PLDN Chapter 34

"Chapter 34: The Crossover Wars Reach a Climax as Evil Chara Meets His Fate"

Sub-Entry 331: "Teen Wolf...err...Three?":
Time in between missions was a rare thing. What to do with it was up to fate, chance, and opportunity. So of course we went for a drive across worlds. I polished up the 57' Chevy and headed out with him.

"Is it really okay for you to be making use of Cyber Gate technology and gear from the S.T.C. research and development vault?"

"No.  But it's not like they're going to let me off the hook one way or another.  To which I'm sure Daimyou will politely request that they not waste her time with petty grievances over trivial matters that don't matter one iota in the grand scheme of things.  Unless it jeopardizes our ongoing missions, she doesn't want to hear it."

"Taking advantage of that, aren't we?"

"You're making it sound like a bad thing.  Don't you think I'm due to finally spread my wings after so much constraint?"

"Alright, best friend.  Just don't let it make you complacent."

"Hey...how are you holding up after recent events?"

"Six virtues unlocked.  Five of those heart crystals.  And feeling like my clashes with No-Name are coming to a head."

"You feel it too.  Whatever he's got planned next...it will not be subtle.  And it will be for all the marbles."

"You think...the Crossover Wars might finally be winding down?"

"I don't know.  Adonis has sacrificed a lot of pawns to get to this point.  And made a lot of enemies."

"Hmm." Asriel pondered. "You know it occurs to me; we didn't find a heart soul last month."

"True.  Hopefully one will turn up soon.  If it follows the pattern of virtues, there are only two left."

"And one virtue ability to unlock.  Then..."

I frowned. "Then we head back to Vi's sub-lab.  Hopefully for the last time.  I don't think I can take another of her barrages of screwing around before putting us through another of those simulations."

"By this point I've pretty much emptied LYOKO out.  What more is there left to see in there?"

"Well...she could always have you traverse the Digital Sea." I pondered.

"You have that look that says you're not crazy with that idea."

"Remember the whole permanent de-virtualization thing?"

"Oh yeah...that." Asriel crossed his arms. "Still.  What's live without risk?  I can't always play it safe and look over my shoulder at every moment."

Ouch.

"Hey, I didn't mean it as a slight against you.  I know you're just...cautious."

"Don't sugar-coat it.  I get it.  But...you're right.  It's your life.   Life it the way you want to.  Not the way I tell you to.  You're your own man, now."

Asriel nodded with a hint of sadness.

"Umm...I should probably have asked this a while ago but...um...do we have any idea where we ended up?"

Uh. Crap.

"Of all the clichés we could have driven into...why did it have to be getting lost while on a road trip to nowhere in particular..." I rolled my eyes.

"I can't remember when we last passed a sign on the interstate telling where we were headed, Volt.  Do you see any up ahead?"

"I probably could see further if I morphed.  But on a Terran world?"

"Yeah.  Don't want the unknown attention."

After a few miles down the highway, we finally came to an exit to a town.

"Next right...Wolverton?" I raised an eyebrow.

Asriel could see the odd look on my face.

"Hey...what's in a name?" He shrugged.

"Going to stop you there before we set ourselves up for some kind of foreshadowing we'll facepalm over later."

Oh well. Beggars can't be choosers. Just head into town. Get some gas and pick up a few items from a hardware store for the shop and we'll be on our way. Don't draw attention to yourself. What could possible go...right? ...yeah, somehow I don't think that's going to fool Murphy's Law one iota. Darn it all.

It was about that moment; Jon woke up in the back seat with a yawn.

"Blimey...are we there yet?"

"D'oh...Jon!  I told you this wasn't a food run!"

"C'mon, mate.  When's a bad time for food?"

Asriel chuckled.

"Don't encourage him, Goat Son.  And for that matter we're about to enter a town!  For crying out loud, get a shirt and some shoes on...but before that, ditch the fur, fangs, and claws!  We're not freaking out a sleepy town with a werewolf sighting!"

"You don't take enough pride in the species."

"Listen to YOU talk.  Felicia would never let you hear the end of it after practically dragging you into UCIAT all those years ago.  And for that matter, you have a weird definition of pride in the lycanthrope species.  Jumping at vacuum cleaners, running around on all fours, chasing chickens, and scratching your ear with your hind leg."

"What?  Perfectly normal instincts."

"For dogs and wolves not anthropomorphic beings that wear pants, pay taxes, and have opposable thumbs."

"You guys are like an old married couple." Asriel laughed.

"Fine.  If it'll get your knickers untwisted." Jon demorphed and rooted around the floors for a shirt and some shoes he had brought along.

"We are SO not going to pull this off." I cruised through the turn-off ramp and eventually drove past the proverbial "Welcome to Wolverton" sign I was practically expecting.

Already I was feeling all eyes on us as we drove into town.

it was an echo of past prejudices from a time I could barely remember before the Ultra Crew Institute found me.

It was like they knew. It was like we were already being judged. It was like--

"You know driving into town in a gold and silver 57' Chevy isn't exactly blending in." Asriel spoke up.

It was totally not the reason they were gawking at us, was it? Ugh.

Open mouth, insert foot. Sandal and all.

"What are you grinning at, Jon?"

"Oh.  Nothing."

"Keep it up and we're not stopping for garlic bread afterwards."

"Oh come on!  You're breaking my--"

"Guys?  No fighting."

"Fine."

"Fine."

A bit of uneasy silence between me and son-in-law for a bit.

"There's got to be a hardware store around here, somewhere."

"Volt." Asriel pointed.

"Howard Hardware Store."

"Okay.  In and out and let's not draw attention to ourselves."

I went in with Asriel.

"Stay." I pointed at Jon's nose. He gave the raspberry in response.

"Thanks.  Now I have to wipe my hand." I wrinkled my nose.

Amidst all the chaos that Chaopolis has been sewing, should I be concerned about family in-fighting? Is it possible that maybe this is a byproduct of all the clashes we've had with Evil-Chara and Adonis' cult squad?

"By the way, Elektra's putting you on another diet."

"Seriously.  I think we're all a little stressed from this war.  C'mon.  The Holidays are coming up."

I at least got the last word in edgewise.

"Jeeze, Volt.  We've been kind of on edge lately haven't we?"

"Al Dente hasn't been helping things any."

"Agreed.  With any luck Aunt Vi will crack the whip."

We went inside.

"Okay, I got a list I divided up.  You take one, I'll take the other and we'll split the cost between us.  Deal?"

"Fair deal to me." Asriel went in search of the items.

"Would you look at all that stuff.  They've got Allen Wrenches, bird feeders, toilet seats, electric heaters, trash compactors, juice extractors, shower rods and water meters--"

"Azzy, are you looking at my list or reciting the lyrics to Weird Al's song.

"Can't I do both?"

"Okay.  Point for Goat Son for improving my mood."

I started gathering what I needed as did Asriel. Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of the owner at the register as well as a glimpse of the vendor's license on the wall. Harold Howard. Black hair, glasses, middle-aged, husky...maybe it was just me, but he looked like he skipped a shave. Yeah. He looked like a "Harold".

Huh...the scent was--

"GAH!" I almost dropped the stuff to hold my ears. I doubled back through the aisles to find the source of the ear-splitting pain before I saw Asriel.

I snatched the whistle from his hand.

"It's broken." He said with a shrug.

I sighed. "I can't believe of all things I never taught you about an ultrasonic dog whistle."

"Huh?  Ohhhh.  Yeah, that does make sense.  Sorry."

"Just don't fool with that again.  Or if you buy give a repeat performance for Jon while I'm looking for a drive-thru."

Azzy gave me a look.

"Okay.  Kidding."

Strange. I was shaking off the effects of the whistle, but...did I see Mr. Howard...flinch at the same time I got my eardrums tortured?

Nah.

We both headed to the register to check out.

"Out of towners?"

"What gave it away?" Asriel joked.

"Yeah.  Kind of.  Just picking up supplies and passing through."

He began ringing us up. As my mentor, Dr. Emmett L. Brown had always advised, always carry the proper currency when you're traveling to other places...or times. In this case off world and somewhere in the late 80's if my 57 Chevy's additional instruments and modifications were accurate. I wonder if I was overdoing it with how many vehicles I had integrated space-time-dimension tech into?

Asriel casually looked at the calendar.

"Oh, hey.  Don't forget.  Lunar cycle coming up--"

I tried to gesture for Asriel to keep that on the downlow. Unfortunately the comment didn't go unnoticed. The reaction was...subtle...but not expected. The furrow of the brow and a definite indication of a mood change.

"He's into astronomy." I tried to cover up. While that excuse usually worked, something was telling me, it wasn't this time around.

"Uh...let's go, Azzy." I paid the man and we headed back to the car.

"What was that all about?"

"I have  feeling.  One all too familiar from my stint with my mentors in Lupusville.  If we start snooping around, Asriel, I hope to heck we don't find a bunch of townsfolk locked up underground in jail cells with silver bars while the people in town don't have reflections."

"Does...this have anything to do with......y'know...never mind.  I can tell it does."

"A town called Wolverton, Asriel.  Could it be any more telltale.  I got the feeling that if it gets out what Jon and I are, we'll be a whole lot less welcome.  I'm thinking torches and pitchforks."

A bit of driving around was surprisingly ineffective at finding our way around.

"It is a full moon tonight, you know." Asriel reminded.

"Yeah...we'll have to rely on Vi to get the steaks and such again.  Hopefully we'll be back in Miranda City with the grill fired up on the Clocktower for one more go or two.  November and December are right around the corner and that means we got to pack the grill up for the year."

"Bloody bollocks." Jon complained. At least we were on the same page about that.

After a while of frustration setting in, we decided to split up.

Asriel found himself at Wolverton High School. By this time Nikita had implemented a transformation in his NX Switchboard to blend in as an ordinary skateboard.

Jon found his way to suburbia on foot. I'm pretty sure he was complaining his feet hurt before too long. I'd gladly tell Elektra he was getting his daily exercise. It would be worth getting frowny faces from Jon if it meant he owed me for keeping Sarge off his back, too.

I kept around in the car, trying to keep a low profile. Though how low I can go in a classic car with a paint scheme that only Richie Rich would find normal.

As it turned out, Azzy would run into another Howard...

Not so fortunately, said Howard relation would have problems of his own in the form of a mean bully of a jock named Mick McAllister.

"Guess this world has a couple more decades until the anti-bullying programs kick in..." Asriel growled, his eyes momentarily glowing yellow, despite the Unitrix human transformation.

"Easy, Azz.  Control your emotions." Asriel closed his eyes and let them fade back to normal.

"Time to step in.  But smartly."

"...and stay away from my girl!  In fact stay away from anyone whose league you're not in!"

"I must be at the wrong school.  I didn't know that thug-anomics was part of the curriculum."

"Hey, beat it, dork.  This doesn’t' concern you."

"A lot of things don't.  I suppose I just can't leave well enough alone.

"If you want a beating that bad, then get in line.  Howard here's had one long overdue."

"Riiight.  And you're the one to do it?"

"You're asking too many questions, white-hair.  Why don't you take a hint like this punk and make with your own kind, freak!"

"Now that's just rude.  I guess I'm going to have to break this up."

"And just who do you think you are getting in my way?"

"The guy with a fourth degree black belt in several martial arts forms including karate, savate, judo, kung fu, and jeet kun do.  The guy who knows every pressure point on the human body.  And the guy who just doesn't like bullies..."

One confrontation later...

"Next time I see you, you're dead!  And as for you, Howard!  You're on notice!  If I catch you around Pamela again, I'll run you out of town in a COFFIN!"

"Buh-bye now." Asriel waved.

"You okay?"

"Yeah...fine.  Had better days, though.  You don't look like you're from around here.  At least I'm not the only outsider, now."

"Outsider?  If anything you seem pretty normal to me.  I mean, I'm the albino here."

"Shouldn't you not be out in the sun, then?"

"I just have white hair.  I'm not a vampire." Asriel grinned.

"Fair point.  I'm Scott."

"That's a coincidence.  Scott is my dad's name.  I'm Asriel."

"Now that's definitely not a name from around here."

"Yeah.  Adopted.  My birth parents' names were not much more normal.  They named me by combining theirs."

"Well, since I'm not a student around here, I should probably hang around until after classes are over.  We'll catch up.  I could use a guide to help me and my current adult guardians to get around town.  My best friend, Dr. V. A. Arcade and Uncle Jon are somewhere around here and not exactly finding our way around.  Much less fitting in while we're here."

"Sure.  I'll meet you out front.  I might be with some friends of mine."

"Cool.  The more the merrier.  By the way...anyone ever tell you that you look kind of like Michael J. Fox?"

"Who?"

"Never mind..."

Time passed and...

I rounded the corner, bound for the school. I was getting worried about Asriel. Jon, not so much.

"Hmm?"

I noticed the conspicuous van with a very...wolfy custom paint job on the side. The teen driving it was a goofball of a greaser in shades.

On a whim, I slid on my visor and took a scan while he was at the light and distracted.

"Hmm...the van's registered to a...Rupert "Stiles" Stilinski.  Huh.  Glad Violet's not here to make a reference to A.J. Styles and the O.C."

I took off the visor quickly and circled around, hoping to find Asriel.

"Doc!" I heard Asriel's voice. Huh. he never called me...ohhhh! I get it. Incognito alias. Smart goat.

I drove over where he was waiting with Scott Howard and a girl.

"I see you've met a friend."

Hmm? My nose was giving me mixed signals. The scent was definitely familiar...but at the same time...almost watered-down, if I had to give a description.

"This is Scott Howard and his friend, Lisa Marconi--"

Okay. So far, one named Scott. One named Lisa. Just coincidence. They're both very common names. it's not like there's a pattern trying to tell us something.

"But he calls me Boof."

"Boof?"

"Uh...childhood nickname." Scott clarified.

"We're waiting on a third person to arrive, but we've got some guides to the town, now.  Ones who don't mind that we're outsiders."

"Run-in with a bully?"

"You know me so well."

"Well, let's get to it.  Also,  Jon's been out on his own for a while now."

We explored the town but no sign of Jon. Before we knew it, it was starting to become nightfall. And I was noticing Scott was getting...increasingly nervous if not agitated.

Sunset and finally we retired to the Howard household; before Scott would get  lectured about coming home late.

It was about the same time that Harold returned home.

"...I appreciate the help.  That son-in-law of mine can disappear when he wants to."

I sniffed the air. I don't know what was for dinner, but it was saturated with garlic...and I was finding it intoxicating.

Scott opened the door at about the time--

"GRRRRR!!!"

I about jumped back.

"Relax, Doc.  It' s just a little girl in a...full-body werewolf costume...or pajamas.  I can't really tell."

"Lupe, I've told you a million times not to do that!" Scott protested.

Okay. Scott. Lisa. Lupe. Coincidence or Lady Destiny giving me a subtle hint?

By now it was sundown and nightfall was coming. It sure got dark early on this world. Scott seemed really anxious to get inside.

"You're no fun.  I wish you were more like our other guest."

"Guest?"

"Yeah, he's with Grandma and Grandpa."

"Oh no..." Scott facepalmed.

And that was when everything I THOUGHT I had figured out about this town and the Howard Family...suddenly got turned on its ear...it's pointed, fur-covered ear.

My eyes widened as I saw Jon in full morph, stuffing his face with garlic-saturated cooking. And serving him was what I confirmed to be a grandmother with pointed ears, claws, and fangs and a fur. And in the easy-chair was a grandfather--barefoot--very wolfish feet at that--also with claws, pointed ears, and fangs...and a lot more than just a beard.

I wasn't being given the stink-eye because I was a werewolf. I was being given the stink-eye because the Howard Family was trying to hide the fact that they were werewolves.

Their particular species was like Lon Chaney Jr.'s Wolf Man but with considerably less fur.

"Wait...then you're--"  I noticed Scott had turned toward the window where the full moon was shining in. And then I saw the transformation. The ears stretched and became pointed. The nails lengthened into claws, patches of fur grew out, and the fangs sprouted.

"An explanation is probably long overdue." Harold suddenly spoke up, sporting more than just an overgrown beard.

"An explanation?!" I gasped.

"It's not as bad as it looks." Jon shrugged.

"Speak for yourself." Scott growled with actual growl in his voice.

A bit of a talk back and forth and it all made sense. Apparently the grandparents hailed from Transylvania. And that was definitely a hot spot for vampires and...of course werewolves.

I'd discover Harold was a widower. That's why I didn't see a mother around.

Out of everyone in town, it seemed that Boof and Stiles were the only ones in on the secret. Wolverton turned out to be quite the tourist trap due to alleged werewolf sightings. Finally I could calm down.

"Well this has certainly been a load off my furry chest." Finally back in full morph and bonding with our new friends. Seemed Asriel was the odd man...err...goat out, but he didn't mind. Lupe Howard seemed to be too young for me to determine if she had inherited the werewolf gene or if lycanthropy "passed her by". I think she had something in common with Stiles in the fact that they both wanted to be werewolves while Scott? Not so much.

But at that point, I was okay at celebrating the full moon with garlic cooking and such and baying at the moon.

Finally we said our goodbyes and were back on the road to Miranda City via warp gate and ready to enjoy a second lunar cycle thanks to a bit of minor time travel.

"They were all very nice people.  I hope we come back some day." Asriel mused.

"And I hope we can get more of this garlic pie." Jon said, mouth full.

"It's a possibility." I nodded. "Frankly...I'm glad to ward off old fears that have been haunting the back of my mind for a while."

Asriel patted my shoulder as we drove off toward the full moon and the gate I had set off.

Sub-Entry 332:  "Gadget and Gadget.  Of Mice and Robo Policemen":
You know it's been ages since I brought up Metro City's finest bumbling police inspector.

But I suppose it started like this...

"We've been away from Metro City for a while, little sister.  I know you're looking forward to being back here again."

"Am I ever, big brother!"

"It's my first time here.  Looks a lot like the other Earth cities we've been to.  Hence, why all three of us came in human form; be it by de-morph, Unitrix, or hard-light projection holo-shell."

"In between plots by MAD, it's a relatively peaceful city.  Gadget and I have an acquaintance in the suburban outskirts who works for the police force here, under special assignments."

"He wouldn't happen to be the one who shares the same name as big sis, here, would he?  And apparently is always on duty?"

"Nothing gets by you, Azzy."

So. A little background.

John Brown was a regular policeman...or...was it security guard? Darn it...it's harder to keep track of bio entries of people. places and things with more than one universe. Ahem...ordinary guy who was caught in an accident--one universe says he slipped on a banana peel down several flights of stairs...another says he was blown up by an explosive cigar after crashing his car upside-down in pursuit of Sanford "Claw" Scolex; same said explosion also hurled a bowling ball into an upward arc that ended up crushing Scolex's hand and would later lead to his prosthesis earning said nickname.

Brown always dreamed of being a police inspector and with a rare opportunity to fix his broken body using an unorthodox instillation of countless machines and devices to make the ultimate crime-fighting robo-cop. Eh-heh...at least they got one 1/3 of that right.

While they definitely chose the right man in terms of heart and character...they fumbled the ball on intelligence and awareness. The newly christened "Inspector Gadget" had the drive to chase criminals to the ends of the earth...just not the common sense.

Garfield had told me about the olden days of spy organization, CONTROL and a man who was I.G. might as well have been the living reincarnation of--one Agent 86 known only as Maxwell Smart. The man who got results...but intentionally...if that makes any sense.

So how could I summarize IG-1 after all the times we've met? Well, the inspector could be described as very powerful and loyal to his career as a lawman, but he  also very dim-witted, clueless, incompetent, oblivious, and gullible, but also lovable, caring, and protective. In short? Imperfectly perfectly-balanced. If that makes sense.

"So going to pal around with Penny for a bit?" I looked over to Gadget.

"Oh yeah!  She's got this idea for a new generation of robots down the road.  She has two prototypes that she wants to sketch out when she's studied more about robotics.  I was thinking she could call them "Digit" and "Fidget"."

"That's so cute, Big Sis!" Asriel smiled. "Does she have a name for them, yet?"

"She was thinking about..."Gadgetinis"."

"Now that I'd like to see." I mused.

By now you've figured out that Penny is the brains being her uncle's success. Often quoted as saying in private conversation "I think Uncle Gadget is going to need a little help..." or something to that effect.

In secret, Penny was the keeper of possibly the most advanced portable computer system on the planet at this tender era of the 1980's. Dubbed her "computer book", it was pretty much the first laptop in disguise. To this day Violet still hasn't assessed just how powerful it really is. But if it can hack into military grade equipment or even remotely control the Gadgetmobile, or have a dozen other things, then yeah...that made her this world's most talented cyber-hacker.

"I just hope Brain isn't too stressed out over having to bend over backwards keeping the good inspector out of trouble.  At the rate that Penny's running him ragged, he's going to run away from home with a severe case of P.T.S.D. from all the abuse he ends up taking from M.A.D....and sometimes from the good inspector when he doesn't recognize his own dog in disguise."

If Penny's the brains, ironically enough...their dog, Brain did the leg work. Hailing from those Scooby-Doo archetypes that stood between the lines dividing normal quadruped to bipedal anthropomorphic and of course having the speech impediment where the "kind of talk" or "talk but are unintelligible to humans", Brain was smart enough to be the equivalent of human. Having to adapt to the point of being a master of disguise as well as a diversion and a helping hand Brain took the risks while Penny coordinated his actions.

Penny and Brain kept in contact with Penny's secret communicator watch--in the 80's described as the next evolution of Dick Tracy's own transistorized wireless communicator watch. The transceiver on Brain's end was stealthfully hidden in his collar, popping out in a trio of antennae that functioned as microphone, speakers, and video camera.

We eventually reached suburbia and found the home of the Inspector and family.

"With any luck, Chief Quimby won't be popping up with an assignment for the Inspector and we can just enjoy a bit of downtime between missions."

"Here's hoping, but we probably jinxed it."

Quimby was getting up there in years by now. I.G. was the source of his woes whenever it came to receiving an assignment as previously demonstrated some 6 or 7 years ago when the trashcan hiding spot sent him rocketing all the way into the skateboard park when the message he tried to give to Gadget, yet again, found itself crumpled up and thrown into said trash can with the chief.

Talk about a nod to the I.M.F. that keeps blowing up in his face. Literally. The whole self-destructing message thing should be pretty obsolete by now. There had to be other secure ways of disposing of a message once it's received, right?

I wonder if there was truth to the rumors that Quimby was going to be reassigned with the rumored formation of a new anti-terrorism government program supposedly called W.O.M.P. (World Organization of Mega Powers....sheesh, that makes me think of the days of the tag-team of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage.)  Supposedly they were looking to recruiting Inspector Gadget as their top agent under a...Colonel Nosehair?

"THAT'S NOZZAIRE!!!"

Hey! You don't have clearance to access these logs! Get out of here!

Sheeesh. Worlds like this with goofy fourth walls and humor. Go figure.

Thinking back to Penny's own research into robotics, I had to wonder how deep her dive into the world of A.I. was going? I mean in our world we had G.P.S. devices which could talk. I wonder if she'd integrate something like that into the Gadgetmobile? Oh gods...I hope not. We already had ONE car in the X-Vault with an attitude. The last thing we need is a car with a mind of its own with a quirky personality. I mean...really...could you imagine such a thing?

Speaking of unique vehicles...

"You sure you want to ride along with us, little sister?  I mean you have a license to operate multiple class vehicles, including the ones you build.  Are you sure you didn't want to take the Ranger Plane or the Gyromobile?"

"I don't have the Ranger Plane anymore...and...I kind of took the Gyromobile apart for spare pieces on some other inventions.  I'll rebuild it when I get a chance."

My adorable, adopted, airheaded, genius sister--The Recycling Princess.

But on a serious note, I was trying to let her have her independence. I was trying to grow into it...into her being her own woman. And yet I took comfort that she was still relying on her big brother instead of going on dates and looking for a boyfriend. A guilty pleasure in not being able to let go. This was an Asriel-ism that I still had trouble with.

Anyway. Peaceful suburbia. Where nothing out of the ordinary......dammit, Volt you did it--

"I'M FLYINNNNNG!!!  I'M FLYINNNNG!"

...again.

I pulled to a stop and facepalmed as I counted down on my fingers and sure enough a bicycle sailed over the car and crashed down on the other side of the street.

"Uh...?" Asriel arched an eyebrow.

"Give it a minute."

"And adjust for windspeed." Gadget followed up.

And then the rotund form of a bespectacled man-child squeezed into the most ridiculous attempted at a superhero costume came crashing down through the trees and into a plot of bushes.

"Corporal Capeman?" Gadget asked, cocking a mouse ear.

"Corporal Capeman."

Ah yes. The Inspector's recent sidekick and questionably competent hero in training. He had the same eagerness as the Inspector to be a public servant...just not the common sense to figure out that he doesn't actually have super powers.

I just shook my head as soon as the traffic was clear and proceeded on to the right street and the house in question.

I knocked on the door and Penny answered.

"Dr. Arcade!  Gadget! It's great to see you again!" Ten-year-old, blond-haired, pig-tailed Penny. Honestly I didn't know what her last name actually was. She always called I.G. "Uncle Gadget" so...who could say which side of the family he is. If the father's side, that would make her a Brown, too. Mother's side? Well. I guess that made it a mystery.

"Good to be back during peaceful times."

Gadget quickly knelt down and hugged Penny.

"Hey, is the dog of the house around?" called out.

And sure enough, the yellow, furred, red-nosed, dog in question appeared. Ears long ling a rabbits and bent over.

"Hey ya, Brain.  I raided some of Jon's stash just for you." I presented the large collection of gourmet milk bones.

Hey, if you can't share common interests with a fellow canine for friendship, a bribe works just as well. Am I right? Oh boy. I'm a terrible source of advice.

"Is the man of the house around?"

"He'll be down.  Uncle Gadgeeeeet!  We have company!"

"Coming down, Penny!  Go Go Gadget--"

"Wait!  Not indoors--"

"W-W-W-Wowsers!!!"

And then the inevitable crashing down the staircase followed by the impact into the wall at the bottom.

"Uncle Gadget!  Are you alright?"

"Oh brother..." Brain facepalmed with a front paw.

As my little sister and Penny helped him up.

"Golly, Inspector!  Do you need me to make adjustments to your gadgets again?"

"Not at all!  Inspector Gadget is in top form!"

"And still has those moments of speaking in the third person..." I muttered.

"Uncle Gadget, you remember Dr. Arcade!"

"Of course!  I never forget a face!"

"And this is Asriel!  He was just a kid when I last saw him...now he's all grown up."

"Yeah..time traveler.  Don't spread it around.  It's been a few years for us but probably yesterday for you.  Or close to it."

"I never would have believed it until I saw it with my own eyes."

"Nonsense!  Time travel is just movie magic!  Totally preposterous!" The inspector wasn't convinced.

"I heard the same things about cyborgs." I muttered under my breath.

"Glad to meet a servant of justice!" Asriel said with a salute.

"All in the line of duty!"

Well, we graciously accepted the invitation to the Gadget family to dinner. But I had my doubts about letting Inspector Gadget do the cooking--

"Go Go Gadget frying pan!"

* CRASH*

"No no!  Not the Gadget Mallet!  Gadget FRYING PAN!"

* SPLASH*

"...Wowsers!"

"Maybe I should give the inspector a hand." Asriel got up and volunteered his services."

"Dinner will be delayed a bit.  Also it seems we've run out of flour...and eggs....and milk..."

