_The jigsaw puzzle of the mind_

______Frank walks into the room loudly, opening the door wide, it slamming against the wall. The very first thing he sees is that bastard Billy Russo, sitting on a chair at the back of the room, unconscious. The Punisher's blood runs cold as he rushes towards him.

"You son of a bitch."

His advance is cut off by Curtis' hand, who tries as best he can to catch Frank Castle's mad dog look.

"Take it easy, Frank. It's no use, let us explain."

Frank finally looks at his friend, before taking a better look at his surroundings. He's in a small room, well the term laboratory would be more appropriate. He hadn't noticed that Billy was tied up, chest, hands and feet. Electrodes are placed all along his forehead and temples, as well as on his now very short hair. Next to him is some kind of machine that looks like one of those super-powered computers you see in the movies.

"What the hell is going on here?"

A man approaches Frank, he is older than him by several years but it would be unfair to call him an old man. He holds out a firm, slightly wrinkled hand to him. He is wearing a brown wool sweater over a shirt. His hair is graying but you can still clearly see the natural brown.

"I'm Dr. Wally. You can call me Wally."

Frank shakes his hand, frowning as he turns to Curtis.

"Here's the thing, like I told you on the phone, Karen was kidnapped... and Billy was apparently there when it happened, he's the only one who knows where she is for sure. The problem being that he was found unconscious and according to Dr. Wally, he's in a near comatose state."

"So what? Do we wait for him to wake up or do we look for another solution?"

"Actually... we found another solution... you better sit down."

Frank refuses to do so at first, but eventually complies. Dr. Wally approaches Billy and the computer.

"I'm going to ask you to be very open-minded. Only Mr. Russo knows where Ms. Page is, unfortunately, he's in no condition to provide any information. Mr. Russo is drowned in a deep sleep, he can not emerge. But thanks to this machine, of my own invention, we can send two people at most into his mind."

"Excuse me? Who's this nutcase, Curt, we don't have time for this crap, Karen might be in danger!"

"Frank, I know it sounds crazy, even completely delusional, but Dr. Wally is a brilliant scientist and... he's done experiments before that have worked... it's possible, Frank. You can get inside someone's head."

Frank shakes his head, finding it very hard to believe.

"Even if that were true, why is he helping us?"

"Dr. Wally owes me a debt. It's a long story for later but, trust me, he can be trusted. Do you trust me?" Frank looks at his friend, eyes wide. This is all nonsense. It's science fiction. "Technology has come a long way in the last few years, what do we know about it, huh? He's willing to help us and I don't see any other solution, looking for her by ourselves when we have no leads would take days, weeks, we don't have time! Billy knows. We have to find a way to wake him up. This is Karen's life we're talking about."

These last words automatically convince Frank. After several very convincing explanations from the doctor. Frank undertakes to get into William Russo's brain. He will go with Dr. Wally himself to help him when they get there. The scientist explained to them that the electrodes had to be put on as was done on Billy. He explained to Curtis how to activate the machine. Their minds will be sent into Billy's and they should both go into the same deep unconscious state. Once in his mind, they will have to try to find Billy to bring him back to consciousness.

Frank doesn't waste any time, if this is the only way to save Karen.

He sits in a chair next to the computer, Billy and Wally. After several setups and fiddling, Curtis sticks a needle in his arm and injects something to put him to sleep. It is quite effective. Frank slowly closes his eyes, the sound of Curt's voice becoming more and more distant until it disappears completely.

______

______Suddenly, Frank's ears are filled with familiar sounds. The sound of a car engine driving at a steady pace, a horn honking, a few passersby treading the ground. Frank slowly opens his eyes. He is in the middle of a street in the city. He frowns. What the hell is he doing here? Did it not work? Did he miss something?

A car passes in front of him, revealing a man waving at him from across the street. It's him. It's the mad scientist. The man crosses quickly but carefully. He waves his finger in front of him as he positions himself right in front of the Punisher's large, calm build.

"This is it, Mr. Castle. We're in the mind of Mr. Russo."

"We're in the middle of the street. What are you talking about?"

The man's face lights up with a wide smile, raising his hands at his side as if to emphasize everything around them.

"Take a closer look. Does this look like a normal street to you?"

Frank raises an eyebrow before he complies. He turns his head. It's strange, the cars are all the same color, a deep black. The passers-by walk without expression, as if they had no soul. Absolutely everyone looks the same, there is a surprising uniformity. He puts his imposing gaze on the scientist again.

"Where are we? Why are all the cars black and everyone is dressed more or less the same?"

