Zoralth's Psychoanalysis Experiment: Asonja's Treatment (Full)

Plot
Zoralth the Dragon, Asonja's brother, is under the impression that Asonja is lacking in positive emotions due to the lack of social interaction and support from them. Therefore, he has begun studying the fundamentals of Psychology to help his poor, depressed brother. His goal is for Asonja to understand that the people all around Mobius cares about him, or know him to the point where they can understand why he's misjudged. He just needs a bit of proof to further prove his claim.

If you wish to participate, place your name in the heading below and the individual experiment will begin. You may only add up to one character. If you wish to see Asonja's profile in case you haven't done so yet for more information on who he is, you're more welcome to do so. You can access him here.

Side Note
I'm trying out this different style of rp, much like what Trisell Chronos has previously done. Basically, different people will be having their own separate version of the rp without interfering with other users' rps. I figured this would be very organized other than one whole rp where everyone joins in at different times, and leave at different times, etc.

And, honestly, how stressful can that be?

(Indigo/Xan) -Silverknight01
Your character had appeared in a rather cozy room, sitting on a luxurious chair. In front of them, a black-scaled dragon about their size showed up with a clipboard and a pencil.

"Thanks for participating, Mr...uhhh...Xan, is it?" The dragon asks, having to get glasses to read the name. "I butcher names so I apologize if I said it wrong..."

The linx ended up crossing one of his legs over the other, and folded his hands together in a business like manor. It was hard to tell who was actually doing the interview and who wasn't. "What can I say. It was a charming ad. So, good sir. What can I do for you today..?" said the 'person.' His voice sounded a little off some how, like there was multiple people speaking at once.

The dragon didn't seem to mind that fact, though he was pretty sure he was aware of that. "I would just to ask you a few questions on your opinions with a certain individual. As I'm aware, you don't know him, but I would like to hear a few opinions of your on first glace."

With that said, the dragon handed a picture of a black hedgehog with a trench coat, dark grey eyes, and black-rimmed glasses with spiky black hair. Black everything, though the picture was filmed from whole color. The photo depicts the hedgehog as snarky, and not wanting to be taken a photo of. "Tell me what you notice about this individual and tell me what you think about his personality, anything that comes into mind when you see this picture, if you may."

"He appears to be a Skrillex wanna be." The linx said instantly. "I wasn't aware that it was physically possible to not only dress in black. But be. The embodiment of blackness." He continued without a tinge of remorse. "..He seems to enjoy wallowing around in his own misery. How OLD is the man child?" Xan inquired, setting down the photo. It was clear that he wasn't taking things very seriously.

The dragon took the notes down while following the linx's words. "Well, this 'man-child' is turning 18 in just a few days." He inquired. "And, please, if you could be a bit more serious with your opinions...words are rather hurtful these days.

"Now, what would you do if you saw this hedgehog in real life? What would you say, do, and why?" The dragon asked. "This is the final question set, as I said before they were only few."

Xan sighed for a moment. "I would tell the boy to get a grip on his reality. Mentality doesn't just effect yourself. But everyone around you, as well. Unless he means to repel friends, in which case.. You go live your dreams." He said, rolling one of his hands in the air to get emphasis going.

The dragon wrote more into his clipboard,nodding frequently as Xan went on. "I see..I'm pretty sure he will take those comments fairly nicely in a few minutes." The dragon stood up and motioned for Xan to follow. "Come along now. I'll be bringing you to a different room."

"..." The linx sat there, letting to words sink in. Before silently standing to his feet and following Zoralth's lead.

Zoralth opened a door after a few minutes of walking. The same black hedgehog from the picture was sitting down in a chair in the middle of a rather larger room. The hedgehog had his arms crossed as he looked around the room. He didn't seem to recognize Xan, though they have never met.

"It'll be a while before I get the results in. Why not settle down and chat for a while?" Zoralth suggested, before leaving Xan in the room and closing the door behind him.

The linx watched the dragon leave before flicking his gaze to the good Doctor's patient. "Hm. Why hello there." He said, flashing a toothy grin.

Asonja noticed Xan. He seemed to gulp silently and look away nervously.

"..You can wish me away all you'd like, but I will still remain. You. ARE aware of that, right?" Xan said, edging into the corner of Asonja's vision.

"Yes, I am aware..." Asonja sighed. "I can't get rid of you anyway, because I know you're going to be full of surprises and insults...I'm ready for practically anything."

Xan chose to lean on a wall that faced Asonja. "Oh? I'm sorry, I don't recall making your acquaintance. But I assume you know as much about me as I do you..Thanks to your brother." He remarked. Absently inspecting the room for a moment.

"...How do you know that...?" Asonja crossed his arms. "No one's supposed to know that..."

"Mmhhmm. When you put two and two together its really quite simple. I'm no idiot.." He said, arching a brow as he stared right into Asonja. "..And neither are you. So, do me a favor. And let's stop underestimating one another for a moment." Xan sighed with exasperation.

Asonja nodded, agreeing. "Just sit down already. Don't want your legs to be tired." He pointed to a chair in front of him.

Rolling his strange eyes, he 'complied.' And gracefully sat down on the chair. "Well then. From what I've seen and heard, your quite the mess." Xan grinned. Folding his hands over his lap.

Asonja grumbled a bit. "Don't even start...It's a long story to cover..."

"..I wouldn't have even showed up unless I thought this would be a good investment of time." He informed the black hedgehog. "..So please. Do go on."

"Alright alright...relax." Asonja sighed. "So, basically, I'll try to sum it up for you; Grew up in the rural part of the city, fat man came in and ruined my life, I attempt to bring back my old life but failed, ran away, and stayed hidden in the city for about over 7 years. Do you want the more detailed story or are you good with the one I gave you?"

"Fat man? He must have had quite a circumference. Why was this obese human after you?" He asked, pointedly. Gathering up more facts before his grand 'sherlocking' began.

"I guess he had something against hedgehogs." Asonja shrugged. "Animal Abuse, perhaps? I'm totally unsure. It's not that it matters anymore; I got a new life now and I just gotta live with whatever Fate throws at me. And don't get me wrong, his surface area is much more than you think it is."

"Living is a strong word. It seems like the only thing you can currently manage is surviving." Xan commented. Absent-mindedly. He seemed to be in his own little world. Thinking. "So then. What have you done since then to prevent another attack?"

"Go into hiding. Rather shameful, I know." Asonja leaned back on the chair, picking at the side of his ear. He adjusted his black-rimmed glasses that also had a dark tint to them, not as much as sunglasses. "But, hey, if survival is key and you don't want people taking your life away, just hide, sneak around and get what you can without being seen. That's my motto."

Xan tapped his chin. "But avoiding a problem doesn't solve a problem. It will always be there when you least expect it. Tell me this, do you enjoy running? Hiding?"

"Well, running takes energy, for one thing." Asonja said, putting up his pointer finger as if to count. "I don't own much of it, despite me having a core like that of an Identity, dunno if you've heard of them, they basically live off of it, literally too, and hiding is the only thing I'm good at nowadays."

"Ah. Yes. Identities." He muttered fondly. "Identities are capable of most anything they put their little Nanites to. Have you had any proper training?" Xan asked. He seemed to have never-ending questions.

"Not exactly..." Asonja crossed his arms, looking away in most-likely embarrassment. "There are some candidates to train me, but...they much prefer me without them so it's harder for me to actually train. I hardly even understand the principles of Identities."

The linx snorted. But he held back the sharp retort. "Hmm. Well then. You have an overwhelming amount of self-doubt. And an underwhelming amount of confidence."

"Well, what can ya do?" Asonja just shrugs, with a small smirk on his face. "Whatever happens, happens. Can't do nothin' about it."

Xan shook his head, lightly chuckling. "..You can't stop a bird from flying over your head. But you can keep it from nesting in your hair." He quoted. "Nn, but. Enough of that. I've heard you suffer from depression? It can be quite crippling, how long has it been going on?" Xan questioned. Sounding more and more like a doctor himself.

Asonja didn't mind that; he was a psychiatrist as well, but just knows the basics. "It's nothing that concerns you..." Asonja said, hesitating afterwards, before adjusting his glasses nervously before speaking again. "...For 7 years I've had this weight on my shoulders...the thought that I couldn't do anything worth anybody's time: I had no strength, no mobility, nothing that a man can own...that man has killed my life away, and there's not a dang thing I can do..."

"I'm going to stop you right there. You need to get over it. 7 YEARS. No wonder your depressed, you've let things fester." Xan remarked, halting the entire conversation. "So many 'I can'ts.' No one's asking you to paint the Mona Lisa, good sir.. From what I've gleaned.. they just want their friend." He paused for a moment, letting everything sink in. "That rotundness man might have had a hand in your misery. But this..You've done this to yourself." He said, gesturing to Asonja as a whole.

Asonja crossed his arms, seeming to be either contemplating, or just in denial. Zoralth was listening in on the conversation, writing stuff down as usual.

"What do you expect me to do?" Asonja remarked. "I've been weak my entire life, and I tried getting revenge for our family being murdered. But I couldn't do crap because I'm a coward! I still am to this very day! And you just expect me to change the very next day?" Asonja had raised his voice a bit, but sighed and calmed down a bit to push up his glasses again. The light above them shined on his glasses, hiding his pupils.

"Listen...no matter what you do, to anyone or not, everyone's going to hate on a group of people; whether it be against wolves, dragons, foxes, hedgehogs...parasites and even Identities." Asonja leaned forward a bit. "We hate on the other groups because we're not like the others...we want to be with the people that are like us. It's part of our unconscious. We don't do it to hurt anybody, but yet everyone takes it seriously, they just get themselves down in the dumps, as I have already because of the very thought of being thrown in by society..."

There was a long pause, a very long and silent pause before Asonja leans back against the chair. He took off his glasses, staring at Xan right in the eyes. "It's already too late for me to start regaining what I lost. I lost that opportunity 7 years ago, and there's no point for me to go back and try again. Again, and again, society will pester the living hell out of your very existence. And the best thing we can do to hide from the majority...is to be like them, look like them, act like them..."

Xan was intrigued by these words. Enough to actually stop and care for a fraction of a second. "..." He tipped his head to the side, narrowing his eyes down to slits. "Then don't recover whats lost. Start anew."

"It's a waste of time..." Asonja said, looking to the side as well. "...you're different from the rest as well and I know that you and I have the same issues as to being the minorities. It sucks, doesn't it? When you're with people you don't feel comfortable with? Yeah...you can feel my pain, don't you? I feel yours as well."

"...Yes. The never-ending pain of teenager drama. It gets quite tiring, but someone has to deal with it." Xan fired back sarcastically.

Asonja crossed his arms, raising his eye a bit. "Sure...sure. It's hard to deal with if you've been like that for 7 years."

Xan leaned back in his chair. "...You keep mentioning that magic number. Like it's your golden ticket to pardons for all future actions. Heheh. Its quite amusing."

He shrugged. "Well I don't want people to know how long that is." Asonja fixed his glasses. "Perhaps it's my golden ticket to immediate rejuvenation? Recognition? Strength? Maybe all or maybe none."

The linx's foot was taping a tune out onto the floors. "You're 18. It's around that age where you people are considered adults.. Right? What do you plan to do? Work-force wise." Xan asked.

"It's funny how you said 'you people', though you are one of those 'people'." Asonja smirked a bit, but went back to answering his question. "Regardless...I don't really plan on working anywhere. They don't seem to be all that interesting. And plus, getting a job and a proper education at a college is too much time and money to begin with."

"Oh I assure you. There's more to a person than just looks." Xan hinted. A gleam of mischief sparked in his eyes. "I unfortunately do not belong to this race of creatures." The linx said, gesturing to his body. "AS for the other answer. You are just determined to dig your own grave, aren't you?"

"Hey, it's the only thing I'm good at nowadays. It's like I'm a parasite myself." Asonja commented. He looked right into the linx's eyes, seeming to already know where he was going with what he said.

"I take people's energy. But at least I don't steal their joy." Xan shrugged. Seeming to refer to Asonja indirectly.

He didn't seem to quite get it as he leaned back on his seat, rather quiet this time like he was thinking. "...Whatever. I'm a killjoy. It's what I do. Though Matter cannot be created nor destroy, I can destroy positive emotions, yet not create them."

Xan stood up from his chair, partially because of needing a change of pace. But also because his legs were cramping. "Well then. I pity you. You could do so much.."

