Aaaand here's the next chapter of the story, back into the action too ^^

Sorry if this is a bit shorter than the other chapters

But anyways, enjoy the next instalment of Ramona Flowers' Race Against Time

CHAPTER 4: REALINING MEMORIES

Ramona entered a church in Toronto, wearing all black as well as having her hair dyed a darker shade of blue than before. Though the strangest thing was, she didn't know how she got her or why she was even here…but had no control over her movements for unknown reasons.

Many people that her boyfriend, Scott Pilgrim, knew, his parents and siblings, Bandmates, Lisa, Young Neil etc. were also in the church. Before she could even begin to wonder why everyone was here, Ramona immediately found out why: they were attending Scott's funeral.

Sitting in a bench, Ramona saw she was behind Young Neil and Kim. "I can't believe he's gone…" Neil said, unable to believe that Scott had died. "It's not a big surprise, really. He was always taking on high-level enemies. Nobody wins forever though…" Kim then responded in her usual expression, though she did feel sad about Scott's death.

"This doesn't seem right…" Ramona thought to herself, but before she could think anything else, Knives entered the church, sobbing at Scott's death. She then noticed Ramona and gasped in anger. "You! Why are you here?! You killed Scott!" She yelled, angrily glaring much to Rammy's shock.

"Knives, I didn't kill Scott! I swear I didn't mean for him to die!" Ramona tried to say while calming down Knives, but it didn't work. "Didn't mean?! You're responsible! You're the one to blame! It's your fault!" Knives angrily continued, and now Ramona definitely felt something was off.

Their argument was immediately interrupted by the arrival of a familiar and very famous popstar, Envy Adams. Everyone, or rather, most people, cheered and said how amazing she was too, all despite the fact that she had literally gate-crashed the whole funeral, something that caused Ramona to become pretty concerned about.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming out to see me. As you all know, I briefly dated Scott Pilgrim in my pre-celebrity life. And even though he was the least important chapter in the book of my life, and even though I don't remember much about our relationship at all, I thought I'd sing a song in his memory." Envy said before taking a deep breath.

AND THEN ENVY SANG AND EVERYONE FORGOT ABOUT SCOTT'S FUNERAL

Normally, Ramona would've been annoyed in this case, given the fact that the song soon broke out into pop song, but knowing something was definitely wrong, she became more and more worried.

Once the song had finished, Envy then left the church with most of the attendees following after her, leaving Ramona, Scott's family and some of his friends the sole attendees of Scott's funeral. They went to his coffin, where there was about $2.10 in change in place of a body, and paid their last respects to him. Ramona then turned to leave out of guilt...

Only to find herself skating off into Subspace...

Ramona couldn't figure out how she ended up there in the first place, and then something completely unexpected ever happened. "Ramona…" Scott's voice called out, causing her to stop in her tracks. "S-Scott...?" Ramona asked in shock, looking all around for any sign of Scott, but there was none…

She then noticed a figure standing a good distance away from her in subspace. Not hesitating, Ramona skated towards the figure. "Ramona…!" Scott's voice called from the figure's direction "Scott? I-I'm coming!" Ramona said, stressfully skating as hard as she could towards who she thought to be Scott, but no matter how fast she skated, Ramona wasn't even close to him, almost like something was keeping her from getting there.

"Why didn't you listen to me…?" He then said, shocking Ramona, since that wasn't something he'd ever say to her at all. The voice echoed endlessly, and became so loud that Ramona herself had to cover her ears. "Scott please, I'm trying to save you!" She pleaded, trying to make the echo stop, but it didn't cease...and before she knew it, the voice echoed constantly and then said mean things about her, like "You're a horrible person!" or "You don't deserve anyone!".

"Scott, I'm sorry! I-I didn't know what would happen, I didn't mean what I said, please!" Ramona, now in a frightened state, having stopped and trying to make the noises stop, but they didn't, like fate was constantly mocking her for her mistakes.

"SCOTT!" Ramona screamed, waking up in fright as she breathed at a rapid pace. She shook her head and saw that she was still in the tent she had Wallace set up, then looked around outside to see she was still in Toronto (In the Past. Day: Thursday. 168 hours until The Rockit) with her friends and her Time Skates, to her relief, though she couldn't help but wonder why she was dreaming of Scott's funeral in the present (or past, however that works) and the confusion caused her to tear up slightly. Her scream had also been loud enough to wake up Knives from her slumber. "Rammy, are you ok...?" She gently asked as she rubbed her eyes.

