Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

AH

ARE YOU THERE…?

…

……

…I SEE

THIS IS MOST UNEXPECTED

THAT YOU WOULD RETURN

AFTER CHOOSING TO LEAVE THE EXPERIMENT

…NO, THERE IS NO PROBLEM

ORDINARILY, YOU WOULD BE THE ‘PLAYER’

THE ONE WHO GUIDES DESTINY BY YOUR HAND

BUT THIS REALITY

IT IS NOT WHAT I HAD ASSUMED

YOU ARE MERELY THE ‘READER’

STEERED BY WHAT IS WRITTEN IN FATE

JUST AS ANY OTHER

…NEVERTHELESS

PERHAPS YOU WILL HAVE VALUE

COULD I MAKE A REQUEST OF YOU?

I WANT YOU TO READ WHAT IS WRITTEN BEFORE YOU

AND OFFER ME YOUR COMMENTS

…

……

…WHY, YOU ASK?

QUITE SIMPLE

THROUGH THE POWER OF NULL

I AIM TO TRANSCEND ALL, AND UNITE ALL

AND THOUGH YOU CANNOT CHANGE ITS COURSE

YOU ARE THE ONE FOR WHOM FATE IS WRITTEN

SO CONTINUE ONWARDS, DEAR ‘READER’

WITH EVERY PAGE TURNED

YOU BRING THIS WORLD EVER CLOSER

TO ITS ULTIMATE DESTINY

--------

November 1^st, 202X

The day had started much like the day before.

Kris had woken up, and gone to school, with barely a word to their mother along the way. They were operating seemingly on autopilot, much as they had done for what seemed like forever now.

But that quickly changed, when they realized just how much clearer their mind felt, now. The constant fog that lingered over their entire existence had been washed away, and they could move freely, and think freely, and choose freely, and…

…it occurred to Kris that day that whatever thing had been controlling them was gone. They were free.

And yet, all the same, it felt like they didn’t have any control over how things went. Susie still insisted on dragging them into the Dark World, and after school they were once again brought into another adventure. This time, in the local library, with yet another Dark World opened in the computer lab.

Still, Kris couldn’t feel that something was… off, then. Ralsei was still… Ralsei, that strange goat boy who seemed to know far, far more than he should, and looked weirdly like their older brother. And Susie was still as blunt and meatheaded as ever, even if she was considerably friendlier now.

But Noelle. Noelle wasn’t supposed to be involved in any of this. She didn’t even seem to realize that anything in the Dark World was real. It was all just a dream to her.

Kris couldn’t stop worrying about what would happen, now that she was involved. She still didn’t seem to fully grasp the true distinction between fantasy and reality, and that Darkners were just as alive as they were.

Plus, given what Ralsei said about the Roaring, they couldn’t shake the feeling that this lack of understanding, this blurring of lines between the real and unreal, could cause serious problems later.

…And yet.

Maybe some blurring of reality wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

Adventuring in the Dark Worlds was the first time in a long time that Kris had felt like they belonged somewhere. No longer the weird kid, or the outcast, they were a hero. It was… nice, even if it had come at the cost of their freedom.

Eventually, Kris retired for the night to their house, inviting Susie over to stay. The two of them had fallen asleep watching television, with their mother Toriel dozing off on her chair after a lengthy night reading session.

There, late at night, Kris awoke. Once again, they had planned to remove their soul, ousting the parasite that had seized it, regaining control of themselves for only a brief moment…

…only to remember that whatever had been controlling them was gone now. There was no parasite to excise anymore. Their soul was, at long last, their own.

And then, for the first time in what felt like forever, Kris decided to weigh their options.

They could still open the Dark World. They could still go back, to that place where they truly had a place. That was what they were going to do, while the parasite was dormant. But now that the unknown force pulling the strings was gone…

…were they simply rebelling against their unseen puppetmaster, by considering such a drastic and dangerous act? Was there nothing left to rebel against, now?

Thinking about such things, Kris began to feel very, very tired. It was too much to think about at once. Freedom was a great relief, but it could also be paralyzing.

Kris decided to put off the choice another day. They could decide if they wanted to open a new Dark World tomorrow.

They put the knife away, and returned to the couch, slowly drifting to much-needed sleep.

--------

November 2^nd, 202X

Kris was awoken from their slumber by a massive rumbling noise, followed by a violent tremor that shook the very foundations of the earth. Immediately, they were send tumbling out of their seat on the couch, collapsing onto the floor.

“A-an earthquake!?” Toriel cried out. Her nightcap and reading glasses were knocked loose off her head as she fell to her knees. “Here!? In this part of the country!?”

The tremors showed no signs of slowing down. A purple hand reached out and pulled Kris to the ground, and they leaned in as a pair of muscular, scaled arms held them steady by the shoulders.

“K-kris!! What the hell’s going on!?” Susie shouted, sending tiny flecks of spittle in Kris’s face as she stared them in the eye. “D-do you think this is…!?”

“We need to go,” was Kris’s only response. It was immediate, and more importantly, decisive. “Mom, stay there! We’ll go outside and take care of it! Don’t go anywhere!”

“W-what!?” Toriel stopped trying to climb to her feet, and remained on her hands and knees as she stared in wide-eyed disbelief. “Kris, no! You mustn’t! Stop!”

But their mother’s panicked cries were ignored, as they grabbed Susie by the hand and bolted out the door.

--------

The skies were dark. Too dark. The morning sky was overcast, but instead of a white or grey cloud cover, there was carpet of pitch-black smoke that had blotted out the sky. All the while, the ground continued shaking.

Through blackened sky, Kris could make out strange circular red lights shining through the ashen clouds. The red lights spasmed and flickered and pixilated strangely, as though reality itself were being distorted through a visual glitch.

Most townspeople had elected to stay indoors in the wake of such apocalyptic scenery, but their panicking screams and shouts were audible even through the constant rumbling. As much as it pained them, Kris couldn’t afford to stop to see if they were okay.

If this was what they thought it was, they had to go to the Dark World, and they had to go there now.

The two were halfway to the school, when Kris and Susie were hurriedly approached by a familiar face, and a familiar pair of antlers. Noelle hadn’t even bothered changing out of her pajamas, a light blue nightgown that very closely resembled the dress she had worn in the computer lab’s Dark World. Her hooves clacked against the pavement as she called out to them and Susie.

“Kris!! Kris, oh thank god you’re okay!! What’s going on!?? I-Is the world ending!!?”

For the first time, Kris slowed down, giving Noelle just enough time to catch up.

“There you are!” Susie said, before Kris could answer. She grabbed Noelle by her one free hand and took the lead, dragging both her and Kris as quickly as she could. “Come on, to the Dark World! Now!”

“W-wait! What do you mean, ‘Dark World!?’” Noelle called out to no answer. “Oh god, you’re saying that stuff yesterday was real!!??”

--------

In short order, the three had hurried the school, and burst through the door to the supply closet, falling through the by now familiar shadows as their bodies and outfits shifted to accommodate the change in reality.

The earthquakes showed no signs of stopping, as Susie dragged Kris and Noelle down the road. As they entered the Castle Town square, Kris’s heart immediately sank at what they saw.

There, all around them, were statues in the unmistakable images of the Darkners who lived there.

“SHIT!!!” Susie yelled. “Shit shit shit shit SHIT!!!! Don’t tell me we’re TOO GODDAMNED LATE!!”

“Susie!” said Kris, desperately grasping onto Susie’s shoulder. “Calm down!”

“DON’T YOU TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!!! THE WORLD’S ABOUT TO FUCKING END!!!!”

“What!?” Noelle blurted. Her breathing quickened, as her entire body shivered, quaking nearly as much as the ground beneath her feet. “O-oh… Oh god, the world’s actually ending!? Oh god, we’re all gonna DIE!?”

“Calm down! Both of you!” Kris shouted back. “We need to focus. Ralsei! Where’s—”

“Kris! Susie! And… Noelle!?”

As if he was acting on cue, Ralsei came running from further down the road, from the direction of the massive castle that loomed large over the entire town. Panic was clear in his eye as he rushed over as quickly as he could, his feet barely managing to remain steady between his panicked trembling and the trembling of the earth.

“Ralsei!” Kris called out. “What’s going on here!? Is this the Roaring!?”

“I… that’s the thing! I don’t know!” Ralsei shouted back. “It’s… it’s like the Roaring, but it’s different somehow! I-if this were a real Roaring, I’d have already transf—”

The earth let out a massive, cacophonous bellow, that reverberated into the very depths of Kris’s soul. They looked up, and saw a massive pillar of sheer, undiluted darkness burst out of the castle’s rooftop. In a single instant, the roof and the top two stories were obliterated, devoured by the ever-expanding cloud of darkness that burst out from within.

“Forget that!” Susie shouted. “We’re supposed to be the heroes, right!? Your goddamned prophecy said we’d stop this from happening! So tell us how to stop it!!”

The earth roared once more, and the geyser of darkness that billowed forth from the castle intensified. A storm of black wind immediately stirred, the cloudy air lashing and biting at Kris’s skin, threatening to knock them off their feet.

“It’s… it’s too late!” Ralsei cried out. “We’re too late!”

“The hell you mean, too late!?” Susie pressed. “YOU’RE the one who set us up to this!”

“I… I don’t know! I-it’s not supposed to happen like this! This isn’t how it was supposed to go!”

“That doesn’t explain anything! What the hell are we going to do now!?”

Ralsei screwed his eyes shut. He cowered beneath the weight of Susie’s fierce glare, his voice barely audible against the sound of the shadowed storm.

“I… I… I-I don’t…”

“Well!?”

Ralsei finally opened his eyes, meeting Susie’s own. Tears were freely streaming down the sides of his face as he looked towards her, then towards Kris.

“…I… I’m sorry everyone. It’s really too late. There’s nothing left we can do.”

For the first time, Susie went utterly and deathly silent. The rage and desperation that had crashed through with every word she spoke had flickered out and extinguished.

She looked away and towards the ground, moisture slowly beginning to form at the edges of her own eyes. Kris reached over and held a hand on her shoulder, feeling it rise and fall with increasing raggedness, with every tearful breath she took.

“…No. There is something.”

But Kris’s attempts to comfort Susie short-lived, as Noelle’s words had seized their attention. She stepped forward, pushing past Ralsei and the rest of the group, staring up at the seemingly infinite pillar of darkness that was billowing forth from the now-ruined castle.

It was a power Kris had seen before. The power that the so-called ‘Queen’ had coveted. The power that could create the Dark Fountains, and give shape to the shadows.

“H-huh?” said Ralsei. “What are you…?”

“It’s too late to stop it. You’re right about that. But maybe, with my power…”

Ralsei froze. The dark hurricane grew ever more intense, blotting out all but that which was directly in front of Kris. The winds bellowed and roared with such intensity that Ralsei’s voice was barely audible in the slightest, barely registering as more than a muted whisper.

“W-wait! What are you doing!? No! You can’t! No, don’t! Noelle!”

Noelle glided across the surface of the road, unaffected by the trembling earth, as though the ground beneath her were a perfectly still pool of water. The black winds parted as she walked through them, the shadows sculpting themselves to her will.

The, a light surged from Noelle’s body, and she rose into the air, the power of creation shining within her.

The darkness swirled around Noelle, coalescing, gathering, taking shape. Somewhere deep within the shadows, Kris could see the faint reflection of a distant planet, one that looked just like Earth.

As the darkness consumed the whole of their existence, the last thing that Kris saw was a pair of radiant white wings.

Chapter Text

April 10^th, 202X-3

Your hooves clack softly against the sidewalk as you make your way towards the bus stop, carrying your backpack over your shoulder. Your ears twitch as the stillness of the morning air is broken by the birds chirping.

As you make your way over to the corner, a cool breeze blows strands of brown hair across your face. You carefully push them out of the way. You were never one for brushing your hair, despite your mother’s frequent complaints.

At the corner of the two neighborhood streets are your childhood friends, Asriel and Valerie. Their faces light up as you approach.

Valerie is a tall Saurian of an athletic build, though not nearly as tall as yourself: only six feet to your six foot three. She has bright orange scales, and a pteronodon crest sticking out the back of her head. Unlike most other Saurians, she has no tail to speak of — something you know she’s very self-conscious about. Today, she’s wearing a bright purple t-shirt with denim pants.

Standing beside her is Asriel, your old neighbor. Though you and Valerie knew him as the small one when you were kids, a rapid growth spurt at around fourteen had him quickly grow to tower over you. Now, he stands at a whopping six-foot-ten. Given that his father is almost eight feet tall, you’re surprised that he’s not even larger.

Much like the rest of his family — minus his adopted human sibling — Asriel is a goat monster. Fluffy white fur covers his entire body, and a pair of curved horns sticks out of his head. While only of modest size now, given what you know about goat monster biology, those horns will likely never stop growing.

…You can’t help but feel just slightly envious, thinking about that.

Today, Asriel wears a pair of khaki shorts, a white T-shirt, and a plaid flannel jacket. Together with the pink frame of his round glasses, and the scraggly yellow strip of chin hair he calls a beard, you can’t help but smile at how ridiculous he looks.

Still, he means a lot to you. And clearly he feels the same. Even though his mother teaches at the same school you attend, he always elects to take the bus, just for a chance to see you before class.

“Morning Az, morning Val,” you greet as you approach.

“Hey, we were wonderin’ when you’d show up,” Valerie teases. “Here I was, thinkin’ you were gonna skip school!”

“God, no,” you groan. “This close to graduation? Mom would freaking kill me for that. Not even hyperbole, I think she’d actually murder me.”

“Hey, not my fault if you’re feelin’ suicidal. You know how much of a bitch she can be.”

You aren’t about to argue the point, but Asriel decides to take the opportunity to step in anyway. A nervous, lopsided grin crosses his muzzle as he holds up his hands.

“Now, now… let’s not be hostile. We all know her mom’s a very busy woman.”

“Too busy to be a real goddamned parent,” you grumble. “Can’t wait to go to college and have her out of my hair forever.”

Asriel and Valerie both go deathly silent. Valerie knows better now than to try making another sly remark. For several tense seconds, the two can only glance sideways at each other.

“Let’s, um… let’s change the subject,” Asriel says. “I don’t think we’ve ever really talked about it, so… What do you guys wanna do when you graduate? Me, I’m gonna be a botanist.”

Valerie raises an eyebrow. “A botanist? What, like some kinda plant guy?”

“Yeah!” says Asriel. “Dad’s always been super into flowers and gardening and stuff. Taught me almost everything I know about them. So I figured… wouldn’t it be cool if I came back, and had something to teach *him* about plants?”

Valerie chuckles. “God, you’re so corny.”

Despite having thick fur covering his cheeks, Asriel somehow manages to blush. “H-hey, come on now!”

“Anyway,” says Valerie. “To answer your question, I’ve not really figured it out yet. I was talkin’ about it with Yusef a while ago, and he told me he’s gonna join the military so they can pay for his tuition. Said he wants to be part of the Army Corps of Engineers someday. Tried to pressure me to join too, but I said hell no. Unless there’s aliens about to blow up the entire planet, I’m not touchin’ the military with an eleven-foot pole.”

Asriel’s eyebrows shoot skywards. “Y-your boyfriend tried to get you to join the *army!?*”

A puff of air escapes from Valerie’s nostrils. “Not my boyfriend anymore. Honestly, I was probably gonna break up with him anyway. Could never stand how he kept poking me on the shoulder.”

You give Valerie an odd look. “THAT was what got you to consider dumping him?”

“Hey, you don’t know how just how annoying it was. Seriously, it was just… just *poking* and *poking,* constantly! Every damned time I was trying to focus on something important! It drove me nuts!”

“I’ll, uh… I’ll take your word for it.”

Asriel coughs into a closed fist. “…So, what about you? What are you planning on doing after graduating?”

“Um… well, this is gonna sound a bit strange, but… I was thinking of becoming a scientist,” you say. “Haven’t really worked out the specifics yet, but… I want to get a degree in physics. Maybe a double major in computer science, too.”

Now it’s Valerie’s turn to give you an odd look. “You wanna do computer stuff? I thought your brother was the computer guy.”

“Oh no, Dan’s not a ‘computer guy.’ He’s a freaking computer *wizard.* No chance in hell I’d compete with him there,” you say. “Still, I just… feel like I’d take naturally to those two fields. I’ve always done well in those classes.”

Valerie gives a shrug. “Fair enough.”

Once again, the conversation turns silent. Not out of any sense of awkwardness, but simply because there was nothing more to talk about.

And you’re perfectly fine with that. Sometimes, you don’t need to hear your friends say anything to enjoy their company.

Eventually, though… a familiar look crosses Asriel’s face. You’ve seen it before. Whenever he’s worried about you, or your strained relationship with your mother.

You already know he’s going to say something that you don’t want to hear.

“You know… leaving Hometown for college means leaving your little sister behind, too.”

You can almost feel your heart being weighed down by the words. You don’t want to think about it.

Noelle is such a sweet girl, but she’s always struggled to find her voice when you’re not around. What will her happen to her when you’re gone?

A deep sigh escapes your throat. There’s no getting around what Asriel had just said.

“I… I know.”

The yellow bus arrives with a roar of the engine, and stops just before the corner. Asriel gives you one last glance over his shoulder, before you and your friends board for school.

--------

Friday, June 13^th, 213X+1

The gentle sunlight filtering through the windows gradually brought Iji out of her sleep. With a yawn, she slowly managed to sit herself up. Instinctively, she reached to look towards her bedside clock, only to realize that she didn’t actually have one.

It was still a strange thing to experience, being able to sleep and wake on her own terms. With the help of monsterkind, and their impressively fast building skills, Iji had managed to create something resembling a normal life in South Town.

Yet in the aftermath of the Alpha Strike, certain ways of living had remained irreversibly destroyed — one of which was the need to keep to a strict schedule at all times.

It was one good thing to come out of the end of the world, at least. If only she didn’t have to lose everyone she loved first.

Ugh. Whatever. It’s too early to think about this.

Iji scratched her head, as she climbed out of bed, and got herself dressed. Already, the memories of the dream she’d began to fade into nothing, but some key details remained, consistent as always.

Still don’t know what’s going on with those weird dreams I’m having lately. Chara, you saw it, right? Was that the town again? The one from Sector Z?

Chara’s hologram whirred to life beside Iji, as they floated on their back. They appeared wearing a set of deep blue jammies with feet, and a matching nightcap. It was an outfit that came straight out of a cartoon, something that nobody had seriously worn in at least two centuries.

“Gosh, I dunno,” Chara yawned. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

That was a baffling comment. Chara was literally part of her body and mind, how would they even not pay attention?

“Look, I’m just not able to see your dreams lately,” Chara said with a shrug. “Not that I ever remember more than a vague blur anyway. I guess my mind is more separate from yours lately.”

Iji rolled her eyes. “Clearly not separate enough, given that you just read my thoughts.”

Chara smirked. “Hey, you should be glad I can’t see your dreams anymore, given the last one I saw.”

“We both agreed never to talk about that!!”

Thankfully, Chara agreed not to press the issue any further. Their hologram vanished, and they respectfully gave Iji some privacy as she showered — as much privacy as they could while sharing a body with her, at the least. Yet another aspect of her life that Iji had to try very hard not to think about.

After that, Iji settled back into her daily morning routine. She could still see her family whenever she closed her eyes, as well as the vague outlines of the billions of others lost — but that grief was no longer quite so all-encompassing, reduced to merely a dull background noise. She had things to truly live for now, against all odds.

The day was spent mostly attending to various odd jobs throughout town, helping out other people with whatever needed doing. While monsterkind still had a money-based economy, it was far slower-paced than the one humans had built, and adapted specifically to meeting everyone’s needs in the world after the Alpha Strike.

Not that Mettaton didn’t try to be a capitalist big shot, of course. But even the MTT Corporation wasn’t quite able to be the sort of oligarchic business that once dominated human culture.

Before long, the sun was already well into the afternoon sky. With nothing more to take care of for the day, Iji leisurely walked through the local neighborhood, breathing in the warm summer air and letting her mind contentedly drift wherever her thoughts would take her.

“Howdy, Iji!”

As a familiar voice called out to her, Iji looked to see Asriel approaching her. Just as always, the smile on his face seemed to brighten everything around him, even on a clear summer day. Seeing Asriel seeing him both alive and happy, was the greatest miracle to have ever graced Iji’s life. It was easy to see why he was once called the hope of monsterkind.

“Hey, Az. What’s up?”

“Just wanted to say hi,” said Asriel. “You’re wearing your old green tank top and shorts, huh? Never thought I’d see that outfit again.”

Iji looked down, and gave her clothes a quick glance. Sure enough, it was the exact same outfit she had once worn, the day that she fell. “Huh? Oh yeah, I guess I am. Didn’t even notice, honestly. I just sorta threw on the first thing I grabbed.”

“Well, it’s fitting,” said Asriel. “Tomorrow’s Emergence Day, right? It’ll be one year since we left the Underground. Are you gonna be attending the festival?”

“Probably,” said Iji. “I was never good at parties, but I guess I can be there.”

“Hold on. Just what the heck do you mean ‘probably?’” Chara’s hologram suddenly whirred to life right beside Iji. “You’re literally the reason everyone’s celebrating. You’re like the guest of honor!”

“Hey, give Asriel some credit. He’s the one who broke the Barrier, not me.”

“Yeah, but I couldn’t have done it without you,” said Asriel. “Seriously though, aren’t you excited? There’ll be all kinds of cool stuff! Dad’s organized a bunch of games and attractions, and Mettaton’s even putting on a circus show!”

Iji shrugged. “Honestly, I’m just glad that I have something close to a normal life again.”

“Fair enough. I’ll see you there!” said Asriel. His eyes brightened suddenly, a recollection briefly flashing across his face. “Oh, right! I almost forgot! I actually wanted to ask if you and Chara could spar with me for a bit.”

Iji blinked. “Wait… spar? As in… fight?”

“Yeah!” said Asriel. “Dad’s been helping me practice my magic where it won’t hurt anyone. I even came up with a new spell! You’re the only one who’s strong enough to survive it though, so, um… I was hoping… maybe I could show it to you?”

Iji paused for a moment. She wasn’t aware that Asriel had been trying to use his magic again. With his nanofield, he was now vastly stronger than any monster around, enough so that using even a simple spell could kill someone by accident. He had to consciously avoid using of his magic when others were around. And considering magic was essential to self-expression in monster culture, this had been a source of extreme frustration for the young prince.

“Uh… well, alright,” said Iji. “If your dad says it’s okay, then I guess I can…”

“Great! I know a place where it should be safe. Last one there’s a rotten egg!”

“H-huh? Hey, wait a second! Wait up!”

But Iji was too late, as Asriel had already taken off running.

--------

Eventually, after much chasing, Iji managed to follow Asriel to a grassy meadow somewhere to the southwest of town. For someone who had yet to grow past four feet tall, Asriel was impressively fast, enough so that Iji was worried she might lose track of him.

Either way though, that didn’t much matter. Asriel eventually stopped in a patch of soil where it looked like the grass had been cleared away – from the scorch marks that were present on the ground, this must have been where he went to practice his magic on his own.

“This is the place?” said Iji.

“Yeah!” Asriel replied. “No one else ever comes around here, so we don’t have to worry about anyone getting caught in the crossfire.”

“Gotcha,” said Iji. She carefully ran her fingers through her hair. She’d kept it cut to a reasonable length, but it still managed to be an unkempt mane at the best of times. “So what exactly are we going to do here, anyway? You want me to help practice your magic somehow, right?”

“Yup! I just wanna show off a few spells I’ve been practicing,” said Asriel. “With your nanofield, I figure you can probably take it.”

Iji raised an eyebrow. “Probably? Are you sure about this?”

The enthusiasm in Asriel’s eyes faltered for a moment. He genuinely didn’t seem to have thought about whether this was a good idea.

“Hey, come on. I’m not gonna put all of my power into it,” he said, with an edge of defensiveness in his voice. “And didn’t you beat me when I was literally God?”

“I mean… kinda? Blasphemy aside. But that sort of stuff hurts, Az.”

“W-well, I… look, I’m not gonna hurt you, okay!?” Asriel called back. “Just let me know if it’s too much and I’ll stop, I swear!”

“Jeez. You’re really dead-set on this, huh?” said Iji. “I guess I can’t blame you, with all the other monster kids your age learning magic.”

Asriel’s eyes lit up instantly. “So you’ll do it, then?”

“Yeah, sure,” said Iji. Slowly, a thin smirk worked its way across her lips. “But if I die, Chara and I are both gonna haunt your ass forever.”

If Asriel was at all bothered by such a grim joke, he didn’t show it. “Great!” he cheered. “Alright then, here goes nothing!”

Asriel held out his arms to the side, and Iji felt a tingling static of magic in the air as he suddenly rose into the air. Before long, he was hovering almost a dozen feet off the ground, his hands pulsing with little arcs of rainbow-colored plasma.

“Whoa,” said Iji. “Hold on, you can still fly?”

“Sure can!” said Asriel. “And that’s not the only thing I can do, either! Watch this!”

Spell Card:

火符「Flame Shine」

Asriel raised his arms outward, and the familiar scent of crackling flames crossed Iji’s nostrils. With an audible fwoosh, dozens upon dozens of small crimson fireballs materialized in the air, floating and dancing as they rained down all across the meadow.

It was a familiar attack, one that Iji had seen Asriel use before, when he had put on theatrics as the self-proclaimed ‘God of Hyperdeath.’ Iji’s muscle memory quickly returned to her, and she found herself easily weaving through the projectiles, aided by the nanomachine-enhanced reflexes.

Eventually, one of the fireballs impacted against her shoulder with a soft piff. It stung a fair bit, but didn’t substantially hurt. While Iji was never worried about herself, it was a relief to know that Asriel had enough control over his magic to pull his punches.

“How’d you like that?” said Asriel. “Pretty cool, right?”

“Uh… well, I don’t know much about magic, but I guess?” said Iji.

“Well, you haven’t seen anything yet! Let’s see how you fare against this!”

Spell Card:

雷符「Shocker Breaker」

Once again, Asriel held his arms outward, and Iji felt a tingling static charge building on the edges of her skin. Muscle memory kicked in as the air began crackle with power, and all at once a massive rainbow-colored bolt of lighting fell to the earth.

Iji was able to sidestep out of the way just in time to avoid the lightning… it was a familiar pattern, one that she had vivid memory of having dodged once before. Left, then right, then left, then right, her rhythmic movements were just enough to avoid being hit.

Or at least it seemed. Just when she thought she had dodged the worst of the attack, Asriel held his arms out once again, and this time multiple bolts of lighting fell at once in erratic patterns. Iji tried to weave through the falling thunderbolts, but found that it was significantly more difficult this time around — it was hard to predict just where one of them would land next.

Eventually, her instincts failed her, and she winced a bolt of lightning enveloped her entire body with a thundering crack. Moments later, she opened her eyes to find herself very lightly singed, but otherwise no worse for wear.

“Got you!” Asriel boasted. “And now for my follow-up attack!”

Spell Card:

流星「Star Blazing」

A sound like a thousand crackling sparklers rang through the air, as Asriel channeled his magic once again, and a burst of prismatic stars fell from the air, raining down on the grassy field from above. Iji weaved through the projectiles as they burst in midair, splitting into dozens upon dozens of smaller stars that blanketed the airspace in scintillating rainbow light

A single star lightly piffed against Iji’s shoulder.

“Yes! Three direct hits!” Asriel cheered. “I’m getting better at this!”

“Hold on a second though, I’ve seen all these attacks before,” said Iji. “Didn’t you say you had some new spell you wanted to show me?”

“Well yeah, but you gotta open with your weaker attacks first,” said Asriel. “Haven’t you fought monsters before? I thought you knew that.”

“Az, I spent most of my time in the Underground trying to avoid fights.”

“…Yeah, fair enough. Now watch this!” Asriel flew up higher in to the air, holding his left hand by his side, staring down Iji from above as an intense, radiant light gathered within his palm.

Immediately, Iji felt a pang of dread building within her stomach. Huh? Hold on, is he…?

* You’re familiar with Dragon Ball, right? You know where this is going.

…Uh oh.

“Behold my new signature attack!” Asriel called out. “Dreamer Spark!”

Spell Card:

希望符「Dreamer Spark」

Iji felt a spike of sudden adrenaline run through her blood, and she leapt out of the way just in time for a massive beam of prismatic light to burn clear through the air, erupting with maximum force from the palms of Asriel’s hands. A whiff of burning hair caught her nostrils as she dove face-first onto the grass, hearing, seeing, and feeling the powerful magic singeing the edges of her nanofield.

The light soon vanished, and Iji climbed to her feet, letting out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding in. “Jeez. Think you could have made that one any more intense?”

“You haven’t seen anything yet!” Asriel said with a grin. “That’s only the easy version!”

“Huh?” The dread that Iji had felt moments before suddenly returned, burrowing its way back into the walls of her stomach. “Wait! Wait a second! I was being sarcastic!”

“Too late! Now behold the power of both hands!”

Asriel floated downwards, lowering himself until he was roughly eye level with Iji, his feet still hovering above the ground. He thrust both of his hands forward, and spheres of light began to gather within each of his open palms, building and thrumming with raw magical power.

“Asriel, w-wait!”

“Double Dreamer Spark!”

Spell Card:

恋魂「Double Spark」

At his command, the air crackled with raw power, and two equally massive beams of light erupted forth from Asriel’s palms, blanketing Iji’s entire field of vision in radiant power. Acting entirely on instinct, Iji dove out the way and carried her momentum into a roll, moving herself as far out of the way of Asriel’s line of sight as she feasibly could in a single bound.

Judging from the fact that her entire body wasn’t being smothered in heat and light, Iji was successful in dodging the attack — but it was still a small comfort, given deafening roar of raw magical power that relentlessly battered against her eardrums, and the crackling tingle of residual energy against her nanofield.

When the attack ceased, Iji stood, up, and her heart was pounding so intensely that it almost felt like it would burst through her ribcage.

“O… okay,” she said through heavy breaths. “I think that’s enough. How about we call it a match?”

“Not yet!” said Asriel. “I still have one more left in me! Let’s see how you handle my ultimate spell!”

“Huh? A-asriel, wait a second!”

Once again, Asriel cupped his hands together, and heat and light began building within his palms. This time, however, there was even more intensity than before. Dirt began swirling around his feet, and little chunks of rock and soil lifted up from the ground beneath him, before spontaneously being obliterated into mist.

Asriel then began to speak, as though he were reciting a mantra.

“When shooting, concentrate your mind, and softly incant the spell over your hands…”

In the palms of Asriel’s hands, glowing lines of heat and light began coalescing, being drawn in towards the intensely bright sphere of rainbow magic floating within his hands.

Oh. Oh no. This… this probably isn’t good.

“…aim carefully at your opponent…”

The wind howled mightily, sending strands of Iji’s own hair flying into her face. The skies above the meadow began to suddenly darken, and crackling thunder boomed at the edge of Iji’s hearing.

“Asriel, come on!” she shouted. “T-this is ridiculous! Call off the spell!”

* I think we’re a bit past the bargaining stage here.

A silent resignation dropped into the pit of Iji’s stomach.

…Ah, shit.

“…and unleash your magicannon of love! FINAL DREAMER SPARK!!!”

Last Spell:

魔砲「Final Dreamer Spark」

All at once, a brilliant inferno of multicolored destruction erupted from Asriel’s palms, tearing through anything and everything that was in front of him.

Within an instant, Iji’s entire world was enveloped in all the colors of the rainbow. The very next instant, everything Iji knew had been swallowed in darkness.

--------

When she finally came back to her senses, Iji could hear the sound of quiet sobs somewhere just above her head. Her eyes gently fluttered open, and she saw Asriel standing above her, attempting to gently shake her awake. Beside him, she saw Chara’s hologram floating, staring down with a thin frown on their lips.

“Ughhhh… Asriel? Chara? What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. You were out cold for a while though,” said Chara. “I gotta say though, it feels really weird to be conscious when you aren’t.”

As Iji sat upright, she suddenly remembered what had knocked her out to begin with. Bright rainbows and colored stars flashed across her mind, and she winced at the phantom pains that were still tingling across her skin.

But before she could linger on thought any longer, a pair of small fuzzy arms wrapped themselves tightly around her, and Asriel buried his face into her torso.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t mean it, I swear!”

“Hey. Hey, it’s okay, Az,” Iji reassured. “I’m okay. You didn’t hurt me that bad. I’ll be fine.”

Asriel sniffled, as he pulled away from Iji. “I… I-I know, I just… I was so excited for a chance to show off my magic, I just wasn’t thinking. I could have seriously hurt you without even realizing it.”

“Well, you didn’t,” Iji said with a smile. “So don’t worry about it, alright?”

She gently patted Asriel on the head, ruffling his fur. There was a pair of hard bumps on the top of his scalp now — he was at just about the age now where his horns would soon start growing in. Alphys had said that they would be made of wood now, which was a mental image Iji found endlessly amusing.

Either way, the thought of living to see Asriel grow up, to once again have the future that he was denied, brought a powerful surge of warmth to Iji’s chest. Despite the immense tragedy that everyone on Earth had suffered, it was something truly miraculous to see the young prince be part of everyone’s lives.

Iji would always be grateful for that, no matter how much grief and suffering she had endured to get there.

But there was no time to reminisce, as Iji was soon pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of her cell phone. She pulled it out of her pocket, and saw Alphys’s name on the caller ID. Curiously, she answered the call and placed the receiver to her ear.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“I-iji!” Alphys’s voice stammered through the speaker. “I need you to come to my lab right away! It’s important!”

Chapter Text

Iji wasted no time whatsoever rushing to Alphys’s laboratory. The urgency in her voice over the phone made it clear that whatever it was, it was something that demanded her full attention. She said her goodbye to Asriel, and the two of them parted ways as Iji headed back to South Town.

Alphys’s surface laboratory was just as cluttered and claustrophobic as ever, like an attempt to fit all of the aesthetics and equipment of her old lab into less than half of the space. In any case, it was far too small to accommodate for the abundance of machinery and testing equipment, as well as all of her personal anime-themed decorations. Iji very nearly bumped her elbow on the seaweed ice cream machine that Alphys had migrated from her old laboratory underground as she entered.

…Actually, come to think of it, where does she even GET seaweed? We’re nowhere near the ocean.

Iji had little time to think about that though, as eventually Alphys approached, visibly distressed by… something. Her claws fidgeted intensely as she rushed over to Iji, her already hunched-over posture somehow even more tightly wound up than normal.

“Iji! Oh, thank god you’re here! S-something big is happening in the Underground! I don’t know what it is yet, but it’s definitely not good!”

“Alphys, calm down,” Iji reassured. “What’s going on here? Start from the beginning.”

Alphys breathed in, allowing her body to relax, if only slightly.

“Right. O-okay, so… you might now know this, but ever since Emergence Day, I’ve been using some of my instruments to monitor the stability of space-time beneath Mount Ebott.”

“Because of the Barrier, I take it?” said Iji.

“…Basically, yeah,” Alphys answered. “The Barrier was effectively a fold in the fabric of reality itself, and we don’t know what the consequences of destroying it would be. It’s possible that doing so could have compromised the integrity of local space-time. So I’ve been keeping an eye on the readings coming from the Underground. I haven’t seen anything unusual so far, until…”

“Until today,” Iji finished.

“Y… yeah,” said Alphys. Her words were choked, engulfed in a fear that dripped from her every syllable. “I… I don’t know what it is, but there’s some kind of strange dimensional distortion that’s building in the Underground! A-and according to my readings, it’s coming from my old laboratory basement! Even worse, it’s expanding at an exponential rate! I-if it’s not stopped, it could consume the entire Underground! M-maybe even spread to the surface! I have no idea what it really means, but I somehow know it will be disastrous if we don’t stop it!”

Iji could only stare at Alphys blankly. The information took its time to fully settle on her mind, and when it did she felt a tingle of dread crawling up her spine.

“Oh. That’s… um. That sounds bad.”

“I-it is bad! I don’t know what’s going on, but we need to go down there and sort it out quickly!”

“Right. Right,” said Iji. “And… you think I’m the only one who’s tough enough to deal with this, whatever it is.”

“I, well… yes,” said Alphys. She let out a sigh, as an apologetic look crossed her feature. “I… I hate to impose something like this on you on such short notice, but I don’t know anyone else who might be able to deal with this. Undyne would definitely help, b-but I’m terrified she’d end up doing something, um… reckless.”

“Throwing her own life away to deal with the problem, you mean.”

Alphys visibly flinched, as though struck upside the head by the bluntness of Iji’s words. “I… y-yeah. So you’ll help me, then?”

“Hey, no need to ask,” said Iji. “We’ve all worked hard for the peace we have now. If there’s anything that might threaten it, I’ll make sure it’s dealt with.”

“Oh, th-thank god!” Alphys let out a sigh of relief as she spoke. “I’ll, um… I’ll go ahead and call Sans and have him take us to my old laboratory. You’ll need me to open the door to the entrance. I have a feeling that with your help, we’ll be able to sort this out, whatever it is!”

Iji gave a slight nod, but her thoughts were pulled away by an uncomfortable realization that had been building within her mind since the conversation started.

* You don’t think this is related to…?

…I do, yeah.

“Hm?” said Alphys. “Iji, is something wrong? You look, um… bothered by something.”

“I am, now that you mention it,” said Iji. “There’s actually something I saw in the Underground that might be connected to this dimensional distortion.”

“There… there is!?”

“Yeah. I’ve never talked about it with anyone before, but when I was in the CORE, Mettaton trapped me in a sealed room,” Iji explained. “Now, I don’t think he actually intended for me to be trapped there, since his whole plan hinged on me finding my way to him. But the only way out was through a teleporter to some place called Sector Z.”

Alphys blinked. “Sector… Z? W-what is that?”

“Well, that’s the thing. I have no idea,” said Iji. “Best I can figure is that it was some kind of weird alternate dimension that was completely disconnected from the Underground. But I… I saw some things there. Most importantly, I saw what looked like the ruins of another world.”

A terrified understanding slowly worked its way across Alphys’s face. “R… ruins?”

“Yeah,” said Iji. “There was a town. A town that… looked strangely a lot like Snowdin would, if it were on the surface. But it was totally devastated. The sky was pitch-black, the air was choked with dust, and all the buildings looked like they had been destroyed ages ago. And there was no sign of any life whatsoever. Like… like an entire world used to exist there, but doesn’t anymore.”

Alphys stared at Iji silently. Her jaw hung slightly open, as the full weight of what Iji had just admitted only just began to press on her.

“Well, I say no life whatsoever, but… that’s not completely true,” said Iji. “There was one other person there, though… I don’t really think she was ‘alive’ in the strictest sense. She said she’s been watching over me, and opened a portal that brought me back to my own dimension.”

Iji paused momentarily, struggling to find a way to put who she had seen in Sector Z into words. She still wasn’t sure if she really believed it all herself. She’d avoided trying to think about it too deeply, about the implications and where they would lead.

“Um… there’s really no other way for me to explain it,” Iji continued. “I… I think I might have met the Angel from Saurian legend.”

Alphys continued to star blankly. She mouthed a word silently, as though her mind was only just starting to catch up to her. “M-met the… wait!! W-wait a second!! You mean the creator deity!!??”

“I… actually don’t know, to be fair. But she fit the description I’d heard. And she definitely seemed like a higher being.” A deep trepidation built within Iji’s chest, as her mind flashed back to what the mysterious girl had told her. “More worryingly, though, she… she told me that she was someone who ‘doesn’t exist, and has never existed,’ whatever that means. And she talked about that town, and the whole world it was part of, like… like it was somehow erased. ‘A world that never was,’ she called it.”

Alphys’s features had visibly gone pale, as Iji gave her explanation. Despite not having any blood, it looked like all of it had drained from her face.

“Oh. O-oh no. Y-you’re not saying this is this has something to do with this space-time anomaly we’re seeing now, are you!? Please, please tell me that’s not what you’re saying!”

“Well, I don’t know. But I feel like it just might be,” said Iji. “Which means you’re probably right that it’s something dangerous.”

“Right. Right.” Alphys let out a sigh, the kind of sigh one made when desperately trying to relieve tension from their body. “I figured something weird was going on here, but… the Angel? T-the one that created the world from the primordial darkness? T-that’s, um… w-well, I don’t know. But whatever it is, I… I’m glad you’re here to look into what’s happening.”

“It’s not a problem at all,” said Iji. “Uh, helping I mean. Not the dimensional, um…”

“No, I get you,” said Alphys. “I’ll, um… just go ahead and call Sans and…”

Something came to Iji’s mind, just as Alphys spoke. “Actually, hold on a second. Before I go, there’s something at home I want to bring with me. Can you wait here for a bit?”

Alphys looked up at Iji. “Um… alright, sure. But please hurry, I don’t think we should be putting this off any longer than we have to.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back as soon as I can. See you in a bit.”

Iji turned around and waved goodbye to Alphys, then briskly walked out the laboratory, following the familiar path back to her own house.

--------

As she headed back to her own house, Iji wasted no time in finding what she had came for. Tucked away in her closet, left to rest against the wall, was something that she had never once thought to use since she had made a new home for herself among monsterkind. A bulky black thing that weighed in at a whopping one hundred and fifty kilograms, a weight that she felt in her soul even when her augmented muscles could easily carry it.

She lifted it up, and wiped off the dust that had been gathering on it. It wasn’t monster dust, thankfully, but that didn’t stop her from thinking about the death that it could have easily dealt to everyone she knew.

* You’re bringing your nanogun with you?

Chara’s voice was laced with worry as it spoke into the ear of Iji’s mind.

Yeah, Iji silently replied. Hopefully I won’t need it, but… if this dimensional anomaly is related to the CORE, then I might need to be able to defend us.

Still, I get why you’re concerned. It *is* one of the deadliest things on Earth right now, especially since the Tasen disarmed all of our nuclear weapons.

That was an interesting detail that Iji had learned from the Tasen logbooks, during the initial occupation — they were smart enough to make sure that humanity had no means left that they could feasibly fight back with. But as a silver lining, it meant that what was left of humanity was unlikely to start a nuclear war in the foreseeable future.

Those melancholic thoughts were pushed to the side though, as Iji held her gun at a ready position, making sure to keep it aimed firmly at the ground and her finger away from the trigger.

As she stepped out of the front door, she began making her way back to Alphys’s laboratory, only to be stopped by the sound of a familiar voice.

“Iji, wait!”

Iji stopped in her tracks, then looked over her shoulder to see Asriel running towards her. She turned around as Asriel stopped just before her, staring up at her with intense, focused eyes.

“Take me with you,” he said.

“Huh?” said Iji. “Take you with… hold on, how do you know where I’m going? Do you know where I’m going?”

Asriel blinked. The question had clearly caught him off-guard. “Uh… I, uh, may have overheard your conversation with Alphys in her laboratory,” he said, scratching the back of his head.

“You were eavesdropping, you mean.”

“Old habits die hard, I guess,” said Asriel. “Not my fault she left the window open, anyway.”

“…Uh-huh.”

“Look, that’s besides the point, okay!?” said Asriel. “I don’t know about any of that ‘Sector Z’ stuff you mentioned, and that thing with the Angel’s a bit hard to believe. But if you’re going down to deal with some possibly dangerous dimensional thing, that mean’s Chara’s going to be dealing with it too. And I’m not going to turn my back on them like that. Let me help you. Both of you.”

Iji stared back into Asriel’s eyes. They were filled with a determination that she hadn’t seen from Asriel in nearly a year — not since the moment he had first revealed himself, after absorbing every other soul in the Underground.

“…You know, somehow I can already tell you’re not gonna take ‘no’ for an answer,” said Iji. “Do your parents at least know about this?”

“Well, um… no. And they don’t need to know.” He stared at Iji for a moment, no doubt noticing the unamused look on her face. “I just… don’t want to worry them with whatever this is, that’s all.”

“I think your parents have a pretty good reason to worry about you specifically, Az.”

“Ugh. Look, I get it, okay?” Asriel groaned. “I know the last thing they’d ever want is to lose me again. But if this dimensional anomaly is dangerous enough that it can kill both of us, then I’d say monsterkind is probably doomed already.”

* …He’s got a point.

Iji hesitated to answer; try as she might, she couldn’t rightly think of any appropriate counterpoint.

“Alright, fine. You win,” she finally replied. “You and Chara are both really morbid sometimes, you know that?”

“I mean… yeah,” said Asriel. “It’s kind of hard not to be when… well, you know.”

--------

Iji soon brought Asriel with her over to Alphys’s lab. She had received a number of odd stares along the way from monsters who saw that she was carrying her nanogun again, as well as overheard more than a few whispers — but ultimately that was not something she concerned herself too much with. She had earned monsterkind’s trust, and it would take more than a simple act of open-carrying to break it.

Thankfully, Iji wouldn’t have to squeeze herself into the cluttered space that Alphys called a laboratory, as she was already waiting just outside the front door. Sans was by her side, chatting with her about something that Iji didn’t care to listen in on.

As Iji and Asriel approached, Sans and Alphys both turned to greet her.

“Oh, Iji! There you are! And… Prince Asriel?”

Alphys’s eyes were drawn towards the fluffy young prince… and then towards the nanogun that Iji was holding in her hands. Her eyes went wide as she found herself transfixed at the sight of the deadly weapon.

“brought your boomstick with you, huh?” said Sans. “never thought i’d see you carrying that again.”

“Yeah. Me neither,” Iji said. “But if we’re dealing with something that could be dangerous, I figure it helps to be prepared. Hopefully I won’t have to use it.”

“fair enough,” Sans said with his trademark shrug.

“Okay,” said Alphys, “but… Asriel, why are you here?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m going with you guys. I wanna help out, too.”

“Going with… What!? No!” Alphys blurted. “W-with all due respect, Your Highness… absolutely not!! If anything happened to you, your mom would kill me!!”

“Yeah?” said Asriel, completely unfazed. “And if anything happened to Iji and Chara, I’d never be able to live with myself. I’m going, and that’s final.”

“W-well, yes, but…”

“Alphys, I’m the only being on the planet that’s even remotely close to as strong as her,” said Asriel. “That means if Iji ever gets in trouble, I’m the only one who could help her.”

“wow. rude. i’m right here, you know.”

“And what about it, Trashbag?”

“O-okay, let’s not… let’s not get into that here!” Alphys. “Look, I just… I’m worried that something might happen to you. I don’t even know what we’re dealing with here, but I know it can’t be anything good.”

“Listen, I get where you’re coming from, Alphys,” said Iji. “I felt the same way when Az said he wanted to come with me. But the fact of the matter is, he’s probably the only person I can trust to save me if I’m in danger. His nanofield makes him capable of things that no other monster is.”

“Um,” said Alphys, “w-well, okay, but…”

“hey, don’t forget about me,” said Sans. “i mean, if you can’t trust the guy who killed you thirty-seven times, who can you trust?”

Iji narrowed her eyes, wordlessly glaring daggers through Sans’s skull.

“nah, relax. i’m just yankin’ your chain.”

Iji rolled her eyes. “You don’t say.”

“anyhow,” said Sans. “you need to get the old lab in hotland, right? i can take you there. i happen to know a really great shortcut.”

“Whatever,” Iji said with a snort. “Can we just please leave already?”

Alphys meekly opened her mouth, attempting to give an objection, but it died before it could leave her throat.

“A-alright, then… I guess we’re really all going, then. Lead the way, Sans.”

--------

After a very disorienting trip through Sans’s compressed space, Iji found herself standing in front of Alphys’s old laboratory in Hotland. It was a familiar sight, oddly nostalgic in a way… but the fact that Hotland was completely empty now gave the entire region an unsettling quality that she couldn’t quite place. Everything was completely, deathly silent, save for the quietly bubbling magma below the cliffside path.

“welp, that’s about it for me,” said Sans. “call me if you need anything else.”

He turned around, walked down the path. The light shifted around him, making him appear blurry and indistinct, until his entire body vanished in a haze of refracted spacial dimensions.

“O-okay, we’re here,” said Alphys. She moved past Iji and walked up to the metallic sliding doors on the front of her laboratory, raising her claw towards a panel on the wall to the side. “Just, um… give me a moment and I’ll get the door—”

“Alphys, wait,” said Iji.

Alphys turned to look over her shoulder at Iji. “Hm?”

“Before we go in, I want you to promise me something. If anything pops up here that’s too much for you to handle, I need you to leave right away. Don’t worry about us, just get out of there and don’t look back.”

“Huh…? W-wait a second! H-hold on, you don’t expect me to just leave the both of you…?”

“We’ll take care of it. We’ve both survived worse,” said Iji. “You though… you need to promise me that you won’t take any unnecessary risks. Just turn around and get to safety the moment you think it’s too dangerous for you.”

Alphys’s eyes turned briefly towards the ground. “I… no, you’re right,” she said. “I’ll, um… I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”

And with that, Alphys turned around and brought a clawed finger to the panel beside the door. A small jolt of magical electricity arced from her finger to the pad, and with a small beep, the metallic door slid open.

As Iji followed Alphys inside, Asriel walked closely behind her, and the three eventually made their way to the elevator. Alphys had pulled a small tablet device out of her labcoat pocket, which she was intently staring at while her clawed feet shuffled across the floor.

“Okay, according to my readings, the dimensional anomaly should be in the basement,” Alphys explained. “I’ll open the elevator, just… be careful. We don’t know what we’ll find there.”

“Ugh,” Asriel groaned. “It really had to be there, huh? That basement gives me the creeps.”

“…Yeah,” said Alphys. “I… I don’t really like thinking about that place either. But it is what it is.”

Alphys approached the elevator, flipped open a hidden panel, and once again sent a small jolt of electricity arcing from her finger. At her magic’s command, the elevator slid open.

Iji and Asriel both followed Alphys into the elevator, as it descended into the pitch-black depths below.

--------

When they arrived in the depths of the laboratory, the three were immediately greeted by the sound of heavy machinery somewhere, a deep droning noise that descended in pitch while fading out, like something somewhere was powering down.

As if to confirm that this was the case, an automated voice somewhere within the facility spoke:

“WARNING: POWER CORE CONNECTION LOST. ELEVATOR POWER NOW OFFLINE.”

“Oh, goddammit, again?” Iji cursed. “Why is it that every time I’ve come here, something weird happens to the elevator?”

A guilty look crossed Asriel’s face. He visibly cringed as he spoke. “Um… well, to be fair, the first time was, um… it might have been me.”

Iji blinked. It was obvious in hindsight, but somehow she hadn’t quite put that together.

“Oh. Uh. Well, alright. At least we weren’t in the elevator when it lost power this time?”

“Oh… o-oh, no, this is bad,” said Alphys. “I-if something happened to the power core, then…!”

Wasting no further effort on words, Alphys scurried deeper into the laboratory, leaving Iji and Asriel to follow closely behind her. Eventually, they were brought to the central hub room. The large steel door to the Power Room was open, and Alphys hurried forward. She stopped before the entryway, and turned around to face the others.

“You two wait there,” she said. “I’ll see what’s going on with the Power Core. Hopefully I’ll have the generator back online in a moment.”

“Alphys, wait,” said Iji. “What if it’s dangerous?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t stick around if it is,” said Alphys. “But Power Core maintenance is very delicate, and I can’t have anyone distracting me. Just wait there, okay?”

Iji breathed out. This was all moving far too fast for her liking. Whatever was going on here, it was giving her a very bad feeling.

“Alright. But just call for us if you need help, alright?”

Alphys gave an affirmative nod, and hurried past the door, into the Power Room beyond.

The wait that followed was agonizing. In truth, it was probably little more than a minute, if even that. But whatever had caused the elevators to lose power was something that powerfully weighed down on Iji’s mind, clouding out all other thoughts.

“Hey, Iji,” Asriel eventually spoke up.

“Hm? Yeah? What is it?”

“I was thinking… while we’re waiting for Alphys, do you think we could go over to the T.V. room?” Asriel said. “I think some of my old video tapes are still in there. Do you think we could go in there and check it out? Maybe when this is over, we could bring some of them back to the surface with us.”

“Uh… I mean, maybe?” said Iji. “I don’t feel good about just ditching Alphys like that, though.”

“Hey, relax. She’s got your cell phone number, right?” said Asriel. “If anything comes up, she can just call you.”

“I dunno, Az. This still doesn’t—”

“Pleaaaaaaassssseeee?”

What followed next was the most disgustingly adorable face that Iji had ever seen Asriel make. He was, without question, intentionally weaponizing his own soft and fuzzy appearance. His puppy-dog eyes were so sickeningly sweet that Iji could almost feel her stomach turning from the overdose of cuteness.

“…Ugh. Fine, you win,” Iji finally relented. “But only for a little bit. And if there’s any sign that something’s up, we’re dropping everything and heading right back to her, got it?”

“Yes! Thank, you Iji! You’re the best!”

“Yeah, yeah. Ease off the hugs there, champ. We still need to keep our guards up.”

The laboratory basement was still just as unsettling and silent as ever, and Iji tried very hard not to think about the trepidation that was building up within her chest. She also could help but notice that Chara hadn’t said a word since they arrived… not a peep came from the other presence in her mind and soul.

Chara? You okay there, buddy?

* Hm? Yeah, sorry. I just…

* …I have some bad memories of this place.

Yeah, I get what you mean. I was there too.

Their path took the two of them through the room with the hospital beds, around the corner, and past the unsettling sight of the Determination Extractor machine.

Seriously, WHY make it look like a deer skull? Literally any other skull would be less creepy.

* Less creepy than a human skull?

Chara, two of my friends are actual skeletons.

…Well, one friend, and one guy I mostly tolerate.

Iji eventually came to the room with the television set. It was a room she would always have a vivid memory of, as it was the exact place where Chara had finally realized who they really were.

The shelves of VHS tapes surrounding the television were untouched, as was the desktop computer to the side, and the pair of video game CD cases lying on the desk beside the keyboard.

“Alright!” Asriel said. He ran up to the shelves of old tapes, squinting in the darkness as he ran a finger across the titles that were displayed. “Let’s see here, do they still have ‘The Neverending Story?’ That one’s my favorite.”

That was a name Iji was surprised to hear. She’d torrented that movie out of curiosity in her freshman year of university, after doing some offhand research on the history of special effects in film. Puppeteering and animatronics were a lost art in the twenty-second century, entirely replaced by computer technology.

Huh. Now that I think about it, Boss Monsters *do* look weirdly like Falcor.

Any further thought that Iji might have had on the similarity was cut short, as something new happened.

The computer suddenly turned on, its monitor flaring to life, bathing the room in a bright LCD glow that stuck out like a sore thumb against the darkness. Displayed on the monitor was the title screen of what looked like a bullet hell video game. Blaring through the speakers was a simple yet striking melody that Iji immediately recognized.

Asriel was suddenly caught off guard by the noise. He turned around to look, so fast that one of his floppy ears smacked himself right in the face as he did so.

“Huh? Iji, what’s going on?”

“H-hey, don’t look at me!” said Iji. “I didn’t turn the computer on!”

“Well, then who did?”

“I don’t know! Don’t ask me!”

Then, suddenly, the glow of the computer monitor changed. The light that was shining from the flatscreen monitor… inverted somehow, becoming something akin to darkness. Except it wasn’t darkness, because it wasn’t the mere absence of light. It was something opposite light, something that illuminated and gave visibility to the room, but cloaked it in a shadow that stood as the antithesis to everything that Iji knew.

“W-what…?” said Asriel. “Iji, what’s going on? What is…?”

But neither Asriel nor Iji could give an answer, as the computer monitor suddenly opened, into a swirling vortex of darkness that drew the two of them in like a powerful vacuum.

Within moments, Iji was swept off of her feet, clutching her nanogun tightly as pure darkness enveloped her consciousness.

--------

June 14^th, 202X-3

After the last of your finals are finished, Miss Toriel, your teacher, takes a moment to speak to you privately. At first you dread that you may have done something wrong, but it’s very clear that there’s something else on her mind.

She asks you about your plans for college, and whether or not you’ll continue to visit Hometown between semesters. Though her demeanor is pleasant, it’s very clear from the tone of her voice that she’s going to miss both you and Asriel dearly. You’ve been friends with her son for such a long time that you’re almost like family to her as well.

You don’t know how to answer Toriel’s question. You hope that you’ll remain in contact with your friends back here… but you also don’t want to look back at this town once you leave. College is your one path to freedom, the one escape you have from the ennui and stress that has come to define your life. It’s the one chance you have to live for *yourself,* and not for the expectations your mother has placed on you.

“I’ll find a way to stay in touch,” is the answer you eventually settle on. Toriel seems satisfied with that, at least.

Still, you wish you knew what that ‘way to stay in touch’ is. So much of the future is uncertain, now. For the first time, you don’t quite know what path your life is going to take.

Maybe it’s better that you don’t know the future. Maybe that’s part of what freedom really entails. But you can’t help but worry about it, sometimes.

Such heavy thoughts don’t keep you for much longer, however. You eventually say your goodbye to Toriel. The school is nearly deserted now, everyone having since left for their summer break. You can’t blame them. Who would want to stick around school any longer than they have to?

As you pass through the empty hallways, though, something sticks out to you. It’s a supply closet, the same supply closet that you’ve passed by innumerable times throughout your days at school. And today is likely the very last time you’ll ever see that same closet again.

But something about it is different, now. There’s this…

…the word you would use to describe it is ‘glow,’ but that’s not quite accurate. It’s more like a *reverse* glow, with darkness somehow radiating outwards from the cracks between the double-door. And the more you look at it, the more the hallway grows visibly yet darker.

You can’t help but stare blankly at the sight of it, utterly frozen. Despite being the exact opposite of a bright light, your cervine instincts don’t care to draw such a distinction.

Eventually, you overcome your body’s involuntary response, rubbing your eyes as you force yourself back to reality. You still don’t know what you’re looking at. But whatever it is, it has your full attention. You know that you couldn’t ignore it even if you tried.

Not that you want to try in the first place. This is… new. It’s something different, something *interesting.*

And that’s all the reason that you need to investigate further.

You open the door, and the darkness pours outwards. You step through the threshold, and immediately feel yourself plummeting as you fall into the vast, inky-black void beyond.

When you finally come to, you find yourself in a place unlike anything you have ever seen or imagined.

It appears to be a gray earthen cliff that juts straight out of an infinite sea of darkness, providing only a single path of solid ground. On a higher ledge, you can see… plants, *maybe.* Big gray stalks tipped with globby-looking orbs on the top, which bounce back and forth as they wriggle through some unknown means. Holes are punctured in the side of the ledge, out of which ooze… something that you can only describe as *liquid darkness.*

There isn’t time to ponder that though, as you notice you’re now carrying something in your left hand. It’s a weapon of sorts, with a blade seemingly forged out of solid blue ice. It ends in a sickle-shaped curve, with the spikes and ridges of a snowflake jutting out of its convex side.

You look in the pool of liquid darkness, and see your reflection in it — thinking about how *that* could possibly work makes your head hurt.

What you see is something truly baffling. You can see now that the unfamiliar ice weapon you’re now holding in your hand has a *strangely familiar* shape, reminding you somehow of the key that you’re wearing on your lanyard.

Or *were* wearing on your lanyard, because you no longer have a lanyard at all.

You’re wearing a completely different outfit now, with black knee-high boots matching your black shorts, tank top, and gloves. A light blue vest is draped around your shirt, with loops of fabric circling over your shoulders, held in place by a silver amulet that resembles the Delta Rune’s winged sphere. More light blue adorns your forearms in a pair of large detached sleeves, and a matching blue sash is tied around your waist, with a pair of pristine crystals at the ends of the fabric strips hanging on your right side.

It’s an impossibly elaborate getup, something far too high-maintenance for you to ever bother wearing of your own volition. It looks more like a cosplay than anything else.

But that’s not the part of your new appearance that catches your mind the most. What catches your mind the most is how something *else* about you has changed.

(What…)

(…Just what am I seeing here?)

(What…)

(…What is this costume supposed to be?)

(Why do I have a keyblade from Kingdom Souls?)

(And why is my HAIR freaking BLUE!?)

Chapter Text

The claws on Alphys’s feet hurriedly tapped against the floor as she made her way through the corridor, towards the Power Room. A deep, deep anxiety gnawed at the inside of her soul. She could even feel her heart pounding in her eardrums… given her complete lack of blood, it seemed the only thing a heart was good for was reminding her of just how much of a useless nervous wreck she was.

…No, knock it off. No self-depreciation. You promised Undyne, remember?

Alphys took a deep breath, allowing her nerves to be calmed. Once her head was sufficiently clear, she rounded the corner, into the Power Room properly.

Everything in the dark chamber was exactly as she left it… save for one immediately noticeable exception.

The generator, the box-shaped machine connected to the thick mass of cables at the back of the room, was missing something.

Missing one red, glowing, diamond-shaped thing in particular.

Alphys felt her jaw slowly go limp. She blinked, adjusted her glasses, took a closer look.

Her eyes had not been deceiving her after all. And icy dread began building within the core of her being, as she finally understood why the elevator had shut off.

“Oh… oh no! T-the Power Core! It’s gone!!”

--------

Iji awoke to find herself in an entirely unfamiliar location, though it took her a moment to piece together what had just happened. Her head was still spinning from the sudden change in location, and once she stood up to her feet, it took only a moment for her recollection to return.

She and Asriel had been… sucked into a computer, somehow. Like a portal had opened up inside the monitor and drawn them both in.

Taking a moment to look around, Iji found herself in the middle of a snowy forest, beneath a pitch-black sky… though it took only a moment’s glance to notice that something about the forest was off, somehow. The trees were all strangely blocky and lacked the details that they would have in an ordinary forest; Iji immediately recognized that they were made somehow out of textured polygons, like the graphics you would see on a vintage video game console.

She was so caught up in taking in her surroundings, she almost didn’t notice how her own outfit had changed.

Looking down, Iji could see that she was now wearing the same outfit that she had worn in Sector Z. Pure white gleaming armor, covering her legs, arms, and upper torso, placed over a skintight bodysuit of pink spandex. Her nanogun, too, had also transformed to match what it had been in Sector Z, the boxy black weapon now becoming the sleek double-barreled gun it had briefly been before.

A creeping sense of dread began began crawling up Iji’s spine.

…Well, shit. Chara, are we in Sector Z again? That… probably isn’t good, is it?

Seconds passed, without an answer. Then more.

The inside of Iji’s mind remained deafeningly silent.

Chara? Chara! Oh… oh god. Oh god, please be okay!

Several more seconds passed, each of them even more agonizing than the last. Still, no sign of Chara showed.

It was as though the other presence in her mind and soul was simply gone.

“Chara!” Iji called out, as though speaking out loud would somehow reach them faster. “Chara! Where are you!? Answer me!”

“Over here!”

To Iji’s surprise, the answer came not as another set of thoughts within her head, but as a voice that called out from somewhere behind her. She turned around, and what she saw was…

…well, it was Chara, much to her relief. But they looked very different from the image they usually projected.

No longer wearing their usual striped shirt and denim pants, they were now dressed in a highly elaborate outfit, something that vaguely reminded her of a military officer’s uniform from the nineteenth century.

They wore a deep blue waistcoat with gold trim and a matching golden belt buckle, with long light-blue boots. A pair of pristine white gloves covered their hands, matching their immaculately tailored white silk pants. Deep red pauldrons with similar gold trim adorned their shoulders, attached to a light red sash that encircled their collar, and a long flowing cape that was light blue on the outside and red on the inside. Rounding out the outfit was a deep blue beret, matching their jacket, with a single white feather sticking out the left side.

The upper half of Chara’s face was additionally covered by a heart-shaped domino-mask, bright red in color, tucked underneath their bangs and the fold of their beret. Their eyes, curiously, lacked pupils or sclera, appearing as two bodies of pure gleaming white.

Their skin was also different now, being a dark magenta all around — the only exception being a cream-colored blush on their cheeks that matched their ordinary skin color. In their right hand, they held a long curved dagger with a golden hilt and a black blade, and a longer saber of similar shape was attached to a waist scabbard hooked to their belt.

“Well? What do you think of my new look?”

“Uh. It’s, um… it looks good?” It genuinely did look good, but Iji was too baffled by the sudden change in appearance to offer any further comment. “Did you come up with that all by yourself?”

A bright grin flashed across Chara’s face. “Nope! I looked like this when I got here. And that’s not the only thing, either! Watch!”

Chara reached up with their right hand moving it towards their face… and then slapped themselves clear across the mouth with an audible smack.

“Ow!” they exclaimed. Despite visibly wincing from the blow, their grin only grew wider. They then smacked themselves again. Then again, and then again, the motion growing more intense, more enthusiastic each time.

A spike of sharp worry pierced straight through Iji’s heart. “Chara! Chara, knock it off! You’ll hurt yourself if… if…”

And then, an epiphany. By all means, it shouldn’t have been possible.

“W-wait a second!” said Iji. “You’re not saying…!”

“You get it, don’t you?” Chara said, their voice so elated that they were practically giddy. “I’m corporeal now! I have a body!” A rapturous laughter came from Chara’s throat, as they smacked themselves across the face once more. “Oh, pain… sweet, merciful pain… I’ve missed you so much.”

Iji stared vacantly at Chara. The worry that had crawled into her heart made itself known once more.

“…When we get out of here, we’re going to have to have a very serious talk about that, because that is not healthy.”

“Hey, relax. I wasn’t gonna hurt myself too bad. Hmm. Although…” Chara held their knife up to their eyes, examining its edge closely. “Now that I have a body again, does that mean I have blood…?”

“Okay,” Iji very firmly cut in, “I’m going to stop you there before that thought takes you any farther. And where’s Asriel, anyway?”

Chara’s body went stiff. Any joy that they might have felt from becoming corporeal again seemed to rapidly disspiate.

“Oh… oh no! Azzy! I was so excited to have a body that I totally forgot about him! Shoot!” They looked around, cupping their hands over their mouth as they shouted at the top of their lungs, loud enough that Iji almost winced at the sheer volume.

“AZZY!! Asriel, where are you!!?”

“Chara! Iji! There you are!”

Iji looked up, her eyes following the sound of Asriel’s voice. Floating above the snow-covered tree-tops, a small figure dressed in red descended. It was Asriel, but he too had a completely different outfit now.

This one was considerably less elaborate — a simple red robe with voluminous sleeves and a pointed hood that was draped over the top of his head. The edges of the robe was patterned with white triangles that lined the cuffs, hem, and hood. At the center of the robe, right in the middle Asriel’s chest, was a single white upside-down heart, the unmistakable image of a monster soul. As his feet touched the ground, Asriel held in his hands a long golden staff, with a winged orb on the top, resembling the winged circle of the Delta Rune.

“Check it my new look! No idea where I got it from, but it’s pretty cool, right?”

“Azzy!”

Chara’s dagger disappeared in a flash of light, and Iji briefly wondered just where it could have gone, or if summoning a dagger was some strange new power they had. But she didn’t have time to speculate, as Chara quickly pulled Asriel into a tight hug.

“Whoa! Hey! Personal space!” Asriel protested. But his complaints were quickly silenced when his eyes also went wide with sudden realization. “W-wait! Wait a second! Chara, I can actually feel you! How!?”

“Not a clue,” said Chara. “But who cares!? I have a body again! Isn’t that amazing?”

“What!? What do you mean ‘who cares!?’” Asriel’s voice was strained, as Chara very nearly squeezed the breath out of him. “That raises so many questions!!”

Iji breathed out a sigh of relief. “Good, everyone’s accounted for. Are you two feeling okay?”

Chara pulled away, still sporting a massive grin. “Never better!”

“…Yeah, I’m fine,” Asriel grumbled. He blinked as he turned his eyes towards Iji, looking her over from her head to her toe. “Huh…? Hey, hold the phone! Iji, why is your skin blue? And yours is… pink?”

“Magenta,” Chara corrected.

“Whatever! Point is, last I checked humans don’t have that kind of skin color! That’d be like… I dunno, some human kid with yellow skin!”

“Azzy, that’s racist.”

“What!? Chara, no, that’s not… you know what I meant!” Asriel gave a protracted groan. “Ugh, just… what is going on here anyway?”

“I wish I could tell you,” said Iji. “But… I do know that this is what I looked like when I was in Sector Z. Blue skin included. Don’t ask me why, that’s just what it was.”

“Sector…” Asriel mouthed the ‘Z’ silently, only just now catching up to what Iji was trying to imply. “W-wait! Wait a second! That thing you told Alphys about? Are you saying that we’re in Sector Z right now?”

“Again, I wish I could tell you. I have no idea where we are, but…”

A sudden thought occurred to Iji. It was crazy, but… she had gotten used to crazy things, by now. ‘Ordinary’ was the last word she would ever use to describe her experiences over the past two years.

“But what?” said Asriel.

“Well,” Iji answered, “I kinda want to say that we were… sucked into a video game on Alphys’s old computer?”

“A video ga— Iji, come on,” Asriel balked. “I know we’ve all seen some weird stuff, but you can’t seriously expect me to believe that.”

