Teddy agreed to the ‘one’ proclaimed as Monteray’s proposal. He still wasn’t sure he understood or even believed him, but there was no other fall back to keep his promise to Monteguem to serve his missus. A short while later, the ‘one’ proclaimed as Monteray fall asleep.

What happened next, Teddy couldn’t explain.

Just like Teddy’s suitcase, Monteray disappeared into thin air. He was gone, vanished without a trace. And it all happened the moment he fell asleep.

And suddenly, Teddy was all alone in his cell because as soon as Monteray fell asleep, the cell next to him emptied.

And Teddy swallowed hard. After the explanation he got, he both was and was not expecting that. He was told it would happen but didn’t actually think it would.

Fortunately, the only service required of him was to wait for the ‘thug one’ to arrive, granted he was Monte’s next iteration. The ‘thug one’ wasn’t going to break Teddy out of jail, he was simply going to deliver a totem. Teddy would put that totem in his suitcase and transport the entity known as Monte far, far away. That was about as much as he grasped.

Mostly it was pure madness.

Teddy had seen some real craziness in his day. One time, he’d met a tribe of gypsies who sewed on the severed arms of their mates. That was a…’treat’. Another time, he’d met a traveling preacher who had a Satyr for a grandkid. That was odd.

But this—this was pure madness.

He tried to wrap his head around Monteguem, Montebell—or whoever in the mire they were. But it was insanity. Monteguem had perished, but there were still three more? More importantly, Bell and Monteguem were the same entity? It was actually Monteguem flirting with Teddy all night in the bar, at least the entity known as Monteguem?

Monte…Monte…I am so glad I kept my hands to myself last night.

Teddy sat and he waited. That was he was required to do.

He tried not to think too deeply into what he’d just learned, and that was…difficult, to say the least. But right now, all he could do was wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And…hmm?

Teddy crawled to his feet. He could have sworn he just heard a scream?

Thump. Thump. Thump.

He pointed his ear out the cave. Really big footsteps?

Then, several loud crashes, some screaming, and a stampede of much smaller footsteps. That stampede, it was coming his way and really fast, too. It paused, likely just outside the cramped cell block Teddy was in.

What the? Reinforcements? Did that Monteray send reinforcements?

The bars leading to Teddy’s cell block rattled.

  “Open it! Open it!”

  “Don’t rush me! I can’t find the key!”

  “Hurry up! It’s your own damn fault for keeping so many on that key ring.

  “Oh? Where’s your key ring? Just happened to forget it right as the monster shows up, eh?

  “Shut up and open the gate!”

  “You started it! Ah, there!”

  “Inside! Inside! It’s coming!”

The bars creaked open and immediately slammed shut. Then a trio of patrols ran down the hall leading by Teddy’s cell block. The guards are running away? What kind of reinforcements did Monteray send?

He heard the bars rattle again, and a deep oafish voice called through. “Teddy? You still in there, friend? Teddy? Hello? You did not wander off, did you? Hello?”

Huddled on the other side of the hallway, the cowering patrols called back.

  “Stay back, you monster!”

  “I—I have a spear!”

  “We called reinforcements, they’ll be here any minute!”

The oafish voice ignored them. “Teddy? Did you wander away, oh dear.”

“H-hello?” Teddy ventured. “I’m still in here.”

Big thunderous hands clapped and the oafish voice answered. “Oh, good!”

The bars began to creak and a loud crash fell down. The patrol screamed obscenities and threats, but those heavy steps lumbered on in. Thump. Thump. Thump. And right then, Teddy understood exactly what made three patrol cower in the corner.

That thing in front of him was every bit an ogre in human form. Big bald head, fat belly, huge flabby arms that somehow radiated raw strength, and it was tall, so tall it had to duck down slightly to keep its head from hitting the ceiling above. Overall, it could easily fit three of Teddy inside its stomach.

Except, it wasn’t threatening. Teddy couldn’t imagine what those three patrol had gone through to be so scared of this guy. It wore a crooked grin that wrinkled up all the baby fat on its face. Really, with that pinkish skin, it looked like an overgrown baby. Teddy even recognized the outfit it wore.

What could be said? The market didn’t keep clothes that size on hand, so back when Teddy was filling Monteguem’s order from the market, Teddy simply bought a tarp and poked head and armholes through it. That lumbering ogre wore that tarp-tunic like an ill-fitted dress.

