Escape: Through the Fourth Wall

9: Downtown Showdown

"What?" Zac asked me.

"You heard me," I told him, but repeated what I said anyway because you appeared just in time to miss it, "I don't feel up to coming to the library today."

Zac looked sympathetically at me. "Did Demon Lady break you already? I'm sorry if you had to put up with all of that, but it's your fault for choosing World History, you know."

"I don't even remember picking World History."

"Look man," he said, going full therapist mode, "if you ever need someone to talk to-"

"Mac, Lilac and Drac are there for me. I know." I smiled at him innocently.

"After hearing that, you're totally right! See if I even bother to acknowledge you from now on!"

We both laughed because otherwise some reader out there (you know who you are) wouldn't know if he was kidding or not.

"You must be really screwed up if you're bunking the very first discussion of what to do with our liv- I mean, existen-- you know what I'm talking about." He saluted me goodbye with two fingers. "Guess I'll tell the others. Go get some rest."

"Will do," I assured him.

Spoiler alert: I didn't.

***

Flying around The City in broad daylight is probably not the best of ideas, but I had a nagging feeling that something was going to go down downtown and that I absolutely needed to be there to witness it. Plus, there was a couple hours before the Aware Gang would wrap up their conversation, so I had a pretty sizeable window.

Meanwhile, it looked like it was getting more and more urgent for me to have to follow my only solid lead- The Crimson Flame. And although I hated to admit it, there was only one person in the entire city who kept tabs on everyone and could be counted on to know anything about The City's former hero, and it looked like I'd have to confront him about it.

No prizes for guessing which shady person I could possibly be referring to.  

Unfortunately, the mayor is never in his office during the day, which makes sense because the day is when people actually bother to show up at his office and bombard him with questions that he either can't answer or won't.

That meant I'd have to look for him.

It didn't help that not only did I have no clue where to find him, but I hadn't managed to learn anything more about the invisible centaur. I knew the mayor was involved with it, and my best bet was that he was experimenting with the poor creature. I know that it literally not being real probably meant that I didn't have to care about it, but I suppose being treated like an animal for years meant that I could relate.

But why was he doing whatever he was doing, and how much had he achieved? I had virtually no leverage, and if the mayor was even a little more successful than I was in learning about each other like I thought he was doing, my meeting with him, if it happened in the first place that is, would be quite one-sided.

As I was mulling over the details of the plot while floating in the air (as one often does),  I realised that a black limo was chasing a small red thing on one of the streets below me.

Cue the plot convenient character appearance timing theme song.

I squinted at the unfolding event Futurama Fry style, willing my vision to get better somehow.

And it did.

I didn't even bother questioning it.

The mayor was being chauffeured in the limo all right, but what was he tailing? It looked like- who was it?- Devil Jack Jack? Was it a goblin? Then why was it so big and fast and-- red?