PLDF Chapter 19

> Chapter 19: Marching into a Festival of Holidays. Dare to Be a [BIG SHOT] For [HYPERLINK BLOCKED] (Sub Entries 181-190)
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## Sub-Entry 181: "We March On to A Confident Future":

No shame about the pun I'm leading this off to. Yes, it's March. Though...in truth, I considered taking a hiatus in the hopes of getting back to this in summer time when I could have grander progress to report.

But...slow and steady.

So...not a lot to say in terms of what's happened since last entry.
However, on that note, I can indeed see change all around us.
Thankfully the winter days are starting to wither and we're seeing warmer weather ahead. I know Volt would approve.

That said...

Flowey is a little more active now that it's not so cold out. Just realizing, now, that even though he's inside a controlled climate, he still seemed to be in tune with what's going on outside. And that usually determines if he's in a bad mood...or a really bad mood.
Playful jabs at him aside...he's really stubborn about maintaining his sour grapes. But...I wonder how long he can stay insistent about ignoring the world that could be his oyster.

I...haven't conveyed my intention about returning to Miranda City and taking us all with me. I foresee him shooting my plan down and giving me a load of angry criticism. Mostly...to preemptively refuse to come along. Did he...really resent Volt that much for his role in undoing our game? I'm sure...if he were still this timeline's Asriel...he'd be grateful for freeing us all...himself included. But...I...doubt he'd release himself from his self-imposed punishment. Further proof that every Asriel is at least fundamentally the same on some level. When I thought about it...I remembered. Self-exile was my choice back in Gaster's Void.
I could say that I was determined to maintain that stance. Let's be real. I had no determination then. I had given up. I was resigning myself to my fate. He and I had that in common. Asriel...Flowey...had given up.

So...what was it about Volt that reignited the spark of curiosity? How did he of all people motivate me to take a chance.
I still didn't know. What it was that made me choose to take his hand. Did I...really get baited so easily by him telling me accepting my fate and sharing my end with my entire timeline...wasn't what Chara would have wanted for me?

Maybe. I was younger. I was more easily goaded. Heck. The Wraith, through Chara, used my empathy and my guilt to go along with the plan. And yet I was the one time Fate's gambit didn't work. I...I didn't do what she wanted. And something I beat myself up over...was what saved me.
I know this entry was supposed to talk about "March-ing" toward the future...yet...

Times like this, I get existential. Not to doubt...not to second-guess myself. But...to make sure I've come to terms with it. Or more like...to gauge my own progress. To really grasp and revel in how far I've come. Just as a check or a balance; like how I made sure I didn't forget my roots or my wings. Remaining humble is how I stayed as great as Papyrus thought I was. Maybe not as great as him...but y'know. Great.
Plus, Volt would frown if I ever got a big head over my own accomplishments. Heroes shouldn't gloat. And they shouldn't think themselves above everybody. I mean...isn't that what they mean by pride comes before the fall? I did well with what I was given. I'd exceeded expectations. Nowhere to go but up. Still...never hurts to come back down to earth to remind myself I owed EVERYTHING to EVERYONE who pushed me to get here.

Man, I'm feeling preachy today. Is it that I just need to maintain my own discipline?

"You're too loud."

"I haven't said anything all day, Flowey."

Flowey scoffed. "D...don't try to distract me with details!"

"Okay, lil' bro. What's got your petals up in arms?"

"Grrr...do you HAVE to say arms to someone who doesn't haven any?" Flowey coiled a vine up like he was making a fist.

"I apologize."

"And then you have to deflate me with something like that."

The meanest thing to say was that he must miss Chara squelching his own kindness with something sassy or sarcastic. Though offering a second apology for apologizing in the first place will probably only make him madder.

Instead I offered him a slice of butterscotch cinnamon pie.

"......"

I smiled pleasantly.

"That's a dirty trick."

"But it worked, didn't it?"

"...I'm not giving you the satisfaction."

"Hey. Maybe one day you'll understand why I'm being so nice to you."

"I don't have to understand and I don't want to."

"Your call."

"You understand...don't you?"

"That there's just a tiny piece of you. Enough that this kindness...actually kind of hurts. Right?"

"Tch...you have all the answers."

"I don't have the whole story of you crying in front of Dad in the Genocide Runs." That was probably something I shouldn't touch but...

"Yeah...that's it...twist the knife. It really brings you down to my level."

"Come on. It's not like that. I just mean...maybe there's hope for you."

"I discarded my hope when my soul vanished. And if I told you once...I told you a thousand times. This world. It doesn't. Need. Two. ASRIELS!"

"Well...you're not wrong. But don't act like there's not a place for Flowey, either. There's always an open space, just waiting for you--"

"In your syrupy activities with the goon squad? Hard pass."

I shook my head.

"Not giving up on you, little bro."

"And stop calling me your brother. I'm you. An incomplete YOU. Which makes it even weirder the more I think about it."

"Not weird at all. I've come across all kinds of space-time anomalies. Even though this isn't a different AU, we're technically Variants of each other. Though...it's more like we're different instances. Two different timelines of the same universe."

"And now you're breaking my brain with this...this..."

"Quantum mechanics? String theory?"

"I want to call it a load of manure."

"Yet, we're living proof, it's all true."

"If you can call THIS living..."

Okay, the this journal entry has taken a different turn but...honestly, I'm cathartic right now. This is the most conversation that Flowey and I have had that I can remember ever having.

It was productive. Even if it didn't seem like it...we were getting somewhere.

"Flowey. Just let it go."

"Easy for you to say." It was almost like he was flushed in the cheeks.

"You know even if he weren't gone for good, I'd fight tooth and nail to protect you."

Flowey trembled a bit from that. The memory of that psychopath. They stung as fresh as when he was last making Flowey dance on his puppet strings.

"...you shouldn't waste your energy. Maybe a death sentence is the only way I'll rest in peace and be free of this torment."

"Don't talk like that. It may not be the life you wanted, but it's a life. Don't take it for granted. Don't be sour over it. Be glad you can even live it at all."

"I can't be glad. I can't be anything."

"If that were true you won't be so worked up about it. "

"......"

"This conversation is tiring, isn't it?"

"Don't underestimate my Determination."

"That's the spirit. But you'll find mine fit to compare."

"Why do you keep doing this? Why do you keep pressuring me to suddenly change my outlook on life?"

"Frankly...it's because steel sharpens steel. Maybe we both need someone worthy enough to argue with back and forth. Tell me you don't still like being challenged?"

"......."

"And that's how I know you're still fundamentally...me...at your core."

A long pause.

"Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Well...I'd say no but...You don't want me dragging this out. And I do have other obligations."

"..."

"Don't tell me you want me to stick around and keep bantering with you?"

"Just go. Be with the flirt machine and the gender-swap."

It was endearing that he had nicknames for Frisk and Chara, now. Unflattering, but still cute.

"I'm here for you always, Flowey."

".......I guess I don't want a reputation for being ungrateful..."

Flowey turned away, hanging his head, his drooping petals making him look like he was wilting. It was kind of morbid...and at the same time there was no mistaking he was sulking.

"I'm just going to sleep. It's a pipe dream hoping that I won't be seeing those nightmares forged from those bad memories. And I have those in spades..."

"Good night, Flowey."

I headed out of the room, switching off the light.

I stopped in my tracks when I heard him mumble under his breath.

"Good night, Asriel."

I smiled, closing my eyes for a moment. Then I headed out to enjoy my night life.

Yeah...March was here. And this was what I needed to give me hope it was going to be a good month. Hey. The third month of the year. Three was always one of Volt's lucky numbers. And one of mine, I'd say.

Well. Let's march on to destiny, shall we?

## Sub-Entry 182: "Hina Matsuri in Undertale":

Importing holidays is becoming a regimen of mine. Anyone else would probably be hesitant to go so far in depth to a holiday like Hina Matsuri AKA Doll Festival AKA Girl's Day. I'm sure my counterpart, Asriella would have no trouble not only bringing this to her people but also be able to take part in it. But, given how flip sides (and Rule 34, by extension) work it could also be plausible that she's importing "Boy's Day" to her people. Thing is...that exists, too, in my universe's Jang. But that isn't until May 5th. And I already had my Koinobori made up ahead of time. Heck, I was already amusingly looking toward March 10th...or as VideoLand knows it..."Mario Day". And beyond that...March 14th. Pie Day. And finally, March 17th--St. Patrick's Day on Earth and "Green Day"/"Mitzi Day" in Miranda City. Wow, March is just a treasure chest of great holidays to celebrate. Third month of the year? Third time's a charm. Three is just a lucky number for many of us Ultra Crew Institute.

Going back to Hina Matsuri...yeah...I also haven't forgotten it's the birthday of little big sister, Gadget Tress Hackwrench. Somewhere I know she's just getting a whole stack of shiny gears for her collection.

Getting this set up took some preparation and some flights out to our Japan equivalent. Turned out there was already a jumpstart in preparing proper shirozake rice wine. Getting Muffet and Mettaton to collaborate on...somewhat personalized sugar and soy sauce flavored "hina-arare" crackers and chirashizushi--the sushi rice flavored with sugar and vinegar. Lastly Grillby took to the challenge of making the salt-based soup, ushiojiro; with all its clams-still-in-the-shell glory.
That just left me to get all the females in on the same page with the placement of the dolls and the other host of traditions.

Alphys spearheaded this like she was BORN for this moment. I walked her through the setup of the placement of the dolls. If you really want details, the setup went like this:

1st tier: Odairi-sama (Emperor) holding a "shaku" (royal baton) and Ohime-sama (Empress) holding a fan. Often placed in front of a gold, folding screen called a "byoubu" and beside Jang garden trees. Optional accessories include bonbori (lampstands), hibukuro (silk or paper lanterns with cherry or "ume" blossom patterns), and sanbou kazari (two vases of artificial peach branches called "kuchibana").

2nd tier: San-nin kanojo (three court ladies). Each holds sake equipment. From right to left: Nagae no choushi (long-handled sake-bearer; standing), Sanpou (seated sake-bearer), Kuwae no choushi (backup sake-bearer). Additional accessories include takatsuki (stands with round table tops for seasonal sweets).

3rd tier: Gonin bayashi (five court musicians). Each holds an instrument save for the singer, who holds a fan. In order: "taiko" (small drum, seated), "outsuzumi" (large drum, standing), "kotsuzumi" (hand drum, standing), fue (flute, standing), "utaikata" (singer, holding a fan and standing).

4th tier: Daijin (two ministers). Consist of the Udaijin (Minister of the Right, depicted as younger) and the Sadaijin

5th tier: The fifth tier, between the plants, holds three helpers or samurai as the protectors of the Emperor and Empress. From left to right: nakijougo (Maudlin drinker). okorijougo (Cantankerous drinker), waraijougo (Merry drinker).

6th tier: These are items used within the palatial residence: "tansu": chest of (usually five) drawers, sometimes with swinging outer covering doors, "nagamochi": long chest for kimono storage, "hasamibako": smaller clothing storage box, placed on top of nagamochi, "kyōdai": literally mirror stand, a smaller chest of drawer with a mirror on top, "haribako": sewing kit box, two "hibachi": braziers, and "daisu": a set of ocha dougu or cha no yu dougu--utensils for the tea ceremony.

