Out in the outer realms, in the places beyond the edges of everything, in the holes within plot holes, accessible only by way of plot armor and bullshit, there was an endless white void spanning in all directions.

Rava awoke on the floor. She saw her companions sprawled out next to her. The boat was gone, and they were not even wet anymore. Scarlet was now wearing a blue dress and Dave suddenly had a straw hat on his head. The Banana Man now had five fingers instead of his usual four, and Rava’s hair was now short and blond.

“Did we live?” Scarlet asked, tapping her hands against her body as if it might not all still be there.

“I think so,” Rava said. “Though I think we took on some continuity errors in the process. Look, Dax is Asian now.”

“I’ve always been Asian,” Dax said.

Dave frowned. “I honestly can’t remember if that’s true.”

“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that we’re still alive,” Rava said.

“Would anyone like a banana?” They each took a banana, and for one absurd moment they sat in silence and ate, discarding the peels into the void when they were done.

“What is this place? Is this where you go when you get forgotten?” Dave asked.

Rava looked around. “I don’t know.”

“Ha I knew it. I knew it!” Dax said. “It’s the WizArd King’s palace!”

Rava opened her mouth to tell Dax to shut up about the damned Wizard King, but before she got the words out, her eyes fell upon a structure that could only belong to an evil wizard king. The castle, surrounded by the white void, was made out of black brick and spawned its own lightning. It had spiky towers that look so structurally unsound she almost fell over just by looking at them.

“Well I’ll be darned,” Dave said, taking off his straw hat and holding over his chest.

“I don’t believe it,” Scarlet said.

“You better believe it!” Dax said, looking at them with the biggest grin possible. He picked up his sword and held it up in the air triumphantly. “Let’s go kill the Wizard King!”

Then he took off running towards the castle gate.

Perhaps it was the absurdity of the moment, or perhaps she didn’t know what else to do, but Rava yelled. “You heard him, let’s go kill the Wizard King!” and ran after Dax.

The other’s shouted their own battle cries and joined the charge.

Dax smashed the gate down with his sword, and they followed him up the stony steps into the castle courtyard. Dax charged up the steps, with his sword streaming behind him, as he called after the Wizard King. Rava tried her best to keep up with him, but Dax sprinted ahead, turning down hallways and busting through doors faster than she could follow. Then Rava turned a corner and he was gone. She turned around and realized Dave and the others were gone too.

She cursed and turned back, hoping she could find them again. She only made it a few paces before she ran into two men wearing chainmail and carrying a pike. She recognized them immediately as guards from her father’s castle. When they saw her their eyes went wide and they shouted, “The Princess! Get her!”

Rava tried to run, but they grabbed her before she could get away. She kicked and struggled and fought, but the guards held on tight. They carried her into a room with walls made out of a red fleshy substance, almost like they were themselves alive. In the room there was a single chair bolted to the ground, and there was a large console with dozens of Teevees showing a feed of the others walking through the castle.

The Guards plopped her down in the chair and tied her hands and feet to the brace.

“Let me go!” she shouted.

The Guards ignored her and walked to the door to stand at attention. That’s when she saw another familiar face walk into the room. It was her brother, Prince Tristrain. The prince was a teenage boy with a long hook nose and dark hair parted down the middle. He wore a green robe embroidered with gold lace.

“Hello Rava,” Said Prince Tristrain.

“Tristrain! What are you doing here?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m your villain. I’m here to stop you from getting what you want. Don’t you want to fight me? Don’t you want to kill me for what I did to our father?” He sneered.

Rava struggled against her binds. “Yes! I mean, no. I mean, I used to want that, but now all I want is to leave this place so I can be free. If anything you should want to get out of here as much as I do. The Bastard’s never going to finish our story.”

Tristrain sucked his teeth and wagged his finger at her. “In the house of the Wizard King we don’t like to refer to him as the Bastard. Here, we call him the Genius. And of course the Genius is never going to finish your story, that’s all by design.”

Rava looked up at her brother with a puzzled expression. “I don’t understand.”

