Wade ended the call with a smile on his face. A smile that fell away as he turned towards the bloodied man zip-tied to the chair behind him. The man looked defiant, even with the blood flowing out of his broken nose. The broken nose was more or less an accident, but Wade wasn't going to apologize. He'd caught him following Peter through the city, all the way from De Costa Internationale.

"Okay, my little friend," Wade said as he picked up a pair of pliers from the small table. "Now we're going to talk."

"I've got nothing to say to you," he snapped back, then spit a wad of blood and piece of chipped tooth at Wade, hitting the tip of the merc's boot.

Really, there was part of Wade that was impressed by the bastard. He took a beating like a champ, and no doubt he'd won his fair share of bar brawls. Then again, Wade wasn't a drunk in a bar. Still, he had spirit. Spirit that Wade intended to break.

Wade leaned forward and said, "You say that now, my friend. But you'll change your tune."

The man's eyes flicked down to the pliers. There were spots on the metal that could have been rust, but were more than likely blood. His eyes went to where his cicada daemon sat trapped inside a plastic box, just on the edge of a painful distance away from him. He looked back at Wade and said, "You don't scare me."

In a quick motion, Wade ripped the fingernail from his right middle-finger. The man let out a howl of pain, his eyes going wide from surprise, his daemon thrashing and buzzing inside the confines of its plastic prison.

Wade said, "I'm not going to scare you. I'm going to make you bleed."

The man shouted, "You haven't even asked me anything!"

"You still have nine more fingernails," Wade said calmly. "That means you have nine chances to tell me the truth before I move on to something a little harder to grow back. You get me?"

The man's bravado had completely vanished. He could take a punch, but Wade knew from experience that fingernails stung like a motherfucker. Before the guy looked cocky, kind of like he was holding all the cards. Now, Wade was pretty sure he was about to shit his pants; it made him feel kind of warm and fuzzy inside.

"What's your name?" Wade asked.

"Gerhardt!" he practically shrieked. "Kurt Gerhardt. I'm a banker!"

Wade gripped the man's right thumb, and asked, "Why you in Rio with no ID, Kurt? Get lost on your way to the vault?"

"I'm looking for a friend! That's all!" he shouted, his face now covered in sweat.

Wade gripped the tip of the thumbnail with the pliers. "Are you sure about that, Mr. Gerhardt? Cuz I don't think that's the whole truth." Wade started to pull.

"Don't!" Gerhardt shouted. "Please. I- I'm sick. Okay? I'm really sick. M-my doctor. She's here. She came here. She left and I need her. Please!"

"What's this doctor's name?" Wade demanded.

"Ella Whitby," he answered, tears starting to form in his eyes. "She's with some research group. She needs to come back to Crossmore. I need her!"

Wade let out a heavy sigh and tossed the pliers onto the metal table, the loud clatter making Gerhardt flinch. He snatched Bob off the table and walked to the door, and said, "I'm going to go make a phone call. And if I find out that you are full of shit, I'm going to come back here, cut off both your thumbs and jam them up your ass."

Outside, he grabbed his phone out of his pocket and dialed Peter's number. He wasn't very surprised that it ended up going to voicemail; Peter sounded exhausted when they talked. So he dialed the next person who could provide the answers he needs, scrolling down to Tony Stark. He procured the number through some less than legal channels, but he figured he might need it at some point.

Tony answered, confusion in his voice, "Who the fuck is this?"

"Just your favorite test subject," Wade answered.

"Wa—Why are you calling me?" Tony demanded. "How do you even have this number? Only one person has this number. How do you have this number?"

"Calm down, Iron Man," Wade said. "I need to ask a question."

"I fucking hate you," was Tony's answer. After a pause, he said, "Whatever. What? What do you need to know?"

"You know the Ushuaia team?" Wade said.

Tony was again silent for a moment, thinking. "Yes?"

"They have someone with them named Ella Whitby?" Wade asked.

"Yes. Psychologist," Tony said. "Kind of eccentric, but her dad's done a lot in the field. Runs an institution for the criminally insane called Crossmore. Kind of a last stop before super-ultra-max prison."