7th tier: These are items used when away from the palatial residence: "jubako": a set of nested lacquered food boxes with either a cord tied vertically around the boxes or a stiff handle that locks them together, "gokago": a palanquin, "goshoguruma": an ox-drawn carriage favored by Kyouto nobility. This last is sometimes known as gisha or gyuusha. Less common, "hanaguruma" an ox drawing a cart of flowers.

And that's all there was to it.

Alphys had it practically memorized by the time I finished the last sentence.

"Th-th-this holiday s-speaks to me! I f-feel so c-complete!"

I smiled. I normally don't make an issue of gender, but right now...it sure feels like the grass is greener. What a great time to be a girl, huh, my friends?
Maybe in my next life I'll reincarnate as a female and probably end up taking for granted what I can appreciate even as a male. I had no shame in being a feminist.
Though for some of us...ironically not something that they get.

"...can't this holiday have something like supplexing judo masters or breaking clay pots with fists?" Undyne grumbled.

"I find it rather delightful." Spoke Mom...Toriel.......honestly, why do I insist on clarifying which mom she is? Force of habit. Ahem. Right.

Toriel enjoyed a sip of the shirozaki. I'm surprised how well she can hold her liquor. The things you never really think to learn about your parents, right? Sooner or later you learn. Best you can hope for is it's not awkward.

On that note--

THUD

"Dr. Alphys?"

Oh wow. Those cheeks...are really flushed. Proof that not everyone has mom's tolerance for alcohol.

If this were an anime I'd swear she had those spiral things going on under her glasses. You know, like when Pokémon are "unable to battle" and faint.
And there was Undyne guffawing with that goofy face.

Volt would NOT be comfortable with me spending this much time talking about rice wine sake. But you know who it DID make me think about? Queen Brooke. And boy oh boy...did sensei...Bunnie keep her well sated with her best and strongest brew. I swear that woman could drink ANYONE under the table and not even get remotely tipsy.

Okay. Subject change, very yes.

And it wasn't just mom, Dy-Dy, and Alphys getting in on this. Of course we got visits from a lot of others in town.
Muffet of course presented me with a bill for her services.

"Ugh...no good deed goes unpunished" I turned my empty wallet upside-down as a moth flew out.

And of course there were others like Shyren and Fuku Fire. The rabbit shop keep.

So while of course this was a celebration of girls and women...what of the guys? Well, the child point of view is "this is the day the boys have to leave us alone" if you think the more grade-school level. I didn't give it much thought. But you know...

Some...took that more seriously than it had to be.

"Nyeheheheh! None shall pass the Great Papyrus on this day reserved for the ladies of town! Anyone who thinks about disturbing their festivities, I shall promptly capture and....umm....I'm...not sure what comes next. But rest assured, I will perform my duties as only the head of the Royal Guard can do so! Nyeheheheheh!"

Really, Paps. You didn't have to stand outside the house with Special Attack in hand while wearing shades and your take of a Secret Service suit and tie. It was a noble gesture but...y'know. Not really necessary. Pretty sure the girls in town can take care of themselves. And even if trouble did happen and on the off chance it was more than they could handle...they'd come to us guys to help them out, right?

"Nyeheheheh!"

You really are a cinnamon roll, Papyrus. Don't ever change.

Others...well...maybe mom took TOO much enjoyment out of the day.

"Is this really necessary, Tori?" Asgore peeked up out of the basement door.

"......."

With all due respect, Dad...probably shouldn't have tried to serenade mom. Some musical numbers are best kept in the privacy of the shower.

".......yes, dear."

And click goes the door.

Really. She wasn't all that serious about his punishment. Sometimes it was better if you just...let them think they're in deeper trouble than they actually are in.
Why do I feel like that's not the best advice to live by? The gods and goddesses help me if Frisk and I ever end up like that.

"One of us really needs to wake Alphys up."

Oh! You're probably wondering...didn't I forget some obvious members of the female persuasion?

Of course Frisk and Chara were invited to join in. And Chara...was maybe a little TOO eager to take part.

"Another!" She held up her sake saucer or whatever you call it before Frisk had to stop her from re-enacting that scene in the Thor movie. I...don't think Mom would appreciate sweeping up broken pieces of China.

"Don't you think you should take it easy?"

"You're acting like I'm some kind of lightweight, pretty mirror. (hiccup)"

"Oh boy..." Frisk may be regretting inviting my sister to this, after all.

Yeah...let's move on. Seriously, it was more than just snacks and drinking. There were other activities as well but...y'know I was leaving them to their privacy.
Although...I did only stop by for the briefest of moments to admire how well we'd managed to set up the Hina Matsuri set of dolls on the hina dan table. Mettaton was instrumental on getting the red carpet with the rainbow stripes just right. I believe it was called a dankake or hi-mousen? I was a little jealous that I couldn't have something as ornate as that in my own furnishings. But it just wouldn't be proper.

I would of course check back on them later in the day to see how things were going. Once I got permission from Papyrus to pass after going through "proper channels". Whatever his idea of that was.

I had to admit it. Being the Prince of This World's Future carried a hefty burden. I'd taken it upon myself to spread a lot of culture and enrich our lives in any way I could. This was yet another instance where I feel like I succeeded.

I wasn't completely up to my eyeballs in successes though. I did have my fair share of struggles and outright failures during the course of the year or two. I'd run into my fair share of opposition. Even a few ideas that fell flat. Sometimes even Frisk's support could only go so far so...I won't name specific examples, but I did end up dropping a few of my suggestions and trying again in other lines. But yeah...I think the girls and the women in town appreciated what I'd established here and now.
Being a feminist celebrating his fellow opposite gender felt like its own reward. I felt a kind of synergy that I'd spent my adult life running from. Mostly, because I was trying to avoid starting relationships with anyone who was interested in me just for my reputation and not for me. I wanted them to see me...to see the REAL me; just as I made it my effort to see them. To see the real them.

Frisk hit all those notes. And I think I hit all the same notes with her. We both felt this was a good thing.

What to do now?

Keep the momentum going, I say. The Eighth Fallen agreed, wholeheartedly.

Well. From Hina Matsuri to the next holiday.

Let the month roll on.

Or maybe it was more proper to say...let the month...March on?

Hahahah...I'll get my coat...

## Sub-Entry 183: "A Day About A Plumber..."

Technically we weren't REALLY celebrating an official holiday...but Vi wouldn't let me rest until I acknowledged the most legendary member of the old-school N-Division.
I think she was just doing it for Pit to reminisce about the old days. But if we're to address the elephant in the room, let's talk about that guy.

You know...it's-a-him! Mario!

So...how far back did "plumber boy" go?

Well....Pit says that Mario was kind of an old act even before the Mushroom Kingdom joined the VideoLand Coalition.

He'd have stories about tangling with the original Donkey Kong (now calling himself Cranky Kong) at a construction site that the big ape took his then-girlfriend, Pauline.
Then there was Donkey Kong Jr. at a time when maybe Mario took it a step too far, caging up the primate. So much so that his apparent son...? Retconned to be his grandson...? Whatever. D.K.J. took to the task of seeking out where Mario had stashed him in the jungle and braved the hazards to get the key to open the cage. After that...Mario and Donkey Kong went their separate ways and the big ape was last seen making trouble for a bug-keeper named Stanley.

Then, according to early Videoland records, came an incident in the sewers of Brooklyn, New York; just outside of Mario's plumbing shop. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that he had apparently changed careers after spending his original time as a carpenter who was dating Pauline. Furthermore, he brought in his twin brother, Luigi to make it a family business. Though...these days it's up for debate if Luigi is actually the taller, younger brother or if that was just retconned into just being taller and both are the same age. Ahem. Before I get too far off topic again...

The incident involved monsters coming up out of the sewers--Shellcreepers, Attack Flies, and such. While not many details were recorded, supposedly the brothers cleaned up the pipes of New York, which led to their first big adventure; finding the Warp Zone into the Mushroom Kingdom where the call for help from Princess Peach reached their ears. And the rest became history. By the time the N-Division formed, Mario had several adventures under his tool belt and was regarded as legendary.
So what does this have to do with March?

It was just coincidence that an abbreviated form of March Tenth just happened to look like it spelled out Super Mario's name. I'm not sure how long ago, per nerd culture, it was first acknowledged...then later celebrated on social media. But leave it up to gamers like Aunt Vi to make a pretty big deal of it. And for Pit to feel like he was very lucky to know an S-Rank agent of the old school heroes. That said...

I had always observed it as more of a reason to remind myself why Rotor was quite an unspoken hero without a cape.

I get it. I get that plumbers work pretty darn hard in pretty unsanitary conditions; working on sinks, toilets, showers, dishwashers, and other things that use running water. While generally he prefers a job where he sticks to the cleaner parts of the household conveniences...yeah...I'm not going to mention that it gets downright nasty for the parts the carry waste water OUT of the home...

I was surprised to learn it can be a pretty lucrative business. Plumbing parts, supply, and service get expensive. And in most Earth economies these days, it can really hurt more than a few pay checks just to get something you take for granted every day back to working order again.
Really. Is anyone actually OKAY with waking up to find water dripping from the ceiling or walking into a kitchen that's flooded. Or let's not get into toilets overflowing.

So I guess what I'm really trying to say is...yeah. I had Rotor on my mind this day.
I was hoping not to jinx it at that. Like I'd think so much about my favorite plumber and his profession that Madam Fate might ACTUALLY cause something in my household to spring a leak or a pipe to burst or other like.

As a precaution I'd been going through some handbooks on D.I.Y. plumbing maintenance and upkeep in addition to taking a few online courses on the physics of hydrodynamics. Everything from calculating the pressure inside pipes to designing water towers for use in a small town. Anything I'd ever need to know for general upkeep.
But don't get me wrong. I'm not learning to do-it-myself to save a buck or two. That's usually how your average guy ends up causing a few hundred in damages to a kitchen because he didn't want to pay some other guy to come out to fix it. I mean...was it an ego thing? Was it really about the money? Was it about maintaining the status quo and needing to feel like they were the provider for the home and could do anything to keep the wife impressed.

I swore I wouldn't get that way if Frisk and I settled down. If we had a busted sink or garbage disposal? I'd swallow my pride and call the plumber. Whatever it costs to have a professional do the job right would be worth it. Plus it would mean a lot less insurance claims to be filed over "water damage" that could have been prevented.
I remembered this one time I was hanging around Uncle Ed...and of all things he had this novelty practical joke in the form of what he called "the artful toilet". Basically a miniature plastic replica that could fit into a doll house; it was designed to pretty much squirt you in the face as soon as you opened the lid. Eheheheh...the bar was low for humor back then, huh?

Boy, I must really be strapped for subject matter when I'm getting into squirting practical jokes only a 4-year-old would laugh at.

Anyway...back to Rotor.

Yeah...I'd researched some of his AU counterparts from Volt's research. Seemed he was Sonic's best friend (his own age), next to Tails (at least a good five years younger). Your typical, shy neighborhood genius. A little goofy. But I could tell every Rotor variant had at least one thing in common; they were among the most level-headed members of the Freedom Fighters or...whatever group. Typically laid back but also the big, funny goof that would as soon as shout out "CANNON BALL!!!" before splashing into the pool...or a haystack. A guy who keeps a full-sized trout in his tool box just to eat on the fly. I mean...he IS a walrus, and all.
Of course, a mechanical and electronic genius in every retrospect. What Sally could do with CIPHER (or Nichole/Nicole) through 3D modeling, he could do with a far more hands-on approach.

