Chapter 14: Red And Blue

"Nnngh… Hmm?"

Garnet slowly opened her eyes, finding herself staring up at the ceiling of Megumi's apartment. She sat up, finding herself on the couch. The TV was on, and she could hear clinking sounds coming from the kitchen, suggesting that Megumi was washing the dishes.

"Did I… doze off?" the bat girl muttered, reaching up to scratch at an itch on the back of her head beneath her dark purple hair. Then she froze, an utterly mortified expression on her face as her memories caught up with her. Her cheeks once again flushed bright red as she remembered the feeling, the sensation of her roommate's lips against her furry cheek. It had made her entire body tingle…

SMASH.

"Careful now!" Megumi's voice called from the kitchen, an apologetic grunt sounding in response to her words.

"North?" Garnet said aloud, surprised; she didn't remember letting the Ratcicle out of her pocket. Getting up and heading to the kitchen to see what was going on, she was surprised to find North standing at the sink washing the dishes while Megumi was down on one knee, a dustpan in one hand and a brush in the other, the bandicoot woman going about cleaning up the broken shards of a ceramic plate.

"Ah, you are up and about once more, I see! Wonderful!" Megumi greeted her roommate brightly, tilting her head and smiling sweetly. Garnet resisted the urge to avert her gaze in response to that smile; something about it made her feel… weird. In fact, everything about Megumi made her feel a bit unusual right now, and the bat girl wasn't entirely sure why. "Your frosty familiar here was just giving me a hand with the chores and, well, his grip on this plate was not quite being… absolute. Not to be worrying; we still have more than enough plates to be going around." The azure-haired marsupial's smile then faltered, soon being replaced by a look of mild concern. "Are you alright, dear Garnet?" she asked. Then she smirked knowingly. "You are not still being embarrassed by my little on-camera display, no?" She chuckled. "Sometimes it is easier to just be giving the audience what they want - within reason, of course."

"H-Huh? Oh, uh, n-no, of course not!" Garnet babbled at last, having spent the last several seconds staring somewhat vacantly at Megumi. She quickly shook her head to try and clear it. "I was just wondering how North ended up here in the kitchen. He was in my pocket, last time I checked."

"Well, actually…" Megumi began, sweeping up the last few shards of the broken plate and tipping the dustpan's contents into a small bin nearby as she spoke, "You were using your magic powers in your sleep again and… you let him out to play."

Garnet was caught off guard by that. "I was using my powers in my sleep? Wait, hang on - again? What d'you mean, 'again'?" she asked somewhat warily.

Megumi hesitated. "There have been a few nights during which you have… conjured little balls of light in your palm while you were sleeping," she elaborated, sounding somewhat uneasy as she spoke. "Gave me quite the little scare the first time, if I am being honest."

"Wow, that's… That's weird. Wonder why I do that in my sleep…?" Garnet mused, looking thoughtful.

"Perhaps you are acting on instinct?" Megumi suggested. "Or perhaps there is something going on in your subconscious that is making you act out magically in your sleep?"

Garnet tensed slightly at the mention of the word 'subconscious', for she knew exactly what the hypnotherapist was getting at. "Well, as long as I don't, you know, blow up the building or anything, it shouldn't be a problem," she said dismissively.

"Not a problem for me, perhaps, but what about you?" Megumi asked.

"Huh? What d'you mean?"

"It does not bode well to be ignoring sleep habits of an unusual nature - things such as sleepwalking, recurring dreams… It could become a detriment to your mental health, if it is not such already."

"A… detriment?" Garnet repeated, sounding worried for just a moment. Then she shrugged it off. "Nah. You worry too much, Megumi. My mental health is as sound as—"

"You struggle with anxiety."

"Whuh?"

"You. Struggle. With. Anxiety," Megumi repeated slowly and clearly. "I have been noticing it from the day we were first meeting. You have bouts of irrational panic over relatively minor concerns and it often leads to inappropriate behaviour on your part."

North chuckled to himself knowingly as he continued to wash the dishes, the Titan no doubt finding it mildly amusing - if not refreshing - to hear someone call out Garnet over something that he himself had been keenly aware of for a while now.

"Just what do you mean by 'inappropriate behaviour'?" Garnet demanded, narrowing her eyes at her roommate.

