Errant Spark

[ReluctantPlaneswalker]

"Hi, could I just get a couple of the Kamigawa boosters?"
"A couple?"
"Yeah."
"They're currently three for a tenner."
"Oh go on then, you've twisted my arm. Hardest sale you've had all day."
Charlie walked out of Travelling Man, three new boosters in his jacket pocket. It probably wasn't a good idea - he was planning on getting the new commander deck with all the mechs, purely for aesthetic reasons before anything to do with mechanics - and chances were high he'd pull just enough samurai or ninja cards in these boosters to make him want to build at least one new deck on top of those. Still, it was a new release, and worth a punt.
Town was busy today. Busier than normal, there must have been something touristy going on. It was a great city to live in, but Charlie had been there long enough to start getting irked by tourists - he considered himself a local now.
He swerved around a slow-moving mum with a pram, only to get stuck behind four students (you could just tell the students) walking in a row. As soon as the road widened, he nipped round them too, chuntering something about "single file" under his breath as he did so.
After a couple more minutes he'd got far enough away from the city centre that he could take things at his own pace, not so desperate to escape the jostle.
The packs were burning a hole in his pocket. It was only about ten minutes to go before he got home, but it was a new set, he was excited.
The plastic on the first packet crinkled satisfyingly. Charlie took it slow - he knew it was odd, but he always like to keep one empty pack from each set, so he didn't want to rip into it, despite Kaito Shizuki's smug little face staring at him.
The top of it separated slowly, revealing the sixteen cards nestled within. Charlie slid them out all together.
"Nice, Mowu was pretty cute," he muttered at the sight of Spirited Companion, the first card in the stack. "Kindled Fury, nice art, probably won't use it. Okay, Return to Action's not bad… Kami of Restless Shadows, might be doing that ninja deck… Ooh! Brute Suit, love a mech! Gift of Wrath, kinda ugly, Thundersteel Colossus, that's a big boy… Imperial Subduer, maybe I'm doing samurais as well… and a Dragonfly Suit, nice, nice. Not sure what to do with an Enthusiastic Mechanaut but that Replication Specialist can go in the mech deck for sure. Love the art on Boon of Boseiju, and Kumano Faces Kakkazan can maybe go in that samurai deck?"
He paused.
"No fucking way."
Staring him in the face was the robotic visage of the first Phyrexian Planeswalker. And it was that visage, of Tamiyo, Completed Sage, that was the last thing Charlie saw before the car hit him. He hadn't noticed he'd already stepped out into the road, and he paused at just the wrong time.

* * *

He was falling, falling fast. Wind whipped past his face, clawing tears from his eyes as he went. He let out a scream as he went, barely even able to hear it over the roar of the air as he tumbled through it.
Land stretched out below him, fields of grass as far as he could see. Fields that were rapidly coming up to meet him. There was nothing Charlie could do but close his eyes and wait for the inevitable.
His stomach lurched as his fall stopped abruptly. Now the roaring of the wind had stopped he heard a new noise, a tinny mechanical whirring, like the buzzing of a fly, magnified about a hundred times. He opened his eyes, and could barely comprehend what he was seeing.
He was currently lying on the back of an enormous metal dragonfly. It looked as though someone had taken a sheet of metal and folded it, origami-like, into the shape of the insect. Metal wings beat so fast they were a blur, creating the noise he was hearing, and seemingly keeping this physics-defying creation aloft.
A hatch opened where the head would have been, and a figure emerged. His skin was pale blue, almost white, and his silver-white hair was sculpted into strange flowing patterns. Charlie's jaw dropped. It was a soratami. Surely he was seeing things. There's no way it could be a soratami.
"Hey, you okay?" the figure asked.
Charlie simply stared at him, dumbfounded, mind racing.
"Can you hear me? Hey, come over here, get into the cockpit before you fall off."
With effort, Charlie got his limbs moving. He suddenly realised just how cold his limbs were from the wind that buffeted him in his fall. He shakily crawled across the back of the craft, and swung himself into the cockpit. The soratami helped him into one of the two chairs within.
"Are you okay? Wait, that's a stupid question. How did you get here? Did you fall?"
"Fall?" Charlie finally mustered speech.
"I get it, you're in shock. It's okay, I'll get you back up to Otawara, you'll feel better with ground under your feet."
Otawara… Charlie had heard that name before. He suddenly became aware of something in his hand. Cards. The Magic cards he had bought. The cards he was looking at on the walk home. Right when he was hit by that car.
"I'm dead," he mumbled under his breath. "Or I'm dying. Last thoughts of a dying man."
The thrumming outside took on a different pitch as the soratami pulled on a lever, and the dragonfly angled up to reveal a city floating in the clouds, and started moving in that direction.

 

[ReluctantPlaneswalker]

The metal dragonfly slowly landed in the hangar with all the delicacy and grace of its biological counterpart. Charlie barely felt a shift in the craft as it settled on the ground, the only indication that they were no longer moving being that the thrumming of its wings had ceased.

"Are you going to be okay on your own from here?" the soratami spoke. Charlie felt like he'd been speaking to him on the ride in, but had been so shocked by all of this that he hadn't taken any of it in.

"Yeah. Yeah." Charlie stood from the seat, the cards he had been looking at still in his hand. He pocketed them, his old instinct to keep the cards safe, especially a planeswalker, undeniable.

There was no way that any of this could be real. But the sting of the wind as he was falling? The way his body felt as he landed on the craft? He had so many questions.

"Just be careful now, don't go too close to the edge again," the soratami kept speaking as he helped Charlie up out of the cockpit, the sound of it barely more than white noise to Charlie's ears. "If I wasn't out on patrol when you fell, that would have been you gone." He snapped his fingers. "And if I wasn't such a good pilot, matching your fall and slowing with you, I'd be paying double to get this thing cleaned, and for the cleaners to not ask any questions how that happened."

Charlie nodded, and started walking in the direction that would take him out of the hangar. As he went, he couldn't help but stare agape at the other craft it contained. All were made of shining metal, silvery blue, that gleamed so bright from the sun streaming in through the open hangar doors that it hurt his eyes to look. But look he did, at magnificent origami moths, birds, more dragonflies, even one that looked like the curved body of a Japanese dragon. Or a Kamigawan dragon, he supposed.

Kamigawa? How had he ended up on Kamigawa? That was the thing that made him certain this was a fiction. The last thing he had seen was Tamiyo's face, that must have been the thing that planted this in his brain, deep within his subconscious. But could his brain have made all of this up? These incredible crafts? None of his dreams had ever been this wild, or this clear? Or maybe they were, up until he woke up?

As he stepped out of the hangar, he had to shield his eyes against the glare of all of the buildings. Japanese-style pagodas mingled with elegant skyscrapers, all crafted of glass and metal. Some were gracefully curved, some looked to have edges so sharp you could shave with them, but every single one of them was a work of art in and of itself.

"If this isn't a dream," Charlie muttered under his breath, "then I'm setting up a sunglasses shop here and making a mint."

He had no idea where he was supposed to go, what he was supposed to do. He had enough trouble figuring that out on his plane, and now he was to believe he was on Kamigawa, a stranger in a strange land, and he had to figure out his purpose here.

His stomach rumbled.

"Well if nothing else, that's something I can do to kill time." He seemed to remember from all of the story articles for the new set that this plane had some particularly nice-sounding food. Maybe he could find some of those spiced dumplings Kaito Shizuki was always raving about. And he'd probably be less mopey while he was eating it - and that was coming from a dead guy.

* * *

"Huh, what's this," Luke muttered to himself, as he was flicking through his Neon Dynasty booster pack. "Dramatic Entrance, two and a blue, target creature without flying takes no damage this turn. I don't think I remember seeing this on the card list."

