PLDF Chapter 5

> Chapter 5: A Best Friend to Everyone and Everyone is His Best Friend (Sub-Entries 41-50)
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## Sub-Entry 041:  "Finding a Path For an Unemployable Stray From the Flip-Side":

The year seemed like it kicked off okay.    If anything were amiss or got offloaded from the previous year, I'd certainly have made a note about it by now.  Then again the month is still young so...

Jeeze laweeze that makes me sound cynical.  What was I thinking just now?

Head out of the clouds or somewhere that Violet would snicker at...

Asriel's days as of late seemed the herald a lot of familiar making a comeback while also paving the path ahead with a few new things to write down for prosperity.  And while I should be looking ahead while trying to solve the problems of now, Lady Destiny and Madam Fate just can't help but rummage through their recycling bin.

When I first brought Asriel to town, the Ecotropians had long since found their individual niches and settled into Miranda City pretty well.  They'd found their callings, whether exactly what they always hoped for, whether it went against what was expected of them in their past lives, or whether they just settled for what they thought was less at the time but grew into something more.

Everyone had found their place except one.  And by the gods, his friends had to have the patience of saints if they hadn't thrown him out of town or gotten Brooke to do it.  But given time and just the right person to believe in him, our hopeless little French coyote had gotten a lot less hopeless and now had a respectable job with  respectable income.  He was a functioning member of society and the aggravation we all went through to give him every chance to prove himself had faded away.  All that just to prove that even the worst person can change and become better if they only try.  Isn't that right, Great Papyrus?

History certainly repeats.

"Rough day, Rotor?"

"...and I thought seeking employment for Antoine was insane.  Finding a job for her?  Impossible."

Rotor practically slid down in his chair.

"The tiger doesn't change his stripes."  I shrugged.

"I thought it was the leopard doesn't change it spots?"

"...whatever.  I'm pretty sure she's listening in on us now and getting a bit miffed at the cat jokes."

"Well your parent figures were thick-skinned as heck with those cat jokes.  You certainly made Ed laugh his tail off over enough of them.  She-Lion?  You better hope she doesn't scratch your face off."

"C'mon.  She's just learning."  Asriel cut in.

I decided not to press it.  I then realized the issue.

"She can't stay unemployed.  We saw where that got Antoine for years."

A long pause.

"Why did I get the task to go job-hunting for someone again?"  Rotor wrinkled his nose.

"C'mon.  You'd think we'd trust this to anyone else but old reliable?"  Violet prodded.

"It is appreciated, old friend."  Bunnie nodded.

"Honestly...everywhere she goes she just seems clouded in misery."  Rotor frowned.

"Is that girl happy at ANY point?"  Violet sneered.

"Well..."  Bunnie looked off to the side.

Asriel was the first to speak up.

"Bunnie...why not have Megami train her to be a Shrine Maiden?"

Silence all around.

Bunnie, Rotor, and Sally looked at one another before looking to Asriel.

"That...may actually be an option."

"Does a Shrine Maiden even have a salary?"  Rotor shrugged.

"We'll discuss it in private quarters."

"It's a start."  Asriel looked pleased with himself.

"And it appeals to a demographic--"  Violet started before Bunnie whapped her with a folding fan.

"Baka."  She muttered.  Then she moved her gaze to the side without turning her head.

"I know you are listening in.  Perhaps you should chime in in, yes?"

A smoldering She-Lion reluctantly walked in.

"..."

"Well.  Do not maintain your silence.  What say you?"

She reluctantly looked to the side for a moment, keeping her arms crossed and frowning...but gradually her expression softened.

"Okay...I'll do it."

"That's great!"  Asriel was all smiles.

Well.  One problem down.  Only the fate of space, time, and dimension stemming from Cybertron and Hill Valley to go.  And an unknown message from Charles Xavier presumably in the works.

"Anyway...I...think I'm ready to learn what the Coyote took forever to figure out.  It finally sunk in, goat boy.  I guess my prince will arrive someday...he just won't have floppy ears and horns."

And like that She-Lion was over her crush on Asriel.

"Aunt Vi.  Any word from Dr. K?"

"No trace of VENJIX.  Or EVOX.  Every system in Corinth and in Coral Harbor is clean.  And...with the Morph-X towers shut down, they've converted to solar and wind turbine power.  I've also gotten word that they've captured Scrozzle in the sewers underneath Corinth.  He's never seeing the light of day again."

"Awesome."

"Sounds like at least some old business is resolved.  What about--"

"Rex's world?  Yeah… long story but...E.V.O.'s aren't going to be a problem any more.  Dr. Lynx has been on hand to confirm the Meta-Nanites around the world have been shut down.  Things are...going to be different.  Black Knight and the Consortium escaped to parts unknown.  Breach and Van Kleiss escaped as well.  Caesar and the Nanite Projects have been allowed to resume their research and begin a new project."

"So Providence--"

"Is still in operation."  Bunnie cut in.  "And Rex is still working with them to protect their world.  And furthermore...Rex is on call to call upon for assisting with Hill Valley's situation."

"I've got some news from the Flip-Side you might want to hear."  Sally spoke up.  We all looked at her.

"How--"  I started.

"I have my ways."  She shrugged.  "Besides...I want to be the one to tell her."  She cocked her head toward She-Lion.

"They made it back home.  Kidd Video...your Kidd Video finally went home."

".......then."

"Yeah.  Master Blaster finally lost. "

"You're probably wondering what happened to--"

"Actually...no.  I don't think I want to know.  And...I don't think they want to see me again."

"It's just as well.  We...don't know."  Sally looked off to the side.  "But it's probably...not good."

"We all have a lot to answer for."

Asriel wanted to tell her that it did matter if they came around and found their own paths  but...he was sure she just wanted to push it out of her mind.  She wouldn't forget Kool Kitty and Fat Cat but...there was just no way she could ever face them.  Apologize to them.  They wouldn't hear it.  They were never really friends after all.............right?

"How many other contacts--"  I started to realize my complacency with retirement...put me out of the loop more than I thought.

Miles suddenly stepped in from outside.

"You want the short list?  Or the one that stretches from here to Edoropia?"  It was rare for him to make a witty quip.  Usually he was far more earnest and less like Sally.

"You know, I thought the good news would stop way back when after the Crossover Wars but...it seems we had quite an impact on thing to come for a while now."

Peace had only started back then.  Lady Destiny's win was overwhelming.  But still not nearly enough to put an end to the competition between sisters.  Sibling rivalry would go on.  It was inevitable that someday...the Game of Ultimate Good vs. Ultimate Evil would rise again.  I wonder how Fate would pull it off with no access to...him.

A lot of my old cases had either gone cold or were finally closed.

Old eras were ending, new eras were beginning.

All the while...I felt something was coming.  Something...not necessarily bad.  Just...life-changing.

Little did I know.  It was coming far sooner than later.  And it would be life changing...for all of us.

## Sub-Entry 042:  "Citizens on Patrol Reboot.  Asriel Volunteers at the Police Academy":

In Duckburg, it's said that life is like a hurricane.  Lately, around here, life is more like a boomerang.  I suppose I'd been nicknaming the place I called my home world the "Nostalgia Capital" for a reason.  And some seven years after the biggest and most diverse crossovers of my career...Asriel had to agree with me: no one is ever gone for good even after saying goodbye.

But oddly, this wasn't going to have anything to do with Duckburg.  No, this tangent would take us back through old days.

And it began with some familiar throwbacks.

"...we remind you again that there is no P in our ool.  We ask you to keep it that way.  But it looks like Al Dente will never learn."

In a matter of moments, the ENTIRE populace enjoying the indoor pool of Rabbotou Dojo's recreational facility (which I often compared to a super-sized YMCA/YWCA) had crammed themselves in the far end, leaving Al Dente completely alone at the very corner of the deep end.

"....why do you do this to me, Lady Vi...?"  Al whined.

"Should we feel guilty about letting this happen to him all the time?"  Willie asked.

A long, long pause.

"Naaaaaaaaaaaah."  We all agreed.

Well.  That was the price you pay when you're not a pariah but circumstance...but by CHOICE.  Really.  If Al stopped doing even a quarter of the things he did on a daily basis, he'd find himself let dunked on and probably wouldn't be deported every other Sunday.  But I guess they couldn't stand him for long in Little Tokyo either, because they deported him right back, in the longest game of diplomatic ping-pong I'd ever seen.

But old jokes aside...

After we all made sure we were WELL rinsed off, not taking any chances that Violet wasn't just blowing smoke to torture Al...

Some of us decided to move the festivities to Jump City where Cyborg was holding a cookout with the other Teen Titans.  We should only be so lucky that it was only winter in our neck of the woods and Robin's world was most certainly sunnier and warmer.  Thank goodness not all time constants are synchronized.

Starfire and I of course weirded a lot of people out with a mustard-drinking contest.  She beat me hands down...but dang, that was good mustard.  I apologize for NOTHING!  NOTHING, I SAY!

Yeah, even Azzy didn't get the appeal.

I knew we were doing a lot of goofing around while a lot of things were in critical need such as Hill Valley's space-time continuum, or why the Autobots hadn't contacted us.  Asriel had even gone so far as to try to make contact with the Last Engineer of the planet Gobotron, hoping our Go-Bot friends would have heard something.  But Leader-1 left us with a disappointing assurance that the Transformers had no correspondence.

I also had my ongoing mission to ensure Rufus' last wishes finally came to pass.  It was honestly saddening to know he wouldn't be able to see that moment when Wyld Stallyns would finally achieve their destiny and bring the world together in song.  And the more I thought about it, the more I pondered a...possibility of just how the prophecy should be interpreted.  But no...it couldn't be THAT obvious...could it?  How else could the whole world share in one band's song unless...

I'm getting ahead of myself and off topic.

Once the party was over and we were back home, things certainly settled back to the norm.  And I was once again worrying over matters while Asriel was assuring me, something was bound to be around the corner before long.

That corner happened to be the next day when Asriel showed me...

"What?"  I read the letter.  "...accepted to take part in the return of my law enforcement program, "C.O.P." or Citizens on Patrol.  Best wishes, Commandant Eric Lassard."

"Goat Son?"

"Isn't it cool?  I get to take part in actual police training!"

"B...B..but why?"

"Well.  Sensei...I mean Bunnie got her start in law enforcement.  I got curious and asked her about her old rookie days when securing her UCIAT tenure."

"Wait, wait, wait...I thought the Major was more INTERPOL material.  She never struck me as the type to wear the blues and walk a beat."

"Oh she did INTERPOL, too.  But yeah.  Check it out!  Here's her graduating class photo."  Asriel called it up on the NX Switch Pro board in tablet mode.  And sure enough there was the major among many other police officers fresh out of the academy.

I was skeptical about this but seeing that name...Eric Lassard.  Somehow it put my mind at ease.  But at the same time...I just couldn't figure out how I knew the name Lassard?  It felt like...something I'd come across during my many, many time travels to the 80's.  And I'm sure I had the answer out of many, many different case files.  Hmm...I might have to spend many, many hours of my ample down time figuring this out...

...also was it me or was did using the phrase "many, many" seem familiar, too.

Huh.

"You know what, Azzy?  I'm all for this."

"I knew you'd be okay with it."

"Yeah.  You're old enough to start deciding the path of your own life.  Heck, I'll even give you a ride there.  You up for it?"

"Let's ride."

I set the coordinates in the O-Ring gate and drove the 57 Chevy through with Azzy as my passenger.

And before we knew it, we caught sight of the academy's sign out front.

"Police Academy.  Integrity, Knowledge, Courage.  Heck you already got one of those as a hardwired virtue, Azzy.  You're already meeting at least 33% of their standards!"

I could practically hear my own thoughts in Papyrus' voice.

"And hanging with you guys for 15 years has certainly given me plenty of knowledge.  And courage is just another word for bravery, so I got TWO virtues on tap."

"I'd say you're more than qualified."

It was about that time Violet popped from the back seat.

"Aww yeeeah!"  Vi grinned as she started beatboxing of all things.  "Stake stake stakeout!  Here they come!"

"Ohhhh nooo..." I groaned.  "I thought we hid her Fat Boys cassette tapes after the "Disorderlies" incident several movie nights ago?"

"I probably should have paid more attention when I noticed that cassette tape to mp3 convertor on her Amazon Wishlist last Christmas..."  Asriel rubbed the back of his head.  "I guess this one's on me?"

And Vi proceeded to free-style rap.

"They fight for justice!  They stand up for the truth!   They save us from the peril of the cowardly crew!  They protect the rights of all citizens!  When it's time to fight, they fight to WIN!  They wear the blue!  Fantastic tried and true!  They keep the peace (for you and me)!  HOORAY!  POLICE ACADEMY!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, someone forgot to dot the I--"  Violet started before we heard what sounded like a missile launcher going off moments before a shell blasted through the sign above the I, leaving a big hole moments before the rocket flew toward the police cruiser parking lot...moments for detonating in the car parked in front of a sign reading "This Space Reserved for Captain T. Harris".

Car parts rained down for a bit.

"Oh crap...I hope we're not blamed for this--"  I started to gasp before I heard the unmistakable bellow of:

"PROCTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!!!"

"Coming, siiiir!"

"GET MAHONEY AND HIS BAND OF GOOFBALLS IN HERE NOOOOOOW!  MOVE IT!  MOVE IT!  MOVE IIIIIIIIT!!!"

A moment of silence as we made our way to the civilian parking area.

"So...regretting your decision yet, Goat Son?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine."  He downplayed it but the giant anime sweat drop on his forehead told a different story.

"Oh this is going to be gravy--"

\*TWAP\*

"Good timing, Major."  I sighed in relief as Bunnie had suddenly appeared in the back seat with an understated BAMF.

"I had a feeling she'd try something like this."

"Hey, uh...Buns...you're not going to blame me for the rocket launcher over there, are you?"

"I've come to recognize your ordinance.  Actually...I have a good idea who might have launched it.  If I'm not mistaken...we'll be meeting a lot of familiar faces from my old days very soon..."

Bunnie was finishing up a good amount of Mojikara scripting before activating what she had written in her native Jangese language....moments before donning her human disguise.

"Major...is there something you'd like to share?"

"It will be easier to show than tell.  Also...you might want to stay demorphed.  And Violet...?"

Violet grinned cheekily before activating her own digital disguise.

I don't know how it escaped me that this was another Terran planet.  I mean...really.  I knew it going in but did it just slip my mind out of nowhere?  I'm getting slip shot.  And heck...Azzy hadn't dropped out of human form since this morning so...I kind of should have taken that as a hint.

Oh boy.

"If Lady Destiny has a card to play for this scenario, I'm all for the situation we don't have to fold with one more aces."

Not that I really knew anything about playing cards but...the metaphor just seemed appropriate.  Also I kind of had Violet's trolling me with a fan concept video for a third Poker Night at the Inventory.  Our caped crusader in Gotham assured us that the resident billionaire playboy would never agree to such a thing.

How did I go from Police Academy to Poker Night at the Inventory to the Dark Knight in my train of thought?

Fortunately, Lady Destiny must've heard my plea because as it turned out, Commandant Lassard was on site to welcome the honorary recruits to the revival of his previous Citizens on Patrol program open to the civilian public who wished to have the grand experience of learning what it was like to train to become officers of the law as a means of better crime prevention and law enforcement.

Bunnie assured me it was...unorthodox and had some...bumps in the road.  However it was an overwhelming success back in the day.

"It is my very, very great privilege to welcome you many, many great citizens to our humble academy for the anniversary of my wonderful program...uh..."

Lassard hung on his words for a moment until he was prompted by the guy next to him, we'd later learn was Officer Zed McGlunk, formerly a gang leader who later reformed and joined the academy.

"C.O.P."

"Uh...C.O.P."

Another awkward pause.

"Citizens On Patrol."  He reminded.

"Citizens on Patrol!"  Lassard replied with delightful surprise.

And they repeated back and forth a few times.

"What kind of a place is this--"  I started before I noticed Bunnie not just crack a smile...but actually take great efforts to hold back a genuine laugh.

"..."

"Wow, have you ever seen Bunnie in this good a mood?"  Asriel asked.  "I'm going to love it here!"

I was...in disbelief.  And no, not Papyrus disbelief if I was going to drop a meta-joke about the AU's of Asriel's Undertale.  I'd never known Bunnie to have a genuinely warm and delightful reception to anything like this before.  And before I knew it she was no longer at our side but rather grouped in with some other alumni in the blue patrol uniforms.

"And it's so very, very good to see some familiar returning faces!  How very, very wonderful that my greatest class has returned to kick off this wonderful, wonderful program once more!"

Okay, I'd long since picked up on it but now I had to comment on Lassard's weird...and overly familiar AND coincidental speech tick.   There's no way I could have picked up on that prior to this out of the blue.  What were you up to,  Lady Destiny and Madam Fate?

The pomp and circumstance of the opening ceremonies came to a close and everyone was directed as to the program's itinerary as well as given the basic tour of the facility.

While Asriel went on ahead with Violet in tow (Let's face it,  HE was keeping HER out of trouble)...I decided to have a moment of Goat Son's story and figure out what was going on with Bunnie.

"Ah!  Lassard-Shirei-kan!   Konichiwa!"  Bunnie opened with a bow then followed up with a salute.

"And a wonderful hello to you too, Captain Rabbotou."

"Wait...CAPTAIN?  You have the equivalent rank of a captain!?"  I gasped, never knowing just how quickly Bunnie was promoted up the ranks.

"It has been many years since I have last seen you, my mentor.  On that note I bring a gift to you."  Bunnie suddenly held up the glass goldfish bowl with what looked like one of her rare koi fish."

"Oh my!  How wonderful!  You know Bertie was getting rather lonesome and now you've provide him with a friend!"

Okay.  Interests.  Lassard definitely likes goldfish.

"If you have time free I would gladly join you for a friendly game on the green."

"That sounds absolutely splendid!"

And he liked golf, too.  So noted.  All in all, Lassard seemed very likeable.  But I also got this vibe about him...the same kind of vibe I got around Pops from that world we called "Regular Show".  Yeah...like a delightfully misplaced (in time) man-child from the 1910's or so.  Incredibly old-fashioned but earnest.  Yeah...I can see why Bunnie like him.  And my instincts were telling me he was as trustworthy as they come.