Ramona took a deep breath and exhaled before answering her friend's question. "I-I'm fine, Knives...just had a bad dream." She responded, wiping her eyes. Knives, then having noticed Ramona's tears, then hugged Ramona to try and make her feel better. "I'm fine, I swear Knives. It's nothing I can't..." Before Ramona could finish, she let out a little sob and hugged Knives back. "It's ok, we're gonna fix this together. We'll get Scott back." Knives said with a calm voice, making Ramona feel slightly better.

All the while, Wallace (Status: Awake now) heard the whole conversation and was even amazed to hear Ramona and Knives getting along so well despite their past. "Yeah, the sooner the better, right?" Ramona then asked rhetorically with a slight chuckle. "Yeah. I miss him too you know, we all do. But we've got a chance to save him and kill whoever killed him first." Knives then responded as she let go of Ramona to show her reassuring smile.

After getting breakfast at a nearby diner...

Ramona had pretty much calmed down enough to concentrate on keeping Past Scott safe at all costs. "Alright, you know the plan Knives. You and Kim get to the Library and find Chicken Boy." She said to Knives, who nodded with confidence. "And I take it you guys are going elsewhere?" Kim (Status: Still a little sleepy from waking up earlier) then asked, figuring the obvious answer despite asking. "We're gonna investigate more on who the Shadow Figure could be. And we're also going to find muscle head just in case he tries to attack Scott." Wallace then said from what Ramona told him.

"I don't get it though...why would that guy even try to attack Scott if he showed it? I mean, it's not like my little brother did anything to him, right?" Stacey then asked. "We'll know more soon enough. But right now, we have to focus on the mission and make sure Scott doesn't die." Ramona then responded, still trying to figure out the puzzle of the mystery but her main priorities being keeping Past from Scott from dying. "And if that Shadow XXXXXXX shows up, we take him down, right?" Wallace then said, taking out his empty beer bottle to show his eagerness to fight the Shadow Figure.

"That suits me." Kim then said with a firm smirk of approval. "Me too. Anyways, we've gotta get to the Library. Come find us if you guys are in trouble!" Knives then, right as she grabbed Kim and rushed off to find her past self and Scott's past self. Soon afterwards, Ramona, Stacey and Wallace left to find the muscle head, and right as they saw someone who looked like the very guy they were searching for. Whether he was or was not The Shadow Figure still remained a mystery, but Ramona had to find out if she and the others were going to help save Scott.

HOPEFUL ENCOUNTERS

Toronto Public Library

Wychwood Branch

With the help of her' skills (Knives Chau's note: I've still got it.), Knives and Kim managed to sneak their way into the library where the two waited for her past self and Past Scott too arrive. And soon enough, Past Scott and Knives showed up, where she asked Scott to help her with the books she picked out. Like the plan, Kim and Knives had to stay hidden to avoid altering the past any further, moments before they noticed that the Masked Chicken (Status: Still spying on Past Scott, while invisible, like yesterday.) had show up again. "There you are, you little chicken..." Kim muttered to herself.

"Ok, that should do it." Past Knives said, finishing collecting her books and giving the last one to Past Scott for him to hold. "Man, this is pretty weird." He said as he looked around the whole library. "What's weird" Past Knives asked as the two began making their way to the front desk, the masked chicken following closely behind them along with Kim and Knives. "Libraries always remind me of grade school." Past Scott continued, given his hazy memories (Knives Chau's Note: Possibly due to Gideon messing with his head) and all.

"That must sound like a really long time ago." Past Knives said to the embarrassment of Past Scott, who didn't want to talk about the matter anymore. Kim and Knives (And the Masked Chicken) gently snuck down the stairs behind the past couple, who somehow didn't notice them to their relief. And looking down the stairs, they all saw it, or rather...her: Ramona Flowers' past self (Age: 24. Status: Doing her usual business in the past. Not-So Fun Fact: Nobody knows her age until the end of the 4th book. Brighter Fact: She hasn't run into her past self yet, and hopefully never will), pink hair, on roller-skates and doing a delivery like Knives remembered.

