PLD Chapter 16

" CHAPTER 16: The Revenge of Chara Arc - Part 1 "

Sub-Entry 151: "A Matter of the Utmost Importance":
Reentry. It's always a little bumpy, isn't it, Marty? Oh well. Can't be helped.

I kept the car at the speed limit, despite rushing back to my shop's garage. It was still backfiring and by now the smoke from the tailpipe was getting worrysome. I kept expecting one of the manifolds to explode off the engine block along with a trail of parts.

"Damn."

I reached my shop soon enough and clicked on the garage door opener and zipped it in, passing by Scott. I parked and dashed out.

"Scott, no time to talk. I need you to take the Deloreon to the UCIAT HQ's vehicle bay so I can service it later."

"Wha...?"

"I need to attend to an urgent matter of the utmost importance." I tossed him the keys, crouched down, then leaped to the top of the power lines outside my shop and skated into a grind, sending a small shower of sparks from the soles of my sandals.

"What could be more important than saving the life of the King of All Monsters?" Scott entered my garage and started up the car and headed back to HQ...a massive backblast and a drop of black sludge emitting from the exhaust pipe.

"Come on, electricity, don't fail me now!" I picked up speed, zippng all across town.

"Hi, Dr. Arcade! Bye Doctor Arcade!"

I didn't catch who said it, I was in too much of hurry. The power flickered in a few spots as blazed by.

"Gotta go fast...!"

I jumped off the power lines and made an impressive somersault and landed in front of my destination with a crackle zap, mirroring the moves of Gozer the Gozerian in her humanoid form.

"Commander. You're cutting it very close." Bunnie looked irate.

"Yeah, next time I'll be more considerate about the evil ghost girl that took control of an eight foot goat monster king who beats the pulp out of me then drops an entire ceiling on me and most of the boss monsters in the Underground."

"Don't get snippy, Commander. You know the importance of this."

"Yeah...yeah I do." I closed my eyes and sighed.

A moment of silence.

"Well. Here's your ticket." Bunnie handed me the admission ticket.

"Yeah. Thanks--"

"Vooooooooolt!" I was quickly tacklehugged. "You made it back and you're okay!"

"Hey, Asriel."

"Now we can see the museum together!"

"Excited?"

"Oh yes!"

"C'mon, kiddo."

"Mitzi and Gadget are already inside."

Inside...

"Oh WOW!!!" Asriel looked at the massive sculpture of glass and metal and choreographed blue liquid.

"It's called a Water Clock. There's one like this on a place called Earth Prime at a place called the Children's Museum."

"It's so mesmerizing."

"Isn't it, isn't it though?"

"Big brother, over here!"

"Commander!"

We joined up with the Twice as Nice Mice.

"So, we ready to check this out?"

And so we took a magical journey through art, history, and lots...of...SCIENCE!

"SCIENCE!"

"Ahh, Dr. Stokes. I thought I'd find you here." I greeted Dr. Vladimir Stokes,  the creator and father of Violet's favorite R-Series genetically-engineered, saw-toothed, living war machine, Red Stokes.

It was many a mission ago, when I was still the active commander of UCIAT when we discovered him living in isolation, trapped in a the remains of a laboratory deep in Red Zone territory. Under his guidence we helped release his life's work; a life form similiar to the "Echidna" E-Series life forms known for their nearly limitless regeneration capacity.

Since then Vlad had found new a new life and purpose in our city and his creation and son, Red found his calling in military service as the most badass of the buttkickers.

"You never outgrow the basics of science, my good man. All science must be appreciated so that future generations minds can grow and expand."

"Spoken like a true science man." I said with a grin. "Anyway. I'm here with the crew. Asriel, you've met Violet's friend, Red, right?"

"Er...yeah...he's got really scary teeth. And he needs to put a lot of money in the swear jar...but he seems alright."

"This is his creat-- ...er...his dad."

"Good to meet you, young Asriel."

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Stokes, sir."

"You know I give science demonstrations, lessons, and lectures here during my downtime. You should come by some time and I could teach you the ways of the world."

"Oh boy! I'd like that!" Asriel looked content.

Gadget smiled. Mitzi gave a thumbs up. And from there we had an amazing time in the science wing. From Asriel's first experience with an electrostatic generator...

"Waaaaaah My fur is all poofing out! It's all...tingly!"

"Oooh, me too!" Gadget placed her hands on the metal unit atop the machine.

"Wheeee!" Gadget giggled as her hair started rising up in strands and tufts and her fur poofed out.

To C.Y.R.O. the robotic arm...

"Ooooh."

I wanted to say in another lifetime this could be Mettaton's great ancestor but not with Asriel around. I felt like every time I brought up something from his past, he'd just miss it that much more.

Though technically...I wonder if Mettaton was even around before he he fell into the Void?

To various helium and ruby lasers...

"Isn't it amazing how light can make such pretty colors but can be concentrated enough to burn through the flesh of an orange so easily?"

"Oh yeah. And trust me...I know a thing or two about light." Mitzi mused as she pulled off her hair bows and invoked her Hybrid Ability of Photon Manipulation to transform them from their inactive polarized hard light packets of photon forms into large sized glow sticks and gave them a little twirl before changing them back and re-tying them.

Violet always joked that she was our universe's version of Green Lantern. I'd thwap her later.

To the chemistry demonstrations...

"Wow!"

And even after that we still weren't done. We took in the art section next.

"Goodness! Mom has a whole exhibit for her paintings!" Asriel marveled at the collection of acrylic, matte, and oil paintings. Many of which he watched Callista paint personally. "There's even one of me!"

Sure enough, Callie couldn't resist slipping a portrait of goat son in there. And it was the most flattering portrait I'd ever seen of him.

"So I guess I'm kinda famous now?" Asriel rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish closed-eyes grin.

Laughter.

There were plenty of paintings and sculptures to take in.

And finally that led us to the history wing where we were all treated to the wonders of the past from all over the world. From Jangese armor and trinkets of the orient to artifacts from Fontraile's past to bits and pieces of Vorostov and Ecotropia history. But the star attractions were on loan from Neo Arcadia.

"Oh...my...!"

"Wow...I'm just speechless."

"Gaze upon wonder. Behold. One of the Wonders of the World. The ship of the Ancient Arcadians...the Solaris."

There was very little that could hold up to a whole wing that could house a ship made completely out of gold, sails and all. It was one of the most prized, and priceless artifacts of the days before Project Exodus. Actual physical proof of our before-times.

It was believed that Ancient Arcadia was one of the legendary Cities of Gold. Theory said that it was one of the last with the even more fabled Lemuronopia being the first. Some said Lemuronopia predated most if not all known civilizations. But a theory was just a theory without proof.

"So...shiny...!"

"So beautiful!"

"How did they ever make such a thing?"

"The Solaris is one of the 7 Wonders of the World. True to its name it was actually solar-powered. Hard to believe they devised a primitive form of solar cells and solar technology so long before all our our times."

"I wonder if it still works?"

I shrugged.

"But we're not done yet. We've got two of the Seven Great Wonders of the World in the museum, and this was only one of them...prepare yourself for..."

We entered the next room.

"...the Golden Condor." I grinned as I looked upon the shiny gold metal bird.

"Oh my goodness!"

"Golly...!"

"Historians say it was the first powered glider of sorts. Solar powered and able to seat about five or six people."

"It could really FLY?!"

"Well...we can't really prove it  but...the aeronautics experts believe it was very plausible."

We gazed upon the primitive machine and display case next to it. There was some kind of medallion in the case.

"Oh! What's this for?" Asriel pointed at the medallion.

"We don't really know. We want to believe it was some kind of key for the Golden Condor but...no one's been able to get a reaction out of it or figure out how it even installs into the cockpit panel. They say it was held but the legendary Esteban--the young boy who our research satellite in space is named for. They called him the Child of the Sun."

