Joseph breathed heavily as he looked at the empty indent in the snow where Yugo had just been. He… he had just been right there! Now all that was left was the dark blindfold that had been tied over his eyes. He sheathed his knife, putting his hands on his head as he looked around. His breathing quickened as he thought about where Yugo could have gone, terrified that he had escaped knowing what Joseph was. Yugo had said that he didn’t believe Joseph… could he know that Earth is the real name of the Outworld? He sheathed his knife, a cold chill running up his spine as he considered.

He needed to get rid of the gear he stole from Yugo. What if there was some sort of magic tracker in the armor? He couldn’t afford to have it onboard Betty! He’d need to toss the knives too, there was no telling what would happen if he kept them.

Dear sweet Lord… he had ninjas after him now. He scrambled back inside Betty, quickly grabbing up the armor and blades before tossing them outside, ignoring Prolo’s questions as he shut the door and ramp. Joe then ran through his front room and to the cockpit, jumping into the chair and starting up Betty, driving away from where he’d left the armor. This was serious, this was seriously bad, a magic ninja clan knew what he was and was gonna come after him!

He needed to make a plan- He needed to figure out what to do. After he was a good distance away from the armor, he parked Betty again, running a hand over his face as he considered his options. He had been too lax again. Bringing a magical ninja onboard had been a horrible mistake- even with the suppressor cuffs which clearly didn’t always work. Yugo had teleported out after all, Joe had seen it with his own damned eyes!

From now on, magical individuals he came across, if captured, would be interrogated using different methods. What if Yugo had decided to magically nuke himself once he found out that he’d die? These were things that needed to be taken into account for the future… Now how had Yugo done it? Either the suppressor cuffs didn’t work… or it had something to do with how he was clacking his teeth. Did he have a magical teleportation tooth? It was possible, nothing was off limits at this point. He shook his head, he needed to check on Prolo and get him seated on the recliner. He could think about this more after that. He stood, and moved back to the workshop, opening the door to see Prolo sitting there, eyes wide and hand over his mouth.

“What happened?” Prolo asked, “You seemed to be in a panic… did he escape?”

Joe nodded, “He just vanished, I don’t know how, but he did.”

“I’m a dead man.” Prolo said, “And now you are too.”

“Don’t be talking like that.” Joe told him, “I ain’t intending on dying.”

“Madame herself is after me, and you made enemies with the Black Hand, which now know what you are.” Prolo said shakily, putting a hand to his brow, “I may be safer with you, but I’m not sure by much.”

“Get it together kid.” Joe told him, helping him rise, “Let's get you in a chair, don’t put weight on that leg.”

“You really were going to kill him like a dog… weren’t you?” Prolo asked, “You lied to him even…”

“Yeah.” Joe said, “I was. The Outworld ain’t a good place right now. There’s no room for duels or honor, nothing like that. You try and pull that in the wastes, you won’t last long.”

“Is it really so terrible there?” Prolo asked as Joe helped him into the recliner. He sounded a tad disappointed.

“Yeah, absolutely. There’s no knights or nothing back there, just different flavors of scumbag, at least from your perspective.” Joe told him, pulling down his hood to remove his helmet.

Now that the mask was officially broken, he’d need to get to work on a replacement. That was fine, as he wasn’t going to be leaving Betty for a long time yet.

“...I don’t believe that you’re a bad man, despite your behavior. But I must ask, what was your life like back on Earth? What made you this way?”

Joseph sighed, “I can tell you about it, but first, I wanna keep driving. You keep tight, just lay back in that chair n’ get some sleep. I wanna be far away from where I tried to kill that feller.”

“That is fair…” Prolo replied, rubbing at his bloodshot eyes, “I don’t believe I’ve ever been this exhausted in my life…”

“That happens when yer on an adventure.” Joe said reassuringly, “We’ll talk more in the mornin’ alright?”

“That sounds well and good.” Prolo said, “Please, take us far away from here.”

“With gusto.” Joe said, turning and approaching the cockpit.

Now that he had some time to think more clearly, Joe came to the conclusion that he wasn’t in immediate danger. The ninjas first had to gather their forces, then they would send out scouts, once they found Betty, they would gather and then try to mount an attack. Then again, would the ninjas really try and attack Betty directly? Surely they wouldn’t be so dumb as to try that, unless they had spells they could use to infiltrate or disable her.

He didn’t want to wait for the ninjas to come to him, the best option would be to go attack them first at their stupid little hideout. He’d storm it with Betty, then head inside and clear out any survivors with the T-12. This plan was better… but it was still flawed. What if they had casters that could paralyze him? He’d already encountered two such mages that had done so, would it really be a stretch to assume that the Black Hand wouldn’t have such capabilities as well?

No, he couldn’t storm this place by himself, it was far too risky. Yet he also couldn’t let himself be hunted. These were ninjas. They would wait until they had a prime opportunity to take him out, Joe wouldn’t be able to walk freely for fear of an ambush. He continued to ponder this as he drove along, shifting course in the general direction of Ugals. That’s when it hit him.

