Disclaimer: Black Clover is owned by Yūki Tabata, Studio Pierrot, and Shonen Jump.

Saga 45: Enter Sandman


Medical Wing, Magic Knight Headquarters, Clover Kingdom, Afternoon


"... Must be nice getting to sleep in for that long," Finral remarked to himself as he sat next to the comatose Yuno. The [Spatial Magic] user himself was now fully recovered, managed to be rid of his crutches just yesterday, but his legs still felt ever so numb while he was walking. "Just gotta wonder, what are you dreaming in that head of yours?" he mumbled to himself as he looked out towards the exit, "... ugh, sorry Yuno, but turns out even I suck at lightening the mood."

He steadily gets up from the stood next to Yuno's cot and stumbles out towards the exit.

"Gotta go," said Finral as he walked towards the door with minor difficulty, "I gotta go visit Langris before my mission at the borders near Diamond Kingdom, something about seeing weird shit or whatnot..." He sighs to himself as he looked away from Yuno as he left the medical wing.

"... I gotta stop feeling sorry for myself," he muttered to himself as he walked down the sunlit hallway, picking up a faint scent of chamomile as he stumbled by. Finral glanced where the scent came from, only to find no one around him. Hmm, wonder where that came from... he thought as he continued walking, mind now ever slightly more at ease.

Completely out of sight, a certain light-pink peak pokes out behind a flowerpot. Behind it was Dorothy Unsworth, the Captain of the Coral Peacocks, in her rare moments of public lucidity, sneaking around the halls, and slowly inching herself towards the particular boy in a coma.

Upon reaching the medical wing's entrance, she peeks from the door's edge and spots the boy still unconscious for the past week. Curious, she decides to make her way towards the boy-

"Just what are you doing here?" a stern voice remarked, only for Dorothy to cast her pre-set [Geas] to perform a mental suggestion to ignore her, only for her intended target to be solely one-eyed, rendering her countermeasure worthless.

Normally, her [Geas] needs both eyes from both people to make contact in order to work. However, she failed to take into account for having to run into people with eyepatches.

"... Funny, I could ask you the same, foreigner," the Coral Peacock Captain remarked wryly. "This kingdom isn't part of your jurisdiction."

"And judging by the color of your robes, you two aren't even in the same squad," Dragunov replied bluntly, his tall stature now glowering down at her with a cold stare from his sole, uncovered eye. "And for the record, the boy is part of our jurisdiction."

"Pft, like what? As if he's a fugitive from your kingdom-"

Dorothy was then tackled down onto the floor by Kalashnikov, which Dorothy tried to activate her [Geas] towards her ambusher, but just like her Inquisitor compatriot, her had one of her eyes covered with a medical eyepatch, preventing her from being able to be mentally suggested.

"She knows too much," Kalashnikov stated as she edged a scalpel against her neck and stamping down the Captain's grimoire, preventing it from being opened. "We need to kill her-"

"Negative, Niko," protested Dragunov as he placed his palm against his face in annoyance, "you already gave it away with that sentence."

In embarrassment, Kalashnikov removes herself off of Dorothy, places the scalpel away elsewhere, and covers her blushed face with her hands.

"My sincerest apologizes for my subordinate's recklessness," stated Dragunov as he slightly bowed towards the Coral Peacock Captain. "I was only going to question you for a brief moment until she mistook it as a go-ahead towards 'interrogation'."

"Eh, no harm, no foul," replied Dorothy as she dusted her robes, "still though, you guys are such stiffs, you know that? It almost feels like that you guys are trying to murder someone in their sleep."

"For the latter, that is a justifiable fear," remarked Dragunov, "for the former, I do not know what you mean by being 'stiffs', but if you are referring to being personable, our line of work considers that a weakness."

The three stare down at each other for a moment before Dorothy resumes the conversation, "so... I take it that the kid's from the Spade Kingdom?"

"The pendant is proof," Dragunov pointed out as he picked up the deep marine-colored gemstone with a white cross and four four-pointed stars between each arm of the cross. "His family had committed the sin of willingly housing Demon-worshippers into their domain. We initially assumed that the boy perished in the blaze, but to end up here of all places... Sephira's whims are truly beyond comprehension."

"And I'm assuming that he's now been naturalized in the Clover Kingdom's census is what's preventing your orders from going through?" pointed out Dorothy.

"We're in foreign sovereignty," replied Kalashnikov, "as much I'd love to cut the boy's life support off, the last thing Avalon needs atop of Demons is a declaration of war hounding at our doorsteps."

"Understandable," Dorothy remarked as she walked closer towards Yuno before sitting down on the stool next to his cot, "... but still, killing the boy all because of for what his family did that he doesn't know about? Even though it may be protocol for you guys, that's just a dick move."

"Enough of that, what are your intentions with the boy?" asked Dragunov.

She then opens her Grimoire as her magic opened a portal between herself and Yuno.

"... Let's just say that I kinda wish the boy well, and as a decent human being, I wish to aid," the Coral Peacock Captain remarked as she entered into the portal. "Oh, and a little favor, don't tell anyone I was here. The last I need are my own squad giving me hell for skipping paperwork."

Before the two Inquisitors can answer, Dorothy had already disappeared into the closed portal.

"... Old man, is it just me, or are every single Captain in this kingdom's Magic Knights are each their own brand of weird?" asked Kalashnikov. "I mean, one of them got both of us nearly killed because of his quirks..." she shuddered as she thought of the green-robed Captain with the [Severing Magic]'s recklessness putting them in needless danger.

"The privileges of not being beset upon by Demons constantly, Niko," answered Dragunov. "It's only because of our sacrifice is why people are able to live and choose."

"... Right," said Kalashnikov as she nodded in agreement, "... and the boy's family had already made their choice like we did."


Inside Yuno's Head, Dorothy's [Wonderland]


The Coral Peacock's Captain enters into the comatose boy's consciousness with her [Dream Magic: Wonderland]. Around her, she finds herself freely moving about in a patchwork world filled with damaged memories and broken dreams.

"Oh dear..." Dorothy gasped as she saw the damaged mental world inside the Black Bull, "... these kinds of mindscapes are usually reserved for those who went through war."

She then began seeing into the various botches of the boy's memories, but before she can take a closer look, the memory itself lashes out towards her like a rabid animal.

"Whoa!" she cried out as she retreated back, only for something to come out of the boy's memory fragment of their recent battle with the Hellhounds.

