Looooong Night. That was the only way for Akshay to describe it. Normally the young wordsmith loved to get in his twenty winks, especially on a night before work, but how was he expected to sleep with the greatest of all TV shows was going to have a marathon on TV Land? So, Akshay had turned off his phone, turned off his alarm, popped himself some popcorn and readied himself for a long night of watching his absolute favorite show ever…The Greatest American Hero! What was NOT to love about the show? Average man is given a superhero suit by aliens that gives him powers, but doesn’t know how to use it so he ends up having all sorts of misadventures! It was like Shakespeare…

So…yeah, DUH, there was no way that he was going to sleep. The unfortunate thing with this plan was that he was scheduled to work the early shift at One Comic to Rule Them All. Normally that would mean that Akshay would have had to have chosen between work and the greatest TV show ever. But…Akshay Malik was not like normal people.

That was why, as he unlocked the door to the shop, Akshay beamed as he carried a two rather large cups of steaming, black coffee! Just a couple should keep him awake, right? That was all he needed. After all, he was still living off the high of watching his favorite television show. That, mixed with coffee, ought to keep him going for the rest of the work day!

He downed one black coffee and was already moving onto his second one when he finished organizing everything to get the day started. Bright eyed, bushy tailed, the energetic Akshay the on the store’s “OPEN” sign and nodded with a grin. He was totally going to make it through the day!

***

2 Hours Later…

Akshay was slumped over his counter, snoring loudly as drool pooled over the counter and very carefully began to drip down to the carpeted floor. No customers had come in, yet, and whatever burst of energy Akshay had received from the coffee, it was well gone now. Instead of being alert and mindful while working, as he normally was, the wordsmith was dulled and sleeping soundly. Absolutely nothing was going to wake the man up, which was rather unfortunate. Especially since he was on duty.

But, such thoughts did not matter to him. All that mattered was the encasing blackness that made up the fog of sleep. Here, there were no cares, no understandings, no fears about being fired or of someone walking off with all the money. There was only…sleep.

This carelessness also meant that Akshay was completely without control over his powers. It was a normal problem he had to deal with when he was sleeping, but having to deal with it while sleeping at home was far different than doing it at work. Here, if Akshay had been conscious, he would have been mortified. But such was the deepness of his slumber.

He grumbled as he entered a particularly vivid dream in which he wore the red and black outfit of the Greatest American Hero! He flew through the air erratically, accidently flipped over cars with super strength, and deflected rain. Though it was obvious that it was a dream, it was still vivid enough that he spoke in his sleep…

“Mmm…s-super suit…flying…so strong…” he mumbled. “I’ll save you! I…I’m a…SUPERHERO! Zzzzzz….”

Above his head, the air rippled as the words “SUIT” and “SUPERHERO” began to formulate. They solidified, made from his psychic energies at the beckoning of his very voice. Before long, the smaller word “SUIT” was formed, black lined and shimmered with an iridescent lettering, before it fell and landed helpless on the carpet. The second word still floated and was nearly done solidifying. Akshay was none the wiser…

Shopping days were the best days of her life. Just what the doctor prescribed.
While being all day surrounded by her bodyguards and all the available employees, that was the only day of the month she did not feel so alone as usual. In each store, she was the center of attention of glances, sighs and murmurs.
In that small shopping area composed by a few streets, each store selling clothes, fabric and supplies for crafts, knew the benefits and dangers of trading with Celeste Manfrella. And they feared her. Of course they feared. They knew that she was able to put the entire store upside down, disturbing all the employees for hours for nothing. Because at the minimal mistake, the Queen would left the store without buying anything. Leaving chaos behind. And a very sad cash register.
Instead, they had learned by trial and error that the devil girl benignity was more than 25%.

Accustomed to hard work, her faithful bodyguards carried all her bags onto the limo. Her transport remained close for when they needed it. At that time it was parked on the entrance of the last clothing store they had visited. The bags were numbered in hundreds but the strong arms of her knights never rested until every package was protected in her white chariot of steel. Spacious as it was, after several hours of uninterrupted shopping, her transport was almost full. The bags took up all one side of the long couch that bordered the inside and piled on the carpeted floor to the height of the minibar.

There was a single store on the street she had never dare to enter. The comic book store. She had never managed to gather the courage or the curiosity needed to enter that mysterious shop. And perhaps she would never do it on her own. Unfortunately, this time the decision was not hers. Her younger cousin´s birthday was near and he had specified many times that he wanted something he could paint. She knew that painting was not the right word but she could not remember what was the term that Luciano had used. He tried to make her understand that painting was very different to carefully choose each color to give life to a lifeless figure. For her, there was no difference.
Without much enthusiasm, she headed to the store. Her steps were slow and heavy as if to delay the moment as much as possible.

