Norm and Jones Talk

Norm watched us leave and then turned his head to Jones. "Tell me, why should I trust you?" He asks. "By all accounts, you probably shouldn't." "Then why am I?" "Because you know I can help." Norm sighs. "Yeah, I do. So, what's the first step?" Norm asks. "Shut up." "Excuse me?" "Shut up." Jones repeats. Not a second later a frail man walks in. He wears a white lab coat, and has rectangular glasses. "Talking, are we?" He asks Norm. "Just small talk." Norm responds. The doctor walks to the middle of the room. He pulls the curtain shut, blocking Norm from seeing Jones. "You aren't to be talking." "I know. I was bored." "You are much too weak to be talking. Now give me your bed pan." Norm reaches under himself and hands the doctor the bed pan. He examines it quickly. "This is empty." "I know. You said to hand it to you." Norm replies. The doctor looks at Norm sternly. "You told Davies this was full." "Did I?" "You did." "Well, my body went through a tremendous amount of trauma. So I probably said some weird stuff." "Is there any thing you need then?" The doctor asks coldly. "Not that I can think of." "Good. Dinner will be in an hour. I'll send someone down." The doctor walks away. Jones waits moment before talking. "This may be harder than I thought." "What are you talking about? That was a piece of cake." Norm says. "Don't be naive. They're on to us." "Yeah? Then what do you suggest?" "We can discuss plans, but this curtain must be shut, and please keep an eye out. We can not trust anybody."

The Other Patient

The four of us became pale as ghosts. No one spoke. No one made a single sound. It was as if we all  thought "If we don't make a noise maybe he'll forget we are here." Of course that idea did not pan out. The dividing curtain was pulled up. We saw a crippled Jones on a wheelchair with his right leg in a cast. "Jones? Is that you?" Olivia asks. "It is." He replies. "What happened to you?" Jones glances down at his bandaged leg. "Sgt. Rodgers was displeased with me. She put a knife into my thigh." "Fuck." I say out loud. "Yeah. It hurt like hell. Thankfully she missed the main artery. Still it will be a while till I can walk." "Well, I'm glad you're recovering." Olivia says, hesitantly. There was an awkward silence. "I know what you guys are thinking." Jones says. "And what's that?" I ask. "You're wondering if I'm gonna rat you out." "Well, are you?" Norm asks. "Why the hell would I? Look at me. But if you guys are staging a coup then include me. I want out of here too." "That's fine. We could use an insider." Olivia says. "Good. Now you three get out of here. Davies will be back in any minuet." "But we need to discuss plans." Todd insists. "We'll discuss plans." Jones says pointing to Norm. "Come back at dinner time with our food."

Visiting Norm

"You're with us or you're against us." Dumb words that echoed in my mind. I don't believe that statement one bit.  Fighting just to fight is a bullshit concept, but try and tell that to any one of them. There is no room for a pacifist. Not here at any rate. We could run away, and use Olivia's bubble protection if need be, but we couldn't leave with out Norm. If we were going to plan an escape we needed as many members for our party as possible. We needed a resistance to their resistance.
Once we met every single one of the Rambo clones, Davies(the bearded man) allowed us to see Norm. He took us all the way down to a small, cinder block room on the first floor. Norm's room was split in half by a curtain. I could see the silhouette of an poor soul on the other side. Unfortunately Davies stood in the doorway. We needed him to leave so we could discuss our plan. "Could you give us some privacy?" I ask. "Not a chance." He responds. The three of us collectively sigh and walk towards Norm. It was weird seeing him in a gown and a sling. "You think we should wake him?" Todd asks. "I don't know. I mean I do want to see him, but he probably needs his rest." Olivia replies. Norm peals open his eyes. "I'm awake. I heard ya guys come in." Olivia gives Norm a big hug. "Ow not yet. Not ready yet." "Sorry. It's just... It's good to see you." Olivia says. "Good to see you guys too. So, how you been holding up without me?" "Terribly boring." I say. Norm half smiles. "I bet." I lean in towards Norm. "We have plans." I whisper. "You have plans?" He repeats. "Yeah, we're leaving this place and taking you with us." Norm looks up at Davies. Davies didn't seem to hear a word we said, but Norm knew not to tempt it one second longer. "Excuse me." He calls out to Davies. "What? What do you want?" "My bedpan is full. It needs to be emptied." "Gross. Let me go get someone." Davies sneers and walks off. "That was easier than I thought it would be. Now tell me about the plan." "Everybody here is fucking crazy. We're taking you and we're leaving this place as soon as we find an opening." I was so excited to share that information that I didn't realize I was much louder than I should have been. A second later we all heard a faint voice from the other side of the curtain. "You know, he's not the only one in this room."

