Trick found himself slapped awake. He bolted upright to see Naomi, still as Ru-lah right next to him.

“What was that for?”

“To get you up of course,” she smirked. “We’re done! We won! Barely.”

A familiar voice then added, “Well, you can’t go battling a god that is supposed to defy all reason and expect to come out unscathed. I say, that without our assistance, you all probably wouldn't have made it.”

Coming into Trick’s field of vision were World Eater and Starsinger. The robed dragon and wolf casually strolled up to him through sand. Both were smiling.

“How did we survive,” Trick then asked., feeling confused.

“The attack was focused clearly on us. Izmerelda had enough magic and potions on hand to revive us,” Naomi explained. “We were all hit pretty bad, but you and I got the brunt of it, so the others remained alive.”

“Lucky us,” Trick muttered.

“Lucky indeed,” Izmerelda sighed. “We could have all died if wasn’t for you two. That was no ordinary boss encounter!”

“I should never have used that book,” Akerbaza said with a trembling voice.

He sat in the fine sand and hugged himself, looking thoroughly distraught.

“World Eater and I might have been unable to directly intervene, but it is a good thing we found Naomi and Trick,” Starsinger said. “Things can work very differently than you expect in a D&D campaign. That beast came from a world where different stories from so many worlds and especially D&D quests converged. It requires a merging of many different magics and items from other worlds and timelines to even stand a fair chance against such monsters. If he makes it back to his portal and passes through it, he’ll recover.”

“But he’ll be sealed up again. Because plot,” World Eater chuckled.

“Now what,” Swordalot asked, giving the two newcomers a wary look.

“First of all, we need to send Trick and Naomi on their way,” World Eater said. “They have others things to do, I believe. And soon, this Grey Bubble will burst. It was created for a specific purpose, and that has been more or less fulfilled. With that done, the pull of the story has lessened, and I can now easily break it.”

“So many rules to all of this,” Naomi said offhandedly.

“That’s the nature of the Realms,” Starsinger said, a grim angle coming about her mouth. “But the Grey World is particularly particular, and extremely aggravating. It is something that should never be used. It is meant to serve as a barrier between worlds, not as a tool.”

A dotted line suddenly appeared before Naomi and Trick.

“Please follow that back to your friends’ apartment,” World Eater instructed. Naomi gave the dragon a curious look, and he winked back at her. “You’ll want to be there went the bubble bursts. Most people are still where they were when everything went haywire. It will be better for your transition if you are there when everything goes back to normal.”

Trick gave the Motley Lot a quick glance and he said, “Okay, I know we’ve been asking a lot of questions, but it feels like we just got to the end and all explanations are being pulled out from under us. What is going to happen with them? What is going to happen to everyone and everything when when the Grey Bubble is burst?”

“It should all go back to normal. And as for these guys, leave them to us. We have some talking to do. There is still a mystery that we need to sort out,” World Eater replied.

Starsinger gave Naomi a hug and then pushed her down the path. She waved to Trick as he passed by. He looked back and saw World Eater using his wings to usher the Motley Lot along further down the beach. It was an odd look. And he felt it was a dissatisfying ending.

As they followed the line, he muttered, “Thanks for everything, Trick and Naomi. You helped save the day! Great job! Now toddle off back to your home and just expect everything to be done! We should double back and watch them, try to eavesdrop.”

Naomi placed a strong hand on his shoulder and said, “For once, let’s not poke our noses in any deeper. We wanted to get away from all of this, remember? We now have a chance to get away. Let’s take it.”

Those words shut him up, and Trick walked alongside her. But they also got him thinking. He went through everything they had just lived through in one day! It was incredible! It was haunting! It was memorable! And there was something about it all that had been beautifully exhilarating.

Okay, so there had been all those stupid ninjas and gangsters, a pointless brawl in a bar, an Eldritch god, and Velnir…

And yet, it all made sense. Like this is where he belonged. Or more accurately, going on these adventures was where he belonged. Wasn’t that what brought him and Naomi together in the first place? Chasing after a real-life werewolf and breaking the rules that bound him! He had found an unlikely friend who could keep up with him and challenge him. And after going through everything that he had with Naomi, he realized that it was foolish to try and run away from what they had experienced.

Whether through some kind of cosmic coincidence or because powers they did not understand was after them, it was clear the the mysteries the Q Files investigated were not through with them. Alone and against all odds, Trick and Naomi had survived. They had helped win the day and bring to light a dark, but-not-so-sinister secret that had helped fling everyone into this mess.

And it was clear that there was even more ahead for the world. Whatever the conflict was in the Realms of Imagination, it was spilling out into Earth. Someone needed to something and help to save others.

Trick finally voiced his train of thought to Naomi and he ended with saying, “Then, why not us? Why should we not step in to help others. To clean up the mess and try to resolve it from our side?”

Naomi was silent for a moment. Trick pressed, by simply asking, “Well? Your thoughts?”

Speaking slowly, she said, “I think you are absolutely right, Trick. What we experienced in Memmelsruhe was unspeakable. But if we had not gone through that, I don’t know if we would have been ready for today. And not just then! Everything from when we first met seems to have been building up to something.

“I think we should do something after this. We need to meet with your mom and Conturbatio. We need to share with them everything that has happened and what we have learned, It might help do just what you say, to help stop whatever is going on. Yes. Yes we need to do this.”

