comedysituation.act1p2

scenes xi-xii

A Few Reunion Tours

           Another summer Saturday, another visit to Royal Valley’s mall. Like Wes’ group of childhood friends that pretty much always went together, everyone in Jace’s modern circle was with him; which wasn’t a surprise, since they’d take any excuse or free ride to spend a couple hours at a place that seemed to teeter on the beginnings of a downward spiral. Even Warren, who still didn’t like any big shopping plazas, was among present company, because at least he was with childhood friends.

           As Wes chaperoned the teens and Sally, with Lex and Lucy helping out—and also there to see “Mr. 90s”—he couldn’t keep his thoughts from drifting to the one person most in his mind. I’ve been coming here since I was a kid, he thought. How many hours of my life have been spent in this place? How many hours of Gavin’s? What did he think of our mall? Did he have good memories of it, or were they overshadowed by the big ones in Los Angeles?

           “Oh, my God…” Laurie was the first to let out a mocking snicker when they got to the mall atrium, where Izuki was set up at a foldout table. “Is that it? What a joke!”

           “Laurie, be nice,” her parent Lex said with a disapproving sigh. “But, uh, yeah, that is a little sad. Only three people in line, all our age. I don’t even see any security.”

           “Well, I bet we can brighten Izuki-san’s day, right?” Emiko said optimistically.

           “I’m not asking that guy for his sig,” Toby muttered. He then added with a light chuckle, “Might take a selfie with him in the back, though. Could be meme material.”

           Wes, Lucy, and Jace hung back a bit as the others continued on to meet the local D-list celebrity, and after Wes saw his sister’s “now what?” look, he reached out and tapped Emiko’s shoulder. The always-slightly-spacey girl turned around with a smile.

           “Hm? Wes, are you embarrassed to ask for his signature?” she assumed.

           “Actually, Emi, could you do something for us?” he requested. She tilted her head like a bird, and he thought of how best to put it. “Can you stay close to ‘Kaito’ over there, listen in, and tell us what he likes to talk about? Or even, like, I dunno… what you think of how he talks? See, we want to find out more about him.”

           “Huh? Why do you want me to spy on Izuki-san?”

           Jace replied flatly, “Because the mayor thinks he’s a spy.”

           “Is that why you got to meet the mayor? Okay, sure!” she said and skipped off.

           Wes gave his nephew a weak, back-handed slap on his shoulder. “You told her about that? You know we have to be careful. And who’s he spying for, Jace?”

           He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, Unk. We all like Emi, but she is kind of on a different planet most of the time. Don’t worry, though. She’s cool.” Jace looked up at his mom, who was trying to cover up a little smile, and asked, “What?”

           “Mm. Oh, nothing. Is this how the two of you are when you’re, you know, doing important stuff in the past? It sounds like you really bonded over these kinds of things.”

           “You are taking this surprisingly well, Luce,” Wes said. “And I haven’t even told you about the dangerous parts of our travels yet. It gets crazier, trust me.”

           “I’m still trying to get over you being Wes’ friend Jason, Jace!” Lucy exclaimed. “Thinking back about him, you, now… I totally see it. Did Wes ever tell you that me and Lex had Ms. Porter in fifth grade, too? Oh, and the things Lex brought to The Dump… We could really get closer by sharing those stories! You were at school back then, with us… Wow.” She took a moment to compose herself, and a thought occurred to her. “I just realized; you know that a now Mrs. Porter teaches eleventh grade at Steader High, right? Social studies. You’re probably going to have her again one semester.”

           Jace’s eyes widened a little as this fact also hit him. “Think she’ll remember me somehow? I mean, I won’t remember by then, but… Yeah, that’s a little weird.”

           “Plenty of time to talk about this later, guys,” Wes said. “We got a job here.”

           “Yes, sir!” Lucy replied waggishly and saluted him. “Time investigators on duty!”

           He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Please don’t do that, Luce.”

           Over at the signing area, Lex was next and behind a giddy, nerdy-looking woman about Lucy’s age who was very excited about getting a shoe signed. Toby was getting his selfies and posing with Jamie, as Emiko hovered near Izuki, Warren and Sally played with their devices on a nearby bench, and Laurie, Austin, and Chad found more interest to be had in an inexplicably roaming clown in the area making balloon animals for kids.

           “Here you are, very pretty lady!” Izuki said, handing the shoe back to one of his fans. “I hope you keep watching reruns, and look out for a very special announcement!”

           As Lex—who had far more chill—went up to get a dusty DVD box set signed, Wes studied this “Mr. 90s” character. The sign for his event was colorful and bright, full of geometric patterns out of the era. His feet were stuck up on the table, giving Wes a good view of his high-tops. On his seemingly new jean jacket were multiple buttons, mostly old fan merchandise with No it All! quotes. Another just looked like a pizza.

           “Styled hair, denim everywhere… I’m even picking up a body spray I suddenly remember must’ve been popular in the 1990s…” Wes observed inquisitively. “Shutter shades, though—a bit anachronistic; more of an 80s thing. But what strikes me most…”

           “His getup looks straight out of the 90s,” Lucy keenly finished for him. Wes and Jace looked at her, impressed. “Am I right? Those are pristine threads and shoes. He can probably afford sealed clothes, even from a museum, but we can’t say he didn’t just take it right out of the decade, can we? Come to think of it, now I realize why you two have some clothes that I could say the same about… Like that awful biker jacket, Wes.”

           “Hey, I like that jacket! Got it right here in this mall, 1989, holiday sale. Saved my skin a few times, too.” Wes huffed. “All right, we’re not going to learn anymore from here. Guess we might as well be fans. Did you bring him something to sign, Luce?”

           She pulled out a rolled-up, thin, ragged tween gossip rag from a deep pants pocket and flattened it out. “He never made it to the cover of any 90s magazines, but this one has the only known interview he ever gave. Wonder if he’ll recognize it.”

           “Aw, a middle school fan club?” Izuki said with a toothy grin and wrapped up with Lex by signing their DVD set with a gold Sharpie. “Yes, I was something of an underappreciated heartthrob to some back then, a bad boy rebel to others. Enjoy!”

           Lex turned around and smiled at Lucy, now next in line. “I feel like I just fulfilled some small dream of my teen self. Oooh, you brought that? You… you kept that…?”

           “At the bottom of a drawer full of them,” Lucy emphasized. “Trashed the rest.”

