Chapter 6: The Truck Horn Of Adventure

"Alrighty! I've healed and stabilized your body to a functional degree, but knowing how youngin' like you are always impatiens to Manifest, I've requested Alex that he supervises the usage of your ID weapon."

"Did you mean impatient?"

"No, impatiens."

"Dude, what?"

"The flower."

Discharging Theo from his care, Dr. Sunshine unlinked a couple of plant roots from Theo's chest area and gave him some flower petals to chew on in case of another heart attack.

After emerging from the church basement with his hand on his heart, Theo saw a guilty-looking Carmina safekeeping his boba drink and box of mochi donuts for him.

"Oh, thanks."

"Yup."

The two made a quick exchange of words before Theo reached for a mochi donut, ripping off each individual ball and popping it into his mouth. Finishing with a very loud sucking sound in an attempt to get all the tapioca but then choking on said tapioca the moment it shot down his throat, Alex prompted for the two of them to sit down.

"Hush now, children---"

"The fuck? We're in high school, Alex."

"Oh, yes, right, of course, I shouldn't be using such infantile vocabulary. Shut up, children, and let me finish the lecture I've started."

Carmina squinted her eyes at Alex before giving a very unapproving thumbs down.

"Anyhow, Theo, how confident can you say that you've fully understood the description that Jared gave you about the details of your ID weapon?"

Theo made his answer short and concise, "Hack at a thing, thing gets on fire, weird link thing between Name and Faith, and I now get a heart attack every time I swing my fire axe."

"For the most part, yes. Do you also remember the countermeasures Jared has told you on how to prevent that from happening?"

"Mastery over Wave control or something. Apparently, I can cut off the directory to my heart and instead make the flames focus on where I strike with the fire axe."

"Correct~."

Theo curved his lips ever-so-slightly upward.

"But that isn't the only answer to your problem. Another answer would be to grow your Faith proportionately equal to your Name, that alternative being a much more easier and time-efficient way to fix your 'heart attacks.'"

Theo uncurved his slighted smile into a frown, "And how do I do that?"

"I was waiting for that question---"

There a three main factors that play into training your Manifestation, the first two being very simple to explain---studying Wave behavior and making consistent, practical use of your Manifestation.

But the third, much more complicated factor is the quality of a Manifestor's character.

Knowing that Manifestation comes from the specifics of who you are as a person, what would happened if you underwent a life-changing event that completely reshaped how you see reality?

The answer would be character growth and proportionately similar Manifestation growth as it adapts its abilities to who you are now.

Theo's current Faith is that of flames, synonymous with fire or blaze, and is often related with the combustion of an object, burning it at high temperatures and changing it to ashes.

But, as of right now, Theo was only a teenager with next to no character growth and an even lesser potency in Wave production.

"---sorry, Theo, but it's the truth---"

Having neither the knowledge needed to develop the strength of his Faith nor the opportunities to grow as a character, Theo's Faith was left undefined and without any strength to withstand an entire inferno's worth of flames from his fire axe.

"---but that's obvious for a green horn like you, lacking in the time and experience needed for a strong Manifestor. And so, the path forward becomes clear---undertake the missions I assign you and grow from the countless life-changing opportunities provided from it. Of course, due to the natural connotation that comes with the adjective 'life changing,' it is expected that you two naturally grow in terms of the first two factors."

Carmina raised her hand but spoke before Alex could call on her, "So, are we doing these missions to get stronger purely for getting stronger? For what? What can I do after world domination?"

"Woah, now. I am no preacher of tyranny, mind you. As for the intent of my missions, it's a matter of killing two birds with one stone. It just so happens that the natural path of growth coincides with the proportionately ramping difficulty of the missions I assign you, each mission completed preparing you two for the next mission assigned."

"So what would be the original intent of these missions, then?"

"To recruit other members into our church and to retrieve 'evidence' of The Complex."

Carmina had stringed some past trivia and facts, reaching a satisfactory conclusion that only left Theo to question the term, "And what would that be?"

Alex naturally responded, "The Complex is an imaginary plane of reality that supposedly holds every abstraction and conceptualization of thought within its boundaries.

Being exposed to this dimension in its whole would allow for complete understanding of those said abstractions and conceptualizations of thought, experiencing character growth on levels proportionate to super novas if Manifested into physical form."