He looked over the strange card. The art showed a figure, too small to make out much detail, plummet through the sky. Below them, as though waiting to catch them, was a dragonfly-like flying craft. There wasn't an artist's credit in the bottom left hand corner, and whilst it did have a number in that same corner, suggesting it was one of the 302 Neon Dynasty cards, there wasn't a number to suggest which one it was. There was also the set logo, right where it should be, but it felt like it shouldn't be that colour - this seemed an odd card to be Mythic Rare.

"Maybe it's a misprint or something," he dismissed it, before leafing through the rest of the pack.

 

[ReluctantPlaneswalker]

Charlie swerved his way through the busy streets, following the bustling sound of a market, and the smells of food. There was a part of him that was surprised at how he was handling things, but the cold knife of rationality cut through it. If there was a chance that this was actually real, then it made sense to treat it as such. If he was dead, what did it matter? Nobody was going to jump out from behind a corner and laugh at him like this was some kind of elaborate joke. So he might as well find some food.

He'd reached an alleyway where he no longer had to shield his eyes from the refracted and reflected sunlight that had practically blinded him when he left the hangar, where the high- sided buildings and their protruding rooves cast a shadow over the gathered crowd. Origami fireflies the size of his fist buzzed around overhead, casting a chill blue light over the gathered people. Pale blue- and purple-skinned soratami, some so pale as to be made of porcelain, lined the street, moving to and fro, talking to one another, showing off other pieces of technology beyond anything Charlie could fathom. There were a few humans, and he even saw a nezumi or two dodging through the crowd.

He almost stumbled as he emerged into an open space. He'd clearly reached some sort of food market, judging by the smell, but if you only had your eyes and ears to go off of you'd think it was a rave. All sorts of people, brandishing vibrant technological devices, were gathered around, the sound of loud music drowning out any conversation.

"Well, I guess this is the place," he said to no one in particular. "Let's find me some dumplings."

This techno mart square was much easier to navigate than the alleyways he had gone down to get here, or even half the streets back home - the challenge this time was not being distracted by all the bright lights and shiny objects offered by vendors selling most likely less-than-legal tech. Still, Charlie managed to tear himself away for long enough to find a stall selling something that looked close enough to gyoza to suit his needs. There was a moment of cognitive dissonance where he considered this place selling traditional Japanese food despite that aspect of the plane only being fleshed out in online story articles, and how if these people were actually thinking feeling beings their entire culture had likely been determined by a group of weaboos in a boardroom… but the moment a plate of greasy looking fried dumplings were placed in front of him he managed to tamp those thoughts right down.

The first one crunched in his mouth, then split open to reveal the delicious spiced meat inside. It tasted like pork, and he was pretty sure he remembered there being an artifact boar in Neon Dynasty, so the concept of something pig-shaped (and likely pig-flavoured too) seemed to exist in this place at least. The other five on his plate didn't last long enough for him to have any more thoughts about what potential edible creatures lived on this plane, disappearing down his gullet like someone had cast a 1-cost blue removal spell on them.

From above him, there was a hideous screech. Sat atop the stall was a small hairy creature. It looked like one of those monkeys that bathe in hot springs in the mountains of Japan, except that it seemed to be rising halfway put of a bowl of noodle broth, and it's face was that of an unmoving geisha mask. Still, from somewhere beneath that mask, a screech continued to emit, as it pointed an accusatory finger in Charlie's direction.

Charlie may have been new here, but he had a hunch that this strange creature was some sort of kami.

A cacophony of squeals, shouts, and screeches erupted from the marketplace. Charlie stared around him, heart racing, and saw many more of these strange spirits. For some, the only sign was a pair of glowing eyes peering out of the darkness of an alcove or raised manhole cover, but others took on physical form. There were warped animal forms, some looking more plantlike, but a common feature among all of them was that they were looking straight at him.

He couldn't understand their animalistic screeching, but he didn't need to. He could tell why they were fascinated with him. One word came to his mind, pounding on the inside of his skull again and again like a prisoner - 'Outsider'.

There was a moment where every eye in the marketplace; kami, soratami, and human alike. Time seemed to slow, as if the plane were holding its breath to see what would happen next.

Charlie bolted. The clatter of his chair falling shattered the moment like glass, and he ran for the alleyway he had emerged from. Behind him, the monkey-kami still screeched and hollered, as though it was a siren blaring to alert everyone to his wrongness, his alienness.

He ducked and dived under and around market stalls, barged through crowds of people, not knowing where he was headed or for how long he would have to run. The normally composed and relaxed soratami in his way yelled words at him that he didn't understand, but judging by the tone he took them as swearwords. Still, he didn't stop, until he burst out into the bright sunshine of the open streets.

He bent double and heaved in air like a drowning man. He hadn't seen any kami out here when he had first left the hangar, only in the dark corners of the market. Maybe they didn't like Otawara's obsession with technology, preferring to hide away from the open streets where mechanical marvels ran rampant. Whatever the case, Charlie thought himself safe for a moment. He leant up against a wall, and tried to catch his breath.

"Heh, at least that thing did me one favour," he chuckled. "They probably wouldn't have taken any of the money I had at that stall."

 

[ReluctantPlaneswalker]

By now, Charlie was at a bit of a loss. After potentially dying by getting hit by a car, almost falling to his death, and getting chased out if a techno-Japanese Street market, all in the space of a few hours, he didn't really know what else to do. If his only choice was to actually live here, he'd need to figure out some sort of long term plan. And that was an issue.

He didn't really have the technical acumen to stay here and work as a futurist. The kami didn't seem to like him, so the Jukai forest was a no. He'd never tried to pick a pocket or stab anyone, so Towashi wouldn't work. Nor was he a particularly accomplished swordsman or negotiator, so that was Eiganjo off the list too. And he couldn't remember what the red legendary land of the new set was, but regardless, he doubted he'd fit in with the Akki either. He knew he was being somewhat reductive, and there must be some sort of customer service economy around here, but his main knowledge of this new world he found himself in was from what was ostensibly a child's card game.

None of his skills particularly fit in here. He'd done an English Literature degree, and then spent the last two years of his life since graduating working in a coffee shop. Shakespeare and Dickens held no value here, and that was assuming he remembered anything about them after all this time. And coffee wouldn't even do him any good. Where would you even get coffee in the Multiverse? Ixalan? Rabiah? Maybe Jamuraa on Dominaria? He knew how to make the stuff, not the conditions it needed to grow, and didn't exactly recall any coffee-based cards. There was a professor on Strixhaven that was all about tea, right? Maybe that was the place to go?

He was just rambling at this point, pacing up and down the pavement. To one side of him was a railing, protecting him from once again falling down towards the cast expanse of plains beneath him. To the other, a road, on or above which various origami craft drove or hovered.

Up and down and up and down he went, talking to himself, gesticulating with his hands, drawing as many stares as he did in the market. Up and down and up and -

"Hey, watch where you're going there."

Charlie walked straight into someone, barely noticing them, so engrossed was he in his conversation with himself.

"Sorry, sorry," he muttered, turning around and carrying on with his ravings.

"Hey, kid, hold on a second."

"Look mate, I'm sorry, it's been a day, I don't want any trouble."

At this point, Charlie turned around and took in the appearance of the man he'd bumped into. He was tall and dark skinned, with his hair and goatee beard trimmed very close to the scalp and chin. Robes of white, blue, and red fluttered in the breeze of this city above the clouds, and in his hand he held a curious-looking staff. He looked unlike anyone else Charlie had seen so far on Kamigawa. But he would have recognised Teferi anywhere.

The planeswalker looked intently at him, like he was staring deep within his soul. "You…"

"Me?" Charlie pointed at his chest, both dumbfounded and starstruck. He looked exactly like he did in the art from his card in Midnight Hunt.

"I expected to find a few on this plane, but I've only just got here. You don't look like you're from around here, you been here long?" His voice was gentle, calm, with a warmth of what Charlie expected expensive whiskey would have.

"I'm sorry sir, I think you're mistaking me for someone else."

"No, I'm not, we don't know each other. But I'm a Planeswalker, just like you."

