FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

EPILOGUE OF THE FINALGAMER Scale "The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me." "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?", Frederick Douglass

Five years had passed since the big day. The sun kept shining resplendently on the Mushroom Kingdom, with just the right amount of rainy days that never made them unwelcome, yet always easy to plan things around of. A house in the midst of a town called Koopamuir shaped like a koopa's shell similar to the rest of the street, had quite a bit of noise coming from within the early afternoon. The sound of thick digging clumps against the earth could be heard faintly as the front door was knocked on gingerly, a monstrous deep bark resonating from inside the house. "RUFF! RUFF RUFF! _" "I'LL GET IIIIT!" cried one voice. "NOOOO YOU WON'T!" shouted another. "YOU'RE NOT DRAGGING YOUR BOOTS THROUGH THIS HOUSE!" "ALRIGHT FINE JEEEZ!" "_RUFF RUFF! RUFF RUFF!" "Charlie, Charlie NO! No, you stay back and let daddy do this, come here! Come HERE!" The door opened up to show a slightly frustrated koopa trying to smile at the red-shelled parakoopa fluttering before him with a bag full of letters like an angelic postal worker. The sight of an iron ball glistening with teeth desperately trying to look past the doorjamb gave him great worry as he tipped his little red hat. "James...K-kennidon?" "Uhhh, he's in the back garden, you can fly over the house it's okay." "Alrighty." Flapping his wings thickly with great lift, he pushed himself upwards and swooped straight over the house to land in the back area which had a small shed built in one corner and a pristine-looking vegetable patch fenced off in the other. The torn-up grass and clod dirt all neatly divided itself up into various lines of radishes, beetroots, turnips and pumpkins as a lone creature stood amidst the sodden earth, a rather strange reptilian beast of brown skin scaled with purple stripes underneath a pair of thick black boots and a blue set of overalls. "James Kennidon?" "Yeah?!" He turned round holding a farming hoe in one hand like a pike and clumped his way through carefully between the crops before leaning against the gate in the fence, watching the slim rectangular package slide out of the mailbag with rogueish glee as the red koopa asked: "Just need you to sign this." "YES, awesome!" The raptor hopped over the gate with excitement and surprising agility, burying the hoe into the dirt almost polevaulting himself over as he wiped his hands clean with a rag from his overalls' pocket. With a nod and a thank you, he signed the waiver with a pen from the parakoopa as he took his package, watching the postal worker swoop off into the sky before swiftly unwrapping to find his glorious prize in the form of a certain magazine. "Niiiiiice it came in!" "Oh, finally," said Koopin, "I was wondering about that. Whysit come in so late, normally we get ours around the same time." "You'd think they would just get brought in together after I updated my mailing list." "Maybe they have like different schedules for the shooting sessions for different models?" "That's probably right." "I still dunno why you just don't borrow mine frankly." "Well sometimes you might need yours more than I do...plus, these got some nicer curves on them sometimes like uuuhhhh THIS beauty." He flicked open one of the pages randomly to show a saucy-looking yoshi riding nakedly upon a bike, exposing nothing but her back and thick rump with tail lifting up as Koopin looked away slightly disgruntled. "R-right, well um...I mean she looks lovely but uh not, my...thing with the chest and such." "Well what if it was a boy that had a-" "WE'RE NOT DOING THAT ARGUMENT AGAIN!" James smirked teasingly as he cackled lewdly before he handed the magazine over to Koopin. "Hhhehehahaha, okay bachelor boy, can you take this in and put it in my closet, I don't wanna track mud into the house." "Alright...you want some tea?" "Not right now thanks, I just need to check on these radishes, plus I think the pumpkins aren't coming in right." "Did dad tell you about the...pH thingy?" "Yeah he did, I got it written down it's just hard to keep it all balanced, I swear I don't know how he does it." "You should ask him again if you're worried, you know he loves talking to you about growing vegetables." "That's true, I just don't wanna look like an idiot constantly bothering him." "He didn't mind you before." "Heeeey!" "Hhhheeehehehee!" The raptor pretended to make a backhand slap towards Koopin who smirked cutely as he walked back into the house taking the magazine to his husband's closet. The back entrance of the Kennidons' house entered instantly into the bedroom starting him on the left side of the bed which nestled up against the wall. The left part of the room was James' with his closet somewhat disorganised containing a few trophies from racing championships, a couple of photographs, friendship bracelets, a pair of clean garden shears and a stack of Playkoop magazines catering towards the heterosexual side of things. Koopin tried to ignore last month's issue having a more frontal view than he wanted as he closed the wardrobe turning towards the right side of his room. It had always been his side even before he had gotten married, a much cleaner-looking sort with his closet containing hiking equipment, various souvenirs of otherwordly origin such as playing cards and strange books, as well as also a stack of Playkoop magazines that catered more to the homosexual side. A slightly devious part of him wanted to look in at a few issues for old times' sake but then he realised the time. "OH, jeez!" He rushed off into the kitchen and quickly began to prepare some food, pulling out a fresh pack of pasta after putting a good pot with two-thirds full of water on the stove. Time ticked on as the water began to boil before he put in the pasta itself, shuffling it out of its box carefully to let it all melt slowly into bending from its rigid brittle state, carefully stirring with a wooden spoon to make sure it never sticked to the bottom of the pot. It would only take but a good ten minutes at the very most before it would be ready for the koopa leaf sauce. Whilst the kitchen was busily being occupied, James kept himself working upon the small bit of earth he had now converted into his own personal vegetable patch, taking up only a quarter of the back garden. He found himself a strange peace in farming off his own land, a modest part of allotment that Shelldon encouraged him to maintain for two reasons. Firstly, it would give him something to dedicate his mind to in order to keep it sharp with routine care and secondly, it would keep his muscles strong. The raptor had often worried about his muscles losing any sense of strength now hitting at the early point of his middle years, but with his father-in-law's recommendation there was little worry in managing to keep his muscles taut, his arms sturdy and his back strong after having managed his little garden for the past three years. Checking over each and every plant was enough work to do as well as keeping them watered and making sure the fences were safe from invading pests, such as fuzzies or Charlie whenever he got too excited. The fence was high enough to stop Charlie thankfully, but fuzzies were always a danger from the nearby forests which resulted in him having to put anti-fuzzy repellants in the form of certain liquids whose stench they absolutely detested. It wasn't a problem to James, and even Charlie did not go too near it afterwards which made it all the better to leave him to his work. Koopin however was fixing to prepare the pasta, pouring it out into a thick plastic tub he had on the side just waiting to be filled, now piping hot before he added the sauce on top of it. A thickening green paste that added a parsley-like taste to the meal, the tub was now filled to the point it couldn't even try to lopside itself if inverted as Koopin closed it by the lid before putting it into a bag with handles for easy carrying. He barely peeked his head out to the back garden shouting: "I'm just taking the koopasta over to Mrs. Goomelia, alright James?!" "Okayyy!" replied James. "Be careful!" "Be back in a few!" Koopin walked back through the house and locked the front door with his keys before heading down the road towards the next few houses. The raptor noticed when he looked up that one of the tree branches of the nearby forest was overhanging sharply towards his garden territory and decided to fix it before anything else. He almost trodded in with boots still sticky with mud before remembering and stifling in panic. "SH-shit shit, shit...hhhhh...dammit." He hopped from his boots to leave them at the back door before entering to grab his garden shears from the closet before walking back out. Charlie followed him almost too eager to get out and play as James rolled his eyes chuckling whilst the chain chomp bounced its way after him, sluggishly but still eager to follow his barefoot daddy towards the edge of the garden where the forest boundary was met. A fence prevented either of them from absconding into the woods but James always had to keep a check for overhanging branches as he shooed his pet away. "Sh-sh-shhh, Charlie, move, get out of the way. Go on, out of the way or else you'll get hurt." The chomp understood with panting mouth of jagged white teeth, perfectly clean and uniform as the raptor cricked his neck holding the shears in one hand firmly before pointing both limbs towards the ground. "WULD!"

His body blasted itself straight up towards the offending branch and tree that he soon swiftly grabbed at with acrobatic skill, almost about to swing himself round it like a trapeze artist before straddling the branch. With shears in hand he snapped and snipped at any parts of the tree that cast a shadow onto his green yard, watching Charlie down below racing back and forth as if trying to bite at the falling leaves until the branch itself almost clonked him with a hefty thud. "RUUF! RUU-RUU-RUU-ruu-ruff!" "I warned you! Charlie, Charlie no, d-don't, put that down! Drop it! Drop iiiit!" But it was too late. The chomp gladly picked up the large stick with his tail chain wagging along behind him before James quickly landed on his feet, buckling slightly from the near-sensation of his knees being strained to take the force of the fall. "DOH, j-jeez...hhhhh...ffffuck, okay, okay nothing hurt, it's alright. Hhhhhoooo...Charlie? Charliiiie." The chain chomp smiled around his hefty prize. "Charlie drop it. Drop, it, daddy doesn't want sticks in the house, you know what happened last time." He was waving his tail too excited with a new toy, the raptor tempting himself to put his shears to one side and grappling at one end of the stick. Charlie tugged harder, growling playfully which was still quite a fierce thing to hear from a living ball of steel as James pulled harder. His feet began digging into the earth as he groaned trying to use all of his natural strength, but Charlie was too good at this game before he let him go. "GUH! Okayyyyyyy fine you can have it, but you're not taking it inside the house, alright boy?" He wasn't paying attention, gladly sitting down to gnaw at the big stick, tearing the bark off and chewing with his teeth raking across whilst James decided to get back to gardening. Putting his shears back into the closet safely out of harm's way, the raptor went back outside and refitted his boots before heading into the vegetable patch once again. It was only fifteen minutes after he had done this that Koopin had returned empty-handed, but with a smile on his face. "I'm baaack! Mrs. Goomelia loved her koopasta!" "She always does," said James whacking the dirt like a golf club, "UNNH...it's nice of you to keep her going until she gets her cooker fixed." "Well I mean, mine works and we don't always use it so...heheh...how long you gonna be out here?" "Until about maybe six? I tend to stop around the time your show comes on." "Fair enough just remember you shower first and leave those boots in the shed." "Alriiiight." He rolled his eyes not needing to be told twice as Koopin decided to get some work done on the sofa, pulling out a laptop from his bedside drawer to start it up. It only had two functions on it, emailing and writing as the Tour Guide Association symbol appeared to welcome him to another day of filing out reports. The most recent one was ready to open, entitled "Historical Renovations on Mt. Shiver: Ice-Cold In Annexed Archaeology" as he started to type his continuing thesis. It was dull and tedious, but he at least found it more interesting than the usual reports on weather notifications. Nothing happened for the rest of the day, just like how nothing had happened the past year and they both sighed with relief. It wasn't boredom, it was stability. It was being able to relax into a steady life of existence without having to worry about the days ahead. The worst thing James had to worry on was Charlie getting into his vegetable patch, whilst the worst Koopin had to worry on was James getting angry at Charlie for getting into his vegetable patch. Charlie had never worried about anything for the past three years since his daddies had spent more regular time at home, leaving him rarely ever alone. Eventually the darkened sunset was creeping up upon the sweat-glistening raptor as he sighed simpering at the sweet blood-orange sky and the slightly cold drop in temperature signalling the next coming of night. He would see the clouds scuttle on past a sweet rosy pink before he decided to leave his vegetable patch fully for the day and close the gated fence, putting his tools and boots inside the garden shed that he himself had built. It was a sizeable shed, big enough to fit all his tools as well as the old motorcycle he still kept from his days in racing along with its parts. Sculpted almost reminiscent of an egg with its smooth aerodynamic sides and front, the wheels were supported to lean against the wall of the shed along with a workbench at the back, and a small roller board with soft thick wheels tucked onto a shelf as if modded from a child's toy wagon. He patted the bike gladly before heading back inside knowing that Koopin would be occupying the couch either way regardless of what he wanted. Shell City opened up its titles about a minute after Koopin had clicked on the TV as he silently thanked commercials for having dragged enough to not miss it. Around fourteen minutes later, after becoming engrossed inside of a riveting romance between a bob-omb and a pianta along with the sleaziest toad he could ever despise in his new scheme, he heard James step through the back door barefeeted and walk across the bedroom to the bathroom whilst shouting: "Anyone died yet?!" "Nooooo!" "Okayyyy, just hopping into the-" "YIIIEP!" THUNK hit the back door as something hard smacked straight into the wall causing James to turn fast, with Koopin bouncing from his seat as the commercial break just started. Charlie was whimpering with tears in his eyes, the large stick dropped between him and the doorframe as James knelt down to check on him. "Awwwwwwww what happeeeeen?" "Whu-whunnnn whunnnnn!" "Did you try to take the stick back into the house? Yeaaaah I told you, it didn't fit now did it?" "WHUNNN!" "Awwwww come here...come on, it's alright I'm not mad...that's my boy." He cuddled him tightly, the large sphere of iron sniffling like a little boy nuzzling into James' chest as he rocked him back and forth. "You were just wanting to help daddy weren't you, cleaning branches up to tidy everything like a good boy." "Whuuun whuuun-whu-whuuun..." Koopin covered his beak with one hand trying not to laugh at the precious scene not because of Charlie, but more rather because of James' reaction to nursing the sweet puppy that was quite clearly not so little a puppy anymore. "Hhhahahomygosh, is he alright?" "Yeaaaaaaah he's fine...tough ol' boy arentcha? You feeling better now?" The chomp began panting once more feeling reassured as the dull pain simply throbbed itself away, bouncing his way into the house and ignoring the branch to which James was grateful for as he picked it up. "I'll just throw this back out into the woods so it don't cause any more trouble." "Good idea......you know you really do spoil him too much." "What, he's my baby!" "Hhheeheheee! Alright then I'm back to my soaps." James gladly threw the stick straight out into the forest beyond the fence before turning back to the house, walking into the shower with the sweat still glistening from his overalls which he slipped off in the bathroom. Charlie was slightly less feisty than usual in later years and did not bounce as much as he used to, but he still had the look of a puppy by the way his eyes shined up towards Koopin, who simply smiled and patpatted the couch to give him permission to climb up. The ball of living steel clambered up with a hefty bounce and rolled against one side as Koopin sat at the opposite end waiting for the next developments of his soap. By the time the show was over, James would still be in the shower and Koopin wasn't looking for a second round after his morning sprucing, especially with a raptor that tended to get grabby whenever both of them were in together. He silently mouthed a three-second countdown with his fingers before the phone rang slightly later than four seconds as he rolled his eyes and picked it up. "Hellllloooo? Heeeeey yeah it just ended. ...well what do you think he was going to do, you know Roass T. is garbage! He was the one that set up that deal! You know I don't believe it for one second, he talks about his daughter's operation but then he had a solid gold watch on him that looked brand new, James spotted it actually! ......well, you know it's not really much point if the audience can see it but the people in the show can't, I mean that just makes them idiots! ......no I think Piazza just got the wrong end of the stick, I think she'll come round and realise that Bobbinello is the right one for her, he's such a sweetheart do you know how hard it is to get one of those cruises?!" The door suddenly knocked quite firmly which Charlie barked only twice at. "OH, darnit that's the door um listen, can you give me a few minutes? Okay back in a bit mom." He put down the receiver kept off the hook and carefully opened the door expecting another package. He was wrong.

