Churches are supposed to be quiet places of sanctuary and solitude. Nobody bothers you there, and you can be alone with your thoughts. The Tick had never felt the need to confess as he had never been a committer of sin. Now, he knew more about himself than ever, and more about his creator than some people knew about God Himself. Yet now, he had more questions than ever before, and he was more determined than ever to find the man who called himself Karamazov- that mad scientist who had mixed his own DNA with that of a dog's-and, as a result, created the being that was birthed as The Tick.

"...Tick?" Arthur knelt down in front of his friend, trying to retrieve the Tick's attention. "...Is there…" He swallowed hard, looking into the Tick's almost painfully expressionless eyes. "Is there—anything we can do?" He knew the question was lame, but he wasn't sure what else to ask. He'd never seen the Tick look like this. He'd seen that expression before, though—it happened when one was in shock—he'd seen that same look on his own face many times, especially….right after….

…after…

"Tick?" Arthur prodded again, louder, yet more gentle than before.

Finally, the Tick's eyes seemed to refocus and landed slowly on Arthur. "...Arthur?" He sounded dazed and confused, but his expression finally lifted.

"Yeah," Arthur nodded, patting the Tick's shoulder as reassuringly as he could, "I'm here, buddy. It's me." He tried to hide the fear in his voice as he prompted, "Are you….okay?" He didn't want to let on how concerned he was. Learning about your past, Arthur knew, could change people—and this was a lot all at once. "Should we get you some water, or, or something?" It was strange how little the Tick ate or drank. Sometimes, the Tick shared a meal with him, but it was rare—and Arthur wondered if maybe there wasn't even a need, given his genetic makeup, as normal humans would.

"No, Chum…" The Tick smiled at him, but it seemed more like a frown than a smile. "That's OK," he added, as though he knew that Arthur needed reassurance too. "I….gotta get some fresh air…." He noticed Destiny, who smiled sadly at him. "M'Lady," he greeted her, "my compass…my shining star!" He bowed towards her, but suddenly swayed, as though he were drunk—and Arthur caught him just in time along with Tinfoil Kevin.

"Better get him home," Tinfoil Kevin urged Arthur. "I think he's in shock."

"I'm not in shock'," the Tick boomed in response, "I'm in ME!"

"Yeah, I—I think you're right," Arthur nodded deftly as he and Destiny both helped the Tick outside. "C'mon Buddy—let's get you home and into bed, OK?"

"Superian…." the Tick was mumbling, almost stumbling into them as they ambled down the sidewalk. "Where are you my brother….Superian!"

"SHUSH!" Arthur urged, eyes wide as he glanced around in fear of any cops, "you're gonna get us all in trouble!"

"He's our brother, Arthur," the Tick protested, "he needs our help!"

"Yeah–I know—we'll help him, Tick," Arthur muttered, as he and Destiny attempted to help the Tick up the stairs to the apartment. "But right now—you need to rest!"

"No time to rest!" the Tick practically wailed, as both Arthur and Destiny pushed him inside. "We've got to find Superian!"

"Don't worry, Tick," Destiny interjected, "I'm on the case—and I think I know where he is!"

"How would you know that?" Arthur demanded in a hushed tone so as not to upset the Tick any further. "Were you on the moon with him? Because that's the last place anyone heard of him being before he disappeared—which by the way would make you a SUSPECT!"

"I told you," Destiny hissed back, "It's because of the GIFT!"

"YOU are the GIFT, M'Lady!" The Tick swooned towards her, all the while swaying back and forth between them as they ambled down the hallway and, finally, into Arthur's apartment.

It took some doing, but at long last, they were able to get the Tick splayed out on the couch-bed, and Arthur collapsed on his own with Destiny sitting beside him. "Shouldn't one of us be keeping an eye on him?" Arthur mumbled into his pillow. "I'd do it—but I'm exhausted." Suddenly he snapped upwards and glowered at the woman in his bedroom. "What's your angle here, anyway?" he asked, knowing he sounded unreasonably suspicious—but he couldn't help it—she knew far too much, and he'd only met her that very same day. "You act like you know the Tick but—if you're his bestest friend and all," Arthur scoffed, "where have you been all this time? And why was the Tick wandering around a City by himself, without a place to sleep? I had to invite him to stay here you know," Arthur huffed. "I don't do that with anyone—ever! I live alone. I'm used to it…" he trailed off, hating how much he had to admit his life had improved since the Tick had made his grand entrance.

