PLDF Chapter 6

> Chapter 6: It's Time... (Sub-Entries 51-60)
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## Sub-Entry 051: "Asriel Asks the Question":

It was late at night.  I was fast asleep, face down on a stack of schematics on my cot with a stack of schematics covering me up when...he knocked at my door and woke me up.

"Violet...if this is your idea of a joke, I'm going to--"

I opened the door...and there was Asriel, in his pajamas.  He didn't even stop to put on a pair of sandals.  The footprints in the snow...the three-toed feet with the heart-shaped pads were pretty tell-tale from the snowpack.  And yet he didn't look the least bit cold.

"Asriel...!?  What are you...what are you doing out here in the middle of the night!  And dressed like that!  Get in here and out of that snow, already!  Jeeze!

Asriel did so, keeping his head low...keeping his eyes out of view.

The door closed.

"Azzy, you're giving me kind of a scare.  This isn't like you."

No answer.

"What's gotten into you?  Was it something I did?  Has someone upset you?  What--"

A whisper.

"Huh?"

A louder whisper.

"I can't understand you.  Asriel...please talk to me and tell me what's going on--"

And then he looked up....he looked me dead in the eyes and I could see that he was in tears...and kind of scared. But...he was smiling, somehow.

"Asriel...?"

"I know."

"Know?"

"I know the question."

My heart skipped a beat.

"You...know the...question...?"  I stumbled for the words.

"Yes.  I know the question."

"You mean...that question?"

"For...fifteen years...it's always been there.  It's been the key to everything.  It's the clue that finally let me know...there is something I'm supposed to remember.  Someone I'm supposed to remember.

All this time, I've been worried my past has been slipping away...but now it's starting to add up.  It hasn't slipped away.   I...I gave it away.  I gave it away to someone I trust.  My best friend.   You, Volt.  You've always had my past.  And...for the longest time I've been afraid to read between the lines.

We've had this conversation before and...it didn't go well.  It...hurt our relationship.

But I get it.  The only way you'd take my past from me is if I gave it up willingly.  Something...I'm supposed to know...I entrusted to you and...it all goes back to our Promise.  Right?"

I was beginning to fall apart inside.

It was happening.

It was here.

This was the moment.  The moment I dreaded...and the moment I waited for.

I could only nod.  I couldn't say anything.

"Hard to believe that the right question wasn't about a place or an event or even where and when I came from...but a single person.  It was their story, originally.  Not mine or Chara's.  Theirs.  They were the one.   The...Prophecy spoke of them."

Asriel wasn't sure how he know of...the "Prophecy" when so much of his memory was blank.

"So.  After all this time.  Here it is."

Asriel closed his eyes.  He took a deep breath.  He opened his eyes, revealing those red eyes of Determination.

"Who is Frisk?"

And in that moment...time felt it just stopped.

I'd prepared for fifteen years for this question.  I knew how to answer it.   And yet...I struggled with myself to answer it. "

"Asriel.  You're right.  It's time.  It's time you got your answers."

I choked back a sob.

"For fifteen years I simultaneously yearned for and dreaded the coming of this day.  And now with three words...everything has changed.  One question changes everything."

That was when I noticed his shirt and trousers...clutched in his hands.

It all came back to me.

"Come.  We have...somewhere we have to be..."

"...before you can give me my answers.  Yes.  I...kinda sensed that.  I think...I understand.  Let's...let's go.'

And so we left the confines of my shop.  Once Asriel had taken a moment to put on a spare set of clothes he had in his V.E.H.I.C.L.E. network and downloaded to an E.N.G.I.N.E. dot...

We slowly made our way through Miranda Square...in the dead of night.

The snowdrifts had stopped.  It was quiet and still.  But still cold and plenty of snow on the ground.  Not enough to dig through but enough to crunch under our feet and come up past our ankles.

The Fountain.

Snow all around it.  But miraculously it was not frozen over.  In fact it was somehow still flowing in the dead of winter.  I wonder if it was the magic or...something else intervening.

We both had a seat on the edge.

I looked up...and stretched my open hand toward the sky.

"I...know this..."  Asriel looked where I was reaching toward.  "I...I fell through from.......somewhere...into this place."

He had a feverish grip on the shirt and pants.

"I was wearing these at the time.  I was just a little kid.  I was only ten...I think."

He was only ten but...something about him seemed much younger.  I would have placed him at only seven.  Five at the youngest.

I nodded sadly...at a loss for words.

"Heh...wat-er you talking about?  We got dunked in."  Asriel suddenly and smugly reminded me.

I broke into laughter.

"Hey.  If I didn't thank you lately...thank you for saving me.  I'm not sure...what you saved me from but...I know I was in a bad place and...not really having the will to live."

"Azzy, I promise all will become clear when you're ready to take that leap of faith.  Trust in me.  I've always trusted in you."

"I do.   The anxiety though..."

"Yeah...for both of us."

By instinct...we both looked in the direction of Rabbotou Dojo.

Once we reached the doors, Megami was already opening them for us.

We uttered nary a word.

Instead we headed straight for the five gates outside the dojo.  The Rabite Trio was again fast asleep.  Older...but still the same loveable fluffballs.  Their powers had developed quite well.

We proceeded to the Fire Gate...and sure enough, the snow gradually disappeared to give way to a warmth that was all too familiar.

The Mojikara Runes were lit.  The rainbow of flames were dancing.  The main pillar of fire blocked our view...until it parted to allow us to see her on the other side.  She turned and approached us.

It was all happening as it had before.

"A face so young...but you have exchanged many of your burdens for new ones.  I see a new clarity in your eyes.  You're no longer conflicted.  You seek wisdom."

"You too were once lost in darkness, my former teacher.  With the light so far out of reach...that did not stop you from doing the one thing you needed to do.  Rise."

"The student becomes the teacher.  And the teacher the student.  All is one.  One is all.  We both tread on equal ground as friends.  As soul-linked.  As ones who truly understand each other."

"It would appear...the two of us, at this moment, are having new trouble using our own words."

"Was that a slight against me."  I crossed my arms.

"Good evening to you too, Commander.  I have not neglected your presence.  Do be patient."

I sighed.

"What was once broken has been reforged into someone truly unrecognizable...but retains the purity as the day he set foot upon this sacred ground."

"No arguments there."

Asriel blushed briefly.

"So.  Do you continue to fight the terrible things that this world and many others breed?"

"I do what I do in the name of peace and sanity."

"You have learned everything but still use someone else's words."

"That's all our curses, Major.  More often than we want to admit in this universe of crossovers."

"Indeed."

"It's a lovely night.  Somewhere there are worlds out there where the sky is burning, the sea is asleep, and the rivers dream.  People made of smoke and cities made of song.  Somewhere there is danger, somewhere there is injustice..."

"I'll have Megami re-heat the tea."  Bunnie stopped me short of quoting her line for line."

"...couldn't let me have that one, could you?"  I wrinkled my nose.

"It is still ten years too early for you to catch up to a master's wisdom and humor."

"Ten years less than last time.  And don't you forget it."

Three warm teas later...

"I do believe there are other places for you to be despite what time of night it is."

"Patience is a virtue...but some things will not wait."  I shrugged it off as we continued through the empty streets of Miranda.

The railing where Sally made her first grind and Rotor pulled up in his van.

The closed gates of Gaia's Navel Nature Preserve.

And of course the outside of Computer Valhalla.  Geeze, Vi...do you EVER turn that obnoxious neon sign off?

Which left of outside the closed metal gates leading to the palace.  As if by magic...and let's face it, it was...the gates opened and allowed us inside.  And sure enough...standing in the throne room, back to us...in her night gown and fancy bathrobe was her highness.  No guards.  No royal staff.  She was just expecting us.

"I don't think I can explain this."

"It would be amusing to hear what you came up with, Doctor.  But I believe...you have enough to ponder as it is."

Brooke turned around and spread her demonic wings, the claws at the top seemingly glowing from an ominous...but calm aura.

"Young Asriel...how out of character for you to be loitering about at this time of night."

"I...don't intend to make a habit of it."  Asriel dropped into a formal kneeling bow....very prince-like.

"Your presence....it tells me that the time is upon us, yes?"

"Yes.  We...know what this is about and...well...we know what is coming."

"Indeed we do."

Most of us did.  Asriel still...wasn't sure what this entailed other than the truth.

"I have watched you for some time.  You've blossomed into a truly remarkable  young man, Asriel.  The future is yours to take and hold...shape as you please.  You have impressed me in ways that I cannot even begin to fathom."

"The flattery still feels very excessive."

"Once you have your answers...you will understand why it must be so."

"I suppose I have to be patient longer."

"As of this moment, you are closer than ever to knowing.  Where you go from there is a choice only you can make."

"The bridge is...not quite here yet.  I still have a lot to ponder before I cross it and...I am scared of where it will lead....where I will follow it to."

"You truly are a prince among us.  And as the Prince of this World's Future...I ask you to keep making a good one."

"I will."  Asriel maintained his humility.

"Well then.  I shan't keep you longer.  Growing goats need their sleep.  And we are all up past curfew."

"By your leave, your highness."  I bowed.

And so...back on last place after looking up at the Clocktower.  I was REALLY missing the spring and cookouts right about now.

Back to Scott and Callie's place.

"I want to assure you that this isn't the end of this...we're just putting it on pause because--"

"You don't have to explain.  I was the one who woke you up in the middle of the night.  Really...I should have waited until morning but..."

"Yeah.  This honestly couldn't wait."

Silence.

"We'll...talk another time."

"You bet we will.  And we'll have a lot to talk about."  I assured.

I left for my shop while Asriel headed back in and back to bed.

I'm sure...he'd find a way to drift off to sleep.

But come morning, there would be no time to properly get into the Promise or what surrounded it.

Duty calls.

## Sub-Entry 052: "Breathe Easy.  Demon Slayers and Ultra Crew Institute Are on the Job":

Goat Son had come to my shop to tell me he knew the Question and was waiting for the Answer.  Yet, like that he stopped me before I could drag him to UCIAT HQ and show him my Dimensional Lab where Teletran-1  held the answers...as well as where I stored his memory tube.

We took a trip down memory lane.  We visited...all the spots.  Those trigger spots that would most certainly prime his mind for the moment I restored his memories.

The Major.  Mitzi.  Everyone in order of appearance those fifteen years ago.  Though...most were in their pajamas and most were probably NOT expecting us at that hour; Bunnie being the obvious exception.

Everything was ready...then...

Just like that he realized...what we were doing in the moment was...just getting caught up on the moment.  It was the middle of the night.  Neither of us had sufficient enough rest.  Both of us were running on emotion.

There was too much of a margin of error.

So...I agreed with him.  This could keep a bit longer.  When we could clear some stuff off our plates...when we informed the rest of the UCIAT.

But most of all...we both agreed it wasn't quiet on our terms.  Not just yet.  We had to be in our comfort zone.

"Hmm.  I should probably--"

I barely moved to dodge the demon's attack.

"...yeah.  That."

Oh yeah...I should probably mention we're off world again.

"I know what you're thinking, Mitzi.  Was it a smart idea to partner Antoine of all people up with Zenitsu?"

"Well...it did cross my mind, Commander."

"Honestly...it's kinda poetic.  One former scaredy-cat partnered up with one who's losing his mind."

"Jon's got his hands full with that knuckle-head in the boar's head mask."

"Well...two muscle heads.   Why not?"

Mitzi's blade found its way home but barely cut into the creature's flesh.

"These things have skin like tank armor!"

"Allow us to give you a moment's reprieve, Commander."  Bunnie's blade followed up Mitzi's.  The two of them got the demon off my back and soon too occupied to keep pressing its attack on me.

"Thanks, you two.  I could use a breather."

Then Mitzi remembered to ask.  "What about--"

"Asriel's with Tanjiro.  They've got their hands full, themselves.  But...I'd feel better if--"  I started as I had a seat next down to the large box with the backpack harness.

And before long, the Major and her former student had driven the monster off.

It was quiet.  Too quiet.   Why had Tanjiro left this box here?  He carried it on his back all the time but...

...did something inside just move...?

The box opened up...from the inside as a pair of pink-colored eyes pierced out.

A girl.  A black-haired girl...with a bamboo muzzle strapped over her mouth.   Another demon!?  And it was that close to--

"Oh.  Hey, Nezuko."  I said rather nonchalantly as I patted her head.  She nuzzled my hand.

Despite the fact that I was morphed...she recognized the human in me.  I wasn't really sure if it was the hypnosis...or she genuinely wanted to protect humans.

"Yeah.  We'll catch up with your brother soon enough.  And besides, he's in good company.  Asriel's with him."

Truth be told...I couldn't explain why Nezuko was docile around the rest of my crew.  Mitzi, Bunnie, and Asriel.  Clearly none of them were human.  And even when Asriel was in his human guise, she clearly wasn't fooled.  But...at the same time...she didn't see any of us as enemies.

So, yeah.  That was the story.  We found ourselves in yet another anime world.  The world of Demon Slayer.

Frankly, Nezuko's brother, Tanjiro, was in good hands with Asriel by his side.  But...

Truth be told, I worried that Asriel was distracted.  He had asked the question.  And he was burning for answers.  How much was it torturing him to keep his curiosity contained and to keep his patience virtue blazing full blast?

You know, for being a proponent of the classic "every story has a beginning, middle, and end", I sure was neglecting to remember to tell them in order.

So...what was this place again and what was the story?  Allow me to walk you back in time a ways.

This was another of those Shonen worlds like Inuyasha's neck of the woods.  In fact...in many respects, eerily similar.

Dictated, not read from AEON's database:  Tanjiro Kamado is a teenage boy who lives happily with his family until one day he arrives home just to find his widowed mother, two younger brothers and a younger sister murdered, except for another younger sister, Nezuko. Nezuko had been turned into a demon.

So.  With Nezuko fighting with all her will to spare her brother from her own Demon instincts, savagery, and hunger...Tanjiro makes a solid vow to turn her back to human again.  To this end...he seeks out a master to train him to be a Demon Slayer.  After many tries and pushing himself to his limits, he and a few other trainees manage to survive Final Selection, two years later.

Since then, Nezuko had been placed under a hypnotic spell to see humans as her allies and to defend them with her very life.  Reunited with her brother, the two set out on a long and winding quest, now partnered as an unlikely Demon Slayer duo.

By this point Tanjiro would be allied with two other Demon Corps. slayers--the cowardly crybaby, Zenitzu Agatsuma, and the rock-headed boar-mask-wearing Inosuke Hashibara.

I'd quickly learn our enemy's name was Kibutsuji Muzan--an all-powerful demon that only made me wish we were still fighting Naraku.

At the same time...

"Water-breathing Second-form, Modified:  Horizontal Water Wheel!"

Tanjiro's technique cut true and through.

Asriel had been studying his ally for a bit.   He'd never seen a male wear earrings before...much less ones that were Hanafuda cards.

That blue and black checkerboard haori kimono.

Certainly his technique with that black katana was impressive.  But...what Asriel really wanted to ask him about was how he suddenly switched elements earlier...that fiery attack.  What was it again?  Hinokami Kagura Dance.  Roughly translated: Fire-God...Shinto Music?  Azzy would have to ask Bunnie for a better translation.  But yeah...as appropriate as any translation considering the nature.

"Look out!"  Asriel clicked on the A button on his NX Pro-Controller, which he had decompressed to his belt buckle.  With his "super speed kit" in effect, he had velocity to compare to Sally's as he reforged his NX Sabers into their reconfigured light saber katana form.

Like a hot knife through butter, he managed to cleave through his target; but not landing a fatal blow  Enough of one to drive the demon back.

"You saved me!"

"We can't lower our guard for anything."  Asriel noted the growing number of demons gathering.

"We have to end this fast--"  Asriel started before his saber flickered out and his gear went dark and compressed down.

"What?  Oh no!"  Asriel watched dismally as the screen went black save for a flickering battery symbol with a strike-out through it.

"I should have watched my power supply closer!"  Asriel clicked on his visor.  "Anyone within range of my communication!  This is Asriel!  My gear's spent!  I need to tag out!  Volt, if you're close by--"

"No need, Goat Son!  I'm on my way and I'll be there in a nano-second!"

"Aunt Sally!"

And then the loud whoosh followed by the sonic boom and a flash of the Quick Sword.

"Heh.  Hang back and join up with the Commander.  I'll take over."

Tanjiro had...quickly gotten used to the idea of animals that talk and walk on two legs.  I guess he figured we were some kind of youkai or something.

Asriel accessed his E.N.G.I.N.E. dots and found the Warp Ring from my collection that I had gathered when I was still assigned to what was once ACM-001 and ACM-002.  The current IDW-001 was now Archimedes' turf.  But he still let me sneak a peek despite my retirement.  Though it looked like my number was coming up again and I'd be back on the job, officially before long.  I was already doing this as a UCIAT mission so...Daimyou would likely upgrade it to full S.T.C. the way things were.

"See you back at base, Aunt Sal!"

"Heh."  Sally gave a thumbs up and then taunted her demon opponents to proverbially "come at me, bro".

Before long Asriel arrived on sight.  But unfortunately I had already had to chase after Bunnie and Mitzi.  And possibly divert to make sure Antoine wasn't in over his head.

To tell the truth, if I could put up with his freak-out crying and screaming, I'd partner up with Zenitsu.  A student of the lightning-breathing style?  Sign me up!

Though I had to wonder if he was driving Antoine nuts yet?

But back to Goat Son...

"Volt?  Bunnie?  Mitzi?  Darn it...the enemies must've fled."  Asriel frowned.  "It's going to be hard to chase after them without my equipment charged.  Can't track them with dead batteries...hmm?"

Asriel noticed the tug on his sleeve.

"Huh?  Oh!  You're...um...Tanjiro's sister, right?  Nezuko, wasn't it?"

Asriel was no more able to figure out what was on the mind of a mute demon than I could.  But...he'd learned to sense what was in her heart.  I'd like to think it was a trick he had picked up from the Planeteer known as Ma-Ti.

Boy had it been a long time since I referenced Captain Planet and the Planeteers!

"Well, it looks like I'm out of commission for a while.  Weapons are out and I'm too tired to keep using Taiyoudama.  It was initially effective against a lot of the weaker ones since...demons don't do so well around sunlight."

