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It was just over noon when the 'Janitor' reappeared, as sudden as earlier. "I'm back! Strange Odd Shadow pointed out I should find you". James jumped. "WHO ARE YOU?" He yelled, while Rebecca again drew her pistol. "Strange Odd Shadow, of course" "The Original Janitor!" James calmed down. "Then what do you want?” "I was sent to find you". "By whom?" James inquired, while Rebecca slowly lowered her weapon. “I already told you. Strange Odd Shadow”. “So...you sent yourself to find us..." James parsed this in his head. "I hate time travel. "Who time travelled? Sounds interesting. Was the Federation involved?"

James facepalmed. "I  hate you."

"I like you, too!" "So, where's your dimension device?". "Go. Away." James commanded, walking off. Hearing the word dimension, he paused. "Wait...my Janra?" "Is that your uncle or something?" "No, it's a dimensional travel crystal I had." James replied. "I got rid of it." "Rid of it how? Did you make a mess?" "I gave it to a friend and had him destroy it." James became solemn. "Oh. Well, mess cleaned. Seems like I don't need to interfere! Bye!" He disappeared. "What is..." James sighed, and Rebecca laughed. "What? "You're ridiculous." Then, Shadow reappeared. "Never caught your names?" Rebecca spoke first. "I'm Rebecca, this idiot's James." "Okay, bye! Idiot! Beccy!". Shadow disappeared again, but then reappeared almost instantly. "Just occured to me. Do you have a Jarna, too, Bec?" "Will you stop doing that?" Rebecca asked as politely as possible. "Also, it's Rebecca, and as for my JANRA, it's broken." "Messy. But it'll do. I like being a Janitor, but that doesn't mean I like having to clean people's messes everywhere”. "Ok..." James interrupted. "So, why are you here?" "I'm the Janitor". "Of what?" James asked aggressively. "Of everything? Maybe. I'm the original one, though!" James facepalmed. "What? You're a fan of the Succeeding Janitor?" "No, this just makes no sense. At all." "What's THIS for you to require it to produce sense?" "Just please shut up." James requested. "I rebel". "And no Star Wars references!" James cried. "I've had enough of that dimension as is." "Oh boy! Look at the time! I'm almost late for my regular sudden disappearance". James facepalmed again, while Rebecca laughed even harder. Shadow disappeared again.

One eternity later… Or rather two hours later.

During their long trek, James and Rebecca came upon a tree. It wasn't the only tree there since it was a wood, but the tree was special. Because a Strange Odd Shadow was growing on it. Or that was what he was trying to look like at least. "What are you doing?" James asked, exasperated. "Photosynthesis". Rebecca glared. "Shadow, get off the tree." "Shoosh. I'm an apple now". "No, you aren't." Rebecca replied. "That's an oak tree." "I did not say otherwise" "You implied so." "I said nothing" "What is wrong with you?" she asked after a moment. "Perhaps the fact that I'm upside down. I'm getting dizzy. I expected you here sooner". "Well then get down!" James exclaimed. "Interesting proposal. I will consider it and get back to you on it". James thought for a moment, then yanked Shadow off of the tree. Falling down and hitting his head, Shadow quickly got up. "Aha! So, you're Federation, then!' "No, you were being annoying." James replied.

"I know to be annoying towards Federation men".

