Operation: Replace

by Thought Prism

Target Acquisition

Twilight beheld the five resolute faces standing before her. "Well, it looks like everyone's here. Just to be sure, are you ready?"

Starlight, Hazel, Jared, Ike, and Ninja Slayer all nodded.

Now ablaze with magic, her horn's energies spiraling outwards, Twilight said "Then good luck."

A portal appeared, rending the air. One by one, the members of the strike team stepped through. Then, it vanished.

The group took stock of their newfound surroundings. They were in the middle of a vast prairie, one that stretched to the horizon in every direction. Swaths of farmland were ubiquitous, including the huge plot of soybeans they were standing in, broken up only by the occasional tree, patch of shrubbery, or farmhouse.

"Huh. I was expecting something much more... urban," said Starlight as she scanned the area.

"Most people do live in or near cities," said Jared. "But they all have to be fed somehow."

"They'll be plenty of time to educate Starlight when we get back," said Ike, stretching his shoulder. "I say we get moving."

"Of course," Jared agreed. "The Merchant attends fan conventions. We're highly unlikely to be near one at the moment."

Hazel snorted. "Out here in the sticks? Of course not."

"Ok then," said Starlight. "Let's go to the nearest town and find out when and where the next one is." Spying a wide, paved road nearby, she began trotting towards it, beckoning the others to follow.

"Uh, question," said Ike. "How exactly are we going to do that? Hitchhike? Because I wouldn't let a guy with a giant sword and an alien horse into my car."

Starlight turned and grinned. "Oh, I worked that out already. Right, Hazel?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"You'll see in a bit. Come on, guys," Starlight said.

And so they all walked to edge of the road. In the five-odd minutes it took them to get there, not a single vehicle had passed by. Ninja Slayer and Starlight sat down on the wild grass bordering the line of grey, one in quiet apathy, the other in quiet excitement. Jared tapped his foot in impatience as Ike paced in circles.

Eventually, Hazel spotted a pickup truck coming towards the group on the other side of the road. The others watched as she extended her arm towards it, eyes now glowing cyan. Just as it looked like nothing was happening, the driver, a heavyset man, slowed down to a stop right next to them.

The man rolled down his window and waved. "Hey, guys! What are you all going out here?"

Hazel smiled. "Long time no see, Mike! Would you mind giving us a lift?"

"Sure, no problem! Plenty of room in the back."

Jared and Starlight both wore silly smiles as they all filed into Mike's truck. It was a bit cramped, but there was indeed room for all of them, with Hazel sitting shotgun and Starlight hunkered down in the rear truck-bed.

"Where're you headed?" Mike asked.

"We were hoping to stop over in Glendale for a bit," Hazel replied.

"Well that's easy! I'll have you there in a jiffy."

With that, Mike pulled away. Starlight's mane and tail began to flap in the breeze as the truck accelerated, and she watched the plains roll by with wide eyes.

"Uh," whispered Ike. "What just happened?"

Hazel's eyes flashed blue again. All four of them suddenly heard Hazel's voice echoing seemingly from all directions. 'Ok, I just linked our minds. Now we can think directly to eachother without Mike overhearing.'

'Excellent,' thought Ninja Slayer.

'As for your question, Ike, I just messed around with this guy's memories a bit. He now thinks we're his longtime, personal friends. No big deal,' thought Hazel.

'Huh. Neat,' thought Ike.

Starlight chucked internally. 'Friendship. It works.'

'While I was in his head, I also got some info on the area,' continued Hazel. 'We're in rural Indiana right now, and Glendale is the nearest town with internet access. There's a computer in the library we can use.'

'Good work,' thought Jared. 'I know a website that compiles the dates and locations of all the major pop culture conventions.'

'Seems simple enough,' thought Ike. 'Bet you're excited to see a computer for the first time, eh, Starlight?'

'I'm trying to focus on the mission,' she thought, 'but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. Even this car is something else, although it's pretty much just a mix between a train and a carriage.'

'That's an interesting way to put it,' thought Jared.

