Chapter 34 — Ghosts / Goblins
A dim kid's Power Rangers lamp sat on the table. Yuri revealed his hand.
"I must admit, I am impressed—you win yet again," Yuri conceded.
Yomotsu scooped up the loose change on his table and moved it to his side.
"This has been such a wonderful way to both celebrate the one year anniversary of us moving in together and get rid of our spare change at the same time!" Yomotsu collected the coins in a gallon Ziploc bag as Yuri reshuffled the deck.
"You're only saying that because you've been winning," Yuri chided. The cards crackled as he readied the next game. "Shall we go for one more, or do you intend to quit while you're ahead?"
Yomotsu heaved the bag of change onto his lap. "Ah, I think I'm actually going to hit the hay, if you don't mind. A hero needs his rest, you know."
Yuri lifted his can of Grape Fanta to his lips and was smiling as he drank. Not too long ago, he loathed the word "hero" and the false justice it represented. So much had changed since then, however, and over the past year, Yomotsu had helped him learn a new approach.
"Then I suppose I will retire to my bed as well… I have a book I have been trying to get through for some time, but my thoughts have been in my way," Yuri said. Yomotsu was rising from the table when Yuri raised his hand suddenly and said, "Wait… Do you hear that?"
Yomotsu put his hand to his ear and turned his head to the left and then to the right. "I hear nothing out of the ordinary…"
"I distinctly heard… footsteps and a door opening, and many muffled voices… As though people were going in and out of the house next door," Yuri declared, still trying to hold on to the memory of the sounds.
Yomotsu strained to listen. "Yuri… As the one with super-hearing, I must confess that there is nothing at all to be heard… Perhaps you should attend to your sleep rather than that book tonight, alright?"
Yuri looked down at his can of Grape Fanta, which was under the gentle golden light of the Power Rangers lamp. "That might not be a bad idea," he said quietly as he gently rotated the can, swishing around the fizzy drink inside.
His housemate went back to his room to put away his earnings and the pack of cards, and then he returned to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. He was in his Transformation Costume, his pajamas. He never slept with the Transformation Belt, Gloves, or Mask on unless he collapsed on the couch after getting home from a tough fight. Yomotsu held the fridge door open for a while, and Yuri looked at him with sleepy eyes. The cold light was on his friend, who was looking for some kind of last minute snack. Yuri looked back at the can and then toward the window.
"Mercy and I are going to be going somewhere tomorrow," Yomotsu announced. "Did you want to join us?"
Yuri closed his eyes and gently shook his head. "No, I believe the both of you would have more fun on your own than with a third party around," he said. "But, that aside… I have a feeling I will want to be alone for a while tomorrow."
He felt Yomotsu's hand on his shoulder, and his friend said to him a bit sternly, "Yuri, Mercy and I like having you around. Your judgment usually is not this cloudy… You would be wise to remember that you are her best friend and my best friend, too."
Yomotsu left him. A moment later, Yuri could hear him brushing his teeth and gargling some water. Yomotsu then closed the door to his room and made a go at sleeping. Yuri remained at the table for some time before rising heavily and going to the kitchen.
He finished the can of Grape Fanta and tossed it with the other aluminum to recycle. He stopped at the window above the kitchen counter and used his index finger and middle finger to make an opening in the horizontal blinds. He peered closely outside and, in the blue darkness, focused his eyes on the neighbor's door.
There was nothing out there. It was simply a calm night, inconspicuous in any and every way. He swallowed. Something was happening in his mind, something that started a long time ago—and while the red moon might have been kept at bay, there was a madness within him that he feared was taking hold. Now his mind was creating sounds out of nothing, and he was spying on his neighbor.
Movement—he saw movement. The neighbor's door opened up, and a figure stepped out. It was Anemone, the new owner of the house. She was in-costume, as he expected. She walked out to the sidewalk and began trotting off, as though the night were her day. Likely she was on watch for criminal activity. The papers were reporting on her now, and she was showing up more frequently and not just to help out the town's other two heroes. She was becoming a mysterious celebrity in her own right.
Soon she was out of sight. Yuri glanced back at the door, the door she had not turned to lock. Either someone else was inside and had locked it from within, or else she had left it unlocked. Yuri crossed his arms.
"It is a crime, but can a crime be justified for the right cause…?"
