"How about I start by cutting open your neck, you cryptic bastard?!"

Amos' eyes widened, watching as he swung his Guillotine blade at the empty space in front of him. A darkness colored by vines speckled in blue light illuminated what seemed like a sheer drop ahead of him.

His heel slipped from the ground, and the force of his swing caused him to lose his balance and tumble down into the darkness. It felt like he was falling down a flight of stone stairs, each one as painfully jagged as the next. He barely managed to tuck his body in and reduce the impact of each step before eventually landing hard on the bottom floor, knocking the wind out of him.

He lay on the ground, paralyzed with breathlessness for a moment, before finally wrangling in his lungs. He panted heavily, eyes flickering around in confusion as he tried to make sense of his location.

He appeared to be inside the ruined asylum. The aged stone walls he could make out combined with the strange vines growing through the cracks told as much. However, the lack of immediate sunlight above him said that he wasn't anywhere near the surface.

But…how was that possible?

Didn't he just walk through the entrance a few seconds ago?

He looked at his pincer blade unsurely, wondering why it sprung open on its own. For that matter, where were the others? Caractacus, Evelot, and Phoebe were right next to him when they went through. How did they lose sight of each other in the span of a few seconds?

Why…did everything feel so foggy?

Did something happen when they entered?

18th Rebirth Moon, 908 - Dead Man's Field, Two Hours Earlier…

Dead Man's Field. Much like most of the Outlands, there wasn't much in the way of residents, only small gangs and the like squatting in what little shelter they could find. However, compared to the other towns the company visited, Dead Man's Field was perhaps the most barren.

Several buildings appeared to have sunken beneath the sand, the spires of their roofs or the remnants of lightning rods extending out from below the surface. A destroyed fence marked the perimeter of the town, to which Magni drove through without impediment. In the center of town, there appeared to be the arm of a statue holding a blooming flower. The species the statue depicted remained unknown, what little seen too withered to identify.

Scavengers of the town took notice of the incoming carriage and took shelter inside their submerged homes, wishing not to get into conflict with whatever business these strangers brought.

Magni rolled the carriage to a stop beside the buried statue, then collapsed onto the packed sand to catch his breath. Caractacus leapt from the coachman's seat and waltzed up to the carriage door, rapping his metal paw against it thrice.

"Alright, you lot! Let's get the leg out! We've arrived!" He pushed the door open and let himself inside.

Amos reclined in his bed, napping soundly. Evelot hovered over her mini workstation, tinkering with some new bullets for Amos and Phoebe. Phoebe fiddled with putting on her new eyepatch, which partially covered the reddened scar around her eye. The eyepatch was a simple elastic band with a padded cloth to go over her eye.

After inspecting herself in the mirror, she smirked. "You know what? I kind of like this new look." She licked her freely exposed fangs. "Oh yeah, who's that sexy looking devil~?"

Amos cracked one eye open. "Evelot, could you throw some holy water in her face?"

"You're just can't handle any of this, Lamecaster~."

"Yeah, how dare I refuse to have some crazy chick in the same bed as me?"

"Afraid I might bite~?"

"I thought you weren't interested in men."

She snickered. "Oh trust me, I can bite, and I can bite~."

Caractacus groaned. "Well, glad to see you all in high spirits, but can we please get going before someone decides to give us another pointless side quest?"

Evelot finished her work and packed away her belongings inside her shadow storage. "I'm ready!" She hopped off her seat and shuffled over to Amos and Phoebe, presenting them their ammo packs. "New bullets for you two. Use them wisely!"

Amos slid out of bed and strapped his pack on. As he picked his poncho off a hook and slid it on, he asked, "So, Amadeus said we would find Abel Underhill somewhere in an asylum?"

"An underground asylum," Caractacus reminded. He pointed toward the town square, or at least what passed as one. "Most of this area gets pelted with heavy sandstorms, and it buried everything over time. It's theorized the town sunk underground two hundred years ago during that cataclysmic earthquake. Because that, the sand has been piling up until it completely submerged the town."