The visitor was a much different creature entirely, standing at a height that was fearsome to the little koopa of predominantly 6'6'', a thick grey coat covering the tall body of thick dark muscle. He was tall enough that Koopin almost didn't see past the visitor's neck. But he knew exactly who he was and where he came from as a voice deep with thick accent came rippling down into the house with a strange uncertainty. "Um...are you Koopin?" His eyes turned dark with fierce intent as he kept his hand tightly gripped upon the door ready to close it at a moment's notice. "Who wants to know?" "Uh...m-mah name is-" "I know who you are. What I meant was...what are you doing here?" "Is...i-is James Campbell around?" "...I don't know who that is." "Whut? Course you do, he never talk about anythin' but you, is he here?" "Nobody with the name James Campbell lives here, can I ask why you're looking for someone of that name?" "Uh...i-is this a bad tahm?" "I'm just a little busy at the moment so...tell me why you're here." "Ah need to speak with James." "Why?" "Is he here?! D-don't tell me he isn't." "This is the Kennidon household, I don't know anyone called Campbell, so please, either leave a message and go, or else I'm closing this door and it's not opening again." "P-p-please, listen! Koopin, righ'? It's really important ah speak to FG, if you know where he is you MUST tell me." "Then tell ME why." "I-it's not yer business!" "What business you have with my husband is business with me so either you tell me NOW or you leave!" "...husband?" Koopin's right hand showed itself with the glistening ring of a shining star above the small field of darkness it was captured in. The newcomer understood with heavy sigh of discontent but still adamant in trying not to leave. "A-alrigh'...if...if that's thuh way it is. Ah need his help." "For what?" "He...h-h-he can help me with sumthin', a very private matter that both of us need to do." "He doesn't need to do anything, he's retired. Whatever jobs you have in mind or big adventures, it's not happening." "Ah don' wanna cause any upset, ah jus' need to tell him sumthin'." "Then leave a message, or leave my doorstep. Last warning." "D-dammit, f-fine, alrigh' you wanna hear this too?! Little hardass lahk you, you wanna hear me bleed mah heart out too, you ain' gonna lahk this!" "DON'T insult me! I've dealt with bigger jerks than you so if you don't tell me what you want, RIGHT NOW, I'm calling the guards and then you'll-" "Holy shit." A voice whispered from behind Koopin as James stood in but his pair of jeans like always, sparkling clean with his eyes wide in shock at the sight of the newcomer. He stepped forwards despite Koopin's silent shake of his head and mouthing his protest in fearful trepidation. "Is...i-is that...is that you?" The black-scaled creature bent down showing his head fully with a bashful smirk. Blue ringed eyes with dark brown pupils, a thick skull of reptilian origin not unlike James himself, but much bigger in every way. "H-hey...um...s-sorry fer droppin' in lahk this bu-WOAH!" He hadn't expected the sudden leap from James to grab him tightly into a hug, claws swiftly wrapping around the thick dark skin and ruffling the grey coat underneath his arms to squeeze him tightly. The black raptor looked around awkwardly at first before hugging James back firmly as he heard him shivering with excited relief. "You...y-you're okay...h-holy shit you're okay, you're alright I jus-...wh-what happened? What...wh-where've you gone, wh-where'd you go?!" The raptor in brown pulled back with eyes glistening in gasping tears. "Where did you go Roy?" "Heh...ahll tell you...if that's okay with your uh...husband." They both looked towards Koopin who had a face bristling with anger and distrust. James understood why and slowly walked over towards him asking kindly: "It's alright. I'm not leaving ever again, I promised you. I just wanna talk to an old friend, is that okay Koopin?" "......okay. Alright, you...you promised." He said this with firm intent and a pointing finger as Koopin closed the door out of trust to get back onto the phone with his mother whilst James smiled gingerly back towards Roy standing out on the street. It wasn't so much a street as rather an open field of the town that houses just happened to circle around as they walked over towards a tree nearby. James remembered this tree from many years back, not one that brought good memories to him. But it was a tree he loved seeing in the mornings when the sun dappled light through it just perfect for a rest in the shade as both raptors sat with James on Roy's right. "I can't believe...I never thought I'd see you again." "Ah almost thought that too," said Roy with disturbing calm. "I thought...I-i was really worried about you man." "You got no reason to be. How's you?" "I'm great. I got married, that Scissoraptor's gone, I completely banished him from out of existence. Well, Koopin did, it's complicated but he was definitely the one to do it." "Damn...seriously?! You for real, you got rid o' that psychopath?!" "Yep, me and Koopin beat him back together and he's gone for all eternity. Fucking awesome." "Hhhahah...um...h-hey, ahm real sorry if ah upset him, ah jus' wanted to-" "It's alright. He just worries I'm off to go on some big adventure and leave him alone again, but that's not happening. Just remember the last time you came here that actually did happen." "Ah get you. To be fair ah did try to kill you, so ah ain' mad that he wanna piece o' me." "I did my best to explain, I showed him the video that you let me do of you, remember that interview we had up in Breekheim? Near the fountain, you were telling me all about your high school days?" "Yeaaaah ah remember...shit. An' after all that you still can't find a way to not look lahk a piece o' shit." "Pfffft shut up meathead, least I didn't wast my high school years chasing after jocks just to sniff their ass straps." "Hhheh. Naw, you were in thuh locker room drainin' all thuh boys after a good workout, weren't you?" "Hhahahaha...god. I heard you you know, when you were...wishing for me." "Whut?" A slight look of curiosity twinkled in Roy's sullen look. "I heard you...saying sorry for everything...back maybe seven years ago." "Really? ...huh...well, that's good, ah mean ahm...ahm glad you uh...heard me." "You alright in that jacket, I mean it's...kinda warm." "You mind if ah-" "Nah go ahead." He gently loosened the grey coat from his body, revealing some strange things James was almost certain had never been on him before. New scars, bullet wounds, all trickling thick deep grooves along his ebony pure skin along with a very strangely precise marking above his right pectoral, as if someone had sliced his skin off like a piece of ham to leave a much rawer state of skin. Roy's left hand was still living with its two solid rings that shone upon his fingers. But his right hand was a different story entirely. The entire end of his right arm had been completely replaced by a rather smooth fit of gunmetal-black steel. If it hadn't been for the shining rivets, thin bleak lines that reached halfway down his forearm and what appeared to be the logo of a horse's head emblazoned by the initials MSC, he would not have even realised the amputation. "Woah...heholy shit, looks like you and me are cyborg buddies." "Huh?" He brought out his left arm and flexed it smoothly next to Roy's right-armed steel replica which began to tap its fingers upon Roy's knee. Even the claws had been reproduced but no doubt were of much stronger stuff than keratin. "Though yours isn't exactly uh...Quarian technology." "Yeah uhm...human-made this is." "How'd that happen?" "Heh...Scissoraptor, more or less." "...shit. Um...I'm sorry." "Naw it's cool...s'kinda nice after a while, feels lahk a glove an' it's great for punching." "Damn right, haha! So it's just half your arm?" "Righ'." James' left hand slid firmly along to where the elbow was, squeezing the more supple rubbery texture the further he moved away from his hand. "Feels a lot lahk yours, this part." "Yeah it kinda does...what's it made of?" "Carbon nanotube, turns this fist into a goddamn jackhammer, ah can punch through a quarterback's helmet lahk it wuz fuckin' paper." "Hahah, makes me glad we're not fighting anymore. Listen, I never had the chance to say thank you." "For whut?" "For...for keeping my friends safe," replied FG, "from all that was happening." "They're all good people," said Roy softly. "How they been bah thuh way, ah never had thuh chance to go back an' say hi to 'em." "Ohoho man, you missed out! So, Fayne and Kruz are now together, they're all living in Lea Monde together, all the old clan except they officially disbanded." "Whut, disbanded?" "Yeah like they're not a clan anymore...they're all still together just not a clan officially, they wanted to live their own lives but they all still live in Lea Monde." "Awww thas' cool. Whut are they up to?" "Dahlia and Navarro run the stables, bought it and made it part of Navarro's family like a branch of their chocobo ranch and get this, they MARRIED." "Whut?! No way, baby bird got hitched?!" "Mmhmm, to Dahlia! Oh obviously she said it wasn't to do with any romance it was purely financial reasons despite Dahlia being just brimming with love for her and the two well...they make a rather cute couple." "Awwww...ahm glad they did, heh, next you'll be tellin' me Fayne an' Kruz got-" "Yep." A smile tweaked gently from the black raptor's lips who was taken aback with joy slightly. "Awwwwww...they did?" "First Navarro and Dahlia. Then me and Koopin, and THEN Fayne and Kruz who were like 'well everybody else is getting married so why not we should do the same thing', in fact Baldwin was the one that encouraged them to go do it, might as well! I was the best man at their wedding too, for Kruz, I even recorded it on my omni-tool so-" "That's good. Ahm real glad to hear everybody's okay, but uhhh whut about Baldwin? Ah mean uh...last ah remember, Baldwin wuz pretty furious an' upset about his brother." "He came round to it eventually, they had some close shaves and uh...well...you remember mother Mariel? Baldwin almost got killed and at one point he actually died because one of the...people, the ones we were fighting against, came and killed him." "Fuck." "But Mariel...in some ritual I think, gave her own darkness over to him and sorta made him a successor? I don't remember all the details but, Mariel had all this darkness that she was controlling in Lea Monde which made her live forever as sort of undead? But now Baldwin is that as well, Mariel finally passed away because her body had been long living past that point and so now it's Baldwin's turn." "You tellin' me Baldwin's not...really? Awww......awwww shit, that's terrible. Is he okay?" "Other than the occasional bad thought that he's gonna outlive everyone, yeah he's okay. Heh, he actually studied up on his priest duties for his brother's wedding, went out officiating it." "You shittin' me." "No no, he was the guy heading it up, the one who brought them together in holy matrimony. Fayne did it for Dahlia and Navarro so it was just sort of down the line really." "That's good." A sudden weight pushed Roy down with his shoulders slumping hard. James felt something amiss, a great burden emanating from his friend from his voice quivering in his breath. "Hhh-hhhhhh...ahm...ahmglad they alright, and you as well, never thought you'd ever be one to settle down." "I never thought so either, but I wanted to stay with Koopin forever after clearing things back home." "Ah went back home before uh...comin' here, ah heard all about thuh A.R.M.E. You cleaned house pretty hard." "Yeah...u-um...you...know that, you were part of them for a bit?" "Mmhmm." "I......I never found out anything about the...person that you were looking for. I'm sorry." "......it's okay." It was not okay. Roy shut his eyes for too long a second as he brought his right hand up to cover his face from FG beside him. Eventually the utahraptor placed his head back against the tree and sighed deeply. It was not a pleasant sigh, one that James recognised hearing from himself many times as he asked: "Are you...living somewhere at the moment?" "Naw. Ah got noplace to be." "What about...you had...you had someone didn't you-" "No." His eyes closed with bitterness. "There's no one left. Not for me." "I'm still here." "That...that's not whut ah meant." "What did you mean?" "A-a-ah just...ah just...f-fuckit, ah dunno why ah came here." "Roy." "No." MacGregor stood up swiftly with a fist shaking in anger. "Th-this...th-this isn't...it's not righ'. Ah can't...ah can't ask you to do this." "What did you wanna ask me? Is something wrong, do you need help or, a place, some money or-" "NO! NO AHM NOT SUM F-FUCKIN' VAGRANT, AH DIDN' COME HERE ASKIN' FOR MONEY!" "Jesus Roy, calm down okay?! No need to fucking shout, just tell me what you want!" "......do you really wanna know?" "You came back for a reason, stop fucking around and just TELL ME!" "Ah want you to kill me."

Silence between them hit like a bomb explosion, deafening by the wind that suddenly dropped its gentle breeze to leave James speechless. He thought he had misheard Roy but was too afraid to ask him to repeat as he struggled with soft blinking eyes with Roy turning away in a deep disgust. "...wh-wh-what?" "Ah...ah can't. Ah can't do it James. There's too...t-too much in me all tearin' up insahd, a-ah can't bring mahself to it. I have nothing left. I need...a-a-ah jus' want to be free from this pain." "Roy. No, this...I'm not gonna do it, I can't...wh-what the fuck, why would you ask me-" "You done it more than me. You got plenty blood on your hands, wh-whut's one more?" "What, you making me sound like some kind of criminal, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" "Whut's...WRONG with me?!" He turned slowly back towards him with entire body shivering, his eyes running thick with tears of fury. "I have...NOTHING left James. All mah friends are either disappeared or got their lives too busy for me to be sum kinda dead weight on their back, thuh one ah loved isn't with me anymore an' ah can't even find thuh fucking answer to why this even started. Ah don't even have ANSWERS, whut's fuckin' left for me to even have after this?! ALL AH HAVE IS MAH LIFE, AND IT IS _FUCKING WORTHLESS! _" "YOU'RE NOT WORTHLESS, NOBODY IS! YOU SURVIVED THE SAME AS ME!" "_YOU HAVE A HOME! YOU HAVE SOMEBODY WHO LOVES YOU, AH DON'T GOT SHIT! _ ...a-a-ah don't care whut you think of me. Please...p-please make it stop. You're thuh only one ah trust to help me." "I won't, Roy I am NOT going to kill you, you don't deserve this." "AH DON'T CARE WHUT YOU THINK! Ah just...j-j-just want all this pain to end. Ah can't do it James. Ah can't do it anymore." He balled up his fists struggling not to break down as his head shook with fury swallowing down into himself. James began to wipe his eyes feeling slightly overwhelmed by the misery of his friend as he asked softly: "How old are you?" "...th-thirty-six." "Oh god. That's too young Roy. You have a life ahead of you, you can't...you can't just throw it away." "Whut makes you think ah have a life that can move on after all that I've been through? Hmm?" "I used to feel like that...but look where I am now. Why not stay here? This place is perfect, almost nothing terrible happens here, you can get a job in like a week here." "No. A-ah can't. Ah can't, e-every night ah want to scream, every mornin' ah want to cry, every tahm ah wake up ah regret an' ah just wish...j-j-just wish...that ah never woke up." The raptor in black walked forwards and gently clasped James' hand with desperate plea. His eyes were dead serious, trapped in a fugue as he asked: "Ah know you wanted...to help me find out thuh truth. But you couldn't. Ah won't blame you for that. Please...please help me. Let me die in peace." ".........okay." The smile that came from Roy was almost like the one Koopin made the day they married. Serene. Peaceful. Like an open casket as Roy pulled James' hand to his face. "Thank you. Ahm sorry." "But...can you give me some time?" "Hmm?" "I-i need...some time to think about this, I don't wanna just...do it, I need some place for us to do this properly because I don't wanna get sent to prison or-" "N-naw naw ah understand. How long?" "......three weeks." "Really?" "I-i'm kinda busy, I got a lot of stuff to do, it's a lot to schedule around, I wanna take you to some place safe and private in another world and you know how long it takes to get between worlds-" "Alrigh'...o-okay. Ah can wait a few more then. Just always been waitin', might as well wait fer another few." "If you need someplace to sleep, there's a toad inn just down the road, they always accept people to come in without pay. Like a free house to sleep." "Oh...cool, um...a-ahll just...alrigh', you can...find me there an' then we...when you ready, we can...do this." "Alright. Later Roy." An awkward hug between them stiff as the morning frost before they parted with Roy making his way down towards the toad house whilst James returned back to Koopin's place. Relief came overwhelming from the koopa who sat waiting on the couch, despite his husband's look of deepening dread as he leaned back against the closing door. "You alright?" asked Koopin. "...no. Not really." "What's wrong? What did he do?" "Nothing. God Koopin could you just give the guy a break?" "I'm sorry. I...I-i-i just got scared of you being taken away again for some purpose." "I'm in charge of my own life Koopin, I'm staying here because I WANT to stay, and nobody's gonna tell me to leave." "Alright um...so...what did he want?" "He...needed my help with something I...I need to have a moment to think." "Is it bad?" "Yeah kinda." "What is it, maybe I can help." "No you...really can't." "What?" James walked across the house towards the bedroom in the back, needing to lie down and let all the thoughts stew as Koopin followed him. His worries dragged him through as he sat up next to the raptor who laid on his side. "H-honey what's