Losing Control

The weight of the tokens inside the net didn’t feel like anything. The slight lingering burning on her stomach was all but numb as the challenger ran through the alleys of the Snowfall Kingdom, pursued only by her older sister as she struggled to keep up.

Frankie’s eyes blazed like they were full of white fire.

After everything they’d fought so hard for, all it took was a few greedy, childish adults to swipe it all away. She didn’t need to ask who could’ve done this, and she didn’t care how hard it would be to find or even catch up to them. She would do it. And she would get back what they took from her.

Broome whimpered when he made the incredible mistake that was turning around during the marketing team’s somewhat-coordinated escape. The second he saw that black-haired demon running towards not him, but rather the very front of the formation, clearly not even reading him as an obstacle, he couldn’t help but feel just like every promotion he’d ever gotten from Bozo was nothing but a worthless pat on the back. He wasn’t prepared for this. No amount of money or loyalty was worth going up against that girl today.

Accepting his place as a coward, he dove directly into the nearest dumpster, trying to sniff the watery snot back into his red nose as the rapid beating of the tourists’ footsteps passed him. He wondered how angry the boss would be when he found out the mission was a failure.

“STOOOOOPPPP!!!” Frankie cried at the top of her lungs out to the thieves. They weren’t listening, but she wasn’t done speaking. She panted a few breaths, and then shouted once again, even louder, in the only language her enemies spoke. “I WANNA MAKE A BET!”

At the front of the gang, Marston froze with her bag still in hand. The followers of his plan then skidded to a halt behind him, until all thirteen present members of the Tough Boys Comics Marketing Division turned to face her.

“Ah, ain’t that just a pissa. And how about you tell us just how much you’re bettin’?” Wilton couldn’t believe his luck. This wasn’t his original strategy, but he didn’t mind meeting the girls face to face if it meant shutting them down for good. “Ey. Mista stackjack.” He reported into his microphone. “I’ve got ‘em on the ropes. Permission to engage?”

“I’ll bet it all.” Frankie threw her net in the ground, letting it fall open. Her effort spilled out onto the white, like a dragon’s treasure. “Every last coin, for everything you stole.”

“Frankie!” Katie cried, unable to move past her disgust at the marketing team’s underhanded tactics. “This isn’t worth it! Can’t we just… tell staff what they did, and get them kicked out? They can get us back our coins!”

“Katie, how much money do we have right now?”

“We-“

“It won’t matter who we tell. If they had the guts, these guys could rob us blind of every single token we had and get away with it. Because there’s not a single park employee in the world who wouldn’t bow down to a handsome under-the-table paycheck from a stranger.”

“All yours for all ours? That’s a deal I can get behind.” Marston smiled, hand still on his mic as he replied to the girls. “Wait, what? Whaddya mean not granted? No suh! Boss, you don’t understand! This could be it!”

“This… this is our chance, sir!” Oda shot into her own mic, presumably responding to whatever it was Bozo was saying on the other end.

“What’s the freaking holdup?!” Frankie stomped. “Are you doing this or not?!”

“What’s he thinking…?” Kirby couldn’t understand. Thrown off as he was, he decided to at least let the hostiles in on the situation. “Look, I wanna fight you as much as the next guy, but the boss isn’t letting us…!”

“Mr. Bozo sir, please listen!” Julie shouted into her mic. “I know I haven’t been with this team long, but I’ve stood with it through all our encounters with these two criminals! I understand your hesitation… but think about it! Even with what we took, they might still get pardoned with what they caught during Moonfall! We can’t let that happen!” She sniffled. “Ugh. Dammit… why won’t he listen?!”

Wilton threw his mic into the snow.

“Marston?” Ko glanced over at the determined Bostonian.

“You know what…? Forget the boss. He’s underestimatin’ tha things we can do. He don’t know what’s good for him!” The senior employee cracked his knuckles with his palms facing the girls. “This is it! ALL OR NOTHING!”

The whole team cheered along with him. Today, they wouldn’t back down, even if it was the CEO’s very order. They’d get those remaining tokens- along with their revenge.

“Pick ya game already, terrorist scum.”