"Just sign it right there, thanks." Past Ramona said as Kim and Knives (including Past Knives and Scott, even the Masked Chicken) saw everything in the past happen. "So this is how you and Scott first knew Ramona, right?" Kim then asked, whispering to Knives who sheepishly nodded, especially after seeing Past Scott's eyes widened with surprise. "Yo, what's up? Hello...? Do you know that girl?" Past Knives (Knives Chau's Note: Yep...how naïve I was back then...) asked Past Scott, who was still surprised to see that Rammy was real, as she left the library on skates, the process of which made Past Knives somewhat jealous.

"N-No, I don't think so? Wait, isn't it too snowy outside to be rollerblading?" Past Scott then asked, unable to get Past Ramona out of his mind and amazed that he didn't just dream her up. All the while, Kim and Knives watched as the past couple rent the books. "And now I know how this all started..." Kim then said with the roll of her eyes in annoyance. She then noticed Knives, who gave her an annoyed look like she assumed Kim wanted to punch Scott's past self. "I mean, not that that's a bad thing, Knives. Besides, things wouldn't have been the same without you or Scott" She then responded with a reassuring tone and even patting Knives on the back.

Knives smiled at Kim showing that she cared, all as she turned towards her past self and Scott, renting out the books at the front desk, unable to help but smile a little at the memories of herself and Scott, even if they weren't dating for long. "Talk about Deja Vu, eh?" The voice beside her spoke. Wait, voice beside them? Knives froze in shock, even Kim managed to conceal a gasp of fright, right before the pair turned to their right to see him...The Masked Chicken, looking right at them (Without his invisibility), just as shocked to see them as they were to him.

"Did...Did Ramona say how we convince this guy to follow us?" Knives whispered to Kim with sheer panic racing through her mind, believing the masked figure was staring into her soul. "No, she didn't(Not-So Fun Fact: She really didn't.). I don't know how we're gonna get Chicken Boy to-" Kim whispered with worry, but was cut off after the masked figure heard the name the girls had called him. "Hey! Who are you calling Chicken Boy?!" He exclaimed quietly, offended by the name almost immediately.

"S-Sorry about offending you. Really, we are. But, we need-" Before Knives could even finish her sentence, The Masked Chicken then opened up what looked to be a vegan portal (Kim Pine's Note: Wait, is this guy a vegan?!)(Knives Chau's Note: Wait, what even IS a Vegan Portal or even a Vegan?), jumping through it and pulling the along with him as well. This caused Knives to yelp in panic, which though loud, wasn't enough to make her Past Self, who shrugged off the noise, look back to see the portal close.

Elsewhere (More specifically Casa Loma. Fun Fact: Scott fights Lucas Lee here sometime after The Rockit)

Kim and Knives fell from the portal and landed in the parking lot of Casa Loma. "Woah...that was crazy." Knives exclaimed as she saw where they were in shock. "You're telling me? And here I thought Envy's meathead-of-a-boyfriend (Todd Ingram from somewhere: STOP CALLING ME A MEATHEAD!) only had psychic powers." Kim said, dusting herself off in annoyance as she looked around. "Todd Ingram could possess more than just psychic powers as a Vegan, Kim. Haven't you played the game or seen the anime?" The Masked Chicken asked, appearing behind the two girls with his arms crossed.

It was here that the two girls could see the masked chicken a lot better than yesterday, he wore what seemed to be a chrome orange armor-like suit, with an amber coloured bird on it, over a maroon suit with crimson stripes on the legs and arms of said suit. He also wore rojo red gloves, which seemed to have glowing gold bars on them (Scott Pilgrim's Note, Somewhere in Time: Just like Mega Man), and boots. His helmet was fire-engine red with amber-coloured visors that acted as eyes , a tangelo orange fin on the top that resembled a bird's feather and two citrine yellow ear pieces. And lastly, his long scarf was a mixture between red, orange and gold, all in a fiery pattern and glowing.

