Snake has seen Terry drink too much and go off the rails before, so it isn't too much of a surprise to see him like this. The bottle of scotch he tried to share with them earlier is next to him on the floor. When he finally lifts his head out of his hands, he grabs the bottle and drinks from it. His eyes are red and his hair is a mess, strands escaping from his ponytail.

Terry mumbles to himself and Snake moves closer to the TV to listen. Ponytail turns up the volume.

"Everyone leaves me," Terry says to himself, and sniffles. "They either die or turn against me!"

Snake looks at Ponytail, who looks sad and puts a hand on his shoulder.

Tears start rolling down Terry's cheeks and he starts to sob uncontrollably, only stopping to take another swig from the bottle. "How could he say that?" he chokes out. "Never wanna be reminded of me again? As if I could have that luxury! I think of you every god damned day, you son of a bitch!" He slams down the bottle on the floor.

So this is about John. Terry seemed annoyed that his attempt to reconcile with him didn't work, but Snake had no idea he was this upset about it. Makes Snake feels a little more justified in his reluctance to push him on the matter. He feels bad that they've driven him to despair like this. But now's not the time for I-told-you-sos, Ponytail meant well.

Terry runs his hands over his face. "Never wanted it to be like this," he says. "Just wanted to be by your side. Is that so much to ask? But no, once again, you push me away." He drops his head into his hands and starts to sob again. "You have to hurt me,' he says between sobs. "Again and again. And I just take it." He sniffs and wipes his nose on the back of his hand. "Because I can't stand the thought of losing you completely. I'd rather take the pain than nothing at all."

Terry picks up the bottle again and cradles it in his hands, then looks up at the ceiling. "Don't you see I'd do anything for you, Johnny? I resent that power you have over me, but I could never hate you. Not truly." He drops his head. "God help me, I love you more than anything in this world." Tears roll down his cheeks and his shoulders shake. Holding the bottle in his arms, he curls up and sobs.

"If it's not obvious, that's who he was talking about earlier, the one person he really loves," Ponytail says, bringing Snake back into the room.

Snake realises his mouth has been hanging open, and shuts it. He has to stop himself from saying something dumb such as like a brother, right? It's obvious that isn't what's going on here. Now all those rants Terry went on kinda make more sense. Why he was so crazy mad at that guy. He wonders if he was stupid for not being able to read between the lines. "Oh man, I'm so dumb, I had no idea," he says.

Ponytail shakes his head. "I think he hid it well, at least when he was older," he says. "It was obvious Twig was smitten with John from the very beginning, we were all good friends but Twig, I mean Terry, literally worshipped the ground that man walked on. He could do no wrong in his eyes."

As Snake recovers from the shock, a plan starts to form in his mind. He rubs his hands together and grins. "I think it's time for us to do some matchmaking," he says.

Ponytail doesn't look impressed with his suggestion. "Oh come on man, this is serious. This ain't no stupid TV show."

"We're literally watching him on the TV right now," Snake says, gesturing at it.

Ponytail sighs.

Snake realises he needs to put in more effort to get Ponytail to buy into the idea. "Yeah, but don't you see, this is an important part of the mission! We hadn't even been looking at it this way! If we can get John to admit he's in love with Terry, that's both missions complete! Everyone's happy, no disaster, all is well! We go back to eating chips and watching them on TV!"

"I don't think it's gonna be so easy. You can't make people get together when the feeling ain't mutual."

Snake scoffs. "John saved Terry's life over and over, you telling me that meant nothing?"

Ponytail stares at him. "And are you telling me you wouldn't save your friend's life if you got the chance?"

Snake slumps his shoulders. "Oh. Yeah. That's actually a good point."

"Johnny's heart was set on someone else. He had a girl back home, lucky bastard. She died, around the same time as I did. I guess none of us got our happily ever after, huh?" Ponytail says. "So anyway. We need to go submit our reports, but first we gotta go have dinner."

