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THE SCRIPTURES OF ODDCLAW

Eighteen-and-Two: Extinction

"It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was."

Anne Sexton

They are here at last.

So I have felt. Will you wish to meet them?

No...I have paid my debt to them before. I did not want to tread back into this family's life, but-

I needed you to help him understand. It is vital that they cooperate, and you most of all know his ancestry.

Was this even necessay?

The demons arrogance would always be his undoing. One need only prepare those he lured here, for the ending ritual.

I hope they will be alright...Oddclaw has already suffered so much.

I can assure you Kirie...that he will not suffer again past this day. None of them will.

Oddclaw was alone when he woke. The air was still yet not stagnant, cold but not chilling as he stood up on his feet, the taste of blood still fresh on his lips as he found himself upon a lonesome platform made of stone.

"Where...what is this?"

His footsteps carried no sound and his shadow was absent. There was not a scent in the air as he searched across the expanse. An old crumbling ruin reminiscent of Celtic tribes where stone monoliths stood before him with towering black across an endless mist. All around him there was a fog that warped around his presence, an infinite wall of black and white mixing towards a smoking silver as a path opened up between the pillars.

"Jacob? Jacob, are you there?!"

His voice struggled to carry itself, his chest becoming heavy and his heart sinking when he took his first steps into the ruins. Arches of green wrapped in moss above his head, stone cracking beneath his claws to soft brittle things as the raptor wove his way through a half-tunnel, the watchful eye of old runes glaring upon him with a force that made his skin creep, his claws trembling against the cold and his neck pulling tightly against itself. In the absence of warmth his mind turned back to his son, his sister and his dear friend Jane. His hands clenched to feel his own scales, and the further he walked the more he struggled until he slumped onto his knees.

"S-seaclaw...I...I failed you...I could...I could not..."

He wept into the stone path, the swirling mist caressing his cheek in a bitter wind as he poured out the tears still left in his heart. With no fury left, there was only sorrow as his companion, his strength failing him and his mind wrapped in fog to the point he curled up against the side of a pillar and closed his eyes wishing the past few hours had never existed. He hugged himself remembering his son's warmth, the taste of blood still fresh on his teeth, his stomach thickening with heat that made him turn ill briefly. He stumbled back onto his feet and continued through the ruins, the remnants of old houses he wandered through between crumbling walls and burnt hay. With dragging feet he stumbled through the decrepit village, a pale light darkly gleaming from the mist that kept the darkness at bay, which only made the living shadows he saw from the corner of his eye all the more threatening, dancing at the corner of his eye only to fade back when he turned his head.

Stiffening his back he tried to walk straight, keeping his shotgun close with a steady hand as the pillars receded behind him, the old stone houses falling away into a veil that seemed to move with his body, the shifting path opening up in fragments underneath his feet as he saw another village of wooden houses, burnt and twisted logs across barren streets as the soft flickers of ash drifted across his face. There was smoke, broken wagons and rotting food that brought the first scents of this place to him, of death and brimstone that made him cringe turning away.

"ODDCLAW!"

Approaching the village square where an old broken obelisk once stood, he saw a familiar shape and sighed with relief heading over.

"Jacob!" he gasped as the yoshi hugged him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah...are you?"

"...no."

He nodded patting his back before giving him an extra squeeze, the raptor nuzzling his shoulder as he felt calmer from the sense of another beating heart.

"You wanna...take a moment?"

"No...we have to find a way out, we need to get back."

"Right." Jacob pulled himself back staring across the ruined plaza. "This place looks awful."

"It smells it too," the raptor grimaced, "did humen used to live here?"

"I don't know, I saw shadows sometimes but-"

"I saw them too," he lowered his voice, "let us not speak loudly, they may not be friends."

"Right," he nodded looking past him, "what was back there?"

"Stones, lots of them, some tall, some put together."

"Got it...let's go this way then."

Heading through the old village, they tried not to look at any of the houses for too long as they saw the other end of the settlement, the crumbling cobbles and cracked roofs never shifting, never breaking further like they were trapped in time. Once they approached the outskirts where the houses became more sparse and they saw ruined crops in bitter gardens, the road turned crooked out towards a church, floating on the edge of the abyss with its towering spire looming above.

"Can you reach that?" asked Jacob.

"I cannot," the raptor peered over the gap, "and there is nothing below, it never ends."

"Yeah this weird fog goes forever, I mean I could jump over that no prob but I'm not leaving you."

"Maybe you can find something over there that...wait, LOOK OUT!"

Running back down the dirt-trodden path, they witnessed the bell tower of the church come undone as it fell with a crumbling shudder that almost deafened them from the sudden presence of sound in the realm. Bricks came hurtling towards them as they ducked in one of the old houses, a shack of brittle wood as they watched the bell come undone from its home to shatter on the ground without a voice into a million fragments. The tower formed a bridge across the depths, leading them into the church as they looked at each other.

"Is...someone trying to get us?" Jacob asked.

"Be careful," Oddclaw primed his gun, "stay close to me."

"You got it."

Gripping his shield to his chest Jacob followed after him, the raptor stepping first over the bridge as it held sturdy in its new place. The church was not elaborate, no grand windows, no gilded doors and not a single cross upon any surface. But inside the broken doors which fell off their hinges from the slightest touch, they found dozens of hooded figures that made them brace their weapons sharp. Nothing moved, not by a whisper nor a hair as they walked between the rows of pews down the aisle towards a single pulpit. Beyond that was the mist where the wall had once been, now gone from the back of the church to reveal a path that shone throughout the pale bleak, the hooded patrons still unmoving from their seats. Then they realised they were nothing but cloaks, sitting upright somehow despite being empty of mind and body. They walked to the pulpit and found the new path beyond was made entirely of burnt pages, charred with yellowing curls and blackened edges as Jacob stepped on the first chapter to find it solid as stone.

"It...is this...normal?"

"No," Oddclaw shook his head, "no it is not, but nothing here is normal."

"Honestly, nothing's been normal to me the past two years," the yoshi looked on forwards, "no offence to your home, it's really nice and all but it's so much different from...everything I've known."

"I un-derstand," he sighed, "I am sorry."

"No no it's fine, it's not your fault...if anything you've made it a lot easier cuz you introduced me to all the humans."

"I hope they are alright...do you think anything happened after we were taken?"

"I'm sure everyone's fine, they're all smart and we got rid of all the mecha-raptors so there should be no problems."

"Yes...you are right," the raptor smiled a little, "I just...I do not know why we were both brought here."

"Me either...but," the yoshi rubbed his head, "I feel I know this place...somehow."

"Really?"

"Yeah just...nah, nah it's fine we, we just gotta keep going."

The path stretched onwards through the gloom as the village disappeared. Beyond they saw metal fingers reaching up either side of the path where lights flickered softly, sparks drifting through the air like spirits as they saw a yawning arch wrought of stone and iron. They took each other's hand and braced themselves mentally as they walked upon a widening street within a town of tall gothic houses, looming upon them like spectres of the cemetery with lights behind windows unseen, the cobbles shining black between buildings of deep blue that fractured into several islands beside each other. The barest space of the eternal void below could be seen through the cracks, as Jacob carefully hopped over the gaps with Oddclaw joining as they passed through darkened streets. Vehicles sat rusted against the pavement, every sign had been scrawled illegible by the smearing of blood as they searched every doorstep and looked in every car for some form of life.

But there was none. Not a scent, nor a scream could be felt from the deathless city, where houses floated above their heads at strange angles that gave them the fear that something would collapse upon them. Nothing crumbled, not a speck of dust even from their feet would come as they tried to open doors that seemed promising or well-lit, but none of them would yield no matter how hard they pushed. Except for one house at the end of the street whose door was already open for them.

"Is someone there?" Jacob whispered.

"I do not sense anything," said Oddclaw, "but keep your shield ready."

They approached the door, stepping inside the old abandoned home where they saw a small living room with a dog's bed drenched in blood, and a kitchen where several knives had been placed in a circle. Parts of the wall had disappeared, windows shattered as they saw a light blinking from the stairs that brought them to the second floor. One of the walls in a bedroom had fallen through causing a natural slope, leading down to a crossroads as they looked upon the beds behind them. They were perfectly pristine, except for the stab wounds in the pillows.

They walked out of the broken house and skidded down the slope, landing back on the cold streets where carcasses of steel remained with broken headlights dimly glinting, shining the way briefly through a crossing beside a twisted park, trees now stunted with splintered cracks through the barren earth that seethed with mist. The fog turned thicker before their eyes as a chill crept in and they scanned in all directions before hunching close beside an overturned bus.

"You don't think," Jacob shook his head, "we really did end up in another world, do ya?"

"I think we have," Oddclaw gasped, "but why is this place empty?"

"There's not even like...bodies, it's too quiet it's too creepy."

"Not even bones...I do not know what sort of beast could do this."

"You don't think..." the yoshi shuddered rubbing his arms, "that...maybe it was that thing inside of Ri-"

"Yes." He bowed his head. "Whatever...was inside her, was not natural, was not...something that should be."

