p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;" align="center"strongEpilogue/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Damara was free. To most observers, she was trapped in a prison of her own making. She who had once been an instrument of fate itself was now a simple, flirtatious woman, a female counterpart of Cronus. But her emotions, no matter how fabricated, were her own. She was not truly out of Lord English's grasp, but he would never hurt her again./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"At least, not the her that was right here and now in these Dream Bubbles./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Spacetime was convoluted around here. Worlds and timelines phased in and out, ebbing and flowing onto their being like waves in the ocean. As the lowest troll on the hemospectrum aside from mutants, Damara had never much cared for the ocean back on Beforus. But this world of time was different—she felt alive in it, like a fish in its home waters. And this ocean of spacetime was populated by endless versions of themselves, like so many schools of fish./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Here, she could be anyone and anything she wanted, with no real consequences. And so she was disgusting to everyone around her./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"In one particular moment—time could not be measured around here popularly, only in terms of events that happened—she found Rufioh, her Rufioh, the one from the same timeline as her that was no longer in a metal horse body. As a gesture of kindness, or perhaps pity, he flew on his butterfly wings once again./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Oh, 1t's you," he muttered when she sidled up to him. "Look, 1 know 1t's been a wh1le, but 1 don't really know 1f 1 want to get back w1th you and—"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""(Too bad)", Damara told him. "(Your bone bulge will stand at my grasp and serve my purposes.)"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Whoa, whoa whoa! Hold on!" Rufioh fluttered backwards, trying to drift away into another world of the Dream Bubbles. Damara matched him by inching closer, knowing that times and realities could not prevent her from physical touch. With each step she made more obscene comments, and Rufioh eventually gave up protesting when he saw it did nothing to her./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""(Run all you like, but know this: I'm not yours. You're mine.)"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Rufioh turned and fled as she said that, as a bird flies away at the slightest hint of avoidable danger. Damara had not followed him over the scores of worlds he flew past and fluttered into, until he bumped into another version of himself, nearly butting his head against the metallic bovine chest of his alter ego./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""What the h*ck?" the other Rufioh cried. "You almost k1lled me, man!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""K1lled emyou/em? You nearly got 1n my way and got emme /emk1lled!" The flying Rufioh countered. They were, as fate would have it, right in Rufioh's hive back on Beforus—home./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""What the h*ll are you do1ng 1n my h1ve?" Rufioh asked./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""1 was gonna ask the same th1ng!" The other Rufioh replied./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Well, 1 was runn1ng away from Damara. That doll's gone emcrazy /emever s1nce 1—uh, ever s1nce emwe /emended up here."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Well, 1 was gonna set up a f1duspawn match w1th myself aga1n. Wanna play?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Rufioh thought for a moment. He decided that there was no one he'd rather be with than himself./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Sure!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;" align="center" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span./strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Mituna was broken. He would never be the same again. That much he could understand./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"He was sitting in an ablution trap, padded with as much soft and water-proof items his caretaker and lover Latula could create with the old hardware of Sgrub. He thanked her in his own way by muttering a string of incoherent words together, hoping that she would understand./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""1 just didn't want you to hurt yourself," she told him reassuringly. Her tone was almost condescending, but he could not protest. He had, in fact, nearly split his head against a tree not too long ago, surviving only because the entities surrounding these Dream Bubbles kept them alive. Although Mituna still retained some memory, he could not recall whether this had been a suicide attempt or a tactic to try and get the damn voices to stop./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"They tended not to talk while Latula was attending to him, so Mituna sat in his bath while ran her fingers through his hair, matted by his hamlet—helmet, except Mituna had some difficulties saying helmet right./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""1sn't 1t n1c3 to t4k3 4 b4th som3t1m3s?" Latula asked him. "Do you l1k3 the water? Or 1s 1t too hot or cold?