wrong?" "I can't...explain it." "You can't or you won't? James, if he needs help, let me help too." "It's kinda dark...I don't wanna ruin this." "Ruin what, I'm already worried about him coming round with some weird request, you might as well tell me. Please, I don't want anymore secrets, I know everything about you and you know everything about me. Trust me. I've handled a lot worse than anything we both-" "He wants me to kill him." Koopin took a moment to blink sharply, his mouth turning dry hoping he misheard James despite how clear he spoke this. "I'm...I-i-i-i'm sorry?" "He...he has a lot of problems...he's struggling to deal with things, he told me he has no friends left who need him and the...his lover passed away recently so he's feeling really lost. That...and he never really found out what happened to his parents so he's kind of given up hope. He wants me to kill him." "Wh-wh-what? What?! wha-the-a-ah-i...that's a HORRIBLE thing to ask!" "I know." "WHA-NO! I'm sorry, what kind of friend asks you to DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!" "The kind of friend who trusts me with his life...literally." "Th-that's a terrible thing to ask, I'm sorry but...no, you can't, you're not gonna do it, tell me you are NOT gonna do-" "Of course I'm not doing it!" He sat up with insulted look flickering in his drying eyes. "What the hell do you think I was gonna do, I don't wanna do this!" "Then tell him to go!" "I'm not leaving him, he's obviously suffering! Koopin you taught me not to leave people who are suffering on their own!" "That is true but...th-this is a very bad request, if he's suffering so badly then take him to a psychiatrist!" "Do you really think that's going to help?" "It worked for us! Okay you had a demon inside you that WAS the problem but we got a lot of stuff fixed between us like your own anger issues and such, maybe we can call Dr. Boostaf and get an appointment for him." "I-i don't...think, that's going to work." "Why not?!" asked Koopin feverish. "Because I know his problem!" said James defiantly. "He can't move on past his parents, he needs to know what happened and unless some psychiatrist can like regress or hypnotise him to go back and PERFECTLY memorise something-" "W-well...okay...no, I...don't think that's something they can do very well." "Then I'm stuck trying to figure out how to help him. Because the only one who remembers his parents getting killed is HIM." "What do you wanna do, go inside his head and pull his memories out of him?!" "......yes." The raptor suddenly sparked with an idea flickering in his mind. "That's...exactly." "H-h-huh?!" "Koopin. You're beautiful." He lurched over towards his husband and smooched him deeply on the lips. "You are absolutely beautiful for remembering that." "Wh-wh-h-h-huh?! What do you-...wait. Wait um...you're not talking about...were you serious about back then?" "Hmm?" "You told me once that...you went inside yourself but you weren't very clear about it, I thought it was like some spiritual metaphor of a journey like maybe you just took some really bad fuzzy or...but...were you actually serious about going inside your own head?" "Yes. I...know I wasn't explaining it well but it's really difficult-" "H-how can you...no, if...if you can't explain it then that's fine but do you think this could work for Roy?" "It has to. It absolutely has to, I know it can." James bounced off from the bed and grabbed his calendar schedule from in his drawer to find reasonable dates along the upcoming month. "If I was able to get down inside myself and fight demons, then maybe I can help him fight his own. I just need to plan this." "W-w-wait, are you-" "Don't worry," said James smiling with a glint of hope, "if all goes well I won't have to leave you for more than three days. Alright, I promised." "You...you did," replied Koopin, "you said you'd never leave for longer than a week. Sorry I know that sounds really clingy-" "I understand. It's not like I have anywhere else I want to be, so it's not...really a restriction I'm bothered with, even if you yourself have your own excursions." "Yeah but I'm at least in my own world where if something happens YOU can come and get me. If something happens out there beyond I have no idea what to think!" "I know. That's why I'm okay with the week limit. Now...I just need to plan some things out, I told Roy I needed a few weeks to think about it, he's staying at the toad inn down the road so he's not going anywhere." "Is he gonna be okay by himself?" "He will, he's not got it in him to end himself, he's too defeated. But...could you do something for me?" "Yeah?" James leaned over the bed with a hand pressing on the mattress springs. "Be nice to him. I know you're not really...trusting him after all that he's done with me in the past but he needs...help, so at least just be nice to him." "Alright. I...I-i will since he...is your friend." "Thank you." Leaning further he smooched Koopin on the lips as he began to plan out his possible itinerary. Koopin's influence on maintaining a routine had helped him well in this as he charted his weeks between working and off days to fit a reasonable space of time for helping Roy without interrupting his life too much. Roy never came back to the Kennidons' doorstep, only ever waiting for James to come to him which he did at least twice a week to keep him company. He rarely spoke to anyone except the toad innkeeper, whom James explained the situation to briefly to which she understood. Even the warm peace and brightness of the perfect little kingdom did little to ease the grief tormenting Roy, sleeping night after night in relative safety and almost never being bothered by anyone. He never accepted money, but he did accept something else from Koopin who came to visit him every day with their first conversation in the toad house starting such. "Hello?" "Oh...h-hi, um...Koopin, wuz it?" "Yeah. Um...listen, James explained a few things to me but, he asked me to check up on you whilst he's away working. So I...thought you might like this?" The koopa brought forth a tubful of pasta, smaller than the one he made for Mrs. Goomelia since he was not entirely sure if it would take. The black raptor took it with a confused look until realising it was food, with a plastic fork taped to the top of the lid. "...whut's this?" "Koopasta. It's...pasta with a koopa leaf sauce, it's kind of my specialty, haha." "...smells...really good. Heh...you don't have to do this, um-" "I know. That's why I'm doing it. At least just as a way to make up to you for being sorta...aggressive when you came round and I'm just, I'm...sorry about that, that was awful of me." "N-naw naw I...ah understand, you got no reason to feel bad, James an' you got a life an' you just didn't want nobody to ruin that. Frankly ahm...not exactly thuh most stable person considerin' last tahm ah came to this place-" "Yeah...but...that's still no excuse for me when that was all years ago." "Alrigh'. Ahm sorry 'bout all this." "It's okay. But...listen." Koopin gently clasped Roy's left hand, much bigger than his own as he stared up at him. "You're not alone. Someone is always here for you, whether it's me or James...alright? We'll always come look in on you, either one of us so don't be afraid to ask for anything. We're here for you." "...alrigh'. Thank you, Koopin." For the rest of his stay within the Mushroom Kingdom, Koopin would double up his usual servings of pasta until Mrs. Goomelia had her cooker fixed, before returning back to his single meal make for the utahraptor to eat. The raptor had the look of shame and apology every time they met, but Koopin simply smiled with kind reassurance to ease whatever guilt may be dwelling within the newcomer. James also came round to check up on Roy, and even more rarely both Kennidons came to see him, talking about little pointless things to try and take his mind off of what he felt was his impending death. Around a week later, James Kennidon left the Mushroom Kingdom for only two days before returning. He had to suppress every bit of glee from his face at knowing he had found precisely what he was looking for, to which Koopin in turn nodded resolutely to let him go just a little bit longer. The second time James left, around four days later, he found himself in a deep and dark place resonating with sounds of flickering squeaking chirruping creatures as he landed upon a thick root of tree trunk buried half-deep into a stagnant lake. "Hhhhh...alright...okay now uh...Roy? Roy, you there?!" His answer came two minutes later by the sound of a transdimensional opening. A sound all too familiar to him as a tearing breach of black and blue spiralling out of its controlled state before shrieking thick, the sound of gasping winds across Spacetime Seven which soon vomited out the black raptor from its clutches. He stumbled slightly as he sighed deeply standing more than a feet away from FG with a gentle nod. "H-hhhhhhh...n-nnnngh...you ever...get used to that feelin'?" "Somewhat," said FG, "but never managed to see anyone else use it before you. God that looks freaky." "Sure is...alrigh'...so this...this here uh, lady you said, she gonna help me?" "Mmhmm, just follow me. She'll not be far off so just keep it cool, try not to step on her bad side and you'll get everything that's coming to you." "Thank god...you said um...this won't hurt?" "It'll be like going into a long sleep. Painless, nothing to fear, you'll be completely out. I don't want you to hurt anymore, and I mean that so I'm gonna give you the most painless sleep." "Ah appreciate that. Alrigh', let's do this."

Deep down within the swamps of an unknown American state in another universe, was a strange and delectable creature that became a hermit mostly residing to herself. The grand gnarled tree that had been carved from its insides was almost mystical to Roy as he stepped up with James into the small walkway that lead to its humble estate. Standing at the front doorway, amidst fireflies and bleakest light almost pea-green was a thick strong-armed gator with black curled hair, a ruby in her bellybutton, a red bandanna wrapped on her forehead and lastly a black T-shirt stating "Insert Heart Here" complete with dotted outline of said organ. "Is this gon' be a regular thing?" asked the lady. "Bringin' strange reptiles bah thuh wayside of life?" "Hopefully not," said FG chuckling, "Roy this is Mz. Ruby...she's gonna be the one to help you out on your last...voyage." "Ahm not dyin' of cancer," added Roy, "ah can handle thuh word death, it's mah decision." "You sure 'bout that boah?" stated Ruby. "You got a lotta fear in your eyes fer sumbody so acceptin' of death." "Well...ahm still afraid, yeah but-" "Of whut? Death...or sumthin' else thet y'all missin' from yo' life?" "I...a-a-ah dunno. It's nice to meet you miss." He offered his hand to shake politely which she took in turn chuckling a huge crooked grin. Her brown eyes were fierce upon Roy who at least managed to stand up to her at an equal height. But she was not so fooled staring into his pupils that stayed solemn. "You got a baaaad juju 'bout you. Hmhmhm...you wuz righ' to come here. Did James explain to you 'bout whut ah do?" "He said you would help me sleep, you got sum kinda Vodou that can help." "Hmhm, you said it righ'." "Yeah uh FG corrected me. Ah got all mah stuff with me too to help out for this uh...ritual you wanted." "Ahhhh yes...thet. We gon' give you thuh best sleep of yo' life Roy, come wit' me." She walked him into her house as they entered the living room. The radio in the corner and the bookshelves with various titles made it look much smaller a place than last James remembered it as they slowly moved towards the kitchen on their left. The bedroom James had stayed in had been cleared of all its scribblings and pagan symbols as Roy sat himself down upon the firm sheets. He could see another room beyond the kitchen opposite him, some sort of stone slab with a wicker chair on top of it surrounded by pots. "This ritual gon' take two weeks," said the Ruby, "you unnerstand thet?" "Yeah, ah do," replied Roy. "You stay here with me. You eat here, you sleep here, whutever ah ask of you, you do without question. Whutever ah tell you to NOT do, you don' ever do it, thet unnerstood?" "Gotcha. Is that room over there where the ritual gonna be?" "Yep. Now, ah need three items from you thet represent you an' two others connected to you over thuh course'a your journey. Thuh Seeker who hunts another for thuh truth, thet one represents thuh Mind isself. Thuh Dormant, whose great power lies untold within, they represent thuh Heart. An' thuh Vessel, who carries a darkness insahd 'a him. that one represents thuh Body. Thet vessel bein' you naturally." "Me? Whut you mean?" "Thuh vessel, in this context, be thuh person we are tryin' to help, in order to bring him to peace across thuh farplane, we must...separate his soul from thuh body, cleanly. An' for thet, ah need three items that represent you an' your life. May ah see yer stuff? Jus' empty it out on thuh bed fer me." He was nervous at first but James encouraged him with a simple nod of trust as he emptied out his bookbag that he always carried on him. Various strange pieces from other worlds such as a small golden coin with the shape of a hat inscribed onto it, a green scroll of east Asian origin, a blank yellow jigsaw piece with an odd rune engraved, prayer beads of shining blue quartz, various coins of differing currencies across the worlds, a little bird's skull carved out of wood, a bracelet fashioned of old steel and lastly his father's bible. She gently picked up the strange lone coin firstly, rubbing it in her long red claws. "This coin...this very special to you, ain't it?" "Yeah um...it...it helps me think, h-helps me focus." "From a friend?" "Very good friend...yeah, smartest person ah know, always told me how to figure out things...ahm still tryin' to do that." "Ah see. Now uh...this here bible." Mz. Ruby picked up the weathered-looking tome which had clearly been through an immense wear and tear by its scuffled front cover and the paper pieces sticking out of it. "Ah can sense a lotta essence on it, very deep." "It's...it's mah father's. He always kept it on him close." "Devout were he?" "He wuz a good...guy, polite, sweet...really kind, e-everybody loved him. Ah loved him." "Perfect to represent you, as a connection to yer family. Now we only need one more item to help represent thuh Dormant but fer now, why don't you-" "Ah, ahem." James stepped forwards as he brought something forth from his satchel. The raptor in mourning gasped with silent shock as his hand crept gently to his lips, shivering in a mixture of both joy and sorrow twisting his eyes into themselves. "You...y-y-y-you...you kept it." "Of course I did. It was a gift from you, wasn't it?" "It...i-i-it wuz...ah dunno how it'd help you but...wuz it useful?" "It shure wuz." The priestess took James' offering, the horseshoe glistening steel and bright as always as she nodded complacently. "This...ah can feel a great love emanatin' outta this. When ah felt thuh love of one you lost from this 'ere horseshoe...ah knew whut ah had to do." "R-r-really?" asked Roy softly. "Mmhmm. Go on, git sum rest, ahll make up sum good food fer you whilst ah git thuh ritual started up." "Okay...um...th-thank you." Roy gently put the rest of his items back into his bookbag before laying back onto the bed to sleep off. But before he could, James stopped him with a gentle twist of his claws thumbing against each other nervously now that Roy was too tired to escape from him. "Before you uh...go to sleep, Roy I wanna tell you something." "Hmm?" "...I wanna explain what the ritual is about." "Huh? Whut, whut you mean, ah thought it wuz sum sorta euthanasia shit." "No. It's not." "......you lied." His eyes began to twitch with a stern look of betrayal. "You said...you said were gonna help me." "I am helping you." "YOU SAID, that you were gonna help me die!" "I said I was gonna help you, not help you die specifically." "THAT'S FUCKIN' BULLSHIT!" "ALRIGH' HOLD UP!" Mz. Ruby forced her hands up to stop the two from getting into a frenzy. "If ah may have a moment to interject." "YOU SET THIS UP!" shouted Roy. "BOTH OF YOU, YOU TRYIN' TO FUCKIN' TRICK ME!" "If ah wanted to trick you, we'd never have told you whut we's about to tell you now." "FUCK THIS, AHM LEAVIN'!" "No yer not." "TRY ME!" He forced himself off from his bed but the moment he tried to rush at both of them with his beastly hulk, Ruby blocked the doorway with a vile pulsating of wretched darkness, shivering screaming twisting tendrils that rippled with necrotic essence. The raptor had no means to fight back without a weapon and the sense of dread that pierced into his soul came wilting from the eyes of the shaman. SIT. DOWN. The voice came from inside his head as he shuddered with raw fear hitting deep into his nerves that rooted him to the spot, before Mz. Ruby thrust her fat palm out towards his body and slammed him back onto the bed. The voice spoke again thick with Mz. Ruby's accent taking a much darker turn, the doorway behind her reappearing from the dark aura that swept graciously around her with James still waiting behind nervously. If yer so eager to die, ah will make you suffer gladly when ah flense yer soul straight out of its body lahk skinnin' a fucking PIKE! Ah got better things to do with mah life, then watch sum little Manhattan fuck bereave hisself an' make me waste mah talents on ending his life. "Y-y-you...a-a-ah got no reason to be here, J-j-james told me-" This boah righ' here is doin' everythin' he can to unFUCK yer head out of whutever grief you's trapped yerself in. You been travellin' all these differen' worlds an' THIS is how you wanna end it? Yer weak. Pathetic. "FUCK YOU! I'M NOT WEAK! I'VE BEEN CARRYING THIS SHIT FOR ALMOST TWENTY YEARS, I CAN'T DO IT ANYMORE, THIS BURDEN IS CRUSHING ME AND I JUST WANT TO STOP, PLEASE!" You wanna die so easily, buy a fuckin' gun lahk e'rybody else. All you done wuz upset thuh one person that even wanted to help you. Ah don't give a shit, but he does cuz he been in a place as bad as you, not more than seven years back, that boah had a gotdamn demon insahd'a him an' he only found me after a group'a friends of his cared enough abou' him to find a way. This here ritual we's plannin' fer you, but thuh same one that helped him BEAT that demon down lahk a bitch. "Wh-wh-...wh-whut? Wait...w-wait, naw ah thought...ah thought he told me that him an' Koopin stopped him!" "We did," said FG, "but that was only after I beat him down hard enough to weaken him properly, before me and Koopin could destroy him completely. He was still really powerful, and I would not have been able to do any of that, or Koopin, without Mz. Ruby." The raptor walked forwards into the room with a heartfelt look of sympathy. "I wanna help you Roy. I wanna help you find out the truth, and if I can't find it out here...then maybe we can find it in HERE." He pointed at Roy's head directly who looked at him with a sneer of disbelief. "You...seriously? This...this lady gonna be mah shrink?!" "No, she's going to send you inside your head like on a mental journey, you go into yourself, find all your memories and find the one about the day your parents got killed. All I know about the killer is that he's dead, he was gunned down and the case was closed but I don't know WHO it was. 