PLDF Chapter 22

> Chapter 22: No Bass to Drop in an Acid Tunnel While a June Bug Celebrates Father's Day and The Sound of Speed (Sub-Entries 211-220)
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## Sub-Entry 211:  "No Bass to Drop, But Plenty of Acid":

My eyes snapped open, only a moment after my eyelids had become heavy and I let them blink shut for what I thought was only a split second.

Kris was still with me as was Ralsei.

We head just passed out of the bookshelf room and gone past the Save Star into the next room...

...where we IMMEDIATELY skidded to a stop.  I felt my heart skip a beat and my memories come surging back.

Even though it was Rotor that went through the Mecha-chusetts chemical foundry back in our adventure on Mega Man's world for what was his eleventh war; we all had gotten a pretty sizeable HD video debrief of each of our adventures though the eleventh batch of stolen robot masters having been turned into Wily Numbers.   Which meant I was very familiar with what was flooding that processing plant.

More importantly...what was directly in front of us.

"A...giant lake of acid!?"  Ralsei about panicked.

It wasn't doing much for me, either.

The thought of flesh, fur, sinuses, muscles, organs, and even the bones underneath being burned, then melted and dissolved in excruciatingly painful fashion was the most morbid of things for your brain to pinball through your head in this state of fear.

Queen was really going overboard with the battery acid.  If she wasn't sipping it, was she actually bathing in it!?

\*BWAH\*

Oh.  Another wall-mounted HD monitor.  Of course there's one in here, too.  And of course Queen just has to taunt us.

"Oh You Mean The Free Pool

You Will Learn To Love It Like Family"

"Why do you have this!?"

"It Is My Mansion's Energy Source And Fun To Drink"

That's not how battery acid works!

...technically.

"Bye Ha Ha Ha"

Oh for crying out loud.

The "pool" of big, green acid swallowed up everything wall to wall from where the floor ended.  The way across?  Not even CLOSE to an option to jump it or find a way over it.  Ceiling wasn't going to allow it.  And as much as I wanted to offer the use of the NXS Hoverboard...while it did work on water...I did NOT want to find out if worked on acid.  If I was wrong about it, BEST case scenario I end up melting the only piece of technology from VGM-098 I practically couldn't live without and I doubt I had the skills to build a new one, yet despite how hard I was working on Project Bridge-Between-Worlds.  Or Gate-2-Miranda.  Whatever was the working title by this point...ahem...depside how much I was putting forth a lot of effort to rewrite the book on science and technology for our world...

...the information stored on the NXS was completely irreplaceable.  I'd never get back what was in its memory systems if anything happened to the board.  Plus the process of backing up that data was proving to take longer, more effort, and more resources than I had initially projected.

I sighed and decided...it wasn't worth the risk.

But this does present a dilemma.  As soon as I looked behind us I noticed the arc of electricity cutting us off from where we'd been.  One way forward.

This was a fine kettle of fish.

Fortunately Kris was eyeing what might possibly be a...

\*CLICK\*

...lever in the floor.

They're quick.

"That...did something...but what..."  I rubbed my chin.

Did the...rock-baroque hybrid music  just change into jubilant calliope music?

Also...suddenly it appeared.  A boat in the likeness of a swan.  Like you'd see in a Tunnel of Love attraction.

"I...suppose...this works.  Haha."

You said it, wizard-me.

We got aboard and sailed forth, weaving between small patches of dry floor...where sat miniature houses or cottages.

This was...almost like that infamous ride at the theme park with that annoying song...it's a...something...world......while surrounded by animatronic children of different ethnicities.  You know the one.

"Now, we have to think of a way to distract Queen..."

And we sailed right past a flat panel monitor right as Queen appeared and immediately replied:

"Ohhh Wow I'm So Distracted Right Now"  while doing jazz-hands.

So much for her not seeing it coming.  But it didn't necessarily mean she knew WHY we were distracting her so...theoretically we still had the advantage.

"What are these...Little houses?"

Annnnnd another flat-panel monitor along the wall...

"Just Tropical Villas For My Guests Isn't That Thoughtful"

I was tempted to speak up but Goat Wizard beat me to the punch with kind of a smart-alec question.

"...how would anybody fit inside?"

Annnnnd immediately a follow-up monitor:

"Shrink From The Acid"

I'm sorry he asked.

And as if a repeat of something we'd previously been through...

"Kris Get The Banana"

In a huff, Ralsei responded with "Kr...Kris isn't going to do what you say."

Sure enough we sailed to the other side of the island, missing the banana.

"Fools I Wanted You To Avoid It"

...riiiiiiight.

"Now You Will Become Potassium Deficient"

I rolled my eyes.

"Looks like we're coming up on a tunnel."  Ralsei observed.

I feel like I may have hinted where this was going...

Once inside the tunnel, our swan boat came to a squeaky, balloon-like halt as it crashed into of all things...a giant blue  hand sticking out of the acid.

Whaaaaaaaaaat...?

"H-huh?  There's something blocking the way...?"

I couldn't shake the possibility that we were the ones being distracted from something.  At the very least...slowed down.

Fortunately we were stopped at a path leading to a doorway.

"Maybe there is a  way to get rid of this...?"

I nodded.

As we headed in, Ralsei paused a moment to voice his thoughts.

"A giant hand...  Sure would be nice to be pet by something like that!"

...as much as I wanted to remind him to keep on task...

...why was I finding it easy to agree with him?

Once through...

"Uhhh...!"

## Sub-Entry: 212:  "To Solve or Dis-solve the Puzzle!  The Solution to an A-mazing Acid Labyrinth":

The room ahead certainly didn't mean the end of the acid lake.  In fact...it looked like we were in the midst of a maze of dry paths in a very tricky puzzle involving a labyrinth of battery acid.

Furthermore...the paths connecting the dry patches were alternating blue and red tiles.  Currently..the blue ones were raised. While the red once were sunk.

I noticed the miniature villas were also color coded...blue...and red.

This was taking me back to the Traffic Light network in ACDC Town.  Lan Hikari had a very tense virus-busting adventure to stop a bus with a bomb on it that Maylu Sakurai was riding aboard.  And the traffic grid was under the control of World Three agent, Ms. Madoi "Maddy" Iroaya and her NetNavi, ColorMan.EXE

...huh...Iroaya Madoi...did that name translate to "Color Tile" in Jangese?  As in...one of Ms. Madd's signature battle chips?

It fit.  After all, Mr. Match AKA Hinoken was roughly Flame Sword in translation.  One of HIS signature battle chips.

Get a grip, Azzy.  You're going off on a tangent again.

Back to the matter of hand, it wasn't ENTIRELY unrelated.  To get the traffic network working again, MegaMan.EXE had to activate sets of switches to turn blue and red lights on and off in order to change the circuit paths between motherboards and thus get control of the traffic lights.

I'll bet these blue and red villas did the same and controlled the paths between land masses in the acid maze.

I explained my plan to Ralsei to try to analyze how the puzzle likely worked.

Kris led on and sure enough...

"Jackpot."

We were soon navigating our way around.

It looks like this was the way to go.  Anyway...I still didn't know if the NXS could be safely used on a pool of acid.  It wasn't worth the risk of losing my gear inside this dreamscape.  I didn't know if it would be permanently gone.  Plus I wasn't risking Kris and Ralsei's safety.

We were making steady progress and soon reached the next room.

Some navigating the mazes in that room triggered...a vase to land on the blue path.  Our only way back.

Kris had no choice but to end up smashing it...thus calling forth another of Queen's butlers.  Fortunately he informed us...that he'd let it go just this once.

We immediately had to double back and go through more of the maze we hadn't traversed in the previous room.

All was going well until we ran into a pair of WereWires.  We knew how to deal with them.

At the end of the road was a miniature castle.

"It seems that peace has returned to the castle..." I narrated.

Inside the chest nearby was...the ReviveDust.

I gulped a bit.  Dust...was still somewhat morbid to Monsters back in Undertale.  And...I still had reservations about it, despite being a Hybrid for years now.

The ReviveDust was added to our inventory.  Maybe it was like Tinkerbell's pixie dust?

It took a lot of clever manipulating to get the paths to open up just in the right sequence to get to the lone path going south.

And then...the next room...ended up combining puzzles.  The current one...with an old, familiar headache.

I read the plaque:

"Dear, guests.  Please note that our mice WILL turn at every crossing.  Our vermin have been specially picked for higher turning.  Enjoy."

Oh...higher turning.  There’s a pun I immediately picked out.  Oh boy.

A crosswalk switch.

As soon as Kris pressed it...

"The Mice found $1.  You didn't get any."

Oh well.

After playing around with the Villa Switches before us...

"The Mice found $20.  You didn't get any."

Dang.  This is getting expensive.

Another attempt...but this time Kris steered them into a lone white house that turned pinkish-red once the mice had occupied it.

Last one and the mice occupied a lone house that turned blue.  That opened a new path up.

The note on the crosswalk now said "Sounds like the bridge has been raised."

Bridge?

A red and blue tile bridge to the west and then south.

"I'm almost afraid to point out how good we're getting with these puzzles."

"Why for?"

"Doing so is the route to jinxing our luck."

A lone lever.  Once Kris pulled it a second hand rose out and...did a high five with the first?

"Looks like the hand is out of the way, now."

Backtrack to the boat it is.

And the tunnel went on, unobstructed.

That was when the music...stopped.

And Ralsei had things to say.

"Kris...hey, Kris..."

## Sub-Entry 213:  "Confession of a Goat Wizard.  Is the Ship...\*gulp\*...Real?"

Hmm?

"Is it s-strange to say... It's nice spending time alone with you like this...?"

Okaaaaay.  I'm relegating myself to unnoticed third wheel.  Just keep quiet, Azzy and let them explore this...moment.

Dang...could it be...?  Kris was to Ralsei what Frisk was to me...?

What would they say--

They picked "I feel the same".

And I immediately saw those blushing goat cheeks of his.

A moment of euphoric catharsis.

"I'm happy to hear you say that, Kris...

When we first met, I...

I was so nervous about first impressions.

I even hid my face so you wouldn't see."

Ahhh.  That's why Volt thought Ralsei had black fur.