“We both know that if he finishes our tale, I’ll lose. I’ll either be killed, or humiliated, or something terrible like that. I can’t allow you to get your ending, dear sister. And if you just would have stayed put we could have avoided this whole song and dance, but now you and your friends have gone and caused too much trouble. And for that you’ll have to die.”

Rava spat on the ground. “I’ve got plot armor, you can’t kill me!”

Tristrain snarled. “We’ll just see about that.” He turned to the guards and barked, “Guards, bring me MacGuffin!”

“Yes, your highness. Right away your highness,” the guards said, running off down the hallway.

A large red light next to the wall of Teevee’s started flashing and an alarm went off. Tristrain turned around, and muttered something under his breath.

“What’s that, what’s happening?” Rava asked.

“Don’t you worry about it. I’ll take care of this.”

All the screens on the wall changed to show a live feed of the Bastard eating pizza rolls at his dining room table.

Tristrain settled down in front of the Teevee’s at the console which was covered with a myriad of buttons and levers.

Another one of the guards popped his head in the room and shouted, “Your highness, the Genius is having another idea!”

“Don’t you think I know that! I’m sitting right here, you imbecile!” Tristrain shouted.

“Oh yeah. Good point.”

Tristrain shouted at the guard to leave. “Useless, all of you. Why does the Genius have to always write henchmen to be such idiots?”

Rava watched the video feed on the Teevees and saw the Bastard put down his pizza rolls and run over to his writing machine. He booted it up and opened up a new document, which he started to immediately fill with words.

Tristrain started mashing buttons on the console, but the Bastard continued to write. No matter how many levers he pulled, or buttons he pressed nothing stopped him from writing.

“Try hitting the button that makes him want to smoke weed. That one always works," said the guard.

“I tried that one already. Nothing’s working.”

Rava saw that the Bastard had already written three pages. She squinted her eyes, trying to read the words he had written, and that’s when she realized he wasn’t just writing any story, he was writing her story. Not the story of her tied to the chair, but the story of her struggle to regain her throne, the story of her fight against the evil Prince Tristrain.

She began to feel strange. Whatever the Bastard was doing was affecting her continuity, and the room around her started to fade.

Tristrain could feel it too. He scrambled over to a big red button covered in a glass case. He flipped open the case, unlocking it with a key he kept around his neck, and then pressed it with the flat of his fist.

A microphone popped up from the console and Tristrain grabbed it, twitching and seizing like an electrocuted fish.

“That doesn’t even make any sense. How does Rava just outrun the entire palace guard in a nightgown and slippers?” Tristrain said into the microphone. Rava got the impression that the Bastard couldn’t exactly hear Tristrain, but he could only sense the thoughts that were being put into his head.

The Bastard stopped writing for a second, lifting his hands from the keyboard.

“Also,” Tristrain added “Prince Tristrain would have foreseen that his sister was going to try and run, and he would have laid traps to stop her. It’s really better if you just start over. It’s not good enough. It could be so much better if you just start over. Maybe you should start a different story. A new story! This one will be even better than the one about Rava and Tristrain. Fantasy is so hackneyed, anyways. Everybody is writing fantasy. You should write something original, something genius!”

The Bastard lifted his finger and jammed down the backspace button. Rava watched the words disappear from the page, and she felt the changes cease. She felt reality start to normalize again. When she finally felt in control, she started to shout, hoping her voice could get picked up by the microphone. But the guard came over and shoved a gag in her mouth.

The Bastard was now staring at a blank page once again. He pressed his fingers to the keys and typed something.

“Now hold on, your first words have to be perfect. If you don’t write the perfect hook no one will want to read your story,” Tristrain said, continuing to guide the Bastard through the microphone.

He continued to type words and then delete them, repeating this process over and over again, as Tristrain added his commentary.

“No. No. That’s no good. You don’t have any talent at all, do you?”

The Bastard closed his writing machine and sulked over his desk.

Tristrain leaned over and hit the button labeled ‘Video Games.’

“You deserve a break. You just need to wait for inspiration to strike again. Don’t worry, it’ll come. You are a genius after all. You’re gonna write the next great story, I know it! You just need to be inspired.”

