Chapter Seven: A Brief Interlude

90s Kid slowly opened his eyes, realizing that he was in a warm bed. The last thing he remembered was meeting that nice dude that had done something to make his head hurt less, then a strange whooshing sound had filled his head, and 90s Kid blacked out.

He pushed the blanket down to his feet, relieved to see that he still had his clothes on. An enticing aroma filled the air, and 90s Kid inhaled, grinning. "Pancakes!" He leapt out of bed-or at least he tried to. His legs gave way, and he yelped as he scraped his shin on a nightstand. A wave of horrible dizziness overtook him, and he fought to keep his gorge down.

"Are you alright?"

He looked up at a plump woman with short brown hair. She was in a house dress, and was smiling at him in sympathy. "Are you OK?" she repeated, and 90s Kid gulped.

"I dunno, I'm like, totally dizzy and junk."

The woman knelt in front of him, pressing a cool hand to his forehead. "You're burning up!" She placed her hand under his chin, trying to look into his eyes.

"No, dudette, don't do that! I...people can't look in my eyes. I get these weird flashes if they do."

Nella smiled. "It's OK, I can handle it. I need to see if your eyes are glazed." She lifted his chin. "Well, they're clear, so the fever is most likely a residual effect of the spell Critic cast on top of the Teleportation."

90s Kid blinked. "I teleported here?! Awesome! Is Critic that dude in the hat and tie?"

Nella nodded. "That's him. I'm Nella, by the way. Critic said he calls you 90s Kid?"

"Yeah, it's a pretty weird name and all, but I don't remember my real name."

Nella frowned. "What do you remember?"

90s Kid thought for a moment. "I remember getting into a really bad fight with my mom, then running out of the house. Something hit me on the head, and I woke up in that warehouse in the middle of one of my Visions." He sniffled. "Will I ever remember who I was?"

Nella sighed. "I don't know. Listen, if you think you can keep food down, I made pancakes. Also, I've got something for you." She reached into her pocket and handed him a pair of sunglasses.

"Cool shades!" He slipped them on, grinning.

Nella laughed. "They're more than that. Those will enable you to look at people without having Visions. Magical artifacts are a specialty of mine. What about you?"

90s Kid looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean, what about me?"

"Well, apart from being able to see the future, what magic skills do you have?"

"Umm...I'm totally not magic, Nella-dudette. Comicrona doesn't have Magic."

Nella blinked. "Right, I forgot. Umm..is there anyone else back home like you? Able to see things, can make things happen. Stuff like that?"

"Naw, I think I'm the only one."

'Why am I not surprised?' Nella thought to herself. "Well, if you're hungry, breakfast is ready."

While 90s Kid devoured stacks of pancakes drowning in syrup, Nella went into the living room to call Critic.

"Hmm?"

"Critic, it's Nella."

There was the sound of fumbling, and Critic spoke coherently. "Nella, hey. What's up?" Nella thought she heard him mumble "Stop that, it's distracting."

"It's about the Kid you decided to deposit on my doorstep."

Critic sighed. "Nella, I told you it would be temporary. Linkara's agreed to let him stay at his house. They should be by to collect him later this afternoon."

"When you say 'they'..."

"Relax. I mean Linkara and Dominic. I know you don't exactly get along with Spoony or his...other side."

Nella snorted. "Spoony's other half stole my Aura-Piercing Goggles. I know the poor man doesn't deserve what happened to him, but he needs to curb himself a bit better. And Linkara won't hear a word said against Spoony."

"Yeah. Nella, why did you call?"

Nella sighed, looking around the corner at 90s Kid, who was still gobbling down pancakes. "The Kid's a native of Comicrona, right?"

Critic somehow managed a verbal shrug. "I would assume so, that's where I found him."

Nella counted backwards from ten. "Critic, Comicrona is a Magic Dead Spot. We can still use our magic because we're outsiders, and even then it's going to be dampened a great deal by the Dead Spot, but no native is going to be born a Mage, or have any Skill."

Critic said a word Nella hadn't known Critic knew. "So in the course of two weeks, I've met two impossible people. A kid native to a magic Dead Spot that's a Precog, and the Healer!"

Nella 'hmmed' in sympathy. "Maybe it's Fate."

"Or her co-worker." Critic said, then hung up. Nella shut off her phone.

If Fate really was taking a personal interest in Critic's life, that could mean trouble.

Major trouble.

"There's a war coming."

Nella turned to 90s Kid, her stomach churning. His glasses were off, and his eyes were completely black-no pupils or irises."What?"

"I See it. There's a war coming, and the Disciple is caught in the middle."

Nella started to say something, and 90s Kid blinked, then shook himself. "Umm...what happened?" He saw the look on Nella's face. "I had another vision, didn't I?"

"Yeah."

In his cell, Rob Walker was feeling the first glimmer of hope in a long time. He had managed to discover what the runes on his collar said by carefully examining himself in the basin of brackish water that Guy left for him. He didn't like to spend too much time looking at himself-his months in captivity had not done his looks any favors- but he thought that if he tried, he could recite the rune's counter-spell and free himself.

And when he did, he was going to bring the thunder down on his insane brother.

The sound of a key turning in the lock made him scramble to make sure he didn't look too conspicuous. Guy entered the cell, smiling at him in a way that made Rob's testicles shrivel up. "Comfortable, Robert?"

"It's the finest shit hole I've ever been locked up in," Rob snarked. Guy's eyes darkened for a second, but then he laughed and patted Rob patronizingly on the head.

"Such fiery spirit. Well, I guess it runs in the family. Did I tell you the wonderful news? I saw dear Doug just last week."

Rob gaped at Guy in shock. "Where?!"

"At cousin Dominic's bar! Doesn't that just warm your heart to know that Doug is back in town? Well, wait until I tell you what else I know! It seems that our brother has become a Disciple!"

Rob went white. "He what?" he whispered, unable to believe what he was hearing. "How could he?"

Guy shrugged. "That's a very good question. The answer is, desperate times call for desperate measures. I'm sure that you'll have plenty of time to ask him once he gets here."

Rob had been staring at the floor, and now he looked up into his brother's insanely grinning face. "What the hell have you done?!"

Guy giggled. "I've...what's the phrase, decided to make him an offer he can't refuse."