Wade sighed, and said, "Well, I guess that is good news. At least for one person."

"I really don't want to know," Tony said. "Anything else?"

Wade smirked. "How's Bucky?"

"Sassy," Tony answered. "But good. He and Steve just flew back to Hispania Nova, and I am going to be in a hearing in two days. So there's that."

"Heard that might happen," Wade said.

"I'd like to know how you 'hear' so much," Tony grumbled. "Actually, I don't. But still. If you happen to hear anything that might keep me out of Bolvangar or happen to find pictures of Erik Lensherr in lacy pink panties getting spanked by a gorilla, let me know."

"I don't think those pictures will keep you out of Bolvangar, but I'll keep an eye out." The call ended, and Wade looked at Bob. "Looks like the guy in the other room needs his medication and probably a bandaid."

Bob gave a nod.

Shiklah was in the throne room of the Citadel when Wade got back to the underground city. She was just finishing a meeting with the leader of the Lupine sect, with Amjad acting as mediator between the werewolf and a minotaur, when Wade came through the large black doors. Evan was standing off to the side, dressed in the black apprentice cloak of the Gray Warriors.

"How your first day going, kid?" Wade asked.

Evan smiled. "Good. Training is pretty interesting."

Wade smiled at the pride the kid had on his face. "You Amjad's squire now?"

"Not really." Evan shrugged. "He just asked me to come with him today. We're picking up reports." He squinted at Wade's jacket, and said, "Is that blood?"

Wade nodded. "Yeah. Had a little bit of a run in with a stalker. Might need to make a trip north pretty soon to get the guy back where he belongs. Got him locked up in my dungeon in the city until I can get him back to Crossmore Hospital."

"Are you here for permission?" Evan asked with a cheeky smile.

Wade chuckled. "You're a little shit, you know that."

Evan laughed. "It's the environment I live in."

"Great. You've been corrupted by japes and skullduggery." Wade chuckled, and said, "You coming to dinner tonight or are you going to stay at the barracks?"

"I don't know," Evan answered with a shrug. "I guess it depends on what Amjad wants me to do."

Amjad was just finishing up his duties, and the Lupine and Minotaur were walking out of the throne room, both giving Wade a nod as they departed. Amjad slapped Wade on the shoulder, and said, "You don't look too well, brother. Are you sick?"

"I think my face just looks like a nightmare," Wade said with a laugh. "I'm fine as can be."

Amjad nodded, and gestured for Evan to follow him to an office on the right side of the throne. As soon as they were gone, Wade walked halfway to the throne and said, "I seek an audience with the queen."

"You may approach, good sir," Shiklah said as she slowly crossed her legs. "I assume you have news of the foreigners who entered our land yesterday."

Wade smirked. "Yes, your highness. And might I say, they are quite delightful."

Shiklah laughed, her throaty tone echoing around the room as she stood and met Wade at the bottom of the steps. She kissed his cheek, then frowned. "You do not look like you feel well."

Wade shrugged. "I feel fine. I think."

"I know that there is something different," she said. "Something else happened. You have blood on your jacket."

"Oh that," Wade said, looking down at the dark spots that flecked the left sleeve. "That was from…" He went silent, his brow furrowing into a look of confusion.

After a moment, Shiklah touched his forearm. "Wade?"

Wade looked up and gasped, stumbling backwards, raising his hands in defense when Shiklah again reached for him.

Shiklah raised her hands and took a step back as she said, "Wade, what is wrong? Tell me."

Wade could not speak. He was too terrified, and the terror was written all over his face as he stared at the looming monstrous figure that seemed to fill his vision. An image of leathery purple skin the color of a bruise, many red and gold eyes, horns, and flames that seethed from the creature's eyes, nose, and mouth. He reached for his weapons, but he had none. Why wouldn't he have weapons? He always had a weapon.

To his left he could see his Death, and rather than smug and calm, his Death looked sad. Why would his Death be sad?

But he couldn't dwell on that, because in front of him was a beast that looked ready to devour, a beast with the voice of an angel that shouted for guards. The guards who arrived were massive ogres with bulging tusks and fangs and claws the size of Bowie knives. Wade tried to get away, but he was surrounded.

