PLDN Chapter 35

"Chapter 35: Into the Unknown Aftermath"

Sub-Entry 341: "It Finally Happened.  The Crossover You May or May Not Have Seen Coming":
For the Gods and Goddess' sake...it finally happened. I'll never live this down. I can't believe this is a thing but rest assured...it's a thing. But worst of all...Violet will never stop gloating about it.

I'm giving you more than fair warning...that this will be, by far, the most confusing log entry to narrate to date. Because quite frankly...I'd be very surprised if you'll be able to keep track of which of us...who of us...is narrating at certain points.

"This is...really happening, isn't it?"

"I'd really like to believe it's a dream."

"So...eerie...!"

"I feel...unclean."

"Hmm..."

Yeah. That says it--

"Hi!  I'm Asriel!"

"Hi,  I'm Asriella."

...I'm just going to duck out of this...and hope this writes itself.

"Why don't I take over for you, Volt?"

What the...?! Okay...this is now an Asriel log. Go to town, Goat Son. I'm just going to sit in the corner and try not to say angry things about Violet. Hey, I'm not bitter! Don't judge me!

* CRYPTOSMASHER LOGGING SYSTEM LOGOFF  *

* USER LOGON: Asriel Tobias Dreemurr-Arcade (AGENT ATA) *

* PASSWORD: ******************** *

RECOVERED DATA FRAGMENT FROM THE RESEARCH LOGS OF SPACE TIME CONTINUUM (STC) ROOKIE AGENCY FIELD AGENT ASRIEL TOBIAS DREEMURR-ARCADE -

Wow, it's been a while since I did one of these...actually it's only my second, but what the hoo-ha, right?

You know, Volt has always said I should avoid Aunt Vi's gender-swap fanfictions for my own sanity and to absolve me of any liability should we be approached by the people of Ooo. Really, I love Adventure Time.

Oh, right. I'm getting off topic. Silly me. So. How did this weirdness get started in the first place?

Well...like many a UCIAT/STC adventure, it began in the Gateway Room...

"...and that's how you replace a plasmatic refractor coil."

"I never would have thought to jury-rig an old 75 to 300 ohm transformer to shunt across the RF choke coil to tweak the impedance."

"My goat dude, you have wow-ed me with how well you grasp space-time tech."

"Thank Aunt Vi for giving me a solid grasp of the math I needed to make sense of it."

"You know I won't." I wrinkled my nose. "At least not publicly."

"Oh, you."

I shrugged.

"Powering up and entering diagnostic mode."

"Running in service mode.  Hardware looks good.  And wow that little 80's antenna connector is making her purr like a kitten.  No offense, Felicia.

"None taken."

We can be a little candid around here. Can you tell?

"Alright.  Running through the software."

"Glad I got you handling this, Azzy.  Normally I'd put up with Vi to run through a program."

"She's just quirky."

"A lovely euphemism for someone who takes selfies of her feet every time she gets a new pair of sandals."

"Let's...uh...change the subject." Asriel sweat dropped.

Little did we know, that on the flip side of the coin that was our dimension...

"...agreed.  let's change the subject.  The less we mention about Vinnie's fetish the better."

"Software diagnostics all check out, Amp."

"Good to hear, Goat Daughter."

* CRYPTOSMASHER LOGGING SYSTEM LOGOFF  *

* USER LOGON: AMPERE LOUISE ARCADE (AGENT ALA) *

* PASSWORD: ******************** *

RECOVERED DATA FRAGMENT FROM THE RESEARCH LOGS OF SPACE TIME CONTINUUM (STC) AGENCY FIELD AGENT AND FOUNDER, DR. AMPERE LOUISE ARCADE-

Well I guess I'm switching back to this being an Ampere log. Maybe it's best if the two of us co-author this log? Or something? As if we couldn't make this experience any more confusing.

I never would have imagined in a million years that our tests would lead to a trans-dimensional harmonic echo between two Cybergates. But that's what happened.

For the longest time, we'd dismissed Vincent's silly gender-swap fanfictions as just his overactive imagination. I mean...why COULDN'T our own VGM-098 have its own set of AU's?

For one thing, I tried to avoid the subject. I mean come on. That's a mental inception that went beyond the realm of just being meta. I didn't always agree with boundaries and limitations; usually when examining things from a creativity or exploration perspective. But I abided by them. I knew boundaries exist for a reason. Tonya Stark said something similar when addressing the Zokovia Accords. But it was that perspective that only added fuel to the fire when the Civil War landed, not only ending his and Stephanie Rogers' friendship but disassembling the Avengers at a critical point that left them vulnerable on the day of the Infinity War.

I'm getting off track.

Asriella had only just recently started braving Vin's fanfics. And it left her to ponder...what would it be like if she and I were male and Ben and Vin were female, just to name four examples.

Gender-swap dimension were among the easiest convenient plot paddings in my own opinion. And yet, they were still considered more fair game than our tendency to reference people, places, events, and even entire conversations in comics, TV, movies, video games, internet, and whatever other multimedia there was. And yet, the former felt more farfetched.

Maybe I should get off my high horse. As the Queen of Crossovers, closed-mindedness did not suit me. Okay, then. Let's at least be open to Asriella's daydream of meeting her counterpart.

Little did we know...

RECOVERED DATA FRAGMENT FROM THE RESEARCH LOGS OF SPACE TIME CONTINUUM (STC) AGENCY FIELD AGENT AND FOUNDER, DR. VOLT ALESSANDRO ARCADE-

Back to me(?)...taking over the logging. Maybe I should just put this log is by both of us instead of jacking in and out of Cryptosmasher, back and forth.

"Volt, are you noticing this weird harmonic appearing on the Fourier Series readout?  It almost seems like something's...tugging at the event horizon."

"Yeah, Azzy.  It's weird but it almost seems like whatever's tugging, we seem to be tugging back on the source in turn.  Like a rubber band trying to pull two poles together."

"Do you think we should be freaked out?"

"I don't know.  But it's creating a weird dimensional oscillation at the epicenter.  For lack of a less disgusting metaphor, it's almost like a blister is forming."

"A little disgusting, yes.  But I see where you're coming from.  it's almost like we're generating a third space between us...and...wherever."

"Oh gods...I'd almost forgotten.  But I've SEEN this phenomenon before.  And just as artificially generated.  Back when...ACM-001 still existed, during an event I've mentioned before...the Super Genesis Wave; when the Chaos Emeralds were used to bring ACM-001 together with CPS-001..."

"Oh yeah.  Worlds Collide you called it.  That world, Mobius, that has...had that parallel existence with many of our own UCIAT members--sensei, and Sally, and Lupe, and Rotor.  You always seemed like you were disappointed with yourself over something."

"Yeah...Worlds Collide was directly responsible for the annihilation of ACM-001 and the creation of ACM-002.  All because I let my guard down when Dr. Eggman attacked Super Sonic right as he was using Chaos Control.  It shattered reality and the shards of the old world led to the creation of the Genesis Portals."

"Don't blame yourself.  This Robotnik or Eggman guy is at fault."

"Yeah...but...it was preventable.  Yet another dark stain on my STC permanent record."

Asriel pondered. "So this phenomenon?"

"Yes.  Dr. Eggman and Dr. Wily artificially created a zone between their universes that was a mashup of both their realities.  A "Skull Egg Zone" if you will."

"And that's what you think is happening here."

I paced a bit.

"I know what you're thinking, Azzy.  We should explore it and submit our findings to the Council."

"Seems dangerous and reckless."

"But theoretically it could be the better of possible scenarios.  Consider it like...neutral ground.  we could send a probe into the other side of it and confirm our findings."

"Thinking like a scientist.  That's good.  Still...I don't have a bad feeling...just a strange one.  Uneasy but...not threatening.  Not a feeling of impending danger."

"But one that you feel like is going to be more than we bargained for?"

Flipping to the other side, again...

"...yeah.  Exactly that.  For that matter...what are we even bargaining for?  And do we really want to submit our findings to the Council?  I mean we're trying to keep our home OFF their radar."

"And yet we're having an easier time doing that than keeping Alouette Nina Adonis from dropping surprises into both our front and back yard."

Back to letting Asriella take over the log. With apologies to whoever may read this. If you manage to keep up with who's telling this story? Kudos to you.

RECOVERED DATA FRAGMENT FROM THE RESEARCH LOGS OF SPACE TIME CONTINUUM (STC) ROOKIE AGENCY FIELD AGENT ASRIELLA TONYA DREEMURR-ARCADE -

My expression fell after I said that. Amp noticed immediately.

"We don't want to bring it up, do we?  That we never found out how...Evil-Chara tracked us through multiple KOMMANDANT attempts to relocate us over and over.  Somehow she left the keys as a last will and testament to Adonis...even though in the end, Adonis betrayed her."

"...we just let her die.  Sure she was a creep and a terrorist and she hated me with a passion and tried to smear my brother's good name.  But--"

"She brought it on herself.  But you're right. She didn't deserve that."

I paused for a long bit.

"So.  Are we doing this?"

And so two sides of the same coin set out into the deep space between their dimensions.

It's hard to say who of us is narrating at this point. Maybe we were logging this in unison; word for word, simultaneously to the microsecond. Which, if my theory was correct meant that no less than four people were probably taking a stab at explaining what was going on. Me and the other me. Asriel/Asriella and his/her counterpart.

When I thought about this phenomenon, I considered how creepy it seemed. That whatever deities we were in the sway of, that any illusion of believing we were acting upon independent thought was a lie--that somehow Destiny and Fate were playing us both like using one game pad to control two players in a 2-player simultaneous co-op mode....but mirrored. We were inevitably headed toward each other. And for that matter...how does one convey who's the main and who's the echo when narrating this?

Within the hour, I (Volt Arcade) and Asriel T. Dreemurr-Arcade had entered the null space...

...as I (Amp Arcade) and Asriella T. Dreemurr-Arcade entered the null space.

And somehow we both met in the center.

And after a bit of silence and being joined by more of our respective crews...

"Well.  Pay up." Violet mused as her counterpart was accepting money from mine.

"Gloat while you can.  It's not going to be a regular habit being proven right about something." my counterpart and I said in unison.

Oh gods...can we not jinx each other at every turn?

After stumbling over each other trying not to speak in unison...

"Ladies first." I finally said, finally getting some semblance of control.

"You still have that chivalrous cliché in your dimension?  Vin tried to stir the pot before getting bonked by a Tessan fan.

"Do I want to be the first to call "Deja vu" or not?" Bunnie asked.

"Regardless, we were both thinking it." Benny countered.

"Touché."

"Touché indeed."

"Oh man...I can't even..." Vin was already looking over his counterpart. "I look gooooooood."

"I'm going to stop you before you do something stupid."

"Same here." I followed up Amp's warning.

"If you have ANY thoughts of flirting or getting intimate with your counterpart--"

"--I'm going to put my foot down and ask you to consider how many things are just wrong about that."

Asriel and Asriella looked each other over.

"Beyond names, I don't really think introductions are necessary.  Pretty sure we know what each of us is about." I (Volt Arcade) tried to make sense of it.

I (Ampere Arcade) nodded and replied.

"Well.  Since you made the offer for ladies to go first, I'd be rude to decline myself...sort of.  I'm known as Ampere Anastasia Arcade. Actually, it's Ampere Louise Arcade, but I prefer the middle name Anastasia.  It completes the triple-A inside joke."

"Triple-A.  Is that also--"  Violet was immediately whapped by Bunnie.

"Cross into NSFW and I will target the chakra points that allow your vocal chords to function." Bunnie warned.

"Effective." Benny complimented.

"I assume you similarly discipline your "B.F.F."."

"Assumption correct. Usually I threaten to remove his reason for wearing a fundoshi."

"I bet my counterpart would like to see me in a loincloth--" *SMACK*

"Bakana." Benny grumbled.

I (Volt Arcade introduced myself, next.

"Volt Alessandro Arcade.  I would assume we're both in the same career position and have the same mission.  We should be equivalent of each other, adjusted for gender-swap, correct?"

"I'd say so."

"So...it's weird but...I feel like I should have a ton of questions, but..."

"Every question I come up with is probably one you've already got and chances are both our questions--"

"Have the same answer?"

"Where it applies."

"Let's...at least try to see if there are differences between us?"

"Heh.  Vin would probably call it a drinking game.  Point to whoever brings up the first thing that we don't have in common."

Round one...

"Favorite stuffed animal?"

"Captain Snuffles.  Since I was 111."

"Me too!  You next."

"Best subject in school?"

"Science!"

"Oh yeah.  We're practically clones."

"Let's not compare ourselves to sheep.  Pretty sure we both hate that."

"As sure as our siblings teased us with the beep-beep-I'm-a-sheep meme?"

"Ooooh.  We're going to be at this for a while."

And the banter went back and forth until...

"Cinnamon Roll."

"Butterscotch Biscuit."

"I guess you get the point.  Or do I get the point?"

"You know...I don't think we agreed on a proper scoring system."

It's about this time I (Ampere Arcade) let Asriella narrate a little. I think my counterpart and my goal was to unofficially take the reader on a magic carpet ride of how often we can change the perspective and confuse the heck out of our reader. Assuming anyone IS actually reading this log. Oh well. Onward with Goat Daughter.

* CRYPTOSMASHER LOGGING SYSTEM LOGOFF  *

* USER LOGON: Asriella Tonya Dreemurr-Arcade (AGENT ATA) *

* PASSWORD: ******************** *

RECOVERED DATA FRAGMENT FROM THE RESEARCH LOGS OF SPACE TIME CONTINUUM (STC) ROOKIE AGENCY FIELD AGENT ASRIELLA TONYA DREEMURR-ARCADE -

"Golly." was all I could say.

The seemed like nice people. I mean...they were us, in a way. Right? I see what Ampere meant by feeling relieved that we were still in control over our own autonomy. And while the number of "jinxes" was pretty sky high to be mere coincidence, at least we weren't in TOTAL unison. That would get annoying after a while. Plus we were showing signs of slight differences and such. Not just the gender-swap aspect.

For one thing, I'd always known Amp to like her ketchup and barbecue sauce. While this Volt guy seemed to prefer mustard and A1 steak sauce. Amp was afraid of drowning. Volt was afraid of heights. Amp played the clarinet. Volt played the saxophone. Just...things like that.

I mean really it reminded me of that Futurama where the professor created an alternate dimension in a box. Where subtle nuances were different all because of a flip of a coin.

So after we all finally accepted that our Vincent/Violet fanfics were definitely fan...fiction...not so much...I guess that's when we decided to allow a couple of our counterparts to explore each other's dimensions...with respective guides accompanying.

I'll turn this over to my counterpart, Asriel for a bit.

"Heh." I (Asriel) could only say before expressing how I really felt.

"Oh yeah.  We're totally doing a big brother/big sister exchange, aren't we?"

"You know it!" Asriella said.

By now the whole switching back and forth between who's logging this had gotten out of control. Switching narrations three times now? It doesn't get any more meta than this.

But if I may digress...rather than focus on which of us is logging this right now...let's talk what went on in our weird adventures.

In Miranda City...

RECOVERED DATA FRAGMENT FROM THE RESEARCH LOGS OF SPACE TIME CONTINUUM (STC) AGENCY FIELD AGENT AND FOUNDER, DR. VOLT ALESSANDRO ARCADE-

Before we proceed further, let me assure you that, I (Volt Arcade) decided to do my job instead of passing around the task of who reads his (or her) own logs. Less confusing now? Hope so. Because it was getting confusing for all of us. Seriously.

I could tell a lot looked family to err...Ampere and Asriella. And there would be no shortages of people doing double-takes to make sure the world hadn't gone crazy and they were seeing double.

But the real reactions came from those closest to us.

"Welcome to Rock-Afire Pizza...a...a....aye-yai-yai...!"

"No, you're not hallucinating, Mitzi.  Yes, you are seeing double."

"Uh...?"

"It finally happened.  The probability of the UltraVerse having an actual existing gender-swap AU to our own dimension was such that Lady Destiny and Madam Fate made it happen."

"Aside from the reference to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy--"

"Yeah, one of your and Gadget's favorite movies to watch together as besties and not at ALL having anything to do with the part about mice being the most intelligent creatures in the universe..."

Mitzi shrugged with a grin. I turned serious again. "But yeah.  We got gender-swapped doppelgangers."

"Then that makes you Ampere and you Asriella."

"Guilty as charged."

"Mitzi...the fact that you KNOW their names from Violet's fanfic makes me question things."

"Eheh...lost a dare."

"Oh.  That excuses things, then."

"I'm just glad they didn't turn out to be "super pregnant"..."

"Ugh...your Vinnie counterpart did that, too?" Ampere crossed her arms.

"I know.  Shameless, right?"

Gadget took it in stride. To the point of being almost TOO well.

"Golly!  I finally have a big sister, too!"

"Uhm...easy there."

Okay maybe there was some sibling jealousy there?

"She is adorable.  I can't wait for her to meet her twin brother."

"Ehehehh..."

There's something unnerving about how Amp put that even though I could tell she was kidding.

Sally only stopped by to say hello. And she was beyond casual about it.

"Hi, Commander!  Hi, Azzy!  Hi, Amp!  Hi, Asriella!" And she was gone.

...how...many people read Violet's fanfiction when I specifically warned them not to?

Lupe was surprised...but accepted it. No real comments.

Rotor had sooooooooo many conspiracy theories, many that their existence seemed to confirm.

"Just think of how many we're in for when we meet Rhoda..." Asriel whispered.

Antoine freaked.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"

Al Dente attempted a full security test. And my counterpart immediately kicked him in a region that was still hurting from Vi's revenge last month when he tried a full strip search of our guests. I gladly held him in place so she could do so..

The Goats just pretended not to see anything, awkwardly before Violet had him thrown into an unmarked van and deported back to Little Tokyo, Edoropia...for the twentieth time.....this month. Brooke's going to outright ban him at this rate.

"It's fascinating.  Everything in our universe is conserved...but."

"Yeah, but gender-swapped."

"Seems like one of the truest representations of equality." Asriella suggested.

"At first I thought Violet was just being stupid, but the more we hang around you, the more open to the idea I am.  I mean...don't get me wrong, it's still not normal in any way."

"Feh.  Who wants to be "normal"?" Vi popped up between us before one-arm hugging both Amp and myself together.

"Admittedly...it does get a bit creepy how I expect someone else to be there when I hear something so familiar being said."

"Yeah!  You know everything I'm going to say!  But that's not going to help you because I know everything you're going to say!  Straaaange, isn't it?"

"I'm guessing your version of Team Acorn's mutual friend has said something like that?" Amp wrinkled her nose.

"Well...his STH-TAM-001 counterpart, yes." I was referring to the anime movie. You know...THAT one. The one from a certain sub-dimension of Mobius.

"It is like one big Sliders episode." Asriel agreed.

"Well...this crossover isn't EXACTLY complete yet..." Amp rubbed her chin.

"What are you suggesting?" I asked.

Our gender-swaps looked at each other with a smug grin.

Out came the portable gateway generator...wait...she had one of those? I'd only just finished building the prototype back at the Gateway Lab--

"That expression tells me you built one, too.  This one's just a prototype and I only got it working--"

"This morning."

"...yeah."

Spooky. But it made perfect logical sense.

And off we went...

In Magellan City...

"We're totally stopping in for a slice at Max's Rock-Aflame Pizzeria."

"Rock-a-Flame?" I arched an eyebrow. What's in a name? Really?

Yup. Max was what I was expecting and as Violet described.

"So Vinnie's fanfics were all true.  Sir Destiny and Mister Fate help us all."

Even their gods were gender swapped? Err...I mean I don't have a problem with that.

I'll be honest. The pizza tasted exactly the same.

"So when do we get to pull a Duff vs. Pawtucket Patriot lawsuit--"  Violet spoke up before I whapped her over the head.

"Good to see you keep your counterpart in line."

"And she doesn't get to hide behind the "you can't hit me, I'm a girl" excuse.  Otherwise she'd be a hypocrite." I crossed my arms and folded my ears back.

Speaking of which...

"Well helloooooo...!" The rabbit of the hour popped up next to Violet.

"Vin."

"Vi."

"Oh you are just so easy on the eyes I could eat you up."

"Grrrrrrowwwwwwl.  I'd kiss you but I think that would count as cheating on Usagi."

"Nice.  My girlfriend, Usajou has a counterpart.  Can't wait to compare yours to my sexy dish."

"You're going to make me curious...in that way, at this rate."

Cue the simultaneous whappings.

"Can you not?"

"Shameless."

"What?  How is it shameless flirting with technically myself?"

"It's not weird.  it's just natural."

And cue my counterpart and I facepalming.

Thank the gods...and goddesses that someone arrived to break up the stupidity.

"Big bro!  Big bro!  Are they here!  Oh gee whiz!  They totally are!  Holy WD-40 coated gears, Amp!  They're just like I thought they'd be!"

"Gizmo, right?"

"Gizmo Trey Hackwrench at your service.  Oh wait...you already know that.  Huh.  What comes next?  Oh yeah!  What's your names?"

Just like little sis.

"Volt.  And that's Asriel."

"No kidding?  I have a counterpart, too, right?  I bet she's just peachy-keen!"

"You know it!" Asriel gave a thumbs up.

"Yaaaaay!" Gizmo responded with jazz hands.

Asriel and I caught a brief glimpse of Sullivan "Sully" Acorn afterward.

"Hi, Amp.  Hi, Goat Daughter.  Hi, Volt.  Hi, Goat Son."

Okay. Who in this dimension read Vin's fanfics...and was it on a dare or at gun point?

As we ran into more opposite-gender familiar faces, we found we were in for a lot of Deja vu...practically to the word...practically to the letter.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"At least we drove Alfina Dente off."

I wasn't very much prepared for swaps of non UCIAT members though. I already felt crosshairs on my forehead after running into female Chameleon. Thankfully her husband, Valhalla kept him in line.

Marceline and Josephine were out and about, practicing the accordion...and robbing Alfina Dente blind.

Kitten the Cat of course turned things upside-down with a rain of cakes, pies, and churros. Well...the next best things to ice cream.

Most of us were lucky enough not to get splatted--

"Sacre Bleu Cheese!" ...emphasis on most. Seemed Antoinette was just as unlucky as our own calamity coyote.

Really, as far as crossovers were going, this one was as cut and dry and predictable as it got. I mean...everything was all one big trope. To the point Vin and Violet, in unison delivered the same meme.

"Can I copy your homework?  Sure, just change it up a bit so it doesn't look obvious you copied.  Okay!"

It...was unnerving hearing Violet and Vincent speaking in unison.

Granted, all this tomfoolery was amusing in its own cute way.

But...as Amp and I were stealing quick glances to one another. We were both worrying about the same common threat. And we were damned if we were going to--

* KA-BOOOOM*

"You've got to be--

"--kidding me!"

Chuckles in unison. Familiar chuckles...one male...one female. Both oddly the same tone and inflections.

"What's with the faces?

"Surely you cannot be this confused to see chaos in stereo?"

"Adonis."

"Him or me?"

"Her or me?"

"YES." Amp and I said in unison, each of us building up a monster charge of electricity.

A dark cloud had metaphorically hung over Asriel and Asriella's heads.

"Why do you keep poking me?"

"Why are you trying so hard to bring out the worst in me?"

The two goats traded a glance to one another, as if they realized they were in a strange harmony. Their pain was the same. They experienced the same loss. They were mirror images of each other.

"Why won't you leave us alone?" Both said at the same time.

"Where is the fun in that?" Alouette mused.

"It's all in fun."

"Do we LOOK like we're having fun?"

"I never said it was YOUR fun."

"And you lower the bar again." I growled as Amp and I unleashed an entire quasar storm upon them both and kept the pressure on. I could tell both were in excruciating pain...and not even caring about it...masochists. Truly masochists.

"Our best friends died when you signed your contract."

"And we found new best friends.  Take the hint and hit the road."

The two Adonis monsters shrugged and shook their heads with all too familiar taunt...

Echoes of Hyperdeath. This was a personal slight against us. Ones that escaped our Goat children.

"Is there NO line you won't cross?" Ampere was the first to lose her temper.

I had a moment extra to think before I acted so I rushed in as the trap was sprung.

One Tesla Flash later.

"Don't let either of them get to you, Amp.  They're the enemies.  And they know how to hurt us; in body, mind, heart, and soul."

"You...you saved--"

"C'mon.  Do we really need to go through this cliché?  Now c'mon.  Be a heroine."

"You're right.  Guess I let my emotions--"

"Apologies another time.  We stop them together."

No sooner had I said that, it was Asriella's turn to save Goat Son.

"Bit sloppy of me.   He must be getting in my head."

"Losing that alternate Chara really messed me up...but my brother was there for me and got my head on straight afterward.  I'm not about to let him down by taking a step backward after remember all the times I begged him to let me win."

"Wow...it's like you're reading into my life.  You really are gender-swap me."

"Right back at you."

Amp tightened her fists.

"We've bantered enough.  Time to end this.

"And how do you intend to do that?"

"By rushing you all at the same time!" Yeah, it was a stupid thing to say and an even stupider plan. But that's what we did. It was the least predictable thing we could have sprung on them...and had about as much chance of succeeding as anything else.

"A surprise but you basically just forfeited."

"Now the two of us get to have real fun!"

"CHAOPOLIS FOREVER!!!"

From four directions we converged. And just when it seemed darkest.

It pierced the clouds and struck Adonis & Adonis, the shockwave scattering the four of us. But the beam kept on going, burning away both of the monsters' flesh and fur, but never able to completely overtake them.

"WHAT?!?  WHAT IS THIS?!"

"THIS WASN'T PART OF DR. LEVIATHAN'S PLAN!"

"DR. KALI WILL PAY DEARLY FOR HER FAILURE!"

"YOU!  YOUR MINIONS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!"

"YOU MALE PIG!  HOW COULD YOU EVER BE MY COUNTERPART?!"

"WOMAN, YOU HAD BEST SHUT IT!"

It was weird...not only were the two of them suddenly losing their cool...they were turning on each other. It was...just implausible enough to work.

That was when Kommand and Kommandant appeared in a hologram in the sky.

"Now, now...were the two of you trespassing where you don't belong?" Kommandant said, his mask covering his identity. It looked like he picked the glass shield from Master Albert's god form from the end of Mega Man ZX Advent. Or at least their universe's version.

"Mama and Papa spaaank!" Kommander taunted before the beam started intensifying.

"Pure tachyon energy pumped at the force of a thousand suns exploding.  Even at that intensity, it won't incinerate them away.  The Deities' contracts are too strong...but..."

"I'll keep them both in a perpetual stasis long enough..."

"...to kick there arses of your planet, Amp."

"Heh.  You're brilliant.  Don't get used to it, that's the only time I'll say it."

"I'll second that." I agreed.

And with that...they were gone, leaving one Hell of a big crater.

"And that's the waaaaaay it goes." Amp and I said in unison before we heard the nightmarish voice bellow out.

"WHAT THE HELL HAS GONE ON IN MY KINGDOM?!"

Well. Now I knew what a male version of the scary voice sounded like. And I was just as tempted as everyone else to soil myself. Like...GULP.

One...very long and painful explanation later, we were permitted to wrap things up, ordered to help CLEAN things up...and they welcomed as allies...and still politely but forcefully asked to return to our own dimension.

It was the best deal we were going to get out of it.

Goat Son and Goat Daughter bid their good-byes. Got to say...they got off the easiest of all of us. I think King Brock took a shining to him.

"Hey.  For a fanfiction version of me, you're alright."

"Back at you, male version of me."

"Let's go home, Azzy."

And once through after each of us collapsed in the gateway room...

"Let's never do this again." I muttered.

"Violet, your fanfics are banned until further notice."

"Aww." Violet whined.

Good luck enforcing that. But...it was just as well. I think we'd played this out for a good long while. Besides. We'd have a "normal" mission soon enough.

Sub-Entry 342:  "Mobile Armored Strike Kommand":
Transforming vehicles was nothing new to us by this point. But most of the ones we came across happened to be giant robots from other planets. This time the transformations weren't as radical, though cars that turn into jets and tanks and helicopters that turn into fighter jets was still not your run-of-the-mill adventure material.

The single adventures were almost a little gem among these increasing number of crossovers. Doubles, triples, quadruples, even holy-crap-numbers of cross-adventures over time and space. Sometimes smaller is better. Less is more. But more than that this log is going to be a little different as I'm going to have to pad it for reasons I'll get to, soon enough. It's also going to get a bit philosophical and analytical. Goddesses know I've done that before in my original Project Lost Dreemurr account. That said, I fear I might be going a little off the rails, lately. Again, I apologize.

I had to say this adventure would bring back echoes of previous outings with similar tones and tropes; like coming to ZZ's aid against Paradigm.

But in terms of theme, it echoed more of G.I. Joe.

Actually, I was finding myself drawing a lot of comparisons to previous adventures--both stand-alones, and multiple cross-overs. I think after a while a lot of these 80's worlds had similar harmonics and echoes that I could only explain in terms of qualitative data.