Theo raised his hand, "So . . . are we power hungry? I mean, I don't really see any point in this other than for, y'know, wanting to grow stronger."

"Yes, it would seem as so to a person without the natural strifes of a Manifestor . . . " Alex gave a pause to his words before opening his mouth to speak once more, " . . . but every man has their own reason for pursuing ultimatum, Theo. For me, it's the need to rid myself of regret. For Carmina . . . you can find that one out on your own. But as for you, Theo . . .

 . . . what would you want to do with an infinitum's worth of wisdom and the power to act on that very knowledge?"

"I . . . don't think I've quite reached a point in my life that needed an extreme solution." Theo shortly answered, posing yet another moment of hesitance as flickers of his childish dream were discarded for the blunt reality before him.

"I see. And Carmina?"

"So what about the need to 'gather evidence' about The Complex? Aren't you already confident that The Complex already exists?" Carmina spoke as the question came to her, this time being patient enough to wait for Alex to finish answering Theo.

"Right, of course, the nature of our missions. You see, Carmina, I referred to The Complex with the adjective of 'imaginary' because of the fact that there isn't a single thing 'logical' enough about it to even be plausible in reality---"

Having even the theory of it being such a complicated mess of mathematics and imagination, The Complex had no rhyme or reason as for why it would even exist in the first person.

At the very least, for Manifestation, it was a field of science capable of being measured and experimented on as it had a natural phenomenon that coincided with reality.

The Complex, however, was just as much gibberish as rocket science was to an infant.

Made by the ketamine-drugged brain of a mentally ill mad man, The Complex was an incredibly obscure theory that had no evidence going for it in the first place. The deluded imagination that you could experience all of life in mere moments of visiting such an impossible plane of reality was, quite frankly, stupid as hell.

"---but, you see my little cherubs, I have evidence of such an impossible delusion. Call it the mutterings of a mad man as much needed, you'll need to be just as mad as me to see it in its whole. Close your eyes."

Just as Alex had prompted them to do, Theo and Carmina closed their eyes to only see the back of their eyelids.

"Now, if you could be so kind as to allow me to guide---"

Pop!

" . . . huh?"

At the abrupt end of Alex's voice, Theo opened his eyes to see nothing but a single focal point of light in the far, far distance.

Still feeling the touch of his thighs on his hands the hard wood beneath his bottom, Theo tried moving around to probe in the darkness, to find some sort of anchor to reality before realizing that he still felt the sensation of lap and wooden against his skin, no matter how much Theo though he was moving.

[Awfully trippy, innit lil' lad?] A familiar voice resounded in the dark space before him, the Wannabe Savior's existence having popped up far sooner than Theo had expected.

"Woah my God you're loud!"

[Haha! I hold no doubts to that, lil' lad! Been told I've got a big mouth, having only got a mouth! Hahaha! So, The Complex, yea? Been listenin' real close to y'alls talk, and lo and behold! The Light beneath Closed Eyes! Right before ya very eyes!]

"That's . . . The Complex? He worded it to be a lot more difficult to see than how easily I was able to do it." Theo spoke with the slight high of finessing something thought to be difficult.

[Ehh, ya only got here 'cause I was here first. N' I wouldn't so much as refer it as 'The Complex' now, considerin' how you fellas dun quite got the evidence to really build its frame yet.]

"What do you mean by 'evidence?' How does this process even work at all?!"

[Wishin' ya ears were more connected to the outside right now, 'cause that Alex fella is explaining all about it right now, but it dun matter one bit! I'm here for as long as need be!]

Theo picked up a thought that had surfaced to the top of his mind merely seconds ago, "Yea, I didn't really expect you to, y'know, come back so soon?"

[What's that meanin', lil' lad? You dun like me?]

"No, like---"

[Haha, yea, I know. Tellin' you right now that I'll be a stickler for as long as ya got that fire axe in ya hand! Well, lest I be in an awful pickle jar that I may or may not be able to show up. Anyhow, I got some info to dump on ya! Would ya mind a bit of munchs to go along with it?]

"Oh, uh, sure."

[Me too, bud, me too! Hahaha! No, seriously, back to the topic at hand. As that Alex fella told ya, The Complex is one fickle thought as ya'd need an awful bunch of bull feces to believe in it.

The 'evidence' that Alex fella was tellin' you about is that very light you be seein' way out there, the Light Beneath Closed Eyes.