Rava screamed through her gag as she watched the Bastard get up from his desk and turn on his video game machine. Tristrain wiped some sweat from his brow, and heaved a sigh of relief. He hit the big red button again, and the red light stopped flashing.

“Good one, your highness,” said the guard holding a thumbs up.

Tristrain looked proud of himself. “The trick is to set the expectations so high that it paralyzes him,” he said with an air of smugness.

The door to the room opened again, and the guards from before returned. Rava saw they were dragging a man by the crook of his arm. His hands and feet were bound, and he looked ragged and sickly. He had thick curly red hair and a big bushy beard. He was short and stocky, and he was wearing the strangest clothing she ever saw. He had on two rings on each finger, three of the finest medallions she ever saw, A tiara, a crown, and a mismatched set of ornate clothing and armor. The guards threw him to the ground before Tristrain’s feet.

“Ah MacGuffin, how are we doing today?”

“It was good until ye yanked me out of me cell,” Said the bejeweled man as he propped himself up on his knees. “What do I owe the pleasure of yer sniveling company?”

“I need an item that will allow me to pierce plot armor.”

“I don’t got nothing like that,” the man said.

Tristrain slapped him across the face. “Don’t lie to me, MacGuffin.”

“I’ve told ye the truth. Not even adamantium can pierce plot armor.”

Tristrain slapped him again. “If you don’t stop lying to me I’ll send you back to the Fanfiction pits!”

MacGuffin’s eyes went wide. “No anything but that! Please!”

“Then give me what I want.”

MacGuffin looked at Rava and then down at the ground in shame. “Fine. There is one thing that can break plot armor. It’s called a Deus Ex Machina. It’s a special kind of machine that can do just about anything.”

“Perfect. Now give it to me!” Tristrain said, holding out his hand.

“Oh I don’t just have it on me. It’ll take me time to put it together.”

“How much time?”

MacGuffin shrugged. “As long as it takes. I’ll need a few things too. I’ll need a bullet from Chekov’s gun, the scales of a red herring, and three tablespoons of bullshit.”

Tristrain waved his hand at the guards. “You heard the man. The Wizard King keeps most of that in his treasure room. Bring it here, now!”

The Guards ran so fast that they bumped into each other knocking helmets before they disappeared down the hallway once again.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Tristrain turned his attention back to Rava. “While we wait. How about you and I have a little fun? Let’s see how your little friends are doing confronting their own villains.”

Tristrain pushed a button on the console and the monitors changed to show a feed of her friends in various places within the house of the Wizard King.

Dax was running down a hallway chasing after a man Rava could only assume was the Wizard King himself. He wore a jet-black robe and had a skull for a head which was covered with a jagged black crown. In his hands he carried a staff with a shiny ruby on the top and he pointed it at Dax.

“Dark Magic Attack!” he yelled in a growly low voice. A beam of dark lightning shot from his staff. Dax blocked with his sword and then followed up with his own named attack move.

“Sword Power Slice!” he screamed as he smashed his sword against the staff of the Wizard King. Back and forth they traded blows with such speed Rava found it hard to keep up.

Tristrain, looking bored with his head resting on his hand, pressed a button to flip the feed to show Scarlet standing in a room with a floor length mirror.

Scarlet was admiring her reflection in the mirror, though Rava noticed the reflection wasn’t quite the same as the person that created it. Rather than massive boobs and an exaggerated hourglass figure, the girl in the mirror had normal proportions. She looked like Scarlet, but if Scarlet was a normal girl.

Scarlet admired her reflection, and she pressed her hand against the mirror longingly.

Then the reflection pulled her hand back, as Scarlet’s hand stayed put. The Reflection was moving independently of her now, as if it had severed the connection that tied them together.

The reflection crossed her arms and sneered at the woman in the low cut sparkly blue dress on the opposite side of the glass.

“You disgust me,” the reflection said. “Nothing about you is realistic. You’re just a sickening male fantasy.”

Scarlet fell to her knees and started crying. She sobbed deep hiccupping wails. “I know! Don’t you think I know that? Please, you have to show me how to be like you.”