The Masked Chicken also wore some kind of titan red gizmo, which seemed to have a lot of tech on it, on a rosy brown belt strap, but Kim and Knives didn't pay said belt any attention. "Wait what?" Kim asked, having no clue about the question that Chicken Boy asked. "N-Never mind. Anyways, what the heck are you two doing here in the past, Kim? If your past selves saw you then-" Before The Masked Chicken could even finish, Kim cut him off out of shock. "Hang on, how do you know my name?!" She asked, more like demanding to know from Chicken Boy in this case.

"Kimberly Pine, drummer for Sex Bob-Omb and Knives Chau, Scott Pilgrim's High School Ex? Yeah, who wouldn't know a lot about you guys...playing in your own house?" The Masked Chicken explained with a cocky tone, though after he nervously couldn't think of any other show, Kim could easily see through his lie, much like she could with Scott's usual business (Kim Pine's Note: Damn Straight. This guy is probably more of an idiot than Scott was). "You know you're not fooling either of us, right?" Kim asked rhetorically with an arched eyebrow. "Aw come on, Kim. I'm busy at the moment with...stuff." The Masked Chicken responded, though it wasn't a good one for his defence.

"What kind of stuff are you talking about? Also, I really like your outfit, it makes you look-" Knives began, prying at the masked figure before admiring his outfit, something that annoyed Kim almost immediately. "Ok, enough! Who are you, Chicken Boy?" She then said, getting between the two before asking the name of the Masked Chicken firmly. "Figured you'd ask that eventually. Anyways, the name's Phoenix, I'm Ramona's Ninth Ex." The Masked Chicken himself, or rather, Phoenix (Name: Unknown. Age: Unknown. Powers: I have no idea... Fun Fact: He seems to know Ramona. Not-So Fun Fact: She doesn't know him yet) responded with confidence.

The instant the word EX was brought up, Knives immediately got the wrong idea. "Ex?! Wait...then you're one of the League of Evil Exes' members!" She yelled while pointing at a finger at Phoenix, who became shocked by those words, accusingly. "W-Wait what?! Hang on, I never said I was-" Phoenix tried to explain, but Knives refused to see "Don't you start! You've gotta be in cahoots with that Shadow Figure who killed Scott in the past! You...Chicken!" Knives yelled, unable to find a good insult, unless calling him Chicken was one, and determined to fight him to save Scott's life.

"Knives, I don't think he's actually-" Kim began, worried about what Knives was thinking (And the fact that she completely forgot that this chicken wasn't dangerous at all.) and tried to pull her back, only to get shrugged off by Knives herself. "Stay outta this, Kim! And you...I'll make you dead before you even have the chance to kill Scott! Even though you don't seem harmless though...but you're still gonna get your butt kicked anyway!" Knives then yelled as she looked back towards Phoenix, summoning her Sais and preparing to fight her foe. "Ugh, ok...looks like we're really doing this." Phoenix groaned before getting into a fighting stance.

PHOENIX

VS.

KNIVES CHAU

FIGHT!

Knives attacked first, leaping up into the air and striking back at Phoenix with her Sais, however, the masked bird's armor was too durable to pierce as he blocked both blades with his right arm as if it were a shield. However, Knives managed to kick Phoenix into a nearby tree after he left himself open for an attack. Getting to his feet in time, Phoenix managed to see Knives throwing her sais at him and used his vegan powers to shove them down into the pavement. "Knives, wait! Just let me explain-" He began, only to stop when Knives came at him with a megaton kick.

"Shut it, Chicken Boy!" She yelled, hoping to hit him. However, Phoenix ducked underneath her and grabbed her leg, right before tossing her up towards Casa Loma's tower. Knives managed avoid getting hurt and even leapt up to the top of the tower too. Phoenix then leapt up to the tower to confront Knives and explain things, but she took him by surprise and the two continued battling on top of the roof, with Knives punching at near ninja-like speeds. Surprisingly, Phoenix was able to keep up with Knives, just as fast as Ramona was.

Knives tried to strike at Phoenix again, but he dodged her and used his invisibility to take her by surprise. He grabbed hold of her, pinning her arms while he tried to explain. "I'm not a member of the League of Exes, that group disbanded years ago!" He spoke, though seconds afterwards he got a backwards headbutt from Knives. "Stop lying, Chicken Boy!" She yelled, trying to strike again, but surprisingly, Phoenix performed a combo move: Summoning an aura-like duplicate to perform a twin-link Double Hurricane Kick to send Knives flying off the roof before he sent her flying towards the ground after hitting her with a Mithril Skateboard that felt more stronger than any skateboard that Lucas Lee possessed.

