Jayson races down one of the many corridors of the Bliss Town Mall, his boots pounding against the hard tile and its neighboring carpet tiles, cosmic wood sword slapping his thigh with each desperate step. Ashton is gaining, his echoing voice and squeaking sneakers getting closer.

  “The Hobo Warrior Bunny is on the move, folks! The time-manipulator himself, live and unfiltered! What a specimen!” says Ashton.

  *****

  Elsewhere, Greg makes a beeline towards Mortimer, his scowl fixed and heavy. Mortimer runs into an elevator and hits the forced shut button, closing the door right as Greg slams into it. Mortimer sighs and slumps down to the floor, heart racing and lungs burning.

  *****

  Back at the food court, Vanessa’s eyes pop wide when she sees Madison stop running after Ashton. Instead, the meek rabbit tries sneaking to a bookstore. Vanessa grins and rubs her hands as she walks after Madison, her steps quick and eyes locked on. When she reaches Madison, she holds her arm out, blocking her from the entrance. Madison squeaks and recoils and Vanessa leans forward.

  “Hi there. I want my interview,” says Vanessa.

  ******

  Jayson’s lungs are fire. The corridor cluttered with oblivious shoppers that he has to weave through. His eyes dart around, searching for exits, and his blue scarf flaps behind him like a banner.

  Ashton doesn’t slow. “That’s right, viewers, we are LIVE and directly behind the Hobo Warrior Bunny. Sir, can I call you Jayson? Is it true you can manipulate time? And what about the ‘forest monster incident’? Was that your doing or are you just the scapegoat?!”

  Jayson glances back, hatred brewing. Ashton is keeping pace, his grip firm on the camera mounted to his shoulder. Shoppers not lost in their own little worlds scatter as the chase carries on, watching the pair with a mix of confusion and annoyance.

  Jayson takes a hard right and bursts through a maintenance door. He locks the door and presses his head against it, hands shaking, breathing unsteady, and heart racing.

  Ashton stops on the other side and jiggles the door, followed by giving it a rapid fire assault of knocks.

  “Jayson, I am not your enemy! I just want to ask you a few questions!” says Ashton.

  Jayson remains silent, holding his breath, and a few seconds later Ashton speaks again.

  “He's a nervous guy. So, I'm going to swing around and look for another way in. Hopefully I can catch him before he leaves the mall,” says Ashton.

  Ashton's steps fade, and Jayson waits a few more seconds before running again.

  *****

  Mortimer blitzes into Fred’s Fashion Depot, ribs burning, legs tearing, and lungs feeling like they are stuffed with fiberglass. As he zigzags through the sectors, he hurdles a display of sweatpants and cuts through the perfume counter, throwing the bottles like grenades, leaving shattered glass and nauseatingly powerful aromas that leave bystanders woozy. All but Greg that is. He keeps his pace, moving with pure determined force.

  Mortimer shoves over a rack of mannequins and then knocks over a pyramid of shoes, but Greg easily hops over them and continues running, barely deterred.

  Mortimer’s heart is thumping. He cuts left, vaults a lip of fake marble, and slides into the housewares section, and huddles behind a rack of towels, waiting, listening for Greg Gregerson the Third.

  *****

  At the food court, Vanessa coolly flips open a compact mirror to make adjustments to her hair, not even looking at Madison as she starts her incredible story.

  “My courage began a long time ago. My mother refused to give birth to me, so I had to force my way out,” says Vanessa dramatically.

  Madison blinks, her brain struggling to keep up. “I, um, I thought we were here about the time-manipulator thing…”

  Vanessa waves dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, I'll get to that. But first I need to talk about the time I saved my parents from our burning burrow when I was three years old.”

  Madison’s mouth opens. Closes. Opens again. Closes again. “Okay?”

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  Vanessa leans over the table, voice obtaining a dramatic tone. “It began a long time on a dark and stormy night, on my third birthday. I knew my life was going to change forever.”

  “Oh boy…” says Madison.

  *****

  Upstairs, Jayson peeks out of the maintenance hall. He looks left. Then right. Then left and right again. With no sign of Ashton, he sneaks out, quietly closes the door, and takes a few stops, nearly jumping out of his skin when Ashton shouts, “THERE HE IS!”

  Jayson’s heart rattles, and he clutches his chest as he looks around. Turning just in time to see Ashton fall flat on his face from the sign above the maintenance door. Ashton leaps up, grinning with carpet tile marks imprinted on his face, and Jayson’s eye twitches.

  “So, how about answering a few questions for the Glitch Hunters family?” says Ashton.

  Jayson runs again, and Ashton makes a loud groan, laced with annoyance.

  “Great, he’s running again. This guy, I swear,” says Ashton, now running after Jayson.

  The two weave through a crowd of shoppers carrying bags or pushing carts. Jayson ducks left, pivots, and slides behind a vending machine, giving him three glorious seconds of peace before Ashton slides next to him.

  “Interview?” asks Ashton.

  “Buzz off!” snarls Jayson, running again.

  As Jayson runs through the mall, his dirty boots stomping over the thin carpet tiles, his vision darkens and his breathing gets heavier as his eyes burn. He’s not registering the storefronts or the signs, and the people are becoming more and more like faceless blobs while Ashton’s voice and steps remain clear.

  *****

  Mortimer leaps over a display and takes a flying leap, latching onto an escalator rail that drags him up while Greg wrestles his way out of a collapsed tower of towels. When he reaches the second floor, Mortimer swings over the top, lungs and limbs burning, and he staggers forward, leaning against a display of purses as he wheezes for air.