"I've got my reasons," Destiny replied. "I'll explain them to you but…you might not believe me." She smirked a little. "And in case you haven't noticed," she added, "the Tick can more than take care of himself."

"He was homeless before he knew me, Destiny," Arthur muttered. "He was lost and confused." He winced because that was exactly how he'd felt when they'd met. "Why wasn't he with you?" he asked in spite of himself because he was really dreading the answer.

"Are you sure you really want to know?" Destiny lowered her eyes, as though she were ashamed of the truth—which gave Arthur pause. "It's…not a pretty story," she added. "And…I don't think the Tick is ready to hear it himself…."

Arthur mulled that over for a moment. If he knew more about the Tick's past, maybe he could help him get through this easier (whatever 'this' was, exactly). "Tell me," he allowed. "I've got to know." His voice faltered in spite of himself, and he had to look away; for some reason, his head was suddenly beginning to ache something awful, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. The pain didn't go away.

"Superian is not far away." Destiny looked out the window. "We will find him."

Somehow, Arthur couldn't fathom that it would be so easy. "I'll go put on some coffee," he declared and, without even confirming she wanted any, he got up quickly and left the room. As he passed through the living room, he noticed that the Tick was thankfully fast asleep, and was snoring away. Arthur had always found snoring annoying, but for some reason, when the Tick snored it was a comforting sound. In fact, Arthur would have been less comforted if the Tick was never there. He was now a part of Arthur's everyday existence. He could only hope that it would remain that way, for as long as humanly (or superhumanly) possible.

It was as he was turning the kettle on that something dawned on Arthur's consciousness: how the Tick had realized he was planning on leaving AEGIS. And that was when he realized: Destiny had given him the message. And it made Arthur's blood boil almost as strong as the water in the kettle.

He turned the heat down so it wouldn't explode. Then he ran into the bedroom because he was about to explode if he didn't say something.

"Hey," he snapped, startling Destiny out of her reverie. She was gazing through one of his Scientific American magazines (without his permission)! "What were you thinking, telling the Tick about my decision to leave AEGIS?" he hissed, just loud enough to make his point without waking his friend.

"Ummm…" Destiny's eyes flickered nervously to the left. "You weren't going to do it yourself anytime soon," she pointed out, "were you?" Her words were so matter-of-fact that they startled Arthur into submission. "Better he knew about it sooner than later, Arthur," Destiny declared, so casually that Arthur could only stare. "Besides—I know you're still debating it—and I don't think Tick is convinced either."

"What!?" Her words made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. "How could you know I'm 'debating it'? I never said that to anyone! You can't read my mind…." His voice trailed off, because he was suddenly wondering if maybe she could.

"Don't doubt yourself." Destiny sat the magazine down. "You're always questioning yourself, Arthur," she stated as calmly as could be, "but you needn't do that. You've come such a long way–"

"Okay STOP for a minute!" Arthur snapped. His head was beginning to ache something fierce. He could hear the kettle beginning to whistle. "I never told you about 'doubting myself'! How—how dare you even say that about me?" He realized he was talking far too loud. "I gotta get the coffee," he muttered as he hustled out of the room. He was in the process of pouring the kettle when the pain in his temples suddenly shot from a 1 to a 5.

Arthur dropped the kettle and the water narrowly missed scalding him, spilling all over the floor.

"Arthur!" Destiny came running only to find Arthur crumpled in a ball on the floor, writhing and groaning. "We've got to get you to the hospital!" Destiny reached for the phone, but Arthur reached for her arm and stopped her abruptly in her tracks.

"N-n-NO!" Arthur gasped in between shocks of pain, "D-DON'T! M-my sister's an EMT—she—she's trained in this kind of stuff, o–okay? Get—get her!" He groaned, moaning as he buried his head in his hands.

"ARTHUR!" The Tick's far too loud voice sent shockwaves down Arthur's spine; he couldn't move–the pain was getting stronger. "What's wrong, Chum!?" He could feel the Tick's worried eyes hovering over him, but at this point, Arthur was in too much pain to answer. "ARTHUR!?" The Tick's voice boomed in his ears. "ARTHUR!"

He wanted to answer.

He tried to answer.

Except suddenly the Tick was gone. Everything was gone—

—and he was falling through an empty black void.