I guess the only real way to understand it was for you to be there. Maybe I was being hopelessly romantic, subconsciously trying to bridge all kinds of generation gaps. Who of this generation would find any of these forgotten worlds appealing and not find them to reek of "factory-produced, glorified toy commercial syndrome"?

I guess Asriel would. I practically raised him in the 1980's and 1990's. He was my hopes and dreams; representing what Violet had often described as the "best of millennials" while also having a deep appreciation for eras that were well before his time. He'd transcended eras.

If we hadn't given him an identity and a home, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't know to where or to when he belonged. He left one era 100 years in the past and never got to see the time of the Underground at the time Frisk arrived; the progress and the people he didn't know about because he never met them; as himself or Flowey. He was a 21st century goat who'd been soaking up the culture and pop culture of the last 50 years.

"Volt, you're spacing out.  I think whatever's on you mind, you're probably getting off topic.  Eyes forward, partner."

Yeah. I'm getting off topic again.

So where did the Arcades fit into the current world in question?

It only made sense that of all things...it came down to another 80's anti-terrorism agency. And M.A.S.K. was no exception.

Mobile Armored Strike Kommand. That was the acronym. Though I was kind of nitpicking the whole "mask" angle as the source of their powers were necessarily masks, but full-enclosing helmets. Helmets with covered the whole head and neck, practically melding into the shoulders.

The M.A.S.K. program was militarized but covert. Maintain civilian appearance until the time to go into battle arises.

That's when its agents donned said "M.A.S.K."s.

Each one had a different set of powers. And by golly...the personnel list was EXTENSIVE. Unlike other teams that were pretty short-handed like the Centurions or even both the Ghost Busters and the Ghostbusters (Note the differentiation with the single-word and two-word distinctions). For that matter I was going to list them by MASK not by agent or vehicle. You ready? This is going to be a looong list.

Spectrum for example could fire deafening soundwaves, allow limited free-fall flight, fire a laser, and contained a visual enhancing suite for its wearer to see in different visual spectrums. This was the preferred headgear of M.A.S.K. commander and leader, Matt "Hunter"/"Cowboy" Trakker. A multimillionaire philanthropist and one of the creators of the original M.A.S.K. Team. His vehicle of choice was usually Thunderhawk--the very vehicle specimen that would end up in the X-Vault. A red-Chevrolet Camaro that transformed into a gull-winged fighter jet.

Lifter could manipulate gravity fields to...well...lift things. This one was donned by Bruce "Magic" Sato. Japanese-American mechanical engineer known for speaking in Confucian riddles that dumbfounded everyone but Matt Trakker. His civilian cover was a toymaker. Usual vehicle of choice:  Rhino. A vehicle with a bit of a split personality to it. Sato operated the ATV portion of it though he was also known to drive the main portion of it.

Jackrabbit. This allowed the wearer to fly and it was designated to Alex "Megabyte" Sector; team communications and computer expert hailing from Britain. His cover was veterinarian and exotic pet store-owner. Sector served as systems commander of the battle truck, Rhino.

Backlash. This mask fired kinetic blasts and was designated to Dusty "Powderkeg" Hayes; all-terrain specialist, tracking and demolitions expert. His cover was pizza cook and delivery man. I am SO introducing him to Sally and Mitzi. His vehicle of choice? Gator. Orange Jeep CJ7 that split to release a hydroplane.

Collider/Aura. Not sure which was the official name. This mask produces energy-absorbing shields and worn by Gloria Baker. Speaking of people I wanted to introduce Sally to...and Bunnie by extension... Her cover was a champion race car driver with a black belt in kung fu. She was also a martial arts sensei for a dojo. If I needed to explain further, I wasn't doing my job. Her vehicle? Shark. A white Porsche 928 that transforms into a submarine.

Hocus Pocus. A mask for projecting realistic holograms. Even by our modern standards...this was decades ahead of what the 80's should have been capable of. Used by Brad "Chopper" Turner. This guy did it all. Hill climber, motorcycle driver, and helicopter pilot. Plus his cover was rock musician. Definitely Team Acorn material. But I also found him getting along with our own Ariel X. Rastajive. Vehicle? Condor. Green racing motorcycle that converts into an open-top attack helicopter.

Blaster. Simple name but it already had "sequel" versions in development. It fired destructive energy beams that would put many a demolitionist to shame. Used by Hondo "Striker" MacLean. Weapons specialist and tactical strategist. Cover:  high school teacher. While his primary vehicle was Firecracker, an orange pickup truck that elevates into a mobile weapons platform. But his secondary...a vehicle after my own heart--Hurricane; a turquoise 1957 Chevy that converts into a six-wheeled attack tank. I'm kind of jealous. Also, yeah, I was showing favoritism, listing two vehicles for this guy and no one else. Sue me.

Penetrator. Just wow. It was like someone peeked at Egon Spengler's notes on the molecular destabilizer suit he used to enter the Containment Unit during X-Mas Marks the Spot to retrieve the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Imagine having Shadowcat's powers at your disposal--being able to pass through solid objects. Used by Buddie "Clutch" Hawkins--master of disguise and intelligence expert. His cover was mechanic. He and Hondo MacLean seemed to toggle between who used Firecracker and who used Hurricane.

Gulliver. Going from Egon's destabilizer suit to Gadget's own Reduction Belt. Hank Pymm, ready your trademark infringement lawsuit if you dared. This mask had the power to shrink and enlarge objects. Worn by Calhoun Burns; construction and demolitions expert who races horses in his spare time. Occupation: architect. His vehicle? Raven. Black Chevy Corvette that turns into a sea plane. Go ahead, Gadget. Get acquainted with him. At the very least you two have pilot in common...as well as shrinking and growing objects. He might also go horseback riding with Bunnie, Sally, and Lupe.

Maraj. Invisibility screen type mask. Optic camo was a pretty useful think to have. Used by Jacques "Trailblazer" LeFleur. Natural disaster specialist and martial artist. It was almost a cliché that his cover was a lumberjack. It wasn't helping the case of the Frenchman and Canadian logging stereotype. But still...I wonder if him hanging with Antoine would do our coyote any good? Oh! And his vehicle of choice was Volcano...but...the data was missing from Cryptosmasher's database. Strange.

Streamer. A glue-firing mask? How curious! In addition it was able to also shoot fire suppressant and oil. Used by one Julio "Doc" Lopez. Master of cryptography and foreign languages, with the cover of a physician. So the "Doc" nickname wasn't just a clever moniker, huh? Anyway. I figured he'd be the guy Violet and Callista might not mind working with. Vehicle of choice? Firefly. Orange dune buggy that turns into a jet.

Ricochet. Energy boomerangs akin to Quick Man's own weapon. Used by Ace "Falcon" Riker. Former NASA pilot, now a hardware store owner. And driver of Slingshot--an RV that split into a fighter jet with a launcher ramp.

Comrade. Fires red energy stars to disorient opponents. Used by Borris "The Czar" Bushkin. Big, bad (and bald) Russian dude. But the real kicker was...defectors were a rare breed. It's disheartening when heroes go bad. Yet...you almost never hear about villains growing a conscience. Formerly of the ranks of the enemy, V.E.N.O.M. His vehicle? Bulldog. A white semi-tractor that converted into a half-track tank. You have my respect, tovarishch.

Totem. Fires totem-shaped projectiles. Used by "Chief" Nevada Rushmore. Native American. A mechanic and a childhood friend of Matt Trakker. It wasn't presumptuous to say he and Lupe were destined bond. It was a gut feeling that went deep. Goliath II was his vehicle. A blue flatbed truck that turned into a command station and missile launcher and served as a launch platform for Trakker's Goliath I racing vehicle.

And finally Vortex, a mask that controlled whirlwinds. Used by  Ali "Lightning" Bombay. Ugh...the name was transparent but as far as stereotype-sounding names went it did go with a Hindi immigrant from Kandukar, India. A motorcycle racer who piloted Bullet--a vehicle which turned into a hovercraft.

This was the team, their MASKs and their vehicles.

Their allies? Obviously us. But also Matt's child son, Scott. And his cowardly robot sidekick, T-Bob. This is where the campiness of the 80's really set in for me that converted into a single-wheel scooter. A source of bad jokes and a yellow streak worse than Antoine. I could guess. His name was short for Thingamabob.

Well. That said and fast-forwarding through our meeting and comradery...who was the enemy?

V.E.N.O.M. Yeah, cliché as heck but back then, everything was before the decades made things that were once cool sound cheesy and stupid.

VENOM--short for Vicious Evil Network Of Mayhem. And in this case it was meant to be incredibly arrogant if not for the reason of its founding member. For that reason I'll be listing the group by name rather than by MASKs. Which they've also stolen and made their own instruments of destruction partnered up with vehicles of doom.

Miles "Wolf" Mayhem. See my point, yet? Cool. Not so cool was that this was the head taco. While details were sketchy, he was the traitor of the MASK organization. The one who supposedly killed Matt Trakker's brother, Andy and stole half the MASK helmets for evil purposes and established his own crime organization. His mask was Viper and it could shoot poisonous, corrosive acid. His vehicle? Switchblade. A helicopter that transforms into a jet plane. Needless to say? He had air superiority. Even against Thunderhawk. Jon took personal exception to his callous nickname of "wolf".

Sly "Wrecker" Rax. Con-man. Master of espionage. Weapons expert. General scum. But just as lazy as Rob "Cool Kitty" Towers of Team Acorn's rivals, the Kopy Kats. And as far as I could tell? As ambitious as Starscream. There's always one. Stiletto was his mask and it could fire armor-piercing torpedoes. His vehicle of mass destruction--Piranha. Motorcycle with a detachable side car that doubled as a single-occupant submarine.

Cliff "Blaster" Dagger. Bare-knuckled, eye-patched wearing, dull-witted strongman and convicted arsonist. Too stupid to be disloyal. Equipped with Torch, a mask armed with a flamethrower. Geared up with Jackhammer; a Ford Bronco that turned into an assault vehicle equipped with heavy firepower.

Vanessa Warfield. Espionage and intelligence expert. At one point an unofficial but short-lived team leader for V.E.N.O.M. Equipped with Whip, a mask able to use strands of electronic energy. And pilot of Manta, A purple Nissan 300ZX Z31 that converts into an assault jet.

Bruno "Mad Dog" Sheppard. A brutal hand-to-hand combat specialist and convicted kidnapper who sported an orange Mohawk hairstyle and multiple tattoos. Considered the toughest and most dangerous V.E.N.O.M. agent. Used the mask, Magna-Beam which could attract, repel, or rip apart magnetic objects. Ohhh...I'd have an axe to grind with him. His vehicle was  Stinger; an orange Pontiac GTO that transformed into a tank.

Nash "Goon" Gorey. I could practically feel Toriel grimacing at his last name as it was a reminder of her ex, Asgore. But names aside? What's a villain team with a backstabber without a sycophant to balance it out? A meek, bespectacled hacker and spy, and a simpering henchman overly eager to please his boss, Miles Mayhem. Honestly? I think even Antoine could take him...provided he wasn't using his mask, Powerhouse. Really. A weakling geek with a mask that could super-amplify his strength to be Guts Man grade? No thanks. His vehicle of terror? Outlaw. An oil tanker truck that conceals a mobile weapons base.

Lester "The Lizard" Sludge. No way that can be a real last name. Can it? A smarmy henchman with a flattop hairstyle and annoying signature cackle. Mask? Mudslinger; it slings mud. Really. Vehicle? Iguana--an ATV that turns into a mobile buzz saw platform.

Floyd "Birdman" Malloy. The former leader of a biker gang who is an expert street fighter and convicted forgery artist. This punk was equipped with Buckshot--an open-topped mask that launched ball bearings. And his vehicle? Vampire-- red touring cycle that transforms into a single-pilot jet.

And finally, Maximus "Maxie" Mayhem, the weak-willed twin brother of Miles Mayhem who calls him "Maxie" as a term of endearment. Equipped with Deep Freeze, a mask that fired a cold-energy ray. Already I wasn't liking this. And his vehicle? Buzzard. He operated one of the two assault motorcycles that detached from the main vehicle.

Gods, that was way too much info to go through just to get a reader up to speed. So. All that said...what was the job?

"I'm in." Asriel nodded.

"Thought you'd like this.  Have a dossier on me." I handed him the file. In total? Seventy-five cases, including the ten code "R" cases.

Asriel sighed after a speed-read and rubbed the bridge of his nose, between his eyes.

"I hate to reference Aunt Vi's earlier meme from our flip-side cross-adventures...but this is a TOTAL case of "copy my homework but don't make it look exactly the same" in so many words.  It's like this guy, Mayhem, was dorm mates with Doc Terror."

"After a while a lot of these plots just run together.  This is what the Arcades spent their fortunes fighting back in their day.  Terrorism with plots so ridiculous...but somehow turned so dangerous."

"Yeah, look at this list...disguising Switchblade as a UFO to steal a meteorite?  Using an ancient book of power that supposedly led to a city of riches?   Metal-eating bugs stolen from a military lab; really just call them micro versions of the Insecticons.   Using a vortex machine to kidnap people to use as slave labor in mining camp in a page right out of the Wizard of Oz?  Hiding a heat ray in an amusement park?  Raiding Egyptian tombs for the "Secret of Life"?  Really shouldn't be obvious that the secret is "love"?"

"I know.  And they just keep getting weirder and more bat guano crazy."

"Good grief...and despite how much I've seen all this before...honestly...I can't get enough of these cheesy plots we have to stop."

"That's the spirit, Azzy.  Now.  Let's get briefed on what kind of plot Miles Mayhem has cooked up this time.  Oh.  And I got some help from Uncle Ed, Rotor, and Dr. Lynx to make a few builds of our own that might do just the job."

Asriel grinned ear to ear.

"This wouldn't happen to be a re-skin of our little ace up the sleeve we pulled out of our keisters when we were aboard Sky Vault?"

I chuckled. "I'm a sucker for conservative approaches to the classics.  If it's not broke, don't fix it."

"I can't wait to see what you built for us all..."

You know? If you've seen one 80's convoluted villain plot, you've seen em all. So take your best guess at what Mayhem and crew had come up with. Really, go on. Anything you can think up is probably within 90% of what his plan actually turned out to be. Originality is such an endangered species, nowadays. The difference is that for heroes it becomes timeless. When new heroes do something that the past generation has done, they call it "paying homage.  Just ask Metro Man.  For villains?  It becomes old had.  Megamind could tell you stories.  When villains revive the old generation's plots and stuff?  They call it "ripping off".

Hey, I didn't write the rules. We all did so...and we're all trapped by the very rules we wrote. In another 10 years all this meta, self-aware business will be covered and dust and a smarter generation will be yawning at it. That's the war called progress. The very same war Dr. Light feared that X would be caught up with. The very reason--

"Volt?  Your gears are spinning again.  You've gone off on a mental tangent."

Apologies. I keep doing that. I think I'm getting more candid in my old age. Ahem...back to the mission and such. Let's briefly touch on the meetings. First there was Trakker...

"Good to see the Arcade Foundation is still sponsoring our organization."

"And helping to fund it thanks to the Tokugawa Family."

"I love it when you put it that way, Boss.  It makes it sound like our friends are getting in with the Mafia or something."

Bunnie whapped her.

"Ow!  Don't damage the benefactor!"

"Baka."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Trakker.  I'm Asriel."

"Nice to meet you, too."

I informed Asriel to...not mention that he had taken Thunderhawk for a test drive and flight. No spoilers about its future.

Sato? I was kind of expecting an exchange of bows but they were surprisingly informal, with only the exchange of a couple of fortune cookie proverbs and couplets right out of the teachings of Confucius.

"Hmm."

I immediately regretted introducing Alex Sector to Violet.

Pretty sure once he shakes off Vi's insanity that I've made a powerful enemy. Asriel assures me I'm being paranoid.

Not only did Dusty Hayes hit it off with Mitzi and Sally, but also Drew. Yeah, there are times I remember we have our own demo-man on our team.

Gloria Baker got in tight with Team Acorn and Bunnie. Called it.

I let Gadget pal around with Calhoun Burns for a bit.

Lupe and Chief Nevada Rushmore had a meeting of few words and a lone handshake.

There were others but I think this condensed version would suffice.

So let's cut to the meat and bones of this mission, going through the tropes of the initial part where someone has a personal issue of some kind of underneath the central plot of V.E.N.O.M. expected to pull a heist on something while we're charged with the task of security. Jump cut to the villains getting the best of us by means of a fluke, bad luck, or taking advantage of some kind of weakness, flaw or otherwise and getting away.

And that's your recipe for instant adventure.

"They got away!"

If it seems like I'm phoning this adventure in, I'm really not. At least not on purpose. Unfortunately, S.T.C. went over my head and got hold of parts of this log and insisted on redacting a considerable amount of good stuff from them. But in all fairness, if I were to give them credit for one thing? Keeping this thing from getting too long-winded and overly detailed. If I had to report on every little nuance, this log would overtake the other nine in this set.

"We'll get em' next time, Matt." I assured. "By then we just might have a nasty surprise for them."

You know how you shake things up at this point? Have a nosey, over-adventurous kid drag his robot partner into an adventure where he gets into biiiig trouble. Oh you are so grounded, Scott Trakker.

"...don't worry, Trakker.  I've encountered the trouble-magnet-kid scenario more times than I can count, so I thought to install a tachyon beacon in T-Bob while he was distracted.  For a robot, he's sure not very aware when someone opens his access hatch and plugs new parts into his brain."

An exchange of looks all around.

"Besides, we all know he's going after Miles Mayhem.  Clearly a "you insulted/embarrassed/hurt my dad" followed up with  "I'm going to even" on top." Asriel shrugged.

I wonder how unnerving it was how lax we were with how we were with our experience? I'd never addressed this before but on a mission like this, the difference in eras was starting to show. We 21st-century folk were really making impressions among our allies when we time-traveled back to things like this.

I had my suspicions, but this echoed of a little something I remembered from the G1 Transformer universe around the year of 2006...and echoes of the Cobra Organization during an incident where Rodimus Prime, Arcee, Springer, and Kup all had their sparks somehow downloaded into synthetic human bodies. The point being...there was that outside force that stirred the pot.

In this case? It reeked of Dr. Leviathan. Adonis was delegating his "responsibilities" again. Either way, I was sure somehow Chaopolis squeezed an eye-dropper worth of their own "venom" into V.E.N.O.M. as a catalyst to their latest plot. We'd seen it over and over again. Why change the recipe now?

"Volt.  I'll meet you at..."that" place."

"Don't even try to hide it, Azzy.  You're going to rescue the kid, aren't you?"

"I do what I do.  It's in my blood."

"Yeah.  Go get em', hero."

Yup. Volt Arcade's favorite ninja goat. Every so often I forget that Bunnie trained him in the ninja arts, too. Just like she had with Mitzi.

So...y'know. Payoff before the payoff, go!

"Who are you?"

"Friend of your dad's."

"You have white hair but...you don't look that old."

"Yeah.  It's a family trait.  Anyway.  Let's get you back to base."

And T-Bob converted to the scooter mode as Asriel hopped onto the NX Switchboard.

And the "base" in question was a plain-and-simple looking gas station out in the desert. At least it looked that way until the armor came down, the signs opened up to reveal the blaster turrets, and the other weapons and tech came out to play.

"You were right, Bunnie.  Mayhem's stooges were easy enough to bait to come to our doorstep." Violet lowered the binoculars.

"Seemed a bit risky." Sally mused. "But what's life without risk."

"I only see part of his gang, though.  And I'm willing to bet they had at least the common sense not to bring their stolen McGuffin with them."

"But I bet you we can squeeze these guys and follow the pattern straight to Miles Mayhem."

"Good plan." Sally rubbed her chin. "If I may add to it...the moment we take these guys out, the other parts of his gang will scurry off like rats from a sinking ship in the hopes that they can hide and not give away Mayhem's position."

"And that's where your little doo-dads will come in handy..."

"Clever."

Sato and Sector agreed.

"Well.  Let's roll out the welcome mat."

"What about the others?"

"Don't worry about them..." Violet mused.

"Hey...where'd your Commander and his partner go?" Gloria asked.

A sly grin spread across Sally's face.

"...the nerve of him!  Wait until I tell Mr. Mayhem what he's planning to do."

"Arrrrgh!  Shut up you little weasel!  Nobody wants to hear it!"

Suffice to say Warfield wasn't having any of Gorey's brown-nosing.

"Still...letting Wrecker and Blaster handle this.  They'll probably screw it up.   Miles is already up in arms over Mad Dog botching it with Trakker's brat."

If this world were in the 2010's she would have said "He had one job..." That said...

"I don't like it...something about this is off.  Trakker's idiots didn't even take the bait..."

And that was about the time...

The signal was given and Asriel slipped it on and whispered. "Helios...ON!"

"Is it getting...warm in here...?" Nash tugged at his collar, sweating like Al Dente in a discotech.

"I know you're not flirting with me you little worm!" Vanessa grabbed him by the collar, lifting  him up out of his chair.

"P-please h-have mercy!"

"But you're right...why the Heck is it so freakin' hot in here--"  Was the last thing she got out before the crates of the hiding place started igniting.

"AHHHH!  FIRE!"

"Stop being useless and get a fire extinguisher you--!"

"Why aren't the sprinklers going off?!?"

I grinned as I tauntingly snapped the wire cutters open and closed before putting them away... and sliding my own MASK on. In my human form, this was juuuuust perfect.

"Zeus...ON!" My whole suit flickered before webs of electricity wrapped around me. I put my hand over the circuit breaker box...and drained away the building's power...effectively killing the lights and everything else.

"WHAT THE HECK!?!"

"No no no no no no no!" Gorey was freaking out.

And that's when we sprung the nasty surprises on them in the darkness. A pair of engines revving up and two sets of headlights lit everything up nice and bright.

"GAAAAH!"

"Who the heck are you--"

"Hello, Ms. Warfield and Mr. Gorey.  I suppose you've heard of...the Arcade Foundation."

"What...?!"

"Oh no...oh no, the rumors were true...!"

"Matt Trakker sends his regards." Asriel mused.

"We will be your arresting parties for this sting operation.  You can call me "Spark Wolf"."

"Goat Son will do."

"And we'd like you to meet our wheels.  I call mine...Vulcan."

Splicing a 1972 Corvette, with that pentagonal front end shape with a Chevy Volt (guilty pleasure) and interweaving that automotive DNA with the M4S Dodge "Turbo Interceptor....and you got the most badass electric muscle car I could pull out of my hat.  Emphasis on electric.  I managed to do a lot of interesting things with all the spare parts from the back of a Miranda Power Plant's cherry-picker from the last time I had to replace some residential transformers. All while giving it a gold and silver paint scheme with a few green and black parts.

"I named mine Sunfury." Asriel had paid enormous homage to Autobot, Hot Rod. Down to the shape and design, and even the color scheme. Truly a road vehicle of the sun.

"Now.  I believe you were surrendering."

"THE HECK WE ARE!  Whip ON!"

"Powerhouse ON!"

"Umm...how about...both of yours...OFF." I mused as Asriel and I combined our cars weapon systems to jolt them both with electric plasma, overloading their masks and shutting down their powers...and of course knocking them both unconscious.

At the same time...

"Hmm.  Rax, Dagger and Sludge.  Sounds like the most evil law office I've ever heard." Vi mused as the station was under attack.

As it turned out we were a bit shorthanded with said personal issues crippling the team and a number of the vehicles and MASKs.

While "Magic" and "Megabyte" were struggling against the invasion...

"You know there's one kind of game that I ALWAYS enjoy in the middle of a battle."

"Violet..." Bunnie warned.

"The Numbers Game." Violet mused.

Bunnie sighed and shook her head.

"C'mon, old friend.  Let's do some hero-ing." Sally said as she put her mask helmet on. Bunnie briefly smirked and followed suit as Violet and Lupe did the same.

And out rolled the cavalry.

Bunnie's helmet of choice? Kabuto...rather transparent if you knew Jangese...but fitting. Its power? Bunshin no Jutsu. Or in Common? Clone Jutsu. She could triplicate herself the same way Asriel's avatar could in LYOKO. Her vehicle? A vastly Champions Online-inspired gyro cycle or hover chaser right out of Mega Man X7 which she named...Musashi. And it could convert into a supersonic rocket car.

Violet rolled the dice with her Mask, Morpheus and its inability to install her own personal debug mode into any tech or vehicle, letting her gain complete and total system control over them down to the last light bulb. And her car? Royal Roadster. A sleek, futuristic sports car with rabbit ear extensions that normally laid flat over the roof like a pair of snow skis...but could raise up and rotate to reveal the hidden weapons arrays inside. And it could convert into what I could only describe as a fusion of a super-sized throne-chariot and a stealth bomber. Overcompensating again, Vi?

Sally's mask, known as Lumina, let her summon laser light arrow projections that had the same effect as Medusa's vector powers--letting her slingshot anything touching them in the direction the arrow pointed like a conveyor belt on ultra speed. Her car, a modern day Mustang she called Hermes that could convert into a supersonic jet.

Lupe's mask, was known as Yggsadril and it seemed to give her the ability to supercharge and quick-grow plants with concentrated mana energy from her own hybrid ability. With her gear able to dispense whatever seeds and such she needed; anything was at her disposal. On top of that, it could also summon a cascade of protective organic barriers akin to Leaf Shield and Plant Barrier. Her vehicle? A pretty 60's-ish solar-electric hybrid BMW van that turned out to be quite eco-friendly as well as eco-defensive. Plus it could split and convert into a powered glider and a hydro cycle jet ski right out of Wave Man's territory. Truly a master of the land, sea, and air.

"We got company!"

"What?  I thought we put the rest of the team out of commission!  Who are these guys?!"

"Guys?  We're gals." Sally mused.

"Beginning of your spanking, boys!" Violet taunted.

It was a little more impressive battle than the easy win we got over Vanessa and Nash. But still nothing to write home about in the end.

When the dust cleared.

Violet planted her foot in the back of a handcuffed Sly Rax. "And now you know your place."

"It's over." Bunnie had managed to bind Cliff Dagger from neck to ankles with a steel I-beam she bent around him completely with some clone help and a full cybermorph.

"You will atone for your crimes." Lester Sludge had been bound with too many vines for anyone to hope to cut through or slip out of. Lupe made sure that there was no escape.

"Sit back in the pits.  There's a special place in prison for you guys." Floyd Malloy was fashionably late but the punk ended up getting subdued and captured by Sally.

"We ain't ratting out our boss." He sneered.

"You don't have to.  By now our Commander and our rookie have already tracked him down and--"

"Team?" I contacted them. "Good news, we found the stolen item and Mayhem.  Bad news?  He's making a break for it in Switchblade.  Asriel and I are in pursuit but--"

"I'm way ahead of you." Trakker had already loaded up in Thunderhawk and took off after the helicopter.

To make a long story short...shorter than it might have ended up this was another villain calling card--that moment when they force the hero to make a choice between diffusing something incredibly dangerous or capturing the bad guy.

"No!  It's armed and falling!"

Fortunately...Asriel thought to get a nice little trump card duo to call in a favor from.

"Did you do it?" He asked as Drew and Marcel showed up.

"Disarmed quick and easy while Mayhem was gloating and making a break for it.  He never suspected I shut it down after Marcel stole it.  It's just a falling pile of scrap now."

"That tends to happen when he's missing the detonator core." Marcel mused as Josquin coughed up a spherical object.

Drew and Marc shared a quick high-five. A demo-man and a thief. Just what the doctor ordered.

But this story wouldn't be complete with the villain striking that last note and cliché...a clean escape.

While we were focused on the superweapon being dropped and turning out to be a dud? Mayhem converted Switchblade into fighter jet mode and left Thunderhawk in the dust.

He'd inevitably bust his gang out of jail. But for now their scheme was foiled and the world was safe from their terrorist plot.

An aftermath of comradery, cookout, and comedy wrapped this adventure up with a nice bow.

Until our paths crossed again...and who knows--even me--when that would be.

Sub-Entry 343:  "Robocop vs. the Terminator...Again":
I took a deep breath and clicked my ballpoint pen and examined the list.

"Alien vs. Predator." I muttered before drawing a red strikeout through it. "Nnnnnno."

"Never again." Asriel followed up as Al Dente ran screaming up and down the streets while being chased by a xenomorph while Sally chased after it with a flamethrower.

"Freddy vs. Jason." I drew a strikeout through that one next.

"I don't think so." Asriel followed up as Antoine ran past screaming, first by the hat-and-sweater-wearing former...then back the other way by the hockey-masked latter.

"They'll be fiiiiiine." Violet assured.

Asriel rolled his eyes. "I'm starting to see what you mean by Aunt Vi being a bad influence."

"Only took eight years." I muttered.

"Hey now.  Be nice."

I shook my head.

"Simpsons vs. Family Guy."