"...'How do I even be a friend...?'

All I have to do is be nice...is what I thought.

But I'm starting to realize, being friends...

...is more than that, isn't it?

Susie...sometimes she isn't nice at all!"

No arguments there.

"She's selfish, she's rude, she's sarcastic...

But...

Isn't it wonderful that she's...her...?"

Okay maybe the ship isn't with Kris but--

"...is what I started thinking today.

And of course, Kris, that it's nice that...

you're you."

Okay, getting mixed signals here.

Maybe he's just...that earnest.  Like I was as a kid.  And...kinda still am but...?

Kris responded with: "It's nice that Ralsei is Ralsei."

...uh...weirdly phrased...but tender and wholesome.

"H...huh???

No one's...no one's ever said that to me before."

Okay if I can't confirm the ship goes toward the human then maybe the other way around...?

"I...I.......I mean...everything's a first for me, but...  Hearing it from you, um...

It means a lot.  Haha.

...

I just wonder what being 'Ralsei-like' even is...?

...

Sorry!  Haha, I got off track.

Let's just enjoy the ride, Kris!"

You know...this was my happy moment, too.  Maybe...maybe it wasn't best to read into it any further.  Friendship was all we needed right now, right?  Let's not...complicate matters.

Even though we were in a Tunnel of Love setting....

...this was more a time of self-realization and reflection than a catalyst for romance.  Let's just roll with the simplest explanation.

"W...wow, Kris!  Look at all the houses!

I wonder what will happen if we change their color?"

Sure enough the island was covered end to end with white houses...but with a red and blue house at opposite ends.

That's when a familiar voice greeted us...

## Sub-Entry 214:  "It's About Obeying All the Rouxls.  This is the Kaard Being Played!"

I feel like I'm making a really old TV reference somehow.  And if this happened in Miranda, I'm sure we'd be carrying Al Dente across the beach before throwing him into the ocean and calling him a square.  The word of the day is "Hic-a-doo-lah", I guess.

"Ge hahahahahahaha.... Thoust WORMS reallyst thoughtst...

Thoust had seeneth the Lastest of Me???"

"Only one person talks in that obnoxious, erudite method of olde English..."  I wrinkled my snoot.

"Chips Ahoyeth, Landlubbers!

Arrrrrrrrrrrr-t thou ready-eth to visiteth Davith Jones' Lockre!?"

"Rouxls Kaard."

"Myne reputation doth proceedeth Me!"

Oh boy...this is going to be hard to listen to.  On top of that, he was also talking like a pirate.

"Could...Could you NOT speak with more than one accent?"

"Yeah, alright."

Leave it to Ralsei to say what we were all thinking.  I was being presumptuous with Kris but...I'd be very surprised if they weren't at least annoyed by Rouxls' way of speaking.

"Oh!  Mr. Rouxls!  I just remembered!  Lancer!  He's not well!"

"O dear.  Didst thou, erm, tryeth Burpinge him???

Perhaps give him a sip of Medieval Ginger Ale?

...Waite!  I hathe NOT time to spare on such Frivelities!

I must Conquere this Islande and defeast Thou!  Then giftingeth her with a succulent Islande Presente, The Beautious Queene shall reward ME - By Makingeth Me Her Left-Hand-Man!!  Hahahahah!  Me!  The ULTIMATE Minion!"

If there was a time when needed you NOT to be Rouxls Kaard...

"Now, beholdesth!  The forme oft thoun Destroyer!"

And with that the cardboard wooden boat disguise fell away...revealing he was actually on top of a cannon on top of a submarine, with a laser blaster on top of the cannon....redundant much?

"...Whatevereth this Thing is!"

I was surprised Ralsei was taking it as well as he was.  And that wasn't saying much.

"Th...this again!?"

"Hahahahah...squirming with Jealousy at my Battle Caravane!?  'Tis an Effigie of an Ancient God of Combate, I rescudeth it from the King's Trash Heape, and fixedith up in this Worlde's Scrap Shoppe!"

The reoccurring concept of trash strikes again.

"It's, um...It's actually a rejected, uh, design we made--"

\*record scratch\* Hold up.  Volt's recount of 'Chapter 1' of DeltaRune seemed to indicate they built a giant duck.  He never said anything about...

...then again...maybe he didn't think it was important.

Shame on him for disregarding and shame on me not realizing even the most insignificant throw-aways can make a comeback.  Speaking of discarded...I have yet to figure out Gaster's role in this and what he meant by the construct Volt assisted in created was 'discarded' when clearly...it more than resembled Kris.

Where's the line?  I get that our choices don't matter but...who's making up the rules to this?  Is it our unknown maker still using Annoying Dog as his all-powerful demi-god avatar?  What does it all mean?  What's the end game?

Was it...even worth contemplating?

Eyes forward, Azzy.  We're facing an opponent in battle.  Roulxs Kaard's loyalties and agenda are definitely not something to have pre-conceived assertations about.  He was most certainly, if you'll pardon the pun...a wylde kaard...er...wild card.  Sheesh, he's got me doing it now!

"Ha ha ha, and Soone, THOU shall tasteth Rejection--Firsthandeth, in the form of varieth Bulletst!"

And the fight was on as he drew his cutlass sword and pointed in our direction.

"Thrash Machine reluctantly fights you."  I observed as I transformed the NXS Sabers and decided I can at least parry attacks.  If I deflect toward the ship, I can avoid hitting Rouxls, directly.  He still deserved to be spared and recruited, despite being a little mixed up.

I then realized what Kris and Ralsei were already a step ahead of me in knowing.  This was going to be a game of chess or Othello.  In essence?  Turn all the colors.

I suggested Ralsei distract.  Sure enough it worked to our favor as Rouxls would place one less house in the next turn.

"The Rouxls (pronounced Rules) art simple!  Conquer Houses!  Whoeverest has the most, Winst!"

As I thought.  Just like Othello or Attaxx or one of those puzzle games where it's all about a turf war.  Claim the most territory to win.

But we soon found ourselves dodging falling treasure chests.  Because why not?  Pirate theme.  It made sense.  Something eventually HAD to.

"Smells like a model house set."

We managed to take two more houses but Rouxls wasn't distracted like previously.

"Soon Victorie will be Mineth!  And Queen will make me her Left Hande Man..."

And like that he matched us.  Four houses to four.  Red vs. Blue.  Even Steven.

We soon found ourselves dodging white lasers from the cannon barrel.  I then noticed it wasn't a submarine but a full tank as it rose out of the water then fell back in.  It was an amphibious tank.  I wish Volt hadn't left that detail out.

"You can't help but notice the enemy's ship is very gun's."  What...does that even mean?  I mean yeah...it has guns but...pretty sure my Common Teacher would thump me for my bad grammar.

And like that we snatched up three more houses, including some of the ones Rouxls had claimed.  We'd...heheh...turned the tide?

"Umm, Mr. Kaard?  What happens if we win?"

"...

Uh oh."

He picked his targets and it became 7-5, in our favor.  But then he sent forth the tank-boat and it unleashed a salvo of surface-to-air missiles that rained down on us.  Miraculously, they all missed but still shook us up pretty bad.

WAIT!!!  Was he HOVERING IN PLACE  while his vehicle was attacking us!?

We took two more.  Plus Ralsei's distraction worked this time.  One less house for our foe to take.

"STOP!!!  STOP BUILDING HOUSES!!!  I HAVE TO WIN!!!"

Yup.  Still a sore loser.  That much Volt made VERY clear.

He snagged two more but still behind.  Now the score was 9-8.  We were still ahead but...he was closing the gap.  Good thing he only grabbed two; one from our pile.

"Your city is lacking parks."

Not going to question why I said that, in narration.

It was now 12-11.  He was really pressing us to overtake.

Then it became 14-13.

"Solveth my puzzle, yon maties!"

And finally...

"It seemeth that the Game hath been Overed.  I haveth noe idea who won or lost.

CUT THE BATTLE!"

"We won!  And got 0 EXP and 200 dark dollars!"

"Ah...ahh, ahahahahaha...!  So we have an equal number of houses!

I suppose thou THINKETH, that MEANETH...Thou have matched my Abilitiese!"

"(What abilities?)"  Sassy Ralsei has definitely learned the art of the burn.

"NOT!!!  You have only seen but One-Percentile of my Weapon's abilities!"

And I recognized what sounded like a charge-up sound not unlike X's arm cannon X-Buster charge-shot energizing.

"Geh heh heh heh heh heh heh!  Beholde, worms...!  The REALE Power of Rouxls Kaard!"

He hovered toward us...!!! ...then suddenly everything below his neck turned gray and stone-like.

Say it with me, people:

"GOD...!!!"

He dropped like a rock onto the houses below him...and tipped over as the center of the island blew away with a mushroom cloud explosion.

"...DAMMIT!!!"

At least he took the loss well...........NOT.

Heroes shouldn't be smug or sassy, Azzy.  But I just couldn't help myself.

"Uh...that's right,  Rouxls isn't compatible with this world, either.  Well, let's go, Kris!"

And we just sailed on...but not before we passed in front of an old-timey camera.

"Looks like the ride's almost over, Kris...

O-oh, there's a camera!  Should we, um...pose!?"

And with that even I wasn't prepared when Kris, out of nowhere...up and hugged Ralsei!

"K...Kris!?"

\*CLICK\*

Blushing goat wizard GET!

I just turned away and interlocked my fingers, resting my hands in my palms, elbows outward and did the least convincing innocent whistle I could pull off.

"D...did it r-really take a picture of that!?"

Fluster Ralsei reminds me SO much of myself.  SOOOOO much of myself.  Are you smiling on the other side, Frisk?

"Umm, l...let's keep going!"

"ART THOU JUST GOING TO LEAVETH ME HERE!?  THOU AREN'T EVEN GOING TO SHOWETH ME THE PICTURE?"

And like that we were out of his voice range and he was out of our hearing range.  I didn't think our ride was going that fast.

There was the other side and more red carpet leading deeper in.

"That was a nice boat ride, wasn't it, Kris?"

## Sub-Entry 215: "Ferris Wheel of Hopes and Dreams...But Mostly Dreams":

The music had changed. Still not sure where it was coming from.

