Seven months. We’ve been in this fucking dimension for seven fucking months! The plan was a month at the maximum, but it must be taking Bronwyn a lot longer than it was supposed to to find Lorenzo. Or, something has happened to her.

Lance has refused to let us out early, saying to stick to the plan.

Well, sticking to the plan is causing the others to get restless. Myself included.

Hell, if it wasn’t for Mallogory, I’d have already forced him to return us to the real world.

On the plus side, we’d gotten in a LOT of training. Jero finally is making progress on how to use some of his powers, while Lance just keeps figuring out new ways to use his Ego cards.

Mallogory, with a lot of practice, and meditation with Greg, found out she can perform two actions at once. This was a big moment for her, as it opened her eyes to just what she could do with some training.

As for me, I realized I could use my Ego to not only shut off someone's Ego, but also imitate it while I’m attached to them. That was an amazing discovery. Really wish I’d known that way earlier.

I’ve also gotten really adapt at walking and fighting while standing on my hindlegs. A VERY useful skill.

Everyone has also gotten a lot closer, with my friends mixing very well with Lance’s. It was a bit rocky at first, living together and all that. But once everyone got past the first few days, they started opening up to each other.

It’s been great to watch. Sometimes I forget we’re training to fight a reality bending being. The only real reminder is Castor, who remained with Greg at all times in his little fairy form. Every time we all started getting a little too happy while grouped up, he’d be quick to remind us we are going to be facing the Watcher, and must prepare.

Absolute killjoy. Greg, however, loves the guy. Keeps telling us all he’s not that bad once you get to know him.

The others just avoid Castor, for the most part.

Mallogory and I have been spending most of our time training; either together or helping the others. It’s taken some work, but we’ve made a lot of progress as a team.

However, we still don’t have a real plan for fighting the Watcher. Greg still has not touched the UAD drug, saying he’s getting close, but that he needs more time.

I know he’s just avoiding taking it, since it’s more than likely going to kill him. He’s spent all of his time with Pinkie Pie, only training occasionally. But, he was a great help nonetheless, as he always had ideas on how others can improve.

He’s the one who helped me figure out more about my Ego.

Adry has spent most of her time with Rainbow Dash and Rarity, the three of them deciding to stay out of the training. Rainbow Dash would come out and help on occasion, but she seemed tired, more than I thought she would be.

My personal take is the fight with Lorenzo has given a lot of them some form of PTSD. I hear some of them wake up at night, screaming from night terrors. Calypso has her hooves full just helping them all through their trauma. Doc tries to help, but he’s more of a physical healer than a mental health expert.

Lance seemed to be single minded, pushing the group during training and doing his best to keep morale up. His maturity really surprises me sometimes.

But, I really worry about him. I see him sometimes, late at night, just staring off into the distance. It took me some time to realize he was inside his mind, reliving memories with his consciousness and Ego weapon.

Speaking of Ego weapons, Ayla and I have decided we will not fuse to become Scayla unless things are dire. We allowed her out early on, and she immediately began begging Greg to use some kind of spell to split her from myself and Ayla.

Apparently, she can’t do it herself, which I’m thankful for. I no longer trust her.

As things drag on, I really do wonder what is taking Bronwyn so long. If she found Lorenzo, did she just engage him? And if so, did she win?

I really hope it’s just taking longer than we thought.

I stepped out of the house that had become mine and Mallogory’s, a cup of coffee in my paw as I stood on my hindlegs. Taking a sip, I gave a nod to Moxxi as she stepped out of her house as well.

“Yo,” she called as she climbed on her little motorcycle she’d built.

“Morning,” I responded as she gunned it and flew down the street, probably heading to the little dinner Greg and Pinkie Pie had set up. Mellow Pie was the name they’d given it, but we all just called it Pie on account it was built to look exactly like a massive pie.

Standing out in front of my house, the morning mist hanging over our homes, I saw Calypso and Doc walking down the street, heading in the same direction as Moxxi.

“Coming to the Pie?” Doc asked as they passed.

“As soon as Mallo is ready,” I assured them, getting a thumbs up in return.

I stayed there for a few more minutes, finishing off my coffee. Eventually, Mallogory stepped out, wearing her baggy T-shirt and sweatpants.

“Ready?” she asked, letting out a yawn.

“Been ready,” I said, sticking my tongue out at her as we both started heading down the street.

Upon arriving at the Pie, we saw we were the last ones to arrive, as usual.

As we stepped in, Greg yelled our way, “Finally! I got your orders already at your booth!”

“Thanks, Greg!” I yelled back as we made our way to our usual booth, where two large plates of food sat waiting for us. Sitting down, we did what we always did; messily and loudly devoured our food. At this point, everyone had gotten used to our way of eating and just ignored us now.

Greg stepped up to our table as we finished the plates and placed down two more, already knowing the routine.

“Greg, you are an amazing person,” Mallogory praised him, giving him a thumbs up as she did so.

He just chuckled and walked back to the kitchen.