Asriel was right.  They crumbled to dust like vampires when morning came.  But I'm sure our enemy had a way around it.

"Guess I'm in for a wait.  Normally my Patience Virtue would take over for me but..while I'm this winded, mentally and emotionally drained...yeah...I'm not too confident in my level of focus as it is.  Been at this with your brother so long.  Way past my bedtime, to boot.  Even for someone like me who pulls all-nighters for college."

Nezuko was silent but seemed to indicate she was listening.  Comprehending was another story.  We future-dwelling, other-worldly "gaijin" as Bunnie put it had to be well over everyone's heads in this era.

Azzy had a seat for a bit to rest his legs.

"Nezuko, huh?   It isn't by any chance derived from Nezumi?"  He pondered.  "I can kind of see how someone could consider you mouse-like but...I don't know.  Generalizing without the whole story isn't cool.  So...I apologize in advance if I'm offending you."

Nezuko reached out and patted Azzy's head.  Also...did she change size just now?

"Oh.  Well then.  I guess I didn't need to say anything.  Thanks for being okay with it."

Asriel looked on.  "You know...we're going to be here for a bit and...I'm usually pretty okay with being patient but...I'm too wired to meditate.   And honestly I don't know if you get bored but...maybe we both could use a distraction.

Asriel fiddled with his Bracer for a bit.

"Let's let this be our little secret.  Hopefully it won't corrupt your timeline...too much."

Of all modifications that he'd figure out how to implement into his bracer...how did he install of all things, a media player akin to an iPod?

And honestly...he was taking after me.  More often than not, I'd let something...slip into another world or AU's timeline that I shouldn't.  Usually green or yellow class media.  But even I knew better than to risk red or black level.  Red was dangerous and practically guaranteed a butterfly effect paradox.  Black level was essentially timeline suicide.  Something that...he...had done many times in the past.

Had I really disowned his memory to the point when I wouldn't invoke his name as if he were Voldemort?  C'mon.  You know who I'm talking about by this point.  Gaster and Evil-Chara had disposed of him pretty well.

But I digress....

"Took a bit of practice to build this into the old girl without interfering with the other functions.  It would have been really bad if I'd crossed wires with the Unitrix systems.  But...a little modern era in these times might be just what the goat ordered."

And in the next moment, his bracer came to life with full Dolby II Pro-Logic Surround Sound...or our world's equivalent of it.

And Asriel's music track of choice?  "Rhythm of the Night" by Debarge.

"I don't know about you, but I could use a little song and dance to clear my head.  You game?"

Nezuko seemed to take him up on the offer.

"Just to be clear...this isn't a date."  Asriel rubbed the back of his head.

Nezuko gave a momentary anime smile with the "smile eyes"...or whatever you called it when we did that weird arc-shaped thing that was second nature to us; much the same as "sweat-dropping" was also a reflex of ours.  The UltraVerse really is pretty  hung-up on these weird anime tropes, isn't it?

"***When it feels like the world is on your shoulders***

***And all of the madness has got you going crazy***

***It's time to get out step out into the street***

***Where all of the action is right there at your feet"***

Turned out Nezuko was as good or better a dancer as Asriel.  Or maybe just an adaptive study.  Whatever the case...

***"Well I know a place where we can dance the whole night away***

***Underneath electric stars***

***Just come with me and we can shake your blues right away***

***You'll be doing fine once the music starts"***

It actually was night time but beside the point.

***"Oh, to the beat of the rhythm of the night***

***Dance until the morning light***

***Forget about the worries on your mind***

***You can leave them all behind***

***To the beat of the rhythm of the night***

***Oh the rhythm of the night, oh yeah"***

Whatever Asriel's secret to relaxing like this was, I sure could use it where I was chasing after the demon that was giving Bunnie and Mitzi trouble.

***"Look out on the street now the party's just beginning***

***The music's playing a celebration's starting***

***Under the street lights the scene is being set***

***A night for romance a night you won't forget"***

Ironic choice of lyrics for a world I was pretty sure pre-dated gas-lit and electric-lit street lights.  But given the era, paper lanterns were most certainly a thing, right?

***"So come join the fun this ain't no time to be staying home***

***Oh there's too much going on***

***Tonight is gonna be a night like you've never known***

***We're gonna have a good time the whole night long"***

Well...not all of us were having a good time....

Zenitsu screamed and flailed as Antoine tried catching up to him to drag him back to the battle.  I'd best not translate Antoine's exact words.  Aside from the fact that I didn't know whatever what his equivalent of the French language was called much less how to speak or understand it...pretty sure it would be very...salty.  Oh boy was Antoine a quick study at growing a spine.  Wish I could say the same for Zenitsu.

***"Oh, to the beat of the rhythm of the night***

***Dance until the morning light***

***Forget about the worries on your mind***

***You can leave them all behind***

***To the beat of the rhythm of the night***

***Oh the rhythm of the night, oh"***

At the same time Jon and Inosuke were putting a serious beatdown on the beast of a demon they had encountered.  Their method was not clean.  It was not pretty.  And it was most certainly something to cringe just from imagining the pain and injury it would cause a normal creature.

Oh dear gods.  I think Jon made a friend.  One who appreciated his more beastly approach to battle.  And for that matter...when did Jon's fighting spirit come back!?

***"Come join the fun this ain't no time to be staying home***

***Ooh there's too much going on, oh***

***Tonight is gonna be a night like you've never known***

***We're gonna have a good time the whole night long, oh"***

While all the while, Asriel and Nezuko just made a cute dance couple.

***"To the beat of the rhythm of the night***

***Dance until the morning light***

***Forget about the worries on your mind***

***You can leave them all behind"***

You know...maybe this was good advice I should follow.  I had a lot of worries about Goat Son now that the truth was about to be unveiled upon him.  Plus we still had a space-time continuum mess to clean up in Hill Valley and Cybertron's fractured timeline.  How WAS he dealing with the anxiety of knowing it would all unfold before him?

***"To the beat of the rhythm of the night***

***Dance until the morning light***

***Forget about the worries on your mind"***

I think it was about this time that Bunnie, Mitzi, and I were starting to circle back.  At the same time Jonathan and Inosuke were knocking their prey stupid across a lengthy path straight to our position.   And yes...Antoine had managed to coax Zenitsu's path to intersect.  Which left Sally and Tanjiro in a race to catch up with the demon trying to get away from them; quite wounded and desperate to survive.

***"Oh, to the beat of the rhythm of the night***

***Forget about the worries on your mind***

***To the beat of the rhythm of the night***

***Forget about the worries on your mind***

***La la la la, la la la la la la***

***La la la la, la la la la la la***

***The music's playin', it's a celebration***

***The music's playin', everybody dance***

***To the beat of the rhythm of the night***

***Forget about the worries on your mind (you can leave them all behind)***

***To the beat of the rhythm of the night (dance until the morning light)***

***Forget about the worries on your mind (you can leave them all behind)***

***To the beat of the rhythm of the night (oh, oh, oh, oh)"***

As Goat and Girl Demon landed in a big finish...!

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?"  Inosuke demanded, his boar's mask covering his expression.   Only a couple of us had gotten a peek at what was under the mask and...for a guy this rough-and-tumble...this absolutely thick-headed...this...brutish.......he sure had a pretty boy face.  And those blue-colored frosted hair tips weren't helping much either.

"Nezuko?"  Tanjiro blinked a little surprised.

As soon as Zenitsu saw it unfold...his jaw hit the ground and the screaming turned up to 11...but this time not for fear.  For absolute shock and having his heart pretty much stomped on.

Oh yeah...did I forget to mention the HUUUUUGE crush he had on Nezuko?  Eheheheheh...silly me for letting that slip my mind.

"I'm sure it's not what it looks like...!"  I assured.

"Whatever you think it looks like, I swear it's not that--"  Asriel started before he had to start dodging lighting attacks that weren't mind as Zenitsu started chasing after him, swinging his blade wildly.

"Oh brother..."  I facepalmed.

"We do not breathe a word of this to Violet."  Bunnie said rather dead serious.

"My lips are sealed.  And that's not just a reference to my cover by the Go-Gos' song of the same name."  Mitzi assured.

"This old story again..."  Sally facepalmed.

"Ah.  Zee unrequited love, no?  Been 'zaire...done 'zat."  Antoine rolled his eyes.

"Yes.  Yes we have."  Sally crossed her arms.  By this point she'd upgraded Antoine's presence from tolerable to decently friendly.  She was at least willing to work with him on the same team now.

For a bit it became a chase with Tanjiro, Inosuke, Zentisu, and Asriel going in circles while Nezuko just idly stood by with a confused look...........wait did she change her size again to a doe-eyed chibi-size?  How does she DO that?

I finally gave a shrill whistle and got everyone's attention.

"Hate to be a killjoy but......at what point did we forget we brought a whole horde of demons to this exact spot?"

Even with our numbers...this was looking to be a pay grade up from our usual.  And we'd brought all our headaches together practically on top of us.

"That's it.  I'm calling it."  Bunnie dug out the Moji-cellular and combined both Spatial Displacement with Tentei Kura and broke through the barriers to an off-world case that was fairly recent.

"I take it you didn't just call my mentors in New York?"

"They are technically exorcists.  But no.  This calls for a better fit than that.  This calls for something from a world a lot closer to this one..."

"Oh no.  You didn't...!"  Was all I got out before I heard the dreaded trademark attack called out--

"WIND SCAAAAAAR!!!!"

Asriel whirled as he saw the demonic energy blade tear out of the sudden portal and decapitated a good number of the demons that we were dealing with.

"It's...it's him!"  Asriel suddenly got as starry-eyed as Steven Universe.

Sure enough...in that familiar very red Robes of the Fire Rat with the hair as white as Asriel's human form...and yup...sporting a pair of pointy dog ears on top of his head; it could only be the legendary half-demon himself.

But I didn't have time to invoke his name for out of the same portal came the neon pink streaks of Sacred Arrows.  Only two priestesses knew how to launch that attack.  And one was dead and buried and never coming back...barring any tree spirits or demons borrowing her ghostly for some reason or another...

Yup.  That was the white and red shrine maiden outfit of Kagome Higurashi, landing next to the dog half-demon in question.

"Boy am I glad to see you two."

"Save it, furball.  I only put up with you because you're less annoying than Koga."

"Hey, I'm not exactly joining Koga's fan club either.  He reminds me of this blond-haired womanizer on a different world."

Somewhere Ken Masters just sneezed.  Also I was referring to the er..."watered-down" AU iteration of him.  The one who sounded a lot like legendary 90's voice actor, Scott McNeill.  But that was a can of worms for another day.

I wasn't lying though.  Funny Sally and Antoine should mention crushes and unrequited love.  If Koga were here, I'm sure he'd be grumping over the fact that his crush on Kagome ended up like this.

"Inuyasha!"  Kagome snapped.

"No, no!  It's okay, Kagome!  You don't have to punish him on my account!  He's hardly the rudest person I've met in my life--"

"And what's THAT supposed to mean!?"  Inuyasha got in my face.

"Uh...nothing.  It's all good!"

"Inuyasha...!"  Kagome growled moments before the dreaded words were uttered.

"SIT, BOY!"

Inuyasha's cursed neckless glowed moments before his gravity suddenly multiplied by a factor of at least 50.

Annnnnnnnnnnnd...we have cratering.

"Uhh...?"  Everyone else was a little um...dumbfounded by this sudden arrival.

"What the heck was that for!?!?"  Inuyasha got back up and yelled.

"Inuyasha..."  Bunnie was the next one to speak up.  "OSUWARI!"  She suddenly commanded...and the half-demon was treated to an encore of being cratered.

I'd ask how the Major was able to command his necklace some other day.

"Can we get back on task?"  Asriel pleaded.

Kagome grabbed her husband by the dog ear and dragged him back to the rest of us to stand back to back to back with our group.

"I'll make this up to you another time, Inuyasha.  But on the condition you meet the rest of my crew.  A certain someone here has been wanting to meet you and the old school demon slayers."

"Fine!  Just don't get in my way!"

"Perish the thought."

And it quickly turned into a slaughter...of the demons.  And it was here Asriel soon discovered just how strong Nezuko was.  When she got pissed...demons got dissed and dismissed.

Our battle went on for a while until.

"Hey guys !  Daybreak is upon us!"

"Quick!  Nezuko!  Back in the box!"  And so she did so.

The ones we didn't finish off were in for a nasty death as the rays of the sun did the rest.

When the last one turned to dust...

"Finally...it's over."

Moans and tired mutters and mumbles ensued.  We were all past our time limit and could really use a bed right about now.

"I appreciate at the help."  Tanjiro accepted Asriel's handshake.  "You're pretty strong youkai.  Your scent is...like none I've ever smelled before."

"Yeah, we're definitely a foreign breed."  I rubbed the back of my head.

"We must be going now."  Bunnie assured as she and Mitzi headed off into the Cyber Gate I opened.

"Hmmph.  You better not waste my time with small fries like these again."  Inuyasha sheathed his blade, the Tetsusaiga.

"I'm flattered you asked us for help."  Kagome thanked us, offering Bunnie a formal bow.

"It was really nice to meet you.  Hey, maybe next time I can meet Miroku, Sango, and Shippou."  Asriel waved.

And off they went.

"Well, with that job over maybe you can rest up yourself, Tanjiro--"  I started.

That was right about the time the messenger crow dropped in and delivered in its ear-splitting voice to direct Tanjiro to his next assignment.

"Oh god...that could get annoying after a while..."  Sally muttered to Mitzi.

"It already is."  Mitzi fluttered her mouse ears.

"Well.  Let's not hold him up any longer.  We're off to our realm now."  Asriel agreed.  "What's on the to-do list next, Volt?"

"Well we got a call from our old friend, the grandson of one Arsene Lupin.  Or so he claims."

"Lupin III?  What's he up to?"

"Trouble...and it seems that he may have collided with another of our old anime cases."   I held up my TAO link.

"Detective Conan?"  Asriel recognized the bespectacled kid in the formal suit and bowtie.

Now THAT was a story for another time.  Maybe.

Once we were off world.

"Let's go, Nezuko."  Tanjiro slung the backpack box onto his back and set out for his destination.  But along the way...he was sure he could hear...Nezuko attempting to vocalize despite the muzzle keeping her quiet.

"Nezuko?  Is that a...song?  Where'd you learn that from?"

Ohhhh even if she could, she'd never tell.

## Sub-Entry 053:  "Great Scott!  Marty's Got the 'Skilz' to Help Gigawatt Save the Future":

Asriel's virtues of patience and perseverance served him well as I struggled not to lose my mind over how the deadline for fixing Hill Valley's problem was approaching day by day.

I really hoped, dreamed, and of course...wished for something to be thrown our way to help the situation out.

Ask and Lady Destiny will provide, thus we shall receive.

The last few times we checked in with our contacts, they were holding their own.

Currently (intended electric pun...heh-heh...), Winston had just passed the rotation off to Egon.  And Egon had reported back that he and Ectronymous were most certainly fighting a losing battle...but it wasn't a total loss yet.  As long as we were able to save some humans from the Decepticon regime, a victory was a victory.  No matter how small.

It was about that time Lady Destiny showed her hand had one more good card to play to Fate's dismay.

"Well played, dear sister..." She was reportedly said to smolder under her breath.

At the time we had initially dropped in on Marty, we thought Gigawatt was the only ally he had.  If I had only thought to scan the skateboard he'd picked up...and er...used as a jackhammer during his antics against Starscream......eheh...might have left that detail out.  Oh boy...

As it turned out a later confrontation with Screamer would reveal Marty's skateboard was yet another Cybertronian.  One going by the name of "Skilz".

But it was Gigawatt's reveals that threw me for a loop.

"What!?"

"I think he was pretty clear."  Asriel crossed his arms.  "He was a Decepticon."

A moment of silence before I finally recalled that we had only recently given a former Kopy Kat a second chance.

"So...what made you abandon Megatron's cause?"

"You tend to become disillusioned by the cause when your great and mighty leader amuses himself by abusing and murdering the human workers we had manufacturing our Energon resources."

"You wouldn't be the first recorded in my database of those who jumped ship.  I should tell you about Jetfire some time."  I shrugged it off.

We were going about this without my Mentor.  Without Dr. Brown.   Or rather the Dr. Brown that was closer to my history with him.

The one who went to 2015 was...still M.I.A.

"Don't want to rub it in but...this is pretty heavy, isn't it?"  Asriel asked Marty.

"Heavy doesn't even come close, Az."

"Easy, Marty.  You've been through these timeline altering events before."

"Yeah, but none of those h-h-had giant ROBOTS making slaves of us!  And...and...and trying to KILL US!"  Marty stammered, clearly freaked out over this.  Despite the time that passed by since we had first dropped in on him, things STILL weren't any less crazy for him.

"Just another day in the office for us, Marty."  Asriel tried to comfort.  Which honestly didn't help the situation.

"If this is normal for you, I don't want to find out what's completely out of the ordinary for you two."

I think he was starting to get used to the fact that we weren't human by this point.

Gadget in the mean time was conversing with Skilz.  I guess a fellow skateboarder is just the person to bond with, right?

"I think this has been long over-due.  We need more answers to this if we're going to fix it.  Gigawatt.  Skilz.   Tell me there are other surviving Autobots."

The two of them looked at each other.

"We should talk."

Before long, Ectotron, with Egon driving, was following behind Marty driving Gigawatt and Skilz in skateboard form again.  Though in all fairness, who was actually doing the driving?

Asriel followed aboard the NX Switchboard Pro while I led the rear in the 57 Chevy.

I wasn't sure what to expect but...Asriel had this look.  A look like he knew we weren't going to find Optimus Prime.

And low and behold...he was right.  By the Matrix he was right.  For who should be the one leading the rebellion but...

"Hot Rod...?"  Asriel initially said.  "...no...something in my soul is telling me the Matrix has been passed down to him.  Which means...!"

"Rodimus Prime."   Our world's version of him.  This was bringing back memories of Rhodimus Prime from...well...from the NeoVerse...or...whatever we called Christopher Blair's reality.

With the time stream altered...it was fair game that not a spark were would recognize us.

Gods, it sometimes sucks being so right.

But...what of Mentor?  What of Emmett?  I mean...the one that went to Hill Valley's 2015.

