“So, you’re able to fix up Roxanne?” Cassandra asked.

“Yeah. Just gotta check the damage first.”

The man got up behind his desk, and Julian was able to see his legs. Or rather, leg. He was wearing trousers the exact same shade of red as his shirt. But underneath it was a large metal leg where his right one should be.

“Legion scar?” Julian asked.

“Yep.” Dakarai replied, his tone unchanging as he moved Roxanne’s leg into the x-ray. One quick glance at it and he was quickly writing in a small notebook. He was smiling to himself as he did.

“What’s your shoe size, miss?” He asked.

“I think a size six?” Roxanne asked.

“Ah, the average. Excellent.” Dakarai quickly closed the book. “Well, it’s only a big issue around the knee area. Everywhere else only has some small fractures that should heal pretty easy if you leave them be.”

“So how long will it take?” Cassandra asked.

“Well, I just need to modify something I’ve got in the back. And then we should hopefully have you walking again, miss…?” He moved his hand in a circular motion waiting for Roxanne to respond.

“Roxanne.” She replied.

“Roxanne.” He took his notebook out and wrote it down, before dramatically closing it again. “Now then, if I can have a minute?”

He opened a door behind his desk and walked in.

“He seems nice.” Cassandra commented. “Enthusiastic, anyway.”

“Yeah.” Julian glanced around the room a couple times to see if anything interesting jumped out towards him. Nothing he was looking for, anyway.

“Sorry, did I walk in on something?”

The trio looked to see a woman standing before them. Casually dressed in a yellow top with no shoulders and black skinny jeans. The two things that stood out the most was her wild frizzy hair dyed the brightest yellow possible and her left arm being made of a clunky grey metal.

“Nah, you can stay.” Julian replied, snapping out of his daze.

“Cool.” She replied, sitting down next to Cassandra. “So, I haven’t seen you guys before.”

“Oh, we’re just here for a pit-stop.” Cassandra said. “Friend got her leg messed up.”

“Ah, I see.” The girl nodded. “I’m just here to get my arm checked up.”

“Oh, for a new model or something?” Julian asked.

“New model?”

“You know, since your arm looks really clunky. Maybe trade the metal in for something smoother looking.”

“Oh, no. My prosthetic is pretty normal sized. The extra metal is an extension I got; I just need it checked out.”

“Extension?” Julian asked. “What kind of extension?”

“Well, let me show you.”

The girl pressed a button underneath her arm, and the clunky metal jumped out and formed together into a drill at the top. She pressed the button again, and the hand went back to normal. She pressed another button, and the metal shuffled into a layer before creating a cleaver with covered her fingers.

“Wow. So what’s this for, anyway?” Cassandra asked, leaning forward.

“Well, if everything goes well, I’ll be representing Inariu in the Fightston games, hence all the weapon attachments.”

“Wait, so you can…become a weapon?” Cassandra asked, looking into her brown eyes.

“That’s the plan, anyway. Make them think I’m a martial artist of some sort before pulling them all out.”

“Holy shit.” Cassandra whispered. “You seeing this, Julian?”

“I…I’m seeing it.” Julian mumbled. He turned his gaze to Roxanne, and then towards the door. It swung open, and Dakarai came out of it holding a metal boot.

“Now, is Roxanne still here?” He asked.

“I can’t move.” Roxanne replied flatly.

“Oh. Right.” Dakarai replied, staring into space for a second. He walked over to her, taking her foot and slowing pushing the boot onto it. He made one final push towards it, causing Roxanne to jolt up.

She locked eyes with Dakarai. His brown eyes and matching necklace made him seem…informed. Put together. Responsible.

“So, what are you doing later?” She asked.

“Me?” Dakarai replied, looking confused. “Well, I don’t have any appointments after Chizoba there, so I guess I’ll go home.”

“You alone at home?”

“Well, I don’t have any roommates. But I’m usually too busy to notice. Anyway, can you walk?”

