The Colors And The Deal With Death - Chapter XII: For All That Remains (Part II)

After a few therapeutic moments of punching zombies into smoking craters, I can’t help but wonder how the three are doing inside the castle. I still owe a lot to Brooklyn, so she’d better not die in there. Looking over to Lizzie’s little friends, they seem to be handling themselves quite well for fresh-faced amateurs, despite being completely surrounded.

“Hey, look out.” A voice from behind me says, before someone tackles me to the ground.

The woman in white appears on top of me, as a throwing dagger lodges itself into a guard’s neck. Brandishing a sword, it actually got pretty close to me. I suppose that’s what I get for being cocky.

“Phew. You’re welcome. Say, what was your name again?” The woman asks me, continuing to fight them all off with a fathomless grace, as if her moves are choreographed... if only I had the voice to answer.

“Hmm, the strong silent type, huh? Well, I got to call you something. How about Fistilda?” The woman asks, with a... wait, what the hell did she just call me?

“Black told me about you and Brooklyn. I’m White, but between you and me, my name is Blanche.” Blanche says, coming in to whisper to me.

Together, we each fend off the advancing threats, baring down on us both. Though I would love to tell her about the whole Fistilda business, I shouldn’t make another enemy. Brooklyn would never let me live it down. In the furthest corner of the courtyard, I can see King Garcia going at it with as much energy as he started with. If this keeps up, maybe we can win this... hopefully.

Finally in the main part of the castle, the lights are much brighter, though everything still looks dusty and ruined, with broken framed pictures of quite elaborate works of art scattered around the long hallway, which make the place look even creepier. With little Lyle on my shoulder, annoying as he is, he is proving to be a useful asset in pathfinding the way through this maze.

“So you’re after Mandy because she poisoned you and a big bunch of people from your new town? Dude, that’s rough.” Lyle says, summing up the entire situation in just one sentence and very limited vocabulary... impressive.

“Yeah, it is rough. Thank you for your concern... dude.” I say to him, in a half-hearted tone.

“So Lyle, any tricks we should be prepared for?” Yellow says, looking frantically around the room as we walk, searching for potential traps and cheap spooks.

“Don’t worry, nothing to be scared of. In fact, open the next door on your left, if you would.” Lyle says, snickering under his breath suspiciously.

Yellow opens the next door, as a weird naked man with his skin hanging off by little threads appears enchained by the wrists. Seeing the door open, he gets up and runs towards us whilst screaming. Luckily, the chains pull him back, sending him flying backwards. Yellow screams and scrambles to close the door, starting to sob in fear, as Lyle can’t contain his laughter.

“I’m sorry, I just had to do that once.” Lyle says, looking back at Yellow, who is still shaking.

“I don’t use the term “hate” too often, but I... don’t care for you very much.” Yellow says, crossing her arms in a huff.

“Scaring the tiny girl? What a gentleman.” Brooklyn says, trying her best not to let out a giggle that I can see brewing under her breath.

“Alright, alright. I apologise. Anyway, we’re not getting any younger. Ladies first.” Lyle says, leading us to a red door at the end of the hallway.

We all go in, but are presented with a long winding staircase, going as far as we can see. My legs go weak at the thought of climbing them all.

“Well... get to climbing. After this set, we should be about halfway to the top.” Lyle says so calmly... then again, he’s not the one who has to climb it.

“Is it too late to turn back?” I ask, feeling a little intimidated by the sight of it.

“If you want to get to Mandy, that’s the only way forward. Your call, sugar pie.” Lyle says, not making it any easier to refrain from punching him.

I take a deep breath, collect my thoughts and realise the importance of this, before I take the first step up the staircase. I start to walk up, feeling the others slightly behind me. Get ready, Mandy!

Realising that everyone seems to be going for Garcia, it leaves the rest of us with nothing much else to do, so we all seem to be fighting the few that didn’t get the same idea.

“Hey Fistilda, hows it going over there?” That annoying woman from before, Blanche says, waving me over as if I was her chum now.

Even if I was well accustomed to my voice again, I think I’m well within my rights to not respond to such a stupid name. As I look around the battlefield, something else starts to rub me the wrong way, though I can’t seem to put my finger on what.