Phoebe stomped her foot down. "Yeesh, and quite a lot, too. The ground feels pretty stable."

Evelot tilted her head. "So, how are we going to find the asylum if everything's buried under sand?"

Caractacus chuckled. "Well, shouldn't take that long." He pointed to a nearby structure where a quivering Galvantula took refuge. "Perhaps one of the locals can point us in the right direction."

Amos glared. "Probably best you do the talking. Something tells I might scare this guy into pissing himself."

Evelot groaned. "Thanks for that lovely image…"

Caractacus shrugged. "Very well." He walked up to the Galvantula, putting on his friendliest smile despite being a half-metal Boltund. "Bon après-midi mon ami. Sorry to disturb you on this rather chilly day in this…frankly, decrepit abode you find yourself accommodating. I only need a moment of your—"

"You want my stash, DON'T YA?!" the Galvantula screamed, shuffling deeper into his stone den. "Can't have it! Mine, I say! Mine!"

"Uh huh. Look, I'm not here for your treasures or…what is most likely a stash of drugs. I just need someone to tell me where the local asylum is. Probably buried underground or something. Can you point me there?"

The Galvantula hissed, backing deeper into his shelter. "The assssssylum? Bad place. You don't want to go down there."

"Uh, yeah, we do. That's why I asked—"

"It used to be a safe haven for us locals—"

"Oh no, architectural backstory…"

"Underground passages that stretched deep below the surface, providing the sweet comfort of darkness, cooling us from the oppressive heat of summers and shielding us from the wicked sandstorms and knife-filled winds of the winter. It was a paradise that protected us. Oh, but now it's haunted. Haunted, I say! The groans and wails and moans of a dead man haunt those passages! A monster lives down there, one with millions of tentacles that stretch out across the passages!" Galvantula grabbed Caractacus by the jacket and shook him. "There's no telling what'll happen if you descend down that madhouse—"

Caractacus firmly slapped the spider across the face. "Would you mind releasing my collar?"

"…" Galvantula slowly removed his frontal legs and backed off.

"Look, I get your high on something right now, but can you knock it off with the crazy talk and just point me in the direction of the asylum?"

After another ten or so minutes of pointlessly negotiating with the paranoid spider, the alchemical company made their way to the remnants of the town asylum. The roof of the building breached the surface with a trapdoor partially visible beneath the sand. Amos removed his poncho and used it to dust the sand off.

"Underground passages, huh?" Amos asked, throwing his poncho back on. "You think that Galvantula was telling the truth?"

Caractacus rolled his eyes. "Consider us lucky I even got a cohesive answer out of him. Might've been faster just to look for ourselves." He scratched his chin. "Though, I am curious why Amadeus specifically mentioned the asylum. He didn't just say Abel was in Dead Man's Field, but specifically down here."

Phoebe crossed her arms. "Maybe that monster everyone was so freaked out about was Abel squatting down here. Could've set up a whole farm and everything."

"That deep underground? In this environment? I doubt any plants could survive down there, not unless they're from the Subterra Kingdom."

Evelot winced. "Are we sure it's a good idea to go down there? If there really is underground passages ways down there, I can't imagine they're stable. Plus, it might be super dark so deep below ground."

Caractacus lifted a lantern with his mechanical arm. "We'll have this to rectify that little problem."

Phoebe rubbed her hands together. "Well, this is actually happening. Once we find Abel, we can squeeze whatever information we can out of him and get our revenge on his brother. I'm tingling with excitement."

Magni lowered his head and glared at the trapdoor, noting its small size. "Uh…can't fit."

Evelot patted his leg. "Oh, sorry, big guy. Guess you can't come with us. But hey, you can stay top side and keep watch."

Caractacus glared. "Especially for anymore Deadly Seven members. There's three left, so watch your back."

Magni nodded. "Will do." He marched back to the carriage and lay himself down. "Be careful."