"Ooooh.  I don't think we can go back to Springfield or Quahog."

"And whose fault is that?"

We both looked at Violet.

"What?" She shrugged.

I kept going down the list.

"Why are we doing this again?" Asriel asked.

"You always wondered where my  purple and blacklists for worlds we can't go back to comes from.  Welllll..."

Asriel cringed. "Oooooh.  Right."

"What about the red lists?"

"Well...those are still active...with restrictions."

"Don't enter unless you really, really mean it?"

"Someone's been watching Spaceballs.  But yes."

"Any examples--"  Asriel started before the lights started flickering.

"What the...?!" I started.

There was an electrical distortion in the center of the room as the gateways all started shutting down.

I noticed the energy buildup was forming a spherical shape and everything within the vicinity of it was started to frost up.

"Oh no..." my eyes suddenly widened. "I knew this day would come."

"Day?  What day?"

"Honey!  Are you--"

"Right here." Honey Cat zipped in, her flame trail snuffing quickly.

"I need the items.  And Violet's spare folding changing station."

"Volt...?" Asriel asked.

"Got em'." Honey popped open the trunk and unfolded the screen in front of the anomaly.

"As soon as the distortion ends, you know what to do, right?"

"Crystal clear, boss man!"

And with that, Honey's fire ring encircled the whole thing as she speeded up to blinding speed.

When she stopped...

"Perfect fit, boss."

"Okay.  Let it drop."

Honey tipped over the changing station as the fog filled the area and the lightning continued to crackle. As it dissipated...

"Volt...is there a reason that sensei and Aunt Violet are here with the Quantum Disintegrator and the Neodymium-Glass Laser rifles?"

"Call it "flip-a-coin" law.  We have a...50/50 chance of either being asked for help...or one of us being a target for an assassination."

"WHAT?!?" Honey gasped.

"Volt...you got explaining to do."

"Well will be revealed in about 3...2...1...!"

And the arrival began to rise from his crouch. Oooh boy. He was a big one. Clad in black biker leather thanks to Honey's quick-change tailoring. Jon wasn't the only one good with a needle and threat. But he didn't have the fashion or fame. Truly outrageous, no?

"Volt?  Where is that 90's industrial-sounding sci-fi action movie theme song coming from?" Asriel asked.

"I hate to break up this banter but...!" Bunnie raised the weapon.

Asriel gasped as soon as he saw it.

"Volt Arcade." The deep Austrian accent beckoned.

"I thought it might be one of you."

"One of you?" Asriel cocked his head.

"Dude.  He totally looks like Arn--"  Violet started before Bunnie whapped her over the head.

"Oh my gosh...!" Asriel stepped back.

"Just to confirm." I started. "You are a Terminator, right?"

"Correct.  Cyberdyne Systems Model 1-0-1, T-800."

"State your mission.  Your response will decide what my crew does next."

"My mission is as follows:  I have come here...to request your help."

I nodded toward Bunnie who lowered her weapon. A moment later she whapped Violet, who lowered hers after a dejected groan.

"Volt...what is...a Terminator?"

Oh gods. I'd never told him. I'd never told him about the killer cybernetic organisms; the android assassins sent back through time by the self-aware supercomputer, Skynet.

"Asriel...it's...kind of a dark area.  You remember how we were just talking about red lists?"

"Red lists...like...Rated-R movies, by any chance?"

"I guess I can always count on you to figure things out.  But...beside the point.  Asriel...what's the first thing that come to mind when I speak of things that are...unpleasant."

"Oh..." I just got a chill as the first thing that popped into his head was the anagram that was his name.

"So...first law doesn't apply."

"Only the third one does.  They can't self-terminate."

"Affirmative.  It goes against my programming."

"Okay...Cyberdyne didn't send you.  Then...?"

"Correct.  I was captured and reprogrammed by the human resistance."

"John Conner?"

"Affirmative."

"Okay.  Why?"

"My mission concerns a certain person of interest in the city formerly known as Detroit."

My eyes widened.

"Delta City." I growled. "I might have known O.C.P. had a hand in this."

By this time Asriel figured out as an agent of S.T.C. he had access to the tools of the trade and thought to use his own visor.

"Omni Consumer Products.  Well.  That certainly says a few things about the 80's idea of the corporate overlord archetype."

"By person of interest...?"

"Formerly Officer Alexander Murphy."

I sighed. "Yeah.  It always comes back to Robocop."

"Oooooh." Asriel looked over the file. "I'm started to see why you're still wary about these worlds.  I'm sure Mitzi would never sleep again if she ever saw what toxic waste does to a street thug.

"I find it hard to believe Murphy's the aggressor in this.  I doubt it's your mission to terminate him."

"Correct.  I have been sent back...to protect him."

"Holy Judgement Day." I rubbed my temples.

"Okay.  Protect him from who?  As if I needed to ask."

"Uncertain.  Unregistered terminator model recorded in the surviving archives."

"Uncertain?   But...all Terminators are Cyberdyne Systems." I rubbed my chin. "And Violet, get that Sega console out of here."

"What?  You don't believe that Genesis is Skynet?  And Skynet is--"

* WHAP*

"We're not doing that." Bunnie growled.

"What?  I can't get a rise...(out) of the machine?" Violet said with a shrug.

"There is no salvation for your bad humor.  Last warning, Violet."

"Aright, alriight.  But Rotor's going to be disappointed that we've debunked his theory that Skynet evolved from a smart app on the internet."

"Good.  I dislike that misconception."

Asriel and I both looked at each other before looking at the T-800.

"Which...iteration of John Conner reprogrammed you?  The war hero orrr...the adolescent that breaks into ATM machines?" I asked.

Just a blank stare covered up by those dark sunglasses.

"Kidding."

"Your humor escapes me.  But The more contact I have with intelligent life, the greater my chances of comprehending it."

Right. His CPU was a learning computer.

"Right.  Time to get serious.  I'll open the gateway to Delta City.  It's been ages since we had anything to do with it.  The N-Division's stint with it was considered too dangerous to continue the program there.  Plus...the Arcade Family wanted to distance themselves from O.C.P. after they found out how dirty business politics were.  We were practically gone before the whole NUKE thing exploded."

Technically we were still in it during the Urban Rehabilitators mess but the less we spoke of it, the better. Bunnie still maintained a memorial for Officer Anne Lewis. One of her early assignments, she was all too glad to bring about a clean break between OCP and the Kanemitsu corporation. While I couldn't be sure, I'm almost positive that Violet would, much later down he road, raid the confiscated jet pack parts removed from Robocop in the aftermath to upgrade her own.

"There were atomic weapons?!" Asriel gasped.

"Not...exactly...but just as bad.  The D.E.A. was in over their heads."

"Oh.  Say no more." Asriel's expression doured. After binging the Godfather trilogy with Violet, I think Asriel was more than on the same page as Giorno Giovanna...the latest Joestar incarnation.

We all prepared and loaded up at the Armory. Scott was coming as were Callista, Bunnie, and Violet. Asriel was a given.

Asriel and I got as briefed as we could. The original Robocop vs. the Terminator was a post N-Division footnote in history that I would retroactively oversee, remastering one of many timelines. Suffice to say, working with UCIAT as a silent partner got...complicated...but didn't end up screwing up the Terminator or Robocop timelines and certainly didn't leave much of a tachyon footprint in our own UCIAT's history.

There were inconsistencies in the report. While STC deferred me from kludging up the timeline, I still couldn't help but feel like there were things I missed that probably resulted in this. For one thing I had conflicting memories of where and how this crossover originated.

I remembered it one way as SAC-NORAD contracting Cyberdyne Systems on building Skynet. Cyberdyne used Robocop’s technology in creating Skynet. Skynet sent several Terminators back to the past to crimple the resistance, however Robocop ended up destroying one, making himself a target. He ended up destroying "RoboCain" and fought his way into OCP where Skynet lured him into a trap. In the future, Robocop rebuilt himself and went on to eventually destroy Skynet...or so we thought.

But another telling, a very similar story happened. But this time the human resistance discovered that Robocop's cybernetics technology was used as the foundation technologies for Skynet. So they sent a resistance soldier named Flo back in time to destroy Robocop and prevent Skynet's creation. However Skynet countered by sending Terminators back in time to assassinate her in response. When things became complicated, things uncomplicated with Robocop fighting against the Terminators until he fell into the same digitizing trap as the other timeline and rebuilt himself in the future. Robocop eventually destroyed Skynet's CPU then dedicated himself to helping humanity rebuild.

And then there was a third timeline that our records show is unstable. Some have even deemed that it was merely a theoretical timeline and never really happened. But in so many words, an evil copy of Robocop and the Terminators were sent back in time to kill both John Connor and Alex Murphy--the real Robocop. This timeline does cite Flo's presence as well as the source of Murphy's intel that lead to him having to battle his evil copy and the Terminators and Skynet.

Which was the real timeline? Even I didn't know. But I suspected that both the Resistance and Skynet fooling with time travel on a world that didn’t' have as durable a chrono-stability as VGM-098--where it took a HELL of a lot to foul of the timeline--had something to do with this.

"Where to, Volt?"

I keyed in the coordinates.

"Orion-1-9-8-3, Hemdale-1-9-8-4, Interplay-1-9-9-3."

"To old Detroit." I opened the Cybergate, glad that our tech didn't have the flaws of Skynet time travel...mainly that inorganic matter couldn't travel through time unless it was bonded with living tissue like T-800's or hybridized with it like T-1000's.

And lo and behold...there we were.

"Uh...what a dump." Violet wrinkled her nose.

"Not everyone can have the budget of Little Tokyo, Vi." I snorted.

It was dark. It was thunderstoming with no rain. And it looked like criminal gangs were out in full force.

"This is a pay grade above our usual missions, people.  Don't take any chances." I made sure anyone who wasn't an immortal or an armored up cyborg was decked out in the best riot gear and armor we had and armed to the teeth.

I could tell Goat Son was not a fan. Who could blame him? This was one place where mercy was in short supply and even shorter demand.

"Yo.  Arnie still with us?"

"I am here." The reprogrammed T-800 rose up behind us.

"Y'know, you should have a code name.  I'm thinking...Carl."

"I will never agree to be referred to as Carl."

I sighed. "Let's just call him Guardian for now."

"Appropriate."

"Don't...get too attached to it.  I still denounce the Genesys timeline..." I muttered.

"Lock and load, people." Scott advised, somehow glad to be back in fatigues. And even gladder to see his lovely wife in fatigues.

"I feel out of place in this.  I belong in an operating room." Callista had definitely grown more comfortable with missions...but she was still a doctor.

It was only a matter of time before the criminal scum noticed us and put us in their crosshairs.

"Yup.  So much for peaceful negotiation."

"Incidentally, you're not sworn to not kill anyone, are you?" Vi mused.

Goddammit, Vi.

"I have no such restrictions in place--"  Guardian T-800 started before Vi plugged a punk in the knee, who immediately went down and screamed his head off.

"See?  He'll live." Vi grinned.

"I am starting to see why your comrades do not like you."

"Even when she's doing a pacifist run, she somehow makes it cringy." Asriel wrinkled his nose.

"Everyone.  Listen." Bunnie said, demorphing from ear tips to neck.

"Sounds like an MG." I twitched an ear.

"No way.  That's no machine gun I've ever heard." Vi mused. "And I know my weapons.  I'm pretty sure I know what that is..." Vi fired up her jet pack and got an area view. Sure enough several blocks over...

"Bingo.  One Alexander Murphy.  Cyborg.  Cop.  Badass."

"Can the intro stuff, Vi, and be smart about this.  We can't just go running up to him and--

"Uh...Volt?" Asriel pointed as Guardian made his way down the streets toward Robocop's position.

"Subtlety is not his strong suit, is it?" Asriel frowned as he hopped on his NX Switchboard.

"I'll go catch him." He said as his eyes turned yellow and he forged a pair of bo staves.

"Azzy, don't be reckless."

"We're past the point of reckless." He responded, switching off his Unitrix.

"Oh great...this just become one cluster mess..." I started before finding the rest of us cut off.

Elsewhere...

"Come quietly or there will be...trouble."

And ratatatatatatatatat went the machine pistol after the compartment in Robocop's leg unfolded and released it with that familiar sound.

And then came the part where lethal force became justified.

I won't describe in any detail the fate of those who were stupid enough to fire on him. Pretty sure Azzy wouldn't say a word, either. So let's just say it was...unpleasant.

Gods, I wonder what Mettaton would think of all this?

I wasn't sure if letting Alphys in on this world would inspire her or keep her up at night for weeks to come.

When the last of them fell...

Robocop slow turned as his Search Mode picked up on it.

"Facial recognition confirmed.  No identification found in database." A long pause. "I remember you." A moment of Murphy's humanity peeking through.

"Drop it!"

"Negative.  My mission is clear."

Robocop pointed his weapon as the Guardian kept his trained on him.

Goddammit all. Why does it always result in...for lack of a better word...a peeing contest? And ironically between two dudes who actually can't even...well...go number one.

"I will disarm you if you attack." Arnie was learning. But I'm pretty sure taking a bullet to the knee wasn't going to stop this guy. This wasn't Skyrim after all.

For a guy whose mission was NOT to destroy Robocop, he sure picked the worst way to say howdy to him.

"WAAAAAIT!!" Asriel cried before his weapon telescoped and formed a Tron light cycle wall between them.

Murphy was a bit confused for a moment, before his software confirmed the image was real.

"You are not a registered citizen.  Nor are you human.  What are you?"

"The boy is with me."

"You will explain."

"And we will." I said as I finally arced down and canceled my electro morph.

Robocop positively identified me as Dr. Volt Arcade.

"Identified: Dr. Arcade.  Commanding officer of Arcade Enterprises Ultra Crew Institute Action Team.  You are unaffiliated with OCP."

"And keeping it that way.  How've you been, Murphy?"

"Things could be worse."

"Yeah.  You could still have Prime Directive 4 still in your head." That earned a brief smirk.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do.  This man is not human.  He is a machine.  I have fought him before.  Why would you collude with the enemy?"

"A long story, and the one you fought before was a different Terminator with a different mission.  This one was sent by the Resistance."

"The Resistance that Flo was part of?"

"Correct.  Cyberdyne Systems model 1-0-1--"

"Yeah, we don't need your catalogue number.  what's the haps, paps?" Vi cut in as she and the rest landed.

"Let's get to a better location.  And Carl here will explain everything."

"I thought I made it clear.  I do not wish to be addressed as Carl."

"Huh.  I see the human resistance programmed you with limited free will." Vi mused.

"On a scale of one to ten, how awkward is this?" Asriel asked as we followed the two cyborgs to an undisclosed location.

"...unknown Terminator model?"

"Correct.  Attempts to identify within Cyberdyne System's master catalogue revealed no such make, model, or construction.  Attempts to interface its software resulted in neural net failure in several T-800 and T-1000 models."

"And I'm guessing Skynet doesn't want to personally jack in, correct?  I'm guessing Skynet has a strict team player, policy."

"Affirmative.  Skynet has begun the construction of another Terminator line specifically for the deactivation of rogue units; be it malfunction or human tampering like myself.  This program was not yet online as of the moment I was commandeered and reprogrammed."

I was already starting to hear echoes of the T-X.

"Describe the capabilities.

"A mimetric polyalloy composite.  Vastly superior to T-1000 series."

"What does that mean?" Robocop asked. Yeah, at his heart he was still the corpse of a cop named Alex Murphy, not a college professor with an Ivy League vocabular.

"Liquid metal." Violet, Asriel, and myself said in unison.

"Shapeshifter, too." Bunnie narrowed her eyes.

"You said superior.  In what way?"

"T-1000's cannot replicate complex chemicals or machinery.  They are restricted to knives and stabbing weapons."

"And this one can--"

"It also seems capable of separating its endoskeleton from its shell and both are able to act independently of each other.

I was getting a bad feeling. This felt...familiar somehow...but I knew of no Terminator like this. In fact, even that...screwed up alternate timeline with human infiltrators turned into nanotech Terminators...this was something different.

I had a theory...and I didn't like it.

"It is only a matter of time before it finds its way here.  It seems to be quickly adapting technologies."

"And if it gets ahold of the tech in our gateways it'll be able to attack more than just the timeline of this world..."

"Correct."

This just went up a level.

"So I guess it's up to us to destroy this thing, huh?"

"That is my mission."

"So why is it targeting Murphy?" I asked.

"Uncertain.  Originally when Robocop uploaded to the system in OCP, following the destruction of RoboCain, his merger of human mind and software provided the recently activated Skynet with the very basis for Terminator fabrication.  Which simultaneously solved the problem of sending machines through time to assassinate primary targets."

"But that timeline changed.  Robocop eventually goes on to destroy Skynet and rebuild human society.  But if we're in this timeline...somehow a Butterfly Effect must have occurred that prevented Skynet from even intervening and prevented Murphy from uploading."

"Something must've also happened to prevent Skynet's creation, dividing this world's Robocop from its Terminator timeline."

"And yet something is bringing them back together."

"Hmm..."

Fast-forwarding a bit and with KOMMAND's assistance, we found ourselves on the mirror timeline which happened to be Terminator country. It was almost like Robocop and Terminators existed on parallel planes...like two sides of the same coin.

But surprisingly...

"This place.  In one instance of 1997, it was filled with the skull and bones of Judgement Day.  But it seems like...Sarah and John Conner were successful in stopping Judgement Day."

"But if that's the case...why are there still Terminators coming back through time?"

"My guess...?" Asriel paced, back in human form. "...Skynet sent multiple Terminators back in time, simultaneously, to several different points in history.  Not just the one to 1984 or the T-1000 in--"

"Right.  But...if they stopped Judgement Day, why didn't that prevent any from coming back in time at all?"

"Ripple Effect." I sighed with a crestfallen expression as looked toward the ground, off to the side a little. "Emmett spoke of it once when explaining how newspaper headlines and photographs suddenly change as the past is altered.  But it can also be a double-edged sword on other worlds.  Sometimes the echo of a timeline that no longer exists is enough to catch up with an unwritten future."

"Then--!" Asriel started.

"It is likely...Skynet's last act before the timeline became defunct succeeded in assassinating John Conner--"

That was all that he got out before an explosion rocked him, knocking him backwards and scattering us.

"What...the...Heck was...that?!" Asriel shook off the stars.

Robocop was the only one of us not knocked onto his keister.

Search Mode revealed.

"Search Mode updating.  Time discrepancy found.  Adjusting.  Updating."

"Wait...I forgot to consider when we've arrived." I sat up.

"Positive I.D. match.  Suspect: Sarah Conner.  Outstanding warrants for arrest.  Several counts of domestic and national terrorism."

"Ohhhhhh crap...." Violet facepalmed.

"That's bad, isn't it?" Scott asked.

"That is very bad, dear." Callista pushed herself up.

"The last person in the world that "Carl" should be meeting right now.  Vi mused as we call saw the approach of the white-haired woman in tactical armor, hefting a rocket launcher.

"The moment you told me about Skynet succeeding at its mission, I knew this day would come..." I muttered. "Just didn't think it would be--"

"How many *expletive deleted* machines do I have to send to the *expletive deleted* scrapyard before Skynet takes a hint?" She growled as she cocked her weapon.

"Put down your weapon!" Robocop ordered.

"Never seen one like you...don't care how human it makes you, you're all just target practice to me."

"Sarah, wait!" I groped around for my glasses. Really should have stayed in werewolf morph.

"Whoever you all are, you're backing the wrong horse.  Get the Hell away from that thing if you value your lives."

"This can all be explained!  You have to listen."

"I don't have to do *expletive deleted*, kid.  Much less listen to a snot-nosed punk who doesn't know what kind of *expletive deleted* he's gotten himself into."

"Conner-san.  You must know that is not the one that--"

"When one of those abominations took my son, it held me back by the hair.  I couldn't even grieve while it was confirming its kill.  And then it just walked off like nothing had ever happened.  Do you know what it's like to lose the most important person in your life?"

Asriel stood up. "I do.  I lost my own sister because of my own stupidity.  I know that pain.  So I'm begging you to trust us...and hear what we have to say."

A pause as the sun reflected off her dark sunglasses.

"You've got five minutes.  Make it count or I'm putting one in through the Terminator...and one through the thing with the human face."

Boy, we've really mucked this timeline up, haven't we?

And later, still...

"So you're playing babysitter to a cop in a tin can with this motley crew"

"Correct."

Sarah scoffed. "I'd buy that for a dollar."

Robocop slow turned to me with a look before turning back to it.

"So if it's not Skynet...what is it?"

"Unknown."

"Well that's whoop-de-freakin-doo convenient, now isn't it?"

"Geeze.  What a hardcase." Vi chuckled before Bunnie whapped her.

"Show respect." She warned.

"Do we have anything on this planet that can kill it?"

"Would you prefer the truth or a comforting lie?" Scott asked, rather matter-of-factly.

"Well.  We can't stay around here.  It's going to find us one way or another--"

"I think...it's already left a calling card." Violet had her laptop open and showed a news report of a disaster at a manufacturing plant in Mexico.

"I think we better hotfoot it to Delta City.  Maybe OCP has something military grade that will put a dent in it." Asriel suggested.

"Doubtful.  In all probability it has a collective colony nano-network CPU."

"In other words?" Scott asked.

"We'd need something like an unstable fuel cell from Skynet's defunct timeline to fry its neural network."

"Like an EMP?" I suggested.

"It would have to be a cascaded electromagnetic effect to be completely effective."

"Damn.  Just when things couldn't get any--"

And the Guardian stepped to the side as an energy weapon about blew him into a blast crater.

"No way..." I stepped back. "It...can't be...we stopped Judgement Day!  This timeline CAN'T exist!" I gaped as the female form of the T-X approached, arm transforming into a flamethrower.

"You're just one popular son of a *expletive deleted*, aren't you?"

"The program must've have gone through.  Skynet has somehow identified me as a rogue unit."

Robocop immediately returned fire.

"This just gets better and better..." Scott grimaced.

"C'mon!  We're getting out of here!" I clicked on the emergency recall after opening up my Bracer.

I designated all of my friendlies and yanked us to Detroit.

Unfortunately we touched down as another time displacement energy sphere materialized, frosting up the surrounding area, and frying electronics around it with plasma discharge.

"Oh no...we got another one--"

And I IMMEDIATELY realized...if we had already reached rock bottom, Madam Fate just handed us a shove and told us to dig deeper.

Guardian shot first before Sarah could connect the dots.

"Skynet's just not playing fair." Violet complained.

"How is this possible?!  This timeline should be defunct, too!" I ducked as the nanomachine-converted former commander of the human resistance, John Conner had turned his sights on Sarah Conner.

"This just isn't mother's day."

At least she was taking it well. Almost too well. But I knew this was only adding NAPALM to the fires of hatred for Skynet. This crossed a line.

"Well, now everyone has an assassin on them.  But we still haven't met the guest of the hour." Callista fired back with her ARC series Reaper assault rifle.

"And we're getting to a point that it's going to be REEEEEALLY hard to clean up this mess." I grumbled, exhausting my XBTOCLC's.

"And worst of all, we've REALLY overused our swear word quota." Violet said before letting the Neodymium-Glass Laser Rifle cool down.

"Not the time, Vi." Asriel grimaced as we made a break into OCP tower with our pursuers following behind.

So now we had multiple timeline Terminators after us and Robocop.

"Murphy, I hope you have a plan, because I don't."

"Well...I might have one..." Violet sheepishly grinned as she brushed an E.N.G.I.N.E. dot.

"I knew it..." I groaned as she started installing the jet pack on Robocop.

"Fly to the moon, babe." She saluted as Guardian punched out a window and let Murphy do his thing. But not before the both of them exchanged a thumbs-up.

"I'll be back." Was the last thing Murphy said before taking flight.

"To the top floor.  My intel shows OCP is in the testing phases of another A.I. project." KOMMAND advised us.

"What project?" I asked.

"It's codenamed...Legion."

Shut. Up. This can't be coincidence.

Legion was the name the Wraith had adopted for Madam Fate's army of chaos-bringers...a name I had inadvertently given it. Even if it wasn't directly connected, this reeked of Madam Fate's fingerprints.

"I think I knew what this new Terminator wants with Murphy.  Alex must be destined to shut down OCP's big project.   Legion must exist in a  far off future and it must've deemed Robocop a threat to its existence."

"They never learn." Sarah grunted.

"Then our mission is clear.  Protect Alex Murphy and destroy Project Legion."

We reached the server farm and in the center was a supercomputer network about to come online.

It was at that time Murphy crashed through the window and pointed his weapon.

"Official police business.  Step away from the consoles."

All but the head lab coat immediately stepped away.

"Put your hands up and surrender quietly--"  Robocop started before he was blasted backward.

"Oh no...don't tell me."

That was when the guy shapeshifted into an unfamiliar identity...but his arm definitely shapeshifted into a weapon that wasn't from this timeline.

That was when Guardian fired off my Ice Gatling and froze its arm in place.

"Chill out...*expletive deleted*-wad."

"Nice." Violet complimented only for our horror to be realized as a black Terminator endoskeleton pulled itself out of the shell and proceeded to break it out of its confinement.

I noticed that its skull wasn't...the same as T-800's. It left almost no room for a human-sized brain. It was moving around too much to tell if it was completely caved in...or just really flat in the back.

Scott made the transition to Kabuki Quantum Fighter. I grabbed a large chunk of chains I had grabbed off of one of the punks in Detroit, earlier and wrapped it around my arm several times, focusing my magnetic flux through it, until I had a good bludgeoning weapon.

The other Terminators joined the party at that point and it became one nasty brawl through the building as Guardian and Murphy stood their ground to take out the--

"Okay, I finally got a scan of it by shorting into OCP's server farm and multiplying my gear's processing power." Violet sorted through Augmented Reality windows.

"This thing is called a Rev-9 and its one of this...Legion's Terminator series assassins.  Murphy is indeed the target--oh crap, he's locking me out!" Violet yanked the cables before the consoles shorted.

"That was close.  Almost lost my equipment." She raised her visor.

Bunnie was focusing Magma Viper on the T-X with limited degrees of success.

"We're just barely holding them back."

"We have to end this now!"

"But where will we find something that can--"

"Not something...someone." I stepped forward. "I can do it.  I can fry everything in this building."

"Don't be a hero, Volt."

"It's...kind of what I do, Azzy."

"This is the best logical solution."

"There has to be another way."

"I'm sorry." Guardian said moments before he suddenly backhanded Robocop out through the broken window. "There is no other way."

If he hadn't been wearing that jet pack Vi "liberated", this would have ended badly for Alex Murphy. However...

"Ultra Crew Institute!  Retreat!" I hit the emergency recall...but voided my on I.D. signature from my bracer, leaving me off the table.

"Volt, waaait--!" was all that Asriel got out before he disappeared.

"Hey.  You're all terminated."

"Personally I prefer......Hasta la vista...baby." Was the last thing Guardian said before accepting his fate.

"No--!  Was all that nano John Conner got out before the electromagnetic shockwave tore through all of OCP!

In expending all of my electromagnetic energy...I passed out.

When I came to...

"That was incredibly reckless!" Asriel yelled at me.

"I know.  I'm such a hypocrite."

And he hugged me.

Every Terminator had not only completely fried but completely melted down from the sudden heat expansion  caused by my take on a thunderclap.

I looked dismally at the remains of the T-800. He had left a final message charred into the floor...somehow.

I knew it was for Sarah. Just two words.

I don't think I have to say what they were...but if you want spoilers...I won't confirm whether it was "No fate"...or if it was "For John". You'll just have to guess.

It was a nasty aftermath and a public relations nightmare. But Arcade Industries got out of it without any blemishes or accountability.

OCP however suffered a massive backlash. Plus its contract for Legion's creation was D.O.A.

Years of research and development went the way of Cyberdyne Systems headquarters with the sacrifice of Miles Dyson. But I think we could rest easier now.

I think after this, Asriel and I had our fill of robots and cyborgs for a while.

It's just as well. For we were due for a vacation. But first... a little backstory of a little detail I had neglected to mention a month ago...

Sub-Entry 344: "The Backstory of the 6th Heart-Soul Crystal, Purple-ized for Your Convenience":
Do not adjust your PC, Mac, laptop, tablet, or smartphone...or on the off-chance you're reading the hardcopies of this personal log...do not clean your glasses or contact lenses, nor splash water on your face and re-read over the last several pages. No, you didn't skip an entry.

I neglected to tell how Asriel and I got the sixth heart crystal. That was my bad.

Really...things got so crazy a month ago that I couldn't fit all of my entries in. So, yeah. This is a little meta. But we might as well get back on track.

So where were we and when were we?

Violet had long since alluded to her covert operations at Kadic Academy, the boarding school where she learned everything about LYOKO and where she got everything she needed to build her own quantum Super calculator and its Virtualization Chambers.

But it was only inevitable that we'd end up on their world...but with a twist.