"Fascinating isn't it? To tell you the truth, I wanted to explain it to you earlier but you didn't give me time, but never mind, we are in Mr. Russo's head. I guess if everyone is the same, it's probably because Mr. Russo has a deep need to fit in, to be part of society. And also because he must be pretty down to earth, pragmatic..."

"That does indeed sound like Billy... So we're really in his head?"

"Precisely."

Frank takes a few seconds to realize but their time may be running out.

"So what now? What do we do?"

"You have to imagine a person's mind as a jigsaw puzzle. All the pieces have their importance, they are more or less large, more or less detailed, more or less precise but they are all glued together. Each moment, each important memory creates one of these pieces and adds to the jigsaw puzzle that is the human mind. The older we get, the bigger it gets. Do you understand?" Frank nods, concentrating to follow correctly, looking at the man's hands as they are trying to illustrate the words. "Nevertheless, as a result of Mr. Russo's head trauma, this puzzle has... dislocated."

"So what Billy forgot is gone?"

"No, not exactly, the puzzle pieces that represent the memories he forgot still exist. They're somewhere, but Billy's brain is trying to... how shall I say it... push them away. So it'll be very difficult to find them. We are in a... broken mind... so every piece of the jigsaw puzzle is scattered all over the place, I'm afraid there is a lot of inconsistency..."

The man rubs his thin beard that has barely grown back, thoughtfully.

"Okay, and how do we find Billy?"

"I don't know..."

Frank's eyes are automatically drawn to a huge bus that stands out completely from the background. His mouth drops open when he spots the poster on the vehicle. An advertisement featuring a man in a baseball cap and uniform, holding what appears to be a soda, a bright smile on his face. Eyes so dark that they seem black, animated by a certain malice, an almost perfect symmetry of the face, an angelic smile, a soft face but with a certain charisma and finally, a singular mole under the right eye. No doubt about it, it's Billy.

"I found him..."

The scientist frowns, looking in the direction indicated by Frank's finger.

"Indeed."

The two men board the bus, which stops a few feet away. There aren't many people, but the people are different. They seem happy, wearing more cheerful colors and clothes. Frank sits in the seat right behind Wally, who sits next to a pretty young woman.

The man smiles at the woman.

"You're going to think this is silly, but my grandson is a baseball fan, and I saw this player on the bus... I can't remember his name! You wouldn't happen to have a clue, would you?"

The young woman returns a charming smile before turning to him completely.

"Are you kidding? He's a star where I live! The best baseball player I know! That's Billy, Billy Russo!"

"Ah yes, that's the name I had in mind, thank you very much ma'am."

"He's playing in 30 minutes, I'm going to his game, the bus is taking us there. You should see it, it's very impressive."

"Yes, of course, very good idea."

Doctor Wally stands up, joining Frank who has been eavesdropping on the conversation.

"What's that supposed to mean? Billy was never a baseball star. This can't be a memory."

The man takes a moment to think.

"Well, just because a piece is created from a memory doesn't mean it represents it exactly as it was experienced...truth be told, the more complex a mind is the more subtlety there is...You're the only one who knows Mr. Russo, what do you think he has to do with Baseball?"

It doesn't take Frank long to make several connections, the baseball field Billy has taken him to a few times, those stories from group home.

"Bill told me how much he loved it when he was younger...he thought he would turn pro but it was just a kid's dream...every kid dreams of being a firefighter, cop or professional athlete someday..."

"It can't be just that, simple dreams that change every couple of days or small events can't create a whole piece by themselves."

"There was this one guy, at the group home he was at, he basically broke his shoulder and he was the guy who coached the kids at stickball I think... maybe it has something to do with it but Billy told me that after that he started to hate playing."

"Trauma? Yeah, that's right, Frank! Eureka. Young Mr. Russo experienced something that his young mind had a hard time dealing with so to protect himself his brain created a piece of the puzzle where his trauma didn't happen. You have to look at it as... a way to counterbalance. Here, Billy was never disgusted by the practice of this sport and he lived the perfect life he dreamed of as a young boy."

"So... Billy pictures himself in his mind as a pro baseball player?"

"Yes and no." Frank sighs, feeling like that's always the answer he gets. "I forgot to mention that in every piece of the puzzle there is a Billy. A version of Mr. Russo."

"I'm confused, you told me we had to find Billy."

"Yes, out of all these versions of himself only one Billy is the one who controls everything."

"How do we know which one is the good one?"

"That... I don't know... to tell you the truth, I'm not sure of anything. I don't know what to do at all."