I'd seen this archetype before with Violet's father, Emperor Fred.  And with Princess Jasmine's father, the Sultan.  Yeah...just a goofy kid at heart.  A very pure, innocent heart.

Which made me immediately start to ponder this...Captain Harris.  Which in turn...made me worry for Asriel and Violet.  If my instincts were on par (heh...unintended golf pun)  and lately they had been...I figured Captain Thaddeus Harris was probably like Sarge back home...but without a sense of humor and a lot less likeable.

Oh, how I tend to understate it.

"MOOOOOOOOOOOVE OUT MAGGOOOOOOOOOOOOTS!"

What a way for Azzy to open up with...a nice little "stroll" around the campus.  Fortunately, he was in peak shape and had no trouble keeping up and keeping off the Captain's radar.

But not so fortunate was Violet who just happened to have a cadet uniform in her repertoire.  She'd learn to rue the day she got in on this.

...wait, what am I saying?  It was Harris who was going to rue the day he ever met her.

As it would turn out while Asriel was quick to make friends with just about everyone, Violet found a kindred spirit in one Sergeant Carrey Mahoney.

"No baloney!"

"Nice!"  Violet was all too eager to see where this was going.

"You just got to know how to handle the Captain."

A bit later as he schemed while his bootlicking toady, the knuckleheaded Sergeant Proctor.

"...it's like deja-vu again, Proctor.  Ever since, in her infinite wisdom, Madam Mayor opened this new policy that the Police Academy couldn't turn away any new recruits based on race, gender, religion, past criminal record, social status, physical ability, or academic level this institution has been flooded with scum!  So much scum."

"Maybe we need to get better cleaning products and the stains will come right out--"

"I'm talking about the recruits, you idiot!  No, Proctor.  Back in my day the police force actually meant something.  Many fine generations of pure-breds who ate, slept, and breathed discipline!

Then suddenly we get a crop of rejects lead by rule-breakers like Mahoney who have no respect for authority.  And now he has authority because Lassard let him graduate with the others we tried to wash out in the day."

At the same time.

"He's coming!  We got to scoot!"  Violet urged as Mahoney finished up his work on the Captain's swivel chair.

And before long they had managed to get out of dodge.

"...Lassard got lucky the last time he instated this program.  Do I need to remind you what C.O.P. really stands for?"

"Uh...what was it again, sir?"

Harris rolled his eyes.

"It REALLY means Collection Of Pea-brains!"

Okay the word he ACTUALLY used was something I didn't want to repeat.  I was trying to keep my language clean after many years of Goat Son using that swear jar.

"Good one, sir."

"You mark my words.  C.O.P. version 2 will fail.  I'm counting on you to help me make sure of it."  Harris said as he had a seat at his desk.  "Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal clear, sir!"

Violet turned to Mahoney and his other partner in mischief, Sergeant Larvelle "Motormouth" Jones as he removed the C.B. microphone he had pinned on next to his name badge, quietly cleared his throat and did a remarkable impression of the personnel giving announcements over the P.A. system.

"Captain Harris, Captain Harris.  Please report to the Commandant's office immediately.  Captain Harris."

"What does he want now!?"  Harris got up and stormed out...in time for Proctor to notice it.

"Sir!  Sir!"

"Not now, Proctor, I want to get this over with so I can get back to more important things!"

"Yes, but sir, I think you should know--"

"Proctor.   I can't have you messing this up again so you wait up for me right here until I'm done.  Is that clear!"

"Uh, yes sir!"

And Harris continued out of the building.  It wasn't long before...the chortles began.

Thaddeus immediately whirled around at the offending parties who quickly clammed up.

And the laughter and mutterings kept coming.

"What are you cretins looking at!?  You will respect the chain of command!  Is that clear!?  Now get out of my sight you maggots!"

No arguments...just a lot of snickering.

Mahoney and Jones exchanged a high-five with Violet as they quickly headed off to meet up with the group at the next part of the tour in the gym where Bunnie had agreed to give a demonstration of hand-to-hand combat.

Asriel gladly volunteered to help with the demonstration, not letting on that he and the major had...history as student and teacher.

Harris' path eventually took him past several different groups going to different locations on campus.

Bunnie had made other stops along the way before getting to her destination, hooking up with old friends.

I wasn't at all surprised that she was tight with Lieutenant Deborah Callahan.  Honestly...they seemed like they were cut from the same cloth--tough has nails and not people you wanted to underestimate because they were women.  Oh no.  If anything I don't think I'd ever met a woman as strong and fierce as Debbie Callahan.  I honestly found her...intimidating.

A stop at the firing range and it seemed like the Major was practically expecting Sergeant Eugene Tackleberry to be there.  At first it puzzled me because I could sense Bunnie was being coy about the matter...

...then I immediately found out the almost semi-robotic, former security guard was the very definition of trigger-happy.  It was a little late to consider hind-sight from the moment he brought a bazooka to a Hogan's Alley target range.  And oddly...Bunnie almost seemed like she was caught up in it too for a bit.

Though in the end she did end up showing SOME restraint.  Yet...I had to wonder...who was going to pay for the entire back wall of the target range?  Oh lord...

I often wondered what would happen if Antoine were ever immune to his own bad luck.  It was about that time the Major was re-acquainted with Fackler.  Or as I referred to him as?  A living bad luck charm.  Take one part black cat, one part umbrella opened indoors, one part spilt salt shaker, one part walking under a ladder, and multiple parts broken mirrors and concentrate them into an essence spread like Pepe Le Pew..and you got a bespectacled, mild-mannered officer whose very existence caused chain-reaction bad luck that bordered on...epic-ly train wreck.

And yet he never seemed to notice the chaos he left in his wake.

I wonder if the Major's story about him accidently causing a riot with just a mis-tossed apple on their first assignment was true?

I'd already covered Zed before.  But I soon encountered his other half, the diminutive Officer Carl Sweetchuck.  I was too polite to joke that he reminded me of an even shorter version of Dark Helmet from Spaceballs the Animated series.  He was certainly nerdy enough.  I'd learn that he was Zed's odd couple "frenemy" going back to the old gang days when Sweetchuck was the hapless victim owner of an antique store constantly bullied by Zed and gang.

They had...buried the hatchet afterward...mostly.

Still others to show up from Bunnie's alumni days including the seemingly frail and whisper-voiced  Laverne Hooks.  Sweet as can be and shy and timid normally...until you actually got her worked up enough to use her commanding voice.  Then you didn't have any CHOICE but to listen to her.  I think my ears were still ringing with "DON'T MOVE, DIRTBAG!"  As she demonstrated voice commands.

Which left last and anything-but-least Moses Hightower.  And whooooah...talk about being aptly named.  I think this is what the urban dictionary means by the phrase "gentle giant".  I'd never seen a man that big since Bo Abobo from Double Dragon.   Hightower sure towered high over Azzy but...would you believe he was formerly a florist?   And let's face it.  That was a friendship that was inevitable.  Our green-thumbed goat son had a LOT to talk about when it came to the subject of flowers.

There were still others.  Like the appropriately nicknamed "House".  He was big as a house and easily as heavy as one.

By the time Harris got to where Azzy and Bunnie were holding their demo, he was most certainly a laughing stock.

"...well done, honorary cadet.  I see you've had experience with this before."

"I've had a good teacher."

"Rest assured, you'll be a very good fit when you're ready for the badge.

"You bet."

"Now, can I get another volunteer?"

That was when we heard the sound of a gong followed by the emergence of one Larvelle Jones.

"I accept your challenge!"  He spoke in an imitation of Bruce Lee...completely with mis-matched lip-synch.

"Well then.  This will be most informative, Jones-Gunsou (sergeant).  Alright then."

Both got into their stances and began sparring, Jones adding deliberate whooshes and martial arts sound effects with each move.  While his style implied a bit of slapstick and cheesy 70's kung-fu action, his technique was the real deal.

In the end, it resulted in a tie.

"Good.  You haven't lost the edge."

"The honor is mine, grasshopper!"  Jones kept in character to the end.

I could see Asriel's grin from a mile away.

The next volunteer however was unskilled and Bunnie ended up shoulder throwing him...right as Harris walked into the path of her throw.

"Get off of me you bug-eyed idiot!"

"Apologies, Harris-taichou."

"I don't want excuses I want these would-be non-recruits properly disciplined!  This is a police academy, not some indoor jungle gym for your amusement!"

Asriel was first to offer to help him up which Harris quickly rejected once he as on his feet.   But as soon as Harris turned heel (no wrestling jokes intended), we all got a good laugh

"You two wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?"  Bunnie whispered to Mahoney and Jones.

An exchange of cheesy grins confirmed it.

"You're not off the hook either..."  Bunnie snagged Violet as she tried to slip away.

"How deep are we in?"

"Fortunately for you, I'm going to let this slide.  Just do not make a repeat habit.........no matter how much he deserves it."  Bunnie remained as blank as a refrigerator with a low voice, indicating she no more cared for Harris' ball-busting than we did.

Throughout the week Asriel showed his stuff and impressed more than a few.

All the while, Bunnie  certainly enjoyed catching up with her old class.  I had a very difficult time believing (at first) that this was the same Bunnie who'd been so stoic all her life that she could make Al Dente about-face upon making eye contact.  This was a side to her I never knew and honestly...I wish I had known it sooner.

As for me?  I just hung back and observed.  I didn't feel like taking part but...I certainly didn't feel like I was wasting my time.

Upon honorary graduation day, Azzy was all too glad to done the blues.  I immediately recognized this as opportunity to snap a photo.  I'd add it to the star collection album with previous pictures like when a much younger Asriel dressed up in Pit's angel attire, sandals, and some novelty angel wings.  I still intended to show that to Toriel someday.

A final salute and some inspiring words from Commandant Lassard while a salty Thaddeus Harris fumed with sarcastic golf claps that went unnoticed.

In the afterparty...

"It's been a great experience but...I don't think law enforcement is right for me.  At least not as a police officer.  I mean as UCIAT, I want to keep my options open."

"Sounds like you got it figured out, Goat Son."

"Not so much.  Just a sketch of the direction I'd like to go.  And besides, while the badge sure looks inviting, I just don't think I could carry a service revolver.  It's standard issue and all but..."

"Yeah.  Don't kill and don't be killed."  I patted him on the head.

In the meantime Bunnie managed to get in a good stroke during her friendly game of golf with Eric Lassard.

It was the Commandant's turn and he quickly snapped the ball...and I noticed its trajectory went a bit long and wide.....and it was definitely headed off course toward...wait, what was that building, again?  Oh yeah!  I remember...

Earlier I discovered the academy had its own crime lab and research and development center for building new kinds of gear for our men and women in blue.  I'd even met the professor in charge.  Nice guy.  Absent-minded and cut from the same cloth as Gyro.  And the type to make questionably practical inventions.

Who could have known he'd be working on, of all things, a large rocket missile for some reason?

And who could have predicted that Lassard's ball would crash through the ceiling and smash down on the launch button of the control panel...uh-oh.

Through the skylight it soared in a screwball pathway before it locked onto a target it had selected at random.

At the same time...

"I'm not sticking around here, Proctor.  Has my new cruiser been delivered?"

"Yes, sir!  It's ready and waiting at your parking spot."

"First good news all day.  I'm so disgusted and furious I could explode--"  Harris started as he neared the parking spot...only moments for the rocket to slam down through his car...and blow it sky high!

Harris was far enough away that the blast didn't end up hurting him but there was still enough of a shockwave to knock him on his ass.

As soon as he got up, we all got a good look at Mahoney's prank.

"Do you knuckle-draggers find this amusing!?  I am a Captain and you WILL respect my authority!!!"

"Okay, Cartman."  I heard Violet chuckle under her breath.  She was waiting all week to make that reference, wasn't she?

"I am not about to be disrespected!"

By this time everyone was chortling at the message that had been spelled out in white-out along Harris' back and rump.

"Whatever you say...Captain Dork....huh...I thought your name was Harris."  Zed said kind of clueless.

I heard both of Harris' knuckles tighten and crack.  Apparently this was an all-too familiar prank on him.

Oh yeah.  It most certainly read "Dork" on his back and "Don't tailgate" on his rump.

Kudos, Vi.  For conspiring with Carrey Mahoney to combine a PA 5:  Assignment Miami reference with an old reference from 80's TV sitcom, "What's Happening"

If only Harris COULD expel this class.

Harris stormed away.

As he walked past us all, I heard Jones imamate a  horse whinny followed up by a fart noise.   That only ROYALLY pissed Captain Harris off.

"Going to drown your sorrows, sir?"

"That's none of your business, Mahoney!  You and these...civilians best get out of my sight this instant!  YOU ARE ALL DISMISSED!!!  MOVE IT!  MOVE IT! MOVE IIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!"

And by the time he and Proctor caught a cab and was out of sight...

"You're not done with him are you?"  Asriel asked Mahoney.

A grin from Vi told all.

Elsewhere.

"...I got a great recommendation for this place.  It has the best salad bar in town."  Proctor assured.

"It had better have.  The mood i'm in right now, I need something to take the edge off."

"You DIDN'T!"  Bunnie glared at Vi.

"Something I should know?"

"Just a little place that I sent Al Dente to once..."   While Violet was attempting to project the illusion of a halo over her head, all Bunnie could see were devil horns.

"Come now...you're familiar with a certain...club in town.  A very exclusive club.   They specialize in dancing.   Mostly dancing."  Violet grinned ear to ear

A long pause followed by:

".................goddammit, Vi..."  I actually heard Bunnie swear.

I just blinked, feeling like I was missing a big inside joke.

Somewhere and somewhen that night there was the sound of  a loud saxophone playing the song "El Bimbo" composed by Robert Folk coming from an exclusive bar......immediately followed by screams of "PROCTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And so ended our tale of Lassard's best class and the Major's nostalgia trip as well as Asriel's memories of going through police training.

And all I had to say was......at least we weren't going to Moscow.

## Sub-Entry 043: "Not Particularly Royal, But a Rumble Nonetheless.  Rock n' Wrestling Revisit":

For a while now, it seemed like a lot of things were being wrapped up and tied with a bow; old business was now being put to rest while new business just seemed to draw out and no new developments were conveniently landing in our lap.  As if we'd ever expect good news to do just that.

But what was becoming more and more obvious was the sheer scope of how many people Asriel had befriended in fifteen years.  Honestly...it was starting to feel like he would meet more acquaintances in a week than I'd made in too many lifetimes to count.  But that was WAY exaggerating.  If I had to name every one of my contacts--dead or alive--I'd see no end in sight.  That's what immortality's worth.  More people than you could ever bargain for.  Both friend and enemy, at that.

But I digress.  I think it was safe to say that...while Asriel considered me his best friend and I considered him mine?  The truth was that (almost) everyone was his best friend.  And he was best friend to almost everyone.  Enemies that we had put away, being the obvious exception.

I think Violet once joked that if you were on a first name basis with every security guard in a place...well...actually, I'd better not finish that statement.  Violet can be a little tactless.

But it just goes to show how much trust Asriel had built up over the years.

He really was that great a guy.

Since Azzy had suggested Bunnie and Megami train She-Lion to be a Shrine Maiden, we saw a lot less of She-Lion.  Who knew that there was so much to learn as one of Violet's shameless anime tropes?  But in all seriousness, despite dressing like Rei Hino, alias Sailor Mars, in her usual civilian attire, she was making a great effort.  All the while, she was becoming a surprisingly good study.  Though...her sassy attitude wasn't going to go away any time soon.  Heck, if anything...maybe she was a little TOO MUCH like Rei.  She sure had the fiery temper and the blunt way of speaking--completely uncharacteristic of the Jangese culture that I had come to know from Bunnie, Megami, Usagi, and Master Splinter.

That said, the story goes on in other ways.

Surprisingly, it would go to the far opposite end of the spectrum.

"...four-ninety-eight, four-ninety-nine...five-hundred."  Asriel took a break and coiled up the jump-rope.

"What a workout!  I can't thank you enough for letting me get some training in here."

"You've earned your place at my gym, brother."

"I was surprised you extended me an invite back here.  I mean...we barely got to know each other while Gadget was junk-searching at J.Y.D.'s."

"It just seemed like the neighborly thing to do."

"Neighborly?  Kind of strange to put it that way, considering we're all from another world, entirely, Miss Richter."

"Wendy.  You've earned it, Asriel."

"Hey, you get yourself a shower and a cool-down and dinner's on us.  That's hospitality from the Hulk-ster."

Hulk Hogan and his group of classic 80's Wrestling icons.  Or as Violet put it, all the baby-faces under one roof.  Well...she wasn't wrong.  They were the good guys.

"Yeah, if anything's left of the spread after Captain Lou gets done with it!"  Junk Yard Dog snickered.

"What?  I'm a growing athlete!"  Albano defended before shoving an entire hoagie sandwich into his mouth.

"Goooooolly!"  Hillbilly Jim exclaimed.

"You said it, compadre.  You might want to put a rush order on that sprucing up, Azzy."  Tito Santana followed up.

"Ahh, don't worry about.  Whatever's left over will be fine.  Even if it's nothing at all.  We'll just order out for pizza.  I know Mitzi delivers!"

"Great!  I could use an after-dinner snack."  Lou Albano commented after inhaling a second hoagie.

"Oh brother..."  Wendy face-palmed as Hulk just shrugged.

"C'mon dudes.  Let's get a good warm-down and get the gym squared away.  A clean gymnasium is the first step in keeping it clean in and out of the ring."

"Goes hand-in-hand with takin' your vitamins, sayin' your prayers at night, and livin' the American way, brothah!"

Asriel did a few flexes before actually tearing his shirt off, Hulk Hogan style.  Huh...Goat Son was rarely ever seen with his shirt off with a manly growl.   Undyne would be absolutely eating this up.  Finally a Prince worthy of the training she wanted to put him through.  Even though Toriel put her foot down...who knew the flower prince would still find himself down the same road...after doubling back from completely traveling the path his mother hoped he'd take.  Why settle for one or the other when you can have it both ways in life?  That said...

Who knew he was getting actually kind of ripped by this point?  He wasn't anywhere near Asgore's level...uh...when Fluffybuns was at his prime, but...if he kept up this way, he'd be on his way.

