Rise Of The Black Ranger

After they began walking through the second carriage they made it back to the first one, all of them sitting themselves down.

After a moment of complete silence, Dillon and Ziggy just decided to play rock paper scissors again while Axel just sat there without a care in the world.

“Today has been pretty strange hasn’t it?” Axel mused getting the attention of Dillon and Ziggy.

“I mean you're not wrong it has been pretty strange” Dillon replied.

“You said at least it's slightly starting to be “Normal” at least” Ziggy commented as he said out loud, “wonder how mom is doing right now”

“She’s probably keeping the others in the pack in check right now while we're gone” Dillon chuckled.

“So… this is where he keeps the train when it’s not in use,” A voice responded from the door to the carriage.

The boys looked to where the voice was coming from before Dillon spoke up, “Who are you?”.

Standing by the door was a young man with black hair and green eyes. He was wearing some old tracksuit bottoms with a black and blue t-shirt that had a familiar stylized ‘R’ on it, before he looked at the two of them and said, “I’m sorry to bother you. I was just looking for my adopted father, is he around here?”

“Oh he’s in the last carriage” Ziggy quickly replied

“Wait Shade’s your dad” Dillon then asked.

“Well it’s what we’re going with now… it used to be a case of being in his friend group before he disappeared from our old world, then I found him here, learned how old he was now and considering what I was like them and how I saw him asked him to make me his son in this new world,” the figure responds calmly, “Still who are you three. And what are you doing here?”

“I’m Dillon, this is Ziggy and that's Axel,” The boy responded as he pointed to the other two before continuing, “we're here because we noticed some stuff happening near the castle and went to see what was going on, and since Shade occupies this place and were acquaintances I wanted to see how he was doing and after that he decided to show us around” Dillon replied.

“Okay… how exactly did you three meet him?”

“I met him two weeks ago and he saved my life” Dillon replied

“I also met him two weeks ago,” Axel added.

“I just met him today” Ziggy then replied.

The figure's eyes focused on Dillon and Ziggy, his eyes looking over them curiously before he said, “This is bothering me, but why do you both look so familiar?”

“I have no idea dude” Dillon responds with a shrug, Ziggy doing the same.

“I don’t know why, but I’m sure you two both look familiar. Something about you both screams, ‘American knockoff’.” the figure responds, still focused on Dillon and Ziggy.

“The hell is that supposed to mean!?” Dillon yelled as he jumped back on his feet, while Ziggy just looked like his feelings were hurt.

“Just what it sounds like,” the figure responds with a shrug of his shoulders.

Dillon’s eye twitches for a moment as he tries to say something but does not find the right words as he decided to sit next to Axel who was just sitting down not paying attention to what the figure said.

The group waited in silence for a couple of minutes before Shade walked into the carriage glancing at each person in the room before his eyes settled on the figure before seeming to address the figure by name, “Okay… what did you do now Simon?”

“He’s being a prick” Shade hears Dillon grumble out as he sees Ziggy just in the corner looking depressed from what Simon had said.

“What exactly did that idiot say this time?” Shade asked as he looked up pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I didn’t say anything!” Simon responded.

“Simon. This is you were talking about!” Shade shouted as Simon lowered his head. “So Dillon what did he say?”

“He called us knockoffs, I don’t even know what I'm a knockoff of, I barely remember anything I don’t even remember who I was before this….” Dillon responded.

“Well knowing how that idiot thinks I can only assume he is referring to the fact that the Power Rangers series are a localization of the Japanese versions.” Shade points out.

“Wait… they are supposed to be rangers?” Simon responds looking at the two of them again, “you know if it wasn’t for the ears and tail I could almost say he looks like the black ranger from one of them… which was the name… RPM?”

“Series, localization… What?” Dillon responded completely confused, which showed how deep his loss of memory was.

Ziggy's eyes widened slightly as he sat against a nearby wall clearly in deep thought.