Asonja wasn't saying anything about it, like he was further into denial. But he was wondering where this was going so he stayed silent and just looked at Xan

The linx body abruptly twitched. The iris's of the eyes disappeared, and from the quivering host came a weird deep purple liquid. As everything was released from the skin of the linx, the body suddenly fell limp and flopped to the floor. It took a little time, but the thick liquid started to take a more.. sinister. shape. And from the cloud of nothingness came a person. With beady teal eyes and sharp reptilian features. Who was a towering giant compared to Asonja's height. "You don't seem to take parasites very seriously.." The true form of Xan chuckled.

"Yeah, you're right, I don't..." Asonja said, looking away as if he was actually scared of Xan appearing. He hid his emotions very well, but the look in his eyes was sort of like fear.

Xan stepped over the linx body that seemed to be very much dead. "..If there's one thing that annoys me more than being wrong. It would be liars."

"Liars, huh...?" Asonja adjusted his glasses, trying to avoid the dead body on the ground. "Hopefully, that can be disposed soon..."

The parasite grinned. "Oh, he's fine. Just in Salim. Never to wake, unless he's undone." Xan shrugged. "But, who's got the time for that. Its easier to inflict than to fix."

"Easier to destroy than create." Asonja added as well. His arms were crossed, gripping onto his sleeves nervously. His emotions were slowly slipping the more he got nervous over Xan's appearance and the more Asonja contemplated about him as well.

"Exactly." The parasite added, snapping his fingers. Bending over a bit so he was level-eyed with Asonja. A smug look plastered on his face. "In my case, its easier to merge with you than have to go around in the same conversational circle of angsty teenagers."

Asonja scooted back a bit away from the parasite. "I don't...even talk to anyone anyway...this is the first time I've been away from my apartment for more than a month...I haven't talked to anyone in more than 2 months, though..."

"How sad." Xan said in a monotonous voice. Showing no actual indication of remorse. Touching Asonja's forehead with his thumb, his eyes narrowed. "Hnn.. This will prove to be challenging."

Asonja winced and tried backing away more. "D-don't hurt me...!" Zoralth couldn't do anything to help out since he was just observing.

"Eh heh. Well, I can't make any promises~" He hummed. Secretly questioning if this would actually work. His form started to melt away and form back into liquid. Sinking into Asonja's skin, dying it a deep dark purple. Both the host and parasite blacked out for a moment. And There was nothing but silence.

Asonja was the first to get up, shaking and rubbing his head. "Argh...what happened...? How long was I out, Zor?"

"About 20 minutes." Zoralth replied from somewhere in the room, possibly from an intercom. "Don't worry, I'm keeping watch. I'm just observing what's happening."

Xan was no where to be found. However, there was a strange tingling in the back of Asonja's head. And he felt a little light-headed.

He groaned, and rubbed the back of the head. "Did I hit my head or something...what gives...?"

Ugh. Your psyche is like swimming in jello.' ' whispered a voice.  'I should have put you in Salim too.'

"Gah!" Asonja jumped a little bit, looking around. "Alright, look pal, I don't like it when people start going into my personal thoughts. I draw the line at that! Plus I don't want to die, even if I say I want to. I conflict with myself every day, ya know.."

' 'Do me a favor and stop thinking all these CRAZED THOUGHTS. You're going to induce a headache' 'Xan scolded. The tingling in the back of his head was becoming more intense.

Asonja groaned, and fought back. "I'd like to, but no matter what I do, I could never get rid of them..."

Xan's sigh was almost audible.  'We need a change of perspective..' the parasite groaned. Suddenly Asonja passed out. again. But when he woke up he seemed to be dreaming.

He got up onto his feet and looked around. "What the...this is getting weirder by the minute...I thought I was in that room earlier..."

"You still are." Xan sighed. Popping into the scenery from who-knows-where. "But at the same time your not." He said, cryptically.

"Quit confusing me and get me outta here...this is going to drive me insane..." Asonja looked at the many Xan's popping in and out

The eyes of the reptilian creature flashed. "You don't know the half of it, good sir. I'm the one who has to swim through this mess." Xan said, spreading his arms out to show Asonja his state of mind. "You're still in the therapy room, but you're asleep. Its the only way I could drag you here with out permanently damaging something in your brain.. However unimportant it may be. " He smirked. "If I had known your psyche was this bad, I would have left you alone to begin with. Its too late now, I suppose.."

He shrugged and sighed. "Welp...least you can dig into anything in my mind. I can't stop you so, you're more than welcome to go through my memories and my...past...that I hate going back to."

"Well then, I have your consent~" Xan said in a sing-song way. Covering Asonja's mouth with one of his hands. "The process of sorting through stored memories tends to be.. unpleasant. I would prefer that you keep the screams to yourself. Thanks." With that much being said, the whites of Xan's eyes were enveloped in teal. Glowing in an unnecessary amount. The hand laying contact to Asonja also glowed a bright teal color, and started to imprint weird glowing tattoos around his head. The hedgehog's entire face began to go numb as the scenery fell away and memories flashed by. At first in a slow pace, but then the images, sounds, and even feelings began flashing by light lightning. It was a bit overwhelming.

Asonja was tense, and he was trying so very hard not to scream at what was happening. He actually stayed pretty silent through the whole thing, but he was quietly begging for this to stop as he saw horrible memories he didn't want to go back on at all.

Everything kept flashing by, spinning around like a demented carousel until everything came to a violent stop. The floor seemed to wobble from under Asonja's feet. As he re-adjusted it seemed to be his faint memory of his household..Before Dr. Eggman's attack. Everything seemed so real, except, it was all being seen from a 3rd person perspective. Asonja could even see himself. "Ehe. This memory was under tight locks. Had to go all the way back.. Hrk!" Xan groaned a bit, removing his hand from Asonja to get his balance. He seemed to be a little topsy-turvy himself.

"No...No, get me out of here I'm not looking at this memory again!" Asonja shouted, trying to find a way to escape.

" 'frade not.. he. heh." The sick Xan managed to cough out. Regaining his composure. "Ugh..I can see why this was under lock and key.." He muttered. Observing the memory. He whipped out his tail and grabbed Asonja. Keeping him wrapped tight under its spiky scales. Forcing him to stay still. "What. Do you have against this?"

Asonja actually showed visible fear, his pupils small and shaking. "...It's why I hate my life...this very memory...I wish not to see it anymore..."

"Mm, you can't run from it forever. It'll only do more damage if you.. As you mobians would say..  'sweep it under the rug?'"  The tattoos that were randomly marked on Asonja's head were pulsing, and seemed to be matching up with the hedgehog's heart beat. "You'd better calm down before you pass out again. And no. You won't wake up either.' Xan warned. Seeming to know what the hedgehog was thinking. The scene, that once was frozen in time. Was now set into motion. His mother was cooking breakfast and his father was reading the newspaper. In a quaint little kitchen.

Asonja tried to calm himself down, but his heartbeat increased and it made him panic more. Eventually it leveled out when he heard the voices of children playing. What came around the house was a small dragon mobian about the age of 8, with a mini-Asonja chasing after him, about the same age. They seemed to be playing tag.

Suddenly, the memory faded and showed up at a different time. It was cloudy, and the house looked run-down. Smoke went up into the sky as robots had invaded the house. The scene changed as Xan and Asonja went into the house. Asonja and the dragon, both looking to be 11, were cowering at the back wall with their mother and father trying to protect them. However, since Asonja couldn't remember what they looked like, they just looked like fuzzy black figures.

The robots aimed their lasers at the two figures and shot them. Both Asonja recoiled, and the dragon made a run for it out the window. A few robots chased after him, while the mini-Asonja laid helpless in a corner.

"This is what I've gone through...7 years of never recalling this memory...and here I am again and you watching my only secret..." The real Asonja muttered. "This is embarrassing to watch..."

Xan's hands were clenching into tight balls. He seemed to be holding more of a concentration on something else. "...The dragon. Thats your brother." He said through strain. Twitching occasionally.

"Yes, I know..." Asonja said. "He regretted running away on that day, he's told me that he should've came back to save me...and I believed him that this was a mistake."

The parasite seemed to snap back from his weird daze. Presently in a much better state. "..Hm, Seems he couldn't deal with the stress. Now, WHERE is this fat man you keep speaking of..?" The spry Xan asked. Walking around the house and taking a look around for a moment.

"He most likely left at this point. He would've went East." Asonja stated, going outside of the house. "Though, it won't do you any good since we're just in a memory. You cannot do anything physical to change a past. Besides, it's dangerous all in itself as well, and I would advise to not mess anything up. I like my life the way it is already, despite me being alone my entire life."

"Hn." Xan grunted. "How gallant of you." He sighed, flicking his tail in annoyance. The entire scene seemed to freeze in perpetual motion. "What will you do now..?" He asked, getting up close to one of the robots and studying its markings.

"What's left for there to do?" Asonja answered with another question. "All I can do now is, basically stay in this eternity. What did you call it, Salim?" Asonja shrugs and leans against the outside wall on his back. "I can't do anything to rebel against your actions. I got nothing to lose and nothing to gain." He looked at Xan. "Besides, though I am Half-Identity, I still don't think I deserve the stronger other-half."

The parasite slowly lowered his hand from the machine. A creepy smile began to stretch along his face. The memory around them shattered like glass, and floor seemed to melt from under Asonja's feet. "Who am I to question the will of the host?" Xan chuckled. Darkness seemed to be spreading around the corners of Asonja's mind. It was becoming difficult to think strait. Or even see for that matter. The insides of his body glowed with a deep purple color, making it look like he swallowed a lightbulb. The tattoos were no longer confined to Asonja's head, spreading all over his limbs. Managing to not only bleed into his skin the the 'dream', but in reality as well.

"The saddest part about this.. would be that you actually stood a chance against me." Xan hummed. Extending his arms out, tendrils of energy bubbled up out of no-where and wrapped around Asonja. Forming a cocoon that blanketed the hedgehog. Blotting his senses out, making him woozy and very...very tired for some reason. The last thing he saw as his vision faded was Xan's complacent gaze. As he sank into the warm embrace of darkness, a single muted word echoed through the sleepy haze..

"Goodnight.." Asonja wasn't exactly sure if he could still have bits of his senses, such as talking to himself in his head. He tried to anyway: ''Hmm...this is quite the predicament. Perhaps this is a good time to reflect? Let's see, where to start...well, for starters, I do miss my parents, nicest people I've ever met beside my own brother...and Axel? Axel cared for me like a father I sort of had...perhaps I was a bit too rough on him. But what can I do to make this all up? Maybe once I get out of here, I could train myself up to be better than I was before? Perhaps find someone to get me up into shape? Well, I have to get dedicated into it first so...better start while I can. He began to chant to himself, Once I get out of here, I will exceed my abilities...once I get out of here, I will exceed my abilities...''

The thoughts echoed through the darkness of mind for a moment. Before something seemed to crack on the outside. Like the light of morning peaking through the window. Breaking the darkness. Whatever Asonja was doing, It was effecting ''SOMETHING. ''

...Wait a minute... Asonja thought to himself for another moment after a pause. ''Are you telling me that I have to think positively to break out of here? Jeez, this'll take a while...'' As he said this, the cracks filled up again and he began to feel more and more numb.

''Alright alright fine! I'll work as hard as I can to get myself out of here and then I'll probably go hug everyone and say that I'm sorry for all the damages I have caused to them and to myself especially!'' He says this in one go, thinking this was all he needed.

The cracks long fingers spread across the blackness until Asonja could visibly SEE again. Including the fact that His dream world was looking a whole lot more different. Just how long was he out..?

''Come on, almost there...As long as time isn't a big issue...Okay, more positive thoughts, more positive thoughts...uhhh...once I get out of this place, I'll teach myself how to fight so I can defend for myself and those that care about me! Infact, those people can lie back and I'll be their new savior! Swordfighting, hand to hand combat, I'll learn it all, get stronger, and benefit from them!''

With that the bonds shattered like glass, and broke off of him. Everything was a bit disorienting. Especially since Asonja had lost motor control for who-knows-how-long.

Asonja laid there on the ground, groaning. Once his brain activity started up again, ranging from speech to all 5 senses, he got up with a bit of an unbalance. "W-what...where am I...?" he says groggily.

Xan was immediately aware of Asonja's presence. And ended up popping right on the scene. Floating around like he was in space. "Oh? I'm surprised. You actually got out. You seemed like the kind of kid that would give up without trying." Xan commented.

Asonja shook his head, and rubbed it from the migraine he was having. He tiredly smirked. "What can I say...? I'm full of surprises. Now, mind telling me where we are now."

"Mordor." Xan replied sarcastically.  '..The inbetween..' A hushed voice whispered across the dark planes. Answering Asonja's question. It almost sounded like Xan had said it. Yet his lips had not moved.

