Large steel chains were wrapped around Alwin's slime body—it was tough to handcuff a monster who had no hands. The two Poolice monsters escorted Alwin back to the station, ready to unleash a barrage of questions at the perpetrator. Behind them were several other monsters trying to hold back a crowd of angry citizens demanding justice for the destruction caused by Alwin's alter ego, Winal.

If it weren't for the sense of what he could only assume was remorse over his actions, he'd have busted out of his restraints and hightailed it out of there. Instead, Alwin fully cooperated with the two inflatable pool monsters, not even bothering to kick up a fuss. That darn Uchronia! What sort of spell did she cast on him? And why was it so effective?

Whatever she had done to him, Alwin would have plenty of time to ruminate about it. Uchronia said it herself, she wasn't going to be there to help him this time—not like she had ever helped him before, but her point still stands. So now a long jail term was what awaited him. It was the consequences of his actions and for the first time, he was going to take responsibility for it. Goodbye, freedom. Hello, cellmates.

Inside the Poolice Station, which looked like any other ordinary police station except that instead of being constructed out of concrete or any other stronger material for that matter, it was made out of rubber and plastic from all colors of the rainbow, molded together to create a stereotypical building. It was the world's largest bouncy castle made for only the most professional of professionals.

The two Poolice monsters chucked Alwin into the interrogation room, his slimy body bouncing against the soft springy floor. He crashed into the wall only to bounce right back and fall onto the floor and continue to bounce all over until he finally stopped. Alwin forced himself up, the heavy chains on his body weighing him down. As he got up the two Poolcie monsters who had arrested him sat down across from him, on large inflatable chairs made to accommodate their wide physique. They glared at him, their noodle-like arms resting against the surprisingly colorful bouncy table—which had the opposite effect if intimidation was the name of the game. Alwin didn't even need to be told what to do. He sat down across the two officers on his very own bouncy chair.

"Fess up, slime! Where's the Fire Soldier Ant that bombed the city? We know you're working together with him! We need information! We need names! If you do, we'll get you a reduced sentence, and if not then you're going away for a long time," said one of the officers.

"I—"

Before Alwin could even get a second word out, the other Poolice officer interrupted him.

"Don't even bother coming up with all sorts of blatant lies or sob stories. We've heard it all before and then some. We have irrefutable evidence that you're in cahoots with that terrorist ant!"

"Exactly! And even if we don't, we'll just make up new evidence that says otherwise! You'll confess eventually, everyone does. Everyone! Now tell us where your partner is hiding!" added the second Poolice officer.

"He's—"

Once again, Alwin's words were cut off before he even got a chance to speak. The thing was, he wanted to confess to his crimes. Alwin wasn't even going to go on his usual song and dance routine to try to worm his way out of trouble.

"Playing hardball now aren't ya? Well if that's how you want to play, then don't regret it when the judge throws the whole book at ya!"

"But—"

Another interruption.

"Woah! Woah! Woah! Using threats against an officer of the law? That's it, buddy, you're going away for a long time. And I mean so long that there's no number in the world that can even quantify it!"

"Exactly! Now you get to spend some time in lock-up. A long time alone until your court date. Not even a lawyer can help you out of this situation, that's why we've taken the liberty of not offering you any legal assistance."

"That's—"

"He's using violence against us! Quick! Restrain him and throw him behind rubber bars!"

The two Poolice officers stood up and rushed over to Alwin. The heavy steel chains wrapped around his body made it impossible to move out of the way of the charging Poolice officers. They tackled him down onto the—thankfully, soft—ground. Alwin opened his mouth in an attempt to protest the unlawful treatment he was subjected to. One of the Poolice officers noticed this and jabbed a blue balloon into his maw. Muffled squeaking sounds were all Alwin could muster as the two officers had essentially just gagged him. Alwin wasn't even in the mood to comment on the peculiar taste in his mouth or the worries about when was the last time the officer had washed his hand. Although technically he just did, but this technicality was the only thing keeping his sanity in check from the brutal treatment he was experiencing.

Despite the thinness of the Poolice officers' arms, they were able to haul Alwin with much ease. They chucked him into a small jail cell, barely bigger than a closet, and slammed the rubber bars shut. Unsurprisingly, the bars spent a few seconds bouncing between open and closed before finally settling on closed much to the chagrin of Alwin.

They locked the cell and dangled the key in front of Alwin, tempting him with the promise of escape. But, he was smart enough to know that this was just another bait. If he so much as reacted, it would add to the long list of charges already stacked against him. Seeing that Alwin wasn't going to fall for their scheme, the Poolice officer shook his head and lobbed the key into the toilet of the opposite cell. The sound of the toilet flushing followed soon after.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"That's what you get criminal! We're skipping the judiciary process entirely and cutting straight to locking you away forever and throwing away the key!" The two Poolice officers walked off, cackling away at the stupendous arrest that they had just performed.

For all Alwin knew, they could've just been going around arresting random civilians and pinning the blame on them, while leaving the true culprit roam about free. Considering how little effort was put into interrogating him, this hypothesis didn't seem too far from the truth. However, through sheer luck or coincidence, they had managed to arrest the one responsible for the attacks on the city, even if they didn't know it yet.