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Mituna shook his head, but then thought when he realized that Latula wasn't getting him. Words were useless, and they tended to fail him. So he simply gave a thumbs up, with a bit of difficulty figuring out which way "up" was. The simplest tasks became difficult once they left his thoughts and became actions./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Some of the other beings around here—humans, they were called—had attempted to classify his disorder into something that could be given a proper diagnosis and treatment. But each and every time one visited, his symptoms varied. Some days he could not be counted on not to hurt himself at every opportunity. Other days he simply cried and hugged everyone he met. Still other times he found that he could not walk without falling over. The only common factor was that his brain prevented him from doing something. The brain was the source of all actions and thoughts, and every time he went to a new bubble, something went wrong while other things worked fine. So Latula simply took care of every possible outcome and potential handicap he could have. She bathed him not because he couldn't do it himself, but because she did not want to take any risks that could happen with him doing things for himself./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"It hurt to think of himself as a burden on her. Even amidst the jumbled thoughts in his head, he wanted to do something, some small action to show that he was capable of doing something himself./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Me," he told Latula once she began to scrub the rest of his body with a washcloth./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Y34h, you're you!" she affirmed cheerfully./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Mituna shook his head. "M3 me m3," he said, shrugging his shoulders. He had meant to point to himself, but his arms did not work right now./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""You'r3 M1tun4," Latula said, thinking she had to remind him of his own self./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Mituna shook his head vigorously and slammed his now-functioning arms up and down in the tub. "No, no, no! Me, me, me!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""W41t, do you want m3 to go so you can bath3 yours3lf?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Y35!" Mituna screamed, much more loudly than he had intended. He had even pronounced it "why-thirty-five", somehow. But Latula got the message./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""4ll r1ght. Just don't hurt yours3lf," she said, her voice almost a murmur as she left the copse of trees with low-hanging leaves that gave them a bit of privacy./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Mituna stared at the washrag in his hand before finally getting it to contact with his skin. Bathing was difficult for him to do quickly, but he was still able to get the job done, scrubbing his body free of dirt and sweat./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"A small victory, but a victory nevertheless. If only he could do the same for his brain. But perhaps, one day, in a far off time and place, he could do that, too. And Latula would be so proud./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"He waited for a while until Latula returned, kissing her as she dressed him./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""I love you, Mituna," she told him. Affection needed no translation./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;" align="center" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span./strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"Kurloz and Meulin shared a wordless conversation together, signing away in Beforan Sign Language (BSL), just as they did before their session when they were together. Now that Kurloz's dark mission was mostly over, he could "speak" freely again with his matesprit about all the mundane nothings they enjoyed. Meulin, much to her disappointment, had lost the shipping coins during the transit over to the Dream Bubbles, and Kurloz concurred at how they were now missing out on all of the fun they could have been having with those./p
p class="MsoNormal"Horuss watched with interest, looming over them like a pervert looms over his (or her) crush. Meulin finally turned to notice him and asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""^(^_^)^What are you glaring at us fur?" she asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""8=span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"è/span/span Oh, no particular reason," Horuss pathetically fibbed. "8=span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"è/span/span I was just wondering how your strange gestures work, and how you talk with them."/p
p class="MsoNormal""(8-8) We can teach you, if you'd like," Meulin suggested./p
p class="MsoNormal""8==== Oh, yes! That w001d be very g00d indeed!" Horuss declared. "8===span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"è/span/span That way we can truly be moirails!"/p
p class="MsoNormal""(UwU) Meow-rails?" Meulin repeated./p
p class="MsoNormal""8==span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"è/span/span Yes," Horuss replied. "8=span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"è/span/spanFor that is what my 100ming was really about. It seems that our counterparts of another world—have you met them?—are friends—er, fur-rends—somehow."/p