Asonja just stayed silent, crossing his arms. "Betwixt the real world and Salim. I'm not remotely shocked...Should've known I was going to be taken somewhere while I was down."

"Good guess, but wrong." The parasite tsked. Shaking his head. "Also, you brought yourself here. Not me." Xan pointed out. "You stand.. Or should I say. Think. Upon a neutral plane of mind. The crossroads between your dreamscape.. And my own. " He said warily.

"Hmmm...so where we are now is both of our connected minds...?" Asonja tried putting them together. After all, he's still a bit hazy.

"More like the cream filling that separates the oreo cookies from each other. If we merged our consciousness together. We'd be an different entity entirely." Xan shuddered. Disliking the thought. "This is the space that keeps it from happening."

"I see...though I would like to see a fusion between us." Asonja chuckled a bit, smirking in a mischievous way. "An infecting parasite and an unstoppable monster. It's like a disastrous combination."

'' 'Over your own cold. dead body.' ''Xan's thoughts whispered again. "Ha! At the cost of my own sanity. No thank you~." The parasite snorted.

"Parasites are notorious for being smug, little insects. Perhaps one of us will be the ones smashed under one foot." Asonja's thoughts reverberated quietly. "Come on, it'll be fun! You won't know until you try...think of the mobian's trembling under your command."

"The only thing I can think of is your sorry psyche stuck to mine. Hah ha. No." Xan replied firmly. "Why on mobius would you be so interested in that, anyway?" The parasite questioned.

"Because, Xan, power is everything to survive on Mobius." Asonja narrowed his eyes a bit more, smirking a little bit. "Want people to quit messing with you? Beat in their faces until they're unrecognizable. Want to get a message across to your enemies? Lynch them."

"...Ah yes. Inspiring words for one whom can barely tie his shoes without crying." Xan mocked. "While these things are indeed true. The person I used to do it is my own decision." He said in a sickeningly sweet voice. Like one would to a child.

"What can I say, I'm a changed man...mobian." Asonja shrugged. "Gotta get something done, better to it well. Even if it does involve a bit of...showers." Asonja placed his left hand on his right arm and the sound of sand-like particles reshaping his hand into that of a scythe blade. It shimmered in a stainless-steel fashion. "Though I may look sensitive on the outside...I am quite the killer. And now, nothing can stop my thoughts of bloodshed, for what everyone has done to me I will make every inch of them suffer!"

"...But, that's for another time..." Asonja's right arm formed back into a normal one, his sleeve going back to somewhat hiding his right arm. "It's only until I decide to get out of here."

Xan looked stumped. ' Why is this child calling for blood..' His thoughts managed to leak out. Then suddenly, he face palmed. "Oh of course." He said aloud as he began to realize something. 'The inbetween is effecting his mentality. Either that or the Salim has damaged him.." He wondered. Talking to himself as if Asonja wan't there.  'But that wouldn't be the case because He hasn't been under Salim for very long. Tsk. Its been a long time since I've had to deal with these sort of problems.' Xan's thoughts shared.

"..And the thought thing can be a bit annoying too. Ugh. Lets get you out of here." Xan sighed, rolling his eyes. He blipped away in an abrupt 'pop.' Within a few moments Asonja had also been transported somewhere more familiar. His psyche. Xan then popped back, landing on his feet. Seems he couldn't float around here. "Welcome back. Again."

"Yeah yeah yeah, skip the introduction." Asonja waved a bit, looking rather bored. "Well, now that I'm back here, I'm more of stumped on what to do now. You have brought me on quite the adventure today, but I think now is the time for me to return to my 'normal' life and just...ya know, sit down and by myself for a while."

"You're joking, right?" Xan asked. "Pffft!" He started cracking up, until he busted into laughter.

Asonja didn't say anything, nor changed his blank expression. "Well, what do you think I do for a living? I practically don't do anything beneficial to society or...ya know."

"Ohhoho! So. Let me get this straight.  You.  Got out of  Salim . Without actually solving any of your own problems. Do you know how easy it would be for me to drop you back into the in-between and start Salim ALL OVER again? I'll give you a hint.." Xan said, getting right in Asonja's face. "Very. Veeery easy."

"Trust me, I've already come to the realization that there is no way I can fulfill the promises I told myself." Asonja turned away from him and just started to walk away. "Hopefully the next time we meet, I'll be better than I am now...no guarantees."

"Oh, one more thing, Asonja~" He said, a smirk rising on his smug face once more. "You'll find that that tattoo won't wash out." Xan grinned. Before turning heel and heading for the door. Sure enough, under Asonja's jacket, on his left shoulder. Was a weird symbol that faintly glowed blue.

He had stopped to examine it for a while. "Hmmm...whatever this means, I'm sure it's no big deal. Alright, Zoralth, lock it up for tonight." Asonja then leaves the building, with Zoralth turning the building off for the night. Asonja had walked all the way back to his apartment while Zoralth went into his hidden quarters inside the building.

(Axel) Brudikai222
Your character had appeared in a rather cozy room, sitting on a luxurious chair. In front of them, a black-scaled dragon about their size showed up with a clipboard and a pencil.

"Thanks for participating, Mr...uhhh...Axel, is it?" The dragon asks, having to get glasses to read the name. "I butcher names very often..."

"Yeah its Axel mr dragon guy...... " Axel said scratching his head. "What am I doing here again?"

"I'm pretty sure you are well aware that you saw my advertisement on recruitments for a social experiment that I am doing with a certain black hedgehog." He says, as he gives Axel a picture of a black hedgehog with black glasses, dark grey eyes, and basically black-everything. The film looked like the hedgehog was snarky and didn't want his picture taken.

"Tell me anything you see about this hedgehog that pops into your mind." The dragon adds.

"Thats Asonja..... Wait did he commit a crime? Axel asked.

"Nono, Axel." The dragon laughed a bit. "He committed no crime. Just give me opinions about him the moment you look at him from this film. That's all I ask."

"Its just regular Asonja, this has been his attitude for the past 10 years I've known him. Angry at the world, lazy, unmotivated, complains too much, and to top it all off he betrayed me like 4 times and yet I don't kill him."

The dragon nods as he writes on his clipboard. "I see...so you have a strong friendship with him. What else?"

"Thats it everything I've told you is basic 100% Asonja."

The dragon nods and he stands up. "Well, if that's the case, come with me. I'll be moving you to a different room for a little bit while I continue my research. Until then, you'll have someone to talk to so you wouldn't be bored."

"What evs." Axel says getting up.

The dragon lead him to another room, where Asonja sat in a chair by himself in an empty room. He had his arms crossed and just looking around the room with a look of distaste. When he saw Axel, he grumbled and looked away.

"I hope you two can get along..." The dragon stated as he closed the door behind Axel. The other hedgehog just glared at Axel.

"Yo Asonja that you?"

"Of course it's me, dummy." Asonja responded. "What're you doing here...? Don't you have better things to do?"

"I honestly don't remember how I got here. This dragon guy just brought me in here. So.... How'd you get here?"

"He brought me here too." Asonja shrugged. "He figured it would be my chance to 'make more friends' and get people to not 'misunderstand' me..." He sighs. "He's my brother, you know."

"Oh so thats your brother... So back when we were in the game..... thats your brother? YOU'RE PART DRAGON!?"

"Yes, Axel, I am part dragon. Did you not look at the Punnet Square that I had on my profile?" Asonja says, breaking the fourth wall on purpose.

"No the guy typing my dialog doesn't even know what a pun square is" Axel replied.

"Whatever. But, yes, I am part dragon." Asonja sighed.

"Do we get any food?"

"We can ask him for some later, if you want...I guess." Asonja shrugged. "I don't mind starving here for the rest of my life. It's a good way to live."

"if you don't eat you'll die that's like basic life"

"I'm not even hungry, Axel..." Asonja crossed his arms. His stomach revolted against his statement as it made a loud grumble. An awkward silence pursued afterward, and Asonja went back to talking. "Why not just sit down on that chair?" He pointed to the chair a little ways in front of him.

"How long do you think we'll stay in here, little known fact I don't like staying in the same place for long mostly when its a new area.... its like being claustrophobic without the fear of tight spaces. It usually kicks in about 3 hours.."

"However long when you decide to leave." Asonja shrugs. "I don't care if you leave now, if you're feeling like that. But there's no way I'm getting out of here without my brother finding the cause of my depression."

"Riiiiight..." Axel sits down and looks at the clock. "Meju, ne, sami, Lahe, Cronosa." He started to chant as the seconds pass by.

"...I have no idea what you're telling me, but I'm guessing that you're counting in Nimagi." Asonja says, shrugging. "We're going to be here for a long time, but he didn't tell you that you can leave whenever you want, ya know. I can't, though."

"Yeah but it wouldn't feel right to just leave you here." Axel said and went back to counting. The then stopped at the 17. "We don't have to pay for food right?"

"Nope. You can always ask-" Before Asonja finished, a table appeared between them with food and drinks. "...my brother."

Axel started eating. " so whats the goal? Am I supposed to befriend you even though we're already friends?"

"Well, technically, Zoralth is just trying to get me understand that there are more fish in the sea...sort of." Asonja shrugged. "He also wants to try to get rid of my depression by making me talk to people who offer to help."

"You just made it sounded really gay dude. Does your brother swing that way?" Axel chuckled a bit and started to slurp ramen like a mad man.

"...You're thinking of the wrong person; I'm the one who's bisexual here, not him." Asonja broke the ice a little bit.

" ..... akward silence commeses" Axel said then stayed quite.

"Sure, sure." Asonja shrugs. "What else do you want to talk about...?"

"Why do you betray me all the time? I've been nothing but a friend, the guild treats you like a full fledged member yet you still betray us. Why?" Axel asked finally finished his food.

"Because I feel that I don't fit in." Asonja replied blatantly. "I've been alone my entire life, and I've been nothing but a thief to try to scavenge everything I could to survive. I feel that I belong in the evil side than anything else..."

"Yet you never truly go through with it."

"Because I think I belong with nobody but myself."

"knowing you, your gunna get yourself killed."

"Who cares? Everyone dies once in a while."

Axel just stayed quiet. Its like that fact just re-earthed its self in his brain. Almost like he was afraid of death.

"...Listen, pal." Asonja said, leaning in closer to Axel. "I understand you want to be a warrior and all, and care about others like it's your own family...but you gotta look at the facts of life. It's not all about sunshine and rainbows. Bad things are always going to happen whether you want it to or not. People are going to die, betrayals will occur...there's not one thing you can do about it. I'm not saying you're powerless, but I'm just saying you need to be realistic and level with the world's point of view; it's a nasty place."

"Death... has no meaning. I'll protect the ones I love, I'll take on death head on!" Axel said to himself. "Death is just a word It means nothing." (I just thought of an rp idea thats one of the reasons why Axel is saying this)

(Sweet) "You don't know how it is for me!" Asonja rose his voice a little bit. "I know you...you're afraid of death just as I am. I know this and you know this yourself. Hiding the fact that death is inevitable for all beings here on this planet, will not do you any good." Asonja brought his voice down a bit. "There's no way I'm letting you hide from the truth...you need to know what it was like for me and you need to understand it."

"Mortals are put on this planet to avoid death. They live as long as possible, its been this way for billions of years! Trust me I will protect everyone!" Axel stayed quite for several seconds. "So what were we talking about?" It seemed like he was a completely different person.

"..." Asonja sat there for a moment, looking at Axel. "I'm not sure...but the way you said 'mortals' concerns me...are you feeling as well as I should be? Or worse?"

"What?" Axel looked confused, then went back to eating.

"...Whatever." Asonja sighed and sat there, not eating a single thing. "Got anything else to say?"

"You gunna eat your ramen?" Axel said pointing to the bowl in front of Asonja.

"..." Asonja lightly pushed the ramen bowl over to him. "Knock yourself out. I'm not hungry anyway." Of course, his stomach growled in protest, but he didn't do anything about it.

Axel ate the last of the Ramen. "So I have another question for you. What am I to you? A loser, a Good guy or some guy?"

Asonja just leaned back. "The leader of Nimagi Freedom Fighters. That's it."

"Nah I don't think so, I think you think of something else." Axel said.

He shook his head. "Nope. That's all."

"Oh really all those times you called me idiot, that means nothing?"

"Well, probably, but that's up to you..." Asonja shrugs.

"heh so now, what do you think of our friends?"

He shrugs again. "Same old, same old. I don't consider them special or not special. Just kind of...there. Like I am in a less popular way."

"thats it? Knowing you you'd have some remark on the negative traits of their personalities." Axel said leaning the chair on its back legs.