Much of our equipment was named for the people of those fabled times--the time of the Children of the Sun. Our satellites, M.E.N.D.O.Z.A. and E.S.T.E.B.A.N. Nikita's mainframe under the name of Z.I.A. And of course our T.A.O. links. Violet even had a robot parrot and I built which she programmed named Kokapetl. :detemmienation:  (Music Video Link)

Asriel looked closer.

"Hmm? That's strange...it wasn't glowing before..." He muttered to himself.

"Coming, Azzy?"

"Y...yeah...I'll be right there. Strange." He hustled after us.

Sub-Entry 152: "Mitzi's Still a fan of the King of Pop":
A while later we finished our afternoon.

"So you guys meeting me at the 3D Cinema Theatre? They're showing a double feature of Moonwalker and Captain EO back to back."

"Oh yeah...those film features with Michael Jackson."

Indeed, our world had many people--living and deceased--who were counterpart to ones who were living or deceased on Earth Prime. Of course by the law of averages a good portion of them are or were celebrities. It was one of the quirks of AU's; reflecting prime universes in some way.

But perhaps none defined Mitzi's era of pop culture more than the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson.

"I thought Mr. Jackson was a music star." Asriel scratched his head.

"He kinda dabbled in a film or two. And music videos. Lots of music videos."

Mitzi swooned a little...before sighing and looking unimaginably sad.

"Miss Mitzi?"

"He was...gone before his time." She sniffled.

I patted her shoulder. "It seems to happen to a lot of the musical greats...even in our universe, they get taken away from us too soon. Prince, Kurt Cobain, Jerry Garcia, Elvis Presley, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly......*sigh*...I'm getting the feels thinking about it."

"Those are a lot of names I don't recognize. I want to feel sad but I don't know anything about them.

"Aww...bless your heart, little guy. How about I get you started on the road to popular music of the past and ease you into the music of the present. Starting with my all-time favorite musician of all time."

We headed to the theater.

"Popcorn and sodas?"

"Yes, please!"

I bought the biggest tub of popcorn I could get and sizable drinks for everyone.

While we waited for the show, Mitzi and I took turns telling about the career of Michael Jackson from the days of the Jackson 5 to his last album and plenty of anecdotes in between.

"Cool!"

And then the first show began--Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. Kind of an oddity as it wasn't your typical movie. The first part chronicled his career. That led into his original video for the movie, "Leave Me Alone". :detemmienation:  (Music Video)

"That's what's known as tabloid journalism, Azzy. None of those newspaper headlines are true."

Then came the "Bad" music video...scaled down. :detemmienation:  (Music Video)

"So...bad in this case means good?"

And then the claymation music video of "Speed Demon". :detemmienation:  (Music Video)

"I bet Sally would love this."

"Violet already does." I whispered back. "For...reasons." I rolled my eyes at Spike's morphing antics.

And finally the Moonwalker mini movie telling the story of M.J. as a benevolent gangster who drew upon the power of lucky comets to transform as he found himself on the run from the evil Mr. Big and his terrorist drug cartel. All while protecting a trio of children. Which included the "Smooth Criminal" music video. :detemmienation:  (Music Video Link)

I could tell Asriel was amazed.

That reminded me...Violet and I would have to show Azzy the Moonwalker arcade game she had at Computer Valhalla after this.

Then the second show began. It was only 45 minutes compared to the last show but it was quite a treat for Asriel to see the King of Pop come together with the imagination of Jim Henson's characters.

The story of "infamous" Captain EO and his rag-tag space crew took us through a journey of science fiction as the gloved one piloted his crew to a hostile planet on a mission to open diplomatic relations with its bio-mechanical queen and bestow the gift of song and dance.

I had to admit...I had a soft spot for "We Are Here to Change the World" and all its cheesey 1980's flair. And the show ended on happy note, having segued from sci-fi to fantasy as Captain EO and crew made their exit to the sounds of "Another Part of Me". :detemmienation:  (Music Video Links x 2)

Afterward...

"Your era must've been so amazing, Mitzi."

"I certainly liked it. M.J.'s just as dreamy as ever...er...I mean--!" Mitzi blushed beat red.

"We get it, Mitzi. Don't have to be embarassed about it."

Violet popped up at that moment.

"Heeeey, how was your day of Wacko Jacko?"

"Violet! Don't call him that." Mitzi scoffed.

I knew I wouldn't be able to shield Goat Son from the controversy surrounding him. Those...things that I didn't want him to know about just yet, he'd learn in a natural course of time; when he was old enough to understand and form his own opinions. Right now...I just wanted to preserve the part that was clean and unspoiled.

"Sorry, sorry. But I guess now that you're on the road to pop music, I guess I should contribute something."

"Really, Miss VI?"

"It's not more Skrillex is it?" I muttered.

"You got a CD player at home or a CD ROM in your computer? I burned this earlier today--" VIolet produced a disc. Written on it in sharpie was "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley.

CRACK!

"...!!!" Violet blinked as she slid her gaze to the pieces of the disc still in her grasp.

"No. No." I wrinkled my nose as I put away Gadget's coil gun. "You're not doing this. Not that. No way. No how."

I turned away and had a bit of a discussion with Mitzi, expressing my annoyance at Vi's moment of being stupid. Probably shouldn't have turned my back because in that time Violet managed to ask Azzy for his smart phone and download something.

"...honestly, Violet. Must you--"

I was cut off right as Violet proceeded to rick-roll me on the spot. She waggled he eyebrows, daring me to take any action against Asriel's cell phone as the song played. :detemmienation:   (Music Video Link)

"I kinda like this song."

"You're killing me, Asriel..."

Son of a gun. She actually rick-rolled us.

Sub-Entry 153: "Dawn of Vengeance":
I meant to go check in on Scott and get started on fixing the Deloreon but I got caught up in the oasis in between trips to the Underground.

It never occurred to me that anything could be out of sorts...out of place......that something wasn't right.

Asriel was spending a lot of time away from home while Callista and Scott were tied up with their own careers and responsibilities. I thought it was normal not to hear from either of them.

And then...

My T.A.O. link beeped and I answered...but no one responded.

"Hello? Hello?" I checked the I.D. It was Callista's SHEPARD tag.

I tried the homing beacon...but nothing was showing up on radar. This was highly unusual. It wasn't like Callie to not respond. And even more so for the equipment to be malfunctioning like this.

Worried, I tried contacting Scott's T.A.O. link.

"Not in service?"

This wasn't looking good.

I tried the locator. Scott's SHEPARD tag was down too.

I was getting worried now.

I contacted Asriel on his cell phone next.

"Asriel? You there?"

"Hi, Volt!"

"Listen...are...you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine but my phone's battery is almost out. I forgot to charge it last time and I'm probably going to lose you."

"Listen...have you...heard from your mom or dad all day?"

"No...should I have? Is everything--"

* CALL DROPPED *

Crap.

I dialed Bunnie next.

"Major. Scott and Callie aren't responding. Their T.A.O. links are down. I checked on Azzy and he's okay but his cell phone's battery is dead. I'm getting worried...something just doesn't seem right."

"I'll be there as soon as possible, Commander. I'll have Megami and my advanced ninja class start searching for Scott and Callista."

"Okay. We'll split up and search the town. Try to get to Asriel first. I'd rather have him off the playing field."

"I'll try."

"I'm en route to his last known location before his cell phone powered down."

"Volt. Try to remain calm."

"I'll try...but you know me...I won't make a promise I can't keep. Volt out."

I started hustling toward Scott and Callista's place, hoping that if Asriel was on his way home, I'd intercept him first.

"I swear, Madam Fate...whatever script you got this time, I am NOT going to go easy on you..." I thought to myself.

It didn't seem right. The Underground and I both suffered some pretty bad crap lately. Wasn't my team and I entitled to some peace and quiet and happy times?

Calm down, Volt. You're getting worked up. It's probably not that serious. Whatever it is, you'll--!

* sniff sniff*

"Hmm?"

Scott's scent? I turned the corner and kept going. I was starting to get farther away from the populated areas. If he was in this area, it's unlikely anyone would see him or find him around here. But what was he doing this far out?

I kept going then skidded to a stop when I saw--!!!

