Ch. 7 The Enemy Who Surpasses the Law Zelda was strapped onto a table in the lab, strapped so tightly she couldn’t force her way out using brute strength force. The lab was white and clean with several computers that ran through the walls; their screens filled with numbers and letters so complex, she couldn’t understand what they were saying. Matthew entered the room holding an empty syringe and a beaker filled with black chemicals. His cold green eyes looked at Zelda’s blue eyes, as if he were looking directly at her soul. He then pulled out a rolling table from under the table Zelda was laying on and put the syringe and beaker on it. “So, number 27,” Matthew said, “once I test you with this, we’ll have all the data we need.” He then went into his suit pocket and pulled out a capsule. He then dumped the content, a white pill, into the chemicals, changing it from black to gray. “What’s that?” Zelda asked; her tone still angry. “That’s Impedio,” Matthew said. “It was made to prevent side effects from happening.” “What side effects?” Zelda asked. “What could be worse than growing a tail?” “I do believe you’d witnessed Stewart’s speed and Andrei’s strength,” Matthew said. “They have them because of the chemicals. You see, when the chemical transforms a human, the body tries to fight back; usually with the central nervous system and the hormone system. Because of this, it would cause some to improve imperfections while others are improved beyond normal humans reach. We don’t want Aces to betray my uncle and fight back with super strength, super speed, rapid healing, etc... So, Impedio was created to calm the body; prevent it from fighting back the chemicals. Thus, the Aces don’t get those abilities.” “Aces?” Zelda said. “They’re the humans turned into the anthros,” Matthew said. Zelda struggled with the strapping and asked, “Why are you doing this?” “Because it’s a way to repay my uncle,” Matthew said. “I didn’t even know he was my uncle. My parents didn’t tell me about him because they thought he would be a bad influence on me. But he was kind and gave me a gift. I was having some troubles at the time; emotional troubles. But this gift allowed me to see that emotions were only distractions to hide the truth. Thanks to it, I was able to begin again and, as a favor, I agreed to help him with this.” Matthew then used the syringe to suck up the chemicals and was about to puncture Zelda’s skin, but the coyote entered the room with fear in his face. “Sir!” “What is it?” Matthew asked. “It’s those three!” Stewart said. “They’ve gotten away from the guards and are now coming here.” Matthew’s face didn’t change. “Get the men and move them on high alert.” “Wait sir,” Stewart said. “I have an idea.” “Do tell me,” Matthew sighed. “One of them is the boyfriend of this test subject,” Stewart said. “So?” Matthew said. “So let him get here to witness his girlfriend transform before his eyes which will crush him emotionally,” Stewart said. “Thus, proving to the world that people that depend on emotions are weak,” Matthew said. “That’s an excellent idea. Do it.” “Yes sir,” Stewart said. “One more thing,” Matthew said. “I want to kill Hund. By killing the person who’s my brother emotionally, it’ll show that logic is far stronger than emotions.” Stewart gave a savage smile. “It shall be done.” Stewart then left the room while Matthew put down the syringe filled with the chemicals. “You won’t win,” Zelda said. “Daren will stop you.” “Number 27,” Matthew asked, “Do you honestly believe that he alone will stop us?” “Yes,” Zelda said. “I've seen him, I know him . . . I love him. . . . And I know what he can do.” “Then watch him fail.” ----- “Here it is,” Inspector Hund said. Inspector Hund parked the car in front of a large warehouse. The walls and the roof were made of concrete and the door was made of steel. The trio exits the police car and walked up to the door. Daren pulled out his TF Scriúire and pointed it at the door. It gave off a green light as they heard the door’s lock click. Daren turned the doorknob and entered the warehouse with the other two. “How did you do that?” Brandon asked. “I transformed the door lock from ‘lock,’ to ‘unlock,’” Daren said. Brandon still looked confused, but decided to drop it. Although it was called a warehouse, it really was several hallways leading to several rooms, labs, and cells. Daren went ahead to the center hallway and wandered through the place, feeling like there was something missing. The three traveled around aimlessly until they came across a door that said, “Door,” on it. Inspector Hund was about to enter there, but Daren stopped him. “Wait,” Daren said. “I’ve got a bad feeling.” “What are you talking about?” Inspector Hund asked. “When we entered