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Chapter Nine: Musings of a Fused Riftwalker, Part One

"So do you know why you're here, IG-205? Or if my may now informally call you Ingram?" President Asher pondered as he had the fused hybridtrooper stand before him and bowed. With a simple flick of his wrist, the Dragon Komodo rose back up and stood equal to President Asher at his desk. Behind him the black and purple clouds of Terraona Prime, engulfed the floating buildings behind him and static light hit buildings periodically.

Ingram stood silent, his arms crossed behind him in an x and for once in his life he kept his body still not willing to risk the aggression of Asher had he managed to speak one entirely stupid sentence. Asher smiled as he knew that he had complete dominance over the hybrid warrior in front of him and he looked down in to his open desk drawer savoring what he would make the dragon do.

"Well then, idiotic fools like you should be forced to remember your failures. First you failed to respond to the massive alarm system on the Alpha Orbital Station as BL-102 or as he now calls himself, Basil and the King escaped. Second even in chasing them down to the desert you failed to take both of them back even as Matthew was taken back to the station on your ship and escaped from Grand Asher Drake once again." President Asher barely keeping his cool, this was the calm rage that his enemies feared and gave him power over his army, well now nearly all of his army.

"Thirdly, you failed in using the surveillance system to track them and lead to the same surveillance system being blown up, Fourthly you failed to return to the orbital station and then another distress call, Fifthly you failed at destroying Basil by splitting him up and letting The Alpha Prime Orbital Station getting blown up. And Sixthly, you failed to respond to another distress signal sent out by The Alpha Prime Holding Center, even as you were only hundred space kilometers away!"

Asher lost his cool at that point, he wasn't proud as he read off a massive list of Ingram's failures to the Dragon Komodo, but the worst part was the shit smile he had on his face as he listed the last item. Ingram wasn't especially proud of the situation on the Alpha Prime Orbital Station but he could have done worse.

...

Ingram relaxed as he put his ship into a parking orbit above the sun and unfolded a big piece of trifold reflecting glass and laid his seat down. After having to deal with Matthew and Basil for three unbearable months he could finally relax and feel safe that Grand Asher Yu was going to deal with them.

"Hello... This is ... Grand ... " Ingram quickly closed all lines of communication from his craft and laid back deciding to let the sun work on his tan and let whatever happened happen.

...

"Now then you imbecile, Grand Asher Drake is dead, Grand Asher Yu is dead, how many more would you like to kill before I personally take a gun and put it too your head?" President Asher said as he smiled a bit reaching down and rumbling through his desk. Before Ingram could answer however, he took the conversation back again. "Then again you want to lash out; you want to be the wild and free spirt. It's in your nature, you Ingram are a free spirit."

"Oh good, let me go." Ingram sarcastically retorted, getting a glare from Asher who slowly raised his hand from the desk. Ingram had an idea of what Asher was doing under the desk.

"Yeah no, it's not that simple, you're half Riftwalker. Something's always going to hold you back but I can help you, all you need to do is point this towards your held and pull the trigger." Asher said as he placed his ultimatum on the desk. "I believe that you'll know what to do."

"Well then, let's talk about what's happening here you want me to pull the trigger and kill myself. Now then it's all simple, I have to shoot myself as I defuse but why should I kill myself, the gun could be pointed both ways towards me or towards you." Ingram threatened as he pointed the gun back and forth as he tested what Asher would do.

"Ah yes, but is it always that simple think about all you've done and all you come in this world, how much you did and how much you changed, and how useful you've been to me and then think about how much you want to help me and how much getting rid of yourself would help me." Asher spoke with a look of satisfaction as he smiled at Ingram and hoped that Ingram wouldn't turn the gun on him.

...

"Bye see you later, I hope my improvements can help later." Ingram said as he walked forward, passing through the rift and entering into the next universe. As he did the necklace on his chest glowed, it was the hard and rigid one similar to one he and Basil would wear in the future. As he passed through from previous universe and into the next one, he took his eyes off the future but continued walking into the swamp land.

Waving back through the rift as he walked forward and passed through he was suddenly poked as the rift closed and he was trapped. As the portal closed suddenly it condescended into a second rigid rock and landed around Ingram's neck. Looking forward warriors in black and red armor had a gun pointed onto his neck.