"It may seem that way, but I'm only being realistic." He replies. "Besides, it'd be rude of me to say something negative about your crew and get backlashed for it anyway. So what's the point of making fun of them if I'm already a dead man for opening my mouth about it?"

"They're not here and I keep secrets."

"And I don't give secrets." He lashed again. "I get emotional when I share secrets and I'd hate to be emotional in front of you."

"then do it like this." Axel said having a monotone of voice. "Be as boring as you can. it shouldn't be too hard for you." He continued.

He rolled his eyes a little bit. "Seriously? I do that all the time, and besides, I'd hate to sound like I was created to bore the heck out of everyone...I am boring as it is, so..."

"whatever I think this session is about done right?"

Asonja shrugged. "You're more than welcome to leave at any time, from what Zoralth has said before."

(Danni Quillen- Psychologist in training) 1st Prince of Winds
Your character had appeared in a rather cozy room, sitting on a luxurious chair. In front of them, a black-scaled dragon about their size showed up with a clipboard and a pencil.

"Thank you for participating...uhh...Danni...Quillen? Did I say that right?" The dragon asked.

Danni had fake glasses on with a tie shirt. He stared as he was warped there. "What the fuuuuuhh? Oh hello! Yes, you did say it right! Not many people normally say it right."

"That's good. I apologize if you got here unnoticed." He responds. "My name is Zoralth, just so you know. Now, let's cut to the chase; what can you tell me about this hedgehog just by looking at him?" He passed Danni a picture of a black hedgehog with...practically black everything on him. A trench coat, black glasses, and and black spiky hair in the front.

"Seems like he's really into black.. Oh wait I've seen him before! He's apart of those Nimagi freedom fighters. I've seen a few memes about him. They're pretty sad. Reminds me of the edgelord fandom." Danni pulls up a depression meme about Asonja that he found on the internet.

"...I...had no idea people made him into a meme." Zoralth said as he examined it. "Huh...well, if that's it then we can move on." He stands up and motions for him to follow.

Danni complies, gets up and follows. He wonders why this guy is questioning him about this dude.

Zoralth led him into another room. It was spacious, and someone seemed to be sitting down on a chair: it was the hedgehog in the picture. The door closed behind Danni, with another chair appearing in front of the hedgehog for him to sit down on.

Danni sits down he looks at the dragon? " So why am I here. I would like to know honestly."

"You two are going to talk for a little bit. Just a little chat, nothing too special." The dragon says before vanishing. The hedgehog looked away, seeming unimpressed of what was happening.

"Ok then. Should I be warned of any problems so I can prepare myself. Sass problems? Disrespect in everyday behavior? Danni asks. He looks at Asonja up and down then looks back to the dragons spot. He was gone. "What the fuuhhhhh? Well then... Hi there!"

"...Uhhh...hey...?" The hedgehog says back rather nervously. He wasn't shy, but he just wasn't the talking type. "You'll most likely experience snarky behavior from me. I'm kind of a waste of anyone's time at this point."

"And why is that, may I ask?" Danni said with a comforting tone.

He crossed his arms, continuing to look away uninterested. "It's nothing that concerns you..."

"Cmonn 'pal'. I've been through the same teenage bs too. I know what its like to be unpopular at that age. Today it's different but don't mind that. I'm a minority as well. Just talk to me," Danni says with a more comforting tone.

The hedgehog just seemed more hesitant and resistant, like he was in denial for that. "I'm fine, alright...? I don't need any help. I can sulk on my own..."

"You sure? Cause I need an answer to my first question. Just vent to me and I won't judge you. It's relaxing trust me."

He grumbled a bit, gripping his sleeves. "...whatever...you wouldn't quite understand anyway."

"Just vent bud. Don't make me start acting cut-throat." (I'll be back tomorrow~Prince)

"Cut-throat? Like...threatening me to open up to someone I don't even know?" He responded. "How do I know that you won't make fun of me the moment I say something?" (Gotcha.)

"Do I need to make a promise? Like if I do make fun of you I'll hit my self with all of my strength." To prove his full strength he pulls up a video of one of his training vlogs of him with his friends just fighting for the fun of it.

"Ehhh...I'm not a fan of fights. I hate fighting..." Asonja seemed to look away with a nervous look on his face. Turns out this sack of depression was a pacifist.

"Oh: well that's okay! What about something like chess?" Danni tries to change the subject.

"Chess? Not really good at it. If I were to play it I'd lose." Asonja shrugged.

"What's something you're very proficient at? We can do that." Danni looks calmly. Talking to this guy is getting difficult but he can't give up now.

"Proficient? This is sounding more like a job interview...hiding counts as one. Staying alive for long periods of time without eating?"

"Okay. So what I've gathered from my array of questions is that you mainly have a feeling of worry because of the thought of others judging you. What first created this problem? It's like a seed that grew into a large tree and the roots can't be pulled out without force." Danni said. He honestly never has listened to such a teen ever. "Kids these days." he thought.

"...Well, that is supposedly true..." Asonja admitted. "I do have the fear of others judging me. Mainly because of the reason that I despise being laughed at for just being...ya know, myself. I try to fit in as much as I can to lessen that worry but it still happens."

"I've been there; I would have people laughing at me for no reason whatsoever. It was for trivial things right?" Danni says. He thinks he's actually found a good talking point.

He shrugs. "Or, maybe it was the personal side of things. Who knows?" He adjusted his glasses, the gray tint matching his eye color. "...Or, it was both?"

"The answers lie within you, my friend. So; any girls in your life?"

He just shrugs in response. "Not exactly, no."

(Issac) Classicspace101
Your character is in a room with a black dragon in front of them. He had a casual wear and a clip board. He looked at it with glasses. "Thank you for coming...uh...Issac? ...You don't even look Mobian either...are you from the Dark Ages? Anyway, thank you for coming."

"Ah, yes I am from the dark souls universe, and it's a pleasure to be helping another in becoming a much more jolly person." Issac says.

"Yes, of course." The dragon nods and passes Issac a picture of a hedgehog. "Pretty sure you've seen this person before correct? Tell me everything you know about him."

"I believe I have seen him once before, the poor boy is a sad soul, always wearing a large black cloak and has that depressed look upon his face, he would make even a hollow sad to see him..." Issac said. "I don't understand him completely, and through this I hope to bring out his inner self." He then says.

"You might, though I must warn you..." Zoralth went closer to the knight in shining armor, looking at him right in the eyes. "He's very resentful. It'll be rather difficult to get information from him. Even though he deserves to get a knife in the throat, I wouldn't suggest doing so. Understood?"

"Understood, anyways what could go wrong? He would have to do a LOT to get under this undead hide of mine hahahaha!" Issac then says.

"Heh...just be careful. That armor won't do you any good with words, most likely. Praise the sun, they always say." Zoralth chuckles a bit, not insulting him. He stands up and motions Issac to follow. "I'll be taking you to a different room for a bit."

"Ok then." Issac says as he follows. "So quick question, of your brother is a hedgehog, then how exactly did your parents... make you?"

"It's too long of a story to explain, Issac." Zoralth responded. "It's WAY too long." With that, he opens the door to the other room, revealing Asonja inside sitting on a chair. He immediately recognized Issac, but looked away. Zoralth patted the back of Issac to bring him inside before closing the door behind him. "Good luck Issac!"

"Thank you." Issac said before walking over to him and sitting down. "Hello Asonja. How are you today?" He then says to Asonja.

"...Never felt better, Issac." He replied with a rather hidden sarcastic tone. He had adjusted his glasses and crossed his arms. He looked pale and skinny as ever.

"Really? Well tell me about your day then." His tone seems excited and happy. Waiting for a response.

"...Consisted of me staying in my crappy apartment all day. 24/7. For about 7 years now." He responded.

"you dont seem very happy about this, so why? why dont you be more of a better person for yourself?" Issac asked.

"Tch. What's the point?" Asonja shrugged. "Fate drags us wherever it wants to take us, so if Fate decides to make me go in a downward spiral, I got nothing to stop its desires."

"What? How could you say that? Fate isn't a real thing, they said my fate was to die in an undead asylum, and look at me, I'm out and helping others, like you." Issac says to him.

"I can understand that..." Asonja states. "But I have a much different belief than your own, and it's not a bad thing at all, no. It's a good thing that you believe in something and live up to it; but there are certain times where you come across someone that is a major obstacle to you, someone who doesn't believe the same way, someone...who's stuck, lost..." He adjusted his glasses for a long while. "...Abandoned in his own ways."

"well why? Why dont you just tell me what exactly your doing, walk me through your day to day life, and maybe i can see what this major obstacle is. and then we can help" Issac says.

"...Who's 'we'?" Asonja asked before shaking his head for a moment. "All that my day is, is really just sitting around in my apartment eating the same thing for about 2 years. Wore the same clothing, showered once a week to save water and never turned on lights to save electricity. I have no idea who financing my stay there, but that's where I've been my past life."

"well I now see your problem, you dont have ANY change in your life." Issac says. "perhaps you could use some change." He then says.

"What kind of change are you talking about...?" Asonja asked, concerned.

"dear boy, YOU need some good old fashion adventure. I think I should show you what happens if you get out and try changing up you lifestyle. perhaps the adventure will teach you to do that." Issac says cheerfully.

"I'm not sure about that..." Asonja doubtfully responds. "...besides, I'm not very strong as it is. I don't go outside much to begin with."

"well, how about being immortal... well sorta" Issac said.

"...Immortality may sound nice, but I have to decline for...scientific reasons..." Asonja nervously says. "I don't think immortality would be perfect for me. In my viewpoint, I don't think it's worth it."

"well, its only temporary because its only in the world your gonna have your adventure it, besides you might just die a few times here and there." Issac says trying not to hint that the adventure will be like hell.

"Ehhhh..." Asonja wilted a little bit on his chair. "I'm not a fan of dying or being a hero or anything like that. I'm more of..what's the term writers use...an Anti-Hero? That sounds like it to me. I know it sounds very interesting, but I just don't think it's right for me. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the offer but I don't think I could accept it."

"oh, well you need something to get you out of routine, and your problems, soooooooooo... I KNOW! hows about I introduce you to a friend of mine, he can help out the most." Issac says.

Asonja shrugs. "Sure, you can bring him in here. Zoralth said nothing about bringing multiple people."

"Great!" Issac says before pulling out a yellow stone and drawing on the floor and after a few seconds a onion knight appears from the ground holding a sandwich. "sir, why am I here?" the onion knight asked.

"I have no idea why you're here," Asonja says, "but I think it has something to do with the current situation that you are unaware of."

"Siegmoar, meet Asonja, the most depressed hedgehog I have know." Issac says. "Oh, well then I guess I am here to help him become a better person" The onion knight named Siegmoar says. "Well, I guess I will have to show him some caterina festivities and such, and maybe we can help." the onion said.

"Caterina festivities?" Asonja asked. "I have never heard of such things."

"ah yes, thats because its not ON mobius." Seigmoar said "yeah, this could really help you be a better person just by experiencing other things." Issac says.

"I suppose you're onto something..." Asonja scratched his head. "...I dunno, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try..."

"GREAT!" Siegmoar shouted before pullout out a sunstone and we all dissapear, and after 3 minutes in a spinning vortext of dimension traveling, they land in a medieval alley way.

Asonja blinked a view times in confusion, as well as mild nausea, he looked around. "Did we...travel back in time as well as going into another dimension or...one of those two things?" They could notice the Hedgehog was very small, almost half the size of everyone.

"Oh no, we just went to the dark souls universe, where technology hasnt really advanced too much unlike mobius, now we are at caterina, the jolliest place here, even after the darksign curse." Siegmoar says. Outside the ally Asonja see other onion knights and men and women having a great time.

"Hmm..." He analysed his surroundings. "...So, this is what a party is?"

"Well yes, I just dont know why." Siegmoar said. "well, anyways in this world im sure there will be tons of opportunities to change up your life a little." Issac said.

"Sure." Asonja says, looking around a little bit. "So...what do I do?"

Siegmoar and Issac take him into the streets where surprisingly no one starts talking about Asonja and how he is a hedgehog, instead he is getting offered drinks, trinkets and food from different vendors. "Just enjoy the festivities, and dont cause too much trouble, they may look like harmless townsfolk but the knights will tear you up if you threaten their lives." Siegmoar said. "and be careful" Issac said.

"I'm not much of an attacker anyway." Asonja stated, seeming to politely decline drinks and food given by the people. He may look like he's had a rough life, but he's actually rather polite for someone to look like a Goth. "But I will be careful. I'll try to, anyway."

"great, now have fun, and dont go to far from us" Siegmoar said.

"Sure thing." Asonja says. Except, he didn't quite leave; he stuck around with the two the entire time.