He sighed. Means and ends could be the end of him, but an internal debate would be the end of this certainly opportunity. Or at least—it could be an opportunity, and he would hate for it not to be and then for him to be discovered.
"But she is in Olivia's house… And she has no right to be there."
He slipped on a pair of loafers and headed out the door. He closed it behind him, and he made sure to lock it.
"I know not if what I do is right… But I can't ignore the consequences of inaction if it would turn to have been right all along…"
There was a slight chill in the air, which he could feel through his black suit and dress pants. The street was completely quiet; this was both a relief and a source of worry. No one was outside to be a witness, but if he made too much noise, the sound would certainly carry.
Yuri crossed over to what had been Olivia's house. Its salmon-colored exterior took on an ominous quality at this hour. He took one last glance around, to make sure there was indeed no one watching, and then turned the doorknob.
The door gave in, and he gently pushed forward. He passed into the house, submerging himself in the darkness of the unlit place, and closed the door behind himself. He left it unlocked. If Anemone came back, he could make a dash for a hiding spot and perhaps, as slim of a chance as it was, have his break-in go unnoticed.
He kindled a small flame in his hand, and the blue-green light allowed him to get a better look at inside of the place without light being visible from an outside view through the window. He was unsure how to feel about how nothing had been changed about the interior of the house. He remembered seeing Anemone move stuff into the house, but the living room was unchanged.
When he took a harder look at the three chairs in the living room to his right, however, his blood was startled—a shape was sitting on the armchair whose back faced him. A ghostly apparition was relaxed in the chair and was staring forward. Before his eyes, he saw another phantom appear in the seat across from him, and this ghost was now facing Yuri's direction.
It was when the second ghost looked up and waved to Yuri that the intruder began to panic. The apparition was of no one he particularly remembered, although he could not escape a distant sense of familiarity. It was a crude ghost, not the ghost of someone once beautiful but the fading memory of an angry soul.
A third ghost formed on the stool next to the armchairs, but this one was standing on the stool—standing on his head, in fact, and quite literally. The ghost was balancing on its own dismembered head. There was nothing above the neck, just an eerie emptiness. The other two ghosts pointed at the third ghost and began to chuckle. They incorporated the ghost into their conversation, which went on uninterrupted by Yuri's presence.
He was tempted to leave now and not look back, but he felt called forward. The ghosts did not have an antagonistic response to him, after all. They were simply there, and so long as they remained there, they could bring him no physical harm. He told himself that much, at least, when he went further inside the living room.
Yuri passed by the trio of ghosts and turned to enter the kitchen. Immediately he stepped back out, however—he saw the ghost of Albert Maverick standing in the middle of the kitchen. Rather than the confident smile the old man was often displaying, this Maverick was the reduced and depraved Maverick, the one that Lunatic had executed. When Yuri looked back, he realized that the three in the chairs behind him were other criminals he had killed.
Yuri was now breaking out in a cold sweat. There were ghosts behind him and a ghost in front of him, and whichever way he went, he would have to pass by the lingering presence of souls that would have every reason to hate him from beyond the grave.
He rushed forward, through the kitchen. As he made his way toward the closed door ahead, he watched Maverick reached toward him with a trembling hand. Yuri was glaring back at the mindless, drooling face as he flung open the door. Yuri then faced the next room ahead, and he found Mr. Legend sitting on the toilet.
His father looked up at him from his newspaper. He was fully in-costume. Yuri did not hesitate in closing the door and turning for the next exit. He ran past Maverick, who was still reaching toward him, and found his way into the hallway that extended from the kitchen. The same hallway was accessible from across the front entrance. He contemplated making a rush for the door to his left and leaving the house, but he felt that the more he was being shoved away, the more important it became for him to push forward.
The hallway continued until two new exits revealed themselves. Straight ahead was the master bedroom and to his right was an open doorway leading basement stairs. Yuri turned back and saw that Mr. Legend was following him at a leisurely pace. Yuri bolted into what had been Olivia's bedroom.
The was a queen-sized bed took up the largest space in the room. Covering it was a royal purple bedspread. A nightstand with a lamp and a copy of the Bhagavad-Gita sitting on it was on one side of the bed, and on the other side was a mini-fridge. There was a desk and mirror against the wall to Yuri's left and two big dressers and a full wardrobe to Yuri's right. It was a typical bedroom, except for the ghost crouched on the bed.
