PLDN Chapter 29

"Chapter 29: The Crossover Wars Rage On (Sub-Entries 281 - 290)"

Sub-Entry 281: "Doubling Down or Doubling Back?":
There's really no defending going back on previous decisions. Yet, I find myself going with the "change of heart" excuse. That said, Asriel and I both agreed to update Chara, despite previously believing that telling her every little facet of Azzy's life was an admission of being clingy. What a lack of...integrity...on my part. So what are we going with?

"...ooooooh. A super powers showcase. I'm convinced. You're TRYING to make me jealous, little brother." Winging it. What else?

"Little? We're the same age, Chara. Counting the 100 years."

"Ugh. I guess the lesson here is to be a better loser." Chara rolled her eyes as we gathered around her tea table.

"You're taking it better than "No Name"."

"No Name? Wow, Azzy. You've gotten almost as great with naming as Fluffybuns himself."

"Hey now. Be nice."

"Well what would you have called him?" I decided to prod.

"Anything but No-Name. Even Fake Man would be--"

"Sorry. Already claimed by one of Dr. Wily's robots--nasty cop bot impersonator with a revolver for an arm cannon."

"I don't know whether to be petty sour grapes over a withered old geezer coming up with the name before me or relieved that a withered old geezer came up with the name instead of me." That earned a lowering of Bunnie's eyebrow.

"Yeeeeeah...not a good idea to insult the elderly in front of her presense. The Major respects her elders and that little snipe might have been taken personally." I rubbed the back of my head. "Besides, you get caught saying that with the Commander-General present and he won't be as forgiving as he is to the likes of Captain Shunsui Kyouraku."

"The lazy, drunk bum who wears the flowery kimono and is more of a flirt than--"

I shot her a look before she could name-drop Frisk. I had decided it was not a good idea for Asriel to learn that name...yet.

"...right. Sorry."

Chara looked toward Bunnie. The implication was that she meant Antoine but the real context went over Asriel's head.

"Does everybody have to gang up on Antoine?" Azzy wrinkled his nose.

Silence in the room.

"Harsh." Goat son practically winced.

"We're getting off topic." Bunnie crossed her arms.

"Right, right." I waved it up.

Asriel nodded and let his Kindness virtue flare up, presenting the giant pizza cutter.

"I can do this one..." Then he switched to the Patience virtue, producing the watering can. "...and this one. As far as I know there are probably five more of these. And it seems like I unlock them every time No-Name pushes me to the brink."

"Maybe it's just opposites acting as catalysts on one another." Bunnie rubbed her chin.

I sipped my tea and nibbled one of the onigiri Chara had laid out for us.

"Maybe."

"Well, I'm still super-jealous, my brother. But not as much as I'd be before I started kidou training."

"Oh yeah! That one with the blue flame is awesome!"

"Well, well. How the tables have turned. Now I'm the one who gets to show off." Chara mused as she opened the sliding door, grabbed one of the crumpled balls of paper from her wastebasket and threw it out at a good 45 degree angle arc and chased after the paper ball with Soukatsui.

Bunnie raised an eyebrow. "A level 33 without an incantation? Most impressive. It seems you're as much a prodigy as Rukia-chan."

"Hey. You didn't think all that mayhem seven years ago was all the Wraith now, did you?"

"Heh." I grinned slyly. "Ghost-freak only stole and twisted what was already there, ya know."

"Yeah...not fun times." Asriel looked a little glum.

"Hey. I thought we moved passed that, Az. What, I not say I'm sorry enough times yet?"

"No, no. It's not that. It's just..."

"Yeah. Easy to say we'll look back on it and laugh but...it really isn't that funny all those years later."

A moment of silence. "Chara. I...don't want to ask this because...it feels like I'm calling trust into question. I mean...I know you...I--"

"Just spit it out. I have no right to raise objections, all things considered."

"How...how did you make it to Miranda? You know our world--"

Things got a bit tense there. I could feel the gravity of the question. Bunnie narrowed her eyes a little. To our relief, Chara shook her head.

"It's fine. I could just say I don't know but...you're smarter than that, Azzy. You know I was trapped inside that thing...I was aware of the things it did...where it went...who it hurt. But...ultimately...the real truth is something Madam Fate herself would know. I can't be sure of anything that transpired wasn't just an illusion to control me. But...I do remember...the end of our world. The last thing I remember was the Wraith telling me that our game wasn't finished...and that when I awoke again...I would have you back..."

Chara got up from the table and faced away from us.

"...but that was a half-truth, wasn't it. I would see you again. But not on my terms. Not the reunion I wanted us to have. No...,the Wraith just...wanted to punish you for foiling the Plan." The explanation was actually well-thought out and detailed well enough to leave out anything that Asriel could use to put two and two together.

"I'm...not really sure how much time must've gone by when the Wraith completely engulphed me; but it assured me that we'd survive and make it to the next world. From there...well. Your father...Colonel O'Conner became my first surrogate host for me...already a host being worn, symbiotically by the Wraith."

"That makes a lot of sense. Maybe the Wraith didn't want us tracing this back to Madam Fate and Dr. Adonis so soon. It might have spoiled all the chaos he's had scripted for us as of late." Chara looked over her shoulder.

"Somehow I'm going to pay him back in kind...for all that he's done...and all that he intends to do. Even if I have to put on a white sheet and pretend to be a ghost; haunting him for eternity. I might not be able to do much to him but, I'm sure I can at least be super annoying."

Asriel laughed. "You? Annoying? Get outta here!"

Chara scoffed. "Way to be convincing, Asriel. You learned too well from the master."

"I learned too well from MANY masters." He grinned a little too pleasantly. "Okay, I'll stop. There is a line that separates a moment of elation from being a bad winner."

"Ah, come here you big floofy goof." Chara got Azzy into a headlock and noogied.

"Darn it....walked riiiight into this!" Asriel cringed. "Watch the horns! Watch the horns!"

Bunnie and I looked at each other with a look of relief...and a look of awkwardness. We'd have to leave the Soul Society before long but at least this was one less loose end to worry about. I mean...there wasn't anything wrong with occasional visits to his sister, right? That's normal for any family. Just...not so normal that the family member in question was kinda dead and training to be a Soul Reaper. Kinda...morbid when I put it that way, isn't it?

Sub-Entry 282: "A Duplex of Duplex Celebrations":
Sally's birthday kicked off the Taurus Trio's round of birthdays and we were there to celebrate due to me showing my hand to Azzy; a weird metaphor for me to use when I don't even play cards, mind you. But with that time-travel tomfoolery out of the way and Miranda's timeline adapting once again for us to return to normal times, it was easy to cruise right into Bunnie's birthday and then a week later for Lupe's. As it turned each landed on a holiday this year.

May 5th. Technically this one was a double holiday. While many on VGM-098's equivalent of Hispanic countries celebrated their own counterpart to Cinco de Mayo, Bunnie and her students had Kodomo no Hi--Children's Day/Boy's Day--for her birthday to piggyback onto.

"...I've long-outgrown ages that Jang honors for Children's Day. But it still holds meaning for me. Is that how it was for you, sensei?"

"It still is, Asriel-kun. It still is."

"Well, since there's no surprising a master ninja, I might as well let you know Mitzi has a strawberry birthday cake and ice cream waiting at Rock-Afire Pizzaria."

"You would not even try to hold a surprise party?" Bunnie smirked. "Remember your lesson about picking battles? Don't engage unless you know you can succeed."

Bunnie chucked. "So you've determined that the student still has yet to surpass the master?"

"Know thy limits. But what you're really saying is...it is possible?"

"One day. You might end up being the master, and I your student. There is much I have yet to learn, too."

"Are we making a pack to see that day arrive?" Bunnie smirked again. "Okay then. We'll both be watching and waiting. Together. But before that time, I should focus on catching up to Mitzi. She's been a top student longer than I have."

A nod. "You never cease to amaze me with your insight. "Well. With a lot of time to spare before the celebration...want to drop in on Lupe and see if she has any fish tacos left? I'm sure the fiesta at the Nature Preserve is still going on."

I had desribed Lupe in the context of being similar to various tribes of Native Americans in addition to being a druid. But there were a few Hispanic influences that seemed to leak into our counterpart to ACM-001's leader of the Wolf Pack and apparently one of the guardian sages of the Gaia Temples...another aspect of the "rebooted" timeline just before the dimension closed up and disappeared from existence.

"Thinking about making a pre-emptive birthday reminder before its her turn in one week's time?"

"The...thought crossed my mind." Asriel looked over his shoulder. And so we dropped in on Lupe and got said tacos. Which gave Asriel a chance to drop more than a few subtle hints that Lupe's big day was coming and that it fell on a certain celebration of the maternal parental unit.

So in one week's time...

"Happy birthday, Lupe!" "And while you aren't a mother yourself, there's no better mother to celebrate than Mother Nature, right?"

"Oh my, Asriel! You really do understand me. Thank you!"

We spent a good long day at the Nature Preserve, but we weren't the only ones celebrating the holiday... In Neo Arcadia City...

"Oh, Volt! You remembered!" Nermal squealed with glee as she opened the card and read it and then gave the huge teddy bear gift I'd sent her a big hug. Asriel had already planned ahead and arranged a nice night out at the Raxis String Orchestra for a family night of culture after we got done at Lupe's.

I think there was a rare moment of civility between Queen Brooke and daughter, the former Princess Ivy.

An offering of sake while igniting the incense before Anna Rabbotou's shrine at Rabbotou Dojo was how Bunnie remembered Mother's Day. And while Anna wasn't Jangese, Bunnie did split the difference with a little acoustic guitar interlude while wearing a rustic ten-gallon hat of her own.

Violet of course spared no expense bringing Lady Frieda out to Miranda City. Suffice to say we had to get quite a lot of paperwork in order for them to use army grounds for war games. And Violet still had to pay for additional damages that went beyond the cordoned off area. Oh boy.

Sally took a trip out to the memorial erected in No Man's Land of Vorostov in order to lay flowers before the names of the Royal Court etched into the glossy black marble wall. King Maximillian and Queen Alicia were there in bold letters at the top section reserved for the royal family. Elias' name was there among the most loyal retainers.

Rotor and Skeeter didn't have much to celebrate since the passing of their mother and neither felt like visiting the cemetary; it would only wind up depressing them and quite frankly they needed more time before they were ready to return to South Plumbington. In some way or another everyone had their own way of cherishing the holiday. For now the peaceful times rolled on.

But as Violet would soon prove...just because it's peace time doesn't mean we can't be driving up the wall. An with a certain movie releasing a day after Sally's birthday? A couple weeks later meant the floodgates would burst open. I speak of course of the dreaded...spoilers and Easter Eggs...

Sub-Entry 283: "The Working Title is Mary Lou 2":
April had long come and gone and May was running its course. And boy oh boy did Violet not holding back from certain movie spoilers. Good grief, from the very day the "spoiler ban" lifted, the flood gates opened and no one was safe.

"Dammit, Vi! If this is a game to you, just END it already!" I snapped......waaaait. Crap, did I really just describe my exclamation with that word of all words?!

"I'm sure it'll run its course. It is...inevitable!" Violet giggled as she lead the donkey back to the stable. It was wearing a large banner that read 'If found, return to Steve Rogers'.

"You know, maybe i should be changing it to read "return to Uncle...Sam. And even throw in a copy of F-Zero. Falcoooooooooooon...!!!"

"You really are shameless."

"Okay, okay. A peace offering. Lupe had a pair of them left over from Cinco de Mayo." Violet handed me a pair of tacos. "Enjoy, little man."

I face palmed. She was going all out with pretty much everything in her arsenal.

"Now if you don't mind, I have some Fortnite to servers to watch over. I'm looking at dropping "Mjolnir" on NoobMaster 69. Apparently he didn't take the warning of getting his arms ripped off and shoved up his butt with a grain of salt."

Only you, Vi. Only you. I turned to Asriel who just shrugged and shook his head. Well. That pointless barrage of Easter Eggs ran its course--

"Hey, Jon! I'm treating you to all the cheeseburgers you can eat!" .

..almost. That rabbit really ticks me off, sometimes.

"One last thing, boss! Don't forget to turn the lights off in the metallurgy lab after you're done pounding wrought iron into metal parts! CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!"

...more than sometimes. Asriel just chuckled.

"Laugh it up, Goat Son."

"Aww, it's all in good fun."

"Yeah, but you're having fun with Violet movie spoilers."

"Aunt Vi's gotta troll. It's what she does." I rolled my eyes. "I suppose so."

It was just as well. Nine years ago, Violet's spoiler rampaged kicked off everything from Super Smash Bros. generated memes to hacking the JumboTron TV's in Technopolis to play an endless loop of the Wii-Vengers fan animation which of course showcased a lot of former N-Division members in familar roles while enacting a summary of the movie.

"Face it, Volt. Marvel is hotter than Hotland used to be."

"You remember Hotland?" I raised an eyebrow. "Vaguely. I was real little when I visited but...that was...a lifetime ago."

"More than one lifetime if you count the 100 years." Credit where credit was due. Violet was always quick to strike when it came to jumping on bandwagons and setting trends. Honestly, she constantly had her finger on the pulse of pop culture in general; but mainly nerd culture in specific.

"Besides, Violet's not the only one taking to it like flies to a bug zapper. Have you seen Rotor's 22-film pin-terest board? I knew he has the whole conspiracy theory hobby thing going on, but he took it three dimensional all over his UCIAT living quarters!"

No one could make a stick-pin diagram like Rotor. I think he was inspired by Billy Cranston from the Power Rangers movie; possibly the Question from DC Universe. "So...how much of it did he guess for--"

"Surprising...none of it. Every one of his speculations turned out to be wrong. He blames the teasers and trailers giving misdirection."

I smirked. It was a testament to how the MCU kept everything under wraps. Even with only one actor getting the complete, unabridged final script to prevent...ahem...well, Violet's been spoiling this whole log, hasn't she. By the publishing of this entry, if anyone's going to complain about spoilers, Violet would counter with "You're about one month too late to whine". Save it for the actual end of "Phase 3". I think it says something about our culture how fast information spreads like wildfire. "Bunnie finally got what you meant earlier."

"Yeah...I almost let it slip worse than Spider-Man. Or Pepper Potts."

"Trust me. You're a long way from "being fired", Goat Son." What does it say about me when this is the extent of what I have for subject matter in these Project Lost Dreemurr Next log entries? I guess it should say something about the down side of down time when we're between battles. Need I remind myself the Crossover Wars are still going on?

"Well this banter asside, how many times have you seen it now, Azzy?"

"At least 2 a week since opening day!"

"It's just that good, huh?"