Something horrid, something unnatural, something that ever her own [Dream Magic] couldn't even comprehend.

"... No way," she heaved out as a black dog-like specter crawled out of the boy's memory, violently squirming out of its hole that it spawned from just to get a chance to pounce onto her like a starving predator. "... It got to you too!?"

The specter that stood before her was [Curse-Warding Magic], the very same one that was used to claim Acier's life and countless others at the Demon's whim. But what really felt odd was it's presence and form.

... To wit, Megicula's signature felt residual. As if something nastier than Megicula itself had devoured it and made its abominable powers its own.

... Is this an implication that the Hellhounds somehow devoured another Demon and got the leftovers of its powers? she thought as the specter lunged towards her, its shadowy claws grazing the hem of her hat. If that's the case, then I have a lot of work to do!

The mindless specter in the boy's consciousness lashed towards her, raking its claws and teeth across the mental void as Dorothy begun making preparations to defend herself.

"Haven't used this in a while, so good as time as any!" she remarked as her grimoire opened its pages. "A journey into the depths of dreamland can't be treaded through alone! Say hello to one of my imaginary friends, the sentinel of steel from my own soul! [Dream Invocation Magic: Tin Man-Mr. Heartless]!"

Just as the shadowy hound can dig its claws into the Captain's flesh, a stalwart humanoid made of blued-chrome iron resembling a fresh-faced butler with a short ponytail and gleaming red eyes manifests between the beast and herself, it's iron form unfazed before the curse's manifestation.

"It has been approximately 22 years, 7 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 12 hours, 23 minutes, and 12 seconds since you've last called for me," Mr. Heartless's droning and monotone voice remarked as it didn't even flinch under the apparition's weight. "Explain yourself, Dorothy Unsworth, on why you've beckoned me back to this world once more."

"I can't do this alone!" Dorothy remarked as she tried to gel her surroundings with her [Dream Magic], only for it to be ineffective on making their situation any more favorable. "My magic won't allow me my usual creative liberties when I'm someone else's dream, and this whole place is littered with curses!" she pointed out, "please Mr. Heartless! Only you can help me push through!"

The chrome butler's eyes then gleam as it began pushing back the apparition from its stance.

"Acknowledged," Mr. Heartless replied robotically, "beginning analysis of the surrounding area's anomalies and ascertaining threat level of current target."

The specter then begins raining swipes down with its claws upon the tin man as the latter dispassionately observed the specter tying to cut him down, its efforts in vain.

After finishing its analysis, the iron butler's hand then morphs into an axehead. With a swift chop across its torso, the specter is then sent reeling back into the fragment where it was spawned from.

"Target has fled," stated Mr. Heartless as it turned its axehead back into a hand. "Our options seem limited, considering the anomalies present in the boy's curse," pointed out the butler as it looked into the boy's memory fragment, "Megicula's [Characteristic: Linger] doesn't seem to be present. Rather, the assimilated curse itself has taken upon an entirely new [Characteristic]."

"I think so too," Dorothy agreed as she observed the specter slowly reinserting itself back into the boy's memories as the [Messiah]-class Hellhound brutalizing Yuno. "Normally, Megicula's [Curse-Warding Magic] only activates upon certain conditions being met, such as its name being mentioned, or running on a set time limit leading to the target's death..." she remarked as she continued to observe the boy's memory replay ad infinitum, "... but this kind of curse... it's almost like it's semi-sentient, like a wild animal within another animal."

"Are you suggesting a parasitic sort of [Characteristic]?" asked Mr. Heartless.

"No, I think's something worse in context," replied Dorothy as she begin piecing the clues together. "... This kind of [Characteristic]... it's [Symbiosis]."

Through Dorothy's secret study on Demonology ever since Acier's untimely passing, the Captain herself was deep in investigation with how the scant notes available texts on Demons and how their powers work. From what she'd observed from the de-classified footage shown during the gathering, she came up with three kinds of hypothesis from each Demonic Faction.

For the [Anti-Magic] users, they seem to run on the [Characteristic] of [Ignore], which completely disregards the set of rules within any single magical system. Make sense in context, but given the simple nature of [Anti-Magic] itself, the said [Characteristic] might be too broad to make any assumptions, since simply ignoring the rules can either mean following them in a different manner, or devalue said rules to make it utterly worthless.

For the [Death Magic] users, she couldn't come up with anything concrete, but from what she saw of the Diamond Kingdom's observations, she can sort of surmise that it runs on something that has to do with receiving and then rebounding. At the same time, however, the nature of the magic itself seems too aggressive to be on the defensive side, as she observed how she saw the Demon simply waving its hand over the target and making them disintegrate. So when regarding the [Death Magic]'s [Characteristic], it's ambiguous at best, undisernable at worst.

And finally, regarding [Summon Magic], it's too chaotic to to simply have just one [Characteristic]. Sure, having multiple [Characteristics] at once isn't anything unusual in the world of Demonology, but absorbing and reconfiguring other Demons' magics into its own, she can assume [Collect] or [Pilfer], but with the addition of Megicula's [Curse-Warding Magic] being present, it's unlikely for her to pinpoint which direction their [Summon Magic] goes. A literal raffle of different powers be ready to be picked and chosen at any moment.

"Argghhhh... my head is steaming just thinking about it..." Dorothy bemoaned as her head literally began to emit steam through her hat, due to her [Dream Magic] allowing her thoughts to sometimes physically manifest within the world of dreams. "... Come on, Dorothy. Focus!" she remarked to herself as she slapped herself awake by smacking both of her cheeks with her hands, "just find the boy, and get the hell out of here!"

"It seems that you're ready," Mr. Heartless stated, "I shall take the rear."

"Counting on you!" replied Dorothy as she opened her grimoire once more, "now then, in the times of confusion, a friend that will be with you til the end is always the best! Come forth, my innocence and youth personified! [Dream Invocation Magic: Friend Til the End-Toto]!"

From the pages of her grimoire, a small, dark-furred terrier dog leaped out and pounced into the embrace of its companion, yipping happily and giddily upon seeing Dorothy.

"Aww... I missed you too..." she cooed as she stroked the dog's head, "... growing up is weird, and hard."

Toto simply yipped back in response, content that it's just reunited with its friend even after all these years.

"Still though..." Dorothy remarked as Toto squirmed in her arms, "... thanks for helping me out after all this time-"

"We're wasting time," Mr. Heartless pointed out, "may I suggest doing what the dog's supposed to do?"