  “Excuse me, sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” says an elderly female rabbit with a manager tag.

  Mortimer grabs her shoulder, still breathing heavily. “Lady… I want… to go home… so badly… right now…”

  Greg appears on the escalator, cracking his knuckles, and Mortimer spins the manager to him and shoves her forward.

  “Take the girl, leave me alone!” shouts Mortimer.

  Greg shoves the manager aside, uncaring of her hitting a pillar and collapsing on her back. Mortimer, however, cringes and steps back.

  “Oh… damn,” says Mortimer.

  “Just give us the interview, Mortimer,” says Greg.

  “How do you know my name?”

  “I ask the questions around here.”

  “Right… Well, frik you and your mom!”

  Mortimer snaps his fingers, zapping Greg backwards, leading to him tumbling awkwardly down the up-escalator, and Mortimer makes a run for it again.

  *****

  Vanessa now has the whole food court as her stage. She stabs the air with her straw for emphasis, keeping the audience engaged with her story.

  “-Which is when I fought the criminal in the alley, saving the kid and his parents. They offered to pay me, which I politely declined. But they still gave me two hundred bucks and a gift card to Apple C’s,” says Vanessa.

  “Can we talk about the Hobo Warrior Bunny now?” asks Madison.

  “No.”

  Madison looks down, twiddling her thumbs. “Oh… okay… That’s… I can wait.”

  *****

  Jayson is two floors up from Vanessa, running across one of the many walkways that overlook the central mall atrium. Ashton still pursues him with determination that can safely be described as rabid.

  “This guy is a lunatic, I tell ya! Oh, the stories he could tell! I just have to catch him first! Should’ve brought a net gun, or a tranq, or… or… something!” says Ashton.

  Jayson’s world gets darker, his lungs more shredded on the inside, and his legs give extra boosts that make his steps and hops longer and larger. But since he can see everything now, he’s not crashing into anything, but he almost falls over the edge a couple of times.

  “Careful! Don’t hurt yourself!” says Ashton.

  Jayson grinds his teeth, and he makes a sharp turn, skidding on the thin carpet tile before regaining his footing and continuing his run. His tunnel vision is nearly complete, a black border squeezing everything except the next corner and Ashton’s infuriating voice.

  “Just a few questions, Jayson! Can I ask about your connection to Mama Bear?” says Ashton.

  That does it. Jayson skids to a stop, whirls around, and uses all of his built-up aggression to ram Ashton into the walkway’s railing. Ashton grunts painfully, nearly flipping over the edge, but Jayson grabs his brown throat and pulls him up so they are nose to nose. His grimy fingers dig into Ashton’s throat, and the whites of his eyes have darkened while his blue irises brighten.

  All sound and surroundings disappear, leaving just Jayson and Ashton in the void.

  “Stop. Following. Me,” growls Jayson through gritted teeth.

  Ashton, face going blue, still grins. “Just want an interview, man. You’re the golden ticket for proof that we’re in a simulation.”

  Jayson shoves harder, eyes wild, vision tunneling. All the sound in Bliss Town Mall collapses down to Ashton’s pulse and his heavy breathing.

  “We’re not in any simulation. We’re here in Bliss Town, and you chasing me all over the place while I have other things to do is pissing me off!”

  *****

  Nearby, Mortimer runs past Jayson and Ashton. He ducks into an art store with Greg following close behind. Mortimer skids to a stop by a display of painted popsicle buildings, and he turns around and sees Greg standing in the doorway, arms spread, eyes focused, and his steps heavy and steady.

  “Five minutes for an interview. That’s all we want,” says Greg.

  “For the love of God, frick off!” yells Mortimer.

  His fist becomes encased in a small electric cloud, and he punches Greg right on the jaw. The cloud bursts in a bright light, and Greg stumbles back, his jaw smoking. He blinks, rubs burnt fur off his jaw, and follows with a long snarl as he rushes Mortimer.

  *****

  Back outside, where Jayson and Ashton are on the walkway, the window to the nearby storefront shatters with Mortimer sailing through it, limbs windmilling. He lands head-first on the floor, right next to Jayson and Ashton. They look at Mortimer sprawled in the carpet of broken glass like a flimsy doll. Jayson’s eyes are back to normal, albeit now drowning in confusion, and he and Ashton watch Greg step out, massaging his jaw.

  “Ashton, these people are irritating me,” says Greg.

  “Yeah, I got to admit, the Hobo Warrior Bunny is kind of annoying me, too,” says Ashton.

  Jayson snaps to him, grabbing his collar and shaking him, fur bristled and drool seeping past his gritted teeth. “Don’t you start with me.”

  Suddenly, Greg is tackled by a blur of security blues, and black and white fur. The badger is bigger than all of them in height and muscle, and with a loud, annoyed yell, he lifts Greg off the floor, twirls him around, and pile drives him into the floor. Then he charges Jayson, punches him off Ashton, grabs Ashton, headbutts him and follows with a knee to his gut before throwing him down. Then as Mortimer tries to crawl away, the mall security guard grabs his foot and drags him back.

  “No, no, no, no, no, no, no!” chants Mortimer frantically, his claws tearing the carpet tile.

  Jayson stands up, wobbling and groaning, using the rail for support. His vison swims, and the last thing he sees before blacking out is the guard swinging Mortimer towards him like a bat.