Monteguem wasn’t around long enough to complain and that was the best Teddy could do. It needs not be said that he couldn’t find any shoes in its size. Likely Monteguem never anticipated needing to use that ogreish body.

However, here it was; the one known as ‘Montethug’, here to break Teddy out of jail. It reached forward with one of those giant hands and simply ripped the cell door straight off the hinges. Its other hand extended in the cell and Teddy backed away out of instinct. Friendly or not, that guy could smash him like a bug. As dumb as it appeared, it might even be a ‘true’ unfortunate accident, too.

That clenched fist opened up, and in the center of its palm was a tiny, black marble, a totem.

“I, uh, I need to put this in my suitcase, right?” Teddy asked, not daring to offend the monstrous Montethug.

“That is the plan I know,” Montethug replied.

Gingerly, Teddy took the marble from that giant palm. It was actually a little bigger than it first appeared, an illusion being in the center of such a big hand. The surface wasn’t smooth, though. Countless tiny inscriptions covered the face, giving it a rough texture.

Teddy’s suitcase materialized and he carefully put the marble totem inside. According to Monteray’s story, the entity known as ‘Monte’ was bound to that marble. Upon death or simply falling asleep, he’d always regenerate in one of his other bodies near it, formerly four bodies, now three.

Until seeing Montethug, Teddy was still a bit skeptical of that story. He’d seen some craziness in his day, but this took the cake. His suitcase vanished, and now, ‘Monte’ would respawn far, far away in the King's territory, that same hidden place Teddy’s suitcase returned to.

“Hey! Hey! What are you doing? There’s no room!” Teddy cried.

Montethug ignored him. He hunkered down and tried to wiggle his oafish body into Teddy’s cell. Not wanting to get crushed in the struggle, Teddy pressed himself to as far a corner as he could manage. Somehow, that lumbering oaf fit inside. He reached back through, grabbed the cell door he’d ripped off the hinges and held it back in place, ‘locking’ the two in that tiny cell together.

“I apologize for the door,” Montethug called to the guards.

  “Don’t trust it!”

  “It’s a trap!”

  “He’s a devious one!”

Teddy shook his head. Even if Montethug died, he’d be safe back in the King’s territory when he respawned, albeit down another body. That was alright. ‘Monte’ was a good…uh…entity. He took Teddy in off the streets, gave him a hut to sleep in even if was only for a few days (a seeming eternity to Teddy), gave him a purpose in life again, and most importantly, Monte treated him with respect. He even took a blade for Teddy. If starving to death in a jail cell ended up being his ‘convenient accident’, he could die at peace knowing he did what he could to return the favor.

Monte was a good man—er—woman, depending on the day.

Before long, another stampede of steps came down the hall. Reinforcements had arrived, and this time, they weren’t to break Teddy out of jail. They were here for Montethug.

Half a dozen patrols crowded around the cell door Montethug held in place, their spears lowered. Behind them, Teddy heard even more commotion. It seemed the narrow hall forced them to split the patrol, but that didn’t matter. With the new arrivals, even the ogreish Montethug didn’t stand a chance, now.

“Was this the plan?” Teddy asked.

Montethug nodded. “This one’s too stupid to understand, but it is supposed to ask for the mayor.”

“I don’t think they will listen.”

“This one is supposed to give the mayor a message.”

“I really don’t think they will listen.”

“This one is supposed to tell the mayor it knows about his plans. It knows about his plans, and it wants to help.”

“That’s awfully rich, coming from a caged rat bastard,” the mayor’s voice called over the commotion.

“This one is supposed to say…uh…it is supposed to say it is failed experiment,” Montethug explained. “Failed experiment blending humans and despite being a failed experiment, this one locked the mayor into a stalemate. Mayor can kill Montethug, yes, but the other two will escape, and then they will return. And if mayor can’t even beat a failed experiment on his own, Mayor has no chance at real Clan.”

“But it’ll feel good to kill ya,” the mayor said. “Rory was a idiot, but he was my idiot. Ain’t no way you’re gonna leave that cell.”

“Montethug can help. This one was told to say it would help.”

“And who told a monster like you that? Or better yet, what can an idiot like you even do?” The mayor asked.

