THE MOMENT
"And Ozone couldn't make his own deliveries because....," Sandy let the question hang as she stepped out of the black portal. Her voice carried the exasperated whine of a teenager that didn't want to be where she was, nor with the company she had. Honey, her teammate, was already there and she started walking forward as soon as Sandy was ready. They were in a quiet, picket fence neighborhood with the sun only just peeking over the hills.
"Because he's meeting with Turbo and Ruin to settle on the rules of the match," Honey said. "It won't take long, then we'll quest for you some more to get you geared up," she promised. "You've still got some catching up to do; you're behind the rest of the team," she added.
"Yeah well, sorry for being new," Sandy replied. She took offense at Honey's comment and wanted to repay her in kind. Ever since she met Honey, she'd been waiting for the perfect time to reveal what she knew about the younger girl's history. She decided now was the best chance to throw it in her face. "We can't all be ancient monster souls shoved into a new body...," she said.
She stared at the girl; but, Honey's only response was to turn at the end of the block. Sandy didn't know how Honey might react; but, she didn't seem to at all.
"You know, because you're Goliath's soul...," Sandy added as she turned down the new path with Honey.
"I know," Honey nodded. "The whole team knows, it's not a secret," she replied. Her tone sounded slightly colder than Sandy was used to; but, it wasn't anywhere near the reaction she hoped for. She was supposed to be antagonizing the girl; but, Honey didn't let any of her attempts stick.
"So... who's this loser we're delivering to?" Sandy asked.
"He's not a loser," Honey shook her head. "Ozone ran a contest to pitch the best apocalypse idea. We're delivering the prize to the winner," she said. She held up a transparent node to clue Sandy in on the prize.
"Oh," Sandy nodded. "Do you know anything about the winning pitch?" She asked the question as Honey turned off the sidewalk onto a stone path leading to a quaint, single-story house. It was nearly identical to every other house in the subdivision.
"Yep," Honey replied as they reached the door. She rang the doorbell without elaborating. The door opened and a young, pre-teen boy stood inside the house as he eyed the two girls.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Charlie Smith?" Honey asked; the boy gave a slight, distrustful nod.
"Uhuh...," he said. He leaned back and closed the door a fraction of an inch just in case.
"Congratulations! You won Ozone's Apocalyptic Challenge," she stretched her hand forward to offer him the node while still trying to keep her distance.
"Really!??" Charlie threw the door open and grabbed the node from her. The time lit up on the display as soon as he had it as if to prove it was genuine. "I won?? THANKS!" He turned around to go back inside; but, he noticed the girls hadn't moved yet.
"Actually, my good friend Sandy here...," Honey gestured at the taller girl. "...was curious about your entry. Could you tell her about it?"
"Oh yeah!" Charlie nodded with a broad grin.
"I thought it would be neat to have a sudden, instant apocalypse. After 1000 years of prosperity on the Earth where everyone gets along and has fun and there's no trouble. Then, just POOF," Charlie through his hands up as he made the sound effect. "It's over and done and no one even knows about it."
"Huh?" Sandy tilted her head. "No zombies? Robot uprising? Nuclear winter? Meteor impact? Nothing? That's dumb, who said that's the best apocalypse??"
"Ozone, I guess?" Charlie shrugged as he held up the node. "Thank you, bye!" he waved at them and disappeared into the house; he was in a hurry to play with his new Earth, and get away from Sandy.
"It was a random draw, right?" Sandy asked once the door was closed. Honey turned to get back to the sidewalk, but she shook her head.
"As far as I know, Ozone picked the winner himself," she replied.
"But, there's nothing exciting there...," Sandy shook her head. "Just poof, gone? Where's the action? The drama of vicious fighting over the last resources? Charlie's apocalypse kind of sucks...," she mumbled.
"Orrrr...," Honey teased Sandy with a playful smirk. "...there's just something wrong with you," she said.
"Huh?" Sandy didn't see the connection and was too confused to be offended. "How so?"
"Why do you want to see people suffering like that?" Honey asked. "As far as I'm concerned, a happy story that just ends would objectively be the best apocalypse for everyone."