PLDF Chapter 2

"Chapter 2: His Mentors Continued (Sub-Entries 11-20)"

Sub-Entry 011: "Rotor"
Asriel's eyes snapped open suddenly.

"You have spent much time in deep meditation, yet your perception of time has not waned.  You have finished your session to the second."

"It comes from being best friends with a time-traveler.  Sooner or later your capacity to think fourth-dimensionally and keep track of your time becomes rather decent."

"I do believe it is because you have not lost sight of your other responsibilities, my friend." Master Splinter rose to his feet and picked up his walking stick.

"Good observation, Splinter-san." Asriel had started using honorifics now that he could stand on equal ground with his teachers.

"In truth, I've been chasing my tail all day but this time in Lupe's garden and here in this session of Meditation has cleared my head and somehow gotten me back on track.  I can meet up with Rotor with no worries about being late, now."

"Then let us not keep you any longer, my friend."

Asriel exchanged a bow with both Bunnie and Splinter.

"Arigato, my former teachers.  Gosh...it sounds so weird putting it that way after all this time."

"You will get used to it." Bunnie assured.

"Ja-ne." Asriel bid them farewell and quick changed out of his training gi into his casual clothes and was soon on his way.

Asriel was back to the classic NX Switchboard, now. He soared down the long staircase leading down from Rabbotou Dojo's main Torii Gate and was soon back on the streets and headed toward central Miranda.

Azzy had barely gotten on his way when Rotor's van just happened to pull up beside him at the next traffic light.

"Whoa.  I thought I was on time."

"You are.  I'm kind of running late.  But don't sweat it.  I actually got a job I'm headed to.  Skeeter went on ahead.  It sounds like it could be a pretty big one."

"Oooh."

"Need a lift?"

"Why walk when you can hoverboard.  Why hoverboard when you can ride?" Asriel shrugged, feeling very much like Henry Ford at the moment. Pretty sure the quote he borrowed didn't go EXACTLY like that... But oh well.

"That is a yes, isn't it?"

"Sure is.  Thanks, Rotor."

Asriel hopped in the passenger's seat.

"I’ve seen you around a lot more often, Rotor.  Business not great?  I would have thought you'd be back on top with Scapelli's off your case.  Plus I heard about his stock taking a series of unfortunate nosedives since his...disappearance from the public eye."

Asriel leaned a little closer and whispered. "You...wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

An awkward sweat drop followed by a forced whistle.

"Nah.  It's better I don't know.  I mean.  It WAS just a rumor about someone making a monkey out of him...literally."

"Yeah...just a rumor."

"Dismissed rather easily by the conspiracy theory buff.  I'd buy that for a silver piece." Azzy wrinkled his snoot.

"Eheh..."

"Relax, Rotor.  I'm just busting your chops.  It's all good.  You can settle the score by taking it up with Aunt Vi."

"Of course she totally put you up to it." Rotor narrowed his eyes, gripping the steering wheel a little tighter.

"Just keeping you respectable."

Rotor rolled his eyes.

"I'm the last person you need to remind how to be humble."

"I know."

"That said...if I may be so humble, do you think you'd mind an extra pair of hands on the job?"

"Are you offering...?"

"I have all the confidence in the world that Skeeter's got it well in hand, but it couldn't hurt to lend him some extra manpower."

"He's probably not going to need it.  But thanks for offering."

Rotor pulled up at the place in question.

"My little brother has probably got this wrapped up as we--"

Suddenly the front doors of the department store burst wide open as a tidal wave of water gushed out, carrying a water-logged Skeeter Walrus, soaked to the bone where it deposited him, face-down, in the middle of the street.

"Rotor, lookout!"

Rotor slammed on the brakes and managed to stop, giving Skeeter a very close call and an even closer scare.

"BRO!  WHAT THE HECK!?!"

"Eheh..."

Then the awkward silence.

"So...I guess we were both wrong."

"That offer to help with the job still on the table...?" Rotor sweat-dropped.

Asriel smirked as he hopped out the car and ninja-quick-changed into layered long-sleeved shirts, overalls, and heavy galoshes.

"Does this answer your question?"

Was it just coincidence or did Asriel honestly quote Eddie Valiant from the end of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (And even more so that Violet had us watch the animated/live-action hybrid starring Bob Hoskins and Christopher Lloyd on a fairly recent Movie Night?)

"Grab a tool-belt out of the back and get inside and wait for me to direct.  This one's easily a four-alarmer..." Rotor  rolled up his sleeves and furrowed his brow with a sour but determined look.

"Feeling the determination set in, Rote'?"

"Just try and hold me back..."

Asriel could practically see the roaring flames in his eyes.

Rotor has most certainly worked past being a "Skipper Dan" in the last few years, all respect and credit given to Weird Al Yankovic for coining the term.

"All right.  When the going gets tough, the tough get PLUMBING!" Asriel charged in first, splish-splashing his way through the flooded building toward the problem.

Rotor cracked a smile at that quote. Kudos to a pair of plumbers from Brooklyn...(Or was that retconned?  In all my years of studying the N-Division's years, I really should have learned this.  Pit did mention something about their world rebooting its history during the course of Yoshi's Island: Super Mario World 2)...for "coin-ing" the term. Heh. Goat Son would have liked that pun.

Sub-Entry 012: "Humility Isn't All Bad":
Once inside and at the giant mess of bending, "3-D Pipes Screensaver" waterlines, sewer lines, heating system ducts, and ventilation pipes...

"Mason-Wrench!" Rotor commanded.

"Mason-Wrench." Asriel handed over the tool in question as Rotor went to town on the busted pipes and leaky gaskets.

"Ratchet!" He followed up.

"Ratchet!" Asriel echoed.

You know I could swear this scene has played out somewhere before. A scene that somehow starred Bob Hoskins opposite John Leguizamo with Dennis Hopper and Samantha Mathis attached...

I really believe that it happened in some other universe. Oh yeah. I believe. *wink*

In a flurry of back and forth while Skeeter took five to cover up with a heavy blanket and warm up with a thermos of hot cocoa in the van...

"AH-CHOO!!!!" He sniffled. What an irony for a walrus of all people to get a cold, huh?

Still it was October and winter was coming. Joy. (I say with UTMOST sarcasm.)

"....One and 1/18th!"

"One and 1/18th!" Asriel was practically juggling the tools by this point.

"Monkey wrench!"

"Monkey wrench!"

The clanking, clicking, squeaking, and pings and pangs of metal on metal continued onward.

"Hand!"

Asriel arched an eyebrow.

"Hand!" Rotor repeated as he held up his gloved hand.

Asriel grabbed hold and pulled Rotor up out of the waist-deep water.

"On my mark..."

A synchronization of plumbers counting and...

"MARK!"

Asriel and Rotor started twisting the large valves shut. And sure enough the water stopped gushing.

"One final finishing touch." Asriel said as he spun the plunger like a baton before gripping the handle tightly with both hands, raising it like the light saber held by Luke Skywalker on the Star Wars: A New Hope movie poster...and thrusting it purposely down through the water and onto an unseen drain grate.

Multiple thrusts later and up came the gurgle of air followed by the spinning vortex of water draining away.

"Nicely done." Rotor gave a thumbs-up.

Asriel must've been the first prince in history to proudly stand, up to his hips, in dirty water and proudly brandish a plumber's helper.

"Goat Son knows what this place's waterways need.  Glad to be of service."

"Walrus Bros. Plumbing Service.  You clog em', we clear em."

"Skeeter always preferred 'no leak too small'."

"What's in a slogan." Rotor shook his head.

"Well.  You helped save the day, so--"

"No, no.  This was volunteer work.  Your money's no good here.  Besides Skeeter would get cross if I got a portion of his allowance."

Asriel was joking, of course. But he was serious about working for nothing.

"Well, even if I was going to offer you...thanks for being a sport.  However, I'm a man who repays his debts.  So the least I can do is offer you a dinner break on me."

"Sea-food?"

Rotor took off his ball cap and scratched his head.

"Never going to slip one by you, aren't I?"

"I know your diet, man.  It's only a walrus/seal stereotype if you let it be."

"I don't mind being the rule and not the exception.  Got to love what the species likes." Rotor shrugged. He'd gotten more light-hearted in years. Bunnie and Sally said he was acting more like his old Ecotropian self than ever before.

Rotor and Asriel packed up the tools, while riffing a little on Skeeter. Rotor more-so than Azzy. Asriel was never that dedicated a teaser. She left that to Violet.

Once they were paid by the department store manager, Rotor and Skeeter bid farewell before the drive to Rotor's favorite themed pirate ship seafood restaurant commenced.

"Tell me Aunt Vi had a hand in this." Asriel shook his head at the overwhelmingly familiar venue.

"A One Piece themed seafood restaurant gets a pass in my book as long as they have good food." Rotor wasn't as into the theme as he was the food.

"And chefs in full cosplay.  The head chef is a dead-ringer for Red-Shoes Zeff." Asriel rubbed his chin.

"And his assistant has nailed younger Sanji.  You know before the facial hair and learning how to ignite his kicks with flame.  No wonder he's got the nick-name "Black-Leg Sanji."  Skeeter chuckled.

"Oh boy.  You both sound like Violet."

"Sometimes there are things about Aunt Vi I don't get embarrassed over." Asriel mused.

A thought crossed the back of his mind. Someone...from his past...someone who smelled like sushi, would eat this place up if not for the realization that anime was very much real.

I felt like this was foreshadowing that one day was going to pay off huge.

But as a time-traveler (or ex-time-traveler), I have to say.....shhhhhhh...spoilers! Or are they?

So one hearty feast of the best catfish, shrimp, and lobster that Rotor could spare from his very generous pay within the last week or two's extra topped off with Asriel and company posing for complimentary photos among the greatest group of "crappie guys" (and with Azzy getting to hold up a replica of the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit while wearing a straw hat for effect)...

"Rotor, consider the debt paid.  Best sea-food I've ever had."

Skeeter munched on some Devil Fruit gummies he had bought at the counter.

"Still don't get the theme, but Drew recommended the place as did Violet.  Obviously, the two of them did so for VERY different reasons..." Rotor shrugged.

"You know, Rotor...you've certainly come a long way since I first knew you."

"Oh?"

"When I knew you, you were kind of quiet and a little reclusive.  Almost like you were just kind of going through motions."

"You don't say...?"

"Now it seems like you honestly take pride in the job instead of looking back and wondering what might of been as the Minister of Science's understudy."

Rotor kind of paused at that. It kind of caught him off guard, but only for a moment that Goat Son would bring up something so deeply personal and deeply rooted in a past only Ecotropian survivors and refugees could hope to understood.

"You're...sounding a lot like Sally."

"And sensei...Bunnie... though Sally's more out-spoken.  Bunnie isn't one to bring up subjects like this unless you ask her directly about it."

"It's from her Jangese culture.  Aside from never speaking bluntly, she keeps her feelings and private thoughts locked away until she needs them.  There's always that mentality about always being polite."

"And I'm told that Jangese women consider it very strong character to be reserved and stoic.  Shows mental strength and discipline." Asriel followed up.

By now Asriel saw all our strengths and weaknesses. He was well past the point of being naive, having feet of clay, and putting his parents and mentors on pedestals without really ever knowing the reason why. While seeing that we weren't perfect meant that he'd dial the admiration back a few pegs from "hero worship" to "just IRL heroes"...it also meant that now he was confident he could stand on equal ground with us. And that just fueled his confidence.

That is when he wasn't conflicted by the worry he started to inherit from me.

Maybe...taking away his memories was a mistake. But...no. Asriel insisted. Asriel wanted this.

I mean, it wasn't like he was going to develop an ego and tend to be kind of a glory hog like his old friends, Ben Tennyson and Rex Salazar. He was always going to be too humble for that.

This was him now. This was for the best. It took me this long to accept it...and this long to realize he was right. He wanted and needed to be normal for a while. Or...as close to it in our operation as it got.

"Well, here we are again.  Home sweet home." Rotor pulled up in front of the plumbing service and supply shop. Family-owned. Run and maintained with pride. Quite a change from years ago, it looked almost like a brand new building outside and inside.

"Thanks, Rotor.  You're still Old Reliable."

"Coming from you, that's the sincerest compliment I could have hoped for."

"Oh barf!" Skeeter made vomit-inducing gestures with his index finger and his open mouth with tongue hanging out.

"You're not embarrassed by your big brother getting a little corny, are you?" Azzy teased.

That earned him crossed arms and a raspberry.

As the ride continued, Rotor turned up the volume a little as the song "Humility" by the Gorillaz came on.

I think it was a perfect metaphor for Rotor's life. He had been humbled by a lot of experiences...and he was perfectly fine with that.

"You say I've certainly evolved.  It doesn't even compare to your growth from when you were 10."

"One-hundred ten, Rotor.  But who's counting?"

A chuckle from both Walrus Brothers.

"And all while still remembering where you came from."

"Metaphorically, Rotor.  Metaphorically." Asriel's face fell. "I remember being saved but...before that time is becoming a slowly-eroding celluloid movie film reel."

Azzy drew comparisons to an old film reel on a projector, worn so much by age that the heat from the projector lamp eventually caused it to melt and tear apart.

"I wish I could understand what that felt like.  All of my memories, like most Ecotropians, are pretty burned in there.  I only wish I could forget the bad times.  Though on some notes...yeah...the good times are starting to get a little fade.  So...I kind of get where you're coming from."

"I don't want to lose that but...I don't want to be tied down by it, either."

"Heh.  You sound as humble as me." Rotor almost sounded surprised but caught himself before he almost let it slip that he was in on the big secret about what Asriel had accomplished seven years ago.

"Despite everything...it's just me.  No...it's still me." Asriel confirmed.