I knew I should have resisted my curiosity as soon as I saw the smoke coming out of the kitchen doorway.

I took one peek...and immediately regretted it.

"I guess I'll head up to the store and pick up some.  I won't be long, Uncle Gadget."

"I feel like one of us should go with her."

"Don't be ridiculous!" I.G. popped his head out the doorway. I could tell he extended his Gadget Neck to do so. "You're our guests!  Leave everything to the Gadget family!"

"Oh brother..." Brain rolled his eyes.

"I guess we wait." I looked at little sister with a shrug.

"It's not so bad.  I'm sure it won't be that much of a wait.  I have good feelings about this."

While quite optimistic...there were those moments when little sister was actually wrong...

Some time had passed, and Gadget was starting to get worried about Penny. She should have come back a while ago.

In the kitchen..

* Riiiiiiing *

"Wowsers!  The Top-Secret Gadget Phone!" Gadget pulled the antenna out of his thumb and adjusted his pinky finger, completing the "telephone call" gesture before putting his hand up to his ear.

"Hello, Chief?  You're WHERE?  Right." Gadget walked over to the fume hood above the stove.

Chief Quimby's head and torso lowered out of the fume hood and he handed Gadget a message.

"Here's your assignment, Gadget."

Gadget read the message.

"A wave of kidnappings points to the work of Dr. Claw.  Reports point to M.A.D. agents using an old English castle as a hideout and possible location of the victims.  Investigate immediately.  Shut down M.A.D.'s operation and recover the kidnapped people.  This message will self-destruct.

Not to worry, Chief! Inspector Gadget is ALWAYS on duty!"  Gadget crumpled up the note and tossed it over his shoulder where got stuck to Quimby's face as he ducked back inside his hiding spot.  Seconds later there was an explosion and a lot of black smoke, followed by the Chief's pained groan.

"Ohhhhh!  Gadgeeeeeet!"

Quick overview? M.A.D. (Which stands for Mean And Dirty) was the criminal organization brainchild of the mysterious Dr. Claw. What few pictures we had of him only showed the back of his chair and the heavy metal gauntlet on his right hand. And of course his pet, MAD Cat--a grey and black feline that always had a distinct hissing chuckle when it came to accompanying his master's own brand of maniacal laughter.

Asriel knitted his eyebrows as he slid his gaze to me.

"You don't think...?"

As the inspector was leaving the room...

"Golly...I hope not!"

"This sounds like another of Madam Fate's predictable "unpredictable" stunts." I groaned.

As the Inspector headed to the garage to fire up the Gadgetmobile...

Brain's collar started beeping and his communicator antennae deployed.

"Brain!  Dr. Claw is after me!  Tell Chief Quimby and help Uncle Gadget with his missions!  Hurry!  I don't know how much longer I can run."

"Adonis?" Asriel inquired

"Not this time.  This one's too predictable.  Too much like clockwork.  Honestly things like this happen in Metro City as often as April O'Neill gets kidnapped or that nuclear power plant idiot in Springfield falls asleep at the console after binging on donuts."

"D'oh!" Asriel winced.

"That said..."

"I agree, Big Brother.  If Penny were here, she'd say her uncle might need a hand solving this case."

"Brain, I think we better do what she says and follow I.G. and make sure he doesn't get himself into trouble."

"If you hurry, maybe you can sneak aboard without the inspector catching you." I advised my little sister.

"UCIAT Makeshift Technologist, Gadget Hackwrench reporting for duty!" she saluted before adjusting her Reduction Belt and shrinking way down. At the same time, Asriel was quickly folding a paper airplane. Little sister climbed aboard and lowered her goggles.

"Contact!" Asriel drew back and sent it flying toward the door to the garage. As I predicted, the Inspector just happened to have deployed one of his mechanical arms from his pop-top hat to scratch his chin as he pondered if he turned off the stove. As the paper plane flew past, my little adopted mouse sister dove off and into the inside of I.G.'s hat.

Boy it's a task differentiating between both Gadgets.

Mouse Gadget ducked down as the arm retracted back in and the hat closed back up.

"Wow, it's pretty amazing in here." Little Hackwrench looked at the circuits and mechanisms inside.

"Huh?  What's this doing here?" She said as she picked up a peanut of all things with both arms. "I think I figured out what the malfunction is whenever his gadgets go haywire."

The blond mouse rubbed her chin a bit.

"I bet if I do some tinkering around in here I could give the Inspector a few upgrades.  I'm sure he'll know what to do with them!"

Don't quite know him to well, do she? Well...I can't fault my little sister for being optimistic.

Meanwhile we followed Gadget's homing signal...both of them, rather.

"Big sis' homing beacon is coming in loud and clear.  It's still right on top of the Inspector's electronic I.D.  Thank goodness Penny thought to tag him with a radio signal.  Thanks to her computer book, she figured out how to make the first prototype of a WIFI carrier wave years before wireless internet.  She's a genius!"

"Good.  Things will be okay as long as those signals overlap.  If they get separated, we'll know something went wrong.  Any luck with Penny's Computer Book and Communicator Watch?"

"Negative on the computer book.  Claw must've confiscated it.  As for the watch, nothing but dead silence.  Either confiscated or it's not safe for her to contact Brain."

We sped toward the location in the 57' Chevy, using my recently installed jump gate wormhole emitter--an offshoot of the one my mentor, Dr. Brown, invented for the Delorean--to drastically slingshot our way to the place in question.

Up ahead, I could see the Inspector searching around the outskirts of the castle, with his Gadget Magnifying Glass out...and of course he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings.

"Hmm...very suspicious."

He didn't notice the Mad Agents about to get the drop on him. But at the same time, he also didn't notice Brain in the tree-tops, having donned another disguise--this time as a giant blue jay. And sure enough Brain dropped a little present on the agents that he had swiped from the first couple of Dr. Claw's welcoming party when they failed to stop the Gadgetmobile from arriving.

"Oh no!" the two of them fumbled over the alarm-clock wired into the bundle of dynamite sticks. By the time it went off, the Inspector was already far ahead of them.

"Hmm...thunder.  Sounds like it could rain!  Well, lucky I came prepared!  Go Go, Gadget Umbrella!"

Gadget's hat opened up but what popped out wasn't the mechanical arm with the Umbrella but a pair of arms wielding a full sized variation on Gadget's suction-cup crossbow before nailing the M.A.D. Agents up ahead.

"Wowsers!  How did that get in there?  I'm going to have to have Professor Von Slickstein have a look at this malfunction.  I can't afford to have my gadgets acting up.  Inspector Gadget must always be on duty!"

Professor Von Slickstein? I had conflicting reports on how Gadget was actually given his bionics. One telling involves said Professor Von Slickstein. Another account said Gadget's systems were originally the life's work of Dr. Artimis Bradford and brought to fruition by his beautiful daughter, Dr. Brenda Brardford. And a third report simply listed his "creator" as a guy named Baxter; no last name given.

Huh. What was the real origin of Metro City's imperfect Robocop?

Over a lengthy convolution, we'd almost caught up to Claw, when the madman escaped by means of his jet-powered chair. And not once did he ever turn around so we could see his face.

Drat. He's going to make it hard to photo I.D.

It became a lengthy chase over more than just the castle. Before we knew it, we were headed to a Swiss Clocktower. Then a slow cruise down the Amazon. Which led us to Incan Ruins? And from there to an Egyptian Pyramid? And just when we thought it would lead us around the world in 80 days, we finally tracked M.A.D. down to an airship after braving a mess of ski lodge gondolas. While mouse Gadget disabled the engines, Asriel took out the defenses, leaving me to open the way up for the Inspector to enter the airship. We all somehow got lost inside, leaving the Inspector to find Penny while Asriel and I confronted Dr. Claw.

"Finally.  Let's find out who you--"

I blinked.

"...are?"

"Not what I was expecting."

"Honestly with a voice that sinister, I was kind of expecting an evil knight or some kind of cyborg."

"Well, I don't know, Azzy.  A  white-haired, goateed, German-looking guy in black leather with a heavy overcoat and a perpetual toothy scowl is still pretty scary.  More like a Baron than a doctor.

"SILENCE!"

But yeah...that voice. It was like someone de-vocoded Soundwave of the Decepticons. All heavy and hoarse but still booming.

The doctor faced us in a typical robotic mech with typical mad scientist weapons. But he proved to be no match for us. Unfortunately he escaped into another of his rocket chairs to the safety of MAD-1, the doctor's road vehicle that could transform into a personal jet on the fly.

Spoilsport that he was, Dr. Claw dropped Penny from a trap door in the ship, which left the Inspector to do his best swan dive. But thanks to the inflatable Gadget Coat, he was able to drift back down to the ground where Brain was waiting by the Gadget Van.

The rest of us discreetly headed back to the Gadget Household before we were discovered.

A job well done we earned that dinner. Buuuuut...we were going to have Mitzi join us to help Asriel in the kitchen. And sure enough it turned out to be a great welcome home.

...there was just one last twist.

"I'LL GET YOU NEXT TIME, GADGET!  NEXT TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!!!"

And there was the angry hissing yowl of a cat as the Madmobile flew past the house and to parts unknown.

Granted that was a nice touch. But that wasn't the twist.

A single paper airplane flew in through the window.

"Your assignment: Your loving chief has been kidnapped by Dr. Claw.  Your mission is to rescue the chief.  P.S.  HEEEELP ME, GADGEEEEET!"

I seized the message and crumpled it up and tossed it out the window...leaving it to explode in the yard.

"Sit this one out?" Asriel asked me.

"Oh yeah."

"And Inspectress Gadget may return after these messages!" My little sister had donned her own take on the inspector's trenchcoat, hat, gloves, and blue trousers.

"Oh, you." Asriel chuckled.

"That's my little sister!"

Let's close the curtain on this Gadget-ception.

Sub-Entry 333:  "Into the Dark, Darker, Yet Darker Still Forest, We Meet Our Dark Match?:
"Oh!  You're back again--"

"Huh?  I went somewhere?" I blinked, weirdly unaware that any time had passed since leaving off at the Warp Door.

Kris was standing at the entrance to the Forest. Ralsei had gone back to check on me.

All of a sudden I had total recall of what happened. It was like...a blip...or a lag in my memory. That's right. I was back in in DeltaRune again. Suzie had deserted us and joined that little troll, Lancer.

"You've returned to your heaven side layer.  The light beyond the world of the Lightners."

"You're...oddly aware of--"

"Do you think that's a redundant title, though.  I mean, yes this is the Dark World, but whoever is reading your journal--"

WHAT THE WHAT?!?

I looked Ralsei right in the eyes.

"You have so many who care about you.  I cannot help but feel like...maybe you were the one meant to come in Suzie's place...but...that cannot be the case."

I began to realize two things at this point. Perhaps by having Callista and Bunnie deep dive my mind, perhaps their influence wasn't a one-way-street. Perhaps by doing so, they had allowed Ralsei to become aware of...well...what was beyond the veil of their worlds. Really. Each instance I conversed with him...the more aware he seemed of me and where I was from. I was now beyond the point of questioning if this really was just a dream or if there was...something more to this.

The other thing I realized was Ralsei was right. Maybe Suzie was never meant to come here. Which forged a theory of my own which had an oddly weird mirroring echo of one Captain SNES: The Game Masta. What if, like Alex Williams, someone ELSE was prophesized.

What if...in the same way that in that VideoLand AU, the red-haired child of purity who refused to answer the Ultimate Warp Zone's call to arms...the same case here was that maybe someone else in Kris' class was meant to be chosen all along. And my theory was this:  what if it was Noelle who was supposed to have fallen into the Dark World with Kris?

I sighed.

"You...want to tell me something about the outside world.  Something related to Kris...or maybe to a world like hers...but you're afraid of the consequences, are you not?"

Okay. Now it was getting spooky.

"I understand.  I will not ask further.  Besides.  We have more pressing matters at hand.  We have to finish our quest."

It was scary by this point. My very presence had thrown this timeline off quite a bit. This world was completely new to me. How could anyone--even A.E.O.N.--know what this world's timeline was supposed to be? I had nothing to compare it to like the Undertale timelines. I KNEW when those got screwed up. This? Special case didn't even describe it. And I wasn't even sure how S.T.C. wasn't even aware of this, if it WAS in fact real and just another Subcon or Koholint Island.

"I understand why you worry.  It is...not easy taking the smart approach to things.  It is...only for the patient, it seems.  Maybe that is why Suzie and I cannot communicate."

A moment of silence.

"Let's not keep Kris waiting." I trudged on, not really wanting to start a melancholy contest to see which of us was feeling more regret about matters.

Into the next area we went. And that area was the Forest. And for the love of the gods...it was like we walked head-on into a Virtual Boy screen. Just shades of red on black. Mauve path, bloody scarlet tree leaves, and surrounding...patchworks of 16-bit brickwork...or foliage, maybe... made of overlapping patches of rectangles with the corners rounded off.

No time to rest on our laurels though. From the second bush, something burst out. Something with rabbit ears. As it turned out it was a Rabbick. I described it as being the fusion of a rabite with the Pokémon, Gloom (down to the drooly grin), and a marshmallow.

"Rabbick slithered  in the way!" Okay my scanner glass was definitely doing the job of Kris' ACT/CHECK.

"Attack 8.  Defense 1.   This dusty bunny needs a bit of spring cleaning."

As it hopped about the ...action box...?...it threw what looked like a carrot bones made of dust clumps at us.

"Rabbick emits a dusty groan."

We stood our ground. I had an idea. But I was sure Jon wouldn't like it if it ever got back to him.

"How did it go again?  I'll huff and puff and...yeah, you know....." I took the deepest of breaths and blew hard like the Rabick was a birthday candle! Almost all of its very being blew away until an itty-bitty version of itself with a closed-eyes smile remained.

"A sweet and fresh girl!"

"Rabbick is looking for a couch to get stuck under." And with that Kris spared the Rabbick leaving us with zero XP and 54 dark dollars.

We didn't have to go far to run into our newly-christened rival team of Lancer and Suzie. And they decided to name their group after us...only adding "Dark" as a prefix. Like that wasn't an overused trope;  need I bring up Samus or Pit having "Dark" doppelgangers.

"Suzie...!  Lancer...!"

"Didn't get too far ahead of us did you, turncoat?" I crossed my arms and gave the look of disapproval.

Suzie just ignored me.

"Heheheheheh..."

"Well, if it isn't the so-called heroes...!"

"Are you finally ready to find out..." Suzie followed up.

"When you try to act soft..." Lancer was alternating monologue with her. They were taking turns finishing the same sentence.

"Against a team that crushes ANYONE in their way?"

Good grief.

"Dark Jack Lancer!"

"Violent Axe Suzie!  Together we are..."

"THE DARK LANCER FAN CLUB!"

I kept my arms folded and deadpanned.

"Tell me when I'm supposed to be impressed." I muttered to Kris.

"Um... So what's your evil plan, um,  evil plan?" Ralsei asked.

"Huh?" Suzie's murder face expression dissolved away to that look of "oh crap..." one gets when they realize that they're vastly unprepared for the situation.

"Dude.  We JUST formed our team.  We haven't done anything but our intro yet."

I  sandwiched an "Amateur Hour" between some fake coughs. Okay I WAS being passive aggressive, and I REALLY needed to vent after what Suzie's been putting us and everyone she's bullied through. Didn't make it right and I'm sure Asriel would be giving me frowny faces. Okay. I'll quit while I'm behind.

"Have a little patience please..." Lancer seemed almost as deadpan.

"Oh, um, sorry...  We're, um, looking forward to the rest!"

"Heh.  Well you won't have to look forward for long."

"Starting now...  We're going to work CEASELESSLY..."

"Unstoppably..."

"To make an evil plan to THRASH you clowns."

"Watch your backs."

"And your fronts."

With that the both of them ran off down the path and out of sight.

I rolled my eyes. Honestly it was getting hard to take the situation seriously. I had to remind myself that we had a dark fountain to seal and probably a dangerous final boss out there.

"Hmmm..."

I had been thinking about the elusive Rouxls Kaard from earlier. We hadn't actually encountered him, but I was getting strong Mettaton vibes. Also the fact that his message was in a pseudo olde English...almost Shakespearian dialect down to the use of "thou". The last time I had seen the use of the word, "thou" was back on the world of Excalibur, during our run through Wizards and Warriors and by extension, Ironsword.

I'd come to realize that aside from the obvious anagram, and the presence of familiar faces, there was something else that this DeltaRune had in common with Undertale...the feel of this world...the aura of it......the style. If I had to ascribe what they were like in the words of a gamer, say like Violet......I'd describe them both like a J-RPG or sandbox-RPG. It was that theory that made the whole "pseudo code" and "save file" and the "reset" that Chara, Frisk, and even Asriel made use of...well...make sense.

Between Undertale and DeltaRune, both worlds had been very linear in their progression. I'd observed Frisk's journey being pretty straight forward.

It wasn't explorative like it was on worlds like Hyrule or the world of Mana. Nor was the feel like the giant mazes of Zebes or SR-388. There was a start. There was a finish. There was a story that built upon itself through. There was a system of EXP and LV. There was a money and shop system. There were choices to make and Undertale at least had very definite consequences of the choices made...not sure what the end game of DeltaRune was. There was an equipment and armor system. Both of these worlds had all of the elements of a role playing game.

I felt like this was just something I graced over in my laboratory notes...the very nature of this world. I mean if I had to generalize a lot of the worlds that Asriel and I visited recently...Wolverton seemed almost like a weird cartoon sitcom.

Then there were the ones we KNEW of their origins. Terra, the world of Mega Man Volnutt and the Caskets was definitely a video game world while both Karakura Town and the Soul Society were out of that anime...Bleach, I think?

The duality of how the works of fiction simultaneously existed alongside actual AU's where the fiction became reality...that was one of the essences of what it meant to be part of the UltraVerse. The other being...the Crossovers that I had made famous in our universe.

Oh, right...I'm getting way off topic. Back to the matter at hand...

We followed the path...which the layout felt...all-too familiar. In fact I'd almost felt like I'd seen the branching and convergent paths before...back when we were in the earlier Field of Hopes and Dreams. But this time it was a much smaller maze because right after the paths converged again there was the Dark Lancer Fan Club loitering around a lone tree stump.

"How's the evil scheming going?" Ralsei asked.

"Oh, uh, that?  We, uh, got bored.  So we're having a snack."

"I see..."

I resisted the urge to gloat over how nonthreatening our rivals had been.

"Come on!  All I ate for breakfast was chalk!"

"Busted." I said, under my breath.

"And I didn't eat anything!"

"Sorry, what are you two having, exactly...?"

"Just a daily treasure I hid in this stump's orifice."

Too easy and juvenile to make a comment on. On that note, I'm glad Violet is not here. Admit it. She wouldn't be the only one saying or thinking it.

"And that is...?"

"Feast for yourself, my main man."

Wait. Should we be trusting him?

So. Decision gate. You know what? Based on the outcome of the last time we had to make a choice in this surreal experience...I'm going to say our choice doesn't matter. But uh...for the record, there was in fact a honeypot of salsa in the stump.

It recovered...something. Not HP. Just...something.

"Mmm.  Hey, what’s in this?"

"I don't know!"

Truth be told...I don't really like salsa.

"Well, has everybody had enough?"

"Constantly."

As we continued to interact...

"My power's lowered by my hunger right now... But once I eat something... Heheheh...  You really shouldn't of pissed me off, man."

"It's 'shouldn't have'."

"Silence, you sweet basket of eggs!  Our dark energy bends the rules of grammar!"

"Heheh, yeah, egg boy!"

Let's just go. ready.

We left the two behind and continued deeper into the maze. There we encountered something that triggered a memory from what I had observed in the archived data of Hyrule. Specifically a kind of trap that consisted of an automated roving eye that rotated around a spire. Anything that got it its field of vision was automatically pierced with a laser. These were similar but...they were constantly sweeping a pole made of sharpened diamonds around in a counterclockwise circle...kind of like the sweeping fire wands that King Bowser Koopa was said to have in his lava-filled fortresses.

We reached a dead-end where we ran into something else that reminded me of something from the Hyrule Archives...specifically the Dark World.

"I'm just a little ball, I don't want to discuss anything." The little pink ball with closed eyes and an anime sweat drop said. Next to him was a chest. And to the left of the chest was a grey stick-ish figure with no arms and what looked like an X or a jack from a game of jacks for a head.

"You two look like heroes."

Was I just invisible to the Darkners? But Ralsei could see me...

"Take the SCARF from this chest and DEFEAT the KING!   Besides, it's old and ragged, and doesn't fit me anymore!  That's what CHESTs are for!  It's kind of a hand-me-down situation in there!"

Kris opened the chest and got a RAGGER. A brief shuffling of what we had equipped, and we were on our way.

We continued to navigate the traps until we came to the card puzzle where the spike barrier had prevented Dark Lancer Fanclub from advancing.

"Enter the password.  Note: due to everyone forgetting the password, it's written on the top."

This is even more idiotic than someone using 1-2-3-4-5 as a combination on their luggage. Come to think of it, didn't the president of Planet Moron do that? Spaceballs. Go figure.

"Well well well.  Look who it is.   The Sweet Little Peas We Love to See."

What was with the word play?

"Hey!  Watch your language!" Suzie snapped.

"Oh, sorry..."

Wait. What did he say that was obscene? Did I miss something?

"Suzie's trying to get me to swear more."

Oh. It figures.

They weren't being much help.

Suzie was instructing him on proper graffiti.

"...then add a moustache over there..."

Wait! They were vandalizing a sign weren't they?

"Hee hee!  Like this?"

"Yeah!  That's perfect!"

"How's the scheming coming along, you two?"

"Hey!  Don't LOOK!  Spoilers, dude!"

Meanwhile I was examining the puzzle. I gestured to Kris who nodded and went ahead and solved the not-quite-a-puzzle puzzle. Color Papyrus gob smacked, no?

"Hahahah!  Thanks so much, losers!  We were having trouble!" And the two of them ran off.

"Great..." I muttered. I muttered too soon for they immediately returned, which caught me off guard.

"Uh...we need this." Lancer and Suzie picked up the stand with the blueprint sign on it that they had been "vandalizing".

And they were off and gone.

A bit of exploration into the next area had another spike barrier with another card puzzle. But this time the code wasn't written down. A red...bag with triangle fins, floppy ears and angry comic book eyes roved back and forth. I suggested we avoid it. Just our like the other paths were dead ends but they gave us clear views of emblems bearing the houses of cards...the code!

Another unlock and Kris led the way past the retracted spikes.

This lead to another treasure chest containing the Dice Brace. Standing guard were what I could only describe as two-legged refrigerators? One with a puppy dog face, the other with a warped googly eye.

"Bow-Bow!  Break the box for a bracelet!  Bow-Bow!  It will boost your Defense!  Bow-Bow!  Bracelets are my B-favorite!"

"The King wants to O-liminate  Lightners, but... we didn't O-gree with that.  We O-scaped, but the O-thers were O-rrested.  Don't worry about talking to my O-ssociate here.  Whenever Bow-Bow talks she goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on..."

This could go on for a while. We equipped and left.

As we entered the next area, the code for the next puzzle had been visibly vandalized.

Exploring around led us to a trio of holes in the ground. Out of each popped what I could describe as a with a weird anime teddy bear head.

"RK came by...what a hunk!  He vandalized the puzzle to stop the Lightners... But WE know the answers!  Oh, you want to get through!?  Of course we'll tell you!!!   Umm...the first symbol is a HEART!  Ha-ha, just like LOVE!  Does that help!?"

"Um, Symbol Puzzle...?  All the symbols were different...  I think.  You can, um... still see the colors they were, too...  Sorry I can't be any more help..."

"Huh?  Symbol puzzle...!?  Why should --WE-- care!?  NONE of the symbols are CLUBS!  Arrgh!  It's downright insulting!"

Three clues...

Going on that, Kris was able to solve it and we were on our way toward the north. But as we were heading off, three worms turned out to be three heads attached to one body. Like a giant white cat...hydra thing.

"Hey~!  It's my birthday today~!" "And you didn't even SAY HELLO!?" "That's fine, actually..."

Whoa...getting close for comfort.

"Stop and say  hi, folks~!" "Shut up!  They don't DESERVE us!" "H-hey, calm down, you two."

That was when Clover attacked.

Smells like clover and dew indeed.

"Let's celebrate my birthday~!" "Yeah, get ready to HURT!" "Oh, I'm sorry about this...!"

"Clover grew close.  Clover - Attack 8.  Defense 2.  Two heads are better than one!  Three...maybe not."

Fortunately Ralsei and I paid attention to their dialogue and figured out that we just had to focus on talking about her...his...its interests and getting them to talk about which subjects they all wanted to talk about. Obviously talking about the birthday was a trap. So by the process of elimination, we narrowed it down to boys and sports. And after a while, Clover grew tired of discussing so much. Ralsei and I pressed on, bringing up animals which got disinterested reactions...then trees which finally made them all happy.

And with them tired and content, Kris spared Clover and we were off.

The opened path led us to...the bake sale. Three booths. The first a green diamond run by a Rudinn. The second a pink heart run by a Hathy. The third...a blue spade run by...!

"Why am I not surprised?" I looked at Lancer and Suzie behind the counter.

For our troubles we got, in respective order, a chocolate diamond, a hearts donut...and a lancer cookie. Which apparently was their plan for ripping us off...and using the money to buy a hearts donut from the Hathy kiosk.

"I'll take the blood; you take the skin."

Don't want elaboration. Really don't want it.

"If I may ask, how does a donut fit into your plan?"

"All real plans allocate for delicious treats."

"Sounds like you need to go to plan school, Dr. Toothpaste." That insult is really wearing out.

"Hoho!  Yes!  Earn a second doctorate, Smart Genius!"

"Am I being made fun of...???"

You're not the only one wondering, Goat Wizard.

We passed by them to the left where we ran into Malius, who could fix anything. Kris gave him the broken cake which he fixed...into an unrecognizable form, the Top Cake.

These dream sessions were getting longer. I had a feeling we'd have to face our rivals before this DeltaRune session would let me out back to the waking world.

Doubling back led us further down the path and crawling with the red Bloxers from before. But this time they attacked.

"Bloxers assembled.  Bloxer - Attack 9, Defense 2.  Loves: training.  Hates: body being the wrong shape."

Ralsei and I quickly got the idea to take them apart and rearrange their pieces; legs, body, and head in the right order. As expected Bloxer was pleased with its new look. Once we spared him, we continued on.

A nearby giant worm let us know that before the king took over, he used to spend his time eating the leaves off the tree he was standing by. Now...he still does that. Such is the life of a worm. His caterpillar appearance made me realize...holy schnikees, this really was Wonderland. At least he wasn't smoking from a hookah and asking the question "WHO ARE YOU?!"

An invisible path led us to 40 dark dollars. Nice.

The next part of the forest presented a new challenge--weaving  and out of a parading line of what looked like giant paper dolls in what I called the Z-style mirror pose.

It earned us a ReviveMint.

An invisible path lead us to a trio of Rabbicks.

One lone path later a chest held Broken Key B.

"Hmm..." I eyed the pieces we had collected. "What could this unlock...?"

Nothing until we found all the pieces and reformed it.

The forest kept stretching on...and that led us to Lancer...but no sign of Suzie.

"Oh, woe!  Woe is me...!  Rows and rows of woes and woes!  If only a hero would help!" Excuse my skepticism, but... ...y'know I'll just let this play out and maybe have a good silent chuckle.