Now it was...strangely quiet...no...there was a foreboding ambiance to it.  If you could give an onomatopoeia to the word, "dread"...this was what I was hearing.  Though if I were to describe it in its literal sense...more like deep, windy gale-force winds blowing around the columns.

I didn't like it.

It could be a sign of things to come...or things that were already here and we were moments from taking the full force.

"...Kris...are you wondering how Susie is doing right now?"

Kris was....wondering.

"Well then...why don't we close our eyes..."

Uhhh....Ralsei...?

"...and think about what she's doing right now?"

Oh.  Whew.  I guess he wasn't as romantic as I was afraid of.

Still...this gave me some time to come up with my own thoughts...

But for some reason...I was channeling both of theirs...?

Only...it WASN'T Susie that my vision was centering on.  It was...

Deep in a personalized room...almost pitch black but definitely tailored to a certain reindeer's search engine results...

"What a strange moon..."  Noelle knelt down on her bed and stared out the window.

"It's like nothing I've ever seen before."

How...was I seeing this?  I was...wondering if somehow I had...acquired Mom's...rather Callista's or maybe Bunnie's sixth sense?  Maybe DeltaRune was doing a "cut scene"?  Either way...I felt strangely omnipresent while Ralsei and Kris were pondering.  I guess maybe I wasn't channeling their thoughts after all.

"This world...  ...I wish Dess could see this."

It was strange to me that someone her age could be so casual about addressing their mother by their first name.  Though...it was a nickname version, per se...

...but...I didn't want to assume that they were just that close that it was just a casual thing.  I didn't know what their life was like.  At her age, I would have felt REALLY on the spot if I called mom "Toriel"...or my other mom "Callista".

I was an adult now so...it felt closer to normal...but still awkward.  Somehow...I could never feel like my parents equals to address them so casually.  It would always be "mom" and "dad" to me.

Why was I making a deal out of this?  You're getting distracted, Azzy.  Curb the OCD, man.

There was a click of a door being opened as Noelle turned to see who was there.

"...is somebody there?"

And then like that WereWires dropped in on both sides of her bed!

"W-wait, what are you...  H-hey!  You can't capture someone who's already captured!"

And BOOM.

They were suddenly history...uh...I mean..."unconscious".  Oh boy.  I hope this doesn't effect our recruitment.

"S...Susie!?"

I stand corrected.  Maybe this WAS their shared imagination.

"You...you saved me...?"

Susie tossed her axe over her shoulder then dusted her hands off.

"Don't get used to it."

Typical response.

"Umm, okay!  I...I wont...!"

I don't know how I could tell her heart was thumping.

"..."

Susie walked over as Noelle peered out the window again.

"Cool moon."  The purple reptile said rather nonchalantly.

"Y...yeah.  ...b-but it's weird, isn't it?  How did we get here...?  No, what even is this place..."

"Uhhh...it's uh..."  Susie panicked.

Dark World?  Or Queen's Castle.  Tell her the tr--

"Uhh...you're, uh...just having a dream!"

I could have face-palmed.  That is LITERALLY the worst, most overused cliche explanation ever!  Would she even fall for that?

"H-huh...?  Oh...Oh, that's right.    Right!  If you're here, it must be a dream!"

...and somehow that explanation STILL works.  It's so overused and it STILL works!  People will still believe they're in a dream if you tell them.

Though...I'm one to talk.  This technically IS a dream.  Maybe...it's a dream within a dream?  Dream-ception?  Heck, someone with the sur-name Dreemurr has no right to talk, right?

\*sigh\*

...I don't know where to go with this.

"??????????"  That...caught Susie off guard?  That caught Susie off guard.  Huh.

"I MEAN, the real Susie probably wouldn't save me, would she...?  She...probably doesn't care about me at all..."

Oh god...you're tearing my heart out, Noelle, and I'm not even the one you're talking about.

"Huh?"  Susie was stunned again.  "Why would you...think that?"

"Umm, she doesn't care about anybody."

Harsh.  And truthful.  And...gods that had to hurt.

"Well, FAIR but...  Didja ever wonder why Susie never...picked on you?"

"(sigh)...All the time..."

"MAYBE it's 'cause, when she first came to class.   You lent her one of your pencils,

Like a dumb, candycane-looking one or something.  And even though it didn't actually taste like candy...She uh, remembered your smile, and, uh...Decided to spare you, y'know."

"That's, um...  Really specific."

"Yeah, well, uh..."

"...wait, did you say you ATE the pencil!?"

I'm laughing.  Out loud.  Yes, I am.  Shame on me.  But, yes I am."

"I MEAN, LOOK!

...

Uh, so, do you...dream about me a lot?"

"WELL, time for me to get back to my project, haha!"

Oh, you two...

The smile on my face had to be ear to ear.

"Okay, hit me with your axe and wake me up--"

\*RECORD SCRATCH\*

WORST.  IDEA.  EVER.

"W-wait, no!  I can't do that!"

"Huh?  Why not?  It's just a dream so..."

"Umm...I mean...Didn't you want to uh...hang out some more?"

"...I GUESS Berdly can wait a little longer."

"Alright!  Let's get out of here, then."

"Alright...all we gotta do is head to the right over to this..."

Uh...why was Susie hesitating all of a sudden?

"Uh...over here, on this, uh...

Heart.  Covered.  Ferris.  Wheel."

...

OH.  MY.  GODS.  AND.  GODDESSES.  Seriously.  Holy foreshadowing, Batman.  This...this...was the kind of thing that reminded me it WAS a dream world.  The likelihood that model Ferris wheel at the carnival...suddenly exists in full-sized scale here.  With Susie and Noelle about to take a ride on it alone...

"..."

"..."

"WHAT'S THE GODDAMN HOLDUP!  GET ON ALREADY!"

There it is.

"S-sorry!"

And like that...the Ferris Wheel...not attached to anything just slowly spun and drifted through the air with a city-scape below.  How?  How could this fit inside Queen's Castle?

"(Damn, Kris would know what to do!)"

Between her choices: "point and hearts come out"...or...eat moss.

Darn.  Kris would do either of those things, after what I'd seen.

At first I thought Susie might actually try the former--

"(...actually, uh, maybe Kris wouldn't know what to do...)"

In all fairness she didn't do the other thing.

"So uh... Ferris wheels, huh.  Kinda makes you wonder what car they were built for."

Strange thing to wonder.  No car would be big enough for a wheel this size.

"(It's different than riding one with Kris...)"

Yeah, kinda.

"The Hell's wrong with you?  You scared of heights?"

Volt sure was.

"No!  No, I...I love heights!  Haha!"

"...you're uh...shaking."

"Well, maybe I'm a little scared, but...I...

To be honest, I actually like...scary things."

"What do you mean?"

Susie was genuinely surprised.  So was I...and still no  closer to figured out how I was seeing this vision...within a vision.  Vision-ception.  Oh boy.  Let's not get into this.  You gaslight yourself now, Azzy, there's no way back!

"When we were little, me and my sister would stay up..."

Wait a minute.  Maybe I had it all wrong?  Maybe Dess wasn't her mother, but her sister?  That would make more sense after all this time.  Well.  Better to figure this out now than later.

"...And go past our bedtime watching horror movies.  At first I cried, but now...it's like...watching them...Makes me feel comforted...?"

Huh.

"Comforted?"  (I guess I do like slime and blood.)"

"It's scary but I can just turn it off, right?  Now it's mostly...people, that are scary.  Haha."

No arguments.

"...

You can just say you mean me."  Susie said almost smugly like she welcomed it.

"Haha...umm...well, I guess y-you too, but...

But that's...what's...NICE about you, y'know?"

"NICE!?  THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN???"

"You're the...good kind of scary.  You aren't afraid to...break the rules, y'know?  I wish I could do crazy stuff like you."

"..."

Do something crazy?  As if I had to ask Susie.  Not sure how I even could in my daydream within a night dream state.

"If YOU could do something crazy right now, what would you do?"

"U-umm...Well, I...I...I'd jump out the window!"

"Huh?"

"It's a dream right?"

Back it up, Noelle.  Back it up.  Just double back from that...for your own safety.

"I'd grow big angel wings, and fly as far as I can, gazing back at it all..."

Oh.  Um...flying.  Yeah.  But still!  Don't attempt it.  Please don't.

"The skyline shining like Holiday lights."

"That's kinda...beautiful?  WAIT, you seriously wouldn't jump out, would you!?"

Finally the fear sets in.

"Hahahah!  No promises!  ...Susie...?  What do YOU think, looking out there?"

"M...me?  Umm...seeing everything small, makes me feel like, um....if I was Susiezilla or something, I could wreck a whole city!"

That's supposed to be ROMANTIC!?

"Hahahahah!  Susie!!!"

"Heh, what!?"

"...is being Susiezilla something you think about a lot?"

"Uh, like?"

...Uhhh, like..."

Is my best advice really "Lie" or "Lie"?

"No, I just made it up, now."

"Does your tail always do that when you lie?"

She saw right through THAT FAST?

"H...hey!  Don't look at that!  I don't have a tail!  It's part of your dream!"

"Oh, right.  S-sorry!  Guess I'll have to check in real life, too."

Don't get any ideas about chopping it off, Susie.

"H...hey!  Don't!"

"Hahaha.  Susie, everything okay?"

"LOOK!  I just uh...I just don't like people knowing about it."

"Well umm...I think it's a...nice tail."

Awkward.  And if Frisk starts commenting on my tuft of a goat's tail, I'm going to scream in a pillow.

"...whatever."

So...opposites attract.  So...if that's the case, why are Frisk and I so compatible?  Don't second-guess it, Goat Son.  It's a rule but it has its exceptions, right?

"(It's wagging.)"

Yes, it is.

And like that the vision was starting to fade but it was still holding on them, like it was fighting to stay in my mind's eye.  Maybe that was the sign my time here was running out?

"...you stopped shaking."

"Guess I got comfortable."

"...me too."

And they reached the other side, Susie stretching as she got out of the Ferris wheel basket/car...thing.

"Well, that wasn't too bad."

"Y-yeah."  \*sigh\*  "If only I could dream like this, every day..."

"Maybe...it doesn't have to be a dream, y'know?"