Roxanne got up and landed on her legs. Her knee felt slightly heavier with the padding inside it, but otherwise she could move pretty normally. It didn’t even hurt. She took a step. Then another. She looked at Dakarai, who was getting more and more attractive by the second. So she walked right in front of him.

“I can walk next to you just fine.” Roxanne said, leaning forward to try to present her best angle, whatever that was.

“Oh. Great.” Dakarai replied, looking towards Julian and Cassandra.

“What I think Roxanne here is trying to say is if you’re able for dinner, or something.” Julian said, calmly pulling Roxanne to his side. “We just landed here, after all. And Ola seems pretty busy.”

“I know where to get some cheap food, yeah.” Dakarai replied. “If you want to wait, I’ll be around…fifteen minutes?” He asked the blonde woman, presumably Chizoba. She nodded.

“Okay! if you can just wait until then, I’ll be with you!”

The three of them stood outside the room for a few minutes, with Cassandra checking her phone.

“Oh hey, we’re apparently getting Sandalan citizenships.”

“Sandala?” Julian asked. “Any reason given?”

“Nope. Guessing it has something to do with the axe.”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind living in Sandala. The light shows to end the year? Amazing.”

“How romantic would it be?” Roxanne asked, her eyes not moving from the door hiding Dakarai.

“Pretty romantic, I guess.” Julian answered, stroking his chin. “Light shows are really good, and the place is always bright enough to see your partners face. I’d put it in the top…five at least. It’s actually where…”

His voice trailed off, and he leaned in to see Roxanne’s phone.

“Did you hear you can download games for your phone now?”

“Oh, for real?” Roxanne asked, perking up.

“Pretty basic arcade games, but hey, can’t go wrong with ship invaders.”

“How long until we get Turbo Fighters on this thing?”

Chizoba walked out of the room, and Dakarai followed.

“So, handsome comes back.” Roxanne said with a seductive wink. Or so she tried. Dakarai didn’t react.

“So, two questions. What are we in the mood for? And what’s the budget?”

“Do we…have money?” Julian asked.

“I don’t believe we do.” Cassandra replied. “But if you buy us dinner, I’m pretty sure Ola will pay you back later.”

“I…see.” Dakarai sighed, already looking defeated. “Well, I know a pretty good barbeque stall nearby, so I should be able to get you something.”

The four of them went over to a nearby food cart by the outskirts of a series of sleek black apartment buildings behind it. A simple stand with various pots and grills behind the happy looking man manning it. In front of the man were four stools, all four having art of men doing martial arts poses with the word ‘RUCKUS’ written on them.

“Ah, Dakarai!” The man yelled. “The usual?”

“Sounds good, Russel.” Dakarai replied while taking the seat to the left. Roxanne sat next to him, Julian next to Roxanne, and Cassandra next to Julian.

“So, what you guys want to order?” Dakarai asked.

“I’ll eat whatever if it isn’t too spicy.” Julian replied with a hand wave.

“Sir, this is Ruckus! The spice capital of Inariu!” Russel yelled with a hearty laugh.

“The least spicy thing, then.” Julian replied. “Whatever that is.”

“One Cream salmon then!” Russel yelled. “And for the orange haired lady?”

“Seven chamber chicken?” Cassandra asked, looking at the menu written above the stall. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

“And for the lady with the matching necklace?”

“Uhh, let me think…”

Roxanne looked at the menu. This was the so-called spice capital of Inariu, right? And Dakarai ate here enough for the man running it to know him by name. So in order to impress him…

“I’ll take the hottest thing here!” Roxanne yelled, getting out of her seat to yell the order.

“Are…are you sure?” Russel asked. “I mean…if you’re confident. And if you finish without any drinks, everyone here eats for free.”

“Yeah! Get it, Roxanne.” Cassandra yelled while swinging her arm in the air.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Julian whispered to her.

“Eh, what’s the worst that can happen?”