Eagle Eyes

Eagle Eyes turned his attention away from the window. He wore dark aviator sunglasses and chewed on a toothpick. "New members of the resistance, eh?" He takes off his sunglasses to reveal his piercing, blue eyes. "A bit scrappy for my liking, but I suppose I could make it work.Thank you, Davies. I'll take it from here." The bearded man saluted Eagle Eyes and exited the room."You're Eagle Eyes?" Todd asks. "Last time I checked." "I know what you did." Todd says with gritted teeth. "Yes, I shot your rodent friend, but he'll be fine." "Though I am angered by that, that is not what I was referring to." Eagle Eyes steps closer to Todd. "What were you referring to?" "You tried to blow her up." He snaps, pointing to Olivia. Eagle Eyes glances at Olivia and then laughs to himself. "It was only orders." "Only orders?" Todd replies, now hotter than ever. "Yes, only orders. I take it you three don't know anything about war." "We know some." Olivia blurts. Eagle Eyes chuckles. "Some isn't enough. Tell me, why do you three want to be part of the resistance?" "We don't." I reply. "You don't?" He repeats as if he can't comprehend what he had just heard. "No. We have no idea what or more importantly why you are fighting." I clarify. Eagle Eyes clears his throat. "None of us want to be here, but now that we are here we'll be damned if we lose our ground." "That's it? You're fighting for this ghost town?" Olivia asks. "We can make it great." He says. "No one's stopping you." I remark. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asks. "It means no one is here to fight you." Olivia adds. "But they'll be back. Mark my words." "Maybe, but we're gonna take off." Olivia says, leading the way out of the room. "You don't want to leave." He shouts. "And why not?" Olivia asks. "Because then you are against us, and trust me you do not want to be against us."

Top Floor

The ease at which we were let out of the interrogation room was a surprise to all of us, but we weren't about to complain either. We all felt we dodged a few bullets. The bearded man led us further into the abandoned building. Everything was dark and cold. All the windows were boarded up, and there was water dripping from the ceilings. None of the soldiers looked familiar either. They didn't wear the green camouflage gear. They all had head bands and ammo belts. They all looked like a Rambo in training. I had trouble telling one apart from the other. After meeting many of the Rambo clones (whose names I cannot recall) , the bearded man took us up the creaky wooden stairs. It was a narrow stairway, and at times I thought the floor boards would break under my feet. To my surprise and delight we made it to the top floor without any injuries. The bearded man opened the first door to the right. As soon as he did we saw a man in green camouflage with his back to us. He was staring out of the room's only window. The bearded man shouted across the room to him. "Eagle Eyes, We have members for the resistance."

Interrogated

The soldiers took us to an abandoned building. There we were tied up and placed in a dark room with room with no widows. We waited a long time before a man with a red beard and head band showed up. He paced back and forth under a swinging light bulb. "I need to know who's side you are on." "We aren't on anybody's side." I say. The man halts his pacing. "Everybody has a side. Who's side are you on."  "Where is Sgt. Rodgers?" Olivia asks, changing the subject. The man smiles smugly. "You'd like to know, wouldn't you?" "Yeah, I would." Olivia replies. "The portal is strange. Some of us landed here in this hell hole. Others went elsewhere." "Where did they go?" I ask. "Fuck if I know. Everyone splintered off. Now I'm trying to restore order. So, I have to know who are you with." "We're with you." I say. "Yeah? You're not with those pink fuckers?' "You mean the aliens?" I ask. The man nods. "No. They tried to kill us." Olivia snaps. "Are you three willing to fight?" He questions. "If it means getting out of here then yes." Olivia responds. The man thinks for a moment. "Fine. I'll untie you and then show you around."

