Chapter 132: The Good Kind of Manitian

Chapter 132: The Good Kind of Manitian

“Sorry I’m late,” Perry said, sliding into the booth beside Nat. “My Ferrari broke down and I had to break out the loaner.”

Natalie’s dad chuckled, but her mom had an expressionless mask imperfectly plastered over seething disdain.

Off to a good start.

“Got it from a friend of mine, who said I could keep it if I fixed it up,” Perry said, thumbing at the hippie van. “High schoolers gotta have a car, and I’m not too picky.” Civilian street cred established.L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on Ñøv€l--B1n.

“True that.” Nat’s dad said, taking a bite of his hamburger. “I had a piece of crap Subaru when I was your age. I thought it was my ticket to adulthood. I just wound up ferrying my friends around to Tex-Mex every night, though.”

Perry entered his order at the booth’s touch-screen. Double cheese tofu burger. Mmmm.

“You fixed the car yourself?” Nat’s mom asked.

“Yep.”

“Wow, I’m impressed,” She said in a tone that undercut the words, “that you know how to restore cars with your...age.”

“It’s not that hard to understand a combustion engine,” Perry said. “Especially one from the sixties. Getting parts is a bi-struggle, but 3-D printers can help with that.” Perry manually toned down his language.

“That’s an interesting shirt,” Natalie’s dad said, pointing at Perry’s ‘Deflower Power’ stenciled on his front, a glimmer of anger in his eyes.

“Yeah...that’s a curse of some kind.” Perry said, glancing down at his crude shirt. “Some prankster must’ve thought it would be funny if my shirt is constantly inappropriate or embarrassing. Maybe one of my cousins.”

“You’re...cursed to always wear bad T-shirts?” Nat’s dad asked, brow raised, anger evaporating.

“Pretty sure. This was a black AC-DC shirt when I put it on.” Perry said.

Her dad chuckled, continuing to eat his meal. Natalie’s mom was less than impressed.

“So, there a lot of magic where you come from?” Nat’s mom asked.

“Eh,” Perry said, waggling his hand. “There’s a fair amount, but less than you might think. Modern conveniences have replaced most spells, which were labor-intensive. Microwaves, cars, TV. That sort of thing. That stuff used to be royalty only, and now everyone gets to heat up their food in seconds.”

“Fascinating,” Nat’s mom said, folding her hands and leaning forward.

“Isn’t it?” Perry said. “I’m planning on going to UoF and get a degree in engineering. Magic is great and all, but science is better.”

Nevermind the two of those weren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. Perry just wanted to play down his total...magickiness, because that’s what her mom seemed to have a problem with.

“So what are your plans for Natalie?” Her mom shifted into high gear, catching Perry off guard.

“To...date her?” Perry said, confused, taking a bite of his french fries as they arrived. “I don’t know what else I would do at this point.”

Way too early for marriage.

“That’s a relief,” Her mom said with a facetious smile. “There’s so many stories about unscrupulous mooks selling human women into slavery. Given how short a time you two have known each other, I was worried.”

“Mom!” Nat shouted, drawing the attention of a few of the other Burger Joint patrons. “You can’t just accuse him of being a trafficker!”

“I didn’t!” her mom protested. “I was just worried about you, Nat. Funkytown is riddled with young women disappearing every year. I just have to be sure your new friend isn’t...off.” She glanced at Perry, who was stuffing his mouth with fries, watching the exchange with amusement.

“The manitians are nice! There’s nothing dangerous about them!”

Perry cleared his throat and nudged Natalie. “If I could step in. The majority of the racism against Manitians stems from the first twenty years after they arrived. 1970 to 1990. Coming from a feudal society, the concept of human rights and the rule of law wasn’t quite as...ingrained, and there actually was a decent amount of human trafficking, murder, extortion, blood rituals, you name it. They’re kind of like the Italian mafia of the nineteen twenties: Immigrants bringing their old loyalties with them, have a hard time adapting, faced with racism and exploitation. Kind of a perfect recipe for organized crime. The queen of Manita even tried to usurp the human throne and establish a New Manita, but couldn’t figure out how to kill Solaris.”

Natalie stared at Perry with wide eyes. She knew exactly where Perry and his grandmother fit in that whole dynamic.

“It’s better now with the average Manitian” Perry shrugged, taking a bite out of his burger. “I wouldn’t suggest walking around certain streets without backup, though. There’s still a decent amount of disappearances. Vampires and such. You remember those carnivores we ran into?”

Nat frowned at him.

“Oh, no, that was me and Heather,” Perry said, snapping his fingers.

