Favours for Favours

The next three hours felt like a dream to Miki. After the incident in the warehouse, she and Alan had headed back to the Wild at Heart to fetch the truck and a shovel. They had driven back to the warehouse and removed the bodies of Kaiser and Orga from the building. In the time it had taken them, most of the crystals had shattered, dissolving as they did so. By the time they had removed the bodies, only the floor remained covered in the now-transparent crystals. Pretty soon no evidence would exist of them. It seemed their fate was tied with Kaiser's. One could not live without the other.

When they had removed the bodies, Alan drove until they were a short distance outside the city. There, on a dusty field, in the light of the rising sun, he buried the bodies of his slain friends. Since they were bound by blood, and had suffered the same experiments that he had, Alan felt that the least he could do for them was give them a decent funeral. It was hard, exhausting work, but Alan appreciated it. He preferred to have something to do, to keep his mind off of the terrible events of the previous night.

During his work, he had told everything to Miki. He had told her his real name, his age, and everything he knew that had led him and the other mutants to this point. He told her of the accident in the year 2000, the experiments carried out on them, the years he had spent following Godzilla and Kiryuu, and of all that he had done to stay alive in the years following the Battle of Knoxville.

"This is insane..." Miki muttered, as Alan finished wrapping up the story. It was a lot for Miki to take in and she found it hard to believe, even after everything she had witnessed.

"Believe it or not," Alan said, as he scooped the dirt back onto the bodies in the graves he had dug, "that's what really happened. Put simply, I'm a Godzilla, and so were the two beings we've just buried." He stopped for a moment, leaning on his shovel, looking at Miki with a smirk. "How is it any more unbelievable than having a Godzilla for a President?"

"Hey!" Miki stammered. "I didn't... I just don't... But President Knight wasn't like-"

"A monster?" Alan interrupted. "No, he's just as bad, if not worse. Take my word for it." With that, he resumed his digging, working the shovel more forcefully than before. Miki guessed that the matter of his 'grandfather' was a touchy subject for him, so she decided to drop it. She shook her head again, forcing herself to see Alan there instead of anything else. Alan noticed this and turned to look at her.

"What's gotten into you?" he said. "You've been twitching since the warehouse. What's up?"

"N-nothing," Miki muttered. Alan leaned in closer to her, his eyes never leaving her own. His gaze made Miki feel very uncomfortable.

"You can't keep secrets from me, Ms. Saegusa," he said coldly. "It's part of my job to grill people for information and observe their habits. It'll be a lot less painful for you if you just get it out in the open now."

Miki sighed, and for a moment silence followed. Then, looking rather pained, she decided that there was no sense in keeping secrets. Alan had told her everything; she knew it wouldn't be fair if she didn't do the same. Alan, meanwhile, returned to the burial, but he listened carefully to Miki's every word.

"It's just that..." she said. "Back then, that monster... the one you called Kaiser, I mean... he did something to me. I can't really describe it... I tried to block the spell he wanted to use on me, but when Orga broke out of his cage, I lost my concentration. Kaiser didn't hit me with the full force of the spell, but he still hit me all the same.

"When he did, I saw... things. I saw dinosaurs walking around me, a meteorite, a nuclear explosion... All images I have only ever seen in pictures, but they looked so real. I saw bubbles under the water... It was like a whole stream of pictures, all cobbled together, I almost couldn't tell each one apart. I just can't get them out of my head now; they keep replaying in my mind over and over again...

"And you..." she continued, looking straight at Alan. "When I look at you half the time, I don't even see you standing there... I keep seeing Godzilla instead. I know it sounds weird, but I can't help it." She shook her head, trying to organise her words. "I know he's not there, but all the same..." She looked at Alan again, this time almost pleadingly. "How is that possible? Why am I seeing him instead of you?"

Alan paused, having shovelled the loose earth back into the graves, apparently admiring his handiwork. He had heard all that Miki had said, but what she said had only served to confuse him. He just shook his head in answer.

"I'm honestly not sure..." he muttered. Miki sighed, turning away and walking back to the truck. Alan turned and called after her.

"Miki, wait," he said, running to catch up with her. "What are you going to do next, then? I can't let you go back to Saeder-Krupp now, not knowing what you know."

"What?!" Miki exclaimed, looking like Alan had just slapped her. "I have to go back to work. I'd just made a comfortable living, and you know how hard that is to find in this day and age! I can't just abandon all that now!"