A guy who took pride in his workshop/lab. A guy who tried not to remember he built a robot named "Ro-becca" that...had the hots for Antoine. Eheheheheh...ehhhhhhhhh... Awkward.

And yeah...Rotor had as much an axe to grind with Vorostov for putting him and his brother through a nightmare while trying to escape to Neo Arcadia. As a refugee, he had no love lost for those who made every survivor from the kingdom homeless and victims of Vortex Lab's cruel experiments soon after.
You know this entry started off about Mario and ended up being about Rotor. Huh.

So...how to celebrate Mar10? Um...pizza and accordion music accompanied by steel drums? You know the Mushroom Kingdom DOES have that one "Athletic" anthem that goes back
to the original World 1-1 that a lot of us gamers just can never get out of our heads. You know the one. Aunt Vi even performed a lyrical version of it one Christmas at Computer Valhalla.

As soon as I showed it off to Frisk, she was hooked and had a new favorite thing to hum.
I guess it's just as well that our world was a "video game" world. Made me feel like we belonged along side the heroes; be it swordsmen, vampire killers, super fighting robots, bounty-hunters, boxers, or...plumbers.

Hmm...guess this entry ran a little short.

You know despite being a journal of my personal thoughts, that I have no shortage of...I just can't put as much on paper as Volt could when he wrote his log entries.
Anyway...I guess I'll give this day some thought how to properly celebrate it.

Maybe Frisk and I will just play some Super Smash Brothers all day. Yeah. That works

## Sub-Entry 184: "Pi(e) Day"

\*sniff sniff\* "Ahhhhhhh. Perfection."

No shame.

We all knew this was coming. And man...I am SO glad I started this holiday up in Undertale. For Alphys, it was easy to geek out over a non-terminating decimal number. Specifically: 3.1415926535897932384626433832795...yeah I could go on forever. And Alphys sure would like to put to the stress test how far a supercomputer could calculate it out to.

Pi was essential for calculating the area of a circle or the volume of a sphere. In electronics, you couldn’t calculate the numbers of a resonant circuit without it. If I were still in Aunt Vi's math classes, she'd probably have me research the origins of the golden number. On the spot, now? I couldn't tell you. Sorry. But I'm not ashamed to say my knowledge has limits. Though I suppose this is where it comes into play...don't know something? Look it up. I always do. Sooner or later.

Okay, enough rambling. I don't need my mind spreading out in random directions. Let's get back on point. For everyone else that wasn't in the mathematical/scientific know...it was "pie day". And no one baked em' like mom. Sure enough at "Casa de Dreemurr"... There she was, back in her ceremonial robes (for no apparent reason) baking up a storm and doing so while shamelessly barefoot. I think she was...remembering the old times and dressing the part just kept her more connected to the parts of the past that were a joy. And frankly she needed plenty of joy to drown out the sorrow.

"Is...the size really that intimidating..." Toriel questioned as she let it cool. "Seems rather average sized to me."

Then again...when Frisk first laid eyes on it, she was notably younger, smaller...and probably a bit more prone to intimidation.

As a kid...I pretty much learned that the size of the pie was...normal. But comparing it to the average size of a human baked one...yeah. I guess it would seem pretty intimidating. But by my standards...the human pie was kind of...small. It's all relative, no? Ahem. So. Obviously, mom and I were baking butterscotch-cinnamon pies.

Elsewhere Muffet was baking...what I hope was plum... But…considering spider donuts and spider cider were the standard faire...I don't recommend giving deep thought into it. For your own sanity and to ensure your gastric...stability, let's call it. To be discreet, you know?

Frankly, Grillby had quickly mastered my favorite non-dessert kind of pie. The pizza pie. And boy did Frisk and I love to share a medium sized one whenever we went there together. I think Mitzi had taught him well. One thing I never had to worry about was getting homesick for the flavor of her wares. As long as Grillby knew his way around her recipe, I'd never get depressed. Though...to be fair...there was no substituting the missing company. Those days with Mitzi and Gadget...sometimes Sally would drop in.

"Mmm..."

"You said it."

"Gotta hand it to you, brother. You got mom's style down pat."

"Dude! It's the bomb-diggity!"

Yeah. I invited Frisk, Chara, and M.K. to taste test.

I'd say I passed my culinary quiz with flying colors.
All over town, people were baking and enjoying pie. And the schools were most certainly milking both the math and the confectionary aspect.

"You know, Frisk. I really don't know how this is going to make for much of a journal entry. There's only so much you can say about pie."

"Maybe so. But if you're going to write your thoughts down about it...then make sure it's from the heart and say everything you want to about it."

"That sounds like good advice."

So yeah...guess I'm kind of padding it out with some meta-commentary. Judge me if you must. I can only work with so much during peaceful times in my hometown.

Back on topic, though...

Obviously Butterscotch-Cinnamon was a Dreemurr specialty. But...that's researched for the type that is universally liked between both species.
For a monsters only kind of thing...no getting around that goooooood snail pie.

I think Antoine was the only one who appreciated it. Putting escargot into a pie crust? Zuts alore!

"You're thinking about him, right? The one with the blond hair and funny accent. His name was...?"

"Antoine? Yeah. I think I learned to appreciate foreigners thanks to him. It's not easy being the different one, is it?"

"I can speak from experience."

"Again. It's all relative. In human cities, I'd stick out as the oddball."

"Maybe not as much as seven years ago. We're...getting used to monster-kind now. It's...kind of casual these days. Like...you've always been with us. But now we're just...not so much as noticing but accepting and embracing."

"Thanks to your efforts, Miss Ambassador."

"And yours, Prince."

"Oh get room..." Flowey grumbled.

"They're IN a room..." Chara tapped him on the head, momentarily flashing the creepy face.

"Stop that!" Flowey got all flustered.

Frisk tried to withhold her giggle.

"In all seriousness. I got to say. You two pulled it off. I'm humbled. Somehow you, Frisk, managed to do what I couldn't."

"Eheheh...when you put it like that it sounds like--"

"Like it's a contest? Nah. No sense in trying to compete when you long since won the not-a-competition. Really. Kudos. The ideal is all that matters."

"Eheh...thanks?"

"Chara's just giving you a hard time."

"Yeah. I gathered that."

"Of course, you're not as much fun to tease as this little guy."

"Annnnd here we go again." Flowey deadpanned. "Why exactly are you an upgrade of my Chara?"

"Ohhhhhh...I don't know...do you WANT to have your darling little sociopath back in your life!"

"Gah! No! Good riddance to bad trash!" Flowey crossed his leaves.

I shook my head and smirked.

Wow, this took a long tangent. Right. Getting back on track. Like I said...Butterscotch-Cinnamon was the Dreemurr specialty, with snail being our personal choice researched just for us goat monsters/goat hybrids.
So what other types have I tried my luck at?

Gotta start with apple. And I've experimented to try to get the best flavor. Generally...I've found for me, Fuji work best. I've also worked with Honeycrisp. If I want a more tart flavor, got to go with those Granny Smith or Pink Lady.

There are few things that beat a blueberry pie. That's my opinion and I'm sticking with it. But boy does it stain your facial fur. There's never a doubt what you've been eating after a slice of this.

I feel like I should bring up Chameleon's favorite. Good cherry pie is the favored merc who's a big pun-lord than me. Don't know what kind of karma I'm inviting by spreading it around but...you know. Nothing but respect.

Now this is a unique one. While...technically a cake, Boston Cream pie is the large-scale version of one my favorite donut types. You got that vanilla pudding between two layers of yellow cake, and the whole thing iced with that good milk chocolate flavored icing. Did I mention it's Volt's favorite?

Peach pie. I find this one is pretty popular around here. It's even better when you top it with peach ice cream. Too bad even in Newest Home it's so seasonal. But when it's in? It's to die for.......er...not literally. Let's not give Flowey a reason to grin.

I think I invited trouble by successfully making a dark chocolate silk pie. I described its filling in the context of being similar to a chocolate mousse. Kind of air-y. Light. Slightly spongy but sweet and flavorful. Yet having that deep chocolate flavor that Chara really likes. In her opinion, dark chocolate is the only REAL chocolate. I...saw that correlation a lot when studying what Volt researched about other Chara variants. At least one had this to say about white chocolate: "It's an ABOMINATION. Burn it. Burn it with FIRE." Eheh...is it a normal thing for humans to be this passionate about sweets?

I could go on about all the different variations that mom and I have tried.

"Sometimes it's good to just have a holiday for something so trivial, huh?" Chara asked.

"Yeah. Though...some might take issue with it being called trivial."

"Would those same people leave your wallet at death's door?"

Oh boy. Muffet is most certainly sneezing over us talking behind her back.

"Hey. As long as baking and tasting makes us happy. Right, Az?"

"Yeah. Totally."

Well. Happy Pi/Pie Day, everyone.

## Sub-Entry 185: "St. Patrick's Day."

Truth be told...I didn't know what to call it when I brought it over. Oddly...in the part of our world that was the equivalent of Ireland? No such holiday was ever started. No celebration of all things green. Nothing about driving the snakes out of Irish country. Not a thing about it.
How did that happen?
So yeah. This was a holiday started from scratch and from the ground up. So...why would we celebrate it? We had no history to ground it to. But then again...the same could be said for Pie Day/Pi Day. I had no basis for it and it took off like wildfire.
So...this March 17th...how would I get this kickstarted?

Well...I kind of shadow dropped it a year or so ago and let the grand experiment begin.

To my pleasant surprise? It, too, caught on. In fact...it seemed like every holiday I had brought to our world had been a success.

Really. No one should have this kind of good luck.

Do I really want to look a gift horse in the mouth? Or...maybe there was just nothing to read into. Or maybe Lady Destiny was on a win streak. Careful there, our aligned goddess...good streaks can lead to overconfidence and that can lower your guard. But...I guess I don't need to tell her that. Fate sure exemplified that enough for us to learn the lesson; I should hope.

f you've reached this point in my journal entry and you've stuck around long enough, you should be pretty quick to point out...none of this kind of history happened on VGM-098, either.

The holiday back in my other home started because of a yearly accident in the non-toxic chemical lab for Volt; one which would result in his entire outfit being stained completely green.

But that wasn't the weird thing. By chance, it would also be sensei Bunnie's laundry day and the only training gi and sandals she'd have left were...green.

And Aunt Vi, in her obnoxious wisdom, would dig out her "wearable computer" kimono and activate its neon green neon raining computer code. It was, in Volt's opinion, an "eyesore". The idea of putting a computer monitor into fabric form is as unique as anything I'd come across.

Then Gadget would follow up and say she felt like wearing something different.

And so on...and so on. Until the last one to show up was Mitzi and we'd be like "You too, huh?"

To which she'd respond. "What are you talking about? This is what I always wear!"

