PLDF Chapter 4

> Chapter 4: Fading Past, Triumphant Present, Apprehensive Future (Sub-Entries 31-40)
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## Sub-Entry 031: "To the Soul Society":

It had been a while since that night he had finally offered his prayer to his sibling.  He cursed himself for not visiting Chara sooner.  It wasn't as though he couldn't visit her...the way things were...he just...didn't.  And that he felt was unforgivable.

It was time to make things right.

After all this time...now he no longer needed to rely on Bunnie and myself to get him there.

Asriel nodded to Megami as he finished up the recharging ceremony for his Moji-cellulars.

"Arigato."

He still relied on Bunnie and Megami to provide him with resources to keep his martial science gear charged.  At least until he could perfect making Mojikara candles on his own.  But who had time the way he stretched himself thin?

He indicated that he was fine from here on out and Megami replied in Jangese that she'd pass the message on to Bunnie before wishing him safe travels.

And that was that.

Asriel pulled out the soul candy dispenser he had been issued.  Chappy the Rabbit.  Bunnie's favorite and a favorite of a close acquaintance of hers in the Soul Society.  When was the last time Bunnie had caught up with Rukia Kuchiki?  I guess only the Major could answer that.

He opened it and swallowed a single candy....and was jolted as his spirit form was thrown out of his body; the soul form garbed in the black kimono of the Shinigami of the 13 Court Guard Squads.

Sure he could have used his combat pass, but time and experience from watching the Major and myself go back and forth between the Living World and the Soul Society had wisened him to some distinct disadvantages of using the combat pass.  The number one problem is that his body would be uninhabited and thus very easy for someone not in the know to mistake him for being in a coma.  It would be a lot harder for him to track down his body in the hospital than if he had an artificial soul being his "co-pilot" for a while.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Sacre bleu!  Your body, she will be in good hands, mon amie."

Huh.  A Frenchman, this time?

"And feel free to hang out with Antoine D'Cooliette.  But 1) only after Bunnie has had a chance to inform him first, and 2) we text each other back and forth to confirm meeting up again after I'm back from the Soul Society."

"Ho-ho!  I am being much too glad to being at your service!  Worry not, mon amie, I give you my word I will obey your commands to the letter!  Bon voyage!"

He certainly talked like Antoine.  And certainly cooperative.  Bunnie definitely got Azzy a good batch this time around.

"Thank you."

Goat Son took a deep breath and then brushed the characters in mid-air with the Jangese calligraphy that he had been taught.

And sure enough a Senkaimon opened.

And through the gate he went.  By now the intense spiritual pressure around him no longer bothered him as his own was easily enough to overcome it.

And fortunate enough, the "Cleaner" had just recently passed through so he was safe for a good long while.

"If I scripted right, it should lead me to Squad 7's barracks."

While Azzy did want to get there as soon as possible, on a rare day like this, where his schedule was mostly clear, he could actually take his time to get to his destination.  Besides.  He kind of needed some time to think about what he wanted to say after being apart from his sibling for so long.

Asriel pulled out his Soul Reaper issue cell-phone; a pretty common device that came out of Squad 12 Research Corps development.  It was saying something when you carried three different cell phones at a time.  Though in Asriel's case, only two of them could be carried while in his physical body.  This one could only be carried in his substitute Soul Reaper form.

He shuffled around on a few menus before finding the song he wanted before plugging his earbuds in and putting those in underneath his floppy sound scoopers.

He smiled as he recognized the familiar sounds of B.E.R.  Like always, any track from them was 40% Carl Burnett, 40% Franklin Eneas, and a sweet, sweet 20% William J. Regan.

***"CHIMERICAL!"***

"Yeah."  Asriel was already feeling the groove.

***"UNCHECKED IMAGINATION***

***FEELS LIKE TEN YEARS GONE BY***

***A LIGHT OF INSPIRATION***

***FLASHES ACROSS THE SKY!"***

Asriel calmly strolled down the desolate corridor between worlds, the spirits  passing by him like comets.

***"UNLIKELY AS IT SEEMS***

***NO THIS IS NOT A DREAM***

***I TELL YOU THIS IS TRUE***

***YOU WILL BELIEVE!"***

He did believe.  He was a true believer.   The things he had seen in his lifetime?  Truly the definition of open-minded.  Chara would often warn him not to keep too open minded, lest his wisdom be in danger of spilling out.  He knew what she meant but he sometimes couldn't resist countering with "It's not a bad thing as long as there's someone there to catch it." implying that he felt he'd be a good teacher.

Chara's warning was mostly against naivete.  One too open minded was also one easily manipulated as well as one who feared having an opinion.  And opinions tended to be what drew lines in the sand and made you take sides; making both allies...and enemies.  Oh yes.  Chara most certainly knew from experience that all to often...no one is neutral.

***"CHIMERICAL***

***TAKES ME TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***CHIMERICAL***

***TAKES ME TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***TO ANOTHER PLACE!"***

He was going to another place.  A place that hadn't been seen by the living world until a certain orange-haired, hot-headed knucklehead from Karakura town took it upon himself to go there and bring his most trusted friends in order to save a Soul Reaper who'd been sentenced to be executed for what seemed like preposterous crimes at the time.  Was transferring your powers to someone from the World of the Living really so taboo?

***"A LIGHT OF INSPIRATION***

***LOST ON A DESERT ISLE***

***ACROSS THE NEW HORIZON***

***AS SEEN FROM MILES AND MILES***

***UNLIKELY AS IT SEEMS***

***NO THIS IS NOT A DREAM***

***I TELL YOU THIS IS TRUE***

***YOU WILL BELIEVE!"***

Asriel was trying to get inspired.  But in a place like this nothing was really that effective at giving birth to new eyes.

It was plain.  It was desolate.  And it was full of spirits of the recently departed headed toward the Soul Society.

***"CHIMERICAL***

***TAKES ME TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***CHIMERICAL***

***TAKES ME TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***TO ANOTHER PLACE!"***

As much as he tried to focus on what he wanted to say to Chara...Asriel was more distracted by the word itself.  Chimerical.  A mix of chimera and miracle.  Chimera, being a mixture of mythical animals such as the griffin or satyr...heh.  And miracle, the word used to describe an event of intensely good fortune that defies logic and reason and often attributed to divine intervention.

What was it about this situation that was a chimerical to Azzy?

***"CHIMERICAL IT’S A MIRACLE***

***CHIMERICAL IT’S A MIRACLE***

***CHIMERICAL IT’S A MIRACLE***

***CHIMERICAL IT’S A MIRACLE!***

***FOLDING TIME OVER TIME***

***I BEGIN TO LOSE MY MIND***

***FOLDING TIME OVER TIME***

***I BEGIN TO LOSE MY MIND!"***

Now this Asriel could relate to.  His best friend (yours truly) was a time-traveler.  And I had opened his eyes to the secrets of the universe.  Of time and space and dimension.  He'd witnessed many time-related anomalies and was almost as fluent in their quantum mechanics as I was.

But as to losing his mind?  Not so much.  If anything he was saner than he'd ever been.  And he wasn't taking that for granted.  Hyperdeath was still somehow woven into the deepest recesses of his soul.  While he could never physically manifest...that was Asriel's own darkness given form.  It was easy to blame Adonis for that but......truth be told, every iteration of Asriel had the Absolute God of Hyperdeath irrevocably tied to them.  Whether they became him or whether it was just a psychological manifestation of darkness.  It was the anagram.  One that Asriel Dreemurr had finally felt had become truly meaningless to him; it was just letters that happened to rearrange into something morbid.

***"CHIMERICAL***

***TAKES ME TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***CHIMERICAL***

***TAKES ME TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***TO ANOTHER PLACE"***

Huh...it didn't seem like he'd been walking that long.  Plus the song wasn't over but...had he really traversed this much distance already?

He could see the end of the tunnel ahead.

***"CHIMERICAL***

***CHIMERICAL IT’S A MIRACLE***

***TAKES ME TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***CHIMERICAL***

***CHIMERICAL IT’S A MIRACLE***

***TAKES ME TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***TO ANOTHER PLACE!"***

And there the gate to the other side appeared.

***"CHIMERICAL***

***TAKES ME TAKES ME TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***TAKES  ME TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***TAKES ME TO ANOTHER PLACE***

***TAKES ME TO ANOTHER PLACE!"***

Asriel closed his eyes and them stepped through.

***"CHIMERICAL!"***

And there he was.

Almost as on cue he had arrived behind the towering form of Squad 7  Captain, Sajin Komamura.

It seemed the large anthro fox-wolf was almost waiting for Asriel to arrive.

Neither seemed all that surprised.

"Captain Arcade sends his regards."

"My friend has become too complacent in these times."

"He has not forgotten you, Captain."

"While words may have power they are often afforded more readily than action."

"I'll light a fire under him.  If you want I can drag him here by the tail."

That earned some boisterous laughter.

"Asriel Dreemurr."  Sajin turned around.

"I still hear the sur-name all the time and with each utterance it loses a little bit of meaning.  I might as well go by Asriel Arcade.  My past is flowing like water and I'm trying to catch it in a sieve."

"You are too young to be concerned with fading memory."

"I suppose I'm just an early bloomer.  Either way, it is true.  I am having trouble remembering where I came from.  Just that my best friend delivered me from darkness and I could not be more grateful."

"Come.  We have much to catch up on."

"Do not keep me for too long.  Someone else is waiting up for me."

"Of course.  I will pass word on to Squad Three of your arrival.  The Lieutenant will find it easier to remain patient that way."

"Same old Chara..."  Asriel mused as he followed Sajin to his quarters.

## Sub-Entry 032: "My Sibling.  Lieutenant Chara Dreemurr of Squad Three":

It wasn't that long a stay at Captain Komamura's residence and Asriel was on his way to the Rukon district, far from the forty-some sectors of the  central Seireitei.

Still as slum as ever.

It had always occurred to Asriel to bring up the point "You know, Chara...you don't HAVE to stay out here in the lowest parts of Soul Society.  You could move into the barracks at--"

To which she'd give some sardonic or sarcastic remarks downplaying it.  The truth was...she chose to live this life of humility despite protests and raised eyebrows.

Until she felt she deserved better, this was the punishment she opted to live out.  It would be a climb to the top.  As to how much time had actually elapsed in this part of the UltraVerse?  In this afterlife?

Well...Chara's aging process had slowed tremendously after her sudden spurt in between her first coming here and us visiting her only five years later.  I guess it was up to the laws of physics and such of this world to decide what was a stable "age" for a dead child.  At this point she probably didn't look much older than Rukia.  Though...truth be told that was a bad example.  Rukia was already over 150 so...only 25 years older than Asriel.  Yet she still looked pretty teenage.  That knucklehead, Ichigo Kurosaki was probably about 18 by this point...which did away with that silly double-meaning pun of his own name; a play on the numbers 1 and 5, which amounted to his age at one time.  But Bunnie assured me the pun was more toward his hair color.  Strawberry.  As in "strawberry blond".

I got off topic again.

It was obvious that any ranking Soul Reaper would stand out in these parts but even if Azzy were dressed like the dirt poor populace around here?  He'd stand out like a sore thumb.  Let's face it.  The Soul Society was no place for souls that weren't originally human and from the World of the Living on Ichigo's world.  And yet we had exceptions like Sajin and myself.  And yes, Bunnie, Chara, Asriel, and myself were ALL from other worlds.  Boy had we trampled the rules of Soul Society.

"Humility, thy name is..."  Asriel muttered.  He understood the humble part but...certainly his sibling deserved to live at least a little better than this.

He knew he'd still never convince her to save up and invest in her own home much less stay in the Squad Three barracks.

Maybe there was also sentimental reasons for it?  Heh.  Chara?  Sentimental?  That was a good one.  Yeah......a good one...

