"We don't have a lot of time," Marcus was rushing Cass out of the building and Cass was glad for his speed, otherwise he may not have been able to keep up with the man. "They're not competing tonight so they'll likely be in their reserved seats at the top of the Hyatt."

They moved through the city as quickly as they could until they reached a parking structure next to a large hotel. Marcus flashed a badge and they were permitted into the structure, fighting through crowds as they climbed the stairs. Marcus was out of breath when they reached the top, bent over and panting as he pointed to a roped off area near the end of the parking lot.

"Over. There. Misfit. Toys." He gasped in a few breaths then collected himself before walking towards the area. They were stopped by large man. Cass looked around him and saw a group of strange individuals reclining on comfortable furniture. Well, most were reclining - a young girl was balanced on the back of a chair, one hand holding cards and the other reaching for a chess board. The weirdest thing was that all of them were wearing full face masks, the kind normally seen at raves and TikTok videos.

"Tell Weeble we have something he'll want to hear," Marcus said.

"Sorry, he doesn't want to be disturbed."

"This is important, Chet. Let us through, man. You know I'm solid. He'll want what I have."

"Not tonight, Marcus. They're watching Jamal."

Marcus cursed under his breath. He looked to the arena and saw a tall, thin black man with a large afro and heavy boxing gloves sitting cross-legged in the middle of the arena, surrounded by a group of men who were obviously fighters.

"Damn, Jamal doesn't fight often and it's always a show when he does," he said to Cass.

"So how do we get their attention?"

"I don't think we do, at least not until after the fight. Although we may not catch them after - the crowd will be wild."

"What do they want? What would get their attention?"

Marcus considered. "Not money, they have plenty of that."

"Should I offer to fight them?"

Marcus scoffed. "They'd probably wipe the floor with you, but no - they get people challenging them all the time. You'd have to give them something really interesting - more interesting than this fight."

Cass racked his brain. He could see that the fight was about to start, but didn't have any ideas. Should he throw an item into their area? Run in there and snatch them away? Could he even do that?

Cass turned to look at the fight that was about to start and had an idea. He flashed forward at full speed, ready to take out every combatant in the arena.

He hit an invisible barrier and was hurled backwards, his world going white.

"Woah," the voice of an announcer said loud enough for everyone to hear. "It looks like we have someone who wants to join the fun! Must be a newbie if he didn't know about the forcefield!"

The crowd roared with laughter and Cass scrunched his eyes shut against that sound as much as from the pain blasting through his head.

"What was that?" He whispered.

"That's the forcefield, silly!"

He opened his eyes and saw a girl standing over him, her mask showing a pixelated face with too-large eyes and a wicked smile. "Why'd you go and do that?"

He looked around and realized he'd bounced off the barrier and slid right into the roped-off area.

"I just wanted to talk to you," he croaked.

"Awe, little ol' me?" The eyes on her mask turned into hearts that pulsed before exploding into a shower of flower petals.

He sat up, rubbing his head. "Well, all of you, really." Her mask turned to a frown with crying eyes and he popped a healing pill into his mouth.

"What was that?"

A lean man got up from the couch and walked to Cass. "What did you just eat?"

"Oh this?" Cass pulled another healing pill out of his storage and handed it to the man. "It's a healing pill. I needed it after running face first into the forcefield."

Weeble turned it over in his hand, inspecting it. "This is new. Where did you buy it?"

"I didn't, and we have a lot where I'm from. Want it?"

Weeble had already pocketed it, though, squatting to bend over Cass. "And what other interesting toys do you have, my clumsy friend?"

Not long after they found themselves in a private area of the connecting hotel, the Toys having their own floor. The floor had rooms aplenty, but much of it had been cleared out as a common room with miscellaneous arcade games and pinball machines that were kept active by some means Cass couldn't identify. The girl, Slinky, was perched on the edge of a table, cards once again in one hand and a chessboard in front of her. They'd decided to continue their games here, the big, silent man studying the chessboard intently - as intently as Cass could determine with his black mask - and the other man was laying cards down on the table. Cass couldn't see the cards but he could tell that the girl was about to destroy the other man in chess.

"So you come seeking our help?" Weeble said. Marcus had explained the situation, the deal with the Mehta sisters, and what was offered. He hated dealing with The Toys since their total lack of facial expressions made it impossible to tell how they felt about any deal. It didn't help that they were all mercurial, their wants mysterious and changing from moment to moment.

"Let's go through what you're offering, again," Weeble said and held up his hand.

Stolen story; please report.

"Money," Marcus said.

"Don't need it." Weeble reached over and bent one finger down.

"Glory, prestige, honor."

"Have it." Another finger down.

"A chance to advance."

"Nah." Another finger down.

"Toys. Lots of equipment and items you've never seen before."

This got a longer pause as Weeble considered, but then another finger down.

"One chance left," Weeble said.

Marcus slumped in his chair, rubbing his face in frustration. "I don't know man, what do you want?"

Cass couldn't see Weeble's expression but he knew the man was smiling behind the mask. What DO you want? Cass thought hard. What could they even want? He looked around the room at everything they had. Games aplenty, toys, entertainment above… Wait, entertainment!

"Novelty," he said.

Weeble's hand reached up then paused. He turned to face Cass and cocked his head. "Continue."

Cass realized he was on the right track, he just wasn't sure exactly how to say it. He knew he'd only get one chance and he couldn't afford to blow it. He took a deep breath and dived in.

"How long has it been since you played any of these games?" He looked around, but Weeble was silent. "How long has it been since you've seen an original fight up there?" He nodded to the roof.

