Portal Game - Chapter 6 - Preparations

When James walked through the streets of London today, it was as a different man from before. No longer was the young man just an average Joe. No, he was a mage now, and the thought still both excited and terrified him even after a full night of rest. As he strolled along the pavement and looked around at the general populace walking up and down, dark thoughts couldn't help but enter his mind. James would never do such a thing but if he wanted to, if he just so desired, all it would take to end a person's life was the click of a mental button and bang; a mana bolt would explode a person to death!

James quickly shook his head in an effort to drive away the rebellious notion of needless violence. He wasn’t a bad person, and he had no intention of becoming one, but being capable of doing such things was a little stressful. He couldn’t wait to get back through the portal where he could use his newfound powers more freely.

Descending into the famous London Underground, James' senses became overwhelmed by the crowded mess of people that hustled up and down the stairs. Children screamed as their mother's urged them along, drowning out the congregation of telephone conversations and the odd street musician. James spluttered as the stink of cigarette smoke flooded his nostrils.

'Bloody hell, can't these guys smoke somewhere else?! The outdoors is literally a 5 second walk away!' James cursed internally. While he had changed, the rest of the world seemed to have remained the same.

Thankfully the commute didn't drag on for too long. Within half an hour, James had abandoned the rotten subway for the streets and was now approaching his destination. He stopped in front of a certain store built into a worn down building that had been kept in the best state possible considering its circumstances. Despite the cracks in the brick walls that made one doubt the structural integrity of the place, the glass windows of the store were crystal clear and brilliantly flaunted the display items on the other side. Rifles, shotguns, and every legal type of firearm sat on shelves for everyone to see, although not many actually entered the store. Not everybody could buy guns in the United Kingdom, much to James's distaste.

"Gibbson's" the sign above the entrance read, confirming that the mage was at the right place. Not that James needed any confirmation; he had been here enough times to know the place like the back of his hand. Pushing open the door, the young mage ignored the bell that signalled his entry and walked the store. Examining it’s interior, James found that the place was immaculate. Not a speck of dust could be seen on the glimmering wooden floor or the rows of shelves holding the various goods available to be bought. Standing behind the large counter stood a hulking giant of a man who was taking his time polishing a rifle to perfection. He was wearing a red button-up shirt that only barely hid his muscles and the guy’s lack of hair on his head only added to the giant’s intimidation factor.

“James,” The man at the counter said dryly. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

The young adult sighed. Mr. Gibbson had never been the welcoming type.

“Sorry, I’m here for Cole. Is he home?”

Mr. Gibson jerked his head towards the door behind him, a gesture that James knew translated to “yes, Cole is home. Now get out of my face already”. The young mage could feel the man’s glare as he made his way through the shop to find himself some better company. Behind the door was a staircase that led up to an apartment above the store. For Cole and his Greek God of a father, the shop doubled as a means for income and a place to live.

James found Cole in his bedroom playing video games, just as he had expected he would. Unlike his father, Cole was a skinny and lean young adult with a full head of slick black hair. The contrast made most think that the guy was adopted, but James knew that instead his best friend had taken more after his Mother. Much more. The mage snuck up behind Cole to see what he was playing this time. Skyrim it turned out. ‘Respect’ James nodded to himself. Cole had good taste as always. Looking around, Cole’s bedroom was organised and tidy, just like the rest of the place. The two of them really had a lot in common if Jame thought about it. It was no wonder that had hit it off so well all those years ago.

“James! I got your message, what’s going on?!” Cole finally noticed James’ presence in the room. He took off his headset and spun around his wheely chair as he spoke. “Is everything okay?”

“In a sense I suppose,” James said, thinking about his half destroyed apartment yet again. Were things really okay? Probably not, but the Mage Acolyte would move forward anyway.

“Your Dad gave me the stink eye on the way in again.”

“That really shouldn’t come as a surprise you know?” Cole rolled his eyes.

“It doesn’t, but it still pisses me off. It was just one prank! ONE! Now the guy hates me forever.” James protested.

“You literally took a shit in his regional BASC shooting trothy." Cole smirked. "Yeah, I know I was in on it too, but remember who we’re talking about here. Do you really think he’s ever going to let that go?”

James sighed. Young him was both immature and stupid. Life had thrown enough at the young adult to force him to grow up, but Mr. Gibbson never seemed to have recognised the fact.

"It would be nice if he did." James spoke with a sad tone of voice.

"That it would." Cole agreed. "What's up then?"

James remained silent for a good three seconds before he responded. He hadn't come here for anything reasonable, in fact his request was bordering on outrageous. If he didn't know Cole like a brother, he was sure he'd be kicked out just after asking. James took a deep breath.

"I need a gun." He spoke, his voice confident.

Cole grinned. "You finally want to take up shooting seriously!" He stood up in excitement and started pacing.

"I've been trying to convert you for years, and the day has finally come! Are you going to come shooting with me on Sundays now? This is going to be awesome! Heck, Dad would probably forgive you if you get good enough! We can start the paperwork today. If we apply now we could probably get you a rifle in five to six…"

"Cole!" James interrupted. "I don’t think you understand. I need a gun now, today."

Cole froze in place. He looked at James shocked and confused as his grin was slowly replaced by a deep frown.

"What the fuck James?"

James didn’t falter in his request. He met Cole’s gaze with confidence. Acting timid and making excuses would do nothing to serve his cause. The two men stared at each other for around ten seconds before Cole sat back down on his chair and rubbed his forehead.

"Okay, what's going on? Explain yourself!" Cole slightly raised his voice.

"Some crazy stuff happened." James had already thought through what he would say. He wouldn't lie to Cole, but he wouldn't explain anything just yet. He couldn’t. The Mage Acolyte needed time to figure out things himself first. Besides, he doubted Cole would ever believe his story without seeing the portal itself.