Phoenix, thinking quickly, then landed in the parking lot again to open a vegan portal that he used to make sure Knives didn't die. However, Knives being so sneaky, then threw one of her sais towards Phoenix, who caught it between his two fingers...before it exploded (Phoenix's Note: Oh come on!) and sent him flying a bit of a distance. He then saw Knives, rushing towards him to hopes to land a fatal blow on him. As she tried to attack, Phoenix's glove began to glow an orange-gold aura that enveloped his arm as he got to his feet.

"Phoenix Punch!" He yelled, and punched as hard as he could with, both his fist and Knives' foot making contact which resulted in a huge explosion that sent Knives flying backwards down the stairs leading up to Casa Loma. "Knives!" He yelled, rushing towards the stairs to try and see if he could see Knives...only to see that she was nowhere to be seen. He was about to head down the stairs, but suddenly got kicked in the face by Knives all of a sudden when she appeared out of nowhere. "Ha! Take that, Chicken Boy!" She said triumphantly with a smirk. "Stop calling me that!" Before he knew it, Phoenix was rushing towards Knives again just as she was him, until...

"Ok, that's it! Knock it off you two!" Kim yelled, intervening in the middle of the fight and stopping the two from hurting each other any further. "But he started it, Kim! He started it with his evil ex talk!" Knives yelled, blindly blaming Phoenix for 'starting' the fight. "Ok first off, I already told you I'm not a member of that league (Kim Pine's Note: He kinda seems too young to be a League member anyway…unless he's a dwarf from the future). And secondly, you attacked me first!" Phoenix said in his own defence, even holding up his hands. "He's got a good point, Knives." Kim bluntly said to a slightly dejected Knives.

Kim then turned towards Phoenix with a stern expression. "Anyways, Phoenix, if that's really your real name...we've got so many questions for you. And one of them is: what the hell are you doing here?!" She then asked, demanding to know more about the Masked Figure in front of her. "I'd ask you the same, Kimberly...it's pretty obvious you two ladies don't belong here in the past." Phoenix then with his usual cocky tone, a tone which didn't impress Kim in the slightest. "We're trying to save Scott from dying at the Rockit in about seven days." Knives blurted out stressfully to Kim's anger and Phoenix's stunned expression.

"Wait, what...?" Phoenix (Status: You're messing with me right?) asked in shock. "Knives! Are you serious right now?!" Kim yelled, unable to believe Knives would even say that, and no less to a guy in a bird-like helmet they had JUST met "Oh...sorry, I meant to say something else..." Knives sheepishly responded, looking away sadly. "I-It's ok...we were gonna tell you that part anyway. Basically what Knives said is true." Kim then admitted to Phoenix, and hearing this (Almost as if he knew Scott), Phoenix gasped. "Y-You know what happened in the present too...?" He asked, revealing that somehow he knew the situation too.

"Dude, you've seriously gotta tell us everything." Kim spoke in a serious tone. If this Masked Phoenix had any info on the Shadow Figure as well, Ramona needed to know everything. "Ok. But first we've gotta find Ramona and the others." Phoenix then spoke, willing to see Ramona and even bringing the two girls along with him as well. "Wait, you knew we were here with Ramona?" Knives then asked, and surprising as it was, wondered how Phoenix knew they were gonna take him to Ramona "And more importantly, wonder how she's doing on her end?" Kim then grumbled.

NEW PERSPECTIVES

Meanwhile with Ramona...

The trio (Meaning Ramona, Wallace and Stacey) had searched all day around Toronto, but still couldn't find any whereabouts of the muscle head they stalked from yesterday. After a while, they gave up on that for the day and decided to check in on Scott's past self, who was currently playing in his band in front of Past Knives and Past Young Neil (Age: 20. Not-So Fun Fact: He's still called Young Neil in the past), though from what Ramona could see, Scott was only playing one note for the entire song, like he was distracted by something...or rather in her case, someone.