“She’s not going to respond if you call her that, you know?” The woman in blue says, as I finally find someone with a common sense around here.

“Well, if you have a better name, I’d like to hear it.” Blanche says, pointing towards me as I pretend not to notice.

“I’m pretty sure she’s Bonnie. Brooklyn mentioned that name a couple of times, if I can recall it correctly.” The woman in blue says, walking towards me as the mindless creatures just let her walk right past.

“Ohhh. Hehehe, sorry.” Blanche says, going a little bit embarrassed, as one of those monsters come behind the two, ready to go for the kill.

“Look out!” I say, as I leap to action and slam it into the ground, leaving just a puddle of blood and brain matter.

Wait, did I say that out loud? Oh crap, everyone is looking at me, surprised. To be honest, I’m a little surprised at myself, showing people I’ve just met what is left of my true voice. Going red, I can only run away from the two, as the others join them. Oh god, I hope this doesn’t go back to Brooklyn in some way. It would be too embarrassing to continue talking like the smoker of a thousand-a-day. Through a heavy sigh, I decide to go back there and explain my situation.

As we finally climb the last step of the staircase, we all stop to catch our breath. The humidity of this room, mixed with the dead air of Decain, it starts to play with my eyes, as I start to see purple spots floating around, which I’m fairly certain isn’t really there.

“Hey, let’s never do that again, please.” I say, finally catching my breath again.

“You can chill now, baby. The worst is behind us... for now. Anyway, if you wanted the balcony, it’s not too far from here. Now, is it too early to discuss a reward for bringing you this far?” Lyle asks, smiling brightly before noticing that two guns, both mine and Brooklyn’s, are on him.

“What? The privilege of being next to three girls not a form of pay in itself?” Brooklyn asks, with a smile on her face, as she retracts her gun and puts it back in her holster, making me do the same.

“Ahh, yes. Of course. Right this way, ladies.” Lyle says, nervously laughing as he jumps from my shoulder and starts to gently flap his wings and hover just in front of us.

He leads us to a glass window just on the back wall of some kind of guest bedroom, which is literally fit for a giant, a royal at that. Everything about it looks pristine, probably more so than the state of the room, with furniture scattered around, some on their side and there’s even a chair standing upside down. There are quite a lot of paintings and photographs of people I don’t know, all wearing suits of armour. Their eyes are all covered by lines of red paint for some reason. It looks as if some paint is fairly glossy and new, and some of them look as if they have been there for a while now. I always figured Mandy was plotting something big, but what the hell has she been up to to think that what is essentially genocide, is perfectly okay? After Lyle pulls a velvet pull-string to the right of the window, the window starts to open from the middle, allowing us entrance.

“Well guys, don’t say I don’t do anything for you. Anyway, I know that the promise of a second round with Mandy is what brought you here, but what is your beef with Mandy? And why do you look so similar? I almost had a heart attack when I found out.” Lyle asks, as we walk out onto the balcony, the same balcony that Mandy stood on during the rally earlier.

“She claims to be part of my family, and due to her appearance, I can only assume that she is telling the truth. But family or not, I don’t care. She threatens my life and many others, so for that, though she can’t be defeated, we will at least stop her and save everyone... or so I hope anyway.” I say to him, also partly reminding myself that victory here has only a small margin of success.

“So, what’s your story, little bird man?” Yellow asks, acting a little more like herself again.

“Well, I-“ Lyle starts to speak, before getting interrupted.

“Sorry to cut you off so early, but shouldn’t we be signalling the others right about now?” Brooklyn says, pointing to the people fighting just below us.

“Oh yes. Of course, the plan. I should probably be heading home now, then. It’s been fun.” Lyle says, likely eager to start his own life, as he flies out of the room as fast as his little wings can take him.

As the two snipers set up camp at either side of the balcony, I give my signal to continue the plan, though I cannot shake the feeling that something is amiss down there... what is it?

As I go to shout them, something huge swoops down from over us, heading towards Garcia in the back of the battlefield. It is Mandy and her giant bird, stopping just in front of Garcia’s face.