Though let's face it.  He was still always going to have Toriel's build.  When you got down to it...Asriel in his adult years was clearly splitting the difference between both his parents.  His mother's good looks, his father's demeanor, and somewhere in between both their physical builds.

Witty banter, 80's WWE (formerly WWF) tropes, and a few laughs a plenty, it seemed the scene couldn't have gotten any cooler.

I wish I hadn't said that...because I was right.  And...I jinxed it.

Enter...the uninvited guests.

"Hey, what's that racket going on outside my gym?"

"Sounds like the most obnoxious muscle-car I've ever heard...next to Kevin Levin's car."  Asriel held his ears.

"Muscle car?"  Hulk suddenly looked like he figured it out.  "Wait a minute...I'd know that gut-wrenching engine anywhere.  That's the sound of the hot rod of--"

The doors flung open.

"Rowdy Roddy Piper, heh-eh-heh-eh-heh!  And I've got a bone to pick with YOU, Hogan!"

"You know you're not welcome in my gym, DUDE!"  Hulk pointed angrily.

"It's a free country!  Roddy Piper goes where he wants to!"

"Oh no...this guy..."  Asriel had quickly switched on his human disguise.

"I know you're here to cause trouble, Piper!  You can either get out on your own two feet or we can toss you into your bagpipe-mobile and send you into the next county!"  Hulk didn't waste a moment after Roddy charged up to him and got in his face.

"And just who's going to do that, Hogan?  You and these second raters!"

"Hey!  I resemble that!"  Albano swallowed the last of his hoagies practically whole.

"Oh we're doing the throwin' and you'll be the one goin'.  Dig it?"  J.Y.D.  smashed his fist into his palm.

"Ganging up on me?  How noble!  Well if it's strength in numbers, TWO can play that game."

That was when the rest of Roddy Piper's crew of heels bust in.

"American dogs!  Phooey!  The Iron Sheik will make you all humble!"

"Dah!  You are telling them, Comrade Sheik."

The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff.  This odd couple was never that far apart from each other.

"Make way for a REAL wrestler!"  That could only be Big John Stud.

"Well this dump got tackier from the last time we crashed this party.  When it comes to comparing turf, money talks."  The Fabulous Moolah.   Who else would blatantly wear a dollar sign THAT big on her outfit?

"We could easily take care of this eyesore with a little volcanic Fuji dust.  On its ashes we could be a most honorable site to call our own."  Oh yeah...first place in the "Odd Job Look-Alike" competition, Mr. Fuji.

And surprisingly enough, as if he didn't doing enough wheelin' and dealin' during the "Hulk Hogan's Rock N' Wrestle-Land amusement park scam" (Currently Rowdy Piper's Rest-in-Peace Cemetery, much to Piper's dismay), Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.  I knew a certain mouse in ACME Labs who might have a desire to..."discuss" the rights to the name in a court of law.  While I'm not sure he'd have a case, per se...pretty sure he'd be able to outsmart Heenan.  That is...if his crazy partner in crime didn't throw a wrench into it.  Narf.

"Do you guys ALWAYS have to come looking for trouble?"  Asriel spoke up.

"Well lookie what we have here--"  Piper started before Asriel interrupted with a groan.

"Ugh...really?  You're going to open up quoting Biff Tanen of all people?"

"Never heard of him, runt!  What's the deal, Hogan?  You letting old geezers into this establishment now?"

"Hey.  I'm only 25 and this is my natural hair color."  Asriel folded his arms.

"Well isn't that special!  You're one of those freaky Albinos ain't ya?"

"So what if I am?"

"And you got a mouth on you."

"And a brain in me.   But I have to applaud you, Piper.  I would NOT have the confidence to go out in public in a plaid skirt."  Asriel mused.

"You uncultured imbecile!  This is a kilt!"  Piper actually looked to be fuming at that one.

Normally Asriel wouldn't take it there, but Roddy was kind of asking for it.  Plus this world was in the 80's so...keeping it PC wasn't an issue.  Heck, most of the wrestlers in the room were blatant ethnic stereotypes; both the babyfaces and the heels.  But that grey area out of the way...

"My bad."  Asriel held up his hands.

"Oh you're going to KNOW bad when I get through with you."

"Hold on, Piper!"  Hulk got between them but pretty much stared Roddy down.

"And the blond buffoon stands up for his wimpy recruit.  I bet you anything he couldn't last five minutes in the ring with me!"

"Now, Hulk!  Don't go letting yourself get baited into another bet.  I'm not entering another competition."  Wendy warned.

"That goes double for me, Piper."  Moolah growled.

"You're going to have to try harder than that, DUDE!"

Asriel suddenly smirked a bit.

"Why ask anyone else to fight our battles when we can clean up this unruly mess that found its way into our ring?  What say you, Hulkster?"

"Now that's a pretty bold challenge, Azzy.  You sure you want to take it there?"

"I'm up for tag-team if you are."

"Brother!  I like the way you think!"

"Is that a challenge?"

"You heard the man, Piper!  Pick any one of your goons to back you up and we'll tag team you into next week."

Ohhhhh boy.  Did Goat Son REALLY just ask for a fight?   And dude...he was going up against "Hot Rod" Rowdy Piper and a goon of his choosing?  This wasn't like Asriel.  What was he up to...?

Big John Stud cracked his knuckles and took his place by Piper's side.

"It figures."  Tito Santana scoffed.

"Five will get you ten he'll have Sheik and Volkoff rig this match."  Wendy crossed her arms.

"I don't like cheaters."  Andre the Giant growled angrily.

"Yeah?  Well I double-dog dare them to try anything."  Lou Albano challenged.

"Tell you what.  Let's make this interesting."  Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka suggested.  "What say we turn this into a Lumberjack Match?"

"You mean like get on the outside of the ring like jackrabbits to a carrot patch?"  Hillbillly Jim asked.

"Makes sense.  Besides, we know those dirty cheaters are going to do the same thing.  Might as well even the odds and keep them tied up with us so Hulk and Asriel can focus on the match."  Tito replied.

The bell rang and Hogan and Piper opened up; each resorting to their usual repertoires and countering each other.

"You're gettin' soft, Hogan!"

"The only thing getting soft around here, Piper, is your head if you think I'm going to let you barge in here and bully my friends!"

It was about that time...!

"Mean Gene Oakerland reporting live from Hulk Hogan's Gym where and impromptu exhibition is taking place between the tag team of Roddy Piper and Big John Stud against Hulk Hogan and a new-comer.  I have yet to get his name but I feel like we've met before!"

Oh boy.

It wasn't long before the cheating began.

"Hey!  I saw that!"  Wendy snapped as Iron Sheik tried to sheepishly hide the oil can behind his back.

"You are seeing nothing!"

"Well seeing is believin' and I'm believin' this jive with the oil is about to be spoiled!"  J.Y.D. suddenly grabbed hold of the oil can and gave it a few pumps, soaking the floor under Sheik.

"Whoaaaaaaah!"  And we have wipe-out.

"A slight of the hand will give our most-honorable leader a leg up on the competition!"  Fuji said as the hook of his umbrella handled found its way around Hogan's ankle, tripping him up.

"Oh no, Fuji!  It's pie-eatin', not pie-cheatin'!"  Albano quickly shoved a custard cream pie into the moustache-and-goateed one's face as he whirled around to see who'd gotten too close for comfort.

"I cannot see!" Fuji flailed before stumbling into Moolah.

"Watch where you're going, short round!"

"Humble apologies Moolah-san!"

"Save the sorry and get your head together or I'll make YOU sorry!"

"Comrade Piper needs a little help with love from Mother Russia!"  Volkoff suddenly pulled the upper half of a giant Russian Matryoshka Doll over Hulk's head and shoulders.

"What the-!!   What do you think you're doing, dude!?"

"Heh-eh-heh-eh-heh-eh-heh...now that's rich, Hogan!  A man your age playing with dolls in the ring!"

"When I get out of this--!"

"Hulk!  Tag in!"  Azzy quickly extended his hand.

Hulk tried to get his arms free, but with the thing pinning him.

"C'mon, Hulkster!  Use your head!"

"Better yet...why don't I use my feet!"  Hogan suddenly took a diving slide, feet first, as Asriel slapped the soles of his boots.  It counted as a tag-in!

"I've been waiting for this!  Big John!  Soften him up a bit before I put him out of his misery!"

"Right on, Rowdy!"  And the big guy was in and went straight at Asriel.  "You're gonna get it now!"

"Oh I am?  I'm gonna get it?  You know what?  You can keep it!"  Asriel side-stepped at the last moment as Stud got his shoulder slammed into the ring post.  While he was stunned, Asriel grabbed him by the arm and swung him toward the opposite ropes before coming at him with a lariat clothesline once he bounced off in the opposite direction.

"Oooooh!"

"That's what I'm talkin', brother!"

Of course the dirty tricks wouldn't just get directed at Hulk.  A few cheap shots managed to knock Goat Son off his initial head of steam and into some perilous territory.

"Hah!  That the best you got?  You're all talk and no shock!"  Stud proceeded with the stomping before Rowdy tagged himself in.

"Hey!  I wasn't done yet--"  Stud complained before Roddy Piper got so far up in his face he was actually pushing his head back from where their foreheads touched.

"...which is fine."  B.G.S. choked up a nervous squeak.

"That's more like it.  Alright, kid!  Now you answer to me!"

Initially Goat Son was off balance.

"Booooo!"

"That's no fair!"

"Tell it to the non-existent ref, Hogan!  This battle is no disqualification!  Only by count out or submission!  And I'm gonna make your friend tap like a woodpecker on a windowpane!"

"You're dreaming, Piper!"

Dreaming was the trigger word because as Roddy was spending too much time showboating and gloating, Asriel got his bearings and decided to put this one to rest.

"Hey!  What gives!  Is this a wrestling match or a Valentine's Day show!  Are you ACTUALLY hugging me!?"

"Well, honestly hugging it out would be a much better solution to fighting it out.  But you've got only half the picture."

"You can't hope to bear hug me into a submission."

"You're absolutely right..."  Asriel said as his eyes disappeared under the shadow of his bangs...before he suddenly caught Roddy off guard and SUPLEXED HIM!  Like a boulder.

Undyne be proud.

"It looks like our friend is taking you to Suplex City, Piper!"

Please tell me Violet didn't put you up to that, Hulkster.

"Guhhhh...!"  Rowdy's eyes spiraled before he collapsed and Asriel quickly seized him up in a submission hold.

"One!  Two!  Three!"  Wendy slapped the mat as Gene Oakerland made it official.

"Here is your winner by submission!  The up and coming--"

"Asriel "The Dreamer" Arcade!"  Asriel cut in as Hogan quickly raised his fist in triumph.

And then the two of them proceeded to partake in synchronized victory poses; holding a hand up to the ear to rake in the applause and then showing off those big honkin' pythons in unity.  Give em' the gunz, Azzy.

All the while J.Y.D. cranked up Hulk Hogan's theme music, "Real American" on the gym's P.A. system.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! I HAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE ROCK N' ROOOOOOOLLL!"  Piper held his ears and scrambled out of the ring, blowing past his team mate and his goons.

"Let's get out of here!"  Stud chased after in a panic as the rest scrambled, stumbling over one another to get out of dodge.

"Now let me tell you somethin', Brother!  That was some A-class Hulk-a-mania right there!  You done us all proud, Azzy!"

Asriel just rubbed the back of his head and laughed awkwardly.  It was hard for him to not get caught up in it.  He was starting to see Violet's appeal in this "professional" sport.  And now he got to take part in it.

The friendships he was making were...offbeat and unusual.  But he'd treasure each and every one of them.

## Sub-Entry 044: "Honorary Member of the Get-Along Gang"

From the moment Mitzi received the letter; all the way from Green Meadow, mind you, she was walking on air.  As her Commander, it didn't take a lot of imagination to know the reason why.

Had it been so long?

While it was most certainly not a high school reunion year...sometimes you just didn't need a reason to agree to meet up together like the old days.  Sometimes...nostalgia really was the best kind of crazy glue to bring old friends back together.

To put it simple?  The Get-Along Gang would be back in town.  The whole gang, Nermal included.

Growing up, learning, maturing, and finding your own path in life, inevitably means you go your separate ways.  But the bonds you forge can last for eternity if you're willing to preserve them.  Nobody understood that better than Asriel and me.

Thus, when the extended group--all 13 members, counting Mitzi--invited Asriel to join in, he didn't hesitate to accept.  Nermal, being the good mother she was, asked me to come along too.  I said yes.  Though I intended to give Asriel plenty of room to spread his wings.  Mom and I would most certainly have our mother-son time to get caught up and such.  Yet, this was his time.  This was Asriel's story.  I hope I haven't pounded that into the ground already.  Retirement leads to unexpected redundancy, huh?

Needless to say, it didn't take long for group consensus in the weeks prior to decide the venue.  Where else but a skating rink?

And wouldn't you know it...a pretty big, 70's/80's inspired retro one had just opened up recently?  It was perfect.

When was the last time Asriel took his car that Edward and company built for him out of the garage?  Honestly, when did he have time to give it proper maintenance and upgrades?

When he was a younger teen, Asriel always felt awkward whenever he was the driver and I or someone else older than himself was the passenger.  He tended to be a little nervous whenever he even had a passenger.  Proof that he was a responsible driver that he took into account that he was responsible for more than his own life behind the wheel.  I think his apprehension was that even after he turned 18, he didn't feel quite like our equals yet...like he was a real adult.

Now it didn't bother him in the least.

And wouldn't you know it, Bunnie and Violet tagged along with is in the Royal Roadster.  And yes...once again Violet took our old friend, Clyde, out of his cage in the lab to stretch his hairy orangutan arms and legs.

It was right about the time we pulled up to the intersection that history repeated.

"Violet...I thought you said that you didn't breathe a word about this to Al Dente."  Bunnie glared from the back seat.  Wait...did Clyde really call shotgun?  Really...you were going to put the monkey in the front seat instead of your best friend, Vi?  Oh brother...

"I  have no idea how he could have found out."  Violet shrugged.

Sure you don't.

"This is the last straw, Lady Vi!  I am putting my foot down!  This is the ultimatum!  Cease and desist this immeasurable waste of time and return to Edoropia!  You are neglecting your diplomatic duties and constantly putting yourself in danger with this cockadoody missions around the world for your own amusement!"

"Yes, never mind the fact that she's saving lives and protecting our fragile world peace."  I smoldered.

"I won't take no for an answer!  Exit  this monstrosity of a vehicle and return home this instant!"

And like history repeating...history also repeats a solution for a repeat problem.  But what none of us expected was who it came from.

A momentary silence before it was broken by...

"Right turn, Clyde."  Asriel announced with a grin.

Al turned his head in time to hear Clyde grunt a bit before his fist flew out and cracked Dente between the eyes, instantly knocking him out.

The light turned green and while we were all noticeably taken by surprise...we still drove on our way, leaving Al Dente to tie up traffic...and eventually get ticketed and arrested for obstructing traffic.  Though that wasn't the only accusation that had been made against him...

"...there's just one matter I have to check, sir."  The Border Patrol officer said as Al Dente was handcuffed and pressed down against the car hood.

Al's eyes bugged out as he heard the rubber glove snap.

Oh gods, Violet had some explaining to do.

"I can tell what movie YOU watched recently, Vi."   I groaned at the next stop.

Violet tried to hide the sign with the arrow that read "Sphincter Boy" which we all saw her hold up to the window as we drove past a small crowd suddenly noticing Al Dente's fainting spell.

"That next sign better not say anything about goats and you having proof."  I growled.  Asriel shot her a dirty look, too.

"Eheheheheh...of course not."

"I'm going to give you a pass on the thwapping only because you're driving.  But rest assured you will be disciplined.  But not for harassing Al Dente.  His punishment was deserved after what he did recently."  Bunnie warned.  "You were warned about crude humor about goats.  Even if it IS a movie reference."

"Not cool, Aunt Vi."  Asriel smoldered.

"I'll make it up to you, Goat Son!"

"Let's just get to the skating rink."  I muttered.

Once there...

Mitzi waved to us from the parking lot where she had taken the lime green CMD-X prototype vehicle in all its modernized Corvette Stingray glory.  Honestly, I had to give Ed credit for updating that classic car's look while preserving that pentagonal, stingray-ish appearance in the front that I'd come to know from its 70's iterations.  And somehow he left plenty of room in the trunk for its collapsible Proton Cannon turret that made it invaluable on missions.

"Everyone!  You made it!"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Mitzi."

"Everyone's waiting inside!  Nermal can't wait to see you again."

"That's Mom, alright."  I blushed pink in the cheeks.  I was a little homesick for some parental bonding, myself.

"Let's strap on some roller-skate sandals and hit the dance floor!"  Violet grinned.

Inside...

"Wow...this place really feels like a love letter to the 80's.  Right out of Double Dragon Neon in all of its self-aware cheesiness, too.

"You must be at least this fly to rock on to electric avenue."  Violet shrugged, reading some of the fake graffiti.

I sniffed the air and most certainly caught the scent of the concession stand.  Jon didn't know what he was missing.

We all checked out pairs of roller skate sandals.  The kind you needed a roller skate key to get on and off.  A real throwback to early eras but also a safety precaution for those who didn't want to fool with the lace-up boot type that could come undone and become a tripping hazard.

And sure enough there was everyone else from Green Meadow.

Montgomery "Good News" Moose; Dottie "the New-Hound" Dog;  Zipper Cat in all of his multiple Olympic Gold Medal glory; Bingo "Bet-It-All" Beaver still sporting that tacky set of dollar-sign shades; Neo Arcadia's leading lady movie superstar, Woolma Lamb; and humble and loveable school teacher, Portia Porcupine.

And that was just the G.A.G.'s "A-Team".  The B-Team was there, too.

Congressional Librarian, Braker Turtle; WVBA champ, Rocko Rabbit; housekeeping service mogul, Bernice Bear; national wildlife magazine photographer, Flora "Forget-Me-Not" Fox; low-key surf shop owner, Rudyard Lion; and candy empire C.E.O., Lola "Lolly" Squirrel.

And yes...even Mom, Dr. Nermal S. Gamepro was there too.

And every last one of them was dressed as casual and throw-back to the 80's as you could get.  It almost seemed like a themed costume day at the rink but...I wasn't going to read between the lines.