"Lancer, are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm not Lancer...I'm a sweet little boy." He turned around. I noticed he was wearing a fake handlebar moustache.

"Why does a sweet little boy have a moustache?"

"As a disguise."

"So what kind of help do you need?"

"See, I have this EVIL PLAN, I need to make..."

"And why does a "sweet boy" need an evil plan?" Ralsei was actually deadpanning.

"To impress his cool friend, Suzie!"

Ralsei whispered to us. "Kris...if it's for friendship..."

He turned to Not-Lancer. "Then we'll gladly help.  What shall we do?"

"It's on the paper, you delicious little apple!  Just fill it in with the most evil thing you can imagine!  Ho ho ho!  Let the clown-generated-content begin!"

As it turned out we needed to complete a blueprint that read: Create a machine to thrash your own ass. Presented by Lancer Industries (which was just made up right now). Our options included selections for a head, a sword, a flame, and a duck for the head, the body, and the shoes as well as color sliders.

After um...making our creation and locking it in, we were informed that [our] "...machine sucks ass.  Is that okay?" We confirmed.

Lancer grinned and said "Wow, that looks nasty!  Are you sure you aren't evil!?"

"Err no, I suppose we just have a knack for it."

Death by quack, indeed. Oh brother...

That's when Suzie jumped out of the tree.

"Haha!  Tricked you, idiots!   NEVER do something someone else can do for you!" Suzie's evil wickedness faded quickly as she read the blueprint. "It's...just a duck?  Guys?  This evil plan sucks ass."

Wow the language! Does she kiss her mother with that mouth?

"Am I at fault in any way?"

"Nah, you’re good."

"Oho!  The bad guys get off scott-free again!  Thrash-you-later, you fools!!!" And they were gone.

"Okay." Ralsei shrugged. "It's nice that Suzie found a place she fits in!  And she's getting along with Lancer!" Missing the point, Ralsei.

The next area had a puzzle with a clue: Revolve around the center. The darker it gets the more you'll see. It didn't make much sense until we walked around the diamond blade pillar trap. It did get darker and we could eventually see a gnarled red tree...with a switch. That led us to the next area where Lancer and Suzie were both loafing on lawn chairs as minions fanned them.

One of them seemed to be a roving reporter.

"S-Somehow, Prince Lancer's made REAL friends with a Lightner... S-Somebody should tell the King immediately...! ...but it's definitely not going to be me!  Whoever breaks the news is going to get wrecked!"

The minion begged us to get Suzie under control, that they didn't want to fan forever.

The other moaned about how the King forced them to take care of his son and that it was so...obligatory.

There was a conversation about the Thrash Machine we designed earlier and a half-hearted response about them deciding they'll finish it at the last minute.

Ralsei tried to convince Suzie to be a good guy again. She let us know it was pretty sweet being a bad guy.

"By the way beware yourselves in the forest maze." "You'll probably get COMPLETELY lost...without someone who knows the way that is."

"Yeah, I know the forest like the back of my head."

"Let's just go."

And we headed into the maze...following Lancer who led the way...straight to a dead-end.

"So which way are we going next?"

"We...were following you."

"Oh.  Why?  I have no idea where I'm going."

"Kris let's just go wherever Lancer DOESN'T."

"Good idea.  Well played."

So we did. Which led us to Suzie. And she got a little miffed that we left Lancer behind to get lost and confused. Huh...maybe she did care about him. We headed further on while Suzie doubled back to find Lancer.

And somehow they both got ahead of us and ran through a gauntlet of all the traps and obstacles we'd been facing in the Forest. From the paper doll parades to the rotating diamond pillars to the fake-out Save Markers with wings.

The final area lead us to a giant duck-shaped silhouette.

"K... Kris!  Isn't that machine we designed!?  Alright!  This will be tough, but let's do our best!"

As it came into full view we could see that it WAS in fact a giant-sized duck. I didn't say anything. Pretty much every word of the trope we had set in motion had come to fruition; the villain(s) manipulate the good guys to do their dirty work for then. The only caveat to that was that was knew fully well we were helping their plans so...yeah, we were paying the price for it.

In all fairness, the three of us did attempt to pull a Ray Stantz and come up with the most harmless configuration we could pull off. I would think we at least had some common left of foresight that this could...and did in fact...come back to bite us in the rear.

"Oh.  That's..not good, actually."

"Ho ho ho!  You think THAT'S bad, just WAIT!  ...and see what happens when it STARTS!!!"

Feh. Bring it--

And then the whole thing EXPLODED.

WHAT. Just. WHAT.

"Your design sucked so we blew it up."

...okay...I'm really starting to understand the voice's warning at the start of all this that our choices didn't matter.

"Ah.  I see.  ...So...now what's your plan going to be?"

"Turns out we didn't need a plan.  Just a rule."

"Anyone that gets in our way..."

"Gets crushed into dust."

"But Suzie you need us to return home.  Doesn't crushing us seem a little counterproductive?"

"Nah.  See that's where you're wrong.  Ya see, I KNOW I can't get back without you guys.  But being a - heh - "good guy" REALLY isn't my style.  So I thought of a way we can just...settle this."

Out came the axe.

"If you can beat me, I'll go back to being a good guy.  But if you LOSE...  YOU guys will have to become bad guys with US... and do WHATEVER we say."

I'd like to say she had imagination coming up with this but pretty much every bully from the beginning of time has probably used this one before. Still. It was a sporting chance.

"Ho ho ho!!!  Our wish is your command!"

"So whaddya say...?"

Once again...an instance of knowing it's a trap and having no choice but to step into it. But also...I was wondering how even the chances really were.

The choice was "Let's fight." or "Let's not"--

"Eh, don't bother answering.  We were just gonna thrash you anyway, so... See ya!"

You know this 'choices don't matter' thing was really starting to get annoying...

I tightened my fists with a crackle of electricity and narrowed my eyes. Honestly, I was really having to remind myself that Suzie was still a minor and a grown adult beating up on one still made my stomach turn. But she wasn't giving us much of a choice...not that a choice would matter.

This was not the boss battle we were prepped for...but it's probably the one we should have expected all along.

"Two bad guys blocked the way!"

I analyzed with the scanner glass. "Suzie - Attack: 14.  Defense: 2. HP 110.  If you read the status screen, you'd already know that."

Well, now even my own gear was getting a little passive aggressive.

"Weasel out of this!"

"Hey!!  Hey Suzie!  Watch me, watch me!"

We scattered as Lancer tried to run us down with his bike...still on fire in the back. And Suzie rushed at us, swinging the axe which sent waves of axe -shaped silhouette shockwaves in our direction.

I arc-ed around the field, using a variation on electron teleportation--a theory that my mentor, Dr. Spengler had on the concept of wireless muon vortex generators on the idea of using quantum singularities to send ghosts directly into the containment unit.

I hoped that I could draw their fire to give Kris and Ralsei a chance to counter attack. In reality I was holding back my powers. I didn't want to end up dusting Suzie, despite how tempting she had made it.

"Suzie and Lancer are gloating about how great their team is."

Honestly we outnumbered them, but I still l had my doubts about being a real part of our team. I mean...I still felt more like a background character, just barely cutting it as a support character.

This was still Kris' story but...Lady Destiny and Madam Fate had inserted me into this with a metaphorical crowbar. I had to pull my weight, but I couldn't complete this..."game" for them. Not that I really had an idea how to do that. It was Undertale-like...but it wasn't Undertale. I was experiencing it for the first time; I had spent hundreds if not thousands of stable Undertale timelines mapping it out like a cartographer before I started exploring the unstable timelines.

Fortunate Ralsei delivered with his Lullaby. And like that it put Suzie to sleep, effectively cutting Lancer's team in half!

Ralsei followed up with Pacify...but as it turned out, Lancer's BIKE absorbed the spell...and started to get tired? Okaaaay.

"I won't let you SPARE my friends!  Don't worry, Bikey.  I'll put you to bed soon..."

We tried...well..literally anything. No really, there was an option for Anything and X-Anything in our H.U.D.

Kris tried to convince Lancer not to fight. And....oddly, Lancer started becoming convinced.

"(Yawn) I'm awake.  Did I miss anything?"

"Oh!!! It's working on me!"

Suzie jumped on Lancer's shoulders with a gooey SQUISH and both tried to double-down on us with a simultaneous attack.

Ralsei blocked with his scarf while Kris raised their shield.

"Suzie and Lancer are making fun of us."

By this time we were repeating our strategy, putting Suzie to sleep.

Kris told Ralsei to "logically best" Lancer.

"You two, if we don't stop fighting, then... ...someone might get hurt!"

Lancer became more convinced. It's working!

"Really?  That's bad!"

Apparently X-Anything was super effective. Kris told Ralsei to offer his services to the enemies.

"You two, if  we stop fighting, then I could, um...I could braid your hair!"

Wow. Literally anything. And it was STILL working.

"Lancer became almost fully convinced!" I was starting to see the end of this.

"(Yawn) I'm awake.  Did I miss anything?"

"Wow, I'll look amazing!"

Yet another simultaneous attack.

"I think it's time.  What say we put an end to this."

A nod from Kris who instructed Ralsei to deliver the final blow of kindness.

"In summary, I like you two, and...I think we should all just get along!"

But Suzie blocked the soundwaves before they reached Lancer.

"Rats." I growled.

"Try convincing someone who can't HEAR YOU!"

"Heh.  Score for the bad guys!"

"I'm blissfully ignorant!"

One more Lullaby sealed it.

Kris landed the last move, telling Lancer that they just want to get along. It's the decisive kindness!

"Uh-oh."

"What's wrong, dude?"

"I accidentally started liking the enemies...  Now seeing them makes me feel round and soft!  Bad atmosphere for battle, though..."

"...  Well, if you don't want to fight, there's no point, I guess.  Battle's over.  Well.  You didn't beat us, because you, uh...kinda cheated by, uh, ganging up on Lancer with, uh..."

"Kindness."

"But if I HAVE TO, I guess I'll go back to your side.  But DON'T expect me to do anything but FIGHT!"

I think that was the best deal we were going to have.

"Well, we're glad to have you back, Suzie."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Let's just hurry up and go home.

"...Um, Suzie?  Does this mean we...aren't a team anymore?"

"H...huh...?  Umm, I mean, uh...  Of course we're still a team!   You can...be part of the Lancer Fan Club!"

There was just something a-dork-able about how this all turned around.

"Wow!  Me?  In the Lancer Fan Club!?  Wait...if I hang out with the good guys...  Can we still have monogrammed track jackets?"

"Yeah!  Ralsei will make them!" First time she used his name without calling him some variation of toothpaste that I could recall.

"H...huh!?  Okay, sure!" Goat Wizard was too agreeable sometimes.

"Ahahahahah. Lancer joins the team!!!

What the heck? What was with those weird anime bishounen eyes?!

And so Kris used the Save Point and we were on our way.

"You can follow behind us, you know!" Ralsei offered Lancer.

"Oh, okay!"

And we were on our way--  Uh...Lancer? What did he just get done telling you?

"...I noticed you aren't doing that."

"Yeah!"

And so we left the Trashing Room, letting Lancer do as he pleased.

It was right about that time...

I sat up and looked at the probes and electrodes connected to my head as Dr. Brighton watched over me.

"So, Doctor.  Any progress?"

"It was very informative.  I sense you're closing in on something big.  Also...the pieces of that key in your inventory...I'm not sure what to make of it, yet.  But I think you know how you can repair it once you bring all the parts together."

"I was thinking the same.  Still...I'm no closer to figuring out where this other world is in the Space-Time Continuum.  Only that I can access it from this...dream.  While a lot of questions have been answered, a lot of them are still leaving me hanging." I folded my arms as Callista removed the wires from me.

"You mean like Ralsei's connection to Asriel."

"Indeed."

"Well.  Rest up, Commander.  You've had a very trying experience that's affected you just as physically as it has mentally and emotionally.  And don't lose heart.  You'll get to the bottom of this yet."

I nodded, got up and got situated before I bid the good doctor good day.

DeltaRune would continue another time.

Sub-Entry 334: "The Transformers vs. the Go Bots":
I'm going to start kicking myself when I practically set these scenarios up by mentioning them, even in passing thought, within a prior mission log. Had I really thought about the last one in depth, I would have seen this coming.

While pondering Gozer the Gozerian's connection to Cybertron, I'd accidently set myself up for a crossover clash that was long-since overdue. One that had probably had fanbases and intellectual property trademark disputes up in arms once upon a time with the question of who technically ripped off who...but I digress.

The year 1984 was certainly an interesting one at the time, with my mentors having their big break and of course first contact with the G1's of Cybertron after 4 million years of being buried on Earth...or...was it 65 million? Darn it all, I can't keep track.

Ectronymous took a break from driving my mentors up the wall with the whole Gozer connected to Cybertron case going nowhere in the last month. So he hung around Miranda City...in vehicle mode so as not to cause a stir.

But after a while it got a little conspicuous for a dead ringer for Ecto-1B. It was probably a good thing I didn't bring him to De Midian. That...might upset the citizens a little. Though Chameleon would probably approve.

That said, we took the Global Space Bridge to the nice open area of the desert where the Autobot ARK headquarters had been buried and converted into their base some 65 million years ago? Or was it only four million? Can't quite remember. Blast this being able to perceive multiple timelines in simultaneity. If I had known that power came with becoming Lady Destiny's white knight I would have REALLY not agreed to this position.

"I have to hand it to you, Asriel.  When I was your age and started driving, I always got scared to death when I drive with passengers in the car.  Especially when it was adopted family or older people.  I'd always feel the pressure of being responsible for more lives than just my own.  I mean the statistics for auto--"

"Gonna stop you there, best friend.  It's no biggie.  I get it.  But really, if you use common sense and keep alert you can adapt to even the unexpected on anywhere from the home to the highway."

"You make it sound so easy in retrospect."

"Well, how did you get over it?"

"Who says I ever did?" I was joking...mostly.

"Oh go on.  You're fine."

"Not to rain on your parade, but I'm kinda doing the driving.  You're just maintaining appearances."

"Riiiiight.  Because no one's going to question a goat driving a 59' Cadillac professional-class chassis type ambulance built by the Meteor-Miller company and heavily modified with sirens, flashers, and nuclear-powered quantum tech on the roof and No-Ghost emblems."

"...touché."

"Violet taught him the ways of the sharp tongue.  He's actually able to banter with Chara without getting flustered anymore."

"Lucky me."

"C'mon.  When we get back to base, you'll get to go back to robot mode."

Eventually we got to the dormant volcano.

"Here we are.  Autobot headquarters." We drove into the main entrance to the war room and Teletran-1...theirs not mine which I use for Dimensional Research.

At the consoles was Perceptor, joined by paraplegic computer genius human, Chip Chase. I could see "Sparkplug" Witwicky working on something with Wheeljack further into the base.

We got out and let Ectotron stretch his servos.

"Better?"

"Better."

"Now.  Where are the others...?"

That was about the time Bumblebee pulled up in. I'd recognize that classic BMV beetle form anywhere.

"Hey, Bee." Asriel beckoned.

Out of the driver's seat came Spike Witwicky.

"Welcome back, son!" Sparkplug waved after putting away his tools.

"Seems pretty quiet around here.  Where's Optimus and most of the Autobots?"

"Invited to an energy conference with the leaders of the world in the name of peace and prosperity.  But mainly to make sure the Decepticons don't disrupt it."

"Sounds about right." I shrugged.

"House-sitting for the ABB.  I can dig it."

"Auto Bot Base?" I questioned. "You're picking up my knack for acronyms."

Asriel just waved it off. Modest little devil.

That was right about the time the Autobot alert came in over Teletran-1.

"You know, this trope of arriving off world to take in a peaceful day off is becoming practically sitcom status."

"By that, you mean like a 30+ season sitcom status?"

"Right."

"If I didn't know better I'd say you were baiting Chaopolis to make a move in order to make them a little more...predictable?"

I flashed a cocky smirk.

"Wow.  You really know how to troll your nemesis."

"Let's just say I have to let him know I'm not getting soft.  Steel sharpens steel.  And frankly, having you around as my partner has made me actually relish having a nemesis.  One we can team up against."

"Ah.  Ocarina of Time/Wind Waker logic.  Nice."

The other Autobots and humans looked at us like we had two heads and five butts (Sorry, Dr. Mephesto.).

"Decepticons?" I asked Perceptor.

"Unknown.  The disturbance does not seem indicative of their motives, yet there is a definitive presence of energy discharges not native to planet Earth."

"If it isn't the Decepticons, what do you think?  Quintessons?"

"Inconclusive."

"Well, we can wait here and collect information and inform Optimus Prime and wait for backup...or the Violet method."

"Let's be careful about it." Asriel suggested.

One jump-cut in our story later...

"How did this happen?  I thought we voted for Asriel's suggestion to play it smart!"

I looked over my shoulder at Violet, who was grinning smugly.

"Oh.  Right." I folded my arms and folded my ears back with a low growl.

"Should we really be leaving the base like this?"

"Not worry.  It's all well in hand." Violet put her cell phone away.

"Vi?  Who did you call?" I asked nervously.

Back at the Autobot Base...

"...won't the Autobots kind of need that?" Jamie asked.

"Dunno.  Let's keep smashing it!" Coop shifted gears in M.E.G.A.S. XLR

Thus...

"I am so going to have your jhorblochs for this, Vi..." I stared her down.

"Never mind, Volt!  I see something on the horizon."

"Describe!"

"Large.  Mechanical.  Definitely robotic."

"What emblem is it wearing.  Autobot or Decepticon?"

A short pause before he answered "...neither.  I can't find any markings on it."

"How can that be?  Were there any records of unaffiliated Transformers back on Cybertron?"

"None that I can think of." Bumblebee shrugged.

"Should we engage--"

"Fitor to Cy-kill.  I'm at the drop zone with the Astral Beam."

"Can you tap into their com-link, Blaster?"

Blaster remained in boom boxer form.

"Hey, stand and shout, I'm gonna scope this jive guy out!"

Static from his speakers before...

"...Excellent, Fitor.  You have your orders."

"Should I bring Zod in case the Guardians show up?"

"Guardians?  Who are they?" Spike asked.

"Delay that order.  We cannot afford to waste resources nor can we afford to tip our hand too early.  We may end up alerting them prematurely."

"As you command."

"Whoever he's talking to, that must be the guy in charge."

"I don't know about you guys, but my Cosmotron tells me that this guy is up to no good."

"Let's not engage unless we really have to--"

"Intruders!" Fitor whirled and aimed his arms, tightening his fists...before the lasers rang out!

"We really have to." Asriel said with a deadpan.

"Get to cover!"

I whipped out the XBTOCLC's and over fire.

"Fitor calling Cy-Kill!  I've encountered hostile forces!  Earth creatures have discovered us!  They seem to have backup!"

"What?!  The Guardians have found us out?  Destroy them immediately!  And their human allies!  They proved far too dangerous the last time we underestimated us!"

"It shall be done!"

Asriel popped up and squeezed off a few NX JoyCon Laser shot before ducking back down.

"Whoah!  What kind of Cybertronian is he?  He's not holding any weapons; no pistols or cannons nor does he have laser swords or maces.  It's almost like his arms actually ARE weapons!"

"The discharge doesn't smell like the usual ion particle emissions.  And I know my plasmic energy types." I took a moment to let the barrels of my weapons cool down.

It was at that time Bunnie exited a portal and joined us.

"It seems you have run into a situation."

"Yeah, we got an unknown bot pissed off at us.  Can't tell what faction he's working for, but obviously he doesn't like us much."

"Can you get a bead on his spark and find out what alignment he is, sensei?

Bunnie closed her eyes and tried to sense...then she opened her eyes rather suddenly.

"There's...no spark there."

"What?"

"So it's not alive?"

"That's not the case.  There IS a living presence there.   They have humanoid brains and have extensive cyberization.  Not humans as we know them but the presence of a soul...they're definitely alive.  I picked up trace thoughts deep in his memories that speak of a world called...Gobotron.  It seems he was once of a race of humans known as the GoBeings.  But through a process invented by the...Last Engineer of Gobotron, they've become GoBots."

"Can you sense any others?"

"Some.  He's a strong warrior but his mental defenses are not particularly great.  It seems that thousands of years ago the GoBeings were caught up in a civil war that split their races into two factions.  This one represents the terrorists known as the Renegades."

"Huh.  Small world.  Sounds EXACTLY like what happened with us and the Decepticons." Bumblebee reasoned.

"Yeah.  Shame on them for ripping you guys off." Violet had managed to follow Bunnie here.

"Actually--"  Asriel started as his NX Board showed a split screen comparison of the Transformers and the "GoBots" based on their timelines.

"Never mind!  Let's just trounce this guy and be done with it!" Brawl fired back.

"Cy-Kill!  Requesting immediate backup!"

"Fool!   Must I do everything myself!  Stand by to use the Astral Beam!"

"They're up to something." Bunnie observed.

"What could it be?" Spike asked.

"Whoooah.  Bad vibes, my friends.  They're raidin' the airwaves and jackin' some un-fun company!"

"Reinforcements?"

"Now we got to get word to Prime and the others!"

Blaster made the call and we bunkered down. Fitor's backup would probably get here before ours would.

"I got news, guys!  And it's worse than Soundwave's singing voice.  Prime and company are a long way's out.  I don't know if they can get to us in time!"

"We picked the wrong day to spread out Autobot forces all over the world." Bumblebee complained.

"It's about to get worse!  He's messing with something over there." I noticed the Astral Beam firing up and from it came forth the vortex to where I presumed Gobotron was.

"Geeper Creeper, Slicks, and Psycho reporting from Gobotron!"

"You have your orders!  Destroy the enemy!"

The numbers game wasn't working in our favor and the battle was intensifying.

"You unknows have to be working for the Guardians!  Death to those who oppose Lord Cy-Kill!" Fitor declared.

"Not looking good!"

We were stalemating but it was ultimately a battle of attrition.

Who'd get to us first?

"Major?"

"D-Chips are drained."

"Conserve your Mojikara.  It won't do any good in this situation."

"Pretty sure I can't hack them, either.  Cybertronian and I guess...Gobotronian...tech is a bit over my pay grade."

Now would be a REALLY inappropriate time to point out that 1) She doesn't GET paid and 2) she's a stupid-rich princess.

"Break through their defenses and--"

That was about the time something barreled into Fitor, knocking him off his feet.

"We've got more company, Dr. Arcade!" Spike ducked out from his hiding spot.

Another one took out Psycho with cannon fire.

And yet another took out Slicks after converting to robot mode.

"Huh...that's a weird-sounding transformation." Asriel noted.

"Yeah...sounds more like motors whirring.  Why can't it sound normal like our Autobot friends." Violet shrugged as Bumblebee converted into vehicle mode with that distinct noise. Spike got in and Bee took off, avoiding the shots.

A final new arrival plastered Geeper Creeper to the wall of the mountain.

"Whoever they are, they're on our side." I noted.

"They'd better be." Brawl growled.

"Fitor!  Report!  What is the delay?"

"Unexpected complications, Lord Cy-Kill."

"Blast!  No more excuses.  Return at once.  Then we will consider all of your punishments.  Fortunately for you, I happen to have a contingency in the works.  Consider that the only grace you'll be awarded!"

"I humbly accept, Cy-Kill!  I will not fail you again!" And with that, Fitor and the other Renegades converted and retreated.

"After them!" One of the newcomers remained in vehicle form while the rest converted back to vehicle form and headed after them.

"Get your cans back here!  I want answers!" Brawn snarled.

"Too late.  They didn't give us a second thought.

"Hmm..." I collected some samples of shrapnel and scanned for residual charged particle signatures. Might as well get proof of this so Prime doesn't reprimand us for false alarms. And speaking of the big guy...

"We burned tire all the way to git' here!  What's the emergency, already?" Ironhide demanded.

"I hope you all have a good explanation."

"We do.  And it's gonna be an interesting one." I finished saving the Scanner Glass' video captures to memory.

Inside the base I uploaded to Teletran-1 while I let Perceptor analyze the remnants of battle.

"Unknown robotic life from another planet..."

"Definitely not going to say it's hard to believe on this world.  What I am going to say is how strangely similar they are to this one."

"Chances are we haven't seen the last of them, either."

"Without markings it's going to be hard to tell who's who." Violet shrugged. "Though in all fairness having big metal emblems branded into your shells might as well be the same as painting a bullseye on you for the enemy.  Makes stealth kinda of a hard trick to pull off, even in vehicle mode."

"Hmm...we could have a very dangerous situation in the works--"

That was went Teletran-1's screen turned to TV white noise before we were greeted with an unfriendly face.

"Megatron." Prime narrowed his eyes.

"Prime!  I didn't think you had it in you, but you DARED to send your allies to our base to make a pre-emptive strike!"

"You've got a lot of gall to make such an accusation, Megatron!"

Violet pulled Asriel aside.

"You ever notice how much they bicker like an old married couple?"

"Too soon, Aunt Vi.  And definitely not the place to bring it up." He narrowed his eyes.

"Jeeze.  Getting it from Goat Son.  Now I KNOW I'm getting the business today..."

"Pipe down." I scolded Vi and tried to listen in.

"Maybe it's not a good idea if we show our hand to the Decepticons.  They don't know who's who any more than we do.  Maybe we can get information if we--"

"Back-hack them?  Way ahead of you." Vi had her laptop wired in to Teletran-1 and was infiltrating the Decepticon's mainframe.

"I have nothing to say to you, Megatron!"

"Mark my words, Prime, when next we meet, the Decepticons will send you and your new allies to the scrap heap!  You have been warned!"

And the transmission cut out.

"This whole mess is getting complicated."

Ectronymous looked at Asriel and shrugged.

"Chip.  Give me a hand with what I pulled from their systems while we were connected."

"Absolutely."

"Let's hold off on letting Megatron know the truth about the situation on our end.  It might give us an advantage in the long run on how to deal with this."

"And prevent him from forging an alliance with the Renegades--"

Suddenly Bunnie's head snapped up and the shuriken flew out of her hand.

"What?!  Major!"

The cluster of ninja stars exploded as we heard and angry mechanical squawk.

"It's Lazerbeak!" Prowl gasped.

"Dad burned scrapheap of a vulture!  Blast him!" Ironhide yelled out.

"Don't let him escape!" I flung several bolts of electricity his way.

"I got him in my sights--"  Asriel started before the floor started shaking.

"Rumble!" He pushed himself up.

"And Frenzy." I recognized the twin cassetticons. "The inspiration for RMB-Gamma, and FZY-Delta would have to be here, too.  And where the two of them are--"

"AAAH!!!!" Ratbat grabbed hold of Chip, wheelchair and all, and hoisted him up.

"Leave him alone!" Spike made a run to intercept before he was tackled to the ground by--

"Ravage!" Bumblebee charged at the robo-panther.

Suffice to say it was a brouhaha but in the end...

"They got away!"

"And with intel for Megatron!"

"Darn it all!  They made us look like SCHMUCKS!" Violet pounded her fist into the ground.

"And Megatron's gonna figure it out." Asriel frowned. "He'll probably forge an alliance with the Renegades before we can find these...Guardians."

"We'll have to wait for him to make the next move."

"Unless we can find some clues that can lead us to the Guardians.

Jump cut to the Decepticon base.

"Laserbeak and the others return, Megatron." Soundwave reported.

"Take notes, Starscream.  This is how LOYAL soldiers perform."

Starscream scoffed. "It's just Unicron's luck that they succeeded.  I could have done the same with less manpower!"