"I'm sorry, I know you don't wanna talk about-"

"Just..." he patted Jacob's shoulder, "for now let me just think on getting home."

"Got it...wait, you hear that?"

They skirted round the side of the bus and strained their ears. There was a breath in the deep mist, something parting the haze with its presence as they braced their weapons tight. A shadow stumbling upon two legs, almost certainly human as it dragged its crippled-looking feet across the smooth cobbled stone, head twitching frantic with a wheezing sound that caused its faceless skull to expand briefly like a balloon. Its clothes were not modern, something Oddclaw vaguely understood from a film, but to Jacob more resembled a costume of olden times with a cloth shirt and suspenders. Its head without eyes searched the street of ruin, lopsided houses with numbers erased as they tensed their feet. Then they felt a darkness, the hard sweep of something close by as Oddclaw grabbed Jacob and pulled him fast out of the way of a violent blade sweeping down to crunch into the side of the bus.

"A-AAAAGH!"

"Wh-what is that?!"

Pulling its blade out the broken vehicle, a knight stood before them in ancient armour with helmet dripping black from its visor. Marching forth he raised his long dented sword once more with a vile sweep that Jacob blocked with his shield before Oddclaw fired at the fiend's helm, cracking a burst of light that sent it reeling back with a hard stagger that gave them room to flee.

"That...was not human," Oddclaw shuddered, "it...it looks human but the scent is not-"

"Yeah I, don't think they want us here," said Jacob turning round, "uhhh, Oddie?!"

Lurking from the shadows of the old streets, almost pouring like black ink from every nook and cranny between houses and from the park beyond, the long dark night of humanity reached out towards them with trembling fingers and dripping pus as deep as the abyss. Men, women and even children lurked amongst them, all without faces, all without mouths or voices to scream and dressed in a variety of ragged clothes from swaddled tribal capes to shirts and jeans. Untold generations of mankind in suffrage, most of whom carried an array of weapons both ancient and modern. Dirks, cleavers, handguns, muskets and spears all glinted upon the intruders as Jacob pushed against one halberd thrusting for his face, Oddclaw clearing a path with his other shotgun shell to blow the heads off of three fishermen.

"THIS WAY!"

Grabbing his friend they hurried through the gap, dodging the sweep of sickles and the thrusting of knives that came from the horde, farmers and soldiers across thousands of years culminating into a legion of despair. Jacob kept his guard up, blocking every blade and bullet that came whipping for their heads whilst Oddclaw kept close beneath and waited for his gun to recharge before firing off another two shots to part the way. Further along the street they went, a mace from a tribal chief swooping close towards his head that he blocked with his weapon before Jacob bashed its head back with a thrusting slam. Several children came scrabbling for their legs with wicked little daggers, the yoshi pulling back with fright and paralysed with shock not knowing how to face them. Oddclaw took his shield instead and crushed their heads into their bodies, bashing overhead and to the side before handing it back and jumping through the gap between the crowd, his friend noticing that he was staggering with a harder limp and deep ragged breaths.

"Are you, alright?!" Jacob gasped.

"I am, fine!" Oddclaw shuddered bending over to clutch his knees. "We need, to keep moving!"

"Uhhh, that might be a problem!"

Pointing down the street Jacob saw the road pull itself up before them, tiles crunching together with houses rolling upwrds to loom above like a python ready to strike until half the street was over their heads, inverted homes where clattering tiles and stone debris came hurtling down for their heads. Jacob pulled the raptor close to get underneath, running for the park as Oddclaw fired back at the horde of shadows that started chasing, their sluggish walks turning to full-on sprints as swords rose up high and rifles aimed for their heads with cracking bursts like thunder behind them. Across the wide empty field of broken trees and twisted lights, the ground was coated with ashen pale that kicked up beneath their feet, the raptor heaving with a gasping breath as they raced towards an old bridge.

"Hokay," the yoshi gasped, "this...this place is getting more messed up by the minute."

"S-so many humen," Oddclaw shook his head with trembling limbs, "they...none of them had faces, not even scents."

"Yeah that's...that's not right...maybe that's where whatever that thing that dragged us is from."

"It looked the same as them, when it...came out of her."

"Let's hide under here," Jacob pointed down, "you need to get your strength back."

"No, I am fine I must-"

"Oddie, you're shivering."

The raptor looked down at his trembling fingers, taking a deep breath and nodding as they clambered down the slope of what used to be a river and hid within the dark beneath the old stone bridge. The sound of trampling feet lurched over their heads, the shadows following instincts more than senses as they went charging over the field and headed to the other side of the park. Once the silence returned, after a full minute of stomping boots and crumpling broken soles that dragged endless across the dirt, Oddclaw took a deep breath and pulled himself up as they went another direction, trying to venture further in the strange fog as they discovered a new path, a black line in the snowy white.

Another street but from another city, the roads now more modern with gravel and tar that cracked with running lines beside a cemetery of cars scattered across the place. The buildings were newer, their designs more uniform as tight-knot brutalist apartment blocks with old creaking staircases of wrought iron fire escapes wrapped round their sides like a prisoner's chains, their windows warped with sullen eyes and handprints left upon their doors in faded crimson. Dozens upon dozens of hands.

"So many different places," Jacob shook his head, "all of them so...awful."

"There has to be someone," Oddclaw sat on the steps, "someone who has a mind, someone still alive."

"You don't think those things were alive?"

"No." He tapped his snout. "When something is alive, it has a scent, surely you smelled that too."

"I mean, my nose is more tuned to like, food," Jacob rubbed his own bulbous snout, "not really so much on the uh, smell of other living things, now if you ask me what spices somebody put in their rice then yeah."

"If we cannot find anyone, we must reach the highest place and try to find some place that is safe."

"Yeah good idea...speaking of."

The yoshi turned his head down the street to where a writhing mass was starting to approach. Oddclaw took a deep breath and pulled himself up as the horde once-human approached with dragging swords and bracing guns pointed towards them with a clicking shot as they ducked beside an old car. Bullets came whittling down the lane and chipping against the metal as Jacob prepared to leap out of cover. But then he saw something, shooting from the sky as a piercing light that burst onto the street with sharp crystals of ice, a flowering formation of white stiffening petals upon which a single figure stood in its centre.

"_HRRRRAAAAAAA AAAARGH! _"

The stranger lunged from the white and thrust his spear through the monstrous crowd, cleaving the first wave with a shining sweep as crackling ice followed his blade through the air to rip through their heads and gouge deep into armours, splintering shards that exploded into other shadows and forced the crowd to stagger before the stranger leapt back.

"Is...that," Jacob stood up from the car and inched forwards "...is...DAD!"

"What?!"

"D-DAD! DAAAAD!"

Turning back towards them, a black raptor stood before the wretched human shapes dressed in chainmail with a deep azure cloak round his shoulders. His eyes of brown pupils had circular blue rings that showed the first signs of crow's feet, his spear glistening with the same mushroom symbol that Jacob had on his shield.

"Your...father?" Oddclaw gasped as Jacob started running.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAD!"

"JACOB, STAY BACK!"

The raptor thrust his spear towards a faceless knight, ripping its head through with a stabbing twist before a farmer came swinging with its scythe in a silent scream that he ducked. Jacob bashed its stomach with a shield charge and cracked its head backwards to stand beside his father.

"Ohhh, thank god ah found you!"

"You got no idea," the yoshi shivered, "I-i got so much to tell you-"

"Let's deal with these punks first, then we got tahm to catch up."

"Right, yeah, ODDIE OVER HERE, COME ON!"

Hurrying over, Oddclaw took aim towards the furthest group of shadows from the two and fired off two shots, crunching through five of them as they faded back into the tarmac as melting pools of ink. A brigand came swinging down with a huge mace studded with spikes as Oddclaw dodged back, gasping with a clutch to his belly as he felt his exhaustion picking up before Jacob's father shot a hurling ball of ice that crunched into the fiend's head to stagger it. But he wasn't able to follow up when a ragged shape in civilian clothes swung a bat towards his face and he blocked sharp with his spear, twirling to wrench it from its grip and stab straight through the head with a downwards cleave to rip its shadowed form in half. When a line of shooters approached in strangely uniform march wearing old striped coats, his claws thickened with cold mist as he swept a long line of ice in the ground that he summoned to rise up, forming a wall before they opened fire upon him with bullets pinging off.

Jacob stood in the path of a gunner, an officer with a rifle who peppered across his shield before the yoshi launched his tongue out to wrap around the gun and pull it hard disarming the enemy, the shape lurching forth in a mindless frenzy to try and bash on his shield as he slammed it into the top of its head and flattened it down. Another human came sweeping for his neck with a cleaving sickle, the yoshi turning fast to parry it with a thwack and send the poorly remnant staggering before he kicked out its legs and pounded his shield into its back. Oddclaw tried to block with his shotgun until it would recharge, not wanting to touch the oily fake flesh as another human came swinging with its crooked axe, chopping twice for his head in deep diagonal cuts before he blasted its body in half with one shot reloaded, the other he burst upon two cops to the side who swung maces simultaneous for his stomach.

