The thing that had killed the Savant and the things raining down from the wounded sky were much alike. Strips of paper and other flat substances that reared back like serpents. Only, their movements were not dictated by their heads, but by the one spot where a single eye was crudely drawn in pencil.

This made it so that it appeared as if the being was constantly folding itself into other shapes, before stopping mid-way and folding itself again in another pattern. The creases of its body becoming at once more worn out and more pristine.

I caught a glimpse of it as it turned a corner sideways and noted that the width of the thing was practically non-existent. One could have slipped it between two atoms, if one so chose.

All those observations happened in slow-motion. A play put on just for me.

Then the pencil-stains that made up the eye moved without the paper, as if to blink and proved disinterested in me.

I thanked Buddha once more, before I flung myself sideways. Pressing my body against that of Mercy while screaming my lungs out.

"Shrink!" I commanded. "Shrink damn you!"

She didn't need to be told twice.

Her speed left much to be desired by Savant standards, but sure enough, she was the size of a cat within a single fraction of a second. And the size of a walnut in another fraction.

I wrapped myself completely around her. Pressing tightly with my hands and pressing them to my own chest. All while curling up into a ball within the armored car.

I closed my eyes and waited for the blow.

It never came.

Instead, I was assaulted time and time again by the shouts coming from the echo.

"He's getting away! I have to chase him!"

"Don't leave the car Sully!" Grandpa barked. "You're an unlicensed Esper! You can't do anything if it's not an emergency! And there isn't one right now! Let the cops handle he… wait. Did you say him?"

"That's a guy!?" Roy asked as well. "Damn! Surgeons these days are good! I couldn't tell."

"He's a Shifter!" The echo kept shrieking. His body stopping himself from giving chase every time. "He's a monster! An actual, honest to goodness monster! He'll kill us all if I don't chase him!"

Roy squinted.

"Where did he even come from? Why was he here?"

"He was one of the voices in my head!" The echo responded.

And while neither of the two men answered him back, their silence spoke volumes.

I also took the time to sigh with relief.

If the Drake leaving was their biggest issue right now, then all was well and good. It meant they couldn't see the things floating above the car. Above their heads.

It meant that they were considered part of the scenery and not legitimate targets for these Flat Intruders. Small blessings I supposed.

I allowed myself to take a deep breath then. Followed by another and another one after that.

My mind still reeling from the aftermath of the Enhancer training.

It had been brief, by all accounts. A single session of [Meditation]. Only it hadn't been tinted by my powers as a Telepath. It was not a web that collected thoughts and emotions. Not a lake that was filled to the brim with them.

In the vision, the lake was kept at bay and there was only me. Only my own person, body mind and soul, left in there to wonder about what had happened. All those eyes I had formed within the lake every time I became a stronger Telepath were now either driven away or turned inwards. And the resonance was something altogether foreign.

Not like the call of my cells, of life, that Shifter had accustomed me to. It wasn't as if I was more aware of the trillions of little sparks that made up the whole.

I was the whole and the cells had no meaning beyond being me. Each one of them could not be me, as with Shifter. Each one was a grain of sand upon a beach. A brushstroke upon a canvas. A small part of a grander whole.

'Yes. Whole. That is the way I would describe it.' I reasoned. 'I felt… I feel… whole. Unchanging. Indestructible.'

No doubt someone like the Dragon would still find it laughably easy to rip me to pieces, but at least it was progress. No, it was a lot of progress, all at once. And just because I couldn't check it on the System window didn't make it any less true.

Roy might be a sour-mouthed, raging alcoholic, but he knew his stuff. I would have never even considered trying this, when so many of the Labyrinth's teaching methods revolved around constant hardship and self-tempering.

To get so much in so little time was…

'Impossible. No. There must be another reason. Perhaps it is because I am here, in Pandemonium, and I was forced to hold back the literal walls of the real, material world in order to isolate myself. Or maybe it was because I had already come so far in my understanding of my own body due to Shifter. Or maybe it was because I have absorbed so much knowledge about Enhancers without being able to put any of it into practice until now. Yes, that must be it. That's a much better explanation than some human without powers having found some great method of visualization that no one had ever come up with before. In fact, the man himself said that it took other people hundreds of tries to get it right. That, and he was one of Thunder Fist's own coaches if memory serves. There is no way that Thunder Fist would have needed my help in any way if he could have gotten those results by himself anytime he wanted due to Roy's teachings. There is something fishy going on here.'

I banished the thoughts and focused once more on the Intruder.

On the absent attack and the beating heart of Mercy as she lay there in my hands.

I turned, slowly, and saw that the Intruder had lost interest. Instead moving towards the direction in which the Drake had fled.

'Good riddance.' I sighed internally. 'Maybe he'll actually get what's coming to him for once in his thrice dammed life.'