"And yet you didn't." Megatron mused as he watched the surveillance and listened in on the recordings brought back.

"Heheheheheh...perhaps we've gotten off on the wrong foot.  These...Renegades may prove useful.  If we can get to them first."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"You're going to take the Seekers and do recon, Starscream.  Fortunately for you, we obtained scans of their energy signatures.  Once we home in on that it will be easy to track them down!"

"Easier than capturing a moon base?" Starscream folded his arms...before taking a Fusion Cannon blast that knocked him on his skid plate.

"Try my patience again.  At your own riiiiiiisk!!" Megatron wasn't playing around.

And so inevitably...Megatron, Soundwave, Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp would in fact make first contact.

"Greetings from Cybertron, fellow travelers.  It appears there's been a misunderstanding about who our enemies are.  It's come to my attention that some of your warriors were in an altercation with our sworn enemies, earlier."

"And who might be addressing me?" Cy-Kill demanded to know.

"I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons and rightful rulers of Cybertron--a planet I assume would be much like your own?"

"What would you know of Gobotron, presumptuous fool?" Cop-Tur unfolded his rotor blades.

"Do not attempt to engage Megatron, primitive machine." Soundwave aimed his shoulder rocket launcher.

"Cop-tur.  Stand down.  If their sworn enemies were the ones that attacked us, then we have no quarrel with them.  I wish to hear them out."

"We have a common goal in conquering and enslaving the lesser lifeforms of this galaxy.  Perhaps our combined forces would be enough to solve the problem of both our enemies.  Tell me of these Guardians."

"Why should the glorious Cy-Kill disclose that kind of information to you?"

"Glorious Cy-Kill?  I see no reason to heed the words of a sycophant!" Starscream pointed accusingly at Fitor.

"Hold your tongue and address our leader with respect!"

"That's enough, Starscream!" Megatron ordered. "Forgive my supreme air commander.  He has yet to learn his place.  A problem I intend to rectify." Megatron grabbed his subordinate by the neck and choke slammed him to the ground. "Unlike my loyal servants who don't fail me.  Soundwave.  Provide the Renegade with everything we have on the Autobots."

"As you command, Megatron."

"Cop-tur.  Assist Soundwave in the data exchange.  There is wisdom to be had in knowing thy enemy."

"Well then, Cy-Kill.  To our bold new alliance and the downfall of the Autobots and Guardians!"

"Yeeeeees..."

Once we got things patched up at Autobot headquarters, the Decepticons had already made their move with a nasty distraction in a populated city.

"It must be a trap."

"Then our enemies got to the Renegades first.  Not good."

"We don't have a choice.  Innocents will perish unless we act.  Autobots!  Transform and roll out!" Prime ordered as we headed into the city. And of course it was chaos.

"Man.  Talk about your Transformers Devastation!" Violet joked. "Devastation of some wallets when the insurance companies see this."

"First priority is evacuation, team.  Let's get the humans out of there."

"Wait, shouldn't we switch to our human disguises?"

"No time.  Besides I'm thinking that our true forms will probably scare people away.  If push comes to shove we use that to heard them out of the city."

"You're the boss, boss." Vi shrugged.

Rematches with the Renegades we had first fought was bad enough. But of course more of them joined the party. And things got worse when the Seeker Jets showed up with Starscream leading them.

It was looking bad even when Asriel got the idea of stirring the pot and introducing a little dissension in the ranks; Starscream and Fitor were perfect opposites and getting them to disagree on things wasn't too hard.

"You lack ambition, Fitor!  You'll always live under the heel of Cy-Kill until you realize you're the superior leader!"

"Blasphemy!  How you can be useful to Megatron remains to be seen!  You would seek to usurp him for your own ambitions!"

"Excuse me for not being a team player but I know when I'm on a losing team under shoddy management!"

"Why you!"

But even with them at each other's throats, Soundwave and Cop-Tur turned out to be more than a handful keeping order in their leaders' names. And things didn't get better when the Renegade known as Crasher joined the party.

"Huh.  I was starting to wonder if there were any female Gobots." Violet muttered, climbing out from between the wreckage; scuffed up but unhurt.

"And she has FZY-Delta's Crash Stomper powers!" Bunnie backflipped to avoid the zig-zag fissure in the ground that ended explosively underneath a set of gas station pumps.

While the first battle was a stalemate, the Cassetticons made us look like...well, schmucks as Vi put it...this time it looks like we'd actually lose. And lose big. All seemed lost until...

"GOT YOU IN MY SIGHTS!  AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Crasher laughed wickedly as she barreled straight at Chip and Spike, both in an overturned Bumblebee.

"Wake up, Bee!  Wake up!"

"END OF THE ROAD--"

* CRAAAAAAASH!*

But it wasn't us that ended up on the receiving end.

"Huh?  What happened?" Spike gasped.

"Look!!!" Chip  pointed out the windshield at the red sportscar.

"We got here just in time, Turbo!" I heard the voice of an older teenage girl call out.

"I've been waitin' to knock that Crasher for a loop for a long time now, A.J."

"Let's help those people out in the car over there!" A.J. Foster quickly got out of the car as its windshield slid open and let the African-American girl out of the cockpit.

"Right!  Then it's clobberin' time!"

Turbo, as I could tell was a scrapper with a personality I'd ascribe as being like Marvel's Ben "The Thing" Grim.

"Hey!  You!"

"Huh?  Asriel whirled toward the red robotic scooter with a young boy aboard.  A red motor scooter with a robot face on the windshield?

"Hey!  We're here to help!"

"W-we are?"

"Huh...that scooter is sounding a little Frank Welker-ish." Violet muttered, offhandedly.

"I'm Nick Burns.  And this is my friend, Scooter."

Huh. Imaginative name. It was obvious Scooter was cowardly but also had the makings of an inventor. Yeah...he had Alphys complex in spades.

"And you're with the Guardians, aren't you?" Asriel asked.

"Not sure what you are, but you're in the know."

"It's a long story.  We'll tell it later.  I owe you for your friends over there saving our friends."

Meanwhile I was standing with Prime against the rest of the forces.

Blaster had gone head to head with Soundwave. But with Cop-tur backing him up, it wasn't looking good.

"Starscream!  Cy-kill needs air support!  We have to help him!"

"Do it yourself!" Starscream cackled as he left Megatron and Cy-Kill to fend for themselves with Fitor backing them up.

"You coward, Starscream!!!" Megatron roared.

"We have to get control over the situation!" Cy-Kill grimaced as he fired his laser beam eyes.

"Fitor!  Do it, now!"

"Right!  Sending Zod!"

And that was when we were introduced to the biggest, baddest, angriest mashup of a robotic Godzilla machine with a steamroller.

"Your doom is nigh, Autobots and Guardians!  Before this day is done you shall all KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!!"

Violet stifled a chortle and Asriel tried not to grin.

"Do you find something amusing, Earth creatures?"

"No.  It's just that...*snicker*..."

"You wouldn't get the joke."

"Goat Son!  Don't encourage her." I warned.

With that distraction going on, it was just down to Prime and Megatron. But with the fire-breathing Zod on his side and Fitor running interference, even with my help, it was looking bad...until...!

The laser blasts rained down hard on both Megatron and Cy-Kill from above.

"He's here!  Leader-1 is here!" Scooter seemed relieved.

And sure enough in the pilot seat was astronaut, Matt Hunter, Nick and A.J.'s legal guardian.

Once landed and allowing Matt to disembark, Leader-1 converted to robot mode and joined Optimus Prime on the battlefield. And they sealed the deal with the strongest of handshake grips.

"No!!!"

"Stop them!"

It was a long and nasty battle, but the tide finally turned when Prime and Leader-1 combined weapon blasts to pierce Zod in his only vulnerable spot--the reactor core on its chest.

While that was happening, Geeper Creeper got the business end of Hound's weapons after being caught off guard by his holograms.

Crasher crashed out once Sideswipe and Sunstreaker made the scene.

Flying Autobots were  a rare thing but Decepticons who defected to become Autobots was even rarer. Which made things start to look up as Sky Fire gave Cop-Tur more than he could handle.

"This alliance was doomed from the start!  Renegades!  Retreat!"

"Fools!  You will regret having abandoned Megatron!  Mark my words when next you set foot on Earth, it's open season on ALL BEINGS OF GOBOTRON!"

We bore down on Megatron.

"Decepticons!  Retreat!"

And they were off. "I will be...AVEEEEEEEEEENGED!" Megatron's bellow echoed through the city.

We all cheered and celebrated our victory.

"It's good to have friends we can count on."

"I feel the same way, Optimus."

"Y'all Guardians got guts.  I respect that.  Drop by the next time you wanna help stick a grenade up Megatron's tail pipe."

"I live to give a good pounding on the enemy!  You got yourself a deal!" Turbo shook hands with Ironhide.

To wrap this adventure up we all got a good group photo which Asriel would take home to his scrapbook.

Sub-Entry 335: "Triple Hero Adventure.  Ben 10 x Generator Rex x The Secret Saturdays":
Asriel has really been meaning to catch up with Ben Tennyson for the longest time. Why is it that the only time we ever seem to reconnect with old friends is when they're in trouble?

It seemed old friendly rivalries as well as old science community alliances were about to come full circle with yet another collision of worlds.

it of course started with old acquaintances making a return in a big way.

I was finishing up reworking a cyber portal in the cyber gate room with Asriel when not one, but two portals--one to the left and one to the right became active.

"Volt!  Asriel!  I need your help--"  Came the two cries in unison.

"What?  You!?"

Double jinx.

"Fancy meeting you here, robot boy."

"Back at you, monster kid."

I wasn't about to correct him that Monster Kid was someone else, entirely. Though usually he called Ben "Alien Guy".

"Ben!  Rex!  This is a pleasant surprise!  What are you doing here?"

"Focus, Goat Son.  Remember what they said as they came out of the portals?"

"Oh yeah!  You need our help."

"Wait.  Both of you need our help?  At the same time?"

"I called dibs!"

"No way, Jose!  They're allied with Providence first and foremost."

"In your dreams!  Ultra Crew Institute's been partnered up with the Plumbers way before they met you guys!"

"Well unless Volt wants to divide up forces--"

Nikita broke up the argument at that time.

"Is there ANY possibility your plights may be related?"

Ben and Rex looked at each other then at us.

"It's like this--"  Both started at the same time.

Oh for Petri's Sake...

"Ben, you start first." Asriel cut in.

Ben grinned smugly. Rex scowled in  response.

"Don't get the wrong idea.  It's not favoritism." Asriel scolded.

"Fiiiiine." Ben rolled his eyes. "So these punks set foot in Bellwood and started tearing up the place.  I tried scanning them for new alien archetypes but the Omnitrix said that their DNA sequences were all from Earth."

"Not aliens?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Describe them." Asriel spoke.

"Well, I didn't get a look at the female...she was hiding inside rifts in space.  But the one looked like a wolf in a bio-mechanical suit--"

"Biowulf?!" Rex gasped. "And the girl sounded like Breach. "

"She was with another girl that really has an un-enviable singing voice if you get my drift--"

"Circe." Rex turned grim.

"So they're not aliens but E.V.O.'s?"

"Seemed like it.  But they seemed to be working with someone that didn't seem like they belonged with their troop."

"Hmm..." Asriel rubbed his chin. "Okay, Rex.  What's the trouble on your world?"

"Well, this crab-looking freak with a pop-top head--"

"Sounds like a Cerebrocrustacean." I muttered.

"And we happen to know an evil one with an axe to grind with Asmyth, don't we?"

"...you finished, Amigo?"

"Sorry, Rex."

"No.  Keep going.  It's an interesting story." Ben mused.

"He was working with this crazy scientist that controls animals--"

"Animo." Asriel, Ben, and I said in unison.

"...and a girl swarming with nanites.  Thought she was an E.V.O.  Tried curing her but...the backlash was nasty.  It was like the nanites were alive--"

Ben suddenly lost his grin and turned a little pale.

"Oh no..." Asriel and I were both familiar with said person.

"Elena?" Ben looked more than a little concerned.

"The daughter of Victor Validus.  She became the new queen of the Alien Swarm after continuing her father's research on them after his passing..." I explained.

"And let me guess.  Working with a third party between the two of our enemies trading up worlds?" Ben asked.

"Hmm...a third party."

"Whoever they were they didn't have nanites."

"And the one I tried to scan with the Omintrix couldn't narrow down a genetic sequence.  Just that it seemed to be an unknown Earth species......come to think of it..."

"Hmm?" Asriel, Rex and I looked at each other before looking at Ben.

"I think this time I might have a leg up on you on this one.  I might know someone to bring in on this."

Upgrading this crossover from double to triple? And really. Who could Ben know that could help--

...hold that thought.

"By any chance that person's name wouldn't happen to be...?"

Jump cut to off world...

Ben stared down the person in question. They stared him down right back.

"Ben Tennyson."

"Oh.  You're approaching me?" I thought I heard Asriel mutter, quoting Dio Brando. I elbowed him, urging him to cool it.

Both drew back...and grabbed hold of each other's hand in a bro-grip.

"Good to see you, Ben."

"Right back at ya.  Everyone.  Zak Saturday."

"Wait.  I know your parents." I spoke up. "They're top tier in the scientific community.   The world's foremost authorities on cryptozoology.   And recognized as such now that you-know-who has been ousted."

"So.  Over your weird hero-worship relationship with your eternal nemesis?" Ben was quite cocky to bring that up.

"Dude.  Don't go there.  Ancient history."

"Sooo.  Your mother--"

"I'm going to stop you there and warn you that if you keep crushing on my mom, there will be Heck to pay."

"Yeah?  I can take it."

"Peacocks are a type of Cryptid on certain worlds--"

"Okay!  Okay!  I'll stop!"

"You're deathly afraid of peacocks?  Oh this is rich." Rex gloated.

Asriel facepalmed.

"Level with me, Ben.  How is this guy supposed to help us?"

Asriel held up the NX Board up in tablet mode and accessed both the Plumbers' and Providence's recorded footage.

"Don't get your gears in a knot.  He if my hunch is right then this third party might very well be--"

"Totally.  It's a Cryptid."

"Wha?  How can you tell?"

"Hey.  The incarnation of Kur.  You're welcome." Zak spun the Claw.

"Well now that we know what we're up against, how do we go about this?"

"Three-way crossover.  This will be a tricky one." I pondered.

"Where do we even start first?"

"Your world or mine?" Rex gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Gotta warn you.  We start in Bellwood; we're stopping at Mr. Smoothie."

"And if we end up in Providence Territory, Bobo and I are treating you to a fiesta."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Zak wrinkled his nose dubiously.

"I'll...just keep my mouth shut." Asriel rubbed the back of his head.

"Well the fearsome foursome has joined forces...maybe..." I pondered.

"...maybe there's a fourth target in mind." I pondered the situation.

"Huh?  What do you mean?" Zak Saturday asked.

"Maybe your three worlds were just the opening act.  Maybe...Chaopolis REALLY has their sights set on--"

"Home?" Asriel cocked his head.

"Starting to pick up a few tricks from your own mom, Azzy?"

"Speaking of mom's who are easy on the eyes--"

"Gonna stop you there, Ben."

"Dude.  Issues, man."

"Like how you're still hitting on Dr. Holiday?"

"Hey now!"

"This whole team is dysfunctional, isn't it?" Zak deadpanned.

"Oh yeah." I wrinkled my nose. And here I had high hopes Asriel would be above that. Darn it, you were supposed to be the neutral one! Then again, maybe no one was neutral.

Oh well.

"So.  What makes you think they'll come to us?"

"Because it's EXACTLY what Adonis would have promised all three of them."

"So...this Cryptid.  Do you think he's anything like V.V. Argost?" Asriel asked, actually rather serious.

"Well...remember when Animo brought him back from the dead?" Zak asked Ben.

"Rook and I remember."

"That's the common event that brought us together."

"What about you, Rex.  How'd you and Ben meet?"

"He came to my world.  We fought.  I tried to cure him when I thought he was an E.V.O."

"And Dr. Lynx had to work day and night to get every single one of those nanites you uploaded to me out of my system.  The world's not ready for a nano-powered Ben 10."

"Amigo, you're already nano.  You got that one alien."

"Upgrade.  Yeah.  But that's different."

"You say tack-o, I say tah-co."

"I don't say tack-o." Ben protested.

"What's important is..." Asriel started, closing his eyes and folding his arms. "...that if that's the case, we're in for a combined force from all sides.   Dr. Alloucious James Animo.  Elena Validus.  Dr. Psychobos.  Biowulf.  Breach.  Circe."

"And someone who might be another reincarnated Argos."

"Teamed up with Adonis." I growled. "A lethal octet."

"Like Chaopolis' take on Wily's robot master wars;  always built in teams of eight."

"So.  What do we do?"

"We fortify ourselves and stand with our allies." I looked at the quartet. I think they understood what I was getting at.

In all, without me, it was 4 against 8. Five, if I was included. But knowing the bad guys...there was always a level of cheating that made the numbers far more unfair than they  looked.

But each of us had our own allies as our enemies would soon find out,.

The cyberportal opened up in open desert in Augustgrad. Took me back to our mission in Mexico in Generator Rex territory.

We weren't that far from the border of Miranda. And let's face it. Winner took the spoils of war--namely the city-kingdom. There's my nightmare fuel. A place crawling with nanite-infused alien-cryptid fusions throwing their chips in with Chaopolis. I'd called it a three-way crossover...but this was now a four-way...and I'm not talking the chili cheese Coney variety.

"Ohhh, Vooooolt.  Daddy's home!" Adonis disgraced us with his presence, arms actually behind his back in an overly confident hunched over stalking way. I kept waiting for him to stroke his chin fur like he had a Fu Man Chu beard.

"And I've brought the kids."

I growled as I hung back, trusting this mainly to the four teens.

"No-Name's gonna be a bit miffed you left him out of the fun again."

"Oh don't worry.  My apprentice is busy tied paying off his debt for his last super power withdrawal.  But don't worry.  Once his bill is nice and paid up, he'll be joining you for his penultimate dance.  And this one's bound to be his magnum opus...of course it's not, well...I guess he'll just have to take a magnum with him to finish the job."

"A bullet?  Not very imaginative of you, Donnie." I broke my silence. "There's a point when a shooting just becomes a painfully boring trope with you.  I mean...you're not losing your edge after blowing me up with C4 or banishing Azzy and me to another universe, are you?"

I thought I'd gotten under his skin for a moment...but I guess not. He shrugged it off.

"Well, don't be shy..." Adonis mused as the Cybergates opened. "Engage in the ole' howdy-doos.  For some of you it might even be quite a memorable class reunion!"

And sure enough through seven portals, the other seven showed up.

This is bad. Having the worst enemies of Ben 10, Generator Rex, and the Secret Saturday here on Fontraile was one thing. Having Adonis himself on our home turf? I forbid this--

"Well, kiddies.  Gotta run.  Do enjoy your time out!" Adonis waved before stepping back into the gateway.

Goddamn you, Allouicioius Adonis...

"On the bright side it is five against seven."

"Never tell me the odds, Goat Son."

"I'll try not to disappoint you with bad news, Han Solo."

"I get that numbers are in our favor, the question is...is our luck."

"And what you really want to say is...is our teamwork?" Asriel followed up. "Granted we had a bit of riffiing and in-fighting earlier but..."

"When it comes to putting the situation at hand first...?" Ben led off.

"I think we've all learned this lesson at least once." Rex formed the Slap Hands

"That said.  Let's give them a crossover they won't soon be forgetting.  Zak pointed the Claw.

The Cyber Gate opened again and out came the hordes of Chaopolis cultists.

"...oooookay.  So how many of us were expecting them to fight fair?" Rex said with a blank expression.

No one raised their hand.

"Hundreds against five, counting Volt.  Hardly seems fair." Asriel wrinkled his snoot."

"Yeah, really.  Do we really want to break the bad news to them?" Ben asked smugly.

A devilish grin shared among the four of them.

I turned and gave a loud, shrill whistle. And out of our own Cyber Gate came the reinforcements.

From Bellwood came on Gwendolyn Catherine Tennyson, Kevin Ethan Levin, Magister "Grandpa" Maxwell Tennyson, Rook Blonco, Julie Yamamoto, Cooper Daniel, Dr. Paradox, Alan Albright, Helen Wheels, Manny Armstrong, and more.

From Providence came Agent Six, Bobo Haha, and plenty of agents of Providence.

And from Zak's neck of the woods came his whole family including parents Doc and Drew Saturday, his adopted Cryptic brother Fiskerton, plus Komodo and Zon. Yeah...this was shaping up to be quite the cavalry.

Not to be outdone, I invited a few faces from Asriel's recent past aboard. The list included Gizmo Duck, Hammer Man, Captain EO, Yellow Ranger Trini Kwan, Hunter of the Road Rovers, Brooklyn of the Gargoyles, Goemon Ishikawa of the Lupin Gang, T-Bone and Razor from Mega Kat City, Curly "Super Sphere" Neill of the Super Globetrotters, Good Luck Bear of the Care Bears, and even Tracey from the other Ghostbusters. And yes...Violet even called in Coop in M.E.G.A.S. XLR.

But it wouldn't be a party without the combined forces of my own Ultra Crew Institute.

"You know it's October and we're still paying tribute to the final Avengers Movie." Violet mused.

"I know the phrase "too soon" applies in other cases, but can we PLEASE tell her "too late"?  Please?" I grumbled.

For the thousands in attendance and the millions (and millions) watching at home...lllllllllllllllllet's get ready to rumbllllllllllllllllllllle!"

And the party began full swing.

At first it seemed rather stalemate with us fighting our own nemeses. But inevitably...

"Switch partners!"

"You know that didn't exactly work when we tried it on Hyrule with our shadow, Azzy."

"I got good feeling about this time..."

And so we shuffled a bit.

"Fools!  You are no match for Dr. Animo!" Animo had certain mutated quite a number of creatures including weasels, ferrets, and shrews--all gene-spliced with who knows what.

"Yeah...about that...?" Zak mused before pointing the claw and letting the powers of Kur do their thing.

"What?!  Impossible ! Obey me!  Obey meeee!  I am your creator!  I AM YOUR MASTER!  NOOOOOO!!!"

"Probably shouldn't have spliced them with Cryptids.

"Well played, young Saturday." Argost sneered as he contended with Ben.

While Breach and Biowulf took us on.

"Once we are through tearing you to pieces, Rex will pay the price for destroying our master!" Biowulf slashed at me.

"You're really disappointing as werewolves go.  But you know what sucks about having a body fully of nanites?  THIS!" I drew both arms back swung forth and slapped my palms together like I was swatting a fly from both sides. The electrical discharge was just enough of a mild E.M.P. flash to really mess with Biowulf's nanite collective, causing him to collapse and convulse for a bit.

"C-Curse...you...!"

"You'll live.  But you wish you didn't."

Meanwhile Asriel was playing musical portals with Breach.

"I can't wait to make you another of my playthings."

"Creepy.  I'm going to have to decline." Asriel's eyes lit up bright blue and began the process of OGPX replicating--each instance leaving a physical clone uniquely embedded in time and space to tighten his grip around Breach's tears in time and space.

"No no no no!  You're not playing faaaair!"

"It's only cheating if rules were established beforehand.  Else, everything is fair game."

He's going to have to stop hanging with Violet at this rate.

And that left Generator Rex to give Argost and Psychobos fits.

"Release me!" Psychobos demanded as Rex's Blast Caster omega build wrapped its whip around him.

"What's wrong, crabby?  I thought you brainiacs loved having...brainstorms!" Rex taunted before the whip lit up with millions of volts of electricity at a painful level of amperage.

"GAAAAAAAH!"

"Ooooh!  Nice.  That pun works on so many levels; tying in the electric shock with a reference to one of my old aliens."

Ben whapped down the Omnitrix Plunger before accessing.

"GOATORCH!!!"

"I love that one!" Asriel wagged his tail with Steven Universe starry eyes.

As the battle raged on, things continued to intensify, prompting us to team up in a variety of power moves.

"Hey, Ben.  Still got that blobby guy that makes machines way cooler?"

"I think it's time for an Upgrade!"

And with that came the return of Upgrade-enhanced Generator Rex.

"I admit it.  This one's still a favorite of mine." Rex's jet pack build was now sporting Kinneceleron burners similar to Sally's Butterfly Wing jets.

"Zak!  Catch!" Asriel sent forth the NX Board as Zak jumped and landed on it.

"I know what I'm asking dad for my next birthday!"

And so on and so on and so on.

"Here's some Perseverance for the road!"

Asriel had summoned his own take on the Fallout Boy super robot complete with their rendition of Night Begins to Shine booming from the stereo systems.

"You got your own ultra mega megabot?!"

And just in time too, as Elena Validus had commanded the alien swarm to form a towering biomechanical beast around her like a giant robot suit.

Finally we brought it to a close with several Chaos Cultists arrested, several Plumber Magistrates taking in Animo while making sure Validus' stasis chamber kept every last nanochip of the swarm contained. Just to be sure we had Dr. Lynx confirm that there weren't any hiding on the battle field. I can't confirm or deny she may have found one and devoured it.

Bigger. Beast. Than even E.V.O. nanites and Alien Swarm nanochips.

Thanks to an assist from Marcel and some backup from De Midian, Argost was laid to rest and sealed away for good this time.

Which left Providence to chase Breach and the others back home.

"Good work, Rex." Six left through the gateway.

"When ya get back, kid, we're gonna hit Reno and have the biggest party you ever seen."

So I guess to wrap things up, our quartet said their goodbyes...a least they would later but not before crashing each other's homes having each agreed to do each other's dare.

"...he's still going." Rex watched as Ben downed yet another Mr. Smoothie concoction.

"Mmm...I give it 4 stars out of a possible five.  Check that one on the get-sometime-again-in-the near future list."

"Ugh...I'm so swearing off fruit." Zak pushed his away.

"Eheheh..." Asriel sweat dropped.

"Save room for the main course.  Because we're getting the all-Mexican experience when we hit my world."

"I can hardly wait." I muttered with a hiccup.

But like all good things, big four-way crossovers come to an end.

"Catch you on the flip side, amigos!" Rex was the first to depart. White Knight had...issues with him staying out too long on what was technically still time on the clock.

"Tennyson.  You better not come back home without all those upgrades from the UCIAT garage bay." Kevin warned before driving his car through the portal.

"And a goodbye to you too, Levin." Ben mused. After he was through. "You can Fed Ex those, right?"

"They're on their way." I promised.

Which left Zak the last one out.

"Drop by if you ever want to go hunting for Cryptids."

"You know it." Asriel waved.

And with all three portals closed, we closed the book on this sub-entry.

Sub-Entry 336: "Hey, Vern it's Ernest...and Pee-Wee Herman...and Weird Al Yankovic?"
It's official. These crossovers are getting weirder and more unlikely. Name three icons of the 1980's. Go on. I'll give you a second. Got them locked in? Okay, how many of those names came to mind before reading the title of this log entry? If it's none, then thanks for playing. If it's 1, then you might be able to relate. If it's 2, you're an 80's baby. And if it's 3, you cheated. That bit of joking around taken care of, let's get down to business.

"Cybergate AY-5 has been acting up all day.  I'm worried that someone will get sucked into it or something will get pulled out of it."

It was here that the weirdest and most unconventional of crossovers happened. And despite not really haven't an adventure per-se involving Chaopolis or escalating conflict between AU's that needs to be diffused, it still had plenty of weirdness.