"Oh yeah, family dinner! Hell yeah!" Snake says.

The Living World Registrar stamps their reports and puts them in a tray, and tuts at them when she learns they didn't complete their mission. She has to make several phone calls to get approval for them to have permits for tomorrow.

Then they go visit Mrs Ponytail, as Snake accidentally calls her, thinks it's hilarious and promptly forgets her actual name. Thankfully Mrs Ponytail thinks it's funny and welcomes him in to the biggest family dinner he's ever seen. Ponytail tells Snake how generations upon generations of his family gather here every week, and even the most tangentially connected ghosts are invited. It's the best chilli Snake has ever tasted, and it's pretty great to be an honorary member of such a big clan.

The next day they return to the land of the living. Terry looks put together and confident as ever, showing no trace of his breakdown yesterday. Snake and Ponytail drift through the wall behind him as he combs his hair back to tie it up.

"Ah, you again," Terry says with a smile. "What is it this time?"

"Same thing again, I'm afraid," Ponytail says.

Terry's smile drops. "Well I've done my part," he says, focusing his attention on gelling back any stray pieces of hair.

"We need you to try again," Ponytail says.

Terry turns around. "You know what they say, no point in fighting for a lost cause," he says.

"Oh, come on Terry, you can't just give up," Snake says.

"He already has, so why shouldn't I?"

"The Johnny I know wouldn't give up on you," Ponytail says.

"Well maybe the person he was doesn't exist any more," Terry says, turning back to the mirror to check his hair again. "I'm no longer the person I was."

Ponytail twists his hands together. "It's not true, you're still the same old Twig," he says.

Terry laughs. "How ridiculous that nickname seems now," he says, sweeping past them and grabbing his jacket.

Ponytail looks pretty bummed about their negotiations breaking down. He looks at Snake. "You say something," he says.

Snake thinks for a moment. "Come on Terry, you know you want to talk to him," he says.

Terry turns around. "Now if only that were true," he says, then leaves the suite.

"He's lying to himself," Snake says.

Ponytail nods. "I just hope we've put enough doubt in his mind to make him rethink it."

"Yeah. There's still plenty of time!" Snake says.

Terry stops by the catch the end of the Iron Dragons' morning training session, then they all head to the arena. After one of the matches pitting Cobra Kai and the Iron Dragons against each other, Terry sidles up to John.

"Nichols got a good few hits in back there," he says.

John turns to glare at him. "So you're choosing to gloat."

"Not at all. You always take things the wrong way."

"So how am I supposed to take it?" John says, raising a fist.

Sensei Wolf steps between them. "Back off," he says.

"Or what?"

John's co-sensei, Da-Eun takes him by the shoulders and pulls him away. "Let's not get into petty squabbles," she says, and turns to give Terry a sharp look. "He's not worth it."

Terry turns to the ghosts, and shrugs.

They catch up with him later when he's washing his hands. They said they wouldn't bother him in the bathroom, but Ponytail is getting anxious that they are running out of time.

Terry looks side to side before speaking to check they are alone. "I tried," he says. "What now?"

"Come on Terry, you've usually got a plan for everything," Snake says.

"Not this," Terry says, going to dry his hands, then forcefully hurling the paper towel in the trash. He goes back to the sinks and leans on the edge of one of them. "How about this? I vow to leave John alone, like he wants me to, I won't even look in his direction. If he tries to speak to me, I will walk away. What then? Will that avert the disaster?"

That's a terribly unsatisfying solution in Snake's opinion, especially considering how they know now just how much Terry cares for John. He said himself, he'd rather have a bad relationship with him than none at all. Maybe they should just let the disaster happen, what does Snake care? Snake smirks to himself. He's never gonna get a job on the Ghost Council. Not that he really wants one anyway.

Ponytail has been quiet. Snake looks at him. "I don't know," he says.

"Nothing in the ghost books about this kinda thing?" Snake asks.