With that, she turned back towards the van, but she froze as she heard a clicking sound coming from behind her. Turning around, an incredulous look on her face, she saw that Alan had raised his gun straight at her head, and pulled back the hammer. His gaze was cold and calculating, making Miki realise he wasn't afraid to kill for this.

"No," he said, bluntly. "I can't let you do that. No-one must know about what I am, or about anything that happened here last night. Saeder-Krupp's run by a dragon, in case you've forgotten, and I know better than most that they can pluck information out of your head so easily, before you've even realised they've done so. All of the megacorporations would love to get a piece of me should they find out about me. Imagine how they'd react learning that there was a real Godzilla that they can experiment on, conveniently bite-sized, a deniable asset that they can hide from the world no matter who tries to learn about it. I think you can see the kind of situation I'm in right now."

"So that's it then?" Miki retorted fiercely. "After I save your life, you're just going to shoot me in case I blab? You owe me!"

"I know," Alan replied, never losing that unnervingly calm demeanour. "That's why I'm offering you a choice. You can either be shot, and I'll at least pick somewhere nice to bury you. Or you can come and work for me. Sparks will give you a steady day job, you'll doubtless be of great help to us on shadowruns, and we'll all look out for you. It's your choice."

For a moment, there was an uncomfortable silence, as Miki weighed her options in her mind. She had no way of purging memories from her own mind, and indeed she hated to think what might happen if the megacorporations found out that there was a way they could obtain Godzilla cells without anyone realising. Last night she had seen living proof of why such experiments were so dangerous.

"All right," she finally said, caving in. "I'll go with you. Just how am I supposed to disappear though, after all I've done for the company?"

"Don't worry," Alan said, holstering his gun and walking back to the truck with Miki. "Between all of us, we can arrange that. You'll disappear, and we'll watch your back if you watch ours. That's the way it works among my team; we all look after each other."

Miki nodded, climbing into the truck. She wondered what it was she was getting into, and couldn't help thinking of the comfortable life she was leaving behind. Doubtless if Yami saw her again, she would waste no time in rubbing this fall from grace in Miki's face.

As Alan started up the truck again and began to drive back to the city, he connected a wireless radio headset to his commlink, and opened a channel that he had not had to use in years. He hoped that the line was still open and secure after all this time, and was relieved when he heard a familiar voice answer on the other end.

"Hello, is that Tim Marx?" he asked. "It's Alan Tyler here... Yeah, I know, it's been a long time since I last spoke to you, but I need your help... Would you be able to come meet me in Seattle, as soon as you can? I know you're probably busy, but it's kind of urgent... Are you sure? I won't be interrupting anything? ... Well, if you're sure... You're a champion, mate. I've always thought so... I mean, besides that time... Well, anyway, I'm staying at flat 14, Weybridge Heights. I'll see you then. Talk to you later." With that, he closed the line.

"Who's that?" Miki asked.

"Just a guy I know," Alan replied. "Hopefully he'll be able to sort out a few things."

Miki just nodded, thinking it best not to pry into Alan's private matters on this occasion. She just looked out of the windshield as the city came ever closer to them. As the sun continued to rise, it at least looked like it was going to be a nice day today, not that anybody would notice that in the Seattle sprawl.

***

The day that followed was painful for Alan. His team members were full of questions about what had happened to him, Miki and Orga last night. Alan had omitted a number of details from his account, such as the true nature of Kaiser and any mention of their blood bond, though he stressed the fact that Orga had died trying to save him. All of them had reacted in their own ways. Zapper was indifferent to it all, while Berokash was disappointed that he hadn't had a shot at Kaiser himself. Rah'zahl muttered to himself, no doubt sending a prayer to the Loa, while Sparks seemed more sympathetic.

"Ach, tha's a shame," he had said. "He were beginnin' tae gro' on me."

Obatala said nothing, but nodded, an understanding look on his face. Alan could guess why Obatala seemed so understanding; he knew of the bond between them, though he could not guess at the real reason behind it. Miki of course had concurred with Alan's version of events. Alan was grateful that she had not decided to add anything to his account or raise any awkward questions. She seemed to understand the gravity of all that she was caught up in.

The rest of the day was spent arranging Miki's 'disappearance'. They made it look like she was among the victims of the 'brain-blast killer', as those in the sprawl came to call it. Alan only hoped that Saeder-Krupp did not decide to follow up on this event, for he wasn't sure how long their story would hold together under intense scrutiny. Sparks had given her a job as a barmaid at the Wild at Heart, where she lived under the pseudonym of Akima Kunimoto, her shadowrunner call-sign being 'Psyche-lock'.