It all started with me crossing paths with err...jeeze, what's the P.C. term for it now..."rural" antics of--

"Just say redneck already.  Who cares who you offend."

Goddammit, Violet. Also, it's getting to be a really bad habit with random people just peeking over my shoulder while I write these logs and then just randomly comment out of nowhere. The nerve!

I mean...seriously.

Okay, we ran into an old friend who's kind of the goof-up jack-of-all trades. First a camp counselor. Then a janitor at a mall. A local garbageman. And...I'm not sure what his job was when he had jury duty. And of course a guy with too much imagination that led him on the weirdest of adventures while riding on top of a giant cannon.

"My good friend Volt Arcade!  I tell you; it's been too long since dropped by and stretched the ole' legs.  Get you some o' that good clean air out here.  I am talkin' the Ernest P. Worrel neighborhood experience.  Knowhutamean?"

"Uh...?" Asriel blinked a bit. Overwhelmed by his downhome level of informality and friendliness.

"Ernest, this is Asriel.  He's uh...new at my place of work.  And a trusted friend and understudy."

Which was pretty true...in a sense.

"And a fine how-do-ya-do to you, Azzy!  You're just in time, cause' I am about to drop in on my dearest and closet personal friend, Vern.  Why don't y'all join me!  I'm sure he'd be tickled pink to have guests drop in completely unannounced."

So...Vern. How do I describe him? Uh...yeah. He's uh...indescribable. You know what, let's leave it at that.

Ernest rang the doorbell.

"if we're doin' this, we're doing it right proper.  Follow my lead."

And the door opened, and Ernest let off with...

"Hey, Vern!  Today's your lucky day and we knew you wouldn't want to oversleep Vern!  We do it once a week, Vern!  Me and all the other guys, Vern."

"We even brought the pies, Vern!" I held up a stack of Asriel's butterscotch-cinnamon pies."

As Ernest quickly and darn-near-forced his way in like Vern was family he continued on.

"Wellllll it's an Ernest P. Worrel-with-a-story-and-a-morale, and a big hip, double-dip, super-supreeeeeeme show!  You know what a meeeeean?"

An awkward pause as Asriel shrugged and replied. "No."

"Hey, Vern.  We moved your furniture and now we're gonna fire up the barbecue, Vern!  We owe it all to you, Vern.  But now you got to move, Vern!"

What?

That was about the time random people popped up in the windows with "Hey, Vern!"

Vern hastily shut them before another group of weirdos popped up in the widows on the other side of the room.

"Hey, Vern!"

"Hey, Vern it's me!" Ernest said as he crashed through a modern art sculpture with an old-timey front framework of a television ending up around his neck.

"I'm on TVVVVVVVVVV!!!"

Asriel just blinked.

"Don't question it.  Just roll with it.  It'll make sense...or not."

"I think it makes too much sense." Asriel whispered back.

And as Ernest continued to chatter, he maintained a practically in-your-face approach to addressing Vern. Literally. I could tell Vern was getting a little irate. And the more Ernest paraded around the house, the more he kept inadvertently breaking, eventually stopping in the kitchen to raid the fridge.

"Cold beverage and snacks for the guests?  Don't mind if we do.  Let's have a looky-see what we got in here." Ernest began to rummage around a bit.

"Hey, Vern.  It's that peanut butter and jelly sandwich I left in here a year ago.  Might be a little bit past its prime." Ernest sniffed the open Ziplock bag's contensts before wrinkling his nose, making a face and waggling his jaw back and forth as he proclaimed a well-said

"Ehh-heh-hehhhh-yewwwwwwwwwwwwwww..."

"Uh...that's okay.  I'm not hungry." I cringed.

"Well shucks.  There ain't nothin in here that nobody'd eat.  I mean there's all kinds of weird stuff in here.  Weird-lookin' curry dishes...some kind of wiernerschnitzel looking doo-dad...even a plate full of snails..."

Ernest handed the plates and such to me who I handed to Asriel.

"Well.  I guess we'll just have to order out for something to eat.  Mind if I use your phone, Vern?  Thanks, good buddy of mine."

I started handing Ernest back the plates as he put them back in the fridge.

"Hey.  Where's the snails that were on here?" Ernest looked to me. I looked to Asriel in turn.

He uttered a mumbled "I don't know". I noticed his cheeks were a little...full.

"It just don't make sense how a perfectly good but disgusting plate of snails can just disappear into thin air like that.  Know-whut-I-mean?"

"Yeah...it is." I gave Asriel a nasty look before he hastily swallowed before spitting out the shells into the sink when Ernest wasn't looking.......wait a minute. How did he do that?

After a bit of bumbling around and driving Vern up the wall, and getting a visit from unhappy Aunt Nelda to complain about the noise...

"Huh...did she look...oddly familiar?"

"Oddly."

And a visit from the army recruitment officer, Sergeant Glory.

"Okay...starting to think Ernest has some relatives he's not telling us about..." Asriel muttered.

We all decided to head back to Ernest's place; as described the ultimate man-child's conglomeration of very Tim Burton-esuqe house design. But someone else was there waiting.

"Waaaah!  Who are you?!"

"Allow me to introduce myself.  I am Dr. Otto, the naiiiive semi-mad scientist.  And you are the lucky test subjects to try my latest invention."

Okay aside from being decked out in the weirdest costume made up of Christmas lights and odds and ends and having a human hand for a hat...this guy I definitely recognized as being on Neo Arcadia's scientific community's blacklist. Dr. Otto Von Schick-ick-ick-ick. Rated near the bottom of the list with Dr. Clyde Crashcup among others on the scale of how dangerous are these mad scientists--we considered him mostly harmless but annoying.

"It's...a door."

"But not just any door!  Viola!!!" He swung it open as Asriel, Ernest, and I were unceremoniously sucked in while accompanied by Otto's weird laughter.

Also, an inconvenient time to bring this up...but he, too, seemed...overly familiar. Was there something Ernest wasn't telling me?

We all landed in a heap.

Ernest got up first, brushing off his jean jacket and fixing his cap. "Boy, I tell you...that'd save hundreds of smackeroos putting the airlines and taxi services out of business.  Know-whut-I-mean?"

"I almost wish I didn't..." I winkled my nose.

"Where...are we?" Asriel got up and looked upon the...weirdly Claymation environment that had severe overtones of Tim Burton in it.

"Let's have a look around and we can try to find out where we ended up."

We had just gotten on our way, completely missing the beaver that had just chewed through the wooden signpost that read "Pee-Wee's Playhouse", causing the arrow to point straight up as it fell over.

You know this place had a surprising amount of rainforest jungle were we had landed...weird. And it immediately opened up into a forest land that segued into a front yard lawn...and that immediately segued into a small hilltop mesa with the strangest house...structure...thing we'd ever seen.

"Wow!  Someone has great taste in architecture!  It's almost like a dream house!" Ernest exclaimed. Why am I not surprised?

There was a totem pole way in front of the stone-rampart part of the house, where I could see the back of a large, triangular neon sign jammed through the top. Around the side was a more traditional suburban home section overlooking a pool.

Asriel looked over his shoulder as he could have sworn he heard a distinct chuckle behind him, but no one was there.

On top of another section of the house I noticed the rooftop had a mechanical snowman next to a miniature farmhouse windmill and a pair of stalks of corn. Finally we got to the front where we could see the it in all of its glory.

"Holy moley...!" Asriel gasped.

The architect was definitely on...something. What I hesitated to speculate.

On top of the giant, red, overhanging awning was s a giant sphinx with a mechanical cowboy riding a bucking bronco by its right paw.

The neon sign flashed as bright as day the words: PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE.

We were still well out of sight as we managed to look up at the porch that sat on top of the lower basement level gazebo structure that jutted out of the mountain.

I distinctly heard footsteps on the porch as someone was headed past the barber pole and to the doorway.

That was when we heard the wacky theme song suddenly play from inside the house.

"Is that...Cindi Lauper singing?" Asriel asked.

"Small world, ain't it?" Ernest shrugged. We quickly made our way around and got top side to the porch and looked in

"Come innnnnn!  And pull yourself up a chair! (Like Chairy!)  Let the fun begin it's time to let down your hair! (Chuckle)

'Pee-Wee's so excited (Uh-huh!)  All his friends have been invited (that's you!)  to go wacky...at Pee-Wee's Playhouse! (ARRRRRGH!!!!!)'

'There's a crazy rhythm! Comin' from the Puppet Land (What's that?)  Dirty Dog, Cool Cat, and Chickie-Baby are the puppet band! (YEAAAH!)'

'You gotta cuddle up to them fish! And the Genie will grant your wish! Fun is COO-COO! At Pee-Wee's Playhouse!"'

As soon as we got a look, I couldn't believe my eyes...and I remembered the X-Vault as I recognized many of the inhabitants.

"That's...!" Asriel started.

"Globey's spinning, Mr. Window's grinning, course' Terry's flying byyyy!  (Hello!) "

We almost got buzz bombed by the green muppet-lookig pterodactyl.

"The Flowers are singing, the Picture-Phone's ringing, and the Dinosaur Family waved hi!"

Asriel jumped back as the living flower trio were in fact singing in unison.

"Whoah.  There is just SOMETHING unnerving about talking yellow flowers."

I felt a chill go down my back as I remembered Flowey back in Undertale. Oh boy...this was as meta a reference as it got.

"Can you believe it, Volt?  Actually living dinosaurs in the mousehole!  What will they think of next?" Ernest was excited.

"Mr. Kite's soaring, Conky's still snoring, there's the flashing Magic Screen.  (Ha ha!)

The Cow-ntess is so classy, Randy's kinda sassy!

A nuttier establishment you've never seen!

'Spend the day with Pee-wee and you'll see what we mean! (come on !)'

'Get outta bed, there'll be no more nappin'! (wake up!)'

 'Cause you've landed in a place where anything can happen -

Now we've given you fair warning!

It's gonna be that kind of morning -

For bein' wacky!

For getting nutty!

Golly, it's cuckoo!

At Pee-wee's Playhouse!"

And then the chuckle fest began.

"Whoah."

"This is where you got all those living odds and ends in the X-Vault?"

"In our universe, yeah.  But I never met the seller in person.  The Playhouse had long since shut down."

"I have a positive feeling about this place, Volt, my good man." Ernest strolled up to the door.

"Maybe we can ask this Pee-Wee Herman guy if he can help us out and point us in the direction home." I shrugged.

"Let's not be in too much of hurry." if Asriel were in his regular form instead of human form, I'm sure his tail would be wagging. Oh yeah. He was a literal kid in a not so literal candy shop. Though I wouldn't be surprised if there was a candy shop in this place.

Asriel was the on brave enough to ring the doorbell.

That was when I noticed the window actually speaking to whoever was inside.

The door opened and there he was in that grey suit with highwater pants, white shoes, and red bowtie and the short haircut. It almost seemed like he had lipstick on but maybe that was my imagination.

"Uh...hi!  We're kinda lost and hoping we could get directions?"

"But we're not in any real hurry." Asriel quickly followed up.

"You must be the owner of this fine establishment, and my I say what an amazing feat of architecture this humble abode is.  I feel like a man could live here and never once question the meaning of life!  It's like all the answers are laid out in one big ginormous pattern.  Know-what-I-mean?"

"Not really, but c'mon in!  Make yourself at home!  (chuckle)"

"Well, that's right neighborly of you."

"So, aren't you going to introduce yourselves?"

"I'm Dr. Arcade and this is my assistant and best friend, Asriel.  And this guy is--"

"Ernest P. Worrel, jack of all trades, man of many mysteries, the only man bold enough to never try kiesh.  And you must be uh...it's on the tip of my tongue...hmm...I swear, Volt it couldn't be more obvious to me than if it were spelled out on a neon sign."

I rolled my eyes.

"You must be Pee-Wee Herman!" Asriel extended a hand for a handshake.

"That's my name, don't wear it out!"

That earned a laugh. Goat Son was still falling for outdated jokes and one-liners even after all this time. Even after seven years on our world, it was all still pretty new to him.

"Welcome to my Playhouse!"

"Looks like a real fun place to be."

"Can I offer you any refreshments."

"Anything but peanut-butter and jelly." I winced.

"Sure.  That'd be awesome."

And then without warning, everyone in the playhouse, Pee-Wee included screamed real loud.

"Well aren't you all just a lively bunch.  Yessiree, there's nothing like a good stretch of the vocal chords."

"But uh...why are we screaming?"

"Oh, you don't know?  You said the secret word!"

"Secret word?"

"You must be new around these parts.  Well, everyone in the playhouse.  Remind me again what we do when someone says the secret word?"

"Screeeeeeam!" Everyone said in union.

"That's right!  For the rest of the day whenever anyone says today's secret word, scream real loud!  Ready!  Let's try it!"

Pee-Wee headed over to Globey.

"Oh, Globey!  Tito the lifeguard for the Playghouse pool was thinking of taking up surfing.  What do you think of that?"

"That sounds pretty awesome!"

And then the screams went up, with Asriel and Ernest joining in.

After a bit of messing around and getting distracted by...well, pretty much EVERYTHING.

A visit from Cowboy Curtis...

"Strange.  I feel like I know I've seen that guy from somewhere."

"Whoah.  I think you're right.  Anyway.  I forgot to remind you, Azzy, Violet wants you to return her DVD set of the Matrix Trilogy."

"To sleep, per chance to dream." Asriel shrugged while Pee-Wee was digging through a mess of stuff next to Floor-y, the literally alive floorboards of the playhouse.

"You know this has been a slice and all but none of us are any closer to getting home.  Maybe we should ask Conky over there if he has any theories on extra-dimensional travel."

"Yeah, you're right.  Maybe we should--"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Pee-Wee's sudden yell snapped us out of it.

"What's going on?  Did someone say the secret word?"

"No, it's more serious than that.  There's a giant hole next to Floorey going straight down." Asriel peered in.

"Now how'd that get by the building contractor?" I frowned.

"We need to rescue him!"

"Volt's there's no time to waste!  We have to go down there and try to rescue him."

"But if we do we might not come back out of there, either.  We need a rope or something--"

"Way ahead of you." Asriel tethered the NX Joycon's magnetic whips to the other side of the playhouse and lowered himself down, handing Ernest the other line.

"Down we go into the bowels of adventure!  Where three brave souls will bravely attempt to rescue the proprietor of this fine establishment and be crowned in glory as they're hailed as heroes........uh...gee, it's a little dark down there.  Anybody bring a nightlight?" At that moment Ernest let out too much slack on the line and plummeted. "AAAAAAAAAGGGGH!!!!!"

"Oh brother." I dove in, anchoring to what I could, morphing in the darkness and using an electromagnetic tether of my own. We descended rapidly and somehow in the span of a cut-away-gag, we managed to jump-cut to 20 miles below the surface of the earth.

"Nice of you to drop in on us, Volt!"

"Nice." Asriel complimented.

"Too soon, you guys." I facepalmed.

"Bad news is...the tethers kinda reached their limit so we kinda had to recall them...we're without an anchor to the playhouse."

"And where's the good news?"

"Oh, there was supposed to be good news?  Hmm...I knew I forgot something."

"You know, we're still in free-fall."

"And for some reason, we're free-falling down an elevator shaft of some kind." Asriel noticed the hydraulics and the cables and mechanization.

"We're about to hit bottom.  Brace yourselves!  I cringed and braced for the moment we'd hit the roof of the elevator car at the bottom...

..and was instead treated to the sound of a doorbell as all three of us found ourselves standing upright in the elevator car without explanation.

"Now...how the heck did THAT happen?" I gasped as the yellow and black striped hazard doors opened up and we found ourselves in a split-level cave that looked like it had been converted into a bunker/laboratory/80's TV show? Weird.

Actually weird was the word.

We'd left one madhouse for another. The color scheme was right out of a Play-Mobile factory color palette for kiddy toys. But at the same time it was filled with a lot of TV sets and odd 80's decor as if designed by the the Deetzes from another surreal world I'd visited that was very...Burton-esque.

"Wow, this place looks really something else."

"Yeah...kinda Bill Nye meets the Electric Company according to Andy Warhol." I muttered.

"I've never seen so many TV's and gizmos.  Think this is an underground lab?"

"I hope that's not the laboratory animal over there." I pointe don the desk where a yellow pillar housed a blue platform with a clear cylindrical plexiglass wall formed a makeshift open-topped cage for a...

"I've heard of lab mice but a lab hamster?" I scratched my head.

"He's got a name on a little collar.  Asriel looked closer.  "Harvey...Harvey the Wonder Hamster."

And at that mention a song played out of nowhere, in which I was certain I recognized the voice. Apparently Harvey the Wonder Hamster had his own theme song.

That was about the time the owner of this split level cave arrived. And I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

"Volt!  It's...it's...!"

"No way..."

"...and so I said "I know you are but what am I, INFINITY! And Francis was like "Oh shut-up, Pee-Wee!" and I said  "Why don't you make me!" and he said "Why don't you make me!" And I told him "Because I don't make monkeys ! I just train him!"

"Wow, you're an okay guy!  I can't believe I never ran into you sooner!"

"Me neither!  And who would have guessed I'd fall down a tunnel into your split-level cave right as you came back from running your Accordion Camp!"

"Yeah, it was great!  I got to solve a real-life mystery with Mysteries Inc!  What a swell bunch of kids and their dog!"

"It's Weird Al Yankovic!"

"Oh my gosh, Volt!  It's him!  It's really him!  I can't believe we're meeting THE Weird Al in person!"

And that brings us to this point where three unusual icons of the 80's had come together under one roof.

"So what are you doing here, Mr. Yankovic?"

"Call me Al!  All my close, personal friends of mine call me that!"

"So...how'd you get here and how long have you been here?"

"Well, why don't I tell you all in song?" Al picked up his accordion from on top of an iron lung  right by a model of the Eiffel Tower made up of week-old Belgian Waffles.

"Ohhhhhhhhhh, this is a story 'bout a guy named Al And he lived in a sewer with his hamster pal.

But the sanitation workers really didn't approve So he packed up his accordion and had to move

To a city in Ohio where he lived in a tree And he worked in a nasal decongestant factory

And he played on the company bowling team And every single night he had a strange recurring dream Where he was wearing lederhosen in a vat of sour cream

But that's really not important to the story!

Well, the very next year he met a dental hygienist With a spatula tattooed on her arm (on her arm)

But he didn't keep in touch And he lost her number Then he got himself a job on a tator tot farm

And he spent his life-savings on a split-level cave Twenty miles below the surface of the Earth (of the Earth)

And he really makes a mighty fine jelly bean and pickle sandwich

For what it's worth

Then one day Al was in the forest trying to get a tan When he heard the tortured screaming of a funny little man

He was caught in a bear trap and Al set him free And the guy that he rescued was grateful as could be And it turns out he's a big-shot producer on TV

So he gives Al a contract and whaddya know Now he's got his very own Weird Al shooooooow!!!"

"Wow, that's some story."

"So this must be the legendary, Harvey the Wonder Hamster." I pointed to the fluffball.

"Yeah!  He's only my BEST FRIEND in the whole wide world!  In fact, let's sing the official Harvey the Wonder Hamster song--

That was when an unseen announcer cut in with

"I'm sorry, Al, but the producers have only budgeted enough time and money for one song or parody per episode.  You'll have to do it another time."

"Uh...gee...that sucks.  I guess."

"It's okay.  I can see how great he is." Asriel looked closely at the little fluffball.

"Aww, he likes you!"

"Isn't it great we all get along?" Pee-Wee chuckled.

"Yes, indeed this here's a safe haven for a bunch o' swell guys being right neighborly to one another."

"Yeah.  It's pretty awesome."

And then the screaming from the Playhouse above somehow found its way down the elevator shaft and into Al's cave.

"Huh.  That's never happened before.  This is impressive, disturbing, and makes me uncomfortable....... *long pause* ...but in a good way."

A collective sigh of relief off camera. Wait a minute... Oh yeah. TV show. Wait, we're on the air?!

"And today's lesson is--"

"Uh, we were kinda supposed to do that at the beginning of the show."

"Oh, right."

"Boy, oh boy!   I can't believe you have your own TV show, Al.  I'd do anything to be on national television." Ernest grinned.

"Me too!"

Should I tell them? Naaah.

After a bit of fooling around and sharing vegan Twinkie-wiener sandwiches...which were surprisingly tasty. Maybe I should have taken Uncle Ed up on his offer years ago.

"We still need a way back to our respective homes.  As cool as this has been, we can't maintain this crossover forever."

"Yeah.  Kind of a bummer."

"Parting is such sweet sorrow.  Where is noble of the mind to part ways upon a good comradery.  Know-what-I mean?"

"I agree.  I miss my playhouse!"

"Well, drop by any time.  I'll roll out the tofu dogs and the Twinkies for next time!"

"But, Al!  We still need a way back!"

"Oh, just take the service elevator.  I FINALLY got all the bugs worked out of it!"

I peered over my shoulder as a moth flew out of the elevator doors.

"Eh-heh...almost." Al said as he finished sculpting Devil's Peak out of a plate full of mashed potatoes sitting next to a TransFormers animated figure of Wreck-Gar and a Teen Titans GO! figure of Darkseid.

"Huh..." I scratched my head.

Pee-Wee finished off the box of Milk Duds that Al had in the fridge, though I think that was the ONLY edible thing in there that was fresh amongst the rest that was living in the fridge.

"I can't wait to tell Vern all about this experience.  It has opened my eyes to a whole world of good things out there that I didn’t' even know existed!  Next time I'll bring him along and we'll have one big hootnanny of a time."

Pee-Wee went up the elevator first...somehow on top of the world's best scooter?

"ARRRRRRRGHHH!!!!!" Pee-Wee's yell came echoing down the shaft, even after the doors had closed.

They reopened for Ernest.

"It's been fun but I gotta mosey on back to Vern’s.  I think he's going to want a few things back I borrowed from him--

A crash and a cry of anguish came from above.

"You know, I'm thinking I should have returned the bolts to his outside TV antenna tower after I had them cleaned and polished up.  Know-what-I-mean?"

Ernest stepped aboard and fiddled with the buttons.

"Hmm...doors seem to be a bit stuck.  Maybe it's on--

He stepped through just as the doors slammed shut on his face and lips

"D'oooooooooooh!"

The doors eventually pulled open as Ernest whiplashed back from trying to get his head out of the door with a big, cartoony POP!

"Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh..." He gave the sly chuckle as he stepped back in and the door closed.

Lastly it was our turn and before we know it we were SOMEHOW back in the UCIAT building, exiting the elevator.

"Huh.  Multidimensional elevator.  Nice."

"Better than X-Ray spray." I said as I shrugged.

And that ended our weird day out with three amigos who were not Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Chevy Chase. But that may or may not be another story...

Sub-Entry 337: "Asriel's Journey into the Imagination (of the Muppet Babies)":
There are some worlds that I'm all too glad to visit simply for their "harmless factor". As in there is zero change that Asriel and I will run into anything dangerous while on there.

"I have to say this was a bit of a surprise, Asriel.  Never pegged you for the babysitter type.  But then again...I've yet to see you turn down a challenge, no matter how different."

"Well.  I've been a child, myself, at one point.  I figure...maybe someday...not any time soon, I'll have kids of my own.  Y'know...it never hurts to prepare yourself for the day you'll have to be responsible for the next generation, right?"

"True.  And if anything, it'll prepare you for a career in politics when you have to shake hands and kiss babies.  Just remember never two get the two mixed up."

"Oh you."

"Anyway.  With their Nanny indisposed for most of the day, she needs someone to be a substitute for a bit.  Can't leave the little tykes alone by themselves, y'know."

"Yup.  That's why I'm doing the whole Mary Poppins thing."

"Don't go opening any umbrellas indoors or flying any kites."

"Kite-flying season's long over.  Climates really starting to drop now that Halloween's around the corner and November's right behind it."

"True."

There was something gnawing at the back of my mind about Asriel's explanation...and I think I had just figured it out.

"Azzy...is there another reason why you've taken this job?"

"W-what makes you say that?"

"Azzy.  For as long as you've known me, you could always tell when the gears were turning in my head.  You always sensed when there was something on my mind.  Don't you think it's become a two-way street by now?"

A pause.

"I suppose...you are the only one besides Chara who really understands me."

"What's on your mind, Azzy?"

"Well...it's like this.  I turned 18 not that long ago.  And...well...I'm legally my own man, now.  I still live under Scott and Callista's roof but...for all general purposes...my childhood is basically over."

"I follow where you're going with this."

"Volt, my memories of my past are getting harder to hold onto.  And those who forget their past are doomed to repeat it, as the advice goes."

"True, but that applies to people who choose to ignore wisdom after they've learned a life lesson.  It's a warning to not make the same mistakes."

"I know but...isn't there wisdom in never forgetting where you came from?"

"I see...so you want to still be able to see life through the eyes of a child.  And you're hoping that you can rekindle the spark of earlier, more innocent times?"

"At the very least...I want to be able to understand what nostalgia is...what it feels like."

"Yeah.  For you ever experience you've been through is brand new to you, while for me...it's a walk down memory lane."

Seemed like we had been getting into a lot of these deep conversations before embarking on new experiences and adventures.

"Azzy, I know where you're coming from.  I've been in a unique position, travelling back and forth through space, time, and dimension for centuries...millennia, even.   Basically...I've lived a lifetime of lifetimes soaking in what many different generations call nostalgia.  I even choose to live in the era I consider most nostalgic to me.  I was born here, after all.  Before the Goddesses got me into this immortal existence.

When I first met you, every piece of culture that I've immersed you in, has technically long since passed your generation by...I think. It was 201X on your world the time it came to an end. I've felt a little guilty about pushing what I loved about my past and childhood onto to you. But you never resented me for it. You embraced it. Don’t' take it the wrong way but you're kinda like a new telling of the Nancy Drew movie a while back; in the sense that you like old-fashioned or nostalgic things. It's the only thing you've grown up with since bringing you here.

Now...you feel like you have to give all that up. But you don't, Asriel. It's going to change and evolve with you. You'll be able to see your memories in a new perspective and understand more deeply why you liked the things you did and still do with meaning. That part of you is never going to go away.

Azzy, the best advice here is...growing old isn't a choice. But growing up is. In here."  I pounded my chest.  "You'll have to be an adult in a lot more situations than before, but don't think that you have to just suddenly become a stuffy adult...y'know...no fun. But we're not all like that. It just seems that way because we have so much responsibilities taking up our time. You're too young to worry about things like that yet.

Anyway...you don't have to spent time around toddlers to jumpstart what you think has stalled out on you. It's just a brief funk all of us have gone through when you realize you're not a kid anymore. Anyway. Don't worry about age. Besides you're 118. I'd say you have a leg up on almost every human on the planet. You don't have to start moping about it until you're well into your 40's...140's for you, I guess. And even nowadays people say 50 is the new 20. Don't quite get it myself but we are living longer and staying more spry."

"Thanks, Volt.  I think I just really needed to hear it."

So we pulled up to the place, Henson's Nursery. Sure enough, Nanny was waiting out front. I'd recognize those striped socks anywhere.

A bit of a briefing and an overview of where everything was as well as emergency contact numbers and such, she opened the doors to the nursery itself and there they were; the hybrid children of tomorrow--the Muppet Babies.

In a cute sailor outfit minus the hat, Kermit the Frog. Friendly. Earnest. Meek yet a de facto leader by default. But also able to step up to that position and inspire. His interests leaned toward adventure and heroism. As wholesome and unspoiled a future icon if there ever was one.