"It's just that good. Hashtag beat the movie about the eight-foot Smurf-cats?"

"Oh you." I shrugged. "You going to still be saying that when the sequels to that come around?"

"Sequels are a double-edged sword. They can be not as good as the original or better than the original." "Indeed." A brief silence from both of us. "But when all's said and done..."

"...and we've stayed until the end of the credits..."

"There's one last thing to say."

We both took a deep breath and said it in unison. "Thank you, Stan Lee." Excelcior? Nuff' said.

Sub-Entry 284: "Til' All and I Mean ALL Are One":
Cybertron. Many millions of years ago, life existed. But not life as we know it. Intelligent robots that could think and feel inhabited its cities. Two factions comprised its populace called Autobots--named for their autonomous nature; and Decepticons--named for their logical, hardened tactic of deceiving to achieve their goal.

Both races valued Cybertron. But the Autobots believed in unity through peace and diplomacy. Decepticons believed in unity through conquest and the disregard of all other lifeforms.

Our first dealings with them came in their first AU, known as TFG-001. Also know by other nicknames such as Diaclone Prime, The Micromasters Pocketverse, and "Gen-One". But from there, like Undertale before it, iteration after iteration sprung up. New timelines were intruduced such as the three hundred years after the Prophecized Golden Era of Cybertron or the Dawn of the Headmasters; where the Autobots and Decepticons had made the great conversion to Maximal and Predicon and forged an uneasy peace. A peace that was shattered by the "Beast Wars" and ended with the "Beast Machines".

But an alternate timeline soon followed, we dubbed RID-183; nicknamed "Car Robots" and the first iteration of "Robots in Disguise". And after that another timeline sprouted in another AU which spawn what we now called the "Unicron Trilogy" that spanned the eras of "Armada", "Energon", and "Cybertron". This timeline started with the third faction known as Minicons. This transversed into the battle over liquid Energon. And finally it culminated into a war for the Cyber Keys after the destruction of the evil Transformer god planet known as Unicron opened a black hole. This would eventually lead to the discovery that Cybertron was actually the Tranformer god being, and Unicron's benevolent counterpart Primus. And timeline after timeline emerged.

An AU called TFH-2007, codenamed "Heroes" or sometimes jokingly called "Animated" manefested rebooted G1 Cybertronians in less battle experienced forms. This timeline ended up coinciding with similar events on VGM-098 what with the existence of Dr. Isaac Sumdac and Sari among other familar faces that UCIAT was allied with. Yet another emerged called TFP-2016 which we all consdidered the events of it were "just PRIME".

But perhaps the ones which got the most groans out of us in STC was the MBTF-0005 pentology that started with an All Spark, progressed to the Matrix of Leadership, to the Five Pillars, the exploiting of the Transformium left by the Creators, and finally Quintessa's mad quest to bring Cybertron to Earth. And there were still more. So how does this concern us? Lasers. Explosions. And a tussel over god-tier artifacts that may or may not have been the genesis of the Cybertronian race.

"One shall stand--"

Yeah. You know where this is going. It started when the Followers of Chaopolis did exactly what I expected and snatched up the Plasma Core from Cybertron, the Key to Vector Sigma, the supposed All-Spark, stockpile of Energon Cubes, and the "Staff of Merlin" or rather Quinessa's artifact and quickly opened a crossrift between worlds. And where did that get us?

Transformers against Transformers. And Chaopolis was STILL opening portals between dimensions. I think the last straw for me was when he breached the Shattered Glass universe. As anyone familiar with this newer lore would know...it became a lot more confusing when you bring in Evil Autobots and Good Decepticons. That's right...just like Mirror Mirror of a series where no man had gone before, we were dealing with evil opposites...and...good opposites.

"My king!" Shattered Glass Starscream shreaked as the Shattered Glass Megatron was blown to the ground by Evil Optimus Prime's suckerpunch cannon shot.

At the same time the Bumblebee quartet--G1, Prime, Animated, and the "Bay-Former"--were pinned down.

"And to think I complained about being cooped up in Sumdac's lab all day!" Animated whined. "Why can't the fastest bot on Cybertron catch a break?"

"Fastest? You don't have a Blurr in your universe?" G1 asked. "...uhhh...no....Blurr? Who's that? Never heard of him."

The Bay-Former spelled out out in a radio snippet, playing a soundbyte from Robocop. "I'd buy that for a dollar!"

"Heh!" G1 mused. And Transformers R.i.D. 2015 (For simplicity's sake let's call it "Aligned Universe") Grimlock had his hands...er...teeth full with his G1 counterpart, taking a bite out of crime...or rather Devastator's legs. "ME, GRIMLOCK--!" G1 started.

"KICK SOME SKIDPLATE!" Aligned finished. "HEY! YOU NO FINISH GRIMOCK SENTENCE! ME GRIMLOCK KING!"

At the same time G1 Optimus and Animated Optimus were in tag team battle against their Megatron counterparts. "I would have waited an eternity for this. It's over, Prime!"

"Would you care to do the honors?" G1 Megatron converted to his Walther P38 form. Animated Megatron pointed and fired, causing both Primes to scatter.

"You know I would have thought this was the coolest thing in the world as a kid. But all things considering, since we can't do much to help out, being on the sidelines while giant robots duke it out kinda sucks."

"Don't go adventure-chasing on me now, Azzy! We're not entirely useless here. Remember. I'm the Miranda equivalent of Circuit Breaker!"

"Oh yeah...last I checked even giant robots don't do well with electric shocks!" I took a moment to Arc onto Animated's back and the let loose the mother of all Pulsar Frenzy attacks. "GAAAAAAAAAAH!!! YOU ORGANIC GERM--!!!"

"There's an opening! Go for it!" Animated Prime beckoned. And with that G1 Prime Transformed, his trailer mysteriously appearing out of nowhere in a massive fish-tail; barreling into Megatron and tripping him up, and knocking him down. G1 Megatron went flying out of his grasp where Asriel was waiting with an E.N.G.I.N.E. dot, quickly sealing him inside.

"Sorry, Megs. But I hate guns."

In no time the tables began to turn and before long...

"Decepticoooooons! RETREEEEEEEEEAT!" G1 Starscream transformed and flew off toward the space bridge in the sky. RVG-Gamma and LBK-Alpha made short work of their casseticon counterparts, kicing both Ravage and Lazerbeak to the curb.

"Laserbeak! Ravage! Return! Operation: strategic withdrawl!" Soundwave commanded as the cassetticons transformed and disappeared into the purple-blue communications officer's chest bay.

"I don't want to see your face! Just the button that says ERASE!" heroic Autobot, Blaster taunted as Soundwave turned tail with the rest of the G1's. And eventually all the other AU counterparts started withdrawing.

We only had time to have quick banter and thank-yous before bidding everyone goodbye on the side of good and justice. "Til' all are one." G1 Optimus nodded as Asriel saluted in return. "Til' all are one, Optimus!"

So far a lot of short entries to sum up a lot of excitement and activity during this Crossover War. But that would soon change.

The peace was restored once more.

And with that another battle in the Crossover War wound down.

Sub-Entry 285: "When Thundercats Collide":
"HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Thundera.

I knew of its existence and its fate. I knew of Third Earth. I knew that there were two accounted for AU's. What I didn't know was the day that they'd collid. Darn you, Adonis. So where where we this time?

Adonis one-upped himself this time by tearing a gaping section in the dimensional barriers between both AU's. So the divide between worlds was...pretty obvious. It of course reminded me of the countless cliche stories of two feuding siblings who divided their room in half with tape or paint or such and anything on the other side of the room was off limits to one and vice-versa.

I was on scene with Asriel trying to break up the fight between the two Lion-O's. One hailed from the TND-0086 and the other TND-2011. One was a child's mind in an adult body due to the malfunction of a stasis pod from where it had been jetisoned from the escape ship from what was Thundera. The other was the young prince of a fallen kingdom, dealing with the murder of his father and having to come of age at the worst possible time. Both wielded their own Sword of Omens and Claw Shield gauntlet. Both wear as fearless as a lion and bold and heroic in their own ways. And both were incredibly stubborn and had at least some semblance of a hot temper.

The 86 version spoke in what I called "Struggling Hero dialect"; not quite William Shatner level level of pauses between words and dragging things out with dramatic theatrical flair. The 2011 edition was more a normal older teenager with pretty much all the interchangable nuances of your typical 21st century action hero with none of the Pro-Wrestler physique of his "classic" counterpart.

"By Jaga's name I will vanquish you and cast you out! As Lord of the Thundercats, my destiny is clear!"

A clash between the swords.

"Don't you speak that name! You're dishonoring the sacrifice he made so we could escape! I won't lose to a pretender! There's only one Lion-O and it's not you!"

I groaned. "Well this is productive..." I got up from where Classic knocked me down.

"I can't say it's going well for either of us, partner." Asriel climbed out of the crater. "At least yours doesn't have magic Infinity Stone knockoff and a magic Book of Omens to guide him."

Despite the vast upgrades? Both Lords were on equal ground and of equal strength and tenacity. And while that would have been fine and dandy to deal with...we weren't the only ones caught up in it.

Elsewhere, Bunnie with help from Master Splinter decided to take on the two Tygras. Both masters of the whip and good at disappearing and reappearing; proving to be clever ninjas of sorts...but also cunning strategists and quick to adapt.

"...I have no quarrel with you, mouse creature. But there is an imposter about claiming to be me. Though he is clearly younger and inexperienced. An arrogant lad but no less tenacious. I sense he harbors some sort of hidden grudge against Lion-O, therefore he's a threat that must be neutralized."

"Nor do I have issue with you. But both of your are have been deceived into a battle you were not meant to fight." Splinter grasped his walking stick.

"This conflict only serves a greater evil."

"What evil could be greater than Mumm-Ra?"

"You would be surprised and horrified if you crossed paths with our foe. His Followers of Chaopolis have already incited war between otherwise good factions fighting for justice as well as forged alliances between villains!"

"Even if what you say is true I must follow my beliefs!"

And Bunnie wasn't having an easier time either. "Get out of my way. This doesn't concern you, rabbit."

"But what we've come to stop does concern you. Our enemies have goaded you and your counterpart into a quarrel to distract you from their invasion into this and other universes."

"Do you think I'll be tricked so easily? I've made a name in undermining the enemy's psyche. I have my own reasons for proving I'm the real Tygra and not some old cat using my name and a phony version of my weapon."

"You are determined but your arrogance is going to work against you. So be it then. Let this be a battle between shadow warriors. But the fallen must yield to the victor's request."

"Oh, I think I can name a thing or two I'd command you to do."

"Presumptuous. Save it for when you've actually secured victory..." Bunnie disappeared in a BAMF right as the whip cracked at her spot.

What Bunnie and Splinter already knew is what Asriel and I were both learning the hard way. It's actually more difficult when you have two moderators trying to diffuse an argument. Why? Because each party can acuse you and your partner of favortism and taking sides the moment you take action. It doesn't matter which of them you try to pull apart from the fight; all it takes is for one to mistake your actions as being loyal to their cause or assisting the enemy to turn it into a four-way mess. And unless you're careful and on guard, the infighting can actually spread to you and your parter if you let yourself be swayed to either side; even if only subconsciously.

All while this was going on... "I do not have time to waste! I must rejoin the others but this one stands in my way."

"I take it a bit personally when someone claims to be me. I didn't camp out in front of Jaga's doorstep as a child just to be turned away from joining the Order of the Clerics."

"Your story, while admirable will not sway me from my duty to the Lord of the Thundercats."

Both Cheetaras whirled their bo stalves. Sally and Team Acorn as a trio would find themselves handling the fastest of the Thundercats.

"All this competition is getting me revved. I don't know about you girls, but when my team and I need to settle an argument, we do it on the race track."

"Yeah! You thinkin' what I'm thinkin, Sal?"

"I propose a five-way race. The first to reach the finish gets first dibs on speaking rights while the other yield and hear what they have to say."

"Your challenge, while frivelous, has merit. It would honor our ancestors proving our mettle in a way that doesn't involve conflict."

"Fine by me. I may have had to learn the lesson of patience for Jaga to accept me into the Order, but that doesn't make me slower than the likes of you."

"Well shall see, young Cleric."

Sally and the others had this one in the bag or so they believed. While it wouldn't be a cakewalk, I had faith they could get the job done.

But who should have the luck of dealing with the strongest of the Thundercats but...

"...look, gov...can't we talk this out like civilized er...mammals? Maybe over a spot of tea and some scones?"

"There's a time for talk and there's a time for action."

"There's no denying this soldier's got strength and experience...and from the looks of it, he knows enough to build a Thundertank of his own. But he picked the wrong time to challenge the wrong solider. I've met with betrayal as well as being impersonated once already. And my image was used to assassinate our king, Claudius. Do you know what it's like to live that down?"

"I can't say I do. But on that note I won't say I can't imagine." Classic Panthro readied his mace.

"Listen. I respect you both as engineers and I know there's a more inventive solution to this than a test of strength--" Rotor started moments before the Roman-Grecco wrestling began.

"You're....strong...!"

"Glad...you noticed..."

"But I do not have to rely on artificial limbs to augment my strength."

"These arms represent a price I paid for victory. I settled the score with my betrayer and got these to replace them. Sooner or later you'll understand what I learned: whatever the cost to defeat your enemy."

"Yikes. Dark." Jon whimpered.

"You should stay out of this, wolf beast."

"On that I agree. If you don't want to get hurt, seal man, I'd stay back."

"Uh...actually I'm a walrus. But all the same...good advice. I just wish my friend and I could heed it but we've got our own mission. Breaking up this senseless conflict."

And that left the trickiest members. And when they came in pairs, that meant doubling the already double trouble.

"...GAH! They pranked us again!"

"No fair!"

Classic Wily Kit and Wily Kat could be heard laughing in the folliage of the treetops. And who had the luck to chase them down?

"I'm afraid I am not much good at this...trickery and pranking, Gadget."

"Don't worry, Pit! All we have to do is outsmart them at their own game and we'll have this war stopped, no sweat!" Gadget was optimistic as always. A little bit later...

"RANKIN-BASS!"

"What trickery is this!"

"Oh no! They got us back!"

"Heh. You should know you don't mess with master thieves."

"You two are just two young to be going up against the likes of us. We've been surviving on our own all our lives!"

And this kept up ad nauseum. While the conflict was on-going, all things come to an end sooner or later. Eventually Asriel and I disarmed the two Lion-O's--me with my Kaminari no Danganken, Asriel with his NX Claymore fusion. As it turned out, neither of our blades could do any real damage to either Sword of Omens. But after beating a little sense into them and convincing them both to use the Eye of Omens to gain Sight Beyond Sight, they soon discovered.