"Scott!"

Face down on the ground. I checked the scanner glass. His medical scans seemed okay. There did't seem to be anything showing up on the status indicators in terms of status effect or known sickness. But what could have caused this?

I checked him throroughly. Strange...not a mark on him.

"Scott? Scott, wake up." I shook him. He stirred.

"Commander...? What...what happened?"

"Oh good. Thank goodness. As to what happened...I was hoping you'd be able to tell me."

"Can't quite remember."

"What about Callista?"

"Callista? I..."

"Maybe she tried to call you."

I checked his T.A.O. link which was laying nearby.

"Hmm...seems intact but...it looks like your local data's been corrupted. You're still connected to the network. It'll take a while for Violet to restore any call logs or text messages. We'd better go check on Callista."

"Right...good idea..."

Elsewhere in the Underground.

"Hmm? Well. It's about time you got home, brother. If you think you're going to make a bad joke about why you're late getting home from Grillby's--"

Papyrus opened the door.

"Paps...!" Sans stumbled thrown the doorway.

"Sans?"

Sans collapsed into his brother's arms.

"SANS!"

"Ungh..."

"Sans, what happened, why-- *gasp* Oh my god...you're down to only 0.1 HP! You're barely alive!"

Sans was THAT close to be dusted.

"It's...nothing a bit of leftovers won't fix. Got any of your spaghetti left?"

"Sans...now I know something is wrong when you're actually asking for my homecooked spaghetti."

"Bro...there are some things you're just better off not--"

"Is it about the human ghost?"

"Paps..."

"Undyne...has been searching the kingdom for her. She's...caused a lot of bad things to happen around here.

".......yeah..."

Papyrus served up the pasta.

"Brother. Please get your strength back. And...I can't believe I'm actually encouraging this but...rest as much as you need to. I...I'll take care of you."

"Papyrus..."

"If...you don't want to talk about it..."

"It's probably for the best." Sans dug in. The taste was in fact...indescribable. But like I said...a starving man can't afford to be picky in so many words...

And at the same time in Dr. Alphys' lab.

"...I suppose I should probably have a look at this oil. I am kind of curious what kind of mechanical lubrication that Dr. Arcade has off world. Maybe it's better stuff than what I'm using for Mettaton's internal parts."

Alphys smeared a sample onto a microscope slide and slide it under the Tunneling Electron Microscope.

"...wait a minute...this isn't oil...this isn't a lubricant at all...this is...!"

Alphys suddenly gasped.

"Oh no...oh no, no, no, no nononononono!" Her eyes widened.

"Ch...Ch.....Cha...Cha...!"

Meanwhile, back in town, we hurried toward Scott and Callie's residence. As soon as I got there I noticed the door was standing wide open.

"...!" I peered into the door frame, readying before charging headfirst in. I signaled for Scott to cover me.

I gasped lightly as I saw Callista's unconscious form.

I looked around. No sign of intruder but there was signs of...something amiss. I entered and cautiously approached.

I knelt down to check her.

Suddenly Callista's eyes snapped open.

"Callista, you're--"

"Look...out...!" She managed to gasp.

"Wha...?"

That was when I felt the presence hovering behind me.

"So Arcade...you still think I know nothing?"

Sub-Entry 154: "Chara's Revenge, Part 1":
I saw something red as I started to turn...and then darkness--

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TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED...

* STATIC*

CRYPTOSMASHER ONLINE

TRANSMISSION RESUMED

"...Co...an...d.......C...m...nd..r.......Commande r!"

My eyes fluttered open.

"Callie...?"

I sat up with some difficulty. I felt the back of my neck. Blood.

"Damn it all..."

"Are you okay, Commander?"

"Fine...I--"

That was when I noticed the large slash across Callista's arm.

"Oh my GOD!"

"It's not as bad as it looks. I can psi-heal this." Callista assured, grasping the wound, a purple haze wrapped around her hand.

That was when I came to the horrific realization.

"Oh my gods...no, no, no...!" I swallowed hard. "Chara!"

"She...she got Scott..." Callista looked at me with saddened eyes.

"She's in his body?" I gasped.

Callie nodded.

This was all kinds of bad. It would be EASY for Chara to get close to Asriel in Scott's body. So what was it about that which didn't feel quite like her style to me? No...it would be too easy and too cliche. No...Chara would play a much more twisted game than using the father to kill his own son.

I stood up as the last of my wounds healed up.

"I'm going to rip that damn phantom out of him and stuff her so far into the Netherworld--"

"Commander, wait. You...you need to see something..."

Callie stopped her healing for a moment then pressed her other hand to my forehead. I gasped as soon as she started loading her memories into my mind.

My eyes widened. I stood dumbfounded for a moment. Then I hung my head in the same manner as Asgore.

"So that's it. I know...I know what I have to do now."

"Please, Commander...find my husband-to-be. And find our son. Don't let her take our son."

"The only way she'll get to Asriel is over my dead body. And need I remind you...I'm an immortal werewolf." I said with a rather cold tone as I cracked my knuckles.

"Callie keep healing yourself. And as soon as that arm is good again, get in contact with Bunnie. The two of you start psychically sweeping the town for Asriel. I'll be taking the old fashioned approach."

"Commander...it's it's a safe bet that Chara has already used Scott's T.A.O. link to access our networks."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying...it's very likely she now knows who we all are...what we can do...what our assets are...and our strengths and weaknesses."

"So...Demon Brat finally decides to learn something. This is going to make things very hard. But...while she may know what we're packing on record...she doesn't know what I'm packing off the books."

"What are you going to do?"

"Call in backup. The kind that the Council would not approve of. I say to that...screw you guys. I'm saving my best friend from his best nightmare. I'm outta here, Callie. As soon as you get my transmission, you and everyone else switch to the backup channel to keep her from listening in on us."

"Right."

"We're going to get through this, Callie. And I'll get Scott back. Alive."

I ran out the door and back toward town. And then I put in the call to Command.

"Command! Priority Emergency. Ch--"

"I just got telemetry from Snowdin and Hotland. I know. Chara's followed you off world. Seems she had a throw-down with Sans but he came up short. He managed to escape with half his HP intact--"

"Half?! He's only got one hit point! Oh god...how did he manage to--"

"The Devil's Luck, I'd say under normal circumstances. But I have a feeling he got help from--"

"Gaster." It was the only thing that could have made sense. The Real Knife should have left Sans a pile of dust. This timeline's Gaster must've decided to intervine somehow.

"But Chara... How...how did she--!" Then it hit me. "That megalomaniac! She managed to get to Hotland and stowed aboard the Deloreon! That's why its engine was crapping out. That punk was sludging up the manifolds with her ectoplasmic presence!"

"In a population this big she's got a lot of people she can play musical meatbags with."

"Bad reference, Command."

"Bite my shiny, metal--"

"Will you stop bragging about your gold-plated floppy disk backup of E.T. for Atari and get serious?"

"Right, right. Sorry. Old habbits."

"Command, I'm going to need to open the special sections of the X-Vault. And I'm going to need you to install all the proper mods. I think you know what all I'm asking for."

"Oh yeah. It's totally hunting season. Everything you want, you got. Just make sure you wittle that little shade down so far that she won't even register as a class 1 vaporous apparition on the P.K. scale."

"She's currently in Scott's body."

"Damn. One of your heavy hitters. Okay...you might need to turn to Dr. Lynx to find a way to shut his KQF form down, safely, if you have to fight him."

"Got it. Just make sure the stuff is ready for delivery."

"It'll be there. Just go after her. She's already got a head start."

I nodded. "On it. Volt out."

Sub Entry 155: "Chara's Revenge, Part 2":
Asriel hummed brightly as he headed back into town. He had enjoyed his time out. Summer Vacation was coming to an end and school would be starting up again.

He knew he should probably call Scott or Callie but with a dead cell phone that wasn't going to happen soon. So he had his choice of going straight home or going to one of us and having that person make the call.

"I know I should go straight home but...Volt sounded kinda worried. Maybe...I should drop in on Sensei first. I can call from there."