"Well don't make it sound like a bad thing.  There's humility and then there's a point you need to get yourself some self-respect."

"I'm not in that much danger.  Yet.  I just hope I don't get more worrisome or Volt and I will have completely changed roles."

"Perish the thought, Goat Son.  Perish the thought.  One thing the both of you have in common...it's the same thing Professor Odie Arcade has in common with you.  You're part of a long line of prodigies.  You're gifted.  You are--"

"Something special?"

"Y...yeah." Rotor was stunned for a moment over Goat Son quoting something Hyperdeath had said before. Was...that side of him really dormant after Adonis had let him out. (Or was it...let him in?  Darn it, WWE's Bray "The Fiend" Wyatt!  You got me doing it, now.)

"You're obviously not going to embrace it to the degree that Violet does in her own case.  No.  If anything, you're the REAL Big Lebowski.  And as the Dude, you certainly do abide."

Asriel let out a laugh over Violet's contribution to a previous Movie Night some years ago.

"Yeah.  That's definitely me.  The Dude abides." Asriel rubbed the back of his head, blushing.

"You know...being humble is...a pretty good thing, isn't it?"

"Hey.  Humility isn't that bad." Rotor shrugged. Then he saw it out of the corner of his eye.

Rotor looked again to be sure.

"I think someone's waiting for you."

Asriel looked out front of the shop where sure enough...

"Yeah.  I think you're right.  Well.  Best not keep her waiting...." Asriel said as he quick-changed out of his plumber's gear and into something more casual. Casual enough for a mechanic not afraid to get her hands dirty with greasy, oily parts and junk.

Sub-Entry 013: "Gadget":
"Azzy!  Little brother!"

"Big sis!" Asriel practically threw his arms around her at the same time she threw hers around him."

And there was an irony to his choice of words as he quickly hoisted her up, in all her spritely giggles. As he spun about, giving the mouse a joyful ride, he segued into lifting her completely up as she spread her arms out like airplane wings and continued the delightful laughing fit.

"Wheeeeeeee!"

By now Asriel and his "passenger" were doing the best impression of an Olympic figure-skating time WITHOUT actually being on ice.

Holy schnikees, this was truly a family moment.

"Gadget.  I've missed you." Asriel looked upon her with brotherly eyes as he set her back down on her feet.

"You've been so busy with college for so long now.  I was worried I'd never see you again."

Gadget Tress Hackwrench. My little sister by adoption, the same as I was an Arcade by adoption. The same way Asriel was adopted. Oh yeah. I supported second chances in every form. All generations of the Arcade family have and hopeful all will for the end of time.

I'm getting off topic with this tangent. Sorry.

But yeah...Gadget had grown into a fine woman. And boy, oh boy were the guys taking notice. So many who didn't know my little sister like I did...like all of us in UCIAT did? They were hot for her at first sight. She was a drop-dead bombshell...yet she most certainly didn't know it. For Gadget, she was always brain first and lovely...well...it really never occurred to her.

Really. She had gotten that beautiful in this short a time-span.

But to Asriel? It almost never occurred to him that she was a member of the opposite gender and INCREDIBLY easy on the eyes for a mouse hybrid. For him, she was always going to be big sister first.

"Wow....you sound kind of like me when Chara and I were younger.  I used to freak out when we were apart for too long."

"Awww."

Might as well get it out of the way and mention that it goes hand-in-hand with who Gadget has always been. Incredibly kind-hearted, always helpful, and always pro-active with assisting and improving things around the lab with innovative "MacGyver" solutions using all the stuff that most people would throw away.

Those were her strengths.

As for weaknesses...

Yeah, she was still an "a-dork-able" ditz and airhead. For as brilliant as she was, Gadget made it VERY difficult not to stereotype about blond girls. Very difficult. I guess that weird naivete was something she'd never outgrown or that tendency to be self-conscious when it came to goofing up and looking like a fool and getting embarrassed.

Then there was the fact that she was timid. Many of her lab animal instincts were still imprinted upon her psyche so...yeah. Whether it was practically jumping to the ceiling at the side of a tiny mouse-trap, snakes and other rodent-eating creatures or a little nervousness around cats that she didn't know such as the UCIAT founders or our friend, Kid the Cat.. ...you know, I don't really know where I'm going with this.

Gadget was Gadget. And I still loved her to pieces. We all did.

"You've gotten so big, Azzy!"

"You've really grown up, Gadget.

A unison of "Awww, thanks!"

"Well welcome to the fraternity of collegiate, Asriel."

"Wouldn't you be more in a sorority, Gadget?"

"Oh yeah...that makes more sense.  Silly me."

Oh boy. This casual and dismissive over a metaphor? Yup. Little Sister's mind was always changing directions and focus.

"So how's college?"

"Well, you've been there.  But to tell you what you already know, it's mostly great!  The teachers and all the stuff I'm learning!  The resources and facilities are just amazing!"

"Wow, really!  Golly, I'm jealous!" Then it occurred to her. "Mostly?"

"It's...not so much fun getting chased down by mobs of women who only wan to date my for my looks and popularity." Asriel looked off to the side.

"Gee, that's too bad."

A moment of silence.

"Gadget, do you have any advice for a goat constantly being fawned over for being a stud and apparent celebrity?"

"Gee whillikers, Azzy.  Why would you ask me about something like that?"

Yup. No clue that she was even in the same boat.

"Well...I thought it would only be fair to ask my big, experienced sister from another Missus and Mister."

"Oh!  Well that was thoughtful of you!" Gadget then shrugged. "But I'm sorry.  I really don't have any advice to give you.  I wouldn't even begin to have a clue about what that must be like."

Maybe it was that she was so observant when it came to science and technology, that she could spot a transistor etched into a microchip having conduits off by one micron...but when it came to things like dating and noticing or being noticed by guys? Yeah she was hardly "observant". She was just completely unaware. Heck, she's barely acknowledged anyone telling her she was "pretty" let alone beautiful.

You know, Pit once described Roll Light in the same way when it came to the one-sided crush that Ice Man had on her. All she could think about was hooking her brother up with Tempo A.K.A. Quake Woman.

I guess when it came to being humble, Gadget and Rotor had it in common. Just for very different reasons despite how brilliant they both were with making their own takes on "Macgyverisms".

Azzy wanted to tell her not to sell herself short or assure her how easy on the eyes she was.

But coming from him would just seem weird. And besides. It was far easier to just say--

"Thanks, anyway.  Don't worry about it.  I'll manage."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." Gadget beamed, not really grasping the situation.

"Well.  Personal life aside, how's your professional life going?"

"It's going great!  I'm pretty much equal partners with Vanessa in her recycling program.  We're practically trading design ideas for weapons, gear, nick-nacks, and household appliances on a daily basis.  We practically finish each other's sentences!"

"You are amazing, Gadget."

"Awwww.  Not really.  But thank you for the confidence booster."

Hmm. Possible indication that she had a setback with one of her inventions very recently to need a confidence booster? There weren't many things that got her down. But bad luck streaks with inventions going haywire were nothing new.

Fortunately it didn't take much of a success to offset all those whoopsies. One minor step forward was enough to get her on cloud nine. Also us flattering and supporting her didn't hurt.

"Well, don't tell the university, but I kind of snuck some things out of the industrial dumpster outside of the science and technology labs.  Hope you don't mind a little higher grade just to work with."

It was here that Goat Son busted out his own invention and what he planned to make his final design project for college graduation. As I had designed and invented the E.N.G.I.N.E  micro-dot system before...Asriel designed the V.E.H.I.C.L.E. to (Variable Entity Homepage Containment Library Extension network)  improve upon it by leaps and bounds.

No longer were we limited to just grabbing one item and dumping it into one E.N.G.I.N.E. dot and carrying it around. Now a single E.N.G.I.N.E. could be wirelessly linked to an entire online network of virtual storage. An entire inventory of objects of any type, size, and configuration--both organic and inorganic--could be indexed in  a Master Inventory araY Archive (M.I.Y.A.) and accessed on the fly from anywhere in the world.

In time Asriel planned to make it able to transcend worlds, time, and dimensions. Gods I was so proud.

But back to the matter at hand as Asriel proceeded to download multiple items from his own personal account.

Gadget practically squealed with delight as her eyes lit up.

"This is just what I needed!  How did you find a working magnetron of this make and model without taking a microwave from 20 years ago apart?"

"Luck of the draw.  But don't overlook what else is in the pile."

"Vacuum tubes!  I'm giving these to big brother!"

"Volt will like them.  Tell him it's from both of us."

"I will!"

Gadget quickly sifted out the high-grade gears and the other industrial scrap until she filled her backpack of holding with an eye-raising quantity that would be way too much stuff for a normal backpack to hold.

"I'm going to be inventing all day and night to use these up!"

"Oh yeah!  That's right!  You barely sleep."

"Average of 14 minutes a day.  My nervous system is wired differently or something.  I just don't get tired as long as I keep my thoughts going."

"But the moment you got nothing on your mind, its off to beddy-bye?"

Gadget just giggled.

"Well, after all these gifts, I got to do something nice for you."

"I appreciate it.  Can't really think of anything right now but--"

Gadget was already cobbling together a computer tablet from the pieces and linking it to her own personal accounts after powering up and doing some minor rework of its operating system and apps.

"Hope I didn't overstep my bounds but I kind of peeked at your itinerary.  You're meeting up with Jon and Antoine next, right?"

"Err...yeah."

"I know!  Give me a few minutes with some of Vanessa's leftover scrap.  I'll build a ride and get us there quick." Gadget practically dove into a crate of stuff she had hauled off on a wheeled dolly from Vanessa Canciaris' workshop.

Wow. Little sister doesn't waste a moment to be helpful...and boy can she go through a lot of trouble just to do a nice deed. Like the time she offered Azzy and myself a seat to take a load off but remembered she didn't have anything to sit down on so...she just up and built some chairs on the spot out of spare parts. Heh.

"That's okay, I've got--"  Asriel didn't finish for Gadget was already dismantling the remains of her old Gyromobile, Rangermobile, and other vehicles she had gotten bored of and recycled for parts.

Before long she had a crazy contraption that vaguely resembled one of those compact smart cars.

"I didn't have time to add air conditioning or USB charging ports and phone docks, but I did get a makeshift stereo system installed."

"Above and beyond, Gadget.  Above and beyond." Asriel sweat dropped with a forced grin. He was trying not to make this awkward. And part of him was worried it would fall apart before Gadget even pulled away from the curb.

Too polite for your own good, Goat Son. But then again, so was I when it came to little sister.

Azzy retracted his horns and got in the passenger's side as Gadget got in, buckled up and er..started the engine.

You know, biologically speaking, I still haven't figured out where that much bone matter goes when they retract into his skull. Obviously they didn't go down into his head or they'd skewer his brain. My best guess was that his very skeleton redistributed the calcium and marrow when the transformation took place. And somehow his flesh sealed up over it while new head fur sprung up over it. Don't know for sure but it actually looked less weird than I was making it sound.

"Oh boy..." Asriel muttered, channeling a little of a certain main character from Quantum Leap.

And then they were off.

Sub-Entry 014: "You'll Always Be My Big Sister":
You know, credit where credit is do...Gadget has actually improved with her makeshift technology, despite still having those "whoopsies". Her makeshift smart car was surprisingly fast and quiet. Though I really didn't want Hyperion stopping her and asking for license and registration. The former...not a problem. But how do you handle registration on a car you JUST BUILT? A car that hadn't passed emissions or safety checks for that matter.

Complications aside...she definitely made use of green energy; solar panels and wind turbines coupled with magnets and piezo-electric pressure plates inside the wheels; to constantly generate a charge just from the weight of the car being pulled to the ground, constantly cycled through each plate. Pretty smart mouse, huh?

"My newest invention is going great, huh?"

"Yeah, it really is.  It's a smooth ride."

Pretty sure Violet would have said "surprising smooth". Not that Gadget would even notice the passive, backhanded insult but...

"I knew you'd like it!"

Gadget sped her way across town to where Antoine had set up shop in what became (after all these years of being a moocher and a lay about abusing his Ecotropian refugee PTSD privileges) his new place of employment.

Now what, might you ask, kind of job could Antoine get after years of showing that he was nearly talentless and lacked real self-confidence?

Well...you'll just have to stick around for the surprise; cause I'm not going to tell you......yet. Patience, dear reader. I bend this fourth wall for your benefit. Trust me.

"Asriel...I'm kind of ashamed to admit this..."

"Ashamed?"

"When you left for college, I...was kind of afraid that I'd be losing family--"

"Say no more.  You have the same worry as me when I was terrified of losing my best friend.  Be it Chara or Volt.  I'd already lost my sister to death...and then I pushed Volt away during that horrible mess about 15 years ago.  It's a pretty understandable anxiety.  Someone close to you is suddenly no longer going to be around and...you get this thought that your friendship is going to end.  Or they'll meet someone else and forget all about you.  Or some other variant.  I know how it is, Gadget."

"I just didn't want anyone thinking I was being foolish for something I know better about but..."

"Gadget.  Don't apologize for how you felt or how you still feel.  The heart wants to believe what it wants to believe.  And while the heart is the best guide to keep logic grounded in what's humane and just plain good ethics...the head is what keeps the heart under control.  Wisdom will always point you to the truth when matters of the heart are concerned."

"Golly...I just...I just couldn't help but feel--"

"Gadget.  C'mon.  You'll always be my big sister.  Older and wiser than me.  But don't feel like you have to go at these feelings alone.  I'm here now.  And I'm reassuring you that everything's going to be okay.  Even if I do end up going away, it doesn't mean our friendship is ending.  As family, we're linked together.  Our souls are connected.  Volt knows this, sensei knows this...even Aunt Vi knows this.  And you know this.  We all do.