"Oh right," she remarked to herself as she faced Toto. "Listen Toto, I need your help finding the dream's owner. This whole place is riddled with nasty curses that act more like wild animals on prowl then death traps," she explained, "can you sniff out a person named Yuno in here?"

Toto barks affirmatively.

"Counting on you!" said Dorothy as she released the terrier from her embrace and the dog began sniffing around the mindscape, discerning which memory fragment is safe to approach and which is a potential curse.

... For the latter, it was all of the recent memories of the Hellhounds' invasion. Toto whimpers ashamedly as it failed to find a safe way into the boy's memories.

"Don't worry, Toto, you did a great job," reassured Dorothy as she stroked the dog's head. "Now that we know for sure that the boy's consciousness isn't going to lead us anywhere..."

"We seek out the host's subconsciousness," pointed out Mr. Heartless, "... and the only one capable is him. The jumpy one."

"Oh come now, have some faith in him!" remarked Dorothy as Toto climbed its canine body atop her hat's brim, "sure he's a little jumpy, but he pulls through whenever we need him the most!" Her grimoire then opens its pages and began another incantation, "another friend who heeds caution in a world of danger, a being who sought for self-betterment, and through overcoming its limits, it shall reach its full potential! Come forth! My personification of my past doubts and fears that shall break through the dark! [Dream Invocation Magic: Cowardly Lions-Joe and the Lion]!"

From the pages of her grimoire, a young boy in princely-looking garbs riding atop of a large, thick-maned lion with a frilled collar behind its tuft of magnificent fur manifested before the tin butler and the unassuming dog. Upon realizing that the rider and mount duo were summoned into a fractured mindscape, the two literally shrink and hide behind Dorothy quickly as possible.

"Wha-wha-what is it?" Joe (the Prince) asked as his shrunken lion mewed like a kitten as it trembled while grasping around Dorothy's cloak. "D-d-do you... need my help?"

"Can you take us to this place's subconsciousness?" asked Dorothy, "maybe we'd have a better chance of finding the owner of this mindscape somewhere within deeper?"

"Oooh... I dunno that might be such a good idea..." replied Joe as his grip trembled in his lion's mane, "... usually, a person's subconsciousness tends to be not so different from their consciousness... and judging from how this place looks-eep!" The little prince squeaked out upon seeing one of the memories of Yuno being brutalized by the Hellhound, recoiling further back into Dorothy's cape as its sole sanctuary within this place of unpleasant darkness, "... maybe we really shouldn't press any further. Seems like a bad idea."

"... You're right, it is," admitted Dorothy, but her face still showing courageousness with her slight smile. "But you know I ain't the kind of gal who would leave someone for dead now, would I?" she remarked, still smiling. "A certain person always remarked, 'time to surpass your limits'! You're strong, and if you're scared, don't worry! I got your back, kay?"

"... Yeah," Joe sheepishly replied with a nod, followed up by a gulp, "even I'm getting tired of being scared as much as I'm scared of this place. ... Just gotta find a way in deeper, huh? Shouldn't be too hard..."

The little boy and his lion mount then begin surveying the darkness around them, carefully looking around the surrounding void for a way in, checking each anomaly more than twice, both the rider and mount's sense gradually becoming sharper and sharper with each passing effort made.

"... I think I see something extra-weird!" called out Joe as the rest of the group went towards where the boy and the lion were standing at. Upon reaching the anomaly, the four look down upon a very wide and very deep-looking hole, leading towards god-knows-where.

"... Normally, to discern such thing in the vantablack around us would be attempting to find a needle in a haystack, yet somehow, he'd pulled through," remarked Mr. Heartless.

"See? Told ya he can pull through when we needed it the most!" boasted Dorothy as she stroked Joe and his lion's heads, nonverbally praising their efforts, calming the two down slightly. "Good job, you sports! Proud of ya!"

"... Aw... it was nothing," meekly replied the princely boy as he and his lion blushed, "all we did was just slowly streak our arms and legs where we stood on... in all honesty, I thought I was gonna fall to my death for a second there... never doing that again..."

"Of course, you and your mount would be insufficient in vertical maneuvering," pointed out Mr. Heartless, still stone-faced as usual. "There lies another who's more suited for the task, in spite of his... lack of forethought."

"We worked with caution, now let's try reckless abandon!" chirped out Dorothy as her grimoire opened once more. "when all else fails, going for broke is the best option! A line between courage and reckless will be defied as all journey towards enlightenment begins with ignorance! Come forth, my embodiment of languor and wonder! [Dream Invocation Magic: Strawman-Dirty Hank]!"

A scarecrow with a straw hat appears from her pages, skipping about the vantablack mental void as if nothing's to be of concern, even going into one of the memory fragments, only to be swallowed up whole, followed up by sounds of chewing, and then begin spat back out in a gooey pile of broken straw.

However, the scarecrow gets back up in an instant, looking no worse for wear prior.

"At least he's hard to put down," remarked Mr. Heartless as the others looked at the carefree scarecrow prancing about, " or he's simply too simple for notions like pain."

"Hmm?" the scarecrow remarked as he looked towards the others looking at his antics, "oh! Didn't see you lot here? Been wondering, who turned off the lights? I recall our dreams being more colorful than this, and oh?" the scarecrow then hopped towards the Captain with a bewildered expression, "Dorothy dear? Is that you?" asked the scarecrow. "You look... bigger."

"That's what people do, Hank," replied Dorothy, "we grow up."

"Well, you may be a bit bigger than I knew," remarked Hank as he put his bristly hands on the Captain, "but rest assured, you'll always be that little girl I met by the side of the road hanging by the pole!"

"Aww, thanks!" she replied as she hugged the scarecrow. "... Now, as you can see, we're in someone else's dreams, but some weird things have been going about, so we can use your help-"

"Oh, what's that over there?" asked Hank as he looked towards the hole behind Joe and his lion. The scarecrow then sprints towards the hole as Joe and his lion sprang out of the way, "I call fiiiiiiiirrrrrrssssstttt..." his voice echoed from the pit as he descended further and further down.

"... Aw shoot, we lost him," winced Joe as he curled up into a ball.

"Not my a longshot!" retorted Dorothy as she held up a strand of straw leading down where Hank jumped down from and deep into the hole, "this is what I meant by using reckless abandon after caution!"