Whatever the reasoning, she was here.  This was now.

\*knock knock knock\*

A few moments passed before Asriel knocked again.

"Who is it?"

And that's when Asriel's mischievous side took over.

"Oooooooooooo...I am the ghost of a warrior you defeated in a karate tournament!  And now my spirit lingers on seeking reveeeeeeeeeeenge!  Only the offering of a marvelous feast can quench my undying rage and despair!  Repent or be forever haunted by my dooooooom and gloooooooom!"

Silence.

"Oh.  Is that all?  Well then Mr. Ghost.  I guess I have no choice but to EXORCISE YOU!"

The door swung open and Asriel was taken by surprise as her weapon came down...!

\*BAP\*

"...........really?  I'm only good enough for a feather duster?"  Asriel wrinkled his snoot at the cleaning tool.

"Someone's getting big for his trousers.   Pretty bold claim for someone who let his sibling become estranged for seven years.  And you said you could never be cruel, Azzy.  How proud you must be to be both a liar and a traitor."

"Hey now.  You don't have to go THERE."  Asriel put his knuckles to his hips.  "Alright then.  If you're that ungrateful, I'll just be on my way and take the chocolate cake with me--"

"...and fighting dirty, too.  I guess I should be good and proud of you."

"Should you, Lieutenant Dreemurr of Squad Three?  Of a lowly substitute Soul Reaper who neglects his sister; I don't write, I don't call, and I just REVEL in all the fame and glory I'm getting."

"Someone's certainly learned how to be a better liar.  Okay...if you're THAT determined, I yield."

"You sure you can part with that much pride?

"Get your horned, long-eared tush in here."

"SINCE you asked so nicely..."  Asriel entered.

"Well then.  How generous of you to spare the time, Mr. Celebrity."

"Aww stop.  I get it enough from everyone around me."

"So it wasn't just a fluke you can come and go here as you please and not piss off Old Man Yama?""

"Eheheheh...I don't think my fire is even a micro-ember compared to his.  I just try to keep a low profile and hope that he doesn't bring me in to be disciplined.  I can only imagine what he must do to Volt when he's mad.  The smell of burnt tail leaves very little to the imagination."

"It's not fun, brother dearest."

"...something uh...you want to share?"

"Do I LOOK like I kiss and tell?"  Chara put her hands to her hips.

"You always were a master of sugar-coating."  Asriel shrugged and left his rope sandals at the door and plopped down on the nearest seat.

"Take a seat?  Yeah, go ahead."  Chara stuck her tongue out.

"What?  Your own brother has to ask permission?"

"And if you have to ask that then you're letting me down, Azzy."

"I can take it if you can."  The banter kept going.

"You're getting too good, you stubborn goat.  You know that, don't you?"

"Determination."  Asriel spread his arms, his eyes flickering to neon red for a moment.

"Missing the good old days when you weren't this much of a challenge."

"Humans shouldn't whine, Chara."  Asriel grinned.

"Ohh you're going to get it!"  Chara swung the pillow at him.  Asriel skillfully dodged.

"You uh...want me to let you win?"

"T'ch!!!"  That actually made her eyebrow twitch.

"I didn't think you'd hold this much of a grudge over our chess game the last time I was over here."

"Now you're just being annoying, Asriel Dreemurr!"

"Oh, calling me by my old surname?  Interesting.  Seems you've finally deemed yourself worthy of it again, Lieutenant Dreemurr."

And back and forth the banter and horseplay went before both began to tire out.

"When was the last time we had this much fun together?"

"There's that naive, optimistic goat I remember so much.  Your idea of "fun" is certainly twisted."

"I do put new...spins on things, don't I?  Make way, I've started a...revolution."  Asriel was grinning ear to ear and certainly proud of making that Generator Rex reference.

"Ugh...now you're just cheating.  You just can't let up on the puns.  Just like that ske--"  Chara stopped short, catching herself.

"Hmm?  What were you just saying?"  Asriel didn't catch the last part.

".......I'm saying that puns are the lowest form of comedy."

"Oh, really?  Or maybe they're just too clever to be appreciated?"

"If that's what you want to tell yourself, Azzy.  Do sleep well at night convincing yourself."

"Oh I AM convinced.  Now if I could just convince you."

"You really are a naive little goat."

"A goat with horns.  REAL horns, now."  Asriel grinned.

Chara wanted to make a comment about Asgore but...at this point, invoking the past just didn't seem like it would pan out.  She understood now how much of his memories were fading away.  He'd taken to Miranda well.  Too well.  At this rate...it wasn't so outlandish that this life might be the only life he'd ever know some day.  Not unless Arcade finally fulfilled that promise.

"Okay, let's get serious.  So.  Why have you dropped by after all this time?"

Asriel was severely tempted to give a smart-alec remark but...

"To make things right again."

"Azzy..."

"I'm serious.  You joked about it.  Yet that doesn't make it right.  I've let myself become self-absorbed.  I've spent so much time and effort looking to the future that I don't realize my hand is open and letting the sands of time slip through it.  I'm letting the parts of my present pass me by.  That's...that's not right."

"Asriel.   Are you really getting hung up over something so trivial?"

"You're not trivial, Chara."

"Yes, yes.  Sibling is your whole world and you'll certainly go out of your way to save the world."  Chara danced around his greatest accomplishments.  One of which he knew from confronting the Chara-Wraith in Miranda.  But saving the world...saving seven worlds?  Not so much.  I think we'd already firmly established both of these facts.   Yet they kept coming up.  I kept bringing them up.  Maybe...maybe I was the one not going about his in a healthy way?

"Don't be like that."  Asriel protested.

"Asriel, you've got an unwritten future that you can't possibly screw up.  My future is pretty much set in stone.  I'm a Soul Reaper.  I'll live by the sword and maybe some day die by the sword.  It's not may fate, it's my will.  My determination is no slouch, either, dear brother."

"You make it sound undignified."

"You're one to talk.  When was the last time you didn't scowl when someone called you Prince Asriel?"

"You sound just like Aunt Violet.  At this point I'm not even sure what I was Prince of.  And even if I am royalty, it's not like it serves any purpose.  I'm just a guy.  A guy trying to do the right thing.  Yet I keep getting this impression everyone's rewarding me unfairly for it."

"Unfairly?  I didn't take you for the greedy type--"

"You know what I mean.  C'mon.  Don't make me say the words."

"Hmmph.  You just can't escape that, can you?"

"......"

Chara got in close and gave her creepy face.  It didn't even phase Asriel now...but he knew what she was trying to tell him.

"You're not going to let me off until I say it?"

"I've got an entire afterlife."

Asriel sighed.  "I don't deserve it."

"And there it is.  You feel you're being given too much credit."

"Aren't I though?  What am I doing so great that everyone reveres me?  I'm not a god, I'm not a superhero.  Maybe I am a little too humble for my own good.  But I'm not flawless.  Still...even the villains and criminals I've faced recently don't call me a Gary Stu anymore.  Not because they acknowledge my flaws and are primed to throw them in my face...but...like I've earned their respect or something.  It's too..."

"Too what, Azzy?"

"It's not normal.  This is the kind of thing you see in fiction.  I've certainly grown and improved, but I'm not all these things they say I am."

"You shouldn't try to sound cynical.  You're not good at it.  It doesn't become you.  That said...  Azzy...I understand you better than anybody.  We all harbor that darkness inside.  I've know about the Absolute God of Hyperdeath for longer than ANYBODY.  Even Volt.  I can tell you even now you're far from perfect.  Don't think I don't know how you are around the opposite gender."

"Hey, come on.  Violet and Honey already got their licks in.  Don't you start, too."

"Look.  You have the Integrity Virtue so you know that it's not just telling the truth, but it's also being the truth.  Being true to yourself.  I'm pretty sure you understand if you tried to prove you're not all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips, your bad boy routine would be as fake as my gigai.  Don't try to go against the truth.  Just be you."

"Seems like advice I already know."

"Then why let it bother you?"

"I don't know.   Just call it...something in my subconscious telling me that the wool is pulled down over my eyes and I'm not ready to see what's been hidden from me.  Not until that one sign comes to me that tells me, definitively...it's okay to ask."

"Ask?"

"The question."

"Aren't you a little old to be asking that--"

"Not THAT question."  Asriel wrinkled his nose.  "Jeeze, even now.  Can you please stay serious?"

"Okay.  I'll bite.  What is the question.  And I'm pretty sure the answer isn't 42.  See?  I can get up to speed on your Aunt Violet's trivia, too."

A deadpan stare.

"Sorry.  Last joke.  Promise.   Now.  What's this question?"

Asriel hung his head.  "That's...just it.  I really don't KNOW what question I want to ask.  It's in my subconscious mind.  I just don't know what it is let alone how to put it into words.  Just this...feeling that when I finally do ask it?  That's when...that's when Volt will..."

And then the room fell deathly silent.

"I see."  Chara took a deep breath.   "What you're really afraid of...is what happens AFTER that.  What fulfilling the Promise will lead to.  I get you.  The last promise you made sure...didn't lead to anything good, did it?  But...in the end, it's what brought us here."

And somehow Chara completely avoided the point and went straight to the real issue.  As her first best friend...she'd be the only other person who'd know...word-for-world...what that question was.

"Yeah."

"Azzy.......I'm sorry, but I can't help you.  All I can do is advise you.   No one can know where the path after the Promise will lead.  I can't tell you if it's a well-spring of hope...or if it'll usher in an era of utter chaos."

"Nicely put, Chara...but next time don't quote Dr. Cain."  Asriel smirked.

"There's a smile."

"Yeah.  I guess there is."

"Azzy.   Stay the course.  One day at a time.  And stay patient."

Asriel pondered that for a bit, eyes turning cyan.

"Hearing the same thing over and over...it must be true.  Doesn't make it any easier but...it's the only path I know to follow."

"That a boy, Azzy."

Silence.

"Now.  Where's this chocolate cake.  Fork it over, brother or there will be consequences."

"You didn't say pleeeeeeeease..."  Asriel smirked.

"Game set and match.  I concede defeat, Asriel Arcade."

There was the surname he was comfortable with.

"You know you didn't even think to ask if...."

"Oh no you don't--"

"...the cake is a lie."

"Oh, YOU!!!"  Chara exploded...then burst into laughter.  "You got me again."

"And I guess you can read me like a book.  Yes, I brought chocolate cake.  I guess I just can't be as mischievous a trickster as you."  Asriel mused.

This was calling to mind that Flash cartoon that Vi showed him of AWD's Dr. Wily Happy Evil Fun Time Show Christmas special.   It had crossed his mind whether Dr. Wily had actually turned evil because his own mother got him an empty Christmas present every year.  As Vi put it in Dethklok terms...that really WAS the blackest, most meaningless gift of all--NOTHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!

And of course, Asriel was too kind-hearted to ever pull a trick like that on Chara.  Birthday, Christmas, or otherwise.

"Hey now!  Just how big a piece are you cutting!?"  Asriel protested.  "Charaaaaaa!  You're going to make yourself sick!"

Oh boy.  Some things never change.

## Sub-Entry 033: "Who Ya Gonna Call When You Got Those Jumpin' Gigawatts?"

I want to open with a quote directly from my mentor.  Which one?  The one that invented time travel.  And he said and I quote:

"The space-time continuum is full of infinite possibilities and alternate timelines in its unending nooks and crannies. These include events and histories that could have happen, have happened, may never happen, have been erased from existence or exist entirely as conjecture. How then do we classify this tale? For now, suffice to call it entertainment. As a physicist, I can speculate no further." - Dr. Emmett Lathrop Brown, PhD

Having multiple mentors means sooner or later they're going to cross paths and exchange research.

This was a scenario long since past for me.