Long-distance relationships, whether family or lovers or even plutonic can work if you let them. If you work at it.

Don't forget it's a smaller world thanks to a little thing called the global internet. We can always live-chat if one of us is feeling the blues and missing the other. Now c'mon. Give me a smile."

Gadget perked up.

"Buuuut keep your eyes on the road!" Azzy warned as Gadget had to quickly swerve to avoid a major whoopsie."

"Oops.  My bad."

"It'll be bad for both of us if we end up in a wreck." Azzy sweat dropped.

An awkward moment of laughter between both.

"So...what about you.  How do you deal with being away from us more and more."

"Living on campus isn't that bad.  But as to how I cope?  I'm still coping with it.  Hopefully I'll build up an immunity to homesickness.  One of these days.  But in all seriousness, today's the first day I've gotten to drop in on all of you and visit.  Sure I still drop in home from time to time but...mom and dad need their retirement time together.  They worked so hard to get me into college.........thoooooooough, taking Aunt Vi for every copper piece every time she had to use the swear jars during movie nights certainly helped...but I digress.

They deserve to rest on their laurels for a bit. And some day I'll be able to completely make a life for myself and I want to make them proud that I can make it out on my own.

If I let myself be held back by sentimental ties; no matter how much you all mean to me, I'll never get anywhere."

"Ohh..."

"Gadget, look at it like this.  The less I see of you, the more precious the moments I DO get to spend with each and everyone one of you becomes.  The memories we make together more than make up for the time we're apart.  Aunt Vi gave me a lot of pointers about being alone.  Plus...I lived 100 years of my life alone in that void with the dimensional space of Dr. Gaster's CORE.  I know better than anyone here how to cope with solitude and not having anyone to lean on.  The thing is, now I cope with solitude and have too many people to name to lean on.  And you're one of those people, big sis."

"Gee whilikers, I never thought about it like that."

"Stick with me, Gadget.  Big little brother may be less experienced, but he can still teach you a thing or two.  You dig?"

"With a spade and a shove!"

"Heheheheh.  I see Aunt Vi's sharing her G-rated jokes with you now.  I guess because Bunnie's still threatening to tie her ears into a twisty-pretzel if she tells you anything NSFW."

"Oooooh." Gadget kind of huffed. "I'm grown up now.  I'm not a kid anymore."

"You were never a kid to me, Big Sister.  But now I guess we should set a moment aside to give Aunt Vi a hard time about it?"

"You think we should?"

"I still tease her about how much she put into my old swear bottles." Azzy grinned a devilish Chara grin.

A final giggle before the duo arrived in front of Antoine's new place.

"And here we are..."

Sub-Entry 015: "Jon and Antoine":
The storm of metal clashes sounded out in a cacophony of blocks, thrusts and perries. While it wasn't noticeable, due to the protective mask, Goat Son was visibly sweating as his opponent pressed him to go on the defensive.

Fencing. Two opponents, wrapped in protective gear and sieve-like masks going at each other with swords known as Épées. Heavier than the 500 gram foils, these clocked in at a heftier 775 grams.

The technique using these weapons instead of the foils, was somewhat different, as there were no rules regarding priority and right of way. In addition, the entire body was a valid target area. This style was the more unorthodox but in the instructor's opinion, far more practical. In the real world? An attack wasn't going to care what he stabbed into; points were not going to be awarded for torso-only strikes.

Asriel tried countering, but it was like his opponent was reading him left and right. He just couldn't figure him out. It was at this point Azzy knew that he was pretty much dead to rights and only delaying the inevitable. This was so much different than kendou.

A last ditch effort to come back; that's what he needed now.

Determination!

But sometimes, even determination--

"Ahh!" Asriel's weapon was snagged and yanked out of his grasp and tossed to the side in one sweeping motion. The next thing he knew he felt the tip of the instructor's weapon poke unceremoniously into  the padded center of his chest.

"Halt!" The instructor commanded as Goat Son froze in place.

"Zat' will to being quite enough.  You 'ave shown signs of improvement.  But, alas, mon amie!  You are quite zee inexperienced.  I am believing zis' is game."

Asriel sighed but kept his composure. Failure was nothing new. For all that he was good at, only a portion of it was from beginners luck,  or just plain talent. The rest all came from practice.

For all that he was good at...there were some things that he hadn't quite gotten the hang of.

Asriel removed his face mask as his instructor did so.

"Now, I will be take-eeng zee questions from zee class.  Who among you can tell moi what my opponent eez doing wrong?"

There were a lot of feedback from among the class and some of which Asriel already knew. And some of it didn't occur to him. Better to prepare him for next time.

"...all se magnifique answers."

"Well...more practice in my downtime."

"You are doing well but your are zee lacking, but not for zee lack of ef-fort.  No, no, no, no.  You just 'ave not found how to adept your...'ow you zay...fight-air's een-steenk, yes?"

"Something like that."

"Do not be getting zee discouraged."

"Never thought you of all people would be telling me that.  My, how the times have changed."

"Thees will be concluding today's class.  Toutes les personnes!  Entraine toi, entraine toi, entraine toi!  You must be doing much zee' practicing eff you wish to attain my level of prowess.

Until next class, I bid you adieu."

And with class ended...

"At least now I can block and perry your attacks.  I'm getting closer to countering them."

"But quite zee ways off from going on zee offensive."

"You are right though...I feel like my fighter's instinct is taking a hiatus.  Maybe it went dormant during my time in Lupe's garden.  At least it would have if it hadn't lead directly into Bunnie's final exam for me."

"And you are zee passing, no?"

"With flying colors."

"Well 'zen, chèvre ami à moi, you are having at least one victory to be proud of."

"A little setback like this keeps the balance.  But...I don't intend to let you keep kicking my butt forever.  Just you wait, Antoine.  I'm going to get up to your level yet."

"Bon spectacle!  Zat' is zee spirit!  Eh, eh?  Viva la France...!..........whatever France is being..."

Heh. Bound to happen when I keep leaking information about places on Earth to my fellow Ultra Crew Institute Action Team. Seriously, there's an irony of Antoine not knowing what or where France is. Then again, the country of his origin went by a different name, though clearly counterpart to France. I think it was called something like "Mercia" or something like that?

"Well, with class let out, I think we can speak as friends and not as instructor and student."

"Yes, yes.  We can do zee speak-eeng as zee friends."

"You know what I mean." Asriel was more or less implying the decorum and poise when addressing Antoine as his better.

But really...it was Antoine who owed a debt to Goat Son.

A quick change out of fencing gear, later...

"Let me be blunt.  I'm proud of you, Antoine.  You've really turned yourself around in seven years." Asriel admired the awards, the certifications, and everything that lined the walls of the studio, for lack of better way to describe his school of instructing.

"You are being zee too kind.  I am doing zee blushing, no?"

"Ahh, stow the false modesty.  You've earned it." Azzy gave him a firm pat on the back, nearly knocking Antoine off his feet. He flailed his arms to regain his balance. Yeah, some things still hadn't completely changed.

"Ahem....er...'zat eez to be 'zaying....(cough)...but of course.  I know I am being much too great!"

"Now that's the Antoine that's being honest with himself.  No need to cover up your ego around me.  Unlike Volt, I can take arrogance in greater doses."

"I am 'aving zee good start turn-eeng my life around with--"  Antoine caught himself before he nearly spilled the beans about the final assault on Chaopolis. "...with me finally accept-eeng the princess was right.  I do need to be doing zee moving on.  It eez...not becoming for a former soldier of Ecotropia to be 'zo.....?"

A moment of pause.

"Clingy?" Asriel suggested, rather bluntly.

"Yes...that is being zee word.  I am...not proud of it but...eet eez not who I am being, anymore."

"You've...had a lot of post traumatic stress disorder to work through.  Even now you still haven't opened up to us about...what Vortex Security put you through when you tried escaping to Neo Arcadia."

"Eet eez...not for the faint of 'eart.  I am...not ready." Antoine's eyes fell.

"How many of those rumors are true?"

"I am only at liberty to be 'zaying 'zat...my bad luck has always been that bad...and many have suffered ze...'ow you say...collateral damage and bystander injuries as a result of 'zem?"

"Ooooh.  I can imagine.  They say that that very bad luck also kept you alive from otherwise.......fatal situations."

"I was to be executed, multiple times but...eet did not go according to plan.  By chance...several soldiers will probably ne-vaire be holding a gun for 'zee rest of 'zair lives.  Some may even learn to be doing zee walking again in another few decades.  At least one might still be eating through a straw."

Asriel cringed. "Ouch.  That is some bad luck.  Though...maybe not so much if it kept you alive."

"Mon amie...sometimes surviving another day felt...worse."

"I'm sorry."

"Zee past cannot be 'urting me anymore." Antoine replaced his weapon on the rack on the wall. Asriel placed on the rack underneath.

"Well, don't worry about offering lunch.  Rotor already treated me."

"How eez Ro-taire?"

"You...haven't spoken to him, recently?"

"We 'ave...had a falling out..."

"When was this?"

"A few years back.  Eet was...over my attempts to seek employment.  I...am believing I may 'ave...added zee' straw zat' broke zee camel's back."

"Hey, you got that expression right!  You're learning!" Asriel beamed, attempting to sidestep Antoine's point. Though it was true, Antoine did have a looong, winding history of butchering common phrases and expressions and even confusing words.

"My point eez...we didn't speak afterwards."

"Ohh.  Well...maybe it's time you made amends?"

"Maybe.  I 'ave not been zee best of friend to him or the others growing up.  But...I am making zee' effort to improve."

"I've always had faith in you, Antoine." Asriel smiled.

"Now Al Dente..." Asriel's expression doured.

Antoine scoffed. "Ugh!  He eez' zee...'ow you 'zay...?"

"I'd sum him up like this:  Sacré bleu!  T'as une tete a faire sauter les plaques d'egouts!"

Okay, Nikita was teaching Goat Son all of our foreign languages.

Either way...it definitely gave Antoine something to crack up about. By the way...the translation was something to effect that Al Dente has a head that bursts manhole covers off of the sewers.

Antoine howled with laughter as he clutched his ribs.

"I am needing zee moment!"

"Seriously.  Fifteen years later and he's still a pariah.  Most of us want to shove a pair of moon boots straight up his...well...you know."

"Connard?  Sphincter des fesses?  Chute de merde?"

"Ewww.  Yeah.  That." Azzy cringed. "Nikita is right.  Our species has way to much emphasis on scatology for its own good..."

"Pardon moi." Antoine rubbed the back of his head.

"Anyway.  I can't stick around here all day as much as I'd like to catch up on things.  But..."

"You are on your way to Le Atelier de Couture de Jacques, no?"

"If that means Jonathan's Tailor Shop, then yes.  I promised I'd stop in on Jon to see how he's doing.  As Volt's son-in-law, that practically makes us cousins.  Though on the same weird note, I'm somehow Gadget's nephew by comparison.  Which makes her Jon's aunt.   At her age, how does that even work?"

"Eet eez not my place to be asking."

"Fair enough."

"I may be joining you on that excursion."

Indeed. Jon and Antoine had more in common than anyone in my operation.

Both had pasts they were not proud of. Antoine seemingly afraid of everything but...Bunnie was right. Underneath he did have true courage. But that still didn't make him any less annoying in her or Sally's book. Though in recent times, they've...slowly been letting bygones be bygones.

That said...Jon had his own demons to deal with. Some metaphorical, some literal.

I was starting to get the picture about matters. He was finally opening up to me, his own father-in-law about stuff. What he had to say was understandably terrible. I get why he wanted to bury it in the past.

Asriel and I both had made comparisons between Jon and other characters from pop culture and other worlds we'd explored over the years.

The obvious one we went with was Vash the Stampede. With his blond hair in his human form (which was since starting to turn white) tit wasn't that much of a stretch, visually. But yeah...textbook definition of leading two lives at the same time. One life everyone saw; the cowardly goofball. And the stoic darkness that nobody saw but his own self. The one that was proof that he was smarter, craftier, and a much more dangerous person than he let on. A dangerous person who held back for the sake of others.

Which brings me to me second comparison. Kenshin Himura. The Batosai himself. A red-haired, red-robed former samurai who came off as a wimp and carried a reverse-blade sword. He was many things and often looked at as harmless by a lot of people. Check that...a lot of people who didn't know his past reputation as the Batosai. God of death would be far too kind of to describe his deed. There comes a point in your life when you bleed out all that hate, violence and sociopath tendencies. I wonder if Jon had any of this in common, once upon a time, with Kenshin?

But my third comparison? I think that took the cake. And it all goes back to a movie by the title of "Unforgiven". What an appropriate metaphor that must be for Jon. A film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood tells the tale of aging William Munny--an outlaw and killer--who takes one last job several years after turning to a life of farming. A cautionary tale warning about poking the bear, lest you unless primal force that everyone will rue the day were unleashed and one more gallon of fuel on the fire in my perpetual argument against alcohol.

Jon didn't drink much, if at all. But I can see underneath what he must've buried deep.

It was his mercy to isolate himself from other Darkstalkers; believing if too many of his kind came together again...it would only lead to a new age of Night Warriors, reaping their Revenge and bringing about a Damnation that Jedah Dohma would revel in.

All that exposition aside, now...Jon was seemingly terrified of a lot of things. But what terrified him the most was losing himself. By extension...losing everything else because of that. It really was enough to drive him to tears and shaking and shivering, crying, and huddling up in a ball all alone. I don't want to meet the person that looks good after going through what he must've.

"Thanks for the ride, again, Gadget.  Sorry about the uh..."

"Eet eez...zee fine..." Antoine's eyes spiraled as he shakily climbed down off the top of the car.

