The Misadventures of a Fox

“So… wait…” Dash shook her head as she tried to process what her purple-coated friend had stated. She was sitting in the library, Spike was in the kitchen working on lunch, and a purple unicorn was sitting across from her. “Tell me again. Just not in egghead speak.”

“Okay.” Twilight nodded. “One last time, and as simply as I can.” The mare took a breath. “When I last checked on you I noticed something off. There was a magic around you I didn’t exactly recognise. I did some digging and ended up putting two and two together. Rainbow, you had your mind altered. Not enough to be noticeable by you, but enough that your friends would start getting worried.”

“Okay…” Dash nodded with a slow breath. “And, what did the altering do?”

“It made you more flirty, more aggressive, more daring.” Twilight listed. “My running theory is, something was going to replace you and altering your mind ahead of time would make it easier for the doppelganger to slide into your role.”

“So… Gilda’s talk kinda broke the brain magic?” Dash asked.

“Exactly.” Twilight nodded at the pegasus. “Once you noticed there was something wrong, your mind worked to start purging the invasive magic. Like your body fighting off a cold.”

“Kay… What am I supposed to do with this now?” Dash blinked, frowning. “I mean, I really don’t like the thought that something had got into my head. But, I’m better now right?”

“Basically.” Twilight nodded once again. “You have been feeling more shy and reserved around Dustin, haven’t you?”

“Yeah…” Dash winced with a little blush.

“That’s just a little backlash from the effect's removal. Like your brain chemistry trying to find an equilibrium when you come off drugs.” The purple mare said with a small frown.

“So…. I’ll be back to somewhat normal?” The prismatic pegasus asked, cocking her head to the side curiously.

“Eventually.” Twilight replied. “Like coming off drugs, your brain will take a bit to balance. A week or two at the most. So you’ll probably shy, reserved, and emotional around Dustin because he was the one you were supposed to be fixated on.”

“But…” Dash blinked. “Why him?”

“That, I don’t know.” Twilight sighed.

There was a knock at the door.

“It’s a library. Ponies can just come in.” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“You also live here, Twi.” Dash pointed out.

“Right.” The purple unicorn groaned. “Come in.”

The door opened. A Diamond Dog with white fur (off white due to dirt) and blue eyes, limped inside.

Twilight blinked. “Can… I help you?”

“Flint?!” Dash gasped. “What are you doing here?”

“We’s go’ a problem.” Flint grunted to the pegasus then looked at Twilight. “Boss said yous was smart. Ah don’ got th’ brains fe’ this.”

“Umm… Flint, was it?” Twilight asked. “What’s going on?”

“Somethin’s wrong wiff boss.” Flint replied.

“Dustin?” Dash paled. “Is he okay.”

“Ah don’ tink so.” The dog shook his head at the mare. “‘E’s… different.”

“Okay.” Twilight took a breath. “Come take a seat. Tell us everything.”

The dog nodded and limped over to sit next to Dash.

“Well….” The dog seemed to be fighting to think straight. “Ever since you two’s been ruttin.’ His comment made Dash blush. “‘E’s spent less time at da mine. Ah figured it was fine, e’s allowed ta do wha’ever he wan’s. E’s da boss. But lay’ly, since yous been takin’ time ta yerselves, e’s…” The dog’s brow furrowed. “E’s off. E’ kicked Lyra out.” He actually gave off a bit of a growl when he said that. “E’ doubled da dog’s diggin’ out da Adamantine. An’ e’ seems distracted. Like, ou’ o’ it. E’ snaps when we ask w’as wrong.”

“Twi…” Dash slowly looked over at the mare. “What if I wasn’t the only one to be affected?”

Twilight’s brow furrowed. “I mean that would make sense… but why…” She trailed off. “The mine…”

“Wha’?” Flint looked confused. “Wha’ ‘bout it?”

“What if, and follow me here. What if something wanted the mine?” Twilight asked.

Flint looked thoughtful. “Wai’...” Flint muttered. “Wai’ minute… Before Boss took over, Boss Blacktoof ‘ad us diggin’ out resources for someting callin’ i’self Da Storm King.”

Twilight’s brow furrowed further. “That’s not ringing a bell. I may have to ask Princess Celestia and Lilly if they’ve heard of him.”

“The Storm King?” Spike’s voice made all three turn towards the kitchen. Spike was coming out carrying a tray of small sandwiches, glass cups, and a pitcher of iced tea.

“You know that name?” Dash asked.