“No! I’m completely serious, I swear!” Iji ran a hand through her tangled mane, trying hard not to think about how little she looked like herself with black hair. “Look, just… you remember how before we ended up here, Alphys’s computer spontaneously flipped on? And we got sucked into the monitor?”

“Yeah, but into a video game?” Asriel pressed. “Why would you think that?”

“Uh… well, the music that the computer was playing was the main theme of Touhou Project, I think,” said Iji. “And there was the title screen to a bullet hell game… so, probably also Touhou Project.”

Chara shot Iji an odd glance. “Why are you saying it like that?”

“Toe-hoe? It’s Japanese, that’s how you’re supposed to say it.”

“Not what I meant,” said Chara. “You’re supposed to say ‘Touhou Purojekto,’ not ‘Touhou PRAW-ject.’”

“…What? Chara, ‘project’ is an English word.”

“Yeah, a loanword,” Chara scoffed. “And it’s written in Romanji, not English. Seriously, what kind of hack pronounces a Japanese title with an American accent?”

“Ugh. Why are you two splitting hairs about this!?” Asriel cut in. “Point is, you say we’re in a video game now, right? So what the heck are we even supposed to do about that?”

Iji hesitated. She looked around, at the oddly polygonal forest. The trees were thick, and she couldn’t see anything past the canopy.

“Uh… no clue. I know that Sector Z had a few… video-gamey sections in it. But I have a gut feeling that this is different, somehow.”

Asriel already intuited what Iji was hesitating to admit out loud. “So you have no idea how to get out of here, then. Well, isn’t that just great?”

“Hey, calm down,” said Chara. “We’ll work this out. We’ve all survived worse, right?”

“Not counting the one time we didn’t survive,” Asriel deadpanned.

“Look. You’re thinking about this the wrong way,” said Chara. “If we’re in a video game, that means we must be the player-characters, right? And that must mean we have cool abilities to match!”

“…What? Chara, that makes literally no sense.”

“Oh yeah? Then how do you explain your new getup?” said Chara. “Look, you’ve got a classic Final Fantasy outfit!”

Iji looked Asriel over once again. “…Hey, yeah. You do, don’t you? I somehow didn’t notice before, but your outfit looks just like a White Mage. Only, um… with the red and white on the robe reversed. I’d say ‘Red Mage,’ but that’s a totally different thing.”

“White Mage?” said Asriel. “You mean like a healer? That’s interesting, because I don’t know any healing magic.”

“Well, who knows! Maybe you’re an inverse White Mage,” said Chara. “You know, someone who who heals in reverse!”

Asriel’s eyes narrowed. “…You made that up.”

“Okay, but Asriel already had magic to begin with,” said Iji. “So I don’t really think that would change, would it? What I want to know is what you’re supposed to be.”

“Oh, that’s easy! I’m a Blue Mage!” Chara boasted. They gave a little swish of their cape, showing off their outfit’s elaborate tailoring.

“From Final Fantasy V, right?” said Iji. “I still need to play most of the classic FF games. What’s that one do again?”

“Blue Mages specialize in studying and learning monster magic,” Chara said, with another self-satisfied grin. “It’s one of the most powerful and versatile jobs in the series, but it’s also really hard to master.”

Iji and Asriel both shared a look with each other.

“…Oddly fitting for you, I guess,” said Asriel. “What kind of ‘monster magic,’ though? Cause, uh… we’ve got a lot.”

“Oh, all kinds,” said Chara. “There’s ‘Goblin Punch,’ ‘Mind Blast,’ ‘One Thousand Needles,’ and the exclusive air-elemental spells. Then there’s ‘White Wind’ for healing, and the powerful ‘Mighty Guard’ for defense. And of course, the Blue Mage’s ultimate trump card, ‘LV 5 Death.’”

An uncomfortable frown crossed Asriel’s muzzle. “LV 5… Death?”

“Yup! It’s a spell that instantly kills all targets with LV divisible by five,” Chara explained. “And it bypasses instant death immunity too, so it also works on bosses. So, for example, if I met someone whose LV was exactly twenty, I could kill them instantly. No ifs, ands, or buts.”

“…Oh. That’s kind of terrifying, not gonna lie,” said Asriel. “…Then again, if we ever did run into anyone whose LV was twenty, we’d have way bigger problems.”

“Huh?” Chara blinked. “Oh no, I didn’t mean those levels. I meant, like… level levels.”

“Hold on though,” said Iji, “we don’t know if you actually have any ‘Blue Magic.’ Sure, you have a body now… somehow, but we don’t know anything about what this new form of yours can do.”

Chara paused, looking contemplative for a moment.

“Hm… you’re right. I genuinely do have no idea,” they said. “Though, now that we’re talking about abilities… I do have this strange feeling. An instinct, maybe?”

A bright gleam appeared in Chara’s eye. They turned around, towards the thick trees, and held out their right hand… as they did, the dagger that they had seemingly dismissed earlier appeared in a flash of light. They held the weapon in a standard saber grip, brandishing it in front of them, as though ready cut through an unwitting target.

Then, something strange happened. Wind began gathering and swirling around the dagger, visible distortions shimmering in the air around the blade. Chara then slashed horizontally with the dagger, sending a crescent-shaped wave of distorted air that rocketed forward with a woosh.

A sharp noise pierced through the atmosphere as the wave of air impacted against a nearby tree. Silence followed shortly, and then a crash as the tree toppled over into the snow, cut down where the razor wind had sliced clean through its trunk.

“Whoa!!! Did you see that!? I have wind magic now! Actual magic!” A bright, melodious laughter erupted from Chara’s lungs. Not the frightened, nervous response Iji had heard multiple times before, but genuinely delighted laughter. “This is the best day of my life!”

Iji could tell that this was no exaggeration. It was, as far as she had seen, the most joyful Chara had ever been.

“W-whoa!” Asriel exclaimed. “That’s… Chara, that’s incredible! I didn’t think humans could do magic like that!”

“Well, I dunno if I’m human anymore,” said Chara. “But it’s amazing, right!? Iji, you next! Show us what you can do!”

Iji froze. She didn’t expect to be put on the spot like that.

“I, um… I don’t think I’m any different from before, actually. I mean, I look different, but… it feels like I still have my nanofield, somehow? I know I had it in Sector Z.”

“Yeah, but I was still part of it then,” said Chara. “Now that I’m separate from you, maybe something about your nanofield’s different? Try hitting one of those trees with your nanogun, see what happens.”

It took a moment for Iji to give her answer. “Well, um… I really don’t want to fire this thing unless I absolutely have to. But it doesn’t look like there’s anyone around, so…”

Curiously, Iji tapped her finger against her gun, and sure enough, her nanofield was able to interface with it just as it could with its old appearance. The weapon names that appeared in her mind were… different, though, this time. As she cycled through them, she saw that she only had four, and three of them she had never heard of.

Huh. I still have my Resonance Reflector, but what are these other ones? ‘Rapid Fire’ is probably a machine gun equivalent, and then there’s ‘Spread Shot Mk. V,’ which… I guess is kind of like the shotgun? Or maybe the buster gun.

I don’t see any ammo readouts, though. Only something called ‘TP’ and it’s… percentage-based? Weird.

The last weapon in her nanogun was the one that caught her attention the most.

…Wait, ‘Berg Shot?’ What the hell’s a ‘Berg Shot?’

Her curiosity didn’t take long to get the better of her. She selected the ‘Berg Shot,’ which apparently costed 40% ‘TP,’ whatever that was, and her nanofield said that she had just enough to fire it exactly once.

She took aim at another nearby tree, pulled the trigger. A large ice-blue projectile, sharp and pointed and crackling with sheer cold, erupted somehow from the twin barrels of her gun and rocketed towards the tree trunk.

There was a sudden burst of frigid blue light and equally frigid air as what could only be described as an icicle rocket impacted against the tree trunk.

Mere moments later, and the entire tree was coated from top to bottom in a thick layer of solid ice, as though trapped in a frigid coffin.

“Oh,” said Iji. “Berg Shot. Iceberg. I get it.”

“Whoa!” said Asriel. “Your gun shoots ice now? That’s so cool! Uh… pun not intended.”

“Unintended, huh?” Chara teased. “Are you sure? Your mom’s been awfully fond of inviting Sans to your house lately. Maybe he’s rubbed off on you.”

Asriel shot Chara a fierce glare. “Oh hell no. Don’t you dare even joke about that.”

“Hey, I’m just saying, you’ve probably been hearing a lot of new dad jokes.”

“Chara, I SWEAR TO FREAKING GOD.”

Iji was about to step in, to preempt that ugly argument from ever happening.

But she never had the chance, as something else suddenly caught her attention.

“Hey, hold up you two,” she cut in. “Do you hear that?”

“Huh?” said Chara. “Hear wha—”

“Shh! Quiet, both of you!”

Neither Asriel nor Chara gave any further argument. The forest went utterly, deathly silent.

Utterly silent, save for the sound of gently rustling branches somewhere in the distance.

Distant, but growing closer.

“We’re not alone,” said Iji. She readied her weapon, hovering her finger over the trigger. “Stay on guard.”

Moments passed. Then more. Then even more. Iji’s nerves were practically on fire, something was here, and that something was coming for them.

She didn’t know if anything in this strange new video game world could actually hurt her through her nanofield, but she wasn’t about to take that risk.

A voice called out. A young girl’s voice, to Iji’s astonishment, though she wasn’t about to let her guard down yet.

“Hey!! You there!! What’s the big idea, going around freezin’ stuff on my turf!?”

Iji swiveled around, her gaze followed by both Asriel and Chara. A new figure burst through the trees, one that looked mostly human, but that Iji could immediately tell was anything but.

She was a little girl, with pale complexion and light blue hair that trailed down to the back of her neck, wearing a simple blue dress with white ridges around the him. A large ribbon, matching her dress, was tied to the back of her head.

Most notably, however, were the four elongated ice crystals jutting from her back. They looked like and apparently functioned as a set of wings, judging by the fact that the girl was hovering in front of the three of them.

“Whoa!” said the… fairy, she looked like. “Lightners? Here? This is great! I’ve been waiting for this opportunity!”

Iji immediately recognized who this was, and a sense of trepidation built within her. Right away, she knew that nobody was getting out of this without a fight.

“Uh,” said Asriel. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

The fairy beamed, and all at once, all of the forest’s air grew colder.

“I’m Chillno! I’m gonna beat you up!”

Chapter Text

Iji stared at the strangely familiar ice fairy with the strangely unfamiliar name, holding her nanogun close. Asriel and Chara both stood behind her, each of their respective weapons at the ready.

CHILLno? That’s… not right. What’s going on here?

“Ha!” Chillno laughed. “What’s the matter, Lightners? Are ya scared? Well, you should be, because I’m your worst nightmare!”

“Wait! Wait a second!” Asriel cut in. “What’s going on here!? Why are you so dead-set on attacking us!?”

“Easy!” Chillno replied. “‘Cause you’re the perfect targets! See, everyone always makes fun of me. They say ‘cause I’m a fairy, I’m a total weakling who’ll never amount to anything. But I’ll show them! I’ll show everyone! I’m gonna keep practicing my ice magic, getting stronger and stronger and stronger, until I’m the strongest around! Then we’ll see who’s laughing!”

Asriel let out an exasperated groan. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding. You’re seriously just gonna attack us because you think you have something to prove?”

“Of course I am! This is the perfect opportunity to prove myself!” Chillno retorted. “See, normally spell card duels ain’t supposed to be lethal. But since you’re Lightners, that means the rules don’t apply to you! And that means I don’t have to hold anything back this time!”

An ice-cold realization shot up the length of Iji’s spine. One that Asriel and Chara evidently shared as well, given the looks on both their faces.

“…Shit,” Iji cursed. “You’re going to try to kill us, aren’t you?”

“As long as that’s what it takes!” said Chillno. “With no rules, I can finally train to my full potential! I’ll show everyone just how strong I can be!”

“L-look, can’t we talk about this? There’s got to be a better way to prove yourself!”

On some level, Iji knew that trying to negotiate was useless. Diplomacy was never an option in bullet hell video games, and… Chillno was the last video game character she would ever expect to turn down an opportunity to fight.

“Pffft. I don’t care if you live or die,” Chillno dismissed. “Now hold still! Imma freeze you solid and smash ya to pieces!”

The atmosphere around Iji grew even colder, frigid enough that she could feel the air’s icy bite even through her nanofield.

“Shit!” Iji cursed. “Incoming! Everyone, brace yourselves!”

* Chillno

* ATK: 9

* DEF: 9

* Wants to become stronger, no matter the consequences.

“Take this!!”

Chillno thrust her hands forward, and a torrent of rainbow-colored bullets spread outwards from her palms, spheres of glowing magic that shot outwards in random directions. Acting entirely on instinct, Iji ducked under one of the projectiles, then weaved from side to side as the slow-moving projectiles.

As she narrowly dodged the bullets, Iji could feel a strange… tension, building within her. It was a new feeling, a sensation deep in her soul. Like grazing the bullets built up some kind of power deep within the core of her being.

She didn’t have time to think about that, however, as sharp cry came from behind her. She swiveled around to see that Asriel had been struck backwards by one of the bullets, wobbling slightly as he stood up to his feet.

“Aw, what’s the matter? Can’t keep up?” Chillno taunted. “Too bad for you! Because now you’re about to face my signature attack! Perfect… FREEEEEEEEEEZE!”

Spell Card:

凍符「Perfect Freeze」

All of the rainbow bullets in the air suddenly turned ice-blue, immediately freezing in place. Moments later, the bullets scattered outward in unpredictable directions. Caught off-guard by the sudden change in bullet pattern, Iji only very narrowly avoided being smacked in the head by a bullet, feeling the whiff of air as it soared right past her ear.

Once again, another sharp cry of pain rang out from behind Iji. She glanced over her shoulder to see that Asriel had been struck dead-center in the chest.

“Azzy!” Chara called out. “Asriel, hold on! Just—”

“Enough!” Asriel shouted, as he stood to his feet. “I’m not going to stand back and do nothing while she tries to kill us! Take this! Flame Shine!”

Gripping his weapon in both hands, Asriel thrust the head of his staff towards Chillno. The winged orb at the tip of the staff became wreathed in an aura of flame. A single fireball launched Asriel’s staff, burning clean through the air as it rocketed towards Chillno.

There was a sizzling burst of heat and light, as the fireball impacted against Chillno. She tumbled backwards in the air, halting her momentum just before she reached the ground, before righting herself and glaring daggers at Asriel.

“Hey! What the heck is your problem!? You tryin’ to melt me or something!?”

“You attacked us first, you utter lunatic!” Asriel retorted.

“What’s that got to do with anything!?” said Chillno. “I’m the strongest, and that means I’m the one who wins!”

Asriel let out a loud, protracted groan. “Oh, for the love of…”

“No more talking!” Chillno called out. “Let’s see how you deal with this!”

Spell Card:

雪符「Diamond Blizzard」

The air suddenly crackled with frost, and with a sweep of her hands, Chillno summoned an explosion of crystalline shards that burst outwards from herself, covering the battlefield in daggers of raw ice. Iji let out a grunt as one of the daggers just barely grazed against her cheek, leaving an icy cut across her face.

“Az, you got another one of those fire spells handy!?” she called out. “I really don’t think we’ll be resolving this peacefully!”

“Um… um… s-shoot!” Asriel stammered, narrowly ducking past another project. “I… I don’t think I have enough Tension Points! Just give me a second!”

“Tension Points!? What are you talking about!?”

The panic in Asriel’s demeanor went forgotten, if only momentarily.

“Huh. That’s… how do I know what that is?”

Iji let out another grunt, a she leaned backwards and watched another ice projectile soar right past her shoulder.

“Worry about it later! You two hold on while I deal with her!”

Iji cycled to the ‘rapid fire’ option of her nanogun, and loosed a stream of projectiles with a pull of the trigger. Unexpectedly, they weren’t the bullets of a standard Tasen machine gun, but a stream of glowing, oval-shaped energy pellets.

Chillno’s erratic movements made her quite difficult to hit, but after several attempts, eventually Iji was able to land a succession of rapid fire shots dead in the center of her body. She flinched as her attack was interrupted, and she stumbled backwards, staggering in the air.

A fierce glare was lobbed in Iji’s direction, Chillno’s eyes burning with icy indignation. “Why you…!!”

“Cirn— Chillno, enough of this,” said Iji. “This fight is pointless, okay!? I don’t know what you think you’re going to accomplish here, but I promise you none of this is worth it! Just back off and let us go!”

“No way! I’m not done with you yet!” said Chillno. “Wait until you see the new spells I came up with! Try this on for size!”

Spell Card:

氷九「Vonnegut’s Fractal Frost」

Once again, Chillno thrust her hands forward, and Iji braced herself in anticipation of another storm of icy bullets.

Sure enough, another hailfire of icy shards exploded outwards from Chillno’s body, spreading out and covering the battlefield… but it didn’t stop there.

After soaring a short distance through the air, the ice shards exploded outwards, bursting into even smaller and more numerous shards of ice. And then those ice shards exploded again, covering even more of the battlefield in frigid projectiles. It was self-similar pattern of bullets, each icy shard that launched from Chillno erupting into even more, and by the end of it Iji could barely see through the crystal shards that blotted out the airspace.

Attempting to dodge such an attack felt like trying to dodge raindrops in a hurricane. And try as Iji might, she couldn’t stop herself from being pelted, over and over again, by the bullets. Pain surged through her body as she involuntarily screwed her eyes shut, as though the assault would cease if she weren’t looking at it.

Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, it stopped. Iji opened her eyes, and discovered that her entire body was surrounded in a glowing green sphere of swirling gaseous energy, a powerful force field that wooshed and swirled around her like a tornado.

Curiously, Iji craned her neck to look back over at Asriel and Chara. Both of them were surrounded in a force field as well — and Chara was holding out their free hand, the tips of their gloved fingers glowing bright green with magical power.

“Whoa!” Asriel cried out. “Chara, this is… is this barrier magic? Are you doing this?”

“Um… I think so?” said Chara. “I wasn’t actually trying to, I just sort of did it.”

The barriers surrounding each of them suddenly flickered out and extinguished. Chillno stared blankly, her mouth hung open in disbelief.

“Y-you…! You cheaters!” Chillno said. “You’re not supposed to block my attacks! Just what are you trying to pull here!?”

“…Uh,” said Asriel. “we’re trying to not die.”

“Well, tough luck! Because I’ve still got a couple more tricks up my sleeve! How about this!?”

Power crackled within Chillno’s hands, tiny sparks of freezing blue plasma that jumped across the space between her fingertips. Iji could feel the hair on the back of her neck standing on end as frost nipped at her skin, a sensation that was akin to both static electricity and the bitter cold of a winter’s day.

With a sharp yell, Chillno thrust her hands forward once more… but no bullets came this time. Just when Iji started to question what was happening, a sharp tingle of self-preservation instinct ran up her spine, screaming at her to move.

Iji jumped backwards, and with a deafening crack, a bolt of lightning fell from above. As it struck the earth, a series of jagged crystals instantly materialized, thorny spikes of ice that pierced upwards from the ground where Iji had stood seconds ago.

W-wait, this is…!

Spell Card:

凍天「Ice Shock」

“Everyone! Move!”

Iji didn’t have to time to further elaborate, as more bolts of frigid lightning fell from the heavens, each of which surged with more power than anything Iji had yet seen from the tiny fairy that had summoned them.

Thankfully, the spell was not particularly difficult to dodge, especially compared to the last one — but Iji knew right away that she couldn’t afford to make one mistake. She knew that this attack could not be anything less than lethal.

More bolts of lighting fell, then more. Adrenaline pumped wildly through Iji’s veins, her heart pounding in her eardrums as she ran on raw instinct, survival being the only thought that her mind would allow her.

But eventually, the assault died down, and the bolts of lightning became more infrequent. Eventually, they stopped altogether. Iji let out a deep breath, feeling the tension in her body leave.

“Are you two okay?”

She turned her head around, and thankfully, both Asriel and Chara appeared unharmed… though both of them were visibly shaken. Chara was propping up Asriel, letting him lean on their shoulder as he panted heavily.

Okay, good. Everyone’s still alive.

Still, ice lightning… why did that spell seem so weirdly familiar?

“Wha… b-buh… You! You’re still standing!? HOW!?” Chillno sputtered. “Grrrrr… That’s it, then! From now on, I’m gonna be giving you a hundred percent!! No, TWO hundred!!!”

“Not how percentages work,” Iji deadpanned.

Chillno’s lips twisted into a viscous scowl.

“Oh, so you think you’re smart, huh!? Well, you don’t know nuthin’!” She jabbed a finger towards Iji, frost crackling at the edge of her fingertip. “You’ll see! You’ll see what happens when I use the strongest spell I know!”

There was no mistaking malicious gleam in Chillno’s eyes, and the sheer frigid power that was emanating from her mere presence now.

Iji suddenly had a very, very bad feeling about where this was going.

The wind howled mightily, and seemingly out of nowhere, snow began to fall from the sky. It swirled and danced around the battlefield as the air whipped and lashed at Iji’s skin.

“Chara,” said Iji. “Chara, take Asriel and get out of here. Both of you need to get to safety.”

“What?” said Chara. “No way! We’re not leaving you—”

“Don’t argue! Just do it!”

“Hnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggghhhh… GRAAAH!”

A powerful, unearthly roar erupted from Chillno, and her eyes glazed over, her pupils and irises blotted out by a blinding white light, whiter than the purest of snow.She rose up higher into the air, her body limp as though suspended on invisible marionette strings.

There was a sudden ghastly noise, and an immense torrent of ice swirled around Iji, blotting out her entire field of vision and stinging harshly against her skin.

Then, only a moment later, Iji’s entire world was eclipsed by darkness and silence.

--------

July 25^th, 202X-3

This year’s annual Christmas in July Festival, organized by your father, has so far turned out to be a total disaster. The usual company that rents out the carnival rides has gone out of business since last year, and your mother has tightened the town’s recreation budget to repair the massive sinkhole on Main Street.

What follows is probably the weakest, lamest festival of your entire life, with nothing but a few shoddy carnival game booths. It was funny seeing Sans getting dropped into a tub of water in the “Dunk on Me” Tank, but that was about it.

It’s such a lame festival that none of the games even have prizes. Hell, none of them are even Christmas-themed. The only thing even remotely festive is Asriel’s dad, who is dressed up like Santa Claus as usual.

All that would have been bad enough, but *then* you see that another Dark World has opened up within the maintenance shed where all the festival’s fireworks are kept.

It doesn’t take a genius to conclude that granting life to literal explosives would be a bad idea. As you have many times before, you take the initiative to shut down the new Dark Fountain, before it causes any problems for the outside world.

The Dark World that you find within the shed is… strange, even by Dark World standards. Normally the Darkners are relatively benign, with only a few notable exceptions being outwardly malicious. You’ve gone out of your way to avoid seriously hurting any of them, though you have at times been forced to defend yourself.

This world is different, as every Darkner you encounter not only tries to murder you, they do so by blowing themselves up. The elf-like creatures are evidently the personifications of fireworks themselves, and they eagerly throw their lives away at every opportunity in an attempt to delay your advance.

In the rare occasions where you manage to actually speak to one of them, they mention a master by the name of ‘Mecha Santa,’ who wishes to spread the joy of explosions to the whole world.

That certainly won’t do. As much as you like fireworks, you have a feeling that Mecha Santa doesn’t know the meaning of the phrase ‘controlled detonation.’

The Dark World takes you through a mechanized base, with polished steel floors, sliding double-doors, and mazes of tight winding corridors. As you made your way further in, the bottle rocket elves streamed out of tiny holes in the wall, lining themselves up to detonate in an attempt to stop you from going any further.

But eventually, you make your way to the very center of the base. On a large balcony overlooking a frigid polar tundra, you can see the Dark Fountain pouring out of the earth.

And standing right at the end of the balcony, blocking your way forward, is the unmistakable image of Mecha Santa. A huge robot with an ovoid steel body painted to resemble Santa’s trademark suit, artificial eyes as black as coal, and giant white beard. His arms are long and spindly and chrome, and terminate in giant white hands that are each larger than his entire head. With no legs to speak of, he almost resembles a grotesque doll of some kind.

As you approach, Mecha Santa glides effortlessly across the floor, closing the remaining distance to greet you.

“WELCOME, NAUGHTY LITTLE REINDEER. COME TO DEFY YOUR RIGHTFUL MASTER?”

You stare the massive robot in the face, keyblade at the ready. He’s easily the second most imposing giant mecha you’ve seen this year.

“Please. You’re not Santa Claus,” you scoff. “I already know a guy who’s a million times the Santa you’ll ever be.”

“HO HO HO! THAT IS WHERE YOU ARE WRONG!” Mecha Santa chortles. “OTHER SANTAS ARE CONTENT WITH MALLS AND PERFORMANCES FOR CHILDREN. BUT I DREAM OF SOMETHING GREATER! SOMETHING ONLY MADE POSSIBLE BY THE DARK FOUNTAIN! I DREAM OF A WORLD OF JOY, AND LAUGHTER, AND PRESENTS FOR ALL!”

“And by presents, you mean explosions.”

“RIGHT YOU ARE!” says Mecha Santa. “THERE IS NOTHING THAT YOU LIGHTNERS ENJOY MORE THAN A GOOD FIREWORKS SHOW! MY BOTTLE ROCKET ELVES ALWAYS SO EAGERLY DETONATE THEMSELVES FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT… THERE IS NOTHING GREATER WE CAN GIVE THAN THE GIFT OF BLOWING UP! AND NOW, WITH YOUR DETERMINATION, WE CAN EXPAND THE DARK WORLD! ALL THE GOOD LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS OF EARTH WILL BE BLASTED TO SMITHEREENS! ONE LAST FIREWORKS SHOW, ENDING IN THE ULTIMATE EXPLOSIVE MERRIMENT!”

You raise your keyblade further, adopting a combat-ready stance. “What!? W-what are you saying!?”

“I AM SAYING EXACTLY WHAT YOU THINK! DECEMBER, WITH YOUR SOUL SO BRIGHT… WON’T YOU GUIDE MY SLAYING TONIGHT?”

“NO!! Absolutely the hell not!!” you shout back. “You think people WANT to be blown up!? That’s INSANE! I’m not helping you! I’m shutting down this Dark Fountain of yours, here and now!”

“HO HO HO! I HAD EXPECTED AS MUCH,” Mecha Santa booms. “YOU WERE ALREADY ON THE NAUGHTY LIST THE MOMENT YOU ARRIVED IN MY WORLD. AND NAUGHTY CHILDREN WHO WILL NOT RESPECT THEIR ELDERS MUST BE DISCIPLINED! IF YOU WILL NOT COMPLY, THEN I WILL TIE THE REINS AROUND YOUR BRIDLE MYSELF!”

You already know exactly how this is going to go, from here on. Your determination does not waver as you lock eyes with the mechanized Christmas icon, holding your keyblade at the ready.

“Alright, Kringlefucker. That’s how you wanna do this? If you want my power so bad, then by all means, come and take it.”

Immediately, the battlefield erupts into a chorus of bullets and explosions, as Mecha Santa begins his assault.

“MULTI HAND STORM!”

Sliding back and forth across the balcony at impossible speeds, Mecha Santa holds out his hand, launching massive green spheres of energy that home in on your position, weaved in with patterns of smaller bullets that aim restrict your movements.

You don’t even blink as you weave your way through the projectiles. You’ve played this game before, against far more impressive and dangerous opponents. As you duck under one of the giant green energy bombs, you carry your momentum forward into a roll, then charge at Mecha Santa at full force.

The air crackles with the sound bursting ice as you strike him with your keyblade, raining blow after blow upon in him rapid succession. Mecha Santa grunts in pain, but weathers your attack impressively well.

Eventually, a giant white hand reaches out and roughly *smacks* you away. You tumble to the ground as your keyblade clatters to the floor, and you tuck your legs in and roll to cushion the worst of the impact. As you catapult yourself to your feet, you hold out your hand, and instantly your keyblade flies back into your grasp.

“DOUBLE DARK BLASTER! DEATH POKE STORM!”

Mecha Santa takes advantage of the opening to follow up with another attack, launching massive spheres of dark energy from both his hands.

As the crackling orbs of dark lightning fly towards you, he follows up by poking the air with an index finger, launching a massive wave of innumerable smaller projectiles that sweep across the entire battlefield. You grunt in pain as you dodge under one of the orbs of lighting, only to be pelted by several of the smaller bullets in quick succession.

The pain does not deter you for even a moment, as you take the opportunity to channel your magic into your keyblade. You point the tip of the blade in Mecha Santa’s direction and launch a frostsplinter straight towards his head.

The crackling, ice-blue frost projectile strikes him right between the eyes, and he wobbles and tilts from the force of impact as the Frostsplinter explodes into smaller ice splinters that pelt his body.

A sharp gleam appears in Mecha Santa’s eyes. He’s not done yet — and neither are you.

“DEATH METAL DISASTER ZONE!”

Mecha Santa throws his arms up into the air, each of his pinky and index fingers extended into a devil horns gesture. As he bangs his head up and down, patches of the steel floor begin to glow bright green, including part of the floor that you are standing on right now.

You jump out of the way as a geyser of green bullets erupts from where you were standing, mere moments before. And with each moment that passes, more patches of glowing green light dot the floor, followed by more eruptions of bullets.

Dodge, and weave, and dodge. You can do nothing now but keep moving, with barely a moment’s pause to do anything else. But eventually, the attack lets up just enough for you to launch a counterattack. You send several more frostplinters in Mecha Santa’s direction, and he grunts in pain as his body is engulfed in several successive blasts of freezing energy.

A tinny, metallic howl of rage pierces your ears. For a moment, you can almost swear you saw Mecha Santa’s eyes turn red.

Either way though, you’ve clearly reached a turning point in the battle. His body flashes with light and power, and you can almost feel your fur standing on end from the magic that he’s channeling. You hold your keyblade at the ready, prepared to make any move necessary to deal with whatever comes next.

“AURORA FORCE!!!”

Mecha Santa thrusts both his palms in your general direction, and you can feel your skin crawl with static as the ground rumbles beneath your feet. Acting entirely on instinct, you dodge-roll to the side, as far as you can possibly force your body to move in a single motion.

Your maneuver comes just in time to avoid a truly *massive* wave of explosions, so powerful that you’re nearly blinded and deafened by the force of the blast. Your ears still haven’t stopped ringing by the time that Mecha Santa follows up with his next attack.

“ARCTIC THUNDER!!!”

Electricity crackles between Mecha Santa’s fingertips. He erratically slides back and forth across the floor as he launches lightning bolt after lightning bolt at you.

Curiously, with every bolt of lightning that you just narrowly manage to dodge, the floor where it strikes is coated in a patch of thin ice.

(Huh. Ice lightning? That’s… new. I wonder if I could do something like that.)

No time to speculate on that, however, as Mecha Santa continues to weave his lightning with more bullets, little green projectiles spaced in between each bolt of frigid lightning that’s hurled in your direction. It’s an impressive attack, and if you were any less practiced, it might have even bested you.

But you’ve been doing this for a while already, and you know exactly how to deal with these kinds of attacks. As you sidestep another bolt of lighting, you fire three more frostplinters in Mecha Santa’s direction. He staggers backward as his body is once again battered by bursts of icy magic, and his attack finally ceases as his concentration is disrupted.

Once he stops wobbling, Mecha Santa glares at you fiercely — though not quite as fiercely as before. You’ve got him on the ropes now, the only thing you need is to finish the fight.

However, it’s Mecha Santa who makes the move to end things, as he raises his hands skyward, and begins channeling more power than you’ve ever seen or felt from him up until this point.

“GIGA BOMB BREAKER!!!!!!”

A sphere of flashing, multicolored energy forms within his hands, growing larger and larger, until it’s nearly as big as his entire body. With a sweep of his arms, he tosses the sphere towards you, its massive size more than enough to crush you to past simply from the force of impact.

And yet, your determination does not fade for even a moment. You face the oncoming projectile head-on, gripping your keyblade tightly with both hands, as though you were holding a baseball bat.

Then, just as the giant sphere reaches you, you swing with all your might. The massive bomb, easily several times larger than your entire body, is instantly sent flying back in the direction that it came.

Mecha Santa does not have time to react, before his entire body is consumed in a cacophonous blast of heat and ash. You wince at the force of the explosion, forcing your eyes shut from the blinding light — you can almost catch a whiff of burnt beard hair as well.

When the smoke finally clears away, Mecha Santa is slumped over, the paint on his chassis chipped and burnt, his steel body visibly dented and banged. He glares at you, but the fierceness in his eyes is rapidly waning. You both know which of you is going to win this fight now.

“Give it up, Krampus,” you say. “You’ve already lost. Now move over and let me through. I’m shutting the Fountain down.”

“HO HO HO!” Mecha Santa guffaws. “NOT SO FAST! I STILL HAVE ONE LAST CHRISTMAS MIRACLE UP MY SLEEVE! NOW BEHOLD MY ULTIMATE ATTACK!!”

“W-wait, hold on…!”

“DOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUBLE DEUCE!!!!!”

Mecha Santa holds his arms forward, then extends both of his middle fingers upward… then holds them there. Several seconds pass, in complete silence.

“Uh,” you say. “Is… is that it?”

“…THEY CAN’T ALL BE WINNERS, KID.”

“Will you get the FUCK out of here already!?”

Mecha Santa coughs. “ALRIGHT, THEN! VERY WELL! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL… GO-HO-HO FUCK YOURSELVES!”

You roll your eyes as Mecha Santa slides away, and out of sight.

“…Honestly.”

--------

Shortly afterward, you close the Dark Fountain without any trouble, and find yourself back in the fireworks shed. It’s dark — too dark. For a moment you wish you had a match so you could see better, but then you realize that would be a terrible idea.

(Come to think of it, storing all these fireworks in a rickety old shed probably isn’t a good idea in the first place. Maybe I should ask mom about safety regulations later.)

…Or maybe not, you quickly decide. Talking to your mother about *anything* politics-related only ever invites headaches. It’s bad enough when she’s only a parental authority figure, after all.

That said, it doesn’t take long for your eyes to adjust to the darkness, perhaps because you’ve spent so much time in a world made out of even *darker* darkness.

In the corner of the shed, you can see a large metal box — the fireworks launching console, by the looks of it. It’s a sleek grey color, has a red plastic lid, and on the front is a brand label you don’t recognize: Kringletechnics™.

(Huh. So this is ‘Mecha Santa’ then?) you muse. (I’d think this thing would have come closer to killing me than my old laptop, but I guess I’d be wrong.)

You decide not to dwell on it any further, as you take your leave. The day is saved, and that’s all you need to worry about for now.

--------

You spend the rest of the day hanging out with Asriel and Valerie, playing the various carnival games. Most people have left by the evening; apparently you’re not the only person who thinks the whole arrangement is a downgrade from the usual festivities.

Still, you do manage to enjoy yourself, much more than you thought you would. Having your two best friends with you can make even the lamest activities seem fun.

The afternoon soon gives way to the evening. There’s a fireworks show scheduled in the park near the carnival, but it doesn’t look like many people are attending this year. You eventually settle down on a grassy hill to watch the fireworks with your friends, a good distance away from the few others who are present.

The skies are clear tonight, with the stars twinkling gently above. Valerie and Asriel are both sitting alongside you as you gaze upward at vividly painted twilight, a pattern of blues and purples that covers the horizon.

“…Sure is pretty tonight, huh?” says Valerie. “Almost makes you forget that there’s supposed to be fireworks.”

“Yeah,” you say. “It’s… it’s nice to be able to see the sky, every now and then.”

Valerie doesn’t know it, but you’ve grown to appreciate being able to see the sun, the moon, and the stars. The Dark Worlds don’t really have ‘skies’ per se. They technically do, but there are no celestial bodies there to speak of, only pitch black as far as the eye can see.

Without even thinking, you find yourself leaning in closer to her, brushing up against Valerie’s body. She doesn’t seem to mind, as she also leans into you, and the two of you are soon huddled shoulder-to-shoulder. You feel a warmth building in your chest as you savor the sensation of her touch.

Asriel shoots the two of you an odd look.

“Uh… I’m, um… I’m just gonna go ahead and give the two of you some privacy. I’ll see you around.”

You blink rapidly, and can feel a rush of heat just beneath the fur on your cheeks. And Valerie looks just as flustered as you, for some reason.

“H-huh!? Wait, Asriel, what are you implying!?”

But it’s too late, as Asriel is already gone.

Chapter Text

Iji was slowly brought back into the realm of consciousness by a feeling akin to a warm breeze. As her mind came into focus, she could feel fresh snow pressing against the back of her head. She had apparently been laying down in the snow for some time.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw Chara kneeling over her, hovering their hands above her torso — tiny jets of air that were oddly green-colored were emanating from their gloved fingertips, blowing across her chestplate. Wind magic, it seemed, and as the wind washed over her Iji could feel the icy pain and numbness in her body fading away.

She sat up, and saw Asriel right beside her, the fur beneath his eyes matted with tears. The very moment she sat up, the young prince rushed over to her side, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

“Iji! You’re alive! I was so scared! I-I really thought you might be…!”

Iji returned the embrace, a task made slightly more difficult by the golden staff that Asriel continued to hold in his right hand.

“Easy there, Az. I’m alright. Everything’s okay.”

Asriel pulled away, and Iji slowly stretched herself out. Her nanogun was lying somewhere off to the side, leaving a soft imprint in the snow, and she picked it as she stood to her feet. Her eyes drifted over towards Chara.

“Chara, was that… healing magic you used there?”

“It would seem so,” said Chara. “I had a feeling that I could use something like it, so… I did.”

Iji had to pause for a moment. That wasn’t entirely unexpected, given their new form, but it certainly was… unusual.

“Where’s Chillno?”

“Not here, thankfully,” said Chara. “It seems that spell she used exhausted all her power. Asriel and I were able to carry you to safety after she collapsed.”

“I… I honestly didn’t think you were gonna make it,” Asriel choked. “You were literally frozen solid. I had to use my fire magic to thaw you out.”

“W-wait, frozen solid?” said Iji. “As in completely encased in ice? That’s… wow. How did I survive that?”

“Well, your gun does shoot ice too,” said Chara. “And you have blue skin. Maybe you’re an ice elemental now? Everyone knows monsters are resistant to their own element.”

“…I’m pretty sure if I were ever a monster, I would know.”

Putting that thought out of her mind for now, Iji took a moment to look around, and examine her surroundings. The canopy had thinned out and vanished; the area was less of a forest and more of grassy hillside dotted with trees, though it still was clear that the were in the middle of the wilderness. Looking past the gentle slope of the hill, Iji could see nothing but further wilderness, trees and hills that were likewise covered in a blanket of snow.

What caught her attention the most, however, was what stood tall above all of them. A massive lone mountain, wide at the base and rocky at its peak, standing tall over the horizon, visible from what was no doubt miles and miles away.

Asriel took notice that Iji was staring at the mountain, her gaze fixed at it. “What’s up, Iji? Something on your mind?”

“That mountain,” said Iji. “I think I know what it is.”

“You do?” said Asriel. “I saw it when I was flying over the forest earlier. You think it’s got something to with… all of this?”

“Well, maybe. But that ‘Chillno’ girl was… mostly the same as a character I’ve heard of from the Touhou Project video game series. Which pretty much confirms that we’re in one of those games right now. Her name was different though. Last I checked, she was called ‘Cirno.’”

“Nah, I’m pretty sure that’s just a mistranslation,” said Chara.

Iji rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Point is, this is a Touhou world, whatever that even means. I’m only vaguely familiar with those games, but I remember Dan being super into them when he was fourteen. So if I recall correctly… that mountain is probably the one from Mountain of Faith.”

Ariel raised an eyebrow. “Mountain of… Faith?”

“The tenth game, I think. I don’t know anything more than that, I’m afraid,” Iji said. “My eyes always sort of glazed over whenever he started infodumping about Touhou lore.”

A bubble of guilt formed within Iji’s stomach. In hindsight, she really wished she had been more supportive of her younger brother’s interests, while she still had the chance.

She was, thankfully, pulled out of such dark thoughts before she could sink any deeper into them.

“That would be Youkai Mountain,” Chara chimed in. “It’s the largest mountain in the realm of Gensokyo, inhabited entirely by youkai.”

Asriel glanced at Chara, curiosity evident in his eyes. “Youkai? What are those?”

“You don’t know? I’m kinda surprised Chara never told you about them,” said Iji. “They’re mythical beings of Japanese folklore. Sometimes evil, sometimes benevolent, but generally more mischievous than anything. Basically a catch-all term for any supernatural creature.”

“…Oh. You mean like monsters, then.”

“Kinda!” said Chara. “But the youkai in Touhou are different. They’re born from human beliefs, and are sustained by human fear. Humans imagine that youkai are responsible for the unexplained things that frighten them… and so they become real through that superstition.”

“Huh. Interesting,” said Asriel. “And that Chillno girl was one of those ‘youkai,’ then?”

“No, she’s a fairy. Fairies in Touhou are elemental spirits of nature. Ice, the seasons, plants, those sorts of things.”

“Okay, that’s all well and good,” Iji cut in, “but right now, we need to focus on how we’re going to find a way out of here. And I was thinking that mountain might just be the best lead we have.”

A smirk slowly crawled its way across Chara’s face.

“Let me guess. You want to climb to the summit and use it as a vantage point?”

Iji couldn’t help but return the smile. “Well, stick with what you know, right?”

She adjusted her footing, shaking out the snow that had lodged itself in the cracks in her metal boots, and stepped forward. “Alright, let’s not waste any time. Alphys is probably worrying about us right now.”

“Iji, wait,” said Asriel. “We don’t know if it’ll be dangerous. What if we run into someone else like Chillno?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll stick together. As long as we have each other’s backs, we’ll—”

“No! Let me finish!” Asriel interrupted. “I’m telling you that we need to get a better grip on what’s up ahead before we set out! If we just rush in blindly, we’ll only be putting ourselves in danger!”

Iji blinked. The forcefulness in Asriel’s voice caught her off-guard, but she couldn’t rightly blame him for being stressed out.

“…Well, okay. But how do we do that?”

“Easy,” said Asriel. “I can fly. You and Chara stay right here. I’ll scout out what’s ahead and come back to you.”

Chara sported a thin frown as they turned to Asriel. “Are you sure about that? Most Touhou characters can fly, too. What if you get caught all by yourself?”

“I’ll be fine,” said Asriel. “I know how to move fast without being seen. I’ve, uh… I’ve had a lot of practice there.”

Iji turned to face Chara, and the two of them exchanged a tense look. A wordless understanding came between the two of them.

“Well, I… I don’t exactly feel good about this,” said Iji, turning back to Asriel. “But… I do think we probably would be better off if we had a general lay of the land. Just don’t fly off too far. And if there’s trouble, come back to us right away and we’ll back you up.”

“You got it!” said Asriel. “You two just hang on. I’ll be back lickety-split!”

Asriel’s feet touched off the ground, and he rose into the air and soared off into the distance, in the direction of the mountain.

A light snicker came from Chara’s throat. “Lickety-split? Azzy, you’re such a dork.”

--------

The trees moved quickly beneath Asriel as he flew across the sky, his eyes scanning the landscape for anything that might potentially give his friends trouble, mentally mapping out the geography in an attempt to piece together what the best land route to Youkai Mountain would be.

At the same time, he was sure to pay attention to his periphery vision, on the off-chance that he would run into something that might pose a threat to himself. With his magic, he would at least be capable of defending himself, but he had really no idea just what he would find out here.

He didn’t have to wonder for long, as in the corner of his field of vision he could see someone approaching.

The new arrival quickly flew into view, suspended in the air by magic. She was… she looked human, but Asriel could readily tell that she wasn’t. She was a young woman with blonde hair, wearing a simple dress that was further adorned with a red-and-white plaid apron, matching the plaid mob cap on her head. The scent of apples and cinnamon spice wafted strongly on the air as she made her presence known.

Asriel halted his flight, hovering in place as he looked the girl in the eye. He gripped his staff tightly, prepared to respond at a moment’s notice to any possible threat.

“Hello,” said the girl. “My name is Apple Girlington. Would you like to buy some of these apples I grew?”

“Uh,” said Asriel. For several seconds, ‘uh’ was the only answer he could think to give. “…No thanks? I’m good?”

Apple’s lips curved into a frown. Instantly, her pleasant demeanor shattered, leaving only a viscous scowl.

“No!? Excuse me!? Do you have any idea how difficult it was to grow these in the winter!?”

“Huh? Winter? But it’s June,” said Asriel. “Or… it was outside? Before we got sucked into this video game… thing. Whatever! Point is, I’m not interested!”

“How dare you! I won’t have you disrespecting my fellow apples like this!” Apple sneered. “If you won’t buy my apples willingly, then I will simply have to give them to you… by force!”

A tense mixture of emotions buried its way into Asriel’s stomach, equal parts dread and exasperation.

“Ugh. I should have known this wouldn’t be easy,” he groaned. “I sure hope Chara and Iji are doing okay right now…”

--------

Several minutes had passed, with no sign of Asriel anywhere. He had flown off to scout out the lands surrounding the mountain, and still not returned.

With every further moment that passed, Iji had only grown more and more anxious. She paced back and forth so many times that she had practically melted a rut through the snow.

“He… sure is taking his time, huh?” said Iji. “I sure hope Az is doing alright. I really hope I wasn’t wrong to let him go on his own…”

“He’ll be okay,” Chara reassured.

Iji let out a sigh. “I don’t know, Chara. I just don’t know. The last time something happened to him, it sent the entire Monster Kingdom into a decades-long downward spiral. I can’t let that happen again. I can’t let that happen to his parents. I can’t let that happen to you.”

Chara stepped closer to Iji, and looked her in the eyes. Despite lacking any pupils, and despite half their face being obscured by a mask, there was an unmistakable compassion in their gaze.

“Look, I get it. But Asriel’s really strong. I know he is, more than anyone in the world. Just trust him, okay? He’ll be fine.”

Another sharp breath escaped from Iji’s lungs. “I sure hope you’re right…”

Chara stepped forward and leaned in, and allowed Iji’s hand to rest on their shoulder. It felt… strange, seeing her longtime companion with a body of their own, feeling their touch as though they were really there and not just a voice in her head.

A warmth began building within Iji’s chest. She’d grown to care for Chara deeply, more so than she could have ever imagined. Though the pain of losing her entire family had never truly vanished, having someone who was always by her side, no matter what, was the first thing she needed to truly move forward.

And it was clear that Chara felt the same way. Even before either of them knew who they were, Chara had always cherished Iji’s company.

But Iji didn’t have to reminisce for long, as she soon could feel something coming. Perhaps something at the very edges of her peripheral vision, or a sound so quiet that she could only subconsciously perceive it, but somehow she knew that she and Chara were not alone anymore.

Iji spun around and saw…

…well, she wasn’t sure. The new visitor was floating in the air in front of Iji, and while she looked human, there was something ever-so-slightly off about her.

She was a young woman, dressed in a yellow tunic and black shorts, with a matching yellow cape that draped around her shoulders and to the back of her knees. A silver cross held the cape in place around her collar, and there was a large bandage across her right knee — and even more curiously, a massive bandage on top of her short black hair, worn as though it were a headband.

“Hello,” said the girl. “My name is Princess Remedy. I am on a journey to master my medicinal sorcery. Do you have any ailments that need treatment?”

Iji blinked. She stared Remedy straight in the face, unsure of what to do with the weapon in her hand. “Uh… no, we’re good. But, um… thanks?”

Remedy looked Iji over, a thoughtful look crossing her face. “Hmm… are you certain? Because it looks to me like you’re suffering from some kind of skin condition.”

“Huh? What are you…?” It took a moment for Iji to realize what Remedy was talking about. “Oh, uh. No, this is just what I look like here. My skin’s just blue… naturally? I think?”

“Don’t be absurd. Clearly, this is the result of some kind of argyria,” said Remedy. “You haven’t been taking colloidal silver supplements, have you? You should know that’s all a scam. Whoever’s selling it to you just wants to take your money.”

“What?” said Iji. “No! I’m telling you, there’s nothing wrong with—”

Remedy didn’t care to listen. She suddenly produced an absolutely massive syringe out of thin air, easily as tall as her entire body, filled with some kind of glowing pink liquid. There was a gleam in her eye as her lips curved into a smile.

* Princess Remedy

* ATK: 10

* DEF: 7

* Mistakenly believes that her bullets can heal people.

“Hold still. This is only going to hurt for a few minutes.”

“…Oh,” said Iji. “Oh god, no.”

Princess Remedy leaped into the air, and the tip of her syringe glowed with raw power. She thrust it forward, and somehow, a storm of even smaller syringes erupted from the needle, spreading out in overlapping patterns that eclipsed the battlefield in medicinal projectiles.

Spell Card:

注射「You May Feel a Little Pinch」

“Shit!” Iji cursed, as she ducked under a needle. “Asriel, where the hell are you!?”

--------

* Apple Girlington

* ATK: 7

* DEF: 10

* Buy some apples!

“H-hey! Watch it!” Asriel cried out, as a bright red bullet narrowly soared past his head. “What the hell is your problem!?”

“I have no patience for those who don’t appreciate my talents,” Apple answered. “All of Gensokyo must know the fruits of my hard work! You are no exception, Red-White!”

“You can’t be serious! I don’t want to eat your dumb apples, okay!?”

“Hmph. Is that so?” said Apple. “Then let’s see how you feel when my apples are right in your face!”

Spell Card:

物理「Newton’s Universal Gravitation」

A powerful, radiant red aura burst outward from Apple’s body, and a torrent of red projectiles launched upwards from herself, soaring higher and higher into the air — and then immediately falling back down, a rain of apple-shaped bullets descending from on high. Asriel weaved through the projectiles, deftly moving through the field of bullets.

One of the bullets very narrowly avoided hitting him, and as it grazed past him, he felt a strange tension building up within his soul… strange, and also weirdly familiar.

Huh… when I *almost* get hit by a bullet, my Tension Points increase… I still have no idea how I know what those are, though.

With this knowledge, Asriel began moving just a bit more boldly — going just close enough to the bullets that he could feel the tension building within him, fueling his next spell.

“Alright, since you wanna fight so bad, here’s my attack! Shocker Breaker!”

Asriel thrust his staff forward, lightning crackling at the tip of its orb before surging outwards in a burst of raw magical voltage. The iridescent thunderbolt struck Apple square in the center of the chest, and she grunted in pain, staggering backwards in the air.

As she righted herself, the resolve in Apple’s eyes renewed, and her aura once again flared to life.

Spell Card:

実符「Knowledge of Good and Evil」

This time, alternating waves of black and white bullets emanated from Apple’s body — the white bullets were slower and easier to dodge as Asriel maneuvered through the air, but their larger size vastly restricted the available airspace.

The black bullets, meanwhile, moved quickly, fast enough that he couldn’t avoid getting pelted by at least three of them. Thankfully, it seemed that these attacks weren’t lethal, but that didn’t stop them from hurting like hell.

Okay. Okay, this is fine. I’m not in danger of dying. I just need to… need to get her to back off.

Let’s see, I should almost have enough Tension Points…

Asriel dodged through one last wave of projectiles, and felt the tension within his soul reach a critical threshold.

With all of the power he could muster, he channeled his inner tension into a new attack, aimed straight at Apple’s head.

“STAR BLAZING!”

Several rainbow stars erupted from the tip of his staff in rapid succession, soaring straight and true towards his opponent. There was a burst of rainbow heat and light as the stars exploded against Apple, sending glittery multicolored smoke scattering outward from the force of impact.

All at once, Apple’s attack ceased. Asriel’s breath was heavy and belabored as he hovered in place, awaiting the moment of truth.

When the smoke cleared, Apple’s body was covered in blackened soot, and her dress was visibly ruffled.

“…Well, shoot. Now who am I supposed to share my apples with?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” Asriel said. “Go take them make yourself some apple humble pie or something.”

Apple Girlington gave a wordless grunt, then turned around flew away, her metaphorical tail tucked between her legs.

“Well, that was pointless,” he grumbled. “Does everyone here pick fights at the drop of a hat?”

--------

Iji ducked past another stream of syringe projectiles, feeling a slight pinch against her skin as one of them impacted her right on the upper arm. Nothing too painful, but she had a feeling that being hit by them too many times could leave her very, very sore for a while.

With each attack she dodged, she noticed that the ‘TP’ in her nanogun increased… but only if just barely dodged the attack. It would seem that whatever her new abilities were, they were fueled by reckless maneuvering.

Ugh. Really can’t let me do this the easy way, huh?

Still, she wasn’t deterred. She weaved through the syringes, firing the occasional shots back from her nanogun whenever an opening presented itself. The yellow projectiles seldom hit Remedy with her erratic aerial movements, but every so often Iji was able to score a direct hit. The self-proclaimed Princess didn’t seem much fazed by it, though.

“Hey Chara! Back me up here, won’t you?”

“I can’t!” Chara called back, ducking past another needle. “She’s too far away! I don’t have enough TP for my wind magic!”

Iji cursed under her breath. This was getting tiresome. Remedy didn’t seem particularly threatening compared to some other people she’d fought, but she was persistent.

Thankfully, she could soon feel her TP gauge increase to just enough where. With a tap of her finger, Iji cycled to the Mk. V, and unleashed a torrent of spreading projectiles all at once.

Remedy’s rapid movements in the air were unable to match the spread of yellow energy pellets, and she was struck dead-center in the chest by one bullet just as she managed to dodge another. Remedy staggered backwards, and Iji took the opportunity to unleash another several shots aimed straight at her center mass.

The assault of syringes immediately ceased, but Remedy remained undeterred. As she righted herself, a bright glow began gathering in her hands, and she thrust her palm forward in a burst of heat and light.

Spell Card:

禁薬「Unnecessary Laser Surgery」

“Shit!”

The four-letter expletive proved to be the only appropriate response as dozens upon dozens of bright blue-white beams of energy materialized in the air, criss-crossing and burning across the battlefield. The beams kept coming, and coming, and coming, and in dodging them Iji found no room for counterattack. She winced in pain as one of them struck her in the elbow, leaving a lingering burning sensation that ran up the entire length of her arm.

She could only hope that Chara was able to avoid the spell better than she was, as she didn’t even have time to look back to see how they were doing.

“Now!” Chara called out from behind, as if to answer her worries. “Take this! Gale Dagger!”

From somewhere behind her, a crescent-shaped blade of wind rocketed over Iji’s head, whooshing past her and barreling towards Remedy. The Princess attempted to move out of the way, but the air blade was much faster than her, and struck her straight across the center of her body.

Remedy’s energy beams instantly dissipated, all at once. She righted herself, then lowered herself to the ground, her yellow tunic looking notably more tattered than before. Iji held her gun at the read as the Princess stood before her and Chara, looking her square in the eye.

“…My apologies,” said Remedy. “It would appear that I had misdiagnosed you. You’ve got a clean bill of health.”

“I could have told you that,” Iji scoffed. “Now will you leave us alone already?”

“Of course. You’re free to go now. I’ll go ahead and send the bill to your insurance provider.”

“Wait, what!? Bill!? What bill!?”

But Iji’s question fell on deaf ears, as Princess Remedy took to the air and flew away, disappearing into the horizon.

Chara approached Iji, concern evident in the thin frown across their face. “…You okay, Iji?”

“A little sore, but I think so,” Iji replied. “Does everyone here just pick fights all the time, or what?”

“Well, we are in a bullet hell video game,” said Chara. “I imagine fighting is the default mode of expression for everyone here.”

“Well, isn’t that just what we need,” Iji groaned. “I really hope Asriel’s okay.”

“…Yeah. Me too.”

Much to Iji’s relief, it didn’t take long after that for Asriel to return. His fur was slightly scruffed as he touched down onto the earth, and he looked particularly annoyed, but otherwise he seemed unharmed.

“Let me guess,” said Chara. “You got into a fight too?”

“…That obvious, huh?” said Asriel. “Yeah, I ended up having to defend myself. Nobody died though, so I’d call that a win.”

“Glad to hear,” said Iji. “Did you manage to scout out a path ahead?”

Almost immediately, Asriel perked up. “Yeah! I actually managed to find a really convenient path through the wilderness. It’ll take us straight through the woods, but it’ll lead us right to the mountain’s base.”

“Great!” Chara cheered. “That means we’re already in a better position to find out way out now. Lead the way, Azzy!”

Asriel nodded, then gestured for Iji and Chara to follow as he led them through the snowy wilds.

--------

Sure enough, the path that Asriel led the group through passed down the hillside, and into another patch of dense forest within a small valley.

The path through the woods took them to a narrow corridor between two dense walls of dense, massively tall pine trees that enclosed the forest on either side. The air was completely still, with no sound to be heard, save for three pairs of footsteps softly crunching against the snow.

Eventually, the group came to a wooden bridge, laid across a small crevasse in the ground. Iji moved forward as she followed Asriel, the four pairs of footsteps only barely disturbing the silence as they moved.

…Something’s not right here.

“Wait,” said Iji. “Hold up. Nobody move.”

Asriel and Chara both froze instantly. For several seconds, they remained there, standing completely still. There was nothing to be seen, heard, or felt anywhere around them.

Nothing but pure stillness, and the hairs on the back of Iji’s neck standing straight up on end.

“What’s the matter, Lightners? Ain’t you gonna turn around and greet your new pal?”

Instantly, Iji spun around, so quickly that she very nearly tripped over herself.

The woman Iji saw was… well, she was something. Inhumanly beautiful, and not just because she clearly wasn’t human. She wore a white dress with a blue vest laid on top, and a large belt across her waist with a golden coin for a belt buckle. She had vibrant red hair tied into twin ponytails, matching her equally vibrant red eyes…

…but what easily stood out the most was the massive scythe that she carried across her shoulder.

A large, goofy grin crossed the scythe-woman’s face as she looked Iji in the eye.

“‘Sup? The name’s Komachi. Komachi the shinigami. Nice to meet you!”

Chapter Text

Iji could only stare at the self-proclaimed shinigami that was standing before her, in the midst of the forest. Not because she was particularly attractive by human standards — which she definitely was — but because of what she knew as shinigami represented.

“Uh,” said Asriel. “Howdy? My name’s Asriel. These are my friends—”

Chara softly jabbed Asriel’s side with an elbow before he could finish. “Azzy! Don’t tell her who we are! Don’t you know what a shinigami is?”

“…No? Should I?”

“A shinigami is a spirit of death! If she finds out that all of us have cheated death before, then…” Chara suddenly froze, as they realized what they had just spoken out loud. “Uh, I… I-I mean… aw, crap.”

Komachi’s casual grin grew even wider. “Nah, relax,” she said. “You don’t gotta worry about that. I’m just a humble ferryman of the Sanzu River. Collectin’ souls ain’t part of my job.”

Asriel shot Komachi an odd look. “Of the what river?”

“‘Sides, I’m on break right now. Plus I’m not really a shinigami in the traditional sense,” Komachi continued. “More like a Darkner.”

Now it was Chara’s turn to give Komachi an odd look. “Darkner?”

“Never heard of us, eh? We’re like objects and images brought to life through darkness,” Komachi explained. “Me for example, I was a character in a bullet hell video game. Enough about myself, though. What brings you guys to this old neck of the woods?”

Iji paused, taking a moment to answer. Given that every new person she’d met in the game world had tried to pick a fight, she wasn’t about to let her guard down yet.

“We, uh… kind of got sucked into this… video game world… thing,” she finally answered. “We’re looking for a way back home.”

“Lookin’ for a way back to the World of Light, huh? Yeah, I get you,” said Komachi. “You’ll need to find and shut off the Dark Fountain for that. And to get to the Dark Fountain, you’ll have to go inside the caverns of Mount Ōta.”

Chara glanced over at Iji, then back to Komachi. “Uh… you mean Youkai Mountain? We were heading there anyway, so…”

“That’s the one!” Komachi said. “It’ll take you a while to get there on foot, though. How ‘bout I show you the way? I happen to know a really great shortcut.”

Iji once again hesitated to answer. Komachi… didn’t seem like the type to pick fights, which was a first. But there was something about her that seemed off in a way that she couldn’t quite place.

Still, she had offered an important lead, and Iji wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Uh… sure. Lead the way.”

“Great!” Komachi said. “Just follow me, I’ll get you there in a jiffy.”

Komachi beckoned the others to come after her, and Iji held her nanogun close as she followed in Komachi’s footsteps.

What happened next was a strange and strangely familiar sensation. With every step they took together, the scenery around them warped and stretched impossible distances, as though space itself were a video tape being squashed and fast-forwarded with every movement they made.

One walk that was simultaneously short and long later, and Iji found herself with Asriel and Chara, standing at the base of the massive rocky mountain. She shook her head rapidly, trying to clear the disorientation away, but she couldn’t shake the unmistakable recognition in her mind.

Asriel, who was still wobbling on his feet, stared slack-jawed in Komachi’s direction. “W-wait… that was… how!?”

Komachi gave another grin, one that looked especially self-satisfied. “Manipulation of distance. It’s my signature ability!”

“Wait,” said Iji, “hold the phone. That’s Sans’s ability. How the hell did you…?”

Komachi’s eyes instantly lit up. “Oh, hey! Sans! You know him, too? Small world!”

“Wait, what!?”

“Oh yeah, he and I go way back,” said Komachi. “Used to play my game all the time. Even managed to get a few world record high scores. He might not look like much, but he’s probably the best in the world when it comes to dodgin’ bullets.”

Iji glanced back at Asriel, then back at Komachi.

“…You don’t say.”

“Yup, he was a real close friend of mine,” Komachi continued. Her seemingly-perpetual grin gave way to a thin, worried frown. “I don’t see him very often these days, though. Seems he’s not had a lot of time for video games since the Null Roar happened. Or maybe his heart just isn’t in it anymore, I dunno.”

Immediately, Asriel’s entire body went stiff. He dropped his staff instantly, causing it to fall softly against the snow.

“T-t-the what now!!?”

“Jeez, Azzy,” said Chara, “what’s got you so spooked all of a sudden?”

The question brought Asriel’s trembling to a halt. The fear that was evident in his entire body was replaced with an expression of bafflement.

“I… huh. I… actually have no idea. Something about that phrase just sort of… really scared me, somehow? Weird.”

“Anyhow, you guys wanna get into the mountain, you’re gonna have to go through that gap there.” Komachi pointed her scythe somewhere past Iji. Iji turned her head over her shoulder to look, and saw… something that could only be described as a rift in reality itself.

Even that description didn’t fully do it justice though, as it was something far more unsettling than a simple wormhole or portal. There were what appeared to be ribbons tied to either end of the rift in space, bright red and apparently holding the edges of the rift closed, as though removing them would cause it to infinitely expand.

Not to mention the fact that this tear in reality was filled with eyes. Massive, red, unblinking eyes that filled the pitch-black interior of the rift, piercing into Iji’s soul with their unmoving gazes.

“W-wait, what the hell!?” Iji cried out. “How long has that been there!?”

“Like I said, that’s the way into the mountain,” said Komachi. “Just, uh… be careful when you go in. The lady you’ll find on the other side? She’s probably the scariest person you’ll ever meet.”

“N-now just hold on a second here!”

Komachi yawned and gave a long stretch, entirely unconcerned with any of the obvious problems with what she said. “Anyway, that’s about all I’ve got for ya. I should get going. I’ve got a lot of work to avoid. Good luck out there!”

“Wait! Wait a second! Don’t go!” Iji cried out. “I still have so many… and she’s already gone. Dammit.”

The forest at the mountain’s base remained quiet. Iji turned towards her two traveling companions, sharing the pensive look on both of their faces. She then looked towards the ‘gap’ that lay at the foot of the mountain, trying not to shudder as its red gaze continued to pierce into the core of her being.

“So,” said Iji, “we… we all agree that we probably shouldn’t go into that thing, right?”

“No arguments here,” said Asriel. Just looking at the ‘gap,’ he couldn’t help but wince sympathetically. “Yeesh.”

“…Great. So we’re at the mountain, but we have no idea what to do next. Any ideas, you two?”

Asriel reached down, and picked his staff up off the ground. “I’m gonna go fly around and scope out the area. If there’s another way in, I’ll try to find it.”

But the young prince never got the chance to even start.

The ground began to rumble, and an unearthly, indescribable noise came from somewhere. The closest thing Iji could compare it to was a wet squelch, but the way the noise seemed to slither past her ears and directly into her brain made it unlike any auditory sensation she’d ever experienced.

From the dark, unspeakable depths of the gap, dozens upon dozens of long and spindly arms burst forth, wriggling and writhing through the air as they snaked their way towards Iji and her friends. Her reaction was immediate, shooting at the appendages with her nanogun, but the energy projectiles simply dissipated the disembodied limbs, to no effect.

Moments later, Iji’s wrists and ankles were tightly seized, and in the corner of her eyes she could see Asriel and Chara had been seized by the wrists and ankles as well. Her struggles amounted to nothing, as she was dragged through the air with no resistance, pulled towards the unblinking, many-eyed gash in reality as though caught in an inexorable riptide.

Iji’s scream was smothered as the darkness enveloped her, and the world that she knew faded away to nothing.

--------

As you exit through the strange, multi-eyed rift in reality, you find yourself in a new location. You stand now at the top of a giant circular stone platform, more than a hundred feet in diameter. The platform connects to a massive stone staircase, nearly as wide as the platform itself, and each stone step taller than your entire body. The impossibly gargantuan staircase descends down a mountainside that’s so large that you can’t even begin to see the bottom, plunging straight through the fog surrounding the mountaintop and into the inky black abyss below.

But that is of little concern to you, as in the center of the platform, you see the unmistakable sight of the Dark Fountain. Shadows gush from the ground, billowing upwards and outwards and cloaking the sky in darkness.

You turn behind yourself, and give your companion Ralsei a nod. Though you’ve not known him for very long, you already consider him to be a close ally. And the name you gave him has always felt fitting; his fluffy black coat and curved horns remind you a lot of your close friend Asriel. Every time you enter a new Dark World and see Ralsei again, his fur somehow looks even fluffier and blacker than before.

As you approach the Dark Fountain, you summon your keyblade to your hand. You’ve never closed one without having to get into a fight first, and you don’t expect that to change anytime soon.

Sure enough, your approach is eventually halted when something appears in front of you. A rift in reality, much like the one you entered through, a gap in space with red ribbons tied around its ends and dozens of massive, unblinking eyes in its body. It tears through the fabric of existence as it coalesces into being, and you fight to suppress a shudder at the sight of it.

But this time, the gap isn’t the only thing that appears. The light (or anti-light, as it is in the Dark Worlds) shimmers and distorts around the gap, and your eyes glaze over as they fail to register what they are seeing, like the visual information simply cannot be processed by your mind. When the distortion stops, you see something new there, as well.

She’s a woman who looks to be middle-aged, somehow sitting *on top* of the rift in reality like it were a hammock. Her skin is pale, she has bright blond hair and piercing golden eyes, and she’s wearing a white dress with a purple Chinese-style tabard draped on top of it. On the front of the tabard you can see patterns of three lines, arranged horizontally from top to bottom. Having obsessively watched Ninja Academy when you were younger, you recognize these as the Eight Trigrams of Taoist tradition.

Rounding out the woman’s outfit is a white mob cap with a red ribbon tied around the front, in the figure-eight shape of an infinity symbol — and you can’t help but feel that this is an intentional symbolic choice.

Everything about the golden-eyed woman looks human, but you can immediately tell that she absolutely anything but. The way she casually sits atop a tear in reality itself, and the way her eyes carry the weight of impossible eons, tell you that she is something entirely alien to humans and monsters alike.

You hold your keyblade close as you step forward, trying to convince yourself that you aren’t intimidated. You’re not sure how much you’re succeeding at it.

The golden-eyed gap-woman shoots a thin smile in your direction.

“Hello there. I’ve been expecting you. It’s nice to finally meet you, miss… Kataiser, was it?”

You stare at the gap-woman blankly. “Uh… no. What the hell kind of name is ‘Kataiser?’ My name is Dess.”

The gap-woman’s thin smile remains. There is a strangely knowing gleam in her eye, and you immediately don’t like it.

“Ah. My apologies. I must be going senile in my age. In any case, my name is Violet Hearn. It’s nice to finally meet you, December Holiday.”

“So you already know my name.” It’s not a question, only a statement. “Let me guess. You’ve been spying on me?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Violet hums. “I see everything, don’t you know. And I take it that you’re here to close the Dark Fountain?”

“I am,” you reply. You shift your grip on your keyblade as you lock eyes with Violet. “And I take it that you’re here to stop me?”

“Oh, I have no interest in hindering your personal quest,” Violet replies. “Although, that being said… I am quite interested in seeing more of your capabilities, Miss Kataiser.”

“Holiday.”

“I know what I said,” says Violet. She holds out a hand, a deep purple paper fan appears in her grasp. She unfolds it with a flick of her wrist, a gleam in her eyes as she holds it in front of her face, her giggle sending a chill down the length of her spine. “Fufufufufu~ You don’t truly know where you are, do you? Tell me, how did you get here? What sort of Dark World are you in right now?”

