Proof of Concept

The lamp wobbled beneath his feet as Paddy soared a single centimetre above the cobbled street, arms out like a drunk messiah.

He wasn’t good at it, not yet, but it felt like freedom.

Jak: "Oi!"

A familiar face with a missing tooth shouted, while sticking his arm through the broken window frame.

Jak: "You're gonna crack your skull if you keep leaning like that, boss!"

Paddy called back, circling around with the grace of a shopping trolley on gravel.

Paddy: "I used to climb scaffolding in flip-flops! This is luxury."

Outside the old building that served as their HQ, the gang stood watching him. Boner had a notebook out. Balloon had her arms folded, unimpressed. Jak, now bored with the window, leaned against the wall and occasionally mimed Paddy’s movements alongside the other thieves.

It was early. Traders were setting up stalls.

Paddy wobbled to a stop halfway down the street, the lamp humming beneath his boots. He was sweaty, out of breath, and riding high on a mix of adrenaline and mild terror.

A small voice tugged him back to earth.

Boy: "Excuse me, mister. Can I try it?"

He turned.

A boy, no older than eight, stood beside his mother, pointing excitedly at the floating man. She wore a patched shawl and tired eyes, but didn’t pull her son away. If anything, she looked curious.

Paddy blinked, as he pointed down at the glowing death trap under his feet.

Paddy: "Try this? You got a will written already, son?"

The boy giggled.

Boy: "I wanna fly too, like you did."

And there it was.

Paddy stood up, stared down the street, then back at the lamp. Then at the kid. It didn’t take a genius.

Cheap boards. Crappy wheels. City full of bored kids. And just enough magic floating around to make it exciting.

He turned towards his building, where the skeleton was still writing down notes.

Paddy: "BONER!"

Boner: "What now!?"

Paddy: "We’re gonna start a skateboard empire! Get your notes, we’re drawing blueprints. We can probably make one that doesn’t kill ‘em in five minutes!" 

Boner blinked, then ducked back in. Probably already scribbling.

Paddy turned to the kid and nodded solemnly.

Paddy: "You, son, are getting the first prototype. Free of charge."

Boy: "What’s a prototype?"

Paddy: "It is basically something dangerous that hasn’t exploded yet."

The kid laughed. The mother gave him a grateful nod.

And just like that, Paddy had a new business idea.

That wasn’t the only one brewing, however.

As he walked back to the others, lamp in one hand, head still buzzing from the ride, another idea slithered in. One that had been tugging at him ever since it was mentioned to him by the king.

The mage. The one held by the Demon King.

Paddy: "If that fella can open a portal back… then surely he can open one here."

Not just an escape route.

A supply line.

He thought of his father. A good man. Bricklayer. Worked himself raw, and still had to borrow change. His mother didn’t complain much, but you knew when the tea got thin.

Here though? Magic. Demand. Whole markets unsaturated.

If he could start bringing in batteries, generators, cheap power tools- hell, even solar panels… they’d think he was a god. And gods didn’t need to worry about splitting bills or sharing crisps.

It wasn’t just about saving the mage now. It was about cutting him in on the deal.

Make him open a portal. Set up shop. Bring in goods. Sell high. Live easy.

Jak was poking at the window frame again, probably seeing if it could be salvaged.

For the first time since waking up naked in a summoning circle, Paddy felt something other than disappointment since arriving.

He felt ambition.

Back in the HQ, Boner was drawing diagrams on a cracked slate board. Very serious stuff: stick men flying through the air, labelled arrows, and one board on fire. The others were watching, unimpressed.

Paddy: "Alright. We invent skateboards, sell ‘em to children, and revolutionise movement itself!"

Balloon: "What the hell is a skateboard?"

Paddy grabbed a bit of wood, put it on the table, and mimed riding it.

Paddy: "Imagine standing on this, right? But it moves. Fast. Downhill. With no brakes. And everyone thinks you're cool, or at least mildly stupid. Like my lamp, without all the floating… I hope."

Boner: "I thought you said we were building things that don’t kill people?"

Paddy: "That’s for the second prototype."

Jak raised an eyebrow.

