In Part I, Aulden, Janice and The Wind met Ferdinand the Punisher who was torturing Shannon for collaborating with the Subatomic Terrorists. Ferdinand claimed to be working on orders from Little Miss Sunshine. After much debate, Ferdinand agreed to lead them to meet Little Miss Sunshine. They continued along a country footpath, on the way to meet her.

Aulden asked Janice, "Have you ever met Little Miss Sunshine?"

Janice answered, "No, but I've heard people talk about her."

He said, "What have you heard about her?"

"She's beautiful," Janice recalled, "And she's really nice and does anything she can to make you like her."

"Does everyone like her?" Aulden asked.

Janice explained, "No, not everyone, but she tries to make everyone like her."

Ferdinand added, "And if they don't like her, she sends those feelings to me."

Aulden corrected him, "You mean those people?"

Ferdinand said, "I mean, those feelings of not being liked - she sends those to me."

Aulden was dismissive, saying, "You're not making sense. Hey, Wind, have you ever met Little Miss Sunshine?"

The Wind assured him, "I've met everyone."

Aulden asked, "Are we traveling the right direction to meet her?" and The Wind confirmed with a simple "yes."

They continued walking to the west, for such a long time that Aulden wondered if they were going the wrong way. They came to a large, concrete pipe. Aulden stopped, and the others gathered around him. He looked through the pipe, and announced, "I see a big mansion off to the west."

The members of the group all turned to look but saw nothing. Aulden looked to the west without looking through the pipe, and when he did he couldn't see the house. Looking through the pipe again, there it was. He said the group, "We need to walk through this pipe."

They walked through the pipe and - eureka - they were in the front yard of a brick, ivy-covered mansion. Aulden knocked on the door and after a short wait they were greeted by woman who stood twelve feet tall. She knew him, apparently, and said, "Hello Aulden, I'm Little Miss Sunshine."

Aulden was polite but to the point, "Nice to meet you Little Miss Sunshine. We want to talk to you because we want to know, why do you punish Shannon?"

Little Miss Sunshine answered, "Because the just shall live by faith."

Aulden wasn't sure what she meant, and he turned to Janice, "Well, that didn't make any sense." Janice whispered back, "Stay with her! Ask her again."

Aulden rephrased, "Why do people need to be punished?"

Little Miss Sunshine suggested, "Why don't you ask why people need to be comforted?"

"Okay," Aulden agreed, "Why do people need to be comforted?"

Little Miss Sunshine explained, "So they'll like me."

Aulden asked skeptically, "And do you think people like you when they're comforted?"

Little Miss Sunshine responded, "No! And that's when they need to be punished!" She laughed after she said this.

Aulden wanted to understand, and questioned, "Did you try to comfort Shannon?"

Little Miss Sunshine answered, "Yes, and she said that was her job."

Shannon joined the conversation at this point, agreeing, "Yes, I did say that!"

Aulden was puzzled, and said to Little Miss Sunshine, "I want to understand this. You want to comfort people, and if they don't like it when you comfort them you punish them."

Little Miss Sunshine saw the logic in this and smiled as she answered back, "That's right."

Aulden continued, "But Shannon…" He paused, uncertain, and Shannon explained, "Comforting people is my job."

"That's your function," Aulden was piecing it together, "And Little Miss Sunshine was trying to do your job and when she wasn't very good at doing your job she lashed out at people."

Little Miss Sunshine got defensive at this point, and said, "I wasn't a total failure at comforting people."

Aulden disagreed, "You tortured people!"

Shannon kept her gaze on Little Miss Sunshine, and she said, "I know what needs to be done so that Little Miss Sunshine doesn't need to torture anymore." She approached the twelve-foot tall woman. She took her hand and pulled her until Little Miss Sunshine was kneeling. Shannon whispered into her ear.

Aulden couldn't hear what Shannon whispered. Whatever it was that Shannon said, it caused tears to fall from Little Miss Sunshine's eyes, and the tall woman answered her, "But I don't know how to love." Shannon said, "The Subatomic Terrorists can teach you."

Aulden was a bit confused, and said, "Did that solve everything, just that easy?" Shannon smiled. Aulden pointed out, "She's still really tall!" Shannon shrugged and said, "We still have work to do."

He didn't feel like it was settled, and Aulden said, "What about when she said, 'The just shall live by faith?' What was that about?"

Shannon said, "I am the just."

So Aulden moved on, hoping to make better sense of it later, and asked Shannon, "What do we do now?"

She said, "Now we find the Subatomic Terrorists."

He asked her, "Do you know where they're hiding?" She nodded, saying, "I know."

With that, Shannon walked to the door. She turned and with her index finger urged the group to follow her.

~ ~ ~

The group walked through a lightly forested region. There were six now: Shannon and Little Miss Sunshine, Ferdinand, Janice, Aulden and The Wind.