Matthew’s house,” Daren said, “there were four guards waiting for us. I was expecting this place to be swarming with guards, but we haven’t seen anyone. Why? Unless it’s a trap.” “My daughter could be in there,” Inspector Hund said. “I don’t care what happens to me. As long as she’s rescued in the end, I’ll be happy.” “OK,” Daren said. They entered the room and what they saw shocked Inspector Hund and Brandon, though Daren remained calmed. What they saw were 28 doors, 14 on each side, and inside 26 of them were the transformed girls. Brandon looked at them with shock and shame written all over his face; the realization of what he helped to do hit him like a ton of bricks. Inspector Hund looked around and saw his daughter, who became a husky. His face became wet with tears and he tried to reach out to his daughter, but the door was locked. Daren walked to the end of the hallway, occasionally rubbing his left forearm with his right hand. He did it because it was sore due to the anthro wolves’ presences. He looked at the cell Zelda was at the other end; he realized it because of her knife is still on the ground. For the first time since he realized Zelda was kidnapped, Daren’s expression softened. “I’ll save you,” Daren murmured. “Daren,” Brandon said, “you don’t looked too surprised.” “It’s because I suspected something like this,” Daren sadly said. “You . . . did?” Inspector Hund asked. “When?” “When I saw those fingerprints,” Daren said. “I didn’t tell you because I knew you wouldn’t believe me, like you wouldn’t believe Matthew was the Minotaur until you saw the evidence yourself.” “Wait,” Inspector Hund said. “You suspected this because of burned off fingerprints?” “They weren’t burned off,” Daren said. Before Daren could explained further, the door that lead to the cell room swung opened, and his expression again filled with anger and seriousness. Stewart the coyote and Andrei the tiger had entered the room. They walked to where the three are at while Daren glared at them. Inspector Hund and Brandon looked at the anthros coyote and tiger in shocked. “I want my friend back!” Daren said coldly. “Now tell me, where is she?” “Aww, does the little fox want his girlfriend back?” Stewart said tauntingly. “My God!” Inspector Hund said in surprised. “What have they done to you?” “What? My new look?” Stewart said. “I think it’s an improvement—” Stewart disappeared and reappeared behind them, “—in more ways in one. Show them Andrei.” Andrei went to the wall of an empty cell and punched it, destroying the wall. Inspector Hund and Brandon looked shocked and even Daren raised an eyebrow as Andrei went back to his original place and Stewart appeared by his side. “That’ll give the Furries a big boost,” Daren said. “You don’t seem that surprised,” Stewart said, referring to Daren. “I guessed we were dealing with an anthro ever since I’d seen the fingerprints,” Daren said. “The fingerprints were not burned off. They were actually paw prints. And even though I’ve only seen your arm for a fraction of a second, I saw fur on it.” “You can tell that they’re paw prints?” Stewart asked. “This is not the first time I’ve dealt with something like this,” Daren said. “Whatever,” Stewart said. “Brandon the raccoon, do you feel proud of yourself? Hund the dog, do you hate us?” “Yes,” Inspector Hund said. “If I had my gun, I’ll kill you right now.” “But you don’t. *I* do,” Stewart said. “Guess who’s doing the killing?” Before anyone could react, Stewart drew a gun, the same gun he took from Inspector Hund, and shot him until the magazine was empty. Inspector Hund stumbled back and fell down; his eyes had lost the life in them. The girls screamed, the loudest one was his daughter. Brandon looked horrified while Daren looked furious. “NO!!!” Daren shouted. “You didn’t have to kill him!” Several soldiers entered the room, aiming their M4s at the two while Stewart gave a craze laugh. “It’s all over you. But we’ll let you see your girlfriend one last time before her change.” Stewart and Andrei led the way while the soldiers forced Daren and Brandon to follow. Brandon looked scared while Daren looked angry. He took a look to the girls, who were still screaming, and the body of Inspector Hund one last time. They led the two to the lab where Zelda was strapped into the table and Matthew was still standing. When Stewart, Andrei, Daren, and Brandon entered the lab, the door closed and Daren could faintly hear the guards going their way. Matthew looked at Daren’s sea blue eyes and Brandon’s dull brown eyes. “So, Brandon,” Matthew said, “I didn’t coach you properly.” “If I knew what you were doing sooner,” Brandon said, his anger rising, “I would’ve gladly gone to jail.” “Which is why I never told you sooner,” Matthew