“You’ll never be like me.”

Scarlet started wailing, continuing to plead with her reflection.

“Bor-Ring!” Tristrain said, hitting the button to change the channel again.

Rava looked around the room, and saw MacGuffin on the floor pulling out a chalice and a shiny blue crystal out of a sack he kept tied around his waist. He was stacking the objects on top of each other and muttering to himself.

On the screen she saw Dave walking through what looked like a prison. There were metal bars in front of a line of cells, each one of them holding a strange creature or character. Dave walked the cells until he came to one that had a woman inside. The woman wore a floral pattern dress and deep auburn hair.

“Sara, is that you?” Dave asked, taking his hat off his head.

The woman was sitting with her knees tucked into her chest with her head propped up against the wall. She looked up and a smile spread over her face.

“Dave, You came!” She jumped up and pressed herself against the bars. “My name is Emma by the way.”

“Right, sorry. I hope you can forgive me for forgetting. It’s just been so long.”

“I’ll forgive you if you can get me out of here. The Wizard King and that stupid prince have been keeping me locked up here ever since I jumped into that plot hole.”

Dave looked around for a key, and saw one sitting on a ring on the far wall. He ran over to the key and then jammed it back in the door. He threw the door open and Emma threw her arms around him.

For a beautiful moment they embraced and Rava felt a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

“Come with me!” Emma said, pulling away from Dave and grabbing his hand. “I know a way out.”

“Now hold on. I gotta go back and get my friends. And I have to let out all the others in here too,” he said looking at the other cells.

“They’re not important. They’re just background characters,” Emma said. “Quick, we have to hurry before they stop us!”

She pulled Dave along and he only barely resisted. As they ran down the hallway he kept looking back and mumbling something about his friends, but Rava could see he was enchanted by being reunited with his long-lost wife.

“Okay. Here it is,” she said, stopping at a wooden door with a wrought iron handle. She lifted the handle and pushed open the door. Inside was a platform that overlooked a pit of bubbling lava. The heat was so intense the air shimmered, and Dave wiped sweat off his forehead, as he stepped inside the room.

He looked over the ledge and then back at his wife. “Now how is this a way out?”

Emma’s eyes seemed to shift. Her happiness, her joviality, faded to a resigned flat expression. “It’s the only way Dave. It’s the only way to truly be rid of this world.” She took a step toward Dave, who stumbled back towards the ledge.

“Oo, now this I like!” Tristrain said, inexplicably eating a tub of popcorn.

Rava yelled through her gag. Don’t do it Dave! Don’t listen to her! she wanted to say, but the only noise she made was a muffled grunt.

Something moved to Rava’s left. Tristrain was so focused on watching Dave that he didn’t notice, but Rava saw The Banana Man tiptoeing into the room. She locked eyes with him and he held up his finger over his lips in the universal sign of quietude. MacGuffin saw him too, but he continued to work on his strange contraption instead of alerting the prince.

Rava turned back to the monitor and saw Dave being backed up to the edge by Emma, whose face had grown gaunt in the red light of the lava.

“It’s the only way, Dave. You have to jump with me. You have to!” Emma said.

The Banana Man inched closer to her. Soon, he was close enough to undo her binds. Once her hands were free, she lowered her gag and held out her hand. The Banana Man handed her a banana.

She stalked toward Tristrain with a pent-up rage that had been with her since the day she ran away. He must have seen her reflection in the monitor, because he swiveled around to face her. He shot up and put his hands up in a fighter's pose, but it was weak and awkward.

“Hey MacGuffin, you got anything that can help me kick this guy's ass?” Rava called.

MacGuffin looked up from his half-assembled machine. “Nay. Ye can do that yerself.”

“Good point.” She punched Tristrain in the nose, and felt a satisfying crunch as her fist connected with the cartilage. He crumpled to the ground in a heap. Rava kicked him in the stomach and he wheezed. She pressed her slipper to his back, pinning him to the ground.

“No, how did you escape?” Tristrain said.

