Key to Tokyo

Overwhelming panic.

With his heart racing, Mats doubled back from the cash register. The sleep-deprived cashier looked at him in confusion as he sprinted away like a madman, the pack of gum forgotten on the counter. He found them by the candy aisle, giggling about something stupid. The two boys were hunched over packets of candy, surveying them with urgency.

“Andrew! Trenton!” Mats snapped, huffing for air as he snatched them both by the arm. “You can’t just run off like that!”

Trent pulled away, crossing his arms over his chest in a fit. “We just wanted candy! What’s wrong with you?” Andy nodded fiercely, crossing his arms in solidarity with Trent. “Yeah!” he said animatedly. “Besides, where else would we be? Japan?”

Mats grunted an aborted warning as Andy yelped, hands flailing as he lost his balance. Trent shouted as he fell backward, soon joined by Mats.

Mats stumbled forwards, vertigo unraveling from his brain. Trent practically kissed the ground, moaning in pain and making no attempt to get up. Mats snorted before turning to survey the area they landed in. Bright signs, neon, streets crowded with people–some of whom were staring at them with shock. Mats's brown eyes fell on a billboard that read TOKYO! in neon yellow.

“We’re in Tokyo,” he informed Trent, who was still face down on the pavement, his braided hair spread like a halo around him. “Wow, that’s mad,” Trent groaned from the floor, making no effort to pick himself up.

Mats frowned. “Something’s wrong.”

“Yeah,” Trent said slowly. “Wait a minute. Where’s Andy?” “Probably in a dumpster,” Mats grumbled. “He deserves it, after making us end up here.”

As if summoned by name, Andy appeared, flailing through the air and landing right on top of Trent, who made a noise halfway between a dying animal and a deflating air mattress. Andy groaned from atop Trent, wheezing for air. A crowd began forming around them, and Mats took that as their sign to leave. Hauling Andy off the ground and dragging Trent to his feet, he shouldered through people, holding onto the younger’s arms in a death grip. He eventually released them outside a grimy alley, where they all caught their breath.

Trent gingerly sat down against the alley wall, gulping in air. Andy’s eyes bulged at the sight of a massive rat with an oddly shaped mouth. “Trent, that’s a massive rat!” he whispered.

Trent paused his heavy breathing. “Why are we whispering?” he whispered back.

“I dunno–”

Mats cleared his throat. The rat skittered away into the shadows. Andy glared dejectedly at him. “Great, you scared away the rat,” he muttered.

Mats could feel the rage pooling inside of him, threatening to explode outwards. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. “That rat,” he hissed. “Is the least of our worries. Maybe we should start worrying about the fact that we’re stuck in Japan and none of us speak a lick of Japanese!”

Trent snapped his fingers from the ground to get Mats' attention. “Aloha!” he said proudly, puffing out his chest with a smug grin.

Andy was quick to smack him on the head. “That’s Hawaiian you dimwit,” he groaned.

Trent deflated, rubbing at his head gingerly. “Geez, my bad,” he scowled. “Not like you speak Scottish or anything but okay.”

“Scottish isn’t even a langu–”

“Hey! Both of you,” Mats threatened. They quickly shut up. “We need to find the car. Fast.”

Trent and Andy exchanged glances. “If the car is the problem, shouldn’t we ditch it?” Trent suggested.

“No, we need to get home Trent,” Andy wailed. “My mum’s already gonna kill me!”

Trent waved him off. “No way she’s noticed yet. She’s on vacation without you, yeah?”

Andy shot him a withering look. “The school’s probably noticed we’re both gone,” he said determinedly.

Mats sighed. “Let’s just find the car.”

They could not find the car. They passed several cars parked on different streets, in various spaces. Mats was close to clawing his eyes out in frustration. “I think we’re going in circles, Mats,” Andy piped up from in front of him.

Mats blew out a breath. “Fantastic.” He ground his teeth. Trent whirled around. “Why do we have to walk in front?” he complained, coming to a halt. “Besides, didn’t the car come with a key?”