I'd get my answers...but by Fate's unholy smirk...I regretted getting them.

"WHAT!?"  I sputtered, completely horrified by what I learned.

"Volt...it's okay.  He didn't know.  And let's not forget...they are called "Decepticons" for a reason."  Asriel growled.

"So that encounter just before going to 2015...Bumblebee saving them from what could have been a disaster.  It was all for naught?"

As I listened to Rodimus explain, it was...just completely out of left field that Emmett was responsible for the time shift.  Apparently his trip to 2015 had him reunite with Rumble, who survived the encounter.  He apparently befriended the Cassetticon while being completely unaware of his true intentions.  Once Dr. Brown completely repaired the Delorean, Rumble used it to travel to 1974 and used Biff Tanen to develop Energon supplies for Megatron's eventual arrival.

We already knew Gigawatt was a Decepticon turn-coat.  I mean...who could blame him after watching Megatron abuse and even vaporize innocent humans for sport.

So...he trans-scanned the Delorean and escaped but...not before his Flux Capacitor was damaged in the process.

So that was the story up to this point.

We needed mentor.

I was too cautious to take the risk of bringing our "future" Doc to this timeline to repair it.  Granted, he was far more careful at minding his tongue than Marty.  But even he, back in 1885, let it slip about Marty's temper when being called a chicken led to him having that "accident in the future".

Something this Marty had yet to be told about.  And being told THIS early on in the timeline?  That was a mess I don't think we could clean up if it led to serious altercations to the timeline.

No.  Even with Asriel and myself here...we had a stockpile of future information that we were sitting on.  Just one slip of the tongue...well who could say what it could do to Marty's future?  And everyone else's.

I sighed.  Worlds like "BttF" had the most fragile of timelines.  Unlike Miranda...it was TOO easy to screw up timelines and cause major paradoxes.

So...should Asriel and I together attempt to repair the Flux Capacitor?  I don't know...if it were just our Delorean 2.0 (with Mr. Fusion and Hover-conversion) that would be one thing.  The 1.0 version...not too much different.  But a Cybertronian who had scanned the Delorean Time Machine?  I don't know...was I that confident to tamper with his systems?

"It couldn't hurt to at least look."  Asriel urged me.

Well.  That much was true.

We'd spend as much time as we could allow, helping the Autobots set up for at least...some kind of plan to counterattack...some one-in-a-Googleplex shot at repairing the timeline and getting Marty back on that trip back to 2015 with Jennifer in tow.   Indeed...something DID have to be done about their kids.  Oh yeah...plus a long convoluted issue with a Sports Almanac, an alternate 1985 highlighted with Biff's Pleasure Paradise, and 1955 take 2.  With a double dose of manure and ANOTHER 300 bucks damage to Biff's car.  Topped off with the reason you don't want to get struck by lighting--

"Volt, could you hurry up your train of thought.  We got other cases standing by.

Right.  Moroha and company.

Although now that we had a moment to think about it...

"Ectotron.  Can I talk to you for a minute or two, please?"

"Very well.  I have some down time."

"It's...about years ago.  Your experience with my other Mentors.  With the Ghostbusters."

"Oh yes...you are referring to Starscream's ghost."

"You're curious, too, Volt.  You want to know how they resolved the problem and Ectotron and the others went back to the stars for a time until...well...recently."

"Starscream's ghost arranged a truce with us despite my insistence that he was the least trustworthy of Decepticons.  And he informed us it was not the Traveler who reduced him to this spirit form but...someone...something else.   Cloaked in red."

"Wait...we rewound time back to that point...why didn't we--"

"At this point, Asriel...it makes as much sense as why Gozer's Destructor Form was able to see us.

"His offer?  Well...instant death but with the additional condition that all of the Decepticons who went offline would live on as "ghosts"...bound to him.  Bound to this...Kremzeek--"

If I were drinking something...I would have spit it out.  I KNEW the name.  But it couldn't be the same one.  The same...living energy entity that Megatron and Starscream accidently created that could jump from circuits to circuits, feed on electricity and...basically become the Transformer version of the Electric Gremlin that rampaged through Clamp Towers' phone systems before being used to electrocute the entire batch of transformed mogwai.

"Then the signal that Ectronymous picked up was Starscream sending a distress call."  Asriel crossed his arms.  "Must be pretty desperate to ask help from Autobots."

Ectotron went on to explain that a servitor of Kremzeek arrived during our time away from New York and Starscream was VERY insistent on killing it and not trapping it.  Oddly...I agreed with this consensus.  There was no way even a ghost trap could hold something like that before it would be fried from the inside out.

I sighed and pondered this new information.

So wait.   Cybertron's timeline had multiple splits now.  One which Decepticons were killed and went on as ghosts bound to this Kremzeek, following Gozer's destruction of Cybertron.  And the one were in now where Decepticons took over Hill Valley.  And probably a third which involved Xavier's School for the Gifted (A.K.A. the secret headquarters of the X-Men).

"So the surge of subduing and frying the Kremzeek minion damaged your communicator and that's why you've been out of touch with us for so long."  Asriel reasoned as Gigawatt watched us from afar, intrigued but...also out of the loop on all of the things we were talking about.  Plus I could tell the Autobots were hoping we'd have something to contribute to helping with their current problem.

I would later converse with Egon about the issue of "dispelling" ghosts.  Simply destroying them.  This issue was an actual serious problem; you can't destroy ghost...only contain them.  Twice before he'd seen the folly of trying to do the former.  There was Janine's attempt to get Egon jealous when dating Paul Smart.  But in truth...he stole the schematics of their equipment to create his own paranormal removal service and its lone non-human robot ghost-destroyer, the X-1 Robobuster.

And then again with the knock-off company, the Ghost Smashers.

Both incidents had resulted in the "destroyed" ghosts reconstituting as a "mega spook" that only got bigger and worse with each "disintegration".

"So what happened next?"  Asriel asked.

He explained what happened next that led to Optimus Prime arriving on Earth while the Ghostbusters contended with another electrostatic phantasm.

Asriel was amused by Starscream's encounter with the holding tank containing a certain slimy, green, gluttonous phantasm.  I had to wonder what Slimer did to earn a time-out this time.  And admittedly...I had trouble containing my own laughter over the idea of Starscream being unable to take out his frustrations on Slimer because his spectral weapons couldn't penetrate the energized tank.

Then came the call to the abandoned Power Plant where another Kremzeek encounter ensued.  Ectotron had to pull double-duty while Ecto-1 was out of commission (and still impounded after Vi's check hadn't cleared yet.).

"I see.  And Optimus had already arrived but in the wrong area?"

"A place called Westchester County.  He eventually arrived at their HQ while we were out when...erm..."

I was immediately reminded of Violet's antics with RMB-Delta and FZY-Epsilon back in my sub-lab with "multicolored petroleum biproducts" and a room that had been...ahem..."vandalized...by ELVIS".  \*groan\*

Asriel...couldn't say anything to Optimus being graffitied all over.

But the story took a different turn when it was discovered the modified trap that the Ghostbusters had captured the latest Kremzeek in...was empty and Starscream was gone.

"You know I won't blame you if you say you told them so."  I wrinkled my snoot.

"Heavy."  Marty was apparently listening in on our conversation.

"Weight has nothing to do with it."  Ectotron protested.

Asriel and I chortled for a moment.  Then let Ectotron finish his story.

"We relocated to Red Hook, a warehouse that the four Ghostbusters had invested in as a secondary off-site lab and headquarters.

I smiled.  First a second garage in the next door building...now a second headquarters entirely.  Peter was scaling the operation up with the petty cash lately.

I wagged my tail as Ectotron offhandedly mentioned Peter Venkman meeting his match in terms of sense of humor opposite Optimus Prime.

Shame you can't, y'know, shrink."  Peter had been quoted saying.

"Actually, some of us can modify our size. There was a powerful Decepticon who could transform into a handheld weapon. I accidentally stepped on him once and set off a thousand years of war."  Was Optimus' response.

"Is that—really?"

"No, not really. But it certainly wouldn't have helped matters."  Prime quipped in response.

"...you're a funny guy, Prime."

He really could be.  I think Asriel appreciated it as much as me.

"I got to meet this Optimus Prime guy.   I could sure use someone around who has a better sense of humor than Doc."

The story climaxed at Grospeak Generating Station in Queens.  I'd taken Asriel there once for him to study power stations.

And that's when Kremzeek the Scavenger made his appearance.  That's when a few missing details turned up.  Like how Megatron and his loyal soldiers outright refused to assist the Scavenger and their ghosts were outright absorbed into him.  But Starscream agreed to assist.

"And Big-K hit his limit.  Starscream failed him one too many times and it was "GET IN MAH BELLY" right?"  I asked.

Mind like a steel trap, I've got, huh?

"Great Scott..."  Gigawatt muttered.

"I've heard that before."  Marty mused.

I shook my head, fighting back the huge grin.

"So...Kremzeek dueled Optimus Prime, using the power plan to make his power limitless and nearly beat Prime to death."

"He wanted the location of the AllSpark."

"Whoah whoah whoah.  What the Hell's an AllSpark?"  Marty interrupted.

"Eck and I--"

Ectotron ahem-ed loudly.

"Sorry...Ectotron and I will explain later."  Asriel corrected himself.

Ectotron's explanation about the Ghostbusters freeing a certain energy vampire ghost had me immediately recognize the M.O.

"Killerwatt."  I reasoned.

And sure enough...

"So.  Two electrical phantoms end up cancelling each other out.  Thank Coulomb’s Law."  Asriel laughed.

"I'm pretty sure Coulomb's Law doesn't work that way."  I corrected.  But then again...maybe it's different for aliens?

So with the day seemingly saved...Megatron's ghost arose and warned Prime that the war would never be over until one stands...and one falls.

"And with the newly acquired Proton Pack technology, Prime powered it directly into his own body, igniting a Proton Energy Axe and declared--"

"No.  He DIDN'T!"  I couldn't hold back the grin any longer.

"I ain't afraid o' no ghost."  Asriel said with his Hyperdeath shrug and headshake.

Marty looked at me with a weird look.

"You had to be there."  Ectotron assured.

"So...what was the end result of this battle?"  Gigawatt was hoping for a solution to use against their timeline's Megatron.

Suffice to say...Ectotron's response was...not what he was hoping for.

By that time...STC was recalling us again.  Seemed we were needed in Moroha's neck of the woods now.  Asriel was still eager to meet the OG's of Inuyasha's demon slayer group.  But...even STC didn't have answers to provide.

I contacted Dr. Archimedes to have someone take over for us.

Asriel and I could tell each of us was a little frustrated that we weren't being all that much help but...all things considered being guides in all this and collecting answers about past cases was...still better than standing by and doing nothing at all.  Maybe in the end we would have a much more active role to play rather than sit around telling stories during a rare moment in between Autobot/Decepticon battles.  Plus...we were still concerned about the McFly family in all this.

What started as a follow-up to Transformers x Back to the Future ended up becoming the missing pages of Transformers x Ghostbusters.  Well...the King of Crossovers learns to multitask or so my colleagues liked to joke.

Marty was still a little despondent about the situation...and worried about Doc.

Yet...I had no answers to give.  All we could do was reassure him we'd be back if and when we could.

At this point...I was wondering if it would be without Asriel.  Explanations were coming.  Soon.

But where was Emmett L. Brown in all this?

Little did we know, he was hard at work trying to correct his mistake; all the while forming a resistance of his own...

## Sub-Entry 054: "Sliders' Journey Leads to a Quantum Leap!  Adventures in Time and Dimension":

On an unrelated note, She-Lion had gone mostly silent for a time as Rei Hino and Megami Kobiyashi handled her formal training as a shrine maiden.  But as an added challenge, Kagome Higurashi offered to teach her the ways of being a priestess and exorcist.

I'd find out why she had gone quiet.  She had turned to Kitty to seek out of all things...a legal name-change.

"What?"

"If I am going to reinvent myself...it might as well be from the ground up.  I abandon the name, She-Lion for something...that fits better."

She was still a tsundere and fiery tempered.  Often getting into it with Rei...but quickly patching up when the two of then had to chew out Serena with some sick burns and disapproval of her ditzy, airheaded bubble headedness and short attention span.

"So I chose this."  She held up the legal document....forgetting that I don't speak or read Jangese.

"Uhhh..."

"I can help with that, Volt.  It says...Shishiko.  Fukushaneko Shishiko."

Asriel looked at her.  "Are...you okay with this?"  He understood the translation.

Shishi was lion.  And -ko was a usual suffix in Jangese girl names.  So...yeah.  She-Lion in Jangese.  But the sur-name?  A bit of a mouthful.  Fukushaneko.  In translation?  Copy-cat.  It literally said Copycat She-Lion.

The truth was...she hadn't really abandoned the name...she just translated it into Jangese.

"I am."

It was unnerving hearing her speak so softly.  In a way that minimalized that high-pitched, nasally, yowl that I had previously described her voice as before.  That sound that reminded me of Brattina Stoneheart's "nyah-nyaaaah" so readily.

Now I hardly recognized her.

Well.  That was that and...nearly the last I'd hear from her for a long while.

"Okay.  Well...best of luck to you, Shishiko."

Now.  With that unrelated note taken care of...

While I was definitely keeping myself grounded in what was going on in town now; honestly I'd spent too many of my years away from home falling out of the loop and just as many at home, equally a far cry from up-to-speed...I felt like I was more in touch with the people around me than I had been in a long while.

Bearing that in mind, I was also starting to need fewer reminders that I was living out what I was never really convinced was a permanent retirement but just the calm in between storms.  So in preparation for the next one, I was back to helping Miles co-command the Ultra Crew Institute Action Team.

He was no slouch to the field of science and could most certainly direct any part or the entirety of our research and development operation.

Yet every so often, I felt it only right that I check in on the lab and see what's cooking on the slab.

Asriel was most certainly trying to keep himself occupied to keep the anxiety at bay.  He knew full well we'd have our moment of alone time to properly handle the big reveal.  But like me...,he'd learn to trust his gut when something told him that today was not that day.  While he did not have Bunnie or Callista's clairvoyance...that soothsayer ability whether it was as minute as "Spider-Sense" or interpreting prophetic dreams and deciphering the pattern before events came to pass...  Sometimes all it really needed to be was a gut instinct that the day was not going to be normal.

Once I exited the elevator and went through the security doors.

A pretty standard day in the office.  Said my usual bevy of hellos and engaged in minor water-cooler talk.  II took my time checking up on each R&D section's progress.

"Really puts things in perspective.  When I first got into the biz, photon teleportation was highly theoretical.  In another ten years it'll be available in every corner drug-store at this rate."

Then again, I was pretty much making the same assumption my mentor, Dr. Emmett L. Brown made about plutonium back in 1955, when he was trying to figure out how he and Marty were going to generate 1.21 Gigawatts of electricity to drive the flux capacitor he invented.

With our luck, it'll be 30 more years from THIS point and we still wouldn't have flying cars.  But hey, by that point we'll probably have contact-lens TV sets and have cold pills that can also change your hair and eye color with nanomachines.   Not to mention needing to use your hands to play video games really WILL be a baby's toy with the invention of neural interfaces.

Good gravy.  It's fun to dream but boy...it's best not to hold your breath over an unrealistic wish list for the future.

"Hey, Volt."

Asriel was already on hand.  He was actually...being pretty convincing with how he was trying to keep his mind off...the questions that I could answer any day now.

He could sense it, too.  Today was not that day.

No...something was coming.  And it was most certainly something from the past that I had encountered before.  Something...that I was pretty sure even A.E.O.N. didn't have any record of how those case files ended; that meant...after all this time, they were on-going underneath our noses.  S.T.C. had let them become oversights.

But what was it I was speaking of?

Well...

"...and Aunt Vi added some cross-network buffer arrays to compensate for propagation delay due to distance and electromagnetic interference.  The usual mugshots that work against modern electronics."

"Your V.E.H.I.C.L.E. system is an overwhelming success, Azzy.  You've re-invented the wheel and then scrapped it and re-invented it all over again."

"C'mon.  Don't oversell it."

"Asriel.  You basically combined every R.P.G.'s inventory system with wireless internet.  It's a whole new world."

"Yeah...but still only available to us in the private sector.  You know what they say about things ending up in the wrong hands."

I didn't know at the time that I'd have foresight into our next adventure.  However, I'm getting ahead of myself.

"Volt, I probably should let you know the Cyber Gate research team has been showing weird anomalies in the Axis of Realities; all restricted to Earth AU's."

"Hmm?"

"While we've been monitoring it for months, it really didn't start getting our attention until the start of this year.   Conversely...the data we've acquired shows that...this phenomenon has been going on for...what may be going on twenty-five to thirty years."

"That's why you're bringing it up to me.  You're sure I've encountered something like this, right?"

"You are the authority on space, time, and dimension.  If you don't know it then I don't know who would."  Asriel shoved his hands into his lab coat's pockets.

"So.  Do you know of anything that might be a match?"

I was spinning my wheels.  At first nothing came to mind.

"Anything else you can tell me about it?"

"I've talked with Dr. Persephone on the matter and she agrees with my initial analysis.  It's almost like a momentary short circuit between nodes.  Some Earth AU's practically next to one another...some completely unrelated.  The shorts themselves seem completely random and they don't last long but..."

Wait a minute...something about this was familiar."

"Has S.T.C. noted an instance of anything traversing these short circuits...or rather...anyone?"

Asriel turned to me and looked kind of surprised.  "Well...as a matter of fact, four instances of what seem to be intelligent humanoid.  One right after the other in quick succession before--"

"Hmm..."  I rubbed my chin.

"You've got something?"

"I just might..."

"I think we should probably check in on the Cyber Gate technicians.  Dr. Lynx seemed concerned that the last few short circuits were starting to diverge from the main dimensional Earth conduit...in fact it seems to be getting closer to...!"

It was right about that time we reached the Cyber Gate room where there was a commotion.  As soon as the door opened.

"Director Volt!  Vice-Director Asriel!  Thank goodness you're here!  Some kind of singularity is starting to manifest!"

"What?  Right now!?"

"It completely baffles the mind!  It's happening without a Cyber Gate focusing ring!"

"Holy schnikees...!"  I gasped.