Aulden asked Janice in a hushed tone, "What can you tell me about Shannon? I think she's someone important."

Janice told him, "I know she's not a Subatomic Terrorist. You should ask The Wind. He can tell you more than I know."

The Wind was walking behind them, the last in the procession, and Aulden dropped back to walk beside him. The Wind said, "Shannon? She's gentle and pure of heart."

Aulden questioned, "That's all?"

"That's enough," The Wind responded, "for her."

Aulden looked ahead as they traveled and he watched Shannon walking alongside Little Miss Sunshine. He said to The Wind, "It's another paradox, isn't it?" The Wind agreed, "Another paradox resolving itself."

For two days and nights they traveled over hills dotted with oak trees. Aulden was still unsure about Ferdinand's function. He took the opportunity to ask, "Ferdinand, why do you have to punish people?" The Punisher didn't answer, so Aulden kept asking, pestering, rephrasing, "I don't see what good it does to punish people." The walk was long, and Aulden was relentless, "Does it make you feel better to be mean to people?"

Ferdinand became so annoyed at Aulden's persistence, he finally blurted out, "Because it's better to be alone."

Aulden at last had an opening so he could learn about this guy, "Why is it better to be alone?"

The Punisher declared, "Because people don't make sense to me."

Aulden pushed on, asking, "So you want to be alone?"

Ferdinand affirmed, saying, "It's better that way."

Aulden had an idea, and asked him, "What if we found a cabin in the mountains where you could be alone? Would you like that?"

Ferdinand responded in a more positive tone, "I would."

Having said that, Aulden fell into a maze of thought, and questioned, "But… but… Little Miss Sunshine, if it's Shannon's job to comfort people, where does that leave you? What's your job?"

Shannon spoke, looking up at Little Miss Sunshine, "The key phrase here is, you said that you comfort or punish people so that they'll like you."

Aulden reviewed, "Ferdinand, I see that you just need to be alone. Maybe that's your function - taking time for being alone. But, Little Miss Sunshine, I don't know what you need to do. I mean, Ferdinand needs to do 'being alone,' but what do you need to do?"

To Little Miss Sunshine it was clear, "Look at how beautiful I am. My job is to let people love me."

Aulden answered, "So you're kind of the opposite of Punisher. But I think you need to stop trying to give comfort and happiness to other people."

Shannon interjected, "That's my job."

Aulden added, "And then they can love you."

Little Miss Sunshine understood, but said, "That'll be tricky." But Shannon assured her, "The Subatomic Terro rists can teach you."

~ ~ ~

The path led to an enormous grove of tall, flowering rhododendron bushes. Aulden was caught up in the variety of color around him, and he said, "This is a good place. What's ahead?" Shannon replied, "Are you ready to take this in?"

They entered a clearing in the rhododendron grove where they met with the Subatomic Terrorists and learned the answers to their questions. But this is a story about Ferdinand the Punisher, so this section will be set aside.

A party was held at the restaurant to celebrate the success of Aulden's journey. Ferdinand chose to retire from the party early. In the morning Aulden met with Ferdinand to take him to his new home.

~ ~ ~

Ferdinand was waiting that morning when Aulden returned to the restaurant. "Ready now?" Aulden asked him.

"I was always ready," Ferdinand answered, "But you weren't."

Aulden responded, "I'm ready now."

Ferdinand scowled, "It's all about you."

They went out to the sidewalk. Aulden had no idea where they were going, but felt confident that he could imagine-up a cabin in the woods. A bus stopped next to the curb where they stood and the doors opened. The driver looked at the two of them and smiled, "A trip to the country today?"

The bus took them to a place outside the city, accessible only by a primitive dirt road. Aulden and Ferdinand stepped outside and viewed a small log cabin surrounded by tall cedars. They walked up a grassy slope toward the cabin and Aulden noticed that off to the north was a mountain stream.

The cabin appeared sound enough on the outside, but inside they found it was long-abandoned and full of cobwebs and dust. Ferdinand grimaced, as if disgusted. Aulden asked, "What do you think?"

He frowned at Aulden, and scrunched up his mouth, and although his voice was harsh, his words didn't match the tone as he said, "I love it." Ferdinand opened the window shutters. Light poured into the room the cobwebs and dust magically cleared away.

Ferdinand said to Aulden, gruff as ever, "Sometimes a person needs a little space; sometimes a lot of space. If you can just let me be alone here, I won't have to complain about things to you anymore."

Aulden understood, "You won't have to punish me anymore."

Ferdinand added, "We all need to take time to be alone, Aulden."

Aulden replied, "That's what you have to teach me. That's your function."

Ferdinand answered, "No, I mean, I want you to leave now."

Aulden laughed and, against Ferdinand's will, he hugged him, and said, "Goodbye, Ferdinand. I'll check in on you soon."

Ferdinand told him, "Don't be in a hurry about it."