So since it took so long to get around to writing that last chapter, some of the Punch Out obsession that I had when I started this fanfic but this fic is an important side story for character development and plot development so I need to continue this story also when I was first coming up with this story, I initially wasn't sure what kind of animal Glass Joe's lover would be, when coming up for the ideas of the plot the placeholder species I had in my mind was a kind of lizard-like creature and while I've complained I've created too many domestic dog characters I kind of like that I made Dana a Dog so I can make a 'Bitch' pun
After Marzipan ended the memory sharing, for a few moments the Boxers were left reeling from the experience! For a few moments, everything was spinning…
Glass Joe fell to his knees, as he waited for the room to stop spinning, he heard Marzipan ask "So...Do you remember your previous life as a Humanimal?"
And then he heard Dana say "No."
The Boxers getting their bearings back, stood and looked at the Cat-Girl talking to the Dog-Woman
"I mean...I saw the ghost of my former self…" Dana said and Glass Joe noticed there seemed to be a hint of the former sparkle in her eyes as she seemed to be thinker deeper and harder than she had before the personality change… "I listened to what was said about my previous life, but no memories came to my mind, all I could think was...It sounded in my previous life I was a Bitch in the figurative sense as well as the literal sense…"
Some of the other Boxers including some of them who decided not to participate in the memory sharing chuckled a bit, Glass Joe thought this might be another good sign as her previous sassy self was coming back.
Marzipan sighed "Morgan warned me, that it probably wouldn't work…" The Black Mamba Witch had warned her that she giving that vision consisting only of what Marzipan had seen was not a memory of the Dog-Woman's previous life thus her old self would not be reignited…
"OK…" Marzipan said "...With that not working...There is one other option that my colleague told me about...You'll have to travel to First Earth England, in the wilderness north of Earthport you'll have to go through the swamp to reach the cave on the northern edge of the swamp, you'll have to have to travel through to the deepest part of the cave and you'll find a pool of glowing green water, this pool is a Pool of Truth, if you get a bottle of that water and deliver that bottle to my colleague, Morgan a Snake Girl of the Black Mamba Breed.
(Aran Ryan shuddered hearing the mention of snakes...Like many Irish Stereotypes he lived up to, Aran had a deep dislike of Snakes)
"Morgan will use the water as an ingredient for a magic potion that should hopefully destroy the artificial second personality created by the scientists, and her true personality to reemerge…" Marzipan said
The Boxers looked at each other, this sounded like something our of fantasy novel or movie!
"This all sounds incredibly dangerous…" Great Tiger said "...Perhaps I should go and get this 'Water of Truth' for them."
"I presume because you can...Float…" Marzipan said as she noticed Great Tiger had resumed floating.
No one else in the room, had noticed Gerbasi had been quietly eavesdropping outside the medical ward, and the more he was hearing, the less he liked it! "Witches! Magic potions!" You wouldn't think someone who employed Great Tiger would be so disturbed by the idea of the supernatural but really what Gerbasi feared was anything that might force him to change his Happy-Go-Lucky way of life, he quietly left muttering "Bunch of Hocus-Pocus Gobbledygook!"
"I understand you want to spare others the danger…" Marzipan said "...But that's not how the magic works! The Pool of Truth reveals the personal truth of one who touches it...If you got the water and it got put in the magic potion it wouldn't be Dana's true self, it would be your true self...So for the magic potion to work Dana must dip her own hand into the water so the water in the bottle will contain her true self…"
Great Tiger immediately understood it was clear this journey was for Glass Joe and Dana, Glass Joe needed to gently goad Dana as her new subservient personality would not do it on her own. They decided then they would go get the couple some spelunking equipment.
"Well...I got to get going…" Marzipan said "...I wish you best of luck…"
She went over to Glass Joe.
"I just wanted to say...Now that I've met you, I'm even more grateful I came to help…" Marzipan said "I look at you and I'm reminded of my boyfriend Ichabod…"
"I remind you of your boyfriend?" Joe cocked his head
"I mean you look a lot like him," Marzipan said "You both have red hair and similar complexions…But the thing about you that reminds me the most of him...You remind me of his gentle ways...When I was a Slave of a Wrangler Duke, Ichabod infiltrated as a Young Wrangler recruit to liberate all the Humanimals there...What got me to believe that he was really on our side was when he kissed my cheek...The Wranglers never kissed Humanimals...They would have sex, that is they would rape the slaves but they would never kiss…"
And that made Joe's heart skip a beat as he realized that this entire time...He still had never kissed Dana...He had sexual intercourse with her...But they had never once kissed!
"You're a good man Joe…" Marzipan said and that was like a dagger in the heart as she left!
And for a moment Joe was frozen as he realized what he had done! Despite thinking he didn't want to string her along, if he didn't actually want a relationship, that was exactly what he had done! He had dated her just so she could soothe his incredibly wounded pride...And after hearing what Marzipan said he realized the fact he was willing to have sex with her but not kiss her, was living up to the French Stereotypes even worse than the French were weak! That the French were way to casual about sex, and not bringing himself to kiss her was like he was a snob unwilling to offend his delicate French nose!
"Joe…" Von Kaiser said gently "...Are you...Crying?"
So obviously Marzipan didn't mean to hurt Joe she thought she was complimenting him, but obviously shows her psychic visions don't show her everything...I don't think Joe had any malicious intentions he just was in a very bad emotional place when Dana approached him, also introducing Aran Ryan has a fear of snakes, to set up future plot points involving Mutant Snakes