"You are prone to shrieking when you are frustrated, worried or upset," Megumi pointed out. "It is not a criticism - merely an observation."

"I do not shriek!" Garnet shrieked angrily, her light brown fur bristled in outrage at the very idea. She then realised what she had just done and she sagged slightly. "Okay, maybe I shriek. A little. Sometimes. But that doesn't mean anything!" she insisted. "I mean, it's not like nobody else has ever gotten a little worked up when something's on their mind."

"Ah, so you are admitting that there is something on your mind?" Megumi asked, raising an eyebrow knowingly, folding her arms as she stood there, a small smirk of triumph on her furry visage.

Garnet opened her mouth to respond, only to stand there with it hanging open uselessly. Megumi's knowing smirk widened slightly and Garnet closed her mouth, scowling. "Snipe quills," she muttered bitterly, appearing childishly sulky.

Megumi stepped forward and placed a hand on Garnet's shoulder, which surprised the bat girl a little. "Would you like to talk about it?" she asked gently. "It often helps. As a therapist, I should know."

Garnet averted her gaze. "…Nah," she said at last. "It's too weird. I'm not even sure I fully understand how I feel… or why," she admitted.

"You would not be the first patient I have had who possessed such a mindset," Megumi assured her, "And those patients are often the ones who benefit the most from—"

"I'm not your patient. I'm your roommate," Garnet reminded Megumi curtly. "I'll thank you to stop talking to me - or about me - like I need to be psychoanalysed."

Megumi's mouth fell open in response to the bat girl's blunt, callous words. Garnet, on her part, said nothing more, instead turning away and walking out of the kitchen, proceeding to take a seat on the couch, pick up the TV remote and start flicking through the channels, soon finding a demolition derby to watch, the sporting event being commentated by a duo of smartly dressed anthropomorphic chickens.

"I'm Chick Gizzard Lips!"

"And I'm Stew!"

"And you're watching CTR TV, live from Neon City!"

Megumi looked up from her stunned silence when she felt a clawed hand on her shoulder, seeing North standing there, the Ratcicle's beady eyes seeming to silently tell her to just give Garnet some time. The bandicoot woman gave an unconvincing smile in return, then picked up the nearby tea towel and resumed drying the dishes, not saying a single word as she went about doing so.

A short while later, Garnet was distracted from the 'Sudden Death' match between two monster trucks decked out with metal spikes by the sound of a knock at the apartment's front door.

"I got it!" the bat girl called, leaping off the couch and racing for the door while Megumi and North peeked their respective heads out of the kitchen to see what was going on. Garnet flung the door open and grinned like an excited child on Christmas morning. "Guys!" she exclaimed brightly, the familiar visages of Crash and Coco smiling back at her, Tawna standing at the back of the group, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Come on in! I want you to meet my roommate! A-And vice versa!" She then turned her gaze towards the kitchen. Hey, Megumi! Fire up the coffee machine; I'm making a whole round of my best mocha!"

"I should tell her to 'fire it up' herself," Megumi muttered quietly, still somewhat upset at Garnet for her carelessly spoken words a short while ago. Nonetheless, she reached over and flicked the switch on the device, which soon began percolating. North got out several mugs from the overhead cupboard, almost dropping one of them, but managing to catch it on the big toe of his clawed left foot. The Ratcicle grinned in satisfaction at his narrow save, the ceramic beverage container having been just two inches from smashing to bits on the kitchen floor as the plate had done earlier.

"Come on, come on, take a seat!" Garnet said eagerly, leading the Bandicoots to the sofa. Megumi stepped out of the kitchen, determined to be a good host despite her gripe with her roommate. "Guys, this is Megumi. She's my roommate and host and, oh, she's just the best!" Garnet babbled. Megumi allowed a reluctant smile to play at the corners of her mouth upon hearing those words. "Megumi, this is Crash, Coco and Tawna. They're these super cool guys from another dimension - like me!"

"Hello!" Coco said brightly, Crash giving a thumbs up and a broad smile in place of words.

"Yeah, hi," Tawna said somewhat off-handedly, still appearing uncomfortable. Garnet noticed this time and spoke up.