p class="MsoNormal""(7=7) Sounds good to mew!" Meulin remarked. "Let's start your furst lesson! Do you know what a 'reaction GIF' is?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Kurloz smiled. It felt good to focus on something positive, for once./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span./strong/p
p class="MsoNormal""All I'm saying," began the strange creature, "Is that it is very important to avoid other people's triggers and avoid offending them. If you go through your life doing good, but you offend just one person, your whole life is forfeit to being declared good. Oh, and [insert various political messages here]."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I agree who+leheartedly," Porrim agreed. "Anyone who o+ffends anyo+ne else sho+ld pro+bably go+ to+ priso+n, especially if they do+ it o+ purpo+se. O+f co+urse, back o+n Befo+rus we abo+lished o+ur priso+ns due to+ the idea o+f them being 'to+o+ cruel'. But we can just bring them back here!"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yes, that's a great idea!" declared the strange creature. "I'll bet everyone will agree to this, too. Except maybe that Meenah character you mentioned before. She sounds scary and dangerous, and we can't have that."/p
p class="MsoNormal""If I may 9ffer an 9pini9n?" Kankri asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""I give you permission to speak," the strange creature said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Thank y9u, new friend," Kankri began. "Alth9ugh I am quite f9nd 9f my ass9ciates 9n these Dream 6u66les, and while I 6elieve wh9leheartedly in av9iding all types 9f prejudice and injustice, such as what the Alternian Sufferer faced in his lifetime, I questi9n the acceptance 9f this s9rt 9f pris9n y9u have pr9p9sed am9ngst my fell9w tr9lls. I 6elieve m9re 9f them w9uld 96ject t9 it than y9u may realize, and—"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Are you saying that I'm emtoo stupid /emto know what I'm talking about?!" the creature demanded./p
p class="MsoNormal""N9, n9t at all! I merely meant t9 imply that—"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Kankri, go+ sit in timeo+ut in yo+ur hive," Porrim commanded him. "Fo++r emten /emho+urs! What an awful thing to+ say to+ o+ur guest. Simply awful. Yo+u have abused yo+ur privileges as a male and must be punished acco+rdingly."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yes, ma'am," Kankri said, trudging out the door of Porrim's hive to search for a Dream Bubble that contained his own./p
p class="MsoNormal""No+w, where were we, new friend?" Porrim asked once the creature was done crying. "Yo+u kno+w, it o+ccurs to+ me that I never did get yo+ur name."/p
p class="MsoNormal""It's June," the human replied. "June Egbert. You'll learn more about me much, MUCH later. I believe I should point that I am a homosexual, and…"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span./strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"Somewhere in another Dream Bubble, alone in his hive, a depressed troll stared at the cover of a book. It was one given to him by a female creature known as a "human", and she had said it was something he could perhaps relate to easily. She herself had not wanted the book, as it reminded her too much of her passive-aggressive mother and their disliking for each other that involved the types of characters in this book. "Wizards", she had called them. There was another use for wizard that she had said could fit him quite well."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," Cronus read aloud. "Hmm, do I want to be a wizard, though?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"As he soon found out within the pages of that book, he did./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span./strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"Of all the Beforan trolls, only two, Aranea and Meenah, had ambitions beyond their current state of un-living. The other ten were content to live out their new lives in relative peace and stability, no longer wishing to play the game of Sgrub anymore. They had failed, in some sense, but in another sense they, or at least Meenah, had succeeded in creating a new session, where the game could be tried again. Perhaps these new trolls would be stronger. As it turned out, with Meenah's ecto-genes embedded in them, they all were./p
p class="MsoNormal"But for now, both trolls stayed within their hives, chatting only with their lusii, and scheming as to what to do. Meenah decided that she wanted to form an army to defeat the new threat to the Dream Bubbles, and Aranea decided that she was done being a nice, expository person. Meenah hatched her plans, but she slowly and carefully weaved her own into them./p
p class="MsoNormal"But the beginning of those events mark the end of this story, and the beginning of a new one. A new set of twelve trolls succeeded the old generation, and their story marked a prequel to that of a newer, grander story, full of the same humor, nonsense, and postmodern strangeness you had ought to be able to find in this one./p
p class="MsoNormal"What is that story, and where is it going? That, dear reader, is up to you entirely./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"THE END/p