"Looks like you both were telling the truth."

"Then you really are another version of me!"

"Glad we could get this figured out."

"Yes. And not a moment to soon." It was about that time when a pair of small sidekicks joined us. "I see you have your own Snarf as well."

"Lion-O! You have to come quick! You're not gonna believe this! Snarf, Snarf!"

"...and yours talks?!" The younger Thundercats Lord raised an eyebrow. The other Snarf...not so much. And yet something about the non-speaking one reminded Asriel and me both of Tithius.

"I suppose we both know what to do, next."

"Indeed." Both Lion-O's picked up their blades. "Follow each other's leads?"

"I'll try to keep up."

A deep breath followed by the immortal battlecry: "...Thunder...THUNDER...THUNDERCATS...HOOOOOOOOO!!!"

The Eye of Omens projected the red emblem into the sky...

Elsewhere... "I guess we both have no choice but to yield."

"We have been bested. Someone this tenacious has to be a Tygra, even if it isn't of my own Third Earth."

"I guess I can live with someone being as great as myself." It was then the call was visible. Classic Tygra heeded the call.

"I'm guessing that means we're needed elsewhere."

"Let us make haste." Splinter advised.

And so...

"And Team Acorn takes first place!"

"That's our leader!"

"I must conceed defeat. The better women won this day. Only Lion-O has bested me in a foot race; as per the challenge to become the Lord of the Thundercats."

"Stings a little coming in second and tying with my doppleganger. But as a Cleric, humility is definitly a lesson I've learned. Truce?"

"We were never enemies."

The signal was visible at that moment.

"And now it seems we are to be allies."

"I've got your back."

"Well, girls! Let's motor!"

And...

"Just when I think I've seen it all..."

"Guess this wirey wolf isn't all talk. He's got some muscle."

"And the walrus managed to fix both our Thundertanks. I think we both know when a a battle's unwinnable."

And of course...

"Speaking of battles, we may have another one looming ahead."

"Oh great...more cardio..." Jon whined.

"You forget? If we ask nicely we can hitch a ride." Rotor grinned.

Which left...

"For the record we didn't lose!"

"Well. We didn't, either!"

"That sounds like the kind of thing a loser would say."

"Don't forget! We're tied up with the both of you!"

"Now, now. Play nice." Gadget grinned. "If you stop this prank war, we'll let you go."

"Ugggggh. Fine."

"I guess we don't have a choice."

"We might not have a choice anyway! Look! Lion-O is summoning us!"

So what did this all culminate into?"

"I don't believe it!"

"Impossible!"

"Two Mumm-Ra's?!"

Now while I'm sure you're begging to know what happens next but...if I explained every facet and every detail this entry would ever end. So suffice to say if you know how action and adventure stories go, you know very well, we all teamed up and made the best use of our combined powers in an epic showdown against minions and dark magic only for both Mumm-Ra's to be vanquished by the light of sunrise.

While we could have spent the duration of the aftermath deciding whose world we'd host the celebration on...we Ultra Crew Institute Action Team decided it was for the best for both sets of Thundercats to work this out on their own. When they were finished, KOMMAND would seal up the dimensional tears.

But before all that happened...the Book of Omens had a surprise waiting for us. In his attempt to gain the three Power Stones, new-age Mumm-Ra had come across what he thought was a fourth one. But to his disgust it proved useless to him.

However...

"No way...this can't be here." Asriel looked in awe at the hovering cyan crystal heart. "Another Soul...Gem...Crystal...thing?"

Asriel and I looked at each other. This made two. On top of that Azzy had unlocked two virtues. This was starting to get insteresting. We'd ponder it later. We ended up packing up and heading home. For another adventure was about to drop into our laps.

Sub-Entry 286: "You Know Who To Call to Light Our Darkest Hour":
When Master Splinter has a premonition about his four students, it's usually something to follow up on. Of course I gave the okay to Bunnie to help her sensei keep an eye on them as they had found themselves chasing a lead on their eternal enemy, the Shredder, to a city called...Gotham.

So one has to wonder what happens when the Foot Clan crosses the League of Assassins? Or when a mental asylum called Arkham, packed with a rogues gallery of supervillains is suddenly ground zero of a new mutagenic compound that takes an already deadly collection of unstable inmates and infuses them with anthropomorphicizing chemicals? And of course the big question...when the Dark Knight and his allies team up with four gene-spliced terrapins in their post-adolescence; all versed in the ways of the shadow warrior, what could possibly come of this epic combination?

Unfortunately...this log entry will not be focusing on that. Sorry to troll anyone reading these logs with something this enticing. But suffice to say if Bunnie feels inclined to reveal the specifics of the most radical of crossovers, she'll allow me the pleasured to tell all about it. I know I'd sure like to find out if a genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist who dresses like a bat has a taste for pizza or if a British butler can actually ride a skateboard. For now, I'll throw Violet a bone and say this much. Bo Staffs do in fact rule.

That said, on to the actual focus of this log entry. Once again the Transformers Find Their Way Into our world...except this time it wasn't our world. It was the world of some of my mentors. So what happens when the Traveller comes to Cybertron and when an Autobot takes the form of a 59 Cadillac Meteor ambulance converted into the world's best paranormal investigation and elmination company car?

"Hey, Pete. You remember back on the case of Killerwatt when the Grand Ghoul himself used his lightning to possess Ecto-1? Do you remember what you said when Ray begged not to blast her, describing her as "one of the family"?

"Uhh...it's a little fuzzy..."

"Like your concept of good and bad?" I retorted. "You said that she must take after you, Ray." Ray looked over, practically feeling the reminder write itself.

"Oh how history repeats..." I looked oer my shoulder at the towering form of the Cybertronian Autobot, Ectotron.

While I'm sure that this happened somewhere else in another set of AU's crossing over, who could say if their Ectotron actually was the Ectomobile or if he just scanned and replicated the Ectomobile. Since I'm a little salty over some incidents involving Vi that will remain unsaid, I'm not going to say which is the case in our little Ultraverse.

That said, what I was implying was a little more true than just a call-back to chastise Peter and by extension, Ray for being naive and sentimental instead of practical back than. What would those guys have done without an electric werewolf to get them out of a tight spot inside a power plant against the Etherial Master of Many?

In truth, Ectotron was in many respects just as much an eager, true-believer as Ray. While I had little to go on, I knew this was a long time coming since the call came in during the dawn of the Crossover Wars. I remembered it well...

"Hello? How'd you get this number--"

"Dr. Arcade! Thank goodness! I didn't know who else to turn to! You're never going to believe this--"

"Janine? Janine Melnitz?"

"Uh-huh! Listen! I have to talk to you!"

"I think you got things confused!" Violet loomed over my shoulder, as I had it on speaker phone. "When weird stuff happens and somebody has to deal with it, aren't YOU the one WE'RE supposed to call, not the other way around?"

"Violet!" I snapped and shoved her away by the face. "Sorry about that, Janine. You were saying?"

"Is that Miss Melnitz?" Asriel overheard me as he hoverboarded by. "Yeah."

"This is something you'll have to come down and see for yourself. I've seen Sci-Fi before but this is straight out of one of those Japanese rubber suit movies."

"A monster?"

"No...but in the same vein..."

"Wait...a giant robot?"

"That's...putting it as simply as I can..." Asriel and I looked at each other.

"I'll rev up Ecto-1A." Asriel headed off to get the keys. "There's a gateway I set up just between here and Westhaven. We can take that to get to New York."

"Shotgu--" Violet started before Bunnie covered her mouth. "Just us, huh?"

"Unless we need backup, we'll be enough."

And so we were on the road to Westhaven. In a stretch of mostly abandoned road that had been switched out for a new highway route between here and there...

"Opening the Dimensional Rig and the Global Space Bridge." The tunnel of archways opened up as Asriel and I both activated our human archetype Unitrix functions and soon found ourselves headed into the Big Apple.

"I know that look, Volt. You think it's something familiar?"

"I can't be sure. But honestly after our previous and pretty recent outing...it's just mind-blowing to think that we could be crossing paths with Cybertron again."

"So you DO suspect the Transformers."

"Suspect would be too strong. It's more like...just a gut feeling right now. But the way Janine sounded...it's just the kind of reaction I'd expect from seeing a Cybertronian. And since she wasn't in an immediate panic and not screaming for help...I think we can rule out a Decepticon."

"An Autobot here on Earth? Imagine that."

"Do I detect sass, Goat Son?"

"Nah. Just that when Transformers are seen in the universe, where's the one planet that always attracts them like iron to a magnet?"

"Good point. Well made."

Invariably, Earth had been the epicenter of many Cybertronian encounters across nearly every Transformers AU. G1? The Ark and the Nemesis crashlanded on Earth 65 million years ago only to awaken in 1984. Beast Wars? Future Cybertronians end up on Earth through a transwarp phenominon landing on Prehistoric Earth not long after the G1's crash landed and ended up in Stasis Lock. Robots in Disguise? Again the Predicons came to Earth in search of the energy resource expert that would lead them to Fortress Maximus. Armada and Energon? Earth. The "Bay-Formers"? Uh. Duh. Earth. It always came down to Earth.

But...this was the first time they landed in a familiar Earth AU that already had its own phenominology. The home of the Professional Paranormal Investigators and Eliminator--my mentors. So yeah. This hit close to home. I can only imagine how much Ray was geeking out over this and how much Egon found it fascinating.

"I know it's been like a couple years, but if we get this resolved with time to spare before dinner back home, you think we got time for that third story?"

"I wouldn't count on it. With this Crossover War going on, I wouldn't be surprised if we get to it in your college years." I shook my head.

"I'm patient. I can wait that long." Asriel's eyes turned cyan. I was beginning to think this would be another self-fullfilling prophecy in a further future.

It didn't take long for us to find the source of Janine's concern. "Uh...there's a crowd there."

"This could be problematic."

And despite the crowd, it did nothing to block the very obvious titanic Autobot sporting a familiar white paint scheme with even more famliar features of a 1959 Cadillac Ambulance...and even more familiar than that addons, accessories, and gear that looked suspiciously like a positron collider accellerator connected to a neutrona wand via a hose. And more than that the front of the armor had vague features akin to a Ghostbusters flight suit. Oh yeah. This was happening.

"What do we do, Azzy?"

"You're asking me? You're the experienced one."

"And yet I'm out of plans. Ideas?"

"Obviously a distraction. An idea how to cause--"

I snapped my fingers at the exact moment I killed my disguise...only taking a moment to ask WHY I was using a human DNA Unitrix instead of just demorphing. With that I trigger a long-range version of my Lightstorm Ravage attage, swallowing up a residential tranformer on a power pole and blacking out the neighborhood, but leaving the Firehouse's power untounched. With a giant light pillar reaching up to the sky and causing storm clouds to swirl like a four-fold cross-rift. Granted it was a little much. But the incident was big enough to divert attention away from Ectotron.

"I swear it wasn't me!" He defended with the lingering portions of the crowd before they too dispursed and someone thought to call the police, fire department and the power company.

"I'm pretty sure I just burned a bridge with Con-Edison." I shrugged. "My job is to replace residential transformers not blow them up."

"Nevermind. We can get to Ectotron now."

"Yo!"

Ectotron pointed at himself. "You have a vehicle mode, right? Use it!" And so he did, and quickly rolled into the Firehouse.

"So...?" Asriel started as we rolled into the spare garage.

"Yeah. Let's not speak of this again." So once inside we had a nice long meeting with the guys."

"So. Anyone want to field this one?"

Silence.

"Perhaps we should explain better once we have more information." Egon finally spoke up.

"Yeah. Sudden appearance of an Autobot in New York City is going to turn heads. Also...I'm probably going to get threatening letters from Con-Ed for overloading a building's power grid a few blocks down and kicking off a Micahel Bay movie."

"Michael who?" Winston asked.

"Nevermind." I waved it off.

While Janine offered refereshments, Asriel kept Slimer occupied before he did something that would incurr the Wrath of Peter Venkman. The guys explained the situation or...rather what little they knew of it.

"That's even less to go on than I though. We're not manking much headway in this incident. Now I wish I would have asked for more details when your message got through a while back. Honestly I thought it was just Peter pulling a practical joke."

"You weren't the only one who thought he finally lost it." Winston crossed his arms. "For the time being, it's probably best if we let Ectotron pass as our own Ectomobile."

"Pass as--?"

A round of dirty looks toward Peter. "Oh let me guess. This is MY fault."

I guess that's a spoiler if any.

"We've unanimously elected you to stop by the impound yard." Egon said dryly.

I wonder if this was the case in whatever variation AU existed of this? Despite the meeting of us going back and forth, sharing what little we knew and updating on events that we could afford to disclose; it was still technically the past here in this dimension, relative to our own VGM-098, after all....despite this, we agreed that while it was a wise move bringing me here, there wasn't enough to keep me here to work hand in hand on where to go from here.

The bottom line was, this was only a prelude. We'd be coming back here when more events went down. And while there was a Cybertronian here on Earth, it was only inevitable that more would follow. But who could have guessed that more developments would be happening simultaneously on Cybertron itself? That would be something to report on a month later...

For now we just enjoyed the company and the hospitality. Asriel and I both got a closer look at Ectotron. In his vehicle mode he was indistinguishable from the Ectomobile. But Asriel's keen eye and my electronics experience made all the difference. Plus...it didn't take long to find an Autobot emblem or two. After a bit of debate, Asriel decided to speak up.

"There is one source we could go to if this is the beginning of another Chaopolis incident."

I looked at Azzy. "You don't mean..."

Silence. "You...haven't changed your mind about--"

"No. Forgotten is forgotten." Asriel looked away from the stairwell to the Containment Unit.

"Alright. Mentors?"

Egon nodded and lead me down to the storage facility with Ray and the others. The screen came to life. It didn't take long to identify the Wraith by its P.K.E. signature. But by this time...I couldn't recognize it at all. There was no resemblance to Chara at all. In fact I wasn't really sure how to describe it.

"So this is what becomes of one of Madam Fate's servants when it has no host body to latch onto like a parasite."

"You have a new confidence to you. I see the clarity in your eyes."

"Do not mistake my confidence for lowering my guard. This prison is eternal."

"What is eternal in this universe? Civilizations rise and fall. The spark of life comes into existence and is extinguished. Metals corrode and return to the earth in a different form. Even that contract of yours that grants you immortality...it lasts as long as the sisters will it to do so."

"I don't see the two of them getting bored with me or Adonis any time soon. They can get a lot of mileage out of a chess piece that they haven't even begun to find new ways to move around the board."