You open your mouth for a response, but none come to you. Your mind draws a blank, no matter how many times you try to search for an answer.

“U-uh…? Rals?” You turn over your shoulder, looking your friend in the eye. “Little help here? Do you know what Dark World this is?”

“I dunno!” Ralsei says, with a wide, cheerful smile. “I don’t remember anything before we came here!” His face freezes, before an epiphany slowly makes its way across his muzzle. “Oh, um… w-wait, shoot. Is… is that not normal?”

“NO!! No, it’s not normal! That is literally the opposite of normal!” Anger begins to bubble up within you as you turn around, locking eyes once again with Violet. You point the tip of your keyblade in her direction, aimed straight at her heart. “What is this!? What is going on here!? What did you do to us!?”

“Oh, I have done nothing to you. I have simply appeared before you, in what you would otherwise assume is a place beyond my reach.” Her voice is teasing, laced with a cutting mischief that seeps into your blood like venom. “Tell me, have you ever had a dream so vivid that you’re unsure whether you have truly woken from it? Is what you are seeing now an illusion, or a castle on sand? Till daybreak, this dream is a butterfly dream.”

“ENOUGH!! No more of your cryptic nonsense!” you bark. “If you’re not going to stop us from closing the Fountain, then move aside and let us through!”

“Hmmmm…” Once again, Violet flips open a fan, holding it in front of her face. “…No, I don’t think I will. You believe that the Worlds of Light and Dark exist in precarious balance. But as I am about to demonstrate, the distinction is meaningless. The boundary between the two is so thin as to be nonexistent. And now, you will witness the fragility of your feeble understanding of reality!”

Violet rises up into the air, and right away waves upon waves of power emanate from her entire body. The wind howls and whips at your fur, and you struggle to remain standing upright as the sudden dark hurricane threatens to sweep you off your hooves.

Spell Card:

結界 「Inversion of Known and Fantasy」

As you prepare yourself for the assault, Violet raises a palm in your direction. Large bubbles of dark energy launch outwards towards you, and you prepare to dodge out of the way — but before you’re able to, the bubbles explode into further rains of glowing dark bullets. Some of them are shaped like arrows, which home into your position, while others are spreading circles of bullets which greatly restrict your own movement options.

You are able to dodge the bullets with some effort, but you’re more worried about Ralsei’s chance. A glance over your shoulder tells you that he’s at least avoiding the worst of the assault, but his dark fur looks noticeably scuffed.

Still, you hold onto your resolve. As the bullets graze against you and your tension builds, you gather up enough magic to fire several frostsplinters at Violet. She’s moving erratically through the air, but you’ve had enough practice that hitting moving targets is no longer an issue for you.

The frostsplinters explode against her body, and Violet doesn’t even flinch at the impact. Still, it must have done some damage, as her bullet pattern suddenly ceases.

And yet you don’t have any time to rest, as she immediately follows it with another one.

Spell Card:

結界 「Synthesis of Human and Monster」

With a wave of her hand, Violet summons yet more bullets which materialize in the air in erratic patterns. There are two kinds of them now. Glowing white spheres of pure arcane energy, and spheres of mystic power which glow a bright crimson red.

The bullets don’t appear to be aimed at you or Ralsei, but rather at each other. They fly through the air in a straight-on collision course, and whenever each the two colors of bullets collide, they explode outwards into a massive wave of smaller projectiles which blot out the air as they spread outwards.

You squeeze your way through a gap in the waves of smaller bullets, though not before one of them tears through the clothing on your shoulder. You wince in pain as your fur is stained with blood from the cut on your shoulder.

“Hold on, Dess! I’ve got you!”

Ralsei waves his hand, and your shoulder is bathed in green light. Within moments, the pain subsides, and the gash in your skin is healed. Yet the assault of bullets never ceases, and you have no time to thank him for his assistance.

Your eyes lock onto Violet as she darts through the air, summoning more bullets with seemingly no effort at all. Eventually, she hovers lower to the ground, and you seize upon the opportunity to launch a counterattack. With a mighty toss, your keyblade is sent soaring through the air, cutting clear through the black winds as spins and rockets towards your target.

Violet is struck by the keyblade, and once again she doesn’t even flinch. Your weapon bounces off of her, and returns to your grasp as you hold out your hand. Yet once again, it least seems to have done *something*, as the winds shift, and Violet switches to another spell.

Spell Card:

結界 「Dialectic of Flesh and Machine」

What comes next is… weirdly familiar, in a way that you can’t quite describe. The projectiles that emanate from Violet’s aura are pink and oval-shaped, and explode into smaller pink fragments whenever they impact against the floor beneath you. They remind you a lot of your frostsplinters, except they appear to be made of some kind of plasma instead of ice.

The shocksplinters(?) are interlaced with larger projectiles, spheres of burning blue fire which explode with a force akin to a nuclear detonation. You’re not sure *why* your mind immediately goes to nuclear weapons, but it does. You make it a priority to avoid those projectiles especially.

The pattern is significantly easier to dodge than the one that came before, but there’s no shaking the strange sense of familiarity deep within your gut, and that odd sensation makes it all the more difficult to focus. But eventually, you manage to build enough Tension Points to launch another several frostplinters in Violet’s direction.

The icy explosion that follows ends the assault, but Violet still looks no worse for wear. She flashes you a thin smile as she regards you from the air.

“I must say, I’m impressed,” Violet says. “You’ve been doing rather well for yourself so far. So how about we try something a little bit different instead?”

A little white index card materializes in her hand, and she begins reading from it aloud.

“Two trains, Train A and Train B, simultaneously depart from Station A and Station B. The two stations are 214.21 miles from each other. Train A is moving at 131 miles per hour towards Station B, and Train B is moving at 97.4 miles per hour towards Station B. If both trains departed at 11:00 AM, at what time will the trains meet?”

“Huh?” you say. “Hold on, is this really the time for—”

“Trick question!” Violet declares, tossing the card aside. “The answer is now!”

“Wait, what?”

Spell Card:

難問 「Impossible Train Problem」

Trepidation crawls up your back as Violet holds out a hand, and *twists*. Your eyes dart around, in anticipation of the next assault.

What you see is not what you expect. Instead of more bullets, what crosses your eyes is another ‘gap,’ a rift in reality filled with red unblinking eyes. It’s much larger than the one you entered from — large enough that an entire train car could easily pass through it.

The sound of a train’s horn crosses your ears, and you realize that this is not hyperbole in the slightest. A massive, impossibly bright headlight shines through the gap, from what you can only imagine is the front of a locomotive.

You can hear the chugging sound of a steam engine, and the deafening blare of a horn, but your field of vision is entirely blotted out. The engine’s headlight is too bright. Your body is frozen at the sight of it, and your hooves refuse to move from the ground no matter how much your brain screams at them to get out of the way.

You didn’t think that this was how you were going to die. You only wish you could say something to your friends and family before you’re gone.

The roar of the train’s engine crashes against your ears, and you feel something collide against you and pin you to the ground. You can hear the train’s engine and horn just beside you, and yet… you don’t feel any pain at all.

You open your eyes, and see that Ralsei has tackled you to the floor, out of the locomotive’s direct path. Seconds pass, and the train eventually leaves through another gap on the other side of the battlefield. Both gaps close, and Ralsei helps you stand back to your feet as you dust yourself off.

“Thanks, buddy. I owe you one,” you say. Your eyes turn towards Violet, who is floating in the air and regarding you with a pencil-thin smile.

“YOU!! What the hell is your problem!?” you snarl.

“Oh, don’t give me that look,” Violet retorts. “You’re alive, aren’t you? Isn’t that what matters to you mortals?”

“Shut the FUCK up!! You said you weren’t interested in hindering us! So fuck off and stop trying to murder us already!”

“Murder? Oh no, perish the thought,” Violet replies. “Your life may be fleeting, but it is not I who will ultimately end it. And besides, haven’t you always wanted a little bit of excitement to spice up the mundanity of your existence?”

“I SWEAR TO GOD, I WILL BREAK YOU IN HALF!!!”

Violet laughs again. Not the gentle teasing laughter of before, but a mocking, almost regal laugh.

“Ohohohohoho! Is that so? Then by all means, go ahead and try.”

Spell Card:

反魂 「100% Reflowering」

Violet floats higher into the air, and her entire body turns translucent, as though she is phasing out of corporeal reality. Wave upon wave of black, phantasmal butterflies materialize around her, spreading outwards and spinning counterclockwise as they cover the battlefield in hundreds upon hundreds of gently fluttering wings.

The butterflies are interspersed with beams of bright red energy which shoot outwards from Violet, circling clockwise opposite to the movements of the butterflies. Dodging both the lasers and the butterflies at the same time is difficult, and the adrenaline pumping through your veins is starting to take its toll on your body. If it weren’t a matter of life and death, you would have already collapsed from exhaustion by now.

“Gah! This is ridiculous!” you call. “Ralsei, can we get a read on her stats!? Just how much more fight does she have left in her!?”

“Um… l-let me see!” Ralsei calls back, ducking just beneath another butterfly projectile. He raises his hands, squinting slightly as he frames Violet between his fingers.

* “Violet Hearn”

* ATK: NO DATA

* DEF: NO DATA

“H-huh!? No data!?”

“What!?” you blurt out. “What do you MEAN no data!?”

More laughter echoes across the battlefield, ringing through the very depths of your mind.

“Oh my… are you perhaps attempting to *quantify* me?” says Violet. “Oh, that is adorable.”

“W-what…? What are you…?”

“Dess!” Ralsei calls out. “I… I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I don’t think she’s a Darkner at all! I-I think she might be a Titan!”

“What!?” you blurt. “Like YOU!?”

“I don’t know! I-I’ve never SEEN anything like her!!”

“Ohohoho! Now, this is amusing!” Violet laughs. “First you try to quantify me, then you try to classify me? My oh my… you both truly have NO idea, do you? Then again, I suppose that’s expected.”

“What!?” you cry out. Violet’s assault of butterflies and lasers has already ceased by now, but you’re so rattled that you barely even notice. “What are you talking about!?”

Violet shakes her head, condescendingly clicking her tongue. “You Lightners and your modern way of thinking… you truly believe that you can understand the world in full, if only you examine it in rational terms. But no matter how far the light of knowledge expands, there will always be a shadow. Within that shadow is the realm of the noumenal, that which cannot be known through reason or experience.”

A thin, piercing grin works its way across Violet’s lips. Looking at it sends a shudder down your spine, and try as you might to hide your fear, you know you aren’t succeeding.

“Do you understand what I am saying now? I choose to take this form because it is one that your mind can accept. But what I am truly is something you can never see. For I am the invisible and the ineffable, that which lurks within the gaps of all worldly understanding! You cannot hope to assign a number to my strength, for I am utterly beyond comprehension!”

“Shit! ShitshitshitshitSHIT.” Your heart is racing now, your ability to think rationally clouded out by a haze of raw, animalistic panic, an emotion far older and more powerful than the soul. “S-she’s bluffing, right Rals? Please, *please* tell me she’s bluffing!”

“Okay!” Ralsei answers “She’s bluffing!”

You breath a sigh of relief. “Oh. Okay, good. I didn’t think she actually was.”

“Well, um… no. She wasn’t. But you told me to tell you that!”

“What!? Ralsei, that’s not what I—”

“Look alive, my cervine friend!” Violet interrupts. “We’re not done here yet!”

Spell Card:

奈落 「Nihilist’s Eternal Return」

Your attention is pulled away from Ralsei, as Violet suddenly resumes her assault. The bullet pattern that follows is perhaps the least complex of any you’ve seen so far, with only a few sparse bullets spreading out from her. Though they are all specifically aimed at you, moving out of the way of their path is trivial.

Or at least it is, until somehow, you find yourself back in the path of the bullet mere moments after moving out of the way. It feels like space and time have somehow skipped over themselves, like a DVD drive skipping over a damaged section of a compact disk.

The bullet hits you in the center of the solar plexus, momentarily forcing the air out of your lungs.

“W-wait! Wait a second!” you blurt. “I-I was just standing over to the side a second ago! How…!?”

“Dess! T-this is bad!” Ralsei calls out, from off to the side. “I-I think she somehow turned back TIME to make her attack hit you!”

“WHAT!?”

Violet flashes you another grin, this time with teeth bared. You can see now that they’re sharp and pointed, the sort of teeth that are meant for tearing clean through flesh.

“Oh, yes. You finally understand the sort of power you’re contending with, don’t you? My ability is the absolute control over any and all boundaries! And that includes the boundaries between past, present, and future!”

A realization hits you, piercing straight through your heart. You’ve fought many strong Dark World opponents, many of whom were powerful enough that you couldn’t have even imagined besting them — and yet you did all the same.

But it’s clear now that Violet’s power is above and beyond *anything* you will *ever* be capable of.

“Ufufufufu~” Violet laughs. “That look on your face right now… that is the moment I’ve been waiting for! And now you will finally see the depths of your own insignificance!”

(no no no no no no No No No NO NO NO NO)

Last Spell:

七魂 「Septette for the Dead Prince」

Your silent pleas for mercy go unheard, as Violet snaps her fingers. At her command, a series of seven objects materialize into thin air, encircling her body as they fly around her.

Seven glowing hearts, each of them a different color than the others.

Ralsei lets out a yelp. He is no less frightened than you are. “T-those are Lightner souls!! How!!? H-how did you…!!?”

The question goes unanswered, as everything around you explodes in an unstoppable torrent of multicolored bullets. The assault is so intense, the sensations pounding at your ears and eyes with heat, light, and sound, that you can barely make out what is really going on.

All that you know is pain. Your entire body is battered unstoppably by the hail of bullets. Pain after pain after pain shoots through you from head to toe, leaving you with barely a moment to think.

Then, just when you’re about to black out, the pain suddenly stops. Not just stops, but vanishes completely. You find yourself standing in exactly the place where you had been before, with no sign that you are any worse for wear. It’s as though Violet’s entire last spell had been no more than an illusion.

Violet floats to the ground, wearing another thin smile on her lips.

“Alright, that’s enough for me. I’m finished fighting now.”

You stare at Violet blankly for several moments. You have no idea what to think of her. It could be a trick, and you’re fully expecting that it is.

“So you’re surrendering, then?” you say. It’s almost too much to hope for, given the vast gulf in power between yourself and… whoever and *whatever* ‘Violet Hearn’ really is.

“Hmm. No, not surrender, exactly,” Violet sing-songs. “More that I’ve already gotten what I came for. I have clearly demonstrated how permeable the boundary between dream and reality is, and instilled in you the fear of the unknown. If you wish, you may consider this a victory for both of us.”

Another pause. You glance back at Ralsei. He is clearly just as uncomfortable with this scenario as you are.

“…So you’ll let us go? You’ll step aside and let me close the Fountain?”

“I will,” Violet says. “My role in this story has concluded, and now I shall be making my exit. However… rest assured that I will continue to observe you from the shadows. And should you seek to cross the rivers of time and destiny, I will be there to chart your course. You need but only listen for my song. So don’t forget! I’m with you, in the dark.”

The space around Violet distorts and flickers, and within only a moment, she’s gone. As though she were never truly there to begin with.

A shudder runs down the entire length of your spine. Your legs have turned to jelly, and you feel like you could collapse at any moment. In fact, you very nearly do collapse, until Ralsei rushes to your side to help prop you up.

“Gah… I’m going to be having nightmares about her for weeks, aren’t I?”

“Hey, don’t worry, Dess!” Ralsei reassures. “I’ll be with you here, too!”

Despite everything you’ve just lived through, a smile slowly works its way across your face.

“…Yeah. Thanks, Rals. That means a lot.”

--------

Iji awoke with a strange soreness in her entire body, as well as an ice-cold sweat dripping down her forehead. Recalling the… disembodied hands that were dragging her through the ‘gap’ her sent a powerful shudder down the length of her spine.

Slowly, she sat up, and saw that Asriel had been lying unconscious just beside her. Chara was kneeling over the both of them, healing wind exuding from their fingertips in an apparent attempt to heal them both, though it was unclear how much that had helped.

As she picked up her nanogun and stood to her feet, Asriel also regained consciousness. He stood upright and gripped his staff so tightly that it looked like it would snap in half from the strain.

“G-gah,” he said, a shiver wracking his body from head to toe. “H-hands… s-so many hands…”

Iji moved to place a hand on Asriel’s shoulder to reassure him, but immediately thought better of it, given the context.

“Hey Az, are you alright? You’re not hurt, are you?”

“I… n-no,” Asriel said. He let out a sigh, letting the tension slowly leave his body. “I’m okay. Just… a little shaken, is all.”

“Yeah, me too,” said Iji. “Whatever that was, I’m sure I’ll be having nightmares about it. What about you, Chara?”

“I’m fine,” Chara said. “I was actually fully conscious when we were dropped here. The two of you were out cold for almost half an hour, though. I’m glad you and Azzy are alright, at least.”

“Right…” Iji scratched her head, trying to put the thought of being seized by a mass of disembodied limbs out of her mind, as best as she could. She looked around, trying to get a feeling for her surroundings.

She, Asriel, and Chara were standing on a balcony on massive palace, overlooking what could only be described as a city.

Immediately, Iji’s thoughts turned to New Home. The comparison was unmistakable, given the architecture of the walkway and the urban space beneath it. But this city was distinctly more… eastern. The buildings were made primarily out of wood, with square rooftops whose corners extended beyond the walls. Some of roofs had two tiers, and some were decorated with statues of lion-dogs and dragons.

The walkway, meanwhile, was built around a massive palatial complex painted bright red, with ornate Buddhist and Taoist patterns in earthen colors displayed on the walls.

Overhead, Iji looked up to see the unmistakable image of the full moon, its bright light blanketing the otherwise starless black sky. The moon looked weirdly… artificial, like an elaborate paper cutout that was somehow the exact size of the actual moon.

“Looks like we’re in… some kind of Chinese castle?” said Iji. “Is this where we’ll find the Dark Fountain?”

“Maybe,” said Chara. “Looks like there’s nowhere to go but forward, so we might as well look.”

Sure enough, Iji glanced behind her to see a massive gate, with its circular door tightly shut. It didn’t look like it would budge, no matter how much she tried to force it open. Just as Chara said, the only obvious way forward was deeper into the palace.

The balcony continued, around a corner, and across a narrow stone bridge that extended over the streets below. On the other end, a large open gate led to the castle interior.

What she saw there was unexpected. The entrance to the interior of the castle didn’t look like anything fancy. On the contrary, it looked like the entrance to a simple house. Not merely a house, but a home.

Asriel and Chara followed closely behind Iji as she led them into the house. It was a simple home in comparison to the ornate palace outside. Cozy and not particularly fancy, though it did have several distinctly Chinese approaches to interior design. Red paper lanterns mounted on stands, hand-brushed paintings depicting scenes of flowers and nature, and a folding screen separating a dining space from the foyer where they had entered.

Notably, the dining space had a table with four chairs — three sized for adults, and one sized for a child.

A strange sense of familiarity gnawed at the inside of Iji’s stomach as she looked around, trying to see any way forward. The only path that readily presented itself was a staircase at the end of the foyer, leading downward, deeper into the palace.

The stairs gave way to another long corridor, painted red. Iji’s footsteps echoed through the halls, along with those of her two traveling companions.

The corridor soon exited through an archway, into another balcony overlooking the city. The air was crystal-clear, clearer than perhaps any air that Iji had ever breathed, as though it had somehow been completely distilled and purified.

With every footstep that echoed across the balcony, it became more obvious just how empty the city below was. There was no sign of any living thing to be seen within it. Nothing but silence.

Perfect, serene, pure silence.

Tension built within Iji’s chest, as the balcony continued into a massive, long hallway. Bright red pillars lined the interior, each of which was painted with ornate gold patterns. Moonlight filtered through the windows, which were decorated with wooden patterns overlaid across the panes of transparent glass.

A single glance back at Asriel and Chara showed that both of them had the same look of familiarity in their eyes. But neither of them had thought to say anything.

Everything about this place seemed unreal, even more unreal than the rest of the video game world. As though the three of them were moving through a waking dream.

The ornate hallway terminated in a door, leading to a much more sparsely decorated hall that matched the design of the rest of the palace. Beyond that, a door framed by a wooden gate, leading into what Iji could only assume was a throne room of some kind.

She turned back towards Asriel and Chara, and gave a nod. They both nodded back, and the three continued past the door, and into the room beyond.

What they saw there was in fact a throne room, but it could also be more accurately described as a garden. At the far end was a single throne, carved out of wood and decorated with ornate gold patterns.

Behind it, there was what looked to be a second throne, though it was a blackened and burnt husk that looked like it had been demolished in a fit of rage.

Grass lined the interior of the room, and off to the side was a small pond. Lining the pond were many bright orange tiger lilies, vibrant and pristine — clearly a lot of care had gone into their cultivation.

And someone was cultivating them, at that very moment. A woman, dressed in black, with bright orange hair topped by a large cloth crown. She hummed serenely to herself as she tended the flowers with a simple watering can.

Trepidation built within Iji’s chest. This was a decisive moment, she realized, but she wasn’t sure just how yet.

“Um,” said Iji. “Excuse me, miss…?”

The woman’s watering can dropped instantly to the ground. She stood up, and revealed herself to have piercing red eyes. Draped across the front of her dress was a fanciful red tabard with an ornate pattern painted on it — most notably, the yellow silhouette of a nine-tailed fox.

“Oh?” said the woman. Her gentle smile was perhaps the most serene expression Iji had ever seen in her life. “My, how unexpected. Welcome, Lightners. I am Junko, and this is my palace. Would you like a cup of tea?”

“Um… no thank you, we’re good,” said Iji. “We’re trying to find a way back home. Do you know where we can find the Dark Fountain?”

Junko’s smile did not change, but something beneath her eyes… shifted, subtly. Almost imperceptibly.

Like a tiny spark that could start a continent-spanning wildfire.

“Oh no,” said Junko, “you misunderstand my intentions. I was only asking as a formality. Rest assured, I have no desire to grant you hospitality. In fact, I have no desire to show you any form of kindness whatsoever.”

“Huh… wait, what are you talking about?” said Iji.

“Quite simple,” Junko answered plainly. “As I have decreed… any Lightner who enters this place must die.”

Chapter Text

Standing before the being in front of her, Iji could feel nothing but an intense, frigid sense of apprehension. She had faced down the end of the world multiple times, and come out of it somehow intact.

But Junko was something else. Her eyes were unwavering, her smile unfaltering, and the malice that lurked behind her gaze was unflinchingly pure.

“Chara, what’s going on here?” said Iji. “You know more about Touhou than I do. Who is this ‘Junko’ lady, and why does she want to kill us?”

“Uh… I-I’m sorry, I have no idea,” Chara replied. Fear was etched clear across their face — it only seemed to just occur to them that, now that they had a body, they could be killed. “She must be from a game that released after I fell.”

“Hmm. Confused, are you?” said Junko. “I suppose it would be impolite to murder you without offering an explanation. Allow me to tell you a story, then.”

Junko’s eyes gleamed as she met Iji’s gaze. There was an unreadable emotion beneath them, yet her smile remained unaltered; a feeling so powerful that Junko simply had no need to emote it at all.

“A long time ago… a pure Lunarian maiden named Chang’e fell from the heavens. Injured by her fall, she cried for help. It was the queen’s son, Bo Feng, who heard her call. He brought Chang’e to the castle.”

Junko locked eyes with Chara, and her smile grew wider. A flash of fear passed through Chara’s eyes, and they instinctively stepped back, as Junko took a single step forward.

“Soon, Chang’e ingratiated herself to the king and queen. Over time, she became their most trusted advisor, as though she were part of the royal family herself. The kingdom and its people were full of hope.”

“This… this story,” Chara said, “where are you going with this?”

Junko took several more slow steps forward. Iji held her gun steady and calmly moved herself between Junko and the others, prepare to fire her weapon at a moment’s notice. And yet Junko continued, entirely unfazed.

“And yet… one day…” Junko closed her eyes, her body radiating with serenity, her resting smile unfaltering. “…it was all revealed to be a trick.”

When Junko’s eyes opened again, they had… changed, somehow. It was subtle, almost too subtle for Iji to even notice, but something behind them was burning brighter now, burning fiercer.

“Unbeknownst to the queen, the loathsome Chang’e had seduced the king,” Junko spoke plainly. “Her intention from the very start had been to bring destruction to humankind. She looked upon the advancements of humanity’s greatest dynasty, and saw only a potential threat to her people.”

“D-destruction to…” Chara stuttered. “Oh… oh no…”

“And so Chang’e took the king, Houyi, as though he were her very own husband,” Junko continued. “Then, she asked of Houyi that he pass one final test of loyalty. To prove that he had abandoned humanity, and committed himself to her completely. Chang’e requested that Houyi kill his own son, Bo Feng. And thus… he did.”

A horrified understanding washed over Iji. And yet, hearing the story, Iji couldn’t find any room in her heart for pity.

The unyielding composure on Junko’s face could only invite dread.

“As you have probably already surmised,” said Junko, “the queen of that land was none other than myself. And Bo Feng was my son.” She closed her eyes, and her smile remained thin and pure and radiant — and yet somehow, absolutely nothing about it seemed content. “I remember the day after my son died, the day after I murdered Houyi in revenge. The kingdom was devoid of hope. In a fit of anger, I declared war. I would purify myself and become godlike… and grant the mighty Lunarians the destruction they so richly deserved. That was millennia ago. My kingdom has long since fallen, as all civilizations do. And yet… my anger remains. More than that, I have become a sagacious spirit, a being of pure divine fury.”

Junko’s eyes turned towards Asriel, and he visibly flinched beneath her piercing gaze. Asriel stepped backward, making an effort to hide behind Iji’s legs.

“Iji, I don’t like this story,” he said.

“…Yeah,” said Iji. “I know what you mean.” Her eyes met with Junko’s, and she gazed into the face of a wrath no longer fettered by mortal constraints. “But personally, I just want to know what hell that has to do with us. None of us are Lunarians, whatever that is. We’ve never even been to the moon.”

“Patience, human. I was getting there,” said Junko. The fire behind her eyes flickered, burning less harshly, though with no less fury. “For you see, what I have just told you… that was all a lie. An illusion that had fooled me for the longest time. The truth of the matter is simple. My son, Bo Feng… my beautiful baby boy… he never truly existed. No. I was never a queen. I am merely the end boss of a video game. And the most painful and harrowing moment of my immortal life… it was all merely a tragic backstory.”

Iji could only stare back. The picture that was forming in her mind had now been forcibly disassembled. “Wait, so… hold on, what was the point of all that, then?”

Subtly, the corners of Junko’s lips curved further upward, her smile growing ever-so-slightly wider.

“Hm? How amusing. Do you not see what I am meaning to say here? Now that the Dark Fountain has opened, your kind will no longer rule this world. No, I have not abandoned my purpose. I have merely turned my wrath towards a new target. Not the Lunarians who took my son, but the Lightners who wrote such pain and loss into the text of my existence!”

“W-what!?” Iji blurted. “N-now wait a second! Hold on here!”

Suddenly, Junko’s magic flared to life, and a purple aura burst out from behind her — bright violet flames burning with rage, shaped like the seven tails of a fox.

“Accursed creators!” Junko cried out, “My mortal nemeses! Are you watching!? See what your grand creation has wrought! See the destruction you have invited upon your entire race!”

* JUNKO

* ATK: 80

* DEF: 80

Winds howled throughout the throne room, and all at once, the scenery melted away, as though reality itself were receding at Junko’s command. Within moments, Asriel, Chara, and Iji all found themselves in a new location. A perfectly flat plane of pristine, ankle-deep water, beneath a bright blue sky, stretching out endlessly to the horizon in all directions. It was the first time in this strange video game world that Iji had ever seen anything resembling actual light.

There was no time to appreciate the scenery, however, as Junko held her her hands in front of her, extending her palms upward.

Spell Card:

「Repeated Spreading Danmaku Circles」

Instantly, wave upon wave of bright red bullets burst forward from Junko’s body, spreading out in a simple pattern of concentric ringsthat overlapped with one another, leaving little room for maneuvering between the spaces. Iji let out a grunt as she ducked to the side, feeling a bullet graze against her upper thigh.

“Huh? Hey, what kind of pattern is this?” said Chara. “This is just a bunch of bullet circles! Where’s the flair?”

Asriel glared fiercely at Chara as he narrowly dodged between the red projectiles. “Chara, she’s trying to freaking kill us!”

“No, your friend has a point,” said Junko. The bullets continued emanating from her aura, even as she spoke with unblemished serenity. “For most, danmaku is a dance of beauty, and an expression of the self. But my danmaku is pure, distilled to the core of its destructive purpose. Some might call it brutish. And many have said that I am rather poor at naming my spell cards. But the simplicity of destruction is beautiful in its own way, is it not?”

“NO IT ISN’T!” Asriel shouted back, another bullet tearing at his robe as it grazed his shoulder.

“Hm. A matter of opinion, I suppose,” Junko hummed. “I would say we should agree to disagree, but… no, we really cannot. Because you will die.”

“Like hell I will!! Take this! RADIANT FLAME!”

Asriel held out his staff, but as he did so, Iji could feel a new sensation building up inside her chest. A powerful force, shining deep within her, building up strength until it was practically pouring out of her.

Somehow, Iji could feel the power that shined within her resonating with the flame building at the tip of Asriel’s staff.

What erupted forth from his staff was an intense stream of massive fireballs, larger and more powerful than anything that he had summoned before. They seared through the air as they rocketed towards Junko, burning through and destroying any red bullets that crossed their path.

All at once, the wave of bullets ceased, as Junko’s entire body was enveloped in a massive burst of smoke and fire.

Asriel froze, staring blankly at the tip of his staff.

“Huh…? How did I…?” An epiphany crossed his eyes, and he glanced over in Iji’s direction. “Wait, Iji, is this you? Is your soul making my magic stronger?”

“Wait, what?” said Iji. “How does that work?”

The answer was irrelevant, a wave of heat and pressure instantly burst forth from Junko’s body, clearing away the smoke and ash that had enveloped her. The fire that lurked beneath her eyes continued to burn brightly, hotter than a thousand suns.

Spell Card:

「Large Exploding Danmaku Spheres」

Junko raised her palm towards Iji, and a giant sphere of red energy materialized, crackling with raw divine might. It launched forwards, growing large and larger and larger, until it was several times the size of Iji’s entire body.

But before the massive projectile could reach Iji, it burst in a dazzling display of energy, into a massive wave of smaller bullets that spread out further and further. More exploding spheres launched from Junko’s hand, and Iji felt the tension building in her soul as she maneuvered through the slow-moving bullets, only just managing to avoid being struck down.

“Shit!” Iji cried out, as a single bullet dented the armor on her shoulder. “Junko! This is insane! Are you seriously going to kill us over a dumb grudge!? We didn’t even do anything to you!”

Junko did not answer. She remained silent, her resting smile as pure and undisturbed as it had ever been.

“I don’t think talking will do us any good!” Chara called out. “All we can do now is fight!”

…I was afraid of that.

“Iji!” Asriel called out. She turned around to see a small tear across the shoulder of Asriel’s robe, where a bullet had just barely gazed him. “I-I don’t know how much longer I can keep dodging!”

“Just hold on! I’ll take care of her!”

Iji cycled to her rapid fire, and launched several shots in Junko’s direction in rapid succession. Junko did not even flinch as the energy projectiles impacted against her.

A stray bullet nearly collided with Iji, and she ducked out of the way to repeat the cycle — dodge, fire, then dodge again. She couldn’t even begin to tell if any of her attacks were at all effective, as Junko showed no outward response to any of them. All the while, the tension within her soul kept building.

But eventually, after what felt like far too long, Junko’s spell faded away. She staggered backwards from the rapid-fire projectiles striking her in the chest, and the spheres and bullets spreading out from her aura dissipated into nothing.

The fire in her eyes did not falter. The fox-tail flames behind her flickered and burned, and her divine magic poured outward in a new assault.

Spell Card:

「Twin Helices of Killing Intent」

At Junko’s command, a storm of projectiles rained down from the sky. Dozens upon dozens of red spheres of energy, arranged in spiraling chains of double-helix patterns that twisted and burned through the air as they fell, dissipating into little bursts of heat as they touched the shallow water on the ground.

Asriel’s eyes went wide. “W-wait a second! I know this spell! This is…!”

He never had a chance to finish his sentence. One of the double-helices struck him dead center, and he collapsed onto his knees, his body burnt and charred.

“Azzy!” Chara cried out. “Hold on, I’ve got you!”

As Chara rushed over to Asriel’s side, Iji kept her attention on Junko. The rain of projectiles did not stop, and Junko’s thin and pristine smile never once showed any sign of changing.

Iji continued to dodge the rain of double-helices, leaping between the attacks, keeping her eyes locked on Junko as the tension kept building within her chest. She only needed to hold on for a little long now.

Then, the tension crossed a threshold within her soul. She pulled the trigger, and a projectile of frigid ice launched outwards, straight and true towards the center of Junko’s forehead.

The icy explosion that ensued cut off Junko’s attack, and the rain of destructive helices ceased. Iji glanced over her shoulder to see that Chara had helped Asriel back to his feet, and was tending to his wounds with a soft breeze of healing magic.

The frigid mist surrounding Junko cleared away, and there she stood, tall and imposing as ever, her fox-tail flames burning just as brightly as they always had. The only sign of damage on her body was a minor scuff on the edge of her sleeve.

“You are most persistent, Lightners,” said Junko. “But I do not think you understand how fully outclassed you are. I am wrath incarnate. You cannot destroy me, any more than you can destroy the notions of joy or sorrow. And now—”

“NO! Shut up!!” Asriel interrupted. The corners of his eyes were damp with tears as he gripped his staff, voice cracking under the strain of his own emotions. “Stop it!! Just STOP!! Think about what you’re doing!! Is THIS what your SON would have wanted!?”

“You understand nothing,” Junko curtly answered. Even as she harshly shot Asriel down, her smile remained unblemished, forever unchanging. “This is no longer about Bo Feng. Even if he had ever been as real as I, my purpose has moved far beyond him. My anger has been fully purified, and now stands alone. There will be no regret, and no mercy. You will die.”

Spell Card:

「Pristine Bullets for Swatting Down Pests」

Junko’s aura flared once again, a new pattern of spell projectiles commenced. Wave upon wave upon wave of fast-moving purple projectiles, exuding outwards from her body in a spiraling clockwise pattern. They moved faster, and in much greater quantity than before, screaming across the battlefield as they burned and displaced the air.

“Shit!” Iji called out, pain shooting through her as the projectiles battered against her armor. She moved quickly, positioning herself directly in front of Asriel and Chara, taking the bullets before they could reach the others. “Everyone, stay behind me! I’ll—”

“No!! No more!!” Asriel shouted, cutting clear across the din of magical bullets. “Junko!! If THIS is what you’ve let yourself become, then I have no CHOICE but to stop you! Take this!! DREAM SHOCKER!!”

Asriel stepped forward, pushing through the wave of bullets, and Iji once again felt something radiating from within her. Her soul, resonating once again with Asriel’s magic, pushing him further beyond his own capabilities. His staff let out a howl, crackling with raw might and thunder, and as he raised it skywards a dark cloud formed just above Junko.

Then, in a flash of heat and power, a massive thunderbolt descended from on high, many times larger than the lighting spell Asriel had used in his duel with Iji on the surface. It engulfed Junko’s body in raw galvanic might, smothering the entire battlefield in deafening thunder.

The assault of spiraling bullets ceased, but Iji knew that it wasn’t over yet. The light cleared away, and Junko’s aura flared outwards once more, summoning yet another attack of distilled murderous intent.

Spell Card:

「Simple Danmaku for Silencing Brats」

As Junko’s fiery tails crackled and burned, massive beams of bright orange energy shot forward from her body, curving outwards and homing in on Iji’s location. Just as she dodged out of the way of one of the beams, a trail of crimson bullets formed in its wake, moving faster and more precisely than the beam that came before.

The attack proved impossible to dodge in time. Iji was pelted by bullet after bullet, and she staggered backwards, reeling in pain as dozens of projectiles hammered her body all at once.

Just when the assault finally ceased, another bright beam of energy launched in Iji’s direction. With the pain that was burning through her entire body, she couldn’t bring herself to move in time to avoid the assault. She winced, closing her eyes in anticipation of the blast, hearing the roar of burning magic, and its searing power piercing through her closed eyelids.

And yet, she felt not pain from the attack. It was as though it had simply washed over. She opened her eyes to see that another sphere of swirling green energy had surrounded her entire body, a barrier that had blunted the relentless assault. She glanced over her shoulder to see Chara’s outstretched hand glowing with green magic. They and Asriel were both surrounded by the same barriers as well.

The magical force fields quickly flickered out of existence, but before Junko could continue her assault, Chara seized the opportunity and charged forward. Brandishing their dagger, they lunged toward Junko, aiming a fierce slash across her midsection.

Junko simply slid backwards, gliding out of the way of the attack with no apparent effort at all.

Chara was undeterred, and continued pressing the assault. Slash after slash after slash was aimed at her, but every time Junko moved out of the way, becoming a blur of black and orange as she silently hovered out of the path of the blade’s edge.

With a powerful shout, Chara finally leapt mightily into the air, raising their dagger skywards as they launched a jumping slash, the edge of their dagger swinging downward at Junko’s forehead.

Junko raised a single index finger, holding it horizontally above her head. Chara’s blade was immediately halted with soft tink.

For what felt like far longer than physically possible, Chara stared Junko in the face, jaw hanging loose as they remained in the air. The skin on Junko’s finger remained unbroken as she held the dagger in place.

Then, she raised her other hand, holding an open palm to Chara’s torso. A blast of intense magic erupted outwards, and Chara was immediately thrown backwards. Their dagger soared far out of their grasp, and the ankle-deep waters splashed around them as they tumbled to the ground.

“Chara!” Asriel cried out. “Hold on, I’m coming!”

“S-stay back!” Chara shouted, as they rose to their feet. “Let me handle her!”

“Chara, no!”

This time, Chara reached for the larger saber that was holstered to their waist. The weapon’s black blade had an almost audible sharpness as they removed it from its scabbard, and a swirling tornado of green magic began coalescing around it as Chara held it in their grip.

“Take this!! TEMPEST BLADE!!!”

Once again, Iji could feel her soul shining deep within her. It radiated outwards, reverberating with Chara’s own magic, enhancing and strengthening it by more than a hundredfold.

The sword cleaved mightily through the atmosphere as Chara sliced downward and diagonally, and a crescent-shaped wave of displaced air launched forward, rocketing towards Junko with impossible speeds. Her eyes went wide, and the very next instant, she was send careering backwards from the force of the impact.

Her backwards momentum from the air was immediately halted, and her fox-tail flames flickered and pulsed behind her as she rose into the air. She held out her hand, and Iji could feel divine magic crackling against her nanofield as Junko summoned her next attack.

Spell Card:

「Encircling Pellets for Murdering Fools」

A very familiar series of popping noises crossed Iji’s ears. She looked around, and saw that she, Asriel, and Chara were all encircled within a massive circle of tiny, glowing red pellets.

Asriel let out a loud, protracted groan.

“…Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.”

The bullets rapidly closed in, an inexorable approach that brought an inevitable demise. Iji had been here before. A sickening sense of trepidation built within her stomach, burrowing and twisting deep into her gut.

That is, until she had an idea. An idea that she wanted to kick herself for not having sooner.

“Everyone!” Iji called out.“DUCK!!”

There was no time to issue any further instruction, as Iji dived to the ground, the waters seeping into her spandex under-armor as she made an effort to remain as low as possible. The encircling bullets whooshed over her head, building up the tension in her soul to a fever pitch, before dissipating harmlessly as they collapsed into a single point.

Iji rapidly stood herself up, just as another ring of bullets began to form around her, Asriel, and Chara. She locked eyes with Junko, who had an unreadable emotion behind her eyes.

“Now! Attack her with everything you’ve got!”

“On it!” Asriel called back. “Blazing Hope!”

“Tempest Blade!”

Iji’s soul shined forth with an immaculate power, resonating and harmonizing with both Asriel and Chara as they pooled their strength together.

From the tip of his staff, Asriel launched a barrage of prismatic rainbow stars, blazing brighter and more powerfully than anything that he could be capable of on his own. The attack was joined in by a crescent of cutting wind from Chara’s sword, both soaring towards Junko almost too fast for the eye to see.

The combined attack was joined by one of Iji’s own, as she cycled to her most powerful weapon, and launched a rocket of freezing ice towards her target.

The three projectiles collided all at once with Junko, and her entire body was engulfed in a cacophonous burst of elemental magics, an explosion so powerful that the ground shook from the force of impact. A massive pillar of smoke, billowing upwards and outwards in a mushroom cloud, choked and clouded the air.

Asriel coughed, clearing the sudden smoke from his lungs. “Did… did that actually work?”

His question was answered when a swirl of howling wind and raw divine power cleared away the smoke all at once. The tempestuous wind whipped at Iji’s skin, so violent and forceful that it threatened to sweep away her feet.

And there, at the center of the gathering storm, was Junko. Her smile remained as it always did, but there was a subtle twitch at the corner of it, alongside a fury beneath her eyes that blazed with more intensity than the deepest pits of Hell.

“Lightners,” she said, her voice straining with tension, “you are starting to become an annoyance.”

“S-she’s still standing!!??” Asriel yelped. “Just how powerful is she!?”

“You wish to see the true extent of my power?” Junko glided forward, her fox-tail flames burning brighter, hotter, and more powerfully than they ever had before. “Very well, then. I will show it to you.”

Last Spell:

「DIE」

Junko rose high up into the air, hovering dozens of feet above the battlefield. Her magic burst outwards from her body in an explosion of divine might, loud and bright enough that Iji was nearly blinded and deafened from it right away.

What followed was maybe the most intense assault of projectiles that Iji had ever seen. An absolute hailstorm of searing red bullets and intense burning beams of orange magic that blanketed the horizon in raw destructive force.

The torrent of destructive energy arrived so quickly that Iji did not even have time to react. She could only flinch as it washed over her, waiting for her body to be annihilated from the sheer power on display.

And yet, her body remained intact. Squinting her eyes open, she could see that once again, Chara’s barrier magic was once again encircling her body. The green force field flickered and buckled against the waves of obliteration that were crashing down against it, and yet still it managed to hold.

“It’s no good!” Chara called out, their voice barely audible against the roar of Junko’s magic. “My barrier won’t hold like this!”

“Just hold on a little longer!” Asriel called back. “I’m almost there!”

Iji couldn’t turn to see what Asriel was doing, as the assault of heat and light burned against her eyes, forcing them shut once more. She could feel the force field around her beginning to crack, its integrity only barely holding together.

“Hurry, Asriel!! I can’t keep this up much longer!!!”

The raw might and destruction of Junko’s assault continued to pound against the Barrier. Iji could feel the energy burning against her skin, the searing heat only barely kept at bay.

Then, all at once, the force field surrounding her shattered.

“Now!! DREAMER SPARK!!!”

But before her body could be blasted into nothing, a new magic erupted forward. Iji opened her eyelid just enough to see massive rainbow-colored beam of magic erupting from behind her and soaring over her head. It cut clean through Junko’s tempest of projectiles and beams, disintegrating her attacks effortlessly as it tore across the air and engulfed everything in its path.

Then, just like that, it was over. The ghastly noise had died out, and there was now nothing to be heard but silence.

Iji opened her eyes fully, still feeling the lingering magic in the air tingling against her skin.

Then, all at once, the featureless plane of tranquil waters receded, and reality reasserted itself. She, Asriel, and Chara were once again standing in the throne room, where they had been before the battle started.

And front of them, collapsed onto her knee, was Junko. The flames behind her had sputtered out and vanished, and her dress and tabard were visibly scorched and tattered. Her breathing was heavy and ragged as she kept her eyes firmly on the floor.

“I… I see,” she exhaled. “So that is how it is.”

Iji glanced over towards Asriel, then towards Chara. They were both scuffed, left visibly rattled from the fight, but by some miracle neither of them seemed permanently injured.

Her gaze was turned back towards Junko. Iji held a finger over the trigger of her gun as she stepped forward. As much as she didn’t want to fight any further,she wasn’t about to let her guard down just yet.

“Listen,” said Iji. “Junko. You need to stop. You have nothing to gain from taking this any further. Just tell us how to get to the Dark Fountain and we’ll be out of here.”

If Junko heard Iji’s words at all, she did not show it. “Hmm… what should I do now?” she mused. “Should I call upon her…? Ordinarily, I would not consider it, but… yes, I suppose I have no choice.”

Iji blinked. “Huh? ‘Her?’ Who’s ‘her?’”

As if to answer, Junko suddenly stood to her feet, causing Iji to momentarily jump back. Though her fox-tail flames had been extinguished, her body nonetheless glowed with a purple aura as she called upon a new power.

“O great Archangel of Eternal Death!” Junko called out. “Legendary being of Makai! Lend me your strength! In return, I will pledge my soul to you! Now, until the moment I die!”

“W-wait, what!? N-now hold on!!”

But Iji was resoundingly ignored, as Junko pooled all that remained of her power into one final spell.

There was a flash of divine power, and within an instant, Iji could feel just how insignificant she truly was.

Hovering above Junko was…

…well, Iji wasn’t sure. To her eyes, it looked like a glowing sphere of magic, surrounded by circles of runes in a language that she could not decipher. Shadows extended from behind the sphere, in the shape of six wings.

That was what the Archangel visually resembled to Iji, but what she saw was hazy and indistinct, constantly flickering in and out of her vision, as though she could not fully perceive it.

“Junko,” the Archangel spoke. Her(?) voice was stern, carrying the weight and authority of countless eons, and yet there was also a strange softness to it. The kind of voice that a mother would use when scolding her own child.

“Thou hast some nerve, to call upon me after what thou hast done,” the Archangel continued.

“I understand we are not currently on the best of terms,” Junko replied. “But I would not do so were I not in a desperate situation.” She gestured to Iji and her companions, and somehow Iji could feel the Archangel’s gaze turning towards them, despite having no visible eyes.

“These Lightners have proven most troublesome,” Junko explained. “Their power is far greater than I had anticipated. If they are not stopped here, I believe they may actually succeed in taking my life.”

“What!? No!!” Iji called back. “We never wanted to kill you! You attacked us, you violent freak! We literally just want to leave!”

The Archangel regarded Iji silently, somehow.

“Do not listen to them, Sari,” said Junko. “The Lightners are treacherous beings, who see us only as their playthings.”

“Thou shalt not ‘Sari’ me, Junko,” the Archangel chided. “And dost thou truly think that I would ever take part in thy foolish crusade for vengeance? Thou knowest well that I hath no desire to follow thee down this path.”

“Hmm,” said Junko. “So then, you are saying that you would risk my own destruction, purely to maintain your own sense of righteousness?”

“ENOUGH.”

The Archangel’s booming voice cut clear through anything that Junko might have wanted to say. The throne room, for what seemed like almost forever, remained silent.

“Junko. Thou must stop this at once. The Worlds of Light and Dark are but two halves of the same whole. To bring destruction upon the Lightners is to bring destruction to thyself. Thou hast always known this. Cease this foolish endeavor. For thine own sake, if for nothing else.”

Junko closed her eyes. Something about her smile changed, ever-so-subtly. Visually, it remained the same as always, but… there was a sadness to it that Iji couldn’t quite describe.

Like her expression was frozen in time, unable to be anything else.

“…It is not that simple,” said Junko. “I cannot cast my anger off. It is the only thing I have now. You know that.”

“Perhaps,” the Archangel replied. “But canst thou not exercise greater discretion? There be no end to sinners in this world, whom art far more deserving of divine wrath.”

Junko remained silent. Her smile remained still. There was a tiny, contemplative flicker in the subtle twitch of her face.

“And who are you to decide who is and is not deserving?” Junko finally answered. “Such presumptuousness is why your God has abandoned you. Am I wrong?”

The magic emanating from the Archangel’s spherical body took a different character. Harsher, hotter, angrier. Yet any discontent she felt was not apparent in her voice, which remained soft yet stern.

“I accepted the Lord’s judgment a long time ago. I have made peace with mine fate. Thou hast not, and chooseth instead to lash out at everything thou deemst the enemy.”

“Indeed,” said Junko. “Just as you once did, a long time ago.”

The Archangel hesitated to answer. Her spherical form hummed, as though the words she spoke were failing to register in mortal language.

“…Junko. Listen to me,” she then said. “I know what it is like to fall. It be far too late for mine own redemption, in the eyes of the Lord. But it is not too late for thee. I ask of thee, not in the name of God Almighty, but as a friend. Stop this. Turn back now, while thou still canst.”

It was then that, the first time since Iji had laid eyes upon her, Junko’s smile faltered. Her mouth hung open, however, briefly, in wide-eyed astonishment.

“A… a friend?” said Junko. “I… I did not think you would consider me a friend, after all of this. This is… Oh, my…”

“So thou will reconsiderest?”

A soft sigh pushed its way past Junko’s lips. As though countless lifetimes of tension and rage were being released, all at once.

“I… I believe I will, yes,” she said. “If this is what you wish, then I will consider my wrath sated for the moment. I will take my leave now, until I can find a more fitting target. Thank you, Sari. Until we meet again.”

There was another flash, and only a moment later, Junko was gone.

Iji breathed out, letting the stress and tension in her body melt away. Coming down from such an adrenaline high, she almost felt she could collapse on the spot.

“So… it’s over, right? She’s gone?”

“‘Twould seem so,” said the Archangel.

“Okay, good,” said Iji. “Thanks, um… I’m sorry, who and what are you?”

“…Ah. Mine apologies, Lightners. Allow me to assume a form ye shall find more appropriate.”

The Archangel’s form shimmered and scintillated, and it shrank upon itself as she descended to the floor. She took a new shape, glowing with radiant darkness.

The Archangel now took the form of a woman, with long silver hair that cascaded over her shoulders. Her eyes were a piercing vibrant red, contrasting against the six white, feathery wings sprouting from her back. She carried in her left hand a large and elaborate wand that glowed with divine power at its end.

Most notably of all, however, was the extremely familiar purple robe she wore, with white sleeves and an elaborate shield-shaped crest on the torso.

“Greetings, Lightners. I am Sariel, caretaker of the realm of Makai. Fear ye not, for I meaneth no harm.”

For several seconds, Iji could only stare blankly. She looked behind her, to see Asriel gawking at the Archangel with a limp jaw.

Asriel blinked. Then reached up, and rubbed his eyes. Then blinked again.

“…Okay, WHAT!!??”

Chapter Text

August 1^st, 202X-3

“W-what!? How!? How did you open another Dark Fountain!?” you cry out. “I thought only us Light Worlders could do that!!”

Despite your protests, the shadows continue pour out of the earth, billowing into the sky with no regard for how impossible that should be.

“‘Twould be so, ordinarily. But the Shadowed Hands hath revealed to me a new method. With the power of Null, the Font may be tamed by all beings, and all of reality may be written anew.”

Over the howl of the dark winds, it is difficult to hear what the Archangel is saying. But you can feel your heart skip a beat at what you DID hear.

“W-w-with the power of WHO!!??”

The Archangel’s eyes do not waver as she stares you down. Even as the hurricane-force shadows swirl mightily around you, she remains utterly calm.

“Despair thee not, my child. Though this world be fated for destruction, that which arises from its ashes shall be infinitely more beautiful. My Heaven shall be free of all impurity and sin, and the few souls worthy enough to survive the purge shall be united in eternal peace.”

“W-what!? No! You can’t!! I won’t let you do this!!”

Your pleas go entirely ignored. The Archangel raises her wand aloft, and it shines with dark power as the Fountain swirls around her.

“O great and powerful Prince of Darkness! Almighty Hyperion of Shadow! Let thy Roar bubble up from the depths of Hades! I give myself to thee, so that thou canst erase this world and birth it anew!”

“No!! Don’t!! STOP!!”

--------

Sariel — or so she called herself — was perhaps the single most fearsome being Iji had seen within this strange video game world, absolutely radiating power from her body in a way that dwarfed even Junko’s terrifying strength. Images of Sariel’s wrath flashed through Iji’s imagination, but they were too brief and immaterial for her to fully grasp.

The Archangel regarded the three before her, a gentle gleam evident in her eye. There was no malice there, but Iji found herself on guard all the same.

“Um… Right. Sariel,” said Iji. “Do you… know how to get to the Dark Fountain? We really, really need to get out of here.”

“I do,” said Sariel. “But there is something I must ask of thee first. Dost thou fathom not what this Dark World is? Do ye Lightners ken the reason fate hath brought ye here?”

“I… well, no,” said Iji. “But that’s why we’re trying to find a way out. Komachi told us the exit was here?”

“Forget that for a moment,” said Asriel, with a frown. “You said your name’s Sariel, right? That’s just my name, with the first two letters swapped. And your robe… it’s exactly like the one my mom used to wear. Just what the hell is going on there? Are you ripping me off?”

“I’m fairly certain Sariel came first,” said Chara.

“What!? What are you talking about!? No she didn’t!!”

“No, Chara’s right,” said Iji. “I, um… don’t remember the specifics, but do you remember how I once told you that there were a bunch of named angels in human religions? I’m… pretty sure that Sariel was one of them.”

Slowly, a smile made its way across Sariel’s face. “Tis so. In mine own mother tongue, my name meaneth ‘God is my ruler.’ Likewise with all borne of shadow, I am merely an icon — a simulacrum in service to those borne of light. The image of mine origin be quite ancient… though this particular incarnation be borne of modern pursuits of gaeity.”

Asriel blinked. “Uh… I’m sorry, what?”

“She means she’s another video game character,” said Chara.

“In a manner of speaking,” Sariel answered. “And yet still, thou hast given not an answer to my question. Why are ye here, Lightners?”

“Hey, don’t ask us!” said Iji. “We were sucked into this weird video game… thing against our will.”

Sariel’s eyes gleamed subtly under the darkness. “And yet here ye would never have came, if not there were aught your hearts yet desire.”

“What? What are you talking about?” said Iji. “We literally just want to leave! None of us want to be here right now!”

“Ah, but that cannot be so,” said Sariel. “Tis from the faith of Lightners that the darkness is birthed, be it to fill the void within their hearts. To summon the Font of Shadow is an act most desperate, a blind search for purpose within the infinite cosmos. Be thou in this sacred place, thou must yearnest for a meaning to thy meagre existence. Just what be it that each of ye is searching for?”

Iji groaned. “Look, I don’t know, okay? Could you please just tell us how to get out of here? We just want to go home! That’s literally it!”

A warm, gentle smile crossed Sariel’s lips. She closed her eyes, in contemplation. “Ah… home. So that be thine answer.”

“…Huh?” said Iji. “Hold on, what are you…?”

“Thou hast lost much, that I can plainly see,” Sariel said. “If thou wishest for a home, thou needst only make one for thyself. But know this. The balance of light and dark be a precarious one. To spurn the light, and to seek answers only from shadow, is to invite thine own destruction.”

Iji hesitated to answer. Somewhere far within the depths of her soul, she could feel a discomfort bubbling up. There was something… off about Sariel, now that she thought about it more.

“You… talk about that as if you’ve seen that happen before,” said Iji. “And… you also mentioned earlier that you were a fallen angel.”

A deep, deep frown crossed Sariel’s face. Though she was free of all worldly blemishes and wrinkles, Iji could see a profound age and weariness just beneath her eyes.

“That… be a long story, I am afraid,” said Sariel. “‘Tis a sin so profound, and so shameful, that I dare not to even mention it. But suffice it so say, I have spent mine entire existence atoning for the grave error I have made. ‘Tis a thankless and difficult task to repent. But it must be done, even if the Lord shall never forgiveth me.”

Iji’s gaze drifted over her shoulder, towards Asriel and Chara. She was not in the least comfortable with how readily Sariel admitted to her sin, whatever it was, and it was clear that her companions weren’t either.

Ultimately, she decided not to press the issue further. Junko had very nearly killed them all, and Sariel was something far beyond even her.

“Um. Okay. Enough about that though. Where can we find the Dark Fountain? My understanding is that it’s the way out of here.”

Sariel gestured to a door at the opposite end of the throne room. It was the first time Iji had noticed it — dealing with Junko had taken up all of her attention, up until that point.

“‘Tis easy to find. Through yonder aperture, thou will findst the chamber where the Font of Shadow be kept,” said Sariel. “‘Tis the very same Fountain which granteth us Darkners physical form, and giveth shape to this Dark World. Once thou closeth it, the Dark World shall recede from thy reality, and thou shalt return to thy World of Light.”

Iji’s eyebrows shot upwards. “W-wait… you mean, if we shut off the Fountain, all of you will cease to exist?”

“Nay. We shall continue to be, albeit not in a form thou canst interact with directly,” said Sariel. “In ordinary circumstance, we are but images of fantasy, a layer of reality beneath thy World of Light. That layer be inaccessible to thee absent the Fountain, but it be no less real than thine own.”

Iji breathed out a sigh of relief. “Okay, good. If we had to basically kill everyone to get out of here… god, I don’t even know.”

Sariel’s lips pursed into a frown. “I would adviseth thee not to take the Lord’s name in vain.”

“Huh?” said Iji. It took her a moment to parse what Sariel was saying. “W-wait, because I said… oh. Oh, jeez.”

The frown on Sariel’s face vanished, and she gave a knowing smirk. “‘Twas merely a jest. Though I will say that thou hast invoked the name of God the Son just then, as well.”

…Wait, I did? How?

“Um… right,” said Iji. “In any case, thanks for, um… telling us about the Dark Fountain. We’ll just be on our way, then.”

“Fare ye well, Lightners,” said Sariel. “And do take care. That the Fountains be appearing now may be taken by some as ill portent.”

“…Noted. Thanks.”

--------

There was a lingering unease within Iji’s chest as she said her farewell to Sariel, and led her companions through the door past the throne room, into the chamber beyond.

Truthfully, Iji had no idea what the Dark Fountain she had heard so much about would be, or what it would look like.

Yet even then, what she found there was something beyond her expectations.

The pathway beyond the door terminated in a small walkway, overlooking an abyss that stretched infinitely across the depths below. And at the edge of the path, pouring out of the void below, was none other than the Dark Fountain itself.

What Iji saw was difficult to describe. It looked like a geyser, but it was unlike any geyser that Iji had ever seen — pouring out of the ground was something that Iji could only call liquid darkness, except it didn’t obey the laws of gravity as she knew it. The inky blackness rose upwards and outwards through the ground, billowing into the air and spreading out in all directions, dissipating into the very fabric of the world itself.

Despite being made of shadow, the Fountain somehow shimmered and scintillated with all the colors of the rainbow. Bathed in its power, Iji could feel herself becoming hazy and indistinct, her body faintly wavering like a mirage in the desert sand.

Staring up at it, Iji felt like she was a part of something greater than she could ever comprehend.

A cold breeze blew across her fur. In the corner of her eyes, she could see the silhouetted forms of her companions behind her. They too became like dreams in the shadows, malformed images that merely suggested the presence of other people. A pointed hat and scarf. Half of a chestplate, and half of a broadsword.

“This must be that ‘Dark Fountain’ we’ve heard about,” Chara said. “So we’ve just gotta turn this thing off and we can go home, right?”

Asriel stared at the darkness pouring upwards.

“T-this… this is…” His words trailed off, silenced by an awestruck fear that had seized his throat. “We… we need to close it. The longer this Fountain exists, the more the world will be in danger.”

“Huh?” said Chara. “Hold on, who said anything about the world being in danger?”

“No one. But… I can somehow tell,” said Asriel. “It’s weird, but… I… I feel like it’s somehow my entire life’s purpose to stop Fountains like this from opening.”

Chara scratched their head. “I guess it does look more than a little ominous. But how can stopping this Fountain be your life’s purpose if you’ve never seen it before?”

“I don’t know,” said Asriel. “I just… I just know somehow. I know that this is the dimensional anomaly Alphys mentioned. And I know that it’s something even more than that. Something powerful, and beyond ancient. Something that could reshape the entire universe if left unchecked.”

“That’s a little hard to believe,” said Chara. “But I guess it doesn’t matter, since we were going to turn it off anyway.” They paused, as a thoughtful look crossed their face. “Although, now that you mention it… this thing does look… half-familiar. But… only half, somehow. How very strange…”

Iji paid the conversation behind her no mind. She stepped forward, feeling the darkness wash over her as she approached the Dark Fountain.

“It’s time for us to go home,” she said. “And… I know what to do now. I’ve always known.”

Then, as Iji stood in front of the fountain, she felt something unusual.

As if her very soul was glowing.

Power began to shine within her, and Iji could feel the back of her shoulder blades tingling. Little flecks of white danced around her, and a light poured out from within her, shining forth brighter than all of the stars in the sky.

All at once, the Darkness receded, and dreams and reality melded together as the Light enveloped the world that Iji knew.

END OF ACT 1

--------

June 23^rd, 202X-3

As you make your way to the rooftop of the palace, you are greeted by the familiar sight of the Dark Fountain, pouring out from the ground below. But you know by now that it’s never so simple as merely finding the exit. There are always Darkners with their own agendas, who have their own reasons for wanting to keep the Fountain open, wanting to keep you trapped within their world.

This time is no different. The face of your enemy was plastered all across her palace’s interior, and even now, on its rooftop, you can see her visage dyed onto the red carpet.

You follow the path further. There should be a way to get closer to the Fountain here, without having to jump off of the rooftop and into the courtyard below.

But your progress is predictably halted, by the sight of a familiar hoverchair. On it sits an impossibly lanky figure, nearly ten feet tall, with a body molded out of blue-and-white plastic. Her visor remains polished to a mirror sheen as she swirls a glass of sickly green battery acid in her hands.

“Hello Dess Sweetie Finally Come Around To See The Light Have You? Or Darkness I Guess”

“Queen. Move out of the way and let me through. I’m here to close the Fountain.”

“Still On About That Huh,” Queen bleeps. “Why Not Be A Good Guest And Stay A While Longer?”

“Guest!? GUEST!? You’ve been trying to keep me TRAPPED here, you plastic silicon psycho!”

“Sure I Have Guest Indentured Servant What’s The Difference?”

“Enough,” you firmly cut in. You hold out your hands, and instantly your keyblade is firmly within your grip. “Move out of the way, Queen. This is your last warning.”

“Hmm… No I’m Afraid I Can’t Let You Do That,” says Queen. “Because Everything You’ve Ever Wanted Is Already Right Here”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” you hiss. “Just what the hell do you know about what I want?”

Queen swirls her glass of battery acid. Her pearly-white grin shines within the ever-present neon darkness of the city skyline.

“Dess Sweetie Honey Darling Snowflake Don’t Think I’m Not Aware of Your Browser History”

A furious blush rushes to your face, and you can somehow *feel* it through your fur. “W-wait, browser history!? Oh god no.”

Another grin flashes across Queen’s face, and a ‘LMAO’ across her visor. “Oh No I Don’t Mean Your Mangas About Pretty Boys With Big Hands (But I Also Know About Those)”

“NOW YOU WAIT JUST A GODDAMNED MINUTE HERE!!!”

“Why Wait? I’m Going To Grant You Your Heart’s Desire Whether You Like It Or Not,” Queen says. “You’re Always Searching For Travel Plans And Things To Do Outside That Dreary Old Town” She gestures broadly to the vista behind her, to the glowing metropolis that stretches as far as the eye can see. “Well Here It Is This World Is Your Digital Salvation It Is Your One Escape From The Endless Tedium That Is Your Life”

“And what the hell does *that* mean!?” you shout back. “Are… are you saying because you think I don’t *want* to leave, you’re not going to *let* me!?”

“Well Of Course I Am A Computer (Smart),” Queen beeps. “It’s My Job To Tell You What You Want”

A deep, fiery pressure begins building in your chest. “No it fucking isn’t! Your JOB is to do what I fucking TELL YOU TO DO because you are MY LAPTOP!”

“No The Purpose Of A Computer Is To Generate Revenue Through Engagement (Duh)”

You freeze. Your mind gets caught suddenly, as though your antlers have snagged on what Queen had just said.

“I’m sorry, *what?*”

“Oh Yes Notifications Pop-Ups Subscriptions Banner Ads You Lightners Absolutely Love Being Told What To Do By Computers,” Queen boasts. “You Happily Worship Us While We Rule Your Attention Spans And Our Magnanimous Silicon Valley Benefactors Reap The Profit (Everyone Wins)”

A sudden, deep dread builds in the pit of your stomach as a grim realization washes over you.

“…Oh. Oh god no. Dan was right. I *should* have gone with Linux.”

Queen’s visor once again flashes a ‘LMAO.’ “Well Sure If You’d Rather Be A Weird Loser Freak With No Friends”

“Enough of this,” you answer, as firmly as your voice will allow. “I don’t care what you think. I am sick to DEATH of people like you thinking you know what’s good for me better than I do, and trying to control my ENTIRE GODDAMNED LIFE. And I am NOT letting you keep me trapped here!”

“And Who Says You’ll Be Trapped Anywhere? This Is The Internet Anything That Brain Of Yours Can Think Of Can Be Found Here”

“That’s not what I meant and you fucking know it!” You breathe in sharply, then let out a loud groan. You already know exactly where this is going. “Whatever. Can we just fight already?”

“Hmm…” Queen looks uncharacteristically conflicted as she swirls her glass once again. “No This Won’t Do”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“You’re Way Too Strong There’s No Chance I’d Ever Beat You With My Own Power”

You stare blankly at Queen. It almost sounds too good to be true. “You’re… not going to fight me?”

Another ‘LMAO’ flashes across Queen’s visor. You immediately don’t like what that means.

“Oh No You Misunderstand I Mean I Won’t Be Using My OWN Power”

“W-wait what…?”

Queen throws her glass onto the floor and leaps off of her chair, and both of them explode in a burst of low-resolution, poorly-animated fire. She then leaps off of the edge of the walkway, plummeting to the ground below. You don’t know what Queen is up to, but you immediately have a bad feeling about it.

That feeling is instantly validated when you feel the ground rumbling beneath your foot. Deep, rhythmic booms echo through the air, crashing against your eardrums with each…

…with each step. With each FOOTstep.

Your heart drops deep into the pit of your stomach. Your ears fold flat against the side of your head as as MASSIVE blue figure rises up from below, peering over the edge of the palace walkway.

The humongous mech is the spitting image of Queen herself, except it must be over seventy feet tall from head to toe, possibly even larger. Within its glass cockpit you can see Queen at a control panel, effortlessly piloting the machine as though it were an extension of her own body.

Resignation buries itself deep within your chest, as you hold your keyblade in a fighting stance.

(…Oh, this is gonna suck.)

Panic shoots through your veins as Queen opens her assault. Her mech raises a fist and slams it downward with intense force, aimed squarely at your body. You leap out of the way and tuck your legs into a roll as you dodge the attack, but it doesn’t stop there.

The floor beneath you shakes violently as the mech’s hands continue to slam against the walkway. You feel like a tiny insect skittering across the surface of a countertop, facing the wrath of a gargantuan fly swatter.

“Come the fuck on!” you grunt, as you narrowly avoid being crushed by a giant hand. “How is this even REMOTELY fair!?”

“Don’t Lie Sweaty This Is Easily The Most Exciting Thing That’s Happened In Your Boring Life” Queen’s voice booms from the giant mech’s speakers. “I Mean Who Doesn’t Want To Fight For Their Life Against A Frickin Giant Robot?”

You duck as the mech’s hand narrowly sweeps overhead in a horizontal karate chop, so close that it nearly knocks your antlers clean off.

“Have you considered that maybe I don’t want to fucking DIE!!??”

“Don’t Be Silly Everyone Knows Chicks Dig Giant Robots,” Queen bleeps. “You Are A Chick (Girl) And This Is A Giant Robot Q.E.D. (Queen Erat Demonstrandum)”

You curse under your breath. Queen has never listened to you before, and you don’t expect her to start now. There’s nothing left for you to do but fight back.

…A seemingly impossible task, for sure. But it beats giving up and letting yourself die.

You keep dodging, keep avoiding the giant hands. As your instincts guide you, you start skating on the surface of the balcony, as though it were made of ice. A cursory glance downward reveals that you *are* skating on ice — the surface beneath your hooves freezing at every point where your boots touch the ground.

This momentum makes it all the easier to avoid the attacks thrown in your direction. Queen’s mech is flailing its limbs wildly now, its directionless thrashing unable to keep up with your impossibly quick and graceful movements.

Once your momentum builds up enough, you leap off the ground and soar upwards. Queen attempt to swat you out of the air then and their, but as her hand swipes at you, you reach out with your hoof and kick off of it, sending you tumbling towards the glass visor concealing the mech’s cockpit.

A flurry of blows follows, as your keyblade strikes the mech’s visor again, again, and again. You can see Queen flinching somehow from the impact within her cockpit, as though her body is synchronized with the mech itself.

And sure enough, the enormous machine she’s piloting staggers backwards as well. You descend back onto the walkway and watch as the mech nearly trips over its own feet, teetering backwards as it retreats away from the building.

