My eyes alternate between Retard Padu on the bed, probably stewing in his adult diapers and Fancy Padu in his leisure suit, idly sipping from a shot glass. Both old men with white hair and creases all over their faces. I can already feel a headache coming on. A black spot of pressure building at the root of my brain stem. Why can't something be straight forward for once?

At least I don't sense any danger toward myself. Weirdness is all I need to contend with today. Small mercies.

"A drink, Adam?" Fancy Padu offers as he reaches for a bottle of tequila, using a small stepladder placed by the side of the mini bar, "It would give you something to distract yourself with."

"Why would I need distracting?" I ask, taking the fresh shot glass from Fancy Padu and dropping all my weight on to one of the leather stools.

"Because you've been staring at me ever since you got here." Retard Padu gurgles from his corner of the room, still staring out the window at the Crossroad City skyline.

"It is rather rude." Fancy Padu agrees with a gentle nod of his head.

"Sorry." I murmur and down the shot of tequila in a single gulp. The drink burns its way down my throat and to my embarrassment, I begin sputtering and coughing almost immediately.

"Shit, that's nasty." I grumble, trying to hide my loss of composure. Both Padus don't respond, in fact Fancy Padu has been staring at me, both eyes trying to burn metaphorical holes through my body.

"You're still so young." Fancy Padu finally says, his face bearing an expression of discontent before he manages to smooth it out. Fancy Padu slams down his shot of tequila without hesitation before pouring himself another.

"How long has it been since we last met?" I ask cautiously, realizing this is probably a sore topic for both Padus.

"More than three decades." Retard Padu chokes out, "I lost track once I became bedridden."

"And I lost track ever since we've been trapped in here." Fancy Padu frowns, "More to the point Adam, how much time has passed for you since our match in the squared circle?"

"One and a half days." I state in a neutral voice, not wanting to provoke either Padu, "I still have the bruises from our match."

"Hot damn." Fancy Padu breathes, "You work fast Adam. Really fast. Delacroix was right when he said the Sensorium shouldn't be taken lightly."

"Wait, wait, hold up." I raise my hand, trying to regain control of the conversation, "I've got plenty of questions that need answering -"

"You probably won't like the answers." Fancy Padu smirks ruefully.

"But there's no reason for us to refuse to give them." Retard Padu chimes in, "Ask away."

"Alright. How did you know my name?" I demand, "I used an alias when wrestling you."

Retard Padu sighs tiredly, "You flashed your ID at the orphanage guards. We saw it all on the TV. Ask a more interesting question please."

Fancy Padu picks up a remote control on the counter top and jabs at a button. A large TV mounted on the wall comes to life, showing footage streamed from the orphanage's security system. The tout is still hanging about, smoking and trying to strike up conversation with the guards. Good luck with that, the guards all seem to be studiously ignoring him.

"Fine. Let's go for the big question then." I clench my fists on the counter, trying to stare down Fancy Padu, "Why in the world are there two of you? And how did I get to Crossroad City from the orphanage?"

Fancy Padu flinches at my intensity and for a moment he seems afraid. He licks his lips nervously before slowly sipping his drink in silence. It is Retard Padu that replies.

"There was once a pro wrestler called Padu the Beast." Retard Padu slurs, "And one day he was hit in the head with a metal chair, ending his career."

"I remember that part." I mutter uncomfortably, "No need to rake over old coals."

"But you don't know what happened next." Retard Padu swallows his excess spit before continuing, "There was a Starfall Detonation. The radiation swept over the venue."

"I do know what happened." I shake my head, "You were rescued by Delacroix. I saw him carrying you out of the restaurant before I escaped."

"Not rescued." Fancy Padu cuts in, "Delacroix told us later that he was the cause of the Starfall Detonation."

"Wait, what? How?" I snap in surprise at this sudden tangent.

"It doesn't matter." Retard Padu croaks, "Because you killed me Adam. My brain was pasted by the blow. I was dead the moment I hit the mat. The rest of my body just didn't realize it yet."

I purse my lips, slowly understanding what's going on. Padu died, yet he did not. Just like me.

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"And in another time," Fancy Padu finally speaks up, "Padu the Beast never met the Drifter in the ring. His opponent was a no show. When the Starfall Detonation occurred, I joined hands with Delacroix to rescue everyone in the restaurant."

I follow Fancy Padu's eyes and spot the photo hanging on the wall. A photo of Padu the Beast and Delacroix fist bumping each other, surrounded by the bedraggled survivors of the Starfall Detonation.

"For that moment, I was a hero." Fancy Padu murmurs to himself sadly, "I went on to have a great career surrounded by cheering fans,"

"But something happened." I shoot back grimly.

"Delacroix contacted me all of a sudden." Fancy Padu said, "He wanted to meet. And it was clear that he wouldn't take no for an answer."

I lean in, eager for what happened next. But Fancy Padu falls silent again, morosely playing with his shot glass.

"Show him." Retard Padu rasps, "It would be easier that way."

Fancy Padu nods and gets up from his seat. His stubby legs waddle across the floor, coming to a stop at a small decorative cabinet in the middle of the room. Pushing the cabinet aside reveals a panel built into the floor with a keypad.

"Fuck it. Things have come this far." Fancy Padu curses and taps in a code on the keypad. The panel slides away with a mechanical chirp and a pedestal rises from the hidden compartment.