I noticed the instruments on some of the panels start to give off readings that didn't make sense.

"Some kind of...vortex...a wormhole singularity of some kind..."

"I knew it..."  I whispered.

"What?  What is it?"  Asriel asked.

"I might not have time to explain but all non-human staff vacate the room quick.  Azzy, switch on the Unitrix.  I'm going to demorph."

"Uh...okay."  Asriel and I both made the quick change to  human form while everyone but our human techs left the room.  It was a protocol recently instated that applied to a lot of our Earth AU allies.  Worlds that probably weren't ready for anthropomorphic beings.  At least not yet.  It was mind-blowing enough that there were other humans out there for some of them.

Though in all fairness...a lot of my crew got away with skirting the line.  Violet, for example wasn't subtle about letting Jeremy Belpois and friends know her love of carrots wasn't just coincidental.

"Terran protocol?"  Asriel asked, quickly figuring it out.

I nodded.

That was when it started happening.  A vortex began to form as a displacement of air stirred up a breeze that became a miniature gale, sweeping up entire reams of computer printouts, various light-weight objects and such.

"What's happening!?"

"I knew it had to be them..."

"Them?"

I uttered  single word before...they emerged.

"Sliders."

And sure enough...four humans were unceremoniously dumped into the room.

Asriel and I were quick to jump to their aid and help them up.

Azzy got to the first of the group.  Teenage.  Wavy-haired.

I helped up the large, heavy-set bearded man.

Callista and Scott had stayed behind; the former figuring medical attention might be in order.  The latter in case our visitors were hostile.

Callista helped up the teenage girl.   Scott assisted the African-American man.

I decided to nip it in the bud before questions could be asked...but ironically I ended up stirring up more questions as a result.

"Well.  You've arrived at your destination safely, haven't you...Mr. Quinn Mallory?"

That of course stunned the kid, now identified as Quinn.

"How...how do you know--"

"I've actually studied your case-file some decades ago.  It's complicated.  I'm Dr. Volt Alessandro Arcade.  My friend over there is Asriel Tobias Dreemurr-Arcade.  Adopted into the family.  Another long story.  The woman is Dr. Callista Brighton and the soldier over there is her husband, Colonel Scott O'Conner.  And uh...well...welcome to Ultra Crew Institute and our underground lab's dimensional research facility."

"Dimensional Research...?"  Mallory questioned.

"You got here by Sliding, right?"

"You know about Sliding?"

"Heh.  I did just say I've been studying your case for a while.  It's actually been a cold case for a long time until...Asriel brought it to my attention just today."

"Sliding...is that what they call crossing dimensions in their world?"  Asriel asked.  He immediately caught on that the answer was a resounding yes.

"Well.  You're certainly not on your Earth anymore.  But that's been the case for a while.  I regret to inform you that you're no longer on Earth, period."

"What do you mean by that?"  The young lady, we'd later identify as Wade Welles and...possible romantic interest in the young Mallory.

"So now we're not even on Earth!?"  The African-American was by far the most freaked out.

"As if crossing realities wasn't enough now you expect us to believe we are treading upon the ground of extra-terrestrials?"

The mannerisms of the heavy-set man definitely gave Asriel the impression he was of Academic roots.  A professor, perhaps?

"Ah...Professor Maximillian Arturo, correct?"

"I'd normally be inclined to state that my reputation precedes me but usually that's an occurrence more reserved for my colleague, Mr. Brown."

He was referring to the last person of the group, a performing artist by the name of Mr. Rembrandt Brown.   After some time connecting with Mitzi's friends later on, we'd learn how he got the nickname the "Crying Man" and that he'd be a big hit with Sallie Sashay.  Who knew Sashay's passion was soul music?

"How did this happen?  We slid like we always do."

"I don’t' know.  The Timer's shown no sign of malfunctioning."

"I've been hoping to come up with an answer myself for that but...I'm drawing a blank."  I looked over the various holo-tablets of the technicians that hadn't been damaged by the storm.

"I've got Archimedes and Faraday on the horn."  Asriel looked up from the holo-transmission.  "I think if we put our heads together we can figure out how to get them on track by their next slide."

Azzy was becoming a quick study once he had opened my old research files in his scanner glass and gotten help from my colleagues.

"Seventy-two hours until the next slide."

"Three days to figure this out.  No pressure."

"I think by that point we can probably open up a little more about this world."

"Is there something we should know?"  Wade asked.

Asriel and I kind of looked at each other.

"There's a reason we kept only human staff on site for your arrival..."  Asriel rubbed the back of his head.

I went over the various computer data.

"Well since you have time to spare and are not running for your lives or getting caught up in the antics of an Earth where the British lost the Revolutionary War, you're free to head top-side after we clear it with our security detail.  Also, I assure you we DO have antibiotics on this planet so...no repeating THAT nasty incident.   Ahem...I digress.  You're free to explore our city but on the grounds that you let some of my trusted staff serve as your guides.  That's my first condition.  My second is that you don't try to make us headline news if you get back home.  Or...is it still too soon to bring up how well some of you kept Sliding a secret after your first outings?"

Quinn immediately looked at the other three with a brief look of accusation before turning back to me.  It was clear that only one of them could keep a secret.

"Like I said.  My organization has been researching your case for a long time.  As a Scorpio, the trust of my friends and my trust to them is invaluable so...just letting you know I'm going to be miffed if anyone gets any ideas.  Or a hostile ice-covered Earth is going to be the least of your worries."

Dead silence.

"Okay, okay.  Maybe that was a step too far.  Asriel's giving me the look.  I think I can trust you all."

My sense of humor was a little quirky and maybe touching the line.

Asriel volunteered to give the tour to Quinn's group with some of us offering to help out.

"Good ideas all around..."  I started before immediately putting a hand on one of the technician's shoulder firmly.

"...but while we're on the subject of trust...I think we should start with you, because you're certainly not who you claim to be."

Scott immediately tensed up.

"Uh...I don't know what you're talking about, Doctor."

"Well that's certainly not suspicious at all.  Nor is your I.D. Badge which clearly has the correct name, photo, and relevant information, and even the correct watermark.  But...uh...when my resident psychic brain surgeon over yonder is telepathically warning me that the man who's worked at this establishment for 20 years suddenly has brainwaves and surface thoughts that don't match up...I just have to wonder who you really are?"

"Volt, are you saying we have an intruder?"

"Well...intruder is a bit strong.  More like an accidental tourist if my hunch is right.   As Violet would say, he must be whack-ula thinking he can dunk Shaq-ula on our testing track-ula but if this guy is who he says he is, then I'm Scott Bakula."

More dead silence and weird looks.

"What?  Does nobody watch a TV set much less watch reruns on Sy-Fy or Comet nowadays?  Hah.  You all disappoint me."

"You can drop the act.  I think I know very well who you are...Dr. Samuel Beckett."

And with that, the technician was white as a ghost.

I shook my head and entered some commands into one of the computers in the room as some mechanical arrays, lined with encircling, flashing L.E.D.s and laser emitters came down the ceiling and projected a wire-frame array before fanning out their beams into a rapidly sweeping pattern, faster and faster until their light turned completely invisible but their energy field was still there.

And finally the flat-panel HD monitor dropped down the from the ceiling; its screen turning mercury silver before it solidified into a mirror of sorts.

"This IS the person who's REALLY standing before us...isn't it?"

All our reflections in the mirror were normal...but the person who was our lab tech in question...most certainly had a different appearance.  Not the same one as who was standing in the room with us.

"How did you do that...how do you know--"

"About you, Dr. Beckett?  About Project: Quantum Leap?  Give my organization some credit.  You're a founding legend in our old lore of pioneers who contributed to the science of time-travel.  My mentor, Dr. Brown would have most certainly wanted to meet your acquaintance."

"Volt...did you know about--"

"I've actually know about his arrival for a day or two.  And he still hasn't figured out what he needs to do to make the next leap.  Am I right, Doctor?"

"Y...yes."

"You've probably been going out of your skull having not gotten a visit from Al."

"No offense, Volt, but not getting a visit from Al Dente is a blessing."  Asriel mused.

I shook my head.  "No, Azzy.  Different Al.  I'm talking about Albert "Al" Calavicci, USN.  Doc Beckett's best friend and only means of contact.  A womanizing Navy rear-admiral...not one word about that to Violet or she'll start doing her Beavis and Butthead impressions again...who appears to Sam and ONLY Sam as a hologram."

"That's...that's exactly right.  How can you possibly know all about this--"

I opened the holo-window detailing several archival files of Project: Quantum Leap as they appeared in A.E.O.N.'s memory as Asriel was now showing off holo-windows to Quinn Mallory and company how much we knew about the Sliders.

"A.E.O.N. would certainly love to pick Ziggy's electric brain on all this.  What you started was revolutionary, Sam.   I can call you Sam, right?  I mean...away with the pretense of hiding out as one of our own tech's trying to figure out what in his life you need to fix to put his history back on track...you're probably not going to get answers from Ziggy, anyway since she most certainly wouldn't have working knowledge of a history on a planet that isn't even Earth."

"Volt, we seem to have our plates double filled on this one."  Asriel looked at me as I looked back.

"Agreed.  So...you feeling confident with dividing and conquering?"

"Sure.  I'll keep the Sliders out of trouble."

"And I'll work on Sam Beckett's case here.   And I'll start by hooking him up with an old friend."  I tapped away at the consoles after wiring into my STC Bracer.

"That field I projected to show what you see in the mirror actually serves a double purpose.    Now that Callista has triangulated your brainwaves and produced a delta wave for me to work off of..."  I explained as I worked.  "I think I can tap into your Earth's coordinates.  Space.  Time.  And dimension.  And let's see if we cannot..."

A few finishing touches and all of a sudden...a doorway appeared in the middle of the room that opened up and a bright light emerged.

"Sam!"

Sure enough, sporting very short hair, a loud red suit jacket and matching red bolo tie and smoking a big cigar...

"Welcome to the off-planet party, Admiral Calavicci.  Dr. Arcade at your service, I've already met your friend, Sam.  Yes, I know about Project: Quantum Leap, and yes I have plenty of answers to the questions you'll both certainly bombard me with."

"No offense, Volt...but you sound like you've been waiting all your life for this moment."

A pause.

"Ohhhhhh..."  He caught on quick and gave a quick grin.  "Anyway...the four of us will be at Mitzi's Pizzeria and...uh...I'll acclimate them to our world as best I can.  Break it to them...gently, if you get me?"

"What do you mean...break it to us gently...?"  Rembrandt asked.

"Better brace yourself for Comic Con come to life."

"Com-what...?"  Arturo questioned.

"At the risk of sounding like Aunt Vi...this is going to be fun."

After they left the room.

"Mental note to self...whap Vi up-side the head."  I growled.

"First things first...to clear up the matter of you not being on Earth...you should both brace yourself.  But in all fairness you did have that stint with a vampire once so...just think of this as the sequel."

"Sequel...?"  was all that Sam got out before I morphed.

Al's cigar fell out of his mouth.  Saved me the trouble of telling him it was a no smoking facility.

Sam Beckett could only find one appropriate thing to say.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh boy..."

I had to admit.  This little crossover was unusual from the others.  Usually the point of a crossover was to bring unrelated people together.  Let the play off of each other, butt heads with each other, trade arch-enemies.  Maybe clash against one another before that inevitable teaming up.  I mean...how do you top Batman dropping a shameless "Cowabunga" only for Shredder to COMPLETELY be dumbfounded enough to repeat the word out of confusion before getting blindsided?  Or our own Transforms crosses Ghostbusters crosses Back to the Future with (maybe?) X-Men as the cherry on top of an on-going case?

But...yeah.  Two separate worlds barely colliding that had nothing much to do with one another...and Azzy and I were treating them both as stand-alone cases.

How very bizarre for us.

While I was busy digging up personnel files and interviewing people in the lab over what our technician could have in his life that Sam needed to correct before he'd be allowed the leap to the next point.  Hopefully, in his own Earth's history and not ours...

Asriel was most certainly getting a vote of confidence from a group of four who weren't having to deal with  a viral sickness, mafia families, or worst of all...Krommags.  Yeah, that was a huuuge oil drum of worms I was glad I wasn't opening and I'm sure they thanked Asriel for not reminding them.

If I had to estimate where and when they had been pulled from...I was narrowing their timeline segment to the second of the five sections of their dossier I had dumped from STC's database thanks to Nicodimus.  Asriel immediately, and without me having to warn him, knew full well to keep the other three sections off the table should he converse with them over their adventures.  Information beyond section 2 would endanger their own timeline and...most likely they wouldn't be ready for the vast number of changes and...sacrifices along the way.  And above all...none of them could ever be told who, if anyone, would make it home and in what capacity.

But...spoilers under lockdown for one case aside...

"Suddenly I have at least partial understanding what you meant by "Comic-Con", young Asriel."

"I did warn you and I did tell you to brace yourself when I changed to my true form."

"It is pretty adorable."  Wade tried to suppress the moment of being like a little girl in a Build-A-Bear Workshop.

Asriel tried to downplay it but his blushing cheeks were telling another story.

"Considering what our last meals were, it would be in poor taste to comment that of all cuisine know to mankind we're settling for pizza."  Arturo grumped.

"Hey, don't knock it til' you try it."  Asriel grinned.

And of course it was Mitzi's perfect as Asriel had come to expect.

As they ate, Asriel had a look at the Timer, trying to make sense of it.

"So all the trouble started when you had to Slide prematurely.  The more you do it, the further and further away from your Earth's coordinates it gets."

"If we don't make the leap in time, we could be stranded upward of 20 to 30 years in the same dimension before another one opens up."  Quinn explained.

"You seem to know about the science behind this.  Can you help us?"

"I'll do what I can, but I have to warn you.  I may just be modest, but I still consider myself an intern of the STC Agency.  I'm a way's off before I understand all of what Volt's spent a lifetime discovering."

Asriel looked over the schematics he had on his NX Switchboard in its table-top tablet mode.

He compared them to our own Dimensional Rig tech for ideas or at least solutions to get them back to Sliding on Earth realms.  Besides...they couldn't very well make the next slide without assurance they'd end up on a different planet.  A dangerous one.  Asriel and I would never forgive ourselves if the next Slide led to Cybertron.  Or Planet Doom.  Or worse.

But I suppose out of everyone, I think it was the Crying Man whose reputation would get its jumpstart with Sashay asI had indicated.

What better way than to show her what he was known for?  And it wasn't just Sashay who took notice.  With a whole pizzeria full of ex show-biz (and in some cases ACTUAL Showbiz) performers, the vocal music would not be in short supply.

Asriel took great pleasure in showing the sights.  I think they were a bit jumpy around the holo-simulator, though.  Probably should have told Asriel about the um...experience in the life-or-death game.   What more can you say where the headline of a newspaper on a lawn read in big bold all-capital letters: "IT'S A GOOD DAY TO DIE".

Meanwhile, I had my hands full trying to figure out how Sam's leap landed him OFF of Earth's timeline and onto ours.  This was a detour that didn't even make sense to me.  But darned if I wasn't going to figure it out.

But also I had this distinct feeling I had to help Sam intervene in our technician's life before something bad happened.  History had shown, Sam's adventures in time usually involved steering someone's life choices away from the path that lead them to a life in prison, in an a mental asylum...or of course...dead.

And quite frankly...the Council wasn't budging on letting me peek into the guy's career.

Oh by the way, I should probably mention the name of the tech in question was D.P. Bellisario.

Huh....that name seemed....REALLY familiar somehow.

"Anyone ever tell you, you look like Dean Stockwell?"  Violet mused as she lounged on top of the console.

Al just looked at her funny.

"Violet.  OFF.  THE EQUIPMENT."

"That rabbit girl is a princess?"  Al looked at me as Violet was quickly pushed off the machinery by an irate Bunnie Rabbotou.

"Best not to think deep into it.  She's also a hacker and other things but....really she's WAY too intelligent for her own good.  And unfortunately she squanders it on downplaying it with juvenile behavior."

"A lot of women describe me in that context."

I rolled my eyes.  Al struck me as being closer to Peter Venkman than anyone in my rolodex.

"Nikita is trying to make contact with ZIGGY but so far nothing."  Rotor assured.  "Gadget's trying every adaptor and we're cycling through all of Violet's software patches to get her to respond."

"You know you're the first to acknowledge ZIGGY's existence.  On top of that you're referring to ZIGGY as a her."

"Well, ZIGGY has a female voice."  Rotor looked up from the tablet.

"Described as a self-aware artificial intelligence "parallel hybrid computer with an ego" that runs Project Quantum Leap, and helps Sam throughout his leaps."  I looked up from my own holo-projection.

"That's putting it mildly."  Al whapped the brightly colored flashing portable box  on the side several times in frustration.

Bunnie spread out the various spreadsheets and reports.

"Not even a parking ticket.  Our friend you've leaped into is a straight arrow in every respect.  Been with the company 20 years and a model employee."

I was starting to suspect he was fated to be a person in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Accident, perhaps.  Something unforeseen?  Car crash?  Lab explosion?  Or randomly mugged going home one night?

How were we supposed to protect him if we weren't allowed to know his future?

As time went on, I was gradually reminded of Asriel's and my experience with a certain brother and sister from an Undertale AU.  For only three days they stayed in their realm and it was a bigger reveal to Asriel than anything he would know up until...until he found out Evil-Chara really...was who he said he was.

"...I think it would be a bad idea for Violet to meet your project's head programmer, Sam.  Let's not get into how she handled the last person she met with notoriously bad breath.  Plus...I don't think we want to find out how she'd handle someone with the nickname "Gooshie"."

I rubbed my temples.  "On the other hand seeing Violet cross psychological swords with Quantum Leap's psychologist, Dr. Verbena Beeks...now that I'd pay to see."  I let a side smirk slip out.

As for a reason how Sam got diverted from Earth?  I didn't have a scientific one per se...

...but I did have an inkling who to blame.

Elsewhere...

The twin goddesses engaged in their latest exhibition.

"..B...four."  Destiny announced.

"Miss."  Fate responded with a smug smirk.

"A...two."

"Miss."  Destiny breathed out a sigh of relief.

Really...our two separate adventures hinged on a game of Battleship?  So now Bill and Ted's one of many games against Death was the inspiration?