That of course would eventually get the day christened under the unofficial name, "Mitzi Day". Though Violet tried to get it officially changed to "Green Day". Though...I think she ran into some licensing and trademark issues with some band. Can anyone confirm there's a band named "Green Day"...?

Sorry. I couldn't resist asking. Yeah, I already know the answer. Just felt like being an "American Idiot" for a moment. I was just being sly and rhetorical for the sake of being ironic or at the very least rebellious. You know I do appreciate when Chara can find humor in going against convention.
So, long, dragged-out joke dead and buried, now...with apologies. Heh heh.

So...how did it get started?
Well...ironically with some under-the-radar social media posts which built up to encouraging people to wear green on this one particular day before I revealed on that day we just stealth fully added a new holiday and hopefully a lot of people appreciated what I tried to accomplish and would be willing to do it again, a year hence.

"I'm not speaking to you or Chara."

"It's...very becoming...!"

Okay it WAS Chara's practical joke. I didn't have a part to play in it...but I didn't exactly stop her from doing so.

Apparently while Flowey was sleeping Chara slipped him some water...colored with green food coloring. And enough of it over several nights had turned Flowey's petals...bright green.

I of course consulted Alphys on how long it would take the color to wear off. She had mixed results but assured me that we could get Flowey back to normal.

"You ruined my sham of a life!"

"Now now...it's not as bad as it looks...!"

"You're right. IT'S WORSE."

"It'll wear off, eventually, you know."

"I won't hold my breath..." Flowey pulled himself under the soil.

I guess I'll reprimand my sister.................eventually.

So out of the house I stepped in my gloriously green outfit. An outfit that only the Riddler could match in how verdant it was.

"Top of the mornin' to ya, Prince Asriel."

Do you think it was a step too far teaching people how do an Irish accent? It...wasn't my intention to offend the Ireland variants of the various Earths. But come on...you haven't lived until you've heard Undyne pull it off almost flawlessly. Plus she's got the red hair and she's master of Green Attacks, anyway so...yeah. Surprisingly she really took a shine to it.

I waved to the fish lady as she continued to practice supplexing large sections off fallen tree timber...which I'm pretty sure she chopped down. Oh boy. I might have to smooth things over with the forest and wildlife committee.

I suppose I should also address that this new holiday became quite the boost for Dad's business. And while various flowers that were given the "Chara" treatment was obvious...what was more obvious was how much the demand for large numbers of clovers had gotten. Seriously. Patches of straight-up clovers.

Call it luck of the draw or something else but...Sans was finding a surprising number of four-leaf clovers just be chance. And a couple of them just literally dropped into has lap after dad tripped and the large number of patches of grass with clovers had gone flying from the stacks of sod patches and turf patches in his arms. How does one skeleton garner THAT much luck?

Papyrus...tried hunting for them. His attempts were...less than successful.

"COME BACK HERE WITH MY SPECIAL ATTACK!!!"

And yeah. Annoying Dog was all the luck he'd ever see throughout the day.

"Dude. That sucks."

"Yeah. Yeah, it sure does, M.K. It sure does."

I think I knew better than to tangle withe possible avatar of our world's god?

I stopped to help Dad up after his fall.

"You okay?"

"Golly. That was sure a nasty one...um...yes. I'm okay, son. I'm no stranger to having humiliating moments. Ehehehehe....ughhh..."

"Just as long as you're not hurt."

"Just my pride..."

I couldn't help but be in dad's corner.

"Pride comes before the fall, I guess. But don't worry. I'll help you out."

"You will? Bless you, Asriel. You are a good son."

"Just trying to be good in general."

So yeah. It wasn't that much of a detour out of my day. In fact, it actually filled some time I didn't know what to do with. On top of that...why shouldn't I feel good about helping my old man?

"By the way. I notice you're using the developer's prototypes, M.K."

"Totally! They're the right color!"

Yeah, Alphys and I had built the testing version of his magno-arms out of green-painted metal. It was just the thing to avoid being pinched for not wearing green.

Speaking of Alphys...I didn't think much about it when I told her Volt's story but...I didn't expect her to dye her lab coat green. On purpose.

"It's nice." It was all I could say.

I wasn't lying; as green and yellow tend to go together. But...did she have to go through that trouble? Also...I did feel it was prudent to ask if it would wash out. Otherwise she'd have to go shopping for more lab coats.

A stop into Grillby's for some green-colored pepperoni pizza with my favorite green soda on our world; lime-flavored at that. Rather tart, too. Probably why it was called "Shock". Volt would approve.

"It's perfect. Thank you, Grillby."

All over town it was little things like this.

Little things which built up to something special. And the people approved.

It felt like too much sometimes...too much that I was this lucky. That so many of my ideas were accepted.

Is this...my reward for living my life so honest and true? Was this...me getting to rest on my laurels after going through so many nightmares? Questioning it was both acknowledging a vulnerability that could come with complacency...and acknowledging that I was also very prepared in case that luck could turn around and turn sour at the drop of a hat.

One way or another...I had someone in my corner. Whether it was Volt then...or Frisk now. We were pressing forward together.

So...was I reaching too far for that star...if I wanted to have the best of both worlds? It was ambitious. It could be considered getting a little greedy. But I was prepared to accept that if I was going to be judged. But it wasn't just about me. All of us in Undertale...and on VGM-098...had something to gain. All of us could benefit. Our two worlds...could come together. For real.

A holiday like this reminded me who I was, who I am, and who I wanted to be.

"Hey."

"F...Frisk!"

I did a double-take...and there it was. Frisk was...wearing a version of Chara's old green shirt with the yellow stripes. There was the collar underneath that made it look all the more formal.

"I had Mettaton make it in my size. Chara...said it was okay. I...hope I'm not overstepping my bounds. And...I also know it has...history with you. With your memories. And...honestly, I would perfectly understand where you'd be coming from if--"

"No. No, it's okay. It's just..."

"I know...a lot of...feels...and......this could easily be interpreted the wrong way. I...I just didn't want to make it awkward."

I'd noticed Mettaton had made a few cosmetic alterations and changes as well so...yeah.

"I shouldn't be worried about my own reservations. What about you? I know...Chara guided you and...there were a lot of things to think about. Seeing...our past. Our tragedy. In different telling’s and forms until..."

"Until I made up my mind who I wanted to be, Asriel. No more resets. No more genocide or neutral runs. Every monster goes free. Even you....well...the other you."

"You...pretty much counted on me to make the other part of that plan come true. Somehow...I know...you banked on me convincing Flowey to leave Ebott. Even though we hadn't met yet."

"I had a feeling. And hey. You accomplished what I couldn't. You got Flowey to agree."

"I guess...if he's not willing to listen to himself...more or less...who is going to listen to?"

A long pause.

"Happy...er...St. Patrick' Day...Green Day...Mitzi Day...whatever you want to call it, Azzy."

"Happy all of the above to you too, Frisk."

## Sub-Entry 186: "Driving Me Crazy (For Potassium)"

"See you soon, Frisk."

"Good luck, Azzy."

And the Alpha-Catch started up as I drifted off. It was pulling me back. I could feel myself falling down the...hole...space........I felt myself reverting back to my human form as my Unitrix self-activated.

By the time I landed...or at least it FELT like I landed, I was right back where I left off with Kris in front of the swirling star in Mouse Alley. Specifically Annoying Mouse Room 3.

...and lingering in the air was the power of chicken nuggets.

Huh.

East. That's which way we went. Deeper into the black silhouette town with the scrambled garbage cans and crosswalks blocked off with traffic cones. In fact, our path was a straight path through the crosswalk with an impossible amount of traffic on each side of it, only stopped by the traffic cones.

But we didn't have far to go before we heard the dreaded sound.

"Noeeeeeeeeeeelle Honey Where Are You"

("Oh no, here she comes...")

On goes the cardboard box head disguise.

"Noelle Come Home I Baked You A Battery Acid Pie"

Oh dear lord... The pie is GREEN...and sounds vaguely of sizzling, looks like it's smoking, and smells like DEATH. Am I ever glad Pi Day is over.

"Oh, Kris Perfect Timing"

And she SLAMMED the pie down into the ground just like she did with the wine glasses, earlier.

"Have You Seen--"
And the interrupt was all but expected. His defeat sure didn't delay him much, did it?

"Oh my Luxurious Quuueeeeeeeen!!"

"Oh My Circuits Kris Get In the Car"

What c--

And suddenly. Black, unmarked van.

I looked to Noelle, realizing she couldn't see me so...nodding to her would be rather pointless. I looked to Kris and nodded with an awkward expression. We climbed into the car without delay. I don't even think Queen noticed me, really.

Again. Relieved to be kind of in the shadows.

Good thing the windows are tinted so dark.

Berdly ran in, carrying...a...pie? Okay, there are coincidences...and there is Madam Fate just daring us to call her out on them.

"I've baked you a Gamer's Delight!! Hmmm...she's not here..."

And off he went, down the path we came from.

Out of the car again.

"That Was Close

Kris Who Is Your Friend

My Face Recognition Software Does Not Compute them.

"...And Yet
Something About Them Seems
Cool
Robotic Even"

("...")

"Kris We Must Drive To Find Noelle

Everyone Get In The Car"

......and back into the car. Again. I was optimistic. But not naive. I was buckling up and holding on for dear life. How bad could a robot drive? I was about to find out.

Wait...I clearly saw Queen in the passenger's seat...then who was--

...driving...? Kris?

Uh-oh.

"Kris Press Directional Buttons To Steer"

Metaaaaaaaa...

"Kris Don't Hit The Cars"

We were going against the traffic flow! Against pink cars...walking with actual legs underneath them.

"So Much Traffic Isn't It Wonderful

Lightners Love Traffic

They Look It Up All The

Time"

Is she referring to internet traffic?

"Poor Noelle She Would

Love Hitting All These

Cars"

"Umm, actually, I...she, um, might not, um..." Noelle stammered.

"Stop Everthing"

What? Why?

"Kris Get The Banana"

Banana...? Oh. There...actually IS a banana in the middle of the road.

And without stopping the car, Kris steered toward it as the door opened. I shrugged, reached out and snagged it and handed it to Queen.

"Potassium"

O..kay. That was weird.

"Here's A Crossing Get Ready To Stop"

Sure enough there was a crosswalk and we slowed to a stop--

"Oh My Circuits It's A Traffic Jam"

Yeah. This was the most packed I'd EVER seen the streets.

"A Dog Must've Wandered Into The Road Again"

Annoying Dog again? What was that canine demigod up to...?

"Kris Be A Dear And Press The Walk Button

It's Just On the Other Side Of The Road"

And so it's a looong walk for Kris out the car door, toward the south and around the block...to weeeeeelll over on the other side of the massive street packed Completely with cars. And I MEAN completely.

"Umm...I'll go too--"

"No

You Must Stay"

"!?"
"Until You Hear All Of My Mixtape"

"O-okay. (Kris...hurry up, please...)"

I wonder if I could slip away and follow Kris...but...then I'd have to leave Noelle behind. And...I didn't trust Queen with her. If at any point she figured out the box-face was the reindeer she was hunting, all bets were off.

I got an idea.

I excused myself and exited the car and got out of sight for just a moment while Kris exited the car.

