“I was on my way to the hospital to see my sister anyways. I can take you,” Koa said, extending a hand.

Thomas didn’t take it. “Oh, what happened to your sister?”

“Well, we don’t know. She went missing today. She was DJing at a rave, but we haven’t found her.”

Thomas felt his viscera knot up. Probably guilt, considering what he knew he’d done to Koa’s sister. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s all right, it wasn’t your fault or anything.” Koa chuckled. “Now, come on. I have a Civ that can help you. Raining Men!” she shouted as Thomas clasped her hand, and Thomas began to float in the air as several toy soldiers exited his body.

Koa held him by the hand as she pulled him towards the hospital, slowly escorting him through the rain. Thomas gained a real sense of warmth from her. Perhaps she would be understanding? She was a gangster as well; she’d have to understand that this is how things work, right? And Thomas didn’t want to lie anymore. “Koa, I have something to confess,” Thomas said, looking up.

“What’s that?”

“I’m done lying. I’m done living a lie. You seem like a good person deep down, which is why you deserve to know.”

“Know . . . what?”

“I killed your sister, Koa. I was sent to murder her by the Krokodil Crime Family, and I did it. I sent a dog-crocodile to eat her face!” Thomas shouted. But Koa didn’t get mad right away. She just started to cry.

“What? Why? Why are you telling me this?” Koa asked, recoiling in disgust at Thomas and what he had done, as the cloud disappeared and he fell to the ground.

“I don’t want to be a liar anymore. I lie and I hide from my punishments but not anymore. I don’t care what you do to me as revenge. I just can’t do this anymore.” Thomas was sobbing, the rain flowing down his face, and so was Koa, now that she’d internalized what had happened. “I killed your sister, that’s unforgivable.” Suddenly Thomas fell to the ground, his bottle of Chorus shattering into a puddle as his face was smashed into the concrete and metal by a soaking wet rain boot. Thomas’s mouth was being held open, inches away. Then, the puddle flowed into his open mouth.

As Thomas lay there accepting his fate—the punishment for the things he had done—his entire life was flashing before his eyes. And as the Chorus flowed into his mouth, that’s what he remembered. Everything he had ever done. Every moment was laid out for him plainly and objectively. Every kiss, every hug, every victory, every time he felt worth it. And all the bad stuff was there too. But somehow, despite what Thomas would have said a few minutes ago, there was always something good that came after the bad. He’d been happy the past few weeks. Grieving and living with a lot of problems but happy. He’d been stuck in the past few moments of his life, sure . . .

But he realized as his eyes opened that he had felt that feeling millions of times. And just a few hours ago, he got a cute dog. I want to live, Thomas thought. I’m not going to die today! Thomas screamed in silent triumph. Those words—I want to live—filled every corner of his brain so completely that he didn’t even notice something strange happening to his legs. Normally, the feeling of his legs rebuilding themselves from phantom matter made from every cell in Thomas’s body would send him into a fit of pain that would make him wish he would die. But He couldn’t feel anything but a love for life once he saw it all laid in front of him.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

And Thomas stood up. His legs were glowing a bright, spectral purple, but they were there. He wasn’t bleeding. He was okay. He was more than okay.

But Koa wasn’t. Thomas had completely forgotten about the boot that was crushing his neck a few moments ago. But now Koa was lying face down in the rain. There was a bullet hole in her back.

Blair had recognized where Thomas was from the background of their Unit call. She knew he was in trouble, and she couldn’t just let him die. She had decided to make things even before she left Neonight, now that Thomas knew she had turned against him and he might make her life there hard. She’d had to let her cats go, unfortunately. There were simply too many to take with her.

She was watching Thomas from the other end of the street, the body of the woman who had been attacking him lying face down in the near-empty roads. Thomas didn’t see her, though; he could only focus on Koa, who was unconscious, lying face down. But he could have sworn he had heard something off at the end of the street—an engine maybe. Thomas looked down the dark night road. Nobody was there. But he didn’t need anybody right now.