Now that the important topics had been covered, there was a lull in their mental conversation, allowing the group to take notice of Mike again. He was busy conveying what'd he'd been up to lately, despite the fact that none of them had been paying attention. Once their attention had been freed up though, they tried to at least feign interest.

It wasn't long before the farmland gave way to small clusters of houses. They had arrived on the outskirts of town, and by all appearances was a standard country village. Passerby out doing midday chores gawked at the strange occupants of the pickup as it passed, but none had the wherewithal to confront them.

'These humans seem kinda shocked to see me,' noted Starlight. 'Should I use my magic to turn invisible?'

'That would be nice,' pondered Hazel.

'But not necessary. What'll they do, call the feds?' joked Ike.

'Yeah, nobody would believe them anyway,' Jared pointed out.

'If you say so,' Starlight replied.

"We're here!" Mike suddenly exclaimed. And indeed they were. He had pulled into the parking lot of a reasonably clean-looking motel. Surrounding the building were other businesses, including a gas station and a diner. "Figured you'd wanna get settled first. I'd host you myself, but we don't have nearly enough room at our place."

"I understand. This is great, thanks," said Hazel.

As they all let themselves out, Mike gave all five awkward goodbye hugs. Hazel returned his memories to normal as he drove off.

"Ok, come on," said Hazel, beginning to walk.

Following her lead, they proceeded to the library on foot. The other pedestrians were too stupefied to interrupt their progress. Though that didn't stop Starlight from sending out a few friendly waves.

The library itself was on the small side, not much larger than the average house, and almost indistinguishable from one were it not for the sign over the door. Once inside, it was clear that there weren't all that many books either. The sole librarian's jaw dropped as they entered.

Before the old woman could exclaim in surprise, Hazel raised her hand again. All the tension in the librarian's face slowly evaporated, and she slumped over her desk, snoring peacefully.

"Good work," said Starlight. "Jared?"

"On it," he said, making his way over to the pair of decade-old desktop computers in the corner. Taking a seat, he booted up one of the machines and set about his search.

Starlight and Ike looked over his shoulders in curiosity as their resident uber-nerd worked his own brand of magic.

"Wow!" Starlight exclaimed. "Are computers always this fast at finding information?"

Jared snorted. "This piece of junk? Fast? Mine could have dozens of searches going on at once, plus Dota, and still be faster."

"I totally need to show her an iPhone at some point," added Ike.

"Here we go," said Jared, scrolling down the page. "Let's see... too small, too narrow in subject, certainly no furries... aha! TVCon is this weekend. The Merchant is sure to show up there. Plus we're in easy driving distance: it's in Chicago, and I've got the venue address."

"Sounds great," said Hazel.

"Yeah, but how are we gonna get there, exactly?" asked Ike. "Convincing somebody to drive us to the next state isn't going to be as easy as the next block."

Jared put a hand to his chin. "That's a good point. Without full mind control, which would be wholly unethical, getting a ride will be tricky."

Hazel chimed in. "The odds trains run through here are slim, same with greyhound busses. I say we steal a car. Less invasive."

Starlight frowned at her. "Let's not do that. Or mind control; lesson learned there. We're supposed to be the good guys. Actually, I just got an idea. It might not work, but I could try and transmute us up a car."

Jared's brow rose. "You can do that?"

"Probably," she said. "I just need something of equal mass."

"What do we use, though?" questioned Hazel. "It's not like we're going to find three thousand pounds of trash just lying around."

"We won't need to," said Jared. "Starlight can just use dirt. No shortage of that."

Starlight grinned. "I like the way you think, Jared."

"I think there was an vacant lot out by the edge of town," said Ike.

"Perfect," said Starlight. "Let's go."

Upon venturing back out there, they all saw it was as Ike said: a patch of unkempt prairie grass bordered Glendale, perhaps a homestead long abandoned. After double-checking to make sure no one was watching, Starlight cast a large beam of her magic into the ground. When the ensuing flash had faded, a replica of the pickup from earlier had appeared, sitting in a uniform circular depression.

"I'll drive," said Ninja Slayer.

There were no objections, and they set off rumbling into the north. Starlight got to sit inside the car this time. The group chatted amicably as the open road welcomed them, putting thoughts of their foe aside.