           “Hello, pretty lady,” Izuki said when Lucy stepped up, eliciting a subtle blush from her—and a bit of a scowl from nearby Jace. “Ah! That issue! I am impressed.”

           “I, uh, was in the fan club, too,” Lucy embarrassedly admitted. “Kaito was always there for me when I got tired of my parents and their… merit-based household.”

           “Haha!” he said and signed the garbage journalism. “Yes, it was a nice escape to play the character. Thank you, next!” He kept smiling, even at Wes. “Hi, kakkoi yatsu!”

           “He called you cool guy,” Emiko whispered to Wes, providing crucial information.

           “Hi,” Wes said judgmentally. “So, you go by Mr. 90s now? What’s up with that?”

           “Very cool decade!” He showed off his random Konami t-shirt. “Best decade!”

           “Sure, okay.” Subtlety not in Wes’ DNA, he asked, “Would you time travel to it?”

           His poker face excellent, Mr. 90s, without a single twitch, replied simply, “No.”

           “Good job back there, bro,” Lucy said and plopped down at a food court table with some low-carb Panda Express. “You must be the TBM’s top agent with skills like that.” After surviving another eye roll, she asked, “What’s that stand for, anyway?”

           “It’s the TMB, for Timeline Management Bureau,” Wes corrected. “It was worth a shot, to see how he’d react. Besides, she’s the real detective.” He spoke of Emiko, who came over with a fresh slice. “In the mood for some good old mall pizza, huh?”

           “I blame Izuki-san’s button,” she explained, then sat next to Jace and took a bite.

           “Hold on a sec…” Wes took out his phone, used the kickstand to set it up on the table, and made a video call. “Let’s get the team in one place and share our findings.”

           After several rings, Colin appeared on screen, with Tokyo at night behind him. “Hey, guys. And Luce and Emi. Did our ‘Mr. 90s’ friend pick your pockets?”

           “Didn’t even charge for the signature,” Lucy replied, showing him the magazine.

           “Nice. Okay, so, I searched every site that I could think of. Not a single story or ancient blog post about Satoro returning to Japan. Nothing past a lonely, dusty article from 1997 about his character, really. I don’t think the show even got localized. Guess you’ll have to tell December that there’s no proof he’s been here since it wrapped.”

           Emiko pushed up her glasses and said between munching, “That’s weird. He spoke English pretty well on it, even if, um… it was all scripted. He also managed his R’s and L’s like an American, too. I heard him say his family name at one point; same deal.” She took a big sip of lemonade. “It sounds like he would’ve been in Japan for years to get that way. Oh, and I’m pretty sure he was speaking with a Kansai-ben dialect, each time he said stuff in Japanese. He might be from Osaka, or Kyoto. I’ve been to both.”

           “People underestimate you, Em,” Colin said with a smile. “Sorry I couldn’t be more of a help, Wes. But eliminating leads is part of the process, ya know.”

           “Don’t worry about it, Colin,” he replied. “We’ll keep working.”

           “Strange project the mayor’s got you doing… Oh, yeah… I heard about Gavin, and I’ve been thinking about him… Anyway, maybe the park has a clue. Good luck.”

           Feeling an ominous aura, Wes looked up to see the rest of Jace’s gang suddenly staring at him as they held their various food choices—Austin grunting out, “… Park?”

           “Oops. Hehe…” Colin feigned a look of shame. “Now I’ve done it. Sorry, Wes.”

           There was no point in resisting. Thanks to Colin’s slip of the tongue, what was originally going to be a quick stop at King Arcade and at most a little tour with Vanni had, over the course of an hour’s planning, turned into another full visit with all of Jace’s crew—Lucy and Lex sticking with them, naturally. This being a hot and dry summer’s day, there was also no getting out of a round of combo passes for both parks.

           “Jace, watch!” Sally called out as she swam by in the shallows of the AquaZone water park’s central crystal blue lagoon. “Jace, look at what I can do!”

           A pretty good swimmer, she performed an underwater flip to reverse direction, and darted off towards the deeper end of the crowded pool. Jace watched with little interest from the lagoon’s artificial island, a popular landing spot with its own fake palm tree. With him were Austin, dozing off in the shade, and Emiko, relaxing with her toes in the water. Like most guests, they had on soaked, thin shirts over their swimwear.

           “Jace, you usually like to swim lots,” Emiko mentioned. “You’re distant today…”

           “Oh… well…” He adjusted his sunglasses. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

           Chad, Toby, and Laurie—who was a member of the Steader swim team and in her high-quality athletic one-piece—came over to the shallows, having each just slid down from one of the three large waterslides that fed into the chlorinated reservoir.

           “Jace, can you believe these two?” Laurie growled. “They’ve been rating all the women we go by, again. From ‘just another chick’ to ‘giga babe.’ I can’t even with them.”

           “Laurie, it’s just a joke!” Chad tried to brush it off. “We’re pretending to be jerks, and making fun of guys that are like that. If we were really ‘objectifying,’ as you call it, we’d be…” he let out a telling snorty laugh, “going up and telling ’em their scores.”

           “You tell her, ‘alpha bro,’” Toby chuckled and fist-bumped Chad in the water.

           “Ugh…” Laurie made her disgust evident and pushed up onto the island with her strong legs. “Look, I know you guys really are kidding around, but it’s gross that there are girls with no self-respect who fall for that crap. In our school, even!” She took the water bottle Jace was holding out for her, unscrewed the cap, and chugged a bit. “Just, please, guys… Don’t change too much, okay? You’re both sweethearts deep down.”

           Treading water, Chad sighed. “Sure, Lor… But don’t spread that around, ’kay?”

           “So… Am I ‘giga babe’ material?” Emiko asked them. “I’ve been working on it.”

           Toby stared at her. “It’s still scary that I can’t tell when you’re joking, Em.”

           A few dozen feet away, the adults were relaxing and keeping an eye on the kids from lounge chairs in shorts and shirts—denim and a tank-top in Vanni’s case, leaving the gallery of ink on her arms on open viewing for passersby. Jamie was also with them, in a drying swimsuit and shirtless so that he could “work on his tan,” he claimed.

           “Vanni, you sure you don’t want to get in the water?” Lucy asked her. “The gift shop’s having a sale on swimwear. They’re almost department store price.”