Well, as they wandered around they decided to stop at tavern, where laughs are heard outside and all about, "I used to come here before the curse" Siegmoar said.

"Interesting." Asonja says as he follows. He had one question in his head that he wanted to ask, but was concerned that it would cause an uproar while asking, so he decided to stay quiet with a fairly hidden concerned face.

As they entered they sit down and almost in an instant are served some sort of medieval beer. "have anything you wanna say Asonja?" Issac asked.

"Well...yeah...but I want to wait till later so I don't, like, cause an uproar or anything..." He says nervously. Again, his appearance is completely contrasting his actual personality at the current moment.

"Oh ok, well, now just enjoy your time. and relax." Siegmoar says.

He didn't exactly do much of anything. He didn't drink the beer he was given, after politely accepting it as it was given to him regardless, but at least he ate some of the food there.

"So tell me Asonja, why dont you ever enjoy life? Why are you depressed?" Siegmoar asked.

"It's a long story, pal..." He responds. "It'll probably take an hour to explain all of it.

"we have hours, heck we have until you be more of a cheery person, so why not tell us your story?" Issac said.

He sighs quietly. "Alright, fine...It won't make me much better but...I'll try to explain.

"I lived in a rural part of Mobius ever since I was born. I never knew my parents even though I've seen them countless times. I can't even remember what they looked like because they were gone for long periods of time. My brother and I cared for each other by hunting out in the woods or something like that. Of course, my brother being the dragon of the family, was the strongest and the most pain tolerant. I, however, was the weakest and couldn't defend myself in anyway possible. I'm possibly Autistic, but that's another story.

"One particular day when I was 10 years old, something I'd like to call 'The Hedgehog Massacre" was occurring in the city 5 miles from our house. I didn't think much of it until they showed up in the house. Unfortunately, my brother and I were alone, so we were vulnerable. In an attempt to scare them off, my brother tried fighting back, but he ended up fleeing, leaving me behind. I don't remember much after that, but I can assume that I got away some how.

"It was until later that I found out that our parents were kidnapped. My brother said it was useless to go fetch them, but I had a small spark of determination to get myself to infiltrate their base and gather my parents back. Unfortunately, I wasn't prepared since I never learned how to fight or defend myself without my brother's help, so I was easily defeated. I had a glimpse of seeing my parents when I got into the final room, but once I had gotten there, it was already too late. They were murdered in cold-blood, in front of me, when I could've defeated the kidnappers quicker..."

He gripped the table, to resist the urge to hit the table. His fingernails had cut into the table as well at some point. "After that...I refused to let the world see my failure...so I went hiding in the city, alone for almost now 8 years. I blocked contact with my brother, until a few days ago from a minor coincidence...and now here I am, talking to knights in armor. These past years have been nothing but beneficial for all of us, and I'd hate to let it go further..."

Issac and Siegmoar look at you. "then I guess we should do something then?" Siegmoar said. "revenge maybe?" Issac asked.

He shook his head. "No, that's not necessary...It's already too late for that now."

"what makes you say that?" Issac asked.

He shrugged. "Can't you already tell? I've been getting weaker ever since 8 whole years of hiding. There's no way I can get revenge for an event that happened 8 years ago. I just want to let it fade and just forget that it happened and just live on."

"then you need to be trained." Siegmoar says. "should we do a training montage?" Issac asked.

He shrugged. "I mean, I'm probably going to complain the whole time, but that's up to you guys."

"complaining is something you do, but we can make this a more fun experience." Issac says.

"I'd like to see that." Asonja says. "Go ahead, give it all you got."

Siegmoar stands up "que the montage!!!"

The following hour was an interesting training montage that has the usual stuff, and some extra including speech making, cooking and shield throwing and a few more weird ones.

Though, during the montage, there were some moments where Asonja...did not do very well on things, as well as refusing to do some things which was quite a hassle. The training would've lasted shorter if Asonja did not complain most of the time.

After such training, Asonja was groaning quietly to himself with his sore muscles. "Jeez...I think most of these are supposed to be for humans. I'm a bit too small and feeble for it...which I tried explaining. I was worried about this soreness, mainly."

"well, at least you look healthier." Issac says, "we hope we didn't tire you out too much." siegmoar says.

"I am tired, for starters...and sore." He groaned a bit, trying to move around his shoulder. "I guess we'll be doing this everyday now?"

"actually, we just need to do this a few times, the super-duper-awesome-caterina-super-mega-badass-cool training only needs around a week to do so." Siegmoar said.

"That's a long way to put it..." Asonja sighed a bit, groaning a bit more in pain as he made his shoulders go in circles.

"well, its the name of it, dont ask me why." Issac says. "anyways, tomorrow you shall do another series of neat tests." Siegmoar said.

"Neat tests?" Asonja questioned. "What kind of tests...?"

"we got beer making, magic using, giant slaying, and mountain climbing!"

"..." Asonja stayed silent for a long period of time, seeming to be unamused. "You do realize that I cannot do either one of those things, regardless of what I have?"

"Thats why you are going to be given a set of supplies, things you cans sometimes find at home or make yourself" Issac says. "will, the mountain tools yes but everything else you need a smithbox or know a blacksmith" Siegmoar says.

"...I don't even know what a Blacksmith is, sir." Asonja replied. "These are things that toddlers do for play, and eventually grow big and strong as elementary children to become demon slayers in their adulthoods. That's not how it works for me, in all honesty. It's never going to work; trust me on that."

"would you rather learn pyromaniacs and dark miracles instead?" Issac says, "they would be right up your alley."

"Ehhh..." Asonja hesitates. "I dunno about magic. I don't have much skill in that criteria to begin with, nor do I have a thing with it..What's a dark miracle anyway? Is'nt that, like, the opposite of what you guys are?"

"Well, yes and no, the army of the sun used dark miracles, but they use gnaw and lifehunt sythe. which steals the lifeforce from anything hit by it."

"...Okay." Asonja blinked a few times, completely lost. "I mean...it's magic, regardless, but...it's not my thing. Fighting just isn't my thing."

"So you wanna learn stuff like politics and how to talk to people?" Issac asked.

"Ew, no thanks. No politics for me..." He stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"well what do you wanna do? Go hollow?" Issac says sarcastically.

"Well, if I were to become a Hollow, I'd just be going around taking everyone's souls. And trust me, you don't want that to happen...I sure don't want it to happen." He responding, looking at Issac right in the eyes with no emotion.

Issac stares back. "Ok, then I think you should do something to spice up your life, or else you will (figuratively) go hollow"

He just shrugs. "I got everything to lose but nothing to gain. Just let it happen, I'm sure it'll go fine."

Issac facepalms.

Asonja was quiet for a little bit, continuing to poke at his food. "So, what's the plan here? Are we going to do something, or what?"

"well, what do you wanna do, we gotta fix you up and get you back on your feet somehow." Issac says.

"...There's nowhere left to hide when there's nothing left to believe." Asonja shrugged, seeming to quote from somewhere. "So...just throw anything at me and we'll see how it goes, then."

"ok." Issac says before throwing a pie at you.

Asonja thrusts his head on the table a few seconds afterwards, sighing. "I deserved that, because I wasn't so specific...Is this Apple Pie or Blueberry?"

"its cream pie, we got more though." Issac says before getting hit by one himself. "HAHahaha, I got you." Siegmoar says.

Asonja wipes off the cream pie from his face and shakes his head, smirking only faintly. "Jeez...you like to have fun with practically anything these days. What about your previous ideas?"

"what ideas? training you for things dosent seem to help, so just have fun!" Siegmoar says before throwing another and then everyone in the caterina tavern is in a pie fight. (like that one movie)

Asonja just hides under a table, dodging some cream pies before doing so. "It has become a war zone."

He sees Issac get pelted with several pies at once and fall down laughing.

"I should get out of here before I get pelted..." Asonja suggested, a bit scared of this as he managed to make a clean escape from the area. He waited outside, panting a bit.

Issac falls out through the door covered in all sorts of pie fillings. "hey, why arent you joining the fun?" He asks.

"It's a bit too dangerous for me. And messy." Asonja stated. "I'm not that kind of guy for 'war-zones' like that."

"Oh come on,its not a real war-zone." Issac states.

"I know that but...I just don't like throwing things at other people to begin with. I don't even know these people, I've never even seen them, let alone know they exist. Secondly it may seem like a fun battle, but I just don't like being in battles."

"well, you seemed to be having fun in the beginning" Issac says.

"Since when?" Asonja asked.

"somewhere near the beginning." Issac says as he gets up.

"I don't recall...whatever, I have a bad memory anyway." Asonja shrugs. "Well, I had my meal and...drink, I guess. What's next?"

"Well, I think we could go on a mini-adventure, In other words go look for a little trinket and fight a few baddies." Issac says wiping pie from his face.

He shrugs again. "I mean, sure. If that's what you want to do, I guess I'm up for it. I'm not a fan of fighting, obviously, but I got no reason to reject."

(There we go. Is this slightly better? I wasn't specific last time)

(ok srry I sometimes dont understand things)

"Well, you dont have to fight, you just go with us on an adventure." Issac says.

"It just depends on where you guys are going. I hate cold places, just an FYI."

(Komerl - Present Time Counterpart) RedRush3999
Your character is in a room with a black dragon in front of them. He had a casual wear and a clip board. He looked at it with glasses. "Thank you for coming...uh...Komerl? You have an interesting history just looking at it. Anyway, thank you for coming here. I'm all booked as of right now but I'm still glad you could be my last one."

"Hey, no problem! Hopefully, I can talk some sense into him. He doesn't do much..." the brown hedgehog says as he sits down onto a nearby chair. He is noticeably wearing a version of someone's outfit.

"Hmm..." The dragon inspected his clothing. "...You remind me of a golden-haired warrior. Dunno why." He leaned back on his chair, shrugging it off before handing Komerl a picture of a black hedgehog, with black spiky hair, black everything except his eyes, as they were a dark grey. "Tell me all about him in your opinion."

"Well, it's complicated. I do know that's he kinda broody. He seems sad alot, and I DID try to talk to him about it once. He didn't say anything and tried to avoid my questions..."

"Perhaps it had something to do with his thoughts toward other people?" Zoralth asked. "Is he more like a protector, a fighter?"

"No. I don't think so.....He's more laid back and sort of a pessimist. Other than that, I don't know that much more about him. I want to help him out though regardless. He's my friend." Komerl said with conviction in his eyes, crossing his arms.

I see." Zoralth stood up and motioned Komerl into another room. "Please keep those thoughts in mind while I move you to this other room for a moment to continue my research."

"Okay..." Komerl said with a concerned look on his face, as he snapped his fingers. He seemed to change out of the outfit into Scourge's.

Upon entering the room, Komerl would notice the black hedgehog from the picture sitting on a chair. In front of him was an empty chair. "You gonna sit down or what?" He pointed to the chair with a smug tone.

"Hey, Asonja!" Komerl said with a big friendly grin on his face as he sat down in the empty chair. He then thought to himself, "Oh yeah, I still have my item ring with me, so..."

He then pulled out an Item Ring and tossed it into the air as it grew larger.

The ring seemed to open a portal to.....Komerl's room? "Hang on gotta get a few things before we chat."

"Sure. I'll be here." Asonja sat still, waiting.

Komerl proceeded to get a katana, that blue emerald he found the other day, a sandbag, his TV, his portable kitchen, a picture taken of him and Asonja, and his plasma gloves that Raven gave him during his year in high school.

He seemed to also get something else as he jumped out of the portal. However, he decided not to reveal it until later. "So, I've heard from your brother that you haven't been doing anything for the past few months. What's up with that?"

Asonja shrugged. "It's really not polite of him to stick his nose into my business..." He sneered a little bit. "But, he's my brother, and I have respect towards him...regardless of what he did years ago. But that's none of your business either. What's with all the stuff?"

"Just thought I would give you some gifts and stuff for your room. I don't think you've had anything new in there. Anyways, I'm planning on staying with you for a few months. " He replied while doing a combination of fast but strong punches and kicks, practicing.

"Oh, is that so?" Asonja asked. "I mean, I've had the same apartment for a while, of course I haven't bothered to update anything. It's nice of you, though you don't have to do all that, ya know."

"Meh, still doing it anyways." Komerl mentally replied as he tossed the blue emerald to Asonja and went into a fighting stance. "Anyways, I want you to spar with me....Something tells me you are bored out of your mind and that your body needs some conditioning."

"Uhhh...I would but...I have no idea how to...and I'm a Pacifist." Asonja nervously replied, seeming to hug the emerald like it was his teddy bear.