* * *

"Okay, I'll block it with my Kitsune Ace, and tap that for white, that for blue, to play Dramatic Entrance, so it takes no damage."

"Dramatic Entrance? Let me see that."

Luke handed over his card to Mackenzie, who scrutinised it like a jeweller would a diamond.

"What is this? Some kind of proxy?"

"No," Luke jabbed defensively. "I got it in a pack."

"No way did you get this in a pack, it's not even got a number on it."

"Honestly, I got it in a pack. Look, it's even got the little holographic silver thingy at the bottom."

Mackenzie let out a hmm as he moved the card side to side, to see if the silver holographic oval caught the light properly.

"Okay, so it's a good proxy then. Or a pretty realistic fake. Whatever it is, it's not real."

"Mack, mate, I'm not going to lie to you over a spell like this. I thought it was odd too, like it doesn't look like it should be Mythic Rare, but I genuinely pulled it out of a pack."

"Huh, maybe it's a misprint or something. A card that was meant to be in the set but got pulled? Have you Googled it, seen if anyone else has found one?"

 

[ReluctantPlaneswalker]

"What do you mean I'm a Planeswalker? How could you know that?"

"Long story, Planeswalkers were in danger, guy named Ral cast a spell on me. Fact of the matter is, I can see Sparks."

"Oh yeah, that did happen in War of the Spark, didn't it? Guess Greg Weisman managed to get something right."

"Who's Greg Weisman?"

Despite Charlie's heart fluttering from what Teferi had just told him, he looked at him with a completely straight face. "Honestly, the less said about that the better."

"Right, well, that's a very weird thing to say. But you're a Planeswalker. It can be frightening at first, but often powerfully magic individuals are able to travel between the planes of the Multiverse. The first time it happens, there's usually some sort of risk to their existence. Is that what brought you here?"

For a moment Charlie froze, hanging on the words "powerfully magic individuals".

"Umm, yeah," he forced himself to say. "I think I got hit by - " he gestured at a passing vehicle, a motorcycle that seemed to resemble an origami deer or antelope " - something like that on my home world."

"Yeah, that'll do it." There was something in Teferi's voice that reminded him of Idris Elba, but he always thought the art for Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset looked a bit like Idris Elba, so maybe he was actually based on him. Which just made this conversation even more weird. "So what can you do?"

"What can I do?"

"Your magic? What can do you?"

"I don't know. I certainly couldn't do any where I was from, nobody could. It's not the sort of… place where that happens."

"A Planeswalker with no magic, how curious." Teferi rubbed the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose there are so many planes suffused with different levels of mana that it stands to reason that one or two might be devoid of it. It might even be a blindspot to any other Planeswalker, not seeming like a possibility to visit ad there is nothing to warrant going there for."

"Oi, stop dissing my plane."

"Maybe it's inhabitants are all quite rude and anyone that visits quickly tries to forget?"

"Fair point." The conversation brought itself to a jarring halt at that point. But Charlie had just the idea to defibrilate it. "So, if I theoretically know magic, and you're this all-wise Planeswalker… can we do like a student-mentor thing?"

"Look kid, as much as I'd love to help you, I've got other business here, business you're distracting me from actually. Business concerning Phyrexians. Why am I even telling you about Phyrexians if you only just found out you're a Planeswalker?" I'm rambling now…"

"Wait, no, I do know about Phyrexians!"

"You know about Phyrexians? Have they visited your plane?"

Now that was a difficult question. This was broaching on 'I hate to break it to you, but your entire existence is made up for a children's card game' territory. This would require some tact.

"No, but… we get news from the other planes. Maybe we're some sort of…" he was really pulling stuff out of his arse at this point "... non-magical nexus point? I don't know, this is all new to me, but we know about you, the Gatewatch, Bolas, Phyrexians, everything really."

"And you're telling me that you know the Phyrexians have been here?"

"Yeah, Jin-Gitaxias has been working with Tezzeret, experimenting on the kami to try and figure out how planeswalking works, so that they can make Phyrexian Planeswalkers without destroying their Spark. Long story short, they did it."

"Have they tried it?"

"Yeah. Tamiyo."

Teferi took in a sharp breath, eyes widening. Worry passed across his face like a funeral shroud.

"How do you know this? Would they not keep it a secret?"

Well, it was now or never. Time for a bit of proof. Charlie reached into his jacket pocket to pull out that pack of cards. He had no idea if this would convince Teferi, but it was all be had, and he had to try to give him an edge over the Phyrexians.

He didn't realise how nervous he was until he saw how much his hands were shaking as he leafed through the cards to get to Tamiyo at the back of the pack. As he leafed through, his copy of Spirited Companion slipped between his trembling fingers. The wind took it, but he wasn't overly bothered - it wasn't something he had designs to put in a deck, even before he'd been whisked away to Kamigawa. Or killed. Killed was still an option.

His mind was changed for him when he heard barking behind him.

 

[ReluctantPlaneswalker]

As Charlie turned, it raced past him. A small dog, it's teddy-bear-like fur all fluffed up and blond - though he was more of a cat person, he recognised it as a Shiba from the memes. In its mouth was what looked like a small bundle of red cord or ribbon, which would be innocuous if not for the other two bundles floating around its head. They floated on the breeze, but at the same time seemed to act of their own accord, making sharper turns, or little spirals, in a way that no windswept leaf or crisp packet ever could. No, they were kami.

The dog and the kami. They were exactly like the art of the card he had just dropped. As if they had leapt out of it, sprung to life.

Charlie watched them bound past him, then turned to look at Teferi. The older Planeswalker was agape at the spectacle.

"So you can summon dogs?"

"No I… I don't think that's what that was…" Charlie started flicking through his cards again. "Gimme a second."

He pulled out the copy of Enthusiastic Mechanaut. That felt like the card that would have the most immediate evidence. But how had he done it? Had he just dropped it? Could that come about from even something so careless?

He took the card between his index and middle finger. "It's all in the wrist," he whispered to himself, knowing full well he'd never been any good at this.

With a flick of his wrist, the card went sailing right over the railing, into the great expanse of sky he knew far too well from personal experience was waiting beneath the city.

"Shit." He glimpsed the confused look Teferi gave him, but refused to acknowledge it, instead jogging to the railing.

He looked over as a gust of wind blew straight up past his face, in the wake of a small goblin flying on metallic origami wings. Its skin was green and hard, almost turtle-like, and it screeched shrilly as it flew past, then looped back and hovered in front of a bewildered Teferi, and an ecstatic Charlie.

"Greetings!" it shouted above the roar of the blue flame emerging from the back of its origami wings.

"Fuck yes!" Charlie punched the air, before remembering who he was, and trying to put on an air of calm composure. "Err… I mean… I think we've figured out my magic."

"Respectfully kid, how the fuck did you do that?"

"That's how we know about what goes on elsewhere in the multiverse, we get these little snapshots, like postcards I guess. It's how I know about Tamiyo."

Charlie drew the Tamiyo card from the rest of the pack, and handed it over. As Teferi was about to take the card, he realised he had been clenching his jaw, as he passed the equivalent of a magical nuclear bomb over to the older Planeswalker.

"Well. That does look like Tamiyo but - " he choked on the word " - Phyrexian."

"I'm sorry." Charlie couldn't think of anything better to say.

"Not your fault kid. I appreciate you letting me know."

A lump formed in Charlie's throat as a thought entered his mind, unbidden. It was the sort of thought that never normally would've entered his head, but this went beyond a Mythic Rare symbol.

"You should probably keep hold of that." It didn't even feel like he was the one saying it, so alien was the concept of just giving up something like that. "Just in case I drop it and something bad happens. Might help you alert the rest of the Gatewatch too."

"Thanks kid, not got any more of those hidden in your pockets have you?"

Charlie was about to say no when he remembered the other two packs he'd bought. It might finally be time to break into those, just in case.

His fingers shook as he opened the first one, hoping for the first time in his life that he didn't find a planeswalker. He tore right through Kaito Shizuki's face on the first one, all thoughts of keeping that souvenir pack sleeve crisp and pristine gone from his mind.

