Hex floated menacingly above us. The silence deepened as his eye narrowed. His wings stilled, as if each shard was just waiting to pounce.

  “Four fights?”, I didn’t even sigh this time. I just sunk down in dismay. “We only just finish off some minor villain, and you seize the opportunity like it’s a bargain sale on eggs? Please stop jumping the gun so much, Hex”.

  He blinked back at us. “No, I don’t want to fight. I must admit, I misjudged you two. You really are trying to do the right thing”.

  “So redemption’s your angle, huh?”, I asked. “Sorry, but I’m already Phoebe’s sidekick. I’d rather not get demoted another spot”.

  “Would you stop putting words in my mouth?!”, Hex finally lost his temper. “As I said, I don’t want to fight you. But I can’t agree with your methods either”.

  He floated outside the room, going back to the stage. We followed behind, finding it rather rude he left without finishing his point. Gesturing to the empty bleachers, Hex continued. “Jingle Jack was a monster. But the real problem is that the audience accepted it. Fundamentally, we are viewed as… lesser”. His eye narrowed. “Going after only the worst of humanity is too naive”.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Phoebe decided to state the obvious. “So your alternative is to wipe out humanity? Just like you tried back on ‘Heaven’? You were comfortable killing every human regardless of their morals, but Globert was a different story entirely, wasn’t he? …Or she… whatever. If you think Jack was a monster, I hate to tell you this, but you’re just his mirror image”.

  Hex nodded. “I don’t know the answer”, he admitted. “I’ve tried for so long…”.

  “Ghosts, humans, slimes, whatever!”, she replied. “There are no ‘sides’! We’ve only got one planet to share, so all we can do is try and get along”.

  He looked back at her. “Oh, there are sides alright. Despite your good intentions, even you two have made mistakes. Because you’re on Team Human”. Phoebe opened her mouth, but Hex cut her off. “And I know what you’re going to say. Here’s my response: should I let every human make their share of mistakes? Do I have to convince every generation of your species to stop killing us?!”.

  I looked back and forth between the two debaters. The silence lengthened and grew, like a snake constricting the room. “Well… what now?”.

  We all paused in thought. Indeed, this posed a dilemma. We couldn’t just let Hex wander off to do who knows what. Did we have to fight him after all?

  “Like I said, I have no answers”, Hex said. “I might as well go along with you two and defeat any other evil circus masters we happen across. Not like I’ve got any better ideas”.

  Great. World’s grumpiest traveller acquired. I wasn’t thrilled about essentially being a chaperone on a school field trip, but whatever. We could manage.