"...but if we got the call from Coral Harbor, why aren't we heading to Grid Battleforce?"

"Because the virus has already escaped off world.  Somehow, in cyberspace, instead of finding its way to the real world of the current Power Rangers, Evox took a detour to somewhere else in the multiversal cyber-network of A.E.O.N.'s supporting supercluster.  He tried to infiltrate A.E.O.N. itself but its immune system network was far too powerful for even a self-aware virus that level."

"Evox sounds like bad news."

"He makes Venjix look like outdated spam ware.  And Violet keeps Venjix on a cyber-lockdown even Al Dente would consider excessive."

"Yikes."

"It's that necessary."

"How did...Aunt Vi get in charge of being warden for Venjix?"

"Like everything else...a long story.  A younger, angrier Vi who was instrumental in freeing Corinth and the rest of the world from the grip of an escaped military-grade virus.  Dr. K still owes her big.  The Rangers may have destroyed Venjix's body but its program was desperate to survive.  But desperation can lead even an artificially intelligent computer program to make a mistake when you give him the wrong data work from.

We tore apart his tower and made sure every last scrap of tech that his code even grazed a memory chip by proxy was purged and either vaporized or recycled into things with less calculating power than a calculator. Vi's been systematically decompiling him little by little. Eventually he'll be completely broken down in his prison."

"Huh.  So...Evox?"

"We don't know his origin.  As far as viruses go he takes the form of the mother of all giant cobras with a serious electrical surge problem.  He got into Grid Battleforce's network and corrupted two of those selected to be rangers.  Their physical bodies were put into comas but their mental images were copied and turned into evil avatars.  The same kind of hard-light projection/matter-wave beings Violet uses to generate both Glitter and Kuma."

"And two others ended up becoming rangers in their place."

"Yes."

"Well that's a nice backstory to the current team.  But where did Venjix go to if he's not in Coral City's cyber-field?"

"To here." I pointed at the holo-generator as it cycled through various hololythic planetoids until it got to a familiar blue and green world."

"So...which Earth is it?"

"The one where LYOKO originated from."

Asriel's eyes widened.

"And by extension, XANA."

"But Vi's friends shut down XANA."

"Yeah...but XANA's virtual networks still exist as does the supercomputer server farm that made up XANA's core."

Asriel looked to the side. "And the perfect place for an escaped virus to move into."

"Precisely.  As much as I hate to say it--"

"You guys need me on this one." Sure enough Violet was ready to go and Scott was with her.

"Dad?"

"It's Kabuki Quantum Fighter when I'm in my "work clothes", son."

"Heh.  Still my favorite IRL hero." Azzy mused. "Alright, Pop.  I guess we're working together.  We going to tell mom?"

"She knows.  She was briefed.  Who do think okayed it?"

Okay. So the team was ready.

"Well, it's going to be difficult hobnobbing around Kadic.  All of us are definitely not young enough to pass for boarding school kids."

"But not too young to be teachers?" Asriel prompted.

"Slick, Goat Son.  Slick."

"Well then.  Let's don human disguises and have Aunt Vi hook up with her contact."

"Been too long since Jeremy and I had a one-on-one face-time meeting."

What we didn't suspect was that our mission would take us straight to the sixth heart crystal. Spoilers, if the sub-entry's title wasn't a dead-giveaway.

And so...

"...this is highly irregular, Dr. Arcade.  However...your team's credentials are impeccable."

"I assure you we'll be professionals." I would have glared at Violet if she were in the room. But she couldn't risk being seen by any of the staff. I had no idea how she snuck on and off campus. But I'm sure she had her ways.

"I warn you this institution prides itself on a very strict legacy of tradition and I will not tolerate any activity which undermines our reputation as an academy of excellence."

"Of course, Principal Deimas."

So this was the infamous father of the school's spoiled princess who had him wrapped around her finger. Violet warned me ahead of time that we'd all probably butt heads with Elizabeth "Sissi" Deimas. Described as mean, spoiled, bratty, conceited and rude as well as overly popular and flanked by a pair of flunkies who were all too glad to do her dirty work. But harmless as an antagonist.

So we were all assigned to different roles.

I took science. Which meant I shared the load with Suzan Hertz. I got a real "high expectations" vibe from her as well as subtle hints that she was scornful of two of Violet's child friends in particular--Ulrich Stern and Odd Della Robia. But took a liking to Jeremy Belpois.

You know I was noting that a lot of last names at this school were French in origin. Well obvious exception being Yumi Ishiyama. Whom I'm sure Bunnie was laser focused on.

Speaking of which, Bunnie was assigned to world history and social studies. It was a perfect fit for her, really.

Scott ended up being an assistant under P.E. teacher, Jim Morales. Violet warned Scott about two rules: do not ask him about his extensive job history...that's already a yellow flag. And don't bring up the movie, "Paco, the Disco King". One thing Scott figured out was that while he was head disciplinarian, he was one to digress from his lectures when he got distracted by his own reminiscing of the past.

Which left Asriel to draw upon his experience from Gravedale High to dress the part as a student teacher intern. Or...whatever the right term was.

Which left Violet on the other hand to be actually...stealthy at staking out Kadic until she could run into Belpois.

As it turned out...she had seen the movie Real Genius one too many times and thought to build a system of hidden door hatches inside each of the closets of each of the dorm rooms of Kadic Academy.....a creepy page out of Al Dente's book which I'm not sure why that of all things was something she let slide.

She assured me it was for the sake of fighting XANA not for being creepy. I...still had doubts. But also knew she had lines she didn't cross and being a female scrungus (in her own words) wasn't one of her sins.

These door hatches lead to transports into the steam tunnels underneath where she set up her own personal lab. A lab where she kept tabs on XANA and kept in contact with Jeremy Belpois.

While we staked things out, waiting for Evox to make his move, Violet--once she was sure that Jeremy and friends hadn't been moved around since she was last here--sent out the message to his computer telling him she was back and had dire news.

Eventually after a few days of classes...he responded. Thankfully before Evox made his move.

"I didn't think you'd come back here after--"

"Yeah.  I gotcha brainiac.  But y'know...Kadic seemed inviting for a girl at my age who's upset the status quo with some harmless chaos and all."

Jeremy Belpois. A 12-year-old top-of-the-class student who found and started the factory's supercomputer while looking for parts to build a robot. By turning on the Supercomputer, he reawakened Aelita, the virtual world of Lyoko, and the malevolent multi-agent system X.A.N.A.. His goals have been mainly driven by his desire to protect Aelita, whom he has a crush on, and to save her from the Supercomputer and X.A.N.A. by materializing her on Earth.

As part of the group, he specialized in programming new ways to defeat X.A.N.A. and monitored the group while they are on Lyoko. Because he is not very athletic and is more computer savvy, Jeremy almost never goes to Lyoko, only going there once and vowing to never do it again. His workaholic attitude occasionally puts a strain on his relationships with the other members of the group. Blond, bespectacled. And reminding me a lot of Billy Cranston, the original MMPR Blue Ranger. Only younger.

"You run a big risk coming back on campus."

"Bigger risk, now.  I brought backup.  Anyway.  I'm just here to warn you there's a major digital creep in the area looking for prime quantum real estate.  We checked our list and XANA's old stomping grounds came up!  Congratulations.  We got real life impending chaos coming from a new virus entity."

"Are you serious?  This could be a big problem!"

"You and your crew nearby?  We may need to put the band back together."

"Well--"

"Hey, is that my favorite bunny babe out there in the great digital frontier? What's up, queen of hip-hop?"

"Odd, my maaaain maaaan!"

Odd Della Robia. The comic relief of the group. Odd was credited as having great potential when it comes to school, but rarely used it, and as a result of this, got bad grades due to his lack of studying. He shared a dorm with Ulrich and had a dog named Kiwi, who he hid in a dresser because pets aren't allowed at Kadic. Violet said he's considered a ladies' man and has dated many of the girls at his school, but his romances tend to last only a few days. Before he attended Kadic, he lived with his parents and his five sisters. Odd's blond hair has a purple spot and is worn up in a spike.

Honestly? He and Violet were a friendship that was practically pre-determined before they met. They're just too much alike.

"That who I think it is?  What's up, Violet?"

Ulrich Stern. A more reserved member of the group, Ulrich had a hard time sharing his feelings. His parents pressured him to achieve well in school, but he had difficulty learning and living up to their expectations. In his off-time he practiced Pencak Silat with Yumi, whom he had a crush on. He suffered from vertigo, which made it hard to participate in activities such as rock climbing. Due to his many activities Ulrich had a rather muscular build, thus many girls (particularly Sissi) consider him to be extremely handsome.

Ulrich's profile in LYOKO ended up being the very basis of what formed Asriel's own profile in Violet's LYOKO setup. From the katanas to the Triplicate function. Recently Violet had implemented Ulrich's "Triangulate" ability into Azzy's ability set.

"Trouble.  Potential trouble from off world.  You might have a new player in the game."

"Explain the nature of this new threat." Jeremy cut in.

"It calls itself Evox.  A self-contained, self-aware, mobile virus that has been corrupting systems in a place called Coral Harbor.  His M.O. has been to go after a powerful liquid energy source called Morph-X.  He's trying to use it to amass enough morphing grid energy to leave the Cyber World and infiltrate the Morphing Grid itself, allowing him to conquer the real world.  We're unclear on why he ended up here or what his goals could be.  It's likely he may be trying to expand his power in other ways and quantum computing may hold the answers he seeks."

"So you want us to get the band back together to slam him into next week?  Cool.  I was getting bored without a megalomaniacal digital creep putting us in mortal danger all the time.  What's a hero if you can't put a beatdown on a villain."

"Hmm." Ulrich looked concerned. "What's the plan?"

"Well, let's get all our members on board and we'll discuss things." Vi mused.

Meanwhile...

Bunnie's secret com watch gave her a specific set of tones, telling her exactly what Violet had found. She brought her lecture to a close and dismissed her students...but asked Yumi to see her for a moment in private.

"...the reason I asked you after class is...I bring a message from Violet Tokugawa."

Yumi Ishikawa. A fairly reserved student who lived near and attended Kadic. The oldest of the group. Yumi was of Japanese descent, and had one younger brother, Hiroki. Because of her parents and culture, she must maintain good grades and observe family values. At home, she generally had to deal with marital issues between her parents. She is a friend of William Dunbar, who transferred to Kadic. She practiced pencak silat with Ulrich, whom she had a crush on, though not as obvious as Ulrich's crush on her. She always wore black and had enough basic knowledge of the Supercomputer to operate it in Jeremy and Aelita's absence. On Lyoko, Yumi dressed in a geisha-inspired outfit with an obi sash.

Yumi immediately turned grim.

"We must meet with her and the others...at the Factory."

Factory was a pretty intense codeword that only our group understood. And only we knew about.

Asriel of course relayed the message to Aelita Schaeffer.

Aelita Hopper-Schaeffer. We'd find out Hopper was her mother's maiden name which finally answered some questions about Frans Hopper. As it turned out, Frans was his middle name and his first name was Waldo. So Vi's mysterious inventor of Lyoko was actually Dr. Waldo Frans Hopper-Schaeffer, a former professor at Kadic. But back to Aelita (whom Sally was still using as a D.J. handle).

Mainly known by her alias Aelita Stones, Aelita was the smartest of the group alongside Jeremy. In the beginning, she was trapped on Lyoko, inside the Supercomputer. She was originally thought to be an AI until it was revealed that she's actually the daughter of said Franz Hopper, the creator of Lyoko. As a little girl, she lost her mother. When a group of suited men came to her home, she and her father fled and virtualized themselves on Lyoko. Between the virtualization and Jeremy's discovery of the Supercomputer, X.A.N.A. stole an important memory fragment that inhibited her from becoming fully human again. After this fragment is retrieved, she is was no longer linked to the Supercomputer. After becoming human, she often had nightmares of her past life. She later enrolled as a boarder at Kadic under the name Aelita Stones, claiming to be Odd's cousin. She reciprocated Jeremy's feelings for her, but he often strained their relationship by overlooking Aelita and her passions in favor of working on the Supercomputer.

Aelita is the only one capable of deactivating towers on Lyoko to stop X.A.N.A.'s attacks. How Violet managed to incorporate that into everyone's profile in her own Supercalculator, I'll never know. On Lyoko, she had an elf-like appearance, similar to that of "Mr. Pück," a toy elf from her childhood.

Which left Scott to inform the team's final member, William Dunbar...however...

"What?" I gasped as the others showed up.

"William's...not coming." Scott looked to the side.

"But...why?" Aelita gasped.

"Well..."

Scott explained.

"I can't.  I've done too much under XANA's control.  I can never make up for it.  I can't go back."

"Your friends don't hold anything against you for the past.  You weren't yourself."

"I'm sorry, Mr. O'Conner.  But the answer is no.  I have...a lot to deal with.  Also...apparently while I was XANA's servant, Jeremy kind of left a polymorphic specter clone of me to keep up appearances...and now I'm somehow known as bit of goof with a clueless sense of humor."

"Are you sure?"

"I admit it.  I'm scared.  I have a fear to face.  But I'm not ready to.  Go on without me.  I tried the whole mind-control thing once.  Not a fan.  I can't risk it with another virus being."

"Well that sucks."

"One us might have to fill in if you get in a pinch."

"Asriel has the most experience.  He should do it."

"Seems weird letting a grown-up mess around in LYOKO." Odd was blunt about it.

"What choice do we have?" Ulrich frowned.

"First things first..." Jeremy turned toward the Supercalculator.

"I honestly thought...we'd never have to turn it back on again."

Oh yeah. Violet neglected to mention that. That all this time since XANA's destruction...the LYOKO Warriors decided to unanimously shut down the supercomputer at the Factory. Honestly...Violet thought it would be the last she'd see of the kids of Kadic. Honestly, she thought they'd all be moving on...but...

Things change. Things get complicated. And somehow despite it all...friends somehow stay together.

I watched Violet and Jeremy go through the procedure of reactivating it. And all seemed normal for a while...until...

Until the computer alerts went up.

"We've got trouble.  Activated towers all over the world..and aboard the ISS."

"International Space Station?" Asriel looked intrigued.

"Evox works quick.  He must've found a new supercomputer.  A different one.  Somehow he explored the digital sea and discovered the remnants of XANA's dead code and decided to reverse engineer it for himself."

"We'll have to split up and take multiple targets at the same time."

"We can spare some of us to go with you so we're not spread thin." I offered.

"Some of us should stay behind in the real world in case we get polymorphic phantoms or worse." Jeremy shrugged.

"You know, I've often wondered, J.  You seem like you'd be all for exploring a quantum computer's virtual world.  What gives?" Violet asked.

"Oh no.  I went into LYOKO once.  Never again."

"I believe you overestimate Jeremy's physical abilities.  LYOKO always seemed like the kind of world that you need a certain amount of aesthetic ability to survive in." Bunnie said, arms crossed.

"Precisely."

"Einstein here's better off as an operator on the outside, anyway.  Somebody's got to work this right, right?" Odd cut in again.

"We really appreciate all you do." Aelita gave a quick hug. I could see Jeremy blush. Oh yeah. The shipping was real as was the shyness.

Scott cleared his throat.

"I've already sent for Gadget, Mitzi, and Pit.  We can also sent Scott in." Good. This mean with our teamsters accompanying the Lyoko Warriors, we now had a way for everyone to deactivate the control towers.

"If necessary I can also go along." Bunnie nodded.

"Goat Son, you hang back with Violet and myself as tech support...and in case we have to leave the Factory to deal with anything in the outside world.

And so, our quartet loaded up.

"Hey...Aunt Vi?  I thought you said we had to be barefoot to enter the scanner capsules."

I immediately glared at Violet as did Bunnie and Mitzi.

"Eheheheh...oops?  My...mistake?"

Liar.

"Scanner: Ulrich.  Scanner: Odd.  Scanner: Yumi.  Scanner: Aelita.  Energize."

This was all too familiar.

"Transfer: Ulrich.  Transfer:  Odd.  Transfer: Yumi.  Transfer: Aelita.  We have Virtualisation."

And of course...

"Scanner: Scott.  Scanner: Mitzi.  Scanner: Gadget:.  Scanner: Pit.  Energize.  Transfer: Scott.  Transfer: Mitzi.  Transfer: Gadget.  Transfer: Pit.  Virtualisation."

At least that WAS the plan...but...plans change.

"Ulrich!" Scott unleashed a plasma shot and annihilated the servitors. But the damage had already been done and his life points were already drained away.

The capsule opened and Ulrich staggered out, looking winded.

"That...wasn't the same as it usually was...these things are...different."

"Hang back and catch your breath.  I'll send for Dr. Brighton and she can check you out to make sure there aren't any complications." I frowned at what looked like bruises.

"Guys, we have more problems.  There's mayhem all over the world, including here at Kadic and aboard the ISS."

"Oh man...smart virus." Violet grimaced.

"You called it.  He's spreading us very thin." Yumi talked to us from the monitor.

"What do we do?" Aelita asked.

"For right now, get to work deactivating the towers.  You may have to take the Skidbladnir to get to the Replikants that Evox has said up."

"This is like a trip down memory lane." Yumi thought aloud.

"Skidbladnir...named after the Norse Ship?" Bunnie questioned, having spent extensive time familiarizing herself with Earth's world history; both for her cover and personal interest.

"Good observation, Miss Rabbotou." Jeremy complimented.

"We're still some members short, though."

I narrowed my eyes. "Asriel and I will go."

"Chances are, each site has one of XANA's old supercomputers left behind."

"Which means if we need to, we can devirtualize into the real world to deal with whatever might be up there guarding them." Violet mused.

"It sounds like you're up to speed." Ulrich conceded. "The first chance I get, I'll rejoin you all."

"I'll call whatever other help I can spare and get them to the attack sites in the Real World via Warp Gates." I made the calls. This mission was starting to balloon up to Code Sigma Blue.

And so...

"...you were right!  Mitzi and I ended up in the Ice Replika." Yumi checked in.

"You're taking my form really well.  Violet didn't have time to put together human avatar archetypes for us, so she translated us as we are in the real world without our disguises on."

"It's not the strangest thing we've encountered.  But it's definitely unusual finding out aliens exist and that they're animals that walk and talk like humans."

"Gadget and I are in the Forest Replika."

"I like working with Miss Aelita!  She's super nice."

"Oh stop it.  You're embarrassing me, Gadget!"

"Pit and I got the Mountain Replika.  Got to say, it's weird being paired up with a kid with wings."

"Scott here.  Ulrich and I were en route to the Desert Replika before he was attacked.  I have to say...it reminds me of the wastelands of Vorostov, following my court-martial.  By that point Lupe's people had all been forced to the very edge of their land and what we'd taken over had turned to desert without the druid influence to balance the life force.

"Asriel and I are on our way."

"Scanner: Volt.  Scanner: Asriel.  Transfer: Volt.  Transfer: Asriel.  Virtualisation."

To say it felt...weird and different was underselling it. But by this time Azzy was used to it. And I was a quick learner.

"C'mon." We loaded up in our copy of the Skid and took to the Digital Sea. And wow...what an experience. We were dropped into the water abyss below and sank...and sank until our ship began to move through a tunnel with a gate at the end into a watery blue abyss filled with what I described as an inverted city--countless spires and skyscraper towers hanging down from above with neon wire-frame blueprint hololyths attached to some of them. Pillars of white light almost like neon blueish-white light conductors cluttered the way.

"It's almost like flying down the underside of Space Colony ARK if it were underwater."

Asriel didn't get a chance to respond for we were immediately attacked by virus-eels and stingrays. Remnants of XANA's old regime, now recommissioned under Evox.

"Launching the Nav-Skids." And our individual pods separated from the main boat where the two of us returned fire.

"Did they HAVE to be homing shots?" I complained.

I noticed that each time a new wave of enemies approached, everything went from blue to red.

Finally after surviving that trek I could see a giant half-sphere submerged...like a miniature planet with another metal tunnel protruding form it just like where we had left from the LYOKO geosphere we come from.

Sure enough...

"This Replika...Sector 5?" Asriel gasped as we had exited the Skid and found our way into the Sector itself.

"Jeremy called it "Carthage".  But yeah...a copy of that." We looked around at the sterile, blocky cyber-environment.

"Evox is following XANA's old script to the letter." Violet informed. "Using Supercomputers to increase his processing power and influence."

"How are the other UCIAT doing in the real world?"

"if you want the grim truth?  A battle of attrition." Vi grimaced. "Polymorphic phantoms, people and machines getting possessed and controlled.  Team Acorn and many of our allies from other worlds that we recruited fighting them off.  I've got the Planeteers in the Amazon, Wild West C.O.W. Boys up against rioters at the Alamo, students and teachers going crazy here in Kadic and.......now we got Robotrons showing up in Paris...London...Rome...pretty much anywhere that XANA had established one the many Replikas."

"Robotrons?!  Crud.  Now we're seeing Ranger problems seep into this world."

"That's not all.  We got two evil Avatars on the loose."

"Blaze and Roxy?" I asked.

"Good guess.  And they're both headed your way aboard the Space Station...and they've activated something else aboard."

"Uh-oh." I wrinkled my nose. We hurried our way toward the Control Tower.

Asriel was first in and wasted no time in deactivating it.

"That should take care of the Polymorphic Phantoms aboard the station."

"But according to the computer, the Crew is still locked up."

"We'll have to deal with whatever's at the core of the Super Computer."

"Stand by for quantum teleportation.  You should be materializing--"

And there we were in the real space aboard the space station. Azzy was mesmerized for only a moment, looking down at the planet.

Me? This was a game-changer. Teleportation was nothing new to me...but that was on worlds advanced enough to have perfected the technology or brought by aliens or time-travelers who already had it. The thought that an Earth had devised quantum computer and quantum mechanics to such a degree that it would be left hidden and forgotten in a dilapidated factory outside of a boarding school. Here in the dawn of the 21st century, not further down the road.

Okay, in all fairness it did happen on other worlds like Mega Man's, but...the worlds of the galaxy known as VideoLand were special cases. Weren't they? Maybe...the argument was more paper-thin than I gave it credit for. But I digress...

Our physical forms had been moved from the Scanners in the factory to these ones aboard the space station. How did XANA pull this off before it was shut down? How did these NOT get noticed all over the world, much less a space station?!

"Yumi here.  We've encountered some kind of monster!"

"Seems to be a biomechanical virus entity that seems to resemble...some kind of crustacean symbiotically linked to the surrounding plant life."

"Looks like a xenomorph from Alien with a big gaping, orifice that's spawning lots of insects." Vi followed up.

"I got something nasty over here in the desert." Scott chimed in. "Some kind of cyborg beast that tunneled its arms underground and is causing shockwaves."

"Big Brother!  There's a nasty robot...thing armed with lasers and freeze rays!"

"If you got a minute, maybe you can tell what the heck this lobster-looking thing with the pincers is and why it's so ticked off at us!" Odd was last to follow up.

"They're all guardians, protecting their supercalculators.  Destroy them and take out the Supercomputers."

At the same time...

"I'll handle things in cyberspace.  You see what you can do in the real world."

Asriel nodded and headed into the exit node, where he found himself materializing in a virtualization chamber. Now what was one of these doing aboard the I.S.S.? I'll bet there were ones at each Supercomputer location, too.

I charged on ahead to the boss...and got stopped by the minibosses. "Oh great." I wrinkled my nose at the evil Ranger avatars. I'll spare you the insults and snappy dialogue and cut to the part where I remembered that I'm still a black belt in karate and a werewolf with electromagnetic powers so facing them while they were morphed with virus-corrupted Morph-X put me on the same level as a Power Ranger...at least in theory.

Meanwhile Asriel suited up in a space suit and took a little space walk in one of the cargo bays. He opened the shutters to the depths of space and proceeded to circle around the station until he found the entrance to where he could access an airlock and make his way to the module in question. But while outside...

"Huh?" He noticed the automated robot arms and claws gathering pieces of a meteor piece from a passing cluster of ice and rocks, having been broken apart with what seemed to be an experimental drilling laser on one of the robot appendages. One of the samples caught his attention.

"And there you are..." He growled as he fired his propulsion units and headed toward the equipment where he skillfully nabbed a very purple, heart-shaped crystal from the clamp that had secured it.

"Yoink!" He mused before remembering why he came out here inside the airlock and into the module, he placed the item in an E.N.G.I.N.E. dot. "Perseverance heart crystal acquired.  Now let's get my disguise back on...and rescue the crew." Asriel fiddled with the Unitrix and donned human form while modding his imaging system to project the appearance of official NASA work clothes and I.D. badge. Chances are they'd be too rattled to question his credentials.

Meanwhile I had driven off the two Avatars who retreated, lamenting how Evox was not going to be pleased with their failure. That's when I ran into the boss...it looked like Evox had peeked into the Galactic Federation database and found data on the bio-weapon code-named Nightmare from both that "Bottle Ship" incident and the "X-Parasite" disaster aboard B.S.L.

"I can take him..."

Didn't have a choice. Seemed we were ALL handling bosses all over.

I was just about pushed to my limit when Asriel showed up.

"Got room for one more?  Jeremy and Aunt Vi virtualised me back into the Replika to give you a hand."

Nice timing. And just in time. With the destruction of the boss we had moments to escape the Replika and get back to the digital sea and to the factory Supercalculator; as did the others.

At the same time other UCIAT crew were dealing with not only Evox-controlled people and Polymorphic phantoms, but also Robotrons and grunts that Evox had been plaguing Coral Harbor with for some time. All in the name of stealing large amounts of Morph-X.

Asriel and I were first on the scene, exiting our scanners. The others followed.

"We stopped Evox's plan to use XANA's old tech, but we still have a problem.  Everything world-wide has subsided but a lot of what was attacking has gathered at Kadic.  It's causing a panic.

And sure enough we got both a robotron and a gigadrone. Two for the price of one with Evox making an appearance in hololythic form.

"I don't think we're going to be able to cover this up easily..." Mitzi narrowed her eyes. We'd all donned our human disguises, but it was a moot point with the panic going on around us. Still. Better to not add to the problem.

"How far out is help from off world?"

"No go on getting here in time." Kommand assured me from the com link. "You're going to have to slow them down."

"How?  We're not equipped to deal with--"

"That...might not exactly be true.  I...took some liberties that you might yell at me later for." Asriel fiddled with his bracer. "I...kind of modded my bracer a little more and...kind of tapped into the Morphing Grid."

"...Grid Battleforce is not going to be okay with this.

"Call it an emergency that I just thought I'd prepare for."

"Got any idea what Azzy's talking about?" Odd asked.

"You got me." Ulrich shrugged.

"Whatever it is, he'd better do it fast." Aelita watched the destruction begin.

"Hahahahah!  Evox prevails!  Run puny humans!  This world belongs to the Cyber Dimension, now!"

"Want to bet on that?" Asriel unlatched a section of his bracer and produced the Morph-X key.

"Only got enough charge for one go at this.  These powers are one time only, Volt...soooo I don't think Grid Battleforce will be TOO ticked at me."

"Asriel...are you saying--"

"That it's morphing time?  Totally.   Unleash the beast!" Asriel plugged it in as a swirling green tornado encircled him before the smoky energy dissipated and the visor locked in place.

"Green Goat Ranger!"

Oh boy.

"Unless you got a Zord--"

"Perseverance Virtue unlocked, remember?"

"Oh yeah..." I looked on and let him do his thing.

"Well what are we standing around for?  Let's keep those--"

"Tronics." Asriel cut in.

"Right.   Those Tronics off of him!" Ulrich and Yumi joined Bunnie, Violet, Mitzi, and Scott with keeping things under control for Asriel to finish off the Robotron.

Aelita, Odd and Jeremy got to cover, while also helping the other students get to safety. I got a brief look at Sissi and her cadre during the escape. Yup. She seemed like a diva princess...even when running for her life.

"And now let's take this up a notch." Asriel turned away as the Robotron exploded.

I could only assume his eyes were glowing purple underneath. But that was all the time he needed to come up with a Megazord of his own.

"Aww man!  I'm jealous!" Odd complained.

This mission had long since gone off the rails...but that's what happens with crossovers, right?

"C'mon, you!  Let's dance but some place less populated!" Asriel managed to grab the machine and hurl it to an open field outside of Kadic grounds where the battle continued while attracting plenty of attention.

It was a short battle but in the end...

"Virus ELIMINATED!"

Asriel canceled the super robot construct just as his Ranger Powers dissolved for good.

"And virus purged!" Violet mused as she and Jeremy ran the program they had put together on her laptop.

"Evox is going back where he came from--the Cyber Dimension around Coral Harbor!  Grid Battleforce is just itching to take the fight to him again." She grinned.

And before we knew it, the chaos that had exploded into this world had reciprocated. But the aftermath...?

"We're going to have to--"  Jeremy started back to the factory.

"Nah.  We got this one.  Don't add another qubit to the total if you don't have to."