Asriel started heading toward the dojo from where he was. His past was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment. It probably was for the best. But as it turned out, the past can be like a boomerang. And Azzy's was about to come back full force. He would never see it coming.

I could only speculate what must've crossed his mind when he heard it.

The song. :detemmienation:  (Music Video Link)

That music box song. The one he and Chara had heard before from the statue in Waterfall. The one that brought me to tears.

"...!" He stopped in his tracks and looked around. A tinge of fear crept up his spine. This feeling. This feeling was as if he could feel the sins that weren't even his crawling up his back and onto his neck.

"H...h...howdy? Is...someone...?"

That singing. Where was it coming from? No...were was it trying to lead him to?

"Do you remember our past, that’s long been overcast.  We’ve seen it at long long last, a lullaby of royal mast.

Do you remember the times we shared, how much we o so cared.

The times we played truth or dare, now I’m no longer scared.

'Do you remember the pain of loss, buried under a sea of moss. The feelings have been torn and tossed, now I’ve been consumed with dross."'

The compulsion. The need. The curiosity to follow it. Asriel was overwhelmed by that feeling. It was the same as when he had followed Shi-Shi to Lupe's nature preserve......no...this instance was different...darker...creepier.

"That...that was my song...I...wrote it for......for her......why is...?!"

The further he strayed from his path to the dojo, the further he got from town...from the people who he could turn to.

And soon he would realize too late that he was wandering alone. He was wandering to a place that was run down and abandoned. A part of Miranda that not even criminals, street gangs, or the homeless would come out to. A former industrial sector.

"Asriel..." The whisper sent chills down his spine.

"Who's th-th-there?" Asriel was now on edge and the fear was building.

The echo of a giggle passed by him. Then again in the opposite direction.

"This isn't funny!" Asriel's hand started to shake as his clutched his chest and he started hyperventilating

"Are your memories still all there...?...the smell of the surface air...the wind blowing through your hair..." The song drifted all around, the melody of "His Theme" carrying with them a softness but a sinister vibe.

The temperature had dropped rapidly.

The wind began to howl.

The sky even seemed like it had darkened.

Something grazed by Asriel's ear.

"B-Back off!" Asriel stumbled a bit and turned to run. For a moment the shadows seemed to change shape...becoming like a grinning emoji--a strange redness to the dot eyes.

"S-S-Stop making that creepy face!"

"You promised. You said we'd be heirs..." The whisper drifted past him.

Asriel's expression turned aghast.

"No...this isn't real.. Please, stop..." His eyes filled with tears.

"My child...you have done a terrible thing..." The voice shifted, Toriel's voice superimposing over top of it.

"Mommy...?"

"Son...you have disobeyed us..." Asgore's voice overlapped over top of it.

"D-Daddy...?"

"This kingdom has no place for a prince who is so weak and disappointing..." The whisper merged with Undyne's voice.

"No...Undyne...Dy-Dy....not you too..."

"Just die. You're more trash than Mew Mew Kissy Kitty 2."

"It's all your fault, isn't it?"

"I no longer believe in you..."

"Ahuhuhuhuh... Naughty little children like you should be squished...

"Sorry, dearie...you're better off cancelled... You're ratings have hit rock bottom..just like you..."

"Who...who are all of you?  Why do you hate me...?"

And then all the voices overlapped.

"We're all dead...and it's...your...fault..."

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Asriel screamed to the sky. And then...all was silent.

He sniffled and sobbed for a good long time. He was shaking. He was trembling. He was so scared. He was so alone.

"It's...it's just...j-just a....." Asriel swallowed hard. "It's all just a a bad dream." He trembled. It was then he noticed he was lost.

"Oh no..."

He dropped to hands and knees and sobbed.

"Somebody.......help me....please..."

He called for help...but no one came.

"Do you think I have a sick sense of humor, Asriel? It's time for you to honor your promise..."

...almost no one...

"You destroyed your family, Asriel...you betrayed Chara...you made Toriel leave Asgore...it's your fault that the Dreemurr heratage has come to an end..."

"No...oh no...please no...I...I didn't mean to...!

"Don't resist it, Asriel. Revert to your true state. I understand you better than anyone. Monsters like us wouldn't hesitate to kill each other if they got in each other's way."

In the shadows, Chara watched as her brother drifted into the vulnerable state he'd need to be for her to make everything fall into place. When she was done with him...he'd welcome him with open arms...and then the plan......the REAL plan could begin...

Chara licked the blade of the Real Knife, a black ichor washing over it for a moment.

Sub-Entry 156: "Chara's Revenge, Part 3":
OOC: Hyperion appears courtesy of former RP-er, Draconiator.

I was charging through town, my footsteps leaving crackles of lightning as I picked up speed.

I was feeling super pissed. If I was mad as a bull with a hungry rage, Chara had a bullseye on her that was visable from space.

"I'm going to throw you so far into into a muon trap, you'll have a a right angle for a face, you little...!"

I suddenly skidded to a stop when I saw the Miranda Border Patrol cruisers and a crowd of people. I noticed the area was sprinkled with small blast craters and burn marks. Definite signs of a battle.

"Doc!"

I recognized that voice. Bunnie's former student. When he was training under her, I equated him to Dan Hibiki from Street Fighter with a level of over-dedication and loyalty that rivaled Rock Lee.

We called him "Leafy" as a nickname because of his leaf-shaped emblem on his uniform.

"Hyperion."

"Jeeze, someone had a pretty rowdy party around here. It's like a war zone."

"As if I didn't already have enough on my plate..."

"You better be ready to heap more on. We got one of yours here."

"!!!"

I shoved past Hyperion and muscled my way over. And face down on the ground but alive was...!

"Scott!"

I heard him moan a little before attempting to get up. The paramedics carefully assisted him. He was in his human fom and looking pretty roughed up.

I cautiously approached, shooing the medics away, prompting everyone to give us space.

I tensed, ready to strike in case...

Scott opened his eyes.

"CALLISTA!" He sudden sat up with a scream. He looked really freaked out and deathly pale.

"Scott? It is you, right?"

Scott looked up at me. "Callista...is she...?"

"Yeah...you're you. And she's okay."

"Thank the gods..."

"Scott...what happened?"

"Couldn't...stop myself......she...took control of me...made me---!" He clutched his face.

"Scott, there isn't much time. Where's--"

"She's...found another body...to possess...one more powerful......no...more USEFUL than me. Fought so hard...lost all of my LIfe Units as Kabuki Quantum Fighter and the program collapsed in a fiery oxygen flare. Must've...thought my life functions ceased."

"More useful than Asriel's father?" I thought.

"Who?"

Scott leaned over and whispered.

(NO AUDIO)

My eyes wided.

"Oh sh....!"

I dug out my T.A.O. link. "Attentional all Ultra Crew Institute Action Team. Code Sigma Blue. All units respond. This is NOT a drill. Stand by to lock on my homing signal. Anyone who receives this message, exercise extreme caution if you engage the enemy. Please, hurry. Asriel is depending on all of us!"

I turned to Scott.

"Scott, I'll send Dr. Lynx to verify you're okay. If you can catch up to us, I'll have Callista standing by."

"Volt...please...save our our son."

"Neil, what's going on--"

He's really going to address me by my birth name? If he called me by my full birth name we were going to have words.

"Hype, I told you. It's Volt. And I don't have time to explain now. But if what Scott told me is true this just became a lot more serious...Brooke's going to have peoples' heads in the guillotine if this goes South!"

I got up and charged off.

"Command, tell me you got a lock!"

"This is your local underground STC bakery! We got the goodies!"

"Then you know what comes next!"

"Transferring! And picking you up and dropping you off..." Command's voice cut out as I started to teleport.

Sub-Entry 157: "Chara's Revenge, Part 4":
Asriel ran down the alleyways, deathly afraid, and crying.

"Volt...come back...pleeeeeeeeeease..." Asriel covered his eyes and bawled.

Chara watched and waited.