Finally she arrived to her destination. From the doorway Celeste could see clearly how the store grew, stretching along roads that cornered the shelves on which rested heroes and villains alike. While small detailed figures slept under a large force field made of crystal, where they could not escape. Ogres, dragons, goblins, knights. Whole armies ready for battle. The store even had super deformed figures imitating famous cartoons and one or the other odd unknown character. Dices. All shapes and sizes. There were thousands of small objects to admire, to question and perhaps buy. And although no one in particular called her attention more than other, all exerted a strange magic in her. Old and powerful.
To Celeste that had never been in a comic book store, the show was wonderful. And without realizing it she began to walk awkwardly into the store, watching everything around her with her eyes big as saucers.
She did not have a definite plan, she just tried to look in all directions at once. She looked up to see a spaceship, and then her eyes fell back to the glass cases that locked small armies of different worlds, to jump later quickly to the walls to admire some posters.

And without knowing exactly what she wanted from that strange shop full of novelties, she was carefully approaching the counter. The store was nothing out of this world, but Celeste was so fascinated that for her it looked like an exotic timeless bazaar somewhere in the far East, full of relics.
Long before reaching the counter, she noticed that the manager was sleeping and how his spit was producing a slim gross coat over his desk but even that ugly fact could not erase the magic of her first impression.

While her black eyes were examining the throne on which rested the king of the castle, something magnetized them. That magic moved her eyes into an strange object. None of the wonders she had seen in the store could be at its level. What she did not notice until then was a word in three dimensions with rounded edges and dubious source that rested on the floor, sleeping perhaps as the manager. The shape and texture of the word were impressive, it was like magic. The word looked real and unreal at the same time. A paradox. A beautiful paradox that seemed to have come from the same pages of comics that were sold there.
Even without leaving her amazement, she witnessed as another word formed from nothing but air, taking physical form and solidify into an object as real as everything around her.
The boy whispered, and the words came from the air. As in a comic, she thought. In an attempt to make sense of this absurd situation.

Fearful that the young man would woke up and the magic would fade, she picked up the smallest word quickly. Driven by that curiosity so characteristic of her, she quickly put "Suit" on her purse with the intention of protecting it for future experiments.
The second word was too big to fit in her small purse, so she ran with it to the entrance to give it to her bodyguard. He looked at her in disbelief for a moment, but seeing that her expression did not change, he decided that the girl was not joking.

Ready to get more test subjects, she ran into the store again. Silent like a lynx and agile as a rabbit. Her graceful movements led her quickly to the counter at the exact moment her phone started to play (extremely well in her opinion) Beethoven´s 8th symphony. The sound broke the silence of the place as a whip. She startled then rushed to retrieve the phone from her purse. All the time the cellphone continuously screamed and when she finally find it, her clumsy fingers dropped it to the floor, where it remained until the sound, the lights and the vibration stopped completely.

Akshay was sleeping soundly. To be honest he probably would have continued to sleep on, happily unaware of anything that was going on in the little world of his comic store. Such was the deepness of his sleep, of his need for rest, of the happy dreams that swirled about his head, that Akshay simply could not be bothered with the idea of waking up. Though he was slouched over his counter, more than likely looking like an utter fool, in the comfort of sleep…he simply didn’t care.

Sleep was the only and most important thing right now; sleep filled with fantastic dreams.

In the swirling colors and images that accompanied his slumber, Akshay himself was the hero of his favorite TV show “The Greatest American Hero”! Donning the suit, cape, and all the powers, Akshay fought evil and saved the world! All the while, making Emerald (his own, personal, Pam Davidson) swoon over his heroic deeds. Though this was far from how the real world worked, in the land of dreams there was no logic. Though being a hero was not exactly in Akshay’s character, in his dreams he could be absolutely anything he wanted.

“Mmm…Emerald…my love…”

That was why, standing over the unconscious bodies of his villains, Akshay smirked as he arched a brow. Arms grabbed Emerald tightly and pulled her close for a deep and powerful kiss. But…just as their lips were about to brush—

Beethoven’s 8th Symphony tore through the protective membrane that surrounded his mind as his slept. Before he knew it, that was all he could hear around him and his hold on the perfect dream fizzled and flickered until it was replaced with that endless blackness that constituted sleep. It was then that he felt the hardness of the counter, the ache in his back, and the growing pool of saliva that smeared between his lips, cheek, and the cold surface.

One eye then fluttered open and it was quickly followed by the other. The villainous rays of light that pierced directly to his brain were painful. The grogginess in his head was all encompassing and wracked him with such confusion that for a few seconds, he really didn’t even know his own name. But as consciousness because to flood into his mind he peered towards the source of whatever that music was…and saw an angel.

At least he figured it was an angel. The impeccable clothing, the golden colored hair, the wide eyes, she was like a holy vision. But the grogginess slowly began to lift and Akshay tilted his head and narrowed his weary eyes at her.