"Scott!" Past Stephen Stills (Age: 22. Status: Annoyed. Fun Fact: He's still the Talent. Not-So Fun Fact: He doesn't know he's gay until the sixth book) yelled to Past Scott in annoyance, slightly snapping him out of his thoughts. "Y-Yeah...?" Past Scott (Status: Distracted) responded in surprise. "You only played one note for that entire song." Past Stephen pointed out, oblivious, like the others, to Ramona carefully watching from the window at everything going on inside, beginning to know a bit about her boyfriend too. "It was...uh...I...my hand...slipped?" Past Scott awkwardly said, though in secret, he couldn't get Past Ramona out of his mind.

"Is your girlfriend distracting you...?" Past Kim (Status: Being her usual self, what else?) asked with an annoyed arched eyebrow. "I'll be quieter!" Past Knives said, assuming that she was the reason that Past Scott was distracting her, but little did she know back then...she wasn't. "Think that had something to do with me skating through his head...?" Ramona (Status: Never knew about this until now) then whispered to Stacey, who turned to her slightly. "I think that could be the case." Stacey then responded, though she wasn't entirely sure herself.

"Ok, let's play that one again." Past Stephen then said inside the house as he adjusted his microphone, all while Scott looked blankly at the wall. "Waffle..." The only thing he could say before somehow (And now known how in any adaption) coming back to reality again. "Yep...that's Scott for you." Wallace whispered as he ducked underneath the window. "Ok...now I definitely know it has something to do with me going through his head, but why is it he never said anything about it after we met or after defeating the League of my exes?" Ramona then responded, sure she loved him, but wondered why he didn't bring this up...not that it mattered of course.

"He's Scott Pilgrim. It's in his nature to do that kinda thing, isn't it?" Phoenix (Status: Appeared out of nowhere) whispered to Ramona's right, causing her to slightly jump to see the masked latter there with Kim and Knives behind him and ducking out of sight. "It's you...just the guy I wanted to see." Ramona said with a gasp of surprise. "Ramona Flowers-uh, Flowers. The American Ninja Delivery Girlfriend of Scott Pilgrim." Phoenix then said with a smirk, one that even showed confidence within him to Stacey and Wallace. "Just a bit of a heads up, he's a pretty strong fighter." Knives whispered, causing Kim to facepalm in annoyance.

At the campsite...

Ramona and the others returned to the tent where Phoenix (Status: Explaining his story. Not-So Fun Fact: He won't reveal his identity) began to explain everything, and as it turned out, he too was keeping an eye on Past Scott to make sure he didn't die, as well as being on the look out for anyone trying to kill him. "And that's pretty much the whole story on my end." He finished with a sigh. "So let's see if we're hearing this right: You followed us back to this year to save Scott too? And then stalked him like a mysterious masked vigilante?" Stacey then said from her understanding.

"Definitely something like that, A-uh, Stacey." Phoenix confirmed awkwardly. His tone was somewhat suspicious (Wallace Wells' Note: In fact suspicious enough to wonder who this guy is), but was ignored due to the bigger picture. "And you're a skilled fighter too?" Ramona then asked from what she heard off Kim during their walk back. "You should've seen him, Rammy. He had the powers your exes, like Todd, Lucas and even your XXXhat twin boyfriends!" Kim explained to Ramona, who looked at her new masked ally (Phoenix's Note: At least I'm not called a chicken again) in surprise.

"Learnt all of their skills, kinda like Mega Man. Then I have the power of the Phoenix, which Kim and Knives obviously saw, but it's not used just for punches...and that's all I'm gonna say to you about them...for now." Phoenix (NEW INFO! Powers: Powers of the League of Evil Exes?! Phoenix Power. Unknown how that works.) explained, telling his new allies how his powers worked. "He's also a member of the League of your Evil Exes, Ramona! He told us he's your ninth evil ex (Phoenix's Note: I never said EVIL)!" Knives then blurted out much to the annoyance of both Phoenix and Kim.

"Knives, I've only ever had seven evil exes, no more than that. I've never had a ninth ex, let alone an eighth, unless Scott and I...uh, never mind." Ramona said, clearing up the confusion to the relief of Knives. "Another reason for that is because you haven't met me yet..." Phoenix said to himself, but not quiet enough to his immediate realization. "Wait wait wait! Haven't met you yet?! Are you saying you're from the future?" Kim asked in shock, unable to help but question Phoenix more and more. The pressure of which kind of annoyed the latter.