Mats turned his empty pockets inside out in exasperation. Trent winced. “Man, we need to buy an AirTag,” he whispered to Andy, who was unusually quiet, eyes wide.

Mats tilted his head questioningly. “What is it?”

“Does anyone remember the car’s license plate?” Andy asked. “If we know that-”

“Oh yeah!” Trent yelled, the sound echoing off the narrow walls. Mats shot him a look. He lowered his voice. “It started with an E. And ended with a 4.”

Andy took off towards a corner, Trent sprinting after him. Mats ran to catch them, struggling to keep up.

“Nope, nope—Ha! Found it!” Andy shouted gleefully.

Mats sighed, glumly eyeing the rusted Ford. “I can’t open the car without the keys—”

Trent opened the door and threw himself into the passenger seat. “It’s unlocked! I call shotgun!”

Mats slid into the driver’s seat, staring dejectedly at the wheel. “I still can’t start the car without the key–”

Andrew cleared his throat nervously. “Uh, guys? I have something to confess.”

Trent and Mats groaned simultaneously. “What now!” Mats yelled, hands clenched uselessly around the steering wheel.

Andrew raised his hands placatingly. “It’s a long story but it’s helpful, I promise! See, I was shopping on Temu in class and I bought a bunch of those fake apple electronics for cheap—”

“And how is this relevant?” Mats interrupted.

“Okay, so here’s the important part: I got this fake apple tag thing that looks like an apple keychain, and the location should be on my phone!”

Mats blinked furiously. “And you couldn’t have told me this sooner?” he shouted.

“Well, I tried? Remember that giant rat?”

“Oh hell no,” Trent moaned. “Don’t tell me that it’s—”

“Inside of there.” Andrew finished apologetically.

Mats turned to the backseat so fast he almost got whiplash. “Open your phone right now, I need you to track down that rat,” he demanded.

Andy tapped furiously at his phone. “Okay, I think I see it…inside a sewer?”

“Fu-u-u-ck.” Trent dragged out the syllables.

Andy held up his hand. “Wait! It’s in…something Japanese… ‘Club.’” He looked up expectantly. “It’s about a block away. We can leave the car and catch it if we run.”

Mats had already taken off, and the two boys sprinted after him. Panting and out of breath once more, they stood around the corner.

“So, what’s the plan?”

Mats' eyes narrowed. “You two,” he said sternly. “Are going to wait outside while I go in there and catch that rat.”

“What?” Trent squawked. “But I wanted to go in too!”

Andrew started up. “Yeah I’ve never been inside a proper club; I’ve only gotten to see the school cafeteria line!”

“I don’t want to hear it–and frankly, I don’t care. We need to get home ASAP, and I’m going to do it now. So stay. Put.” He pointed a finger at each of them, to enunciate the words.

They exchanged a coy look before raising their hands in a mocking salute. “Aye bossman, you got it!” Andrew said with enthusiasm.

“Yep, my bum’s planted right here.”

Mats’s finger wavered between the two of them as he stalked towards the entrance. There was no one at the front–finally a win for them!

Slipping inside was easy, but in the dark corners, nothing was discernible. A heavy bass thrummed its way through the ground, the floor vibrating under his feet. Neon strobe lights illuminated the room with flashes of color before fading away with the music. His screen refused to light up, phone conveniently dead.

Mats swore as he knocked into someone, his shoulder catching hard against their smaller frame. They pitched backward with a shriek, their arms flailing. Mats’s hands instinctively shot forward to right them, grasping their waist.

The night went still around them, purple light washing over his vision in a haze. He looked into the eyes of a beautiful girl–the kind you only see once on vacation while with your family. Bronze skin with lovely brown hair, slightly curled at the tips. A beauty spot near her slanted cheekbones.

“Are you real?” Mats asked breathlessly. She blinked up at him, her glossy lips slightly parted.