“Hello…” he started to say.

Then he noticed out of the corner of his eye, the world “EMERALD” and “LOVE” in two different states of completion. The word “LOVE” had already formed, teetered for a second in mid-air before falling to the carpet. “EMERALD” neared completion so Akshay was quick to wave his hands through the cloud of forming letters and quickly dispersed it.

Sheepishly he grinned as he turned back to the young girl and wondered…exactly how much of that did she see…

The modern device remained dead in the same place where her loved owner had thrown it. Now that it ceased to vibrate there was no way it could move on its own, so it seemed like a small dead animal. No sound, not breathing. It was static. As attached to that point in the carpet. It even gave the feeling that it had always been there. As quiet as it was.
Even the screen that until a moment before had been burning with intensity, was now as black as ink.
The owner of the object remained static as well. Unable to leave her surprise. Unable to command her body to move. Should she run or should she stay? She did not know exactly why but a large part of her wanted to run. Although she had done nothing wrong, she felt guilty. Guilty because she woke him? Or guilty for stealing his words? Could he utter those words again?

While wasting time on meaningless conjectures, she watched in horror as the man behind the counter was recovering his conscience. As if it had gone for a walk and was returning to his body.
She knew that the confusion that now sedated him would soon be diluted in its blood, and she had no time to escape.
Very clumsily, she attempted to retrieve her cellphone from the floor, but despite it was completely immobile, it was as hard as to catch a fish in water.
She swatted, and thinking she succeed the girl tried to run away, just at the precise moment when she noticed that she had just touched it and had never caught it. Despair only maimed her locomotive skill so she finally decided that she could not escape on time. She would have to face the situation as best she could.

After devoting a withering look at the traitor cellphone that was still in the ground, she noted with surprise as the man used his hand to clear a word that was being in the process of materializing. It was as if he had deleted a word on a invisible blackboard, fortunately for her, the man was not fast enough to clear the first word, which fell to the ground. The sound of its fall was immediately engulfed by the hungry carpet.
Now just in front of her feet were her cellphone, and the word "love" that clearly had materialized from nowhere.

To his interrupted greeting, she replied with her customary curtsey. A sample of courtesy from old and better times, now used only in the presence of nobility.
Almost used daily, the girl had adopted it as her personal greeting. A way to show her education and manners while making a very clear statement: she was superior to other humans.
It was very clear that the manager did not have any blood ties with some of the old houses of Europe. Even without knowing him, she could tell. She could almost see the word "commoner" written on his forehead. But the simple fact that he could make words with his mind was worthy of remembrance. So this time the greeting was more than a greeting, it was a small gift in his honor.

As if she had read his thoughts on angels and holy visions, she introduced herself saying her name with grace and sweetness. "My name is Celeste." Certainly hers was a heavenly name that separated her from all other creatures that plagued the world. She knew it well and loved her name as much as her golden hair. She possessed a name that crowned her as more than a mortal, the sweetest of creations.

Akshay truly didn’t know what to make of the situation. He was still waking up from his impromptu nap, his mind was groggy, he had apparently been forming words in his sleep, and now there was a young girl standing in his comic shop, her cell phone on the ground, and a look of guilt across her face. Truly, he had no idea what was going on. Apparently his TV show marathon was biting him in the butt and he had drifted off to sleep. God, what trouble he would be in if someone had just decided to waltz in and steal the register money.

He hoped that was not was the girl was here for. Nah, with as sweet a face as she possessed, he doubted she could be very much trouble.

>> "My name is Celeste."

Did she…really just curtsy? Huh, the young wordsmith really was at a loss now. He doubted in the entirety of his life that any female, young to old, had ever curtsied for him. It was something that he had never thought that anyone actually did anymore. But, slowly he stopped marveling over the simply act and, awkward, gave a little bow in return.

It was then, though, that he noticed he really did not have his full focus on controlling his powers right now. He watched as, from her lips, the small word “NAME” fluttered up and into the air above her head. Line in black, but sparkling in gold, had to admit that it was probably one of the prettier words he had ever seen anyone speak before. Though she could not see it, even if she tried (and it would vanish shortly), it still had to be one of the more pretty times he had ever seen someone speak.

“Ugh…it’s…nice to meet you, Celeste,” Akshay replied with as much control as he could. He really couldn’t afford for any more words to appear. “Um…I’m sorry about that, you know, being asleep and all.” He walked around the counter to stand before her. “Did you need help with something?” he asked as he knelt down, picked up her silent cell phone and handed it over to her.