"FALL BACK!" the father shouted. "C'MON THIS WAY!"

Without questioning they followed him, Jacob first then Oddclaw second as they headed down the street and ducked out beside an overturned truck as the horde came rushing after them, a shambling furore of incessant beasts who spoke not a single word but screamed hatred with every step, a galloping herd that thundered with broken feet. Once they were halfway down the road, the black raptor whistled sharply as there came a volley of fireballs from above that burst across the shadows and set one of the cars alight, causing it to explode sending a shockwave through the crowd that destroyed a quarter of them and burned them to whispering ashes.

"WOAH!" Jacob squeaked. "Wh-what was that?!"

"Backup," said his father, "now just sit tight an' wait fer mah signal."

With the horde now confused by the wreathing flames, they did not notice the whirling death that came hurtling from behind, the sound of a spinning rip that skidded over the tarmac and bowled into the shadows, splitting the herd apart as bodies flew and crunched with the sound of wet bone as what appeared to be a green shell skidded out of the scattered human shapes.

"HNNGH!" The shell stood up with legs popping out. "Not done that in...years."

"U-UNCLE!"

"Jacob?!"

A head poked out with arms following, one of them holding a cane with curved tip to reveal a short 5-foot-tall turtle that smiled at the yoshi.

"You're okay! Thank the stars, Roy you take the left, I'll take right!"

"No probs Koopin," the black raptor stood up twirling his spear, "Jacob you stay here-"

"Nah-uh!" he stood up tapping his shield. "Sooner we get rid of those things the better!"

"Whut about you?" he looked over to Oddie.

"I can still fight," he stood up in turn, "I will not leave you to fight them alone."

"Alrigh', don't push yourself too hard, you help out Koopin over there, Jacob you come with me!"

Splitting off into two groups, the father and son headed to the east side of the street, whilst Oddclaw joined the turtle who engaged against the shadows with his cane. One humanoid in an ancient tribal kilt struck him with a short sword that Koopin blocked fast with a twist of his hand, the cane suddenly flipping a 180 to deflect the blade before he pulled back to stab the shadow's throat with a hard blunt jab. The creature vaguely reacted, shuddering a silent cough before the turtle whalloped him with his staff twice across the head to send it falling as Oddclaw cracked another shadow's head with a golf swing strike of his shotgun. Blasting down two with one shot and then three with another, the earth-brown raptor took a moment to step back and catch his breath as the wretched fiends started to thin out.

"You alright?"

Koopin took hold of his arm, then widened his eyes when the raptor turned his head towards him and nodded.

"I am...is, something wrong?"

"No, n-no you look...um, tired, yeah, thanks for the help."

"It is fine, we are not done yet."

"I wish, I'm just glad I can punch them and not get infected."

"Really?" Oddclaw nodded with a growing grin. "Good to know."

Turning back to the advancing shadows Koopin took on the first to draw its blade against him, a traveller in loose clothes with curved scimitar that he parried to scrape down the side of his cane before swiping to its neck, causing it to bow its head forwards in a shivering rememberance of pain and receiving a rising kick to its faceless head in a hard crunch of Koopin's boot. Another beast swung down with a woodchopping axe in huntsman's clothes as the turtle quickly strafed in a short duck, clenching his beak in pain when his leg dragged too slowly to catch up before he rapped the staff of his cane against the human's arm and blocked its swing short. He lunged in close with a punch to its heart, or where it had once been, following immediate with a sudden savage uppercut to the jaw that threw its head back as Koopin slipped past its staggered body to drive his elbow deep to the side and send it falling to a crumple.

One human shape dressed in older police clothes came charging at Oddclaw with gun in hand, firing off two shots as he ducked through them and clawed at the face with a rending tear that would have gouged ones eyes clean from their sockets, grabbing the fleshy ink and slamming its head into the street gravel before its partner came shooting in turn. The raptor stomped on the fallen shadow and quickly strafed the shots before sweeping the partner's leg, causing it to stumble when he grabbed it in a headlock and viciously twisted its neck with a moist crunch that caused its body to melt almost through his hands back into the tarmac. A gaggle of smaller humanoids came tearing towards him like a pack, ill-fitting clothes and bare handed fists as he kicked one through the chest, crushed another's throat and when his shotgun was ready again, fired once killing three in a burning blast.

Across the road Jacob caught sight of a heavy-armoured shooter, bracing a riot-control shotgun as he spun himself round to hurl his shield like a discus and clang against the helmeted beast to knock it stumbling back. Running towards the dizzied opponent, the yoshi leapt up high to grab his shield and came hurtling down like a comet to stomp-crunch its head with a brazen slam, almost splashing a puddle of black underneath his boots. Heading over to his son to keep him covered, Roy found himself in the centre of the divided group, shambling monsters with swords and spears trying to slash and stab towards him as he twirled his spear fast around his body to deflect them all at once.

"Y'all know whut tahm it is?"

He cracked his knuckles as spindling threads of frost rippled between his claws.

"Tahm fer a New York CHRISTMAS!"

Slamming his fists into the ground, a flowering blossom of purest ice burst from the gravel and stabbed through six of the shadows with tearing force, the bodies impaled briefly upon the large fragments as Jacob covered himself with shield when Roy called out a warning and made a furious roar that shattered the ice into a thousand splinters, ripping through their bodies as the armoured ones still remained for his son to slam against with his shield and send them staggering towards his father to impale them with his spear.

"Better sharpen yer FACE!"

"HAH!" he ripped his lance free from the melting pile of steel. "God ah missed you son-WOAH!"

The yoshi hugged him instantly, the raptor clutching him tight with flushed cheeks and a shudder of warmth through both of them as he patted his son and stroked through his hair.

"I needed that."

"Me too," Jacob whimpered, "dad, I-i've been-"

"No, no we need to get ourselves sumplace safe, cummon, ahm hurtin' too."

"Alright...yeah."

He hugged him tight once more as they turned to the remaining monsters, bracing their weapons firm.

On the western side of the street, Koopin faced down another human dressed in robes of the occult that came lunging with a hooked blade, swerving out of its path and striking the back of its neck with his cane and swiftly driving his knee into its chest. Trying to slash out for his face, the shadow became rabid with fury unbridled as it swung in brazen cuts, one of which scarred Koopin's shell across the shoulder and made him flinch before he stopped the fourth strike with a crack of the staff against the human's wrist and slammed his palm into its head.

"GET, OFF!"

"Are you alright?!" Oddclaw asked from aside.

"Fine, just...trying to buy time 'til he shows up."

"Who?!"

"My husband!" Koopin gasped stepping back from a slicing blade. "He just needs to recover, shooting fireballs and such takes a lot out of him."

"Does he do majick?"

"Kinda, LOOK OUT!"

A shining axe came swinging for both of them, a monstrous double-edged thing in the hands of a human with fur-wrapped lining across its massive arms as it stood towering over them both. Koopin tried to quickly back up, hobbling with a gasp as Oddclaw held him close to his side to help carry him faster before the might of the warhammer came crushing down inches from their feet. They almost fell together, the raptor taking aim with his shotgun in a last-minute counter before something came shooting from above, a shining star of burning red that with a furious roar, crunched a burning fist hard into the faceless void of the shadowed golem, cracking its head so far it almost fell completely onto its back if not for its axe as a crutch.

"THERE you are!" Koopin cried pushing himself up.

"Sorry sorry, I know, I had to recharge."

"Took you longer than I thought, I almost dealt with all these mooks myself."

"Well I'm old give me a break."

Oddclaw stood paralysed before the newcomer. Slightly shorter than him, with scales turning pale from their earthen brown, was a raptor that looked almost exactly like him. Were it not for the blue jeans, the polo shirt or the purple marks across his snout and down his back, he would have thought it a reflection as the newcomer stared back equally stuck in place, their eyes of jade mirroring confusion with shock.

"Uhhh...Koopin, who is this guy?"

"I-i think he's Jacob's friend, but can we deal with the big guy first?!"

"Right yeah, hey you," he pointed to Oddie, "is your gun loaded?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"Cuz I got an idea to blow this fucker into pieces, you trust me?"

"...yes."

He nodded cautious as the older raptor stood to his side waiting for the shadowed warrior to pull itself back up with its gleaming axe from the heavens, swinging above its head to come crashing down like thunderous rage as they dodged swiftly out of its path. The raptors stuck close together, Oddclaw holding his gun up to show he was ready whilst the other put his hands towards the side of his waist like he was crushing an invisible weight. Sparks began forming from his fingers, dancing blue streaks of energy that began to crackle and spin towards a sphere as the older raptor tightened his face and focused hard as he could to feel flames bursting free from his claws, swirling faster to become rivers of red and amber that burned hotter as he nodded to Odd.

"_NNNNNRRRAAAAAA DOUKEEEN! _"

With a violent explosion from his hands the fireball went hurtling to almost burn blue straight into the viking beast, crushing against his chest seconds before Oddclaw fired both shots causing a second grander explosion that obliterated the shadow to a smoking cinder, not a trace of its armours left as a cloud mushroomed in the sky with the older raptor clapping.