A black thing hiding in wait, this was the most terrifying of the ghosts so far—it emerged slowly and spread its wings while Yuri looked on helplessly. Each hand held a different end of the cape. The ghost of Bryce Wayne was staring straight at him. Yuri turned suddenly away and found that Mr. Legend had been waiting right behind him.
Yuri shoved through the ghost of his father without the slightest resistance, and Yuri flung himself down the stairs. He flew down in such a panic that he did not notice right away how unusually far down the stairs went. Deeper and deeper he went, and darker and darker the depths became, until he could not see the fainted outline of the stairs. He finally was forced to a stop when there was only a door ahead of him. He could see light from underneath the door, but all else around him was pitch darkness. He turned around fully, and he saw the ghosts making their way down the stairs.
Their eerie frames were clear to his eyes—Bryce Wayne was leading the chase, followed by Mr. Legend, Maverick, a ghost juggling its own head, and two laughing criminals still engaged in their own conversation. Yuri turned back to the door. He felt his way around until he found the handle, and he gave it a turn, but the handle would not give way. The door was locked.
He turned back, and the ghosts were closing in. He felt his hand around the wall, desperately. He grew the flame in his hand and held it near the wall, so as to inspect for anything that might save him. That is how he was able to find a small black box attached to the wall. Desperate and frightened of the ghosts that were now only a few steps away, Yuri smashed the box with his fist.
Yuri watched as the Bryce Wayne, who was reaching toward Yuri, suddenly faded away. Maverick's eyes rolled back into his head, and he too disappeared. The ghost further in the back accidently dropped his head and went away for good, and the two behind him stopped laughing and waved goodbye.
"A security system," Yuri whispered to himself, almost breathlessly. "Good trick, good trick…"
Yuri fell back against the door. He realized now just how weak his knees were. He was about to investigate further when he noticed that the ghost of Mr. Legend had not faded away like the others.
His father put his hands on his hips. "You can't get rid of your old man that easily, Yuri!"
Yuri's face, at first full of fear, was now full of anger. He clenched his fists, and the hand that once held the fire now became consumed by it. Yuri rushed toward the ghost of his father, which came not from the security device but from a darker part of his mind, and threw his flaming fist at the apparition. Yuri went straight through his father, who only laughed in response.
"Do you want me to say hello to your mother for you?"
Mr. Legend disappeared in front of Yuri, who was now leaning forward, breathing heavily. He had his hands on his knees.
"Keep running, father!" Yuri shouted. He clenched his teeth. "You can't run from your crimes, and… Neither can I…!"
With an exhausted sigh, Yuri dropped down on the last stair. He held his face in his hands.
Yuri moaned, "Why does my past keep appearing in front of me…?"
The door ahead creaked open.
"Gee, well, I suppose you probably don't want to see me either then, do you?"
Yuri lifted his eyes from his hands.
A lighted room was behind a man standing at the open doorway. His eyes adjusted to the light again, but he thought at first his eyes still might be playing tricks on him.
"Mr. Kaburagi… is that truly you?"
The figure walked forward. He had one hand in his pocket, and the other hand he held out toward Yuri.
"Yeah, Judge, it's me. But just call me 'Kotetsu', okay? Anyway, we've got to get you inside before I explain anything. I know it's late, but now that you've busted in here like this, I'm afraid this can't wait any longer."
Yuri gave a weary nod. "Thank you, Kotetsu…" He took the hero's hand, and the Crusher for Justice hoisted him to his feet.
When Yomotsu said that he was going to be going somewhere the next day with Mercy, he purposefully left the whereabouts a mystery. That was because he had no idea himself what was going to happen. He only knew he was going somewhere because Mercy said she had a plan for the two of them and Yuri, if he wanted to join.
It was weird waking up and not finding Yuri already up, making some hot tea or reading the paper like he often did. When he went to the bathroom upstairs, he found that the show was dry, meaning that Yuri had not even taken a shower yet. He hollered downstairs for his friend, but no one emerged from the basement.
He met up with Mercy, who voiced surprise and concern that Yuri had declined to hang out with them.
"He just wanted some time to himself," Yomotsu explained, hoping himself that was all there really was to the situation.
As Mercy drove them to their destination, Yomotsu made a call to Yuri's phone. Nobody answered, which worried Yomotsu more than a little. He reassured himself that Yuri wasn't answering his phone simply because he was fully serious about being alone. Still, even that worried him—he wondered what could be behind such a strong desire for solitude.
