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[b][i]Maddy's Apartment[/i][/b]
[b][i]Sometime Around Lunch[/i][/b]

"I can't believe you flaked on seeing Iron Knight."

"Come on, give me a break Ter," Aleks said with an eye-roll for emphasis. "He's a superhero, not exactly an uncommon sight around SPARK."

"But...it's Christopher friggin' Arthur!" Terra exclaimed as she swerved around a corner, dodging a green turtle shell by inches. "Dude's a living legend among living legends!"

"He's a super-powered Kardashian! Seriously if I ever wanted to get a superhero to sign my butt I'd drop my pants in front of 'Caliber' and give her a pen."

[color=DarkGreen]"That's oddly specific, but I'll assume it's a complement,"[/color] Maddy said wickedly. [color=DarkGreen]"Eat banana peel!"[/color]

"Fuck!" Aleks shouted as Luigi spun out of control, which graduated to a louder shout when the poor plumber careened off the edge of the map. "STOP DOING THAT!"

[color=DarkGreen]"Have a nice swim!"[/color] Maddy laughed as Bowser shot past and crossed the starting line for the final lap. [color=DarkGreen]"Can't dethrone the king!"[/color]

"Death to tyrants!" Terra shouted in defiance.

[color=DarkGreen]"Ter, you're playing Peach."[/color]

"Death to some tyrants!" Terra corrected herself. "Actually, that raises a good point, what would you do if someone asked you to sign their butt?"

[color=DarkGreen]"Do people actually ask to do that?"[/color] Maddy questioned as she zoomed across a chasm, dropping a fake item box at the end in just the right spot to blow someone off the map. [color=DarkGreen]"It would just wash off, and you can't even see where it was signed. Doesn't make any sense."[/color]

"Come on blue shell...damn it, green shell again," Aleks moped. "And I don't think that matters to some of the weirder fans out there. I've read that some of Iron Knight's disciples get really weird."

[color=DarkGreen]"Well as long as both my fans don't ask me to sign their cheeks I think I'll be fine,"[/color] Maddy quipped, which turned into a yelp as a red shell smacked into her.

"So long gay bowser!" Terra said as Peach sailed by and crossed the finish line for the win. She stood up to do a little dance before shape-shifting into Princess Peach herself, spinning around in the pink dress happily.

"Show off," Aleks grumbled as the losing pair crossed the finish line in third and fourth place, coming in behind the computer player Donkey Kong. "Can't believe we lost to the goddamned monkey..."

[color=DarkGreen]"You mean DK or her?"[/color]

"Oh ho, a reservoir of cunning and wit you are," Terra said, every word dripping with sarcasm. "Them's fightin' words, I'm thinking a rematch."

[color=DarkGreen]"Oh you are [i]so[/i] on."[/color]

"I'm picking the map though, that banana thing was so cheap," Aleks insisted. "Rainbow Road sounds good."

"See what I want to know, Mads," Terra said, continuing the previous line of discussion, "Is what exactly do you even do at this SPARK place?"

[color=DarkGreen]"Uh, well they have us on patrol times, where we group with one another and go out to keep an eye on things,"[/color] Maddy explained. [color=DarkGreen]"I guess because Caliber is named and well-known I got put in as a team leader."[/color]

"Wow, congrats!" Terra and Aleks chimed in.

[color=DarkGreen]"Don't congratulate me yet,"[/color] Maddy said weakly. [color=DarkGreen]"I still feel like I'm in over my head. You saw what I'm...well, you saw."[/color] She locked eyes with Terra, who gave a slight nod to show she understood.

"Hey if there's anyone I trust to keep a bunch of punk kids with lasers shooting out of their eyes safe, it's you," Aleks complimented.

[color=DarkGreen]"Thanks, that's...really encouraging, if a little oddly phrased"[/color] Maddy smiled. [color=DarkGreen]"And you know, at the very least I won't be working with a super-villain anymore."[/color]

"Preach," her two friends chorused.

"By the way, what was it you said earlier?" Aleks said as Luigi swerved in front of Bowser just before a sharp curve away from the endless void of space. "Eat banana peel?"

[color=DarkGreen]"NOOO!"[/color]