"Yeah, I'll give you that." Phoenix confirmed after getting slightly worn down by questions. "The future...as in years from now and such?" Ramona asked, just to be absolutely sure her ally wasn't lying at all. "No, I mean the future as in seconds. Of course years from now and such" He confirmed again, only he had an annoyed and sarcastic tone on him, somewhat similar to that of Ramona's personality. "Do they still have beer there?" Wallace then asked, almost tempting Kim to slap him on the back of the head. Phoenix only responded with a deadpanned stare towards Scott's gay ex-roommate, refusing to even answer that question.

"So...how do you know us exactly, Phoenix? You knew Kim and Knives' names, even Ramona too. I mean, are you an ex-fan, like if she was a role model to you, an ex-student if she used to teach you something or-" Wallace then asked, wondering what Phoenix meant in terms of being Ramona's Ninth Ex. "It's uh...more complicated than that, Wallace." Phoenix (Status: Unwilling to bring up the matter) then said, sound as if he was avoiding the subject all together. "Let's just say...we aren't exactly on talking terms these days in the future." He then answered with a sigh. "That bad huh...? Kinda sounds like me to just leave without a goodbye..." Ramona then said gently but sadly.

Phoenix then smiled, looking to brighten the mood for everyone. "Well...if it helps, I love that you're fighting and investigating in the past to save Scott from dying. He fought for you, and now you're fighting to save him. Seriously, that's something to be proud of." He then said, his head slightly glowing (Some how a positive glow? New Power: Empathy or something?) a warm colour which made Ramona feel a bit better. "T-Thanks...I don't want to live in a world without Scott. None of us do." She responded with a smile. "Yeah, she pretty much speaks for all of us. Much and all as Scott's an idiot...the world would be very boring without him." Kim then responded, also smiling...which was unlike her.

"So...in terms of finding the culprit of Scott's killer, any leads so far?" Phoenix then asked, not willing to change the subject and bring the mood down. "Well with you crossed off the list, it's gotta be that muscle head we've been following yesterday, and then there's..." Wallace then began, sound positive and yet confused on the matter. "The Shadow Figure?" Phoenix finished as he cocked his head to the side. "Y-Yeah...how'd you know that." Stacey then asked with surprise. "I have my ways...(Phoenix's Note: And I am SO not telling how!)" Phoenix responded, though somehow...Kim figured otherwise.

"You ok by the way, Ramona? Knives told me you were a bit upset earlier on." Stacey then asked Ramona, who turned towards her boyfriend's sister with a reassuring smile, in concern. "Well, other than a nightmare of me attending Scott's funeral, and annoyingly with Envy singing there for her own gain, I'm fairly ok." Ramona responded gently, but almost immediately, Phoenix's expression dropped, even making his skin go slightly pale. "W-Wait...nightmare about Scott's funeral...?" He asked as he rushed towards Ramona out of worry.

"Yeah, but it was just a stupid nightmare, so it's nothing to-" But before she could continue, Ramona stopped when she saw Phoenix hold his head in panic. "Oh god, that wasn't a nightmare...I've kinda seen that scenario before. Memories changing becoming one with the new present day and erasing the old memories (Possible side effects of time travel or altering time). If that's actually happening to Ramona, then it's only a matter of time before she forgets everything!" Phoenix realised in horror, and this caused Ramona to gasp.

"And if it happens to Ramona, then it'll happen to us too?!" Knives exclaimed with panic. "I'm afraid so, Knives...though it seems like the process is slow at the moment. But we could have a matter of days before you forget everything and I'm either erased from existence or worse." Phoenix then confirmed, though at the same time also seeing the slow process. "Well then we've gotta keep at it and find out Scott's killer tomorrow." Ramona then said, not wanting everything of Scott erased from her mind and still willing to keep at it. "Ok, so what's our next move?" Wallace then asked, already asking what the plan was.