"Hold on, we've got ourselves a bogey on the swamp land. Yes, the energy surge disappeared but it looks like someone has passed through and the device managed to pass through as well." In front of him the Primetrooper grabbed his two rigid rocks and viewed them as some sort of treasure. Ingram pulled the rocks off his neck and placed them into the safe bag. Ingram put his hands up and stood back as he tried to pass through the rift, but found it was closed.

"Well then look at you passing through here, you must be pretty far from home; you look like one of the Terraona Alpha workers that we always have lot of fun with, spread your around with the group and maybe you'll have fun." The leader of the soldiers said as he raised his hand and got the rest of his platoon to laugh along with him.

"Bring him here, Asher would like to see him make sure that everything on him is taken to Asher, keep him safe and you and your platoon will be rewarded massively." A man on his walkie-talkie said as the Primetrooper looked a bit annoyed that his fun toy was being taken away. He grabbed Ingram and quickly he slapped a pair of handcuffs onto his wrist. Ingram yelled as he felt his wrings tied.

The platoon leader dragged him through the swamp and made sure to pull him against the rigid bushes and made sure that he would feel the pain and every bump as they dragged him towards the ship. And finally they got to the orbital drop ship and threw him into the gunship. Ingram twitched and tried to move as he struggled against the wall of the ship.

He felt them as they floated upwards towards the floating continents above. He could barely see the world but he needed information, he saw the information panels on the ship and guessed they were a class two civilization able to generate infinite power and travel between worlds. He saw sunlight and could only guess they didn't have a dyson sphere or were inside it.

Now they were a military civilization, which exhausted their resources and got desperate. They looked up to the sky and generated all the power that they needed and with that they then started to visit and take other worlds. Looking through the purple sky he tried to see the stars and take a guess at where in the universe he was at.

"Where am I?" Ingram asked as he looked at the leader of the group. He remembered that they mentioned Terraona Alpha; the way it sounded they were in some sort of multi planet system, with multiple civilizations or multiple settlements.

"Oh don't you know, well little baby you're on Terraona Prime; home of the greatest military in all of Tau Ceti. Now than before you know we have Grand Ashers and President Asher but don't let it get to you or else you might lose who you are. Shame you would have been so fun." The leader said before he turned back to flying the ship and letting Ingram think.

That was strange he was on a system based around Tau Ceti, he normally stayed around Helios but now it seemed he was going somewhere different. If he remembered from his book of universal constants, Tau Ceti was a slightly smaller star only twelve light years away from Earth. If he played his cards right this organization might have had a warp gate and he could maybe point it Sun wise and be there in a day.

Yet he wondered what he would find if he returned to Earth in this universe. He had no guarantee he'd find a civilization with people. And he couldn't even twist to another universe again, his Rift Stones were away from him and god forbid they experimented with them or they might blow a hole into the universe or something worse.

He couldn't reach out and he couldn't feel his powers want to activate. Ingram needed to wait, he needed to breath and he needed to formulate a plan. He needed to appear weak to the soldiers but show his power to someone in charge, gain there trust and gain their hand. If he could do that then he could push how far he could go.

If Ingram could get with this leader, this President Asher than maybe he could gain his trust and maybe return to the Rift base in the nearby universe. He could grab the stones and maybe jump out of a building and escape. All he needed to do is reach out and grab his stones and make his escape. All it would be is one simple escape.

And then as they rose above the clouds a massive floating city was revealed and looking at it he was amazed at what they had. Even just seeing all the floating buildings and skyways that were stretched between them he was amazed. He tried to stand himself up and look out into the skyline. A massive building rose above all the rest and as they did a twist around that build he knew that was President Asher's hold.

"Now then, do as your told, act all lady like and stay careful; President Asher won't bite your head off, he will grab your balls and he will pull at them and he will tug one slowly off and show you the dangers and right as he tears the second off, you will die." The platoon leader said as they backed into the building. The ramp was let down and an airlock closed behind them.

Suddenly another group of Primetroopers walked into the ship and looked at Ingram. They grabbed him and Ingram was dragged out and into the building. He looked around at the grey-ish interior of the building. Their seemed to be multiple rooms with multiple people all working what seemed to be a bureaucratic nightmare. And finally walking into a hallway with a seemingly nicer exterior and a series of paintings and statues, he wondered what kind of ego this president had.

