PROTECTING THE GARAGE

Jason Neverin stood in front of the garage. For a business in a rundown part of Talon City, it was remarkably well kept. The sign was recently changed, replacing the old one which was beginning to rust. It was still subdued, with just a bit of magical touch that told the world they had a magical engineer. People would still be surprised to find that engineer to be a gnome. Gnomes were not exactly known for their love of machines. But the natural magical talent of gnomes made them good at any magical business, and Jason knew that Geri Minst was better than most gnomes. She wasn't as good as he was, but she, not being an elf, was allowed to actually work her magic.

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He walked into the garage and was greeted by the frustrated face of a dwarf. Mike Understone was clearly struggling with some paper he was scribbling on.

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"I believe those marks are called letters, and if you put them in the right order, they make words," Jason said, trying to get a rise out of the usually calm mechanic.

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Mike looked at Jason, confused. "What?" He looked back at the paper. "Shit. I thought I was doing math."

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Jason struggled to keep his face straight, ultimately failing. "Gods dammit, dude," he laughed. "Can't compete against that."

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Mike smiled at his best friend. "And that's why I'll be getting paid for it, while you're stuck bagging groceries for privileged humans or serving them their fries."

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"Dude! That's a bit cold." For the past five hundred years, elves have been considered lower than any race. This meant an exile for most of that time, but the last two hundred years, after they were accepted back into society, they have had less civil rights. A major fall, as before this they were considered the highest of society and the protectors of civilization. Being an elf, Jason felt the full brunt of that.

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"Sorry, I'm still trying to come up with my routine. I was thinking of trying insult jokes, be edgy and all that." Mike scratched out something on the paper.

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"Well, the place you're performing at is mostly going to have elves and orcs in attendance. They don't want to hear a dwarf making fun of their problems." Jason went to the coffee machine.

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"You're right." More frustration crossed Mike's face. "Gods, this is hard. You wouldn't think that telling jokes would be difficult, but this is a performance. There is a lot of work in this."

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"Hey, at least you can follow your dreams. I get to go around and try to find the answer to a five-hundred-year-old mystery no one wants to talk about." As he poured himself a cup of coffee, he looked through the office window to see Geri with Tanya Breakridge, the garage's orc secretary. They were huddled together looking at a magazine or something.

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Mike chuckled. "Yeah, that has to be frustrating. 'Excuse, humans and dwarves, who have hated my kind for half a millennium. Can I ask you for information that may prove that you were wrong and the elves didn't betray everyone on the planet, even though most elves themselves don't even believe me?' I'm sure that goes over well all the time." He began writing notes on his paper.

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"Wait. You're writing that down?" Jason came back with his cup of joe.

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"Oh, can I? Probably should've asked first."

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"Huh? Oh, it's not that. It's just that I didn't think it was that funny. Not too many people care about that." The elf looked back in the office.

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"Well, it isn't now, but I have a few weeks before the show. Plenty of time to make people laugh at you." Mike looked in office to see what Jason was looking at. "What?"

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"Are those two together finally?" The entire garage knew the two girls had a crush on each other. Tanya was openly gay, and Geri was still in the closet about her bisexuality, though her fellow grease monkeys knew. It wasn't long after Tanya was hired that they started to look furtively at each other. Tanya was the kind that would just go for it normally, but everyone was pretty sure that Geri also had a crush on Jason, another magic user, and one that was far stronger than her. The fact that he was breaking the restriction on elves learning magic gave him the bad boy edge that attracted her. At least that was Jason's theory.

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"Hmm?" Mike looked at the orc and the gnome to see how his friend could come to that conclusion. "Oh, no. I signed them up to for a contest to win a photoshoot with Kyle Pearce. They’re just looking through magazines with his work in it."

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"Wow, look at you being a nice boss." He was teasing his friend. Kyle Pearce was one of the most famous people in the world from a mix of his artwork, his photography, and his activism fighting for equal rights and treatment for all races, including for orcs and elves. Jason really looked up to him. And that just wasn't because he was giant.

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At that time, Bart and Hank Understone walked in. Mike's older brothers looked at Jason and stared. Their faces were stern, solid, as if they were trying to look Jason out of their shop. Jason stared back, his face full of his intent on staying. They looked at each other for a moment. "Damn it, guys," Mike said. "Aren't you ever going to get tired of this?"

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Hank was able to last a few more seconds before cracking a smile, and he and Bart started laughing. Jason smiled in victory. They had played this game ever since Jason and Mike were kids. The first time, Jason was about to run, not realizing they were playing around. They were one of the few dwarves to accept elves into their homes, likely because they grew up just as poor as them.

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"You inferior dwarves will never beat an elf!" Jason proclaimed in jest.

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"One day, the dwarves will have their revenge!" Hank said. Dwarves were nearly wiped out after the elves left the war against Danard and his creations, the orcs. There had been harsh animosity between the two races ever since. It was the same with orcs, although, it was well understood that they were simply under their creator's control and couldn't do anything else. It was only after Danard's death that they were able to think for themselves, but a lot of the resentment remained.

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They were laughing at each other when Tanya and Geri walked in. "Oh, hey, Jason. I thought I heard you," Tanya said. Geri blushed a little and quietly greeted Jason. She then went to the garage to work on a client's car. Tanya went behind the desk.