He got some interesting cards, no planeswalkers though. An Eater of Virtue, which might help - at the very least, it wouldn't be sentient. Still, he relinquished a copy of Planar Incision and Tamiyo's Compleation to Teferi - probably wouldn't do anyone any good for him to accidentally drop any card that showed either Jin-Gitaxias or Tamiyo, even though he had no idea what effect any non-creature spells would have.

"Right, I'll keep hold of these then. Wish I could stick around to help you figure some of this out but, you know…"

"Yeah, massive multiverse-ending threats and all that. Maybe see you around."

"Erm, are you just going to ignore me?" the flying akki squeaked as Teferi disappeared on a cold breeze.

 

[ReluctantPlaneswalker]

Weeks passed, and Charlie grew used to life on Kamigawa. Si-Siba, as he learned was the name of the Akki he had summoned, was a friendly and knowledgeable guide. He never found out if she had existed before he had summoned her, and she had just been called to him as a result of his magic, or if she had just spontaneously popped into existence when he threw the card. He figured it was probably quite rude to ask.

Though he thought he had little to offer this place, he soon realised he would have to find some way of surviving. He still had no idea what to do to cause himself to planeswalk again, he certainly wasn't planning on jumping in front of any cars or, in absence of those, mechs, to try and figure it out. And besides, knowing his track record, he'd only end up in another dangerous situation - stranded in the middle of the sea on Ixalan, or straight into the belly of some enormous beast on Ikoria, perhaps. No, it was better to stay.

He found himself a job at a fast food stall. Though he had more experience eating dumplings than making them, he'd practically lived off stir fries at university, so he could hold his own cooking those. His income went to a flat in one of the dingier areas of Otawara, if it could be called that - it was still a neighbourhood of gleaming metal and glass, just overshadowed by taller buildings, so rarely saw enough sun to dazzle onlookers.

In the absence of any other companions, Si-Siba stayed with him. She promised to only work on her inventions when he was out at work, after a mishap with an engine on her flying contraption lost him an eyebrow, but her work pulled in a little extra income for the flat.

More importantly, her naturally inquisitive mind leant itself to aiding Charlie in figuring out his new-found powers. Though he'd spent plenty of spare time flicking blank bits of cards around the apartment, and was getting better with his aim, the Mirrorshell Crab he sent out of the window to burst forth amongst a crowd of panicked onlookers kept him from trying to do anything with too much finesse.

Eventually he stopped worrying about being dead. It had gone on far too long for him to be dead, there was just no way that this could be the last seconds of a dying man. Even a coma was unlikely at this point, as unreal as it all was it still felt real - he could touch and smell and taste this place, there was too much for it to just be a dream.

There were times, not very often, but times nonetheless, where he felt he should be doing more. He was a planeswalker. He could cast Magic cards like they were actual spells. He certainly should be doing more than just making stir fries for a living. He definitely wasn't capable of dealing with threats the likes of which other planeswalkers dealt. Phyrexians, Bolas, Eldrazi, they were all out of the question. But he should be seeing more of the multiverse than this dingy corner of Otawara. Hell, he should be seeing more of this one plane than a dingy corner of it.

But how? He couldn't planeswalk, his magic relied on the couple of dozen pieces of card in his jacket pocket, and he knew little more of this place than what he'd read in story articles. Ixalan, that was his first set, and you never forget your first - he could probably navigate that place (surviving in a jungle was a different matter), but he barely knew anything about Kamigawa. If he was going to go exploring, it couldn't be here. But to leave this place, he'd have to figure out how his planeswalking worked.

As much as Si-Siba helped him figure out his magic, conjuring creatures, this was something even she couldn't help with. Maybe if Teferi was still around he might have a chance, but there was so much about planeswalking he didn't understand. When he threw down a card there was nothing to it, he just did it. No feeling, no emotion. Sure, he got a little tingle, some sort of electric buzz up his arm, but it didn't exactly take anything out of him. He just did it.

He knew planeswalking was different. He didn't know how he knew, he just did. There had to be some feeling in it, getting your mind into a particular emotional state, focusing hard. The first time was always different, he knew that too. Some sort of life-threatening emergency, or profound personal struggle. His was definitely in the former camp, he knew that much. Like Teyo in the sandstorm. After that though, he didn't think it worked the same. He'd have to figure out how, but he had no idea where to begin.

He would have to find a mentor, but that was like being stuck on a desert island with only the hope of a passing ship as solace. He couldn't attract planeswalkers, and his chances of one showing up naturally felt pretty slim. The Wanderer and Kaito were off in search of Phyrexians, and now he'd sent Teferi barking up the same tree to fetch the Gatewatch. And with Jin-Gitaxias leaving the plane, there was little reason for any others to turn up searching for them.

'Charlie!' Si-Siba squeaked from the next room, breaking him out of his reverie. 'I know I promised not to do anything when you were home, but it was just a little tinkering, and I think I've made a development!'

Charlie sighed, and stood up from the bed. He'd figure this out.

'Charlie!' Si-Siba yelled again. She turned and saw a flash from his room. 'Charlie? Is everything okay?'

She put down her tools, and took off the pair of goggles she had been wearing. Scampering through to the next room, there was no sign of Charlie. There was, however, a little foil sleeve on the floor. She picked it up.

'What in the name of the kami is a New Capenna?'

 

[ReluctantPlaneswalker]

Charlie blinked. A second ago, he had been getting up to go and see what Si-Siba had been working on. Now, he was back home. Well, not home, but outside the shop he had bought three packs of Neon Dynasty cards from, what felt like a lifetime ago.

There were people bustling around him, but all of them human. No soratami, no rat-folk, no akki. Just humans. In normal human clothes.

At that point he realised just how out of place he looked, how much he had thrown himself into Kamigawan fashion, just by Virtue of only having one outfit with him when he arrived there. His baggy blue trousers, sleeveless brown hoodie, and yellow sash looked out of place amongst a sea of jeans and shirts, before even considering his shin and elbow guards with their neon accents, that had been all the rage for him about thirty seconds ago.

What the hell was he going to do?

In a moment of panic, he decided to do something he'd always wanted to do. He turned back and went straight into the Travelling Man.

"Hey mate, love the costume, but you're dressed for the wrong one," the man behind the till called out.

Charlie powered through, ignoring him. A thrill coursed up his spine as he got to say it. "What date is it?"

"It's… are you not here for release day?"

"No, just… what date is it?"

"28th of April?"

Charlie looked around him, at the odd poster of Ob Nixilis in a pinstriped suit.

"Release day?"

"Yeah, New Capenna's out, the new Magic: The Gathering set. Can I tempt you with some of - "

"No, no, it's alright." Charlie mumbled. He was home. Actually home. He had no idea how, but he'd done it, he'd planeswalked.

He had to get home. All of his decks were there - if he was to end up somewhere else in the multiverse he'd need a little more than three random packs of Kamigawa cards. Even if he just had his boxes of random loose cards that he wouldn't put into decks anytime soon, that would be better.

He took off running, completely ignoring the turned heads and wide-eyed stares of everyone he passed. He only had one thing on his mind, and that was getting home to his cards.

Past the minster. Out of the city centre. Past the pub on the corner. Up to the river. He was feeling out of breath. Charlie had never done this much running before. He was feeling lightheaded. Faint. Distant. He'd felt faint before. This was different. The stars at the edges of his vision felt more real. The world began to blur.

He kept running. His feet kept hitting the concrete. But it wasn't his concrete any more. There was still a block of flats to his left, still a small grassy area to his right. But these weren't the ones he was used to. In place of black wrought iron fencing was filigree gold. In place of people in jeans and t shirts or tracksuits, were people in suits. And not just humans. Cat people and bird people and rhino people and racoon people, and… octopus people?