Now, Alwin was all alone in a cell with nothing but his thoughts, serving out the punishment that he so rightfully deserved. Like everything in this building of bounce, his cell was made out of inflatable rubber with various hues mixed together creating a strange mishmash of bright colors that offended anyone with functioning eyes. It was a good thing too, because given the extent of his crimes, Alwin was going to be stuck in here for a long time. And seeing how horribly he was treated, insanity was but an inevitability. Fortunately, he was locked up in a padded cell, although he had a feeling that the colors would only speed up the inevitable.

With nothing to do, Alwin began to reflect on his actions. About how he rampaged through the academy. About how he blew up parts of the city. And worst of all, about how he let Uchronia down. It was that last part, especially, that bothered him. It caused a whole personality change in him. It was like someone else was taking over control of his body, making him behave in ways that he normally wouldn't. But, Alwin knew that wasn't the case. He checked the inside of his mind. Twice! Alwin was fully in charge, with no sign of the serious side of him to be found. That meant one thing. Alwin was changing. Alwin was growing up, whether he wanted to or not.

It wasn't even five minutes into his self-reflection session when he heard voices coming from outside his cell. It was the two Poolice officers along with someone else. A familiar voice. Yet, Alwin couldn't put his metaphorical finger on it.

Soon enough the person entered into view. It was none other than Milvus, with the two Poolice officers standing behind him. Their haughty and pompous demeanor was gone, replaced by nervousness as sweat oozed out of their inflatable bodies.

"Oh, Alwin. What sort of mess did you get yourself into," sighed Milvus.

"I—"

Again, before Alwin could even hope to speak he was cut off. By Milvus this time, however, and not one of the Poolice officers.

"It was a rhetorical question. I already know what you did. Frankly, I'm questioning whether I should just leave you in this cell or get you out of there," said Milvus, shaking his head.

"But—"

"I already know what you're going to say—Eye of Providence remember—so let's skip the chit-chat and focus on the problem at hand. You want to get out of prison, but at the same time, you want to repent for your actions. You know, there are other ways to make up for what you did other than rotting away in jail."

"Yes—"

"Again, I already know what you're going to say. If you truly want to atone for what you did, you know exactly what to do. Take things seriously and work hard to eliminate the humans. Yes, I know that was what you were being brought up to do. Yes, I know that doing the thing you were already doing isn't the best way to absolve yourself of your sins. And yes, I know I've mentioned you haven't been taking things seriously, and that the test earlier was supposed to show that you were, but look where you are now. In a jail cell. So, if you want out, you need to promise me that you'll take things seriously. Stop falling asleep in class. Stop daydreaming. Stop goofing off. You have the most potential out of all your classmates, so just focus and work hard. Those are the terms if you want an early release. Deal?"

This was a way for him to make up for his crimes. Although it did feel cheap. Everything was going to turn back to normal. Alwin would simply attend classes as per usual and train as if he hadn't just blown up various buildings. There was a caveat that he had to take things more seriously, but that condition felt too lax for something as bad as the things he'd done. The punishment didn't fit the crime.

"Alwin. Just know that wiping out humans from the face of the planet would more than makeup for what you did today."

That was all Alwin needed to hear to be convinced. Now, more than ever he needed to take things seriously. To stop goofing off and focus hard on eliminating the humans. All it took was a disappointing look from Uchronia and being locked away in a cell with multi-colored rubber bars. Who knew those would be the two things needed to trigger this change?

"Let him out," said Milvus, moments after Alwin had mentally agreed to the deal.

Could Milvus read his mind? Whatever, it didn't matter. Now wasn't the time to think about such useless thoughts. What mattered was getting out of here, returning to the Academy, working hard to be a Valedictorian and Minister, and hopefully somewhere along the way Uchronia would forgive him.

The Poolice officer who had previously discarded Alwin's cell key rushed over to the toilet in the opposite cell. He got on his knees and stuffed his hand down the toilet, fishing for the precious treasure that would release Alwin. Soon enough, he managed to retrieve it in all of its glorious rubber glory. Not even the toilet water dripping from the key could dampen its colorful splendor. With the key retrieved, he waddled as fast as he could to unlock Alwin's cell, before immediately unlocking the chains which bound Alwin without even having to be told. He was unwilling to stall any longer avoiding the gaze of the intimidating Milvus.

"Go wait outside first, Alwin. I need to have a little chat with these two officers," said Milvus.

Alwin did as he was told. No arguments. No cheeky comebacks. No sarcastic quips. Nothing. Alwin knew obeying Milvus' orders was the first step to atoning for his crimes. It was the beginning of him earning Uchronia's forgiveness.

He hopped over to the reception area waiting patiently for Milvus to finish—not allowing a single intrusive thought to enter his mind. Following orders was the name of the game.

Although, Milvus didn't say that he couldn't eavesdrop on their conversation. Surprisingly, sounds could travel far in this building of bouncy rubber and plastic. Even though it was muffled, Alwin could hear every word being uttered between the three individuals in the interrogation room.

At first, it was all routine back-and-forth, nothing noteworthy. But then Milvus spoke.

“So,” he said, his voice low but it was clearly him, “How much do I owe you for orchestrating this whole thing?”

Orchestrating? Orchestrating what?