Surrounded

I had no idea where they came from, but in a matter of moments we were surrounded by armed soldiers on all sides. There wasn't enough time to for Olivia to make a bubble, so we all raised our arms in the air. "State your business." A solider who I had never seen before shouted. "You shot him." I reply. "I said state your business." "He wasn't even armed." "He'll be fine. What are you three doing here?" "Right now? Trying to survive not being shot by you." Olivia says, coyly. "You think this is funny?" "Well, it would be really stupid to say yes now." "I'll ask you one more time to state your business." "We don't want to be here." I respond. "What do you mean? You saying you got here by accident?" He asks, annoyed.. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."  "Yeah? How do I know you're not with them?" "Who's them?" Olivia shouts. "You really don't know?" He asks. "No, I don't." "Is it about those aliens?" Olivia asks. The soldier squints his eyes. "So you have seen them?"  "Yes, we have and they almost killed us." I say. The soldier looks at a nearby guard. "You think we should believe them?" "How the hell should I know?" The soldier sighs loudly. "Fine. We'll take them in for further questioning." "What about the raccoon?" "I said we'd take them in for further questioning."

They're Here, Somewhere

We  crept down the vacant street.We listened carefully for any sound of our observer. "You hear anything, Norm?" Olivia asks. "No, they're being cautious." He replies. "That's what I was afraid of." We continue walking down the street. "I'd say split up, but I don't want to risk it." Olivia says. "Too late. I'm way ahead of you." Norm shouts. Me, Todd, and Olivia all turn to see Norm a block away down the street without the bubble protection. "Norm, what the hell are you doing?" Olivia asks, nervously. "Stay there. I know what I'm doing." He assures. "But Norm. They'll see you." Olivia gasps. Norm grins. "All part of the plan." Norm stares up at the nearest skyscraper. He cuffs his hands to his mouth. "Hey Eagle Eyes. I know you're there." "Norm. Get back in here." "Don't worry about it." He says to Olivia casually. "Norm, you're without any protection." She reminds. "Exactly." Norm shouts to the skyscraper again. "Come on. Stop wasting my time." "Norm, stop it." This time Norm doesn't say anything back to Olivia. "Eagle Eyes, show yourself." Half a second after Norm shouts his command a bullet hits his shoulder, knocking him backwards. Olivia is so beside herself she unknowingly throws down her shield. She runs after Norm's fallen body. Todd and I chase after her. Then right as we are about to approach Norm, the rest of Sgt. Rodger's army comes out of the shadows and aims their assault rifles at us.

Familiar Haunt

We were transported to a desolate city. The street lights flickered on and off, trash was in the streets, manhole covers were overturned, and there was an eerie quiet. "This looks familiar, doesn't it?" I comment. "I don't know. Should it?" Olivia asks. "Yes, I think we've been here before." "You think so?" "Yes, I'm almost certain that we have." I reply. " Oh good. That means you guys can get us out of here." Todd says. "Maybe. Just keep walking." Olivia responds. We continue to creep down the vacant street until Norm makes a loud shushing noise. "What is it?" Olivia asks in a whisper. "I don't know, but we're not alone."  Olivia arms the four of us in her bubble shield. "I'm not afraid."

Aliens Attacking

The pink aliens gnashed their sharp teeth and slashed their claws against Olivia's bubble. They didn't do any damage, but it was still a frightening display, and they weren't about to give up. "Todd, why the fuck did you say you heard of that game?" Olivia demands. "I don't know. I wasn't thinking." "No shit. That's obvious." She replies. "Easy. We need to keep our heads." I say. "What do you suggest we do?" Olivia asks. "I don't know, but it looks they're getting tired."  "You think so?" Todd asks with a little bit of pep in his voice. "Yeah, they're not clawing the bubble as fast as they were earlier." "I guess we could watch them for a little." Olivia says. Even though they were becoming sluggish, it was still intense watching them attack our bubble, but we stood our ground. We watched them thrash at out bubble until they were all but depleted of energy. They hunch over, drained, almost lifeless. "You think it's safe to leave now?" Todd asks. "No, don't be stupid." Olivia snaps. The alien leader stood up straight. He let out a bloodcurdling scream. The scream echoed in our bubble. It was so violent and cruel sounding that we soon found ourselves without any protective shield in a desolated city.

Friend or Foe?

