| Gotham City - August 21
It had been a long, good Saturday. Joseph had spent the whole day hanging out with his friends.
They hadn't seen much of each other all sumr—everyone had been caught up in their own grind. Andrew was laser-focused on growing his LexTube channel, working hard to turn it into a real career. His editing had leveled up, and his videos were genuinely fun to watch now. He'd even been approached by a multi-channel network under Goode World Studios, but Joseph had talked him out of it—sothing about that company felt off. Instead, Andrew joined LexTube's official partner program and got monetized directly. Say what you want about Lex, but his legal ventures were top-tier.
Jackson had just graduated and was training at a basketball camp, getting ready to join Gotham University on a full-ride athletic scholarship. He'd bulked up too—bigger arms, broader chest—and at 6'7", he was now three inches taller than Joseph. Definitely looking like a future pro baller.
Despite the ti apart, it was like nothing had changed between them.
They wandered around downtown Gotham, Joseph taking the lead and showing off the spots he'd discovered.
"Let's grab so grub," Joseph said. "I know a place right across the corner. Their calzones slap."
"How do you even know all these places? You don't live anywhere near downtown," Jackson asked, curious.
"I figured it out," Andrew said, grinning and nudging Jackson. "Joseph's been real shady about what he's been up to this sumr—but I cracked the code."
Joseph's heart skipped slightly at that.
"He got himself a girlfriend!" Andrew accused, pointing dramatically.
Joseph blinked. "What?"
"When did it start, huh? You broke the bro pact. Left us in the dust for so girl! What happened to bruzz before huzz?" Jackson added with mock betrayal.
"Yeah, and it better not be Bette. I called dibs on her back in sophomore year!" Andrew added.
Joseph laughed, realizing resistance was pointless. "Alright, fine. Cat's out of the bag. I did get a girlfriend. She doesn't go to our school though—already graduated."
Andrew collapsed theatrically. "My two best friends… betrayed ."
"How did I betray you? I don't even have a girl!" Jackson protested.
Andrew gestured to Jackson dramatically. "Look at you! Tall, dark, and handso. It's only a matter of ti. You... you... you nonchalant dreadhead!"
Jackson shook his locs out of his face and shrugged like a model. "What can I say?"
"See? This is what I an, Joseph. He needs to be nerfed. You too."
They all laughed. It felt good—normal. Like life before things got so chaotic.
"So are you gonna show us her, or what?" Jackson asked.
Joseph pulled out his phone and showed them his lockscreen: a selfie of him and Kori, smiling.
"Damn," Jackson said. "She bad."
"Congrats, bro," Andrew added. "You should bring her over soti."
"Yeah, definitely... She's just out of the country right now," Joseph replied, trying to hide the weight in his voice. Kori still hadn't woken up.
"Y'all tryna hoop?" Jackson said, switching gears.
"Just because you're going D1 doesn't an I can't cook you," Andrew said. "You're lucky I've been focused on my channel or I'd be coming for that ass—I an coming at that ass—I an—"
"Pause!" Jackson hollered, laughing.
Joseph gave a small smile. He appreciated his friends switching topics without question.
"Aight, let's go hoop," Joseph said.
"Nah, not you," Jackson said, shaking his head. "You ain't even human, dawg. We're gonna have to double-team you or sothing."
Joseph laughed for real this ti.
**
Later that evening, Joseph sat alone in his apartnt, reviewing Bell Studio's progress on his laptop.
BellCoin was still growing steadily. Mr. Jake had started rolling out BellCoin paynt options across all his apps, which pushed BellCoin even further into the spotlight.
Mycraft's 1.1 update had been well received—bow enchantnts, the ability to spawn eggs in creative mode, new world types, smoother bio transitions, and more language support were all hits.
RobLux was seeing a huge uptick in users. New developers were jumping on, drawn by the monetization tools. Gas like Call of ROBLUXia 5 – ROBLUX at War and Survive the 91 Disasters! Cereal Bowl! were going viral. The new feature to convert in-ga items into BellCoin saw an increase of users in teens and adults alike.
Gotham Theft Auto was still two years away, but developnt was full steam ahead. The projected budget had crossed 52 million dollars, with another 16 million earmarked for marketing. But Bell Studio had grown—500 people were working on GTA alone, with over 2,000 employees across all its branches. They were building a new engine, advanced AI, realistic physics, and recreating Gotham with near-photo accuracy.
Joseph leaned back in his chair, a little numb. When had he gotten used to seeing numbers like these? Just a few years ago, he and his mom were scraping by. Now he was overseeing multi-million dollar projects like it was normal.
He wished she could see this. And A.I. Nova too. And more than anything, he wished Kori would wake up.
His phone buzzed.
Joseph glanced at the screen: Andrew had texted in the group chat.
The text read, "Craziest thing just happened. I just got abducted, fr lol."
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