The West Side of Cardio City buzzed with mid-morning energy. Sunlight glinted off cafe windows, and the scent of freshly ground coffee mixed with exhaust fumes.
At 10 AM sharp, two sidewalk tables outside "The Ground Day House" cafe were occupied by an unusually intense group.
The black-haired Liam, the small girl Willow, the hulking Owen, and the lean Ridley occupied one of the iron tables.
At the adjacent table, Noah leaned on his chair at ease. The other side was occupied by Asher and the glasses-wearing Milo, who scanned the street with methodical precision.
"I thought you said they'd appear around midday," Asher muttered to Noah, tapping his fingers nervously on the table. He eyed the bustling street. "Why drag us here two hours early? My coffee's already cold."
"That's right!" Owen boomed from the other table, slamming his fist down, making the cutlery rattle. Several pedestrians jumped. "It's still too damn early! Are you messing with us, newbie? Wasting our time?"
Noah smiled, unruffled, taking a slow sip of his espresso. "I had my reasons, obviously."
"Then spit it out!" Owen demanded, leaning aggressively over the table.
"One of the Arcane Keepers in this team," Noah said, "is named Daniel. His superpower is a sensory field – he can detect the presence and location of living things within a certain radius around him."
"So what?" Owen scoffed. "We'll smash him first!"
"If he detects a large, coordinated group approaching their position," Noah said, his gaze sharpening, "they will immediately notice that we're hunting them." He gestured around at the cafe patrons, the shoppers, the people waiting at the bus stop nearby. "But if we're already here, blended in, before they arrive? Daniel's senses will register us as background noise. They will think we're just random bystanders."
"I see," Milo murmured, a flicker of reluctant respect crossing his face as he touched his glasses. "Pretty clever."
"So we just need to wait, then?" Ridley chimed in.
"Bah! It's still two more bloody hours!" Owen groaned, slumping back. His stomach rumbled audibly. "Let's just order some damn food! I'm starving!"
"Feel free," Liam said. His voice was calm. "You too, Willow. Order whatever you like."
The small girl nodded silently, looking at a picture of chocolate pancakes on the menu.
Liam turned slightly towards Ridley, keeping his voice low. "What about the others? Any response?"
Ridley checked his phone discreetly. "They said they will come if they have time," Ridley said.
"Come on, Boss!" Owen interjected through a mouthful of the muffin he'd already snagged from a passing server. "Just us is enough! We'll crush them easy!"
"I respect your confidence, Owen," Liam said evenly, his gaze never leaving the street. "But it's better to be safe."
On the other side of the table, Milo leaned closer to Noah, his eyes narrowed behind his lenses.
"You mentioned Daniel specifically," Milo said, his tone probing. "What about the other three Arcane Keepers members on this team? Do you have any intel on their abilities?"
"Unfortunately, no," Noah admitted, shrugging. "That's all I could gather."
"How useless!" Owen declared loudly, deliberately making sure Noah heard.
"Putting that aside," Noah said, smoothly ignoring Owen's jab, "what are we going to do with the two-person group they hunt? Let them die?"
"Obviously!" Owen scoffed. "Why the hell would we bother to help them?"
"Well," Asher said cautiously, "they could be potential allies, right? If they're being hunted by the Arcane Keepers, they might hate them as much as we do."
"Why bother?" Owen snorted dismissively. "We don't know their abilities. They might be weak. Useless. Just extra baggage."
"True," Ridley conceded from the other side, "but if they are useful, adding them as allies would clearly tip the scales more in our favor long-term. We're still outnumbered overall by the Arcane Keepers." He looked towards Liam. "What do you think, Boss?"
"Their main purpose is as a distraction," Liam said, his voice devoid of sentiment. "There's no need to purposely save them. Our mission is to eliminate Arcane Keepers; just focus on that. In case they survive, we can decide that later."
Noah smiled, a genuine flicker of delight crossing his face at Liam's ruthlessly pragmatic decision.
"That's right!" Owen boomed, slamming his palm on the table again, making Willow jump. "The boss has spoken! Just kill them all!!"
He laughed, a harsh, grating sound.
---
Time crawled. The cafe's morning rush faded into a lazy lull. The clock ticked towards 11 AM. Sunlight grew warmer.
Boredom hung thick in the air.
"Waiting sucks!" Owen finally erupted, pushing his chair back with a scrape. "Can I at least walk around the block? Stretch my legs? I'm going crazy!"
"No," Liam said, the single word carrying absolute finality. He didn't even look at Owen, his eyes continuously scanning the approaching intersections.
Owen deflated like a punctured balloon, sighing dramatically. "If you say so, boss..."
He slumped back into his chair, glowering at the street.
"Anyway," Milo said, turning his analytical gaze back to Noah. "Are you really Asher's cousin?"
Noah smiled, an enigmatic curve of his lips. "Why do you ask, Milo?"
"Nothing much," Milo replied smoothly, though his eyes were sharp. "I've just known Asher a long time. Grew up a few streets apart. I heard about his aunt's dog or his grandma's garden... but I never heard anything about a cousin named Noah."
Noah shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe he had no reason to bring me up?" he said. "Why would he talk about me any more than he'd talk about... I don't know... his Uncle Bert or his Great-Grandpa Silva?"
"That's true," Asher joined in quickly, perhaps a little too quickly. He avoided Milo's eyes. "It's not like I told you about my entire family tree, Milo."
"Fair enough," Milo conceded, but his eyes behind his glasses remained fixed on Noah, still a little bit suspicious.
He took a slow sip of his green tea.
---
More agonizing minutes passed. The clock on a nearby display clicked to 11:55 AM. Tension coiled tighter with each passing second.
"Still nothing?" Owen asked, his voice tight with pent-up frustration. He scanned the street, his knuckles white where he gripped the table edge. "Are they coming or not? Did your 'intel' screw us, Noah?"
"Calm down, Owen," Ridley hissed, keeping his own voice low but urgent. "Don't blow our cover by acting stupid."
"Who's acting stupid!?" Owen snapped back, his voice rising.
"That's enough. Geez," Ridley said, sighing.
Liam remained calm, his gaze methodically sweeping the sidewalks, the shop fronts, the approaching corners. His focus was absolute.
Meanwhile, Noah pulled out his phone. He swiped open a message from someone, revealing a slightly blurry photo – a candid shot of a man. He then casually glanced towards the busy intersection to his right.
A man matching the photo exactly was walking purposefully down the sidewalk. He wasn't alone. Three others moved with him in a loose, alert formation.
Noah smiled. "They are here."
---