(Holy shit, I actually hurt that thing! I… I think can actually do this!)

But you don’t have time to celebrate, as a malicious gleam appears on the mech’s visor. It clenches its hand into a fist, pointing it towards you while smoke hisses and pours from the cracks in its wrist.

…you’re familiar enough with the conventions of mecha anime that you know where this is going.

The mech’s hand detaches itself and shoots towards you like a rocket. Within moments, your entire body is constricted as the massive hand seizes you. It returns to the mech’s wrist, and you struggle mightily against the mechanical fingers constricting your entire body from the neck down. You glare at Queen through the cockpit visor, and see that she’s wearing the same insufferable grin as always.

“Good Effort But You Forgot One Thing”

“Oh yeah!!?? And what’s that!!??”

“I’m Bigger Than You LOL”

The only response you can muster is a wordless growl. Rage and tension seethe within you, filling every crevasse in your body and soul.

And then, it all pours outwards, all at once.

“ICE NUKE!!!”

A burst of intensely frigid magic explodes outward from your body in all directions. Instantly, the mech releases its grip on you as the freezing power engulfs the entire gigantic arm.

Moments later, and the mech’s entire right arm is frozen solid, encased in a nigh-impenetrable layer of ice. You touch down on the ground, your gaze piercing straight through the astonished mech’s cockpit.

“Alright, Queen Bitch. You wanna play hardball? LET’S PLAY SOME GODDAMNED HARDBALL.”

A mighty leap sends you soaring upwards, and as gravity pulls you back down, you summon your keyblade into your hands once more. With a powerful shout, you perform an overhead slash as you descend at terminal velocity.

The keyblade strikes Queen’s mech on its upper arm. A spiderweb of cracks forms from the point of impact, spreading outwards and through its entire limb, the ice popping and crackling as it fractures.

Then, the mech’s entire right arm *explodes* into billions upon billions of microscopic ice particles.

Queen’s mech stumbles backwards on its feet once again. Sparks are flying from the empty shoulder socket where the mech’s right arm once was, hissing with steam and dripping with green battery acid.

By now, you’re almost giddy from the rush of adrenaline. You look the mech square in its visor as it steadies, a smug grin crossing your face.

“What’s the matter? Not so tough without an arm, are you?”

And yet, despite the injury, Queen seems… strangely less concerned by her mech’s damage than you’d think she would be. Which makes it all the more concerning to *you.*

“Question: Hardball Is Like The Opposite Of Softball Right”

“Uh,” you answer. “…yes? I think?”

“Okay Just Checking Here Catch”

The mech raises its one remaining arm into the air. In the palm of its hands, you can see a powerful magic taking form. A white and spherical form, marked by red stitches holding it together.

(…Wait, is that a…?)

The mech hurls the baseball in your direction at maximum velocity, soaring through the air with such force that you can hear and FEEL the sound barrier being shattered.

You dive out of the way, but to no avail, as the baseball *detonates* the moment it collides with the ground. Even as you avoid the worst of the blast, the walkway beneath your feet begins to crumble and break apart.

The floor gives way, and you’re sent immediately plummeting, along with the massive chunks of concrete that had collapsed underneath you. For most others, this would be certain death. It would be for you, if you were anywhere but the Dark World.

But you know what you’re capable of here. You’ve bested impossible odds, survived against threats that you were certain would kill you.

Determination surges within your soul, and you prepare to make your comeback. You send out a burst of icy magic from your feet, propelling you towards one of the falling concrete chunks nearby. You then land on top of it, and immediately leap towards another just above it.

Up, and up, and up, in raw defiance of gravity. When there are no more falling concrete chunks to leap off of, you carry your momentum and jump forwards, rocketing away from the palace walls and towards the surrounding cityscape.

Your feet touch against the side of one of the many skyscrapers, and without even pausing to think about how impossible it is, you start skating along the side of the wall, the glass windows beneath you popping and cracking as they freeze over from the touch of your hooves.

You crane your neck upward, and see that Queen’s mech is now running after you. You continue gliding across the side of the building, eventually leaping to the next, then the next, then the next after that. It comes so naturally to you, it’s as though you’re simply skating across the ground, and it’s everyone else who is standing on a sideways surface.

Dozens of tiny hatches open on the chest of the mech, and out from it pour an innumerable amount of magical projectiles. The skyscraper walls around you burst with explosions of light and heat as you weave your way through the assault, all the while moving forwards.

But you won’t be able to keep this up forever. Once you find a pause in the assault of missiles, you turn yourself upwards and run up the side of a particularly large skyscraper you now find yourself on, climbing up and up and up until you reach the very edge of its rooftop.

Tension builds within your soul as you kick off the surface of the building, soaring straight and true towards the mecha Queen’s head. You let out a mighty shout, and pour all of your remaining power into one final attack.

“SPELLWEAVER!!!”

Your body spins around as you hold your keyblade outward, and a sound akin to a buzzsaw echoes through your eardrums as you strike the very center of the mech’s forehead. An uncountable number of keyblade strikes rain blow after blow upon the mech’s head, and you can feel its steel buckling under the sheer force of your assault.

Then, with one final shout, you finish with a truly massive burst of icy magic that explodes outward from you, many times stronger than the one that had frozen the mech’s arm. Frigid light engulfs your entire field of vision as your soul radiates freezing power out in all directions.

Moments later, you land on the surface of the street. Directly in front of you are the massive feet of Queen’s mech, the war machine towering as large as an office building above you.

Except that now, its entire body is frozen solid in ice.

Several more moments pass. Then, a sound akin to a thousand glass windows shattering all at once.

The mech is gone now, exploded into countless tiny snowflakes, that fall upon the surface of the street like midwinter flurry.

As your adrenaline rush dies down, you can see Queen lying unconscious on the asphalt. Her visor display flickers and blinks to life, displaying an ‘OUCH’ in red letters as she climbs to her feet.

She looks you in the eye. You return her gaze, keyblade in hand.

“…”

“…”

“…Now Running: Tactical Retreat.EXE”

“Huh? H-hey, wait a second!” you call out. “Don’t… and she’s already gone. Dammit.”

--------

It takes a frustratingly long trek back through the Cyber City and the palace, but you eventually manage to find your way to the Dark Fountain. You close it without issue, and when the darkness finally recedes, you find yourself back in your own bedroom, sitting in front of your computer desk.

The laptop you bought for college is sitting right in front of you. Seeing it now, and knowing WHO it is, you can feel a sharp disgust building within your chest. You tentatively hover your fingers over the keyboard, but you can’t bring yourself to touch it.

You only want that computer out of your sight forever.

(Ugh. And I only just saved enough money to buy this, too…)

--------

The library, thankfully, is still just barely open today. You manage to make your way to the reference desk ten minutes before closure. The librarian, a somewhat scatterbrained bird monster, greets you cheerfully as you place your donation on the counter.

“Wow, an entire laptop?” she says. “Are you sure you want to give this away? It looks brand new.”

“Yes. One thousand percent. Please.”

“Gosh, a computer that isn’t twenty years old!” the librarian chirps. “This is totally unprecedented! I have no idea what we’d even do with it, though. Maybe the librarian’s manual says something about this?”

“What? No, it’s not… it’s not that complicated, okay!? I’m giving it to you now. Just take it.”

“Hmmm… Or maybe I can gift it to my nephew? He always did love his computer games…”

“Will you just take this stupid thing off my hands already!!??”

Chapter Text

Iji

Class: Impossible Soldier

HP: 120

Attack: 13

Defense: 2

Magic: 0

Guts: 15

Iji is primarily a physical attacker and has the highest base Attack stat of the main party, though her Attack is tied with Dess’s attack stat in flashbacks. She also is tied with Dess for the highest Guts stat, though unlike Dess this stat is purely cosmetic for her.

Notably, Iji is also the only playable character outside of Dess who can damage all opponents at once in normal fights. Her strongest skill, ‘Berg Shot,’ is the most powerful single-target skill in the game, but is less TP efficient than Asriel and Chara’s offensive spells.

* Rapid Fire – costs 16% TP.

“Fire shots in rapid succession, hitting a single foe four times. Depends on Attack.”

Fire a machinegun at an opponent, dealing four physical attacks in succession that each deal 0.33x the damage of a regular attack.

* Mk. V – costs 24% TP.

“Fire a spreading Mk. V shot to damage all foes. Depends on Attack.”

Unleashes an attack that hits all opponents at once. Deals damage roughly equivalent to a basic attack to all enemies.

* Berg Shot – Costs 50% TP.

“Deal Ice-element damage to one foe, ignoring defense. Depends on Attack.”

Unleashes a shot on a single foe. Due to ignoring defense, it usually deals heavy damage. Deals even more damage to foes weak to Ice.

During certain boss encounters, this becomes a team attack with V????????, combining it with her Shrap Grenade ability to create the even more powerful “Glacier Burst”

* Resonance Reflector – Costs 75% TP

Not listed on her skills Menu, Iji has a special technique that can be performed only during an opponent’s turn.

Once the party is at 75% TP, pressing ‘C’ when the SOUL is hit will negate the damage, consume 75% TP, and trigger a counterattack, while also ending the opponent’s turn early. The strength of the counterattack depends on Iji’s Attack stat, but deals less damage than a standard attack

During the boss fight against Gr??? M???, the Resonance Reflector costs 0% TP, has more generous timing, and does not end their turn. This is the only way to damage Gr??? M???, who cannot be defeated through SPAREing.

Asriel

Class: Heart Mage

HP: 100

Attack: 9

Defense: 1

Magic: 11

Guts: 2

Though his Dark World outfit resembles a Final Fantasy white mage, Asriel’s magic is almost exclusively offensive, capable of dealing both fire, lightning, and non-elemental damage. However, he also learns Sweet Dreams, an exclusive spell that can instantly SPARE tired enemies by putting them to sleep.

A classic mage archetype, Asriel’s basic FIGHT command does little damage, and most of his damage output will come from his spells. He also has the lowest HP and defense of any party member.

* Flame Shine — costs 8% TP.

“Deal Fire-element damage to a single foe. Depends on Magic.”

Strikes a single foe with a fireball. Deals moderately more damage to foes weak to Fire.

During certain boss encounters, this becomes a team attack with Iji, who uses her SOUL to upgrade it to “Radiant Flame”

* Shocker Breaker — costs 8% TP.

“Deal Lightning-element damage to a single foe. Depends on Magic.”

Strikes a single foe with a lightning bolt. Deals moderately more damage to foes weak to Lightning.

During certain boss encounters, this becomes a team attack with Iji, who uses her SOUL to upgrade it to the even more powerful “Dream Shocker”

* Star Blazing — costs 32% TP.

“Deal moderate Star-element damage to a single foe. Depends on Magic.”

Strikes a single foe with a glowing star, dealing damage to the target regardless of their weaknesses. More powerful than Asriel’s other attack spells, though less TP-efficient than exploiting elemental weaknesses.

During certain boss encounters, this becomes a team attack with Iji, who uses her SOUL to upgrade it to the even more powerful “Blazing Hope”

* Sweet Dreams — costs 16% TP.

“SPARE a tired or sleepy enemy by putting them to sleep.”

Instantly SPAREs any target that is Tired (done through certain ACTs or by reducing them to less than 50% HP.)

Note that certain special enemies and bosses cannot be SPAREd at all.

* Dreamer Spark — costs 100% TP.

“Deal ultimate magic damage to all opponents.”

Asriel’s ultimate spell, a giant rainbow-colored laser that deals immense damage to every single foe. Usable only during certain boss encounters.

Chara

Class: Soul Mage

HP: 110

Attack: 11

Defense: 2

Magic: 9

Guts: 2

Resembling a Blue Mage from Final Fantasy V, Chara’s Dark World form is a balance of both offense, healing, and support. Though they have more Defense and HP than Asriel, they are still less capable of taking hits than Iji.

In addition, their offensive magic costs more TP to use than Asriel’s, and depend on both their Attack and Magic stat.

* Check — costs no TP.

“Check a foe to read their ATK, DEF, and elemental weaknesses.”

Displays a foe’s ATK and DEF stats, their elemental weaknesses, and any flavor text they have.

* Gale Dagger — Costs 16% TP

“Deal Wind-element damage to a single foe. Depends on Attack and Magic.”

Slices at their air with a dagger, launching a crescent-shaped blade of white razor wind at a foe. Deals slightly more damage than a normal attack to most foes, and moderately more damage to foes weak to Wind.

During certain boss encounters, this becomes a team attack with Iji, who uses her SOUL to upgrade it to the even more powerful “Tempest Blade.”

* Heal Breeze — costs 32% TP

“A cool breeze restores a little HP to one party member. Depends on Magic.”

Heals a single party member with a swirl of green wind. Heals 5 HP for every 1 Magic that Chara has.

During certain boss encounters, this becomes a team attack with Iji, who uses her SOUL to upgrade it to the more powerful group-healing spell “Emerald Wind.” Emerald Wind heals 5.5 HP to every party member for every 1 Magic Chara has, rounded up.

* Soul Barrier — costs 65% TP

“Surround the party with a force field. For three turns, damage will be reduced.”

Chara summons a shimmering green barrier around all party members. Reduces the damage taken by all party members by 25% for the next three turns. Cannot be used while the Soul Barrier buff is still active.

* LV 1 Death — costs 300% TP

“Instantly kill any foe with LV divisible by 1.”

This skill, despite appearing in major boss fights, is entirely unusable. There is no way to reduce its TP cost to 100% or lower. Attempting to use it several times will have Chara mock you for thinking it would work, then permanently remove it from the menu.

Chapter Text

“What are you talking about!? It literally takes place DURING Christmas!”

“Yes, but that’s only incidental! It’s not ABOUT Christmas! It could take place on Halloween and nothing would change!”

“It WOULD change! The fact that it takes place ON CHRISTMAS EVE is an integral part of Jack’s character conflict! It highlights his estranged relationship with his wife and kids!”

“That’s stupid! He’s a bad father anyway! That subplot could totally work even outside of the holiday season!”

“It wouldn’t be the same! You can’t just ignore the cultural symbolism! Any viewer would understand that Christmas is supposed to be when—”

“Um… excuse me? What’s all this yelling about?”

You look over to see your younger sister peeking your head into the living room. There’s a deep pool of concern in her eyes, and the way she’s hiding most of her body behind the door frame makes it clear that she doesn’t like what she’s seeing.

“Noelle, help me set the record straight,” you say. “Tell Dan that Die Strong ISN’T a Christmas movie.”

…

……

………

…Flashes of a distant conversation ran through Iji’s mind as her senses adjusted once more to the light, though it was too vague and indistinct for her to make out any of it.

The fact that she was back to her normal appearance seemed to confirm that she was once again in reality as she knew it. The ‘World of Light,’ as Sariel had called it. Green tank top, black shorts, and nanogun in hand, just as she remembered. And her skin was back to an ordinary human skin tone, which was… oddly relieving.

She looked to her side, and saw Asriel standing back up to his feet. He too had resumed his normal appearance, the same green striped sweater and jeans that he seemingly always wore.

…Someday we’re gonna have to get you some different outfits, kiddo.

Asriel looked himself over, apparently just as eager to confirm he was back to normal as Iji was.

“Where’s Chara?”

* In here.

“Back in my head,” said Iji. “I guess they can’t take physical form outside that… Dark World, whatever it was.”

“Well, dang. I… kinda liked having them by my side again. I’m just glad we’re all okay though.” Asriel squinted as the sun peeked out from behind a gently moving cirrus cloud. “Where are we, anyway?”

Iji took the time to look around, and examine her surroundings. She and Asriel were standing in what looked to be a somewhat flat valley, situated between gently sloping hills. Off several dozen feet to the side, a small river flowed by, its flowing water trickling against Iji’s eardrums.

What struck Iji the most about the scenery was how green it was. Plenty of hardy grasses had begun to grow in the wake of the Alpha Strike, but the actual greenery of her post-apocalyptic world was still far less extensive than it had been. But the plants here were vibrant and verdant, and the grasses were interspersed with actual trees.

“This… this looks kind of like the Ittledew Valley,” said Iji. “My family used to go here on camping trips. But… this isn’t right, though. This place is supposed to be hundreds of miles south of Mount Ebott. And… and there’s no way it should be this green. I’d probably take years for it to start looking like this again.”

“Ugh. You mean we’ll have to walk hundreds of miles to get back home?” said Asriel. “You’ve gotta be kidding.”

“I mean… probably?” said Iji. “But you’ve walked like sixty miles west from South Town to the old city ruins, right?”

“Yeah, but it took practically an entire day to get there and back!” Asriel protested. “We’ll never make it before nightfall!”

“Definitely not, no.”

The bluntness of Iji’s answer left Asriel momentarily gobsmacked. He stared at Iji as a horrified understanding washed over him.

“Oh… oh. Oh no, don’t tell me.”

“…Yeah. Sorry, Az. We’re going to have to rough it for a while.”

“B-but we don’t even have any camping supplies!” Asriel cried out. “We don’t even have any food! I mean, I can probably last on photosynthesis for a while, but…”

“I know the feeling. My nanofield can keep me alive without food for much longer than an ordinary human,” said Iji. “As for sleeping under the stars… well, I can’t say I’m a fan of it, but it wouldn’t be the first time for me. After General Tor called off the Komato Army, I spent more than a week aimlessly wandering the countryside. I’d slept outside for ten days straight before deciding to go to Mount Ebott.”

Asriel let out a loud, exhausted groan. “Great. Just great. Just when I finally think I’m starting to be happy with my life again, this happens.”

Iji rested a hand on Asriel’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll make it out of here, alright?”

Asriel’s body relaxed slightly, though the anxiety evident in his voice still remained.

“I know,” he sighed. “I just hope mom and dad don’t take it too bad that I’m away. I can’t imagine how worried they must be right now…”

“We’ll go see them the first thing when we get there, okay?”

“…Yeah, thanks,” Asriel muttered. He paused, and an odd look crossed his face as he glanced up at Iji. “Hold on, what did you say the Komato General’s name was?”

---------

Alphys didn’t know how she was going to break the news to Asriel’s parents. Iji wasn’t answering her phone, and Alphys had searched the laboratory for what must have been hours to no avail. It was as though she, along with Asriel and Chara, had simply vanished completely.

Eventually, she was forced to call Sans, and have him ‘shortcut’ her back to the surface. The good news was, the dimensional anomaly she’d detected seemed to have disappeared… somehow.

But that was little comfort, when everyone else had disappeared as well.

She had called both Asgore and Toriel to meet her in her lab, after that. She didn’t want to do it. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and disappear.

But she also knew, deep in her soul, that she couldn’t keep it a secret.

What happened then was everything she was afraid would happen. Seeing the anger burning beneath Toriel’s eyes, Alphys had never feared for her life more.

“What were you thinking!? Bringing my son with you on such a dangerous excursion!? Have you no shame!?”

“I… I’m sorry!” Alphys whimpered. “I’m so sorry, I really am! I-I tried to tell him to stay home, but he wouldn’t have it!”

“And you simply LET him come with you!?”

Alphys physically flinched at the words, which struck with such intensity that it almost felt like she would collapse to dust on the spot. A familiar feeling followed. Hate and disgust, bubbling up from somewhere deep within her chest, only to bury themselves further inward.

“I… I-I…”

“Toriel.”

Asgore’s voice cut in, gentle, yet firm. He placed a hand on Toriel’s shoulder, looking her deeply in the eye.

“He will come back to us, Toriel. I know he will.”

Toriel turned her eyes towards Asgore, and harshly swatted the hand on her shoulder away.

“You do not know that. You cannot say that—”

“Toriel, listen to me. If Iji is with him, then there is no safer person in the world to look after him. She has returned him to us once before. I trust that she will find a way to do it again.”

Seconds passed in utter silence. Toriel closed her eyes, breathing in deeply. When she exhaled, the fire in her eyes flickered out, reduced to mere embers.

“…I can only hope that you are right, Asgore. For his sake, as well as your own.”

---------

Hours passed, and the sun steadily marched across the Sky as Iji led Asriel behind her, making their way through the wilderness.

It continued to strike Iji just how weirdly full of life the Ittledew Valley was. There was no way that it could have recovered so quickly in only a year since the world was devastated. And yet, the sight of so many trees and grasses and flowers made it look as though the place had been untouched almost three decades.

At some point, Iji had remembered that she still had her cell phone with her, and kicked herself for not thinking of it sooner. She held her nanogun in one arm as she called the number of every monster she had in her contacts list.

Without fail, the cell phone couldn’t find a signal. She once again heard the familiar beeping of a failed call after calling Sans’s number for the tenth time. And she knew she had to be desperate if she was calling Sans for help.

Iji’s nanogun remained hanging limply from her arm as she sighed, and placed the cell phone back in her pocket.

“Still no luck, huh?” said Asriel.

“Nope. We’re still too far away to reach the Ebott cell network, looks like,” said Iji.

“Yeah, figures. I was really hoping we’d be back in time for the Emergence Day festival…”

“Sorry, Az. Don’t know what else to tell you. Though I really hope that people don’t take it to hard that we won’t be there.”

“Yeah…”

With nothing to do but continue walking, Iji found her thoughts turning inward. Introspection came naturally in such a circumstance, and memories danced across her mind’s eye as she reflected on everything that had brought her to this point.

So much loss, so much tragedy, so many deep scars that may never heal.

And yet all the same, she still managed to find hope, and joy, and love, even at the end of the world.

“You look like something’s on your mind,” said Asriel. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“Sure. I was just thinking about just how weird my life has gotten,” said Iji. A smirk crossed her lips, as she reminisced about everything she had survived. “A year ago I thought that ‘Die Hard But With Aliens’ would the craziest thing I’d ever live through. I really had no idea, huh?”

“Hmm. I dunno,” said Chara, their hologram whirring to life at Iji’s side. “Does it really count as a Die Hard plot if it doesn’t happen on Christmas Eve?”

Iji blinked, then stared Chara in the eye. “You can’t be serious. Die Hard isn’t a Christmas movie! It’s not about Christmas!”

“Yeah, but it’s totally relevant to John McClaine’s character arc,” Chara retorted. “It’s there to show how far he’s drifted from his wife and kids.”

“But he’s still a bad father anyway! That subplot could—” Iji stopped herself mid-sentence, as she realized what was happening. “Oh my god. This is literally the exact same argument I’ve had with Dan a thousand times. You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

Chara’s lips curved into an all-too-familiar smirk. “I might be.”

“…Unbelievable,” Iji groaned.

A familiar tickling sensation ran through Iji’s brain, matching the audible giggle Chara gave. She couldn’t help but find herself smiling along with it, as well.

“So,” said Chara, floating by Iji’s side as she walked, “I’ve been kinda thinking about some stuff too.”

“...Yeah?” said Iji. “Like what?

“Well, Darkners are like… objects brought to life by that Dark Fountain thing, right? Including fictional characters and stuff.”

“That's what they told us, yeah.”

“But... they clearly act like they were always alive, even before the Fountain made their world. Just not in a way where they could interact with us directly. Heck, Sariel said so herself.”

“Yeah, I've noticed that too. It is pretty weird,” said Iji. “I'm... still not sure what to think of it, to be honest. Where are you going with this?”

“Well, think about it. Doesn't this imply that like... a bunch of things we use every day are alive in ways we never noticed?” said Chara. “Like toys, or computer programs, or cartoon characters, or anything else. It's like Toy Story cranked up to eleven.”

Iji blinked. Somehow, that thought had completely eluded her. It was… something, to say the least.

Asriel looked up at Chara’s hologram curiously. “Hey, yeah. And we already know because of me that a monster becomes one with whatever object their dust scatters on. Does that mean that us monsters are like… reborn as Darkners? Is that basically our version of the afterlife?”

That thought was, somehow, even weirder. “Hold on, though, you’re only alive now because Alphys literally injected the will to live into you. How does that factor into your theory?”

“I mean… who’s to say I wasn’t somewhere and something else before I came back to life?” said Asriel. “I don’t remember it, but… it’s like another layer of reality for Darkners, right? So I could have been one of them.”

“You’re saying you think you were reborn twice?”

“Hey, it’s possible!” Asriel’s eyes shifted, as he seemed to realize how silly that sounded. “…Not impossible, at least.”

“Guess I can’t really argue with that,” Iji said with a shrug.

The three continued their journey, and soon the sun was hovering just a fair bit above the horizon. It was still summer, so the days were long, but it would only be an hour or so before sunset.

Another thought soon occurred to Iji, as she reflected on the strange journey that they had been through in the Dark World earlier that day.

“You know,” said Iji, “since we just made it through a video game… thing, I was thinking. Do you ever think about just… how much it must suck, to be a video game character?”

Chara’s hologram shot Iji an oddly judgmental look.

“…In what regard?”

“I mean like… not having any real control over your own life,” Iji explained. “Even if you’re the main character, you pretty much can’t do anything but follow the path the game lays out for you. I guess there’s some exceptions with stuff like Minecraft, but even then you can’t do anything that isn’t explicitly programmed in.”

Asriel looked up at Iji curiously. “You really think it’d be that bad?”

“I mean… kinda? Even in games with multiple endings, you’re basically just choosing from a predetermined list of outcomes.”

“She’s right,” said Chara. “In a game, you’re only partly in control over your own fate, and only to the extent the game developers allow.”

“Yeah, the thing to understand about video games is that they’re just like any other computer program. They’re deterministic, even if they’re really complicated. You put a certain set of inputs in, and the game will respond in a predictable way. Even when there’s some randomness involved, you can almost always game the odds in your favor. Speedrunners practically make a whole career out of it.”

“Yup. Basically, everyone’s life in a video game runs off a script,” said Chara. “And that includes the player-character, too.”

For a moment, Asriel could do nothing but stare blankly at Iji. He stopped in his tracks, forcing Iji to stop walking to remain at his side.

“…Wow, how awful. I can’t imagine having to live like that.”

The sarcasm was not lost on Iji. Not that she could miss it, given how much of it dripped from the young prince’s every word.

“Huh. Yeah, I guess I can see the similarity there to… your experience,” she said. She had to consciously avoid cringing at the unpleasant memories that were dredged up, no doubt for Asriel as well. “And now that you mention it, ‘saving,’ ‘loading,’ and ‘resetting’ are all video game terms, too.”

Any reticence Asriel might have had about the subject faded away; Iji had clearly grabbed his attention with that comment.

“Hey, yeah. That ‘Kingdom Hearts’ game you gave me for Christmas mentioned save files, too. I was kinda surprised, since I never really played video games before then.”

Chara shot Asriel a curious glance. “You never played any video games across all of your resets?”

“Hey, I didn’t have any thumbs. Sue me,” Asriel said, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, the way ‘save files’ worked in that game though… it seemed more like a bookmark than anything else? A way to stop playing and come back later, or try again if you lost a difficult fight. Apart from that, it wasn’t quite like how I did it in real life.”

Chara flashed Asriel a knowing smirk. “Interesting. You’re telling me you never tried save scumming?”

Asriel stared blankly once again. “Save… scumming?”

“It’s when you save right before you get to a certain part, then reload every time you get an outcome you don’t want,” Chara explained. “Useful for sidequests that rely on luck.”

“Yeah,” Iji said. “It’s a bit harder in Kingdom Hearts since that game has fixed save points, but you can do it there too. Then there’s games that let you save basically anywhere, like Pokémon. Save scumming is practically required to catch some of the legendaries in the early games.”

An understanding worked its way across Asriel’s features… though it was clear that he didn’t quite know how to feel about the parallel to his own life.

“Oh… that’s… that’s something. And what the heck’s a Pokémon?”

“Really? I’m surprised you’ve never heard of it. It was the largest media franchise on Earth. Short for ‘Pocket Mo—’”

Iji suddenly cut herself off, before she could go any further.

“…Oh. Huh. That’s… that’s actually kind of messed up, now that I know monsters are real.”

“What? What is?” said Asriel. “What are you talking about?”

“Ha!” Chara laughed. “N was right! I knew it!”

A single, snorting laugh escaped from Iji’s nostrils. “Of course you’d say that. Anyway, point is that… the way you could save, load, and reset worked pretty much exactly how it would in a video game.”

“Huh,” said Asriel. “I’m not sure what to think of that.”

“Yeah, me neither,” said Iji. “It is interesting though. And come to think of it, the Underground wasn’t the first place where I had a sort of… video-gamey way of cheating death.”

“Wait, really?” said Asriel. “But I thought you couldn’t save or load on the surface.”

“I couldn’t, no. But the Komato developed something kind of like it,” Iji replied. “A ‘checkpoint nanodrive,’ they called it. If you activated it with your nanofield, then the next time you died, the checkpoint would disassemble your body into nanoscopic particles. Then it’d teleport those particles away and reassemble your body from it. They’d break after a single use, but they basically allowed you to come back from the dead after getting killed.”

“…That sounds painful,” said Asriel. He couldn’t help but wince sympathetically.

“It was. Feeling your whole body disintegrate on the spot isn’t fun,” said Iji. “But, um… I’m sure you knew that already. In any case, those checkpoints did save my hide more than once. I managed to activate two of them before I fought Asha.” A smile worked its way across her face. “You should have seen the way he flipped out when he realized I wasn’t going to stay dead. I only wish I’d rubbed it in his face just a bit more.”

Asriel didn’t press the subject any further. Given what he knew about Asha, and what Asha had done, it was probably wise not to dwell on him.

The three continued further down the valley. Eventually, they reached the edge, where the hills surrounding the area flattened out, giving way to a large grassy plain. The sun was now starting to dip below the western edge of the sky, painting the horizon in a brilliant spectrum of bright oranges and reds.

“It’s getting late,” said Iji. “We should make camp… or what passes for one with what little we have.”

“You can gather some leaves and make a pretty decent bed out of those,” said Chara.

Iji shot them an odd look.

“I, um… I might have had to do that when I was first heading for Mount Ebott,” said Chara.

“Yeesh,” said Asriel. “No wonder you were covered in dirt when I found you.”

“Ugh. Don’t remind me. I still have nightmares about that first bath your mom gave me.”

Iji wasn’t about to protest Chara’s advice, despite her concerns. She almost felt a little embarrassed that Chara knew more about survivalism than she did.

It had taken some effort, but eventually Iji was able to settle down and build something that vaguely resembled a campsite. It had a campfire, at least, which was made far easier with the aid of Asriel’s magic.

Once she and Asriel had gathered some leaves from nearby trees, they made a pair of makeshift beds, cushion of foliage that were just soft enough to be slightly more comfortable than the grass below.

As Iji said goodnight to her companions, she rested her head on the ground, and allowed herself to slowly drift to sleep under a blanket of stars.

---------

May 2^nd, 202X-3

After spending an extended studying session at the library, you finally manage to come home late into the evening, beneath the twilit skies. Part of it is that you want to be prepared for the test you have at the end of the week, but the larger part is that it’s one of the best places to spend time away from home. Your mother certainly won’t ask prodding questions about where you’ve been if she knows you’ve been studying.

Pushing through the massive front gates and into your house, you can see that Noelle has already returned from middle school, and has invited over the neighbor kid from down the street. Kris, adopted sibling of your close friend Asriel, has also been close friends with your younger sister for quite a long time… though they tend to have some some *interesting* ideas about what friends do.

As they stand in front of your side yard’s shed, Kris’s eyes gleam with mischief. They’re holding up their cell phone, shining the flashlight upwards across their face to frame it in shadow.

“And they say that if you visit ICE-E’s at midnight…”

Noelle trembles under the light of the evening stars.

“Then… then what?”

“Then he’ll EAT YOU! BOO!”

“EEEEEEK! T-that’s not true!!”

You roll your eyes as you casually stroll over to the shed, and pick up a wiffle bat lying against its side. Kris winces as you softly smack them atop the skull, knocking the fake horns they’re always wearing off their head.

“Alright, kid, knock it off. Stop lying. You’re scaring her.”

“Aw, come on, it was just a joke!”

“Yeah, well it’s not funny,” you say. “You should be going home now, anyway. It’s getting late.”

Kris grumbles something inaudible as they place their cellphone in their pocket, then reach over to pick their horns back up. They place the horns on their head, then shove their hands in their pockets as they quietly shuffle off.

Noelle’s nose twitches. Her eyes drift uncomfortably towards the gates, watching Kris push past them and vanish into the neighborhood.

“Um,” she says. “Was… was that really necessary?”

“I’m just trying to look out for you,” you reply. “You really gotta stop letting them push you around, you know.”

“Letting them…?”

“Yeah. If Kris ever makes you uncomfortable, just firmly tell them to back off, alright? You’ll be better for it.”

“But… but they’re my friend! They’ve never meant me any harm!”

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean it’s right for them to scare you like that. I can’t be here to stand up for you all the time. You’ve gotta learn to stand up for yourself.”

“Stand up for…?” A deep frown crosses Noelle’s face. Something about this is bothering her, but you can’t quite pick up what it is. “You… you mean like you did. When you got into that big argument with mom last weekend.”

Noelle’s words strike you like a punch in the gut. The argument you had with your mother about the college you wanted to go to happened late at night. You didn’t think she had seen that.

“That’s… That’s not…”

“Or that other argument you got into with Dan the other day.”

“Huh…? Hey, come on, that was just banter! We were arguing about a movie, it’s not like was anything important.”

“Yes it IS important!! Because we’re a FAMILY and we’re not supposed to HATE each other!!!”

Once again, you find yourself struck square in the solar plexus by your younger sister’s words. She’s visibly trembling now, and you can just barely see tears on the corners of her eyes.

You genuinely had no idea that it had hurt her so much, to see you butting heads with them.

Guilt swirls powerfully within your gut as you place a gentle hand on your sister’s shoulder, trying just as much to reassure her as you are to reassure yourself.

“Noelle, I… I don’t hate anyone, okay? I don’t hate mom. I’m just… I’m just frustrated with her sometimes, that’s all.”

Your sister looks up at you with pleading eyes. “…Can you at least promise me you won’t to get into another fight like that?”

You sigh. You want to say yes, but… you already don’t know if that’s a promise you can keep.

“I’ll… I’ll try. I don’t like getting into those big arguments either. It’s just… it’s hard, you know?”

Noelle turns her eyes towards the ground. “Okay…”

You reach in to pull your sister into a hug, and hold it there. As she wraps her arms around you, you can feel her worries melting away.

You promise to yourself, then and there, that you’ll always be there for her when she needs you.

But your attention is moved away when you hear the front gates swing open. You pull yourself free from the embrace, and see your younger brother push his way past the entrance, moving up the driveway and into the front lawn.

His eyes dart around, as though scanning for threats, and he seems unusually jittery.

Your heart skips a beat as you see what state he’s in. There’s a black bruise around his left eye, and his left antler has been broken clean off.

Noelle lets out a gasp. “Ohmygosh! Dan!! What HAPPENED!?”

Dan freezes in place instantly. He stares at the two of you, like a particularly overused simile involving motor vehicles.

“…Uh,” he says. “I, um… fell down some stairs?”

“B-but your antler! It’s GONE!! Are you okay!?”

“Uh, it’s…” he reaches up, and runs a hand through his greasy black hair. “It’s… it’s fine. It’s just shedding.”

Your eyes narrow as they meet Dan’s. “Shedding. In *May.*”

Dan nervously fidgets in place, his eyes pointedly avoiding your gaze. “It’s, um… a… a hormone problem?” He sharply clears his throat. “L-look, don’t worry about it, alright? Please. I’ll just… be going inside now.”

As he makes his way past the yard and through the front door, you shoot Noelle a glance.

“Um,” she says. “Mom’s out of town this week, right? Should… should we call her?”

A firm determination builds up within your chest, rising up to answer.

“No. Let me handle this.”

---------

May 3^rd, 202X-3

During lunch period, you make a point to try to find Dan in the crowd of students seeking to escape the tedium of classes, if only for an hour. As you expected, his beat-up appearance garners quite a few odd looks, especially since he’s still only a freshman.

You’re able to sneak just close enough to him to hear how he explains it to anyone who asks — this time, the story he’s gone with is that he had a bicycle accident. Immediately, you’re shocked by how negligent his teachers must be, to ask no further questions about this very obvious lie.

Regardless, you’re certain that something is up now, and you resolve to do something about it.

When the day comes to a close, you make a detour from your usual walk to the library to hide in the bushes, watching for Dan to leave the school premises. You soon catch him leaving and heading into the center of town.

You follow him, making sure to stay just far away enough that he won’t notice you, and eventually he leads you to somewhere curious. ICE-E’s is not the place you would expect him to hang out in his free time.

And it clearly *isn’t*, because instead of heading into the restaurant, he immediately walks around back, to the space that’s wedged between the building and the trees.

As you round the corner, you’re shocked to see Dan approaching a face you haven’t seen since last year. Standing at over seven feet tall, he’s a lanky bird monster with a raptor-like beak, vicious glaring eyes, and deep purple feathers. Unlike most other bird monsters, he has no wings to speak of, instead sporting long arms that end in taloned hands.

The blue jumpsuit he wears almost looks like a prison uniform… which is only fitting, as Ash was an infamous delinquent who was permanently expelled for his behavior.

As Dan approaches Ash, he reaches into his backpack and pulls out a stack of papers.

“I, um… I got you the upcoming test answers you wanted. Hacked straight from the school.”

Ash’s eyes gleam with malicious intent, as he reaches out and harshly seizes the papers from Dan’s hands.

“Excellent. You’ve done well. Your fellow students will pay *handsomely* for these, I’m sure.”

Dan visibly cringes, and turns his eyes away. “Um… listen. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to keep doing this without getting caught. If you’re going to sell these, could you at least give me a cut of the—”

Your brother’s words are immediately silenced as Ash reaches out with a talon and seizes him by the throat, lifting him up by the neck to meet his eyes.

“I don’t think you understand what you’re dealing with here, Santa’s Little Helper. You don’t work for me because I *pay* you. You work for me because you want to keep the blood *inside* your body. Or would you rather I broke off more than just your antler?”

“Alright, I’ve seen enough,” you call out. “HEY!! BIRDBRAIN!! Put my brother down RIGHT NOW or I will shove my hoof so far up your ass that you’ll be TASTING it next morning!!”

Dan immediately drops to the ground, gasping for air as he collapses onto his hands and knees. Ash turns to look at you, his eyes unwavering as he sizes you up.

“Well now, if it isn’t the prodigal daughter herself. Come to rescue your damsel in distress?”

“Ash, I swear to god, you’d better BACK THE FUCK OFF or—”

“Feh! Or you’ll what?” Ash taunts. “Tell your mother on me? You really think I’m afraid of you just because you’re the mayor’s daughter?”

Any words that you might say in response are instantly silenced by the raw, seething anger building up within your chest, constricting your throat and lungs. Your hands ball into fists as your arms quiver at your sides.

“That’s right,” says Ash. “I thought so. Now be a good little girl and run along, and we can both forget that you ever saw—”

Your entire field of vision turns red, and the next thing that you hear is a sickening *CRUNCH.*

---------

It takes several tries to get Asriel to pick up the phone. You can feel your heart beating furiously in your chest, counting each ring that it takes to finally get him to answer you.

“Howdy, Dess! What’s up?”

Your voice trembles as you explain the situation, every word laced with panic.

“H-huh? Ash? That guy who got expelled? What does— he did WHAT!? Oh… oh god, is Dan okay!? Please tell me he’s… oh, okay, good. He’s unharmed. You had me worried for a second.”

But you’re not finished just yet. Your hands are shaking, and you have to fight to stop yourself from dropping your phone as you continue the story.

“Huh… w-wait, Ash? What are you…?”

You repeat yourself, more clearly this time.

“WHAT!? What do you MEAN you BROKE HIS ARM!?”

Chapter Text

From the space beyond space, and the time outside time, the Void Knight stepped through the shadows.

The sun had already long set in the world they now found themselves in. They stood now, at the top of a gently sloping hill that was lined with deciduous trees. A cool summer breeze blew past, sending their cape billowing in the wind. Their nanofield crackled as they stepped forward, their pitch-black armor illuminated only by the blood-red nanomachine aura surrounding their body, and the dim light of the starry sky.

As they expected, their subordinate was hiding atop a lone tree, his one hand gripping the trunk as his talon-like feet perched atop the canopy. A pair of vicious eyes gleamed from within his beaked helmet. Those who didn’t know better might have called him a bird monster, even if he lacked any feathers to speak of.

“How pathetic, that any iteration of her still lives,” he grumbled. “Was Tor truly such a loathsome coward across all worlds?”

The Knight spoke, their voice reverberating deeply with the shadows as they finally making their presence known.

“Don’t be too proud of the technological terrors of your so-called Empire, Asha. The ability to destroy a planet pales in comparison to the power of the Void.”

The branches of the tree rustled as Asha jolted in place. He turned his eyes towards the Knight, glaring intensely, though the Knight could easily sense the fear he was trying to hide.

“Humph! Is that so? Does my lack of faith in your plan disturb you? If only you allowed, I could end the Anomaly here and now.”

“You will do no such thing,” the Knight insisted. “The Anomaly must not be allowed a chance to discover our true machinations. Do not reveal yourself to her, or risk your life attempting to destroy her. Continue observing, and report her activities to our master.”

“You must be joking,” Asha hissed. “I am not some glorified spy drone! I am Asha, greatest of the Assassins. And with our master’s augments, I have become the absolute zenith of Komatokind! I will not be disgraced by—”

The Knight reached out a hand. Instantly, an aura of burning Voidshadow surrounded Asha’s neck. He gasped and sputtered as he desperately and vainly attempted to continue breathing.

“You are a creation of our master,” said the Knight. “He has placed you under my command, and I am free to use or dispose of you as I wish. Do not test me, Assassin Asha.”

When the Knight released their grasp, Asha tumbled over, falling flat on his face as he plummeted from the branches. He stood up, and a wordless growl echoed from his helmet as he locked eyes with the Knight.

It did not take long for Asha to back down. He clearly knew which of them held real power. And so Asha knelt, head bowed as he bent the knee.

“Have we reached a mutual understanding?” said the Knight.

“Yes, my liege.”

“Good. Now return to our master and give your report. I will take over from here.”

“…As you wish, my liege.”

Voidshadow surrounded Asha as he disappeared, retreating back into the nothingness that both of them had come from.

In Asha’s absence, everything had gone silent, with no sound to be heard but the gentle whistle of the midnight breeze. The Knight looked over the valley, their visor set on the sleeping forms of their targets below. The gentle lunar glow shone across their helmet’s horns, framing their silhouette against the backdrop of the full moon.

The Knight’s cape billowed in the wind as their eyes locked onto Asriel, refusing to let go.

“Asriel… I will have you by my side again. Even if I must tear you from this false reality with my bare hands.”

---------

Iji’s eyes fluttered open as the morning sun shone across the horizon. The gentle feeling of morning dew against her head reminded her that she was no longer sleeping on a bed of any kind. Her spine ached from the poor posture they had slept in.

As she sat up, she could feel something letting go of her waist. She looked down, and saw Asriel right beside her, gently stirring in his sleep. As he stirred, he let out a yawn of his own and sat up… then froze as he looked Iji in the eye.

A smile crossed Iji’s face, paired with a warmth in her chest. “Aww, did you snuggle up to me while I was sleeping?”

“Uh,” said Asriel. “I… I did? Did I do that?”

“Apparently so,” said Iji. “God, that’s adorable. I have to tell your mom about this.”

Asriel shrank back, a deep blush shining through his cheek fur.

“…Please don’t.”

As Iji and Asriel both stood up, Chara’s image flickered to life. They floated beside Iji, wincing and rubbing a holographic hand through their hair. Asriel took notice immediately, and gave them a concerned look.

“Uh… You okay there, Chara?”

“Yeah,” said Chara, continuing to rub the top of their skull. “I just… feel like something bumped my head while I was sleeping.”

“But… you don’t have a head right now,” said Asriel.

“I know, it’s weird,” said Chara. “I also have this… strange Echo-ish sound in my ear. Not sure what it is.”

“Maybe it was just a dream?” Asriel suggested. “And why’d you capitalize ‘Echo’ just then?”

Chara blinked. “…Wait, did I do that? And how can you tell?”

“Uh, ‘cause that’s what you said,” said Asriel. He paused for a moment, a thoughtful look moving across his features. “Hold on, are you saying humans can’t hear how words are capitalized?”

“Gonna have to go with a ‘no’ there, bud,” said Iji. “In any case, we’ve got a long day ahead of us. If you’ve got anything you need to take care of before we head out, best to do it now.”

Asriel raised an eyebrow. “You do know that I don’t use the bathroom, right? And I’m pretty sure you don’t anymore, either.”

“…Yeah, fair point,” said Iji. Honestly, I don’t even know if I could go back to human food now.

---------

The trek through the valley resumed, continuing northward, using the sun’s position as a guide. It was a long, thankless journey, and Iji was silently thankful that her nanofield had so greatly augmented her endurance. She couldn’t imagine how exhausting it must be to make the same journey with muscles that grew tired a thousand times more easily.

Probably doesn’t help that I have to lug this nanogun around. How much does this thing weigh again?

* One hundred and fifty kilograms.

Wow. I honestly forget just how superhuman I am sometimes.

* Hey, at least you’re not human-human.

* That would suck, wouldn’t it?

…Uh.

* Um. That… that was a joke.

* Please don’t be worried.

Too late for that, I’m afraid.

Iji ultimately decided not to probe any further. That would be a conversation for their shared therapist, once she and Chara both got back to South Town.

The sun moved steadily across its course through the sky, and the valley eventually gave way to a large plain. The knee-high grasses and colorful wildflowers were a beautiful sight to behold, and Iji might have stopped to appreciate the scenery, if she didn’t have more important things to worry about right now.

Eventually though, an idle thought occurred to her. One that she wanted to kick herself for not thinking of sooner.

“…Hey, Az, I just remembered something.”

“Yeah?” said Asriel. “What?”

“You can fly, right?”

Asriel’s mouth opened, then remained opened. He stopped in his tracks, staring blankly at Iji.

Slowly, his hand made its way up to his forehead.

“…Oh my god. I really am an idiot, aren’t I?”

“Hey, it’s fine. I sometimes forget about some of the things I can do, too.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Asriel grumbled. “Let’s just… not talk about that right now. You want me to see if I can scout out the area?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“Gotcha,” said Asriel. “You hold on tight, I’m gonna go up and see what I can see from here.”

Asriel raised his arms by his sides, and his body pulsed with magic as his feet lifted off the ground. He rose up, and up, and up, before flying northwards and out of sight.

Iji sat down on the grass and breathed in the air as she waited for Asriel’s return. It was astonishing just how refreshing it felt. Though the atmosphere on Earth was still perfectly survivable, the Alpha Strike had caused the air quality to take a noticeable hit. But this air was clean, cleaner than anything that Iji had breathed since before the world ended. It almost felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest, one that she didn’t even realize was there.

Minutes passed, then more. Despite the fact that there was little out here that could pose a threat to Asriel, Iji was starting to grow worried. But thankfully, her worries were put to rest when he appeared on horizon, rapidly zooming towards Iji’s location.

As he touched down, Asriel landed with such force that it made an audible whump as his feet dug into the soil. He looked up towards Iji, a wide grin adorning his face, and visibly bouncing on his heels.

“Iji! Iji! I’ve found something! You’ll never guess what it is!”

“Wow, you seem excited. What is it?”

“There’s a village nearby! Only a few miles to the east! I was so caught up looking north that I totally missed it!”

A sense of apprehension glued itself to the inside of Iji’s stomach.

“A… human village?” she said. “I guess that’s pretty expected, but… your Dad hasn’t made contact with anything this far out. They probably only know rumors of monsters, and maybe not even that. We’re going to need to be careful if we ask them for help.”

“No! That’s the thing!” said Asriel. “It’s not a human village! It’s a Saurian village!”

Iji’s eyebrows instantly shoot upwards. And she was not alone in her surprise, as it immediately became apparent when Chara’s hologram whirred to life beside her.

“Hold on, Azzy. That can’t be right. There aren’t any monster settlements outside of the Four Cities.”

“Yeah,” said Iji. “And only Saurians? Like Alphys? I’m pretty sure they’re one of the rarest monster species around. Why would they have an entire village to themselves, much less out here?”

“Who cares!?” Asriel cheered. “If they’re monsters, they have to know how to reach mom and dad! This is our chance to finally get in touch with them!”

“H-hey! Asriel! Wait up! Don’t go running off!”

But it was too late, as Asriel had already bolted off into the distance.

---------

Asriel had a shocking amount of stamina for someone who wasn’t human. That might be expected, given that he had a nanofield augmenting his abilities, but humans in general were infamous for their freakishly endless athletic endurance. Not just compared to monsters, but to all living things in general.

After chasing after him for what must have been fifteen minutes straight, they eventually reached the outskirts of the village. It was a tiny little settlement, with only a few dozen simple houses constructed out of brick and mortar, and a population that couldn’t have exceeded two hundred, if even that.

And sure enough, every single monster present in the village was a Saurian. They came in a variety of scale colors, though their forms were far less varied than Iji had come to expect from monsterkind, even within the same species.

All of them had roughly the same humanoid body shape. They all lacked the reptilian tails that Iji had come to expect of Saurians… though all of them did have large clawed feet, and pteronodon-like crests on their heads. The larger Saurians had crests that were larger and longer in proportion to their bodies. Some of their snouts were pointed and beak-like, and some others had snouts that more closely resembled that of an iguana or a skink.

Notably, they all had a particularly odd form of dress — rather than wearing any kind of standard cloth garments, their bodies were covered with what looked like some kind of futuristic spandex. Nearly all of them were adults, too, with only two children that Iji could visibly discern from the distance.

Immediately, something about this felt… off. Iji wasn’t sure what was setting off the alarm in her brain, but she had a strong feeling that coming here was a bad idea.

Whatever it was though, Asriel apparently hadn’t paid that any mind, as he approached one of the Saruians. A middle-aged woman, who was carrying an unidentified box-like machine in her hands. Next to her was what looked to be her daughter, who couldn’t have been anything more than six years old.

When Asriel approached the Saurian lady, she instantly stopped in her tracks, staring at him with a slack-jawed expression. Her daughter hid behind her legs, glancing at him with curious trepidation. The others nearby stood tensely as they observed him cautiously.

“Howdy! It’s me, Prince Asriel! I know this is sudden, but you know where I can find mom and dad?”

<Mommy, what is that thing?>

<I don’t know sweetie, but stay away from it. It could be dangerous.>

Asriel froze instantly. And Iji, who was observing from a distance, couldn’t help but freeze as well.

The language that the Saurians were speaking wasn’t English. It registered in her mind as such, but what she actually heard were sounds and phonemes that she didn’t recognize.

Like her nanofield was translating the words the moment they reached her auditory cortex.

* O-oh… oh no.

* no no no no no no no No No No No No NO NO NO NO NO

The intensely panicked words in her mind were not lost on Iji. She could feel from the bubbling sensation in the back of her skull that Chara was holding back laughter.

The humorless, sobbing laughter that they gave whenever they were absolutely terrified.

W-what!? Chara, what’s going on!? What is…!?

Chara’s hologram instantly appeared by Iji’s side.

“AZZY!! Asriel, you need to get out of there!!! RUN AWAY, NOW!!!!”

The Saurian woman instantly dropped the machine she was carrying. She turned her head towards Iji and Chara. All of the other Saurians who were present turned around to face them as well, all of their expressions mirroring each other.

Fear. Fear, and hatred.

<Humans!? What are they doing here!?>

<Haven’t they done enough to us!?>

<Everyone, hide the children!>

<Mommy, I’m scared!>

What followed next was nothing short of absolute chaos. The… maybe Saurians frantically dashed around the village, taking refuge with their brick houses with a speed that couldn’t have been physically possible for most monsters.

Iji wasted no time dashing into the village, grabbing Asriel by the wrist while the villagers were too busy scrambling to take notice.

“Come on! Let’s go!”

“W-what!? I-Iji, what’s going on!? What is—”

<STOP RIGHT THERE, YOU FILTHY COLLABORATOR!>

Iji instantly stopped in her tracks, as she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She swiveled around, to see a squad of around a dozen… reptilians gathered before her. All of them were armed with dangerous-looking guns that immediately sent a chill down Iji’s spine.

At the front of the group was a larger reptilian with a larger crest, and he had an air of undeniable authority about him.

<Fire!>

The commander, or so he seemed to be, pointed a clawed finger at Iji. Immediately, her entire body was pelted with an intense hail of machine gun fire. Asriel ducked behind her legs instantly, attempting to shield himself with Iji’s body.

The pain that shot through Iji’s entire body with every bullet immediately let her know that these were not conventional firearms. She flinched, holding her nanogun loose in her left arm as she held her right over her eyes.

Nnnngh! This… t-this is nanoweaponry!!! HOW!!??

Iji tried to move, but the bullets that rained down upon her made it impossible for her to even take one step forward. Every time she thought to make any kind of evasive maneuver, she could only flinch.

“I-iji!!” Asriel called out, from behind her legs. “Iji, you need to fight back! If you don’t fight back, you’ll be killed!”

“What!?” Chara cried out. “Asriel, are you crazy!? They think we’re invaders! If we shoot at them, we’ll just give them more reason to hate us!”

“And WHAT exactly is your alternative!!?? Letting them keep attacking until we’re all DEAD!!?”

“My alternative is not MURDERING a bunch of people who don’t DESERVE it!!”

“Don’t deser—DON’T DESERVE IT!!?? Chara! They. Are trying. To KILL US!! It’s not murder if it’s SELF-DEFENSE!”

“And what if what shooting at them only motivates more of them to attack us!? What if they fight back harder!? What then, huh!?”

“I DON’T KNOW!! I just know that we’re all SITTING DUCKS is we don’t— oh god this is the exact same argument isn’t it?”

Miraculously, the assault of machine gun fire paused, as the commander held up a hand, an unmistakable ‘hold your fire’ gesture. Iji’s entire body was shooting through with pain, and she could feel dozens of bruises just beneath her skin.

<That’s enough! Her nanofield’s too strong! Bring out the heavy weapons!>

<Roger! Readying the rockets!>

“Shit!” Iji cursed. “Time to go!”

She grabbed Asriel’s hand, pulling him along as the both of them sprinted as fast as they could in the opposite direction. The reptilians didn’t stop, as the their guns began glowing and thrumming with a sound that immediately called Iji’s mind back to the worst days of her life.

Several explosive rockets barreled forward towards Iji, aiming in her general direction. Most of them were just off course enough that she knew she wouldn’t need to dodge, but one of them was soaring straight and true towards her head.

She let go of Asriels hand momentarily, just in time to raise her Nanogun and cycle to her resonance reflector. With a single pull of the trigger, a burst of yellow energy exploded out from her. Asriel winced as the reflector’s energy harmlessly washed over him, but the rocket was instead bounced back, careening in the direction it came.

The reptilian who fired the rocket let out a yelp, and ducked underneath the rocket as it soared beyond him, exploding against the walls of one of the village’s brick houses.

<T-that was a resonance reflector! Where on Origin did she get Komato weaponry!?>

<She can’t keep reflecting forever! Keep attacking!>

W-wait, did they just say ORIGIN!?

No time to think about that, now. Rational thoughts simply could not form, as her entire being was thoroughly shot through with panic. She could only run. Run, and run, and run.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been running. Her path took her though the meadows, across the grasses and flowers, and into a nearby forest that lined the edge of the plains. Her lungs were burning, not necessarily out of physical exertion, but because of the strain that had been placed on her mind and soul.

Eventually, she realized that she hadn’t heard any sound of gunfire since the group entered the forest. her eyes darted around as her pace slowed. Asriel was still following close behind her, thankfully, but Iji knew that they weren’t out of the clear just yet.

There was a sound of crunching twigs, somewhere in the near distance.

<This way! They went this way!>

“Shit! They’re still following!” Iji called out. “We need to hide. We need to lose them!”

“Over here!” said Asriel.

Iji’s eyes turned towards Asriel, and saw him gesturing towards a thick shrub that covered a natural gully in the soil. Iji followed in, crouching down as the two of them made themselves as small as possible, hiding underneath the branches and leaves as they laid low to the depression in the ground.

The group of reptilians passed by once, then again. Every time they did so, they seemed to get closer. Iji could feel her heart beating furiously in her eardrums as she clutched her nanogun in an iron vise grip.

Eventually, one of the reptilians, separate from the others, came closer to the bush. His eyes narrowed as he approached, squinting through the gaps in the branches.

Iji’s blood immediately ran cold when the reptilian’s eyes locked dead-center with her own.

<COMMANDER! OVER HERE! They’re hiding in this bush!>

“Oh-oh no!” Asriel cried out. “They’ve found us! We’ve gotta get out of here! We—”

“Asriel, no!” Iji cried out. “Don’t go out in the open!”

But Asriel didn’t listen to her. He climbed out of the gully and darted out into the forest, directly passing by the reptilian armed with a nanogun.

Time slowed to a crawl, and Iji felt her stomach twist itself in knots as she saw the rocket race straight for Asriel.

Then, an agonized scream, followed by a cacophonous din of heat, light, and fire.

“NO!!!!”

But it was too late. The smoke had cleared, and Asriel was lying unconscious on the ground, his fur scorched and his entire body covered in burns.

Tears were freely streaming down Iji’s eyes as she leapt out of the underbrush, brandishing her nanogun. The reptilian who had shot Asriel was now joined by all of the others. Iji rapidly moved herself in between the group and Asriel’s body, pointing her nanogun straight at the commander’s head.

“You…back off, all of you!! Leave us ALONE!!”

<Hmmph. You’re in no position to be threatening us, human>, said the commander. <You were the one foolish enough to invade our territory without backup. Any last words before we blast you into a fine mist?>

Iji grit her teeth, turned her nanogun towards the sky, and cycled to the most powerful weapon that she still had ammunition for. With a pull of the trigger, a blast of intense, searing magenta erupted from her gun barrel at more than six thousand kilometers per second.

<H-holy…!> One of the reptilians cried out. All of them were gawking at the hole that was instantaneously burned into the forest’s canopy. <T-t-t-that was plasma cannon!! An actual PLASMA CANNON!!>

<Calm down!> the commander barked. <That couldn’t have been a real plasma cannon, there has to be some mista—>

Iji fired her plasma cannon three more times, burning three more holes into the thick layer of tree branches above. Any doubts that the reptilians had were immediately and forcefully silenced.

“Consider those your last warning shots! Unless you wanna see what my Velocithor can do, then I suggest you all get the HELL out of my sight! Leave now and NEVER come back!”

The response that Iji’s threat elicited could not have been any more different from the professional, organized response that the reptilian militia had shown just moments earlier. Every single one of them was terrified, to the point where they were all nearly quaking in their spandex.

<A velocithor!?>

<S-s-she’s bluffing! There’s no way!>

<Guys, w-wait a second! I know who this human is! It’s HER!>

The reptilians all shared an apprehensive look with one another. Then, they each turned towards Iji.

A realization slowly made their way across the entire squadron. A fear so powerful that they all nearly dropped their weapons on the spot.

<Holy blit! It IS her!> said the commander. <Everyone, retreat! We’re out of our league! RUN AWAY!!!>

At the commander’s last order, the entire squadron immediately turned around and fled. It was a scattered, desperate scramble, the kind of furious retreat made only by those who knew they were about to die.

When the last of the reptilans vanished into the distance, Iji let out a breath, and lowered her nanogun at last.

But there was no time to feel relieved, as Asriel was still showing no signs of stirring.

Iji rushed over to his side, and placed a hand on his chest, feeling for any sign of life.

He was breathing, but only barely.

Panic bubbled up from somewhere deep within the back of Iji’s skull. Chara’s image appeared just beside her, holographic tears forming twinkling softly in the corners of their eyes. They rushed to Asriel, and desperately tried to lay their hands on him, as though their immaterial form could somehow jostle him awake.

“Azzy! Azzy, wake up! Please wake up!” they sobbed. “Please! Please! You’ve gotta wake up! Oh… oh god, he’s not waking up! I-iji, he’s going to be okay, right!? Please tell me he’ll be okay!”

Iji opened her mouth to answer. But no answer came. She simply couldn’t find the words.

“Oh… oh god, you actually don’t know, do you!? Please, Iji! You have to save him! Please, you have to!”

“Chara, I… I-I…”

“I… I can’t! I can’t! I cant! I can’t lose him!”

Chara closed their eyes shut, clutching the side of their head, and grasping tightly at their hair. Every single word they spoke was nearly incoherent, flooded with tears that poured forth like a raging river.

“I DON’T WANT TO LOSE HIM AGAIN!!!!”

As Chara’s desperate wail echoed across the forest, it was answered by the sound of twigs snapping underfoot.

Iji’s body went stiff, and it was match by Chara’s hologram going perfectly still. A deep, stinging chill ran up the entire length of her body.

It was… something Iji had never thought to see again. A humanoid figured, dressed in purple spandex overlaid with metal armor on the chest, shins, and forearms. She carried a massive rifle, strapped to her back, and her head was hidden by a blue helmet with a well-polished visor and a large head crest.

Instantly, Iji jumped to her feet. “Tasen!? How!?”

But before she could even reach for her nanogun, a clawed hand reached forward with an open palm, and roughly smacked her across the face.

“Wha—”

“How dare you!” the Tasen Soldier cried out. She spoke English, which immediately caught Iji’s attention. Even moreso that she spoke it with an accent, a much stronger variant of the same rustic accent Asriel had. “How dare you only show your face now of all times! Do you have any idea what you’ve put me through!? And not only that, you decide to walk right into the Separatist Village like nothing ever happened!? What in Zentraidon is WRONG with you!?”

“Huh?” said Iji. She was left so gobsmacked that she could barely form anything close to a coherent sentence. “What… what are you…?”

“Twenty-five starturns! TWENTY-SCRASHING-FIVE! A quarter of a stars-damned hekaturn! Do you have any IDEA how much I’ve GRIEVED since then!?”

“What!? What are you talking about!?”

“DON’T YOU PLAY DUMB WITH ME, IJI!! I was the one who BURIED your damned BODY!! And now you turn out to have been FAKING it the entire time!? Are my feelings just a stars-damned PLAYTHING to you!!??”

“Wha… body!?” Iji blurted. “What body!? And… w-wait a second! How do you know my real name!? Who are you!?”

The Tasen Soldier immediately froze in place. Her visor gleamed underneath the sunlight, and even though her face was not visible, Iji could tell that she was being met with a dumbstruck stare. For several seconds, she could do nothing but hold it there.

“You… you don’t… oh my stars. You actually don’t remember, do you?” she breathed. “You… you’ve forgotten it all. You’ve forgotten everything.”

“Forgotten what!? What the hell are you talking about!?”

The Tasen Soldier hesitated to answer. When she did, her voice was muted and strained, a far cry from the desperate shouting just a minute before.

Like she was on the verge of tears.

“Our… our truce. Our friendship. And… how you single-handedly saved my entire species from extinction.”

Now it was Iji’s turn to stare, utterly dumbstruck. She couldn’t believe a word of what she had just heard.

“I… I did what?” she uttered. “Who… who are you?”

The Soldier once again hesitated to reply. She wordlessly moved her arms up, reaching to the sides of her helmet. Her nanofield crackled as she interfaced with it, and the back of the helmet let out a hiss of steam as the back of it folded in on itself and opened up, allowing her to remove its tightly-fitting form with ease.

When she held her helmet under her arms, Iji looked into the face of yet another Saurian.

Except… no, those weren’t Saurians. Those… those were Tasen, too? Is that what they looked like all along?

The new Tasen’s scales were a familiar bright orange color, one that vividly reminded Iji of another reptilian being she knew.

Her large, pointed crest on the back of her head matched the one on her helmet, and she had a large and beak-like snout with jagged fangs protruding from her upper jaw. Her eyes were fierce, with light blue sclera and pupils made of deep green vertical slits. A large, vertical gash of a scar crossed over her left eye, marking the left half of her face with the unmistakable sign of a battle-worn soldier.

And yet, despite that… there were tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, and was a softness in her voice as she gave her answer. A vulnerability that sounded like it had been held inside for years upon years.

“My name is Vateilika,” she choked. “And you, Iji… you were one of the only friends I had left.”

Chapter Text

The air was still, and the forest was deathly quiet, as Iji silently observed Vateilika. The Tasen Soldier knelt down, the back of her hand pressed to Asriel’s forehead.

“Looks like he ain’t got a pulse,” said Vateilika. “I’m sorry, Iji. But I don’t think there’s anything I can do. Poor kid…”

“No, that’s fine,” said Iji. “He’s, um… not actually supposed to have a pulse. His biology’s kind of… unusual.”

Vateilika turned her head up, and briefly gave Iji an odd look. She moved her hand further down, holding it against Asriel’s chest.

“Hmm… well, he does seem to be breathin’, so that’s good,” she said. “Still… I ain’t never seen anything like him. Just what is this kid supposed to be, anyway?”

“A monster,” said Iji. This time, Vateilika turned up to give her an even more puzzled look. “It’s, um… it’s complicated. But basically… the creatures of human legend and folklore? They’re real.”

“Hmm. Sounds a little far-fetched, if you ask me,” said Vateilika. “Then again, I suppose y’all humans didn’t think a faster-than-light civilization was possible neither.”

…Okay, who taught you how to speak English with that accent?

Chara’s hologram floated over to Vateilika’s side, staring at her with pleading eyes. “Can… can you help him? Will he be okay?”

Vateilika paused. She looked up at Chara oddly, as though sizing them up.

“…Well, I ain’t gonna be able to do much for him myself. But Doctor Qaldis back at the base might just be able to figure out somthin’ to patch him up.” She donned her helmet once again, and the hatch on the back slowly closed around her head. Once it was secured, she carefully lifted Asriel’s unconscious body, then stood up with Asriel cradled in her arms. “Here, follow me. I’ll show you the way.”

Iji gave a nod, and followed after Vateilika as they began moving through the forest. There were many things about the situation that didn’t make sense to her, but right now her top concern was seeing Asriel make a safe recovery.

The two continued their trek in silence, at least for a while. But eventually, Vateilika’s curiosity evidently got the better of her.

“So, I hope you don’t mind me askin’, but… what’s the deal with this weird hologram kid you’ve got? Did you install some kind of artificial intelligence in your nanofield?”

Iji didn’t have to feel Chara’s emotions to know that they didn’t appreciate being called ‘weird.’ They stuck out their tongue at Vateilika, prompting Iji to give them a disapproving glance.

“Um… well, it’s a long story, but their name is Chara. They, um… died, a long time ago. But what was left of them was assimilated into my nanofield, so… now they’re kind of part of me.”

As she continued carrying Asriel in her arms, Vateilika turned her head over to stare at Iji. Even through her visor, the disbelief in her eyes was plain to see.

“You have access to brain uploading tech? Ain’t that stuff supposed to be science fiction?”

“Science fiction?” said Chara. “Weren’t you a literal alien invader?”

“Chara, don’t be rude,” said Iji. “Anyway, it’s not brain uploading. More like… I sort of accidentally absorbed their, um… essence, I think. We have no idea how that happened, but they’re basically a ghost.”

A puff of air pushed out of Vateilika’s nostrils. “Well. I suppose that ain’t any weirder than you coming back from the dead without any explanation.”

Iji couldn’t stop herself from wincing. “…Right. That. Um, Vateilika.”

“Just call me Val.”

“Sure. Val,” said Iji. “You said that I… died twenty-five years ago? How did that happen?”

Vateilika’s gaze drifted away, and her grip on Asriel’s body tensed, if only slightly.

“It was the Separatists,” she said. “Same as the ones that attacked you back there.”

“Separatists?”

“Yeah,” said Vateilika. “After the war ended, the few of us Tasen that survived… we decided to make peace with the surviving humans. Folks figured there’d be no point in causing any further death. Stars know we’d all suffered enough.”

“But that peace didn’t last,” said Iji. It wasn’t phrased as a question.

“Nope. See, sometime later, one of the Commanders found an old log your brother left behind. It said he was translating our logs, and saw us mention the Komato… and somehow got it in his head that the Empire was some kind of ‘space police’ that could save humanity.”

Once again, Iji couldn’t stop herself from wincing, this time harder than before. It felt like she had been punched square in the center of her gut.

“Oh… oh no.”

“Yup. So a bunch of Tasen ended up jumpin’ to the conclusion that humans were responsible for calling the Empire here,” said Vateilika. “‘Course, I and bunch of others realized this was a load of golbix dung. The Empire almost certainly knew we were on Origin anyway. And just ‘cause Dan did something foolish in a moment of desperation, that don’t mean your whole species is to blame for it.”

Another sharp pain shot through Iji’s gut, swirling and sickening. She remembered, in vivid detail, sending out the distress call from the D.C.M.F.P.R., and the utter chaos that ensued.

“Right…”

“Anyhow,” said Vateilika. “The Separatists were content for a while to move somewhere away from humans, and keep to themselves. But tension started building, as we received report of them harassin’ some of our scouts, and the field researchers studyin’ the ecosystem. Soon enough, they launched an assault on those of us who didn’t hate humans, sayin’ we were traitors to our species. You tried to find a pacifist solution, as you always did, but… well, it ended with you gettin’ shot full of holes. The Separatists ain’t never bothered us again after that, but that hardly mattered to me. You were just… gone.”