Amos nodded. "We will." He dug his pincers under the trapdoor and pried it open with a little effort. A cloud of dust burst out from the entrance, causing him to sputter in disgust. "Ugh. Yeah, this hasn't been opened in a while."

Caractacus took the lead and slid down the entrance. "Let's get a move on, folks!"

Amos jumped in after him, and Phoebe picked Evelot up before jumping down after them, closing the door behind her. Once everyone was gone, Magni curled up in front of the carriage, keeping one eye open and train on the trapdoor.

{Please stay safe, everyone.}

As he got comfortable in the sand, something caught his peripherals. He saw a shape moving over the trapdoor and lifting it.

"Hey—" However, when Magni faced the supposed stalker, he blinked and saw nothing. Nothing stood over the trapdoor, and it looked as if it wasn't even touched. There wasn't even a sound from it being opened and shut.

…

…

Once everyone was gone, Magni curled up in front of the carriage, keeping one eye open and train on the trapdoor.

The company reached the bottom of the roof entrance, landing in a confined room. Caractacus raised the lantern light, revealing the door in front of them. He pressed on it, and it creaked open without resistance.

The group shuffled their way through, finding themselves inside a wide hallway littered with cracks and sand. Shattered windows allowed sand to pile up over the floor under them, and the occasional particles of sand sprinkled from the cracks in the ceiling.

Amos glared. "Oh yeah, this is a great place for the mentally deranged residents of the Outlands to bunker down in."

"Come on," Caractacus ordered, leading the way through the crumbling hallway. "There should be an entrance to these passageways. In the meantime, keep an ear out for Abel Underhill."

"Assuming he's still alive," Phoebe reminded. "I wonder why he would run down to a place like this in the first place. Must've gotten into a pretty bad scuffle with his old bosses."

Amos crossed his arms. "Caractacus, didn't you say Abel wasn't feeling well when you last saw him?"

He shrugged. "Who knows what he was dealing with? Maybe I was overthinking his issues. Could've been a stomachache."

"Somehow, I doubt it was that minor."

Evelot wrapped her arms around herself. "Maybe it had something to do with me. They have been looking for me. Do you think he originally came to you just to get intel on my location?"

"I haven't had contact with your family since they were…well, you know. I don't see why he would bother coming to me, especially since I've been in regular contact with Abel. I think he would've known had I acquired any information on your location." Caractacus scratched his chin. "A curious thought, though."

Evelot whimpered. "Haven't they taken enough from me? They already took most of my family's secrets and several containers of Rainbow. Ohhh, why can't they just leave me alone?"

Phoebe shook her head. "Unfortunately, that's not how the world works. Someone sees something they like? Two options. Try and obtain it illegally, or murder everything that moves."

"Eeep!" Evelot covered her face.

"Uh, sorry."

"…" Evelot dragged her hands down her costume. "I still have nightmares of that day. I can barely recall what happened. I just remember blacking out after that…monster killed my parents."

Phoebe rubbed her head. "Sorry, Eve. I wish I could fill in the blanks, but I barely got out of the building before everything went crashing down. You'd be dead if Babylas hadn't pulled you out of the wreckage."

"…I hope he's doing okay."

Amos sighed. "Painful memories like that are a drag. No point in clinging to useless nonsense that just slows you down."

Phoebe smirked. "So, your past doesn't bother you?"

"I made my choices. I don't regret them."

She shrugged. "Please, no matter how much you try to bury those sad feelings, there's always going to be a tiny part of you still haunted by them."

"Does that include you?"

She glared. "I've made peace with myself, but that doesn't change the fact I was unhappy back then. I still kind of miss my mom, even if she wasn't…all there."

Caractacus rolled his eyes. "I may have to side with Lancaster on this one. There's no point in letting trivial matters of the heart infest the mind. That's why I've denounced any and all attachments to such feelings."

Phoebe huffed. "Oh, is this because you see everything as a business relationship?"

"It's the natural order. You lot are a means to the end for me. I've been upfront on that."

