PLDF Chapter 24

> Chapter 24: GIGA Queen Blocks the Way To DeltaRune C2's End. Summer Days Dwindle Away With August Activities (Sub-Entries 231-240)
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## Sub-Entry 231: "I Dig Giant Robots, You Dig Giant Robots, We Dig Giant Robots, Queen Digs Giant Robots.  NICE."

I must really be on overdrive, even a whole month later for me to make a reference to M.E.G.A.S. XLR.

But let's face it.  My first experience with giant robots was meeting Coop, Jamie, and Kiva.  How Violet brought them to Miranda City, we'll never figure out.  But I'm sure if we pondered it long enough, we'd at least put together how the heck she became friends with the most dysfunctional superhero team to come out of Jersey City.

I was feeling a similar vibe here.

Only thing missing was a gamer-designed control panel warning us, in several, progressively intensifying and progressively comedic fashion, just how much we were overkilling to the point it wasn't a question of if it's less subtle than a brick...it's a question of if it's less subtle than riding an atomic bomb into a gasoline factory with a perimeter of trucks hauling fireworks and dynamite around it; all while waving a cowboy hat in the air.

Yeah, now it's a Doctor Strangelove reference.  Go figure.

"ROUND 1!"

Okay...we've got our own announcer--

"FIGHT!!!"

...or two.  And I just got serious Mortal Kombat vibes just now.

Okay.  Do or die.  And I really want to enforce that don't kill or be killed credo.

And like that, Queen's super megabot practically danced her way backwards through the city streets, the buildings scaling in what felt like a third person perspective.  Like you'd see on a racing game like Outrun or Rad Racer.

But the perspective was...distorted.  The curvature of the street and the way the city was looping endlessly?  I was being reminded of the Blue Sphere bonus stages of Sonic 3 & Knuckles.  It was like we were going up a perpetual hill...or battling atop a large sphere rather than on flat ground.

GIGA Queen just kept daintily skipping her way backwards, holding that wine glass full of battery acid.

It was time to make a move.

"GIGA Queen blocks the way!"

Our options were:  "Laser Mode", "TurboDodge", and "SELF-FIX".  I reasoned one was a fast attack, one was avoidance, and one was possible healing?

I didn't get a good chance to assess things because Susie was already jumping the gun and leaping right into attack with a hard right from our megabot.  It hit so hard it made GIGA Queen spit out her battery acid and take 165 points of damage.

"The Time For Words Is Over

Now Is The Time To Fight (Only)"

And then GIGA Queen SLUGGED us with her drink hand, while still keeping the drink steady; its knuckles smashing our bot's face and scattering gears.

"Oh no you don't..." I anticipated the second attack and went to TurboDodge, the next blow whiffing us.

We quickly counterattacked.

Suddenly this all felt familiar.  Yeah...like Punch-Out...or...

...no...

......this was foreshadowed back during Queen's arcade game.  We were reenacting her arcade game!

So it became a back and forth slug-fest as the foreboding BOSS meter hung in the sky.  It was green, slowly draining to red with our attacks.

Ralsei quickly whispered advice in my ear...and I would be lying if I said it didn't make me think of Little Mac's trainer, Doc Louis.

"Ralsei advises you to 'dodge, then counterpunch."

Not the advice I'd expect from pacifist goat wizard...but...

Like Queen said.  The time for words is over.

Kris launched an uppercut, making GIGA Queen spit out even more battery acid.

"Ha Ha Just Kidding. I Will Totally Keep Monologuing As I Kick At: Your Face"

Wait--

And like that she made like a can-can dancer and clocked us with her dull greyish blue high-heel.

"Like HELL!"  Susie took it a bit personally as her attacks came in rapid flurries.

"Susie mashes the controls, trying to punch more."

Ralsei took the first opportunity to apply SELF-FIX so we could recover from the damage and press on.

"SELF-FIX engaged!  A healing aura fired up...!  (But the TP cost increased!)"

Rats...there's always a catch.

"The Time Has Come For Noelle To Realize Her Own Strength."

I grit my teeth wrestling with my mind slamming me with images of that horrible SnowGrave spell.  The consequences of her being tainted by malice.  We were not losing Berdly!  We were not letting the darkness consume Noelle!

Madam Fate...you do not get to choose the path of this game!

"Here Own Will!  Her Own Determination!"

There's that word again.

And before we knew it Queen changed the game again, jumping into the air, while surrounded by a fiery aura.

Then like that...we were dodging baseballs!?  Fast ones at that!

"No.  Don't dodge them...punch them!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!"

And like that...our bot's FIST did the rest.  By chance...said baseballs being deflected...landed smack on top of GIGA Queen's head.

The slugfest continued.

"The Cityscape roars past."

"Focusing Into Her Blade She Will Create A Neo Dark Fountain."

I gnashed my teeth at thought.  Ralsei had spoken about the balance of dark and light.  We were not about to let that balance be upset!

"Then Another, Then Another..."

The high kicks resumed as we kept dodging and counterpunching.

One really good uppercut later REALLY did some damage...and ticked our opponent off.

As she turned red and stamped her foot repeatedly in a rage...things only got more intense.

## Sub-Entry 232: "The Battle Heats Up":

"ROUND 2!  FIGHT!"

The monologuing continued.

"Then When The Whole World Is Covered In Darkness

She - And Everyone - Can Live In Bliss, Free Of Fear And Suffering"

This...old...trope again!?  We'd been through this in the sixth Star Trek Movie.....by the way, interesting pick for Movie Night that one Tuesday, Aunt Vi...

Ahem.  I digress.

It's the age old motivation to escape from being hurt.  Escape from being tested.  Escape...the pain.  Darn it all.  As much as we hate being hurt...as much as we don't want to suffer...we need to sometimes.  It's how we grow and overcome and evolve.  It's what makes use strong in the first place.  By facing those things!  To just remove is...is...!

It's idleness.  That's the true entropy.  Without the suffering we go through...there can be no joy afterward.  No relief.  No hope or dreams.  No promise of a better tomorrow.  It will be all the same now and forever!

It's one of the oldest villain motivations of all.  And sadly...it's one of the ones that until you really think about it?  It doesn't seem that sinister.  It doesn't seem that bad.  It's...an actual easy temptation to fall into.  To never have a bad day again?  To never experience tragedy and sadness?

It's a trap.  It's too easy to fall into.

I should know.

I did.

I...didn't want to lose Chara.  Look where that got me in ever iteration.  Even the current me was punished for trying to keep things the same.  For trying to hold onto what was already gone.

There is no back.  There is no pause.  Only forward.

"Aw crap..."  Susie about pounded her fist as she noticed the boss meter was full again.  But one of the two boxes under it had disappeared; denoting the next round.

It seemed like more of the same attacks.  More of her familiar repertoire.

Of course...

"Round 2 begins.  Queen's attacks got tougher."

"Kris, Susie, Why Don't You Help Me Too?

Create The World Of  Your Dreams (Also MY Dreams)"

Enough.  We won't be fooled.

The dodge and counterpunch strategy was working.  I wasn't quite sure how the four of us working the controls somehow synergized.  By all means we should be fighting each other for control of the robot but...somehow we were working as a team.

Was it really so surprising?  Maybe.  It felt like that last-minute trope of us coming together and everything just working out.  But...maybe we should just call it suspension of disbelief--

"WHOAH!"

TurboDodge!  Like now!

"That's...!...new!"

Queen had turned as green as her acid and made sure we got an Acid Laser followed up by a spritz of Acid Gas!

"The night is young--"

Sorry, I didn't have time to finish that observation.  The next barrage came too quick.

"Susie

Bro Just Let Me Karate Chop You And You Can Have As Many Skateboards As You Want"

And then she changed the game again as we were bombarded by both sides by yellow wire-frame wheels; forcing us to basically...limbo under them...several times in succession.

"Sweet Jamaican Jerk Sauce...!"  I shook off the moment of channeling Hermes Conrad of Planet Express.

And the monologuing STILL kept coming!

"And Kris My Dearest Trucie, You Can Have As Many

...

Okay I Don't Remember What You Liked"

Wait...a robot actually forgetting something?  Mettaton would be appalled.

Speaking of which...!!!  Oh sweet merciful cr--!!

Giga Queen's chest panel opened up to reveal the plethora of missile launchers.

Yup.  Allllll the supervillain superweapon cliche checkboxes marked by now.

Missiles away.  Oh gods, sooo many missiles away.

"Hey Was There A Third Guy?????????"

And a fourth, I say with disapproving deadpan.

By now the attacks were practically combo-ing together.  We were sure slugging it out back and forth and that meter was draining just as fast as before...

One good uppercut later...

Yeah.

Tantrum ahoy.  You know what comes next, right?

## Sub-Entry 233: "Final Attack...Or Is It?":

"ROUND 3!

FIGHT!"

"Round 3 begins.  Queen's attacks got extra tough."

Kris followed up with another sweet uppercut.

"Join Me and All Of You Will Become Super Strong And Cool

Meanwhile I Don't Need To Improve Because I'm Already Perfect

And Can Shoot Lasers From My Fancy Glass!"

A third uppercut from Kris...!  And Queen was ready from it as she jumped faaaaaaar into the background...

...and immediately steamrolled us with a parade of can-can dance-kicking drone clones in multiple waves!"

"THAT'S SO CHEATING!"  Susie's temper flared.

We had to do some real quick dodging, limboing, and just trying not to get hit.

When the attack finally ended I made sure GIGA Queen got an extra dose of counterattacks!

"Okay I Believe I've Made My Point

I'm Going To Procedurally Loop My Dialogue Now"

This had to be one of Madam Fate's meta-jokes.

And then we got triple-doses of 1-2-3 can-can kicks in rapid succession.

And then she switched her glass to the other hand...just so she could slip on a boxing glove and hit us with some slobber knockers!

Sure enough she started repeating all the things she said in the last round or two.

Yet she was STILL adding new attacks!  This time as she opened that grinning maw of her, she started unloading on us by spitting streams of fireballs!

Kris managed to land a perfect uppercut this time for 180 damage.

We were getting hit by a lot of familiar attacks in response...then followed up with yet ANOTHER new one: She drilled into us with a flying pirouette!!

By now I had learned the official name of our megabot was called "Thrash Machine".  Sure.  Works for me.

We had taken a beating.  So had Queen.

More spin-wheel attacks. More acid lasers.  More of the same.

"The Battle is really heating up."

Then after enough loops...

"Kris, Susie, Other Guy..."

\*sigh\* Don't mind me.

"You Have Truly Proven Yourselves To Be A Worthy Opponent.

You Have Earned The Right To Remember What Your

Fighting Machine's True Purpose Is

To Get Your Own Ass Thrashed

By Me

With My Final Attack

Ha Ha Bye!"

I grit my teeth and furrowed my brow.  "Brace yourselves!"

Here came the fiery aura...the leap into the air...!

And now the CLONES GIGA QUEEN RAINING FROM THE SKY...!...DRILLING INTO US WITH PIROUETTE ATTACKS!