"I did offer to call you a cab, though.  You didn't have to prove anything by--"

"I 'ad to prove it to myself and moi..."

"What you were proving remains to be seen."

"Golly."

Jon's tailor shop. It was so easy to forget he did have a part-time day job when he wasn't minding the archives deep below UCIAT HQ.

Sub-Entry 016: "The Hopeless Have Gotten A little Less So":
"...waist: 40.  Inseam--"

"!!!!

"...erf...terribly sorry, old boy."

"...that's...quite alright...!"

Jon sheepishly backed off and rolled up the tape measure. "Umm.  Yes.  Well do be a lamb and get changed and I'll get to work on those fixes, gov."

Oh boy. Jon hadn't changed in the least.

His costumer headed back to the changing room, walking off the err...accidental blow to down below.

.Jon sighed as his ears drooped. "You've got to mind your own strength, Jon.  You don't want to pull another Karia Kagushige again.  Though in all fairness...her instance of it was on purpose.  The guy did recover but fatherhood was most certainly not in his future."

The front door opened as the bell rang.

"Oh! Top o' the eve'nin to you, gent or madam.  How may I--"

"Hi, Jon.  It a good time to walk in?"

"Bonsieur, mon amie!"

"Ahhh!  Asriel!  Antoine!  Come in!  Come in!  There's plenty of food up on the counter if you're a bit peckish!"

"Eheheheh...no thanks.  Still full from Rotor's lunch--"

"Awww.  You should have invited me a long!  I love a good seafood buffet!" Jon licked his lips.

"Does everyone assume that Rotor only eats fish for every meal?" Azzy rubbed the back of his head.

Antoine just shrugged.

Gadget waved from the doorway, last one in.

"Ah!  Gadget!  There's my favorite pint-sized debutante!"

"Oh stop!  You're embarrassing me, Mister Jon!" Gadget put her hands on her cheeks, closed her eyes and resisted the urge to squeal. But not the urge to blush a shade of red.

"Well, if you insist.  But you're not losing any awards for Miss Fontraile in my book."

"C'mon.  Quit teasing her about entering beauty pageants." Azzy whispered. "She doesn't have a clue how amazing she looks.  And that's perfectly fine.  She most certainly takes it from one humble bundle to another."

"Just saying.  Don't write off the truth.  On that matter...how many girlfriends have you scored, killer?"

"Hey now!" Azzy protested, getting pink in the cheeks himself. "It's not like that!"

"Ahh.  Still a shy man.  Well.  There's plenty of fish in the sea.  You'll get yourself one like I did." Jon looked up at his photo on the backroom wall of my eldest daughter (and his wife), Elektra.

"Fish in the sea?  More like school of piranha.  I have to check myself for rabid bite marks every day.  I swear.  I had to sneak back home in Volt's industrial trash can just to avoid being mobbed.

"Ahhhh.  Such eez zee burden of being oh 'zo 'andsome, no?"

"It's our curse, ‘Tony.  It's our course."

No one had called Antoine "Tony" since the days of Ecotropia. Apparently there was a dragon by the name of Dulcie that coined that nick-name for him. It didn't take me long to put two and two together that this "Dulcie" was the counterpart of a Dulcie the Dragon that lived in what was once ACM-001 and then again in ACM-002. She was good friends with Sally's counterpart.

Though...I never asked our Sally about our dimension's Dulcie. Or Antoine or Rotor or Bunnie for that matter. Not all that sure our Lupe ever met her. But I'm getting off topic.

"So...how's business, cousin?

Technically, I guess Asriel and Jon could be considered cousins. If Gadget could be Jon's aunt, anything went. Though the fact that Asriel referred to Gadget as his big sister, the confusion kind of set in here. Really...if Gadget was the big sister, couldn't I argue the point that it made Jon Asriel's nephew? Huhhhhhh...

Maybe it's best not to figure out how our complicated family tree worked.

"Well other than accidently walloping a customer in the beans-on-toast, I dare say I'm doing well."

"Ouch.  That's okay...I don't need the gory details.  Let's keep it PG, okay?" Asriel rubbed the back of his head.

"Sacre bleu cheese..." Antoine sweat-dropped.

Honestly...as he was now, you'd never know Jon had a probably shady past that he didn't like to talk about. Really...as he was now, you'd swear he was always the goofy uncle who had his own share of groaner dad jokes.

Plus there was the fact that he and Violet were still tight as far as good friends went. As much as Violet annoyed us all? It was hard to tell she was friends with most of us. But not Jon and Sally. Or Red Stokes for that matter. There were some of us who just accepted Violet as she was. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

"Seriously, help yourselves to some food.  Out of sight and out of mind, y'know."

"Try-eeng to stick to your lovely wife's diet, no?" Antoine teased.

"Ehehe...if I come home smelling of prime rib again, she'll have me run the creases and whoop my bells off.  Bloody bollocks, gov.  It's a right task being a bowler to catch some fine leg."

It was sometimes hard to cut through Jon's "English-English" speak. I think he called it the "cockney dialect". Phrases like "sixes and sevens" and "telling pork pies and a bag of trout" or words like "barrister" and "bobby". It was all Greek to me.

"Why eez he ne-vaire speaking zee Common?  Can he not make 'zense like us, mon copine?  I am zee swearing.  Eet eez 'zo 'ard to understand when people speak with zee' foreign accent.  Am I right?"

"Eheheheheh.  Right." Goat Son really wanted to say "no comment".

Oh boy.

Jon took only a moment to finish up with his customer and issue a claim check before he switched the sign to "out to lunch, be back soon" so he could sit down for some friendly chat.

"It's good to see you out of the archives, J.T."

"Smashing good climate.  Nice and cold to keep some of the samples preserved."

"I don't need to know about Violet and Nikita's bio-specimens.  Really they only need the DNA sample for the biometric library.  Keeping tissues and organs in jars just seems kind of...well...out of the Frankenstein movies."

"You've been chatting with Mitzi again, haven't you?  Oh well.  To each his and her own.  But really, the heavy lifting is great and I don't mind sorting through pallets worth of paperwork.  More heavy lifting.  Though paper cuts are still kind of an annoyance they don't make rubber thimbles for werewolf thumbs."

"You mean werewolf thumbs that can't retract the claws like your father-in-law, right?"

"Got me there."

"You know you don't have to spend all your time locked away in a deep freezer.  You can socialize with us from time to time."

"I know.  But then Felicia would drag me on a night on the town like old times when she could be the party animal.  And then I'd have to hear the missus scold me to act my age much less be hanging with old friends.  Really, Felicia’s like family but...with all the demeanor of a sorority girl who doesn't have a clue how improper she's being.  At least she has the decency to put clothes on when she goes out."

"Felicia's a nice gal.  Just completely oblivious about such things as "modesty".  Asriel blushed a shade or two even redder.  "It's not that she's deliberately indecent...she's just um...."

Azzy was hanging on the word.

"Naive?"

Oooh. Jon, you should know better than to say that in front of Gadget.

Her ears drooped a bit. It was a word she didn't like to hear but...had to admit that it was still true for her. She didn't like feeling ashamed of being innocent.

"Well.  Never mind about Felicia.  You...doing alright?"

"Sure.  I don't know what you mean?"

"Well.  You know since the Crossover Wars ended--"

"Oh.  I see.  Everyone else seems like they've reinvented themselves.   You'd never recognize Antoine."

"I am begging your par-dohn?"

"Sorry.  But if the polished boot fits, wear it.  Personally I prefer to go barefoot."

"Jon..."

"You don't have to worry about me.  I know it may seem like I haven't changed at all or...that more accurately that I'm still living in fear of the ear of the Darkstalkers making a comeback but...I've decided.  While you haven't seen it, I've...gone back to training in the martial arts.  Try to...break the glass ceiling of fear and doubt to finally go past yellow belt."

"Heh.  And I thought you wore that yellow sash belt as a fashion statement."

"Oh, you're quite the clever lad aren't you?" Jon wrinkled his nose at the jab.

"Seriously, Jon.  That's great!"

"I figure...it doesn't do me any good to just live in fear of Baby Bonnie Hood or Jedah Dohma.  Or even the possibility that Demetri might come calling for some reason or another.  Don't get me wrong, Demitri isn't exactly a villain, but he's hardly altruistic either.  He's still a vampire lord and intends to one day rule Makai....the other world.  The Demon World."

"And Morrigan?"

"Morri.  There's a Scottish can of bangers and mash for you.  She's hardly as bad as the others but...she has too much in common with Felicia.  Too much of a free spirit.  Gets bored way too easily. An S-class demon and succubus always stirring up chaos in the world of the living  for her own amusement.  We've had...history.  Not worth bragging over but not anything to hold a grudge over, either.  And all too often where she goes, Demitri can't be far behind."

"Someone still wants dibs on ruling Makai.  But you kind of already said that.  I don't see Morrigan Aensland giving up the crown any time soon...yet titles and ruling over Makai doesn't really interest her unless it can alleviate her boredom.  I wonder how short an attention span she must really have."

"Trust me.  Her interests are fleeting.  But she's still a self-proclaimed gamer so...there's that."

"You know, Jonathan.  You haven't realized how much you've opened up about the old times just now."

"Huh...bloody bollocks.  You sly little goat, you.  You set me up for this to begin with."

Asriel spread his arms out in a sheepish shrug. Oh yeah. He played you, Jon and you fell for it.

It was true. It really was true. The hopeless had gotten a little or in some cases a lot less so.

Hope never walks alone, dreams are forever. One day we'd have to have a sit down and review what everyone's wishes were. Frankly...I was seeing a lot more of our wishes coming true lately.

Hey. That actually sounds like a good new motto for Goat Son. Too obvious? Too blatant? Too soon? Or was it just right at just the right time? Guess Goat Son's getting a new Rabbotou Dojo shirt in his near future.

"All right, all right.  I guess I know when I'm beat.  So...what did you want to know about the past?

"Let's start with Victor Von Gerdenheim..."

And the conversation went on until it was time for Asriel's next meeting. And yup....the gods help him with this one.

Sub-Entry 017: "Violet, Revisited"
"Here I am again."

Goat Son looked upon the place in question.

"In 15 years I've run the gambit of every possible track that she could have pulled out of Skrillex's discography." Azzy looked upon the doorbell. "What could possible await me, now?"

Yup. It was Violet's place of guilty pleasures. Computer Valhalla.

She had added an LCD display since. Most likely to display the mp3's metadata.

"Well.   Here goes nothing."

Asriel pressed the button and he was greeted by an unfamiliar track that was definitely Skrillex's work.

"She managed to install a single that only just released?" Asriel read the display.

"Kliptown Empyrean.  Hmm...I kind of like it.  Better not tell Volt." Asriel chuckled.

And the doors opened with a fwoosh of steam and kerosene fog from a smoke machine. Good grief, could that rabbit really milk it.

The music inside was also something new but something familiar. He recognized that guitar-work.

"Well I'll be.  Bill S. Preston Esquire and Ted "Theodore" Logan.  I didn't think Wyld Stallyns were even making music anymore.  At least...nothing that didn't get absolutely ripped to shreds by the critics.  After 25 years?  No wonder Volt's worried about their prophecy coming to pass.  One song to unite the whole world.  I wonder...is this it?"

I hadn't told Asriel that I had in fact been put back on that old case only very recently. While I WAS technically semi-retired, Daimyou put me back on the job as a special favor. The last wishes of Rufus before...before his most un-triumphant passing. And somehow the echoes of what I had done...or rather...what I was about do somehow transcended time back to this point? Maybe it wasn't just the world they united but all of time itself? How did they do it with just one song?

Ahem...work-related tangent aside... As much as I wanted to avoid Violet's shenanigans, this bit of rambling was only delaying the inevitable.

The first thing Asriel noticed as in the stage area of the room where several of Vi's polymorphic phantoms--taking the forms of cartoon penguin waiters were bustling about, serving drinks and food to the patrons at the tables. And of course the cartoon octopus--obviously another hard-light polymorphic phantom--mixing drinks and serving snacks at the concession stand.

"Well I know what movie she's tributing this time..."

"Scotch On the Rocks"  A guy in a tan hat and trench coat called to the waiter. "AND I MEAN ICE!!!!" He shouted angrily.

Asriel looked about the rest of the place. All of the gaming arcade was still there, expanded and updated appropriately. This day-and-age, Asriel was surprised that coin-operated arcade cabinets still existed now that home consoles, emulation, and PC's had all but put them completely out of business. Pinball tables, especially.

The comic book and manage store section? Still fully stocked and expanded as well. How did this building somehow always have plenty of space to add onto and make sections bigger? Sometimes it almost seemed like it violated the laws of physics.

In the lower levels, chances are, everything from the electric go-kart tracks to the virtual reality setups were still there.

In all his years, Asriel still wasn't sure he'd seen everything inside Vi's building.

"Your attention, please.  Computer Valhalla's next stage show will begin in 2 minutes.  All patrons wishing to watch, take your seats and enjoy the show."

"Aunt Violet." Azzy recognized the voice of the P.A. announcement.

"I wonder what it'll be this time?" Asriel walked over and had a seat a table close to the stage; which had now been expanded to have a catwalk runway like the had at beauty pageants and such.

Asriel chuckled as he watched the guy from earlier get served his drink...then irately pulled one of the stones out of the glass of booze. Wow. What an obvious cartoon gag.

"Toons." He growled furiously.

"How does she not lose her liquor license?" Asriel almost facepalmed.

With that, the lights went out and the spotlights circled the stage until they focused together on the closed blue curtains on stage. That was when he heard Violet's voice start to croon seductively.

"You had plenty money nineteen...twenty-twoooooo.......and yet all the women make a....foool of youuuu.  Why don't you do riiiiiiiight......like some other meeeeeen doooooo."

