Brain Damage. Gaius Mahler's latest adventures have landed him in the hospital with a concussion, which is the last thing his anxiety and depression-riddled mind needed. As he lies in a hospital bed in an insane asylum with just his girlfriend Lenore- a patient at the asylum- and his best friend Ludwig- the ghost of Ludwig van Beethoven, the story shifts to Ernest and Eliza. Chronically complaining that he serves as but a B-storyline character in Gaius' story, Ernest, and his doomed quest for Eliza's affection, takes center stage. A self-described prototypical douchebag, Ernest reveals that there is a little bit more beyond his mostly repellent veneer, a little more emotion beneath the sleaze. Of course, when he endeavors to convince Eliza of this, everything blows up in his face. But as it turns out, he would expect little else.