The familiar flash of purple and blue cleared, and Micheal found himself staring at the empty seats of an auditorium. He looked around before realizing he was in the smaller of the three theaters, specifically on the stage.

  Markus, Carla, Vanessa, and Vern were with him on the empty stage, though he had a feeling that was about to change.

  As if his thought had summoned it, a flash of red and black smoke blasted up from the middle of the stage with a roar of trumpets.

  The entire theater shook, and the trumpets blared again. Stage lights appeared out of nowhere, shining down on the cloud from five separate angles.

  The smoke began to clear as a drum roll started in the background. Suddenly, the light shifted, and instead of slowly dissipating, the smoke curled inward, swirling about as if pulled by a current. ?

  The cloud continued to spin and twist until it revealed the figure at its center.

  He was tall and thin, with a fitted bright, red suit marked with lines of silver and threads of black at his waist, wrists, and ankles. He had dark skin that was almost unnaturally pristine, not a mark, pimple, or anything of the sort to mar his face. Said face was handsome, with the strong, clean look Micheal associated with movie stars, and his black hair rustled as if blown by an invisible wind.

  His left hand, which was holding a black top hat with a red saxophone on its front, twisted as the last of the smoke was sucked into the hat. He swiftly slipped it onto his head as if he feared the smoke would run away if he hesitated.

  The man turned bright silver eyes on them and grinned. “Hello, my beautiful new recruits. “Doffing his cap, he swept into a bow. Smoke immediately began to seep from the top hat, and he hastily slipped it back on.

  “You can call me the Director or just Joe if you prefer.” Joe’s voice was smooth and rich, the kind of thing Micheal would expect from a radio host or famous actor, which checked out, considering where they were.

  The man twirled his cane around before pointing it at Micheal. “I like your looks, young man; I have just the role for you!” He spun on his heel and waved towards Markus. “And to you, my strapping fellow, I know just what will suit you. “

  He skipped towards Vanessa, raising his cane above his head before poking it with his finger, seeming to measure the height difference between them. “You’ll make a fine barbarian, my dear. “The cane swung towards Carla next, and he grinned, white teeth flashing.

  “I think a dashing knight will suit you. “

  He paused at Vern, leaning to one side then the other. He held the cane up to Verns left and right before leaning close, so close Vern stepped back. Joe kept leaning in until he should have overbalanced, then swayed back. “I think I have something that’ll fit just right.”

  He strolled back towards the center of the stage and struck a pose. “Now that I have your measure, let’s get down to business. “

  A prompt filled Micheal’s vision.

  Complete the performance to the Director's satisfaction.

  ?Micheal wasn’t sure how to feel about this one. His love of the theater aside, he needed to know what performance they were doing.

  Carla beat him to it, arching a brow as she stared at the Director. “So, what do we need to do, Joe? “

  Joe slashed through the air with his cane. “Perform, perform, perform! The play must be perfect. But while I see Potential to be forged out of each of you, you need tempering; you need an example. But fear not! I know just what to do. “He snapped, the sound far too loud and crisp to be natural.

  His shadow oozed and writhed before splitting into sections, one darting towards each of them.

  Micheal got ready to dodge, but instead of slamming into him, the black puddle froze inches away before beginning to write and swell into a silhouette. It was three-dimensional, but it lacked any fine details, like a manikin that had come to life.

  The manikin had Micheal’s build. It was his exact build and his exact height. He glanced at the others and saw each of them had a silhouette that was an exact mirror, only lacking the fine details.

  “A wonderful shadow assistant will guide you through the play. Follow their lead, and everything will go swimmingly. Now, first things first, costumes. “He snapped his fingers again, and Micheal felt his clothes shift.

  His pants morphed into tight leather, while his shirt transformed into a soft fabric—maybe silk? Regardless, it was luxurious, with a low-cut neck and voluminous sleeves. He looked down at himself and his new shiny black boots. He sighed. He looked like a foppish prince.

  It wasn’t so bad, except when he looked at Markus, he found the man, and his silhouette had been dressed in plate mail lined with bone. He even had a helmet with horns!