I could definitely see the appeal of this era.  And Asriel did too.

With a squeal of delight, Nermal quickly homed in on me and gave me the most motherly of hugs.

"I'm so glad you could all make it!"  Seeing her this cute and spritely was a sight to see.  You'd never believe that she wasn't actually a teenager until you saw her I.D.

Mitzi and Dottie where quick to gravitate to her and share in a triple squeal of delight capped with a group-hug while jumping up and down together.

And all three of them came in their cheerleader outfits.  It was a surreal seeing that white and green in triplicate.  And each was wearing their first initial on the front.

M for Mitzi, N for Nermal, D for Dottie.

But the weird thing was...I'd always pictured Dottie wearing red not green.  I wonder why that made more sense to me?   Maybe in another AU?  Huh...

That said...

The festivities got underway, opening with the usual skate in the same direction around the perimeter of the ring in laps to music from decades ago that to Mitzi and company felt as fresh as the days they were brand new.

Nostalgia really does have that effect.

After a while things changed up a bit with us agreeing to a guys-only session so that the male half of our group could do a little showing off.

Zipper, Rocko, and some of the other guys got together to roller-jam out to a Fifth of Beethoven in all of their roller-disco glory.  Huh...weird choice, seeing as how in their era, disco STILL would have been dead and buried.  I had a feeling Violet put them up to it somehow.  But...they were pulling it off.

I couldn't help but feel I'd seen this somewhere before.  Maybe a trip back to Spooner Street in Quahog, Rhode Island would jog my memory?  Hmmmmmmmm...

After wearing ourselves out, we let the ladies have a girls-only outing.

And I had to say many of them impressed with their level of skills on wheels.

I think up until now, Zipper had the title of best on the floor.  But now Portia was making us turn heads.

We all took a break for a bit to grab some quick sodas and such.  It was still too early for a meal.

At this point it was up to debate who was the star of the show.  But then the group consensus decided to put the spotlight on Mitzi as if to confirm what we all suspected.

"We're all thinking it but I say that you go out there and prove it."  Zipper crossed his arms with a cocky grin.

"Yeah, come on Mitzi!  Show us you still got it!"  Dottie urged.

"Got it?  I might have picked up a few more tricks since then.  But how could I resist an invite like that.  Okay, old friend.  Let me show you what I got!  And prepare to be amazed.  I've had a few good teachers to learn from since then..."

Mitzi skated her way over to the D.J.'s both and had a quick conversation.  After a thumbs-up she skated back to the center of the rink to show her stuff.

"This one goes out to all you 80's babies who remember!  This dedication comes to you from local pizzeria-owner, Mitzi M. Mozzarella!  We're going to jam to "Neon Jungle" by Mango Tango!"

I think it was about this time I realized that Mitzi had her own unofficial theme song for a while.  Granted it was from Double Dragon Neon but...  When I thought about it?  When I really considered her personality and that her era was as 80's as it got?   This song fit her like a glove.

***"Off the ceiling and onto the dance floor***

***Flashing colors are simmering bright***

***As she watches him move, to her delight!***

Mitzi took to the floor like a soaring eagle.  She just exploded into dance.

***Like a tiger she waits in advance for***

***Her attack when the moment is right***

***In the jungle of laser beams, tonight***

The disco ball had started going and sure enough, a bit of kerosene fog was added for effect to the multitude of colored laser beams that swept through it like some kind of huge reveal at an art exhibition.

***Follow me!  Follow me!***

***Your love is callin' me!  Callin' me!***

***Take hold of me,***

***Like a sorcerer controllin' me!***

***Couldn't be any clearer***

***Upon my magic mirror, I can see***

***Your true nature callin' me***

I about lost my mind when Mitzi pulled multiple backflips and somersaults...somehow landing like an ace on those skate-wheeled sandals.

***(Your true nature!  Your true nature!  Your true nature!  Your true nature!)***

It was then I began to notice her routine was looking more and more like flash dance than any other style I'd seen from the 80's.   I guess this is what skills being a Grand Master of Bunnie's martial art.

***In a matter of moments she'll seize him***

***Like a lioness out of a dream***

***Gettin' ready to pounce with all her might!***

Nermal waved before giving a cute pawing motion like "Nyah!"  Mitzi most certainly noticed and pawed back with a giggle.

***Like a kitten with yarn, she will tease him***

***Have him comin' apart at the seams***

***As they dance in the laser beams tonight!***

Mitzi went into a speedy spin in place before skating over to where Asriel was watching and pulled him onto the dance floor much to everyone's surprise.

***Follow me!  Follow me!***

***Your love is callin' me!  Callin' me!***

***Take hold of me,***

***Like a sorcerer controllin' me!***

***Couldn't be any clearer***

***Upon my magic mirror, I can see***

***Your true nature callin' me***

I think this time Azzy didn't mind so much.  Maybe Honey's dating advice worked?  He sure seemed a little more confident on the roller rink floor.  And he complimented Mitzi's style beautifully.

As they built into an amazing climax, it went from flash dance to flash dance crossed with Olympic ice-skating.  And what a show!

***(Your true nature!  Your true nature!  Your true nature!  Your true nature!)***

Mitzi and Asriel finished up in a classic if not EPIC pose.

A round of applause by the skaters in attendance.  Mitzi had turned heads.   I suppose someone could probably call her out on using her ninja training to enhance her roller-dance was cheating but...you' d have to be pretty petty and jealous to raise that kind of stink.  And as far as I know the only one who would had disappeared from the public eye after CEC Entertainment started...downsizing and removing a lot from their shows.

"You were off the charts, Mitzi!"  Dottie and Nermal engaged in a group hug.

It was then I realized...a dog, a cat, and a mouse.  Together as friends.  Really, something that obvious had never occurred to me?  This is how you wipe away the old cliches and tropes of old.  And while Peter Venkman would say this situation would be followed up with "mass hysteria", I begged to differ.  This was awesome.

Asriel stayed on the floor, waving to us.  He was most certainly letting us know that he was hardly tired and could keep going.  All day?  Maybe.  Who could say.  But I think we were catching on that as Mitzi, Foxy, and Bunnie's protégée...he was destined to surpass everyone in the room.

After a bit of time on the floor, Asriel skated back to where some had gathered at the indoor concession stand and restaurant area to enjoy a few orders of hot dogs, popcorn, and whatever else was good on the menu.

Asriel couldn't pass up the popcorn but also felt the need to partake in the pizza.

I took a time out, myself, once my eye had caught sight of the video arcade area.  That of course reminded me that back in the day...I was quite the pinball wizard.  And lo and behold!  I found one of my old favorites there--a 1982 release called "Vector"; based around a weird, futuristic sci-fi sport with rules even Sally shrugged when I asked her to explain it to me...yeah...this was classic but not quite old school.  If it were what I'd consider "old school" the scoring would still be on rotary number dials instead of LED displays.

While I got "Wizard" with the silver ball, some of the other brainier members of the group like Montgomery and Braker went for some other old school titles among the coin-up arcade cabinets.  The likes of Bump & Jump, Psycho Soldier, Tron the arcade game, Centipede, Ms. Pac-Man and more took up a small section, just a few feet from the roller skate practice room in the corner; where beginners could learn the ropes and rely on the hand-rails on the wall to catch themselves on in order to avoid a fall onto one's rump in a nasty wipeout.

The day faded to night outside and by the time we all had our fill of it all, the stars were out and a gentle snowdrift was starting up.

Everyone said their goodbyes.

"I had a wonderful time, Mitzi.  Nermal.  Everyone."  Asriel made sure to shake hands, high-five, hug, and bid farewell to all in attendance.  But not before getting everyone's emails and social media handles.  He befriended every single person in the room and no doubt would stay in contact for time to come.

"They were all wonderful people, Volt.  I hope we can meet again."

"If Destiny is kind, she'll make it happen, Goat Son.

"You know...Montgomery inducted me in as an honorary member of the Get-Along Gang."

"No kidding?"

"I may be a few generations late...but I guess there's nothing that says new blood can't come to old friends.  Am I right?"

"You transcend the ages, Goat Son.  You really do."

His popularity grew ever still and his list of friends and fans was becoming the stuff that Papyrus dreamed of.

It was most certainly a great time out with friends and family.

But I felt maybe we were long overdue for some one-on-one time together.

While Violet would describe it as a "bro-mance", I was just happy to be hist best friend and he was happy to be mine.

On that note...what better way to commemorate that friendship with a long-overdue to the new Man-Cave...

## Sub-Entry 045: "Visiting the Z-Vault":

"Ready, Volt?"

"Yeah...we haven't done this in a while.  And quite frankly......I've been missing it a lot."

"So have I."

"Well...here's the key."  I handed him the flat, crystalline circuit card.

Asriel nodded as his NX Switch Pro flew off his backpack harness and unfolded into a new form...a Cyber Gate of his own design.

Asriel fit the key into the indentation in the center of the closed shutters, where it fit perfectly.  As the circuit tracks lit up and the nanotech unpacked from it, it spread across the shutters, reforming them into a new configuration before they opened like a camera iris and the portal beneath was revealed.

"After you."  He offered.

"Thanks."  I nodded and went on through.  Asriel was right behind me.

I sighed at the landscape.  At first glance it seemed to be a reconstructed Mobius-Null.  But a momentary surge flickered across the ground, revealing the artificial, "cyber-tomic" structure beneath.  Like an endoskeleton for an artificial planetoid.

"This many meta-nanites repurposed through Dr. Lynx's research.  Providence probably won't like this."  I frowned, realizing that Generator Rex's world had just been mass-cured of the E.V.O. outbreaks.  Rex had been reunited with his friends and Circe--now all completely human--in China before he returned to his work at Providence.  Dr. Lynx assured them that after Rex's omnipotent transformation to mass-cure the planet that meta-nanites would never be a problem.

But of course she quite literally devoured a sample of them to no one's knowledge but her closest circle back home.  Myself, included.  From there her own "bigger beast by far" nanite collective subjugated them and completely rewrote their quantum code from the ground up.  And from that result...came a planet in the depths of space, far beyond the reaches of known S.T.C. space and time.  It was as far off the grid as we could get.

By this point, it was a piece of cake for Nikita to pilot the Neo Nebuchadnezzar, completely solo from home to that world effortlessly.  Her vast array of upgrades and software patches had made it a one nanomorph operation, like an extension of her own hands and feet.  Sometimes even her own mind.

Terraforming it took a couple years.  We reconfigured  a sample of then-fried hard-light holoprojectors I'd saved from New Mobotropolis...before ACM-001 was completely reformatted into ACM-002.  They now went global instead of being part of a single domed city's makeup.

I had her program the image to rebuild Mobius Null from my memories and Azzy's with help from Callista.

And before us inside a revamped Tails' Hanger...the gateway to a new Z-Vault stood at the back of the building.  An extra-dimensional pocket within a dimensional pocket.  A dimension-ception as Violet would have probably called it with a snicker or two.

Remind me to thwap her for whatever reason I can think of, someone...

But the matter at hand: how much of it survived the fall of the X-Vault?

"She outdid herself."

"Don't let her past self hear that."

"Not a word, Volt.  Not a word."

The Z-Vault was a bigger, badder beast.  And VASTLY updated and upgraded.  And for the first time that I can remember.....actually organized.

Almost too organized for me to be comfortable.  But...sooner or later my sloppy habits would have to give way to this neater new lifestyle.  Right?

"So this is what happens when you combine an Apple Store with an IKEA outlet?"  Asriel joked.

"Heh."

Okay, it was a little alien in appearance and rather sterile.  Like a hospital.  Gods, I still hated hospitals.

It still had that "new laboratory" smell to it.  I didn't mind it...rather I didn't mind it as much as I did the scent of hospitals.

"Computer, reduce lighting by 15%."

It was a little bright and the mix of titanium white and crystal clear furnishings weren't helping.  I mean it didn't HAVE to be as dark, dingy, and gritty as Central Highway AKA "Awakening Road" on X's world.  But it didn't have to be the bright white "missing city" from the prototype build of the Mega Man X game, back when his life meter was still labeled with Rock's familiar "P" designation and for some reason the miniboss from Sting Chameleon's stage was smack dab in the middle of it.

Kudos to anyone who knows what I'm talking about as I again dance with the meta effect of our world's wonky fourth wall.

Levity aside...now was the time to make new memories while we still had time to enjoy them.

"...it's back."  Asriel blinked as his hand touched the "Gizmo" warp drive engine.

I knew what he meant.  I'd sent it to cause a time-space warp black hole as a final trap before...we lost Mobius Null and everything on it.  And yet that still proved to be a prison that...he could escape.

I really don't want to acknowledge that dark part of our past.

"My guess is he somehow used it to escape back to our dimension."

"Whatever alien race created this...they made it essentially indestructible.  While the materials look terrestrial in construction, especially that glass plasma ball...it's made of nothing recorded in ANY known place, time, or dimension."  I crossed my arms.  "And somehow KOMMAND recovered it."

As we surveyed over everything, nearly all we had lost was back again.  It took years and years of crisscrossing time periods and retrieving items from the moment they disappeared from history to bring them all back here.

And yet there were still a few pieces here and there which...hadn't turned up.  Some which we'd confirmed weren't coming back.

Such was marked by empty parking spots in the garage area.

Asriel sighed at the one that would live on only in his memories.  But for the most part...out of the initial 40% we lost...only 1% was now unaccounted for or gone for good.

While the Mach-6 was now just a memory...the original Mach-5 was a welcome sight in the previous parking spot.

I'd contacted Pee-Wee Herman to see if he'd consider returning Conky to us.  He hasn't gotten back to us.  Though...both Ernest P. Worrel and Weird Al Yankovic were willing to substitute some of their own contributions.

Gee...who wouldn't want their own year-old peanut-butter and jelly sandwich in a zip-lock bag?  Ehh-heh-heh-yewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww....

Or who wouldn't want their own personal foot-massage-and-tail-trimmer box that...may or may not accidently gene-splice you with some weird species of lizard, turning you into a freak?  Yeah...I can hear the patent office clamoring to get approval from the FDA...yeeeeeeeeah...

Trust me when I say I am wrinkling my nose right now.  I think I just saw the "Mood Pie" he sent us for dessert turn an unruly shade of black tar.  You think it picked up on my disgust?

That was about the time Asriel started chortling at the "Best Of" recordings of Lonny Don's School of Hollywood Sound effects for a collection of his greatest movie foley jobs.  Who could forget "Pele's-a-Comin'!  Pele is-a-Coming!" and the sound of a giant goalie squashing a soccer ball?

"Asriel!"  I protested.

"Sorry.  Don't know what came over me.  I mean.  Really.  Who \*snicker\* could find something so low-brow and juvenile amusing?"  He tried to force back the snickering.  Oh, Sans...I just know you're to blame somehow.

I shook my head as I passed by the accordion Azzy and I had picked up from Al's Accordion Camp, recently re-opened after Mysteries Inc. solved the case of the dinosaur that was terrorizing the place and forcing all the parents to take their kids home in droves.

Nearby, Uncle Edward's TV/VCR was playing a rerun of Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp.  I feel like I'm dating myself, referencing that.

"So much to do and so little time."  Asriel leaned up against a heavy support pillar in the garage.

"Then might I make a suggestion?"  Came a familiar electronic voice with an English accent to it.

"K.I.T.T.!"  Asriel was overjoyed as soon as he whirled to converse with the grump, but still very proper operating system of the Black Pontiac Trans-Am.  That familiar sweeping red infrared scanner bar in front of the hood was as welcome as ever.

"I'm overjoyed that you haven't forgotten me.  I would hate to--"

"End up in Manny, Moe, and Jack's bargain bin again?"

"I've become that predictable..."

"Don't be salty, old friend.  At least now you've got company."  I looked in the direction of the red, 1991 Dodge Stealth.

"I'm still not speaking to him."  Came the more natural, but still electronic female voice from the car opposite K.I.T.T.'s space.

I did a double take.

"Okay...it was weird enough having Russel Maddock's voice in that thing...but why is Officer Shawn McCormick's voice coming from its Alpha Circuit, now?"

"Uh...it's a long story."  Asriel assured.  "A long and somewhat tragic story."

Well that sucks.  Last I saw of Shawn McCormick, she and Maddock were going to be working with K.I.T.T. in the new Knight 4000 car.  What happened?  And if I really investigated, would my answers be in an archived obituary?

"Well...you did say the solution to fixing the problem of your "bogus chip" was to simply have it removed from her head after the medical facility implanted it following her gunshot wound."  I looked as K.I.T.T."

"Who knew she could hold such a grudge?  The chip was mine to begin with."

"I can't work with this."

"Still salty about being called a repugnant female?"

"You were the one that lost his temper and racked up about 10 traffic violations on my driving record."

"When you still had a human body."

"Keep talking and you're getting hit with the sonic disruptor again."

"If you can squeeze off a shot before my Micro-Jam disables most of your onboard functions."

"We're...just going to back out of the conversation."  Asriel got back a bit.

I sighed.

"I on the other hand am ready to take a pro-active approach.  Either you two settle down or I remove both of your Alpha Circuits and you can spend time playing Pac-Man in hibernation."

Knight Industries Four-Thousand clammed up.  Huh.   Well.  Do I call her Shawn or "K.I.F.T." now?

"Weren't you the one who gave me the memo that Pac-Man is in the Smithsonian nowadays?" K.I.T.T. replied sardonically.

"It won't be long before we see DOOM and Halo in there next."  I muttered.

"What on Earth  is Halo...?"  K.I.T.T. asked.

"Now I feel old..."  Asriel moaned.

You and me both, Goat Son.  Chances are, DOOM already is...I mean...it runs on EVERYTHING, right?   Holy schnikees.   When you start referring to Halo as the new "old school", you have to wonder what that makes YOUR generation's old school?  Don't get me started on Devil May Cry.

I shook my head and shrugged as I looked over to the chain-link cage.

"Still can't believe she saved all 100% of everything that was in there.  Even Harley Quinn's mallet after the darn thing was busted to heck."

"Aunt Vi appreciates her comic lore.  That and I think she wants to get it autographed by Dr. Quinzel."

"Ironic for a rabbit who hates clowns."

"Apparently there's enough of a difference between harlequins and clowns that gives the Joker's ex a pass."  Azzy shrugged.