The next day, Alan had only been awake for about ten minutes when there was a knock on his apartment door. He had had very little sleep and was exhausted, and had barely clothed himself and dragged a comb through his hair when he went to answer the door. Looking through the peep-hole in the door, Alan saw a human Caucasian man, with blond hair and sea-blue-green eyes. He was dressed in a pair of faded jeans, a pair of tennis shoes that looked well-worn, and a very loud Hawaiian shirt decorated with plants and flowers. He wore a plain white T-shirt under his Hawaiian shirt, and also had a pair of green-tinted glasses tipped on his forehead. Alan could recognise that dress code anywhere, so he unlocked the door and allowed his visitor in.

"Detective Marx," he addressed his visitor as. He closed the door behind him as Timothy Marx stepped into the living room. The apartment was small, but not prohibitive; there was enough room for Alan to fill it with all kinds of odd knick-knacks, such as an old-fashioned stereo system and vintage videogame consoles. The walls were decorated with very old movie posters in frames, and in one corner was a basic trideo system. Marx smirked slightly; he could tell instantly that Alan was not a fan of modern technology.

"Nice to see you in the sprawl," Alan continued. "I take it you sussed my new pretty quickly?"

"You can't keep secrets from me, Alan," Marx winked. "I am a detective, after all. I'm disappointed that you didn't seem to trust the line I gave you a bit more; I doubt you'll find a more secure one in general circulation."

"Yeah, well," Alan shrugged, "you never know who's listening these days." He crossed over to the kitchen and began pulling out mugs and filling up a pot of coffee. "Can I get you anything?" he called. "I've got tea, coffee, beer..."

"Just coffee for me, thanks," Marx replied. He picked up one of the papers scattered about on the coffee table. The document was part of a file labelled 'Organiser G-1: Beta Experiment'. Alan had been reading through it last night. He also saw that a large Ruger Super Warhawk magnum was on the table, as well as a monofilament whip currently encased in its haft.

"I hope you have a permit for those weapons," he called, his tone sounding quite serious.

"Hey," Alan retorted, his back turned to Marx while he made the coffee, "You know full well what I have to do to get by these days. You just can't get out of 'cop mode', can you? Speaking of which, what's with the whole Miami get-up? Seriously, you should get a new wardrobe, mate, you still look like you dress in the..."

As he turned around holding two mugs of scalding hot coffee, he fell silent and froze in place. For Marx – or Manda, as his real name was - had decided to change into his true form, that of a large, serpent-like eastern dragon, with sapphire-blue scales and a mane of green hair. His lengthy body was uncoiled, and light played off his scales sending a kaleidoscope of colours around the walls. He was still reading the file, his finned tail tapping lightly off the floor. He was still wearing his Hawaiian shirt, T-shirt and glasses. There were a few seconds of silence, until Manda turned his reptilian head to look at Alan, gazing at him with his orange eyes, a half-smile spreading across his face.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" he said, in mock politeness. "Something about my attire, perhaps?"

Alan just snorted, shaking his head. "Never mind," he said, handing a mug of steaming coffee to Manda's outstretched claw. He walked around the sofa until he was stood opposite the dragon. He decided against sitting down, for he wasn't sure if Manda would do the same and they had serious issues to discuss. Before that, however, Alan decided to try and break the ice.

"So how are things?" he asked. "What's the latest news from your end?"

"Well, ever since the Caribbean League took control of the southern tip of Florida," Manda began, "crime has gone up considerably. It's hard to keep track of things. I seem to be the only Great Dragon willing to go into law enforcement to try to clean up the scum down there and make it safer for average people. Though, even having a dragon on their side still doesn't help much in that. I feel even the scum has reached the other cops as well. I'm possibly the only guy on the force that isn't corruptible and still stands by the goodness of citizens, if there's any of that anymore."

He glanced over at the files on the coffee table, and then turned back to Alan, his expression becoming more serious.

"I suspect this is not a social call, Alan," he stated. "I could easily poke through your mind and find out what you really want myself, but I know you'd prefer to say it yourself, so out with it. What's this all about?"

Alan sighed. He was afraid Manda would want to get straight to business. He set down his mug on the coffee table and picked up the Organiser G-1 file.

