Avery and Big Bob are walking along the pavement towards the Clutchcoin Mansion (Big Bob dreaming of icecream) when they hear the distinctive sound of the Rodent Ranger Plane coming in for a landing.

Avery stops walking. "Hi, Buck. What happened? Is something wrong?"

Buck uses one of the side doors, rather then bother with the ramp.

"Hey Avery. Nothing's wrong, just dropped by to see if you wanted a ride."

A spark appears in mid-air, about three metres down the road from Buck and Avery and about one metre up in the air.

*tzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPP*

This is followed by a *crack* of displaced air as something, or, rather, someone appears out of nowhere. A squirrel. In midair.

Having nothing to hold onto and no wings, he immediately submits to the will of gravity and lands on the pavement with a *thwack*.

"Poop. If that's who I think it is, doing what I think he's done, I'm going to need some ASA. I still haven't gotten over my last temporal induced headache."

For this, Buck does drop the back ramp, starts hiking over to the squirrel, a throb already beginning to form at his temples. Buck sighs, sounding resigned.

"Come on Avery, We better make sure he's all right. Who knows what kind of effects time travel can have on an organic entity."

The squirrel lies there until Buck gets close, then suddenly leaps up, grabbing Buck by the shoulders.

If he was expecting a future version of Kip, it looks like he was right. The squirrel is covered in thin, well-healed scars, has several patches bare of fur, and is missing Trouble.

"Buck! Buckbuckbuckbuckbuckbuckbuck!" he says, vigorously shaking Buck back and forth and sounding rather like a chicken. "Buck! Is that really you? Really truly honestly absolutely really you! Am I out? Have I escaped? You've got to kill me, Buck!"

He hasn't stopped shaking Buck.

Buck's headache springs back in full force. And being bobbled by Kip is not helping.

"Unless you stop shaking me, you'll just have to settle for temporary lack of consciousness, tempting as killing you may be right now."

Future Kip abruptly stops bobbling Buck and stares him in the eye from a distance of far too close. "Are you real?" he asks. "Are you really truly Buck? Or are you another of hers?" He moves his paw from Buck's left shoulder to about Buck's neck, sniffing at Buck's face as he does so.

Buck sighs and holds still until future Kip gets whatever it is he's doing out of his system.

"I should certainly hope that I'm real. Otherwise, someone will have alot of explaining to do."

Avery watches all this in confusion.

"You're not real, are you?" asks Probably Future Kip, his grip tightening about Buck's neck. "You never were real! You lied! Avery lied! Foxglove had nothing to do with it!" He starts bobbling Buck again, this time by his neck. He's also starting to look very transparent. "Remember Hawaii! It's me! It's me! Kill me!! Kill me!!! Kill me and you can save everyone!!!! It's all me!!!!! I always survive!!!!! Throw the dice again, I live again!!!! Kill me!!!!! Killmekillmekillmekillme!!!!!"

"You're not making any sense!" shouts Avery, near hysterical. "Just say one thing that makes sense!"

"You don't make any sense!" yells Perhaps Future Kip back, still bobbling Buck. "What's it going to be this time? Are tentacles going to burst from your eyes and rip my face off? Are you going to split down the middle and turn out to be full of spiders again?"

He points his non-Buck-bobbling paw at Avery, and yells "I'm on to your tricks! You're not going to get me! I got away before, I'll get away again! You can't keep me alive forever!"

He appears to be, just slightly, semi-transparent.

With a fairly Herculean effort, Avery pulls herself together for a moment. "It's okay, Kip," she says, in her most reassuring and reasonable tones. "If we're not real, we're not one of the bad ones, okay? Now, if the real Buck and Avery were here, what message would you like to give them?"

"I can't tell you! You're not the right ones!"

Buck can feel the force on his neck recede; he's still being bobbled, but not as forcefully. It's as if Kip's hand is able to move partway through his neck.

"You won't kill me properly! You'll just pretend to, tear off my arms or something, so that she can make them grow back! But I'll escape you, you just wait and see! I did it before! And this time, when I get out I'll kill myself, quickly and thoroughly! And you won't be able to stop me!"

With ever passing moment, Maybe Future Kip is getting more and more transparent.