While we most certainly had many an instance of getting together in the past, it was often the present that threw us an unexpected curveball to brings us together.

The last time this happened, Cybertron ended up colliding, metaphorically, with the men in beige from our favorite island state named for the first type of fruit to come to mind when earning a nickname.

Ectronymous Diamatron.  Colloquially known as "Ectotron".  Just don't call him "Eck".  Described as having a personality similar to Ray as he was a "true believer" in things that modern science just couldn't explain as well as a dedicated worker who "runs his skid-plate off" doing the leg-work to collect data and interviews of anyone who's  seen...ahem...something strange in the neighborhood.

And Ectotron had proven to be a valuable ally.  We wouldn't have won the Crossover Wars without him.

In the five years we'd lost touch with him, though.  Presumably he was with the Autobots aboard the Ark in the Nevada desert...or back home on Cybertron.

We were about to get a reunion that sounded out louder than Bobby Brown's "We're Back" as Asriel and I were called in to meet up with my mentors (and in Peter's own words...ahem)...the Best , The Beautiful, the Only...Ghostbusters.

But as it turned out...they weren't the only mentors on scene as our story would divert again...this time to Hill Valley.  And it seemed that one of Madam Fate's scripts had lay dormant and even she forgot about it.  But it was just the kind of chaos that should have invoked my old enemy.

At least it would have if he weren't in eternal exile to a prison even he never found a way to escape from.  But that aside...

...it seems that the Decepticons just can't seem to keep their metal claws out of Earth's timelines.  And this time...it landed one day after Marty McFly's return to 1985 and Doc Brown's journey to an unknown time to spend with his new family.

"...'pretty heavy' doesn't even begin to describe it..."

As it turned out...this was just the thing to split the timeline into yet another Alternate 1985.  And just the thing to call us back to deal with it.

Sometimes all it takes is wrapping up one major case to set a springboard up for the next one.  We really shouldn't have swept Gozer's cross rift encounter with Cybertron under the rug so quickly.  All it takes is for one anomaly to split  a timeline.  And this time it caused a paradox I hadn't counted on.  Namely...what happens when in yet ANOTHER alternate 1985 the Delorean that was SUPPOSED to end up literally railroaded doesn't get destroyed?  Now, counting our own in the Z-Vault, we had two existing versions of Emmett's prototype.

As I had explained before...the first one--the one Marty returned in only to be run down by a modern diesel locomotive--was originally destroyed.  But it was one of TWO instances occurring simultaneously when the lightning struck the time machine in 1955; sending one back to 1885 with mentor in tow.

The other instance was flung the same number of years in the opposite direction through the time machine, ending up in the future.

It was a simple matter of Emmett eventually collecting the remaining one which lead to the fourth time travel adventure during the 1930's...during yet another 1985...and back again to the 1930's..and then back to the 1800's during the construction of Hill Valley to put history back in place one last time.  And then there you go.  Back to 1986.  History goes on.  This Delorean ends up in my care and my collection to be used as necessary...after replacing certain parts with titanium to eliminate that time discrepancy issue during that fourth...tell-tale adventure.  Heh.

But this exposition out of the way...time I got back to the point.  Where and when did our happenings intersect with Hill Valley's?

While I can't account for what exactly altered the time stream?  I can explain what was changed the night after Marty's return from 1955 and Emmett's trip to 2015 that night.

However Asriel's and my story didn't start with that.  No...it started on the far northeastern side of the country.  Explanations for Hill Valley in due time.

"...you're certain about this, Mentor?"

"The energy signature is identical.  It is in fact the wavelength for this...Energon that fuels Cybertronians."  Egon was never wrong about such things.

"But how can you be sure it's Ectotron?"  Asriel asked.

I was...surprised when Asriel asked for my help for the first time in almost seven years.  It wasn't that we drifted apart.  Quite the contrary.  I just...let him grow up and be his own man.  If anything, when he actually DID have time spare, we were closer than ever.

"Recently a satellite was put in orbit by a television network."

"Ah.  Satellite TV.  Personally, I prefer the good old coaxial cable and a cable box.  Reception doesn't glitch up during bad weather."  I shrugged it off.  I still hadn't told them how many channels they could expect in the next three decades or so much less anything about High Definition TV.   As if I was going to ignore Emmett's warning about knowing too much about the future.

"And it picked up something that couldn't be decrypted, decoded, or even analyzed.  But being the scientist you are, Egon...you've already acquired the data and made sense of it."

A momentary smile cracked across his face.

"That's all I need to know.  Where did the satellite triangulate the final position of the signal before it was lost?"

"Over the Pacific Coast.  It was last detected around a town in California called Hill Valley--"  Ray started before Asriel almost choked on the egg nog Janine had offered him.

"..."

"Did I say something wrong?"

Egon looked at me and I looked back.

"How much convincing do we need to do to get Peter to cash in on our frequent flier miles?"  I asked.

A day or two of combined badgering with actual flight out to California, later...

"Volt, is investigating this going to do any good?  If it is Hill Valley, we know it's not on THIS world."

"True.  But it wouldn't be the first time parallel dimensions experienced "pings" or "echoes" from their counterpart that STC technology can accurately pick up on."

"So you think something's going on in BttF territory?"

"Chances are if Ectronymous is half the scientist I think he is?  He'll come to the same result sooner or later.  Right now, I think he's investigating something he suspects is paranormal.  But if I'm right...?  It's not paranormal...it's extra-dimensional."

"Then we should probably load up "you-know-what" and prepare to go off world."

"So how did you get Peter to agree to this?"

All eyes were on Peter.

"Admit it.  You want to pitch another Ghostbusters movie, don't you?"  I crossed my arms.

"C'mon..  What's the harm in selling the product?"

I rolled my eyes and thought toward that alternate future where he was still pitching that movie idea and holding out for Brad Pitt to play him.  I did not want Peter bragging about his jaw-line.

I most certainly wasn't going to mention the sequel based on their battle against Vigo the Carpathian.  And while I said it offhandedly....no way was I giving details about that OTHER dimensional with the all-women Ghostbusters.

And so...!

"That's Ectotron alright!"

He was definitely exploring the area around what would be Lyon Estates off world.  It was pretty late at night.

As Asriel had pointed out, it was moot exploring this area.  Nowhere on this world did the McFly family as we knew them exist, nor did the Brown family.  Fortunately...neither did the Tanen family.

"I'm getting something."  Asriel already had the Giga Meter out and hooked up to his NX Switchboard.  I still wasn't comfortable with the guys laying eyes on this tech.  Especially after I gave that speech about knowing too much about your future.

We caught up.  Reunions were quick and to the point.  And that led us to the next step--following this echo back to its point of origin.

I had noticed that...Emmett had gone off the radar for the last week at the Institute For Future Technology.  It couldn't have been a coincidence.  And that made Asriel worry that the time stream had been altered on his world.  He'd picked up a pretty good sense about these things now that he was spearheading STC.

I looked at the readout.

"Yeah...latent chromorphic harmonics.  The kind of echo I've seen before.  Something's happening off world in another timeline.  I suspect we may have another alternate on our hands."

"What does that mean?"  Winston asked.

"It means friends of ours may have just woken up to an unfamiliar present."  Asriel glared at the data.

"Then chances are, they may need our help."  Ray followed up.

"It's not that simple."  Egon reasoned.

"Correct.  If it's at a point in the past...then it's likely Marty and Emmett haven't met us yet.  Which means we may end up being as much of a contaminant as whatever else interfered with their time stream."

Asriel snorted.  "Let's not kid ourselves.  I think the implication, simply from Ectotron's presence, all but confirms the nature of it is Cybertronian."

A grim silence.

"Well.  If we're doing this..."  I sighed and brought in the Time Train and the Delorean by remote control.

"WOW!"  Ray was astounded.

"Volunteers?"

"Ray and I will go."

"Right.  Pete and I will stay behind in case you need backup."

"And maybe see if anyone's interested in a Ghostbusters franchise--"

"Peter."  I warned.

That was then.  This was now...

Asriel peered around the corner.

"Holy schnikees..."  He was definitely overwhelmed by how bad the odds were.

Somehow...the Decepticons had conquered Hill Valley and had turned the once peaceful city into a slave camp for Energon cube production.

At the same time I had caught up with mentor after he and his family had a run-in in the sky with Astrotrain.  The E.L.B. train wouldn't have stood a chance if I hadn't arrived on the scene, bringing my OWN iteration of the Time Train.  I'd be lectured about having two instances of the time vehicle in the same place another time.  But it didn't take long for me to piece together what happened.

"...so you're saying that in years time...you and I start a research facility?"

"THE research facility.  I hate to inform you of future events but...history is now telling me this time-loop was inevitable.  I was destined to tell you of your destiny.  It's just the way it is."

"Remarkable..."  Emmett was still getting over the shock over a lot of things; my species included.

"Emmett...can you offer any insight as to where...and when anything out of the ordinary happened?  Something that might be connected to all this?"

"Well...nothing in particular stands out though....there was this one strange occurrence."

"Tell me about it."

"It was the night Marty returned from 1955 and I was about to head to 2015.  I was about to begin my journey when...there was an unusual seismic event--"

"Wait.  An earthquake?"  Granted it was California and the San Andres Fault Line sure explained seismic activity on this region of the states...but something didn't convince me.  In fact...this M.O. seemed too familiar..."

If Asriel were here he would have had the same thought as me.

"Rumble."

"At the time the street was mostly abandoned...save for a lone yellow Volkswagen parked nearby and an abandoned magnetic audio cassette..."

That confirmed it.  Rumble's alt form.  As for the Volkswagen?  That had to be Bumblebee.  So there was an Autobot and a Decepticon on the scene...

...then it hit me.  If Rumble was there than Soundwave couldn't be far behind.  And if Soundwave were there it was likely he had discovered Dr. Brown's time travel experiment and...reported it to Megatron.

This.  Was.  Bad.

"We were nearly run over by the vehicle in question but now that I think about it... I do not believe it was attempting to assassinate us as Marty seemed to believe at the time...but it was trying to force me to relinquish the tape from my examination..."

I rubbed my chin.

"This explains a lot, Doctor."

"This is all become some kind of living nightmare that even Jules Verne and H.G. Wells together could never imagine.  Autonomous anthropomorphic beings of unknown origin have somehow invaded and conquered our civilization!  On top of that revelation that there is in fact artificial life in the universe, there is also the discover that there are countless universes!  And in one of them anthropomorphic fauna exist and possess tremendous intellect as well as elemental powers comparable to the mythologies of Olympus itself!"

"I know you're excited, Mentor but you really need to focus on the matter at hand.  We have to find Marty and figure out how to fix the time stream."

"Great Scott!  Marty!  I left him in this infernal alternate time period!  There's no telling what kind of horrors he must've experienced waking up to this alternate present!"

"I've sent a colleague of mine--an understudy who's all but surpassed my own capacity for science and technology.   If anyone can get him out of trouble, it's Asriel."

"Asriel...?"

"Unusual name, I know, but let's keep the details on a need-to-known basis.  The timeline's already a milkshake.  Let's not start stirring other toppings into it."

"Clever metaphor, I must say."

"At least you think so.  I know someone else would assure me we're not going to tear any wonky holes in the fabric of space and time and compare it more to a rug or a ball of...timey-whimey stuff."

"..........I don't know what kind of doctor that person purports to be, but I have never heard such unscientific description in my life."

"Another time, Mentor.  Another time."  I could tell he was also struggling with getting used to "mentor".  "Anyway...I was hoping to avoid this, this early one but I'm going to have to introduce you to a couple of my other mentors.  I ask you to keep an open mind about their...profession.  But if time travel exists...then try to accept what else just might."