"Do you remember that there were two others who were injected with Godzilla's cells that day?" he asked. Manda nodded in reply.

"Well," Alan sighed, before continuing, "I saw them, or rather what they had become. Both Joel and Tetsuo. The experiments, coupled with the Awakening, affected them far worse than me. I mean, you remember the trouble I had during the Awakening, but they didn't have anyone to help them through those times. They were on their own..."

After that, Alan continued to talk, relating the events of that fateful night. He explained how Joel and Tetsuo had been 'reborn' as Orga and Kaiser, of Kaiser's ability to manipulate the crystals he'd found, and ultimately of their deaths. When he came round to recounting Kaiser's madness and determination to destroy everything, Alan hesitated. It still hurt him to think that one of his best friends had turned into such a terrible creature.

"I just don't understand it..." he said. "I knew Tetsuo very well. He couldn't have just flipped out like that. I know he had been through a lot, but he still seemed rational until he encountered those crystals..."

It was then he noticed that Manda was looking distracted. He was looking through something on his commlink that Alan couldn't see.

"Wait," Alan said, "what do you know that I don't?" He paused a moment as something came to his memory. "Come to think of it, Kaiser himself said I didn't know Tetsuo as well as I thought I did..."

"Alan..." Manda said, sighing as he did so. "I would have shown you this sooner, but it only seems relevant now. I don't know if you'll forgive me for keeping secrets from you; call it a bad habit I picked up from Kiryuu. Check your email," he continued, looking up from his commlink. "I have something that might explain a few things."

Confused, Alan turned around and picked up his commlink from a side-table. He switched it on and logged into his email account. He rarely got emails, but in the inbox he found a message from Manda. Opening the attachment, Alan found a large detailed file, complete with images of Tetsuo's weary-looking human face.

"What is this?" Alan asked, clearly puzzled.

"A copy of Mr. Tetsuo Yagame's medical records," Manda replied. "After we first met, I did some digging around and looked into your friends' backgrounds. It seemed especially prudent after I heard rumours from Japan about our old friends the Crisis Control Intelligence agency..."

"Wait a minute..." Alan interrupted. "Rumours?! You mean you knew that Tetsuo and Joel had escaped?!"

"I didn't know for certain, Alan," Manda replied calmly, "and I had too much on my plate to go and confirm said rumours myself."

"So why didn't you tell me then?!" Alan retorted, his anger rising. "I could have gone and looked into it for you!"

"I had no way of contacting you back then," Manda replied, "and before you ask Kiryuu wouldn't tell me how to find you. I remember him saying that we were to let you get on with your own life. He said that he would respect your wishes, and I stress that they were your wishes, to leave you alone." He folded his arms across his chest and reared himself, so that he was now almost touching the ceiling. "Don't get angry with me because Kiryuu was doing what you wanted for once."

Alan's mouth flapped open and closed like a goldfish, but no sound came out. Then he just let out a frustrated sigh and fell silent. He had been looking for a good way to retort to what Manda was saying, until he realised he could not.

"Alan," Manda continued, lowering himself back down to Alan's height, "I am sorry I didn't tell you before, but by the time we came into contact again the rumours had long been silenced. None of them were substantial to begin with, full of holes and unreliable witnesses. I doubt even you would have been able to place much stock in such rumours.

"Anyway, it seems your friend Tetsuo had some serious anger management issues when he was younger, so much so that he had to attend various seminars and undergo a number of experimental treatments to control his anger. The trouble was that the treatments worked too well; the sheer scale of the repression of that anger caused him to develop a split personality, one which the doctors described as 'vicious, inhibition-less and demonic' when this personality showed itself during treatment. He had to take further treatments, including the use of inhibitors, to keep this other personality at bay, and for a time the treatment seemed to be successful. This personality gave itself a name to distinguish itself from Tetsuo, who he hated with a vengeance. I'm sure you can guess what that name is."

"Kaiser..." Alan said, his eyes growing wide.

"Exactly," Manda said. "Kaiser must have risen again after Tetsuo accidentally ingested the crystals and they bonded with him. From the way you described them, they seem to heighten emotion, especially negative emotion, and affect the perception of sentient beings. I must admit I have not heard of any life-form like this. I know others who may be able to look into it, though they sound very dangerous from what you have told me. They will need to be destroyed if that's the case."