"Are you serious? This is crazy and you don't even know what to do? You're not sure? You sent me into Russo's head, not knowing how to get out?"

"Hey oh, easy there, I can raise my voice too, you're the one who insisted on doing it at the end. No need to scream like that, now we're in it so let's deal with it!"

Frank grits his teeth, letting out a slight growl.

"Unbelievable..."

"You know what's not believable? Getting inside someone's mind! That's not believable, so yes, I don't know everything and I'm not sure I understand everything. We did the impossible Frank what did you expect?"

Frank ignores his annoyance, he is not wrong, it is pure delirium. The pragmatic side of the former soldier takes over. He nods, taking a deep breath.

"Then all we have to do is talk to every Billy we come across and try to find the right one."

Doctor Wally nods as well.

"We need to work on understanding how he works so we know where he's hiding. And that's where you'll be a huge help. No one knows him better than you."

______

______Frank tries as best he can to make his way into the bleacher to find a seat. He turns his head to check on his sidekick. Dr. Wally is right behind him, a bag of popcorn filled to the brim and a cap he didn't have before, plopped on his head. The two men eventually sit down next to each other.

"Are you serious? We're not here to have fun." Frank retorts, slightly on edge.

"They're giving them away for free, so...and I love baseball...want some?"

Wally hands him the popcorn but Frank just looks away.

After a few minutes the players enter the field.They are close enough to distinguish the players. Billy enters to a flurry of applause and encouragement. Something twists in Castle's stomach. Billy smiles so much, with a smile that he has very rarely, if ever, seen on the man's face. He looks so calm, so light. They watch the whole game, although it seemed to go faster than a normal game. Russo's team wins and it makes sense. It was a very strange experience for Frank. He felt something he had never felt before, he couldn't help but watch his best friend, running and performing at his best, short of breath when he is about to score. Feeling uncontrolled joy when he succeeds. He feels this deep contradiction of hating this man and yet feeling an incomparable pride in front of a version of him that realizes a childhood dream.

______

At the end of the game, they find a way to sneak into the locker room and to tell the truth, it wasn't very complicated, everyone is surprisingly kind.

They enter a room where only one man is present, tall, thin, athletic. He is from behind, putting away his things. Frank remains in the doorway as the doctor ventures a little closer.

"Mr. Russo?"

The man turns around, his face altering the surprise on display into a broad smile. Frank swallows painfully, it's even stranger to see him so close, everything looks so real. Billy has no scars. A perfect face, soft hair, short on the side but long on top, falling slightly over his forehead.

"Yes? Do you need anything?"

"Oh, actually, we saw the game, very impressive, you're brilliant."

"That's nice, thank you very much. Would you like an autograph?"

"Oh well...why not..." Frank clears his throat to remind the man that this is not what they are here for. Billy looks at Frank in amazement but without any rage, fear or hatred. He doesn't even seem to recognize him. "Yeah, that's right, that's not why we're here, actually."

"Ah, very well. Do you need some information? Maybe you should talk to someone more competent, to..."

Frank takes a step closer.

"It's you we want to talk to, Bill." Russo raises his eyebrows before frowning, very surprised but waiting for the next part. "You don't know who I am?"

"Should I? I'm really sorry... you are?"

"It doesn't matter. Are you the right Billy?"

"I beg your pardon? What do you mean?"

This Billy's politeness is starting to seriously irritate Frank.

"We're in your head, you're a version of you, so tell me if you're the one in control."

Billy widens his eyes slightly, taking a discreet step back. Silence hovers for a few seconds, a few seconds too long as Frank becomes impatient, holding his breath to see if he is indeed looking at the traitor who left his family to die.

"Have you been using drugs? Are you okay? Do you need help?"

Castle clenches his fists, suddenly moving closer to Russo, who immediately backs away.

"I don't have time for this crap Russo! This is all bullshit, it's not real and you know it. You've hated baseball since Arthur so cut the crap and get it over with!"

Billy opens his mouth, he looks simply and purely confused if not slightly frightened by the Punisher's low, gruff tone.

"I don't understand... who is Arthur? Why you say it's not real, of course it is."

Frank grits his teeth. He's had enough of the man's lies.

"Are you kidding me? Arthur Walsh, he fucking broke your shoulder when you were a kid, in the Ray of Hope group home, he wanted to abuse you."

Suddenly he feels a hand on his shoulder, the doctor pulls Frank away from Billy, speaking softly in the hope that the other man does not hear.