Blond-haired and in a pink dress with matching booties. Piggy was ever the romantic. He had Antoine's streak of one-sided romance but at industrial strength and enforced by a bold, glamour queen, larger-than-life drive to be taken as a serious feminine figure who demanded respect. But also lightning tempered and someday would probably be a black belt in karate. Head over heels for the reluctant Kermit. And maybe just a touch vain. Uniquely strong and feminine but domineering and demanding. That about summarizes it.

Fozzie Bear. Ever the aspiring, naive, sweetly insecure comedian with a sense of humor that was off the charts. Gotta say, the beanie propeller hat was so very him. However, being so young, he was quite struggling in his ability to well...be funny. Most of his jokes were very rotten tomato worthy. For some reason, somehow he always found himself dodging or getting hit by tomatoes...which I still couldn't figure out where they were coming from. Given enough years, he'd be a success...I hope. But despite his rough road to comedic stardom, he was as true a friend as you could get. Almost unspoiled in a way.

Gonzo the...uh...actually I don't know what the is. Blue feathers, bulbous eyes and that hook nose. Violet joked that maybe he was an alien. Overalls and tennis shoes. Gonzo embodied uniqueness...or as he proudly declared...weirdness. Definitely an integrity soul. But I guess weird was the word; always choosing to be himself and not always making sense. Easily misunderstood and hard to accept but still someone worth admiring. If anything he was more Antoine than Piggy as he was constantly in a state of unrequited love toward his favorite pink-clad swine who wanted nothing to do with him. Oh yeah. He loves her. But she loves him. And the frog was just too timid to be comfortable about being drowned in romance.

Rowlf the Dog. Musical prodigy with a laid-back personality. Asriel and I found him to be wonderfully down-to-earth, with a dry, self-deprecating sense of humor and also a master of the double take. Music note bib and a diaper. Easy guy to respect and his talent alone made him pretty amazing. His hero was Ludwig Von Beethoven and I could honestly see Rolfe one day being as great as Beethoven. He always seemed to be tinkering away at his baby grand piano...quite frankly it was uncanny how good he was at his age. He kinda reminded me of a kid named Schroeder who had a similar impossible level of skill with a toy grand piano...

The twins, Scooter and Skeeter. As different as night and day but both wore glasses. Honestly I couldn't tell what species they were. Scooter, very brainy. Nowadays he'd proudly identify as nerdy. Upstanding guy and pretty much a straight man. Always working on his computer--despite it being made for a kid, it always seemed more sophisticated than it probably should be. I couldn't tell if it was battery powered or what but I could never remember if it was plugged into the wall or not...huh. As for Skeeter? Total opposite. A total tomboy and an aspiring sports gal; always active and always into gymnastics. The two of them were on-again-off-again between being brother and sister on the same page and arguing siblings.

Recent addition, Bean Bunny. Shy. Unsure. Possible interest in nature? But also easily excitable when he came out of his shell. I really couldn't tell you much else about him.

And lastly, Jacob Yeo...but known more simply by his nick-name, "Animal". Just an absolute wild child, and easily the youngest of the group. Always wound up and barely able to talk but when he talked it was hard not to listen. And that signature laugh of his. It was honestly hard to figure out what was going through his mind but frankly I just found it endearing.

Occasionally they'd also be joined by the likes of Bunsen Honeydew...and...his assistant...Beaker......wait a minute. I was sure I saw a Bunsen Honeydew on the green list of Neo Arcadia's scientists community. Well-intentioned but kind of on the watch list for his experiments backfiring on his assistant all the time. I'm...sure it was just coincidence. But as an inspiring inventor, Bunsen seemed perfectly cut from the cloth of scientists. Beaker...incredibly meek and honestly I think he had a severe speech impediment; because the only thing he ever said was complex sentence structures consisting only of the word "meep". Well...not much to say beyond that.

Well. Azzy had his work cut out for him.

"Golly I'm glad to meet all of you.  So...um...what is it that I'm supposed to do outside of watching over you, preparing meals, cleaning up after you and making sure you get to bed?"

A boisterous commotion of the kids talking over each other finally led to Kermit making a suggestion.

"Why don't each of us take a turn playing with Mr. Asriel."

"That sounds like a good idea.  That was I'm not overwhelmed all at once." Azzy rubbed the back of his head.

So after a bit of back-and-forth it was decided he'd hang with Kermit first.

"So...um...where do we start?"

"Let's go on adventure!"

"Really?  Um...okay."

"I was thinking we could explore ruins for lost treasure." Kermit led over to the makeshift tunnels of blankets propped up on chairs and furniture.

"Are you sure?  It...seems kind of...well..." Goat Son felt a little like he had maybe gone back too many years to recapture his childhood.

"You just need to use your imagination!"

"Imagination...?"

"I'll show you!" Kermit crawled under the blanket. Asriel shrugged and crawled under on all fours...

"Whoah." His eyes widened...as what should have been chair legs obscured by darkness was now an ancient Incan pyramid that had been lost to the ages.

"Imagination is a powerful thing." Asriel blinked.

"It's not a problem for a hero like...Indiana Frog!  Kermit suddenly swung in on a kid-sized whip, now dressed as Harrison Ford's character of Dr. "Indiana" Jones.

"Well I'll be...this could actually be fun." Asriel's gaze brightened as he took Kermit by the hand and followed into adventure. Reenacting many Raiders of the Lost Ark scenes...albeit scaled down and kid-friendly with a few...changes to the script.

"Hold the onions. “Asriel wiped off the ketchup after both had squeezed by the giant hamburger that fell out of the trap door in the ceiling.

"Who know fast food could be so hazardous to your health?" Asriel followed behind as Kermit finally reached the idol. Of course that was when he tripped the trap and both goat elder and frog child ended up running for their lives. As soon as they spilled out of the temple entrance, they were back in the nursery. And the giant bolder turned out to be nothing more than a ball of laundry. While the idol was nothing more than Skeeter's junior soccer trophy.

"Wow.  That was better than I was expecting." That was when the egg timer went off, signaling the next in line having a turn with Goat Son. And that turned out to be...

"So...day time talk show?"

"With marvelous moi as its host!  And you get to be my first guest!" Piggy dragged Asriel over to the sofa opposite where she set up a cardboard desk.

And before he knew it, Asriel found himself on what I can only guess was Piggy's take on the Oprah Winfried show.

"Our next guest is the star of the greatest movie of summer!  Please welcome Hollywood superstar, Asriel Arcade!"

"Uh..thanks for having me on your show, Miss Piggy." Asriel waved nervously to the crowd.

"In your latest movie you play a new take on the Phantom of the Opera as he tries to start a rock band and go on tour with Burt Reynolds and Sally Field in an exciting romantic comedy about pursuing your dreams and being who you are."

"Uh..yeah!  It's an action-packed blockbuster filled with romance, laughs, and staying up late during nap-time.  You know the movie was originally going to star Zsa-Zsa Gabor and Pee-Wee Herman."

"Sounds fascinating!"

"You know it's self-directed, too.  We originally wanted Steven Spielberg to direct but he turned us down.  He thought the story was too farfetched."

"Oh, that's too bad.  Do you know what he's working on now?"

"Some movie about a guy going back in time to meet his mom and dad.  Then he said he was going to film the sequels back to back.  I think there was an orange-haired rabbit in overalls somewhere in there.  He said something about people complaining that his kid, Max, thinks the shark still looks fake."

That was about the time the egg timer went off.

"That's all the time we have today.  Join us next week when we interview Michael J. Fox.  (Ooooh, what a hunk!)  Until then, you get a toy car!  You get a toy car!  You get a toy car and you get a toy car!  Everybody gets toy cars!"

"Yay!" Asriel did his best golf clap.

And next up...

"Wacka-wacka-wacka!  It's great to be here at the Ha-Ha-Hacienda!  I just flew in from Chicago and boy do I need to stop flapping my arms!"

"Eh-heh-heh..." Asriel tried to muster a laugh. Okay the joke didn't fall THAT flat.

"So did you hear why the oyster bought a warehouse of quilts?  He was complaining that his hands were feeling a little clammy!"

Okay...maybe his material wasn't that great.

"Have you ever seen a window...box?  Or a rabbit...punch?"

Yeeeeeeeaaaaah....umm...

And a few more jokes later...

"Hey!  You didn't have to throw tomatoes at me, Mr. Asriel!"

"That wasn't me." Asriel shrugged.

The crowd around him had gotten a bit unruly.

"Uh..." Fozzie tugged at his scarf bandana.

"Fozzie, maybe I can help." Asriel got up and hurried Fozzie off stage. "Try using this." Asriel handed over a his "Big Book of Puns".

"Puns?"

"Maybe your material is just...uh...too far ahead of its time.  Try starting with something simpler and see if that goes over well."

Fozzie shrugged and headed back on stage.

"...because he was feeling bonely!"

That actually got laughs? How was that getting laughs? Somewhere...Toriel was probably smiling for no reason. Heh...I see what I did there. Darn it, Volt. Even off world you can't help but reference that. Don't tell Chara.

And the egg-timer went off and it was Gonzo's turn.

"Okay, Great Gonzo.  Show me what you've got!" Asriel was really starting to get into the whole imagination thing. He was way older then his peers but he was enjoying this romp through the genres.

Gonzo had been spending all this time makeshfiting a bunch of toys and such into...uh...what was he building.

"This is going to be an epic space opera that will be my weirdest creation yet!"

"Space opera!"

"The Zucchini People of Planet Flarbnax invade the Earth with their noodle rays and turning comic books into homework!  One brave superhero and his sidekick stand in the way of a world without comic books where weirdness is outlawed!  It's...Weird Man and Strangeness Boy!"

And before he knew it, Gonzo and Asriel were dressed up in the strangest conglomeration of superhero costumes that had ever been put to pen and paper.

Wait minute...Weird Man...? Didn't I see something like this when I crossed paths with Uncle Grandpa? Oi...that reference wasn't that long ago yet it still feels dated.

"Uh..why am I wearing a toy train track around my head like a crown while juggling poodles and riding a unicycle?"

"Because if you didn't...it wouldn't be WEIRD!"

...deja-vu.

"You there!  Space creatures from Flarbax!  Don't you know that it's illegal in British Columbia to yodel while driving a bathtub and crochetting a suit?"

"Puny Earth being !  You cannot stop us with your unconventional ways and your deviation from the normal!

"You dare to question my powers of weirdness!  I will unleash my most powerful weapon on you!  My army of cloned chickens!  Get em' Camilla one through one zillion!"

"Oh no!  He is too weird!  We are defeated!"

"Run before we are inconveniently overwhelmed by feathers and chicken jokes!"

"Yay!  The Earth is saved!" Asriel said while doing jazz hands.

"All thanks to a cement mixer, some plutonium, and a paper plate...wait...do we have a paper plate, Strangeness Boy?"

And the egg-timer went off.

Up next? Rowlf with a jam session.

"This is a song I wrote a while back that I wrote when I was feeling really emotional.  It was for all of my friends and it really came from the heart.  It's called "You're Special to Me".  Would you help accompany me on it?" Rolfe handed over the toy guitar.

"Sure.  Anything for a good song." Asriel smiled warmly.

And before could blink, he and Rowlf were center stage at the Hollywood Bowl with the largest of crowds.

"This is Sam Eagle, your champion delegator of conservative values where I have somehow been enlisted as a roving reporter, here at the Hollywood Bowl where music superstar Rowlf the Dog has joined rising pop idol Asriel Tobias Arcade in an unprecedented collaboration.  Here performing Rowlf's smash hit, "You're Special To Me" as it has since gone double platinum!

And they played their hearts out. But do to copywrite issues and Rowlf saying he'd tell Nanny if I did, I won't be printing the lyrics to it. Sorry. You'll just have to use your imagination. Also I don't think I could afford to pay Rowlf the quarter and two times for the licensing fee.

An egg-timer later and Asriel found himself playing double duty going back and forth between Scooter showing off his computer skills and Skeeter taking him through what I assumed was the 1984 Olympics. Though while their imaginations, Asriel described as being very classic and nostalgic, were somehow still recently relevant with Scooter taking on the role of Steve Jobs unveiling the latest home computer for kids and Skeeter doing her own take on Usain Bolt.

Which brought Azzy around to Bean "Beanie" Bunny on a search for Bambi through the forest but just ended up with a bit of a nap in a flower field. Also somehow there were bon-bons involved? What was that about?

Which left Animal to take Asriel through a journey of...well...crayons, baby-talk, and at some point...dirt was involved. Which ended in Asriel having to wash up after Animal upgraded it to mud. Oh well. It was "FREEEEEEEE!" in his own words.

Oh boy.

A lunch-time followed by a session of watching Funny Freddy on TV and some more antics followed up by a visit by Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker, off showing their latest invention...to Beaker's unfortunate luck. At least he wasn't hurt...physically. Poor guy. Can't get an even break from his constantly aloof partner, who was had a delightfully affable cluelessness over Beaker constantly being a victim of circumstance when his inventions backfired. I think we should nip this in the bud before he ends up growing up being a practitioner of unintended human resources safety and rights violations.

Capped off by a visit from Uncle Statler and Waldorf bantering like only old coots could, eventually the day came to a close for our ambitious babysitter and he laid the kids down for naptime.

"So, how was it, Asriel?" I opened the car door for him as he bid goodbye to Nanny, having just arrived to take over her duties again.

"Definitely...imaginative." He said with a wink.

We drove off back to the gateway home. But as we did, in the window of the Nursery, someone decided to see us off."

"Goooooooooooo bye-bye!" Animal stuck to the window like a suction cup stuffed animal while laughing that signature laugh.

Sub-Entry 338: "Ren Faire Revisited":
Boy oh boy. I wish I could just jump-skip right to the point. But oddly before we get to that, our story starts with our Edoropians doing what they do while Violet was briefly in Little Tokyo, Edoropia to preside over Alfred Matthew Dente answering for really screwing up...

".....and the backlash of this!  What made you think this was a good idea, Alfred Dente?"

"Well--"

"And don't say national security."

"Urf..."

Princess Violet, on the other hand was about to explode. Arms crossed, teeth grinding.

"I think we should delegate this matter to his highness.  What say you, Emperor Fred?"

And the panda danced about a bit, did a little pirouette before snapping open his fans bearing the Jangese flag. Then he pointed with both to Violet.

"You can't be serious--"  Al Dente started before he was interrupted...by Violet's low chuckle...which built into a wicked giggle...then maniacal laughter.

"Oh no..."

The rest of the Council subtly started backing away, scooting to the side walls, pressing up before ducking and covering."

"AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH!"

Al Dente tugged at his collar.

"You know...I used to think your life was a tragedy, Al...now I can see...it's a comedy." She slooooow turned toward him with an unhealthy grin.

"MY FATHER HAS GRANTED MY FONDEST DESIRE!!!!  MY REVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENGE!!!! "  She shrieked at the top of her lungs with the most sick and twisted, wide-eyed grins.

That was when she clicked on the heel domes on the ankles of her sandals, deploying the steel armored, metal-studded framework around them. She charged off down the hallway with a rapid-fire series of clanks.

That was when the guards seized Al Dente from the arms and held him firmly.

"Oh no!  Oh no!  NOT THAT!!!"

Violet immediately came in running full tilt like a freight train, screaming bloody murder before...

Okay, I'm going to have to immediately cut away from this scene and censor it before--

* OUCH!!!! OUCH!!!! OUCH!!!! OUCH!!! (echoing through the halls) *

...I am not at liberty to describe what happened. Use your imagination. Or don't. Preferably don't.

Violet exited the palace where Sally was leaning up against the wall, arms crossed, head bowed, eyes closed.

"Nice kick.  Nice revenge." She said simply, giving a thumbs-up.

"He had it coming." Violet growled.

Aye-chihuahua...

Ahem...cutting away from Violet being a complete psycho...and excusing that this is the October season, let's jump ahead to a couple days later with a very Al Dente-less Miranda City.

Granted compared to what we'd been through recently? Finally we could enjoy a low-key outing. Just like the old days.

And who might show up that really hit it home?

"Aunt Sally!" Asriel was delighted that Sally and Team Acorn got time off from the season to drop by.

"You know it, Goat Son.  Check it out!"

"A Renaissance Festival?  Sweet!  I haven't been to one of those in...!"

"Too long?  Let's fix that, shall we?"

And so we drove to the place where sure enough, I recognized that themed castle wall out front.

We'd gotten there nice and early, too so we got to enjoy the banter of all the players and the King and Queen as they began the opening festivities.

"Huh-zaaaah!"

Yeah. Asriel was super into it. Sally had been super into it for years. This was like a return to form.

Once inside...

"Wow.  Just look at all those shops..." Violet grinned. I had a feeling I knew where she'd be stopping first.

"The weapons shop." I shrugged.

And boy oh boy did she spend a copper or a few hundred thousand on things.

"Mom's getting a nice retro Christmas package this year."

Pole-arms, axes, brass knuckles, helms on fake human skulls, flail, whips, maces...holy cow, I think Vi might have a medieval addiction here.

"Hmmmmmm..." Bunnie examined the katanas.

"Interesting." She said as she examined the quality.

"Bet you could forge better ones in your sleep, Buns."

"It's not a contest, Vi."

I shook my head.

"Hey, Volt!  It's not officially a Ren Faire without the obligatory replica of video game weapons and gear!"

Asriel was quick to zero in on the Hylian Shields and the Master Sword replicas. Some made out of plastic and vinyl. Others made out of the real thing. I couldn't say no to him buying a set of his own. This was one fanboy thing Vi had taught him that I didn't object to.

Of course Violet and Jon had to take in the inappropriate humor stage performances. Whether it was knife throwers, fire jugglers, the laundry wenches, or the mud pit you can bet they were all too happy to stock up on crude humor, lame jokes, and naughty puns that we'd never let Asriel within hearing range of back in the day.

Lupe and Mitzi took in the arts and crafts. From talisms, medallions, and jewelry to rope sandals, royal dresses, and other wearables; it was all good in the hood.

Gadget found  a worthy opponent with Rotor in the human chessboard. While my little sister looked up to me for a lot of things...one of the things I could admire about her was that she was great at chess. Honestly? I had never learned the game. To this day I still hadn't taken the time to learn the rules.

It seemed like everything was pretty cut and dry as far as Ren Faires went. But that wasn't to say we didn't catch a few cameo appearances from people we didn't expect.

"...Violet?  Why are you grinning like a loon?"

"I just saw Deadpool on one of the jousting horses, sporting a Brunhilda wig with a unicorn horn strapped to the horse.  Tell me how awesome that is?"

I deadpanned for a moment.

"You do you, Vi."

And of course while we had lined up at the food kiosk, Jon of course couldn't make up his mind what to eat.

"...or maybe steak on a stake...ooh!  Or a giant turkey leg!  Or both!  Ooh!  And maybe one of those barbecued racks of ribs..."

"Binge if you must, son-in-law.  But don't say I didn't warn you when Elektra puts you on a diet the next day."

"Then I better double down!  Oooh!  Funnel cakes!  The gourmet donut of all major carnivals, amusement parks, and Renaissance Festivals--"

"Mmmmmmm...donuuuuuuts..."

I did a double take at a certain yellow-colored, balding nuclear power plant safety technician in a Viking helmet. You're a long way from Springfield, aren't you?

Asriel just shrugged.

Honestly this day was going about as low-key as I could have hoped for. It felt like a log from my previous Project Lost Dreemurr logs from when Asriel was a child and this world was still new to him.

Now it was all familiar to him. Now he was getting the first semblance of understanding the meaning of the word nostalgia. But he had a long life ahead before he could truly know what it meant to feel nostalgic.

In short order we had burned through three hours, easy. But honestly it was all great.

By this time we had landed at the Pirate Stunt Show and I could tell some of us were eating it up.

"I've never seen Rotor this excited before."

"Well, he is a walrus and our best swimmer.  I hate to generalize or stereotype but his aquatic nature is a little tell-tale.

"Yeah, but barely any of this has anything to do with sailing or pirates.  It's by far the loosest interpretation of Robin Hood I've ever seen!"

Clever word play, slapstick, and goofball antics coupled with fighting with real swords, muskets loaded with blanks, swinging from ropes and a little naughty humor.

And yes....Sally was super into it. But what she was really waiting for was the Joust. And really, she had been really patient but also really enjoying herself. If anything...she was having the most fun out of all of us. But no event got her as excited as the full-armored Joust.

"You've always wished that you could be a knight instead of a princess, Aunt Sally."

"You know it."

"I can't argue that there isn't something kinda alluring about shiny armor and a sword.  All that chivalry."

"Yeah...the idea of knights without gender discrimination also appeals to me.  I mean...who says there can't be a lady knight?"

"That's the Aunt Sally I know and respect."

We got seated before the jousting field. And then we waited...and waiting. Then the murmuring and complains began.

"Uh-oh...something sure doesn't sound right."

The "Queen" addressed us and informed that there was a sliiiight complication with one of the competitors.

I noticed the exchange of looks between Asriel and Sally.

"Investigate?" He asked.

"Oh yeah." She responded with that mischievous, cocky tone I recognized.

"Alright, you two...I guess I have to supervise to minimize the fallout when we get inevitably get in trouble." I followed behind.

"You  know that they're not supposed to step out of character, so let's keep this discrete if possible."

Let's condense what actually happened a bit and get to the important stuff.

"...that would be a problem.  So...what's the story with this last-minute-substitute."

"Yon commoner entered an altercation with our champion representing Merry Old England, Sir Tannen--"

That IMMEDIATELY raised yellow flags with me.

"Tannen?!" Asriel and I gasped in unison.

"Indeed, good sirs.  Sir Biffingham of Tannen." True as I said...they weren't breaking character...even behind the scenes.

"This...might explain the altercation." I crossed my arms, knowing that name. What was that bully, Biff Tannen doing off world?"

"So this commoner.  Does he have a name?" Asriel asked, instinctively implying the question that was already on my mind...and anticipating the answer I was.

"Merely a lowly dreg representing Ireland."

Uh-oh.

"McFly, I believe.  He  causeth a ruckus with Sir Tannen which led to yon exchange of words most foul.  In a strange dialect he spoke.  And the provocation led to Sir Tannen to speak in the same strange language, whence he referred to the young McFly by a vulgarity."

I immediately knew where this was going.

"Let me guess.  By any do you think the word he used was "butthead"?" Asriel whispered to Sally.

"Point for Marty.  He got Biff to actually break character.  Kudos to him." Sally smiled.

"What transpired next?"

"There was a most heinous fisticuff in which Sir Tannen found himself beseated in the waste of the noble steeds most foul."

Yup. Fights with Tannen’s always seem to land in a pile of manure.

"And where is this ruffian, now?"

"Currently in the stockade awaiting judgement.  The Royal Court has been in deliberation to decide sentencing."

"You've...already come to a decree."

"Indeed!  He will compete in a joust of honor."

Whoah. This is highly irregular. Martin Sheamus McFly has DEFINITELY not been trained to do the joust.

Wait. How did Biff Tannen of all people become a competent jouster...how'd he become a competent ANYTHING?!?

I felt Asriel's hand on my shoulder.

"Private conference, partner?"

Right on cue.

A brief discussion among us.

"Agreed." I said as I turned away from the Queen and clicked on the homing beacon.

"Wait for it..."

And then we saw it land in the parking lot outside.

"Good thing he finished that updated model back at the Institute For Future Technology..." I mused.

"Sally, if you don't mind?  Fetch our guest.  But leave Einstein in the car.  You know.  No pets rule."

Sally saluted, tapped her OGPX icon and clicked her sandals together, engaging her full OGPX gear...and zipped out and back with my mentor in tow.

"Pythagoras' triangular template, Volt!  Your field agent's capacity for accelerative displacement instills a sensory oversaturation indicative of cerebral rotation across the Y-axis."

"Huh?" Asriel arched an eyebrow.

"He says Sally's so fast it makes his head spin."

"Precisely, my boy!"

Sally just grinned.

"Well, let's have a word with our jailbird in the..."stockade"."

In the office, considered "out of bounds" from the in-character environment...

"Marty, Marty, Marty..." I folded my arms and shook my head. "I have a pretty good idea what led to this."

"We've had this discussion before, Marty." Emmett scolded.

"Ah, you're being too judgmental, Doc and...uh...Doc.  You haven't heard my side of the story."

"By any chance does that story involve you being called a chicken and flying off the handle?" I asked.

Marty scowled and looked away.

"Dude.  Seriously?" Asriel arched an eyebrow. "I thought you broke that habit with Needles."

"Old habits are hard to break." Sally shrugged.

"See?  Sal knows what's up."

"So it was totally not your fault?" Asriel deadpanned.

"Nah!  Get outta town!  You know me better than that."

"Why do you think he was asking?" I muttered.

"Well, no sense in worrying about the past." Emmett waved it off. "So.  What are we going to do?"

"Biff has the advantage.  Experience.  Age.  Strength.  And a rotten attitude that drives everything he does.  He's not going to hold back and boy oh boy is he going to show it off.  He'll show a total disregard for his opponent's safety.  He might actually try to pierce you to the rib cage and claim it was a job hazard; a warning that only trained professionals should attempt this." I explained.

"One thing is true.  Marty basically did the equivalent of signing a liability waiver agreeing to this.  Essentially, I don't know how he pulled it off, but Tannen made this nice and legal.  Marty's basically screwed." Sally looked over the papers.

"So.  How is the power of science going to get him out of this one, Mentor?"

I knew that look. He had part of a plan. And if I knew him...he knew that I had the other part. All we needed was for Sally to chip in her two cents and for Asriel to tie it up with a bow, using his favorite ribbon color.

"For Merry England, our champion, Sir Biffington of Tannen!"

Cheers went up. I think my stomach just flopped. Asriel just crossed his arms and deadpanned.

"Representing Ireland, the challenger, Sir Martin of McFly!"

Pleeeenty of boos. Oh brother.

I'm sure anyone reading this log would LOVE to know our plan and our specifics. But let's just cut to the competition and the payoff.

It was a back and forth which Marty and Biff managed to tie in the warm up events. Hurling lances into bullseyes on haystacks. Catching rings held up by assistants. And competing for their respective maidens.

I don't know who was the "lucky" maiden to score Tannen’s favor (and rose). But to our surprise...or maybe not...was one Jennifer Parker rooting for Marty. Small world or maybe she just had a feeling he got himself in trouble.

"Prepare to be slain, naive!"

The helms went on and visors went down. The shields were added to the pauldrons and the targets attached.

"Ah, in your dreams, Tannen!"

Mitzi ended up sitting next to Jennifer.

"On a scale of one to ten, how stupid a thing is this compared to the list of other things he's done."

"A ten."

Marty lowered his visor.

"...make that a twelve."

Well. Moment of truth. After two charges, which Biff and Marty had each scored a point, each shattering a lance, it came down to the tie-breaker.

Both horses lined up. Both knights raised their weapons. And both galloped their way to the point of impact...!

At this point, whoever reads this...try to at least fake a level of surprise as I give you this spoiler:

"And Sir McFly had unseated Sir Tannen off his horse with a direct strike!"

Yup. That was ten points. Set and match.

Huzzahs from our side.

"So.  How'd ya do it?" Violet one-arm hugged me.

"Now now.  Spoilers, Vi.  If you're half as brilliant as you think you are...you'll figure it out.  Eventually."

"Challenge accepted."

"Well, I hope you learned a lesson, Mr. McFly." Asriel put his knuckles to his hips.

"That's SIR McFly to you, Goat Boy."