'The Armee' pretty much erased everything about that case, plus with you gone off into other worlds, it seems like the police basically wrote you off as dead. No loose ends. Maybe that was they chose you." "You...you think thuh A.R.M.E were behind it?" "I have no idea. I've got no proof and I'm not going to make accusations. I just wanna find out the truth like you, so I'll make a promise right here. You go through this ritual, you head inside yourself and you find out the truth...then promise me you'll let me help you get a new life and stop all this suicide talk because...it's not something anyone should deserve, especially not you." "...whut if ah can't find thuh truth?" "I'll kill you myself." James said this as he pulled out a rather wicked-looking short knife, blood steeped across its small blade. "Mz. Ruby let me borrow this if I...need it, it's from her kitchen. If you don't find out the truth inside yourself...I promise you will never wake up again." "R-really? You not bullshittin' me a second time." "If he doesn't, then ahll kill you mahself." The priestess swept a hand out and suddenly felt the blade pull itself free from FG's hand to be clutched in her thick gnarled green fingers. "Ah got no qualms about killin' orphans boah. Ah made plenty of 'em become thet an' if you so choose to be this wretched excuse of a fuckin' lizard then ah will make your family line end HERE. Got thet?" Roy nodded with feverish panic as the prospect of death hit him rather suddenly, tears welling up as he struggled not to break. She gave the knife back to James who took it rather cringingly, giving a sneering look of outrage to Mz. Ruby silently before Roy said: "You...really managed to go all inside your head, FG?" "I did. That's how I beat Scisso hard enough to get rid of him forever." "...um...a-a-alrigh'. Ahll...ahll do it. Ahll go all into this ritual, might as well, got nuthin' else left for me. But you fuckin' promise that if ah find nuthin' you make damn sure ah never see this world again." "Trust me, it's all or nothing Roy. Mz. Ruby doesn't go back on her word." "Amen to thet," said the gator chuckling deep, "alrigh' now you head off to bed an' uh don't try to leave this place. Y'all need sumthin' you come an' ask me, don' be shy. Ah gotten better at keepin' house guests thanks to James heah." "Ah would not have guessed," said the utahraptor sarcastically. Whilst Mz. Ruby went and took the three items down towards the ritual room, Roy settled down to sleep with cautious resignation to adapt to his new state of affairs. For the next two weeks, Roy would not see James again as he remained dutifully in Mz. Ruby's house, reading to himself and eating anything that was offered. The first breakfast that he had in Mz. Ruby's care was a strangely comforting sensation, despite the rather tense atmosphere that had come between them on the first day but something had him woken with shock struggling to lift himself from the bed. His entire body slumped with exhaustion as he shakily pushed himself into the kitchen, seeing the Vodou priestess stirring a thick stew of shellfish, ham and various vegetables. "Mornin'." She smiled softly seeing the strange look in Roy's eyes. "Don' worry, first day's always thuh hardest. Trust me, you hungry boah?" "...th-th-that...h-hhhh...h-hhhhh-" "Huh? Whut's wrong wit' you? If you ain' hungry jus' say it, thet mean more fer me anywho." His body began quivering with the most painful warmth in his heart, his eyes widening as his nostrils sweltered in a saddening moan from his snout as tears came thickly dripping down his cheeks. He couldn't even stop himself from whimpering the words that came out of him. "M-m-maman...fait ca pu moin." "...whut?" "Maman f-fait gumbo quan...quan j'etais p-plu jeune. Je ne l'ai pa s-senti que dans les annees." "...James ne m'a jamais dit que vous parlez francais." The raptor blinked back in turn with quivering lips at the sound of a familiar tongue. "Ma mere, m'a appris...elle etay d-de la Louisiane." "Hmm. Voulez-vous parler plutot en anglais ou en francais?" "......francais, vuplait." A gentle smile of pity formed on her face as they went over to the living room with bowls of gumbo to enjoy together. Roy's tasted saltier the more he ate, unable to stop weeping into it from the beautiful nostalgic taste. He was tasting the warmth of memories, the happiness of a mother's embrace, the feeling of her lips pressing against his cheeks all within one bowl of perfected comfort food. Mz. Ruby said nothing, allowing him to pour his grief into the bowl until he managed to finally eat all of it. She gave him second helpings to which he gladly accepted, eating up everything with less tears than before as he managed to sate both his heart and stomach within unison. Occasionally Mz. Ruby would go to the ritual room which he had been told not to enter under any circumstances for risk of damaging the bonds of the incantation she would weave over time. He never disobeyed, but the two gladly began speaking over the rest of the two weeks in French which if one knew well enough would be hearing such dialogue as this. "You have a Haitian accent," began Roy en francais, "but your French is um...way less accented than what I heard from them." "People on the mainland tend to get really stupid not understanding my mother tongue. So I had to adapt, along with English." "Heh...my mother was the same, she wasn't very Creole but she taught me enough to understand French as it is." "I noticed your accent...nice to see somebody smarter than James come round here for once." "Hhhah...hahaha." "I could have done with telepathy frankly but I miss speaking French, I never get a chance to do it often so...thanks." "No problem." "So what was she like?" asked the priestess. "Your mom that is, since we're both here I might as well ask about you." "My mom? Very warm, very busty, big and proud, big as in tall I mean. Prided herself on cooking and able to feed an entire family with two packets of rice." "No different from any good mom in the back of the woods. You got a New York accent though." "She moved to the city to get away from family." "Heh...say no more, I understand family problems." "Really? What about your mom?" "My family were very isolated, closed off from the rest of the world. We were all mystics, learned to communicate with the dead. I had no friends. I resented that." "That sounds like a pretty bad family." "It was. What about your mother's family?" "I'm trying to remember," said Roy bluntly, "there was a lot of them. Very big family, she was the seventh child of eight but um...then it went back to seventh again." "What do you mean?" "Something happened to her younger sister...she only told me she was the seventh...sometimes seventh of eighth whenever she got tipsy and drunk enough on a good night to let her words loose and she uh...it was something bad enough that it caused a big rift in the family between her and them, I don't know if it's her own guilt or them pushing it on her but it was bad enough that she left." "Shit...so she moves to New York, then meets your dad. How did that happen?" "He was the mailman for her apartment. He talked to everybody when delivering stuff and the two hit each other up pretty well. Next thing you know, they got together, married, had me...that's about it." "Was she a Christian too?" "Not as much as dad. But enough to love him." "And you?" "......God doesn't exist in every other universe. Frankly I don't even believe he lives in mine anymore." "But there are gods, plural, do you believe in them?" "You ask me if gods themselves exist, or if gods exist with good intentions for those they gave life to?" The priestess smiled nodding with approval of this questionable retort before replying: "If you could speak with Him, what would you ask him?" "I don't care." Roy leaned back against the wall sighing bitterly. "It doesn't matter what I believe anymore." "You find no solace in the bible? I have one if you need it whilst I'm borrowing your daddy's." "I wasn't one of those people that found answers in it all the time. It's just a book of fables, good fables but that's all they are. Sure there's good quotes and insightful stuff but I never really applied any of it to my life because it never fit. I couldn't ask it to help me overcome what happened to my parents, or trying to save friends, some of that I already knew what to do. But it's just a book." "The right words make all the difference in the world. Trust me, I speak plenty of them that are not any mortal language that can do a great madness." "Hhheheh...James said you were pretty mysterious, what did you do in a past life?" "I was a felon," she replied, "I haven't served my sentence technically." "Sentence for what?" asked Roy. "Murder. Larceny. Necromancy." She rattled them off as if they were cereal box ingredients which made Roy's eyes tremble with anxious confusion before asking: "Wait, like...reanimating the dead? There's even a law against that?!" "Article two-four-six of the Haitian Penal Code states that, 'it shall also be qualified as attempted murder the employment which may be made against any person of substances which, without causing actual death, produce a lethargic coma more or less prolonged. If, after the person had been buried, the act shall be considered murder no matter what result follows'. So yeah, basically illegal to raise the dead which was what I was doing back in Haiti. Never realised, who'd have thought?!" "Shit...I mean it's nice they cover all fronts but...damn. I wonder if they have that law back in my world, I never asked my mom about Vodou." "Well Louisiana doesn't really have it as bad as Haiti, I mean they're two different places." "Right...hmmm..." "Can I ask you something?" said Mz. Ruby. "Just...something I wanna clear up. What exactly made you want somebody ELSE to kill you, rather than yourself?" "...I didn't want to die alone." The black raptor hunched over with the bitterest droplets on his cheeks. "I lived my life to everything my father taught me. I wanted to have some fucking dignity left to not die like a coward." "And THIS isn't cowardice? Begging somebody else to do it for you?" "I-i-i can't keep walking like this forever. The one person I loved who could help me is gone and I've got nobody else, the only person who had even the slightest idea of knowing how I felt is FG...h-h-he...even after all I accused him and me trying to kill him...he still wanted to help me. He's my dearest friend by this point." He huddled against himself, his knees hunched up to his chest as he buried his head within. It was going to be a long two weeks of nostalgic mourning and contemplative apathy, to which Mz. Ruby lent her bible to give Roy some small solace whilst she borrowed his father's for the ritual. It didn't help him find peace, but it did help him take his mind off by becoming lost in its myriad of wild and strange stories, half of which he remembered by heart. The days would soon pass long enough between various talks and bizarre noises from the ritual room that would have terrified Roy more if his mind was not so consumed by a mistral chaos of longful grief and contemplation. The longer he waited in Mz. Ruby's house, the more curious he became about the true end of the ritual and what it should accomplish for him. Curiosity began to stifle his death-seeking, and in turn it began to blossom towards a resignation of simply mindless determination. Keep walking through hell, like he had always done previously. Two weeks later the ritual was attended by James who came to support his friend emotionally as well as to honour the deal he had bargained for him. The utahraptor had hoped to meet his end with a look of serene pity as he sat upon the wicker chair of the ritual room, dull sounds of odd creatures from far away beyond the walls of thick steepened trunk submerged within the mire all around that looked inviting to drown himself in. But he knew in the end that if there was even the slightest chance of some new resolution to what he had been searching for, he couldn't give up. He would never forgive himself even if there was the slimmest chance. If a ritual such as this could destroy a demon that had plagued his nemesis for his entire journey then surely it was worth his last voyage into the darkness for. Mz. Ruby began to explain: "First ahm gonna be performing thuh 'Lave Tet', it's sumthin' of a baptism. We gonna make four different prayers, all thuh ol' school ones that you used to sing no doubt then ah wash yer head seven tahms. Then ah take thuh chair away an' you lay down onto this slab when ah tells ye to. Any questions boah?" "Just one. Can ah sing wit' you?" He smiled, struggling but trying to as Mz. Ruby chuckled. "Hhhuhuhuhu...long as you know thuh words ah guess, shure." "Alrigh'. Let's do this." "Good luck Roy," said FG, "I'm rooting for ya." "If...if anythin' happens...ah jus' wanna say, James. Thank you...for not leavin' me." The raptor in brown nodded firmly with hope smiling on his face of concern as he stood to the side with an old-looking book in his hands, the stone slab in front of them with bible, coin and horseshoe shining sweetly in preparation. The Vodou priestess took ingredients from each pot, pouring and mixing into a bowl as she sang off-key the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary and the Apostles' Creed. Roy smiled as if the pain was finally going away from him, starting to sing as they began forming a stereoscopic French melody which James tried to not listen to. But their voices resonated throughout the entire tree as Roy felt his tears of fearful bliss trickling pleasantly down his face. Ten claps. Second stanza. Ten claps. Third stanza. Ten claps. Fourth. Every time they stopped singing, Roy felt the world fade away from him as the names of saints came spiralling through his head. A deep drug-like trance overwhelmed him as water poured upon his head, the smell of herbs cloistering his senses as if flowers were growing upon his grave. His body became numb. He had never been so happy to feel this. Because he wasn't truly. "Stand up." He did as she ordered without even asking. "Step off thuh slab." He stepped down as she put the chair away and sweeped over a white cloth on top of the slab to cover the three items. "Lie down on thuh sheet." James could not even see where the sheet was yet somehow knew where to lie upon it, placing himself perfectly as the priestess hung a wick above his head on the wall, floating in oil which kept it constantly lit. The light he could see barely from his eyes fading still away, briefly illuminating the wooden structure to a red luscious deep ochre. She then pulled out two things from a nearby table. A small pouch, and the book reminiscent of Myst Island's literology. "Look into mah eyes. See how far you can git insahd afore ah send you to sleep. Jus' keep lookin'...just...keep...looking." He gazed into her eyes as he felt a tingling come across his entire form, shuddering from the deep sensation of both cleansing as well as whatever else this ritual went beyond of. Without warning she blasted a puff of smoke into his eyes blinding him briefly, her hand having dug into her pouch sending an odd blast of colour across his vision. Her eyes began to intensify as so did his in turn, feeling the drowsiness overcome him, his eyes not irritated somehow as the dust settled in. Visions began to blur as her voice melded with two males oddly reminiscent. "Rest not upon this mortal shore young soul, for you will soon depart into your storms of darkness, and you must always stay strong to your vessel. Through the field of your despair, you must travel forth, and find the truth...the truth shall not hunt for you...but you shall hunt for his lair." Roy did not know what she meant, but soon he felt shadows passing between his vision. One stridant and of dark chocolate auburn with dignity, the other much larger dappled in white and caramel shapes. Three voices began to chant from beneath the sheet. "And so you travel through a city of the past, through clouded forests and the warmth of darkness. So you shall find your sins lurking amidst iron horses, your deep desires and greatest needs within dreams unspoken. Across the waters you must traverse, high into the sky where light once shone where you shall meet your nemesis, hidden beneath a cloak of darkness. Go, Roy MacGregor, go forth to your destiny...and embrace eternity." Darkness. His heart began to beat thickly amidst shrieking tearing wires and sinew twisting across his vision as he dived into himself. He thought it was the end, he believed for one moment it had become the long sleep he had been waiting for. But he saw a light.