We climbed the long rope ladder with Olivia leading the way. It took us to a small opening in the sky. On the other side it felt dense and cold, and everything had a purple tint to it. "Is this better?" Norm asks. "Friend or Foe?" A nearby voice booms. "Who said that?" Olivia asks. "Friend or Foe?" It repeats, this time its voice reverberates. "We're friends." I shout. Three, tall, pink creatures come into view. They are all over ten feet tall and skinny as rails. One steps in front of the other two. It crouches down to our eye level. Its head is elongated. It had no nose, and its eyes were deep and black.
"You say friend?" It asks. "Yes, we come in peace." Olivia says. It squints its eyes. "Peace? Did you make the game?" "What game?" Olivia asks. The creature tilts his head. It then stands up and consorts with his fellow creatures. Olivia turns to us."Game?" she asks in complete puzzlement. "Oh it's probably referring to a video game the military created to train for an alien invasion." Todd replies without thinking. The alien snaps its head. It's eyes glow red and it points its long, bony finger at us. "You know! You lied." It screams. Olivia throws her pink bubble over us just in time. She gazes at Todd out of the corner of her eye. "Todd, what the fuck did you just do?"

Answered

The only line of defense between us and the ever approaching purple portal was the invisible barrier for the holographic island. Seeing as how anybody could enter and exit the area around the island without any difficulty, we knew this was not sound protection. We watched in eager anticipation as the purple portal pushed against our barrier. At first our barrier seemed to be holding its own, pushing the portal back. Then portal overpowered it. Despite the fact that we were outside on a sunny day it was as if a power surge happened at that moment. The light went out. "What happened?" Olivia shouted. "It's the portal. It sucked up all the light." Norm explains. The portal encroached further on our territory. The sun flicked back on, and I could now see that it was  wrapped around us creating a little dome. "It's just playing with us now. It could easily finish us off."Norm says. "Well, why doesn't it?" I ask. "What would be the fun in that?" He responds. A paper airplane falls from the sky. It spirals around Olivia and lands at her feet. She picks it up and reads it. "It says go, now!" "And how are we going to do that?" Norm sneers. A rope ladder falls from the sky. The end of it lands by Olivia's head. She looks up at the long rope ladder. "Shall we?"

S.O.S.

Just as Olivia suspected there was a diary half buried on the other side of the island. Unfortunately there was not a single word on any of the pages in the book. Olivia flipped through the diary to see if she could catch a sentence. She clasped the book shut as if she suddenly remembered something. Everyone was hounding her, asking what was going on. She didn't respond. Instead she bent down to the area where the diary was buried. There was still a small pool of ink. She carefully dipped her index finger in the ink pool. She then wrote words on diary that none of us could see. She tore out the page with the words and made it into a paper airplane. "What you gonna do with that?" Norm asks. "We're getting help." Olivia replies. She hurls the paper plane as hard as she can. It miraculously flies over the ocean, cuts through the barrier, and then gets absorbed into the the purple portal.

Possible Solution

The purple portal drastically changed it's appearance. It no longer resembled a double helix model. It now looked more like a thick, purple cloud that was looming ever closer by the moment. "You think we're safe in here?" Olivia asks while staring at the purple threat. "Safer than out there at least." Norm responds. "Okay. Let me recap. There's  no possible way of building a society, and we can't leave." I say, sitting behind the desk. "That's pretty much the gist of it." Norm replies. "Wait, there may be something." Olivia says, excitedly. "What is it?" I ask. "There was a book when I got here. It should still be here." "What kind of book was it?" Todd asks. "It looked like an ordinary diary. But there could be something useful in it. Like a spell or something." "Ya think it'd still be there?" Norm wonders. "Maybe. I don't know how good shape it's in though. Some of the ink ran off of it." Norm shrugs." Might as well try it. Not like everyone else is throwing out suggestions."

No Materials

I didn't think it was a good idea leaving the main island, but I was out voted. Both Norm and Olivia were in favor of leaving. I couldn't believe it. Why now of all possible times should we go? I couldn't convince them, and they wouldn't let me stay behind either. It looked like I was left with only one option. Stay calm on the outside while facing existential dread on the inside. I was also told once more that the Purple Haired Lady needed us to build a new Wellness center on the invisible island for whatever reason. We got there, and to no one's surprise it seemed Todd was having a little trouble building a society. The only thing he managed to make was a desk. "Having troubles?" I ask. "Yeah, there isn't a whole lot on the island, but look. I was able to make a desk out of the pine trees." He rubs his hands across the desk. "Looks good, doesn't it?" "It does, but I don't understand where is everything else?" I ask. "There isn't much on the island." He reminds. "I know, but the last time you were able to make so much in so little time. It was grand. It was upside down, but it was still grand." I say. "I was only able to do that because the falcons borrowed materials for me." He confesses. "That's fine. Fly them in here. Have them help us." Todd shakes his head. "That won't work." "And why not?" I ask, now a little annoyed. "Because the falcons can't fly to somewhere they've never been." Olivia chimes in. "And we're sure as hell not going back to the main island. Not with that purple thing sucking everything up." Norm adds. I turn to Norm. "What about you?" "What about me?" He asks. "You built us a boat a while back. Can you help us build a new Wellness Center?" "I'm afraid I can't. The guy's right. There's no materials on this island." I exhale. "Then what?" Norm looks at the sky. The purple portal has spread even further. It is now on the rocks of the main island. "I don't know, but we may be in more trouble than we realized."