"If I can have your attention please?" I addressed the growing crowd as I finished setting up the Neuralizer and put on my dark sunglasses...

And only hours later, Jeremy and friends were in class, taking exams like nothing ever happened. But not before Violet insisted on one group photo of us all at the Factory; Ultra Crew Institute Action Team and Violet's favorite "Garage Kids"...still feel like I should ask her about that inside reference, some time.

"Six down.  One left." Asriel assured me.

I nodded.

And that's the story of how we secured the sixth heart crystal; a tale of Code Lyoko colliding with Power Rangers Beast Morphers.

Sub-Entry 345: "From Birthday to Thanksgiving":
Back to the present. In light of our clash with Skynet and the ugly business with O.C.P. I was ready to put my work on pause. Seven years with Goat Son has definitely tamed the workaholic in me; It had become a lot easier to call it a night on projects and leave the outside world of research, development, and opposing the collective will of Chaopolis in this stupid, ongoing war. No longer did Lisa have to lock me out of my shop to get me to unwind or my daughters to drag me out of headquarters to take a break or even Velaska banning me from any of the labs under "doctor's orders". Frankly...I was glad to finally get a handle on the balance.

After the big surprise parties I'd gotten in recent years, this time I didn't actually forget my own birthday. In fact this time I was expecting it...but also prepared for the remotest of possibilities that a mission could come up and pull me away from it, leaving the day uncelebrated. Or the very, very unlikely possibility that everyone around me might...actually...forget. And I only address that possibility because we were terrible enough to forget Antoine's birthday. Soooo...yeah. None of us had any reason to be up on a high horse about being forgotten when we'd already forgotten one of us. All of us but Asriel.

Let's not make the same mistake again, Goat Son. But Valentine's Day was a ways off. This was November 20th. And heck, Thanksgiving was only a week later and I could practically sense Jon was already prepping.

On a lesser note I could practically smell Violet's credit cards heating up in anticipation of Black Friday. What kind of a world do we live in when Black Friday and Cyber Monday are more sacred than Thanksgiving? Avarice is an ugly thing.

For the other side that had worked to phase out Thanksgiving over political correctness or the injustices of the past or other reasons to be offended? I'm sure Jon and many others would tell them to save it. We Mirandians hadn't forgotten the true meaning of it all. By golly, each and every one of us had something to be thankful for, year after year. And our world would acknowledge our blessings by Hell or high water.

But I digress. Back to the big 365-day cycle known as age. I'd already explained the futility of an immortal celebrating another year older. Alas, I wasn't always immortal. I remembered full well what it was like. From my first birthday celebration to my latest, I wasn't about to let another year diminish the meaning. However...I had long since stopped giving an exact age after how long I'd been in STC's service. There wasn't a cake big enough nor enough cakes to house that many candles by this point. So...let's just keep the number irrelevant. Most of my friends, family, and colleagues were, by human standards, at the age where they could start lying about their age. But Hybrids didn't exactly do that until triple digit numbers, Lycans even less so, angels and fiends didn't even matter, and robots were completely irrelevant.

So where does that leave me?

A special case as any. Frankly I was more than happy to celebrate with a rib or steak dinner and have some Boston Creme Pie with chocolate chocolate-chip cookie dough ice cream afterward. Honestly it didn't even matter if there were gifts and the age-old singing of Happy Birthday. Just as long as it was remembered, then that was enough. And frankly the one who had put the most effort into remembering was Asriel, by this point. Even tying with my own family members with showing how much he cared. I'd say that "best friend" status was earned and proven beyond a shadow of a doubt; it had long evolved into feeling completely natural and right, even with the apparent age difference.

For now...back to the birthday. I'd get to Thanksgiving soon enough.

"You're going to love Jon's award-winning rib recipe.  He just perfected the sauce and you get the be the first to taste it." Asriel assured.

"Well.  He's never let me down when it comes to his skill with the grill."

Ribs for birthday dinner it was. I wasn't complaining.

Beyond that, I felt like saxophone therapy was long overdue.

So I busted them all out at the fountain and sifted through a grab bag of saxophone songs, going through all the styles from smooth jazz to rock and even working the Benny Hill theme in there.

From Boots Randolph's Yakity Sax to Kenny G's songbird I covered everything quite well.

And drew a crowd.

I got a brief dirty look from Chameleon, probably regarding the "noise". But he let it slide what with it being my day and all.

Rainbow Wing's black wyrmling didn't hold back with his complaints. But the red one definitely enjoyed the concert. Pity I couldn't translate Draconic. Of all the members of Rainbow Wing's five wyrmlings, why was the only one who could speak common the rude, self-appointed leader? Luck of the draw.

Asriel even accompanied me at instances.

From George Michael's "Careless Whisper" to Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street". I went through a whole mix tape of music and honestly...it was the best piece of mind and the best chicken soup for the soul I could ask for.

"The saxophone really does seem to be the answer to a lot of things, Volt."

"I've always thought so.  Played right, it's a direct connection to the heart and soul.  And just the thing to soothe the savage beast."

"Music expresses what cannot be put into words and what cannot remain silent.  Right?"

"Truer words never spoken.

From time with my best friend to time with my wife and daughters...

I clinked glasses with Lisa in a toast. While she had red wine I had our world's equivalent of Mountain Dew Code Red in all of its fizzy cherry-flavored, no alcohol glory.

It was still romantic...despite Penelope trying to stir the pot to be a little more juicy and "enhanced with Barry White". I'm going to stop letting her hang around Violet.

Jon go those ribs juuuuuuuuuuust right. And oh gods...the sauce was to die for. That Lycan can smoke a rack of ribs and make them so tender it just falls off the bone.

That brought us to Rock-Afire Pizza for the cake and ice cream. Boston Creme Pie. My favorite. With Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. My other favorite.

"Happy birthday, Best Friend."

"Happy birthday from all of us, Commander."

It really was.

Hard to believe eight days would pass from then and Jon would be cooking the plumpest turkey he could find.

At least this time we could spend it here in town...together.

I could remember a time on Earth when Thanksgiving actually carried fall decorations in red, orange, yellow, and brown. With turkey-themed everything. With porcelain figures of pilgrims and Native Americans.

I longed for the old days...maybe some decade it would make a comeback. But while commercialism had its way, Halloween was always going to poke its head in as September was barely getting started and Christmas would be intruding upon that even earlier and earlier.

Violet joked, why not just have both holidays fuse and be available alllll year round.

Then I reminded her what happened when the Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington tried that.

And that was the end of that conversation.

Sometimes too much of a good thing is a terrible idea. And some things were not meant to be combined. Ironic thing for the King of Crossovers to say, wouldn't you agree?

But that said...at least it still meant something to those of us who weren't supermarkets and grocery store owners with a massive stock of turkeys, potatoes and yams inbound.

There was only so much pumpkin spice a person can take before the thrill wears off, y'know?

But food asside...

It was an impressive gathering from all over.

The usual tropes ensued.

Our world's equivalent of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

"I love watching the floats go by!" Gadget waved her pennant as if it was some kind of spectator sport. Though in all fairness it was a pennant of her favorite real life superhero of Stuffman, the Hero of Funk--the one and only bucket-headed robot with a mop to put Toxie the Toxic Avenger to shame and a plutonium force gun to put the Fashion Police (yes, I'm serious) down for the count.

There was the car show where Azzy and I got to see almost a century worth of automobile progress. Marcel even entered his own "mobster car" as some of us called it.

And then there was the annual watching of THAT movie...

"Violet...you brought over Planes, Trains, and Automobiles on Blu Ray didn't you?"

"Come see the 18 best consecutive F-bombs dropped in a movie rated R for that and only that reason." Violet grinned.

"Goddammit, Vi..."

"It's...tradition." Asriel sweat dropped.

Same with the tradition of crowding around the TV for sports...though I wouldn't know.

With this being the largest turnout for Thanksgiving, it also meant a bit of a problem I had never addressed before. Something Alphys, Napstablook, Shyren and I had in common.

Overlapping conversations and an over-abundance of social atmosphere made my Asperger’s Syndrome flare up. As an introvert, I could understand why Alphys was a shut-in. It wasn't that I was antisocial...it was just that too much conversation...sometimes shallow conversation in one room was more than I could filter out and keep my thoughts straight. I'd lose my focus and shut down. That which gave me my great intelligence, determination, and focus could also be my undoing in crowds.

It was what put me at odds with Violet, who was a self-proclaimed social butterfly, despite how much she drove us all crazy. The truth was...yeah. She was actually kind of an outgoing celebrity when it came to the gift of gab...at least when she wasn't being lewd and humoring herself with pranks, satire, and memes.

But thankfully...Asriel knew how to snap me out of it and get me back to some semblance of a comfort zone as did the rest of my family.

When all was said and done it came down to the big feast and the giving of thanks.

The wording changed but the messages were the same as every year. Each of us was thankful for a lot but each of us had that one thing above all others we were grateful for; that one personal thing that defined our characters.

For Bunnie?

"Heritage.  The traditions and legacies of my ancestors I hold dear.  I leave my hopes in Amaterasu's embrace that the path of those that came before me may continue into a time I leave this existence."

Violet? Do I really need to spell this one out?

"Fun times ahead, yo!  I kicked so much arse and took so many names apologized for nothing, m' homies and bromies!  I did it my way and I'll do it again and again!  Cause' that's who the Hell I am!"

For Jon?

"A secure life that I can move on from times I'd rather not remember.  For a present I can eat and sleep and be a family man with no worries or regrets.  May this always be a safe and prosperous haven for our race....and maybe plenty of leftovers for the weeks to come."

Yeah, I doubt they'd last that long with Jon raiding the fridge.

Pit?

"I think my old partner and I can agree on this...a world of everlasting peace.  Where our duty has given the people a world where they don't have to fight for a life and suffer to overcome turmoil, prejudice, oppression, and war."

Gadget's thankfulness was simple.

"Joy!  Lots of joy!  This year has been so happy for all of us, on the whole!  I'm just really glad that everyone's so glad!  A world of smiles and laughter!  Golly, life is worth living when we're all so positive!"

And Mitzi?

"For success and opportunity.  For moving forward.  We've all come a long way and many of lives are just now taking off while many more of us have been in for the ride a long time and continue to reach new plateaus!  It's just so great that even if we might not think so, we've all changed.  We’ve all grown."

Rotor was chill about it.

"A life that Skeeter and I can take comfort in knowing that it's a stable environment supporting us with a conservative lifestyle.  We can live the great dream without having to struggle to survive in hostile territory; no living in fear while on the run from an enemy that nowadays has long since ceased to exist."

Sally didn't even hesitate.

"For progress, my friends!  Every day we push forth into tomorrow, both in innovation and exceeding our limitations.  I've watched this world reach for the stars as glass ceilings were shattered.  As I run toward the future, I'll savor ever nanosecond I live in the moment.  That point at 7,000 RPM when the OverTech and BioWare just become weightless and I have no doubts about who I am!  That's what makes it all worthwhile."

Lupe knew what was most important to her.

"Harmony.  It remains the most precious of the precious.  And seeing life in all forms maintain its cycle as it has since the dawn of time, assures me that this world will go on.  That no matter what mistakes we make, what scars we give our planet, we can work hand in hand to heal the hurt--of the body, the heart, and the soul--and keep it thriving in all its glory."

Callista Brighton went next.

"For a husband and a father who make my life complete.  Who has raised our child to be his own man and taught him to stand on his own two feet.  For the soldier who has struggled for a life of peace and has chosen me as the keeper of his heart, his health, his home, and all that makes him who he chooses to be.  I thank Colonel Scott Angus O'Conner for all."

"For a wife and a mother who gave me my life back when war shattered everything and I had nothing to live for.  Who has nurtured our boy into a fine man that loves and respects his fellow people and inspires kindness in all who know him and have yet to meet him.  For the doctor who helped me cast asside my hate, my propaganda, my misguided sense of duty, and my solitude for a life where I can serve not just my country but all people who would accept our friendship.  I thank you, Dr. Callista Penelope Brighton-O'Conner for all."

There were more people present to speak in addition to our own Ultra Crew but it finally came around to me.

"if it's broke...don’t' fix it.  Unity.  I'm the King of Crossovers.  I've inspired us to become something more than the sum of its parts...to look past differences and embrace what gives us common ground.  To remember that we're all intelligent beings; whether we were born in this country...on this planet...in this galaxy...whether we're from the same time period...or dimension.  We're all in this together.  We're all in this to the end, whatever that may be.  We stand together.  We stand strong.  We stand united.  We are the life of all existence.  And by gods we're proud of it.  I give my solemn oath that the bonds we've forged will last for eternity."

I think I'd given a speech as good as any Asriel had given in the past. My best one yet.

Yet...Asriel was about to give one even better.

"Eight years.  Eight years gone...eight that I treasure with every waking moment of my life.  Eight years ago, I came to this world when my own world had given up the ghost after it left me for dead.  When in darkness I wept.  When at the end of the world I was found.  When at the beginning of a new life I was comforted.  I looked upon what I had without understanding...without confidence...without courage.

One by one, you all showed me the way. I was given gift...after gift...after gift.

A teacher and sensei.

A...unique inspiration and mentor.

A role model and (chuckle) superhero.

A down-to-earth philosopher and hard worker who was good with a pipe wrench.

A big sister and source of joy and laughter.

An older friend; a self-proclaimed girl-next-door, who made sure I never went hungry nor without song and appreciation for eras before my time.

A hungry and lazy, yet reliable uncle who made sure I wasn't wearing rags and enjoyed the best cookouts.

An angel who kept me pure and noble.

A soft-spoken caregiver and confidant with an unrivaled respect for life in all forms.

A father I could look up to and admire with a strong arm and a gentle hand.

A mother who cultivated my heart, mind, and spirit.

And the best friend that anyone could ever ask for.

My gifts are numerous...too numerous to list; both the material and both the ones you can't put a price on. Both tangible and intangible. Far more than a person should deserve. But deserving is irrelevant. I have them all. And I can never ever, even once take a single one of them for granted, lest I lose myself.

I am the product of all of what you've put into me. I am the hopes and dreams of everyone at this table and everyone that might not be here. I don't say that with arrogance, but with purpose. I understand why I was given a chance to live when my fate should have been sealed.

And now I hope that someday I can be given the chance to pass all this on to somehow just as deserving. That like All-Might's quirk, One-For-All...this fortune may be cumulative and stack upon the next scared and alone child that has lost everything. I want to fully commit to the aims of the Arcade Foundation and be the kind of person that outreaches to those as I have been reached out to.

So I look upon what I have now, with understanding, with confidence, and with courage. I appreciate every last bit of it. I am so thankful for all that I have. All that I have been gifted. All that I have earned. All that I have self-made. And I will personify all that I have become...all that I am...with kindness, patience, integrity, bravery, justice, perseverance, and determination. With these virtues, I will prove that I am deserving of the title of Prince of This World's Future. From past, present, to that unknown future, I am Asriel Tobias Dreemurr-Arcade...and I love each and every one of you for every facet of my life that you have awarded me. I give thanks for everyone and everything. Thank you all."

Words.

Just words. I could not find...the words. But he found each and every one. My gods, Asriel...you've surpassed Asgore as an orator and speaker. This is...truly the most epic thanks you've ever given.

He was given close to a two minute standing ovation for this grand speech. It really hammered home what this was all about. This is why we celebrate. This is why Halloween and Christmas SHOULDN'T crowd out this holiday, especially not for corporate prosperity or woke culture. This was important. And this is why we need to remember it. Thank you, Asriel. You've done us the most wonderful service on this day.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Sub-Entry 346: "The King Holds All the Kaards":
As my eyes opened I was greeted to the familiar sight of Kris, Ralsei, and Suzie around me...and Lancer walking the path behind the trees directly to our left; despite being on the team he didn't seem to be in formation. It was like I had never left. It was like no time at all had passed since Kris last touched a Save Point.

We were about to learn some things about Lancer that kind of changed everything. I suspected by this point...but hearing it outright made me stop and think. I'd heard all the clues up to this point and now I had a better understanding what the situation was. And from the sounds of things this unknown King--Lancer's Dad--was at the epicenter.

While we were nearing the end the Dark Land just seemed to be so small...relatively speaking. Yet, I felt like...we were only seeing one piece of what a much bigger world could be.

It didn't matter. We'd been on this quest for what I assumed was a long time. Now it looked like it was finally winding down.

"I've never been on such a big team before!!!"

"Don't you have a legion of...various guys?" Ralsei questioned.

"Yeah, but my dad forced them to listen to me.  So they don't actually like me very much."

Sympathy for the devil...devil's kid?

"Heh.  Well you don't need those clowns anymore.  Just chill with us." Blunt but...true, Suzie. This was...probably the least abrasive she's been this whole adventure.

"Aye aye!"

We kept on going down the path of the dark forest.

"Man, I'm still hungry.  It's like nothing I eat here matters.  Shoulda stolen more money for the bake sale, I guess."

I heard that before in similar context. Though I wouldn't have admitted to bake sale thievery.

"I WAS thinking of baking a cake later."

Funny. Asriel was always looking for any chance he could to bake a pie back home, whenever Mitzi was taking care of his cooking lessons. Goat son was going to do just fine for the day he'd be living on his own.

"Mmmm...what's the catch?"

"You have to stop making fun of me, for one."

"PASS!!!"

Both she and Lancer laughed like loons.

Ouch.

"Look, Suzie!  A candy tree!"

"Hell, yeah!"

However even at Suzie's size, not even several tippy-toes jumps were enough to reach the prize.

"...damn, the last piece's too high to reach."

I was tempted to superconduct hover but Lancer chimed it first.

"Worry not, Suzie!  I have a SPECIAL TRANFORMATION for times like this!"

And for the briefest of moments, he got my hopes up.

"R-really!?"

"Watch and learn, team!"

He lit up as energy gathered and then was a flash and explosion--

...and when the light cleared, he was merely hunched over on all fours, becoming a makeshift footstool.

Hopes down again. Oh, brother.

"Look!  Stool forme!"

"...all you did was put your hand on the ground." Goat Wizard put it a lot kinder than I would have.

"Hey, don't act so jealous."

One step-Lancer later and Suzie scored the last piece of candy.

"Got it."

"Oooh, tell me what it tastes like!"

"Huh?  You haven't had it before?"

"Oh... I mean, I've always wondered what it's like...but I'm not allowed to pick it for myself."

"..."

And the moment of Suzie growing a conscience arrives.

"Well, you tell me what it tastes like."

"You're giving it to me...?  I thought you were hungry."

"...I uh...changed my mind."

Thank goodness Violet was nowhere around or there's no way we'd escape the "shipping" taunts.

"Hoho!!  Candy joins the team!"

And the fanfare started to play before Suzie interrupted.

"ALRIGHT, ALREADY!"

Annnnd without further ado...

"...so, what's it taste like?"

"Yumn yumn yumn.  It tastes like friendship!"

"What's THAT taste like???"

"Hahaha!! Like my teeth are disintegrating!!"

And another moment of boisterous laughter from the lizard and the spade.

"Haha, that's...  That's actually...bad."

"Haha, yeah!  But thank you for sharing!  You're a good friend!!!"

"Well, uh...  ...you too, I guess."

Seeing her flustered was something else.

"Just walking along with you guys...  Feels nice.  Like I'm doing something...important."

"That's because you're alongside the Lightners, Lancer.  Our purpose - Darkners' purpose - is to assist them.  It's the only way we can feel truly fulfilled."

"Really...?  But my dad hates Lightners.    He wants to..."

"Does your dad seem happy?"

"....I'm...not sure."

"Hey.  Let's ditch the weird "purpose" talk.  You're probably just glad you ate a weird berry."

"Yeah!  I'm still boost from the juice!!!"

This guy was channeling Violet and Sally. Hardcore.

"I mean, LOOK, I'M not from here, and hanging out like this... I also feel kind of, uh, y'know..."

"...happy?"

"Psssh, nah."

A short distance later she followed up with "...maybe."

I'd stayed quiet all this time. But then my ears perked up and I sniffed. I could sense it up ahead. I wasn't sure what concentrated darkness smelled like...but I was sure that was what I was smelling.

We came to the clearing and we could see it. A dark and foreboding castle emblazoned with spades.

And pouring out of it was an inky blackness...like a pillar of blacklight. The way the tower of dark energy was spewing out reminded me of something from my mentors' past we all wish we could forget. While it wasn't crimson and magenta, it ominously resembled the geyser of ghosts that sprayed out from the breached Containment Unit when Peck had the Protective Grid shut down. But the pressure was far more intense than an unfathomable amount of psychokinetic turbulence being vomited out of an offline storage facility.

"Look, everyone!  We can see the castle!"

"Yes!  That's where I live!  Me and uh... ...My dad."

"What's that black thing emerging from the top...?"

"That's the FOUNTAIN, Suzie!  If we can get there...  You and Kris will finally be able to go home!"

"Jeeze, took long enough."

"Any journey worth undertaking takes time and patience."

"Can the fortune cookie advice, poindexter."

"Right.  Because the direct approach with no plan has absolutely no possible ways it could blow up in our faces."

"I know, right!  ......wait...you're being sarcastic aren't you?"

"And who says the purple dino can't learn anything." One last jab for the road.

"Kris, Lancer, old geezer!  Let's go!"

"Fasten your diapers if you're in that much of a hurry, Sue."

"Okay, Boomer." She snorted in response. Wow. She really went there with THAT recent meme. I feel soooooo insulted. Really, it was too easy to take a shot at her for being a millennial stereotype.

We continued on.

"Are you sure there... isn't another way home?" Lancer asked. He almost sounded...afraid. "The FOUNTAIN is being guarded right now.  If you try to go there...um...  Y...You might...get hurt.  And..."

"What?  C'mon, Lancer.  NO ONE'S going to beat a team like us!  If anyone gets in our way, all we got to do... ...is CRUSH them!"

I don't think Suzie really grasped the situation. I get what he was trying to say. But as my experiences had shown:  the ones who lacked brains had confidence in spades (little pun, there)...and those who lacked confidence had brains to spare. Finding the middle ground was a delicate balancing act I had yet to figure out let alone master. And heck. I  was ALWAYS second-guessing myself.

But only cowards let what scared them hold them back from taking action. It was okay to be afraid. But it wasn't okay to run from what you were afraid of.

"...but w-what if you had to fight..."

"Everybody bleeds, right?  Don't worry about it.  Whoever it is, they'll be cold on the ground before you can blink."

"...B...But Suzie..."

"What?"

"...  ...I think...  I think I need to go."

"Huh?  When are you going to be back?"

"..."  A long pause. "Never."

This was a surprise but not expected if I was following the conversation. Just how much of a nightmare were we all in for--

And he ran off.

"H...Hey!  Wait a second!!  Lancer!!  Why are you acting so weird?!" Suzie hurried after him but he was far ahead.

"S-Suzie!  Wait!" And off Ralsei went to chase after her.

Kris and I looked at each other for a bit. I gestured with both open palms, indicating "after you". And then I followed behind.

And we immediately alerted the guards.

"The Lightners are approaching the castle!  Get them...!"

And the razor-sharp diamonds rained down on us in every direction.

It was a kamikaze run to catch up to Lancer while barrages of projectiles swept the path in wave after wave after wave until Lancer charged through the gates of the castle before it the iron gate slammed down.

"Hey...!  What are you doing...!?"

And like that we were left at the mercy of the castle guards. They completely surrounded us before flooding us with a single wave of shots from every direction...

...and then everything went black...

...when I woke up, Kris and Ralsei were out like a light and we were all in a jail cell in what I presumed was a dungeon in the castle.

"Heheheheh...you poor Lightners...  We were told to keep you imprisoned for eternity...  Too bad!  ...Would have loved to see you guys punished!  Hahaha!" And then the guard left us all to our lonesome.

"Ow... Well this is a fine how-do-you-do, isn't it, Kris?  Imprisoned for eternity...  That sounds like it might take a while."

"Not the way I hoped to spend the end of this adventure...assuming we are near the end." I narrowed my eyes.

I checked the bars. No metal I recognized. And non-magnetic. Lorentz-forces weren't going to help us much less anything in my magnetic toolkit. I didn't think I could overload and melt them with enough electric current, either.

Hey, wait a minute...one of us was missing!

"...and Suzie!  Where's Suzie!?  We have to find her, Kris!  Before she gets hurt!  ...or, um, hurts someone else..."

By now I was used to not being addressed or acknowledged. I accepted that I just didn't belong here. While Ralsei had made an effort to converse with me, Kris just stared right through me. I couldn't tell what was going through their mind. And I didn't need to dignify Lancer. I don't think he even noticed I existed once this whole thing.

But damned if I was okay with being useless.

"Maybe there's something we can escape with in here...?"

Kris had already taken the initiative. They snatched up the iron shackles, which "iron-ically" increased the defense of whoever wore them. Hah.

After about two minutes they discussed what they had found with Ralsei. I probably should have said something when Kris actually ate the moss growing in the cell...despite it "mossing out" their HP.

"...what's all that green stuff around your mouth?  ...2 minutes in jail and you're already started eating moss.  You even put on prison shackles so, um...  You look like a prisoner for life!  Haha!

...So you couldn't find anything... Well, Kris, let's not give up hope just yet! ...But, um, if we don't make it for some reason... Then I just wanted to say, um..."

Oh gods...don't...please don't, Goat Wizard. You're getting me all choked up.

"I...I'm glad I was able to meet--"

"Hey, idiots!  Can you shut up!?  I'm trying to concentrate!!"

And the moment is ruined.

Wait a minute...!!

"S-Suzie!?  Where are you!?"

"I dunno, prison?  Seriously, though.  I'm outta my cell.  I sweet-talked the warden into giving me the keys."

Right. Sweet-talked. This is me deadpanning.

"Suzie!?  Really!?  How?"

"I, uh, "invited" him to visit the trash can."

There it is.

"Anyway...now there's a puzzle in the way."

"Okay, solve it, Suzie!"

"I...um...don't do...puzzles."

Shocker.

"Hey, how bout we sit tight and wait for Lancer.   He lives in the castle.  He's bound to come and save us."

"...why don't Kris and I help you solve the puzzle?"

"Look, I don't NEED your help...but, uh,  if you said what to do out loud...y'know, I wouldn't stop you."

You know what? It's the best deal we're going to get out of this. Complain about how she needs to get over herself later.

While Suzie was talking I was already using the pocket mirror I had on hand to get a look into the cell next to us. Apparently I'd thought to prepare myself going into this dreamscape world; heck I hadn't used this thing since years ago when I first gave Asriel his Unitrix-core bracer and he got a look at himself as a human for the first time. Thank goodness it was in my memories so readily.

Tricky business positioning it until I could see Suzie and the puzzle in question. I had to adjust for the reflection but I figured it out quickly. Heck, we'd SEEN this puzzle before. And really...it was even simpler than before.

"Add a spade.  Add a diamond.  Swap them for a club and a heart.  Add a spade, in that order." I replied rather frankly.

I didn't expect her to get all that, but she somehow surprised me...without calling me a geezer or some other insult, to boot.

Suzie's cell door swung open.

"Yes!  We did it!"

"Great!!! Now come and free us!!"

"Alright, alright!"

Unfortunately her cell was divided off from ours with a wall. This dungeon was a maze. And there would happen to be another puzzle for her to solve...and out of the range of all our voices. It was up to Suzie to spring us without help? Oh man...

Little did I know she'd solve it by herself. But no good deed goes unpunished...and as it turned out...she'd learn the truth from Lancer himself; namely...he was the one who ordered our capture and imprisonment...and that we were to remain down here forever.

Ouch.

But maybe I was becoming an old softie as I hastily made use of the spare parts in my lab coat pocket. They had been completely useless all this time but I was able to a miniature and crude version of a surveillance drone I'd seen in Monsteropolis while we were in Mega Man's territory. Just enough to give short-range live audio and video. Times like this I remind myself why I have a degree in electronics.

Unfortunately I wish I hadn't thought to be nosey; ignorance is bliss. At the very least I could spare Kris and Ralsei from seeing things get ugly so I pretended I was occupying myself with nothing important while I waited.

"...I was the one who told my troops to put you down here.  To...keep you down here.  Forever."

"L...Lancer...you...you...you wanted to get rid of us?  I thought we were a team."

"I can explain, Suzie..."

"Nah.  It's fine.  It's fine actually.  You don't have to say anything.  I...get it.  I get it, y'know...  Why would anyone...really want to be my friend anyway."

"Suzie, that's not--"

And then things went downhill.

"Shut up."

"But--"

"SHUT UP!  Get out of my way."

Hesitation.

"DID YOU HEAR ME?  GET OUT OF MY WAY."

"N...No."

And then came Suzie's dark laugh.

"Did you not...HEAR ME...?   Man, I tried to warn you...so don't expect me to feel guilty...when they have to clean you off the floor!" Out came the axe. "Hey, wanna see what happens to traitors?  THEY.  GET.  CRUSHED."