He was plopped into a similar chair and position that he was in now and he looked forward at President Asher. As it would be ten or twelve years later the president still had the cheeky grin that he would keep. Ingram wanted to punch that smile off his face and make him hurt.

"Welcome to Terraona Prime, interesting gimmick you have." President Asher said as Ingram stood up. He stayed silent as he stood up and released energy from his wrist. The dragon pulled his chains apart and showed them to Asher as the molten metal landed over the floor.

...

"And in that moment I loved you, no one on this planet had ever conducted energy on this planet before like that. Before people could grab objects and levitate them but you were different you had the energy inside of you to push it to the limit." President Asher said to Ingram bringing the Dragon Komodo back to the present. "And I remember in that second what I said to you."

Ingram stayed silent instead still flipping the gun between him and Asher. He wondered at which point it became an ignored object and or at which point was it going to become a pointless threat. He smiled at Asher remembering those words that he said some ten or twelve odd years ago.

...

"I am going to make you into my star."

And at that moment it started to downturn. Scientists took his rift stones and they experimented with his Rift Stones. Ingram felt disturbed and taken back, everything that was him his Rift stones that made him a Riftwalker were taken away and he could do nothing about it. For days and days he stayed in a cell, until a breakthrough was made.

...

"President Asher we have found that in friendly environments these stones will combine, but only with in the presence of love." The scientist said as he put both stones on to two pillars and stood next to another scientist as he ran a line of energy through both stones and they started to glow. The scientist walked over to the second and started to kiss the second.

President Asher raised an eyebrow as he looked at the possible waste of his scientific funds. However, the stones stopped glowing and instead they well pulled towards each other. They seemingly fused into one stone and the pillars were knocked on the floor. Yet as soon as the scientist pulled away from each other the stones separated.

"Interesting what do you know of this phenomenon?" President Asher asked the tied up Ingram who was sitting next to Asher in a white lawn chair, stuck to it as he watched the perversion of his own technology. He was shocked; he wasn't expecting them to figure that out. They would probably use it in some sort of cute love testing machine or something stupid, now he did want them to blow a hole in the universe.

"Don't worry, at this point if the Riftwalker has said anything. Well then he doesn't know what is happening, so then continue on what would you think that the fusion stones could be used for." And as Asher said that, it was the complete perversion of his stones into horrible weapons.

"Well we believe sir that we can use this to create fusion warriors, hybridtroopers if you will. If we can possibly find someone who can generate energy in their body, and another person they might be joined with the fusion stones and they might be fused into a singular person. They might have more energy and more power." The scientist said as he wiped his lips getting a raised eyebrow from both Asher and Ingram.

"Well then find us two children from Terraona Prime, they'd be resilient and be more bonded. Then spend I don't know, spend twenty million rumples and put four five years into this project, have fun and stuff and don't be afraid to make mistakes, but keep this secret, not even the USC can know about this." Asher said as he wrote a check and handed it to the scientist. "And you know what Ingram here is a bit board so give him to a scientist and use him, he'll have knowledge on the stone."

Asher stood him up and pushed him over to the scientist. Ingram stood up and his hands were freed. Asher smiled at him and Ingram knew in that moment that both of them knew he wouldn't break out or break free. Ingram knew he would stay through and make sure these nosey scientists wouldn't further pervert his stones.

...

"Ah yes, twelve years pass so quickly as it seems. But that was when you met Bill, wasn't it Ingram. He's become so much of you, I forget whether or not he was always you or if he was a scientist on the project." Asher said as Ingram raised his hand quickly and placed it against Asher's head.

"Do not speak about Bill that way, he is loved and Ingram loves him." Ingram said speaking of the love that existed inside of him. He took a breath and pulled the gun back, doing a fancy trick with the gun in his hand. He then traveled between pointing it at himself and Asher. He wondered if he could pull the trigger.

"All that time, twelve years together, thirty six between all of us. And all this leads up to here, Basil is not the one who will decide the fate of this planet. You are the one who will, not in one month, but you will right now." Asher said as he smiled at Ingram. Ingram pulled the gun back and continued on his journey of self-realization and flashback.

...

"So then welcome to the team, your technology is amazing. With 3D printing we might be able to recreate multiple ones and start an army of warriors. But what do you think about that?" The Komodo Dragon said as he looked over the list of things he had to accomplish with twenty million rumples and four to five years.

