You know those comedy action movies where the guys are always talking while a ton of stuff goes on in the background? This was one of those things. During the fray, Golem's scarf had given Lord Sky, ass whiplash. Golem, in a futile attempt to become more relevant to the story, had left him for fallen, and gone on to fight foot soldiers, because that's what really gets his rocks off.

Lord Sky drew a bead on Golem once more, but the gun, funny story, wasn't loaded. After a few futile attempts to throw the gun like a boomerang or something equally useless, Chancellor Butty McFartface indicated that, perhaps, now was the time to take care of business.

Knife drawn, he crouched behind Enthree, and grazed a cheek, leaving a light film of blood on the dagger.

It was the scream that started what happened next.

Lord Sky and Butty McFartface ran from the ruins of his palace as quickly as bipeds generally go.

Big Al turned as soon as the scream had made it's way from his ears to his brain, to the rest of his body. Whatever humanity he had, immediately gave it up, and vanished. From the pit of his gut, the process began in his intestines, he began to transform. Vanishing bodyhair became fur. Nails became claws. Nose became a nose, but one of those really wet uncomfortable noses that no one ever wants to touch, if they have an option.

Lord Sky would probably have been disemboweled, if a Big Bull hadn't gored the Big Bear in his side.

The really strange thing is, no one acted like anything was happening. Darkbeak and Negabeak continued their epic struggle of evil and also evil. Rocky and GORE pounded friend and foe alike into the ground for the sheer fun of it. Dust bunnies rampaged, in their on-going war against housewives.

It was later and elsewhere, though not before that fight had petered out, that this scene occurred. Beyond a painted plywood cut out of the Wicked Witch from Snow White, labelled, "You must be this evil to enter," the bloody dagger passed hands to an EVIL Scientist Dude, who put it in some possibly important corner of the machine. Complicated machinery spun and whirred. No one said much, not only because it would have been hard to hear, but also because no one could think of much to say. All the evil banter had been phased out for the evening.

Beside the unconscious body of Sapphire was another bed. The procedure hadn't been explained to her, but if it had, someone would likely have said that she would be destroyed, and the next bed would be filled with whatever Donkeyman wanted to create. Most present weren't entirely clear on the subject, because it made absolutely no godsdamn sense.

Every procedure ever undertaken doesn't have a few kinks in it. However, few could use the adverb kinky to describe the procedure. Donkeyman whinnied to stop the machine before it was too late, but the controls were all locked in.

Sapphire, who appeared none the worse for wear, was still in her seat, while another Sapphire jumped off the adjacent bed, and crackled with a demonic voice, "Honey! I'm home!"

~As BigBull speared the bear, NegaBeak and DarkBeak Flutter broke away from their clash. The two seemed evenly matched.~

NegaBeak: Me can beat you. Me am stronger.

DarkBeak Flutter: Really? Then let's lose these disguises.

NegaBeak: Mmm. Mokay! *He tore off his cloak and made a fart noise, for effect, revealing himself to be none-other-than Fluutar*

~DarkBeak Flutter loosened his cape and threw it across the room. As he removed his mask, he pulled down his hat over his face. He then threw both the hat and mask at Fluutar revealing himself to be... Vorpal?!~

Fluutar: Vorpal?!

GORE: Vorpal?!

Big Bull: Vorpal?!

Rocky: Vorpal? Who's that?

Vorpal: That's right! And GORE...

GORE: Yes?

Vorpal: Your rent's overdue.

Big Bull: But how? You impersonation of Flutter as DarkBeak Flutter was uncanny! Even Flutter's right hand man was fooled! How dare you trick me, you Vorposter!

Vorpal: *brushes his hair in a cool way, while striking a pose* Ah! But he did realize who I was. If this bear could talk, *pointing to the wounded, unconscience Big Bear* he would tell you that he realized that I was just doing my best Vorpal impersonation.

Big Bull: But how?