"Heh."

I shook my head.

"By the way, Mentor...I guess I should wish you and Marty a happy anniversary on your great endeavor."

"Ah yes!  October 21st, 1985."

"Oh yeah, Doc.  I don't think I'll ever forget that date."

"Heh." Asriel smirked. By now he was in the know. He knew where the Time Machine came from. He knew all about its maiden voyages--both a minute into the future by Einstein, and thirty years into the past by Marty...plus an additional 30 years into the future by Emmett, Marty, and Jennifer. I'd told him all about Alternate 1985. I'd tell him about 1885. And yes...I'd tell him about the lesser known trip into the 1930's with Arthur McFly and the incident with Kid Tannen.

"I guess we should call it a happy Back to the Future day, huh?" Asriel shrugged.

"Well.  This has all been one interesting day." Lupe acknowledged.

"Let's do this again some time." Sally gave a thumbs up.

For now, we just decided to call it a day.

Sub-Entry 339 "The Final Showdown - Determination x Determination Part 1":
I knew for a long time after many clashes with Evil Chara, it was all coming to a flashpoint. I swore that Asriel and I would be prepared for when it happened.

Promises are hard to keep.

By now Asriel was his own man and not only partaking in both UCIAT missions but S.T.C. assignments. He was gaining recognition. He was gaining a reputation. He was the toast of the town.

Goat son was going viral. His name was exploding, globally...galactically, even. This was a delicate balance to maintain on a hair-line edge of the double-edged blade.

Six Heart-Soul Crystals...for lack of a better name. And six Virtue Powers. The seventh could unlock at any time.

One constant had always been true. It was always Evil-Chara who pushed him to the point of unlocking each one. While the attributes and who influenced them seemed randomized and didn't always make immediate sense, they we're completely out of left field no matter how strange they were.

While kindness had invoked connotations of healing and defense with Frisk, with Asriel it was sword and shield. The most basic of abilities. Though I did notice it seemed to boost his ability to heal and recover. A pizza cutter that just screamed Mitzi's influence at face value. With it came offense and defense. A telescoping sawblade that could become a shield with the stopping power of vibranium.

Patience. Associated with those invoking a sense of calm and yielding to the chaos around them while reciprocating in order to recognize and seize the moment. It took the form of a watering can which invoked properties of a life force energy conduit--draining it from opponents and bestowing it upon allies. I knew it could harness rainstorms and fog. I'd later discover it could spray ice, too. Totally Lupe in just about every way with Bunnie sprinkle-tossed in. And with it, a slight time-bending effect; a touch of Sally, no doubt.

With Integrity, while its basis had Violet's fingerprints all over it but when you got down to it, it was seemingly Sally who shared these traits with her. The two were often synergizing. And with this power came not just speed but the ability to become an army from bending the rules of quantum mechanics; existing in many places simultaneously while also lacing it with traits of the tutu-wearing ballet-shoed fallen child of the same virtue. It gave him an almost gyroscopic level of balance and grace.

Bravery. Orange as the fruit of the same name and carrying with it the arrows of hope and light. Takeru "T.K." Takashi and Hikari "Kari" Kameya of the Digi destined be proud. While not entirely sure who invoked this one I often find it an ironic thought that Jon and Antoine could have influence. But this trait emerged years ago in Vi's simulation of Quick Man's stage so no definitive source could be pinned down. Heck, Pit, himself said that the song that Azzy sang was something that he remembered from the whole World of Light incident during the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament. A virtue with no definable shape or form, taking on the properties of light but could be compressed into a shape; Azzy chose a boomerang, going back to the whole Quick Man angle. A light which pierced the darkness of fear and inspiring others to face their fears and unite under his leadership.

Justice. Okay, this was the shark-jumping point when we brought in Jotaro Kujou to help combat Chara. Clearly justice was a Bunnie attribute. And it borrowed from Asriel's encounter standing up for Mina Scalnistro. An attribute that was always changing, always evolving, always adapting. But most of all never adapting the behavior of the form that it took on; in the form of melee it functioned as ranged. For ranged weapons it lashed out with melee. Always catching opponents off guard and keeping them guessing,  The power to put right the wrong-doings of the world. Karma personified. But more than that, it came with the additional ability described in the same way as Goku's Autonomous Ultra Instinct. Being able to react without thought, without mental conflict, without doubt as if on autopilot.

And Perseverance. When backed into a corner, the meek would find a way to survive. To step up. To put on those big-boy pants and find the power and the drive to fight back and become a match for otherwise overwhelming odds. And with it came the power of analysis; of scanning, sensing, and amassing all the information one would ever need to make the ultimate intelligent toolkit in battle. While at the same time, this virtue could manifest the imagination as an outer shell; a mechanical outer body or robot suit to meet giant threats head-on. Quite the upgrade from a mere torn notebook.

With all these powers...what could the power of Determination itself yield?

We would find out sooner than later.

Remember when Jon said that he would fit Asriel for a tuxedo? Well it seemed appropriate for the big gala event. Garfield was hosting it and the proceeds were going to charity.

Little did we know, Chaopolis had spent a long time mobilizing for something major.

I'd never learn that our earlier assessment about Evil-Chara having to pay a toll later for the power he had gained for his sixth assault on our town.

As it turned out, what he paid for that form was...

"...hurry up... *wheeze*...and restore me...you son of a--  *coughing fit*..."

"Youth is still wasted on the young...your generation no more appreciates it than the last generation.  If anything, you're proof that it has gotten worse...and by that, it's gotten more interesting for Chaopolis."

"Spare me." Chara's white-haired, withered, boney form was barely staying alive. But Adonis wouldn't let him die.

"Six-fold your failures are--"

"Don't keep reminding me of the score!  Just give me what I want.  This is the showdown and I'll finally have the means to end it."

"So.  What power do you seek--"

"I want to be a god.  An immortal god!  Better than Hyperdeath ever was!  I want ultimate power."

"So you say.  Well then.  It's yours."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"Wait...you haven't even implied a price for this.  What are you up to?"

"The window's closing for your moment, dear Chara.  We'll talk later if you succeed."

"I'm warning you, old man.  Giving me this power will be your undoing if you get in my way...if you underestimate me.  And most of all...if you break your word."

Adonis grinned devilishly. "Now why would you doubt me at this point when you are the one who hasn't upheld his part of the bargains?"

"I mean it.  If I get screwed over again, I'm not going to surprise you with a betrayal or sudden insurrection.  I'm warning you that it's inevitable.  Because I know how much you hate predictability.  Well.  I predict your end.  You just gave me the keys to your doomsday.  So if you want your Chaopolis Empire, you'll stay on my good side."

Adonis chuckled.

"There's that Determination.  Go on.  Have your revenge."

That was then.

This was now. We'd long since gotten the call of Chaopolis' invasion and made it to the shore where armies of Cultists were marching on the city.

Asriel and I arrived with the largest sizable force of UCIAT agents and anyone else we could get from Neo Arcadia and Miranda City.

Asriel was the first out of his car where he looked up at the hovering form of Evil Chara...now in what I could only describe as a Fallen Angel form.

As he reflected upon how he got to this point, a song by Master Plan seemed to bring all his thoughts and feelings...his hopes and dreams...the culmination of where he came from and where he was now all together. He could hear it in his head as he clashed with his foe, the dark clouds and the raging storm--thunder, rain, wind, and lightning giving shape and form to the epic, seemingly cataclysmic clash he found himself in.

Giving shape and form to all of it...it went a little something like this:

There was a place - a little town

Where we used to play and laugh around

We went too far - reaching for that star

And the light moved away from me

As Asriel remembered back when he and Chara...his Chara first met, he imagined what her town must've been like. He recalled how inseparable he and the First Fallen Child were. And then he remembered the plan...and how Chara's life slipped away...how her soul was moments from his grasp but the Void swallowed him up...sucking him into the dimensionless space within the CORE where time and space did not exist...nor did anyone within it.

How was it that his memory persisted while Gaster's faded?

And the spirit never died - the world belongs to me

This is when I've been given time to live and see

Asriel maintained his balance as he led off with alternating uses of the Green Pizza Cutter and an NX Sabre.

I'll never give up - never give in

Won't stop believing cause I'm gonna win

Sing with my soul before I get old

Cause there may be no tomorrow

There is no limit to what can be done

Climbing the mountain with power so strong

Dusty roads - down the way

Leaving the future behind me

Thinking back to mere hours before this battle exploded he remembered how he arrived at the gala event; all dressed up and arriving in his car to the red carpet event.

I got a fast car - like a rock star

Come and join the ride with me

Take a spin downtown

Check out who's around

I'll show you where you wanna be

And the spirit never dies - let the music take you higher

I know what it means to burn

That's how I began to learn

Back to the battle Asriel soon found the Patience Watering Can was ineffective due to the raging storm diffusing it.

He cycled to the Integrity Overdrive Gear and put the pressure on "No-Name". But he was managing to hold off all his instances, both sides stalemating.

So never give up - never give in

Rise from the fire if you're gonna win

Sing with your soul - soon you'll be old

Fight the demons inside you

The wind raged, pushing the NX Switchboard off course at every turn as Evil-Chara's demon wings didn't seem to be hampered. In terms of mobility, the Demon that Comes When You Called His Name had the advantage.

Asriel switched to tandem uses of the Light of Bravery and the Justice Instinct. And yet they both seemed evenly matched. And it seemed Chara hadn't paid a toll for his power. At least not one we could see or sense.

There is no limit to what can be done

Climb every mountain with power so strong

Dusty roads on the way - leaving the past behind you

Evil-Chara drew upon additional reserves, transforming his demon/devil ascension to be akin to Lumine's final Seraph Form during his Paradise Lost attack at the end of the eight Maverick War.

This forced Asriel to turn to the Perseverance Mechanization to analyze his foe for weak points and to analyze and form automated contingencies and plans, his mech taking on a form of the Great Sacred Treasure that Pit spoke of when battling Hades in the Third Uprising that he now had total recollection of.

In the end both mechs ended up destroying each other, leaving the two to fight it out with everything they had left.

The battle escalated and it seemed that Asriel might get a foothold on the situation.

Then it happened. An attack that none of us saw coming.

I watched in horror as the evil black-light laser form of the Real Knife had pierced Asriel's chest completely.

Evil Chara grinned sadistically.

"I finally BEAT YOU!!!  NOW DIE AND RELINQUISH YOUR SOUL!!!" The brat screamed as he kicked Asriel off the NX Switch Board, sending him plummeting into the ocean below.

I screamed but no sound could be heard over the chaos. I dropped to my knees with the same horrified expression and feeling of powerlessness that was all too familiar. That nightmare from seven years ago...when I dreamed Hyperdeath had chosen to end his own life to take Chara with him...as Undertale itself was being erased from existence.

This wasn't happing. This wasn't happening. Oh gods...this wasn't happening. Please....somebody tell me this wasn't really happening!

I've seen love in vain

I have felt the pain

Torn in desire

Lead by the fire

And as I lived it all the world became too small

And my colors grew colder

The color drained from every inch of Asriel as he lifelessly sunk deeper and deeper into the abyss, the hole in his chest bleeding out. His tears were swallowed up by the water around him.

It seemed like this was the end as his outstretched hand reached toward the flickering form of his H.U.D.

And yet it remained out of reach.

All of the virtues displayed under it were slowly going out as the colors in his eyes slowly blinked out one at a time.

All was lost...

The light was dying...

Asriel's story was coming to an end..

...and yet, deep in his soul...his very soul that threatened to crack down the middle and shatter...

....... it ''' REFUSED. '''

That was when the red glow began to pulse and the color of his eyes turned to neon red...and then the light poured out of them like laser beams.

Evil Chara had turned his back on where Asriel had splashed down, ready to give the order to the Cultists of Chaopolis to finish all off.

That's when it happened. That’s when the giant shaft of red light pierced up out of the water, forming a vortex around it.

"What?!?" Evil Chara whirled. "NO!!!!" He saw it. We all saw it.

We saw him rise; arms spread out in a cross-like formation. I could see the red energy sprout from his back and manifest above his head.

"Wings?  A halo?!" I gasped.

The spirit takes me higher

Never give up - never give in

Won't stop believing cause I'm gonna win

Sing with my soul before I get old

What if there's no tomorrow

Asriel outstretched his hand as I saw him forge what looked like a vastly upgraded version of Asgore's trident in one hand and Undyne's spear in the other...as Toriel's flames encircled behind him in a ring...and then there were the goat skull-shaped Gaster Blasters that floated above his shoulders like orbitars. And the lightning wrapping around his legs and arms that gave me vibes of both Alphys and Mettaton.

And of course the wings. They weren't like Hyperdeath's. They were like the Pegasus Wings. And there were eight of them. One for each of the seven fallen children plus an eighth one that was gold in color with a vibe that felt...well...like my own.

Asriel had worried that he had lost his roots...his ties to the Underground...to his people and kingdom. But they were with him all along. And now they were fused with the powers and virtues he had gained from us. This was his Ultimate Determination form. A demi-god form that exceeded the power of Hyperdeath without losing himself in the process.

"You damn stupid lesser creature!  You dare to defy death just to make me look like a fool?!  I'll show you!  It doesn't matter how much power you gain!  I'll wipe you from existence and take your soul!  With its power I'll return to our Undertale and tear its very existence from space and time!  I'll obliterate its entire legacy; as if Undertale NEVER EXISTED!  I WON'T STOP!  I'LL KEEP GOING FROM WORLD TO WORLD UNTIL LIFE ITSELF IS EXTINGUISHED."

"I've tried talking you down.  I've begged.  I've pleaded.  I've fought you.  I've bested you.  But nothing has worked.  Nothing will stray you from your path.  Don't make me do the unthinkable, No-Name.  If you force me to do this, I will put you down.  I will take away your despair and nightmares once and for all.  You will never hurt another person again."

Asriel fought spear and trident to Evil-Chara's multitude of Real Knives. He shielded himself with Toriel's flames and Alphys' lightning while he counterattacked with Gaster Blasters. And of course he managed to use lightning web like snares that echoed Muffet.

While I could explain Toriel, Asgore, and Undyne's influence, I couldn't explain how he was drawing upon the Skelebros, Alphys, Mettaton, and Muffet; he'd never met them but it was like he was tied to them...somehow. Determination didn't always make sense but I did know understand one thing; it had vastly amplified his survival ability; his very self-preservation and intention to keep going despite what should have been a fatal wound.

"That's it...take my life if you can...and become exactly what you swore you'd never do!  It's the only way!  Now...come at me with your final attack!"

Chara pushed the power of the Real Knife to past its breaking point; it was truly the darkest side to the power of Determination. With it was the power to end life itself, this was the most powerful Evil Chara had ever been. And even in his current form...this time it really would be fatal.

Asriel and Evil-Chara faced each other...both hovering a good distance away from each other. But now they intended to end it in one final attack. Both took off in a near-instantaneous burst of acceleration; Chara leaving a purple-bordering-on-black contrail behind him and Asriel leaving a blindingly bright red contrail behind him. Both collided with an impact that turned the night sky completely white. The shockwave stirred a massive waterspout vortex up from the sea around the two of them that reached to the heavens while in the process scattered the clouds completely outward, out of view.

There is no limit to what can be done

Climbing the mountain with power so strong

Dusty roads - down the way

Leaving the memories behind me!!!

"No......this is...impossible.....I was...supposed...to win...I had...the power of...a God!"

"To borrow a quote...I eat gods for breakfast." Asriel mused.

"Damn...you...!" Evil-Chara's wings started to burn up and crumble to dust...before he plummeted into the ocean.

"I...don't...want...to..........die..." Was the last thing he said before splashing down.

Cheers went up among us all. With Evil-Chara's defeat, the cultists' spirts were broken and they started surrendering. Those that chose to stand their ground were eventually beaten down and handcuffed.

Asriel slowlly drifted down, diagonally until he landed before me.

"Azzy!  I can't believe it!  I really thought I had lost you.  Look at you!  The wings of Determination!  You're like a seraph in this form!  It's like your determination is so strong.  You were dealt a fatal blow.  I though your soul would shatter but...!

Say it, Volt. But it refused. That same power that Frisk had when Hyperdeath struck the same fatal blow that Evil-Chara had. He had transcended death as he was sinking into the ocean and was turning as gray as Optimus Prime after passing the Matrix of Leadership to Ultra Magnus in the...well...hopefully that wouldn't happen in the Ultraverse iteration.

I guess it was true. A Hero cannot die. Not truly. He may leave his mortal coil. He may go into the light. But the legacy he leaves behind...that's the true immortality. Thankfully...Asriel was going to hold onto both. His life and the legacy he was building. It really sunk in how famous he had gotten at this point.

We were all congratulating him and wrapped up in the victory that we didn't see Evil-Chara crawl out of the sea with a crazed look. He was beaten up pretty bad but bound and determine that he too could transcend death.

He came at Asriel full tilt with the most rage-filled battle cry of angst I had ever heard. And he caught us all off guard. There was no one who could get to him in time. There was no way Asriel could avoid the Real Knife at 100% capacity. The last of his power came with his ultimate finisher. This was the end...!

Sub-Entry 340: "The Final Showdown - Determination x Determination Part 2":
* CLAASH *

The reverberation of metal was unholy and the impact spread outward in the mightiest of spherical shockwaves, knocking everyone but those at ground zero to the ground.

"What the Hell--"

"Hell is too good for you."

"Who in the Devil's unholy, fiery--"

"Don't you know?  I am the god of death that comes when you call her name.  It doesn't matter where...and it doesn't matter when.  I will arrive to protect the hopes and dreams of the living.  I will make my presence when the deceased are being preyed upon by Hollows.  I am the one you answer to when your time is up."

The un-invoked form of Chara's Zanpakutou was all that was needed to block Evil-Chara's blade from piercing Asriel's skull.

"Quit with the bluster and TELL ME YOU STUPID, PAJAMA-WEARING GIRL!!!"

"If you need me to spell it out.  Then you can call me by the name you know too well...I am Chara Dreemurr.  And that's my brother you're messing with."

"You lie.  You're not Chara Dreemurr!  I'M Chara Dreemurr!!!"

"So.  Finally found you, faker."

"Faker?!  You seem more like the fake to me."

"Ha ha ha ha...that's a good one.  You're not even good enough to BE my fake."

"I'll make you EAT those words!!!"

"Be careful, dear sister!  He's more dangerous and more deluded than--"

"Yeah.  I can see that.  He's not going to roll over and play dead for me.  So I'll just have to knock him around until he decides to."

"Don't kill him!"

"Heh.  That was never the plan, Azzy."

Evil-Chara raged at that.

"You dare to insult me by holding back?!?  You're as bad as Arcade and his group of sissies!  Stay in line, be kind to one and all...show mercy.  That mercy...it hurts my pride!  It pisses me off!  And it's going to be the think that kills you!!!"

"You can't kill what's already dead." Soul Reaper Chara pointed her blade. "I paid for my crimes and my sins with my own life and my own soul.  I will not squander this redemption."

"Bring it on, kimono girl!  I'll send you back to whatever Grim Reapers you're hanging around with!  You'll have to have a second funeral and I'll make sure Azzy watches before I carve his own soul out and use it to cross the barrier!"

As they traded insults and arguments back and forth, they continued to clash blades.

"Adonis really did a number on you.  Trust me when I speak from experience on how he screws people.  Or maybe you'd like to have a Wraith wear you like pants for years and years, doing unspeakable things!"

"Don't lecture me on that morality crap.  Having a conscience only holds you back!  It makes you weak!  It makes you vulnerable!  It makes you ripe for betrayal!  You of all people should know--"

"Yeah.  I do.  Because I was the betrayer.  I was the one who let the darkness overtake me.  I was the one who let it almost destroy my friendship with my first and only best friend.  I won't let you do the same...much less do the same WILLINGLY!"

"Then come on...show me what a God of Death can do if you're not going to do the one job you have--reap souls!"

"You have no idea what we really do, do you?  Well...can't blame you for only knowing one iteration of Grim Reapers. You'd be shocked to see how different Reapers are from world to world."

"Don't try to scare me with what happened to Light Yagami."

"So...I guess Adonis has been teaching you about anime and pop culture.  All the useless "fictional" trivia you never wanted but none of the advice, strategies, and enemy weaknesses you hoped you could exploit.  How sad."

"Well then.  If that is what you wish..." Chara held up her Zanpakutou in its katana form and traced her fingers across the length of the blade.

"Torimu, Chakuyou Tanken." Her sword glowed and began to shrink down until it formed a familiar shape.

"What...is that supposed to be?" Evil-Chara said with a sadistic chuckle.

"Don't you know?  No...I guess you wouldn't.  But I suppose if you want an exact translation...it's a little something like this:   Trim, Worn Dagger."

"And what are you going to do with that?  Cut your toenails?"

"Azzy told me that reference after reading me one of Vi's One-Piece Manga.  Clever.  But you should know you never hunt a rabbit with a cannon.  I'm sure you've heard this lesson before.  Don't judge on appearance.  Do you really think I'd have a weapon that has a size relative to its power level?  If we Soul Reapers had anything like that we'd be swinging around swords the size of skyscrapers."

"You're bluffing."

"Am I now?" Soul Reaper Chara thrust forth and merely tapped the flat part of Evil-Chara's Real Knife. But the effect was instant as the evil counterpart went flying backwards, tearing a fissure through the ocean as the backlash parted the sea.

Evil Chara surfaced and charged out of the ocean, sputtering angrily.

"You bi--"

"Language." Soul Reaper Chara scolded.

"That movie quote is getting REAL old..." Evil Chara growled.

To say it wasn't even a real battle by this point...well, I don't think anyone would be surprised after the smackdown Asriel had landed on the evil one prior to the good one taking him on. But I was now seeing Good Chara's soul slayer and her skill with kidou for the first time. All of us, Asriel included, were.

But the fight wasn't a total cakewalk. Evil Chara still had fight left in him and skill. Plus his evil seraph form hadn't broken apart completely yet.

"You can't kill me.  I took on the power of a GOD before coming here."

"Then the battle is actually even.  Don't you know that Soul Reapers are basically Shinigami?  We're gods of death."

"Then I'll be the first to kill a grim reaper in front of her own brother!"

"You really think I'M worried that Chara could lose?" Asriel retorted. "Never in a million years and especially not to the likes of you!"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!  All of you just shut up!" Evil Chara was at his limit now.

"Don't you take pity on me!  Don't you hold back on me!  I WILL crush you!  I will win this!  And I WILL MAKE THE PLAN HAPPEN!  DON'T YOU DARE DOUBT MY RESOLVE!  DON'T YOU DOUBT MY DETERMINATION!"

"No.  I don't doubt it.  You've convinced me that I will have to end this once and for all."

Soul Reaper Chara closed her eyes...before uttering that dreaded word that only the strongest of Hollows did not fear...and even then that would be their undoing.

"Ban...kai."

"What?!?  Chara has a Bankai already?!?  She's not even a lieutenant, let alone a captain!"

"I'm a quick study."

"No, Ichigo Kurosaki was a quick study.  What you pulled off is insane!"

"Heh." Soul Reaper Chara mused as her spirit energy started to swell.

"Ban kai.  Jitsuzai  Debabouchou." Chara held up the blade...and I saw it. Good gods I saw it. Oh yes...this was most CERTAINLY a befitting name for her bankai.

"Wha...wha...WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?"

The towering shape of energy wrapping around where the hilt began skyrocketed upward into a shape...a shape of countless knives clustered together in perfect formation to make a blade...no...a skyscraper-sized Real Knife that pierced the sky and radiated a vibe that reeked of death...but also a vibe that reeked of righteousness.

"And now you will be judged for every action you've taken; ever act of violence you've committed.  Now.  Let me ask you a question...one I'm sure we're both very familiar with.  Do you think even the worst person in the world can change?  That they can be a better person?"

"You know my answer to that..."

"Yeah.  I guess I do.  Having asked that.  Let me ask you another question...do you--"

"No!"

"...want to..."

"Don't you dare!"

"...have a bad time?"

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

Asriel looked a little confused, not sure what this was about.

"Because if you take another step toward my brother, I can guarantee...you're NOT going to like what happens next."

Somewhere Sans was grinning very wide. The irony wrote itself.

"You know what screw you.  I'm calling your bluff--"  Evil Chara drew back to throw the Real Knife at Asriel.

"So be it." the Shinigami bowed her head before she brought the blade down and brought it down hard.

I'm...not sure what happened next but...Evil Chara's face was frozen in a horrified expression. Soul Reaper Chara dispelled her soul slayer and sheathed the katana, turning away.

"Get dunked on." I said under my breath.

Evil Chara dropped to his knees and swayed...before his strength gave out and he just leaned backward, arms dragging in the sand, while remaining kneeling. It was the same position that Lumine was left in when his life came to an end. Paradise Lost, indeed.

"Is he...?"

"No.  Just wishing he was.  I had no intention of killing him.  My brother taught me better than that.  Anyway...he will recover...someday.  Can't say how eager he will be to seek his revenge.  But now he knows.  He knows he can't defeat us.  Any of us."

And you'd think that would be that as Asriel and Chara...the real Chara propped each other up with a one-armed hug as both of them had used up nearly all their strength.

"C'mon.  Our agents will place him under arrest and put him and his goons in maximum security--"  I started before we all heard it behind us.

"GAAAAH!" Evil-Chara cried out in pain. And then we saw what caused it. He had been curb-stomped to the sand by Adonis' oversized bare foot.

"ADONIS!" A growled as I faced the mad mutant.

"Hello, Volt.  You don't look happy to see me!"

"On the contrary.  I finally get to bust you’re a--"

"Now now.  There's no need for that.  Because frankly I'm not here to clash with you, old friend.  I'm here to collect."

"Collect...?  Collect what?"

"The price for my apprentice's power...and his failure.  I warned him, going in, that failure would be a deal breaker.  And now he's in breach of contract."

Adonis stomped Evil-Chara into the sand a few more times before wrapping his ungodly large clawed hand around his entire head and lifting him up, holding him up for us to see.

"Let him go!" Asriel demanded.

"What do you intend to do with him?"

"Yeah, he's already paid the price.  His defeat is enough--"

"Hardly.  You see...this is his seventh attempt.  His seventh failure.  The price of which was well...two-fold."

"What do you mean?" I demanded to know.

"Well...first price to pay...it should be self-explanatory.  After all...after all this time he should know, it was the down payment for me giving him life once more."

"Once...more?"

"Oh you didn't know?  Or maybe your sister and your best friend didn't tell you.  All the clues have long since been laid out.  You've certainly come to an interesting conclusion.  But is never once occurred to you that you might have been wrong all this time."

"What...?"

Suddenly Adonis' hand burst through Evil-Chara's chest...and in his grasp was his soul.

"No!!!"

"You should recognize this...have a look, Asriel...do you see it?"

"it's...a human soul...what are you--"

"Doesn't it resonate rather nicely around...?"

That was when Reaper Chara's soul lit up, emerging from her Shinigami form.

"What are you saying?"

"After asking the question if your own Undertale had A.U.'s...you never once considered that maybe there were AU versions of yourself or...?"

It hit Asriel.

"This is too evil even for you, Adonis." Soul Reaper Chara's eyes started to well up with tears.

"Stop this."

"...then...he's not brainwashed...he really is...?"

That was when Asriel saw Evil Chara streaming tears, himself...tears that were slowly turning to blood as Adonis tightened his grip on his head.