Burning bright, his eyes struggled to see blinking sweetly. A song echoed across golden halls as something moves him against his own will. Warm hands of black strength caress him. Clothes as white as the smallest lamb as his eyes struggle to peer at the two great reptilian faces before him. Faces of love. One had brown eyes with larger cheeks tearful with blessed grin, the other strong and silent with strong chin also brown-eyed as he heard a voice not of their own. "What name have you given your child?" The faces of love replied back. "Roy Charles MacGregor." "What do you ask of God's Church for Roy Charles MacGregor?" "To bless him with our faith. To baptise him in the love and grace of Christ, to learn kindness and warmth in His embrace." "You have asked for your child to be baptised. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of training him in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring him up to keep God's commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor. Do you understand what you are undertaking?" They approach closer. A kindly-looking bear whose furred visage was too seeped in light to make out clearly as his thick arms carry him. "Roy Charles MacGregor. The Christian community welcomes you with great joy. In its name I claim you for Christ our Savior by the sign of his cross. I now trace the cross on your forehead, and invite your parents to do the same." Hands sweep across his eyes, darkness briefly as something warm and wet smears across his forehead. The hands of warm love follow the bear as his own tiny claws reach up with the softest whimper. The light is blinding. Time skips on, voices blur and whisper across the void of his earliest memory. Every question the priest gives, his own voice answered from his older self. "Do you reject Satan, and all his works?" I do "Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth?" I did "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?" I can "Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?" I can't _ The water takes him once, slowly consuming him in its warm fluid splendour. He never cried as he felt the hands of love pull him back up. _"I baptize you in the name of the Father." The water takes him again. He comes back up. "Of the Son." The water takes him again. "And of the Holy Spirit." He doesn't come back up. Hands leave him, the water turns cold, something wraps around his foot like a long serpent. "God the Father of our Lord has freed you from sin." The water stretches beyond his reach, spiralling into a deep darkening pool as something drags him downwards, thick blackening tendril of some strange unknown beast. Porous and leaking from every inch of its rasping tentacle as voices stretched past him, words slithering like snakes of the sea twisting and rippling past his body. Is that the truth? Yer eyes always turn so brigh'...an' focused, just lahk yer daddy's does. Why would he blame you? Ah never unnerstood why people can't accept your honesty. Be good today, alright Roy? Ah tell you righ' now, you thuh best thing to come outta this family yet. Nothing I will do can ever be greater than having you as my son. Don' ever let nobody tell you different...never. Ah luv you always. He breathes again. Water breaks through as his head pushes out gasping to see the sky above. A lonesome beach he crawls himself onto, choking and coughing with a strangely screechy voice as seawater thickly pours from his lungs. He heard the sound of seagulls, the waves behind him as he pushed himself up slowly. "Whuh...wh-where am ah? A-a-ahm ah...ahm ah dreamin'? Wait...mah voice. Mah hand!" It was his voice certainly, but the voice of a child at the same time as he tried to walk forwards, noticing his right hand was back to its old self of flesh and bone as his feet began staggering with exhaustion in the biting cold of the sea peering towards a large cliff face. Thick jagged rock almost oppressively hanging over him, cracked and grey, yet he could see the barest sight of green grass upon its top more than sixty feet above his head. Large boulders dotted along the shore, left and right they stretched onwards until hitting a solid stone wall with not a single other piece of land beyond the sea behind him. He was trapped. Beyond reach of any creature apart from a seagull and a small red crab fighting over a steel fork. "This has gotta be a dream...i-is this...did ah really go insahd mahself? Can't be......HELLOOOOO?! ANYBODYYYYY!?" "You called for help?" A voice came deep and rasping from behind one of the boulders, his mind struggling to recognise who as a shadow appeared beside it. Tall and stridant, thick yellow scale deep with crackling black like old seaweed, with red lines thick and diagonal across his eyes that naturally becoming part of his pebbled skin. The creature stood at a height of 7 feet, dominating Roy from his perspective as it walked forwards whilst wearing pure brimming steel armour that he saw his face in. The plate covering the abdominal region showed his young face, regressed with tender eyes of brown and blue imperfect rings. "Whuh...a-a-ahm...ahm a kid? Wh-when'd this happen?" "Do you not realise where you be, my young neophyte?" "...no...i-i-it can't be...NIK!?" His eyes roved upwards as he struggled to comprehend one thing after the other, the muscular reptilian smiling down upon him kindly with his long tail snaking out behind him. A large zweihander blade remained strapped to his back almost six feet long, covered in various fixtures of its imperfect bladed edges as Roy suddenly latched onto his leg whimpering with shock and excitement. "H-h-holy...h-h-h-holy SHIT Nik! M-m-master Nik, i-i-issat...issat you?! Wh-whut are you doin' here, ahm ah dreamin'?! It has to be, I-" "It is somewhat abreast of reality, yes. Hmhmhmhm...you are looking well, my dear Roy." "M-...m-master...whut's happenin', a-a-ah wuz...ah wuz gonna be sumplace an' then ah fell in thuh water a-a-an' then ah washed up here." "It is not like you to give up so easily my boy." "Whut you mean?! Where...th-thuh fuck are we, whut is this place?! ...are we in heaven?" "HAH! Hhhhhahahahahaha, ohhhh what good humour you have kept. Hhhhmhmhm...to think I would ever be so gracious to step in Heaven's door you most deeply flatter me." "Do you know where we are then?! Ah mean....h-how are you...did ah fall back into your world, why ahm ah little again, did that fuckin' voodoo witch do sum shit to me?!" "Possibly." "...ah dunno where ah ahm, a-a-ah dunno, wh-whut's even happenin', wh-where's thuh-" "Caaaaaalm yourself." The hands of Roy's former master planted firmly upon his shoulders, gnarled and thick with aged scars and calloused bruises of great strength and training. His smile was sincere despite the long jagged teeth. "You are not as lost as you think that you are, Roy MacGregor." "Wh-where...jus-...p-please...ah don' care where ah even am, j-just help me outta here, l-lemme make sense." "I have done all I could to help you make sense, I could only train you to be a fighter and succeed." "A-ah know you done that! But you were always able to...know where you at, where you went, where you'd git to! Do you know a...a-awwww jesus f-fuck ah dunno whut thuh fuck anymore ah shouldn't have done this! A-ah shoulda just bought a gun!" "Shhhh...shhhhh...come here boy." The lizardman knelt before his former pupil and clutched him tight, closely pulling him against his shoulder as his rugged claws stroke gently across the back of Roy's smooth head. Sighing sweetly from his rasping throat, he felt the young utahraptor start to calm down from being overwhelmed by such an odd place and reunion before saying: "No excuse is ever worth taking your life. Push all thoughts of that aside, and you shall find a new means to press forwards." "But...th-there's no other way outta here." "I will help you ascend yonder cliff. Beyond that you are on your own." "Wh-wh-whut? Wh-why?" "Because beyond this, I cannot come with you. You will understand when you reach it." "You can't explain it now?! Just-...tell me, am ah dead? For real, is this whut it feels lahk?" "You are not dead. No. You know in your heart that you are not, truly." "......so whut is this?" "That is what you shall learn at the top of this cliff. Now come with me. I shall carry you up to the top, do you trust me?" "Ah always do...master Hauzer." "Hmhmhaha, no need to be so formal my lad. There is a saying from my people. Syn Athena kai cheira kinei. Move your hand along with Athena." "Whussat s'posed to mean?" "It means that should you find yourself in trouble, first of all you must do your best to improve your condition. Do not bemoan and sit pleading like a beggar expecting help to come, without even so much as an attempt." "Ahm...ahm sorry...a-a-ahm jus', sorta all outta shape, ah dunno whut to think. Ah wuz ready to die lahk two weeks ago, n-now ahm...stuck on a beach tryin' to push into sum bullshit mental heart journey ah d-dunno whut, why did ah even do this?!" "Because you feel there is still a last hope, a chance to redeem your senses for the truth still. And it is that feeling you must allow to spring deep, from within that which lies beyond the great darkening moor of your heart, now...let me help you...come."

They walked over to the base of the cliff, the large reptilian warrior pulling out a thick length of rope from his armour and encouraged Roy to leap onto his back. Grasping onto his shoulders as Hauzer kneeled, the young raptor whimpered at the rope tightly binding against his back, wrapping round both their bodies as his claws feebly grasp at the sword's hilt to maintain his footing. The lizardman soon began to scale the cliff, his claws shanking deep into the rockface with little trouble as his heaving raw muscles scraped underneath his armoured build. "It has been...NNNGH...many years since you last remembered me." "Wuz...um...b-busy with stuff." "I see. I am glad you...moved past the ways of warriorhood to try and become a...family man." "N-not so much...that but...just wanted to live, you know?" "I am glad that at your age you...hhhhnnnngh...learnt the better sense of a peaceful retirement." "You mean thuh age ah look now or thuh age ah wuz when ah 'fell asleep' an' maybe died or not died cuz who thuh fuck even knows now?!" "You know what I mean boy, do not be a pedant." A brief moment of the lizardman hanging upon the cliff as his feet gently scrabbled back onto the proper holds he could feel against his toes, the little raptor grasping onto his back like a baby in a caboose. "But now I must ask you...why do you seek death so willingly after all is said and done?" "Whut do you know about that?" "Do you really forget who I am? Let it be known that Nikolaides Hauzer is not a fool, especially when he has embraced death plenty of times when...hhhhh the gods have abandoned me and many of my kin." "Least you still have your sanity." "That is true...unlike that poor bastard Aeon Calcos." "Ohhh yeah...him, you told me about him. Did you know that guy?" "When he tried to unite other lizardmen in hatred, yes. I chose...not to follow him...hhhhhh...helps that I kept enough of my humanity unlike him and some others but, we are beside the point. Why have you come to seek death, Roy?" The raptor's eyes flinched with outright shock at the back of Nikolaides' head. "How'd you know about that?!" "The same reason I am here with you despite not inhabiting my own world." "......um...i-i-it's...just that ah...ah got nuthin' left. That's all." "And that is an excuse for you to lay down and die? You have a gift to travel to plenty other worlds and so you choose to lie in dirt?" "If you on a raft in thuh middle of thuh sea, you got any idea how long it takes to find someplace to be safe?! Whut if you been rowin' in one direction, an' nuthin's come up for so long that you just wanna say fuck it an' drop down into thuh water an' hope you drown quick?!" "Then why didn't you? As much as I appreciate your metaphor...I...HHH-HHHNNNNRGH!" They finally reached the top of the cliff as Nikolaides hoisted himself over with muscles bursting thick against the seams of his armour that held tight, placing Roy down after unfastening the rope from his body as they stood upon the sweet green grass to recuperate. "You could not...even...find the strength to push yourself over the edge of a cliff such as this. You had to involve another person to become your strength." "A-a-ah just...ah just...ahm just scared." "Of what may I ask?" "Of...b-being alone. Livin' a life without anybody to live with." His child voice whimpered with fits of frustration as Nik gently bent onto one knee and pulled him tightly close. "You are not alone, my sweet Roy. You are a dear precious gift...and one that I was blessed to have met every day since we last spoke. I only regret that you...did not share the same heart as I did." "You taught me everythin'...you helped me when ah wuz scared an' confused on mah first journey out there. Ah loved you, as a friend an' as mah mentor. Ahm sorry ah couldn't return thuh love you had for me." "No. You have no need to apologise." The tender lizardman softly kissed him on the cheek, then once again upon the lips. "I am most gracious to have known you as both a friend and student...I would not ask for more than that, especially when my teachings seemed to have worked. Your blade has not been stained so deep as your nemesis' has." "You don'...you don' know that." "I do. Now...your next problem." The creature pointed towards another tall cliff, this one far too high and shearfaced to even contemplate climbing as the boy winced with frustration before noticing a huge crevasse in the base straight before him. Even more surprisingly, was someone that he knew in the form of a human in his early 30s, a Chinese man with thin moustache and piercing eyes of dark pupils wearing a brown cloth outfit with a pike strapped to his back. "Ni sihu zong shi milu hen rongyi, ni bu Roy?" "...Zhang?! Zhang Wu, okay WAIT, whut thuh FUCK?!" "Problem?" asked Nikolaides. "YES THERE'S A GODDAMN PROBLEM! Okay...hokay ah just...ah need to think, lemme sit down a bit." "Take your time, we are not going anywhere unless you need yourself be." Roy sat himself into the mountain grass taking his moment to breathe and struggle in his refocus of current things as the past few hours became a jumbling of shapes and colours inside his head. Or what was now out here which was inside his head, he was still finding it incredibly distressing. "A-ah don't...get this, is this really thuh insahd of mah head? S-sorry ahm jus' really strugglin' here, ahm on thuh end o' mah rope!" "When you are ready...Zhang Wu here will help you realise, just please follow him into that cave. He knows the way out to your next true destination." "Mah...mah next true destination?" "Indeed." The black raptor stood up, his younger body's self staggering slightly with thicker legs. "Something you have been searching for in many years of your past, so I will only ask you this. How do you first learn of truth?" "Huh?" "Remember. You answered this once. Now, go with Zhang Wu and please...be careful my dear pupil. I would hate to think that you failed for all you have chartered through...do it for me at least." "...alrigh'. Thank you...master." He bowed with respect, his hand over his heart but the moment he looked up again, Nik was nowhere to be found as if disappearing like a ghost. His eyes blinked and he rushed over towards the cliff edge to try and see if he had fallen but there was no body in sight. The black raptor became paranoid and turned cautiously towards Zhang Wu as if expecting him to fade away too but the man still remained, beckoning him to come forth. "Lai ba, qing buyao dongyao." "Uhhh, yanno ah still don' understand you, which is kinda weird if uh...h-huh?! Wait, ah got no rings! M-m-mah rings! Shit, shit SHIT, wh-where are they?!" "Zenmeliao?" Roy frantically dug around in his short pockets trying to find his rings fearing they had been lost in the waves of the sea, panicking as he stared at his naked left hand. "Awwww...f-f-fuck, FUCK! A-a-ah didn't...ah didn' wanna...lose 'em, a-a-ah needed them!" "Meiyou shengyu zheli yidian, lai ba!" "Alrigh' alrigh' already! Fuckin' lai ba you at this rate, jeez." Reluctantly with great frustration built up inside of him, the raptor walked forth into the deep crevasse of the heightened mountain as he kept his eyes on Zhang who kept ahead of him. Tight narrow walls sculpted firmly in oval shape, undulating walls of thick erosive limestone seemed to encroach from all around him like toothless lips, ready to crush them at a moment's notice. The human never stopped, blindly reaching his hands forwards as the world turned darker around him almost encouraging a sense of claustrophobia to come scraping down the back of his head, like teeth in the night. "F-f-fuck...wh-why are you even here Zhang Wu? A-a-ah mean last ah saw you, you wuz back home with yer wife an' kids!" "Ni zhidao, wo wufa lijie ni, dui budui? Baocun ni de huxi, pengyou." "Um...alrigh', sure, that's um...that's great. Fuck ah wish ah could understand you. Lissen...ahm sorry about whut happened, ah didn't know whut to do, that Zhang He fucker ambushed you guys, ah just wanted to keep you safe! Ah didn' wanna fight no Ma Su or Lu Bu whutever cuz ah wuz hidin' in a cave! Heh...a cave kinda lahk this one." "Shenme?" They soon reached the end of the passage to find a large room, sizeable enough to hold a party of six people in with a large black wall in front of them scaling up to twelve feet that had room at the top to climb over. The smooth floor of volcanic darkness and barest of lighting made Roy nervous as Zhang Wu turned towards him with a look of "what the fuck are you even talking about?". "Ni zai shuo shenme?" Roy gestured as best he could first to the cave, then to themselves and lastly to his own head. "Um...CAVE. THIS. ME. YOU AND ME. REMEMBER?" The human simply responded by pointing at himself and then mockingly to his own ear. "WO BUSHI. LONGZI. ROY." "...heh...hhheheheh, alrigh' alrigh' ah deserve that, THAT ah understood. Now how are we gonna get up that wall?" "Pa shangle wo." Zhang Wu walked over to the base of the wall and put out his hands to cup them readily to offer a boost. "Heheeey there ya go! Alrigh' then here ah come." He rushed over and hopped perfectly into the man's grasp, who swiftly launched him with a surprising strength to the top of the wall he gripped onto frantically, clambering up steadily as he shouted back: "ALRIGH' AHM UP HERE! Um...ah don' think ahm strong enough to get you up!" "TIAOFU!" "WHUT?!" "TIAOFU! XUNZHAO LUSE TIAOFU, RANHOU JIECHULE WO!" "YANNO, WE WERE MUCH BETTER AT THIS BACK IN THUH DAY! AH DUNNO HOW THUH FUCK WE GOT THROUGH A MOUNTAIN CAVE AN' YET SOMEHOW WE-...HANDS!" Roy spasmed his hands in front of him trying to make a puppet play involving a duck and a rabbit. "SHOW ME WHUT YOU WAN', WITH YOUR HANDS!" "...TIAOFU." Zhang Wu made the motion of opening something with his hands, pulling apart his fists diagonally as if unravelling like a parchment. Roy was confused at first as he looked around before finding something from his past. Sitting out in the open of the rocky plateau behind him, was a green scroll pristinely rolled up with shining tassel as he realised, picking it up and waving it to show his friend of yesteryear: "HEY! HEY AH FOUND THAT SCROLL!" "GEI TA ZAI ZHELI!" The gesture was easy enough for Roy to understand as he threw down the scroll towards Zhang Wu who latched on to gladly unfurl and read from it. The raptor stood curious in waiting before a voice came trembling deep throughout the cavern. Like being inside the lungs of a Mongolian throat singer, something came resonating with such intensity that his very bones began to shudder and vibrate as he staggered to almost fall onto the black balsamic floor as the great call of a guttural language throbbed into his soul.