Vorpal: Flutter's name was spelled right. *points to Fluutar and Big Bull* Now the tables have turned! Come on men! *reaches for his Vorpal Sword, which he just couldn't find* Hmmm. Seems I'll have to improvise. *pulls out a butter knife*

Narrator: The battle continued with an epic clash. Vorpal began with an epic pose. The two villans' morale was shot and the trio overpowered them with ease. Well not really. But I'm not going to describe the scene to you, I'm too tired.

Vorpal: *tightens the knot around Bull and Fluutar* Come on men! Let's go save the king!

Rocky: What about the Bear?

Vorpal: Don't worry. He'll be ok. In fact his rapid regeneration is healing him even now.

GORE: Can he really do that?

Vorpal: I dunno, I hope so, cause that wound looks deep.

Rocky: Well we have to do something.

Vorpal: I don't wanna touch it. That's gross.

Rocky: Well we have to do something!

GORE: Leave it to me guys. *ties up Big Bear along with Big Bull and Fluutar* There, done.

Vorpal: I can dig it.

~They run off after the Chancellor~

"What in the name of all that is unholy and evil is going on here?" asked Donkeyman.

"Indeed it is," explained the resurrected body.

"I demand to know who you are!" Donkeyman fumed at the nostrils, "I will not have... any mistakes in this resurrection."

"I bet you do, and," the body thumped the body of Sapphire; it did not rebound like flesh is wont to do, "your answer will be forthcoming, perhaps."

"Perhaps? No perhaps, I shall have my answer," Donkeyman began walking down to the operating table and now faced this twisted parody of his love.

"How much do you know about alternate futures?"

"Ah christ, not this shit again," EVIL Scientist Dude grasped his hand over his mouth. He was not going to draw attention to himself just now.

"Yes, well, thanks to decisions you have made in your past, I have been... unable to resurrect," said the strange body.

"And who are you, exactly?" asked Donkeyman

"Know how everything has it's opposite? Light has shadow, Television has Radio, Democrats have Republicans?"

"So you're the opposite of... something?"

"I'm not just the opposite: I'm the Antithesis."

"Ah, oh, you're a destroying force. In that body?"

"I don't much like this body," admitted Antithesis, "But I don't much like anything, so it's all the same to me."

"Hey," said EVIL Scientist Dude, risking being noticed, "What's with the girl? Is she okay?"

Antithesis shrugged, "Buggered if I know. I don't imagine it'll matter too damn much before too long."

EVIL Scientist Dude removed Sapphire's unmoving body from the platform, not because he cared about her, but because it was taking up a valuable surgical table. He muttered as he passed, "And they call me the mad man."

"I am no man," said Antithesis, under his breath.

Lord Sky Blue and Butty McFartface looked at one another. Neither were exactly enthusiastic of what had now transpired. Certainly the idea was to get power, and now they had it. What bothered them was that the person above them was worried. Sure, weird things were supposed to happen, they knew that, but when your superior loses his cool, what are you supposed to do about it?

Lord Sky and Butty McFartface had already decided what they'd do about it. That involved sprinting at high speeds away from whatever was going very badly. And this worked out pretty well until they hit Vorpal, Rocky, and GORE head on.

---

For Al, it had been very fortunate that he managed to maul his comrades to sleep while a bear. As the ties that bound him shuffled off, he became cognizant of what had been happening and took the fastest route to where he'd been before. He tread quietly, not out of any sense of stealth, but in an effort to not pull some of the rended flesh he'd definitely need to have looked at after this was all over.

The room was almost empty now. Only his daughter, and two friends remained. Antithesis might be ushering in a new reign of evil, but he didn't seem to want to do it from here. Good.

"Greg, what happened here?" Al asked. He looked over his daughter's unconscious body. She wasn't badly injured. That was a relief.

Golem told him. "What's wrong with Sapphire?"

Al checked for a pulse. "Heartbeat's irregular. She's dying."