"It could be that he doesn't know he's not real, that he exists only in his head. This version of Billy here is protected from trauma and negative emotions...this is not the Billy we're looking for, this one doesn't know anything, this is a fantasized version of himself."

Billy frowns.

"What the hell are you talking about...no one has.... ever..."

The two men turn to a disturbed Billy when suddenly a loud noise is heard followed by a violent earthquake. The three men cling to the objects around them to keep from falling backwards.

"What's going on now?" Frank asks as a bag falls from the top of a locker and he narrowly misses taking it in the face.

"I have no idea!"

The shaking stops abruptly, leaving the three people in the room shocked.

Wally rushes out, automatically followed by the other two men. There is no one left. Anyone in the hallways and in the stands. But that's not the most surprising thing. The three men step onto the fresh grass of the field, they freeze at the same time. A huge crack that spans more than half the field almost cuts it in half, as if the two pieces of earth were trying to break away from each other. The sky went from a clear blue to a terrifying gray.

"Holy shit." Frank and Wally turn to the man who had spoken the words. Billy swallows loudly. "Who the fuck are you?" Suddenly, he lets out a groan of pain as he bends over, pressing firmly on his left shoulder. He looks up at Frank again, panicked, hurt, breathing erratically from the pain. "What's happening to me?"

Frank frowns, turning to the only man who might have some answers. Billy closes his eyes, frowning to contain the burning, bone-shattering sensation that radiates from his shoulder to his forearm.

"Frank, I can only see one explanation, you questioned the existence of this reality, Mr. Russo began to doubt and now the piece of the puzzle is beginning to fall apart..."

"We need to leave then, he's the wrong Russo anyway."

Billy opens his eyes again as the pain has just stopped. Frank starts to leave, walking past him without looking at him. Wally follows him, deep in thought and possible explanations. Billy's eyes widen.

"Hey, you're not going to leave me alone like this? Wait! Help me...please..."

Frank turns around. He looks into Billy's eyes and only sees his best friend. His best friend who had a better childhood, kind, polite, gentle and whose world is literally falling apart because of him. He hesitates. The Punisher is impartial, he knows no mercy. He may be a different Billy, but he's still Billy.

Dr. Wally suddenly jumps up, enlightened.

"Frank, I was wrong! The demolition of this ideal would explain this huge fracture in the floor but not Mr. Russo's sudden pain." The scientist moves closer to Billy, driven by this adoration of science and its logic. "You had pain in your left shoulder didn't you? Look, look at your shoulder young man."

Billy swallows before he complies, he lifts his shirt to reveal his bare shoulder. Two long scars now run along it, still fresh, bright and red.

"I didn't have these scars before..."

Wally turns to Frank questioningly.

"Billy... Billy has exactly those scars, Walsh gave them to him."

"Precisely!" He now moves closer to Frank again. "This piece of the jigsaw puzzle is not being destroyed, it's being transformed into a non-idealized version."

"So what?"

"But come on, think about it! This is catastrophic, Frank! The consequences could be terrible! And more!"

"Calm down, doc, and explain it to me calmly."

Wally catches his breath. Looking for the perfect way to illustrate and explain.

"Let's go back to the image of the jigsaw puzzle. A new jigsaw puzzle, almost empty, coming from a still new mind. When what happened with Mr. Walsh happened, a piece of the puzzle appeared. Only, this event was too much for a young mind to bear. A child does not have the same resources as an adult to overcome trauma. This piece was too big, too dark, too imposing, so Billy cut it in half. One of the two parts represents hope, represents his dreams and what he can hold on to so he doesn't go crazy, lose his footing, that's this part where we are. This piece reduced the size of the original bad piece by half. He remembers the trauma, but he overcame it. Are you following me?" Frank nods, doing his best. "By telling Billy about his trauma you have altered the very essence of his reason for existing, the bad part of the piece is invading the perfect, ideal one to become what it was at the very beginning, purely black, negative and traumatic."

"How is that catastrophic?"

"I'm not sure what could happen, one would assume that Billy now has a stronger mind as an adult to accept such an imposing piece in his jigsaw puzzle mind but nothing is less certain. It's destroying his equilibrium, destroying the hope that resides within him. He could go completely mad or he could be unable to do anything, become a real vegetable or worse, he could lose his life."

Frank nods, having gotten into such a state of concentration that he can't react too much.

"And how do we remedy that?"

"That... I don't know..."

Frank sighs.

"I really don't want to bother you, but... who is that guy over there?"

