Free Spanners - The Fountain of Youth by Jonathan Maas

with a smile.
    Trey 1 and Cattaga clinked the shots with Mayfly. Brogg’s hands were so big that he missed and ended up spilling most of his vodka.
    Mayfly downed his drink with Cattaga, Brogg drank what remained in his glass, and Trey 1 paused to steel himself. Trey 1 finally took the shot, and soon after he did , his two brothers shuddered simultaneously with him, even though neither of them drank.
    “Can I split the rest of the bottle with you , Mayfly?” asked Cattaga. “Just you and me.”
    “If you give me a kiss,” said Mayfly.
    “Sorry, I’m taken,” said Cattaga, motioning towards the Treys.
    “Lucky guy,” said Mayfly. “Which one?”
    “All of him,” said Cattaga, before pouring two shots and downing one.
    Mayfly downed his shot and smiled.
    “Now,” he said. “Care to tell me what this is about?”
    “We need you , Mayfly,” said Cattaga. “Adam sent us.”
    “It’s been fun, guys,” said Mayfly, before putting his shot glass on the table and getting up. Brogg wouldn’t let him leave though.
    “Just hear us out,” said Trey 1.
    “I don’t know who you guys are,” said Mayfly, “but you’re not recruiting me to do whatever it is that you’re doing. I got to go.”
    Mayfly struggled to get past Brogg, but he couldn’t; the man was just too big. After a few moments, Cattaga spoke up.
    “Would you like to make a bet?” she asked.
    Mayfly struggled for a moment more, and then turned around and smiled.
    “What kind of bet?” he asked.
    “In your short time on earth, you’ve seen a lot,” said Cattaga. “Nothing surprises you anymore. Is it safe to say that?”
    “Yeah,” said Mayfly.
    “If I do something that shocks you,” said Cattaga, “will you hear us out? You don’t have to agree to anything; we just want you to hear us out.”
    “All right, I agree,” said Mayfly. “But I gotta warn you, nothing shocks me anymore—”
    Trey 2 and Trey 3 sidled up next to him in a flash. Trey 1 started talking to him, and Mayfly felt a bit of jostling from both sides. The Treys then jumped away and Trey 3 procured a small prescription bottle that Mayfly kept in his shirt. I’ve seen pickpockets work in groups before , thought Mayfly, but not like that.
    “I don’t know what you’re doing,” said Mayfly, “ but I think you should stop—”
    Cattaga opened the prescription bottle and procured the oversized pill inside.
    “We know precisely what we’re doing, and precisely what this is,” said Cattaga. “You’ve built quite a reputation in your brief time here, Mayfly. And word on the street has it you’re saving this pill for your last day on earth. Is that true?”
    “It’s none of your business,” said Mayfly.
    He tried to rush at Cattaga and get the pill, but Brogg held him back.
    “It is my business, considering I’m about to take this pill,” said Cattaga.
    “You’ll die,” said Mayfly.
    “This pill has a bit of every single illegal drug known to man,” said Cattaga. “It kills you, but takes you on a ride first—”
    “Please,” said Mayfly. “I don’t want to hurt anyone; just put the pill down.”
    “Agreed,” said Cattaga.
    Cattaga put the pill in her mouth and held it there for a moment, as if thinking. She then swallowed it with her head back, and when she looked forward, her eyes were glowing and a thin strip of green hair had started to grow underneath her white roots. She waited a few moments, time enough for the drug to start acting, and then spoke with a clear voice, unaffected.
    “I think we’ve shocked you enough to win the bet,” she said. “It’s time for you to hear us out.”
    /***/
    An hour later they were at a diner. Two of the Treys were looking out the window and Brogg was eating three rare steaks, grunting while he chewed.
    “Brogg as you can tell is a trog -class spanner,” said Cattaga. “He ages backwards along the evolutionary scale. He can’t quite fit into normal society anymore, but his body gives him