“It’s kinda confidential but I trust you.” Spike mentioned, setting the tray down on the table between the three. “So, Lilly had an agent far to the south. Like, The South Seas, south. The Storm King and his wife/consort Queen Chrysalis were building up for something huge. The agent managed to sabotage pretty much everything, setting their entire operation back years. Reports said that basically the entire island exploded, though that might have been a bit embellished.”

“Okay…” Twilight looked thoughtful, absorbing the information.

“Spike, what was Queen Chrysalis the Queen of?” Dash asked, looking worried.

“A Changeling Hive. Why?” He asked.

“Oh no…” Flint breathed.

Dustin was...irritable. He hadn’t been this way since he gave up coffee a while back. Maybe he should pick up another cup, it might help with his headache.

“You alrigh’ Boss?” Quartz asked, hovering nearby. The fox had made her his personal bodyguard, even though he knew that she was normally a “farmer”, yet he’d ordered it so she had to listen.

“I’m fine!” the fox snapped, before mellowing. “I’m...fine,” he muttered. “Thanks for your concern. I’m just worried. The mine could be better.”

“Better ‘ow?” The large dog asked. “We’ve been diggin’ a lo’ ‘arder lay’ly.”

“I know,” the fox sighed. “I just...there’s something in my head that keeps telling me things could be better. Like a nagging thought I can’t get rid of.” He shook his head and refocused on the blueprints in front of him. “What we need is some sort of prospector,” he mused. “Tell us where we can find more ore veins.”

“Can’ Lady Rarity doing somefing like ‘dat?” Quartz asked. “Ah know she could find gems, but you tink she could find me’als?”

“There’s a thought,” the fox agreed. “I’ll ask her when I go back.” He looked back at the blueprints and frowned. It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t going to be enough.

“Bu’ ye ‘aven’ lef’ da mine.” Quartz pointed out. “Is been days. Maybe… yous should take a break? Maybe spend some time wiff Dash?”

“I-” The fox started to say before freezing. Time with Dash sounded go-No. She’s a distraction. Seeing Rarity was helpfu-No. She’s annoying. Something wasn’t right. Something wasn’t right. Something wasn’t right-

He growled and held his paws up to his head. “Some...thing…” he snarled. “My...head…”

“Boss!” Quartz gasped, reaching out for him. “Boss! Wha’s-”

“Some...thing...in...head,” he snarled, beating his head for a moment before his fist tried to hit Quartz, only to be stopped by his other hand. “C-Can’t...control...don’t...listen!”

“B-boss?” Quartz backed up, looking frightened and whimpering like a kicked puppy.

“Rrrrrgh…” Dustin growled at himself a little harder. “R-Run…” he whispered, before slumping onto his desk. He was out of it for a moment...before sitting back up, his eyes having a faint green sheen to them.

“What?” he asked. “Is something wrong?”

“B-boss. Yous… Yer head.” Quartz tried to point out.

“Never felt better,” the fox said with a smile. “Go on, tell them all to keep at it.”

Twilight, Flint, and Dash stormed through Ponyville. Spike had written a letter but they couldn’t depend on Lilly and Celestia to bring down the Wrath of the Gods, if they could handle it themselves.

“Right. We’re going to run under the assumption that the mine is entirely compromised.” Twilight stated. “Dash, who do we need?”

“Geralt, Ivy, Guile, and their partners of course.” Rainbow listed.

“Flint, can you get us to the mine undetected?” Twilight asked.

“Ah, know a place. Would take a li’le diggin’ but Ah could get us in.” Flint said after a moment of thought.

“Dash!” A voice got the trios attention. They turned.

“Gilda?!” Dash gasped as the blue-coat clad griffon landed and slid her goggles up. “I thought you left!”

“I did, then I came back. Bro, DadMom, and I are taking a little R&R in Ponyville for a bit.” Gilda replied.

“Oh.” Dash blinked then grinned. “That’s great!”

“What’s going on?” Gilda glanced between the three. “You look you’re on a mission.”

“Dustin’s mine is probably compromised.” Dash stated.

“Changelings.” Twilight stated. “South Seas Hive.”

Gilda’s face turned stoney. “Right.”

“Would you be willing to-”

Suddenly an explosion of fire went off behind Gilda, causing the three others to jump. The fire seemed to suck in to a point and disperse. Something stepped out, or more accurately, limped out of the smoke cloud.

A tall red dragon with a golden underbelly, and purple eyes frowned at the griffon. His wings looked tattered and withered and his right leg was bowed slightly. “Dammit Gilda, how did you beat me.”