"WHAT FEDERATION?" James asked, unable to stay patient. "Come on, Beccy. Let's leave that hypocrite and go find some real friends". Rebecca facepalmed. "He's not with the Federation, he just, like me, doesn't know what's going on. Besides, he's my husband." "Oooh. You're married. Is this your honeymoon? I always love to see newly wed couples? How was the wedding?" "Not a honeymoon, we've been married for nine years." She replied with a sigh. "That's a long honeymoon". "IT'S NOT A HONEYMOON!" She exclaimed. "We didn't have a honeymoon." "Oh. So you decided to have a honeymoon now? I've heard people do that". "No. This is not a honeymoon." She said again. "We don't really have time for one." "There's always time for working on your relationship. I think all you two need is to really listen to each other and your relationship problems will dissipate in no time. Otherwise, I have a really good couple therapist to recommend". "We don't need a honeymoon to have a good relationship." James interrupted. "It's just that we're generally busy, because whenever we have free time, the world decides to try to end." "See, that's why you have problems with your wife. You take her for granted, work all the time for the Federation and then when you come back to the house, you're too tired for her". "We don't work for the Federation! Besides, we work together! We have time to talk! Except when being shot at and annoyed by janitors." "I don't remember ever shooting you. Wanna do so now?". Rebecca shook her head. "He means other people, not you, shoot at us." "Okay", he conjured an Inventor launcher after hearing the words “Shoot at us” and shot at Rebecca, only the launcher failed. "Hey, what's with this? Is it broken?" he looked inside its barrel. "Don't do that." James commanded. "Do what?". "Don't look down your weapon's barrel!" He exclaimed. "Oh that? It's more fun, if you pull the trigger, too", Shadow replied, but put the launcher back in his backpack. "So, have you guys by any chance seen Strange Odd Shadow around?". "That's you!" James cried out. Rebecca shook her head "James, he seems a little confused." "Oh, I understand why you might be confused. He also goes by the names of John Steele and Wiz Ardon, usually. So, I've heard at least". "That's still you." James stated wearily. Shadow stared at James for a moment, then turned to Rebecca, "You're right, Becca. Jim's an idiot". Rebecca sighed. "You told us you were Strange Odd Shadow." "I recall". "And you asked if we had seen Strange Odd Shadow, who is you." She continued "Incorrect". "So there are two people by your name?" She asked. "More, I believe". Rebecca nodded. "So are we talking about time travel or multiple dimensions?" "Jimmy's the one who mentioned time travel. I'm the one who mentioned dimensional thingies". "Ok, can we please stick with just one of you?" She requested. "I don't think that's the author's intent." "Great." James muttered. "Just great. Infinite idiots." "I am proud to be able to call myself a genius". "Well, you're an annoying one." James stated. "Ha! You didn't even queschon the truth or objectivity of my words". James gave up. Rebecca simply asked, "Could you please tell us what this...Federation is?" "The Federation? We can't speak out in the open! They might be listening!". "Then where can we speak?" Shadow thought about it for a moment. "I'd say nowhere". "Oh joy." James remarked. "So what do you want, Shadow?" "World domination. Or maybe world peace? Either one is good". "Well, I support peace. Why domination?" "Sounds like fun. I could finally forbid people walking slowly in front of me". "You're ridiculous." James stated. "Still, why do you want us?" "It's your beautiful smile that slaves me". "Very funny." James said with a groan. "So, what are you guys up to?". "Trying to deal with an orc invasion." Rebecca replied."And you?" "Oh. I'm just stuck here, because my dimensional gear seems to be malfunctioning". "Well...ok then." James sighed. "Have you seen Stirling Silverstine?" "Oh yeah. Stirling. Old pal of mine. We used to hang back in the day before the Spiderling Invasion". "Have you seen him? He's somewhere on this planet." James began to seem hopeful. "Not really. I have no idea who he is". James glared. "Explain." "Simple. I lied". "I hate you." "That's no way to talk to your suitor". James gave SOS an odd look. "Get some help." "Okay. Wanna help me?'. "I want you to go away." He replied. "Okay. But when you're missing me, it won't be my fault!".He disappeared again. "What is this guy's problem?" James asked, turning to Rebecca. "I dunno." She replied with a shrug.

THE GRAVE SCENE (SHOCK!!!)

[...]

James stared at him when he heard Rebecca's name then groaned and backed off. "The wound will not heal. He's taken precautions against it". "Then what do we do?" "Let's just stop the bleeding for now". James nodded, then pulled a small pouch from his pockets. From the pouch he withdrew a small thing of water, and some cloth. As soon as James began to tend to the Janitor’s wound, though, a figure materialised just next to them. It was… the Janitor. Young, not wounded Shadow made eye contact with James then looked at himself. “Oh, drick! Really?!” And with that he vanished again. “What…?” James began, confused. “What does he think he’s doing, time travelling around a dimension?!” older Shadow does not seem happy. “He could mess it all up! In so many different ways”, then as if he felt bad for speaking like that for the injured man, he added, “Hang in there, Shadow”.

James seemed unsure. “Look, the bleeding won’t stop, the wounds won’t heal. How do we keep him alive?” “Well, I can transport him to a dimension with better medical care, but I’m afraid of what it might do to him in this state”. “What if you bring equipment from another dimension here?” “Τhe curse around here might mess it up. I think I might transport him anyway. It’s the only chance he’s got”, the old Shadow approached the younger one, but at that moment the Janitor began to cough and blood came out of his mouth. His eyes looked at his older counterpart in fear and then three words escaped his mouth, “It is finished!”

James paused, and looked at both in caution. “Why is he scared of you?” He asked, slowly reaching into his satchel. Old Shadow did not reply. The younger one’s eyes were now blankly staring into the distance. His chest no longer moved. He was dead… James repeated his question. “WHY WAS HE SCARED OF YOU?” “The man was dying. He was not scared of me! He was scared. Period. Why would I hurt myself anyway?”.

“I don’t know. Why are there three of you? Why are you fighting Wiz Ardon? Alot of this makes no sense. Now answer the question.” His face was set in stone, his hand gripping something.

“He and I are from different dimensions. And he’s time travelling. That’s why you saw two of him! And Wiz Ardon is my arch-enemy!”

“Who is also in possession of your name, Strange Odd Shadow. For all I know, you are Wiz.”

“This is preposterous. I am not Wiz Ardon and he’s not me. He’s an entirely different person who want my and my dimension’s doom! The one he’s achieved. The other’s still pending”.

All of a sudden, something changed in the atmosphere. The air seemed to be chillier and the world quieter. The living Strange Odd Shadow looked around him, fear reflected in his eyes, much like his younger version earlier. He found what he was looking for behind James.

James looked over his shoulder and saw a figure standing there. The man was wearing purple robes and a blue wizard hat, which hid his lowered face. Only the curve of his sinister smile was visible below it.

“Did someone call my name?”.

James glared. “Are you responsible for the presence of the orcs?”