"Hey, Tawna, what's the matter? It's not like you to be so… whatever this is," the bat girl said. Tawna gave a little moan, seeming almost as awkward as Garnet had been while in view of the camera of Megumi's laptop.

"Hey, come on!" Coco hissed, giving Tawna a light nudge in the side. "You said you were gonna do it, so do it!"

Tawna suppressed a sigh. "Okay, look, I… I may have gotten a little… worked up the last time we met," she said, addressing Garnet. "I said and did some stupid things and…" She hung her head. "I'm sorry."

"What, you mean that little scuffle we had? Nah, girl, that's old news!" Garnet declared, pulling Tawna into a playful headlock, much to the bandicoot woman's surprise. Tawna chuckled and then pulled Garnet close, proceeding to ruffle her hair playfully, prompting the bat girl to laugh.

"Now that's more like the Tawna we all know," Coco said, and they all laughed, even Megumi, despite her not fully being in on the joke.

"Scuffle?" the azure-haired woman repeated quietly, not sure what to make of that.

"I'll tell ya later," Garnet whispered back before raising her voice once more, her tone chipper. "Now, who wants some of my best blend?" she asked, clapping her hands together.

Before long, the four bandicoots, the bat and the Titan were gathered around the living room coffee table, each of them clasping a mug of steaming hot milky liquid topped with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.

"Aw, yeah, that's the good stuff," Tawna mused, a little bit of the cream from her mocha having smeared on her upper lip, making her look like she had a pure white moustache, prompting Coco to giggle at the sight of her surrogate big sister.

Crash took a tentative sip of his own drink, remembering all too well how bitter Garnet's coffee had tasted last time. He was surprised, however, when he tasted hardly any bitterness at all. In fact, it was quite sweet and creamy and… chocolatey, his green eyes noticeably lighting up at the welcome taste on his tongue.

"Heh. Yeah, I noticed last time that you weren't too keen on coffee, Crash," Garnet elaborated. "That's why I thought I'd make you a hot chocolate instead. Figured it might be more your style."

"Mmm," Crash replied wordlessly, nodding in agreement, taking a hearty gulp of his drink as he sat there, letting out a massive belch as he lowered his mug.

"Whoa, that came up from the depths of the earth!" Coco exclaimed, and everyone laughed, North's amusement expressed by a rapid series of rambunctious-sounding grunts.

"Tell me about it!" Tawna exclaimed. "Oh, you should've heard the one he let out the other day. Thank goodness it came out of the attic and not the basement."

Megumi nearly choked on her drink at that, her eyes widening, a little of her beverage sloshing down her front.

"Whoa, steady on there, Megs. Don't drink it all at once," Tawna teased.

"Ha, ha, yes, very funny," Megumi said, rolling her eyes at her unexpected guest's corny joke as she set her mug down on the coffee table. "Excuse me while I go and clean myself up at bit." On that note, she got up and left the room, soon heading into the bathroom via the bedroom.

"Heh, heh. What did I tell you? Just the best," Garnet declared, smiling at her roommate's retreating back. "Say, where's Dingodile today? And those mask guys?"

"Aku Aku and the Quantum Masks are off doing their own thing. If they need us, they know where to find us. As for Dingodile, he's gone back to his diner in Mosquito Marsh," Tawna elaborated. "He's got a lot of health inspectors to bribe— Err, impress," she quickly corrected herself.

"Yeah, the food at his place is a little… um… How do I put this…? It has an… acquired taste?" Coco managed, Crash sniggering knowingly next to her.

"Hey, he's getting better. He actually made something edible last week," Tawna said, "And lately, he's been working on a Shnurgle shank recipe. Of course, the meat's hard to come by without an easy means of inter-dimensional or at least inter-galactic travel, but he reckons he's got some 'connections' that can provide him with the goods in exchange for some fresh bat wi— I mean… Oh, boy," she finished uncomfortably, visibly wincing as she dared to meet the eyes of a certain coffee bat.

"Bat wings?" Garnet repeated slowly, her ears visibly drooping. She then smirked, much to everyone's surprise. "Well, he's gonna have to fight me for these ones," she declared cheekily, lightly flapping her own underdeveloped wings, "And we Mojo warriors don't go down without one heck of a throw-down."