Once I made sure that Clara, Jules, Verne, and Einstein were all in a safe place away from prying Decepticon eyes, I took the step of bringing Dr. Emmett L. Brown and Dr. Egon Spengler together.  Ray on the other hand, in his zeal decided to go chasing after Asriel; figuring that he might need backup in a place like this.

Ray was certainly taking it well but...he and the other Ghostbusters had gotten used to the idea of giant, sentient robots from another world in another galaxy, in another dimension.

Returning to the matter of Martin Sheamus McFly at hand...

As it turned out...

Marty of course...couldn't help but be Marty.  Despite the irony of appreciating Biff Tanen getting bullied....even he deserved better than to be vaporized by Starscream.

"Hello? Hello? Anybody home? Think, human, think. Hill Valley is behind on its quota. Maybe Megatron was wrong to trust you."

As much as Asriel was tempted to chuckle...

That was when Marty decided to come to Biff's rescue.  Though a trash can was not the smartest weapon to use against a Decepticon.

Asriel facepalmed.  "This escalated."

Mother, Lorraine and Father, George were certainly aghast at how their son had gone crazy, rebelling against humanity's lords and masters.

No choice but...

ZARK!!!!

Starscream staggered a bit!  That hit directly in the center of where his spark chamber was.  Too close a call if it had pierced.  But the damage was more than any human technology of this era was capable.

"WHO DARES!?!"

"Hey, Screamer.  Long time no see."  Asriel walked out, disguise up.  Better not to freak out the humans any more than they probably already were.

"Should I know you, human germ!?"  Starscream pointed his Null Ray's barrels.

"Should you?  Nah, probably not.  But you're going to."  Asriel gave a taunting 'c'mon"

"Whoever you are, I owe you one!"  Marty said as he managed to take advantage of the distraction and nabbed a skateboard in time to hitch a ride from an unsuspecting Long Haul.

"You're going to pay for this!   You AND the traitorous rebel!"  Starscream took aim at both Asriel and Marty at the same time.

"What are you doing!?  You'll hit Long Haul!"  Blitzwing protested.

"ACCEPTABLE COLLATORAL!!!"  Starscream shouted.

"What a jerk!"  Asriel grit his teeth.  Which only momentarily distracted him from the bad situation he and Marty were both in.

"FACE ANNHILATION--"

And then Starscream found himself slamming into the ground as a long tentacle of rubberized orange light and blue lightning seared across him, knocking him over.

"Autobot Alert!!!"  was all that Blitzwing got out before Ectronymous fired again.

"Jeeze laweeze!  What the heck!?!"   Marty wasn't sure where to divert his attention to...the giant robot that was suddenly attacking the other robots...or the human that was packing firepower he'd never seen before and--

"Autobot scum!  I'll tear out your--"  And then Starscream took another jolt...this time from...!

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaa!"  Ray let fly with full force neutrona stream.

"Thanks again you guys!"

"We got things here!  You get the kid to safety!"

"I'm on it!"  Asriel threw down his NX Switchboard and took off.

"Holy--"

"Schnikees!"  Asriel cut in as he zipped by Marty's slower skateboard.   Marty was pretty freaked out that someone had a hoverboard...and definitely not one like anything out of 2015.  Who was this guy?

"C'mon!"

"But, Mom and Dad!"

"My friends will keep them out of trouble.  We have to meet up with the others.  They've probably got Dr. Brown secured by now."

"Doc!?"

"Explanations will have to wait.  We have to--"

Null Ray lasers rained down from above.  Crap.  Starscream had already gone vehicle mode.

"Okay...this was not part of the plan.  Really should have remembered he's a Seeker Jet..."  Asriel grit his teeth.

  And the next one sent them both flying in opposite directions.

"Oh no...!"  Asriel pushed himself up.  Marty on the other hand was the closest to Starscream's wrath.  "No..!!!"  He gasped as he reached out to Marty.

It was at that time a familiar trio of sonic booms occurred and a streak of light pierced the street, followed by flame trails.

"Doc!"  Marty gasped as the Delorean plowed into Starscream, hurtling him into a building.

"Volt must be here--"  Asriel started until the realization hit him.  "...wait a minute...a Delorean's construction is mainly aluminum and stainless steel.  It should have crumpled like tin foil ramming into a Cybertronian like that..."

Asriel's suspicions were confirmed and Marty's shock was off the charts when it happened...when the Delorean suddenly transformed.

"Marty McFly, I need you to come with me. To save the future! To save everything!"

"Okay...diiiiid NOT see that coming..." Asriel stowed his board.

"I'm not sure what crazy thing to focus on first..."

"--we finally ditched them."  Ray pulled up and got out inn time for Ectronymous to transform.

"Another Autobot...?   Who are you?"

"Ectronymous Diamatron...I've heard of you in the Cybertronian Science archives.  As for me.  For simplicity's sake...call me Gigawatt."

"I know this is pretty heavy, isn't it?"  Asriel rubbed the back of his head.

"We passed heavy duty a long time ago."

"C'mon.  We'll take you to Doc.   Both of them."

"...both...of them?"

And so...

"Marty!  Tom Edison's ghost, thank the stars you're okay."

"Doc!  Why does this keep happen!?   HOW does this keep happening!?"

"I wish I had an explanation to give you Marty, but I'm completely perplexed."

"Actually...I might be able to offer a theory or two."  I stepped forward.

"Aggggh!!!"  Marty stumbled back.

"Dude, it's okay.  It's just Volt."

"...Volt...?"

"My best friend.  And that other Doc I mentioned earlier.  By the way.  I'm Asriel."  Asriel dropped his disguise at that moment and extended a hand.   Marty reluctantly accepted it after a bit, once he was sure he wasn't having a weird dream.

"This just gets nuts and more nuts."

"I know he must seem out of the ordinary."

"No offense, but I got a weird complex about werewolves."

That made Asriel do a double take.  I smirked for a moment, thinking back to my experience with the Howard Family...you know now that I think about it, Marty did look kind of familiar.  Any chance he and Scott Howard were related....?

"Don't give it a second thought.  Used to it."  I waved it off.

"Unfortunately this mess is bigger than we thought it would be."  Asriel sighed after he had a quick video call from Daimyou.  "This may take more time than we thought to clean up this timeline."

"It seems there's quite a bit of interference with your history."  Egon noted.

"And too many variables to pinpoint where it all went wrong."  Ray agreed.

"Then this is an on-going case."  I folded my arms.

"You're not leaving us like this!?"  Marty sputtered.

"We'd never do that.  But...we just don't know where to start."

"I can offer  a theory as what started this.  I think...the night you went back in time, the Decepticons were already on this Earth.  I don't quite no how but Gozer's interference with Cybertron's timeline may have opened the path up to this Earth like it had to Egon and Ray's Earth.   Either way...I'm absolutely convinced the Decepticon, Soundwave, scanned the Delorean's systems and reverse-engineered your invention.  Then used it to alter Earth's history, creating this...alternate 1985.  As it's been done before."  I explained.

"Remarkable.."  Emmett gasped.

"Not the word I'd used to describe it, Doc."  Marty looked really distressed.

"So this crossover is just running its course."  Asriel reasoned.

"The next link in the chain."  I nodded.

"We're going to assign some people to this case.  Trusted people."  I assured.  "People who can watch over you while Asriel and I are out.  We'll collect all the information we can and come back here when we can to chip away at this until we find out at what point in time the Decepticons interfered."

"And besides.  It's not like we're leaving you alone.  Now you've got Gigawatt on your side.  Like he said, you need to come with him to save the future."  Asriel gave a thumbs up.

It was probably the best reassurance we were going to give him.

"I know this is all confusing but...we're going to make this right.  Promise."  Asriel gave a thumbs up.

"Aright.  Let's get going before something else--"

And then with a crash, it landed and transformed.

"Seems like a party started without me.  Better start talking, bub."

I should learn to keep my big mouth shut.

## Sub-Entry 034:  "From Transforming Time Machines to an Ultra X-Panse in Autobot Allies":

Granted an Autobot taking the form of my mentor's time-travelling prototype was one thing.  But even with all of us gathered here, no one could possibly be prepared for a third Autobot arrival...and this one was most certainly taking the vehicle form of Professor X's Blackbird Jet.

Ohhhh boyyyyy.

Had Asriel's memories still not been up on the shelf, metaphorically, awaiting me to de-neuralize him, it would have occurred to him that he had never really given Professor X an adequate thank-you for his role in the battle to save Undertale seven times over...not to mention then ENTIRE Axis of Realities.  That latter one was the reason he was being hailed the UltraVerse over but never being given an explanation why.

But indeed.  This was most certainly an Autobot and he most certainly had the alt-form of a Lockheed Martin SR-71 Blackbird jet straight out of the 1980's and 1990's.

And as much as I want to gush about what went on from that moment...

This was the part where Daimyou put her foot down and drew the metaphorical blinds shut.

Sorry.

Kind of a cop-out and a definite disappointment for those who were counting on something more.  But I remind...my title is not Emperor of Time and Space.  It's Vice-Emperor.  I still answer to Daimyou and while I may have clout comparable to her and may nave nearly unrestricted access to STC resources and I can do things pretty much my way...

Two things.  The word "nearly" and the phrase "pretty much" are not absolutes.  They mean I have restrictions.  And it was my insistence that it be this way.  Why?  So that I would not be tempted by the power.  If my former STC founders could be swayed, then if even the slightest doubt existed in me...then I was unworthy of the power.  Absolute power corrupts.  It should only go to those who never...have never...and will never desire power.  Bunnie would always consider this her curse to live by.

And the second thing?

Well.  All things in time.

What I can tell you is that this was a sign.  A sign of things to come with our alliances.

No less then three Autobots had show up out of nowhere.  And each one was its own crossover incarnate.

An Autobot that takes the form of a modified 1959 Cadillac meteor repurposed for professional paranormal investigation and elimination.

An Autobot that takes the form of my mentor’s 1980's Delorean motor car in which he built 30 years of his life's work into chrono-science to realize the vision of the day he devised the Flux Capacitor.  A mobile time machine.

And now an Autobot that takes the form of the signature jet used by Charles Xavier's...covert operation that hides beneath his School for the Gifted...namely mutants; the humans who've evolved special genetic powers.  And it manages to combine many of the trademark appearances and abilities of his most recognized class of X-Men.

What were we actually headed for down the road?

Maybe nothing.  Maybe everything for all the marbles all over again.

And yet...the part of me that was...well...me (try and figure out what I mean by that)...still kept reflexively considering this the side-story to what was going to happen in the future.  Some day in the future.

"How soon do you think we can get back there to start fixing things?"  Asriel and I had taken the vehicles to a spot in Death Valley, far away from prying Decepticon eyes in an electromagnetic dead zone.

It gave us time to talk...and reflect.

"Well...you know there are two ways to go about it.  The Human Resistance method that John Conner spearheaded until man could declare victory over the machines in a loooong and gruesome war.  One--which I remind--in this case isn't necessarily one-sided.  Keep in mind, the machines are divided by Civil War.  And where one Autobot has made his presence, more will follow.  But how long it will take?  Who can say.  By the time victory IS achieved...Earth's resources could be in a state that puts it on the same poor ground as Cybertron.  Just another drained husk."

"And the other?"

"The Back to the Future method."

"Right.  We fix history.  But first we have to find out where the big "Wikipedia edit" was made.  Then come up with a plan to undo it."  Asriel figured.  "The future will change around everyone else and no one but Marty and Doc and the Brown family will be the wiser."

"You know we interfered with this timeline, too, Asriel.  The Gods have mercy on our souls for tampering with time.""

"Yeah.  The greater good is a gray area.  But at least...if we do this and put things back to normal?  It's a tampering that I can life with on my conscience."

"Me too, Azzy.  Me too."

"So.  What do you think of our new Autobot allies?"

