They Just Wanna Be Friends!

Fire is painful. Fire from a Fyremental is fucking awful.

Hoshino Riku, speaker of wisdom.

If I’d been standing three meters the other way, I’d have been a statistic. I didn’t want to be in the newest edition of Elemental Horror Stories. It didn’t help that the flames reminded me of the terrorist attack from yesterday. Part of my mind wanted to dwell on that, remember the agonizing helplessness I’d felt; think of what I’d found that day... and what I hadn’t. But time flies when you’re fighting for your life. I didn’t have the luxury of focusing on the past.

Why hadn’t I just stayed home? Call me a coward, but I’d rather be in my room with my toys than stuck between the Fyremental and the Fibermental as they tried to end each others’ bloodline. Though if the steadily burning leaves were any indication, it wouldn’t take much longer to find a winner. Turns out fire hurts plants, too.

Big shocker right there.

Speaking of shocks, taser dude came running for me like I was the last toy on sale. Yelping with a very manly sound, I dodged right. I tried to get close like last time, but I wasn’t about to channel the stormy sky just to fend him off. That caution definitely cost me as Mr. Clinically Insane only doubled down on his attack. Why wasn’t he using his ability?

Shit, why wasn’t I?

But what kind of toy could do the job? I was pretty damn sure he wasn’t gonna falter at the sight of a toy car—though I probably would have. Maybe a lucky cat could trip him... or he could just tase it. Could my toys be tased? It wasn’t worth the risk. Well, unless I could find something he couldn’t zap. But what would—

Fwoosh!

“Son of a bitch!” I yelped, instinct alone keeping me from meeting the fire that was still being shot.

And then it hit me.

I opened my hands. My mind flooded with memories. I saw Naoki across from me with that stupid grin of his he’d had since the day we first met. He raised his hands just as I did mine. Our eyes held each other, glued by the tension of the moment. Who would move first? Then we both decided, united, as we aimed straight for my grandfather sitting in his chair and—

Squirt!

“What the fuck, man?!”

But I wasn’t letting up. “Bad crazy guy! Get your ass away from me!”

He narrowed his eyes. “You think some fucking water is gonna stop me, prick?! I–”

Squirt!

“You—”

Squirt!

“He–mmph!”

I grinned. “Let’s go, baby! Hole in one!”

Spitting the water out of his mouth, taser dude seemed even more determined to deliver me a controlled shock. Luckily for me, it wasn’t up to him, as Ms. Fibermental on his right had gotten tired of playing keep-away with the flame boy. Just as I was preparing to try something extremely stupid like, say, running head-on into a guy with a taser, the ground opened up below him.

Karma must have been fed up with this guy because he flew far. I didn’t have to see him land to know that he wouldn’t be coming back for round two. But I wasn’t sticking around to be sure. If that Fibermental could launch a guy across a makeshift battlefield, I didn’t want to be near her.

“Peekaboo!”

A group of three blocked my path. I couldn’t tell just yet what their abilities were, but the swords in their hands made that a ‘we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it’ problem. I could throw my spikes, but they were easily dodged if you knew it was coming. I’d have to find something to get their guard down; throw them off balance somehow...

I let the guns fade as my mind wandered. I saw them in my hands as a child, recalling the time I’d dropped one on my father’s food. It was hard to forget him chasing me around the house for it. My mind showed me how we had played with them together afterwards. I remembered the satisfying click! from when they would collide against each other and, just like that, held them in my hands.

Without hesitation, I hurled the marbles at my opponents. I saw the swirls of their faces reflecting the blues and magentas back at me as clear as they’d been when my grandfather had first taught me how to play with them. I knew from experience that those little spheres were very easy to slip on. If I could make these guys trip, I could take a shot with the spikes. Unfortunately, I forgot one itty-bitty little thing: These were magical marbles.

And I should have remembered what their power was.

All of us watched as the marbles grew. In a matter of seconds, they were as tall as Kitsune. A few more and they were half my size. I hadn’t remembered them getting much bigger than that before but, then again, there hadn’t been that much room when I’d thrown them last time. Surely, though, they couldn’t get too much bigger, right? After all, they were just conjured items! I was quickly educated on how wrong I could be because these things?

They were like fucking. Boulders!

“What the fuck are those?!”

Dramatic much? I thought. What? You’ve never seen supersized marbles before?

I was about to yell back until I felt the ground groan a little. Thinking it was the Fibermental from earlier, I jumped right. Why wasn’t the feeling subsiding? Did it have to do with the noise I’d started hearing? But it was so loud! I frowned, my eyes falling on where my creations were. The fun thing about marbles, though?

They like to roll.

I heard yelling from all directions as my magical marble children went to make new friends. Those friends were rather hesitant, though, most of them diving out of the way. However, some were nice enough to give them a fighting chance! The Fyremental caressed one orb in a fiery hug that stopped it in its tracks. The Fibermental decided to play ball with her new friend, a thick vine whacking the sphere forward. Unprepared, the Fyremental was hurled into the nearest wall. Being the considerate soul he was, he mustered up the energy to stop his marble friend from meeting the same impact.

Guess they’ll have to call it a draw, then.

In a matter of minutes, the training grounds were cleared. Many people had interacted with a friend, if the smashed expressions of joy were any indication. There was still some tension, however, many of the people who could still walk creating a vast distance between them and those potential pals.

“Holy. Fucking. Shit.”

I turned to see the instructor woman walk towards me. I’d have been concerned, but the light in her eyes told me I might last the day, at this rate.

“What was that?” she asked excitedly.

I blinked at her. “Marbles,” I said eloquently.

She rolled her eyes. “Well those marbles were something else.” She surveyed the remains of the battlefield.

She turned back to me. “Anyway, you must have done something right. The commander wants to see you.”

Commander?! I thought. I just got here!

“Well?” she prompted, gaze sharpening. “Get moving, soldier!”