Skull was walking normally down the street when he saw it.

Tossed next to a dumpster was a dusty, old-fashioned remote control.

It looked like one of those remote controls that were in cartoons, the kind that the villain had to press to start his evil machinery. But instead of a huge red button, there was a pretty purple button with glitter.

Skull looked at the thing for a while and finally decided to pick it up.

He put the control in one of his jacket pockets and when he got to his apartment he put the control in his closet with the idea of examining it later.

Later that day, Skull completely forgets about the remote control, distracted with the task of teaching his new pet octopus tricks and sending numerous photos to his group of acquaintances about the process.


Weeks later Skull remembers the remote control's existence when he empties out his closet for a spring cleaning.

Skull looks at the remote control still dusty and of a nice shade of purple. He decides this was a good excuse to temporarily stop his chores.

He sits down in his dining room, coffee steaming on the table and some cleaning supplies scattered around the place. Cleaning the remote control is an easy task, being small in size, plus the dirt wasn't too ingrained in the object, Skull just had to wipe the plastic surface with a damp cloth and it soon became shiny.

Skull looks at his handiwork for a few seconds, then firmly presses the purple button.

He presses it with no expectations, just mild amusement and curiosity about the new toy.

That's why it's such a surprise when a futuristic-style portal suddenly appears in the middle of the room.

Skull blinks and takes a sip of his coffee.

He hadn't expected a hologram when he pressed the button, but it was a nice surprise. One that entertained him a lot.

Skull stands, cell phone in hand, taking several pictures at different angles of the hologram. The image of the portal is strange because it doesn't move or shrink as Skull approaches, but he doesn't think anything of it. Probably some kind of new technology, later he could message Verde to ask about that. But right now, he just wanted to explore all this futuristic technology that had fallen into his lap.

The first thing Skull does, is stick a hand inside the hologram. The sensation he feels is cold and clammy, and he is surprised by the fact that he couldn't see his hand through the hologram. He pulls his hand out with ease, and strokes the goose bumps on his arm.

Even more curious than before, Skull decides to go further.

He tilts his torso and the upper half of his body goes through the hologram.

And what he sees... Is not the other side of his living room.

"Nope, nope, bye" Skull leans back, pulling his body out of the portal and falling on his butt from the intensity of his movement.

"Uh..." He looked at the portal from his position on the ground. The sight on the other side was certainly unexpected, and one he would try to ignore for the next few weeks.

Skull stood and walked back to his seat. "This had better go away after I press the button."


The portal naturally did not disappear. It became an invasive object in the middle of the room that Skull could neither discard nor move, no matter how many times he pressed the button.

In the first hours, Skull sent a barrage of messages with pictures of the portal to almost everyone he knew. Reborn blocked him after picture number ten and Lal asked him to stop with the pranks.

Skull collapsed on his seat that he positioned in front of the portal for extra vigilance. He knew no one would believe him until they saw the thing in person. So, until then. Skull would go into vigil mode.

Skull drank his third cup of coffee that night and lightly squeezed the handle of the kitchen knife. He was prepared to stay awake all night.

But three hours later, Skull was dozing softly in his seat.


After that failed night's wakefulness. Skull lost much of his initial caution.

He knew he should be vigilant, but there was nothing he could do. He had already made an appointment with Fon to look for a new apartment. Because everyone had refused to come to see the portal, thinking it was Skull playing a joke on them.

So Skull decided to leave. He had already planned to move, his plans should just go ahead.

Still, he felt outraged. That portal took up so much of his space and totally disrupted the flow of his home. Skull planned to move, but he still planned to keep this apartment. It was a nice apartment, in an area close to the beach and not heavily trafficked by vehicles. Not to mention that next door was a huge garage where Skull could store some of his cars. Now he would have to demolish the apartment before he left. He didn't want someone else to stick their head inside the portal. Look, Skull could be responsible. From time to time.

Skull took a bite of his sandwich and muttered. "Evil spirit or not, you have no right to occupy my home..." He eventually lowered his voice until he finished his sentence. He didn't think that thing could make it to this side, being so much bigger than the average house. But it didn't hurt to prevent a Godzilla-style invasion.

Skull was walking away, ready to spend his day out of the house to avoid the portal, but before he left he turned once more, rolled up the paper wrapped sandwich into a ball and tossed it in the direction of the portal. In the end, Skull ended up with mixed feelings, when for the first time, he was able to hit his target.

Skull waited to see if there was any change, but after an hour, nothing happened.

Which was a good thing, but Skull didn't celebrate, suddenly becoming quiet as an idea occurred to him. Maybe he wouldn't have to leave this department.


His plan to turn the portal into his new dump actually worked for two weeks. And he decided to postpone the idea of getting a new apartment.

The thing still took up too much space, but at least now it was useful. And it brought a new sense of novelty to Skull. Lately he had been throwing things into the portal, just for fun. He still didn't dare poke his head through the portal again. But that was okay. There was no need to take another look at that tentacled monstrosity.

This time, Skull was throwing one of his chairs, he still had two of the same style left so he thought it was fine as a test model. As Verde would say, for science!

Skull slowly pushed the chair through the portal, and held back the urge to poke his head out to see what happened when the object fell downward.