  Vanessa and her silhouette got leathers that immediately made Micheal think of a barbarian with a large club to match. Carla received a knight’s armor with a skirt of studded metal. He was sure it was called something else, but he wasn’t that kind of nerd.

  Vern was… Micheal stopped and stared. Vern was a tree. Like the kind you find in a middle school play. His arms and legs were concealed, with only his face sticking out of the trunk. Micheal held back his laughter as Vern and his equally encased silhouette stared at him.

  Carla had far less restraint. She laughed, doubling over to slap her leg as she pointed at Vern. He glared at her as she continued to howl. “You just be glad I’m not over there. I’ll whip you with a branch. “

  She gasped as she tried to contain her laughter. “Don’t make tree jokes! I’m gonna pass out! “She laughed for so long that Joe started talking over her. “Your mannikins, your stunt doubles, your guides in a starless night! ????? Follow their lead, and everything will be alright!”

  Micheal exchanged a look with the others before turning to Joe. “So the mannikins will show us this performance, and then we copy them. “

  The man nodded, his top hat bobbing with the motion. “Correct! You will perform the performance until it is performed to my preference. Or perfection. Or some other word that starts with P. “

  Micheal wanted to say that sounded simple enough, but he didn’t want to jinx himself. He settled for a nod.

  “First, let us establish the scene!” Joe cried. “I am your Director, but I am also your narrator for this play. “He cleared his throat, and his voice took on a slightly scratchier edge as if he were imitating someone a few years older.

  “It was a dark and stormy night; the residents of the land huddled in beds and bundled in sheets. Except the damsel.” Micheal’s shadow stepped forward, placing a hand on their head as if they were about to faint. “The damsel was not huddled nor bundled; they were getting kidnapped by a dragon! “

  Micheal’s clone was seized by Markus’s, effortlessly tucked under one arm as they ran to the other side of the stage before setting the damsel down and turning to face the others.

  “The kingdom reacted with horror, his knight protector shamed. “Carla’s silhouette dropped to a knee and shook a fist at the sky. Vern’s double stood there, acting like a tree. “Others reacted with glee, allying themselves with the foul dragon. “Vanessa’s clone marched before Vern’s, tapping a club against one hand with a heavy thud.

  “The Knight was not deterred. She rose to her feet and rushed to save her charge.” Carla’s silhouette dashed towards the damsel, only for Vanessa’s silhouette to step into her path.

  “The Knight attempted to bargain her way past, but the barbarian would have none of it. “The silhouettes pantomimed an argument before the barbarian swung at the Knight. They broke into a fight, which was decidedly unlike actual combat.

  It depressed Micheal a little that he could tell the difference now. Regardless, the moves were too smooth, too coordinated. They executed a pretty dance as they went back and forth, long sword and club flying, as they always managed to just miss the other.

  After about 10 seconds, the barbarian clipped the Knight. As the Knight fell, they slashed into the barbarian’s leg with a spray of black blood.

  Both toppled, but the Knight was on her feet first, driving her sword into the other shadow.

  The barbarian fell back, stumbling off stage. “Foe bested, the Knight gathered herself and went on to the next challenge. “

  Carla’s silhouette took a second to catch her breath, then marched up to Vern’s silhouette. The tree shifted slightly to plant itself in her way. The Knight tried to go left and then right, but the tree shifted each time. After a second, she shoved it. The tree fell over.

  “With her second foe bested, the Knight approached the dragon! “

  “You have got to be kidding me,” grumbled Vern.

  Micheal patted him on the shoulder. Probably. It was a little hard to tell.

  “Let’s take a break and have you lot repeat what you just saw. Once you have it down, we’ll move on to the finale, “Joe said. At the same time, he snapped his fingers, and a table full of drinks appeared.

  The mannikins immediately marched over and pantomimed, chatting and sipping at the refreshments.

  Micheal decided to ignore the strange sight for the time being. “Okay, I think we got this down. Markus kidnaps me, Carla fights Vanessa, she… fights Vern, and then we’ll see what’s next. “

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  Vern sighed. “Yeah, she fights me. “

  No one commented on that as they shifted into position.

