Issue 1 Downtime

It was late at night in the room again.

Regan was standing in front of the mural studying it. It almost looked like she was smiling.

She also didn't look like a demon. The horns and wings were gone. She just looked like normal, vanilla Regan.

"Regan?" Kay mumbles as she wakes up.

"Oh, good, you're awake," Regan says, sitting on the end of Kay's bed.

"How've you been doing?"

Apparently Regan had decided to replace her hoodie with a black jacket. There was a patch sewn onto the shoulder with a red "X" in the center. She was wearing black leather boots, tight black jeans, and a black tank-top.

Apparently, Regan had drifted from "emo" and into "goth".

"Uhm... okay I guess." she says, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "How are you?"

"Pretty busy actually," Regan says, "But I figured we needed to talk."

"Now?"

"Yeah, I know it's inconvenient," Regan says, "But I don't have a lot of options. This is how these things are done."

"It is such a pain."

"Look I'm sorry, you don't inconvenience my life or anything..." she says, probably missing whatever Regan actually meant.

Regan laughs, "That's a lie, but you're sweet for saying so."

"Can you imagine what it would be like if we had dated? It would've been awful," Regan says, taking a pack of cigarettes out of her jacket. She slides one out and just plays with it, "I would be bitchy at you all the time and you would just put up with it until you snapped at me. I doubt it would have lasted twenty-four hours."

"I like you being my friend a lot more."

"Good? I'm better at being a friend than dating anybody anyway." she says, sitting up and slowly waking all the way. "What happened to your horns?"

"It's a long story and I don't have the time," Regan says, waving her hand dismissively, "Don't worry about it right now."

"I just wanted to thank you for being my friend," Regan says, "Friends are important. They help you see who you really are."

"Like the fat hobbit guy in that movie with the elves. Did you ever see that?"

"You don't have to thank me." she mumbles. Then suddenly she's wide awake when the tone of Regan's voice sinks in. "You're not running away, are you?"

"What?" Regan laughs, "No. You wish. Things would be calmer."

"I know, right?" she chuckles, looking relieved. "So why don't you have time? It's the middle of the night."

"Well, I'm technically from the future," Regan says, "There's only a short window where things get 'thin' enough to travel like this. After that, I have to go back."

"Yeah right. So what's the future like?" she chuckles, obviously not believing Regan but playing along.

"A race of ox people invade the world in ten years," Regan says, "It's really lame."

"Yeah, no kidding, that sounds super lame. Is that why you're here? To warn us about the ox people?"

Regan snorts, "Please. I wouldn't risk breaking the rules for that."

"I just came here to tell you how much I appreciated you. That's all."

"But you do to tell me that." she chuckles. "Well, thanks." she smiles. "I'm glad to be your friend, even if you're difficult sometimes."

"Cool," Regan says, checking her pocketwatch, "I have to get going, alright? I'll see you later."

"Hey wait, you didn't tell me what happens to me in the future."

"You? You're amazing," Regan says.

She draws an ancient looking sword from the air and swings it once. A black tear appears that Regan steps through before disappearing, leaving Kay alone in the room.

"The hell?" Kay blinks when Regan disappears.