"HOOHOOHOOOOO YEAH! THAT'S HOW YA DO IT!" He patted Oddie's shoulder. "Fuckin' NICE alright let's clear the rest of these assholes!"

"Gladly."

Snarling as they faced the last vestiges of the horde, they went charging in as Koopin whacked his cane against two smaller child-shapes, rattling their heads with a double-shaking crack of his staff to knock their heads about before kicking one's head hard like a football and spinning on his better foot to roundhouse the other kid down into the same pile of ink. The unknown raptor took on another cultist shade that lunged with its knife, dodging in a full strafe and sweeping the arm aside before crunching his fist deep into its stomach. Slamming his knee between its legs, he grabbed its neck and savagely punched it into a slimy pulp before slamdunking its head into the dirt and stomping flat with his foot.

Oddclaw stared down a bat with wires wrapped round it that came sweeping for his head, ducking fast to grab the wrist and drive his other fist into its arm to cause it to spasm in memory of pain, dropping the weapon before he drove his elbow deep into its skull and yanked its arm sharply across its body to turn it painfully in step to line up its knee for him to crack down with a savage crushing stomp. He looked up to find the street was now clear, the remnants of clothes mixed with thick blackened pools littering across the gravel almost indistinguishable.

"We all good?!" Roy cried.

"Yeah!" the older raptor gave a thumbs up before turning to Odd. "Thanks again for the help, you uh, you got stuck here too?"

"Yes." Oddclaw nodded warily. "I was with Jacob."

"We got lost here too," said Koopin, "I'm just glad he's back with us thouuuuuugh...ah."

He gulped looking down towards Oddclaw's legs and quickly turned away, much to the other raptor's snickering as he winked.

"Alright, look, I get it, I like to be shirtless in my downtime, but that's a bit much."

"What?" Oddclaw hissed.

"Just hey, yanno you're letting it hang out free and I got no reason to tell you no cuz we're not currently in a society right now so hey, do whatcha like, I mean jesus, if I had a baseball bat between my legs I'd wanna show it off."

"...I do not like wearing clothes," he shook his head, "that is all."

"Oh, right," the elder put up his hands, "you're one of those guys, okay hey I ain't judging like I said this is not the place to judge just...hooo, damn you are huge you know that."

"No. I am the smallest of my family."

"OH, KAY then," he turned towards Koopin and quickly huddled next to him, "did you hear that?!"

"He's the SMALLEST in his family?!" the turtle gasped. "Jeez I don't know if that's good or bad."

"You alright son?" Roy turned to the yoshi separate from the group. "You almost gave me a scare disappearin' lahk that, ah swear ah wuz almost-"

"D-...d-dad."

The boy hugged him with a sudden squeeze, Roy pulling Jacob tight against his chest with a shudder of relief as his son whimpered in fits, his voice muffling with tears that Roy felt deep in his heart. He stroked his son's hair, he kissed his cheek with a soft breath as Jacob broke down harder in stuttering fits, whilst Oddclaw kept his eyes fixed upon the other raptor with purple marks.

"I-i-i...I...d-dad, d-dad you're here-"

"I am...it's okay Jacob...it's okay, everything's going to be alrigh-"

"I thought th-that...that I couldn't...f-find you!"

"I know, I know ah felt thuh same thing too."

"We're so glad you're okay," said Koopin rubbing his neck, "we were searching everywhere, this place is so confusing."

"It doesn't feel at all like a real place," said the old raptor looking to Oddclaw, "hey uh...you alright?"

"Hmm?"

"You been looking at me kinda funny, you wanna rest a li'l bit?"

"No," Oddclaw shook his head, "I am fine. How do you know Jacob?"

"Oh well I'm his uncle, James." He offered his hand. "What's your name?"

"Oddclaw." He crossed his arms. "Are you...James Campbell?"

"Wh-...what?"

"Are you. James, Campbell?"

There came a tension in the air as Koopin stepped up beside James, Roy pulling back his tears to grip his spear as Jacob quickly rushed between.

"Wait WAIT, he's a friend alright he's a friend!"

"Answer me." Oddclaw snarled. "Are you James Campbell?"

"No." James grinned flicking a finger across the snout. "I'm James Kennidon."

"Do you go by other names?"

"Nope."

"Not even Oddscar?"

He felt James clench, a tightness in his chest and a brief pulse in his eyes that told him everything.

"What's going on?" the koopa looked between them. "James, what...do you know him?"

"Well...do you?" Oddclaw spread his arms. "Do you know me?"

"N-no?!" James shook his head stepping back. "No I, what, what's your problem?"

"What if I call you FATHER?! Do you know me NOW?!"

Silence filled the void as they stared at each other. For a moment James twitched his eye as his brain struggled to parse the last word that Oddclaw said before it clicked with the most devastating spark.

"...fuck." He grabbed his head. "Ohhhh fffffuck."

"James." Koopin turned with a severe look and his hands on his cane. "Who is this?"

"W-wait, hold up." Roy shook his head walking over. "Whut is, whut, is he fer real?!"

"Oddclaw what're you doing?!" Jacob touched his arm.

"Alrigh' hold up, ah dunno who you are, an' ah deeply appreciate you keeping mah son safe, but you gotta explain whut you just said cuz there's four of us an' ONE of you."

"No." The younger raptor clenched his teeth. "YOU, tell them, Oddscar."

"Okay that's not even close to his name come on man."

"I would tell you the story, but I was not born when HE abandoned my MOTHER!"

His voice barked with a sudden snap that made them pull back briefly, his teeth bearing out as James sighed and rubbed his face.

"I can't believe this."

Koopin, Roy and Jacob looked to him.

"In this...this...god, this fucking void of nothing, I meet......I have a son."

James suddenly felt weak.

"I-i...oh, shit I have a son."

"Yes, you do."

Oddclaw stepped forward before a cane swept in his path. Koopin stared with a look that threatened him to keep his distance, the elder raptor sitting on a stone step with his head in his hands feeling a weight on his back.

"This...god it's so weird I-i don't...god."

"Okay, wait." The koopa raised his hand. "Let's head somewhere safe, let's get back to our hiding spot then you can explain what's going on."

"Right..."

They marched to a long silence as Koopin led them down the streets, turning through passages hidden between houses as tight alleyways forced them to squeeze through out of the view of lamps and into the depths of darkness. Jacob never left his father's side, his hand clutched in his constantly as they weaved through a corridor of stone. In the back of the houses within a small empty lot, there was a fire crackling and several benches clustered around it.

"This place is safe," said the koopa sitting down beside James, "for some reason the shadows don't like coming back here. So you...say you're James' son?"

"Yes," Oddclaw kept himself standing.

"He is," James nodded, "I...I know he is."

"How do you-...what?" Koopin shook his head with incredulous look. "Did you...did you even know about this?"

"No, I didn't know exactly-"

"That's a LIE!" Oddclaw pointed. "Do NOT, LIE, YOU KNEW ABOUT MY MOTHER!"

"Wait, wait," James put up his hands, "it's not like that!"

"You KNOW about my family, even when none of your friends knew!"

"It's more complicated than you think!"

"Are you SERIOUS?!" Koopin slammed his staff into the dirt. "What, wh-what, JAMES!"

"Koopin, NO let me explain-"

"I thought, there were NO MORE SECRETS between us!"

"I wasn't hiding it, I just-"

"So whut you call this?!" Roy gestured opposite the fire. "First ah ever heard o' this, an' I know shit about you even Koopin don't!"

"Roy don't this is between me an-"

"STOP IT!"

Jacob's scream rang through the air, the others looking towards his face where they saw his eyes burning red.

"Just...stop it. I JUST found you guys again, and now I'm hearing all of this, I-i just..."

He wept for a moment, clutching his face and gently rocking to himself as his father pulled him into a tender hug to calm him. With a deep breath he regained himself and nodded to James.

"Tell us."

"What?"

"Just...tell us uncle James, just tell us everything."

"Jake, buddy c'mon-"

"NO!" he thrust his finger towards the raptor standing. "Oddclaw has helped me through a lot, since we all fell into that weird portal that came outta nowhere I've been stuck in his world and been trying to get back to you!"

"Wait you weren't here?" Roy shook his head. "Is that why we couldn't find you?"

"I was stuck in some ancient place full of dinosaurs with this lab where humans were working at and they helped me because Oddclaw knew me cuz I helped out his-...um, a-anyways, you should hear him out-"

"Jacob stop," James waved his hand, "this is between me and him-"

"NO, THIS IS BETWEEN ALL OF US!" he shouted standing up. "I JUST SPENT, TWO YEARS, TWO FREAKING YEARS IN ODDCLAW'S WORLD AND I ALMOST GOT KILLED!"

"W-wait, two years that's not-"

"IF IT WASN'T FOR HIM, I WOULDN'T BE HERE WITH YOU, HE'S HAD TO SUFFER SO MUCH TO GET HERE, AND YOU'RE GONNA LISTEN!"