"He's not coming...you know he's not..." She mused to herself. "Look at you. You haven't changed evey a little bit. No matter how much older you get, you'll always be a little crybaby."

Asriel cried on until he grew too weary and morose to continue his lament.

And that's when he felt the hand on his shoulder...and he jumped with a panicked scream.

Laughter.

"You should see your face right now."

Asriel whirled...then his eyes widened.

"Ch.....Ch....."

"Come on, you didn't forget my name, did you?" Chara stood in a rather cocky pose. She wasn't translucent. She wasn't glowing. She was as solid as Asriel was. It was like no time had passed at all.

"Let me give you a hint...it's me...your best friend." Chara said with a cold smile.

The tears again started streaming as Asriel's face scrunched up.

"CHARAAAAAAAA!" He threw his arms around the human girl and hugged.

"I....I thought you were...I saw you...you were...your soul left your body and--"

"It was pretty cruel of you, Asriel...leaving me waiting like that."

"I'm sorry, Chara...I...I...fell and got lost...I couldn't get back to you....I--"

"Wow. You sure can make excuses, can't ya? And wow. You sure haven't listened to me much. Don't you remember what I said about being a big boy?"

"B...b-big boys d-don't cry..." Asriel wiped his tears on his sleeve and began to calm.

"All's forgiven. We're back together again. You won't have to let go." Chara comforted, soothingly.

"We can be together again. Remember? Remember how we used to play tag in the fields...how mom would read us bed time stories...?"

"Y-yeah..." Asriel was too busy focused on reuniting and remembering to notice Chara was leading him away from the area.

"But Chara...mom and dad are...our world is..."

"Shhh. Don't worry. Don't worry your little head. I know a way it can all go back to the way it was."

"You...you do?"

"Yes, dear brother. You only have to do one thing." She said as she hugged him again longingly.

Asriel started to smile, eyes closed.

No. Don't trust her.

"We can go home......"

Would this...really go down the same as I had seen in other AU's?

"Yes."

This is wrong.

"We can be a family."

I'd seen this happen in that one AU. It was too much of coincidence. Madam Fate...what were you doing?

"Yes."

"Everything will be just the way it needs to be...once you keep your promise..."

Asriel's eyes suddenly snapped open and his expression turned aghast.

"You remember, don't you...you remember the plan...we can still make it happen...we can go back...once my soul is yours...we'll be heirs to the new world that we'll create...once we destroy the old, decaying one the humans have created...hahahahaha...WE CAN RESET IT ALL--."

Asriel started pushing Chara away. He started to struggle. It all became very clear. But was it too late?

"Hey! Wh-what's the idea? Asriel, what are you-!"

Asriel suddenly ducked down and dropped out of Chara's embraced and fell to his rump and scooted away.

Chara's expression doured. "What's with that look, Asriel?" She said rather coldly. "Aren't you glad to see me again? Don't you want to have the same good times together we had 100 years ago? Don't you want to go back and set everyone free?"

"But Chara...we can't go back...it's..."

"Heh...heh.......you really don't know...oh well...you'll know soon enough once you--"

Asriel scooted away.

"Come on, Azzy. You're being an idiot. Come on. Get up. Get up and keep your promise."

"I.......I......I...can't..."

"I must've misheard that. What did you say, Asriel?"

"I...I can't...I just can't..."

"Can't or won't?"

Asriel swallowed hard. "B...both......I--"

"What did you do, Asriel?" Chara's eyes disappeared under the shadow of her hair.

"I...I made a promise. But you have to understand...I thought you were--"

"WHAT did you promise?"

"Chara, you're scaring me..."

"Answer me, Asriel."

"I......I promised him...I promised I'd never absorb a human soul."

"WHO. DID. YOU. PROMISE?!?"

"V.......V...V-Volt.  Volt Arcade."

For my name to suddenly become a lynchpin for what was about to happen next...this was low, Madam Fate. This was low.

Chara was omimously silent. She held her arm behind her back...as the Real Knife formed in her grasp.

"Chara...you're making that face again......stop it....stop it, Chara. Stop making that creepy face!"

Chara started giggling.

"I'm sorry...I should have told you from the beginning. I...I don't like the plan...I never did...it's wrong...it's not what Mom would want...it's not what Dad--"

"You naive little goat..."

No. She wouldn't dare tell him what Asgore did. She wouldn't dare tell him the truth.

"Chara?"

"I'm not ASKING you, Asriel." Chara's red eyes pierced from the shadow.

"You're not refusing to keep your promise, are you, Asriel? Don't lie to me."

"I...I'm sorry. But I...I have to. I have to re--"

"Since when were you ever the one in control. Since when did you ever believe you had a choice?"

No. She was about to attempt something worse.

"Cha...ra...?"

Chara drew back and slashed!

Asriel gasped.

"...well, well...you dodged my attack...I never thought you'd have that kind of quickness in you..."

If Bunnie weren't such a good teacher...if Asriel hadn't had so much practice in Violet's simulations...

Asriel looked down.

"You...you...ruined my shirt..." The blade had tore a large slice through it but it had missed Asriel's flesh and fur.

"You need to get your priorities straight, little brother. I know you're not getting broken up over a lousy--"

"Sensei...gave me this shirt...it was my favorite...I was supposed to take care of it...it was given to me out of love......I had nothing but my sweater and pants...she gave this to me......she trusted me to care for this..."

"Oh come ONNNNN...you're getting all sentimental about a rag with weird writing on it? What's that chicken scratch even supposed to say?!"

"P.......purity..."

"Say again?"

"Purity...it means purity."

Chara laughed in response.

"How sweet." She sneered. She grabbed Asriel by his shirt and pulled him close, bringing the knife too close to comfort. She traced with it, threatening to carve a curved mark into each cheek......was she threatening to create the same marks on him that the Absolute God of Hyperdeath had on his?

Asriel squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered.

"Come on...take this punishment like a big boy. Look at you...all pathetic and weak." Chara pulled him closer. "Look me in the eyes, you little coward. Do it! Do it now!"

Asriel slowly opened his eyes.

"What's this...hahah...this a new magic power of yours, Asriel? As if you weren't already enough of a freak. Now your going to change your eye color on me? What the Hell kind of creature has purple eyes?"

Purple...the color of perseverence. Asriel was backed into a corner but his survival instincts were pushing him to live. He didn't know how but he'd get out of this...he had to survive this. Too many people cared about him for him not to. Asriel couldn't stand the the thought of making his family and friends sad and broken if they lost him. Six virtues. Only one remained.

"Why don't I just get to the point. You're getting my soul, Asriel. I'll force feed it down your throat if I have to. You're going to become a god. But don't think this is one sided...you have something I want. Something that doesn't belong to you...something that will change the world--"

* KA-BLAM!!! * Chara lurched forward letting of of Asriel. Asriel fell to the ground with a grunt.

"Who...who DARES?!?" She whirled and looked up and saw it hovering in the air with heavy duty jet thrusters.

And this was where things diverged from the other AU's. This time when he called for help...someone came. That someone was...

"You...!!!"

I glowered down upon her as my furious rage pierced through her as if my eyes had heat ray vision. Command had done quite a rush job upgrading the yellow exoframe suit with all the hardware I needed; making it stronger, faster, more maneuverable. Able to be a lot more nimble in the air and on the ground than when it had first been used. It only had slight acid damage from xenomorph blood on it, but that was a tale I'm sure Ellen Ripley would prefer I never tell.

All that was on my mind at the moment was making this alien ghost pay.

"Get away from him, you B--(FLOWEY LAUGH)!!!"

Sub-Entry 158: "Chara's Revenge, Part 5":
The flames continued to wrap around Chara's form. The modified flamethrower mounted to the exoframe spewed smoke.

Asriel looked up in my direction.

"VOLT!!!" He cried. "You came! I called for help and you came! You really came to rescue me!"

"Of course I did. I'll do whatever it takes to be there for my BEST FRIEND." I emphasized the last two words, making sure I directed it in Chara's direction.

"So that's how it is..." Chara' said rather coldly and without emotion.