That's just the first of the 'evidence' of The Complex that Alex fella has discovered during his time as a Manifestor, and although he ain't quite got the others, I'm willin' to reckon that guy's got it all worked out.

As I said before, this single shred of 'evidence' of The Complex ain't enough to build ya the door to it. You need more 'proof' inside ya head to bring it into reality, to really build it up like ya named Bob. That's the 'evidence' ya been so kindly requested to gather for that Alex fella.]

" . . . okay?"

[Rightsy done, then! Off back ye go to the land of right!]

Pop!

"---seeing a fucking light at the end of your life! I'm imagining just as much light in a dark place as you do shining to find your dick!"

"Woah now, Carmina, a man's genitals is very important to his feelings."

"I don't fucking care!"

Theo awoke to a church rowdy enough to make someone think a fine flurry of fists were flying inside, Carmina having gripped the priest's collar out of frustration for his unhelpful sayings.

Despite his rocking, however, it took little time for Alex to notice the light coming back to Theo's eyes, "Good afternoon, Theo, did you see it? The Light beneath Closed Eyes?"

" . . . yea, got a whole earful about it too."

Carmina snapped her neck to look at Theo, "What? How!? Alex didn't sneak a blunt inside your mouth, did he?!"

"Influencing the younger generation with drugs is certainly nothing I would do."

Keeping his slighted smile still and unmoving, Alex burned out any fiery passion Carmina had for his death and was promptly let go.

No longer caring for her inaptitude to see the 'Light beneath Closed Eyes,' Carmina slumped down on the church pew and hung her head down low, "So what now? Can I go home? I don't think anyone or anything is going to help me see this 'Light beneath Closed eyes' or whatever."

"Hm? No, of course not. An emergency popped up and I need you two on it as soon as you can make yourselves ready. It's quite urgent."

"But we just had a mission completed . . . ?"

"The week-long break clause after a completed mission has been rescinded; I hope you two can understand."

But before Carmina could make it into a one-sided yelling match, Theo spoke up with a hint of regret behind his lips, "Sorry Alex, but we really can't. We have a winter project due soon and we've already made plans for a study group at the library."

" . . . alright then, never mind that previous request. It seems like I'll need to find a substitute for the job, then. But in turn for giving me this trouble, can I request that you two hold your hands in prayer once in any ice cream shop? I'll even give you two the money to buy it."

Suspicious of the bizarre request, but not too demanding to deny it, especially when free ice cream is involved, both Theo and Carmina shook their heads in agreement before snatching fifteen dollars from Alex.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Arriving at a library, Theo thanked Alex for the car ride while Carmina just left for the entrance, a small hop in her step suggesting a small increment of excitement in meeting some new people.

Checking the time on his phone, Theo found that they were five minutes early to the study group and asked, "Do you wanna get some coffee? I don't think Colin and Yuki are here yet, and we might need the caffeine to keep us awake until we finish."

"Ehh, maybe not coffee; I can stay up pretty easily. Might want some sugar, though."

"You're going to die on a sugar crash."

Knowing of a nearby cafe, considering how many high school and college students alike use the library to study, Theo took the lead while Carmina followed suit.

Definitive as the adjective 'nearby' was, it only took a couple well-known alleyway shortcuts before they could find their merry coffee to go on their merry way back to the library.

Except that, in an unpopulated alleyway that saw almost no walkers due to the early hours of the day, a not-so-merry man stood oh-so-very not jolly even as Christmas was just a couple weeks away.

The man, although hooded under a black hoodie, smiled with a perverse grin that no veil of shadow could prevail, though it was mostly because of the fact that the sign was awfully bright for the depth of a hoodie's shadow to overcome.

He spoke as though reading off of a script, "Theo Rukuos, special friend to the academy's top Supers, expected to be found near the library in which he had planned to study at with Colin and Akayuki. Is that correct?"

Carmina whispered to Theo, "This has to be the biggest 'fuck no' moment in my life yet, and I've seen some shit."

With the imperative fact that this man before them was a threat, Carmina quietly muttered her Name and summoned her dagger behind her back. It was made especially obvious once the fact that he was revealed to have a gun, now cocking it in the direction of the two Manifestors.