"Hank's whole existence was meant to be used as the one who falls in our place," pointed out Mr. Heartless, "well suited for so, might I add."

"Still though..." Joe nervously remarked as he looked down where Joe fell into, "... is he gonna be okay down here? I mean, it's a pretty deep drop down-"

"I'm okay!" Hank's voice echoed back from the bottom, "it's prettier down here then up there! You should all try it!"

"Well, you heard him!" remarked Dorothy as she took Toto, Joe, and his Lion, Bowie around her arms as she handed the thread to Mr. Heartless. "Remember, don't let go!" she told the tin man butler.

"I will only let go upon confirming your collective deaths," replied Mr. Heartless.

"Wait, what are we doing?" whimpered Joe as he begun to realize what was about to happen, "don't tell me!"

"Going down!" Dorothy replied gleefully as she then jumped into the pit, catching the string of straw from Hank connected to Mr. Heartless's grip with the heels of her boots, grinding down the spiral formed by the straw, creating a railing that winded down towards the bottom, with Dorothy grinding on said railing.

... All the while, Joe himself was screaming for his dear life, surely to be traumatized soon afterwards. Meanwhile, Dorothy was having the time of her life, whooping and cheering as she ground her heels across the thread, showing a more childish and immature thrill-seeker side that she rarely showed in public.

After an unspecified amount of time had passed, Dorothy and the others wrapped around her arms found themselves landing atop a large pile of hay and straw.

"... Oh-oh my god, don't scare me like that ever again!" winced Joe as he trembled in the Captain's arms.

"Hey, we're still alive, right?" Dorothy pointed out as Toto affirmatively barked in response. As her footing landed outside of the haystack and on solid ground, right at the exact same moment when her foot tapped the ground, the vantablack surrounding her instantly transformed into a serene countryside landscape, the sudden flare of color causing her to cover her eyes for a brief moment as her vision slowly readjusted back to its default state. "... Well, this explains a few things," remarked the Coral Peacock Captain as she looked around her new surroundings.

As she released Joe, Bowie, and Toto from her grasp, Dorothy found Hank waving at her from a distance.

"Oiii!" Hank hollered out as Mr. Heartless popped into existence behind Dorothy, causing Bowie and Toto to spring up into the air in surprise, "hey guys! I'm right here!"

"That much is obvious," deadpanned Mr. Heartless as he walked ahead of Dorothy, "... as utterly blatant how fake this world is."

"Y-y-y-yeah..." shuddered Joe as he slowly retreated back into Dorothy's cloak, "... this place... is giving me the creeps..."

Toto whimpers in agreement, noticing the sereneness of this world contrasting with the sheer wrongness felt by the spiritual canine.

"Well, you know what they say," remarked Dorothy as she begun walking, "'out of the frying pan, into the fire'."

"Well, the only thing burnin' here is daylight, so come on, let's bounce!" remarked Hank as the strawman took lead of the group, followed behind by the rest of the group.

As they continued to walk down the country, they noticed their surroundings being relatively normal for the most part, with farmhands working the fields with their magic, children either aiding their elders in labor or playing about, carriages carrying barrels pulled by oxen rolled by them on the dirt roads, and the buildings for the most part were that of typical Forbidden Realm fare of wooden huts and the occasional brick.

To anyone, this place could've been mistaken for any countryside boondocks, however, Dorothy felt that something was missing. Something, that is to say, very big, was missing.

She recognizes this place, as if she'd visited it earlier on in her life, and that how it cemented as something significant to her being, which was all the more likely on how this place was unsettling her.

"... This place," she remarked as she looked towards the forest beyond the countryside, looking normal to any outsider, but empty, "... is Hage Village."

Something bumps into her from behind, causing her to tumble forth while the other fell back.

"Oh... I'm sorry..." a meek boy's voice apologized to Dorothy, "... I kinda fell behind while running after someone..."

"No no, it's alright..." she replied, "no harm, no... foul..." her voice petered out upon spotting who exactly she was talking to.

This boy, in a tender age in his youth, looked like Yuno.

... Welp, I found him, Dorothy thought as her mind drew itself to a semi-blank upon seeing the child, now things got super-awkward.

"... Can I go now?" the boy who looked like Yuno spoke out meekly.

"... Yeah yeah yeah, sure, go ahead, run along," she remarked right before the boy took off where a ash-white-haired boy of the same age was waving at him. Wow, so that's what the four-leaf prodigy was like back when he was a kid? she thought as she saw the young Yuno run towards the ashen-haired kid, whose face was all blurred out for some reason, Never took him for the meek type.

She then began instinctively following the two kids around the village, just to get a better grasp of her new surroundings and possibly learn more about the boy.

"... Well gee, if she really wanted to learn about that boy, why not ask him?" Hank pointed out as Dorothy observed the boys chopping firewood from afar next to a small church building.

"A mere boy knows naught, regardless of who he once was," replied Mr. Heartless as Dorothy continued observing the two boys by the church, the ashen-haired one with the blurred face trying to cast magic to no avail. "Playing stranger for now is the more tactful option."

"Y-yeah," Joe agreed as Dorothy tried to gag her chuckling when witnessing the ashen-haired boy get bludgeoned by a nun's [Water Magic] forming into a giant fist after he'd tried to pounce on her affectionately, "... tactful is good."

And, so, the observation at the church building continued all the way up to the night sky had settled in. Out from the church's door came out the little Yuno, bucket in hand, presumably for collecting water at a nearby river.

"... Now's our chance," Dorothy remarked as she kept an eye on the boy's trail, "let's corner him and get him out of this creepy place."

Without protest, the group began following the little Yuno towards the outskirts, eventually stopping when the latter scoops a bucket of water from the flowing river. At that moment, Dorothy steps out of her hiding spot, and confronts the boy.

"Hey kiddo!" greeted Dorothy, the boy looking back at her confoundedly. "How ya doin'?"

"Umm... are you that lady that I ran into this afternoon?" replied the little Yuno.

"I have a name, you know!" she replied back with her cheeks slightly puffed up. "Name's Dorothy Unsworth! And as you can see, I'm a bonafide witch! Or rather, a blood descendent of one. From my mum's side."

"... We really don't get many visitors out here that often," the little Yuno replied, shifting in his heels. "Is there something you're looking for around here?" he asked, "all we got are tatoes, and I doubt that you'd come here just for the taste."