She was not surprised that the person who had before her eyes did not know how to presented himself properly. He did not even give his name to her. But at least he had appreciated her presence, it was almost a gift in a place so empty and lonely like that... the girl had her doubts about how many women entered the shop daily. Maybe she was the first. That would explain why the employee was so clouded with her presence.
She even had doubts about how many people visited the storel. She never saw it full, but she had not paid much attention to that store in particular. There was no clothes in there.
At least his kindness exceeded his manners, that was good. With a smile, Celeste took her cell phone while thanking him with a musical "Thank you." Then she stored the device carefully into her bag. And as if it were a deep cave, the cellphone simply disappeared into a darkness that seemed almost endless. Without leaving any trace of its existence. Inside it would have the good company of a few cosmetics products, the keys to her house and her trusty taser.

She could not find a more silly question to ask in a similar situation. Of course she needed his help. Otherwise she would already left the store which everything she wanted. Of course she would let the payment on the cash register because in the Manfrella family there where no thieves.
The girl let out a long sigh of impatience. At the rate things were going, she would spend the rest of the afternoon in the store and even worse, she was not going to get what she wanted.
The girl still retaining a little of patience, that was good. The trouble was that she did not know how much it was going to last. Therefore she decided to take control of the situation and speed up things a bit. She only hoped that the unnamed manager could keep up with her. "I have all your attention now, right?" The girl asked innocently, but in a tone that clearly informed him that she did not care what the hell he was doing before, as long as he pay attention and obey her orders.

Having his attention or not, the girl took off her beautiful black eyes from his face, and aimed at the word "love" with them. Her eyes shone fiercely as she fought mentally with the inanimate object. "I want that word." Demanded the girl. With a surprising authority in her voice. Clearly she was accustomed to give orders. Clearly she was a queen. A good queen. And to prove it to the newly awakened man she granted him a few seconds for his brain to process the order, and then continued with her demands in the same tone that mixed authoritarianism and sweetness. "And an army."

>> "Thank you."

Well, the young girl was polite. He handed back her fallen cellphone and they graciously took it back with her petite fingers. She was young, probably in her lower teens or something, but she had this aura of grace about her that nearly made him feel as if he were looking at something extremely important. Maybe it was just the grogginess from just waking up or simply that he was still in awe over the luminesce that seemed to surround this young girl. What was she doing in his shop, anyways? She didn’t seem like his normal type of clientele. She looked far too…refined…

But as he mused as to her reason for being here, a look flashed across her face that immediately made him pause. The nearest thing to the look she was giving him, that he could think of, was of his mother’s old cat, Queenie. Damn things thought it was the lord of all creation and always seemed to look down upon him whenever he entered the room.

Oddly he was kind of getting the same look now from the young lady. Huh. He wondered why he was getting that kind of vibe from h--

>> "I have all your attention now, right?"

He blinked. Ahhh, there it was. He mindlessly nodded his head that he did hear her, but his thoughts were actually jam packed with trying to figure out what kind of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde nonsense was going on here. Suddenly she seemed to be a very commanding presence, the type of which that Akshay tended to keep himself faaaaaaaaar away from.

>> "I want that word…And an army."

He arched a brow. She was a demanding little thing, wasn’t she? For as pretty and sweet as she seemed, she certainly had a demanding attitude about her. For a second he felt like maybe he was on her staff or something. He wondered if she always spoke like this to strangers? Masking demands under a sweet tone.

Looking at her, her sweet features, her stern attitude…and he could only laugh. He snorted in amusement as he shook his head. Kneeling down her plucked up the word “LOVE” from the ground and handed it off to her. Shaking his head he turned back to his counter the second she took the word from him.

“Go ahead and take it, sweetheart. See if it’s still there after twenty-four hours,” he beamed. “As for your army…” he reached underneath his counter and produced a small bag of plastic green men. Soldiers posed in a variety of positions, carrying guns, rifles, radios, mine-sweepers, bazookas, etc., but all looking ready for war. “I can sell you these,” he said with a goofy grin.

She did not like his laughter at all. No one was allowed to laugh unless they were echoing her harmonious laugh. If someone else was in the same room as her, that person should be suffering, otherwise the child was doing something wrong. How was that this man was not suffering? She did something wrong, clearly.
The tone in which he spoke, she liked it much less. Nobody spoke like that to Celeste Manfrella and lived to tell. But she had the good sense not to respond badly. She would have her revenge, and he would not even expect it. "One day is more than enough." Replied the girl while maintaining her air of superiority in the physical plane, while mentally analyzing the possibility of electrocute him until he lost consciousness. Or better yet, send her bodyguards to give him a good beating. That way he would learn some respect. She was still trying to decide which punishment was more appropriate when the subject added another crime to his repertoire.
Not only he had laughed at her, and had used a tone that was not permitted, but now he was mocking her openly.

At least she had another one of those magic words in her possession. If the manager was telling the truth, she had little time to analyze and experiment with them. Wasting no time she introduced the word into her bag where the multiple objects inside settled in a new position while "love" entered, pressing against the walls of the cave where they were.