said. “And you must be number 27’s boyfriend.” Daren said nothing. He only pulled out his TF Scriúire and pointed it at Stewart while it gave off a yellow light. Only Zelda and Brandon bothered to look at it, to the others, it just glowed. The light changed to blue and Daren put it back into his pocket, just when Matthew said, “No matter. Now, it’s time.” Matthew picked up the syringe and punctured Zelda’s arm, forcing the chemicals into her system. Matthew looked at Zelda, who, except when the syringe punctured her skin when she winced in pain, looked calm, with an emotionless expression. Stewart smirked, Brandon looked horrified, and Daren and Andrei looked calm at it. Ch. 8 Battling the Minotaur Nothing happened. Zelda didn’t transform. Stewart and Andrei went to Zelda’s side, confusion written all over their faces. Zelda looked bored, Stewart and Andrei looked at the syringe and her, Matthew expression remained unemotional. Brandon cocked his head, wondering what was wrong. “When does it happen?” Brandon asked. “It should’ve changed her by now,” Matthew said. “I don’t understand what’s wrong.” “I do,” Daren said, “and my answer is: Choose the right victim next time.” Stewart and Andrei looked at Daren, confused. “What are you talking about?” Stewart asked. “It *would’ve* work if she was human,” Daren said. “But like me, she’s not. We’re Athrú and we do the transforming. If anyone tries to transform us, it won’t work unless we want it to.” Stewart, Andrei, and Brandon took a step back from Daren, realizing that they weren’t dealing with humans, but Matthew remained emotionless. “Very well then. You two, kill her and then the other two.” Stewart and Andrei nodded; Stewart looking savagely happy, but Daren said, “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Minotaur.” “You think you can stop us?” Stewart taunted. “*You*, who can’t match my speed and Andrei strength?” “I think I can,” Daren said. “How do you think you can defeat Andrei?” Stewart taunted Daren as Andrei menacingly walked towards him. “How could you defeat someone who can smash through concrete?” “Be not afraid of any man,” Daren said, “no matter what his size, when danger threatens, call on me—” and in one fluid motion, Daren pulled out an old M1911 pistol and fired three shots at Andrei’s guts, “—and I will equalize.” Andrei stumbled and fell to the floor, his head landing mere inches from Daren’s feet, his dead eyes staring up at the Anthrú that had killed him. Stewart looked shocked and furious seeing his partner dead. “You bastard!” Stewart said. “I’ll kill you!” “How?” Daren asked. “I’ve got the gun this time and your gun’s empty.” “I’ll take that gun away with my own speed!” Stewart said. “Do you really think I was doing a light show with my TF Scriúire?” Daren asked. “Because I wasn’t. I was really transforming, or rather, restoring your body. Whatever it was that made you fast is gone now, your speed is restored to normal.” “LIAR!!” Stewart roared and ran to Daren. But at that moment, Stewart realized Daren *wasn’t* lying, that his speed was back to normal, but, at that same moment, Daren fired the remaining four shots. Stewart brought his hands to his guts and fell to the floor, dead. Matthew didn’t seem to care. Daren pulled out his TF Scriúre again, and aimed it at the restraints Tying Zelda to the table. The TF Scriúre glowed green, the restraints unbuckled, and Zelda was released. She got up and walked to Daren, whose former expression of dead seriousness was replaced by one of happiness. However, it was too soon to celebrate. Matthew went to one of the computers and pressed a button. The entire building was immediately bathed in red light, and an alarm rang throughout the compound. Daren and Zelda broke their embrace and looked at Matthew. He pressed another button and a passageway on the floor opened up, leading to an underground passageway as Matthew went through it. Daren and Zelda looked at each other. “Please . . . be careful,” Zelda said. “I will. And Brandon, use this,” Daren handed his M1911 pistol to Brandon, who looked scared. “Do you have any ammunition?” Zelda nodded. “Alright. I’ll go. Just don’t die on me.” “W-wait,” Brandon said. “I can’t *kill* people.” “Well, let me tell you about how the usual Athrú fight?” Daren asked. “Typical Athrú usually transforms their opponent, not kill them. Zelda prefer to transform them into feral animals. It’s doubtless that she have ammunition that transforms people too.” Daren started to go after Matthew, but before he entered the passageway, he turned around to Brandon. “And I really want that gun back. Calvin L. Graham gave it to me after I accidentally knocked him off that pier.” Daren then continued on downwards, occasionally wincing