2KJ sat on the stiff vinyl seat of the late evening MTA train, heading home from basketball practice. His prized Wilson ball was on his lap, his gym bag on the floor in front of his feet. He tapped his left foot with the music blaring in his earbuds, quickly glancing around the subway car to see who was seated around him. Nothing unusual, at least not unusual for a NY evening train. Homeless guy sleeping on a seat, random guy in an Elmo costume likely going to Times Square, couple of tired workers in suits strap hanging. No sign of Collective automatons or mages. Good. KJ didn't need that tonight especially since he was carrying information on a thumb drive that could be crucial to heading off a war in a secret magical world, you know typical teenage stuff. He just had to get off at his next stop and meet Kai, his history tutor, at a local burger place, no problem. That is until he noticed the three teenagers in goth outfits enter the subway car. One was a tall girl, with red hair, dark make-up, black hooded cardigan, and lots of rings on her fingers which ended in purple painted nails. With her were two beefy looking guys, one with long black hair and a black canvas duster, the with buzz-cut blonde hair wearing a skull t-shirt and had arms covered with tattoos. He would've thought nothing of them, until the girl flashed him a feral grin as she entered the car.
KJ suspected they might be Collective, but he had to be sure. Quickly, under his breath he cast a spell,
"Light of truth shine tonight, cut through those who tell a lie."
The fluorescent lights on the subway brightened in intensity as the flow of magic within him made a glowing nimbus of energy appear around the two goth guys that only he could see. The light faded, and sure enough those guys weren't human. They were Cyclops automatons. Steampunk looking robots that were like an evil version of the Wizard of Oz's Tin Man. Steel drum body, spindly limbs, one metal claw hand gripping a crude square sword, the other ending in a nasty steam cannon nozzle and an oval head on a swivel joint with a single glowing focus crystal eye protected by a metal aperture. These tin cans weren't super tough to deal with even to an apprentice mage like KJ, but the girl was likely a warlock, and KJ didn't feel like having his soul eaten tonight, so he had to move.
Calmly, KJ got up, grabbed his ball and gym bag, and started moving to the next car on the train. It was empty except for some twitchy homeless guy fidgeting with a coin on one of the seats. Perfect he thought, since he was about to do so crazy stuff. Fortunately, the old tramp either wouldn't believe what he was about to see or wouldn't be believed if he said something about it. Unfortunate, but useful for a mage about to jump out of a speeding subway train. The trio of Collective flunkies was about to enter the car, when KJ cast another spell,
"Portal, portal take me away, help me live another day!"
He quietly sang it in the style of some 70s soul music his dad had turned him onto. Some mages cast their spells like poetry, others like song, but they always rhymed it in some way. It made controlling the magic easier for some reason. There were multiple guesses as to why this was, but that didn't matter to KJ in this moment. All that mattered is that there was a golden portal where the subway door was, and moving quickly KJ stepped through it as the homeless guy went wide-eyed for a moment. KJ exited from another portal on the opposite side of the subway line on a maintenance platform. Quickly he hurried along it, but he heard a metallic smash and the hobo yelling something as one of the automatons forced the subway door open. The first automaton leaped onto the line and KJ saluted it sarcastically, the aperture on its eye narrowed at him, just as the oncoming train on the opposite line slammed into it and it exploded in a burst of magical energy, flame, and pressurized steam. KJ chuckled and hurried along the maintenance walkway, hoping what he was looking for was still there. Sure enough, it was. He could feel the weight of magic in the air and saw a set of abandoned subway rails. It was a place of memory, an area where a lot of magic gathered in an old, neglected place, leaving impressions of the past. Following the abandoned tunnel, he found an old set of antique subway cars from the 1920s and an entire abandoned station with ornate décor and antique ads. KJ was going to make a break for the exit, when he heard footsteps and clanking behind him, and heard a girl's voice call out,
"Going somewhere? I think you have something that you shouldn't."
KJ turned around to see that the other automaton and the warlock were in the station with him. This wasn't good. He could only cast one more spell, then he was tapped out. He had to think of something spectacular. He needed to buy time
"I don't know what you're talking about, I was just taking the train home when you three decided to chase me."
The warlock raised an eyebrow and replied,
"Really? Then why are you so desperate to get away from us, Keith? Hand over the USB drive, and this doesn't have to get messy."
KJ kept his cool, despite the warlock calling him by his first name, he didn't like people doing that weren't relatives. He grabbed his basketball and started to dribble it. Then he grinned.
The warlock looked at him confused and asked frantically,
"What are you doing? Stop that!"
KJ cast his final spell. This time to a rap beat,
"My skills are fire, yours are trash, let's play pick-up where you get blasted by my attack!"
He rhymed the beat with the echoing dribble of the ball which suddenly became shrouded in golden fire, then he let go of it and he grabbed his gym bag and ran. The ball began to bounce wildly around the station smashing the place up. He heard the automaton getting dented and banged about, the warlock shrieking and yelping in pain. He hurried up the subway stairs and up into the busy New York City Street. KJ's basketball then bounced up the stairs behind him. KJ grabbed it and vanished into the crowd. From the crowd he could see the warlock rush out of the subway entrance looking battered and disheveled. He grinned slyly as she let out a shriek of rage since she couldn't find him in the bustling masses. KJ then made his way to Jane's Place; a small nondescript restaurant that was known for its handmade burgers. He found Kai already waiting for him in a booth, a college student with short black hair and Japanese ancestry. He put down his bacon cheeseburger and greeted KJ.
"You made it on time, excellent. Are you ready for your lessons?"
KJ sat down in the booth casually and replied,
"Yeah, always am."
"And do you have the materials that we need for it?"
KJ reached into the gym bag and pulled out his laptop, a textbook and two USB drives, one of which he slid over to Kai.
Kai took the drive quickly and said,
"Excellent, it's always good when you're prepared."
KJ grinned and said,
"Kai, you know me I'm prepared for anything."
Kai looked at him a bit concerned and asked,
"You didn't have any trouble getting here did you?"
KJ's grin widened, and he said,
"Nah, nothing that wasn't typical for an NYC night train."