           “I’m good. Really,” Vanni said in that cool sort of way that neighboring Wes still remembered from her teen years. Her eyes covered by darkly tinted shades, she smiled and added, “It’s enough to see it again and smell the vapors. Me and Gav were never very good swimmers. Only made it here twice before we moved, and I swear he almost drowned the second time, though he’d never admit it. I saw him grab onto someone else’s inner tube for dear life. We stuck to the more land-oriented main park after that.”

           “Not a concern for Lor,” Lex replied, watching their daughter doing power laps in a pool built to look like a relaxing paradise. “Her swim team got third place this year.”

           “Oh, cool! From what I hear, you were the kind of kid I definitely would’ve hung out with back when I was a local, Lex. But then I’d be making a habit of it at that point, so… Hey, Wes,” she swatted at his shoulder, “how much do these visits set you back?”

           “Hm?” he murmured and stretched. “Oh, with the whole gang here? It’s not terrible, actually. The logistics and parent permissions are the hard part. RV Indie has a partnership with the park; we basically all have a lifetime pass and get in on a discount.”

           “Sweet. And I bet every additional adult makes it easier for you by magnitudes.”

           “Heh, yeah. Lex here’s actually the best wrangler of the bunch. Lucy’s not bad, either. If I get them both, I can pretty much take it easy. Unlike my wallet.”

           “Pfft, Jamie,” Warren scoffed upon arriving on the scene with a cup of shaved ice. “You ‘sunbathing for the ladies’ again? Dude, you’re a nerd. Embrace that instead.”

           “Hey, I’m a man of many talents,” Jamie replied with a shrug.

           “Warren, don’t tell me you blew all the money I gave you on some cold sugar water,” Wes groaned. “You know that’s the rip-off treat at an amusement park.”

           “Yeah, I’m not really sure why that is,” he wondered and had another spoonful.

           “Partly because Hydro Boy’s on the cup. Park mascots equal overcharging.” Wes raised his shades, noticing something. “You never even changed into your suit?”

           “Wasn’t really feeling like a swim this time. I’m gonna ride the Vortex with the others once they’re dried off, though. Are you actually here to work, Dad?”

           “Yes. I’m looking into something for the mayor.”

           Warren stared at him with skepticism. “Does this have to do with that show? I heard Aunt Lucy saying that it was shot here, and there was the signing at the mall…”

           “Yeah, he might be taking money from the city,” Lucy openly admitted.

           “Really?! Dang. Did someone tell him to not be a criminal or something?”

           Wes awarded his kid with a small chuckle for a successful little joke, and then went back to his thoughts. Like how Vanni could be as happy as she appeared.

           A half-hour later and under a late afternoon sun, everyone had changed back into their regular summer clothes and proceeded on through the gate to King Arcade’s main park. Except for Sally, the kids were connected and old enough to split into groups and go ride whatever they wanted to as long as they kept in touch with Lex, the primary caretaker of the day. Thankfully, Sally was more about the park’s décor and getting to meet the mascots, so she was an easy kid to please and stuck by Aunt Lucy’s side.

           “Place hasn’t really changed much, has it?” Vanni observed once the Bushido Trio and Insectus characters walked by. “I see a few new rides, though… So, did they ever settle on something permanent for that one attraction that was always changing?”

           “Maybe,” Wes replied. “Last year, they went and turned it into a VR experience with interactable stuff, and it’s been pretty popular. It might actually stick around.” He then got another look at the central plaza on the lead-up to the Galaxy Hub arcade, in the shadow of the Red Demon rollercoaster and its screaming riders. “Always brings me back, being here. Right to the day of the laser tag tourney. Gavin had a fierce team.”

           “He talked about that a lot in LA. Embellished it a little more each retelling. He hated how the blackout ended it before there could be a winner, but otherwise it became one of his favorite childhood memories. He made a lot of new friends down south, went to all the major theme parks, but his heart stayed in Royal Valley.” They stopped in front of the spaceport-themed building, which Vanni looked at with the same nostalgic glint in her eye Wes often had. “You go on ahead; I might be here a while.”

           “Actually, I’ll uh… I’ll go in with you. Luce? You fine with watching Sally?”

           “Of course,” she assured him. “She wants to go on Ghosts and Freaks again.”

           “Heh. Brave girl. That ride did legit scare me the first few times I did it.”

           Sally rolled her eyes. “It’s not scary, Dad. I like the monsters and skeleton people.”

           Lex and Lucy shared a laugh and continued on, leaving Wes with a chance for the personal time with Vanni he was hoping for. And as they headed inside one of the state’s largest video arcades, it almost felt like he was confiding in her again as he did as a child, once more surrounded by a living museum of game history and titles.

           “Okay, let’s see what they still have on this floor… I can remember most of his favorite games, so maybe we won’t actually spend too long in here. Wes, you look, too—for V-A-Ns, as well. And don’t let me forget to take a picture if we spot any.”

           “Sure, Vanni…” he murmured as they headed to a cluster of classic cabinets and waited for each one to display their high-score list. “Hey… I’m sorry I kind of froze up when you broke the news last night. It’s hard to find the words, whenever…”

           “It’s fine, Wes. Aw, he got knocked out of Battletoads? … I didn’t mean to spring that on you on your big night. I was sort of hoping you had already heard, but I also figured that if you did, you would’ve reached out already. I don’t follow socials closely, either.”

           “At least I can tell you now, in person, that I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve it.”

           She let out a huff and turned to him. “No one deserves it, Wes. I’m not special.”

           “Of course, no one does. I’m just saying—”

           “I know. The things we all tell each other.” She led the way to another batch of older, pixel-based games within the sparsely occupied building. Her eyes stayed on their screens, and perhaps she also found comfort in their familiarity. “You two weren’t close friends, though. You must’ve hung out together, what, maybe a dozen times total?”

           “Maybe not, but… I still keep thinking about him. He was always around, and I have some good memories. I saw him as this cool seventh grader I aspired to be like.”

           She sighed and crossed her arms. “I’ve talked about this stuff so many times with other friends and family over the past year. I was hoping today might be different…”

           “Sorry, Vanni. I’ll back off.”

           Noticing her own initials in tenth place on a Time Crisis light gun cabinet they passed, which had arrived during her last year in Royal Valley, she got a picture and replied, “Nah… it’s okay. We can talk for a bit like we used to. I can tell you need it.”