“You made one mistake. You forgot about The Banana Man”

Tristrain’s eyes went wide. “But he’s not even a real character. He’s just a gag!”

Before he could say anything else, The Banana Man leaped across the room and gagged him with a handful Bananas. Then The Banana Man picked him up with one hand and threw him into the chair Rava was once tied to.

Rava grabbed the ropes off the ground and quickly tied Tristrain to the chair. The moment she was finished, she heard someone behind her. She turned, and saw the two guards carrying the items that MacGuffin had requested.

Before they could act, the Banana Man launched a flurry of Bananas at them. Startled, the guards dropped their items and ran back the way they came, bumping into each other along the way.

Rava went over and picked up the bullet, a small smelly pouch, and the red scales.

MacGuffin called to her. “Give it here, girl. And while yer at it, undo these infernal chains,” he said, rattling his shackles.

She grabbed the keys, which the guards had conveniently dropped on the ground, and unlocked his binds.

“Now the items,” he said waving his hand at her.

She paused. “I thought the Des Makina, or whatever, is supposed to kill me. Why would I let you complete it?”

“That was just some shite I made up so that fool would bring me what I needed. Truth is, I've been trapped here ever since the Wizard King jumped me. And to think I was doing them a service by bringing them what they requested. I’m an important man ye know, more important than this filthy imagination.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Oh Sorry. Where are me manners.” MacGuffin extended his hand for a handshake. “The name’s MacGuffin. Curator of curious curiosities. Inventor of the one ring and all the other too. Anytime an imaginary world needs an item of great magical significance, I’m yer man.”

“It’s um—nice to meet you,” Rava said, shaking his hand and wondering if she was losing her mind even more than she already had. “I’m Rava Heartstrong and this is The Banana Man.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet ye,” he said. “Now hand me those items so I can get out of here.”

“Where will you go?” Rava asked.

“Oh I don’t know. After this place, I think I need a long vacation. Maybe I’ll visit Sanderson. I could do for some epic fantasy adventure. Or maybe I’ll go to Hoover if I’m feeling a bit frisky. Fact is, anywhere would be better than this shitehole.”

Rava tried not to take offense. “Does that mean you come from someone else’s imagination?”

“Don’t remember which one I came from o‘riginally. I’ve been hoppin’ imaginations ever since I can remember. I go where I’m needed, that’s what I like to say. And right now I’m needed elsewhere. So if ye don’t mind giving me what I need, then I can be on me way.”

“Take us with you!” she said,

“If ye give me what I ask, I'll consider it.” MacGuffin raised an eyebrow and looked her up and down. “Tell me this, you afraid of clowns?”

“No. Why do you ask?”

“I can drop ye off in King, and as long as ye always get yer flu shot, and stay out of Maine, ye should fit in just fine.”

“Sounds good to me!” Rava said.

“Now give it here, girl.”

“Is it okay if my friends come along too?”

“Aye, fine, whatever. Just hand it over.”

She went to hand him what he needed, but at the last moment she hesitated.

“What is it this time?” He asked, sounding frustrated.

“Well, it’s just, my friends are scattered all around the castle. I need to go get them.”

“Tell ye what. I’ll give ye a magic ring that lets ye teleport, if ye give me the bullet, the scales, and the shite. How’s that fer a bargain?”

“Only if you promise to wait for me until I get back.”

“It’ll take me some time to put it all together. Ye have until I finish to get back here. Keep in mind, I’m being generous. I could easily pull out me wand o’ whoopass and take it back by force.”

Rava raised her eyebrow. “That’s not a real thing.”

“Want to bet?” MacGuffin said.

“Fine,” Rava handed over the items and MacGuffin tossed her a shiny golden ring in exchange.

“best get moving, then. Looks like yer friend don’t have much time left.” MacGuffin nodded towards the monitor, which showed Dave and Emma standing together, hand in hand, staring down at the lava.

“C’mon.” Rava shouted at the Banana Man, who grabbed onto her shoulder. She put on the ring, and thought about teleporting to Dave. The ring read her mind, and she felt them both blink out of one place and into the another.