"JACOB!" Roy grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back. "Just, calm down son ah know we're all in a weird place but you don't go flyin' off thuh handle-"

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH!"

His voice turned hoarse and tears streaked thin down his cheeks.

"You don't...know what I have been through...or maybe you do."

"Whut, whut do you mean?"

"No. Not yet." He looked back towards James. "I wanna hear everything too. What Oddclaw said. Tell us, are you really his dad?"

"I want to hear it too." Koopin crossed his arms. "Let's hear it James."

All eyes were upon him as the old raptor sighed. He looked towards Oddclaw, still severe upon him as he shook his head.

"How did you even get here?"

"A portal," he said, "it brought me and Jacob here. I...did not think I would ever see my father."

"I never thought I'd see you either...god." James blinked rubbing his head. "You look...you really did take after me huh?"

"Not that you cared," he snarled creeping his teeth, "do you know how many years mother waited for you to come back?"

"I, I thought I said-"

"Said WHAT, that you would never return?!"

"No, not exactly-"

"You left my mother behind with four of your children to care for! Why did you not come back?! WHY, when you know who I am, when you KNOW your name of Oddscar as one of the many names you have like the liar you are!"

"Well you wanna let me fucking explain it then?!" James stood up with a pointed sneer. "Or you gonna keep bitching about it and not let me get a word in?"

"Should I let you speak?" Oddclaw stepped closer to him. "You already tried to lie to me-"

"Let him speak!" Koopin shouted banging his cane. "If you want your answers let him at least defend himself-"

"SHUT UP!"

Oddclaw suddenly felt the hand of his father wrap tightly round his throat, causing all of them to flinch as the son immediately tried to grab his arm and kick out his leg before James tightened his fingers with a thick burning sensation on Oddclaw's neck.

"Don't. Ever talk to my husband like that."

"N-NO, STOP IT!" Jacob cried.

"You wanna hear the whole story, fine, but you talk like that to him again and I'll burn your fucking throat, now are we clear?"

"...fine." The two pulled back with hands free. "Tell me, why you never came back."

James walked back to his seat and sat beside Koopin, taking a few breaths to steady himself as he licked his lips.

"First off, it's really hazy so you can just correct me if I get anything wrong. I don't remember everything but I do know when it was."

"Well that's easy," Roy pointed to Oddie," how old are you?"

"Forty," he replied.

"So...mmmm, you'd have been twenny-five, righ' FG?"

"Yeah," the father clenched his hands, "sounds about right. Two years before Oddclaw was born, a few years before I even met Roy, I was wandering between worlds because of a thing that happened back in my home."

"Your home?" Jacob shook his head. "Wait...that means-"

"Yeah uhm...think it's safe to tell you that, your dad and I aren't from Dinosaur Land, or any part of the Mushroom Kingdom."

"...no."

The yoshi clutched his head and slumped back onto his seat curling into a ball.

"This...sh-she was...no."

Roy sat down to console him, stroking his back before Jacob flinched away from him. Something broke quietly inside Roy as he watched his son's face turn more hollow with a deepening stare into the dirt.

"Long story short," James continued, "I was experimented on by this army, who wanted to make a super soldier, they did stuff with my body to give me like, fire powers and stuff, but one of those things was being able to travel between worlds."

"By yourself?" Oddclaw cocked his head. "You do not need a portal?"

"I make my own, Roy does too. I made one to escape the people that were using me, kidnapped me to try and turn me into some kinda pet. I went from place to place over the next few years, most of it sucked."

He hunched over with hands clasped tighter.

"I was scared of never getting back home, I tried to make a life in a nice village but it ended badly...I didn't get over that for a good while, to try and get by I got involved in a race, then someone tried to kill me. I escaped out of a hospital I was recovering from, full of drugs and ended up in your world, where I lost sense of who I was."

"You had a...breakdown?" Koopin blinked.

"I was terrified, angry, upset and alone and the drugs they put in me after the accident in a race weren't helping. It took me years after I left to piece my memories together, but..."

The raptor scratched his cheek with a heavy sigh.

"When I was with your mum...I wasn't...sane. I wasn't myself, I was this other person this...Oddscar."

"But it was you," Oddclaw gestured to him, "it was your body."

"But it wasn't my mind. I didn't remember her, cuz two years had passed and by the time I came back to my senses, I was lying on a table with humans about to cut me open and I shanked them all and threw open the door control to let all the raptors out. I saw this one raptor, all these ferals behind her, I thought they were gonna kill me so I had my gun out and ready to shoot...but this one raptor, she was pregnant...she walked up to me and...just..."

He stroked his hand in rememberance.

"I didn't know who she was...but I felt something...someone inside me, knowing she wouldn't hurt me. So we got out together. We fought off the humans, we raced down to the exit, fought off this huge T-rex-"

"Yes," his son nodded, "my alpha from before told me all of this."

"And we got out...and we were free. I didn't know what else to do, I was just...I was tired and confused and wanted to be somewhere else."

James rubbed his neck with both hands.

"I didn't realise until years later that...the raptor who was pregnant was...the one I'd been probably with and for years I couldn't tell anyone because where do I begin?"

"You could have come back." Oddclaw stepped forth tightening his fists. "You could have come back, and met my mother, met our family!"

"I-i didn't want to upset things!"

"UPSET?!" he stomped his foot. "My mother, for the rest of her life since we hatched, has been waiting for you, every SINGLE day! Do you know how much it upset her, knowing you never came back?!"

"No look I get it-"

"Why..." Koopin rubbed his head, "why did you never...even tell me?"

"I really didn't know how to start," James gulped, "I just wanted a quiet life, I wanted to stop travelling, I was sick of it."

"Man that's bullshit," Roy shook his head, "you remembered you left a family an' your excuse is you were tired?"

"FINE, yes!" He crossed his arms in a humph. "I was tired, I was sick of it, does that make me sound shitty, yes, I'm sorry, I just didn't expect that I would be able to talk with any of them cuz they were all feral, I didn't KNOW my son would be waltzing up here speaking perfect English to make things a lot easier-"

"Stop it." Koopin slapped a hand on the raptor's chest. "You know perfectly well you don't need words to communicate, you could draw pictures."

"Ah dunno FG's pretty bad at charades."

The black raptor's chuckle was met with cold stares from the other family. James sighed rubbing his knees as he spoke further.

"I just didn't think it was right to get involved again. By the time I remembered it had been like twelve years, would you really want your dad to just come waltzing back in, without understanding a word he said, and then just ditching your mum all over again, would it even matter!?"

"It mattered to HER!" Oddclaw stepped nearer to the fire. "It mattered to us, do you know how much I had to hear about you from the elders, every day when I was a child?! They called me a saviour because I had the same body as you, my mother became obsessed with you!"

"Wait, what?!"

"Ever since I was born, they spoke of how I would be as great as you, and one of my own brothers hated me for it, so much he hated me he tried to kill me because everyone forgot about his father!"

"Wait, his father?" Koopin squinted. "From like a previous marriage?"

"Yes, my mother's mate before Oddscar."

"Woah woah, wait." James shook his head with a growing smirk. "Is this...are you angry cuz you kept getting compared to me?"

"NO!" Oddclaw shouted. "I am angry because you abandoned us, I am angry because everyone called you this great saviour when you FAILED AS A FATHER!"

"I didn't even KNOW I was!"

"EVEN WHEN YOU WERE NEVER AROUND, YOU MADE THINGS WORSE!"

"Oh you gonna blame me for stuff I never even DID now?!"

"YES, BECAUSE YOU ARE A WORTHLESS FATHER, AND I AM GLAD I NEVER BECAME YOU!"

The wind came gasping through the passage as a soft scream that bent the flames to its will. Oddclaw shivered with a building rage as Koopin pulled back, but James kept a firm look unblinking.

"I... despised you. I have waited so long to tell you this, that all the great things I hear about you, all the many others you saved mean NOTHING to me, when you were too much of a coward to come back and be a father, a mate, to our family."

"...you know what." James clapped once and gave a simple nod. "That's fair, and you're right, what I done doesn't mean shit when I didn't even try to come back to you."

"Good." His son nodded with a cold stare. "I am glad you know this."

"I'm not gonna make excuses, I just had no memory of it for years and by the time I did, I thought too much time had passed that it would even matter. I screwed up. I'm sorry."

"...no." Oddclaw turned away with arms crossed. "I do not accept that."

"What?" Koopin stood up. "You're not taking his apology?"

"No. I will not forgive you."

"We are LITERALLY in thuh middle of a phantom hellscape!" Roy cried standing up. "You got bigger things to worry about, we all do, ah know your dad fucked up but could you maybe-"

"NO!" Oddclaw snapped. "I have...suffered through the worst day of my life, only to find at the end of this day a father who was too stupid and lazy to come back to us!"

"That's NOT TRUE!" the koopa thrust his cane towards him. "Look, I've known James for years now, and I get where you're coming from, but he's been through a lot as well, you don't know half the things he's done-"

"I know enough, and I do not care, if he was able to save so many, there is no reason for him not to come back to our family."