"Susie...?"

"Maybe...some day we could...

And then the dream took a hard turn into left field as Berdly drifted down with a rose clenched in his beak by the stem.

"Noelle!! My lady!  The Calvary has arrived to rescue you!"

"(Oh, the good part of the dream is over...)"

You can say THAT again.

"It's fine!  Berdly's going to help!  We're allies!"

"Yes, don't worry, Noelle!  I'm stupid now."

If any other way to convince her this WAS a dream...

"..."

"(He's good.)"

"Look, I gotta save the day now, alright?"

"H...huh?  Umm...good luck, Susie!"

"Alright, nugget boy.  It's up to you, now."

"Leave it to me, my dear Susan."

"Yeah, whatever.  May the smarts be with you."

And like that Susie jumped off the path to whatever lay below...

"Ah, she left before I could..."  Berdly looked pensive...like there was something really important he wanted to warn her about.

"Noelle, it's hard to say this.  You've done so much for me, and I...Noelle...I'm sorry."

"Berdly, you're actually apologizing?  ...thank you.  I...understand, you know?  You've always been nice to me when it's just the two of us.  You just wanted to make a happy world for me.  I'm...glad you realized, um...it' sucked."

"Oh."

"Huh?"

"I mean, YES, I WAS, in a way, apologizing for THAT, but.  I also wanted to apologize.  For leading you on.  I know you only always helped me out because, well...You had a crush on me, so..."

If you didn't hear a record scratch right now, then shame on you.  Guess he'll never learn.

"WHAT?"

"O-oh!  Sorry!  Please don't be embarrassed!  It's understandable but I...I have to tell you I...I really value your friendship, OK? So I...I had to pretend to reciprocate those feelings..."

This is a dumpster fire that's somehow solving the problem, yes?

"WHAT? But I... I don't --I never--"

"Furthermore, I think I may have...Discovered someone else for me..."

You're DUMPING her?  Okaaay.  Maybe it's for the best.  It's tactful.  It's at least well-intentioned.

So why was I suddenly about ready to scream?  And really...Noelle had FAR more right to than I did right now.  Maybe...it was that feeling like when a girl comes home and cries to her parents that it's the end of the world that their boyfriend broke up with them and you have to comfort?

"HUH????????????"

"Please don't be jealous."

"OF????????????"

"Susie."

........now I wanted to deck Madam Fate.

And without warning...the least plausible thing I could have expected happened.

Noelle grabbed Berdly by the throat and shook him all the while screaming "WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?  WHAT?  WHAT? WHAT?"

You can't make this crap up.

And...I was really hoping this was  just our REAAAAAALLY good collective imaginations.  Otherwise we might be losing a Falco-cosplayer...

So much for a Pacifist Run.

Fade to black.

And fade back in to Kris and Ralsei and me.

"...so that's why--"  Ralsei started moments before--

"GERONIMO!!!"

...Susie dropped in...and SQUASHED Goat Wizard.

"Heh.  Miss me?"

"Of course not!"  Ralsei grumbled.

Okay...we have SERIOUSLY corrupted the cinnamon roll--

"(Just kidding!  That was sarcasm!  Of course I missed you!)"

...this world's really trying to make a liar out of me.

"Man, we gotta work on your delivery."

So we were all together again.

"Anyway, let's go."

Save Star.  And not a moment too soon.  I was...fading out of here...again...

"Everyone is together...but the wind blows coldly...  You are filled with a certain power."

Foreboding.

Very foreboding.

There was a staircase ahead of us.

I was getting a bad feeling about this.

That was right about when...

"Asriel."

"...I'm here, Frisk.  I'm here."

There was Alphys at the monitor station, with a whole pile of empty paptato chisps on the computer desk.   Chara was sitting on top of the desk, munching on a bowl of popcorn.

What?  Suddenly my dreamscapes were home movies?

"It's building to a climax."  I said.  I must've sounded worried.

Frisk hugged me.

"Just hang in there.  We're with you all the way."

"I know but..."

"I understand."

A long period of silence.

"So...is your tail wagging?"

And that broke the tension.

"F...Frisk!!!"  I protested, getting pink in the cheeks.

"There it is."  Chara chuckled.

"That l-l-last session w-w-was extra l-long, Prince Asriel.  Are you s-s-sure you want to--"

"It's not even a question, Alphys.  We're finishing this no matter how long it takes."

"Alright...j-just be careful."

I gave a warm smile.

"Hold on, you guys.   I'll be back again.  Promise."

## Sub-Entry 216: "Progress Toward Paradise Goes Into Overdrive.  Innovating Like a Gangsta":

So here I am on the outskirts of town in a section that's somewhat of a dustbowl wasteland.  Directly opposite the other side of town which leads toward Ebott.

Off to the right is Alphys, having set up a personal mobile laboratory and equipment.

To the left is everyone else who wanted to see the big showcase.

And me?

I'm in the middle of the abandoned road leading in both directions.

No traffic for miles and miles.

Just me wearing Alphys and my latest revisions to my old Solar Blossom OGPX OverTech and BioWare and Overdrive Sandals.

It's only been a couple months of intense research and testing.

But here...this was the big beta test.  And I was replicating, move for move, "Ugly Sonic's warmup" routine from the original trailer before the public outcry to have the CGI redone swelled to the point of breaking the internet...or so Aunt Violet claims.

And yes...because I just had to sugar the Devil on this one and appease Violet from afar...I picked a certain music track by one rapper artist by the name of Coolio.

Yes.

It was THAT one.

"Is this g-going to work?  I mean the way you described Competition Energy.  D-d-don't you n-need an opponent?"

"I'm hoping a time trial will work.  I'll technically be my own opponent.  The phrase "I beat myself" usually doesn't come of so literal.  But in this case it's my best bet.  Plus, keep in mind...it's not just Competition Energy I'm going for."

"R-r-right.  Determination."

"If I'm right, these latest tweaks won't be able to distinguish between the two.  And if that's the case, the more Determined an OGPX Racer is, the more the BioField Drive system can extract and convert into power.

Besides...we only have the one suit right now.  And even if we had a second one, Frisk is the only other candidate right now I'd estimate has the level of Determination at this point to fuel it.  Lastly, even if those conditions  were met, I haven't trained her in even the basics of OGPX Racing."

"All g-good points."

"Admit it, you floof-ball.  You're planning on training Frisk to use this fancy speed suit stuff, right?"

There are times when Undyne's instinct and intuition actually makes her the smartest person in the room.  And we weren't even IN a room.

"All I can say is that this better be worth being out in this damn heat."  Undyne poured herself a glass of water out of Alphys' mobile water cooler...then dumped it on her own head.

"This suuuuuuuuuuucks!"  She complained.

"Nyeheheheh!  The Great Papyrus comes to the rescue of his former captain!  Behold!"

And with a thwump, Pappy planted the very large sun umbrella into the ground and unfolded it.

"FU-HU-HU-HU-HU!  YOU ROCK, PAPYRUS!"

All I could do was grin as my suit's systems continued running through diagnostics.

I reached down and turned the domed ankle dials on my Overdrive Sandals.  You know...I've seen their design before.  It was on one of those Mavericks from the Mega Man games...the second one, I believe.  Yeah!  This was the exact same design as the bolts on the ankles of Overdrive Ostrich.  Coincidence?  Somehow I doubt it.

Once clicked on, the sections of solar panels slid out and wrapped around; between the metal straps and the lights all came on.  The protective anklet rings formed and linked with the ankle domes on each side of each foot.  When fully deployed like this the were more like metal versions of Naruto boot-sandals.  Opened toed but more than enough support and framework to keep them on my feet without danger of accidently kicking them off in mid-run.

The suit itself was cycling through its vast number of chasing light patterns within the nanotomic seams, piping, and circuit tracks.  Even in broad day light, the glow from these just made you like a living neon sign.  That's not even counting the energy aura that the suit itself projects.

"Main systems are up.  How do you feel, your highness?"

"Alphys...enough of that royalty stuff."

"S-S-Sorry."

"It's okay.  It's a habit.  I understand."

"S-so...?"

"In a word?  Determined to break some land speed records."

My eyes turned red and the energy all over me just swelled up like a corked volcano that was heaving, trying to erupt.

"Dude!  You got this!"  M.K. watched from the sidelines.

I wish Frisk or Chara could have made it.  This would have been amazing for them to see.

But I did get the Skele-bro's, Undyne, and even Mettaton to bear witness.

"I'm told that watching an OPGX Racer is like seeing poetry in literal motion.  Do so make it flashy, darling."

"I'll make it so flashy it'll be seen from space."

There's my moment of being cocky.

Real talk now.

While I was surging with confidence, it was also tempered by worries, as well.

I thought back.  All the way back to Chaopolis invading VGM-098...I remembered all of the slaughter.  I remember it broke us all.

The one that was relevant in this case?  Sally's.  Adonis had sabotaged her OGPX gear in an instant; and everything that could go wrong did go wrong all at once.  It fried her from the inside out.  She was incinerated by her own power in a self-amplifying feedback loop.  It was like being hit with the Speed Force at an infinite magnitude.  What was meant to protect was turned into a devastating weapon.

That happened as an intentional death sentence.  The same thing could happen to me...completely be accident if even one critical circuit was off.  If I miscalculated by on misplaced decimal point.

Seriously.  I knew the risks.  I was withholding that anxiety from everyone around me.  I had silently assured that everything would be fine, though I didn't know that.  I couldn't know that.  what happened next was on me.  For my sake...I really, really, really hope I know what I'm doing.

"Alphys.  Last of the diagnostics?"

"All g-green.  You're free to begin the countdown."

I took a deep breath.

"Alright.  It's now or never.  I hope you're all ready for this."

"I was born ready!"  Undyne fist pumped.  "Kick that road's butt!"

"Duuuude!  You got this!"

"I am eager to see how your training has paid off, Mini-Asgore!"

The nicknames Pappy had still made me chuckle.

"Okay.  You all asked for it."  I took my track runner position.  "One last thing."

"What?"  Undyne narrowed her eye a little.

I feel like a callback.

"Don't blink."

"Don't what...?"  Undyne didn't get a chance to add something to the effect of "What the H, E, double hockey sticks does that mean?"