"You choose him instead of me...your own sister..."

"Chara...I--"

"SHUT UP! I'm tired of putting up with your CRAP, Asriel! You're going to honor your promise to me. We're going to go back home. We're going to break the barrier. And I'm going to show you what humanity is really like before we make it extinct!  Starting with this screwed up half-human alien FREAK!!!"

"You know what I think, Chara? I think you're the only alien who doesn't belong here. Asriel stays here. And you don't know what you're talking about--let him have his happy ending."

"You...don't...get it... I am the demon that comes when you call its name. It doesn't matter when...it doesn't matter where. I will ALWAYS be there to take away your happy ending."

Asriel gasped as Chara rose up and snuffed out the flames before her form started...changing...losing color and turning shiny and metallic...silvery...like liquid metal. Oh no...there were a couple of shapeshifters in town who could do that...Chara had to have possessed one of them...but who was it?

"What's...what's happening to you, Chara?!" He looked up at me where I kept the Exo Frame hovering. "Volt?  What's wrong with her."

"Many things.  But mostly...she's in a body that doesn't belong to her.

Chara's form twisted until it was about Asgore's size and carried only a passing resemblance to her previous form but generally she looked halfway between the Xenomorph Queen from Aliens and the Absolute God of Hyperdeath's final form, wings and all with a little Omega Flowey mixed in.

"So I'm an alien, am I? Then I might as well look the part." Chara's distorted voice sneered as she again went for Asriel.

"As if a half-breed fleabag was a match for me in this body!"

I had landed the Exoframe on the edge of the roof of the building overlooking the battlefield in order to conserve jet thrust. But she again made the racist comment.

"Chara...just WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM?!?" I bellowed with all of my lung power and then put the Exoframe's modifications to the test. Something told me that I channeled something that thousands of anime fans would want to punch me for. But meme-worthy bluster aside...I was way beyond TOO HELLA PISSED to care.

"WHO-THE-HELL-DO-YOU-THINK-I-AM KIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!" I yelled as I had the machine jump off the building and sail forth, sending its foot pod straight for Chara's head, knocking the she-beast a pretty good distance before the machine landed in a heap. I scrambled to get back up and back on the frame's feet.

"HANDS-OFF-MY-BELOVED-BEST-FRIEND-FOREVER-PUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCH!"

I slugged the clamper of the frame's arm across Chara's twisted face in a move that should have snapped a normal person's neck.

"Asriel, run! I'll deal with her!"

Asriel staggered to his feet and hesitated.

"Don't argue!!! If anything happens to you, I'll never forgive myself! Please! Just go! Forget about me!"

Asriel wiped his eyes again and took off running, terrified and sobbing.

"Huh? You really think it's that easy to get away from me? Little brother...your usefulness to me hasn't come to an end yet. I may need you...but you don't have to be able to walk to serve my purpose!" Chara drew back and hurled the Real Knife in Asriel's direct.

"You twisted megalomaniac! That's your own family!" I screamed as I tried to use my magnetism to grab it. It was already beyond my reach and threatening to sear into Asriel's leg!

"HIRAIKOTSU!!!"

Out of nowhere, the giant, Hinoki Cypress boomerang cut through the air and intercepted the Real Knife before it could pierce Asriel's leg. The massive weapon arced back around back to where it was thrown, the holding grip landing in the cybermorphed hand that threw it.

"What?!  Who--"

Chara didn't have time to complete her protest. She was interrupted by the full-incantation, limiter removing voice commands that preceded a follow up attack.

"イェ藩主！男の名を冠する肉と骨、翼のフラッタ、あなたがたのマスク！夢のこの罪のない壁の際に真実と禁 酒は、少しあなたの爪の怒りを放つが、.

[I~e hanshu! Otoko no na o kansuru niku to hone, tsubasa no furatta, anata gata no masuku! Yume no kono tsumi no nai kabe no sai ni shinjitsu to kinshu wa, sukoshi anata no tsume no ikari o hanatsuga.]

(Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws.)

破道の33: 蒼火墜 [Hadou no sanjuu-san: Soukatsui] (Destructive Art 33: Blue Fire, Crash Down)

Bunnie thrust out her palm, as the runes she drew upon it with the Shodouphone had lit up with neon cyan light. A massive blue-flame comet tore free from them and blazed through the air. The fireball plowed into Chara as her guard was down. The blast washed around her and finally pushed her back and knocked her completely down, causing her to splatter into corrupted mercury again.

"That's far enough, akuma."

Chara reshaped herself, this time resembing something closer to a female version of Perfect Cell while still retaining some of her recognizable pink-cheeked human traits.

"You...you must be Bunnie Rabbotou..."

"That would be my second in command."

I climbed out of the Exo-Frame and not a moment to soon. The stress and abuse I put it through with just those few attacks caused it to collapse to junk and blast apart violently.

"You think you can stop me from--"

That's when we heard the mighty lion's roar.

There was Shi-Shi with Lupe riding atop the alpha male king of the beasts.

"My child! Are you unhurt!"

"Miss Lupe!"

Lupe caught up to Asriel, and lifted him aboard the big cat as it continued to run at a surprising speed.

"Well done, Lupe!" I nodded.

"I will take him to safe sanctuary."

"You're not getting away!" Chara's form shifted, starting to resemble Chaos 6 from Sonic Adventure. The stinger pointed and started launching a swarm of Real Knife copies, each shooting off like a homing missile.

"You've got issues, kid. For someone who claims to need Asriel alive you sure are bent on obliterating him!"

I pulled both XBTOCLC's at the same time Bunnie shoved both sleeves up and cybermorphed her arms into the arm cannon forms and made her weapon selections.

I sweeped a rain of plasma lasers through the knives as Bunnie unloaded Missile Hunter and swarm-spammed the air with waves of missiles.

"Commander, explanations are definitely warranted."

I got out of Asriel's hearing range to explain.

"Short story, Chara followed me off world, and took out Scott and Callie. They're likely recovering."

"What about the immediate threat?"

"You might want to get Brooke an extra serving of sake. Because body parts will probably be removed when she finds out..."

"Finds out what?"

"That Chara possessed her son, Prince James, and used his shapeshifting to absorb our other shapeshifter friend, Aiden, afterward and has become a biomechanical, nanomorphic abomination that can replicate both organic tissue and complex technology.  Chara has basically pulled a Metal Sonic after copying all the data from the four Hero Teams along with Perfect Chaos'."

"...Commander...raise the danger level to Omega Purple."

"We've gotta get them both out of there or it'll be hard to say who'll have the worse Hell lined up for us...Chara or Brooke."

"Why don't I make it easy to determine?" A pair of Real Knives formed, one pointed at each of us before firing off a beam of solid blackness.

"She's already tapped into Aiden's evolutionary potential." I growled as I electromorph-arced backwards while Bunnie used hienkyaku (flying kick) to air dash out of the way.

"We could sure use backup against something like this..."

Sub Entry 159: "Chara's Revenge, Part 6":
OOC: Red Stokes appears courtesy of fellow RP-er, Road. Kid the Cat appears courtessy of Kid.

Meanwhile on the other side of town...

"...Okay, I've gotten the Raiun no Keisei function fine-tuned and a whole slew of electromagnetically-tethered blades. You're more than a match for the target. Here's what you need to know. Do NOT attempt to to devour the target. I know how carnivorous R-Series are. The target is VERY inedible...plus I'm sure Brooke will skin you alive.

Any injury or death to goat son is UNACCEPTABLE.

The target needs a body to possess so don't even think about getting too close should she abandon her living puppet, or Bunnie's going to have to Ice Capsule you until we can kick her out of you.

Rely on energy weapons and freezing attacks if you have them. Physical attacks will probably do very little good. HF Blades and Heat Blades might work."

"Sweet, you got Thundercloud Formation working again! Heh...I'll tear it a new one so big--" Red Stokes grinned a massive shark toothed grin that put Tenga Toppa Gurren Lagaan's Viral to shame.

