THE MOMENT
"Is there nothing you can do for me?" Minerva pleaded. The tan, coffee-haired woman sat in her best friend's office begging for a favor. Ruby shook her head, the motion caused the crystalline scales on her face to catch the light; it made her eyes sparkle with a malevolent glimmer.
"Minnie, the app isn't the problem," Ruby sighed. "Unless you want to date an NPC, I can't force anyone to date you." Minerva narrowed her eyes.
"I don't want to date an NPC because....?" Ruby shook her head.
"Because you'll never not know that it's not real," Ruby shrugged. "Some people can handle that; you can't."
"Okay....," Minerva sighed and laid her head on her arms. "I guess I'll keep trying...," Ruby reached across the wooden desk and placed a hand on Minerva's.
"You could try sprucing your profile up a bit...," Minerva's expression soured; but, she did not have the energy to get angry. Ruby meant well, but Minerva shook her head. It wasn't the first time she'd come to ask Ruby for help, but she never wanted to take Ruby's advice.
"It doesn't matter if the multiverse hates her, Chroma saved my life. No matter what happens, I'm proud of my time with the Chrome Court and I'm not taking it off my profile."
"Minnie," Ruby shook her head. "You're scaring everyone off. At least let them give you a chance and tell them about it in person." Minerva shook her head.
"If they can't even stand reading about it, they're going to absolutely lose their minds if I surprise them with it in person," Minerva replied. Ruby shrugged and nodded to concede the point.
"Well, the app has a different profiles for alternate universes. The algorithm weighs the attributes differently to match you to a nemesis. You could try that route?"
"Nemesis? I don't want to brawl, I want to cuddle," Minerva said. Ruby shrugged.
"You want to meet people. Besides, it could be fun to use your strength. It's not like you have to brawl anyone you don't want to," Ruby added.
"Alright, I'll try it," Minerva said. She reached forward to pluck at the air. In an instant, she held her node. She tapped the icon for the dating app, then she looked up at Ruby.
"Settings...," Ruby said. Minerva followed the instructions and Ruby continued to guide her through after each action. "About..., then scroll down and find the button that says 'Nemesis'," Ruby said. Minerva found the button and pushed it. The text changed to "Partner" after she pressed it, and a small notification informed her that, "Nemesis Mode engaged." She navigated to the matches section to see what kind of nemeses she was in for. She stopped at the first one, a picture of a tall, pale, bald man in a dark duster. A bat skull tattoo with a 42 in blood red numbers decorated his head.
"Well, hello handsome," Minerva said. She eagerly turned the node around to show Ruby.
"That's a pretty solid start. Message him!"
"What do I say?" Minerva asked.
*
in another universe.
*
Astra, Oz, and Ruin walked along a dirt road toward a city in the distance. They resumed their quest after leaving the restaurant. Conversation was non-existent for the moment. But, suddenly, Ruin gave a soft, one syllable chuckle.
"Heh."
"Yes?" Oz asked out of curiosity. Even Astra looked up to see what amused Ruin. The bald man shook his head but he was solemn again.
"Sorry. I got a message."
"And?" Astra asked. "What's so funny?" Ruin shrugged as they walked.
"I signed up for a nemesis match before I joined your team, to try and find some fun, you know," Ruin said. Astra nodded. Oz wasn't familiar with nemesis match systems, but he thought he could guess what it was.
"And when you send someone a message for the first time, you want it to be good, right?" he asked rhetorically, then continued. "A prospective nemesis messaged me. Her message played off my name and it was kind of funny, that's all."
"Well, I have to hear this message," Oz said.
"Yeah me too!" Astra added. "What'd she say?" Ruin shook his head. A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
"We're supposed to meet up and brawl. She asked: How soon can you Ruin me?"