I shuddered again after that thought. Recalling how another Savant, Frigid Bloodline, had been destroyed. It had taken a fraction of an instant.

He'd been here one moment and then gone the next.

There had been no chance to fight back. No chance to even see the attack coming.

The bloody thing had simply manifested within him and disintegrated him from the inside out.

'No wonder folks are afraid of Divines.' I mused. 'I knew to some degree of course, but to see it for myself.'

I had expected at least a torrent of power. A sudden onrush of Psy that came in from all sides and could never be exhausted.

Perhaps out in the material realms, that might have been the case.

Here, in their realm, it was as if someone had flicked a switch that caused the lobster-taur to cease existing.

I could only hope that his other bodies out in the Labyrinth were still somewhat fine after that. There was always a chance. Though things did not look good.

"Dzzctscrotr." A voice called out.

No, not a voice.

More like, the ringing of a bell if each clang and strike led to more than just the sonorous aftermath of metal finding metal.

That sound rang across the little false world, once, twice, thrice…

And then the veneer started peeling off.

The car we were in turning into legions of those Intruders.

Same with the roads outside and the buildings attached to them.

Everything peeled away as if to reveal a hidden truth behind the illusion.

I looked at Mercy. Her shrunken form crumbling even as I held her tight.

"Well shit." I spoke plainly. Wondering just how much worse this day could possibly get.

Then I noted the echo turning his face towards me. His lifeless eyes having turned pitch-black as he opened his mouth. To reveal a slurry of liquid, inky darkness filled with even more eyes.

His form too began to shed its outer layers. Until all that was left was an all-too-familiar child's body.

He at least seemed to be stable. Despite the very skies above us turning to shredded paper and ink-like blood seeping from the cracks.

He looked at me. His face a mask of boredom and… if that was possible, disappointment.

When at last he deigned to speak, his tone and cadence proved that impression had been on the money.

"She is fine. If you were wondering." He explained with barely concealed distaste. "I sent her away in peace. To a place she knows intimately. She will return to fight for you, once she has finished purging herself of the impurities that form has accumulated."

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I sighed with relief.

"That's fantastic news." I dusted off Buddy, despite not needing to. "You've really put my mind at ease."

He paused again.

His youthful eyes not bothering to hide his … his displeasure.

"You do not seem surprised." He observed.

"Well, no. I was surprised to find an old echo of me here." I explained. "Moreso because he got my powers. Which is weird because the stronger of us should have gotten the powers. No. Not the stronger one."

I paused to consider my words.

"The one which was more real. Which either suggested I was an apparition like the Coffin had been and that I was about to be absorbed by my teenage self… a very annoying prospect to consider… or that I had fundamentally misunderstood how these little knots worked. I was more or less improvising back there."

I allowed myself a small smile.

"But this makes a lot more sense now that you've revealed yourself."

I nodded. Becoming more sure of myself the more I calmed down.

"Also explains that massive leap in proficiency with Enhancer when we connected. Either Roy was secretly an enlightened Buddha and I never noticed… or the guy I was connecting with was already at that level and I was the one getting boosted."

I thrust out my hand.

"Hello, future Sully. I'm present Sully."

The hand stayed in the air.

Little me made no attempt to shake it.

"Or, should I call you GOZO? Come on man. That project must have meant as much to you as it did to me. It was the first great thing we managed without powers after all. Don't leave me hanging."

His eyes did not waver.

"I am not the future you have chosen." He began sourly.

I flinched. Realizing where this was going.

"Oh. Oooooh. You're a possibility."

I tugged at my collar. Feigning nervousness to release some of the tension.

"That's… uh. Akward." I smiled. "What was different?"

"I was never called the Coffin or the Tyrant. Or the Coffin Tyrant. As the System has taken to call you." The smaller me replied. His tone icy cold.

"I was Solomon the Open Handed. Or Open-Handed Monk for short. I did not run away from my past mistakes. As you did. I am the you that sought to atone. From the very beginning. I did not kill Steve by mistake the first time I met him in the Labyrinth. I did not allow Randall or Anezka or the gnomes to run amok in my Tutorial. As to the latter, I actually went on to befriend several noteworthy gnomes."

I failed to contain my vomit.

He did not look impressed. Looking down at himself before wordlessly wiping away the filth with a Telekinetic surge of Psy.

"Sorry. I was surprised."

He straightened up. Not deigning to speak back to me.

"I did not make an enemy of the Dragon. Because I didn't see the need to boost anyone. By the time he realized I had that power, him and I had a growing understanding. I slew the Drake. And others who tried to claim that power for their own. But I never sought to actively fight anyone."

He sighed.

"And this is what my realm, your realm, would have looked like, had you chosen to follow in my footsteps."