"Fuck." Charlie stopped. He'd been in Kamigawa for weeks now, maybe months. He'd no idea of anything happening in Magic since he'd gone away. But judging by the posters he'd seen in the comic shop, and what he was looking at now, he was in New Capenna. With no idea what the plane was like. And a couple of dozen Kamigawa cards.

 

[ReluctantPlaneswalker]

He patted his pocket and felt the familiar lump of the two dozen or so Magic cards that rested in there. Charlie felt his heart slow down, his breathing become shallower. It was like he was a child again, lost in the supermarket and unable to find his mum. Except it wasn't a supermarket, was it? It was a whole plane.

Looking around, he tried to think if he had heard anything about New Capenna before he had ended up planeswalking to Kamigawa, hoping that seeing how the plane looked would jog his memory, remind him of any spoilers or early concept art.

"Art deco… gold and concrete… very 1920s…" he was wracking his mind for anything. "Mobsters? Demon crime families! That's the one! Not the same colour combinations as Tarkir… they just did that on Ikoria… fuck it's that plane Ajani's from isn't it… Naya? No that's part of it… Alara! Shards of Alara! That's the one!"

"Hey buddy," a gruff looking raccoon in a shirt, waistcoat and flatcap turned to him, with an accent dangerously close to Bostonian. "You okay? 'Cus you're looking a little like you've lost your freaking mind."

"Yeah, sorry pal, just having a bad day," Charlie did his best to look casual, despite the fact that he looked like he'd completely misinterpreted the instructions for a fancy dress party, and somehow come dressed for cyberpunk Japan rather than a 1920s America-themed furry gathering.

"Well try and have your bad day somewhere off the sidewalk, people are walking here," he let out a noise that sounded halfway between a bark and a chuckle. Charlie wasn't sure, but thought he heard him mutter "fuckin' tourists" under his breath as he walked away.

Charlie took off walking in the other direction, unsure of where he was going, or really why. Why didn't he get any New Capenna boosters while he had the chance? Well, he wasn't to know that he'd end up here five minutes later. Why, or how did he even planeswalk? It's not like he'd been hit by a car like the first time - it had been prerelease day when he got back to Earth (was Earth a plane?), did that have anything to do with it?

He needed to make friends, and fast. Without the ability to instantly summon a guide like Si-Siba, it would be difficult to survive here. But where to begin?

Upon reaching what looked like some sort of town square, Charlie found himself a bench and sat down to consider his options. The sunlight glinting off the gold gilding all over the place, the towering skyscrapers piercing the sky, there was something about this place that reminded him of Otawara. Maybe it would be a nice place to stay until his body inevitably transported him to some other plane.

He took in a deep lungful of air. Though he hadn't thought about it until now, Charlie realised that each plane had a slightly different sensation, a different smell, like a resonance. Earth was like water, you couldn't get a handle on what the smell was, but Kamigawa was crisp and slightly minty, cool, like having a drink just after chewing gum. New Capenna had something smoky about it, warm with a hint of spice.

He breathed in, savouring that change in feeling. The smoke smell was getting stronger. Was he having a stroke?

There was an explosion behind him. Shards of glass and chunks of rubble flew past Charlie as he was thrown from his bench by the force of the air rippling outward. Pain slicing through his back, he turned and stood, to see the front of a building having been completely blown out, smoke billowing from the gaping wound in the concrete. Shadows moved within the smoke, then took shape as four figures.

At the front was a hulking brute, no more than a slab of meat with a face, teeth producing from a jutting jaw. An ogor. By his side was a viashino, smoke curling around them and billowing from their nostrils. Then came two humans, wearing a similar set of boots, workman's trousers, vest and bracers as the others. Finally, emerging from the smoke as though from the depths of Hell, two red horns thrust out, followed closely by the rest of a demon. Each one was carrying two bulging sacks containing what Charlie surmised was something valuable.

"Well, now or never," he muttered under his breath. "Best way to make friends is to make a couple of enemies I guess."

Flicking through the cards he had, Charlie found what he was looking for and threw it down at his feet. As Boon of Boseiju hit the ground, Charlie had to hope it would work the way he thought. As vines and roots thrust up from the paving slabs and wrapped around his legs and arms, he felt vindication surge within him. Vindication and confidence.

"Right fellers." His voice boomed, heart pounding with excitement and panic. "Put the bags down, and we can discuss this like reasonable people. Or, you give me the justification to have used that card."

There was a pause. Only a heartbeat, where they all stood there, looking at each other. Even the smoke seemed to halt in its shifting. Then the ogre grunted, and sauntered towards Charlie, closely followed by the rest of his retinue.

As he walked, he seemed to pick up the pace. Charlie shifted his stance, widened his legs, tried to ground himself in preparation of being hit by this freight train wrapped in meat. The ogre jumped as he reached Charlie, swinging one of his sacks down at Charlie's head. He blocked it with a wooden arm, and felt the heavy impact of something - metal ingots, he guessed.

The ogre kept swinging, his onslaught never stopping though none of the attacks hit anything other than hardened root and branch. Charlie knew it was distraction tactics, he could see the others moving to flank him out of the corner of his eye, but couldn't let up else he'd take a sack of metal somewhere that would hurt.

An idea formed, and the next swing that came in, he caught it with a wooded elbow. Hard, spiky spars of splintered wood jutted out and caught the hessian bag. He pulled back, hoping to wrench it from the ogres hand, but only succeeded in tearing it open and spilling its contents on the floor.

That was enough. In the opening that created, a heavy wooden fist cracked the ogre in the face, flooring him.

Fierce heat washed over Charlie from his right, before he had a chance to celebrate. He held up a wooden arm to protect himself as the viashino sprayed a gout of flame at him.

"Shit shit shit shit shit," Charlie couldn't help muttering as the remains of that arm sloughed from his body, reduced to nothing but ash. The viashino inhaled, ready for another blast, and in a moment of panic Charlie grabbed his whole face with his remained wooden arm. The viashino's eyes widened, its throat growing redder. There was a blast of fire and smoke, and then the viashino was lying unconscious, knocked out by the force of the exhalation. The only issue was that it had blown up his remaining wooden arm.

Tottering about on gangly legs, Charlie reached into his pocket for another card. He was panicking now, flicking through as the two humans and the devil circles him, but he found one that might work. The two humans were moving around him clockwise, the devil anti clockwise - he kept an eye on the devil and, if he could time this right…

With a flick, Kindled Fury flew through the air. Chitinous plates sprouted from Charlie's right arm, smouldering with inner heat. They wrapped around his fist, the heat building within until - BOOM! Like a meteor from the heavens, a fiery projectile blasted right at the devil and the male human as they crossed paths, knocked them both back - one into a hedge, the other into a lamppost.

The last one turned and ran. It felt almost cruel, but Charlie couldn't let her get away, and threw out one last card - Debt to the Kami. At first, he thought it hadn't done anything, but as she passed over a manhole cover, arms longer and paler than human emerged, grabbing her ankles. With a scream, she disappeared beneath the surface of the road.

"Fuck," Charlie whispered, eyes wide. "Imagine if I'd dropped that down the toilet."

 

[ReluctantPlaneswalker]

Red chitinous plates clattered from Charlie's arm, and he slowly grew shorter as the roots wrapped around his legs receded back underground - it seemed that now the fight was over his conjured armaments were leaving him, as if through some conscious understanding that they were Instants and not Enchantments.

Looking from unconscious goon to unconscious goon, Charlie hoped that someone had seen his good deed for the day, and that it might win him some clout with one of the factions here, whoever they ended up being. All he knew was that demons now ran the city, but better to be at their right hand than stood in their path and all that…

He turned to leave the square, and was greeted by a wall of sparkling blue light. Squinting, he saw that it was comprised of individual panels, like stained glass lit from the other side. Squinting harder, he made out figures on the other side of them. At that point he realised they were shields, and that he was being faced down by New Capenna's equivalent of the riot police.

"On your knees, citizen, with your arms where we can see them," a booming voice, amplified by megaphone or magic Charlie wasn't sure, called out from beyond the row of shields. He had no alternative but to comply.