Violet's mostly bare leg, wearing sparkling red high heels slowly and sexily poked through the curtain as she strutted out revealing she was clad in a matching super-sparkly red cocktail dress gown and matching sparkling elbow-length gloves. She was wearing a wig but it looked almost indistinguishable from her regular hair. Except that it was styled into a big style that reached down almost to her waist and covered up her right eye and upper face. She was wearing red lipstick, eyeliner, and a little rouge, too.

She provocatively slow strutted with deliberate flirty moves as the sounds of a low slap bass with light jazz percussion and a hauntingly intoxicating piano slithered their way into her musical number.

The curtain opened revealing the band members on said instruments. Violet strutted across the stage and took a moment to shimmy up and down the parted curtain, caressing the fabric with her back-side.

She walked over to one of the nearby tables where one of her other patrons was watching with open-hanging jaw.

"Get outta here....give me some money toooooo." She forcibly but gently kicked him back down into his seat with the toe of her high-heeled foot.

Asriel sighed. "You haven't changed a bit in fifteen years, Aunt Vi." He almost said aloud, still too polite to interrupt her show.

"Now if you had prepared twenty...years agooooo.  You wouldn't be wandering from...door to dooooor."

Violet pushed another patron, who was standing up with his palms on the runway of the stage and drooling, back down into his seat by his face.

Over yonder, she immediately looked eyes with Miyamoto Usagi; for once eyes wide open and actually finding it hard to remain stoic. She danced over to his table as he stretched out his hand.

Violet took his hand in hers as he helped her climb off the stage and onto his table and down to the floor where she strolled behind him and caressed him from shoulder to head where she stroked his rabbit ears back and forth a couple times. She followed up by playfully pinching both of his cheeks from behind. She picked up one of the long, cloth napkins on the table and proceeded to "polish" his head fur a it like she was shining shoes before dropping it into his hands and continuing on with her number.

She smirked slyly at him before turning to the next person in her sights and walking to his table.

"Oh no.  No, Aunt Vi.  C'mon.  Don't put me on the spot--"  Asriel barely uttered before she had come up to him and sat down in his lap before he could protest.

"Viiii...!" He tried to whisper between closed teeth. "This is really inappr--"  He didn't finish as she pressed a single finger to his lips.

She had a seat on his table, crossing her legs for a moment before segueing into a crawl on all fours before reaching out and grabbing Asriel by the necktie and yanking him close until their noses were touching.

"Why don't you do liiiiiiiiiiiike....like some other meeeeeen..."

Asriel blushed ten progressive shades of red, eyes bulged way out and sweating like crazy.

For a moment it almost liked like she was going to kiss him on the lips in a passionate way...but then she slowly drew back, letting his tie slip though her grasp as she managed to get back on stage and walk away from the audience toward the band.

"......doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.....?" She held that last note all the way up until the curtains had closed and the band had hit the last note. A round of applause filled the room.

Asriel moaned and collapsed forward, resting his forehead against the table to hide his growing embarrassment.

"Violeeeeeet!!!" Asriel protested, muffled by the tablecloth. He could feel a lot of eyes on him as the applause and whooping and hollering continued.

At some point he managed to slip away to where Violet was changing backstage.

"I can assume there's going to be no apology for putting me on the spot?  By the way, mad props for the shot-for-shot remake of Jessica Rabbit's number from the Ink & Paint Club.  Classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit scene and your attention to detail just keeps getting better.  That said...did you have to embarrass me like that?"

"C'mon, goat son.  I did you a favor.  Just thing of how jealous all those other girls are going to be when they here you were with a hot dish like me."

"Violet!  Don't go there!  We're practically family!"

"You got to give me credit." Violet seductively kicked her bare leg up and booped Asriel's snoot with her naked toes.

"Fifteen years later and I'm still a knockout."

"Volt would yell at you for borrowing from Dot Warner like that.  And I know you of all people would be in the know about the Animaniacs reboot.

"Nothing wrong with being sellouts.  Cha-ching!" Violet giggled.

"Easy for a princess to say when she has all the money she could never spend in more than one lifetime." Asriel rolled his eyes. "By the way...please tell me you don't put perfume on your feet." He wrinkled his snoot.

"They were out of my favorite Ode de Lumberjack." Vi shrugged.

"I'm starting to see why Volt has shut a short fuse around you.  How many years did you torment him this shamelessly?"

"Got to keep him on HIS toes, y'know?"

"Violet, I know you didn't invite me over just to remind me of your maybe/maybe-not questionable interest in feet and toes."

"Right, right.  I'd offer you some cereal and milk right now but you wouldn't be interested in sugary, discontinued kiddy cereals now--

"Let's...not get too hasty." Asriel' suddenly looked  gleeful."

"And THAT is how you get on a goat's good side.  Bribery.  It' shameless.  But it works."

A couple bowls of various cereals later.

"Ah, I'd almost forgotten the texture of ninja nets and marshmallows.  Never forget that distinct smell after it sits in milk for a bit." Azzy finished off the last bite of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cereal.

"Now seriously, Vi.  What's with the invite?"

"Well.  Actually I was hoping to get you to the lab and--"

".......and run one more test for old time's sake.  To see if...if it's still dormant." Asriel turned serious.

"I haven't attempted to use any of my special powers in a long time now.  My eyes still change color with the seven virtues but...even my soul powers have gone quiet.  You know...I don't know what I did but at some point I broke my quantum code.  One day, all of a sudden...it was just gone without explanation."

He really had forgotten about what he and Frisk managed to do...as my last promise to Sans.

"I mean, I don't need it anymore, technically.  The ITEM and BOX system is obsolete and I've never really needed to ACT.  And really...when was the last time I had to use that SPARE and MERCY/RUN AWAY option?

And then there's that missing piece that I never found out about..."  Asriel had never seen he FIGHT option despite the fact he had gotten into many fights over the years.  Chances are, even if he had that part of the H.U.D., it would be a redundant thing to have.  And by Asriel's opinion...useless.

"Bunnie's always felt like it could come back if there was a need for it...but...in this day and age during this peace?  Hah.  I laugh at such prospects."

She didn't really. She just wanted to sound like she was as settled into the peace as we were. But honestly...she was hiding how intensely bored she had gotten. Even UCIAT missions had lost their luster. Where was the challenge for her? Where was that moment that could cater to her craving for senseless violence?

A sudden muffled whine from the ceiling.

Asriel's eyes rolled upward and sure enough, there was Al Dente,  Duct-taped to the ceiling.

"He hiding waterproof cameras in the toilets again?" Asriel deadpanned, unamused.

"There some things that are just plain wrong.  The searching-for-drugs-and-contraband excuse is getting old.  Really old." Violet's expression doured. "Come on.  Suddenly the venue got less inviting.  Even for its star performer." Violet lead the way out of Computer Valhalla.

"To the lab."

Asriel eventually followed but stopped and turned before shouting up at Al Dente.

"You brought this upon yourself, you dirty old man!"

Still the town pariah after all these years, and a well-deserved title at that. He was starting to make Herbert the Pervert look tame by comparison. I won't speculate what his real reasons were for the invasive surveillance. For my own sanity and everyone else’s.

Subject change? VERY YES.

And so...

Sub-Entry 018: "Back to the Lab Again For Old Time's Sake"
Asriel gazed at the doors to UCIAT HQ for just a moment before entering and going through security checks and presenting his I.D. and credentials to the receptionists. He entered the elevators and took it straight down to the main lab complex underground.

He smiled widely as he looked upon the splendor of the massive laboratory operation before him. A multi-level set of research and development, having been redesigned and expanded within seven years. Scientists and staff came and went across the catwalks that encircled the chamber in square formation. Paths into and out of the sub-lab corridors opened up into tunnels on all four sides of the main chamber.

The four supercomputer pillars at the epicenter still towered prominently, connected by heavy cables, cooling pipes and such as holographic panels orbited around the whole set up, several feet above the ground. Lab tables after lab tables held all kinds of projects and computers and paperwork.

Testing areas were cordoned off like reenforced cubicles. Assembly line conveyor belts and mechanical arms assembled, welded, and circuit-tested every circuit plate that rolled down the line. Glass specimen cylinders floated their contents in anti-gravity fields, as hands-free hololith controls were used to effortlessly spin, rotate, and stabilize what was vacuum-sealed within.

Magnetic hover blocks lifted beakers and Erlenmeyer flasks, boiling flasks, and test tube racks in slowly circling carousels and Ferris wheels until lab technicians stopped their motions to grab or replace the chemical containers atop.

Streams of binary and matrix code stretched across the room, suspended above the technicians; some straight lines, some bending at angles, some even going into elegant curves and shapes around objects and other holo-projected data feeds.

Gears, pinions, worm gears, sprockets, and cogs meshed and spun in complicated apparati as they drove generators, liquid pumps, compressors, and other such motion-driven equipment.

Robot skeletons were wired up with dangling cables and moving according to their programmers' commands.

"Huh.  The place doesn't seem as busy as usual."

This wasn't busy?

"Maybe I'm just getting blasé about it after being in and out of here so much." Asriel shrugged as he took the lift down and followed his way to the tunnel leading to the personal labs.

Low and behold, he came to Violet's door.

"Okay, Vi.  Which W.W.E. superstar's entrance have you got this time?"

Asriel didn't hesitate and opened the door as the pyrotechnics, lasers, fog machines, and spotlights went off.

Several mini versions of the Jumbo-Tron plasma TV walls "voxel-drifted" into existence; almost in homage to either the movie Pixels, or the Xel effect of the underwhelming Mighty Number 9. And what was on them made Goat Son grin.

"Heavy Machinery." Asriel admired the entrance setup of WWE's heavy-duty heavyweight tag team.

"OHHHH YEEEEEES!" Otis' voice capitalized it prominently to top it all off.

"Mister Money-in-the-Bank.  Nice, Vi.  Nice.  I totally approve."

He had been keeping up with Heavy Machinery's feud with Miz & Morrison. The sudden trading of Otis' own "peach", Mandy Rose to the other brand. Mike Mizenen and John Morrison's hilarious failed attempts to snag the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase, and of course the attempt to sue Otis for possession of the M.i.t.B. contract.

Yeah. Even after all this time, Goat Son was considering it great comedy and great entertainment. There was something appealing about fake sports/man drama that made him chuckle and smile. Maybe it was that it harkened back to the era I grew up on when Pro Wrestlers were seen more as superheroes and icons than the were today. And yes...many of them were getting music careers and acting on the side. Asriel remembered when he used to be really into John Cena, no thanks to Violet. His generation's edition of my generation's Hulk Hogan, so to speak. Whom, I might remind, Asriel got to meet in person while we were junk-hunting at J.Y.D.'s junkyard.

Violet actually had to scramble to put together a movie set and make a high-budget film just so her and Wendy Richter's cover story for our...eheh...makeup and costume didn't turn out to be an eventual lie. Nice going with the continuity, Vi. And yes. I just shamelessly fourth-wall broke; whomever is reading these old mission logs.

"You never skimp on the details, Aunt Vi."

There was Max Headroom on the hanging, robotic wall monitor with M.A.X. the alien robot pilot ship core from Flight of the Navigator. All doing a performance of the McDonald's Mac Tonight theme with ALF and Gizmo the Mogwai in tuxes, tails, top hats, and canes while that guy with the crescent moon head and sunglasses played at Vi's grand piano.

Azzy couldn't hide his grin if he tried.

A holo projection of E.R.B.'s Burger King VS. Ronald McDonald vs. Wendy's was playing on Vi's expensive new holo projector super-pedestal.

Computer stretching down and ENTIRE length of tables, practically from wall to wall was displaying numbers of life streams on both YT and Twitch; from MatPat to Gaijin Goomba, Markiplier to Pewdie Pie. Several other computers on the other side of the rooms were filled with memes and conference calls and Discords of everyone from Strong Bad to Taco Man from days of Internet's past...somehow still making content.

"Wow, Vi.  No one can overdo multitasking like you can."

I was sure Violet even had a game going of Steve from Minecraft in a Super Smash Bros. battle against Terry Bogart, Joker, Banjo Kazooie, Dragon Quest Hero, Mini-Min, Byleth, and the Piranha Plant. Always getting day one content, Vi, aren't you?

Asriel immediately caught sight of Violet at her bank of synthesizers and keyboards in her swivel chair. She rolled over and opened a packet containing a dehydrated Pizza Hut pizza and placed it in the Black and Decker rehydrator.

"Hydrate level four, please."

Barely three seconds in and out popped a piping hot large pizza; half pepperoni, half meat lovers. Yup...Jon was due to stop by and Vi was taking Asriel's tastes into consideration. While he had no problems with vegetables and other toppings...like me he stuck to classic pepperoni.

"You sure can hydrate a good pizza, Aunt Vi."

She gave a thumbs up while her mouth was full. She rolled over only briefly to grumble at the computer screen that read in big bold letters "Ghostbusters: Afterlife delayed to June 11th, next  year.  Yet another three months after the previous delay.  Good grief."

I'm sure if I had been there, I'd immediately be thinking of my mentors. Already this was making me recall Azzy and my trip to the middle of Summerville, Kansas to drop off Egon's stuff at his underground workshop and place his P.K.E. meter in the old farmhouse for safe-keeping. He wasn't...really planning on saying *gulp* goodbye any time soon...was he?

Asriel immediately spotted the cassette tape with the name "Edward Van Halen" written on it. He heaved a very deep sigh, suddenly wishing he had his own guitar with him right now. He felt like...he needed to be close to the music. In a way...I think we all did. Gods. It was almost prophetic how Asriel chose "Dreams" by Van Halen that night camping seven years ago. I...I didn't want to think too deep into it. It was...saddening.