“Orcs? Oh, are you talking about the ugly goblins? No. They’re just toys I found”, he raised his head and two joyful, yet threatening, violet eyes gazed at James.

“Are you the reason they took this town?” He asked. He betrayed no emotion.

The newcomer’s eyes fell upon Rebecca’s grave, “Ooh. We’ve come a-visiting. Who died? Was I the one who killed them?”.

“Answer my question, and I’ll answer yours.” James replied.

“You need to go as fast as you can”, Strange Odd Shadow told James. “If you stay here he’s going to kill you!”

“Don’t take away my toys, John”.

“ANSWER MY QUESTION, YOU SON OF A BRICK-!”

“I will have you know that it was only my grandmother that was a brick. Are we sad about the town, James?”

“Answer my question now, or I kill myself. Then you’re down a toy.” He stated.

“Oh really? This one’s interesting. And what if you can’t kill yourself? Or maybe what if I let you kill yourself? What would happen then? What about the noble purpose of your existence?”

“I don’t have much reason to live. So I’d put a bullet in my head.”

“Oh, poor thing. You’ve given up, haven’t you? John, have you delivered me a broken toy? Maybe, I’ll have to fix you”.

Before Wiz or James got to do or say anything more, Strange Odd Shadow fired an Inventor Launcher he’d produced out of his backpack at Wiz. The latter just grabbed the blast with his hand and it went out.

“Naughty John. Interrupting me while I’m having a conversation. Oh, but it’d seem our time is over”.

In the next instance, James felt himself -and the whole world with him- breaking to little pieces until everything ceased to exist. Then, everything came back together. James fell to his knees in pain, and groaned. “What did you just do?” He gasped past his suffering. It took James a moment to realise he was alone. When he did, he sat down, and tried to figure out what had happened.

The Fez-wearing Shadow appeared at that moment, “Oh man. That was not nice. Did you know that my arms and legs were not the only parts of me he switched?”.

“Am I...dead?” James asked, confused. “This is my purgatory, isn’t it. Or...is it he-”

“No, silly. If it was purgatory, you wouldn’t get to hang with me, would you?”.

“Then it’s hell.” James muttered.

“Indeed we shouldn’t turn down options without evidence… But I feel quite alive”.

“Can we just figure out where we are for real?”

“Hard to say. I mean I don’t even know if you exist”.

“...” James punched him in the face suddenly. “That convince you?”

“Not really”.

The Older Shadow joined them at that time and swore “Bastard!”.

“What’s going on?” James inquired.

“You’re alive?!” the recently arrived Shadow looked at the Janitor in surprise.

“Unless we’re all dead, as Mr James over here seems to think we are”.

James grinned. “I was joking”

“We could be, though”.

“Younger me. Just shut up. You’re not helping”.

“I take orders from no one. Hey, guys! Isn’t it weird that we all appeared in the same order?”.

James swore softly. “Dammit.” He repeated louder. “DAMMIT! BLOODY HELL I HATE THIS SON OF A BITCH!” He continued to shout. “WILL YOU STOP IT, WIZ?”

“What? You found Wiz?” the Janitor asked.

“You, shut up. Mature one, doesn’t it seem odd how this is all timed to the exact second in arrival, when compared to the first time?”

“Interesting theory”, mature Shadow looked at his robotic arm, which featured a watch.

“No, not a theory. I’ve been counting.”

“I mean what you’re suggesting by this. And I think you’re right. This is fifteen minutes earlier than it should be, unless I completely lost track of time. And I did not”.

“So, time looped?” Fez Shadow asked.

“Ding ding ding ding ding! We have a winner!” a bodiless voice rang out in the air.

Wiz Ardon materialised behind James and put his hand on the latter’s shoulder, “So, what do you want to do now that we have the whole eternity together?”.

“I want an answer.”

“Gee, you’re boring. No, I never attacked any towns. I did teleport some Orcs to a desert, though”.

“Ok.” James drew his pistol, and shot at Wiz.

Wiz smiled widely as older Shadow collapsed, his leg shot.

“Faileth!”.

Sighing, he threw down the gun. “Sorry Shadow. Well, I...I don’t want blood shed here.”

“We can arrange that. A bloodless wound then”, a sword materialised in Wiz’s hands and beheaded James.

Only James did not die.

“No violence. Any of you. No death, no injury, nothing.” He declared with his annoyingly decapitated head, then attached it back to his body. “Ardon, that’s for you especially.”

“The Game’s not fun that way”.

“James, this man betrayed a whole dimension to the Maelstrom, just because he felt like that that day. Do you think he’ll respect anything?”.

“If he kills a single person on my wife’s grave, I will kill him.” James replied.

“This was your wife? Oh, poor you. Maybe, I can do something about it”, the man smiled again.

Rebecca’s tombstone began to shake until it exploded to pieces, accompanied by the ground next to it cracking in two. A gray hand emerged out of the crevice and then another one. A gray-coloured Rebecca with shining white eyes appeared and looked at James.

“Hi, James. I’m back. Come and kiss me as a proper husband should do”.

Not falling for this trickery, James shot the...abhoration, angrily. “NEVER TOUCH MY WIFE!” He fired the pistol fifteen times, until the slide locked back, and reloaded it, firing several more rounds.