THEN THE GIANT BASEBALL!

"It's all our nothing, team..."

We all smashed down on our controls at the same time for one last power jab!!!

"OOOH!!!!"  Queen recoiled in horror as the baseball came right back at her in slow motion...!

And then.

Boom.

GIGA Queen's temperature was spiking as it turned red; riddled by explosions.

\* Battle...Power...Dropping... \*

\* Overheat...Activated... \*

\* Listen Well... \*

\* You May Have Defeated Me... \*

\* But I Still Possess One Thing \*

\* You...Four...Will Never Have \*

I wanted to feel flattered being acknowledge...that she was considerate enough to consider my inclusion.

But by now the luster had just worn away.  It just felt...empty.  I guess I just got used to being someone who just doesn't really exist whose choices don't really matter in this dreamscape--

\* ...DETACHABLE HANDS!  \*

Oh, come on.....

...one final desperate cheat!

INCOMING ROCKET FIST!!!

And like that the top half of our Thrash Machine was torn from its legs with us still in it...!!!

Of all ways it could end...not like this...

## Sub-Entry 234:  "Defeated?  The Heroes Lose!?"

"Noelle

Darling

Honey

Sweetie

Gravy"

The damaged, smoking, sparking wrecked form of GIGA Queen rose up and loomed over Noelle, still on the catwalk.

And in her fist...we struggled to escape!

"Take...The Pin...I Gave You...

And Stab The Earth...

Creating...Our New...Supreme Empire..."

Aghast...Noelle could hardly summon the words to speak.

"I...I..."

"What's...Wrong...Noelle...?

I Know It Would Make You Happy

Or...Should I, With The Last 1% Of My Battery..."

And the squeezing began!  OH GODS!!!

Kris!  Susie!  Ralsei!

Good god...this isn't supposed to happen...this isn't supposed to happen!  We...we're going to LOSE!?

What...what was even happening to me in the real world?  In Undertale?  I honestly didn't know!  Were my vitals dropping?  Was I convulsing!?  It didn't matter what happened to me, but by extension I couldn't do this to Frisk and the others!

What about...don't kill or be killed...!?  I can't...let them...experience this feeling I know too well!  I can't let them experience loss after...after I worked so hard to get back into their lives!

"...Crush Susie Into 8...Bits...?"

Noelle hung her head...but I could barely see out of they eye that I wasn't squinting in pain...

...her face was scrunched up in frustration...anger...?

No!  No we can't be the trigger!  We can't...!

Madam Fate...you twisted....!!!!

"Leave..."  Noelle started.

"LEAVE SUSIE ALONE!"  She suddenly snapped pointing at Queen accusingly.

"You think listening to YOU makes me happy!?  NO!  I'll NEVER be happy if I'm controlled by you!  Why can't you understand that!?"

In that moment...time just...slowed down.  There was a...pause...and then GIGA Queen's head dropped...and looked...puzzled if not...sad.

"....Noelle...

Perhaps My Computations Were...

Mis calibrated..."

What...what's that supposed to mean?

"..."

"Noelle...Disregard...Me...And...

With Your Own Power...

Choose The World That Makes You Happy..."

Suddenly Queen's visor...turned to static and white noise.

"Queen?"

And then it went completely dark.

"Queen, are you okay?"

...!  The grip...the grip was loosening...!

"Seems she ran out of battery power."  Ralsei finally spoke.

"Guess we can seal the fountain now, right everybody?"

A pause.

"Everybody?"  Ralsei questioned, sensing something was...not sitting well.

Noelle finally said what we didn't want to.

"Queen...she said...'choose the world that makes you happy...'

I don't want to live in a world ruled by her.

...but if that wasn't the case, I wonder if this world wouldn't be so bad..."

Gosh darn it.  For all the grief Queen gave us...Noelle was making me feel...sad...regret...

...darn it, was I actually considering forgiving Queen for all she had done?  All she put us all through?

The truth...is a bitter medicine to swallow.  It's a tough pill, isn't it, Toriel?  Volt?

"Huh?"  Ralsei questioned.

"Susie, don't you think so, too?"

"I...uh..."  Susie was on the spot.  "Now that you mention it...Kris, isn't this world just BETTER?  We make so many friends here.  Y'know?"

"I've never had an adventure like this before."

So Susie was on the same page.  That's three of us with the same sentiment.  For all I'd been through...yeah.  Maybe it wasn't so horrid.  This world doesn't need to disappear.  I mean...when Volt helped seal the last fountain...the Dark World didn't vanish.  It came right back for me to go to before this trip to the Cyber World.

"With axes...and battles...and magic."

"Where everything can be healed by a little spell."

Just...like life back inside Ebott...before "Undertale" even began.  The life I knew before even meeting Chara.  That's the kind of world this was.

"And no matter what happens...no one tells us what to do."

"Gosh!  Yeah!  S-So even if things were really scary just now...

...I mean..."

And who should walk in but Berdly, having recovered.

"So is there any reason not to...?"  He posed the question that didn't really question anything yet.

"Not that I can think of."

But we were all thinking it and feeling it.

"Me neither."

"Then, Noelle, let this be my REAL apology."

He raised his pole arm to the sky and started gathering energy...

"Concentrating my will into this blade...I will make a new fountain...and unleash a bright future!  A future that SHINES FOR US!

A future whose brightness is born from DARKNESS--"

"STOP!"  Ralsei interrupted.

"What...in the world are you all doing?"

"Well we thought we would--"

"Stop."

"I mean--"

"Stop!  Do you realize what will happen if you do that?"

"I...we'll...just..."

"You'll bring the Roaring."

I furrowed my brow and turned serious.  Yeah...I'd heard that word so many times.  I think...by now I determined that NO MATTER what the intention was...no matter whether you tried to create a world of light with a fountain...the ROARING...was universally bad.  No exceptions.

"Ralsei...I think it's time you explained."  I said gravely serious.

This was more than concluding a second chapter of this story....no...this was building onto something.  A continuing problem.  One that...in all likelihood would have another chapter some point in the future.  One that I don't know who will be around to embark on the story next.  Me?  Volt?  Someone else?  Our descendants?

Ralsei nodded and explained...

## Sub-Entry 235: "The Roaring Explained/Our Quest Finally Ends!":

"When LIGHT is subsumed by SHADOW...

When the Fountains fill the sky...

All will fall into CHAOS.

The TITANS will form from the FOUNTAINS...

And envelop the land in devastation."

Ralsei's vision...it was...difficult to interpret.  But those ominous all-powerful beings...horned titan beings...cyclops-like beings.  Only their lone eyes weren't eyes...they were...

SAVE STARS!?

What...did...this...mean...!?

I wanted so much to make connections to Attack on Titan. The Rumbling vs. the Roaring. Heck, the same word was used: Titans. But the more Ralsei's explanation echoed in my head, the less and less it felt appropriate to make references, let alone make light of the situation. This felt...gravely dark and serious. Like a serious that hadn't quite hit me with its full magnitude until now. I hadn't felt this level of stoic gravity since...since they day Adonis nearly annihilated VGM-098 and us with it.

"The surviving Darkners crushed by the darkness

will slowly, one by one, turn into statues...

Leaving the Lightners to fend for themselves

lost eternally into an endless night...

Is that your idea of Paradise?"

Ominous silence among us all.  Silence and shock .  Silence until--

"OH DAMN I DID NOT KNOW THAT!"

What?  Queen!?  But I thought--

"You...didn't?  But your whole plan was to--"

"I'm Just A Computer LMAO I Don't Know Everything!"  Queen laughed from her damaged robot.

"I Was Just Guessing Based Off The Knight's Actions!

Why The Heck (Hell) Would I Want To End The World?"

"W...Well, that's a relief."  Noelle nervously replied.

"Uhh...umm...I'm sorry.  I...I...

After everything, I caused trouble for you again, Noelle."

"That's Okay I Understand (I Thought About It While Charging My Battery)

You Cannot Calculate Other People's Feelings"

"You...understand how I feel?"

"Not Really LMAO I Just Don't Want Noelle To Be Sad!"

"Well, I'm glad you two kind of get it, now..."

"Guess we all made a pretty sweet team in the end."

And laughter from those three.

So...if it's not too much trouble, could we be let go now?  This metal hand is starting to be constrictive.

"No We Freaking Didn't?"

If I know Susie, she's going to blow up and say what the four of us are thinking riiiight about--

"CAN YOU LET GO OF US NOW!?!"

"Oh Yeah."

And so we were just as Queen's robot lost her grip and fell down the scaffolding while we landed safely on the catwalk.

"S...Susie!"  Noelle was overjoyed to see her again.

"Hey.  You stood up to Queen.  Not half bad."

"R...really?"

"Uh, yeah.  ...just, guess you gotta wake up soon, huh?"

"H-huh?  (Everything got so intense I forgot it was a dream..)  Then I just hope...I get to have more dreams like this."

"..."

"Hey, Noelle...when you wake up...um...  Well, I just wanted to say...uh..."

Hurry it up, before--

Oh.

Suddenly Queen.  Climbing up the scaffolding without her super robot.  And she lands in the splits.  Of course...robots naturally have more degrees of freedom than the living.  But ouch...that hurts to look at.

"Well I Suppose It Is Time For You All To Exit.

Running Program...Tender Goodbye.EXE

I Will Miss Each Of You

Noelle:  Your Unneeded Honesty

Susie:  Your Foolish Bravery

Kris: Your Chill Vibes

...B...Burghley?"

"It doesn't have to be Goodbye, Queen.  Kris can take you back to our Castle Town.

You and all our recruits can live there."

"Oh"

TENDER GOODBYE CANCELED

"Deleting Tender Goodbye.EXE"

Oh brother...

"Alright!  Time to do what we came here for...! "

"..."

"Hey, Noelle.  If you see the real Susie, just...

Just know that maybe she's...

LOOK, SHE DOESN'T HAVE A TAIL, OKAY!"

"Haha, okay I got it!"

"(Let's just go, Kris.)"

And Susie pushed them away from the group.  Oh well.

I just waved awkwardly...then followed...while the rest of the group laughed it up.

And so...

There it was.

Ralsei stood by as Kris approached.

The Dark Fountain.  In all its ominous dark amber glory.  At least that's what it seemed like against the total blackness.  What I was probably seeing was just the distortions in the air and the energy itself was invisible until certain atmospheric conditions made it stand out.  Who could say.

The longer we stood there, the more it cycled through the colors of the rainbow.  But it was wrong.  It wasn't rainbow light as I knew it.  It was...rainbow darkness.  If that made sense?

But I recognized pure darkness in an energy form when I felt it.

"Kris...It looks like we're here again, huh?

The Roaring Knight...

Whatever they are, they're making these FOUNTAINS...

But...is that really a bad thing...?

Since they started showing up,

Everything's gotten a lot more interesting, hasn't it...?"

What are you saying?

Well we don't have to think about that now...

Kris, it's your turn."

As Kris stepped forward.

"(It was as if your very SOUL was glowing...)