Surely Varig would not take kindly to a bunch of ninjas hanging out right next to his house. If he let the dwarves know, they might want to take matters into their own hands and force the ninjas out of their mountains. This could also be a good way for them to repay the debt that Varig owes him, getting rid of the ninjas would make things square in his book. He’d still take part in the attack on the Black Hand, after all, there was bound to be good loot in their hideout.

Still, there was a chance that the dwarves wouldn’t see it that way… but there still was someone that he could ask for help, though he would need to find her first. Sera taking out an entire ninja clan might be a big enough accomplishment that it could fulfill her contract with Gerad. With her abilities and Joe’s brutality, they could likely get the job done, but there was a single problem with that plan.

Gerad.

That little punk had wanted to sacrifice Joseph to a Faelord, probably still did. They couldn’t just ditch him either, as she needed him to complete their contract. If they didn’t finish it together, then it was void, or maybe the contract would be broken. If he found Sera and Gerad, he’d have to bring the little punk with them… but he would be restrained if Gerad wanted to accomplish that great task so badly.

There were other options he could consider as well. Joe could be a ninja himself and potentially sneak into the compound. All he would have to do at that point was plant some C4 and boom, no more ninjas. Yet, this plan put a lot of risk on himself as well, what if he got caught? He supposed that he could also try and bug bomb the place with some homemade mustard gas, but he wasn’t sure he had enough supplies for that to work. The compound they were in could just be too large for it to poison everybody.

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No, the best plan was going to Varig and requesting his help in destroying the Black Hand. If he had an army of dwarves at his back he would feel a lot better. He grinned as he remembered what he’d given them last time he’d visited. Dwarves with AK’s and Benneli’s might be backing him up, that changed things. Ninja’s weren’t bulletproof after all, unless they did that stupid blurring crap.

Still, a part of him really did want to go find Sera first. It had only been a couple weeks, she couldn’t have gotten too far from Letsher, right? Having her with him would make him feel safer, she’d saved his ass before, after all. It’d also be nice to simply be in her company again, he admitted.

Well, in any case, Joe’s revenge on Henry would have to take a backseat for now. He continued driving for about an hour before he finally decided to stop, yawning as he put Betty in park. Let the ninjas try and catch up with him now! He stood from his chair, popping his back before going into the front room. He saw Prolo, sitting far away in the recliner, leaned back. On further inspection, Joe could see that he’d completely passed out. That was good, Prolo was a growing boy and needed his sleep.

Joseph did too. He may not be growin’ no more but he was old, and old folk needed naps. He moved over to the entertainment center, and simply curled up on the carpet, not bothering to remove his gear. He felt groggy and slightly cramped as he awoke, sitting up and looking over to Prolo. The kid was still asleep from the sound of it, and he didn’t react to Joe rising at all.

He checked the watch he had built into the armor of his wrist, seeing that seven hours had passed. Well, that explained the crick in his neck. Joe stood with a groan, moving over to the cockpit and checking the exterior cameras. Scanning the snowfield, he saw no blurring shapes or ninjas. They could be invisible, like those guys that had ambushed him at the dragon’s corpse… but it didn’t even look like there were footprints in the snow. They could be standing in the trail Betty had made but he doubted it.

Joe had driven very far away, it was unlikely the Black Hand would catch up any time soon. Groggily he removed his cloak and armor, storing it away before he grabbed up his pj’s. He headed to the bathroom, it was high time that he took a shower. Lotta grime had built up during the time he was out, it was time to get it all off. When he was done, he stepped out with a tired sigh, wiping the fog away from the mirror and simply staring at himself.

He still looked and felt tired even though he’d slept seven hours. As ritual demanded, he blew a few boogers into the sink before drying off and donning his polka-dot jammies. Stepping out of the restroom, he could see that Prolo had awakened, and was looking around curiously. When he spotted Joseph, he waved.

“Sleep good?” Joe asked, approaching.

“Surprisingly, yes.” Prolo said, his eyes wide as he looked around the front room, “Why is this space so… so massive? It shouldn’t be possible.”

“I got a nifty little trinket from the dwarves. They called it a space expander, look over there.” Joe said, indicating the sphere set into the center of the floor, “That thing increases the space of a room it's in by ten times. It used to be a lot more cramped before.”

“Ah that makes sense.” Prolo said with a nod, “I hate to ask this of you, but might you be able to get me a glass of water?”

Joe smiled, “Of course, ya can’t really get up n’ do it yerself.”

He quickly moved over to the kitchen and to retrieve the glass, bringing it to Prolo who chugged it all back in one go.

Prolo then looked down to his injured leg and grimaced, “How long do you think until I can walk on it?”

“Just to be safe, I’d say a couple weeks. You don’t gotta worry about it gettin’ infected, I got modern medicine on my side, modern Earth medicine. You’ll be right as rain in no time.”

“Thank you, I just hope this will not affect how I walk.” Prolo said with a frown.