Golem shed, what Al believed to be a tear. It was. All these years, and he'd just assumed Sapphire married Golem so she wouldn't have to marry someone with the slightest hint of ambition. There was more to their relationship than that. He had been gone too long. It was then Golem decided to make Al feel even worse.

"She's pregnant."

That would have been great news if you'd told me this on page one, Al thought to himself. "Then let's save them."

A defibrillator wasn't any thing. Al's arm was, after all, electrically powered and this wasn't the first time he'd jump started someone's heart. It was only a mercy he'd started watching TV. Without Dr. House, he'd have never learned what to do. The electrodes detached from his arm. When the situation was better, a doctor would do a more thorough job, but this would keep her heart going for now. Thought it had been a long few minutes, one of his oldest friends was back in working order.

"That's two you owe me," he said to the unconscious Sapphire. "Want to know what sex the child is?" Al asked Golem.

"You can tell that?" Golem asked, wiping snot on his gloves.

"I can get close."

Narrator: Elzie Ann sits at a bar near Castle Blue, drinking an array of shots. A few seats down is Luiigii with a similar collection of liquids, though he's occupied speaking into a tin can with a string coming out of one end.

Luiigii: You sure?

Rebe: Yeah. I passed by her treehouse on the way home and caught a Mariorocks lurking outside. Didn't take long to beat it out of him.

Luiigii: Well damn.

Rebe: Oh, and Dad was just here.

Luiigii: Eeeeeee...

Rebe: ~hears crying in the background~ Okay love you too bye.

Luiigii: ~throws the can away and sighs~ Wha'chu in for?

Elzie: Shot Sapphire in the back so Donkeyman can make her his daughter, disowning me and letting me live out the rest of a normal life that was cut tragically short about 500 years ago. You?

Luiigii: Got ditched by my comedic foil, can't go home because my father-in-law might still be there, and my wife just found out that her mother is married to the Donkeyman. ~beat~ Wait...

Elzie: ...you're Elenia's son-in-law?

Luiigii: You're Donkeyman's daughter?

Eightch: ~kicks open the bar door and steps in~ You poor people amuse me so! Hello? Hello? I'm looking for the miscreant pizza delivery boy who didn't deliver my pizza! ~spots Luiigii~ Pauper! Long time no see! Well, I know it's not you. A job, really?

Elzie: Who's the wyseguise?

Luiigii: The fresh Prince of bel-lame. And that's coming from me. ~downs a shot and stands up~ I gotta find Donkeyman.

Elzie: What? Why?

Eightch: Yes, do tell. I'm only extremely busy with other things.

Luiigii: You don't want your kids to grow up calling him Grandpa. Same here, sister.

Elzie: Hey, hey. Don't call me that. We're only related by two separate marriages. Not like we have the same mother or something.

~In Q-Space, hurtful, hurtful laughter rings out.~

Luiigii: One does not simply walk up to Donkeyman alone, though... Say, Eightch.

Eightch: Nuh uh. Oh no. I am on a vital quest for sustenance! not some random jaunt to find an insignificant, half-breed jackass!

Elzie: Hey!

Luiigii: You always wanted my old Growey, didn't you?

Eightch: You...kept him? Seriously? He hasn't been starved to death or anything?

Luiigii: Nah. I could actually stop and take care of him once people quit challenging me to those stupid "Pokeyman Duels" at random.

Eightch: Hmm... Beeble has been ever so lonely since the rest of the 'mons were taken away...

Luiigii: Rebe's Crabburn, too. We did just adopt twins. We just don't have time to take care of them anymore. They could use a good home.

Eightch: ...fine. I shall help you find the Donkeyman, then you shall help me find the Deliveryman, then you shall give me the Pokeyman(s). I agree to your terms, Luiigii. And we use our default names, Amblade for me and Vorpethyst for you, just like Satoshi intended. After all, I can't let people know I'm socializing with some peasant!

Vorpethyst: That second thing wasn't--

Amblade: Onward, indentured servant!