"I just want to make sure she doesn't find out about Gru's fa--"

"Yeah, we got his \*ahem\*...dart gun, too." Asriel waved it off, trying to avoid the low-brow.

Asriel pulled the fold-up 500-in-One lab kit from the shelf.

"Wow...five-hundred hardware and software electronics projects...and by this point in my life they all seem like baby's toys........but..."

"But?"

"I'd still enjoy building and trouble-shooting every single one like I was still 10."

Asriel slid the power switch on to the programmable microcomputer on the upper part of the laptop-like trainer kit.

He slide the power switch off again after studying the LCD readouts for a bit.  Even with no program stored in its memory, it was still informative.  It still reminded him of the good old days when I was teaching him the ins and outs of circuits design and construction.

"All those experiments we did, straight out of Don Herbert's repertoire..."

"Still loving Mr. Wizard's World?"

"In a word that is the life blood of our own Vladimir Stokes...?  SCIENCE!!!"

"Science."  I said with a thumbs-up.

I'd have to promise to do one of those super soap foam volcano things just to see if his eyes would light up the same way they used to when science was all new to him.

"So...we up for racing some cars around the planet?"

"We can do that.  We can do whatever you want, Asriel."

A feeling had crept into Asriel...a feeling like...he needed to have the biggest and best outing here he'd ever have in his life.  Why the sense of urgency?  Even he...really couldn't answer that.  Yet he suspected a reason.

But he had no intention of bringing down the mood by exploring that reason in depth.

This was supposed to be some well-earned down time.  So phooey on those anxieties.

Bro-tastic times inbound.  I had a feeling that the WWE superstar of the week in Vi's personal lab collective of pro-wrestler introductions was likely Matt Riddle.  I mean he pretty much had every reason for Vi to pick him out of the whole roster...and those reasons were coming to the ring in sandals and kicking them off to wrestle in bare feet.

Dammit, Vi.

"So.  You see how many times Riddle's stuck it to the Hurt Business as of late?"  Azzy asked, practically sensing what I was thinking.

"Please don't encourage Vi's antics."

"Just sayin'.  Or to put it another way....brooooooooooooooooo...."  Asriel grinned ear to floppy ear as he said that with the most California surfer accent I'd ever heard him pull off.

Why was I convinced Kevin Keene would approve?   I guess that was a question only you'd answer, "Mondo Nose".   Wonder if that term still did not compute for Game Boy?

I saw him gravitate toward the old skateboard he bought from the Skate or Die shop.  The shop owner was still unruly and still resembled Rodney Dangerfield with a mohawk.  I hadn't heard much about Bionic Lester since Azzy's childhood.  Gadget hadn't brought him up recently so...

"Hmm."

I tapped on the broken computer that once housed the computerized genie, Lisa.  Not to be confused with my wife or the Universal Detective.  No, I meant the product of Weird Science.  Gary and Wyatt sure fell off the radar since.

So I wonder what was serving as her electronic shell, now?

As we wondered the place, the artificial day and night cycle started to run its course.

I'd noticed during night hours, we'd get visits from certain...miniature spaceships from a "very small planet".

Batteries were STILL not included, I guess.  But the sure could fix up the broken stuff and the broken code still around here on a whim.  Sure beat trying to lure them out by smashing a pocket watch or alarm clock.

Nearby a closet rack held a loooot of copies of a distinct neck tie.  But one hanger space was missing.  Yeah...I...never went back to retrieve it from Camp Candy since the last entry of my Project Lost Dreemurr NEXT logs.

I was beginning to wonder if this was more his nostalgia or mine?

But nevertheless...we made a day out of it.

No surprises.

No missions.

No unexpected chaos.

Just best friends...recapturing a piece of our best days past after those days had been burned to the ground and buried.

Thanks to KOMMAND and Nikita...our man-cave was back in a new form.  And with it...the kind of nostalgia we'd never truly outgrow.

But with our past secured, our future was still in question.

The time would come that we'd have to decide another critical stepping block in our present.

I'd mentioned this case several times before.

With how quiet it had been for some time now, I was starting to believe I'd put it on the backburner.

Well...it was about to bubble over.

Destiny and Fate would have Asriel and myself tackle this S.T.C. assignment together.

Just like old times...we'd have to help the Great Ones achieve their destiny.

The Prophecy that Rufus gave us was pretty clear about them uniting the world in song.

But he left out some details.  Details that probably could have saved us all a lot of trouble.

It was time.

The adventure had always been excellent.  The journey was sometimes bogus.  So all that was left was to...

## Sub-Entry 046:  "With Their Destiny at Hand, We Face the Music Together"

"Whoaaaah..."

This mission had been on my radar for a long time.  S.T.C. was finally giving me the order to close the case and patch this part of the Circuits of Time for eternity.

Rufus and I had always known they would come through in the end and bring the world together with their music.

So why did it always feel like...in the back of my mind...that I was misinterpreting his words?  Oh, I didn't doubt that their music would unite the world in song.  That their music would begin a golden age.  No...what puzzled me is...how one song would manage to do that?

Twenty-five years ago, I wasn't the only one who thought they fulfilled their destiny at the Battle of the Bands.  I really thought that would do it.  I watched the meteoric rise.  I watched a lot of things unfold through the montage of news articles.  I even got a chuckle of how a certain Doc of Shock, Duke of Spook, and Man-With-No-Tan won the Indianapolis 500......without a car.  Sally would have loved to challenge him for the title of that speed record.

But then...

The band started falling apart.  How?  Why?

The easy culprit to blame was that the fell into the usual cliches of bands.  While it was easy to believe the Grim Reaper, being the bass player, would try his luck at a solo album.  Really.  A solo...bass album.  Stranger things had happened.

Then...I got worried when Bill and Ted ended up suing for the rights to the name Wyld Stallyns.  I mean come on, Death.  Even for you that was a jerk move.

Then again...it was a long slow burn from when they went from number one on the Billboard charts...to vastly lower...and lower in record time with each album.  To me that started unexpected if not shocking.  Gradually...it became expected...then pretty much a rule of thumb with no possible hope of steering out of that 25-year slump.

I mean...it wasn't as though they weren't any good.  Seriously...eighteen months of intense guitar practice ring any bells to my S.T.C. colleagues?  And time enough for them to enjoy their honeymoons and have kids.  Though...tell me I wasn't the only one who thought "Little Bill and Little Ted" were boys.  Not girls actually named Billie and Thea.

Asriel was...actually kind of heart-broken for a while but he got over it and just...kind of forgot about them except for moments that I'd bring them up in conversation.  He'd been rooting for the Two Great Ones for a long time since I'd introduced him to their legacy.  Their big hit.  Since then he remembered them fondly.  But...he always avoided the...post-fame era.  I think he was pretending that everything was okay.  I think he was...overworking his Patience virtue.

After a while...S.T.C. just dubbed it a cold case and put it in a time capsule, figuring we'd eventually come up with that breakthrough which would preserve the timeline.

Then...

We learned the hard way the time was just about up...and the situation was...more serious than we thought.

"...say that again?"

I blinked as Dr. Persephone explained with Dr. Aphrodite assisting.

Before they finished, I had a whole list of historical figures displaced throughout the timeline of Bill and Ted's Earth AU.  And not just historical figures...but historical places, TOO!

"...who is Kid Cudi again?"  Okay so maybe I wasn't as in the know when it came to modern music icons.

"Volt?"  Asriel interrupted before giving me the TL;DR description of the music star in question.

"Oh.  Cool."  I replied, simply.  Still, it didn't help with me feeling older than dirt but...as a time traveler who's lived millions of lifetimes, having crisscrossed back and forth endlessly between eras and missions since becoming immortal...I guess I wasn't exaggerating?

It was about time that we started to get to the bottom of what was going on.  So...one booth to San Dimas later...

...and soon followed up by one phone booth back to Miranda later.

"That...that was awkward."  Asriel's anime sweat drop was even bigger than my own.

"I'm starting to wonder if I should keep a list of people that Missy HASN'T married in her lifetime.  I mean...that's Ted's YOUNGER BROTHER!  She was married to Ted's father...and before that Bill's father!"  I was pacing wildly and honestly emulating my mentor, Dr. Emmett Brown when he got into a panic.

"Let's...drop this conversation before we give Violet waaaay too much to work with."   Asriel begged.

"Well...which other awkward thing do we want to address?  That they're in couples counseling or the closest thing they have to a career is providing the music for Missy and Deacon's outdoor wedding?"

"In all fairness, I've never heard anyone mix guttural vocalizations with a theremin before."

"Azzy...I think they're overthinking this whole thing.  I mean...you know how focus testing tends to backfire."

"Aunt Violet won't stop making jokes about Ruby-Spears' Mega Man cartoon and how that muscle-bound art style somehow won out over the anime style that was true to the game art."

Asriel brought up a recent video contribution to Movie Night.  One which had Pit even more confused by the concept of AU's.

"You know what I mean.  How many different cultures are they trying to cater to?  You know what happens when you try to appeal to multiple demographics at the same time?"

"Somewhere along the line you lose any self-identity you established when you made it big in the first place?"  Asriel replied...then got weird look like we had somehow gotten a bit meta.   Huh...

Ahem...nevertheless.  We did have a big problem and was easy to see the point of origin.  It was all around us.

When I first saw that newspaper headline that read Wyld Stallyns broke up...and that the stock market practically went into a free-fall plummet...I couldn't believe it.  But now as Asriel had only gotten ourselves up to speed?  Yeah...the nightmare was real.

"We should intervene before--"

My bracer went off and that was when Archimedes contacted me and informed that an unidentified time machine had come back to San Dimas from the future.

"...oh boy."  I knew it was already too late.  The "Future" was bringing the two Great Ones to answer for their failures.

"Guess Kelly didn't have time to warn us first."  Asriel assured.

"Buckle up, Goat Son."  We quickly took a ride to the "Future".

"Look..."  Asriel pulled me over to the classic model Phone Booth.  I'd come to realize the one we'd been using lately was the updated model from the "Bogus Journey" incident.  This was the original "Excellent Adventure" edition with the "umbrella skeleton" antenna.

But what really caught our attention was...the man himself.  In holographic glory.  Explaining that this was a working replica of the booth used by the two Great Ones--Bill and Ted.

I looked at Azzy and he looked back at me.  He wasn't that surprised to see me holding back tears.  But I was kind of surprised that he wasn't really trying to hide his own.  I know I let him spend a lot of time with Rufus during the seven year stretch on Miranda between then and now, which translated to a different time constant on Bill and Ted's earth...but...I had no idea how strong his friendship had grown.  Or that it hit him as hard as it did me when...when we lost him.

A lot of the others tried to sympathize with us, Violet coming closest by shouting the Seven Things You Can't Say on Television while upset over it all...though...what did that have to do with Rufus again?  I'd...have to figure out that connection another day.

Our distraction only delayed us from catching up with Bill S. Preston Esquire and Ted "Theodore" Logan.  By the time we go to the room where Rufus' guitar collection was on prominent display, they had already somehow exited the building without us noticing.

Asriel somehow surmised the instruments were part of the Future's ultimatum for B&T to write that song before the deadline at 7:17 PM at "MP 46" that very day in San Dimas."

"The Great Leaders have also vacated.  No dice trying to negotiate with them."

"I don't get it.  Why didn't they stick around, Volt?  They're not bailing on writing the song, are they?"

"Perish the thought.  You just got to think like they do.  Like slackers that aged almost 3 decades but never outgrew their airheaded approach to a quicker and easier solution."

Asriel and I pondered it for a bit before he came up with the reasonable explanation.

"Would they be so...inclined to take a shortcut that they'd time travel to the future where they HAVE written the song and--"

"...take it from themselves...?"  I finished.

We looked at each other then hurried back to the--!

"...No way..."  I gasped.

"...yes way."  Asriel facepalmed as the last of the electric static faded away.

"Didn't take them long to find a loophole in the debate of whether that was stealing or not."  Asriel wrinkled his snoot.

"In all fairness look at their track record.  They passed their history exam not by studying but by rounding up all the historical figures from history and having them interact with modern society then bringing them to the school assembly to give their final reports...after breaking them all out of jail.

Then at the Battle of the Bands after defeated Denomolos, they realized they still weren't any good.  So...they got good by time travelling to get in 18 months of guitar practice and learning to actually sing and play decently only to put on the mother of all concerts that skyrocketed them to fame in the first place."

"Point.  Well made."  Asriel conceded.  "Though...is it weird you're not really saying that like it's a terrible thing...but more like an..."eh, we'll give them a pass...twice over" thing?"

"Rufus might have had an influence on me in my career."  I rolled my eyes.  "But in all seriousness this just became a case of follow the leader.  And...I have a feeling we're going to see a train wreck unfold."  I wrinkled my nose.  "Okay, the Booth leaves a pretty distinct signature through the Circuits of Time.   We can follow it and try to catch up to them."

"Wait!  Should we be trying to catch up with them?  Why not have faith that they'll come through in the end.  You said it yourself...we don't solve heroes problems like a magic wand.  We just give them guidance so they can do it on their own."

"...right as rain, Azzy.  Okay.  We'll follow and observe.  If they get in over their heads, that's when we step in."

As it turned out...the Great Ones' first stop was two years into the future.  Okay that's a bit optimistic thinking they'd write the song by then.

"Aren't we overlooking that the deadline is at 7:17 PM in the day, week, month, and year we just left?"

"They're banking on the assumption they already succeeded so...y'know."

"But...if anything...?  Things got worse."  Asriel wasn't wrong.  How did they go from playing a family wedding to...actually a step down and somehow were separated from Elizabeth and Joanna?

Furthermore...I was right.  We just missed them again.

As it turned out things got even more complicated.  There was...debate in the Future as to how the Prophecy was interpreted.  Once I learned about the action that the Great Leader had decided on...I got dreaded flashbacks of Chuck Denomolos and his plan to use Evil Robot Bill and Ted to assassinate the real Bill and Ted.  Because if we didn't put a rush on this, Bill and Ted would be martyred.

Another stop through time.

"...I just don't believe it.  Asriel leaned up against our Booth.  "It's like every future version of themselves gets more and more...corrupt."

"Somewhere Lars Ulrich is seething."  I couldn't believe I was actually referencing Napster.

"How much worse do you think they can get?"  Azzy asked.

One Time Booth chase later...

"..............I am REALLY sorry I asked."  Asriel looked up at the outside of the prison.

"Things...may have gotten even worse."  I hung up the call from Dr. Nicodimus.  "Billie and Thea decided to help their dads and...they're rounding up historical figures with musical talent."  I screen-shared the data with Asriel's visor.

"Got to appreciate the list, though.  Jimi Hendrix, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Louis Armstrong, Ling Lun..."  Asriel whistled.  "In the right combination, I'd sure like to hear what they came up with.

"Maybe you're right, Asriel.  Maybe this mission is quickly getting out of our hands.  If that's the case...  What are we even doing here?"

"We're S.T.C.  We follow broken history and get it back on track."

"Yeah.  Yeah, that's true.  Well...at least we're keeping our hopes up.  Come on.  We got to keep going."

Eventually...we landed in a time period where the Great Ones were practically on their death beds.  And who knew?  Bill and Ted's plan actually worked!  They received the flash drive with the song in question.  And get this...its name really was "Face the Music".  I had said the phrase in passing seven years ago but...I didn't think...!

"Ooooh...Lady Destiny and I are going to have a nice talk about this."

I smiled.  Things were looking up and I guess they didn't need our help after all.  We could pack it--

"Uh-oh."  Asriel gulped as we both caught sight of the time-travelling robot.  But what he had to say...really muddled things up.

I think my jaw hit the ground only seconds after Bill and Ted realized the horror.  And to be honest?  Asriel and I didn't have a solution for this one.  But we didn't have time to come up with one...because one problem led to a pretty stupid idea to solve it...which created and even bigger problem.

"They...didn't just do that."

"We're screwed."  My ears drooped.

"That's one place we can't get to.  Well...I could but I pretty much made a vow that I wouldn't kill...or BE killed.  And you're pretty much immortal so."

"So that's it?  Dead end?"

It was about that time Chara dropped in on us.  "Wow.  You two sure give up in a pinch."

"Hey, cut us some slack."  I smoldered.  "One does not simply walk into...that place."

"Okay, Gandalf the Gold.  I suppose I have nothing to offer but...."  Chara tapped her sheathed sword to the ground a few times...before we saw it erupt...a massive, chained gateway...and the doors suddenly flung open, tearing the chains apart.

"You just HAPPEN to have a gateway to...down there?"

"Well...it's supposed to be automatic for Hollows who came from human souls that have no intention of repenting for their sins in life.  I'm surprised Ichigo didn't tell you about that one guy--"

"He did.  Never mind then, Chara.  Whatever deal you made with Mr. Hat-and-Clogs will probably end up costing us later."  I pinched the bridge between my eyebrows.

"Well.  Bottom's up."  Asriel and I got out our Soul Candies and instructed our mod souls to meet us at MP 46...wherever that was.  Azzy's said they could get help from KOMMAND and Daimyou if necessary.

We headed in...and plunged for a pretty long fall.  Well didn't THIS bring back memories of Bogus Journey?

"Huh.  I think this place is under new management."  I noticed the changes to the...ahem...place of eternal damnation that lay before us.

"You don't think the Grim Reaper got in trouble for--"

\*SLAM\*

"...abandoning his post."

We picked ourselves up.  "Well now we know what a demotion in Hell amounts to."  I finally dropped the H-bomb, feeling Sans loom over me somehow.

"I'd comment on how at least we got here ahead of the others but...given our string of luck I don't want to make things worse."  Asriel rarely lost his optimism but...who could blame him.

"Time's running out."  I noted my bracer's display.

"Do you think they'll have any luck talking to Death?"

"If the Grim Reaper is as butt-hurt as I think he is...?  They'll need all the help they can get."  Asriel and I leaned up against the S.W.A.T. van that had SOMEHOW gotten transported here, too.

"Wait...Ted's Dad is here too?"  I noticed the clear indications inside the van as well as the warrant for future Bill's and Ted's arrests.  As well as a badge and other clues.

"Goddammit...we've sure have sucked on this mission."  I grumbled.  Asriel patted my shoulder.