I couldn't let Ralsei and Kris see this. I huddled in the corner and kept to myself, watching the feed sputter in and out, keeping the volume low.

The battle was gruesome...but it took an unexpected but familiar turn when...

"Heh...you missed, idiot!"

"What the...?" I blinked. "Oh no...it's like...that all over again.  Isn't it...Toriel..." I whispered under my breath when I noticed Lancer's attacks were deliberately missing. All those spades and they were actively steering away from Suzie...but her axe hits were all landing.

"...wait...why aren't you fighting back?  Heh.  You think I CARE?  If you want to just lie down and die, you're just making it easier for me!"

And then at his last...

"Alright, that's enough  If you wanna die so much...THEN DIE!" The final axe swing.............and a miss.

"S...Suzie...?  You missed."

"I don't want to kill you, man.  Just move.  Please." Did she say...please?"

"B...But if I let you guys go... then..You and my dad will fight...and...and...You'll kill each other.  At least if you stay here, neither of you will get hurt."

"Then I...I .won't kill him.  I promise.  We'll uh...talk it out.  Peaceful-style.  Y'know."

"I...don't think my dad would like that."

"Hey, Lancer!  We're a team, right!?  Nothing can stop us.  Fighting or not!  Alright!?"

"...Yeah!  You're right!  We might as well try!  I can help too!  I'll go talk to my dad!  Ripen him up."

"Hey, now we're getting somewhere."

"I'll head over right now!!" He stopped after starting to  head off. "S...Suzie? "

"Yeah?

"Are...Are we still friends?"

"H...Huh?  Of...Of course!  I mean if you wanna be!"

"Phew.  See you!"

The last thing I could make out before my spy drone finally died on me; the unit pretty much self-destructed and the receiver pretty much crashed with a sizzle, a spark, and a trail of smoke...the last thing I heard Suzie say was "...how and I going to get past his dad like this...?  C...C'mon, I'll figure something out!"

Meanwhile back at our cell.

"...so that's why, OK, Kris?"

And Suzie showed up with the keys and unlocked the door.

I hastily shoved the broken tech back into my lab coat pocket. By this point I was almost certain I'd kept the secret from Kris...but Ralsei? If he was that in tune with my thoughts and presence from the outside world...I wasn't sure that he wasn't already aware of what I was protecting them from. Or if he'd call me on it.

"Suzie!  You came to save us!  I knew you had the heart of a hero...!"

Yeah. She really did.

"Yeah, yeah.  Don't push your luck."

Kris, Ralsei, and I joined...re-joined the party.

"What the Hell?  Your prison cell gets MOSS!?  	(Didn't even save any for me...)"

We picked our way through the lowest level. Being that this was a castle...there would probably be a lot of floors to comb through. We passed by the puzzle Suzie solved.

"Aww, did you solve this puzzle by yourself, Suzie?   You must've really wanted to save us..."

"Huh...!?  No way, I just...!  I just...solved it on accident."

"On accident?"

"I actually thought it was, uh, y'know, a slot machine.  But it turned out the surprise was nerds."

Ohhhh, I'd never tell.

As we passed by other cells a pair of eyes stared out from the darkness of the last one.

"Yeah, even I got arrested... And I'm just a pair of eyes!  What's the world coming to?"

We passed through Suzie's cell where the guard was still in the trash can......why was I getting Alphys flashbacks? Oh yeah...I remember, now...

"Thanks for inviting me into the trash can!  I apologize for the inconvenience earlier!  I'm going to invite my friends into this trash can, too!"

Oh brother.

"Suzie's first solo puzzle.  What a fond memory!"

"Stop remembering me fondly!"

We doubled back to where Lancer had went on ahead. The next room over had another save marker...and an elevator.

"Alright, this lift will take us out of here.  It might take a while so... Get comfy everyone."

And we did.

"...Hey, Ralsei.   Y'know Lancer's dad, the King?"

"Yes...?"

"When we meet him, do you think we'll have to....hurt him?"

"Suzie?"

"I mean, I could easily SMASH him, but...  You guys, I know that's really not your thing.  You're more like groveling like total losers.  And I was thinking... maybe...  I could...do that too?"

"Suzie!?  You mean you want to try ACTing?"

"Uh....well..."

"Suzie, we'd be happy if you ACTed with us!  And don't worry, we'll be there to help you.  You won't have to figure it out by  yourself."

"Sure, alright."

"Hey.  Ralsei."

"Suzie?"

"Are you still going to make those cakes?"

"Well, will you stop making fun of me?"

"Well, if I HAVE TO, I guess."

"Then I'll make as many as you like, alright!"

Too good for this world.

"Yeah, like you can make that many, dude."

And the elevator stopped.

"Well, this is our stop."

I followed behind Ralsei.

"Hey, Kris.  Wait a sec.  Y'know I'm starting to realize.   It'll be easier for us to get out of here...if we all, uh, "get along" a little more.  So next time we fight an enemy...If you tell me what to do, I'll listen to you.   ...but y'know, don't tell me anything STUPID, or I'll go back to smashing heads, alright!?"

Riiiiight.

"Kris...I'm counting on you, okay?"

Kris was last out but I hung back to make one last observation.

"Suzie joined the party for real."

I think I got semblance of a brief smile.

The plaque on the side of the elevator read: "Elevator to Prison.  Formerly elevator to Basement, which just happened to have a lot of cages."

A save point. We were on 1F. Out of how many? Hopefully not too many floors.

Looking at the Elevator console before it closed, I noticed that there were three destinations. Prison B1, Floor 1F...and ????

Curiosity got the best of us and we opened the elevator and investigated floor ????. When the doors opened the path led down a staircase...to a single locked door. No sooner did we approach...

"BOO HOO, BOO HOO, UEE HEE HEE.  SO LONELY, SO LONELY I BE...  BUT LO, THREE VISITORS STANDING INSIDE?  WHO ARE YOU FEW?"

"Nice to meet you.  I'm Ralsei, this is Kris, and..."

"So what the Hell are you doing in there?"

"I AM INNOCENT, INNOCENT.  I JUST WANTED TO PLAY A GAME, GAME.  BUT THE BORING KINGS FOUND SUCH FUN TO BE A TROUBLE.  AS PUNISHMENT THEY CRAVED TO IMPRISON MY BODY.  BUT I'M FAST, FAST, CLEVER, CLEVER.  THEY LOST THE CHASE, AND LOCKED UP THEIR ENTIRE RACE,  BUILDING A PRISON AROUND THEIR WHOLE WORLD.  NOW I'M THE ONLY FREE ONE."

"Huh?  Free?  But clearly you're the one behind bars..."

"THINGS DON'T SEEM SUCH FROM HERE, LIGHTNERS."

"Well, sounds like you don't need any help, then."

"THAT IS UN-SO.  I GROW LONELY IN MY LITTLE FREEDOM.  SO SHALL YOU PLAY A GAME WITH ME, ME...?  I'll SHOW YOU WHAT IT MEANS TO BE FREE!"

I was getting a familiar vibe...not as malicious or twisted...but familiar. It was the same vibe I got from Chaopolis. Like...something was telling me this door was not meant to be opened...that was might unleash an anarchy we couldn't control.

"FIND THE KEY AND I'LL LET YOU BE FREE, FREE!  THE KEY IS HIDDEN FROM THE EYES.  THE OLD SHOPKEEPER KNOWS A SECRET..."

After all this time we were still carrying Broken Key B and Broken Key C. But where was Key A?

We decided to leave and double back to the prison floor and head east to make sure we didn't miss anything.

That was when we came to a room with a long train of wheeled circus cages in all their decorative glory. Inside, however...!

Three kings were stuffed inside the first one. The others each contained  prisoner.

"Woe!  Oh, Woe!!  We are three three Former Kings!   We beg you, free us!  Once all four of us ruled together but when the Knight arrived, everything changed...  Oh, my diamonds!  My jewels!    You must tell me if they're all right!  Oh!"

We hastily explained.

"What, you say?  Your world is in danger?  Well that is a shame, isn't it.

The next one had this to say: "I was arrested for making a puzzle without a license...  I'll never make another word search!  Promise!"

And others.

"Since I didn't want to fight you guys, I got locked up.  How can I?  You guys seem WAY nicer than the King...!"

"Us animals used to be alone in the cages.    Now everyone's here.  So many new people.  Wish we could go back to the old day, when it was just us in these filthy cages."

We didn't have any way of breaking them out. Besides...I don't think they could actually help us anyway. Back to 1F...

It didn't take us long to run into more guards, specifically Rudin Rangers. As promised Suzie agreed to try things our way. Though when asked to compliment them she was at a loss until Ralsei suggested she try something that she wished someone would say to her.

"You are unbanned from free sandwich day."

"The king never said THAT to me before."

"Your outfit is NOT disgusting."

And with that we spared them.

That worked? Huh. That worked.

Noticing our surroundings...this place was incredibly drab...incredibly featureless...to be honest...it looked like Mr. Game & Watch's Flat World in all of its black and white glory.

Exploration of the room to the west revealed a pair of Rudins we'd met before. Apparently they sold their beds to replace them with treasure. While they complained of back pain, somehow life couldn't be better for them. Whaaa...?

"Hey, it's you!  You're that peaceful Lightner!   Whoah, you even tamed the beast that was tormenting us..."

"...beast?  What beast?" Suzie asked.

"Ohh!  You even taught the beast to talk!!"

I was laughing my tail off inside and REALLY trying not to grin. REEEEEEEALLY trying.

We got a Choco Diamond for our troubles.

We went up the stairs to floor 2F. Uh-oh...more diamond want turrets. A tricky feat weaving through them. Along the way we picked up a Club Sandwich........ugh. Asriel not hear to enjoy that obvious pun.

The castle bathroom, "Royal Flush" was apparently occupied. One pun right after the other, it would seem.

Unfortunately the next room we came to was a trap, sealing us in with spikes.

"So the worms have decided to crawl out and play..."

"Who's there?"

"Geh ha ha ha ha ha!  Thoust FOOLS!"

Wait a minute...that olde English manner of speaking...we'd encountered this before! You're--

In a shaft of light the man of the hour appeared. Long, haired, wearing Duke-ish attire. And reeking of Mettaton's flair for extravagance. Rouxls Kaard, I presume?

"I am Rouxls Kaard, thou're greatest adversary!  Thou may have clawdst past thouse otherest conundrums...but THOUSE we created by UTTER WEAKLINGS!  Now prepare thouself for the STRONGEST puzzle of THOUST LIFE!"

In a flash it appeared. A raised glowworm green switch and a raised mahogany box.

"TOIL, worms!"

We explored the room for a way out after examining the switches...?

"Lost...?  Frightened...?  Confused...?  GOOD!  HA HA HA!  Toileth in despair at the Worlde's strongest puzzle...!!!"

Violet would ask something to the effect of... "Did he say 'toilet'?" and I'd whap her.

"My, art thou still stucketh upon my puzzle...?  Trappedth, hopelessly, like an Insecte at a Roach's Inn!  Ah...perhaps I COULD find it in my heart to spare you...Should you GROVEL for one hundred years!  Ha ha ha!!"

I rolled my eyes and simply slide the box over onto the switch with my foot, the weight pushing it down and activating it. The spikes retracted with a familiar victory jingle. Puppy power, indeed.

Rouxls Kaard's eye twitched for a moment before he exclaimed. "GOD.  DAMN IT." And then drifted upward and out of sight in a rage.

A staircase to floor 3F.

We got past some Head Hathys. A room to the east revealed a pair of Hathys we'd met before. And they apparently sold all their gems and filled the room with beds. Of course they did.

The staircase to the west brought us to 4F.

Somewhere in the darkness someone stepped in something...squishy.

And low and behold we came to another room...with another trap. Spikes sealed us in. Again.

Kaard appeared once more.

"Geh ha hah...!  Thoust guys really think that was all I hadst!?  WRONG!  It is time for you to feel my Reale Powere!  Behold!  My ULTIMATE puzzle!"

Stop with the unnecessary vowels...though honestly I didn't know how I knew he was adding unnecessary vowels to his words as he spoke as if I could read it, per se...but yeah. Even Jon would find his olde English excessive.

Also...it was the same puzzle but now the block was additional block length away.

"Gehahahah...Face the TRUE strongest puzzle, worms!  This time the difficulty art MAGNETUDES grander!  See thou in 100 years, thou feeble insects!  Oh such despair!  Oh, Such sweet despair!  Squirmst!  Squirmst upon the Earth, like a Moiste Noodle! "

Really? Really?

This time with two well placed gentle kicks, the switch was triggered. Yay. Go, me.

".................................................Ahh....ha...!  Ha ha ha!  Gullible worms!  That wasn'tst REALLY my ultimate puzzle!  I have a wayst better one  right...here!"

"Can we see it?"

"No." And off he disappeared.

We continued on and found a Revive Mint and a staircase to the south. The room on the left seemed to be...some kind of recreation room where a number of familiar faces that we had defeated seemed to be whooping it up. And their dialogue got even weirder. A boombox played clubs music in the corner. Soccer balls that had been painted to look like giant baseballs...a portrait of a club. A bed made for a three-headed person...who also happened to be in the room with others we'd encountered.

"Oh!  Let us take your coat!" "And put it in the toilet!  HA!" "Which we don't even have..."

Right.

"Please try the baseballs!" "Yeah, eat so many you CHOKE!" "Do they eat sports?"

Staaaaaare.

"Then we can call play Twister~!" "Just stay OUT OF OUR WAY!" "...we lose even by ourselves."

Let's get out of here.

The staircase let to 5F

A room to the left with a giant spade-shaped doorway. A shop to the right.

In the room...a bicycle was lovingly tucked into bed. Lancer's room, no doubt.

Checking the holes he had dug in his room, we found 20 Rupys...but that's not a useful currency here.............wait a minute...!!!

I wasn't about to point out what I already knew.

Checking out the music player on the ground...we found that its track list was...full of cartoon splat noises.

But once in the shop...someone unexpected was running it.

"Rouxls Kaard...?"

"Welcome to my shop, you ungrateful worms." He greeted us as he reclined on the counter.

We raided his wares and asked some questions. We found out his hobbies included calligraphy, law keeping, bug keeping, cages...and long walks in the dungeon.

So why was he selling to us? So that he could "amasseth funds.  An army of funds" so that he may "crushesth thou like fermented grapes - a delicious adult beverage - Vengeance!! Ahahahah!!"...end quote.

The king, we learned was a cruel and terrifying monarch. Far cry from Flufflybuns, as it were. However, Rouxls described him as being brilliant simply for the reason of hiring him as Duke of Puzzles after pretty much firing everyone else or putting them in cages. Truly a benevolent ruler...and I say that as flatly as possible.

The king's son, Lancer, on the other hand was "more troublesome than a fistful of fleas" apparently asking the "worst of querries" and calling him "Lesser Dad".

We armored up and checked out the elevator...then left it to take the stairs to the north.

Floor 6F. A short walk down the hallway before Rouxls Kaard appeared one more time.

"Enough, Worms...!  Thou may have CHEATEDETH through mine PUZZLES...in COMBAT, thou shall be scattered about!  Come, knaves!  Prepare for battle with... "

Alright. Let's bust this--

Rouxls Kaard drifted backward as something else appeared in a shaft of light....oh no...this guy again.

K. Round.

"...whatever this is!"

"Huh!?  It's the enemy from earlier.  But its crown looks different..."

"It looks the same." Suzie muttered.

"Yes, with my Control Crowne!  I mayst control any disc-shaped Lifeforme!

"Oh no!  It looks like it's in pain!"

"It looks the same!!!!" Suzie muttered again, louder.

"Yes!! The Control Crowne is painful!!  But I'm certain this creature will feel relief...when it sees how much MORE pain THOU'LL be in!!!

Here it comes. Again.

Pretty sure making it bow wouldn't do the trick. But Suzie had an idea. I immediately regretted listening to it......but Ralsei regretted it a lot more. While he was expecting Suzie to apologize before...her plan was to hurl him like a javelin to knock the crown off......several times..

And yup...it fell off and K. Round shrunk back to C. Round...and rolled off. Um...yay?

Rouxls Kaard was speechless for a moment as he returned to the battlefield. And then...

"Why, brilliant!  Just BRILIANT!  I knew you couldst do it!  Thou great heroes, thou!  Thou see-eth, that was merely...a friendly TEST of thine abilities!  But thou hast WON!  And now NOTHING blocks thine path!"

This is my brain shifting without the clutch. What. WHAT. WHAT.

"I, personally, could not be less of an obstruction!"

"But you--"

"Luck be with you, heroes."

Wait a minute...was he...just a coward and a sycophant who ran at the first sign of trouble? Or did he have the worst case of Stockholm Syndrome...or both? Did it matter?

Just for the heck of it, Kris opted we return to his shop. And sure enough, all of the things we asked him about earlier...he doubled back on. Yup. A guy who was always on the winning team. And suddenly the King was a terrible man who he aspired to overthrow by accepting this high ranking position. And apparently Lancer is a "darling"

This man wrote the book on double talk.

Well. The path to the king was clear. Up the staircase to 7F. We passed C. Round with his puppy expression. Into the throne room we entered. Riches amongst us, shining with avarice. The throne looked like it had been damaged in a struggle. Wall banners had been torn apart. Behind it lay a long hallway...a long hallway that felt familiar. It was just like the path behind Asgore's throne room. But as we approached...something was gnawing at Kris and myself. And in the moment just before reaching the door...we both agreed we had to take care of something.

"Guys.  Wait up for me.  There's something I need to do."

"What?  But we are so close."

"I know...but...trust me.  I'll be back."

And then I electro morphed and tore through the castle at my absolute fastest!

"WHOAH!   That dusty old wolf could do THAT all along?!" Suzie freaked.

"Amazing...!"

I sped across the land until I skidded to a stop at my destination. Seam's shop.

I looked at Broken Key B and Broken Key C that Kris entrusted me with before going in. And immediately I asked about the Strange Prisoner.

"Eh...?  What are you talking about...?  A prisoner with an odd manner...?  ...No, you couldn't possibly be talking about HIM...?  ...I see.  After all the trouble I went through to lock him up, you want to release him?  ...Hmm, now that you mention it, it could be trouble if  he was left alone...  Yes, perhaps it's better if you heroes dealt with him now...?  After all, it's not as if whatever happens will matter in the end.    Perhaps a little chaos might be fun.  So then take this."

And he gave me Broken Key A.

"If you're so driven, find the other two pieces and find someone to fix them.  I'll even give you a hint - walk where the stars don't shine.  Anyway if you succeed come back here and tell me!  Good luck!  If you can call THIS luck...  No, it's more like a curse...!"

I knew just the place to get them fixed... And off I sped.

Off to Malius. He immediately noticed the fragments. I gave them to him...and they were repaired beyond recognition...they became the Prison Key. But he recognized that there was a terrible energy radiating from it...

And with that I arced, pentuple-time, back to the castle and explained everything. And despite Suzie's protests, I convinced everyone that we had to take care of this prisoner first. If we could save at least someone in this world...it might as well be someone we had a key to their cell.

But I wonder...was this a Pandora's Box we were opening?

As Kris brought the key closer to the lock...

"UEE HEE HEE, THE KEY, THE KEY.  A MARVELOUS FUN IS ABOUT TO BREAK FREE.  WON'T YOU LET YOURSELF OUTSIDE?"

The key inserted, it turned and the door opened...and everything started fading to white...

I gasped as I sat up with Bunnie and Callista flanking me. I pulled off the electrodes.

"Commander...I feel...you may have released something...that world may not be able to contain."

Had I made a mistake?

"So....you think I made the wrong choice...?"

"I don’t' know.  There's not enough data to work with"  Callista frowned at the readouts and the monitors.

"I cannot fault you for acting with your heart.  But..."

"I know.  In the end my choices may not even matter.  Whatever the consequence of my actions...I'm willing to accept them.  Even if they don't matter for beans."

"The best you can do is wait."

"I still wonder...what's the connection to...?"

Bunnie shook her head. "Maybe there is none but coincidence."

"I wonder...if I should tell Asriel about this?" I said as I got up. "I mean...we're best friends.  We shouldn't hide anything from each other save for the big promise that I've been keeping...when he's ready.  But...if I tell him...what will come of it?"

Little did I know Asriel was outside the door and he overheard everything.

"..."

It think he had a lot to ponder, now.

And I had no way of knowing how...or if this would change things. I'd never know until the final encounter in DeltaRune...

Sub-Entry 347: "Back to Vi's Sub-Lab Yet Again":
"So.  How much of Skrillex's discography do you think she has left to upload to her doorbell?" I asked Asriel.

"I don't know.  How many albums does he have?"

"Not a dub-step fan, huh?"

"It's alright.  But I'm not as into it as Aunt Vi."

"Honestly...are we having a debate about it, or just stalling to delay the inevitable."

"We could paper-rock-scissors to see who presses the doorbell button."

"Why mess with tradition.  Go ahead, Asriel.  You're bolder than I am."

"Well.  Brace your ears."

A press and we got an ear full of "Mind" by Skrillex, featuring Kai.

"Well.  I figured it had to be this or "Get Up" by Korn featuring Skrillex."

"Asriel...it disturbs me more that you know his songs by name than the fact that Violet still puts them on her doorbell system."

"I decline further explanation."

"Appreciated."

We went in and signed in. Our passwords were still the same.

This time Violet was rubbing it in with plenty of working scale models of Skynet’s aerial drones and a number of professional grade movie props of the T-800.

"She is so getting coal for Christmas." I grumbled. "And a C&D from Universal Studios."

We each got a bowl of discontinued cereals. Asriel got a bowl of Ice Cream Cones while I got a helping of Mr. T cereal.

"I'm surprised she didn't ACTUALLY make those mach-up fan-versions of the three Ecto Coolers that showed up on social media."

"Give her time.  She'll make them for real.  Until she pisses someone at Minute Maid and spoils it for everyone."

"Hey, there's no rule about home-made stuff as long as you don't make a profit off it, right?"

"She's teaching you how to skirt the line and cut corners, isn't she?"

"I wouldn't actually DO those things."

"Alright.  I believe you."

The male members of her cosplay cafe troop were finishing up their "mix tape" performance; doing  a tribute to Menudo with the theme to "Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea", New Kids on the Block and a cover of "The Right Stuff", "Everybody" by Backstreet Boys, and of course N'Sync's "Bye-Bye-Bye"...which she had already cooked up her own parody version of it some years ago.

"Tell me, Volt.  How did 80's and 90's music get so ear-grabbing?  I'm going to have those stuck in my head all day."

I just shrugged.

Violet got her feature presentation. I hope it was appropriate.

As she was getting ready, some of her crew passed the time with karaoke, selecting the theme song to "Mighty Orbots".

Yeah. She was pushing her luck with Nikita. Though honestly, I never did get the full story of how and why Rob Simmons entrusted her with the Galactic Patrol's pentet of super robots and secret weapon in the fight against U.M.B.R.A.

But the reality was that U.M.B.R.A. and his organization, SHADOW were kaput. Put out of business in a daring do-or-die finally assault which destroyed the Shadow Star superweapon. At least in our universe, that's what happened. By now practically every world we'd been to had its sets of AU's that existed both in and outside of the UltraVerse. The ones outside of our Ultraverse where the ones that were mixed bags and wild cards. I could think back to Asriel's and my trip through the Flip Side as a specific example. Or even our trip to the other VideoLand, where the war with Mother Brain was still ongoing.-

So. What was the show?

Well...it kind of figured it would be that. I will spare you from giving a description of Vi and company’s cosplay...but suffice to say the British Cadbury Creme Egg commercials were less...seductive. I'm sure Violet thanks the Nostalgia Critic to bringing it to her (and by extension, all of our) attention.

"Jeeeeeem!  (Jem is excitement!)

'Ooooh,  Jeeeeem! (Jem is adventure!)'

'Ooooh! (Glamor and Glitter!  Fashion and Fame!)'

'Jem! (Jem is truly outrageous!  Truly, truly truly outrageous!)'

'Whoaaaah, Jem! (Jem!)  The music's contagious! (Outrageous!)'

'Jem is my naaame! No one else is the same!'

'Jem is my name! (JEM!)"'

And then the other trio of her troupe popped up.

"But we are the Misfits!  Our songs are better!

'We are the Misfits! The Misfits! And we're gonna get her!"'

Only for Vi's group to resume. Honestly I expected Vi to be leading the Misfits, rather than the Holograms. But I guess she has to take center stage for everything.

'"Jeeeem!" (Jem!)  The music's contagious! (Outrageous!)'

'Jem is my name, no one else is the same! Jem is my name! (JEM!)"'

Asriel still applauded. Feeling pressured into it by Goat Son, insisting I encourage her, I joined in after hesitating. It wasn't that bad. Violet could sing just not Mitzi caliber. But boy did she rock attention to detail. Even down to programming her own Synergy supercomputer and hologram system.

"Wow, that was amazing, Aunt Vi!"

"Of course it was, beauties."

I motioned for her to chill on the Mettaton quotes.

She ducked behind the changing station and kicked a bare leg out after a few moments, practically sticking her toes under my nose.

"Ack!  Viiii!" I protested.

"Oh lighten up.  I know you're all dying to sneak a peek at marvelous nude me--"

"Ugh.  I can't even smack you when you're indecent." I crossed my arms. "Just once I'd like to keep it family friendly around here."

"Whaddya talkin' about, Spark Wolf?  It's TOTALLY family friendly."

"That's what they say about Las Vegas casinos nowadays..." I crossed my arms and folded my ears back. The sarcasm was strong with me today.

"Okay, okay.  I'll get dressed and we can pop in on my lab.  See you there!" Violet finished getting clothed and then dropped down her secret trap door to her quick access tunnel to her sub-lab at Ultra Crew Institute HQ.

A bit later, we arrived at her sub-lab's doorway.

"Since we're doing the whole traditions in sequence...who's the hottest pro-wrestling act right now?"

"Seth Rollins went to the back of the line after losing the Universal Title to Bray Wyatt.  But I threatened to EMP all of Computer Valhalla if Violet dared to bring the Firefly Funhouse to her sub-lab.  There's only so much creepy I can take before diving down the rabbit hole."

"Maybe it's Daniel Bryan.  He is set to challenge for the title."

"You sure it's not the old goat tie-in influencing that guess?"

"We'll I'm darned either way if I answer "Yes! Yes! Yes!" or "No! No! No!".  Anyway...it's all up in the air with all three brands going at it at Survivor Series." Asriel shrugged.

"Anyway.  I straight-up banned her from Brock Lesner's entrance.  Not glorifying the Beast now or ever."

"I'm okay with that.  Paul Heyman gives me a headache, anyway."

"Let's just stop procrastinating and open the door.  Preparing for this point won't make much of a difference."

And so we opened the door and were greeted to R-Truth's entrance music.

"Huh.  The 24/7 Champion.  I can roll with that.  It fits Violet's tendency to change her mind about stuff spontaneously."

"You're thinking of her friend, Lucille back in Little Tokyo."

"You don't think the two of them have things in common?""

"Good point."

'And the NEEEEEEEW 24/7 Champion...!"

"Yeah, yeah.  We get it, Vi." I waved it off.

"Well he has had the title 64 times now." Asriel shrugged.

"Don't encourage her."

"Ooh, that reminds me.  I'm totally getting tickets for me and Coop for Survivor Series."

The only person as hardcore a pro-wrestling fan as Vi was the pilot of M.E.G.A.S XLR. Speaking of which, the Autobots needed to have a word with him over some destroyed equipment back at their base. Bet you thought that was a one-off moment in my logs, huh?

Ahem...moving away from candid to...more candid, Vi was about to pull us through about a hundred more pop culture references from yesterday and today.

"Tell me you didn't get James Rolfe and Doug Walker in another feud, Vi."

"Oh, you just wait.  Critic vs. Nerd 3 is happening...someday...month...year..."

"Quit while you're behind, Vi.  It's getting sad." I crossed my arms.

"At least she's in the know." Asriel looked over her shoulder where she clearly had James "Angry Video Game Nerd" Rolfe's review of the Immortal on NES on one of her triple-monitor setups,  Doug "Nostalgia Critic" Walker's "Planet of the Commercials" and Andre Meadow's reaction to the redesign of a certain blue blur headed to theaters in February.

"To a fault." I muttered.

Asriel and I each accepted a can of Ecto Cooler from Jinx the Space Camp Robot.

"Son of a gun, Vi...you actually did it.  You turned the Ecto Cooler hoax into the real thing.  How much did it cost you?" I looked at the three flavors each of us  had--Ecto Cooler, Goo Berry, and Big Apple.

"Shhh!  Don't spread it around.  I'm not legally able to sell it for profit so I just say it's for "personal use under fan-made content under internet fair use law".

"You're hopeless Vi." I feel like I have to sign a non-disclosure form as not to describe how it tastes. Anyone reading this log will just have to imagine like the next person.

"Well, we know you're going to have a musical interlude, Vi...so...just do it already."