Now kneeling, facing the shields, he watched as two of them parted, and a lone figure strutted through, his trench coat blowing in the breeze. There was a golden glimmer in those eyes, bright against his dark skin, accentuated by the gold buttons on his dark waistcoat.

"I'd say, judging from the magic we saw you use, that you're a Riveteer." Everything he said was calm, cool, calculated. "But you're dressed like no Riveteer I've ever seen. Is it the Adversary? Or are you a lone operator?"

"Based purely on the fact that none of those names mean anything to me, I'll say the latter."

The next thing he knew, Charlie was seeing stars. When his vision came back, the whole world was on its side, the man's right fist ablaze with glowing golden energy.

"You've got moxie kid, I'll give you that. But I don't get paid for patience, so less of the lip."

Charlie clawed himself back to consciousness like a drowning man coming up for air. "I'm… an independent… party." Just talking hurt, like he was having to physically pull the words out of his brain.

"That's more like it. You handled yourself well back there, though it was hardly subtle. If you're not allied yet, you've got two choices - swear to one of the families soon, or end up dead. Nobody with power stays independent for long, one way or the other."

"Is that… a job offer?" Charlie spat out blood, hoping it would come off as cool and impressive, but it just dribbled down his hoodie.

There was a pause. He closed his eyes, expecting the punch.

"Still mouthy, but at least you saw that one coming. I reckon you're a little loud for the Brokers, but Spara would have my balls for cufflinks and cock for a tie clip if I let you slip through my hands," his smirk was audible in his tone, but Charlie didn't open his eyes until he felt a hand grasping his, pulling him to his feet. "The name's Henri. Henri Rigia. Let's get you cleaned up. And fitted for a suit."

*

"Found this in a New Capenna pack today, can't find it on any card list. It looks legit, right down to the holographic foil, but there's no artist credit or collector number, and the rules text is pretty janky. Anyone got any ideas what the deal is? Maybe a prototype that got cut but somehow slipped in?"

Brad uploaded the photo. It was of a seemingly normal Magic card, aside from the details he had said were missing. "Unexpected Assault", an Instant for one red, one green, and one mana of any colour. A brass knuckle with angel wings - definitely New Capenna - but seemed a strange card to be Mythic Rare, unless it was indeed a prototype.

The art looked strange as well. A man dressed in some weird hoodie and baggy pants, which were decidely not the aesthetic of New Capenna, balanced on some sort of wooden stilts? And one arm was covered in red shell-like plating, a blast of fire shooting out of it at a devil and a human in much more New Capenna-esque pinstriped suits. Another human watched on, mouth agape, whilst an ogre and a viashino were sprawled on the ground nearby.

Then there was the rules text. "Target creature gets +*/+X and first strike until end of turn, where X is the greatest mana value among permanent you control, and * is X+1. Untap it." It just seemed so convoluted, there was a lot going on in there. It was almost like two different spells had been mashed into one.

He pressed "Post", and hoped someone out there might be able to solve this mystery for him.

 

[ReluctantPlaneswalker]

Charlie looked at himself in the mirror, painfully aware of how much he'd let himself go on Kamigawa. His hair had grown out, become unruly, and he hadn't shaved the whole time he'd been there, so his chin and upper lip were covered in patches of dark hair. To add to this, he could already see the purple bruising of a black eye forming where Rigia had floored him. New Capenna certainly didn't seem as friendly as Kamigawa.

Si-Siba! What must she be thinking? He'd just disappeared without a trace, without a goodbye, without anything. Would she still be there? Maybe his magic would fade without him on the same plane, and she would fade away with it. If he ever figured out how to planeswalk, Kamigawa would be the first place he would go back to. He owed her that much.

His head was pulled back, presenting his throat. A leonin looked down at him from above. "Don't move, yes? You'll make this easier."

Hot water, and then foam, were applied to his throat and face. With deft movements, the leonin scraped his face clean of his scruffy beard, then went at his hair with a pair of scissors. By the time Charlie left the chair, he was looking like a whole new man.

He didn't have much time to waste, however, as he was then ushered into a tailor's shop by the handler that Rigia had left in charge of him. It seemed makeovers weren't his responsibility, and he had to report back to whoever this Spara character was about the mess that Charlie had caused.

Tape measures snaps, arms lifted and unlifted, legs spread and unspread. Charlie was measured in places he didn't even know he had, but by the time he left, he felt dressed for the streets of New Capenna.

The three-piece suit was snug, slim, and pinstriped. He felt a little constrained, but he'd been told that was down to the armour plates integrated into the suit. At the very least be had to stand up straight in it, and they looked to bulk him out a little, in places that hadn't been bulked by all the free noodles from the Kamigawan street food stall. He hadn't had much say in it, though he had managed to persuade the tailor to add in a few more pockets than originally intended. He was admiring himself in a shop window when the handler came up behind him.

"Rigia's cleared you with Spara. He wants to have a word."

"You going to tell me who this Spara character is?" Charlie felt himself getting surlier. Maybe it was that feeling in the air.

"Spara's the boss. Rigia's boss. But he's your boss. So unless it becomes an issue, you don't need to worry about Spara. And you don't want it to become an issue."

Charlie shrugged. "If he's paying for my makeover, s'pose it's the least I can do."

The handler whistled, and a vehicle hummed around the corner, hovering about a foot off the ground. It looked like a classic Ford, something from LA Noir, minus the wheels. A door opened, and he was ushered into it, knowing full well he wasn't remotely allowed to resist.

In the seat next to him was Rigia. The air inside the car was close, conspiratorial.

"Right kid, I've smoothed things over with Spara. A couple of well-placed donations to the newspapers of the city, and we'll make it look like you were already a Broker, protecting the interests of our fair city's banks, as is our wont to do."

"Is that it, you're like the city's police?" Charlie's brain pointed to the only parallel he could think of - Ravnica. With their shield magic, could these Brokers be like New Capenna's version of the Azorius?

"Police? What sort of word is police?" Rigia drawled. If Charlie had to place the accent in a real-world context, he'd probably say Louisiana.

"Like guards? Peace-keepers? Stopping crime in the city?"

"Heh. Yeah, something like that kid. Back before the demons took over the five families, we used to be a lot more like that - noble paladins protecting the weak and needy from the strong and tyrannical. Nowadays we still protect the weak and needy, but not without some sort of contract, favour or payment involved."

"So it's a protection racket?"

"Look, I can tell you're some sort of outsider to this place, but there's a lot of ways someone can end up dead in New Capenna. If you want to become more closely acquainted with them, then keep going the way you're going - don't let me stop you. But if you want stay the fuck alive, you better start being a little more subtle. I know this is a city run by crime families. You know this is a city run by crime families. Every schmuck on the streets knows this is a city run by crime families. But you don't fucking talk about it. That's rule one." He held up a finger. "You gotta stop being so blunt, be a little cunning, a little crafty. You got that?"

"Yeah, I got that."

"It's like… look, the way I see it, nobody gets murdered in this city. Sure, lots of people die. Shit, a lot of them get killed - but nobody's murdered. In a way, it's all suicide. Maybe they went into business with the wrong guy, maybe they signed this contract when they should have signed the other one, maybe they decided not pay what they owed to someone, maybe it was as simple as walking down the wrong street at the wrong time and seeing something they shouldn't. All of those people killed themselves. Not murder. Just business."

"And where do I fit into this?" Charlie's words scratched as they left his throat, suddenly much more dry than he had thought. He had a sneaking suspicion that there was a threat hidden not so delicately beneath Rigia's words.

"Wherever you want. That's the benefit of all this - freedom. The freedom to succeed or the freedom to die trying."

"I think I'd prefer to succeed, if those are my choices."

"Then you've got to play your cards right."

Charlie looked Rigia intently in the eyes, but saw nothing that suggested he knew how his magic worked. "I think I can do that, as I long as I know what game we're playing."