I dug into my pocket and found it. I had just completed it in the real world but never actually fueled it up. But here in the dream world...there was a good chance I could make it work.
I slipped out...my own Shoudouphone reproduction...and quickly changed it to calligraphy form. I hoped I had watched enough episodes of that anime Vi liked about the loudmouthed ninja kid in the orange outfit...........you know what, it's Naruto. Might as well say it outright.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu." I wrote the characters in the air and duplicated myself. I sent my copy to stay with Noelle. I went on ahead and followed Kris.

## Sub-Entry 187: "Aspiring To Be A [[BIG SHOT]]? It's [[HYPERLINK BLOCKED]]"

The alley we went down. A pair of Queen is Number 1 posters. And a lone dumpster.

I didn't have a good feeling as we turned down this alley. Something...was here. Something...chaotic. But not the same chaotic as Jevil. This was...different.

This was...!!!

Suddenly the dumpster's lid flew open. Something rustled. Then I saw it.

White face. Like a harlequin. Wavy black hair. Sunglasses with one yellow lens...one pink lens.

Overly cartoony pink cheeks. Like Chara's. Black business power suit. And that mouth. Every time he threw back his head to laugh...

"HEY EVERY !! IT'S ME!! EV3RY BUDDY 'S FAVORITE [[Number 1 Rated Salesman1997]] SPAMTON G. SPAMTON]] "

It was...a living marionette of some kind. A...ventriloquist dummy? And alive?
I'd recalled similar creatures in horror and the like that fit the bill of what this reminded me. Chucky was an obvious one. Slappy from Goosebumps. Rudy the character from the Funhouse pinball game. And of course Scarface, the Batman villain; controlled by the Ventriloquist.

I was genuinely freaked out. I'd been brave against a lot of things in my life...but this was terrifying me to my core. And I couldn't explain WHY. Aside from the obvious reasons, I couldn't explain the REAL reason WHY. Any list of reasons I could give would be superficial. The way that he talked. His appearance. His laugh. And why he was interested in--

"WOAH!! IF IT ISN'T A..."

Out he jumped from the dumpster. His demeanor started from hyper-excited and quickly tanked to depressed.

"LIGHT nER! HEY-HE Y HEY!!!

LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE All Alone On A Late Night?

ALL YOUR FRIENDS, [[Abandoned you for the slime]] YOU ARE?

SALES, GONE DOWN THE [[DRAIN]] [[DRAIN]??

LIVING IN A GODDAMN GARBAGE CAN???"

Whoah. Easy there, buddy. A little close. A little salty on the language--

And suddenly from depression to laughter. Back in forth. Even Mettaton couldn't be this bipolar.
He suddenly whirled and punched the dumpster.

"WELL HAVE I GOT A [[Specil Deal]] FOR LONELY [[Hearts]] LIKE YOU!!" As he spoke he shuffled back and forth...it was like he was on invisible strings but...!

"IF YOU'VE [[Lost Control Of Your Life ]]

THEN YOU JUST GOTTA GRAB IT BY THE [[Silly Strings]]

WHY BE THE [[Little Sponge]] WHO HATES ITS [[$4.99]] LIFE

WHEN YOU CAN BE A

[[BIG SHOT!!!!!!!!!]]

[[BIG SHOT!!!!!!!!!]]

[[BIG SHOT!!!!!!!!!]]"

I swallowed hard. Something about how he was saying that...something about WHAT he was saying just pierced right through my soul. And he wasn't even talking to me. I could only image what effect it was having on Kris. But...Kris remained silent and unmoved.

"THAT'S RIGHT!! NOW'S YOUR CHANGE TO BE A [[BIG SHOT]]!!

AND I HAVE JUST.

THE THING.

YOU NEED.

THAT'S

[[Hyperlink Blocked.]]"

What? Is he...censoring himself? Is Queen's domain censoring him? I don't get it.

"YOU WANT IT.

YOU WANT [[Hyperlink Blocked]],

DON'T YOU.

WELL HAVE I GOT A DEAL FOR

YOU!!

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SHOW ME.

YOUR [[HeartShapedObject]]."

Wait...you mean Kris' soul...? Then this is...A BATTLE!!!

"YOU'RE LIGHT neR< AREN'T YOU?

YOU'VE GOT THE [[LIGHT]].

WHY DON'T YOU [[Show it off]]??

HAEHAEHAEAHAEAHAEAH!!"

And there we were. In a battle.

"DON'T YOU WANNA BE A BIG SHOT?"

And I was having trouble controlling the volume of my...commentary? How did that even work? How DID my narration appear as...text? This is so weird.

Check...or Deal were Kris' options.

"Check. Spamton - He wants to make a DEAL but don't give him your MONEY!"

"MEET LOCAL SINGLES STRAIGHT FROM [My]--"

And the rest got...cut off, I think? Before his head swelled up several sizes and he started spitting tiny clones of himself at us...

Huh...clones...is the irony smacking me in the face, yet? Hope my doppelganger was doing well keeping Noelle out of trouble.

"THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH HAVING A NICE [Splurge] EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE"

Okay. Let's try "DEAL", Kris.

"HEY HEY HEY! I'VE NEVER SEEN A [HeartShapedObjected] LIKE THAT BEFORE!!

MY EYES ARE [[Burning]] LIKE DVD]s of ANY movie at Half-pr1ce!]]

I HAVE A VERY SPECIL [Deal] FOR YOU KID!"

Options: [Tell Me More] or [Not Interested--]

"Wait, Kris! Don't act before you think it over--

"WRONG ANSWER!! WRONG!!! WRONG!!! WRONG!! TRY AGAIN!!!

ENL4RGE YOURSELF"

And then he started spitting...prices as at us? I think? $$19.998...? $VALUES$ $DEALS$ $BARGAINS$ $PRICES$

Whaaaaaat?

"There's nothing wrong. There's NOTHING WRONG. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG."

Okay, let's try dealing again--

"KID!!! IN BUSINESS YOU NEED TO SAY YOU'RE INTERESTED!!!"

So... "Tell me more..."

"THAT'S THE ATTITUDE YOU LITTLE [Slime]!

"DEALS LIKE THIS ONLY COME ONCE IN

YOUR [[Ant-sized]] [[Rapidly-shrinking]] LIFE!!

TRANSMIT KROMER"

The longer we stayed in this battle the less it made sense.

And suddenly he started...inhaling our...dollar signs?

"CONGRATULATIONS! YOU ARE THE 100th VISITOR! CLICK HERE TO [Die]

We tried to deal again.

"BELIEVE IT OR !!

I USED TO BE A BIG SHOT. THE BIGGEST!!!

BUT NOW...

I NEED A LITTLE [[Generosity]]"

Remember what I said, Kris. Don't give him your money--

"Good call." I smiled as they refused to part with it.

"THAT'S RIGHT AND I DON'T MEAN [Money]

I'M A SALESMAN

I WAS NEVER IN IT FOR THE MONEY!!!

Get Big and WIN [W1ld Pr1zes!]

That was when the patterns started repeating.

"Spamton flashes an award-winning smile."

I panted a bit. We'd gone this long and we were only up to 40% of what we needed to show mercy?

Kris chose HealDeal to recover

"I WAS ONLY IN IT FOR

THE [Freedom].

TO MAKE YOUR OWN [Deals]

TO CALL YOUR OWN [Shots]

AND SOMETIMES IN THE MORNING

A LITTLE

[Hyperlink Blocked].

SOUNDS GOOD, DOESN;T IT?KID?

DON'T YOU W4NT TO BE LIKE YOUR OLD PALL SPAMPTON?????"

TAKE THE DE4L"

Good grief!

"No Deal"

"DEAL OR NO DEAL, THAT'S THE TV SHOW

WHERE THE PEOPLE WHO DON'T TAKE THE DEAL

GET FILLED WITH BULLETS FROM THE HOST'S MOUTH!

Get Big and WIN [W1ld Pr1zes]!"

Another round got us up to 60%

"NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABO4T! YOU GOT [Guts] KID!!

THAT'S [Discomfort And Abdominal Pain]] IN MY [[Guts]]!!"

[Press F1 For] HELP"

"Smells like Kromer. ...what even IS Kromer?"

"DONT'T WORRY KID, I"LL GIVE YOU [Deal Insurance]

ONLY FOR THE LOW, LOW PRICE OF 1000 KROMER.

AN AWESOME PRICE.! AN ABSOLUTELY [[Terrifying]] PRICE

PRICES SO LOW, EVERYONE I KNOW IS [[Dead]]!!!!"

Don't buy.

"WHAT!? YOU DOn'T HAVE ENOUGH [Wacky Stacks]

Kid, you're [Killing] me! HAHAHA!! HAHAHAH!!!

PLEASE STOP [Killing] ME I WILL GIVE Y OU ANOTHER DEAL."

By now we were up to 80%.

Spamton mutters "1997".

One more deal.

"DON'T WORRY KIDS I'M AN [HonestMan]

I JUST NEED YOUR [Account Details] AND THE

[Number on theB4ck]!

THEN YOU CAN ENJOY

1000 Fre3 KROmer"

Kris and I both agreed. We refused.

"WHAT YOU DON'T NEED IT?

THAT'S A REAL BIGSHOT MOVE KID!!
YOU'RE LIKE ME...

[Desperate]
BUT WE KNOW WHAT WE WANT,

DON'T WE?

W1LD PRIZES, HOTSINGLE, 100 CUSTMER, AND MOST OF ALL...

[Hyperlink Blocked]

WILL YOU TAKE THE FINAL DEAL!?

REMEMBER...
THIS IS UP TO YOU!
I WOn'T FORCE YOU.

Kris tried several times to declare NO DEAL but got hit with

"WRONG."

Over and over.

Until finally...

"Deal."

100%

"THEN A DEAL'S A DEAL! PLEASURE DOING BUSINESS WITH YOU KID!"

I collapsed and caught my breath.

"You won! You got 0XP and -D$4.....wait a minute. We lost money?"

"NOW ONTO THE NEXT STEP...

I'LL BE WAITING AT MY [[Home-made Storefront Site]]

IN THE [[Trash Area Closed For Repairs]].

COME... ALONE.

AND DON'T...FORGET

TO [Like and Subscribe] FOR MORE [Hyperlink Blocked].

HAEHAEHAEAHAEAHAEHAEHAEHAEAH!!!"

Did...that all just really happen? What...what was even said...done...
I am SO getting a VPN and a stronger popup and ad-blocker when I get back home.
I got back up and Kris waited for me. Closest I'd see to them acknowledging me.

Anyway...a look inside the dumpster? Looks like there's a pillow inside.

A poster for "Big Shot Autos was underneath one of the Queen is Number One posters. Spamton? Was that Spamton on the poster without his shades?

"BIG SHOT AUTOS! TAKE A RIDE AROUND DOWNTOWN IN OUR SPECIAL--"

There rest was cut off.

I shrugged and we headed through the alleyway, around the block to the crosswalk switch.

\*Click\*

And like that...all the traffic COMPLETELY dispersed. H...how? How did this clear up so perfectly?
Queen's car stopped in front of us.
"Get In".
And...we were off. And I thought it best to just put the whole ordeal behind us.