"You don't need to answer me, dearies; it was just a statement of confirmation. Here's what we'll do: you, bystander lady who's clearly both uninvolved and harmless in the situation, will stab the boy next to you, Theo Rukuos. If you don't comply, you get shot dead. If you do comply, then you live! Deal of a life time, quite literally."

Theo responded as though he took it straight from a movie, "Who are you? And what do you want from me?"

" . . . didn't I just tell you? I want you dead! Now, lady, I'm going to throw you a knife and you're going to plunge it deep into that boy's guts, and I want you to do it slooow and painful~. I want to bear witness the stages of pain that boy goes through once---" The man spoke as though beginning a monologue clearly irrelevant to the actual story, but the moment he had spoke of his generic fetish for pain, Carmina revealed her dagger and began shanking Theo like there was no tomorrow.

Unwilling to risk a bullet shot to Theo's bones or brain, both of which are particularly difficult, if not impossible, to heal with Carmina's dagger. Also unwilling to be carrying a dead corpse throughout town to get to Dr. Sunshine, Carmina made the calculated decision to make manageable wounds for Theo before anything got out of line.

For the man, however, it looked as though Carmina had been plotting to stab Theo ever since she was born.

As calculated as her move could've been, Carmina didn't take into account the severity in which she had to moderately stab Theo, and was now making a flood of blood that scared the hooded man to his wit's end.

It especially didn't help that, due to the dagger's regenerative abilities, Theo screamed with half a jaw despite two minutes worth of time passing.

No matter how much of a sadist the man thought himself to be, the brutality of Carmina's work humbled himself straight to a civilized man.

After too much time had passed in the man's inaction to save the poor Theo, he spoke with the complete amnesia of who he was before, "H-Holy shit, woman! What in God's name are you doing?! D-Did he fucking kill your family!? How is he still alive!?!?"

Just now realizing that what she was doing may have been doing was a bit too extreme, Carmina began chanting like a zealot, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry---," instead of actually lessening the severity in which she was stabbing Theo.

That, of course, didn't help one bit.

Aiming his pistol at the still-stabbing Carmina while screaming his head off, the hooded man emptied the magazine towards her head only to nearly piss himself seeing her still stab Theo until the concrete was permanently dyed in blood red.

Shot after shot was wasted in Carmina's skull, proving to the man once and for all that she was some sort of fucked-up vengeful spirit, though that conclusion wasn't given the proper time to be utilized.

The man passed out from sheer trauma shortly after.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ughhh . . . my body feels like I got a thousand cactuses inside of me." Theo complained as he sat on floor like a mosquito had just bit his neck.

Carmina, rightfully pacing around as she didn't know a single splint of wisdom on how to deal with a pool of blood and a passed out maniac on the floor, reached for her phone to dial for Alex only to receive a shiftily made voice mail with that 'aiaiai I'm you're little butterfly' toy phone music playing in the background.

To cope with the situation, Carmina tried to make calming conversation with Theo, "Yea!? At least were alive!?!??!"

It didn't come out to be so calming.

"Look, it can't get any worse than this, right? Wait, no, let's get irony on our side---everything is about to get so much worse in just a few seconds!"

" . . . you just jinxed us, didn't you?"

"Haha, you know irony in real life doesn't actually---"

Just as Theo jinxed the two of them, two people ran around the alleyway corner in a bizarre fit of clothing: a boy dressed in a blue hoodie with sunglasses and a skeleton mouth mask and a girl wearing partial samurai gear with an oni demon mask to cover her face, a samurai blade gripped tightly in her right hand.

The only thing that brought them down from the conclusion that they were people made from the figment of their stressed-out imagination was that they were both incredibly out of breath, a dark shade of despair shadowing over their masked faces.

Before a proper conclusion could be made about what actually went down here, the two only saw a magical man suspected to be a hypnotist passed out on the ground, a resting Theo that looked to be a corpse, and a stressed-out Carmina looking as though she had just been freed from an illusion and was now facing the reality of what she just did.

None of that was true, except for what was stated by the man, but there was nothing about the situation that could tell the two Supers otherwise.

Their bodies began to shake, knees buckling at the sight of it all, and before any other words could be spoken . . . 

" . . . I'm going to gore those bastards responsible for this."

A sudden urgency spiked up within Theo's core as the need to clear up the misunderstanding was crucial in that very moment, "Oh my gosh! Look at all those blood packets that were squashed while on our way to a zombie-acting convention to in which we needed to deliver all those blood packets which is why there's so much blood on the ground. Man oh man, mister guy passed out on the floor from shock and only shock, you should really watch where you're going!"