“Well, I suppose the best way to put it is that The Power Rangers are part of a long-running tv show in our world, the show of which is a crude copy made from the original’s fight scenes that are from Japan called Super Sentai.” Simon responds, “and if I am calling it right that means your friend there dressed up as the comic relief of the series he was from.”

Ziggy in response stopped spacing out as he asked, “I'm from a show?”.

“Of course not. You bought something from your character at a convention or something like that and became who you look like now. Although I don’t know why you chose to be Ziggy of all people. I mean he’s the most useless of them all,” Simon responded with a dismissive wave.

“Oi piss off you asshole!” Dillon yelled anger clearly on his face.

“What can he not take the truth like a big boy?” Simon responds, speaking down to them both like they were little children.

“Simon! Out now!” Shade shouted glaring at the grown man as Dillon and Ziggy saw what looked to be a chain-shaped ring around his neck begin to glow, “We’ll be having a talk about your attitude later!”

“Y-Yes dad,” Simon responded, his voice shaking sounding terrified at Shade’s raised voice as he left the train leaving the group inside the carriage alone.

“I’m sorry about him, are you both okay?” Shade asked, looking at Dillon and Ziggy.

“He was pissing me off and what he said was bothering me but I'm more worried about Ziggy…” Dillon said as they both glanced at Ziggy who was next to Axel who was trying to comfort him as he was clearly hurt by Simon's words.

“Do you want to talk about anything to do with what he said?” Shade asked as he knelt down in front of Dillon.

“I….I” Dillon tried to reply only to be unable to find the right words.

Shade didn’t say anything, to begin with as he wrapped his wings around Dillon pulling him close before whispering, “Don’t worry. Take your time, just say what comes to mind.”

“E-everything he said he was nonchalant in the way he just looked down on us” Dillon quietly spoke.

“You want to know something about him, he acts that way because up until a few days ago he was under the control of someone living as a mindless puppet to them without any free will of his own,” Shade admitted, still holding Dillon close to him “He just followed anyone’s orders like a zombie and was spoke to just like he just did to you.”

Dillon didn’t know what to say so he just stayed silent as he thought what Shade just told him.

He couldn’t say anything and he couldn't think of any word to respond with and as a result, he began to tear up and immediately hugged Shade.

“It’s okay. Let it all out,” Shade responds as he lifts Dillon up in his wings before sitting on one of the nearby chair’s, still rubbing the back of Dillon’s neck with his hand as he sits Dillon in his lap, “I’ll stay here as long as you need.”

Dillon stayed next to Shade in a hug as he continued to cry, as it continued for multiple minutes until he went quiet Shade looked down to see Dillon wiping his eyes from the tears as he looked up to him.

“T-thanks Shade,” Dillon said as he let out a low sniffle.

“Any time” Shade replies with a smile before adding, “Anything else on your mind?”

Dillon just shook his head in response, “No I’m good for now”.

“How’s your friend doing?” Shade asked looking over his shoulder towards Ziggy to find him just spacing out while Axel continued to attempt comforting him only to get no response from him at all as they noticed tears slowly developing in his eyes.

“Do you mind?” Shade asks, looking at Dillon gesturing for him to move and sit beside him.

Dillon immediately nodded in response as he sat next to Shade placing his head on Shade’s side.

Shade’s horn then glowed in a soft crimson hue as a similar coloured light surrounded Ziggy as he was softly lifted from the ground and carried over to Shade as he slowly placed in his lap like Dillon had been before, Shade’s wings supporting Ziggy’s back and head as he said, “Little one. Are you okay?”

Ziggy didn’t even move for a moment before he slowly looked towards Shade, the boy looking at him in silence before he immediately broke down crying as he immediately hugged Shade.

Shade only smiled back at the young boy rubbing his neck as he had with Dillon, as he rocked him in his wings, “Shush, Don’t worry little one. I’m here. Take as long as you need. Let it all out.”