"Asriel...I...I...I'm...so...sorry--"

And with that Adonis did the unthinkable...he gruesomely did the unthinkable with just the grip of his bare hand...and he led the headless body fall to the ground along with the sickening bloody mess.

The horror. The true horror on the face of the siblings...I was wearing the same horrified look.

"That was the other price.  The power of a god comes at the cost...of his very life.  As for his soul?"

Adonis suddenly crushed it in his grasp.

"I have no need for it." Adonis let the dusty red shards fall to the sand where they twinkled away.

"He offered his soul as a down payment...and on a whim...I didn't even want it.  I just took it because I could...just as I destroyed it...just because I could.  Such is the nature of chaos.  Oh and...enjoy your victory.  The price of peace is high.  Who or what will you sacrifice next to maintain it?" Adonis simply walked off into the Cybergate that opened. But as a last insult, he threw Evil-Chara's locket that he had yanked off his lifeless body far into the ocean before disappearing into the gate to Chaopolis.

This. This was a wakeup call. This was the first that Adonis would taint us with shock, disbelief and horror. We had won the battle...but we lost something irreplaceable. Someone irreplaceable. Lady Destiny and Madam Fate could make as many Chara’s as they wanted...but none would be the same. Just like no Frisk would be the same.

This permanently unbalanced the game. I wanted to bring about an Ultimate Happy Ending...but how can I do that when it was built on the blood...the gravestones of rebels like this Chara?

Evil-Chara was evil...but he didn't deserve this.

No one deserved this.

Bonus Sub-Entry:  "Halloween 44 and 4/19th's":
We all trudged out of the cyber gate, grumbling. Well...all of us except for Violet.

"Wipe that grin off your face, rabbit girl." I growled.

"Aren't you overreacting just a little?"

"You're hereby banned from picking missions for a good month."

"C'mon.  what was wrong with it?"

"What was WRONG with it?!  What was WRONG WITH IT?!"

"No offense, Aunt Vi, but I gotta say...not a fan of crossovers between the Banana Splits and Five Nights at Freddy's." Asriel tried to wipe the...questionably red liquid off his jacket. I'm not saying that it was blood...but I'm not saying it wasn't, either.

"I could have told you this was a bad idea from the start.  And I worked with animatronics on stage during my Rock-Afire days; mostly my time dating my ex-boyfriend." Mitzi glared at Violet, practically standing nose to nose with her in fury.

"Tra-la-laaa!  La-la-la-laaa!  Tra-la-la!  La-la-la-laaaah!" Violet was quickly smacked over the head by both Mitzi and Foxy.

"Tis' the last time ye' be talkin' me into one of your shenanigans, lassie!  I already told ye' how much I despise that mechanical nightmare that shares the same name as me!"

"I'm with everyone else.  Not cool, Aunt Vi.  I may have gotten braver over the years, but I still don't handle jump-scares well."

Violet shrugged.

"Next time we're going to the Neitherworld."

"Oh boy!  I've heard that the pun-based transformations are hilarious!" Goat Son had the Steven Universe star eyes.

You know it HAD been too long since we reconnected with Lydia Deetz and her favorite former bio-exorcist of the Neitherworld. But unfortunately because Violet chose the outing this year, that would have to be on hold for a future date.

We were all putting on a happy face. But really...we were all cringing with the echo of Evil-Chara's last moments.

It felt...unthinkable...impossible. And while we had lost an enemy who had made our lives Hell...I just knew it was going to get worse. Adonis was letting us know...play time was over. Things were going to get dark. Really dark. All this time dragging it out...and now he was ready to have his REAL fun with us. We'd see it coming. But we wouldn't know when. How much of a grace period was he giving us?

Either way, we hoped we could take our minds off it with  our annual Halloween Night in Miranda.

Little did we know it would become a crossover between the Ghostbusters...the "Filmation" Ghost Busters and the "Real" Ghostbusters. For simplicities sake of this log, I'll differentiate between the "others" as two words and my mentors as one word.

Honestly a number of our foes were coming out of the woodwork to take another shot at us.

I suppose it started when I got a call. Since it was my mentors that contacted me last time over Ectotron, I naturally expected it would be them over new developments with the Autobots and Decepticons. Plus the timing was after our recent mishap between Cybertron and Gobotron.

However, I didn't expect it to come from--

"Hello?  Who is this?  How did you get this number?  This is an unlisted--"

My eyes widened.

"A...Ansa-Bone?" I hadn't thought about the Ghost Busters for a while since our unexpected trip to the alternate New York.

"The Ghost Busters have reached out to you!  Because they're too incompetent to take care of their own problem themselves!  Hahahahahahahah!"

"Ansa-Bone!" I snapped.

"Give me that!" I heard on the other end. "Jake Kong Jr. here."

I immediately covered Violet's mouth before she could make a reference to a certain ape and son that made life in New York more than a little complicated for an Italian Plumber.

"Jake?  How are you contacting me?  This number shouldn't be in service to alternate universes, much less one that cell phones don't exist in."

"I don't know what a cell phone is, but we had Futura connect us through Time and Space, using G.B.'s Time Turbo."

"Huh...yeah, I guess by 80's logic that's as plausible as anything.  So what's this about having a problem that you can't solve?"

"This weird ghost with a pumpkin for a head has been terrorizing New York!  He claims he wants to make Halloween eternal---"

"It...can't be..." I suddenly gasped.

"Wh-wh-wha-what can't be?!" I heard Eddie Spencer Jr. stammer in the background.

"I know what ghost is responsible, but it's impossible!  He's locked up in the--"

That was when the second call came in.

"Hold on, I got another call."

"Wait, don't hang up!"

"I'm not.  I'm just going to switch you to the other phone line."

"Another phone line?  You must have one heck of a future world where you live!"

"You have no idea.  Don't ask about it further, for your own timeline's sake."

I put Jake on hold before switching over to the other call.

"Hello?"

"Greetings, Volt."

"Mentor?" I recognized Egon's voice.

"It would appear we have a situation at the Firehouse.  It seems one of Ivo Shandor's class three elevated remnants managed to evade capture while we were on Shandor Island."

"During the third tale you and the others have yet to tell Asriel."

"It attempted to breach the Containment Unit and gather enough spiritual turbulence to orchestrate another dimensional cross rift."

"And let me guess...something familiar escaped?"

"It's Sam Hain."

"Dammit all..." I growled. "He found his way off world?"

"Into some sort of trans dimensional gateway using a relic from the Museum of Natural History where the Gozer Exhibit once was before being returned to the Shandor Estate, after Alyssa Selwyn took control of the assets, being a Shandor descendant."

"I believe I have a lead on where your escaped phantasm went--"

"There's more bad news.  I'll let Ray explain."

"Talk to me Raymond.  What happened?"

"It's crazy, Volt!  After ole' pumpkin head escaped, the same vortex suddenly changed rotation and color before--"

"Changed rotation and color?  I've only seen that phenomenon......oh crap."

"Volt?"

"Something from the world that Sam Hain escaped into, escaped into yours?"

"Well, yeah!  How did you know?"

"Ghost, by any chance?"

"Yeah, real nasty one, too.  How did you know?"

"Juuuuust call it a hunch." I looked to the side. "Also he didn't come alone, did he?"

"Nope."

"Hey, Ray!  If that's our favorite fuzz-ball, tell him that we're charging for the overtime on this one."

"To pay of those parking tickets, Peter?  Tell me Ecto-1B is out of impound."

"I decline to comment."

"Tell Ectronymous to transform and move out.  We'll meet at the usual place.  Looks like we gotta go cross-world on this one.  Also, I'm having Violet pay the impound fee .  Have Winston pick up the car and drive to Central Park.  I'll have a gateway standing by as well as an explanation.  We're splitting up on this one.  Asriel and I will join Egon and Ray.  Bunnie and Violet are on the way to join up with you and Winston.

Don't do anything to screw this up or I'm totally blowing the whistle on you to your last date! I don't care if it does violate the wingman's code."

"You drive a hard bargain."

"Damn right I do."

And so...

"This is Asriel calling from Ectotron.  We're en route to the Brooklyn Bridge.  We're activating the gateway, now."

"Copy that, Asriel.  Peter and I reached Central Park.

"Your contacts will be reaching you, any time now.  Also can I PLEASE have your word you won't threaten legal action over trademark infringement.  That rule is going to be hard to hold up in court when dealing with other dimensions."

"Voooolt.  Is there something you want to share with me, you little knucklehead?"

"Um...no comment.  Volt and Asriel out!"

"You're going to have to tell him sooner or later." Egon deadpanned.

"I'll settle for at least half of you being cool with Alternate Universe professional paranormal investigators and eliminators.  You...might want to brace yourself for the difference in method and approach..."

I opened the gateway and we drove through to the other side.

"It looks just like New York...but...something doesn't quite feel right." Ray observed.

"It'll make sense eventually." Ectotron was getting a lot of expected attention and weird looks. I was starting to wonder if his robot mode would cause that much more of a public scene than his vehicle mode.

"Where are we off to?" Ray asked.

"To Ghost Command.  I had to make  request so we didn't spread our forces thin but...I had to ask the previous generation to help on this one while their sons meet up with Peter and Winston.  Honestly, they have more experience with dealing with Prime Evil than their fathers."

"And they need us here to contain Sam Hain."

"We better hurry.  Night's already starting to fall."

"At 3 in the afternoon?"

"Eternal Halloween.  Remember?"

"Right...I forgot he can make the nights longer." Ray rubbed the back of his head.

Meanwhile...

"Okay, we're here, Winston."

"This time I'm parking Ecto-1B.  So we don't get cited, towed, or another clamp on the wheel."

"Never gonna let me live that down, are you?"

"Not a chance."

"So where they at?  They were supposed to show up right--"

And the Time Turbo portal opened and out flew the Ghost Buggy.

"...hold that thought."

"Well there's something you don't see every day."

And the car came in for a landing and folded up its wings and such. Kong, Spencer, and Tracey disembarked.

"Peter.  Don't say it."

"Aw, come on.  There are too many monkey jokes to make here!  It's just begging for the old Venkman wit."

"Yeah, and the first time the big monkey takes offense at the old Venkman wit you can say goodbye to an arm.  You dig?"

"You're really getting to be no fun, lately, you know?

"Your funeral."

"If it is, at least the profit you make on catching me will pay the electric bill."

Jake and Eddie looked at each other for a moment before engaging.

"Jake Kong Jr. and Eddie Spencer Jr. at your service.  And this is Tracey."

Tracey muttered some gorilla ramblings along with a "How'dya do?". Or at least it sounded like it.

"What's up, guys?  Volt Arcade said you'd be joining us--"   Winston started before Peter cut in.

"Gentlemen, welcome to the Big Apple.  I'm Dr. Peter Venkman, chairman and member of the largest paranormal investigation and elimination service in the tri-state area."

"You mean the ONLY ones in the tri-state area..." Winston smoldered, crossing his arms.

"And this is Winston Zeddemore, another of my supporting staff."

"Supporting staff?!  Pete, we're gonna have words after this is all over."

"Why don't we discuss things at my office?  We'll have a sit-down, take in the sights and I can give you some pointers on how we do it in our town."

"Um, that'd be swell, Dr. Venkman." Eddie volunteered.

"And maybe we can get you up to speed on who's come to your world to make trouble." Jake got right to the point. "We've been chasing Prime Evil for a long time now and he's a real bad specter.

"We better get back to the firehouse and join up with Bunnie and Violet."

"Can't keep a couple of rabbit girls waiting, now, can we?"

"Uh...rabbit girls?"

"Maybe we should wait up for Egon and Ray to get back from their thing."

"Don't worry about it!  Your friends are in good hands with our dads!"

Meanwhile...

"Wow, this place is really something!  Check this TV out!  It's like a skeleton television.  It's a Skelevision."

"That's my name, bub.  Don't wear it out."

"And it talks!"

The telephone rang.

"Oh no!  Somebody answer that before--"  Spencer Sr. went for it but the phone hoped to the side as he dove, causing him to crash into the floor between the desk and the filing cabinet.

"You've reached the Ghost Busters!  They ain't in right now!  Lucky you!  Hahahahahah!"

"Hmmmm..." Egon swept the P.K.E. Meter over the ghastly phone. "Fascinating."

"Hey!  You find something interesting, four-eyes?  Scram!  You're in my personal space!"

Kong Senior snatched up the receiver, but by that point the caller had already hung up.

"I warned you about this, Ansa-Bone!" He snapped before slamming the receiver back down on the skull-shaped phone.

"Oww!  That smarts."

"Only kind of smarts he'll ever have." I muttered as Asriel sweat dropped.

"So this Sam Hain is the embodiment of Halloween itself."

"Correct.  According to old Celtic folklore, Sam Hain was a creature of eternal night whom no one could destroy."

"But he does have a weakness.  He hates light."

"Then we need to get the city lit up like Times Square."

"Likely he'll have already thought of that.  He's been known to utilize a barrier to block out the light.  I wouldn't put it past him to black out town."

"Whatever we do, we better hurry.  Night's dwindling away and it looks like time is slowing down as we speak." Ray looked at his watch.

"Don't worry.  I think we might have a secret weapon if push comes to shove." I looked it Asriel's direction.

I saw Egon crack a smile.

Asriel and I shared a knuckle-bump.

Kong and Spencer looked at each other with questionable looks. It appears Asriel never had a chance to show them his solar powers. And he had only grown stronger since we last met.

Back in RGB New York...

"Honey, we're home!  Break out the expensive crackers and cheese for our guests."

"Ooh-ooh!  Don't forget!" Tracey reminded.

"Yeah...and a bunch of bananas."

Janine took one look at the Ghost Buggy's passengers as it parked in the main garage while Ecto-1B parked in the auxiliary next door.

"I'm not paid enough for this, Dr. Venkman.  Is this a Ghost Removal Service or a zoo?"

"You're not still mad about Ral possessing the entire zoo and having possessed animals chase you down in Ecto-1 while you and Slimer played decoy--"

"You try staying calm when a giant gorilla rips the front door off with an army of animals closing in, seconds before the spell broke." Janine got in Peter's face, poking him the chest.

"Uh...if it's a bad time, we'll come back later." Eddie offered.

"Oh brother..." Tracey face-palmed.

"There's no time for that.  We have to prepare for Prime Evil!"

"Great.  Is it another spectral mass or does it have arms and legs?"

"We'll explain once Dr. Arcade's people get here--"

* BAMF*

"Whoaaah!  What an entrance!"

"Guess he wasn't kidding when he said they were rabbit girls."

"Heeeeey, girrrrrl!" Violet spread her arms for a big hug.

"Heeeeey, giiiiirrl!" Janine gladly got up and knelt down for the girl hug.

"Melnitz-san." Bunnie bowed.

"I could get used to that formal greeting.  Certain people could take a LESSON from you, Bunnie." Janine glared at Peter.

"What?"

"No time to waste.  The Commander is keeping us posted on the progress on Sam Hain.  What can you tell us about Prime Evil?" Bunnie asked.

And so one detailed explanation later.

"Usually you don't see that kind of behavior in a kitchen appliance--"

"Peter!" Winston snapped.

"Good one." Violet chuckled.

"So, do you have to work with against these guys?" Winston asked.

"Are you kidding?  We got state-of-the-art in backpack gear and gadgets!  Plus we got this little beauty!  Show em', Tracey!"

"Okie-dokey!" And out came the De-materializer.

"Uhh...what's that?" Peter eyed it warily.

"Do not judge by appearances."

"It's our go-to Ghost Busting tool!"

"Riiiiight." Peter mused, smugly until I elbowed him in the ribs. Too late though. Tracey still took offense.

"Ooh.  Wise guy, eh?" Tracey pushed his Indiana Jones hat forward over his brow, slightly and glowered down at Peter.

"Yeah, Tracey's right!  What makes your gear so great!"

"Peter, can you PLEASE not start anything with the hairy guy who can put you in a body cast?!" Winston warned.

It was about that time we got introduced to a stow-away aboard the Ghost Buggy.

"Yeah, nobody bad-mouths the Ghost Busters and gets away with it!"

"Now see what you've done, Peter?" Janine scolded.

"Hey, I'm just--"

"Venkman-hakase.  I strongly suggest you apologize for your words to Belfrey-san." backed away as she handed Violet a package of cotton balls.

"What?  What's this little guy going to do?" Venkman made the mistake of provoking Belfrey. And that was when the bat unleashed his dreaded sonic Belfrey Blast.

Bunnie and Violet held their ears as Peter went tumbling end over end over Janine's desk and the filing cabinet; sending him crash-landing into his office.

"For the record, I consider this among your top three, Pete.  Right up there after getting in a fight with a Hollywood director while you guys were brought on to supervise the making of the movie based on your battle with Gozer.  I have to agree with Egon.  I've NEVER seen a man do that to a guy's pants." Violet said grinning ear to ear.

"Laugh it up, carrot breath.." Peter wrinkled his nose.

"And that's why no one messes with--"

* SPLAAAT*

And suddenly Belfrey found himself stuck to the wall with a splatter of slime as a certain green ghost dive-bombed him before flying toward Peter.

"Ugh!  Yuck!"

"Saved by the spud...I think." Peter said with a deflated sneer.

Bunnie crossed her arms, bowed her head and closed her eyes, trying to keep her calm.

"Ancestors stay my hand."

And the arguing went back and forth until Janine put two fingers to her lips and got everyone's attention with a shrill whistle that probably would have cracked Egon's glasses had he been here.....which wouldn't have been the first time.

"That's better."

"I do hope the Commander is having better luck than we are."

Back at Ghost Command...

"...I know the torch has already been passed, but with our sons taking care of Prime Evil, we have to step up."

"Do we have to?" Spencer Sr. shied away a bit. Like father, like son it would seem.

"Don't worry, Mr. Spencer!  We'll be behind you all the way!" Asriel pushed him toward the transformation room where the Skele-vator was open and waiting.

"C'mon.  For old time sake?" I urged, raising my hand for a four-way high-five.

"This is more our sons' thing...but I suppose a Ghost Buster's gotta do what a Ghost Buster's gotta do.  We're in." Kong Sr. nodded

"Let's Go, GHOST BUSTERS!!!" All four of us jumped and high-fived while diving into the Skele-Vator. Jump-cutting ahead, we landed on the mattress that had been left in place of G.B.'s parking spot.

"Disturbances have been detected at the Statue of Liberty." I checked A.E.O.N.'s feed.

"Quick!  Where's G.B.'s predecessor?" I looked around for the older model Ghost Buggy hailing from the early 70's.

"He's...in the shop, isn't he?"

"No time, Volt.  We'll have to take him out for a spin."

"Him?"

And soon enough...

"...and I thought the G.B.'s were the only talking cars."

"It's complicated." Asriel and I said in unison. Sure enough we could see the clouds swirling around the Statue's Torch as the sky had quickly turned unnaturally dark and the lightning and thunder only added to it.

Also the blood moon that just happened to peak through the one patch in the sky where there were no clouds didn't help; considering it wasn't even a lunar cycle.

"Oh boy...this looks bad."

"Psychic disturbances are off the scale." I looked the P.K.E. Meter while Asriel watched the Giga Meter.

"One question.  Who's driving?!" Spencer asked.

"I am!" Ectotron answered.

"That puts my mind at ease....I think."

At the same time Winston, Peter, Bunnie, and Violet had teamed up with the F.G.B.'s to thin the heard where Prime Evil had managed to turn the Empire State Building into a Scare-scraper.

"Eat hot protons, you ectoplasmic slime ball!" Peter unleashed full neutronas, snaring Floatzart.

"Ach du Lieber!  Release me, dummkopf!"

"Nah!  Why don't you go fly a kite before you take a nice long rest in the containment unit."

"Better idea!  Why don't you BECOME a kite!" Floatzart waved his conductor's baton.

"Hey!!!" Peter found the force of gravity suddenly reversed.

"I gotcha P.V.!" Violet grabbed him by the proton pack and fired her jet burners up full blast.

"Buns, get him!"

"縛道の61 - 六杖光牢 (Bakudou no 61 -  Rikujoukourou!) "

"What?!  Oh no!"

"Arrrr!  Swim with the Barnacles, matey!" Long John Scarechrome came in to pick up the spare.

"Looks like you're shoving off with no shore leave!" Winston suddenly jumped down from the crow's nest of Scarechrome's ship.

"Blast!  How did ye' get the drop on me on me own ship?!"

"And a little ghost remover to send you back to the other dimension!" Jake followed up.

A ghost snare and a ghost gummer took out both Apparitia and Misteria.

"Now we're cooking!  They're dropping like flies.

Jake sniffed a bit. "Uh-oh.  My super sniffer definitely detects Prime Evil!  I'd know that smell anywhere!"

"We gotta wrap this up quick before the ghosts of our world decide they want a new Ghostmaster."

"Swell.  I bet Ray would be hot to trot over catching another class 11."

"At least one of us would be." Winston narrowed his eyes.

Elsewhere, we were up to our eyeballs in angry ghosts and demons.

"Azzy!  Late birthday present!  Catch!" I hurled the microchip.

"Just what I needed!" Asriel caught it, admiring the No-Ghost emblem before plugging it into the NX Switchboard and activating it.

"Alright!  My own Proton Pack!" He grinned as the NX Switchboard reconfigured itself into an updated version of my own proton pack with all the modifications.

"I was hoping you wouldn't get a look at these mods before their time, mentor, but the matter's become a little more pressing."

"Wow, paranormal activity always seem to bring us back to our old stomping grounds!  Seemed like just yesterday we were going back to the New York Public Library to finally trap Elenor Twitty!  And now here we are inside Lady Liberty once more."

"As much as I like reminiscing about containing the Grey Lady, I think we should focus on the task at hand, Ray."

We were trapping them in waves with the Ghost Buster dads attempting to back us up with a De-Materializer which actually proved effective after Egon made a few adjustments in order to send them to the Netherworld or Ghost World as Ray was recently calling it. Up top, Sam Hain was waiting for us.

"Alright, Sam Hain!  You've had your fun!  It's time to check back into the Containment Unit!"

And you would think that our separate stories were cut and dry enough to have a good chat afterward about what we'd been through. But chaos never takes a break. Even if it wasn't Adonis' doing, I just knew Madam Fate had a hand in this...because that was when both worlds suddenly pulled what I called the "Super Mario Bros. Movie" effect when the dimensions suddenly and without warning, started merging at the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.

"Huh.  Fancy meeting you guys here."

"What?  Egon, I don't believe it!  It's another Cross-rift!  This time between the dimension of the living worlds!"

"This is highly irregular, Ray.  And potentially dangerous."

"We have to reign in our respective ghost problems and seal off the dimensions.  Or things are gonna get freaky-deaky up in here!" I cautioned.

"W-w-well we can't use the De-Materializer on Prime Evil!  He's too strong!"

"And he resisted the Proton Strreams when we tried busting him with you guys."

"It's not much better on our end.  Sam Hain's shielded himself from my Taiyoudamas!  I can't get my solar energy anywhere near him!"

"Yeah, and his hordes of specters keep coming!" Ray ducked down behind cover with the rest of us as we all met in the center where the dimensional borders had dissolved and it was hard to distinguish where the statue ended and the skyscraper began and vice-versa. Both worlds were trying to overtake each other while fusing in the process. It was too much spectral activity.

"Maybe there's a way to solve both problems at the same time." Asriel suggested.

"How do we do that?" Eddie Spencer Jr. asked.

"Tracey, are you familiar with a total protonic reversal?" Egon couldn't believe he was asking a gorilla let alone believe he was the tech genius of the Ghost Busters.

A barrage of grunts and an okie-dokie seemed to indicate a solid yes.

We all huddled for a meeting.

"...I love this plan!  I'm excited to be a part of it!  Let's do it!" Peter's sarcasm was familiar but also sported that do-or-die willingness to go out in a blaze of glory I remembered from the battle with Gozer.

While Tracey tinkered with the De-Materializer, I helped Egon modify the Positron Colliders.

"Tell me we're not planning on doing what I think you're doing!" Winston complained.

"Why does it always end with us crossing the streams?!"

"Not to worry.  This time we have a new twist to add to this which may slightly increase our chances of survival. If we use the Dematerializers to siphon away the proton buildup as the particle flow reverses, we can channel the resulting total protonic reversal to function as pistons in cylinders; thus creating a negative space in between worlds to pull the dimensions apart as they try to expand toward opposing forces.Of course if anything goes wrong it may have catastrophic consequences on the dimensional stability, thus rending space and time asunder."

"W-w-what do you mean by that?"

"He means if you have any vacation time...take it now." Peter said, placing a hand on Eddie Spencer Jr.'s shoulder.

"If it's gotta be done, then let's make New York safe from these hauntings once and for all!" Jake Kong Jr. got into position.

"Alright.  Let's have a nice repeat of a recent strategy that worked before, Azzy!" I grinned as Asriel and I each targeted Sam Hain and Prime Evil at the same time.

"I got a lock on Skeletor in the Iron Mask." I mused.

"And I got the ugly brother of the angry, no sense-of-humor brother of the Rapping Pumpkin Monster from Angel Grove's past!"

We each fired a Slime Tether, nailing each of them and then fired the other ends to meet in the center, forming a super-tether. And once it constricted, it yanked both specters toward each other until they slammed together with a splat.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

"Grrrrrargh!  You dare to get in the way of nyaaaaargh PRIME EVIL?!?"

"Release me and end your prattle or I will make you suffer an endless torment of All Hallow's Eve that even my Little Ones dare not tread upon!"

"Do that and I'll make a new Bone-troller out of you!"

And while they argued we all focused both the De-Materializers and the Proton Streams on the event horizon between worlds as it attempted to widen and spread outward.

"It's time!  Cross the streams!"

"I hate this part!"

"You only live once!"

"And fire the De-Materializers at the worm-hole, 180 degrees apart!"

"And finally sweep them all in a rotation!  Like tightening a bolt with a quarter-wrench!"

We did so, pulling off the scientifically improbable. As the final touch, KOMMAND and Daimyou opened very specific space-time-dimension gateways.

Back at Ghostbusters HQ, Janine and Louis had followed Egon's instructions to the letter and opened the Containment Unit vortex like they had done before when Buster the Ghost invited the horde of ghosts into the Firehouse and upset the ethereal balance.

"Stand by to vent, Janine!  We got several coming your way!"

The cross rift that we now had under our control with KOMMAND and Daimyou manipulating their destinations funneled Sam Hain and his army of ghosts right into the Containment Vortex.

"When it gets to 100% capacity, vent!"

At the same time the other vortex was drawing Prime Evil and company right back to Hauntquarters some 100 years into the future.

"CURSE YOU, GYNAAAAAAGH GHOST BUSTERS!"

"I shall return!  Halloween will be foreveeeeeeeeeerrr!"

And with that our packs all ran out of power at that moment before reaching the dreaded critical mass to cause a nuclear explosion. The resulting backlash had made both dimensions stable with a normal portal leading between the two.

"Alright!  Let's gets home!"

"Music to my *sputter* ears!" Ghost Buggy complained as the Ghost Busters and Belfrey climbed in and hit the Time Turbo.

"Look us up if you're ever in our Big Apple again."

"If we have a ghost to bust that's too big for us to handle, we know who to call!"

"And we'll be ready to believe you!" Ray waved.

With the closing of the gateway...

"Well.  We still have time to make it back to Miranda City for a Halloween Night.  Anyone joining us?"

"We'll spring for the after-party pizza." I followed up Asriel's offer.

"Sounds good to us." Ray agreed.

And so we retired home.

Happy Halloween!

PLDN Chapter 35

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