“King Garcia III. Truly an honour to see you again. Really it is.” Mandy says, hooked up to some kind of microphone system which travels as far as all the way here.

“Amanda, adopted daughter of the town blacksmith, conspirator of the rebellion, and usurper of the throne. You will leave this place at once.” Garcia says, readying his giant axe.

Mandy starts to laugh, starting jovially but escalating into a maniacal cackle.

“Oh, but your majesty, that is a lot of unfair accusations my way. True, I have done my crimes up to now, but let’s face it, I am everything you made me to be. You call me a murderer, but what makes you any different? Huh?” Mandy asks, yelling close to his face, as he gets more and more agitated.

“Murderer? I merely did what was good for my people.” Garcia says, as his voice raises towards her.

“No, you did what was good for your pockets, what was good for your reputation, so you got rid of the only people who disagreed with your rulership. You took everything from me, and I’m here to take it all back.” Mandy says, shooting a fireball between his eyes, knocking him backwards.

As the two try to hit each other, and the sea of ghouls start chanting “Killer” to Garcia, I find myself wondering who the right one is in this conversation, if there even is one. After a few blows exchanged, Mandy starts to applaud Garcia, slowly clapping.

“Bravo, your majesty, your old age hasn’t slowed you down any. For that, I will grant you a warrior’s death. In time, the world will know of your actions, the myths and legends, destroyed by one man’s greed and vanity. A tragic end to a tragic tale.” Mandy says, taking off her right glove and throwing it to the crowd, who fight over it amongst themselves.

“I have made my mistakes in life, and I have spent the longest time trying to hide from them. No more. I will take back my throne and fix everything I have broken.” Garcia says, starting to sob to himself, as he swings his axe at Mandy, narrowly missing.

“A good plan... devised by a foolish man. Unfortunately for you, I kind of prefer it this way. Thank you for everything, your majesty.” Mandy says, as she taps Garcia on the head with her pointing finger.

Everyone gasps and celebrates from below, but the rest of us are all left to look at the scene in confusion.

“What’s happening out there?” I ask Brooklyn, who is looking in pure fright.

“Garcia... no.” Brooklyn says under her breath, unable to look away.

As I look at Garcia, I can see that his body is growing more and more pale before finally falling to the ground. His eyes are bloodshot and pupil-less before they start to bleed out. Mandy signals for the ghouls to continue before she flies towards the castle again, going just above us. Within a few seconds, the ghouls start to charge towards the others again, in a number that almost seems bigger than what they started. Brooklyn, angrier than I’ve ever seen her, starts to storm off before I pull at her arm, now knowing Mandy’s true strength.

“No, it’s too dangerous. We can’t risk ruining the plan, or losing you needlessly. I want her dead too, so let’s all do it together.” I say, finally sick of Mandy’s crap, but trying to keep my mind calm for the sake of our chances for success.

Brooklyn starts to calm down, pulling out her gun and taking her place beside Yellow, taking shots at the ghouls below. I go outside and wait for the others to arrive, who should be on their way. I wait there for a few minutes, as the world falls to chaos outside. Suddenly, from the stairs at the end of the bedroom, a middle aged man comes down the stairs, a strangely familiar one. With a ring glowing with black energy on his finger, he puts on his gloves to hide it, before he starts to dust one of the portraits off quite ceremoniously. He looks so familiar to me, but where have I seen him before? As soon as he looks at me, I finally know who he is. All the white beard in the world can’t hide those eyes. It was my father, likely wearing my mother’s ring... the ring I’ve been looking for. He starts to leave, as I start to run after him, my fury getting the better of me. I get to yet another flight of stairs, as I see him near the top already. With no time for feeling sick and/or tired, I make what is hopefully the last climb.

Seeing the signal that Lizzie had given to everyone, we all start to fight of the ghouls closer to the castle, though everyone is starting to look scratched, battered and fatigued... I doubt they would last any longer in this battlefield.

“Alright guys, just a little further and we’ve made it.” The woman in blue says, puffing and panting quite loudly, as she starts to sweat profusely from every pore.