The boy continued to cry letting out low hiccups as he tightly hugged Shade, same with Dillon went on for multiple minutes before he slowly began to stop crying before he slowly pulled away from Shade as the boy began to wipe his own face of his tears.

“Are you feeling any better?” Shade asks.

The boy nodded in response as he looked up to Shade who saw that his eyes were red from the crying.

“Do you want to talk about anything with me, little one?”

“He said I chose to be Ziggy...even though I know I am, but the way he talked about me hurt a…” Ziggy slowly replied, grabbing his own chest tightly.

“Keep going, I'll listen for as long as you need me to,” Shade responds, still holding Ziggy close.

“I don’t remember what he was talking about…, nothing about any convention or even choosing anything, the only thing I remember was being in the garage and then being pulled through something” Ziggy slowly continued.

“Wait… just to confirm, what do you remember from before you arrived in this world?” Shade asks, looking at Ziggy curiously.

“I was in a garage with three cars in it, l” Ziggy replied, “but I was in another room entirely. This small woman was having me test out my suit after bonding it to myself so a bad guy wouldn’t get the rev morpher” Ziggy continued.

“Okay, I’m going to say something here and if what I say matches your memories I’ll explain further okay.” Shade began to say, “before getting your Morpher you were trying to find someone to take it up via an audition. Before you could select a user, the morpher was almost stolen by… I believe her name was Tanaya?”

“Yeah, she tried posing herself to be human so she can get it” Ziggy replied as Dillon looked at the both of them.

“Tanaya...why does that name sound familiar?” Dillon thought to himself.

“I used the morpher and it bonded to me and after that was over everyone else other than Dillon gave me crap for it, even though I had no choice” Ziggy then stated.

“To be fair considering how things end if that virus gets access to the grid, you really didn’t have a choice,” Shade admits.

“Yeah, at least I was able to stop it considering how “useless” I am” Ziggy responded.

“Trust me when I say there was only one useless person in this room before I walked in, and it wasn’t you,” Shade responded.

Ziggy looked at Shade in surprise before saying, “T-thanks Shade that means a lot”.

“It’s not a problem,” Shade responds, “now is there anything you want to ask me about?”

Ziggy shook his head in response, “No I don’t”.

“Then are you all better now?” Shade asks again.

“Yeah I'm better,” Ziggy replied.

“Wait, I actually do have one question though, earlier what did you mean by series?” Ziggy immediately asked.

“In the world, I was from before I died. What happened to you and the Dillon you knew along with the others in Corinth was seen as a tv show people watched. Essentially it’s how I knew what happened before you got your morpher without being told,” Shade admits. “But just because in my world it was a tv show doesn’t mean that you are from that show. I mean… in that you didn’t disappear into another world after linking with your morpher.”

“I think I understand what you mean,” Ziggy said with a nod of his head.

“The best way to think of it is basically a multiverse… which could be true considering the whole Displaced thing we live with. I could have been Displaced from one reality while you come from your own where what I saw as a tv series really took place and many other realities.” Shade suggests.

“So from what you're saying the way that that works is that I could be a Dillon from one of those realities or universes or whatever, or could be something or someone else entirely?” Dillon piped up curious.

“That's kinda the basic premise, yes. But as you said, you have no memories from your life before so we can never be sure what world you came from before this one.”

“You got a point there,” Dillon replied.

“Heck, you could be from an alternate future where I never died and you were my biological son for all I know,” Shade pointed out.

“That's...oddly specific but I see where you're getting at” the boy responded.

“I just hope I actually get my memories back at some point so I can actually know where I came from or not,” Dillon said to himself.

“So what you mean is where you're from, I'm a character from a show, but where in my reality do I exist since that reality or universe exists?” Ziggy asked

“Theoretically, that is the case. But in the same logic, Simon’s statement could also be true. We just have no proof of either one.” Shade responds.

“True…” Ziggy admitted.