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"Hey, ladies," Jason greeted back. "I would stay, but my tribe is calling for more sun water." He went to the restroom.

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Tanya slumped in her chair. She hated seeing Geri freak out over Jason. She liked him, as a person, but she only saw the gnome mechanic react that way with Jason, wishing she would react like that to her. She didn't see how Geri acted differently with her. Mike decided to comfort her. "Don't worry. He'll never see her that way. Jason likes that one reporter chick. That human girl. What's her name?"

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Hank chimed in. "Heather something-or-rather, right?"

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Bart completed the name. "Zane. Heather Zane."

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"Really?" Tanya sat up, getting excited about the lack of interest in Geri. "Why?"

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Mike shrugged. "I don't know. He met her once. Said she had more integrity than other journalists, but she still seems sensationalist to me."

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Two men entered the garage. One was a dwarf; one was a human. Both were recognized by the brothers. "Oh, good. It's the dipshits of Darius' Damned Demons, Casey and Grey. I'm assuming Paul is outside?" Mike proclaimed. The Damned Demons were a gang in the area, and Paul was a giant that typically worked with the two who had entered the garage.

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Casey, the dwarf, spoke to the brothers. "You know it's not personal. Darius just wants to prove his power over Anthony." He looked at Tanya. Anthony was Tanya's brother and leader of the Redeemers, a primarily orc gang, and rival to the Damned Demons.

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Grey walked up to the desk where Tanya was sitting. "You know, babe, the offer still stands. Convince these clowns to pay us the protection money they aren't paying your brother, or just marry Darius, merging your families into a blood oath, or whatever you orcs call your weird traditions." In lieu of protection money, Anthony just wanted the Understone brothers to hire his sister in order to keep her out of the gang life. Other gangs thought it was a power play of some kind.

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 Tanya sighed and said, almost under her breath, "Blood union, you stupid dolt. It's not that hard. And you can tell him that I will only consider it if he becomes a girl."

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Grabbing his crotch, Grey shot back. "Oh yeah, you're a dyke. I forgot you haven't met a real man yet."

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"And yet I've met you. Wonder what that means," Tanya retorted. The brothers laughed.

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"And you can forget the protection money, as well," Bart said. "You have to realize by now that that is never going to happen."

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"Oh, we know," Casey said, smiling deviously at the Bart. He pulled out a crowbar from his jacket while Grey pulled out a two-by-four. "But we had to offer one last time, in case miracles do happen.

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Tanya ran towards to the restroom as the brothers grabbed random tools to defend the garage.

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Just as the two rival gang members were about to attack there was a warm glow coming from behind them. They turned and saw two fireballs floating in front of their faces. Casey looked to the garage only to see Geri working, as if she hadn't noticed what was going on. A voice came from the other side of the flames. "Yeah, when she gets in the zone, she pretty much is lost to the world." Jason merged his two fire orbs, holding the larger ball in between the two gangsters’ heads. He was then visible to the two.

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"An elf!" Grey exclaimed, incredulously.

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"Yep," Jason replied. "You two are going to leave here, wake up your giant friend (he was easy to take care of, by the way), and tell your boss to leave my friends alone, or I will hunt each and every one of you down and show you Demons what it truly means to be damned."

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Grey tightened his grip on his board and decided to attack Jason. "Fuck you, point!" As he started to rush towards the elf, the ball of flame enclosed him, and he fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

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"'Point' isn't a good thing to call an elf with a fiery ball of magic aimed at you," Jason quipped. Casey decided it was his turn to attack, and with just as much ease, Jason used a magic push to throw the dwarf into the ceiling. When he came down, he was unconscious. Jason grabbed the two men, his arm not burning in the fireball still raging, and dragged them outside. The brothers and Tanya followed.

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Jason threw the two in the street, Grey still screaming in pain. Paul the giant was slumped against the wall, also unconscious. Jason removed the fire, and the pain Grey felt immediately went away. "Wha-? An illusion?" He felt his body, searching for burns, confused at not finding any.

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"Yeah. Just an illusion. But next time," Jason shot a small, but real, fireball at the human, burning a tiny hole in his jeans, the gang member moving quickly to smother it, "it will be for real. Now wake up your friends and go. Remember to do what I told you to do."

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Grey got up and ran. Jason grabbed him with magic and pulled him back. "I said to wake up your friends, then go. You'd better listen to me better. Unless you like the smell of your own burning flesh."

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Grey, this time, did what he was told. The fear in his eyes was all that Casey and Paul needed to see to be convinced to leave the area right away.

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There was silence for a moment. Tanya was the first to speak. "You wouldn't have really burned him alive, would you?"

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"I can... but no, I wouldn't have," Jason responded, smiling at the orc. "He didn't need to know that, though." He looked at the garage. "Um, you think Geri saw that?" The others looked at him funny. "I don't need her crush to grow. She's just not for me." He looked back at Tanya, winking.

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Tanya smiled at him. "Oh, I know. I hope you and Heather Zane live happily ever after."

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Jason looked at her, shocked. "Dammit, dude." He turned to Mike and punched his best friend in the shoulder. Everyone chuckled.

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Hank put a hand on Jason's shoulder. "You know, dwarves are known for their greed and their hatred for elves, so realize how special this moment is. Let us buy you a drink." Everyone laughed in fake astonishment as they walked back into the garage.