PLD Chapter 6

"CHAPTER 6: Villainous Rematch and Strengthening Friendships"

Sub-Entry 51: "Alphys NEO":
"Pathetic."

When am I going to learn the dangers of lowering my own guard?

"You don't get it, do you?"

I definitely wanted to meet Dr. Alphys. But...not under these circumstances. Not like this...

"Let's say by some twist of fate you make it past me to Asgore's castle. What's your plan after that?"

Having come off of the triumph of seeing Asriel and company completely crush Violet's LYOKO simulation and that I now had an idea of how he was able to pull off the HUD summon in the dojo, I felt that it was the perfect time to bring the good times home by finally dropping in on Alphys and offering the laurel of friendship. I was hoping to find an ally as I had done with Toriel, Sans (maybe?), and Papyrus. And at least I had opened up the possibility that I could win Undyne over.

I was wrong.

I brushed the soot and ash off the burns on my lab coat then tightened my fists, the electricity crackling over them.

No stutter. No hesitation. No standing awkwardly, hanging on the end of every few words trying to make a complete thought. And definitely no lack of confidence. Yeah. I knew what this was.

"Do you think relying on that compassionate heart of yours is going to let you last even a moment against him once he figures out that you're not really one of us? That maybe...your soul might be even more compatible than the human's?"

I had modified the spare PKE meter using the updated schematic from my mentor, some seven or more years after his hey days; having taken 4 of his college class' students under his wing as the new "Extreme" successors to his old team. (The old team which was now long since retired). The arc of lightning between the two antennae conduits was all the proof I needed. And the display just hammered it home. Demonic possession confirmed.

"Oh yes. I know. I know you're not who you appear to be. You're not even supposed to be in our world, are you? Maybe in time...I'll discern where it is you really come from."

Not-Alphys pushed her glasses up a little further and grinned a devilish grin.

"As the Royal Scientist it's my duty to inform him of threats to the crown. He might even show leniency for the failures of the Amalgamates and the son that couldn't be brought back to life."

That was a jab I couldn't ignore.

"Why don't we call this what this is? A rematch. And you're still not fooling anyone, Chara Dreemurr."

"Wow. You really are something special. How quickly did you figure it out?"

"From the moment you started prattling on, you specter infect-er."

"Cute. But I won't be falling to your slimy trick again. I made sure of that when I broke your little toy."

The loss of the modified proton pack was very unfortunate. Aside from losing a highly dangerous positron collider and neutrona wand, I also lost all the experimental technology upgrades--the Boson Dart collider systems, the Overload Pulse, the Shock Blast, the Stasis Beam, the Slime Blower mk II (which served me well during our first meeting. Again, I owed Toriel an apology that I could never give.), the Slime Tether and Slime Mines, and the Meson Collider parts. Egon and Ray would have words with me if this were a normal busting job.

"Too smart to give up your meat shield? Or just too afraid?" I taunted "Alphys NEO". :justice:  (Music Link)

"You say such interesting things. I wonder what Undyne would say if anything happened to her precious Dr. Alphys? The self-mutilations I could do right at this very moment. I wonder if she would blame the human brat.....or you?"

"Your game continues to get more twisted."

"Someone's a bad sport when they're not winning."

"Like you're any better a sport for force feeding your apparent victory into your opponent at every turn.  You've been taunting me with premature win boasts since you jumped me outside the lab."

"Now what kind of thing is for that for you to say? Didn't Smiley Trashbag's idiot brother have some sagely advice about acknowledging your own greatness?"

What the Hell...how could she know about that?

"Really trying to get me on the ropes, psychologically aren't you? When it comes to a battle of the mind games, you'll find yourself woefully naked by comparison."

"Again you say such amusing things. If you're going to match wits while running away from my attacks, you might as well put ya gunz on!"

Was that a shot at the fallen child that had carried a revolver?

I charged through the orange lasers and froze in place as the blue lasers swept through me.

"Asriel deserved better than you." A quick sting might buy me a moment. A blow that low had to disrupt her concentration. Hopefully for just enough time to widen the distance between us.

"You had to go there, didn't you?"

Maybe it was the way that Chara had changed the position of the dino scientist's head, because at that moment I couldn't see Alphys' eyes behind those thick lens of her glasses.

The Gaster Blasters suddenly came out in full force. How did she do it? How much data and code had Dr. Alphys copied from others? Did she really figure out how to use the attacks of her predecessor? This had to be the W.D. Gaster brand and not the ones I had seen from Sans in other timelines. Whatever the case was, she was successfully summoning them.

"Consider that some salt on your raw nerves.  And boy do you have a lot of nerve!" I didn't feel much like apologizing for that low blow.

She responded by dragging me down a corridor maze of lightning bolts, before I got too far ahead of her, with what appeared to be a tractor beam. The shape the pseudo-tunnel of bolts vaguely reminded me of one of the old Pole Position race tracks. I was bumped around a bit but each jolt actually took some of the edge off of the pain from the bomb explosions.

"You fool! Haven't you figured out lightning and electricity have no effect on me!" I challenged, trying to push her buttons.

"I bet even someone as small and low level as Asriel could set you ablaze with even the simplest of fire magic!"

"You're not going to get me to lose my form with some petty insults and a walk down memory lane."

"We'll see. I'm rather anxious to see you sweat from a hot dose of the truth. And I have plenty more to say about how you made your brother suffer. You tore your family apart sin by sin. And then you made Frisk do it literally in each of your Genocide runs. How do you think Asriel would react to you butchering Toriel? Undyne? Everyone else he knew and loved? Everyone you knew and loved?"

My clothes were singed and charred from the multitude of Metatton drones, heart-bombs, and other explosives. I whipped out the XBTOCLC's and mowed them down, Space Invaders style from that point onward.

"Loved? You really think I'm capable of love? Surely you must know how empty and colorless my soul is by now if you're half as aware as I think you are."

"It remains to be seen. And don't call me "Shirley"." I mused, trying to catch her off guard with something that might get a chuckle out of Sans. Somewhere in the afterlife, on a big ole Airplane(!), Leslie Nielson was having a nice chuckle.

"Your jokes are as bad as the Trashbag." Chara-Alphys clicked on the app on her phone, bring back an all-too-familiar color tile puzzle on the ground. I quickly navigated it to the checkered area, being mindful of the traps.

"You got a good memory, huh? Time to test that." The lightning bolts and the Mini Metatton drones and bombs rained out without letting up.

And then I saw the Rewind overlay materialize; looking like the icons off an old school VCR...somehow a very, very limited, very watered-down reset was occurring around me. But not suddenly. No. Time was literally going backwards as was everything she just threw at me.

"You're going to tamper with time in front of me of all people?" I wrinkled my nose as I navigated the maze of bullet hell and explosion in reverse.

"We'll be having none of THAT." I clicked on the bracer and the hololythic overlay of the VCR "Record" and "Rewind" commands suddenly cracked and shattered. I knew more about controlling time than she did.

"I should have known better than to match time cheats against a time traveller. That is what you are, isn't it?"

"Say what you will. It's not going to change the outcome of this."

"I guess if you control time that makes you the biggest cheat of all. And you suddenly became a lot more useful to me."

"How adorable that you think you can make me one of your playthings, Chara. I guarantee it won't get you any closer to finding Asriel."

"So he IS alive!"

"I'd love to see how you rationalize that when you must've felt his final moments...collapsing in the flower bed and dissolving to dust. It almost makes sense why he couldn't feel anything. You already stole his life...did you steal that from him too?"

"You're starting to get really annoying! I'm losing patience with you!"

Yeah. That was a "big surprise". The child thinks she has even a fraction of the patience I had.

"You didn't want a brother. You just wanted to turn him in to a clone yourself. If you'd succeeded at that, it wouldn't have even been a question getting him to slaughter the humans of the village. Anything to wake him up from trying to solve things diplomatically. To ask the humans for a peaceful solution and break the barrier for them that all of your differences could be resolved. Such a concept must really be alien to you. Were you scared that Asriel's method might have actually worked? Is that why you had him carry your corpse to the village to eliminate any possible way he might succeed without mass genocide?"

"You...you....!"

"All you do is bring pain to everybody!"

I sneered, anticipating what Alphys might say if she had been been in control and had been pushed to this point. It was becoming a regular thing turning around things said in difference circumstances throughout the other timelines.

"How many of your "playthings" need to die? How many times do they have to die before you're satisfied?"

I backflipped over the sweeping Gaster Blaster beams.

"They say the definition of madness is repeating the same thing over and over, expecting a different result! What is it that you hope is going to change?"

I dual-wielded the XBTOCLC's and made short work of the drones, the clones, and everything else raining death upon me.