And from henceforth, their soul went forth toward the fountain...!

And everything turned to bright white light...swallowing the world in blinding white light......

I felt my connection to this world drift away.

But not sever.

Where we went from there...I'm sure it would take a lot more than five sub-entries to properly explain.  Maybe.  Maybe not.

I guess I'd know for sure in September...when it would be a FULL year since I started this journal.  And I'd be a whole year older.

I wonder...

Where we'd go from here?

It was the first time, I got up from the table and...nobody--not me, not Frisk, not Alphys, not Chara, not any of the staff had anything to say.  I just...got situated and left with Frisk and Chara in silence.

What was there to say?

There were so many questions to ask.  So much to ponder.  And I left DeltaRune without even seeing the whole of the ending.  I know there was more to see.  And I know we had a Light World to return to.

And...I know there's a lot of unsolved mysteries still left to go.

There was also a matter that Volt warned me about regarding the end of Chapter 1.  A real jump-scare thing to be disturbed about.  Something...that I felt had a much more impactful sequel that lay ahead.

Plus...

What about Spamton?  I hadn't forgotten but...now that we were back to the Light World?  How?  How would this be possible, now?

Anyway...

What was certain is...the adventure was over.  But the story was not.

## Sub-Entry 236: "We Live and Learn On the Hopes (and Dreams) of Yesterday: Echoes of Forgotten Ultra Crew Simulation":

Boy that's a mouthful.  But if I may bring up the last Sub-Entry...

It was an unsettling way to leave off.  Just...all of us acknowledging the situation in silence.  Then we all went on our way afterward.

The reality was...my anxiety...my anxiousness to see this to the end was at an all time high.  And yet...I was containing it so effectively.

Great.  Good for me.

Now...the challenge was keeping that contained for another month.  We all wanted to know things.  And as far as this went, I was already up to a 12th batch of sub-entries.  It was one year's time.  Could I really have enough left in me for a thirteenth, especially when I felt like...somehow this chapter was coming to an end.

Something big was on the horizon.  I could tell.  But was it the dream ready to come true?

I...wanted to believe it.  But there was a gnawing feeling that I was clearly in danger of jumping the gun.  If we proceeded now?  It would be too soon.  It would be with still-untested means.  I had to perfect it so at least one living being could go through and come back.  Long before I even attempted to move a portion of a city...even a few family members or friends.  Even...just me and a loved one.

No.  The time would come.  But until that day...we all had to grow and mature and ready ourselves for that big step.

For now...maybe Frisk and I just needed to clear the air after such a...long, complicated, winding dream quest.

We needed to unwind.

Actually...even that felt like it wasn't what we were aspiring for.

No...what this warranted was a return to form.

I had used the simulator to emulate real life situations for us.  Sometimes for Alphys to experience for herself in order to upgrade and enhance the holographic set-up.  Sometimes for the technicians to help me debug and iron out the kinks.  And sometimes even to remind Chara that as siblings...we could still kick it up a notch and raise some heck like the old days...only this time without permanent consequences.

That said...maybe what I was craving...was something completely outlandish.  Something that even as part of UCIAT would be...unbelievable...unthinkable...just...improbable to go down.

I was talking about...Aunt Violet's old training simulations.

Sure...I had a nice run through Mega Man elemental stage themed time trials; mostly Mega Man 2 and sometimes Mega Man 3.

That was good for some 8-bit hits.

Sixteen-bit hits were alluring...but not quite there.

Thirty-two bit meant the first foray into 3D.  Now we were talking.  What we needed to do was quadruple it and the adventure was on.

Hey.  That's it!  I knew JUST the adventure.

"You know...I always did like sequels, when they outperform the original."

I remembered.

Long ago.  When I was in training and Aunt Vi just had to pull a pop quiz or two.  And one of those exams was a Final Boss run against Perfect Chaos.

It was wet.  It was wild.  It was fun.  And it honestly proved to myself how far I had come then.

By the end of my teen years, my powers had more than doubled.  By young adulthood?  It was now a multiplier that I couldn't ascribe how many times over I had leveled up.

Now here I was.  Further into my life.  I wonder how much better I had gotten.

"A table for one can be fun but..."

Yeah.  Let's address the elephant in the room.  So many of my simulations...my video game exams...were one-player action.

I was serious when I said I wanted to share my life with those I loved.

It was time.  Time I had a partner again.  Only this time...it was a partner for life.  Forever.  In life and in death.

I could only think of a future with the two of us...Frisk and myself in it.  It was scary to think of the time beyond Frisk's lifespan but...I made up my mind I'd go on as long as I could and always carry her in my heart and soul.  I would have ample time to learn what Frisk's stance was on moving on and finding love again after whatever era I would be in that she wouldn't live to see.

It was morbid having thoughts extend so far into an unknown future.  Maybe worse because it was reflexive.  It was my mind working overtime to have a plan for times to come.  Like Sally would do in the long run.

But...I'd come to that bridge another day...year...decade...maybe even century, depending on my own lifespan.

"Azzy...cool it on the overthinking.  Momentize.  Live in the now.  And get ready for you and Frisk to have fun on the  ultimate adventure."

I explained everything to Alphys and showed her plenty of video footage from Vi's game database; both the original SA2 on Sega Dreamcast and SA2: Battle for Nintendo GameCube.

I knew EXACTLY what scene I wanted to create.  I'd already spoiled it.

We needed to be put to the test.

We needed to face off against the Ultimate Final Hazard.

We needed to defeat the prototype of the Ultimate Lifeform and save Space Colony ARK.

We needed...to live...and learn.

"I'm all in.  Totally on board, Azzy."

"I thought you'd like it."

"I was sold before you even asked."

That's my girl.

In those moments before the prep work went into readying the computer simulation, I'd run it through my head a lot of times...

...and the more I did...the more I channeled something...

Something...familiar.  But something that shouldn't feel familiar to me or Frisk.

No...this was...

...something that should have felt familiar to Volt.

"Hmm..."

"Azzy?"

"Just...a thought in the back of my mind.  Nothing to worry about."

"DeltaRune?"

"No....something from my...no...from Volt's past.  Something that we went through and experienced together."

Yeah...I was thinking back to one of the many predecessor realities Volt lived through in various telling’s of his current existence.  The one that I homed in on...was where UCIAT...was just U.C.  Ultra Crew.  Where Neo Arcadia was a whole planet with a dwarf satellite moon called Utopious.

Where...Red Silvers was the one to face off against Garfield Arcade in the simulator in a Poke battle--Mew vs. Mewtwo.

Yeah...something about that...was resurfacing.

And then I remembered...the greatly expanded Ultra Crew team.  People I'd never seen before.  People who were very familiar but different.  Even versions of most of the people I grew up with in Miranda, like Bunnie and Violet.....albeit shorter in stature and lacking some personality elements while gaining others.

Hearing Bunnie with a Southern Drawl for example...I don't need to go into detail.

But...what was coming back to me...was of all things...the newest recruits.  Junior U.C. members.  Specifically...the Digi-Destined.  The first iteration.

Yup.  Taichi Kameya and Koromon...Yamato Ishida and Gabumon...and all the rest.

"Did this...already happen...once before?"

Where am I going with this?  Hang tough.  I'm getting to that.

But yeah...I was feeling like I was about to recreate a script Destiny and Fate had already done.  This was...starting to seem like one of their reboots was about to happen.  And Frisk and I were the new players.

So...what is it I'm getting to?  The more I thought about it...the more I was sure that this very Sonic Adventure 2 scenario had been played before...by the youngest two Digi-Destined--Takeru Takiyashi "T.K." Ishida.  And Hikari "Kari" Kameya.  The Digidestined of Hope and Light, respectively.

Did...did they embark on this same situation in that Ultra Crew iteration in a holosimulator as part of a final exam?

Was I just imagining this echo between souls that existed in a reality that no longer exists...and our own souls?

The frustrating thing was it felt like it...but I couldn't prove this was the case.  When I tried to wrap my head around it?  It felt like...racing ghost data on F-Zero or Super Mario Kart.  Just...Frisk and I were about to try to synch up with moves that had had already been done before in a time period long past...in a reality long wiped away and rewritten with Undertale in place of Digimon.

I finally fessed up.  I might as well not keep secrets if I can help it.

"Asriel.  It's okay.  I mean...you already told me about Volt's experience with learning about his Lisa being a new soul that only shared the name with this Universal Detective person.  So...if this Lisa Coleman was okay with knowing her own metaphysical backstory, then I should be cool with following in the footsteps of a 5 or 6-year old Japanese girl chosen to be a Digi-Destined.

And heck.  We're only playing a game, right?  It's just a game."

"Right as rain, Frisk."  I guess if that was her feeling that we'd peeled back these hypothetical layers of an event I couldn't even prove actually happened and nothing changed because of what we found?  Then, yeah...my overworked brain was overcomplicating it.

Let's just play some Sonic Adventure 2 and save a space colony!

Fast-forward to the simulation.

The doors had closed...the environment was generated.  'Shadow' as played by me, had just whomped the Bio-Lizard in order to clear the way for Sonic and Knuckles to reach the alter at the core of Space Colony ARK's Eclipse Cannon.  But the programming of the deceased Professor Gerald Robotnik had compelled the fallen Bio-Lizard to enact its trump card--the teleportation technique known as Chaos Control.

And now it was fused with the Colony and pulling it toward Earth.

Alphys took a moment to make sure we were a go before we stepped back in character.

She looked at the new server labed UTPR-NPLN-001.

"I'm n-not sure what you mean when you say this new server designation would be an ultimate irony for Princess Violet."

"Yeah, sorry about the inside-joke.  She'd get it, mind you.  To which she'd probably either geek out over how this is an upgrade over the NEX system...or she'd just say "Woomy woomy!"

"W....woomy...w-w-what?"

"Let's just say...her jokes usually come in threes.  I'm sure she has something to follow up "Stay fresh" and "Don't get cooked, stay off the hook"."

I'd completely lost Alphys by that point.

Back to the game and back to us going I.C.

Knuckles, for some reason played by an NPC version of M.K.  (Heheh...irony at work, I suppose) had just stopped the Chaos Emeralds by using the Master Emerald.

"The Servers are...the Seven Chaos.  Chaos is Power.  Power Enriched by the Heart.  The Controller is the one that Unifies the Chaos.  Only you can do this!  Stop the Chaos Emeralds!"

Now with the seven emeralds in hand...the game was now in Frisk's and my hands.

You know...I was expecting the two of us would be cosplaying as hedgehogs but...

...in truth we didn't look that much different save for our outfits kind of resembling Sonic and Shadow's colors and a few tell-tale features

Even our sandals somehow took on a lot of traits of Sonic's high tops and Shadow's jet-shoes.

"I've never played this game before, Azzy."  Frisk finally brought up...even though we both knew so before hand.

"Don't worry.  I'll walk you through it.  Just let me lead off first."

Which went against the game.  Usually...Sonic starts off.

"Alphys...you ready to count us down?"