"Why do I not believe you? I don't think you've properly explained why you wanted to tag along with us."

He chuckled. "I believe I mentioned we had similar interests in finding Abel Underhill. That's the whole reason I came along."

"Look, you may be a genius, but I know a liar when I see one. Unless you want me to poke around in your brain like Alpha did to mind, maybe exercising a little honesty wouldn't hurt."

"Am I really that untrustworthy?"

Evelot tilted her head. "Who's…Alpha?"

Phoebe raised her brow. "Wait, you…huh. I guess Tac hasn't actually pulled Alpha out in front of you since we left. He's always been tinkering with it while we were camping outside." She waved it off. "Eh, details. Not important."

Caractacus shrugged. "Look, you can look at me with suspicion all you want, but I have not done anything to warrant your ire. I'm simply interested in the greater sciences of the world, and uncovering Alpha's secrets may be one of them."

"…" Amos glared at the Boltund for a moment before looking ahead. "Hey, is that a…?"

The group stopped, and Caractacus raised the lantern to illuminate the giant chasm set in the center of the intersecting hallway. They had traveled down to the first floor amidst their conversation, this meaning the chasm led to the secret passages below the asylum.

However, something strange wreathed around the open floor. A cluster of thin roots twisted their way through the cracks like a tree breaching below the ground. They were dusted in specks of blue that seemed to glimmer against the lantern light.

"That's, uh…okay, we're all seeing this, right?" Phoebe asked warily.

Evelot approached the roots. "This is incredible. Is this an actual tree we're looking at?"

"The roots of one. They're coming directly out of the chasm." Caractacus glared. "Hold on a second." He raised the lantern in front of himself, opened it, and blew out the flame.

Darkness descended over the asylum, nearly submerging the group in pitch black, but the soft glow of the roots illuminated the hallway in a blue light. It gave just enough visibility to make out shapes in the dark hallway.

Caractacus set the lantern aside and leaned over the roots. "I've never seen roots like this before. Not ones that glow. Is this possibly a species of plant from the Subterra Kingdom? That's the only explanation I can surmise."

Amos knelt beside a root. "Is it just me or are they giving off a familiar…presence?" He grabbed one and ripped it out of the floor.

OoooOOOooooOOOOoOOOOOooooOooooOOO!

The group jolted with a start as a low wail echoed out from the chasm. Evelot immediately jumped into Phoebe's arms and trembled while the rest glanced down the chasm in confusion.

"Uhhh, was that…?" Phoebe asked.

"…" Amos glared at the roots before stomping his heel down on another cluster.

OOOoooooOOOOOOOOooooooOOOOO!

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Evelot coiled her arms around Phoebe, nearly choking out the poor Aipom. "Okay, I'm officially done! Let's get out of here—"

"Shhh!" Amos hushed. "Stop freaking out, you're a Ghost-Type."

"I'm allowed to be afraid of spooky noises, thank you!" she whispered back.

Caractacus sighed. "Must be the poor infrastructure of this place. The roots are carrying the vibrations into the weaker parts of the chasm, causing stress on the barely stable passages."

"Uh huh, sure, uh, counterpoint? Maybe this place is haunted?" Evelot whimpered.

He waved it off. "Oh, don't get me started on that gibberish that herb-smoking lunatic was feeding you earlier. It's an old building that's been buried underground for two hundred years. Weird noises are bound to happen."

Amos glared. "That still doesn't explain where these roots are coming from."

"Well, it at least confirms there's fertile land of some sort, meaning it's not entirely impossible for a single Hypno to be living down here. Allons-y!" Caractacus made the jump down the chasm, followed by Amos.

Evelot gulped. "Please don't make me go down there—"

"Too late!" Phoebe exclaimed, leaping in after the men with a screaming Mimikyu.

Descending deeper into the underground asylum, the group found their way into the rumored network of passages. Upon touching down, they found themselves surrounded by walls of the same speckled vines permeating across the opening, cluster tightly together and weaving themselves through the stone. Unsure of the path ahead, they trekked forward.