p class="MsoNormal"strongAN: Thanks to all of you who stuck around this long! This fanfic was years in the making, and though I did many things and had many other interests, I never wanted to give up on it. Now it is finished, and hopefully I can eventually finish my other fanfics as well./strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Damara was free. To most observers, she was trapped in a prison of her own making. She who had once been an instrument of fate itself was now a simple, flirtatious woman, a female counterpart of Cronus. But her emotions, no matter how fabricated, were her own. She was not truly out of Lord English's grasp, but he would never hurt her again./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"At least, not the her that was right here and now in these Dream Bubbles./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Spacetime was convoluted around here. Worlds and timelines phased in and out, ebbing and flowing onto their being like waves in the ocean. As the lowest troll on the hemospectrum aside from mutants, Damara had never much cared for the ocean back on Beforus. But this world of time was different—she felt alive in it, like a fish in its home waters. And this ocean of spacetime was populated by endless versions of themselves, like so many schools of fish./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Here, she could be anyone and anything she wanted, with no real consequences. And so she was disgusting to everyone around her./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"In one particular moment—time could not be measured around here popularly, only in terms of events that happened—she found Rufioh, her Rufioh, the one from the same timeline as her that was no longer in a metal horse body. As a gesture of kindness, or perhaps pity, he flew on his butterfly wings once again./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Oh, 1t's you," he muttered when she sidled up to him. "Look, 1 know 1t's been a wh1le, but 1 don't really know 1f 1 want to get back w1th you and—"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""(Too bad)", Damara told him. "(Your bone bulge will stand at my grasp and serve my purposes.)"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Whoa, whoa whoa! Hold on!" Rufioh fluttered backwards, trying to drift away into another world of the Dream Bubbles. Damara matched him by inching closer, knowing that times and realities could not prevent her from physical touch. With each step she made more obscene comments, and Rufioh eventually gave up protesting when he saw it did nothing to her./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""(Run all you like, but know this: I'm not yours. You're mine.)"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Rufioh turned and fled as she said that, as a bird flies away at the slightest hint of avoidable danger. Damara had not followed him over the scores of worlds he flew past and fluttered into, until he bumped into another version of himself, nearly butting his head against the metallic bovine chest of his alter ego./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""What the h*ck?" the other Rufioh cried. "You almost k1lled me, man!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""K1lled emyou/em? You nearly got 1n my way and got emme /emk1lled!" The flying Rufioh countered. They were, as fate would have it, right in Rufioh's hive back on Beforus—home./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""What the h*ll are you do1ng 1n my h1ve?" Rufioh asked./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""1 was gonna ask the same th1ng!" The other Rufioh replied./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Well, 1 was runn1ng away from Damara. That doll's gone emcrazy /emever s1nce 1—uh, ever s1nce emwe /emended up here."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Well, 1 was gonna set up a f1duspawn match w1th myself aga1n. Wanna play?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Rufioh thought for a moment. He decided that there was no one he'd rather be with than himself./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Sure!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;" align="center" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span./strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Mituna was broken. He would never be the same again. That much he could understand./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"He was sitting in an ablution trap, padded with as much soft and water-proof items his caretaker and lover Latula could create with the old hardware of Sgrub. He thanked her in his own way by muttering a string of incoherent words together, hoping that she would understand./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""1 just didn't want you to hurt yourself," she told him reassuringly. Her tone was almost condescending, but he could not protest. He had, in fact, nearly split his head against a tree not too long ago, surviving only because the entities surrounding these Dream Bubbles kept them alive. Although Mituna still retained some memory, he could not recall whether this had been a suicide attempt or a tactic to try and get the damn voices to stop./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"They tended not to talk while Latula was attending to him, so Mituna sat in his bath while ran her fingers through his hair, matted by his hamlet—helmet, except Mituna had some difficulties saying helmet right./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""1sn't 1t n1c3 to t4k3 4 b4th som3t1m3s?" Latula asked him. "Do you l1k3 the water? Or 1s 1t too hot or cold?