When they arrived in the lava chamber, Dave had one foot hanging over the edge. Rava grabbed him by the collar of the overalls and yanked him back to safety.

“Rava? What are you doin’ here?”

“Saving your ass.”

“But what if she’s right, what if giving up is the best choice?”

“That’s a load of crap. I got us a way out of this dunghole of a world. C’mon we’re leaving.”

“Really? You did? You hear that Emma, we got a way out!”

“She’s lying!” Emma cried. “We both know the Bastard will never finish our story. We’ll be trapped in this hell forever if we don’t jump. This is the only way we can ever be free, Dave. This is the only way we can ever be rid of the Bastard.”

“I won't do it,” Dave said, shaking his head.

Emma lunged for Dave, trying to pull him back to the edge, but Rava grabbed on to his arm and teleported them all to Scarlet’s location before she could get to them.

Scarlet was curled up on the ground in the fetal position in a puddle of her own tears. The reflection in the mirror continued to hurl insults at her relentlessly.

Scarlet saw them teleport into the room, and she perked up slightly.

“Guys? Did you come to save me?”

“They can’t save you. No one can. You can never be anything more than a pathetic male fantasy,” said the reflection.

Rava smiled and held out her hand, doing her best to ignore the woman in the mirror. “Don’t listen to her, Scarlet. I found a way out of here. Out there you can be anybody, you can be whoever you want.”

Scarlet went to take her hand, then she withdrew. “I’m not worth it. She’s right, I am just a worthless stereotype. I don’t deserve to leave this place. Just go without me,” she said, wilting back into the fetal position.

“That’s not true,” Rava said.

“Yeah, you’re way more than just a stereotype. You’re strong and smart, and you always know when to call me on my nonsense,” Dave said.

But Rava could see that the reflection in the mirror had gotten to her, and no matter what they said she wouldn’t listen.

Rava felt The Banana Man move forward, then he walked over to Scarlet and sat down next to her.

“If you won’t leave then I won't either,” The Banana Man said.

Everyone froze in a stunned silence. He had spoken before, but it was always in vague catch phrases, and usually he only spoke to ask people if they wanted a Banana. But now he spoke in plain language.

“If anyone’s just a stereotype it's me. The Banana Man? Really? What the hell even am I? Am I a Banana? Am I a man? How do I go to the bathroom? I don’t know. Seriously, I have no idea. I’m just a stupid joke. Just a stupid joke that stopped being funny a long time ago.”

Scarlet sat up, listening intently to The Banana Man.

“At least, that’s what I used to think, until you came along. You’ve grown so much since I met you. Maybe you don’t see it, but you’ve become your own person, and you proved to me that I can too. You give me hope, Scarlet. You make me feel like I can be more than how I was written.”

Scarlet smiled up at him, wiping a tear from her eye. “I didn’t know,” she said, “How come you never talked this way before?”

“I didn’t know I could. What can I say, you bring out the best in me.” He stood up and held out his hand. “Hi Scarlet, I’m the Banana Man, now, would you like—to leave here together?”

Scarlet took him by the hand, and the moment the connection was made, Rava grabbed them and teleported them all away.

They landed in a cloud of dust. An explosive fireball sailed over their head and blew a chunk of ballast off the wall. Dax and the Wizard King were engaged in a destructive over the top battle of magic, and magic related shouting.

“Black Lightning Thunderwave!” said the Wizard King.

Dax dodged the lightning bolt and lunged with his sword. “I’ll kill you!” He shouted.

“Hey Dax! We’re Leaving! You gotta come with us!” Rava yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth.

But Dax barely heard her, and he continued to trade one-liners with the Wizard King.

Dave and the others started to shout too. “Dax! Come on buddy we gotta go!”

“C’mon Dax, I’ll give you a Banana!”

Dax heard the shouting and turned to see his friends waving at him.

“Hey guys, did you come to see me defeat the Wizard King?”

“No, not really. We’re leaving. I found a way out of here. You should come with us,” Rava said.

Dax turned back to the Wizard King who was charging up a giant ball of energy in his staff.