"I didn't really get to know them well enough to make judgement calls."  Asriel sighed.  "Volt...what's going to happen to Dr. Brown and Marty McFly when we get this all straightened out?"

"We're both shrugging on how this will affect their course of destiny up to meeting us."

"We do have one tool to use if it comes to that."  Asriel offered.

I was ominously silent for a moment.  I think he understood why.

And yet...he didn't understand why.  The irony of him suggesting that...it came back to the Promise.  It always came back to the Promise.

He didn't know what I had done to him.  And it was his choice.  His decision.  His request.  His....wish.

And yet that wasn't his real wish.

Just like Asriel didn't know what the question was that he wanted to ask that would kick this whole thing off...I had a question that I couldn't even begin to answer.  What was his real wish?

Unlike Asriel?  I knew the question.   But honestly...I was arguing myself if I REALLY wanted the answer.  Or...if I just wanted things to stay as they were...forever.

"Hmm."

"Yeah.  I hear you.  It's...not an easy decision to make when you finally grasp the consequences.  That is isn't a magic wand that makes problems go away.  It just...creates newer, more subtle ones that you have to think about how you're going to fix them in time.  And then the problems those problems fix."

Asriel finally understood where my worry came from.  And really...I wish that was the one thing he'd never learn from me.

"So what's the plan?"

"One step at a time.  We start with Hill Valley and Cybertron."

"Right.  With Gozer now kicked to the curb three times--"

"Three?"

"You forgot the Third Apocalypse, Volt.  Gozer failed Shandor twice over.  And now his latest defeat is on Cybertron."

"Yeah...that was quite a ride."  I mused.  I'd...tell the story some day when Daimyou decided to de-classify it.

"Which means he'll have a bit more time to divert toward this new Decepticon threat.  He may have just found an ally in Gigawatt."

"Agreed."  A thought was starting to cross my mind.  Three Autobots now.  While I was pretty sure they were the standard variety...I had researched things such as the Spark of Combining and newer generation transformation cogs...

I had an incomplete image in my head.  Three parts to a gestalt whole that I recognized.  And other parts that I didn't.  I had hundreds of ideas of what I could substitute in place of those blurred out spots--substitutions that went through the whole of the Z-Vault.   Whether having a leg that looked suspiciously like the van used by one...A-Team.  Or an arm that resembled a certain Air Wolf...the King of Crossovers within me was grinning inside at my imagination's attempt at creating the ultimate 80's Cybertronian Combiner icon.

For now, Asriel volunteered to keep his ears open for any message from Bumblebee or Optimus Prime.

Time Travel technology in the Decepticon's greasy hands was all kinds of bad.  It was an exceptionally painful realization to my mentor that his life's work had finally fallen into the wrong hands.  Hands worse than Biff Tanen's.

Which left the new Autobot to arrive.  The one we now called Ultra X-Panse.  Huh...I certainly wanted Ultra Magnus' take on this.  I wonder if "Ultra" carries some kind of unsaid title or weight on Cybertron?  It seemed easy enough to decipher the military ranks from titles like "Minor, Major, and of course the omnipresent title of leader known as "Prime".

I'd debate that another day.

For now...we had a case that had become  a quadruple-crossover.  The world of the Transformers had collided with the Ghostbusters seven years ago.  And now it was colliding with the world of Back to the Future.  And not even a day after that, it was colliding with the Uncanny X-Men.

And yet...Goat Son and I were loving it.  After this long we had a worthy challenge again.  Diplomatic negotiations were one thing.  Reconnecting with old friends was another.

This?  This was like the old days.

So why did I feel like this wasn't what was best for Asriel in the long run?   He was still in his prime.  That wasn't an issue.  His life had just begun.

But it was a life that we gave him all the pieces and knowledge to and he assembled it into a familiar comfort zone.  He was living a destiny that he chose; one that defied the Goddess' final deliberation through their games.  One...that went against the destiny nearly every copy of him in every timeline in ever AU that had come from the mind of an Annoying Dog; an annoying dog who was, in the end, an avatar for...a creator out there.  Just like our UltraVerse was the product of our own creator...out there...somewhere.

Once again...I caught myself falling into the meta.  It was taboo to know this much about the nature of your universe.  And yet...Adonis opened my eyes to it.  I could not unsee it.

Asriel, on the other hand...his memories of that were on the shelf.  Lucky him.

What was next now that this familiar nostalgia was flowing like a river again?

The only think I could say in this moment:  Time would tell.   This was a point I couldn't just say...time had told.  A time traveler I may be...but I didn't necessarily know what was going to happen next.  Much less at all times.  No...I just went by AEON's guidance and the history books.  And history was changing.  All around us.

"Volt...what do you think Ultra X-Panse's mission is?"

Oh.  Back to the present.

"I don’t' know.  We...didn't give hm a chance to offer his own exposition.  Though...I don't know if he was in a talking mood at the point we left."

"So...Cybertronians and Mutants?"

"You sound kind of surprised."

"Just...didn't think my first experience with the X-Men would be like this."

First? Hardly.  No doubt, somewhere else, Charles Xavier was already up to speed and probably already had glimpses of our future.

"Well.  By now, you of all people know to...expect the un-X-pected?"

That earned a chuckle.

"You win an internet, Volt.  You win an internet."

For now...our investigation into this square...rectangle...trapezoid...parallelogram....whatever shape it was...

For now our investigation was on hold.  But Asriel and I both had no doubt we'd be returning when we knew more...and when the Decepticons made their next move.  Plus...we'd be keeping an eye on Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, now.

"Now what, Asriel?"

"Back to business as usual."  Asriel said as got in the driver's seat of the Delorean...our iteration of it.

I took our iteration of the ELB train back to California to catch up with Winston...and get Peter out of any trouble he managed to get into.

"I think we're at the dawn of a new era."  I muttered to myself.

Asriel looked out the window for a moment as he hovered and looked out over the horizon toward the direction of Hill Valley.  It looked like even the surrounding area was under Decepticon control...and spreading.  How much of the Earth was in their grip?

"Yeah.  We're in the dawn of a new era...a new era of..."  Asriel trialed off as his worry started to get the best of him.

And yet...we both felt the same in a time.

Ectotron assured us he'd be back tracing Gozer's influence and find out how the Destructor had crossed wires with this world.

Marty was definitely scared that we were going to run out of time trying to fix this huge mess.  To which Gigawatt assured him:  "You're never outta time when you're a time machine."

Which left the remaining one.  X-pect the unexpected, indeed.

## Sub-Entry 035: "A New Era of Crossover Chaos":

"...crossover chaos." I finished Asriel's sentence the moment we arrived home.

It hit me after the ordeal.  By all means it shouldn't have been possible for Mentor and his family to return from the events after the 1885 incident.  If anything, the Deceptions' interference should have re-written everything the day when Emmett was supposed to return from 2015.  And by extension it should have overwritten all that PLUS the fourth misadventures in 1986; the point in which the 1930's incidents occurred.

Which in essence was the root of my current dilemma--we had Emmett and family--post 1986 incident--meeting up with Marty McFly--post 1985's original time travel experiment.  Emmett had future knowledge of things that Marty had yet to experience.  What prank of time had occurred that caused this major paradox?  For that matter...where was post-2015 edition Doc Brown?  Certainly he had to be aware that the time stream had been altered.  And he'd realize it the moment he left 2015 in a return to 1985. And boy oh boy I did not need TWO instances of Doc Brown in the same place at the same time. If it even happened at all. with the way things were now. I still didn't want to take a chance that his theory that encountering yourself could unravel the space-time continuum.

I'd noticed this phenomenon before.  While Doc and Marty were tied up with rescuing Jennifer Parker after she met her future self, future Biff Tanen had stolen the Delorean and changed history back in 1955.  But the world around didn't just metamorph around everyone.  No...the damage was noticed upon the return to 1985.  Mentor and I called this phenomenon dis-jointed timeline theory.  In essence the timeline we were still in during 2015 was the original timeline branch.  But once we left it, that original branch would be sealed off and become defunct until we fixed the damage.  And like Mentor explained...if we attempted to go to the future to stop Biff from stealing the Almanac?  That wouldn't work.  It would be the future of Alternate 1985-A.  Where Biff was powerful...corrupt...married to Lorraine Baines...George McFly was murdered.....and by gods...Mentor was committed to asylum after being declared insane.

As it was the Marty and Doc I left behind were mismatched by several misadventures worth of experience.  I may have unintentionally created a bigger problem in the long run.

"Great Scott..."

"More like Great Watt."  Asriel corrected, trying to make a pun of the situation.

How much damage had the Decepticons done to the time stream for this to even be POSSIBLE?

I was beginning to suspect the many incidents of STC's own interference in their space-time-continuum had carried a tachyonic corruption, imprinting properties of OUR world's space-time-continuum upon it.  As I said before...it would take a MAJOR, MAJOR screwup to our world' timeline to cause a significant paradox.  It was why I could crisscross any point in history without major incident.  Without worry of the butterfly effect.

But if that carried over into "Back to the Future" Earth...then this was a blessing in disguise.  It meant it gave us time to fix this before it became permanent.

I'm sure Asriel realized it as soon as I did.  Sooner or later, time was going to start correcting itself.  And when it did, this photo...this copy of the picture taken of Emmett and Marty in front of the Clocktower as it was started in 1885 would start to fade away.  As well as any other photos I had proving 2015, alternate 1985-A (colloquially know as Biff's Pleasure Paradise future), 1955-R (as in return), 1885, 1986, the 1931 incident, alternate 1985-B (also known as Citizen Brown's era), and everything else connected to this long string of remixing history EVER existed.

The fact is, Asriel and I...didn't give the whole story on this so as not to panic Marty.  But, knowing mentor...he already knew.  And he was already desperate to find a solution.  Really...the wild card in all this was Gigawatt.  What did he know that we didn't?

If the Decepticons had conquered at least Hill Valley...then had they conquered Cybertron as well?  Something wasn't adding up.

What happened to Bumblebee after running over Rumble in his cassette form (and almost running down Emmett and Marty; not the smartest method to protecting them from a Decepticon but...probably the only way that it wasn't going to end in disaster.)?   Huh...I'm rambling again.  This feeling...yeah...I'm starting to feel my old scientist self emerge again.

"Volt, how ARE we going to fix this?"

"I don't know.  Right now I've put Dr. Faraday, Dr. Nicodimus, and Dr. Archimedes on the case.  The three of them together are a powerhouse practically equal to myself.  Between them scouting BttF Earth's past, present, and future we'll get to the bottom of this.

In the mean time I need to get more information about Cybertron.  I'm absolutely positive the timeline there was changed.  Maybe multiple times.  And if that's the case I can only guess the Autobots are losing...or have already lost."

"They haven't lost.  As long as they have one standing...!"

"Right.  This Gigawatt."  I relaxed a little.  I think Asriel did as well.

"Doc and Marty's situation gets priority until we hear from Charles Xavier.   Somehow Cybertronians have crossed paths with the world of Mutants as well."  Asriel took charge of the situation.  I didn't mind.  If anything he was a lot less retired than I was.

And we were both uneasy...

Elsewhere in the Quasar Pyramid...

Lady Destiny struggled hard as she focused...opposite her sister; showing no signs of struggle.  Quite the opposite she looked incredibly confident as  their influence fought for control over the projection of BttF Earth.

It was like they were both trying to wrap their hand around it but the other's aura was resisting...repelling.

Nearby, hovering over a stand of some kind...the Earth that was home to Charles Xavier and the X-Men; and Eric Magnus Lensher and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants...hovered with an ominous haze around it.  How did it fit into the picture.  But it looked like the attention of the Goddess right now was on BttF.  And not far from where they were dueling was the projection of Cybertron.