"Well then I guess there's nothing to do but the most merciful thing to--"

"Chara."  I warned, indicating that quoting Sans the Skeleton would not be constructive right about now.  And...Asriel still didn't know.

It was right about that time when the Preston-Logan family and the historical musicians and Kid Cudi himself approached the van with Death in tow.

"Whoaaaaaah."

"Yeah.  Whoooooah."  Asriel waved.

A long awkward pause.

"How's it hangin', Bill and Ted?"  Azzy and I somehow managed in unison.

"How's it hangin', Volt and Azzy?"  Bill and Ted replied, also in unison.

We looked back and forth for a bit before we decided to let the Great Ones respond first.

"Oh.  it goes.  Y'know."

"Yeah.  I know.  Savin' the world."

"Actually, not just the world but all of time and space, and all dimensions."

"What?"  I suddenly grasped the severity of the situations.  Was Ted telling us that...this whole thing would reverberate through the ENTIRE Axis of Reality?  Then that meant...!

I was contacted by KOMMAND at that moment.

"Hate...to tell you this but...we got a lot of people from Miranda's past...and apparent future dropping willie-nilly throughout our timeline?  Yeah...I know it's a space-time-continuum that's a LOT more durable and flexible than the ones in Hill Valley, San Dimas, and other time-travel related worlds but...IT HAS ITS LIMITS.  Not to be a prude but...will you guys PLEASE FIX THIS!?"

KOMMAND cut out as Daimyou's tessan fan whapped her over the head.

"Hurry back to the world of the living.  Tell Chara--"

Chara was one step ahead, conversing with Death.  From one Reaper to another?

"...and also...big fan of your work.  The uh...reaping, I mean...not so much the--"

Asriel covered Chara's mouth before she said anything we'd all regret.

"Come on.  Pile in."  We all squeezed aboard as Death took the driver's seat...and tapped his scythe against the floorboard---

"WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

Okay...wasn't prepared for that.

The next thing we knew...we were on a highway overpass...one that was traffic-jammed beyond any hope of anyone getting out of dodge.  And from the looks of it...the universe was starting to unravel.  That gaping time vortex in the sky?  Not reassuring.

I could see multiple dimensions starting to breach into this one.  Including our own Miranda.

"Hey uh...guys?"  Mitzi beckoned from us.

"I think we're all in a lot of trouble."  Gadget clutched Mitzi's arm.

"I am SO never letting you hear the end of this, Sparks."  Chameleon snarled as he came up from behind and shook his fist.

And one by one, other universes and worlds were breaching into this one.

"Oh no..."

Asriel was looking the other way so he didn't see it.

"Oh my!"

That was...Toriel's voice.

"No.   Oh gods no."

"Sans!  Is this another of your childish pranks!?"

At that moment Dr. Alphys made eye contact with me...and I made eye contact with her.

We said...nothing...we just...gaped.

"Grrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!  This is starting to piss me off!"

"Huh?"  Asriel blinked as soon as he recognized the voice of Undyne.

I was thinking to myself...it was over.  It was all over.  I was going to lose my chance to tell him the truth on our own terms again--"

It was right about that time the somehow Missy and Deacon had gotten in front of Asriel's line of sight, preventing him from seeing.  Plus the clamor of the crowd of people trapped on the highway was starting to grow making it harder to hear with all the overlapping voices and such.

"It's all converging...but it's threatening to tear itself apart!"  I looked horrified.

"How much time is left?"  Chara asked.

I looked at the clock...getting more aghast by the second.  Time would be up any moment and...

"Hey...where'd Thea and Billie get to..."  Asriel noticed that Bill and Ted and the others had raided of all things...a huge transport van hauling music instruments and were setting up on a quickly-assembled stage.

It was right about the time he saw the marker sign.

"Volt.  MP 46.  This is the place!"   It was...a highway mark?  The place in question was a highway marker!?

"Here!?  They have to perform a concert here!?"  I whirled.  "The song--"  As soon as I saw both pieces of the broken jump drive media player...I just felt myself collapse like a popped balloon thinking that it was all over.

I suddenly started thinking myself into a frenzy...panicked and without answers.  So much of a panic I didn't see what the two Great Ones were doing with the Phone Booth.  I missed the mention of the "Infinity" button on the keypad...and I sure was too distracted to notice the phone take off like a shot straight up...and split into infinite realities and times at breakneck speed.

And lastly...I was completely unaware that everyone throughout time, space, and dimension was being given music instruments at the exact same time by an infinite number of Bill and Teds.

Seriously...how did I NOT notice the music building and evolving from overlapping noise...to something that sounded...transcendent.  Something that harmonized.  Something that compelled everyone...to become part of it.  That was when...

"Volt."  Asriel, however...was beaming with a glowing, joyous face full of hope.  How could he be this optimistic when...?

I blinked.  What did he...know that I didn't?

It also didn't occur to me that I had no idea how we were back in our physical bodies again despite entering Hell as spirits.  For that matter, Chara was in her gigai.  Did Death have something to do with this or was this a curveball from Lady Destiny.  If anything...more like a screw ball.

But that wasn't important now.

By the time he helped me back up I could hear the cacophony of instruments being played by some of the greatest historical musicians in history but...not really coming together.  But I could see Billie and Thea directing...making changes...advising...mixing...what the...!

Asriel patted my shoulder.  What did he--

At that point I noticed in my own hand I had subconsciously grabbed the photo I was carrying of my own family...my own daughters--

"Wait."  I realized.  What did the Great Leader say about the prophecy?  A song by Preston-Logan...Preston......Logan...!

And then.  It clicked.  It clicked the exact moment it turned 7:17.  And Rufus' advice came flooding back to me as my eyes caught sight of that pocket watch I'd seen him with before...the one with the inscription...!

"Sometimes things don't make sense until the end of the story."

By that time Asriel was shaking my shoulder to snap me out of it...for good reason though.  I had spaced out during the final countdown to when Bill and Ted picked up their guitars and lead the music that had actually been harmonizing for several measures with the crowd vocalizing over top of it.

And it was at this time he handed me my alto saxophone as he climbed up on stage with Kid Cudi, Death, Louis Armstrong, Jimi Hendrix, Ling Lun, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Grom, and Billie and Thea.

On top of that...he switched off his disguise but I don't think anyone noticed...or...it simply didn't matter.  With that he produced his own guitar, hooked up to the amp and joined in.

With nothing else to go on...I smiled as wide as the smiley faces on Ted's guitar strap.   Then took a breath and wailed away on my sax, taking my place next to Deacon and Missy.

There was an energy as the two Great Ones rocked out together.  An energy that pushed its way up through the largest of the vortices.  And then the people throughout history that had been displaced...were quickly returned to their places of origin...still playing their parts of the music.  It was transcending time and space now.

I caught sight of the Boss Monsters of Undertale in that lone portal among countless ones.  I recognized Sans' trombone immediately and Undyne at the piano.  And still more.  And there was Frisk.  Yet...she and Asriel, as close as they were to one another after all this time...never laid eyes on each other once during the song.

When the last notes faded out...Asriel, Chara, and I felt ourselves being pulled back to Miranda.

"Catch ya later, Bill and Ted!"  Asriel waved.

"Catch ya' later, Volt and Asriel!"  They called back to us over the crowd.  I think they were the only ones who noticed us.

As we passed through the tubes of the Circuits of Time, a flood of glimpse of...other times and places flashed before us.  But the one that caught both of our attention was a future Bill and Ted, presumably at the end of their years...at peace...and seemingly bed-ridden in a hospice.

That filled us both with sadness until...we saw the pick up their guitars...and rock out one last time with the parting words.  "We still got it."

"Yeah...they still got it."  I whispered.

"They never lost it."  Asriel looked to me with soulful eyes.

We both realized it.  We needed this victory in light of how our other space-time problem was troubling us.

This was a huge victory.  And it stabilized the Circuits of Time, buying us even more time to solve Hill Valley's ongoing problem and hopefully would undo the damage the Decepticons had done to history.

But for now...I think Azzy and I could use a snack or something to celebrate.

I wonder if the Miranda City's Circle K is still open...?

Asriel smiled as we headed off.

Still...I wonder if there was anything else left to tell about this tale?

"Hey, Al.  Your shoelaces are untied."  I heard Violet say as we emerged from the Circle K with Slushies and hot dogs.

"...?"

\*KRRRRRRRRRRTCH!!!!!!!\*

Then we heard Al Dente scream in anguish before Violet chuckled and walked past us.

"Heheheheh.  Melvin."

Having set down our food and drinks on the picnic table, Azzy and I looked at each other for a moment before belting out a high energy:  "EXCELLEEEEEEEEEEEEENT!"

Capped off with a simultaneous air guitar.

## Sub-Entry 047:  "Just When I Think I've Gotten Out..."

...they pull me back in.

Closed Cases don't always stay closed.

While this is most certainly Asriel's story...sometimes I find myself back in the spotlight.  And sometimes things happen that have me going back to S.T.C. assignments I only THOUGHT would never be re-opened.

Before the Undertale case, I was previously assigned to Mobius.  Specifically ACM-001 and later ACM-002 as the universe was reborn from that universe no thanks to Dr. Eggman's interference with Chaos Control while trying to fix the Super Genesis Wave during Worlds Collide.

So what was I doing before that whole mess started 1200 years before there even WERE Mobians or Chaos Emeralds, or any of the familiar on that world?

Well...the assignment before that was in an Earth AU deep in the Toonami Belt.  A curious case where a high-school girl who lived with her family in a temple residence with an interesting well dating back to the Feudal Era of Japan...

...yes, I am speaking of THAT case.  A case of a re-incarnation of a Shrine Maiden whose task was to purify the latest manifestation of the Shikon--the Jewel of Four Souls.  This ringing any familiar bells yet?

Well.  This Shrine Maiden fell in love with a half-demon who had been...rejected by both the humans and the demons.  A half-breed who didn't seem to belong anywhere.

Honestly...my heart went out to him.  Yet as he matured, his personality made him...pretty hard to get along with. Especially when I revealed myself down the road.

So what does this have to do with the high schooler?

Well...our Jewel of Four Souls was sought by demons far and wide.  But the rise of a new demon superpower by the name of Naraku...well, that was a game-changer.  A villain who plotted and schemed and turned true lovers...into mortal enemies.  With a fatal wound to the Priestess, Kikiyo and said shrine maiden staking her former lover to a tree with an enchanted arrow...things turned tragic and depressing real quick.   To keep it out of the hands of the demons, the dying priestess commanded that the jewel be incinerated with her cremated body.

Fast-forward to what was then modern times for our High Schooler but somewhere in the early 2000's for me and other travelers of S.T.C.  Our high schooler, Kagome found herself drawn into the family's ancient well by demonic forces.  Who could have known that Jewel of Four Souls had manifested again...this time inside the body of a baby girl who'd grow up to be this girl, Kagome.

And who could have predicted she'd be the spitting image of the deceased Kikiyo.

So...thanks to "Madam Centipede", she was transported back in time to the Feudal Era and the jewel forcibly torn from her body, but not in a way that would have led to fatal bleeding...somehow.

Speeding the story along, Kagome ends up breaking the spell on the enchanted arrow and awakens the half-demon, Inuyasha.

To make a complicated story short?  At some point the jewel, when being carried by demon crows back to its master, Naraku...Kagome attempts to knock it loose with a bow and arrow...only to end up shattering the Jewel of Four Souls.  These shards ended up containing fragments of the jewel's power and each was tainted with demonic malice.  So a modern high schooler was now on a quest with an angry, rude, hard-headed, volcano-tempered badass of a half-demon with pointy wolf-dog ears and white hair to recover all those shards.......if they could only put their differences aside and not kill each other first.

Of course...Adonis would find this era a nice little place to set a trap to draw me in; quickly manipulating things to disrupt history, corrupting the chances that Kagome would even be born...among other critical paradoxes that could have spelled disaster in the long-run.

That of course...drew me out and before long...I had joined the team.

A team consisting of a half-demon constantly being commanded to "Sit, boy!"  whenever he annoyed our modern high-schooler reincarnation of Priestess Kikiyo.

Our moody teenage, aforementioned high-schooler who was smart enough to find the way back and forth between her era and his; allowing her to import everything from food to her own bicycle.

And then you had a lecherous monk named Miroku, who hit on every girl he met; proposing that she should "bear his children" while getting caught in the act of rubbing their butts.  Oh, and he was also cursed to have a demonic wind tunnel vacuum in his palm that he had to keep specially sealed or it would suck everyone and everything into it. Also it would eventually grow powerful enough to do just that anyway.

A stoic demon-hunter by the name of Sango.  A person I had a lot in common with after she saw her whole village slaughtered.  And the worst part of it was...her own little brother had been possessed and controlled to do the killing deed before landing the fatal blow on his sister as she ended his existence.  Yet...they both survived.  One escaping death despite being buried next to her brother...and the other reanimated by a Jewel Shard.

And finally a plucky fox-demon child named Shippou.  Honestly...I had trouble determining if Shippou was a boy or a girl.  But I can definitively say "boy" as of now. Yeah...Shippou's father had been killed and skinned, leaving this kid orphaned.  Ohhhhh the number of times he'd be bullied by Inuyasha.

And of course, there was the demon cat, Kirara...or was it Kilala?  When in kitten form, that was one cute kitty-cat.  But when assuming its flame-footed flying tiger form?  That was a whole different breed of cat.

Whew.  You get through all my exposition yet?  Good.  Because what resulted was a long, long, long winding quest of clashing with demons, an angsty but incredibly stoic and capable step-brother of our half-demon hero named Sesshomaru; Naraku himself...and of course Adonis gumming up the works.

It became a series of convolutions even I wasn't prepared for yet found ways to adapt to.

I suppose I should probably explain where I might have overengineered solutions to things like...spending weeks figuring out how to make an android version of Mitzi using Feudal Era supplies and whatever electronics I was carrying on myself...and somehow getting KOMMAND to program her for me.  Suffice to say...having an animatronic cheerleader mouse with powerful built-in weaponry and what the Feudal Era considered potent magic was...definitely not something that happened in the original timeline.

And that wasn't even the WEIRDEST course of action I'd taken while working the case.

Cutting right to the chase and skipping to the payoff...yeah.  The end of Naraku was nigh and Kagome eventually vanquished the Jewel of Four Souls itself.

All was well, the curses were broken, and Kagome was free to go back home.  And she did.

...temporarily.

In  the end...Inuyasha turned out to be her destiny.  The two of them settled down together in the Feudal Era and would soon become parents.

And that was that. Case closed.

Only it wasn't really. It just ended up setting a timer. A timer counting down to the next generation.

And it wouldn’t be long before new adventures with a new trio would start up...and ring a lot of familiar bells.

S.T.C. had codenamed this re-opened case: "Yashahime: Half-Demon Princess".

"...thanks for coming, you three."

"It is a samurai's duty to go where he is needed."  Usagi assured.

"Commander.  It is no trouble."  Bunnie nodded.

"I'm kind of psyched to see this world for myself.  I've toured a lot of anime worlds by this point but...this is the first one that was one of your big S.T.C. assignments."  Asriel mused.

"Well...it was a lifetime ago.  Long before you were even a twinkle in the Goddess' eyes.  Long before I learned the truth about the connection between ACM-001 Mobius and our world.  Then again I'm amazed I can remember, chronologically, what cases I have been on from beginning to end.

Asriel put on his visor and quickly read through my dossier.  Naturally, I left SOOOOOO many details out and a lot of entries un-expended. That he'd have to access my personal logs to get the whole story.  And there were WELL over 300 entries.  Maybe closer to 400, counting the things I left OFF the books.

"So you never went back to check on Inuyasha or Kagome?"

I shook my head.  It was kind of a regret.

"I thought that when the Jewel of Four Souls was no longer an issue that Kagome would return to her own era and find her future there but...

After high school she...came back here and settled down with Inuyasha and well....that's where my records end."

"I see. So...this new case here...do we have anything to go on?"

"Just the very basic dossier.  The Council, while severely reduced in authority these days...is about as helpful as they've always been."  I smoldered.

I clicked on my visor and displayed the hololyth document.

"Many years after the events of Inuyasha, Sesshōmaru's and Rin's daughter--four-year-old Towa--is separated from her younger twin sister Setsuna and gets stranded in the modern era, where she is adopted into Kagome Higurashi's family, raised by her younger brother Souta and his wife Moe.

Ten years later, Towa is reunited with Setsuna, who came to the modern time through the vast power of the Sacred Tree of Ages. During their separation, Setsuna became a demon-slayer working under Kohaku and does not remember her past. In order to restore Setsuna's memories and dreams, they embark on an adventure while accompanied by their demon-bounty hunter cousin Moroha, who is the teenage daughter of Inuyasha and Kagome Higurashi and also has no memory of her parents.

The spirit of the Sacred Tree of Ages reveals itself to the cousins that an old enemy of their paternal dog-demon grandfather is planning on warping time since Sesshomaru refuses to fight him. At the same time, it is holding an older Rin in stasis for Sesshomaru for an unknown reason."

I took a step back...clearly overwhelmed by this new information.  It wasn't much to go on...but it was enough to really send me for a loop.

"Fascinating." Bunnie rubbed her chin.

"So...how does new incident merit your intervention, Volt?"  Asriel asked.

I sighed and shuffled through my in-box and found the one marked with a priority stamp.

"At the time-stamp, watermarked here, in the region of Kanto......am I glad Violet isn't here to make Pokémon jokes....ahem...a rather curious incident occurred as recorded by Deputy Shogun, Ogigayatsu Hiiragi Danjo and his retainer.  While he did not make this information public, A.E.O.N. was most certain on top of this."

"Ah.  Tripped one of the trans-temporal, trans-dimensional monitoring telemetry nodes?"

"They were interrogating a supposed half demon princess girl.  The person in question claimed mistaken identity.  The person in question identified herself as Towa Higurashi."

Well...there's a familiar surname.   Azzy could see where this was going.

"Okay, I've following so far.  So what raised a red flag?"

"She was discovered to be possessing...unusual literature."  I actually meant a modern day manga.

"Okay...information from the future isn't good."  Asriel frowned.

"Then they presented some other item recovered from a river which in her shock and haste she noticeably recognized as a bicycle seat."