‘Rebecca’ ignored the wounds, out of which snake heads appeared and began to walk towards James.

“Come on dear. Give me a hug”.

James glared at Wiz, ignoring the thing. “Why?” He asked, shooting it again. “Are you?” He fired twice now, “Doing this?” He then emptied out the weapon again.

“Come on, James. This is fun! Don’t you want to play the Game?”

He shook his head, and began to sob.. “Please...stop this…”

“I’m not a miracle worker, James. To solve your marital problems, you’ve got to work. Why don’t you hug her as she wants?”

“Because that’s not her. Everything about her is wrong. For one thing, the real Rebecca wasn’t snake infested. For another thing, she never spoke like that. And, I saw her die. I buried her here. That’s not her. STOP THIS NOW!”

The two Shadows, seeming to have become petrified, watched as ‘Rebecca’ made a few more steps towards James, her facial features becoming distorted and monstrous.

“Then, maybe you’ll recognise this!” she produced a pistol and fired a single shot at James.

“And also, she wouldn’t shoot at me.” James muttered as he fell to the ground with a hole in his stomach.

“Well, one can only be so accurate”.

Disassembly. Wiz’s echo still being heard in the void created. Then, everything assembled back to fifteen minutes earlier. James alone. The grave intact.

James sat down, and wept without speaking. His mind was chaotic, his emotions confused.

A few seconds later, the Janitor reappeared and he collapsed to the ground.

“Am I the only one getting a bit of a deja vu?”

James did not respond. He simply thought for a moment, before speaking, “Why? Why would he...why would he do that?”

“Well, apparently he seems to be seeing all of this as a Game. Which by the way we just lost”

James shrugged. “I...I’m going to kill him.”

“Suit yourself. I think I’m going to see if we’re trapped in a particular area or if we can go away?” he began to walk away.

“I’m not going to leave her.” James stated. “You go.”

Silence followed as it was some moments before the other Shadow collapsed nearby.

“I hate stunning spells”, he said as he got up. “Are you okay, James?”

James shrugged. “Tis what it is.”

“He’s going to come back sooner or later”

“I know. And I’m not going to let him touch her.”

“And how exactly are you gonna do that?”

“I don’t know.” He sighed. “But I will try.”

“I’ve known him for years and I still don’t know how to stop him. The only reason I’ve survived all he’s done is that he lets me live so that I can experience next time. What do you think you’re going to achieve this way?”

“I don’t know. But I promised her mother I’d look after her.” He primed his handgun with a heavy face. “I’m not going to break that oath today, or any other day.”

“She’s already dead and you can’t protect her anymore. Nothing you do affects her now either one way or the other. If you want to honour her, choose to live. That’s what she’d want”

James reluctantly stood. “If he even touches a hair of her, I will hold you responsible.”

“Let’s just find a way out of here and out of the loop and then you can look after that grave all you want with a future included in the deal”.

“Fine.” He looked around, and sighed. “Lead on.”

“Did you see where my idiotic counterpart went?” Shadow spoke as he began to walk in a random direction.

James pointed to where the other Shadow had gone, and as Shadow walked away, took one last mournful look at the grave, then followed.

“Are you any more interested in finding him than me?” Shadow asked.

He shook his head. “I just want to be with her. And if that means being bothered by him, so be it.”

Shadow sighed as he changed directions, “I guess I should make sure he doesn’t get himself killed”

James walked over to the grave, and sat down next to the stone, his mind occupied. “You can go, Shadow.”

“Fine, if you don’t want to get out of here, I can’t change that. Hope you don’t die”.

James was left alone again, allowed to reflect on the past few days. A voice suddenly interrupted his train of thought.

“So, what do you think? Does violet suit my eyes?” Wis said appearing seated by the side of James

“You know what we did on our wedding night?” James asked, his face nostalgic. “We just sat on a hill outside of the capital, looking at the stars. Eventually she just fell asleep in my arms…”

“I think you’re right. Blue’s better for me. Goes with my hat after all”, Wiz’s eyes turned blue.

“What do you want?” James asked Wiz, as he went through old memories in his head.

“Style is important you know. First impressions matter”.

“Yes, and I’m just missing the past.” He replied.

“That’s good. Now you get to relive it again and again and again and again and again!”

“Not the parts I miss.”

“I tried to help you with that. Not very appreciative as far as I remember”

“I want to go back to those times. Not have a damned snake zombie following me around.”

“I like snake zombies. They’re good company and very entertaining”

“Clearly we have different standards of good company.”

“At least, we’re good company to each other”.

James gave him an odd look. “I want to kill you, and you say we’re good company?”

“Isn’t that good company?”

“I question your understanding of the English language.”

“Oh boy. When the doctors said I was a psychopath, could they perhaps mean something like that?”

“No. That’s idiocy, not pyscopathy”

“So, the others left. They think they can find a way out?”

“I don’t know what they think.” James stated thoughtfully.” I just know they left me.”

“Heartless Johns, leaving their friend like that. At least, you have me”

He nodded, then spoke. “Do you want to know a bit about the person whose grave you desecrated, and whose body you tormented?”