“Well, it might be okay.” Joe told him reassuringly, “It didn’t hit the bone and it didn’t go too deep, ya got lucky boy.”

Prolo frowned deeper, looking up to glare at Joseph, “Why do you keep calling me boy? You are hardly any older than myself.”

“You a hundred n’ two?” Joe asked.

Prolo seemed taken aback for an instant, looking at Joe as if he’d cracked a joke. After a prolonged silence, Prolo asked, “Do Outworlders really live for so long?”

Joe shook his head, “Naw, not unless they got mutations or bionics. I got neither, I was old and witherin’ away when I was back home. For some reason I’m a spring chicken again, and hey, I ain’t complainin’.”

“How?” Prolo asked, “How did you escape your summoning?”

“Oh boy… Well, that’s a long story. First off, I didn’t escape anything, I just sorta showed up.”

With that, Joseph began his tale, starting with how he’d awakened young, to his meeting and travels with Sera, all the way up to delivering Prolo the book. A couple hours had passed before he was finished, and Joe felt exhausted from the re-telling.

“That was… quite the tale.” Prolo said, rubbing a hand over his face, “So, this Sera woman… you do realize that she most likely…” He continued, rubbing a hand through his hair, “That is to say, and I’m sure you know but, it sounds like she’s infatuated with you.”

Joe laughed, “Yeah, she is a good pal huh?”

Prolo shook his head, “A ‘pal’ doesn’t just drop in your lap while you're both drunk and insist on constantly hugging you, fool!” He yelled, sounding slightly irritated.

Joe waved a dismissive hand, “She was just doing that to mess with me, she don’t like me that way.”

“And what if you’re wrong?” Prolo asked, leaning forward in his seat, “What if she does? More importantly, how do you feel about her?”

Joe groaned, “C’mon, what is this high school? I guess ya are just a kid so I guess it makes sense that ya wanna gossip.”

“High school?” Prolo asked, “Wait, save that, I must make you understand that Sera’s behavior was not merely to tease you… at least not completely. I’ve known several women in my time, and when they behave like that it is because they, in one form or another, desire you.”

Joe shook his head and laughed, “Funny guy, think you know more about women then I do huh?”

Prolo stared.

“You try livin’ a hundred n’ two years and not learn a thing or two. Whippersnapper.” Joe said, shaking his head.

“Whipper-what?” Prolo asked, “Nevermind. The point is that I am right, and you are wrong.”

“I like how this is what yer fixating on.” Joe said, crossing his arms, “Ya don’t wanna hear about Henry the cyborg, or the dwarves, or even Earth, you wanna gossip about girls.”

Prolo threw his hands up in frustration, immediately regretting that motion as he clutched his damaged shoulder with a wince. “I do want to hear about all those things, believe me.” Prolo said, “But I also want to convince you about Sera.”

“Look buddy,” Joe sighed, “I ain’t the kinda guy someone should love. Sera ain’t that kind of gal neither… I don’t think.”

Prolo pointed at him, “That’s right, you aren’t sure.” He stated, “That’s how you know that they like you!”

“That’s not what that means at all.” Joe said flatly, “What the hell type of girls do you talk to that makes ya think that?”

“Noblewomen, the most dangerous of all.” Prolo said in a miserable tone, “See, I learned that when a lady wishes to court with you, that they will toy with your feelings, so you are left uncertain as to what they want. If a lady does not have any interest in you, they make it well known to you and all their friends, usually they turn it into a spectacle to further humiliate you. This acts as a deterrent to future attempts at courtship. A woman that is interested will play with you like a cat toys with a mouse-”

“That ain’t how the women I knew acted.” Joe cut him off, “Look, I think maybe you need to look outside the nobility, especially if yer wanting to get a nice girl. Have you considered lookin’ for a nice country gal?”

Prolo fell silent for a brief moment before he said, “I’ve considered it… but father would never let me marry into the lower classes-”

“Who cares?” Joe asked with a snicker, “Yer a runaway remember? Ya came with me to learn to survive on yer own, that means you wanna give up fancy livin’ right? Get yerself a country girl, that’s old folk wisdom.”

Prolo laughed, “I suppose you’re right, but do you want to know some young advice?”

“Shoot.”

“Huh?” Prolo asked.

“You know, shoot yer advice.”

“Since you’re mentally old, you might not realize it, but physically you aren’t any more. Women will find you attractive again, think about that.”

A shudder went down Joseph’s spine at those words. It was hard to accept but maybe Prolo had a point there… and if women actually did find him attractive again did that mean that Sera? He put a hand on his chin and furrowed his brow. Could she actually…?

“But anyway,” Prolo said, cutting off his thoughts, “I would like to hear about Earth now, if you’d like.”

“I’d be glad to tell ya, but first I got some stuff I gotta do. I need to figure out how to make a new gas mask outta dragon bone, and that’s gonna be a bitch to do, so it’ll need all my attention. How about while I do that, I put on a documentary for ya?”

“Documentary?” Prolo asked, “Is that a book?”

“Naw, I’m gonna show you what Earth looked like before The End.”