As it was...Fate's hand was closer to the Earth projection.  Could it be that it was only by Destiny's own will that the Brown Family was being allowed to exist at all?  And if she waivered for even a moment...what would become of them?  More to the point...what of the Emmett that was still, presumably, still in 2015 and learning firsthand that something had to be done about Marty and Jennifer's kids?

It looked like the Game of Ultimate Good and Evil hadn't started up again per se...but what was most certainly taking place was an exhibition.

The drive was back.  Madam Fate's rage-quit was over and she was getting that desire back.

But...if that was the case...she'd be going at it without her Black Knight.

So...why did she look so...smug?

Back to our situation.

"Volt.  It's that feeling again. "  Asriel smoldered.  "That feeling that we both hate so much."

"The feeling of being helpless until we know more.  Until we're permitted to do more."

Our hands were tied.  Even if we were permitted to stay and help...what could we do?   The Decepticons had the OVERWHELMING advantage.  I had all but confirmation that they had won.  That their victory was permanent.  If we went in guns blazing and tried to free Hill Valley?  A lot of people would be killed in the crossfire.  I couldn't guarantee anyone's safety.  And it would likely drag on at LEAST as long as the Cybertronian Civil War had.  Millions of years until Earth would be the NEXT burnt-out husk.

This would gnaw at the back of our minds for a long time coming while we forced ourselves to turn our attention to the next minor or major crisis to come our way.

As it turned out out...it wasn't  a crisis so much......but we were in for a reunion we weren't expecting.

## Sub-Entry 036: "The Fate of a Former Kopy Kat.  The Rebirth of a Fallen She-Lion":

The choices we make and there's choices we take.  The lyric came from Michael Jackson's "Leave Me Alone" from his Moonwalker movie.

Definitely an appropriate song to describe the situation that I was about to recount from Asriel's own journal.

Before this day, it was a thought that really hadn't crossed Asriel's mind.  All this time doing the right thing and making good choices was all but a reflex.  And sure he had that occasional moment that he'd be wrong ore make a mistake.

But the thing is...this sub-entry of his story didn't have to do with his choices or mine.

No...this went back to someone else's.  Someone that had finally had enough of their abusive life and turned on their master.  From that point on...that person had faded from the battlefield and from memory.

It was for the best.

But...never let Fate show how vindictive she can be.  No good deed goes unpunished.

Gods I hate that saying.

And so did Asriel.  It often invoked the question...what was karma doing while people were suffering just because they did a good deed?  Just because they made the right choice?  Why was it that in the real world...good things didn't always happen to those who did good things?

I guess...maybe the magnitude of past misdeeds just wouldn't wait for comeuppance.  Someone had to pay for all the nastiness, the dirty tricks, and the pain and frustration they had caused innocent people--who themselves were trying to do the right thing.

And if her misdeeds were as long and extensive as her counterpart's on our world?  Then maybe what had happened to her was in fact a long time coming.

It still doesn't seem right after they had changed for the better.  But...I guess only a fool believes one good deed erases a lifetime of them.  That's just logical.

It began like any other day of Asriel's life.

"Whew.  Ditched the goon squad again."  Asriel didn't have as bad a time escaping his rabid female fans this time.  It was almost too easy, he reasoned.

But he knew better than to jinx it.

"I might actually get to Rock-Afire Pizza on time this--"  Asriel turned to continue down the alley he escaped into before he tripped.

And yet, that was still enough to jinx it.

"Watch where you're going!"  The raspy, yowling female voice sputtered before going into a coughing fit.

"I'm...terribly sorry!"  Asriel immediately knew he had tripped over a homeless vagrant.  And while it was tugging on his heart strings....no.  He couldn't be selfish.

Asriel reached into his pocket and collected a fair amount of money and loose change.

"Here.  You should take this and get yourself a good meal.  You need this more than I--"

At that the cloaked vagrant whapped his hand away.

"I don't need your \*hack\* pity..."

"I...d-didn't mean anything by it.  I was just trying to help--"

"Help?  ...hah...ha....let me tell you what helping people gets you..."

And then came the rant.  Some things that Asriel was most certainly hesitant to repeat.  It might even make Violet blush and she reveled in crude and foul language when she could.

"...if you want I can just leave."

"Yeah...story of my life..."

Asriel turned to leave when he stepped on something.

"Huh...?"

A sandal.  A blue sandal.  The straps were snapped and it looked like it had been chewed on by stray animals.

Asriel hesitated a moment before...it hit him.  Where he had seen that before.......and curse you, Violet.  The one thing you would impart on Asriel is the ability to always be able to recognize a person's sandals.

"...wait a minute..."  He slow turned to the person who had pulled the cloak around herself tighter.

"...could it be...?  Are you..."

A dismissive grunt in response; a grunt signaling for Azzy to mind his own business.

"..............oh my gods and goddesses....it is you..."  Asriel spied the tip of her tail, recognizing the dirty sienna brown color.

"She-Lion?"

"There's nobody by that name!"  she snapped.

"You're She-Lion!  I mean the other one from the Flip-Side!  You...you saved Aunt Sally from--"

"No!"  She huddled tighter, like she was trying to disappear.

Asriel grit his teeth...and without thinking, by sheer impulse...

He reached down and grabbed the hood and yanked it off.

The alley cat hybrid hissed and clawed at him.  Swiping and missing as he jumped back,

"Don't look at me!"

It was She-Lion alright.  And in tears and filled with so much rage.

"I...I'm sorry I--"

"Don't be sorry.  Just go."

"I...I don't understand.  What happened to you?"

She-Lion looked up...and after a bit, she remembered.  "Oh.  It's you."

She got to her bare feet and clutched the cloak around herself, hanging her head for a moment before snapping her head up and raging.

"It's your fault...it's YOUR FAULT!"

"I...!"  Asriel stammered.

"I had a good thing serving the Master Blaster.  And you up and changed everything.  I bit the hand that fed me and my life went completely down the tubes!  Because of YOU!"

"I didn't mean for..."

She-Lion balled up her fists, stepped closer and pounded on Asriel's chest as she squeezed her eyes shut and ground her teeth.  It was then he noticed how frail and weak she had become.

"You've...been like this for seven years?"

"What do you think, smart guy?   I didn't exactly get handouts much less a hero's welcome after the Crossover Wars.  I didn't HAVE a home to go back to because I abandoned it.  I abandoned the other Kopy Kats.  Kool Kitty?  Fat Cat?  They'll never speak to me again!  I was supposed to be the brainy one of the group!  I was supposed to be the one that had the common sense of us.  I was the one who kept us together!

And you...you with your boy scout demeanor and your smooth charms and understanding smile...what did you think you were going to accomplish!?"

"I just...I just saw the pain in your eyes...the sadness...the fear.  You were living a life of regret but it was the only life you know.  You can't tell me you were happy living in an abusive environment like that.  Being a slave to a villain who punished severely every time you failed to capture Kidd Video and friends."

"You think you know me!?"  She-Lion flung her arms down, maintaining her balled-up fists.  In doing so her cloak fell apart and gave way, dropping to the ground as rags.  It looked like it had suffered wear and tear from polluted rain.   It could only mean she'd been hanging around the industrial district near one of the factories and warehouses that were just at environmental standards and practices.

The remains of her body suit and jacket hung in taters.  Patches of fur were badly matted.  She looked so scrawny...and pathetic.

Asriel furrowed his brow and put his hands on her shoulders, firmly.  This caught She-Lion completely by surprise.

"Look.  What happened to you wasn't fair.  I get it.  And I'm sorry.  I'm willing to make things right with you."

"Oh no, buster.  You're not going to woo me and sweep me off my feet--"

"I already told you.  I'm not looking for a romantic relationship.  I just want to be your friend."

"Be still my beating heart, my prince has NOT arrived..."  She-Lion crossed her arms.

"Come on.  Don't give me that.  She-Lion, you've got to take control of your life.  This isn't you.  This isn't who you are."

"Then WHO AM I!?"

"Who you WANT to be.  Not who life decides for you to be."

"Wonderful advice, smart guy.  Easy for you to say when you're dressed like you go to a prep school."

"Yeah...well....never mind.  This isn't about me.  She-Lion.  I have to help you.  I'm willing to do what I need to give you a chance.  An opportunity to turn your life around.  You can't live like this."

"Do I look like I've had a choice?"

"There's ALWAYS a choice."  Asriel seized her hand.  "C'mon.  We're getting out of this place."

"Get your hands off me!"

"It's for your own good."  Yikes...in that moment, Asriel sounded more like Toriel than he had ever before.

She-Lion yanked free, stumped and fell face first into a dirty puddle.

"Look what you've done...look what you've...you..."  Her voice started breaking.  She pushed herself up out of the puddle onto hands and bended knees...and hung her head...and started crying her eyes out.

"Hey...hey....c'mon...don't cry."  A request from a former crybaby?  Yeah...this was...truly Destiny's Hand at work.

Asriel took off his jacket and wrapped it around her.

"She-Lion.  It' s okay.  I'll get you the help you need."

"I don't want your charity."

"Swallow your pride.  Please."

"I don't have much left to swallow..."  She-Lion wiped her eyes with her wrist.  Well.  Wasn't this familiar?

Asriel blinked for a moment feeling the ghosts of the past all around him.  Dreemurrs had a distinct way of weeping.  He was rubbing off on people.

"Come.  We're going to Rabbotou Dojo."

Asriel lifted her up and draped her arm around his shoulder, leading her away toward the dojo.  It was a mirror image of what every Asriel had done when they first found Chara.

"I don't understand...why are you being so nice to me?"

Asriel suppressed the momentary laugh.  It was so ironic.  He knew this saying...somehow.  But it was escaping him just who said it.  Yeah...no memories of Flowey.  And yet this situation kept reoccurring.  Those same words kept being said by someone around him.

Asriel's eyes turned green.

"Now.  Talk to me.  Tell me everything."

She-Lion sniffled as she weakly walked along, leaning on Asriel, trying to hang onto him without collapsing.

"After...I left the battlefield...I tried sneaking back to the Flip-Side but...the others had escaped and gotten back to Master Blaster first.  And I was already being hunted down.  They...were already holding a grudge."

"That's terrible!"

"I was half-way through the portal when it started to close and......I had to make a decision...I could either go home and face the music...no pun intended...or leave and never look back.  I decided to be a coward."

"That's not cowardice.  It took a lot of courage to escape that life."  Asriel's eyes turned orange.   "You can't go back to him.  He's a monster and you know it."

"Easy for you to say.  I was too afraid to show my face around here...I thought someone might recognize me and turn me in.  I'd never lived in so much fear before."

She-Lion shuddered.

"So I snuck from portal to portal whenever I could find one...and I ended up here.  I thought I could make a new life for myself but...then I saw the news.  That my counterpart and her OGPX team had been banned from racing and were taken to jail for things they had done at their manager's requests that were supposed to be "off the books".  Seeing my face on an arrest photo...I felt my future crumble before my very eyes.  I was sure someone would mistake me for her and I'd be suspected of breaking out of jail...so...so I ran."

"And you've been on the run since and found yourself here?"

"I tried to seek employment but...no one would touch me by that point.  I...wasn't exactly in the cleanest, most presentable shape by then and...seven years later this is me.  I don't have a shred of decency or pride and all this...anger and resentment...it's all I know who to be but it's not helping me one iota.  I just don't know how to give up all this hate I have in me.  I'm just so filled with hate and anger.  I've been blaming everyone else my whole life and it's worked up until now.  I’m...falling...apart...!"  She-Lion wailed, cartoonishly streaming fountains out of her eyes.

Kind of causing a scene but...Asriel continued to comfort as he lead her to Rabbotou Dojo's staircase and Torii Gate.

"You're going to be okay, She-Lion.  You're going to be okay.  The past is behind you.  Let it go...and no I don't mean that annoying song from that Pixar movie."