Gilda glanced over at the dragon. “You gave me a head start and I am a leaf on the wind.”

“Sure you are.” The dragon rolled his eyes with a chuckle. “Oh, DadMom’s taking the long way down with the others. They’ll be a bit, unless there’s an emergency.”

“Garble. There’s an emergency.” Dash stated. Hovering up to the dragon.

“Hey Dash, you’re so much bigger than I-” The words registered as Garble’s face went from happy to serious in and instant. “Report.”

“South Seas Hive.” Gilda and Twilight said in unison.

“... Shit.” Garble took a breath “I don’t suppose I can just cook the problem away?”

“In a mine. There’s friendlies.” Gilda stated. “Probably bugs disguised as diamond dogs.”

Garble took another breath as a slightly shaky left claw came up to rub his eyes. “Okay… Gilda, you and I can’t go one-hundred percent, we’ll need to rely on the others. You, Tia’s Favored Student.” He pointed at Twilight. “Know any spells to remove illusions of disguises in an area-of-effect?”

“I know a few, want me to list them?” Twilight nodded confidently.

“Good and no.” Garble replied. “Dashie, what other forces do we have access to?”

“Don’t call me… Ugh.” Dash groaned. “Me, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Pinkie Pie, Guile the Guilmon, Ivy the Palmon, and Geralt the Weregarurumon.”

“Weregarurumon?” Garble blinked. “Wow, nice. Okay. Twin fanged strike.” He stated. “One force distracts, the other sneaks in and chops off the head if there is one. All else fails, one side works down the mine, the other one works up and we meet in the middle and hope that we get all the bugs.”

“When did you become a tactician?” Dash blinked at him in surprise.

“Since I rushed in and got stabbed in the gut by a clown.” The dragon replied, running a shaky claw over his stomach with a wince and an intake of breath.

“Oh... “ Dash nodded.

“Sound’s like we gots a plan.” Flint stated.

“Yes, however, we need to get everypony and digimon, fill them in and plan it out accordingly.” Twilight nodded.

“Split up and gather everyone?” Dash asked.

“Works for me.” Garble nodded.

“Good. Break.” Twilight stated.

Everything was going according to plan.

She had no idea why she thought that using the pegasus was a good idea.

It was so much easier to convert the fox. It was already too late, he was hers now.

It was a bonus that metals and gems were already being shipped out. Mother would be quite pleased.

‘Chalysrae we have a-’

Even as she registered one of the lings posted in Ponyville, his voice was cut off.

‘Comman-’

Her brow furrowed in her diamond dog form.

‘They know!-’

“That’s not good…” She growled out.

‘All forces, activate the dogs! We have incoming! We will not lose this mine!’

“Quartz?” She looked over at the fox. He’d looked up from her blueprints.

“Y-yes Boss?” She replied.

“Nothing, just, you looked troubled for a moment.” Dustin shook his head.

“It’s fine Boss.” The Disguised Changeling smiled. “It’s fine.”

“Ivy!” Dash pounded on the Vinyl and Octavia’s door. “Geralt! Lemme in!”

“They might not be home.” Gilda replied.

“Oh they’re home.” Dash growled.

The door opened to a slightly out of it Geralt, his left foot was still in a cast.

“Hey… Dash.” He smiled.

“Shit. Right.” Dash facehoofed.

“How’d you do that?” Gilda asked gesturing at the cast.

Geralt blinked slowly then looked down at the cast. “Oh… yeah… Hehe got cocky and kicked a demon in the back of the face. Didn’ work.” He giggled.

“Geralt! Get back to bed this-” Octavia cried out as she poked her head out. “Dash? What are you doing here?”

“We need you and Ivy. Geralt’s obviously out and so is Vinyl.” Dash replied.

“I’m what now?” Came a voice as Vinyl trotted up to the two winged females.

“To long, didn’t read. Dustin’s mind controlled, bugs have him and probably have his mine.” Gilda rattled off.

“I’m in. Geralt’s recovering.” Vinyl said, propping up her shades. “Ivy could be useful in crowd control and Octy can take care of Geralt.”

“That’s better than what I expected.” Dash blinked.

“You learn a thing or two from fighting monsters with the big guy.” Vinyl chuckled and shot a glare at the werewolf. “Go to bed.”

“Yes mom.” The wolf groaned and limped back inside.

“Good, lemme check a couple things then we should be good to go.” Viny said as she passed the pair.

“Cool.” Dash nodded.

“Dash… Did Geralt say he kicked a demon?” Gilda asked.