"Three...two...one...!"  Alphys counted down before--!

Every glowing part of my suit...every light, every pipe, every connector, everything...lit up with pure white L.E.D. light...

I could feel the power build.  I felt my Determination climb.  My eyes were piercing neon red.  I was ready to beat myself; that is my old records.  That should be an ample source of competition energy.  Ample Determination.

It wasn't exactly the Ciel System from Mega Man Zero.  It wasn't Tony Stark's ARC Reactor.  And it sure wasn't Mr. Fusion.

But if this worked...this could be a major breakthrough in other areas of solving the world's energy crisis.  The applications could be unlimited.  But practical?  That was up to more research and development.

Undyne was about to insist I explain what the heck I meant before the spherical air blast shockwave erupted outward and for a brief moment sucked away all of the vibration medium and with it all trace of sound.

...and then...the sonic boom.

Undyne's eye had widened to about falling out of her skull.

In slow motion I caught the briefest instance of M.K. crying out "Duuuuuuuuuude!"

All that in just a blink of an eye.

...then it was all miles behind me.

"OH MY GAWD OH MY GAWD OH MY GAWD!"

Alphys panicked at the sight of twin fire trails--not the usual shades of yellow, orange and red--but pure white flames going down the highway along with a PIERCING light contrail separating them...like an endless wall or blade of photons.  A blade-wall of photons following the curvature and elevation of the highway, even at its most subtle changes in gradients.

It took her moments before she could compose herself enough to look at radar gun's tally of my speed.

As it turned out...I went over scale.  I exceeded its maximum.  Buried the needle.  And I was still accelerating.  By my own will I was stress-testing to see how fast I could get it up to.

"I...remember..."

It was all I got out but it was completely drowned in the wind currents and the whine of my suit's back turbines and other hardware.

I did remember.  I remembered what it felt like the first time I experienced this with a ride-along with Sally as a little goat sprout.  I remember when I tried this gear out for the first time from a visit to the Turbotropolis Speedway once I got older.

I felt like I was experiencing the very essence of each of Team Acorn's theme songs.  "I Ran" by a Flock of Seagulls, "Free" by Crush 40, "Where's the Fire" by Tim Feehan.  And of course the team's group theme..."Turbo Lover" by Judas Priest.

In that moment, I couldn't be sure but I felt as if I crossed the threshold separating me from Mach 9.9 to a perfect Mach 10.  Ten times faster than the speed of sound.  Even 5th generation fighter jets had trouble reaching this speed without tearing themselves to pieces.  Just as Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.  Only a real Top Gun would know for sure.

I was now the fastest goat alive in these fleeting moments.

I succeeded.

With this success, I may not have learned much but I gained something in place of the knowledge I'd collected from failure.  What I gained was more hope to add to the lot.  I had forged another piece of our ever-advancing future.

Undertale was catching up.

We would be able to stand on equal ground with many worlds I'd been to before long.

This was yet another responsibility I undertook as the Prince ofT his World's Future.

For all that lament I had pent up over my glory days being behind me...for never being able to recapture the good old days...for having to grow up and leave my most precious-at-the-time activities behind me...

...sometimes it's the most priceless of the priceless to be able to defy the odds and say...you can go back.  Even if only for the brief moments that this literal "speed run" would last.

For the time I was in motion, watching everything around me melt into a motion blur...I answered to no one but the most adamant of laws of physics that applied.  This was the feeling that Sally described.  This was true freedom.  This was a point I felt more alive than anything.

"Time to head on back."

I pulled a major U-turn and seared a set of white fire trails and white light contrails straight back to where I came from.

I'd have a plethora of data to offload.  I'd have a LOT of cheer and celebration to join in on.

But most of all...I'd have to accept that in what I had just done...I had become Legend.

In M.K.'s eyes...I had become a REAL superhero.

Isn't it ironic how I had stepped into the role I idolized Sally for?  The student does become the teacher.

I thought to myself...the cornerstone is now set.  Time to build around it.

Before long...our own OGPX would be rising from the nest of its birth.  It would take flight.  And it would set the world on fire.

Things were going to get interesting.  In the wake of it, I had a need I could only express in once phrase.

With a grin and my friends up ahead ready to give a hero's welcome and congratulations?  I just outright said it.

"Gotta go fast."

## Sub-Entry 217: "My New 'Venture'?  Reflecting Upon Being an Ex Boy Adventurer":

If you're following along, then you probably suspect that there's a pun or reference in the title of this entry.

Pat yourself on the back.  You're right.

That said, you've probably zeroed in on the word "venture".  And let's say for the sake of argument, it's capitalized; confirming a proper noun, namely a name.

So, if you've guessed that the focus is on a world caught up in the...maybe or maybe not staged conflict of super villains and super scientists?  Yeah.  I am in fact talking about the world of the Venture Brothers.  One Thaddeus S. "Rusty" Venture.

Yeah...I had thoughts before I decided to reflect on a scientist that Neo Arcadia's science magistrate has on a yellow list with an asterisk depicting "C-grade level threat" on a watch list for alleged unethical experiments.  Plus his world is...not exactly safe for work to say the least.  I didn't become familiar with Volt's checks on this guy until I was well into my teens and old enough to handle the grey area and the...really messed up details.

So...what does the balding red-head in the powder blue speed suit have to do with me?

Allow me to give you a compressed synopsis.  On his world for well over three...four generations now...a sort of...bipolar order was established among some elitist 1-percenters who wanted a bit more spice in their life and laid the groundwork for what became the Guild of Calamitous Intent or just the "Guild" and O.S.I.  Two opposite forces that governed the rules and regulations for a lot of grown adults--some with super powers, some horribly disfigured, some...well, you get the pattern of comic book origins that go all the way back to the 40's in terms of what is now trope or cliche....ahem...live out the world's most expensive LARP sessions every day as their chosen careers.

And when I mean cliched tropes about origin stories, they ran the gambit.  Born on an alien world?  Saw your parents murdered and swore revenge?  Raised on an island of immortals?  Caught in a laboratory accident that gave you super powers?  All here.

The issue, however is...this world was run through a dirty filter.  A filter of awkwardness, scandal, don't-ask-don't-tell, and those things you wish you could unsee and unhear.  All wrapped up in a nice blanket of why-the-heck is all this intermixed in with everything "normal" in the world and treated like it's mundane...?

Where am I going with this?

Have patience, because I'll get to the point soon enough.

So.  On Rusty's world, you would think this would all lead to some great and heroic clashes between good and evil, yes?  Well...it did.  On the surface.  The real legacy of this alternate Earth is in fact legacy...and failure.

Picture this: You're the second generation of this world and you're the best at what you do.  The world thinks you can do no harm and you seem to back it up on the surface.  Except...you're a passive-aggressive ego-maniac behind the scenes; a jerk to your 'best friend' (a vigilante) and a horrible parent to your own son.  The "adventures" that your kid goes on, as depicted by his own cartoon series has a much darker, much more messed up, much more traumatizing truth to it that you engineered and see no wrong-doing.

Time passes.  Our boy, Rusty grows up to resent this life and does everything he can to get the heck away from it.  But Jonah Venture Senior has to have the last word in and force dear old Rusty into the family business...even if the plan wasn't necessarily through his own death.  Yeah...I can now no longer look at "Movie Night" in the same context ever again...or a space station without having the word "Gargantua" pop into my mind.  Ugh.

So yeah...that's a recipe for some pretty awful things to come from a cynic in the making.  Yes, by this point he's no longer a Boy Adventurer, and about to enter the "world has incredibly high expectations for you now" phase...which will lead to a downward spiral into the "where are they now" category.

If I were to explain all the severely screwed up things that culminated to mold Rusty into the Dr. Venture of today?  I'm sure this journal would somehow be de-monetized if it were made into a YouTube video.

And without man-splaining much more, that brings us to my point.

Similarities.

Like T.S. Venture...yeah...I'm in the category of "ex-boy-adventurer" myself.  But, you ask around and everyone in town will most certainly say I'm no wash-up, no has-been, no yesterday's news.  I'll...take their words for it on the risk of feeding my ego.  Volt really instilled humility in me, didn't he?  I'm not complaining.

So...why am I pondering this now?

Well...recently it got back to me that a brown chipmunk in a flowery, red Hawaiian shirt--homage to Magnum P.I. maybe--was frequenting Comicon.

Didn't...little sister Gadget say something about a pair of chipmunks that got into the lab while she was still a control group lab animal?

Anyway...some names...got dropped and it made me stop and think:  Golly...I'm quickly approach 3 decades (plus a century) since my own origin.  And really a couple decades after my time as a boy in Miranda.  Not quite as much time since being a general of the Crossover Wars, too.

And that's the focus.  I was tempted to put myself in the Shia LaBouff category--I'm \*technically\* not famous anymore.  At least...what I'm trying to say is my glory days at least feel behind me.  The days that I miss more and more.

Now...I'm certainly not terribly worried about going downhill or being washed up.  Not at this point, especially since everyone around me insists I'm hitting my stride and have yet to peak.  Though I'd be lying if I didn't foresee somehow I'd wonder if I'd be the one, at Mettaton's behest, sharing a booth next to Lumiere, Tygra, Darkwing Duck and...yes...Ugly Sonic.  Feels like I've already name-dropped him before.  Recently.  Sally, forgive me for invoking a variant of that guy.

It wasn't that long ago it dawned on me how much time has gone by.  Violet would point out it's been ten years since that South Korean dude released that music video that raked in 2 billion views.  Wasn't he called "PSY" or something like that?

Now here I was.  In my post-UCIAT days.  When I thought about the future I was helping forge I was amazed...intimidated...and sometimes weirded out.

Well...like the Gorillaz song of the same name...we are most certainly in Strange Times.

Why does that make me suddenly want to take a flying Winnebago into space and walk across a moon that somehow resembles music artist, Robert Smith?  Also, that immediately made me wonder whatever happened to the production of "Spaceballs II: the Search For More Money"?

Ohhhh boy.  Enough geeking out, Azzy.

To the point at hand.  What do I intend to do about this feeling...this nostalgia that has me longing for the days of saving worlds and traveling space, time, and other dimensions?