"What even gives you the idea that Asriel will even come back to you? What makes you think you haven't completely burned this bridge to ash? Why would you insist on banking on his naevity...why would you let him forgive you for all you've done only to use him again and again and again until you finally get Asgore to wage a second war on humanity?! You need help, Chara! But you won't accept help! You just keep throwing it back in the faces of anyone who lifted a finger to make your life better! You're poison! You corrupted the Dreemurr family with pain, sorrow, and hate! And look what it's gotten you!"

By now I had started to lead Alphys far from the lab and across the maze of steam-blast arrows and conveyor belts throughout the corridors of Hotland. It was actually kind of epic how someone as uncoordinated as Alphys could be easily transversing all these one-slip-and-you-get-a-magma-bath instances with the finesse of a ballet dancer.

"Just DIE ALREADY!" I was starting to get to her. But I was also running out of time and ammo.

The heat was starting to get to one of us. I knew Alphys herself was adapted to this environment but even if she was dead, Chara didn't have much patience for the triple-digit temperatures.

I was starting to run out of places to go. Eventually I crossed a bridge into a dead-end island.

I backed away toward the other end of the island, stopping an inch or two away from the edge.

The possessed Alphys took her time crossing the bridge and onto the island.

"Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. At last. It's finally over."

"You're right...it is finally over..."

* ZAAAAAARK!!!!! *

Sub-Entry 52: "Rematch":
"Wha...what?!?!" Chara-Alphys whirled as the multitude of techno-matter spires shot up out of the ground in a parimeter around the cirumfrence of the island.

"It's over for YOU." I looked up with burning eyes.

"You.......you weren't running. You were leading me into a trap!"

Not-Alphys turned to try to leave the area and smacked nose-first into the force barrier that suddenly crackled into existence.

"Like a rat in a maze. And you followed the cheese to the end...or was it the frozen spaghetti?" I crossed my arms and grinned a cocky, smug grin, eyes closed.

".....!!!!"

"You really ARE an idiot." I let fly with Flowey's favorite dissing.

"GAAAAAAH!!!!" The possessed lizard in a labcoat charged right for me. At that moment the Muon Emitters lining the spires snapped out, energized with a red glow and a 3-dimensional overlay of red lasers filled the area with wire-frame, piercing me harmlessly but searing through Alphys with a rather profound effect. She staggered about, unable to crouch down into a space small enough to avoid a single laser beam. Eventually slamming, back first, against the far barrier wall, sizzling for a moment...then passing out. I immediately sidestepped as Chara's ghostly form rocketed out of Alphys' body and flew right past me as I pivotted on my heel, not even uncrossing my arms.

"This is...this is inconsequential. You just trapped me in here with no way to hurt me."

She turned and glared at me with a sadistic toothy bloodthirsty grin.

"All I have to do is possess you and I'll have control over this barrier! I'll be able to escape this Timeline and find where you're keeping Asriel! You've just made my job easier--"

Chara sailed at me, her face melting into that twisted Gaster-esque appearance with the black ichor oozing from her eye sockets and mouth. She smelled like decaying buttercups. How fitting.

I didn't even move from my spot. I grinned super-darkly as she impacted my natural electromagnetic field and ricocheted. I had more than enough data from the P.K.E. Meter and Giga Meter to use my electric and magnetic powers to keep her out and even reflect her momentum. To put it simply; in my morphed, werewolf form, I couldn't be possessed.

"What?!? Why?! Why can't I--"

"You foolish child. Did you really think I had anything to fear from you from the start?"

"So...now what..." Chara was fighting back the angry tears. "You just going to insult me and throw Asriel back in my face over and over. You can't just use the same tricks--"

"And that was your second mistake. That you were under any impression that I'd finish this battle with mind games. No, I've been playing mind games with you all this time. But you've learned nothing." I uncrossed my arms as I felt inclined to channel something from some-where, some-when, some-dimension else. I was pretty angry by that point and I felt no reason to hold back from venting. Word for word...I gave a speech that I couldn't find in any scenario of the multitude of UTPR-000 (Prime) timelines I had observed from outside time and space.

"You have haunted these timelines for far too long. You've acted without remorse and you've escaped punishment for so long you honestly believe yourself to be above punishment.  Isn't that a bit hypocritical of you?  To think you're above the consequences after what you did to Frisk? No, Chara. That's not how the world works.

You came here expecting me to show you a bad time. Well...as someone once said...you don't deserve a bad time. No. I'm not going to give you a bad time.

Someone like you, who keeps taking so much, doesn't deserve to be given ANYTHING. Someone like you deserves an equal. Someone who wants to protect with every ounce of the same amount of Determination that you use to destroy."

I clicked on a new E.N.G.I.N.E. dot I had put on the black belt. The device nano-morphically unpacked, becoming a different kind of pack with a very familiar but updated rig. Oh. Did you really think I'd enter this battle with only one proton pack, Chara? How precious.

My eyes were hidden behind the shadow of my bangs. But my toothy grin was as grim-dark as Chara on her worst day.

I snatched up the paired quantum mechanical devices from their holders and let them wrap around my hands and then I squeezed my fists tight with a crackle of positrons and tangles of lightning. These were the prototypes of the Ecto Fist that would later be perfected.

"Oh no. you don't get to have that bad time. Instead...I'm going to have LOTS. OF. FUN."

Somewhere a Papyrus that no longer believed was showing off a very toothy grin and a very neon orange eye socket. What was this feeling? No...I know exactly what this feeling was...

"You can't--" She started before I SEARED straight at her, cocked a fist and SLUGGED the phantom for all she was worth. Her face buckled, distorting moments before she sailed through the air and into the other side of the barrier, letting out an anguished cry.

"But...but...that's...that's impossible! You can't...you can't...you can't...!"

"Why? Because you're a girl?  Because you're a child? Because you're a spirit? Because it's not in the hero's nature? Or because you're just that damn clueless."

I tore off and started wailing away, smashing her into the barrier. I considered myself very lucky that I was able to convince Holtzman to borrow all this equipment. Thirty years legacy, even though they were technically parallel timelines of the same world much like the Underground had its countless parallel timelines yet was still within our dimension.

One of these days I'd have to explain how that worked. Or what forms my mentors and their friends took in the timeline of the "Fourth Apocalypse". How Gozer the Gozerian was the first Apocalypse. Vigo the Carpathian was the second. Ivo Shandor the Architect was the Third. And the fourth was a forgettable nobody named Rowan North. But once again...I'm getting off track. I had a "head-full-of-mad" and a demon child ghost to punish.

"This isn't even CLOSE to the pain and suffering you've caused with your mind games, your sick perverted view of the world, and every slash of that knife of yours! And even if it were it would STILL be too good for you!" I raged.

Chara fell to the ground and scrambled away in a crawl, on hands and knees, clearly scared.

"That's called fear. And that's called pain. And you DROWNED your brother, Asriel, in both. And you turned right around and did the same to Asgore and Toriel."

I let her get a distance before I pulled off the gloves and drew the twin Proton Pistols from the side of the pack, gave them both a cowboy spin in each hand and opened fire with positron bolts.

"You've been a bad ghost to us all. And you know what? I ain't fraid o' no ghost."

I hope my mentors forgive me for that last boast. On the same note, I'm sure Violet owes me money for it. I'd hate myself for it later. And to think I chastised Violet for "going there" over the 80's montage during LYOKO...

I bore down on her eventually draining their power packs and then casting them aside.

I drew the neutrona wand and heated it up, the lights and display in back lighting up and beeping. I lasso-ed Chara and blasted her quite a bit, using the Blast Stream to knock her P.K. Energy down a bit until I could slip the Capture Stream over her and wrangle her around.

I took the rest of the fight out of her by slinging her around and banging her into the force barrier as I had practiced with other evil spectres. Finally she was dazed enough for me to decompress the version 2 muon trap. Unlike the old rectangular boxes...this one was a flat dome with its doors sliced into four. How very "Extreme".

The barrier's power crackled out of existence, opening the arena up again.

"It's time for you to find your eternal rest, Chara. For the good of everyone...Toriel. Sans. Papyrus. Undyne. Alphys. Metatton. Asgore, all the other monsters....Frisk........and.......Asriel."

Chara gnashed her teeth.

"No...this isn't over......" She wrenched an arm free, drew back and threw her palm out. Suddenly by telekinetic force, Alphys was blasted up off the ground. For a brief moment I saw her unconscious form hover before the second psychic push send her flying over the edge of the island and toward the lava below.

"No!" I dropped the trap and electro-morphed into my lightning bolt form and seared after Alphys. I grabbed onto both her wrists and pulled as I made my landing at the edge.

Chara weakly drifted off, her melted form wisping away gradually until she was gone.

Alphys' glasses were cracked and her lab coat a mess. She wasn't that injured by the ordeal was too much for her.

"Don't give up on me, doctor!" I pleaded as I made every effort to hoist her up. I didn't notice that Undyne had come running full tilt, discarding pieces of her armor. She was obviously suffering from the heat.

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"

I managed to hoist Alphys up into my arms. She was a lot heavier than Asriel, that was for sure.