Unstable Portal

The portal still resembled a double helix model except now it was much wider and longer. It also looked like it was pulsating . Something that Olivia noticed as well. "Is it breathing?" She asked. Before I had the chance to respond, Norm jumped out of the nearest tree. The sudden surprise startled me. It had me clutching my chest. Olivia, however, was unphased. "What are you guys doing back here?" He asks. "We're here to push Sgt. Rodgers and her army off the island."  I reply. "Forget that. Things are out of control here." He warns. "I scan see that." I say, looking up at the sky. "You guys need to get out of here, and take me with you." "We can't do that. We can't be bullied by them." I insist. Norm puts his paws on his hips. "Listen slick, there are far more of them then there are of us." "I don't care. We can fight them off." Norm points to the portal in the sky. "Not with that thing swallowing everything up you can't." "Why does it look like that?" I ask. "Remember that temple that you were in that I destroyed?" "Yeah?" "Well it turns out that temple was the only thing keeping the portal stable." I squint my eyes. "I don't understand. I thought you had orders to destroy the temple." Norm looks down sheepishly. "I had orders to destroy the tree houses. Turns out the the temple wasn't part of the tree houses." "What do we do now?" Olivia asks. "We run like hell and get as far  away from that thing as we can." Norm says. "Is there a chance Sgt. Rodgers and her army followed you?" I ask. "Not a chance. She saw this thing eating up the trees and wanted to go in. Right now she's figuring out how to do that." "But wouldn't she first send in someone else?" Olivia questions. "I think she did. Look, we don't have much time. The Sgt. might be stupid enough to stick around, but I'm not. " He says waving his arms.

Too Late?

It was a long swim to the rocky shore of the main island. Frankly, I have no idea how Olivia could manage it. Especially because she didn't want to go back. It was my idea. Once we got to the rocks I had to stop. My legs and arms were like jelly. I hunched over and panted. "Don't tell me you're tired already?" Olivia asks. I smile and stand up straight. "Not a chance." We continued our journey with Olivia leading the way, and me trying to conceal my tiredness. Shortly after we entered the jungle Olivia noticed a purple mark in the sky. "What's that?" She asks pointing the portal that I knew all too well. "It's a portal." "A portal? Where does it go?"  I shrug. "I'm not sure. I was attacked by an alien and then I found myself on the Little Dipper." I reply. "Hmm. That's strange."  "I know. I was kinda expecting it to lead to wherever all those children vanished to." "Maybe it's a different experience for everybody?" Olivia suggests. "Perhaps, but I have a strong feeling this isn't for everybody. I think it's a good think we came back." I say, looking at the portal in the sky. "It probably is, but we might be too late." Olivia replies. "What do you mean." "Think about it. If we can see it clearly that means they can as well."

Not Impressed

Olivia took us to what she referred to as the holographic island. I was told that it was an island partially hidden in another dimension. We could  see out to the other dimension, but no one could see in. It was a safe place I was told. Safe, but not interesting from the looks. This island was far smaller than the main one. I could see from one end to the other, and most of it was covered in sand with a couple palm trees here and there. "What do you think?" Olivia asks. It's obviously that she expected Todd and myself to be impressed. When we took our time to respond her smile faded. "I know it isn't much at first." She adds. "At first? Does that mean there's more?" I ask. "No. Not exactly. But we'll build." "Build?Here?" "Yes." She replies, eagerly. "What are we building?" "The New Wellness Center." There is a beat. "You want us to build that here?" I question. "Yeah. It'd be perfect. We'd be hidden." She says. "Maybe." I say, less than enthusiastic. "What's the problem?" She asks. "Why here?" "The Purple Haired Woman says we should." I raise my eyebrows. "You saw her?" "I did, and she wants us to build the Wellness Center here." I shake my head. "That doesn't mean we have to." Todd steps between us. "I can build it." He says, confidently. "With what?" I ask. Todd turns to me. "I don't know, but I'll find something. I'll build it while you two fight them off." Olivia scrunches her face. "What are you talking about?" "No one knows that this island is here unless they somehow stumble upon it, am I correct?" Todd asks. "You would be." Olivia responds. "While it's unlikely that they would stumble upon this island, they still could, couldn't they? I mean is there any form of protection from outsiders?" Olivia sighs. "No there is not." Todd half smiles. "You two do what you need to do to drive them off the main island. I'll be here making headquarters bigger and better."