“Ah we can’t count on him, guy’s working and he avoids anything combat related like the plague.” Dash waved a hoof.

“Gilda blinked. “Right….”

Guile hummed happily as he restocked the newest batch of cupcakes. His stomach growled, but he knew that Pinks would just make him something in a bit here.

There was the jingle of the bell at the front. “Just a minute,” he announced.

“Place smells great.” A gruff voice spoke up.

“Dustin needs to take some dogs out to eat.” Twilight’s voice replied.

“Excuse me, Mister Guile, we need you help.” A second unknown voice spoke up.

Guile frowned, then straightened up. There was Twilight, a Diamond Dog that he assumed was Flint by Dustin’s previous description, and a red dragon he didn’t know. “Can I help you?”

“Yes actually. And I’m sorry, but we need you and your partner to come with us.” The dragon stated.

“Sweetie, what’s-” Pinkie Pie popped her head out of the kitchen. “Oh Hi Twilight. Hi Doggo. Hi Mister Dragon.” She grinned.

“We can’t just leave-” Guile started.

“Boss is ‘ad ‘is mind warped. Mine’s probably lost. Bugs are the problem.” Flint spoke up.

“What?” Guile blinked.

“What’s happening?” Pinkie asked, coming out fully, her face turning to one of concern.

“Changelings.” Twilight stated. “They’ve got Dustin and his mine.”

“We’re in.” The lizard and pink mare said in unison.

‘Commander, we have a unicorrn, a lizard, an earth pony, and a pegasus at the gates what do we-’

The voice was cut off.

That was… problematic.

Chalysrae frowned. They were here.

‘All units. They’re here.’

Suddenly the ground shook.

“B-Boss! The mine’s under attack!” A disguised dog ling burst in.

“What!” the fox growled. “Okay, what’s going on?” He got to his feet, the glow in his eyes trying to be blue and failing thanks to her mind control. “No, scratch that. Lure them into a tunnel. I’ll deal with them.”

“At once boss.” The “dog” nodded.

“Wh-what are you going to do?” “Quartz” asked.

“Whatever it takes,” the fox growled, his eyes sickly green. “This. Ends. Now!”

Garble backhanded a dog, tossing him across the tunnel. There was another purple flash and a few dogs forms shifted into that of black equine insects that immediately hissed. The dragon snapped his fingers and both immediately burst into flames.

Gilda screeched as she tore into another freshly revealed Changeling.

Twilight’s horn was shining as she lifted up a few struggling dogs. There was a hum and the dogs fell limp, snoring immediately. She lowered them to the floor.

Twilight panted. “I think that’s everything in this tu-”

A glowing white shard streaked past her vision. Gilda squawked as another shard lodged into her shoulder. Garble half-staggered in front of the griffon as a few more shards pinged off his scales.

“Cover!” Garble snapped to Twilight as the mare scrambled to hide behind a wooden buttress.

“Diamond…” Dustin’s voice growled from the tunnel in front of them. Green eyes glinted in the dark as more shards kept being launched at them. “Storm!”

Garble spun and threw himself over Gilda as the hallway filled with more shining shards.

“Dustin!” Twilight called out. “Stop!”

“You come into my mine, attack my workers, and beg for me to stop defending myself?” the fox snapped. “No. No, I think it’s time I kicked it up a notch! How about a hurricane to blow you all away?!”

“Do your worst!” Garble called out as the griffon curled up underneath him.

“You don’t deserve my worst,” the fox chuckled. “But if you insist...Diamond hurricane!”

The amount of shards being launched only grew more numerous, and the winds out of the tunnel in front of them picked up.

Twilight grit her teeth, as her eyes fell on the pair in the tunnel.

Time had slowed to a crawl. Every shard bore a small trail of light as it slowly made its way down the tunnel.

“Poor kid.”

A pair of black boots walked down the tunnel. A pair of green eyes glanced to the pair on the floor, then to the mare in hiding, then finally to the fox at the end of the tunnel.

Electricity crackled around jean-clad legs and bare pale arms ending in black gloved covered hands.

“Bugs are a pain in my ass.”

A shard approached the figure. A translucent blue fist slapped it aside.

The figure stepped over the pair as more shards were deflected into the walls.

The human woman stopped in front of the fox and crossed her arms over her tank top covered chest.

Time returned to normal. “You’ve got yourself a problem, son.”

Dustin, as furious as he was feeling, jumped in shock as the very human woman appeared in front of his face. Forest green eyes met his vile green ones. The woman ran a hand through her short-cropped blond hair.

