"It's not here! The kill switch" Alex exclaimed seeing Mat walking face-first into a solid wall.

"Look at the paint, the wall is new..." Thal commented.

"Yeah... I can see it..." Alex sighed.

They were standing in an old-looking room below the library, it was filled with crates and barrels.

"I think we're really screwed..." Alex commented.

Mat suddenly turned right around and back up the stairs which led them to this boiler room of the library.

"Alex!" Thal exclaimed as from behind Mattius walced up.

"How are you enjoying the early -98,230s?" he asked.

Alex turned towards the door through which he entered and saw a brick wall there.

"I'm not sure how I feel about talking to brain-washed ghosts." Alex sighed, grabbing hold of Thal, ready to make his last stand.

Alex found himself standing beside Mattius, neither of them moved, he looked at the surrounding walls and none of them was distorted, it's as if the distance between them was simply removed.

Mattius grabbed a hold of Thal by the blade.

"Finally... I'll-" he was cut off but Alex casting Azure blaze which ignited Mattius.

"Ah! Fire!"

"Oh the agony! The pain!"

He placed his hand over his forehead dramatically as he turned into dust.

Moments later Alex felt a weight appear on his back.

"Just kiddin'." said Mattius in a whisper.

Alex turned around only to be stabbed with a replica of Thal, covered in his blue flames.

Alex's puppet burst into flames exposing his insides.

"Relax, I'll make you a regular citizen of this town, I'm sure you'll love it!"

"Alex!" Thal called out.

"Hold on, Thal!" Alex called out tossing him aside with full strength.

To those outside, Alex immediately followed up the slashing of the hand-rope with throwing Thal away, his metallic body landing on a distant plateau before being teleported back into Alex's severed hand.

Mattius followed the trajectory of the blade, seemingly feeling it leave his region of control.

"YOU SON OF A B-" at that point, Alex was completely incinerated by the Azure blaze as his very mind disappeared.

The light felt warm on Alex's face.

"It sure is a nice day to be a travelling merchant!" Alex exclaimed, he was wearing leather armour and at his hip carried a large blade.

He sat up off the grassy patch he slept on.

He reached down to check his pocket, "I should check how much money I have..." he pulled out twelve coins.

"More than enough for a decent breakfast!" he thought looking over to a nearby building.

"Inn" was written above the door.

Alex stood up and made his way towards the inn.

When he opened the door he saw a few benches, a fire and a blond woman wearing a dress at the till.

"Hey! What can I get you?" she asked.

"I'm hoping to get something to eat," he explained.

"Alright! three gold and I can get you some soup!" she offered.

"Alright." Alex put three gold on the till leaving him with twelve gold.

"And how much for a room?" he asked.

"We actually only have one room left, it's the one below the stairs," she said apologetically.

"That's alright, I just need a place to stay for a few days," Alex explained.

"Alright, how about one gold for two days?" she offered.

"Fair enough." he placed ten gold coins, leaving him with twelve.

"There, I doubt I'll stay that long, but just in case." he laughed.

She laughed.

"What a nice town!"

Moments later, a cloaked figure snatched the gold off the table and started running away.

"Oh no!" exclaimed the blond-haired person.

"I think I still have enough to pay for my stay, don't worry!" Alex replied reaching into his pocket and finding a dozen coins before placing them on the table.

"There that should cover the soup and room." he looked at the coins, "Hold on." he placed another coin on top of the small pile.

"Now it all adds up."

"Don't be stupid! You already paid for the room, I can't make you pay for it again!" she started making a move for the thief who for some reason, ran this whole time, but never reached the door.

"In that case..." Alex turned around and ran after the hoodied figure.

"STOP, THIEF!" Alex commanded.

Alex suddenly found himself stronger and faster than before, he grabbed the thief by the collar.

It was an unfamiliar, purple-haired man wearing a strange, black robe that cut off by his waist.

"I have you, thief!"

"Ahh, no! You have caught me!"

"Why would you steal something in a town as peaceful and prosperous as Hudderdown?!"