Both men turn in the direction Billy's gaze points. There's a man in the distance watching them. He must be in his forties, a bit stocky, with slightly graying hair. It's too far away to clearly make out.

"Could it be him, Arthur?"

"Yeah, maybe..."

Billy frowns.

"Arthur..."

Suddenly, another tremor is felt, the crack widens, a violent wind rises and the man in the distance disappears.

Wally looks at Frank, his eyes wide.

"He's trying to remember, he must not remember! It'll make things worse!"

Frank rushes over to Billy, grabbing him by the collar.

"Did you hear that? Listen to me, forget what I said, you're a ballplayer and you're living in a Care Bear world. Is that good for you?"

"I hate baseball... Arthur, he..."

"Are you deaf?! It didn't happen to you, so now you forget about it and move on!"

Billy squeezes Frank's wrist as he pulls on his shirt. Frank sees his gaze change. The dark gleam in his eyes suddenly takes on a whole new dimension. He sees what he saw the very first time he met Billy Russo. A kid alone in the world whose only person he once trusted betrayed him, but who is ready to fight. Frank is slowly letting him go. Hopefully there's another way because this one doesn't work. Any version of Billy will never be the type to be intimidated.

The rain starts to fall.

Wally looks at the two men, who are still looking each other in the eyes.

"Come on, boys, come on, we don't have time to waste! Let's get inside!"

The three men take refuge inside the building as the storm rages. The atmosphere has changed drastically, the lights start flashing at irregular intervals, there is no one around, the air seems heavy and unbreathable. It's like being in a horror movie.

They take refuge in a room that has windows to keep an eye on the outside. The doctor sits down in a chair and starts thinking about what to do, Billy looks outside and Frank looks at the only door in the room that is left open. A few long minutes pass with a constant feeling of anxiety in the room. Billy watches the sky grow darker and darker, the wind tearing away poles and chairs from the bleachers. Frank frowns at the sight of a small, quick body crossing the hallway.

"Hey!" Billy and Wally look at Frank, surprised. "I saw a kid running, I'm going to go look."

Frank walks out of the room but doesn't see anyone, he continues on in the direction he saw the kid go. He comes to a dead end, looks right and left and just as he thinks about turning around, he spots a fast-moving person again. Honestly, it's strange and scary, but the Punisher isn't afraid of anything, he's unarmed unfortunately but that's not what's going to stop him.

______

Billy scans the outside carefully, arms crossed before straightening up, eyes wide.

"That's him. He's outside." Wally stands up abruptly. Indeed, the man from earlier is much closer now, right in the middle of the storm, just ahead of the crack in the ground. "I need to go see him."

"No, wait Mr. Russo, the man outside is not really a man, he represents your childhood's worst nightmare, maybe that's what he wants, maybe once you're in front of him you'll remember completely and then it will be too late."

"There's only one way to find out."

Billy walks past the man, heading for the exit.

"Mr. Russo... Billy!"

Billy steps outside, being forced to lean forward, one arm in front of him, so powerful is the storm. He gets as close as he can and the man doesn't move at all. Wally observes the scene from the doorway.

"Are you the one making this mess?" Billy swallows when Arthur Walsh lays eyes on him. An electric shock runs through his entire body. He doesn't look like a man, that's true. He looks more like a monster. But Billy doesn't remember, not yet. The wind is so loud, he is forced to raise his voice to make sure he is heard. "Listen, sir, you better leave. This was a really cool place before you came along, so you understand...just get out." Billy frowns as he sees the man's lips move but he can't hear what he's saying. "What?"

______

Frank continues this little game for a few minutes, until he starts to get seriously impatient.

"Well, I'm not amused at all, so show yourself, kid."

He waits a bit until the child reappears, this time he doesn't run away. He is a little boy with dirty old clothes and short messy black hair. He doesn't answer, just looks at the door behind him before opening it. The door leads outside, the little boy steps out and turns back to Frank. His face is far from neutral but Frank can't read it. Nevertheless, he looks quite terrified but also brave. He points to a locker right next to Frank. Castle is about to speak when the little boy runs away again. He quickly exits but this time he has completely lost sight of him. Frank immediately spots Billy and the man in the middle of the baseball field. He turns around to open the locker and finds a bat. Maybe the little boy wanted to help and knew that there was something that could be used as a weapon. He grabs it and walks over to William Russo.

______

"I can't hear you." Billy continues as the man in front of him keeps mumbling something over and over. He concentrates with all his might to hear when finally some words reach his ears.

"You were a so pretty little boy."