"And I hate to say this, but watch the language. REALLY watch the language or Volt will make sure Vlad comes down on you hard and Bunnie will make sure that Monique has you sleeping on the couch if the swear jar increases significantly."

"That takes the fun out of things. But I guess I gotta cut back on the F-bombs now that I got a couple kids of my own."

"Just stick to the rules and I'll have Bunnie craft a sweet sword for your collection.  Oh!  And don't forget to say the thing!"

"Come on Vi!  That's too cheesy for me.  I'm a badass.  That's--"

"Red.  C'mon.  For me?  You know it'll be cool."

A grunt and a grumble.

"You owe me." He narrowed his eyes.

"The payoff will be worth it.  Your family's gonna love it and you'll have enough to take Monique on a second honeymoon."

Violet turned to Kid the Cat.

"You understand what you have to do? Plenty of catnip in it if you do a good job."

"Of course, my fine lagomorph lady!"

"Separate James and Aiden from that...thing any way possible. Nikita's analysis has shown the target's already self-replicating and self-modifying so even without the two of them in there, there's going to be a mass left over and it'll be under Chara's control. Though what kind of form it wil have, that's up to the demon brat. I'll join you both on the battle field and try to get her contained once we're sure the beast is under control. We good?"

"We're good!" Kid nodded as his rabite companion, Mouse joined him. The two of them opened a portal into "Kid Space" and were well on their way.

"Get me loaded up, Vi." Red made a mad dash to the UCIAT building and took the elevator all the way to the roof and then waited for Violet's confirmation beacon.

Violet in turn headed to the command center to ready the launch controls and made a bold announcement over Computer Valhalla's outside emergency public address system.

The rooftop of Computer Valhalla suddenly lifted up off the framework and transformed into a rail cannon shaped like a giant six-shooter pistol.

"Rising from the ashes of Robot Hell and emerging in fiery awesome like a phoenix! Witness the Scarlet Mist Bringer and the Crimson Princess joining forces once again! Allies marvel at the awesome of our epic fusion! Enemies crap yourselves stupid at the rainbow of pain headed your way! NOW HEAR OUR WORDS AND SEE OUR ACTIONS! EVIL GET READY FOR TOTAL OWNAGE!!!"

Violet squeezed the trigger once the computer locked onto the signal from Red's backpack. The rail cannon lit up and launched the unit straight toward Red's position.

As soon as Red heard the announcement he grinned and took a swan dive off the UCIAT building!

"Null, ARMOR UP!"

As soon as the machine locked onto Red the backpack suddenly shifted and began to morph, covering him as the R-Series went into free-fall, rapidly approaching the ground. White armor plates clicked into place, servos tightened, and connections locked. Red closed his eyes as the helmet covered his face. The moment the H.U.D. kicked on, he opened his eyes, and fired off the boosters, taking to the sky with a sear of plasma flame and repulsor powered energy.

And soon Red was on his way toward the battle.

At the same time, on the other side of the world...

"...finally the reporters and the crowd have died down. I know we were in rare form from the race and all, but I'm gonna start checking myself for bite marks and blood loss if our fans get any more rabid."

"You're exaggerating, Honey."

"Hmm?" Sally quickly stowed the 1st place trophy in her inventory then answered her T.A.O. link.

"What is it, Sally?"

"Oh my god..."

"What? What's wrong."

"We need to get to Miranda City right now! The Commander and Bunnie need our help!"

"Sally, there's no way we can make it over there in a day let alone minutes."

"It's Asriel...his life could depend on us."

"I know, Sally but there's no way to get from here to--"

"There's one way. Maximum Overdrive."

A momentary silence.

"All the way? No limiters on the Biofield? We'll burn out our connection to the Morphing Grid."

"I'm taking the risk. CIPHER, load the Lightspeed Dash ring tunnel and stretch it from Kaeleron to Fontraile. Load the TURBO W.I.S.P. and mechamorph the Tengu Suit into Gamma Mode. And finally load a set of Vector Plates from here to the beach and ready the Transwarp Jump Gates. We'll take the East to West route."

"Sally, you're talking about crossing the ocean...with just OGPX gear!"

"It's gotta be done. We're all willing to risk our lives for each other. That's what it means to be UCIAT family."

"I'm in."

"Hey. YOLO, y'know?"

A three-way overlap of hands and then each member of Team Acorn suited up in Tengu Suit form and engaged the RVG-Gamma loadout; The armor parts and overlay--built and colored in RVG-Gamma's image--formed over the Tengu arm, leg, waist, and torso sections. The armor then deployed high speed vents, jets, dynamos and coils giving the suit a massive speed and electric element boost.

"Give us a countdown, CIPHER."

"Now activating TURBO W.I.S.P."

"Engaging Super Pursuit Mode."

"Charging Cell Chip."

"Vector Plates materializing on the ground."

"3...2....1...LAUNCH!"

And from the moment they took track runner position and took their first step...all sound and even time itself stood still for a brief second as a spherical blast wave roared outward.

Then in the next moment three massive gashes TORE through the ground, as the pavement melted and chunks of asphalt scattered and the Vector Plates' code was shredded to scrambled binary.

Windows and glass shattered as a red, yellow, and blue light path stretched from Turbotropolis Speedway to the beach where three tunnels made of hovering, glowing gold rings stretched endlessly across the water between continents. The moment they passed through the first ring, the sky echoed with a mach 9 sonic boom. It wasn't quite the Speed of Light...but it was definitely sub-quantum. :detemmienation:   (Music Link)

Only moments into the ring tunnel later did the first Transwarp Gate appear.

Once the trio entered, they turned completely invisible only to reappear a significant distance further across the ocean from a second gate, And this repeated--crossing unfathomable distance in sub-quantum bursts in milliseconds; the combination of Ring Tunnels and Transwarp Gates keeping them from falling into the water--until they reached the far west border of the continent of Fontraile. And from there it became cross-country all the way to the other side of Fontraile.

While at the same time back in town...

"...we'll get there, Gadget. Don't worry. Rotor's got this." Mitzi reassured as Rotor piloted the SWV-016 telecommunication van toward the battle.

"I don't know about this...when we go charging into battle like this, it's like the dark days all over again--"

"Come on, Jon. Where's your sense of adventure! And don't worry, the other Darkstalkers are probably miles and miles away from us. They're not going to start dropping in unexpectedly just because we have a tussel with some weird demon."

"That's what you said about Pyron. Why do you keep dragging me into these things, Felicia?"

Sub Entry 160: "Chara's Revenge, Part 7":
As all the parties headed toward the battleground, Bunnie and I found ourselves on the defensive while Lupe struggled to get Asriel as far away from Chara as possible.

"So you're going to try to get Asriel away from me? You really are an IDIOT!"

Chara's form pulsated a bit before parts of it divided from the main mass and reformed into clones of Chara--resembling human form but with demonic wings and Asgore's goat horns. And all of them were dripping ichor from their eyes and mouths.

And the group started heading after Lupe at full flight.

"Kuso! There're headed back into town!"

"Back into populated areas. Dammit, we were supposed to draw our enemy away from any innocent bystanders. She won't hesitate to rack up collatoral damage and innocent victims just to get to her goal.  We had one job, Bunnie.  ONE JOB.  We are SO about to blow it!"

"We'll just have to focus on stopping them at the source and hope our backup intercepts them before they can do any real harm, Volt-san."

Chara reshaped again, this time taking a form not unlike a centaur or the Godkarmachine o Inari from Dr. Doppler's lab (once again my assistance with the Maverick Hunters rears its head.).

She formed a pair of super-sized Real Knives and threatened to bring them down upon both of our heads, skewering us.

"You can watch your second in command die and then revive to tend to her corpse before I hack you up again!"

* POOF!!! *

"What the-!! Ice cream cones?! Ewww! And they're not even chocolate!"

Chara dropped her transformed weapons.

Bunnie looked to her side as the mischievious grin of our favorite chaos cat hovered in midair.

"Nice Cheshire Cat impression."

The rest of Kid faded into view.

"Another of your freaks, Arcade?"

"Now that's not very nice."