“Mein GOTT!” she snarled unexpectedly, her face contorting rapidly. “Can you not watch where you’re going?” He blinked stupidly, hands still firmly wrapped around her torso. “Uh–What? Wait, I literally just caught you, I feel like I get a free pass–” Mats rambled. She scoffed, and he saw a flicker of movement in the corner of his vision. He quickly detached himself, breath hitching. “Seriously–you’re just going to run off?” Mats shook his head frantically. “I need to find something!” He yelled as he ran off into the tunnel.

She tailed him, much to his surprise, tall heels thumping against the floor as she matched his pace. “Do you even know where you are?” she called after him. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and Mats saw it–the rat with a key shaped mouth! Thank goodness it hadn’t swallowed the key. He paled at the idea of having to extract a key out of the massive rat. Andrew and Trent would have a field day with that. Mats turned around to shush her, thinking about how he would go about catching the rat. Pinning it down by the head seemed optimal, he didn’t want to get rabies. She curled her lip at the massive rodent. “What the hell is that?” She stepped forward and he made a harsh noise of protest. The rat tensed and shot off into the light. Mats sprinted forward in desperation, lunging for it. He missed horribly, hitting the ground painfully and coming up with nothing. The rat lumbered off into some new dark corner, and Mats was close to breaking down in tears.

He was jolted back into tragic reality by a forceful grip on his hair, pulling him up off the ground. Mats squawked indignation at the violent gesture, scalp screaming in agony. Gritting his teeth, he looked into the eyes of–a man in a suit. Utterly confused, Mats was dragged by the wrist down into what looked like a chain fence cage, the kind seen at playgrounds to stop the kids from running away. He blinked furiously at the loud crowd of people surrounding the elevated cage, clamoring near the front.

“No way you’re going to put me in–”

Without any warning, he was thrust into the cage, fluorescent lights bleeding into him. Mats felt an inexplicable urge to close his eyes and sleep. To be anywhere else but here, and wake up in his bed, with this entire thing just a bad dream.

Instead, he opened his eyes to a bare chested man wearing nothing but a baggy pair of lime-green shorts. His face screwed up instinctively at the sight of a hairy chest in his vision. Unfortunately for him, the other man took it as a declaration of war. Baring his teeth menacingly and bringing his fisted arms up, he began to close in on Mats.

Mats was never a fighter. Sure, he had very little patience for nonsense, but he was not one to start a fight. Engaging in a fight was different though–he could easily make a fool out of the other.

The first blow was obvious: an attempt to press him into the corner. He shot forward onto the other side of the ring with surprising agility, clattering into the metal as his feet failed to slow. The fighter changed tactics, shifting on his feet and waiting for him to make the next move. Mats knew any move he made to fight would be pointless–it would end with him on the ground, possibly missing a handful of teeth. He shuddered at the thought of it, and was left off guard. Mats opened his eyes to a blur of motion barreling towards him. Now would be a good time to panic, he mused. Tensing belatedly, Mats reeled backwards, only for the blow to never land. Static crackled in his ears–he wasn’t in the corner of the ring anymore. He was 5 feet up, and failing–fast.

Landing was painful. He crashed into a firm body, feeling the wheeze of air being knocked out of the other’s lungs. Disoriented and moaning in pain, he slid off the body with great difficulty. Flopping on the side pathetically, he splayed out in a vain attempt to catch his breath, uncaring of the possibility of getting jumped again. “You… better not,” he slurred, vision spotting. A figure loomed in his vision, and he remained helpless on the ground, panting furiously.

A loud shout filled the air, followed by cries of protest. A skinny kid tackled the figure, clinging tightly and shrieking loudly. Mats breathed out a sigh of relief, dragging himself to the side of the ring with great difficulty. A manicured hand gripped his shoulders, hauling him upright. He was leaning on the girl he had met earlier.

“I never got your name,” was what Mats tried to say aloud.

“Ya made me lose m’rat,” he slurred out instead. She looked at him, unimpressed. “I think you’ll manage,” she said drily. “My name’s Alison.”