A bit cruel, but Asriel didn't want to take the chance she'd try to sing.  As he had come to realize, she--like her counterpart--was tone deaf and couldn't sing to save her life.  Maybe there was another talent she could find.  But first things first...

Once they reached the doors.

"Asriel?"  Bunnie answered instead of Megami.  Like she had a feeling to do so.

"I found a friend.  Can we keep her?"  Asriel asked playfully, trying to sound like his 9-year-old self when he met Chara.  Though the words he originally used was "I found a human!  Can we keep them?"  How did I know that?  I'd see that part of his life in other unstable timelines.  I'd seen for myself how it happened.

Bunnie uttered something halfway between a gasp and a brief laugh.  "Come on in."

"Thanks, Bunnie."  He'd finally gotten used to dropping the "master" and "sensei" title.

"So.  Can I offer you some milk?"  Asriel prodded.

"Don't.  Push it."  She-Lion narrowed her eyes at the stereotype.

"Okay.  Sorry I offered."

"....that wasn't a no."  She-Lion turned away, folding her ears back, responding in a very pouting voice.

## Sub-Entry 037: "I Choose to Be Who I Am.  I Am Who I Choose to Be":

Days passed since then and She-Lion was on her road to recovery.  She was...getting used to wearing a kimono from Bunnie's wardrobe after Jon made some alterations.

She tried her luck walking in block getas...and wound up in Bunnie's koi pond.

Asriel was the only one of us who didn't struggle trying not to laugh.  He was also the first to help her out...before she pulled him in.  With friends like her, who needs enemies?

Honestly she still didn't really accept us.  And she was far from certain about this new life.

At the time Master Splinter was visiting...and he had a bit of an ordeal dealing with his own fear of cats.

It didn't help that She-Lion was tempted to tease him about it with some hungry cat behavior. Yeah...she was still listening to the devil on her shoulder.

All the while, I was staying in contact with Egon and Emmett.  I felt it was safe enough to bring Emmett to our world.  But not Marty; for obvious reasons.  He wasn't ready to know us at this point in the timeline and with how messed up it had become it was debatable if we could get him back to that point.

Mentor himself was overwhelmed enough as it is plus he was being constantly exposed to future events and such that he was never meant to know this early on.  I was worried, myself that I was endangering S.T.C.  There was always the risk that Emmett and I might never pool our resources and start the foundation and thus every time loop I had EVER created would collapse in the most massive of paradoxes.

And at the epicenter of it all?  I'd never meet Asriel and he would likely cease to exist.

While at the same time Violet had brought Jeremy Belpois to our world to see if there was some way they could repurpose the Supercalculator's RTTP feature to help us crack this paradox problem.

Ben Ten-thousand stopped by to bring Professor Paradox in on the matter.  By now it was becoming a regular Ludwig Von Drake's Think Tank.  Heh.

All around us, old acquaintances were coming together again.  I was reminded of the Purpose Wave from Mega Man Star Force 3.  If we really did put our minds together we'd help our friends in Hill Valley before and undo Megatron's tampering with time before we knew it.

And yet...the thing that wouldn't leave my mind was seeing Asriel's future loom overhead and that Promise being key to it all.

"Archimedes is engaging multiple wide-band spectrum sweeps of the Circuits of Time in conjunction with the daughter of that person you described.  What was his name again?"  Emmett asked.

"Rufus."  I replied.

"So far nothing has shown up.  These...Decepticons have certainly covered their tracks well." Emmett lamented.

"If I had contact with Perceptor we could have him scan the Iacon archives for information that might suggest when this Civil War of theirs diverted."  Egon examined the blueprints of the Flux Capacitor.

"I offer my sincerest apologies, Mentor.  You trusted Marty and myself to keep your legacy out of the wrong hands and your life's work...30 years of toil and your family fortune to realize the vision of that day in 1955...and now it's in the worst possible hands."

"All water under the bridge, my friend."  Emmett was quickly starting accept our friendship and history together...both of which hadn't happened yet but was happening now as he spoke.  Just not the way we were supposed to remember it.

Again...remastering the timeline.  Just another day in Miranda City, Fontraile.

"Hmmm...a most perplexing problem."  Master Splinter and Bunnie had joined us with Mitzi and She-Lion in tow.

"You're still not bothered by the fact that I'm a cat and you're a mouse?"

"My best friend in high school was a cat.  Besides I identify you more as female than feline and myself more female than rodent."

"Well there's no debating that.  We are young and available women."  She-Lion still took pride in that much.

Granted it took Emmett a little more time to adapt to Master Splinter than he did meeting Egon's acquaintance.  But eventually he accepted him as another Hybrid like the rest of us.

"Hard to believe this little do-dad caused so much trouble."  She-Lion poked at the blueprint, unimpressed by the Y-shaped apparatus.

"That little-do-dad combined with 1.21 gigawatts of electricity is enough to open a portal through time itself."  I corrected her.

"Hmm."  Bunnie narrowed her eyes.  "What of your friends in Hill Valley?"

"Your friend, Ectronymous is in hiding, while attempting to contact other Autobots for reinforcements.  So far there has been no answer."  Emmett looked glum while trying to sound like he was in any capacity for rational thought.  In a couple days we had shaken his beliefs to the core.  "Unfortunately the McFly family, save for Marty are stuck in that infernal slave camp, producing Energon Cubes.  I was wrong about what I said in Alternate 1985.  I couldn't imagine Hell being much worse but fate has certainly shown me it very much could get worse."

"Ray is attempting to backtrack Gozer's path through dimensions.  Hopefully we can establish a link between ours and yours, Dr. Brown."

"Dr. Spengler, your profession raises questions.  But in this short amount of time, my skepticism is eroding at a rate faster than a quark's decay rate."

"We've established a mountain of irrefutable proof and data proving the existence of the paranormal."

"Not to mention the immeasurable number of specimens you have jailed behind a 220 volt, 10 megawatt, Ecto laser containment grid?"  I pointed out.

"Remarkable..."  Emmett gasped.  "Just days ago my biggest problem was remember to make sure the ELB train had enough steam to make the return trip home.  Now it's confirmed the existence of extraterrestrial life in both organic and mechanical form.  On top of that proof that gods exist and ritualistically take on the form chosen by the civilization they invade!"

"Not to mention proof that the human genome is still evolving and resulting in increasing number of cases of "mutants" with super powers like shooting lasers out of their eyes and healing factors."  Asriel spoke up.

"Not helping, Azzy.  But I appreciate your willingness to be part of the conversation."  I was trying to keep the X-Men angle separate until I had more information to go on.  And besides...Charles Xavier wasn't here to put in his two cents.

She-Lion sighed and leaned up against the wall and slid down into a sit.  This was overwhelming to her too, and for her it was less out of the ordinary than it was to Emmett and the others.  Not after what she'd experienced in her home within the Flip-Side.

I think I saw her shudder when Egon brought up the supernatural.  Kind of a sore spot after getting haunted by the ghosts of Grooveyard City...and accidently turning the ghosts free in the Master Blaster's fortress when she and the others were a little late to steal the collection bag from Whiz's make shifted vacuum cleaner car.  Heh...I was remembering that tale from when Glitter told it to us seven years ago?  Yeah, why not?

The think tank went on for a bit.  At  point I pulled Asriel aside and addressed the elephant...or rather stray cat in the room.

"Azzy.  I want you to know I'm proud of you for reaching out to her.  You know even the worst person in the world--"

"--can change if they only try.  And well...some of us hardly try at all."  Asriel shrugged.

"It's not even a question if she's redeemable.  It's now a question of...how long is it going to take before she accepts this as the new norm?"

"Time will tell.  But we are going to give her incentive.  Right, Volt?"

"Yeah."

As we were discussing that...

"Sensei Rabbotou..."

"She-Lion?"

"You're...really going the extra mile for me.  I...don't know if I'm worth saving--"

"Let me tell you a story.  A story of a young orphan who lost everything.  His parents.  His friends.  His entire species.  His home.  His entire timeline.  He blamed himself for causing everyone's demise.  This young one felt himself unworthy of life.  He asked his rescuer why he would save a bad kid.  He didn't believe he was worth saving."

"What are you saying?"

"The saved becomes the saver."  Bunnie looked over to Asriel.

"Him...?"

Bunnie nodded.

She-Lion remained in a kneeling sit, resting her clenched fists in her lap as she hung her head.

"Sensei...what advice would you give to this unworthy stray?"

"Be who you are.  You are who you want to be."

"...that's it?"

"That's it."

She-Lion thought long and hard on that.

"Then that's all there is.  I Choose to Be Who I Am.  I Am Who I Choose to Be."  She-Lion could hardly believe what she was saying.  It didn't sound at all like herself.  Yet...it sounded...nice.

Asriel looked over and gave a thumbs up with an anime "smile eyes" face.

She-Lion reluctantly returned the gesture.

Asriel's story continued to blossom.  But I knew while Gigawatt would never be outta time nor would we be outta time to fix Marty's present and Cybertron's future...I was sure time was running out before that day when all would be revealed.  Truly revealed.

Until then...I wished nothing more than for Asriel to stay by my side.

## Sub-Entry 038: "Virus Eliminated.  Evox's End Marks New Power Ranger Beginnings"

Violet had gone quiet after our latest think tank session.  Honestly Asriel and I couldn't figure out what was bothering her.  She wasn't as close to the McFly's and the Browns as I was.  She certainly wasn't bench marketing any research with Spengler and Stantz; her technology and research was too advance to show anyone in their era.  And really, I think she was pretty indifferent to She-Lion.  Neither for nor against.  Being who she was she was likely going to let her be on probation until she gave a reason not to trust her.  Then she'd be all over her like she was all over Jack Hanos...up until the truth came about why he betrayed us.  Big sore spot there.

So honestly the only link in the chain I came up with was...Jeremy.  Had he delivered some kind of news that upset her?

"I hate it when I have to second guess you, Violet..."  I muttered to myself.

It was about that time Asriel ran into Jeremy on his way to the lab.

"Oh, Mister--"

"Asriel.  No Mister.  I'm too young to be thought of as a Mister.  Maybe when I hit my 30's or 40's.  Anyway...Jeremy, right?  You're Aunt Vi's friend from Kadic."

Speak of the devil.

"Correct.  You're Asriel, right?  You saved our world from a virus invasion."

"...and that virus invasion is the reason that Aunt Vi's so moody.  Isn't it?"

Yikes.  Straight to the point, Azzy?

"...well...I'd ask how much you know but I have a pretty good assumption it's not much.  Otherwise you wouldn't be talking to me."

"So...it is true.  There is something up?"

"We should talk."  Jeremy confirmed.

"Well.  Coming, best friend?"  Asriel looked to me.

Oh he's good.  He's REALLY good.

Inside the lab.

"She's on her way."  Jeremy had already sent an email to her.

Violet headed in and we got down to business.

"Okay, Vi.  What's all this about--"

Violet cut me off by slamming down, of all things, a Cell-Shift Morpher.

"Vi.  Is that a--"

"Corinth Series G-50NP E.S. System series Cell Shift Morpher and the cosmetic design I used for our own Cellphone type ignition key for every vehicle in the vehicle bay."

"Okaaaay.  So what does have to--"  I started before she interrupted again.

"For years...for years that smug son of a bitmap has been looking up at me on the other side of that quarantined digital containment vault laughing at how the better half of his source code has been running amuck on us.

I taunted that waste of cyberspace piece of malware how I had the biggest digital threat that ever tore apart Corinth City and here he was all this time..."

"Vi, you're not making sense--"

"Oh my gods..."  Asriel suddenly blanched.  "Aunt Vi...are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Violet set down a tablet and touched the play icon on a what seemed to be a video that was time stamped with Grid Battleforce's electronic I.D.

After it played.

"This can't be real.  How is that possible?"