Celeste knew that all of it was her fault for trying to soften her orders, pronouncing them with kindness and sweetness. She had forgotten what kind of person she was dealing with. Some only understood violence.
She knew it was her fault for not having specified more. In fact, what she had in front of her beautiful eyes was an army. Each rank and specialty was covered, the little people stood waiting for orders while performing various actions. Some were giving orders by radio, or standing firm in their positions, or moving with guns and rifles ready for combat. But still, as magnificent as they were, those beautiful toys of yesterday were not what she wanted. Those soldiers would have been a great gift fifty years ago, but now, no.
"I want an army of orcs or goblins, not plastic soldiers. Models, with many small details, with their weapons and armor." This time the order escaped from her lips without the slightest hint of sweetness, it was a direct order and hard spoken. Learning from her mistakes, she added the next quickly without losing the strength she had acquired. "These are for my cousin, he like to paint them." She needed to be specified or that the jester would look for a way to turn the situation and laugh at her once more.

>> "One day is more than enough."

Akshay shrugged. Though he did not like it when people knew about his mutant powers, what was the little girl going to do? Experiment? Maybe she wanted to try and color it? Dress it up? Hang it in her room? Whatever the case the words would disappear on their own in twenty-four hours. Even then they really were not the strongest of things: a rough car ride, a slip, it didn’t take much for the words to crack and shatter.

He doubted she would have long with them. Especially considering her attitude and apparent lack of patience.

She, obviously unhappy with his response, had taken on the air of an offended queen. Already Akshay’s original ideas of her being some sweet and angelic creature had quickly vanished. All he was staring at now was a bratty girl that obviously demanded her way or no way at all. That was simply something that the young wordsmith could scarcely tolerate.

Seeing that she was not pleased with the toy soldiers, he shrugged as he placed them back behind the counter. And waited to see what other demands she had. God, why couldn’t he have just called in sick today?

>> "I want an army of orcs or goblins, not plastic soldiers. Models, with many small details, with their weapons and armor… These are for my cousin, he like to paint them."

He nodded. Miniature painting was obviously something that he would have to carry in this shop, being that it was a comic shop. There was a certain clientele of comic shoppers who played table-top role playing games, or sometimes they were just hobbyists, but that usually entailed some type of miniature figurine painting. Also, Akshay was a bit of a figurine painter himself, so he made sure that when it was time to restock, he only ordered the best.

“Well, I do happen to carry those,” he said as he waved her over.

The jokester fished around behind his counter. Once he caught what he was looking for, he sighed as he straightened up and placed several stands of metal figurines on the counter top. They were all incredibly detailed and gleamed with a dull, metallic glow.

“These are Monsters and Mazes: Hero and Fiend collection. Goblins, Orcs, Knights, Mages, what have you. All them are die-cast, heavy as heck, but nicely detailed.” he said. He then leaned down and pulled up a few more examples. “These two are some of the best that I have and I guarantee, you won’t find them anywhere else. First this is the Junk Knight. Incredible detail, a lot of focus on the expression on the face and that smaller details of his uniform. And lastly, and this is my personal favorite,” he set onto the counter another miniature model, only this one still dwarfed the sizes of the others. It was large, ugly, monstrous, but the details on it were gorgeous and absolutely begged to be painted. “A rare, limited edition, 1975, Umber Ant. Another fiendish monster. Probably one of the last models of its kind. The original die-cast artist who made these passed away years ago so many of the Umber Ants now are made out of plastic. Hard to find good metal die-casts of the originals anymore.” he sighed a little, lamented way and shrugged. “Anyways,” he said, he hand still on the Umber Ant and gesture to the rest of the models. “Satisfactory? Or no?”

While the employee was looking for her army again, she could not help but hold her breath afraid of being mocked again. He was looking for another way to make fun of her. But fortunately she was wrong, the employee had a heart, unlike her.
When he returned to the counter, his hands carried exactly what she had asked for. At first sight she could see goblins and knights, but the most she concentrated the more and more races and professions she was able to see.

Clearly the goblins were the little monsters with big ears, standing next to other figures they were the smallest, and even funny. Their expressions were warlike and yet comic at the same time . Some carried sticks with nails, some simple clubs, morning stars and even bows. The ones that looked like humans carried weapons and shields as large as each goblin.
As she observed the disparate army, a triumphant smile appeared on her lips. Clearly that was what she had asked, it was similar to her cousin´s collection, although at first glance it was difficult to know which would be new for him. For her, each of these figures was new.

The gray figures shocked her a bit, most were not painted and exhibited a metallic gray that was so lifeless. They did not spark as she had expected, and that grey reminded her of the sad gray left when stealing colors. It was not something you'd like to see often, so her smile was momentarily hidden under a black cloud of sadness. Maybe that was why her cousin enjoying painting them so much. Perhaps he felt as if he was giving life to these models.