when he heard gunshots echoing through the passageway. It was dark and dusty; it must’ve been months since someone travelled through here. Daren closed his eyes, silently praying that the others would be all right. At last, he opened his eyes and what he saw surprised him. There was a machine there, with Matthew sitting in its cockpit. A laser gun was pointing directly at Daren’s head, and the edges of the machine were glowing red, and caused a chill to run down Daren’s spine. Daren, more to confirm his fears than anything else, pulled out his TF Scriúire and pointed it at the machine. The machine merely blinked red and made an angry noise. “It’s a Nex Mutatio,” Daren said to himself, realizing the truth and putting the TF Scriúire back into his pocket. “My uncle found it a year ago,” Matthew said, mostly to himself. “He had it placed here. He told me to watch over it, to study it. This machine . . . made me understand things. Made me realized what was holding the human race back. Emotions.” He turned to look at Daren. “Emotions made us feel things. Love, hate, hope, fear, courage, horror; they all poison us. Make us do things against logic, the greatest gift we have. Why cry for a dead person when you’ll enter that same state? Why fight for something so petty in the end? Why run from something that’s really harmless? Why pray for something that doesn’t exist? Why be scared of doing what others do? “This machine made me realize that. That’s why divorced from my wife and gave her the child, because their emotions would only get in the way. You see, if we follow logic, then we’ll go far, just like I did when I had Hund killed.” “Get away from it,” Daren said. “The Nex Mutatio’s corrupting you; even as we speak. But I can undo what it has done—” “And make me feel again?” Matthew said. “No. This is the future!” Matthew turned on the machine. “A world without emotions, only logic!” The laser gun fired a red discharge beam and hit Matthew, showing his internal skeleton. It stopped firing and Matthew fell on the floor, glowing red and twisting in excruciating pain. His body muscles were growing, tearing through his clothes. He put his hands on his head, hiding his face, as horns grew on his head. His fingers became larger and stubbier. His feet ripped through his shoes, showing hooves. He grew more than three feet before he stopped growing and glowing. His body had light brown fur except at the shoulder and head, where it was dark brown. His fingers were like little hooves while his lower legs were digitigrades with hooves instead of feet. He slowly got up, barely able to stand without hitting the ceiling, and showed his face. It was a bull’s face. He gave off a roar while Daren sighed. “Just my luck,” Daren said. “I’m fighting a minotaur. But I thought they were supposed to be human-sized. Must be the Nex Mutatio doing its influence again.” The minotaur saw him and charged, but Daren was able to dodge in time. Caught in its momentum, the minotaur hit the wall above the exit, his horns sinking deep in the rock and getting stuck. While he was trying to get free, Daren extended his right hand. Fire appeared, as part of his element, and it quickly solidified into his Spiorad, a longsword. The hilt of the longsword was bright red while the blade was bright white. The minotaur freed himself from the wall and turned around. The minotaur charged at Daren again, but Daren dodged again, putting a sizable cut on the minotaur. The minotaur winced in pain, as if, instead of a cut, he was being burned. Daren saw that and sighed. “My Spiorad doesn’t normally burn it victims when it’s in it solid form,” Daren said. “What you’re feeling is the wrath of the Athrú, aimed at those with the Nex Mutatio and who’ve used their technology, aimed at those in the Ninth Circle. You really don’t stand much of a chance.” As predicted, the minotaur ignored Daren’s words and once again charged at him. Daren charged forward and, surprisingly, slid under the minotaur and, in one fluid motion, cut off a leg. Daren slid fast enough to avoid being crushed by the minotaur, who collapsed. Daren saw the limb he cut off burn to the point where there were no ashes left. The minotaur, furious, ignored the loss and stormed at Daren on all three. Daren dodged again and cut off a forearm; the forearm burned to nothingness. The minotaur collapsed onto the ground as Daren walked to him. “Time to end this.” Daren, in one swift motion, jumped and cut off the head of the minotaur. The head flew off as what was left of the body stopped moving. The body and the head burned and burned and burned until, except for the destruction the minotaur caused, there was no evidence that there had ever been a minotaur here. Daren walked to the Nex