Weird Barriers

Our clothes were bone dry. We never even touched the water.  I crawled on my hands and knees in fascination. There was some sort of barrier that stopped us. "Yeah, I saved you." A voice called out. I looked out to see Olivia in deep concentration. "You did this?" I asked. "I did. But now if you don't mind. It takes a lot of effort to hold this up." Olivia released Todd and myself from the bubble barrier. We crashed into the water that was luckily only a foot away at this point. "But how did you do that?" I ask, gasping for air. "Simple. I saw you guys falling from the sky. I realized I couldn't get there in time so I shot a bubble up there. Wasn't sure it would work. I'm glad it did though." "So am I." Todd responds. Olivia smiles. "Let's get out of the water." She led us to the holographic island. The sky rippled as we passed the barrier to the island. Todd and I stopped to look at it while Olivia swam ahead. It took her a while before she noticed we weren't behind her. She had to swim all the way back to us. "What's the hold up?" She asks, impatiently. "Something's going on."  I say pointing to the rippling sky. "It's nothing. We just breached the barrier." She says, casually. "The barrier?" Todd asks. "Yeah, the barrier to the holographic  island." "What's a holographic island?" I wonder. "I'm not really sure." She replies. Todd and I look at each other. "Would you two just follow me? It's fine."

How to Get Down?

Having realized that the fall would probably kill us, Todd and I desperately tried to get the Little Dipper coaster to move. We knocked it, we tried a number of possible secret passwords. Nothing seemed to work. It did not budge one inch. "Fuck." I said under my breath. "Looks like we're stuck here." Todd tells me. "Yeah, maybe." "Well, I don't have any more ideas to get it to move. Do you?" I slump my shoulders. "No, I don't." "Then we're stuck here." I peer over the edge. Todd's pessimism couldn't have come at a worst time, but there could be some truth to what he was saying. I stood there for a moment, looking out into the vast blue beneath me. Then, without any warning, my coaster completely disintegrated. Todd and I free fell. Everything was going so fast. I didn't even have time to point my feet in the right direction. The next thing I knew we crashed into the water. The force should have pushed us underwater, but something prevented us from doing so. I don't even think we touch the water. Our clothes were bone dry.

Safe in the Coaster

"What is this thing?" Todd asks in full blown admiration. "It's a constellation." Todd whistles. "Wow. I've never been in a constellation before." "I hadn't either. Todd, who were those people?" "Huh?" "The people who attacked you. Who were they?" I ask, impatiently. "I don't know." "You don't know!" "Yeah, I don't know." "Well, should we be concerned?" "I don't think so." He replies , casually. "What do you mean you don't think so? They shot you down and flew off."
"Exactly. They flew off." I sigh deeply. "That doesn't mean anything. They could come back." I inform. Todd nervously smiles. "It's ok. I'm here now. We can fight them off together." I shake my head. "We could try. I think we really need Olivia for that though." With that statement, Todd loses his smile. He casts his eyes down. "What?" I ask. "I have some bad news." He says, slowly. "What?" "She didn't make it." "What are you talking about?" "She went into a boat. It must have been set up for her because..." Todd takes a deep breath. "They dropped a bomb on her." "They dropped a bomb on her?" "Yes, and it was bad. Fire everywhere." "Did you see her body?" I ask. "No but-" "She survived." "I don't know. I don't see any way she could have." "She survived." Todd flinches a little bit. "Okay." There is a long pause. I suddenly remember that Todd is wearing my red hood and cape. "Thanks for bringing that." I say, pointing to the cape. "Oh, yes. I forgot I was wearing it." He takes off the cape and hands it to me. I put it on. I instantly feel one hundred percent better.  It is as if I got an appendage back that was long missing. I feel my confidence rising. I glance over the edge of the now stationary coaster. "Where does this thing go?" Todd asks. "Right now, nowhere." "I hope it starts moving soon." "Me too. The ocean is a long way down."