Billy instantly freezes, unable to move. The man suddenly moves closer and Billy stays still, beginning to tremble slightly. He would like to move, he would like to, but he can't as several flashes come rushing back to his mind. The man comes close to touch Billy when Frank Castle hits him hard in the ribs with the bat. But it barely seems to hit the man, who turns around just as violently and lunges at Frank.

The bat falls to the ground and Billy on his knees. He relives what happened to him when he was only eleven years old and can't do anything about it. Rain turns to hail and several other fractures destroy the landscape. The building threatens to collapse.

Frank fights with his bare hands with violence and ferocity but he's fighting something that is not human, that does not feel pain, unlike him.

Dr. Wally runs to them.

"Billy! You're stronger than this! Fight it! This is not real! Think about it, this man is not human, this is not real!"

Billy grits his teeth and closes his eyes as he is completely overcome with pain, fear, memories. But Wally's words reach his ears and Billy tries to focus on the sound of Frank's beating of the man. Steady, violent noises. Eventually he opens his eyes. He spots the bat on the ground. Billy grabs it and stands up, trembling and almost falling. He positions himself behind Arthur Walsh, raises the bat above his head.

For a brief moment, Frank sees Billy's eyes, which appear to be completely black. He sees the flames burning in them. For a few suspended seconds, he forgets all the resentment he now feels for Billy Russo, seeing only his brother ready to demolish one of his demons.

"You don't belong here. You don't exist here so go back where you came from, you sick bastard!"

The bat comes down violently on Arthur Walsh's skull splitting it in two. The man collapses to the ground, blood spattering on the bat, Frank and Billy. Billy looks at Frank breathless, a slight smile on his face before his legs give out on him and he too falls to the ground. Frank rushes to his friend who has completely lost consciousness. The rain suddenly stops and the sky clears. Frank turns to Arthur's body but he is no longer there. Frowning at the bloodless bat, he spots something he hadn't seen, the name Billy is clumsily carved on it with a knife.

Wally steps closer to the men.

"Is he okay?"

"He's stunned, but he seems fine."

Frank is the first to be surprised at the relief that comes from these words. Without thinking, and because everything that has just happened is delirious enough not to wonder too much, he swings one of Billy's inert arms behind his shoulder before grabbing his legs and lifting him up. Wally accompanies Frank, who takes Billy back inside. In a few seconds, the decor was back to its former cheerfulness and light, as if nothing had happened. Frank lays Billy's still unconscious body on a couch in a small room. He pulls lightly on the collar of his shirt to see that the scars have disappeared as well. Finally, he takes a few steps away, keeping his gaze on the man.

"I don't know what to think... He looks... He looks so much like Billy... but he's not him."

"Do you ever, when you looked at that Billy, see the Billy you know or knew?"

Frank frowns, examining that face that minutes earlier was marked by indescribable pain and is now so peaceful.

"Strangely, yes..."

"That's normal, Frank. That's Billy. His personality is complex, made up of many facets, but this is one of them. Billy is that Billy and all the others at the same time. Sometimes it's him you see, sometimes it's someone else."

"Why is one of them controlling everything then?"

"I admit I may have gotten a little carried away when I said that... let's say we're looking for the conscious part of Billy to bring him back to us. He's out there somewhere, maybe hiding. He could be anywhere..."

Frank looks at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Sometimes I get the feeling you don't even know yourself what you're talking about."

"I'd say more like I don't have all the answers..."

Frank smiles, meeting a happy version of Billy makes Frank strangely cheerful. It also makes him realize that he never really knew his old friend happy.

"We should go before he wakes up."

"Good idea!"

The two men leave the room, making sure that everything is back to normal here. They then walk out into the street.

"So if I understand correctly, we are looking for a man who physically resembles Billy but who is not one of the facets of his personalities but his conscious part? And we must not confuse this man with all the Billys we might come across who represent an aspect of his personality and who live in... a piece of the jigsaw puzzle?"

"Precisely! We have to find the conscious part of Billy that is buried somewhere in his mind so that he comes to, brilliant, right? The problem being that we don't know where to look... the most logical would be for him to be in a place dear to his heart, where he feels safe, that he particularly enjoys..."

Frank thinks for a moment.

"I might have an idea in that case... is this city exactly like it's in reality?"

"There's no reason to assume otherwise."

"Billy technically doesn't remember it, but since in his mind it still exists...I think Bill must have gone to Anvil."

"Anvil?"

"That's the company he had founded. I know where the building was located."

"Eureka! That's a good lead, dear friend, let's go!"