"You have bested me, here take the gold!" announced the hooded figure now standing an arm's length away from Alex who was holding onto the massive pile consisting of hundreds of gold coins.

From behind Alex, the blond woman walked up, she was wearing a red dress.

"You caught him!" she announced.

"Who?" Alex asked handing the gold over.

"Hmm?" she asked.

They both looked around and couldn't remember who was responsible for the theft.

"He fits right in with the others..." sighed Mattius.

He was sitting on one of the tiled rooves of the dozens of buildings in the city.

"He looks pretty happy... happier than before..." Mattius sighed.

He grabbed a dagger from his hip and jumped down from above, running up behind another puppet and placed his dagger to their throat.

"Aha! I have you now average citizen! I will now kill you for my sadistic pleasure! Ha. Ha. Ha." Mattius recited the lines.

Alex turned around and saw him.

An unfamiliar looking purple-haired man holding a dagger to the throat of an innocent citizen.

He was wearing a strange hooded robe, it was black and cut off at his waist.

"A criminal?! In Hudderdown!?" he grabbed his blade, ready to save the day once more... or was it for the first time?

Meanwhile on the surface...

"Alright... I have a plan." JohnWillStab thought seeing Alex tossing the blade aside.

"What?" Jordan asked.

"I think Alex might have fallen into a pit of gas..." John speculated.

"What gives you that idea?" Jordan asked.

"I mean... he's not dead, he's passed out and he's swinging his sword around." John shrugged.

"Plus, it is a cave..." he added.

"...Alright, I see your point." Jordan relented.

"So what are you planning?" he asked.

JohnWillStab tied the rope to his torso and handed the other end of the rope to Jordan.

"Slowly let me down into the hole, if anything weird happens, pull me out," JohnWillStab instructed.

"Are you sure? What if the gas makes you pass out forever, or something?" Jordan asked.

"Then stab me or something, so I can die and respawn without the weird gas poisoning." he shrugged.

Jordan breathed a sigh of defeat.

"Fine... I see I won't be able to talk you out of it..."

He slowly dropped JohnWillStab down the hole, bit by bit before JohnWillStab suddenly went limp.

He opened his eyes and looked around, seeing a town around him.

"A town?!"

"But we're in a c-" he looked up not seeing a cave roof, but a blue sky with a warm sun.

He looked down, seeing the people.

"The people... they're weird sack, doll, puppet things?" JohnWillStab noted.

"Hey! Puppet people!" JohnWillStab called out to no avail.

"They should have been able to hear me from here."

He called out for attention a few more times.

Looking around the town JohnWillStab saw a purple-haired puppet looking him directly in the eyes.

"Why isn't Jordan pulling me out yet!?"

"That guy is giving me weird vibes..."

JohnWillStab looked at the rope and saw it moving up ever so slowly, it was leading far into the sky, JohnWillStab couldn't see its end.

"Am I that heavy?" thought JohnWillStab looking down at his waist and making the discovery he was a doll himself.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?"

JohnWillStab looked back to where the purple-haired puppet was, only to find it gone.

"Where'd it go!?"

He looked up and saw it looking at him, no more than a few meters away, suspended in the sky.

"More visitors?" Mattius sighed.

"Nope, I'm just your friendly neighbourhood, sky-puppet." JohnWillStab began.

"If you're looking for the blond guy with the cat-ears, he's dead," Mattius explained.

"...what?"

"He was helping a demon lord escape, so I had no choice but to make him stay with me in the town..."

"..."

"Oh, don't look at me like that! What, was he your friend or something? Look, demon-lord-related business is kind of more important." the doll crossed his arms.

"Now, if you don't mind... kindly stay out of my town," Mattius commanded as JohnWillStab snapped back to reality with a loud gasp.

"What the fuck man!? What took you so long!?"

"What do you mean!? It's been like... two seconds at most!" he exclaimed before pulling JohnWillStab up and out of the cave.

As soon as he reached the surface, JohnWillStab breathed a sigh of relief and explained what he saw to Jordan.

"If two seconds felt like a minute to me... how long was Alex in there for?" thought JohnWillStab.