“Girls come down for breakfast! We’re going to be late,” Sarah called from the kitchen of their small townhouse.

“Katy is taking forever! She won’t get out of the bathroom,” Taylor yelled back from upstairs.

Sarah winced. She was already having a hard time with this. She had been dreading this day for weeks. Sarah didn’t like talking about it. It was difficult to do without crying. She leaned over the counter, head in her hands. She stared at her obscured reflection in her steaming coffee, trying to see someone with a little more courage than she had. She couldn’t see her. Sarah took a couple of breaths, then combed her hair back and headed upstairs.

Taylor was already at the top of the stairs, arms crossed in annoyance. Sarah was a little frustrated that she wasn’t even close to ready, but didn’t show any of it. Everyone handled grief differently.

“She’s been in there for more than thirty minutes. I’ve been knocking, but she isn’t answering,” Taylor said.

“That’s ok baby. Just go get ready in my bathroom.”

“Fine. But, I’m going to use your makeup,” Taylor said, running away, not waiting for a reply.

Sarah just shook her head. Taylor had just turned 14 and had just started wearing makeup. She put it on a little heavy, so Sarah would probably have to go buy more after her daughter used hers up. “Just be quick! We don’t have a lot of time,” she called to Taylor.

“Honey? How’s it going?” Sarah asked through the bathroom door. She heard stifled cries coming from the other side. “I know. Trust me, I know. I don’t want to do this either. The therapist told us that this would help us get some closure though. It’s been a long time, and there hasn’t been any word.”

“You’re just giving up on him,” Katy said, barely audible. The crying intensified.

Sarah rested her head on the door, thinking of what she could say. She pawed her foot at the carpet. “We aren’t giving up on him. Just because we are doing this, doesn’t mean that we need to forget about him. This will give us a way to remember him. We can visit him whenever you want. I will probably go visit him a lot.”

“He has a name! And he’s still alive! Alex is still alive!” she screamed.

Sarah fought the tears welling up in her eyes. It was so much harder than it should be. If he was just dead, then they could accept it. Sarah didn’t know if he was dead or not. There was just so much unknown about it all. That’s what made this so much worse. Sarah felt like she should still keep looking for him. She did feel like she was giving up on him.

She also knew why it was good for them to do this. They needed to move on. As it was, every time she heard the familiar sound of a wheelchair, her hopes soared only to be shattered the next instant. Every knock on the door she prepared herself for the best and the worst. He would either return, or it would be someone telling her they had found his body. She couldn’t handle the constant roller coaster. Her emotions were constantly in flux.

Sarah and the girls had been going to therapy since a few months after his disappearance. It had been an immense help, but it had also forced them to face some hard truths. The longer it went without word, the less likely they were to hear anything at all. Or, that what they would hear, would be bad.

After a few moments of thinking, Sarah exhaled, still unsure what to say. She knew she needed to say something, but nothing felt right. She knew exactly how Katy was feeling, she felt the same way. They needed to do this, though. There was no way around it.

“Can I come in?” Sarah asked gently. After a few seconds, she heard the soft click of the door unlocking followed by shuffling. She took her small invitation and opened the door. She sat on the floor with her daughter and just embraced her. The second she wrapped her up in her arms, the crying started. Sarah didn’t say anything, she just held her and started crying too, probably that entire time by the looks of it. She always tried to act tougher than she was. A minute later, Taylor came shuffling into the doorway. She had been crying as well. Sarah extended her other arm and they all sat for a few minutes.

They would be late, but that was ok. They needed to go through this. It had been bottled up for too long.

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Alex was battered and bruised all over. He was thrown for what felt like the hundredth time in the last hour. The Primate King had tracked him down after his unconscious rampage. Yet another reason to be annoyed by the hijacking cobra. Alex needed a way to get his copilot under control. There were all kinds of negative side effects.

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The oasis was so far away, Alex hadn’t seen it for at least twenty minutes. The second he had seen that nightmarish smile, he had booked it. He hoped that the monkey would lose interest in him and would leave him alone.

I don’t even know why I thought it would leave me alone. I’m easy pickings. I may not be that close to its level, but I have been killing its subordinates for weeks. It probably just wanted to get rid of me to make his life easier.

Alex got his footing, but the monkey was already on top of him. It hadn’t used any of its mental manipulation yet. Alex was grateful, because he wasn’t sure what effect that would have on him. He had completely blacked out the first time he encountered it. He would probably die before he got his wits back. The monkey had apparently not deemed him a large enough threat to use the big guns. Or, maybe the mental magic had limitations that Alex didn’t understand.