Mutatio and sliced it apart with his Spiorad. The red edges stopped glowing; the Nex Mutatio was destroyed. Ch. 9 All Things Must Pass Daren, his Spiorad already back inside his heart, was walking away from the remains of the Nex Mutatio, back to Zelda and Brandon. Daren prayed that they would be alright. When he reached them, they were still alive, but, Daren realized, something was wrong. Zelda was unharmed, just a bit sweaty, but Brandon has been shot; his shirt stained in his own blood. Daren went by his side, with a concerned look in his eyes, while Zelda was trying to control the bleeding. “Is-is he going to be alright?” Daren asked. “I-I don’t know,” Zelda said. “He already lost a lot of blood already.” “D-Daren? Z-Zelda?” Brandon said, his face completely white. “I-I am so s-sorry f-for all of t-this.” “It’s OK,” Daren said. “Is there anything we can do?” “No. . . . Except,” Zelda said slowly, “those chemicals; Matthew said it could cause rapid healing. But he put an Impedio that prevents something like that from happening, and even if it wasn’t, it’s going to be a game of chance that he gets something like advance healing.” “Now to worry about the first part,” Daren said. He pulled out his TF Scriúire and pointed it at the beaker, the TF shining yellow light. The chemicals changed from gray to black. Daren then put the TF Scriúire back into his pocket, took a syringe from the table, and sucked in the chemicals until there were only a few drops left. He then went to Brandon and injected it inside of him. Brandon winced in pain as gray and black fur spread from the place where Daren injected the chemicals. It soon covered his arm as his fingernails lengthened to become more claw-like. It soon spread under his shirt and to his neck and other arm. As the fur spread into his arm and made those fingernails claw-like, the fur spreads onto his head, becoming completely black around his eyes. His ears travel to the top of his head and become more triangular as his shoes are ripped apart due to his feet becoming digitigrades. Then there was another ripping sound and a bushy, ringed tail appeared behind Brandon. During all of this, Brandon looked scared, but he’d stopped bleeding, and Daren knew they had succeeded. “Oh my gosh!” Brandon said. “I’m a *raccoon*!” “Just stay calm,” Daren said. “It’s going to be al—” “It’s not going to be alright!” Brandon said, angry and scared. “How am I supposed to live like this? How are the others supposed to live like this?” “Don’t worry,” Daren said. He went to his pocket and pulled out 27 An Duine, a necklace with a red gem on it. “These will change you back into a human, as long as you wear one.” “It will?” Brandon asked. “It will,” Daren said. The three then stood up, with Brandon stumbling a bit due to him not being used to his new feet. Brandon took one of the An Duine as Zelda took the beaker and handed it to Daren. Daren put it into his pocket; it might be important someday. Though Daren and Zelda looked tired, there was still a lot more work to do. The three then went to the girl’s cells, planning to give them the rest of the An Duine and alerting the police to this area. ----- “And that concludes my story,” Solid Fox said. Brave Fox sat there, quietly thinking. He then asked, “Do you have any more of those An Duine?” “Yes,” Solid Fox said, smiling. “We have enough for half of this planet. Do you want one now?” “No,” Brave Fox said. “I rather like being an anthro fox. But in case I have to be a human again, I’ll have one of those.” Solid Fox laughed a bit. “Alright.” “What happened to the others? Brandon and the girls I mean,” Brave Fox asked. “Well,” Solid Fox said, “we released them and gave them the An Duine; some of them forgetting their tailhole and putting them on immediately. The police came and we agree to keep quiet about the experiments and the results. They announced to the world the death of the Minotaur and Inspector Hund, and that the girls are rescued. They also named the four of us, Daren, Zelda, Ben, and Brandon, who ended the terror. “After spending the night at the Geisel Suite, we left there and, after quelling another Nex Mutatio incident, we were called back from our vacation partially because there was something so bad we were needed here, but in reality, due to the continuing troubles we always got ourselves in, it was to prevent more deaths.” “I see,” Brave Fox said. “What do you think they’re experimenting there?” “I think they’re testing Impedio,” Solid Fox said, “because they seem to be aware of what the triple A’s can do. They wanted to control the people and it’s harder to control them if they fully understand what they can do. I don’t know if our interruption disrupted it since they got 26 of the 27 they