“I don’t think I can really take any more.” Blanche says, limping back and forth as she cuts through the ghouls’ necks one by one.

“White, don’t worry, we’re near the end of it now.” The man in red says, comforting her by putting his hand on her shoulder.

“Follow me.” I say, as I clear a path for all of us to get across, knocking all of the ghouls out of the way.

“I’m sorry, but I must ask. How long have you been able to talk?” The woman in blue asks, as if she knows anything about who I am.

“What did happen to your voice to make it go like that?” The man in green asks, as the woman in blue punches him in the air before shaking her head at him.

“It’s complicated, okay? All I ask is that you don’t tell Brooklyn. I will tell her, in due time.” I say, too embarrassed by my new croaky deep voice to explain in great detail

“Help! Anyone there?” A voice calls to us from amidst the crowd.

As we fight our way towards the voice, we see a strange stuffed toy of a little lyrebird. The ghouls seemed to have grabbed it and are starting to pull it apart, and yet the stuffed toy seems to feel pain.

“Hey, please get me out of here. I’ll explain later.” The bird says to us... the stuffed bird spoke to us.

All of us look a little shocked, but hey, weirder things have appeared before here in Decain. Without a second glance, I use my strong arm to punch the ghouls into submission, allowing the sentient toy to flap his wings and fly.

“Thank you. Rescued on one end only to need to be rescued on the other. It’s been one of those days.” The bird says, sounding like it didn’t even phase him a bit.

“A talking toy? I suppose all logic is out the window in this world, so why even try to make sense of it?” The woman in blue asks herself, her mind exploding with these phenomenons.

“Hurry, we’ll talk more inside the castle.” I say, leading us closer to the castle until we get to the safe point by the side of the castle, though the ghouls seem to be getting restless.

As everyone walks towards the back door, I can’t help but think that maybe the ghouls are going to eventually figure out that there is nobody here... I can’t believe I’m about to do this, but here I go.

“You guys go on and find your friends. I will hold them off.” I say, preparing my arm for what could be the most I’ve used in years.

“Really? By yourself? That is hardcore.” The man in green says, sounding excited.

“With all due respect, Bonnie. It sounds like suicide to me.” The woman in blue says, her face stricken with worry for me... how sweet.

“Save your worry for me. Go, before they realise and pursue you.” I say, running back into the fray.

I can’t say that I’m not fully regretting this decision, but as long as I conserve my energy, I really have nothing to worry about... I think. Here I come!

As I climb the last stairs, and regain my breath, I find myself in a room filled with bouquets of dead flowers, almost like a memorial for something. In the centre of the flowers, there is a small plaque with some small engraved names on it, most likely the people who suffered Mandy’s wrath here. In the next room, I can hear some faint music playing from the next room.

“I can’t believe it. I finally won. Now we can be together again. I just know it.” Mandy says to someone from the next room... so she’s here? Even better.

Preparing myself, I open the door and see Mandy standing there in the middle of a giant throne room. The stench becomes too much to bear, as the reek of death overpowers my nose and falls on my tongue. The room is filled with half-decayed bodies, and not just human ones at that. Even the throne seems to have been hastily remodelled using charred bones. The walls all look mouldy and charred, like how it would look to be inside a common household in Hell. Looking at me, Mandy smiles from just a step away from the throne, grinning as if overcome with morbid joy.

“Sister. What a pleasant surprise. To be honest, I never, in a million years, thought that you could find this place, let alone survive it.” Mandy says, laughing to herself.

“Mandy, this has gone far enough. You’ve killed thousands just to satiate your bloodlust and exact some silly revenge, but I’m afraid your time is up.” I say, pulling out my gun, trying to think of some way to pull my plan off by myself... I suppose running after what I thought was my father alone was a bit of a mistake.

“Oh really? You talk as if some god. But I have news for you. God is dead.” Mandy says, walking towards me eerily, before stopping right in front of me. “And now it’s your turn.”

Suddenly, the music stops and the lights all go out, leaving us in complete darkness. The music suddenly resumes, but it seems to be playing backwards like some cheesy horror movie.