"Oh look at you; someone's actually using their brain. Make sure that they don't have the universe traveling powers as mine and that way you don't have solider scouts running over the universe and time, don't want that it could get messy very, very, quickly. What's your name?" Ingram said as he extended out his hand and shook it with the Komodo.

"Bill, sir."

...

"And that is how Ingram met Bill, and on the same tangent you also locked my stones from traveling through time and space. And yet the whole time no one every though of using them for their original purpose." Ingram said as he looked down, somewhat in shame, yet somewhat glad he didn't give Asher that ability yet it meant it was taken away from himself.

"Ah yes, one of those immortal love stories, but as always move on to the start of the selection of children for the hybridtrooper program." Asher said as he continued the story to move it forward. Ingram smiled as he remembered back to those ten years ago when all the children were chosen.

"We started with four children, Basil's halves; Pesto and Cilantro and the other ones, oh well I bet he is going to call himself Zero, so let's call his components One and Negative One." Ingram said as he remembered back to training the kids over the five years, never knowing if his and Bill's research would actually work and they would fuse.

"And as we got to the end of the five years it was time to finally go through with the first of fusions."

...

"Ok, you two. Well this is what we've be practicing for, all the training and learning and everything we have done has all been leading up to this moment, no pressure but we're kind of depending on you." Ingram said to Pesto and Cilantro as he placed the fusion necklace around there necks, they were always going to be the first generation of hybridtroopers.

Pesto and Cilantro were special; they had an amazing bond like nothing he had seen before. And placing the 3D printed copy necklaces around them, he saw that neither of them glowed. The activation energy for fusion was so low now that all they would have to do is touch and the necklaces should do the rest.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Pesto asked as he tried to get rid of all safety risks that he could deal with. Ingram smiled, Pesto was always so innovative and he must have come up with a little of the program's progress and while he didn't seem caring Pesto cared the most of all.

"Of course it will, just impress the Asher and we won't be shot." Ingram said. He hated that sentence. After five years and twenty million rumples, one would think that they'd at least get President Asher on a free day but no instead they got Grand Asher Drake to evaluate their time. "I think he is here now, you know what that means, good luck."

Ingram said as he turned towards the window and smiled at the Grand Asher. This was what everything was leading up to. If he could present good then maybe he could get his freedom back and maybe escape this system but as he did he was reminded. Bill put his arms around Ingram and they smooched.

...

"Ok, no need to passionately describe your kisses more than you already do on a daily basis." President Asher said as he put a quick fast forward on to Ingram again and hopefully got him to skip around the kiss.

...

Bill was his anchor, he couldn't leave but he couldn't take Bill. Ingram fell for the Komodo dragon and if he was going to leave they were leave together or maybe as one. Ingram wondered if he could get his own fusion stones back and unlock them, well then it suddenly became more viable to leave as one person.

Still the experiment was a success, Basil was formed and the first hybridtrooper in all the universe had begun. Ingram looked down at his hand and wondered if he could go through with making more hybridtroopers, would they paint the land red or would they go wild and disobey Asher. He'd seen this universe before and with the conflict coming in five years he wasn't sure what would happen anymore.

"Well done, I didn't expect this to work, you say you have one more stone set, well then I take two more." Grand Asher Drake said as he signed a check for one million rumples. Ingram glanced at Bill as he tried to figure out what the Komodo was thinking.

...

"Well then we're going to be busy, remember how you said that Asher was going to use them as some sort of stupid love test machine, I want to be stupid." Bill said as they looked over the console and through the window and at the newly formed Basil who was testing his powers and getting accustomed to his new body.

"My stones you found them." Ingram said as Bill put the stone around his neck and the Komodo placed the second stone. As they connected, there was no glowing in the stone and they could fuse just by touching. Ingram backed up as he realized what Bill was intending to do.

"Bill are you sure you want to do this, we'll both be lost in the fusion; it will be a third party and neither of us..." Ingram said before he realized this was for the good of both of them and this world. Bill pulled him in and they kissed. And then their bodies morphed.

They turned into energy, and combined. Out of them on large Dragon Komodo would be born. He was there love and he was there goals, yet it always seemed to be more of Ingram then Bill.

...