And she was already at the massive bank of synthesizer keyboards. Her song of choice? "Aniki" from Iridion II on Game Boy Advance; an obscure 3/4 overhead 3rd person space shooter from Shin'nen, the same guys behind Nanostay for the DS and at least one other Indie space shooter on Wii-ware.

All four games, I had to admit, had great synth-rock soundtracks. Both Iridion games even had a "Perfect Selection" soundtrack on CD that had ended up in Computer Valhalla's imported media section where Violet was licensed to sell hard-to-get things from Xing and Jang.

Admittedly, Vi had a talent for covering  arranged and remastered soundtracks that already had better instrumentation and sound quality than their original game soundtrack rips. She and Jon had a version of Revolution X's first stage I thought went above and beyond.

Wait a minute, I'm getting distracted by her music prowess and the fact that Goat Son wasn't holding back from dancing up a storm.

I did a double take before immediately switching over one of the next monitors over as it was playing archived footage of Kenny Omega's pro-wrestling entrance as he came out dressed as a certain blue-hoodied skelly to the sounds of Megalovania.

"Huh?  What was that?" Asriel asked.

"Nothing!" I hastily said, forcing back an anime sweat drop...y'know I never figured out how I can do that if I only sweat in my human form. Anime logic is weird.

"O...kay."

Really...he could ask about it at any time. He was legal though still living under his parents' roof. Maybe we were waiting on each other to be ready to finally release each other from the promise.

Asriel shuffled through a deck of Garbage Pail Kids, cringing at the disgusting images but still holding back a chuckle for the pun names.

Violet's gyro-ball drone was flying around. Apparently ALF had gotten bored.

"Whoops!  My bad!" He called out as the thing knocked a half-empty can of Crystal Pepsi over.

"H-h-h-ey!  Wa-wa-watch it you second-hand rug-g-g-g-g!  You'll cr-a-a-a-a-sh my favorite place of res-res-res-residence." Max Headroom protested.

Gizmo also gave him a bit of a gibberish scolding. Yeah, don't get him wet, ALF. Or it was your head.

"Okay, okay!  No need to get all Cod-Father on me.  Sheesh.  If I wanted to get the riot act I'd have called Bulk Brogan a zonedweebie back on Melmac."

At the same time, Kuma was having a dance with one of the Number 5 robot toys to the sounds of the California Raisins' "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" while Glitter watched from the USB holo-iris plugged into her development workstation where Vi had finished patching a new code update.

"Good gravy.  There are limits to multitasking, Vi."

"Says who?" She mused while messing around with a Bop-It toy that had been lying next to a huge stack of Pogs.

"It's like a museum of fads come and gone." I shook my head.

"By now I've gotten numb to your fooling around on the clock.  Wouldn't do me any good to reprimand you."

"Aww.  Take all the fun out of it, why don't you." Vi stuck her tongue out.

"You do you, Aunt Vi." Asriel shrugged while watching one her lava lamps while making his fur stick up with from messing around with one of her lightning ball plasma globes.

"You know what one of the most dangerous toys ever released on the market was?  An atomic energy experimentation lab kit."

"A WHAT?!" Asriel about dropped his can of Ecto Cooler.

"Seriously.  Came with a Geiger counter and an actual radioactive isotope."

"Hello, lymphoma lawsuits..." I muttered, knowing very well it was a true story. "Tell me you don't have one, Vi."

"No.  I have ACTUAL radioactive material and equipment in the nuclear research lab."

Oh yeah...I was forgetting my mentors' research into portable unlicensed nuclear accelerators for paranormal investigation and elimination...as well as the case of plutonium that my other mentor no longer needed since switching out the reactor core for Mr. Fusion on the Delorean.

...wait...why was Violet using it?! I don't think I want to know.

"This is all well and good, Vi, but let's just skip to the part where you trick us both into one of your elaborate simulations based on a video game; which history has shown has always been a different iteration of a certain series about the Blue Bomber."

"You're REALLYI taking the fun out of this."

"You've done everything you can to lure us in.  There's nothing you can do to surprise us."

"Well, I guess you're right..." Violet said as she shrugged and walked away...moments before the floor actually peeled away and swallowed the two of us up like a giant liquid mercury sack with an underwater-ish BLUURP!

Was this her take on an old sci-fi trope? Or worse an iteration of ALPHA of Mega Man Battle Network 3?

"...but what do I know?" She grinned.

Sub-Entry 348: "Heavy Bio-Metal Advent With Oriental Sentinels":
All it took was the span of a single blink and Asriel found himself in the latest of Violet's simulations.

"Did she pick another of the Mega Man Zero games?  This feels like--"  He stopped short.

"Volt, did you bail out on me?  Not cool--"

"I only wish I had..." I muttered before my form manifested and floated over Asriel's mechanical hand.

"What the...Volt?"

"The rabbit is dead to me." I said flatly.

"What are you?"

"Well based on everything I observe around me and the body that you're in...I'd say you're either a humanoid modified into a reploid body or a reploid given human mortality such that the line dividing humanoid from machine has blurred to being nearly non-existent.  And if that's the case...then that makes me a Bio-Metal."

"Bio-Metal?"

"Allow me to explain the M.E.G.A. System."

"Mega?  As in--"

"Yeah.  But in this game...it's short for Meta-Encapsulated Granular Awareness system. On record, six official bio-metals exist...well....seven counting myself.  And each of them were based on--"

"Let me guess.  X, Zero, Phantom, Fefnir, Leviathan, and Harpuia."

"Correct.  That puts us in the Zero quadrillogy's successor series, Mega Man ZX."

"And you're pretty sure she's still following the pattern of 2's."

"Which would make this Mega Man ZX Advent.  And by that logic...that must make me Bio-Metal Model A."

"Let me guess.  Axl?"

"Normally, yes.  But without getting into spoilers, on this world...it means something...else." I would have narrowed my eyes if I could. But at this point I was pretty much all head. Like a statue of sorts. My wolfish features had been preserved but the black and white color scheme and the forehead extension...yeah...it reminded me too much of Axl of the Maverick Hunters."

So..."

"We're in a world 200 years after the destruction of Ragnarok.  And that was some 100 or so years after the era of Maverick Hunter.  which was 100 years after the era of the original Blue Bomber."

"So...that puts us somewhere in 23XX? Or, no...would it be 24XX?"

"If I did the math right, yeah."

"So...where in the game are we?"

A scan around and the sound of a waterfall gave some clues.

"I'd say...the Waterfall Ruins."

"Looks very...jungle like."

"I know you're not going to believe this but--"

"Hold on.  I'm getting a transmission from someone named Master Mikhail.  He's telling me to watch out for some kind of computer center...where a hacker is supposed to be......what?  Way out here?"

"Can you be more specific?"

"He says that the information in...Legion's Database on my identity was hacked and erased from the outside.  Apparently the computer used to hack the data is somewhere in this area."

I looked around. A lot of stony ground separated by metal block sections. Towering trees and twisted plant life; wrapped around machinery and cables that collectively formed a wall beside us.

"C'mon.  We might as well get started."

Asriel quickly located his Buster Pistol. For a reploid body, it didn't have many impressive abilities. But I hadn't revealed to Asriel, just yet, what his greatest ability was in this game yet.

It was a short distance to the first chamber lock. Yet there was something unexpected in front of it. It almost looked like this open space had been specially prepared as a...battle site.

Honestly, neither of us were expecting a boss battle so soon. But judging from the hanging Japonesque ropes, the two platforms,   and semblance of an Inami Temple's Torii gate in the distance...yeah. We were expected.

One boss would have been bad enough. But who could honestly expect TWO to drop in at the same time?

"Wait right there!  I don't care who you are!  But I can't allow you to go any further!" One of the seemingly identical twins spoke. Purple and white armored robotic shell...like some kind of bipedal, tailed wildcat pseudoroid. But with wheels for foot pods?

The other was identical...and of incredibly few words. In fact all he responded with was a grunt.

"I think they're Shisas.  Ancient demon-dog lions in Jangese mythology." Asriel whispered to me. "Sensei told me about various yokai and mythical beasts.

"A Pseudoroid?  Are you in league with Albert?" Asriel found himself following the in-game script.

"That's right!  Call me Argoyle!"

The other one grunted.

"And he's my other half, Ugoyle!  We will defend this area with our lives!"

"I see...so the computer used to do the hacking is in there!" I said, finding myself bound by the in-game script, too. Damn it, Violet. You made this simulation too intricate.

"Do you think you can break through our defenses?"

Yet another grunt out of Ugoyle.

"Then come on, Mega Man Model A!  Let me show you the way... The way to the Netherworld!" Argoyle challenged.

"End of the line for you." Ugoyle finally spoke.

"Oh great...my instincts are telling me they fight like Gemini Man." I growled. "C'mon, Goat Son.  You're going to have to Mega-Merge!  We'll need the power of A-Trans if we're going to stand a chance."

Asriel nodded and screamed out "MEGA...MERRRRRGE!"

"Biolink established!  M.E.G.A. System ONLINE!"

I floated up in a shaft of light as all but Asriel's skin-tight black suit underneath his armor was stripped away and something else materialized in its place. Mixes of black and white metal shell with red parts. Yeah...I could see the resemblance to the third Maverick Hunter of ages past. I was bound by it and Asriel had become fused with it. We were one and with it came that power. That familiar power.

"This power coursing through me...what is it?  I feel like I know this power.  This is Mega Man power!

Mega Man Model A.

The WARNING klaxon sounded and both Pseudoroids hurtled in opposite directions.

Asriel unleashed a stream of bullets from his Buster gun. Argoyle easily dodged them all.

"So fast...!" Asriel narrowed grimaced.

As they crisscross jumped back and forth they hurled spiked mace balls back and forth; Asriel was forced to take evasive action.

He tried the homing shot, the scanning beam fanning out. It reminded me of Cyber Peacock's Aiming Laser when fully charged but this one was tracking rather than attacking...try saying that a couple times fast.

"They're out of range!  They keep jumping all over the place!" I exclaimed, not really sure how I was perceiving things now that I was technically Mega-Merged with Asriel.

"Look out!"

That was when they both tried running us down with their Infinity Dash ability; their wheel feet accelerating them to unfathomable speeds. Asriel was run down and deadlifted a few times in the process, barely able to dodge the last couple of attacks.

"So tough!"

"They're neutral element so they don't have any weaknesses!" It was coming back to me from my past simulations. It had been so long ago; I'd nearly forgotten everything about the ZX timelines. How did Violet keep on digging up so much about my past missions on the worlds that I'd encountered that were connected to the fictional sims, movies, TV, and comic books of this world?

"Uh-oh..." I noticed the fiery spirit glow before they jumped to the hanging ropes in the area and  started kicking the spike ball back and forth before super colliding it into Asriel, sending him skidding across the ground.

"Ouch."

"Okay.  Really getting sick of this guy.  I don't think taking him on in Model A is going to cut it."

"Then what do we do?"

"We show him Model's A's special ability.  And if you remember Axl from the Maverick Hunters, you know what that ability is, Azzy."

His eyes brightened when it came to him in a flash. "A-Trans!"

"Right."

Asriel accessed the Copy Shot's DNA archive finding a number of copied Pseudoroid DNA sequences and images from other Bio-Metals.

"They keep getting faster but...it's times like this I remember what Aunt Sally said about winning a race by slowing down.  And this guy...looks pretty slow.  At least in land speed." Asriel made his selection.

"A-TRANS!" And with that his shape shifted to that of the Pseudoroid known as "Deerburn" Buckfire, the  Gaxelleroid. Big. Red. Very elk-looking machine sporting a metal feathered headdress that made him look like a Native American chieftain.

"You not stop Buckfire!" Whoah. It even copied his mental imprint and voice; down to the inflections and cadence.

"You feeling alright, Goat Son?"

"Me feel good.  Me stomp Mavericks!"

Oh boy...I am SO going to rip Vi a new one if she puts this on social media as a prank.

Asriel...or rather Buckfire-Asriel started off by firing off tries of fire arrows, boxing the Shisaroids in.

Then he went on the attack, charging his weapon and unleashing a pair of flaming tomahawks. Both struck Argoyle and Ugoyle at the same time with a shrill metallic crash. The environment flickered red for a moment.

It wasn't causing much damage..but we were actually hitting them this time. It might take a lot of shots, but this way, we could win.

"Asriel!  You hit them both in the biometal!  That's their weak point!"

Sure enough, Buckfire could barely move in terms of normal walking speed but when he charged up, he could use what I described as a fiery Dash Kick to surge upward or downward.

It was coming back to me. This guy was a strange reincarnation of Flame Stag.

After barrages and barrages of tomahawks both pseudoroids fell to the ground at the same time. As they did a golden coin-shaped emblem appeared for a brief moment. I guess this was the simulation's way of telling Asriel he went above and beyond and scored some kind of bonus achievement.

"You...!  Me...!  We're broken!"

"No...!!!" Argoyle and Ugoyle anguished.

"You managed to win this battle but you won't survive this war!"

"Aaaaaaaagh!!!"

There was a wash of light that spread outward and faded moments before beams of light pierced out of the two Mavericks' breached shells. Then came the explosions which culminated with each of them being swallowed up in a fiery explosion sphere.

Left behind them was a glowing hololithic imprint...like computer data given form...or...the echo of their own DNA  Asriel changed back to Model A and snagged it, integrating it into his system and gaining a new transformation.

"To leave Pseudoroids standing guard...Albert must really not want anyone to see what's in there." I found myself following the game's script again. It was weird how the computer program was directing our speech and behavior at critical points like a puppet master.

"I'm sure that computer is this way!  Let's go!"

That's right. We beat a boss--a bit early at that--but the mission wasn't finished.

We took a moment to familiarize ourselves with Asriel's new copied transformation--Argoyle (and when charged he could summon a shadow image of Ugoyle). Learning out to do his Infinite Dash and his Rock Bomb kick, we also discovered that Ugoyle could pass through solid objects. We perfected our use of their powers to grab a data disk sealed in a buried pocket under a mound.

As we Infinite Dashed, the wheels left a fire trail behind us.

Through the gate we went; past the chamber lock with a data save marker. The next area was opened up and mechanoid servitors were out in full force--spikey octagons that fired lasers as well as turret barricades. We didn't have time to admire the beautiful waterfalls in the background or make snappy banter. But we did have time to try our other transformations.

"A-Trans!" Asriel took a liking to Model H--patterned after Harpuia of Copy X's old guard from 200 years ago in this weird timeline. The air dashes and slow gliding combined with twin Beam Blades gave him additional air supremacy as well as his Special Ability of using  electric tornados. Plus the ability to analyze the enemy including weaknesses.

With Model L--patterned after Fairy Leviathan of the Copy X elite guard--Asriel was finding it easy to traverse water-areas. Equipped with a polearm lance, plus it gave him an Item Scanner for finding hidden power ups and such.

With Model F--patterned after Fighting Fefnir of the old Copy X regime--Asriel's firepower had the power of double arm buster fire shots which their shot paths could be programmed into complex trajectories. Plus with a napalm burst, this was meant for waging offensive war.

Model P--made him quite the ninja with an endless supply of kunai, the ability to hurl large shuriken, and the power to hang from ceilings with claws. With a Radar Scope, he could sense movement all around him, even in his blind spots.

Through another chamber lock we went and we found ourselves in a lot trickier territory; boobytrapped with hallways worth of death spikes. A single touch would be one lost life. Asriel easily made use of Model L in combination with Chronoforce the Tridenroid--a horseshoe crab pseudoroid maverick with the power of ice whose strange ice-clock ability allowed him to stop time for brief periods.

Spring-loaded extending/retracting spiked spear traps lined the water channels, threatening to skewer at the moment Azzy tripped their motion sensors. Model L managed to get him past them all. Increasing the hazards were hermit crab mechanoids that shot ice spears from their backs. A single jolt would freeze us solid and likely drop us into the bottomless abyss below as we continued to swim the water channels. Chronoforce let him bust through solid rock barriers preventing us from advancing.

We were both too focused to say anything. Besides...I was fed up with Vi's crap. I just wanted this chore over with.

A doorway in the rocky wall at least lead us to a final pair of chamber locks.

As soon as we entered the room,  some kind of security defense mechanism sprung to life. Looking like something I described as a giant reverbot version of a pizza oven or furnace...incinerator, maybe? A big metal tree trunk covered in air vents  The giant, floating emerald jewel above it slowly spun...before it lowered itself into the hollowed-out shell of the machine. As it plugged in, the beast came to life with patches of neon aqua glitches and computer code holo-lythic patchwork surrounding it. I suddenly realized...it was like a tree-borg. It plugged its cables into the ground like roots and that was when the vine-wire cables started piercing out of the ceiling and the floor, attempting to skewer and electrify us.

Asriel instinctively fought back, shooting straight for the exposed crystal emerald peeking out of the "oven slot".

But it retaliated by sliding the overhanging blast shield over the open vent while launching something green and glowing from the open top of the machine. As they drifted down, I recognized this as the falling Leaf Shield attack that Wood Man once used in 20XX, in O.G. Mega Man's world.

Azzy grit his teeth and continued his assault as the blast shield opened back up.

"This machine's only delaying us from getting to the computer!" Asriel realized. "Someone's stalling us!"

Asriel dodged the Leaf Spears that shot out from the emerald followed by another Root Cable attack and a discharge of green plasma spark balls  as the assault back and forth continued until Asriel had enough and unleashed Model A's Giga Crush attack! He pulled out both Buster Pistols and unleashed everything out of them in opposite directions, the splash damage piling up as he gave a mighty battle cry.

With a  series of explosions, the machine collapsed into junk.

"Let's move--"  Asriel hurried through the mechanical gate into one more chamber lock. He didn't get another word out as we felt a massive tremor in the next room at the same time we heard an explosion.

"W-was that the sound of an explosion just now?!" I asked.

"No way!" Asriel was aghast. We couldn't have failed this mission! We'd come this far!

And inside we were greeted to a horrific sight as the mainframe computer in the wall lay in ruin, the screen shattered and every piece of it torn to ribbons.

And we weren't alone.

"The computer!!!  Were you the ones that did it!?"

"That's right!  The rogue maverick, Prometheus "the Reaper" bragged.  "We've entered the final stage of the plan... We don't need to hack anymore. But we couldn't let you go snooping around in there looking for information about yourself, either. And we can't let you, who beat 5 Mega Men just retire."  His smug and defiant demeanor only exemplified his punkish attitude.

Retire? Code for expire, no doubt. Did no one say "get killed" anymore?

"What!?" Asriel gasped.

"The reason we've kept you alive is all part of the plan.  Soon it will all be over.  The destiny of destruction." Prometheus' partner, "the Witch", Pandora explained as emotionless as ever.

Prometheus laughed maniacally. "Albert and his stupid games are about to be over!  As Albert meets his demise!"

Wait, WHAT? Weren't they--

"The end of Albert!?  What do you mean!?  What are you going to do!?"

"I'll tell you when it's all over...perhaps as you are dying!" He laughed obscenely before teleporting out.

"We'll meet again." Pandora spoke in her monotone before teleporting out.

"W-wait!!  Dang!  What's happening!?

It didn't make sense. My memory was fuzzy...weren't they...working for Master Albert? No...there was something else. Something crucial I was forgetting. I--

That was when Master Mikhail contacted us.

"Wait, what!?  Those two weren't working for Albert?  What about the computer?  Is there anything left?"

By this time I think Asriel and I were getting caught up in our roles and the game's script. How much of our performance was acting and how much of it was genuinely reacting to the situation?

"Aw, man..." Azzy looked over it. I tried to sense my way around the system.

After a lengthy search of what was left of the drives.

"You got Data File A!" One piece of information had survived.

"That's it.  There's nothing else left..."

"Don't feel so bad.  Even without data, you are very real and you exist in this world." Mikhail comforted.

Yeah...yeah.....no! Wait! This was still Violet's simulation! Get it together, Volt!

"The proof is in the fact that they went through so much trouble to keep you from seeing the data.  Let's investigate the data we do have on our own.  Send it together with your mission report."

Nothing else we could do.

Asriel charged into the next room and found the Trans-Server. This game couldn't end until Asriel uploaded that mission report and data file.

Once in, Asriel sent both and received 300 energy crystals as payment for the official Legion mission.

From there we transported back to Hunter Base...and the simulation dissolved around us to reveal we were already in Violet's Supercalculator room.

"Annnnnnnd scene." Violet mused as she clicked the stopwatch.

I wrinkled my nose and brushed asside her without a word.

"Hey, come on.  Not even a retort?  Commander?  Spark Wolf?  Captain Zappy?  Hey, back me up here, Azzy!  Asriel?  Goat Son?  C'mon, don't leave me hanging, Cinnamon Roll!  Guys...?"

Sub-Entry 349: "The Analysis and the Unanswerable Questions":
Asriel stepped into the Scanner as rehearsed. Violet did her prep. Into LYOKO he went.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Violet dropped the bloody handkerchief into the laundry bin next to her console which contained about 10 sets of her cyan blue kimono and accessories.

"Vi.  We seriously got to talk.  And not just about the dangerous blood-hemorrhaging that Asriel STILL doesn't know about.  Mind you, I'm not the only one who has a secret to keep from my best friend."

"What's that thing you're always saying?  *sniffle* When the time is right...?"

"Touché.  Still doesn't bring me comfort."

Vi waved me off.

"C'mon.  Let a maestro work her magic."

"I'm not sure you know what maestro--"

"Gonna stop you there.  Music degree."

"When...!  Never mind."

I got comfy and pulled up a seat. Violet had been tricking out her operator's chair and console to the point where just looking at it felt like she was taunting you with her luxury.

"You should know how long the list of things that we're going to have a talk about has gotten."

"And you should probably figure out how soon we'll get to them." Violet said with a smug grin.

Dammit.

"Are you taking me through the Digital Sea, Aunt Vi?"

"Correct.  I figure you're good for a boss run.  But don't fret.  The others are standing by, waiting on you."

Violet already got Mitzi, Gadget, Pit, and Skeeter? How far ahead she planned was downright scary sometimes.

"Boss run?  You mean--"

"Yup.  All those  creatures guarding the virtual Supercalculators Evox set up in the Cyberscapes all around the world.  The same ones that the Lyoko Warriors shut down with our help."

"Really.  You're rehashing old territory, Vi?" I asked.

"Call it a review...or a final exam."

Say what you will. Violet could actually be a decent teacher when she actually focused.

"I'll allow it." I crossed my arms and wrinkled my nose into a sour-grapes pouty face.

"I guess if this IS the last time I go through LYOKO, I might as well go from top to bottom."

It was a long and winding quest through every single sector and every single Replika of LKOKO which went back and forth through the Digital Sea.

Everything was put to the test from Asriel's Triplicate to Pit's previously unmentioned Future-vision (y'know before Garnet made Future-Vision a thing.)  Everyone was able to make the most of their abilities no matter how unique or completely basic they were; like Gadget's wings or Mitzi's tightrope walking ability.

At some point Mitzi reminded me that one of her abilities was telekinesis. And Gadget resurrected her freezing powers.

"You guys and gals are doing great."

First, the Mountain Replika Boss. The purple-ladybug-looking creature. Attacks? Jumping shockwave, Rapid-Fire Lasers, Laser Beams, Slamming Arm and ramming. Surprisingly difficult for a first boss.

"This one's on us." Asriel and Pit high-fived. Skillful use of Pit's arrow darts for offense combined with Asriel's Perfect Block to deflect shots wore it down.

"Keep it up!"

The moment it tried to impale pit with its lobster-like stabbing arm, it got its appendage stuck in the ground.

That's when Asriel took over.

"Those arm guards might as well be bullseyes!"

Out came the swords and the barrage of slashes heaped on the damage.

A back and forth between that until the arms finally self-destructed from the damage.

"The target's weak spot just shifted to its frontal section."

Asriel wailed away at it.

"He's become more spry after losing some limbs!" Asriel and Pit took to evasive maneuvers, dodging its jumps and resulting shockwaves as it landed.

Now at critical damage, its weak spot shifted to its back.

"Pit?  Would you do the honors?"

"I'd be happy to."

And a little R.N.G. with a lot of his best jumping, ducking, dodging, and evasion, Pit hammered it home, with his darts on full auto before finally landing the final blow.

"Cleared!" Both angel and goat high-fived before the group headed to the next boss.

The Forest Boss. Honestly, this was a battle Mitzi probably could have eliminated all by herself. But...there's no "I" in team.

Asriel hung back to catch his breath and to keep Skeeter from losing his mind from the boredom.

Mitzi immediately snapped open he Tessan Fans, locked onto the obvious eyeball weak spot as well as the small servants sent out to distract. Her fans cut through everything like a hot knife through butter.

"Best cardio work out I've had in a long time!"

A few waves of Tessan fan attacks before a rock was dislodged from the ceiling and blocked the eye from further attacks.

"Oh no you don't..." Mitzi growled before turning to the telekinesis to move the rock out of the way.

This pattern kept up a few more times.

The boss shed its outer shell, mutating into the flying mantis form that Yumi had described.

Gadget ad Pit backed her up, aiming for the weak spot that opened up on its back.

Eventually, Mitzi got the last tag in.

A three-way high-five sealed the deal.

"Keep going!"

The Ice Replika Boss.

It was time for Asriel, Pit, and Gadget to shine.

It tried boxing the group in with its sweeping lasers.

Pit riddled the eyes that lined its tower body. He traded off with Gadget for them to conserve their power.

When it changed forms it became a matter of focusing on the eye and the tail. Asriel ran interference with Perfect Blocks.

Asriel took the tail while Gadget and Pit focused on the eye.

"Golly!  That was a blast!"

"Three down.  Two to go." Violet said, as she filed her nails.

The Desert Replika Boss...and it had quite the arsenal; red energy balls, making small fragments of lava out of the cracks, red cross shockwave, shockwave, rising needles and stomp.

Asriel and Mitzi heaped on the punishment; nailing its shoulders with the Tessans. When its weak spots moved around into a cross shape, Asriel took over and went melee.

It was a hard task, dodging every time it dug its arms into the ground and dodging the resulting needle attacks. If we didn't doubt their abilities before, Violet and I weren't about to start now.

A few more attacks before Skeeter landed the last hit.

"Sorry.  But I was getting bored of being sidelined, dudes."

"You've earned it." Asriel knuckle bumped Rotor's little brother.

It finally came down to the Volcano Replika Boss.

Pit and Gadget decided to spearhead this rematch. Going all the way back eight years to the last time they had faced it, the group had just barely survived; most of the team getting devirtualized. Now that they were older and more experienced? It was time to show how much everyone grew.

Pit kept the bug swarm at bay and whittled it down; going for the lumpy weak spots on its back. It was a dance keeping out of the lava around the platforms encircling the small island but by now it was almost second nature for the team.

When the flamethrower attack came, Gadget tagged in and had an easier time to hit the moving targets with her charge shots.

Many permutations went by until it was on its last legs.

In the end, Gadget landed the final blow.

And with that the tests were over. Violet pulled them out and Asriel waited for the report.

"Well, Aunt Vi?  Give it to me straight."

It wasn't a shocker or big reveal this time around. I'm sure Asriel was expecting most of what he saw, especially the heart-shaped pie graph divided into seven equal sections. Each pie slice was one of the seven virtue colors--green for kindness, cyan for patience, blue for integrity, orange for bravery, yellow for justice, purple for perseverance, and red for determination. Each label on the diagram expanded into plenty about each virtue and told us a lot of what we already knew as well as some things that were good information to know.

Kindness--The basics of protecting those he cared about in the most humane way to defeat the enemy. To neutralize opponents with he least amount of force necessary while also serving as a healing conduit for himself and for his allies...and his foes once they were beaten. It was his mercy.

Patience--Support type which balanced the flow of battle and slowing things down enough for him to see the openings while also controlling the equilibrium of energy in battle. With this, his group healing was more evident while also invoking effects of slow and confuse on an opponent. With the ability to channel water-type abilities from fog to rain to ice, it gave both literal and figurative meaning to the warrior who had plenty of chill to spare.

Integrity--Oddly being himself meant being himself several times over. With the ability to gyro-balance as only a side effect as well as amplify his coordination and grace, the echoes of the ballet flats-wearing child was evident but the influence of Sally Acorn was obvious. At speeds so fast that his echoes could exist as solid clones for the brief moments it took to intercept and land attacks of even the speediest of opponents with the faintest of whispers of shadow images in between paths from one to another...truly this was the ultimate clone jutsu.

Bravery--Light shines bright from a person who faces his or her own fears and Asriel was finally able to do that, eight years after being scared of his own shadow and wanting to vanish from the world. Ironic that Antoine should have the most characteristics--according to the algorithms and high order mathematics--with this ability. An ability with no definitive shape but somehow carrying with it the imprint of a song that Pit recognized from the previous Super Smash Bros. tournament. To this day he couldn’t understand how Asriel learned it. Again, while shapeless and formless, through sheer will Asriel could give it shape and form in a concentrated attack that was over before one could even blink. With this virtue came the power to inspire and motivate. Asriel had woken a whole town from their fear and inspired their hearts to beat as one with a common goal to stand up to a common bully.