Dustin snarled as he swung a paw towards her face. Maybe she’d be less cocky if she lost an ey-

Something caught his paw and held it tight. There was a slight distortion surrounding his paw, before it was roughly pushed backwards. The woman raised a brow with a frown on her face. “Care to try again son?”

The fox growled again. Okay, different plan. Geralt had been training him, and he’d been experimenting with his Diamond Storm when he was off the clock.

The Renamon raised a paw and smirked as little pieces of rock flew into strategic points around it. And then they were coated in energy…

“How about a diamond fist?” he challenged, before punching at her.

The woman deadpanned, popped her jaw, and took a step forward.

Suddenly the Renamon’s arm was knocked aside, as he skidded backwards. Then his stomach erupted in pain. Had she just punched him in the solar plexus? He gave a gasp of displaced air in and glared at the woman, who had returned to crossing her arms over her chest.

The pain pushed through the fog in his head when he looked back at who he was fighting. G-Guile...Twilight? Wh-why…

Fight them.

N-No!

You will OBEY!

One eye had returned to being blue while the other was still green. “H-help...me…” he begged of whoever was in front of him, even as his right arm tried to punch at her again.

“Looks like you need a little percussive maintenance.” The woman walked forward, stepping around the punch. As she did she cocked back and slammed a fist into his jaw.

The fox dropped like a sack of potatoes.

“No!” A voice cried out as green flames lit the corridor.

A tall changeling with glowing green eyes, and an equally glowing horn, snarled at the woman. “All of you have ruined everything.”

“Bitch, I just got here.” The woman replied blandly. “Dealt with the fox, though he’s gonna have one hell of a migraine when he gets up. All that’s left is you. So, you gonna be like your mom and fuck off? Or do you have the puss to actually pick a fight?”

“Raaagh!” The Proto-Queen roared as green flames erupted from her horn.

A gust of wind suddenly roared down the tunnel and dispersed the flames before actually getting anywhere.

Twilight, Garble, Gilda, Guile, Pinkie, Vinyl, Ivy, and Dash all walked up next to the woman. “So, fight or flight?” The woman asked.

The Proto-Queen snarled as she shot them all a glare, then she erupted in green flames. When the flames died she was gone.

“Flight it is.” The woman snorted.

Dustin’s head hurt.

Scratch that. His everything hurt. His head felt like Geralt was trying to split it by juggling chainsaws while inside it. He opened an eye, hissed, and turned away from the light that had invaded his optical lobe. There was a pressure on his legs, something pony-like was on him.

“Should’ve held back a little more.” A woman’s voice spoke up somewhat quietly. There was a gravel to it that he couldn’t place. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“It’s...fine,” Dustin rasped. When was the last time he had something to drink. “Tried...to fight it. It was...stronger than me. It just...took over….locked me in my head. Being beaten up hurts less…”

“Yeah, bugs aren’t fun. Been there myself years back.” The voice agreed. “You’re free now. Though you might want to get a little mental resistance training.” She chuckled.

“Tried...my one defense. Doesn’t work...when they lock you up...and refuse to engage,” the fox muttered. “Woulda been a nice trap...if I weren’t locked up with it…”

“True. Bugs are good at planning, for the most part. Especially the South Seas Hive.” She muttered. “They’re really desperate to get back to their former power. Mmmph, sorry, I’m rambling.” There was the sound of someone getting up out of a chair, soon followed by the sound of boots on tile. “Try to get some sleep, like your mare there. We can talk another time.”

Mare? Well that would explain the pony-weight on his legs…

Wait, he couldn’t go to sleep! He could remember snippits of the things the bug had made him do under their control. He had to undo it! He had to get up and fix the mine! He had to-

He felt a hand on his shoulder. “Son, you need some time.” The voice softened. “You can’t fix everything immediately, trying will only make things worse.”

“Have to...try,” the fox muttered. “For them. They...deserve better. I have to...fix it. I...promised.”

“Boy, I won’t hesitate to break that glass jaw again.” The woman growled. “You can fix it. When you’re better.”

“It needs to...be fixed...sooner than that,” the fox grumbled. He wasn’t trying to push himself up, his arms weren’t strong enough for that. But he was still making the most unhappy expression at the idea of staying here. “Gotta...tell Flint to...fix it for me…”

The hand squeezed his shoulder. “Dustin. I am going to push this little button, you’re going to sleep, then when you’re awake and functioning, we’re gonna have a little talk.”