***

Narrator: But at the moment, Donkeyman's current family is the furthest thing from his mind. As he sits alone in Sapphire's bedroom, cursing Antithesis for stealing his show and staring at an image burned into a piece of tanned infant's hide, there is the sound of the door being kicked... someone muttering painfully... the door being opened just slightly... and then Golem kicks it open and stomps into the room.

Golem: All right Donkeydunce, this ends today! I'm the King o' Turquoise, Prince o' Parties, and Fool o' Mr. T all wrapped into one royal package, and you ain't messin' with my wife and child again!

Narrator: Golem charges and is casually smacked to the ground. Donkeyman plants a foot on his head to keep him there.

Donkeyman: Kudos, kitty Cat. That was almost intimidating. ~presses down~

Golem: um. Um! What'cha lookin' at!

Narrator: Donkeyman pauses as emotions well up within him. Blaming his new heart, he moves his foot from head to shoulders (knees and toes, knees and toes) and lowers the picture to Golem's eye level.

Golem: ...! I'd recognize those breasts anywhere!

Donkeyman: Stuff it down your throat before I stuff you down mine! I drew this as naught but a wee Donkeybaby, and only now do I feel compelled to hold it. A picture of the only mother I ever knew, dearest classy Safour. You see, pitiful Golem? Your wife she may now be, but I have loved Sapphire longer and more greatly than you ever could! And...wait, recognize?

Golem: Yeah, shoe shootin'. I forgot all about you, man-donkey.

Narrator: Golem snatches the picture away and performs a complicated series of maneuvers, the end result of which lets him unfold the skin. Drawn in virgin's blood on the inside are two tiny pictures of Scruffy and Mr. T, plus a large, squiggly picture of Golem between them with the words "My Hewwo" underneath.

Donkeyman: No! N-no! You couldn't be him! He defeated Sageit! He...you...!

Censor Man: Gonna stop you right there, champ. We're lookin' at a violation of the sanctity of T-Venture's continuity. Any further and you might as well write the story right here. Let's fast-forward a bit and...there we go.

Senor Burro: ~grabs Donkeyman from behind~ Just hug it all out, mi amigo! Let it all--

Donkeyman: HrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaAaAaAaAaAaaaaa--

Censor Man: Perfect.

The execution of Lord Sky Blue and Butty McFartface was a particularly festive event. Not really because everyone loves seeing a good double header, though there was that, but the best part of the day was definitely going to be the Golem Got Laid Party... I Mean Baby Shower. Because the event was strictly BYOB, everyone arrived pretty sloshed with the wrong or inappropriate gifts.

"Oh, er, a power tool set," Golem paused, "That was very thoughtful Flutter."

"Only the best for my new best friend!" Flutter shouted far louder than he needed too, though, to be fair, he couldn't really hear anyone with as much water as he had in him right now.

Stryke had given Golem a practice sword because, as a royal, his child would, in fact need to learn how to use a sword sooner rather than never. He didn't seem to think this meant that the sword should not be sharpened because, he asked, what good is it to have a wooden sword. Golem knew there was a flaw to his drunken logic but didn't have the patience to identify it.

That had been the last gift, so finally Golem got the chance to speak without everyone shouting over him.

"Everyone I want to thank you for this decade or so of support and I just want to ask everyone from the bottom of my heart," Golem had everyone's ear, he was about to say something about how the party would last all night, "and I just want to say, go home, all you freeloaders before I have the guards throw you in prison."

Everyone groaned and moaned. "I wish Mr. Noskin hadn't bought him that spine," Flutter grumbled.

Then for no reason, the ghost of Rodney Dangerfield appeared in a captain's hat and hawai'ian shirt. "Hey everybody! Golem got laid!"

There was another round of cheering, because while no one had won the betting pool, no one has lost it either.