"Now you're getting it. You're playing our game now, and that means you can shadow me for the time being. Until I know what you're capable of, and can trust you with a job of you're own without almost killing the five guys we paid to rob that bank, you stick to me like you've been welded on."

"You paid those bank robbers?"

"Of course we did. The bank hadn't paid us our due. They broke their contract, thought better of it, so we got a contract of ours to hire a few guys for a job, to show them how much they need our protection. Which is why it's so vital that everyone thinks you're one of us - like I said crafty. Little bit of subterfuge goes a long way in this city."

"Shit, I didn't know."

"Course you didn't, that's the whole point of the thing. Mind you, one of those guys is still unaccounted for, you wouldn't know what happened to the girl that was with them, would you?"

A scream echoed in Charlie's ears. "Not a clue."

 

[ReluctantPlaneswalker]

The next few weeks went by in a blur. Charlie witnessed everything, from contacts being signed, to the consequences of breaking one. There weren't that many instances of the latter, but they were the ones that stuck with him more. Valuables taken in lieu of money, home and shops smashed up to set an example, people… disappearing.

Eventually, the moment he had been dreading arrived. He met Rigia outside the flat that the Brokers had procured for him - whether it had been requisitioned from unreliable tenants, or procured legally, he didn't know, or bother to ask - at the same time as normal.

"Job's come in." Normally Rigia didn't even speak to him at this point, just walked and expected Charlie to follow, or nodded in the direction of a waiting vehicle. That's when Charlie knew he would have to step up.

"What am I doing?" Charlie knew by now that Rigia liked like him quiet, his sentences short and to the point.

"Proving yourself."

The car was waiting, door open. The two men sidled up to it and climbed in. They sat in silence for a while - Charlie had learnt that the best way to get Rigia to talk was to let him. If Charlie asked, that would tighten him up. It was all about the subtlety.

"Someone's broken a contract with us. They had a problem they needed to go away, we fixed it, in return for a favour."

"Only they've backed out on us?" Charlie had heard this enough times to see where it was going.

"Exactly. Guy's a low-level Cabaretti, works front of house at a restaurant in the Mezzio. Only kicker is, and I can't believe I'm saying this, you're throwing subtlety out the window."

"Spara wants an example made?"

"Yeah. You're not killing the guy, it's broad daylight and we're not animals. But you're roughing him up, and you're making sure it's seen. Think you can do that?"

Dozens of sarcastic comments jostled to be the first to escape Charlie's mouth, but he'd been learning well from Rigia. A nod was all that was necessary.

Rigia handed a portrait over to Charlie. It showed an elf with slicked back hair and a pencil moustache in a loose-fitting green outfit reminiscent of a kimono. Could have been anyone that Charlie had walked past on the street. But now this poor man was his test, his ticket into a crime family. Things seemed to have moved so quickly since he arrived, but he kept telling himself he had no other choice, that he was doing all of this to survive.

The rest of the journey continued in silence. Charlie spent it checking his suit compulsively, patting pockets, pulling out and then returning cards to their pockets. He'd known for a while now that this day would come, and every morning had put the specific cards he knew he would need in the hidden sleeve pockets, the others placed here and there in inside pockets, breast pockets, spread out so that he would never have to spend too long flicking through a stack. He'd memorised where every single one was. There was no room for mistakes.

After what seemed like an eternity for driving around the concrete and gold streets of New Capenna, the car stopped. The place was no more than a restaurant, no more fancy than anything in the Mezzio. Sure, it would stick out like a sore thumb back on Earth, but here in New Capenna, sharp angles and gold decor were about as unassuming as it got.

In. Out. Nose. Mouth. Charlie breathed slowly. With intent. And then he walked through the door.

That last breath caught in his throat. The greeter at the door was the same one from the portrait. Everything around Charlie seemed to recede to a pinprick, his head filled with static.

He let the elf usher him to a table. Sweat was running down his back. Words caught in his throat. Charlie sat down, not knowing what else to do.

He breathed a few more times, tried to calm himself. He knew what he had to do, knew what he was going to. The plan was all worked out. Two cards, and Charlie could walk back into that car a fully fledged Broker. Maybe then it would be a nice, easy desk job, settle in as one of their solicitors.

He pulled out two cards from the pockets he'd placed them in time and time again and set them in front of him on the table. One then the other. One then the other. One then the other. He'd rehearsed it over and over again in his head.

He stood up. Walked over to the elf. With a flick, he launched Return to Action at him. It flew wide, hit a leonin sitting at the bar drinking a cocktail.

"Shit, I knew that would happen." With a shaky hand, Charlie reached into another pocket, glad he'd got a shiny copy in another pack. Holding it in the palm of his hand, he slapped it onto the elf's chest, getting a bewildered look for troubles. There was a shimmer of pink energy as it disappeared

Then he slapped the other card between his palms and pulled them apart. As they separated, Charlie felt a coldness in his palms as the metal of a sword appeared within them. Stretching his arms wide, it kept going, until he held in his right hand the Eater of Virtue, its blade gleaming wickedly in the light of the restaurant.

He moved quickly, stabbing the elf right in the gut. There was more resistance than he expected, and he grabbed the elf's shoulder for support to push it all the way up to the hilt. The elf scrabbled at him with limp arms.

"Let this be a warning to anyone that breaks a contract with the Brokers." Charlie pulled the sword free and, lacking support, the elf fell to the ground, blood rapidly pooling around him.

Nobody tried to stop Charlie as he left, leaving a trail of blood dripping from his sword as he went. People rushed to help the elf, but he was losing too much blood, and died there amongst them. That happened in New Capenna all the time. What didn't always happen was the dead person coming to life. A pink shimmer flickered across his body, and he sat bolt upright, gasping for air. It was the last thing Charlie heard as he left the restaurant.

"You send a message?" Rigia was waiting in the car, door held open for Charlie.

Charlie emptied out the contents of his stomach onto the pavement, supporting himself on the sword. In a moment of unexpected humanity, Rigia leant out and passed him a handkerchief. Charlie wiped his mouth and offered it to Rigia, who shook his head and grimaced.

With a sigh, Charlie climbed into the back of the car. "Yeah, they're not likely to forget that in a hurry."

Rigia gestured at the sword resting on Charlie's lap. "Where d'you get that?"

With the faintest hint of a smile returning to his face, all Charlie said was, "Magic."

 

[ReluctantPlaneswalker]

Charlie was ushered away in the car, though he remembered little of the journey. Rigia spoke to him, and he responded, but he couldn't remember a word of what was said. He was driven home, his head spinning, full of white noise. Rigia had to help him up the stairs, his legs giving way.

The next day was clearer. The sky was still dark when he woke up - he must have fallen asleep as soon as he had got in. The sword was propped against his wall, its silvery gleam an accusation of what he had done yesterday. The blade was clean, with not even a drop of blood on the floor.

Dragging his still weary body, he got out of the bed, and noticed he was still wearing his suit. Wandering around the flat, he found a note on the kitchen counter. He assumed it was from Rigia.

"In case you forget what we talked about in the car, I'll pick you up at noon."

This clearly wasn't Rigia's first time taking someone on their first job, if he knew Charlie hadn't taken in a word of the car journey. Maybe Rigia had been like this his first time, before all that gruff machismo took over.

Images of yesterday's events filled Charlie's head. He knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep if he tried. Luckily, this plane had coffee, so he made himself a cup and stood with it, looking out of his window over the city's skyline.

The sun rose over New Capenna, lighting a warm fire within the gold that decorated half the buildings that reached this high. Charlie made himself busy at did, but still tried to take it in. He knew this was a new dawn for him, his first day as an official Broker. His first day as a murderer.

Even though the elf had survived, even though his plan had worked, he couldn't escape that fact. He had killed someone. No matter what he told himself about how he needed to do it to survive here, he had still killed an innocent person. And he was worried he would be asked to kill more.