“Give into your fears and die.” Mandy says, from behind me.

I turn around and shoot behind me, but the light from the gun that flickers for a split second shows me that she is no longer there. Urrrgh, I suddenly feel so sick again. Is this room triggering it somehow? I can hear voices all around me again. They all call me a demon. Did Mandy know this would happen? All I can do for now is stagger around the room, just jumping at shadows. I try to stay in one place, as still as I can, in case there are already traps in the room, waiting for me. All of a sudden, something starts to stomp on the ground, growing louder and louder. Despite my valiant efforts, and suppressing the vomit back down into my throat, I start to run as fast as I can as the music grows slower. I run until I run into something cold and made out what feels like glass... definitely a window. It’s strange, I’ve been here for a short amount of time, but I’ve already forgotten what a gentle breeze feels like.

I turn back, before seeing the other five, plus Brooklyn and Bonnie, standing there, looking at me with betrayed looks on their faces. Their suits are all ripped to shreds, revealing their faces, and their hands seem to be tied behind their backs. This reminds me of something similar to what I had seen before, as if a warning of this exact moment. This gives me the satisfaction of seeing through this hallucination, though I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry Lizzie... we couldn’t win.” Yellow says, looking down at the floor in disgrace, as everyone hangs their heads.

It’s strange. Before they were angry at me, but this time, they almost seem like they were the ones at fault. Suddenly, a sword comes plowing through Yellow’s chest, blood pouring out of either side. As she falls to her knees, her frown creepily forms into a smile. I try to keep a poker face on, constantly reminding myself that this isn’t real.

“What’s the matter? Does the loss of your friends not terrify you? I suppose you and the others have no real connection. But it doesn’t matter. This is happening in reality too.” Mandy says, as she slices through the others, finding it strangely pleasurable.

Having enough, I find her silhouette in the darkness and run at her. I tackle her to the ground and begin wailing on her in a fit of rage, though trying to keep my sense of self, hoping I don’t get too carried away. I see the shadows of the others start to fade away, just as I had hoped.

“You’re lying. We may have our ups and downs, some of them are dumb, some are self-righteous and vain, but they are strong. They would never fall to you.” I say, trying to defend them as I put my hands tightly around Mandy’s neck in the complete darkness.

Mandy manages to stand up, grabbing me and picking me up by the neck. She takes me to the window and slams my face into the glass.

“Tell me, what do you see?” Mandy asks me, still blanketing herself in the shadows, too afraid to come out into the light of the moon.

I look down at the horde of ghouls, all attacking one person... Bonnie. She looks like she’s in trouble, but she is still kicking a lot of ass down there.

“I see my friend, and she’s mowing through your ranks like grass.” I say, having faith in her.

“Heh, so there is one person there after all. The others are likely on their way right now. Tell me, do you notice anything strange down there?” Mandy asks, giggling under her breath.

I take another look, and finally notice what was missing. We have been fighting for at least an hour now, and not a single body is on the floor, in fact,t there seems to be more than what they started out with.

“Oh no. Bonnie!” I shout to no avail, too high up to really be heard.

“So you noticed? Silly girl. Did you honestly think you could pick a fight with the dead and win?” Mandy asks, taking me away from the floor, holding my head to the ground as the music starts to scratch at the same note.

“What now? Are you going to kill me? Like Garcia? Like those men? Like those cultists?” I ask, having too many names to mention amongst her kill list.

“Yeah, but not right now. Your friends are on their way to kill me... and they will.” Mandy says, seemingly having a sinister plan in mind, which worries me even further.

Mandy puts me down, as I start to feel her hands tug forcefully at my suit. What the hell is she doing? Guys, I might need some help here.

Thanks to our new friend, Lyle, we were able to find a dark elevator, leading up to nearly the top of the castle. Everyone else has joined us too, looking battered and bruised from the battlefield.

“So, how long has this elevator been here?” I ask, wondering why we couldn’t have taken them up from the very beginning.

“It’s been here for some time. A bit rickety, but it still works. Think your friend will be mad that she climbed all this way for nothing?” Lyle asks, likely a little afraid of her... she can be pretty scary sometimes.