Somewhere KOMMAND was most certainly pondering if their next match would be Twister.   I will...NEVER dignify the reasons why beyond her fascination with sister goddesses climbing over each other on a rubber mat while barefoot.

Dammit, Vi.

One day later and we were both making progress in our own ways.

"...the flux dispersal seems solid but...the neural component...so perplexing."

Again Dr. Brown was on hand to assist but...I still felt bad about relying on the Doc who was technically still out of time and place.  He was my mentor alright, some years rewound.

I vowed I was going to get the right Emmett back in place once I figured out where his missing link in the chain was and how to get him and Marty back into their proper timeline leading into the 2015 that they knew...leading back to Alternate 1985-A (alternate), back to 1955-R (return), to 1885...back to 1985 again into 1986...then to the 1930's, 1985-B (Citizen Brown), and so on...

I hated that I was putting him in this position but.

"Dr. Brown."

"Emmett.  I think you've earned that much.  I have to say, Sam Beckett your approach to time travel is as remarkable as it is unorthodox."

"The unforeseen consequences kind of speak for themselves when you suddenly disappear in that blue light and suddenly find yourself in the body of a young woman about to board a bus to compete in a beauty pageant."

"Moments ago, I would have thought you had a strange sense of humor or an even stranger imagination."

"Among countless other awkward moments.  Let's not bring up the lab monkey incident?"

"A little late for that, Volt."

At least we were on a first name basis with one another.

"ZIGGY is still running the numbers.  She's having a hard time figuring out how to extrapolate even when linked to an external database of your world's history."

"I have my best allies at the organization on tech support.  We'll figure this out.  But in the mean time..."

"Yeah...what event happens to this guy that we need to change?"

All the while...

"...so how are you going to know which Earth is yours?"

"Well...for the longest time I've been using the gate in front of my own house as some kinda of clue I can at least know right here is right."  Quinn pounded his chest.  "For years every time I open that gate I know that squeak like an old song."

"Well...I of all people known a thing or two about those little touches in your past that there's just no faking."  Asriel shrugged.

He was really trying to cover up how much his past was like a slow-burning rope to him but...if he could at least comfort in their time of need.

He was sensing it too.  Time was running out.

"When I woke up this morning, the last thing I expected would be that the next fan I'd get would be a skunk."

"Hon, I sure as heck didn't think I'd run into a human with a set of pipes that good.  Don't talk about my perfume and we'll call it square..."Cryin' Man"."

"With a deal like that how can I refuse, baby?"

"Trade me an autograph and I'll call that a sweet deal."

"I'll even throw in a song of my own to sweeten it even further."

Asriel sweat dropped.  "I have a feeling it was said by someone before but...ohhhh boy."

Okay, we were going at this separately...but sometimes the connections seemed to cross wires remotely.  As if we were connected in spirit, perhaps?

Asriel had his own comparisons to draw upon.  Surprisingly his default wasn't Rance and Dianne...but actually...he was thinking of Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.  Three days was how long you had until Termina's end.  Three days to stop the Moon from falling.

Three days to get Sam Beckett back on his journey on his Earth and get the Sliders crew back to going from Earth realm to Earth realm.

Sure enough...day three and it did come to a head.

"E...three."

"H...Hit."  Destiny's gaping maw managed to utter.

Oh no.

Meanwhile in a city far from Miranda but definitely being used as a war ground for mortal enemies...

"We got another splinter group of--"

"Yeah.  Anthrocide."  Asriel looked pissed...but a contained sort of pissed.

"And remnants of Destiny's Call."  I growled, angry that despite all our precautions to keep our new friends out of it...?

"Man, why do we NEVER find our way to worlds where we don't have to worry about things blowing up and people shootin' at us!?"  Rembrandt ducked down behind the taxi.

"For the record, I've never had to ask what deity I've offended."  I fumed.  "But to this day I can STILL take pride that I punched that smug face of hers clear across her room."

I smirked, hoping somewhere that Fate took that as a challenge or at least a brutal reminder of being humbled by an immortal demi-god; though I was still outranked by pure goddess by comparison.  It was like an 8-foot pro wrestler getting beat up by a baby if I had to really spell it out.

"Volt!"  Asriel pointed as he ducked back down behind the cars.

"Dammit, Sam!  I told you not to leave the lab!"

I had a feeling that even if he didn't know what history had foretold, he was going against it.  Probably the OPPOSITE of what he should be doing.

The next thing I knew, his fist collided with the non-human commanding officer of Destiny's Call.

"Heh.  Since when do your poindexters have that kind of guts, Sparks?"  Chameleon was rather amused.

"DIE YOU DAMN, DIRTY HAIRLESS APE!" his subordinate took it personally before lining Sam up in his crosshairs.

"Sorry about this..."  Quinn grabbed Asriel's NX Board off his harness.

"Hey!"

Then he hurled it with all his might just as the weapon fired and...

...the bullet reflected off of the hexagonal energy panels as the NX's electromagnetic barrier kicked in.

"Did...that just happen?"  I gaped.

"I'd say it did.  ZIGGY reports a that there was a 99% chance that this was the incident that we needed to change."  Al's hologram appeared thanks to Vi's modded holo-projector that we wired into our system through the neural link Callista established with Sam.

"Leave no beast--"

"Oh shut up."  Asriel had drifted behind Anthrocide's commander and K.O.'ed her with an NX Zapper pistol-whip to the head.

Before long we quelled the unrest.

"Guys...time's about to run out!  We have to move!"

"Time's up for more than one of us, Mr. Mallory."  Sam waved.

"It's with deep regret that we did not get a chance to pick your brain, Dr. Beckett!  Maybe we'll meet again some day."  Arturo assured.

"Right back at you, Professor."

It was right about that time Quinn pointed the Timer and the vortex opened up.

It was right as Sam was waving to us that Asriel and I noticed the blue light and the tangle of electricity as time felt like it froze for everyone else but us and Sam.

And with that he made the next leap just as the Sliders leaped into the vortex before it shrunk and disappeared.

"...D...Eight."

".......hit.  You have sank my battleship."  Fate wrinkled her nose and pouted.

"Enemies are rounded up."  Scott O'Conner saluted.

"The wounded are being tended to."  Callista assured.

"And I've sent for the E.R.R.O.R. team."  Violet mused.

"This was...an experience, Volt."

"Yup."

"So...wonder what crazy thing we'll have to deal with before we get a moment's peace this month?"

"No idea.  But gotta say...we soured Fate's mood for a bit.  Her next rage-quit is coming, probably."

## Sub-Entry 055: "When Knight Rider Goes Turbo a Teen Comes to the Rescue":

Credit given to where credit is do.  It was kind of a refreshing pace for Asriel and myself to resolve two separate, completely different matters.  Whether it was Asriel assisting with Mr. Malory and friends' long and winding journey to get back to their Earth out of the countless slides into countless Earth AU's....or me with Dr. Becket's time-traveling fiasco that had us putting our heads together with Al to figure out the conditions for making the next leap...we showed we could go our separate ways for a time without depending on each other for that extra push to victory.

Maybe that was the lesson that Lady Destiny was trying to teach us both.  If it was...then it was a lesson that I didn't want to think deeper into.  What it could foreshadow was something I was still not ready for yet.  And chances are...neither was Asriel.

Since the Crossover Wars ended, a lot of things had settled down and gone quiet in the UltraVerse.

Gadget assured me that in the post-CODEX era, the Phoenix Foundation had things well in hand.  Mobile Armored Strike Kommand had seen VENOM go underground, its command structured crippled and its operation unable to fund itself.  Miles Mayhem vowed it wasn't the last we'd seen of him.

Doc Terror had brought his number of failed schemes up to a nice round 100.  That said, he and his operation had also decided on a strategic retreat until conditions were optimum for him to start cranking out a new army and beginning his terrorism anew.

The Pro-Stars weren't going on any covert missions as of late but that didn't stop the training sessions at Mom's Gym.  Ohhhhh, she was going to pound them into the ground to make sure they were in tip-top shape the next time trouble was around.  Discussions had taken place to consider...passing the torch.  But nothing constructive came out of it.  Though Wayne had certainly set a record for new food combinations that Jon was all too willing to taste test.

Speaking of the sports-related issues, Asriel had brought to my attention a possible blip on the radar in the coming future.  One that went back to an incident involving a different iteration of Mr. Michael Jordon and his very Loony basketball adventures with one Bugs Bunny and friends.  If Asriel was right, then this generation's basketball champion was about to get a visit from the wise-cracking, carrot-eating rabbit and company.

So yeah...despite how much we had heaped on our plate...it was barely a mini blueberry muffin on a breakfast buffet compared to the load of crossover chaos we'd seen before.  To put it simply?  The UltraVerse was mostly quiet.

But mostly quiet...doesn't necessarily mean dead.

I doubt any of us would have expected someone to find their way off of an Earth AU and come asking for our help.  Yet...what really surprised us was that it was an agent of an agency we were still in contact with.

Something was definitely off if the Foundation for Law And Government (F.L.A.G.) was contacting us in a time period between Knight Industries Two-Thousand's last known service record...and the creation of the Knight Industry Four-Thousand.

History had always deemed this section a time which the Knight Foundation and the underworld it fought against went completely quiet.  A point at which UCIAT would have joint acquisition of their assets with the future shareholders of Wilton Knight's estate--an estate which would be run by the future Russel Maddock and lead to K.I.T.T. being "recycled" and the dawn of the Knight Industries 4000--the car that would eventually become K.I.T.T.'s new body.

Yet somehow...STC's intervention into affairs had somehow split the timeline which resulted in K.I.T.T. and K.I.F.T. existing simultaneously.  And now the mind of (somehow) now-deceased Shawn McCormick occupied K.I.T.T.'s glossy red Dodge Stealth counterpart as its A.I. operating system and favorite person to argue with now that Michael Knight (originally Michael Long, mind you) had gone off into the sunset to go fishing, work on his 1957 Chevy, and enjoy retirement.

So.  Imagine my surprise when the man--who bore a STRIKING resemblance to actor/singer and still-to-this-day an idol in Germany, David Hasselhoff--ends up knocking on my Cyber Gate lab door...from the inside.

I'm pretty sure HIS surprise was about as equal or greater to my own.   Need I remind you...Terran world.  Earth AU's...usually didn't have anthropomorphic beings, non-humans, androids, and denizens of the supernatural.  Then again...Devon Miles never did know who was the Knight Foundation's silent partner while F.L.A.G.'s entire operation was being audited and downsized.

I decided to go with the Howard family approach to shock and surprise.

"An explanation is probably long overdue."

"I was thinking more to swear off drinking and checking the expiration dates on the food in my fridge."

He certainly looked a lot better than K.I.T.T. had previously described as "gone down the toilet after [we] split up".

"Yeah, yeah.  This old reaction to meeting a species that walked off the set of a Universal Monsters movie reboot after stealing wardrobe from Chuck Norris."  I decided to be pre-emptive with my acerbic wit.

Let me assure you you're not hallucinating.  We kept our operation off F.L.A.G.'s books for a reason.  Namely that we don't want a different division of your government showing up with the quarantine tents and hazard suits straight out of E.T.  Many of us do not like being dissected in the name of science."

"Volt, hurried over as soon as I could.  Who's...!"

Asriel stopped.  "Hey...isn't that the guy who was a life guard on a beach in the 90's?"

"Lifeguard?  I should only be so lucky."

"Was everything on the small screen recorded entirely in slow motion in those times?"

Michael looked at me funny.

"You've got him confused with someone else, Goat Son."  I rubbed the back of my head, almost coughing into my fist to suppress that I knew something he didn't.

"Okay.  Seriously, Michael.  How on...well...your Earth did you get yourself to our planet?  Pretty sure we never--"

"Actually..."  A voice spoke up behind Asriel and myself.

"D...Dad?"  I whirled as soon as I noticed Garfield in the room.

"........"  Michael looked like he had way too many things he wanted to say to that but he settled on: "So...you're THAT Garfield.  How many other secrets am I in for?"

"Considering we're both in the intelligence/counter-terrorism business...I'd say there's a lot both of our agencies have in the lines of need-to-know basis."

"Needing to know from the start was out of the question?"

"It's not just M.i.B. that keeps anonymous for your protection."  Garfield smirked.

"...I don't think I want to know what agency that is."

"Yeah...pretty sure you're not ready for it."  Garfield mused.

I cleared my throat.

"Right.  We...may have left a contingency in Dr. Wilton Knight's care that--"

"Ended up with Bonnie Barstow."  Asriel reasoned.  All eyes were on him.  "What?  I've been researching the family business, you know.  Kind of a college student about to graduate.  Self-briefing is kind of my thing."

"Right."  Michael waved it off.

Finally I got to the point.

"What's this all about?"

"Goliath."

"Somehow I don't think he's talking about our winged friend in Manhattan or the biblical bully that died from a slingshot stone to the forehead."  Asriel frowned.

"Oh gods...that unholy armored 18-wheeler?"

"You and K.I.T.T barely survived your rematch again it and--"  Garfield paused.  "...Garthe."

"And I DOUBT you mean the blond-haired, bespectacled drummer from Aurora, Illinois."  Asriel crossed his arms.

"Wilton Knight's real son.  One bad seed and...the basis for Michael's plastic surgery when his identity was rewritten."  Garfield explained.

Asriel was quiet for a moment.  "So.  He doesn't happen to follow that trope from Star Trek's "Mirror, Mirror", does he?"

All eyes were on him.

"Golly...seriously?  Evil twin with evil beard and moustache.  The 1980's really knew how to milk it before it became predictable."  Asriel joked.

"Then what you're really here for is that you need your old partner."

"I'm afraid this time even with K.I.T.T. this mission may be more than they can handle."

"I know that voice..."  Garfield turned around and there he was.  "Devon Miles."

The guy in charge of the Knight Foundation and Michael's contact for years.  He'd been keeping the Knight Estate running smoothly during the years the Arcade Foundation had worked with F.L.A.G.

"It seems we have another of our old headaches at Garthe's disposal."

"Oh no..."  Garfield said first.  Then I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Someone clue me in?  Just because I did the research doesn't mean a lot of things weren't omitted or censored out."

"We're talking bout K.A.R.R."

"K.A.R.R.?"

"Knight Automated Roving Robot.   It isn't enough for Michael to have an evil twin--"

"I know where this is going."

"It was built as K.I.T.T.'s prototype. brought online and its processor was installed and activated but...a programming error made it prioritize the third law of robotics over the first."  Garfield explained.

"...got it.  Evil, killer car is a sociopath.  And the robot implication means it's autonomous and doesn't need a driver.  Glad his blueprints and source code never ended up on the desk of Elon Musk."  Asriel grimaced.  "So what you're really saying is...two of your worst enemies have somehow teamed up and are ganging up on us?"

"In so many words."  Devon confirmed.

Asriel and I looked at each other for a moment.

"Well...we can get your partner out of the Z-Vault but..."

Yeah.  This was kind of an issue...specifically a potential paradox.  It was way too soon for the Knight Foundation to know about Knight Industries 4K.  That would really screw up the timeline.  And really, bringing K.I.F.T. in was the logical choice but...it's not like we could home-grow an A.I. driven super car out of nowhere.

Violet hadn't competed Roadie or Wheels' processor modules yet.  At least not in a hardware form that could physically interface yet.  Their programs were both working at top capacity.  But let's face it...neither car was bullet proof.  Neither had weapons.  Their only tricks were that they were geared for stunts, equipped with hovercraft and hydrofoils.

"Wait.  I have an idea!  Volt...I think it's time we dug into the archive and dusted off one of our old nostalgia cases..."

"Azzy?  What are you talking about...?"  I trailed off as soon as Asriel was already searching our computers for access to the file deep in our database farm.

"You're not thinking of contacting the Darrett’s--"

"Good thought, but I know they're long since retired.  Besides we both know Roadie and Wheels haven't been ready for mission status for a long while after sitting in the vehicle bay for ages.  Aunt Vi hasn't completed their A.I.'s yet."

"Mobile Armored Strike Kommand?"

"Again good guess.  But no.  No offense, best friend...but you've really let your memory go.  No...this one's a little more unconventional."

"Who?"

And some time later.

"...you've got to be kidding.  You want us to go where!?"

"Come on!  This is perfect!  We need someone who's Knight Industries Two-Thousand's equal on and off the road."

"This could be a big story!"

"Oh no, Pattie.  You know where chasing the last big story got us."

"I'm with Brett and my mind's set.  If you think you're gonna talk us into jumping off world and going up against a supercar and an armored big rig, you're all wet!"  Alex

Okay was it by total accident that he spoke in rhyme or was he doing this on purpose?  Wouldn't surprise me if it was either.  The latter was certainly an overused cliche back in the 1980's.

I have to give credit where credit is due.  Who'd have thought I'd ever forget about our old run-in with Turbo Teen?

"So...you've made up your mind?"  Asriel crossed his arms...with a mischievous smirk that I KNOW he picked up from Chara.

"Yo.  The answer is no."  Alex insisted.

"Well that's a shame...because now I have to apologize in advance."  Asriel gave his best Hyperdeath shrug and headshake before opening one eye in that cocky wink.  Oh boy...him embracing that part of himself still creeped me out.  Even though he had no REAL memories of Hyperdeath's instances in his life...somehow he channeled that part of him that I really wanted to forget.

"Apologize?  For what?"  Brett asked.

"For this."  Asriel snapped his fingers before a Taiyoudama sparked to life over his palm...before he let it grow and grow...and grow some more.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah!  What are you doing!?"

Okay even this caught me by surprise.  Had Bunnette Von Rabbotte been teaching him the unorthodox methods of her ninja training?

"It's getting a bit toasty in here..."  Alex wiped his brow.

"That thing's downright hot...........!"  And of course Brett realized it too late.

"Hot?!  Oh no!  I'm going to turn into...!"

And thus began the transformation; starting with the glow and the weird reverberating energy hum before the stretching and the squeal of metal and shapeshifting happened before our very eyes.

"Sorry about that."  Asriel snuffed his fireball by the time Brett had made the shift into that amalgamation of a third generation Chevrolet Camaro and a Pontiac Trans-Am.  All with his mind and personality preserved into that electronic supercomputer in his dashboard.

"I guess we're outvoted." Alex smoldered.