While I was finishing off the second plate, Reinhardt slid in beside me, wearing some kind of metal band’s T-shirt and large sunglasses with the words ‘Pit Viper’ across the top of them. Greg was rubbing off on her apparently.

“Hey, guys,” she said with a wide grin, removing the earbuds from her ears. “Any updates?”

I shrugged, knowing she was asking about our progress on the two of us fusing.

“Nope, we’re still workshopping the idea,” Mallogory responded, picking something out of her teeth.

“I’m just saying, if you two can figure out a way to fuse without using Greg’s magic, that’ll be totally bitchin,” she said, mimicking words Greg had taught her.

This brought a smile to my face as I punched her arm, “You’re turning into a frat boy, Reinhardt.”

She just waves me off, laughing as she adjusted her Pit Vipers, “I’m just developing the me I want to be.” With a flick, she pulled out a large blunt and lit it.

“Reinhardt! You know my one rule!” Greg called from the kitchen. “No smoking in the Mellow Pie!”

“On it,” she chuckled as she stood up and walked for the front door, taking a large hit as she did so.

Shaking my head, I went back to finishing off my food.

Lance suddenly stepped up, smiling widely.

I turned to him, about to ask what he needed, then I realized he looked off.

With a sigh, I gave a single wave, “Hey, Break. Controlling Lance today?”

“You could say that,” he replied, his smile just widening even more somehow.

“Any particular reason you’re bothering us?” Mallogory asked in an annoyed voice. Break was definitely her least favorite person to interact with.

“I have a question,” he started, getting a sigh out of both of us.

“Yes?” I asked, staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

He snickered as he tried to ask his question. “Are you two… banging yet?!” He began to cackle loudly.

Two plates smashed into his face as we threw them at him at the same time, causing him to stumble back and fall into a table.

“That a yes?” he asked with a wide smirk. His face twisted into a look of horror. “I am so fucking sorry you two, he caught me slacking and took over!”

“I’ve told you, you need to get that little shit under control,” I say with a bit of a growl, clearly not happy with the crude questions of Break.

“I’m trying, he’s just uncontrollable,” he complained as he returned to his table, getting a stern look from Drax and Remi.

Looking back to Mallogory, she just grunted in annoyance.

Moxxi suddenly appeared at our booth, head just high enough to see over the table top.

“But have you?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Mox, shut the fuck up,” I laughed, playfully shoving her.

She held up her hands, snickering as she backed off and returned to her table.

Leaning back, I let out a sigh, rubbing my temple.

Mallogory reached over and gave my hoof a squeeze. Looking at her, she gave me a wink. This calmed me a bit as I reached over with my paw and returned the squeeze.

With a heavy thud, I slammed into the ground, covered in sweat as I coughed and gagged. I forced myself to a standing position, throwing up a bit as I did so.

Mallogory wasn’t doing any better as she retched a few times from a few feet away.

Wiping my mouth I turned to face her, shaking heavily and pale as a ghost.

“Again?” she asked, looking just as bad as I felt.

“I can’t,” I coughed roughly, shaking my head.

She just nodded and stepped over to me. Standing on my hindlegs, we helped each other walk over to a bench and take a seat.

Pulling out her backpack, I dug out our protein bars. As we munched on them, Greg walked towards us, holding two plates in front of himself with magic.

“Hey you two, looking like death as usual,” he joked, placing the plates in our laps.

“Greg arriving just in time, yet again,” Mallogory chuckled weakly as she lifted some food to her mouth and slowly ate.

He smiled happily and looked us over. “So, no progress on fusing?”

“Nope,” I said between mouthfuls. “We’ve tried everything but your magic. And I’d rather just do it on our own. No offense.”

“I get it, don’t worry,” he replied, rubbing his chin. “What about, like, connecting your Ego to her Thorn?”

“What?” we both asked in confusion.

“Well, they’re both connected to your souls, right? So, what if you, I don’t know, like, connect them somehow?” he said, seeming to have trouble forming his thoughts.

“I’ve already tried connecting my Ego to her, didn’t help,” I reply, not grasping his idea fully. “We just tried forcing each other into our minds, but that just caused us to get thrown around mentally.”

He thinks for a moment, “have you tried sticking it into her hole?”

We stopped eating, and stared at him in disgusted shock.

He blinked a few times, then eyes went wide, “Whoa! NO! I meant have you tried putting your Ego into her Stomata! Like using your Ego to mix with hers!”

As he panicked, we slowly started laughing, relieved it had been a misunderstanding. I’d hate to find a reason to dislike Greg at this point.

Stammering, he took his leave, running back towards the Pie.

“Fuck I love that guy,” Mallogory said as she finished off her plate, looking a lot better than she had earlier.

I just smiled as I jumped up, thinking on what he’d said.

“He may have a point though, we’ve tried mixing our Ego and Thorn, but not on a completely personal level.”

“I’m all ears,” she said as she stood up and walked back to our little training ring.