"Sorry about this." I magnetically moved her metal-framed glasses out of the way and pulled open her eyelids...and gave her a dose of the Neuralizer pen.

"This is all just a bad dream." I found myself quoting Asriel but too preoccupied to question it. There were too many things I couldn't risk her knowing about that would affect the progression of events once Frisk actually did make it to her lab. I'd try to forge a friendship some other time.

It looked like Asgore would have to wait even longer. Again.

Undyne skidded to a stop, now in just her black wife-beater/tube dress garment and red and yellow heeled go-go boots.

"Hotland (FLOWEY CACKLE)-ing sucks!" She panted, getting her breath.

She arrived just in time for me to haul Alphys up and away from the edge.

"She's going to be okay."

"You...! You saved her?"

"Of course I did."

"Heh...bastard...why'd you have to go and do something like that...heh.....how am I suppose to have a rematch against your stupid face when you go and do something like this?"

I lifted Alphys up into Undyne's arms, Undyne not quite expecting it.

"But...she deserves a better rescuer than me..."

"What the Hell...?"

"She should be rescued by a TRUE HERO. Not a fellow dork in a lab coat." I picked up my discarded equipment and packed it up.

"You..."

"I was just...a casual observer." I walked off, leaving Undyne to tend to her. I was perfectly okay with letting the fish take all the credit. Besides...what's playing cupid between a fish and a pangolin? Fishy love was a beautiful thing, am I right?

"I know I don't have to ask you to take care of her. But y'know.  Take care of her.  Get her home. Make sure she gets some rest. And make sure she doesn't hang around too many more lava pits."

"...if you're expecting me to thank you--"

"Nah. Not really."

And suddenly with that Undyne did a complete 180. And in that moment I recalled how Papyrus had actually set things up for Undyne and Frisk to bond as *ahem* ...besties.

"Heh. Y'know...I don't feel much like punching your teeth in anymore. Hey. If I see you around again...drop by my place. I'll cook you up a meal and we can bond and become besties and stuff!"

Er...generous offer...but I was going to have to pass on getting a meal cooked by the one person whose spaghetti was WORSE than Papyrus'. Now I knew where he got his cooking lessons from.

"If we meet again!" I gave a wave without looking back. I made my way back to Deloreon. It was the first fight I actually felt good about in the end. And I got to smack Chara around a bit. She wouldn't forget that any time soon.

Alphys started to stir at that point.

"W-what h-happened? I...c-can't r-remember. It's...!"

"You big dork. If you didn't want to spend time with me, you could have just said so and not go jumping off a cliff into lava."

"U.....U-Undyne! Did...did you save me?"

Undyne bit her lip for just a moment. "Yeah. Totally." That lie must've really hurt. Don't let THAT get back to Papyrus.

"Ohhh..."

"Hey. Let's go back to your lab. We can watch anime together."

"Y-you m-mean it? With m-me?"

"Say yes before I change my mind and dunk you in a trash can."

"Y-yes! Yes! Yes! A thousand time y-yes...er...I mean...(Oh god...)...I'd be honored."

"Let's get out of here. And really...you might want to wash up or something. You smell like dog food..."

Sub-Entry 53: "Please Can I Be...Colorful and Free":
I considered what my next move would have been had the fight with Alphys NEO gone badly. Simple answer? Double back to Napstablook and ask if I could join him in lying on the ground and feeling like trash. Chances are I probably would have. But all was well that ended well.

I took the Deloreon back to Miranda City and parked it in the vehicle bay at UCIAT headquarters in time for Violet to wrap up a second session in LYOKO. Mitzi, Gadget, Pit, and Rotor's little brother, Skeeter had gone with Asriel for the ride into the Forest Sector. This time Dr. Nikita Lynx was on hand to personally oversee the quantum data analysis.

Asriel's eyes were still green. For the first time I had a thought that I considered might be related. Back in the Underground, Asgore had acquired six souls from six children that had fallen after Chara...which actually made Frisk the eighth child...not the seventh as I had originally counted. But that was not what drew my interest. I remembered something from what appeared to be a golf mini game. The flag at the end had some interesting things to say about the color of souls.

"Hmm... Bravery. Justice. Integrity. Kindness. Perseverance. Patience." I thought to myself.

"In order of appearance...orange, yellow, blue, green, purple, and cyan." I continued thinking.

And that reminded me that a green soul was the color of "kindness". And I had noticed Asriel had been particularly kind above all other traits I could have used to describe him since the inscident. At that the strangest thought occured to me...but I didn't have time to think it through as I had entered HQ and headed my way toward the elevator. And just in time as the doors opened and Bunnie and Sally were already there with the company of Asriel, Pit, Gadget, Mitzi, and Skeeter.

"Volt-san."

"Had an unexpected...deterrence in the road. Didn't make it to my goal again. Seems that complications have become normal faire. Oh well. Sooner or later, Major."

I was actually speaking about trying to meet Asgore, without letting on in front of Asriel.

"Do not be discouraged. All things in time, Volt-san."

Asriel looked up at Bunnie as if if he was anticipating her sagely advice.

"I know. I of all people don't have to be reminded." I rubbed the back of my head.

Bunnie nodded.

"Patience is the jewel on the crown of wisdom." She completed my thought for me, reciting the advice of the Triforce of Wisdom as it had spoken through Zelda a generation before my time as UCIAT.

"Patience..."

Asriel cocked his head. He looked like he had started to ponder things at the mention of a crown. The implication of royalty caused a familiar chord to resonate. Asriel had spent a good amount of time on this world, having forsaken the life of a prince. And yet, as the song goes, there was always something there to remind him. :detemmienation:  (Music Link)

"Of course. Remember the feeling of when you meditate with Grand Master Splinter and myself by the waterfall."

"Hmmm." Asriel blinked but indicated he seemed to understand.

"I remember when I used to scold our mutual friend about being patient in our old Ecotropian days, Bunnie." Sally mused.

"Ah yes. Him."

There was an unspoken understanding among the Ecotropians. While they had reforged their circle of friends from the "before times" of their once beautiful city kingdom, one member had remained missing to this day; the group's unspoken leader. While he did have a name, once...everyone among the remaining circle had agreed never to speak his name. Not as a slight, but out of respect; as some strange means of preserving his memory and keeping it pristine.

"Once you were discouraged by his lifestyle...his personality...his very free-spirit, care-free, borderline arrogant way of life. And now...you practically walk every day in his shoes." Bunnie smiled warmly.

"Despite me wearing Overdrive Sandals all the time? I don't think I could stand wearing pointed red and white high tops." Sally mused, lifiting a foot and flexing her toes a little. Then she turned sincere again.

"Yeah. I've been this way ever since my epiphany back in Technopolis. That time following my escape from Vortex Labs. I...wasn't in good place and I shut myself off to the world. So much so I missed out on so much happening in the outside world. Including your testimony against the directors of Vortex Labs when the trial of the century was going on. Despite how much was being talk about it for some time...it completely escaped my attention."

Sally rested the back of her head in her palms, interlocking her fingers and putting her elbows outward.

"But I guess I got bored of being broken. And I went sane. Very sane. And I started rethinking my life. And as Nikita will tell you...everything changed with the "Bowl Metaphor"."

"Bowl metaphor?" Asriel questioned.

"A philosophical insight I had. In so many words, I asked what my life was missing and the answer I came up with was "speed". Nikita clarified that the line between haste and speed was paper thin. Haste was speed beyond one's control; and thus impatience was the enemy of modern politics. But...if one were able to attain speed within the limits of their control...then speed was an advantage to be sought. In so many words... If one's bowl is full, then the faster the speed, the better. Then for great cause, the one with the greater speed has the bigger bowl. Thus it was possible to have speed and still have patience if you truly understood the paradox."

"It sounds...very complicated, Miss Sally."

"Well. I guess I just lead a lifestyle which finds a way to un-complicate it. For me...things just make sense when you're in that speed world. That speed finally makes me understand what it was like for him. All the times I thought he was reckless and impatient...we just...aware of his surroundings. Of his instincts. He just...felt things. I was wrong for brushing him off and chastising him for being cocky and rude and impatient. He just...understood how the world really was. I just tried to understand it as the facts of my studies and the advice of my peers had made it to be. I wish I knew then what I knew now about the speed world."

Sally put one arm down and sort of reached out to the sky as if she was accentuating her thoughts.

"When I'm in that special place...I find myself falling free, in the wind. I'm free to be me in the wind." :detemmienation:  (Music Link)

Sally almost seemed like a different person in that moment, the Peppermint Patty tomboyishness giving way to someone more scholarly.

"When I was in my dark place I felt so ashamed...so constrained...so to blame. But now I"m breaking out. I'm finally free."

I listened in, staying silent.

"It is good that you are remembering this. And appropriate on your special day, Sally." Bunnie smiled.

