Later That Evening…
The lounge is warm, full of soft light and cool jazz. A world away from the war that was now Carter’s life.
This was their old spot. A place full of inside jokes and late night talks.
Carter and Ruby slide into a worn leather booth. The new clothes they bought earlier felt like a costume, a disguise for the warriors they had become.
A moment later, Sam and Leo arrive. The reunion is a chaotic explosion of sound.
“There he is!” Leo bellows. His voice is a booming roar that turns heads across the lounge. He pulls Carter into a massive, bone crushing hug.
“The man, the myth, the ghost! We thought you were dead you asshole!”
“Seriously, man,” Sam says, joining the hug. His voice is a mix of deep relief and anger.
“Seven months. Not a word. We were going out of our minds.”
They break apart.
Leo’s gaze lands on Ruby, a wide grin spreading across his face. He looks down at Carter’s right hand, at the golden Lotus Ring.
His grin turns to pure shock.
“Oh, my god,” he says, his voice a dramatic whisper of disbelief. He turns to Sam, his eyes wide.
“Sam, do you see this?”
“See what?” Sam asks, his brow furrowed with confusion. He follows Leo’s gaze, and his own eyes go wide.
“No way. No fucking way.”
“What?” Carter asks. A horrified dread creeps up his spine.
“You son of a bitch!” Leo roars, a massive, joyful laugh booming from his chest.
“You disappear for seven months, and you come back married?! Without even inviting us to the wedding?!”
Carter looks down at his hand, then at Ruby. His face pure, panicked horror. He had forgotten about the ring.
“What? No! It’s not—we’re not—”
Ruby just laughs, a bright amused sound that fills the booth.
She sees the pure panic on Carter’s face, and she can’t resist the opportunity make him feel like and uncomfortable teenager.
Looping her arm through his, she leans her head on his shoulder, giving his two stunned friends an angelic smile.
“It was a whirlwind romance,” she says, her voice a dreamy sigh.
“When you know, you just know, you know?” (whatever that means)
“I KNEW IT!” Leo bellows, slamming his hand on the table.
“I knew there was a reason you were playing so hard to get!”
“You sick mofo, you were already taken!”
“Carter Cross, you magnificent bastard, I am so proud of you!”
“We’re not married!” Carter insists, his voice a high pitched, desperate squeak. He tries pulling his arm away, but Ruby’s grip is surprisingly strong.
“Ruby, what are you doing?” he whispers.
“Just play along,” she whispers back, her pink eyes sparkling with mischievous delight. “This is hilarious.”
The teasing goes on for ten solid minutes. It leaves Carter a red faced, sputtering mess. Ruby laughs so hard tears run down her cheeks.
Finally, after Carter swears on his life that they are not married, Leo and Sam give in. Their laughter slowly fades into an easy silence.
“Okay, okay, fine,” Leo says, wiping a tear from his eye.
“Not married. Got it.”
He leans forward, his expression turning serious.
“But for real, man. What the hell happened? Seven months. Your parents were a wreck calling us every other week. We were a wreck too.”
“Where were you?”
Carter takes a deep breath. The practiced lie is ready on his tongue.
He tells them the same story he told his parents. A secret, high intensity training program for an international relief organization.
A remote, isolated facility. A strict no contact policy.
The story is believable, told with a calm, steady confidence that leaves no room for doubt.
“Wow,” Sam says, his face a mix of awe and concern. “So, like, Doctors Without Borders, but for… I don’t know, war zones?”
“Something like that,” Carter replies with a shrug.
“And you’re leaving again? Tomorrow?” Sam asks, a note of sadness in his voice.
Carter nods.
“Yeah. It’s a… a long deployment.”
A heavy silence falls over the table. The happy energy of the reunion is replaced by the reality of their separate lives, of paths pulling them in different directions.
“Hey,” Leo says, his voice quiet in the sudden silence. He turns to Sam.
“Speaking of new chapters… how’s Margret doing?”