"What a razor edge your tongue has. If I could feel what you consider contempt, I'm sure it would change my disposition at this moment."

"But not your loyalties. You're still as much a puppet on a string as I am, despite having been "unplugged" from the mass production contracts the other STC agents have as neutral pawns that both sisters can manipulate. You on the other hand are a Madam Fate exclusive. Destiny-no-touchy, as it were."

"Well. You seem to have us figured out. But I know you didn't come to banter or gloat. You want something from me. Information, yes?"

"What do you know of Cybertron?"

"I, in particular, no nothing...but I'm sure one of the rest of my...Legion I believe you called it has had...dealings. "

"That wouldn't happen to be Unicron, would it?"

Ray and Egon looked at each other, unfamliar with the name.

"Let me put it this way, Mentors...Unicron is...was a primordial god. Cybertron's own Gozer the Gozerian, if you will."

"Oh." Ray cringed.

"Fascinating."

"What a fascinating deity he must have been..." The wraith mused. "That's it, isn't it? You wish to know what connection this Cybertron has with this world?"

"I have a feeling even if you know, I wouldn't drag it out of you that easy if it were part of an active plan of your Goddess. And you'd volunteer it a little too easily if it were of no use to Fate...or if it served another purpose."

"Your deductive prowess is razor sharp as ever, Arcade. But you should know when a well is dry before asking the obvious question."

"Madam Fate is up to something and Adonis is only just now getting this plan rolling. I'm going to find out what he's got up his sleeve and just how and why it involves my mentors and their world."

"Or perhaps your mentors and their world involved themselves involuntarily?"

"What are you saying?"

"The answer isn't so elusive, dear doctor."

"You said you didn't know anything about Cybertron...but I have a feeling you' know something about this world..."

Without knowing what other dark endevours the wraith must've had in the past before inhabiting Chara, I couldn't assume who or what it must've influenced or what worlds it might have also been on. And right now...my gut was saying that the possibility that it may have been on this Earth before seemed a coincidence I dare not brush asside.

If I knew Crossovers, and as the "King of Crossovers", I think I did...the door swung both ways. If someone from Cybertron came to this world...who or what will have come or has come to Cybertron?

"I think you've let slip more than you bargained for."

"Did I?"

The wraith was almost too calm about it. Was I being baited into something in the near future? Time would tell. I closed the communication channel from the surveilance inside the Containment Unit.

"That was the creepiest thing I'd ever experienced...this week." Winston tried to maintain his composure.

"Ole smokey's just passin' the time. Happens to the most patient of them in there. They'll take any opportunity just to get a rise out of us. But they're all talk. Trust me, a talker knows." Peter shrugged it off.

"Perhaps. But something about this is off. Not to mention it carries a familiar reverberation..." Egon rubbed his chin.

There was hesitation to metion the big Twinkee that should still be 1) Kicked back to its home dimension and 2) its destructor form occupying the Containment Unit and somehow gaining a personality of its own. We headed back upstairs where Asriel was waiting, sharing of all things...a pack of Twinkees with Slimer.

"I'm sorry we can't be more help."

"I'm sure we'll be of more use to this unique situation in the time to come. I just know it's only beginning."

"Wow, this is going to be one heck of an adventure!"

"I just have to wonder...what does this Cybertronian incident have to do with the world of the Supernatural? Is this just an isolated incident, or are your worlds more connected than we think."

"In other words...who you gonna call when there's more than meets the eye?" Asriel joked.

"Ooooh. Walked right into that one." I shrugged.

"Well. We'll be in touch. Don't hesitate to talk to us if ANYTHING develops. But more importantly...if you see any more Transformers show up...especially ones bearing THIS emblem...." I showed a Decepticon shield. "You DON'T mess around. You get us on the horn and take cover. Those guys are WAAAAY above your pay grade."

"How much we talking...?" Peter mused.

A round of dirty looks.

"Just asking!" He protested.

We piled into Ecto-1A and headed back. Again our timing would be incredibly good. For this time we made it back before someone else found their way back...

Sub-Entry 287: "Integrity vs. Deceit":
Sally found herself choke-slammed up against a tree.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting for this, Acorn."

Sally held her tongue. By now she had already figured it out. Anything she said would fall on deaf ears. Literally. The price for Chara's new ability for speed so great he could practically time-skip? His hearing.

"There's no getting out of this one--"

"There's always a way out..." Sally had already picked up on the one thing that was different this time around as she activated her Spiral Cylinder, unleashing a vertical shaft of coiling air currents the equivallent of one-hundred plus MPH winds.

"GAAAAAAH!!!" Chara went flying.

Oh yeah. He didn't have super strength and power this time around. He had traded up for raw speed. Speed even greater than Team Acorn cranking at the maximum safe limits of the Biofield.

"Now you're mine! You're getting penalized to the last position on the track for taking out my team mates!" Sally soared at him with the Quick Sword ignited.

"You're so predictable...and now the trap's sprung!" Chara held up the talism. "And just in time as my real targets just arrived!"

"What--!" was all Sally got out before our cyber gate opened in time for Asriel and I to hurry out and toward the battle. And I wasted no time in slugging Chara who had somehow gotten the upper hand on Sally. Chara went into a nasty spiral before faceplanting. I'd successfully K.O.'ed him.

"Well. That was easy." Asriel shrugged. The one time I should have sensed it was too easy...I didn't.

"Well. Guess Adonis isn't giving you a get-out-of-jail card, this time."

I yanked up his unconscious body and put stasis cuffs on him.

"Glad you showed up when you did, Commander. I was almost crashed out before the checkered flag."

"Nah, you're too good for that." I passed off the out cold Chara to Asriel; who was still calling him No-Name while I decided to walk and talk with Sally and save her the paperwork of a report.

"Why do you keep doing this?" Asriel asked the unconscious human. "Hmm?"

He noticed it on the ground. He reached out and grabbed Sally's shoulder and pointed. "Hey, Sally! You dropped your--"

Sally's keen eye immediately homed in on the dropped C.I.P.H.E.R. pocket computer. "Oh! Umm. That was careless of me."

"You should be careful."

"Can't believe I almost lost my computer."

"Your computer?" Asriel arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I don't know what I'd do without it." I should have picked up on that.

"Aren't you going to...run a diagnostic...Princess?"

"Maybe uh...later."

Asriel's eyes disappeared under the shadow of his bangs. "Yeah. Don't forget now. It wouldn't be good if Nicole crashed..."

I cocked my head a bit.

"Wha--" I started.

"Can't have that now, can we?"

Asriel stopped in his tracks. "Something up, Goat Son?" I asked. Without warning Asriel undid the stasis cuffs.

"Azzy, what are you--"

Goat Son turned around, with his back to us. "Volt. You should step away from her."

"From Sally? What are you talking about?" I hadn't noticed that Sally didn't seem like she heard Asriel. She should have at least reacted or looked surprised at that. But the whole time we'd been speaking to her we'd been looking right at her.

That was when the Neon Pizza Cutter telescoped out.

"WHOAH! You almost hit--" Actually he DID hit something. Something metal. Something in Sally's hand--

"What the H--" I gasped, recognizing the True Knife. I arc-ed away.

"Dammit all...the lousy pocket mainframe gave me away, didn't it?"

"You want to know an interesting story..."Aunt Sal"? Recently, Volt started opening up about his previous mission on ACM-001 before being assigned to his current ongoing, classified one. He started telling me that many of my teachers, mentors, and even what I consider family have...I guess you'd call them AU counterparts.

You, for example, were a princess and a leader of a rebellion fighting to overthrow a tyranical overlord who enslaved and roboticized her planet. And she never went anywhere without her portable mainframe, Nicole. The similarities between you and here are supposedly pretty great but...the Ecotropians have just as many differences from the Mobians as similiarities.

If you were REALLY Sally Acorn...OUR Sally Acorn, you wouldn't have liked being called "Princess", having abandoned your royal heratage...just like I have.

But the real kicker is that on this world...there WAS a Nicole...but she was lost to Vortex Labs. Dr. Lynx has long since replaced our Sally's pocket mainframe with a new virtual intelligence multifunction database utility...name CIPHER."

"........" Sally wasn't responding until Asriel turned around. Didn't she hear that explanation?

"So you had to resort to deception this time to get us to lower our guards. Are you so cowardly you'd strike while our guard was lowered? Were you going to let us put one of our own in prison for your crimes?"

"I guess there's just no helping it..." Chara tightened his grip on the amulet unti it cracked and the spell wore off, showing that Chara had indeed switched appearances with Sally. "Guess I'm not returning this to Adonis' vault where I stole it from."

"Come quietly. We don't have to--" was all Asriel got out before Chara had seemingly disappeared from sight.

The next instant Asriel felt his fist barrel into his stomach, knocking him back and to the ground.

"You naive little goat!"

"Azzy!" I reached out moments before I felt the True Knife stab into my back. I roared out in pain. How did...how did he...? As my eyes adjusted, the real Sally managed to regain consciousness.

"Uh...carefull...with this one...Commander.......he's somehow faster than me...even when I took my gear over the safe limits. He's so fast he actually disappears from sight--"

Sally found herself soaring through the air having been uppercutted in the jaw.

"You talk too much, Acorn." Then there was a dust clowd where Chara was last standing.

"Wait a minute...how can you hear us...? You traded your hearing for...! That's it!"

Sally noticed the slight glint on the corneas of his eyes.

Sally quickly engaged the W.I.S.P. Program, LASER! Once energized, this program manefested a zig-zag formation of focusing crystals within tight narrow areas; Sally's molecular form suddenly sped up to photonic level and bounced as a cyan laser between these crystals at sub-quantum before she materialized at a safe landing point. In that zig-zag path, Sally had calculated to the micrometer a path which blaze in front of Chara's eyes

"GAAAAAH! You walnut-eating, tree-climber!" Chara clutched as his eyes, desperately yanking out the contacts lenses. "You ruined my teleprompter!"

"Very clever." I reasoned. "To compensate for your lack of hearing, you raided Adonis' vault for tech that could use a of facial recognition software to translate our lip movements into closed captions on a head-up display in those contact lenses. I'm guessing you never REALLY learned how to read lips?  You took a shortcut."

Chara just fumed and seethed.

"That wasn't a no." I narrowed my eyes. "Nice going, Sally!"

Sally gave a thumbs-up.

"I'm still faster than all of you put together!" And before we knew it, all three of us were getting pummeled, sequentially.

Before any of us could counterattack, the other two of us had already gotten another round of attacks with both fists and the knife. However because of the great speed increase, it came with an equivalent power reduction. Each slice and attack wasn't doing much damage. But with how many blows he was getting before we could even dodge or block? He would wear us down faster than we'd wear her down.

"Asriel, use your Patience power on him!"

"I hate to tell you...but I HAVE been!"

I caught sight of the Watering Can. I hadn't even noticed it was raining light blue drops. If it was draining energy from him, he was producing it faster than it could be siphoned off.

"Dang it. It's not just that he's fast. He's also out-thinking and out-strategizing us."

"Must be a real change for him to actually have the upper hand for once." Sally grimmaced.

Before we knew it, I'd been chained to a tree...with a lot of rubber bungee cords. No electrifying or magnetizing my way out of this. Sally on the other hand got shoved deep into freshly poured tar where a road crew was fixing potholes.

"This stuff's stickier than Rotor's Mega-Muck! I'm not moving out of this any time soon!"

"Just you and me, Asriel."

"It always seems to end up this way." Asriel narrowed his eyes.

"You know...you've been looking at this all wrong. instead of fighting me, you should be joining me."

At this point I speculated that Chara didn't need to hear Asriel. She was anticipating his responses. She was predicting what he was saying and countering it.

"Why would I want to do do that?"

"Don't you get it? Adonis may be a prick, but you see what he can do. You've seen what he's done. Don't you think that someone who could destroy an entire dimension might have a way to bring...a timeline back?"

"What are you getting at?"

"We could go back, Asriel. We could go back."

"What's this we stuff, faker? The pretending to be Chara bit has moved past old hat and is now in the category of "the sun revolves around the planet" and the "the world is flat". I can't believe there are people who actually believe it. Do you honestly believe what you're selling?"

I wasn't sure that Chara knew exactly what he was saying, but he was pretty sure he could read the expressions and the mannerisms. Azzy was turning his offer down.

"You're so stubborn, Asriel Dreemurr! You could have your perfect little world back. All we'd have to do is reset it and then--"

"And then that plan. That's what you want. You want to do the Wraith's dirty work. Why? What's to be gained? Do you really hate humans that much? Or is it more than that? Do you really want to go through with the plan just to have the power destroy worlds?"

Chara scoffed. She didn't know what he said word for word. But the context was obvious.

"Every time you surprise me with how much more you know than you let on."

"I didn't realize it at the time...but if one human soul would have let me cross the barrier...and seven would have completely broken it. What else would come with that many souls...with that much power? Chara said that we could be a god with that kind of power and set everyone free. But I know...I know there's more to it.

The Wraith...your predecessor wanted something else from me. Something that had been discarded from...somewhere. But the way it went on about it...it was like something was broken off of it. That's what this is, isn't it?"

Asriel brought up the H.U.D. "This power...it's not like any magic that existed in the world I was born into. But there's something in this that you want, right?"

Asriel inched ever closer to figuring out what I had known for a long time. What I was still keeping from him.

"Even if what you're saying is true. What you want...what you wish to do...it violates everything I believe it. As alluring as it is...wanting the very real possibility that my world could be brought back...it's just not worth the price. Your offer is rejected. With extreme prejudice."

Chara had had enough. Based on how much Asriel had been talking, it seems that he was too aware for his own good. He wasn't budging on the plan. Worse than that...he was making it clear that he knew himself better than Chara did.

"Do you know what happens to little goats who know too much?" And then Evil Chara's rage went full tilt on Asriel at every angle.

"This hurts you. I know it does. The pain can stop at any time. All you have to do is--"

"You still don't get it. Even if I could, I wouldn't take a human soul. I wouldn't willingly sacrifice lives. And I wouldn't go against who I am. To do that is to become a lie and live that lie. I cannot and will not embody deception as you have. I must maintain my convictions. I must stay the course. I must remain true to who I am..."

Asriel's eyes turned blue and began to light up to a brilliantly neon saphire blue.

"...because that is what INTEGRITY IS!"

And with that Chara was pushed away by a blue shockwave as something materialized into existence. First starting at Asriel's feet.

"O...Overdrive Sandals?" I blinked.

"Nice color." Sally gave a thumbs-up...barely; still glued to the ground.

From there the rest of an entire set of Overdrive Grand Prix BioWare and OverTech manefested around Asriel.