And then the explanation point snapped up over Asriel's head, metaphorically.  Yeah...we both knew who THAT originally belonged to. This was as good as saying "busted".

Apparently they had followed an old story of a Priestess arriving thought he Bone-Eater's Well from a distant land called "Tokyo"...

"Soooo...I'd say Kagome did a bang-up job of contaminating the time stream.   Doc Brown would most certainly be ranting about this."

"They related a story about the times after I was recalled from this world; the case declared closed.  But I was always worried that there might be loose ends or cold cases that Kikiyo might have...left buried."

"I can sense when you're making a pun, Volt."

"Well. Yes. Anyway..."  I gave the cliff notes tale of Inuyasha's group of friends and what became of them once they settled down and started families.  But more importantly about a demon Kikiyo had sealed away named "Root Head".

I also spoke briefly about the Bone-Eater's Well and the Tree of Ages; once used as a dumping ground for demons that had been done away with.

"So fast forward back to recent times when--"

"When Towa's friends arrived?"

"Mind like a steel trap, y'know?"

"And don't think I wasn't paying any attention earlier when you offhandedly mentioned a four-eyed owl or that I wouldn't put together that the retainer was said owl demon in disguise."

Clever goat.  In just that vague information...was he starting to develop a Sixth Sense like Bunnie?  No...Bunnie's hybrid ability was unique.  But darned if it wasn't pretty coincidental.

I went through the next pieces of the story quickly and got him up to speed.

"So that's it. This Towa and Setsuna....they're the twin sibling daughters of Sesshoumaru but..."

The black-haired Setsuna....and the white-haired Towa.  And then there was Moroha.

"But we have a case of amnesia and an impossible level of insomnia plaguing Towa--who has no memory of her twin sister; because she somehow been thrown through time, when the two of them were only four years old.  Since then, Towa has been living with the Higarashi family in Kagome's modern era. I don't yet have all the details of how they were reunited much less how Towa is now back in the Feudal Era, but I intend to find out what I'm missing from the story."

"And you'll be doing a lot of sweeps further into the past to get the scoop to figure out how to handle this present situation?"

"Right.  But for now--"

"Let me guess. This mission you're taking us on is reconnaissance?"

"Exactly.  Get informed before I even think about taking action and rejoining old friends who...I have no idea what they must be like after at least ten years after that Root Head story."

"So.  Where to first?  Or rather when to?"

"Normally I'd be all for getting a story in chronological order with a beginning, middle, and ending...but I think I can shuffle around some of A.E.O.N.'s highlighted time stamps before we get into the formal research."

"Ahhhhh.  You want to see the juicy parts ahead of time. Maybe it'll give me an idea of what things were like, too."

"That said...I've set the coordinates of the Epoch for Kagome's era in modern times."

"Higarashi residence?"  Goat Son already figured out I wanted to found out how Towa and Setsuna were reunited. But I think he was more curious about Moroha, the daughter of Inuyasha.  Probably because I had said so very little about her to this point.  I'd made my explanation mostly about Sesshoumaru's kids.  But....wasn't the casefile called "Yashahime, Half-Demon Princess"?

Though when the Major explained it...maybe it wasn't about any one half-demon princess...but all three of them.  Technically that's what the trio were.  Half-demons. I already knew that Inuyasha was a half-demon and Kagome was human........but what about Sesshoumaru? He was a full, pure-blooded demon, right?  So...who was the mother?

Could it actually have been little Rin at some point? I don't know...why did that explanation not sit with me?  Well...if I were lucky enough I'd find out the truth for myself.

But I digress......back to Moroha.

If she were anything like her old man I could expect the same loud-mouthed demeanor.  But if she was anything like Kagome, she might actually have some common sense and a brain in her head.  Splitting the difference between the two?  I wonder how that would work?

"We won't find Kagome there but we will find her family at their temple residence."

"Cool.  I have to wonder what little brother Souta's been up to for ten years?"

By that point, the EPOCH had accelerated to escape velocity and the four of us crossed the time barrier.

"Yeah, won' t the Higarashi family be surprised to see--" I started

Then immediately gasped as we reemerged above the Tree of Ages.

"...me?"  I gasped at the portal emanating from the tree as something big was coming out fast.

"Commander!  We have a demon!"

It was hard to miss the giant three-eyed centipede beast with the humanoid upper torso...but what drew Asriel's attention was the black haired girl in red robes and an oversized red hair bow hanging onto it.

Also there was a black-haired young woman with a fur overcoat clutching to it was well.....fur overcoat?  Oh gods. That's DEFINITELY Sesshoumaru's kid. Who else would wear something was that obnoxiously bourgeois?  As if Sesshoumaru didn't make it clear with his stuck-up attitude that he was a nobleman constantly on his high horse.

Looking around I immediately spotted the Higarashis--mother, grandfather, Souta, and newer little sister, Mei......and the girl of the hour, Towa.

"Well.  That answers that."  I sweat dropped, the reunion now making sense.

Immediately Usagi and Bunnie leaped from the EPOCH, swords drawn.

"Wait, you two!"

It was rare that Bunnie or any student of hers just jumped straight into action without a plan. Like...super rare.  Like it never happen.  But I also knew the Major was keenly aware of when time was of the essence and had no time to explain.

"What the...!"

And then the exorcism of Three-Eyes began with nary a word exchanged between the rabbits.

"Oh boy.  I'd be a little more bent out of shape with altering the time stream had I not spent a long and winding mission pretty much altering the time stream, previously."  I sighed as I tried to find a clearing to land the EPOCH.

Granted it was dark and all but that wasn't going to keep us from being discovered.  Besides...if Moroha WAS Inuyasha's daughter, she'd already picked up on all of our scents before we could blink.  I'd already picked up on hers so even if I lost sight of her,  I could at least try to keep up with the action.

"Major, report!" I set the time machine down.

"A little busy, Commander.  But Three-Eyes claims to be after something called the Silver Rainbow Pearls which seem to be in Towa's possession."

"We can't take the risk that it's another artifact as powerful as the Shikon Jewel.  Keep that sucker out of that demon's possession until we know what we're dealing with!"

"I'm going to back her up, Volt!"  Asriel threw down the NX Switchboard Pro and soared off before I could protest.  What is with everyone rushing into battle today?

I sighed and set the security system and cloak on the EPOCH and hurried after him.

I arrived on the scene, just in time to see Towa's blade snap while attempting to slash the demon.

"Not off to a good start..."  I growled as I built up a tangle of lightning between my hands, actually extending my claws to focus them before unleashing my own take of Thunder Beam on Three-Eyes. Enough of a distraction for Bunnie and Usagi to hack off several sets of legs and buy enough time for Towa to recover and for Moroha to explain to her that her sword broke because it was ordinary.

That was about the time Towa's demonic powers awoke and converted the remains into a laser blade........wait...whaaaaaaaaaaaaat...?

Towa managed to inflict a serious wound on Three-Eyes before Setsuna delivered the killing blow.  She and Moroha recovered the pearls.  Also, Moroha snatched up Three-Eyes skull as proof of her bounty.  Okay. So Moroha is a bounty-hunter by trade. Sounds like something like a daughter of Inuyasha would do.

Then came the explanations. It was then I realized how deep things went when Setsuna not only did not recognize her sister...but flat out rejected her.  Adding to that was that while Moroha figured out that the both of them were daughters of Sesshoumaru...even I was surprised that NEITHER of them knew who that was. Towa, I understood why, but Setsuna was a surprise.  Considering she dressed the part pretty much perfectly, I was beside myself that she didn't know her own father.

Yet...Asriel was the only one of us who picked up on Kagome's mother recognizing Moroha as her...well...granddaughter.  Asriel assured me that...it was the eyes.  A mother always recognizes the eyes.

"Commander, Sixth Sense!  Danger!"

Unfortunately, our moment of peace didn't last long.  Seemed we had another minor demon intrude upon present time and take possession of Mei's body.  Thankfully Setsuna exorcised it.

After which...

"I guess we're going to be needing more time to sort this out."  Asriel rubbed the back of his head.

So...the Higarashis offered for everyone to stay at the residence for a time.

It soon became clear that Moroha definitely had more of the Higarashi brains and was quite good at deducing things.  A brainstorm session with Bunnie pretty much allowed her to conclude that Setsuna was cursed by the Dream Butterfly; causing her memories of the past to be erased while also preventing her from sleeping, much less dreaming.

"No one should be without their dreams.  Whether the slumber kind or their aspirations of the future."  Asriel did his best to be empathetic.  I don't think Setsuna was particularly receptive.  Yup.  There's that coldness I recognized from Sesshoumaru.

Miyamoto kept mostly to himself but seemed to be observing everyone.  As a student of Bunnie, there was no doubt that the gears were turning in his head.   I'd come to recognize students of the Major learned to be calculating.

Which left Moroha. Dubious of me at first...but quickly accepted me when she somehow caught a whiff of the pizza I had stored in my E.N.G.I.N.E. dot.

How as that even possible? She could smell digital information!?

Okay.  A bribe it was.  How proud must I be of myself, I say with sarcasm.  Oh brother.

And speaking of Moroha...she turned out to be the wild card in all this and took to modern conveniences like a fish to water...too much so, I felt for her own good.

But that left Towa in all this.  I think Asriel found a friend in her so he was able to bond over his own experiences with having a sibling and...complications surrounding her.

I suddenly got a little sad remembering that...the other Chara.   The memory of the male one was a casualty of the neurolizer.  It was a hard choice, apparently but...Asriel chose to put his memory on the shelf with everything else.  And that was one he really didn't want to but...saw no other way to make the rest of his memories work.

I assured Souta I'd take a message back to his sister when we would eventually leave.  But...what felt like an overnight thing gradually turned into a few days.

In that time, Setsuna managed to master the violin.   But Moroha turned out to be the one I was right to worry about.  As it turned out...she had done a lot of shopping in town (and according to Bunnie, was mistaken for a cosplayer several times) and left Souta with an astronomical credit card bill.

Oh boy.

"I will have Violet wire over some funds."  Bunnie assured.

"Perhaps we should leave out the details when we explain to Murasaki-iro-chan?"

"Wise choice."

I just shook my head.

"Admittedly I was...kind of hoping to meet the old crew, Volt but...I guess new blood meets new blood this time around, huh?"

"Yeah...with a few familiar faces."

In the end I decided to leave a bookmark between chapters.  No doubt this, too, would become an ongoing investigation.  And I still hadn't heard back from Emmett, the Autobots, or my mentors, the Ghostbusters.

We bid goodbye as Moroha had struck a deal with a surviving piece of Root Head who'd somehow been hiding in the Tree of Ages.  That deal was to re-open the path back to the Feudal Era in exchange for the rainbow pearls.

While that would have been more than enough material for me to put in my first report in ages...Fate had to go and throw us something else that made me worry.

The spirit of the Tree of Ages appeared, taking the form of the late Kikiyo.  I'd known that after Kikiyo's final attempt to purify the Shikon Jewel of Four Souls (Bunnie assured me the full name was "redundant" when you translated it.) she passed on from this world.  For good, this time.

But what the spirit had to say to Setsuna, Towa, and Moroha was as follows:  She asked them to slay Kirinmaru, an old rival of their paternal grandfather, the Great-Dog General, who planned to twist time and reduce everything to nothingness. Sesshōmaru had since renounced his title, resulting him being on the wrong path but on the same path as Kirinmaru. The Sacred Tree of Ages asked for them to kill both at the same time.

I was relieved that Setsuna refused, saying she didn't care about the father she never met, while Towa didn't want to kill her father on principle.

This was...a lot to take in and a lot to worry about once they actually left for the Feudal Era.  I was drifting back to my old self while Asriel was making a comeback as his old self.

Also...I was getting antsy about what Egon had us take to Summerville, Oklahoma years ago. I...really wanted to know what was going to come of this?  As a time traveler, you'd think I'd be well versed in fates of all of my mentors as I lived them.

But no.  This was...one thing I let pass by.  And I lived with regret never knowing.

Asriel assured me that there would be time to ponder it.  But for now we had this mission to digest and other ones waiting in the works.

I think that was about the time I started to relate to the lyrics of "Cat's in the Cradle" in a way.  For a time-traveler...I never seemed to have enough of it to take care of things on my mind but always ended up saying that I didn't know when I would but Asriel and I would get together then.  Only...then never seemed to come.  And he was quickly becoming his own man.

I could sense it coming.

The thing was...it was closer than ever, now.   The promise was closer than ever to the day of destiny.

## Sub-Entry 048:  "A Best Friend to Everyone.  And Everyone Was a Best Friend to Him":

In the duration of the month Asriel had reconnected with...wow, the list has gotten so long at this point I'm not sure how much of it I can even summarize.

Back to Camp Candy?  Check.  Hulk Hogan's Rock n' Wrestling Gym?  Done that.  Back to Duckburg (and St. Canard, by extension).  Oh we went there.   Hanging out with a grown-up Get-Along Gang for a skate party?  You betcha.  Sky Vault space station to check up on the Centurions.  Oh yeah.  A visit to the alternate Video Land?  He pulled that off by himself (and for bonus points he dropped in on the Power Team and took a selfie with Johnny Arcade, Max Force, Kuros, Tyrone, Kwirk, and Big Foot).   A trip to the "other" Ghost Busters (in the Filmation universe, A.K.A. the Lou Scheimer galaxy for some reason...I'd have to figure out why some other time).  He most certainly ran the gambit of Ben 10, Generator Rex, and the Secret Saturdays in time to watch them all wrap up their long and winding adventures.  On the ball in Jellystone Mall?  Only a smarter-than-the-average bear could arrange that.  And yes...even a return to each of the four worlds of the "Comic Strip" that Azzy and I had accidently stumbled upon during a cyber gate mishap.

And those were just a few of the ones I could name that we'd visited before.  The ones that he dropped in on that I'd never heard of was just as extensive.  Worlds like "The Adventures of Hyperman"--a fourth-wall-breaking, science knowledge undertaking, offbeat universe with the intergalactic sheriff and his mishaps with sidekicks Stud Puppy and genius Emma C. Squared against the weirdness of the evil Entrobe and Kid Chaos.  Ohhhh boy.

And no shortage of dinosaur-themed universes, either.  From Dinosaucers to Denver to the story of Cro (as in Cro Magnon) and his best friend, Phil the Mammoth (who'd be awakened in the 20th century by Dr. C and Mike).

Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors?  Okay then.  Visionaries.  Hmm...another mystical universe that was beyond my understanding in all probability.  Meatball and Spaghetti?  Not sure I wanted to know what that was all about but I'd find out anyway.   Dragon's Lair?  Violet had told me before it was based on an old laserdisc arcade game...or maybe it was vice-versa.  I felt the need to NOT tell Chameleon lest I probably be scrutinized about ANYTHING that remotely disrespects dragons.  Though Sally was certainly interested to know more about this Dirk the Daring guy.  She liked knights.

And then there were ones I think even he didn't want to talk about.  Like landing in Neo Tokyo and hurrying to get out of dodge before Akira's pure energy was released for a second time.

When I thought about it...I ended up with unholy nightmare daydreams about Hyperdeath being in Tetsuo's place and Frisk in Kaneda's...  I think I was going to swear off anime worlds for a while.

But Asriel?  He couldn't get enough of them.

"...Asriel reporting in.  Mission accomplished."

"Where are you this time?"

"Would you believe watching freeze-dried ramen being re-invented?"

"Freeze-dried...wait a minute."  I took a minute but I figured out he landed in the Dr. Stone.  And he was observing the Stone Wars.

"S.T.C. is recalling me before I'm discovered.  Talk to you later."

Yeah...I don't think I'd want Senku to discover our presence.  While our technology would most certainly be a boon to the Nation of Science...it would be flat out cheating.  No, sir.  Senku would win against Tsukasa on his own merits.

And later that same day...

"Stand by to receive!"  The cyber gate opened and there was Asriel in Company 8 gear...but without shoes or sandals?   And also he smelled a little extra crispy.

"Uh...?

"The Fire Force gives their regards.  You know if it weren't a world so steep in fires and burning flames, and Adeola Bursts and such...I think it would be an interesting meeting between Red Stokes and Shinra Kusakabe.  At the very least they'd be shark-tooth buddies.  All we'd need is Viral from Gurren Lagaan and we could have the first of a club.  A club for exceptionally-shark-toothed heroes."

Asriel waved as he tried to withhold a chuckle.  "Sir Cumference.  That's a good one.  Nice one, Arthur."

Should I ask what that was all about?

And still later...

"...and that concludes my report on Gridman.  You know now that I stop to think about it...S.S.S.S   Hmm....you don't suppose...  I mean it fits.  Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad.  I'll have to ponder that.  Anyway...Yuta might as well have an ally on the outside he can trust so...hoping I can revisit this one pretty soon."

Wait...Gridman?  Or rather..."Servo" as I had previously listed him.

And there were still more incoming...

Asriel emerged from the portal, eyes hidden under the shadow of his bangs as he let the ODM gear drop to the floor, swords and all.

"I...can tell you don't want to talk about it."

"I'd rather not.  War is...unpleasant."  He said in a low voice.  "I...need some time away from this one."

I was going to have a "talk" with the Council for even THINKING about sending him to Attack on Titan.

I was relieved the next day when he returned from Totsuki Saryo Culinary Institute with a face beaming with joke and practically radiating a golden aura.

"I take it the Food War went well?

"Took second under Soma Yukihira.  Mitzi's going to flip when she sees what I've learned!"

Wait, he was gone for a whole semester in just the time it took for him to say he was going out to lunch and returning from the Cyber Gate just now?  Holy cow.

I could see myself in him.  And he was gradually smashing my old records in the process. But more than that...his friend requests were piling up.

And later still, he gave a thumbs up as I could see Kirito and Asuna waving from the other side of the portal.

Asriel was all smiles...until the portal closed.

"It's going to be an interesting 200 years."  He sighed, looking worried.  "A.L.I.C.E.'s fluctlight cube was ejected successfully and...it's in good hands but...our thieves sure didn't get out unscathed.  And there's still problems to deal with.  And honestly...I'm still holding my breath as RATH is trying to safely shut down the S.T.L.'s and get the two of them out of there.  But at vastly accelerated time...are they going to get out there before they exceed a human being's memory capacity...?