"Simulation un-p-p-pausing in th-three...two...one......G-GO!!"

And everything went from stasis to full motion as the CORE machines above us throbbed and undulated like a beating heart.

I nodded to Frisk...now serving as our Sonic.  I wonder if I looked just as cool as a faux Shadow?   Heheh....the one time I didn't mind being called a Faker.

"Alright, Frisk...ready your ears.  Cause' we're going CRUSH 40!"

I had Alphys raise the volume and make sure we could feel every blasting beat of the iconic song of Sonic Adventure 2.  "Live and Learn" by said group, Crush 40.

We raised our hands over the Chaos Emeralds as they began to spin in a ring-like orbit before enveloping us.  I could feel the power.  I knew Frisk could as well.

The instrumental intro took us to places in our hearts and souls as the transformation began!

My normally plain white fur began to flicker to a lithium white...a titanium white...just...something with a slight silvery sheen to it...also...that red stripe running down my head and back and those red highlights...even a bit of what almost seemed like red eyeliner.  Yeah.  All tell-tale features of Shadow the Hedgehog.  Golly, I must've looked like the coolest Jangese Oni!

And Frisk?  Yeah...her normally plain brown hair...flickered to shimmering gold.

Both of our eyes were lit up bright red with Determination.  I don't know if that was more the Chaos Emeralds or Undertale's influence.

Regardless...I was feeling it.  So was she.

"So this is what Power Rings feel like?  Wow."

"Power Rings amplified by a factor of well over 10 thousand times."

I was understating it.  If anything?  It was more like ten thousand times...multiplied by infinity.  Yeah.  Just call it infinity.

In a rush...we soared out of the Space Colony.  We had a time limit of about five minutes.

Five...minutes...to save the world.  No pressure.  Hey.  The Power of Flight lasted only 5 minutes and Pit managed to do more in less than that time during the third Uprising...right?

By this point...it was actually becoming a little hard to remember it WAS just a simulation and that the high stakes were just simulation.

As soon as we were outside of the colony we could see the big, ugly, long-necked lizard attached to the "nose" of the Eggman-themed Space Colony...

"Oh no...!"

"Come on, Frisk.  Don't start regretting it now."

"What?  Me?  Never!  I'm feeling pumped up and way determined!"

"That's what I want to hear."

Actually...what I really wanted to hear was that booming soundtrack, which fully kicked in right now.

I gazed at the H.U.D. in the sky; moving independent of the stars and the Colony, and the Bio-Lizard...and us.  Almost like an overlay.  There was our ring count.  Fifty, a piece.  There was the Chronometer counting up.  And there was the Enemy Life Meter in blue.

The song was on full blast.  And it went a little something like this:

***"Can you feel life moving through your mind***

***Looks like it came back for more - yeah***

***Can you feel time slipping down your spine***

***You try and try to ignore, yeah"***

My thoughts were interrupted as Dr. Eggman's voice came through and explained the situation.  But our names replaced Sonic's and Shadow's.  This was Alphys' mods to the script, no doubt.

"Frisk!  Asriel!  Can you hear me?  He's very weak without his life support system!  Aim for the red swelling spot to damage him!  You're our only hope!"

"Hope...that's us."

At that point...Frisk decided she worked up enough bravery and indicated she wanted to star out.  I nodded.

And sure enough she went from floating in space to taking off like a rocket!  Surrounded by the golden aura.  She looked so darn cool!

Already the Bio-Lizard was defending itself with red orbs that were like inflated red corpuscles.  Frisk immediately spotted the red bulge...it was like  moving tumor of sorts.  She got that Determined look on her face and charged for and just BODY-CHECKED the weak spot with the force of what felt like an atomic bomb!  It sparkled away for only a moment to reappear elsewhere as the beast let out an EXCRUCIATINGLY pained wail.

How...did that even work in the vacuum of space?  Well...we breathing and not exploding/imploding let alone freezing to death.  Yeah.   Suspension of disbelief.

***"But you can hardly swallow***

***Your fears and pain***

***When you can't help but follow***

***It puts you right back where you came"***

For a brief moment...I could see Kari Kameya's image super-imposed over Frisk's for...just a moment.  It...was true...?  We were re-living the glory days for this one simulation?

Heavy.

I tightened my fist before doing a Michael Jackson heel spin...in space...before declaring.  "Frisk!  Leave it to me!  I'll destroy him!"

Very un-Asriel of me.  Shadow's personality leaking through a bit?  It was just as well.  That last attack ate up Frisk's rings.  It was time for her to collect more...though...I don't know WHERE she was collecting them from.  Or where I'd be collecting them from.  Just that it...happened off screen.  I guess.

***"Live and learn***

***Hangin' on to the edge of tomorrow***

***Live and learn***

***From the works of yesterday***

***Live and learn***

***If you beg or if you borrow***

***Live and learn***

***You may never find your way!"***

My task became noticeably harder as now the Bio-Lizard was attacking with pink lasers surrounded by a weird blue aura.  Something very DNA-like about it but...completely straightened instead of coiled.

I weaved around and SLAMMED into the moving tumor HARD with similar explosive results!

"Where does he get all that  power!?  Is this the power of the Chaos Emeralds?"  Frisk asked, driven by the game's script.  Asriel!  Are you okay?"

"I'll collect the rings.  Now it's up to you, Frisk!"

***"Can you feel life tangle you up inside (yeah!)***

***And now your face down on the floor, oh***

***But you can't save your sorrow***

***You've paid in trade***

***When you can't help but follow***

***It puts you right back where you came"***

"Azzy!  You need a rest!  Let me give a try!"

Frisk bobbed and weaved as she spiraled around the sweeping lasers before making another impact with the swollen bulbous mass.  Another explosive blast later...

"Yeah!  Take that, creep!"

Why, Frisk!  I'd never heard you so...salty before.  You really have learned how to release the beast under Undyne's training!  I find it kind of attractive.  Oh gosh...I'm blushing under this digital shell, aren't I?

By now...we'd knocked it down to about half of its life span.  By now...it was angry and its attacks were getting harder to dodge.  Even at our crazy speed.

"***Live and learn***

***Hangin' on to the edge of tomorrow***

***Live and learn***

***From the works of yesterday***

***Live and learn***

***If you beg or if you borrow***

***Live and learn***

***You may never find your way"***

"Azzy!  Are you okay?"

I didn't waste words.  Only gave a battle cry.  "HERE I COME--!"

Which was interrupted by Dr. Eggman.

"Can you  hear me!?  Atmosphere entry in about four minutes!  Hurry up!"

I wish he hadn't said that because now I was compelled to rush.  And that led to me taking a direct hit or two from the lasers.

Fortunately being an indestructible, ultimate life form powered by Chaos Emeralds made me invulnerable.  But it DID bounce me around and off target; meaning I'd have to go to evasive maneuvers to get in range again!

***"There's a face searching far, so far and wide***

***There's a place where you dreamed you'd never find***

***Hold on to what if...***

***Hold on to what if..."***

By some miracle, I was able to make up for lost ground and get right on target.  A Homing ck later and I was feeling the shockwave from the energy backlash of its tumor exploding again!

I wasn't so keen about shortening the amount of time Frisk had left to follow up my attack.

"Alright!  THIS IS IT!"  I grit my teeth and doubled down on my determination.

"We've almost got him!"  Frisk responded.

Now it got even more dangerous.  It was now attacking with TWO sweeping lasers like search lights in the star-lit blackness.  And worse...it tripled and quadrupled down on the number of red cell orbs surrounding its body in a spherical grid.  Getting between them would require Frisk to be pin-point accurate.

***"Live and learn***

***Hangin' on to the edge of tomorrow***

***Live and learn***

***From the works of yesterday***

***Live and learn***

***If you beg or if you borrow***

***Live and learn***

***You may never find your way"***

As it turned out, I wouldn't be the only one knocked around like a pinball.  Frisk soon found it hard to dodge the onslaught and was quickly losing ground and time.

I about snarled seeing her rag-dolling in space before she finally managed to recover.

One good speed burst later and she was back on target.

A hit and the creature was on its last legs or so it seemed like.

That was when Amy Rose's voice came through...only I could hear Alphys' voice modulated underneath.  She was reading the script line for line and the computer was synthesizing the pink hedgehog's voice.  Wow this was becoming like a vocal drama or a cartoon line-read.

"Can you both hear me? The ARK is close to the Earth!  Please hurry up!"

She wasn't wrong.  Our time was dangerously close to being up!

It was my turn now and I went through the gauntlet to score another hit.

As many times as I bounced around this time?  It was looking like we wouldn't make the final hit in time!

I tumbled backward.  Again and again, each time being sent further out.  I was pushing my speed further and future to double back.

Until I was able to finally land a hit!

***"Live and learn***

***Hangin' on to the edge of tomorrow***

***Live and learn***

***From the works of yesterday***

***Live and learn***

***If you beg or if you borrow***

***Live and learn***

***You may never find your way"***

It was all Frisk for that last hit.

"The colony is going to crash!  There's no time!  Get out of there!"  Alphys unmodulated voice broke through, while going off script.  It was at this point she was so enwrapped in our adventure she forgot it was all just a game simulation.

The panic in her voice...I think for a brief moment she almost believed the world was going to end!

"She can make it!"  I protested.

***"Live and learn***

***Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah***

***Live and learn***

***Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah"***

And like that...Frisk had braved the last of it and slammed into its weak spot for the most massive of damage!  It was no massive crab, but boy...it was sure cracked for sure this time.

Victory was ours.

"Did you really think you had a chance?"  Frisk taunted.

Almost ours...we still had to stop the colony and while the Bio-Lizard was now down and out, hanging limply and starting to incinerate as it touched Earth's atmosphere.

There was a fiery aura wave engulfing the whole front of the Colony as it fell faster and faster.

But there was one around us, too, as we rocketed upward toward it!

"NO WAY THAT'S GETTING THROUGH!"  Frisk kept on script.

"Asriel...I beg of you...!"

What?  That's...Chara's voice!  Chara as Maria Robotnik!?!  This is...this is messing with my head...this is a serious gaslight!

"Chara...!"

"...give them a chance to be happy!"

In that moment I squeezed my eyes shut and sent forth a surge into both of my wrists...breaking my Inhibiter Rings off and unleashing my true Ultimate Power.

"Now, Azzy!"  Frisk was unaware what I had done, not familiar with what was going on in the script outside of her own lines.

We held our hands out toward one another and built up the massive charge of space-time energy before launching it with a single shout:

"CHAOS...CONTROL!!!"

In that brief moment...the whole colony was surrounded...before blinking out of existence.

"We did it, Azzy!  Now we can...!"

Frisk started before she looked down and gasped in horror.

I was plummeting.

"Chara...this is what you wanted, right?  This is my promise I made to you."

I drifted away toward the Earth...falling...falling--

\*GRAB\*

What...!  What just...!

"Sorry.  But I'm not letting you go.  Not now or ever."  Frisk's hand was grasping mine.

We had...gone off script in the last moments.

