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At the same time, however, Parson didn't know how he was supposed to avoid Morgunov's questions. He very much did NOT think it was a good idea to share his encounter with Ettol. There was no telling what the Mad Demon would do if he knew that Germal was supposedly "a key unto Chaos," as Ettol had claimed.

"Not very cooperative, eh?" said Morgunov. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised. I suppose I could just force you to tell me, but..." His gaze returned to the slime. "How about you, Slime-o? Do you know anything useful?"

It shivered visibly.

"Don't be scared. Share with me all your secrets, and you'll see just how kind I can be." He held the slime up to his head, right by his ear. "Here. I'll make it easy for you."

Still, it just sat there, shivering.

"Go on. I know you're tempted. Show me what a Primordial is really capable of, why don't you?"

The slime stopped suddenly, then bristled one more time. It launched itself against Mogunov's head and started struggling there.

Parson squinted as he watched, unsure what was happening until he noticed that the slime was slowly shrinking.

It was disappearing.

Into the Mad Demon's ear.

Into his head.

Morgunov looked far from concerned, however. His eyes were alight with as much excitement as Parson had ever seen. "Oh, wow! I see! Yes! So that's what you were hiding! Ooh, and I feel quite ill as well! I could yack at any moment! Amazing!"

Parson found the scene so repulsive that he thought he might vomit at any moment, as well.

But it was all he could do to watch and wait, for whatever happened next--for whatever Morgunov decided to do.

The Mad Demon's head twitched grotesquely as he eyed his own hands.

Then, the rainbow gradually began to appear again, as if melting out of his skin. But it didn't quite look like ooze or slime any more. It was more like just a coating around Morgunov's body.

Or a shadow, perhaps. One of many colors.