“There’s still a chance that he’s wrong though” Axel interjected before saying, “We have no idea if what he says is true or untrue so we shouldn’t let what he says bother us”.

“And that's the way you should look at this whole thing. Besides, there is an infinite number of worlds out there, many of which have people in similar positions to us.”

Ziggy was silent for a moment as thought about what they were saying before stating, “I understand I'll try to not let what he said get to me”.

“That's the best way to go about it in all honesty” Dillon commented.

“Just know that you know that you’ll always be you Ziggy, nothing can change that” Axel stated.

“Yep,” Dillon said in agreement

“And I doubt anyone would change that about either of you,” Shade adds, rubbing the top of both Dillon and Ziggy’s heads.

The two boys let out a giggle in response as they both smiled at Shade, as he simply smiled back before pulling his arms and wings away from them both.

“Thanks for talking with us, Shade” Dillon stated.

“Yeah, we appreciate it” Ziggy commented.

“Any time.”

They both then stand up in front of him as Dillon stated, “We should probably head out soon right?”

“I would say so. I would assume there are other things you want to do while you're here right?”

“I'm kinda hungry, is there a place where we can get food?” Dillon asked.

“I’m sure there is something we can sort you in the castle,” Shade suggests, “I'm sure the kitchens will be usable.”

“Can we go then I'm hungry too” Ziggy added

“Eh, I’m down to eat” Axel commented.

“You’ll still have to deal with Simon’s idiotic responses,” Shade points out as he stands up.

“If anything we’ll just ignore him” Dillon replied.

“That's for the best” Axel commented in response as they walked out of the carriage following behind Shade.

Ziggy just took a breath as he walked behind them thinking to himself, “Don’t let what he says bother you, just ignore it” As he followed them out the train where Simon was waiting.

“What took you so long?” Simon asks, looking at the group. “I mean isn’t at least one of you three supposed to be an adult… not the smartest adult but still an adult.”

Ziggy not really wanting to focus on him just kept walking until he was near the staircase from before as he stayed completely silent before breaking the silence, “I'm not an adult I'm fifteen” as he then went silent again.

“You really don’t let up do you?” Dillon commented towards Simon before walking to where Ziggy was.

“You two might want to duck,” Shade warned both Ziggy and Dillon as he stopped walking forwards as he saw Simon following close behind the group as Dillon and Ziggy immediately ducked down before Shade’s leg shot outwards just above their heads as Shades foot struck Simon in the centre of the chest as he keeled over pain, “Simon… start behaving yourself or I will start acting like you old father.”

“R-Right… I… Understand.” Simon responds, shaking through shaky breaths, as Shade placed his foot back down where he was standing.

“You better,” He added, not even looking back as he started walking again.

Dillon and Ziggy wince after seeing Simon get laid out the boys feeling slightly bad but not enough to say he didn’t deserve it.

“Damn..” Dillon quietly said as he and Ziggy glanced at each other Ziggy covered his mouth to not show his amused smirk.

Axel was still next to the train when this happened and covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing as he passed Simon as he picked both Dillon and Ziggy up closely following behind Shade.

“Are you dying down there or are you gonna get up?” Simon heard Axel comment as he looked to see Axel glancing back at him as he continued walking behind Shade.

“I’ll catch up later,” Simon responds with a shaky breath as he slowly raises to his feet.

“Whatever you say” Axel quickly responded as they continued forward, walking down the hallway and up the stairs.

“Is he going to be ok?” Dillon then asked.

“He will be later. He’s been through worse,” Shade responds calmly as he reaches the stairs and begins to walk up to them.

“Ok then” Dillon replied as he looked at Ziggy who was smiling.

“Seems your back in a good mood” Dillon then commented.

Ziggy just nodded before Axel suddenly lifted them up and placed them on his shoulders. The two of them just smiled in response as their tails started to wag.