           They took the stairs up to the arcade’s smaller second floor, which they had to themselves, and meandered about to check more games while Vanni gathered thoughts.

           “It hits different when it’s someone you knew, instead of, like… an actor you loved growing up, or one of your favorite game creators, doesn’t it?” she remarked, and took a picture of her impressive fifth place score on Ms. Pacman. “I can tell what you’re thinking, Wes. How can she seem so put together like usual? Or smile, at all? I mean, many people do the alternative for years, or just need more time, but… that’s not me.”

           “It’s more that I look at you, and… I guess I see one half of what was a duo.”

           “People have told me that. I’m all that’s left of the two of us; I’m the one who gets to carry on. I dwell on that all the time, like there’s something there to be figured out. But then I think back, and… I can’t help that I smile. Gavin had a good life. It was cut short, but he still left his little mark on this city. He had a lot of friends in school, got a good job, and worked hard. He even had his dream trip and spent a month in Japan. He saw his son turn three and the birth of his daughter, who I both see whenever I’m in Phoenix and get to be the coolest aunt to. Meanwhile, I have my little apartment in LA, a social circle, a good relationship with my parents, and still drum. I… have a lot.”

           “You said you drifted apart, though… There has to be some regret there.”

           “Well, of course. Our Christmas get-together in 2017 was my last big visit. And then the years went by, and before I know it, I’m seeing him in the hospital. He was very unwell at that point, but could still tell me how I helped make his childhood a wonderful one. He thanked me for that, like being a big sister was a service I provided.” She, at last, let out a single sniffle; the smallest break in a sturdy dam. “Time for us just… ran out.”

           “And how did the service… Who was… I mean, I wish I could’ve been there.”

           “We made it a celebration of life. It was nice. Very… musical. His old local friends Mikey and Stu even made the drive. I hadn’t seen them in so long. When they shared their stories, I realized just how much I wanted to hear more. I think that’s when my entire mood and perspective on all of it started to shift. Gav was always…”

           She paused when her eyes locked onto a certain screen. Wes turned around to see a nearby cabinet for the original be-the-monster game, Rampage, from 1986. He had missed it the first time, but after the high-score list hit the bottom and began to scroll back up, it easily stood out—a G-A-V with a score that had kept him in third place.

           Reacting in time to add another layer of immortality to the achievement, Vanni got a snapshot before the machine went back to its monster destruction attract mode.

           “Oh, Gav…” she spluttered out and steadied herself by putting both hands on the cabinet’s console. Wes gave her the time and space she needed, and after about a minute she was able to pull herself together and dry her eyes. “You’re still here, buddy.”

           “Vanni… I, um, I’m not much of a hugger, but offer’s on the table if—”

           He went quiet when she quickly took him up on it, giving him a hearty, almost crushing squeeze. “Ashamed to admit it, but I am.” She took a deep breath and released him. “Ah… Sorry you had to see me like that. Still hurts sometimes… But it should. I… I think I want to walk through the rest of the park on my own and head out. I promise I’m not mad—I was always going to need some time to myself here. To prove it…”

           She pulled out two tickets to something and put them in Wes’ hand.

           “What are these for?”

           “Old band’s back together, mostly, for one night. Club Clamor, downtown. We play at eight. I really hope you can make it. It’d mean a lot to me… Okay… Later.”

           She gave him a sisterly pat on the shoulder and headed down. Wes stood there for a moment… and remembered that he had a single Hub token in his pants pocket from sometime long ago. Taking it as a sign, he went up to Rampage and played a round.

           “Hello, Mr. Colton!” one of the park managers, a younger woman with frizzy red hair, greeted him, Lex, and Lucy at the fairly ignored soundstage’s door, tucked away near the drop tower. She eyed their wristbands and added, “Oh, you didn’t need to buy tickets just to see the space, you know. Only the appointment was required.”

           “Yeah… I’m around the kinds of kids that will find out if we came to the park and didn’t take them,” Wes said, getting a chortle out of her.

           “Of course. Okay, follow me.” She unlocked the door with one of her many keys. “We rent it out for local commercials, or on occasion a little indie film. And the park sometimes uses it to create promotional material or new electronic experiences. Every now and then, we’ll also host a special event here,” she prattled, and hit the lights.

           Before going in, the three guests got a look at the small plaque that was posted by the entrance and offered a brief commemoration of the building’s notable achievement.

           It read, “Shooting location for the television show No-it-All! produced in 1997, from June 6^th to August 15^th. The sitcom followed a boy named Kaito, adopted into an American family, who solved problems his own way when given typical advice. Filmed in front of a live audience, it was praised for the diverse casting of its characters.”

           “That’s about the only good thing they could say about it, huh…” Wes muttered, and got deservedly lightly elbowed from both sides. “Guys, you don’t have to go to bat for it so much,” he sighed. “But… I guess this is how you see me when I defend crap.”

           Ignoring the glares, Wes headed inside with the other three and found himself transported to a place where magic once happened. Or so Lex and Lucy would have him think; in reality, it was just a big, open space home to soundproofing materials and a few dozen ceiling lights. The audience seating was long gone, but there were some lingering remnants of the show in the form of framed set photos and props in protective displays.

           “Look, Lex!” Lucy ran up to one shadowbox like she was in middle school again. “It’s the fake hockey game ticket Kaito printed in No More Mr. Ice Guy.”

           “That’s nothing,” Lex replied next to sealed denim outerwear. “They have the jacket he wore in the final four episodes, after that one crazed fan burned the original.”

           “Yes, we treasure our memorabilia,” the manager said excitedly. “I loved watching the show when I was five, and now I get to work around this stuff! So, Mr. Colton, what do you think? The space should definitely fit your needs for your game commercial.”

           He stared at a nearby framed photo, of Alicia’s actress showing off the latest complimentary perm she had gotten for her character, and replied, “I was thinking I’d try to get one of the show’s actors in the ad, actually. You know, kind of as a local pride thing, celebrating the city’s sitcom and game studios? Are any of them still around?”

           “Hm… I’m not entirely sure about George and Zora, but Elise does come here sometimes to, quote, ‘think about what could’ve been with my career…’ I can try to get you in touch with her. She might appreciate the chance at some… um, appreciation.”

           Several minutes later, Wes, Lex, and Lucy rejoined Jace and the gang in the park’s main plaza, the teens looking fairly exhausted after yet another day at King Arcade.