## Sub-Entry 188:  "What is True Strength?  By the Way, the Car Hasn't Exploded Yet..."

The adventure went on and I was still deep under.  No sign of Undertale calling me back yet.  Each one seemed to get longer and longer, though.  I'd said how much that worried me before.  But facing it for this long?  I was counting on Dr. Alphys and Frisk to be my anchor in the life I was leading in my world.

I still was no closer to figuring out the nature of DeltaRune.  Where in the space-time continuum DID it exist?  Was it piggy-backed onto our universe?  Was it separate?

I did at least suspect it was created by the same being that created Undertale.  So...what was the point of this spinoff?  Why DID our unseen maker have Annoying Dog pop in and out of both worlds?

And...really...why was it only through dreams that I could even go to this alternate reality?

Was it even an AU?  I...had my doubts.  I was almost sure it was its own thing.  But if it was its own thing...it sure was drawing nearly everything out of our world and rewriting it somehow.

I tried not to sigh as it would draw attention to me.  Every so often I noticed Noelle turn her box-covered head in my direction.  Though with it on she couldn't see me.

Kris...I felt like they were watching me out of the corner of their eye.

Anyway...the car was moving again.

Across a long bridge that felt like the Cyber World version of the Golden Gate bridge stretched over a long path with the city skyline in the background.  Everything was dark.  Night time, I guess.  But...no semblance of stars or anything.  Just black inkiness lit only by the array of skyscrapers...despite pretty much all of their lights being out...somehow they illuminated the way with a hazy neon cyan glow.

"Kris We Have To Drive To Find Noelle

Turn On The High Beams"

High beams?  Won't we end up blinding any traffic in front of us.......though.....it was curious that there weren't any more cars now.  Weird.

I expected the headlights to go to bright...but instead...!

"Uh...?"  I looked up through the van's skylight and watched as the Queen version of the Bat-Signal poured up and out into the night sky; her outline likeness was able to be seen far and wide.

Ohhhhh boy.

I guess, just like The Batman...this wasn't just a call for help...this was a warning.  At least that's what it felt like to me.

"When She Sees the Queen Signa She Will Coming Running"

"W...Why do you...need to find Noelle so badly?"  The reindeer in the boxy disguise asked the proverbial question.

It was pretty odd that she was singled out.  But...given her alternative was Berdly as a peon.......yeah.  The bar was low and about anyone was going to clear it except Berdly.

Queen definitely had...programming issues.

"What Are You Saying This City Is Dangerous

Imaging Poor Noelle Clipping Into a Wall Somewhere

Wasting Away From Potassium Deficiency"

Clipping?  Like older 3D games where objects end up overlapping and going outside the boundaries...  Huh.  That makes almost too much sense in this world.

"Y...you're actually worried about her?"

"I Would Be If I Wasn't Going To Find her"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.  But then again...I was this game's shadow, narrating for some reason.  Probably would go unnoticed.  Though...I did suspect that Kris was noticing everything.  Even the things that were out of place such as me.

"...

B...but why here?

Wait, let me guess...is it because...

She's week enough to make into your peon?"

A reasonable explanation.  Most villains tend to use that as the go-to for why they bully anyone--

"Ha-ha No"

...n....No?  Wait, I'm missing something here.  I've covered all the angles when looking at this through the perspective of the proverbial villain but...

...maybe that's the issue?  Maybe I have to look at it like I WOULD.  And frankly I had long since come to the conclusion Noelle wasn't weak.  And if that's the case...?

"Just The Opposite

It's Because She's Strong"

I was right?  I suppose if I weren't truly thinking this through...then yeah...I wouldn't understand.

But I do.  Question is...why does Queen of all people acknowledge her strength? This was a lesson I learned long ago.  About what makes true strength.  About...what bravery is.  Noelle has been pushed to her limits by this whole scenario.  Kris, Ralsei, and Susie have been through this kind of thing before so...with this being completely new to both Noelle and Berdly...

Gah.  Stop overthinking, Azzy.

"H...huh?  What do you--"

Yeah.  She was just as surprised as me.  More so, in fact.

So we've established that she's truly strong.  We've established Queen wants her as a peon because of that.  So...what does it all add up to...?

"Kris Stop The Car"

And we reached the other side of the bridge.

"What's...wrong with it?"  Box Noelle asked--

KABOOOOOM

We had gotten out and away from it just in time as the whole thing just EXPLODED violently.

"Phew

I was Just Concerned Because It Hadn't Exploded Yet"

Exploded.  Of course.  Exploded.  Why should I expect anything else?

Was I really this used to things getting thrown to the ground, blown up, or crushed under something falling from the sky?

"Looks Like We're Have To Split Up On Foot

...

Kris If You See Noelle

Tell Her My Knowledge Of Her Preferences Is Absolute

And If She Needs Proof

Use This"

"(Queen's Mixtape was thrown into your KEY ITEMS.)"

"Toodles"

And we were on our own again.

Once she was gone and we passed the next crosswalk, Noelle stowed the box disguise.

"Ph...phew...

...

Somehow, I feel like we're almost out of here.

Let's go, Kris! ...and Asta!"

Aww.

I just gave a thumbs up and a pleasant smile.  Kris...remained blank as a refrigerator, eyes hidden under their bangs.

No sooner had we gone on our way a fleet of those pink cars just blocked off the entire street we just came from; going all the way back across the bridge.

"Gosh, that was close, wasn't it, Kris...?"

"Seems we keep getting into these close shaves one after the other.  Glad our luck is holding out (knock on wood)."  I spoke out of turn.

"This...Strange world...this big city...

It's so wild... It kind of makes my head spin."

I understood perfectly.  It wasn't like home.  It wasn't like ANY world I'd been to.  I'd been all throughout cyberspace in various simulators.  I'd been through LYOKO.  This world...it was like Alice in Wonderland...the Matrix...it was like the Nightmare Before Christmas...Gotham City.....too many Tim Burton-esque worlds to nail down.

Well.  No sense in dwelling on it.  The path ahead was blocked off by another electric arc.  And to our left on the wall was some kind of new puzzle.

A speaker under a monitor with a single question mark.  Okay......getting real Edward Nygma vibes...or was it Edward Norton...or Edward Nashton?  Which ID was the man with the overuse of duct-tape and greeting cards, again?

Frankly I wanted to unmask the truth behind Queen.  I'd long since put together she was at least connected to King and Lancer.

Huh.  I hadn't thought of Lancer all this time.  I barely met him, in fact.  He didn't even acknowledge my presence so...I guess fair was fair.

"Maybe if I go...down...here?"  Noelle jumped the line of traffic cones and stepped on the tile switch on the other side.  It was marked with a--

"D!!!"

Yeah.  One letter.  And sure enough the display changed to a letter D as the speaker spoke in that Speak-and-Spell manner.  Y'know...like a Macintosh speech program.

The electric barrier disappeared.  But now there was another one blocking Noelle's progress.

And a new tile in front of Kris.

I smiled as the scenario suddenly became obvious.  Teamwork it was.

Kris stepped on the tile and the next barrier dissolved, letting Noelle access the next tile ahead of her.  This one with an E on it.

"E!!!"

And we followed the winding path.

"...when I said this city makes my head spin...

I didn't mean in a bad way...you know?

I always wanted to go someplace new, you know?"

Another set of tiles...

"C!!!"

What was it spelling this time?

"...and Dess...always told me she'd take me.  Somewhere like this."

Dess?  Who was Dess?  Her mother?  Her sister?  Who?  I'd have to look this up.

"E!!!"

"Somewhere with shining lights.

Don't you miss, exploring, Kris?"

Kris remained silent.

I...I understood this feeling better than anyone knew.  I...I missed being UCIAT.  I missed being part of STC (though I didn't miss answering to the Council any more than Volt did.)  And I missed being an action hero.

"Back when the four of us were kids?"

Hmm...now she was getting me nostalgic.

"M!!!"

Okay...I had a feeling I knew where this was going but...still other words that contained this combination in this order...

"Gosh, remember that night we explored the forest behind the graveyard?

Ha, I know we never found anything interesting back there...

I mostly remember...Crying because I was scared."

Preaching to the choir, Noelle.  Gods...she was seeming like a younger, female version of me at her core.

"B!!!"

Okay, pretty sure I knew the answer to this puzzle.  If I was right, there were two letters left.

"But for some reason, I feel...nostalgic thinking about it.  Dess wo[omg away my tears with Azzy's jacket.  With warm sleeves that smelled like cinnamon."

I fought back the urge to blush in the cheeks, having needed to remind myself that she was talking about this world's Asriel.

"E!!!"

And yeah...there was the cinnamon connection again.  Seems mom and I were connected to butterscotch and cinnamon, fundamentally in more than one world.

"I guess I didn't mind being scared if it meant...

Someone would comfort me."

"R!!!"

I looked down at the ground, my eyes disappearing beneath the shadow of my head fur.  I was this close to letting a tear drop off my face.  I knew this feeling so well.

I knew what this was.  Noelle was reminding me...what it was like being a kid again.  I...was so caught up in my need to live in the moment...live for the present and press toward the future...I lost sight of looking back to remember my roots.  To remember where I came from...and..establish who Asriel Dreemurr......Asriel Arcade was...is...and will always be.

"December."  I pondered the password.

Noelle hopped over the traffic cones and sighed.

"(Kris is the only one who knows how weird I am.)"

Not...the only one.  And really...it's good to be weird.

I...needed to relieve this feeling.  Maybe thinking about accordions, hamsters, and mashed potatoes would help?

"(It's not fair, y'know!?)"

No.  No, it's not.

"(Everyone knows how weird YOU are.  Fahahahahah.)"

Okay, that almost made me chortle.  But I didn't want to feel like we were having fun at Kris' expense.  I...still didn't have a gauge on whether or not they even HAD a sense of humor.

Oh well.

At some point...I'd be able to thank her.  Thank her for helping me come to terms with my own feelings.

I found myself actually...open to the idea of one day meeting DeltaRune's Asriel.  I mean...I'd already met Asriella....why not another version of me?

Well...the scientist in me could list hundreds of reasons why.  But...the kid in me...could list just as many reasons to say...why not?

Ahead, we were still in the city...but...now there was something new to us explore.

## Sub-Entry 189: "Reunion At Last!":

We'd been separated from Susie and Ralsei for a long time now.  This had become Kris', Noelle's, and my adventure.  I had to wonder if our group wouldn't be too big if we all  hooked back up again.  I mean...yeah, Final Fantasy parties were what...four in total?  This game had maintained a balance at three of us at any given time.  Though...I was kind of bending the rule to four.  But with Noelle?  We'd be five.  That felt game-breaking somehow and probably more advantage than would be considered fair play.

But if we're talking what's fair?  What about those RPG's where you have about 60 characters; divided up into pairs and trios.  Y'know, like Namco x Capcom.  Or Project X-Zone and its sequel?  Cycling through THAT many heroes required a whole different kind of strategy.  But...y'know.

I thought about the last puzzle we solved.

December.  De...wait...didn't Noelle mention someone named Dess?  Dess...December?  Was it coincidence.

I thought back to Alphys' classroom.  I remember...glancing at the role call roster.

Wait.  Noelle's family name was "Holiday".  Kinda like Dr. Rebecca Holiday back in Rex's world.

...