His eyes pulsed as if about to lose viscosity, feeling them drip and bleed thickening sweet water down his snout as he watched the world disappear from him once again. Where his eyes began to flow across the floor, his sight would follow them painlessly despite his quivering fear and panicked horror as he felt his hands desperately trying to scoop the liquid back into his hollow sockets. He watched his child self falling to the floor gripping blindly at the solid rock like a starved dog before something came out of the walls. Black thick tentacles that wrapped round his face, plunging deep into his eyesockets. "ZHANG!? ZH-ZHANG HELP ME! M-MAH EYES, M-MAH EYES S-SOMEONE HELP MEEEEE!" But Zhang Wu had become far too entrenched within the scroll which gave him the voice of gods, a bristling thunder from his throat as the strength of his body began flowing throughout the room like thickening vines of purest jade. The walls started crumbling, heavy landslides he could hear fearing that his body would be crushed as his eyes disappeared into the cracks. Screams would be heard from both him and Zhang Wu as he felt his entire self slipping down a long treacherous slope, bumping across his body as his eyes followed on like a thin whiter trickle of streamwater. He woke up at the base of a rockslide, resting in a bed of rocks and yet somehow not a single bruise was on his body. Zhang Wu was standing before him looking perfectly fine as he turned with a smile towards Roy as the black raptor blinked, his eyes strangely sore and tingly from the experience. There was a door in front of him down beyond a short tunnel, a red rectangular exit that Zhang walked forwards to but not before saying something. Words that he remembered very clearly from the smile of deep gratitude upon the man's face. "Xiexie...Roy." "It...n-no problem. I-i'm just glad you got back safe, Zhang Wu." "Wo bu hui wangji ni jiule wo de ming." "Ah won't forget you either. After all...you are still here with me, aren't you?" "Hhhmhmhmhm." A smile came from Zhang's lips before he exited through the door, to which Roy realised he had only that way too forwards as he headed off after him, slightly awkward in not saying goodbye truly just yet. "WAIT, h-hold up Zhang! Ah still gotta leave too, ah just wa-......wh-whut?" But he was nowhere to be seen. Instead Roy had found a stone red wall made of brick that strangely reminded him of something. It was night time, the sky above a pure dark blue yet light came from everywhere around him. Stepping forwards upon the pavement solid, he felt the door close behind him as he found himself in what appeared to be a modern city's alleyway. To his left was but a dead end, but to his right he saw a cold radiant light glisten softly upon a firm black road. He walked carefully out onto the street, the sounds of someplace new yet so familiar coming back to him in a flash. "...no. No it...it can't be." He had only ever seen New York this beautiful once. He was eight years old. It was Christmas. 3506 A.D. The bells of the churches began to ring out loud and sweet. Some years it had been a very muddy Christmas, the snow coming in too early or too late, too thick or too mushy. But it was on that second-last week of December more than a month after his eighth birthday, that he remembered the perfect winter. An entire city dressed in veils of thick splendid snow like a pristine wedding cake, cool and crunchy underneath his feet. Yet it wasn't cold for Roy even when he was in but his shorts and T-shirt for the warmth of the memory was all he needed to not shiver from the cool air that surrounded him. Buildings stretching out beyond his vision reaching higher and higher towards the island district of Manhattan, skyscrapers dominating the skyline as dark images amidst the sugar-coated rooftops and TV aerials like trees of the wintry forest, skeletal and thin. The roads were slick as blackened ice shining beneath the fairy lights, draped across the street from end to end of each building as both adults and children laughed and played together in the streets. Friends he recognised with barest faces and rosy cheeks from his childhood all in various pieces of clothing unaffected by the season of his mind. The youngest of toddlers scuffling their feet across the pavement whilst the oldest pensioners trying to sneak a snowball into a fight and jokingly accuse another of the crime. Even celebrities and fictional heroes came out to play that he had remembered in his years growing up, ones he idolised were now skating, playing, fighting wars of territory across the streets as Roy walked his way through the gathering cluster of humans and anthros, random snatches of the world he had once lived coming back to him as a myriad of memories. "Jimmy, JIMMY COME ON WAIT UP!" "PFFFT jeeeez you throw like a wuss!" "When's yer next violin lesson?" "Not today, so I'm gonna WASTE ya!" "The thing about this movie is, I think it's an absolute paradigm of our time and personally for me, I think it is the role that I am most proud of in my life-" "HEY-EY, LISSEN, YOU WANNA TALK SHIT ABOUT MAH FAMILY, REMEMBER IT'S GONNA BE YOUR FAMILY TOO!" "WELL LEAST I GOT THE BALLS TO STAND UP TO THAT BITCH YOU CALL YER MUTHER!" "WHUT YOU SAY ABOUT HER?!" "Why we gotta do this bro?!" "Gramma tell us she don' wan' none'a uncle George's money, we gotta give this to thuh righ' place." "Can't even take a li'l of it?!" "NO, ain' nobody gonna make me break a promise to mah gramma, ah will END you on thuh fuckin' street, righ' HERE!" "The thing about Pangaeists is that they are a worthless relic of an antiquarian primordial upset, one that they are struggling to comprehend the identity of in a world that does not accept-" "Oh my fucking god just say you hate saurians an' be fuckin' DONE with it!" "What, I have no problem with them, I am JUST saying-" "This is EXACTLY why Clarice left you, why am I even fucking friends with you again?" " COMING SOONNNN to a cinema near youuuuuuu, the most heart-stopping romantic thriller of the CENTURYYYYYY. TIME BROKER." "OHHHH I JUUUUST CAN'T WAIT, TO BE KIIIIIIIING!" "HO HO HOOOOOO! MERRRRRY CHRISTMAAAAAS!" "I don't know what to say." "Just take it, please." "B-b-but this is, this is YOUR money-" "Well yanno what, I think helping you's a better gift than buying Call of Fury: London's Burning right?" "HOOO HOOOO, WHOOOOOO HOOO HOOOO! _" A song familiar came beating from the background as suddenly the sound of dogs barking from behind went rushing past, almost tripping him up as a cluster of canines rampaged down the street, lead by one scruffy terrier in a red bandanna followed by an orange kitten. He recognised instantly who it was and raced after them with joy on his face before hearing another swarm of beasts heading up behind him. Dalmatians. A hundred and one of them, not that he even needed to count upon recognising them. The pandemonium that crossed the streets made him regress back to his younger age as he ran with the hounds, squealing in a state of fanstruck madness. Everything was forgotten in that moment. There existed no pain, no sorrow as he watched the horde of happy dogs chase on past him in a monochrome haze. People started to clear the streets with wonder as if dragons had become real, which they did in this place. All across the sky, swimming and diving were two types of dragons, long sinuous multicoloured serpents of strong beards along with robust brawny creatures of plentiful scale, twisting and cavorting into mathematical variations. Sines of the east and cosines of the west before simply exploding into fireworks. Across one rooftop he saw a fox in simple green clothing, leaping forwards after a group of lions who roared above the city streets, their calls from the wild echoing throughout the city all the way down towards the central square which shined like a pristine diamond in the white sands. Roy hurried after, passing by the many doors that opened up showing sweet splendid memories of his youth. Christmas when he was four years old, christmas when he was five years old. Watching movie marathons with mom and dad when all of them were sick in bed from a nasty flu, cuddling up together with red noses and a sea of tissues across his parents' bed. The school trip to the carnival at the end of his seventh grade where his best friend pulled the funniest face he ever saw in his entire life straight before he vomited out into the sea. Watching his first Disney movie and being absolutely in awe at seeing an older pre-world New York look so alive and so similar to his home city. His eyes lit up sparkling as he ran through the streets, watching it dip downwards towards the city square which began to light up in the most perfect hallmark picture he could ever imagine. The most gigantic christmas tree he ever did see, spanning upwards at a height of seventy feet, proudly above half the buildings that now surrounded it as it stood pristine with cool mint green in the midst of the city plaza. All around it were wooden benches where people sat between stone granite foundations, models of ancient structures from various places that he recognised. From avians to aliens, humans to creatures both reptilian and mammalian, a veritable throng of cheerisome beasts big and small all sat together round the christmas tree which was currently being dressed in large tinsel wrappings and giant baubles from the assistance of many winged beasts. Dragons and birds, one Roy noticed was an albatross with two little mice perched in a sardine can sitting on its back. But the grand piece de resistance came in the form of a giant star being carried by what appeared to be a brown blur with blazing orange wings. "C-COME ON ALREADY!" "I'M DOIN' MY BEST HERE!" "JUST SLAMDUNK IT FATBOY I'M GETTING WING CRAMP!" "NNNNYUUUH!" The star was planted on the tree's very top by a resounding cheer from down below, the multitude of people both feral and sentient crying out with one single "MERRY CHRISTMAS" to one and all. Roy ran straight into the square and felt the utmost adoration of everyone to each other. Warmth and peace. Peace in his time from every species he ever knew. He was called a brother in seventeen different languages and a friend in twenty more, with God's blessing from nine different religions exchanging gifts that seemed random and inconsistent to him. But to those who received it, it was the one thing that brought them to tears of joy. "_LOOK OUT BELOOOOOOW!" "UWWOOOOOOOOAH!" Crash landing perfectly in front of Roy, thick padded feet slammed onto the ground as the star-carrying beasts managed to wind their way around down the christmas tree to land somewhat-powerfully to the streets. Nobody seemed to be bothered except the young raptor who was startled by the husky brown bear in yellow shorts, accompanied by a large red-feathered gull hanging out of his blue backpack. "You need to work on landing," said the bird. "I'm not thuh one flyin'!" replied the bear tenderly. "I'm pilot, you're copilot, come on we been through this! ...oh hey Ray!" "BANJO! KAZOOIE!" The black utahraptor rushed up to hug Banjo who at this state was a few feet taller than the still-child form of Roy as the bear simply smiled. "Hey there Roy, howsit hangin'?" "Wh-whut are you...um...a-a-ah didn't think ah'd even see you again!" "It's yer memories fossilbreath," said Kazooie rolling her eyes, "sheesh yer slower than Banjo is when he's paddlin' in the water." "Aaaaand you still a bitch, good to know haha. Where did you even get a star that big?!" "We stole it." "NO WE DIDN'T!" cried the bear. "We got told by thuh committee here to put it up, you got a nice home Roy! Bigger than our place." "Yeah I'll say! Lookat all these presents, sheesh Freezeezy Peak got NUTHIN' on this place!" "That's not nice to say Kazooie." "At least THIS place doesn't have Boggie. Hmmm?" The bird leaned her head almost stretching her neck towards Banjo, cocking to one side with a raised eyebrow before he conceded defeat and let her continue with a cheeky giggling. "Like I said, nice place Ray." "Roy," said he. "Soooo whut are you doin' here?" asked Banjo. "Ah...yanno whut, s'not important, let's just enjoy ourselves a bit, you got anyplace to be?" "We have to stay an' look after thuh tree, we got all our presents here to give out to people." "Is there any for me?" "Shure!" The bear pulled out from his backpack despite Kazooie's protests a small present wrapped in finest red with golden bow, something flat and almost square-shaped. Roy unravelled it swiftly with his claws before revealing what almost looked to be a golden jigsaw piece, inscribed with an odd rune upon it which the raptor was excited about. "Awwwww, maaaaan! You gave me this before!" "We got a dozen of 'em," said the bird, "don't hurt to have another, maybe if you get twenty more you can build yourself a jigsaw picture." "Hehehe...thank you guys. Ah still kept this yanno?" "Did it ever work, even?" "Actually it did, helped me find FG plenty often in other worlds as a pretty good tracker but noooow...ah find it's more of a gift to remember thuh time we had." "Oh yeah sure, I love falling over cliffs whilst being grabbed by a huge black jinjo jerk with an overdeveloped pituitary gland." "HAH! Better than bein' bitchslapped bah thuh weakest-ass li'l patter of them wings, seriously were you tryin' to brush mah face or whut?!" "OHOHHH you asked fer it CUMMERE!" She leaned hard forwards but Banjo grabbed her by the neck and stopped her short of pecking her beak straight onto Roy's face, the bear smiling awkwardly and gently moving themselves over to one side before saying: "Uhhhh we're just goin' to keep watch over these presents okay? Nice meetin' you again Roy, good luck!" "Bye Banjo! Yo keep cool alrigh'?!"

A thumbs up as he walked away whilst still holding Kazooie firmly by her gull neck as she squawked and flustered up into a frenzy of cawing before Roy swiftly diverged his way around the centre of the tree. The city beyond the square stretched on towards Manhattan, but he found himself in no rush as the warmth of festivity began to embrace him like a cozy blanket. He felt as if nothing terrible had happened in his life, with all his memories swirling around him as if trapped inside a snowglobe. He was happy, and so he gladly sit himself down upon a bench watching the star shine above. "Hmmmmm...man, ahm in thuh mood for hot chocolate now. ...huh?" His hand suddenly felt heavy as a white mug appeared before him, clenched inside his claws with roasting hot chocolate that made him squee gently before drinking up. It was delicious, perfect and nurturing to his heart that became light as a feather. His eyes started misting as he sat back to close his lids, taking in the soft sweet atmosphere in its effortless serenity. The white snow reflected the night-blue sky as voices drifted in and out of his consciousness, slowly grinning to himself until he felt his body move. His eyes blinked open, as he watched the street moving down towards him with two creatures bobbing their heads in front of him whilst held by the reins around their bodies, pulling the carriage that Roy was seated in. The sound of horse hooves clip-clopping accompanied the large black beastly stallion on the left, who was gladly keeping in pace with a tall pale yellow chocobo with shining wings of steel tucked close to his body. "Enjoying your rest?" said the bird. "WHUH...wh-whut thuh...Cyrus?! Issat you?!" "Not unless you have been cavorting with other steeds besides me." "Or me." The stallion turned his head showing a prominent white snout, flashing a grin fiercely of his herbivorous teeth with an oddly Scandinavian-like accent. "I thought you preferred strength over speed." "MAGNUS?! AWWW SHIT HOW YOU ALL DOIN' BROS?!" "HAHAHA, well as can be inside your mind! Glad to see all of my equipment is there as you remember it." "Awww damn...ah missed you guys, can you stop this ride so ah can give you all a big hug?!" "We would not advisssse it." A voice trembling and sinuous came from beside him, not noticing there was somebody else in the carriage with him. A strange creature, alien and naked beyond anything he had witnessed with three small eyes on its forehead as well as one huge single red eye staring at him, with wrinkled reptilian skin of brownish-green and a mouth reminiscent of a fly's thick proboscis. Long spindly limbs pressed against each other next to the smaller singular malformed arm sticking out of its small chest, which was marked by a ruthlessly deep black scar. "Vehikulssss arrrrre innnndifferent...to one'ssss deparrrrturrrre when in mossshhhion." "WHU-...okay, damn, this...th-this is gettin' crazy now, Pau'xi too?! Hhhahahahaholy fuck man, it is so good to see you!" "We arrrrre pleassssed...to ssssee you again, Roy. But we arrrre neverrrr aparrrt...innndifferent to ssspassse and time, we have become." "Ah know man." He could not resist wrapping an arm around the back of Pau'xi with his mug of hot chocolate still in the other hand, the alien smiling as best it could with unusually short jaws. "We were lahk together fer a month, ah mean, after all the journey ah gone through, that's kinda of a long friendship to have." "Twenty turnnnssss of the earth diurrrrnal...you rrrremained at ourrrr sssside. Neverrrr did you leave ourrrr ssssight." "And neither did you leave mine," said Cyrus in front of him, "it was rare to have someone who treated me more as friend and companion equal, rather than but a steed." "HEAR HEAR!" boasted Magnus. "Never have my hooves sang with blood and bone gristle between more pleasantly than our days in Skyrim!" "Hhhahahaha awww guys," whimpered Roy, "yer makin' me blush! But ah see yer still damn bloodthirsty Magnus." "Blood always throbs beneath me as you well know, whether in my hooves or in my sword between my legs." "Why you always hafta call it your sword?!" "Penissss," said Pau'xi bluntly, "the ssssynonym of your organ, denoting sssstrength, isssss but a massssquerrrade of...innnnsssecurrrity." "Pffffft hhhhahahahahaaa, awwww dude you got called out on your masculinity bah a fuckin' vortigaunt!" "WHAT?!" shouted Magnus. "What nonsense does he speak, he talks like a mare does when her head's between my legs I shall give no time to his poetic quivering brief!" "Goodness," replied the chocobo, "you're starting to make even my tailfeathers fan out in need from the musk you're forcefully oozing out of you." "It's called breeding stock, something a birdbrain may not know." "Ey-ey-ey," said Roy warning, "don't backtalk mah friends Magnus we all know whut you are." "Hmph...'twas simply boastful merit Roy, have you never grown up in a stable of stallions?" "No, but that's probably why your ass is wider than a fuckin' river chasm." "HHHHAAAAAH!" cried Cyrus. "HHHAHAHAHAHA, theeeere's the banter I've missed! By the way, we are going somewhere, you just need to guide us properly or else we are but simply turning round in a circle." "Life issss NOT!" stressed the vortigaunt. "A ssssirkle. When you find a path, that issss leading you back to whensssse you came, you are merely in elliptical happenstanssse." "Since when did you socialise with philosophers Roy?" "He always lahk that," said the raptor smiling, "ah kinda lahk it! Makes me feel smarter standin' next to him." "I suppose good company can do that. You must be a riot at parties Pau'xi." "We are alwaysssss," slithered Pau'xi, "to be parrrrt of one anotherrrrr, within the Vortessenssse." "I'm...sorry?" "He means they all linked," said Roy, "part o' their philosophy, all of his species got a sorta hivemind so they not too separate from each other." "Hmmm...that would not do for my species, having heard plenty of them gibbering in the side stables, I swear some of them must be inbred." "So where we going? Ah don' really get where we at other than sum kinda...New York City in mah head." "This is your world," said Magnus proudly, "we are but residents in a city of dreams, and you came here for a purpose after all." "Oh...u-um...r-r-right." "You DO remember what that was, don't you?" "A-a-ah know! Of course ah know, ah jus'...wanna take a break fer a bit, just to clear mah head." "Do not rest for too long. Your sword shall be old and rusty, burnt beneath the sun." "You talkin' about an ACTUAL sword fer once?" "Would it be," added Pau'xi, "that if yourrrrr weaponry become but a trrrophy, you will forrrget everrrything that you have become." "Ah just wanna chill out a bit...come on guys, ah don't...ah don't need to remember." "Resssst can be a blesssinnng...and but a cursssse." "Whut's that s'posed to mean?" "That this ride shall end," said Cyrus, "you must walk forwards eventually. You understand that don't you?" Roy struggled and shut his eyes trying to block out their words, wanting to just forget. He hoped in a polite introspective that the next time he opened his eyes they would be gone once again but they didn't disappear, simply staring upon him with a fervent neutral curiosity. He said nothing, but instead he smiled trying not to look selfish as he drank the rest of his hot chocolate. The carriage made its way past the city square as the great shining star of Christmas Eve twinkled effulgent upon him. At one point he heard music from nearby, the sound of strangely medieval flutes and lutes accompanied by a drum with the wondrous singing of a woman. Soft and pleasant as he leaned out of the carriage slightly. A small group of argonians, four of them, dressed in finest green and red with drum, lute, pan flute and vocalist as Roy waved at them excitably. The singer was the only one who was able to wave back with her hands free whilst the rest smiled and bowed graciously with a sudden burst of music volume, pulsing throughout the streets. The raptor did not think of questioning anymore, simply slipping back into his seat by a peaceful solitude amongst friends with the sound of clopping hooves and scritching talons scratching across the hard gravel streets. Eventually the carriage made its way further away from the christmas tree, not too far away to be lost from its brightening star but enough to let the people recede from his world slightly as their voices became quiet, drifting back intowards his memories deeply. They passed underneath an elevated train line as there came the briefest sweep of darkness. His eyes opened up. "Hey bro!"