Everyone chuckled awkwardly, very aware of the uncomfortable reality at the heart of the conversation; Dingodile had been serving up Garnet's own kind to both his customers and his apparent 'contacts'. Maybe not Brat Girls specifically, but still bats.

"Sorry," Tawna said. "I didn't even think twice when I saw Dingodile scooping a handful of bony wings out of a wooden barrel the other night… and I should probably just stop talking," she concluded meekly, averting her gaze and taking a long sip of her drink.

"No, it's… it's fine," Garnet assured her, sounding more like she was trying to assure herself. "I'm sure none of them were sapient bats, at least."

"R-Right! Of course not!" Tawna said with forced brightness, putting on a very wide and unconvincing smile. As it was, she had no way of knowing for sure whether or not Dingodile had been getting his bat meat from… unethical sources. Bats were native to Mosquito Marsh, and many of them were anthropomorphic, but there were some more typical bats there, too. Of course, Dingodile had a grudge against some of those anthropomorphic ones due to them having destroyed his diner with TNT barrels; were these bat wings he was currently selling the product of his revenge…?

"Bat or not, I honestly wouldn't eat anything Dingo serves up," Coco stated. "All sugar-coating aside, his diner has a failing sanitation grade for a reason, even if none of us want to admit it as his friends. That said, the Dingo's Diner branch in this dimension is a much better example of Dingodile's potential as a restaurant manager. I'm actually thinking of going back to the one we went to the other day."

"You just want the toy that comes with the kids' meal," Tawna said, eyeing Coco knowingly.

"I do not!" Coco spluttered, her cheeks reddening. Everyone shared a laugh at the bandicoot girl's expense.

"Hey, speaking of going back to stuff relating to other dimensions, tell us more about your life in that alternate 2008 timeline," Tawna pleaded, addressing Barista. "C'mon, you still haven't told us the whole story yet."

"Oh, oh! She was up to the part where Carbon promised to teach her a few things!" Coco said eagerly.

"Well, he actually did teach me one thing before sending me on my way," Garnet confirmed, nodding.

"Sent you on your way?" Coco repeated, looking a little surprised.

"Carbon was adamant in the notion that he was no teacher, and as he said, he couldn't look after me forever… but he knew a certain group of bandicoots who might be willing to take me in, offer me more than he could. He spent a couple days training me in the usage of a basic combat technique - one that he told me was basic, anyway."

"Ooh, do tell," Tawna said, leaning forward, looking greatly interested. "Maybe you can teach me how to do it later."

"Heh. Maybe," Garnet responded, looking unsure. It's called the Norris Roundhouse. In the simplest terms - that is to say, how Carbon broke it down for me - it's a three hit combo attack consisting of three swift punches followed by a roundhouse kick."

"Sounds more like a four hit combo to me," Coco pointed out. "Why is it called the Norris Roundhouse?"

"Because Hadoken was already taken," Garnet answered before bursting out laughing briefly. "Nah, I'm just kidding. Seriously, though, I have no idea. I mean, I think it might've been named in honour of a celebrity actor from some old martial arts movies, but that's just speculation on my part; I doubt an ancient Mojo warrior combat technique was invented by some movie star who was born in the twentieth century."

"Maybe the move's name changed over the centuries as it was handed down from master to apprentice?" Tawna suggested.

"Well, in any case, once I had gotten a feel for the move, at least to some degree, Carbon woke me up early the next morning and told me that he was taking me to the Ratcicle Kingdom, saying I could get a map of Wumpa Island at the citadel there, and with it, I could make my way from the coast to the jungle, where my world's Crash Bandicoot and his crew resided…"

Ratcicle Kingdom, Frozen Coast, 2008

"Whoa…" Barista muttered, gazing around in awe at the citadel's interior. The ornate, snow-capped building hadn't looked big enough from the outside to host such an expansive main hall. Then again, she and Carbon had proceeded down a fight of icy stairs upon their entry, suggesting that the exterior had been but one spire of a much larger, grander structure that extended down into the ice. In any case, the vast chamber the unlikely duo now stood in was a sight to behold. An enormous ice sculpture of a Ratcicle in battle armour stood in the centre of the hall, propped up proudly atop an ornate fountain whose water was frozen over, several large purple gemstones jutting out of the fountain's polished stone base, looking almost like berries decorating a cake.