"... Well, there's one thing," Dorothy coyly remarked as she placed her index finger on the side of her chin. "Something big, something horned, three-eyed, and roughly size of a small mountain-"

The boy suddenly then drops his bucket as he clutched his head in pain and discomfort.

"... Leave," said the little Yuno with a strained voice, "... please leave. There's nothing for you to see here-"

"YUNO!" another boy's voice cried out from a distance as it came running towards him, revealed to be the boy with the blurred out face. "Where were you?" the blurred boy asked the little Yuno, "come on, you're making the others back at the church worried!"

"... R-right," Yuno grunted out as he refilled the bucket, "... I'll catch up."

But before the boy can leave the riverbed, Dorothy then asks Yuno the following question:

"Are you sure you're okay with this?"

Little Yuno stops in his tracks, dropping the bucket once again.

"... So what," the little Yuno remarked in a strained voice, his eyes beginning to tear up. "So what if I'm okay with this or not!?"

The little Yuno then turns towards Dorothy with a petulant expression.

"SO WHAT IF I LIKE IT THIS WAY!?" said the little Yuno, "I WAS BETTER OFF NOT LEAVING HERE AND LETTING MY FAMILY SUFFER ALONE! AT LEAST WHEN HE'S HERE, I CAN BE CERTAIN THAT I'M MORE CONTENT THIS WAY! I NEVER ASKED TO BE A FOUR-LEAF OR FOR HIM TO DIE! IF I COULD TRADE IN MY POWERS FOR ANYTHING, I WOULD WANT MY NORMAL LIFE WITH MY FAMILY BACK AT HAGE WHERE NO ONE HAD TO DIE!"

"Really now," deadpanned Dorothy, dropping all pretense of her jovial front prior, "then what's his name that you keep referring to?"

"His name is Asta-AGHHAHHHHH!" Yuno screamed out as he violently grasped his head while suffering a very tumultuous mental episode.

"... I thought so," pointed out Dorothy, "... whoever you lost, he was so treasured, so valued, so important, that the pain of loss was so great, that it caused you to block out his name just avoid it."

"... I don't care," Yuno sobbed out, now on his knees and elbows, "... I just want him back the way he was."

"Then why did you go forward?" Dorothy asked.

Suddenly, Yuno's sobbing ceased as he struck a moment of his own clarity.

"... So that the others won't suffer the same fate," answered Yuno, his eyes now completely open to the truth.

Dorothy then hugs Yuno from behind.

"It's not your fault," she remarked gently, "nor was it a mistake to regret your choices."

Yuno then begins sobbing once again.

"... Then what do I do?" he asked as tears flowed from his eyes. "Do I let his death hold me back or just forget it and move on?"

"Who says those were the only choices?" pointed out Dorothy, "you can cope. It'll take time, but... that's what growing up is all about."

From the bushes, Mr. Heartless, Joe, Bowie, Hank, and Toto emerged.

"Mr. Heartless, that metal butler over there?" Dorothy pointed at the tin man, "he was my old butler back when I was a kid. He was like another father for me with my own. He was a little stone-faced at times, but deep down, he always cared for me at my times of need, so when he died of a heart attack... it felt like my own heart got ripped out and I was crying in my bed and my dad's shoulders for days on end."

Joe and Bowie then approached Dorothy closer as Mr. Heartless placed his hand over where his heart should be at.

"And Joe over there?" she pointed out, "he was my childhood crush, but he would always get scared of every little thing, from little caterpillars to lightning storms, always came crying to me for help. But then one day, a wild lion got out of the cage from a traveling performer during my 8th birthday... and he died protecting me from it, and the adults killed the lion just as the lion killed Joe back then... yeah, I don't celebrate birthdays anymore. I'm perfectly okay with a simple slice of strawberry cream cake and black tea."

Hank then walked up towards Dorothy as Joe embraced Bowie the lion with a degree of assurance on his face.

"As for Hank..." Dorothy continued, "... he was the landkeeper back at my dorms when I first joined the Magic Knights around your age. He's a little dim, but he's always fun to be around with his dumb jokes and carefree attitude. But during one investigation mission, we were tracking down a secret Diamond Kingdom cell within Clover Kingdom, and we were so stressed out from the mission, that I just told him off really harshly when one of his jokes went too far for my tastes. ... But it turned out that his jokes and puns actually gave us hints to where the secret cell was hiding in, and thanks to him, we managed to complete our mission. So after I finished, I went to thank Hank... but he hung himself when I found him in his shed, and around him were diaries of how he was suffering from chronic depression after the Adlai family he knew and loved were slain before him. The jokes were there for him to cope with the loss... and I felt like shit after reading through it."

Toto then cuddles up to Dorothy's legs as Hank took off his straw hat, revealing a purple iris from underneath.

"And Toto right here?" Dorothy remarked, her smile growing more and more saddened, slight droplets forming in the corners of her eyes, "... she and I been through all that together, and she always pulled me back from the brink. And just as she ran ahead, a carriage ran over her, snapping her small body in two right before me."

The droplets then began to flow down across her cheeks into a stream.

"... You're not the only one who lost something, Yuno," Dorothy emphasized, "we want to change the world for the better for their sake. It's okay to look back, as long as it helps you move forward. The reason why I sleepwalk at least 14 hours a day? I'm coping with my loss of my loved ones and let them push me forward."

The little Yuno then begins to remember why he fought on, in spite of the mounting odds.

The Demons took Asta from him, and if they're not stopped, they'll start taking everyone else away as their playthings.

... If he left them as he sinked deeper into his blissful ignorance, it'd be no different from the Demons taking them away. Running away would be the same as abandoning them to their fate.

"... Yuno, are you sure about this?" the boy with the blurred face asked, "don't you want to live out the rest of your days with me and the others?"

"... Shut up," Yuno remarked as he released himself from Dorothy's grasp, "... the real Asta wouldn't say such thing. He'd yell at me for giving up on my dreams too soon, and drag me my the heels until I get back up without turning back. You on the other hand, just want me to stay here, drag me back down and let Asta's memories be my source of suffering... when I should instead take it as my motivation to keep myself alive."

The little Yuno then slaps the blurred-faced boy across its haze.

"So do me a favor," he declared, "AND QUIT PRETENDING TO ACT LIKE THE ASTA I KNOW, YOU FAKER!"

The blurred-faced boy lets out a disappointed sigh as he rubbed his slapped face.

"... And this is what I get for playing nice."

