Dreamworld

For Jay's "Breaking the Line"

I’m in an alleyway in Coma City, leaning against a wall and listening to a street busker playing violin not far off. Mandy is sitting across from me, a hood drawn over her face so no one can recognize her. I can tell it’s almost time for us to go, as she’s getting a little fidgety. Actually, she’s always a little fidgety. She can’t hold still for over 5 seconds. I made sure of that when I created her.

She squirms a little bit more, checks her watch, and stands up silently. I watch as she says something to the busker, pulls out a wad of bills and drops them in his case. I smirk, reminded of instrument stereotypes and not being surprised much that this violinist with a mohawk is in the streets. It sounds cruel, but being a musician myself, I know that we all live up to our instrument stereotype in one way or another. Which reminds me, when I go back to my world, I need to create a saxophone for myself and busk the next time I come here. It would be good practice.

Mandy finishes her conversation with the busker and walks past, motioning for me to follow. The sky is starting to darken and I know my time here is going to come to an end soon. We walk a couple blocks in silence, avoiding the judgemental eyes of business people and passerby as we go against the crowd. It’s all a part of the ruse. In her true identity, Mandy would be flocked by people just trying to get a glance at her, but with this disguise, no one suspects that a street bum could be a superhero. It’s perfect.

We enter a small antique shop, and the old man hunched at the counter nods our way. Mandy ignores him, passing by, and I wave. “What today?” he asks.

“Oh, just the normal,” I reply. “Morning patrol, avoiding the rush hour, got some food at Bluebird’s, stopped a couple baddies, oh, we did run into Sayyaf this afternoon, and we listened to a street busker before we came here.”

“Sounds like a busy day,” he says. “I didn’t get many customers today. It was pretty uneventful.”

“You should go as a crazy old guy in the streets again. That would be entertaining.”

“It would.”

“Hurry up!” I hear Mandy call from the back of the store.

I shrug towards the old man. “Well, nature calls.”

“See you around.”

I make my way to the back of the store, where Mandy is waiting. In silence, we go through the trapdoor, to the tunnel under the city that leads to the S.W.O.R.D base. Ever since I came here, Mandy has to take the tunnel instead of just flying, and I just can’t make myself wings.

We are halfway there when I hear a knocking noise. “Do you hear that?” I ask Mandy.

“Er… no?” she says.

I curse under my breath. “Someone has the grace to wake me up early. Well, I gotta go.”

Mandy looks disappointed. “But I thought you were gonna stay and play poker with us.”

The knocking noise in my head progresses into pounding. “Well... whoever’s at my door right now is really impatient. I’d better go. Say hi to the others for me.”

“Ok,” Mandy says. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

My eyes snap open, and I am back in reality. Someone is pounding at the door of my apartment. I groan and fall out of bed, attempting but failing not to trip on the things littering my bedroom floor. Pulling on a sweatshirt, I tumble into the bathroom, run my fingers a couple times through my crazy hair, and sprint to the door, bouncing off the walls. When I throw the door open it is definitely not who I expect.

Author's Note

A part of another one of our noncanon Metaverse stories. This is not done yet, but I think I left it on a good cliffhanger.