"By the way...I've already cleared it with Dr. Chase and Agent Cardwell."

"You WHAT!?"  Turbo Teen exclaimed.

"Off world we go!"  Asriel said as he coaxed me into the car along with Patty and Alex...and lastly, Brett's pet sheepdog, Rusty.

It...became a tight fit but...off we went into the portable warp gate ring...

And soon...

"You sure did deliver on bringing outside help.  Though after seeing this, I'm starting to think Wilton Knight wasn't as original as he gave himself credit for."

"Now that's just blasphemy."  K.I.T.T. grumped.

"You have to admit it's a pretty convenient coincidence, buddy boy."

"So what designation did your government give you?"

"Um...actually I go by Turbo Teen."

"Turbo...Teen.  Swell.  I get an A.I. programmed to be under legal age."

"I'm legal enough for a driver's license."

"Now there's an irony.  A car needing a license in lieu of its driver.  I suppose I should consider this progressive."

"I'm not even really a car--"

"Hmm.  Four wheels, an engine, an A-frame, suspension, and an outer shell plus seats, windshield, and doors.  Yes, I can certainly see you are definitely NOT a car."

"Look, it's...complicated."

I looked at Asriel who looked back.   And nearby Violet was grinning up a storm.

"You're enjoying this too much."  I growled at Vi.

"Is it standard for talking cars to have this much pride and self-determination?"  Michael asked.

"My man, you are NOT ready for the whole story about this."  Alex assured.

"You realize if you write a story on this, we're going to have to censor out a lot of it."  I put Pattie on the spot.

"Hey!  That's my freedom of the press you're walking over!"

"You realize you're a journalist for a high school newspaper.  Pretty sure even if we let you publish it unabridged, your editor would laugh you right out of his office."  I crossed my arms with a smirk.

"Or maybe you WANT to tell him about this?"  I morphed just to prove a point.

"Whoah.  Never going to get used to that."  Michael gasped.

"I've gotten far TOO used to it over the years I've been cooped up in that off-world hanger you called the X-Vault."  K.I.T.T. countered."

"I hate to admit it but the Wolf Man has a point there."

"Fine.  It's always a story that no one would ever believe."  Pattie scoffed.

"If we are done recruiting, I'd like to get right down to the point."  Devon Miles got us back on task.  "I have made proper arrangements with your contact, Agent Cardwell and your government will allow this joint operation to go on as presented.  However any attempt to make the contents of this operation public may be seen as an act of--"

"Right.  Sedition or outright treason.  I get what Top Secret means."  Turbo Teen assured.

"So let's get briefed on this robot car and this armored behemoth."  He got on task.

And so the briefing went about as expected...once we blew some minds by having Brett transform back...a task which of course involved freezing cold ice water...and some of us darn near fainting.

Once we had been told about what Garthe Knight was up to and what illegal activity he was involved in this time, we got our strategies together and headed down to Michael's world post-haste.

Turbo Teen went on ahead to scout.  I assured Michael and K.I.T.T. we'd play catch-up.  But more than that...I needed a little time to get a surprise of my own set up.

"I hope you're feeling nostalgic, Mike Knight."  Violet mused as she kicked up her feet on the dashboard, leaving her sandals on the floor mat.

"Do not make me use my ejection seat on you, madam."

"Oh boy..." I grumbled as Asriel and I had squeezed into the back seats.

"In all seriousness..."  Asriel smiled as he pointed ahead.

"No way...is that...?"

"You betcha."  I smiled, too.

"You got the Semi."  Michael looked back at us.

"Wow do I ever feel like we're in a game of Spy Hunter."  Asriel joked.

Sure enough we were approaching that black 18-wheeler mobile laboratory garage.  The back hatch of the trailer opened up and like that, Michael drove K.I.T.T. right up the ramp and into the back where waiting was...

"Bonnie."

"Dr. Barstow."  I had already contacted her through Dr. Lynx and furthermore briefed her ahead of time over our...unique world.

Once aboard, we exited.

"April's standing by at the Knight Estate to remain in contact with us should any issues arrived.

Bonnie was referring to April Curtis, one of the chief technicians who worked on K.I.T.T.  Although...Dr. Lynx was very vague about what her connection to Bonnie ow was.  I don't think we'd get answers any time soon how they knew each other."

Asriel recommended that I gloss over Michael's numerous attempts to flirt with Dr. Bartstow.  Just to keep it professional.  We already had our hands full with keeping Devon up to date.  But that was only half the equation.

“Michael, if you could get back on task?”

“Well if you put it that way.  Girl…we need some action.”

I rolled my eyes as Asriel tried to withhold a chuckle.

“After all this time of being disbanded…are you sure you’re up to this?”

“I can tell.   He’s a true survivor.”  Asriel said with a grin.

Goddammit.  Vi couldn’t have set up those incidental Kung Fury references any better on purpose and I wasn’t so sure that Asriel and Michael had done so by accident.

Let’s get this show on the road before we end up getting struck by lightning……..or bitten by a cobra.  Or both.

"Our contacts have confirmed Goliath approaching.  We are still waiting for confirmation of Garthe Knight at the wheel."

"No sign of K.A.R.R.?"  K.I.T.T. inquired.

How many times had that infernal failed prototype been rebuilt?  And how did his alpha circuit keep surviving?  In our timeline?  It was hard to say.  But I'm sure he met a permanent end at SOME point in some other iteration of his world's timeline.

"Negative.  No doubt it's lurking close by if it has formed an alliance with Garthe." Bonnie warned.

"What's the plan if we encounter him?  He knows all our moves and has all our tricks in spades.  Not to mention if he has that laser from the time we tangled with him before..."

"We'll just have to be craftier."  Asriel frowned.

You know I couldn't help but feel like we were leaving something out of the equation.  Something that might come back to bite us later on.

Cutting to the chase and cutting through the extra noise and leadup...let's just get to the payoff.

"Scans indicate Garthe has reenforced the weak spot of Goliath."

"Good thinking sealing off the commando unit inside the trailer."

"Now if we can just separate the trailer those human lives won't be an issue."

"It may be reenforced...but it's still not invincible.  Switch places with me, Vi."

"Hey, I called shotgun--"

"I have a plan, okay?"

"Since you put it that way..."

Once Azzy was seat-belted up...  "Okay, K.I.T.T.?  I've always wanted to do this.  Let me experience that ejector seat!"

"I'm going to disregard that you left out a please, young Asriel."  K.I.T.T.'s computer beeped before the T-top opened up on the passenger's side moments before a blast rocketed the whole seat up and out of the car with Asriel aboard.

"Azzy!?!"  I about freaked out and freaked out even further once he undid his belt and abandoned ejection seat in midair before landing on his NX Switchboard Pro and flying his way toward the underside of the monster and let his NX Sabres do the slicing.

"She's weakened up!  Let him have it!"

A blast from K.I.T.T.'s laser pierced the weakened frame, separating the cab from the trailer.

"How much do one of those run you?"  Michael rolled down his window as Azzy flew up beside K.I.T.T.

"Not available in stores, my good man."  Asriel shrugged with a grin.

"Guys!  Garthe is swinging around."

"Ramming us?  How cliche."  I grumbled.

That was right about when Turbo Teen suddenly sped in with Alex and Pattie standing on the car and hefting a drum of oil.

And a heave-ho sent its contents splattering across Goliath's windshield, causing Garthe to hastily weave and nearly capsize the truck cab.

I gave a thumbs up as we soared by.

"Nicely done."

"All in a day's work."

"It would be a disservice if I did not remind you about the hazards of climbing onto a moving vehicle.  Also, you're risking scuffing and soiling the paint with such draconian methods."

"Come on, K.I.T.T.  There's nothing more classic than an oil slick.:

Unfortunately my joke went unappreciated as Garthe's partner targeted us with piercing green laser without warning.

"Whoah!"

We took evasive action moments before a shot ignited the oil on the cab.  Which prompted Garthe to hastily exit the vehicle with a lot of swearing.

"Whoah.  With a partner like that, who needs enemies?"

"I think K.A.R.R. is more concerned with terminating our existence over preserving any alliances."

"And thus there's that third law of robotics in overdrive."  I growled.

"Your impudence is amusing."  K.A.R.R.'s intimidating voice called out over its built-in P.A. megaphone.

"Okay, time out...is it just me or does K.A.R.R. sound exactly like Optimus Prime?"  Asriel did a double-take.

"Optimus Prime if he were EVIL."  I acknowledged.

"Seems like a few too many GOTO 10 lines omitted form his source code."  Violet snickered.

"Your constant attempts at revenge are becoming a pain in the transistors.  Illogical at best.  Rather outside of your programming scope, my nemesis."

"Your continued existence is an unacceptable inefficiency."  K.A.R.R.'s next shot grazed Turbo Teen.

"Whoah!  That was way too close for comfort.

"Have you blown a logic circuit?  Generally when you have a priority target you aim for the target not innocent bystanders!"

"Mere psychological warfare.  The unexplainable behaviors you exhibit outside your parameters leads to an exploitable vulnerability.  As allies of your their continued existence is a direct consequence of your next action."

"That's one way to describe the move of a coward; hiding behind targets to force compliance."

"And yet proven effective."

"At this range that crazy clone is gonna fry us alive!"  Alex gasped.  "Do something, T.T.!"

"He's got me dead in his sights!  I can't maneuver out of his range."

"There's no logical way out of this, Michael.  We surrender and we'll take a direct hit and likely be vaporized.  We don't and it'll Turbo Teen on the receiving end."

"Man, we're in a pickle this time."  Michael grimaced.

"On top of that, Garthe is getting away!"  I hissed as the other bad guy was headed toward a backup means of escaping parked nearby.

"And this is where convenient plot devices work their magic."  Violet grinned.

"Wait a minute...what did you do, Violet...?"  I wrinkled my nose.

"Reach out an touch someone..."  Vi mused as she put away her cell phone.

"You did NOT just use that old 80's slogan..."  I folded my ears back...moments before they immediately perked up at the sound of something whistling through the air--!

\*KABOOM\*  Garthe's escape car soon found the business ends of a pair of stinger missiles.  It was then I noticed the distinct sound of a beast of a helicopter above us.

"What the...!"

"I've come to save you, big brother!"  Gadget was piloting...Airwolf!?"

"We're going to have a talk afterward, Vi."  looked her in the eyes.

"Eheheh...since I'm being up front I miiiiiiiiiight have another thing for you to yell at me about."

That was when a rocket launcher went off and Goliath's cab went up in smoke.  But it was the distinct van that cut off Garthe's escape route that made the statement.  At least up  until a very big dude in gold chains and a mohawk stormed out of the van and grabbed Garthe by the shirt before proclaiming.

"I'm flyin' you outta here on Knuckle Airlines sucka!"  Moments before delivering a punch that sent him to dreamland.

"I pity da foo' that thinks he can run illegal weapons and drugs into our fine U.S. of A.!   Sucka's like you make me real mad; bringing that crap in.  Bad for the kids means bad for you, foo!"

"You.  Hired.  The A-Team."  I turned to Vi.

"I love when a plan comes together."  Vi said with a shrug.

"Well the plan isn't over yet!  We gotta help Turbo Teen before K.A.R.R. makes mincemeat out of them--"  I started before I heard an UNGODLY loud engine roar before it soared over us and landed in our path with a spinout.  It was at that moment it shined its bright headlights on us.

"K.I.T.T.!?  I can't see!  What's going on!"

"We have some unexpected company!  What in Wilton Knight's name is that unholy beast of a monstrosity!"

"Turbo!  Look!  It's--"

"Dark Rider!?!?"  Brett sputtered, noticing the sinister looking 4 x 4 Monster Truck.

"He followed us here!"  Pattie panicked.

Rusty barked angrily.

"And he's going after K.I.T.T."

"Well isn't this a familiar trope."  Asriel growled at the prospect of exchanging arch-enemies.

"Come on!  Let's take em' down!"  He soared off toward Turbo Teen first, identifying K.A.R.R. as the more dangerous threat.  It was, after all, armed with weapons.

Dark Rider?  Who could say.  But I'm pretty sure those wheels could still crush K.I.T.T. like tin-foil.

Asriel got close and kept hovering distance behind Turbo Teen, using his spare NX Switchboard Lite as a shield to deflect the lasers as best he could.

"He's too fast on the draw!  I can't muster a counterattack!"

Gadget laid down some cover fire to try to keep Dark Rider away while the A-Team--Hannibal, Murdoc, Face, and B. A. Baracas--were scrambling to build something from stuff out of their van and pieces of Goliath.

"If we're doing this, we're doing this in a blaze of glory, old buddy."  Michael pressed buttons.

"The Thruster Rods are primed and ready, T.T."

"Strap in and brace yourselves on my mark."  Turbo Teen warned.

At that point he and K.I.T.T. changed direction and charged toward each other at full speed.

"Are you nuts!?"  Alex cried out.

"Michael, this is completely reckless!"

"I know what I'm doing, K.I.T.T.  We only got one shot at this.  Ready to Turbo-Boost on my mark!"

And sure enough...

"MARK!"  Michael hit the Turbo Boost at the exact moment Turbo Teen engaged his own Turbo Thrust both sailing toward each other in the sky...and passing by each other, safely.

It was then that the A-Team's makeshift grenade launcher sent a nasty little present through the windshield of K.A.R.R. moments before it detonated into a massive explosion.  Car parts rained down and with it, K.A.R.R.'s alpha circuit microcomputer.

At the same time Gadget's next volley forced Dark Rider to break off and head back through a vortex that had opened up back to Brett's world.

"WOOO!  We did it, buddy!"

"Thank goodness that is done and over with."

"I'm all for off-road adventure as much as the next guy, but can we please head home and away from the excitement for a while!"

"What a story!  And I can't tell a word of it to another soul."

"Who'd believe it?"  Brett comforted.

"That's no way to pad the blow."

Rusty barked a bit.

Moments later aboard the semi...

"Garthe had been taken into custody and his illegal substances and weapons have been confiscated by the D.E.A.  Well done, Michael."  Devon congratulated.

"And Dark Rider will be out of our hair for a while.  But he'll turn up again."  Brett was relieved to be back in the form of Brett Matthews, human teenager."

"Well, our agency has its own paperwork and such to attend to so...I guess with the gang back together again, we're in for new and future adventures."

Yeah.  Darn it all...this probably changes a lot of timeline events.   How will this effect the point in history when K.I.T.T. was supposed to be--

"We'll sort it out on our own time.  Meanwhile...we have other issues to attend to."  Asriel put his hand on my shoulder.

Yeah.  I think we procrastinated on this enough.

Goat Son was ready.  And things looked like they'd be quiet enough to do this.  So...

Let's do this.

## Sub-Entry 056:  "The Path to the Truth Starts With This Single Step":

The recent adventures seemed like they managed to clear all of our heads.  And like that, an oasis of peace, quiet, and calm followed; as if inviting us to do what needed to be done.  It was time.

As soon as Asriel had a moment, I texted him with a message to come to UCIAT HQ and meet me in the lab.  I would show him the way to his answers.  I made it clear...that our Promise was about to run its course.  The truth would set him free.  The truth would set me free.  The truth would set us all free.  But...I didn't want to think about the cost.

I knew him well enough that I was sure he could take the truth.

But there was a follow-up to that which I'd address later.

We were at the bridge.  It was time to cross.  Where we went from there...we'd make it up as we went.

I stood outside HQ.

It was quiet that day.  Almost like the world just took a step back and...let what was about to happen....well...happen.

Maybe...maybe he wouldn't show up at all.  Maybe we could delay this.  Maybe--

"Howdy."

Maybe there was just no escaping this.

"Howdy, Asriel."

Not much was said beyond those greetings.

It was skeleton crew if even that at UCIAT HQ.  We could both tell before we even entered the foyer.

With that, I opened the door and stepped through.

Asriel hesitated...then took his first step in, nervously...then followed behind and gradually matched pace.

What did we have to be afraid of?

"Volt."

"Asriel?"

"What do we have to be nervous over?"

"..."

"I understand why it's hard to come here...now of all times."

"Hmm?"

"It feels like a reminder of who you lost and that once the secret is out in the open, you'll have to say g--"

"Asriel.  Don't."  He knew what I was afraid of.  So afraid that I couldn't even spell it out in my logs.

He faced the same fear so many times.  He'd overcome it.  I'd overcome it.  Though...now it only felt like I thought I did.

We both had the same doubt but...I wasn't covering it up as well.

"Remember.  Cross the bridge first.  Decide what do afterward."

"Well...what about you?  You must be chomping at the bit to know what I even have to show and tell you."

"I have my suspicions.  And the fact that It took a dream for me to ask this question tells me...it's all very much memory related.  I don't know if I outright said it before but...there's something missing from me, isn't there?"

"You're making it hard to hold back the spoilers, you know."

"Yeah.  I know.  But given all the different connections you have, all the resources you possess, every technology that's come into your possession...all that you can do?  The writing's on the wall."

Even though the wool was over his eyes...even with the path ahead obscured by fog...he knew it was directly in front of him.  Well...below him.  We had a ways to go.

The elevator ride was long and not even Muzak to distract us.

It was the longest journey.

Into the lab we went.

And really...the lab complex was the slowest and quietest it had ever been in ages.  Hardly anyone was working on anything.  It was like everyone had requested vacation time at the same time.

Honestly, that was the furthest thing from my mind.

We both swept our gaze around, without turning our heads.  Without really turning about or anything.  It was just a casual look.  A weird need to make sure we were in the place we thought we were in.  If just for a moment of doubt.

But we'd been here too many times to count.  Me, a lot more times than him.

"Is it weird that it feels like...this place has been calling to me all day.  It feels...like it's just inviting us in."

"Not at all, Asriel.  Not at all."

More silence ensued before.

"Azzy...why has it become so hard for us to carry on a casual conversation?"

"There's just no making this any less awkward.  The fear is natural.  Resist it as we may...in spite of knowing better...the heart feels what the heart wants to feel."

I wanted to bring up how we're on our only lifeline.  How the promise was broken...and put back together.  But only one of us remembered that, right?  That was the whole point.

The follow-up point is...he was about to recall that, too.

I was taking my time muddling about all of it in my head.   Even I didn't have a clear knowledge of what exactly Callista and Bunnie helped him remove from his memories.  I just pulled the trigger on the Neuralizer.