Then he spotted the solo album of the Grim Reaper, collecting dust on a table. Really, Death. An all-bass solo album? Though in all seriousness it was prelude to him getting sued for the Wyld Stallyns name...but I'm getting too deep into my future S.T.C. assignment so...

One of those gold rings Sally always collected was lying nearby. In some other dimension they'd be the way on and off other planets, I'm sure. In fact, I knew they were. Warp Rings were the way across the planet when ACM-001 and ACM-002 still existed. Gods, I missed you. But frankly, I don't know if I'd want to visit a "Mushroom Planet" that wasn't Princess Peach's Mushroom Kingdom any time soon...

Lastly he looked upon a computer screen running 3DSen on Steam. Looks like custom profiles were available as he immediately recognized an overhauled Zelda II: Adventure of Link. Nearby, other monitors displayed other NES games given new polish such as Super Mario Bros. 2, 2048, and Mega Man 4. Heh. Pit would have a lot to comment about his old partner's stomping grounds.

Vi's personal lab remained a testament and a living museum paying tribute to the 80's and 90's and even 2000's while saturated with very up-to-date current media events and the like.

Kuma immediately sprung into Goat Son's hands. All hard-light hololyth polymorphic phantom but felt as real as an actual small, furry creature. Nearby, an aging Spot was snoozing while Glitter.EXE gave him a quick petting behind the ears while in her tiny faerie form.

"Heh.  Don't let Spot wake up or he might get jealous.  I missed you too, Kuma." Asriel stroked the fur of the genetic splice of a spider-monkey and an albino racoon. More racoon than monkey, really...but yeah. Definitely not a species that you'd find on the master zoology index in Lupe's personal lab.

"Well.  I guess if we're doing this, we're doing this right.  On my cue, Vi?"

"Give me a down-beat."

Asriel arched his foot then brought his heel down as Violet picked her song. She went with a medley of songs from the fan game, Mega Man X: Corrupted. It was poetic that Asriel's first experience with music was a track from the Mega Man X series...and now here we were again with Vi doing her own take on NitroFlasher's soundtrack to JBK's magnum opus of a revival of the classic SNES Mega Man X games in a new MetroidVania-flavored form and one monster of an armor system and other trimmings.

Goat Son immediately broken into dance to the sounds of a medley of Neurohack Mosquito, Hurricane Hoatzin, Sparking Scorpio, and Warp Vulpex. All of Violet's favorites.

"Yeah!" Asriel most definitely approved. Unlike me, he had time to spare for musical distractions. Besides...it was not like he was in any hurry to rush into the tests Violet had planned for him.

When the song wrapped up.

"That was amazing, Vi."

"I do what I do and make no apologize for it.  But I will take requests and boisterous applause and flattery."

"Fishing for compliments, Vi?  Isn't that a little tacky?"

"Was that a request for Weird Al Yankovic's song of the same name?"

"Save the polka party for another time, Vi.  And when you do have the Ice Cream Soup ready."

"Only Pee-Wee Herman's best.  It beats that year-old PB&J sandwich Ernest P. Worrel still has lying around in Vern's fridge."

"EH-HEH-HEH-YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW!!!" Asriel copied the late Jim Varney's mannerisms down to the jaw-waggle.

"You've done me proud with how weeaboo/80's Baby you've become."

"Okay, we've reveled in nostalgia enough--"

"Speaking of which.  Nerd vs. Critic 3 is happening.  Count on it!"

"Riiiiight.  Like you've been saying for the last 15 years."

"Don't sass me, boy."

"C'mon, Vi.  Let's just do what we're going to do."

Violet shrugged and opened the Mega Man X shutter doors and walked him down the hallway where somehow she disappeared into the shadows.

"I'm ready for whatever you got, Vi!" He remembered all too well what he put the both of us through when we went to the Supercalculator Room. Every. Single. Time.

As soon as Asriel swung the door open...

"Uh...what?" He found himself in a large janitor's closet.

"I'm...underwhelmed." He put his hands on his hips. "C'mon, Vi.  Could you at least TRY to catch me by surprise?" He shook his head.

"I'm going--

And then the door disappeared.

"Oh.  Yeah.  This isn't cliche or anything.  Let me guess.  Trap door in the floor.  Something's going to jump out behind me and drag me into a shadow portal?  I know you're not lazy enough to repeat your past ones such as the sudden entrance into the Centra Computer, the fall down into Quick Man's high security area, the climb up the ladder and the multiple dream simulations you did with making us thing we weren't even IN your personal lab.  So come on.  Give me something new."

Silence at first.

"Well.  Nothing is certainly new.  Just not very--"  He broke off when he suddenly heard it. Water sloshing?

He looked down at the floor. Nope. Dry as a bone. The walls/  Nothing pouring out of any pipes or holes. The ceiling--

"..........okay, that's definitely new." Asriel looked up as the ceiling was now replaced by an endless "floor" of water slowing pushing down into the room from above.

"Ooooh....you just Centaur Man staged me, didn't you...!" was all he got out before the water started swallowing him up.

"Oh cra--  *blurp*

His eyes went wide as he was completely engulphed by the ocean of water before he could even get down to the ground and conserve oxygen.

His yell was completely muted out as the mass of air bubbles left his throat...

Sub-Entry 019: "A Legendary Simulation For Goat Son to D.A.S.H. Toward Answers":
A blue, segmented, metal hand suddenly reached out of the water oasis and clutched for solid ground. It found its way to something...sandy. A beach?

Asriel pulled himself out with a loud gasp of air.

No. Not a beach...a desert.

"Oh.  Nice, Vi.  Nice." He sarcastically grunted as he crawled his way out and stood up.

"Where the heck--"

Asriel suddenly noticed his heavy blue armor.

"Yup.  Another Mega Man game.  But which one...?"

Wait. It was coming back to him  Way back when he and I had crossed paths with the Casket family and teamed up with two Voltron Forces from different universes.

"Terra.  I'm on Terra.  That makes this a Mega Man Legends game.  And since there are only two, if I don't count the spinoff, the Misadventures of Tron Bonne...and if I go by Violet's reoccurring pattern...

That must make this Mega Man Legends 2. I'm somewhere on one of the four main regions."

Asriel put on his game face, eyes turning red with determination. "Let's take an inventory."

He definitely had the suit on. It was revised from when he had last seen Mega Man Trigger. Kind of an orange backpack integrated with the body armor. Shoulder joints seemed rounder. Legs and boots seemed more streamlined. The armor's meter system seemed overhauled. That cat's eye iris indicator--obviously a scanner-- spun with a mysteriousness to it.

The feet...there were definitely the roller board parts. Newer so they were the same ones from Kattalox.

"Cool.  I can roller-dash.  I'm totally doing my Samurai Pizza Cats impression."

Technically, they hovered not roller dashed but...who's keeping track?

"I have the helmet in my inventory but it's not active right now." Asriel ran his fingers through his head fur and checked to see if his horns were still intact. He was kind of protective up them. He didn't know if they could grow back if they were damaged in battle and he didn't want to find out. So for the time being, he retracted them. Then put on the helmet just for effect. His ears dangled out the sides.

He checked his weapons. His Buster arm cannon had been upgraded with addons. His life gauge was extended a bit compared to its starting point at the beginning of the game. And it looks like his sub-weapon was the Hunter Seeker. Good. A homing weapon.

Asriel deployed it, the massive bazooka cannon launcher conglomeration wrapping completely around his lower arm at the elbow. Boy, that sucker was big and cumbersome. And heavy.

"Desert...then that means..." After a bit of roller dash he managed to find his way.

"...Saul Kada Ruins!  Of course!" Asriel found his way into the desert fortress and made his way to the center, passing by Data the Monkey bot.

A dull, dry, arid place, really. Beige walls, tan sand, faded orange stone block platforms. Some had ornate grey stone cubes etched with runes and circuit paths on them.

At the very center was an elevator lift leading down.

"Do you want to enter the ruins?" Asriel hit yes on the command prompt and began to descend.

"Volt would be so jealous that he didn’t' get to tag along for a desert adventure.   It's his kind of heat."

Once at the bottom, Asriel was taken by surprised when he heard a voice in...oh right. Communicator system.

"So these are the third ruins!"

'That sounded like Roll."  Asriel thought.  But the harder he strained his ears, the more he could pick Violet's voice hidden deep, deep underneath the generated speech.  She was using a vocoder to change her voice patterns to match Roll Casket.  But even she couldn't cover up ALL her unique inflections.  And all she had to do was break character once and the effect would be spoiled.

Asriel kept his mouth shut and followed the in-game script, using the prompts that were being projected, somehow, internally onto his retina as a subtitle overlay. Or a teleprompter.

"I'm picking up something really big near you.  To your right...  It's probably a giant Reaverbot.  But I've never seen one this big.  Be careful, MegaMan!"

The area he was in was dark, dull, beige and grey and lined with the familiar "seeing eye logo" of the Mother System. Of Elysium. The same one that Juno had.

Asriel took off as directed, guided by a familiarity from playing this game before, a long while ago.

Unlike the other games Vi had sprung on him, he'd had time to research this one. Unlike his first encounter, he wasn't going to be caught off guard so easily.

"Was that a Reaverbot?  What happened?  Why did it run off like that?  Maybe there's something over there.  You should go take a look, MegaMan."

Sure enough, the spike-topped machine had retreated.

Right. From the game perspective, "Roll" was spotting from afar. Being MegaMan's eyes and ears via long range surveillance and scanning. it let him have foresight into the dangers that lay ahead, preventing him from being taken by surprise or falling into a trap.

But alas, the door before him needed a key. On instinct, Azzy went down the path to the left and tried the first door he came to. A corridor lay ahead...as did some mechanical menaces. Reaverbots. As soon as these twiggy metallic menaces got near, their flailed their elongated arms and roared.

"No time for you." Asriel opened fire. After enough ordinance, they exploded, scattering large, glowing crystal spires.

"Quantum Refractors." Asriel collected them to add to his Zenny count. These were valuable. Not only were they worth money, the entire world was dependent on them as a power source. Forget fossil fuels, THIS was the real limited resource. The only one, really. No wonder everyone wanted to find the Mother Load. This world would grind to a halt as soon as the last of these refractors was spent.

Asriel followed the path until he got to another lift, but...

"The elevator's not working?  Hmm...maybe the power's been cut off... There's probably a power control panel somewhere.

Indeed there was. And it didn't take Azzy long to find it.

"Woo.  This is some game." Azzy kept going further in. Or in this case...down.

"Is it getting hotter?" Asriel noted the rise in temperature the further down he went. T hat must mean there was a geothermal area ahead.

As he went further in, Asriel suddenly put on a burst of speed as he sensed something behind an open window into a much larger chamber.

"Oh no..." Asriel tumble rolled as he saw it. A massive T-Rex like Reaverbot beast...too massive. Its head immediately charged through the window and attempted to chomp Azzy whole.

Azzy smothered it with ammo until it got bored and stomped off.

It wasn't long before Asriel started recognizing some old Reaverbot makes and models from Kattalox. As he nicked named them the shield-carrying, Raiden-hat-wearing stockbots. They were no match for him. And before long he was going deeper into Basement level 3. The sides of the floor had a slight orange glow to them...like magma vents were starting to seep into the ground.

As soon as he went through the door...he immediately regretted it.

Up ahead, standing on its haunches was the biggest, baddest Reaverbot he'd ever seen. It's head looked like a Xenomorph adult with a giant underslung jaw for the biggest friggin underbite he'd ever seen. But it was how far back the thing's cranium stretched; almost impossibly slow that made him take a step back...

And no sooner had he did, the thing dropped down to all fours and slung that head forward, smashing the top of his long cranium into the ground like a giant steel girder.

"That's the giant Reaverbot I spotted before.  It's different from the other Reaverbots we found.  I've got a bad feeling about this, MegaMan.  I'm reading hot temperatures.  Is there lava around there?"

"You have no idea..." Asriel took another tumble, just stopping short of a magma pool. I wonder if I could make something that could protect from hot temperatures..."

Asriel absolutely wailed on the thing's head with both Buster and Hunter Seeker...but that was when Roll commented.

"Why isn't that Reaverbot taking any damage?  Its energy output keeps growing.  It looks like it's healing somehow."

"Yeah...somehow." Asriel noticed it was stopping to lap up the lava like a thirsty dog.

Asriel decided he didn't have time for this and charged into the first available door out of there. It was better to conserve ammo and life force.

Roll mentioned something about a door that seemed funny. The display warned Asriel about Security Systems B and C needing to be undone to unlock it. Once he found an open door.

"Holy schnikees!" He noted as everything had turned dull red...and very, very hot."

"Oh crud...I'm going to burn up in this place." He complained.

He really should mind what he says.

"F...FLAMETHROWERS!?" He saw the fire jets block his way in the next room. As soon as Roll prompted him to find a Control Panel, he was already deactivating the trap.

A well played shot had activated the switch. And there he found it...a treasure box containing Autofire Unit Omega. Upgrades!

After some exploring...

Finally. A control room! It held a map download and switches to deactivate Security System A.

For what seemed like hours, Asriel continued to tear through the maze of hallways, going in and out of rooms that were lit ominously red from the deadly magma pools and fire.

More treasure chests and more goodies. As well as spots on the ground where sudden jet blasts of sand vortexes suddenly spewed upward...prelude to a sudden gulper trap reaverbot that nearly swallowed him once bursting up from the floor.

Security System C deactivated.

"Even though the door opened, I'm still getting the same reading.  It must not be opened all the way."

Sure enough another stop in another area turned Security System B off.