A voice from his right immediately had him turn as he felt a sudden claustrophobia trapping him, seeing the transportation had become a lone yellow taxi drifting across the city as he turned towards the voice. He could not hide the sneer that came up from his throat as he calmed himself with bitter resignation as he saw that his own body had now aged to at least sixteen years old in his teenage prime. "Hello Carlos." "Woah-ho-ho duuuude no need to be formal, come on you know me." Sitting in the taxi with him was a feisty brown coyote smiling pleasantly with a cheeky grin, clear and bright from his teenage years. Roy was not impressed. "I do know you. Unfortunately." "Yyyyyep-pahhhh, you suuure know me." "Ah wish ah wuzn't remembering you." "Whaaat, come on I'm your best friend!" "WUZ. Mah best friend, you know whut you did." "You still remembered the time I blew chunks on that rollercoaster, hhhhohohhhh man, my face wuz like a fuckin' green cheese platter, HOOOO!" The canid attempted to touch Roy who shrugged him off hard and looked out the window trying to ignore him. He would soon discover that he was actually floating above the city, the taxi itself supported upon the back of a great elephant with giant ears flapping like wings carefully circling the great metropolis. It wasn't the New York he remembered it, but a more beautiful panoramic scape as if handpainted from a movie still, the grand ocean of lights drifting amongst the sleek wintry white foam. "I guess that makes ya Jim Crow huh?" The comment from Carlos Ortega had Roy turn his head very slowly. "...wwwwhut?" "You know, you're the black guy on this so yeah, where's yer magic feather bro?!" "Whut are you-......god, dammit Carlos." "A-ahhhhhh cummon, you were smilin'!" "I am not." "OH come on I'm just here to pal around with you, lighten up!" "Then why don't you leave? That way you can lighten UP this taxi." "Cuz I'm not full of hot air. Not. Llllike. Yyyyou." He put up his boots up thickly against the dividing window of the taxi between them and the driver's seat making kissy faces at him. "You know that song dontcha, 'bout elephants flying I mean, come on flap yer wings, get on out there an' show me what you do! I mean dinosaurs and birds are practically the same so I dunno why-" "Thuh fuck we ain't." "Pffft...hhhhahahahahaha, c'mon Roy can't you take a joke, you used to love all my school pranks, you cracked the SHIT up outta the one I pulled on miss Mathison, remember?!" A brief glance in the window next to the coyote did indeed reveal a most insanely epic prank. A wolf anthro in prim teacher's clothing would start the day of their eighth-grade class finding her entire desk had been wrapped completely in bright red wrapping paper. She smiled at first at the kids with a smirk at a relatively jovial prank, until she put her briefcase down onto the desk. There was no desk as she quickly found out, by her briefcase completely tearing down the paper construction revealing nothing but a few chairs clattering underneath to fall apart. Roaring laughter screeched throughout the entire room as even miss Mathison herself could not help but cackle at such a brilliant sense of creativity, to which Roy and Carlos revealed the actual desk hidden underneath a tarp at the back of the room safe and sound. The two brofisted as the coyote in the taxi grinned towards the raptor next to him. "Seeeeeeee yer smilin'!" "I am an' ah hate it." He could not resist, smirking with pursed lips as he struggled not to laugh until Carlos put on the most terrible accent poking his teeth from his lips. "UWWWWUH cummon lad, still beh'er than a finger in theee oy, ain't they?" "PFFFFFFFT D-DAMMIT NO! NO, you are NOT pullin' that fuckin' chimney sweeper shit with me!" "EYYYYYA nowwwww cummon! CUMMON, yuzz knowit awroigh' SOUPercaleefragilistiexpeealiDOHcious?!" "HHEEEHEEHEEHEHEHEHEhhahahahahahahaaaa...gooooood dammiiiiit!" Roy started breaking out into fits of giggling madness, with all the while Carlos would simply but put a whistling sound through his teeth making silly faces enough to keep Roy distracted from whatever caused his rife antagonism. He lightened up enough to try and discuss things more promptly with his oldest friend. "Hhhhoooooooo...okay...okay alrigh' ah...ah guess ah couldn't really leave you even after all you did, man why couldn't you have stayed lahk this?" "Whut you mean, come on I've always been like this!" "Not when you started eleventh grade Carlos. Ah mean we first met cuz you pranked that bully that beat me up when ah wuz lahk...seven?" "Eight, but he was a tool, so whut's different?!" "You only humiliated him. That wuz cool, you completely ruined his street cred an' made him look lahk a damn fool, knock him down a few pegs. But you never almost KILLED him, not lahk that girl in eleventh grade." "Oh my god are you STILL on about that?!" Carlos put his boots down and sat up firmly before leaning back against his side of the cab with wide arms of disbelief. "Look at this fucking wideboy right here, mister blue-cheeks gotta be a bright boy! Yanno I'm surprised you didn't rat me out half the time for all the shit we did, what the hell wuz different?!" "Cuz we never hurt anybody, then you started gettin' worse, lahk ever since ah became prefect you just started kickin' it to high gear. You made me ashamed to be your friend. Ahm sorry, but ah wuzn't ever gonna be stayin' friends with a sociopath lahk you." "Did you really have to get me EXPELLED though?!" "That wuzn't mah decision." "Bullshit it wasn't." "Ah only report thuh crime Carlos, ah don' make thuh punishment." "You never wore a badge your entire life you fuckin' shitscale." " DON'T!" He slammed his fists hard into Ortega's chest crushing him against the cab window as he sneered with ruthless teeth scraping together. " EVER fuckin' say that word to me." "Or whut? You'll kick me out of this car too?" "Ah might as well, not lahk you even here anymore." "I'm still somebody in your memory, you can't just forget me even if you wanted to. I'm still the dumb kid you made friends with for seven years Roy, whether you like it or not." "Fuck you." The raptor released him and pushed himself away back to his side of the floating cab. "Ah ain' got no regrets." "No fuckin' loyalty huh? Whatever happened to honour among thieves, yanno you been driftin' away from me ever since you made prefect. What I wasn't good enough for you anymore?! Everybody loved me until YOU beat me out of the school!" "You were getting worse. Your pranks got a lot meaner an' eventually you went over thuh limit. That day nobody laughed wit' you." His memories began flowing across on the window next to him, opposite of Carlos as there came the day he remembered clearly. People were walking back and forth in a well-lit white-and-blue hallway in high school, a row of lockers to the right as Roy strode his way through looking extremely handsome in a dark blue prefect's outfit, firm black slacks keeping an eye on things. He then heard someone scream. It was a horrible scream, one that cut the air like a samurai's blade scraping through a stone sheet as everyone turned towards one girl at her locker. A human, around 16 with blonde hair suddenly falling to the floor as warm peanut butter splashed across her face and body. Shrieking with horror, nobody said anything as her skin became violently red, blistering as her eyes and tongue began to swell as her screams started stifling. Stuttering. Suffocating from her throat sealing shut. Roy demanded people to get the nurse, he cleared the hallway with his roaring fury as he took authority rushing over to the girl to try and keep her throat open. She started to lose consciousness as the searing agony sucked the air from her lungs. The hallway was silent, except for one giggling fit from behind him. The nurse came quickly, took over for him as Roy turned to see Carlos Ortega laughing, cackling in his usual boots with a white-painted face. Roy marched over and slammed his fist brutally into the coyote's jaw with cracking force sending him down almost completely out for the count, the two sitting in the taxi still as the memory faded away. "Took me a lotta paint to cover that bruise up," said Carlos jokingly. "Not as much as that girl when her throat fuckin' swole up an' she almost died." "Oh come ON Roy, I didn't MEAN that, it wuz just a PRANK! You like pranks don't you?!" "You fuckin' knew she had an allergy. Don't you lie to me, ah know you found out in thuh school records, you started gettin' ideas about prankin' people with whut they're afraid of." "Heh...whatever. So why am I even here still, you don't even appreciate true talent from me." "Because you were mah best friend. Once...upon a time." "I never broke up our friendship, YOU did, because you had to be all self-entitled and goody two-shoes." "An' if ah didn't send you up to thuh principal's office, whut would thuh next prank have been? Wait until sumbody DID get killed?" "...I guess you'll never find out." The coyote grinned with a trickster's smirk, the most punchable face in that moment as Roy turned away insulted with anger rushing through him. Eventually the cab made its way down towards the streets, and it was in that moment after seeing the memories of his firm justice that he shook off the reverie of his past and friendships from before. He knew why he came here, as a greater sense of responsibility took hold of him. The driver unseen did not even need to be told on where he needed to go as they landed by the elephant's flapping winged ears swooping across the pavement.

He got out of the cab and jumped down to stand beside the pachyderm, barely more than a child with eyes of purest blue with the taxicab strapped on his back similar to a rucksack. The raptor smiled and imagined something from his hand to give a good payment fare. "Here ya go kid." A solid pack of peanuts in a bag which the elephant took, gladly funnelling them down into his mouth and chewing happily with winged ears flapping joyfully, the raptor patpatting his head. "You keep on flyin' alright? Just need to find mah own magic feather after all through this." The "little" pachyderm nodded happily and shut the door of the cab with his trunk, before taking off into the sky with a flapping of ears that pushed the wind deeply against the ground as if Roy was standing next to a helicopter. Rippling dust to turn thick like little clouds across the street, it soon became airbone as the black raptor looked down on the empty street. A street he recognised all too well from the sign above saying E 18th Street. There was less snow here than in previous parts of the city, though he wasn't sure why. Smooth pavements slightly wet with cold along with wilted trees dotting along the street in small iron-ring fences, showing the barest stems of leaves shivering to remain in the eve of winter's grip. Towards the end of the street with traditional red apartment buildings on both sides towering up to keep the road in constant shade, he knew there laid a park resplendent in green finery around the corner. He loved that park, a place that gave him some sense of peace when he wanted some alone time which he felt he would need after visiting his home once again. He would have no need for any signs to remember where it was as he reached address 206 at the very end before the intersection to Gramercy Park. A tall apartment building in firehouse red, simple stone steps that lead up inside knowing that his place was on the ground floor and one of the largest homes in the building. But there was something wrong. The front door had been coated in police tape, completely black and yellow beneath the white stone awning that would normally welcome him. The raptor said nothing other than bring a deep sigh from his throat as he tore through with his claws trying to find the door underneath, struggling not to think back to that day and yet knowing he had to face it. He had seen it in his head before as a broken record, looping constantly but missing half the words he wanted to hear from it. He stripped the tape fully as it fluttered past him to find the door itself. He was fearful as remorse slowly began to creep into his heart as he gently began to turn the handle. It wouldn't let him in. He rolled his eyes and struggled to imagine what his house key looked like, feeling it suddenly shine in his hand before placing it into the keyhole. Still nothing worked. "Wh-wh-whut? Whut?! Whut thuh fuck?!" It was impenetrable, and no matter how hard he shoved his hefty teen shoulders against it, it simply would not budge as if it were just a wall painted to look like a door. "Wh-whut thuh fuck?! Whut thuh fuck, why won't it open?! It wuzn't locked durin' that day, a-ah know it wuzn't! Whut thuh FUCK!?" He slammed his fists into the door even harder. "_WHUT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?! AH CAME BACK HERE, AHM HERE TO FIND YOUR ANSWER SO LEMME FUCKIN' IN! LEMME INTO MAH HOUSE, GOD DAMMIT! _" "Language my boy." A voice impeccably English came down the road to his right. "When a door become resistant, it will do no good to repeatedly bash one's head against it when you know they can be opened." "......pr-...p-professor? Issat you?" "Anything with a keyhole can be opened. Likewise, every puzzle...has an answer." From the shade of the buildings hanging over the street, there stood a strange-looking human of sallow tanned skin, lean and thin with a dark-chocolate suit and slacks, beady black eyes and a most perfect top hat rimmed around the base with a reddish lining. He simply tipped it forwards without removing it from his head as he walked forwards with a kindly smile on his lips, the raptor walking softly down the stone steps. "It...i-i-it really is...h-holy...sir. Wh-whut are you doing here?" "The same reason everyone else in your mindscape has come to exist, mister MacGregor." "Hhhhheheh, heh, y-y-you don' hafta call me that, mister Layton. Professor." "How are you faring Roy? You seem to be rather lost." "That's an understatement. Ah just...a-a-ah don't know whut ah want even. Ah mean ah wuz...s-sorry, ahm really..." He walked forwards and desperately shook the human's hand with a smile breaching earnest upon his lips. "S-s-so...so good to see you again mister Layton. God, ah wuz sorta worried but you...well, frankly you oughta be thuh right man for thuh job, you thuh EXACT person ah need." "Hmhmhm, I am very honoured you hold me in such high regard. Rarely have I had the pleasure of being esteemed amongst those not of my species." "Hhheheheh, yeaaaaah. Um...h-how are you?" "That is not a question you can impose upon a memory." "Righ'...s-sorry, ahm just...hhhhhh god." The raptor cupped his hands fiercely against his cheeks as he struggled to make sense. Professor Layton decided to impose a better question to help him think. "May I ask, what exactly are you here for? Perhaps it would best help to explain things to me in order to understand yourself." "Alrigh'...ah guess that works um...a-ahm here to find out thuh truth. FG, thuh guy ah'd been huntin' for? We made up when ah realised ah'd been tricked, deceived bah thuh A.R.M.E." "I see." "So...after a while of wanderin', ah disappeared an'...decided ah wuz never gonna find out thuh truth so ah went to live back with Lizbeth. Ah wanted to just have a life an' forget all about this. But...but things came about kinda different an' now ah want to...just take a last shot at this." "That is not entirely true though, now is it?" "...no." "You had a different means to come about here, it was not your intention to find out the truth and, dare I say, you might have been quite tempted to remain in this scape forever after all you have been through. Is that correct?" "Yeah. Hhhhh...g-god damn nuthin' gets past you." The professor smiled nodding with gentle hat tip, the softest breeze rustling the trees planted down along the avenue. "As a studying archaeologist I have learnt greatly of your species and many others relevant, and so I feel I am somewhat more versed in understanding what makes you tick. That, or perhaps I am most representative of your superego as merely a construct of your logic." "Logic? Well you definitely were all about that." "Regardless, whether I am being myself or a visual represent of your intelligence, to which I am honoured greatly that you would pick me even by a subconscious motive, I am the one that must stress you continue your search for the truth." "Ahm tryin' sir. Ahm really-" "You did not seem so eager back along the city square. In fact I am almost certain you were eager to try and remain trapped inside your memories of which I would understand the want and need for that. But you realise of course that's simply running away and that won't do. It is a terrible insult to your character should you decide to wrap yourself up within the past like the very presents underneath that tree." "Ah know, ah know! ...god, can't ah just have a little peace before ah do anythin'? Ah just wanna live, lahk a good life." "You had a good life," said Layton. "Lizbeth did not stop you from having one, that was you." "Ah didn' know whut other life ah could have!" "James and Koopin seemed rather willing to let you have one in their home." "That...th-that wuz...god, d-dammit ah am just...hhhhhhhhhhh..." He sat down upon the step in front of his home, placing his hands on either side of his head to try and force all his thoughts back in to swiftly gather all he could to make a good argument. The human simply stood waiting with a patient smile. "Alrigh'...ah...ah gave up. Ah wanted to just give everythin' up, because ah didn't wanna go through this again. Ah've been searching for as long as thirteen years tryin' to uncover this damn riddle, this...th-this fuckin' puzzle in mah head ah can't SEE everythin' about." "But you did receive a little help, you learnt that your employer was rather deceitful and in turn found out that the information they had for you was not correct." "Exactly...so that means ahm not just back at square one, but rather square negative space." "Hmhmhm, that would be rather apt to say." "You have any idea out of this? You in mah head now, so maybe solve it for me." "I am not Layton himself, you know that. And even if I were, I'm certain that we still do not have enough information. You are still uncertain as to who the real killer even is, despite James having told you that he is well deceased. You at the very least know it was a 'him' and you have a rather vague descript of him." "Doesn't help. Ah got nuthin', ah don't even know if it's NOT FG, ah mean it very much looks lahk it ain't but ah dunno whut he's been up to! Maybe thuh A.R.M.E wanted to prove it wuz him an' then fabricated evidence to prove it, that's happened before in sum cases!" "True true. Alright."