  Markus stretched in his armor. “A bit bulky for my taste, but it looks fashionable enough. “

  Carla laughed. “This stuff’s badass. I wish I had a set of armor like this. “

  Vanessa shrugged. “Leather is…Leather. “

  Micheal and Vern looked at each other in silent understanding.

  Markus walked over to Micheal and scooped him up under one arm. Micheal expected the man to activate his skill, but apparently, he didn’t need to. He carried Micheal to the other side of the stage with only a small grunt. It wasn’t quite effortless, but he still had a grown man under one arm.

  Two thresholds combined with Markus’s, however many decades of training, were no joke. His armor pinched against Micheal’s side, but he only had to bear it for a few seconds before they reached their spot. Markus set Micheal down with a pat on the shoulder. “Okay, so now Carla hast to fight Vanessa. “

  Carla examined her new sword with a frown. “This looks real. “

  Joe scoffed. “Our props are of the highest quality. Such high quality that they are, in fact, real. “

  Micheal winced. Faking that slash to the leg with a real sword was going to be a bitch.

  Carla strode over to Vanessa, and the two began to fake fight. Joe immediately signaled for them to stop. “That’s all wrong! You’re just waving about. You need to make it look believable. “They frowned and started edging their swings closer to one another.?

  It made Micheal’s stomach clench, but they got through several seconds of fighting, this time without Joe speaking. Then, it came time for Carla to take a blow on the shoulder. Vanessa pulled it, Carla rolled to the side as it struck, and Joe whistled. “I could see the pull. Again.”

  As the two begrudgingly began to fight again, Micheal got an idea. So far, Joe was responsive instead of just giving me flat orders.

  When Vanessa failed to strike convincingly enough again, Micheal stepped in. “Can they re-create the blow instead of The fight leading up to it? It seems like they have it down except for that part.”

  Joe’s silver eyes flicked to him, and he tilted his head slightly, his eyes narrowing.

  ??Micheal was struck with the feeling that this man wasn’t a construct. He didn’t know why; the System constructs were usually lifelike, but there was something in the man’s gaze, a that most constructs lacked. He was unsure, but the feeling was strong enough to unsettle him.

  “You want to save time? We don’t want our actors to get worn out redoing a scene when they have the basics down. Very well, I’ll allow it! “

  Micheal sighed in relief. So Joe could be convinced. That was a good sign. Vanessa and Carla practiced the fake hit until Joe was satisfied. It was nerve-racking; the club Vanessa was swinging around was as long as a baseball bat and twice as thick at the tip.

  While Carla had a real sword, that bat was far easier to accidentally kill someone with when swinging it at those speeds. Carla’s armor would do a lot against swords, but a blunt hit like that would cave her shoulder in almost as easily as anyone’s.

  The club connected with Carla, and she fell to the side. At the same time, she tried to slash out at Vanessa’s leg, But Micheal could visibly see the flat slap against the other woman’s thigh.

  He knew Joe would be calling it before the man opened his mouth. “No, that won’t do. We need a slice, then a fall, then a stab. We can’t have our audiences seeing such immersion-breaking displays. “

  Micheal began to seriously worry. What would happen if they couldn’t complete the performance? Could they leave, or would Joe and their silhouettes get violent? Micheal didn’t wanna find out. He thought furiously. What could Micheal do? If Stephen were with them, he’d ask him to slip a shield under Vanessa’s armor before the sword connected. It’d be tricky for the man to place a shield precisely under clothing.

  But there were ways they could get around it; he was sure they could figure out a way to loosen a section of leather around Vanessa’s thigh. But Stephen wasn’t here, so magical shields weren’t an option.

  His buff was already on Vanessa. That would make her tougher, but he still didn’t want to risk a full-speed slash to her thigh. If it went too deep, he’d need to use his heal, which was not an amount of energy he wanted to expand lightly.

  Micheal paused. Not everything had to be solved with a Skill. And it wasn’t like this event had a lot of rules. The only requirement was they complete the performance to the Director’s satisfaction.