''"Is he this weak minded?" ''Komerl just.....blankly looked at him. "Okay, nevermind. So how's your relationship with Raven?"

"It was going well before she suddenly vanished." He replied. "I wish she would come back someday and give her a warm welcome. Although, I'm probably just going to remain by myself to save her the trouble of being depressed in front of her. I'll probably have to search the globe to find someone else."

Komerl just slowly walked to Asonja with an unreadable expression on his face.....

He scooted his chair back. "Don't look at me like that..." He growled a bit.

"........" Komerl then proceeded to glare at Asonja with his eyes flashing with anger, fury, sorrow and something else for a split second as blue flames started to surround him. The temperature in the room seemed to increase at a gradual rate."Listen to me because I'm going to tell you this once." he started off with a surprisingly calm voice.

He said nothing, indicating the he was listening, despite sweating, and looking in a different direction off to the side.

The temperature decreased back to normal as the flames disappeared as he sighed. "I don't think Raven would want you to be all depressed and weak minded like this. And your mom and dad would probably kick your ass if they found out their son was wasting his life away and not doing anything with his life. Take it from me, dude. I lost my parents too..."

(.......Bro? You there?)

(Yes, I am. Just slightly busy with other things)

"...I know that. But they're not here so what can I do?" He responds, with a shrug.

"I sort of have an idea....." He then grabbed Asonja and used Instant Transmission to go to Angel Island where the Master Emerald Shrine was.

"...I forgot this was here. But what is this going to do?"

Komerl just walked up to the Master Emerald and touched it. The Master Emerald suddenly glowed blue as two figures that may seem familiar to Asonja walked out..

It took Asonja a while to figure out who those two were, but needed clarification. He didn't ask though, but he just had the face of necessity for clarification.

"If you need to ask, with the Master Emerald's permission, brought your parents back. Although they can only be here for a day...." Komerl said with a smile and just walked off but not before saying something else. "Meet me at Hill Top Zone once you're done spending time with your folks. We'll talk there."

Asonja blinked a few times, as his parents waved to him with both their smiles. After that, was probably one of Asonja's most happiest moment in his life. He spent about 5 hours with them until it was midnight. He said his goodbyes to them before making his way to Hill Top Zone...which took an extra hour because of his fear of heights.

Komerl could be seen meditating nearby. "Oh, so you're here! So how'd it go?"

Asonja panted, sweating. "It was...great...but my...everything is sore from getting up here..." He stood on his feet, all pale from the large height. It was lucky that the clouds covered the high altitude. "I screamed on a few platforms here and there...lava...loops. I didn't even try the loops, good lord."

"Uh, I meant the talk with your parents, dude. What did they talk to you about?" Komerl says while opening one eye...

"I thought I explained that it went great..." Asonja says. "They just talked about...stuff. Disappointment, technically."

"You know what? I'll be your life mentor from now on...Like a big brother or something." Komerl says shrugging his shoulders. "Besides, you really need to regain your belief in yourself and your abilities. You've been moping for so darn long I can't really stand it anymore. Seriously, you need to do SOMETHING with your life or else, your parents memory would be spat on and would've died for nothing. Do you want that to happen?"

"Not really, no..." Asonja rubbed the back of his head. "Besides, I already have a brother. He's not exactly older or younger than me..."

"Huh. Okay then....Well, might as well get back to your home or whatever....Chaos Control!" he shouts as he teleported them both back to the place they were before this all happened.

Once they got back, Komerl proceeded to ask Asonja something else. "Is there anything you are interested in doing, Asonja?"

"Uhh..." Asonja tried to think of something quickly, but couldn't find anything. "Not exactly...I don't think I can think of anything."

"Well.....I guess you could travel with me around Mobius. Maybe we can find something for you to do that you actually like."

He shrugged. "That's up to you. Just a warning; I may complain."

Komerl shakes his head, laughing, "I'm used to people complaining about stuff, Asonja."

"Oh trust me, I complain like a toddler." He puts his hands up a little bit. "I take no responsibility on you trying to kill me."

"Look, I promise I will not kill you. Besides, even if you do complain, you'll eventually find something you won't complain about."

"I hope so..." Asonja remarked. "It's rare for me to not complain at something. But, please, do try your hardest to get me where I need to be. We'll see what I supposedly like."

"Meh." Komerl shrugs as he pulls out an Item Ring again and it summons......a car?! "Sweet!"

"...Oh dear." Asonja rubbed where his forehead would be. "I'm not getting a good feeling about this..."

"Why?" Komerl asks looking at Asonja as he takes out his keys to the car.

"...I just thought that you were forcing me to drive that." He said nervously. "That car looks so nice and if you put its condition on my hands, I would crash it and you would get mad at me for ruining your car and-" He went on to ramble the further he stressed himself out.

"Dude, dude, dude! Calm down, man. You put yourself down waaaay too much. Trying thinking positive." Komerl said with a chuckle as they went to the car. He then went into the front seat and put the keys into the ignition....

Asonja didn't say anything, but contained a worried face. He climbed into the passenger seat closing the door and sat there, quite stiff.

(Dave Hyatt - Hooba Dooba Trissel Strudel)
Your character is in a room with a black dragon in front of them. He had a casual wear and a clip board. He looked at it with glasses. "Thank you for coming...uh..." He looked down at the list of people. "I don't...quite see you on my list..."

"... This... I'm not in the student counselor office," A rather tall lynx, 5,8, sat somewhat uncomfortably. He had somewhat combed but mostly messy black hair, with tatto-flame-designed black stripes on his hands. His shirt had a guitar, and he wore cargo pants and tennies. He had blue eyes and a partial mullet at the back of his head.

"Huh...perhaps a mishap. And you said that you're a counselor for students? Well, that's perfect because I got someone very unique for you to help out, if you know him that is. He suffers from a slight form of depression and I would like to know if you could help out, even if you didn't come here by sheer coincidence." With that said, the dragon hands him a picture of a black hedgehog, with...black everything, from what it seems. It wasn't a monochrome picture as the walls and the surroundings were in color.

"Wai- uh, dude, I-" He paused, looking over the picture. "Okay, who's that?"

"This is Asonja Masenko. A hedgehog who just recently turned 18 a few days ago. And also a relative of mine, but it's too confusing to explain. All that I need you to do as of right now is to give me your opinions just by looking at this picture."

"Eh... I dunno," He sat back in the chair, plopping his hand at his side before rising the other one. "Goth?  Emo Goth? ... Matrix?"

"Well, that's up to you to answer that question for yourself. I want you to keep that thought in your head as you exit this room and enter the room to your right." He says he stands up and motions him to follow.

"... Okay, listen... guy?" The lynx stood up, starting to follow. "I'm not a counselor.  You want me to give this guy life advice or something?"

"Since you're here, you should at least try." He shrugs. "I dunno how you bring you back out here, the doors are locked during operation hours."

"So I get to leave after I try or whatever?"

He looked at his watch. "Well, if you can kill 3 hours somehow, then yeah."

"... Yeah... okay, whatever.  Where is he?"

"Down this hall to the right." He points to the door adjacent to the one he was in. "I just wish you good luck. He's not the type to be...ya know...negotiated with. He hates to socialize, but I'm pretty sure you could get him to open up. He hasn't opened up to much, he's already been possessed by...some kind of alien parasite or something, but he's fine now. Just be careful with him, alright?"

"... Yeah... I'm 110% totally qualified for this..." He walked through.

Inside the room, which was rather empty except for 2 chairs, one was filled as the dark gray hedgehog sat there, adjusting his glasses. He was silent, but didn't look exactly friendly nor unfriendly either; he just looked nervous.

"... Hi," The lynx sighed, walking over. "... What's your name again?"

He was silent for a while, not looking at him. The hedgehog seemed to be hiding his fear of social interaction, by being "snotty". "My name is...Asonja, sir...Why're you here?"

"Uck," He scoffed, shaking his head. "Dude, don't call me 'Sir'.  You're... eighteen right?  I'm only twenty.  I'm not wearing a suit or anything."

"...Sorry..." He replied, looking down instead of to the side. "I'm also eighteen, yes...just recently."

"Okay, I don't know why I got pulled in here, but I'm not a counciler.  Did you get yanked into this?"

Asonja shrugged. "Well, I more of 'asked' him to." He used two fingers to resemble quote-marks. "I told him he could try any way he can to make me feel better about myself, and this was the first thing that popped into his head."

"Putting you in a room and getting random people to talk to you? ... Uh... alright," He cleared his throat. "Don't really know what I'm expected to do here but guess we can do... something," He shrugged. "I'm Dave.  I go to Mobius Academy and I'm part of a rock band."

"I've heard about that Academy." Asonja leaned back a bit. "...I think. I don't go out very much, obviously. Don't know much of what the world does. What's it like to be in a rock band anyway?"

"Drama, definitely," Dave nodded. "It's crazy and full of the emotes.  Ev'body's got a problem or something they want made into a song but... it's a lot of fun and it's a rush getting to play it for people."

"That's pretty interesting. I'm a pretty good fan of rock and I have a slight good taste in music. Though, I never wanted to try it since it would take a lot of my time...even though I don't do anything..."

"Do you play anything?"

"Play...what exactly? Video Games? Sports? If both of those things, I do neither."

"Uh- no.  Instrument."

"...Oh." He sat there for a moment. "Well...I play a 12-hole Ocarina. Does that count?"

"... O- wait, like... fr- you said Ocarina right?"

"Yes, an Ocarina, sir."

"No sir," He tensed slightly. "... So like from the Zelda games?"

"I think so? I got it as a gift a few years ago from my brother."

"What place are you from again?"

"A rural part of the country, far from towns. About 10 miles."

"No like, what's the world called?"

"...Mobius?" Asonja tilted his head a bit, confused a little bit regardless of answering.

Dave relaxed a bit, his shoulders leaning down-forward. "Oh..." He sighed. "Worth a try."

"Were you referring to the world...this Zelda thing was in or...this world in general?"

"Just... never mind.  So you just play Ocarina?"

"Yup. That's all I play. It's not that bad, though my skill with it is kinda...meh."

"You got it with you?"

"I think...?" He goes into his pockets, and pulls out a blue 12-hole Ocarina. "Oh, here it is."

"Alright... What can you play?"

"Uhhh...I can play this?" He put the Ocarina to his mouth, and played a quiet, well-played song. Every long note was smooth and seems to sound very emotional as the song sounded very sad.

"That's pretty good," Dave nodded.

He stopped playing it once hitting a low note. "I haven't done much with it. I know the scales and the finger positions too, but I think I'm still getting pretty rusty with it."

"Well does it have, like, all the keys?  A-G?"

"Yeah, but it can't go higher than with no holes covered. I forget what note that would be, possibly the highest G. Why does my Ocarina concern you?"

"Cause I'm secretly a black-suit spy that wants your music talent," He answered sarcastically.

Asonja just blinks a few times. "Right..."

"Well, you do anything aside from playing that?"

"Nope." Asonja shrugged. "Just playing something as useless as this for 8 years, hiding in an apartment from my worst fears."

"Worst fears?"

"...I said too much already..." Asonja muttered to himself.

"Right... Is there a way out of here?"

"There is, but you just got here didn't you?"

"Yeah.  And it's a small space with nothing to do.  Your point?"

Asonja stayed silent, scratching his head. "I suppose my brother wouldn't mind taking us outside where there are other things to do."

"Good," He knocked on the door.

It opened, with nobody on the other side. Asonja had gotten up and walk past the guest. "Come on, let's hurry this up."

"... Hm," Dave followed cautiously out.

Once they got outside, Asonja leaned against the closed door. "It's too bright outside..." He muttered as it was a clear, warm sunny day.

"Got shades?" Dave walked forward.

"I had them. I broke them." He responded. He went into his pocket as two sunglasses had appeared. He handed one of them to him. "You can have this one. I always keep extras."

Dave handed it back out. "Don't you want to use them?"

"Nah. I don't use em anyway. I just live with it."

"Okay," He stuffed the shades into his pocket as they went. "So this is your city, right?"

"Yup. That building 5 blocks east is my apartment. That I have never gotten out of for 8 years until my brother decided to drag me out."

"There's... more than eight reasons I can probably think of why that doesn't sound real..."

"Trust me, it's real. If I were lying, you'd be able to tell very quickly." He noted before walking east. "Come on, I'll show you my apartment."

"We met ten minutes ago.  I don't really trust anything right now..."

"I feel." Asonja says, still walking in that direction. "I hardly trust society anymore. Not after the hard times I faced with the loss of our parents due to our species."

"Okay, that's a... info bomb.   Maybe we should go to where I hang out if this place gets you all... uh... lay-down?"