Once all the pieces were in position, the employee began to give specific information about the figures. And Celeste could not help but smile back, Mr anonymous really knew what he was talking about and could easily infect others with that same admiration. she could almost see the love he felt for those figures. With that demonstration of passion and knowledge, he gained a lot of her respect. The employee continued stating the material used in them, and which kind of "units" he had in stock. He even showed her two figures that stood out from the rest. One for being painted and the other for being three times the size of any of the others unit.
At first glance she could see that all the figures possessed a certain quality, but as the employee like a ancient archaeologist revealed the hidden story behind these figures, she began to understand the true value they had. She even gave a quick glance at all again, finding new details like clothing, armor, expressions or body positions. All were wonderful but the knight he designated as Junk Knight was even more magnificent than all the others together. The details were there, for anyone to see, but it was not until the employee with his silver tongue mentioned it that Celeste really paid attention and saw with these details with her own eyes. The play of light and shadow on the figure made it look alive, it had so much life that even seem possible to take out his helmet, shield, sword... perhaps even open each one of his pockets in search of some treasure.

The story behind the piece called Umber Ant was even more striking. In her opinion the monster did not look like an ant, but she had to admit that she did not want to be find a life-size version of that monster. The details were very well made, but again the lack of paint made it look like a dead statue. Still, the monster was unique. 37 years had passed since its creation, and the death of its creator made the giant ant a unique piece of collecion.
Was it her imagination or he felt a special affection for that piece? She did not know if his recent sigh was due to the death of his creator that he considered a big loss, or he lamented the possible sale of the ant.

She almost did not realize that he had asked something so self-absorbed as she was in the observation of those little pieces of art. But when she noticed the question, she rushed to respond, forgetting her authoritarianism and her tone of superiority. This time Celeste replied, and not the queen she pretended to be. "Very satisfied. I would like to buy them all." She smiled and nodded to herself for the good deal she was almost closing. "I doesn´t matter if they repeat but could you add more standard units?" With standard she was referring to the first type of figures that he had shown. The unpainted metal figures. Which seemed petrified. Then she gave him, her almost unlimited debit card. And as usual, she order an extra bonus to be added. "Add 20% more for the problems."

Akshay sighed as he cast another glance at all the figurines. He truly loved them all, especially because he himself had ordered a majority of those in stalk. But, thankfully, most of those he tended to order doubles of so that he could take one or two home to paint on his own free time. Painting these models could be some of the most relaxing pastimes that he took ever took part in. It was practically zen giving life to these little miniatures.

A glance back to the “little princess” as he waited for an answer, he found that she too had become rather lost in the beauty of them. She may have been bratty, but at least she knew how to appreciate something as magical as these miniatures could be. Sure they were used rather cheaply in role playing games, and sometimes they were coveted for the wrong reasons, but they had a majesty about them, a history woven into a culture that expanded through time, that Akshay had learned to appreciate over the years.

It seemed now, that Celeste was beginning to gain some of that appreciation. And that was something that the young wordsmith could definitely appreciate.

Finally, it seemed that she blinked and returned to reality.

>> "Very satisfied. I would like to buy them all."

Now, there were two things that shocked the young comic shop worker: 1) the fact that she wanted ALL the figures. Even though the Umber Ant was the rarest in the collection AND the most expense, and 2) (probably the most shocking) was the tone of her voice. From it had slipped the regal, demanding demeanor that she had once possessed. It was almost…respectful. The wordsmith really did not know how to take this course of action.

He was rather confused. But once it began to wane, he noticed that a debit card was being handed out to him. How old was this kid? And she had a debit card? Gently he took it from her hand.

>> “I doesn´t matter if they repeat but could you add more standard units?...Add 20% more for the problems."

“Um, sure, I’ll…just double what’s there…” he said as he knelt down and began to rummage for some of the rest of the more common miniatures he had in stalk.

He found a box he was looking for and brought it up to the counter. From it he produced several more sets of miniatures. These consisted of a variety of beasts, heroes, and monsters that, again were very well detailed. Once he had set those up for her approval, he glanced at the Umber Ant again. It was such a magnificent piece, and of course he had no problems selling it but, damn, it was expense. How was this girl going to really pay for it all? Did…she really come from money?

If figured he may as well warm her, just to be safe.

“You, do know that this will be quite expensive?” he said. Especially considering the healthy bonus he was going to give himself when she said to add the 20%. “The Umber Ant here, alone, is going to be at least $1000 because of its rarity. I’m only making sure you know what you’re getting into.” he explained. The last thing he wanted was for some angry parents, who lost their entire savings, to be marching into his store and demand a refund.

