"With you trying so hard to make me not remember you... I can't remember my mom either," Iker said.

  From the large distance Iker could observe Maverick's solar mane shift to his son's general direction on the grid.

  I made you an offer, and since I can read your mind... I know that you understood me.

  Is he bluffing?

  A deep laugh echoed across the abstract reality.

  I am not.

  Iker readied his posture, bending his knees and raising his open palms at the same level as his hip. "I already know what will happen if all your memories become mine... and mine become all of yours. I figured that you were omitting that for some reason."

  Maverick did not respond right away this time. Disorientation crept up on Iker, and whether it was his father's doing or a normal accident of having a mortal body in a bizarre landscape, Iker shook his head when he glimpsed at oblivion through the square he stood on. So far his father still kept his distance.

  We seem to both understand that combat is the only option then.

  "If I do not want to fuse with you, why are you still holding back?"

  My strike and your end will happen at the same time. Not only will you be dead, but you will cease to exist entirely,? Maverick said reluctantly. I guess I desire a different answer from you son.

  "Save me from your fake consideration," Iker pleaded in anger, sounding more like himself in his twenties.

  Thereupon two beings made a move. Whereas Iker could only think to run, numinous ice spawned below him while trying to form its own infinity. There was no need to consider slipping and falling from the man in a teenager's body as snow scabs hugged the soles of his sneakers with care. Both a ray of light, having its power in spawning forever rather than speed and force, and an effulging husky silhouette manifested at Iker's coordinates. An older Lucia as a husky, relative to what memories Iker could seize, began taking a physical yet mystical shape within her powerful and absorbing light. Fading planets became dome-shaped boulders, and clustered nebulae became snow-capped mountains under moonlight. However, snowfall became faraway supernovas and Iker was falling skyward rather than ravine-ward.

  The distant and sentient supernovas took no hesitation to erupt a solar lake across the sky Iker was falling towards, and even though Iker was in his mortal body with a blood-dried neck his latent wings burst through his hoodie upon perceiving the astral danger. While Iker did one powerful wing stroke to stop the dangerous momentum he caught sight of a long time party member.

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  "Iker? Watch what I can do."

  Even though Iker could have died again, Bastian the white cat was just hanging out on top of his levitating red gear.

  "Watch. Watch," Bastian pleaded.

  When Iker stabilized, Bastian jumped towards the snow-clad ravine rather than the sky, quickly flipping to have his back facing the red gear. Iker guessed Bastian was spamming an emote from the electronic voice that kept repeating from him spinning comically along with the red gear. The apparent gravity the sky and fire lake had was not pulling the midair, goofy, and spinning Bastian at all.

  "Go-go-g-go-g--g-go-go-g-g," Bastian spammed.

  "You did catnip without me," Iker cried facetiously.

  "I would never," Bastian said, stopping himself to land back on his record-playing red gear.

  After saying that, both of them stayed quiet for a moment.

  "... are you okay?" Bastian eventually asked.

  "Yea... just confused," Iker answered.

  "I know bro. I wanted to cheer you up a bit before you wake up again," Bastian said.

  "What?"

  Iker.

  Iker?

  Wake up please.

  "Iker!"

  Yes Iker was waking up, but it was also hard to hear Camilo through the frisson-inducing male vocals. It played across the vast mishmash of a pride parade and a one-sided battle royale between hip-gyrating holograms and cultists. The vocals also brought memories to Iker that were certainly not his.

  A couple watching buildings collapsing.

  A gun in a retro popcorn machine.

  A dreamer in therapy.

  "What happened?" Iker asked, his eyes barely open.

  "One of the logs hit you," Camilo replied. "Let's leave carefully. You might have a concussion."

  "Where's the lion cub?" Iker asked.

  "... huh? What lion cub?" Camilo asked back while gently trying to pull him up.

  After Iker got on his feet and stroked his perfectly fine neck, he turned his head to find the sacrificial chambers from earlier completely fallen apart, and past it was a parade that could not be stopped.

  "Get back here!" an Alkrezian yelled, swinging his machete at a nimble go-go dancer. Even after dodging a swing the dancer would do a spin and a two-step before continuing his languid escape.

  However, the other attackers that stopped fighting and went on their way home realized that there was something queerer than the parade happening. Indeed, Alkrezians accidentally shot each other, but none of the rainbow-clad doing dougies had yet to fail a single dodge. Not even close.

  OH GAWD!

  How dare you?

  That was an attempt.

  And I oo-

  Oh dear.

  Hiyah!

  Nope.

  Don't you have somewhere else to be?

  Very Alkrezian of you.

  Ez.

  One Alkrezian shooter, deciding to take his time apparently, followed a very life-like hologram doing a dutty wine that still was in rhythm with the soft rock song that replaced the electronic music. He waited until the dancing hologram did another dutty wine, and finally fired his shot at the dancer he must have been stalking for a while. Even with his divine patience, not only did the bullet not even graze the dreadlocks spinning away, but neither did it graze a voguer's ponytail whipping away. Instead, the bullet hit the failed go-go dancer killer, his machete hitting the concrete before he did.

  For the first night in over a century, not only did the town have its first pride parade, but Pueblo looked a little less scary than the night before.

  A femto of light in the tunnel of oblivion.