And for that matter...our memories were once merged together.  At least his were with mine.  I was still carrying what I had seen from his.  I was still living with both the sadness...the guilt...and everything that went with it.  I had been reflecting on just what he knew about his own world...his own past...his own experiences in the void...

The time our souls were fused as one...our memories were one?  Yeah.  It answered...EVER.  SINGLE.  QUESTION...that I ever had about Asriel and Chara and Undertale.

There was so much I had to ponder in secret over what he'd recall.  That was keeping my mind abuzz.

But my worries...were over how he'd react to all this information coming back to him seven years later.  He'd matured, certainly.  But...that didn't take away from the fact that it was still freaking overwhelming.

"Follow me this way."  I lead through the facility to the path within the various tunnels and hallways branching off of the main lab chamber.

I hadn't forgotten where the Dimensional Lab was.  Heck, I'd only recently dusted it off again but...I couldn't really bring myself to get another full update of how many Undertale AU's had been discovered.

Maybe it was just me...but the path just seemed to darken and everything felt like it had gotten heavier.

I could see it at the end of the hall.

There it was.

## Sub-Entry 057:  "To the Dimensional Lab For the First Time and For the Last Time":

The longest walk down the longest hallway.  Or so it seemed.

The gates, previously having been covered with spider-webs and dust.  Which were in desperate need of maintenance.  I'd managed to fix it all in record time after Asriel dropped the bomb on me.

Rest assured it was one we were all expecting sooner or later but...

It still didn't take away from the surprise.

"I've never been down this path.  I've never seen this gate before.  I didn't know this area even existed.  It never appeared on the building schematics."  Asriel was pointing out things that I had most certainly never mentioned before.

Yeah.  This lab was private.  It certainly wasn't on the books.  Violet didn't know about it and I prided myself on the fact that it was a secret that I actually managed to keep from her.  That and the X-Vault and Z-Vault.  Though...that didn't count considering it was her future self, KOMMAND that even established both of them in the first place.

"Yeah.  You won't find it on the books.  This...my salary and my side business paid for every last transistor."

I opened the door and we both went inside.

The lights came on automatically and everything came to life.

"Wow...that's...that's a pretty sizeable mainframe.  That might actually be something Aunt Vi would want to get her hands on."

"Precisely why she doesn't know about it."

"Heh."

"And just to spite her without her even known she's being spited...I named it Teletran-1."

I think this bit of banter was actually doing us some good.  I think it was relaxing at least one of us.

Yeah...it was Asriel who was in the better place by comparison.

The awe of it would probably wear off soon enough.

But the reality...the reality was there.  It was waiting.

"So the truth is in this room?"

"It is."

"Just...what is this lab you've built in here?"

"Exactly what it looks like.  A secret Dimensional Research lab.  Data comes in through A.E.O.N.'s back door.  Through telemetry.  Through any means I can to learn about the InfnityVerse.  By this point I couldn't even say how far its gaze has extended to.  Or how many AU's I have on record in total.

But the one that I've focused on has its own database entirely.  And...it's the origin of your past.  Your real one."

"Real one...?"

"For you to have that question answered you...have to know what it is you've forgotten."

I walked him over to the mainframe's console and to one panel in particular.  It had a handprint scanner.

"The big leap of faith starts there.  I think...you understand what you have to do."

Asriel hesitated...then slowly reached out and rested his palm on the scanner and waited for the laser light to sweep over it from fingertips to wrist.

"Handprint and DNA confirmed."

And that was when the panel slide open and the Memory Tube, secured in the holder, rose up out of it.

The neon liquid inside...it was a perfect blended balance of red and blue to make purple.  Right-in-the-middle purple.   Not blue-ish like Asgore's.  Not leaning toward red/pink like Toriel's.  Dead-center purple.  As royal as one might expect it to look.

It was clearly labeled with six letters.  One name.

"Asriel."  He uttered.  Just seeing it confirmed EVERYTHING he suspected.

"Then it is true.  I was neuralized."

I could only nod.  It somehow felt...shameful to answer with anything else.

A second panel opened revealing the M.i.B. issue Neuralizer pen with the micro USB socket.

"Asriel.   You understand, right?  Once you use this...there is no going back."

"I...I do understand."

"That said...the choice is  yours.  This unlocks our promise once and for all.  Once it does it will be up to you to decide what to do with it.  Where to go.  When to go.  And most importantly...why."

"That would have sounded cryptic once upon a time but...I follow."

"That said.  Is this what you want?  Is it really.  Truly.  What you want?"

In the silence that followed, Asriel looked down and closed his eyes for a moment.

Then he looked up at me and answered.

"Yes.  Yes, I do want this.  I must know.  I'm ready for the responsibility."

I put on my standard M.i.B. issue ray-ban sunglasses...I fit the tube into the socket.

"Do you...want to say a few words before you undergo this?"

"What's to say?  I wouldn't know what to ask."

"Yeah...at least not yet."

"You...really feel like talking?"

"I want to...but I'm at a loss, Goat Son.  We're here at the zenith.  The next step means setting foot on the bridge...and crossing it."

"I get it, Volt.   You...really just want to talk it out for a bit."

"If that's a polite way of saying I'm delaying the inevitable."

"Well....it is what it is but...you don't have to feel bad about it.  It's a big step.  It's going to probably change everything."

"Yeah.   A lot to put on our plates.  All of us."

"I think what we both want to say to each other is...no matter what happens next, we won't let it change our friendship.  We're not going to let this drive a wedge between us.  We've come too far...we've been through too much."

"I'd be lying if I said that worry never came to mind even once."

"We're in this together, you know.  Both of us.  All of us.  Not just here at home but every relationship I've forged.  It's clear just how many people are in on this pact to...not talk about what it is I've done in the past that's...made me the talk of the down everywhere....why I'm so worthy of all this praise...

...what is that they know...that you know...that I don't.  But this?  This will finally put all the conspiracy to rest.  You can all be honest with me from now on."

"A lie is a lie, even if it is to protect."  My ears drooped.

"It's not what you all did but your intentions I've read.  That's all that matters.  You all are protecting me.  But now...I'm ready to protect myself from whatever it is.  I want to stand with all of you.  For however long that may be.  Together...we can get through this.  Right?"

"Another...grade-A speech, Azzy."  I sniffled.  "I...could spend the rest of my days trying to find the words.  And here you did it on the spot and off the top of your head."

"Funny thing...huh?"

"Yeah."

Asriel sat down in the other swivel chair.

"You know...those shades make you look pretty cool."

I let out a brief laugh.  He caught me off guard with that.

"You know why we wear them, Azzy."

"Yeah.  Can't...let you get a dose of whatever's on this.  It's probably crowded enough in there as it is.  You don't need my memories cluttering it up."

"Yeah...something like that."

Though in all fairness, I was more concerned with complications caused by redundancies, overwrites, and copies of the same memories trying to occupy the same brain space.  There were probably other issues I needed to avoid as well but...yeah.  Men in Black shades are the finishing touch to..."making this look good".

"Well...I think we've...stalled enough."

"You've said your peace.  I've said mine.  There's nothing left.  I can't even come up with a good one-liner before I trigger this."

"Just know this.  I'm here.  I'm ready.  And no matter what happens I will always be Asriel Dreemurr.  Despite everything...it's still me.  It'll always be me.  Your best friend."

And he looked me in the eyes as he said it.

I made sure my shades were secure.

I raised the neuralizer and activated its de-neuralizer function as the tube lit up.

I took the deepest of breaths.

"I still have to figure out your wish, don't I?"

He gave me the brightest of smiles...just like the one in that photo of himself with Chara in that heart-shaped locket that he had pulled out from underneath his shirt.

In that moment I could almost see him again...in that striped shirt of his.  Though he was getting his memories back...I felt like I was having a total recall.  His life flashed before my eyes in the milliseconds in which I did the deed.

Without anything left to do or say...I triggered the flash...

## Sub-Entry 058:  "We Have Total Recall.  Asriel Takes His Lost Memories Off the Shelf:

And with that...Asriel's total recall was at hand.

"Asriel...?"

I was hesitant.  This wasn't the same anxiety as waiting to see if your computer was okay after an accidental shut down during an update and hoping you didn't brick your machine.  No...this was the worry that by the narrowest of possibilities when he came out of his catatonic state...he wouldn't be my friend anymore.  It was an unfounded worry.  But it was what the heart felt.

I had a lot to answer for.  And every possible thing he could say would be one more thing he could grill me on.

How flimsy an excuse was it to say, that it was all for him?  That it was to protect him?  All I really had was for him to come to that realization...that he didn't just ask for this...he begged me for it.  He needed his peace of mind.   Asriel believed, more than anything, that time was the key to healing all the damage that our enemies had done to the Promise.

This was the moment.  This was it.  There was no going back.

And by the gods...I was scared spitless.

"I...remember.  I remember it all."

"Asriel..."

"Then the Crossover Wars...I didn't just contribute.  I was the other General.  I was Luke Skywalker to your Han Solo.  I think...that's a better metaphor than comparing us to General Obi Wan Kenobi and General Anakin Skywalker, yes?"

Even now...remembering Adonis stung.  It stung BADLY.  And Asriel didn't even intend for it to.  It was my mess and I couldn't really say it was cleaned up.

Unbelievable, really.

"Then...the seven-fold cross-rift.  The battle between Seven Absolute Hyper-Gods.  It happened."

I nodded again.

"So that's the answer.  The ultimate answer to the ultimate question I've had.   She is the Eighth Fallen.  She is Determination.  She is the one who the Prophecy foretold.  No...the Prophecy only told of one.  But together...we changed it.  It was not an angel...but two...no...three angels who would free all monsters.  That the Underground would go empty.

And...the other me.  The Asriel Dreemurr of that timeline.  He was the one who'd do it.  He would break the barrier.  But the two of us...a human and a Hybrid...we'd save them all...from themselves.  We'd give them that chance."

Asriel was really shedding tears now.  He wiped his eyes on his sleeve.  Familiar.

"She was destined to meet us both.  She was just trying to make things right.  Just as the other me did.  Just as I wanted to do all along.  Just as Chara wished for.

All those resets.  All those bad decisions.  All those different versions of herself.  All those other Frisk souls...and this was the one.  This was the one after all this time finally had a chance to play one final game...and stop tampering with the lives of all Monsters."

A long pause.

"So the answer to the question is right there for me...for me to answer on my own; because now I remember.  I remember her kindness...her patience...her integrity...her bravery....her justice...her perseverance...and her determination.

That is who Frisk is."

The question was answered.

Asriel closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking up at me again.

"It all makes sense.  I get it.  I get why the whole UltraVerse nearly worships me.  Why I'm so revered.  Why I'm thanked to this extent.  Why I received so many blessings.  It all makes sense...why I'm everyone's best friend.  And why everyone is best friend to me."

"I didn't want to take this away from you.  The legacy you've forged...the legend you've become...the fact you established yourself a hero.   All of this potential you fulfilled that--"

"That all other Asriel’s..."  I could see his eyes getting misty.  "...I am not the only survivor among all of the AU's out there.  But I am the only one that..."

"Yeah.  You know the whole gambit."  It was coming back hard.  Again.

"Never took a soul.  Never crossed the barrier.  Never died.  And...the only one who called you Best Friend...and you called me Best Friend in return."  A melancholic smile.

"Asriel...what you remember now is the tip of the iceberg.  I've been waiting for this moment for fifteen years.  And now you're ready to see all of my secrets about your world...about all AU's of your world.  You have...a lot to take in right now...but what lies in this mainframe..."

I shook my head.

"I don't know if ANY Asriel would be ready to learn what I've spent countless runs researching...countless petabytes amassing from dimensional telemetry satellites...the eyes and ears of A.E.O.N.  Even still only 66% of A.E.O.N.'s total perception of every reality it is aware of."

"So...omnipresence..."

"Yes."

I didn't feel like explaining how A.E.O.N. made Cerebro look like an abacus.  The exact psychic nature of our omni-computer colony.  And of course...how both Goddesses, Destiny and Fate fit into the equation.  Just that it was enough for us both to grasp the concept of divine all-seeing vision into past, present, future, space, and realities.  So yeah...in the end, A.E.O.N., too...was one of the Goddess' shared tools to play their game with us...and it was what gave us, in STC, access to the ever-knowing.

"Which is why you're going to explain this next."  Asriel opened up the access panel on the console, revealing another hand-print/DNA scanner.  "Once it verifies me...I will have administrator access to all your research.  That A-Rank S.T.C. agent status officially upgrades to S-Rank.  Right?"

I nodded.

"You'll...need probably many days to comb through it all if you choose.  And...you can stop at any time...and pick  up at any time.  Just like I do."

"I trust DeltaRune is in the mix?"

I nodded...I hadn't thought about Ralsei in so long.  What was Goat Wizard doing?  Was there...another chapter to their tale?  So many questions...and...such an unnerving thing to leave off on.

"Volt.  I was serious then and I was serious now.  This won't change our friendship."

"I really hope it won't."

"It won't, Volt.  You know it.  I know it."

"I guess...I just need to say it, don't I?"

Azzy nodded.

"It won't change our friendship.  Promise."

"That said..."  Asriel still looked overwhelmed.

"This isn't all you need to show me, is it?"

"No.  There's...more.  So much more but you already know that."

"Undertale."

I nodded.

"The place I come from.  The place I've been to.  The place that's been like a needle buried in my own eye."

"Disturbing metaphor...but yes."

"Judging from the echoes of your memories that are...still faint echoes among my own...Mon and Bunnie did a good job of cleaning things up...."  Asriel took his time to think of what he was going to say.  "...I'm in for far more iterations of it than I'll ever be prepared for.  I can tell...you weren't when you started to realize the scope of it all."

"But you still don't have the whole story.  Not until you start reading and understanding."

"Yeah."

Asriel paused.

"So...Rance and Dianne's dimension is in there too, right?"

"You remember them?"

"How could I forget?"  He smiled.  "Yet...I also have  a gut feeling about your anxiety around them.  There's things in this research that even your memories probably wouldn't have carried over during our...time as Ultimate Hyperdeath."

That was a gut-punch of a memory to think back to.

"Sorry.  I guess I'll understand it myself once I've had a chance to comb through it."

"Indeed."

"Well.  I'm not getting anywhere by talking.  Just talking isn't the answer right now, is it?"

Toriel...my heart just skipped a beat just now.

"To you, my best friend.  These are my confessions.  To understand what it is that you wish...what your options are with our promise...you have to understand Undertale itself."

Asriel heaved a sigh...put on his game face...and placed his hand on the scanner.

"Handprint and DNA confirmed.  Access granted.  User, Asriel Tobias Dreemurr-Arcade status upgraded to Administrator level.  All hidden files unlocked, all data decrypted.  Awaiting command."

## Sub-Entry 059:  "I Leave To You My Final Confessions.  My Research is Yours":

And like that, everything was unlocked.

"I...I can't stick around.  STC...wants me back there, stat.  And--"

"And you have a lot of people to inform.  I know.  I get it.  I understand."

"Asriel..."

"Don't apologize.  Don't feel bad.  Don't feel sorrow.  This was meant to be.  Right now...I...have a lot to study.

"Yeah."

"I appreciate that you want to stay by my side but..."

"...yeah.  This is a journey you have to make alone."

"You can...still check in on me.  Besides...I'm...going to need--"

"Meals and rest.  I figured as much."  I pulled open the retractable Murphy Bed from the wall.  It was like Callista's back at the University. "

"Like mother like son."

"Yeah."

"Well...I guess I have a long cram session again."

"Yeah.  I'll...give you your space, Azzy."

This was just the prelude.  What I had alluded to earlier.  He would need his space.  But this was just the cram session.  It was afterward...

I started to leave as Asriel was putting on his reading glasses.

"You know...you can stay for a bit...just for emotional support but..."

"You're...okay with me looming over your shoulder?"

"I'll let you know when I'm ready to go at this alone.  But...yeah...I'll have questions and...you can answer them."

You know what...STC may need me back stat.......but they were going to have to wait.  This was more important.

Asriel accessed the very beginning of the files.

"I might as well start with Undertale Prime......right?"

"Even with total memory recall...you want to walk through your origin."

Asriel nodded.

He started with my S.T.C. dossier from when I was first assigned to the case.  My preparatory research.  Hour...days...weeks...maybe years worth of exploring perfect carbon-copies of the same pacifist, neutral, and genocide timelines.

All of those still photos, video, scans, and physical samples stored in E.N.G.I.N.E. drives; able to be released into the physical world at a moment's notice.

Of course the first thing he released was...

"A Golden Flower..."  Asriel picked it up by the stem and looked at it longingly.

"I haven't seen one of these in so long...disregarding my brief moments in the Seven-Fold Nexus.......I was only a child when I last held one of these...when I last wore them in a garland as a flower crown."

"Hardly seems real that a bed of these kept cushioning my fall with every successful landing.  It was hard not to dawdle.....spend moments looking up through the mouth of Mount Ebott.  You know...not incur the wrath of the Council over being inefficient due to incessant need to sight-see?"

Asriel knew by this point the crap I put up with for so long. So very, very, very, VERY long.

"My favorite thing in the world once.  So many versions of me had their dust fall upon them.  And that led to..."

The elephant of the room that neither one of us wanted to address.  Not yet.  In due time.  But not now.  The harder memories and the broken ones we couldn't fix would...come at a more appropriate time.

He put it back in digital storage among the other matter-waves recorded.

"Mom..."  Asriel looked over my entire folder dedicated to Toriel.  And all other iterations of her.

"Just the way I remember her...I've caused her so much pain and grief and suffering...she doesn't even know a version of me is even alive."

"If I had told her then...that would have been evil."  I admitted.  "I'm still not sure about her...learning the truth even now.  Time has healed much but...does an emotion wound EVER truly heal?"

"The truth will set you free."  Asriel recited the age-old advice, not really sure if he was ready to believe it any more than I was.

"As many copies of her as me.  As everyone else.  So many copies of our world existing at the same time."

"And some which have ceased to exist.  Because of--"

It was at this point the conversation got very meta.  The might-be-true truth about us all that none us wanted to prove.  Hopefully none of us could EVER prove.  If we ever did...that would destroy the illusion for many of us who would NEVER be ready for the truth...if there even was a truth.