"I knew I wasn't going to get through the day without someone wishing me happy birthday. It might as well come from you first, Bunnie." Sally smiled.

"Ohh! I didn't know today was your birthday, Miss Sally!"

"It's not something I spread around. When you get to be our age you tend to brag about it less and start lying about how old you are just to feel younger for a little longer. But Hybrids like us...we really don't have to worry about feeling our age until we're at the end of our lives and our youthful appearance starts running its course. Some of us last into our early 100's before we start to whither and stop looking like college guys and gals."

Sally was back to lighthearted again.

"Anyway...yeah...I guess it's weird that I still practice the virtue of patience in spite of a lifestyle that encourages me to go at mach speed. That's where it pays to be an effective, methodical planner ahead of time. And be flexible enough to adapt on the fly."

"I guess I'll figure out what you mean when I get older."

Asriel kinda looked off on a cloud, like he was really trying to figure out what he was suppose to take in from all this complicated grown up talk.

We reached the main entrance by that point. As soon as we exited the doors, who should be standing there but...

Sub-Entry 54: "The Peace Offering":
"Lupe." Bunnie acknowledged.

"Lupe?" Sally cocked her head.

Lupe was just kinda standing there. I could tell she had been waiting for a while but...she didn't look restless at all. It was kind of the same vibe I got from Asriel inside the Core space. Like the vibe you got from a person who was waiting for a bus that was never going to arrive.

"Miss...Lupe?" Asriel looked up at her. Lupe's eyes were hidden under the shadow of her hair. I sensed sadness.

"Can we talk?" She uttered with a voice easily as soft and frail as Asriel that night we had splashed down in Miranda's fountain.

Lupe dropped down to her knees before Asriel and covered her knees with her hands, bowing her head.

"I feel...I owe you an apology, my child."

At that moment she sounded like Toriel the way she addressed Asriel as "my child".

"But Miss Lupe...you didn't do anything wrong." Asriel assured.

"I know. But...you had such a traumatic and unpleasant experience. I cannot help but feel responsible. I know I was not aware of the pain of your past life. Yet I feel that is still no excuse for what I put you through."

Asriel looked away for a moment as if to confirm what I suspected. He was...actually afraid of flowers.

"We're...both a little broken inside, aren't we?" He asked.

"Yes."

I saw a tear run down each each cheek, from underneath the shadowed eyes.

"Lupe." Sally placed a hand on her shoulder. "We're kindred spirits, you know. We have a lot of emotional baggage. But we wear our scars on our sleeves. Metaphorically I mean. What I'm trying to say is...today's not a good day for sadness." Sally stepped back.

"The heart feels what the heart wants to feel." Bunnie assured Sally.

Asriel reached up and wiped Lupe's tears.

"Miss Sally is right. I'm not mad at you. I don't want you to blame yourself for anything. It was just meant to be. If I hadn't been there, who knows how long it would have taken me to open up to you all. I feel like...I just didn't want to get better. I didn't want my broken heart to heal. I just...did whatever made you all happy, not caring about my own happiness. I know now. I know that it's not selfish to take care of your own needs every so often."

"You are...very wise, young Asriel."

"I get that from my mom. Both of them." He smiled. It was amazing that he hadn't gotten misty-eyed himself.

"Listen...this is a little embarrassing...but...I think I am actually.....afraid of being around flowers. But...I don't want to be afraid anymore. I don't want Chara's memory...I don't know how to put this...dirtying my experiences with them?"

"Believe me, child. It makes perfect sense."

"What I think I'm asking is...will you help me get over my fear, Miss Lupe? I'm willing to come by the Nature Preserve as many times as it takes for me to work through it. I want to be able to be around flowers again. I want to wear a flower crown like I used to with Chara. I don't want to feel like being a "flower child" is something to be ashamed of. Please. I'll work with you as long as it takes to beat this thing."

Wow, Asriel. Just wow. I knew you were smart. I knew Asgore and Toriel had raised someone special. But at this moment...you just outright impressed me.

"Of course, my child."

Lupe spread her arms. Asriel graciously accepted the hug and embraced for a good long time. Lupe stood up again and patted him on the head. As soon as Asriel opened his eyes.

"What the...?"

"Hmm?" Lupe squinted a little as if she wasn't sure...but then she saw it too.

"Asriel. Your eyes. They changed color again!" I gasped.

"They have? What...what color are they now?"

Out came my hand mirror.

"They're as ice blue as Lupe's...like a cornflower or cyan." Sally observed.

"The color of patience..." I muttered to myself.

Was it possible...Asriel was absorbing the very essence of virtue from us? Was it his "pseudo code" reacting to his emotions?

"They're very pretty." Lupe might have actually been blushing.

"This is...going to take some getting used to.......but...I think I have all the time in the world to do so. I'm not in any hurry." Asriel smiled.

"Oh! I almost forgot."

"Hmm?"

"I guess what I'm really saying is I came to you with a peace offering." Lupe reached into her druid bag of holding.

"Normally when I make a peace offering to someone I need to apologize to I bring flowers but...I think it's obvious why that wouldn't be appropriate so..."

Asriel kinda sweat bulleted at that.

"So...I came up with something I thought would work better. Do you like fruit? I grow my own garden and I have a lot of luck with it."

"Sure. Fruit is healthy and tasty." Asriel answered.

He had no idea what he was in for. That was when Lupe pulled out a strawberry...the size of a basketball. Asriel's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"It's...it's...it's HUUUUUGE!" He slapped his hands over his cheeks in disbelief.

"I know it's a bit much but...we can all split it together. Is this an okay gift to you?"

"Y-y-yes. I mean...you didn't have to get me anything but...it's...greatly appreciated."

"Oh yeah. That's a peace offering." I smirked.

Mitzi and the others had already gone their separate ways, not wanting to interrupt the conversation. But I knew Mitzi had headed back to Rock-Afire Pizza for another reason.

"Well. I suppose we should head to Rock-Afire Pizza. Mitzi should have your birthday cake ready, Sally."

"Oh joy. Another hour or two on the treadmills!" Sally snickered with a goofy grin.

"Now, Sally. You said you wouldn't complain about breaking your strict diet for a day." Bunnie prodded.

"I guess that's true. Okay. No age jokes and no whining about too much sugar and too many empty calories." Sally said, drawing an X over her heart just to drive the point home.

She then looked around at her surroundings.

"You know who needs to be here with me right now? My favorite mechanical partner."

Sally put two fingers to her mouth and gave a shrill whistle.

From around the block, the UCIAT Systems communication van, SWV-016 was parked--a navy blue and gold color schemed Scion xB. Violet nicknamed it "Soundwave". I had a feeling I knew why. It was probably the kind of think I probably wouldn't be bringing up around Professor Isaac Sumdac back in Neo Arcadia any time soon. Some...case history wasn't worth dredging up. But on that note, I wasn't against the notion of introducing Asriel to Sari.

At that the back doors open and a large black and silver panther robot with glowing red eyes charged out of and sprinted up to Sally and seated itself. Violet insisted on nicknaming him Ravage because of his laboratory designation and his unncanny appearance to...something else.

"Ahh! What's that?!" Asriel about jumped out of his sandals.

"This is UCIAT Systems Support Unit, RVG-Gamma. He's also my partner when I perform as D. J. Aelita."

"Partner?"

"Show him, Gamma. Convert and prepare to throw down and spin up!" Sally winked, giving a "number one" gesture in the way as Nintendo Power's own Nester.

With that Gamma took off running toward the park, then leaped into the air. The robot puma/panther began folding up and nanomorphically changing shape until he had mechanically metamorphed into a very large panel consisting of mixer boards and a pair of phonograph turntables at each end. He landed on a nearby picnic table across the way to the park and Sally walked over and set up some makeshift speakers and audio equipment she decompressed from her CHRONUS bracer. Once eveyrthing was plugged in and powered on, Sally slipped a set of vinyls onto each table and gave a quick demonstration of her D. J. Hero skills.



And soon we had a small dance party going. Asriel didn't waste a moment getting into it. We'd...get to Rock-Afire Pizza. It just might take a bit for Sally to wrap up her music mashup.

And wind down it did. And we were off to Rock-Afire Pizza where Mitzi had the cake and ice cream ready. As was traditional with the Hybrids, each of their birthdays was celebrated with a cake of their specific color and flavor request. For Mitzi it was always a lime flavored one that was as green as her cheerleader dress and sandals. For Gadget, it was purple grape. For Sally, blueberry fudgecake. For Bunnie, pink strawberry. For Lupe, white mint chocolate chip. For Violet, it was orange carrot cake. For Rotor it was always a set of cupcakes in the shape of a fish.

And it completely escaped my attention until that moment in time. When was Asriel's birthday? How old was he...I mean minus the 100 years? And related but offhandedly...would we really have to get him a snail pie for when we DID celebrate it?