Not a lot I can do right now.  And even if I had the technology completed...up and raring to go.  Even if I could jump off world...

...I wasn't authorized by any responsible agency to do so.  I was...removed from S.T.C.'s roster.  My permission to go world jumping was something I left with UCIAT.  To do so frivolously would attract the council's attention.  And probably get my whole world in hot water.

That was a bridge I would have to cross when I decided to go back to VGM-098.  One that for me...was worth the risk.  For me...but not for everyone around me.  I wasn't going to risk my family and friends until I knew where they stood.  If it was their choice to join me on this, they'd have to accept their own risk with it; whether or not I could talk them out of it.

Yet...I felt like somehow Volt and the others would be able to...steer us through any trouble the Council might have if it came to that.  So...yeah...I wasn't going to make THAT much of an effort to talk everyone out of crossing a border between worlds, timelines, and dimensions.

Returning to Venture and his sons, Hank and Dean...

I felt like if he wanted to, Rusty could get his...stuff...together.  Yeah, I'm still watching my language.  But...the nature of their world...probably would never let them.   You can be a good person where they're from...and your life will still somehow be made a living nightmare.

Two sides of the same coin, we were, in a way.  I made it big all across the world...the galaxy...the multiverse...then settled down for something smaller where I'm still really big around town.

Rusty?  Sitting in the multi-billion dollar skyscraper headquarters his late twin brother, Jonas Venture Junior left him in his will.  An industry, that if his alternate Earth has anything to say about it...will once again land in the red; if by his own terrible track record with Super Science or...you know...crap happening.  which it happens...A LOT.  Don't think there's any rebuilding the old Venture Compound this time around if he does end up broke and back to square one.

I wonder what my legacy is going to be like when I'm old enough to actually have a true legacy?  Not just ride the successes of yesterday and yesteryear.  What am I going to be remembered for other than "the Goat who lived" when my whole timeline died?   Sure, I did a lot back in the day.  That was yesterday.  I keep having to answer my own question: what do you have for your people today, Azzy?

Will I end up doing my own guest appearances at Comicon someday?  Not that there's anything wrong with that...conventions are actually pretty darn cool and the idea of attending as someone "sorta famous" or "used to be famous" doesn't sound that bad to me.   I have no way of knowing if I'll still feel that way when I'm old and burned out?  Hahahah...oh boy, Azzy.  You really DO worry too much, don't ya?

But yeah...being a not-quite has-been is hardly worse than death.  It's a pretty big burden lifted off my shoulders not having to fight wars so the next generation can know peace.

And still...I miss that life.  That very thing at the center of my core still wants to re-live the good old days...or at least have good new days in the same vein.

Patience, Azzy.  No one can know what the future holds.  Let's cross that bridge when you're good and ready for it.

So...I guess this was my grand entry of getting philosophical.  My sub-entry of picking my own brain.

I will no doubt be wondered over the month, what will come of it.

Fortunately I've got the kindness, patience, integrity, justice, bravery, perseverance and determination so see it through and find out in a natural course of time.

I have a feeling...it's going to be a good future we have waiting.  And the times I'm living in now will just add to an already-amazing past.

Boy adventurer?  I'll never get the chance again.  But now...a new thought began to stir and entertain me.  Perhaps...I'll get to mentor the next generation's boy adventurer some day.

That's a legacy, filled with equal parts successes and failures, I can definitely be proud of.

## Sub-Entry 218: "June Wedding!  Are Frisk and I...?":

"...and there we are.  Don't you look dapper."

"You know I'm more comfortable with this because this isn't the first time I've been fitted for a tuxedo, Mettaton.  But is this all really necessary--"

"Oh pish-posh.  No expense spared for the Prince of Our World's Future."

"Eheheh...yeah.  But that's not what I meant--"

"....we're almost ready, cousin..."

"Oh golly..."  I could already feel the blood rushing to my cheeks.

"...I’m not really good at this sort of thing.  but I did my best..."

"It will be fine, Blooky.  Now show me the magic you've worked with our beautiful bride!"

And that's when Frisk entered in the most extravagant of wedding gowns.

And the red hot blood rushed straight to my face as my heartrate jumped at least 50 or 60 bpm.  Or so it felt like.

Oh dear lords...!

"F-F-F-F-Frisk...!"  I stammered.  My knees were knocking.  Literally knocking.

I thought I'd matured by this point.  I thought I'd grown up enough being around who I decided would be the love of my life.

I was not ready.

So much so that it escaped me that I didn't notice Frisk trying to hide her own blushing face behind the bouquet.  It was such a Chara moment...back from that old photo......so much so it actually sent a chill down my spine remembering.

"Oh, don't be shy!  Nothing but the best for our Ambassador Between Humans and Monsters!"

"..."

Frisk was too flustered to even answer.  It took some coaxing from Napstablook and Shyren at Mettaton's behest to scoot her to my side.

Okay.  Time out.  I know what you're all thinking.  And let's nip this in the bud before it gets out of hand.

I looked around at the completely empty photo shoot hall.

"When you asked us to volunteer for your new fashion line, you didn't tell us it was for \*gulp\* groom and bridal arrangements.  For a line of wedding attire."

"But you wear it so well!"

"I know but..it's just..."

"W-we're not q-quite ready for this big a step yet!"  Frisk cut in.

Thank you.  She said it for me.  What a relief.

So...I know people out there are disappointed that this wasn't the real deal.

I know there were a lot in town who'd lose their minds over this...and not in the same way as the two of us.

Mom would be dancing on air.

Dad would be crying up a storm.

Papyrus would be doing the same but denying it...with about the level of success that you'd think.

Undyne would be whopping it up and yelling at us to lock it up and piledrive this relationship with all our passion.

Alphys would be squealing like a school girl and bombarding us with fits of "kawaii"!

If anything...Undyne and Alphys were actually closer to tying the knot than we were.

Really...June was traditionally the best month to have a wedding.  Shame there wasn't actually one.   Yeah...whoever's reading my journal at this moment, sorry for the fake-out.  Yeah...it'll happen.  Some day.  On both our terms.  Give it a few more years to mature...ferment...whatever the word was I was looking for.

To be honest...I did have kind of a ballpark when we'd do this.  And while I couldn't foresee the future and plan that far ahead to a June date...it would be nice if Frisk and I could...land the big day on that moment.

"S-so...uh..."

"Yeah...you look--"

And we both managed to say 'amazing' at the same time.

"Jinx!"

"Who owes who the soda?"

"Let's just each by one and trade them.  You know...for now until we're comfortable enough to sip from each other's wine glasses."

"If either of us actually starts drinking wine by that point.  Personally, after hanging around with such a clean-cut "nakama"--"

Cue Alphys squealing over the One Piece reference.

"...that is, 'crew'...we'll probably both insist on fruit punch."

"Sick fruit juice?"

"I kind of regret telling you that reference...but since it's you, Frisk...it's all good."

A giggle.

That's a good sign.  Hey, if we both can get us to loosen up, this photo shoot won't seem so painful.  I mean...it's not terribly inconvenient for us to be gussied up in groom and bridal attire, respectively.  It's just...when we do wear this for real?  We both don't want it to be forced.  We'll do so because we will want this by that point in time.  Whenever that me.

Marriage is a commitment for life.  And by gods were we both taking it seriously.

What was it that legendary game-creator Shigeru Miyamoto used to say?  That a delayed game is eventually good...but a rushed game is forever bad?

Yeah.  Same idea here.  I do not want us to have a half-hearted wedding.  And I'm sure Frisk wants it to be perfect, too.

We'll have time to perfect this.  We'll crush this when it's the right time and place.  And while I don't know the time...I think Frisk will be okay if I choose the place...

That place.

Still thinking about the future.  Still working to make my wish come true.  To make EVERYONE'S wish come true.

Project BridgeToMiranda continues and I'm seeing it take shape in the lab every day.  It's still a long, long way off...but some day.  Some...day.

"I know what you're thinking, Asriel.  And I support you.  I'd like it to be in that place, too.  The place I've never seen."

"The place I grew up."

"Some day."

"Some day."

It was then and there we started a new tradition.  Each of us formed half of a heart-hands gesture.  Like Volt used to use as his special greeting and parting when he was meeting my mom, Toriel for the first time.

I would like to believe...she still remembered.

"Oh that is just DIVINE!  Hold that pose!"

"Smile, Azzy."

"I already am."

\*click\*

## Sub-Entry 219: "Father's Day":

Father.  Pop.  Tosa (if you speak Jang).  Padre (if you speak Spanish).  Paternal Parent.

Dear old dad.

What else is there to say?

It's a phrase as old as time.  It's the most humble and sincere way to informally address your paternal parental figure when reflecting on one half of whom you owe everything you are now to; your creation started with him and your mother.

Father's Day was created for this reason.  The other half of "Honor thy father and mother" as the saying goes.  It takes a man to be a father.  A man to own up to the responsibility of generating life.  The responsibility of protecting your new little life.  Caring for your tiny little spark until he grows into a flame...and then your own pure ball of fire.  It's easy to speak in metaphor about flames and fire when the Dreemurrs have had the best flame magic ever recorded on our world.  The message would be no less if I picked some other choice of words.

But yes.  My point stands.

A true man does not shy away from his duties to do everything for the sake of his son.  A true father doesn't run when the responsibility becomes overwhelming.  A true father doesn't cower and leave his wife to escape being a father.  While there may be divorces; the ones who are true dads do not distance themselves to get away from their sons...they do so for the sake of their sons; because it's what's best for them in the long run.  As long as they contribute in some way and find at least some time to be a part of the life of their son and always remind that they love their son (or daughter) unconditionally...a father is still a true father.

Fathers protect us.  Fathers teach us.  Fathers discipline us.  Fathers provide for us.  Fathers build the raw materials that we take to make our own future with and imbue in us the ability to build those same materials--whether real or metaphorical--for our sons when it's our time to become fathers ourselves.

I've made a rule.  An immutable rule I bind myself to.