And just in time to watch a miniature Big Bang occur as Chaos Control rematerialized Space Colony ARK back into geosynchronous orbit....

A scene played live over millions if not billions of TV screens all throughout the virtual planet as its NPC's rejoiced in real-time.

Back on the bridge of Space Colony ARK, Alphys could resist stepping on board, unnoticed by the other NPC characters for the cut scene.

"Where is Asriel...?"  Rouge the Bat asked, concerned as Frisk walked toward her with Ring in hand...

It was a somber moment as even Alphys was convinced--

Suddenly my hand was on Frisk's shoulder as I peeked out from behind.

"Hey.  Thanks for saving that for me."  I snatched up the missing ring and put it on my wrist.  "Next time, though...It's going to be one that fits on my finger."

Frisk blinked for a moment before she figured out what I meant.

"Yeah.  And you'll have a matching one for me."

"Yours will have a diamond on it."  I smiled.

Well...we took only a moment to get...mostly back on script after breaking the game a little.  But Alphys wrote in a few additions and modifications to adjust that.  We listened in on everyone else's conversations; from Tails and Eggman having a moment over contemplating Gerald's actions and...burying the hatching only temporarily.  To Knuckles and Rouge discussing future plans and whether they involved jewel-hunting.  And a re-worked thing with Amy now sharing a moment with me only for Frisk to intervene a little.  Yeah...I was getting some Son-Sal vs. Son-Amy vibes here.  And I was amused at the love triangle.  This was much more entertaining.

Once the last scene played out with me being the last one to leave, normally that role going to Sonic to bid farewell to Shadow...

"Heh.  How's that for a script, Lady Destiny?  Hope I gave you something to smile about.  Sayonara, Space Colony ARK.  This was a blast."

Yeah...I felt like we rebooted Kari and T.K.'s simulation rather well with our own twist at the end.]

Close simulation and return home.

Hope to do two things, now.

Live.

And.

Learn.

## Sub-Entry 237: "Movie Night is Back, Baby!"

I realize that, if you are somehow familiar with the first two stories of my life in "Project Lost Dreemurr"...excuse the meta...then you know Movie Night.  I also realize that Volt's accounts of those nights don't exactly paint a...coherent, flowing narrative much less anything that makes sense unless you've actually watched any of the massive collection of internet videos and feature presentations that we have.  Likely, you probably won't make sense of our back-and-forths, our random quips, and our seemingly out-of-nowhere comments and colorful jokes and memes.

Really.  I get it.  It's like trying to watch Mystery Science Theater 3000...on a television with working speakers...but broken picture tube or LCD screen.  Nothing makes sense.  You're just listening to people riff on old movies, internet pickings, and YTP's.

Yet...I feel like this is a niche guilty pleasure for those who are in the know on everything we reference.

In other words.  If you're a true nerd...you get it.

Yeah.

That's all I'm really trying to say.  If you get it...you get it.

That said...

It's that day, like M. Bison said when Chun-Li confronted him about the worst day of her life.

"For me...it was Tuesday."

Yeah.  I bet that probably slipped past in the last couple decades of my life.  If it was never said...yeah.  Movie Night has always been on a Tuesday Night after 11 PM and went to the border of so-late-it's-early.

"I got the feature presentation ready to go, everyone.  You know where to post your requests and internet uploads."  I sent out the chat message in the local instant message forum.

I'd wait out the rest of the day to see who submitted what and I'd compile a playlist.

Alphys would handle loading it onto a video streaming site designed to synchronize all our PC's.  So even if we couldn't be at the lab to view it directly, we could all watch it from our mobile phones, tablets, or laptops.

Isn't it great how far we've advanced Undertale's internet tech?

So...that night...

Watching movie night on a large plasma-screen TV theater system?  Good idea.

But renting one of those IMAX type movie theaters to see our stuff in glorious high definition with 90,000 watts of Dolby Surround Sound?

Priceless idea.   And worth every penny.

"You know, back in the day...Jon would always invest in an 18-wheeler trailer worth of popcorn for the show."

"Wow, that's considerate of him to think of everyone in the--"  Frisk trailed off when she saw my look.

"...you can't be serious.  All that?  Just for him!?"

"Sometimes Jon's appetite went beyond legendary.  I didn't think ANYONE could eat that much.  But...then I remembered the two masters.  A beatnik with a goatee and a green shirt and his Great Dane.  Known for cowardice and impossible quantities of eating."

I think we know what cartoon I'm referring to.

"Zoinks!"

"You said it."

"It's so much fun when you invite us to take part in these gatherings, my son."

"Don't sweat it, pop.  Movie Night is a sacred tradition back in Miranda."

"Er...if you say so."

Okay "sacred" was going a step or two too far but...hey.  It was the night of the week I looked forward to most.  And it got so many of us on the same page.  Just over riffing on internet scrapings, music and music videos, animations, movie and game trailers...and of course memes.  All topped off with a feature presentation on the nights we could actually stay awake long enough.

I remember so many watches.  From Ernest Saves Christmas to Santa Conquers the Martians; both holiday gold for similar yet still different reasons.  Both related to comedy, whether intentional...or unintended.

Then there were the ones I didn't wish I could remember.  Yeah, I brought up the infamous one with the knock-off Dance Dance Revolution competition...which shall remain nameless, Aunt Vi.  To the ones that Mitzi and I still had haunting our nightmares like Body Melt.  Oh dear gods, no.

And then there were the ones like Kimba the White Lion and the maybe-maybe-not rip-off of the Lion King controversy that surrounded it.

But the absolute legendary ones were the ones that actually made us laugh...and cry...and...well...think.  Think about...things.  Life...morality.  Just...really good stuff.

Our routine went as usual.

We opened with a long playlist of music only entries.  The pre-show music of course was to allow time for all of us to arrive or sign on from our computers/mobile devices/tablets when we were doing a stay-at-home viewing.

That way no one was left out when the actual videos started up.  It wasn't a perfect contingency as we had our good nights...and our bad nights.  Let's not get into details.

Once the actual shows began, it was a mish-mosh of randomized videos we all picked out.

Generally...Alphys liked the ones relating to anime, gaming, and culture-sharing; usually Nippon. (Our Japan, mind you.  Which I'm told was the original name of Japan on most Earth realms.  Guess our world never changed the name.)

Sans wasted no time in flooding us with memes, YTP's, and comedy.  Whether it was a Papyrus-pleasure involving "making lots of spaghetti" or if we knew "da wae", you can bet he had some of us scratching our heads (Mostly Undyne) or groaning when we DID get the joke (mostly Chara).

Mom usually found educational videos.  The ones about plant care and terrariums were always interesting.

Frisk found fun stuff.  All the time.

Papyrus liked his cartoons.  Usually 80's stuff that was easily PG-rated Saturday morning goodness and not too violent.  Ones that hit all the tropes of that era; usually being over glorified toy commercials.

Shyren and Napstablook would never skimp on the music and music videos.  Respect, you two.

And then there was just so many clips and such that didn’t' fit into any category.

"Alright.  Last call.  Get your refreshments ready!"  I was trying to make a Mega Man 2 reference with Dr. Light saying to "get your weapons ready".

"Nyeheheheh!  Get equipped with dinosaur gummies!"

And I didn't regret teaching Pappy the reference.

"These seats are too cushy.  I don't like em."  Undyne folded her arms, grumping over the newly installed automated recliner seats that let you electrically recline them and turn on a seat warmer.

I guess they were too fancy for her.  Oh well.  Sans sure adapted fast--

\*snooooore\*

...maybe too fast.

"Let the show begin."

So of course there had to be various music types each of us went with.

Alphys of course had to have chip tunes.   Someone out there sure know how to nail the sounds of Big Giant Circles, let me tell you.  Sally would have approved.

"Aunt Sally would never admit the SNES had the better sound chip."  I mused to myself.

I went with 80's rock and heavy metal.  The best I could find that captured the likes of Specter General, or something more recent like Pathfinder (Violet always joked "The Day I Turn Back Time" was like the unofficial national anthem of Raxis).  And of course fan made stuff similar to Krzysztof "MET" Słowikowski or Metaltool.  A little GaMetal or Powerglove.  Stone McKnuckle.  Even things like Violet used to download off of OCRemix done by Viking Guitar or Sixto Sounds Stuff like that.

I think Frisk is going to need time to get used to my taste in guitar-shredding.

Mom picked classical.

Dad picked disco...which didn't last long.  We soon outvoted him, habitually after that.

And of course Sans insisted I put a few of Weird Al's songs into the mix just so he could have a good laugh.

So...after the music interlude the show began.

Back in Miranda, someone would usually have either old sitcom clips of things like Cheers or standup comedy by Bob Newhart.

Sans of course picked our equivalents.  Though to be honest...

"Don't let Tsunderplane hear that one."  I warned.

"I never had a fear of flying on planes...until now."  Frisk had the jitters.  I guess dark comedy isn't meant for everyone.  I still laughed, mind you.

Alphys had to show off something completely off-beat.  Our own world's take on Fashion Police Squad.  It won both Frisk and mom over for being non-violent.....more or less.  Though mom did complain about the realistic sounding weapons, even if they didn't kill per se...just re-dressed some fashion nightmares.  Mettaton gave his stamp of approval.  Obviously.

Somewhere a dis-rap found its way into the mix.  Kind of reminded me of Violet's obsession with Epic Rap Battles of History.

Muffet of course had to submit a few cooking videos.

Which Grillby matched her with his own rival videos.  Yeah...they took it there.  But at least it didn't get out of hand.  Eheheheh...

Chara picked a chocolate factory tour video transferred from old tapes from the 50's.  No  surprises there.

Undyne's contributions channeled more than a little of Count Dankula.  And what else but a video on the completely insane story of our own world's version of Killdozer.  I have...thoughts.

Chara, matched her with weirdness factory with our world's version of JonTron.  Yeah...snappy banter making fun of stuff on the internet I only wish we made up.

That reminds me...I kind of want to find some Gorilla Tape and see if I can fix a broken canoe.  Why?  Er.  No reason.

"WHAT.  \* long pause \*  WHAT."  Undyne interrupted my thoughts.

M.K. had to submit his own personal favorites in the form of movie and game reviews.   Yeah, we had our own versions of Doug "Nostalgia Critic" Walker and James "Angry Video Game Nerd" Rolfe on our world.  And they were every bit as over-the-top and sometimes sweary (to Mom's chagrin) as you'd think.

Don't tell M.K.'s parents what he watches.  Okay?

Finally it came down to the feature presentation.  And yeah...I was surprised they made a movie adaptation of Peek-a-boo Bunny.  But not HALF as surprised as how they padded it out to a 3-hour director's cut.

How...how does that happen?

Well...I did pick it for Papyrus.  I think I earned brownie points with Sans for this move.

I think Papyrus was the only one who stayed awake from start to finish.

"That ending always gets me!"  Pappy sniffled.

And with movie night coming to a close we all gathered our trash and did our part to be courteous and considerate to the theater.