The blurred boy then throws a straight punch into Yuno's gut, causing his mouth to cascade fluid from his gaping mouth as he was sent flying off the ground and into the river's shallows.

"Yuno!" Dorothy cried out as she ran towards the shallow where he landed. In response, Toto, Hank, Joe, Bowie, and Mr. Heartless stood in the way of the blurry boy, but all of them were simply tossed aside like rag dolls.

"You know, I was more than content letting you rot in your ignorance as long as you just stayed put, but then you had be asshole about it," the blurred boy remarked as it began cracking its knuckles as he approached the two, it's black haze around it growing thicker by each second passed. "You wanna play dirty, Yuno?"

The countryside around them became completely obscured in the black haze emitted from the blurred-face boy.

"Then let's play dirty."

As soon as the black haze dissipated, the countryside that they once were changed into an actual hellscape baked in towering flames, the navy-blue night skies turned rusted reddish-brown, the stars above clouded by the smog and smoke, and the moon above now gleaming bright crimson red. The surrounding village was now razed to the ground as smoldering rubble and tinder, its inhabitants all skewered on jagged pike, the tips coming out of their gaping mouths, and the only thing at stood in this scene out of an apocalypse was Hage's giant Demon Skull, it's three empty hollows unflinchingly staring down at the scene of destruction.

The blurred boy's face then was no longer obscured, revealing a demonic face of eyes like lit coal pits, and a sneer lined with blade-like teeth. He then began to float off the ground, slowly making its way towards the Demon skull, its body transforming into a black sludge that covered the whole visage of the fallen evil of a distant past.

Upon the skull being completely doused and painted over in the black substance, its three eye hollows began to slowly light up like the blood moon above. The ground then begins to quake uncontrollably, as Yuno and Dorothy both saw the skull itself rising up towards the sky, below its neck base, a gigantic skeletal body that eclipsed over the ruin around them.

They were but mere ants compared to it. And with that knowledge, the skeletal Demon raised its bony foot before it descended upon them.

"RUN!"

Dorothy then grabs Yuno under her arm and leaps out of the foot's way, the impact causing a massive tremor that sent her and the surrounding area flying, completely uprooting an entire forest in the process.

"Don't worry," the giant skeletal Demon taunted in the booming version of the blur-faced boy's voice, "I'll try to make this as painful as I can."

It's four skeletal arms then began gathering a mass of black miasma, molding and shaping it into a mock copy of a grimoire, toxic ink-like sludge dripping from its "pages" as it flipped one leaf over after another.

"Let's start with this one," declared the giant skeletal Demon, "[Nightmare Invocation Magic: Sword of Strife]."

From one of its skeletal hands, a sword created from reddish-black flames formed from it, grasping onto its hilt and plants it into the ground.

"Oh shit, what now!?" Dorothy remarked as the ground around her began to heat up, slowly melting into lava.

"The first game is called, 'The Floor is Lava'," the black skeletal Demon jeered. "That's all there's to the game's rules!"

"GEEZ, THANKS A LOT!" screeched out Dorothy as she climbed up to the tallest tree she can find, with Yuno clinging onto her back.

"H-Hey!" Yuno cried out, "I remember my body being bigger than this, so why can't I turn back!?"

"... Umm, you do realize that your body outside is heavily injured and comatose, right?" pointed Dorothy as she climbed up higher with her [Mana Skin] active. "I don't think turning back to your current state is ill-advised as of now. Your mind knows that you need to move, so your current one might be the next best thing."

But before Yuno can further protest, the tree that they were on began to creak and tilt over, the roots below being structurally compromised.

"Shit, MOVE!" Dorothy cried out as she grabbed Yuno from her back and tossed him to another tree, her following suit right behind him as the tree that they were on collapsed into charcoal. "Don't stop moving! Keep going!"

The two then continued to jump from tree to tree as the skeletal Demon simply watched.

"Eh, I guess that's enough of turning up the heat," remarked the skeletal Demon, "let's raise the stakes a little bit more."

In another of its hands, a greenish-black miasma formed itself into a pair of scales.

"[Nightmare Invocation Magic: Decree of Death]."

Above both Yuno's and Dorothy's heads, the number 12 appeared. On the scale's balances appeared a pair of glowing balls of light, one green and one pink, and on the other, an hourglass with grains of sand filling the bottom appeared, slowly weighing down as the balls of light slowly rose up.

Then upon the glass filling up to a certain amount, the number 12 above both Yuno's and Dorothy's heads turned into 11.

"In 12 minutes, your souls will be trapped in my special Hell forever, and this boy's body will be mine!" declared the skeletal Demon, "You want break the curse? Then come at me! It's more fun for me to see you as victims than hapless maggots!"

"Guess we have no choice then..." Dorothy grimaced as she caught Yuno's hand as he jumped off another tree collapsing into the inferno below. "Yuno! Might be a tall order, but are you able to fight?"

The boy simply nods firmly, "born ready," he replied.

"Then fight like hell!" Dorothy remarked as she summoned a squat-looking creature of purple hide, long eyelashes, and short trunk nose and hopped onto its back, with Yuno following shortly as the very last tree in this nightmare was devoured into the flames below. "Hold on!" Dorothy remarked as her eyes locked onto the skeletal Demon's three glowing hollows as the number above her head turned into 10.

"Good," the skeletal Demon giant taunted, "you're right where I can see you."

In another of its free hands, it then pulls out a chalk-white and black miasma from its mucky grimoire pages, transforming it into a giant crossbow.

"[Nightmare Invocation Magic: Clout of Conquest]," the skeletal Demon declared as it aimed the bow towards the two flying on the floating creature formed from Dorothy's [Dream Magic].

The crossbow fires its bolt towards the two, but Yuno steps and and manifests his grimoire back into his mind, and begins charging up a spell to counteract the projectile.

"[Wind Magic: Towering Tornado]!" chanted Yuno as a funnel cloud of gathering wind rose up before him, picking up the hot ash below to make his magic increase in density, enough to block the bolt from staking them.

"Not bad kiddo," complemented Dorothy as she readied her own spell, "can't afford to dawdle, can I!? [Dream Creation Magic: Ideal Alive]!"

Her magic then begins to shift the surrounding environments to a more hospitable state, preventing the lava from turning the rest of the ground into lava, and keeping the amalgam curse's influence over Yuno's brain at bay.