"Me and Ramona go to a party..." Phoenix responded firmly, a plan which didn't seem to go overly well with the others. "A party...? Seriously, how does that help us?!" Kim then asked in annoyance, thinking that Phoenix was somewhat of an idiot. "Not just any party, Kim..." Phoenix then corrected, confusing Stacey, Wallace and Knives, but somehow Ramona and Kim knew where the plan was going.

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN...

The Next Evening (On the Streets of Toronto)

Past Scott Pilgrim was walking down the street before meeting up with Past Kim, Past Stephen and Past Neil, and together, they all walked towards a house party. All the while, Ramona, Phoenix and the others carefully stalked the quartet of friends to avoid making contact with them. "Remind me why we let Chicken Boy take charge again?" Kim asked in annoyance. "He's got just as much knowledge about Scott and Ramona as we do." Ramona explained to her friend.

And it was true, with Phoenix joining the gang to help fix the important part of their history, there was definitely a chance he would be able to help Ramona fight...whoever Scott's killer was. "Where are we going again...?" Past Scott asked Past Stephen from up ahead. "I told you like fifty times! And you know what, I'm not even gonna say where." Stephen Stills then responded in annoyance, even refusing to tell Scott where they were headed. "We're going to Julie's party, you XXXXXX." Kim bluntly explained. "Oh right." Past Scott then responded, and hearing this, Kim couldn't help but smirk, recalling how very much she was like that to Scott.

"Hey uh, why aren't you bringing your new girlfriend to Julie's party again?" Past Young Neil asked Scott after noticing Past Knives (Status: Possibly at home doing homework) wasn't amongst the gang. "Well, she's not really my girlfriend." Past Scott then responded to Past Young Neil, something that made Knives look away sadly. "Then what exactly is she to you?" He then asked, confused at what Scott meant by that. "She's...sort of my girlfriend?" Past Scott said, though confusing to himself if anything. "Ok...I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this is Envy Adam's doing..." Ramona whispered to Wallace, and he, and Phoenix, agreed with her.

"Scott, your life is so interesting." Past Kim said sarcastically, sick with Scott's idiocy like she usually was. "Aw, thanks Kim. Oh...you were being sarcastic (Past Kim's Note: What gave it away...?)." Past Scott responded with a cheerful tone...only to realise Kim's sarcasm and lowered both his head and emotions. Seeing this, Kim couldn't help but feel she was a bit too hard on Scott. "Jeez...that's definitely me. Can someone remind me to be a bit nicer to Scott when we fix this mess?" She then asked, even earning a pat on the back by Stacey. "Ok, so we go to Julie's party and spread out to find Scott's killer?" Knives then asked, assuming that was the plan.

"Uh...not exactly there, Knives." Phoenix said awkwardly. "Wait what? Then what did you have in mind then, Phoenix?." Knives then asked in surprise and suspicion as she then began to hear the plan (Reason to why Phoenix didn't tell the gang at the campsite: Unknown). "Ramona and I are going to enter the party to keep an eye on Scott and even...Ramona too. You guys have to stay outside to make sure muscle head or that Shadow Figure don't show up early and make sure to keep an eye on Scott if he leaves." Phoenix explained, feeling this was a plan he needed to do with Ramona alone, at least, that's what Ramona assumed.

"Good point. Though it doesn't suddenly make us feel like we're NOT the guys who hold the bags." Kim sarcastically said to Phoenix, something about the masked bird's personality felt fairly familiar. "Kim, you guys are helping to save Scott. None of you were never the guys holding the bags." Ramona said reassuringly. "I knew that, Ramona. Anyways, let's go save Scott." Knives then said cheerfully. All the while, from the rooftops above, the gang was being watched by the same muscle head Ramona had followed before. "Ramona Flowers...?" He muttered under his breath before he began to follow the group from the rooftops all the way to Julie's party.

Uh oh...this doesn't look good if Ramona and the gang are going to get followed O_o

At least now we know who the Masked Chicken- (Phoenix's Note: Watch it!) Uh, I mean, Phoenix is. But the question remains, will Ramona be able to save Scott's life before her memories of everything they had get erased forever? Will Phoenix reveal anything else about himself involving Scott and Ramona's lives? Will I ever stop asking these questions?

Guess we'll have to leave these questions for the next chapter.

Until then, Negaboss2000 out.