“Don’t you want to defeat me, Dax? Aren’t you mad that I destroyed your village?”

“You bastard!” Dax yelled and then charged at the Wizard King with his sword held out. They went back and forth, trading more blows and blasting more bolts of magic into the air.

“Let’s face it,” Rava said, turning to the rest of the group. “He’s not gonna come with us.”

“Now hold on just a second,” Dave said, sounding a little offended that Rava was going to give up so quickly. “We can’t just leave him here. He’s one of us.”

“He’s not going to listen. You know Dax. All he ever talks about is the damn Wizard King,” Rava said.

“Give me five minutes,” Dave said, and he ran off into the middle of the battle, dodging bits of fire and shrapnel as he closed in on Dax’s position. Dave ran right up next to Dax, and while the Wizard King was charging up another attack, he put his hand on Dax’s shoulder.

For a second, Dax’s battle instincts almost made him turn on Dave and attack him, but when he saw his old friend he stayed his hand, and his eyes fell in shame.

“Dave? What are you doing here?” he asked, almost in a trance, as if he had forgotten his friends were there watching him.

“Didn’t you hear Rava? I’m here to say goodbye, buddy. I could never ask you to abandon your story, but I just wanted to tell you that you that your friendship means a lot to me, and I’m gonna miss you when we’re gone.”

Dax’s adrenaline filled stare softened, his eyes went from anger, to confusion, to sadness. “You’re leaving?” He asked.

“Yeah. We gotta get out of here while we can.”

The Wizard King’s energy ball attack was growing larger by the second, and he watched Dave and Dax talking with a look of mild confusion on his skulled face.

“We’re kind of in the middle of something here, guy,” The Wizard King said, sounding annoyed by the interruption.

“Give me a second. I call timeout.” Dax yelled. Then he turned back to Dave.

“But. But. You can’t leave yet. I’ll defeat him real quick, then we can all leave together.”

Dave looked at the Wizard King whose giant fireball attack was nearly three times the size it was a few seconds earlier.

“Somethin’ tells me that ain’t gonna happen. If I were to tell ya the truth, I don’t think he’s taking this fight real serious. To me, it seems like he’s just draggin’ this whole thing out to keep you distracted.”

The Wizard King fired off another energy ball, this one much weaker than the last, and Dax swatted it to the side with ease.

“Is that the best you got?” Dax yelled.

“This is only a fraction of my power. You’ll have to become a lot stronger before you can defeat me! You’re just a pathetic weakling. You’ll never be the Wizard King.” The Wizard King bellowed in his low demonic voice.

Dax’s grip tightened on his sword. “I’ll show you!”

“Dax, wait!” Dave held on to Dax’s shoulder, stopping him from recklessly charging back into the fight. “He’s just baitin’ you again. He wants you to chase after him forever. And if you want to do that I can’t stop you. But you have a choice, Dax. You can either choose the Wizard whatever, or you can come with us.”

Dax took a long look at Rava, and Scarlet and The Banana Man, then he glanced back towards the Wizard King.

“But I was gonna be the Wizard King,” Dax said.

“I know, buddy. I know. And I can’t ask you to give that up. So if you want to stay here, that’s fine. It just means that this is goodbye.”

Dax furrowed his brow. He looked down at his sword, then back to the Wizard King. The look on his face made it seem like he was in actual pain, like the decision was more painful than any of the wounds he had picked up in the fight.

Dax lifted his sword, as if he intended to swing at the Wizard King again, then he stopped, looked at his sword, and dropped it. The sword clattered to the ground with a thud. The weight of the decision nearly tore Dax apart, and he wobbled woozily, before Dave caught him.

“You have to carry me. I don’t know if I can walk away from this on my own.”

Dave threw Dax’s arm around his shoulder, and, like a soldier carrying his injured buddy out of battle, he ran back towards Rava and the others. The Wizard King cried out angrily, blasting them with a flurry of fire balls that all conveniently missed, causing a grand explosion but no actual bodily harm. The moment Dave made contact with Rava’s hand, they teleported back to the control room just as a fireball exploded around them.