* * *

Starlight looked at each of the others in turn. "I'm gonna go over the plan one more time, ok?"

They were huddled around a coffee table in the middle of a small living room in a condo (the allowed use of which was obtained by Hazel). The majestic skyline of the city, backlit by the sun, was visible though the open window.

Starlight was met with firm expressions, which she took as a yes. "Hazel, Jared, you two are going undercover to scope out the Merchant's location, keeping in touch via telepathy."

"Yep, that's what you said I was doing," said Hazel. To better blend in, she now wore a Star Trek hoodie and sweatpants instead of Jace's usual attire.

Jared, too, had a new outfit for the mission: a tan jacket with plenty of room for Vash's custom revolver as well as blue jeans. He'd also cut his hair short and removed his glasses, making him look a bit like Vash's brother, Knives. "I know my way around a con. Blending in will be the easy part."

"Ninja Slayer," said Starlight, "since you said you could, you're going to be hiding in the air vents, ready to attack with Jared once he gives the go signal."

"My shuriken will strike true," he said, ever inscrutable behind his mask.

Starlight nodded. "Ike and I will be waiting by the service entrance in the back, and will burst out to fight if things go south."

Ike fingered the hilt of his sword. "We're ready."

Hazel's eyes sparked with magic. 'It's do or die time.'

No more instructions were needed, spoken or otherwise, and all five made their way over to the large hotel. Starlight had cast a veil of invisibility on herself and Ike to thwart any cameras, and they stepped along the boulevard in single file. Cars and taxis whizzed by with the wind as they went. The area around the ten-story building was populated by other groups of people making their way to and fro, most clearly there for TVCon, but there were a few tourists and businessmen trying to ignore the convention folk. Some carried bags of fresh swag, while others were in costume and posing for photos.

The automatic, glass doors parted as they entered the large lobby, its wooden walls oiled to a shine. Even more people were inside, taking no precautions to avoid tracking dirt onto the floor, much to the chagrin of the hotel staff. Cardboard stands placed below the permanent hotel signage pointed out where to go for panels, refreshments, and most importantly: merchandise.

They went their separate ways in the crowd, with Ninja Slayer fording a path for his transparent partners down an unmarked hallway. With all the organized chaos of the convention around them, nobody noticed them slip through a door labeled Authorized Personnel Only.

Meanwhile, Jared and Hazel had begun combing through the booths in the massive dealer's room. Judging by the crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, the cavernous space usually functioned as a ballroom. But now it was packed with rows of market stands, selling videos, apparel, figurines, and handmade crafts.

It was while he was pretending to scan said wares when Jared glimpsed their target out of the corner of his eye. 'I think I've got a bead on the Merchant. I'd recognize that face anywhere. Seventh stall in the third row from the left, at the prop weapons table.'

The man in question was almost too unassuming in appearance, dressed in a white, button-down shirt and khaki slacks. His brown hair was combed over in a professional manner. Thankfully, nobody seemed to be buying. Yet.

Hazel, from the other side of the room, replied. 'I can't see from here, but that's definitely him. I've been poking around in people's heads, and whoever's standing in that position is shielded from my magic somehow. I can't read him at all, which is a first.'

'Then there's no doubt,' thought Starlight. 'Ike and I are set. Ninja Slayer, are you in position?'

'I am now. The nefarious man lies directly below me, through a grate.'

Jared narrowed his eyes, readying himself. 'Now, we just wait until I have a clean shot. Then it's open season on his ass.'

'That's not lethal, aim for his head,' quipped Ike.

'Quiet,' Starlight thought. As one, they silenced.

Jared stared sideways at the Merchant. In and out of the way con-goers moved, oblivious. The tension seemed to stretch the passage of time as all sound save his own heartbeat faded away into static. It could have been mere moments or many minutes.

And then he saw that sly smile in full.

'Now!' In one swift motion, faster than the blink of an eye, Jared spun, drew his gun, and fired.

Author's Note:

Obviously, Magic: The Gathering has no soundtrack, so have the next best thing:

Comments

[Oliver]

I’m quite curious just how this is going to go south and where exactly is this going. :)