“Montethug can kill Prometheus. It knows the secret to Prometheus having two worlds, and it has Mayor at stalemate.”

“Who’d believe a rat bastard like you?”

Seemed Montethug didn’t have a retort. That must have been the end of the message it was told to tell the mayor. The ogreish ‘fiend’ looked to Teddy for help. Teddy had no idea what he could do; best he had was a vague idea of the circumstances, and what was worse, the mayor had a vendetta against them for killing that Rory guy.

This wasn’t casual barroom talk or buttering up a client to get him to spill his secrets. It was a negotiation. Teddy needed to negotiate with a terrorist. Needless to say, the situation was a bit out of his wheelhouse.

Then an idea came to him. Staring at Montethug and realizing just how the entity known as Monte arranged everything, all of a sudden everything clicked and Teddy realized he was the perfect person for this task. It might have even been the reason Monteguem sought him out in the first place; though he doubted even Monteguem could predict this far in advance, most likely his employer was simply reacting to the circumstances.

And that sudden revelation--what Teddy realized quite frankly pissed him off.

His suitcase materialized and he pulled out his truest hidden weapon. Sending it back, along with the totem inside, Teddy squeezed around Montethug and held that weapon out in front of himself like a shield. It was his identification. The same black-slip that got him into this mess just might get him out of it; although, it certainly wouldn’t be in a single piece.

Carefully, he stuck his black slip through the bars and waved it around. The patrol tightened their grip on the spears.

“I know Prometheus!” Teddy yelled. “I was a porter; I met him! I escorted a couple people from his territory to this camp. They were supposed to go kill some Demon Lord and—”

“Demon Lord! Goddammit, you were responsible for that?” The mayor was even more pissed now.

“It was an easy job! And I got fired because of it! That fucker got me fired and stranded in this bogavart forsaken shithole of a mire pit you call home!” For some reason, Teddy couldn’t back. The mayor was blaming him? He was the victim!

Until he heard Monteray’s story, Teddy couldn’t believe that moronic duo, Jimmy and Tammy, had anything to do with him getting fired. Now, he realized just how wrong that all was. That bastard Prometheus was at the heart of this and those two were his instigators!

All I do is get dicked around by management!

“Those two idiots told me about Tolkien! About ‘Out of the frying pan and into the fire’ then an even bigger idiot appeared!” Once Teddy started his rant, all his self-pity came pouring out in a rage. “That idiot you call ‘Rory’! He attacked us in a bar, killed the best adventurer I’d ever met in all my long years of meeting adventurers. I, me, Theodore formerly of the Pargols, killed that Rory bastard and I’d do it all over again. Bashed his fucking brains to bits! But you know what? I’m the biggest damn fool of all of ya! Hurry up and kill me so I can get away from all you damn fools all at once!”

That was right. Teddy was the biggest idiot all them all; he realized that now. For such a long time, he thought if he kept his head down, followed orders, stuck to middle-tier, that he wouldn’t get dicked around, that if treated the world right, it’d return the favor. Dammed if he wasn’t a fool for thinking that. Old man Pargol, Prometheus, and loathed as he was to admit it, even Monte, they all used him.

Still, mad as he was right then, he wouldn’t turn on Monte’s kindness. He understood why his employer acted like he did, that Monte simply wanted to get back at the clan who’d experimented on him, and Teddy wouldn’t ever hand over that totem. He was honor-bound to a contract, and even more so, to a good man who treated a dirty old bum with respect in Teddy’s final days.

But right now, he was pissed and more than that, he was tired of not taking his life into his own hands.

The guards parted and the mayor approached. Behind him, a black haired beauty holding a bundling and some kid limping on a fake leg nipped at the mayor's heels. But Teddy was more concerned with the twisted rage plastered all over the mayor’s face. Apparently, his rant struck a cord.

The mayor snatched one of the spears from his guards and Montethug stiffened, ready to pounce. Teddy smacked the lumbering oaf and scolded him to stand down. He’d helped Monte escape by hiding his totem, but Teddy still wasn’t happy with his friend for dicking him around like he did. Montethug opened his mouth to say something but ended up just nodding and smiling instead.

Apparently that one wasn’t quite as dumb as Teddy thought, at least it understood this. Teddy was finally taking control over his own life.