Alan nodded, though now there was a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. If Tetsuo had not been corrupted by the crystals, he didn't doubt that it would be Tetsuo he would have met, and not Kaiser. If that had happened, neither he nor Joel would have had to die, nor would Alan and Manda be having this conversation.

"While you're at it," Alan said, quickly getting to the main reason he had called Manda, "I have a couple of favours I need to ask of you." With that, he picked up the gun and the whip from the coffee table and held them up for Manda to get a better look.

"In case I end up fighting something like Kaiser again," he continued, "I need to be ready. You know a lot about Technomancy; I've seen the sort of toys you use. Would you be able to modify these to allow Technomantic upgrades? I can't help but feel I need all the help I can get."

Manda's orange eyes grew wide and a snarl crawled up his scaly lips.

"No!" he bellowed. "Absolutely not! No matter how much Malcho thinks, humans aren't ready to use Technomancy. I will not upgrade your weapons even for this task. The risks are too great."

"Manda," Alan retorted, doing his best to keep his voice level, "I've only made it this far through getting lucky. I was very lucky to get out of Chicago before that was quarantined, and if it hadn't been for Orga I wouldn't be standing here right now telling you about what happened with Kaiser. I might not be so lucky next time. You and I know full well that there are more dangerous things out there than gangs and the corporations. What about when King Ghidorah returns? I have to be ready in case anything like that happens again, even if it means taking that risk. Right now, these," he continued, gesturing at the weapons on the coffee table, "are just 'bows and arrows against the lightning', so to speak."

"The answer is still no!" Manda bellowed. "I will not modify or build anything with Technomancy. Whatever problems you'll get yourself into, you've only brought them on yourself and Technomancy will not be your get out scot-free card."

Manda saw a look of scorn on Alan's face and he sighed for a moment.

"It's too damned dangerous," the Eastern Dragon said. "And as for King Ghidorah... If he does return, it'll be centuries before we even see any signs of him. Dunkelzahn made sure of that. You'll be long dead and buried when the Hydra King comes back."

"Oh, and what makes you so sure of that?" Alan retorted, trying to keep his voice level but failing to mask the sarcasm. "Is dear granddad Kiryuu going to come along and chop my head off one day? I wouldn't expect anything less."

Alan released a deep sigh, shaking his head. He hadn't expected Manda to be so stubborn, and he was somewhat stung by that comment of bringing these things upon himself. He hadn't asked to be made into a mutant, hadn't asked for his friends to suffer their fate...

Well, if Manda wanted to play hardball...

"Alright, fine," Alan snarled, shaking his head. "Forget I asked. I can't force you into this, after all." He turned and picked up his commlink, making sure Manda could see it.

"Of course you should realise," Alan continued, his tone becoming brighter, "that the minute you walk out my door I'll be booking an appointment with El Malcho. I'm sure he'll be happy to set me up, and I think he'd be interested in hearing how you were unwilling to help a friend in need. Either way, you can't win."

"Malcho?!" Manda exclaimed, snorting loudly. "Then either he'll be dining on mutant soup tonight, or he'll get you killed when his latest Technomantic cock-up goes wrong. Either way, it's your funeral."

"If I didn't think that, I would have gone to him first," Alan replied. "Look," he went on, becoming more business-like, "I can't force you into this, but if you won't do this for me as a favour, maybe we can do a trade. If you do this for me then I'll get my team, we'll head down to Florida for a while and take care of any little pest problems you have free of charge. Sounds to me like you need help from people not hampered by the law. I'm not afraid to do what needs to be done; you're not the only one who picked up Kiryuu's bad habits."

"So I've noticed," Manda replied, shaking his head with narrowed eyes in Alan's direction. "Now you're asking me to take bribes and break protocol."

"It's not a bloody bride," Alan said. "I'm just asking for a fair exchange of services. Tit-for-tat, and all that. Nobody even needs to know you called us in, do they? At least this way, everyone's a winner. So do we have a deal?" He extended his hand, as if offering to shake Manda's.

The dragon snarled. It was clear to him that Alan was too stubborn to admit defeat on the idea. With that said, things were tough down south, making that offer extremely tempting. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, he extended a claw and shook Alan's hand, though his expression made it clear that he wasn't happy.

"This is still a bad idea, I'll have you know," he snarled. "Technomancy is too dangerous. It carries too many risks. I'll try and steer you through the minefield as best I can, but after that you're on your own. Don't come crying to me when it all goes belly-up."