           “Hi, guys! We got to see where No it All! was shot!” Lex said when they reunited.

           “Whoopee…” Laurie replied, unenthused. “Can we go home? I’m in a bad mood.”

           “Aw, what happened?”

           Chad answered, “The Red Demon broke down again, just as we got to the front of the line. Some days, it feels like the park is crapping out on us.”

           “Sal made me take her on Ghosts and Freaks two more times,” Warren groaned, his kid sister at his side and excitedly bouncing on her heels. “I used to think it was cool…”

           “Okay… Other than all that, did you have fun?” Lucy asked them.

           “The day was all right,” Jace replied with a shrug. He then got in close and added in a whisper, “I do want to enjoy King Arcade while I can, though, so any visit’s good.”

           Lucy frowned worryingly. “What… What’s that supposed to mean?”

           “Tell ya later, Luce,” Wes said and checked his watch. “We’re still on the clock.”

           Once all but one of the kids was back in Desert Tree, the investigation into Izuki continued on the rim of the city’s downtown area, in an older part of Royal Valley with three-story walk-up brick and mortar apartments. After sliding his car in between two other EV sedans, Wes let everyone out into the quiet and perfectly fine but unfamiliar neighborhood that was reminiscent of one in New England.

           “I’m a little surprised she agreed to… and insisted on a meeting within just hours of the call,” Lucy said over her rumbling stomach. “But I hope this doesn’t take too long. Looks like we might have to change plans and get fast food tonight, Jace.”

           “She sounded pretty eager to get the chance at playing her character again, even in some theoretical trashy mobile ad,” Wes replied. “That, or desperate to simply meet a few fans and talk about the ‘glory’ days. I swear, if I end up actually having to dump money into a real ad out of sitcom-style shenanigans, I’ll never forgive the show.”

           “Getting the chance to meet both Donelly kids in one day is an awesome surprise, but it’s sounding like you two are… investigating Izuki for some reason?” Lex pondered.

           Feeling a little naughty and impulsive, Wes got out before Lucy had time to come up with a better reason, “Oh, since I won that award, I’m now supposed to help pick next year’s candidates. Izuki might just be our next Creative Genius winner.”

           Lex looked at Lucy’s rolling of eyes and unimpressed reaction, and replied, “Yeah, you know what, forget I asked. I’m not even sure if I want to know.”

           “Ignore him,” Lucy said as they went inside. “The show was too long ago, anyway.”

           “Hi! Yes, please come in!” Elise Bolin, who was about Vanni’s age, ushered the group into her third-floor studio apartment. “I just love meeting fans. Not many viewers of the show really, well… care enough about my character to ask me for an autograph.”

           “Oh, that’s a shame,” Lex said half-seriously as everyone came in and looked around at the open space, which was home to secondhand furniture from the 80s and 90s, plants growing by the windows, and three hairy, lazy cats. “As far as sitcom big sisters go, Alicia was… certainly one of them. Memorable… in her own way.”

           “I’m so glad you think so! I know you can’t stay long, but would you like… What would you like? I have jasmine milk tea, kombucha… sparkling water.”

           “I think we’re fine,” Wes replied after glancing at the others. “So, Ms. Bolin, I’m sure you know Izuki’s in town—we saw him earlier today and got to wondering about the other actors. Do you ever talk to any of them? Are they still local?”

           A bit twitchy and clearly an eccentric type, Elise seemed to switch right into an agitated mood. She grabbed a vape pen from her kitchen counter, inhaled deeply, and replied, “He didn’t even invite me to his signing. Can you believe that?”

           “There weren’t many people there, if it makes you feel better,” Jace mentioned.

           “Of course, there weren’t. No one cares about his new ‘Mr. 90s’ persona. Ick. Put us together as Kaito and Alicia, though, and I guarantee people would notice. Oh, and I have lunch with George and Zora every blue moon, but sometimes they act like they can’t stand me. He still teaches theater at Royal Valley High, and she… runs some posh art gallery downtown, something like that. As for Kaito and Alicia’s friends and all the side characters? No idea what greener pastures they flew off to, forever ago.”

           “Has Izuki told you anything about his, um, ‘project?’” Lucy wondered.

           “You mean the movie he’s trying to make to give the show a proper finale?” she replied, which was news to Lex. “Called me once, mentioned it, that’s about it. Guy was a real professional on set, for a kid actor, but outside of it? Barely around. As soon as an episode ended, he got aloof. Only time I ever saw him mad was when we got word that the show was cancelled. I think he was more upset that it wouldn’t even get an ending.”

           “Yeah, that’s why I tend to let a show run for two or three seasons before I get into it,” Lucy said. “I hate cliffhangers and storylines that never get finished. I always thought that if you cancel something, maybe at least fund a decent last episode?”

           Elise groaned and took another long puff. “Peh. Izuki and I didn’t agree on much, kind of like our characters, but we hated the parent company for dumping us in a heartbeat. The show might’ve been nothing special, I admit, but it could’ve been if given a chance. Maybe even start up a local TV production industry. I can tell you aren’t a fan,” she pointed to Wes with her vape pen, “but trust me when I say we had fun on set and got experience. But no one outside of the valley cared. I did two commercials after that, but no more screen credits. I still act in theater, but… being on TV brought me joy.”

           “How can you tell that?” Wes asked, secretly a little impressed by her intuition.

           “You’re clearly uninterested.” She turned to Lucy. “But you aren’t. Big brother?”

           “And best friend,” Lucy gestured to Lex. “We did like the show. It spoke to us as middle-schoolers, even if it was pretty… basic? But we liked your character, too!”

           “Thanks. Really. Teenage sisters are usually underappreciated in TV.” She took a strange drink out of the fridge and nursed it. “Izuki didn’t talk about his personal life, but I did find out that, like me, he was an only child. I wasn’t sure how to be his sister at first, not even an adoptive one, so I got inspiration from Clarissa and Sister, Sister. Tia mostly—not so much Tamera.” She sighed a little and got a distant look in her eye. “To tell the truth, part of me wishes we could’ve bonded like that a little more off set, but he just… wasn’t around when we weren’t working. I never even found out where he lived, or what his parents were like. Anyway, you didn’t come here to talk about Izuki, so…”

           Since they actually had, Lucy tried to keep things on track by asking, “Maybe he had issues at home? He might have seen his sitcom family as a substitute for a real one, and was more upset about that when he realized it’d be breaking up. Maybe?”