“Sure. I’m always in for a good story”

“Good. Well...where do I start?” James thought for a moment before speaking. “Ah, yes. The first time we met, well, she shot at me. I had gotten lost in a parking lot, and I got our cars mixed up. When I tried to open her car’s door, well, apparently she was in the back, so she pulled a gun on me.”

“Seems like I got that part right”

“That was an accident.” James said in disagreement. “Now, the second time we met was...well, her brother was a friend of mine. So at some point when we were hangin’ out, she came by to visit his dorm.” James paused, and added, “This was all in college, by the way. Anyhow, she comes by to visit, and then sees me. It was an interesting conversation, but we all had a good laugh over it. Especially Marcus.”

“Interesting how? Was there any blood?”

“No. She just got to awkwardly say hi to the person she shot at.”

“Hmm. Wouldn’t sell. Have her attack you or something. It’ll be more successful”

“It’s real life, not some action flick.”

“As your new manager, I have decided to make your life a book. And then a movie. And then we’ll make a videogame and action figures!”

“My life? Please. Who would ever want to hear about that? It’s too depressing.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Well, Rebecca and I got married eventually, and even had a daughter. Cute little girl named Charlotte. Who was then murdered by my brother in law.”

“Now, that would sell. But it’s no more depressing than any other movie around. Give me the juicy part, James!”

“Well, then he destroyed my planet of birth, tried to kill my wife and I, caused the destruction of our dimension, and killed several of our friends before we took him out. And, well...she died when we were taking this town back from the orcs.”

Wiz thought it over for a moment, “I see what you mean now. Pretty harsh. Keep in mind, though, that there are worse fates than that”

“Like being trapped for eternity in a time loop with a murderous freak?”

“Like getting your whole dimension infected. Poor John and me. We are losing our world as we speak just like you. Only in our case it is replaced with a hellish version of what it used to be”

“He said you did it intentionally.” James said accusatively.

Wiz smiled as innocently as he could, “Really? I don’t recall. John makes jokes like that. Or maybe it was Taco Tuesday. Tacos disagree with me”

“What a wonderful excuse.”

“Okay, you got me. Just poor John. But it’s all part of the Game isn’t it? It’s not my fault John’s losing”

“Why pull me into this?”

“Don’t you want to play?”

“No. I want my family. And since I can’t have that, I want to be able to guard this place in peace.”

“Oh, but look at the time”, he said looking at his bare wrist. “If my calculations are correct we should begin anew just about now”

“Just please let me be.” James said, just as the loop reoccurred.

A few moments late, the Janitor was brought back.

“Dang it. We got more than fifteen minutes and I hoped it was working”

“Damn.” James muttered. “Wiz thinks I’m apathetic, I’m gonna use that to distract him. You guys find a way out, ok?”

“It would seem that the farther we go, the longer the loop lasts, I think. So, walking out of here is out of the queschon”

“Are you sure?”

“Not really. I’d have to repeat the experiment more times to see, but I don’t think we’re here for research. It seems the most logical explanation, though”

“So we’re stuck here.”James sighed. “keep looking, I’ll keep Wiz distracted.”

“Hey, was this sword always here?” Shadow pointed to a sword sticking out of the ground nearby.

“No…” James began, confused. “What in the hell?”

“Wanna pull it or shall I?”

He shrugged. “be my guest.”

Shadow approached the sword. He gripped the hilt and pulled. As soon as it was out, Wiz’s voice was heard yelling, “AND WE HAVE A CHALLENGER!!!”

Wiz and the other Shadow appeared almost at the same time. The former was holding an identical sword and the latter just swore.

“I SAID NO BLOODSHED OR VIOLENCE ON HER GRAVE!” James yelled out in fury, drawing his handgun and leveling it on Wiz. “DROP THE SWORD!”

“I thought you wanted to kill me, James. I decided to give you a fair chance. Sword against sword. We can take this away if you like. But I’m afraid you didn’t pull the sword. Now, John Junior gets to fight me. Maybe, next time, James”

“Either no fight, or if there has to be one, I fight you. Hurt either of these two, and I will make your life painful.” James glared, his eyes dangerous.

“Fine, you don’t need all this sweet talk to persuade me. John, why don’t you hand him the sword?”

“Don’t”, the older Shadow commanded, “It’s probably a trap”.

He nodded. “I know. Shadow, give me the sword.”’

“I’m not much of a sword fighter anyway”, the Janitor shrugged and approached James to give him the sword, “Here you are”.

James reluctantly took it, and turned to Wiz. “You’re in control, right? Take us somewhere other than here.”

“We don’t need to bother with that. Let’s just walk somewhere”

After a moment of thinking, James came to a conclusion. “Fine. Follow me.” He began to take a winding route out of town, and in around half an hour, they were in a forest clearing. “This do?”

“Seems good to me. But I’m afraid we’re running out of time. See ya after the time leap. We meet back here”

It was a good minute of silence before the world broke apart to be rebuilt into the area around the grave. The sword reappeared in James’s hand almost immediately, and he sighed in anger.