Ponytail shakes his head. "I guess we could go and ask?"

"You go and do that," Terry says, looking in the mirror to check his reflection. He smiles at them behind him. "Sorry to disappoint you," he says, and Snake is surprised by the rare genuine apology from Terry. "It really has been nice to see the two of you again."

"You too, Terry," Snake says, once again overcome by the desire to go give him a hug.

"We'll be right back," Ponytail says.

"Back again? You boys sure like to make work for me," the Living World Registrar says.

"We think we might have completed the mission," Ponytail says, giving her a tight little smile that betrays how unsure he is.

"Uh-huh? Then I'll get you the forms to sign off and hand it over to the Council," she says.

"No, wait," Ponytail says.

The Living World Registrar narrows her eyes at him. "So you haven't completed the mission?"

"Can I take another look at the future to double check?"

"That's highly unorthodox. Your mission is pretty clear, no?"

Ponytail doesn't look he knows how to answer that question so Snake steps in. "We might have found an alternate way of completing it," he says.

"Is that so?" she says, and sighs. "Let me make some calls."

Snake and Ponytail glance at each other and wait as the Living World Registrar makes her phone calls. Eventually she puts the phone down and tells Ponytail that they have approval.

"No, you can stay here," she tells Snake when he automatically starts following Ponytail.

Snake hangs around for a few moments. He's really curious. Ponytail didn't really tell him anything about what this great disaster is supposed to be.

"I'm gonna go, uh, get some air, yeah?" Snake says, pointing his thumb over his shoulder.

"Don't see what's wrong with the air in here," the Living World Registrar says, but doesn't stop him.

Snake zooms off in the direction Ponytail went in. There's a bunch of corridors that lead to different places, but luckily there's a sign pointing to the future department. Further along, he hears some voices behind a door.

He sticks his head through the door. Ponytail is there with what look like some important Ghost Council people, they're standing around a big screen. Absolute chaos is happening on the screen, and at first Snake struggles to make sense of what he's seeing. The scene changes a few times and Snake watches with his mouth open. It's far worse than he imagined.

One of the Ghost Council people turns off the TV, and Snake quickly pulls his head back so he can pretend he wasn't snooping.

Ponytail looks pale even for a ghost when he comes out of the room. He doesn't seem to be surprised by Snake waiting for him. "It's the same," he says in a monotone voice.

"So what now?"

"I don't know. I guess we go tell Terry it ain't enough. Ask him to try again."

Snake throws his hands up. "This ain't gonna work, I'm telling you," he says.

Ponytail sighs. "I'm kinda afraid of that. But we've got to try. And besides, we said we'd go back and tell Terry."

"Well he ain't gonna be happy."

They find Terry taking part in a training session. They watch him sparring with one of the students. They're evenly matched even though Terry is more than three times his age.

Terry goes over to the ghosts when he's finished, and raises his eyebrows at them.

Ponytail shakes his head. "It made no difference. The future is the same," he says.

"Then our fates are sealed," Terry says, an eerie note of resignation in his voice.

Sensei Wolf is close enough to hear him speak, and frowns at him. "That's a bloody ominous way of saying we're gonna win," he says.

Terry laughs and slaps him on the back. "Don't you worry about a thing. I know I won't."

Snake wants to say something, but what can he say? Ponytail takes his arm and pulls him away.

They go back to the beach to pace around, or as close as ghosts can to pacing.

"Think, think," Ponytail says to himself, rubbing his head. "There has to be something I've read that can help us, I just need to remember it!"

Meanwhile, Snake does some thinking. He mostly thinks about the romantic movies he's been dragged to, and the odd few he watched voluntarily, but would never admit to of course. Even though Ponytail vetoed the matchmaking idea, Snake still thinks there's a chance. And every matchmaking movie he's ever seen involves negotiating with both people and pushing them together.

Ponytail is still muttering to himself and racking his brains.