From what they could gather, the vines covered hollow chasms in the wall with rusted metal bars broken off and laying on the ground. Dried blood stained the insides of some of these chasms, or rather decrepit cells. Claw marks dragged along the walls, cracks in the shape of clawed feet occasionally appeared through the floor, and withered clumps of dried fur and scales lay scattered about.

Phoebe glared. "What the actual hell…?"

Amos ran his metal pincer across the vines, inciting another eerie moan through the passages. "This looks more like an underground prison than an asylum."

"Was there really a difference back then?" Caractacus asked. "Even nowadays, the mentally ill are treated with skepticism and contempt. Better to throw a deranged lunatic into a presumed mental health care facility than let them wander the streets, they say."

"This seems like a lot of extra space for an asylum," Phoebe commented. "Why would anyone need to build this much underground? Was everyone just crazy back then?"

Amos glared. "The Great Kingdom was supposedly a time of peace, right? Eight hundred years or so?"

Caractacus chuckled. "Peace comes in many varieties. Choose whichever flavor tastes the least bitter to you."

Evelot gulped. "L-Lovely…" She coiled her arms tighter around Phoebe.

Phoebe glared. "How much do you know about Old Virdis, Tac?"

"About the same as most historians. I can only make guesses from relics and junk." He scratched his chin. "Still, I must confess there's an eeriness about this place. I wonder why Abel chose this as his hideout."

The group came up to the end of the hallway and stepped out into a wide-open cavern connected by a stone bridge. Stalactites hung high above their heads, and the ground below was virtually undetectable. More of the blue-speckled vines coiled around the withered bridge, likely preventing it from an early collapse.

Amos threw a cluster of sand down and closed his eyes. "Hmm…" He shot a deadpan glare at the group. "Yeeeeeah, that's a far drop."

Phoebe smirked. "I could've told you that with my eyes, Lamecaster."

"Eye," he corrected.

"Aye! Glad we agree with each other."

Amos facepalmed.

Caractacus took a couple whiffs of the air, then groaned. "I can't even smell decaying flesh down here. All I can smell are these stupid vines."

Evelot laughed nervously. "P-Perhaps that's our cue to leave while we still can."

He waved it off. "We've already made it down this far."

"Yaaaaayyyyy…"

Amos crossed his arms. "Maaaaaaybe we should reconsider turning back until we've properly prepared ourselves. I didn't expect the underground to get this bad."

Caractacus groaned. "You all worry too much." He turned and walked back around. "Besides, we haven't even gone that—"

Everyone froze as they looked back the way they came. Except…

They weren't even on the bridge anymore.

The group, once standing on a narrow bridge wrapped in strange vines, were standing in a circular space connected to six different passageways. More of the vines tangled themselves through the ceiling, providing enough light to show their horrified expressions.

"OKAY! I'M DONE!" Evelot leapt out of Phoebe's arms and hurriedly ran around the room. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

As the Mimikyu panicked, Amos immediately deployed a Sandstorm and scattered it through the available passages. Caractacus and Phoebe shielded their eyes from the rough gust. After a moment of searching, Amos pointed to the closest passage on his left. "That way."

The group raced off with Caractacus biting the panicking Evelot's ear and throwing her onto his back. They sprinted through a passage branching off into different hallways, but chose to follow Amos' senses.

"How did we even get here?!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Did we teleport?!"

"No, that was way too seamless to be teleportation," Caractacus surmised. "We would've felt the jump through space."

"This way!" Amos turned down another passage with the group following close behind. He kept funneling sand ahead of himself. "Okay, a few more turns and up a flight of stairs, we should be back by the brid—"

The group screeched to a halt and looked up in horror. They were back in the exact same space they suddenly appeared in.

"What the—OW!" Phoebe firmly slapped her tail against the back of Amos' head. He rubbed the sore spot and growled. "What was that for?!"

"You accuse me of being lousy with directions?!" Phoebe snapped. "I guess Amadeus did more brain damage to you than we thought!"