“Meh, a little exercise never hurt anybody.” Red says, smiling proudly.

“Says the first person that got in here.” Green says, quietly to himself, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Anyway, I have to ask. What exactly are you, Lyle?” Blue asks, having done nothing but stare at him since we found him.

“There’s not much to tell really. I was once a man, though I wasn’t exactly the nicest guy out there. I was a merchant in the Black Roses Corporate, essentially a black market of sorts, dealing with stolen goods and even body parts. That’s when I found and stole a crown, and I tried to sell it on. The owner was Mandy, who came looking for it. Anyway, when she came to the business, I was the one in charge then. She came to our secret place and that was the last thing I remember before I woke up like this. Apparently, she thought I didn’t deserve an afterlife or something.” Lyle says, remembering his past life in quite vivid detail.

“...I meant what kind of bird were you?” Blue asks, slightly shocked by what she heard.

“Oh... Lyrebird.” Lyle says, as an awkward silence begins to form.

We all stay in silence until a few seconds after, when the doors open to let us all out. We come across a strange room with lots of flowers and a memorial plaque. I really hope she’s alright in there.

“Wait guys, I’m sure Mandy is in there with her. You all ready?” Blue asks, checking her many pockets to feel for everything she would be needing.

“Born ready, baby. Let’s get in there so we can get Bonnie and Liz back.” Brooklyn says, as she takes the helm... I suppose she has been at this longer than we have, so it’s only fair.

Brooklyn kicks the door open, as we see nothing but darkness. The smell is incredibly thick and rotten, and the air feels cold, as opposed to anywhere else in Decain so far.

“Black! Where are you?” I ask, shouting for her, feeling uncomfortable in this darkness.

“You can call her Lizzie, you know? It’s only us now.” Mandy says, before she claps twice.

The candles in the room all come back on to reveal the number of bodies in the room, all piled up in the corners. Lizzie and Mandy both stand there together, though Mandy looks quite beaten, with bruises and blood on her face... then again, they both do. The crown seems to be missing too.

“Guys, I did it. I took her down. I ran out of bullets, so please finish her off for me.” Lizzie says, standing victorious.

“Much appreciated, doll.” Brooklyn says, pulling out her gun and pointing it into Mandy’s temple.

“Wait guys. It’s me. Mandy switched our clothes. Please, I know it seems stupid, but you gotta believe me here.” Mandy says, begging for her life.

“We shouldn’t act too harshly just yet. What if she’s telling the truth?” Roxy asks Brooklyn, who puts down her gun.

“God damn it. Then what the hell do you suppose we do?” Brooklyn asks, looking 100% done with all of this.

“Simple. Alright, here is what we are going to do? I’m going to ask Lizzie a couple of questions that she should know the answer to. If she gets it wrong, we will know. Alright?” Roxy asks, already thinking up the questions in her head.

“Don’t you think that’s just a little too simplistic?” Nuko asks, although to be honest, I would take this over one of his explosive plans.

“You got anything better?” Roxy asks, taking the crown from the floor and walking closer to the two Carlyles. “Alright. Question 1. What did you get out of our deal with Salvador?”

“That’s easy. He got me a house.” Lizzie says, confident in her answer.

“What? How did you know that?” Mandy asks, acting surprised.

“Oh please, you don’t think I know you’ve been watching me for some time now?” Lizzie asks, sounding a little disturbed.

“Alright then, question 2. Who bought you your first makeover session the other day?” Roxy asks, listening in to hear the answer.

“It was Blanche over there.” Lizzie says, pointing over at Blanche, who seems to be deep in thought.

“Oh this is getting us nowhere. She’s obviously just trying to stall for time.” Brooklyn says, once again pulling out her gun.

“Wait. I have a question for Lizzie.” Blanche says, chiming in at the last moment with a smug look on her face, like she has this all under control already.

“Really? You?” Lizzie asks, looking a little nervous.

“Yeah. You see, back when you and I had that little falling out, we had a small heart-to-heart. We discussed some stuff, and I’m sorry to have to do this, but you told me quite a bombshell. So, which of our boys do you have a crush on?” Blanche asks, smiling at Lizzie.

