Hhhhhhhhkkhhhhhhhhkkkkhhkhhh....


Nix stares at Allen while Rilly is fascinated by the screen they are sat watching.

—Rilly—
Woooww! What a cool magic artifact!
With the little glowy screen, and-- oh, and it opens like a book!
I have got to tell Zabelle about this, she'll be sooo psyched.

  Cliff Mason
What?
Oh, oh that's just Coral's laptop, don't worry about that.
She said I could show Allen cartoons on it while she's gone.
I really meant to show you this little guy!

Hhh hhhhh....
What's the meaning of this.

  Cliff Mason
I told you, it's Allen!
He's the little guy I've been taking care of.

This is how you've been wasting your time?

  Cliff Mason
It's not a waste, Nix.
This the only thing that really matters.

Cliff drops to one knee, his eyes on Allen, as he relays his wisdom to Nix.

  Cliff Mason
Nix, I got a feeling you've had a hard life.
It's not easy being so little in such a big world.
Always looking after yourself.

I am not weak!

  Cliff Mason
There's nothing wrong with-- you don't handle everything by yourself, that's all I'm saying!
It's okay to just slow down, and let someone else look after you.
Like I do for Allen here.

  Cliff Mason
Because I have him, I can be more than a fighter.
You get it?
There's more to life than fighting back.



Nix's face twists with disgust.











She leaps at Allen teeth-first, biting down onto the metal plate on Allen's chest...

HhhhHHHHHHKKKKH!!!!

  Cliff Mason
Whoa WHOA HEY--!!


...and then she rears her head back and rips it out. What looked like a flat plate from the front tears from Allen's little body, revealing a long and sharp edge that was buried deeper than Allen's chest is thick. It is a nail. Rough, beaten, and glistening wet.

HKK---










Cliff and Rilly scream in horror. Allen's body begins warping and churning and boiling, something inside struggling to push out from within--

  Cliff Mason
No, no, no, what did you do!?
What did you DO!!?

—Rilly—
I-- I think--
There's something--!





Something makes a tearing sound.





Allen's body messily bursts open in a shower of amniotic fluid. And from inside emerges... Allen. They look different now, much larger. Their body is broad and soft with a hole through their chest, a stitch winding from the hole up their neck. They've got a new pair of wings now emerging from the small of their back, to complement the ones they already had between their shoulder blades. And their single tuft of hair has grown out to a full mane.








They look down at their shocked audience and smile wide, wings still dripping. There's an eye in their mouth.



Hhhello, Cliff!