"It's not supposed to, you...!" Chara went off on a long string of foul language.

"I think someone needs her mouth washed out with soap..." Kiddles gave a sly smirk. Chara started to protest moments before she found the mother of all bars of soap--ridiculously oversized at that--shoved into her mouth.

"Very...resourceful, Kid Dynamite." I mused, tacking on a nickname.

Chara spat out the bar with some difficulty. "You...mock...me...?!?"

"I'm a mocker. I'm also a puller, a tugger, and a yanker..." Kid seemed to be in three places at once as he grabbed Chara's rosey cheeks and pinch-tugged on them while at the sem time another instance of him was perched on her head, trying to steer with her horns, and another was yanking her tail.

While Kid was keeping her busy, his trusty companion, Mouse had already opened a portal into Kid Space and reopened it...elsewhere.

And at the same time, Red's pet Ether Scarab, Green, had opened a portal of its own via its mandibles, leading...again elsewhere. And while Chara was occupied with three chaos cats, two more Kid copies followed their way into the portals and soon emerged moments later--one carrying an unconscious Aiden and another carrying a groggy Prince James.

"What have you done?!" Chara hollered as Kid reformed and got the two shape shifters to safety.

"Evened the odds, what do you think, GENIUS?" I taunted.

"Volt." Bunnie scolded, warning me about antagonizing the enemy.

"You fools...I've already copied their forms and I'm still evolving. You can't hope to catch up to being who's about to become a god!"

"We eat gods for breakfast!" I opened fire with a V.O.L.T. strike as Bunnie cybermorphed from neck to feet and selected the D-Chip, Acid Tunnel.

I got to cover as her defense field went up. A tunneling, curling wave of corrosive green acid swooped forth from behind Bunnie as her nanites reconfigured the air and the moisture in it into a powerful acid. The wave surged forth, splashing its way around Bunnie harmlessly but engulphing Chara before eventually losing momentum and collapsing into a sizzling puddle.

"Graaaaaargh!"

"We eat gods for breakfast?" Bunnie questioned.

"Too much?"

"Violet would like it. I think it sounds a bit arrogant."

"Complain to Egon next time we drop by the firehouse." I was soon interrupted as Red made his entrance and stabbed his HF Blade straight down.

Sure enough...he made good on his promise to deliver Violet's heroic bluster.

"The Bringer of the Scarlet Mist gives you the gift of the Red Rain of Paaaaain!"

"Dammit, Red..." I growled. Wrong person to be mad at. It was too cheesy to be one of his lines. Definitely Violet who put you up to that grandstanding. With friends like Violet, it's no wonder some of us had a hard time taking Red seriously. Yet...he put up with her shenanigans and attempts to undermind anything any attempts to be profound.

Why Red Stokes accepted Violet Tokugawa as a friend without question was beyond me.

At the same time...

"Miss, Lupe! Chara's gaining on us! She's gonna catch us! I'm scared! I'm so scared! Why is she doing this...why...why does she hate me so much?"

"Just hold on, little one...we'll...persevere somehow." Lupe looked backward, the reflection of Chara's image across her corneas getting all the larger as she got closer.

Lupe braced and squeezed her eyes shut as the True Knife descended upon her temple--

Suddenly Chara's moments and Lupe's seemed to slow and nearly stop.

"What...what's going on--!"

Suddenly...Sally.

Sally grinned as her eyes glowed bright blue in mid sprint. She held up a little white card that read: "Hi. I'm Sally Acorn."

Clever. Cocky. Sassy. That's Sally. Oh, she was so much like that guy...

Chara slowly raised an eye as the world around her seemed surreal and sedated.

Sally flipped the card over and Chara read the message:

"I ship my fist with your face."

"What the Hell--?" Chara slowly raised her gaze from the card only to see Sally's knuckles.

Only a brief moment passed before Sally's fist landed in the center of the Chara clone's's forehead. There was a brief moment of distortion of flesh as waves rippled from the impact.

The glow in Sally's eyes stopped and in the next instant there was a ring of dust and air pressure from the point of impact. Then the next instant, Chara clone was piered through building after building after building after building. Like a bullet that kept going until she landed in a distorted liquid metal help almost countless city blocks away.

Sally's speed and sudden decceleration had impacted with a force that was truly terrifying. If she hadn't ben protected by the Biofield and the power of its bio superenhancement, her whole arm would have been turned to blood, pulp, and calcium dust.

Sally dug in her Overdrive Sandal heels and fired up her repulsor retro-jets, static accumulators, and other OGPX hardware and came to a stop, liquifying the asphault as her gash in the road finally came to a halt.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Lupe." She gave a smirk, a wink and what I refered to as the Falcooooooooon...Salute! As in Captain Falcon.

Lupe commanded Shi-Shi to stop at that moment.

"Sally!"

Asriel's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. The rest of Team Acorn skidded to a stop as well, further ruining the street.

And elsewhere, the SWV-016 van slammed head on into another Chara clone, liquifying it as well.

"Huh...I guess she has limited range to maintain their cohesion." He rubbed a tusk.

Back at the battleground...

It had been a pretty good amount of time since Red had launched and landed and assisted with the assault on Chara.

Chara writhed as she tried to shake off the acid and regenerate from where Red's strikes had blazed her.

He was fighting like a beast. Given the situation, it wasn't that big a deal if he wanted to grandstand a little. He was alternating between HF Blade and Chainsaw Bayonettes and moments of knife swarms in the same fashion as the Shredder at the climax of TMNT (2014).

In the excitement he had forgotten what Violet said about physical attacks but the shere barrage of them was keeping her off balance.

"Don't let her get away!"

Bunnie began casting one of her most dangerous binding arts.

"縛道の99: 禁 [Bakudou no 99: Kin] "

She looked visually drained as multiple black portlals opened around Chara and bands like black bandages poured out and wraped around her until they had bound her in a tar-like cocoon.

"Volt-san. Help me put up a barrier around her." Bunnie said as she scripted her largest Servering Void in a circular fence around the evil demon.

I acknowledged and wrapped my most powerful electromagnetic barrier around the fence. And we finished just in time and started getting some distance as we heard it above--the sound of an F-22 Raptor soaring.

"Violet." Bunnie looked up. Sure enough Violet had gotten to the airport pretty quickly, donned a flight suit and taken off with a full load of ordinance.

"Attention, Bringer of the Red Mist! The Crimson Princess has a message for you. You might want to vacate the area pretty darn quick if you want to avoid a hello greeting that's too hot to handle if you catch my drift."

"Oh sh--(FLOWEY CACKLE)!" Red backpedaled. He knew what was coming...a lot...of...FIRE. And R-Series regenerated against just about everything...except from fire.

"Get the Hell back!" I screamed as I took off in a dead run. Bunnie did the same.

"The name's Violet. Remember it!" Vi's taunt came over the loud speaker before the bomb bay doors opened. "This is why I'm Afterburner II champion at the Powerhouse Arcade! Kisses from Heaven...you're going to HELL!" Violet pressed the switch to drop the "Hades Bomb". :detemmienation:  (Music Link)

The next thing we knew there was a massive explosion at the epicenter of where Chara was bound. It strained both of our barriers, cracking the Severing Void and distorting the magnetic wall until both collapsed, releasing a river of flame that eventually stopped before it reached any of us or our rescued victims. The whole area was ablaze. Violet, what the actual Hell?!?

I was sooo going to have a talk with her later...

"Nothing like good old napalm to start a fire." Violet mused as she flew by

Some time passed before I looked to see to see what happened.

"Did we get her?"

Suddenly I shoved Bunnie to the ground as I heard it. Two black tentrills seared across, tearing through my side like massive needles!

"Unngh!" I winced feeling pieces of bone chip out of my rib cage and piece of me tear free...moments before the cell structures regenerated, leaving only a bloody stain surrounding the torn attire.

The echo of unholy laughter filled the blazing inferno.

"Only you, Arcade...only you can push me beyond my limits and force me to evolve and exceed them!"

"Oh no..."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Chapter 17

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