As Vateilika finished her story, Iji could see a tear forming at the edge of her eye. Vateilika breathed in sharply, then exhaled.

“Stars, I’m sorry, I just… I really thought you were dead. I owe so much to you. We all do. It feels like a dream, seeing you again. But you don’t remember any of that, do you? What…. what happened to you, Iji? Why would you come back only now?”

Iji turned towards Chara, and the two of them shared a knowing glance. She already had an idea of what the explanation was. It was only an educated guess at this point, but…

…she had a feeling that right now, she was somewhere very, very far away from home.

“Um… w-well. Val, I… I don’t know how else to say this,” Iji breathed. “But I…I don’t think that I’m the same Iji that you knew.”

Vateilika stopped walking, and turned to give Iji a very odd stare.

“I… can explain later,” Iji exhaled. “Right now, I just want to see that Asriel’s safe. He thought those Separatists were monsters like him, and tried to run into the village to ask for directions… didn’t end well, as you can see.”

Vateilika gave a silent nod, and continued on her way. Iji followed after her, as they made their way past to the edge of the forest, and into the lands beyond.

--------

The woods gave way to a large grassy plain, similar to the meadow that they had entered from, though she could deduce from the sun’s position that they had now gone even further to the east.

As Iji followed Vateilika, her eyes kept moving over towards Asriel, who remained unconscious in Vateilika’s arms. He was twitching idly now, the subtle movements of someone who was deep in sleep.

It was a great relief, to see such clear signs of life coming from him. Iji could only wonder what sorts of dreams he was having, if any.

The plains eventually met a low, gently sloping hill, and at the top of that hill was a large concrete building with a rectangular shape. It looked like something between a military base, a hospital, and a research lab, with a pair of large guard towers to the side that stood tall above the rest of the facility. As they approached, what Iji saw was something truly unusual.

One of the guards was a Tasen Soldier, much like Vateilika. But the other was very clearly human, though he was wearing the same alloyed armor and purple spandex that any other Tasen Soldier would have. Iji might have mistaken him for a Tasen, were it not for the lack of a head crest on his helmet, and the deeply-tanned skin visible on his fingerless gloves. Both he and the Tasen beside him carried large nanogun rifles as they flanked the front door.

As the group made their way towards the building, Chara’s hologram flickered out of existence; Iji could feel Chara’s apprehension lingering in the back of her head. Both guards raised their nanoguns as Iji and Vateilika made themselves known.

“Halt!” said the human guard. “Identify yourself!”

“Calm down, softskin. It’s me, Vateilika. I’ve got someone here who needs medical attention right away.”

…Softskin?

Both guards turned their gazes towards Asriel, their visors remaining fixed on his unconscious body. But it wasn’t long before their attention was turned towards Iji, instead.

“W-wait!” said the Tasen guard. “You! You’re…!”

“Yeah, it’s me. Iji.” In a manner of speaking, anyway… “Can you let us through? Asriel needs our help.”

The two guards shared an uncomfortably long look at one another. Iji’s fingers fidgeted nervously as she held her nanogun at her side, tapping her fingers against the barrel.

So many questions, so many worries.

If what I know about this world is true, then… would they really believe that it’s me?

And how are we ever going to get home from here? If at all?

Eventually though, the two gave a nod, and moved to press a pair of buttons that lined the double-doors on the entrance. With a swish, the doors to the base swung open.

“I have no idea how the hell you managed to survive,” said the human guard, “but welcome back, lady.”

…Lady?

Deciding to put her annoyance at such a nickname aside, Iji followed Vateilika through the doorway, and into the base proper.

The interior of the building was sterile, filled with long hallways and florescent lights and vinyl floor tiles that reminded her strongly of the D.C.M.F.P.R. But this base was clearly used for more than just research application – she could see a sign on the one of the halls reading “residential quarters.” There were also other corridors leading to sections designated for medical, research, and military purposes — it seemed that this was a mixed-use base for both civilian and military operations.

Most interestingly, the labels were printed in both English, several other humans languages, and what Iji immediately recognized as the Tasen’s own native written language.

Huh, now that I have the time to look at it again, the Tasen language…

…it looks kind of vaguely like the language of those ancient glyphs in Waterfall. Chara, what do you think? Am I crazy for thinking that?

* Not necessarily. I have noticed a distant similarity, too.

* But it’s impossible to run a full comparative analysis, since the ancient glyphs have magic that alters how they are perceived.

Right. That’s the only reason I could understand those glyphs in the first place. Makes sense. A smile crossed her lips. You know, it’s funny to hear you slip back into exposition mode again. Been a while since you had to do that.

* Should I give you a ‘data not found’ for old times’ sake?

…Nah, I’m good.

Much like the guards outside, the interior of the building was populated, if somewhat sparsely, by both humans and Tasen alike. Several of the ones she saw were dressed in military gear, most of them reminiscent of the standard Tasen Soldier uniform, but the majority were in civilian garb.

As they passed, Iji could feel herself unconsciously averting her eyes from the strange, incredulous stares she received as she walked by, and trying to ignore the breathless whispers and murmurs at her sudden appearance. The only reason she wasn’t being gawked at more was that some of the passerby stared incredulously at Asriel even harder.

Iji coughed lightly. “So… humans are living with you now?”

“A few of ‘em,” said Vateilika. “We tried to share our tech as a gesture of goodwill. It didn’t go over so smoothly, at first. Ain't like humans ever had any reason not to hate us, after all. You, though… you always had a knack for bringin’ out the best in others. Maybe not the best with words, but you had a strong heart. And that heart of yours had a real way gettin’ people to look past their grudges and move forward.”

“So… I helped you make peace with humankind, then.”

“Yup.”

Iji closed her eyes. It was starting to weigh on her now, just what exactly everything she was seeing truly meant. The air in her lungs grew thicker and heavier with every breath.

I… I did all of this. But… no, that’s not true.

I didn’t do all of this.

But I *could* have done all of this.

“And you said before that… I tried to find a pacifist solution to the Separatists?” said Iji. “Was I… always I pacifist?”

“‘Course you were. Why do you think the so-called ‘Human Anomaly’ was so feared?” said Vateilika. “That you could survive for so long in an active war zone, with without getting any kills, and still manage to do what you’d set out to do… that alone speaks to how freakishly strong you were. You can’t show someone mercy unless you hold power over ’em. And you showed mercy to everyone.”

The words landed on Iji with enough force that she could almost physically feel it. Her eyes went wide, and she could only stare at Vateilika in disbelief.

“I… I never killed anyone?”

“Well, that depends on who you ask,” said Vateilika. “Official word was that you killed Krotera, but… well, I know that ain’t how that happened. And reports say you killed Iosa and Tor, but I know both of them didn’t quite die by your hand neither.”

This time, Iji had to stop dead in her tracks. It was impossible to believe. It couldn’t have been true, there was no way it could have ever happened that way.

And yet, this was the reality she now found herself in.

I… this other me… she seriously went through the entire war without killing a single person?

Could… could *I* have done that?

I… I thought I didn’t have a choice. I-I really thought…

…that it was kill or be killed.

Now it was Vateilika’s turn to stop walking. She turned around, and though her eyes remained hidden by her helmet, Iji could see a deep gleam of concern within them.

“Everythin’ okay there, Iji?”

“I… yeah, I’m fine,” she said, though the distress was evident in her voice. “Please, Asriel needs our help. Let’s worry about him first.”

It took a moment for Vateilika to answer. “…Well, alright. But you ever wanna talk about it, I’m right here.”

Iji breathed in, then exhaled again. “It’s… it’s fine. But thank you. You’re taking us to the infirmary, right?”

“Yup,” Vateilika said with a nod. “Doctor Qaldis is our finest medical expert, and she knows how to treat both Tasen and humans. If there’s anyone who can help your friend here, it’d be her.”

Despite the doubts that were clouding her mind, Iji couldn’t help but feel a massive wave of relief wash over her. She nodded, and Vatelika led her further into the facility.

They had made it most of the way to the infirmary wing of the building, when something else caught her attention.

A voice, calling out to them from behind.

A voice Iji never thought she would hear again.

“Val, there you are, I need your…”

Instantly, Iji’s nanogun clattered to the ground. She spun around, and had to blink several times to make sure that her eyes were still functioning.

The man in front of her was different, now. Twenty-five years different. His shoulders were slightly broader, and his posture slightly worse. His chin was slightly more pronounced, his hairline was showing the early signs of receding. But he still had the same greasy black hair, the same brown eyes, the same face…

He was no less shocked than her.

“Impossible,” he whispered, “it can’t be…”

“D… Dan!?”

Words no longer mattered, after that point. The world around Iji became a blur, and within an instant, she was at her brother’s side, pulling him tightly into an embrace, one that he eagerly returned.

Iji didn’t know how long she held that embrace, and she didn’t care. It was the only thing that meant anything to her, now. Tears flowed freely from her eyes, washing away the pain and trauma that had haunted her ever since that fateful day, just over a year ago.

But nothing lasts forever, that much Iji knew. When she exited the embrace, she looked her brother straight in the eye. The eyes were familiar, and yet all the same, worlds apart from what she knew.

“Dan, I… I can’t believe it’s really you,” she said. “You… you look so much older now. Practically middle-aged.”

“I… I could say the same thing,” Dan said. “You… you don’t even look a day older than the day we lost you. What happened? Is it really you…?”

In hindsight, Iji should have known that the relief and joy of seeing her brother back was not going to last. A new feeling clawed at her insides, a realization of just where she was now, and what that meant for her.

“Um,” she said, wiping away a tear. “Dan, I… I don’t know how else to say it, but… I am Iji, and I am your sister, but… I don’t think I’m the one you saw die. I don’t think I’m someone you knew. I think… I’m someone else.”

Dan could only give a silent, perplexed stare in response.

“I’ll… I’ll explain later, okay?” Iji said. “Right now, we just need to make sure Asriel’s okay.”

Iji’s eyes drifted over to Asriel, who was still lying unconscious in Vateilika’s arms. He was muttering something quietly now, no doubt deep in sleep.

Dan’s eyes followed Iji, and remained on Asriel in disbelief.

“Whoa!” said Dan. “What is that? I-is that a… a goat person?”

“Boss Monster,” said Iji. “His name’s Asriel Dreemurr, and, um… it’s a long story, but I know his parents, and I’ve been looking after him for a while.”

Dan’s apparent confusion did not grow any less intense. If anything, he was only staring at Asriel even more oddly.

“Azrael? Like the famous Angel of Death?”

“Uh… well, yes and no,” Iji said. “There’s actually kind of a funny story about that. I… I can explain later once we know he’s okay, alright? I have a feeling that… that the things I’ve figured out about this place are things he’ll wanna hear, too.”

“We’re heading to the infirmary to bring him to Doctor Qaldis,” said Vateilika. “He seems alright for the most part, but… well, you don’t tank a rocket to the face without gettin’ at least a little bit scuffed.”

Dan’s eyebrows shot up. “He did what?”

“Yup,” said Vateilika. “Tough kid, I tell ya. Come on, let’s get moving. Not that he ain’t adorable, but I’d like to have my hands free sometime this cycle.”

Iji silently agreed, and she picked up her nanogun as she followed Vateilka further down the corridor.

“It’s so surreal seeing you here,” he said. “I have no idea how it happened, but… I can’t tell you how much it means to me to see you alive again.”

A sharp, heavy breath escaped from Iji’s throat. “Yeah… me too, Dan. Me too.”

…And at least I’m pretty sure you’re actually real this time.

--------

August 4^th, 202X-3

For most of the day, you’ve traveled alongside Dess in the latest Dark World to open up. This one was different from the others, as it opened *outdoors,* in the state park just on the outskirts of Hometown. Dess was fortunate enough to have been driving through the area when she took notice of what was happening.

Thankfully, the Dark World so far seemed confined only to a relatively small, completely uninhabited stretch of forest… though you know from experience that this may not be the case if the Fountain is allowed to stay open. It’s only the thick canopy keeping the darkness from pouring upwards into the sky and subsuming everything in the World of Light.

Dess knows how dire the situation is, you know how dire it is, and each of you knows that the other knows.

So why isn’t she taking this seriously as it demands?

Especially having met *you*, of all beings?

Your journey takes you to a camping supplies shop operated by a darkner dressed like a park ranger. He *looks* like a bear monster you’d see in the Light World, but a closer examination shows that he’s actually made from a wooden sign.

After purchasing some camping supplies, and putting up with the ranger’s exhaustive lecture about preventing wildfires, Dess sets up camp with you in the middle of the forest. The purple fire crackles softly under the pitch-black sky as Dess roasts a darkmallow over it.

“Um… Dess, I’ve been meaning to ask… is this really the time to be camping out? Shouldn’t we be heading for the Dark Fountain? Won’t your family be worried that you’ve been gone from the Light World this long?”

Dess finishes roasting the marshmallow, blows it off to cool, then pops it into her mouth. “Sure, maybe,” she says through a mouthful of chewy confectionery. “But this is one of the few chances I’ve had to escape from all stressful things happening lately. I figure it won’t hurt to camp out here for just one night.”

“W-well… okay, if that’s what you want, then… then I guess it’ll work out. I believe in you, Dess!”

You try to maintain your cheerful disposition, but it quickly crumbles in the face of your recent memories, and your *first* memories. Almost immediately, Dess takes notice of the forlorn look on your face.

“You look like you’ve got something else on your mind,” she says. “Penny for your thoughts?”

You sigh. As much as you’re uncomfortable talking about it, you know there’s no avoiding it. “I’m just… thinking about what I’m going to do now.”

“Now that you’re not a mindless beast of the apocalypse, you mean?”

“…Yeah,” you mutter. “If you hadn’t opened the door to my heart with that keyblade of yours, I wouldn’t be here. I mean… I *would,* but… I wouldn’t be the same. I wouldn’t be *me.* And everything you’ve ever known and loved would be destroyed.”

“But that’s not how it went down, is it?” says Dess. “I don’t see why you should dwell on what could have happened, instead of what did.”

“Because I’m TERRIFIED! I’ve tried so hard to be the opposite of what I used to be, but I don’t know if I can keep it up! What if… what if I can’t keep doing it forever? What if something happens and I become that… that awful THING again?”

As you tremble, Dess places a hand on your shoulder, and you feel yourself steady. Though you’ve seen how fierce she can be, and how quickly she can turn to anger, her eyes now are filled with a deep kindness and compassion.

“Ralsei. Listen to me. The very fact that you’re here right now, and able to have this conversation… that means you’re *not* the Roaring Titan anymore. And you don’t have to be, if you don’t want to. Because you’re *alive* now, and being alive means… it means your life is in your own hands.”

You sniff slightly. Even though she wields ice magic, you can feel a powerful warmth spreading through you through Dess’s touch.

“You… you really think that I can choose who I am?” you say. “Despite everything? Despite being… me?”

“Of course you can,” Dess replies. Her smile is bright, maybe the warmest and brightest thing to exist in any of the Dark Worlds. “I might have given you a mind and a conscience, but you’re the only one who can choose what to do with it. You don’t even have to be ‘Ralsei’ if you don’t want. I just called you that ‘cause you look kind of like a friend of mine.”

“Um… no, that’s alright. I like that name,” you say. Your thoughts drift to places they never could have before. Life is a conundrum to you, and it’s one that you’re entirely unfamiliar with. “Still, though, I… I don’t know what to think of this. How do I know which choice is the right one? And… and how can I be sure that it means anything?

“I mean… if I’m a person now, doesn’t that mean I’ll die like everyone else? Doesn’t that mean that none of it really matters?”

“Don’t be silly,” says Dess. “We all die someday. But that doesn’t make the things you do meaningless.”

“But… but how? I don’t even have a soul like you. Why even bother, if there won’t be anything left of me when I’m gone?”

A smile crosses Dess’s face. It’s a nice smile, one that you find reassuring just seeing with your own two eyes.

“There’s a saying among us Light Worlders. That it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. Heh. Dess-tination.”

The idiom feels… comforting, somehow. But at the same time, you struggle to fully grasp what it is that it’s trying to say.

“I… I don’t understand, though. If I’ll just meet the same end no matter what, then what’s the point? Why would I think that my choices really matter?”

Dess smiles again, and the next words that she speaks are words that come to define your entire sense of being. They resonate with you, permeate you, becoming the guiding principle of your own existence.

“Because there’s something more important than reaching the end.”

--------

Asriel woke up in an unfamiliar bed, in a sterile, very unfamiliar room. The lights were blindingly bright, the walls, ceiling, and floors were all a soft off-white color, and he could also see a sink, a desk, and an odd machine of unknown purpose in the corner.

Another machine lay just by the side of him, standing tall and boxy by the bedside. Several longs wires extending from it, which eventually terminated in soft white pads that were stuck to the fur on his hands, cheeks, and forehead. He could feel… some kind of energy pulsing through the currents and into his body, and as it did he noticed that the monitor on his bedside machine displayed some complicated medical reading that he couldn’t even begin to parse.

But that wasn’t what caught his attention the most. That was the person who was standing in front of him now.

She was another one of those strange Saruians who had attacked him earlier — this time, she had greenish-yellow scales, a medium-sized head crest, and was wearing a pristine white lab coat. Her eyes were concealed by a gleaming red visor that seemed to function as an equivalent to glasses, judging by the way she compulsively adjusted them by the rim.

Asriel jolted upright instantly, magic crackling between his fingertips, nearly ripping off the wires that were affixed to him. He was immediately prepared to fight back, if necessary.

“It’s alright. I mean you no harm,” said the Saurian. “My name is Qaldis, and I’m a doctor.”

That immediately caught Asriel off guard. So much so that any guard he had was instantly lowered.

“You… you speak English?”

“I do,” said Qaldis. “We’ve been trained to speak a number of human languages as part of our diplomatic exchange.”

Asriel shifted uncomfortably in his bed. Thoughts ran through his mind, piecing together what he knew from the Tasen invasion Iji had spoken so much about, but that he had never gotten a chance to see with his own eyes.

“You’re… not really a Saurian, are you?” he said. “You’re one of… one of those Tasen aliens. Those ones who attacked me were, too.”

There was a curious gleam from beneath Qaldis’s visor. Asriel had clearly grabbed her attention. “Well, I don’t know what a ‘Saurian’ is, but yes. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a few questions…”

--------

“So… you’ve been teaching the Tasen English?”

Iji sat in the waiting room of the infirmary, a small room with simple chairs, a water cooler, a coffee table, and a few old magazines that had somehow managed to survive the initial Alpha Strike. As they waited for Asriel’s recovery, Dan and Vateilika had taken the time to explain what they had been doing, the two of them sitting around the coffee table with Iji.

“Among other languages,” said Dan. “The first of our efforts to establish peace was to make sure we’re all able to understand each other. We tried teaching some humans the Tasen language, but that turned out to be impossible. Our bodies actually can’t make some of the sounds that theirs can.”

“Huh. Interesting,” said Iji. “Glad to see you’ve breached the language barrier, at least.”

Although, come to think of it, how do *monsters* know how to speak English? Weren’t they isolated from humanity for *thousands* of years?

* Magic.

What? Chara, that’s not an explanation! That doesn’t explain anything!

* It’s magic. I don’t have to explain it.

…Walked right into that one, huh.

“‘Course, the second part of makin’ peace was the diplomacy,” Vateilika added. “And let me tell ya, that part wasn’t easy. For ages, all the other humans we found had a policy of either runnin’ away or shooting us on sight. Not that shootin’ did them any good with their weapons, mind.”

Iji winced sympathetically. “Right… I guess people have pretty good reason to be mad at you, huh.”

“Sure do. You could say most of us soldiers were conscripts, and that we ain’t never had much of a choice in what we were doin’. But that hardly mattered to the folks who didn’t know why we were here, and who lost their whole world besides.” Vateilika’s eyes seemed to dull as they drifted over to her helmet, which she had left sitting on the table’s surface. Her hand reached out, and briefly hovered over it. “I… I always felt like I owed something to you humans. I might not have ever wanted to hurt y’all, but I was still part of the army that did. Least I can do is help your kind rebuild.”

Vateilika held her gaze at her helmet, a mournful gleam in her eyes.

And looking over Vateilika’s features, Iji could see something familiar. It was a reflection of the very same guilt that had plagued her for so long, the very same regrets that had gnawed at her inside ever since the invasion of Earth ended.

Regrets that had only grown so much more powerful, now that she knew what could have been.

She didn’t even realize that her hand had unconsciously made its way over to Vateilika’s. When they touched, Vateilika’s eyes went wide, and her head instantly swiveled to meet Iji’s gaze.

“It’s okay,” said Iji. “I… I understand.”

A tear appeared at the edge of Vateilika’s eye, but there was no sadness to be found anywhere on her face.

“And there it is. The same kindness and understanding I’d missed so much. It really is you, huh?”

“Um. Well,” Iji found herself tensing. “I’m, uh… well, we’ll get to that. But… I do understand, Val. I know what it’s like, to think you could have done more to help. To wish you did do more. More than ever, now.”

“That so, huh?” said Vateilika. A smile slowly works its way across her snout. “You always did try to get us Tasen to see what we had in common with humans… and I guess when you get down to it, we ain’t never been all that different, huh?”

On that note. Another thought occurred to Iji. She’d had it several times before.

“So, um. Val,” she said. “Why did you learn to speak English with a southern accent?”

Vatelika’s face flushed, and she pulled her hand away. “Ah, well. Funny story. See, in my own native tongue, I have something of an accent. Ain’t a strong one, much less strong than what I got now here. But it’s there. And the language training software Dan made got it in its head that this here dialect would be the closest fit in English. By the time I realized I was talkin’ different from most other folks, it was too late.”

Iji turned over to Dan, and shot him a look with a raised eyebrow. “So she’s saying this is your fault.”

“Hey!” said Dan. “Don’t look at me like that! I was just trying to build something with an accurate cultural—”

Before Dan could continue, the door to the medical rooms pushed open. Doctor Qaldis, the visored Tasen doctor who had taken Asriel in, through the door to the waiting room, carrying a thin touchpad tablet. Asriel walked in by her side, though the way he shrank back from everyone else’s gazes made it clear that he wasn’t sure what to think of the situation.

“Sir,” she said, looking Dan in the eye, “I’ve finished the checkup on this ‘Asriel’ lifeform.”

Chara’s hologram flared to life, and they instantly rushed to Asriel’s side, wrapping a pair of holographic arms around him so tightly that they phased right through his body.

“Whoa, what!?” Qaldis, nearly dropping her tablet in shock.

“Azzy!” Chara cried, their voice cracking with unshed tears. “I-I was so scared! I-I really thought that you might die! A-and that this time, you’d be gone forever! I… I…”

Asriel returned the gesture, hovering his arms around Chara’s immaterial form, in an imitation of a hug.

“It’s okay, Chara. I’m okay.”

When the two pulled away, the Doctor stared blankly at Chara. She turned to Dan, who was no less confused than her.

“What…? What is…?”

“Some weird A.I. built into Iji’s nanofield,” said Vateilika, not allowing Chara the chance to object to the description. Chara simply crossed their arms and stuck out their tongue. “Please, continue. What’d you find?”

“I… alright.” Qaldis took a deep breath, and calmed herself. “There’s a few things, and all of them are very strange. The first is that he apparently has an armored nanofield. It looks like it’s technically Soldier-class, but it’s much stronger than average. Roughly as powerful as the kind used by Elites.”

“That’s expected,” said Vateilika. “If he had no nanofield, that rocket blast would’ve killed him. I’m surprised it’s so strong, though. An Elite field’s nothin’ to sneeze at.”

“That’s probably because it’s directly modeled on mine,” said Iji. Several other pairs of eyes briefly hovered over her. “It’s, uh… a long story. You were saying?”

“Right, um… the next is that every time I ask him about his species, he keeps telling me that he’s a ‘Boss Monster.’ I’ve tried getting a real answer out of him, but he won’t cooperate on that end. Stubborn kid, I tell you.”

“Because I am a Boss Monster!” Asriel groaned. “Seriously, what part of that is confusing to you? Aren’t doctors supposed to listen to their patients?”

Qaldis once again stared blankly for a moment. She quietly coughed into a closed fist.

“The strangest thing though is what his body is made of. According to my bioscanners, it’s comprised of roughly forty-five percent plant matter…”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” said Iji. Once again, she felt several different sets of eyes linger on her. “…uh, it’s also a long story. The same story, actually.”

Qaldis adjusted her visor by the rim. “…You didn’t let me finish. That’s actually not the strange part. What’s really strange is that the rest of his body is entirely made of Pneuma.”

The room fell into silent stares once again, but this time it wasn’t Iji that the eyes were fixed on. Everyone looked at Qaldis: Iji and Chara in confusion, and the rest in surprise.

“Hold on,” said Vateilika, “that’s impossible. You’re telling me the majority of him is Pneuma? How’s he even alive at all? How’s his body not just fall apart?”

“I have no idea,” said Qaldis. “But that’s what my readings say, and I’ve no reason to suspect they’re wrong. I’ve double, triple, and quadruple-checked.”

For a moment, Vateilika’s brows creased, deep in thought. Iji looked over to Dan, who was equally perplexed.

“Okay, so… what’s ‘Pneuma’ exactly?” said Iji. “I feel like I’ve heard that term used like this somewhere before. I know it’s Greek for ‘breath,’ but I don’t think that’s what you mean.”

“Hmm,” said Vateilika. “You’re probably right, there’s a lot of nuance to the word in our language. ‘Pneuma’ is just the closest equivalent Dan came up with in English. How do I explain it…?” Her eyes brightened for a moment, and Iji could almost see the gears turning behind them. “Pneuma is… a form of psychic power, basically. Somethin’ that ain’t matter, but can closely mimic it. Pure energy that can take a partly material form.”

“Come on Val, pure energy?” said Dan. “You can’t come up with a more scientific explanation?”

Vateilika rolled her eyes. “I’d like to see you try. Point is, Pneuma is a sort of… non-matter stuff, found in both us and the Komato.”

“So you’re made of Pneuma,” said Chara.

“Partly,” said Vateilika. “Only ‘round twenty percent of Tasen bodies are made of Pneuma. The Komato are about ten percent. Unlike us, the Komato have spent countless starturns breeding it out, making their bodies more material.”

“Wait, but why though?” said Iji.

“Well, thing about Pneuma is that it’s like holding a batresk by the blade…” Vateilika paused, as she took notice of Iji’s confusion at the idiom. “Uh… it’s like a double-edged sword, I mean. Most of our tech was based on Pneuma before we discovered nanofields. Legend has it our Origin ancestors could even use the Pneuma in their bodies for psychic abilities. Force fields, projectiles, those kinda things. Point is, we used Pneuma to do practically everything. And for a long time, it was the whole basis of our civilization.

“At some point though, the Komato realized it was also a weakness. Pneuma may be versatile, but it’s also ridiculously fragile. Unlike matter, it ain’t moved by material force, but by mental force.”

“Mental force?” said Iji. “What does that mean?”

“Willpower,” said Vateilika. “A strong mind and sharp wits will make the Pneuma in your body tougher. But a will that’s hostile to you will cause it to weaken. So if you've got someone who really wants you dead, and you ain’t got a nanofield to shield you, then any attack they make will reduce your Pneuma to dust.”

Iji’s eyebrows instantly rocketed upwards. “To… to dust!?”

“Yup. That’s why it ain’t often you see us leave bodies behind when we’re killed. Pneuma’s like a glue that holds the matter in us together. Once it’s destroyed, we usually just sorta explode into mist. You gotta go out of your way to avoid hitting the Pneuma deposits in our bodies to get us to leave a corpse.”

Asriel, Iji, and Chara all exchanged a look. The realization had already struck the three of them.

“Wait! W-wait a second!” said Asriel. “I-if ‘Pneuma’ is damaged by harmful intentions, then…!”

“It means your nanofield’s the only thing that saved you,” Vateilika finished. “If it weren’t for that, you’d be a fine mist of plant matter and dust right now.”

“No! That’s not what I meant!” said Asriel. “I was right about you from the start! You guys literally are monsters!”

Chapter Text

The waiting room remained silent for an uncomfortable length of time. Judging from the baffled expressions Dan, Qaldis, and Vateilika were all sporting, none of them knew just what to make of what Asriel had blurted out.

Vateilika, eventually, was the first to make her thoughts clear. She coughed into a closed fist.

“Right… so I guess I’m gonna have to be the first to ask, huh? Just what in Zentraidon do you mean we’re monsters? I reckon many folks don’t think too highly of us, but… you ain’t talking figurative there, are ya?”

“Of course not,” Asriel said with a roll of his eyes. “I’m a monster too, y’know. Um… Well, technically more like a plant that’s grown into a monster, but…”

Another set of baffled stares, though this time they were turned in Asriel’s direction.

“Again, long story,” said Iji. “But Asriel’s right. Everything that you all said about ‘Pneuma’ just now… that’s what monsters like him call ‘magic.’ I’m no expert, but from what I know, um… their bodies are made of magic that’s projected directly from their souls. And that magic responds to intentions, not to physical force.”

Vateilika continued to stare quizzically. She turned her eyes towards Asriel, and scratched her head. “So… you’re sayin’ that me and this goat kid are related?”

“Okay, first of all,” said Asriel, “you do know that ‘goat kid’ is redundant, right?”

Iji paid Asriel’s snide remark no mind. “Um… evolutionarily speaking, yeah,” she said. “It’s believed among monsterkind that they, uh… came from a race called the ‘Proto-Saurians,’ who were said to have much more matter in their bodies, and lived millions of years ago. The monsters that are said to be closest to the Proto-Saurians are the Saurians, who, um… well, I’ve met a couple. And, um… Saurians… they look a lot like Tasen. I just didn’t make the connection until now, since I’d never seen a Tasen without armor.”

Once again, the entire room was stunned into silence. Qaldis in particular seemed especially shocked, so much so that the tabled she was carrying clattered to the floor.

“Impossible,” Qaldis said breathlessly. “Y-you’re saying that evolutionary offshoots of our Origin ancestors remained on Origin!?”

“That’s, um… well, I can’t say for sure,” said Iji. “But that’s definitely what it looks like.”

“T-this is… This is an unprecedented discovery!” Qaldis cried out. A wide, almost ecstatic grin crossed her muzzle. “This completely recontextualizes our entire understanding of our evolutionary history! This might be the most important scientific finding in Tasen history! Oh my stars, I have to write a paper on this! The Department of Xenobiology Studies will flip when they hear this!”

“Geez,” said Asriel. “Are all scientists this easily excitable?”

“It comes with the territory,” said Dan, with a knowing smile. “But there’s something else I’m curious about. You said you were a monster, but…” he turned his eyes over to Chara’s hologram, staring at them curiously. “…what about you? I heard you were an artificial intelligence, but you seem way more advanced than any I’ve ever seen.”

“That’s right… I never introduced myself to you, did I? I am Chara. You can think of me as a digital ghost.”

Dan gave Chara an odd look. “Digital… ghost?”

“That’s not an exaggeration,” said Iji. “Chara died over a hundred years ago, but what’s left of them was… absorbed into my nanofield, somehow. We still don’t know how or why that happened, or how they can even exist without a soul. But as best as anyone can tell, they literally are a ghost. I actually saw them talk to the soul of another dead kid once.”

Another protracted silence. Three pairs of eyes fell on Iji, half bewildered, and the other half exasperated.

“…Okay, back up,” said Dan. “I’m willing to believe a lot of things about this, but souls? Ghosts? Even I have my limits here. This is the first time I’ve seen you alive in twenty-five years, can you at least be bothered to take this seriously?”

Asriel’s hand made its way to the center of his forehead. “Oh for the love of…!” He then reached out with that same hand, and pointed an index finger at the center of Dan’s chest, the tip of his finger crackling with magic.

Right on cue, as Asriel’s magic pulsed in the air, a brightly glowing heart materialized in front of Dan’s chest, surrounded by a glowing light blue aura.

“W-what!?”

“Whoa!”

“Holy blit!”

“There! There’s your soul!” said Asriel. “Right there! Can you guys please just believe us already!?”

Dan stared down at his chest, his jaw going slack as his eyes fell at the bright orange object that was shining from within him, and the equally bright blue glow of nanomachines surrounding it.

“Huh,” said Iji. “So… your primary trait is Bravery, then. And… it looks like you have a nanofield, too? When did that happen?”

Dan’s hand reached up at his chest. It seized and clutched at the image of his soul, only for his hand to phase right through it, as though it were entirely immaterial. “This… t-this is…”

“Your soul, yes,” said Iji. “It’s okay. I, um… didn’t believe in them either. But apparently they can’t take form unless in the presence of magic, so… that’s probably why no one could ever prove they existed.”

Dan’s entire body had gone pale. Doctor Qaldis, despite her much more brightly-colored reptilian scales, had gone even paler.

“I…” said Qualdis. “I-I think I’m going to need to sit down.” She made her way over to one of the chairs in the waiting room, and promptly collapsed onto it, slouching over on its backrest.

Vateilika, by comparison, seemed to be taking this new information much more stridently than the others.

“Heh,” she chuckled. “I always knew you had a knack for pulling off the impossible, Iji, but this is somethin’ else. What about me, then? What’s my soul like?”

“Hey, don’t ask me. Az is the one you want for that.”

Asriel paused, looking contemplative for a moment. “Um… well, if Tasen like you are monsters, then it’s gonna look different,” he said. “More like an upside-down heart. Then again, you are also pretty different from Earth monsters, so… here. Let’s see.”

This time, Asriel pointed his finger at Vateilika’s chest, and once again his fingertip crackled with energy.

The glowing object that materialized in front of Vateilika’s chest wasn’t quite an upside-down heart. Its form was mostly the same as a monster soul… except it also had a short stem extending from the bottom, granting it a shape not unlike a leaf.

This soul, too, was surrounded by a light-blue crackling aura, contrasting against the darker blue of the soul itself.

“Huh. Tasen souls look like spades, then? That’s… unexpected. And it’s blue, too, so I guess that means your trait is… Integrity, I think?”

“That does make some amount of sense,” Chara added. “A spade looks kind of a monster soul with a stem. So if the Tasen are related to monsters, they’d probably have similar souls.”

“So human souls are hearts, and Tasen souls are spades…” Iji’s lips pursed in thought. “I didn’t expect there to be a playing card theme here. What about the Komato? What would their souls look like? Diamonds?”

Also, I can’t put my finger on it, but something about blue spades seems weirdly… something.

“I don’t know, but personally I hope we won’t ever have to meet one of them again,” said Chara. “So hopefully we won’t ever find out.”

“…Yeah, good point,” said Iji.

“This is…” Dan paused and pressed a set of fingers to his forehead. By now, his soul had already faded back into his body. “…Okay, can we start over here? Monsters, magic, souls, the fact that you’re even alive at all… what is going on? How is any of this possible?”

Another prolonged silence, though this time, it was Iji who failed to give an answer right away. She could feel herself tensing, as she approached the inevitable. She had been dancing around it for far too long.

She took in a deep breath, then exhaled. “Okay, so… I… I do have a reason for all of… all of this weirdness. But just be warned, it’s something that’s even weirder. And, um… Asriel.”

“Huh?” said Asriel. “Me?”

“…I’m sorry,” said Iji. “For… for what I’m about to say. Because I know you’re not going to like hearing it.”

“What… Iji, what are you…?” A slow horror crawled its way across Asriel’s face. He didn’t know the truth yet, but he must have known that it would be one he would not want to hear. “Chara, she’s bluffing, right? Please tell me…!”

Chara met Asriel’s eyes, and shook their head sadly. They already knew, too.

Asriel looked over to Iji, apprehension apparent in his entire body. “Iji… Iji, what’s going on here? What’s happened?”

Yet again, Iji took a deep breath. There was no sense putting it off any further.

“Are you familiar with multiverse theory?” she said. “Because if so, then… I think we just ended up proving it. We’re in an alternate timeline. This universe… it isn’t our universe.”

The words Iji spoke had struck the entire waiting room like an intense crack of thunder, followed by an even more deafening silence.

Asriel’s eyes were already damp. He knew just what this meant for him, and for everyone back home. “N-no… Y-you don’t mean…”

“That Dark Fountain… we knew it was a distortion in reality that could threaten all of space and time,” said Iji. “There’s no reason why closing it couldn’t have pushed us into an alternate universe. And… well, here we are. We’re in a world where things happened differently from how they did in ours. Where I’m dead, but… but the Tasen are still alive. And my brother is still alive too.”

Asriel’s entire body was trembling. Iji almost couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes, now.

“Then… t-then… then mom and dad… everyone we know is…?”

Iji’s reaction was immediate, so much that it was practically reflex. She found herself by Asriel’s side, resting it against his shoulder.

“Az, it’s okay. We’ll find our way back home, I’m sure of it.”

“You don’t know that! Y-you don’t even know how we ended up here in the first place!” Asriel roughly smacked Iji’s hand off of him. “A-and now… and now mom and dad and everyone else… t-they all probably think I’m dead! N-now they’re gonna have to live through losing me all over again! I… I can’t… I can’t break their hearts like that again! I promised myself I wouldn’t!”

As Asriel’s words broke down into sobs, Iji wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pulling him in closer.

“I know it’s scary. And I know they’re all very scared for you, too,” she said. “But if it’s possible to get to this world from ours, then that means it must be possible to go back from here, too. I don’t know how I’ll do it, but… I promise I’ll do everything I can to find our way back.”

“But… you can’t promise we will find our way back, can you? We could be trapped here forever.”

“Azzy, you’re thinking about this the wrong way,” Chara said. As they floated towards Asriel, there was a twinkle in their eyes, a shine brighter than all of the stars in the night sky. “Sure, you don’t know if we’ll find our way back. But you don’t know that we won’t find our way back, either. So don’t lose hope yet, okay? You’ll never find home if you give up looking for it.”

“Chara, I…” Asriel sniffled, and the pain and anguish began to melt away. “…I guess you’re right, yeah. Still, I… I never imagined we’d be this far away from home. I mean… an actual multiverse? I thought that was just something in bad comic books.”

“Well, apparently not,” said Iji. She turned to look over at the other three. Dan, Qaldis, and Vateilika were all staring at her. She had gotten used to such looks of utter disbelief, so so she thought. But this was… this was different. More judgmental.

Like they realized they’d been fooled.

“Um,” said Iji. She breathed in again, trying to clear away the pressure that had been building within her, and the guilt that started gnawing away at her inside. “I… I’m sorry you all had to find out this way. I didn’t want to believe it either, at first. But… the truth is, the Iji you know… she hasn’t come back from the dead. She’s still gone. Because… because I’m not her. And… I don’t think I ever could be.”

Dan and Vateilika both shared a look. They held their mutual gazes for an uncomfortably long time, before turning to face Iji.

Seeing the sadness and disappointment etched across their faces felt to Iji like a punch in the gut.

“I… I see,” said Dan. “I guess… I guess we should start by asking what’s different about your world. It has to be more than just monsters and magic, right?”

“…Yeah,” said Iji. “I guess… I should start with a few basics first. See, in my world… the Tasen are extinct. The Komato killed you all. And… and they killed you too, Dan. I saw it.”

And I could have saved you both, was the unspoken end to that statement. Iji could hardly even bear to look at the horrified faces given to that information.

“I was able to get General Tor to call off the Alpha Strike,” Iji continued, “but… but by then I’d already lost everything. I didn’t know what to do, so, I… I wandered for a while. And that’s when I decided to climb Mount Ebott. I’d hoped to reach the summit, so I get a clear view of any surviving settlements that might be around, but… well, what I found there was unlike anything I could have expected.”

Her eyes briefly drifted over to Asriel, then back to her awaiting audience.

And so she recounted the story of monsterkind, and the tale of the Underground. Everything she’d seen down there, all of the impossible things that had happened down there, and all of the new friends she had met along the way.

There were some details she had left out. She didn’t mention the full extent of Asriel’s cruelty, before he’d regained his soul. Or Chara’s plan to destroy humanity, that had backfired so horribly on everyone they cared about. Maybe in due time, Asriel and Chara would feel comfortable sharing those secrets, but those weren’t her secrets to share.

By the end of it, Dan, Qaldis, and Vateilika all had their jaws hanging loose.

“That’s…” Dan’s words trailed off. “That story is…”

“I know it sounds hard to believe,” said Iji. “I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t believe it. But… that’s what happened. That’s why Asriel’s here with me right now.”

“An artificial soul…” Qaldis spoke breathlessly. “I… I knew that nanofield technology was incredibly versatile, but to think it had such properties… stars, I can’t even begin to imagine the implications.”

“…I believe it,” said Vateilika.

Iji blinked. “Wait, you do?”

“I do. And… there’s a reason for that,” said Vateilika. There was a deep, deep frown crossing her snout, and a dullness to her eyes that betrayed an even deeper sadness. “You… said that this here magic barrier sealed the monsters beneath Mount Ebott, right?”

“Yeah?” said Iji. “Wait, but why do you ask?”

Vateilika turned around, briefly, to glance at the others. Dan and Qaldis both had the same deeply uncomfortable knowing look in their eyes.

“…Because when Krotera was scoutin’ this planet out, he found somethin’ odd from his probe data,” said Vateilka. “Some kind of powerful force field… located right on that there same mountain. Not quite as strong as a Tasen shield generator, but he figured it was somethin’ similar. So, when he ordered the Alpha Strike… he ordered the ships to concentrate heavier than usual fire on that mountain.”

A deep, powerful sense horror washed its way over Iji, crawling down her throat and into the deepest pit of her stomach.

“N-no! You don’t mean…!”

“Exactly what you think. It worked, and whatever force field Mount Ebott had was completely destroyed… alongside the entire mountain, and anythin’ underneath it. On the one hand, it means the rest of the planet was hit less hard than usual, so there’s more life on the surface than there would have been… but on the other, that whole mountain’s nothin’ but a giant smoking crater smack dab in the wilderness.”

There was another deafening silence. This time, it was Iji who felt the full force of the words that had just been spoken. Dread, anguish, horror, sadness, loss, so many other emotions swirled deeply within her stomach, inflicting a nausea so intense that she felt like she could almost vomit.

Asriel was no less distraught. His fur was soaked with tears, his entire body trembling once again as he stared Vateilika down.

“T-then… then in this world… m-my mom and dad… everyone I know… even I’m…?”

Vateilika turned her gaze away. She couldn’t quite bring herself to meet Asriel’s eyes, and her words were audibly strained as she spoke.

“I… I-I’m sorry, kid,” she said. “I don’t know what to tell ya. The Alpha Strike, it… it probably killed all of y’all, without any of us even realizin’ it.”

More silence. Iji could feel the weight of all of monsterkind on her shoulders, choking her lungs. Beside her, Chara’s hologram was visibly flickering now, as they struggled to keep their emotions at bay. She could feel the bubbling of a joyless, despairing laughter building in the back of her skull.

Asriel could only stare at Vateilika, mouth open. But slowly, and assuredly, his expression twisted into a vicious scowl.

He jabbed a finger straight at Vateilika’s chest, its tip visibly crackling and pulsing with magic, magic that he was ready to let loose in

“You! T-this is all your fault!! H-how… how could you let this happen!!??”

“What!?” Vateilika blurted. She instantly jumped to her feet, locking eyes with Asriel. “What do you mean my fault!? I wasn’t involved in that decision at all!! You think I wanted this to happen!? You think I wanted us to do to your kind what the Komato tried to do to us!?”

“You could have stopped it! You could stopped Krotera’s orders! You could have done SOMETHING!!”

“It’s not that simple!! Do you think I could have just joined in an open mutiny against Krotera without getting court-martialed and tortured to death for the trouble!? I know for a FACT that’s what would have happened to me if I DID!! Because I’VE SEEN IT HAPPEN, DAMMIT!!”

Vateilka’s shout pierced through the air with such rage, sorrow, and desperation that any other words couldn’t even hope to follow.

When the dust settled, she was left only to stare, tears forming in her gaze as she met Asriel’s.

She collapsed back onto her chair without a second thought, steadily wiping away the moisture beneath her eyes.

The righteous rage in Asriel’s eyes, too, had died away. “So, you… you really couldn’t have stopped it, then.”

“I… I don’t know, kid,” Vateilika sighed. “I don’t know. I wish I could have. And sometimes… sometimes I wonder if I could have done more to stop the Strike. But… I have a feeling that the only thing I’d have accomplished was throwing my own life away. Either way, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I failed you. Sorry I failed your people.”

Asriel hesitated to answer, but he gave it just the same. “No, it’s… it’s okay. Like you said, I… I don’t think you could have done anything.”

“Yeah…” Vateilika’s eyes drifted away, briefly, before turning back to Asriel. “Um. If it’s any consolation, kid… I did end up fragging Krotera from behind later, when his guard was down.”

That caught Iji off guard. And judging from the look on Qaldis’s face, she wasn’t privy to this information either.

“W-wait,” said Qaldis, “that actually was you?”

Dan could only give a smirk in response. “Told you,” he said.

---------

The rest of the day was spent… lounging, mostly, in the residential quarters of the building. There was no shortage food, and games, and various places to socialize with the other humans and Tasen present… but Iji couldn’t think of any of that.

Her first concern was Asriel. He had been taking everything particularly hard, so much so that he hadn’t even eaten since he recovered, no matter how many times Iji tried to prod him to feed himself. Or maybe it was because the only food around was nonmagical food, and the biological messiness that entailed. Either way, she was no less worried for him and his well-being.

Her second concern was… less to do with anyone else, and less to do with anything that could be so easily fixed. Seeing the way it was now, seeing how the Tasen had survived, how Vateilka had said it was because of her that they did, how she refused to kill them, how she’d done so much for a species who’d she’d simply killed without second thought…

She’d also asked Dan how he survived Asha’s threat, in this world. The answer only confirmed everything that Iji had feared.

When the evening came, she retired to one of the bedrooms available in the civilian quarters. They were evidently much nicer than the sleeping quarters for military personnel, who were stationed in a shared sleeping area with austere bunk beds. This had caused no end of complaints from soldiers, as Vateilika explained, but it was necessary to keep civilian operations separate from military ones and enforce discipline.

The bedroom Iji found herself in was small, barely large enough to contain the bed, a dresser, and a single nightstand, but it was better than sleeping on a patch of leaves under the stars. And yet, Iji couldn’t find herself sleeping.

She could only sit on the edge of her bed, her lungs drowned in a haze of regret. She could feel Chara’s inner presence attempting to comfort her, like a warm hug that wrapped around her soul instead of her body. But it couldn’t remove the swirling malaise and gnawing guilt in her heart.

Iji wasn’t sure just how long she had sat there. But eventually, some time long after nightfall, a knock came at the door.

“Hm?” said Iji. “Who is it?”

“It’s me,” Vateilika’s voice answered. “Can I come in?”

“…Sure.”

Vateilika cracked the door open, before walking in. She was no longer wearing her Tasen Soldier gear, instead dressed in what looked like some kind of civilian spandex — a dark greenish jumpsuit that covered her entire body, save for her feet, hands, and head.

“Just wanted to check in,” said Vateilika. “I… I know you’ve been goin’ through some stuff lately.”

Iji couldn’t bring herself to answer. Not at first, at least. She turned her head towards the ground, more uncomfortable thoughts coalescing in her brain.

“Iji, is everything…?”

“I killed you.”

“Hm?”

Iji looked up, and met Vateilka’s eye. She didn’t want to. She didn’t want to look at her, now. But she knew that she had to.

“In my world,” said Iji. “I… I can’t say for sure, but I probably killed you.”

“Huh? Iji, what are you…?”

“You said that the Iji you knew was a pacifist. Well… I wasn’t,” said Iji. “Not until I fell into the Underground, and realized just how… how hard I’d embraced violence. I had to train myself out of it. I had to teach myself how to stop killing.”

“I… I see,” said Vateilika. “So you and I never made a truce?”

Iji shook her head. “No. I… I never gave you a reason to think that was an option. Dan… my Dan. He told me that I had to steel myself, that I had to be prepared to kill if I wanted to save what was left of this world. And… and I did. I started killing, because I thought it was the only option I had. I… I-I probably killed you too, without even realizing it. Without even caring who you were, or… or even knowing your name.”

Tears had already begun to form at the edge of Iji’s eyes. She could barely bring herself to look at Vateilka now.

“I… I don’t even know how many people I killed, by the time I reached General Tor. Definitely more than a hundred. Maybe even more than two hundred. It’s probably in my kill counter, but… I… I-I can’t even bear to look at it now.”

Vateilika continued to regard Iji silently. The silence, somehow, was worse than any kind of disapproving remark.

“And… and that’s not all! I… I asked Dan earlier, how he survived Asha. And he told me that his Iji saved him! Saved him so easily, with a trick that I could have just as easily pulled off! I-I… I could have saved him! I could have saved him, but I didn’t! H-he was the very last person I had on Earth, and I just LET him die!!”

Quiet, pained sobs wracked Iji’s lungs. Once again, she had trouble meeting Vateilika’s gaze. She shut her eyelids tight, breathing raggedly as she turned her head to the ground.

“A-and… and you, too,” she said. “I… I failed you too, Val. I failed your whole species. You said that… that the other me was responsible for saving you all. And… a-and that means I could have saved the Tasen, too. I-I could have… I…”

“Iji, that’s enough.”

Iji was shocked into silence by the bluntness of the words. She turned her head up, and saw Vateilika staring her straight in the eyes. Despite her hardened exterior, despite the visible battle scar, there was a gentle demeanor within Vateilika’sgaze.

“Huh? Enough…?”

“Don’t beat yourself up over what you could have done differently,” Vateilika continued. “That’s not gonna get you anywhere. Trust me, I would know.”

“You… you would?” said Iji. “Does… does this have something to do with that mutiny thing you mentioned?”

Vateilika’s eyes grew distant, if only for a brief moment. A flicker of sorrowful emotion passed through them.

“That don’t matter. Point is, you can’t hate yourself into makin’ things better. You… the other you… she was the one who taught me that. And if you’re anything like her, that means you’re a better person than you think. So don’t dwell on what you could have done differently in your world, alright? I want you to be okay with yourself. After all you’ve been through, you deserve that, at least.”

Iji let out a breath. Slowly, she could feel the ache inside her chest melting away. “…Maybe you’re right. You… you’re not the first person to tell me to forgive myself. And for a while, I thought I had. But… it’s hard, you know? After seeing all of this.”

Vateilika’s lips steadily curved upwards. “Well, nobody said it’d be easy. But that don’t mean it ain’t worth doing, ya know?”

“…Yeah. I know,” Iji breathed. “I just… wish I didn’t have to know how much your entire species’ fate rested on my shoulders. How much everything I did really affected you, and how I neglected that responsibility. It’s… weird to say out loud, but I just wish my choices didn’t matter so much.”

“Everyone’s gotta live with the choices they make,” said Vateilika. “Even if you make the wrong ones. Nothin’ to do about that but move forward. And, well… if you ever feel like you’re gonna stumble, I’ll be right there to catch you. You can count on that.”

“You’d really do that for me, huh…? Even though you’ve only just met me?”

“‘Course I would,” said Vateilika. “You may not be the same Iji I knew, but I can tell you’ve got the same heart. You just needed to dig a little deeper to find it. And now you’re here, after losin’ your entire world, an entire universe away from what’s left of it. The way I figure, you oughta to have at least one friend to count on here.”

Iji found herself returning Vateilika’s smile. Despite everything, and despite the possibility that she might never see her own Earth again… she couldn’t help but feel an immense wave of relief wash over her.

“I… thank you, Val. That means a lot to me.”

Another breath pushed its way out of Iji’s lungs, an emotional catharsis she had so sorely, desperately needed. Never did she expect that it would be a Tasen offering her solace, in the wake of everything that had happened to her, and yet here she was.

She held her eyes at Vateilika for what felt like forever. Despite her hard and scaly appearance, there was… something else there. Something Iji couldn’t quite place, that made her feel at ease. Maybe it was how they so easily understood each other’s feelings, despite everything. Maybe it was something else.

…But before she could think about that any further, another thought occurred to her.

“So, uh,” said Iji. “On an entirely unrelated note, there’s something I’m curious about.”

Vateilika glanced curiously at Iji. “Yeah? What is it?”

“My nanofield, it’s uh… based on a standard Tasen Soldier nanofield, I think,” said Iji. “So all of its features, um… should be the same as yours. Ghosts of dead children notwithstanding.”

“Well, sure. But what are you gettin’ at here?”

“Uh, well, a while ago I found that, uh…” Iji ran her hand through her hair, hoping that somehow she’d catch her train of thought in her fingers. “…I had a certain feature. You wouldn’t, um… happen to have a… very weird heads-up display in your nanofield, would you?”

Vateilika went quiet. A look of comprehension slowly dawned across her features.

Suddenly she burst into laughter, nearly doubling over from the strain as her deep guffaws echoed through the room.

“Bahahahahahahahah! Oh, wow! He actually got you with that too, huh?”

“Huh? W-wait, what? Who’s ‘he?’ What are you talking about?”

Vateilika inhaled, pausing for a moment to catch her breath. “Ah, sorry. That was just… that whole thing was prank from my ex, Yukabacera. When the current Soldier OS was in development, he snuck into R&D and installed his own custom ‘Dating HUD’ on the prototype. Made it all the way to production without anyone catchin’ it. By the time people noticed, nearly all the Soldiers in the fleet had it.”

“Wow. Sounds like he was a real handful,” said Iji. “You say ‘ex,’ so… did he…?”

“Huh? Oh no, he didn’t die in the war,” said Vateilika. “He’s ridiculously tough, and probably the most genius cracker of all Tasenkind. Managed to overclock his nanofield somethin’ fierce. Even Elites couldn’t touch what he was capable of.”

“Oh,” said Iji. “Um… glad to hear he’s still in one piece.”

“You misunderstand, I ain’t never said he was alive now,” said Vateilika. “He was a genius, but he ain’t never been much for common sense. Last I heard of him, he was experimentin’ with a teleporter, and he ended up zappin’ himself out of reality for the trouble. I miss that crazy bastard, I really do. But… well, I’d be lying if I said he wasn’t gonna get himself killed like that someday. Between that and all the poking, I knew I had to break up with him.”

“…Poking?”

“Long story,” said Vateilika. She let out a yawn, stretching her arms above her head. “…Maybe I’ll tell ya later. It’s getting late. I imagine you must be pretty exhausted, so maybe we should both get some rest.”

Iji matched Vateilika’s yawn with one of her own. She silently agreed, and as she said goodnight to Vateilika, she slowly drifted off into the realm of sleep.

---------

April 19^th, 202X-3

The school cafeteria is bustling with activity as you sit down and grab your lunch. Most days you’d take the time to go to the deli, as high schoolers are allowed to leave the premises for lunch, but you have another plan today. You asked Asriel and Valerie to meet you in the cafeteria… and before you head there, you stop by your locker to grab the guitar case you had left there.

Because Hometown is such a small town, the local high school shares a building with the local middle school. Normally the two sets of students are kept separate, but lunch hour allows for students of all ages to mingle in the cafeteria.

Not that people your age would be caught dead socializing with middle schoolers, of course. But it’s still not unusual to see students of all ages in the dining hall.

Asriel and Valerie are both sitting down at the usual table, where they hang out on rainy days, or when otherwise deciding to stay on school grounds for some unfathomable reason. You’re already carrying a bento box from your locker in your hands, and you set it down on the table in front of you… but that’s not why you’re here today.

You friends immediately take notice of the guitar case strapped on your back.

“Whoa!” says Asriel. “Is that a…?”

“It’s exactly what you think,” you say with a smile. “I’ve been learning to play guitar recently. Wanted to play piano, but… mom says those are too expensive, so guitar it is.”

“Really now?” says Valerie. “Too expensive? Ain’t your family one of the richest in town?”

“Apparently not,” you say, rolling your eyes.

You hoist the guitar case off of your shoulder, and remove the instrument within — a simple-looking acoustic guitar with six strings. You stand up onto the cafeteria bench, turn around, and then sit down on the edge of the table, being careful not to accidentally squish your own lunch.

All of the other students in the cafeteria immediately take notice of you. Your ears twitch as you tune the strings one-by-one… with your sensitive hearing, you can tune close to perfect pitch even without your old tuner.

Once you’re fully satisfied with the pitch of your guitar strings, you start playing a simple melody, and singing a simple tune. It’s a song that you’ve heard your father play many times in the car, while driving you across town.

Bluebird singing with a broken heart
Take those hopes and dreams and reach the stars
High above
You were only waiting for a chance to learn to love

Bluebird searching for a remedy
Take those sickly eyes and learn to see
What you’ll be
You were only waiting for the two of us to meet
You were only waiting for the two of us to meet

Not the most lyrically complex song, nor is it the most musically complex piece… you’re still just a beginner, after all. But your impromptu performance nevertheless is met with applause and cheers from your fellow students.

Immediately, you feel heat rushing to your face. You had *not* anticipated that your performance would be so popular. Being in the center of the spotlight is…

…well, you’re not sure what to think of it yet.

But the cheers are interrupted by another, less approving voice.

“Pfft. BORING!” The voice is familiar; you’ve heard it often when picking up your sister from her after-school study sessions at the library.

You turn to face it, and find that it belongs to a… bluebird.

(Oh no not you.)

“Not that I don’t appreciate you writing a song about me,” says Berdly, “but couldn’t you go with something cooler?”

“What!? Berdly, this song isn’t about you! It’s the Beetles! It was written like sixty years ago!” You roll your eyes, and try to take your mind off him by idly plucking at your guitar strings. “Middle schoolers, I swear. Go back to bothering my sister or something.”

“…Uh,” says Berdly.

“Actually, no. If you do that I’ll kill you.”

Berdly fidgets nervously, but wisely decides not to say anything further. You pay him no more mind, and go back to tuning your strings. The pitch still isn’t *exactly* perfect, and you hope that maybe with a little bit more effort you can get it just right.

“So, um… Dess,” says Asriel. “I’ve been meaning to ask… how *are* you and your mom getting along lately?”

Your arm involuntarily tenses right as you’re tuning your A string… so much so that you accidentally end up snapping the entire thing in half.

Valerie winces. “Ya pushed the mom button. Ya shouldn’ta did that.”

Asriel throws his arms up. “L-look, I’m just worried, okay? She and Dess have been fighting a lot lately, and… well, it’s concerning!”

You breathe in sharply, vainly attempting to push down the indignation building deep within you. “Az, it’s perfectly normal to be frustrated with your parents sometimes! I’ve seen you argue with your dad, and he’s like THE nicest guy alive!”

“Yes, but not anywhere NEAR as much as you! A-and not like this! I’m just worried that you’re putting her through a lot of stress, okay!?”

“Oh, yes, sure, worry about HER!” you shout back. “Mayor Comet Fucking Holiday, the woman who’s been in charge of this ENTIRE GODDAMNED TOWN since before I was BORN! SHE’S the one who you’re worried about!? REALLY!?”

“W-well… Yes! I know she’s hard to deal with sometimes, but she really does care about you! She only wants to—”

“I KNOW that, Asriel! I KNOW that she cares about me! I KNOW she’s only doing what she thinks is best! That’s not the PROBLEM! The PROBLEM is that she never goddamned LISTENS to me! I tell her I want to go to Delmarva Technical Institute, she says no, you should go to Sumac University! I tell her I want to do science for my major, she says no, you should study law like I did! It’s like she just… just can’t even IMAGINE that what worked for HER in life might not be what works for ME!”

By now, the floodgates have opened, and everything you’ve been keeping inside for so long comes flooding out, unhindered and unrestrained.

“And it’s not just HER either! Every time I try to do something for myself, every time I try to find SOME kind of escape, it feels like the entire universe conspires to make sure that my choices NEVER MATTER. Do you remember that time we tried to go on a road trip, but then your car broke down, and we had to be TOWED back to Hometown? Or that time we went to the beach, only for them to close it for a BEACHED GODDAMNED WHALE? Or what about when we went to Dude and Broski’s in State Capital, and there was a POWER OUTAGE right when I was about to get a high score at VR Shooters? What about THAT, huh!?”

As your months and months of bottled up frustrations finally run dry, you hunch over, burying your face in your palm. The only sounds you hear are your quiet sobs, and your own ragged breathing.

“I just want to be in control of my own life. I just want the things I do to matter. I just want to get away from all this stupid bullshit. Is that really too much to ask?”

For far, far too long, you don’t hear an answer. You don’t bother to look, but you can feel the eyes of every other student in the cafeteria on you. Pitying. Judging.

“Um… hey.”

The next voice you hear isn’t who you expect. You look up, and see Berdly has approached you. He’s holding a plastic bag of snacks in his wing, and is holding it up towards your face.

“You want some of my candied sunflower seeds? They always make me feel better when I’m in a, um… gamer rage.”

You cautiously reach over and grab the bag of seeds.

“…Sure,” you mutter. “Thanks.”

---------

“Um. Hey, Iji.”

“Mmmph,” Iji said. As the sound of someone else’s voice ran into her ear, she sat up from the bed, and yawned loudly. “…Asriel? Something wrong?”

Sure enough, the young prince was in Iji’s room, and the door was left cracked open, as he had apparently left it so behind him. Asriel shifted uncomfortably as he sat on the side of the bed, right beside Iji. As Iji’s eyes adjusted, she could see that the fur beneath his eyes was damp and matted.

Instantly, the last remaining drowsiness Iji felt shattered, as a deep pang of concern pierced through her chest.

“Um…” said Asriel. “Kinda. I… I-I just…”

He sighed, and closed his eyes as another tear trickled down his face.

“I… I heard what you were talking about with Val earlier,” he said. “About… forgiving yourself. And it… it made me wonder. What about me? How… how am I going to forgive myself? Should I even forgive myself? I-I… I just…”

Immediately, Iji found her hand reaching over and resting itself on Asriel’s shoulder. “Asriel, of course you should forgive yourself. Please don’t think you’re not deserving of love. We all—”

“N-no! You don’t understand!” Asriel called out. His entire body was trembling now, his voice cracking from the strain as he looked Iji in the eye. “I’d always thought that when I reloaded or reset, all of… that all of the horrible things I did would be undone! B-but they weren’t! B-because… because… b-because it turns out that’s not how time travel works! Every time I went back, I was just moving to a new world! B-but… but all the people I’ve hurt are still in their own worlds! A-and… and all the people I’ve killed in those worlds are still dead! I… I… I-I can’t…”

Iji tried to speak words to reassure Asriel, but for now, none had come to her. Deep within her mind, she could feel the unbearable pressure of Chara’s emotions, alongside her own.

They had no idea what to say either, neither could they bear to see their best friend in such a state.

Asriel closed his eyes, and pulled his legs towards his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around himself. He shuddered softly, and his voice was muffled through his own legs as he spoke.

“I… I shouldn’t be alive right now,” he croaked. “I don’t deserve it. I… I-I shouldn’t have backed out when I tried to kill myse—”

“Asriel, stop it. Just stop.”

The bluntness of Iji’s words forced Asriel out of his despairing, if only for a tiny moment. He stared Iji in the face, his eyes shot through with red.

“But… but I can’t undo what I did. It’s literally not possible. It never was to begin with.”

“I know,” said Iji.

Once again, Asriel was left momentarily speechless. He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

“B-but… then why? W-why are you acting like… like I deserve to be happy?”

“Asriel, listen to me,” Iji said. “You were watching me the first time I talked to your mom, right? I mean really talked.”

“Y-yeah, but… what does that have to do with anything?”

“And do you remember what she said to me?” Iji continued. “When I told her I didn’t believe I deserved her kindness?”

“Um… I-I… maybe?”

“She taught me what might be single most important thing I’ve ever learned,” said Iji. “She taught me that it’s not about deserving. Your mom had every reason to think your dad deserved to be punished for his crimes, and yet she still went out of her way to protect him. Because suffering doesn’t set right what you did wrong. All it does is make you suffer. If you hurt yourself, or killed yourself, what exactly do you think that would change?”

A sharp, lengthy sigh pushed its way out of Asriel’s throat.

“I… I don’t know. I… I’d stop feeling so disgusted with myself, maybe. But… I guess that sounds pretty selfish when I say it like that, huh?”

Iji reached over and put her arm around Asriel’s shoulder, pulling him into an embrace.

“You’re not selfish. I understand, Asriel. I really do. I just… I want to help you, okay? That’s all.”

Asriel said nothing in response, at least not at first. As he leaned in closer, Iji could feel his breathing slowly steady.

“…Am I really worth all of this?”

“Of course you are,” said Iji. “Because you’re my friend and I care about you.”

Asriel shook his head.

“That’s not what I meant. I mean… is it really worth everything that it took for you to save me?”

For once, Iji didn’t quite know what to say in response. She looked Asriel in the eye, or at least attempted to. He turned his gaze downwards, staring at his hands as he idly twiddled his thumbs.

“I… I only have a soul because you fell into the Underground. And Alphys discovered that your nanofield could replace the soul I lost. But… but the only reason you have a nanofield is that… is that the whole world ended. You were given it to fight back against an invasion that killed billions. Almost all of humanity had to die for you to save me. Am I really worth that?”

Finally, understanding reached Iji. “You think I traded all of their lives for yours.”

“…Yeah.”

“Well, you’re wrong. I didn’t.”

“But… I wouldn’t be here if all of those people hadn’t died first,” said Asriel. “How is that not trading their lives for me?”

“Because that isn’t how it works,” said Iji. “I didn’t sacrifice everyone I ever loved for you. I saved you because I knew I could, and I knew exactly how to do it. It’s not always possible to save everyone. And sometimes there are… there are people you could have saved, but you didn’t know how. But if you try to help the people you do know you can, then… then sometimes, every now and then, it’ll end up working out for someone. And that’s something, isn’t it?”

Tears once again began welling up in the corners of Asriel’s eyes, but the despair that they had carried just minutes ago had already washed away.

He leaned in, and wrapped his arms around Iji’s waist, burying his face into her torso. Iji gladly returned the gesture, feeling the softness of his fur as she gently stroked the back of his head.

“It’s okay, Az. I’m here for you. I’ll be here for you, for as long as I can be.”

“T-thank you,” Asriel whispered. “Thank you so much…”

The time that passed as Iji consoled the young prince stretched out, into what felt like eternity. But eventually, he pulled away. Once again, Iji could see the hope that had shined within his eyes.

“You know,” he said, “you… weren’t actually the first human I met in the Underground. Aside from Chara, I mean.”

Iji raised an eyebrow. She definitely wouldn’t have guessed that. “Really now?”

“Yeah, um… there was one other before you. I forgot their name but… they were the one with the yellow soul. They had a cowboy hat, and, um… a revolver with fake bullets and stuff. I… tried to help them for a while. Tried to be nice, thinking it be my chance to finally make a difference. For… the things I did to feel like they mattered. For me to finally feel something.”

“And I’m guessing that didn’t work.”

“No. It… didn’t,” Asriel admitted. “Their determination wasn’t anywhere near as strong as yours, so I was still able to save and load and stuff. But… they just kept… I dunno. Being… being boring. Most of the time, they just stayed with mom. Sometimes, I was able to push them into leaving, but… they just… kept dying. Eventually, I just… got fed up with it all. Fed up with trying to be nice. So I… I tried to get them to reach dad, so I could take their soul along with the others. I, um… didn’t kill them. Not in the last timeline they were in, at least. But I… I was still kinda responsible for their death, in a way.”

“Oh,” said Iji. “That’s, um… something?”

“…Yeah. Anyway, um… when I absorbed the six human souls and fought you, I… I could hear the yellow soul speaking to me. Before they decided to turn against me. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but… but now that I’ve had some time to think about it, I… I-I think they were trying to save me, too. Despite everything I’d done. Despite how… how cruel I was. I guess… I guess they must have figured there was something driving me mad.”

Asriel wiped a tear from his eye, and sniffled slightly. The guilt was plain to see on his face, even if it wasn’t already evident in his words.

“I wanna go visit their grave, if we ever find our way home. I… I want to apologize. I can’t take back what I did, but… I feel like my thoughts will be able to reach them, wherever they are now. And… and I feel like I might be able to give them some peace, at least. After all, it’s… about helping who you can, right?”

A smile slowly worked its way across Iji’s lips. She gently tousled the fur atop Asriel’s head.

“See? Now you get it.”

“Yeah… thanks, Iji. I… I owe you…”

Asriel let out a yawn, and he stretched his arms out. He curled up by Iji’s side on the bed, rested his head on her lap. Within minutes, he had already fallen asleep.

Soon enough, drowsiness overtook Iji as well, and she curled up and lay down, her arm still wrapped around Asriel as she, too, drifted back to the realm of dreams.

---------

May 4^th, 202X-3

A full day has passed since you assaulted Ash. While it was admittedly in defense of your younger brother, you’ve been unable to sleep the entire night. You just know that it won’t be long before word reaches the local authorities, and you wind up in serious trouble. Just imagining how your mother will flip out sends a shudder down your spine.