"I'll handle damage control, so that at least you have a working brain after all this!" remarked Dorothy as she strained slightly under the push against the curse's [Nightmare Magic]. "Hate to say this, but can you fight that creep over there!?"

Yuno smiled with his renewed confidence.

"This is my mind, of course this is my responsibility," he replied.

"Alright then, here," Dorothy stated as she transferred some of her own mana into Yuno for a boost in power as the number above their heads counted down to 9. "You got this!"

"Yes ma'am!" he replied as he summoned his [White Wind Hawk] and flew on its back, approaching the giant Demon skeleton that tried to guilt-trip him from closing himself off from reality.

"Why struggle?" the curse remarked as Yuno approached onto it, "you know that no matter how much you train your body and magic, the Demons will break you repeatedly. Just accept my ignorance and be happy with the ideal that I provided for you, so that at least that way, I can ensure you a peaceful death."

"SCREW PEACEFUL DEATH!" Yuno retorted back, his rage hitting critical mass, "I CHOOSE A PAINFUL LIFE OVER YOUR SWEET LIES! I DON'T CARE HOW MANY TIMES YOU BASTARDS BREAK ME! I'LL COME BACK AND ASK FOR SECOND HELPINGS WITH A SMILE ON MY FACE!"

"'Because that's what Asta would've done'," the curse pointed out as it pulled its [Sword of Strife] from the earth that it was staked into, "... is that what you're thinking?"

"I KNOW I'M NOT ASTA!" Yuno barked back as the number over his head turned into 8, "BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I CAN'T LIVE BY HIS EXAMPLE, SO SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH AND QUIT PRETENDING TO ACT LIKE YOU KNOW ASTA, BECAUSE I SURE AS HELL DON'T KNOW WHAT HE REALLY IS LIKE!"

The blazing sword arcs towards Yuno, the eagle flying out of the way of the swing. As the blade crashed back down into the earth, it raises its [Clout of Conquest] towards the boy's flight path, and fires the bolt towards him.

Yuno jumps off of his eagle, dismisses it, and against all logic, runs across the flying bolt, reinforcing his legs with his [Wind Magic], just as how Captain Dorothy covered her whole body with magic to enhance her physical performance prior reaching to this point. As he ran, he than remembered how Luck back at the Dungeon traversed the area, arms stationary to the back, upper body leaned forward, and legs cycling rapidly across the surface tread upon.

"I CAN'T FULLY KNOW ASTA BECAUSE I CAN'T LIVE HIS LIFE!" Yuno continued on as he sped across the bolt, outspeeding the bolt's projectile travel time and being able to reach the other end to spring off of it, his [White Wind Hawk] returning back onto him, now acting as his pair of wings that carried him closer towards the curse pretending to be Asta. "I CAN'T FULLY LIVE ASTA'S LIFE BECUASE I HAVE MY OWN TO LIVE!"

"Because that's what Asta would've wanted!?" mocked the curse as it manifested a pure-black scythe in its last remaining free hand.

"IT'S BECAUSE THAT WHAT EVERYONE WANTS WITH EACH OF THEIR OWN LIVES!" Yuno replied back as a sword of wind formed in his hands as it sped towards the curse, "SO DO OF ME A FUCKING FAVOR AND GET OUT OF MY HEAD, YOU IMPOSTER!"

The curse raised its sickle towards the smoldering heavens lit by a blood moon as Yuno came flying towards the curse like a meteorite.

"[Nightmare Invocation Magic: Feast of Famine]!" the curse roared out, losing the last bits of his composure as it swung its sickle down towards the boy.

"[Wind Spirit Magic]!" Yuno declared as he raised his sword above his head, the number counting down 7, "[Spirit of Zephyr-Rexcalibur]!"

Sick and sword clash, sparks dance about upon collision, and both sides push unto each other, neither side yielding an inch.

"DAMN YOU-just kidding!" the curse baited-and-switched its comments, "you forgot that I have three additional arms!"

Locked in his clash against the [Feast of Famine], Yuno saw the [Sword of Strife]'s tip closing in towards him.

"GAME OVER!" the curse gleefully declared, "VICTORY IS MINE-"

"Not by a longshot."

Then the blazing blade was stopped in its tracks by none other than Mr. Heartless, its metallic body blocking the sword's flames from reaching Yuno.

"No battle ever guarantees victory from the moment it begins," Mr. Heartless pointed out as its chrome body slowly began to char and blacken from the reddish-black flames. "You've also forgotten something important, Demon. You forgot about me."

"SO WHAT!?" the curse spat back as it pressed the tip further in towards Mr. Heartless while pointing its crossbow towards the butler for a double tap, "YOU'RE ALL WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR! MORE VICTIMS! YOU BEING THE VERY FIRST!"

"HE'S NOT ALONE!" a youthful voice cried out, revealed to be Joe riding atop of Bowie, both the lion and the princely boy looking less cowardly, tackling the crossbow out of its initial aim, the bolt instead staking the skeletal Demon's foot into the earth. "BEACUSE WE'RE HERE! AND WE'RE DONE FEARING YOU!"

Bowie lets out a majestic roar of affirmation.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MANY OF YOU ARE THERE BEFORE ME!" the curse barked out as it pressed its other free foot down against the [Feast of Famine]'s shaft, causing Yuno to be pressed further down from the added weight, "I'M YOUR OMEGA! YOUR COLLECTIVE ENDS THAT WILL BE FOLLOWED UPON UNENDING AGONY AFTER UNENDING AGONY! FOR THAT IS MY DECREE AS YOUR SUPERIOR!"

"Gee, I dunno if that's supposed to be a joke or not," a simple voice remarked atop from the Demon's skull, revealed to be Hank. "Sounds pretty dumb either way."

The strawman's body than unravels itself into numerous strands of twine, constricting both the scythe's shaft and the foot pressed against it, causing the curse to tumble from a sudden imbalance, allowing Yuno to break free from the blade lock.

"GET EM, YUNO!" Dorothy's voice cried out in a strained tone, keeping the [Nightmare Magic]'s influence at bay with her own [Dream Magic], the number over her head now going from 6 to 5, "BREAK THE SCALE! THAT'S OUR TICKET OUT!"

Yuno then charges towards the scale on the Demon skeleton's upper left hand as he roared with all of his strength.

"NO! STAY BACK!" the curse begged pitifully, "THINK ABOUT THIS! THIS THE ONLY WAY TO ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS!"