***

Those who hadn't left the room shortly thereafter, like Flutter, were treated to the double execution guillotine-style. The courtyard was packed. It was going to be simultaneous and after the heads dropped, the fireworks would go off and then Rubber Band Pen Band, the cheapest band they could find, would start a concert, and it was going to be pretty wicked. The flyers also had the line, "Lord Sky and Butty McFartface go Head-to-Head-to-Ground", which wasn't a particularly clever line, everyone admitted, but then they'd already been mimeographed, so what could you do?

The concession stands were empty now, but there were dudes in the audience selling official death masks, which was kind of odd, considering that the two traitors hadn't even been killed yet.

"I must admit, I'm impressed how fast your legal system works," Al remarked to Sapphire, who had the best seats in the whole courtyard. Elevated ones.

"We're a monarchy, we can do whatever we want."

"Yeah, but it's a constitutional monarchy."

Sapphire laughed until she couldn't breathe.

The crowd chanted, "Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Zero!"

The heads fell, the fireworks went off, the band played a variation of a Willow Smith song that was called "I Whip my Head Back and Forth", and everyone cheered, and confetti poured from the sky miraculously.

"They'll be back," Al said, "I don't think anyone stays dead in these stories."

Misty: Three years past since that day and now it's the year 2012. I guess I need to explain things a bit. First, let's start with Vorpal. He realized right away that removing Team Rocket from power was bad news. As everyone knows, the three most powerful forces in the world are the United States, the Kingdom of Turquoise, and Team Rocket. Even as effective a president that Ditto was, there was no way Team Rocket would be taken down so easily. So he went undercover as an old friend, Flutter, who pretended to make a return to the OGing scene. Ultimately he foiled Lord Sky's attempt to conquer the Kingdom of Turquoise. That left Golem still in power, even if his rule was tenuous in the absence of the still missing Queen Sapphire Blue. A year later, Golem was ousted from power by Lord Sky's daughter, now the current queen of Turquoise. She declared war on the United States. As for Golem? No one knows where he is.

Misty: Then there Big Al. Well aware that Antithesis had taken a new form, he gathered up the renegade Anti-Spacers to take them back to their own universe and find a way to defeat this new foe. For several months he gave us promising leads, but then the information stopped coming. His daughter Enthree went to investigate, but the gateway to Anti-Space had been closed. The last I heard, she was reading into matters of the afterlife, believing that accessing Weirdanium might be the secret to getting into Anti-Space. As for President Ditto... he's still in power, but he outlawed elections and declared himself President For Life. He now controls an army of Bearded Tanks led by General Skullcracker, leader of his dwarven army. His daughter is nowhere to be seen, but I figure that she's being used as leverage to make Thrakun cooperate. Either way, with the country at war with Turquoise, the capital of the country was moved to Rocketville. Somehow, I think that was the plan all along. No one ever sees Ditto anymore, locked up inside the former Team Rocket tower.

Misty: The Donkeyman, realizing he had been being played by someone else, descended back into the Donkey Realm, taking with him his army of Marorocks. We all know he'll be back for his revenge. Maybe it won't even be in this OG. Luiigii and GORE returned to their normal lives. For his part, Luiigii and Rebe finally had a daughter of their own, a little girl named Ashley. She's adorable, by the way! GORE realized that EMERALD was the mother he never wanted, so he rebelled against his creator and took EMERALD as his new wife. Dabbling in the stock market, he eventually made himself a billionaire, where he then decided to become eccentric and start inventing things. Just the way his 'father' used to. Jed, unsatisfied with being the eternal sidekick, started experimenting in Gaming Radiation, to see the effects of video games played continuously for a full year. He emerged from his session two weeks early as a monstrously huge green kirby thing, standing at a staggering three feet tall. After destroying an entire Avengers toy display at a Toys R Us, he escaped into Rocketville and has continued to lay low. The real Flutter is still trying to get his lemonade business off the ground. It turns out that while Vorpal was impersonating Flutter, Flutter had disguised himself as Mistress Elmonade in order to promote lemonade as a badass alternative to water.