Sam’s face breaks into a proud, but terrified grin.
“She’s good,” he says, his voice a mix of joy and panic. “She’s great. Almost due. Which is… you know… scary. I have no idea what I’m doing Leo. I’m going to be a terrible father.”
“No, you’re not dude,” Leo says, his voice firm.
“You’re going to be a great father, Sam.”
“You’re the most responsible, dependable guy I know. That baby is lucky to have you.”
“He’s right,” Carter adds, his voice warm.
“You’re going to be amazing.”
Sam looks at his two best friends. At their confidence in him. A look of deep, grateful relief washes over his face.
The conversation shifts, the mood lightening as they fall back into their old, easy rhythm.
Ruby leans forward, a mischievous glint in her pink eyes.
“Okay, enough with the serious, grown up talk,” she says, looking at Sam and Leo.
“I have been stuck with this guy for seven months, and he has told me absolutely nothing about his old life.”
“So, you two are going to tell me everything. I want the juicy good stuff. The embarrassing stuff. Spill it all.”
Carter’s face goes pale.
“Oh, no. Guys, don’t you dare—”
“Oh, we dare,” Leo says, a slow, evil grin spreading across his face.
“Sam, do you remember that time in eleventh grade, with the frog, and the principal’s toupee?”
“Do I remember it?” Sam says, his own face breaking into a wide, nostalgic grin. “How could I ever forget?”
The rest of the night is a warm blur of shared memories and easy laughter.
Leo and Sam, to Carter’s horror and Ruby’s absolute delight, share every embarrassing, hilarious story from their childhood.
They talk about the time Carter tried to dye his hair blond and ended up with a patchy, orange mess. They talk about the disastrous camping trip where a raccoon stole all their food.
About the awkward first dates, the triumphant victories, and the crushing, teenage heartbreaks.
For a few hours, Carter is not a mage.
Not a soldier.
He is just a kid from California, a boy with two best friends who know him better than he knows himself.
The weight of his new life, the war, the terrible ghosts bound to his hands, all of it melts away. Leaving only the simple, uncomplicated joy of being home.
But the night cannot last forever.
They leave the lounge. The cool night air is a sharp contrast to the warm bubble of the bar. They stand on the sidewalk for a long moment. The reality of their situation hangs heavy in the air between them.
This is not just a goodbye for the night.
This is a goodbye for a long, long time.
“You’ll be careful, right?” Sam says, his voice thick with concern.
“Whatever it is you’re doing, wherever it is you’re going… just, be careful.”
“I will,” Carter says, his own voice hoarse.
“And don’t be a stranger this time, you asshole,” Leo adds. His usual humor is a thin mask for the deep worry in his eyes.
He pulls Carter into another, final, crushing hug.
“You call us. You hear me? I don’t care how ‘classified’ it is. You find a way, and you call us.”
“I promise,” Carter says, his voice a choked whisper.
He says his final goodbyes. A last, lingering look at the two men who are more his brothers than his friends.
He gets on his motorcycle. The familiar, powerful machine feels solid beneath him.
He gives them one last wave, and then he is gone, disappearing into the bright lights of the California night.
Ruby watches him go, a soft, sad smile on her face. She turns to Sam and Leo.
“He’s a good guy,” she says, her voice a quiet, simple statement. “You guys are lucky to have him.”
“We know,” Sam replies, his own voice thick with emotion.
“You take care of him out there,” Leo adds, his gaze sharp. “You hear me?”
“I will,” Ruby says, her voice a quiet promise.
She gives them a final, warm smile and then turns and walks away. Disappearing down a dark alley at the side of the lounge.
When she is sure that she is out of sight, she raises her right hand, the golden Lotus Ring gleaming in the dim light.
She places her other hand on the cold brick wall of the alley.
“Open,” she whispers, her voice a soft command.
A swirling portal of rainbow light opens in the solid brick before her.
She takes one last look at the world she is leaving behind, at the bright, beautiful world that Carter is fighting for.