"You don't need to worry about that," Alan replied, shrugging. "I didn't even go crying to my own parents that much as a kid."

"Regardless," Manda continued sternly, "do not expect me to bail you out of whatever problems come your way. I clearly cannot make you take this matter seriously enough."

"Alright, alright," Alan groaned, beginning to get fed up of Manda's lecturing. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Gladly," Manda replied, draining more from his coffee. "While we're making deals, there's another condition I want to attach."

Alan paused, looking rather surprised. "Shoot," he said.

"I want you," the dragon stated, "to allow me to exhume the bodies of Kaiser and Orga. I will take them to Kiryuu for safekeeping. You know better than anyone how he feels about experimentation with G-cells; it's better that they stay safe with him than be left out near a backroad for someone to find them."

Alan sighed. "I guess I couldn't avoid getting him involved forever..." he muttered. He looked up at Manda and nodded. "Alright, you have permission."

Manda nodded. Alan drained the coffee that was left in his cup before he continued.

"There's one other thing," he said. "There was a woman with me when Kaiser and Orga died; she's a very confused psychic called Miki Saegusa. Kaiser did... something... to her that night. Now she can't stop seeing things, and..." He paused for a moment, sighing. "She sees me as Godzilla now whenever she claps eyes on me. I had to tell her about the experiments, after what she saw. Do you think you'd be able to talk to her, help her understand what she's caught up in better? I only know half the story, after all, and all that psychic stuff's really your field."

"I don't know why she sees you as Godzilla," Manda chuckled. "Despite the fact you're starting to look more like him every time I see you. But you're not Godzilla. I will try to tell her, but perhaps showing her would be better. After all, Godzilla isn't really dead."

"Thanks," Alan replied. "Just try to break it to her gently, will you? You nearly gave me a heart attack when you first turned into a dragon right in front of me... That and a broken jaw."

Manda snorted, smirking. "As I recall," he said, "you were more interested in picking a fight with Kiryuu than you were with letting me help you on that occasion. I also distinctly recall you referring to me as an 'overgrown monitor lizard'."

Alan folded his arms, looking sheepish. "Why did the Atlanteans have to give you such a good memory?" he asked, in mock exasperation.

"They never gave me that," Manda snorted. "Great memory comes from being a dragon. But if anything, it's just to piss you humans off." With that, he drained what was left of his coffee, set the mug down on the table and picked up the two weapons.

"Here, use this," Alan said, throwing an old backpack to Manda. The bag was old but durable, and Manda was able to fit the gun and the whip into it easily. He swung the now-full bag over his shoulder as he melted back into his human form. Alan also gave him the address of the Wild at Heart, where Miki was currently staying.

"Very well, Alan," Manda said, business-like. "I'm still not convinced these are good ideas, but I'll do what I can. Technomancy is an exact science, and I have to get it right. I'll give them to you after you've kept your end of the bargain; not before." He turned towards the door. "I'll let myself out. The sooner I start these errands, the sooner they're finished."

"Manda, wait," Alan said, prompting Manda to turn and face him again. There was still one nagging doubt in the back of his mind, a doubt that had been there since Kaiser had implanted it there with his words.

"We..." he said, looking concerned. "We did the right things, didn't we? Back when King Ghidorah came, I mean. There really wasn't anything else we could have possibly done, right?"

Manda turned his head up for a moment, as if he was looking through the ceiling and out into the sky.

"I can only give the same answer now that I gave you last time you asked," he said. "There are things in this universe that no matter how old you are, you can never truly understand them. The only thing I can say is only time will tell."

With that, Manda winked an eye and then proceeded out of the apartment, closing the door behind him. After he had gone, Alan sank down onto the sofa, releasing a heavy sigh. He was glad that Manda had come and now things were being sorted out, but he still felt drained after that night's events. He kept turning it over and over in his mind; the crystals, Kaiser's madness, Orga's devotion and sacrifice... He tried to stop himself dwelling on the matter, but he found that hard to do, given just how close he had been to the two humans those creatures used to be.

He picked up the photograph of the trio on their motorbikes that was on the coffee table, the same one that he had shown Orga that night. He peered at it for a while, seeing their unchanging faces, knowing that the photo's occupants would always be happy, and would live forever without a care in the world. He hung his head, sighing deeply, his eyes closed. He tried to keep that photograph locked in his mind, for it was one of the few things he had to remind him of happier times and didn't wish to lose it.

"See you at the crossroads," he said under his breath.

THE END