The creatures that came out of the box of extra units were as good as the previous ones. Perhaps better. This new set was composed of heroes, and new monsters that were not among the first, and this time the girl recognized several of the creatures that lay before her. Perhaps that feeling of familiarity with the new units was what made her like them more. She did not need to speculate on what they could be, if orcs, ogres, trolls or goblins. These were clearly dragons, werewolves and skeletons, among other figures.
While admiring the second battalion, the girl nodded solemnly as she passed her eyes over each figures. Analyzing, judging. Silently giving her approval to the employee and the army as well. The entire army looked a bit uneven with many units of different breeds and sizes, but the overall result was much higher than her initial expectations. She wished the days to pass quickly, just to see the surprised face of her cousin while opening the wonderful gift. Surely it would be his best gift.

Quite expensive. Instantly she felt humiliated. Outraged by his audacity. But the feeling quickly disappeared under a heavy curtain of understanding. It was not his fault that low-income people thought that way, for every purchase they had think carefully. Each buy was important. Sometimes, while watching other buyers, she wondered silently how would be to have to measure her costs. And every time she tried to think of that, she felt really frustrated, money was never enough, and she would never feel secure. But the problems of ordinary people was far away from her privileged understanding.
Fortunately for her, the business of his father gave all the family almost unlimited money. With velvety voice she thanked and cursed the employee. "I am touched by your concern, but it also insults me and my family." Although the words were harsh, the tone was not. A simple courtesy to the man who had won some of her respect in so little time.

The insult that once would have ended with a slap of a glove and then in a duel with pistols at dawn, go unnoticed in this case. And even though she had a bad taste on her mouth for such audacity, she preferred to be kept that feeling for herself. There were other ways to tell him that she have plenty of money.
"Do you see the white limousine parked there? Is mine." And indeed, on the sidewalk was parked a white Chrysler Imperial limousine. An elegant carriage with modern style and luxury, a classic fashion that never would get out of date, and that had nothing to envy to the huge hummer limousines with had so little grace and subtlety.

Akshay was not a stupid man. Unfortunately, in his line of work, even though it was just as a counter jockey at a comic store, he knew the tricks that a lot of kids loved to throw at him. A young child, holding out a debit or a credit card at him, claiming that he was rich beyond wildest dreams, it was a classic scam. Usually the cards tended to either be stolen from a stranger, from mom and dad, or had actually been issued to them under fraudulent means. Either way, this was not a scenario that the young wordsmith was alien to.

Now, one glance at the young lady before him, and it was obvious that she must have come from some wealth, but as to how much, he simply could not say. Still, that did not mean that the young princess could not have just dressed up in her Sunday finest and showed up at the shop, attempting to scam him. It was a surprise that this act was not being carried on by a boy. That tended to be the usual suspect.

Today was just full of surprises.

>> "I am touched by your concern, but it also insults me and my family."

He arched a brow. If she were playing a part, she was definitely playing it through to a fault. She had not let that image drop in the least; she must have been a pro at this. But Akshay was not one to ever let his guard down; nor did he take insulting tones of voices from little prima donnas.

But none of that showed on his face. Instead the young shopkeep kept on his usual, calm demeanor and simply watched as the young lady proceeded to motion to a car that was parked outside the shop.

>> "Do you see the white limousine parked there? Is mine."

“Ah,” he said, in a thoroughly unimpressed manner. Might as well have some fun with her. “Couldn’t afford to rent the Rolls Royce Phandom Limousine, I see.” he said with a shrug. “It’s okay. Not everyone is meant for the high life.” He sighed a little as he turned his gaze back to her. “Unfortunately, though, this,” he said as he placed his hand on the Umber Ant, the rarest in the those that he showed her, “Is not for sale at this moment. It requires the owner’s permission. He had simply given to the store as a display piece. There’s price tag, yes, but only if he approves the person buying. Sadly, he left strict instructions to not just sell it to anyone.” He then nodded to the rest of the items. “But the rest are for sale, I can even give you a discount if you require it.”

He beamed. And he beamed innocently.

Her eyes widened so much, and with such force that she feared her eyes to come out of their orbits. Her surprise was so great that for few seconds she was paralyzed. Her brains needed valuable seconds to recover from the shock, after her operating system restarted, she continued questioning herself and the universe. How could it happen...? Still trying to understand that unprecedented event when she could not help it anymore and her face contorted in a grimace of brutal hatred. Her eyes narrowed concentrating all their strength in the daring individual. The smile on her face faded completely without a single trace of another residual feeling. At that time there was only room for surprise and hatred. She could not feel anything else. Her gaze pierced the man like lasers. Laser vision. Unfortunately she did not have such power, and the coward employee hid behind the counter. Anyway, the man was a little tall for her to reach him squarely in the face with full force, he was out of reach to get one of her famous sounding and humiliating slaps. So she choose to close her fist tightly until her knuckles ached. Then asked in an unfriendly tone. "Common people rent limousines?" Every word completely bathed in a harsh sarcasm to feign surprise. She continued, adding disbelief to her performance and then mixed it with fascination. "What a strange occurrence. I always buy them." Her animal smile showed her beautiful white teeth. She just lacked a strong grunt.