Mercy led him out of the car by hand. She was so excited that she ran to the door ahead, and her energy was enough to intrigue Yomotsu and distract him from his worries at least for the moment. Mercy knocked on the door, and when it opened she exclaimed, "Rocco! Nice costume!"
"Shhhhh!" Their coworker whispered back. He assumed a new voice, a deeper and more ominous tone than the likes he would use with customers and coworkers at Yum Yums. "I am not the Rocco for whom you look for, but wary travelers of great distance and great accomplishments—I will will rush you inside, where it is safe, and set you on the path to your future glory. Whether it is treasure you seek or the company of beautiful women, all will be yours when you defeat the Goblin King."
Rocco retreated inside and Mercy, still holding Yomotsu's hand, dragged her confused boyfriend inside. As she followed Rocco, she explained, "We somehow got on the subject the other day of our nerdy hobbies, and Rocco told me he likes to play Goblin Quest but hasn't lately found anyone who wants to play with him. So I said we'd like to give it a try!"
Yomotsu tried to jog his memory. "What is this Goblin Quest about, exactly?"
"Oh, you've never heard of it?" Mercy gasped. "It's a role playing game where one person acts as the Goblin Seer, the story's narrator, and the other players assume characters and try to kill the Goblin King according to the Goblin Seer's rules. Just follow my lead and you'll figure it out in no time!"
They were led into a chilly basement and told to sit down on the floor. A rule book for the game and a pair of normal dice were all that were required for the game. Yomotsu heard a TV on somewhere toward the back of the room, tuned in to JusTV. Other than that, the basement could be perceived as being quite bare. It was the perfect environment for a game such as this, for the cold, damp, and quiet atmosphere aided perfectly the theme the Goblin Seer was creating.
"Brave warriors from lands far away," Rocco began. He was speaking in a low, background voice. It was almost as though Rocco were not speaking but another voice was possessing him and seeping through. "I have awaited your arrival to our realm for quite some time. I am Blak Ztringgg, the dark prophet of the land. For a hundred years, we have been under the yoke of the evil Goblin King. He lives at the top of the Castle, guarding his vast treasure. I have predicted that two warriors would come to challenge the Goblin King—are you the warriors the spirits have sought?"
"You betcha!" Mercy answered.
"Uhhhh, that is correct, Black String," Yomotsu agreed.
"I am not 'Black String' but 'Blak Ztringgg."
"That is what I said, Rocco—"
"I am Black Ztringgg, and my name is cursed, so say it four times in a row and bad things will happen." Rocco gave an intrigued moan. "So tell me your names and occupations, ill-fated souls."
Mercy leaned over toward Yomotsu and whispered, "Just pretend you're creating a character for a fantasy novel, and feel free to give your character powers you think will help. This determines your course in the entire game."
Yomotsu swallowed hard and then answered, "I am Sir Just, Righteous Knight of the Order of Light. I have heard of the terrible Goblin King and have followed my Diar—my DIRE need for justice to be fulfilled to this place of great fame! Many a foe have I defeated while wearing my Transforma—uh—my TRANSYLVANIAN Vampire Armor, which allows me to absorb the blood of my fallen enemies. I wield the legendary Sword of Fate, which gives me… strength."
Yomotsu leaned over to Mercy and whispered, "Was that okay?"
Mercy whispered back, "That was great, Yomotsu. That armor will help you out a lot, I think. Good idea."
"Very well, Sir Just," Rocco began again, in his sinister tone. "And who is your companion on this quest?"
"Well, since he is being a jerk and decided not to join us today, I think I will be Yuri today," Mercy said. "I am a pyromancer from the swamp land of Thanatossia. I wield my father's Crossbow of Repentance, which uses an infinite supply of fire-bolts. I am equipped with the Cloak of Ascension, which allows me to fly short distances. Also, uhh… I have beautiful hair, which makes me have high charisma with the ladies and some of the boys."
An abrupt laugh erupted from Rocco, Blak Ztringgg the Goblin Seer. "And so it is that our two heroes, Sir Just and Yuri of Thanatossia have arrived at the Castle of the Goblin King. Before their eyes, the door opens—as if recognizing the future kings of the land or, perhaps, as if to swallow the new prey whole. And I, Blak Ztringgg, after giving them my sound advice and a map of the castle, watch from my crystal ball all that transpires. These two men think they are strangers, but they are in fact long-lost brothers… MWAHAHAHAHAHA."