Montethug could escape, but Teddy couldn’t. He was going to starve to death in these cells, but dammed if Teddy wasn’t going to choose his own fate. He wasn’t going to keep getting dicked around by others at the end. He’d at least get to choose his death, and though it toed the line on assisted suicide, it was the best he’d get under these circumstances.

Teddy was determined to go to the Dead-Hut on his own terms.

“You says you bashed his brains in, eh?” the mayor asked.

“Till my bludgeon smashed straight through to the wall, and then I kept right on smashing,” Teddy replied, using that even voice he did when giving threats.

The mayor’s eyes went wide and he tightened his grip on the spear.

Teddy didn’t let up, he was almost there. “And he screamed like a corner whore, all smashed up as he was, I was impressed he still had enough of a snatch to wail like he—”

The mayor shoved the spear forward and Teddy knew he had him.

Teddy waited.

And Teddy waited.

Suddenly, he heard a plop and the stench of a ripe death filled the room. That black haired woman, her hand stretched out in a flash and secured the mayor’s spear right in place, dropping her bundling in the process. She was strong. That spear wouldn’t budge no matter how much the mayor strained.

Her off-color face was flushed red but not from exertion. She wasn’t even trying, only using a single outstretched hand to overpower the burly mayor. Behind those dark-colored glasses she wore, tears dripped down her face.

  Snap!

With a flick of her wrist, that spear snapped in half and the surrounding patrols’ jaws hit the floor, too stunned to make a move.

“You can’t…you can’t take games too far,” she said in a feminine smoker’s voice.

The mayor swallowed and for a moment, looked like he was going to attack her as well. At least until that crippled boy vanished into the air with the wave of his hand. He reappeared right behind the mayor, holding a crude glaive to his throat and laughed.

“That’s progress! That’s progress!” he laughed.

The black-haired woman bit her lip and let go of the shattered spear, reaching down for that bundling she dropped.

Right then, Teddy realized the source of that smell.

A corner unwound from the bundling and inside was the decaying body of a boy. But that didn’t catch Teddy’s attention. It was that bit of gaudy armor poking out, gaudy armor he recognized.

That was the dead body of one of the boys he guided to this desert. Before them, he’d never seen such ostentatious armor. The black haired beauty carried around the dead body of his former client.

“You—you knew that boy?” Teddy stammered.

She ignored him and lovingly wrapped the body back up tight and hugged it against her chest, rocking it back and forth while humming a gentle tune.

“I knew that boy! I knew him!” Teddy cried.

She looked up at Teddy. “Keep your voice down. Don’t disturb him; he’s had a rough go of it.” Then she cooed into the bundling. “Haven’t you, dear?”

Teddy didn’t stop. “I brought him here! That boy, I brought him here!”

“Oh? Do you know his friends? They are probably missing him right now,” she asked.

“I’ve met them. There were two girls and a boy. I know where they are! I know where they are!”

Teddy just found another strand of hope! Why he was cursed to find all his fortune of late huddled around decaying corpses, he hadn’t a clue, but he just found his hope again!

“That’s wonderful,” she replied before speaking to the bundling again. “We’ll go find your friends…how does that sound?”

Then she lowered her ear to it.

Is she…does she think it’s talking to her?

“Nope! Nope! Nope! Do not answer yourself, that would be nuts!” The boy holding the mayor hostage cried.

“Oh no, he’s quiet. I just thought he could use a bath,” she explained.

The boy let out a big sigh of relief and the mayor tried to wrestle away.

“Ya ain’t getting outa here,” the mayor said. “I’m gonna kill that rat bastard. Beezle be dammed, I’ll kill you lot, too!”

The boy’s glaive drew blood from the mayor’s neck. “Mister Jenkens is hungry. Wanna meet him?”

Apparently, that incomprehensible threat got through, and the mayor shut up. The boy, holding the mayor against him, hobbled over to the cell, motioning for the black-haired girl to join him.

“Hey fatty,” the boy said to Montethug. “Kick that door away.”

Montethug did as he was told. With a mighty shove, the cell door he’d been holding up crashed into the wall straight ahead, smashing through one of the guards and scattering the rest.

The boy shoved the mayor away and huddled together with the beauty, Montethug and Teddy.

He lifted his hand up and waved it down through the air.

What happened next…