"But you can't-"

"Koopin." James took his hand and pulled him back. "Just let him be, it's fine."

"But he's, I-"

"You're mad at me too, come on, I screwed up, we got bigger stuff to deal with."

"...right."

"As for you." He pointed towards Oddclaw and walked over to him. "Punch me."

"Wh-WHAT?!"

"You're angry at me, come on." He beckoned his son with taunting hands. "Punch me, fucking slam your fist right in my face."

"James come ON, stop it-"

"Naw naw," Roy put his hand across, "let 'em sort this out."

"NO!" Koopin stepped up to try and grab James. "Stop this, NOW!"

"Koopin, let him." His husband turned to him. "Remember when you went all round the world getting beat up to get stronger?"

"Yes...but..."

There came a soft realisation as Koopin nodded. He stepped back and watched James spread his arms wide towards the youngest raptor of them.

"Come on. I know you want to, you've said all you wanted to say, so why don't you follow through with your words, an-KHRRRH!"

One punch sent him to the floor. Oddclaw drove his fist straight into his father's eye as he went stumbling hard with a crumple. Koopin rushed to his side with a fearful look, but instead saw the raptor smile with a blackened bruise as he looked up to Oddclaw's shivering snarl.

"You feel better now?"

"A little."

"Yeah." James pulled himself up and rubbed his eye. "Damn you got a good left hook...I know that won't fix everything, but I did deserve that."

"Hm."

Oddclaw went and sat down beside Jacob, whilst his father went back to Koopin's side as they seated separate. Jacob still kept silent throughout all this, his eyes tightening and hands clenched with mouth turning dry as Roy tried to stroke him.

"Son, are you alright?"

He said nothing, his face clenching with the onset of tears he pulled back into himself as he shook his head. Roy kept by his side as the flames kept crackling in front of him, a deep sigh escaping him as he looked up to James who shared his look.

"I remember," Koopin said breaking the silence, "there was an old story passed down through Monster Town, about the abyss between worlds known as Vanda."

"You really gonna start telling me we stumbled into an old myth?" James snorted.

"You literally came out of another dimension."

"Yeah okay fair, so what was the myth?"

"Just that legends say there was sometimes a door that would send you to another realm where a god of crystals would live seeking the strongest of those to challenge him."

"Whut that's literally thuh plot of Kung Fu Koopa!" cried Roy.

"Yeah it was based on the myth!"

"Ahhhh, damn, still gettin' surprised by your world every day."

"You mean, OUR world." Koopin smiled at him with a hand round James' arm. "So, Jacob I guess we should catch you and Oddie up to speed right?"

"Mmm." The yoshi shrugged.

"Well, basically after we all fell in and you...disappeared, we've been wandering around these old towns and cities fighting shadows for what feels like maybe hours."

"But, you said it had been two years?" Roy looked to his son. "Are you sure-"

"N-NNNGH!" Jacob fidgeted as he gripped his head. "J-just...just stop...please."

"...Jacob, whut...whut happened?" He bent down closer to him. "Whut happened to you son, I'm worried."

"...you...you really are from another world?" The yoshi looked up. "You and uncle James?"

"Yes."

"When...w-were you ever going to tell me?"

"We couldn't," Roy shook his head, "when we first arrived, we got met by the um, Koopa Kingdom an' they made us sign a contract to follow thuh rules, not get involved in kingdom conflicts, and not tell anyone where we were from."

"He's right," Koopin nodded, "I signed it too because I was with James, we can tell you now since you've basically gone beyond our world too."

"But...b-but your stories," Jacob whimpered clutching his chest, "I-i seen your licence, it said-"

"It's fake." His father sighed. "The Koopa Kingdom made them for me an' your uncle so we could settle in."

"Does...does mom know?"

"No. Just us here, an' now you."

"...I need to ask you something." The yoshi took a deep breath and looked up to him. "Do you...kn-know about...Skulte-Marupe?"

His father's face said everything. Fear took his eyes and his heart stopped for a moment, arms tightening with a clench of his fists and a shiver escaped his lips.

"Who...wh-who told you?"

"...I met...I-i met this lady...she came to Oddie's world, she was...she took his friends, she did h-horrible things to them and killed s-so...so many people."

"Was...no...no," Roy shook his head pulling back, "t-tell me it wuzn't here, it wuzn't-"

"Are you serious?" James muttered. "First I meet my son now this...THAT place too?!"

"Jacob." The father took his son's hand and squeezed it tight. "Who wuz this woman?"

"She...h-her name was...Frau Grimm."

Roy hugged him tight as Jacob felt his fear pulse from his heart. He never heard his father weep until this moment, shuddering sobs that caused him to start crying in turn as Jacob poured out his frustration, screaming into his father's chest as Roy wept beside him.

"I'm sorry, oh god I'm sorry, J-jacob I, I-i never, I never would've...ah just wanted to forget all of this-"

"She s-said, she said you betrayed her, th-that you broke out criminals I-i didn't believe her!"

"She said...that?" Roy pulled back wiping his tears. "She weren't running a prison Jacob...she...sh-she wuz runnin' a...place to kill people. A place for...people her army didn't like, people they hated for existin-"

"N-no, I know, I know that!" Jacob grabbed his arm. "She was a monster, she said things about you and I didn't believe a word of it! But...I need to know what happened-"

"Jacob, no-"

"TELL ME!" his eyes squinted tight. "Tell me...please."

"...they found me in a forest."

Roy pulled back rubbing his arm.

"Thuh...I landed in this world, this place full of war, everything smelled lahk death. Frau Grimm's troops carried me to their camp, they...told me ah could work for them as a 'farmer', or be livestock with thuh rest of their prisoners. Ah said no. They carved numbers into mah arm."

He stared down at his right limb. Oddclaw had not noticed until now that there was a black gunmetal sheen that went halfway up his arm.

"Eventually thuh prisoners an' me figured out a plan...ah pretended to break, an' join Grimm's nazi thugs, then worked mah way on the inside, killin' off her troops, breaking out thuh prisoners then she tried to escape on a train...it wuz hell. But ah managed to free them."

"I know." Jacob smiled still shaking. "I-i know, she...showed me the papers that were talking about your escape, you really...did that?"

"She wuz hurtin' people," Roy shook his head, "doing things ah...ah don't want to talk about. Things she did to me too."

"I know...she tried to hurt me too."

The father took his son's hands in his, clutching them as Jacob gulped to steady himself.

"Sh-she...she tried to make me her pet. I wouldn't do it...she nearly killed my friend, this guy I met, I-i-i had a...a thing, like, pointing at her, it was like a black thing that shot off stuff-"

"A g-gun?" Roy gasped. "You...oh Jacob, oh god-"

"I couldn't do it!" He shrieked. "Sh-she almost killed my friend, I-i had this thing pointing at her she screamed at me to shoot b-but I couldn't...I-i couldn't because...I'm-"

"Because you're a good kid."

Roy smiled with a deep sigh and put his hands on his shoulders.

"Your eyes always shine so bright...focused, lahk your mom's does."

"R-really? You...you're not mad I couldn't...stop her?"

"No. Ah know you Jacob, you're not someone who can take a life, an' ah would never want you to."

"I-i did fight her, I stood up to her, I did stop her!"

"You did?"

Jacob nodded with a firm look as Roy hugged him with a kiss to his cheek.

"Ah knew thuh moment we first met, that you were thuh best thing to come out of our family."

"What...what do you mean?"

"Whut you just told me...makes me realise that nuthin' I will do will ever be greater than having you as my son. You fought a monster, thuh worst...most evil person I ever met, and despite all of that, you're still you."

"What, I, o-of course I'm still me," Jacob giggled nervous.

"Ah wuzn't thuh same when ah left Skulte-Marupe," Roy shook his head, "you managed to stay thuh way you are, ah look at you and ah still see that same sweet Jacob I have always known."

"...two...t-two years," the yoshi gasped, "it was two years d-dad."

"How?" Koopin whispered. "It can't have been that long, could it?"

"It's okay son." Roy smiled pressing his head against him. "Ah won't leave you...we get through this together, and ah know you'll be with me every step cuz...you've already proven you're stronger than me."

"No I'm not...we're strong together, dad."

The sight of the two MacGregors made James look towards his son. Oddclaw turned to him as they gazed across the fire, before a snarl crept over his face and he turned away again leaving James to sigh heavily to himself. A few minutes would pass in silence as the wind picked up again, before a light came shining from the other end of the alley that made them turn their heads.

"What, what is that?"

"Stay close," James stood up baring his fists, "something's up."

"Cummon Jacob," Roy joined him with spear at the ready, "no tahm to rest."

As the five of them braced for a fight, the light grew stronger as the end of the alley shaped itself into a twisting stairwell of angels, golden threads woven into steps as a long bannister shone upwards to the sky.

"Uhhhh...kay?!" Jacob muttered.

"This is thuh one thing ah did not want to see," Roy stepped back.