Sometimes the missions that weren't grim-dark but rather left you in a worried state of suspense are actually worse by comparison.  I knew how he felt in many other similar missions.

He took a bit to clear his head by stepping in to watch the Zeno games...and root for the Seventh Universe.   What had Son Goku gotten his friends into this time?

All this running around to anime worlds somehow assured me Asriel would be fine on his own.  So...I decided to drop in on a few of my old case files.

Wouldn't you know it, the first place I landed would be Crystal Cove in time for Halloween.

"Okay.  So...Mysteries Inc.  I'm sure a simple mis-adventure of running around and un-masking a disgruntled carnival owner  or something should be a whimsical romp to cleanse the palette."

What I ended up in for was a crazy adventure involving toxic pumpkins, a run-in with Dr. Jonathan "Scarecrow" Crane from Gotham City (long since de-mutated after being taken into custody following the Crossover Wars), and somehow involving both Elvira and Bill Nye the Science Guy?

And...was that freakin' RED HERRING?  Someone's a long way from Coolsville.

But I think my biggest takeaway was feeling the need to help Velma Dinkley out of an existential crisis.

No sooner had I gotten back...

Asriel emerged from the portal, adjusting his Hidden Leaf Village headband before yanking one of the shuriken out from where it embedded in his NX Switchboard Lite.  A spray of sparks fountained out.

"I'm spending a night in your shop with the soldering iron, if that's okay?"

"By all means.  I take it the Fourth Great Ninja War is getting ugly."

"That Reanimation Jutsu is just EVIL.  Whoever the pretender Madara Uchiha is, he doesn't mess around.  Hope Naruto and B can handle all those revived Jinchuriki.  But they're going to have to do it without me.  I think that was the first time I misjudged Bunnie's advice about not fighting a battle you know you can win."

"It happens to the best of us, Goat Son.  But hey...you're making a lot of allies."

That cheered him up.  "I sure am."

The crossovers were never going to be an endangered species.  Not with us around.  And the way Azzy was racking up allies, we'd be in this together for times to come.

"I know we've talked about this before but..."

"Look, I know you're concerned about stretching myself thin--"

"Actually, I was going to congratulate you on proving how well you can handle the multitask."

"Well...much appreciated, best friend."

"Azzy...you okay?  You seem...not yourself."

"Something's...somethings just been nipping at me in the back of my mind.  Not really sure what it is but...it feels like homesickness.  But...what do I have to feel homesick for?  I AM home.  Right?"

"Right."  I answered, resisting the urge to hesitate and give him any indication that I was keeping something from him.

"Well...now that my busy days have finally wound down, I can take a day or two to recover.  This plus my regular class load is going to turn my brains to tapioca in less than another month."

"Well you can stay and watch the fun and watch as we tell Al Dente that we elected him king of the winter carnival."  I said with a devious grin.

A moment passed before we both burst out laughing until our sides hurt.

"You are soooo terrible."  He grinned.

"Not as terrible as Alfred."  I shrugged.

"True that.  Anyway.  I'm going to pop in on mom and dad.  Spend a couple days flopped down on my bed and get my strength back.  And I'll be bright and bushy-tailed for Final Exams."

"You do you, Asriel.  I am so there for your graduation."

"Next stop: my future.  Whatever it may be."

As I watched him leave the lab, every single person he encountered said hello to him or exchanged a friendly greeting.  Even the security guards had him on a first name basis.  All of them.

That was how far he'd come.

A best friend to everyone, indeed.  And everyone was his best friend.  And you know what?  I didn't bother me in the least to share him.  Something I think...previous Chara and Asriel iterations had never learned.

In this case more was better.

I wished he could go on befriending people across the UltraVerse for the rest of his life.

But then came the day.

That day when it all changed

## Sub-Entry 049: "A Striped Shirt Stirs his Memory As He Remembers His Own Song"

Another long day.  Another night that Asriel decided to spend at his parents’ home instead of his dorm room on campus.

It was...easily the third or fourth time now...and Asriel was beginning to accept that it wasn't just homesickness getting the better of him.  No...he had to admit it.  He was searching for something, subconsciously.

For a long time now it had been creeping up on him.

But only recently it started manifesting as dreams.

Something was calling out to him.  Something wanted to be remembered.  Something...was telling him the clock had run down and the time was at hand that something big was about to be revealed.  All he had to do...was find the key.  That key...was a single question he needed to ask me.

I think he wanted to tell me over the last week or two...but things got in the way.

Right now...

"Hey, Mom.  Dad."

"Welcome home, son.  You look beat!"

"Yeah.  Pushed it a bit but...I think I pulled myself out before I got to Classic Volt."

"Now that's not nice.  Even if it is true."

"Our Commander did know how to overwork himself in the day.  I notice he's starting to drift back to--"

"I'll keep him anchored."

"Could you use a--"

"Bite to eat?  Absolutely."

"We have plenty left over.  Help yourself."

"I think I will."

Asriel ate hearty.

Afterward...

"Back to the old room again."  Asriel picked up the display case for his and Chara's lockets.

He sighed a bit and took his off, taking a moment to open it up again to stare at that photo of himself and Chara as children.

And then out of nowhere...the music box inside suddenly started playing after years of being silent.

Asriel reasoned that maybe the gears had gotten rusty or stuck or something.  He'd been meaning to take it to Gadget to have it oiled and maintenance.  No one knew her way around gears like she did.  Even ones that small.  ESPECIALLY ones that small.

But...just moments of hearing...His Theme...

His eyes got a little misty as his expression softened.  Something...felt like it was trying to awaken.

Something in a fog.  Something from long ago.  Something forgotten.

What was it?

Asriel started to head to bed when his foot bumped into something underneath his bed, completely by chance.

"Hmm?"

Asriel pulled out the box.

"Wait...this is...familiar..."

Asriel pulled the cover off...then he paused.

Then he gasped when it came back to him.

He reached in...and pulled out an old, faded green and yellow, long-sleeved, pullover shirt.  Practically a sweater.

And under it was an old pair of pants.  Black...possible dark brown.

Both were too small to fit him now but...

But...

Asriel held the shirt longingly.  This meant something.  This represented something.  It was from another time...not just that...but from another place.  These clothes never came from this world.  But...where did they come from?  Why wasn't it clicking?

His mind started to race.  As if it were going rapid-fire every question he could think of in the hopes of finding the right one.

"Who...was I?"

No.  Not it.

"Where did I...come from?"

Somehow, also not it.

"What does this mean?"

Also wrong.  Asriel felt like he was inching toward what could be an existential crisis.  He felt he was too young to start having an identity crisis...and definitely too young to have a nervous breakdown.

And really...these possibilities sounded silly.  He didn't have any big problems or conflicts.  His life was great.  Why would he ever have subconscious issues to work out.  For the last seven years, if a problem came along, he whipped it.  Whipped it good, as the Devo song went.  Gods I feel like Violet would take amusement in that for all the wrong reasons.  Seriously.  What could be the problem?

"I want to remember...but what is it I'm to remember?  Do I even NEED to remember it?"

Asriel looked at his stereo, which was muted and paused from the last time he had a study session.  The track was one of his favorite songs, "Two Princes" by Spin Doctor.

By now the word "prince" didn't even really have any meaning to him.  By now...he'd ask if it was supposed to.  Almost as if he were getting the impression we knew something he didn't.

The signs were all there and we stealth fully covered them all up; we hid them from him just so we wouldn't trigger it early.

"I know my surname is...Dreemurr...weird spelling...but I've been going by my adopted Arcade last name for so long..."

Asriel never forgot he was adopted.  It meant a lot to him that a family wanted him as their own child; that they were willing to give him a chance at a future instead of just being forgotten in some orphanage.   And certainly glad he was given the chance to even BE alive.

By this point he even forgot the terrible anagram of his name.  Asriel Dreemurr...serial murderer.  Something that was once so deeply personal and hurtful.  By this point didn't even register with him.  They were just letters that rearranged into something morbid.  That's all.

Asriel found some other clothes in boxes under his bed.  The first shirt he received with the Jang word, "Junketsu"...the word for purity on it.  And it still had the slash through it from...the Real Knife.

Under it was the shirt with the message "Hope Never Walks Alone" in Command and in Jangese around the Rabbotou Dojo emblem.

There was the larger shirt when he was a teen that read "Dreams Are Forever" in Common and English.

And not just clothes but other things he had been keeping under his bed for years after he moved out and into a dorm.

The lab kits, too.

And in the corner of the room he hadn't noticed the soccer ball he hadn't thought of in a while.

It all became a perfectly linear pattern stretching back through time to...to.........wait.....

What WAS it stretching back to?  There was nothing.  There was just...darkness.

No, that can't be right.  There had to be more before that.  There had to be something after he was born.  Asriel was sure he wasn't born in Miranda...but where?   The more he thought about the circumstances of his birth...the times before his adoption...the before times...the less he felt like he remembered.  The less he felt he knew and understood.

In all these years...he never looked back.   He never felt the need to.  He only needed to look forward, right?

But what was that saying?  Those who forget their pasts are doomed to repeat it?  What was it he risked repeating?  He hadn't done anything wrong that he could remember.  Had he?

For a while he pondered and pondered...until he realized that he had come back here, quite tired to begin with...but now he was just running out of steam.

On top of that...it was late.

"There's nothing more I can get out of this day.   Tomorrow's another day."

So that was it.  There was only a good night's sleep ahead.  Maybe then...maybe then when his head was clear in the morning, he'd be able to make sense of this.

Hopes would have to make way for dreams, now.  And maybe his wish would be as clear to him as he hoped it would become to me when I figured it out.  That meant he'd figure it out by then, too, right?

"Well...good night, world.  Until tomorrow."

And with that he flopped down on his bed and drifted out of consciousness pretty fast.

## Sub-Entry 050: "The Answer Has a Name.  And That Name Is...":

At no point could he have ever predicted...this would be the last time he'd have the dream.  And finally it was clear enough to him.  He was ready for it.  He needed to experience it.

It began. In that place.  That place that felt so familiar...but that place he'd forgotten the name of.

It was like...an old underground city or......or....RUINS...

How...how was it that plant life could grow down here in a place so dark?

Was it...really a place that the sun could not reach?

Who was this...?  Who was it that was reaching out to him?

"I miss you so much, Chara..."

It was his voice...his voice as a child.  So young...so sweet...so sad...

Then...he could hear it clearly in his dreams...His Theme.  And the words that went to it.  The words he hadn't heard since Chara-Wraith terrorized him years ago in Miranda's industrial sector outskirts, far from the city.

"Do you remember our past, that’s long been overcast

we’ve seen it at long last, a lullaby of royal mast.

Do you remember the times we shared, how much we oh so cared.

The times we played truth or dare, now I’m no longer scared.

Do you remember the pain of loss, buried under  a sea of moss.

The feelings have been torn and tossed, now I’ve been consumed with dross...?"

A sniffle...

"I… I can’t be without you Chara, I’m not leaving you, let’s go to the surface together… Ok?"

Wait...he never said that...what he said was "I have to keep my promise...to Chara.  Whose memory was this?   It was the right song...but not the right circumstances...

"Are your memories still there? The smell of the surface air.

The wind blowing through your hair, you promised we both be heirs…"

And then it faded away with young Asriel's voice breaking and sobbing.

"No..."  Asriel murmured in his sleep.  "It...wasn't...like that..."

And then he saw the images...blurred...foggy...but when did he see this images?

The barrier...the sun outside of Ebott?  Chara's village--

Wait.  Asriel...our Asriel NEVER SAW Chara's Village.  He couldn't know what it looked like.

But then...!

Asriel winced with each blow...he cringed at the screams and he felt so much sorrow.....but more than anything...an overwhelming need to go home.

And then...flowers...Golden Flowers.  That was what they were called, right?  How...did he know that?

Flowers...and blood...and then...glistening particles drifting...onto...the...flowers......

"Am I...seeing my own death...?"  Asriel asked himself as he began to toss and turn...and shudder in his sleep.

And there in the darkness.

"You."

"M...me...?"

"You have some nerve coming to this place. "

"Who are you?  Where are you?"

"Look in front of you, smart guy.  Down here."

"Y...you're a...!"

"Yeah.  A flower.  How about' that.  Little goat passed elementary school.  Mamma must be soooo proud."

"But you--"

"You're not welcome here.  Even when there was only room enough for one of us, this universe didn't want either.  The difference between us though...you got to keep your life and your soul.  You got a new home, a new mom and dad...a new...best...friend.   You gave up on your old one and traded them in."

"Hey now.  That's not f--"

"Go ahead and say it."

"...no, I..."

"SAY IT!"

"..........fair."  Asriel realized his mistake.  That word was a self-contraction.

"Are you saying you're me?  You don't look much like a Hyperdeath."

"Ohhhh, but you remember him?  But not your old pal here?"

"We've never met, whoever you are."

"I can tell you TWO things wrong with that statement, flower prince."

"P...Prince?  Where' that come--"

"You really don't remember, do you?  That just makes it WORSE.  Do you know how much easier it is to hate you when you don't even know what it is I hate you for?"

"...that doesn't make any sense."

"Yeah.   Well get used to it.  Because when it DOES make sense...you're going to wish it didn't.  It'll all make sense soon."

"He told you.  He told you I wouldn't be very receptive when next we met.  But...we aren't really meeting, are we?  This is all in your head."

"I'm..."

"Ironic, isn't it?  You of all people should appreciate your surname.  Your real one.   Well.  I can see I've wasted my breath on you.  So...word of advice.  Don't come looking for answers.  You'll only find pain and suffering."

"Pain and suffering...?"  Asriel questioned......then realized.  "...but not my own.  Isn't that right."

The flower hissed.

"What am I to you?"

"And you're supposed to be the smart one.  The answer's been in front of your snoot all this time but you just don't see it.  Well.  See if I help you out any."

"Wait!  I want to know!"

"Yeeeeees?"

Asriel blinked.

"You still don't know the question.  You really are an...IDIOT!!!!"  That last word rang in his ears for an eternity.

Loneliness...this familiar feeling in the darkness.

Asriel was compelled to sit down and hug his knees to his chest.

"I...I don't like this.  I don't want this.  Please.......someone...help me...."

Asriel called for help...but no one--

\*click\*

"Huh...?"  Asriel could have sworn he heard a door open.

He felt a presence behind him.  He turned around but...he wasn't sure that whomever it was hadn't just evaporated like smoke.  But...it did look like there was a face...a chalk white face with a cracks around the eyes.

Gaster?

"Why do you call for help...if you are not truly listening?"

"What?  What do you mean?  Who are you?"

"Dark...Darker...yet Darker.  The who is but an extension of what.  And what I am is something...someone that no longer exists.  But I am not what concerns you.  Not what truly concerns you.  You are not the only one reaching out for answers."

"I'm...I'm not?"

"I have let them in.  Now...you should do the same."

In the moment Asriel blinked, the voice faded and the hazy twilight--the mix of light and shadow--vanished.

And there...a silhouette in a doorway leading...out.

The person approached.

"Who's there?

The features started to come into the view.  The shape...semblance of a sweater or shirt...striped.

"Chara...?"  Asriel blinked.  "Chara...why are you...why are you here?

The figure stopped.  Then he saw it...a soul in front of their chest.  A red soul.

"Chara, what...what are you...?   Why?"

And then he felt his own soul emerge.  And it was resonating.

"Chara...we can't."

Asriel suddenly blinked.  "What?  I...I can't understand you."  It was then that it hit him. This was a dream.  This dream.  He'd had this dream before.  Several times before.  Recently!  It was reoccurring.

"Okay...I need to listen...but REALLY listen.  Not with my ears but...with my heart and--"

Asriel paused.

"...soul."

He closed his eyes and reached out...not for the soul but a hand being stretched out...and it was stretching toward his.

"But...we've both been reaching out to each other...but we just...we just can't reach each other...we just can't..."

A falter...and Goat Son started to withdraw.  Then...then she pressed it.  She struggled to reach further.

"..."

Asriel closed his eyes for a moment...then strained himself to reach out further...and furth.  A distance so close shouldn't...take this much effort to make contact.  So what was it that was inhibiting them?

"You're not giving up on me.  You're...very determined.  I guess you must believe...I'm very determined, too.  Okay...I suppose...we'll both have to prove it."

And after what felt like an eternity reaching through infinity itself...

Asriel felt a warm hand wrap around his own.  This feeling.  It was similar to the feeling he remembered when he took my hand and accepted my help all those fifteen years ago.  But this wasn't me.  This was someone else.  This was...!

And gradually the two of them pulled each other into a hug.  And Asriel's ears and eyes were finally opened.

"Ha...ha...I don't want to let go."

"I don't either."

"I Understand now.  You're not Chara, are you?"

"No."

"I...don't know why I thought you were her."

"Believe me.   I understand.  It actually does make a little bit of sense."

"I feel it in you.  You've been...waiting a long time to meet me.  And...I don't know how but...I've been waiting a long time to meet you.  And...I don't even know who you are?  Who are you?

"You once said, Asriel...that I was the friend you wish you'd met then.  Only..."

"Only...it wasn't me that said it.  It was another.  It was another Asriel.  Then I'm...?"

"You're the only Asriel who never took a human soul.  You're the only Asriel that never crossed the barrier.  You're the only Asriel who never died.  And...you're the only Asriel that finally did get a Best Friend that he deserved...and one who deserved you.  The two of you were destined to find each other.

He...he brought us together to finally make things right."

"Make things right?"

"To play one last game...so that we could set them all free."

"I don't know what you're saying but...something in me is telling me it's true.  It's all true.  I know what you're saying is the truth.  And the truth is...!"

"Asriel...the time has come for you to be the author of your own story.  So...when you do decide where to go from here...I'd...like it if we could find each other again."

"Again..."

The girl nodded.

"You have the key and the door is in front of you.   Speak the question you want to ask...and Destiny is yours for the taking."

"The question I want to ask is...!

And then the dream began to fade.

"Who is.........?"  He started to speak but no sound came out.

Then he woke up with a start, in a cold sweat.

For a long time he panted...then he saw it in the mirror.

Hyperdeath...what was...

The image was only in his head.  But he was bowing his head, as if to confirm that Asriel at last knew what to do.

"I know.  I know what the question is."

*To Be Continued...*

Chapter 6

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