No one believe the shitty lie.

" . . . fuck it. Digly doo, digly darn! What a shitty darn situation we got ourselves into, especially when we're in a rush to that specific zombie---" Carmina took Theo to the side for a quick moment, "---please tell there's actually a fucking zombie convention happening and that you're not pulling something out of your ass so easily re-enterable into it."

Theo looked at Carmina to share the regret of letting himself start the lie, then glanced over at the two strangers who mysteriously had a sense of relief that looked like they were believing him, and decided to continue the lie.

Even if the alleyway looked like a murder scene, the fact that there were no wounds whatsoever seen through Theo's shanked-up shirt contradicted the duo's initial conclusion that he was hurt in any way.

Adding onto Theo's ridiculous lie was the perfectly positioned poster that advertised a zombie convention that hammered the final nail into the coffin.

Sadly, this God-granted miracle of coincidence was wasted due to the fact that the blue-hooded boy and partial-samurai girl already knew where Theo was heading in the first place.

Happily, however, it seemed as though Theo's lie was inconsequential for the two as a sigh of deep relief was brief by both the blue-hooded boy and partial-samurai girl; only one thought was being shared between the two.

'All that matters is that Theo is safe . . .'

Villainy, terrorism, complicated relationships, disobedience with higher authorities, desperation, despair, tears, relief---it all lifted off the two like the weight of the world just poofed into thin air.

Both the blue-hooded boy and partial-samurai girl saw Theo as their connection to the normal life they hadn't been given, a thread to normalcy despite their extraordinary lives as Supers.

To find their dearest friend to be dead would also mean the world would die with him, severing a tie to the blissful ignorance that was to be a somewhat normal teenager. All that would be left of them would be a husk of their former selves, people who fought to protect nothing but themselves.

But he could try to spin up some more bullshit to his lie, before the two could turn around and leave without any further added context to their situation, Theo made an astute observation about the two and their familiar backs, "Oh, Colin? Yuki? That's you inside those costumes? I mean, I can't really call Colin's blue hoodie and sunglasses a 'costume,' but you've really outdone yourself Yuki! That partial samurai set looks pretty good. Did you come back from a costume party or something?"

There was not a single doubt in Theo's mind that both Colin and Akayuki were definitely not coming back from a costume party, but knowing that Colin knew that Theo knew that Colin knew that he and Carmina weren't actually going to a zombie convention, it would only be fair to also give them a bullshit excuse for their current circumstances so as to not be questioned for their own.

A flinch got to them both, forcing Yuki to speak up, "A-Aw man, how'd ya know? I thought these costumes were pretty good at hiding our identities . . . "

"Huh? You're really asking me that? I've known you two for years! How could I not know?"

"Ah, well, enough about us Theo, is this our fourth group member?" Colin quickly changed the topic from them to the girl in front of them, trying to remember correctly on whether she had something inside her hand or not.

" . . . oh, yes, my name is Carmina, nice to meet you. Anyhow, we should totally and absolutely head to the library this instant to study and not waste out time." Carmina spoke with a clouded mind that had seen all the conventions of ineffective lies being broken in their proportionally ineffective results in favor of sheer and utter bullshit.

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement before a question was posed by Akayuki, " . . . alright then, but what about our clothes? I don't think any of us brought a change of clothes that reasonable suit a library setting."

"I think there was a thrift store down the road by the coffee shop me and Theo were heading towards." Carmina noted as she grabbed out her wallet, only to find out it was entirely drenched in blood and all the money she had was now completely useless, "Oof, my wallet is completely drenched in blood . . . oh, zombie blood, yea, zombie blood. Do any of you have money for clothes?"

No one missed Carmina's mistake, but at this point, no one wanted to spend the mental energy to get to the bottom of the many horrible excuses given out to each other.

"Nah, neither me or Colin brought our money with us---" Akayuki paused to add in an additional detail, "---at the costume party."

"I didn't bring my wallet either."

"So are we doing our project at the library like this? Or are we relocating to somewhere else?" Colin easily suggested, being fine with both choices as all he needed to do was to remove his mouth mask and sunglasses to fit in which everyone else.

"Oh to hell with it, who'd care anyways."

Everyone cared.