"We're not dead dude, come on," James nudged him.

"You don' know that, for all you know this could be purgatory."

"Do you really think that I, of all people, would be there with you?"

"...yeah good point."

"What are you talking about?" Koopin shook his head beside them.

"Uhh, it's a thing from our homeworld."

"I still...sorry," Jacob leaned against him, "I'm still...sorta reeling from the fact you're like...um, d-does that mean you're an alien?"

"Weeeeeell...actually, yeah," Roy chuckled rubbing his neck, "that kinda does make me an alien."

"...that means I'm half-alien." The yoshi clutched his face. "That...I'm half-alien."

"Ah guess it would?"

"...that is so awesome."

In the absence of grief and fear, there remained only joy in the yoshi's heart as he skipped in his step, almost giddy from delirium as his dad started laughing with a warm relief. James and Koopin joined in unable to help themselves, but Oddclaw remained apart from them, walking first into the light with his shotgun braced and ready. James hurried after with Koopin by his side whilst Roy and Jacob kept behind them. The light was strangely soothing, guiding them upwards and out of the darkened city where the stairs went twisting softly into a grand spiral ever higher towards what felt like the heavens. They kept their grip on the bannister, staying close as they could within one group as their ascension ended upon a large crystal dodecahedron that floated in the sky amongst the eternal grey mist. A doorway opened up at the top of the stairs as if beckoning them in.

"That's...weird," Koopin muttered.

"Yeah," James slowed his steps, "this almost looks...huh."

"What is it?"

"I just...feel like I've known this shape before."

"Welcome." A voice boomed from above them. "I have been waiting for the five of you."

"WHO'S THERE?!" Oddclaw shouted. "ARE YOU THE ONE WHO BROUGHT US HERE?!"

"Far from it. Please, come inside."

"I will not." The raptor pointed his gun towards the door. "Meet us here."

"I assure you this is not a trap."

"I only have your word, that is not good enough."

"He got a point," Roy stepped up beside, "we don't know who you are, we haven't talked to anybody round here an' all we been fightin' are shadows."

"...very well."

The stairs shifted as the odd crystal shape suddenly opened up like a flowering bud, spreading its faces across the air into a great plateau of perfect glass. Inside there were stone seats sculpted from warm sandy rock, as well as flowing water that trickled off the side eternal into the depths beneath to offer a rather soothing melody of babbling brooks, as if a small piece of some mountainous haven had been plucked from existence to be put here.

"Woah," Jacob gasped, "this...this is some rock garden."

"Definitely a lot nicer-looking than anywhere else," said Koopin stepping in, "um, sir or madam are you there? Can we talk with you face to face?"

"You may seat yourselves first if you wish," said the echoing voice, "you will need all the rest you can."

"How 'bout you show your face first?" James pointed at the sky. "Cuz this place looks nice but, I'd like to see the guy behind it."

"Hmph. As you wish."

As the five of them stepped into the stony realm, the light shone brighter above to reveal a figure almost angelic. A great shadowed being who resembled a giant moth, the shadows fading from an invisible sun as it landed before them with a fearsome presence despite its bizarre anatomy. The head of a bird without its beak stretched up on its neck, in front of a large body that rose to ten feet with six short wings spread out behind it, supported by a long pair of legs that would fit a grasshopper despite its elephantine feet. With slatted eyes of pearl white piercing upon them, the newcomers stood in awe except for James who reared back with a sneer.

"Ohhhh, GOD it's one of you guys."

"Wh-whut?!" Roy shivered looking between James and the winged one. "Um...a-are you an angel?"

"Hardly," the beast snorted with the voice of a dozen strengths, "I am a far greater being than a poor construct of morality."

"Wait a minute," James pointed, "you sound different...you're not Hau'rhun are you?"

"Indeed I am not, I am glad to see that even you could not mistake me for that perfidious felon."

"Another one of your friends?" Oddclaw scoffed turning back to James.

"Not sure," his father stepped back smacking his lips, "I had my issues with the last guy."

"I have not brought you here to speak of perjurers," the great being swept his claw, "I have come to tell you of a mission, a quest on whom the fates of your worlds and lives hang in the balance of."

"Who are you?" asked Koopin tapping his staff. "How come you never spoke to us when we first arrived if this is so important?"

"Because there were only three of you. Now that there are five, we can begin. I am Noh'jhin, the Doer who Undoes."

His hands swept out to reveal two orbs, one golden and one silver that he spun round his body in a brief flash that he slammed into the earth. Suddenly grass grew across the entire plaza, washing the brown and copper tones with a lush verdant hue that made them gasp in wonder, rich deep emerald with spots of white flowers growing through the deep stone, the light of the sun shimmering from above as they saw a barrier shaped like a clear opaque dome.

"Woooow you got some green fingers!" Jacob rubbed at the grass with his hands. "So soft and cool!"

"This smells...clean!" Oddclaw gasped shaking his head. "But why are we here? What is this...kwest?"

"A journey," explained Noh'jhin, "one that at the end you shall find the one responsible for the death and sorrow that consumed your world."

"What?! You mean Riptor?!"

"No. I speak of the one who was born again within Riptor."

"Born...again?" Koopin sat himself down on a stone seat consumed with grass.

"The one who has brought you all here, of whom I have hidden my presence from with what powers I have in this spatial rift."

"So whut is this place then?" Roy tapped his spear. "Cuz it don't seem lahk any normal place."

"This world is a prison of consciousness," said Noh'jhin sitting within the grass, "a place reflecting that of the demon's memory."

"A...demon?"

James, Koopin and Roy looked to each other with a growing fear in their eyes that Oddclaw picked up from the scent.

"Why are you here?" the raptor asked stepping closer. "You have not told us who you are but only your name."

"I am the Doer who Undoes," said Noh'jhin, "the one who shall correct the follies that have led us to this point in Spacetime Six."

"Why?"

"Because that is my mission, as ordained by my order who have seen ourselves fit to oversee the balance of all things across many dimensions."

"So you're like, space police?" asked Jacob wandering up.

"That would not be inaccurate," the creature shook its head, "as member of the Cocytan race, it is my duty to ensure that the order of existence be maintained by the prevention of cross-contamination between realms."

"Too late with us," Roy chuckled thumbing himself and James, "you seem to know FG here, there a reason fer that?"

"My predecessor, Hau'rhun, and the reason that I am here now to rectify this. His actions were inconceivable, his folly great and perhaps the very reason that your friend James Campbell had progressed to such great lengths."

"I remember," Koopin nodded, "James showed me on his digital recordings...speaking of."

The koopa approached with his cane tapping into the grass, clearing his throat as he spoke with a slightly guttural husk in an alien language.

"Nah'yuun triesh'xha, prish'lah rhhum...khajyil preh'khun neyah oom."

Noh'jhin suddenly blinked, reeling back with a curious smirk and a surprised expression.

"I knew you had a proficiency for language, Koopin Kennidon, but not for my own."

"From James' recordings," he grinned proudly, "wanted to say at least one thing to you or someone else from your group if ever we had the chance."

"Hmhmhmhm...axshlah pakh." He bowed courteously. "Now before we continue further, allow me to nourish you for the great battle ahead."

Clasping his hands together, the transcendent pulled his fingers apart to reveal a long golden fabric that wove into a red-checkered blanket. Spreading across the ground, food arrived on plates to form a picnic that made them gasp with surprise, but also make all of them exceptionally wary to which he replied:

"You have nothing to fear, if I had intended to eliminate you, I would not have gone to such lengths nor bother to introduce myself."

"That is true," Koopin rubbed his beak, "what you think hun?"

"Yeah we're good," James sat by the picnic, "he would have blipped us out of existence if he really wanted to."

"It does not smell like poison," said Oddclaw sniffing over the food, "I am...very hungry."

They all felt the pangs of hunger twinging in their stomachs, taking their food one by one as an assortment of sandwiches and mixed meats with vegetables, a classical wholesome meal that was easy to digest between soft breads and small but numerous portions with fruit juice.

"Mmmmph, w-woah!" Jacob mumbled chewing between gulps. "Jeez this stuff is REALLY good, yer a great chef!"

"A simple demonstration," Noh'jhin flicked his claws, "molecular construction is but child's play to me."

"Well, thank you all thuh same," said Roy scarfing down a few breads, "Mmmph, feel lahk ah haven't eaten in months."

"The state of time does not exist in this realm," he wove butterflies from his fingers that skipped through the breeze, "your son mentioned that two years had passed for him as an example."

"Is that, right?" Koopin blinked taking a drink. "I thought it was just some sort of weird magic thing."

"In this realm, Time has come to a standstill. What has only become the space of hours for you, was two years for your son."

"...so, wait." Jacob shook his head. "Does that mean I got older and...dad didn't?"

"Correct."

"Wh-WHUT?!" Roy stuttered almost choking on his food. "Does...d-does that...NO, you can't be serious!"

"I am always serious, Roy MacGregor."

"But...Jacob," he looked to his son, "no, that...that means, you're-"

"Nineteen." The yoshi looked down. "I know we...we were gonna have my first drink...and high school finishing."

