This was it. Henry’s entire story had been leading up to this. Things looked chaotic at first, but now they were all coming together. As things went along, the prophecy began to make perfect sense. His quest had all been leading up to this. Now, he would face off against the vampire lord to save the world with his mystical Wand of Holy Fire!

...Wait, this guy looked awfully fuzzy for a vampire. Wait, wasn’t that...?

“Hahaha!” the wolf-like figure laughed. By his voice, it was unmistakable. This was Argius, the alpha werewolf. And he was standing right in front of the throne that should have been held by Vincelio the vampire lord.

“Where’s Vincelio?” Henry demanded, wand at the ready.

“Oh, didn’t anyone tell you? There is no Vincelio!” the werewolf grinned smugly.

“Of course there is! There are several eyewitness accounts!” Henry said.

“Oh, how easily you jump to the conclusion that they were talking about Vincelio. They were actually talking about... ME!”

Henry facepalmed. “Eyewitness accounts of him outright saying his name was Vincelio. And sucking people’s blood.”

“They were ALL mistaken!” Argius declared boldly.

“Really? All of them? I find that unlikely. Not to mention, everything in the prophecy points to him being the true mastermind!” Henry said.

“You trust a prophecy?” Argius asks.

“Given that it flawlessly predicted, albeit in riddle-like fashion, everything that has happened and has helped on numerous occasions... Yes. I trust the prophecy.”

“Well, it’s crap now,” Argius said.

“What?”

“Yeah, turns out the prophet who spoke it was a hoax.”

“But that can’t be right! The prophecy has always been right! The idea of the prophecy being made up seems more than a little statistically unlikely,” Henry said.

Suddenly, Argius threw a bunch of confetti into the air. Where he pulled the confetti from was unclear. “Well, PLOT TWIST! It’s all fake after all!”

“But that makes no sense!”

“Of course it doesn’t! If it did, the audience might have predicted the twist!”

Henry shook his head. “Look, never mind. Either way, I shall vanquish thee monster!” He pointed his wand at the werewolf. “I shall show you the true strength of us ‘pathetic humans’!”

“Oh right, yeah, that’s another thing!” Argius said. Before Henry could react, he grabbed the top of Henry’s hair and pulled off what turned out to be a mask, revealing the head of a giant squirrel underneath. “PLOT TWIST! You’re actually a giant squirrel!”

Henry took a step back. “Wh...What!? How does that... What the chittering chitter? That doesn’t even make sense!”

“Of course not, or otherwi...”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, but seriously! How would my muzzle even fit into that mask? My face would have looked all deformed!”

“It’s a very well-made mask,” Argius said dismissively.

“No mask crafter could pull that off!”

“A wizard did it.”

“But...”

“Oh, come now. This is a land of magic! Magic makes perfect sense!”

“Perhaps, but if something like that is the answer, it has to be foreshadowed first!”

“But then the audience might figure out the twist!”

Henry sighed, then took off the rest of his human suit. This was so stupid... “Okay, whatever. I’m a squirrel now. But can you at least explain how you’re here?”

“I walked,” Argius said matter-of-factly.

“No, no, I mean... you’re supposed to be dead!”

“What?”

Henry agitatedly flitted his fluffy tail. “I dropped you into a pit of acid!”

“As yes, but did you ever stop to confirm I was truly dead?”

“I watched your chittering face melt off!”

“...My mommy kissed it better.”

“But that makes no...” Henry shook his head. He knew better than to complete that sentence. “Whatever. Can we just get this show on the road?”

“Of course. But beware, I have a great deal of power, you know!”

Henry sighed. “Because of a plot twist, right?”

“If I revealed it to you, it wouldn’t be a plot twist, now would it?”

“Whatever. Have at you!” Henry pulled out his wand, eager to get this quest done and get to the denouement as soon as possible. No more main plot, no more contrived plot twists, right? And so, he lifted his wand, gave the command word, and let the magic fly... or at least tried to, but nothing came out.

Yet even so, something definitely happened. Things were quiet for just long enough for him to wonder for a moment why nothing was happening. Then, the wand vanished and his entire body turned green and semi-transparent. He tried to give an exclamation of alarm, but he found he no longer had a mouth. He had a muzzle, yes, but his form seemed far less... defined now, not to mention a fair bit more rounded. Looking himself over, he saw that he was now made of a shiny green slime. How had this happened?

“Ha! Bet you wish you didn’t trust that sham of a wizard when he told you what that wand does, huh?” Argius said. Henry glared in response. He knew for a fact that the wizard was not a sham - burning an entire group of attacking orcs in a raging inferno was hard to do with mere smoke and mirrors - but none of the other plot twists made sense, so why would this one?

He tried to take a step toward Argius, but he found that he couldn’t. He felt his hind paw stretch, failing to leave the floor before being pulled back into place. He looked down and tried lifting his other hind paw, watching his slime paw stretch before, just as with his other paw, it was snapped right back down into place on the floor by its own stickiness. He was trapped!

Argius laughed as he approached the now-trapped adventurer. “Ah yes, the perfect plot twist! Look at you now, helpless before me! There is nothing you can do to stop me now! You ca-EEP!” At that point, his arms still being free, Henry grabbed Argius and pulled him closer, causing him to stumble and collide with Henry’s sticky front.

Argius’s fur stood on end as he realized just how bad this was for him. He gave an alarmed “Mmph!” and tried pulling back away from the slime squirrel, the slime stretching as it remained stuck to his muzzle, chest, and arms, but sure enough, just as with Henry’s hind paws, Argius found himself unable to escape, being flung right back into the sticky slime, his belly now stuck as well.

Despite all his might, even Argius was helpless before the stickiness of this slime. He continued trying, pushing against the slime squirrel for leverage, though this simply caused his arms to sink into the slime. As he wriggled and struggled, he tried to speak. Though what Argius said was muffled by the slime, Henry could at least make out a few words: “Stupid plot twist...”