By now, Asriel was having to jump over a lot of pools of magma while dodging reaverbot ouroboros serpents as well as fire-spewing hydras.

There was Data! He must have gotten down here and scouted ahead. That was a good sign Asriel reached the halfway point.

"Yes." He fist-pumped as he recharged his life and weapon energy.

Finally, backtracking to the locked door...

"Be careful, MegaMan!  There's something inside!  And it doesn't look like a Reaverbot..."

"Not a Reaverbot.  Then what is--"

Asriel went through the door and saw them.

"A Gustoff...and Bon Bonne.  The Bonne Family!  Tron must be in that Gustoff mech!"

"Babuu!" Bon exclaimed.

"It must be really solid if YOU can't knock it down." Tron commented to her baby brother int he massive armor. "If we could just get that rock to fall...we could get that lava to stop."

They were looking at a massive overhanging spire over a large gusher of molten lava.

"We've got to hurry though.  Tiesel said MegaMan's already here!"

"Babu babuu."

"True.  It's just that I don't want to see him right now, you know what I mean?"

"MegaMan, is there somebody else there?" Roll's com system went off.

"Uh yeah, it's uh...uh...uh..." Asriel stammered according to the script.

That was when both the air pirates turned around and noticed him.

"M...MegaMan!" Tron's Gustoff suddenly started spewing steam from its head as she sounded...surprised and flustered at the same time.

"Uh, MegaMan?  Are there more air pirates down there?"

"Yeah, but uh...they're acting kind of...funny."

Tron suddenly exploded in anger. "FUNNY!?!" Her mech flailed its arms in protest. "JUST WHAT IS SO FUNNY ABOUT ME?!  JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK IS SO FUNNY!?"

Wow, wasn't this familiar? Like shades of the old Violet before meeting Bunnie or so I was told.

"Uh...nothing!" Ariel started to explain before Tron cut in. "What about you!?   I see you're still letting that...that second-rate mechanic boss you around!  You're the one who's funny!  Not me!"

"MegaMan, is it that Bonne woman again?   Remember, she might be a woman but she's still a pirate.  She doesn't fight fair.  Why should you?"

"Roll..." Asriel protested.

"Hmmph.  Anyway...you can do what you want.  You can let that poor-excuse for a Spotter boss you around for the rest of your life for all I care."

Tsudere much?

"Babuuu!"

"We've got work to do.  And we'd appreciate it if you stayed out of our way if you don't mind.  We'll stay out of your way until we find the key, alright?  Got it?  Good then.  Bye."

Don't do us any favors.

Not going to scare him off that easily.

"What do you want?  If you want to help us, just stay out of our way--"

Asriel didn't wait for the prompt. He just opened fire on the rock.

"Yo, Goat Son.  A bit rude cutting through cut scenes don't you think?

"Heh.  Didn't take much to make you break character, Aunt Vi."

"Rats."

Azzy quickly got the idea to incapacity the Reaverbot guards that suddenly showed up and heaved them at the rock, gradually dislodging it.

"Alright!  That should cut off the flow of lava to the room with the Reaverbot--"

Asriel was already gone so he didn't hear their plan to pretty much let him do all the work to defeat the Reaverbot and then they could swoop in and take the Key.

And so, one rematch with the Xeno-giant Reaverbot later...

Asriel blew the smoke from the barrel of his Buster arm nonchalantly.

One First Floor key later and a loong winding trek through a lot more lava ruins...

"If the Key is here...it's probably in the next room."

Sure enough in a very spacious area, at the top of raised platform on a high up ledge...

That was when Tron's Gustoff walked right pat Asriel. But where was Bonne?

The yellow and orange mech-clad baby buzz-bombed Azzy, flew up to the ledge and nabbed the key. Crap. Their plan went perfectly!

"Hurry, MegaMan!  The Bonnes will get away with the key!  If you use that door ahead you'll catch up to the Bonnes!"

A couple rooms later...

"THAT'S FAR ENOUGH, MEGAMAN!  REMEMBER WHAT I SAID BEFORE!  THE NEXT TIME WE MEET, WE'RE ENEMIES?"

"Alright...MegaMan.....huh...?  *crackle*"

"Huh?  Roll?"

"Don't worry.  We're just jamming your signal!  That's all!" One of Tron's ServBots bragged.

"You don't need to tell him that!" Tron scolded. "Remember what I told you!  If you don't do your job this time, I'll leave you here!"

"NOOOO!!" The two of them whined and cried.

"Okay, MegaMan!  HERE I COME!"

"A battle is it.  Okay then.  I'm ready!" Asriel cocked the Hunter Seeker and charged in, dodging Tron's flamethrowers while trying not to flip over her flailing ServBots. At that point, he called in Roll's laser drone and soon had sniper fire to back him up. Heh. Might have come in handy earlier on, y'know?"

One long string of ordinance led to an overload and a series of explosions. And one massive blast!

And Tron was thrown from the cockpit where she landed in a heap.

Asriel cracked his knuckles, knowing even he couldn't go easy on an air pirate, woman or not.

He put on his game face. But as soon as the dust cleared...his game face suddenly turned to wide-eyed, gaping stare complete with the deepest of open-mouthed blushes.

Tron coughed for a bit.

"Well...*cough cough*...there goes...*cough cough*...another Gustoff!   But it doesn't matter!  You're too late!  We've WON!  Bon's on his way back to the surface with the key!  *cough cough cough* ......wait?  Why is your face red?  Why is everyone looking at me that way!?"

"Um...Miss Tron?  One of the ServBots nervously spoke.  "Um...your uh...clothes have been um...kind of ripped off..."

"Actually..." The other said. "Your clothes are um...gone."

"What...?" Tron suddenly gasped with a growing fear. "Huh...!?"

And then came the shriek. Goat Son could only gape with that familiar deer-in-head-lights look.

'''"AGHHH!  AHHH!!  Y...You DUMMIES!  WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME BEFORE!?!" D'oh...RETREAT! RETREAT!"'''

"R-Roger!"

And they all left Asriel standing their, catatonic.

Dammit, Vi. You had to make that callback to your Epic Rabbit (Rap) Battle of Misery with Devillotte's last verse about Tron's wardrobe malfunction! You pervy little lop-lop!!!

Asriel snapped out of it and rubbed the back of his helmeted head with the side of his buster arm.

"MEGAMAN!  MEGAMAN!" Roll's voice was frantic...but definitely trying to cover up how much Vi was holding in her laughter.

"Huh!?  What!?"

"Thank goodness you're alright!  Now that the jamming stopped, I can spot for you again.  By the way, I've been watching my monitor and there's a signal that looks like the Key.  It's moving slowly through the Ruins."

"Uh-oh!  I'd better hurry!"

It was a race to catch up to Bon Bonne.

She put you through all that and the game still wasn't over.

Asriel reached the platform.

"The Key's gone.  I hope I'm not to late."

"MegaMan!  He's getting away!"

A speedy catchup later, Azzy opened the doors in time to see Bon drift away, Key in tow.

"MSISSION START!"

"I think I can damage him by throwing him into the lava.  Hope his suit's well insulated.  I don't want to cook the poor infant alive!" Asriel really didn't see any other way he could win in this situation. Besides. It was what the game required.

Asriel opened fire and Bon returned fire with missiles.

Azzy lured him out over the lava and kept his distance until he could pound the every loving bolts out of him with Hunter Seeker homing shots.

Enough damage later and Bon's gravity systems gave out. Splash!

The drill-topped, giant orange onion-headed mech suit flailed its arms before plopping down into the lava.

"Ba-buuuu!" Babu babu babu ba...gurgle...gurgle...gurgle..."

"Gee.  I hope he's okay."

Goat Son noticed the Third Elysium Key had been dropped on the ground on the stone platforms.

KEY GET!

"You did it, MegaMan!  Now we've got three keys!  Only one left to go, MegaMan!"

And with that the simulation dissolved around Asriel as he was left holding up a feather duster.

"Riiiiiiiiiiiight..." He muttered.

"Volt would kill you for that nude scene."

"Oh come on.  The cut scene pretty much made it happen off screen.  No one saw anything."

"No one but ME!  And the SERVBOTS!" Asriel protested, flustered.

"And that wasn't even the only nude scene in the game."

"I know, I know.  Yuna's first appearance...For a game that looks deceptively G-rated, there's some real echhi stuff in here."

"Don't use that word like you think you know what it means." Violet said with a smug chuckle.

"I think I know what it means." Asriel shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Come on.  Let's stop piddling around and do this, already."

"Someone’s patience has run out."

"Patience is given to those who deserve it, Aunt Vi."

Sub-Entry 020: "Awakening the LYOKO Super Calculator One Last Time:
Asriel noticed he was already inside the Supercalculator Room. How did he get in here from a janitor's closet..........that wasn't really a janitor's closest. Of course. Seriously...how far away from the door was this room, really? It was always deceptive. The distance and the means to get inside here always seemed to be changing. And yet, here he was.

"Want the honors?" Violet handed him the startup key.

"Rubbing it in with the key-collecting, aren't we?

"You love it." Violet took a line from the woman of the Deetz household. Right out of Beetlejuice, no less.

Asriel looked over the machine and spotted the activator lock. He inserted it at the same time Violet inserted the other one.

"Both keys at the same time." A line used by Richard Prior in Superman III. Yeah. She set him up for too many things to count.

And LYOKO came back to life as did the Scanners.

"Well.  I guess now for the elephant in the room..." Asriel turned in time to see Violet already installing it into her head."

"Aunt Violet...I wish you would have told me how much of a danger this thing is to you health...to your life."

"As if that would let you stop me from going through with it."

Asriel closed his eyes and hung his head for a moment. "Yeah...you're probably right.  But I wish you wouldn't.  In LYOKO I have as many chances to do my thing as I want as long as I don't get devirtualized int he Digital Sea...but I've only got one Aunt Violet.  You've only got one life to spare.  I won't be able to live with myself if you don't come back from this procedure."

"Believe me.  Volt's given me the same speech.  Different words, same tune.  It'll never convince me to chicken out of it."

"Just...make it quick." Asriel turned away as the disc started spinning and the agonizing grunts of pain and the thrashing and flailing began up until...

"Gaaah..." Vi raised the visor. He eyes went bloodshot for only a moment or two...then came the bloody nose.

Asriel cringed, having mistakenly thought it was safe to look.

"Okay.  I'm in." Vi put on her V.R. Gear."

Asriel headed to the first open scanner.

"For the record, this time I'm not taking my sandals off."

Violet just grinned. "I still get to see your fluffy goat toes."

"Vi.  Stop." Asriel scolded.

One inside...

"Spoilsport.  Okay...Scanner: Asriel.  Transfer: Asriel.  Virtualisation!"

And one more ride later..

"Nostalgia is hitting me more than ever now." Asriel looked upon his avatar form. It had been updated and upgraded again and scaled up for his older form.

LYOKO looked exactly the same. It hadn't been patched. It hadn't been upgraded. It was the same as when Violet shut the Supercalculator down after the Crossover Wars.

"What'll it be, Azzy?"

"The works."

And from there Asriel went through the entirety of LYOKO.

From the mountain sector to the forest sector to the desert sector to the ice sector to Sector 5 to the Volcano Sector. And everything in between.

"Hey, Aunt Vi?"

"Yeah?"

"I still got it." Asriel held aloft his swords in a GOOOOOOOAL pose.

One long trip down memory lane...

"The only thing missing is my teammates."

"Sorry, Goat Son but...this is on last ride you have to do solo.  Everyone else has--"

"Moved on.  They have other responsibilities.  Peace time is...well...peaceful."

"Heh."

"This is nice for short getaway but...it's like James Halliday says.  Reality is the only thing that's...real."

"You saying you've had enough already?  You just got there."

"No, no.  Nothing like that.  It's just that......what I'm really trying to say is I don't want to get attached to this again.  Sentimental memories or not...if I start to like this too much I might not want to leave."

"Bit of a length to go to escape gaggles of giggling girls."

"It's not like that."

"You know if you play for the other team, you can tell me--"

"Already had this discussion with Mitzi.  I'm not...you know."

"Says the goat that doesn't have  girlfriend."

"I don't because no one really gets me.  No one is out to date me for me and not the reputation, not the good looks (apparently) and not the fact that I can tutor them in calculus.  I'm just the biggest fish in the sea worth catching."

"Aww, Cinnamon Roll.  You've never been just a piece of meat."

"Well...when you put it that way, it's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me that wasn't--"

"Now you got to back dat' a--"

"And the moment is ruined." Asriel stuck his tongue out.

"You are most certainly not a normal mentor."

"Uh.  DUH.  I'm a cut above the rest." Violet said as Asriel's blade "screen-divided" a lone enemy

"And soooo modest." Asriel jabbed.

"Quoting the Commander now.  How modest are you?

"Just do my analysis and I'll worry about protecting my life points." Asriel used the Triplicate and felled his opponents.

One by one, Asriel Arcade reset the towers until he had eventually gone through them all.

And finally that led him to X.A.N.A.'s core...or rather an emulation of it.

"HAAAAH!" One last sword strike later...

"And that'll do, Goat Son.  That'll do."

The doors to the scanner opened as Asriel stepped out.

"I remember this thing being a lot more spacious." He deployed his horns again, having kept them retracted all this time.

"Well, Vi?  Give it to me straight."

"Well...to be perfectly honest all of the outer framework and the supporting apps and such are still there. but...I can't find the core anywhere.  It's just dead code and an H.U.D. interface that's not connecting to anything.  Strings of subroutines without a main program."

Violet without the part about how it was gone.

We were right. Frisk and Asriel had indeed broken the game. Madam Fate was pissed to this day. It was the most definitive loss she ever suffered in the Ultimate Game of Good and Evil. It had soured her so much that peace had reigned for the longest I'd ever known in many a timeline.