Never, ever be ungrateful over the things he does for you.  The things he sacrifices for your sake.  Always be thankful for each and every moment you walk this world and what and whom you walk this world with.  You owe it to him that you're on your own path and doing all you may do to be even half the man he is if you're living up to his legacy.  And...while I don't like to say it even though it may be the case for some and not for others...to be twice the man he may be if you're living down his reputation.

In truth, we do different amounts of both.

The pride of the father is his son.  The sins of the father become the son's.

My father, Asgore knows both two well.

In the latter case...I let sleeping dogs lie where they must.  He doesn't need me punching an old wound.  I don't approve of what he did in my name but I also believe he's done his time.  He's walked his miles.  He's making amends.

That said, he has also accomplished a lot that I only wish I could hold a candle to.  I will never disregard the fact that before his fall from grace...in the time he and mom had the unconditionally happiest lives together...he accomplished just as many great things for the Underground.  It was under his leadership that Home and New Home even existed.  It's under his and Mom's collaboration now that Newest Home was established and is thriving now.

With that in mind I have a lot to live up to if I want to elevate it to the next level.

And yet, I've led off with Asgore.  But he isn't the only father I've known.

I speak of Garfield P. Arcade.  Not who you thought I was going to name-drop first, right?  Technically a godfather rather than a father, but I'm going to count it anyway.  If I wanted to oversell it, I'd add an "Esquire" to that just to be unnecessarily flattering.  Really.  Garfield needs no one to sell his image, not even me.  He's as self-made a man as a godfather can be.

So why speak of a man whose appearances were rare...who I'd have had only one or two...maybe no more then ten at super most...times in my entire life that he's made a red-letter, life-defining moment in my entire existence?  Because I want to and I can.  Because he deserves it.  But most of all...because no paternal figure in my life should be forgotten, slighted, or left out.  I am an Arcade by name and by legacy, even if it's not by blood or even by sharing an actual household life with him in his home of Neo Arcadia City.

It is because of him that I found my destiny on that world.  Now I have a new one on this one.

Last but not least...Colonel Scott O'Conner.  The man who raised me as if I were his own flesh and blood.  As if I were his own species.  There were no distinctions made.  I was Asriel, his son.  His boy.  His pride and joy.  That's all I needed to be.  I loved him and still love him and will always love him with all of my heart.  That's all I need to do.

Scott O'Conner is a man who's known war.  He's known betrayal.  He's know isolation and alienation.  He's known suspicion.  And yet he's also known kindness, forgiveness, and a helping hand.  He's known that the enemy may not be the enemy that he's been lead to believe they are.  My human dad has endured far more than anyone ever should in being disowned by his own country, his own people, and his own family.  When the time came...much as Neo Arcadia City and Miranda City had welcomed him without question or second thought...he afforded me the same in adopting me as his own son without question, without second thought.

Three dads.  Three times the reason to celebrate this day.

But only one of them could actually have a physical celebration in the here and now.  The other two would say...they didn't need me to do anything for them.  They knew what I felt and believed.  Yet, if it were possible, I'd move Heaven and Earth to prove it in person.  That said, I would have to accept that I could only wish them Happy Father's Day in my heart.  In my hopes and dreams and wishes.  Somehow our bonds would transverse space and time and dimension.

Just being apart didn't make us any less of a family.  If anything...it made us a stronger one.  Even none of us knew how the other was doing at this moment in time?  We had faith.  It was a feeling deep in our hearts and our souls.

"....."

"You're...being unusually invested in what I'm writing, Flowey.  Want to share?"

"Wh...what?  N-no!"

Sure, little bud.  Sure.  You've never been good at covering up your interest.  You've never been good at lying either.  Just like your big brother variant here.

"Suit yourself."

I think it was also ringing a familiar, haunting memory that Flowey was trying to bury deep.  The memories of the other timelines he was the instrument of Asgore's demise.

That was another deed I made a vow to never bring up.  Flowey had done the deed.  But he was self-punishing enough to make amends.

Deny it all you want, little weed.  I know those tears you shed in all those Genocide Timelines were very real.  Call it bait for a trap if you want.  Even if this version of me was never there to see it...I know myself too well to dismiss it.  You are me.  I am you.  And even without a soul...I know you are haunted by regret.

That said...what about Flowey's connection to my three dads?

Huh...My Three Dads.  That could be a sitcom.  A very late sequel to the old 50's "My Three Sons", perhaps?

I digress.

His connection to Asgore?  Obvious.  Beaten into the ground.  It was explored many times by now.  Maybe it was best left where it lay and remain buried.

Like it or not, Flowey...he would always be your Dad, too.

I have to wonder...what goes on in Asgore's head around Flowey now that he knows the truth?  When I really think deep into...that puts me in a state of worry.  How much must still be on Asgore's shoulders knowing what his decisions led to in every timeline...technically this one, too, as my timeline was still a Genocide timeline that played out exactly the same.

Yet...it was what happened all around and in between that allowed things to lead to this.

Flowey's connection to Scott?  None yet.  Same with Garfield.

If anything...the closest connection he'd have is to Volt.  Though...when I think of Volt, I think of him as a best friend, not a father.  Still...he's probably done more things for me...for my sake than all three of my fathers collectively have in some ways.  This...technically makes him my fourth father.

The unspoken fourth dad, so it were.  And to refer to him as such just feels awkward.  But...at my very core...something I can't deny has a truth to it.

So here we were.  The Dreemurr Brothers.  Or...the Arcade Brothers?  Brothers but...with no real way to agree on a sur-name.  We at least had a father in common with Asgore.  That's all that needed to be said about us and our dear old dad.

"Well.  One last detail to take care of."

I brought out the perfect Father's Day card.  Perfect, in my humble opinion mind you.  It was that one lone one out of a whole section of factory-pressed, cut-and-pasted, brand-name set of greeting cards that didn't feel like cheap, sell-out, bull-waste.  That one that said exactly what was in my heart and soul.  The one that if you didn't know better...used my words.

You smirking right now, Bunnie-sensei?  I hope so.

I opened the card.  Wrote my own personal message.  Said my peace.  And I signed it.

What I wasn't expecting was--

"Gimme that."  Flowey snatched the pen in his mouth...hesitated and scribbled "and Flowey" underneath my name.

"Not.  One.  Word."  He growled at me after spitting the pen back at me.  Which I managed to catch somehow before it would have struck my nose.

"As you wish."  I smiled a warm smile.

If you ever needed proof that there was something left of Asriel Dreemurr in this diminutive golden flower...

I sealed the card inside and wrote "DAD" on the front.  I'd deliver it to him in person.

Fast-forward an hour or two and here I was at the front steps of the Dreemurr household.  I don't know if you'd call it a mansion.  It was big enough to be, mind you but...it just seemed unnecessarily bourgeois to think of it as such.

It was a home.  That's all it needed to be.  No matter how big and impressive.  It was a home.  It was where my parents lived.

A ring of the doorbell and a special knock using the knocker...

The door opened and...

"Howdy!  Oh!  Son!  It's you!  This is such a wonderful surprise!"

Right.  Surprise.  After I said I would come over.  Oh, the Dad moments never stop with him.  I really hope they never do.

"Come in, my son.  Oh!  Is that a card?"

I smiled.  Then I stepped inside and let the door shut behind me.

Yeah.  I don't think I need to keep this journal entry going further.  It would be a day of food and drink and a short game of catch.  Some time watching TV together.  A momentary banter with mom peeking in to add her two cents and a playful roast of my old man.  And...yeah...some heartfelt moments and some reflecting on the past.

It would be probably everything you'd think it would be.  It would probably entail everything anyone who has a father to think of, in this moment, that you would do yourself or at least dream and wish of doing if you could.  It's every happy moment you could spend with the greatest and truest life-long hero a son could and should ever have.

A cop-out description, I know but...if you can't tell...I'm just having trouble putting thoughts to words at this point.  I want to say so much but...there's too much to say and not enough words to say it with.  Too much to express and I don't think I could express it in a way that was the honest and true vision it is in my head and my heart.

I've set aside this moment for my Dad.  All three of them...four of them?  One in person.  Two...maybe three in hopes, dreams, and wishes.

To all of you out there who know.  Who understand.  Who believe what I'm saying with every word.

Honor your dad this day.  He may be the only one you get.  Some don't even have that much.  My heart goes out to you whether you have a father...whether you have more than one...whether you have one only in memory...or if you never even knew him.

This is Asriel Tobias Dreemurr-Arcade saying:

Happy Father's Day.

## Sub-Entry 220: "Sans-sationally Chill":

I don't really talk about Sans much.

I know in practically every other Undertale AU...ever other timeline...he's kind of a big thing.  A big thing by being a low-key, low-effort NPC most of the time...and the last Boss Monster you ever want to cross if you're one of those mysterious unknown players out there that decide to guide Frisk on a pure Genocide Run.

If you're good and skilled enough to actually end him?  I might salute your skill but my respect for you ends there.  Knowing what I know about what drove him to become so cynical...  If you are the kind of person that feels nothing over our deaths and our suffering...if you really ARE a true sociopath, I am very certain I do not want to know you.  With all due respect.  I don't want to meet the person that entertained themselves with the death of our world.  A person who destroys our world just because they can?  The blunt truth is:  we cannot and will not be friends.  I'm sorry.  But I don't want to know you.  You and Dr. Allouicious Adonis deserve each other.

That unpleasantness out of the way...

If you're one of those may-or-may-not-exist entities that played our game and went out of their way to befriend every monster...to save us...even me......if you were one who tried and succeeded at ensuring all monsters went free but not free of their mortal coil?  Then my non-existent-hat is off to you.  You are the kind of person I do wish I could meet.  Hey, if I don't enforce my title of being a Best Friend to Everyone and Everyone is My Best Friend, then why even have it?  I gotta be me.

Hold on.  This entry isn't about me.  Did I forget?  I'm talking about Sans.  Yet, I still went on a tangent.  For shame, Azzy.  For shame.

Anyway.

Sans the Skeleton.

Where to begin?

His official title, on the books, was "sentry".  Who here believes that's all there was?  Anyone?  Show of hands?  Don't know why I'm asking, not that I could ever hope to see the results.  I'm just going to have to assume some of you are raising your hands and understand where I'm coming from and the others either don't get it or don't agree and accept that "sentry" is all there is to him.