Barista suddenly started to run forward, much to Carbon's surprise, the bat girl hurrying up to get a closer look at the fountain. The white-furred bandicoot shook his head with a knowing smirk and calmly walked after her.

"Are those… Power Crystals?" Barista asked as her cohort caught up, the former minion of Cortex looking positively transfixed by the shimmering jewels, which seemed to glint and sparkle in the hall's soft light.

'The last known ones in this world,' Carbon elaborated telepathically. 'They were unearthed during the construction of the citadel; relics of a bygone era.'

"Wow…" Barista murmured. "I heard some of the other Brat Girls talking about these on occasion, but I never thought I'd…" She trailed off, reaching out slowly to touch one of the crystals, a strange, almost primal look in her eye.

'Steady now,' Carbon told her, reaching forward to gently take Barista by the arm and pull her away. 'Those who stare at Power Crystals for too long tend to lose themselves in the mineral's sheen, becoming crystal crazy.'

"Huh?" Barista blinked, having indeed been momentarily mesmerised by the crystals. She then snorted as Carbon's words caught up with her. "Yeah, right. Crystal crazy… You just made that up," she declared dismissively. She then glanced around the great chamber, seeing a service counter on one side of the room, the words 'Tourist Information Desk' emblazoned over it on a large plaque. There was another counter not too far away with a similar plaque that read 'Lost And Found'. Both kiosks were managed by what looked to be anthropomorphic rats, one short and lanky with leathery grey skin, the other tall and coated with light brown fur. There was a queue of three people in front of the Lost And Found desk, the figure at the front of the line being a Ratcicle.

A Ratcicle carrying a hot pink backpack with the letter 'N' emblazoned on it.

"I'm sorry, sir, b-but we don't like t-to accept Cortex branded goods at the Lost And Found," the woman behind the counter stated somewhat nervously. She lowered her voice before continuing, "You never know when one of his spies m-might try undermine our whole society. Half of my friends have already…" She sniffed sadly. "…Have already been lost to NV influence; the Ratcicle Hero had to exile them from the village just for everyone's safety… and then he himself disappeared not long after." She reached up and wiped her misty eyes and then cleared her throat. "These are dark times, my frosty friend. If I were you, I'd keep my head down and that bag out of sight, lest it should—"

"YOU!" Barista roared, running straight up to the Lost And Found desk. The receptionist shrieked at the sight of a Brat Girl and ducked down behind the counter, but the defecting minion had no interest in her, instead storming up to the Ratcicle with the backpack. The Ratcicle, on his part, grunted in startled surprise, looking quite alarmed at the sight of Barista marching towards him. "You left me to rot out in blizzard country! I almost died!" she screeched, brandishing a finger accusingly at him. "I should snatch the megaphone out of that bag and chitter you into the middle of next week! In fact, give me that bag!" she snapped, reaching forward and snatching the backpack out of the Ratcicle's clawed hands. "It's mine, anyway!"

'Well, this is a fine how-do-you-do,' Carbon commented as he came over in the hopes of stopping Barista from making too much of a fool of herself. 'Do you often shout at people in public places, or are you usually more discreet? Seriously, you're a defecting minion of Cortex; do you really want the whole world looking at you?'

"What?" Barista said, glancing back at him. She then noticed that her shouting had drawn a small crowd of rat people, some of them looking concerned while others glared at her with suspicion and distaste.

"What's a Brat Girl doing in here?" one of them said.

"Your kind ain't welcome inside the Ratcicle Kingdom's borders, troublemaker!" another declared.

"Yeah, go stick your head in one of those NVs you're so determined to control us all with! See how you like it!"

"Gonna screech at us through your little megaphone? Sodding coward!"

'That's enough!' Carbon called out telepathically, stepping in front of Barista defensively, having decided to intervene. 'I will take responsibility for this Brat Girl's presence here! Rest assured, she will cause you no trouble!'

There were curious murmurs in the crowd after that, the rat people glancing at each other, wondering what to make of this.

"A bandicoot vouching for a Brat Girl?"

"He looks kinda like that Crash dude. Think they could be bros or something?"

"Maybe she and him have a truce?"

