My X Mind/Deleted Scenes

## Deleted Scenes

"C-CROSS?" Teresa stammered. "H-how are you here?"

"The CrossTrix has been connected to your mind ever since Oberon OS tampered with it; that's what's been unleashing Nightmare when you dissociate." CROSS explained. "Anne figured out I might be able to take advantage of that to contact you."

"Anne..." Teresa mumbled. "...Look, CROSS, about Nightmare-"

"Don't worry, we'll figure out how to stop it from emerging eventually." CROSS said.

"That's not it." Teresa shook her head. "CROSS... *I'm* Nightmare."

"...What?" The CrossTrix dial displayed a blinking question mark.

"Nightmare isn't mindless." Teresa said. "It's violent and it operates on survival instinct, but that's not because it's some sort of berserk animal... it's because those are the parts of me I always try to suppress, and when I dissociate... I can't keep them under control anymore."

"Come to think of it, you *have* only turned into Nightmare during situations where you would've snapped anyways." CROSS hmmed. "Whatever Oberon OS did to the CrossTrix must be reacting to that."

"It's more than that." Teresa said. "Even when I've snapped before, I've had *some* control over myself, but Nightmare has NeOhm's DNA. It's completely unrestricted."

"You..." The red-eyed Teresa growled. "You've been so afraid of turning into Mom that you've just taken everything she's said about you as fact. You've been doing the abuse for her even when she isn't here! You were so afraid of becoming her that you turned into her, you asshole!"

"Th-that's not- that's not what I meant to-"

"Of course it's not what you meant to do!" The red-eyed Teresa snapped. "You're so afraid to think for yourself that you never *mean* to do anything! You just *do!* The only times you ever stand up for yourself are when NeOhm pretty much *forces* you to let *me* have a go at things!"

"...I've realized something." Nightmare said.

"Hm?"

"There are people who care about me." Nightmare looked up at him. "When I hurt myself or let myself get hurt, I'm not the only one who suffers. I've known that for a while, but it's never done anything to make me feel better. If anything, it just made me feel guilty on top of being in pain." She looked down at her hands. "That kind of vicious cycle doesn't help anyone. If I really want to help preserve people's happiness... I have to let myself pursue my own happiness too."

Nightmare's eye began flickering between red and blue.

"And... the idea of doing that is scary for me because I have no idea what my own happiness would even look like." She continued. "I've been stuck in despair for so long that I don't have any goals. No hopes, no dreams, no ambitions. I've always been afraid of being selfish, so I've never seriously thought about what would make me happy. I was worried pursuing my own happiness might make me unempathetic. I've been so afraid of becoming my mom that I never let myself become... *me*."

She looked up again, revealing that the color of her eye had finally settled on a vivid purple.

"So I'm not going to be holding myself back anymore." She began twisting the CrossTrix dial on her chest in a specific pattern. "I'll let myself discover who I really am."

Dream Card

"I'll keep defending people no matter what, but I won't keep needlessly sacrificing my own well-being to do it." Dream stated. "I'll be a shield for everyone... including myself!"

"It's stupid to hate yourself over what I did to you." Dana said. "If you're going to hate anyone, hate me."

"What are you trying to pull?" The red-eyed Teresa glared at her skeptically. "You wouldn't tell me not to hate myself. You'd *never* tell me that."

"Unfortunately, that's exactly what's gotten you into this mess." Dana clicked her tongue. "The thing is, if you aren't able to reconcile with yourself soon, you're going to die."

"Oh, shut up." The red-eyed Teresa scowled. "That's ridiculous. After everything you've done to me, what makes you think I'd believe a word you're saying?"

"...Nothing." Dana said. "I failed you as a mother. I'm sorry."

Both Teresas froze. This was the first time they'd ever heard a sincere apology from her.

"...Oh god, we really are going to die." The red-eyed Teresa muttered, staring off into space.

"You *failed?!*"

The mysterious armored man had returned to his point of origin: a bunker deep underground that served as the Triumvirate's laboratory facilities.

"I retreated to avoid unnecessary casualties." The man stated. "If you see that as a failure, I'm afraid this conversation isn't going to go anywhere."

"What, is that why you kept the restraint layer of your armor on too?" Terminal scoffed. "Honestly, were you even trying?"

"That is *exactly* why I kept the restraint layer equipped, yes." The man said. "I did what I could."

"Like hell you did!" Terminal hissed. "I used the Triumvirate's technology to revive you *specifically* so you could destroy this new Tech. Returning from trying to kill her without her being dead very much seems like a failure to me!"

"I agreed to go after the *CrossTrix*, not its wielder." The man pointed out. "My interests lie solely in combating the Anti-Life Entity. I am perfectly aware of what your goal was in reviving me, but I can't say I care to murder a random girl for the sake of indulging your pathetic nickname-based grudge."

"Why, you-" Terminal clenched his fists. "Why don't any of you humans know your place?!"

"My place?"

The armored man crossed his gauntlets together again, causing his armor to dissipate into wisps of shadow. He pulled down the hood of his cloak and took off his mask in order to look at Terminal face-to-face.

Osirimes Card

"In my time, I was regarded as not just a ruler, but a living god." Osirimes said. "If this inane hierarchy you incessantly call on truly existed, I would be far, far above someone such as you."

"You just don't get it, do you?" Terminal reverted to his original form in a red flash.

Puppet Master Card

"*I* am a Cerebrocrustacean, a being of remarkably *high* intelligence," he stated condescendingly. "You are a human, a being of remarkably *low* intelligence; therefore, I am above you. Is that explanation simple enough for your underdeveloped brain to understand, you worthless primate?"

"Cerebrocrustaceans as a whole may be intelligent, but you?" Osirimes's eyes narrowed. "You died from disintegrating yourself with your own mechanical giant's light cannon because you weren't paying attention to what was going on around you. I even warned you against firing the shot that killed you, but you ignored me. Your talent for engineering cannot be denied, but in terms of overall intelligence, you hardly rank any higher than a dog chasing its own tail."

"C-CROSS, what's the code for the M-Metamentian key?"

"101."

"Th-thanks." Teresa shakily spun the CrossTrix's wheel dials to match that code, causing a piece of the chassis to open up and reveal a CrossKey.

Dethrogue's limbs began to twitch, his suit's direct connection with the sun allowing it to recover thermal energy much faster than expected. Noticing this, Teresa immediately tried to slam the CrossKey into the CrossTrix dial and missed the hole a couple of times due to rushing it, but she got it in on the third try and immediately turned it before slamming down on the dial.