"That's your new power? You pathetic loser. Haven't you learned by now that even OGPX gear isn't fast enough to catch me?" Chara surged toward Asriel, faster than Sally could blink--


 * WHAAAM* ...and he ran right into a clotheline from Asriel!

"Big whoop! I can move so fast I can practically teleport--"

And this time right into a kick...from the opposite direction?

"You've got the devil's luck, you--! Chara started to move, vanishing again...only to get heel-dropped from above.

"Stop doing that!"

Granted, Chara was having a hard time keeping up. But what he was too pre-occupied to notice was what had Sally and I both jaw-dropping.

"You're...seeing this, right?"

"Seeing but not believing, Commander."

"What are you idiots going on about?" THat was when Chara saw the horrible truth. "YOU! There?! AND THERE?!? AND...!"

Asriel's new power had made him so fast...he was literally existing in multiple places...at the same time. It one like a physical echo of himself. Not just an after image, he was completely breaking the laws of physics. Not only that, the moments I barely caught the after-images between each Asriel instance and he was in mid pose with the moves of an Olympic Figure Skater and a Ballet Dancer. Each time Chara tried to superspeed to the point of teleportation, he ran smack into another Asriel instance. In no time at all, Chara was completely surrounded by him.

"I can do this all day." One of the instances said.

"Alllll day." The rest said in unison.

"That's not fair...that's not fair! THAT'S NOT FAIR! YOU FREAKIN' GARY STU!!! I'M GOING TO--"

"What was it that that one spikey blond-haired, fox-whiskered ninja kid in orange used to say in that anime that Vi tried to get me into seven years ago, Volt? Oh yeah. Something like...SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!!!" And with that all of them attacked Chara at once.

When the dust cleared Chara was out like a light and covered in bruises but otherwise alive.

"I still hate hurting people. Friend or foe." Asriel's instances all one by one coverged back into a single point as he slowed and stopped moving around.

"This time, we'll be watching the ground--" I started before Chara's body instead floated upwards, sucked up by a--

"Oh COME ON!!!" I growled as he was pulled into the red Cyber Gate. "Wait! How do you keep finding our dimensional coordinates?!?" I yelled upward to no avail. He was out cold. "CRAP!" I smoldered.

"It's okay. We'll get him next time." Asriel assured.

Three new powers. Two Soul Crystals. What was next?

Sub-Entry 288: "Keeping Up Appearances With Occasional Visits to the Underground":
"I d-d-didn't know whether I should c-call you on the communicator you gave me...I mean....I d-don't want to a-abuse the p-power or anything...y'know?"

"Alphys. You don't need to apologize. Though as I said, apologies are never meaningless, so don't think I don't appreciate you being considerate."

"it's j-just that...since you were here last, I've n-n-noticed in all my surveilance that there's increasing mention of you and your team in conversations all over the Underground. I th-think people are s-starting to notice your absense."

Crap. This was something I should have considerd earlier. If I really have to see this whole timeline through, I can't just stay behind the scenes waiting for Frisk to finish up her other rehabilitation vacation. My team and I would need to have occasional face-time with the monsters of the underground.

All it would take is a smart person to eventually figure out we've completely disappeared from the Underground. THAT would lead to some unintended consequences; not to mention people jumping to conclusions. Of those conclusions the obvious would have people searching for our dust on the belief we'd "fallen". Just restoring the memories was not enough.

We had to "hob-nob" as Vi put it. And so I called a meeting and requested all UCIAT (that weren't Asriel, Scott, Callista, or anyone human and/or not in the loop) join me at the train yard where the Time Train and the Delorean were waiting.

"By this point we still have to be careful about what we say...but not as careful as what we rehearsed previously." I assured.

"Their memories are no longer an issue. We may come and go as we please without drawing suspicion how we got from one part of the Underground to the other without being noticed." Bunnie explained.

"Right. The whole going in order thing." Mitzi nodded.

"And backwards thing." Gadget pointed out. "So I guess this is actually a social call."

"Pretty much." Point to Vi for pointing out the obvious WITHOUT making it obnoxious.

"Now. Even though we're less constrained, be careful what info you share. It has to be based on things we would have seen exploring the surface world. Be careful about names, dates, and events. And above all, keep your stories straight." I gave a final warning as the train rolled down the tracks and built up speed.

I piloted the Delorean with Bunnie riding shotgun. The rest of us took the Time Train with Sally at the controls. And once the train was perched atop Mount Ebott, they waited for Bunnie and myself to arrive atop the lab to open a Spatial Displacement gate for them to cross into.

"I've n-n-never been so r-relieved t-t-to see this sight again." "By now I figured you'd be used to the Delorean."

"The others?"

Bunnie's gateway opened as she collapsed the Shodouphone.

"That's amazing! S-summoning a p-portable with Japanese calligraphy!"

"The science of symbol power. We call it Mojikara. A mix of Kidou and Ninja Arts. I generally refer to them as jutsus, though it includes the integration of hadou and bakudou."

"Desctructive and binding arts? S-S-So intriguing!"

"Yeah, it comes in handy when Buns has to do her Stephen Strange impression--" Violet started before Sally whapped her over the head.

"What did the Commander just say?" She scolded.

"Stephen who?"

"Nevermind." I waved it off. "Sorry to keep you waiting for so long. Things have gotten...hectic since we left."

"The enemy is on the move?"

"More than ever. Chaopolis has kicked off the Crossover Wars."

"Crossover Wars?"

"Exactly what it sounds like, Alphys."

"They're inciting riots and conflict among heros and villains across multiple alternate universes. While mainly arbitrary, there do seem to be common underlying themes."

"Yeah. Old vs. New being the most common."

"Huh?"

"You know how older manga and anime sometimes get reboots--"

"Oh! Say no more. I understand now."

"Smart girl." I gave a thumbs up. "Sh-sh-shucks...when I think about it...if our...Undertale as you call it...ever got rebooted...?"

"Mindblowing, right?"

"I'm not ready for the responsibility of meeting other versions of me." Alphys covered her head and shrunk down in that pangolin pose. "So...?"

"Where to begin...the Prince and I have sure been having a lot of adventures. Some...accidental tours that weren't really on the itinerary."

"Eheheh..."

"Don't worry! Azzy's a total pro at this!" Gadget gave a peace symbol.

"You make him sound so wonderful. I want t-to meet Prince Asriel so much...but...I d-d-d-don't know if I sh-sh-should. I mean--"

"Alphys. Do I have to clarify again that our Asriel and your Flowey are not one and the same. As far as I'm concerned they're two different people. He never went through the things the prince of this timeline went through before his demise. He has nothing to hold against you; no grudges no reason to ever hate you."

"I....I know....it' j-j-just..."

"Guilt keeps coming back, huh?"

"You must remain vigilant, Alphys-hakase."

"Yeah, dudette. Just winning the championship back home isn't an excuse to parade around like an overpriveledged Barbie doll, thinking you can soak in all the kudos and live off your pay checks and endorsements indefinitely. The next season will be upon you before you know it. Speaking of which, Commander."

"Dualy noted." I was addressing the June elephant in the room. But unless Alphys insisted on knowing, I wasn't going to get into that.

Mitzi smiled and handed her an onigiri. "Sensei taught me how to make them."

"I...g-g-guess I could use a little nibble. Anything b-b-but r-ramen right n-now." Alphys accepted. "Should't I b-be offering all of you hospitality?"

"Yeah! Give us stuff and--" Violet was again smacked.

"Do not trouble yourself unnecessarily. But if you are offering, it is only polite to accept." Bunnie bowed.

"I missed this so much." Alphys sniffled a little. "You said the Underground was starting to notice our absence."

"Yeah...I'd rather not have rumors start up that you've all fallen down and become dust. It would raise too much suspicion to contain."

"Not to mention would put Undyne on the warpath--" Sally started.

"U-U-Undyne...!" I could see Alphys' cheeks blush deeply. Girl had it BAD. I muffled a cough to break up the awkward moment. "How has the surveilance been in our absense?"

"I occasionally s-s-see Flowey pop up around the Underground. He seems i-i-impatient about s-something."

"He's trying to keep himself occupied. He's got me on a short rope to deliver on making this timeline different than all the others--the pacifist, neutral, and genocides."

"Y-you s-said that this Flowey came from a "new" Prince Asriel. I'm s-still unclear on that."

"He's still a carry-over from the past timeline. But the one I plucked our Asriel from that no longer exists? That left a void when the new unstable timeline formed--Timeline UTPR-3224, for reference. Therefore the Goddesses made another Asriel to take his place. And he became the new Flowey just like all the other iterations. Our Asriel is a unique case. Evidence seems to support that he was a new Asriel or at least one that was blank-slated. One thing's definitely for sure, he was made by Lady Destiny to be different. A wild card. A grand experiment, if you will."

I pondered for a minute. "But now that I think about it...the things this Flowey has told me...it may be that memories of previous Floweys from other timelines have carried their memories into him, somehow. Something I suspect being Madam Fate's doing."

"That would explain why he talks as if he's been doing this as long as the First and Eighth fallen children." Bunnie reasoned.

"I thought I was starting to w-wrap my head around all th-this b-b-but more and more layers j-j-just keep getting added. I'm n-n-not sure I understand anything."

"You know nothing Alphys Snow--" Violet was immediately thwapped for trolling.

"Not cool, Vi."

"You were warned about G.O.T. references."

"Uh...?" Alphys blinked.

"Don't ask." Bunnie cautioned.

"Alphys. I was wondering...is there a place in Hotland where...I might be able to build a small outpost...like a personal sub-lab? Just a geo-thermally powered retreat if I need to have extended leave from missions and home for any reason? I wouldn't be keeping any sensative data there that could jeopardize things. Sort of a...decoy research if anyone asked to see what I'd know about the outside world. Violet can fabricate the info based on scans of other Undertale iterations."

Okay that was quite a thing to drop on her. There was a long period of contemplation before.

"I...suppose that's the least I could do...but w-w-we'd need permission from the K-King. Not to mention the legalities of building permits and such."

"Leave that to the Commander." Sally one-arm hugged me before requesting a fist-bump. "If he needs help, I'll throw my chips in to help convince him.  Together we can be very diplomatic." Fist-bump very acknowledged and returned, Sal.

"You not including--"

"No, Vi." We both said in unison.

"Jeeze. Bite my head off." She crossed her arms and pretended to pout.

Our meeting continued for a bit until we were ready to dispurse and pay visits all around the Underground. The Ruins...

"It it so nice of you to think of the well being of a silly old woman."

"Silly is a matter of opinion, Toriel. You've done very well on your own."

A sigh. "It doesn't get easier. I've had my own experiences before joining up with the Commander, but they're a tale for another time; one I'm ready to reflect on."

Mitzi enjoyed the tea and pie.

"The others have been exploring around...trying to adjust to life underground. We've...been kind of out of the public eye, so...people probably think we've disappeared or fallen down. Morbid thought."

"I see. So you are...?"

"Getting some much needed face time with all our new friends."

"All of them?" Toriel's eyes disappeared under the shadow of her none-existant bangs. How that worked for her was strange.

Mitzi set her cup of tea down. "I of all people am famliar with holding a grudge. I...still have an axe to grind with a former boyfriend who did my friends and me very wrong and still has no regret. I don't want to talk about specifics, but suffice to say...I haven't forgiven him."

"The bitterest of pills."

"I almost considered settling the score but sensei...I mean Bunnie gave me a piece of advice that I carry to this day. In so many words: the problem with an eye for an eye is that everyone ends up blind in the end. I decided he wasn't worth it. I'm probably not the best person in the world to advise you on how to deal with Asgore...so I won't. Just know that you at least have someone who can sympathize. What my ex did far pales in comparisson to the King's sins...but oddly I find it easier to forgive him than my own ex-boyfriend."

"Everyone who talks to me tells me similar. Volt Arcade keeps good company with similar philosophies as his own. Perhaps when this many people tell me to let go and see things from his point of view, I should start listening."

"That's your choice to make." Toriel thought long and hard before raising her head, making her eyes visible again.

"You would have made a wonderful teacher for Asriel."

"My friends always say I'm a big sister to everyone. As the eldest of our group, I guess that's always going to be true."

And in Snowdin Town... "I didn't think I'd meet someone with a sense of humor as good as mine used to be."

Sans had accepted us by then. "I got plenty more rib-ticklers if you want. So what do you mean by "used to be"?"

"We both have a lot in common with going through a lot and going through any length to protect our brothers. If I may be blunt, you aren't that great a person. Sorry. Had to be honest. But you're the best brother Papyrus could ever ask for."

"Glad you didn't hold anything back. But you're right. I'm not that great. Paps is the coolest brother in the world. I'm not just saying that to bolster his confidence. He's too good for this world. But even as lazy as I am, I do whatever it takes to keep him in this world."

"Understandable. I did...things in the land I crossed to get to my own home that I'm not proud of. All for the sake of my family. But I'd do it in a heartbeat if I had to save them all over again." Rotor scratched a tusk.

All the while, Jon was about eating Papyrus out of house and home...or at least his Spaghetti Museum.

"This is beyond belief! Who would have thought the Great Papyrus would have trouble keeping a fellow monster well fed! Nyeheheheh! You are a worthy spaghettore! Truly your passion runs as deep as my own."

"It's good! It's really good!" Jon had to resist licking the plate as I'd warned him about manners.

And...

"I'm not one for sitting out a good battle, but Alphys says that observation and strategy can help me be a better butt-kicker. She didn't use that exact word, but I think I'm catching on."

Undyne watched as Bunnie and Sally sparred just as an exhibition to give the fish lady food for thought when it came to improving as an already great warrior and a true hero.

"Even if your the best, you can always be better." Sally gave a thumbs up before quickly re-focusing on the judo shoulder through. Bunnie reversed in midair, recovered and retaliated.

"Sally was always one of my best students. Her father wouldn't have approved but, it is not good to speak of the dead."

"Dang. So you're orphaned, too, huh?"

"Most of us in Volt's crew are. Sally and I and particular survived...things we're not comofortable talking about on the surface."

"If I catch whoever did those things to you, I'll pound them so far into the ground, they'll need me to pound all over again just to forget about the pain of the first pounding! Fuh-huh-huh-huh-huh!" Undyne's logic...didn't make sense...but the girls knew what she was going for.

"Humans, from what we've observed, aren't much different from Monsters. As far as who they are go. There's good ones and there's bad ones."

"Just as long as the anime stuff flows like a river, I'll be a happy camper once I'm on the surface!"

"That's the spirit, Undyne! No mercy for this stupid barrier! Some how, some way it's going down!"

"If only there were a way to escape it without capturing more humans. One is all that's needed, correct."