“Wha-”

A warmth suddenly spread from his limbs through his chest and into his head.

“Get some sleep, son. May Luna guard your dreams.”

It was a few days later. Dustin was sat at Sugarcube Corner nursing a box of bread and a headache. He’d told Flint to undo anything that had been too cruel, too pointless, too dangerous, or smelled too much like the bug acting through him. The dog had agreed to that, but warned him that the rest of the mine...probably needed a few days before they would be ready to see him again.

Geralt still was recovering, much like himself. So training was out. And if he couldn’t train or go to the mines, that left rebuilding some bridges back in town. Namely, Dash and-

There was the sound of a chair being dragged across the floor as said chair was set by the table. There was a coffee cup set down on the table. A hand pulled a flask out of a blue coat. Something that smelled strongly of alcohol was poured into the cup and the flask was replaced in the coat.

The blond woman took a draw from the cup as the Renamon stared at her. She set the cup down. “Dustin. How are you feeling?”

“Like I was run over by a truck, the driver backed up, and ran me over a few more times for good measure,” the fox grumbled. “My mind’s fine. But I’ve been advised to not do anything strenuous until, and I quote, ‘you stop eating twice your weight in bread.’”

“And how’s that going for you?” She asked while stealing a loaf and taking a bite out of it.

“...Twentieth box,” he admitted. “In the past hour.”

“And here I thought women normally ate their feelings.” She blinked.

“My mind’s safe but that doesn’t mean I don’t hate what I was doing,” the fox bit out. “I went way too fast when flirting with Dash. I turned into a tyrant to the dogs. I even sent Lyra awa-”

Something punched his shoulder. The woman hadn’t moved. “Mmmm, she’s tired of your pity party.”

The fox winced and turned his head to the side carefully.

Nothing. Wait- There was a slight shimmer in the air. Not too dissimilar to the Predator from, well, Predator. Whatever it was shifted and stood behind the woman.

“Um?” Dustin blinked. “I’m pretty sure I can see that,” he pointed out. “Maybe not what’s behind it, but...yeah, I know it’s there.”

“Congrats, you can tell that the punching ghost is there.” She chuckled. “Might need to train you myself.”

“Sorry, not allowed until I’m not five minutes from collapsing,” the fox snarked.

The woman sniffed, raising a brow. “Well, why aren’t you spending time with other people? And if you say something like I don’t deserve them, she’s going to punch you.” She jerked her head towards the shimmer.

“...Okay, point,” the fox admitted. “I just need some space until I can apologize to everyone properly. Like Dash or Lyra.” He picked up a loaf from the box and munched on it. “Plus,” he said around a mouthful of bread, “I really shouldn’t be leaving my supplier until I stop getting hungry every time I take more than ten steps away from them.”

On that note-

“Brought more bread for the mopey fox.” Pinkie trotted up with a happy hum, pushing another tray of spiced bread onto the table. She looked at the woman. “JoJo… are you drinking?”

“Yes.” ‘JoJo’ stated, blinking deadpan at the mare.

“Okay.” Pinkie smiled. “Just making sure.” With that the mare bounced off back towards the kitchen.

“...She is way too good at reading me,” the fox pointed out. “Maybe I should just rent out a spare room, save myself some travel time on getting to the bread,” he mused.

“Then how would you burn off those carbs?” JoJo replied. “Do you really want to end up like chunky the dinosaur over there?” She nodded towards Guile at the counter.

“Eh…” Dustin seemed to be considering it.

“Come on.” JoJo got up. “We’re going for a walk. And you, are going to get your entertainment system thing. When was the last time you played Pokemans?”

“...A few weeks,” the fox admitted. “Once that bug got her hooks into me, she made me stop anything that wasn’t ‘productive.’”

“Let’s fix that.” JoJo looked down at the still sitting fox. “I’m sure Ivy would love to play with you, on that note I’m sure Dash would too. And before you go full depression again, it would be better to just do something light and fun where you don’t have to think about hard things for awhile.”

“...You’re probably right,” the fox admitted, picking up the box of bread. “Well...nothing for it but to bite the bullet, I guess.”

“Good man.” Jojo nodded.

“So, back when I was alive previously, my grandkids always wanted those pokeman things. Word is you know what they are. What was I missing out on?”

“Depends,” the fox rolled the word around in his mouth. “What generation did you want information on?”

“The fuck’s a generation?”

Dustin blinked. “Oh, you poor, poor woman,” he moaned. “You missed out on so much. Let’s fix that.”