But before we get ahead of ourselves...let's just stick to the meta-truth about Goat Son's world.

"Yeah.  That.  The big truth about us.  About Undertale.  That our world was always just a game.   Somewhere in some reality, we're just data in a file...downloaded from digital stores or existing on a physical game card on consoles.

It takes me back to what I said about...not really existing."

"All of us on this world...we're real enough to ourselves an each other.  That's all that's ever mattered, right?  So what if somewhere else we're just words on a page just to entertain."

"It's still too deep for me to grasp...or even want to grasp.  If it is just living in a protective bubble...staying inside my shell...?"

"Azzy?"

"Then ignorance is still bliss."

We decided to leave it at that.

"So...our world's god is an Annoying Dog, huh?"

Almost.

That made us both burst out laughing.

"Now that's another can of worms for another time."

"I feel bad for everyone who tried to scoop up the Ancient Artifact."  Asriel shrugged, finding humor in the epic troll.  "The gods...or god must be crazy."

"Careful.  Violet might show that movie next Tuesday."

"Huh.  Really.  All centering around an empty Coca-Cola bottle?"

I just shrugged, wondering how we took a left turn into a reference THAT obscure.  I mean even for ME that was an ungodly obscure, forgotten movie reference.

Back on topic...

"All those places I used to go to on my own when I was old enough.  Despite being trapped in a prison...inside that Barrier...I never saw it that way.  All of the Underground was my playground as long as I knew what dangerous parts to stay away from.

And despite feeling like I had the world to myself...a home...a place....no matter how diverse was no substitute for a friend.  Even if you loved the place you grew up in...it couldn't love you back.  Rather...its people could but...not the physical locations...the snow, the water, the rain, the walls, the buildings, the RUINS...all of it was just objects.

Back then...I think I was seen as...unapproachable.  Y'know...because I was a prince.  Asgore and Toriel's son.  I don't know...maybe that's why I felt so lonely."

"That and...you were kind of shy and timid.  At least...that was my initial impression.  I really didn't get to know you until my first exploration of an Unstable Timeline.  Seeing you watching over Chara and...trying to keep your promise about the plan...only for Destiny and Fate to throw that curveball and drop you into the Void at the epicenter of the dimensional limbo within the CORE."

"Thinking back...yeah...I think you were right.  I think I...was a pretty scared little boy.  But...I was also curious."

"All those times you must've overheard Gerson and elder Monsters talk about humans.  How could you NOT wonder what one was like.  It became kind of a wish, right?  To meet a real one?"

"Yeah..."  Asriel nodded, sadly.  "Be careful what you wish for.  You just might get it."

"Hey.  Chara wasn't all bad.  You're right.  She wasn't the best person but...she was what your world gave to you.  You made the most of it.  You saw the best in her.  The Dreemurrs did everything they could."

"My first friend.  My best friend.  My only friend.  That's what I convinced myself.  How terrible is it that...I was so naive I didn't even consider my own mother and father my friends?  They were...family.  That was different, right?"

"Don't be hard on yourself.  With age comes wisdom and hindsight."

Asriel looked at the footage and photos of the Ruins.

"...it's been 115 years...but on that 8K Q-LED monitor...those ultra-high resolution images...it's like I never left, Volt.  My memories now are as clear as the day I walked down those corridors, barefoot without a care in the world.  I could navigate the puzzles by myself...I didn't realize how small everything was until...until the day Chara fell into the RUINS.  Then...this light went on...slowly but surely it glowed into full brightness.  And with that light bulb full-on...I realized...the world has gotten smaller the more I learned there was an outside world."

"Yeah...what a metaphor I use: the Genie's Lamp and Pandora's Box.  Easily as appropriate for this situation.  With that knowledge...the potential for good things overshadowed that there was a danger beneath it.  Asgore didn't see it.  Toriel didn't see it.  You didn't.   I probably wouldn't have, either."

"For so long our lives were happy together.  But the more I wanted to know about humans and the surface...the less Chara wanted to talk about it.  I can see that Dad unintentionally put a terrible burden upon the both of us.  I was clearly Simba--I just couldn't wait to be King.  But...Chara...just knew if we put our faith in her...she'd disappoint us.  That was what she always felt."

He was getting misty-eyed but holding back the tears.

Asriel kept looking.

"There she is...Mom."  He touched the screen where my best photo of her was displayed.

"I'm so sorry..."  His gaze fell.  "You grieved so much for us.   I didn't want to fuel your anger when Dad lashed out at the humans...I didn't mean for you to feel like you were the only one sad and suffering...the only one speaking for innocent children, even if they were human.  I didn't know I was going to be a martyr for a cause that sounded noble at the time...but in the end...it just tore us all apart.

Mom...I hope you've let go of your own grief...your silent rage...in the time the Barrier shattered.  It doesn't matter if you do or don't want to be with Dad.  I just wish even apart...we could all still be family."

It was breaking my heart seeing him like this.

"Dad."  Asriel looked through Asgore's files.  "Some of these iterations are...something else.  I don't thin I could ever see you as a Royal Scientist much less Chara and me as Royal Guards.  Oh boy...our story just never gets old when you see it retold this many ways.  We're our own Legend of Zelda, I guess."

Asriel shook his head, feeling like he was getting off topic.

"I never wanted to be a martyr.  I never wanted to be your justification for war.  I never wanted you to feel like this was anybody's fault.  We all are just pawns in their game.  I know that now but...it doesn't make it hurt any less seeing what their game did to you.  To Mom.  To all monsters."

He was starting to sniffle.

"Undyne...I was pain your rump for so long.  You wanted me to be a strong prince.  A chip off Asgore's block.  Mom fought you fang and claw to keep my life non-violent and rooted in the heart and the soul.

You really should see me now.  I'm the best of both worlds.  I didn't have to compromise after all.  And I'm fine with being a flower child...one who just happens to know more styles of hand-to-hand combat than I'd ever want to admit in front of Mom.   Sensei......Bunnie would have a sword collection that would make you absolutely freak out."

He let out a chuckle at that.

"Then there are these two.  The Great Papyrus, wasn't it?"

He grinned floppy ear to floppy ear.

"I feel like I would have admired him a lot as a kid.  Like I would have felt safe around him.  I think I get what it is.  He's a cinnamon roll...like me.  He puts on a tough act or tries to...but I've never seen a heart as pure as his.  He doesn't like hurting people.  That's me in a nutshell.  A pacifist.  All those attempts to capture a human?  And not once did you ever land a finishing blow.   Really...locking them in an easily-escapable shed wasn't all that cruel, either."

I hoped he wouldn't touch ground on the...er...date with Frisk.

To my relief, he skimmed over.  Either because he overlooked it or considered it harmless.  I was reading between the lines but...I had a feeling about him and Frisk.  I'd see it during the Seven-Fold Crossover.  But then again...maybe I was the one reading too deep into things.

I mean this was Asriel, we were talking about.  As late a late-bloomer as one could be.  Even around women who had a pretty big crush on him...he was a friend first and always...and yet a boyfriend not once and never.

"And then there's Sans..."  Asriel's expression turned grim and serious.  He tented his hands.

"He projects this aura that even if I am innocent of the things that he was put through...this presence...just makes me feel so on the spot...so much like I'm doing hard time for things other version of me DID do.

I know this lesson...don't accept blame for what isn't your doing.  Don't be weighed down by guilt born of empathy.  He will probably judge me."

"Sans...told me that he knows you're not the same one.  He said he'd leave you alone."

"Sans also says he doesn't like making promises so...maybe I'm skeptical for no reason but...I just feel like I'm walking on eggshells."  Asriel looked pensive as he hunched over the console, resting his interlocked fingers of his tented hands underneath his snoot in an intense gaze as he looked over his reading glasses.

Asriel sifted through a lot more files.

He wrinkled his snoot at the likes of Glyde.  He looked a bit giddy at how Monster Kid reminded himself of...himself at that age.  I think I heard his stomach growl from looking at pictures of Grillby's.  Of course he had a giggle fit over the Temmies.

And so on.

It was about the time he reached Alphys' file that he had this look in his eyes like he met a kindred spirit.  Or maybe it was more like...he felt like he had to comfort her...apologize for being the source of so many problems.

"I really feel bad for her.  I feel like--"

"Yeah.  I know what you're getting at.  I tried being there for her, too.  I feel like we're kindred spirits as well."

By that time Asriel had pretty much gotten himself refreshed on everything Undertale Prime.  That was when he asked if he could go at it alone from here.

"Yeah.  I think I've...kept STC waiting.  Azzy...be careful about your cram session.  Don't...don't let it become an obsession--"

"Yeah.  Easier said than done right now but...I'm counting on the rest of you to keep me grounded in the present while I dive into my past."

"You can recharge any of your devices here in this control room...use your cell phone to call any of us if you want us to check in on you.  Say hello.  Make sure your meals are hot and on time.  And...you'll find a pretty adequate sleeping arrangement in here."

I accessed the fold-away bed.  Mattress, sheets, comforters, and pillow had all been replaced or freshly cleaned.

"Thank-you, Volt."

He stood up long enough to give me the longest and most touching of man-hugs.

"You're going to a great job, Asriel.  No matter what you decide."

"Just had to say that didn't you, Volt?"

"I thought it...was appropriate."

"Thanks."

I headed out of the room and left him with the spare access key if he ever needed to leave the room for any reason.

I reported to STC immediately and got the red tape and all the formalities out of the way.

Of course...I went to see Daimyou.

It was...as was foretold.

She had nary a thing to say beyond what had to be said.

KOMMAND decided to photo-bomb us with a quick transmission.

After that...I went back home...and life went on.  Life went on...but without Asriel present for a while.

I knew he wasn't going anywhere (yet)...but it already felt like he was already...

## Sub-Entry 060:  "Give Him Time.  Asriel Has Much To Process":

"He's...been in your Dimensional Lab for..."

"Weeks now.  Leaving only for food and drink, to answer nature's call, and...to get caught up with school work."

"He's determined that he's going to graduate before we make any rash decisions."

"We're going to need time, too, Bunnie.  Time to make preparations."

"Indeed.  This will...be no simple undertaking and..."

"We need to decide who all is going."

"There's more than that, Commander."

I'd...realized I'd forgotten all this time.  I'd left the Dreemurrs, the Skelebros, Undyne and Alphys...everyone in the Underground that had gone free...I'd left them all...I'd left them all hanging.

By this point, I'm sure I was a missing person who'd been on the backs of milk cartons for a while now.  I'm sure I was a cold case.

I'm sure we'd all worried a lot of people since...falling off the face of their world.

We...honestly...abandoned them.

Did we have a choice?  Didn't we?  There were reasons we couldn't stay.  There were so many reasons.  We had lives of our own.  We didn't belong on their world.  And they didn't belong on ours; Goat Mom's lone experience would remain erased to this day.

"You're scared, aren't you?"

"You've seen how driven...how obsessed I could become when I got into my personal projects...my work."

"But this time it means something more than just indulging your work ethic or fueling your own brand of Determination.  This time...someone's counting on you to guide them back to his past."

"Yeah..."

I was ominously silent.

"I know what you're thinking, Commander.   You're thinking that with those of us who are adopted...many of us being orphaned beforehand...that we're still all different.  Some of us reach a point when we want to know where...and from whom we came from.  And others...?  Others may never be curious.  Many are just happy enough to HAVE a family."

"Some of those are scared of what they might find.  Some of us don't want to know why we were given up.  Some of us just don't want to complicate things."

"And some of us aren't those things."  Bunnie placed a hand on my shoulder.  "And that brings us to our next point."

"That it's a fork in the road only the one traveling it can decide which path to take.  The one that doubles back to where you came from...or the one that goes ahead without looking back.  It's Asriel's choice."

"And that scares you.  What he's going to decide when he's ready to give an answer...to decide our path."

"There's not a lie in this world that I could tell to save face.  I'm well past the point of even having the slightest desire to do so.  I've been humbled for a long time now.  It's time to face the music."

The silence at that moment.  I didn't know how Bunnie would respond.  All I knew is that she would respond with the last thing I'd ever expect--

Bunnie commenced to giving that air guitar strumming salute that the Future dudes had greeted Bill and Ted with way back in their Excellent Adventure.   That slow, fluid sweep across imaginary strings while holding the imaginary neck of a guitar.

"Commander.  Be excellent to him.  He will most certainly be excellent to you in return."

That...caught me so off guard.  But not as much as--

"And with the time you have left until he does decide...?  Party on...dudes."

I blinked a couple times...before responding in kind.

"Thank you, Major.  But next time.......use your own words."  I said with a smirk.

She smiled and booped me on the snoot.  A sign of how deep our own friendship ran.

I knew not to expect a response or a decision from him any time soon.

I also knew that even though life gave us a reprieve...it would still call us back in.  Back to the frontlines.   Back to our ongoing cases.  We'd have to wrap this all up somehow and ensure the UltraVerse even HAD a future to speak of.

I had to get Hill Valley's timeline fixed and Cybertron's timelines straightened out.

I wasn't sure how many Cybertron timelines were existing simultaneously; parallel to one another at the moment.  Ideally I wanted to put it back on its previous iteration so it would have the least number of complications.  At least...self-contain the timelines into their own AU's so that they wouldn't become dangerous anomalies like Memory Echoes or Emulation Rift Anomalies...still a weird name for such a wonky form of a universe rebooting itself--even if only temporarily...or sometimes permanently.

I was looking out at an event horizon in which I could see things that I knew were inevitable...things that I didn't want to see...things that I DID want to see...and things that I don't know if I wanted to see.

We were on the bridge, now.

We need only cross it at this point.  But when we did...where would we go?  What would we do?

"I'm staring into the Void...and the Void is staring back at me."  I said casually.  I doubt Gaster would approve of me speaking so casually about where his life's work had ultimately landed him.  Maybe I owed him an apology for this?

I stayed with Bunnie for as long as I felt comfortable meditating in her garden.  But I passed on doing so under the waterfall.  Especially since it was still February.  Also, I had to wonder if anyone besides Goat Son remembered Asriel's birthday earlier on in the month...?

Little did I know not only did Azzy remember...so did Sally.  And Bunnie.

A lot of us...still didn't.  And for that we should be ashamed.

But I thin we were all still in agreement that as long we didn't have to acknowledge Al Dente, all was good.

I tried to keep in contact with anyone else he might bump into.

"...really, Vi?"

"It's standard procedure."

I entered my password and signed in.

"WISEFROMYOURGRAVE."

"Never gets old."  Violet grinned.

"Anyway...Asriel?"

"Sorry to troll you, boss man but he hasn't dropped by once."

I sighed, dejected.

"Don't walk away feeling bad."  Violet handed me a twin-pack of king-sized 3-Musketeer candy bars.  She knew I loved those.

"And hey...33% more chocolate.  Just like the old commercial."

How she got her hands on those?  I'll never known.  Still...I was glad when they replaced that generic white wrapper with the mirror silver one.  Maybe I was just partial to silver and gold.

"You know, if you want the full effect, you can dig the old saxophone out."  Violet handed me the sheet music to said commercial.  She knew how to push all my nostalgic buttons.

Under normal circumstances I'd chastise or berate her for being...well...Violet .

But not today.

"Thanks.  I could...use the support."

She patted me on the back and let me head out.  As soon as the door closed, her deceptively giddy smile faded.  She wasn't about to let me know she was worried, too.

At Mitzi's...

"One order of meatball sub with those baked chips he likes so much.  And a honey-sweetened green tea just like his former sensei enjoys."

"He'll appreciate the take-out, Mitzi.  Thanks."

Mitzi nodded.

As I was opening the door...

"Hey.  Let him know we're all thinking of him."

"You bet."

Gadget had a few of her own contributions.

"...and my new pneumatic turbine blender 5.0!"

Gadget had rigged it to operate off a ring of CO2 cartridges.

"He'll only get maybe a minute or two of firing time but considering I got it up to over 9,000 RPM, I think it'll liquify just about anything."

"He'll uh...give it a test run, some time."

And hopefully have the common sense to put on safety goggles.

Though in all fairness, over the last 15 years, Gadget's rate of success had been steadily climbing.  The point when it crossed over 50% I started to breathe easier.  I think by this time she had far fewer failures and far more winners.  And really...out of all of those failures, not one of them happened around Goat Son for the last seven of those years.  Maybe he was her good luck charm?  Big little brother had the effect sometimes.

Jon got to work restoring Azzy's old shirt and pants...just as a keepsake and so they'd last a while longer.  He had his methods for restoring the colors and undoing any moth damage among other things.

Asriel would most certainly appreciate it.  He'd probably have them vacuum-sealed just to keep them safe from the effects of time...and to preserve his own nostalgia.

Antoine did confirm he did have a final fencing lesson and managed to at least match him this time.  But...defeating?  Probably not going to happen.  Who knew that there would be something Antoine could do better than anyone else in our circle?  Even the Major had difficulty keeping up with his fencing technique without resorting to Iadou.

Sally was rooting for him all the way.  Though she was taking on more UCIAT missions than ever before.  To pass the time before OGPX season started again in June.  Still months off but...it wouldn't be long before she was back to training mode.

And then there was Rotor.    Skeeter was now long past the days of doing something he'd get grounded for.  But he was also starting to drift away from Asriel.  Maybe because he was actually getting serious about the family business and his own future.  But...I was sure even he and Asriel would never stop being friends.

There were others but...for the most part...they gave him his space, too.

I soon realized that..even when he decided what to do from here...we'd still have an immeasurable number of our friends to be informed that Asriel was now aware of his past; that he had total recall.

It would mean getting into contact with a lot of familiar faces and just letting them know mainly.  Or in some cases...we'd have to go through lengths to set the record straight.  Pit assured me he'd get the Elder Gods on the same page.

And I'm sure Ben Ten-Thousand and company would learn about it pretty quick.

As for me...with Phase I down...it was time to go to Phase II.

Prepare.

For once that was done...I had a feeling we'd be moving directly on to Phase III.

That was the part I was looking forward to...and dreading at the same time.

The future was coming.

No.

It was already here.

Where we went from here...was all a matter of what Goat Son decided.

CRYPTOSMASHER LOGOFF

END TRANSMISSION...

Chapter 7

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