Professor Layton sat down next to Roy on the stoop, his lean legs almost bending like a cricket reclining from the look of his tight trousers with hands on his knees. "Let us look at every possible scenario it could be. What results have you considered?" "Whut do you mean?" "Lend me all of your theories as to who it could reasonably be, and then we shall erase them one by one." "Alrigh'. Firstly, it's FG, sorta, kinda...technically." "Why?" "Because, from all thuh stuff he told me, there are two years of a blackout period that he can't remember. This period ah have managed to gather happened around thuh tahm he wuz twenty-five. Now he's seven years older than me, mah parents were killed when ah wuz seventeen. He got those scissors at that age, which are cursed bah a demon an' it's also been proven bah himself, that anytahm he has thuh demon possessin' him, he can't remember nuthin'." "So you are saying that James was possessed, somehow managed to return back to your world and kill your parents in a frenzy of insanity." "That's mah most solid theory. It's nuthin' to do with FG, it's all about that demon." "But how do you suppose he returned home? Remember the police report you found, the real one. The only eyewitness explained that someone had strange markings on their face, an unusual accent and a brown coat." "He wuz also shorter than me," added Roy. "Now the first two can be explained by a demon, but why would it try to hide itself with a coat for disguise?" "Because, Scissoraptor loves disguises, ah remember when FG wuz kidnapped bah those thugs in that galaxy, an' he wuz pretending to be sumbody else in a coat. It all kinda fits." "Then why did he not kill you?" "Hmmm?" "Scissoraptor was not a demon of restraint, an unskilled stocky teenager such as you despite your rather herculean strength, would have stood no chance against him. You are also forgetting the fact that he had no scissors upon him during the murder." "They mighta been hidden underneath thuh coat." "I think not." The professor waved a finger at him with firm scholarly reticence. You do not know that for certain, you know very well that Occam's Razor falls into this. Tell me what weapon did the killer have?" "Wuz a knife, lahk a small blade, you can find it in anyplace, mighta been from mah kitchen even." "Then why would he choose but a small blade and not the grotesque monstrosity that he so wielded as his modus operandi?" "It's not a lotta space insahd mah house, no room to swing it." "He has claws, he has no need for a knife. Why would someone so ruthless require such a thing?" "Ah dunno!" "Precisely," said mister Layton. "You have not remembered any slight instance of a gruesome blade such as the scissors in all your recollection. Therefore, we must assume it does not exist." "But all thuh other evidence fits!" stammed Roy. "Theoretical evidence. Nothing solid, you are simply theorising Roy. Not proving." Roy knew this was true as the cold calm steel-tight logic cut through any complaints of resistance as he eventually nodded with a tender sigh. "Hhhhhh you're righ'. Okay, that's one theory, mah other theory wuz that thuh A.R.M.E hired sumbody." "Alright, what is your theory behind this?" "Thuh fact they fabricated a report blamin' FG implies that they wanna cover their tracks, especially after findin' that they erased everythin' about thuh case from thuh police records." "And James himself attests that one of the former scientists stated that the killer was indeed killed by police, which may imply that another reason to erase the evidence was to stop you from discovering that, and losing your will to hunt down your previous target. But therein is another problem. You have no motive behind this one." "No ah don't." "Why would the A.R.M.E authorise the murder of a saurian family in New York City? There is nothing connecting you to them before this, you have no connections to James previously nor to the A.R.M.E and neither does your family." "That's whut ah been tryin' to figure out, this theory doesn't make any sense." "Indeed," stated Professor Layton, "and I think that because you have no substantial evidence, that we must conclude they framed James so as to make a convenient excuse in wanting their new project. Do you remember why they approached you?" "They came when ah wuz in thuh hospital. They said that...that one of their experiments had gone loose an' mah family wuz an unfortunate tragedy, an' they felt responsible so they wanted to give me sum kinda tuition. Help us hunt down this fugitive, a test subject that went rogue beyond their control, an' in exchange we'll give you full marks, you can go to any college you want, anyplace, any home, start a new life. It almost seemed too good to be true after all that went down after thuh murder." "Indeed. And in truth, their actions for this would coincide with your first theory." "Except thuh fact that they specifically made a false report to frame FG, when ah woulda believed them before they even showed me that." "It's quite possible that they decided there was need for an extra incentive hence the fabrication to convince you. But we can most certainly assume the A.R.M.E themselves are not behind your parents' death." "Yeah ah never really thought that would hold either. Last theory, it's sumbody else." "Who?" "Ah dunno," said Roy shrugging. "Sum dude, maybe pretendin' to be a cousin, maybe sum guy that wanted to get sum money, got crazy, stabbed 'em. It happens." "Unfortunate...but tragically true and yet too commonly vague a variable to put any good use to it." "Lahk ah said, mah first theory of FG is thuh one that holds water best." "At least, so far. But that is all we have to review, now...this door appears to be locked, and behind it you are able to revisit that scene." "You got any idea how to open it? Mah key's not workin'." "Well when one is lost in a city, it is always best to consult a map if that helps." "Um...but, ahm not lost on WHERE ah have to be, this is mah house here." "You are not in your home city Roy, you are simply in your mind's impression of it. Therefore, would you not prefer a map of your own mental scape to help assist?" "...yeah, actually ah would." "Then let us think...the mind is but a subconscious plane of reckoning where you must connect one thing to the other. Now...when you are lost, as in when lost in the physical sense, what do you do?" "Ah try an' ask for directions." "And if you do not understand the language?" "Then ah look for a map." "Good. Now...think of a map. Think of being lost in this city and remembering where you had to go."

He did as the professor asked and closed his eyes firmly to think deep. Think think think. He tapped his head penitent upon the skull with his still-living right hand thinking back to his most clear of memory back when he was lost in someplace. A sound came familiar to him, dull and trembling deep that rumbled beneath his feet. Shivering with a start, he saw the other side of the street had become completely different showing a white clean pristine underground station as he saw a huge map standing tall in front of him. His side of the street remained unchanged, but the other side was a different scene as shadows walked back and forth, deeper sounds of lurking beasts slithering down within the nether regions of New York. Three black raptors stood in front of the grand city map showing various connecting routes in every single colour that he knew. He was six years old standing between his mother and father. "Alrigh' Roy," said his mother, "lissen, this is real important okay baby?" Roy looked up, seeing both his younger self from behind along with his mother's face smiling above him. Big shining smile and brown eyes from chubby cheeks with a paunch in her stomach, hidden beneath a white blouse gorgeously like a blossom two-tone. "You evah git lost, you git straight down to a subway lahk this, an' then you ask fer help." "But whut if ah got no money?" asked young Roy. "Then you ask one'a thuh nice people here, lahk thuh ticket man or one of them guards, you tell them you lost, then they gonna help you." "Will dey let me on da subway?" "If you have money yes." His father spoke this time, strong-chinned with more pointed jawline than his mother did, a tall beast with hefty arms in a white polo shirt and brown slacks. "But if you have no money, they can call the police and let us know where you are, then we'll come get you safe. Alright?" "O-o-okay daddy." "Now I want you to try and memorise this map. New York City is very big, and there's a lot of places that you haven't seen. You want to stay in this area right here, in Manhattan. We live in Gramercy Park." "Ah huh." "If anyone from the police asks 'do you know where you live?' just say Gramercy Park, east eighteenth street." "Okays, Grammer-see Park, east eighteenth street." "That's good. Now...do you know where we want to go?" "Ummmm...u-u-ummmm, ummmmm...church?" "Yeeees that's true, but do you know where it is? Remember last month we went, I told you the name of the station." "Uhhhhhhh...u-ummmmm..." The boy was struggling, desperately trying to think whilst in turn his older self was feeling the same frustration of trying to gather his thoughts enough to focus on the map. Then something stranger happened as darkness suddenly swamped the picture like a sea of serpents. When the light came back, the map began to violently jumble itself into a complicated mess, shuffling in a 4x4 frame of sixteen blocks with one square now missing as an empty space. He was startled at first and yet his family barely began to even notice this as both his selves watched in fascinated frustration at the subway map viciously rearrange itself before stopping at last. It more resembled wiring diagram than anything at this point. "Wh-whut is this?!" cried older Roy. "WHUT'S HAPPENING?!" "Well now," said Layton, "it seems you found a puzzle!" "GOD...DAMMIT PROFESSOR THIS IS NOT THUH TAHM!" "Now now...you are the one that's making things appear like this, there is a part of you that's trying not to continue your journey forwards." "Whut do you mean?!" "The part that is hesitant, the one that wanted you to stay back in the old city square wandering amidst memory, now trying to disorient you by preventing your next passage." "Ah don't even know WHERE ah wanna go!" "You won't be getting anywhere without a map, so your reluctance is preventing you from even SEEING a new path." "Whuh...a-a-alright, whut do ah have to do?" "Unscramble the map, quite simply. Once you have it then revealed, you can finally decipher where you want to go." "But ah don't...hhhh, alrigh', alrigh' just...g-gimme a minute." It was much to his chagrin a sliding puzzle, but once he began to unwind and focus on a strategy that he had learned to solve most sliding puzzles. Carefully rearranging each block to move across the board, he took at least nine minutes in settling the top row back to the way it was. Then he worked on the bottom row as the next step, which more took him around seven minutes in order to be more precise about things. He found it was a way to reduce the puzzle from a large square to a small rectangle, and therefore allowing him a much easier narrow space to control the board with. With only a 2x4 frame that he himself built within the puzzle, he managed to solve and complete the middle two rows in the space of five minutes. The moment the puzzle was solved his eyes went bristling with a beaming intelligence as his child self suddenly piped up. "YEAH! AH DO DADDY, AH KNOW WHERE IT IS!" "Hhhahahaha, okay calm down son. Where are we going?" "It's righ'...HERE!" The younger Roy touched on the one missing space he had left which came back into existence, prominently hitting upon a dark green station. "Fulton Street!" "Very good!" "Hahaha thassit baby!" said his mother happily. "Lookit mah little adventurer, you ready all fer thuh big trip?!" "AH HUH!" "Let's git to it then!" The moment the family left the safety of the glowing map they faded from existence, turning to black smoke like every other shadow that passed them by as Roy slowly began to understood. "Ah remember...they always told me ah should go down thuh subway whenever ah needed help." "But what about your fear?" asked Professor Layton. "That happened a lot later," said Roy in emphasis, "ah didn't get afraid of subways...not exactly, ah wuz just afraid of trains. When ah wuz six they told me about how to figure out where you at in thuh city, but when ah wuz eight, that whole uh...incident happened not that subways make me feel at all easy but-" "It is not the place but rather what lurks within." "Exactly." "Did your parents not continue that lesson after concerning your new siderodromophobia?" "Ah don' hafta get on a train, ah just had to find a subway an' ask for help, there's plenty of 'em all over thuh city so it wuz lahk good advice, it's more lahk findin' an information booth rather than sum place with trains, but subways are kinda easy to spot. An' if that's where they want me to go...then ah should find an' take thuh one at Union Square down to Fulton Street." "And what may I ask is down in Fulton Street?" "Uhhm...lessee, sum memorials, uhhhh the biggest-ass shopping mall, that wuz our local, that wuz our fun place to be an' hang out, uhhh dad's church, that wuz why we went originally cuz he wanted us to attend church at least every once a month. Not every sunday just...yanno, pop in, show sum respect an' courtesy when we had time, dad didn't often get tahm off cuz o' him bein' a postal worker." "Ahhh I see. In that case well it seems you must find some form of spiritual guidance for that matter." "Maybe that's where ah wanna be. It always wuz a safe haven for me, ah remember quite a few tahms ah got lost an' ended up at St. Paul's Chapel. It's a nice place, ah kinda...really liked it." "In that case, then that is where you must go and this I must say is sadly where we part." The professor sat up fron the stoop and gave a gentle nod with his hat in humble greet. "Good to see you again Roy." "W-wait, wait, can you not help me go a little bit further?" "Sadly no, for where you must go, I cannot follow. This is entirely but your journey and suffice to say there are parts that even I could not comprehend enough for you to understand." "But...b-b-but, you thuh smartest person ah know. Ah never seen you be wrong abou' anything...can't you...help me a little more, please?" "Very well, I could not refuse such a polite offer. Here is a question for you. How does one define Truth?" "...p-professor, please ah don't need sum riddle." "I think you do." Professor Layton walked forwards and gently offered him a small coin that Roy instantly knew from the glistening sheen and small hat-shaped marking upon it. Gladly taking it in his hand, the human smiled and calmly stated: "The way you answered this question previously might help in forming the true answer that you seek." "...a-alrigh'. Ah think...ah think ah understand." "Then best of luck to you. Remember, every puzzle has an answer. There is nothing that cannot be unsolved forever, and this is no exception. You will find your truth." "Alrigh'. Thanks...for helpin' me clear mah head, professor." "And I should thank you, for your assistance naturally concerning the Westminster Illusion." "Hhhahahah, awww damn that wuz fun for real, ah can't believe half the stuff we did." "I am only thankful you learnt very quickly on how to drive stick for a flying machine." "Even one that wuz made outta wood?" "Quite. Farewell, young Roy MacGregor." The mysterious gentleman faded back into the world of New York, turning a corner just before completely disappearing from Roy's view as he turned towards what he knew was Union Square by his memory. It wasn't far from his own house and soon he found the open spaced area of plaza with a large circular awning above the steps that resembled somewhat a cliched flying saucer from old movies. But the moment Roy stepped close towards the darkening stairway to the subterranean depths of his city, he heard voices snarling from within. Deep trembling breaths of unholy force that he even felt the hot air press against his skin with every sound that was made. Even the ground shook with whatever came seething with hatred primal from beneath as if walking into the lions' den. He knew by an instinct that this was the only way forwards to find the truth, even if he wasn't sure how exactly it would make sense. But if ever he were lost, he should always find a subway to get his bearings. That was what they taught him. "Alright. Let's...let's do this. Ahm not afraid of this anymore. Not this. Ah have...to...t-t-to......whut am I even doing?" He took his first steps down into the depths of New York, his body outline disappearing into the darkness as something creeped from behind him. Long black tendrils came trickling like rainwater to wrap themselves around the stairway awning. Crackling stone, bending steel within its clutches before suddenly they began to bleed tears across the streets of his home city.