It's obvious that Dad had him doing...much more than he would ever state on the record.  There's evidence that he...was at least involved with maybe one or more of the Six Fallen Children.  I guess it depends one when he and Papyrus arrived in Snowdin and "asserted themselves".

I can't help but wonder if it was the will of our mysterious creator that uses that Annoying Dog as his maybe-greater-than-mortal avatar that they just "suddenly showed up".  Almost like a build of our "game" existed in some...alpha state before they were added and integrated into the pseudo-code.  When I stop to think about it, I think back to Wreck-It Ralph rules and the case of Princess Vanillope Von Schweets and how King Candy...rather Turbo...hacked her out of the game, reducing her to "just a glitch" and suppressed all the code and memories of the rest of the game characters so that her existence was just gone.

Think about for a moment.  Think of how scary it would be to suddenly not exist to your friends and family and everyone in your life.  It's how Volt described how STC threatened to erase him from past, present, and future as the ultimate punishment.  How that would work, how they'd circumvent the Goddess Contract, I still have questions in that regard.  Only he described it as the difference being...you don't get to go on.  You cease to be.  Period.

Honestly...I think Vanillope's case is scarier.  Why?  Simply because you DO get to see everyone's reactions to you trying to convince them who you are and what you mean to them.  It would be heart-crushing to just be turned away and looked at like some...annoyance.  Some...misfit or just some trash that needs to go away.

In this case...it wasn't so much a deletion but an inception.  Suddenly, Sans and Papyrus just......were.  They just existed.  And our world just accepted it.

Things like this were questions that Volt pondered when he explored the "red band" area of our timeline.  The inaccessible part that has some kind of chronal...firewall keeping time travelers out of what came before.  Like trying to change the data on a ROM chip.  You can't do it.  It's burned in there.  It's permanent.  Unless it's an EPROM like they use in a computer's onboard BIOS...that program is never going to change.

So the Goddesses, in their quest to spice up our game and "mod" it...replaced that MASK ROM with an EEPROM and recoded it.  Or maybe a more accurate way to put it is that they substituted some files that had been redone...altered some applications.  They changed the rules.  They changed my role.

Sans and Papyrus, in theory...experienced a reverse Vanillope Von Schweets.  They were brought into existence at some point of our development.  I can't even speculate how early or late it happened.  From the beginning?  Midway?  Near the end of the development cycle?

Jeeze, this is some prime fuel to gaslight someone from our world that wasn't in on the whole truth of Undertale.  This is how you break a person.  How you break their brain.  This is how you make a catalyst for someone losing the ability to care...to gain a Nihilist view of everything around him.

I know for a fact that Sans thinks about things like this.

It's so deep that you know that you're in a rabbit hole that might change you once you begin to accept that this is the way things are.

For countless timelines...Sans has had to put up with this.  Timelines going back and forth, going all over the place...and then suddenly stop.  That entropy that the Wraith steered our Chara toward.  That big reset Adonis wanted.  That...emptiness.  The end of pain and misery and all the negative...but also at the cost of everything good and decent and pure in all worlds.

It really was true.  Adonis' vision was self-defeating.  That's not a plan for a world of chaos.  That's  a world for nothingness.  No life.  No light.  No dark.  No love.  No hate.  Nothing to put anything into motion.  Just the end of all existence.  And he wanted to inherit this?  Why?  I can't understand.  I don't want to understand.  I hope I never understand.  That's a reality I cannot and will not accept.  And I'll do what I must to fight against it.  For hope.  For dreams.  For wishes.  For what might be an unknown and uncertain future...but at least it's a future we can all have.  The good.  The bad.  The everything in between.

That's what Frisk and I wanted to remind Sans is still in this world.  And it's worth fighting for.  It's worth spending the effort.

"Hmm?"

I raised my shades as I relaxed in my lawn chair with my iced Golden Tea in the cup-holder I had added.  Just me in a tee, shorts and my bare feet.  Huh...Volt's journal entry back then, when I was being chased by college girls started off like this, didn't it?

"Hey."

"Hey, yourself."  I smirked at the skelly.  Even in the dawn of summer, he was wearing that hoodie parker, those black shorts, and those pink slippers.  As a skeleton...it probably didn't matter to him.  No flesh, no organs, no nerves...no problem.  No heatstroke.

Gosh, things like this reminded me what I missed Volt so much.  He'd like it this hot.

I spread my arm out to the empty lawn chair next to me.

Sans just shrugged and took a load off.  He laid back and broke out a bottle of ketchup.

It was like this for a long time, without us saying anything to one another.

What was to say?

What was there to do?

Sometimes...all you needed to do was chillax.

Not that I condone laziness but....as long as Papyrus isn't around to judge?  Yeah.  This is the answer.  At least for this moment.  And Sans knew it before I did this day.

He is the best Dunkle.

I had so much existential stuff I wanted to talk to him about.  But...to start up a conversation now would just take a lot of effort I didn't feel like making.  Sans sometimes has that effect on a person.  Well...except for maybe Papyrus and Undyne.

Though there was one thing that could get us to break our silence.

"You know the old man decided this month needs an official flower."

"No kidding?"

"Yeah.  Haven't you heard of June-ipers?"  I grinned.

And there came the laugh.

"Well, I can see you're a man of horti-culture."

A little derivative, but fitting, Sans.  How am I going to one-up you?

"Any more so and I'd have to move to Flora-da.  But I guess I'm just too rooted in my hometown to up and leaf."

Triple pun.  Now we're talking.

"Especially when you have a bud-ding relationship blooming with the Ambassador and you've got a little weed keeping you grounded.  I guess every rose has its thorn?"

Combos now?  I'll look past the cheap shot at Flowey but the pun about Frisk was definitely delightful.

It went back and forth like this for a bit until Sans got tired of expending the effort to banter and just fell asleep for a bit...but not before leaving me with...

"You're Tori's kid alright."

"As-riel as it gets."

"Heh heh heh..."

And he dozed off in mid chuckle.

"Oh you."

I decided to get some shut-eye for a bit and enjoy the sun-bathing...though with all this fur, it wasn't like I was going to get a tan or anything.  And really it was pretty warm out for a mammal like me.

But...maybe time with Volt had managed to make me appreciate being hot and sweaty.  Him...not so much sweaty as werewolves apparently don't do so.  Yet goats can?  Weird how the Hybrid Species works.  Very weird.

Anyway...

Unsurprisingly, I woke up first after a snooze cruise.

"Hmm?  That much time already?"

Sans was still out like a light.  And snoring with visible Z's.  Now how did that work?

Weird.

For a moment I caught sight of the Annoying Dog.  And where he roamed, there was always a chance that he might ferret out Papyrus and run away with his Special Attack...again.

Which meant now Sans and my chill time might be coming to an end.  I certainly couldn't let him see me and his brother being total vegetables.  I mean...that would be idleness.  Or sloth.  Whichever was the proper definition according to the Renish...right, Brain?  I didn't even have to ask if Pinky was pondering what he was pondering.  Probably something about rubber pants or whether Duck Dynasty had actual ducks in it, perhaps?

Happy, happy, happy.

From one PSY to a different Si, if we were going on my recent journal entries.

That bit of jovial humor aside...

I got up, yawned and stretched.  I think I got Sans attention.  By that point, I think he was just faking being asleep.

"I'm going to go get some more refreshments.  I'll bring you out something to drink, too, okay?"

I didn't get much of a response but I think his grin got wider.

I went in and made the arrangements of pouring myself another tea.

"Smiley trash bag still here."

"If you want I can bring him in here so you two can have some catch-up.  Yes?"

"How about...NO."  Flowey growled.

"Could it be you feel your sins crawl up your--"

"Finish that sentence and I'll finish you!"

"Careful not to raise your voice too much.  You wouldn't want the next thing to happen end up being staring eye to eye with a Gaster Blaster, now, would you?"

"You can't threaten me with that!"

"On the contrary.  I wouldn't be the one threatening you."  I mused.  "Play nice and he'll never know you're up and about."

"That's blackmail."

"Naw.  Told you before.  That's extortion.  The X makes it cooler."

"Gaaaah.  Whatever!"  Flowey ducked back down into his pot.

"He's such a pushover.'  I mused before heading out with our drinks.  Though it was about that time the chill came to an end.

"Really, brother!  I turn my back for a moment and I find you completely wasting the day!  In the Prince's backyard no less!   What kind of example are you setting!?"

"I dunno, Paps.  I guess it's just one of...doze days?"

"Saaaaans!"

Doze.  Nice.

"I apologize, Mini-Asgore.  My brother is setting such a bad example."

"No, no.  It's alright.  He's a guest in my home.  He's not hurting anything."

"And yet he takes it upon himself to be a poor role model.  I can't take the risk that he'll goof of in front of someone far more impressionable."

Wait, did he think I was still a kid and still doing the "monkey-see-monkey-do" thing?

I'm sure he didn't mean it that way.

"Come along, Sans.  You've caused enough trouble for one day."  Papyrus grumbled as he dragged Sans across the ground by his parka.  Sans was too lazy to get up he was actually letting his brother drag him like a sack of potatoes?

Now that really IS lazy.

"Eheheheh...come again."

"If he doesn't get his act together soon, that may be a ways off, young prince."

Who was he punishing?  Sans or me?

I can't fault him for being a responsible brother.

I can fault him for being a stick in the mud, though.  But I'd never tell him.

I waved with an awkward smile.

"Take care now, young Prince."

"I will.  You too."

I'd make it up to Sans some day.  I'd smooth things over with Pappy with a brisk early jog tomorrow.  That would get him in a better mood.

Well...not much of a way to end a journal entry.

However, this was a good day to chill out.  You know I've had more than one journal entry like this.  Where I've had nothing to say but I had at least something going on in my thoughts.

This was good.  It was good to just spend a lot of time with Sans doing and saying nothing after a good amount of journal entry getting deep and philosophical about our world.

Well...maybe next time I'll have something better to run with.

Oh well.

I guess I bid you all good fondue and...some soft drink that tastes like orange and rhymes with fondue but I probably shouldn't say for trademark and copyright reasons.  Pretty sure you know the one.

Like they say in Jang......ja-ne (so long)!

Chapter 23

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