The group continued up the stairs in silence before they came back into the throne room walking in to find it empty as they walked towards the main door.

“Guess we were the last ones to come in today huh?” Ziggy commented as he noticed how quiet and vacant the throne room was.

“Apparently,” Dillon replied.

“Well that or they decided to stop more of them from visiting today,” Shade suggests, “It doesn’t mean much considering they will be out the door and back through town by tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah and that guy from before will be back by tomorrow” Dillon responded
“And he will make the same obscene orders of me again and get rejected… again,” Shade responds as he opens the door.

“We could turn him away in future Prince Shade?” one of the guards outside the door stated as the door opened, as each guard bowed their heads towards Shade.

“Yes… but then we’d have to deal with the nobles complaining about the fact I’m refusing to listen to them as they start rioting in the streets and spreading rumours around the country… and I really don’t want to deal with that and I bet the others wouldn’t either.”

“That sounds stressful honestly…” Axel commented letting out a shudder as he imagined that scenario.

“Well that or a few would start trying to burn the homes of some of the non-equine residents,” the guard responds, before holding out a scroll of paper towards Shade. “For now we’ll leave things as they are… although I was handed this to pass on to you once you finished for the day.”

“Thank you,” Shade responded as he took the scroll holding it in his hand, “If possible could you set some of the training equipment up in the arena. I may need it later on,” Shade requested getting a bow from the guards around him as they each left without a word.

“Now… shall we get you all something to eat?” Shade asks, looking at the group again.

“Yep!” Dillon and Ziggy reply with smiles on their faces as Axel just nodded in response giving his own smile as well, as the group walked down a side doorway deeper into the castle.

After a couple of minutes of walking the group reached the castle’s gardens, the area looked to be covered with trees and overgrown bushes, which surrounded a large hill in the centre of the area.

Dillon let out a whistle as he looked around, commenting, “This place looks nice.”

“Let me guess, it feels like the rest of the everfree?” Shade responds.

“Yep, feels just like home” Dillon responded with a smile looking towards Shade.

“I’m not surprised you are still in the same place. I’ll be honest this is where I spend most of my nights… well at the top of the hill stargazing to be more exact.”

“This does look like a good place to stargaze in all honesty” Ziggy commented.

“Well it helps that he spent a long time on the moon with a princess who can control the night sky,” a voice points out from behind them.

Dillon slightly flinches as the group looks to where the voice was coming from to find a tall woman with jet skin covering her body which had holes in her legs and arms, she also had green insect-like wings on her back that looked have a small red eye-shaped logo faintly hidden in the membrane that formed them, while her head had a single long horn which looked to have large holes cut out of the sides.

“I uh…. Who are you?” Dillon asked.

“You could say that I am a very close… ally of my kings,” the figure responded, bowing her head towards the group.

“She’s also the one who tried to take my body for her own before finding out I didn’t have a body to take,” Shade points out, “we use the same method as mine to force her soul into a new body before I… dealt with her.”

Dillon and Ziggy's heads tilt slightly as they glance at Shade for a moment with slight confusion on their faces before they remember what he told them.

“Oh now I remember, the same thing was done for her?” Dillon asked as he pointed towards her.

“Well, in my case I was forced into this body. But when you did try to kill people in another world, and they chose my punishment to be either death or be tied to my king it’s not hard to decide which to go for,” the figure responds.

“....Fair enough,” Dillon replied as he looked back at Shade, “And how long ago was this?”.

“Well I would say nearly 1000 years ago… might be a few months less actually.” Shade responds with a tap of his chin.

“I keep forgetting you were stuck on the moon for 1000 years” Dillon responded.

“Well it’s even harder for me to accept that my big brother is now older than when our grandfather died by over 9 times,” a new voice response from behind them.

The group turns around to where the new voice came from, ZIggy speaking up, “Who’s here now?”.