"You're darn straight! Since you make a good point, I'm gonna be wishing for a really rotten one to come down here. One that deserves to get beat up real good and surrender their soul."

If Bunnie said what she was really thinking and feeling, it might get a little complicated. But she and Sally know Undyne's heart was in the right place. But she'd leave Sally to carry on without her as she promised to drop in on Gerson. In Napstablook's abode, Violet was all too glad to load him up on music. I chose that place to keep Vi out of trouble. For some reason she had no interest in stirring things up around the pathetic ghost house. Maybe it was too easy for her to troll him? Maybe there was another reason. Or maybe misery loves company. And no one could get secretly lonelier than Violet. She's just never admit it. Besides, she'd have plenty of time to hook up with his cousin, Mettaton later on.

That had to be it. She felt she owed to to Mettaton to play nice with family, right? Then again...maybe that was just one of many reasons she was being cool around the dapper ghost. Gadget had long since left the comfort of Temmie Village to drop back in on Alphys again and keep her spirits up.

Which left Lupe and myself to visit Fluffybuns himself.

"Your talent with plants and flowers is amazing! I've never seen such magic before!"

"I am a Druid. I am a friend to all life; flora and fauna. It is what I was born to do."

"That's our Lupe." I smiled. "You have...not reconnected with your own family?"

"No. There's been no sightings of them at either end of the barrier from Dr. Alphys' surveilance."

"I admit...I was a little skeptical allowing her the freedom to monitor every inch of the Underground. It is a privacy issue that I still find questionable. But...wit the humans that have fallen down here...some chances can't be taken."

Asgore looked to the side.

"Close call?"

"I do not feel comfortable talking about it." Asgore looked to the side again.

"Very well."

A long silence.

"Toriel..."

"We've all had a chance to speak with her. I can tell you've considered burying the hatchet but..."

"Cowardice is the worst of things to be cursed with."

"You feel unworthy." Lupe asked. "She's certainly given you plenty of instances to feel so. But a grudge is a grudge. It cannot lead to anything good."

I frowned.

"I still feel the momentum of my past deeds pushing me forward. I see no other way to grant my people their freedom. But...I do not want this. I do not want to reach the bottom of the hole I've dug for myself even if that will gain us the final soul and the key to our salvation.

I've thrown away so much out of spite...out of anger...out of this quick and fiery temper of mine."

"What would you like to do about it?" I asked.

"Is it foolish to want to start anew? You said yourself that there is no going back. No way to turn back the hands of time. Only forward."

"I did say that. And I meant it. But it's not foolish to want that second chance. It's up to destiny and fate to deem you ready to move on. To really bring the point home...as what would Asriel do?" Powerful thing to ask.

"I already know. But I do not know if I could ever go that path now. There should honestly be no happy ending for me. I do not deserve it."

"Would you be willing to earn your way back into a better future?" Lupe asked.

"I'd like that. But as things now, I don't know where to start. Or even if I shold start. I was never any good at planning ahead. You must understand that Tori was the brains of our kingdom. No one would say it in order to spare my feelings. I always knew but...I wanted to believe a King could still be at the top of the ladder. Is that not arrogant?"

"You do you, Asgore. You do you." I shrugged.

"The surface world most have a...strange dialect."

"It gets out there."

I'd then ask him about my proposal for a small observation post and micro-lab somewhere in the most remote part of Hotland but still able to keep in contact with Dr. Alphys. A bit of discussion later and it was approved. I'd handle the construction at a future date. But I suppose if Miranda was a home away from (defunct) home for Asriel, then the Underground was a home away from home for me.

At the end of the day we all reconvined after spreading the word that our disappearance was a bit exhaggerated. But that in itself was a lie. Maintaining the cover, illusion, and backstories was more important. We'd said our goodbyes and promised to those in the loop that we'd return again and again, time and situations permitting.

To everyone else, we let them believe that we were still busy and would likely get caught up in our work to make public appearances all the time. A bit of transport back to our vehicles and we were off to home again. But as time makes fools of us, so do enemies we didn't even realize could be a threat again.

Sub-Entry 289: "Now You're Playing With (the) Power (Team)! Game Masters Unite":
I would say I'd kept a good track record of not making a major mistake for a good while. At least I WOULD say that had I not made this one in particular: assuming that Chaopolis was the only enemy that we'd made that could pose a threat. Revenge is like a boomerang and quite frankly, we'd ticked someone off so bad they weren't going to stop at anything until they settled the score.

Honestly...I thought something like this wouldn't happen until September when the 30th anniversary of the Prophecy of Videoland came to pass with the arrival of Kevin Keene. And while the N-Division was in place a good five to seven years before that time, Captain N was what finally turned the tide of the war. When I thought about how everything we knew about the universe changed over 37 years ago and how it would impact us now...I wanted to get philosophical.

"Volt? KOMMAND is on the horn. And I thing we got trouble-cus maximus headed our way at mega-warp speed."

"Azzy...by any chance are you dropping me a subtle hint over what we're up against?"

"The hint was subtle. But what's coming out of that giant warp zone in the sky? Not so much."

Philosophy later. Current events now. In our universe, there were two patents that stood out when we thought back to the classic Dr. Wily era when part of the League of Chaos...or Darkness...whatever. Team Mother Brain.

Ahem....those patents were for the Competition Energy Power Vacuum--a device he invented after discovering that in the galaxy of Videoland in the Ultraverse that as long as anyone competes in games, they produced invisible energy waves called Competition Energy. Said vacuum could suck up this energy and store them in giant Leydon Jars like high density capacitors.

The other patent was for the Warp Zone Shifter. A device that our Wily had long since abandoned and hoestly no working version of it existed anymore. It was an invention that was long since collecting dust in both a blueprint in a patent office, and a broken pile of scrap somewhere. Inevitably, Dr. Wily of the Videoland AU we had visited would make one of his own.

What made this invention of considerable interest was not that it could artifically generate warp zones or completely change existing warp zone's destination points...it was the fact that it was actually powerful enough to completely outclass the Ultimate Warp Zone in one major way; Wily could pull more than just a single human through their TV set and into Videoland. He could pull entire locations out of Earth and bring them to Videoland. Just like he did with Kevin's high schoool. So imagine what he'd do with it if he figured out the coordinates for VGM-098.

This is where my log technically begins. But only one half of it. I'd soon find the situation complicated when Chaopolis would take advantage of the situation and turn an already inconvinient revenge plot into a crossover.

"Attention people of this other dimension! You foo's about to get served by yours truly, MOTHER BRAIN! If you don't comply to my demands, my League of Darkness will burn this city down to the last kilobyte!"

Yup. This was the situation. Eggplant Wizard, King Hippo, Dr. Wily, The Count, Dragon Lord, Malkil, and even the Puzzle Wizard and Astos were among her fully-expanded legion. And there were others that I soon recognized as Uranos from Mount Icarus, Ironknuckle from Hyrule, and the Evil One from Faxanadu. Yikes. She meant business.

"Now! I demand you peons tell me where I can find Volt Arcade and his fluffy goat companion!"

You know I actually feel like it's a little insulting when Mother Brain addresses Azzy as if he were a mere sidekick. We're partners and equals in the same S.T.C. organization for crying out loud. But wait! I'm gettign distracted! Mother Brain was invading! And that would have been bad enough. But remember what I said about Chaopolis?

"Oh, Arcade?"

Adonis. "You should know that you save the GOOD algebra for when things have gone bad and are about to get worse! Here's a little present from me to you. Oh yeah! My apprentice says "eff you, fleabag! You and Azzy sure did a number on him!"

With that he ripped open a time warp and reached into our past during the time between the N-Division and the UCIAT. You see...during that time, as I had explained to Asriel years ago. Out came the NES cartridges from a time gate. And once they hit the ground, Adonis hit them with electric bolts from his machine. I knew what this was.

"Oh no...he's gonna release...!"

I saw the famliar limo actually decompress off of the connector pins and into the real world. It charged onto the scene, firing laser beams and causing mass destruction before coming to a stop. And out stepped...

"Mr. Big..."

I recognized the notorious mobster from the game N.A.R.C. Despite the name, he was a very short and flabby guy. He wore wrap around shades and smoked a cigar and was wearing a mobster suit out of the 1920's.

"Heh...my reputation proceeds me, see? But you forgot my two henchmen."

I saw the sleezy form of Dr. Spike Rush and the hulking form of Joe Rockhead.

But wait! There was more than one cartridge that fell out of the gate--

"Hey! I know them! They're from Kwirk! That's Rotten Roddy Radish and Petunia Parsnip."

"And here's some HOT RODDIES for ya!!!" The evil talking radish with arms, legs, and a face pointed to the sky as his finger began to spark. And then he discharged what I could only describe as an explosive spark shot that blasted the heck out of anything that was in its way.

Asriel had to tumble roll to avoid the tentacles of Petunia Parsnip's living dress. It was like she was wearing an octopus in clothing form.

And just to top it all off, we got our own universe's version of Malkil. And not the Wizards and Warriors version, the Ironsword version; complete with all four of his Elementals. Oh boy. Brooke of course didn't take the news lightly and personally oversaw to facing down Mother Brain, lightning strikes, laser cannons, and ringets going head to head Hell Balls and other spells.

"...So you wanna team up with us? You got guts little pipsqueak!" Hippo chuckled. "But I bet you can't even throw a decent punch."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, youse mugs..." Mr. Big reached into his suit's breast pocket and pulled out what looked like some kind of hand-held launcher...with a very large metal fist on the end. The next thing Hippo knew he took one in the stomach by the Mr. Big equivalent of the Hard Knuckle.

"What hit me?!" Eggplant Wizard chuckled. "

You find something funny?" Spike loomed over him.

"As a matter of fact, human...I do!" And then Spike foudn himself blasted backward and encased in a magical string bean pod.

"Hey! What's the big idea!"

Eggplant Wizard actually doing someting competant? Gehenna really HAS frozen over. Brooke was about to strike Mother Brain down when of all things...

"I don't think you've met my old acquaintence, Ganon!"

Brooke soon found herself blasted backward at the piggish warlock hovered, wrapped in the dark energies of the Triforce of Power.

"Have fun now!"

Then the brain turned her attention to the squable. "ENOUGH! Can't you behave like civilized villains?"

"Guessin' you're the head honcho I do the talkin' to."

"And just who might be the one talking to me?"

"They call me Mr. Big."

"Mr. Big, huh? Never heard o' ya."

"Can't say I come across to many giant brains in a jar on my turf. But if you need my resume, I'd be glad to let you know that I'm the biggest video boss on the world of N.A.R.C."

"And you're addressing Mother Brain. The supreme queen of the Space Pirates and ruler of Metroid."

"Sounds like sci-fi schtick to me. Let's cut to the nitty-gritty. Seems we both got people we're ticked off at. Whadya say? Fifty-fifty split on the revenge and the spoils of the biggest job in the video-verse?"

"You're an amusing little man. But talk is cheap. You do me no wrong and I won't zap you in the back. Deal?"

Mr. Big reached out and shook the slimy tentcle.

"Deal." He said, slyly crossing his fingers behind his back.

And with a combined force of video scum...things were not looking good for us. Asriel and I took cover behind some blasted apart brick and rubble.

"Oh man...it was bad enough having Chaopolis on us."

"Shouldn't have assumed we only had one enemy and his legion of crazy cultists, Asriel. I don't know how they found us!"

"KOMMAND here. Come in, Volt!"

"I read you, KOMMMAND. What have you got?"

"You're not going to like this but...er...No-Name DOX'ed you."

"DOX'ed?" Asriel questioned.

"He leaked our new coordinates to the UltraVersal Dark Web and probably across other dimensions."

"He pulled a Macgyver Season 3 on us?!" Asriel's eyes widened.

"And oddly enough our new enemies are doing better th an No-Name ever did at pinning us down and trashing our town."

"Nice couplet there. That humor asside...what do we do?"

"I don't know about you two...but how do you feel about fighting fire WITH fire?"

"KOMMAND...are you suggesting...?" I started.

"I love this plan." Asriel wagged his tail. "But...how? It's not like we have the coordinates to alternate Videoland. Or even a way to open the Ultimate Warp Zone--"

"Just get to the Gateway Room. I got a surprise of my own I'm cooking up."

"Suprrise of your own?"

"Oh. And you'll also want these." A small stack of Game Paks downloaded into existence.

"Look I know your sense of humor hasn't gotten any less warped since gaining immortality, but this is no time for games!"

"Wait. Volt. I saw those things drop out of Adonis' Cybergate. He jolted them with electricity and those goofy mobsters, the walking vegetables, and the scary wizard came out of them."

Bunnie BAMFED into existence next to us. "You might want to know that those game cartridges were well documented in our past, prior to the modern UCIAT, yet post N-Division."

"So it's legit."

"Volt. I'll head to the Cybergate room. You hold down the fort and follow KOMMAND's instructions."

I sighed. I was about to let Asriel take command. Big responsibility jump here.

"Your move, Goat Son. Do it."

"We'll cover you." Bunnie cybermorphed both arm cannons and fired into the fray.

"Okay, KOMMAND. Ball's in your court. What's the play?"

"You'll love this..."

So flash forward past the time it took for Asriel to follow KOMMAND's instructions and for me to wait for KOMMAND's cue and follow through with it.

"Come out, come out wherever you are!" Spike taunted as alternate Dr. Wily brandished his freeze gun.

"Mein frunds...your time is *gasp* over. Ze' time of Muzzah Brain is upon you. Zis' 'vill be your *wheeze* gravesite."

"And I 'vould know all about graves." The Count hovered overhead, flanked by both iterations of Malkil.

"We have subdued your Queen and Ganon has your Mage Academy under his heel."

I didn't want to believe that, but taking the chance they could be wrong...? This was not a good look for me.

"Don't lose your nerve, Commander. Brooke-domou is far greater than they comprehend and the Mage Academy won't be subdued so easily."

"Aha! There you are!" The rocket thrusters in Mother Brain's base elevated her high enough to get an overhead view.

Worse than that somehow, Joe Rockhead had managed to get Mr. Big's limo onto the roof of the next building over and get it to overhang over the ledge and point its laser straight at us. Mr. Big had a pair of cigar missiles aimed for our heads.

"It's time for that big game over that I've been waiting more than 30 years to hit you Arcade mugs for a long time. Just think how Papa Garfield's gonna take seeing his kid and his number two gal lose their last bonus life?"

"This is what happens to meddling fools that step into our dimension and then step to me!" Mother Brain's weapons locked on as everyone else prepared to unleash Hell.

My eyes disappeared under the shadow of my bangs before I grinned the toothiest of werewolf fang grins. That was when the blue laser streaked out of nowhere and hit one of Mother Brain's cannons.

