A few days later...

Talbot was in a deep slumber, snoring loudly on the sofa in Filia's apartment. Having a dream about Sekhmet, chasing him and yelling obscenities. Talbot starting sleep talking with his arms extended, grabbing air in an attempt to capture his illusion. Talbot did grab something though, something soft tempting him to squeeze some more out of curiosity noting one side being larger than the other. Slowly opening his yellow eyes, he notices Filia and Squiqly on both sides of him, each with their own expression. Filia holding an uncomfortable look and Squigly watching him with lifeless eyes, but it was where his hands were located that Talbot understood the situation.

"G..good Morning, Filia, Sqiu...GAAHHH"Talbot was cut off as two fists land on his face leaving smoke from the impact. Grabbing his face in pain, he saw a glimpse of the snickering faces of Samson and Leviathan as the girls walk over to a dining table. Filia was cooking up some sausages and eggs while Talbot and Squigly had a glaring contest.

"I already received my punishment, so stop being a pain."

"First the kiss. Now, my chest. You deserve more than a slap on the wrist."Squigly pouts, turning her gaze away from him.

"Your boney fist made contact with my face just a minute ago. I suggest you behave or you're beetle food."Talbot threatened.

"Then do it, you imbecile."she said without hesitation. Talbot just growled and gave up, because there's a reason for his threats sounding hollow and that reason being that the beetles currently in Squigly, giving her life, turned out to have a huge setback. Talbot realizes that the beetles that were used are truly dangerous only to him if Squigly is ever injured, because all the damage sustained by her is transferred to him and removing them would mean her death which leads to his as well. This sudden realization caused Talbot to be a bit submissive to avoid any unwanted circumstances and the constant self deprecation for such a stupid mistake. Waiting in silence, Filia places a full plate of food in front her and Squigly, then placed half a sausage and bread crumbs from the toaster in front of Talbot.

"You know we're on the same team?"Talbot asks, looking at Filia who ignores him. Filia starts eating as well as Squigly, who didn't need to eat but did it to piss off the rude parasite. Talbot finally had enough and went on the offensive by quickly shooting out his tongue and snatching food off Filia's plate. Filia was caught off guard and glares at him, but Talbot looks away, playing innocent. Then he went for Squigly's plate to have his tongue impaled by a fork, sticking it into the table. Wincing in pain, Talbot stands up and tries backing away. Squigly suddenly takes out the fork causing Talbot's tongue to whip back into his mouth, then fell on the floor. He wanted to yell, but the sight of the four snickering faces forces him to keep his rage in check to prevent anymore embarrassment. Talbot decided to sit back on the sofa and think about what to do with Squigly; does he tell her the truth and hope she'll cooperate or will she taken advantage of this and take control over him. Coming back to his senses and he notices that the girls were gone, then senses a presence right behind him.

"So that's how it is." Filia says, causing Talbot to swallow his breath, forgetting that he isn't the only parasite with the ability to link consciences as he notices Filia's hair touching his head, then bolted for a wall. He could see Filia, who had a sinister smile along with Samson's cackling.

"Samson, I think we can work something out and keep this from Leviathan."The hooded fighter said, sweating bullets.

"Ha ha ha I think you're begging the wrong person here, Talbot." Samson says with a cocky attitude. Talbot asks again very quietly,"F...Filia, can you keep this a secret from Leviathan and Squigly?" Talbot begs, looking at the floor nervously. Filia then threw down a magazine containing a drama schedule at his feet.

"What's this?"He asked.

"The River King Casino is holding a signing with my favorite radio drama as well as serving their famous milkshakes." Filia explained, licking her lips at the thought.

"Yeah and of course high-stakes gambling!"Samson added.

"I don't really have money on me right now." Talbot admits, struggling his shoulders.

"Don't worry about that." Filia said, pointing at the grand prize of 20k, by surviving three minutes with the superstar, Beowulf, in a wrestling ring, courtesy of the casino.

"Challenge accepted." Talbot growled.

Squigly then comes out of the bathroom after freshening up and asks what they were talking about in which both answered "Nothing." Squigly confused, just makes her way out the door. Filia winks at Talbot, who later sighs and follows.

"What are we doing again?" Talbot asks, trailing behind the two girls. Filia with Samson under her hat and Leviathan under a fascinator disc hat.

"Before spring break, I want to pay Carol a visit." Filia says.

"But it was kind of you to pay for everything, you parasitic dog." Squigly said with a fake smile.

"N..no problem. Can you stop with the names already?"

Out of no where, Talbot gets backhanded by Squigly, causing him to bare his fangs at her. He quickly calms himself after he saw Filia in the background with a disappointed look.