10:08 The theta AI Knowing the world would not answer, he sighed, and exited the small graveyard. Again, he took the same winding path. Weaving between buildings, he eventually swore, when he found himself face to face with Strider. 10:08 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter Shadow materialises that moment and sees James leaving "Hey wait up!" (a little earlier) 10:09 The theta AI (ok) "Find us a way out. Preferably before he kills me." James replied. 10:09 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "Do you think I'm just gonna let you die by yourself? Besides I need to think over this". 10:10 The theta AI "JUST DO IT NOW!" He commanded, walking off. 10:10 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter The Janitor just followed him nonetheless. 10:10 Stirling Silverstine (Don't know when this is, but, ) Strider looked like he was about to hurl. "Good Grief, James, your here?" 10:11 The theta AI "Stirling, you ok?" James inquired, as Strider leaned against a wall nauseously. 10:11 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "Who's your friend?" Shadow asks from behind. 10:11 The theta AI "Stirling Silverstine." He replied. "Look, Strider, we have a problem. We're in a damn time loop." 10:12 Stirling Silverstine "Well, I'm not hurt, but-" he jumped at the realization of James' frined. 10:12 The theta AI *sry) 10:12 Stirling Silverstine "Time?" he echoed, keeping an eye on the strange fellow behind James. 10:13 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "Yeah, as in fourth dimension". "As in time travel!" 10:13 The theta AI "And don't worry about the moron. He's on our side." James added. 10:13 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "James. That's no way to talk about yourself". 10:14 Stirling Silverstine "Oh." Strider shook his head, and that helped to clear it. "Ok, I've dealt with morons before, we'll be fine." He said, his voice uncertain. As he looked up, he had a natural smile plastered on his face. (Is this the firest tiem he's met Shadow? 10:15 The theta AI (yeah) 10:15 Stirling Silverstine Because the Jahnra that Strider has could be the ticket out of here. The 'pretty stone' that Sttider never got rid of. 10:15 The theta AI "Or at least you guys will. Look, the guy who put us in the time loop is making me duel him." Shaking his head, James sighed. "We need out. Fast." (yeah. Wiz, can we use the Janra to end the loop?" (It could be rerouted to do that) 10:16 Stirling Silverstine (WOULDN'T THAT BE AWESOME???) 10:16 The theta AI (YEAH) 10:16 Stirling Silverstine (I owuld guess that Shadow would 'smell' the minor magic coming off it. Strider's kept it with him, because.... Someting. ) (Or rather, a lot of different somethings. ."Perry would like it..." "It's pretty..." "It might come in handy if it still works, and I can learn it..." "It's the last of a forgotten world..." 10:18 The theta AI (maybe he kept it in case James wanted to go home?) 10:18 Stirling Silverstine (That could be another excuse!) (The point is, he couldn't find the will to part with it, even though James asked him to smash it.) (Not that it's a 'ring of Power' whispers talking to him, but...) 10:19 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (That's why one shouldn't go eat while creative process) (Okay, there are three things that could happen if they used the Janra: 10:20 Stirling Silverstine (You would like to make a toast? :P ) 10:20 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (My father made sausages) 10:21 The theta AI Focus! :p 10:21 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (1: The loop doesn't allow them to leave. I don't think that's what would happen 2: They escape 3: The time loop is extended to another dimension But there are different reasons this plan will probably fail. So I dare you to try it) "Wait is that youre uncle?" Wait. (Did Stirling mention the Janra? 10:22 Stirling Silverstine No. 10:22 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (Scratch that line) 10:22 Stirling Silverstine (Shadow would have to notice it's presence. Because Strider isn't thinking of it, James doens't know it still exists, and... Yeah. ) 10:23 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (But if it comes up, that'll be fun) 10:23 Stirling Silverstine My UNCLE? 10:23 The theta AI Long story FOCUS 10:23 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (Would Stirling know the name of Wiz Ardon?) 10:23 Stirling Silverstine Yes, he's been travelling with Thingguy. Thingguy likes to talk and share war stoires, right? :P 10:24 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (Seems right) 10:24 The theta AI (FOCUS ;p ) 10:24 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (So, whose line next?) 10:25 The theta AI (Strider) (he has Janra) 10:26 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "He calls you, Strider. Do you walk much?"

• "He calls you Strider"

10:26 The theta AI (LOL) 10:26 Stirling Silverstine fooooood 10:27 The theta AI (STRIDER!) 10:27 Stirling Silverstine I did not learn from Wiz's mistake.

:P 

(wait, what?) 10:27 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (squirrel) 10:27 Stirling Silverstine (this is what I have so far): "Or at least you guys will. Look, the guy who put us in the time loop is making me duel him." Shaking his head, James sighed. "We need out. Fast." 10:28 The theta AI Yeah now your line

:p 

10:28 Stirling Silverstine "He calls you, Strider. Do you walk much?" (OOOOH, now i get it. :P ) (there should not be a comma there 10:29 The theta AI (F! O! C! U! S!)