Jak: "Are you ever gonna do anything yourself boss, or just scheme and point?"

…

The room went quiet.

Paddy laughed, but it was a little too loud.

Paddy: "I point very well, thank you."

Still… the words stuck.

He gave a little sigh, grabbed his lamp, and slung it over one shoulder.

Paddy: "Well then. You lot better get it built."

Balloon: "Where are you going?"

Paddy: "On a quest."

...

Paddy: "Yes, me! Some bloody proof-of-concept heroics, alright? Just something to build the myth. Help a goat stuck in a tree, recover a lost chicken, standard stuff."

He strolled out the door, and Balloon followed, not because she believed in him, but because someone had to make sure he didn’t fall in a ditch.

She cleared her throat beside him.

Balloon: "Hey… it’s been a while since the two of us were alone."

He blinked.

Paddy: "What?"

Balloon: "I didn’t want to say this in front of the others but…"

She hesitated.

Balloon: "I really want to try out that… well, lamp."

Paddy stared at her for a moment, then grinned.

Paddy: "Of course you do. Who wouldn’t? Alright, hop on. You'll do a lap."

She wandered off a little down the lane. She tried it, cautiously at first, then laughing nervously as she hovered forward, arms flailing. Paddy just walked beside her, smiling.

At first, she wobbled like a baby deer. But then, something shifted. Her posture relaxed. Her movement steadied. She glided in a slow arc, then dipped the front of the lamp with a little flick of her foot, turning a tight circle.

Balloon: "Ooh…"

She leaned into a curve, picked up speed, then zipped down the street like she’d been born with it under her feet.

Paddy: "Hey, what the hell!?"

She zipped back around him, grinning.

Balloon: "You’ve been riding this thing wrong the whole time!"

Paddy: "Have I!?"

Balloon: "You’re too stiff in the ankles. Let the lamp guide you!"

She looped around again, leaving Paddy in complete shock.

Paddy: "She’s a bloody natural!"

He grumbled, hands in his pockets.

Paddy: "Yeah, well… that’s not fair, you have a youthful advantage!"

Balloon: "Nope! Just good at stuff. Unlike you!"

Paddy: "Cheeky…"

She twirled again, picking up speed. Too much speed.

Then, out of nowhere-

Balloon: "Huh- oh no."

Her eyes drooped.

Paddy: "Wait- WAIT- Balloon! Don’t you da-"

Too late.

She let out a soft snore, arms loose, body limp. The lamp beneath her shot forward with no rider in control.

Paddy: "BLOODY-"

She flew thirty metres down the lane before crashing right into a small crowd of townsfolk, bouncing all around like a pinball.

CRASH.

Bananas. Crates. Four grown men. One elderly woman. All flattened like a game of bowling. Someone screamed. Someone else applauded.

Vendor: "MY MELONS!"

Balloon skidded to a halt somewhere under a tarp, one boot sticking out, snoring peacefully.

Paddy walked over, already worrying about the damages.

Paddy: "...I’ve never met this lady in my life."

Paddy: "You're dead weight, you know that?"

He muttered it to Balloon, who was currently being dragged by one boot, her arms flopped above her head, still fast asleep. More than a few bystanders had paused to stare.

Over his other shoulder, he carried the lamp majestically.

Paddy: "Wanna ride the lamp, she says. Been a while since we were alone, she says. Ten seconds later and she's made a fruit salad out of half the bloody district."

He stopped outside the front steps of the guild hall. It loomed over him like a courthouse about to hand down a very stupid sentence. He’d come for a quest. Something light. Something noble-looking, to keep the image up.

He stood at the threshold, squinting through the archway. Then looked down at the girl dangling from his grip.

Paddy: "I’ve never done this before."

The words came out quieter than he expected. No sarcasm. No joke. Just the honest truth.

Balloon mumbled something in her sleep. Paddy glanced down. Her face was calm. She hadn’t let go of that dumb half-smile since she fell off.

Then- 

Dermott: "Ah. Old Man. I was hoping we’d meet again!"

Paddy turned slowly, sweat already forming at the back of his neck.

Paddy: "You’ve gotta be kidding me."