"What?!?"

A boxing glove arrow flew from the opposite direction and nailed King Hippo in the mouth before something teal colored zipped across and slugged him into the gut and knocked him out of sight and into the melee out of our view. Then a famliar bullwhip snared out and wrapped around the Count, coiling around his waist before yanking him out of view.

"Impossible!!!" Dr. Wily raged.

"Nothing's impossible when you got friends to turn to." Asriel calmly walked into view with his NX Zappers in hand.

"A whole other universe out there. What a concept!" I knew that voice.

"NO! NO! NO!" Mother Brain looked horrified.

"Oh yes." Came the voice of Captain N as he spun his Zapper like a cowboy. I definitely heard Duke's bark follow up as well as the voice of Videoland's Princess.

"Lana!" I stood up. "The gang's all here." I watched as the whole N-Team assembled with Asriel.

"Commense program to eliminate hostiles." Game Boy beckoned.

"Big whoop. Our team-up still trumps yours!"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Nicotine Breath!" Came a taunt followed by the distinct dribbling of a basketball.

"Oh, Mr. Big? I forgot to tell you. While Asriel was inviting help from the recent past, I was inviting help from the distant past."

I waved moments before someting BIIIG came crashing down on Mr. Big's limo.

"Tickle mah transmission! My tires have been itchin' to put the spurs to that eyesore you call a limo!"

That Texan accent. It couldn't be.

"Is that Big Foot?!"

Asriel looked at how a Monster Truck managed to get to the rooftops much less make a power jump and squash the car. Fortunately Joe was at least sensible enough to get out and dive for cover.

"Now...about that taunt you made about baby dragons..." Came the booming voice of Kuros the Knight...though in all honesty he looked more like Fabio doing an impression of Arnold Schwarzenegger's portrayal of Conan the Barbarian. Crush your enemies indeed.

"You!" Other Malkil tigthened his fists. "You will burn under the power of my Fire Elemental!" The evil sorceror transformed into a mythical fire beast.

"I thought you might do that. So I added a little power-up." I pulled the sheet off of the treasure chest. Kuros quickly shoved Ironsword into it and it lit up with the power of the fire spell, Fire Smite.

"You still gotta deal with us!" Roddy poised to fire off another Hot Roddy.

"Hey hey hey HEEEEY! You've done enough dealings for one day, punk!" Odd choice of words coming from what seemed to be a giant tomato with arms, legs (and tennis shoes), a pair of cool shades and a mohawk.

"I believe that would be Kwirk the Chilled Tomato." Bunnie mused.

"I can't believe you said that with a straight face."

Without warning the tomato curled into a ball and barreled into both Roddy and Petunia, sending them spiraling toward their game cartridge, still sparking.

"Duh you can't do that to Mr. Big and his pals! I'm gonna--" Joe tore a section of roof to chuck at us.

"I think you need to sit on the bench, big guy!" This taunt was followed up by a flying basketball that hit Joe right between the eyes.

"Duuuuuuuuhhh....!" He moaned before falling flat on his back. The ball richochetted off several things before coming back down to land spinning on the finger of Tyrone from Arch Rivals.

"You haven't won yet. I've got enough firepower to drain every last bonus lives from you mugs and send you to that warp zone in the sky!" Mr. Big started before what looked like a square panel off a S.W.A.T. officer's bullet proof vest--propelled by a jet thruster--slammed into his hand, knocking out one of the cigar missiles.

"By the authority of the Power Team, I place you under arrest!" Max Force from N.A.R.C. Although I was kind expecting him to be in full helmeted riot gear, if anything...he was more like Curtis Striker of Mortal Kombat but using a PG-rated arsenal. Talk about giving Inspector Gadget competition!

"And just to make the day even more miserable for you all. I called in a favor of my own." Bunnie mused before the warp zone opened and out stepped.

"I brought them back like you asked, Major!" Pit saluted. "And what a reunion!"

Mother Brain gasped in horror as our combined forces united.

"It just seems gratuitous to announce that we "assemble". Besides, I wouldn't take away from Captain Amerca's moment from my new favorite movie." Asriel joked.

Kevin stood tall with Lana and Duke, flanked by Kid Icarus, Mega Man, Simon Belmont and Game Boy. Max Force rallied with Kuros, Tyrone, Kwirk and Big Foot, who came crashing back down on all four tires, with the mother of all tremors. And Asriel and I got joined up with Bunnie with Pit who had brought our universe's Mega Man, Simon Belmont, Samus Aran, Link, and more to the party.

Thus the battle royal began, driving back their forces--the Zebesian aliens, Wily's bots, Hippo's heel-turn boxers from Punch-Out, the Count's undead army, and more.

During the battle... "Are you supposed to be me-icus?" Kid folded his arms and gave a pouting frown.

"Uh...hi? Um...nice to meet a fellow angel. Um...I like your wrist bands."

Huh. How 'bout that? He took my advice about ditching the gloves.

"I did not know that angels could wear such um...quaint attire."

"Yeah? What's so great about what you've got on? I don't like the wool on your leggins. They look weird."

"Um...sorry?" Pit shrugged.

"Nevermind-icus. I hope you're a better archer than you look."

Pit released the arrow which quickly bent its path around multiple obstacles before landing smack dab in the forehead of one of Wily's robots.

"Hmmph. Showoff." Kid Icarus scoffed before loaded up his Buzzsaw Arrow and lanching it.

"That...seems like a bit of an unnecessary modification."

"Better than yours." Oh boy. Were the two angels getting into a competition?

"I'll mega punch you and mega kick you, and mega chop you and mega blast you!"

"THat's...a lot of Mega. Um--"

"C'mon! I'll show you how BIG Mega Man really is."

"Wait a minute...are you like my counterpart?"

"If you're supposed to be mega me--"

"Why aren't you blue?"

"Why aren't you green?"

On the up side at least our Mega Man didn't point out N-Team Mega Man sounded like a chain-smoking Popeye or Doctor Mrs. Monarch on helium.

"Hey. At least you don't have a little mini robot living in your head and transform out of civilian disguise by saying "MEGANIZE ME!" Violet trolled as she flew past.

"...ick."

"Agreed."

"Who in their right mega mind would do that?"

"I hope we never meet a third counterpart like that."

And of course... "Never fear! Simon Belmont is here!"

"You, stranger. How do you know my name?"

Having been brought back either from the past or the Interdimension Super Smash Bros. Nexus tournament, our Simon was more of a gladiator in appearance. The long blond rock-star hair and headband. The red platemail armor. The shoulder pieces and the criss-crossing straps of his leg guards. A slight Scottish accent? But definitely a far more pious and humble servant of good than the overblown glory hog the blue-overcoated Simon.

"Your name? What makes you think I would refer to a barbarian brute such as you? There's only room in this universe for one handsome vampire hunter, and I'm looking at him." N-Team Simon primped in his mirror.

"You would do well to remember pride is a sin!" Our Simon wasn't taking any of his counterpart's crap.

"If it is, I'd gladly be a bad boy." That sounded so wrong.

Pit blinked cocking his head at other Simon.

"Umm...Miss Violet?" Violet landed next to him. "Pimpy hair?" He pointed.

"Total pimp-daddy." Vi grinned before being whapped.

The holo projector in Big Foot fired up, displaying of all people on the other side of the universe.

"So. You're the legendary Johnny Arcade. From one Arcade to another. You met my dad."

"I remember Garfield. We'll have to catch up another time. We have to give your world a bonus life, first." Johnny fiddled around with what appeared to be an NES Advantage joystick on the other side of the hologram.

"I'm locking on with Big Foot's rollbar lasers!"

"Awesome!" Kevin landed from a power jump next to the holo-projection.

"Hey, hey, hey! Didn't you get the memo, Spike? Tomatoes are a dog's best friend!"

Duke barked as he carried Kwirk toward the leather jacketed gangster.

"Gaaah! I hate dogs! I hate tomatoes!"

"All right fellow Game Masters! Let's push them back!"

"I got you all covered! Warp Zones opened up to banish all!"

"What say we go for a SPIN, Count?" N-Team Simon yanked on his whip sending him spinning like a top through the gate.

Together Pit and Kid Icarus managed to grab Eggplant Wizard and get some decent flying speed to toss him through next.

Together our Mega Man and N-Team Mega Man managed to encase Dr. Wily in a prison made from Dr. Light and Dr. Wright's Magnet Beam devices. With a mighty heave-ho, courtessey of N-Team Mega Man's super strength and our Mega Man using Guts Man's Super Arm, Wily went flying back.

I jolted the game cartridges and reversed their polarity, zapping Roddy and Petunia back where they came from just as Kuros with the help of both Simon Belmont iterations drove Malkil back through the Pak's vortex.

"NOOOOO! NOT BURNED BY MY OWN FLAAAAAMES!"

"Feel the power of the Fire Spell! Feel the Power of Good!"

"And come back when you're about 1/3 less ugly. Maybe in 50 or 60 billion years!" N-Team Simon waved adieu.

Slowly we cleaned up the area.

"I will not be bullied by some punk teenager with a power pad, a farm animal, and a lightning throwing flea-bag!"

"What? No props for my new bud, Johnny? That's just harsh, brain-lord!"

"More like buttlord!" Violet taunted before pulling her eyelid down and sticking her tongue out.

"Why you--!" Mother Brain seethed.

"Game Over, Mother Brain. You lose."

"You think I'm intimidated by a teenage princess with a Power Scepter?!"

That was when the air chilled a bit.

"Would you be more so by a Queen?"

"Uhh...listen, doll. This partnership isn't working out. So...good luck with your revenge. I'm givin' this place the ole' twenty-three-skidoo!" Mr. Big turned tail moments before he slipped on the sheet of ice that Max Force had sprayed down from a canister in his utility belt.

"Whoaaah!" He yelled before disappearing into the game pak's vortex.

"Duh wait for us, Boss!"

"You clod! You blew it!" Spike sneared. "Nuh-uh! You messed up Mr. Big's plans!" The two bumbling minions found themselves kicked into the vortexes...literally by Bunnie and Asriel.

Ganon soon found himself banished back throught the warp zone as Link delivered the final blow with the Master Sword.

"DONE IN BY ANOTHER LINK?! THIS WILL NOT STAND! THIS WILL NOT STAAAAAAAAAAAAND!!!"

THe last to go was Mother Brain as she stared down a sizeable Hell Ball.

"I want you OUT of my kingdom! NOW! Either by your own power or sent straight to Gehenna where my father, Omintaru will make you his bi--"

"Whoah! Your majesty! Language!" Asriel spoke up.

"...his plaything." Brooke corrected before launching the blast, slamming Mother Brain through the warp zone with the loudest and longest of screams.

"I'll get you all for thiiiiiis!" In the momentary silence that followed we all nodded to each other before engaging in the ultimate in simultaneous high-fives.

"BEST GAME EVER!" Asriel, Kevin, and Johnny announced boldly. And really...it sure felt it it. Explanations and introductions followed by celebrations and eventual good-byes ensued. It was quite the adventure. But there'd be one more outting Asriel and I would embark on before this chapter of the story was up...

Sub-Entry 290: "Digoutter's Adventure in Halcyon Days x Defender of the Universe":
"...do you see it, Azzy?"

"I see it. It doesn't appear to be booytrapped. How about on your end?"

I knew we'd be coming down here one day. To this AU of Mega Man's world. A world of endless ocean; dotted by a few sparce islands and traversable with flying machines. A mostly uncomplicated world that said a lot about the future of many a world--Earth in particular if allowed to continue on its path. And where the energy crisis was well beyond critcal. Oil? Gone. Fossil fuels? Non-existant. Where was the alternatives like solar energy and wind power? Not on this world.

Here, everything was powered by a limited energy souce called Quantum Refractors--crystals spun in an open reactor assembly to generate electricity. And these refractors were not only batteries, but used as trade in a monetary denomination called Zenny.

These refractors could not be mass produced or duplicated. The only place to get them was to harvest them...from underground in labyrinths called ruins. Buried in locked chests...and powering dangerous machines called Reaverbots--ancient mechanizations from civilizations lost and forgotten. Machines that would attack without provocation. Only the truly brave dared to explore the ruins to retrieve these refractors; the basis of both energy and economy. These brave were called Diggers. They were assisted by navigators, remotely guiding them called Spotters.

"I have eyes on the Refractor. I don't like it. This reeks of a trap."

"You know...we were strongly advised not to attempt this without a Spotter."

"I know but...time was of the essence. They were on our tails and I had no intention of dragging Kattalox or any other island on this world into our war. In and out if possible."

"You know that's not going to be the case. How's the reactor itself looking?"

"The Refractor's just sitting pretty atop the armature cone fixture, spinning and generating power."

"Is there ANYTHING suspicious about the room?":

"Nothing's showing up on my visor. How about the Soul Crystal?"

"I've already pried open the assembly and checked everything with a logic probe and a voltmeter. Any sensory systems seem to be inactive. Evidence suggests the ports linking it to the processor are damaged or malfunctioning."

"Okay. Careful removing it."

"Annnnnd done. Standing by.......no activity in the system. The traps, if any are down. Smooth sailing. I'll meet you at the rendezvous point."

"Gotcha. I'm removing the Refractor now."

"We don't really need it, you know."

"It's the least we can do to compensate the Caskets on their tip about this place."

"There was another reason we opted to not have a Spotter on this mission, wasn't there?"

Goat Son was still observant and good at picking up on details. Even better at trusting his instincts.

"We're not risking a transmission to the outside; if the Bonne Family or Chaopolis intercept our com signals, we'll invite enemies to this location like flies to you-know-what."

"It also means we don't have any backup."

"Yeah. Anyway. Wish me luck. Volt out."

"Good luck."

I reached out and grabbed the blue-tinted crystal diamond spire. It was like a multi-faceted prism--pointed at the top and bottom. Silence. I shrugged and hopped down the platform and started to leave when somethign started to rumble behind me.

"Oh spam nuggets."

I folded my ears back. Then I dove for cover as I felt something barrel out behind me akin to a battering ram. Clutching the Refractor, I took off at a dead run. Looking over my sholder I noticed I was pretty accurate with my assumption I almost got pulverized by a battering ram. Only it was three of them. Three hexagonal horizontal pillars shot out of the wall behind the reactor. If I had tried jumping away from the reactor or stood to the left or right, I would have been bludgeoned.

Thankfully I stood perfectly centered before the Refractor and grabbed it accordingly before spinning on my heel while staying low. Emergency gates started slamming down, trying to lock me in.

"Where have I seen this before? All I'm missing is a giant rolling rock." I slid for cover, wiping out as the last door slammed down behind me.