:p 

10:29 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (I FIXED THAT!) 10:29 Stirling Silverstine Strider sighed. "Yes. Very much." 10:29 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "Oh really? We should go hiking together some day" 10:29 Stirling Silverstine (Well excue me! :P ) 10:30 The theta AI "Can we please get out of hear before I'm murdered?" James cut is in 10:31 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "Dubious". Shadow replies. 10:31 Stirling Silverstine Strider nodded, focusing. "So, how long have you all been in here?" he asked as he started walking off in one direction. The direction James and Shadow had been going. 10:32 The theta AI "About an hour and a half." James replied. 10:32 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "This must be the sixth time over". 10:33 Stirling Silverstine This gave Strider pause, but he did not stop. "Ok... And, anything else notable?" 10:33 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "Don't get too far. And the sky is quite beautiful today". 10:33 Stirling Silverstine (Wjhere is the other Shadow?) 10:34 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (He's late, so he's now searching for them) 10:34 The theta AI (At grave) 10:34 Stirling Silverstine (kk) Strider stopped. "I take it you tried running out of the influence?" "How about not running at all? Staying in place?" 10:35 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "I'm more of a walker like you". 10:35 Stirling Silverstine this reccieved a deadpanned look from Strider. 10:35 The theta AI "That didn't help." James replied. 10:36 Stirling Silverstine "But now he's challenging you to a dual. This, uh..." Strider stopped for lack of information. 10:36 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "His name is Wiz Ardon". 10:36 The theta AI "Wiz Ardon." 10:37 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter *scratch mine 10:37 Stirling Silverstine "WIZ ARDON!?!" 10:37 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "You know him?" "From your dimension?" 10:37 Stirling Silverstine A thousand lightbulbs went off and about a dozen bells tolled in Strider's mind, but it toook a second to remember what tehy meant. "Thingguy talked aobut him all the time!" Strider said, directing his wods tio James. "He was the main magician for the Kotos. Supposedly a good guy..." 10:39 The theta AI "That's multiple dimensions." He shook his head. "Hell, there's probably a dimension where I never regained sanity." 10:39 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "It's always nice to hear about oneself in another dimension" 10:39 Stirling Silverstine (is that Wiz ardon speaking?) 10:40 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (no) ( no ) (I believe the Unverse is a Sparse Multiverse rather than a dense one. Chanora could even be unique) (It's Shadow) 10:42 Stirling Silverstine Strider scratched his unshaven chin in thought. "So this is a different Wiz Ardon. But maybe they have some of the same weaknesses. Strider racked his brain trying to remember if Thingguy had ever mentioned any weaknesses. But none came to mind. "I should like to meet this Sir Ardon." 10:42 The theta AI "I wish I hadn't gotten rid of my Janra." James muttered. 10:42 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "Your uncle?" 10:43 Stirling Silverstine "Your watch?" "Oh, no, the stone thing." 10:43 The theta AI "Not uncle. Dimensional crystal." 10:43 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "Oh, but you cleaned that". 10:44 Stirling Silverstine "It's very sparkly." 10:44 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (Still searching) 10:44 Stirling Silverstine ? 10:45 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (He's not there!) 10:45 Stirling Silverstine (WHO?!) 10:45 The theta AI (old Shadow) 10:45 Stirling Silverstine (oh.) 10:45 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (Something weird happened. I thought you aksed where he was) (I think I saw the earlier comment for some reason and thought it was recent) ( :S ) 10:46 Stirling Silverstine LOL! (No worries.) ( I just dropped a hook, by what Strider just said, and no one's picking up on it. 10:47 The theta AI "IT IS?" James cried. 10:47 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "It is... WAIT, WHAT?!" "WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU IDIOT?!"

• Wait scratch that.