"Same time next week.  But at our house."  Dad volunteered.  I think Mom finally started talking to him after he invested in a home theater system, finally.  And an expensive set-up, too.   Almost as pricey as the cable TV package he bundled with the new digital phones and internet.

Oh well.  I know you liked it more with traditional family values, mom but...

...this is the way things are going these days.  We're just catching up to a modern world.

Speaking of...when I really thought about it...a lot of different eras of pop culture had been melded into Undertale all at once.  Where things like hippies and disco music and Reaganomics each had its own era and went out of style within its respective decade?

We were cramming it all together at once.  Imagine a world where roller-skating rinks and leisure suits was co-existing with TikTok videos and the golden age of Multi-verse stories?  Where Elvis, the Beatles, the BeeGees and Johnny Cash was just as new to us as Skrillex, Fallout Boy, Taylor Swift, and Gorillaz.  And those were just music examples.  TV?  Movies?  Anime?

All of it was now blended together in one era.  Nothing was out of style.  Nothing was particularly classical or old school.  Casablanca was as fresh now as was Top Gun: Maverick (which I still hadn't figured out how Vi got the theater release ahead of time and installed into the NXS).

All of this multimedia.

And I had to accept the responsibility of importing it all.

Calm down, Azzy.  You just enjoyed a wonderful movie night.  Don't get all bent out of shape over such things.

Well...I bid everyone good night and headed home before it became the wee-hours of the morning.

A good day to sleep in?  You bet.  But...sleep in with good memories I'd do so.

Not to mention...the eagerness for next movie night to get here!

You know what?  I'm going to say it.

That's a wrap.

## Sub-Entry 238: "Karaoke Night: the Sequel":

You know, part of me really thinks it was beginner's luck that Frisk and I won the first Karaoke Night competition.

I mean we went up against the master of entertainment, Mettaton.

So I guess it wouldn't surprise me if he actually did one-up us this time.

That WOULD probably be a guarantee if Frisk and actually went at Karaoke Night as separate solo acts.

But...first sequels only have a 50/50 chance of exceeding the original and actually being better by comparison.  Successive sequels follow fraction logic after that.  For a series to still be good after the third sequel is rare.  A fourth?  Once in a blue moon for that kind of lucky streak.  Any anything beyond that?  Miraculous.

Most of that is on who makes the sequels.  If it's still creative control in the hands of the original artists...or if it's been passed down to a successor.  If the original artist is just as passionate one or two sequels down the road or if they're just phoning it in by the third or fourth for a cash grab.  Perhaps it's a new team that doesn't understand the artist's original vision?  Or a new team that actually improved upon it.  Maybe there's interference from the studio.

All these possibilities hold just as true for TV, music, movies, video games...you name any kind of media in our world and all these factors are a balancing act at play.  Was the final product rushed out the door?  Or was it delayed several times.  I've said it before...rushed products are forever bad...delayed ones are eventually good; words of legendary Shigeru Miyamoto, if I'm not mistaken.

So all that preachy exposition that somehow relates to Karaoke Night out of the way?

Let's get to it.

So.

Everyone competing had their own muse for inspiration; all which stemmed from media I'd shared from my NXS board's database.

Some were sticking to their guns.  Others were trying something new.

Me?

Frisk and I became inspired by some videos Violet uploaded of a group of cosplayers who really took it up to the next level with their fandom of my favorite Cybertronian factions--the Autobots and the Decepticons.  I speak of course...of the Cybertronic Spree.

My initial suggestion before Frisk had swiped through videos, was something off the Transformers soundtrack.

I'm sure if she were here, though, Violet would have jokingly tried to get me to agree to performing "True Survivor" by the Hoff, himself.

Yeah, Kung Fury was totally her jam and paying homage to that would be an easy route to go.  But...I wanted to see if we could put our NerdiCon skills to the test and have some actual costumes and effects.

However, Vi wasn't here.  Frisk gets the vote.  And she was actually kind of tickled to see if she could pull off an Arcee cosplay.  If that meant I could be Hot Rod?  Not a bad start.

Sorry, Vi.  Maybe getting struck by lightning and bit by a cobra another day.  Althoooooooooough...Cybertronic Spree DID do a cover of said "True Survivor".  So maybe some day it was on the queue...?

Right.

Well...cut to rehearsal and Frisk and I agreed on "Nothing's Gonna Stand In Our Way" as our song of choice even though, we both initially liked "The Touch" and "Dare"; finding the first being more of an appropriate anthem and the latter being more uplifting.

Nah.  This one conveyed our Determination better.

We went out there and performed.  And we nailed it.

But...

Sure enough.

Mettaton had prepared a little better.

"No way!"  M.K. was on the edge of his seat.

"Did you know he was going to do this?"  I asked Frisk.

Frisk shrugged.

So...what amazing show did he decide on?  Well...leave it up to Mettaton to go with an all out rock opera.  And his choice was not-so-ironically..."Domo Arigato, Mr. Robotto" by Styxx.

It was...just so ironically perfect that we'd get an actual robot (well...robot body possessed by a ghost) to light the whole house up with something amazing.

And with Alphys collaborating with him to get the Japanese/Jangese down pat?  How could we compete with that?

MTT nailed as many of the details as I think he could get away with without directly copy-and-pasting Styxx's music video, detail for detail.  But what he did change...more than amplified what was already great.

And with his big budget movie special effects, make-up, costumes, rigging, and foley...

It was clearly no contest.

***"… Domo arigato misuta Robotto***

***Domo arigato misuta Robotto***

***Mata au hi made***

***Domo arigato misuta Robotto***

***Himitsu wo shiritai"***

I'll bet you're proud of yourself, Alphys for getting the sexy rectangle to pronounce those phrases flawlessly.

***"… You're wondering who I am (secret secret I've got a secret)***

***Machine or mannequin (secret secret I've got a secret)***

***With parts made in Japan (secret secret I've got a secret)***

***I am the modern man"***

How much did it cost for those sweeping lasers and holograms?  Right now, second place was still looking appealing.

***"… I've got a secret I've been hiding under my skin***

***My heart is human, my blood is boiling, my brain I.B.M.***

***So if you see me acting strangely, don't be surprised***

***I'm just a man who needed someone, and somewhere to hide***

***To keep me alive, just keep me alive***

***Somewhere to hide to keep me alive"***

His dance routine was flawless and his singing was on point.

***"… I'm not a robot without emotions, I'm not what you see***

***I've come to help you with your problems, so we can be free***

***I'm not a hero, I'm not a savior, forget what you know***

***I'm just a man whose circumstances went beyond his control***

***Beyond my control, we all need control***

***I need control, we all need control"***

He's gotten extras, including Napstablook to really sell that he somehow cloned himself.  Kudos to you, good sir.

Getting trounced this big didn't crush Frisk and my ambitions to try again next Karaoke Night.  No.  It lit a fire under us.  We were going to level up a lot by next time.  Just you wait.  The two of us versus you and your massive budget, Mettaton.  It was going to be great.  But until then.

***"… I am the modern man (secret secret I've got a secret)***

***Who hides behind a mask (secret secret I've got a secret)***

***So no one else can see (secret secret I've got a secret)***

***My true identity"***

With his use of quick-change artistry, he was able to seemingly drift instantly from silvery android to seemingly fully human; give or take a few give-away details.  Sorry but there's no covering up those extendable arms.

***"… Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo, domo***

***Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo, domo***

***Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto***

***Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto***

***Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto***

***Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto***

***… Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto***

***For doing the jobs nobody wants to***

***And thank you very much, Mr. Roboto***

***For helping me escape to where I needed to***

***Thank you, thank you, thank you***

***I want to thank you, please, thank you, oh yeah"***

The next lines of the song made me think.  I'd never pondered this before.  But...I'd grown up in a world dependent on science.  On machines.  Could it be that I never realized how oversaturated our society...any society in this day and age was?

And to me...it was an ULTIMATE irony that Mettaton could just blatantly, without hesitation, sing out these lyrics without batting an artificial eyelash.

***"… The problem's plain to see, too much technology***

***Machines to save our lives, machines dehumanize***

***… The time has come at last (secret secret I've got a secret)***

***To throw away this mask (secret secret I've got a secret)***

***Now everyone can see (secret secret I've got a secret)***

***My true identity***

***I'm Kilroy! Kilroy! Kilroy! Kilroy!"***

The standing ovation was deafening.  And it went on for ages.

"Aww..."

"Better luck next time, Frisk."

"You...don't seem surprised, Azzy."

"Yeah...I had a feeling last time Mettaton really didn't know what we were all in for so...after we blew the town away the first time...he took it as a challenge.  A...friendly challenge, mind you.

But still...no one outdoes the master of entertainment.

Sure enough...we did come in second place.

"There there, my child.  You cannot win them all."

"Yeah...I know..."

"My boy, you do not seem that broken up about it."

"Why would I be, Pop?  I had fun.  I got to hear and see some great singing acts.  Frisk and I will just have to try harder next time.  But...I hope I have as much fun down the road as I did tonight."

A good natured laugh from the old man.    Mom eventually got the clue that it wasn't always about the competition.  It was about the experience itself.

The next day, the numbers were in.

It was official.

Mettaton broke the internet... ...with popularity.

How many views did I say that "Gangnam Style" got when it dropped in 2012?

Styxx's rock opera lived again on a new world.  Our world.  What was like 30 years old on most other worlds was now brand new here.

Of course we took care of the complicated matters of crediting them all, though...how they'd earn royalties from another world, another dimension, another...time period?  And heck.  Some of the artists and such had passed on in almost every dimension's variant.

Seriously though.  As much media as I'd dropped on our world...our society?  I never once neglected to give credit where credit was due.

And yet...I don't know if it changed anything or did any good since...none of these celebrities and music groups, and such......ever existed on our world.  No legally binding contracts and copyrights.

...I couldn't help but think about a certain...end credits sequence in the Morbius movie.  If you know what I'm talking about then I don't need to explain.  But I guess...when a certain supervillain suddenly finds himself in a jail cell in a different dimension...what's legally keeping him incarcerated?

Nothing.

So that certain someone was free to go.

Similarly...why was I concerned about these matters?

Just...conscience.

I guess I can sum it up in a single word.

"Intriguing."

You're cringing right now.  Aren't you?

"Azzy.  Slow those thoughts of yours.  We'll get all that rigamarole worked out some day."

"And I can finally stop feeling so guilty about all this file-sharing I've done since I've come back to Undertale.  I've...melded countless world's social media, pop culture, history, and so much more into our own.  A world that had none of these things until I brought them in.  It's...not like I brought a sports almanac back from the future and used it to gamble on sports events...but...

I have forever changed our timeline.  Now and forever."

"Yeah.  You have.  Undertale is something different now.  And we'll face it all together."

"Heck of a tangent to go on just over a karaoke competition."

"Don't ever change, Azzy!"

Yeah.  I don't think I will.

## Sub-Entry 239:  "Prototype Complete!  Attempting Contact Through the Cyber Gate"

I am not doing this willy-nilly.  This is not a completely reckless endeavor without preparation.