  He turned to Joe. “You summoned that table with refreshments earlier. Can you summon other things? “Joe turned to Micheal, and that sense of weight pressed down on him as the man regarded Micheal. His lips slowly spread into a wide grin. “I can summon quite a few things, but you must convince me how it will help the performance. “

  Micheal smiled to match him. “In that case, I’ll need red dye, three plastic bags, and tape. “As Micheal continued rattling off materials, the Director’s smile only widened.

  – – –

  Extra padding across Vanessa’s entire thigh, combined with a homemade fake blood pack and another line of padding and fake blood packs along her abdomen, had them finishing up the next scene in a hurry. Carla took the fake hit to her shoulder, fell, and slashed out at Vanessa’s thigh.

  With the leather and padding combined with Micheal’s buff, they were far less worried about accidentally chopping half her leg off. Fake blood sprayed, and Vanessa toppled. Carla angled her sword to strike along Vanessa’s side as she did. This still gave Micheal a shot of panic, but the sword nicked along Vanessa’s side, and fake blood sprayed. Vanessa rolled away and coughed twice.

  Micheal sighed; no emergency healing needed, that was the signal for all was well.

  Joe clapped loudly. “Wonderful. The fake blood was a great touch. Now, it’s time for your clash against the tree. “

  After besting Venessa, Carla turned towards Vern. She moved to shove him over when Joe whistled. “No, first you must try to walk around him, remember the scene! “

  Carla and Vern let out identical sighs before getting to it. Carla tried to go left, but Vern got in the way. Rinse and repeat three times before Carla gently reached out and pushed. Vern promptly overbalanced and fell on his back.

  “You’ve got it on the first try! Well done!” Joe cried.

  Vanessa quietly helped Vern to his feet as Carla turned to Markus.

  Joe whistled, and the silhouettes strolled over. Micheal, Markus, and Carla took positions beside them.

  “The brave Knight had bested the barbarian and felled the foul tree. Now she faced the dragon in all his glory.”

  Carla’s silhouette steeled herself before charging Markus’s.

  The heavily armored shadow shifted, and then an amber shroud roared to life around it.

  Micheal swallowed.

  The two crashed together in a flurry of blows. A gauntlet deflected each sword swing, and then a blisteringly fast punch sailed for the Knight’s head. The Knight ducked and tried to backhand the dragon. The silhouette stepped back, dodged the swing, and kicked the Knight in the chest. The Knight tumbled head over heels, and the dragon advanced before they could climb to their feet.

  The damsel rushed in, putting himself between the dragon and the Knight.

  “The damsel’s bravery does not go unnoticed,” Joe said, his voice a hushed whisper that carried across the room. “Unfortunately, the dragon is neither merciful nor impressed with acts of bravery without the strength to back them up. “

  A rising uppercut catches the damsel in the chin, and they sail back at least 10 feet before hitting the ground and rolling. Micheal stared at that for several seconds, barely registering the Knight picking themselves back up and re-engaging the dragon, slaying them with a stab to the side. That stab looked easy enough to fake.

  Unfortunately, the uppercut and the sailing back 10 feet will take a bit more effort to pull off without Micheal losing his head.

  “The Damsel stirs, injured but alive, as the Knight claims victory, rescuing her charge. The dragon is defeated, and the lands are at peace! “The other silhouettes clapped politely as the dragon and the Knight gave a bow. The damsel was still climbing back to their feet.

  The silhouette moved back to take a break while Micheal stared at Markus. “I really don’t wanna get punched. “

  Markus nodded, his worry clear despite his hidden face. “Yes, it’s a pickle. How are we going to imitate that without caving in your skull? “

  Micheal winced at that image but nodded. “That’s the question. “

  Carla walked over and lifted her visor to display her frown. “I have to take a pretty nasty hit, but that one’s more straightforward to fake. It just has to look like it connects, and then I do a backward somersault. High school gymnastics was a while ago, but the apocalypse has refreshed me on taking a roll. Ten feet of airtime is a bit harder to fake. “

  Micheal chewed over the problem as Carla and Markus practiced their fight. It required more precision than it had against Vanessa. Markus’s requirement to activate his skill brought in a huge element of danger. Even with his Meter kept as low as possible, every blow with it active was potentially lethal.