Oh well...I'd debate these questions...another day. For now...I felt this day wasn't a good day for sadness. No. This was a good day to celebrate life and freedom. And this life was made of love and peace as a certain red-coated, spiky blond-haired doughnut-scarfer would say.

Sub-Entry 55: "Odd Couple, Rabbit Edition":
By this point Callista and Scott had gotten Asriel enrolled in a proper school. I was nervous and had about a hundred worries about him going from home-schooled to public education. I'm sure Callista shared at least some of my concerns about what he'd pick up from the other kids. Violet joked that it would consist of butt and fart jokes. I of course responded to her in the appropriate manner...by thwapping her upside the head and letting her know she was not helping.

I had only gotten back from taking a short road trip in the 57' Chevy. School had likely let out so that meant if Asriel hadn't gone straight home, he probably headed to either Rabbotou Dojo or Computer Valhalla. As just a formality, Callista had gotten him a cell phone......I was beginning to suspect there was an unseen umbilical cord linking our world with the UTPR world. This was a textbook Toriel move. All I had to do now was overhear Callista on the other end saying that an annoying dog had run off with her phone while grocery shopping. I'd come to the conclusion things stopped being "coincidence" a long time ago and Lady Destiny and Madam Fate were just messing with us all.

I laid back in a lawn chair in front of my shop, propping up my bare feet, having just lowered my shades.

That was when I saw the wooden O-frame of the "Senkaimon" gateway materialize in midair with a hazy pink aura. The gate opened and out from the pure white light stepped a familiar rabbit-eared silhouette. Bunnie came forth, clad in an all-too-familiar black kimono, tabi toe-socks, rope sandals, and personalized accesories. While she was likely invisible to everyone else, I could see her having been a substitute shinigami myself at one point. But what really drew my attention was that she was wearing her metal kenseiken hair pieces in her bangs.

"Business in the Seireitei, Major?"

"Just a soiree among the noble houses of the Soul Society, Volt-san."

"I see the Kuchiki clan still acknowledges you as nobility."

"Do not let Byakuya-kun's emotionless demeanor intimidate you. He really is a sweetheart underneath it all. Deceptively reserved but very impatient. Even more stoic than myself. But he does truly care about his sister."

"Did you give my regards to Rukia?"

"She says hello. And something about giving Ichigo a bop on the head?"

"Ugh...some friendships couldn't be stranger, huh?"

"I should know considering the time I've invested in my friendship with Violet." Bunnie mused.

"Anyway." Bunnie gave a sudden snap of the fingers as her physical body suddenly came running up.

"Welcome back Way-dee Bunnie! I missed you wots and wots! Did you bwing back candy and tweats? Pweeze say yes!"

Erf...it was...undignified hearing Bunnie's physical form use such baby-talk.

"Major? Are you still using Chappy the Rabbit soul candy?" I said with a sweat bullet the size of Asriel's hand.

Bunnie only gave me a sly smirk.

A quick merge and replacing of the soul candy back into its container.

"I'm not going to say anything."

"Good. Because I'm not going to explain anything."

Bunnie retied her Zero-esque ponytail. Then she checked her Shodouphone.

"Callista-hakase messaged me. Asriel went to Computer Valhalla after finishing his homework at school."

"He finished his homework at school? Kinda defeats the purpose of calling it "home" work, doncha' think?"

"I suppose it is unusual compared to the average child his age. But I would like to believe that it is Toriel's influence. I shall have to meet her some day."

"Some day, Major. You're the first person I'll bring there. Screw the rules. I've already made my mark in UTPR-3224. I'll avoid interaction when A.E.O.N. tells me the chronal contamination is enough to cause a major paradox."

"You are definitely one to trust your instincts, Volt. I respect that about you; no one knows what's feasible to the space-time continuum as well as you."

"I should thank you and Violet for being professional about how much I've let you know about my outside world."

"No more talk about work. Let us consider the art of play."

"Major! Please don't tell me you're into Segata Sanshiro worship, too!" I whined, trying to sound serious but failing.

"Segata Sanshiro will forever live in our hearts." She said with a sly smirk.

This had to be the most jubilant I'd seen her in a while. I guess her time with Yoroichi Shihoen, Byakuya Kuchiki and the other two noble houses did her some good. I guessed that Megami handled the martial arts lessons with Nikita Lynx serving as translator while Bunnie was out.

We headed to Computer Valhalla after I put my sandals back on.

Bunnie's moments of whimsy soon returned to stoic.

"Not subtle." She lowered an eyebrow.

"Brace yoruself." I pressed the doorbell button and we were immediately greeted by more music by Skrillex.

"I swear, Bunnie, if I have to listen to more of that I'm going to bang-a-rang that bunny girl to pieces."

The door opened with the lights, display, fog and of course the end credits music to Tron Legacy. :detemmienation:  (Music Links x 2)

"At least she's not taking the MRC-Zero gyrocycle out at night for illegal drift races again." I rubbed my eyelids.

I picked up the red quill and signed in.

ACKNOWLEDGED, USER VOLT ALESSANDRO ARCADE. PASSWORD: WISEFROMYOURGRAVE

I let Bunnie sign in next.

ACKNOWEDGED, USER BUNNIE MEIRU RABBOTOU. PASSWORD: OHMYSTARSWHATTHEHOOHAA

"And I thought my password was bad."

"Sometimes I wish she wouldn't make light of mamma's Southern drawl."

There was Violet on stage with her cosplay troupe.

"This one goes out to all you 80's babies! We're gonna take you back to the Sun Beneath the Sea!"

I about face-palmed at the mohawk wig and the fat suit. And I soon recognized the familiar "La Danse des Fi Pirates: Hymn of the Sacred Pirates" from Les Mondes Engloutis. Also known, in English translation, as the "Pirates Upon the High Seas" song from Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea. :detemmienation:  (Music Links x 2, French and English versions, respectively)

"Ugh...of all the things she'd cosplay as today, Mass Media was the last person I would have pegged her to be on stage as." I muttered as she took her place with the other three cos-playing as Mighty Matt, Nasty Max, and Sleaze Appeal.

"Consider yourself fortunate you weren't here for the tribute to Silverhawks." Bunnie replied as the show went on.



"Bunnie, I want that image stricken from the record... ...and my mind."

I shuddered at picturing Violet in that much skin-tight metal. I could only imagine what kind of things she'd do with Metatton's fashion sense.

Sub-Entry 56: "Violet's Thing for Memes and S***posts":
The show wrapped up and Vi hopped of stage and made her way to us.

"Enjoying yourselves, beauties?"

"You were in rare form, Violetton."

"I sense tension. What's wrong, Commander? Did I get the proportions wrong."

"First of all,  I'm not in the mood to have e a discussion about Mass Media that I know you'll turn into something NSFW. Second of all, where's Asriel? You were supposed to be watching him."

Violet disappeared behind a folding changing station, tossing out the outfit, fat suit, and wig. She seductively kicked out a bare leg, in what I could only assume was an attempt at a Metatton kick.

Violet then ducked back out in her usual cyan and blue kimono and sandals. She took a moment to adjust her tiny crown.

"Relax, Commander. I gave him a stack of tokens and turned him loose on the pinball arcade over yonder. Told him they were low-tech puzzle games and he took to them like a cop in a donut factory."

"If you had said a goat to garbage I would have slugged you." I smoldered.

Violet wheeled herself over to her bank of workstations and tinkered around, shuffling through windows and then picking up a graphics tablet and stylus. And then my jaw dropped.

"V-Violet?! What in the actual Hell, girl?! Is that a picture of...Toriel...VAPING?!"

"I know, right? This meme is gonna be huge--"

"Violet Usako Tokugawa!" Bunnie snapped. She was a step ahead of me. Violet had no business making a s***post (Which felt weirdly meta to me.  I thought back to my earlier brainstorming over other worlds that stress-tested the fourth wall like what Sans and Flowey tended to do.), and posting this on the Miranda Internet.

"Oooooh. She middle-named you." That was childish of me. What was it about Violet that made a person forget their age...or level of maturity?

Yeah, that was an immature jab. It was an opportunity I really didn't want to pass up, even if it was childish. I think I picked up a bad habit from my clashes with Chara.

"Do you not understand how inappropriate this is? If Asriel-kun sees this, do you have any idea what kind of complications this will cause?"

"What? Not cool? Because I crop it so you don't see the--"

"うるさい, ばか!" [Urusai, baka!] Which I knew translated to "Shut up, you idiot!"

"Violet, I swear to Thomas Alva Edison if I see one pixel of this on the Miranda Internet."

"Okay, okay. Relax. I hear you. Nobody's going to see--"

"Oh wow, Aunt Vi! Did you make this? It looks just like mamma!"

FFFFFFFF--!

"Er...Azzy!" I whirled.

"I...I can explain."

"You sure have a lot of talent. It looks like she must be in Snowdin on a cold day because you can see her breath."