10:48 The theta AI (I picked it up. My messages weren't cming through) 10:48 Stirling Silverstine Strider didn't understand what was causing them to be so upset, he had only mentioned that James' Jahnra was pretty! 10:48 The theta AI (I had to leave other chat) 10:48 Stirling Silverstine (He hasn't pulled it out, folks. :P ) 10:48 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter *Shadow doesn't know Strider had it. 10:48 The theta AI "You said you destroyed it!" James cried. "How can it still be shiny?" 10:49 Stirling Silverstine He blinked rapidly. "I said I destroyed it? No I didn't! You gave it to me for safekeeping!" he answered innocenlty. 10:49 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "Wait, he's the friend that... He didn't destroy... YOU IDIOT, WHAT DID YOU DO?!" 10:49 The theta AI "What?" He groaned. "Hand me the crystal, I might be able to get us out of this mess." 10:50 Stirling Silverstine (Hmm, this is out of character for Strider... INTERESTING!) 10:50 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "NOOOO!" 10:50 Stirling Silverstine Strider backed up, suddenly defensive. "What's gotten INTO the two of you???" 10:50 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "Are you willing to create a major mess? Because I'm not?" 10:51 The theta AI "Oh sh....." James began. "I should have guessed this would happen." (For the record, he was gonna say a chanoran word: Shrania) 10:52 Stirling Silverstine Strider held a protective hand across his breastplate. "What? SOMEONE GIVE ME A STRAIGHT ANSWER?!" 10:52 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "You've caused enough trouble already with your imperfect travelling. I'm stopping this right here, right now!" 10:53 The theta AI "EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" James yelled. "Look, Chanoran magic can have...odd effects on people from other Planets. Janras don't, but you're extradimensional." "It's like an addiction." 10:54 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "Do you wish to cause the Unverse to implode or something worse?!" 10:55 The theta AI "We've been using Janras for thousands of years to interdimensionally travel! They aren't dangerous!" 10:55 Stirling Silverstine Strider's face contorted into an undefinable emotion. "I'm not crazy..." he muttered, still backing up. He carefully took of his armor, and reached into his shirt. As his hands touched the Jahnra, a green glow eamnated from beneath the chainmail. 10:55 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "I beg to differ!". 10:55 Stirling Silverstine and white undershirt. 10:56 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "It's thousands of years of slowly bringing the Unverse closer to its doom". 10:56 The theta AI James swore as he saw it glow. "Oh no. Oh no. This is bad. Everyone stay away from the stone!" 10:57 Stirling Silverstine Strider held the large gem in his right hand. The glow was new to Strider. Ususlay it stayed withing the confines of the crystal. 10:57 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "Destroy it!" 10:57 Stirling Silverstine Now it was playing outside of it, and it lent a sickly sheen to Strider's 10:57 The theta AI "NO! Don't panic, but doing that may destroy this entire dimension." James cried out. 10:58 Stirling Silverstine entranced features. (This is going to be a MESS to edit. :P ) 10:58 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (yup) 10:59 Stirling Silverstine "It's never done this before..." Strider breathed. (what's the Gem doing, if no one stops it, James?) (James? Theta?) (... Is this a dramatic pause?) (The intermission?) (Do we break for commercial?) (How about we break a fourth wall?) (Or Break a Leg?) 11:01 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (Or break the universe?) 11:01 Stirling Silverstine (It's all different forms of theatere!) (rb) Drat, no red buttons. 11:01 The theta AI (back) (Sorry) (i had to pack. I will need to leave soon) 11:02 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (Shame) 11:02 Stirling Silverstine Then lets FINISH THIS !!! (nuke) 11:02 The theta AI "Whatever Wiz has done has...activated it. There are two options. A, it tears apart this loop and shatters. B, it kills us all." 11:04 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "What about the C option?" 11:04 The theta AI "Which is ?' 11:05 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "I...", Shadow began to talk when he was interrupted. "Oh, boy, you're late, naughty boy!". 11:06 Stirling Silverstine Suddenly, the green glow made a strange vaccum-sucking sound, and it appeared to latch onto Strider, who's eyes grew wide. (...Not sure, but I had an idea, though I think Wiz's might be more fun. :P ) 11:06 The theta AI "Option A!" James shouted amidst all the chaos, noise, and Wiz. (that ok?) 11:06 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter "We made and agreement, James! Come, try to kill me?" (I was sort of planning something here) 11:07 Stirling Silverstine (Or we can just go haywire. That;s good too. It's worked before! )

:P 

11:07 The theta AI "Ok, fine." James began to charge with his sword, but suddenly fired a round from his handgun. 11:08 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter Wiz smiled widely as the bullet pierced his stomach and appeared on the other side. 11:08 The theta AI Swearing, James put three in his head. 11:09 Stirling Silverstine Strider was disabled, and seemed to not even realize anyone else was there. He was brought to his hands and knees witht eh Gem hanging in front of him, connected by sticky green lines. 11:09 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter Despite the wound, Wiz staggered towards James, but instead bumped onto Shadow, staining him with a lot of blood. "Haha, you didn't see that coming, did ya?" 11:09 The theta AI This was when the three bullets hit him. (Hurry!) 11:11 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter Wiz fell down, apparently dead. An even more blood-stained Shadow looked around him anxiously and then jumped towards Stirling, shouting "Silly me!". (If he took the Janra right now and immediately teleported elsewhere in time, would something bad happen?) 11:11 The theta AI (Well, yeah.) 11:11 Stirling Silverstine Strider was gasping, but for or from what, it was unclear. (Does it matter? would Shadow even pause to listen?) 11:12 The theta AI "Damn. It's putting weight strain on his body!" James yelled. "If we can't deal with it the RIGHT way, not your damn way, it'll snap his neck, and this world!" 11:12 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (Dang it, Theo. Why do you have to mess up with my plans! Remember the blood scene? Whatever. Let's try to solve this. Shadow might possibly know how the Janra works on a basic level at least) 11:13 The theta AI (ok. Sorry. :p I was hurried.) 11:13 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (Hold the phone everybody!) 11:13 Stirling Silverstine (To be fair, I came up with the Jahnra being used, and I blame not knowing any other plan. :P ) 11:13 The theta AI (Yeah :p ) (Wait, waht?) 11:14 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (Technically, the scene was taken out, but we might be able to use it somewhere else, considering it's timey wimey) (Shadow appeared earlier in time, with blood all over him and preoccupied with some thought of his) 11:15 The theta AI (I bid thee a good day!) 11:15 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (Okay. Bye! 11:15 The theta AI (Strider, I'll be on in around 5 hours) 11:15 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (Solve this another time!) 11:15 The theta AI Yup! Bye 11:15 Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter Bye! 11:15 Stirling Silverstine (Kk, see you around! )