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Mituna shook his head, but then thought when he realized that Latula wasn't getting him. Words were useless, and they tended to fail him. So he simply gave a thumbs up, with a bit of difficulty figuring out which way "up" was. The simplest tasks became difficult once they left his thoughts and became actions./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Some of the other beings around here—humans, they were called—had attempted to classify his disorder into something that could be given a proper diagnosis and treatment. But each and every time one visited, his symptoms varied. Some days he could not be counted on not to hurt himself at every opportunity. Other days he simply cried and hugged everyone he met. Still other times he found that he could not walk without falling over. The only common factor was that his brain prevented him from doing something. The brain was the source of all actions and thoughts, and every time he went to a new bubble, something went wrong while other things worked fine. So Latula simply took care of every possible outcome and potential handicap he could have. She bathed him not because he couldn't do it himself, but because she did not want to take any risks that could happen with him doing things for himself./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"It hurt to think of himself as a burden on her. Even amidst the jumbled thoughts in his head, he wanted to do something, some small action to show that he was capable of doing something himself./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Me," he told Latula once she began to scrub the rest of his body with a washcloth./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Y34h, you're you!" she affirmed cheerfully./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Mituna shook his head. "M3 me m3," he said, shrugging his shoulders. He had meant to point to himself, but his arms did not work right now./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""You'r3 M1tun4," Latula said, thinking she had to remind him of his own self./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Mituna shook his head vigorously and slammed his now-functioning arms up and down in the tub. "No, no, no! Me, me, me!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""W41t, do you want m3 to go so you can bath3 yours3lf?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""Y35!" Mituna screamed, much more loudly than he had intended. He had even pronounced it "why-thirty-five", somehow. But Latula got the message./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""4ll r1ght. Just don't hurt yours3lf," she said, her voice almost a murmur as she left the copse of trees with low-hanging leaves that gave them a bit of privacy./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"Mituna stared at the washrag in his hand before finally getting it to contact with his skin. Bathing was difficult for him to do quickly, but he was still able to get the job done, scrubbing his body free of dirt and sweat./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"A small victory, but a victory nevertheless. If only he could do the same for his brain. But perhaps, one day, in a far off time and place, he could do that, too. And Latula would be so proud./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"He waited for a while until Latula returned, kissing her as she dressed him./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;""I love you, Mituna," she told him. Affection needed no translation./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;" align="center" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span./strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"Kurloz and Meulin shared a wordless conversation together, signing away in Beforan Sign Language (BSL), just as they did before their session when they were together. Now that Kurloz's dark mission was mostly over, he could "speak" freely again with his matesprit about all the mundane nothings they enjoyed. Meulin, much to her disappointment, had lost the shipping coins during the transit over to the Dream Bubbles, and Kurloz concurred at how they were now missing out on all of the fun they could have been having with those./p
p class="MsoNormal"Horuss watched with interest, looming over them like a pervert looms over his (or her) crush. Meulin finally turned to notice him and asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""^(^_^)^What are you glaring at us fur?" she asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""8=span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"è/span/span Oh, no particular reason," Horuss pathetically fibbed. "8=span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"è/span/span I was just wondering how your strange gestures work, and how you talk with them."/p
p class="MsoNormal""(8-8) We can teach you, if you'd like," Meulin suggested./p
p class="MsoNormal""8==== Oh, yes! That w001d be very g00d indeed!" Horuss declared. "8===span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"è/span/span That way we can truly be moirails!"/p
p class="MsoNormal""(UwU) Meow-rails?" Meulin repeated./p
p class="MsoNormal""8==span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"è/span/span Yes," Horuss replied. "8=span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"è/span/spanFor that is what my 100ming was really about. It seems that our counterparts of another world—have you met them?—are friends—er, fur-rends—somehow."/p