Yomotsu felt Mercy eagerly tapping his shoulder. "THIS IS GONNA BE SO GOOD," she whispered.
Rocco continued, "After entering, you appear in the castle foyer. It is lighted by a few dim torches on the walls, which are set a great distance apart. While you can see the stone walls illuminated by the torches, the middle of the room is shrouded in total darkness. Your eyes have yet to adjust from the sunshine of the outside world. Sir Just, what do you do?"
Yomotsu wondered what someone with vision might do in this situation. He presumed that simply answering, "I perceive nothing in the darkness with my super-hearing and continue boldly forward," would not be an acceptable answer. He cleared his throat and replied, "Sir Just turns to Yuri and asks if he would light the way with his fire."
Rocco murmured approval. "Yes, yes, and Yuri… do you accept his request, or do you take a different course of action?"
"I comply," Mercy answered. "And I create a ball of fire in my left hand, while my crossbow is tightly held in my right. This ball of fire is large enough to illuminate ten feet in front of us."
"Very well," Rocco said. "You must roll one of the dice, Mercy. If you roll a three or higher, your fire sparks successfully. If you roll a one or a two, you accidently light Sir Just on fire."
Mercy rolled a four.
"You can now see fine in the foyer, and you notice the exits: straight ahead there is a staircase that leads to a massive bronze door. From the stairs you could also take a right or left, leading to two doors black as my soul… Or you could open a door hidden underneath the stairs. Sir Just, your move."
Yomotsu stroked his chin. "The door under the stairs sounds appetizing, but it could be a trap… And there is no way we could just open the brass door. But between the two black doors up the stairs, which would be better?" He realized there was no way of knowing, he finally decided, "I lead Yuri up the stairs, to the black door on the right."
Blak Ztringgg narrated, "When you open the door, you notice a rotten smell. You enter a lighted hallway that stretches for a great distance ahead. You can see that there are no doors ahead at all. On the walls there are multiple portraits: one of a dead man, one of a dead dog, one of a dead bear, and one of a dead dream. There is also a hole in the floor halfway down the hall that could be easily avoided, and all you can see in the hole is darkness. Yuri, what is your course of action?"
Mercy asked, "How big are the paintings?"
"The size of an average portrait, not too big or too small," Blak Ztringgg vaguely answered.
"Small enough to throw into the hole, hypothetically?"
"It can be done."
"Alright!" Mercy was confident in her answer. "I set the portrait of the dead man on fire and drop it into the hole. I then watch to see how far the brightly lit portrait falls and what kind of sound it makes when it falls."
Blak Ztringgg continued thus, "You see the portrait fall a long distance, before it is overtaken by a group of small, red-eyed rats. The rats then start attacking the portrait and become enflamed with flames. You now notice that behind where the portrait of the dead man was, there is written on the wall in blood: 'Between the galley and the rats, upon reflection I'd be a fool not to choose the latter.' Sir Just, your move."
"It sounds like some kind of clue," Yomotsu said. "The galley is where people are hung for their crimes, like how these portraits have been hung on the walls. And 'latter' could mean there's a 'ladder' somewhere that could ease us into the darkness. But then we'd have to fight off those rats, and they could be diseased. But I want to go and take down the portrait of the dead dog and see what is behind it. I will set the portrait against the wall, rather than throw it down."
"You see another message written in blood on the wall, but it they are just bloody paw prints and I don't remember either of you saying you could understand such messages. Yuri?"
"Naturally, I'll take down the portrait of the dead bear."
"You see claw marks in the wall, and the marks are bloody. Sir Just?"
"All that remains is for me to see what is behind the dead dream."
"You see a mirror. You see your own reflection in the mirror, but you are without skin, only bloody muscle and tortured soul. Yuri?"
Mercy chuckled wickedly, knowingly. "I take down the mirror and walk over to where the portrait of the dead man hung. I hold the mirror up where that portrait used to hang, and I look in the reflection."
"You see the same type of reflection of yourself as before, but now behind you notice a tall ladder leaning against the wall. If you turn back to look at the ladder, you can't see it. Sir Just?"
"Genius move, Mercy… I follow the reflection Yuri has cast and, stepping back, watch myself grab the ladder in the reflection. Can I feel it in my hands?"
"You can."
"Then I carry it past where I can still see the mirror's reflection."