Misty: Which brings me back to Vorpal. The last force for good. The only one still interested in finding out what went on three years ago that changed the world. The only one dedicated enough to-

Vorpal: WHOOO! I did it! Final level, highest difficulty. Take that Hades!

Misty: ... do a 100% run of Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Vorpal: Whew. My life has so much more meaning to it now that there was finally a new Kid Icarus game.

Misty: ... aren't you supposed to be saving the world?

Vorpal: You're right! Get me my address book, I need to call the Gamehikers together!

~Sighing, Misty pulls out Vorpal's incredibly retro address book. Seriously, doesn't he know what a smart phone is? But anyway, Vorpal starts making his calls...~

Luiigii: As much as I don't want to help, I'm going to have to go ahead and not. But only because of the legitimate excuse of being a father of three.

GORE: Can't talk, trying to invent a renewable source of company synergy. Call me in a week.

Golem: [[I'm Sorry, But I'm Currently Missing. Please Attempt To Rescue Me And Leave A Message After The Tone]]

Roy: You need me, you really need- ~Vorpal hangs up~

Steve: As amazing as that sounds, I'm still evil and don't care.

Flutter: No way, you me-impostor! Do you have any idea how impossible it is to match how cool I was when you were me!?

Yami: I hate this OG series.

Director: Me? You want me? YES! YES! YES! ... hello? Are you still there?

Vorpal: It's hopeless! No one else wants to come with me! Let's face it, Misty. OGing is dead. It's dead and buried and gone and it will never come back. Start counting up the characters, it's time to run the credits. We're not in the "To Be Continued" part of the story. This is the epilogue. The crummy epilogue. Nothing comes after this. The closest thing we have to an ending are the Holiday Specials that take place in the future. This is Vorpal's last ride. The final farewell tour. Vorpal has left the building. Exit stage right. Do not pass go. Time to man up, meet the maker. Look fate square in the jaw. Face the facts. Keep a stiff upper lip. Look to the future. Be all that I can be. Sink the last battleship. Declare Yahtzee. How are you feeling about these metaphors?

Misty: You kind of got carried away. I'd give it a seven.

Vorpal: Well... Narrator, you heard me. Roll the credits.


<b>THE E-</b>

~SUDDENLY Vorpal's door is kicked down and in comes Masamune, wearing a Hawaiian T-Shirt and holding a coconut drink~

Masamune: Hey guys! I heard there was a GMOG in progress. Did I miss it?

And so it was that Vorpal and Masamune teamed up. Honestly, it was probably a long time in coming, they're pretty cool and they know it. But every adventure needs a beginning, and their started in the mean streets of St. Paul, Minnesota. Having decided sometime ago:

Masamune: Alright, so where should we start? We've got some promising leads you know.

Vorpal: Quite true. I say we do whichever quest the NPACs give us first.

Masamune: That sounds like a reasonable way to negotiate your character.

Vorpal: Yes, I thought so. Oh look over in that direction I'm pointing, that looks like an NPC.

Vorpal pointed in that direction at a blind, bearded man, laid out on the ground like happy hour had come early, they approached him and pressed the button that made other people talk.

Some Guy: Been a while, hasn't it?

Vorpal and Masamune tiled their heads quizzically at the voice. It was one they recognized. They said at once:

Vorpal: Al?

Masamune: Al? Jinx, you can't talk until I say Vorpal three times or I get to punch you.

Misty: Friend of yours?

Vorpal: From time to time, ow! Al, ow, what are you doing here, ow?

Big Al: I'm surprised you don't remember, that was our biggest and best adventure ever.

Vorpal: The one, ow, with Lord Sky ow, and Antithowsis and Donkey, ow, Man?

Big Al: Er, wait, hold on, when was the last time you went to Weirdamonium?

Vorpal: God, ow, like more than a, ow, decade ago?

Big Al: Ah crap.