The rest of us gasp in shock as the room falls into tense silence, waiting for her answer.

“Errrm... errrm. Of course, it’s Andy. It was always Andy.” Lizzie shouts, not wanting to truly say... still, if it is correct, I didn’t see this turn of events coming.

Blanche grabs the crown from Roxy, walking towards Lizzie. But then, she turns around and walks straight to Mandy. What? Before she can grab it, the real Mandy shoots the crown out of her hand, before picking it up and putting it back on.

“Damn it. That was a dirty unfair question.” Mandy says, throwing a temper tantrum like a itty bitty baby.

“Hah! Caught you red handed, sucker.” The little bird says, in a vulgar tone, especially for his adorable appearance.

“Wait, does that mean it was me?” Nuko asks in excitement.

“Sorry Nuko. It’s not you either.” Blanche says, petting Nuko on the head.

Everyone looks in confusion, as we are all wondering who she could be talking about then. Wait, does she mean Salvador? Could it be?

“I’m sorry Liz, I wouldn’t have spoiled it if it didn’t mean saving your life. If it makes you feel any better, you can be the one to give the answer.” Blanche says, walking over and putting her arm around Lizzie, who is wearing Mandy’s clothes.

Lizzie sighs as she hangs her red-cheeked head in embarrassment. She starts to lift her arm, and as if a weird joke, she points to someone amongst us... me?

“Woah, no way!” Andy and Nuko say at the same time, with faces that are way too happy for two people who were just turned down to catch out the villain.

“Oh, this is so awesome!” The strange bird says, excitedly doing front flips in the air... as if he could benefit from this somehow.

“Oh dear lord.” Lizzie says, hiding her face from the world.

I honestly can’t believe what I just heard, and it doesn’t even feel real. I want to ask so many questions, but I am too flustered for any words to leave me.

Suddenly, a timer goes off in Lizzie’s... well, Mandy clothes pocket. Mandy notices the sound and her face beams brightly.

“Yes. It’s finally happening. The moment I’ve been waiting for all these years. Excuse me, I’ve got bigger matters to attend to. So why not entertain our guests for a little while?” Mandy says, pulling her staff from the ground, as black smoke gives her back her bone dress. In her hand, she holds Lizzie’s suit, as she throws it on the floor.

She waves her staff around as a little green wisp comes out of the sphere and through the wall. Mandy walks out of the next room, but as we go to follow her, the wall suddenly explodes into bits, making us all duck for cover. We look up and see Garcia, looking down at us.

“Garcia! You’re alive!” I exclaim, so surprised to see him all the way up here.

Without a word, he tries to crush us with his hand. We narrowly roll out of the way and jump back onto our feet. Looking at his face, he looks a lot more angry than I have seen him yet, and his eyes are still lacking pupils, like a bankrupt school. From the same hole in the wall, the giant bird comes flying in too.

“Lizzie. We’ll take care of this. You go find Mandy. If you find any trouble, just run. We will be there soon.” Brooklyn says, putting all of her hope in Lizzie.

“Wait, this is crazy. You were very nearly killed this time. I’d hate to see what she does next time.” I say, not wanting her or anyone else to die tonight.

Without another word, Lizzie smiles and runs through the door, likely eager to end all of this and go back to Watcher Central... oh, how I miss it. Though, she did kind of leave us to deal with these two.

In the next room, there is another flight of stairs, though this time, I find myself in a skybox, with just a glass cube around me as walls. Looking out into the world, I can see that we are as high as clouds at the moment, and looking up, I can see that beyond the atmosphere, there is truly nothing, like we are stuck in a black dome... no stars, no air and what looks to be a painted on moon. Just a few more steps, and this can finally end. Still, it worries me. We still don’t have the cure, and we still don’t have any of those rings. Everything is starting to look a bit bleak. After a few steps, I can hear a click from inside my head, like my brain is ready to give up. My eyes start to grow cloudy, as my body loses consciousness. The last thing I hear before passing out is a male voice, speaking to me from somewhere.

“Know your enemy. Find her weakness.”