Making their way back outside the alleyway and into the library without the coffee or baked goods they had initially set out for, stares came in from all directions as a murder victim, a murdered, a samurai cosplayer, and the out-of-place normal boy travelled in a group to study.

Although the library was a hotspot for students all over to study at, it was a lot easier to find a four-seater table, partly due to a clear need to avoid the group.

"Pffft, we look ridiculous in here."

A rippling effect of giggles was passed around the group as Akayuki spoke like a contrarian, "Naw, what do you mean? It's just what normal high schoolers like us wear to feel comfortable, amiright?"

Despite the peculiar introduction of each other, Carmina was smoothly accepted into Theo's small group of friends.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Taking a break from their binge-done project, the group of four had decided to go out for some ice cream for a little sugar boost before heading home, as per Alex's bizarre request associating with ice cream.

Sadly, however, ice cream shops don't take blood-soaked money as a proper form of transaction.

And so, knocking their near-empty noggins together for a solution, Colin thought of the genius idea to do street performances in the form of magic before being promptly stopped when the group realized he would be pulling them from WikiHow.

If it weren't for Alex coming across the group to lend them the money, Carmina's proposition for outright burglary would've won majority vote, if not just scaring pedestrians out of their wallets.

"What kinda stuff do they sell there?" Carmina asked, unfamiliar of the local businesses.

"It's one of the family-ran stores 'round here, so yah know they've got specialty. Plenty of variety, though I'd just be sticking to some home-favorite matcha."

Colin decisively intervened, "Blehh, nothing new? You always choose matcha."

"I don't wanna hear nuthin' about the word 'new' coming out yah mouth, Colin. Yah come dressed like an anarchist with that skull cloth mask on yer face, with nuthin' more than a hoodie and some jeans slapped onta ya body."

"Simplicity, my dear Yuki. It's nice when you don't need to be seen as a half-sane chuunibyou out in public."

Ending the conversation with nothing more than a shrug, Colin took lead of the group into the ice cream shop and made his order first, which was pistachio ice cream. Akayuki was already set on matcha and Carmina had chosen coffee flavor for the little extra energy boost she would need later on in the night to work, finally leaving Theo to order last.

Growing up, the freedom of choice had always been---

'You know what, ice cream isn't worth an entire philosophy lesson; I should just choose mango or something.' Theo conclusively thought, ordering without a hitch and sitting down with the others.

It was bizarre to think as for why they were even getting ice cream in the first place, seeing how winter is already here, but even that has a charm to it.

Disregarding the initial intentions to spike their sugar levels, eating ice cream in the winter didn't give you the rush to finish it before it melted all over.

You could savor it for as long as you want and, in a sense, felt calming to Theo's mind.

The night was slightly chilly, but the warmth and comfort of friendly talk had all but dispelled its chill.

Right there, in that very moment, the bewitching desire to play savior had all been forgotten; it was memories like these that Theo was able to stave off the ever-deluding romanticism he had with saviors and danger . . .

 . . . though, a chew into an unripened chunk of mango had brought a moment of sour clarity from Theo's sensation of normalcy. Although ice cream may have not been worth the hassle, an existential crisis would certainly be.

For Theo, the freedom of choice had always been a sort of shackle that work in spite of its definition; having a near-infinite amount of choices laid out before him with a mind incapable of certainty had its burden, certainly.

And so, to cope with such a weight, a mountain of excuses bundled to its thousands would come to deny that illusion of choice.

'It's a choice of necessity, not commitment! A path carved from circumstance, not freedom! The decision to pursue the unheard depths of the uncharted? Prompted by who? It's a verdict made to abide the life of normalcy, not exploration!'

Such was the plot of a story to a savior, its script extending no further than the words mentioned in its body.

Never in his life had Theo grasped the resolution of independence, of that final ruling reached by none other than himself. Thus, to force the savior to go off script, the script must fate itself to change.

For the very moment that Theo had taken the third bite of his ice cream, a faint but reverberating sound resonated with his heart as though calling for his very heart.

' . . . what is that?' Colin inquired as he sought for the source of the sound, hearing not the sounds of a mystique calling but rather a large vehicle hurdling towards their current location.

Soon, far sooner than what Colin could respond to, faster than any flash down memory lane or a brilliant light at the end of a tunnel . . .

 . . . was an isekai truck and its horn of adventure.