This has been building for years, now.

This has been simulated many times.  This has been refined.

But what is "this"?

In two words?

Our wish.

Make it three and it's...our wish realized.

I cannot in good faith say it all comes down to this.  Because this is not the end game.  This is just...just the test.

Once upon a time...I was S.T.C.  I was his partner.  I had to have picked up more than a few things while under his apprenticeship.

Now it was time to prove it.  Now it was time to grow and level up.  I needed this.  We all needed this.

Hope is a candle flame.  A candle flame in a raging wind storm and we must do everything we can to keep that flame from extinguishing.  And right now...this would determine if we poured gas on the fire...or smothered it.

I'd made the comparison before.

I was practically Chris Thornedyke in this moment at the very end scene of Sonic X.  Eeeesh.  There's an image to get the Sonic fanbase up in arms.

I'm serious, though.  I didn't intend for my role to coincide so perfectly.  Someone entered my life long ago.  Someone changed me, fundamentally, forever.  Someone left such an impact that I could never forget them.

That someone...was my best friend.

I just couldn't hold it back any more.  I had to see him.  I had to be there for him.

In all honesty...part of me was worried.  Had he...been as much of a rock as I had been?  Wow that's kind of an arrogant statement.  But, yes.  That's how he'd describe me after all these years of holding on.  Not how I'd describe me.  His words.

I had to justify those words.

But...like I said...I was worried.  Was he...just as collected and confident in this moment?  I worried that my absence could have...negatively impacted everyone.  Saying goodbye is painful.  It's not a brief thing to get over the next day.  It's something to haunt you.  And...I'd be lying if I didn't have dark dreams of any of my family and friends in the other world...being in a bad place for these couple of years.

It wouldn't be an easy thing to forgive; despite knowing full well it can't be helped.  That's when I had to have faith that they've been all right all this time.  He's been all right all this time.

What was I worried about?  Coming home...to my other home, mind you...would only improve things, even if any of them were going through hard times.  I had to put on a brave face when that moment comes, no matter what state each of them was in.

This was just...planning for the future.

All while I monologue this I just keep starring at the machine.  The giant mechanical ring.  This design...it's been overused and recycled and absolutely done to death since the likes of Stargate and every other sci-fi depiction of a gate between worlds.

Every time I saw a gate that crossed space and time...most of the time it was a perfect circle...like this.  Whether flat, spinning blue dilations like VideoLand's warp zones or twisting vortices like a side-ways tornado leading into a beyond that just seemed to stretch into invisibility.    Yeah.  These were the popularized images of what a Cyber Gate was.  What a Portal was.

Yet, not the only iterations.  Krang's trans-dimensional portal for example was just a wall of  rippling TV static if it had been colored to match Judas Priest's "Turbo Lover" video; in shades of pink, mauve, orange, and yellow.

Or how about the standard portrait in mid-air surrounded by lightning and static around its edges.  Yeah, the projected window into another world or another time was pretty cliche by now, too.

But I guess, hands-down, the most overused portal method was the obligatory giant pillar stretching into the vortex in the sky that EVERY movie in the 2000's through 2020's had to do.  From the Fantastic Four reboot to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.  Though...that was usually ascribed to more...disaster at the climax than practical method of transporting people to and fro.

Heck.  One of my earliest memories of wormhole methods was the classic Aperture Science orange and blue portals.

Well, Azzy.  Did you finally get all that brainstorming out of your system?  You can just stand here and stare at it...or fire it up and begin the test.

"Your h-highness?"

"Yeah.  Sorry, Alphys.  I got...caught in the moment."

I turned to Frisk.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world?"

"Hey.  That's my line."

"Just wanted to be sure.  Still.  You do realize this could be a catastrophic failure.  I'm not...crazy about this turning into Spider-Man 2."

"Okay...I...think I got the reference...you mean the scene where his fusion reaction goes out of control and during the explosion, shards of glass um...un-alived his wife?"

"You've been talking to Papyrus again.  But yeah...I guess I'm still squeamish about using the k-word."

"Asriel.  Don't worry.  It's going to be fine.  I'm right here.  I know if anything goes wrong, you'll protect me.  And I'll do the same.  We got each other's backs.  Besides...Dr. Alphys is here, too.  She has plenty of safety measures in place, right?"

"Oh!  Y-y-yes!  Of c-course!"  Alphys was fidgeting with her safety goggles, still hesitating to pull off her glasses and lower her eye protection.

"Just give me a good light show, Azzy."

"Yes, yes.  Your entertainment certainly takes priority over scientific advancement."  I prodded a little.

"Glad you get me."  Chara wrinkled her snoot.

"Is the probe ready?"  I turned to where the lab techs were still messing with the hovering gravity orb we had constructed; finally having mastered reverse-engineering my NXS SwitchBoard's static accumulators.

We could finally make flying drones without need of traditional propellor rotors and turbine-driven vortices. And of course jet engines that used limited fuel supplies.

"All 128 individual Scan-nites are loaded aboard.  Each self-propelled and designed to fan out from the main sensor core."

I was ambitious but I was no fool.  This was a test...but we were not ready to send anything living through the gate just yet.

Right now the goal was the verify...I'd finally found the coordinates after all this time had passed.

Once I was sure it was the right place...I'd know I'd caught up to Volt's level.  I'd know I'd matched Nikita's genius.  I'd know...the wish actually could come true some day.

"Okay.   Goggles down."

And we did so.

"Starting power sequence.  Initializing core systems."

The lab lit up with even crazier computer light patterns and overlapping cacophony of sounds.

But the center of our attention...went to the gate itself which had gone from vibrating with an ominous hum...to projecting a magnetic, neon aura...to the static buildup....

The tangle of electricity within the empty area of the ring...at first just random...but then taking on a pattern like a rotating pinwheel...twisting into a spiraling pinwheel.  The energy buildup began overlapping itself until eventually...the circular section of reality began to distort and twist.

"Come on...come on..."  I pleaded.

Frisk crossed her fingers behind her back.

Papers and light-weight objects began to be swept up by the energy currents as the vortex gained strength.

"Stabilize...stabilize...!"

We needed that portal to balance on both ends.  Otherwise the reaction would gain mass and thus a gravitational pull.

And when  a portal started sucking or blowing...that's usually when disaster strikes.

To my relief, the wind currents settled and the portal; initially a solid plane of glowing neon blue...turned to translucent as...I could see it!

I could see another world beyond the event horizon.

"We have confirmation.  Event horizon has manifested in the targeted coordinates."

"L-l-l-link established.  W-we have c-contact, Asriel!"

So.  This is what it's like...this is the act of breaking the laws of time and space.  Something we did so casually back in the UCIAT HQ's gateway room.

"Scanning in progress.  Confirmed class-N planet.  Seventy-five percent nitrogen, twenty-four percent oxygen, one percent trace elements.  Presence of water confirmed.  immeasurable life signs detected."

"We have a Terran planet.  But...is it the right one?"  Alphys cocked her head.  She'd never seen it before.  How would she recognize it?

"Coordinates definitely match.  Yet..."

And yet I had seen it before...but it was so long ago.  That wasn't my worry though.  How many variants were identical in appearance?

"I know, Azzy.  It could be any variant in the Axis of Reality.  We could be...reaching out to the wrong dimension."  Chara folded her arms.

"Commence operation.  Send in the probe."

"Pilot controls active.  Now sending."

And the orb drifted forward...slowly...slowly...and then...!

It was slowly swallowed up by the energy plane dividing our worlds...and slowly pulled into...the beyond.  The place we could see clearly.

"We have confirmation.  Probe is through.  It's on the other side now."

I let out a huge sigh.

"Step one complete.  Now...now let's get the data."

"Spatial Telemetry is active.  Temporal Scan is functional.  Mapping the Dimensional Beacons now."

The data links were established, mainly through the portal but also through its redundancies via our dimensional rig, flux capacitor, and tachyon burst transceivers.  Yes...the information was being broadcast through the membrane separating our worlds.

It was working.

"The data is pouring in.  We've got visuals and scans of nearby flora.  We also have spectral analysis of geography and geology of the area."

"Now we just need some fauna."

All of these things collectively would certainly be evidence of the right world.  I however, knew they weren't a guarantee it was VGM-098.  Many of these things could probably be found on other worlds.  Other AU's, obviously, a given.

"Asriel...look!"

Sure enough...one Scan-Nite zeroed in on a definite species I knew from Lupe's nature preserve.

"Look alive!  We've got a chocobo!"

It wasn't long however before we got audio confirmation of something else familiar.

"Dooooooood!"

"Is that...a Prinny?"  I gasped.

As the sweeps progressed, I soon found other familiar species...a Cuoco from  Hyrule?  It...could have escaped from Gaia's Navel Nature Preserve.

"There.  Slimes."

Yeah, native to the Dragon's Quest worlds...also a staple on VGM-098.  Heck...Marcel had a drakeslime named Josquin.

This was great.  This was progress.

But I really was hoping for one species in particular.

For what seemed like hours, we took it all in.  We made a pretty detailed map of the forest area our portal had opened up in.

We had plenty of data to support my thesis that this was the right world.

But as the day dwindled, so this the onboard power supplies of the Scan-nites and the orb itself.  Which forced us to recall them.

After the last Scan-nite was accounted for...

"Recalling probe."

Nothing left to do but--

"Huh?  This is o-odd."

"What is it, Alphys?"

"The probe almost seems weighed down by something but...I can't get a visual c-confirmation.  Something's interfering with the optic s-sensor."

"Well, we were bound to run into Murphy's Law sooner or later."  Chara stuck her tongue out.

"Weighed down...?"

As the orb drifted through the portal.

"Whoah!  Whoah!  Whoah!  We've got indigenous fauna!"

"Something's hitched a ride on the probe!?"

Didn't take much to put my research staff into a panic.

But as soon as I saw it...!

"No...way...!"

I could see it trying to pierce its little buck-toothed incisors into the metal without success, growing a little frustrated...while also trying not to slip off the smooth surface.

"Isn't that...!"  Chara raised an eyebrow.

"Awwwwwww!"

I didn't realize it until seconds later...but I had the biggest smile on my face.  And that point hit home with a single vocalization from our uninvited guest.

"Chuuuu!"

"It's a rabite."  I was actually...tearing up.  "This is it.  This is the place."

I could still be wrong.  We could still have accessed the world of Secret of Mana or one of its Final Fantasy variants.  But this?  I needed this to be right.  I had to be right.

"Look at her!  She's so cuuuuute!"  Frisk was taken.  "Those stripes of hers...she looks like!"

Yeah...it was a White Rabite.  Like Houjicha.  But...the red stripes?  It made her look like...a puffy...marshmallow--

"Candy Cane!"

"Huh?"  I turned to Frisk.

"That should be her name!  Something like "Candy Cane"

As if on cue it hopped off the ball and bounded right up to Frisk and jumped into her arms.

"Chuu!"

Heh.

This raised...so many concerns.  But all I could say is...