"I don't even know how I—"

"Forget it, I'm following my natural instincts!" Phoebe pointed down a new passage. "We're going that way!"

With little options, the group followed behind Phoebe, racing around twisting pathways and rushing up staircases. They dashed past an old cell riddled with slashes, one marked with swirls and the number four, and one that had moss growing over the interior.

"Aha! We should be coming up on—" Phoebe's eye widened as she ran right back into the same space they had just left. "…Oh fuck."

Now Amos slapped her on the back of the head. "You're as shitty walking around blindly as you are with a map!"

She growled at him. "Alright, listen you—"

"WAAAAAAAHHHH!" They froze as Evelot broke down into tears. "We're going to die down here!"

Phoebe winced and immediately hugged the sobbing Mimikyu. "Shh, shh, shh. It's okay, Evelot, it's okay. We're going to be fine, shh."

Caractacus looked around at the branching passages before glaring. "You all wait here a moment. I need to check something." He took off sprinting in a random passageway.

"Where are you going?!" Amos shouted.

"I have no idea, and that's the point!"

The trio waited cautiously as the Boltund disappeared down the passage. However, not even ten seconds later, he came sprinting back the same way and skidded back into the open space.

He huffed. "Okay, that's weird."

Phoebe glared. "Why did you come back the same way?"

"…" He glared at them. "How long was I gone?"

Amos raised his brow. "About five, seven seconds?"

"…I was running for at least a minute."

Their eyes widened. "W…What?" Evelot gasped.

Caractacus glared back at the passage. "Not only that. I'm definitely certain the routes I took couldn't have led me back this way. There's absolutely no way I could've ended back here."

Phoebe glared worriedly. "H-Hold. So, you were gone longer than we thought you were, and you ended up back in a full circle?" She massaged her forehead and groaned. "Ooookay, I'm starting to freak out now."

Caractacus scratched his chin. "Intriguing. Space and time seems to be warping around us. Perhaps we've uncovered some kind of phenomenon. Is this asylum perhaps a realm of portals?"

Amos glared. "I think you're looking too deeply into what's going on. Besides, the residents didn't mention this place being some haunted labyrinth while they were squatting down here."

"Need I remind you the one I interrogated was already off his rocker?"

Amos tapped his chin. "No, something else is definitely going on. I know for certain my Sand Sensory detected our last known position. I know my technique by heart, so I know I couldn't have led us astray."

Phoebe glared. "Okay, so what messed up your navigation?"

"That, I'm not sure."

"Perhaps an unknown assailant has found their way to your group," the Slowking suggested as he paced by the group. "That is the only other plausible factor."

Amos shook his head. "Even considering that, we haven't seen anyone yet."

Phoebe sighed. "This is a nightmare."

Evelot sniffled. "Oh, I hope Magni isn't worrying about us."

Caractacus waved it off. "Look, quit worrying over nothing. We'll find our way out soon enou—"

…

…

…

"WHAT THE?!"

The group instantly snapped their attention toward the unknown Slowking who so casually walked by them. Dressed in a purple coat with a fluffy collar and blue trousers, decorated with blue-tinted glasses where the lenses and frames were shaped like clouds, and adorned with a wavy dagger around his waist, he stood idly by soaking in their shocked expressions.

He tipped his glasses up and looked back at the stunned group with disinterest. "Now, I wonder who that unknown assailant could be."

Immediately, their weapons and attacks were trained on the intruder. Amos and Phoebe pointed their guns at him while Caractacus charged up his Positive Cannon. Evelot…just cowered behind Phoebe.

"Who. Are. You?" Amos growled.

"…" The Slowking sighed. "This shtick again. Must you be so violent whenever we meet each other?"

"Answer the question, or I'm blasting your head open!" Amos shouted.

"…" The Slowking sighed. "How many times have we gone over this? I've lost count after seven, maybe eight times. Fine." He faced the group, his eyes narrowed gloomily. "You may refer to me as Helmut Wolken, the Assassin of Sloth."