WUT.

In that instant my brain shifted gears without the clutch.

"Yes. Yes, that is exactly the case." Bunnie suddenly spoke up.

"I still have a lot of questions about how you guys know so much about my old life and my old family...but it's nice that you think of me every now and then. Thank you for being so thoughtful!" Asriel said with a big, bright, closed-eyes smile then hurried off to one of the other coin operated machines.

And like that he brushed off something that weighed me down with guilt. The truth.

"You dodged a bullet this time, Violet." I smoldered.

"I suggest you make modifications to this little artwork of yours before you even think about posting it."

"Awwww, maaaan. I just know someone's going to beat me to the punch on this."

"You need to get your priorities straight, "best friend"." Bunnie put her hands on her hips. Then she lightly booped Vi on the snoot.

"Tell you what, Violet. You can make it up to us with fruit smoothies. I know that juice bar over there isn't just a carry-over from Angel Grove."

Sub-Entry 57: "Fruit and Ice Ice, Baby! It's Nice Nice, Baby!"
"Well it was either a tribute to Ernie's Gym and Juice Bar or our own Ernie's Brain Freeze."

I didn't press it further.

"So what'll it be? I know what I'm making for me. Good ole orange-carrot."

"I'm thinking something with blueberries, blackberries, a banana, maybe a bit of honey to sweeten. Some odds and ends of the vegetable kingdom. You know a nice little B-complex cocktail."

"Hmm...strawberry. Kiwi. Maybe some dragonfruit. A bit of banana and a squeeze of lime. Add a couple cherries with the pits removed."

"And make one up for Asriel. Not really sure what his preference is."

"I'll try something tropical. Orange, pineapple, throw in some starfruit, a little honey and some coconut milk. Maybe a guava or two with a papaya."

Violet started mixing our drinks.

"So. You going to tell Asriel how the two of you met?" I asked Bunnie as I had a seat at the bar.

"I think it's only fair. After that...I'll consider an appropriate time to show him my...big secret." Bunnie said, rolling her gi's sleep down and clenching her fist slightly. I could see the neon pink nano-circuit tracks seem to carve their way out of Bunnie's flesh and fur. But she decided not to complete the transformation and let the cybermorph fade back.

"We all have a lot we need to reveal to him in time, don't we?"

Soon enough Asriel had gone through the last of his tokens and joined us at the bar.

"That was really fun, Aunt Violet. We never had anything like pinball machines back in the underground."

That was logical. I couldn't imagine the humans dumping an entire pinball machine among the rest of the throwaways of their world that ended up in the trash dump not far from Napstablook's place. Alphys had spent a lot of time in that area, herself when she wasn't staring down into the abyss overlooking the waterfall. Really...when I saw her doing that it made me really nervous.

I had seen Asgore...do the cowardly deed when his own sins were too much for him to bear. The thought of Alphys finally breaking down and making a very permanent end to a temporary problem...this was the kind of thing that I wouldn't hesitate to spend all night trying to talk her out of it if it ever came to that. Oh gods...subject change. Like NOW. My worrywort side was in full-on overload and I wasn't doing my stress levels any favors thinking such morbid thoughts about people I now considered friends.

The whir of Violet's blenders, however, broke up my pessimistic train of thought. And my potential panic was calmed by Bunnie's hand on my shoulder. There was just no no use in trying to hide my emotional state from her Sixth Sense.

Asriel had a seat on the stool between Bunnie and me. Violet served up our drinks and plopped down on Bunnie's right.

"Cheers, my ho-mies and bro-mies."

Bunnie gave a scolding look which indicated that was dangerously close to crossing the line of inappropriate.

"What is this, Aunt Violet?"

"Fruit smoothie. Blend of different fruits and vegetables. A little shredded ice for consistency."

"Fruits...AND vegetables?" Asriel cocked his head. He sounded unsure.

"Of course. The taste of the fruit overpowers the taste of the vegetables. The result is quite delicious and nutritious." Bunnie assured.

Asriel looked at it then took a sip. And his eyes just lit up brighter than the pinball tables. And he started sipping away at curly straw.

"And there you go." Violet grinned.

"So. Want to hear the story of how Bunnie and I met?"

"Do I?!"

Asriel brought his knuckles up under his grinning mouth in that gleeful starry-eyes look I had come to recognize.

His response reminded me of Freakazoid habitually accepting the invitations of on police officer named Mike Cosgrove to take part in random outings such as the honey festival and the offer to watch a bear on a unicycle.

And at the same time I was beginning to draw parallels between him and Steven Universe that were only slightly uncanny.

Sub-Entry 58: "A Tale of Two Rabbits, second revision":
"I had joined the Ultra Crew Institute after a time of recovery, having been rescued from the illegal military laboratory, Vortex. Neo Arcadia built a case against them and was soon able to legally prosecute them for war crimes toward the end of the Vorostov Conflict. As a means of cooperating with our government, what was left of its leaders decided to cut loose their secret society's brainchild, metaphorically throwing them to the wolves."

Bunnie began.

"In the months after, I began as a rookie field agent on the condition I could travel the world and seek out various masters of the martial arts to complete my training and hopefully fill in the gaps of my father's teachings. I had a lot of legacy to learn about if I was going to be the heir of all that belonged to the Rabbotou Clan. I absorbed what I could from my family mansion-temple--a gift of the Shiba Family that we had served under for eighteen generations. When I left my beloved Jang for the second time I left it in the care of our family's ward and bodyguard--the ronin samurai, Miyamoto Usagi. Known in our circle as "Usagi Yojimbo". Which means "rabbit bodyguard", fittingly enough."

"Or "bae" as I know him." Violet interrupted.

"Bae?"

I sighed. "Violet's boyfriend.  Or whatever the proper term is these days."

"We have a long-distance relationship." Vi said with a wink.

"May I continue, Violet?" I could almost see the anime throbbing veins on her forehead.

"By all means, best friend." Vi said with a cheesey grin.

"As my skills, knowledge, and wisdom grew, so did the emptiness in my heart. I had many peers and collegues but I was too broken inside to accept friendships. Which only made me feel sad and alone inside."

"Ohhh..." Asriel looked wistful.

"I completed my missions flawlessly. It was then when the C.E.O. of Arcade Industries, the head founder of Ultra Crew Institute Action Team, and Volt-san's father figure called me into his office with an...unusual assignment for me."

Violet was already grinning.

"It was to be a diplomatic mission to Little Tokyo, Edoropia. As a gesture of good will and a means of mending a fractured allience with the country following complications with the Vorostov Conflict."

"As I recall I wanted to hang them all by their--"

"Ahem." I cut in, interrupting Violet from getting very gruesome.

"I was to meet with its active ruler, its princess. But Dr. Arcade neglected to tell me that I had an unspoken advantage as a Jangese. It seemed the princess of Little Tokyo was what we call "weeaboo". One who is obsessively respectful of another country's culture to the point of forsaking their own."

"I prefer to think of it as ambitiously otaku."

"What none of us knew was how much of a firecracker and tomboy you were, sneaking out of the palace in disguise to avoid a boring diplomatic meeting where some stranger would attempt to....how did you put it?"

"As I recall the same thing that politicians do when they're around the voters---lie to me and kiss my butt."

Asriel sweat bulleted.

"She means patronize not...literally doing...that."

"Oh."

"So. It was complete chance that we literally bumped into each other because we were wrapped up on our own thoughts and not paying attention to where we were going. We crashed into each other with such force we knocked each other down. Back in those times Violet was...much angrier and her fuse was a lot shorter."

"Oh I was PISSED. I got in her face and got all vindictive and demanded an apology. I talked all that trash like I was Veronica from the Archie Comics. And you know what happened? I got into a fight."

"I would hardly call it that."

"Oh I came out swinging and winging and singing song of your impending loss. If I had known wat Mercenaries 2 was back then I would have done a whole bit to "Oh No You Didn't!"    :detemmienation:  (Music Link)

"I'm glad you're finding humor in it, Vi. As I recall I subdued you in three moves and had you trying to save face by asking if we could call it a draw."

"Eheh...you're totally ruining my street cred, Buns."

"WHAT street cred, Vi?" I crossed my arms.

"Did you...get hurt?" Asriel looked sad.

"Only her pride."

"Well...afterward we made up and when I was thinking clearly again I noticed she was Jangese and I just got all fangirl on her. Well. To make a long story short I'd meet her again at the palace and things just went swimmingly from there."

"It was...the beginning of an unusual friendship, I admit. But...."

Bunnie looked at Violet.

"I don't regret a minute of it."

She put an arm around Violet and Violet put an arm around Bunnie. And the two of them touched their foreheads together and closed their eyes, just taking in the moment of silence. It was a sisterhood that I rarely saw. Just two rabbits knowing each other. Understanding each other. Respecting each other. No shipping here. It was what it was and nothing more. There This was all the proof anyone needed how close they were as best friends. The oddest of odd couples--a straight arrow and a firecracker. Opposites attract and form the strongest of bonds.

