rewarding games, that was also an option. John and Cho both handed over their payments, and John made a note to thank his mom for his weekly allowance of $30. Though he really needed to look into finding a way to make money with his new magic. There had to be something, right?

Maybe Robert needed some help around the bar.

“Alright, now to make this fair, Cho and I are going to go against each other first,” Alex said as she scrolled through some of the songs. “Loser of that will go first against you followed by the winner. Just to get a proper ranking against each of us.”

“Fine by me,” John said, taking a seat. While Cho and Alex got ready, he took a moment to look over his character sheet.

John had really grown over the past week. Sure, his fighting skills were still at base level, which was a work in progress. But his stats had changed a LOT thanks to his constant training and two level ups. The only stat that had remained unchanged was Libido, which was fine. He already had enough in that and needed to focus on being more physically fit and mentally strong if he was to properly survive in the Abyss. Robert, Danny, and Erik had regaled him with stories about the Abyss, and combining that with the stories that Moira would occasionally tell him just made him convinced that he was lucky that nothing had happened to him over the past week. Trappers, kidnappers, criminal guilds and random monsters made the Abyss extremely dangerous, and John had been lucky to avoid all of them.

It probably helped that he spent most of his time outside of school with several high level fighters. Robert was level 12 when John last checked, and Danny was 14. Erik was… well, John didn’t actually know. When he used Observe on his teacher, his level only showed up as three question marks. John assumed that was because he was just high enough that John’s low level couldn’t see it. But who knows? Maybe his teacher was secretly a god and just hiding his power level.

“And the champion continues to reign supreme,” Alex said, while Cho just simply groaned in defeat. John closed his character sheet and looked up, seeing that while their numbers were sorta close, Alex was a clear winner between the two of them. “Don’t worry, Ling. One of these days you will dethrone the queen.”

“I beat you two months ago!”

“Yeah, but that was two months ago. This is now, and you’ve gotten your ass kicked soundly and thoroughly." Alex stepped off the platform, stretching her arms and giving John a quick moment to drink in the sight of her body. God, he was starting to get down bad for her. “Now, the queen would like to go grab a drink. You guys want anything?”

“Water for me,” John said as he stood up.

“Diet coke and water for me. Thanks, Alex.” Cho began to scroll through the songs, looking for one to sufficiently trounce John with. As he did, Alex walked over to John and whispered into his ear, “If you manage to beat Cho, or at least come within a few points of him, I’ll owe you a favor.”

John raised an eyebrow. “Why are you bribing me?”

Alex shrugged. “Wanna see you do your best, and I figured you would do better with… motivation.” She winked at him and walked off, and John swore she was putting a bit of extra sway into her hips. Was she…? No. No, she couldn’t be. This was Alex! She would sooner kiss a cop than actively look for sexual attention from guys, especially John! They were friends! Sure, John had a huge crush on her and was starting to fall head over heels for her and was really starting to simp but friends!

Right?

“Earth to John!” Cho said, waving a hand in front of John’s face. “You ready to get beat or what?”

John shook the cobwebs from his head, stepping up onto the dance mat and planting his feet in the “ready” position.

“Bring it.”- - - - - -

“You fucking cheated.”

John laughed again, taking another swig from his water. John had managed to beat Cho at DDR, and pretty succinctly too. He still did lose to Alex when it was time for their matchup, but still. The fact that he beat Cho was a huge surprise.

“I don’t know what to tell you, man. Working out has been a-”

“Bullshit!” Cho said, pointing an accusatory finger at John. “You’ve been working out for about a week! That should not have made you this good at DDR this quickly!”

“To be fair, you did pick one of the few songs John actually knows from the machine. And did just go against me the round before,” Alex pointed out as she sipped on something from Starbucks. John and Cho got vending machine drinks, but Alex apparently took the time to splurge on herself. “Probably shouldn’t have given him that leg up.”

“I thought I was being nice!” Cho said, crossing his arms. “C’mon, John. Rematch! Right here, right now!”

“And ruin my 50/50 win streak? No way. Maybe you can get me next week, but we still got other games to play!” John’s stomach then rumbled rather loudly, getting a chuckle from the three friends. “Or I guess we’ve got food to go get first.”

Cho let out a defeated sigh. “Yeah, I could eat too. But I swear, John. When we rematch next week, I will remind you why I have been the champion before. You’re doing good now, but pride cometh before the fall.”

“Hey pot, name’s kettle. You’re black,” Alex said with an eyeroll.

“Oh, ha ha.”

“Less talky, more walky,” John said, walking ahead of the two of them. “Wanna go get something from the food court?”

“Nah, half the shit in there is microwaved crap and the other half is overpriced slop,” Alex remarked. “What about that place across the street?”

“That new burger place?” Cho asked. “Heard good reviews about it, but hadn’t checked it out yet. But I could go for a proper burger. You in, John?”

John nodded, and the three of them all began the trek to their chosen restaurant. Along the way the three of them continued to talk about anything and everything, just having fun and laughing and joking as friends are wont to do. It was about halfway to the burger place when John felt something. He felt like he was being watched, and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He looked around, and realized that the three of them were a bit out of the way of other people at the mall. They were more or less in an alleyway, and the hustle and bustle of the street had died down to a strange and ominous quiet.

“Guys, do you-” Then another voice rang out, echoing through the alley way. John turned, and saw the one person he had been avoiding all week. Not only that, but his hated foe was also flanked by two other beefy meatheads, and all three looked ready to put the hurt on John and his friends.

“Well, well, well. Look what we found,” Frank said, cracking his knuckles.