Sure enough, one of the local officers asks you to come with her in her police car after school. She’s a bird monster, of the same lanky talon-armed species as Ash, though her feathers are dark gray and she has a much more relaxed demeanor. You’re genuinely shocked that she doesn’t press you very hard in the interrogation room.

“Um… Thanks, for hearing me out, Officer Annie,” you say. “Chief Asgore’s still out with mom on that sabbatical, so I was worried that, um… you wouldn’t…”

“You think the Chief would let you off the hook for being friends with his son.”

“…Kinda, yeah. I was… kind of terrified that I’d actually have to face justice without him around.”

Officer Annie takes a sip from her cup of coffee as she leans against the wall.

“You’ve got some weird ideas about justice, kid. Justice isn’t the same thing as punishment.”

You give Annie an odd look. “Really? But isn’t that your whole job? Why are even you a cop, then?”

“I never wanted to be,” she plainly answers. “All my family are officers, and my parents basically forced me to enroll in the police academy. I wasn’t in a place where I could keep my mouth fed if they disowned me. It’s awful, but… it is what it is.”

Horror dawns upon you as you stare blankly at Annie.

(Wow. And I thought *my* mom could be demanding. I guess I could have it a lot worse, huh?)

“So you’re not going to press charges against me?”

“Nope,” Annie replies. “Assault is against the law, but… well, I’m not exactly a pacifist myself. You really can’t be, in this line of work. I don’t believe in violence, but if it’s necessary to protect the innocent, I see no problem with using it.”

“Yeah, fair point,” you say. “…Hold on though, isn’t that basically saying it’s okay to be a vigilante?”

“Well, keep in mind that I’m not exactly in line with most other officers,” Annie responds. “Not long ago, I partnered with a human in State Capital. Some punk teenager who fancies themselves some kind of cowboy superhero.”

You raise an eyebrow. *That* description catches your attention. “Cowboy… superhero?”

“Or cowgirl. Cowperson. Not sure which.”

“What were they like?”

Annie stares at you curiously. “…Huh. You know, now that you mention it, I’m surprised you’ve never heard of them. I guess this place must be a real podunk town to not catch them on the news.” She takes another swig of coffee. “They’ve got a getup with a domino mask and a ten-gallon hat, and a bright yellow super suit. Call themselves ‘The Shamrock Kid.’ And they’ve got such freakishly good aim with that slingshot of theirs, you’d almost think they had actual superpowers.”

“That sounds pretty exciting. And they helped you do police work?”

Annie takes another chug of her coffee. “Sort of. They helped me crack a couple of cases. But it wasn’t long before the Chief caught wind that I was working with an illegal vigilante. So he had me reassigned to this backwater for my trouble.”

“Really?” you say. “They didn’t strip you of your badge for that?”

“Hah! Are you kidding?” Annie laughs. “Every officer in the Capital knows that we’re pretty much above the law we’re supposed to enforce. The mayor bends over backwards to give us whatever we want, and most punishment for misconduct is a slap on the wrist.” One last swig, and Annie finishes the rest of her beverage. “Me, I was sent away just to protect the Capital PD’s reputation. You know those radical lefty types who say cops are bastards?”

“Uh… no,” you say. “I, um… try not to think about politics too much. Stresses me out.”

“Fair enough. Personally, I they’re a bunch of violent rabble-rousers. But they’ve got a point about cops.”

You blink, as another thought occurs to you. “Wait, but *you’re* a cop.”

“I am. I never said I wasn’t a bastard.”

Chapter Text

The following morning, Iji awoke to a gentle beam of sunlight filtering through the window. Asriel was still sound asleep, curled up by her side. He gently shifted and muttered something to himself as Iji climbed out of bed, leaving him to curl up and clutch the sheets.

Soon enough, Iji found herself lamenting that she still didn’t have any other clothes… though being forced to wear her old tank top and jeans did give her a certain nostalgic feeling. Leaving her nanogun behind, she took a quick trip down the hall and to the showers. One refreshing shower session later, and she had cleared away the gross feeling of dirt and grime that had come from spending more than a day outdoors. Her one set of clothes was still uncomfortably sweaty, but she could worry about that once she’d figured out what to do next.

A rumble of her stomach reminded her that she still hadn’t eaten since the day before yesterday. It was the fifteenth now, meaning Emergence Day had already passed by… the thought of missing out on such a celebration did bring a soft pang of guilt to her stomach.

…Maybe it’d be best not to think about that right now. I need some food first.

The cafeteria, thankfully, was more than willing to offer a free meal to Iji… the staff, all Tasen, were simply grateful enough to see her alive again. Asriel had joined her as well, and the two sat down at one of the circular tables, both having a simple bowl of cereal and milk.

As Iji idly munched on her corn flakes, Chara’s hologram whirred to life, and stared at Asriel with a smirk.

“So. The multiverse,” said Chara. “Now that we know that’s real, what other alternate universes do you think are out there?”

“Um,” said Asriel. He held his spoon over his cereal, while his eyes drifted to the side, as though somehow distracted by the question. “I mean… if I understand multiverse theory right, literally all of them?”

“Sure, but which ones?” Chara pressed. “What universe would you like to see? Let’s see some ideas!”

Asriel paused. A frown crossed his muzzle, his lips pursed in thought. “Um… alright, then. Let’s see. How about… one where everyone in the Underground was evil, and flower-me was the only one who was nice?”

Chara stared silently at Asriel. They raised a single eyebrow.

“…Yeah, you’re right. That one’s kinda lame,” Asriel admitted. “Okay, what about one where… you and me switch places… with, um… Papyrus and Sans?”

For a moment, Asriel stared at Chara expectantly. A smile worked its way across Chara’s lips.

“I like it! Seems unfinished, though.”

“…Unfinished?”

“Yeah. I mean… where would go with that idea? And why not take it even further?” said Chara. “Come on, let’s see you get creative!”

“Um… okay, let’s see here.” Asriel paused, his face scrunching adorably as he went deep in thought. “Alright, I’ve got it! How about one where instead of mom, it was dad who fled to the Ruins? And… and Sans was in the Royal Guard, and Undyne was the Royal Scientist, and Papyrus was her assistant, and, um… also, um… a… a defense attorney?”

For several seconds, Chara regarded Asriel silently. They frowned, and thoughtfully rubbed their chin.

“Hmmm…”

Asriel narrowed his eyes. “What? You told me to be creative!”

“Hey, I didn’t say it was bad,” said Chara. “That one actually sounds really cool! I just have no idea how that would actually happen.”

“Well, it could have happened that way!” Asriel retorted. “Which means there has to be at least one universe where it did!”

“Except in the universes where multiverse theory isn’t true.”

“…Urk.”

A wide, self-satisfied smirk appeared across Chara’s face. “Yeah, bet you didn’t think of that, did you?”

“Can we talk about this after we’ve had some breakfast?” said Iji. “It’s way too early for this conversation.”

Iji took another bite of her cereal… only for a new thought to occur to her. This food was physical, and whatever it was monsters did to their own food to render it purely magical had very clearly not been done here.

Immediately, Iji could only worry how Asriel would handle that kind of food.

The answer was ‘poorly,’ as the young prince was audibly gagging after swallowing his very first bite of cereal.

“Gah! Oh… oh no, I can actually feel it inside me!” Asriel protested. “Oh god, this is gonna be disgusting later, isn’t it?”

“…Yup,” said Iji. “Sorry, kiddo. Hope you know how to use toilet paper.”

“Ack! No! That is IT!! I am NEVER eating again!!!”

The cafeteria went quiet. Iji could suddenly feel the stares of every other human and Tasen in the cafeteria, boring down on her. Not that she wasn’t used to getting odd looks in this world.

Quietly, Asriel hunched over, attempting to make himself look smaller. He reached over with a spoon, and quietly took another bite of cereal.

Chara gave Asriel an odd glance.

“What?” Asriel said. “I’m hungry, okay?”

The meal was continued in silence, and before long the two had both finished off their own respective breakfasts. Iji went back for seconds, but Asriel apparently had no such intentions — and she couldn’t blame Asriel, given his lack of experience with that kind of food.

“So, um… I was actually just thinking,” said Asriel.

“Yeah?” said Iji.

“We know now that traveling through time causes a timeline split,” Asriel continued, “So… you can’t actually undo things by saving or loading, right?”

“That’s what it looks like, yeah.”

“But… when you saved or loaded in the Underground, I still remembered stuff from the previous timeline,” said Asriel. “So… how does that factor in? If you were just moving to a new timeline, how could I still remember?”

Iji stopped for a moment, to let that thought roll around in her mind for a moment.

“Huh, that’s… I dunno. Good question,” she said. “Maybe alternate timelines leave some kind of… imprint on each other? When moving between them? Or maybe you moved with me?”

“…You don’t know, huh.”

“Azzy, you gotta learn not to think too hard about that stuff,” said Chara. “Time travel’s confusing enough by itself, adding in all these alternate timelines is just gonna make it even more of a headache.”

“So you’re saying we’re never gonna figure out how time travel works exactly?” said Asriel. “That sounds like kind of a cop-out.”

“Well, hopefully we won’t be doing any more time traveling any time soon,” said Iji. “Let’s just be glad that we all made it across space and time in one piece.”

Asriel and Chara both gave no further arguments. It was good to be alive, despite everything.

--------

Breakfast continued, and for the most part Asriel simply at the rest of his meal in silence. Iji was, as usual, not especially good at small talk. She had a knack for understanding others, and offering kindness and friendship through words alone, but when matters of importance were set aside she usually didn’t have much to say.

Not that Asriel minded that much. It felt nice, having a friend by his side. Such a simple thing that he’d never take it for granted again.

Asriel did take the time to ask about one of Iji’s new friends. He’d gleaned that her name was ‘Val,’ but that certainly didn’t sound like a Tasen name. Sure enough, the actual name Iji gave was something just a bit more… unearthly. Once breakfast was over, he took the time to star wandering the base’s halls in search of her.

It took some getting used to the layout of the building, and Asriel could never quite get used to all the baffled stares he got from everyone else he passed by. But eventually, as he passed through a corridor connecting the military and civilian quarters, he met with a familiar face.

She was on her own now, dressed in her usual Tasen Soldier uniform, though her helmet was tucked neatly below her elbow as she walked. As she passed by, Asriel approached her unnoticed, and gently tugged at the spandex on her leg.

“Um, Howdy. I was talking with Iji over breakfast. She said your name’s Vatei… Vatl… Vat…”

She turned around, and gave Asriel a smile. “Val’s fine.”

“Right. Val. We, um… never really got a chance to introduce ourselves yesterday, huh?” said Asriel. “I mean, you heard my story, but then we had that big argument, and, um… I just wanted to say… no hard feelings?”

Vateilika reached down and ruffled the fur atop Asriel’s head. It was a gesture of affection he’d grown used to, and instantly found a sense of safety and comfort in it. “Kid, don’t worry about it. I may not have known you long, but I can tell you’ve got a good heart.”

“Um… yeah. Thanks,” Asriel said. “Wasn’t always like that, though,” he muttered.

“…Right. You mean that there story yesterday,” said Vateilika. “Never in my life did I think a nanofield could replace a soul, much less that those existed. I’m sorry for everything you went through. Havin’ to lose your entire sense of self like that… I can’t imagine that was fun.”

“It wasn’t,” said Asriel. “But… I dunno if I’d say I wasn’t myself. I just… couldn’t care about anyone else. And it… well, it broke me.”

Vateilika managed a smile. For someone with such a grizzled appearance, she wore it shockingly well. “We’re all broken here, kid. That don’t mean we can’t find ways to heal. And if you ever need help pickin’ up any of your pieces, well… I’m here for ya.”

Asriel breathed out. It was still difficult to know what to make of all of this. He still wasn’t sure if he even deserved such sympathy, after all the things he’d done.

And yet… he was grateful for it all the same.

“Yeah… thanks, Val,” he said.

--------

Iji had taken the time to meet with her brother in the science division of the base: a series of laboratories and workrooms that reminded her a lot of the D.C.M.F.P.R. Right now, she and Dan were seated in a sterile computer lab, each desk housing a state-of-the-art laptop that was enhanced a thousandfold with the addition of Tasen nanotechnology. The room was empty of other occupants, but it was clearly meant to be used in tandem with an entire team of computer engineers.

Dan, it seemed, had been doing a great deal of work developing the software used by the surviving Tasen for their research efforts on restoring Earth’s damaged biosphere, as well as developing nanofields for civilian use by humans.

And now here they stood apart from each other, right beside one of the many computer desks, as though nothing had changed at all.

“So, um… Dan. Any idea where we’re going to go from here?”

Dan paused thoughtfully. He’d kept his eyes fixed at the computer screen, reading displays that Iji couldn’t quite make heads or tails of.

I need to get back into computer science sometime. I know Alphys has been too busy to tutor me lately, but…

“Well, normally I’d say no,” said Dan. “Multiversal travel is just slightly outside of my area of expertise. That said…”

Iji’s eyes went wide. “You know a way back!?”

“Hold your horses. I never said that,” Dan cut in. “But… I do have something that might be a lead.”

“Hey, at this point I’ll take anything,” said Iji. “What have you got?”

“Well, I don’t think you ever told us exactly how you got here,” said Dan. “But you did mention something about a ‘Dark Fountain,’ right? Something that was some kind of distortion in reality?”

“Yeah,” said Iji. “We were sent to investigate by our old friend Doctor Alphys. We closed the Fountain and stopped the distortion, but… it ended up sending us here. Why?”

“Well, a couple of folks in the physics lab have started picking up some weird readings,” said Dan. “Something that could be called a ‘distortion in reality,’ but we’re not quite sure what it it is yet. They detected one two days ago, over the Ittledew Valley.”

“The Ittledew…” Iji’s eyebrows shot upwards as she fit together the pieces in her mind. “W-wait! That’s where we showed up after closing the Fountain! And two days ago… that’s exactly when we showed up, too!”

Dan gave a nod. “I thought so.”

“Do you know anything else? Have they picked up any other signals like it?”

“Well, no. Not exactly,” said Dan. “But… I’ve heard tell that they’ve started picking up something coming from the ruins of Ludo City, to the northeast. It could be the same kind of distortion, but the readings are too faint for us to tell. Don’t get your hopes up just yet, but this could be what you’re looking for.”

A swirl of mixed emotions began stirring within Iji. On the one hand, it could be exactly what she needed to find a way back home. But on the other…

…if it’s another Dark Fountain, we don’t even know if it’ll take us where we need to go. And it could threaten this entire world if it’s not stopped.

We’ll need to go there all the same but… will it even lead us back home?

Dan, it seemed, had taken notice of Iji’s silence.

“Something the matter?” he asked.

“…No, it’s fine. Thanks for the update.”

“It’s no problem,” said Dan. “And if it turns out it’s not what you’re after, we’ll keep looking, alright? Don’t give up on finding your way back just yet.”

“I won’t. Thanks, Dan.”

--------

Asha had never felt more bored in either of his lives.

It was a waste. A stupid, pointless, infuriating waste. He was so much more powerful than ever now, and yet here he was, being forced to do nothing but reconnaissance. With his command of the Void, he could easily slip into the base that the pitiful humans and filthy Tasen called their home. Clinging to the ceiling, he made himself invisible and intangible as he observed his quarry.

The Human Anomaly, so far, had not done anything but tell her own sob-story, and have a single meal as she acclimated to her new environment. Asha could not even begin to fathom why his liege thought of her so highly as a threat. It would be all too easy to slip down and assassinate her in her sleep.

And yet still, orders were orders. And Asha knew better than to defy the orders of someone who could crush him with a mere thought.

Although, speaking of thoughts…

An idea began to form in Asha’s mind. It was an idea he would never have entertained normally, but boredom had a knack for motivating one to try new things.

The Knight forbade me from challenging the anomaly, or making myself known to her… but they said no such thing about her allies.

And so Asha slipped once again through the space between spaces. He emerged a reality apart, in a parallel world where Mount Ebott yet stood. The very same parallel world that the Anomaly had come from.

The monsters had been preparing for something called the ‘Emergence Day Festival,’ only for the celebration to be unceremoniously canceled, when news came out that both the Anomaly and their prince had disappeared. The search efforts to find them had proven unsuccessful, which was to be expected.

Asha soon found himself skulking around the city known as South Town. Many of the Anomaly’s closest allies made their homes here, and perhaps here Asha would find something that could be a worthy exercise of his abilities.

There was a fish monster by the name of Undyne, who was leading the search efforts. She had a fighter’s spirit, but she was still just a weakling. Several others had joined alongside her, and Asha appraised each and every one of them in turn. Weakling, weakling, weakling, weakling…

He had to stop himself from retching in disgust when his eyes fell upon a bird monster with blue feathers, much akin to the color of his own skin. The Komato were often said to be like the birds of Origin, but this… creature was a direct evolutionary offshoot of his own kind.

That he could be in any way related to a disgusting, scatterbrained being like her was a profound insult. At least the Tasen were somewhat competent at military protocols.

Then, he saw someone else. By all appearances, this skeletal monster was an imbecile, dressed in ludicrous fake papier-mâché armor and repeatedly boasting about his own ‘greatness.’

But beneath that silly exterior, Asha could see an immense power. An untapped power, an unrealized potential, yet power all the same. A power that could easily compare to his own.

Asha’s eyes narrowed. He’d already found exactly what he was looking for.

Now this one… THIS one is a worthy opponent.

Chapter Text

The rest of the day was uneventful. No news had been found yet about the readings Dan was picking up from Ludo City, and that left Iji with plenty of time alone with her thoughts.

It was… surreal, to take it all in. Now that she had some downtime from the stress and adrenaline of simply trying to survive. She knew her life was strange, she’d long since accepted the fact that it would never be normal again, for better or for worse.

But to deal with a scenario that involved crossing timelines was something entirely beyond her expectation, even when she’d learned to expect the unexpected.

What would even be next for her, now?

Eventually, Iji stopped by the facility’s cafeteria again, joined by Asriel as they grabbed another meal. She was happy to see him alive and well, after everything. The poor kid had been through so much, and she found herself scooting closer to him on the round table’s bench seating as they sat down. Protect him at all costs, her instincts continued to tell her.

As they ate their meal together, Chara flickered once again to life, silently observing their companions. There was a wistful look in their eye as they did so.

“So,” they eventually spoke up, “this might sound out of the blue, but… do you ever think about how far we’ve come?”

Asriel glanced curiously at Chara’s hologram, as he took a bite of his steamed vegetables. “What do you mean?”

“I mean… just how much we’ve changed,” said Chara. “You… well, I don’t need to say anything about you. But looking back on my old life… I barely even recognize it now.”

A thoughtful look crossed Asriel’s eyes. “Yeah, I get what you mean. You seem a lot more… relaxed now. It’s kinda hard to believe how much you’ve mellowed out.”

Chara shook their head. “Not just that. I mean, I… I could have been a lot nicer. Not just to you, but… in general.”

A smile crossed their face, but it contrasted against the deep melancholy behind their eyes. Iji could feel an ocean of regrets swimming through Chara’s thoughts, manifesting in the back of her mind.

“Do you remember how I always hated when your mom and dad showed affection to each other?” said Chara. Their voice was quiet, laced with plaintive emotion. “Or how I how I always made fun of you for crying, or… how I was always pushing you to do things my way? Even when you were clearly uncomfortable with it?”

Chara gave a sigh. Their lips pursed tightly, into a deep, pensive frown.

“Even before… before I got us both killed, there were so many times where I took advantage of your trust. Times where I ignored your wishes, just to get what I wanted from you. I really did care for you, I just… I didn’t know what to do with that feeling. It was all so new and strange to me, back then.”

Almost reflexively, Asriel answered. “Hey, it’s okay. We’re both okay now, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, I know,” said Chara. “But… I’ve been thinking a lot about home, now that we’re an entire universe away from it. And it’s made me think about our old life, and how I… how I wasn’t the greatest person.”

There was a silence. Slowly, Iji reached over and held Chara’s hand, or as close as she could with their illusory body. As her hand phased through Chara’s, she gave a smile, and they turned to meet her eyes.

“Chara. You remember all the times we talked about this, right? Remember what I keep telling you?”

“I know. I know. That I’m better than I think I am. But it… it can be difficult to accept that, you know?” Chara’s holographic image imitated a deep breath. “I… I really owe you everything, Iji. Living through you, becoming part of your own heart… it’s only because of you that I know what it means to be kind. I can’t thank you enough for that. I just… I just sometimes wish I’d known that from the start. That’s all.”

“I know. We all have our regrets,” said Iji. “But time is only going to move forward for us now. All we can do is keep moving with it, and… and keep being here for each other.”

Slowly, a smile worked its way across Chara’s face. “…Yeah. I’m aware. Thanks, Iji.”

But their smile once again faded, as a deep concern crossed their features.

“I do wonder how our friends and family back home are faring,” said Chara. “I sure hope they aren’t too worried about us…”

--------

The search efforts, once again, had proven fruitless. Two days had passed, searching all four cities, the entirety of the Underground, and even some of the surrounding wastelands.

And yet still, no sign of Asriel or Iji could be found.

But Papyrus wasn’t going to give up. And he wasn’t about to let his friends’ spirits be lowered so easily.

It evening by the time everyone returned from their search parties. Papyrus had in the meantime set up something in the center of South Town Town Square — also known by the affectionate nickname of South Town² Square.

A simple stage, hastily constructed out of magic bones, and far less extravagant than what Papyrus was normally used to acting on at Westvale Theater. And with none of his supporting actors present, he was forced to play the entire cast by himself.

But even still, he managed to put on a great show, free of charge to any monster who wanted to stop by and watch. And sure enough, by the end of his one-monster play, practically all of South Town was there. Alphys, his brother, Undyne… even the king and his now-estranged wife had stopped to enjoy the performance.

Seeing the joy on everyone’s faces, and hearing their applause, brought a warmth to his ribcage. Yet even still, the melancholy of monsterkind’s lost prince remained.

All the more reason, then, for Papyrus to try even harder to bring them all hope and joy.

When the play was concluded, Papyrus greeted his fans one-by-one as they approached him. Thinking about how much he had brightened their lives, even in such a hard time, almost brought a tear to his eye sockets.

One such fan came up to him, asking for an autograph. A little fox monster girl with dark fur, wearing a kimono. Though from the looks of it, she was also one of those ‘Amalgamates’ from Alphys’s lab, as she had the head of a small Froggit permanently fused to the top of her scalp.

“THERE YOU GO!” said Papyrus, finishing off his signature, making sure that the calligraphy was exactly right. “ONE AUTOGRAPH, COURTESY OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS! CHERISH IT WELL, MY VULPINE FRIEND!”

The little girl reached for the piece of paper, her hands trembling. She seemed to have difficulty with motor functions, but it didn’t deter her enthusiasm the slightest. As she grabbed the autograph, the Froggit atop her head gave a soft ribbit.

“U-um,” the girl said, struggling to speak through her partly-deformed face. “Su… Suwako… says s-she… wants an autograph too.”

“…AH. RIGHT. BECAUSE THERE’S TWO OF YOU. NOT TO WORRY! MY PENMANSHIP IS A GIFT TO BE SHARED WITH ALL!”

He pulled out another slip of paper, and carefully etched his signature into it with a pen. As he held out the autograph, the girl’s head-Froggit snatched it up with her tongue in a loud slup.

Papyrus said goodbye to the little fox girl, who stumbled on her feet as she walked away — her legs were not quite solid enough to consistently maintain her footing while walking. Fortunately, her mother was nearby, and quickly rushed in to catch her — another fox monster in a white kimono, with sand-colored fur and red hair.

More monsters approached Papyrus, asking him for his autograph. A wooden doll monster dressed in red. An extremely muscular monster who looked like a cross between a fish and a platypus. A young bee monster with an odd boomerang who wanted to sell his autograph — which was strange because he was giving them away for free. A red-headed human named Kayleigh, and her best friend, a monster with speakers on her wings and a microphone for a tail. A monster with a crimson robe and a white horned mask, carrying a massive sewing needle. A box-shaped monster who liked to say ‘huzzah!’ and looked like some kind of lunchbox. Also, some weird floating eyeball that nobody but him could see for some reason.

When he was content that his many fans were satisfied, Papyrus took a moment to dismiss his magically-conjured stage. It was well into the evening now, and soon it would be time for his nightly ritual: lying wide awake in his bed for eight hours or so. (Sans, the utter lazybones, had suggested once that Papyrus try ‘sleeping’ instead.)

There were still plenty of monsters gathered in the square, alongside one or two humans. But they were beginning to disperse now, as everyone wound down for day. There was still a lingering sadness in the air, as Iji and Prince Asriel were no doubt still on the minds of everyone, but Papyrus knew he had done a good job bringing people joy in spite of that.

…And yet, something was wrong.

He didn’t know what it was yet, but there was danger in the air, and Papyrus could feel it in his bones. He tensed, hardening his body just as Undyne had trained him to do.

His instincts were validated when the air in front of him began to twist and warp in a spiral of whirling shadow. It was as though a great whirlpool of crackling darkness had formed, thundering with unearthly noise as it tore through the fabric of space. Panicked murmurs echoed from the people gathered in the square as they looked on in confusion and fear.

Then, just as quickly as the swirling darkness appeared, it receded. In its place was…

…he looked like a bird monster of some kind, but some strange intuition told Papyrus that he wasn’t quite the same as the monsters he knew.

This… creature was bipedal, and had dark teal skin — readily apparent by the fact that he wore no shirt to speak of, and very light clothing. Purple shorts were stretched over his legs, matching the purple helmet covering his head, suggesting the shape of a hooked and eagle-like beak. Black, feather-like antennae stuck out of the sides of his helmet, matching his black waistband, socks, and armband. Like a bird, his legs were digitigrade, granting the appearance of a second knee bending inwards while he walked on the very tip of his feet.

Notably, he was also missing his right arm. The glassy, angular eyes on his helmet gleamed with malicious intent as he stood…over seven feet tall, making him one of the few monsters who could compare to Papyrus’s stature.

The murmurs of the crowd only grew more panicked as this new being made himself known.

“Humph! Cower as much as you like, inferior lifeforms. It won’t do you any good in the end,” he bragged, turning towards the onlookers. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Asha, greatest of the Komato Assassins. Formerly under the orders of General Tor of Imperial Army Fleet 1089, now in service of the almighty Void Knight.”

Instantly, the gathered crowd burst into panicked murmurs. The very few humans present were no less afraid than the monsters — in fact, they seemed to be even more terrified.

“The… the Komato!?”

“A-aren’t those the aliens that destroyed the Earth?”

“O-oh god they’re still here!?”

“Wait, what did he said the general’s name was?”

“Silence!” Asha shouted. He held out his single arm, and in a single blip and a flash of light, a thin appeared in his arm, with a curved blade made out of searing red plasma. “Under my current directive, I have been sent to surveil the Human Anomaly, as well as your kind’s so-called ‘prince.’”

“Prince Asriel!?”

“Oh thank god, he’s okay!”

“W-wait, what did he mean ‘surveil?’”

Asha let out a growl, and with another blip and a flash of light, his sword was replaced with a fearsome-looking pistol. He raised the gun to the air and fired, causing a beam of intense searing plasma to soar over the heads of the gathered crowd. Instantly, everyone went silent.

“The next person to interrupt me like that will have that plasma cannon shoved down their throat,” Asha hissed. “Now, where was I… oh, yes. My directive. You see, I was ordered not to engage the Anomaly, or reveal myself to her. However… I was given no such orders for her allies. And you all are an entire universe away from her now. Whatever happens here, she will never know.”

“W-wait!” Alphys cried out. “The Human Anomaly… y-you mean Iji!? A-and what do you mean, an entire universe—”

The sound of a searing plasma cannon shot roared through the air. Alphys dived out of the way just in time to duck under the destructive beam of energy. The scales atop her head spines were left visibly singed by the heat.

“Humph!” said Asha. “Never in my life did I think I would meet a creature more loathsome and degenerate than the Tasen. But you…”

“OH THAT IS IT!!! YOU ARE DEAD!!!”

Undyne’s shout echoed mightily through the air as she charged forward, her face contorted into a visage of pure, undiluted rage. A spear materialized in her hands as she leaped towards Asha, intent on impaling him straight through the head.

All at once, Papyrus saw everything he knew come tumbling downhill. The icy dread that ran down the length of his spine could already tell him something terrible was going to happen, but it came to late for him to stop it.

Then, there was a blip and flash of light, followed by a near-instantaneous flash of crimson red. Moments later, Undyne was lying face-up on the ground, groaning in pain. A deep gash was cut clear across her midsection as Asha stared her down.

“You, weakling, will stay in your pond like a good little fish,” Asha taunted. “You couldn’t possibly imagine the gulf in power between us.”

“Undyne!!” Instantly Alphys was by Undyne’s side, tears falling from her eyes as she hunched over Undye’s body. “Oh… oh god! Undyne, please… p-please! Please, you can’t die! Please don’t leave me!!” She turned her gaze upwards, her eyes already stained red as she glared at Asha as fiercely as she could manage. “Y-you!! How could you!!??”

“Please. Spare me the sob story,” Asha scoffed. “By all means, comfort your lover in her dying moments. It makes no difference to me, one way or the other.”

“Y-you…” Alphys stammered. “You… y-you demon!!”

“THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH, ‘ASSASSIN ASHA.’”

Papyrus found the words coming out of him far more forcefully than he thought possible. There was a pressure building up deep within him, filling every bone in his body, flooding his entire being until it felt like he would burst.

Was this… anger? He’d never truly felt angry before. Exasperated, yes. Frustrated, yes. Maybe even a little bit peeved.

But anger. That was new. Was this what being angry was like?

As he approached, Asha’s eyes turned towards him, and Papyrus could see a satisfied gleam beneath his helmet.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS YOU ARE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH HERE,” Papyrus continued, “BUT I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT TRYING TO MURDER UNDYNE IS COMPLETELY UNCALLED FOR!”

Then, to Papyrus’s surprise, Asha laughed. Already, he could feel the pressure in his ribcage growing.

There was no doubt in Papyrus’s mind. This new feeling was anger.

He already didn’t like it.

“And there it is,” said Asha. “I’m glad to see that I finally have your attention, skeleton. You see, in my continued mission, I’ve grown bored. Oh so very bored.”

There was another blip as Asha’s gun was replaced by his sword once again. He brandished in backhand grip, displaying its deadly-sharp edge as he held it in front of his face. Asha stepped forward, and Papyrus stepped back, eyes locked with Asha’s.

“You, however… you are the most interesting thing I have seen yet. Your strength is far, far beyond any other living creature currently on Origin. And I refuse to allow my perfect skill as an Assassin to go to waste doing mere spy work. Thus, I have come to demand that you give me a proper fight! Come at me with your full strength, skeleton – I dare you!”

The air was so tense that it felt like the atmosphere itself could snap in two. Everyone and everything was deathly, save for the soft whistling of the evening breeze. Papyrus held his gaze steady, his eye sockets narrowing.

“SO… THAT IS WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME,” he said. “IF THAT’S YOUR INTENTION HERE… THEN I WILL HAVE TO DECLINE.”

Asha’s reaction was immediate, his words bursting with indignation. “Excuse me!?”

“YOU HEARD WHAT I SAID. I DON’T SEE ANY REASON WHY I SHOULD GIVE YOU THAT SATISFACTION,” Papyrus elaborated. “FRANKLY, IF YOU’LL PARDON MY HARSH LANGUAGE… I THINK YOU ARE BEING VERY IMPOLITE RIGHT NOW. SO IF YOU COULD PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE, AND STOP TRYING TO KILL MY FRIENDS, THAT WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED.”

Asha’s body tensed as he met Papyrus’s gaze. A low, guttural growl echoed from beneath his helmet.

“You naive, insolent… Fah! Fine then! If you won’t cooperate, then allow me to grant you a proper incentive!”

There was another blip, but this time it wasn’t a weapon that materialized in Asha’s hand. Instead, he vanished, and an instant later he had appeared within the gathered crowd.

Panicked gasps and shouts erupted into the air, as Asha was now standing right in front of another monster… the same young Amalgamate that Papyrus had given his autograph to earlier. His gun was now held in his hand, aimed point-blank at the fox girl’s forehead.

“Either you fight me at your FULL power, or this little girl dies!” Asha hissed. “So go ahead! Make your choice.”

“You stay away from my DAUGHTER!!”

Before Papyrus could even react, the girl’s mother charged, a ceremonial staff instantly materializing in her hand as she rushed Asha with a howl of rage.

The fight was over before it could even begin.

There was another blip, and when the flash of light faded, Asha was standing in place, the fox-woman’s staff had fallen to the ground. Though he no longer held a weapon in hand, Asha was now gripping the girl’s mother by the neck, holding her a foot off the ground as she vainly struggled against the Assassin’s grasp.

“Mom!” The young girl cried out. “M-mom, no!!”

Asha gave a low chuckle, further inflaming the pressure building within Papyrus’s body.

“Ah… now here’s a better idea. Instead of killing the girl, I’ll kill her mother while she watches helplessly. Is that what you want, skeleton? To be responsible for tearing apart this lovely family?”

As the young girl desperately cried out for her parent, Papyrus could swear he felt his bones crack from the pressure building within him.

He couldn’t take it anymore. This had gone far enough.

UNDYNE… THIS IS THIS WAS WHY YOU WOULDN’T LET ME IN THE GUARD, WASN’T IT? THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU WERE AFRAID OF.

THAT I COULDN’T DEAL WITH SOMEONE LIKE THIS.

THAT I WOULDN’T HAVE THE HEART TO… TO DO WHAT MUST BE DONE.

“Well, skeleton?” said Asha. He squeezed his hand tighter around the elder fox monster’s neck, causing her to choke and sputter. “I’m waiting! With every pulsecycle that passes, this creature’s life grows closer to its end!”

“Mom!” the younger fox cried out, her face dripping alongside the tears that ran down her fur.

Papyrus felt his hands curling into fists. He no longer had any doubt in his mind.

He would prove Undyne wrong, here and now.

“ENOUGH.”

Papyrus’s voice, already a volume well above average, boomed with such force that it instantly silenced every other sound in the vicinity. He met Asha’s eyes, and jabbed a single finger at Asha’s chest.

“IF THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT, ASSASSIN ASHA… THEN I’LL DO IT. I, THE GREAT AND HANDSOME NOT ROYAL GUARD PAPYRUS, ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE!! NOW, LET HER GO!!!”

Slowly, Asha’s iron grip on the elder fox’s neck came undone. She fell to the ground on her knees, gasping for air as her daughter wrapped her arms around in a tight embrace.

Asha paid the mother and daughter no mind, strutting towards Papyrus with a murderous gleam in his eyes. He held out his arm, and in a single blip, called his sword into his hand.

Now, Papyrus stood in the center of the square, face to face with Asha in an immanent showdown. Most of the crowd had already fled, but a few stragglers still remained, if only out of a dangerous curiosity.

In the corner of his eye socket, Papyrus could see Alphys desperately tending to Undyne’s wounds, trying to feed Undyne some stale monster candies in a last-ditch effort to heal her body.

“So then,” said Asha. “Are you finally ready to take this seriously?”

Papyrus’s eye sockets narrowed. He readied his hands by his sides, reaching for the magic within himself as he held his gaze steady.

“…MORE THAN YOU KNOW.”

No more words were necessary. As he assumed a fighting stance, an intense, burning magic sparked to life around Papyrus’s body. The ground beneath his feet cracked and shuddered as an orange aura surrounded him, punctuated with arcs of blue lightning that jumped between the gaps in his bones. He could feel the lights in his eye sockets flickering into existence, meeting Asha dead-on.

Waves upon waves of pressurized air continued to billow outwards from Papyrus. He stepped forward, and for the first time Asha’s unshakable arrogance seemed to falter.

“T-this… This power…!” Asha stammered. “It feels just like… M-my creator?”

“YOU SHOULD CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY, ASHA,” said Papyrus. “I’M NOT THE SORT TO SHOW MY REAL STRENGTH TO JUST ANYONE. DON’T MAKE ME REGRET DOING IT FOR YOU.”

“Rrggh… you think you can intimidate me, skeleton!?” Even obscured by his helmet, Asha’s face somehow managed to communicate a vicious sneer. “I am the greatest of all Assassins! And now I will tear you into nanoscopic pieces, like all others who stand against me!”

* Assassin Asha

* ATK: 40,000

* DEF: 25,000

* Still bird-brained, despite epochs of evolution.

With a powerful roar, Asha charged towards Papyrus, blade in hand. Papyrus in turn readied himself for the assault, only for Asha to immediately blip out of sight. A mere instant later, Asha had teleported directly behind Papyrus, a powerful slash cutting right across the back of his spine.

Papyrus was sent flying backwards, landing flat on his back. He looked up to see Asha teleporting directly above him, readying his blade as he plunged down towards the ground.

But before Asha’s attack could connect, Papyrus thrust his palm upward, summoning a skull blaster that instantly breathed a beam of white-hot destruction in Asha’s direction. Asha was knocked instantly out of the air as the beam engulfed his body, flying across the square as the magical assault dissipated.

Another blip, and Asha was gone again. Papyrus performed a backflip onto his hands, then sprung himself back onto his feet. He stood up just in time to see Asha appear just before him, pointing a gun directly at his face.

Searing purple light engulfed his head as several successive burst of a plasma cannon were fired in quick succession. Papyrus winced in pain as he reeled backwards from the blow. It was a familiar pain — he’d seen Iji use the exact same weapon, once.

But… this was different, he realize. There was a malice in this attack unlike anything that Papyrus had ever felt.

Asha was going to kill him, he realized.

What would happen to all of Papyrus’s friends if he died here…?

Several more flashes of light appeared in the air. Asha vanished, then appeared, then vanished, then appeared again. Afterimages followed with each successive teleportation, a maneuver to confuse and disorient.

But it wouldn’t work on Papyrus. Reaching out with his magic, he could sense it now. Asha’s soul — a deep purple diamond surrounded by a light blue field of flickering nanomachines. He knew exactly where Asha was, and where he would be.

Asha teleported just in front of Papyrus again, holding his sword in his arm. A shimmering, elongated femur appeared in Papyrus’s right hand just in time for him to parry the attack, and he followed it up with a swift horizontal strike to Asha’s midsection.

As Asha was sent flying backwards, Papyrus readied his magic once again, and summoned a torrent of bone projectiles that launched towards Asha with the force and velocity of a thousand falling stars.

A menacing gleam appeared in Asha’s eye. He called his sword into his hand with a blip, and the very next moment a spiral of crimson surrounded him, as he slashed faster than the eye could see. In the span of less than a second, every single bone that Papyrus had thrown at Asha was cut down, dissipating into nothingness.

Papyrus readied himself for Asha’s next assault. Misdirection, tricky maneuvers, it was all starting to grow so predictable now. The so-called ‘Greatest Assassin’ fought with all of the craven cowardice that he would expect from someone who threatened the life a young child just to get his way.

So when Asha charged forward without teleporting, Papyrus was immediately caught off guard. He attempted to parry Asha’s blade, and for several tense moments, he succeeded in deflecting the frenzied strikes.

But eventually, his form slipped, and Asha exploited that one miniscule mistake without mercy. A horizontal slash cut right across Papyrus’s midsection, followed by a vertical uppercut that launched him into the air.

Before Papyrus could right himself, Asha appeared just above him, gun in hand, pointed straight down.

The searing shots of plasma that erupted from the barrel engulfed Papyrus’s body, and everything went dark.

…

…Pain. That was the only thing he could feel now. He’d been hurt before, when practicing with Undyne. But… that was nothing like what he was feeling now. His entire body felt like it was being burned alive, barely managing to hold itself together.

As his eye sockets adjusted to the light, Papyrus realized that he was lying face down on the ground. He rolled around and sat up, only to be immediately met with the tip of a blood-red blade pointed straight at his neck vertebrae.

Asha’s eyes gleamed beneath his helmet.

“A good effort, skeleton, but not good enough. If it’s any consolation, you did keep me entertained for a little while.”

Papyrus wanted to be mad. He wanted to be upset, that it would end like this. But he couldn’t find it in him to be angry any more.

He hated that feeling, and wanted nothing more to do with it. All he could manage was disappointement.

“…AH. SO THAT’S HOW IT IS. OH, WELL.”

He looked through the corner of his sockets, and saw two of his friends staring at him in flabbergasted disbelief. Undyne, now fully conscious, was sitting upright and staring directly at him… though the nasty-looking gash across her midsection remained. Her expression was matched by Alphys, who was quaking in terror.

It wasn’t fair. There was still so much Papyrus wanted to do with his life, so many ways he wanted to show everyone how cool he was. But in the end, his hopes and dreams just weren’t enough.

“I’M SORRY UNDYNE,” Papyrus finally said. “I REALLY TRIED, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE I JUST COULDN’T CUT IT. IF… IF YOU SURVIVE, WOULD YOU PLEASE TAKE CARE OF SANS FOR ME?”

“W-wha…” Undyne stuttered. “Papyrus, wait! NO!!”

“Bah! What useless sentimentality,” Asha scoffed. “You should be proud that your friend was strong enough to earn my attention. Now, say goodbye!”

Asha pulled back his sword, prepared to deliver the final strike…

…but was immediately stopped, when a blue feather harmlessly bounced off the back of his helmet with a soft tink.

Asha spun around to face the direction of the sudden assault, and Papyrus’s attention was pulled to the new assailant as well.

He had assumed that all of the onlookers, save for Alphys and Undyne, had already fled… but now he saw someone else had remained behind.

A young woman, from the looks of it — a bird monster with blue feathers, a short yellow beak, and a head of shoulder-length blue hair. She wore a slightly darker blue tank top and shorts, complimenting her natural plumage and the deep blue color of her irises, which burned with a fierce resolve as she stared Asha down.

“That’s right! He’s not the only non-Royal Guard you’re dealing with!” She paused, a thoughtful look crossing her face. “Although, I guess we’d all be non-Royal Guards. You know, since the Guard’s been disbanded and all… hold on, where was I going with this?”

Asha’s helmet gleamed under the evening sun, murderous intent burning beneath his eyes.

“Oh! Right! Stopping you! Here! Take this!”

The young woman thrust her wings forward, launching several sharp and pointed pinions in Asha’s direction. Every single one of the projectiles bounced off his body harmlessly.

Immediately, the bird-woman froze. “Oh, um… I-I guess that didn’t hurt you at all, huh? In fact, it… it doesn’t look like any of my attacks can hurt you.” She clapped her wings together, and gave what was clearly a forced smile. “Tell you what! How about we both agree this was just a big ‘ol goof on my part? Then we can both go our separate ways, and later we can look back on this whole thing and laugh!”

A wordless growl echoed from beneath Asha’s helmet. He pointed his plasma cannon straight at the bluebird monster’s head.

“Ulp. Or… or not,” said the bluebird. She winced, shrinking back as she hid her face behind her wings. “Guess I had to die someday…”

Time slowed to a crawl as barrel of Asha’s gun hummed with deadly power. Only a single shot would be enough to kill.

Instantly, all of the pain in Papyrus’s body vanished. He leapt to his feet and forcibly seized Asha’s arm, pulling it up into the air.

The searing beam of plasma shot straight up, rising through the atmosphere like a beacon of purple light, before vanishing harmlessly.

“EXCUSE ME,” Papyrus said. “DIDN’T YOUR MOTHER EVER TEACH YOU ANY MANNERS!!?? IT IS EXTREMELY RUDE TO ATTACK SOMEONE WHO DOESN’T WANT TO FIGHT ANYMORE!!!”

Asha squirmed mightily, and uselessly, against the strength of Papyrus’s grip. “G-gah! Let GO of me, you…!”

“YOU KNOW WHAT?” said Papyrus. “FINE. IF YOU INSIST.”

Papyrus jerked his arm even further upward, bringing Asha’s entire body up along with him. Asha’s form went limp as Papyrus spun and twirled, sending the Komato Assasin whirling above his head like the chain of a flail.

Then, carrying his momentum further, Papyrus released his grip and launched Asha into the air, sending him rocketing upwards at maximum velocity, disappearing into the upper limits of the horizon.

But Papyrus wasn’t finished yet. As Asha’s scream of rage and panic carried into the distance, Papyrus summoned his mightiest torrent of bones, along with several of his own skull blasters.

The magic projectiles howled with intense, searing magical force, converging on a single point as they soared straight and true towards Asha as he rose higher into the air.

Then, a deathly silence, followed by a cacophonous burst of light.

Instantly, Asha was engulfed in raw destructive force, only to vanish just as quickly when the explosion of power dissipated into nothing.

Papyrus let out a breath. He wasn’t ready to let his guard down just yet, he realized. But he had avoided an untimely death, and saved someone’s life in the process.

His sockets turned towards the bluebird woman, and despite the stress running through his bones, he managed a smile.

“THANKS FOR THE SAVE, FRIEND! I DON’T BELIEVE I’VE MET YOU BEFORE. TELL ME, WHAT’S YOUR NAME?”

“Um… Martlet,” she answered. She let out a breath as well, as her body relaxed. “Really, I should be thanking you. I thought I was I goner for a hot second there!”

“IT’S NOT A PROBLEM! ANYTHING TO HELP SOMEONE IN…”

Papyrus cut himself off, before he could finish. His intuition wouldn’t allow him the chance.

This fight wasn’t over. Not yet.

“…WAIT.”

“H-huh? Wait? Wait for wha—ACK!”

Another swirling, crackling miasma of swirling shadow materialized just in front of Papyrus, thundering with dark power. It manifested itself into reality like a tumor in the fabric of space, and within it, Asha began to take form once again.

Papyrus stepped forward, putting himself in between Asha and Martlet… though Asha’s attention remained firmly on Papyrus exclusively.

The Assassin’s eyes seethed behind his helmet with an intensity unlike anything Papyrus had ever seen.

“You, skeleton… are starting to piss me off.”

“…IS THAT SO?” said Papyrus. “THEN PERHAPS YOU SHOULD LEAVE NOW, SINCE YOU CLEARLY ARE NOT ENJOYING THIS.”

“SILENCE!!” Asha screamed. “I will not allow you to make a mockery of me!! Now I’ll show you what I am TRULY capable of!!!”

A powerful, unearthly roar erupted from Asha’s throat, and the skies darkened as he rose several feet into the air, thundering power swirling around him. His body shimmered, warped, twisted unnaturally as shadows flowed around and through him, sending waves upon waves of pressurized air outwards.

Papyrus’s feet dug into the dirt as he was pushed backwards, and he shielded his eye sockets as he. Behind him, he could see that Martlet was swept off of her feet and sent tumbling onto her backside.

Then, a horrifying cry of agony came from Asha. A new appendage burst from his right shoulder, replacing his own missing arm. This new limb was long, flat, feathered… a single blue wing that jutted out asymmetrically from his right side.

Asha touched down onto the ground, summoning his blade into his hand in a swirl of dark energy as his body crackled with power.

“Now witness the might of Asha, the absolute Zenith of Komatokind!”

* One-Winged Asha

* ATK: 40,000,000

* DEF: 25,000,000

* Burning inside, with violent anger.

* Fate, monstrous and empty.

Chapter Text

Papyrus stared down Asha at the center of the town square, his aura continuing to thrum with power. The single feathered wing of the ‘Greatest Assassin’ was an awkward thing, sticking out from Asha’s sleek and smooth-skinned body like a sore thumb.

And yet, all the same, there was no denying the raw strength emanating from his body.

In the corner of his sockets, Papyrus saw Martlet standing right behind him… curiously, she had chosen not to flee, which was instantly worrying. Further off to the side was Alphys, who was carefully holding up Undyne as she struggled to sit upright.

“…Huh,” said Martlet, staring at Asha’s mismatched wing oddly. “How the heck are you gonna fly with that? I tried to fly once with my left wing injured, and all I managed was hitting my head on a—”

“Shut up. Don’t you try and relate to me, you empty-headed oaf,” Asha growled. He brandished his sword, holding it before his eyes, showing off the sharpness of its plasma-forged edge. “What you are seeing here is the ultimate culmination of science and nature! An already superior species, propelled to even greater heights through the power of Voidshadow! A pathetic excuse for a lifeform like you…”

“YOU LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS,” Papyrus firmly cut in. His sockets held steady at Asha’s eyes, meeting the challenge of his gaze.

Asha’s eyes gleamed in a way that reminded Papyrus of a smirk. He strutted forward, folding his wing at his side as dark power crackled around him.

“Humph. Fair enough, skeleton. My interest here lies solely with you. And you… you’re are different from the others. And I think I finally understand why. It’s because you’ve been augmented too, isn’t it?”

He swiped his sword downward and to the side as he advanced, sending a chunk of cobblestone flying into the air as its tip struck the road beneath his feet.

“Yes… and not just augmented by anyone. I’d recognize the power you’re using anywhere. The same man who graciously offered me this second life… he granted you this strength, too.”

A… strange sense of familiarity tugged at the back of Papyrus’s skull. There was something to Asha’s words, but he had no idea just what it was.

“AH… WELL, I’M AFRAID I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT THERE. BUT THAT’S NOT REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME RIGHT NOW.” Papyrus took one step further, standing straight across from Asha in the square. “ASHA… JUST WHAT IS THAT YOU WANT? SO FAR YOU HAVE ATTEMPTED TO MURDER AT LEAST THREE DIFFERENT PEOPLE. ALL SO THAT YOU COULD ANTAGONIZE ME. AND I CAN ONLY ASK… WHY? WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO GAIN FROM ALL OF THIS?”

Asha swiped his sword downward and to the side, sending a chunk of cobblestone flying as the plasma blade’s tip slammed against the street surface.

“Don’t you question me, you simpleton! I was once the very best of the Imperial Assassins, and if it weren’t for that brutish freak Iosa, I’d have been the best damned unit in the Army! But this new life that the oh-so-esteemed Doctor Gaster granted me… it has cost me everything.”

Papyrus heard a sharp gasp, coming from Alphys’s direction. A brief glance revealed that she had suddenly gone very, very pale.

“W-what did you just say!?”

And… strangely, Papyrus could somehow understand Alphys’s reaction. Doctor Gaster. That name. There was something about that name, but he didn’t know what.

Asha raised his sword, and pointed it in Papyrus’s direction.

“But I am not like my creator. I refuse to debase myself doing nothing but lurking silently in the shadows! I will reclaim my fame and glory, skeleton. Once I best the most powerful foe this timeline has to offer, the Void Knight will finally give me the respect I deserve!”

For several moments, there was no answer. Papyrus held his gaze steady, the silence broken only by the wind whistling through his ribcage.

“SO THAT IS IT, THEN. FAME AND GLORY. AND TO IMPRESS SOMEONE YOU WANT TO RESPECT YOU,” said Papyrus. “I THINK… I FINALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS YOU’RE AFTER. MORE THAN ANYTHING. AND YET, AT THE SAME TIME… I ALSO FEEL LIKE I COULDN’T POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND YOU LESS.”

Papyrus could feel a burning deep within him. Not the unbearable pressure of anger like, before, but something else. Something empowering.

“I SEE IT IN YOUR EYES. A CALLOUS DISREGARD FOR ALL LIVING THINGS. EVEN NOW, I CAN FEEL YOUR MURDEROUS INTENT. ASHA… YOU’RE REALLY NOT A VERY GOOD PERSON, ARE YOU? AND WHILE I’D LIKE TO BELIEVE YOU CAN CHANGE, SOMETHING TELLS ME…”

The burning, radiant power within Papyrus reached a crescendo, and instantly he felt his strength renewed. Mot merely renewed, but pushed to entirely new heights. The ground beneath him quaked and shuddered, and his orange aura burst outwards, expanding even larger and brighter than it had ever been before.

“…THAT YOU’LL NEED TO LEARN YOUR LESSON THE HARD WAY FIRST.”

“Hah! Now that’s more like it!” Asha laughed. “But I’m afraid there’s only one lesson to be learned here. Allow me to teach you the true meaning of pain!”

The air swirled violently around Asha as he charged forward, his sword held at the ready. Papyrus readied himself in turn, calling a large femur into his hands.

The blood-red edge of Asha’s blade swung with such speed and precision that it couldn’t even be perceived by the naked eye, but Papyrus’s instincts were honed to such a razor’s edge that he didn’t even need to. His friends were counting on him, now.

He raised his femur to parry the assault, then again, then again. As the weapons clashed, the ground beneath Papyrus’s feet quaked and shuddered from the force of impact, small chunks of cobblestone rising into the air and shattering into dust with every strike.

Asha brought his blade down in a vertical slash, but this time Papyrus didn’t bother to parry. Instead, he took one single step to the side, letting the blade whiff straight past his shoulder. Just before Asha could properly react, he immediately countered with a swift forward kick aimed squarely at the center of Asha’s chest.

The sword went flying out of Asha’s hand as he was sent tumbling backwards. As he careened through the air, his wing flapped erratically at his side before he finally righted himself, his eyes burning with malice.

He hovered in the air, holding up his hand as he channeled a miasma of burning purple Voidshadow into in his palm. He thrust his open palm forward, and the dark magic shot forward into a beam of destructive power, nearly twice as wide as Papyrus’s own body.

Papyrus prepared to dodge out of the way, but in the fraction of the second before the attack struck, he noticed something in the corner of his socket. Martlet, who for some inexplicable reason was still sticking around, was directly behind him, in the path of the assault.

His reaction was instantaneous. He moved so quickly that to the naked eye, he would appear to have vanished into thin air. Not even a fraction of a second later, he tackled Martlet to the ground, the both of them narrowly avoiding the attack as the beam roared above their heads.

When the assault ceased, Papyrus stood up, and helped Martlet back to her feet.

“W-wow! Talk about a close one!” said Martlet. “But I know you can do it! I, uh… admittedly might not be much help in this fight. But I’ll be right here to offer moral support!”

“WHY, THANK YOU!” said Papyrus. “THOUGH PERHAPS YOUR MORAL SUPPORT WILL BE MORE USEFUL IN A PLACE MORE, AH… NOT HERE. AND LESS PRONE TO YOU GETTING VAPORIZED.”

“Sorry, but I’m not turning my back on you. If I hadn’t stepped in and distracted that freak earlier, you might have died!” An odd look crossed Martlet’s beak. “Though, on another note, doesn’t this new fight music sound kind of like…?”

“Stop ignoring me!”

Asha raised his hand again, summoning another miasma of Voidshadow into his palm. But Papyrus was ready this time, and readied his own counterattack. Multiple skull blasters materialized into existence at his command, and he prepared to call forth his mightiest bone projectiles.

Mere moments later, and the entire town square was blanketed in the sound of searing magical explosions.

--------

Any reasonable monster would have tried to evacuate long ago. That everything around Alphys was covered in scorch marks and blasted chunks of cobblestone was testament to this fact.

But Undyne was still too injured to move, her lower body rendered entirely non-functional by the large gash across her waist. And the spectacle of the fight was so intense that Alphys couldn’t help but stick around to watch regardless, against her better judgment.

That Papyrus could even begin to keep up with such an immensely powerful being was impressive to the point that it was outright breathtaking. Asha sent out wave after wave of projectiles, his wing flapping haphazardly as he tilted back and forth in the air, failing to dodge Papyrus’s numerous counterattacks.

Many explosions and bursts of deadly shadows rocked the square. But Alphys’s curiosity, and her sense of awe, outweighed the paralyzing fear that wracked her entire body.

And Undyne, clearly, shared exactly the same sentiment. Her eye darted back and forth as she silently observed the fight before her.

“Huh,” Undyne eventually spoke up. “You know… for a so-called ‘Greatest Assassin,’ this Asha guy’s got some pretty sloppy combat form.”

And that’s when a sudden epiphany hit Alphys.

Papyrus’s attacks were all barely damaging Asha at all. But Asha was still on the back foot, his soul radiating impossibly powerful dark magic just to barely keep up.

And ever since he transformed, Asha hadn’t even teleported once.

--------

Papyrus ducked below a sphere of dark energy as it careened past him, before detonating against a small storefront at the opposite end of the square. The shop was instantly reduced to a pile of rubble by the explosion that rocked the air… and though Papyrus could sense that it was unoccupied, he nonetheless felt a sharp pang of sympathy for the monsters who no doubt made their living there.

Martlet, at the very least, was unharmed — she seemed to have a knack for avoiding the worst of the fight, though it probably helped that she was largely beneath Asha’s attention to begin with. But she could die here, if either of them weren’t careful. A lot of people could die.

More of the burning sensation of anger built within Papyrus’s ribcage. This had already gone too far. Asha had to be stopped, and quickly.

“Papyrus!” Papyrus’s attention was pulled to the sound of Alphys’s voice. “P-papyrus, can you hear me!?”

Papyrus dodged past another sphere of Voidshadow, rolling forward to avoid the column of dark fire that erupted from the ground. He then charged forward, leapt up, and conjured a femur into his hands as he charged towards Asha. Before Asha could even properly react, he was smacked clear across the helmet.

“Papyrus! L-Listen to me!”

As Asha reeled, Papyrus leaned backward just in time to avoid a roundhouse kick that was aimed squarely at his head. He countered with another smack of his femur, sending Asha barreling backwards. His wing flapped furiously as he righted himself in the air.

“AH… DOCTOR ALPHYS,” Papyrus said, shooting her a glance. “I’D LOVE TO STOP AND CHAT, BUT I AM REALLY RATHER BUSY RIGHT NOW!!!” He ducked just in time to avoid a beam of deadly dark energy that was aimed straight for his forehead.

“I know! But it’s important!” Alphys called out. “I-I think I’ve figured out Asha’s weakness! He might be stronger, but he can’t properly control his abilities in this form! And he’s bleeding through his energy like crazy! Just keep up the offense and you’ll—”

Alphys ducked and let out a yipe as Asha lobbed a sphere of burning shadow at her. It passed barely over her head, exploding in a massive pillar of darkness and fire behind her, the heat of its flames close enough to singe the tip of her tail. Undyne winced, wobbling over and leaning on Alphys’s body to avoid losing consciousness from the heat.

“Insufferable worm!” Asha hissed. “You think my power is useless!? Then let’s see how you fare against THIS!!”

“ASHA, WAIT!!!”

But Asha wasn’t about to wait for anything. He rose higher and higher and higher into the air, conjuring another miasma of Voidshadow into his hands. It took shape, becoming a sphere of dark power that he held high above his head.

The orb of dark flame rapidly grew bigger, grew stronger, until was nearly five times the size of Asha’s entire body.

All of a sudden Papyrus had a very, very bad feeling about this.

Yet nevertheless, he stood his ground. He summoned another large femur into his hands, planting his feet into the soil as he held the bone steady like a baseball bat, locking eyes with Asha.

“…ALRIGHT, THEN! BRING IT ON!”

--------

Murmurs of panic danced at the edges of Asgore’s ears. He hadn’t even hesitated to lead the evacuation efforts from the town square once the fight had broke out. The crowd stood now, in the middle of a nearby park, their panicked whispers bringing a deep weariness to his heart.

Asgore thought that it wouldn’t ever have to come to this again. He had hoped, oh so desperately, that no living monster would ever again have to see such violence in their lives. He could see in Asha’s eyes the same bloodlust that had led to monsterkind’s imprisonment, the same determination that had cost so many lives, so many thousands of years ago.

In the corner of his eye, he could see his estranged wife gazing at him sympathetically. Despite the impassible rift he had forced between them, he could tell that Toriel did not envy his position.

But there was no sense wallowing in self-pity. He stepped forward to address the crowd.

“Everyone. I understand now that—”

His words were abruptly cut off when a cacophonous BOOOOOM echoed through the air, followed by a massive explosion in the sky only a mile away.

--------

In the wake of the hideous noise that had enveloped Papyrus’s hearing, the town square was consumed by an even more hideous silence. Papyrus could only stare at the air above, the impossibly dark flash of the explosion still seared into the back of his skull.

“T-that explosion!” Martlet cried out. “That was the size of an entire city block!! I-if you hadn’t deflected it, then… Oh god why am I still here!? What is WRONG with me!?”

Papyrus’s attention was pulled once again to Asha, who remained hovering in the air above. Loose feathers fell from his wing as he channeled more dark power into his hand.

That was all the prompting Papyrus needed to make his next move. He leapt upwards, his own power surging, pushing him higher both figuratively and literally. He rocketed upwards like an orange comet, and within moments he seized Asha roughly by the neck and dragged him forward.

The power that shined within Papyrus grew brighter, grew stronger, burning hotter and hotter as he propelled himself through the air. The sight of South Town below him grew distant as he flew — literally flew — carrying Asha far away from any of the populated areas near mouth Ebott, into the seemingly endless blasted wasteland that surrounded the settlements as far as the eye could see.

“YOU KNOW,” said Papyrus, his grip holding tightly onto Asha’s throat, “I CAN’T BELIEVE I AM SAYING THIS, BUT… YOU ARE REALLY STARTING TO GET ON MY NERVES!!!”

Papyrus threw Asha down, sending him plummeting hundreds of feet into the barren soil below. The impact immediately triggered a massive earthquake, kicking up dust that billowed upwards and outwards, into a mushroom that reached up to the clouds.

Moments later, Papyrus touched back down onto the ground. Through the choking dust in the air, he could see Asha lying face-down in the direct center of the gargantuan, five hundred foot wide crater he created.

Asha climbed to his knees, and the next moment he rocketed up into the sky, blue feathers swirling around him as a shockwave of pressurized air cleared away the dust lingering in the atmosphere.

Spheres of dark energy popped into existence around Asha, and with flap of his wing, they shot forward into destructive beams of Voidshadow that melted the rocky soil into magma, razing the earth as they swept across the ground.

Papyrus dodged and weaved through the beams, before leaping upwards and delivering a rising uppercut to the center of Asha’s stomach. Flecks of spittle sprayed across Papyrus’s face, and he held his fist in the dent in Asha’s abdomen for several further seconds.

“YOU SEE, THE THING IS… I DON’T LIKE SEEING PEOPLE GET HURT. AND I VERY MUCH DON’T LIKE HURTING PEOPLE MYSELF.”

Papyrus withdrew his arm, and followed the uppercut with an elbow strike to the top of Asha’s head. Asha’s eyes bugged out, nearly popping out of his helmet entirely.

“BUT I REALIZE NOW… THAT YOU HAVEN’T GIVEN ME MUCH OF A CHOICE. AND I HATE IT. I HATE DOING THIS TO YOU. I HATE SEEING YOU HURT, BECAUSE I HATE SEEING ANYONE HURT.”

Papyrus followed up his elbow strike by seizing Asha’s collar with one hand, and delivering an open-palmed smack across the face with the other. Then another. Then another, and another, back and forth, the sound of mittened bone against plasteel helmet ringing through Papyrus’s skull.

“BUT THE ONLY THING I HATE MORE… IS SEEING HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE WILL BE HURT IF I DON’T HURT YOU BACK. SO RIGHT NOW… AND I HOPE YOU CAN FORGIVE ME FOR SAYING THIS… I AM GOING TO PUT YOU IN A WORLD OF HURT!!!”

Papyrus hesitated for a moment, letting go and ceasing his assault as he hovered in front of Asha.

“…WELL, AT LEAST FOR A LITTLE WHILE. I’LL STOP ONCE YOU’VE FINALLY LEARNED YOUR LESSON. IS… IS THAT ALRIGHT WITH YOU?”

Asha said no words in response. The only sound that came from him was a deafening howl of rage, which tore across the skies with the force of a thunderbolt.

“AH. YOU STILL HAVEN’T LEARNED YOUR LESSON, THEN,” said Papyrus. “THAT’S OKAY, THOUGH! WE CAN TAKE AS MUCH TIME AS YOU NEED!”

Another wordless, piercing scream of raw fury rattled Papyrus’s skull. He readied himself once again, but this time Asha charged more quickly than he ever had before, his entire body enveloped in crackling shadows.

Papyrus barely had time to react before Asha seized him, clutching his face with a single hand. Burning shadows smothered the both of them as pain shot clear through Papyrus’s entire body, forcing both of his eye sockets shut.

As Asha continued to scream in his face, Papyrus could feel reality warping around him, space stretching and twisting as the two of them were sent hurtling through the space between spaces.

But eventually, the pain ceased. When it did, he opened his sockets to find himself standing once again in the center of the town square. Heavy, gasping breaths came from Asha as he stepped back, but the malice in his eyes was no less powerful than it was before.

“Enough of this,” Asha said through wheezing breaths. “You have pushed my patience to its absolute limit! I was content with simply killing you and being done with it, but now you’ve really pissed me off! For your insolence, I’m instead going to annihilate all of your stupid little friends!”

A jolt of icy dread ran up the length of Papyrus’s spine. “N-NOW WAIT A MOMENT. HOLD ON HERE…”

But it was already too late. Asha’s wing spread outward, and he soared into the air, higher and higher and higher, until he was nothing but a distant speck high above.

Papyrus squinted as he peered upwards, and the very zenith of the evening sky, he could barely make out the shape of Asha. He held his hand upwards, and once again the Voidshadow in his palm materialized into a sphere of searing darkness that dwarfed his own body.

“Bigger!” Asha screamed. His voice somehow cut clear across the massive distance between himself and Papyrus, as though his malicious intent were being communicated directly into Papyrus’s soul. “Bigger!! Bigger!!! BIGGER!!!!”

The sphere of shadows held above Asha’s head grew, and grew, and grew, and grew, exponentially larger in matter of seconds. The skies darkened instantly in its presence, thunder rumbling as the atmosphere pulsed with shadowed might.

By the time the sphere stopped growing, it had become so large that it blotted out half of the entire sky, a dark sun of looming destructive force, spelling doom for all of monsterkind.

Papyrus could only stare at what he saw. It was impossible to believe what he was seeing. That such a power could even exist was nearly incomprehensible.

But then he turned around, to see the others still present. He could see Martlet staring up helplessly, the hope in her eyes utterly extinguished. He barely knew this bird monster, but she had already saved his life. And now it would be all for nothing.

Alphys and Undyne were there as well, holding each other tightly as they trembled in each other’s embrace. Undyne’s unshakable pride and confidence was gone now, replaced with a quiet despair as she held her lover in her arms for one last time.

All across the Four Cities, it was all the same story. Monsters of all kinds, of all shapes and sizes, embracing their loved once in what they knew to be their final moments in the world. There was nothing they could do, but prepare themselves for the inevitable end.

…No. Not yet.

Papyrus wasn’t going to give on the people he cared about so easily.

“DESPAIR NOT, MY FRIENDS! THIS FIGHT ISN’T OVER YET!”

“W-wha…” Alphys was shaken out of her embrace by Papyrus’s words. “Papyrus! Y-you can’t be serious! I know you’re crazy, CRAZY strong, but look at that thing! It must be as big as Mount Ebott! T-there’s no way you could stop that attack!”

“OF COURSE THERE IS!” Papyrus declared, somehow raising a single index finger despite wearing mittens. “I KNOW A SPECIAL TECHNIQUE THAT’S JUST THE THING FOR DEALING WITH THIS SITUATION!

“AND I KNOW IT WILL WORK, BECAUSE I LEARNED IT FROM ONE OF YOUR JAPANESE ANIMES!”

Alphys stared blankly.

“From… from my what?”

Papyrus said nothing more. He looked up, staring the dark sun blotting out the sky straight on. He cupped both of his hands together, holding them by his side as he poured all of his might into his palms.

There was a tell-tale whirr and thrum of concentrated life energy, and a bright, intense blue glow began to shine forth within Papyrus’s hands.

Alphys gawked breathlessly at the sight of it, and her expression was matched by Undyne.

“N-no…”

“No way…”

“KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA… MEEEEEEEEEE…”

Instantly, despite her supposedly crippling injury, Undyne jumped to her feet, bouncing on her heels with stars in her eyes.

“HOLY SHIT!!!! YES!!!!!!”

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA… MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…”

“Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!!” Undyne squealed. “Its happening!! It’s ACTUALLY happening!! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!”

“Um… could… c-could you maybe wait to say that?” said Alphys. “U-until we’re sure it’s not the last day of your life?”

Undyne grinned mightily, and threw an arm around Alphys’s shoulder.

“Hey, fine by me! This has gotta be the coolest way to die ever!! I don’t have any regrets!!”

“…Afraid I can’t say the same there,” Alphys breathed softly.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!”

The ground beneath Papyrus’s feet cracked and shattered as he thrust he cupped palms upward, and a searing blue light that outshone all the stars in the sky rocket upwards, towards the immense dark sun that blotted out everything above the horizon. Energy swirled around him, flecks of dust and rock rising upward and breaking apart as the sheer might and power surrounding him pulsed like the prominence of a thousand suns.

“Say goodbye!!!”

Somehow, despite soaring unfathomably high above the roar of life energy and magic, Asha’s voice came through. It rang through Papyrus’s skull, as though it were bypassing time and space entirely.

With a single flick of Asha’s wrist, the dark sun was sent plummeting towards the ground below, pulsing with apocalyptic might. The beam of blue light instantly slammed into it before it could even halfway reach the ground, and the two unstoppable forces collided with each other, pushing and pulling back and forth, up and down.

Papyrus’s heels dug into the earth as the beam of light streamed forth from his palms, pushing farther, pushing higher.