For now, Alex was more than ok with the physical abuse he was subjected to. He was built for it, so to speak. If there was one thing he knew how to do, it was take a punch. But, at the same time, he was also getting tired of getting punched.

Just as he thought that, another punch landed and sent him flying. Alex spun in the air to control his landing. He still rolled in the sand a few times, but he was quickly on his feet this time. He didn’t want to get launched this time, so he channeled the Eonsteel to form a type of anchor in the sand below his feet. He didn’t think it would really overpower the strength of the monkey king, but it should keep him from flying away. The monkey was both strong and fast, and it was always right on top of him the second he landed.

Alex braced himself, and sure enough the monkey was already charging at him. He channeled what remained of his Eonsteel into two daggers that extended over his hands, making it look like he had two spades coming out of his arms. The point pushed just past his finger tips. If he closed his hands into fists, it should give him a few inches of penetration. He needed any edge he could get, and he just gave himself two.

Alex crossed his arms just as the monkey jumped in his direction, a double fisted slam coming straight for him. Alex’s arms deflected the strike, and the anchor kept him from flying away. Instead, he slid a few feet before coming to rest. The monkey cocked its head to the side, confusion evident on its face. Alex didn’t want to waste an opportunity and charged forward, propelling himself with a quick blast from his feet. He was on the monkey in an instant, both fists aimed forward.

The monkey, still a little surprised by the sudden change of pace, was taken by even more surprise when Alex suddenly was moving much faster than he had before and was on the offensive. The prey was no longer retreating, it had decided to become predator. This sudden change allowed Alex to land a blow finally. Not a great one, but Alex wasn’t picky. He had finally made the monkey bleed.

The monkey looked even more shocked. A thin red line of blood traced along its chest, not even two inches long. It looked at Alex the same way his elderly neighbor had when he explained how WiFi worked. He wasn’t sure if it was because he had landed a blow on the king, or if it was because it was so small.

“Two inch gang! It’s not that small. I got more where that came from,” Alex taunted the monkey which made it even more confused. It was probably just intimidated. Probably had nothing to do with the fact that the losing party didn’t usually taunt their foe.

Alex started forward again. If the monkey was just going to stand there, Alex would keep up the pressure. His movement must have shook the monkey out of its sudden stupor, because it bared its teeth and readied itself. Alex hesitated at the sudden shift, but continued forward. His momentum was already carrying him, so there was no stopping. He was a freight train.

He feinted a jump, and slid. The feint was not convincing. The monkey slammed its meaty hands down on Alex’s legs. Alex screamed out in pain. The attack stopped his momentum. He didn’t want to take a hit without giving one in return. He was generous like that. So in the Christmas spirit, Alex returned the favor. Alex’s fist collided into the monkey’s left thigh. When he pulled it away, a geyser of blood followed.

The monkey howled and backhanded Alex, sending him sliding a few feet away. A series of channeled blasts, first sent Alex to his feet, then back into the monkey king. Alex unleashed a fury of blows into the monkey’s arms and chest. Alex made contact with anything he could, before a surprise uppercut sent Alex into the air. Alex came crashing to the ground. When he got his bearings again, there were more monkeys.

What? There’s no way! We are way too far away from the oasis for him to get any reinforcements.

Alex looked a little closer and noticed that there weren’t actually multiple monkeys. There were three monkeys, but they were identical. He could see the wounds he had left, in matching positions. They were copies of the same enemy.

Crap! I’m screwed. I think he’s decided I’m a big enough threat now.

All three monkeys charged at him at once. Alex struggled to see which one was the real one, but they all looked too similar. He picked one at random and defended himself, while he retracted his Eonsteel to help defend against the other two.

Something was wrong though. Only one of them should have been real, yet all three strikes landed. How was that possible? He had assumed that the monkey had mental powers just like the other’s had. Was he wrong in that assumption? Did the monkey king have a totally separate power set? Or did it just have this duplication power in addition to its other powers? He had seen it turn invisible just like the other ones, so it likely had the same powers. This had to be an additional power that he hadn’t seen yet.

Alex needed to tread carefully. Not only was he facing off against an enemy much more powerful than he was, but he was also up against unknown abilities. There was no telling what other tricks the monkey had up its sleeves.