As they turned and looked behind them they saw two new figures. The first looked to be a young woman who had long black hair that rested by her shoulders along with white eyes and was wearing a red skin-tight outfit that showed a lot of her skin. Her legs, arms and chest were visible with her breasts sticking out slightly from the sides of her clothes barely covering her figure.

The second figure looked to be a young child standing beside her, he wore a basic black t-shirt, with an open red and blue jacket with a hood covering his head along with blue jeans.

“Who are you two?” Axel questioned, tilting his head slightly.

“I thought for me it would be pretty clear,” the woman responds as she looks at Axel while pointing at Shade, “you know with me referring to him as my big brother and all that.”

“Good point” Axel admitted.

“So that's your sister” Dillon stated before walking up to the two and holding out his hand, “My name is Dillon nice to meet you!”.

“Alexis Shade,” the woman responds, holding her hand out to Dillon as he grabs hold of her hand and shakes it as he smiled, his fangs showing while his tail wagged behind him.

“I’m Axel and this is Ziggy” Axel commented as he walked beside Dillon with Ziggy hiding behind him, the boy giving a shy wave towards the two.

“So Alex, where did you find these three?” Alexis asked.

“Dillon I met two weeks ago when he was almost killed by some Gamma, Axel, met the same day as Dillon just under different circumstances, and Ziggy…. Just today.”

“Me and Axel found Ziggy I think a day or two after that night” Dillon commented.

“Okay… so are all three of you Displaced?” Alexis asked.

“I don’t know” Axel blankly replied.

“What's a displaced again?” Dillon asked.

“I-im not dressing as him, I am him,” Ziggy muttered out.

“Okay… Alex have you had ‘a talk’ with the three of them about what we are yet?” Alexis asked.

“Alex?” Ziggy said confused as he looked back towards Shade.

“Right. We haven’t formally met in my real body have we,” Shade responded as he tapped a small watch-like band on his arm before he was covered in a crimson light as his form changed into that of a human. “Ziggy. This is what I looked like before I came to this world.”

Ziggy went silent for a moment before smiling as he said, “Oh, well it's nice to formally meet you then Alex.”

“The pleasure is all mine.”

“Seriously, what’s a displaced again?” They both heard Dillon ask in confusion.

“Okay, how much do you know about the multiverse?” Alexis asks.

“Only about as much as Alex has told us in relation to Ziggy” Dillon replied.

“And how much was that?” She asked again.

“The possibilities that Ziggy could just be from a different reality where he’s younger than his normal counterpart” Dillon responded.

“Okay… well the simplest way to explain a displaced person is a person who was sent to a world, not of their own, who has the ability to traverse other worlds around them,” Alexis admits.

“But most of us need to create an object called a token to travel between them. That is for you to call someone here or for them to call you to their reality,” Alex added.

“How does the process of making a token work?” Ziggy asked curiously.

“I'm kinda curious about that as well,” Dillon commented.

“Well the simple way is that you get an object related to you, think up a message you want someone to hear when they find it, and then send it off into the void in some way… if I remember correctly the last step can happen naturally once you finish.” Alex explains.

“Well once I actually have an item related to me I’ll try and do that later” Dillon replied.

“Same here” Ziggy stated in agreement.

“Question is there a place where I can get clothes because the only bit of clothing I’ve had for the past two weeks has been this cloak I’ve been wearing,” Dillon asked as he motioned towards the brown raggedy cloak.

“Well… I could help in that regard,” Alexis quickly responds, “I did try my hand at making clothes before I was sent here… and with the power that was forced on me I could create stuff like that quite easily.”

“If you're not unwilling I won’t refuse” Dillon replied scratching the back of his own head.

“It would take me some time to actually work out, design and make them fit you, but I could do it,” Alexis responds before pausing, looking back at Ziggy, “Wait… did you say you were the ‘real’ Ziggy?”

“Y-yeah I did” Ziggy quietly replied

Alexis then walks over to Ziggy kneeling down in front of him, “would you want something designed for you as well… I might have a semi matching design that links both you and Dillon over there… but I won’t exactly feel… normal for you.”