Wait.  Her father's name was Rudy...or rather...Rudolph.  Rudolph Holiday.  Dess (December?) Holiday.  Noelle Holiday.  And the thing that immediately comes to mind?  A lot of Christmas symbolism.

Too many coincidences to be coincidence.  While this FELT like a Goddess Destiny move...yeah...this felt like the humor of our unseen creator...creators?

Maybe if I got a moment with Annoying Dog I could get some kind of clue.

Though...I don't think he's the talkative time.  With my luck he'd probably run me down repeatedly in a golf cart or something and the last thing I'd see would be our own Undertale Game Over screen.  Apparently that was something Flowey was WAAAY too familiar with for me to safely bring up again.

Wait, why WOULD something like that be here in DeltaRune?

Huh.  Something to ponder on my own time.  Right now...get your head in the "now-now"; Gorillaz moment aside.  Where...are we this time?

We were in the midst of...a carnival?

Seriously.  This was clearly a row of booths like you find in a midway.  Stuff like throwing rings over bottles or bursting balloons.  Those kind of carnie games with redemption prizes; stuffed bears and the like.

Floating around were...more of those 8-bit objects...balloons this time.  Like balloons if they were in mid "VideoLand" blip/disintegration.  It looked like they had circuit paths etched on them.  Even the strings were...blocky...?

"It's a ball-throwing game.  Prizes are seated under the counter."  I observed one of the stalls.

Everything was like a real carnival.  Though...the hovering neon pop-ups, lights, and display sure gave it away.  Plus...there were the circuit paths behind the stalls.

Everything felt awesome.

Until...

"OH-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO!!!"

I groaned just as Noelle blanched.

"O-oh no, she's coming back this way!!"

This "game world" doesn't give you time to breathe, does it?

"I'll hide in that stall!"

Noelle ducked behind the stack of bottles in a tent-shaped booth with a hovering neon "AD" sign above it.

In comes the mechanical Queen of the hour...

"Hey Check This Out"

She said before stepping back and hurling something at the stack of bottles that Noelle was hiding behind.  And every bottle went FLYING with an EXPLOSION at the center!  Noelle was revealed...wearing the cardboard box head disguise.

"Sweet Right"

Admittedly...that made my eye twitch for a moment.  Thank goodness the reindeer thought to double down on the hiding method.

"Where's My Prize"

"Oh!  Um..."  Noelle stammered before grabbing a wrapped from behind the counter and presenting it.

"Ha Ha Nice"

Queen started to walk away before she stopped in her tracks and said

"Wait I Actually Don't Want This"

Then she walked back over to Kris and rested it on their head.

Then she turned around and left in a hurry.

I just blinked repeatedly, my brain trying to catch up to what just happened despite it being pretty simple to comprehend.

"What in the absolute...!"

Kris just stood there with the present on their head.

"Never going to figure this villainess out..."  I muttered.

It was about that time I heard some familiar voices and turned around to see my goat wizard mirror approaching with cotton candy in hand and Susie following behind, arms folded behind her head in a relaxed "I-don't-give-a-crap" position.

Well hello there, handsome mirror........and Susie.

"Hahahahahah, how was THAT!?"  And speaking of the mauve croco-dino...whatever she was...

Someone was sounding proud of herself.  You know what?  I haven't been around her for a bit.  I'm going to cut her some slack.  She's earned it.  And I'm sure hanging around Ralsei has to have done SOME good.  Right?

"Haha, Susie!  You're not supposed to ATTACK people with it!"  He was smiling so that was a good sign.

"Oh yeah!?  Watch me!!!"

And that's when they noticed us.

"Kris!!!  There you are!!!"

"And the Old Fart's with you too."

"Heh.  You caught up later than I thought you would.  You'd think a youngster would be able to outpace a young geezer."  I mused.  Okay moment of cutting her slack over.  She totally had that jab coming.

She ignored me.

"Kris!  Check out my new attack!!"

Wait...was that a genuine excited smile and not something...sinister or bad girl looking for a change?  Huh.

And she immediately performed what I can only guess was her take on the rushing wave fist, "Hadouken".  The fireball was tiny and cyan-colored as it left her palms and collided with Kris...and restored 2 HP of health?

I immediately got what Ralsei meant.  Yeah.  Healing isn't meant to be used as an attack.

But wait...if someone like Susie could make use of the most basic of healing spells...?

...I suppose this should probably depress me.  Always something to remind me I have long since lost my magic.

"(You felt slightly healed)"

As if Kris couldn't figure that out.  But y'know...at least I'm doing something on this dream trip.

"Heh, how's that!?  Meet the new healing master, Kris!"

It took everything I had to force back the laughter.  As much as I found that amusing...I wasn't going to be a jerk about it.  You know what?  You earned this.  This is your moment--

"Oh.  Yes.  She is a real... "master" at it, Kris.

Wait.  Was Ralsei just SARCASTIC just now?  Touché, handsome mirror.  Touché.

"God, teaching you sarcasm was a mistake."  Susie looked sly.

"Hahahahahaha!"  Ralsei was having a good laugh.

"...Oh, Kris...?  What's that you have there?  Is that a...gift for someone?"

Here they were at a Decision Gate.  There should have only been four options: Give to Ralsei.  Give to Noelle.  Give to Susie.  Give to...(ugh)...Berdly.  But...there was a fifth option.  Give to Asta.

Suddenly...I mattered?

It would be interesting to see if I could bring an object back with me to the real world.  You know.  Prove the Nightmare on Elm Street theory but with a gift box rather than Fred Krueger's fedora.

I considered the other possibilities.  If Kris gives it to--

\* Give to Berdly \*

HEY!  I didn't get map out the possibilities!  My predictions for what would happen!  And really! Berdly was your first choice, Kris?

Speaking of the Falco cosplayer...

"Kris, have you seen..."

And he stopped in his tracks to suddenly freak out.

"Kris!?  We took a break from trucing for ONE second...  And you're already back with SUSIE?!"

I appreciated the irony but...

"???????"

Oh yeah.  Susie took notice.

"Should have expected this.  Hmmph...."  Boy did birdy look dejected.

I guess I couldn't blame him.  C'mon, Azzy.  Be the bigger person.  Even arrogant brainy jerks need a little bit of love and respect.

"You couldn't keep up with my puzzle-solving skills!"

......I retract everything.

And Kris walked over and presented the gift.

"H...huh...?"

That look just now.  Priceless.

He opened it to find...!

Okay.  There a coincidences...and then there's..."what-sorcery-is-this" level.

"A plush...?  Of...me?"

Awwww...!

"With...nipples?"

OH COME ONNNNNNN!!!

This is me...mentally pounding me head against a wall...wishing I could physically do it without freaking everyone out around me.

Right now I was feeling my most Gumball Waterson.  And this world was definitely giving me too many reasons to facepalm.

"......Hmmph.  I guess I'll forgive you for now.

See you, Kris."

And he was gone.

The reunion was nice...but I could have done without that moment of T.M.I.

And the reactions spoke for themselves.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU GIVE IT TO BERDLY!?"  Susie sputtered.

"Why did you give it to Berdly?"  Noelle looked kind of shocked.

"Um, what...unexpected kindness, Kris!"  Was Ralsei the only one of us that looked pleasantly delighted?

A moment of awkward before...

"Let's just get the Hell out of here..."  Susie grumbled and brushed past Ralsei...right at the exact moment Susie took her disguise box off--

And the reaction was INSTANT.

"W...wait!

"N...Noelle?"  Susie was...flabbergasted for lack of better description.

Noelle came out from behind the counter and joined us.

"...the Hell were you doing there?  That's cheating."

"I...I...um...I..."  Noelle stammered.

"....hm.  Glad you're okay.  Since that stupid Queen took you, I was kind of worried..."

I could hear Noelle's heartbeat.

(thump, thump...)

"Wait!"  Susie's eyes widened.  "Aren't you on their side?!"

"H-huh!?  W-wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!!  Umm, I... I...  (Kris, help me...)

Well...two choices.  [We have a truce]  or [She is our enemy]

Almost immediately Kris chose "We have a truce".  I hadn't felt such relief in a long time.  I actually...wondered what would have happened if they chose the other option.  Would we...really have to fight someone I had no desire to face?  She was...well...

...it would be like fighting Papyrus.  Or Gadget.  Or...even a 7-year-old version of myself.  How do you...raise a hand to that?  That's...my god, that's horrible to think about.

She's too...likeable to be the enemy.  I wasn't sure how old she was, specifically...but it still felt like it would be child abuse, given my own age.  Come on.  Don't kill.  And don't be killed.  That has to mean something, here, right?  We'd been on a recruiting drive.  We hadn't...had even ONE casualty.  And we could keep that up for this whole adventure, right.

"Th...that's right!  We have a truce!!"  Noelle IMMEDIATELY jumped on that.

It's official.  This is a normal...or...pacifist run.  No matter what it takes.

"Kris said I could...I could be on your team!"

Technically...they never said that.  But...they haven't said ANYTHING.  But you know what?  I'll put in my two cents.

"I can vouch.  All true.  Noelle never even WANTED to be on Queen's side.  She's been forced into this position against her will."

"Oh, really?"  Susie was...pleasantly surprised, I suppose.  "...well, if Kris said so, I guess.  Didn't really want to kill you anyway."

(thump, thump...)

"So get in line, already."

"O...okay!"

Well...our team of three was now up to a team of five, counting me--

"Kris...also s-said I should be...behind...Susie."

...I'm not going to call her out on that one.

"Uh...well, if Kris said so?"

You're not objecting to this much, are you, Kris?

Ralsei and Noelle switched places...which left me in the back behind Ralsei.

This...might actually be a different kind of awkward.  I would have a behind-the-scenes look at Goat Wizard.  Unless he looked over his shoulder at me, I don't think he was going to notice me much.

"Let's go already."  Susie smoldered--

"I guess I'll join too...but only for this room."  Suddenly...Berdly?

How...lucky can we get?  Now our team totaled six.  This was...a small cadre, wasn't it?

And I found myself right behind Berdly who shoved his way between Ralsei and me.

How.  Lucky.  Can.  We.  Get?   \*groan\*

"(NO ONE WAS ASKING!)" Susie snarled between clenched saw teeth.

What a crazy world it was when I agreed with Susie, huh?

No sooner had we left the...er...room?  Berdly was gone.  And there was a Save Star.

## Sub-Entry 190:  "Together Again...But For How Long?"

"Look, Kris!  Another Tea-Cup Ride.  But there's only 3 seats..."

That is a problem.

"(M-maybe two of us could...sh-share one?"  Noelle stammered.

"Damn.  Guess we gotta take the stairs.

A long spiralling staircase up the rising cityscale...to some scaffolding.  It was more like...giant high-tension wire towers supporting different levels of those blackish silhouette buildings.

By now we were ascending into the night sky...and low and behold...stars.  Freaking...stars.  In the night sky.  Hah.

As we wound our way around the catwalks...our path forward was blocked off by an electric barrier to the east...and to the far north.  But...toward the middle path that lead west?   A switch in the ground.

"Wait, I know!  Umm, to turn off that force field..."  Noelle got ahead of us as stepped on the switch and stayed standing there.  "You just stay standing on this switch!"

"Huh."  Susie commented.