"Yeah, right. More like they're sweet on each other. Heh. No accounting for taste, that's for sure."

Carbon's eyes widened at that, while Barista became absolutely livid. She glanced at Carbon, her cheeks flushing bright red at the very thought of being… involved with him in that way; she'd only known him for a few days, a week at most!

"H-Hey!" the bat girl spluttered, addressing the crowd. "There's this new thing called 'minding your own business'! Work it out, will you?"

The rat people glanced at each other, and then they started to laugh uproariously.

"Oh, my gosh, she totally is sweet on him!"

"Look at her face! Look at that blush!"

"A bandicoot and a bat? What d'you think that love child will look like?"

"And I thought the hedgehog and human pairing was bad!"

Carbon found himself blushing alongside Barista. He had no interest in romance with anyone, let alone her, but he had gotten himself into this mess, and now, there was only one way out of it - the painful way.

'Y-Yeah, what of it?' the white-furred bandicoot demanded, putting on a feigned nervous stammer, smiling deviously on the inside. He then boldly stepped up to Barista and put an arm around her, causing her to go rigid with dumbfounded shock. 'Could've done worse. Could've gone chasing after one of your sorry tails!' He then turned his head to glance at Barista. 'Don't let 'em get to you, sweetheart. They don't see love as a beautiful thing like we do.'

Barista was completely flabbergasted, until Carbon suddenly winked at her, a sly smile playing at the corners of his mouth. She caught on, and it was all she could do to refrain from grinning broadly.

"Y-Yeah, you're all just jealous!" she managed to babble. "My handsome boyfriend here was just helping me get my bag back from this bully!" she went on braggingly, gesturing with her thumb at the Ratcicle behind her, much to the Titan's bafflement. "And now we're gonna go somewhere quiet… and snog each other's brains out! I'm talking tongues, baby! Lips locked, swapping saliva… The whole nine yards!"

'Alright, bring it down a notch,' Carbon told her quietly as the crowd of rat people groaned loudly.

"TMI, you two!" one of them called as the group started to disperse, put off by what they had heard.

"Yeah, get a room, ya weirdos!"

"Oh, like you've never kissed a bandicoot before…"

"Hey, that was in high school! A-And he had spiked my drink!"

"Yeah, sure he did…"

As the onlookers moved along, Barista and Carbon glanced at each other… and then they both burst out laughing.

"Oh, man, that was a riot!" Barista exclaimed, chortling. "'Oh, my handsome boyfriend here…' Pfft! Get real! And you were like, 'Don't let them get to you, sweetheart'! Ha ha haaaa…!"

'Heh. Yeah,' Carbon said, chuckling somewhat awkwardly. 'Anyway, I should probably head off.'

"Huh?" Barista said, looking surprised and dismayed. "You mean you're just gonna leave me here, just like that?"

'You sound surprised. I told you I'd take you as far as the citadel. After that…' Carbon trailed off, reaching into the pocket of his green shorts and pulling out a handful of gold coins, handing them to the bat girl. 'Here. I was saving these Wumpa Coins for a rainy day… but I'm probably never gonna get around to spending them. Get yourself a map from the tourist booth like I told you to. Use that supply bag you got back from your, er… 'bully' to your benefit; it's a bit of a trek to Wumpa Jungle, but nothing life-threatening provided you don't do anything stupid. Case in point, I once walked that path with Crash Bandicoot, glanced away from him for a moment, and then turned back to find him with his tongue stuck to an icicle. And to think Aku Aku chose him as an apprentice…'

"You really think those guys can help me?" Barista asked, looking down at the citadel's floor. "I mean, I was created by Cortex. I was created to do bad things. Why would they want to help me?"

Carbon placed a hand on her shoulder, giving Barista a reassuring look. 'Bandicoots and bats are not as different as you might think. They both have a taste for fruit, they're both a bit flighty in the wild… and they've both been used by evil scientists for wrongdoing. You're not alone, Barista the bat girl. There's a place for you in this world, one where you can happily be with others.' On that note, he lowered his arm, turned and started to walk away.

"What about you?" Barista called after him. "You've been living alone in that cold, icy cave for how long, exactly? Why not come with me? Why not reconcile with the Bandicoots? If they're as likely to accept me as you say, then surely they'll accept you, too?"