"That's an amazing story, Bunnie-sensei. Aunt Violet."

"Glad to share it, Cinnamon Roll."

"Still...not crazy about the nickname."

"It'll grow on you. Promise."

"I...have kind of issues with promises. Just...give me your word and that'll be enough."

Asriel's awkward expression told how much he was trying to be polite about it. I'd gone a long while without someone reminding him about his promise to Chara. The promise that remained broken.

"Deal."

By then we had finished our drinks.

"Thanks again, Violet. For being actually responsible."

"Come back any time, beauties! And remember--"

"Stay fresh!!!" We all said in unison.

Sub-Entry 59: "Preparing for a double-celebration":
"Volt? How come everyone is so busy lately?"

"Well, Asriel. We're making a lot of long-term plans right now. And at the same time we're getting ready for Bunnie's birthday this week. It's on May 5th which is kind of a big holiday in her native land of Jang."

"Her birthday is a holiday? That's so lucky!"

"Yes. The Jangese call it "Kodomo no Hi". In old times it was called Boy's Day but now it's more commonly called Children's Day. And wouldn't you know it, that date is also the day of Cinco de Mayo in another country. Both are unique celebrations in themselves."

"Woooow. That's so c-- ...er...amazing."

"Starting to feel like you're wearing the word "cool" out?"

We both laughed at that.

"So...how is Kodomo no Hi celebrated?"

Asriel's pronounciation had really improved. As soon as he figured out the vowels, everything else fell into place. I had a feeling Bunnie would have him versed in the katakana and hiragana alphabets before long. And that made me think back to what I had jokingly pondered about him being a potential child prodigy.

"Well..." I reached into my pocket and found the pamphlet from last year's celebration.

I cleared my throat and recited word for word the pamphlet's description.

"Originally known as Tango no Sekku (seasonal festival of the edge/first noon), it was celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth moon of the Xing calendar. It was then moved to May 5th after the Jang calendar system was amended.

Before this day, families raise the carp-shaped "koinobori" flags (carp because of the Xingese legend that a carp that swims upstream becomes a dragon, and the way the flags blow in the wind looks like they are swimming), one for each boy (or child), display a Kintarou doll usually riding on a large carp, and the traditional Japanese military helmet, kabuto.

Kintarou and the kabuto are symbols of a strong and healthy boy. Kintarou is the childhood name of "Sakata no Kintoki" who was a hero in the Kyouto period, a subordinate samurai of Minamoto no Raikou, having been famous for his strength when he was a child. It is said that Kintarou rode a bear, instead of a horse, and played with animals in the mountains when he was a young boy."

Jang shared so much in common with Japan and China of the various Earths out there...scarily so. I continued narrating the pamphlet.

"Mochi rice cakes wrapped in kashiwa (oak) leaves—kashiwa-mochi (just like regular mochi, but is also filled with red beans jam) and chimaki (a kind of "sweet rice paste", wrapped in an iris or bamboo leaf)—are traditionally served on this day. The black carp (Magoi) at the top represents the father, the red carp (Higoi) represents the mother, and the last carp represents the son, with an additional carp added for each subsequent son with color and position denoting their relative age."

I rubbed my chin.

"Despite being the only surviving member of the Rabbotou Clan, Bunnie continues to fly the traditional colors of the koinobori, using the black and red to represent the memory of her parents, and the additional carps to represent her dojo's male students rather than herself and her sister, Bunnette."

"That's really neat!"

"Y'know...with you here, she just might have another koinobori to fly in your honor."

"For me? I...I...I..." Asriel looked overwhelmed. "I...don't know what to say."

"How about when you see her..."thank-you"." I smiled.

"Hmm-hmmm!" Asriel gripped his fists with and nodded with that determined look.

Well...no sign of him liquifying or anything...but then again his eyes were still icy cyan so I guess it was okay. It still made me nervous wondering how natural determination was affecting him.

"If we had anything like this in the Underground I--"

Asriel stopped short. Then he kinda looked down, noticing he was grasping around his neck, like he was expecting something to be there.

Oh. Chara again. Probably had his thoughts on the heart-shaped locket. But...Chara's spirit had it...not sure how that was possible for a ghost. Unless...unless it was like those Horcruxes from the Hogworts School that Lord Voldemort had divided his soul into. And brother, Chara had to be guilty of more acts of murder through Frisk's hands than I could ever calculate. I guess in that world, it didn't divide the soul. But it was a sure-fire way to increase one's level of violence. But...why would Asriel be subconsciously expecting it around his own neck?

"Sorry. For a moment I...expected something to be there."

"Was it something precious to you?"

"Yeah. You remember when I told you about the locket I gave to Chara?"

"...oh...that. Umm...yes? What about it?"

"It was...well...one of a matching pair."

What? There were two? Why didn't I know about-- And then I almost gasped when I thought back to all the instances, all the timelines, ever time I had watched Asriel abandon Flowey's form. Something golden around his neck... And then again...that same locket but...it had turned into a red energy form when he had become the Absolute God of Hyperdeath. And yes...it seemed as though it completely merged with him in his final form...

"Oh. I see."

Son of a gun. If Chara had one...where did the other disappear to? In the other instances where Asriel had turned to dust it had to have dropped into the flower bed. I don't remember seeing it anywhere in the Core. He had to have been wearing it the time before he dropped into the void. Which meant it must've been scattered to...somewhere else in time and space. Was there a chance it still existed despite the timeline being destroyed?

"Nevermind. It's...it's just part of my past now."

Asriel tried to smile...and I could tell it was faked pretty hard. It was the smile of someone trying to cover up their pain and regret to spare others the same feeling.

"What...were you going to say? About the holiday, if it's okay to ask?"

"Just that...even though Chara was a girl I'd still celebrate with her. But I guess it's okay since Bunnie told me about Hina Matsuri on March 3rd. Doll Festival, I think? It's like a Girls' Day, right? We would each have our own holiday to celebrate, y'know."

"Asriel...are you okay...thinking about her right now?"

A moment of silence.

"I guess...it's harder to let go than I thought. I...just want to remember the good in her. Sure she was mean to me and tricked me a lot but...she could also be...kinda..."

"I get you. Yeah. Even someone like Chara has to have some goodness in them. This is just one of those days it's hard to put the past under lock and key, right?"

"Right." Asriel's gaze fell.

The mood was somber only for a moment because at that time.

"Asriel!!!" Gadget's voice broke the moment as she tackle-hugged him from behind.

"Gaaah!" Asriel's surprised expression was beyond priceless.

"Hey, Asriel." Rotor waved as he made the scene.

"Oh, hey, Mr. Rotor."

"Rotor. Just Rotor. "Mister" makes me feel old."

"I hear that a lot around here."

"You'll understand when you get to be our age."

"I guess so." Asriel looked on. "So...you really haven't said much about yourself, Rotor. You're kinda quiet compared to everyone else."

"I guess I am. Not a lot to talk about I guess...I'm just...me."

"Mr. Rotor is just modest. He used to be the the assistant of the Minister of Science back in Ecotropia!"

"That sounds really important! Is that anything like a Royal Scientist?"

"Kinda..." Rotor looked pink in the cheeks and was getting pinker the more Gadget was flattering him.

"Gadget, I'm just a humble plumber."

"Here, let me show you the Tesla turbine blender we're working on--"

"Uh...maybe you better not, little sister."

"I've still got yogurt and blueberry stains in my other coveralls from the last "dry" run..." Rotor muttered offhandedly.

"Huh?"

"Oh uh...nothing."

"Huh...I guess I didn't pack it. Oh well...I'll tinker with something else."

Gadget fished out various broken pieces of electronics, junk parts, and recyclables. Some of...not quite normal size; like thumbtacks the size of coffee cups, and an engine's intake manifold the size of an art eraser.

"Resized them before you packed them, huh?"

Gadget nodded.

I would have to tell Asriel about Gadget's hybrid ability and her need to use her Reduction Belt in order to even use it. Violet often joked little sister was our world's version of Ant Man or the Atom. Maybe it was time for UCIAT to begin correspondence with Henry Pymm and Ray Palmer...but that would be another science project for another time.

"Well if you're going to build something new, I have something to contribute."

Rotor hurried over to his plumbing van and opened the back before pulling out a large, complicated-looking piece of machinery.

"It's...kinda big. I can't use all of this--"

"I'll give you a hand with that." Rotor said as his eyes lit up with a hazy neon aquamarine glow.

At that the machine lifted up out of his grasp and suddenly dismantled into all of its parts at the same time; each screw, wire, and component hovering in an exploded mass in mid air. The components lowered to the ground and mixed with Gadget's pile.

"Neat!" Asriel looked very impressed. "You've got super powers, too!"

"Many Hybrids do, Azzy."