* * *

“Huh.” Thomas walked into the Neonight North Hospital, taking care to step over the commotion that had broken out. “You know, maybe I’ll try a different hospital.” Thomas turned to leave out the front door as he carried Koa in a set of phantom hands. Then, he saw Piotr Ivanov fly backwards down one of the hallways covered in large scratch marks. “Or I’ll stay! Piotr what’s going on?!” Thomas shouted as he ran over. He pointed down the hallway at the congealed mass of felines that was slowly lumbering towards them hissing and gurgling. “OH MY GOD! Mittens?” Thomas asked in shock. Then, he heard the sound of loud barking coming from behind him. Thomas turned to see Rocky growling and barking but taking a second to smile and wave its tail at Thomas. “Well this is fun, isn’t it? It’s like a reunion.”

“I’m dying, Thomas,” Piotr groaned as his scars burned and sizzled.

“Right, I’ll deal with that!” Thomas stood up. “Okay . . . how am I going to deal with that?” Suddenly, a slash crossed Thomas’s face, sending him falling to the ground in agony. Okay, step 1: Get Blair’s Cats out of the hospital! Thomas stood up and sprinted out the door, resting Koa on a nearby couch. “Rocky, follow me!” Thomas motioned to follow as he ran out the door. Rocky followed behind, as did Blair’s Cats.

The mass of cats stepped out of the front doors of the hospital to see only Thomas, standing perfectly still in front of a train platform. Blair’s Cats hissed, preparing to slice him again. They didn’t fully recognize him or recall the nights they had spent together. They only recognized a threat. Suddenly, Piotr appeared in the hospital doorway, covered in blood and leaning against the frame. “Thomas! They attack invisibly and draw all energy towards the sight of the wounds they inflict! I would know—they’ve hit me many times!” Piotr hollered. The Cats turned towards him.

“Yeah, I guessed that much. What happened?”

“Well, my plan was to find it, and um . . . I did, so good plan!”

“A ‘Good Plan’ isn’t a plan that you simply carry out; it’s one that you carry out and doesn’t horribly wound you. Is there any way to beat this thing?”

“It can change form into Blair’s nine cats at will, at which point they become relatively docile. But keep in mind anybody that anyone that pursues them in that state will experience terrible misfortune!” Piotr gestured to the many scars on his legs and feet. “That’s how I got these! And if you try to attack them in that form, the damage will be reflected!” Piotr gestured to the hole in his head. “That’s how I got this!”

“Oh my God. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m Russian!”

“I guess being in a hurry will keep you from succumbing to pain, sure.”

“And besides, where would I go?” Piotr pointed behind him as the flames inside the hospital doubled in size. “The Hospital?” He let out a hearty belly laugh. Thomas laughed along with him, and the two exchanged knowing finger guns as Thomas felt his chest get torn to pieces by invisible claws.

Thomas ran back, clutching his gashes as he did. “We need to figure out a way to get these guys back in their normal form. That means we need to either calm them down, which seems very hard, or get them to a point where they need defence more than offence.” All of a sudden, Thomas looked down in front of him and saw a stack of small stones on the ground. Oh my God. Rocky is going to kill Blair’s Cats! Thomas shouted internally as he ran forward in an attempt to stop what was about to unfold.

Blair’s Cats were sprinting even faster, however, yowling and caterwauling as they did. And the moment their foot was above the tower, it unfolded into a towering stack of a dozen train cars, all sitting on top of one another, extending high into the sky, with Blair’s Cats on top, looking down nervously. They immediately began to whimper and whine, looking around nervously for a safe way to climb down, like a cat stuck in a tree. All of a sudden, Rocky appeared at Thomas’s side and licked his palm, smiling like a good dog. With a lot more fangs. Blair’s Cats returned to their unconjoined state as they tumbled down the tower of trains, falling gracefully into Thomas’s phantom hands.

* * *

Thomas slumped into his apartment for the first time in a few days, his eyes droopy and posture slouched in exhaustion. He hadn’t bothered to turn the lights on, deciding to just tremble off to bed and get as little extra stimulation as possible. Thomas’s bags had become extra pronounced that night, and his new phantom legs were already tired from the little use they had gotten. Thomas lifted up his covers and tucked himself in. Then, his eyes widened as he felt something wet and foul in his bed next to him. Something like a large dead bug.