I had always worried there would be an end to the hiatus. That because she was so quiet, she was planning something. Maybe she'd reboot our universe again. Honestly by this point...rebooting was feeling like a fad that was being milked for so long it was turning to curdled yogurt. Originality did feel like an endangered if not extinct species.

"I see."

"Your virtue powers are still there but...it's like they're out of juice.   Whatever you were fueling them with just seems either tapped out or the valve is just shut off."

"Huh..." Asriel pondered that.

"It's weird.  Because my virtue powers lasted longer than the H.U.D.  I'd concluded they worked independent of each other.  Maybe it's because my warrior spirit stopped being tested.  At least stopped being tested by real danger, real threats, and real adversity.  Not these simulations, Vi."

"Well, as much as I want to take it as an insult, yeah...I have to agree with the logic that's there."

Violet's whimsical tone had switched out for her more serious scientist side. It was rare when Violet was this straight with people. When she put her sense of humor on hold...it became obvious how much her loneliness felt like it was setting in again. Like she remembered that it was no fun being an 18-year-old-burnout from back in the day.

"Hey.  It doesn't make me any less of a hero doing the right thing day to day.  I mean even if I'm not saving worlds and going on huge crossover adventures like we used to...I'm still humble bundle me, right?"

"Yeah.  Good point there."

A long pause.

"You asked because you're worried you might need those powers some day again?"

"That easy to read.  Volt was such an influence I started letting it seep into my knack for being responsible.  Now I just worry that I'm not being responsible enough."

"Get outta town, Azzy!  You double down more than I do when it comes to work ethic.  Even more than Volt and that's a scary thought."

"So I AM running the risk of becoming a workaholic."

"That's what you got us for, Goat Son.  That's why you got us."

Violet handed him a can of Ecto Cooler. She was still getting these things? Was she manufacturing the cans and making the recipe from scratch, time-cloning them, or what?

"Ooh.  Nice and cold, too.  Thanks, Aunt Vi.  I don't care what anybody says.  For all your faults, you're pretty all-right.

"Man, I thought you too well how to used back-handed compliments." Vi stuck her tongue out.

"Who teases you when I'm not around?"

"Nobody.  And I LIKE it that way." Vi crossed her arms in a huff.

"You're such a liar." Asriel gave her a noogie to the head.

"Hey!  Don't knock the crown off!" Vi protested.

All these years later and it was Asriel's turn to...get Violet's goat. What a turnabout!

And that was MY callback to his first encounter with Vi. The moment Violet made me realize she knew all about him while I was trying to keep him secret from the whole town.

"So...no what?"

"Still got responsibilities to tend to.  I'm sure I don't want to keep the Queen waiting.  And I really shouldn't blow of Chameleon...not sure what he wants with me.  I stay out his way unless he requires my services.  Though when has he actually needed them other than occasionally spoiling Tithius?"

"The lizard-man's alright.  Still a lot of fun after all these years."

"You just like flirting with death, don't you?"

"What's life without a little risk?"

"The last risk nearly got you locked inside an Easter Candy factory.   He's still holding a grudge over the inflatable corpse in his shower from  your Prank War."

"He might get even but he'll never get ahead." Vi mused.

"Careful, Vi.  He might take that as a challenge."

"Bring it.  But he'll find it one-sided.  Just like he as for the last 30 or s years.  Even before you came around, Azzy."

A lesser person would ask just how old Violet and the rest of us really are. It's better we keep it ambiguous. For everyone's sakes. And because a time traveler gets weary when trying to remember everyone's age he's ever met.

"Oh boy....you're a sucker for punishment."

"Ain't I a stinker?"

Asriel shook his head. "I'm heading up and out.  Talk to you later, Vi."

"Be well, Goat Son.  Annnnnd."

"I know."

"STAY FRESH"

"Annnnd?"

"DON"T GET COOKED, STAY OFF THE HOOK!"

"That's better.

And off he went to continue his adventure. The adventure of a day of life of one Asriel Tobias Dreemurr-Arcade.

Sub-Entry XXX: "Halloween Knows No Age Limits"
"...c'mon, don't be chicken spit!"

"I'm n-not."

"Then you'll do the dare, ring the bell and drop it on the porch after lighting it on fire!  It'll be hilarious!"

"I don't know...they say this house has a really scary monster in it!" The kid whimpered.

"Oh go on, you little cry baby"

"Well...okay--"

"You know...you should listen to your friend..."

A pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness for a brief moment as something gold and wet dripped on the back of the head bully's neck.

"Ohh crap!  Oh crap"

"I knew it!  I knew it!"

"Dude!  Do NOT ruin this night for me!"

"Well...if he won't...some of us just might have to..."

The kids looked up to see where Mina Scalnistro was hovering in full vampire queen attire.

She outstretched her hands, clutching for them as she bore her fangs and hissed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

That was right about the time the hand of Draigo Stokes, Vlad's undead brother from De Midian, burst out of the ground and snapped around one of the kid's ankles.

"My, my...what an interesting bone structure you have.  I have a patient waiting back in De Midian in need of a transplant and yours just might do.  All it needs a little fermentation in some formaldehyde to give it that...recently deceased aroma."

The punk-looking gear soon shrieked as Red Stokes jumped out branding vastly a  oversized fork and knife in each hand.

"I haven't had a bite all day...I just might take one out of you!!!" he made sure his shark teeth were all visible.

The screams went up.

The one that tried to back away found himself colliding into Valerie in her huuuge dire wolf transformation. And the brat was soon wearing a gallon of warm, wolf spittle. Gods, what did Violet do the bribe them all to lay it on THIS thick.

"Let's get out of here!"

That was when the head bully felt it on his shoulder. As he slow turned to look he caught sight of the flickering rainbow scythe being used to poke him on the shoulder.

"Those who misbehave on Halloween Night must answer to..."

The bully looked up at the cloaked form of the beast of a monster cradling a death scythe. Long horns poked out of holes in his hood as it hovered in place.

"...the ABSOLUTE GOD OF HYPERDEAAAAAAAATH!!!!" Asriel's eyes suddenly widened, lighting up with a furious neon red glow underneath the hood as he raised his weapon.

"MOMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!" And off they ran.

Once the coast was clear the laughs went up

Asriel landed and deactivated the gravity harness and pulled off his hood, retracting his horns. He pulled back on the scythe blade, revealing it was just transparent plastic with LED lights in a matrix inside. Fake props.

"You guys are such terrible influences on me."

Asriel wiped the scar makeup off his face, the cloak opening up to reveal a custom made set of black robes with the Delta Rune on them.

I wonder if he should be casually invoking Hyperdeath's name like this?

"I feel kind of bad that we're bullying bullies." Mina wrinkled her nose.

"Don't think of it bullying.  Think of it as long overdue paybacks for when you were the one getting bullied."

"That doesn't make it any better, Red."

"I must be getting senile letting you talk me into these childish pranks."

"I hope it wasn't too offensive to the undead.  Y'know the whole zombie corpse climbing out of the ground cliche."

"It wouldn't go over well with some back home.  But I'll let it slide.  Anyway...I have to get back.  Tell Vlad I said hi.  I've got some patients to stitch up."

"Marcel was worth every GP bringing him in. like this." Red chuckled.

"Well now that we've had our tricks with the last of the scare house tonight, let's get to the grown-up's celebration in the Square." Asriel folded up the cloak and the robe, revealing his preppy college clothes underneath.

"Right.  Everybody get changed and meet up.  We're in for a great night!  Got to show the kids how it's done."

Why was it so hard for me to remember that Red Stokes was a father for a while now. Probably because a lot of the UCIAT and I were there the day he was first released from his incubation tank. Wow, had he really come up in the world since then.

Then there was Mina Scalnistro. Still just friends with Azzy. That wasn't going to change any time soon. But no less grateful that he came to her aid years ago during Tina's tough times.

Valerie had shrunk down to her human form.

"I got a ride coming--"

And there was Ripper's anything-but-subtle howl as his latest muscle car monstrosity tore through the streets with unhealthy green fumes coming out of the oversized exhaust pipe racks lining each side.

"I thought Volt warned him to stop using alternative nitrous oxide substitutes.  Chameleon's still collecting a cut of his bounties after all these years from when he blew up Hestia's shop and later Chameleon's own shack." Asriel questioned.

Valerie shrugged then climbed in the car through the window, Dukes of Hazard style. She slapped the side of the door from the inside, rhythmically to signal Ripper to peel out. And sure enough he did so enough to pop a sizeable wheelie.

Goddammit, Ripper. You're headed for another round of Punishment Numbers by the end of this night, mark my words.

"Let's all get changed into our costumes!  After all that tricking it's time we started treating ourselves!"

And so...

"...I know the electromagnetic spectrum like the back of my hand.......huh...what's that?" I picked at the back of my glove.

"Nice!  You came as Megavolt from Darkwing Duck.  He made his return during season 3's Ducktales Reboot." Azzy high-fived me with a sliiiight static zap.

"Oww!  Hey, oww!"

"Sorry.  Still some short circuits I haven't found." I shrugged.

"Rangers together, Samurai Forever." Bunnie took off the helmet.

"Ah!  Red Samurai Power Ranger, Lauren Shiba."

"Actually true Shinken Red, Shiba Kaoru." Bunnie corrected, giving the last name first as was Jang culture.

"Oh hohohohohoho!" That laugh...

Violet was lowered to the ground by the Blodia mech's hand strutting her costume. It only  made sense that I should reference the Princess of the Helldorado Kingdom earlier in these logs. Only Vi would come as--

"Princess Devillotte Von Deathsatan the Fourteenth.  It figures." I muttered and rolled my eyes.

"Show some respect, knave!  I will rule the world!"

"Sure you will, old friend.  Sure you will." A voice spoke up as a figure kept his back turned to his as he slightly tipped his familiar cap with the metal plate rivetted to the front. That red jacket...that blond hair.

"I know better than to get between you and your Halloween snacks.  Otherwise I could be facing some...Fatal Fury.  Am I right?" I grinned as Jon turned around to show off his Terry Bogart costume.

"Clever, mate."

"Happy birthday, Jon!"

"You remembered!" Jon tackle hugged Asriel, who had come as his own take on Ben 10's own Goatorch alien.

"How could I forget on this night of the year.  You're so lucky!" Azzy beamed.

"Double the reason to celebrate, double the delicious haul." Jon licked his lips. Even in his human form he could show off his appetite.

"Where's Pit?"

"Right here!"

"Hey, Pit.  It's a...different take on your usual angel outfit?"

"No!  I'm Fenyx from Immortals: Fenyx Rising!"

"Oh!  I need to brush up on my games again.  It's hard to keep up, now."

Over yonder, Sally had chosen the form of Equestrian Rainbow Dash from that weird anthropomorphic M.L.P reboot spinoff...thing.

There was Antoine as Arthur Boyle from Fire Force.

And sure enough Spot managed to hop by as the rabite version of Starchild from the rock band, KISS. Now that was something to imagine.

Everyone was here. Including Scott in his annual Inuyasha costume. Appropriate since rumor were stirring up among S.T.C. that activity was starting to arise in my old case fire before I was assigned to ACM-001. I wonder if it had anything to do with--

"Glad to see you haven't outgrown the holiday, my little humble bundle."

"Starting to think I'm outgrowing that nickname..." Asriel blushed for a moment. "...but I'll never outgrow Halloween." He grinned. Callista had chosen to come as the Mona Lisa. She was feeling very artsy and she absolutely nailed the distinct smile when she coupled it with her Psychic Portrait ability.

As for another Lisa, she end up coming as Sailor Neptune. And boy oh boy was she putting the moves on me. Not that I was complaining... Beautiful Tide? Very yes.

Throughout the night we partied hardy and bantered, treated, and tricked.

Chameleon had used many different takes on the alien dragonoid, Ridley before but his take on Nemesis Ridley was his best yet. And it was just the thing to send Al Dente flying over the moon after he attempted to frisk both him and Jennifer "Valkyrie" Riviera for illegal drugs and weapons. The first one sealed Al's fate but the attempt on Valkyrie pretty much put him in the permanent dumpster for Halloweens to come. An ironic way to put it; figuratively AND literally, considering it was where Chameleon ended up after his...ahem...attempt to prove Brooke wasn't as endowed as she looked. Violet still wouldn't let him or us forget. Riding a line there, bunny-girl.

This was a low point for Al Dente as now he was even disqualified from the worst costume in show which he had won in previous years over Violet's insistence on putting him in costumes meant to torture, belittle, or otherwise amplify what a pariah he really was.

I was later told he did something unthinkable that had Brooke personally deport him for...an indefinite period of time. I could tell it was something not worth talking about and that she was showing INCREDIBLE restraint. If she hadn't been, we would be watching Dente be dragged to the deepest darkest parts of Gehenna. Good riddance, definitely but then Violet would be without her favorite lightning rod for venting her wrath on. Besides. Torturing Dente like this actually kept her from harassing us and being a nuisance. So...for what it was worth, this was the only thing that Al Dente was worth. Eternal punching back.

When all was said and done...

"...and best pet costume goes to...Hojicha for his adorable Stay Puft Marshmallow Rabite costume.  Congratulations!"

"Chuuu!"

Applause for the rabite.

Well it finally came down to the last one of the night. It was the big one.

We were all excited and all awaiting in anticipation.

"Drumroll, everyone..." Asriel squeezed my hand and Bunnie's.

"Okay.  Finally for best overall costume....the ward goes to..."

And like that after the winner was announced and received their award the party resumed and went on until the late hours of the morning.

Like that the holiday was over and it was a new month.

And sure enough it was the month I looked forward to.

But until then...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Chapter 3

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