"How long has it been since something actually got you excited?" Weeble wasn't moving and Cass realized that the others had stopped playing their games, all of them turned to listen to him. He stood up and paced.

"You're at the top of the heap here. You're big fish in a little pond. It has to be so boring to watch the same fights with the same people. It has to be boring to fight the same creatures every day. It has to be so, so boring to fight the same people, knowing damned well that you're going to beat them every time."

He stopped and faced all of them. "How long has it been since you've been challenged? Since you've been at risk? When is the last time you almost died?"

"And why would we want to die?" Weeble asked. Cass's heart lurched, wondering if he'd misstepped, but he didn't think that Weeble was offended.

"You probably don't - none of us do. But when is the last time your heart was racing? When is the last time you were actually excited?"

The girl did a backflip off the table, turning it into a tumble, only for her to pop up directly in front of Cass, running a ringer down his chest. "And you think you can get us excited, barrier boy?"

Cass flushed but continued. "Where I live we are fighting for our lives every day. Do you want items? You'll get more than you can carry. You want levels? You'll get them. You want breakthroughs to more power? You'll have all the opportunities you want."

He paused, meeting their… well, not eyes. "But do you want excitement? I've been through more out there in the last month than you all have likely seen since The System arrived." He feared that he had pushed too hard, but his instincts told him that they weren't the types to get offended at a little bravado, and that they respected strength. "I have fought robot zombies, giant gorillas that called down lightning, hordes of beetles that erupt from the ground around you, and even more, weirder things than you could imagine. The Cryptid Challenge is coming and there are going to be creatures we've never even imagined coming for us - how many do you think will be left for you once the rest of the city is done with them? With how central this building is you'll be lucky if any make it your way. The way I see it, you can sit here in your comfortable hotel, watching the same fights, playing the same games, and just wondering what it's all for."

"Or," he looked at all of them, "You can come with me and have some fun."

The room was silent as he looked from face to face. Marcus was staring at him, mouth agape. Cass got the impression that some sort of communication was happening between the others but he couldn't figure out what it was. Moments passed and Cass wondered if he'd pushed it too hard. His skin was starting to prickle again and he felt the flush of embarrassment and shame creeping into his face.

After a few more moments Weeble slashed his hand through the air, ending whatever silent conversation they'd been having. He stood up and walked up to Cass.

"Okay kid, you've intrigued us. But this isn't a free ride. First off, we want first dibs at any particularly cool things that pop up."

"If it makes tactical sense, I don't see that that'll be an issue."

"Good," Weeble replied. "Next, we won't be ordered around."

"That's a non-starter," Cass said. "We are fighting as a group. I can talk to my mo - my group about giving you freedom to act, but it'll have to be what makes the most tactical sense. You won't be there just to have fun, we still have to survive this together as a group, which means you'll need to listen to orders."

There was a silent communication again before Weeble replied. "We can work out the details, but we'll agree to some loose structure."

Cass nodded. "Anything else?"

This time Cass knew he was smiling behind his mask. "Yeah, one last thing. You need to prove that you can carry your own weight."

Cass was standing in a large combat cell that half the floor had been converted into, the Toys arrayed around him in a half circle.

"So here's the rules, buddy boy," Weeble said. "No weapons, no lethal powers. All you have to do is knock us down."

"That's it? Knock you down?"

The Toys laughed and Cass only grew more confused.

"That's it! Once our asses hit the ground we're done. If your ass hits the ground, you're done."

"Okaaaay…" Cass said. "No weapons, but can I use my shield? It looks like you guys get to keep your masks on."

Another round of laughter.

"Sure, that's fine. And if anyone gets hurt you give them one of your healing pills. We're not funding your little venture here."

Cass shrugged again. "Okay then. So when do we start?"

"No-"

Rock'Em, Beyblade, and Slinky were suddenly in the air, flipping end over end. Weeble's mask exploded in pure white, every pixel lighting up.

"-w" Weeble grunted, sliding backwards just as the other three hit the ground. He coughed and looked around at the other three, all of them uninjured but climbing to their feet in confusion.

"What happened?" Beyblade asked as he stood up.

"Seems our kid here is a speedster," Weeble said. "Faster than any I've ever seen. Packs a pretty good punch too," he said as he rubbed his torso.

He straightened and faced Cass. "You hit like a fucking truck, man. Well done. Now let's see how you like it."

Weeble rushed forward, power glowing around his fist. Cass extended his shield just in time for the punch to land with all the concentrated power Cass had put into his attacks.The Mag-Charge shield stored the power and Cass could read the surprise in Weeble's body language as he didn't go down. Cass returned the punch with a shield bash and Weeble went flying to slam against the far wall, sliding down it to land on his feet. Cass prepared for another charge only for Weeble to wobble, then fall down.

Dawn broke to find The Misfit Toys and the Mehta sisters standing in Marcus's tent. Cass addressed the group.

"Okay, so I have to go give everyone a heads-up that I'm bringing you in, then I'll come back for you. I can only take two of you at a time, but the trip is only like five minutes so it should be quick."

"I don't like this method of transport," Nisha said. "Can we not find our own ways there?"

"You could," Cass said, "but it'd take a long time to walk. It's better if I just drop you off."

"This seems suspicious," Beyblade said.

"You've all signed the contracts and you know that our friend, Cass, has your best interests at heart. He needs you to get there safely. I trust him. I have experienced his travel and I can assure you it's very fast." He did his best to control the shudder that passed through him.

"It'll be okay, I promise. Just give me 15 minutes and I'll be back." With that Cass was gone, returning soon after to start transporting people to his neighborhood.

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