Another voice cut through the cacophony of terror, and Wade looked to see a dark haired woman wearing flowing silk rushing towards him. She knelt down beside him and ordered everyone—the guards and the towering hell-beast—to get out of the room.

"Wade? Can you hear me, amorcito?" she said to him, her words curled by a Hispania Nova accent.

He was shaking, and he said, "What's happening? Where am I?"

"You are home, my love," she said. She smoothed a soft hand over his cheek, and she said, "I am going to open your shirt, okay? I promise I will not hurt you."

She unbuttoned the top few buttons, and saw that the rune-spells were gone except for a few places that she could see the black thread from the spell working its way out of his skin. She looked him in the eyes, a kind expression on her face as she said, "I want you to sleep now." She brushed her fingertips over his eyelids and whispered, "Dormu, amanto."

There was a rushing sensation, and Wade fell into a deep sleep.

Amjad and Evan came into the room, and Evan rushed over to Wade's side and asked, "What happened?"

"His body is rejecting the spell," Carmelita said as she finished opening Wade's shirt. "This thread in his skin is his memories. We are lucky to catch it before it is completely gone."

"What would happen?" Evan asked, his eyes widened by fear.

"He would lose all of his memories from the last 8 years," Carmelita said shakily. She gripped Evan's arm and said, "Get Mamá and Alfreida. Go now."

Evan sprinted out of the throne room, and Shiklah said, "I will take Eleanor out of the Citadel. She must not see him like this."

Carmelita kissed the queen, and said, "Thank you, querida. I will find you when we have finished."

Shiklah left, and a few minutes later Señora Camacho and Blind Alfreida came into the throne room. Alfrieda went to work removing Wade's jacket and shirts while Carmelita started drawing the runes and sigils of the ritual circle on the floor. Señora Camacho started her chant, summoning all the powers of the Universe that she could command, turning her skin luminous and her countenance youthful.

Carmelita sent Arkaitz to get Bob, who was flying erratically through the tunnels of the Citadel. It took the crow daemon a great deal of patience and struggle to restrain the parrot. Upon returning to the throne room, Bob quickly flew to land on Wade's stomach. He shook out his feathers and started pacing, pulling at the feathers on his chest until Jacques, Blind Alfreida's weasel daemon, subdued him.

The three witches started chanting as they started marking Wade's skin in blood-red runes, the throne room seeming to dim except for the air around where they worked. The air became thick and humid as they sewed black thread made from the silk of Wandering Spiders, imbued with Señora Camacho's proprietary blend of reagents designed to capture memory and calm the mind. The thread was wound through the runes under the skin, Wade's healing factor trying to reject the foreign substance. They kept sewing and chanting until Wade's skin had encased the thread completely, no longer rejecting it, but holding it inside a thick wall of scar tissue.

Hours had passed by the time Wade was taken to the bedroom, and the three witches were exhausted from the work. Alfrieda offered to stay with him while Carmelita and Señora Camacho went to find Shiklah and Eleanor, the mother and daughter promising to come back with food.

They hadn't been gone more than a minute before Wade woke with a sharp gasp. Blind Alfreida put a hand on his chest, and said, "You're okay, hotshot. Just lay back down."

Wade looked at her and did as he was told. "It happened again, didn't it."

Alfrieda nodded. "Yeah, and before you ask, no. Ellie didn't see you. Shiklah took her to Rio for the night."

"Thank god," Wade sighed as he relaxed into the pillow.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Alfreida asked as she gently stroked the top of Jacques's head.

"I was in Rio with Peter," he said softly.

Alfreida raised an eyebrow. "He the one Shiklah and Carm can't shut up about? Your little brilliant boy toy."

Wade gave her a frown as Bob crawled under his hand. He gently smoothed Bob's ruffled feathers and softly answered, "Yes."

She smiled and said, "It's good to see you happy, Wade."

"It's only been a year this time," Wade said.

"I know." Alfreida sighed, and said, "I'll get the old ladies together, and we'll see if we can find a more powerful spell. Something permanent. We'll fix it."