wanted. But, after that battle with REA, Mr. Rego must’ve been scared. So he had the scientists find a way to control them without inhibiting their abilities. They succeeded, as you know, by making them forget their past. Ignorance is bliss . . . only when someone’s taking advantage of that ignorance.” “Do you truly think that he divorced his wife because he didn’t feel love anymore?” Brave Fox asked. “No,” Solid Fox said. “But it’s one of those mysteries that your guess could be as good as mine. I think that a small bit of Matthew realized what he was turning into. So he divorced from his wife and gave her the child so they could run; run from the beast he was changing into; run from the monster before it could devour them. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to think about how low humans can go.” Brave Fox chuckled and said, “For someone who’s not human, you seem to understand them and their behaviors.” Solid Fox gave a small smile. “It takes an outsider to understand an insider once he’s inside.” “So how come you didn’t check who owned the warehouse or learn who Matthew’s uncle is?” Brave Fox asked. “The commander again,” Solid Fox sighed. “Just like he pulled us out of our vacation; just like he prevented us from searching REA; he wanted to avoid deaths if possible, and keeping me restrained seems to be one way to avoid them.” “But you could’ve prevented both incidents from happening,” Brave Fox blurted out, “and a lot more lives could’ve been saved.” “True,” Solid Fox said. “But like most humans these days, ever since less than a hundred years ago, they believe that tolerating a problem would make it go away, tolerating things that could come back with such force that we could not ignore anymore. The Commander made that mistake twice when dealing with REA and we all paid the price. Though they say that violence is never a good solution, sometimes it’s the only solution to get the outcome we wanted.” “That’s true,” Brave Fox said. “Can you tell me about that battle with REA?” “I’ll tell you later,” Solid Fox said. “It’s getting really late.” Solid Fox and Brave Fox both yawned. Brave Fox then stood up and, looking at the glass door, one last question formed in his head. Brave Fox looked at Solid Fox and asked, “Why are most of the doors here are made of glass?” “Coyote asked for the doors to be made of glass so that he can separate the room of Oncoming Storm from the rest of the rooms here,” Solid Fox said, shaking his head. “If it weren’t for the fact that he’s a great inventor, I would’ve asked if his brain had left him.” Brave Fox laughed at that. “Don’t worry. The glass doors will be replaced with regular doors as soon as Oncoming Storm is completed and everyday it gets closer and closer to completion.” “Well, good night,” Brave Fox said. “Good night,” Solid Fox said. Brave fox turned to leave, but when his hand-paw reached the doorknob, he heard a hissing noise and a clicking noise; like a soda can being open. He turned around and saw Solid Fox drinking a Diet Pepsi. In three short gulps, Solid Fox finished his soda. “Um, Fox?” Brave Fox sheepishly said. “You do know that caffeine makes you stay awake, not fall asleep?” “It does?” Solid Fox asked. Solid Fox’s eyelids slowly dripped down into doziness. He put a blanket over him, lie down and fell asleep, as if he’d been given a sleeping pill, not caffeine. Brave Fox looked at Solid Fox in confusion before he opened the door and left the room. “That’s strange,” Brave Fox said to himself. “Then again, everyone’s strange in their own unique way.” “Hello there, Brer Fox,” a familiar voice said. Brave Fox turned and saw Wild Coyote with that mischievous look in his eyes. “Like the nickname?” “It’s fine,” Brave Fox said. “I only wish Jack, that’s my preferred nickname for Thunder Jackal, would like his nickname,” Coyote said while rubbing his hand behind his head. “What does he have against the name Jack?” “Who knows,” Brave Fox said. “Can you show me my room?” “Certainly,” Coyote said rather happily. Coyote led the way for Brave Fox to his room. “By the way, what did you and Star Fox talk about?” “Well,” Brave Fox said, “I explained to him that the Commander put me under him and asked about his battles with REA.” “Ah,” Coyote said. “Did he explain about his adventure with Tails, the three-tailed fox?” “What?” Brave Fox asked. “Don’t you mean two?” “No, three,” Coyote said. Before Brave Fox could ask any more questions, Coyote said, “Here’s your room.” Brave Fox saw the glass door and, above it, is his codename. “Thank you.” “No problem.” Coyote then left to his room while Brave Fox went to his room. He was very tired. So tired, he didn’t bother to remove his clothes. He just got on his bed and went to sleep.