The Strange Misadventures of Mr. Nice Guy: Just Over YonderrrrrOOOHHH THAT'S A BIG LIZARD

"You look like a wet dog." Zephyr commented dryly as they headed towards the villages they could see in the distance, one on foot, the other hovering in the air, graceful as always.

"Thank you!" Mr. Nice Guy exclaimed, taking that exact moment to shake exactly like a wet dog and throw rainbow water over Zephyr, wetting the worn wooden planks they stood on.

"I hate you." Zephyr muttered, shaking out their paws, then said a very bad word as xey accidentally threw the vial they'd been keeping a tight hold on ever since Mr. Nice Guy had first given it to him.

"That's awful!" whined the eldritch creature, spinning on Zephyr as they scrambled forward, trying to catch the vial, which sparkled merrily in the light as it plunged towards the swamps, the purple slime inside sticking its tongue out at them.

"In all my years, I have never heard a word as foul as the one you just uttered from your mouth, young traveler." said a deep, mysterious voice that reminded Mr. Nice Guy of one of those vampire movies. Like Midnight. Or something like that. The vampire was always a mysterious, strange human who was not at all good with healthy relationships that everyone would love regardless. Anyways, if Mr. Nice Guy had hair, his hackles would've been rising already, though he did give this strange newcomer a frown as they caught the vial easily, then handed it to Zephyr with an elegant bow, a trap slung over their back. They had straight, long pale blond hair, a mysterious attire that seemed to be for swimming (which also made Zephyr mutter something about 'emo middle schoolers trying to be cool' before Mr. Nice Guy slapped a hand over their mouth and pretended like that didn't happen) and tanned skin, which seemed a bit strange to Mr. Nice Guy, just a little bit. Don't these types of people have different skin depending on where they live? It's so dark here. Barely any light gets through the canopy. Huh. Maybe they don't come from here. Or maybe that's the normal skin color of everyone who lives here. Or maybe they're a pro at tanning themself, in which case I will now proceed to ask them how.

"Hi there! Who are you?" Mr. Nice Guy said excitedly, though with a hint of suspicion hiding behind his happy words.

"Lux." is the only word the newcomer said.

Mr. Nice Guy waited for a moment, but nothing but silence interrupted the already thick silence, letting the chirps of far-off creatures swim through the air like cartoony pie-scent, though exactly how he knew that he had no idea.

"What are you doing here?!" Zephyr growled suspiciously, twisting themself gracefully through the air to circle Lux like a shark.

"What are you doing here?" Lux countered innocently, glancing around. "I have never encountered either one of your species. If I may be so gracious to ask this of you, is that glowing white disk your mouth?"

Zephyr scowled behind them, their tail starting alight and the strange, corrupted flames burning brightly in xer annoyance as Mr. Nice Guy shook his head and smiled wider, stretching the disk into an even bigger smiley-face. "This is like my hand!" he exclaimed. "Another one! This thing right here is my mouth." he said, tapping his ring and the darkness inside.

"Interesting. How do you see? What are you? What's your name?" Lux said curiously, glancing at them both in surprise.

"I do not need eyes to see like you, I am Mr. Nice Guy, and I'm Mr. Nice Guy." he chirruped proudly, raising his red tentacles in his smug glory.

"Oh. Wow. And you?" Lux said, turning to Zephyr, who snarled at Lux and turned away. 

"None of your-" he said a very bad word again- "business."

Mr. Nice Guy glared at Zephyr as Lux turned away again, chuckling softly. "Very well. Well then, I must be on my way now." they said, trodding past them on the worn wooden planks, their live trap slung over their back.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Mr. Nice Guy exclaimed, trodding after them. Zephyr growled in frustration and followed, his eyes narrowed in disgust and suspicion, xer fire growing all the more powerful.

"Walking down this path." Lux said, glancing over their shoulder.

"What's the trap for?" Zephyr countered suspiciously.

"Hunting king salamanders. They're the rarer, bigger cousins of those swamp salamanders. Their tails and heavy strides damage my crops."

"What crops?" the flying fox-like creature growled.

Lux gave them a toothy smile, then crossed their arms.

"Do you want to help me catch them?"
"NO." Zephyr said immediately, then floated over to Mr. Nice Guy. "Guy, I don't trust this at all."

Mr. Nice Guy frowned, then sighed. "We're a bit busy right now. We're trying to get home. Or at least, I am. What are you doing?"

"Trying to find out where I am." Zephyr muttered.

"Wait, where are we?!" Mr. Nice Guy cried out, stopping Lux again.

"You're in Wouagi, the World of Rainbow Swamps." Lux chuckled, glancing at them for a moment, before they carried on, disappearing quickly down the wooden path.

"Wow, I thought we were in McDonald's, world of the world's most disgusting cheeseburgers." Zephyr hissed under their breath.

"Hey! McDonald cheeseburgers are really good!" Mr. Nice Guy argued, glaring at Zephyr at the pure atrocity they had just said.

"Are you dumb? They're horrible! Have you even tried one?!"

"No, but Dr. Crowell has." the eldritch creature countered.

"Who the-" xey said another bad word- "is Doctor Crowell?!"

"He's my..." Mr. Nice Guy trailed off then, staring at the ground awkwardly. What was Dr. Crowell to him? A hostage? A friend? A leader? A captive?

Permanently sleeping? 

"He's my friend." the eldritch creature said finally, his words blank and emotionless.

"And where is he?" Zephyr demanded. "Wait, is that why you wear a lab coat? I thought you were just a try-hard!"

Mr. Nice Guy would've raised an eyebrow at that mysterious word 'try-hard', then sighed.

"He's in the sleep of no return." he said quietly. "It's my fault."

Zephyr glanced at him, then put out the fire in their tail and sighed, glancing at Mr. Nice Guy once more before they continued on. 

"Come on. I heard that the Gloomweaver Bazaar is on soon. And you can get not emo clothes there." Zephyr said grudglingly, tapping Mr. Nice Guy awkwardly on the bony shoulder before they floated down the path, much, much quieter than they had been before.

Wake up soon, Dr. Crowell. Mr. Nice Guy thought pointedly at his stomach, glancing down under his forelegs to stare at it, before he followed Zephyr's unusually quiet form. Please wake up soon.