Then she steps through, the portal vanishing the moment she is gone.
Unseen, from a dark rooftop across the street, looking through the glass with high powered binoculars, is the man in the golden mask from the beach
He watches it all. He has been there the entire night, as a silent, patient observer.
He saw the reunion. The laughter. The farewell.
And he saw the impossible, beautiful flash of the portal.
He lowers his powerful binoculars. His gaze fixes not on the empty alley where Ruby had disappeared, but on the two young men now walking back into the lounge.
Their faces a mask of sad, quiet thought.
He raises a secure burner phone to his ear.
“The targets are separated,” he says, his voice low, cold, and without emotion. “Unfortunately The Library targets are gone.”
“But the friends… the friends are still here.”
“Engage them,” says the voice on the other end of the phone.
Sam and Leo walked back into the lounge. The happy energy of their reunion was gone, replaced by a heavy silence.
They slid back into the booth.
The empty space where Carter and Ruby had sat was a sharp, physical reminder of their friend’s sudden presence in their lives.
“You think he’ll be okay?” Sam asked, his voice a low, worried whisper.
“He’s tough,” Leo replied, his own voice missing its usual booming confidence.
“He’s the toughest guy I know. But…”
He trailed off. The unspoken fear hung heavy in the air between them.
A figure approached their table, a dark shadow that seemed to appear from the dim light of the bar.
It was the man in the golden mask.
He was no longer the harmless street performer from the beach. He moved with a quiet, predatory grace.
His presence was a cold intrusion into their private moment.
“Excuse me,” the man said, his voice polite and muffled from behind the mask.
“I couldn’t help but overhear. You were talking about your friend. The one who just left.”
Sam and Leo looked up. Their faces a mix of confusion and a deep, instinctual immediate distrust.
Something was wrong with this man.
Something cold.
Something… hungry.
“Who the hell are you?” Leo asked, his voice a low, dangerous growl.
“Yeah, man, this is a private conversation,” Sam added, his own voice hard.
“Fuck off.”
The man in the golden mask did not move. He stood there, his head tilted to the side.
“I am afraid I cannot do that,” he said. His voice lost its polite edge, becoming a low, chilling whisper.
He leaned in close, the golden mask a terrifying, inhuman face in the dim light of the bar.
He spoke a single, quiet, terrifying command.
“SAFEGUARD ACTIVATE.”
The world went silent.
The jazzy music of the bar, the distant chatter, the clinking of glasses. It all faded into an echoing nothingness.
Sam and Leo froze, their faces a mask of sudden, slack jawed emptiness.
Their eyes which had been filled with a warm, brotherly love moments before, now turned a familiar terrifying black.
The Gold Mask smiled, a cruel expression hidden behind the cold gold.
“The King orders you to comply,” he said, his voice a low hiss.
In perfect, chilling unison, Sam and Leo replied.
Their voices a flat, emotionless drone. Not their own.
“AS THE KING WISHES.”
“Tell me,” the man in the golden mask said, his voice a low, commanding purr. “Your friend, Carter. Where does he live?”
“4572 WILLOW CREEK LANE.”
Leo recited, his voice a dead, empty monotone. The address of his best friend’s childhood home, now a meaningless string of data.
“Excellent,” the man said.
He gave them a final, lingering look, admiring his new obedient puppets.
Then he turned and melted back into the shadows of the bar, his mission complete.
A moment later, the world came rushing back.
The music, the chatter, the clinking of glasses. It all returned in a sudden, jarring wave of sound.
Sam and Leo snapped out of it, their eyes blinking, their faces a mask of pained confusion.
“Ugh, what the hell?” Sam said, clutching his head. A sharp, stabbing pain erupted behind his eyes.
“My head is killing me,” Leo groans, rubbing his temples. “Did we… did we drink that much?”
They look at each other, their minds a foggy, blurry mess.
The last few minutes, drew a complete and terrifying blank.