"Volt? Volt? What happened?"

"Just a minor obstacle. Nothing to worry about."

"Volt...lesson in integrity: I know when you're covering up your adversity. Spill, bud."

"Tripped a trap. I'm fine."

"See? That wasn't so hard to admit. Little lacking on details, but I won't press you."

"Coming up on the rendezvous point."

"Same here."

We both met up. "Got a few thousand Zenny worth of smaller refractors."

"Same here."

"We could always save a couple to run tests on in the lab. Try to come up with a solution for this world."

"Maybe we will eventually, Goat Son. But mission first. And from the looks of it--"

"Yeah. This is striking an oddly famliar chord from my past."

We looked upon the giant electronic panel blocking our path.

I knew what Azzy meant. He was refering to the puzzles of the Ruins. Ancient fusions of keys and mental challenges meant to be safeguards to keep threats out and those who wanted to be left alone in peace. Or something like that.

"Some kind of gate sealing us off."

"There's something scripted on the wall." Asriel looked at it.

"Numbers. Four plaques with two sets of numbers on each."

"Numbers?"

"Let me read one of these blocks I'll try this one in the lower left. The first set is three digits. 000, 013, 121, 132, 222, 231, 303, 310, 303, 231, 222, 131, 121, 013, 000. The second set reads 00, 07, 31, 36, 52, 63, 64, 64, 63, 55, 32, 36, 31, 07, 00."

"That's...weird. A redundant pattern on both. Almost like a parabola if we charted it on a graph. But...what does it mean?"

"Hmm..."

Asriel pondered for a bit. Then a slow smile spread across his face before he dug out his NX Board and converted it to tablet mode and started writing on its screen.

"What if...I convert numbering systems. What we're looking at is decimal. But what if we turn it to binary. The the numbers we get are 000 000 000, 000 001 011, 001 010 001, 001 011 010, 010 010 010, 010 011 001, 011 000 011, 011 000 011 and repeat backwards for the first column and 000 000, 000 111, 011 001, 011 110, 101 010, 101 101, 110 011, 110 100 and repeat backwards for the second column."

"Binary? Well I see where you're going with this but it still doesn't make any sense."

"Hmm...what if I take this second set of binary numbers and change the perspective of how I read them. Instead of left to right as rows, I read them as columns? So the first set would be four instances of 0 and eight instances of 1. Does that sound like something familiar?"

"...it's...sounding like a lookup table or--"

My ears suddenly stood up as my expression lit up.

"Or a digital truth table! Good thinking, Azzy! Which means...each of those instances represents six 3-digit outputs from a set of four inputs from 0 to 15 or 0 to F in Hexadecimal!"

Of course! It was a digital electronic puzzle! One only an electronics engineer or one in training would figure out! Or someone like Violet who was a number master.

"Then really...each row of six-digit numbers is one output from one combination of switches in numberical order. So an input of 0000 is an output of 000 000. And so on. Based on that, do you know what this really is?" Asriel asked excitedly.

"I'll be damned. It's a digital logic schematic in number form! What this is a test of is for someone to sketch the schematic diagram needed to obtain this result. We have to figure out the Boolean Algorithms for each of these six output digits."

"I think I got it." Asriel felt around on the gate panels. One of them suddenly flipped around to reveal a Boolean formula...but the operator symbol was blank.

"C...blank...D, B...blank D, B...blank....C, A...blank...D, A...blank...C, and A...blank...B."

"The outcomes of each possible combination of input switches. That totals six unique outputs in all if the combinations are only two inputs being computed at a time."

Asriel pondered before noticing the 6 x 16 L.E.D. matrix lit to the right of the formulas.

"It's the same numbers on the plaque I read. Think, Volt. What schematic would produce this result?"

"Starting at the least significant digits of the output; A and B...every instance where A doesn't equal B gives a 1 output. But every instance that they're equal is a 0 output. OF course! It's an Exclusive-Or function! XOR!"

I pulled the plague off the wall and turned it around to find a schematic sketched on it depicting six XOR gates wired to produce said outputs. I gave the plaque to Asriel who fit it into the socket. As he brought it near the right panel, the blanks in the equations turned to the digital logic symbol, XOR (Exclusive OR)--a plus with a circle around it. A light at the top of the door turned from red to green. The other three remained red.

"We do this for three more schematics, we got this!" "

How much you want to bet each of these is a twist on the same schematic but each with a different one of the four basic 2-input logic gates as its basis?"

"In other words--AND, OR, XOR (Exclusive OR) and XNOR (Exclusvie NOT OR). Azzy, this is my kind of puzzle."

And in no time we cracked it and raised the gate...but we should have known a puzzle that difficult meant...

"A boss battle!" It was a Hammul Doll and a big and nasty one at that. A mostly cylindrical robot. Its upper torso resembled a knight's platemail but its head was integrated completly into it; no neck to speak of...kinda like an Air Man bod.

Its single ruby read eye glared at us, with a pattern of air vents surrounding it in a pattern that made it look like a disturbing toothy grin. It had only one arm but connected to its spiked ball joint shoulder was a lengthy protrusion that flared out into a giant rounded arrow shape in what I could best describe as a giant anchor or pointed club. We cut loose our assault and eventually brought it down.

"We're outta here." I gave a thumbs up and lead Asriel into the newly opened up doorway. We headed toward the elevator that brought us down there. But as soon as we got to the intersection and turned left.

"My, my...someone's in a hurry."

I gasped and held Asriel back. "Adonis!"

"I know you were enjoying your digoutter's adventur story in Halcyon days but...this was too good an opportunity to NOT have an ambush."

"Quick! Azzy! Other corridor!" I darted the other way. "There's another way to the surface from here!"

"Run all you want. It just makes the chase more...chaotic." Adonis mused as a shape loomed behind him. "What took you so long...?" He slid his glance to the side before widening his grin.

We charged out of the door atop the ruins and panted. No time to admire the clear blue sky. It was then the severity of our situation was realized. The "Ruins" we were in was an impossibly sky-high tower extending out of the ocean. So high that a fall from here wouldn't mean death by drowning; the impact with the water would be so great it would crush bones and turn internal organs to jelly near instantly.

"Volt to Megaman Volnutt! Two for extraction! Hurry! We need a pickup like now!"

Static.

"Volt to the Caskets! Where are you?!"

THe doors opened to the elevator.

"No way..." Asriel gulped before we both turned around to see Adonis, "No-Name", a phalanx of Chaopolis followers...and the very angry Hammul Doll.

"You'll find your ride is...delayed." Adonis pointed to the sky where we could see the Casket's airship, the "Flutter" being chased by...ohhhhhhhhh craaaaap...

That was the massive airshift...carrier owned by the Bonne Family of air pirates. That skull-emblazened ship known as the Gesselschaft.

"They're a little busy...trying not to die. But for the both of you...you have two ways out of this. Surrender...or...sink." Adonis gave the universal thumbs-down gesture.

We backed away to the very edge as they advanced.

"It's been a long and winding run, Arcade. But it ends here. Not like our friendship which has been dead for eons. Dead since well...you know the rest. Abandonment is the worst transgression against friendship, wouldn't you say?"

"You're not suddenly thinking with logic now are you?" I taunted. "That would mean you're following a--"

Adonis' weapon pierced a little too close to my ears with a double shot.

"...you really don't like it when I strike a nerve, do you?"

"You're just making this worse, losers." Evil Chara growled.

"Still taking orders from him."

"SHUT UP, AZZY! We just have the same goal, that's all. I'm not taking orders from a damn soul. Don't you ever forget that!"

Asriel had already hidden the Soul Crystal. But I was having a hard time hiding the Refractor. It didn't matter. Adonis didn't want it. I was certain of that.

"Time's up, you two. This really is game over for you. No choice to make, is there."

"There's always a choice." Asriel and I grabbed each other's hand in a high-five that ended in a firm handshake grip before with both waved...and stepped off the edge...

"YOU FOOLS! I WON'T BE DENIED--!" Chara screamed.

"Well that was anticlimactic." Adonis shrugged with a sigh.

"He knows how to hurt a guy in the worst possible way. By taking all the fun out of it." Adonis turned on his heel and began to walk away.

"No! I don't accept this!"

"You would dive in after them? That's cutting off your nose despite your face. While chaotic, it's still throwing away certain victory. We can always hurt their friends and family. That will be fun, won't it?"

"You idiot! Asriel was mine! This whole deal centered on me getting him in one piece! It doesn't matter if he's a Hybrid now and can't absorb human souls! You said yourself you have a--"

"Ah ah ahhhh...spoilers." Adonis warned. "As for that...I have amended the deal. Be thankful if I don't amend the deal any further."

"This deal is getting worse all the time..."

As Adonis and company started to walk away...Adonis suddenly stopped in his tracks, his eyes hidden under his messy bangs. He grinned a grin that had only been seen on the former Pirate King of One Piece, himself, Gol D. Roger.

"Hey, Adonis!" My voice suddenly rung out. "You're not the only one who can change the game."

"Impossible! The Caskets are nowhere near--" No-Name Chara whirled...and suddenly looked up...and up and up as it rose into view without warning.

"I'd like you to meet a friend of mine...from the Planet Arus." I stood atop the mighty torso, next to the head of the incredibly giant superrobot known only as...

"Voltron. Defender of the Universe." I waved from the united form of five mighty lion robots; a gestalt form consisting of that black main body with the red wings, the blue and silver metal face inside the open lion's maw. The red right arm, the green left arm, the blue right leg, and the yellow left leg.

"All systems go, Keith?"

"Interlocks activated, Dynotherms connected, Infracells are up, and Megathrusters are go!" Came the voice of Akira "Keith" Kogane--a no non-sense fearless leader and all-around pointman.

"LET'S GO VOLTRON FORCE!!!"

"Heheheh...that's cute. But you let your goat companion fall to his death. That's cold of you. Sacrificing another partner like that."

"Yeeeeeeah...about that...?" Asriel's voice called out from the opposite side of the tower.

"You see...Volt went with Voltron Classic...I went with something else."

Asriel had his arms crossed as he stood tall atop a different Voltron.

"You know we tried to get the Vehicle Voltron from the Inner Galaxy but...in the end KOMMAND just couldn't pass up the chance to crossover with a Legendary Defender. How bout' it, Shiro? Are you Paladins in a mood to crash Chaopolis' party?"

"You'll have to introduce me to this "Sven" some time. I think it would be...interesting to meet him."

Save for the white patch of hair and the cyborg arm, this counterpart of Norweigen retired Voltron Pilot, Sven Holgersson...actually, you know I really didn't see much similarity between the two. I could tell he was a seasoned veteran.

"I find it interesting that my counterpart is the leader of that other Voltron Force." Paladin version Keith mused.

"It'll have to be our universe's version. In the GoLion AU, he's...kinda deceased with their Lothor." I shrugged.

Really. We were really going to banter right now?

"Great. As if I didn't have enough to compete against." I made out the grumbled transmission of Lance McClain. Cocky, bullheaded, and a flirt. Tended to butt heads with Keith.

"Guess you'll have to get in line behind the superior ladies man." His Paladin counter mused.

"I can't believe the other me is a girl!" Darrell "Pidge" Stoker blurted out. Brunette, ravenhaired, and bespectacled and by far the youngest and smallest. Described as a plucky genius and quite a nimble gymnist.

"Got a problem with girls?" His female Paladin counterpart cut in. Admittedly it was a surprise to me, too.

"...no." He stuck his nose in the air for a bit.

"That's what I thought."

"Just as long as we get one heck of a feast after kicking some Space Pirate butts!" Husky Tsyuyoshi "Hunk" Garrett announced bravely. Really the guy was constantly scared out of battle but in battle, boy was he a bold scrapper who backed up his tough talk. All the comedic gold you'd expect from the big guy member of the team.

"I like the way you think, other me!" Paladin Hunk grinned ear to ear.

"I'll fight to the best of my ability. I will honor the promise my father made to your people, Dr. Arcade." The softspoken voice of Princess Allura was the last to chime in.

"What's really mind-blowing is their princess is piloting a lion!" Classic Lance blurted out.

"You don't think she can man up like the rest of you? I mean...man up in a metaphorical sense but...y-you know what I mean!" Paladin Pidge protested.

"Enough of the chatter. We have a job to finish."

"Yeah, guys. If you would kindly take care of our problems up there and down there?"

"Ready team? FORM BLAZING SWORD!" Classic Voltron slammed its lion-heads-for-hands arms together and drew them apart to produce a beam of light that forged into a mighty sword. In a theatrical pose it drew the blade back while thrusting its left lion-mouth hand forth with a loud ROAR in a pretty epic pose.

"That's how I remember it." I mused.

Adonis and his group looked up at the blade like deer in headlights before Adonis broke into maniacal, and VERY disturbing laughter; almost to the point of convulsing. This happened moments before Voltron 80's drew back with both arms and excuted a hopping thrust with the blade, chopping down into the entire tower and rending it to pieces in a mighty explosion.

"Nice! Now it's our turn!" The Legendary Defender Voltron forged its beam blade and went in for the final strike on the Gesselschaft!

"Oh no! It's comin' right for us!" Elder brother, Tiesel Bonne shrieked. "Get us outta here, Tron!" He cried to his genius sister!"

"It's too late! Jettison to the Focke-Wulf!" Tron hurried off the bridge, dragging the armored baby Bon Bonne with a confused "BABUUU?!"

Moments later the Bonnes escaped in a red falcon-like robot jet.

"Thank goodness you made that decoy Gesselschaft or that debt to Glyde really would be meaningless! We'd never live it down!"

"Getting us to the real Gesselschaft will put us way off course."

"Grrrr...YOU WIN THIS TIME, MEGAMAN! BUT THE BONNE FAMILY WILL RETURN AND HAVE OUR REVENGE!!!" Tiesel swore and followed up with a forced evil maniacal laugh to save face.

"We owe you one!" Megaman Volnutt waved.

"Thanks again!" Roll Casket saluted from where she had the helm of the bridge of their tiny airship.

"Be seein' you!" Fiery old man Professor Barell Casket nodded.

"Eee-eeeee!" Monkey-bot, Data squeaked. "Drop you off at home?" Keith offered.

"No rush." Asriel smiled. "Let's check out that Castle of Lions of yours and maybe meet these mice the princess is so friendly with!"

"Sounds good to me, Azzy. And with that we rode atop the two Voltrons into the sunset toward the wormhole off this world. This planet would be peaceful again thanks to us. But more thanks to Voltron, Defender of the Universe!

CRYPTOSMASHER LOGOFF END TRANSMISSION...

Chapter 30

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