"And what is this, this seems a bit like a waste of the money. Using the research yet you were always more powerful than the children and you appear to be as strong as BL-102 was. So then the real question is, IG-205 how do you feel right now?" Asher asked the newly fused Ingram. Ingram's eyes wondered for a few seconds and he asked himself that question.

"I feel like I'm walking but like when preparing to run and right now Ingram and Bill, they're inside me but I don't feel like them, I feel like I am a third person who just copies them or listens to what they say." Ingram said to Asher as he tried to sum up how he felt.

"Well then, you still have the other two children, get them fused and then you can join Grand Asher's Drakes army, my trust is something very hard to earn so be very careful or you might end up here again."

...

"And look at that my trust in you is gone, you two are complete failure and you have a gun pointed at our heads." Asher said as he smiled, almost if he had predicted this very moment happening from the beginning. Ingram wondered for a second, and decided that was probably truer than it wasn't. And thus there he was with a gun to the Asher's head and back to his and he wondered with who his true loyalties were with.

"Well then it looks like we've got a problem here, either I die killing myself or you die and god knows which way I could go. I am flipping coin, maybe Ingram's rebellious spirit takes over and I shoot you or maybe Bill's subservient personality rears its head and I shoot myself." Ingram said as he tried to stall for time and hope that Asher might spare him and maybe take mercy.

"Shame you started out so bright, but in the end the star that burns twice as bright burns out twice as quick." Asher said as he smiled. Asher stayed still for a few seconds and tapped down on a button with in his office. "In five minutes bring me in my papers for my meetings."

Asher didn't say anything, the message was received loud and clear. It was time to choose, the ultimatum was placed down. Ingram have five more minutes to decide whether or not he would live on or whether he would murder Asher. It would all end here, not by Basil's or Matthew's hands but by his finger and whether or not he was a good shot.

"Well then you know what I'm tired of this thousand year old dynasty, it's time for the hybridtroopers to take over!" Ingram quickly turned the gun on Asher and pulled the trigger. The bullet flied out and smoke flew over the room. Ingram smiled finally he got rid of that asshole and peace would be returned.

But then as the smoke cleared, Ingram was threated to laughing. The Asher stood where he was not with a hole in his head or otherwise, instead a blue and gold shield that flowed over his body. Ingram realized he was tricked, either way the bullet, the gun was provided by President Asher so who said it wasn't some sort of loyalty test.

"Shame, looks like you got a humor bullet. Unfortunately it's only funny for me; it's going to be very, very painful for you." President Asher said as he looked behind him as if expecting someone to come for him. The smile on his face only increased. "Oh shame about that too, looks like your bullet was too loud. Now the guards are coming, so tick, tock, tick, tock."

"Well then, it was nice to work with you President Asher, sorry you had to be such an asshole!" Ingram said as he jumped up onto Asher's desk and jumped over him letting his foot kick him in the face. Ingram blasted forward and spread out his wings and took flight. And as the window broke in front of him, he started to defy gravity and fly through the sky.

As he flew out into the turbulent atmosphere of Terraona Prime, he quickly caught into a headwind and flapped. Ingram soared up into the sky and knew he had to make an escape quickly and efficiently. Behind him the building shot up in red and alarms activated. People were alerted and now Ingram was a criminal.

A gunship flying through the city quickly took aim at him and Ingram started to use his will in order to push himself towards the Vertibird. Placing a shield up in front of him, he blocked the gun fire from the ship and protected himself as he flew towards it. And then he quickly got to the side of it, grabbing onto it and holding him in place.

"Keep still and grab your parachutes!" Ingram said as he pulled his hand back and thrusted his hand through the door of the Vertibird and fired a blast beam. The two interior pilots were knocked out and started to fall. Ingram reached through his blast hole and opened the Vertibird's door as he pulled himself into the ship and into a semi-protected hull. Wasting no time, he looked at the engines on the side.

Could he use those engines to get into orbit and would they even work outside the atmosphere. He thought back to the lessons that he taught Basil's components and tried to remember if there was ever any possible way he could specifically tell. Instead he opened the menu and looked at remaining fuel. Some fuel called Kerosene was fueling the ship's engines. If he was right their needed to be another fuel or else it was an air breathing engine.

And then the other Vertibirds started to fire on him. Ingram quickly grabbed control of the joystick and kept the ship steady as multiple bullets were fired on him. He felt one of the engines get struck by a bullet and the whole ship tilted to its side and he nearly lost control.