Caractacus growled. "A Deadly Seven. Of course."

Phoebe smirked. "Good. We'll put it on your tombstone—"

"Why are you wasting your time with these barbaric interrogations?" The group's eyes widened as Helmut walked out from behind them, completely disappearing before their eyes. "It's always the same. I've grown bored of my occupation. It's too…simple. Easy. Predictable."

Amos glared over his shoulder. "How did you—"

"Does it really matter?" He jumped back into the others, feeling Helmut's whispers tickle his ears. The Slowking stepped back and groaned drearily while Amos relaxed his frantic heartrate. "Who cares if there's an answer? Who cares if how or why? Is anything we're experiencing the truth? Is this the truth? What even is the truth? Some claim it to be a concrete force of nature, but I see it as some nebulous…oh, I don't even care to finish my thought. I've already lost it."

Amos finally calmed down and growled at the assassin. "Tac? You still believe this guy isn't using teleportation?"

Caractacus winced. "I'm...slowly warming up to the possibility."

Evelot gulped. "Wh-Who are you? What are you going to do to us?"

Helmut massaged his temple. "What do I want? What does it matter? Why am I here? Why are any of us here? Is this even reality? Oh, I don't even know. Will this accursed fog ever lift?"

Phoebe narrowed his eyes. "Ooookay, I think the locals were less brain damaged than this guy."

Amos bared his fangs. "Whatever you want from us, kindly march out the way you came before I butcher your organs."

"…" Helmut shook his head. "There's that violent temperament of yours. Treated the others so well. As well as you can. But does it matter? They're just figments of my imagination like everything else, or maybe they were real. I don't even know."

Caractacus glared. "Everything about his posture and stance doesn't tell me he's a skilled fighter. Either he's doing a remarkable job of concealing his skill, or he's perhaps just some thug with a knife."

"So, it wouldn't take much effort to kill him," Amos said, extending his Guillotine blade. "Good enough for me!"

Helmut glared wearily over his shoulder. "You're still plotting to kill me? Oh, how annoying." He massaged his eyes. "I'm not in the mood. I don't feel like running around in some grand final confrontation. I don't even know. Why did I bother coming here? Does any of this matter?"

Phoebe groaned. "Can it with the mopey shit! Are you even an actual Deadly Seven?"

"…" Helmut sighed and faced the group. "Look, you all know why I'm here. I just want Evelot Faucher, for how little it matters. Just hand her over, and we can ignore this pointless…oh, I don't even know. I'm not bothering with finishing my sentence."

Amos sneered. "Hate to break it to you, but we've killed your last four buddies, so I'd say whatever threats you throw our way cautiously."

Helmut glared. "Are they dead? Are they alive? Are we alive? Are we dead? Does this count as alive? I don't even know." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I can't tell the difference anymore. It's just fog." He scratched his cheek. "But I suppose wandering aimlessly would be even more pointless."

"Stop blathering, or I'll shoot!" Amos shouted.

"If you wanted to shoot me so bad, you would've done it by now. Or have you been forgetting to fire your weapon during this conversation? Or maybe you already have."

"Huh?"

Helmut stepped aside and pointed over his shoulder. The group's eyes widened, spying the smoking bullet holes in the wall. Amos quickly checked his pincer and found the inner chamber was completely empty.

…Wait, wasn't he using his Guillotine blade instead? When did he retract it?

Wait. Did...Did he extend his Guillotine blade? No, he never did...right?

Amos held his head and groaned. "What the fuck…?"

Helmut sighed. "I'm afraid you fail to see the bigger picture. I could've killed all of you at any time I wanted." He glanced at Caractacus. "Well, except you. That barrier of yours is annoying, but it doesn't really matter. You're not the target. It…It doesn't matter. Whatever."

Evelot trembled against Phoebe. "What's going on?!"

Phoebe pushed Evelot behind her. "I won't let him near you, don't panic."