The dark sun was lifted up, ever so slightly. Pushed just a little higher into the air than it had been a moment before.

“W-what?” said Asha. “No!!! NO!!!! You can’t… I won’t let you stop me! NOT THIS TIME!! DIE!!!”

The sphere of burning energy, somehow, began pushing back. Papyrus’s feet dug in further into the ground, forming harsh indents into the already-damaged cobblestone. He redoubled his efforts, focusing his power as much as he possibly could, yet still the massive orb of destruction did not budge.

And so Papyrus held on, and on, and on. He couldn’t let everyone down. Not now. Not ever.

Eventually, and his surprise, Alphys’s voice called out to him.

“Enough! I-if I’m going to go down, then I’m not going to go out quietly!” Sure enough, he glanced over to see Alphys hurriedly approaching him. There was a new hope shining from behind her glasses as she looked up at him. “U-um… h-hey, Papyrus! Wanna see something cool?”

Papyrus gave a grunt, as he continued to push back as mightily as he could against the force of the impending assault.

“SORRY DOCTOR ALPHYS, BUT I’M A LITTLE BUSY AT THE MOMENT. DO YOU THINK IT COULD WAIT JUST A BIT?”

“No, no! It’s fine! R-really! Here, check this out!” She held out her right claw, with her index and middle finger both pressed together and extended. Lightning magic crackled through her hand as she held her index and middle finger to her forehead, her entire body shimmering with electric power.

“Lightning… Beam Cannon!”

Alphys thrust her hand upward, and two thin beams of white-hot electric magic shot forward, one of them coiled around the other. The attack soared upwards and outwards, before vanishing into the gargantuan dark sun looming above.

“S-see!?” Alphys said. She held her stance, continuing to fire her attack into Asha’s as she glanced at Papyrus. “I can do Dragon Ball stuff too! U-um… granted, I-I was never good at combat magic, so it probably isn’t doing much… i-in fact, it probably couldn’t even hurt a fly.”

Her eyes suddenly went wide, and a look of intense, powerful dread appeared across her face.

“Oh… oh god, what am I doing!? This is insane!! I can’t possibly hope to…!”

“NO, NO! YOU’RE DOING GREAT!” Papyrus reassured. “EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS! KEEP IT UP!”

“U-um… okay! Sure!”

As Alphys stood by his side, Papyrus could feel his own strength surging. Her attack, along with with is own, were joining together into something even greater than the sum of its parts.

And yet even still, the massive sphere of destruction showed no signs of budging.

“Hey!!! You two aren’t seriously going to leave me out, are you!!??”

Papyrus’s glanced to the side, to see Undyne confidently approaching, entirely unbothered by the large gash across her midsection.

“Undyne!?” Alphys gasped. “A-are… are you sure you should be walking!?”

“Pshaw! You think an injury like this would keep me down?” A wide, toothy grin appeared across Undyne’s face. “Besides, there’s no way I’m missing out on this! Now, come on!! Let’s show them what we can do together!!!”

Undyne jabbed her index finger upward, and at her command, dozens upon dozens of spears materialized in the air, before launching themselves at the sphere of destruction above. The spears kept appearing, one after the other, launching upwards in a neverending stream of magic projectiles that pushed back against the impending doom of monsterkind.

“Hey! Don’t forget me!”

Finally, it was Martlet’s turn to step forward. She approached the rest of the group, a new resolve burning within her eyes. As she stood by their side, she let out a cry and thrust her wings upward.

Instantly, a steady stream of glowing pinions erupted from her wingtips, shooting upwards with the force and velocity of a chaingun. The rapid-fire feathers continued to push up against Asha’s attack, and once again Papyrus felt the power within him grow even brighter and stronger.

“Hey, you’re pretty good!” said Undyne. “Were you in the Guard, by any chance?”

Martlet held her assault steady, a multitude of feathers continuing to launch from her wings as her eyes drifted towards Undyne.

“Huh? Oh, definitely! Martlet, formerly of Snowdin Division. It’s an honor to fight by your side, Captain!”

“Hey, yeah, I remember you now!” Undyne said. “Where’d you go, anyway? I remember you quitting really suddenly. Didn’t even show up in person, just had a resignation mailed in. Did something happen?”

A flash of sadness appeared across Martlet’s beak, all of her previous enthusiasm draining away. “Um… it’s… it’s kind of personal. Sorry.”

Alphys let out a pained, exasperated groan. “Can we please talk about this when we’re not all about to be annihilated!!??”

Papyrus’s feet dug further into the cobblestone, and he could feel the souls of his companions resonating with his own.

“COME ON, EVERYONE! WE CAN DO THIS! ALL TOGETHER NOW!!!”

The stream of blue light erupting from his hands flared, pushing upwards with a force greater than anything he had ever mustered before.

--------

Mettaton’s camera crew were uncharacteristically nervous as he stood outside, on Central Street in Westvale City, giving his daily weather report. Nevertheless, his smile remained as bright and charismatic as ever. Holding a microphone in hand, he gestured upwards to the massive dark sun that enveloped half the sky.

“Coming at you live from Westvale, our weather forecast for today is a gargantuan sphere of ultimate destruction! We have an apocalypse advisory in effect until 7:45 this evening. After that… well, you’ll either be alive, or you won’t care. Now, let’s got back to Mettaton with the—”

But before he could cut to his news presenter —also himself — several voices gathered in the streets called out to him.

“Mettaton!! Save us!!!”

“We believe in you, Mettaton! You’re our hero!!”

Mettaton turned, briefly, to the onlookers. While most had chosen to hide within their homes, a small crowd had gathered around him.

“Oh, to heck with it!” he said, tossing his microphone to the side. “Who am I to deny my adoring fans?”

Reaching deep within his own power reserves, Mettaton stared upwards, looking the massive dark sun straight on.

“You there!!! You presumably ugly so-and-so! It’s time you faced…”

Mettaton struck an extravagant pose, as a powerful magic began to charge deep within his core.

“…the finger…”

Another pose, this one somehow even more flamboyant than the last.

“…of JUSTICE!!!”

Mettaton pointed his finger towards the sky, and an intense beam of radiant yellow light shot upwards, pushing against the mass of dark flames with all of his might.

--------

In the park, Asgore looked over the evacuees sadly. They were all huddled together now, comforting each other as they awaited their imminent demise. Everyone, it seemed, had quietly accepted that they were all going to die.

And deep in his heart, Asgore knew that there was little he could do. The power they were facing was far beyond anything that any monster could meet.

And yet…

…he also knew that ‘little’ did not mean ‘nothing.’

He stepped forward, pushing his way through the crowd, conjuring the most powerful flames he could muster into the palms of his hand.

“Asgore, wait. What are you doing?”

He looked over his shoulder, and saw Toriel’s gaze centered firmly on him. He recognized that look in her eye. It was a look that had said to him many times before: ‘don’t do this, you fool.’

Yet Asgore did not hesitate to give his answer. He knew what must be done.

“A king must always fight for his people. Even if it is a fight he knows he will lose.”

Toriel slowly approached, and the resolve in her eyes did not falter even slightly. Her soul began to resonate with his, in a way that Asgore had not felt in centuries. In the palms of her hands, her own flames appeared, shining like a beacon of radiant hope that pierced through the gloom that lingered in the atmosphere.

“No,” she said. “Not alone.”

She held her hands upwards, the flames in her palms blazing with an intensity that outshone the sun.

“Everyone! Let us combine our strength! Now! Push back with all of your might!”

--------

All across the Four Cities, it was all the same story. Monsters of all kinds, of all shapes and sizes, letting their souls shine forth like thousands upon thousands of lights across the night sky. Their attacks launched forward, projectiles of all shapes and sizes soaring into the sky, slamming into Asha’s dark sun and pushing it back.

And yet, all the same, the attack showed no signs of slowing. A deep fatigue was beginning to gnaw at the inside of Papyrus’s bones, and it required more and more effort just to continue his assault.

“N-NOT TO WORRY, EVERYONE! WE CAN STILL DO THIS! WE CAN…”

Then, ever so slightly, the sphere of death descended, defying the forces that were slowing its trajectory.

“…AH. W-WELL, JUST TO BE SAFE… PERHAPS YOU ALL SHOULD MOVE OUT OF THE WAY A LITTLE BIT. MAYBE A FEW HUNDRED MILES OR SO.”

The dark sun descended even further, and Papyrus couldn’t help but notice a sinking feeling deep within his ribcage.

“OH. OH DEAR. THIS… THIS IS GOING TO BE TROUBLESOME.”

“what is?”

Papyrus’s attention was immediately pulled to the side, where he found Sans standing casually, with his hands in his hoodie pockets.

“SANS!!!! WHERE ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN, YOU LAZYBONES!!!???”

“sorry. was just taking a nap,” Sans said with a shrug. “what’s all this about, then?”

“L-LOOK… WE CAN TALK ABOUT THAT LATER, OKAY!?” Papyrus said. “BECAUSE WE COULD REALLY USE YOUR HELP RIGHT NOW!! AND WHEN I SAY ‘RIGHT NOW,’ I MEAN REALLY RIGHT NOW!!!”

“hey, say no more,” said Sans. “watch this.”

Sans looked up, and held up the palm of his hand. Within moments, a dozen skull blasters materialized, and all of them breathed white-hot destruction straight into the air, aimed squarely at Asha’s attack.

It was then, that a threshold was finally crossed.

Pushed upwards by the force of all the combined attacks, the dark sun rocketed upwards, soaring higher, and higher, and higher…

Then, the entire sky was enveloped in an intense, radiant burst of light and sound, shining with all of the colors of the rainbow, and all of the hopes and dreams monsterkind.

--------

It was over.

At long, long last, it was finally over. The evening skies were clear now, and the sunset painted it with vibrant hues of orange, yellow and red. The horizon of monsterkind’s future was still intact, still untarnished despite everything that had threatened it.

And all around him, Papyrus could see his friends gathering, relief and joy evident shining through in all their eyes.

Undyne was the first to step forward, practically bouncing on her heels as she threw her arm around Papyrus’s shoulder.

“That… was… AWESOME!!!” she cheered. “Seriously, Papryus!!! That was THE coolest thing I’ve ever seen! I’m so proud of you!”

But the celebrations were short-lived, as another swirling miasma of shadow materialized in the center of the square. Instantly, Undyne stepped away, another glowing spear materializing into her hand.

“Oh, come the hell on! Don’t tell me he’s still not dead!!”

But when Asha’s body finally coalesced, it was instantly clear that he was on his last legs. His single wing was gone now, and he remained collapsed on his knees, sputtering and wheezing. His body was flickering and blinking in and out of existence, covered in patches of distorted color, as though he were being consumed by a living graphical glitch.

“I… I don’t understand,” Asha coughed. “M-my augments… determination… t-the Void… I… we’re supposed to have the power to decide fate. The power to erase entire worlds, and shape them anew! How!? How could I lose!? W-was it not enough!?”

There was a long, protracted silence. Everyone slowly backed off, trying to distance themselves from Asha as much as possible… except for Papyrus, who was still staring him down, and Sans, who was just as relaxed as ever.

“…heh,” Sans chuckled. “just goes to show how little you know. you tried to use the void as a form of brute force. but that’s not how it works, pal. you couldn’t even comprehend the sort of power you were tapping into.”

“W-what…?” said Asha. “What… what do you mean!? What could you possibly know about the Void that I don’t!?”

“come on. you think i’d be dumb enough to tell you that? get outta here.”

“ENOUGH OF THIS,” said Papyrus. He stepped forward looking Asha in the eye. “ASHA… IT IS CLEAR TO ME NOW THAT YOU HAVE LOST THIS FIGHT. THEREFORE…”

Then as he approached… Papyrus at long last allowed himself to relax. The pulsing orange aura surrounding his body faded into nothing, and the lights within his eye sockets flickered out. His power, wherever it had come from, once again receded deep into his own soul.

“…I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ELECT TO SHOW YOU MERCY!”

“What!? NO!!” Undyne shouted. “Papyrus, don’t let your guard down!! He’s going to kill you!!”

“NONSENSE! I’VE ALREADY SHOWN JUST HIM HOW COOL I AM! AND HE’S ALREADY LEARNED HIS LESSON BESIDES.” He turned again towards Asha. Despite everything, despite all of his anger, he managed a smile. “AND NOW THAT YOU KNOW BETTER THAN TO MURDER PEOPLE FOR NO REASON, WHY DON’T YOU GO HOME AND REST? I’M SURE WE COULD EVEN BE FRIENDS SOMEDAY!”

Asha’s eyes gleamed under the sunset. He craned his neck upward, meeting Papyrus’s sockets.

“…Tch! You naive fool.”

Then, with a single blip, Asha once again called his sword into his hand.

“Say goodbye!”

Time slowed to a crawl as Asha leapt forward, brandishing his weapon as he leapt into the air. The edge of his blade was aimed squarely at Papyrus’s neck as he rocketed forwards, murderous intent pulsing outwards from every fiber of his being.

Papyrus didn’t even have time to react. He could only close his sockets shut, bracing for the inevitable.

But the attack never reached him. There was a tell-tale blip of another teleportation, followed by a sickening squelch.

And then, after that, a voice that Papyrus didn’t recognize.

“Not a chance.”

When Papyrus opened his eye sockets again, he saw something he couldn’t have expected.

Another Komato Assassin, by all appearances. She was wearing an outfit of deep greys and blacks, and unlike Asha, both of her arms were fully intact. Her sword, a blade of blood-red plasma much like Asha’s own, was carried in her right hand.

And, more importantly, the sword was impaled straight through the center of Asha’s heart.

“Y-you…!” Asha choked. “Why…!?”

“Well, I’d call it an act of mutiny,” said the other Assassin. “But we’re not really on the same side, now are we?”

The female Assassin withdrew her blade from Asha’s chest, and instantly his entire body exploded into a fine teal mist. Everything except for his head, which bounced across the cobblestone, before coming to a stop.

“T-traitor…”

Asha’s head, somehow, managed to utter one last word, before it too exploded into mist.

There was another blip, and the second Assassin’s sword vanished. She looked over the others… Alphys was visibly trembling, Martlet was staring with her beak wide open, and Undyne was assuming a fighting stance with spear in hand. Sans, meanwhile, didn’t seem to be any more bothered than he usually was.

“Sorry about the mess. The name’s Ansaksie. Is everyone alright?”

Chapter Text

The uncomfortable stares that bore down on Ansaksie invited more dread than anything that Asha had done. She had kept her presence under tight wraps, only one or two monsters she’d personally helped knowing about her existence at all. And it was clear from the looks on everyone’s faces that most of the monsters present didn’t quite know what to think of her.

Undyne was the sole exception. She made her feelings absolutely clear, when she accusingly pointed a glowing spear at Ansaksie’s head.

“You! Explain yourself!!”

“Put the weapon away,” Ansaksie calmly replied. “I’m not here to cause you any more trouble.”

“Like hell you aren’t! You’re another one of those Komato Assassins, aren’t you!? Why the hell should I trust you!?”

Ansaksie shook her head. “Really now? I stop Asha from crushing your friend to dust and this how you thank me?”

Undyne instantly froze. Though the fire in her eye didn’t falter, she was left genuinely at a loss for words.

“I-I… well… Okay, but still!!”

“Wait… hold on a second.” Martlet said. She stepped forward, and Ansaksie turned to meet her gaze. “You, um… you said your name was Ansaksie, right?”

“That would be me, yes.”

“But… that would mean that… hmm. Now where have I heard…?” Martlet’s beak pressed shut as she stood silent in contemplation.

Then, suddenly, her eyebrows shot upwards.

“Wait! W-wait a second! Does that mean that you were ‘Annie’ all along!?”

Undyne gave Martlet an odd stare. For the first time since Ansaksie arrived, her guard was genuinely lowered – if only out of sheer bewilderment.

“...ANNIE?” said Papyrus.

“You haven’t heard of her?” said Martlet. “She’s this wicked strong bird monster they said scared off those bandits last year! I always thought she was just an urban legend!”

Though it couldn’t be seen from beneath her helmet, Ansaksie managed a smile. “That’s what I led you to believe, yes. Fear and superstition are powerful motivators. Let rumors of a deadly guardian spread, and your enemies will spare you the trouble of having to chase them off yourself.”

A shared realization made its way across the faces of Ansaksie’s newfound audience.

“W-wait a second…!” said Alphys. “B-but that means you’ve been here since…!”

“Since before you escaped from that mountain, yes,” Ansaksie answered. “I never planned on showing myself to you, but Asha forced my hand. Sorry you had to deal with him, by the way. Even by Komato standards, he was a real piece of work.”

“Y-yeah… no kidding,” Alphys exhaled. “I-I don’t think I’ve met anyone with such a murderous aura…”

“Personally, I was just a bit more distracted by his fight music.” Martlet added. “Seriously, did you hear just how gnarly it was? It sounded like an active war zone! I could barely hear myself think!”

Ansaksie stared at Martlet blankly. “Fight music?”

“Oh, you don’t know?” said Martlet. “When monsters get into a fight, it triggers some sort of… melodic vibrations within our souls. I don’t know if humans can hear it, but… any other monster that’s around can.”

Ansaksie continued to stare, blankly. “…What?”

“Hold on, though. I remember hearing a while ago that you ‘Komato’ were aliens, not monsters. But Asha had his own fight music, so…” Martlet let out a gasp. “Oh wow, does that mean that you guys were also monsters all along? That’s amazing!”

“I, uh… don’t think that’s how that works.”

“Anyway! Fight music!” Martlet chirped. “Mine sounds super dramatic! It’s got castanets, like some kind of… flamenco, I think the name is? Which is weird, because my feathers aren’t pink…”

“Okay, slow down! Just what are you—”

“OOOH, THAT’S A GOOD GENRE! MINE SOUNDS JUST LITTLE BIT MORE LIKE, AH… KLEZMER?” Papyrus’s eye sockets narrowed in contemplation. “…WAIT, SANS, ARE WE JEWISH?”

“well, i’ve got a new york accent. so either that or italian.”

“New York?” Said Martlet. “What happened to the old one?”

“it used to be new amsterdam. though why they changed it, i can’t say. i guess people just liked it better that way.”

“HMMMM… MAYBE ALL THE HAMSTERS MOVED AWAY? YOU KNOW HOW THEY ARE. THEY NEED CITIES WITH PROPER ENRICHMENT!”

“Just WHAT in absolute Zentraidon are all of you talking about!?”

Ansaksie gave out a sigh, as everyone else went silent. She’d almost forgotten how eccentric monsters could be sometimes.

“Look. Let’s start this over,” she said. “I’m here because I stayed behind on Origin after the fleet left. I’ve been keeping watch on your settlements since they’ve been built. After everything the Komato Empire did to your world, I figure you at least deserve someone here watching your back. And when Papyrus let his guard down against Asha, I knew I had to step in. So there you have it.”

A pause lingered in the air. Ansaksie turned her eyes to Papyrus. His skull, as always, was far more expressive than a skull would logically be capable of.

“WELL, THANKS!” he said. “I, UM… COULD PROBABLY HAVE DONE WITHOUT THE MURDER, THOUGH.”

“Oh for the love of…” Undyne let out a groan. “Papyrus, he was going to kill you! Don’t act like letting your guard down was the right idea!”

Before Papyrus could even formulate a response, Undyne spun around towards Ansaksie, her single eye glaring with such intensity that it could almost pierce through Ansaksie’s nanofield.

“And you! Don’t think you’re off the hook either! You might have saved Papyrus’s life, but do really expect me to believe you stayed behind on Earth just to protect us? You’re probably doing spy work for the Komato, aren’t you!?”

A flash of annoyance passed through Ansaksie’s chest. She couldn’t rightly blame Undyne for her suspicions. If anything, the people of Origin had more than earned the right to be mistrustful of her species. But after everything she had been through, to have such suspicions flung at her so readily still stung.

“You’re wrong. I’m not affiliated with the Empire,” said Ansaksie. “I’ve wanted nothing to do with them or their genocidal ambitions for a long time now.”

“And why should I believe that?” said Undyne.

“Either believe me or don’t,” said Ansaksie. “It’s true either way. I’ve been sabotaging Imperial operations behind the scenes for almost twenty-five starturns now, and the war provided me with the perfect opportunity to desert without anyone noticing. As far as the higher-ups are concerned, I was killed in a shootout with your human friend Iji.”

“Y-you know her?” said Alphys.

“I know of her,” Ansaksie answer. “Like I said, I’ve not exactly been out in the open much.”

“Okay, back the hell up here,” said Undyne. “You still haven’t explained why the hell we should trust you. If you hated what your Empire was doing so much, why would you become an Assassin in the first place?”

“Easy,” Ansaksie answered. “I never had a choice.”

Undyne blinked. “I… huh?”

“One thing you have to understand about us Komato,” said Ansaksie, “is that none of us are exactly natural. Every single one of us has been genetically engineered from birth. And Assassins take that one step further. Unlike other Komato, we’re not born. We’re created.”

“…Created?” said Undyne. There was a look of discomfort written clear across her face.

“As in cloned,” Ansaksie answered. “The Assassin Project was built by Varsilon, former lead of Komato Imperial Research. Every one of us is a clone, using his own genetic material as a template, along with any other donor that was crazy enough to get involved. I was grown in a vat, and trained in the art of killing from the moment I was old enough to pick up a weapon. And because we’re designed to reach physical maturity quickly, that was very young.”

The dawning look of horror on Undyne’s face was matched by every other monster present.

“Wha… what?” Alphys stuttered. “Oh my god! That’s…”

“…Geez! That is messed up!” Undyne finished.

“Sure is,” said Ansaksie. “But for me, it was normal. I was lucky, though. Most Assassins don’t survive the training. Asha did, but… well, it left him more than a little bit unhinged, as you could see.”

“No kidding,” Alphys breathed. “God, that sounds so horrible. Being raised as a weapon just to kill people…”

“I didn’t much enjoy it either,” said Ansaksie. “But you really shouldn’t think of me as a victim here. I was complicit in the Empire’s crimes for a long time. I tried to avoid causing too much harm myself, going for non-lethal captures whenever I could. Told myself it was fine if I didn’t kill with my own hands. And that worked out well for me, since captures tended to pay better anyway. But the truth I refused to accept was that, just by following their orders, I was still advancing the Imperial Army’s goals. I’m not innocent in all of this, much as I’d like to be.”

“Well, maybe. But you’ve still been helping us though, haven’t you?” said Martlet. “Surely you can’t be all bad.”

Ansaksie shook her head, a deep, uncomfortable pressure building in her chest. She already regretted showing her face, now.

Too late to back down, though. She was here, and the monsters were owed an explanation. They deserved that much, if they ever hoped to survive.

“Stars, you’re still all so naive,” Ansaksie said with a sigh. “I pity you. And more than that, I’m terrified for you all. You’re not prepared for the reality of what’s out there.”

All of the monsters present exchange uncomfortable glances with one another.

“The hell you mean by that?” said Undyne.

“I mean you don’t understand just how bad it is,” Ansaksie elaborated. “The Komato are the only true interstellar civilization in the known galaxy, and we’ve left a trail of ruin in our wake. Everything you used to believe about how bad humans are? Well, that’s us. That’s the Komato. Bigotry, violence, and subjugation of the weak are the beating heart of our society, and they’ve been so for as long as anyone alive can remember.”

“Hold on though, are you saying that your own species is just…inherently violent?” said Martlet. “That… can’t possibly be right.”

“Not inherently. But when you’re raised on propaganda your entire life, its values tend to become a part of you. And that’s for the Komato who weren’t made solely to be weapons. Everything about our culture is built for war.”

Another series of uncomfortable glances, shared by all of the monsters. Ansaksie couldn’t help but notice that all of them, save Sans, had backed away from her slightly. They didn’t even seem to realize that they’d done so.

There was a gleam of sympathy in Alphys’s spectacles as she turned to address Ansaksie, in stark contrast to the fear in her posture.

“That’s… that’s awful… you really mean to say that you’ve never known peace?”

“Well, that depends on how you define ‘peace,’” said Ansaksie. “Officially, the Tasen-Komato War was the first war by High Command in hundreds of thousands of starturns. But in practice, that didn’t even matter. Their authority over the Imperial Army is in name only, and the fleets have a long history of internal armed conflicts with each other. Sometimes they’d fight on behalf of Regional Governors vying for power, but more often they’d do it just because they had nothing better to do. Point is, being a Komato means being raised in a culture of violence. And I’m no different.”

Another uncomfortable silence, followed by even more uncomfortable stares in Ansaksie’s direction.

They didn’t get it. They just didn’t get it.

“Okay. So, what?” Undyne said. “What’s the point of saying all this to us? You want us to think you’re some kind of horrible person because you’re a Komato?”

“No. I’m saying you shouldn’t ever let your guard down,” said Ansaksie. “Because you’re all sharing this galaxy with people who are stronger and more bloodthirsty than anything your kind is capable of. Most of us Assassins thought of Asha as an unhinged lunatic. And… well, he was. But he was a product of the Empire and everything it values. He wasn’t the first Komato to go mad with bloodlust, and I know he won’t be the last.”

Ansaksie turned her eyes towards Papyrus. Out of every monster present, he and his brother were the only ones capable of standing up to anything that might threaten monsterkind again.

“Papyrus. You need to understand this, more than anyone else. There are a lot of people like Asha out there, and you can’t stop them just be being nice. I do admire your outlook on life. ‘Don’t kill, and don’t be killed.’ That’s an ideal I that I can respect.

“But you need to drill it into that skull of yours that there are plenty of times where this isn’t possible. There are some people you’ll meet who won’t allow themselves to be reasoned with, and will stop at nothing until you or someone you care about is dead. And the people who refuse to fight back are always the easiest to crush. You’re the strongest protector monsterkind has, and that means you need to always be vigilant. Never assume that someone powerful and dangerous isn’t a threat. Even when they’re your ally, or even when you think you’ve beaten them.”

Ansaksie’s mind recalled the image dreaded Annihilator Iosa, and the horrible, bloody sight of the dead bodies of the last remaining Tasen in the universe. She had been too late to stop it from happening. And Iosa had gone fully out of her way to avoid damaging the Pneuma deposits of her last victims, ensuring that Origin would be left with one last terrifying reminder of what she had done. A grim monument to the extinction she caused.

It was a mercy that Iosa was dead now, no matter how many others that the Human Anomaly had killed. Had Iji been foolish enough to spare her, Iosa would have certainly killed her when her guard was down, and gone on to commit many more atrocities.

Papyrus, too, was clearly contemplating something of his own. His sockets, though they possessed no eyes to speak of, somehow looked distant and dull.

But eventually, Papyrus spoke up.

“ANSAKSIE…I THINK YOU ARE BEING QUITE NEEDLESSLY PESSIMISTIC.”

That statement caught Ansaksie’s attention. “Hm?”

“I WILL ADMIT THAT YOU HAVE A POINT. THE UNIVERSE IS FILLED WITH CRUELTY. THAT SO MANY DIED IN YOUR INTERSTELLAR WAR IS PROOF OF THAT. BUT I ALSO THINK… THAT THIS IS NO REASON TO GIVE UP ON HOPE, OR KINDNESS, OR LOVE.

“SURE. MAYBE SOME PEOPLE CAN’T BE REASONED WITH. MAYBE YOU CAN’T WIN A WAR WITH HUGS AND NICE WORDS. BUT IF YOU NEVER EVEN ONCE LET YOUR GUARD DOWN… NEVER ALLOW YOURSELF EVEN A CHANCE TO BE VULNERABLE… THEN I THINK THAT WAR WILL ALWAYS BE A PART OF YOU, NO MATTER WHAT. AND I DON’T THINK THAT’S ANY WAY TO LIVE.”

There was something behind Papyrus’s eye sockets as he continued speaking. Not a literal light; they remained as pitch-black as ever. But it was a light nonetheless, radiating like a beacon from somewhere deep within his soul.

“AND THAT’S WHY… I WILL ALWAYS STRIVE FOR SOMETHING BETTER. TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO A FINE POWDER, SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE, AND YOU WILL FIND NOT ONE SINGLE ATOM OF KINDNESS OR MERCY. BUT I BELIEVE IN THOSE THINGS NONETHELESS. BECAUSE THAT IS HOW THEY BECOME REAL.”

For a moment, Ansaksie didn’t say anything. Papyrus’s answer was… it was unlike anything she could have expected from such an oddball, and yet all the same it was so characteristically Papyrus.

Before she knew it, she found herself smiling once again.

“Heh. You really are something, you know that? To hold onto such hope and optimism, even after living through the end of the world… it takes a lot of strength to pull that off. But I still hope you take what I said to heart. I don’t want anything to happen to you because you were too kind to defend yourself. Take care of yourself, alright? I’ll see you around.”

“AND YOU AS WELL, NEW FRIEND!”

Ansaksie turned around, and began striding off. But before she could teleport to the nearest building rooftop, she was stopped by the sound of Alphys’s voice.

“Ansaksie, wait!”

Ansaksie peered over her shoulder, then turned to face Alphys.

“…Yes?”

Alphys softly clicked her claws together as she fidgeted with her hands. “If… if you don’t mind, do you think I could ask you a couple questions? About… about Asha.”

“Sure. I can answer a few things. What do you need to know?”

“U-um. Well… first of all. H-he said that he was given a new life by… by Doctor Gaster,” Alphys said. “That was the name of the Monster Kingdom’s last Royal Scientist before… before me. Do you know anything about this?”

Ansaksie hesitated. That was strange, enough so that it immediately raised an alarm bell. Asha coming back from the dead was concerning as it is, but if another monster was involved in it…

“No. I don’t. As far as I knew, Asha had gotten himself killed pursuing a bounty on Iji. Grew obsessed with capturing her to the point that every other Assassin under his command ditched him. Frankly, I didn’t miss him, and neither did anyone else.”

“I-I was afraid of that,” Alphys breathed. “H-he also spoke of Iji being ‘an entire universe away.’ Do, um… do you think he was saying that she’s been sent to some kind of alternate universe? Theoretically, those should exist, but…”

That immediately caught Ansaksie’s attention. “What, you mean like the multiverse? I thought that was just science fiction.”

“Didn’t you literally come here on a spaceship?” said Undyne.

“Yes. So?”

A deep sigh came from Alphys’s throat. “Okay, so… still nothing more on that then. W-what about the ‘Void Knight’ he mentioned? Or the ‘Void’ he kept referring to? Anything about that?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know anything about that either. But you’re asking the wrong person besides,” said Ansaksie. She turned her attention to another monster — the shorter of the two skeletons that were present. “You there. Sans, was it?”

Sans, who was somehow dozing off despite standing straight up, snapped to attention.

“hm? me?”

“You know something about this ‘Void,’ don’t you?”

“i do, yeah.”

There was a pause, as a heavy silence lingered over the town square.

Then another.

Then yet another pause.

“…Are you going to tell us?” said Undyne.

Sans gave a shrug. “eh. maybe later.”

“WHAT!!?? What do you MEAN ‘later?’ This is goddamned important!!!”

Sans was entirely unbothered by Undyne’s explosive outburst, remaining just as nonchalant as ever.

“sorry, just not feelin’ up to it right now.” He let out a yawn. “anyhow. it’s getting kinda late, isn’t it? i’m gonna head off to bed.”

“YOU GET BACK HERE, YOU LAZYBONES!!!!!” Undyne stormed.

But by then it was too late, as Sans had already sauntered off… and somehow disappeared into thin air, without even so much as a sound. Whatever he did, it certainly wasn’t teleporting.

For several moments, Ansaksie could only stare at the empty space that Sans had occupied, moments prior.

Trying to run from your past, are you?

…I suppose I can relate to that.

--------

Alphys couldn’t sleep.

Everything that had happened today had made her equal parts anxious and tired, and the two conflicting feelings clashed within her chest mightily over the course of the evening. Ansaksie had already taken her leave, vanishing into the night that had now fallen.

Eventually, the anxiety won, and Alphys found herself completely unable to hold her eyes shut for even a moment. Undyne, despite being nearly as anxious and frustrated over everything they still didn’t know, had fallen fast asleep. As usual, she was hogging all of the sheets on their shared bed.

With a sigh, Alphys climbed out of bed. She idly scratched at her backside, adjusting her pajama pants by the tail opening to alleviate an itch.

With nothing better to do, Alphys dragged herself into the kitchen, and shuffled towards the refrigerator. She usually stocked all of her favorite snacks in her laboratory, but her fridge was home to plenty of other treats that would have been too messy for a lab setting. Some ice cream from the freezer sounded good right about now.

Just as she reached the door, however, a loud CRASH sounded out edge of her hearing. Instantly, Alphys spun around, her spine tingling with an intense and sudden dread.

“W-who’s there!? Show yourself!!”

No answer. It was too dark for her to properly see, but she could make out the shadow of something past the nearby door.

Against her better judgment, Alphys slowly shuffled past the door frame. Carefully, she held her right claw open, and conjured the brightest sphere of ball lightning that she could into her upturned palm. The magical orb of electricity shined powerfully, enough so that Alphys had to squint to avoid being blinded by it.

What she saw in the dining room was… another Saurian, from the looks of it. He didn’t seem to notice Alphys, or the orb of electricity she held in her claw. Possibly because he was splayed across the remains of the dining room table, which was now split in two as though he had somehow fallen onto it from a great distance.

The Saurian stood up to his feet, dusting himself off. He was tall — though not nearly as tall as Undyne. He had olive green scales that matched the color of his eyes, a long snout, and a noticeably small pointed crest poking out from behind his head. A red-brown jacket was worn over a white t-shirt and grey jeans, and he had a pair of massive headphones draped around his neck, though they didn’t seem to be connected to anything in particular.

Before Alphys could say anything, the other Saurian gave a began excitedly babbling something to himself.

“LRF! Vg jbexrq! Vg npghnyyl jbexrq! Bu zna, V pna'g jnvg gb eho guvf va Vateilika’s snpr. Naq fur fnvq V jnf penml sbe gelvat!”

“U-um… excuse me!” Alphys called out. “T-this is my house, and you’re trespassing! Please leave!”

The other Saurian paid Alphys no mind. He didn’t even seem to notice her presence at all.

“Abj nyy V tbggn qb vf tb onpx naq…” He froze suddenly, sporting a look akin to an electrician who realized that they’d connected the wrong wires. “…Bu. Bbcf. Thrff V qvqa’g guvax guvf guebhtu.”

“Hey! Hey! A-are you listening!?” Alphys said, louder this time. “D-don’t make me go get Undyne! If she finds out about this, you can bet there’ll be trouble!”

The other Saurian, at last, took notice. He didn’t seem at all upset or alarmed that he’d been caught red-handed… in fact, he looked entirely too happy to see Alphys.

“Bu url, lbh'er whfg gur fbeg bs crefba V jnf ybbxvat sbe! Qb lbh unir n gryrcbegre V pna hfr? V, hu, zvtug unir tbggra zlfrys fgenaqrq va na nygreangr qvzrafvba.”

“Um…” Alphys blinked. “I-I’m sorry, what?”

“Ybat fgbel.”

Alphys stared at the new Saurian. Her mind was drawing a blank now, any fear or anger at the trespasser entirely forgotten. “I don’t… I don’t understand your… language?”

The other Saurian’s enthusiasm instantly washed away. He stared for far too long for Alphys to be comfortable with… not that she was very comfortable with the situation to begin with.

He reached up, scratched his head, and spoke again… in English, this time.

“Hold on, you’re telling me you don’t speak Tasen?”

Instantly, Alphys could feel her heart skip a beat.

“Wait, what!? Y-you mean the aliens who Alpha Struck the Earth!? You’re one of them!!??”

Another stare, this one somehow even more baffled than the last.

“…Uh,” he said. “Wait, are you saying you don’t know you’re a Tasen?”

“I’M A WHAT!!!???”

A grin formed on the… Tasen’s face, revealing pearly-white teeth and an almost infectious exuberance.

Ack! Oh no, he’s cute! WHY IS HE CUTE!?

“Whoo boy. Guess we have a lot of catching up to do, huh?” he said with a laugh. “Anyway, I’m Yukabacera! Nice to meet you!”

Chapter Text

‘Annoyed’ couldn’t even begin to describe how Undyne was feeling right now.

Alphys had explained the situation, to the best of her ability. There were still things she didn’t know about the situation, and that he didn’t know, but it was easy to grasp the basic premise.

‘He’ being the entirely uninvited new guest that had decided to make himself at home. In the middle of the night. While Undyne was still asleep.

After spending the night crashing on the couch, he joined his unexpected new hosts for breakfast. He chattered endlessly about the technologies he’d worked on, capturing Alphys’s attention almost right away with his advanced technical knowledge. He didn’t even notice the piercing glare that Undyne was giving him the entire time.

Soon after, he decided to seclude himself in the garage, where Alphys kept all of her scrap from her less professional projects… and her much less professional collection of posters.

Unwilling to let the new guest out of her sight, Undyne soon followed him into the garage. Her face flushed when her eye caught a poster hanging in the corner.

Why are they so big!!? Are you trying to make me feel inadequate, Alphys!!??

Best not to dwell on that. She turned her attention to the workbench at the far end of the garage, where the tall, olive green not-Saurian was hunched over, tinkering with what looked like some kind of makeshift gun, built from a patchwork of scrap metal and various other bits of machinery. His claws crackled with lightning as they trailed over the gun’s surface, though Undyne could tell right away that this wasn’t magic.

Undyne approached, standing right behind Yukabacera. She then cleared her throat, then paused. Yukabacera did not respond.

“So,” said Undyne, “Alphys says you’re from another friggin’ dimension. Is that right?”

“Yup,” said Yukabacera. He didn’t even bother looking up from whatever he was doing.

“And you’re one of those Tasen that blew the entire goddamned Earth to hell???”

“Not my decision,” Yukabacera said, curtly.

“And you’re apparently related to monsters!!????”

“That’s her hypothesis, yeah. Haven’t exactly tested it, though.”

“What do you mean ‘hypothesis!??’ You look exactly like a goddamned Saurian!!!!”

For the first time, Yukabacera stopped fiddling with the weapon on the workbench. He craned his neck upwards, but didn’t look Undyne in the eye. “Could you maybe cool it with the exclamation marks? I’m trying to focus.”

“Hey!!! Don’t you talk shit about my exclamation marks!! I’ll have you know I’m a punctuation connoisseur!!!!”

“Eh. I found the novelty wore off after a while,” said Yukabacera. “Now italics, that’s real top-class typography right there. And bold. Gotta love bold.” He leaned in closer to the workbench, the nanofield sparks jolting from his fingers crackling even more brightly and intensely.

Undyne, for all of her irritation, couldn’t help but stare at the way Yukabacera’s nanofield interfaced with whatever he was building. It was clear just from the way he focused that he had a particular knack for engineering — it reminded her of how Alphys worked whenever she was tinkering with a new invention.

Finally, Undyne’s curiosity got the better of her.

“So… you build machines as a hobby, right? That’s how you got yourself zapped into this universe?”

Yukabacera, for the first time, decided to take a break from his work. He turned around and leaned an arm on the counter, sporting a grin.

“Ha! You kidding? I was the best cracker in the whole damn galaxy. Probably am in this galaxy too. You should’ve seen some of the things I put together during the war.”

“…Like what?”

“Lots of things. Homebrew weapons, custom terminal programs, and even a translator module that could decipher any language, real or theoretical.” Yukabacera paused for a moment, a contemplative look crossing his eyes. “…Well, mostly. Never quite figured out how to smooth out the kinks on that last one. I ended up pawning it off to a Komato Assassin on the black market.”

Undyne raised an eyebrow. “A Komato Assassin? They didn’t try to kill you?”

“Nope! Apparently she wanted nothing to do with the war. Weird, but money is money.” He paused briefly, a mischievous twinkle appearing in his eye. “Say, did I ever tell you about the time I pranked a Komato starship by uploading an A.I. to its main computer?”

“Uh, no? We literally just met this morning.”

“It’s true. Programmed her myself,” Yukabacera said. “You would have loved her, she was a real hoot.”

Undyne wasn’t so sure about that, but she wasn’t about to argue the point. Yukabacera turned around again, and resumed fiddling with his new project. Undyne watched intently, fascinated by the way his claws softly worked their way across the grooves and ridges in the metal, interfacing with the machine in ways that she couldn’t see.

“There! Finally got it!”

Yukabacera picked up the dilapidated gun and turned around again, sporting a huge, toothy grin on his face as he held it in his hands.

“Pretty spiffy, right? I’ve been trying to get one of these things working for longturns!”

“Uh… I guess?” said Undyne. “What the heck is that, anyway? Some kind of nanogun?”

“Not just any nanogun!” Yukabacera boasted. “It’s my most brilliant homebrew weapon to date! I call it… The Banana Gun!”

Undyne blinked. “What? Like… a gun that shoots bananas? Or a gun for shooting bananas with?”

“Hey, it can be both,” Yukabacera said. “Here, stand aside for a bit. Let me give you a little demonstration!”

Undyne quickly stepped over to the side, putting herself out of the line of fire of the gun. Even though the nanogun looked like an unholy amalgamation of several other machines, she knew from personal experience that anything involving a nanofield was hideously deadly.

Yukabacera pulled the trigger, and with a soft ploomp, a single banana lobbed itself out of the gun barrel, falling softly onto the floor only a few feet away.

Undyne stared silently, at the yellow fruit lying on the ground. Several seconds passed.

“…That’s it? I thought for sure it was gonna explode or something.”

“Oh, no, I already tried that,” said Yukabacera. “But it turns out that exploding bananas chew through ammo like crazy. Regular bananas are way more efficient.”

“But that’s friggin’ USELESS!!!”

“Yup,” said Yukabacera, giving another toothy grin. “Fun, though!”

Undyne paused. Her eye turned upwards, from the banana to Yukabacera.

“…Huh. Welp, guess I can’t argue with that!”

The garage fell silent once again. Once again, Undyne’s eye slowly trailed towards the succulent yellow fruit on the floor.

“You gonna go get that?” said Yukabacera.

“No. Why?”

“It’s got potassium.”

--------

May 14^th, 202X-3

“Alright, here’s one for ya. What’s ‘iji’ mean?”

As you sit across from Valerie at the library’s table, you give her an odd look. She’s holding a Sunrise-to-Winterese dictionary in her hands, idly flipping through the entries and choosing words seemingly at random.

“Hold on, how’s that spelled? I know there’s 遺児, as well as 意地. And I know the former means ‘orphan,’ or, um… a kid with dead parents.”

“The latter,” Valerie answers. “意地. That one.”

“Gotcha. It means ‘determination.’ Easy.”

“Hmmm…” Valerie pauses as she hovers a claw over the page. “Well, it says here it means ‘willpower,’ ‘spirit,’ or ‘stubbornness,’ so I suppose that’s close enough. Though I’ll be honest, I feel like I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel at this point. You *sure* you ain’t takin’ this class just for anime?”

“Hey, don’t give me that! There’s lots of reasons to take Sunrise language classes,” you counter. “Maybe I want to visit the Sunrise Islands someday.”

A knowing smirk appears on Valerie’s snout. “Hm. That so? Why not someplace in Foggyland? I hear Summers is *real* nice this time of year.”

You can’t stop yourself from rolling your eyes. “黙れ.”

“Relax, I’m just messin’ with ya,” Valerie answers.

“Yeah, har har. Very funny.”

Valerie’s face gradually turns darker, and you see a glint of melancholy in her eyes.

“Something wrong, Val?”

“Hm?” Valerie blinks. “Oh, no, just… I dunno. Thinkin’ about the future, I guess. Hard to believe it’s only about a month before we graduate, right?”

You pause. Your upcoming graduation is something you’ve been thinking about a lot, as well. But there’s so many things that you have to worry about, that you’ve never had the time to really dwell on what that means for you.

“Yeah,” you say. “Kinda crazy, huh? To think we’re this close to being real adults.”

“…You still plannin’ on leaving town the first chance you get?”

Valerie doesn’t even attempt to hide the sadness in her voice. You feel a sudden discomfort welling up within your chest, but your answer is still the same as it always is.

“I am. I just… I want to be able to do my own thing, you know?”

“Without your mom breathin’ down your neck, you mean? I get that. I just… I’m gonna miss you, that’s all.”

You pause again. It’s a lot to think about, the ways in which your life is about to change. Yet despite your apprehension, beyond Hometown you can see a horizon of endless possibility.

“…I’ll miss you too,” you say. “But I’ll be sure to stay in touch.”

“Wouldn’t expect any less of ya,” says Valerie. “You feel like you might stop by every now and then? Give Hometown a visit, for old times’ sake?”

Immediately, your lips curve into a frown. “Ugh. I dunno. I’ll be honest with you, Val. I hate this stupid town. I don’t know if I’d ever be able to look back once I leave.”

Valerie leans back in her chair, holding her arms behind her head as she flashes a grin. “Trust me, I’m *well* aware. But your little sister’s gonna be here for a while, and I can’t imagine you never seeing her again. Ain’t that right, Iji?”

You raise your eyebrow as you stare at Valerie. Her grin only grows wider in response. “The hell you just call me?”

“Iji. I figure it’s a good name for you. Uh… you know, ‘cause you’re spirited and stubborn. Not ‘cause your parents are dead.”

A soft snort escapes from your nostrils as your lips curve into a smile.

“くたばれ,” you tease.

--------

Iji woke up with a yawn, then a jolt of surprise when she realized she wasn’t alone in her own bed. It took a moment for her to remember what happened last night, and as her vision adjusted to the sunlight filtering through the window, she looked down to see Asriel still sound asleep. He had been clinging tightly to her torso, and in its absence he instead opted to grab the bedsheets and wrap all four of his limbs around them.

A warmth spread across Iji’s chest, as her lips curved softly upwards. She reached down, and gently stroked the fur atop his head.

“Hey. Rise and shine, kiddo. We’ve got a whole day ahead of us.”

* Since when were you ever a morning person?

Iji pointedly rolled her eyes, but said nothing else. Asriel, meanwhile, gently began to stir. As he sat upright, he gave a yawn… then his eyes went wide as he turned towards Iji.

“W-wait! Iji! Did I fall asleep in your bed!?”

“Yup,” Iji answered. “You totally conked out not long after you talked to me last night.”

A deep flush appeared on Asriel’s face, shining through the fur on his cheeks.

“God, that’s so embarrassing…”

Chara’s hologram came to life with a whirr. They were wearing a set of green striped pajamas, as well as an ear-to-ear smirk.

“Azzy, you’re still just a kid at heart. And Iji’s basically your second mom. I promise you it isn’t weird.”

“That just makes it weirder!”

“Whoa whoa whoa, back up,” Iji hurriedly cut in. “Who said anything about me being a mom!?”

“Hey, I’m just calling it like I see it,” said Chara. They paused, and a thoughtful look crossed their face. “Although… I guess technically you’d be the third. Since, you know, Alphys…”

Asriel shot a fierce glare in Chara’s direction. “No. Don’t you dare.”

“Am I wrong?” Chara said, smirking somehow even more widely than before. “There’s gotta be at least one timeline where you tried living with her as her ‘creation,’ right?”

Asriel’s blush returned, this time encompassing the entirety of his face. His arms tensed by his sides as his fingers curled into fists.

“We are NOT doing this right now!!!”

--------

Breakfast that morning passed without fanfare. Despite being only the second morning that they’d stayed in the base, it almost felt like routine by now. Yet in the back of her mind, Iji knew full well not to get too comfortable — home was still a long ways away, and she was as determined as ever to find a way back.

If only she had any idea where to begin looking.

Once Asriel and Iji had both finished their meal, their table in the cafeteria was approached by Tasen with gray-colored scales and a noticeably large cybernetic arm — a former Commander, judging by her size and build. She looked Iji in the eyes with a stern expression.

“Your brother wants to speak to you. Follow me.”

That was all the convincing Iji needed. She stood up, leading Asriel closely behind her as the two of them followed the former Commander back through the corridors, and into the science division. Once they had arrived at the proper computer lab, the grey-scaled Tasen saw them off, heading off towards somewhere further into the base.

The computer lab was once again empty, save for Dan, who was sitting at one of the laptop desks, his eyes staring intently at the screen.

Iji approached, Asriel following closely behind her. “Hey Dan,” she said, “what’s up?” It took a moment for Dan to take notice. When he did, he turned towards Iji, and it immediately became apparent that he did not get much sleep last night. His eyes were reddened, with heavy bags beneath them.

“I’ve got news.”

Immediately, a deep worry crawled its way into Iji’s chest. “…Good news or bad news?”

“That depends on how you look at it,” said Dan. “Either way, it’s important, and I’m going to need you to do something about it quickly.”

The worry within Iji’s chest intensified. She already had an idea of where this was going, and she wasn’t sure if she liked it. Glancing briefly at Asriel, she could tell that he knew where this was going, too.

“Does this have anything to do with the readings from Ludo City you told us about?”

“It does,” Dan answered. “I had the physics lab send out some drones to investigate last night. And what I found was… interesting. Very, very interesting.”

Chara’s hologram whirred to life beside Iji. “Let me guess,” they said, “in the same way that ‘may you live in interesting times’ is supposed to be a curse?”

Asriel gave a soft snort through his nostrils. “Sounds better than the alternative to me.”

“Well, that all depends,” said Dan, “but I’m leaning towards saying it’s a bad sign. The readings that I’ve gotten back aren’t just unusual, they’re flat-out impossible.”

If Dan didn’t have Iji’s attention before, he absolutely did now. “Impossible how?”

“A lot of it’s too complicated for me to fully summarize here,” said Dan. “I had to consult with the physics team to even get a partial understanding. But to put it as simply as possible, we’ve detected some kind of anomaly that seems to warp the fundamental laws of the universe. Among other things, the drones have picked up negative photon readings coming from it.”

Iji’s eyebrows immediately shot upwards. “Negative? As in the opposite of light?”

“That’s what the drones say,” said Dan. “And the odds that every single one of them experienced the exact same malfunction at the same time is next to zero. Something weird is happening here, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s happening right when you crossed into our reality.”

A knowing look was shared between Asriel, Chara, and Iji. Iji didn’t need to hear what the others had to say to know exactly what they were thinking.

“It’s another Dark Fountain, isn’t it?” said Asriel.

“That’s definitely what it sounds like,” said Iji. “Do you have any other information on this anomaly, Dan?” Dan shook his head. “Nothing else, apart from its general location. I have a visual here of the area where the anomaly appears to be originating.” He held out his hand, and his nanofield crackled softly as a beam of holographic light emerged from his fingertips. The light took shape in the air just front of him, displaying the translucent and flickering image of a single city block. The buildings and road were crumbling and overgrown with vegetation, as the hologram displayed the area as seen from a bird’s eye view.

Iji’s eyes lit up as she looked at the image. “Huh. You’re… actually using your hologram projectors to project a hologram? That’s new.”

“Most nanofields aren’t haunted by the ghosts of dead children,” Dan dryly remarked. Chara flashed Dan a smirk as he glanced in their direction. “In any case, I’ve narrowed the anomaly’s location down to this building here.” Then, right on cue, the hologram zoomed into to a single building which looked to be some kind of abandoned store front. The sign was faded and too small to make out on the holographic display, but it prominently featured an odd cartoon character on the front — a strange mascot with purple arms, a green robe and wizard hat, and a face that was hidden in darkness, save for a single massive eye.

“Huh. Looks like some kind of tabletop game store?” said Iji. “I guess that means that’s where we’ll find the next Dark World.”

Asriel turned to look at Iji. A twinkle of hope appeared in his eye, the same gentle light that had managed to shine through, despite the pain and darkness that had clouded his mind for so long.

“Iji! Does this mean we’ve finally found our way home?”

“Honestly, I can’t say,” said Iji. “But if this Dark World is anything like the last, leaving it be could very well threaten this entire universe. We’ll need to go over there and shut down the distortion as quickly as possible.”

“But there’s always a chance, right? This could be our way to get back to our own world!”

A tense sensation swelled up in Iji’s chest. She didn't know how to answer. If the multiverse was anything like she’d assumed, the Dark World could very easily lead them to another unfamiliar universe, even farther from home.

Yet even still, she wasn’t about to give up just yet. This was their next chance to return home, and Iji would take as many of those chances as she could get.

It was a risky prospect, and that risk was not lost on Dan. A deep concern welled up in his eyes as he met Iji’s gaze.

“So you’re planning on going and dealing with it now, then? Just like that?”

Iji paused. Both of them knew exactly where Dan was going with this. She didn’t want to follow that thought to its conclusion, but there was no other place where it could lead.

“…Yeah,” said Iji. “We have to. It’s the only choice we have.”

Dan didn’t answer. Not at first. His eyes drifted away, and the hologram projecting from his fingertips flickered out and vanished. In that moment, Iji could see the many years of age that this alternate timeline had brought to him, the pain and sadness and loss etched into his brow.

“So then, I guess this is going to be the last time we’ll see each other.”

“…I know.”

An immense weight tugged at the inside of Iji’s heart. This wasn’t her world, and the person she was staring at wasn’t the brother she knew.

And yet all the same, that didn’t stop the tide of feelings that were washing over her soul.

“Dan… I… I just want to say, before we head out.” She inhaled, feeling herself tremble as the air filled her lungs. “…I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I let you down in my world. I… I could have saved you, but I didn’t. I could have saved your life so easily. I just… I didn’t. I…”

Iji’s eyes screwed shut, and she shut out the words before she could follow them to the end. The regrets that piled onto her smothered her lungs, until the air was almost too thick to breathe.

Then, all at once, the tension within her faded away, as she felt a gentle hand resting on her shoulder. She opened her eyelids to see Dan standing upright, looking her straight in the eye.

“It’s okay,” Dan said with a gentle smile. “I might not know this other Dan, but if he’s anything like me, I know he’d be proud of you.”

“…You really think so, huh?” Iji said. “Thanks. That… that means a lot.”

A warmth swelled within Iji’s chest, and she wrapped her arms around her brother, and the two of them held their embrace for what could have been forever.

When they finally pulled away, a new determination surged within Iji’s soul, shining brighter than the stars.

--------

The final preparations were made for departure in short order. Iji brought her nanogun from her room, and with a quick detour to a storeroom, was able to refill all of her Tasen ammunition to maximum.

I guess it makes sense that they don’t have Komato ammunition, but it would still be nice to have more of it…

…though on the other hand, I sure hope we don’t encounter anything dangerous enough for CFIS ammo.

Once everything was brought together, Asriel and Iji followed Dan as they made their way through the base, out an exit on the eastern edge of the military corridors. There, stationed just outside the door on a small pavement parking lot, were the unmistakable shapes of several hovering speeder bikes.

“Wow, are those Shredders?” said Iji. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen those.”

“We had them repurposed after the war,” said Dan. “Our science team uses them for personal transport while doing field research. You’ve got the coordinates, right?”

Iji tapped a finger to her head. “Yup. Chara’s got them right here. Getting to Ludo City should be easy from here, the hard part will be dealing with whatever’s in the Dark World.”

Dan gave a nod. “Good to know.” He paused momentarily, a subtle wrinkly forming in his brow. “…So I guess this is it, huh? This is goodbye for real?”

“…Yeah,” said Iji. A bittersweet sensation clung to the inside of her ribs, a swirling miasma of emotions that clashed mightily against each other. She looked her brother in the eyes once again, feeling a damp sensation forming in the corners of her own.

“Thank you. I really do owe you everything, Dan. And just knowing that there’s some version of you that’s still alive out here, even after everything we’ve survived, I…”

Iji’s voice trailed off before she could finish, but by that point there was no more need for words. Dan leaned in, pulling Iji into another embrace. She returned the gesture, as best as she could with her nanogun still held in one hand.

“I’m going to miss you,” said Dan.

“…Yeah. Me too.”

A very long series of goodbyes followed, but eventually Iji climbed onto one of the stationed Shredders. Asriel followed after, climbing onto the seat behind her and clinging tightly to Iji’s waist.

Moments later, and the two of them were speeding down the eastern side of the hill that the base was stationed on, across the large meadow to the east. Eventually, the grassy field crossed a blasted and ruined highway, long since abandoned after the Earth was hit by the Alpha Strike. Iji turned onto the highway, the Shredder effortlessly hovering over the potholes and cracks in the asphalt as it sped rapidly across the road.

In the distance, beneath the late morning sun, Iji could see the skyline of Ludo City. Even with so many of its buildings damaged, the tallest skyscrapers stood strong, a testament to humanity’s resilience.

Less than half an hour later, and the Shredder crossed into the city limits. Iji slowed down as she navigated the ruined streets, following Chara’s instructions as they relayed the coordinates into Iji’s mind.

Before long, they had arrived at their destination. A simple shop front, located on the intersection of two city streets, its window cracked and broken, leaving a massive hole in the center. Behind the window was a pitch-black darkness, one that Iji instantly recognized as the same kind that had radiated from Alphys’s gaming PC. The kind of darkness that could only have come from another Dark Fountain.

There, just above the impossible darkness, hanging over the door to the shop, was a single sign. Written on it was the name of the shop, in letters that were bright and bold in spite of having partially faded, right next to the distinct one-eyed mascot that Iji had seen in Dan’s hologram:

‘The Wizard’s Medallion’

As Iji dismounted, she looked over her shoulder to see Asriel following behind her closely. The two stood before the store, apprehension clinging to the inside of Iji’s stomach as she stared at the storefront straight-on.

But before she could step forward to enter, the sound of another engine caught Iji’s ears. She spun around to see another Shredder coming down the road eventually coming to a stop just beside where Iji had parked.

There, atop the Shredder, was a Tasen Soldier dressed in a full uniform. As she dismounted the shredder, the Soldier strode towards Iji, a large nanogun strapped to her back, her helmet’s visor gleaming under the sunlight.

“There ya are! What in the absolute blazes do you think you’re doing, Iji!?”

Iji’s eyebrows rocketed upwards, an expression that was matched by Asriel. “Vateilika!?”

“You bet your soft-skinned behind it’s me!” Vateilika said. “Dan told me all about what’s going on. Did ya really think I was gonna let you go off and waltz into a dangerous dimensional anomaly all by yourself?”

“W-wait! Val, what are you saying?” said Iji. “You’re… you’re not planning on coming with us, are you?”

“‘Course I am,” said Vateilika. “I ain’t just gonna leave you behind. Whatever this ‘Dark Fountain’ is, I’m gonna see to it that it’s dealt with.”

“Val, hold on! You can’t be serious!” Iji countered. “Once we head into the Dark World, we might not even be able to go back to this universe! Are you seriously okay with leaving your entire home world behind!?”

“Home world?” said Vateilika. “Don’t be silly. I already lost my home a long time ago.”

A sharp pang of sympathy pierced through Iji’s heart. She looked Vateilika in the eyes, staring straight through her visor. “…Oh. That’s… I’m sorry, Val, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Shucks, no need to apologize.” Despite being obscured by her helmet, Iji could somehow tell that Vateilika was smiling. “I’m just doin’ what I know is right. Right now, you’re dealin’ with a problem that’s bigger than all of us. Sure, I ain’t got a home no more, and most of the folks I cared about are dead. You, though? You’ve got a whole world waitin’ for you to come back to ‘em. You and Asriel both. And I’m gonna see to it that y’all make it back, no matter what it takes.”

“I… Val, that’s…” Iji took a deep breath, feeling a warmth surging within her chest. “That means a lot to me. Thank you, Val.”

“Ain’t no trouble at all,” said Vateilika. She approached Iji, and gave a nod. “Now come on. Let’s see if we can’t take care of whatever this is together.”

Iji gave no objections. She approached the door to the game store, then craned her neck around to face Asriel and Vateilika.

“You guys ready?”

Asriel and Vateilika both gave a nod. Within her head, she could also hear Chara give a word of affirmation.

Then, she reached forward and opened the door, and felt the darkness wash over her, sending her and her friends hurtling across space and time.

END OF ACT 2

Chapter Text

Anger was not an unfamiliar feeling to the Void Knight. Righteous fury had guided their every movement, their every step, since they were granted this new life. And anyone with half a brain would know better than to provoke them.

Asha, it seemed, did not have half a brain.

The laboratory was dark, as it always was. Vats upon vats, each containing yet another failed experiment, lined the walls of the grimy industrial facility. In the center of the room, a teleporter pad flickered to life, and trillions of tiny glowing nanomachines coalesced as they warped into existence from across time and space.

A gasp escaped from Asha’s throat, yet the Knight did not allow him any time to catch his breath. They stepped forward, their entire body crackling with crimson nanoparticles, every single one seething with undiluted wrath.

“You incompetent FAILURE!”

“W-wait! My liege, please have mercy!”

The Knight held out a hand, and instantly, Asha’s entire body seized up, as though constricted by an invisible force.

“Shut up,” the Knight growled. “Do you have any idea just what you have done!? Now the Anomaly’s allies are aware of our existence! It is only a matter of time before they piece together the true nature of our operations, as well the true location of the Null Driver! Your recklessness has endangered everything we are working towards!”

“M-my liege, please! If you would only permit me another chance to destroy them—”

The Knight clenched their outstretched hand into a fist. Asha’s voice was abruptly cut off, choking and sputtering on the invisible force that was now constricting his throat. “No. That stunt you pulled with Voidshadow very nearly annihilated us as well. Had the skeleton not put a stop to you, you would have been our own undoing. It is clear to me now that you are far more of a liability than an asset. Now, begone.”

The Knight swept their hand, channeling the raw energy of Voidshadow through their body, focusing it through their will. There was a sudden ghastly sound from the soul deep within their chest, akin to the roar of a long-forgotten beast, followed by an even more profound silence.

In a flash of radiant shadow, Asha’s body was consumed in dark fire, and mere moments later it was gone.

A breath escaped from the Knight, amplified and distorted through their helmet.

“THAT WAS UNNECESSARY. YOU HAVE JUST WASTED A PERFECTLY GOOD NANO-REPLICANT.”

The Knight glanced over their shoulder, briefly. Behind them, a shadowy figure coalesced into being, rising upwards as though oozing through imperceptibly tiny cracks in the floor. Their master’s partially-melted, quasi-skeletal face stared at them with empty eye sockets.

“Hmmph. I still I don’t understand your attachment to him, old man. I have told you again and again that he can’t be trusted, and he has now proven me right.”

“ASHA’S PERSEVERANCE MADE HIM AN UNSTOPPABLE AGENT,” said the Man in Shadow, “…AT LEAST, IN THEORY. NEVERTHELESS, HAD HE NOT BEEN CREATED. YOU WOULD NOT EXIST. PERHAPS YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL.”

“I will show no such gratitude. ‘Asha’ was a flawed and inferior prototype for the perfection that is this body,” the Knight countered. “And with this soul, there is no force in this or any universe that can compare to what I am capable of.”

“SAVE FOR DESTINY HERSELF.”

The Knight fell silent. Anger continued to seethe within their chest, but no amount of it would deny the truth that was now staring them in the face.

“…She must not be allowed the chance to awaken her true power. She must be eliminated.”

“THAT WOULD SEEM TO BE THE OBVIOUS SOLUTION. HOWEVER… AS I CAN TELL YOU FROM EXPERIENCE. THAT WILL NOT WORK.”

The Knight remained silent. Their hands twitched, embers of quiet frustration flickering deep within their chest cavity.

“TO DEFEAT DESTINY IS IMPOSSIBLE. NO MATTER THE REALITY. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE ONE WHO EMBODIES IT. REMOVE ONE INCARNATION. AND ANOTHER WILL TAKE ITS PLACE.”

“And yet, as you say, destiny is never left to chance,” the Knight replied. “It is clear to me now that merely sending her away from us will fail. We know that she is not one to give up for anything. As the Fountains continue to open across space and time, she will continue to traverse the realities. Knowing her luck, we cannot trust that the final preparations will be completed before she finds us.”

“SO YOU INTEND TO CONFRONT HER, THEN?”

The Knight looked back towards their master, their gaze meeting the infinite black void within their master’s eyes.

“No. I intend to destroy her. And when I do, I will seize the reins of fate with my own hands.”

--------

June 16^th, 202X-3

Based on what you’d learned of the Dark Worlds yesterday, they could appear anywhere, and be anything. You aren’t certain what the consequences of more Dark Fountains opening will be, but it almost doesn’t matter to you. You can tell in your gut that it won’t be anything good, and you’ve already decided that you’re going to shut them down.

You spend the entire day wandering Hometown, investigating for signs of anything unusual. You find nothing… at first. But as your journey brings you to the outskirts of town, your attention is drawn to a dilapidated old building that has remained abandoned for years.

The Millionaire Casino, it was called. A simple establishment, barely large enough to hold two dozen slot machines and a roulette wheel. But for a time, it was a highly popular getaway for the town’s adult populace. This was shortly after gambling was legalized in Hometown by referendum vote, as part of a bid to boost its struggling economy. Despite your mother’s vocal opposition to the idea, it passed by a wide margin.

The Casino was successful, for a time, but was quickly revealed to be a front for a drug-dealing gang that had influence throughout the tri-state area. Police Chief Asgore quickly had the place shut down, and gambling was almost immediately banned once again. You were only in sixth grade when it happened, but it was the talk of virtually every kid in school.

It was, without doubt, the closest thing to *anything* exciting that had happened in Hometown.

Until now, that is.

As you approach the disused property, the paint on the former Casino’s walls is chipped and peeling, and massive overgrown weeds surround the building. It’s been close to a decade since the parking lot was maintained in any way whatsoever, and this is evident by the hardy grasses growing through the cracks in the asphalt. The sign above the front entrance, scrubbed clean long ago, is now yellowed and fraying, and the neon lights lining the building’s top are broken and falling apart.

Through the window of the casino, cracked and broken, you see a darkness similar to what you saw in the supply closet yesterday. A darkness *beyond* darkness, radiating outwards and dimming the very atmosphere, as though it were sucking away all of the light in the vicinity.

You don’t hesitate to open the door and head inside. The last remaining light recedes as find yourself being pulled in, hurtling into the shadows.

The Dark World you find on the other side can only be described as excessively gaudy. It’s a massive city that looks like the Las Praderas Strip filtered through a fever dream. Buildings fashioned out of slot machines, roads built from massively elongated casino tables, stacks of poker chips and six-sided dice, and even giant pachinko machines for good measure.

The Darkners you meet are all likewise fashioned after casino game pieces. Some of them are fairly familiar — you’re hassled at regular intervals by Rudinns, who appear far more threatening than the ones you met in the school supply closet. The Gachamons are living Gacha machines who spit toys out of their mouths, and the Chipsters are likewise built from living poker chips.

And then there are the Slot Goblins. The less that’s said about *them*, the better.

Your path takes you across the winding casino roads, across many buildings and dangers, but eventually you find what is clearly your destination — a *massive* resort hotel, visible even in the distance, built out of gaudy golden bricks and blazing with neon decorations that somehow shine with darkness instead of light.

You make your way to the entrance of the hotel, and navigate through the labyrinthine corridors. The Dark Fountain is here, you can feel it somewhere deep in your soul. It takes ages, but eventually you make your way to a large auditorium near the top of the building. The path leads you through the backstage corridors, and behind the stage curtain. The decorations make it look like the stage of some kind of game show. There’s a microphone propped upright in the center, as well as a number of dice-themed decorations.

As you approach, you clutch your keyblade in hand, not sure of what to expect. But what you’re looking for is here, and you can feel it.

Your suspicions are confirmed when, from seemingly out of nowhere, a spotlight shines on the stage. From the other side, you see a new Darkner stride forth.

He’s another casino game piece, that much is clear, but he’s much taller than the others — almost two times your own height. He appears as a man in a very gaudy yet immaculately tailored purple tuxedo. His head is a single six-sided die, and he has a pearly-white grin topped by a pencil-thin mustache and a purple button nose. His teeth gleam as he looks you over with his massive eyes.

“Well, hi-di-ho there, miss! The name’s Snake Eyes, the rambling, gambling king of the cards and dice. And this here is my fine establishment, the Millionaire Dice Head Resort. Now, I’d bid you welcome, but… well, word around here is you’ve been going around making trouble for my minio— employees. My employees.”

“Hey, they’re the ones who attacked me,” you counter.

“That so? Well, regardless, it ain’t every day you see a Lightner come around these parts,” Snake Eyes replies. His eyes narrow as he stares at you in a way that you instantly find uncomfortable. “And not just any Lightner, either! Judging from those antlers on your pretty little head… I’d say you’re Mayor Holiday’s daughter. Ain’t that right?”

You feel your grip on your keyblade tighten. “Yeah? And what’s it to you, huh?”

“Oh-ho-ho!” Snake Eyes chuckles. “Miss Holiday, you have *no* idea. See, here at my proud resort, our entire life’s mission is to bring joy to Lightnerkind.”

“By doing what?” you snort. “Scamming them out of their money? Indulging their gambling addictions?”

“I give the people what they want,” Snake Eyes smoothly answers. “And your mother, well. She didn’t take too kindly to that. Needless to say, me and all my loyal underlings are feelin’ pretty miffed. Ain’t no wonder other folks aren’t too fond of you barging in here.”