           Elise paused mid-sip and thought about this for a moment. “You know, there could be something there. I got the impression that he was closer to just being himself than actually acting on set. His character liked to say ‘no,’ but he did seem to like us.”

           “We’re looking into the mystery of where he’s been hiding all these years, or even between episodes,” Wes said. “Was there a place he liked to hang out in town?”

           “I can think of one.” Elise went to her window, the sun setting outside. “I trailed him, just once, and saw him sneak into the old McMare house. When I brought it up, he didn’t want to talk about it… only telling me that he ‘liked the building.’ Now I’ve told you pretty much everything I know about him. Why not ask me about my acting process?”

           “Thank you, Wes,” December’s voice came through his car speakers a couple hours later, as he waited in a fast-food joint’s parking lot. “It’s not much, but that’s not a surprise given how secretive Satoro is. Good work, all things considered. I wish you had told me all this a little earlier, though, since I just got settled in for the night.”

           “It was hard to find an opening to break away from Elise,” Wes replied, watching Sadie through the restaurant’s window as she gave their order. “Now me and Sadie are on a time crunch, and settling for some Burger King before seeing a show over at Club Clamor. Reminds me of our first date, actually. Been a while since we had one.”

           “Aw. I never thought you’d become a romantic type when we were kids.”

           “Barely. I love her, but it’s kind of like hanging out with your best friend when you’re young. Similar feeling of, I dunno, a sort of carefree contentment. Anyway, where do we go from here? You must’ve looked into his financial records by now, right?”

           “Of course, but there’s nothing incriminating there. I’ll send a report to the TMB and see what they think of our investigation. I have a feeling that we may have to… take a closer look at history to find out what he’s up to. I’m sure you catch my meaning.”

           “Uh-huh. Talk later,” Wes finished it up as Sadie approached with brown bags.

           “Call you in the morning if we need you, Wes. Wow. Where are our lives going?”

           Sadie got into the passenger seat and handed Wes his greasy burger, which he quickly unwrapped and bit into, having been hungry for a while. Seeing Sadie wipe off a bit of condiment from the corner of her mouth was enough to get him grinning.

           “… What?” she said in an accusatory tone. “You’re always doing that stare, Wes.”

           He stifled an adoring chuckle. “How’d we ever end up together, Said’?”

           She shrugged. “I guess I was dumb enough to go along with your ‘let’s go to prom’ joke.” She stole one of his fries. “… And then realized I had liked you since that family camping trip we took together. Even if you were always a bit of a fixer-upper.”

           Club Clamor was Royal Valley’s legacy musical hotspot, opening in 1959 in the years following the closure of the city’s casino. Once having a focus on beat poetry and jazz, it shifted focus to rock music in the 1960s and then the harder stuff in the 70s. The drinks were mediocre and the seating was limited, but there was no place better for local indie bands to get their start, and the management had the ears of their audience.

           The glorified dive bar still smelling faintly of smoke despite it being banned for decades, Wes and Sadie got spots in one of the booths at the back of the crowded main room. The wooden stage was small but well-lit, and the checkerboard floor with whites stained to yellow from age and spills was still the original from way back. Royal Valley’s downtown scene and its crowds had always felt just a little alien to the couple, having grown up more in places like Desert Tree, the mall, and all the many stores along Kettle, but there was still enough familiarity here to keep them from feeling like tourists.

           Shortly after the two got in their drink orders, Vanni and her fellow entertainers for the evening took the stage and tuned up. The drum kit was just another that she’d play for a single night, and different from the one she had as a teenager—and Wes had gotten used to watching her play—but seeing her feeling at home again on a plush drum throne, like many things could, brought Wes back to his past. And also unlocked a few small memories of hanging out at her house that he had thought were forgotten.

           The warmup was quick, Wes and Sadie got their only cocktails of the night with a side of stale pretzel, and when it was obvious that the band was about to go live, the Saturday night horde settled down and greeted them with a smattering of applause.

           “Hello, hello!” Vanni said after coming up to the mike. “So excited to be in Royal Valley, playing the Clamor again. This might be a little special: we are three-fourths of a high school band called Rambunctious Jester. I’m Vanni, and on bass guitar is my old friend, Alex. His cooler and older cousin with more ink than me, on keyboard, is Rachel. Our old frontman, Fynn, went a little big and is playing for larger crowds elsewhere, so Milo here is on lead guitar and vocals duty. Come on, buddy, say hi.”

           “Hello,” Milo, who looked not all in possession of a rocker’s spirit, said timidly.

           Grinning, Vanni added amid some laughter, “We wrote a bunch of songs back in the day, but don’t worry—none of us remember how they go, and I’d be surprised if any of you heard us play back then. So instead, we have some classic covers for you tonight. Our first is overplayed, but it’s one we know well. Oh, and… I’m dedicating this set to my brother, also an RV native.” She kissed two fingers and sent them skyward. “You’re not forgotten, Gav. Love ya, bro… But no sad feelings tonight. Let’s please the gods.”

           Vanni got on her drums, and they opened with the familiar chords to AC/DC’s Back in Black. Sheepish as he seemed at first, Milo surprisingly had a voice for hard rock.

           Only about two minutes into the song, during the first guitar solo, Wes felt his emotions getting away from him. He got up and went to the side hall full of photos that was by the toilets, and after some deep breaths, was able to steady himself—and would have returned to the show if Sadie hadn’t joined him. At his side, she leaned on the wall until the song ended. As Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll fired up next, she nudged him.

           “You good, Wes? It’s okay, if you’re still working through it.”

           “I’m fine,” he puffed out. “I came here with the wrong mindset. Just had to reset before Vanni saw it on my face again. Can’t have her seeing that and messing up.”

           “Well. I’m sure she’d rather see us back in that booth.” She gave Wes another moment and did some thinking. “You know, she’s in her zone up there. Happy. It has to get her mind off of things. You’re probably still wondering how she can keep going.”

           “But… look at me, Sadie. I’m this messed up over… random space analogy here, losing one of my solar system’s moons. If anything happened to one of the planets… I’m referring to our close friends here…” He looked at her ‘no-duh’ face, and managed a dumb smile. “This is why I have our writers translate my thoughts into final versions.”