Now it was her turn to attack. She continued to hold the tone of superiority which separated her from mere mortals, ready to tell him why she used a limousine that was neither the last nor the best. Even when she had not any obligation to do it, she felt as her duty to put some common sense into that man. While trying to mold her mind, her eyes full of fire shoot invisible bullets that penetrated his chest as butter. "Besides the Imperial series, standard or limousine is a classic between classics." Her knuckles already as white as her teeth. It was wise to relax her hand before it exploded. "But what could know about limousines a user of public transport? Or you were dreaming about that, sleepyhead?" Her smile of triumph did not last as much as she expected since she discovered that the evil employee was very well trained in the art of war.

As if the word came of a strange language, the girl repeated softly. Trying to make sense of this peculiar sound. "Discount?" She again felt humiliated to the point she had to hold back and order herself to stay there. So big was her desire to leave the store kicking comics, figures and anything that got in her way. But that would mean she had lost, and therefore that her enemy had won.
With renewed vows, she continued her slightly menacing speech that tried to hide behind a friendly but authoritative tone. "Surely your boss would not care if I pay twice its value." Said the girl, offering her dog smile to the employee. "And neither will want to know that his marvel employee was not only sleeping during work but also refused to close a very substantial sale."

>> "Common people rent limousines? What a strange occurrence. I always buy them…Besides the Imperial series, standard or limousine is a classic between classics…But what could know about limousines a user of public transport? Or you were dreaming about that, sleepyhead?" "[/i]

Akshay had to smirk at the young princess’ statement. She really was sticking to this role of being a wealthy young woman, wasn’t she? Though he did not doubt that she really had the attitude, the young man had been scammed too many times by other kids to thinking that they were from money and wanted to have everything they could get their little mitts on in his comic store. Normally what happened was that he would run their “debit card” and the “stolen” sign would come up, or he would give them the keypad to have them punch in their pin and, amused, would sit there as they punched every random key they could think of.

It can be rather fun, sometimes.

But this girl was grading way too much on his nerves already. The sheer attitude that she was giving him, mixed with that bratty persona, just made him want to get her OUT of his store. She may have had angelic features when he woke up, but now she was just turning into a nightmare.

A smirk had fluttered across his face as he at the look she gave him when he had mentioned that he could give her a discount if she really needed it. Maybe she was just a spoiled child that thought she actually had more money than she was really privy to? That was always a possibility. After all, how many tweens actually run around with a debit card on their person that was not stolen?

>> "Discount?”

He nodded in a very helpful manner. The look on her face was absolutely adorable.

>> “Surely your boss would not care if I pay twice its value…And neither will want to know that his marvel employee was not only sleeping during work but also refused to close a very substantial sale."

A look of terror filled his wide eyes! It was the look of a young employee who really didn’t want to get in trouble with their boss. It told of a poor life, a life that depended on the income of a single job that could not be lost otherwise where would rent, food, and medicine come from! Akshay looked downcast, defeated as he stared at his counter.

And he meekly nodded his head.

“Y-You’re right. Umm…L-Let me call my boss…to confirm the sale,” he said as he picked up the phone from his desk and sighed as he punched in a phone number. His lower lip quivered, he looked on the verge of tears as he lifted the phone to his ear and heard the first ring…

Simultaneously, in his pocket, his own cell phone began to sing out with the theme song from the Spectacular Man TV show…Littleville. As the music pierced through the air, Akshay, still holding one phone to his ear, picked out the cell phone from his pocket, hit the “Answer” button on the touch screen and lifted it to his ear. Immediately the fear and sadness that was once there…vanished.

“Um, yes, is Mr. Malik, the owner of the Umber Ant and boss of the One Comic to Rule Them All story, available?” he asked himself, still talking into both phones. “OH, well speaking! How my I help you?” he replied. “You see…someone…someone wants to get me into trouble…and…” He chuckled heartily. “Hohoho! Don’t worry son! Your job will always be safe so long as I’m boss!” He then perked up and grinned. “Oh! THANK YOU, sir!!”

He would have continued but he was fairly certainly that the young girl had had enough of his display. He just smirked with an innocent grin as he hung up both phones, setting one on the cradle and stuffing the other one into his pocket. Once that was done, he turned his gaze back to the little princess and shrugged.

“Sorry, kid,” he said in an apologetic tone. “Frankly, I don’t care. The miniature gets me more business just leaving it in the display case, than actually selling it for double. On top of that, I own it, AND I currently run the store.” he then beamed wide and happily. It was obviously that he was not a man that took bullying lightly. “Now, if you would like to make a purchase, that’s fine. But…only if you apologize and say ‘please’. Then I’ll gladly help ya!”