“Who’s Heather?” Nat’s mom said, the matronly woman perking up like a doberman.

Perry glanced at Nat. “She’s a friend of mine,” Perry said with a shrug, but his delay had been too long.

“Is this the same Heather whose house you spent the night at?” Her mom asked.

“Well-“

“What was your boyfriend doing alone in the middle of a bad neighborhood with your best friend?” Nat’s mom asked, gaining steam.

“Mom-“

“Is she actually your best friend, or is she just another stupid girl this mook has wrapped around his finger? Did you lie about spending the night at her place? Is that what you were talking about at the-”

Perry glanced outside and spotted Role, now dressed in a doctor’s scrub and face mask, applying an I.V. to the unconscious bodybuilder. The chemical bag was labeled ‘sleep juice’.

Huh.

“Anything!? Oh my God, I would do anything for a soda,” Sin-Eater said, the goth girl clinging close to Chemestro as the super approached the register.

“Six tofu burgers, no buns, no cheese, with two scoops of guacamole on top. Large iced tea, unsweetened.” Chemestro said to the pimply teenager behind the counter.

The kid shakily relayed the order and Chemestro turned around, locking on Perry instantly.

Here it comes.

Chemestro approached, his gaze flickering between Perry, Nat, Nat’s parent’s, and the smudge of blue paint on the glass, taking in the situation.

“Citizens,” Chemestro said, his gaze lingering a moment too long on Perry. “I apologize for the danger you were put in. I view that as a personal failing, and am thankful it passed without incident.”

Nat’s dad spluttered in his hasty attempt to apologize for existing in the same place as the super fight went down.

“No it was my fault, I should’ve died, I mean, I shouldn’t have been there.”

“Chemestro,” Chemestro said, offering Nat’s dad his hand.

“Dave,” Nat’s dad said, shaking the hand over-enthusiastically with both of his. “Dave Smith. So glad you stepped in and took care of that Trigger Rampage.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Chemestro said.

“I’m Donna,” Nat’s mom said, shaking Chemestro’s hand.

“And you, miss?” Chemestro asked.

“Natalie,” Nat said sourly, shaking Chemestro’s hand.

“Perry. Perry Zauberer.” Perry said, shaking Chemestro’s hand last.

Chemestro’s hand clamped down over Perry’s.

Body 8 -> 12

Perry squeezed down harder.

His nemesis grinned wider, seemingly immune to pain.

“Sorry about that,” Donna said, tapping Perry on the wrist, prompting him to let go. “He’s from Funkytown. Sometimes I wish heroes like you could clean up the district. He rubs elbows with man-eating creatures, for god’s sakes.”

“Mom,” Nat hissed.

“Oh, I know he’s Manitian. Perry Z here is kind of famous in certain circles. A citizen of interest, in fact.” Chemestro said. “The Queen of Manita only has one grandson, after all.”

Damnit. Perry rubbed his temples.

“The...what?” Donna asked, glancing between Perry and Chemestro.

“Oh yeah,” he said with a smirk. “He’s the only scion of the richest, possibly most powerful family in Franklin City.” Chemestro was providing the publicly available information about him, so he wasn’t breaking any rules, but it was still a dick move.

“Oh my god, soda,” Sin-Eater said, gasped between huge gulps of carbonated sugar-water. “You don’t know how badly I missed you, Chemestro doesn’t- EEP!”

Sin-Eater spotted Perry and flinched backwards, assuming a defensive stance, dropping her tray full of burgers and fries.

Chemestro idly flicked his fingers, and the tray and soda cup floated in midair, moving to the nearby booth with their contents.

“Look out, It’s Para-“ another subtle movement from Chemestro and Sin-Eater lost the ability to speak. He caught her gaze and shook his head, at which point she sat down, munching down unhealthy french fries, stuffing her cheeks like a chipmunk while giving Perry a death-glare.

I made those french fries possible. Perry groused.

Monolith followed a moment later, glaring at Perry from the opposite side of the lobby, leaning against a pillar while he ate, because booths were too small for him.

He caught Perry’s gaze and slid his thumb across his neck.

Perry winked back, which seemed to sufficiently infuriate the brutish cowl. It looked like Monolith wanted to start something then and there, but he glanced at Chemestro before restraining himself.

A moment later, Role and Dazzle joined Sin-eater, staring at Perry while they ate.

Looks like they aren’t gonna start anything. Super culture respected off-hours and civvie dress...mostly.

Perry let out a breath and glanced back at Dave and Donna Smith. Nat’s parents were staring at him too.

“What?”