           She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “I hear ya; you’re not sure what you’d do. It isn’t like she knew in the moment, either. Her pain has to be deep, but we all manage and show it in different ways. What’s important, is that she obviously has ways to cope.”

           “Y-yeah. Guess I can keep learning from her, all these years later. It’s just hitting me a lot harder than I… Hey…” he shifted tone when he noticed the photo hanging by Sadie, marked only with the year ‘1999’ in silver Sharpie. “The girl with the guitar…”

           “Hm?” Sadie turned to see the surprising picture of young teens playing on the stage, led by a young lady with a beanie over her blond hair. “Oh, crazy. Kids must’ve been good if they played here. Wes, you don’t think that’s the girl Vanni mentioned?”

           “Um… Nah… There’s no way. Right?” he replied as another rock song finished.

           “Thank you! You’re very kind,” Vanni’s voice said over the mild applause, Milo apparently still too shy to engage. “Okay, time to give myself a workout. That one was a classic for the old-schoolers in the audience; here’s a ditty for the millennials.”

           Needing just a few seconds to identify the next song, Sadie smiled and took Wes by the hand. “Times Like These. One of your favs. C’mon, you have to see her play this.”

           “Oh, all right…” he gave in, “since Foo Fighters got me through high school.”

           Taking two breaks between twelve songs, Rambunctious Jester finished up after about an hour, at which point the patrons either began heading home or settling in at the bar. It was Sadie who took up Vanni’s offer to hang around for a bit after the show; Warren and Sally were already sleeping over at Aunt Lucy’s for the night, anyway.

           Her loaner drums cooling down on stage, Vanni grabbed a drink and joined her mates at the club’s largest table as Alex regaled with stories of concerts past. “Me and Rach pretty much never planned to both hit a nearby stop on a group’s tour across the states; we just grew up with similar tastes in music… and how much we’d pay for seats.”

           “You both stumbling into each other six times at shows over the years is a little on the crazy side,” Sadie replied. “Some of those venues are massive.”

           “I’m retired from the live circuit, for now,” Rachel muttered and put her legs up on the table. “There’s too much commoditization with the tickets. Not even the artists’ fault, either. And rock’s dying again, anyway. Not that it can’t also come back again.”

           “Best I can ever do is play rooms like this these days,” Milo said quietly as he strummed idly on his unplugged electric guitar from the chair he had pulled up. “Too much pop out there. People just want simple, marketable messages. Sound bite music.”

           “How do you do that with your voice?” Wes wondered. “You don’t seem like someone that could get up on stage and belt it out for a dozen or more songs straight.”

           “I treat it like a persona. Keeping it down everywhere else also helps preserve my vocal cords. And I like the looks on faces when I go from talking to singing up there.”

           “I’ve worked with Milo before, helping out other bands,” Vanni explained. “He was in my grade, actually. Even used to be jealous of the Jester. Turned out, he had all this talent, but was too shy to approach us or form his own group. He was a solo act.”

           “So… where are you off to next, Vanni?” Wes asked. “Playing a stadium?”

           “Hell no,” she laughed, “the acoustics in those are garbage. I’ll be in the city for another week, and then onto my summer visit in Phoenix. I was thinking maybe I’d check out your office some more, get a closer look at your cabinet collection?”

           “Um, sure—yeah, that’d be cool. I never thought I’d hear you guys play again. I guess the only time I really did was from a distance on New Year’s Eve, 1995.”

           “Blech. That gig,” Alex groaned. “The city only let us play our safest songs.”

           “Hey, Wes. Vanni used to talk about you around us,” Rachel mentioned.

           “W-what, for real?” He felt red in his face. “Come on, I wasn’t that amazing.”

           “But she called you a ‘cool little dude,’” Alex insisted, now embarrassing Vanni. “Said you weren’t about music, but knew games and movies like no one else your age.”

           Vanni choked on her beer. “Okay, guys, we don’t need to get into that. Now it’s only fair that Sadie gets hazed, too. Wes told me she used to do rap battles.”

           “Really, now…” Rachel grinned mischievously. “Stage is free, Sadie. It’s been a while since I lyricized, but you and me can lay down some bars if you’re up for it.”

           Sadie put her hands over her face in humiliation. “Nooo… I left all that behind!”

           Feeling like he was in his college days again and surrounded by that friendly old buddy banter, Wes finally started to relax with his drink and was able to sit back. He was well aware of what it meant to have close friends, and seeing for himself that Vanni had her own that would stick by her, from any distance, did soothe his soul. Just a little.

           The next morning, Wes, Lucy, and Jace arrived at the lovely Gothic revival house that the city provided to its mayors, once they were through its security checkpoint. December opened the door and guided them to the living room full of old and well-kept furniture—where a childhood spy-turned time-travel friend, Millie, was waiting with her girlfriend Nyra, who had recently made a big change by dyeing her hair a slightly darker shade of pink. The TMB agent was dressed for her era, in retro-future 29^th century style.

           “They really went and brought in the big guns, huh?” was Wes’ remark as soon as they saw the couple sipping some of Mrs. Helvetica’s expensive tea.

           “Hi, Millie,” Lucy greeted her. “And Nyra. Those are your regular clothes, huh?”

           “The agency called us back from our vacation for this,” Nyra grumbled.

           “Lucky for them, it’s on Earth this time,” Millie added, wiping the hot tea fog off her glasses. “Tropical tour, lots of beaches. So, Luce, welcome aboard. Heard it was a bit of an accident, but I think it’s fair. Why should Wes and your kid have all the fun?”

           “You’ve really been to space, then… Wow, Mill…” Lucy murmured.

           “Yeah, I know. I don’t always get to have the memories, though.”

           “I don’t mean to rush, but I do still have a busy schedule on Sundays,” December said. “The TMB agreed that this problem likely isn’t fixable in our present. Nyra here has offered to help… but she also apparently has a lot of faith in you, Wes. And Jace.”

           “Well, I wouldn’t want to ruin your vacation.” Wes told them, and then let some of his excitement leak out. “Does this mean I’ll get to use a quartz? I’ve missed that.”

           “Settle down, Wes,” Nyra said. “You’ll get to see the past again—and show Lucy around… and I’m sure Jace will get a chance to hang out with your buds like the good old days, but you’re a provisional agent now, so… we can’t just let you bounce around time without a proper plan. Oh, and you’ll actually be answering, mostly, to December.”