"No way." I shield my eyes from the miniature sun installed on the pedestal.

"You know what this is?" Retard Padu asks, disinterestedly gazing our way.

"A soul gem array." I squint, examining the contraption more closely, "I've got experience with this type of thing."

"Should have guessed." Fancy Padu sighs, "At any rate, Delacroix led me to this penthouse with the array you see already installed. He said that it was his gift to me. But in return, I could never leave."

"Never leave?" I grimace as Fancy Padu rambles in the background, most of my attention fixed on the array.

"Never ever." Fancy Padu confirms, "Delacroix would take care of all my needs, but I would be his prisoner."

"And you accepted that?" I look back up at Fancy Padu in disbelief.

"I had no choice." the man shrugs helplessly.

"Because of Andrew." Retard Padu groans, "Andrew was there too. With me. Or what remained of me."

"The Fat Man." I nod slowly, mentally putting the pieces together.

"He wasn't exactly a man, more a boy, but that's a good way of describing him." Fancy Padu exhales, "Andrew, my biggest fan. Or so he says."

I tap at one of the soul gems in the array, noting the terrible condition most of the gems are in. The array might appear elaborate at first glance but the gems are all pitted or burned. My single tap causes the entire penthouse to waver, as if the three of us are sitting in the middle of a mirage. Retard Padu gives me a dirty look and I stop with my fiddling. My little experiment nevertheless confirmed the mounting suspicion I had been entertaining.

We're not in Crossroad City. In fact, I don't think we're even in the "real world" as most people would consider it.

The entire penthouse is an artificial reconciliation, sustained by the soul gem array as the heart.

"Delacroix was trying to save my life. That's what Andrew said." Fancy Padu explained, "I was going to disappear, because I had died in another timeline. But if I stayed in a place where time had no meaning -"

"The other me would live as well," Retard Padu continues, "We would live forever and ever. As long as we stayed in this room."

"But you're still bedridden." I point out the obvious.

"My time ended when you hit me on the head." Retard Padu answers sourly.

"So you can't die, because the other you is still alive." I nod to myself, "But your injuries can't heal? Because you originally had no future after our match?"

"Correct." Fancy Padu takes up the thread, "And I must stay here because if the other me dies, so will I. We're the same person at the end of the day, despite appearances."

I had thought Padu had become an Awakened as well but it appears that the initial guess was wrong. Delacroix and the Fat Man had used the soul gem array to put Padu in an Awakened like state, but it was ultimately not the same thing. Padu seems to have no way of feeding, making him totally reliant on the soul gems.

"Delacroix gave us a job at the orphanage, an income, food," says Fancy Padu, "Not that it means much, we can't leave this place anyway. But we can still manage the orphanage from here."

"Using that slot in the door." I raise an eyebrow.

"Its simple, but it works." Fancy Padu vaguely waves my remark off, "We can also keep an eye on things using the security system, so matters have been working out quite smoothly. All things considered."

"So why don't you let visitors in?" I ask, thinking back to what Rachel's sister said earlier.

"Letting other people into this space strains the array." Retard Padu answers, "Something about the array needing to exert more power to alter someone else's perception. That's what Andrew said, I never understood it."

Yeah, that makes sense to what I know. Perception creates reality. So as long as Padu perceives himself to be alive and there's no one to challenge it, the array's power would last longer.

"We can't be hermetically sealed in here, no matter how desirable it is for our condition." Fancy Padu throws himself onto a nearby sofa, "We need to eat. And Andrew needs to deliver fresh soul gems to refresh the array."

"Soul gems aren't cheap. Why's Andrew and Delacroix being so generous here?" I quiz, towering over both Padus. There's an uneasy silence between the duo and they look away, sadness on both faces.

"I suppose Andrew's generosity is running out." I point at the burning out array, "Afraid that your time here is coming to an end?"

"The array is incredibly stable." Fancy Padu rebuts, "It was in close to pristine condition this morning."

"So how -" I ask but Retard Padu cuts me off.

"The array started to degrade the moment your car pulled up at the orphanage gate."

"No way." I shake my head, "The soul gem should have way more power than that."

"Delacroix didn't save us out of generosity." Fancy Padu's mouth is a thin line, "We were an experiment."

"And we failed." Retard Padu concludes with resignation.

Both men turn to look at me with naked fear in their eyes.

"A gate meant to stop several high level adventurers and you kicked it down like nothing."

"We tried activating the sentry guns to stop you but they shorted out. You smelt the wires burning didn't you, Adam? We could see your face from the cameras."

"And the door to our home. Magically unlocks itself the moment you try the handle."

The duo's fear is contagious. And my own terror rises as I understand the nature of the experiment Delacroix had conducted on the Padus. The duo was both dead and alive at the same time. Like an Awakened.

Like me.

And just like me, they suffer from the same invisible hunter stalking them.

The Fated End.

I am Padu's fated end. That's why the world conspired the let me into the orphanage. And why the array is rotting away as we speak.

"How will you kill us Adam?" Retard Padu softly asks, tears in his eyes.

"We never wronged you Adam." Fancy Padu whispers, but I'm no longer listening. My vision spins as the duo's faces begin to merge in my mind's eye. But I can't drown out their singular voice.

"Please be kind to us."