“..so you’re telling me people pay to do this? They enjoy it that much?”

“For the last time, YES!” exclaimed Dr. Wubbenstein. “In fact this whole set up cost–”

“And the way we’re doing it is exactly how they’d be doing it?” continued Smooth Jazz, ignoring every word the dorky drummer was saying. “Like jeeze Walter I knew you were a nerd but even for you this is a bit much.”

“Come on ya old fart, you’re not giving it a chance” clapped back Wubbenstein. “It just came out, we’re like the only ones on the planet who have one! And I mean, you’re already here…”

“I’m here because you sent me 42 messages that all said “URGENT - TOP SECRET MEETING!!” and we both know it, Walter”.

Groaning with bored frustration, Smooth Jazz leaned back into the lumpy cushions of the couch they were seated on. He tossed his phone onto the glass coffee table in front of them, where it landed next to Wubbenstein’s favorite gadget of the week: the Wubtendo 64, a brand new video game console.

“See check it out, you can make your own little characters!” continued Wubbenstein, doing his best to blaze past the awkwardness of the situation. “There’s me, Steve, Jimmy, look I even drew Greg’s leg tatto–”

“This is really stupid.”

“Okay okay, check THIS out; I made a mini you, too!” exclaimed Wubbenstein, pushing the controller into Smooth Jazz’s hands while pointing at the screen.

“No come on, I don’t…oh wait you gave him my saxophone?” Smooth Jazz sat forward, derailing his own sentence as his eyes lit up with interest. “That’s actually kinda cut–” 

*VRRT VRRT VRRT*

The cell phone on the table began to vibrate, nearly sliding off the glass as it rattled around noisily. A notification flashed on screen as an audio message played out loud:

[HERO HUNTER SCAN COMPLETE - YOU HAVE [ONE] DISCOVERED HERO LOCATION]

“WOOOOOOOOO! GRAB YOUR GEAR WALTER, IT’S GO TIME!” screamed Smooth Jazz, throwing the Wubtendo controller to the ground roughly. “Who needs video games when we can have real fun!” he cackled, running out of the lab in a giddy hurry. 

With a depressed sigh Wubbenstein turned off the unused console. “So close” the disgruntled doctor muttered to himself, while walking to the far side of the room. He approached a metal safe in the corner, so large it loomed over him quite imposingly. A bright pink post-it note on the front door read “EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!!! DO NOT OPEN!!!”, the words scribbled upon it in writing so illegible calling it “chicken scratch” would actually be a compliment.

Wubbenstein ripped the paper off the safe, throwing it to the ground. He reached out with his hand, entering a series of numbers into a keypad on the front door. “At least I finally get to see what this does to something living!”

To be continued…