           “Right…” The mayor cleared her throat and woke up the room’s wall-mounted flatscreen, where a photo of the famed McMare residence, a large Victorian manor, was displayed. “Our city’s founder’s heirs closed the estate off from tours way back in the 1980s, but there is an easy way to get in for a look around. Anyone remember when?”

           “Hey, that’s right!” Wes answered, “For one weekend around Halloween in 1999, it was reopened as a haunted house. I never really got why that happened when I was a kid, but we all went to it. More to see a new attraction than out of… historic interest.”

           “Aw, I never got to do that,” Lucy bemoaned. “Dad probably said no.”

           “King Arcade’s creator, Lincoln Bartles, thought up the event,” Millie continued for everyone. “From what I remember, there was a scandal afterwards and the McMare family was livid, so they made sure it never happened again and locked it up tight.”

           “He likely isn’t involved in our problem, though,” December emphasized. “And I had the manor scoured already, after my office was alerted to some of the bonds being brought to their bank, on the off-chance Hadron got them back and tucked them away under the table. The safe on the second floor—which was pretty much frozen in time—was opened at some point and emptied. It’s possible our paper was once there.”

           “But you have the potential to rewind time near it until you see it get opened,” Nyra added. “It’s more important to find out who took whatever was in it.”

           “That shouldn’t be too hard,” Jace assumed. “If my uncle’s friends are already going there to check out a haunted house, then all we have to do is sneak away, right?”

           “As long as the gang doesn’t get involved,” Wes said. “We were already a pack of troublemakers by 1999. Not bad, just… looking for a reason. Getting kicked out or even arrested for that might result in us getting enough punishment to change history.”

           “The second floor was sealed away when the tours stopped,” December noted. “It wasn’t easy for us to access all of it. I have to imagine you’d have trouble, too.”

           “Maybe we should bring Laurie again…” Jace said. “We could use the help.”

           “Oh, Jace, you got her involved, too?” his mom exclaimed.

           “Not our fault. Millie… well, another version of her… I’ll just tell you later.”

           “The TMB still needs to break into old physical and analog systems sometimes, so take this,” Nyra said and handed a futuristic device to Wes. “It’s a safe cracker with onboard AI. We’ll back you up if you really need help, but you deserve a crack at it. You just might have to get creative in your problem-solving; think in more dimensions.”

           Wes stuck the hardware in a pocket and asked, “December, what if we need you to get us into the manor for any reason? Can you get anyone inside again?”

           The mayor winced. “I’d really rather not. I apologized over asking permission the first time already. If I have to do it a second time… The McMare clan is a contentious bunch who still think they own the city. Don’t make me grovel to them.”

           “Something up, Wes?” Millie wondered. “You seem a bit… I’ll call it pensive.”

           He hesitated but replied, “I think I know what you’ll say, but I have to ask. A good friend of mine lost someone close recently, and… if there’s anything that I…”

           “Accident or illness?” Nyra spoke over him. “Not… that it changes the answer.”

           “He was sick,” Wes sighed. “I know. It’s a dangerous idea, a slippery slope. And you’re going to say something like ‘everyone has their time.’ Again, I still have to know.”

           “I’m not insensitive or unsympathetic, Wes, but, yes, you’re right. If it was an accident as a result of history changing, like how it was for your friend Ash in an altered timeline, then we’d do what we could to correct it—you just happened to fix that before we were aware of the issue from so many years away. But if your friend was sick…”

           Millie added, “In the 29^th, you see signs posted in dangerous areas where people might take dumb risks for clout. Saying how if you get yourself killed, a TMB officer isn’t going to save you. As if they have the workforce and resources to always do it.”

           “It’s one of the existential debates of my era,” Nyra continued. “We do use time travel to solve crimes, and at most reverse things like homicide and major transportation accidents—which are both rare to begin with. To go further would, among other issues, trivialize life. People might stop caring about themselves and others if we employ time travel to fix everything. It’s better to honor your friend, and the time he had in the world.”

           “I get it…” Wes still felt defeated. “And I wouldn’t even know how to help him.”

           “Something… happened to Ash?” Lucy questioned with a concerned look.

           “In another reality, sis. I promise to tell you everything when we have a moment. Coming in on October 29^th would give us a few days to plan and get a feel for the time.”

           “And a chance to show Lucy the sights, right?” Millie replied.

           “A little, sure, but I know that this is work. I focus when I need to.”

           “Exactly seventy years after a much bigger financial crisis…” Lucy mused. “Talk about timing. Wes, are we doing this today? Going back to 1999… Unbelievable.”

           “The sooner the better,” Nyra said and carefully handed Wes a bright blue, fully fueled quartz. “I guess it’s your turn to help the mayor. And all of Royal Valley.”

           “‘Imposter syndrome…’” December gave Jace a wry smirk. “Crazy where one small thing said at the right time can lead someone, huh, Jace? Good luck, 90’s kids.”

           Several hours later, Wes, Lucy, and Jace arrived at Desert Tree’s Steader High School, empty and quiet for the summer. Each carried a fully stuffed backpack, and this only made things stranger for Laurie, who had no idea what was happening. It felt like they were kidnapping her, to be fair, but as soon as she stepped into the past, Jace knew more than anyone that she’d be thankful for the chance to tag along again.

           “This is a weird place to meet for a sleepover, Jace,” she told her best friend after parking her bike by the school. “And why do your uncle and mom also have backpacks? Oh, yuck, we’re not going on some camping trip, are we? Did my dad talk you into this?”

           “Lor, chill, you’re gonna love this,” Jace promised, and elbowed Wes.

           Laurie watched with big eyes as Wes used a small glowing rock to open up some kind of portal to what appeared to be a duplicate version of the school, perhaps in an alternate universe? Even more shocking was seeing the other three step right on through.

           “Whaaat?!” Laurie gasped for air. “What’s going on—what is that thing?!”

           With a confident grin, Jace gestured for her to join them. “Laurie! Trust me!”

           Unsure how to feel about any of this weirdness, Laurie nonetheless looked about to check for any cars nearby and walked into the portal, as well. The memories flowed in like they had for Wes and Jace, who helped keep her steady. Fortunately, her adventures in the past had been far briefer, so her headache wasn’t nearly as intense or long-lasting.

           Rubbing her head, she soon looked up, smiled, and said, “… Good to be back.”