The two men continued down the hallway, Ryan struggled to figure out the nature of his environment, but it became obvious that they are inside of a realm and not an illusion the monsters had fabricated. A pocket reality that the creatures made, how they did it was unknown to him. Realm creation was thought to be impossible under normal circumstances as it would require enough magic to power the Earth five times over.

‘So, Jack…’

‘Jackson,’ he corrected.

‘… sorry. Do you know why none of this makes sense? Like, you were here longer than I was, and I was gone for like a week.’

‘Don’t know,’ the reptile replied. ‘Time dilation? Some trick?’

Ryan clumsily chuckled as he attempted to make a joke. ‘What? So are these monsters the manifestation of the people waiting for a call centre to answer?’ Jackson didn’t reply or show any care for the joke, upset Ryan apologised as he thought the situation was dire enough to be serious. ‘Sorry, sir. It’s inappropriate to make jokes at this time.’

‘Don’t be.’

Ryan raised a brow, ‘so you are giving me permission to tell some jokes?’

‘I’m not denying you.’

The young man felt relieved, he told and retold a few dad jokes to Jackson. It felt like he was talking to a walking brick wall with the outward personality of a wet sponge. Ryan liked that he could talk to another person, even if they were not entirely there. But for the reptile, it was wise to have a talkative personality to yap in their ear rather than suffer in silence.

‘So, Jackson. How’s your new hand going?’ Ryan asked, curious on how the reptile recovered.

The reptile looked at his right hand; it looked new with no scars or injuries like it had recently grown. ‘Good.’

‘What about that guy with the crystal? What did they do to him?’

‘They took it out. He died.’ The reptile replied.

‘Well if it makes you feel better, you look better than the last time we met.’

‘Same for you.’

Ryan smiled, ‘what? you thought I looked hideous a month ago?’

‘Yep.’

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Ryan held his words, shocked at what the reptile said. ‘Was that a joke?’ The reptile didn’t reply, even when Ryan asked again. Either this reptile is fucking with me, or they do have a sense of humour. Goddamn prick!

It didn’t take long for them to find another door; they stood at either side of the door. At the count of three, Jackson kicked it open for Ryan to rush inside an empty bedroom.

It was a simple bedroom with a closet, a king-sized bed, a bedside table with a lamp, and a poster of an upcoming vigilante in New York on the wall.

Ryan recognised the person, they called themselves Iron Star. A super-powered human that flew around New York and “saved the day”. It was clear that the hero was one of the people affected and mutated by the Cascade. There were rumours that the masked hero might create a team of super-powered humans to potentially defend the world from criminals and super-powered people. If the rumours were true, it would cause some problems for the Order.

‘Search,’ Jackson ordered as he looked around the bed.

Ryan walked to the closet, ‘sure I’ll search. Tell me what we are searching for if you can.’ He sarcastically replied to start some banter even if the reptile won’t engage. Ryan opened the closet slightly and saw the creature inside. Its face looked smudged out, with only its stretched-out eyes the only discernible detail staring right back at Ryan.

Ryan backed off to Jackson, unsure of what to do. ‘One’s in the closet.’ He whispered.

‘We can sense you.’ The creature in the closet said to the two men, its voice artificial while it tried to pronounce every syllable. ‘We like the taste of your friends, how sweet they are, how succulent.’ It laughed before it changed its voice to be that of a mature woman. ‘Hello? Are you there? When are you coming home?’

Jackson approached the closet and closed it. ‘Ignore it.’ He said to Ryan before he gestured that they leave the room, they were done, and it was best for them both to leave.

Ryan wiped his brow, unsure how he could understand how the monster could replicate his mother’s voice. ‘Tricks, it has to be tricks!’ He mumbled to himself, trying to rationalise how they could know. She died five years ago, no one knew her voice besides him. They might be in my head. Yeah, that explains it. He rationalised while he shook it off.

The reptile and Ryan continued their journey down the endless hallway. Not looking back at the room they’ve searched.