"She likes you."

This was...already going against laboratory protocol.  I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that any foreign matter, especially living, crossing the gate into our world had to go through a rigorous series of procedures ranging from decontamination while in isolation, a lengthy medical check-up, and who knows what other pokes, prods and tests in the name of science.

To which if I had to actually enforce...I'm sure I'd be sleeping on the sofa.  At least I would if the two of us were already married.  Yeah, I don't think Frisk was going to be okay with us having to make a guinea pig out of her new pet.

You know what...it was probably best if we sleep on it and figure it out over time.

The scientist in me had lots of questions and concerns.

But the kid in me could only realize one thing.

Spot was no longer alone.  That was good enough to me.

What this was...was a victory.  And a big step in achieving the dream.

The right thing to do was to let Candy Cane hop back to her own world but...it seemed that she had no interest in returning.  Coaxing her...proved to be a slippery slow without making Frisk irate.

So...I guess she was staying.  Against my better judgement, she was staying.

Well...I now had a pet.  And Frisk had a matching one.  Maybe...maybe breeding rabites wasn't so outlandish now?

I'd think about that later.  To quote the Pathfinder song, "The Day When I Turn Back Time"...

We crossed the gate.

We touched the light.

While we didn't exactly see the "nothingness", we definitely felt the space...all astral place.

The feeling I had was almost as if we HAD stopped the time.

"Well...as much as I'm jazzed about this..."  I looked at the master switch.  We were burning energy keeping it open and risking the possibility someone or something else could find the portal.

A sigh and a series of mumbles before eventually the whole room was in agreement.

"Well...experiment...successful."  With that I yanked the switch open and powered the machine down, closing the gate.

The prototype works.  But it's not even close to what we need to make the wish come to pass.

Even with our hearts beating as one and desiring the same thing...it was not the time.  We were not ready, yet.  The tech was not ready yet.

It was folly to say "Just build a bigger one and give it a better power source".

Easier said than done.

However...that didn’t' mean I wasn't going to attempt.  It was just going to be... a much longer, much more endeavor build.

No...it would have to be something more than that.

It would have to be...a symbol.  Something that would speak to each of us in the same voice with the same intensity and give the same hope to the same dream.

I knew what we had to do...

## Sub-Entry 240:  "The Monument.  A Future Landmark That Would One Day Be Functional..."

I nervously shuffled my index cards, containing my speech.

This felt...unlike me.  I can't just read off of cue cards and still feel like it was coming from the heart and not the brain.  It was like what Santa said in Ernest Saves Christmas.  You just can't do it that way.

But...maybe...maybe that was me being stubborn.  Maybe I had to accept that age was catching up with me.  Maybe...it was time to start doing things this way.  After all...if Dad could rely on them...I guess I was destined to follow.

I stared at the microphone on the podium...stared like a deer in headlights.

I was going to tell the whole town.

I was proposing the dream.  Officially.  I was canonizing it.  I was making...a promise.

And really...it still felt like a gamble.

But I had one consolation...

The time that I would need to bring the dream to fruition...was the time that everyone in this city would need to grow into this...to get used to what I was offering.

In short...the time we'd need to one day be ready for this.

When that day would come...

...it would come without announcement to the world we were going to.

I wanted it to be a surprise.  but...I was also gambling on the risk it would start a panic.  It could stir up trouble.  It could...come at a bad time.

The fact was...I didn't know what this was leading to.  Whether our hopes and dreams would come true...or if we'd be walking into bad times.

"Azzy.  You got this."  Frisk's hand on my shoulder was the last boost of confidence I needed.

I nodded and stepped up, adjusted the mic...took a deep breath...

Then I let it all out.

"Humans and Monsters of Newest Home.  Of all of Undertale.  We stand here to day on the edge of tomorrow.  Behind me you see the efforts of a massive undertaking...a construction project of epic proportions.

We've already provided the hope.

We've already provided the dream.

What's left now...is to grant the wish.

This circular archway is the manifestation of a promise.  It is Undertale's first large-scale Cyber Gateway.  A portal off world.  A door into time and space and other realities."

Clamor began to rise up.

"My story has been public knowledge for some time now.  It's been a couple years since I was revealed to you all.  Since I shared my story of being lost...of being found...and growing into the man you see before you today.

I have been very open that I am not the Prince of this world's current timeline or its previous two...but rather a timeline that his erased from existence, completely.  Undertale has been remade from scratch...from the ground up from a master copy the Goddesses, Destiny and Fate have been modifying for countless cycles...countless runs of our game.

I know to some it still doesn't make much sense but...what was is now in the past.  Undertale is now its own world with its own identity in sea of alternate universe copies.  It has been since this timeline's Asriel made the sacrifice and broke the Barrier...since our own Frisk and I shattered our world's ethereal quantum code and left the rules of the game behind.

No more time loops.  No more resets.  No more hubris; whether unintentional or deliberate.  Frisk and I both resign ourselves to be no longer NPC's or character avatars of the game.  Just...regular people.  All of us have that luxury...that privilege of being able to lead our own lives and not be controlled by an unseen script.

We are free.

Alas...we have lived alone in the universe.  We've believed we were for too long until my benefactors...my other family and friends proved we are not alone.

Now we know we're not alone but to what ends does that knowledge serve?  We have been unable to step beyond our world's borders save for the geosynchronous orbit of our satellites and recent space program.  Even going so far as the moon, with plans to one day reach out to our next closest planet.

We've advanced so much...so quickly.  I...bear a large amount of responsibility accelerating our progress.  I've accepted both the good...and the bad that comes with it.  Heavy has the head been that wears the crown and...even though I wear no crown I cannot deny I am still Prince of This World's Future.  For this I thank you for leading me guide you all to the point we are now.

I reveal to you the culmination of all our research in the form of this full-scale Cyber Gate.  This is the promise.  This is the way back to the other planet I called home once.  The planet I was not born but I was raised.

A planet with people I love and respect so much...people I can never forget.  People I want to see again.  People I want to introduce you to.

This portal is the path.  It is the way y.  It is our hope, our dreams, and our wish.  Our hearts all beat as one and we all want this.

This gate...will make it happen.  And yet...it is not yet complete."

The clamor, turned to mutters and murmurs.

"Let me explain.  We're not simply revealing an unworking prototype.  No.  What we're showing off is a seed.  A seed we are planting now for a near-future in which it will be brought online completely.

For several, several months now I have toiled away on the small-scale working prototype.  Recently...it was tested.  While the goal was to simply sent probes in and collect data on the world we targeted that I believe is in fact VGM-098...something unexpected happened as one of its indigenous lifeforms followed its way through the portal.  Vastly ahead of schedule for testing the gateway on living creatures.

With us now is that very said flora."

Frisk held up Candy Cane.

"Chuu!"

I could make out a LOT of oohs and awws and even a lone "That's so cuuuute!" from the crowd.  But yeah...there was a lot of overlapping chatter.

"When I came to this world...I brought one of that same species with me."

Spot hopped up to the podium and onto my head.

There was a little bit of laughter among the crowd.  I smiled and waved, nonetheless.

"I'm sure there are lot of questions to be asked about our two little friends here...and in time I'll hope to answer them all.  And yes...Frisk and I are considering the possibility of breeding them.  Once we establish the parameters of safely introducing a new species into our ecosystem.  There are many things to consider for a new animal species, especially one from another world.

But much as I too longed to no longer be alone so long ago...now my little friend, Spot, here...no longer has to be alone.  He has a friend.

Isn't that the essence of what this project represents?  Possibilities of making new friends on a world that isn't our own?

With optimism, I look toward this day when we take that step off world and I can show you the one that I loved, I left, and I want to see again.  I can give you all the experiences of a lifetime.   And who knows...maybe...maybe our worlds can be united in peace and harmony.  As neighbors.  Across time.  Across space.  Across reality itself."

I took a moment to catch my breath.  Frisk stood by my side as did Chara.

"Some of you will pose questions about why the gate isn't operational yet.  I've been confronted with the quandary: If the smaller version works, why not just build another, only bigger.

It's not that simple.  I assure you that scaling it up multiplies a lot of issues and requires rigorous testing.  And of course...it will mean increased resources to power it.  Not to mention other unforeseen issues that could happen.

Once people believed the largest particle accelerator in the world would tear open reality and create a black hole,  dooming the world.

Obviously...that hasn't happened.  We're still advancing at a slow, steady, and responsible pace.

I think it only right that we abide by the philosophy of a city on the very world we are reaching out to--Neo Arcadia City and its surrounding cities, Technopolis, Neon City, South Plumbington, West End...and more.  And that philosophy is as written in stone...or...titanium, nowadays."

A brief chuckle of laughter among the crowd.

"That philosophy reads: conscience before convenience.  Before we every make our lives easier and more luxurious, we have to consider...should we?  Is what we're doing right?  Does it violate some kind of laws of ethics and nature?  With such great power what great responsibility must we Undertale to properly march to the future with a clean conscience and a safety record that will let us sleep at night.  Knowing that we did the right things without cutting corners or endangering our fellow man and monsters along the way.

We will get there.  To VGM-098.

But today is not that day.

Today...is a dedication ceremony.  As of now I reveal this gateway as a new historical monument.  As our own addition to the Wonders of the World.  A City Landmark that will serve a symbol up until the day it becomes fully functional.  On that day, we will work out the details of organizing who will come with me to step off world and into a new one where I hope my friends and family still remember me.

Let Frisk and I christen this gateway..."Undertale's Wish".  Let it be known far and wide.  It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow.  But one day...one day.......it's VGM-098 or bust.  I will happily lead us to Fontraile and back to Miranda City.

As it stands...we have no means of contacting this world so...obviously we can't radio ahead to let them know we're coming.

This could be...a reckless move dropping in on them unannounced.  But don't worry.  I'm sure Frisk and I can collaborate with our world governments and prepare for that day and diplomatically ease any tensions.

We'll figure this out.  We'll make it happen.

This very moment...all our souls are set to have the same purpose...the same goal.  Our hearts beat as one.

Miracles don't just happen by sitting by and expecting a prophecy to do everything.  We have to actively make it happen.  Even a miracle needs a hand.

Let us stand united with the intention of working with one and other to make that miracle happen.

To that end...we dedicate this monument...this land mark...officially...open."

Frisk and I turned toward the ceremonial ribbon across the archways.

We took up our scissors, positioned them just right...and both cut at the same time.

A massive roar among the crowd rose up and continued for what seemed like eternity.

The declaration was made.

The promise was in motion.

Project Undertale to Miranda was underway.

Now...all that was left was time.  Time separating us in the "now"...from the "then".

It felt like...another chapter of my life was coming to an end.  But...I felt I still just a little more for my journal...my logs of this full year to give before I was ready to close that chapter and open a new one.

For now...I was just comfortable to stand with Frisk...staring off into the event horizon of the metaphorical portal called "the future".

I think Frisk and I both agree on a common belief.

Wishes do come true.

***Asriel Tobias Arcade logging out...***

***Chapter 25***

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