Big Al got off the ground and sprinted away as fast as he could.

Big Al: I'll be right back!

Vorpal: Alright that was weird, ow! That one hurt, stop it!

Masamune: Vorpal vorpal vorpal.

At that moment, the door of the store in front of them opened up and out walked a much more clean shaven, significantly less drunk, Al.

Big Al: Hey fellas, what's up?

Vorpal: Okay, what the mess, there's two of you?

Big Al: Pardon?

Vorpal: And what about the Anti-Spacers, where are they, I haven't heard from you in months and now here you are at the donut shop. What the hell have you been doing?

Big Al: Uh, buying donuts? They're bavarian cream filled, with blue icing and sprinkes.

Masamune: Oh my yes.

Vorpal: No we don't, we wanna know where you are with that!

Big Al: I got a kid who takes care of that crap now.

Vorpal: Oh no, it's that kind of deferment of responsibility that causes these messes in the first place, tell us what you know!

Masamune: Yeah, or we'll...

Vorpal: We'll what?

Masamune: I had it for a second then it just kind of trailed off, can't remember for the life of me.

Big Al: Sure, why don't we catch up, you clearly need to know some things.

The four walked onward to a condemned building that had, in it's youth, been a school.

Misty: We're not going in there, are we?

Big Al: Not precisely. ~He checked his watch~ We've still got a few minutes, we need to recap some information. As you know, the afterlife was divided into four groups to make it easier to manage.

Masamune: It must be true, I heard it somewhere.

Vorpal: No you didn't.

Masamune: Yes, I did.

Vorpal: When?

Masamune: Just then.

Misty coughed so the others would shut up.

Big Al: Weirdamonium gets all the stuff that doesn't make logical sense. It's where your get your ontological paradoxes, your Schrödinger cats, your Mpemba effects. Enthree's been searching that place from top to bottom from a door to Anti-Space. And it must be there, of course, because it makes no sense for it to be there.

Vorpal: Great, so why are you having her do it instead of doing it yourself.

Big Al: Would if I could, but only she can find it.

Vorpal: Why?

Big Al: I didn't know until a few years ago, but there was an incident that altered history. I don't know what caused it, but I do know that somehow it finally changed and the present we currently enjoy is the result. I don't believe any of you would have first hand knowledge of what happened, but apparently, Enthree from that timeline gave birth to herself in the past, in a freshly unbroken cycle, cosmically speaking.

Vorpal: That doesn't explain anything.

Big Al: Hold your horses, I'm getting to that bit. One other thing brought back was my arm, from the future, full of nifty nuggets of information. But what's relevant was that I learned that Enthree is apparently a personification of entropy.

Vorpal: I don't see how.

Big Al: Well, I'm figuring that if Antithesis needs the blood of entropy to re-encarnate, then the reason no one can get to Anti-Space anymore has something to do with what happened to its entropy. Those guys seem able to come and go at will, I don't think they'd have messes around here if they could have done it easily and without interference elsewhere.

There was silence as Al's droning stopped.

Big Al: Then again, I could be wrong, and the entire effort is futile, I really am making a lot of assumptions.

A cubic patch of pitch black appeared in front of them.

Vorpal: What in blazes?

Masamune: Cool!

Big Al: Ride's here.

Al jumped into the cube with gusto, and only reluctantly did the others follow. The inside was a swirling cauldron of dimensions.

Big Al: And that is a node, places where time and space overlap. Great for getting around if you know when they are.

Vorpal: So we're going to Weirdamonium now?

Big Al: Who on earth told you that?

---

Elsewhere in the blue marble castle of Turquoise, the diminutive queen sat on her throne.

Queen: You have news to report, Sir Arrow?

Sir Arrow: Yes, my Queen. The location of the renegade traitor, Golem, has been ascertained.

Queen: Good work, Sir Arrow, I shall leave his capture in your capable hands.

Sir Arrow: Yes Queen Lilac!