"So what do you know about John?" Snake asks.

"It's like I said, the three of us were best friends. Thought it was gonna be forever, but, you know what happened. You probably know him better that I do."

"Not really. I remember him being around some times when me and Dennis were young. Terry would call him our Uncle John, but he never really acted like our uncle. He never seemed very interested in us since we weren't in his class."

"Why do you ask?"

"Just thought that maybe you know something about him that Terry doesn't, some kinda secret that could help get through to him?"

Ponytail shakes his head. "I don't think I know anything about that guy. Terry's changed, but John, John's a totally different person."

"If only we could go speak to him."

"Yeah. But we can't."

"Why can't you? You said the three of you were best friends."

"Yeah, I thought we were. But the permit says what the permit says." Ponytail shrugs miserably. "I guess I was better friends with Terry? John was always kinda reserved, and he spent a whole lot of time writing to Betsy."

Snake smiles. "Betsy. I bet she could speak to John."

"I don't think they'll allow it."

"Why not? It's a good idea."

"The Ghost Council has a lot of rules."

"Yeah well, you know what I think? The Ghost Council is stupid. We know what's best for our friend."

Ponytail nods. "We might do, but the rules are the rules," he says.

Snake snorts. He's never had Ponytail's hangups about rules. "Here, let's do a test, let's swap permits," he says, getting his permit of his pocket.

Ponytail looks reluctant, but he gets his own permit out and they switch. As they do, they see their names switch around.

"Well, would you look at that," Ponytail says.

"Yeah! Just as I thought!" Snake says with a grin. "I bet if I give mine to Betsy she can go visit John! Whaddaya think? Great idea, right?"

"I think it's dangerous. If we get caught, who knows what'll happen to us?"

"You mean you don't know? I thought you read all of those books."

"They were about successful missions! I didn't read any about ghosts breaking the rules. Maybe I should have."

"Wow, you sure were reading the boring ones!" Snake says, beckoning Ponytail to go back to the elevator with him. "Now come on, we gotta track down this Betsy. How do we even do that?"

Ponytail shakes his head. "I can't believe I'm letting you talk me into this."

"But you are, right?" Snake says with a grin.

Ponytail closes his eyes. "I'm doing this for Terry," he says to himself.

"So, how do we track this Betsy down?" Snake says as they get into the elevator.

"We can just look her up in the ghost phone book."

"Easy as pie! The day will be saved in no time! Stop worrying, man," Snake says, clapping Ponytail on the shoulder.

They go back to Ponytail's apartment. Snake lounges on the couch while Ponytail starts going through the ghost phone book. "Wait, do you even know her full name?" he asks. "I bet there's more than a few dead Betsys."

Ponytail smirks guiltily. "Elizabeth Anne Klein. I used to sneak a look at her letters whenever I got the chance. Hey, don't look at me like that, this was war, it wasn't like we had a whole bunch of other stuff to do! We all knew everyone else's business."

Snake laughs. "Looks like your snooping is coming in useful!"

"For the record, I still don't feel good about this! Ponytail says as they go back to his apartment and he gets out the ghost phone book."

"You'll feel great about it once we complete the mission and make Terry happy!"

Ponytail flips through the pages of the ghost phone book and runs his finger down the endless list of Kleins. Snake has only used the ghost phone book a couple of times, and it was kinda exhausting. With the entire of everyone in human history who's snuffed it in here somehow, there's more than a few people with the same name. Luckily, the ghost phone book includes both birth and death dates, which helps narrow it down a little.

"Okay, there's three maybes, pick a number between one and three," Ponytail says.

"Two."

Ponytail picks up the phone. "Hi there, Elizabeth Klein?" he says. "Do you by any chance go by Betsy, and did you know a John Kreese?"

The person on the other end of the line speaks, and Ponytail grins.

Snake jumps up and down and pumps his fist in the air. "Got it in one!" he says. "See, told you this'd work!"