THE MOMENT
"Yes?" Zeke had already opened the door and greeted the familiar woman before he remembered where he'd seen her. The attractive blonde with short hair and blue eyes was entirely his type, and he'd seen her in the neighborhood before. They'd never met, but he'd always planned to build up the courage to talk to her one day. He was a day or two from taking over the city, and he was curious why she chose that day to visit his house.
"Hi, we haven't met yet. I'm Annie from up the road," she made a gesture toward the north part of the neighborhood.
"Oh, right. I've seen you around," Zeke nodded and gave her a warm smile. "Would you like to come in?"
"I'll take a rain check on that," she replied with sparkling eyes. "I'm rather busy today, but I did want to stop in and keep you from making the mistake you’re about to."
"Mistake?" Zeke tilted his head at her.
"You built a giant fighting robot with the intent of taking over the city, didn't you?" she asked. "Judging by the huge tarp behind your house, it feels like you're a couple of days from launching your assault, and I just wanted to let you know how bad an idea that is."
"Whaaaaat? No...," Zeke shook his head, but Annie kept her sapphire eyes locked on him with a stern coldness. "How did you know?" he asked.
"I had that same idea when I first moved here, too," she giggled. "I saw the tarp growing back there, and I wanted to say something. Someone did me a favor and stopped me from making the same mistake. You wouldn't know it on first visit, but they've got a mecha police force here. It's rare they need to come out, but they're very effective."
"Wow, you're serious...," Zeke had been appraising her, and she seemed thoroughly sincere.
"Very much," she nodded.
"Man..., I wish I'd known that before I started...," he chuckled. "I guess disassembling it is more practice...,"
"Disassemble? Why?" Annie asked.
"I built it to take over the city," he shrugged. "It's kind of useless if I can't do that."
"It's a fighting robot, isn't it?" Annie smirked. "Forget taking over the city. There's a club of mech-heads that holds fights every week. I can put in a good word for you, if you're interested."
"Really?" Zeke asked. "I'd love that! You got that kind of pull?" he asked. Annie smiled at him.
"What kind of reigning champ would I be if I didn't have any influence?"