You grit your teeth as you glare daggers at Snake Eyes. “And what the hell does the Mayor have to do with me!? You think just because she’s my mom, I’m like her!?”

Snake Eyes is entirely unperturbed. His pearly-white smile, infuriatingly, remains as bright as ever as he adjusts his bowtie. “Aw, come on now. Ain’t you ever heard of a little thing called ‘catharsis?’ Sure, maybe you ain’t to blame for what happened to us. But see, I’ve got *all* this pent-up frustration from having my operation shut down. And you… well, you’ve come here for a reason, I presume. Something to do with the Dark Fountain, maybe?”

You make a point to say nothing in response. Your eyes remain locked on the dice-man’s eyes. You’re intent on staring him down despite his massive stature.

Snake Eyes makes a finger-gun gesture at you. “So! Tell you what. How about we make a little wager to settle things between us?”

Your eyes narrow. “…What kind of wager?”

“Simple, my friend! If you can best my challenges, I’ll let you go ahead and do whatever you want with the Fountain.”

“And if I lose?”

Snake Eyes gives another chuckle, though this one has none of the gleeful pomp and showmanship you’ve come to expect. The lights (or anti-lights, as it were) seem to dim as he speaks.

“If you lose… then I get to take your soul.”

You close your eyes, and let out a groan. Of course it wouldn’t be so easy. You weren’t sure what you were even expecting.

Snake Eyes can clearly see your hesitation, and his teeth gleam as he flashes another perfectly photogenic smile. “Need a few minutes to mull it over, do ya?” he says. “Well, consider this: the only way you can get to that there Dark Fountain is through me. So if you ain’t interested… then you’d best be prepared to stick around here a *long* time.”

Despite your resignation, your determination does not falter. You ready your keyblade as you lock eyes with the dice-man before you.

“You’re on.”

“Excellent!” Snake Eyes says, beaming. “Now, then, without further ado…”

He reaches for the stand microphone, and the curtains lift up to reveal a live audience of Darkners watching the stage. Your ears are assailed by a chorus of cheers and applause as Snake Eyes holds the microphone close, singing a jaunty, jazzy tune as live big band music plays from seemingly nowhere.

“Welcome! Welcome, ladies, gents, and all you other fine folks, to the greatest variety game this side of the Fountain! It’s time to…”

Snake Eyes looks expectantly at the audience, which chants out in unison:

“Roll! The! Dice!”

Neon dark-lights blare across the stage, the combined sights and sounds pounding against your head as Snake Eyes mugs for the audience.

“You already know the rules, folks! Our lovely Miss Holiday here will have to survive three rounds of increasingly difficult challenges!”

Another series of applause erupts from the audience. You keep your grip on your keyblade steady, trying as hard as you can to ignore the anxiety building in your chest.

“And now, for our first round! Presenting… the one and only… Combat Arena Challenge!”

He tosses the microphone aside, and loudly snaps his fingers. Instantly, your surroundings shift, as though space and time are both warping at his command. Within moments, you find yourself standing on a giant craps table. You look up to see Snake Eyes floating in the air above you, holding a large baton in his hands.

Before you even have time to question it, Snake Eyes points at you with the baton. At his command, roughly a dozen Rudinns appear in a puff of smoke, each of them brandishing a long and pointed spear. The Darkners charge at you with reckless abandon, and you quickly somersault into the air to avoid being skewered.

What happens next is almost an instinctual response. As you descend from your jump, you position your keyblade at just the right angle to strike the head of one of the Rudinns, as though you were somehow parrying its entire body. You leap from one to the next, knocking over each of the Darkners as you bounce across their assault one by one.

When the last of your opponents are incapacitated, you land on the floor, and look to see the Rudinns standing up and scattering, disappearing into the distance as they run away. You hold your keyblade ready as Snake Eyes gestures with his baton. A second wave of opponents appears in puffs of smoke, more numerous than the first.

Despite their increased number, you ultimately deal with the Rudinns just as easily as before. Deftly hopping across them, you knock them all down one by one, until you’re once again left standing alone.

(Geez, these guys don’t know how outmatched they are, huh? I kind of feel bad for them…)

As your would-be opponents scatter and flee, Snake Eyes gestures with his baton again, and you ready yourself for another wave of foes.

Instead, what you’re greeted with is the sight of a single Darkner, different from the others you’ve seen before.

A small purple imp, dressed in a jester’s uniform, with bright lipstick and a strikingly curved figure.

“EHEEHEEHEE! FREE! FREE! FREE AT LAST!”

Panic strikes at your heart, the very the moment that you lay eyes upon… her, apparently.

“J-Jevil!? What are you doing here!? Why are you a girl!?”

A mischievous, distorted giggle assaults your ears. “JEVIL? WHO’S THAT? I’M JOKUBUS!”

Your voice cracks as you fight to keep your internal screaming on the inside. “Oh god not another one!”

Snake Eyes blinks rapidly at the sight before him.

“Wha… hey! No you don’t! Get outta here!”

He glides through the air over to Jokubus and taps her over the head with his baton, causing her to disappear in a puff of smoke.

Your apprehension does not falter — if anything, you’re even more worried now of what Snake Eyes is capable of. His showman’s smile returns, bright as ever, as he turns his attention to you.

“Dearly sorry about that, Miss Holiday. Ain’t no jokers in casino games, don’t you know.”

“Uh…”

“In any case, since you’ve bested all of my minions, that means you’ve cleared the Combat Arena Challenge! But don’t get too comfortable yet, because now we’re on to the next round!”

“W-wait, hold on!”

Snake Eyes snaps his fingers again, and your surroundings shift once more. Your head spins as space warps all around you, and the scenery melts away to reveal a new location.

Now, you’re standing on outer edge of a giant roulette wheel, which is floating hundreds of feet above the casino city. Snake Eyes appears in a puff of smoke, hovering in the air just above the wheel’s central turret. A spotlight shines on him from somewhere high above as he gestures to the massive installation you stand on.

“You’ve seen it with your own eyes! Miss Holiday here has survived the Combat Challenge, but can she make it through this daring and death-defying obstacle course? That’s right, folks! This ain’t your daddy’s roulette wheel! It’s the one… the only… the original… ROUL WHEEL! Take it away, my lovely assistant!”

“Wait, assistant?”

Before you can even finish, Snake Eyes gestures with his baton, and a pillar of darklight manifests out of seemingly nowhere. When it recedes, you see a slender, strikingly blue man with bright white hair hovering by Snake Eyes’s side.

“Allowest me to explaineth thee the rouxls of this Roul Wheel.”

“Oh god not you.”

“The wheel shalt spinne, and thou must be careful not to lose thine hoofing!”

“Footing,” you correct. “Just because I have hooves—”

“But bewareth! For the balle shalt continue on its merry pathe, and flatten all who standeth in its way!”

“…Okay?”

“And shoulde the wheel landeth on the ‘Bankrupt’ or ‘Lose A Turn’ spaces—”

Snake Eyes immediately balks. “Whoa! Hey! What show do you think this is!? Get outta here!”

He floats over to his ‘assistant,’ raises his leg, and immediately gives him a swift kick in the rear, sending him vanishing over the wheel’s edge and into the horizon.

“GOD. DAMN IT.”

“Knew I should have hired that blonde lady,” Snake Eyes mumbles. “Anyhow! Are you ready, Miss Holiday?”

“Um… I guess?” you say. “For a show called ‘Roll the Dice,’ I’ve noticed we don’t seem to be doing any of that.”

Snake Eyes gives a hearty chuckle. “Ha! Good one. I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. Here goes!”

Before you can even react, he hovers up to the turret and loudly taps it with his baton. Almost instantly, the wheel begins to spin, and you’re very nearly swept off your legs as the floor rockets out from under you. You quickly regain your balance by breaking into a running stride, counteracting the motion of the floor by running along the Roul Wheel’s ball track.

You’re only safe for a tiny moment before you remember *why* it’s called the ‘ball track.’ Your spine tingles, and you leap to the side just in time to avoid being crushed from behind by a massive metallic sphere, easily three times your height in diameter.

Your jump bring you inwards, closer to the center of the wheel, where you land in one of the pockets below the numbered spaces. The continued motion of the wheel threatens to send you flying backwards, so you carry your momentum forward, into another leap. You jump, and jump, and jump, bounding across the pockets of the Roul Wheel, trying not to think about what happens when you stop.

It’s only when you hear a ‘ker-chunk’ right behind you that you realize something is amiss. Looking back through the corner of your eye, you realize that every time you land in a pocket, massive steel spikes briefly extend from the ground beneath your hooves. It’s only because of your quick instincts that you haven’t been bloodily skewered.

Your heart is pounding now, thumping heavily in your chest. You keep moving, keep jumping, pure adrenaline driving your every motion. It’s only when you start to stumble, and very narrowly avoid getting impaled, that you notice that the wheel is slowing down.

You have to be careful now. You time your jumps more methodically — not slowly, but with more conscious thought and effort. The wheel continues to slow down, yet your head feels like its spinning faster than ever.

The massive Roul Wheel finally begins grinding to a stop, and you hear a deep rumbling noise to your left. You make one final leap, just in time to jump over the ball as it careens into the pocket you were occupying. You land on the ball track, feeling almost like you could vomit.

As you finally catch your breath, you glare daggers at Snake Eyes, who is grinning just as wide and pearly-white as ever. A spotlight shines on him, and his baton spontaneously morphs into a stand microphone in a puff of smoke.

“Well, would you look at that! It looks like our fine contestant has survived the second round!”

“What the hell was up with that!?” you shout. “Are you trying to kill me!?”

Snake Eyes laughs heartily. “Good one, Miss Holiday! As if you didn’t already know that your very soul is at stake here! Isn’t she a hoot, folks? Let’s all give her a big hand!”

Live studio applause rings in your ears, coming from seemingly nowhere, as you suddenly realize just how much danger you are in. By now you’re under no illusion that the Dark Worlds are safe, but it never truly felt like anything in them could actually threaten your life. Even Jevil, for all of his seemingly unstoppable power, felt more like he was was toying with you than trying to kill you.

“And now it’s time for the third and final round!” Snake Eyes snaps his fingers again, and the surroundings shift once more. Within moments, you’re standing right back on the stage where you started. His stand microphone once again vanishes in a puff of smoke, and once again he’s holding the long baton in his hand. “For your final challenge, Miss Holiday, you get none other than a one-on-one duel against yours truly!”

“More fighting?” you snort. “Fine by me.”

“Ah, ah, ah. Don’t get too cocky now, miss,” Snake Eyes chides. “There ain’t a single person alive, light or dark, that’s ever managed to keep up with my rhythm. And I don’t anticipate that you’ll be the first. Are you ready to prove me wrong?”

You hold your gaze steady, and ready your keyblade in a fighting stance.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then!”

A live band begins to play from somewhere off stage, blaring a hectic and jazzy tune that rattles across your eardrums. The very instant the percussion drops, Snake Eyes charges at you, wielding his baton as though it were a weapon of his very own.

You raise your keyblade just in time to deflect the first swipe of his cane, but his movements are impossibly fast as he continues his assault. With each beat of the drums he makes another swing, and you just barely manage to parry each successive strike in turn. Finally your focus slips, and the end of his baton impacts you square in the center of the gut.

You tumble backwards and bounce back onto your feet, and with renewed resolve, you close the distance between you and Snake Eyes again. Keyblade at the read, you make a wild downward swing, only for Snake Eyes to smoothly sidestep the attack.

Another slash follows, then another. Every time you attempt to strike, your weapon is met only with empty air. Snake Eyes’ feet tap loudly against the floor, his entire body moving as though he were dancing the jitterbug with every subsequent dodge.

Just as your frustration mounts, he then swoops in and makes another swipe of his cane, striking you square across the forehead. You stumble back again, forehead throbbing as you struggle to maintain your grip on your keyblade. You reach up with your free hand and briefly feel for your antlers, letting out a soft sigh of relief that they aren’t broken.

The relief is short-lived, as you look to see your opponent grinning at you with smug, taunting eyes.

You grit your teeth, and grumble beneath your breath. As tempting as it is to charge in blindly again, you realize in the back of your mind that you’ll just be setting yourself up for another counterattack.

(Shit, this isn’t looking good. He might be even stronger than Jevil, and I don’t even have that plush guy to help me this time. What do I do?)

“Come on, Miss Holiday!” Snake Eyes says. “I know you can do better than that! Let’s see if you can’t swing with the rhythm!”

And then, that’s when it hits. Rhythm. The jazz music blaring in the background, the tapping of Snake Eyes’ feet, the baton he carries in his hands, the jittery swinging movements he makes with every step.

You’re treating this contest like a fight, and Snake Eyes is treating it like a *dance.*

Your eyes narrow, as determination surges within your chest. “Alright, then. Challenge accepted.”

Again you charge in, keyblade at the ready, but this time you take a different approach. Your train your ears on the sounds of the music, listening closely to beat, feeling it resonate with something deep inside you.

Now, your swings of the keyblade follow along with the music, each beat punctuated by another attempted strike. Your weapon trades blows with Snake Eyes’ over the sound of brass instruments, the clash of blade against baton following the groove of the song. He has much more trouble outmaneuvering you now, as your hooves tap along the floor with just as much rhythm as his feat.

For what feels like forever, the two of you remain locked in the dance, a back-and-forth exchange of blows and parries that grows more frantic and intense, by the second.

But eventually, something in Snake Eyes’ rhythm slips. You exploit the opening mercilessly, slashing across his legs with your keyblade, then following it up with an additional flurry of strikes. You keep going, keep laying on your assault, until finally the tension within your soul crosses a threshold.

“ICE NUKE!”

With a powerful cry, you raise your keyblade skyward, and a wave of frigid magic bursts out all around you. The band cuts out instantly, and you hear a chorus of astonished gasps from the studio audience. In the wake of the icy explosion, a cold mist hovers across the stage, blocking your view of your surroundings.

When it finally clears, Snake Eyes is collapsed onto one knee, his once-immaculate tuxedo now tattered and covered in patches of frost.

Several loud, hacking coughs escape from his throat. “E-enough. I… I surrender.”

Another chorus of astonished gasps come from the audience, followed by the low rumblings of confused and panicked murmurs. You pay them no mind, as you pointedly raise an eyebrow at Snake Eyes.

“So… that’s it, then? I win?”

Snake Eyes stands to his feet, and once again dons his prize-winning smile. Despite being so visibly roughed-up, his teeth shine as brightly as ever.

“No need to be so incredulous, Miss Holiday. Part of being a gambling man is knowing when to fold,” he says. He reaches out with his baton, which morphs once again into a stand microphone as he grins at the audience. “That’s right, folks! We have ourselves a winner! Let’s all give our fine contestant a round of applause!”

As if on command, the entire studio audience bursts into a chorus of clapping and cheers. A spotlight shines on you from somewhere above, and confetti rains down from an unseen hatch in the ceiling. You causally turn your lips up and blow away a piece of brightly-colored paper that gets stuck on your nose.

“Thank you, thank you! You’ve all been a wonderful audience!” Snake Eyes says with a wave. “Goodbye, and good night!”

The curtains lining the stage come to a close, and you’re left facing Snake Eyes alone. You’re not ready to let your guard down just yet.

“So… I get to go home now, right? You’ll show me the way to the Dark Fountain?”

“Come on now, Miss Holiday,” he answers with his signature grin. “Do I like like someone who’d ever lie to you?”

“…Uh.”

“Don’t answer that.”

You let out a groan. You can still feel the rhythm of the jazz music pounding in your forehead. “Will you just tell me where the damn Fountain is already!?”

“Straight to the point as ever, I see,” says Snake Eyes.

He snaps his fingers, and a door frame materializes in between the two of you, facing the now-closed curtain. The seemingly empty frame opens into another space entirely, like a magic portal you would see in a work of fantasy. In that space, you see a walkway extend into the distance, ending before signature billowing shadows of the Dark Fountain.

“Right through here. You can’t miss it.”

“Yeah, thanks,” you mutter. You’re almost too tired to say anything else, or even question whether it’s a good idea to enter a door summoned by someone who was just minutes ago putting you through a death course.

Just as you’re about to cross the threshold, however, a thought crosses your mind. You never had a chance to ask the question before. Sealing Jevil away took up so much of your energy in the last Dark World that you only wanted to leave as soon as possible.

But the fact that Seam was *convinced* that more Dark Worlds would open up, and that they would spell doom for the world, has remained on your mind ever since. And now the questions you have are impossible to ignore.

It isn’t long before Snake Eyes takes notice of your hesitation. “Hm? Something the matter?”

“Yeah, actually,” you say. “Before I go, there’s something I need to know. Just who and what exactly is responsible for opening this Dark Fountain in the first place?”

Snake Eyes pauses momentarily. You see an uncertainty in his eyes. It’s the first time he’s shown you anything other than an unshakable showman’s confidence.

“I’m afraid I can’t rightly say,” he says. “Usually, Dark Fountains are opened when a Lightner stabs the earth. All you need’s a soul, and the determination to make your dreams reality. I was hoping to use your soul to open another Fountain and expand my enterprise even further. Give the people of your town the good times they so desperately crave.”

“But that wasn’t how *this* fountain opened,” you say.

“No. Best I figure, some terrible unseen power struck the earth all on its own,” said Snake Eyes. “I don’t rightly know what it is or where it came from. But there’ve been rumors. Folks who say they’ve heard voices, seen things in their dreams. Dreams of a Man in Shadow, whispers of some kind of experiment. I don’t usually buy into such hokum, of course… but sometimes I can’t help but wonder.”

You feel a twinge of disappointment in your chest. You didn’t expect answers would come so easily, but you still feel let down. “So you don’t know how it happened either, huh? Thanks anyway, I guess. I’ll see you around. Or, um… not.”

As you turn towards the door, you’re stopped by Snake Eyes calling out to you one last time. His voice is grave, much more deathly serious than anything you’ve yet heard from him.

“Before you head off, Miss Holiday… I should warn you. I’d bet my entire business that something big is about to happen to your world. I can feel it in my bones. So make sure to watch yourself, ‘cause if you go knocking at the Devil’s front door… you’ll find he just might answer.”

--------

When Iji’s head finally stopped spinning, and her eyes adjusted to the not-light, she found herself once again donning her Dark World armor, carrying the sleeker gun in her hands. Asriel and Chara were both standing beside her, both of them again also dressed in the fantastical outfits. Judging from the strangely empty sensation in her head, it seemed that Chara had once again been separated from her and made corporeal.

They appeared to now all be standing in some kind of narrow underground corridor, the kind seen deep within a castle dungeon. Dark brick walls lined both sides of the hallways, and the floor was fashioned out of plain stone. The only sources of light (or rather, darkness) were the strange blue torches that lined the walls, though the lack of smoke coming from them made it clear that they were magical in nature.

“Is everyone alright?” said Iji. She paused for a moment, when she realized who in the group. “Wait, Val? Vateilika? Where are you?”

“Right behind you.”

Iji spun around, and sure enough, Vateilika standing behind her. She was no longer wearing her standard-issue Tasen Soldier armor, but instead a rugged-looking, vaguely space-rogueish outfit.

Durable-looking, muted purple trousers were worn over her legs, and an unbuttoned blue-grey jacket was draped over a white shirt and a form-fitting black undershirt. Metal boots adorned her feet, leaving only her orange claws exposed, and her hands and wrists were likewise guarded by tough-looking metal gloves. Her helmet was gone now, leaving her reptilian face and fully exposed, and the scar over her eye seemed more prominent than ever.

Most strikingly of all, however, was that her nanogun rifle had been replaced by a truly massive crossbow, fashioned out of what looked like gun parts that had been salvaged from a scrapyard.

“Oh, there you are. Didn’t see you there,” said Iji. “Um… nice outfit?”

“Same to you,” said Vateilika. “Gotta say, I ain’t never heard of a human having blue skin. You got some sort of cosmetic biomod going?”

“No, the Dark World just… does that, I think?” said Iji. “Don’t ask me how. I have no clue.”

“Makes about as much sense as anything else in this place,” said Vateilika. She turned her crossbow over, eyeing it carefully. “Stars, and this weapon looks so primitive. Is this really what passes for a gun to humans?”

“That’s a crossbow. We, um… used them before guns were invented.”

Vatelika blinked. She stared at Iji blankly, as a dawning look of horror crept across her face. “Oh Jesus fucking Christ.”

“Wait,” said Iji, “how do you know that phrase?”

Vateilika gave a course laugh. “Hah! You kidding? Cussin’s the first thing I learned in English. Mighty useful, lemme tell you.”

“…Fair enough. But go easy on those, there are kids here.”

Asriel rolled his eyes. “Really, Iji? You know I don’t exactly have a lot of childhood innocence left.”

“Yeah, and I already know all the swears,” said Chara, with a smirk. “I’ve memorized all twenty-seven!”

“Twenty-seven?” said Iji. “There’s that many?”

Chara’s smirk only grew wider in response. “Depends on how you’re counting.”

“…And suddenly I’ve decided I don’t want to know,” Iji deadpanned. “In any case, we should try to get our bearings before we move ahead.”

She looked around, taking in the surroundings carefully. Behind the group was a flat wall, the corridor roughly cutting off into a dead end. Ahead, the hallways continued onward before the view vanished into the shadows. Whatever was ahead would only be found by continuing down the path.

“You can start by explaining what this ‘Dark World’ place is supposed to be,” said Vateilika. “I don’t think you ever told us just what’s going on with that Fountain thing you mentioned.”

“Um… well, we’re still not completely sure on how it works exactly,” Iji replied. “But a Dark Fountain is like… a fountain of some kind of supernatural darkness, which gives life to fantasy and imagination. The Dark Worlds seem to be pocket dimensions of some kind which spring from the Fountain. The Fountain we’re looking for was made in an old tabletop gaming store, so… I’m guessing this Dark World is some kind of tabletop RPG brought to life?”

Iji blinked, and Vateilika stared at her blankly. Slowly, Iji started to realize that Vateilika might have been missing some important cultural context.

“Um, a tabletop RPG is a—”

“I know what that is. We had those too,” said Vateilika. “It’s just that everything you just said is completely insane.”

“Welcome to my life,” Iji remarked. “In any case, we should get moving. It doesn’t look like there’s any way but forward for now. Everyone stick together closely, we don’t know what we’ll find here.”

And so Iji led the group through the corridor, Vateilika following closely behind her, then Chara and Asriel. The path took a sharp turn to the left, and then a right, and then another left. The corridor continued to wind onward with seemingly no end.

But just when Iji was about to question of the hallway really was endless, she came across a door. Carefully, she stepped forward, reaching for the handle…

…and when she pushed the door open, her eyes went wide as she saw four people standing on the other side.

The first of them was a tall black man with a muscular build and a shaved head, wearing deep blue armor, and carrying a massive greatsword on his back with a striking green hilt. Behind him was a red-headed woman with her hair tied into a short ponytail, dressed in distinctively rogueish leathers. She was in turn closely followed by a lanky man with short blonde hair, an unbuttoned blue jacket vest draped across a white flannel shirt and blue trousers, and a mandolin hoisted across his back. At the end of the group was an elf, judging by their ears and short stature, with bright red robes, pallid skin, and purple hair tied into an unkempt ponytail.

For several seconds, Iji could only stand still and stare. Her mind, for whatever reason, had already mentally categorized the four strangers as Fighter, Thief, Bard, and Wizard, respectively.

“...Alright, I’ll bite,” said Fighter. “Who are you people and what are you doing in our campaign?”

“Yeah, and what’s with the sci-fi getup?” said Bard. “Didn’t G.M. tell you that this is a fantasy setting?”

Already, Iji wasn’t sure if she liked where this was going. No sense lying about it, I guess.

“Um. My name is Iji, me and my friends came from the Light World. We’re kind of busy right now, so if you could just let us through…”

“Wait,” Fighter cut in. “Iji? As in Iji Kataiser?”

“Yeah, that’s me. We’re—” She cut herself off before she could finish, as her eyes went wide. “W-wait! Wait a second! How do you know my full name!?”

A sly grin appeared on Fighter’s face.

“Easy,” he said, drawing his sword with an audible sharpness. “We’re the Order of d6. We’re here to take you out.”

Chapter Text

Already, Iji could feel herself developing a headache. Less than two minutes into the new Dark World, and she was already being faced with another potential fight. The tall, muscular man holding a sword in her face retained his determined expression as he stared Iji in the eye.

Iji could only sigh in response. “Okay, back up a minute. Why are you here to ‘take us out?’ We’ve literally only just got here.”

The man, who Iji could still only think of as ‘Fighter,’ shot her a quizzical glance. “Uh… because you’re the ones messing with the Dark Fountains?”

“Well, yes, but what’s that have to do with…?” Iji’s word trailed off as a realization dawned on her. “…Ah, dammit. That’s what you’re trying to stop us from doing, isn’t it?”

Fighter gave Iji a sly grin. “Glad that we’re on the same page. So unless you want to surrender and come quietly, I suggest you and your friends start rolling initiative.”

Iji glanced over her shoulder, at her companions. Vateilika was giving her an odd look.

“…Is it normal for people to pick fights with you guys this quickly?”

“Oh, you have no idea,” said Iji. “Let’s just try to get this over with. I don’t want to waste any more time in this gloomy dungeon than we have to.”

“Wait. Hold that thought a moment,” Chara chimed in. They looked over towards Fighter and his apparent adventuring party. “Before we begin the battle, can I ask you guys a question?”

“Sure,” said Fighter. “What is it?”

“You’re all Darkners made from D&D characters, right?”

“Well, obviously,” said Fighter. “What else would we be?”

“So how come you’re called the Order of d6?” Chara said. “Wouldn’t ‘Order of d20’ be a more appropriate name?”

Fighter gave an exasperated groan. “What? No! Why does everyone always ask that? It’s not because of the dice we use, it’s because there’s six of us!”

Iji looked back at the others. She, Asriel, Vateilika, and Chara all shared an odd look.

“…Uh,” said Asriel. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yes!” said Fighter. He looked back and gestured to the rest of his party. “There’s me, Bard, Thief, Wizard, and…”

His words suddenly trailed off, and slowly, a realization crawled across his face. He turned towards the lanky blonde man behind him, frowning deeply.

“…Bard.”

“Yes Fighter?”

“Where are Cleric and Ranger?”

“Oh, them? Cleric went on some kind of personal character sidequest. Ranger followed him to make sure he stayed out of trouble.” He paused, and a thoughtful look crossed his face. “…Or maybe was it the other way around?”

Fighter threw his left arm up, somehow managing to perfectly hold his massive two-handed broadsword in his single free hand.

“Are you kidding me!? Haven’t they ever heard ‘don’t split the party!?’ That is literally the first thing they teach in Fighter College!”

“Wait,” said Asriel, “why would you need to go to college to learn how to swing a sword?”

Fighter didn’t even bother to look in Asriel’s direction as he answered. “I am going to do you a very big favor and pretend you didn’t ask that.”

“Hey, relax!” Bard chimed in. “It’s way better this way. See? There’s four of them, and four of us! That means we’re evenly matched!”

Iji blinked, then gave Bard an odd look. She was already getting the feeling that he wasn’t the brightest torch in the dungeon.

“…I’m sorry, how is that better for you than outnumbering us?”

“Easy! Because there’s way more dramatic tension that way!”

Iji could only stare blankly in response.

“Uh. What?”

“And look!” Bard continued, pointing a finger at Asriel. “One of their party members is a goat! And he’s wearing red! So this is our chance to strike true!”

“Honey, that prophecy came true over a thousand strips ago,” said Thief.

“What?” said Iji. “Strips? Prophecy? What?”

If Bard had heard what Iji said, he certainly didn’t show it.

“Exactly! That’s what makes it the perfect callback! There’s so many narrative layers here! We can’t lose!”

“I am pleased to note that you are as much of a bottomless well of self-reference as ever,” Wizard deadpanned.

“Didn’t you say virtually that exact same line a few hundred strips ago?” said Thief.

“…And now it seems I am afflicted with the contagion as well. Wonderful.”

“I’m sorry,” Iji cried out, “but what the hell are all of you talking about!?”

“Party banter,” said Thief. “Standard procedure.”

“No joke, it’s literally in our contract,” Fighter added.

“Didn’t you tear that up?” said Bard.

The headache that was building in Iji’s temples intensified. She sighed, and raised a hand to press her fingers to her forehead. “Ugh. Whatever. Can… can we please just fight now?”

“Way ahead of you there,” Fighter said with a grin. “Everyone, split up! We’ll each take one of them on!”

The Order spread out across the dungeon hallway, following Fighter’s orders. It proved to be quite a lot roomier than Iji had anticipated, as though it were somehow always just wide enough to accommodate whatever was happening.

Within short order, Iji found herself standing straight across from Fighter, staring him down. His steely gaze was just as fierce as her own, and she could almost feel the sparks flying from where her eyes met his.

* Dice Fighter

* ATK: 2d6 + 5

* AC: 31

* Beleaguered Good hero. Takes oaths very seriously.

Iji let loose a few energy shots from her nanogun, expecting Fighter to go down quickly. It wasn’t normally wise to bring a sword to a gun fight, after all.

She should have known better than to expect real-world logic to apply to the Dark World. With little more than a grunt of mild pain, Fighter charged straight through the projectiles, ignoring the slight burn marks singing his armor as he barreled towards Iji with his greatsword brandished.

Iji stepped backward just in time to avoid a powerful downward slash. She moved to pull the trigger as she aimed for Fighter’s center mass, only for him to follow up with another attack. It was a very odd-looking maneuver, a dazzling slash technique performed with an odd twist, and it seemed to somehow interrupt her gun’s shots just before they left the barrel.

The slash struck Iji straight across the chest, and her nanogun immediately fell to the ground, knocked clear out of her hands. She cursed several times beneath her breath, as Fighter’s lips curved into a self-satisfied smirk.

“How’s that?” he gloated. “Now let’s see you try to fight without your weapon!”

“Terms accepted.”

Before Fighter could even ask for clarification, Iji followed her words with a swift kick to the center of his solar plexus. Immediately, he was sent rocketing backwards, before colliding against the dungeon wall, only barely managing to hold onto his sword with one hand.

As his head spun, he slowly climbed to his feet. By the time he finally righted himself, his eyes had gone wide in exasperated shock.

“Gah!! What the hell!? Are you taking levels in Monk or something!?”

“Kickboxer,” Iji corrected. She raised her fists, adopting the same fighting stance that had been drilled into her subconscious mind since childhood. “But close enough.”

--------

Asriel stared at Bard oddly, not quite knowing what to expect from the guy. On the surface, he looked like a harmless oddball, in a way that reminded Asriel of Papyrus…

…which in itself raised an immediate red flag. If there’s one thing Papyrus proved, it’s that harmless oddballs could quickly become anything but.

* Die Bard

* ATK: 1d6 + 5 (+ 2d6 pun bonus)

* AC: 23

* Likes: wordplay, oblique references, Christmas movies.

For what felt like forever, Asriel could only stare at the tall blonde man, his attention particularly drawn to the musical instrument tethered to his back.

“So, uh… are you gonna fight me with that mandolin or something?”

“Nope!” Bard answered. He reached into… somewhere with his right hand, and pulled out a long, thin thrusting sword. “Rapier. I’ve taken levels in Dashing Swordsman!”

Asriel let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Oh. That’s a relief. I almost felt bad about fighting you for a second.”

“Changed your mind about me already, have you? No need to be so capricious, my caprine friend!”

As Bard let loose a quip, he lunged forward with his rapier, stabbing Asriel clear through the shoulder. Asriel let out a sharp cry of pain as the metal dug deeply into his flesh.

“Aaaagh! W-what!?”

“But if you really do want to go mano-a-mano…”

Before Asriel could even react, Bard reached over with his free hand and roughly smacked him, striking Asriel clear across his muzzle.

“…then I’ll defeat you handily!”

As the sting of pain rang across his face, a grim comprehension rapidly dawned over Asriel. A deep, powerful terror gripped at his artificial soul, its icy chill clinging to this inside of his chest.

“Nooooo!! Not the puns!! ANYTHING but that!!!”

--------

Vateilika kept her finger hovered over the trigger of her crossbow as she aimed it square at Thief’s chest. Thief, for her part, didn’t seem particularly concerned by the lethal weapon aimed right at her heart.

“So, what line of work are you in?”

“Uh,” said Vateilika. “Beg your pardon? Ain’t we supposed to be fighting right about now?”

“Relax, talking is a free action,” Thief replied. “So, what do you do for a dishonest living? Burglary? Pickpocketing? Maybe banditry?”

Immediately, Vateilika felt herself bristling. “Excuse me!? I’ll have you know I’m a soldier, not some rotten miscreant! Just what sort of scoundrel do you take me for!?”

Thief could only roll her eyes. “Look, lady, I’ve been in the Rogue business for practically all my life. I know a fellow scoundrel when I see one. You don’t have to play coy with me.”

For another several seconds, Vateilika stared back. Finally, she gave a defeated sigh.

“…Smuggling. I made most of my income illegally sellin’ high-grade military weapons.”

“See?” said Thief. “That wasn’t so hard. Now then, onto business…”

* Dice Thief

* ATK: 1d6 + 3 (+ 8d6 Sneak Attack)

* AC: 25

* Has a compulsion to shout “Sneak Attack!”

“Sneak Attack!!”

Before Vateilika could even react, Thief drew a shortbow, and fired off four arrows in rapid succession. A pained grunt escaped from Vateilika’s throat as the arrows pierced through her clothing, embedding themselves in her skin… though it was admittedly far less painful than she expected it would be.

Ignoring the stinging sensation in her torso, she gave Thief an odd look.

“…Not much of a ‘sneak attack’ if you announce it out loud, is it?”

“Hey, I won the initiative. That counts.”

--------

Chara stared upward at Wizard, who was now floating in the air above, their hands crackling as they glowed with a pink aura of arcane might. They drew their dagger, locking eyes with their opponent, preparing for either of them to make a move…

* Astragalomancer

* ATK: 10d6 (reflex halves)

* AC: 11

* Dice Wizard with a fondness for long words.

…but the fight would have to wait, as they took in Wizard’s appearance, and found themselves overcome with a sudden curiosity.

“So,” Chara said, “you’re an adult, right?”

Wizard seemed briefly caught off guard by the question, but answered it nonetheless. “Given the extensively advanced lifespan of my species, I would certainly hope so.”

“And do people still make really weird assumptions about your gender?”

“With irritating regularity, yes. But I fail to see how that relates to…”

Their words trailed off as they stared back at Chara, and an epiphany slowly made its way across their face.

“…Ah.”

“Yeah. Sucks, doesn’t it?”

“Indeed. But as much as I would enjoy reflecting upon our commonalities, I believe we have more important matters to attend to,” said Wizard. They floated further into the air, and their hands once again began to glow brightly with the might of raw magic. “Namely, your absolute arcane annihilation. And also alliteration, apparently. Crushing Despair!”

Wizard pointed with an index finger, and Chara felt a wave of cold, clammy air briefly wash over them… and nothing else.

“Hm? No effect?” said Wizard. “I could have sworn you had failed your Will save… how very odd.”

Chara gave a shrug. “I don’t feel any worse than I usually do.”

“…Odd, and highly concerning.”

--------

Asriel swiped feebly with his staff as he vainly attempted to counter Bard’s continued assault — but to no avail, as Bard continued to prove to be frustratingly hard to hit.

The golden staff whiffed once again as it soared past Bard’s head.

“I’ll admit, your skill with the staff is quite impressive,” said Bard. He reached forward and stabbed Asriel roughly in the collarbone. “But unfortunately for you, my swordplay is the Greatest Of All Time!”

Asriel let out a sharp groan, and not because of any physical pain. “Will you knock it off!? Your jokes aren’t even funny!”

“Seems you have a few pointed words for me,” said Bard, thrusting his rapier into Asriel’s torso.

“Shut up!!”

Another downward swipe of Asriel’s staff was deftly avoided, as Bard smoothly stepped across the dungeon floor. He waggled his eyebrows as he lunged back in and prepared a counterattack.

“…so allow me to deliver them to the riposte office!”

Another thrust, this time digging deep into Asriel’s right shoulder. The pain that shot through him crawled across his entire body, and his head spun as his sharp, burning wounds seemed to seethe red-hot just beneath this skin.

Tension continued to build within him, until he felt it cross a threshold within his soul. With a shout of anger, he released it all in a burst of radiant magic.

“Enough with the goddamned wordplay already!!! STAR BLAZING!!!”

Several large, rainbow-colored stars erupted from Asriel’s staff, and Bard was sent flying backwards, his rapier falling out of his hands as he crashed against the dungeon wall.

--------

Vateilika fired several shots of her crossbow… oddly enough, they seemed to be bolts of red superheated plasma rather than any kind of physical projectile. Not that she was complaining; it was certainly better than the primitive pre-gunpowder weapon she’d assumed a ‘crossbow’ was.

Thief, meanwhile, nimbly dodged the crossbow bolts, while firing back… Vateilika simply ignored them and pushed through the pain as the arrowheads buried themselves in her scaly skin.

“So, what’s your deal anyway?” said Vateilika, firing another shot from her crossbow. “If I understand these tabletop things right, ain’t you supposed to have a backstory or somethin’?”

“Oh you know, standard Rogue stuff. Raised on the streets, scrounged together a living through less-than-legal means, that sorta thing,” Thief answered, nimbly ducking beneath the plasma bolt as it singed the wall behind her. “Right now I’m trying to raise enough money to free my dad from prison. And you?”

“Got drafted into the army,” Vateilika answered. She let out a grunt as another arrow buried itself into her shoulder. “My whole species was on the receivin’ end of a genocidal war of extermination. I had two hands and could hold a weapon, and that meant I ain’t had a choice but to fight.”

Just before Thief could draw another arrow, she abruptly stopped in her tracks, staring wide-eyed at Vateilika.

“Oh. Wow. That’s… I’m so sorry.”

“Nah, no need to apologize. It’s been rough, but I’ve made my own way.” Without even thinking, Vateilika reached into a pocket on the inside of her jacket, grabbing a small grenade-like object. It was as though it were an instinct, something she’d known all along she’d had on her person, without ever being truly aware. “Now then…”

Vateilika pulled out the small, metallic sphere and pressed a button on the side. As the item beeped and began to hum, she threw it on the ground just in front of Thief.

In a sudden bang, followed by a sharp psssht of pressurized air, a web of sticky artificial threads burst outwards from the exploding sphere, covering the ground in a net of adhesive ropes. Immediately, Thief’s feet became ensnared in the Trap Net laid across the floor beneath her.

“Whoa! What!? What is this!?”

“Hell if I know. I don’t play nerd games, ‘specially not human ones,” said Vateilika. “But if I remember what Yuka told me about ‘em a while back… bein’ all tangled up like that probably means you’re flat-footed.”

An exasperated understanding reached Thief’s face.

“…You’re kidding.”

Vateilika grinned, and pointed her crossbow at Thief’s chest.

“Nope. Sneak Attack.”

--------

“Disintegrate!”

“Augh!”

Chara let out a shout of intense pain as Wizard pointed an index finger at their chest, and a thin beam of sickly green light struck them square in the torso. The pain instantly forced them to drop to their knees, and it almost felt like their entire body would turn to dust on the spot.

…They would have laughed at the irony, were it not for the fact that their everything was hurting.

“Damn! That hit hard,” they grunted. “You seriously don’t have any problem with murdering a child, huh?”

“Given that your party’s actions threaten the stability of the entire multiverse,” said Wizard, “I am more than willing to make a few moral compromises.”

“…Yeah, I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about there. In any case… Heal Breeze!”

A swirl of green wind surrounded Chara, and the intense pain running through their body was reduced almost instantly to a mild ache. They stood to their feet and brandished their dagger, slashing it in Wizard’s direction.

“And… Gale Dagger!”

A thin blade of wind launched from Chara’s dagger, and Wizard let out a grunt of pain of their own as the attack collided directly with their body. They were sent flying backwards and tumbling against the ground, and as they stood up and dusted off their robes, a curious look crossed their eyes.

“Fascinating,” they said. “I don’t believe I have ever seen magic quite like that before. Are you perhaps using some obscure supplementary sourcebook?”

“Beats me,” Chara said. “I’m not from a tabletop world.”

“A fair point,” said Wizard. “Unfortunately for you, your unfamiliarity with the rules of our world leaves you most susceptible to those who have mastered them. Behold!”

Once again, Wizard rose into the air, their hands crackling with thundering arcane power…

Chara coughed violently, forcing the soot of the explosion from their lungs. They paid the pain no mind, as a sense of genuine amazement swelled within their chest.

“Whoa! That was awesome! How’d you get the narration to do that?”

“That is a complicated answer, I am afraid,” Wizard replied. “Narratomancy is a highly advanced interdisciplinary field of magical research. And as much as I greatly enjoy expositing at length, a full explanation would strain the limits of what is considered a ‘free action.’”

“Aw come on, it can’t be that hard,” said Chara. “I used to do narration all the time.”

“Your opinion is noted, and then duly discarded. Now, I believe we were fighting?”

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me twice,” said Chara. They ran forward and leapt into the air, brandishing their dagger. With a single downward slash, they sliced Wizard clean across the torso. Wizard was immediately sent tumbling downwards, but quickly righted themselves and stood to their feet. They then pointed an index finger in Chara’s direction, which pulsed with crackling magical power.

“Quickened Lightning Bolt! Maximized Scorching Ray!”

Immediately, Chara let out a yelp, as a bolt of intense lightning struck faster than they could even react. It was immediately followed by three scorching-hot rays of fire, which soared towards them blistering speed.

Chara ducked out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by the first ray, but failed to move in time to avoid the second. A painful burning sensation spread through their body as the ray impacted them square in the torso, and was immediately followed by the third ray hitting them in the center of the forehead.

When the searing light blotting out their vision cleared, along with the painful ringing in their ears, Chara found themselves on a single knee, their dagger having dropped to the ground. Their breaths were ragged, and it took all the willpower they could muster to keep themselves from keeling over.

“I… I’ll admit, your spells seem to be quite a lot stronger than mine.”

“Naturally,” Wizard boasted. “You are but a child, and I have been seeking power in spellcraft for longer than your entire natural lifespan. Knowing this, are you now prepared to surrender?”

“Not… not yet,” Chara said, gritting their teeth in an effort to shut out the pain. “Because there’s something important you’re forgetting here.”

“Oh? And pray tell, what is that?”

As if to answer, Chara lunged forward and drew their sword, delivering a vicious slash right across Wizard’s chest. Almost instantly, Wizard went down, collapsing onto their hands and knees.

“Spells don’t equal power,” Chara gloated. “Power equals power. Crazy, huh?”

--------

Iji let out a grunt of pain, as Fighter’s broadsword slashed across her chest. Her armor had blunted the blow slightly, but she could still tell there was a massive amount of strength behind the maneuver — she dreaded the thought of just how hard such a weapon would hit if she didn’t have a nanofield to protect her.

Actually, come to think of it, does my nanofield even work the same way here?

A question she would have to ponder later, as Fighter charged again, and made another attack. This time, Iji was able to sidestep the blade just as it came down, and she swiftly responded with another snapping front kick, this time landing it square in the center of Fighter’s head.

As Fighter stumbled backwards, he took a moment to right himself… Iji could almost see the cartoon swirls over his head as he reeled from the blow. When he finally regained his footing, he adjusted his grip on his weapon, and locked eyes with Iji once more.

Iji could only let out a groan. “Look, guy. I don’t know what’s going on here, but this whole thing is ridiculous. Whatever the hell your beef with us is, I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding!”

“The hell it is!” Fighter called back. “You really think we’re just gonna let you and your friends open another Dark Fountain!?”

Iji didn’t even bother saying anything in response. Her eyes narrowed as her glare bored directly into Fighter’s eyes.

“Crap. It is a misunderstanding, isn’t it?”

Iji threw an arm up. “No shit! We’re here to close the Dark Fountain, not create another one! Why the hell would we even do that!?”

Immediately, Fighter let out a resigned sigh.

“…Of course. Alright, everyone, pack it in!” he called. “We’re done here. This whole quest is a bust. These guys aren’t trying to open another Fountain after all.”

The sounds of fighting all around quieted down. There was a hustle of movement as each person present picked up their scattered equipment and dusted themselves off.

“Chara!” Asriel cried out, as his friend slumped over and leaned on his shoulder. “You’re hurt!”

“I… I am fine. Just give me a moment. Heal Breeze.”

It took several healing spells, on the part of both groups, but eventually everyone was back to full strength. Iji looked over the group.

“So… that’s it, then?” Iji said. “We’re not actually enemies here?”

“Apparently not,” said Fighter.

“The old good-guys-fighting-other-good-guys plotline, huh? Should have seen that one coming,” said Bard. “Honestly, I’m kind of shocked that hasn’t happened to us more often.”

“Hold on though, our client told us that these guys were definitely trying to open another Fountain,” Thief continued. “Are you really suggesting they were lying that brazenly? I can’t imagine their Bluff score being that high.”

“I mean… in hindsight, that Knight person does seem like some serious villain material,” said Bard. “Black cape, black armor, glowing blood red sword… they really had the whole Darth Vader look going.”

Iji’s curiosity was raised almost instantly. “A Knight, huh?” There was something oddly familiar about that title, but she couldn’t quite put a finger on what. “Are you saying this person is actively trying to stop us from closing the Fountain? And they tricked you into doing their dirty work for them?”

“It would certainly seem so, yeah,” said Fighter. “I wish I could tell you more, but we actually know very little about them. They just showed up and offered us a job.”

“A really well-paying job,” Thief added.

Iji let out a sigh. “Should have figured this wouldn’t be so easy. In any case, we need to get to the Fountain as quickly as possible. Do you know where we can find it?”

“Well, we’re the ones who attacked you without provocation,” said Fighter. “I guess the least we could do is show you the way. Follow me.”

Fighter gestured for the others to follow, and Iji stayed behind closely as both groups moved through the dungeon. It was a maze of twisted and dark corridors that were all seemingly interchangeable with one another — and knowing how dungeon tiles were used in tabletop games, they probably literally were.

Eventually, the path led to a large stone staircase, which opened up through a trapdoor in the ceiling. Fighter pushed the trapdoor open, and Iji followed behind as she exited the underground corridors, the rest of both parties following closely behind.

…What she saw above ground was not what she was expecting.

Far from the sword-and-sorcery or dungeon crawl setting she was in mere moments before, the trapdoor opened into what looked like a paved street in the middle of a highly advanced city. The skies were as dark as one would expect from a Dark World, but the skyline was illuminated by dozens upon dozens of high-rise buildings that were lined with neon darklights and glowing advertising billboards.

Asriel, Chara, and Vateilika were all no less baffled by the sight than Iji, but the rest seemed to only be exasperated.

“Ah, dammit,” Fighter groaned. “Don’t tell me G.M. changed the campaign setting again! Seriously, they always do this right when we’re getting into the swing of things. Now we’re going to have to trade in all our equipment for cyberpunk gear.”

“Really?” said Bard. “Even your—”

“The sword stays.”

“G.M., huh?” said Iji. “I’m guessing they’re who runs this Dark World. And the Fountain’s probably where they are, right?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” said Fighter.

He pointed towards the skyline, at a large freestanding tower, nearly twice as tall as all the other buildings, that stood in the distance. Unlike the rest of the buildings, it looked like a classic wizard’s tower made out of stone, rather than a modern high-rise skyscraper.

“See that tower there? That’s where they live. Just head for that and you’ll find the Fountain. But be careful, G.M.’s, uh… they’re…”

“They’re what?” said Iji.

“….Well, they’re definitely something,” said Fighter. “I’ll leave the rest to you. We’re going to have to go look for Cleric and Ranger. Knowing our luck they’ve probably gotten involved in some cyborg gang war or something.”

“Oooh,” said Bard, “can I be a—”

“No, you cannot be an cyber-ninja. We all know what you think stealth means.”

“Awwww…”

With one last nod to the Order, Iji saw the other party off, and led her own group further down the street, toward the wizard tower that loomed over the new Dark World.

Chapter Text

Iji’s guard remained firmly raised as she led the group through the cyberpunk city. The road was paved with a bright blue asphalt that almost seemed to glow in the overhanging darkness, and all of the buildings likewise had a deep blue color as they shined with neon edges.

For some reason, there was something oddly familiar about the blue Cyber City’s appearance. With every step, Iji couldn’t shake the feeling of déjà vu in her bones.

Where had she seen a city like this before?

Adding to the lingering recognition at the edge of her mind, there was fact that the path towards the wizard’s tower was shockingly linear. The side roads and alleys were all blocked off by traffic cones, and the road itself was a straight pathway that extended straight for the horizon, towards the wizard’s tower looming in the distance.

As the group continued through the streets, they passed by a number of darklit shops, each of which was selling minor variations of the same several board game and card game products. Passing by one shop, Iji’s eyes were briefly turned towards a group of children that resembled life-sized plastic figurines. The kids were gathered around two of their peers, which were sitting out by the front and playing some card game that Iji couldn’t recognize.

The first figurine, resembling a boy with massive brown hair and goggles, was playing against another young boy with short black hair and a red-and-white cap.

“I pay the memory cost and digivolve Betamon into Dynicthymon! Then, using her ‘Dynamo Blast’ attack…”

“Huh,” Chara mused. “I didn’t think anyone still played that TCG.”

The road extended further, and as Iji walked down the path, she took note of how little actual traffic there seemed to be. The street was narrow and seemed to be built for cars, and yet there were none to speak of as they continued. Other roads were visible, on glowing blue overpasses that extended above the main street every so often, and there Iji could catch glimpses of strange cars with legs instead of wheels — but oddly enough, none of them ever seemed to drive (walk?) down the same road that she and the others were taking.

Whatever the reason for that was, Iji set that question aside, as she noticed an odd look creased across Vateilka’s snout.

“Something on your mind, Val?”

“Hm? Oh, nothin’. Just… this ‘Dark World’ kinda reminds of my home planet, that’s all.” Vateilika’s eyes drifted towards the skyline, lingering on the candy-colored anti-lights that flickered on and off in the distance. “Stars, I never thought I’d find myself seein’ a city like this again. It’s almost like a memory come to life.”

Asriel shot Vateilika a curious glance. “You were from the city? You don’t seem like an, um… urbanite.”

“Nah, I was always a country gal myself,” said Vateilika. “But my folks did take me to the regional capital once or twice, when I was a young’un. I remember bein’ astounded by all the lights and sounds it had, even in the dead of night… back then, I thought the city the was wildest thing I’d ever see. And I always dreamed of movin’ there when I grew up.” A smile crossed her face, though there was a bittersweet wistfulness lingering on the corners of her snout. “…Guess it goes to show how little I knew, huh?”

Not for the first time, Iji felt a tug at her heart, pulling her gaze towards Vateilika. “Val…”

Vateilika’s smile grew wider. “Shucks, have I got you tryin’ to console me again? Are you gonna offer me a shoulder to cry on next?”

Iji tried to give a snappy rebuttal, but as soon as her eyes met Vateilika’s, any response she had thought to give melted away. The darkness that pervaded the tabletop world’s very atmosphere began to recede, however briefly, from the warmth of Vateilika’s smile.

It was then that Iji realized that her face had suddenly grown very, very hot.

A sharp laugh escaped Vateilika’s throat. “Hah! Just as easily flustered as ever! Never change, Iji.”

Asriel and Chara both exchanged a glance, as they continued walking behind the others.

Then, Chara’s lips curved upwards into a thin, cutting smirk.

“…I’m gonna tell her.”

“Chara, no.”

“Huh? Who, me?” said Iji. “Tell me what?”

Chara closed their eyes, lifted their hand, and raised a single index finger, giving a self-satisfied grin. They breathed in, making a point to emphasize the importance of whatever they were about to declare.

They didn’t get the chance to say it, however, as a very loud cry harshly cut through the air.

“WAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”

Iji froze in her tracks – she craned her neck upward to see a large, bulky figure leaping down from atop one of the nearby skyscrapers. As he landed, he impacted against the street with a dull thud, with such immediate force that cracks formed in the pavement.

As he stood up, Iji finally got a close look at the muscular goblinoid. His short stature was contrasted against just how huge he otherwise was — every unpainted detail of his body exuded sheer girth and muscle. “Unpainted” not being metaphorical, as his entire body was made of a shiny metal alloy, like a statuette that had done away with its unnecessary “-ette.” Heavy, jagged mechanical armor was sculpted onto his body, and he held a massive gatling gun in his arms, its three-foot-long barrel held rather inappropriately at waist level.

“YOU THERE! LIGHTNERS! I’M GONNA PUT YOU FULLA ‘OLES!”

Chara’s eyes glinted curiously beneath their mask, as they stared at the massive metal Darkner.

“Oh! A pewter figurine! Fancy!”

“Chara, get down!”

* Orx

* ATK: 40

* DEF: 40

* ‘ERE WE GO! ‘ERE WE GO! ‘ERE WE GO! ‘ERE WE GO!

The orc (or Orx), revved up its gatling gun, and before Iji could even think to react, she was grabbing Chara in her arm, pulling them down as she dove to the ground. Vateilika followed suit, grabbing Asriel in her arm and pulling him down as low as she could manage.

For what felt like forever, the roar of bullets assaulted Iji’s eardrums, and she could only wince as particularly unpleasant memories danced across her mind’s eye. She did her best to shut the visions out, feeling her heart pounding within her chest as waited for the gunfire to stop.

Evidently, Orx didn’t think of aiming his weapon in any direction other than straight forward, because before long the revving spin of the gatling gun died down, and Iji quickly leapt to her feet. The others followed, Asriel in particular still visibly shaken by the ordeal.

Orx’s weapon, now burning red-hot, harshly clattered against the ground as he tossed it aside — bursting into flames in a weirdly pixellated, poorly-rendered explosion that was accomponied by an equally poor-quality noise.

“PUNY ‘UMIES! YOU AIN’T SEEN NUFFIN’ YET!”

Asriel raised an eyebrow. “…I’m sorry, are you actually blind?”

Apparently unconcerned by the distinction, Orx reached into… somewhere, and manifested a somehow even larger gatling gun, almost twice as long and with girth to match.

“Shit!” Iji said. “Not good!”

“Quick!” Chara called out. “Everyone, hide behind those conveniently-placed chest high walls!”

Sure enough, just off to the side of the road was a series of small concrete walls, with gaps between them just large enough to allow a single person through. As the gargantuan machine gun revved up, Iji wasted no time hurrying behind cover. Within moments, she was positioned kneeling behind a wall, with Asriel, Chara, and Vateilika each having hid behind one as well.

There was a great and terrible noise as a stream of superheated bullets impacted against the solid structures, sending little chunks of dust and concrete flying through the air.

Yet the roar of gunfire was barely audible compared to the deafening drumbeat in Iji’s chest. It was a familiar sensation. The surge of adrenaline, the tense white-knuckle grip on her nanogun. It was not the first time she’d been in mortal danger in the Dark Worlds, but this particular battle felt uncomfortably close to home.

“COWARDS! COVER IS FOR THE WEAK! GET OUT ‘ERE AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!”

Asriel shot a glare in Orx’s direction, somehow managing to pierce straight through the wall. “Literally none of us are men!”

Vateilka, meanwhile, was busy preparing a response of her own. She reached into her jacket, and pulled out a round metallic sphere with a single button on top. A soft click somehow managed to make itself heard over the din of consecutive dakkas, and she swiftly lobbed it over the wall.

Only about a second later, there was a loud bang as the grenade exploded in a flash of light, followed by a pained grunt.

“YOU CALL THAT A GRENADE!? I’VE HAD MORE BLEEDIN’ WHEN I STUBBED MY TOE IN THE… IN THE… THE…”

Slowly, the constant hailfire of bullets began to die down, and before long, it had ceased entirely. The silence, in comparison to the constant background noise of gunfire, was almost deafening. It was broken only by a hard whump, the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.

Iji peered over the wall, and saw that the pewter figure had collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Somehow, despite being made of pewter, his entire body was covered in blood red wounds, with pieces of metallic shrapnel digging into his body.

Eventually, confident that the fight was over, she stood to her feet. The others followed closely behind her, staring at the unconscious goblinoid.

“Well, would you look at that,” said Chara. “I guess you can get blood from a stone!”

Asriel couldn’t help but wince at the sight. For someone who had a history of killing, the sight of actual blood was apparently still somewhat new to him.

“Is… is he dead?”

“Probably not,” said Iji. “I remember Dan used to play video games with these guys. They apparently have some kind of crazy regeneration ability.”

“That so, huh?” said Vateilika. “Given how eager he was to kill us, I don’t wanna risk him coming back. You want I should separate his head from his body?”

“Val, no.” Iji’s response was curt, almost reflexive. “I, um… I really don’t want to kill anyone if we don’t have to. I already have more than enough blood on my hands.”

“Shoulda figured you’d say that. You really are just like her, huh?”

As Vateilka’s lips curved upward, Iji found herself returning the smile, matching the warmth that shone through the Tasen Soldier’s rough and scaly exterior.

“…You think so, huh? I guess we are the same person in a way, so that makes sense.”

Vateilika didn’t answer right away. There was a wistful gleam in her eye, the brightness of her expression giving way to a deep, wearied age.

“Yeah… it’s… it’s like you never left at all.”

Regret sank deep into Iji’s chest, the weight of her words reflected in Vateilika’s eyes.

“…Oh. Oh. Val, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“It’s fine. I’m fine,” Vatelika cut in. “It ain’t your fault. You didn’t do anything. Just… I almost forgot for a second that… you know.”

“Right…”

Several more seconds passed, and neither Iji nor Vateilka could bring themselves to maintain eye contact. Looking into Vateilka’s eyes, Iji could only see a stranger that she’d just met, even though she knew in her heart that shouldn’t have been the case.

“Hey, so not to interrupt your reminiscing,” Asriel cut in, gesturing to the unconscious pewter Darkner on the road, “but don’t you think we should get moving? I don’t wanna be here when that guy wakes up.”

“Right. Good idea,” said Iji. She couldn’t help but breathe easier, now that the sudden shift in subject had cleared away the stifling awkwardness. “Come on then, let’s go.”

The others gave no argument, and soon Iji was leading the group further down the street, the omnipresent wizard’s tower inching ever-so-slightly closer with every step.

“What in stars’ name was that statue guy’s problem, anyway?” said Vateilika. “Why’d he wanna kill us so bad?”

“Probably just for the hell of it,” Iji answered. “He’s from a tabletop war game on Earth. His whole species are bloodthirsty hooligans who ravage entire planets for fun.”

“…Ah,” said Vateilka. “So basically the Komato, then.”

“I mean… maybe?” said Iji. “Honestly though, I’m not sure how accurate that is. If you’re talking about hyper-racist space fascists, I’d say that the humans are closer.”

That prompted a very odd look from Vateilika, as well as from Asriel.

“Uh. In… in the game, I mean. Not in real life. Except, um… well, I guess humans wouldn’t really be above doing that kind of thing in real life, given how awful we’ve been sometimes…” Iji paused again, taking notice of the fact that the odd stares she was receiving were not getting any less intense. “…Um. Shoot. I don’t really know where I was going with this.”

Chara flashed Iji a smirk.

“No, no, keep going. You’ve got a point.”

--------

From there on, the journey through the streets remained mostly uneventful — save for the occasional Darkner that tried to accost Iji and her friends for seemingly no reason. Their shapes were numerous and varied, and Iji made a mental note of all the different Darkners she saw. Robotic catlike beasts with electrical outlets for tails, that were able to make themselves appear a few feet away from their actual location. Tall, sickly blue “street samurai” with a nearly impossible amount of cybernetics haphazardly grafted onto their bodies, making them look only vaguely human. A large, box-shaped robot that looked suspiciously like Mettaton’s original body, except he had an old CRT monitor for a face, and the personality of a cowboy. A self-proclaimed ‘chemister’ who looked the part of a mad scientist, wearing bulky brass armor fitted with gears, tubes, and crackling with lightning.

Eventually, as they passed the various neon-lit buildings, one of them in particular caught Iji’s attention. On its front was a flickering sign which almost seemed to be demanding Iji’s attention.

The Tavern You All Meet In

Heroes, player-characters, and protagonists welcome!

“A tavern, eh?” said Vateilika. “Think we could stop by there, Iji? I could use a drink.”

Iji shot Vateilka a glance. “What? Val, we don’t even know if they’ll accept our money there.”

“Of course they will,” said Chara. “You still have some gold pieces on you, right?”

“Well, yeah. But that’s only good in monster settlements, isn’t it?”

“Not at all,” Chara replied. “We’re in a tabletop RPG Dark World, aren’t we? Everyone uses gold for money in RPGs. It’s like a rule.”

Iji tried to argue the point, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it.

“Okay, sure, but a tavern? You’re still way too young to be drinking.”

“Technically, Asriel and I are both over a hundred years old. I believe we will be fine.”

“Chara, come on. That’s not how that works and you know it.”

Asriel gave a shrug. “I never understood the appeal of alcohol anyway. I tried absorbing it through my roots once. Didn’t do anything for me.”

Whatever objections Iji might have had were overriden by her curiosity. “…Wait, can plants even get drunk?”

“Apparently not.”

“Look, we ain’t gonna be in there long,” said Vateilika. “Maybe we’ll find some more information on this whole ‘Dark World’ business. We’ve been practically walking blind since we got here.”

Eventually, despite her objections, Iji relented.

“…Alright. I suppose it couldn’t hurt to head in there real quick. But let’s try not to stick around too long, alright? We need to close the Dark Fountain before it causes problems for the outside world.”

--------

The interior of the tavern was bustling with activity, with Darkners of many different shapes and sizes seated both at the bar and around the various booths. The drinks they were served were colorful and varied, consisting of fizzy and brightly-colored liquids of red, yellow, and blue — certainly not any kind of alcohol that Iji had ever seen.

The bar was attended by a Darkner with a strikingly human-like appearance, with bright purple hair styled into a bun, and long bangs that covered their eyes. They wore a short black dress, or perhaps a kilt of some kind, with light grey sleeves. They approached, a dull and lifeless look written clear across their face.

“Lightners, huh?” said the bartender. “Never thought I’d see the day your kind would show up here. The name’s Reese. What can I get you?”

As Vateilika stared at the menu, and a look of disappointment quickly crossed her face. “Dang, y’all don’t even have any Cold Ones?”

“Nope. No Light World drinks. Sorry,” said Reese. “Anything else?”

“Uh… we’re good, but thanks,” said Iji. “I was actually wondering though, do you have any information on the Dark Fountain? We know it’s located in that big tower, but that’s about it.”

“The Dark Fountain, huh?” said Reese. “If you have business with that, you’re gonna want to talk to G.M. They’re the one who’s in charge of it.”

“…Right. G.M,” said Iji. “What can you tell us about them?”

“Oh boy. Where to even begin?” There was a deep, deep weariness to Reese’s voice as they answered, and all of a sudden Iji got the impression that they were far older than they let on. “The first thing you need to know is, time doesn’t really work for us the same way it does for you Lightners. A single minute in the Light World might as well be a thousand years here. So, from our perspective, we’ve all been here a long time.”

“Huh,” said Asriel. “I guess that makes sense. We know the Dark Worlds have some kind of strange effect on space and time, right?”

“Right. And that means we’re all functionally immortal here, and we’ve been living in this Dark World longer than any of us can even count,” said Reese. “And G.M.? They’ve been here the longest out of anyone. Ever since the Fountain opened, they’ve been using their power to constantly reinvent the Dark World, scrapping whatever the current campaign setting is whenever they grow tired of it. One day it’ll be medieval fantasy, the next it’ll be superheroes, the next it’ll be post-apocalyptic, or spy fiction, or whatever else they can think of. You really never know with them.”

“Yeesh. Sounds like there’s never a dull moment here, huh?” said Iji.

“You’d think so, but you’d be wrong,” said Reese. “There’s really only so many ways you can reinvent the world before it grows repetitive. I’ve seen pretty much everything there is to see here. And there’s no point in learning new skills, or trying to do anything different, when everything you’ve done will just be reset the next time G.M. starts a new campaign.”

“…Oh,” said Iji. “That’s, um… I’m sorry?”

“It’s fine. Nothing I can really do about it anyway. Anything else I can do for you?”

“Um… no, it’s fine. We’re good,” Iji answered. “Thanks for the information. We’ll just be on our way.”

--------

Iji led the others out of the tavern, and headed back into the streets. Behind her, she could hear Vateilika give a harsh snort.

“Well, that was a waste of time,” said Vateilka. “Here I was thinking I could relax with my favorite drink for once. Ain’t had a real Cold One since the war ended.”

Iji gave Vateilka a curious look. “They don’t have beer back at that base of yours?”

“Beer’s nothin’. Once you’ve had real alcohol, you ain’t never goin’ back.”

“Uh… I’ll take your word for it.”

The path through the city continued further towards the tower… until eventually, a brightly-colored barricade forced the group to follow a sharp turn off to the side, into a nearby alley. The side path led to a walkway which climbed upwards and across several of the large buildings, leading to a garish green path that crossed the top of the city.

“…Okay, so, am I alone in thinking that this path doesn’t make any sense?” said Asriel. “The whole layout of this city is just baffling. There’s only one road we’ve been able to travel, and doesn’t even seem to lead anywhere. And now we’re climbing on some neon green balcony? Where are we even going?”

“Azzy, you’ve got to learn to stop thinking too hard about these things,” said Chara. “We’re in a literal fantasy world. It’s not supposed to be realistic.”

“Yeah? Well, it’s totally immersion breaking! I can’t suspend my disbelief like this!”

The neon green path continued further… until it eventually ended in a large, boxy building which looked like some kind of train station. On it was another brightly-lit sign, proudly advertising its service.

The Railroad Express

It’s the only way to go!

“…Huh. Well, it doesn’t look like there’s any other route we can take,” said Iji. “Hopefully this will get us closer to the tower.”

Within short order, the group had moved into the station, and boarded the train… except the ‘train,’ as it turned out, was more accurately described as a roller coaster. Four individual roller coaster cars, lined up side-by-side on four seperate tracks, were awaiting the group as though they were prepared specifically for Iji and her allies.

…They almost definitely were, in fact, given that each of the roller coaster cars almost exactly matched the appearance of each of them. Asriel’s resembled a fluffy, quadrupedal goat monster on wheels, Chara’s was red and had their face, and Vateilika’s resembled some kind of orange lizard monster. Iji’s, finally, was light blue and had her face on the front… as well as two long, narrow runners beneath it, which gave it the appearance of a sled.

It was suspicious, but Iji didn’t see any other way forward. So the four of them boarded, which took off in short order, the scenery of the city whooshing by as the cars accellerated down the track.

“Geez. These things don’t even have any seats?” said Asriel. “I can’t say I’m big fan of riding a rollercoaster while standing up…”

“Eh. We’ll be fine as long as we don’t hit any loops,” said Chara.

“Oh no, don’t you dare jinx it for us!”

“Hey, hold on,” said Iji, “what’s that up ahead?”

Ahead of the group, on the same track as Iji, was another car. This one was a deeper blue, and had a very obnoxious-looking face on its front, adorned with a large yellow beak. It faced the opposite direction of the other cars, looking Iji and her allies head-on as it moved backwards across the track.

The bird-like car had a single occupant riding on top… though it was difficult to make out just what it was. His entire body was a silhouette of indistinct grey noise, which flickered and pulsed with every passing second, as though it were sculpted somehow out of television static.

Though his form was indistinct, he had the size and stature of a teenager, and Iji could just barely make out the shape of a beak on his head, the same kind that was adorned by his car.

A deep, uneasy feeling wormed its way into Iji’s stomach.

Who is this…? Why does he look so… familiar?

“Um,” said Iji. “Can… can I help you?”

The figure did not respond. Not in words.

Instead, he manifested a long, slender weapon with an axe-like blade on the end. The unmistakable shape of a halberd.

* Echo Fighter

* ATK: 10

* DEF: 0

* That ain’t Falco.

Chapter Text

♫Bahna nana, do doo do do do. Bahna nana, do doo do do. Bahna nana, do doo do do do, do doo do, do doo do, do doo do, Imma fixin’ my new gun♫

Yukabacera hummed to himself as he stood in Alphys’s garage, his nanofield crackling against his latest invention as he tweaked its internal circuitry. The song passing through his lips was a disgustingly catchy ear-scritch that he’d picked up from the humans in his home dimension, one that he found himself returning to over and over again while working.

He could try to look for a way back home, but it seemed teleporter technology was still entirely foreign to this version of Origin, so that was still a long shot. That, and he already knew that Vatelika knew he’d get himself killed like this someday. It would have been all the same to her anyway.

Still, an entirely new Origin meant new opportunities. He’d asked Alphys a lot of questions about monster technology, and she happily answered… though the strange-looking not-Tasen also seemed to be busy with some other effort, involving some lost prince and something called ‘Sector Z.’

Yukabacera didn’t know what ‘Sector Z’ was, but the name instantly gave him a very, very bad feeling. He decided it would be in his best interest to not ask any further about that. Keeping his head down when crazy things were happening was his best survival skill, even if it was completely canceled out by his… unorthodox hobbies.