I recalled the internal logic of this little façade and nodded.

"It's a play on the past." I reckoned. "You never had a chance to enjoy yourself and be normal. So this way you can act out your own fantasies to your heart's content."

"They aren't the real thing." He agreed. "But the Intruders here are so tailored to pretending that even I can forget at times. It is… a relaxing experience."

He paused to sigh.

"Sometimes I allow myself a normal human lifetime. Growing old and having pretend children. Sometimes I allow myself… the echo of the past, to awaken single Type in the C-Rank range or below. Anything greater than that leads to unwanted attention and complications, when all I want is simple fun."

It was my turn to stare at him.

"That's really fucking sad man."

He sneered.

"Spare me your lectures. Weakling."

He spat to the side.

"Someone like you, who threw away all responsibility has no right to talk to me about sad behaviour."

"I was six." I reminded him. "We were six."

"That's no excuse." He snapped back. "We knew what would happen. Enough of what would happen at least. We could have saved millions of lives by tackling the Rifts head-on. Running away was the same as killing all those people ourselves."

He pointed at me.

"You might as well have killed all those people yourself. Those who Mason and the other corrupt nobodies exploited for no good reason. Those who were trampled to death by Rift-Spawn or those who starved within copper mines as slaves. People like Steve. You killed them through your inaction. Your pathetic attempts at running away."

"Wow." I spoke after he was done. "That's an incredible trick you do. You open your mouth and my own inner voice comes out."

His sneer deepened.

"You know I am right."

"Of course you are." I allowed. "Never have I once diminished all the good I could have done. Nor all the good I still need to do in order to make the voices, the pain stop. I beat myself over the head with that knowledge every second of every day. I don't need you adding to the mix. Mini me."

I waved around.

"Especially not when you're playing house with all these poor Intruders you've created for the sole purpose of keeping you somewhat sane."

I sighed dramatically.

"But whatever I suppose. I get my jollies from skinning gnomes, which I guess isn't entirely healthy. So, I suppose I shouldn't be throwing stones in your direction. Glass houses and all that."

I shook my head.

"Also, since you mentioned our timelines already diverged, I suppose there's no chance in you being my future or you becoming real?"

"I will disappear in due time." He replied casually. "I did not seek to influence you, mostly because I and the others were not aware of what was happening in real-space. Time is so convoluted in here that it feels as if I've existed for all eternity. As if my past was playing itself out every second of every day I spent in here. Eventually, I chose to ignore it. So did the others."

I nodded again.

"So, about those insights into Enhancer?"

"You would know if you had not undone the System." He retorted dryly.

"Well, yeah. But the Dragon did threaten to…"

"I know." He seemed thoroughly irritated. "I know."

Then he stopped and placed his head in his hands. Sighing into them.

"Hazimon is not stupid. You must understand that. He truly does think things through and he does try to do good as best he can. But…"

"He's too self-centered?" I suggested. "Too obtuse? Too used to getting his way and his way being the best way for all?"

"Yes." He brought his little hands down. "All of that. I will not make excuses for him."

Those eyes now turned to mine own. Chips of dirty ice finding an equal pair.

"But I will ask you to be merciful."

I raised an eyebrow.

"As merciful as you can be." He adjusted his request. "He might still stand down, once he sees how far you've come. Please consider forgiving him."

I blinked at him. Wondering just how much this little apparition and I had in common after all.

"Just… consider it. Please." He paused. "You think you know him. And you do know most of him. But not like me."

The smaller figure's eyes moistened around the corners.

"I know him. Whenever I was at my lowest, when my parents died and grandpa Gus died. When I'd lost everyone, he was there for me. Helping me through my grief. He is not a bad person."

He composed himself again.

"I know him." He repeated.

I said nothing.

Merely taking another gander at this false world that was even now shrinking. Strips of crudely-drawn eyes bleeding inky blackness that more and more resembled the waters in my lake.

"I have helped you this time." He continued. "If nothing else, consider this your way of paying me back."

"The insight seemed much more like an accident." I mused. "I don't know if you can take credit for that."

"It was then that I started to wake up from my self-imposed stupor." He explained. "It was then that I realized you were the real one and that you had chosen differently than I had. I still allowed you to take a Tier 10 ability. One of my own creation. Not a copy of anyone else's."

I peered down at my own body. Feeling my muscles again.

"Something to do with endurance?"

"[Solomon's Adamantine Fortitude X]" He explained. "Combined with what you've already forged through Shifter, I can't see Hazimon being able to beat you in a direct confrontation anymore. You will outlast him, if nothing else. And you have far more options than he does."

I very much doubted that.

Perhaps in a few months, when I had the chance to test my mettle and level both that combination and my other Shifter abilities against Masters close to my level. But not before. Trusting in this sudden windfall to tip the scales that much was tantamount to suicide. And far too many people were counting on me for that risk to be worth it.