"The ladder in your hands now materializes. Yuri, your course of action?"
"I tell Sir Just to hurry up and lower the ladder into the hole! But I also wonder about the rats… I'm going to gather up the other portraits and light them all on fire, one-by-one throwing them down, until there's a nice little pile of flaming portraits. Then I proceed to pick off the rats with my crossbow."
"The rats are lured to the flame and burn. You shoot them until none remain, and the foul stench rises more powerfully than ever from the hole. Sir Just?"
The brothers go through the hole and find themselves walking on squishy, moist and mossy ground. They proceed through narrow tunnels and realize they are sinking deeper and deeper into the depths below the castle. Blak Ztringgg details another puzzle, this time involving levers, and after a few test attempts, they manage to solve the puzzle and open the path ahead, but in doing so, they closed off the path back and invited a group of giant rats to ambush them.
"How do we fight, if we don't have stats?" Yomotsu asked.
"Dice rolls and clever thinking are our best weapons," Mercy explained.
After a few rolls, Sir Just hacked his way through some of the foul creatures, and Yuri burned up the rest of them. Once assured that no more enemies remained in wait, they continued along the opened path, through an even narrower tunnel. They now had to squeeze themselves forward, crawling through the muck, and the stench was almost suffocating.
They arrived in a small room where they had to solve another riddle to decide which of the three bells presented to them they should ring. They concluded that one bell would open a gate that would cause these depths to fill with water, one would seal the path behind them and lock them forever in the room, and the remaining bell would open up both the bronze door accessible from the foyer and a forward.
They solve the riddle, choose the right bell, and end up following a path that leads them out the door under the stairs, which, if they had tried to open it originally, would have found it locked from the other side. As they ascended the foyer, Yomotsu heard the television announcer in the background say that there was a dangerous terrorist loose downtown, announcing himself as Acid, the man who would kill the 12th and Lunatic.
Yomotsu tuned out the broadcast. Someone who made a boast like that was likely not that dangerous at all, and Yuri would be able to handle the threat on his own. He had Sir Just continue up the stairs and through the open bronze doors. Blak Ztringgg explained that in the room there was a massive knight in black armor wielding a two-handed sword. As soon as the heroes entered, the knight turned to look at them and said to them:
"I am the Black Guardian of the Goblin King, first of three protectors of the throne. The White Guardian, the ancient magician, and the Gold Guardian, the impenetrable golem, shall not have the joy of killing you—for your quest ends with my blade."
Mercy had Yuri fire a fire bolt, and the dice roll did not work in her favor. The bolt was ineffective and simply clinked against the armor before falling to the floor. His dark armor resisted the fire. It was Yomotsu's turn, but as he was going to have Sir Just advance, he heard the announcer on the TV say that Acid was capturing hostages and was calling for either Lunatic or the 12th to show themselves. The television broadcasted his chilling address to the heroes, and in the address, Acid said that he is the one formally known as Perfu-Menace, escaped from jail and ready for revenge. He said he would take out his bloodlust on the people of Graceville if the town's heroes would not rise to fight.
Yomotsu could handle it no more. "I'm sorry, Rocco—Blak Ztringg—and Mercy, but I have to go… I have to go have my shoes shined, and I forgot all about my appointment. Is there any way I can leave this game right now?"
Rocco whined, and now it was the genuine voice they were familiar with from their coworker, "Come on, now? It was just getting so good. Well, huh… I guess you could sacrifice Sir Just and give all of his power to Yuri. Mercy, would you still want to play, even if it's just you and I?"
Mercy answered affirmatively, "I will stay and kill the Goblin King, in Sir Just's memory!"
Rocco exclaimed, "Alright!" He then resumed the Blak Ztringgg persona and narrated, "The blood sacrifice of Sir Just finally united the two brothers, and Yuri's power now increased more than double. Sir Just's Transylvanian Vampire armor and Sword of Fate are now available to Yuri."
Yomotsu rose to his feet. "Thank you… Well, I'll see you both later, then!"
Mercy rose with him, to kiss him on the cheek. "I hope that they have a TV at this shoe-shining place, because then you can listen to the announcer talk about how the 12th beats the crap out of this Acid guy. I'll be watching that, too, out of the corner of my eye."
As Yomotsu left, he heard Blak Ztringgg laugh once more, and he swore he heard the dark spirit of Whitney Houston descend upon the household.