"Here. Let me try a magic spell that Mom taught me." Asriel cupped his hands together and focused...and focused...and focused...

"...it's...it's not working." He sounded surprised and disappointed.

A bit more trying and Asriel gave up with the saddest look I had seen on him in a while.

"I...I can't use magic anymore..."

I could tell how upsetting it was. I guess it was time for Sarina to have another look at him. I hadn't seen him try to use magic up until now. I didn't realize how serious a problem it was until this point. I blame not for not understanding magic and not being magical for that.

"It's okay, Asriel. We'll figure out what's going on. Don't let it upset you."

"O...okay..." Asriel said with a sniffle.

"Maybe his magic is incompatible with our world or something." Rotor scratched a tusk. "I can't say I understand much about it."

"Asriel...don't be hung up on what you've lost. Be thankful for what you've gained."

I felt compelled to search for the missing locket in the Timelines. But a gut feeling compelled me to believe any attempt to restore Asriel's magic powers was futile.

I guess none of us were prepared for--

"OOF!!!" Asriel was suddenly knocked down by something small, furry and...raccoon-like.

"What the...!"

Sub-Entry 60: "Fantanstic Beasts and Where to Find Them (in Miranda City)..."
"KUMA!!! KUMAAAA! KUMA, COME BACK HERE! Oh...Violet's gonna decompile me and turn me into a Tamagotchi if you stray too far from the matter-wave holo-projector! You know you can't exist beyond the range of my holo-puck! Your energy will give out and you'll fractilize and become scattered photons and ions! Kuma! Kuma, come on! Don't do this to me now!"

I knew that voice.

"Glitter?"

I saw the young, winged girl coming toward us. She was human-sized but she was unmistakably a faerie. Glitter sort of resembled Olivia Newton-John from the old "Let's Get Physical" music video. Pink cut-off blouse with shoulder cuffs, matching pink tights with a an outer swimsuit bottom over top of it. Pink headband. And pink legwarmers with slip-on shoes. And sparkly wings which only made her name fitting. :detemmienation:   (Music Video Link)

Asriel looked at what had landed on him. It appeared to be some fusion of an albino raccoon with a small albino monkey. Light greyish and white, yellow-green eyes.

"Violet's digital construct get loose again?"

"Digital...construct?" Asriel questioned.

"Yeah...an artificial life form. He's not made of flesh and blood like me or love and magic like you. He's made of computer code, compressed magnetism, and quantum-entangled photons."

"That's...a lot of...big words I don't understand."

I guess that was a kind of a wake-up call that we had all been using a lot of big words that Asriel didn't understand for a while now. But he asked a lot fewer questions than figured he would. There was still a bit of that worry about being a burden, perhaps. Maybe Gadget was inspiring him to learn new words on his own rather than just ask what they mean.

"It's...like illusionary magic. He's an illusion that can be touched."

"He feels solid...but...something's...off about him. I...think.." Asriel looked up at me.

"Is...is he...souless?"

My face fell.

The irony was bitter. An instance of Asriel who never lost his soul...I guess now I knew that the concept of being soulless was another landmind trigger around him. And that didn't reassure me when going back to how Asriel would handle an encounter with Flowey...and vice-versa.

"There...used to be a real Kuma once. A pet of the members of anti-crime/anti-terrorism organization, Pole Position, long before my time. Even before the N-Division. But...he passed on a long time ago. Violet...recreated him with her computer technology and made him as real as possible but...you...can't really give a soul to something like Kuma. He's just a computer program. There isn't a way to digitize a soul." :detemmienation:  (Music Link)

This bothered me a lot more than why the original Kuma's creator had named him after the Japanese (or in our world's case, "Jangese") word for "bear".

There wasn't anything even remotely bear-like about him.

Kuma chittered a little and reached up with his tiny paws and wiped Asriel's tears.

"But that's not to say he doesn't have intelligence. Violet made him as lifelike as the original Kuma as possible."

"I guess I have that in common with him." Glitter said as she landed, resting her faerie wings.

"I'm a construct, too. A virtual intelligence. I'm the operating system to one of Violet's mission-type computer gauntlets. Oh, my name is Glitter, by the way."

Glitter's shape and form kinda flickered, a haze of television static washing over her the holo-projector puck experienced a minor glitch for a second.

"Hello, Miss Glitter."

"Anyway....Violet's out at the moment so she left me to look after things. But I'm not alone."

"Hmm?" Gadget looked up as if she recognized something.

She turned just in time to see the craziest make-shifted vehicle arrive in the square; made of odds, ends, and an ivory bathtub...?

"Uncle Gyro!" She suddenly hopped up and greeted the newcomer. A conspicuous red-haired, white feathered goose-hybrid. He was dressed a bit...old-timey and wearing tiny spectacles.

"It's good to see you, Gadget!" Came the response of one Professor Gyro Gearloose.

Gyro had joined our team a while back after a former colleague of Dr. Vladimir Stokes (Red's creator)--by the name of Dr. Hanos--had joined our team...and then betrayed us to steal research and sabotage our operation under the orders of Mainland on the other side of the world. But that was another can of worms I didn't want to open.

Gyro had come to our team, after a long service to the richest hybrid duck in the world; a city within Kaeleron's borders nestled in between St. Canard and Cape Suzette. I didn't know much about his employment under Mr. McDuck but what I did know was that he was forbidden from building any more robots after...incidents. Let's just say...he had the same bad luck as Gadget when his inventions DIDN'T work... :detemmienation:  (Music Video Link)

He and Gadget were no more related than Gadget and I, but he'd always been like an uncle to us both, when we were growing up. Prior to his work for Scrooge McDuck, he was among the clique that my mentor, Professor Odie Arcade hung around during their days at Von Drake's Think Tank. They included the likes of Professor Isaac  Sumdac, Professor Benton Quest, Professor Emmett L. Brown,  and many others. By this time everyone but Dr. Light and Dr. Cossack had a professorship. Even my old mentor, Dr. Spengler was qualified to teach at universities.

Perched on his shoulder was Lil' Bulb. His make-shifted robot assistant made from small robot parts. As his name suggested, he had a light bulb for a head. The bulb glowed as the tiny machine purred a bit.

"Violet asked me to keep an eye on her constructs while she was out. I hope they haven't been too much trouble."

"Professor, you're not eating and driving again, are you?" I asked.

"Oh, how rude of me. Did you want a bite of my broccoli, pickle, kale, tomato, bok choy, and cheese sandwich? I also have an eggplant, savoy, mung bean, and endive smoothie if you'd like."

Ick. That's way too much vegetable for a person to consider normal.

"Er...no thanks, Professor."

"There are almost too many new people arriving.  How am I ever going to meet them all?" Asriel seemed a bit overwhelmed.

"So are you holding up, okay, Glitter? Any glitches or sub-routine problems?"

"No, all is well." Glitter said, re-sizing herself, shrinking her faux body.

It was then I could actually see the holo-projector puck that was normally installed in Violet's GTR-084 CyberDrive Gauntlet. She assumed her more familiar Tinkerbell size and hovered over to Kuma.

"Bad raccoon-creature! You get off that poor boy, right now!" She said hopping up and down on Kuma's nose, gently.

Kuma scampered off Asriel

"I'm sorry about that. He gets that way after someone uploads a virtual E-Can or a digital soda binary to him."

"Heh. We can't give you guys a soul but we can still simulate the process of eating, drinking, and such."

"Speaking of which." Glitter opened a file much the same as one of our hololyths.

From it decompressed a box of saltines...at least they looked like them. But they were just lines of code and not physical matter as we knew them. Glitter popped the box open and helped herself to the electronic crackers.

"Well glad to see it, but now that leaves me with a cleaned out in-box." It was obvious the Professor felt like staying busy with his science.

"Maybe you could help Rotor and Gadget with make-shifting some new things." I suggested.

And so they did. It wasn't long before Tithius had managed to find his way to our little mini soiree. He was no doubt hoping for another lunar cycle cookout so he could snag some steaks. Or maybe convince one of us he was adorable enough to deserve some free treats. Asriel cautiously welcomed the wyrmling dragon over and petted him, though he was quite lacking in the food/treats department.

I saw Chameleon out of the corner of my eye, arms crossed and eyeing us all...but otherwise he made no indication that we were in for a bad time. I had a feeling it wouldn't be long though before he did decide to acknowledge Asriel. I hoped he at least kept it civil. I know he didn't like rabites, and I know that he really didn't like Violet. And if I caught him in a bad mood after something like David paying him a visit to voice the Dragon Council's concerns or worse his loyal adrenaline junkie subordinate, the wolf abhuman known as Ripper pulling some reckless stunt involving skates and rocket boosters, then the only course of action would be to send Asriel running for the hills before things got real.

I was beginning to worry that the attention Asriel would be getting was going to snowball. But eventually things quieted down and everyone went their separate ways.

Chapter 7

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