"Come on hold steady, you took a blast from me. I'm sure you can take these little things called bullets." Ingram said as he activated a few computer systems hoping that one would keep the flying machine steady. Instead however, automatic targeting had begun.

The Vertibird managed to keep itself upright as it turned towards one and seemingly locked on. The interior menu switched to a camera view, and as Ingram looked through it he realized that it was prompting him to launch a missile. He looked for the big control button, the one that would fire the missile but found none.

"Where is that button hidden, come on just autofire!" Ingram said as he tried to figure out how to use one of these newfangled machines. Keeping the joystick stead he realized there was a cap onto of the joystick. Realizing that might be his button; he flipped the cap open and saw the big red button. He heard a loading sound and quickly two missiles launched from his side.

"Ok, that is why there is no autofire, damn." Ingram said amazed as the two bullets chased the Vertibird. Quickly the other birds realized what was happening and started to fire missiles on him too. Ingram quickly put his hands out and released a shield of energy around the ship. As the missiles hit the helicopter he kept steady and stayed careful. Sadly it seemed that the helicopter didn't like the shield.

Forgetting about the most important thing, the rotors, the metal blades on the front and the back of the Vertibird quickly teared themselves off and he was left with no control of the air vehicle. The engines quickly shorted out and he was literally now flying a falling brick.

Ingram wasted no time and blasted a hole in the vehicle, right above him. Gravity sucked him out of the hole and back into the atmosphere as he started to tumble, quickly reaching terminal velocity and his wings unable to extend. Ingram looked below him and saw the pond below him, he heard that hitting water at his kind of speeds would be like hitting concrete.

Putting his hand forward, he managed to fire a blast downwards and he could only hope that would help him break his fall. Meanwhile he started to manipulate his energy and tried to push him back up in the air. He nearly stayed up right but as he heard the ground approaching, he heard the sound of his energy ball below him breaking the surface tension.

He splashed into the water and easily was slowed down by the water without breaking every bone in his body. Ingram groaned as stood up and looked around at all the people of Terraona Prime looking at him. Ingram groaned and floated to the top of the pond.

Jumping out of the pond he managed to now spread his wings again and flied back into the air. At least if there was one good thing it was that the cooled air felt good on his burning body. And then his wings failed, he crashed back into the ground as they let out and he was suddenly grounded.

"Ok, plan B time." Ingram looked around he needed a way to get out, some sort of Orbital ship. And looking through the massive cut out hole in the ground, it looked like he had found his escape. Keeping his wings spread out, he slowed his descent as he flew through into the concrete filled cut out.

Landing, he looked at the orbital transfer center. All he needed was a ship he was used to using, one with enough delta-v to transport him into orbit and into one that would meet him with the warp gate. Walking forward citizens in the parking lot, citizens ran away from him as they realized who he was.

Ingram walked forward and with a seemingly endless red carpet for him to walk down. And as he arrived at the entrance, he kept himself still but excited at the prospect of new horizons. He walked into the building and citizens ran away, he walked up to a security gate and walked through. The security guards started to fire at him, but he simply raised a shield.

Ingram walked through the final gate and found himself in the ship yard. Looking around he kept his bubble up as the guards behind him shot at him. Ingram finding a suitable ship, one with an infinite warp accelerator, shielding system and room for one, smiled at finding his escape and his peace.

Clicking a few buttons, he opened the glass interior and it was raised up. Ingram jumped up lowering his forcefield and instead activing his ship's own. Waiting a few seconds as the glass hatch closed, he activated the navigation system, and then started the hover engines.

Ingram had seemingly found peace with himself as he laid back in the comfy chair and decided to let the navigation system do its job. Floating upwards until he was out of the ground cut out, the ship quickly positioned itself in an eastward direction and its radial engines activated.

Ingram closed his eyes and let the ship float him up to space, he was done with this empire and he was done with all this life and death business. He was going to find someone he could agree with and someone he could work with. And yet looking down his necklace it started to glow.

As the fire of the atmosphere engulfed his ship, he still drove forward only hoping that he'd be able to escape. And with seemingly disbelief in his eyes, he managed to do so. Looking around him no ships were following him, he now had his own path and he was going to follow it and maybe find Basil and Matthew.