"THEN WHAT'S MY DREAM!?" Yuno spat back as he charged relentlessly, "WHAT IS MY DREAM, IF YOU CLAIM TO KNOW ME!?"

"TO BE WITH ASTA-"

"YOU'RE WRONG!"

[Decree of Death] was then sliced in two in the skeleton's grasp, the number above both Yuno's and Dorothy's heads, now at a 4, completely disappearing along with the curse.

"... I want to be the Wizard King, dumbass," Yuno deadpanned as he whipped aside his blade of wind. "... Even after all that, you can't even get that shit right about me."

Yuno's mind then begins to clear of all malignant presences, both the fake Hage and the inferno disappearing around them into a clear blue sky.

"... Well, you did it," remarked Dorothy as she approached the winged Yuno, his [Rexcalibur] disappearing from his hands as he plopped down on Dorothy's floating mount. "How does it feel to wake up from a nightmare after a false dream?"

"... Peachy," smirked Yuno, with Dorothy smiling back in respose.

"So..." asked Dorothy as she continued to look down on Yuno, now his head lying on her lap, "... think you can make your dreams come dreams come true?"

Yuno chuckles for a bit before answering, "I don't need to."

In front of him, two faint figures, one tall and princely with a smooth wing and a half-crown made of green wind, the other, short and muscular with a black greatsword and a single furled wing of black stood before him, both of them giving Yuno a thumbs-up before flying away towards the sun above.

"... Because I already see myself there."

Dorothy smiles again from Yuno's confident response, knowing that the Sandmen, creatures of good dreams have blessed the boy after overcoming his inner turmoil. There may be more turmoil up ahead, but for now, a well-earned rest was deserved.

"So, you're ready for the real world, and get your feet back up?" Dorothy asked.

"Peh, are you kidding?" deadpanned Yuno, "my bones need to heal up first after all that."

Dorothy smiles again.

"Then I'll see you back in here again," said Dorothy as she flew towards the sun in the blue sky, leaving Yuno behind to fly freely in his now-cleared subconsciousness, "Yami said I can help you train, so look forward to it the next night we meet!"

The little Yuno then gives her a thumbs-up as she returned back to reality, leaving Yuno to fly in his inner sky freely.


Medical Wing, Magic Knight Headquarters, Clover Kingdom, Night


"I'm back!" Dorothy remarked as she returned to the waking world, "how's everyone... doing..."

Upon exiting from her portal from her [Wonderland], she found herself stared down before Kirsch and Jaqueline leading a group of upset and sleep-deprieved Coral Peacock Magic Knights, the two Inquisitors still watching over Yuno like a pair of hawks, completely ignoring the daggers being stared at her.

Dorothy then immediately falls asleep right where she stood.

"YOU'RE NOT SLEEPING JUST TO AVOID PAPERWORK, YOU DAMN NARCOLEPTIC!" the Coral Peacocks present all yelled in unison as the grabbled the Captain by her cloak's collar with the two Inquisitors nonchalantly ducking under the bramble of hands clutching onto the now-awakened and panicking Captain of the Coral Peacocks.

The rest of the Coral Peacocks then dragged her out of the Medical Wing and back to their Headquarters, waiting for her being a mountain of unfinished paperwork regarding Nean's invasion, with Dorothy kicking and screaming along the way.

"... To be fair, we didn't even rat her out," Kalashnikov pointed out as she combed her ruffled hair with her fingers, "they just happened to be here when they were looking for her all over Quatre."

"I'd have to say though, their 'coffee' is quite innovative," remarked Dragunov as he drank the brown-black liquid from his cup, "combines both a thermos and methamphetamine's ability to keep one's self awake. If we can get this circulating throughout our Order of the Spade Cross, imagine how self-sustaining our fellow battle brothers and sister can be during long pursuits."

"Old man, that's your 80th cup of that 'coffee'," remarked the female Inquisitor as she got up from her seat. "Are you sure that's not actual methamphetamine melted into liquid form?" pointed out Kalashnikov as she poured herself her own cup of coffee with her shaking hands, "... I think you might be getting addicted to this 'coffee'."

"Says the lass whose hands are trembling," deadpanned Dragunov, whose hands were trembling less than his subordinate Inquisitor.

"Bite me, old man."

The boy on the cot before them then begins to grumble, indicating that Yuno himself was about to awaken, catching the two Inquisitors' attentions.

Yuno slowly opens his eye back into the waking world, registering his current surroundings.

One, it was nighttime.

Two, his body was on a soft cot.

Three, his arms were being pierced by some needles connecting elsewhere.

Four, there were two twitchy people next to him, each with a cup of coffee grasped around their trembling hands, presumably from having one too many.

And five-

"YUNO!" a squeaky female voice squealed out as something small latched onto his face, causing the other two people in the room to jump back, drawing out something from their bodies and getting into a defensive stance.

"... Hey Titania," groaned out Yuno, "... I'm back."

"... Stop scaring me to near-death constantly, you big dummy!" Titania bawled out on Yuno's face as she pounded her tiny fists onto it.

"Yeah... my bad..." he groaned out.

The two then looked at the absolutely-spooked looking indivduvials with weapons brandished in their hands standing next to their cot.

"So..." Yuno asked Titania as he looked towards the two armed strangers next to him, "... who are those two?"


To Be Continued...


Author's Notes: HOT DAMN, this was a fun yet hard write.

College starting back up, four classes, and a new president. So much shit happening all at once, my mind is about to turn into puddling inside a blender. Got more schoolwork coming up soon, so expect a more loaded upload time.

Rule of Symbolism Regarding Dorothy's toolkit:

-Dorothy, Toto, Strawman, Cowardly Lion, & Tin Man in reverse order of introduction.

-[Tin-Man-Mr. Heartless]: Heartless (Heart)

-[Cowardly Lions-Joe and the Lion]: Joe the Lion (David Bowie)

-[Strawman-Dirty Hank]: Straw Hat and the Old Dirty Hank (Barenaked Ladies)

-[Friend Til the End-Toto]: Til the End (Toto)

-Purple Iris=Wisdom

Hypothetical Voices (for funsies):

Mr. Heartless: Taiko Katano (JPN), Jonah Scott (ENG)

Joe: Megumi Ogata (JPN), Daisy Guevara (ENG)

Hank: Akio Ohtsuka (JPN), Kenny Green (ENG)

So, what do you think of this chapter?

Please leave a comment or a review for this chapter, for I'd like to know what my audience is thinking!