Carbon stopped in place, closing his eyes for a moment, not looking back at Barista. 'I'm… better off alone,' he said after a long moment, his words sounding pained. 'Trust me, it's… it's better this way.' With that, he broke into a jog, heading for the citadel's exit.

"Carbon!" Barista called, feebly reaching out towards him with her free hand, but even as she watched, the white-furred bandicoot faded from view, soon lost among the crowd of locals and tourists. The bat girl hung her head sadly. Her only friend… was gone.

A firm, bulky hand then came to rest upon Barista's shoulder. She looked up and was surprised to see the Ratcicle staring down at her, his beady eyes full of innocence.

"What're you playing at?" she demanded, hastily brushing his hand away. "What, you suddenly feel guilty for ditching me or something?" She then sighed. "Looks like everyone ditches me eventually," she mused gloomily. She then looked thoughtful, turning to face the Ratcicle. "Wait, is that why you were at the Lost And Found kiosk? You felt guilty for ditching me and were handing in my bag in the hopes that I might show up and reclaim it?"

To her surprise, the Ratcicle nodded, suddenly looking uncomfortable - ashamed, even. In spite of herself, Barista's expression softened.

"Well… I guess it won't do any good to bear a longstanding grudge. Besides, it was kinda my fault for yelling at you the way I did. You wanted to go north because that's what your instincts told you to do. I… I probably should've been more understanding, but… I was scared," she admitted, looking down at her boots. "I was scared of having to brave the frozen wilds alone, so I tried to force you to stay with me, to stay and protect me from whatever I might face… but I should've been thinking about both of us, not just myself." She sighed again. "I'm sorry for treating you that way. Really, I am," she told the Ratcicle, reaching up to gently stroke his arm. "Still, abandoning me to my fate like that wasn't cool, either. If Carbon hadn't found me, I'd be…" She bit her lip, deciding that the thought wasn't worth entertaining. "I guess it all worked out in the end, though. I've got my supplies back, got some money, got a destination and a goal in mind at last… and you've found your way to this veritable paradise for Ratcicles. Everybody wins!" she concluded, forcing a bright smile. She lowered her arm and sighed a third time. "I should probably get going."

Barista slung the backpack over her shoulder, turned and started to walk away, but stopped when an idea occurred to her. She turned back to the Ratcicle, approaching him once more, reaching into her backpack and pulling out something as she did so.

"Here," she said, holding out a vibrant red scarf with a gold letter 'N' emblazoned on it to the Titan. "This is a standard issue Brat Girl scarf. It's not part of our uniform, but a lot of my peers liked to keep one handy for when the cold really hits. It's probably not much use to a creature who thrives in the cold such as yourself… but I'd like you to have it anyway just to sort of, y'know, bury the hatchet between us. Peacefully, I mean."

The Ratcicle gave in intrigued grunt as Barista reached up and gently fastened the clothing item around his bulky neck. She then stepped back, allowing the frosty being to look down at his new garment, seeming momentarily awed by it.

"It suits you," she said, smiling up at him earnestly. "The red fabric really compliments your blue body. As for the 'N', well… Let's just say that it stands for North. Yeah, maybe that could be, like, your nickname or something. Just, um… Stay safe, 'kay?"

The Ratcicle, North, watched as Barista gave a well-intentioned, albeit slightly hammy salute before turning and starting for the Tourist Information booth. North looked from his scarf to the former Brat Girl's retreating back… and then started forward, hurrying after her.

And thus, a hatchet is buried peacefully, wrapped in the fabric of a scarf... or something like that.

Fun fact: We never actually see the interior of the Ratcicle Kingdom's citadel in Mind Over Mutant, with the building only existing as part of the background in the snowy area. It's not even called a citadel in-game. In fact, it's never called attention to at all, aside from how it was apparently built by an NPC called 'The Architect'. I probably put more thought into the citadel in this one chapter than the developers of Mind Over Mutant ever did. Figure THAT one out.

I'd like to think that this story is finally starting to go somewhere, and I'd like to thank all of those who have stuck with it - stuck with ME - up to this point. We've still got a fair way to go, so stay tuned, fellow meddling marsupials!