“S-sure” Ziggy shyly responded

“Is something bothering you,” Alexis asked as she scratched Ziggy behind one of his ears.

“He gets shy around new people” Dillon commented as Ziggy quietly nodded in response with a small blush on his face.

“Is that a blush?” Dillon commented as he looked at Ziggys face.

“No…” Ziggy quietly responded.

“No that definitely looks like a blush bud” Axel replied as he crouched next to him.

“No it isn’t!” Ziggy shouted out embarrassed as he covered his face as he let out a groan.

“Ok, ok we’ll stop, '' Dillon stated with a chuckle.

“Jerks….” Ziggy muttered out in response.

“It’s not that bad,” Alexis responded rubbing the top of Dillon’s head before looking at Alex, “So… when do these three little kids become my grandchildren?”

Dillon’s tail poked out through his cloak and wagged in response as they just gave her a smile in response.

“What sort of ideas are you putting into his head, Lexi?” Alex asked.

“What… it would be easier for me to spoil them if they were,” Alexis argues, “I assume they have asked you about it… right?”

“They haven’t asked me about it yet,” Alex points out.

“I wouldn’t mind that actually” Dillon quietly stated.

“What was that?” Axel asked.

“Nothing!” Dillon quickly replied.

“Do you have something you need to say to my brother?” Alexis asked as he turned her head away from Ziggy looking at Dillon.

Dillon immediately looked away with a blush on his face.

“Look who’s blushing now,” Ziggy said with a sneer.

Dillon just grunted in response before letting out a sigh, “S-shade can I ask you something?”.

“Sure, ask away,” Alex responds as he looks towards Dillon.

“Would you be…” Dillon began to speak but stopped suddenly, seemingly trying to find the right words.

He continued to try and speak but decided to take a deep breath and quietly asked “would you mind if I called you….dad?”.

“I’m sorry… what did you say, I couldn’t make out what you said,'' Alex asked as he walked over towards Dillon kneeling down in front of him, “What are you wanting to say to me?”

“W-would you mind if called you dad” Dillon repeated in an embarrassed tone.

Alex then leant in towards Dillon before whispering back to him, “Is it just you just want to call me that… or do you want me to be that to you?”

Dillon went quiet for a moment going into deep thought asking, “C-can you be my dad?”.

“You don’t have to say yes” Dillon then stated as he looked away.

Alex then placed his hand on Dillon’s head as he turned it to face him before he said, “less the answer being no, but more just wanting to check, are you asking if I’ll adopt you?”

Dillon nodded in response, “Y-Yeah I am”.

Alex wrapped his arms around Dillon before pulling him close, “is there a reason you want me to be that to you?”

“I see you as a father figure, and since I don’t really remember my birth parents seeing you as my dad felt natural to me, I feel safe around you”.

“Huh, he actually said it” Axel commented.

“I mean he seems to have that effect on me too” Ziggy stated.

“He has that effect on most people,” Alexis adds.

“It seems to match for those who have been through trauma as well,” a new voice adds from behind Alex. They look behind Alex to see where the voice was coming from as they saw Princess Luna standing behind him, “I mean if being on the moon for as long as he was with me means anything.”

“True,” Dillon admitted.

“Also,” a second voice added as he felt a small body wrap its arms around his neck, “did I hear you asking my dad to adopt you?”

Dillon just yelped in response as he immediately covered his ears, “The demon is back!”.

Ziggy immediately reeled back in response to Dillon’s outburst.

“What don’t you want your ear scratching,” the voice asked as Dillon felt something against one of his ears.

“No, no don’t do it” Dillon quickly squeaked out before feeling her scratching his ear making him fall forwards into Alex’s arms as his body twitched slightly.

Ziggy just looked on in horror as he hid behind Axel who just had an amused smirk on his face.