"Well.  See ya later."

"(W-wait, what did I volunteer for?)" Noelle looked like she instantly regretted this.

Off down the Northern path where the force field had shrunk down, leaving a path to a sign post?  Behind the small barrier further west was...a treasure chest.

"(The treasure of air.  Where three are one, place one to three.)"

A riddle.

"Perhaps it means we have to enter one teacup?"  Ralsei suggested.

"Well, I don't like it but it works."

Back down the rest of us went to the teacup and...well...we all crammed in.

"(You all jumped into one teacup.  You heard a clicking sound.)"

Wait.  That was the answer?  Huh.  That was the answer.

Up we go again.

Sure enough both paths at the far-North branch were unobstructed.  The second barrier was gone.  There was still the barrier to the south.

We headed to the treasure chest...and found BALLOONS?

We headed east down the unblocked path and ran right into a pair of Ambyu-Lance's.

"Hey, Kris!  Let me show you my ultimate healing!"

Ah, you know how this goes.  Yeah.  More recruits.  And another switch...

..and...

...fireworks in our likenesses?

Even one of ME?   Golly...I um...

Wait.  I need to get serious, here.  Was I...going to deep into this?  Was it possible I was integrating into this world?  That's...

...that's what happened with VGM-098 when I stayed long enough.

Was there...was there a danger of being in this world too long--

"Hey, old man."

...I mean WORSE than being insulted by Susie?

"Hmm?"

"Don't you have some kind of weird alien powers that can get us through this mess faster."

"Sorry.   If anything we're probably too much alike.  You know.  With us being Lightners and all.  I mean...I do have some powers but...I don't think they're going to be much help."   I converted a JoyCon just for show before replacing it in the holster.

"Feh.  Then you should probably just stay out of our way before you break a hip."

How old do you think I am, kid?

"Sure.  But I'm not changing your diaper if you lose your nerve."

Okay, this was just like bantering with Flowey.  It was probably good for me...somehow.  Steel sharpens steel.  And all that jazz.

"Feh.  You got guts, geezer guy."

"Feeling intimidated?"

"Gufahahahahaah!"

"Yeah, I'll wait for the goofy outfit to stop tickling you so you can answer proper."

Chara, you are becoming a terrible influence on me.  But...you are finally making me a match for Flowey.  And by that extention...Susie's equal at trash talk.

"You're weird, old man."

"Says the kid who wondered off the set of Yugioh."

"Yu-gi-what!?  Speak English!"

This was the most I felt engaged.  I was actually...starting to enjoy these outtings here.  Shame they'd eventually have to come to an end.

Noelle soon hurried to join us.

"So, umm...why were you all...riding a teacup together?"

"Ugh.  Balloons."

"Balloons?"

I nodded with a "yeah, that happened" expression.

"Trust me... You dodged a bullet."

Yeah.  Them vicious balloons.

"Umm...okay!"

The path East turned to one long walkway.  With the fireworks STILL going off.

"Uh-oh..."  I noticed our souls became visible.  Something was about to attack us...but what--

"!!!"  I noticed one of the fireworks was a little too close for comfort and it exploded into the rainbow version of a Mega Man boss explosion.

We had to dodge through the colored spheres.

And they were coming in waves...barrages.  One cluster bomb after another.

Queen's doing?

It wasn't long before we came to a section lined by rectangular pillars with what looked like lollypops or street lamps on top of each.  And between the balls were clusters of balloons.

Lollypops...no...they were...!

"Electrodes!"  I realized it as I suddenly noticed we were stepping on tile switches in sequence as we crossed by.

An arc of electricity zapped between each one in sequence; bursting each set of balloons until the last set of balloons dropped a wedge of cheese.  And where there was cheese...!

"There's Maice."  I spoke as we found ourselves in a battle with a trio of Maus enemies.

The usual scenarios of chasing mice...er..."Maice" and dropping traps...and some familiar banter and in-fighting; mostly Susie-related.

Before long we spared them and recruited them...it was about that time Susie noticed...!

"Wait a sec...where's Noelle?"

Yeah our team had wittled to four, counting myself suddenly.  In fact...Noelle was nowhere around during the battle.  Wasn't she supposed to be immune to mice?

"S-Sorry, I...I'd just never seen fireworks up close before..."

"Those bullets?  What are you scared?"

"Uh...umm...I guess so... (Maybe that's why I couldn't stop watching?)"

And once again we were on our way, passing the trampled cheese.

And that led to yet another puzzle.

Kris picked up what appeared to be a basket...with a digital timer.

There was a Maus suspended by a balloon between two electrodes...and a switch on the ground.  And a another counter underneatha  mouse hole just the right height for a Maus to climb out of the basket and into the hole...

Heh.  Clever.

So...away we went, like clockwork.

"You put the mice in the hole."

Like that the hole in the path ahead of us sealed up and we could cross to the next section.

The next mouse hole had a balloon sticking out of the hole by the string...and as soon as we got close, the Maus floated away as a new balloon took its place.

Kris stood under the balloon as I managed to step on the tile ahead.  Pop.  Drop.  And once carried to the next mouse hole?  Path unlocked.

The next one--

"TWENTY MORE!?"  Susie exclaimed at the readout.  Damn, we're gonna be here forever!"

"M-maybe if we split up the work...?"

"Huh?"

So...we collaborated.

"I'll release the mice...

Susie will break the balloons when they reach the top.

And Kris, you catch them.  Umm...if that's okay.

Ready?

Go!"

So Susie and Ralsei alternated between stepping on the switch while Kris moved around to catch the mice as the balloons popped from where they drifted out of the dispenser hole that Noelle released them from.

Yeah.

Total teamwork.

But...what was MY role in this?  Um...well...narrating?

It's okay.  At least I wasn't completely ignored anymore.  But was that a problem, now?

"Hell yeah!  Take that  you stupid mice!"

"It's nice seeing you enjoy a puzzle, Susie."  Don't ever change, Ralsei.

"Well.  Maybe they aren't awful if you do 'em like that."

A pause.

"...not bad, Noelle.  That was kinda smart."

The reindeer was blushing ten shades of red...and that smile that lit up like a Christmas tree.

Yeah.  This was your moment.

"H-huh? Th...thanks..."

"Heh.  Maybe next time, I'll let you do my homework."

And then the purple gator laughed a good guffaw laugh.

"(Can I?)" Noelle whispered too quiet for anyone else to hear.

Saw that coming.

At the end of the line...20 mice deposited in the hole later...

And one last hole...which Kris put the bucket in.

Which opened a staircase up and out of the city.

It was then that I saw it...

Big.

Red.

Carpet.

Leading to a very big palace....in Queen's likeness.  Holy Rita Repulsa.  It looked just like Bangora Palace in a way...

But it had Queen's giant face as the main door AND a giant neon sign above it.

"Look!  We're finally close to the fountain!  It's Queen's Mansion!"  Ralsei exclaimed.

"H-huh!?  W-wait, why did we come here!?"  Noelle panicked.

And guess who was hovering in her rocket-throne, with a wine glass of battery acid in hand...

Yeah.  Should have seen our luck run out at this time."

"Kris You Brought Noelle Right To Me  (I Knew Our Truce Was The Best)

But Unfortunately That Means Trucies Are Over!

Noelle Get Over Here"

"But I...I..."

"Noelle I Will Only Say It One Time

Infinitely

Get Over Here Get Over Here Get Over Here Get Over Here Get Over Here Get Over Here"

You get the idea.

"I..I..."

"Noelle.  Are You:  Hesitating

Let Me If-Then This For You

How About: IF You Don't Listen THEN

A Certain Bird Might Take A Ride In The Acid River"

Threats now?  She's threatening to nuke Berdly?  I know the guy's a jerk, but he doesn't deserve that!

"B-Berdly!?  (That's right, he was just with us...  Queen must've captured him when we weren't looking...!?)"

I wanted to say "don't do it" but...I couldn't in good conscience let Berdly be sacrificed any more than she could.  Any of us.  Susie, being...iffy.  But yeah, even Susie wouldn't let it go that far.

So...a defeated reindeer stepped away from us and presented herself before Queen.

"(I...I'm sorry...Kris...Susie...I...

I wish I could've stayed with you longer but...

I can't let Berdly get hurt, y'know?)"

Susie obviously didn't like it...but she proved my point.

"..."

"Don't Be Sad Noelle Honey

All That Remains Is The Final Step"

What final step?

I narrowed my eyes.

"My splendorous Queen!  There you are!  Sorry, I thought I saw you in a used game store, and...

Oh, Noelle.  Are you okay?  You look a little funny."

Captured my foot.  You've got nothing--

"Okay Plan B"

\* LASER-CAGED \*

Curse you, Madam Fate.

And like that Noelle was teleported off to parts unknown in that cage.

"H-huh!?  What are you doing!?"  And that was where Berdly lost his...um...cool.

"I See Now Her Will Must Be Unleashed By Force

Perhaps If I Make Her Face Into A Robot One...?"

Roboticizing again!?

"B-but...!  You said you wouldn't do that if I...!"

"Variable Lying Set To True"

Robots can't lie, huh, Dr. Wily?  I call shennanigans.

"We Were Going To Be Smart Together!!  That's Not Fair!!"

"Understood

Fairness Activated"

And like that cages dropped on Berdly, Susie...and Kris too!?  The hero's not supposed to get caught!  What the--

"Good Thing I Calibrated Those Cages"

"You...said I could trust you!!

You said you were a GAMER!!!"

"Berdly

I Only Play Mobile Games"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

"One Of You Is Going To Help Me With My Plan

And It's Going To Be Noelle

The Rest Of You

Go To Your Rooms"

And like that the the cages rocketed off.

And Queen gloated with laughter.

That left Ralsei...and myself.

"Wh...what are you going to do with me?

"Oh Damn

You're Still Here

I Only Made Four Cages

Ha Ha Ha

I Literally Don't Know

Ha Ha Ha Ha

And like that...everything faded to black around us as a cartoon shrinking hole swallowed up everything but Queen's laughing face...like the end of some Warner Brothers cartoon.

Wait..where were we.

"Ralsei...!"  I reached out for him as my Unitrix started giving energy charge warnings.  Oh no...don't change back now!  This would be the WORST time for Ralsei to know my secret!

I could feel the Omni energy wave pulling back over my body toward the Unitrix and with it, my transformation was canceling out.

"Mr. Asta!"  He reached out to me as our fingertips almost touched.

Then.

Darkness.

While...this would have been the place to end on a cliffhanger...

\*GAAAAAAASP\*

"ASRIEL!"  Frisk grabbed hold of me and clutched me tight.

"Oh no...oh no..."  Alphys fretted over the last images of the Alpha-Catch display.

"I have to go back...but I can't...I...I..."

I looked at Frisk, realizing I was streaming tears.

"I...I left them all alone..."

"I'm so sorry, Azzy."

"It'll b-be another m-month before the w-w-window back opens up."

"Darn it all..."

We were so close.  And this was a bad time to leave Goat Wizard all alone.

Also..

...did he...

...did he see me?

Did he...learn my secret?

Now that was a cliffhanger to leave off on.

Hold on, DeltaRune.  Wait for me.

I'll be back.

***To Be Continued...***

Chapter 20

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