Helmut shook his head. "Have any of you ever experienced a lucid dream? One where you can walk about the dreamscape with complete control? I sometimes wonder if this is another of those dreams. Or…do I have dreams like this? Are these my dreams? Are they your dreams? I do wish I knew which was which. Oh, I don't even know." He glared. "What was I talking about? Does it even matter?"

Caractacus glared. "If you could've killed us at any time, why didn't you?"

"…It'd be too easy." Helmut sighed. "That's the problem with being a good assassin. It's…boring. Too boring. Do you know how many I've killed without trying? That's not a rhetorical question. I've genuinely forgotten. Actually, it might just be zero. Is this still a dream?"

"I'm getting a headache listening to this guy," Phoebe groaned. She stamped her foot and yelled, "Oi! Get to the fucking point already! If you can just kill us, what's stopping you?! We want you dead, right?!"

"…Death and Sleep are brothers. Are they close, or are they bitter? Oh, I don't even know." He pinched between his eyes and sighed. "I've gotten into a habit of playing with my targets. Just want to see if there's something worthwhile about…whatever this is. Something, anything to make the monotonous job of cutting throats…stimulating, I guess. Or maybe something that'll finally tell me if I'm asleep or not. I don't even know."

Amos glared. "You're saying you want to make this into a game."

"…" Helmut tilted his head. "You're looking for Abel Underhill. I suppose…confirming he's dead wouldn't be a bad idea, even if it might not matter." He waved it off. "A game, it is."

Caractacus pulled Amos back. "Hold on, I don't think we should be going along with this. We still don't know what's going on around here."

Amos shook his paw off. "What do you have to worry about? You're the one with the unbreachable barrier."

"But he is doing something, and I don't like it."

Amos ignored his warning and snarled at the assassin. "You want to play a game so badly? Fine. Name your game."

"…" Helmut looked down. "How about this? If any one of you can reach Abel Underhill before the stroke of midnight, I'll walk away. You'll never see me again. If you don't, I'll take Miss Faucher and kill the rest of you."

"Pft. Is that all? Fine by me." Amos extended his Guillotine blade. "But to add a little something extra, we get to kill you if we run into you."

Helmut shrugged. "If you want."

Phoebe smirked. "Midnight? You idiot! It's barely the afternoon. We'll have this entire place searched before the sun sets!"

Helmut glared. "How long do you think you've been down here?"

"…" Phoebe winced. "Uh…"

"Actually, it doesn't matter." He raised his arms and bowed to them. "I wish you the best of luck, but there's no victory at the end of this dream. No matter how early you start, you'll never find the end of this fog. You might as well just give up."

"Yeah, nice speech." Amos slapped his tail down and lunged at the Slowking. "How about I start by cutting open your neck, you cryptic bastard?!"

"Curtain of a Wayward Dream."

Amos' eyes widened, watching as he swung his Guillotine blade at the empty space in front of him. A darkness colored by vines speckled in blue light illuminated what seemed like a sheer drop ahead of him.

His heel slipped from the ground, and the force of his swing caused him to lose his balance and tumble down into the darkness. It felt like he was falling down a flight of stone stairs, each one as painfully jagged as the next. He barely managed to tuck his body in and reduce the impact of each step before eventually landing hard on the bottom floor, knocking the wind out of him.

He lay on the ground, paralyzed with breathlessness for a moment, before finally wrangling in his lungs. He panted heavily, eyes flickering around in confusion as he tried to make sense of his location.

He appeared to be inside the ruined asylum. The aged stone walls he could make out combined with the strange vines growing through the cracks told as much. However, the lack of immediate sunlight above him said that he wasn't anywhere near the surface.

But…how was that possible?

Didn't he just walk through the entrance a few seconds ago?

He looked at his pincer blade unsurely, wondering why it sprung open on its own. For that matter, where were the others? Caractacus, Evelot, and Phoebe were right next to him when they went through. How did they lose sight of each other in the span of a few seconds?

Why…did everything feel so foggy?

Did something happen when they entered?