Evil Troy didn't stand a chance now. After the beating he'd taken from them all, all it took was one last blow from construct Troy - who shot a blast of energy from his own power ring - and then with a loud scream, Parallax Troy exploded in bloody shreds. Out of the exploded body flew a horrible yellow bug monster, but another blow from them all made that shatter into a million yellow pieces that blew away on the wind.
The world started to shimmer and twist around them. Abed turned to the construct of Troy, looking alarmed.
"You're going to fade away. This is our Drop Dead Fred moment, isn't it. Where you disappear into my subconscious. And I know I'm supposed to be okay on my own but I'm still not sure I will be."
The construct smiled. "You'll be fine. And I'm not fading away. I'm inside your brain, remember? And the real me? Once my trip is over? Once I figure myself out? He'll be back."
"What if the real you likes traveling around the world so much that he doesn't want to come back again?" Abed asked, worried, flicking his finger thoughtfully, head waving back and forth with uncertainty. "What if he does come back but decides he wants to leave again?"
"If the real me wants to travel around the world and live a more exciting life than he has so far, who do you think he'd want more than anybody in the whole world to come with him? Until then, you have this me. In your head."
The construct detached from Abed's ring, suddenly breathing in as if it was taking its first real breath, taking on a life of its own. Suddenly, he seemed far more real and solid and almost...self-aware. He looked up at Abed with new eyes and flew over to him.
"And to be honest, I'm not just in your head. There's magic in this place, Abed. Right now, I'm sleeping on my boat and Levar Burton's making breakfast and I'm dreaming that I'm a Green Lantern. And I'm gonna wake up and write it down in the notebook of things I wanna tell you when I get back - with all the other stuff that's already in there. How all this weird stuff was in my head and how I dreamed that you had to help save the world and that I had to tell you that I believe in you."
Abed's eyes were somewhat glassy as Troy hugged him. Abed hugged him back.
Then Abed's eyebrows furrowed.
"What do you mean I have to help save the world?" he asked, perplexed, drawing away to look at Troy in the face, trying to figure out if his facial expression signaled that he was joking or if he was being serious.
"You're about to find out," said Troy, nodding towards Nico and Raph. He grabbed Abed by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes, now suddenly very serious. "Now, fight it."
The world was falling apart.
"Fight what?" asked Abed.
"Fight it, Abed!" Troy said, suddenly very serious. "Listen, buddy, it's not going to let you go easily, you have to fight it! Fight!"
"Fight what? What am I supposed to fight?"
"Black Mercy, Abed! It's like the -"
Troy didn't get to finish - the world was dissolving too fast. Still, Abed's eyes went wide with understanding and he looked down at his chest just as the false world shattered. Then they were in the real world again and Abed was floating several feet above the street, magical light cascading around him, tendrils of it tugging at reality, trying to shape it into something else. The way the world shuddered as the tendrils tugged at it, the way it drained the color from their surroundings, making them fade, made it clear it wasn't a good thing.
And the source of that light and magic? The horrible bug creature attached to Abed's chest.
Black Mercy. Like the Black Mercy parasites from DC Comics. But worse. Once it had attached to him, not only had it caused him to get caught in a world of fantasy - apparently it was letting that fantasy affect the real world. It was making it break down.
That was what the voice had said, hadn't it? There had been a man saying that he was going to use him to destroy things, then that creature had leaped off the roof and attacked him.
But he was awake and so were Nico and Raph. He could fight. And the fake Troy had been right about at least one thing - he wasn't about to let someone else control him.
So he fought, writhing there in the air, wheezing, trying to pry the horrible monster thing away from where it was attached to his chest. It kept trying to dig in deeper again, where it could ensnare him in a fantasy world once more, but while he couldn't rip it off entirely without help, he was at least managing to keep it from digging in and dragging him back into the illusion again.
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The world started to shimmer and twist around them. Abed turned to the construct of Troy, looking alarmed.
"You're going to fade away. This is our Drop Dead Fred moment, isn't it. Where you disappear into my subconscious. And I know I'm supposed to be okay on my own but I'm still not sure I will be."
The construct smiled. "You'll be fine. And I'm not fading away. I'm inside your brain, remember? And the real me? Once my trip is over? Once I figure myself out? He'll be back."
"What if the real you likes traveling around the world so much that he doesn't want to come back again?" Abed asked, worried, flicking his finger thoughtfully, head waving back and forth with uncertainty. "What if he does come back but decides he wants to leave again?"
"If the real me wants to travel around the world and live a more exciting life than he has so far, who do you think he'd want more than anybody in the whole world to come with him? Until then, you have this me. In your head."
The construct detached from Abed's ring, suddenly breathing in as if it was taking its first real breath, taking on a life of its own. Suddenly, he seemed far more real and solid and almost...self-aware. He looked up at Abed with new eyes and flew over to him.
"And to be honest, I'm not just in your head. There's magic in this place, Abed. Right now, I'm sleeping on my boat and Levar Burton's making breakfast and I'm dreaming that I'm a Green Lantern. And I'm gonna wake up and write it down in the notebook of things I wanna tell you when I get back - with all the other stuff that's already in there. How all this weird stuff was in my head and how I dreamed that you had to help save the world and that I had to tell you that I believe in you."
Abed's eyes were somewhat glassy as Troy hugged him. Abed hugged him back.
Then Abed's eyebrows furrowed.
"What do you mean I have to help save the world?" he asked, perplexed, drawing away to look at Troy in the face, trying to figure out if his facial expression signaled that he was joking or if he was being serious.
"You're about to find out," said Troy, nodding towards Nico and Raph. He grabbed Abed by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes, now suddenly very serious. "Now, fight it."
The world was falling apart.
"Fight what?" asked Abed.
"Fight it, Abed!" Troy said, suddenly very serious. "Listen, buddy, it's not going to let you go easily, you have to fight it! Fight!"
"Fight what? What am I supposed to fight?"
"Black Mercy, Abed! It's like the -"
Troy didn't get to finish - the world was dissolving too fast. Still, Abed's eyes went wide with understanding and he looked down at his chest just as the false world shattered. Then they were in the real world again and Abed was floating several feet above the street, magical light cascading around him, tendrils of it tugging at reality, trying to shape it into something else. The way the world shuddered as the tendrils tugged at it, the way it drained the color from their surroundings, making them fade, made it clear it wasn't a good thing.
And the source of that light and magic? The horrible bug creature attached to Abed's chest.
Black Mercy. Like the Black Mercy parasites from DC Comics. But worse. Once it had attached to him, not only had it caused him to get caught in a world of fantasy - apparently it was letting that fantasy affect the real world. It was making it break down.
That was what the voice had said, hadn't it? There had been a man saying that he was going to use him to destroy things, then that creature had leaped off the roof and attacked him.
But he was awake and so were Nico and Raph. He could fight. And the fake Troy had been right about at least one thing - he wasn't about to let someone else control him.
So he fought, writhing there in the air, wheezing, trying to pry the horrible monster thing away from where it was attached to his chest. It kept trying to dig in deeper again, where it could ensnare him in a fantasy world once more, but while he couldn't rip it off entirely without help, he was at least managing to keep it from digging in and dragging him back into the illusion again.