He pointed to a large Oak tree with perfect shade. "You can stay there if you want to take it all in. Doesn't matter to me."

"Talking about going somewhere that'll make you less depressed."

"..." He just sighs and walks to the tree to lay down under it. He groaned in boredom.

"Uh, dude, that doesn't really help here," He folded his arms.

"It's too hot out." He complains anyway. "Then what do you want me to do?"

Dave groaned. "I dunno.  Your bro got me here, can't he take us?"

"Take us to my apartment? I mean, he can do practically anything."

"Take us NOT here," He tensed. "Like not your apartment if that's just the big cause for this."

He sighed. "My apartment is my only source of comfort, despite what happened that lead up to living in solitary.." He gets up regardless. "Fine. Where do you suggest we go?"

"The Academy," Dave informed. "They might have like... actual psychiatrists there."

"Well, I'll admit, my brother's not the best psychiatrist, considering that he just started getting into the concept of it. I don't tell him that what he's doing isn't, obviously, correct. But he's my brother, he's all I got left. And plus, I didn't need help in the first place; I have my own life that I keep track of I don't need help."

"Yeah, well until I 'fix' you or whatever, he won't let me leave so let's get this over with," He walked back toward where the bro was.

"He does let you leave. You don't even have to tell him that."

"Well he'll let us leave this zone right?"

"Yeah. He just told me yes." He held out his phone, showing text proof.

"Alright," He knocked on the entrance.

Zoralth opened the door, put a note on the door, and closed the door too. The note said, "I heard everything. You may leave."

Dave read the note, then groaned, knocking again. "You hear the part where we need a way to get there?!"

Another note appeared with a puff of smoke under the previous note. That one read, "Yes. Look Behind you." Upon turning, there Zoralth was in his full dragon form, pointing to his back. "I'll take you wherever you need to go," he says.

"You know where 'Mobius Academy' is?"

"I have heard of it. I believe it is a few miles South of here. I can take you there." Zoralth stated. Asonja scratched behind his ear for a moment, not seeming very thrilled to go. He's never even heard of the place before.

"Yeah... no, pretty sure it's not a few miles from here," Dave shook his head.

"Ah. I get confused with so many places. I'm unfamiliar with it. Where is it?"

"Different zone."

"...What do you mean different zone? Like...a different city or...?" Asonja stepped in later. "We're very unfamiliar with the lifestyles here to begin with. So we might need some clarification on what you mean by 'Zones'."

"Different world," Dave clarified. "They're like uh... dimensions?"

"Oh." They both said in unison. Zoralth says, "Well, maybe there's a way to get there somehow without me flying there?"

"... You have no idea how to get me back there do you?" Dave groaned.

Zoralth shrugged, a sweat-drop going down the side of his dragon head. "Unfortunately I do not...I don't even know how you got here to begin with so...there's nothing I can really do." Asonja said nothing in the matter.

"... I'm calm... totally calm... COMPLETELY CALM..."

Asonja had just stayed there for a moment. Zoralth had vanished back into the building, as if knowing what was the come.

"Get back here!" Dave tried to pounce at Zoralth.

He appears back where he was, slightly sweating a bit. "...Oh dear." Asonja shakes his head and sighs. "Endure the pain, Zor. Endure it."

The tall lynx grabbed at the dragon's shoulders tensley once he recovered. "You can't just teleport me back!?"

"I would, but...there's a slight problem..."

"What?!"

"...The machine I have that can do just that is a bit...broken. It'll take months or even years to repair it before I could bring you back..."

"... W-... Where's the thing at?"

"It's in my room, 5th floor. It's locked, though."

"You're a dragon!"

"That may be so, but not all dragons are magical and perfect."

"You can still breathe fire or like... BREAK IT right!?"

"Break the machine? Why would you want me to do that? Didn't you say you wanted to go back to Mobius Academy?"

"THE LOCK!" Dave tensed his hands in the air, spining a few times while looking upward. "BREAK THE LOCK!"

"Jeez, calm down..." Asonja stated. "Don't be so harsh on him. He's not a quick thinker." With that said, Zoralth traveled inside, and unlocked the door from the outside. "Alright, you may come in it now," Zoralth says. "Don't touch anything else though..."

Dave sighed, walking inside.

Inside were loads of computers, papers with equations galore, and just practical junk somewhere here and there. There was a machine at the end of the room that looked like a cylinder, but with sparks flying from it.

"Yeah, I have no idea how to fix this thing..." Zoralth says.

Dave ran his hands through his hair, groaning. "Okay... can we call a tech guy or something?"

"I did. He said that it was too advanced for anyone, even Einstein wouldn't know. He could try, if he was alive."

"Can we call a different tech guy?" Dave groaned.

"I tried all the tech guys available at the time. They don't know anything on the repairs.."

"I've been here a half-hour," Dave noted. "You called them all in a half-hour?"

"Yes." He answered blatantly. "Why else did I leave the room?"

"They all came in, inspected the thing, and left, in thirty minutes?"

"Yes. That's how stumped they were, and that's how fast they gave up with it. Humans these days...very unproductive."

"Is this just some kind of kidnapping?" Dave peered, unconvinced.

"I assure you, it's not." Zoralth stated. "I'm not that kind of guy to kidnap people to try to find the right person for Asonja to talk to and relate to. I honestly didn't mean to bring you into this...whole mess." He was trying to find the words to finish that sentence.

"Where's a phone?" Dave grumbled.

Zoralth tosses him a flip phone.

"Is there a phone book near?"

A phonebook landed near his feet, almost crushing his feet. "Apologies for that. I wasn't aiming correctly."

Dave's eyes bulged for a moment, looking over at Zoralth with a deep nostril inhale before picking up the phone book and going through it.

When the phonebook was opened and went into the technicians, there were check marks on every single one.

Dave started calling the first one.

They picked up under a short while. "Yello? Got technical problems that need fixin'?" It sounded like a middle-aged man with a rather heavy southern accent.

"Yeah, one sec," He looked to Zoralth. "Address?"

Zoralth handed him a small piece of paper of the address. It wasn't all that complicated to say.

Dave read off the address saying that there was a complicated machine needing repair.

"Hmmm...Ohh, I remember dat place!" The southern technician says. "Its dat one with dah funky circular machine thingie right? I believe I don' tried it and I couldn't do nothin'."

"... Uh huh.  Okay thanks, you're an insensitive insult to Southern people," He hung up.

"I said the same thing after he left." Zoralth stated.

"Uh huh," Dave turned back to Zoralth. "Is this some crazy dream state thing?"

"Possibly you're either in a state of REM, Stage 4 Deep Sleep, or you're in a comatose." Zoralth said flatly, and stayed silent for a moment before saying normally, with no change in expression, "no, you're physically walking and breathing. You felt pain earlier, didn't you? That tells you that your conscious is active, and receptors are also active giving you accurate results of your perception."

"Yeah.  That 'can't be hurt in dreams' thing, that's garbage," He folded his arms. "Oh 'hurdee durrdee, I somehow talked to all the hill-billie support guys in a half hour, who all drove over and looked at my machine yet nobody's got a clue'.  This is CRAZY!"

"Actually, that was the only one who sounded like that." Zoralth pointed out. "The rest sounded like highly-sophisticated gentlemen. And plus, there's really no need to be rash, ya know. You just need a moment to relax. I'll try to get this done myself, and you can pass the time by doing something that'll make you less agitated."

"You dragged me here without a way back, for years or something!" Dave stomped off some feet, looking about. "This is some kind of ransom?!  I have to make this guy all hunky-dory happy or something?" He glanced to Asonja then back to Zoralth. "You got the wrong person, man: wrong dude.  Depressed?  Yeah, I've got a plenty long list of anxiety built up here.  The big surprise is that people keep pounding in person after person going 'Let's play who can say the most inspirational goodie-goodie talk ever first and magic the problem away'.  Doesn't matter how many people you put in.  I'm alone.  We're all alone.  The only person that I know who actually could fix that, she's back... there..." He stumbled a bit, out of breath: faint.

"Look, like I said before, I have no idea how you got here, and it was probably from this machine." He pointed behind him. "I intentionally made this machine to be a transporting device to make it easier for people to come here without going long distances, and I believe that this fracture had something to do with you being here." Zoralth sighed a bit, facepalming a bit. "Really, I did not intentionally do this for money or anything. I'll tell you the honest truth.

"As I was doing my studies downstairs, I heard a loud cracking and a thud. When I came in this room, I saw you lying down on the ground, completely out. I wanted to take you back to the previous location, but the machine was completely busted, probably from overuse. Finding no way to fix it by calling all the available technicians, I was forced to place you in my studies anyway. That's the honest truth, I swear to God." He raised his right hand up in the air, up to chest level. "I wanted to cover that up so you wouldn't have a distressed attack much like the one you just had."

(Pet Peave Time: Capitalizing "God" is still something required Atheist or Christian because proper grammar.)

(Sorry, I never payed much attention since I hardly put "God" anywhere, non-religious or religiously. ^^;)

"... I'm gonna go hit my head till I either pass out or wake up," Dave started toward whatever nearest wall there was.

Zoralth pulled him away. "Oh no you're not. I'm not allowing self-harm in my peripheral vision. My brother does it all the time, and I'm not letting anyone else do it. Now I shall politely ask in a rash way, in which I'll apologize for in advance: sit down, hush, and let me fix this."

Dave tried to shove him off. "You did enough, dude.  Just leave me alone!"

"Please, stop being so stubborn...the more you get agitated, the less time you give me to bring you back. Your denial for the truth that I gave you is only going to make this situation worse!"

Dave head-butted at Zoralth, kicking at his groin at the same time. Despite being a rather tall mobian-like individual, neither had any supernatural impact.

It didn't seem to affect Zoralth that much, but he still winced. "Please, calm down! I can get you out of this! Violence is not necessary!" He even let go of him to back up a bit.

(I see all. Bow down to your new leader @_@)

"Just back off, man!  Leave me alone.  Unless you're gonna send me back, don't grab me, and don't tell me to calm down."

"Alright, alright." Zoralth put his hands up to his chest. "I don't mean any hostility toward you. I will get this done as soon as I can, and we can all just agree that this never happened. Deal?"

"Yeah, whatever, just," Dave just sighed, walking out.

Asonja was seen back inside, drinking a regular soda. "Where're ya goin?"

"Any of this bother you, dude?" Dave turned to Asonja.

"Not really, no." Asonja said. "I don't hang with him much. He's busy with his own things, and I do my own things. It's a complicated past life. He got a good education at a college, pretty smart guy. I ran away from responsibilities."

"Talking about everyone bothering you all the time, or is this the first for you?"

"Nah, it's happened all the time." Asonja answers. "But you haven't answered my question yet."

"I'm going out where shrinks aren't always near me," Dave replied. "What made you all depressed?  You mentioned it already or something, right?"

"I did, but I can explain it again." Asonja stated, getting out from leaning against the wall. "Though, I already knew you weren't the person to help me out. Basically, it's not that I'm depressed or anything; I'm more of 'afraid' to do anything for my own good and so I just hide. That's kind of it, but I know you can't fix that. At least you know."

"... It's just you being afraid to do stuff?"

"In retrospect, yes. My brother thinks I suffer from depression, but they're actually different. They can correlate, but they're not the same. He gets them confused every single time...And then stuff like this happens and he freaks out. He overthinks things like I do; it runs in the family."

"What are you afraid of?"

"...Responsibilities? I guess?" Asonja was actually slightly confused. "Communicating to the outside world, I think is a better way to put it."

"You know why?"

"Traumatic events in my past made me scared of the way people can really be."

"So like... betrayal or something?"

"More on the lines of discrimination."

"For what?  Being a hedgehog?"

"Yeah. And for being the son of a dragon and a hedgehog. They're two of the most hated species in a certain time period when my brother and I were born. We were basically called 'Dirty Gold' mainly because dragons were rumored to have gold blood, while hedgehog, at the time, were rumored to have dirty blood. Thus, the name Dirty Gold came into existence specifically for Zoralth and I."

"That's lame," He scoffed. "You guys aren't massive.  You'd think people would think dragons would be awesome."

"They did think that for a time, until we were created."

"Why?  You blow up some place?"

"No. We were just minding our own businesses in the outskirts of town. Till some fat man showed up and killed my parents along with other similar species. I think it was an event that I called the Dirty Gold Massacre. Probably."

"... Then why do people hate you guys if the fat guy did the thing?"

"They hated us BEFORE the fat guy came in." Asonja tried making it seem relevant. "After that, nobody seemed to do anything else. I was still worried about society as a whole, so I just try to blend into their environment but also stay hidden."