“Help m-” Dillon tried to speak but it immediately turned to gibberish once Midnight started to scratch his ear faster.

“Please stop it’s too much” Dillon then said, his voice shaky as she continued to scratch his ear.

“Midnight, stop tormenting the poor boy,” Luna states looking at the figure who was scratching Dillon’s ear.

“But why? He makes such cute noises,” MIdnight responds with an annoyed groan as she stops scratching Dillon’s ears and teleports onto Luna’s head.

“Oh, sweet relief!” Dillon gasped out as he placed his hands on top of his ears and rubbed them, “My ears feel funny…”.

“Pretty sure that's normal. Didn’t you feel the same after she did that last time?” Alex asked.

“Maybe,” Dillon replied.

“Note to self never let anyone touch the ears” Ziggy commented.

“Noted” Axel quickly replied.

“It might only be an issue for him… I mean I was scratching you behind your ears and you were fine,” Alexis points out.

“Fair enough but I'm still wary of it,” Ziggy replied.

“Honestly I don’t even think he noticed” Axel added with a brow raised.

Ziggy just showed a bashful smile in response.

“I think he was too busy blushing to notice… or that is how he reacts to getting his ear scratched,” Alexis suggests.

“Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case” Axel added with a smirk as he ruffled Ziggy’s hair.

Ziggy just shook his head to get Axel’s hand off before he got picked up by him.

“H-hey!” Ziggy shouted out as he wriggled around in Axel's arm before he was put over his shoulder as Axel looked back at Dillon.

“Would you be willing to be my dad?” the boy asked as he hopefully looked up to Shade.

“If you can accept a very old man for a father,” Satou responds.

“Say… if you adopted him how many kids would you have adopted here?” Alexis adds.

“Wait, how many kids has he adopted?” Axel then asked curiously.

“Depends… is this excluding Dillon?” Alexis asks.

“Yeah,” Axel replied.

“Including Dillon… 5 unless you include those who I haven’t said are my kids, but see me as a father nonetheless… hundreds,” Alex responds calmly.

“I can’t say I'm not surprised but damn…” Axel commented.

“Language” Ziggy immediately piped before getting his face covered with Axel's hand.

“Shush” Axel said as Ziggy let out a muffled protest in response.

“So… does the number of those who you accept as a son or daughter need to increase more than five?” Alexis asked as she looked at Ziggy.

Ziggy removed Axel’s hand from his face as he said “I mean I wouldn’t mind him being my dad”.

“There’s one other person that needs asking about this beyond myself though… and you three know exactly what that is.” Alex points out.

“Oh yeah, we're definitely gonna ask mom about this,” Ziggy said in realization.

“Yeah, you two seemed to have forgotten that” Axel added with a chuckle.

“I mean the lake isn’t that far if anything we can go back and ask her” Dillon stated as he looked back towards them.

Dillon then looked back to Alex as he asked, “Would you mind coming with us so we can ask mom?”.

“Why do I get a feeling that you need to get this mother of there’s to approve you,” Luna responds with a smirk.

“Well, considering that their mother is a Timberwolf, I would expect it will be a strange thing to see,” Midnight adds.

“Nothing in the everfree is normal” Dillon commented as stood up.

“You think I don’t know that considering I lived in this very castle a thousand years ago,” Luna argues.

“I'm not saying you don’t know that” Dillon raised his hands in defense.

“We should probably get going then if we were actually doing this” Axel stated as placed Ziggy back on his feet.

“I’m sorry to rush off, I’ll help these three out and be back soon,” Alex responds, reverting back into his Alicorn form.

“Just come back soon… I have something I needed to talk with you about,” Luna responds.

“I’ll try to be as quick as I can,” Shade responds as Luna simply nods back.

“Alright let's go!” Dillon and Ziggy shout in excitement.

“Ok calm down you two” Axel stated as he patted both their heads as they began to head out back to the lake, as Shade followed close behind.