p class="MsoNormal""(7=7) Sounds good to mew!" Meulin remarked. "Let's start your furst lesson! Do you know what a 'reaction GIF' is?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Kurloz smiled. It felt good to focus on something positive, for once./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span./strong/p
p class="MsoNormal""All I'm saying," began the strange creature, "Is that it is very important to avoid other people's triggers and avoid offending them. If you go through your life doing good, but you offend just one person, your whole life is forfeit to being declared good. Oh, and [insert various political messages here]."/p
p class="MsoNormal""I agree who+leheartedly," Porrim agreed. "Anyone who o+ffends anyo+ne else sho+ld pro+bably go+ to+ priso+n, especially if they do+ it o+ purpo+se. O+f co+urse, back o+n Befo+rus we abo+lished o+ur priso+ns due to+ the idea o+f them being 'to+o+ cruel'. But we can just bring them back here!"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yes, that's a great idea!" declared the strange creature. "I'll bet everyone will agree to this, too. Except maybe that Meenah character you mentioned before. She sounds scary and dangerous, and we can't have that."/p
p class="MsoNormal""If I may 9ffer an 9pini9n?" Kankri asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""I give you permission to speak," the strange creature said./p
p class="MsoNormal""Thank y9u, new friend," Kankri began. "Alth9ugh I am quite f9nd 9f my ass9ciates 9n these Dream 6u66les, and while I 6elieve wh9leheartedly in av9iding all types 9f prejudice and injustice, such as what the Alternian Sufferer faced in his lifetime, I questi9n the acceptance 9f this s9rt 9f pris9n y9u have pr9p9sed am9ngst my fell9w tr9lls. I 6elieve m9re 9f them w9uld 96ject t9 it than y9u may realize, and—"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Are you saying that I'm emtoo stupid /emto know what I'm talking about?!" the creature demanded./p
p class="MsoNormal""N9, n9t at all! I merely meant t9 imply that—"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Kankri, go+ sit in timeo+ut in yo+ur hive," Porrim commanded him. "Fo++r emten /emho+urs! What an awful thing to+ say to+ o+ur guest. Simply awful. Yo+u have abused yo+ur privileges as a male and must be punished acco+rdingly."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Yes, ma'am," Kankri said, trudging out the door of Porrim's hive to search for a Dream Bubble that contained his own./p
p class="MsoNormal""No+w, where were we, new friend?" Porrim asked once the creature was done crying. "Yo+u kno+w, it o+ccurs to+ me that I never did get yo+ur name."/p
p class="MsoNormal""It's June," the human replied. "June Egbert. You'll learn more about me much, MUCH later. I believe I should point that I am a homosexual, and…"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span./strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"Somewhere in another Dream Bubble, alone in his hive, a depressed troll stared at the cover of a book. It was one given to him by a female creature known as a "human", and she had said it was something he could perhaps relate to easily. She herself had not wanted the book, as it reminded her too much of her passive-aggressive mother and their disliking for each other that involved the types of characters in this book. "Wizards", she had called them. There was another use for wizard that she had said could fit him quite well."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," Cronus read aloud. "Hmm, do I want to be a wizard, though?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"As he soon found out within the pages of that book, he did./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span./strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"Of all the Beforan trolls, only two, Aranea and Meenah, had ambitions beyond their current state of un-living. The other ten were content to live out their new lives in relative peace and stability, no longer wishing to play the game of Sgrub anymore. They had failed, in some sense, but in another sense they, or at least Meenah, had succeeded in creating a new session, where the game could be tried again. Perhaps these new trolls would be stronger. As it turned out, with Meenah's ecto-genes embedded in them, they all were./p
p class="MsoNormal"But for now, both trolls stayed within their hives, chatting only with their lusii, and scheming as to what to do. Meenah decided that she wanted to form an army to defeat the new threat to the Dream Bubbles, and Aranea decided that she was done being a nice, expository person. Meenah hatched her plans, but she slowly and carefully weaved her own into them./p
p class="MsoNormal"But the beginning of those events mark the end of this story, and the beginning of a new one. A new set of twelve trolls succeeded the old generation, and their story marked a prequel to that of a newer, grander story, full of the same humor, nonsense, and postmodern strangeness you had ought to be able to find in this one./p
p class="MsoNormal"What is that story, and where is it going? That, dear reader, is up to you entirely./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"THE END/p
p class="MsoNormal"strongAN: Thanks to all of you who stuck around this long! This fanfic was years in the making, and though I did many things and had many other interests, I never wanted to give up on it. Now it is finished, and hopefully I can eventually finish my other fanfics as well./strong/p