"S...sorry, Squigly, I p...probably deserved t...that." Talbot said in defeat, gritting his teeth in frustration, as Filia patted him on the head to rub it in.

They walked all the way to Maplecrest, where students were crowding the place, wearing the same uniform as Filia. They felt awkward stares making Squigly feel nervous and Talbot very annoyed. The trip to the girl's dorm was long, but they eventually made it. Filia pressed the doorbell on the keypad labeled "Carol Freeman" and a shaky voice belonging to Carol, aka Painwheel, answered. She then buzzed them in, unlocking the door. Before Talbot could even set a foot pass the the door, Squigly slams the door in his face and hisses at him to wait like a good dog. He was steaming with rage but knew it was for the best, so he sat quietly on steps. As the girls were walking upstairs, Filia decided to tell Squigly her secret she had with Talbot. Squigly was surprised for a bit then asked if they could continue the act to keep him in check, in which Filia happily agrees to. Leviathan even started feeling bad for Talbot since it wasn't really his fault for being the way he is, but kept his mouth shut knowing how aggravated Squigly would be. Samson just slept, knowing girl-talk was coming up. They reached Carol's door and knocked.

"C...coming."Carol said in a low voice.

Carol, in her uniform, opened the door and welcomed her friends in. Filia asked how school was going and Carol said that making friends was harder than she thought and that she's still not used to people, but she's making the best of it. Filia and Squigly just sat beside Carol telling her things that happened in the past few days. In truth, Carol was having a horrible time at school, and her friends were aware of this. She was getting her things stolen, fake love letters, mean pranks, etc. Filia and Squigly felt bad, knowing that she couldn't go berserk otherwise her regular life would be over. Filia finally said that she should join them for a short vacation for the upcoming spring break. They mentioned the all-you-can-eat sweets and shows, all paid for. They also added going to the beach, where Carol gladly agrees to.

Back downstairs, Talbot was waiting patiently on the side of the steps where a small group of students walk past him, in which he pays no mind to. They started placing a bucket of water on top of the door. Then they rang Caorl's doorbell and ran behind a tree. Talbot just kept an eye on the group, wondering what they were snickering about, then Carol walks out causing the bucket of water to fall on her. She was drenched and Talbot received a good sum of it too. The group started laughing out loud as Carol pretended she didn't care, lifting the bucket off her head just enough to show her face. Filia and Squigly wanted to find out who did it but Carol just told them that she was used to it. She was unaware of the hooded figure walking up to her to take the bucket slowly off her head, surprising her. Touching hands caused Carol to blush seeing how it was the first time a boy made contact with her. Talbot said 'thanks for the ammo' before throwing the bucket as hard as he could at the tree, completely obliterating it. The group picking on Carol just fainted from the near-death experience.

"They got my only pair of clothes wet, what would you do?!" Talbot argued with the girls standing behind Carol. Squigly started slapping him on the head, calling him a bad dog.

"This is our new friend, Talbot, he's a parasite like Samson and Levi." Filia explained, giving a short introduction to the one being slapped around.

"Oh! W..well, I..I'm C..Carol."Carol stutters as Squigly finally stops her barrage on Talbot.

"I'm Talbot, nice to meet someone who doesn't go into attack mode as soon as I meet them." He says, taking one of her hands and shaking it, but Carol's sudden interaction with another person of the opposite sex made her scarred face heat up and yell out,"B...bad d..doggie!" Talbot lifts an eyebrow in confusion then finds himself face-first on the ground after Filia does a flying kick to his head.

"Jeez, Talbot, learn how to approach a girl before even thinking about touching hands." Filia scolds Talbot, along with Squigly adding,"Indeed. Carol, he's just a pathetic mongrel. So just treat him like a shadow."

The group started walking back into the city while Talbot slowly follows behind hanging his head.

Filia's inside thoughts,"I hope I didn't push Talbot too hard. I'll make it up to him when we're at the River King's Casino."

Squigly's inside thoughts,"For goodness' sake, he's just hitting on girls left and right, but I'll keep him on a leash before he steals Carol's innocence (first kiss) too."

Carol's inside thoughts,"I should probably thank him for dealing with those bullies, but I don't think I can. Maybe I should pretend that he's a dog like Squigly. I love dogs anyway. B..but does t..this mean l..l..love at first s..sight?"

Talbot's inside thoughts,"Another hostile girl to put up with, but it's hard to believe that she used to be called Painwheel. What did I do to deserve this!?"

Samson & Leviathan's inside thoughts,"When did Talbot become the victim?"