"If he fights alone." I corrected.

"If he fights alone." He allowed.

I stopped to think.

"What happened to the Drake? And to Frigid Bloodline?"

His face soured.

"The Drake escaped before I fully awoke. He will be in the company of another possible future."

"Not the one I chose?"

"Not likely." He went on. "I suggest you leave him there. Good riddance."

"I still might need him." I waved his concerns away. "And Frigid Bloodline?"

"He was betraying you from the start. Unlike Mercy or the Drake." The little me stated.

I sighed once more. Rubbing my forehead.

"Yeah. I kinda figured as much, but I was hoping to use him some more before stranding him in some pocket dimension like I did with Hazimon. He could have at least drawn some fire in a fight or two."

"You are a fool to think so." He chided. "Even whilst you were nagging my diversion, his clones were working in tandem with the Veiled Assassin to kill the Golden Cruelty."

"Oh?" I inquired. "And?"

"She escaped. As she often does. They are young and she has not lived so long without being so open to tactical retreats."

He shrugged.

"Me killing Frigid Bloodline, all of him, mid-fight, also helped."

"I can't imagine the Veiled Assassin liked that very much." I quipped. Now feeling a lot more relaxed and looking for somewhere to lean.

"No. He did not. Neither did all the Masters he'd brought with him. Golden Cruelty killed two before she made her escape."

I stopped to process that information.

At the very least, the defeat would give my enemies some hesitation in the future. Seeing someone as difficult to kill as Frigid Bloodline just vanish into dust in less than a second is bound to turn some heads.

"I would not feel quite so smug." He warned. "Frigid Bloodline came to me and suffered the cost. Other Divines would have been able to do just as much damage, should you find yourself stranded in their realms."

He stopped to spit.

"Or should you find yourself in Pandemonium at a time where the tides are not quite as deadly and unpredictable as they are now. Yet another reason to make peace, while you have a chance."

"I will take it under advisement." I had to say.

Then I clapped.

"Now then. My, um, alternate friend. Would you be so kind as to take me where the Drake went?"

He arched an eyebrow. All theatre of course.

"You want to… follow him?" He feigned confusion. "You don't want me to let you out?"

"Why would I?" I answered him. Stopping just short of scoffing. "I had thought this trip would be waste of my very valuable time, but I just took out one of my main rivals without any real effort on my part. All while gaining another combined ability and a metric-shit ton of levels in the Type that I'm least familiar with. If anything, this has been a very fruitful trip for me."

"And you hope to get more out of the other possible futures." He reasoned. Shaking his head in disappointment.

"Actually, now that I know speaking like this is possible, I was hoping to goad the real future me into handling Singing Metals and Stitches while he was at it. Not all Divines are equal in strength and influence here after all and I'd rather not have to resort to the gamble I'd been planning for a while."

"You do not understand." He replied. Sadness coloring his childlike features. "Not all your, our, possible futures have as much in common as you and me. Some are rather militant in nature. Some are less responsible than even you. Some are downright bad people."

I had to take a moment to process what he'd just said.

'A me that wouldn't be considered a good person. Now there's a pants-shitting thought if ever there was one.'

"Potential cures for constipation aside, I don't think any of my potential futures would kill me. Even out of spite." I explained. "I don't think they could. I don't think you can either. Causality loop. If you try, then you will have never existed in the first place. And while you're more real in the sense that you're the shadow of a Divine, you are still just a shadow. Something transient. Something that could have been."

He did not speak for a few more moments.

"So, all I can hope for is to maybe get a few more combined abilities off of them. Connecting with them like I did with the Coffin. Or with you just now."

"Some may not let you go." He warned again. "Death is not something they would consider. True. But we both know that death is far from the worst thing one could do to a person."

That made me stop.

"Are there versions of me who would do that?"

"There are versions of us who would genuinely make the Seeking Drake uncomfortable." He replied. Almost casually.

I swallowed a lump in my throat.

"Right. Okay." I clapped my hands together. Meeting his eyes once more.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to just, give me a bunch of Enhancer powers and send me on my way?"

"I will if you promise to spare Hazimon's life." He retorted. Offering his hand.

I looked at it. Stared at the little fingers and the pinkish, child-like skin.

Then my eyes went back to his face.

"I said I would try." I reminded him. "You know I can't promise you that for sure. You know how he is. How far he will take this now that we've both come this far. Now that so many have died. He will not give me a choice."

He let the hand drop.

"Yes. But it was worth a shot in any case."

He appeared defeated then. Deflated like an old party balloon. As flat and colorless as his Intruders.

Nevertheless, he snapped his fingers, and the bleeding world gave way.

"Go then. And do what you think is right."

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