"No…not again, please not again," Noodle's voice shook. Death incarnate still stood unmoving at the end of the pier, the last of the black smoke stretching and condensing to form the fibers of its cloak.

2D and Noodle lay just as still on the wooden boards of the pier, all but their shaking hands paralyzed with fear.

"That's your monster, isn't it," whispered 2D, cupping Noodle's shaking hands with his own. Noodle looked at him, her mouth agape in terror, and let out a barely audible squeak.

2D had never seen Noodle in such a helpless, terrified state. She was the girl wonder, seemingly indestructible, afraid of nothing. But whatever she went through during those four years had scarred her in ways even worse than the scars on her body.

2D suddenly clutched Noodle's hands more tightly. Her fear fueled a raging, protective fire within him that brought him to a sudden stand. "2D, no!" gasped Noodle, yanking on his leg. "I promise you," said 2D, "I'm neva gonna let him take you again."

2D's narrowed black eyes met the scarlet eye windows of the Boogeyman's gas mask. "You'll have to get f'rough me first!" said 2D dramatically, like one of the heroes in his horror films.

The demonic figure, now fully solid, didn't budge at the end of the pier. "You've got a nose even wonkier than Murdoc's!" 2D yelled across the pier, tying to elicit a response from the monster.

"No, please no!" Noodle wailed. "MOVE!" boomed 2D at the Boogeyman, crazed with rage from Noodle's pain.

Suddenly, crackling static and a metallic, croaking voice emitted from Boogeyman's elongated mouthpiece: "Death is still."

Without warning, Noodle made a mad dash for the gun that lay on the pier. The dark specter's words had spurred Noodle into instinctual action of self-preservation. She swiped the gun, cocked it, and pointed it at the Boogeyman in one smooth motion.

The monster let out a creaking chuckle. "Well this is reminiscent of your first meeting with my little cyborg friend, isn't it? Impressive shot by the way. I think you would even score higher at my shooting game than that machine did," it said, gesturing over at the stall with a swish of its cloaked arm.

"You knew that th-thing?" asked Noodle, trying to keep her teeth from chattering, "And...you're the vendor?"

The Boogeyman let out another blood chilling laugh.

2D hung his azure head. "I'm so sorry Noods, I should've realized who your monster was when you were tellin me how he looked," he choked, "I'm gonna get you out ov this, I promise."

The Boogeyman cocked its masked head and lifted its spindly hands to its chest. "I had been looking for Noodle ever since her escape, but you led her right to me," it said mockingly, "So thanks for the delivery. A FedEx crate would have been a little bit more convinient, though."

Noodle promptly fired the gun, shattering the glass lens of the Boogeyman's right eye. It let out a furious shriek that sounded like two metal scraps being scraped together, and fled in its smoke form into the night sky.

2D rushed over to Noodle. He quickly embraced her, then grabbed her shoulders. "We need to get outa here awright? At least that fing's gone now."

2D was only correct about his first statement. The Boogeyman's smoky ectoplasm shot through the night sky and expanded at the rate of an explosion. Pirate jets burst through the demonic cloud, emitting a droning sound Noodle knew all too well. "Scratch that last," said 2D weakly.

"Looks like I'm going to play a shooting game after all," murmured Noodle. She feared the Boogeyman, but pirate jets were merely target practice for her trained hands.

Just as Noodle cocked the gun, a jet dipped down at an unexpected speed towards her. A black gloved hand then reached from the cockpit and grabbed her by the arm. Before she could even struggle, her screams were muffled by a cloth soaked with chloroform. Her body went limp, and she was pulled into the jet.

"NOODLE!"

2D ran as fast as his lanky legs would allow, but the whole fleet of jets was already over the water. 2D could only watch in horror as the wings of the jets folded inward and contorted into small submarines in midair.

The newly aquatic crafts plummeted from the sky and into the ocean. The submarines sunk down to the depths of the sea, taking Noodle and 2D's heart with them.

Crashing down through space

Sinking through water...