Skull finished his little experiment, and felt happy, even though he didn't get any results.

He was ready to leave, when the portal began to undergo some changes. The glow of the portal began to stutter rapidly, and Skull made a quick dash for the exit. Half of his body was already outside, but his gaze was still fixed on the changing portal.

When the brief light show ended. A small object, about the size of his fist, came out of the portal and fell toward the ground with a clatter.

The portal returned to normal, and Skull slowly approached. He squatted down and picked up the rock that had come out of the portal.

"This is..."


"Yes, this is gold."

Skull was sitting in a coffee shop, in front of him, was Viper, who quickly determined what the rock was with a glance.

Skull clenched the hot drink in his hands. He had already suspected as much, but he didn't know how to feel about this turn of events. At the start, he said he was experimenting, but he didn't expect to get any results, in fact, he was happy not to get any. And now, he had gotten a nice handful of gold for throwing some of his garbage into the portal. He knew there were men who might be tempted by this.

"You want to trade it? I can give you cash if you decide to sell it to me."

Skull looked at the glowing stone in Viper's hands. "No...thank you Viper. I've decided to keep it as a souvenir."

"Mou, did you really find this in the trash?"

Skull smiled. "Yes, it was in the trash."


"...Yeah, okay, see you in a week Fon. Have a nice trip~!" Skull hung up the call.

He sighed and started stretching his arms. His back ached, he hadn't been able to sleep properly since the gold incident.

His things were already being packed, and he had gotten Reborn to do him a favor and now oodako was staying at his house momentarily. The only thing left before he left was for the demolition team to show up to disappear this entire building.

Skull only had to wait a week, he could wait.


Nothing happened on the first day, nor on the second day, but on the third day, noises started coming from the portal.

Skull tried to ignore the sound, but the volume began to increase as he ignored it. Eventually it became so unbearable that he had to go to a hotel to ignore the noise.

But the sound didn't go away. He kept hearing it even if he traveled to the other end of town on a desperate run.

It seemed... the thing became used to being fed.


Skull had deep dark circles under his eyes and his hair was in complete disarray. It was the sixth day. Just one more day and this would all be over.

He had persisted and put nothing inside the portal.

If he held on, it would all go away, but...he couldn't hold on anymore.

The sound had increased over the days, and no one could hear it. Only Skull could. It seemed that he had finally gone mad.

Skull had no words to describe that shrill sound, it was as if a sharp object was suddenly stabbing his brain. Turning all remaining rationality into mush.

It was a torture that went on and on. Even now, Skull couldn't stop hearing it, even if he had poked his eardrums with a pencil only an hour ago.

Skull methodically changed the handkerchief inside his ears, for a clean one. The old bloodstained one was discarded in the trash.

His gaze was dangerously focused on the portal as he gritted his teeth.

"That's it, it's over. This is over" he muttered repeatedly. Almost unaware that he was speaking because he could no longer hear himself.

Skull walked angrily towards the portal, his fists were clenched and in fiery anger he plunged his torso into the portal and shouted.

"That's it, that's it, there's no more, I won't give you any more food!"

Skull was furious and delirious, but he was still able to make out the creature's mood swings. The thing had no human expression, but Skull could tell the aura of annoyance and then curiosity when it finally looked up and saw him.

And then... Skull fell.

He just fell downward.


Fon was walking through the supermarket when he saw him.

It was easy to recognize Skull, when he had been friends with the man for years. So when he spotted the purple hair he didn't hesitate to approach.

Fon walked quickly dodging a few people and heading in the direction of his friend who had his back turned staring at the knife section.

"Where have you been?" called Fon, in a tone he considered patient but stern. However, Skull didn't turn, in fact, he didn't even show a reaction at the sound of his voice.

"...Skull?" Fon tentatively touched Skull's shoulder, and Skull suddenly jumped. Then he turned around and Fon could see that the other party was not in good condition.

"Are you okay, where have you been the last few weeks?" Fon spoke slowly as he saw that the other party was still not speaking. "Oodako misses you and...why do you have an egg in a carrier?"

Fon couldn't help but derail his conversation at the sight of the giant egg Skull was carrying. But he quickly pulled himself together when he saw that his friend still had a haggard look on his face.

"... Fon, I have no idea what you're talking about" Skull finally said.

"Skull we've all been worried about you, how can you say this, you..."

"... I can't hear you, I can't hear anything..."

"Skull, you... join me for a cup of tea, I think we'll talk better in a quiet space" Fon decided to postpone his questions, he didn't know what Skull was talking about, but he looked serious. Fon had never seen him in this state.

Fon put a hand on Skull's waist and directed him towards the exit. In an attempt to lighten the mood he said. "Maybe we can get your favorite dessert...Skull?"

Fon stopped when Skull stopped following him. The man had his gaze fixed on the egg.

"He's coming."

Fon grabbed Skull's hand and tried to drag him towards the exit. "Skull we can keep talking, but first..."

Fon stopped his actions when he heard the sound of crunching.

He stood still with his feet still heading towards the exit and his hand wrapped tightly around Skull's wrist. But his gaze was suddenly fixed on the egg that Skull had been carrying all this time.

And before Fon's and Skull's gaze.

The egg's shell cracked.