"Oh...god. Oh god have we been away from home that long?!"

"No."

Despite Noh'jhin's utterance he clutched his face as a sickness grew in his stomach, putting down his food and clenching his fists.

"Yolanda...oh god, ahm so sorry."

"That means, mom and dad," Koopin shook his head, "and our friends, OH JEEZ CHARLIE!"

"Oh my god no," James grabbed his chest, "oh god my baby, are you serious we been here for TWO YEARS?!"

"ENOUGH." The cocytan's voice burned through their ears stifling all their thoughts. "This nexus adheres not to the whims of Time. Jacob only aged because he entered it from outside where Time continues. Once you leave however, you shall return to your home within the same minute of your disappearance."

"How?" Oddclaw shook his head. "That makes no sense."

"I would not expect you to understand if I explain the complex machinations of the space-time continuum, it would be as pointless as telling an insect the depths of the ocean."

"HEY!" James stomped up flicking his finger. "Don't fucking insult him, he's not an idiot!"

"What?" Noh'jhin scoffed with a sneer.

"It's not our fault we got stuck here, and if you want us to help you can wipe that look off your fucking face and treat him with some respect."

"You...dare speak to me in such a fashion?"

"You dare talk shit to my son like that?!" The raptor crossed his arms. "You already brought us here, you can at least make the effort cuz if you don't well, why should we?"

"...IF you insist."

The great being huffed a bitter sigh and turned towards Oddclaw, who gave a strange look towards James who winked back at him.

"Imagine the moon and how it travels across the sky."

The alien spun a globe with a single moon revolving around it.

"Night comes after the sun has passed. Now imagine if, you were travelling with the moon, across the world, fast enough to keep up with it. Morning would never come, until you stopped and waited for the sun to meet you."

"Ahhhh." Oddclaw nodded widening his eyes. "Yes, I un-derstand, it is always night here, until we leave and we see the sun."

"Correct." Noh'jhin scattered the planet to a thousand streams of silver. "Now, since you are all well-nourished, it is time I explain your mission true."

"You make it sound like we were meant to be here," Koopin slitted his eyes, "how much do you know about all this?"

"Enough that I was monitoring your progress in this realm to ensure your safety. You recall years before that you encountered a demon whom you exorcised in your home world?"

"...oh no." He shook his head. "No...no don't tell me it's him."

"It is"

"WHAT?!" James snapped. "Bullshit, we fucking destroyed him!"

"Correction," Noh'jhin waved his finger, "you only banished him, by separating five pieces of him which were then scattered across Spacetime Six. Through a sheer determination of his evil, the one known as the Son of the Great Father, that you know as Scissoraptor, managed to reform itself, when its pieces collected themselves in Oddclaw's world."

"Wait...what?"

They all turned to the naked raptor. Something clicked in his mind as he tapped his chin.

"This...Scissoraptor, is that the one who was inside Riptor?"

"Correct."

"Then...the one who did something to James, my friend, he was differen-"

"Possessed by the same demon, yes."

"Wait, what James?" asked the current James.

"A friend of mine," said Oddclaw, "was Riptor...possessed too?"

"She was," the alien nodded, "her desire of a future dominated by her kind, were taken to a greater extreme by the demon that possessed her from the piece of the scissors that she carried. Through dreams and suggestion, she gathered the remaining pieces as a means of strength, unaware of the demon's plan to birth itself in a new body...one that was shaped as his favourite host."

His head turned to James whose eyes grew with a sudden choke in his throat. They all understood, except for Jacob who looked more concerned with each word that passed, but said nothing as he kept eating.

"So how do we kill it?" Roy asked spreading his arms. "You got a plan since yer here?"

"It was the demon who brought you here," said Noh'jhin spinning a cloud in his hands, "he desires to destroy you, ending your bloodlines completely as a means of vengeance, hence why he has brought you and your sons to die in this endless realm."

"Our...sons." James looked towards his as Oddclaw looked back. "So that's all he wants, to make us suffer as he grows back?"

"He is preparing to return as a demon of death, a soul-devouring monstrosity who will cause untold chaos throughout Spacetime Six. But he has many years until he recovers to his full potential, even in this space where Time does not exist, he must bide his until awakening."

"So we have time," Koopin sighed, "that's good, so how do we stop him, permanently?"

"The Five Hearts."

His claws spread outwards to reveal five symbols, different-coloured hearts that began to spin round a circle where a small pair of scissors festered in its centre.

"There lies true evil within this place. Five who seek freedom, but know not the darkness they bring. A monster hides within five, so in turn five hearts must stand together. Loyalty, Courage, Kindness, Love and Justice. The demon knows not that he has brought his own end upon him, for you exhibit these five traits, and with the ritual that I have prepared, I shall empower your hearts to destroy him permanently."

"...so," Jacob stood up rubbing his head, "you're gonna...power us up, to stop this demon?"

"Correct," the Cocytan crossed the hearts together as one, "with this power combined, the Scissoraptor will be banished-"

"QUESTION!" Roy raised his hand. "How does that even work?!"

"I have studied the nature of this demon, and discovered his weakness to artifacts of 'holy' designation. In my research I have discovered that these artifacts carry traces of emotional strength compounded into a metaphysical state, such as that of hope."

"It's just magic dad, come on," Jacob rolled his eyes.

"Hey it's always good to question," Roy nudged him back, "don't take any answer fer granted."

"THIS coming from bible boy?" James snickered thumbing at him.

"James you DO remember the star spirits back home?" Koopin jabbed his waist.

"I know just, funny when he's saying it!"

"Funnier than you," Oddclaw sniffed sharp and turned back towards Noh'jhin, "these five hearts, we are them yes?"

"Correct." The Cocytan pointed across them. "Koopin is the heart of Love, James is that of Loyalty."

"Eventually," Roy muttered.

"Roy is that of Justice, Jacob is Kindness, lastly Oddclaw is that of Courage."

"Seriously, loyalty fer him?"

"Yeah you got a problem with that?" James pulled his husband close. "Been through hell and I never gave up on him, or Sarah!"

"And what of MY family?!" Oddclaw snarled. "Where was your loyalty then?!"

"Enough!" Noh'jhin crunched the earth beneath his claws in a hard fist. "Whatever malcontent you all share you may discuss on the road ahead. For now you must venture to the darkest realm of this dimension, where he lies in convalescence."

"How do we kill him?" asked the raptor.

"You must each face one of the five parts, which he has gathered in his sanctum. Each one will be guarded by an envoy of his design. Destroy his guardians, and then destroy his parts with these."

From his hands came five shimmering sceptres, each one around ten inches in length with strange perplexing shapes that hovered upon their ends with a magnetic force. One by one they were handed them, before the wands suddenly fused to their chests with a searing strength that almost burned like hot metal against their flesh.

"A-AAAGH!"

"HEY WH-WHUT THUH HELL!"

"Just ensuring that you never lose them," said Noh'jhin tenting his claws.

"NNNGH, j-jeez!" Jacob gasped from the warming burn. "Now I know what a fried egg feels like."

"Do NOT say such a thing!" Oddclaw barked. "How do we use these?!"

"They will activate of their own accord," the Cocytan nodded, "once you have fought and removed his guardians, the five keys will 'unlock' your hearts, by amplifying the metaphysical energies to become a devastating force."

"OH, you mean like the Star Rod!" Koopin grinned tapping his chest.

"When you are ready, you may depart from this place of safety and travel to the depths."

He pointed to the other side of the dome and across the field, a door opening to the beyond where a twisting staircase formed itself further into the grey mist.

"You may leave anytime you wish, there is no rush but the sooner you all complete your mission, the sooner you will return to your families."

"You're not joining us?" James asked sitting down.

"My presence is far too great to conceal from his machinations. Were I to travel with you, the demon would become unpredictable, and far worse against you if he senses me too near."

"Why, he doesn't even know you."

"Demons sense the higher beings, and I would rather make this as easy for you as possible."

"Well that's nice," Roy rolled his eyes, "just send us alone into thuh depths of hell, no biggie."

"Is it really that...bad?" Jacob rubbed his arms.

"Well...we got tahm, can tell you all about it now?"

"I await your victory," said Noh'jhin stepping back, "I shall be watching you from an undisclosed station, but for now I shall leave you to your privacy."

"See ya!" the yoshi waved. "Wish us luck!"

"Luck has nothing to do with this."

He swept his hand before him to form a curtain of light that changed to a glimmering portal of stars that consumed his body. The alien disappeared from the grassy plain as they looked to each other, Roy rubbing his hands as he began.

"SO...Scissoraptor. FG?"

"Huh?" he looked up.

"How 'bout you tell 'em all about it, you know 'im a lot better than ah do."

"Well...okay." James took up another sandwich and started to eat looking up. "It started about...forty years ago, actually not that long after I left Oddclaw's place."

"Hmm," his son crossed his arms sitting on the grass.

"There was this old mansion...and inside there was a monster...a human with a pair of giant scissors."