  While Markus wasn’t in as much danger on his full plate, he still needed to deflect a sword, but Micheal had too much confidence in the old man to worry about that, honestly.

  So…how does one fake getting punched off their feet? Well, that part wasn’t so hard. The puncher in question pulls the hit right before contact, and Micheal throws himself back. The problem was the distance.

  He hummed to himself. He had several Skills that made him faster. Could he use them here? He’d certainly consider Markus’s fist to be in the line of danger, so as long as the old man was really swinging, it should proc the buff.

  Markus swings, Micheal throws himself back, and prays he gets enough distance. The problem was he would still be hitting the stage at high speeds.

  If he slammed into something solid at speed, he would feel it. The System had made him strong enough that it shouldn’t kill him unless he got unlucky with his landing, but he’d rather reduce that impact if he could.

  Micheal snapped his fingers as a thought came to him. “Vern, do you think you can time is slow me right as I’m about to hit the ground? “

  The man nodded or shifted slightly. It was hard to tell through the costume. “I’ll have to free one of my arms, but I can do it.

  Micheal turned to Joe. “You don’t think it’ll be too immersion-breaking for the audience if I get slowed just before impact, do you? If we time it right, it will just look like I’m slowing from hitting the ground. “

  That wide grin was back on Joe’s face as he stared at Micheal. “What a wonderful attitude to have about it. So long as it looks natural enough, it’s more than allowed. I’ll even clear up a spot for Vern’s arm. “He snapped, and part of Vern’s costume shifted; one of his arms was freed, but instead of a human arm hanging from the tree body, his limb was covered in bark until it looked like a heavy branch. “Got to keep immersion,” Joe said.

  With that cleared up, Micheal turned to see Carla and Markus finish practicing. Markus pulled his punch an inch before impacting Carla, and she tumbled back head over heels. The old man turned to Micheal and cocked his head. “You had an idea? “

  Micheal nodded. “You try to punch me, and it activates No I Will Not Be Moving To The Side. I throw myself back a bit before impact. With a speed boost, I should get enough airtime. Vern will slow me just before I hit the ground. The last part I think you and Carla can do first try. She just has to look like she’s stabbing you through the side, but it’s easy to fake as long as it’s through the side that isn’t facing the audience.

  Markus hesitated. “That’s sound enough, but that means you still have to be in the line of a punch heading for your jaw. “

  Micheal swallowed. “We’ll do some half-speed practice, yeah? We just need to get it good enough. “

  Markus was quiet for several seconds before nodding. “I wouldn’t agree to it if we could die here. I trust you, and I trust myself to pull punches. But it’s not something I’d bet your life on. “

  “I appreciate it, and the feeling is mutual. “

  After a few minutes of nerve-wracking practice, they moved on to the real thing.

  Markus swung for Carla, and the woman tumbled back.

  Micheal dashed in, and his stomach clenched.

  With his faceplate down, Markus was imposing as hell, the added bulk of the armor causing him to loom.

  Amber light blazed around Markus as he stepped forward, his armored stomp echoing on the stage.

  This was it, no more practice. Micheal started a mental count.

  

  

  The punch roared up, horrifyingly quick.

  

  The instant his count reached three, Micheal jumped, Markus’s fist careening towards him as he pushed off.

  Blue light wrapped around Micheal as he hurled himself up and back. Markus’s fist whistled by, missing him by a hair. Relief poured through him, and then all of Micheal’s attention was taken up by the fact he was airborne.

  His stomach lurched, and he braced himself for impact. Just before he hit the ground, a quick beam of purple caught him in the shoulder.

  He hit and rolled head over heels, but it was slow enough that it didn’t even hurt.

  As Micheal came to a stop, his eyes locked on Joe, who gave him a smirk and a thumbs up. Micheal took a deep breath and let his head rest on the stage.

  He never knew not fighting could be so exhausting.

  The others had it in the bag. He didn’t even look up until a wonderful notification filled his view.

  Stage 2 of 2 cleared! Event cleared!