“Well, if nobody objects.” Russel shrugged.

He started by taking pieces of chicken out of a grill in the back and placing them on a grill, and doing it again for another grill. Then putting a piece of salmon on another grill.

And in front of Roxanne’s grill was a massive slab of beef. That was cool, doable. Roxanne thought. She ate steak a couple of times, and it was always pretty good.

Russel then continued by taking a handful of spices out of the back, dropping a different spice on each piece of chicken. It sizzled differently for each spice dropped in, some louder than others.

“And a mild spice for the hat man.” He said calmly, sprinkling some salt and a small piece of sauce on Julian’s salmon.

He then went to the back and started putting on some noodles.

“Dakarai. Orange lady. Side of noodles?”

“Why not?” Cassandra replied.

“Sure.” Dakarai nodded.

Russel prepared the noodles. And once they were safely cooking, he got out a bottle of sauce. Bigger than the others with the title of ’36 SPICE ULTRA SAUCE.’ With several letters replaced with skulls. He poured some sauce onto Roxanne’s steak, creating a flame so intense it fogged up her glasses the second it hit.

“She’s gonna die.” Julian whispered.

Russel flipped over the meats, putting more sauces on each. Just when Roxanne finished cleaning her glasses, they fogged up again.

Russel put the noodles in bowls, filling all three with sauce. Only Roxanne’s was different. Roxanne knew the sauce was a lot more red than the sauce going in the other two bowls, but she couldn’t make out anything else without her glasses.

“Well, that’s everything! Enjoy!”

The four were presented with their food. Cassandra ate from her chicken, and it was nice. A mild kick. She ate the next slice of chicken, and it was spicier, but still good.

Julian took a bite of his salmon. Even though he asked for the non-spicy option, the roof of his mouth was still burning.

Roxanne looked at the steak in front of her. She smelled it, and the smell was enough to burn her nostrils. She took a bite from it, and the second it hit her tongue her mouth went into panic mode. She tried to contain the cough to look cool in front of Dakarai.

“Are you doing okay, Roxanne?” Julian asked.

“Yeah. It’s not even that hot.”

Just as she said that, the fire in her mouth kicked off into an inferno. She felt like every taste bud was individually screaming out in pain. She took another bite anyway. It was steak. Just steak. Nothing was different, it was just a little hotter.

“Holy shit these are hot.” Cassandra forced out of her mouth, coughing as she got the fourth strip down her throat.

“Yep.” Julian nodded. “But Roxanne’s doing fine.”

“Totally fine.” Roxanne said with a dismissive hand wave. She was four bites in. The pain within her mouth was excruciating. She couldn’t even taste the meat itself anymore. It was just fire with a side of fire. She took a forkful of noodles, which were also put in a super-hot sauce. But it was a temporary release from the hellfire.

“Are you sweating?” Dakarai asked, looking up from his food.

“I’ll manage.” Roxanne choked out.

“Are you sure?” Julian asked, looking extremely concerned.

“I’ve eaten spicier.” Roxanne lied. She was halfway through the steak. She did it once and could do it again. She took another bite. She was on the verge of breathing fire at this point. She drank some more of the sauce to get liquid. Any liquid. It just made her mouth feel even worse.

But finally, she took the last bite. She was done. The sheer burst of knowledge fuelled her to finish the noodles and force every last drop of sauce down her throat. She raised her bowl in victory, trying not to either scream or puke.

“Congratulations to the lady!” Russel yelled out. “Can I take a picture for the wall?”

“Sure thing.” Roxanne croaked out.

Russel took a camera out, the kind that produced the picture as soon as it was taken. Roxanne stood in place with her mouth still burning. He took the picture and hung it on his ‘completed challenge’ wall with three other people. Roxanne looked completely dead in the picture.

“So, Roxanne. You good?” Julian asked. He waved his hand in front of Roxanne. She didn’t respond.

“Your apartment is nearby, right?” Julian asked.