"Ph,.. Why didn't you just move?"

"I did move. From the outskirts to downtown."

"No like, country."

"You think I can afford that? No way."

"... You have a bro who creates portals..."

"Okay, listen, he didn't tell me he was making one. And he should know how dangerous it is to create wormholes. The reason why he's keeping this from me is so that I don't lecture him by the rules of nature. Because the only one who could fix that portal is me, and I can break it as well."

"You can fix portals?"

"I can fix his." He clarifies. "His science knowledge isn't that good as mine, but he knows more a bit of psychology than me. Sure, he's not the best psychologist out there, but he knows more than me. I could fix his under a day, probably 3 hours at least."

"... So you can fix it and send me back?"

"Yup. That's the least I could do."

"Great.  Let's do that."

"Sure." Asonja led him back to the room where Zoralth was trying to fix it. Asonja spawned necessary tools from his body and went to work. "Move aside, Zor' I got this one."

"... How did you just do that?" Dave questioned.

"Can't answer that. It's classified." Asonja answered as he was screwing out parts and taking out wires bit by bit.

"Classifed... Right," Dave groaned. "You can just... grow tools?"

"Basically anything I want with the right conservation of mass." He answers. "I cannot spawn a machine like this since it weighs in at about a few tons. At least, I think that's how it works."

"... How?"

"Like I said, I cannot explain. It's too complicated for the basic-minded. Or, I just don't want to talk about it, simply put." Asonja was basically skinning the machine from the inside-out.

"Thanks for that multi-level insult," Dave rolled his eyes.

"...It wasn't intentional anyway." Asonja said, stopping for a moment. "Well, there's the problem right there. The main parts are completely fried. Gonna have to take this whole thing apart."

"Of course... How long will that take?"

"...Without my abilities, it would take 3 hours. With them, however...several minutes."

"Okay... Well, I'll just... " He sighed, looking around. "Couldn't bring my guitar with me of course..."

"Oh. You play guitar? Interesting...is that it?" He pointed to the corner of the room, and his exact guitar was hung there. It wasn't there before.

"... How?"

"A magician doesn't tell his secrets, ya know." Asonja replies, as he continues repairing.

"Yeah, except I didn't hire you, or ask to get brought here."

"I know, but I'm doing you a favor."

"And if it's like a bomb instead?  Or one of those... weird... nano... things shapes?"

Asonja sighs, seeming to pinch between his eyes. "Just...just take the guitar, I know that it's yours, so take it. I'm not arguing with you."

"What's so important about not telling me?"

"I'm just worried that you'd take me as a monster like people called Zoralth and I, that's all. Okay?"

"That's messed up.  You don't see me freaking out over a dragon do you?"

"Well, not really. But we've been messed with for so long, it's more like an expectancy. We expect to be treated badly again, so we isolate ourselves from society to further avoid it instead of facing it. Zoralth knows this because he was the one who ran away from home without taking me with him while I was almost brutally murdered."

Zoralth blushed a bit in the background. "Don't remind me I said I was sorry..." He whimpered a bit.

"... Yeah.  Okay, fine," Dave grumbled, walking over to the guitar. "Not like I'm the one who got kidnapped and shouldn't be trusting you guys but let's turn it."

The guitar was just fine. It felt exactly like one, and sounded like one. It was also perfectly tuned as well. "Well, that's one way to think of it. We didn't really kidnap you it was all just an accident, that's all."

"Whatever, man," He relaxed on the side of the wall in wait.

Asonja then stood, the broken part of the machine now visible. He brought out his arms, in which turned into the sand-like particles that were the nanites, and threw a stream of them at the machine. After a few moments, he brought them back into his arms, in which they solidified back into his arms. The machine, once looking rusted and sparking, now looked brand new. "See? Wasn't that bad. Now we reconnect the shell back on, turn it on, and you're home-free."

Dave leaned his head forward a bit, then leaned it back against the wall. "... So... Identity, huh?"

"...I wonder what gave that away." Asonja says sarcastically.

"And now I hate you entirely and oh no you're a monster or something," Dave replied sarcastically.

"You know, if you put more 'umph' on that, I would've believed you." Asonja noted.

"Hence why I didn't."

He says nothing as Zoralth fires up the portal again. It turns on just fine, just like new. "Alright, you're free to go now. Zoralth will put in the info now and you'll be back to where you need to go." Asonja motions him to the portal. "Watch your step, though."

"... You comin?" Dave stepped toward it.

"...What? Why should I come along?" Asonja showed signs of fear, despite being the 'tough guy'.

"... To help with your... dumb problem thing..."

"Nah, I'm fine here, yeah, I mean, why bother staying here in this mess?" Asonja said, shrugging, trying to veer away from the offer. Zoralth had none of this, picked up Asonja like a batting ram, and threw him inside the portal. "After you. The coordinates to your area have been set. I apologize for this misconception."

"... Yeah," Dave just sighed before walking through. They appeared at the steps of a large school  A massive green emerald with an M was the label.



Asonja seemed to have rolled down the steps upon joining in. He laid there at the bottom of the steps, groaning a bit. "Why did I even let him..."

"... You're not bruised right?" Dave walked over.

"Slightly," Asonja stated. "I'm fine."

Dave looked him over. "You fell forward into the stairs, dude."

"Shhhhhhut up." Asonja says, his head turning into sand. He lays there for a moment and then his head forms back from the sand and he gets up, dusting off his clothes. "Alright, so where are we now?"

"Mobius Academy.  You said you were eighteen or something?"

"Yeah." He fixed his trench coat. "Is this like a school or something?"

"... No."

"...Right." Asonja sighs and rubs his head. "Just lead me to wherever we're going, seeing as how I have no way back."

"Can't you just teleport back?" He walked inside.

"Why would I do that?" Asonja shrugged. "You offered to help, and it would be rude of me to run away."

"I meant like after this is done," He walked to the desk. A grey bat with short brown hair stood at the desk.

"That is understandable." Asonja walked up along with him to meet up at the desk. Of course he was a bit short, but he didn't mind it.

"May I help you?" The woman asked.

"Yeah, uh...Dave brought me here for some help. I believe. I've never been here before, obviously."

(@_@)

"Where's Talia?" Dave asked.

"Not on campus," The bat informed.

"... You wanna enroll?" Dave looked to Asonja.

"...Enroll?" Asonja asked. "You joking? I haven't stepped foot in a school system every since my parents were killed. I believe I was in Middle School during that time."

"We're all very shocked," She stated dryly. "Is that a no?"

"...I suppose I'll give it a try again." Asonja states. "Sure, I'll enroll."'

A form was handed out to him asking for name, age, zone of origin, classes to study, dorm to stay in, and other areas.

"Ah jeez..." Asonja muttered for a moment and went to sit down to fill out the form to the best of his ability from memory. Once he was done, he handed it back into the front desk. Most of the form was filled, except "Zone of origin". The classes that were filled in consisted of Calculus, Chemistry, Anthropology, and Physics.

"We need your zone or origin," The woman informed.

"Well, ya see, I can't quite remember exactly." Asonja scratched the back of his head. "I will try to remember." He takes the form back and sits back down again, narrowing his eyes at the paper like it was an exam. He slowly wrote down the zone of origin, as best as he could remember it and gave it back to the woman. The zone of origin read, "Rural Metropolis."

"... Is that the name of the planet itself?"

"...Oh! Is that what it means? Sorry, I'm not very familiar with forms..." Asonja scratched the back of his head again awkwardly.

"It's a common problem," she informed. "You aren't the first."

"Great." Asonja sighed, still freakishly embarrassed. He fixed it up immediately to just "Mobius"

"... Alright, we'll need a brief scan," She informed, stepping out a ways as a small flat device rose up.

Asonja just stood there, as told. Though, he was a little nervous how they would react if they had found his 'secret'.

The scan was brief. Some flashes as the device went downward out of sight. "Done."

"...I thought it would have to be slightly longer." Asonja says, no longer stiff in place.

"We're locating your zone through your biology now," She informed.

"That's better than me putting it down on paper from sheer memory." Asonja replies.

"We prefer not to be invasive," She replied.

"Touché." He replies and sits down. "I am not an invasive person either, so I can respect that."

"Do you have any luggage to be taken to your dorm?"

"Nope. Got nothing on me." Suddenly, a portal opened and a scaly hand that was Zoralth handed him a travel bag of clothing, and his electronics including his laptop and phone. His hand goes back into the portal and it vanishes. Right in the middle of the room. "...Yes, I do." Asonja changes his mind.

"...Alright," The bat produced a black slate from her hand, extending it out to Asonja.

He gets up and takes the slate. "What's this?"

"Policy," She informed. "We encourage you to send this to any political leader nearby in your zone with the request of opening a bus stop for other students from your zone."

"Oh uh...sure. I'll do that." Asonja replies.

"Good.  If that's all, you can see your dorm now."

He nods. "Thank you. Where is my dorm, may I ask?"

She handed him a card. "It's on there."

He looks at the card, nodding. "Sweet. Thank you."

She nodded before returning to her work at the desk.

Asonja took the duffle bag of his items and walked to his dorm building. "...Why do I get the feeling this is going to be an energy-draining week?"

Dave casually followed after. "Think of this like college only for all levels."

"Well I've never been to college, nor finished Middle school." Asonja stated.

"There's a test to find out where to put you so there's that."

"...Fair enough." Asonja stated. "I officially ran out of excuses."

"Right... well once you're unpacked, I'll probably be in the gym or something."

"Sure. I'll see how this goes." He says as he managed to make his way into the dorm building, and into his dorm to unpack. He wasn't expecting much of a dorm.

The dorm had four main rooms. The entrance living room had two large couches surrounding a television, with a small kitchen to the left. At the back was a bedroom with one bunk bed and various dressers with a closet on the right, and to the right between this and the kitchen was another doorway. There was most-likely a bathroom somewhere as well.

"...Jeez, my apartment back in the city is nothing like this. It's like I own a house." Asonja talked to himself for a moment before unpacking his bags; extra snacks, drinks, clothing, and bathroom supplies in case he needed them. Zoralth is a great packer.

Some clothes were strewn about here and there. Apparently he was bunking with at least two other people considering two of the shirts was significantly thinner and clingier at the waist area than the others.

"Oh boy..." Asonja got a bit stiff at the thought of social communication and having to live with people temporarily; this wasn't something he has thought about.

No one seemed to be around at the moment.

He felt slightly relaxed and decided to make himself at home by sitting on a bed, only to lie down on it for a moment. He seemed to lose track of time as he stared up at the ceiling, thinking what's going to happen.

Time passed.

He finally blinked and brought his head up, looking around to see if anyone has appeared yet. He was hoping not so he wouldn't have to communicate.

No one was approaching yet.

He got up, stretched, and stayed in the large room, wanting to check the time or brush his teeth for a moment. But, on the prospect of boredom, he decided to leave the room altogether and just take a walk around campus.

(He's just gonna stay there?) (For a while... @_@)

(How long?) (He just left)

Most people didn't pay him much mind. He was in one of the dorm buildings which housed a cafeteria and rec room.

Asonja liked the fact he didn't have to talk to people, but he had a sense of loneliness for a moment before continuing onto the cafeteria to check it out.

A fair amount of students were hanging out in the cafeteria. Many were class groups, talking about what to do on projects.

He stayed away from those groups, and instead sat at a lone table. He supported his head with his hand, tapping the table with his finger, quietly.

"Wait... Asonja?" A voice called from across the room.

He looked up for a moment, hearing his name.

A white feline with blue stripes, wearing a gold and light cream dress waved over to him.

He waved back for a moment. "Yes, that is me. Who're you?"

She slouched a bit. "That is... the second or third time now."

"Oh, heh. Sorry...I told you I don't remember names." Asonja rubbed the back of his head.

"Do you remember who I am though?" She asked.

He examined her for a moment. "...It's very faint, but I can remember your face. I just don't remember you name. I'm really sorry."

She sighed, silent for a moment before saying "Sissy."

Eventually it click and he leaned back. "Ohhhh, Sissy! Jeez, I'm so very sorry I didn't remember you name, but at least I knew your appearance. Anyway, what're you doing here?"

"I go to school here," She informed. "... Did you enroll here?"

"Just today, yeah." He answered.

"... Is that safe?"

"Probably not." Asonja answered, but shrugged. "Hey, I'm willing to die of stress; I'd never pass up that opportunity."

"... The last time I saw you, you decided to follow... " She paused.

"...Did I say that?" Asonja thought to himself for a moment, looking concerned. "...I said that, didn't I? Ah jeez, I'm becoming mixed minded..."