Trick smiled up at her and she returned it.

The line indeed led them safely without incident right back to the apartment where everything had started. Before they ascended the stairs to see what had happened to the jerks that had tried to kill Trick in a game of Smash the air warped and rippled in front of them.

World Eater stepped out of the strange blur and appeared before them.

“Excellent! You two made good time,” he said happily. “It’s good to see that you two can follow some simple commands. You have made progress.”

“What are you talking about” Naomi snapped. “What has this all been about.”

The dragon reached a claw up and taped near his eye. “I have the power to See into others. Can read a lot about a person, their history, their personality, and gain insight into who they can become. You, Naomi, as brilliant and straightforward, but not necessarily adventurous. And yet, here you are, and I can sense a subtle, but powerful change within you.

“And you Trick,” he said, turning his gaze towards him. “You are a troublemaker, rebel rouser, and have a tendency to poke your nose where it most certainly does not belong. But just like Naomi, something has changed within you, and you are more and better than who you once were. Both of you are still in so many ways who you were before you got involved in my war. However, you are better versions of yourselves. And that is why I feel no real harm in giving you these.”

He reached into one of his many pockets and took out a battered book.

“Richie’s book,” Naomi gasped.

“Yes,” World Eater chuckled. “He was loathe to part with the book that gave him the power to create this Grey Bubble. But, with the right words and threats, he relinquished it. He’ll be much happier for it. But there is something I have for you.”

He tore out two pages and handed them to Naomi and Trick. One had an image of Trick as Trickster. The other was Naomi as Ru-lah. There was cramped handwriting with all their items, abilities, their points, and their levels.

“All of that, and we’re only level 12? Well, it’s something at least,” Naomi sighed.

“Isn’t it dangerous to use that book,” Trick asked.

“It is, and the Guardians would wage war on me if they ever find out I gave you two these,” World Eater said, now laughing. But then he grew suddenly very serious. The change caused Naomi and Trick to flinch. “However, there is a very good chance that another Grey Bubble could be created, or that you come across another Door. If you do, you can use these to assume forms of power to help you in your battle to reverse the effects of the Bubble or Door.”

“Wow,” Trick said, taking in what the dragon was telling them. “Thank you. We were honestly just trying to survive and figure out what was going on.”

“And that kind of honesty makes me feel better about arming you two,” World Eater replied. He then summoned a massive, long sword, wreathed in red lightning. “Now, get back into your apartment. I am going to collapse this Dungeons and Dragons alternate reality and return everything to normal.”

“Thank you, again,” Naomi added. “Trick and I would not have survived if you and Starsinger had not helped us out. I mean, we would like to know more, such as why you couldn’t have broken this all yourself before and set things right.”

“Ha! There’s a lot that you still have yet to learn! Maybe someday you will,” World Eater said, striding off.

He stabbed his sword to the side and it sank into the air, the blade disappearing. Trick could feel it. The very fabric of reality had just been punctured, and something was flooding in. It was frightening.

“Come! Let’s go,” he said to Naomi.

Together, they rushed up the stairs. Right as they rushed through the door, there was a violent, grey ripple and flash of red. They found themselves back to their normal selves, with just the sheets of paper in their hands. Reggie and Phineas were out cold on the floor before the television.

Naomi went up to them and kicked them both hard in the balls.

Late that night Naomi and Trick met with Susan Brown, Agent Miles, and surprisingly Agent Conturbatio in a dingy McDonald’s. They had their bags packed; they were not going back. Susan and Agent Miles had immediately reached out to Conturbatio, and somehow the Sphinx had managed to connect with them and arrive at about the same time.

They got some food and then began driving their way back up to D.C. Trick and Naomi eagerly shared their experience and everything they had learned. They explained about the sheets of paper and who had given them. The adults were terrified and taken aback, but they were also very proud of the teens.

It struck Trick that in the past no one in their right minds would have believed them. But everything they had gone through, fiction had become fact. And there was something in how Conturbatio spoke that indicated that since they had last met he had learned more than he was letting on. The Sphinx was now more a keeper of secrets than he had been before.

“Naomi. Trick,” he finally said. “I know you have been through a lot already, but it is clear to me that you two especially have been wrapped up in a much larger conflict than we had previously supposed. There are many players in this war that you have learned about, and unwittingly you have become some of them. We’ll train you and keep you safe until it is over. I promise you that!”

Trick found himself smiling, “Does this mean we are junior agents now?”

Naomi rolled her eyes and his mother gave him a sharp look.

Conturbatio gave him a grim smile. “Yes. From now on we will be working together more closely.”

“But about the Q Files,” Naomi asked.

“They were just reopened,” Miles answered. “We just got the word.”

“It’s all too convenient,” the Sphinx replied. “But it matches up with everything that I have learned. Like I said, there are many players in this war, and many of them are on this side of Reality. We’ll have to deal with them soon, I fear.”

“This is nowhere near over, unfortunately,” Trick’s mother said sourly.

“Maybe not, but I have some leads,” the Sphinx said with a smile. “We’ll just have to see how they play out. The Q Files are back, and this time we have some teeth.”

And with that, they continued to talk, discuss, and drive into the inky blackness of the night. Dawn was still hours away.

THE END

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