“Mats. M’name.” Alison looked him up and down. “You might be concussed,” Ali said. Mats shrugged. “S’okay Ali. S’okay.” Ali shook her head. “Your brothers are having a field day. We’ve got to get out of here soon.” Mats shook his head slowly, his vision evening out.

Mats should’ve known better than to trust the two preteens with standing still and not causing trouble. Trent’s shirt was missing, currently being used by Andy to blindfold the fighter.

“Oi! Boys, we gotta get moving. That’s enough!” Mats grunted, bracing himself against the fence for support. Trent did a double-take at the sight of him, jumping into the air.

“Holy shit! Mats! You’re still alive!” he exclaimed. “Andy, see? I told you he was going to last longer than a minute!”

Andy was preoccupied, sitting on top of the currently concussed and half-naked man. “Whatever, man. Either way, you’re not getting your shirt back.” He hopped off and made his way over to Alison. “Are you Mats's new girlfriend?” he asked innocently.

Mats instantly turned the color of a tomato. “Andrew,” he hissed. “Shut your trap before I shut it for you.”

“I’ll take that as a maybe!” Trent said mischievously. “Very nice to meet you Miss. I like your heels. Very badass.”

Alison smirked. “Good taste. I like you kid.”

They came out the entrance and were greeted with the rancid smell of vomit. Trent wrinkled his nose as he stepped over a particularly chunky puddle. “Very funky,” Andrew commented.

Alison stopped around the corner, turning abruptly to face Mats. “Have you figured out how to get home?”

“Have I figured out how to–No!” Mats shouted tiredly. “Hell, I don’t even know how I got here. I don’t even know how I pulled off that stunt in there–I mean, thank goodness I did, otherwise I would’ve gotten beat bloody!” He exhaled furiously, running a hand through his grimy hair. “And you look so calm, it’s pissing me off! Honestly! Don’t you get it?” he all but shouted. “We’re never going back, because it’s gone. I could chase that rat to the end of the Earth and I’d still lose it. None of it matters, and we’re stuck here! And–”

“Are you done?” Alison glared at him.

Mats mouth hung half-open, flabbergasted.

“Good. You talk too much.” His jaw closed with a faint click. Andrew and Trent were silent, eyes wide. Not every day he got schooled by a beautiful girl in heels.

“Mats. you’re special. You haven’t realized it this entire time because you haven't been able to control yourself. I see people like this all the time when I travel–there’s only a few of us, but we exist.”

“You sound insane,” he muttered.

“So what? You know I’m right,” she shot back. “All you have to do is trust yourself. Control yourself. Where do you want to go?”

“Home,” he whispered, attempting to step forward and close the distance between them. Alison's face flickered out of view, Andy and Trent fading images in his peripheral vision.

“One day,” he heard a crystal-clear voice call out from afar. “You’ll find me. I’ll be right where you’re looking for me.”

Mats’ vision whited out, and the floor fell out from under his feet. He fell hard on his ass into soft soil; specifically, English-smelling soil: earthy and wet. He breathed out a sigh of relief, propping himself up on battered arms. Trent and Andrew were already righted and bouncing around him. He wordlessly steered them over to the sidewalk and started walking home.

“Can we please call you Dorothy now? Please, please, please?”

“Stupid–He needs heels for that! And he would’ve needed to kill a witch!”

“Does this mean I’m the Scarecrow–Wait no! The Tin Man!”

“Dimwit, I’m the Tin Man! You’re Toto, obviously!”

Mats was lost for words, looking at his hands in disbelief. Rounding the block, his mum looked at him from the porch, waiting expectantly as if it were just another school day.

“Where’ve you been, Mats?” she asked, more curious than concerned.

Mats shook his head. “You’re not going to believe me,” he sighed.

“Runs in the family,” she offered, sipping her evening tea. “Did you meet someone special over there?” She wiggled her brows suggestively, a teasing look on her face.

Mats gawked in confusion and disbelief. Before he knew it, she was gone, flickering out of his vision. He blinked furiously, shaking his head. “Mum, what the–Where did you–?”

“Come inside Mats, we have lots to discuss.”