Noon came. Charlie had nothing else to do, nothing to hold it back, so noon came. And so too came Rigia.

"How are you doing?" This must have been the first time he had ever asked Charlie that question.

"I'm okay, I'm managing. Does it get easier?"

"Fingers crossed you don't find out. It's just a loyalty thing, you understand? Doesn't mean that's your job forever."

Charlie nodded.

"Anyway, we've got things to do. Bring that sword of yours too, I've booked an appointment with a friend."

Wrapping his hand around that hilt was a tough task. It felt heavier than yesterday, but it hummed with a warmth he didn't remember.

"Ahh good, you've cleaned it."

Charlie squinted. "I thought you… nevermind…"

Rigia gestured, and Charlie followed, down the stairs, out the block of flats, into the streets, and ultimately into the car.

Another journey passed in silence. Charlie had long ago stopped trying to remember the twists and turns they took to wherever they were going.

The shopfront they pulled up outside was a lot plainer than any other place Rigia had taken him to. No gleaming metal - this one was actually wood. Marionettes, doll houses, cabinets, all sorts of wooden odds and ends filled the window. It didn't seem to fit with the rest of this place.

"Hello there, to whom do I owe the pleasure today?" came a call from a back room as the bell on the door tinkled. The inside of the shop was crammed to the rafters with all sorts of other wooden curiosities.

"A client," Rigia said, with his usual chattiness.

A little head poked around a doorframe, thick-rimmed glasses making tiny eyes seem huge, whiskered nose twitching. A smile lit up the raccoon person's face.

"Ahh Henri my boy! Long time no see! What brings you to my little corner of the city? And with a friend no less?"

Henri smiled, actually smiled. "Good to see you too old man. Got myself an apprentice, he needs a little something whittling, if you've got the time?"

"Oh I've always got the time for you Henri, even if you do belittle my whittling - I'm a craftsman boy you see," he offered a little bow to Charlie. "Now, what can I make for you today?"

Rigia nudged Charlie, nodded at the sword, which he laid on the counter in front of the raccoon.

"You know how we work, and here this new kid is wandering around with a flashy piece of gear like this. Could do with something to stop it catching so much light, if you catch my drift?"

The raccoon rubbed his hands together. "This is interesting, not seen a weapon like this before. Think I've got a little something in mind for it. You got a time frame in mind?"

Rigia spread his hands. "I don't rush the wizard."

"You do right boy. I'll let you know when it's done."

As they were leaving, Rigia turned to Charlie. "Come on, back in the car, one more stop."

Charlie started moving towards the car.

"Aren't you going to ask me where we're going?"

This was odd. Charlie frowned at Rigia. "Not if I want to stay on my feet."

Rigia smirked. "I'll give you this one as a freebie."

With a sigh, Charlie asked, "Okay, where are we going?"

"To get blind fucking drunk."

 

[ReluctantPlaneswalker]

Charlie had never been in a speakeasy, but that's what he would call the place Rigia brought him to. It was dark, dingy, down a back alleyway, and about as far from the glitz and glamour of the Vantoleone as you could get. This was the dirt under the fingernails of New Capenna. This was the real New Capenna.

Rigia led the way, Charlie following in his slipstream as he cut a path through the teetering customers. With a flick of Rigia's fingers, the barman shifted from cleaning a glass to making a couple of drinks.

"You've earned this Charlie, I mean that." This was the first time Rigia had ever used his name. "It ain't easy doing what you did, and frankly I'm surprised you had enough guts to do it the once. Fingers crossed there's a nice pencil-pushing desk job lined up for you now you've proven yourself."

As Charlie slumped down on the barstool, he was surprised it didn't collapse, and not just because it was shoddily made. There felt to be a weight on him, almost too much to carry, but with Rigia's statement he felt it slough off of him, like he'd been carrying a bag of sand and someone had just cut it open.

"I hope so too. I don't think that's for me."

"New Capenna has a way of making people into things they never thought possible. Just look at the bosses."

Things had been a little hectic regarding the bosses recently. Even a low-level Broker like Charlie had heard about the Adversary, heard about Xander's fall. It was a long way down for the boss of a crime family around here, it seemed.

Two cocktail glasses were set down in front of the pair, a shimmering green liquid glowing from within, shifting as though it were a glass of bioluminescent algae. Much like the speakeasy, Charlie had never seen this before either. And much like the speakeasy, he knew exactly what it was. Halo.

"It's fine kid, just the one to get the night started, kick us off, then we'll mellow from there."

Charlie blinked. And closed his mouth. He must have been staring at it. Hard.

"Err yeah, sure."

In one swift movement, Charlie knocked it back. The warmth poured down his throat, gentle at first, then building. It spread through his body, down towards his stomach then out towards his extremities, building, building. There was a buzzing in his ears like static. The heat built until it was unbearable and Charlie had to grit his teeth not to scream.

In the distance, as though at the end of a long tunnel, he heard a voice call out to him.

"Fuck me kid, that's for sippin'!"

The world shuddered. Went black. Flickered in. People. Human people. A counter. Rows of board games. And comics. And the glittering sleeves of Magic packs.

Back to black. The bar. Rigia.

The comic shop.

The bar.

The comic shop.

The bar.

Charlie collapsed to the floor, numb all over. He could barely move his eyes. Rigia's face appeared above him. The ceiling shifted, dragged along, tilted. He must be sitting now. He saw his lap. Someone pulled his head up. He was limp all over. Darkness.

*

"Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"Seriously, you didn't just see the guy in the 1920s pinstriped suit?"

"Mate, I'm doing a stock take of these Innistrad Double Feature cards nobody asked for or wants to buy. No, I didn't see a guy in a pinstriped suit."

"I told you this place was haunted."

"Did people even dress like that in the UK back then? Or was that an American thing?"

"Look, I don't know. But what I do know is that a guy in a 1920s pinstriped suit just flickered into the shop and flickered back out again."

"Was it that guy that turned up for the New Capenna prerelease cosplaying a cyber ninja from Kamigawa?"

"What?"

"You remember that guy? Total nutter."

"Well yeah I remember him, why might it have been him?"

"Well he turned up for the New Capenna prerelease dressed like he was on Kamigawa, right?"

"Yeah?"

"How do they dress on New Capenna?"

"1920s pinstriped suits…"

"And what is it this weekend?"

"The Battle for Baldur's Gate release day?"

"Yeah. So maybe he's like a really slow cosplayer or something."

"Well he needs to pack it in, cos it's weird. Or at least buy something next time."

*

Sight returned to Charlie slowly, like a veil being pulled from his head, as did feeling. Cold. He felt cold. But was he actually cold, or would he forever be cold after the intense heat of what he had just felt. He tried to ease his aching body up into a sitting position.

"Easy now kid, you're going to be sore for a while, don't overexcited yourself." There was that tone of affection again from Rigia, the same one as after his mission.

"What was that?" Charlie's voice was hoarse, the words feeling like sandpaper as they made their way up his throat. He looked around - minimal light, casks of something. It looked like he was probably in the bar's store cupboard.

"Halo, as well as giving one hell of a buzz, amplifies magic. I reckon it was affecting yours somehow, though I've never seen anyone do whatever it was you just did."

"It doesn't happen often, and I can't really do it on purpose."

"Well you won't be doing anything ever again if you don't rest, and I mean that. Once you're good to walk I'm taking you home. But you'll owe me one for all the paperwork I've gotta do to get you sick leave."

Rigia smiled. Charlie chuckled, but had to stop as the pain in his chest flared up.

*

On a balcony, high above the streets of New Capenna, a figure surveyed his growing empire. Clawed fingers wrapped around the railing of a balcony. He had felt something. His informants had told him of the presence of Elspeth, and Vivien, and even Tezzeret. He knew their goals, their reasons for being on this plane.

But another planeswalker? That made things interesting. He had to find out who it was. At best, they could be an ally. At worst, it would be a fun chase, and his claws hadn't been bloodied anywhere near recently enough for Ob Nixilis' liking.