Almost as shocked as by the blinding sunlight, though much more slowly and painfully drawn out, Jack felt a yoke of guilt hang from his neck, as he walked through Vastendom’s commercial district with its mighty leader in tow. This was the town he wrote up, no question about it, but just as Stuart had explained to him, things only looked perfect from afar.

Glancing over to a shimmering fountain within the town square, he saw yet another favorite character of his creation: Space Commander Wade Canon. He jumped and dove, dodged and ducked. He somersaulted across a gap between two stone benches. With laser sword in hand, he sprang over with a cry of triumph and attacked…thin air. Swinging ferociously, Jack immediately understood that he was not simply feigning action scenes from his story; the action scene was all he was. He couldn’t break from the loop Jack had created. Jack had the power. Jack was deeply saddened, and walked by.

Down the street, the shouts of an argument echoed to their ears, and they hustled to see what was all of the commotion. Knowing before he even saw them, there were Mr. Connor Thrast and Miss Harriet Baker, their Victorian garments as out of character as Wade’s spacesuit, their lover’s quarrel just getting to it’s climactic line of betrayal exposed…

“Don’t think that your fine state and stature absolve you from wrong doing, you arrogant brute!” Harriet ignored the tears streaming down her cheeks, her lace-gloved hands clenched in fists at her side. “It was YOUR family that sold the land, in complete disregard for our well-being, our family, our lives…how COULD you…?” Her voice broke.

Connor felt to his knees, removing his low topper hat. “Miss Baker…Harriet…I had no choice…”

“You ALWAYS have a choice. Don’t tell me this was your FATHER’S decision….are you not a man, now???”

It was at this point that they stopped the scene on a dime, as in a dress rehearsal the afternoon before a show, and returned to seated positions at the cafe patio they had been fighting at. They sat and fixed themselves up, and picked up tea cups still hot with brew. Mr. Thrast gazed lovingly upon Miss Baker, and she returned it with a pleased but wary expression.

“My darling, Miss Baker. No greater splendor could greet me more enchantingly than the recount of your day. How has everything been at home?”

“It’s very kind of you to ask, Mr. Thrast, though…certainly you’re aware that things have not been perfectly lately…not been perfect at all, I’m afraid…” Her smile left her.

“Don’t ya wish, it was that easy to restart a conversation?? Seems rather convenient really…” Stuart joked aloud.

“Funny, but you know this isn’t real,” Jack countered. “This is them going back to where I started them. Just like Space Commander Canon and so many others here. This whole town is stuck in loops, of varying sizes and intensities, with no hope for escape. How can I make this right, Stuart? Show me. I’ve got to finish your stories.”

“Thought you’d never ask! Follow me, m’Lord.”

They made their way through a gallery of looping characters and scenes to a bridge which led to a mighty tower.

“This tower’s been here ever since any of us can remember, but nobody’s been able to enter it. We don’t have the key, but I’m sure you do, and don’t doubt this is where you need to go.”

“Key? What key? I’ve never been here before, how could I possib-” Jack stopped himself as he discovered a key in his back pocket. He examined it. Bronze and old, and very cold; his hands didn’t seem to warm it up at all.

“Go. Finish our stories.”

Jack approached the old wooden door at the base of the tower. No light seemed to be coming out of any of the windows or cracks, and maybe the strangest thing was that he was quite positive he never wrote about a tower of any sort. Before he entered, he turned back to Stuart.

“What if it doesn’t work?”

“It will. Believe it m’lord!”

“Wait…what about you? Why haven’t you been stuck in a loop? Every other character here seems to be…is it because I wrote enough of a story for you?”

“Ye gave me just enough, sire. Just enough. Though I wish ye hadn’t brought that up…I’ve got to go defeat the dragon!”

As soon as he exclaimed this to Jack, he turned back toward the city, and as if on cue an enormous dragon launched into the sky. It’s scales were black as night against the blue and clouds, and flames lept perpetually from it’s razor-sharp teeth and throat. Before Jack could say another word to Stuart, he was gone.

Jack turned back to the cold, medieval tower, and began a spiral climb.