"My body will reject it eventually," Wade said. "Unless you can figure out how to bottle up my memories, someday they'll be gone and I'll go right back to The World like the trained monkey I am." He growled, "I'm just a goddamn puppet, fucking literally on a string."

"We'll fix it, Wade," Alfrieda repeated.

Wade sighed and closed his eyes. Then he remembered and gasped, "Shit! I left him zip tied in the dungeon!"

"Who?" Alfreida gasped. "Peter?"

He pushed up out of bed, explaining as he dressed, "No. He was this dude following Peter's group, but he's an escapee from a psych ward, and holy shit this is bad."

"It's okay, Wade," Carmelita said from the door.

Wade froze with his head halfway through the hole of his shirt. "What do you mean?"

"We took care of him," Carm said as she walked to him and tugged his shirt down into place. She kissed his jaw and said, "Evan told us about your conversation. Amjad and Baqir have already taken care of him. Mr. Gerhardt will be on his way back to Crossmore when the next plane leaves."

Wade nodded, then covered his face with both hands as he sank down onto the edge of the bed. His voice was muffled as he said, "I'm so sorry, babe."

"It is not your fault, amorcito," Carmelita said as she sat beside him, leaning her head against his shoulder. Arkaitz put a big black wing over Bob, nibbling at Bob's head and doing his best to be of comfort. "You have been remembering more and more of your past. Your mind is healing. Someday the Shadow King will no longer have a hold on you."

Wade's hands fell down into his lap and he whispered, "I hope you're right."

Carmelita stayed with Wade until he again fell asleep, then quietly left the room to go check on Eleanor, who was sleeping beside Señora Camacho in her room. Shiklah was not to be found in the family quarters, nor was she in the throne room.

Shiklah was down in the deepest part of the Citadel, in a place known as the Mage's Garden sitting under the black boughs of the Sarkoonian tree. Carmelita never liked going into this place; it smelled of blood and rot, and the creatures who called it home were ghastly. The blackness was so complete, it swallowed light like a hungry beast. Even the small lamp that Carmelita carried seemed to grow dim as she ventured down the slick stone path to where Shiklah sat.

"Wade is awake and his memories are intact," Carmelita said as she carefully sat on the moist bench. "You should be with him."

"I grew this tree from a seed I gathered the day that my world ended," Shiklah said, as if she hadn't heard Carmelita's words at all. There was a distant sound of howling and scratching, and Carmelita scooted a little closer. "This tree was my heart, grown from the living heart of the one I loved. I could not save him, for he was far away from me when the Incursion struck. But I could get his heart."

Carmelita shivered. Shiklah told her about the Incursion that shattered the old world. About the ages of war that followed.

"This time will be different," Shiklah said. "I made so many mistakes before. I was young and foolish, full of pride and silly ideas of what it meant to be a queen. I was reckless. I threw away every asset that fell into my lap. But not this time. This time, everything is coming together. Every thing will be different this time."

"What do you mean, querida?" Carmelita asked, her heart pounding.

"The most powerful being to ever live sleeps in my city," Shiklah said softly. "Death is here as well. I believe that Pestilence will soon reveal himself for what he is. And I know deep down that I am the Famine of the world." She smiled, her fanged teeth protruding a little more than normal. "And I have no doubt that War is coming."

Carmelita shook her head. "I don't understand?"

Shiklah cupped her cheek and kissed her lips softly, then swept a sweat-damp curl behind Carmelita's ear. "It is nothing that you need to worry about, my love. Just know that you are safe beside me. Our family is safe." Then her tone darkened, her voice taking on an otherworldly edge as she said, "It is the Shadow King who is not safe. It is he who I will destroy first in this war, and I will bathe in his blood and cast his remains to be devoured by the Sarkoonian."

There were tears streaming down Carmelita's face. "You are frightening me, Shiklah."

Shiklah sighed, and said, "Forgive me, my love. Sometimes I can be quite dark."

"It is this place," Carmelita said. "Please, let's leave."

"Go ahead," Shiklah said as she stood. "I must tend my garden."