I tapped my chin with my wing as I walked, “Okay, let’s mix a few of our ideas together. I’ll pour Ego directly into your Stomata on your hand, and try to use my ability to shut off Ego on you. That COULD connect us in a different way than before. While doing that, we’ll perform the dance Reinhardt showed us, the one that helps form a connection between the dancers.”

“Ooo, good idea,” she said with a clap of her hands. “Let’s also add in the mental link we just tried.”

“Perfect!” I said, standing on my hindlegs and stepping up to her. “Ready?”

“Hell yeah,” she said as she took my paw and hoof in her hands. Using my metal fingers, I removed the bandage on her right hand, revealing her glowing Stomata, the source of her Thorn.

Ego tendrils poured out of my metal paw and entered the glowing hole in her hand. As I activated my Ego ability to shut off her nonexistent Ego and also try and mimic her Thorn, I felt a strange sensation wash over me. She must have felt it too as she stiffened, letting out a soft gasp.

Slowly, we began to twist and twirl around each other, eyes staying locked as we did so. A warm and pleasant feeling pulse through my body as I felt a growing connection with her. As we got close and pressed our foreheads together, still dancing, I felt the connection deepen even further.

A pressure built inside of me, and kept building, higher, higher, HIGHER!

Then everything came crashing down as I felt like I was being thrown around in a washing machine, causing me to fall away from her and begin gagging into the dirt again.

Just like last time.

We both threw up our freshly eaten food, letting out pained groans.

“That one hurt more than the last one,” she moaned in pain.

Shaking, I turned to face her, still unable to get up, “But, that one felt closer than we’ve ever been before! Just, it felt like something was missing right there at the end.”

“But what?!” she asked, completely exhausted mentally and physically.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

She growled, but then sighed. Composing herself, she looked at me, “Try one more time for the day?”

I grimaced, not sure I wanted to go through all that suffering again, but her pleading eyes were my weakness.

“One more time,” I relented, getting a smile from her. “But what are we changing?”

She thought for a moment. “Well, as that pressure was nearing its peak, it just crashed back down, like we’d missed something important.”

“So, how about next time we do everything we just did, but as the pressure is building, we just go with it. Do whatever feels right?” I offered, getting a grin in return.

“Worth a shot.”

“Just, give me a minute,” I said, needing a little more time to recover from that last attempt.

She nodded in agreement, and we both collapsed back onto the ground.

After about five or so minutes, I felt up to trying again.

We resumed our previous positions, and went through the same steps. I poured my Ego directly into her Stomata, making sure to use more than last time. As I activated my abilities in the same order, we both shook slightly from the feeling that shot through us. A little smile played on our lips as we took each other's hands and began the dance, the pressure and connection increasing quicker than before.

My Ego flared a bit as I got excited at a little wink she gave me, causing a new bond to form between us. As the pressure raised and neared its climax we touched foreheads, forming the mental connection. I stared into her eyes, the pressure now at its peak. Then I leaned forward and kissed her.

An explosion of light filled the area as a loud bang echoed through the area, drawing all attention to the area we’d been in.

I stood there, feeling a bit confused. It took me a moment to realize I was actually standing there.

“Whoa,” I muttered, hearing two voices speaking at once. “Wait…” I raised my hands to see my Ego blades sticking out of them.

“It worked?!” I asked aloud, eyes wide. But, this doesn’t feel like how Scayla feels!

<Yeah, it feels like the two of us are here at once.>

(Oh shit… this is weird!)

I moved around, walking about naturally. That’s when I realized there were wings on my back.

<Sweet, we have my wings!>

(Are we both controlling this body?!)

<I think we’ve just fully bonded, Mallo! We just know what the other wants to do and we just do it! Amazing!>

(I’m so fucking confused, but I love this!)

Spreading my wings, I take to the sky, rocketing up faster than should be possible.

Performing a spin, I fly back to the ground, landing on both legs perfectly.

(Ooo! Let’s try this!)

Ego tendrils shot out of my body as I flickered, switching positions to me doing a one handed handstand. With another flicker, I was back on my feet.

<We have both of our abilities! And shit! That’s what it feels like to use your thorn?!>

(Pretty wacky, huh?!)

“Mallogory?” I heard Lance ask as I turned, smiling at him.

“Oh fuck, they did it?!” Greg asked in shock, then smiled coolly, “My advice helped, didn’t it?”

“Oh yeah,” I replied, our two voices mixed into one.

“Is this like Scayla?” Lance asked, “If so, who are you this time?”

“Nope, it's just us,” I say, flickering to a position where I was laying on the ground. “We’re both in here, controlling this body. Fully conscious of our actions.”

“Fucking badass,” Moxxi muttered, taking a hit of her joint.

“Well, you two just became the most broken member of our party,” Lance joked.

“That was the intent,” I chuckle, flickering back to a standing position.

Greg nods in approval, “You now look like the most badass chicken ever.”

“Fuck you, Greg,” I laugh, rolling my eyes.

I feel like the act of fusing may of come off more sexual than I intended.