"Simply put, trouble has come knocking on my door and as a result I'm about to go somewhere dangerous. Really dangerous. I could use some protection."

Wow. That sounded really cringe coming out of his mouth. By the look on his face, Cole would have thought the same if James wasn't actually serious.

"Fucking hell James! That's hardly an explanation! You're basically telling me nothing! Look, if somebody is threatening you just go to the police. I know everybody gives them crap but heck, they still do their job!"

"That's not it Cole." James said exasperated. "Look, I can't explain everything right now. Come over to my place after work on Monday and I'll answer all your questions. I need the gun now though. If everything goes well, it could mean that Mum gets better. Can you just do this for me?"

Cole looked at James with eyes full of worry.

"This isn't like you James." He said. "For all the years I've known you, you've never pulled crap like how you're doing now."

"That's because right now is an emergency." James explained. "I'm not going to use it against anyone, it's just for protection. You can trust me, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know" Cole resigned. "I trust you."

James smiled. Cole had always been reliable like this. The guy always had his back and in return, James always had his.

"You do know how screwed we are if anyone finds out right?" Cole asked.

"More or less." James acknowledged.

"Five years of prison for you, and ten for me. Plus my Dad's shop gets shut down." Cole took a deep breath. "I can't believe I'm doing this for you."

"Honestly, neither can I."

"Please don't screw up or do something stupid."

"I won't." James said as he tried to convince himself he wasn't about to something stupid. Exploring an unknown fantasy world was a very intelligent thing to do, right?

…

It took half an hour for James to get back to his apartment. Most of the journey was made with James being constantly anxious that somebody knew what he was carrying and trying his best to look as non-suspicious as possible. Of course, nobody was actually watching James and nobody cared. That didn’t make him feel any better though.

He let out a sigh of relief as he opened his apartment door to be met by debris scattered across the floor. He scowled at the sight of the mess.

"You're back!" Elise poked her head around the corner instantly after he walked inside.

"Do you have any idea how fucking bored I was all morning?! I couldn't even watch anime! How am I supposed to enjoy fiction if I can literally live it in reality…"

James ignored Elise's rambling to do a quick inspection of his home. Everything was exactly how it was before, but worse. Rubbish everywhere. Half destroyed furniture scattered about. A brand new pile of Coke cans and crisps on the ground next to the sofa. Not only had Elise not done anything useful this morning, she had the audacity to add to the mess. A normal day for her then, apart from this time James could do something about it.

"Elise," James interrupted his sister. "The next time you don't clean up after yourself, I'm revoking your portal privileges."

"...Huh?"

"That's right, no level ups or status for you if you keep leaving your shit everywhere. I'm sick of it. If you're coming with me today, you'd better start tidying up now."

"What? But?!" Elise stammered. "You can't do that!"

"Oh, but I can. My portal, remember?"

The glare that Elise gave him was probably enough to kill the light hearted, but eventually she huffed and began picking up the food packaging littered around her lounging spot. Justice!

James pulled out the gun from his rucksack to better examine it. He hadn't had time to do so earlier. As soon as Cole had handed him the weapon he'd kicked him out in fear of Mr. Gibbson discovering their little exchange. To be fair, it was a valid fear. Hopefully, the man wouldn't be doing a stock check anytime soon.

The gun was a pistol, a Glock 17. James knew next to nothing about gun models despite Cole going on about them all the time, but apparently this was what the police used when they carried guns. The firearm was black, semi automatic, and was about what one would expect when they thought about a pistol. Each magazine carried 17 rounds and Cole had given him two spare just in case. For James it wasn’t anything exciting, but it would work excellently for his visit to Svilenia.

“Cole actually gave you a gun?! You didn’t happen to get another one for me did you?” Elise asked.

“It was difficult enough to convince him to lend me this one. If I had asked for two, I would have come home with none.”

“Shame, I would have liked to dual wield.”

“Duel wield?” James looked at Elise incredulously.

“Yup” Elise affirmed as she filled a black trash bag and took it to the kitchen. “If you’re a mage, I’m going to be a warrior!”

“And what? Somehow you’re going to kill monsters with a blunt katana?”

“I don’t know why you’re making fun of me. Do you think you’re going to do anything with that spell from earlier? What are you going to do? Kindly ask the next wolf to wait 30 seconds while you fire up your spell?”

James grunted. She had a point there. The glock was the only thing that would keep them from dying if things went bad. He was going to have to put in some time at some point to level up his skills. Whilst he waited for Elise to finish her new chores, the Mage Acolyte made some final preparations of his own. He gathered some snacks and a few bottles of water before making a few sandwiches from whatever there was in the fridge. He didn’t know how long they’d be in Svilenia later, but he knew they’d stay long enough to get hungry.

“You ready to leave now or should we wait a little longer?” James called out to Elise.

“Heck no! I’m not waiting any longer!” Elise said as she walked over. The girl had changed clothes and was now wearing a bright orange shirt and hot pants. She had strapped her katana sheath to her waist with the sword tucked safely inside. James instead was still wearing his black sweatshirt and jeans from this morning. They gathered in the bathroom where the deactivated portal lay. The giant violet blur was just as a sight to behold as it was before. He reached his hand towards the portal and the menu popped up in response.

[Activate Portal?]

[Y/N]

James selected the yes option and watched as the portal expanded into the 2 meter tall vortex it was before. Elise watched with wide eyes as she witnessed the portal’s transformation for the first time. She was trembling, most likely a little scared but dying from excitement. James couldn’t help but be caught up in her mood. They were about to go on the kind of fantasy adventure that one only read about in fiction. Yet, this was reality.

James took a deep breath. “Let’s go!”

They stepped through the portal.