Justice--Through this virtue, Asriel proved that it was not cliché and overdone...but timeless. The idea of making things right and administering appropriate levels of punishment to an offending criminal; not for vengeance but to deter them from committing further heinous act on the innocent, was truly a concept with limitless potential. The very act of delivering justice was an evolving one that was constantly changing to counter any sneaky trick a villain could resort to. One could say that unlike Bravery which had no form...Justice had every form. And while he would have no part in laying the final beatdown on his fallen foe...he was all too glad to let everyone else define their own justice.

Perseverance--Survival. That's what it came down to. When the intelligent were backed into a corner; when the odds were a million to one and getting worse; and when all seemed loss with no hope or light to be found through the other virtues, Perseverance always finds an answer. It always finds a solution. While its main power was to manifest Asriel's innovation into any mechanical shell he could imagine to meet the angriest of giant titans head-on, its true genius lay in its ability to analyze every facet of the enemy and situation and compute all possible roads to victory while revealing weaknesses and vulnerabilities. A smart solution for a desperate situation, this virtue let Asriel to keep trying until he finds that one way he can win--truly the essence of Thomas Edison's advice about 200 failures not being failures but 200 ways something couldn't be done. All you needed was that one that could do just that to win.

And finally...Determination. The one above all others. Asriel never asked for the power of a God. He would honestly give this power up if he could. But that was why he was worthy of it. By losing everything and having nothing left...he still chose to go on because he had EVERYTHING and EVERYONE to hold onto...and they would hold onto him. In the situation Evil-Chara put him in, it was not his time. It was a situation where Asriel decided for himself that he would not give up...that it was not his time...that HE decides when is time was up. And with the power to defy even death...theoretically...even time itself? Yeah. There was no way he was going to lose. He had too many people he was waiting to return to...and too many people who were waiting for him to return. He wouldn't die. He refused to. The power that Chara and Frisk wielded...now he had that power, too and it had manifested in a unique way. Oddly enough...the data all pointed toward me as the source. Heh. Imagine that.

But all this was stuff we already knew. What was the final sum of their parts? What did all this mean now that his Virtue Vessel was complete.

"...well...it's kind of embarrassing to admit but...after all this analysis...I just don't really know what the true secret of it is."

It was unnerving when Violet gave it to us straight.

"What little I do know is this..." She prompted Asriel to access his H.U.D. and flip it over to the chained up RESET. "In short...I think gaining all seven of these virtues...gave you the key to your own pseudocode."

"You mean...I could undo this lock on this...RESET ability?"

"And we still don't know what it would do on this world."

"But...you've...explored other Undertale worlds besides my own AU...haven't you, Volt?  You must have some idea what it does."

I looked...incredibly uneasy. He could tell I didn't want to answer.

"Oh.  I see.  You do know.  But...you don't want to say."

I nodded, a bit sadly.

"And it relates to......our promise, doesn't it?"

I reluctantly nodded after a long hesitation.

"Knowing this...I...don't think I'm ready to find out for myself.  I mean...from the looks of things...if it IS like save states in video games...then...what happens if I use it?  What becomes off all the experiences I've been through up to now?  I can see...anyone else with this power could...exploit it...use it to undo mistakes and relive past experiences over and over..."

A long pause.

"It's terribly similar to Rance's own UNDO, in all likelihood." Asriel reasoned. "I...can't just use that kind of power...that kind of burden so reflexively."

Asriel had already decided. His choice was COMPLETELY the opposite of Flowey's. It scared him. It bothered him. And I realized...he understood my worry and my pain completely. The point when he'd be ready for the truth was so close, now. It was up to him to say the word from this point on.

"Look...Azzy...we don't know that it could turn back time on our world.  It's...just theoretical." It was a half-truth. I didn't know that it could...but I did know that it could do so on his own world. The same power Flowey obtained to become Asriel...and now our Asriel had it from his own experiences, his own interactions, and his own trial and error.

The crossroads weren't coming...they were here.

"Azzy..."

"I realize it now.  I have changed despite how much I...really don't want to change.  This must...be how Steven Universe felt when it all became clear during his battle with Spinel--"

"Asriel.  Far be it from me to say this but...don't overthink it.  Take all the time in the world you need to come to terms with all these self-realizations...all this responsibility.  All this burden.  Take all the time you need and just grow into it; like you've been doing."

"You're...you're right." Asriel hugged me.

"C'mon, Goat Son.  Let's...let's go live life.  We can worry about all this another day."

"I think that would be for the best."

We bid Violet goodbye and headed out of the lab and out of HQ.

Sub-Entry 350: "Sub-Lab Outpost in Hotland":
Don't call it a house-warming party. Why? Simply because 1) that pun is too easy and 2) it's not so much as a party as I don't expect anyone to pay me a visit. If anything, if anyone would show up, it would be Dr. Alphys. She is smart enough to figure out where I set up shop, after all.

In retrospect, I'm starting to wonder why I asked Asgore to commission the construction of this facility in the first place. It's significantly smaller than Alphys' lab and it doesn't serve that vital of a purpose. And let's face it. This is REALLY changing the timeline. But I suppose the timeline has been irrevocably changed for more than a couple years now.

Before I get off topic...I have to ask myself why I decided to build this place. Well...I suppose having an outpost means that I can take time away from Miranda to watch over the Underground...keep up with the old-fashioned version of face-time (before there was such a thing as video-conferencing and live-streaming). Besides, paranoia was how I kept on guard against Chaopolis. Just because they hadn't tried to sabotage the work my team and I did here doesn't mean they've abandoned it. Sure, Evil-Chara was dead and the game "broken but functional" if I may compare it to Jumanji: the Next Level. But really...was me being here necessary? Was there any danger around here? Hold that thought, as I'm sure time will tell how soon I'll revisit this worry and confirm I was justified.

That said...

"Well.  The power's on.  You've got a wireless link to Alphys' surveillance...I guess that makes us both creeps...and I've got a nice repository of research and development in here that not only gives you an on-the-fly alibi.

That sounded more devious than I intended it to be.

Anyway...I now had a repository of encrypted databases over what I knew about Undertale...as well as DeltaRune to an extent. The only one in the kingdom who'd be able to access this research, much less decode them and make sense of them...was probably Alphys.

On that note I hastily changed the font to...of all things...WIngDings. Just to give her a challenge, and to make sure the only other people who could make sense of it were Sans...and Gaster. Information could be dangerous in the wrong hands, and I figured the three of them were the only ones I could trust with this information if something ever went wrong.

"Think of it...as a time capsule, Volt.  Maybe...some day when everyone's on the surface, we can crack this open and I can follow Alphys in the act of airing out my dirty laundry."

Still felt like the paper-thinnest of excuses for me to feel better about my sins...but it was still the truth, even if I was burying it for the sake of having absolutely every intention of revealing it...someday.

Great. Now I wasn't just keeping secrets from Asriel, I was keeping them from the entire Underground. Volt, how unethical could you get?

"Stop beating yourself up over it.  You want to be a hypocrite after giving Alphys the same advice?" O.C.D. was an *expletive redacted* wasn't it?

Finally convincing myself to be happy that I had in fact built something and it was like anything else--it could be used for good; I had a seat at the console  and looked over the research I'd indexed.

"Several more A.U.'s have popped up." I looked at the notes for SJT-034 or as I called it "ShojoTale" and notes for FUT-999 or "ForbiddenTale" as my name generator app had designated.

Before I ended up getting too deep into this, I quit while I was ahead. Might as well NOT turn this log into another lab report. I'd done that in the past...heck both this account and the pervious Project Lost Dreemurr account. I suppose it was just filler when I looked back on it. But it was still my notes and still a necessary account of things that I'm sure will become important someday. As many adventures and life experiences with Asriel and the others that I'd shared, why not say a few words and include a few formulas, algorithms and theories about what I'd observed?

"Hmm..."

I looked at the latest lists of side-by side comparisons of other people in the Underground as they appeared in other AU's. Some had me rub my chin in deep thought over...and some kind of made me a little intimidated. Imagining Undyne in a lab coat and a meek demeanor made me smile a little. Imagining Alphys in "Fresh" gear and threads made me wince. The thought of Asriel as a Pokémon train made me chuckle. The thought of Chara wielding Death's Scythe and murdering Life herself...that made me shudder and worry.

So many AU versions of so many familiar people. AU's had been happening for centuries. But it seemed like with Mobius and Undertale...things had reached a tipping point. It had exploded to the point that it was no longer a secret of STC. Even if it was being joked about in movies or hinted at in comic book form...the truth was stranger than fiction. But now we were all waking up to the reality...err...realities that were living parallel to us.

"Try as I might..." I pondered something else that was bugging me. "I can't find it anywhere."

Admittedly, I was using my new lab outpost for a new goal--to find DeltaRune. But try as I might...there was no sign of ANY Undertale alternate universe that remotely matched DeltaRune. It was like it didn't exist.

Maybe it was its own world? Well...tracking it down could take years. Heck, it took a while just to lock down where Subcon and Koholint existed...and when they had existed, for that matter.

"Where are you all...?" I frowned. "Why can I only access this world in my dreams?"

You'd think I would have had the answer or semblance to one after retroactively exploring both the Subcon and Koholint cases...but no. Actually, getting to meet a certain team of plumber siblings, a mushroom retainer, and a princess or wandering around an island in search of an elemental fish would have given me all the experiences I'd need to figure this out. But no. I was no closer.

After uploading a few more of my thoughts, theories, and an account of my last stint inside--a stint which left off at a cliffhanger before an unknown prisoner we had just unlocked the cell door to...I saved my work and closed the files.

I thought that if I drifted off I'd be able to answer some more questions...but oddly I didn't end up ending up in that place again.

"Come on, Volt.  You're a dreamer but no Dreemurr."

I wondered what I'd tell Asriel if I ever cracked this case.

As I started to nod off, I was started by a knock at the door.

"Huh...?"

I got up and checked and who should it be but...

"Dr. Alphys."

"Umm...h-h-hey.  I know y-you said you d-didn't want any of us g-g-g-going through the trouble of any h-h-housewarming rituals b-b-but I r-r-really wanted to--"

I sighed.

"Say no more and come in.  I probably needed it anyway." I gladly invited the weeb lizard in.

"W-wow.  It's small but cozy.  V-Very n-nice."

"Alphys...you're stuttering more than usual.  Has something happened?" I really should have thanked her first.

"N-no.  J-just lonely."

"I'm guessing you haven't run into Undyne in a while."

Alphys shook her head. The shyness was real.

A moment of awkward pause.

"Thanks, by the way.  I like it.  It feels like a home away from home.  Though...I can't really say what home is supposed to be in this new life."

"Y-you know you haven't really t-told anyone where it is you're living.  W-W-What if someone asks?"

"I'll think of something.  For now, the "nomadic life" seems to get the job done."

"Better not put it off t-t-t-too long.  I'd...already paid the price of procrastinating with...well..."

"I know.  You're still not ready to unveil the truth.  You  need someone besides me to encourage you to take that big step."

"D-Don't take it the wrong way."

"I don't.  I'm hardly the person you need or deserve right now.  But y'know...I think you have a good idea who that might be."

"G-g-g-gosh..." Alphys turned and blushed, her thoughts of Undyne really doing a number on her.

"Look.  You do you.  Don't make apologies for that.  If there's one thing you should never say you're sorry for, it's being yourself."

A moment of silence and I offered her a place to sit down. Then I got her up to speed with what's going on lately.

"So.  That's it.  The First Fallen is dead." Alphys lost her stutter once more. "I don't know what to say."

"You're all free from one threat now."

"Flowey's still on the loose."

"And he'll find out one way or another.  Honestly, I don't know how he'll react.  Likely he'll put on a happy face and claim to wish he could dance on Chara's grave.  But...even at his core I don't know if he's truly that unforgiving.  It's hard to bury obsession with a lost friendship and convince yourself you're over it."

"It's weird.  I feel like I know more about the late Prince...than the King and the Queen."

And like that, it all came back to me. What Hyperdeath had said in the other Pacifist timelines. He did all of those things because he cared about Chara...because he wasn't ready to lose them......because...nobody understood him but Chara.

Nobody...not even...his own parents? Was...was this the case with my Asriel?

Was he...just as introverted as I was after the Arcades rescued me? I'd...never really said much about it. I'd explained about the Asperger’s...but I never got into detail how introverted I'd been a lot of my childhood. Even now I'd never describe myself as a social butterfly.

For Alphys to claim to know Asriel better than Asgore and Toriel...

Then something else occurred to me that I'd been overlooking for far too long. Alphys wasn't the only person Flowey had connected with. A certain talking yellow flower had been giving advice and such to Papyrus. If anything, Papyrus was the closest that Flowey had to a friend to replace Chara with...and even then he wasn't totally committed. Flowey would still use him as a means to an end when the confrontation in Asgore's throne room came.

"I...think I understand where you're coming from." I looked off to the side.

"B-but I don't think I could hold a candle to you.  You've had so long to get to know him and befriend him.  You got to meet the real Prince.  To get to know him while he's whole...while he's complete.  I think I'd like to meet that person...but..."

"Yeah."

I was beginning to worry I'd reveal too much about what was coming. I knew that once Frisk returned, the game would resume as normal. But now a lot had changed around it. I couldn't risk endangering this Pacifist Run.

"There's a lot I'd like to say but...remember what I said about knowing too much about your own future...about anyone's future."

"R-R-R-Right!  W-we could end up endangering events that are meant to happen.  You've seen many versions of our future.  You know what's supposed to happen.  What could happen."

"And yet I don't know what WILL happen in this timeline.  I'm afraid that I may have already Butterfly Effect-ed it."

"Well...whatever role I'm supposed to play, I...guess I'll just have to try my best not to do whatever it is I'm not supposed to do."

"It's all I can ask of you, even though I want to ask you more.  But by doing so I could inadvertently mess things up and prevent something from happening that's supposed to.  Right now you have a lot more friends rooting for you than you ever did in any other timeline.  That's already a potential factor."

"Yeah...but it doesn't help with the problem...down below.  In the True Lab..."

I was banking on that much at least being the backbone of all that was guiding this new timeline. I'd delayed Frisk's game and its outcome. But it would be all for nothing if I prevented it entirely.

"It'll work out."

"B-B-But what if it doesn't?" Alphys asked with pleading eyes.

"It has to.  Because.......I don't know what the Hell I'm going to do if it doesn't." I said, drawing from Captain America in End Game.

Again all my eggs were in one basket. And again it would be so easy for Chaopolis to ruin everything. I was expecting anything and everything to go wrong by this point. I had taken every precaution, but so what? Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth - Mike Tyson.

Alphys set down the fruit basket. How thoughtful of her to leave a housewarming gift. I'd have to get another selection of anime for her. I'm sure she'd love Dr. Stone, provided I could smooth-talk Violet into getting me the complete series on DVD.

I bid Alphys farewell and started to slip back into my slumber when.

* BAM BAM BAM BAM*

Okay...that knocking could only be one person--

"How the Hell are ya, nerd!?" Undyne practically knocked the door off its hinges before I opened the door.

"Hey...uh...how's it go--"  was all I got out before I got pulled into a headlock and noogied.

Oh. So that's what it feels like for Asriel...and Papyrus.

"Nice digs!  You got all that science stuff set up!  You got it all together!"

"Eheheh....yeah...it just...kind of came together."

"So watchu' got goin' on in this house of nerd?"

Thankfully I didn't have any clues out in plain view that could spill the beans about things back home. No pictures of Asriel, nothing on the computer that, shocking as it might seem, Undyne couldn't figure out something was amass.

"Awesome!  You got all the beakers and stuff full of...chemical...sciencey...stuff."

I confess. I filled those beakers with flavored soda and dropped a few pieces of dry ice into them.

I'm pretty sure this wouldn't fool anyone who had an IQ over 100.

* CRAAAAASH!*

"Nyeheheheheh!  Fellow monsters!  You have nothing to fear for I am the Great Papyrus!  And I AM HERE!!!!"

Violet...I'm going to strangle you for showing him video clips of All-Might. But all things considered...he did absolutely NAIL All-Might's trademark grin, even down to his eyes being obscured by unexplainable shadows. He didn't even have hair to cast a shadow!

I sighed. "Don't worry about it.  It's just a glass window.  It can be replaced..." I grumbled, immediately regretting my decision to have a nice open view of the fiery landscape of Hotland.

"I have brought you a home warming gift, friend Volt!  Behold!  Papyrus' latest and greatest spaghetti triumph  Nyeheheheheheh!"

Oh. Gods.

Well...maybe with Jon's advice he's improved.

Jump cut to later when Undyne and Papyrus left.

"Uuuuughl...that's totally not sitting right..."

No details over what happened next...but I think you can guess.

* clink clink*  *fizzzzzz*

Antacid? Take me away from this discomfort.

That was when...

A gentle knock at the door.

Toriel?

I opened the door, and sure enough, under that hooded cloak...

"It is you."

The heart-gesture with the hands. Our special salute.

"Word travels fast to the RUINS."

"Just because I have distanced myself from my ex-husband does not mean I am no longer in the know."

"Please don't say keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

"When you put it like that, my friend, it does sound..."

Awkward silence.

"Do you not feel well?  You seem rather pale."

"I...just ate something that didn't agree with me." Truth.

"Well thankfully I have brought something that might help.  I  wanted to try something new so I made a ginger apple pie."

Oh, Goat Mom I could kiss you......but there are too many obvious reasons why I won't. If I have to explain even one of them, shame on you. Really. Shaaaaame on you.

"I've...given thought to what you've said about forgiveness."

"...and you're still not ready to let bygones be bygones, are you?"

"...no.  Do not think less of me--"

"I don't.  I can't change the world.  Why get broken up over not being able to change one person's mind.  I know.  I know I can't force opinions to change.  That's not a good look for me.  That's the mark of a tyrant and a bully...to force change instead of letting change happen on its own.  You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."

"It is...not much comfort...that you're this understanding about this.  But--"

"Asgore's in as much pain as you're in.  The difference is that he made the choice.  He did the unforgivable act.  Have you ever considered what if the roles were reversed?"

"We have...had this discussion before.  It...does not change much."

"Just give it thought."

I paced a bit, now that I was feeling better after the pie and the ginger tea she had prepared.

"You know...Violet...tends to bring out the worst in most of.  She means well but she annoys us deliberately just for attention.  Her ego is constantly out of control and she's always saying inappropriate things.  She's always pulling pranks, always acting without regard for consequences."

"Ehehh...sounds...err..."

"Don't sugar-coat it.  I'll get to the point.  Despite all these drawbacks...we still forgive her.  In hindsight, it's not like she's intentionally done anything to hurt us.  In spite of everything she's done...she's still family.  She's still our friend.  And as much as we might punish her for her misdeeds...really...it's only temporary.  Bad times are only temporary."

"You...make a good point but--"

"This...this feeling of regret and loneliness is only temporary.  The only one standing in the way of things changing for the better is you, Toriel.  Just...think about it."

"Hmm..."

"Maybe...I'm not the right person to convince you." I sighed and looked at my mainframe's screen.

I guess it's up to you, Frisk. Good luck.

"I am...sorry if I have upset you, Volt Arcade."

"No.  This is...unpleasant conversation.  But it would have come up sooner or later.  Better sooner than later.  I think...this did us both some good.  It gives me something to reflect on if...when my own family find their way to me."

"You stay optimistic in light of things.  That is...more than I could ever hope for."

"Anyone can find the light in the tunnel if they only open their eyes to it.  Toriel...thank you for being my friend."

"It is...better than I deserve--"

"I wish you wouldn't say such things like that.  Deserving things always implies entitlement.  Nobody's owed anything in this world.  You earn whatever you gain.  it can be given just as easily as it can be taken away.  It's a cruel fact of life.  My friendship is mine to give and I give it to you freely.  Cherish it as I know I cherish the friendship you've given me in return."

"It is...the very least a silly old woman can do.  Thank you.  Until I met you and your friends, I had forgotten what hope was."

"I'd like to believe that if your son were still around, Asriel would always remember."

"That's...a comforting thought.  That my child would have been better than his mother and father.  Sometimes...what could have been isn't such a disheartening thought."

"It doesn't have to be if you let it guide you by example."

We hugged each other and Toriel was on her way.

It was only half an hour later that Asgore showed up at my doorstep.

"Oh.  Um...Howdy.  err...happy lab-warming party?"

I nodded in thanks.

Awkward silence. I could tell he wanted to ask it.

I looked him dead in the eyes.

"She was here." I didn't hold anything back.

"Oh.  I see." Asgore.

"Let's not get into unpleasant subject matter.  Your presence is appreciated, Fluffybuns."

I invited him in. He..had to duck to fit through the door frame. Sometimes I forgot how big Asgore was.

"It is good to see you, Asgore.  Well.  I guess I might as well show off that the gold and the building permit wasn't a wasted effort.  But just so you know, I'm definitely not running for the position of Royal Scientist.  That is if it were an electoral process."

Asgore looked confused.

"Sorry.  That was meant to be a lame attempt at a joke."

"Ah...eh-eh...very...humorous."

You just added a negative nine to all your convincing roles, Asgore. Thanks for playing *not* Dungeons and Dragons.

"In all seriousness...how are you feeling, big guy?"

"Today is...a good day."

Probably as good as it was going to get for him, all things considering.

"Yeah...you look better than when we first met.  A spark of hope is still there, I should think."

"I give you my word...I will not take the easy way out...I...owe my people that much.  I owe my son that much.  Well...it would have been sons but...the first fallen child...didn't survive."

Asgore's memory was infallible, alright. But not hackproof. He'd taken to the inception pretty well and Chara's dark deeds would forever be lost to the world. He'd only remember what the previous timeline's Asgore remembered about Chara...but recall that Chara was male. It was my own mercy in light of the horrible revelation Evil-Chara had dropped on everyone.

"Have you considered how you would begin making amends...the day we're all finally free?"

"No...I...confess I lack the foresight to think that far ahead."

"Well...I of all people shouldn't talk, but really...you should at least give that thought.  You'll never be able to do anything equivalent to the lives of six children...even one life is something you can't quantify.  But if you're not willing to try to make amends...then doing nothing and expecting forgiveness is just as bad as committing more atrocities in the name of your people's freedom.  Do what you have to do but know that the price is high.  And be ready to spend the rest of your life paying for it.  That's your burden.  That's the only way you'll be free of this."

"I appreciate your brutal honestly, Doctor.  Most people aren't willing to give me the ugly truth.  My...reputation is such that...everyone sees me as a big, fuzzy pushover." A pause. "...almost everybody." He looked to the side. Tori's really got him whipped...even after leaving him.

My heart went out to him. It really did. But I wasn't going to excuse him for the kids in those coffins any more than Toriel would. Still...I was willing to reach a compromise. This had to end. The hurting had to stop. Like with Toriel...I wasn't the person to finally get Asgore to change his mind. He was going to fight Frisk, unless everyone showed up at the right time to stop him. And then the True Pacifist run events would take their course.

"Asgore.  Life is cruel.  Don't be cruel to yourself unnecessarily.  I make that mistake too much for my own good.   We're all going to get through this.  I don't know when, but the answer will come to us all.  When that day comes we'll all see the sun...some of us will see it again."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"If you hug me...careful of the ribs."

A smile and a big but gentle bearhug.

And then he was on his way. Which left one last visit...

"Hello, Sans."

I didn't even turn around. He'd teleported rather fast and silently.

"You look like you've got something big to reveal, Arcade.  Care to clue a skeleton in?"

I took a deep breath and exiled before replying with...

"You sure you want that?  I mean I don't know if you can handle the truth.  You might end up...rattled.  The truth might just scare you out of your...skull.  Only hear me out if you've got the...backbone for it."

Sans didn't answer at first...then out came the chuckle.

"Heh.  Not bad for a start.  But if those are your best rib-ticklers, I think you have a little bone-ing up to do."

"Pssht.  Yeah, but tibia honest...I don't want you to have to get stern-um with me.  When it comes to delivering the truth...I can't afford to have skeletons in my closet."

"That last one's the line." Sans glared at me with a glowing cyan eye.

I swallowed hard.

"Ah, I'm just kidding.  Totally had you didn't I?"

"Eheheh...yeah...totally..." I wish I could sweat.

I guess there's no beating around the bush.

"The brat is dead." I dropped it on him like a ton of bricks.

A long, long pause.

"How did he did go?" Sans kept a blank look. No grin. But no anger either.

"Not well." I uttered, channeling Casino Royale, thinking back to Adonis' overly cruel execution.

"It would be presumptuous to say you would have approved.  But then again...I'd be jumping to conclusions to assume you'd thinking it went too far."

At first Sans looked like he was looking to make a joke of it...but the more he looked into my eyes...the more he could see the pain and the regret...the more he could see just...how bad it was.

"...that bad, huh?" Sans' smile actually turned upside-down.

"The Prince didn't deserve to see that...it was too much...even for a redemption-less brat like Evil-Chara."

"Well...kind of takes the satisfaction out of it...I guess be careful what you wish for.  You just might get it."

"I'd make a joke about it being very soul-crushing, but--"

"Yeah.  Literal.  I gotcha."

A long period of silence between us.

"What's left for us now, Judge Sans?"

"Weeeelp.  I guess I got no choice but to leave things in your hands, Arcade. I'm going to Grillby's."

"You...okay with that?"

"Eh.  It's probably the lazier way to go anyway."

"Sans...you can't possibly be able to take another run of this...the RESETS, the timelines going this way and that...the other Sanses--"

"Volt...just give up trying to find a deeper meaning than this.  I did.  The weed's right.  This is all just a game.  And I'm leaving it up to you to find a way to break it.  My expectations are low so if you fail, I won't be any more let down than I have been every other time."

"That's...that's pretty dark."

"Comedy isn't about what's funny...it's about laughing about the painful truth when you're dying inside.  That's the way I've always seen it.  Just because you're spiraling out of control into a pit of despair, doesn't mean everyone else has to.  We live in a society, after all."

...it couldn't be...did Adonis drop another reference on him? How could he know that lone reference from the Joker movie?

"Well.  I guess just like the old woman and Fluffybuns...I can't fix you.  I guess...I can't fix anyone." I looked down at the ground.

"Hey, don't look so glum.  This is the norm for most of us.  Honestly...things suck a little less since you and your friends got here.  Maybe this one will be the one."

I couldn't get a bead on him. He was giving a pretty bleak account of his outlook on life...but he was still trying to keep me staying the course.

"Sans...thanks.  Thanks for not pulling any punches.  I'll...I do what I can.  Even if it's not enough."

"Old college try it is." I shrugged. Sans put his hands in his parka's pockets, closed his eyes...and he was gone.

It was getting late. I might as well had back home, now that the place was self-sufficient and isolated enough from the rest of the Underground to impact much. The boss monsters knew where to find me when I was actually on their world. That's as good as I could ask.

Change was in the air...and I didn't have a good feeling about what was coming. I could just hope for the best--

"Hey." Flowey said rather matter-of-factly as I stepped out of the door.

"Hey."

"So."

"So."

"We just going to echo each other all night?"

"Would be a waste."

"Probably."

"Going back home, aren't you?"

"Might as well.  It's quiet around here.  Quiet back home."

I was about to ask him why he didn't try to stow away and go off world with me like the previous Chara had. As if on cue...

"Not interested."

Huh? Why?"

"I don't have to tell you anything, Arcade."

"You're being awful up front about this."

"Don't push me, Arcade."

"Fine.  I'm going."

"Fine.  Go, then."

I turned and walked away...then stopped in my tracks.

"Chara's dead."

"You serious?"

"Completely."

"Oh.  Good riddance." There was hesitation there. Just a little, though.

"Yeah.  Well.  See ya."

He took it well. I immediately started to worry, no sooner had he burrowed underground.

I headed to where I hid the Delorean and headed back home.

Flowey unborrowed enough to see the flame trails in the faux sky...as if to hammer home what he had passed up.

"So, Chara.  Who's the idiot now?" He said rather deadpan. "Even when you tried as hard as you probably did...you somehow still took the easy way out.  Damn you.  Damn you for leaving me  behind.  I'm free of you...but I'm not free, am I?  When this timeline runs its course...which it probably will...even when I become him...I won't forgive you.  You don't know what you had until you threw it away.  I know what I never had.  Now I'll never get it."

Flowey turned his gaze from where the Time Machine was last in their world to where the fire trails ended.

"You know it's not your move, Arcade.  It's his.  And what he does next will decide more than you think.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  Because I didn't.  You brought this on yourself.  If you get out of what's coming...we'll talk again.  And then this game will get...really interesting..." Flowey ducked underground.

CRYPTOSMASHER LOGOFF

END TRANSMISSION...

PLDN Chapter 36

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