Vi looked directly at the Cell Shift Morpher.

That's when I caught on and Asriel nodded to me.

"So that was it."

The realization was...that VENJIX...the virus Vi had quarantined in her own isolated prison...was in fact the origin of the headache that had been terrorizing Coral Harbor all this time.  To put it VERY, VERY bluntly.  EVOX.  WAS.  VENJIX.

"But the RPM Rangers destroyed all traces of VENJIX except for the object code they entrusted to you, Aunt Vi."

"No.  There were traces left.  In the Cell Shift Morphers."  I realized.  "VENJIX tried to access the Morphin Grid once before.  They called it the BioField.  The same one we now use to power Overdrive Grand Prix gear.  He tried to use that biofield to completely delete the Rangers.  We thought he succeeded with the Gold and Silver but...it turned out that there's more to the BioField...the Morphin' Grid than even Dr. K understood."

"And those traces were dead code all this time until..."  Asriel reasoned.

Violet hit play on another video.  This one from Grid Battleforce's early science division's days.  Days when a much younger Nate was working with old Ranger morphers; attempting to use Morph-X and snake DNA to reactivate old ranger morphers.   And they were all failures until...

"You saw that, right?"  Asriel looked to the rest of us.

"If you're referring to that usual purple aura traveling down the USB cable, then yes."  Jeremy confirmed.

"That's how VENJIX came back from the dead sea of code."  Violet looked downright pissed.

"I staked my reputation on that scummocide collective of subroutines and jerkweed being in a prison he'd never escape."

"This wasn't your fault, Aunt Vi."

"Why didn't Dr. K catch this?"  I asked.

It was about that time when of all things a dimensional portal opened and out stepped a short woman in a lab coat.

"There's nothing like a sincere vote of confidence to reassure me of my faith in alliances isn't misplaced."  Came the irate, sardonic wit of one Dr. K.

When am I going to stop putting my own sandaled werewolf foot in my mouth?

"Long time no see, Doc."

"Can the pleasantries, Tokugawa.  I'm certainly not thrilled to find my old headache running at his top most number of petaflops instead of occupying the digital equivalent of a graveyard and eroding into unusable packets of data."

"As warm a welcome as ever, Kayla."

"Kayla?"  I raised an eyebrow, already in hot water for earlier.

"I thank you to keep that name under wraps.  As far as Alphabet Soup is concerned the prodigal girl name "Kayla" does not exist and never has existed.  Dr. K is the pseudonym I was ascribed to keep my identity nice and classified."

"Doctor, my Aunt and my best friend mean no offense.  I've studied your research into morphing technology and I actually have a lot of research I'd like to go over with you in your spare time.  I've particularly found interest in photonic displacement through parallel quantum entanglement."

"As much as I would like to bench market theories and practical applications of them, we have a more pressing situation at hand."

"Yeah.  What to do about that son-of-a-glitch, EVOX?"

"I've been keeping tabs on Grid Battleforce and I've recently indexed their victories.  Robo-Blaze, and Robo-Roxy have recently gone offline for good.  But I feel like this is prelude to something bigger.  It's a classic sacrifice play.  I'm almost certain that while EVOX is trapped in that prison that Nate constructed...he's not as trapped as we think.  This was part of his plan."

I looked at Asriel.

"I think you're right.  Above all else he wants access to the Morphin' Grid.  And the way to do that is through the Morph-X towers.  If he were to parallel link them all to Tower One in Coral Harbor--"

"The influx of energy would be a direct path into the Morphin Grid."

"I shudder to think what he could do with that much energy and data."  Jeremy looked up from his laptop.

"Grid Battleforce is planning to execute him with an antivirus Nate created."

Violet suddenly stood up and slammed her palms on the table.  "And that's EXACTLY what he wants.  In order to inject him with the virus, they'll have to lower the shield.  And that's all the time he needs to escape into Grid Battleforce's systems."

"Wouldn't the logical step be to shut down all the computers with access to the Tower Network and lock him out of it?"

"Yeah...yeah, that could work but--"

"He's already thought of that and has a plan."  Violet scowled as she paced.

"Explain."  Dr. K inquired.

"The answer's sitting right on this table."  Vi looked over her shoulder.

The Cell Shift Morpher?

"If he was born of traces of the code...then I think he's been keeping a lot more than just fragments of his program in there.  I think...his whole kit and kaboodle is tucked away in that things memory like a coward."

"Then he's going to head to--"

"Nate's lab."  Asriel finished.

"Then that means--"

Dr. K's communicator went off.   Indeed a message from Corinth.

Asriel turned to me.  "I think we're too late.  I think--"

"EVOX already absorbed the rest of the VENJIX code and more than likely developed and immunity to Grid Battleforce's entire weapons collective."

Gadget had stayed quiet all this time.  Rotor broke the uneasy silence after Violet's explanation.

"How...do you think Nate's taking it?"

Violet gestured to Dr. K who appeared to already be headed through a portal to Grid Battleforce.

"Not well."  Violet narrowed his eyes.  "Wouldn't you take it hard if you found out you were responsible for unleashing a deadly viral threat upon the whole world?"

"Hey.  Violet's taking it kind of hard.  It's not like she's the one--"  I started.

Asriel put his hand on my shoulder and he shook his head.

Why was this so personal to Vi?  I mean...it was just lines of code.  But...I guess it was that generalization which made me...not so great with software.

Later, in Vi's virus sub-lab...

The lights went on.

"You think you're pretty smart don't you?"

Silence.

"I know what you're up to.  And we're going to put a stop to it."

Silence.

"It's going to be like that, huh?  Well...let the games begin."

In a matter of hours, the alert came from Coral Harbor.  The Mayor and the Grid Battleforce General addressed the city calling for a complete evacuation.    It had started.

"Well.  I can tell none of you want to sit on the sidelines."  I looked over my shoulder.  There was Sally, home from the OGPX season ending.  There was Mitzi and Bunnie.

Asriel was standing by as well as Usagi Miyamoto and of all people, "Generator" Rex Salazar.

"I called in a favor.  I figure after Dr. Lynx makes sure he's good and anti-virus'ed up his nanites will work wonders against EVOX's Robotrons."

"Good thinking, Azzy."

"But that's not all.  I called in some help from some other friends and I figure...EVOX shut down everything in Grid Battleforce's arsenal.  But......how do you think he'd do against OTHER Legendary Ranger weapons?"   Asriel smirked as he hefted off all things...Conner's Tyranno Staff from the Dino Thunder Ranger arsenal.

Mitzi was already brandishing the Chrono Sabres from Time Force.  That was most certainly T.J.'s Fender Sword from the Turbo Ranger arsenal.  And so on.

"And there's a lot more where these came from."  Azzy smirked as Sally spun Trini's Power Daggers.

"Let's get down there and kick some virus butt."  Asriel opened the gateway and charged in, with the rest of us following.

And for a time we seemed to even the odds.  It was a glorious battle and we lost count of how many of EVOX's clunkers we took down....

...but as we got confident in our chances of victory...tragedy struck.  And one of our own fell...

And by extension...so did our morale.

With no choice...we fell back to Grid Battleforce HQ...to mourn the loss of Steele, the Silver Ranger.

Devon addressed everyone in the building and it was melancholic to say the least.

At the same time...

"Is there no low you won't sink to?"  Violet approached the containment server machine.

She peered deep into its viewing window at the holographic depiction of EVOX's viral snake form.  And sure enough the virus was restless...and smug.

"I gave you a prison and took away your voice among other things.  I made sure you wouldn't see the light of day.  You know what you did.  What our history is."

Silence.

"It was another time then.  An angrier time.  A time when Vorostov approached me about my failing confidence in Neo Arcadia.  Back when I was considering having Edoropia secede from Kaeleron.  And I almost did.  But then...they dared to annihilate Ecotropia...and all bets were off.  They made a powerful enemy.

I was desperate to get back at them.  A lot angrier at them than Neo Arcadia.  And a lot angrier at the Allied Nations being hesitant to sanction them without positive evidence.  So...I spent my time coding to blow of steam.  Who would have thought that one of my algorithms would catch the interest of someone in Alphabet Soup.

I was a pretty high profile person in a powerful political position.  They couldn't just do the same to me that they did to Kayla without causing an international incident.  I couldn't be "appropriated" as a child prodigy for their research labs.  But that didn't stop them from still getting a hold of a self-mutative code capable of evolving resistance to cyber counter-hacks and antivirus measures.

I was stupid.  I wasn't thinking about the consequences of my actions.  And low and behold...a genius in Alphabet Soup was inspired by my work to do what the military asked of her: create a new kind of weapon to wage a new form of cyber warfare on enemy networks.  And thus from both our research...VENJIX was born.

Laugh it up, snake-bait and say hello to your other mamma."  Violet cracked her knuckles.  "It takes a lot of love to discipline a child that's been THIS bad.  And I intend to make you pay for everything you did.  I'm going to make things right again just as Kayla and Nate are going to do the same."

Back in Coral Harbor...things were getting far more grim as the Ultrazord configuration was proving to be no match for EVOX in a Gigadrone body that was...easily 50 or more times larger than any they'd ever faced.  Even bigger than EVOX's evil Chimerazord.

And it was looking like they were overpowered.

Usagi helped Rex up as the rest of us scrambled to escape the debris.  The battle had erupted faster than we could fall back.  We hadn't expected EVOX to do THAT of all things...to absorb enough Morph-X to turn into THAT.

Violet paced back and forth, dragging her Thunder Spear across the floor, setting off sparks.

"It seems you've thought of everything.  And tell me I'm wrong that you don't plan to come here next and collect the other piece of your genesis.  The original object code that Kayla had me lock away until we could safely destroy you without you infecting anything else."

Violet righted her spear.  "Yeah.  You thought of everything...except one thing.  A weakness that not even you could overcome."

EVOX had become a little more...docile...but no less on edge at that.

"Did you think I wouldn't figure it out...when you had trouble infecting Steel?  That his human half...that his human DNA wouldn't cause...problems?

And then...that time you were infecting Mayor Daniels and wearing him like a puppet?   Pure human DNA proved even worse for you and quite corruptive to your programming.  Why...it left you pretty wrecked such that you had to multiply your efforts to get enough Morph-X to stabilize your systems.

So in the end...that..was the answer all along..."

Violet pulled a section of her spear apart where an ampule containing a solution of human DNA was being fed into a matter-to-energy convertor she had rigged up inside.

The machine started showing yellow lights...then red ones.

"You're afraid, aren't you?  Well.  I suppose so am I.  It takes a lot for a mother to destroy her child.  But...on that note...I denounce you as my offspring.  You're just program a hot-headed kid slapped together in a fit of anger to have her...vengeance.  Hence...VENJIX.

When I realized what I had done, I was all too eager to clean up my own mess.  I was all too willing to cooperate with Dr. K and Corinth.  And I was never sure she ever forgave me for the path I ended up steering her life down that led to Corinth...and now you, EVOX."

Vi twirled the spear then tensed.

At the same time Nate had a radical idea to reroute the Megazord's systems to channel Morph-X through the Rangers themselves and infuse their last weapon strike with human DNA.  It was through their final sword strike through EVOX's chest that the antivirus was administered.

"Well.  It's with a heavy heart I say...happy birthday....and with relief I say...happy death day, EVOX."

The lights all started flickering red. as the machine vibrated with an unholy sound...reverberating with digital modulations.

"Tell me if this sounds familiar........BEGIN THE DOWNLOAD!"

Violet raised her spear as the access port opened...and jammed it in hard with a HUGE spray of sparks.

"I think it's only fitting that Kayla's DNA be your demise.  She'll have to forgive me later when I explain why I have it in my DNA archive.

My last words to you are this:  END OF LINE."

And as electricity swarmed the machine...suddenly it just whirred to a stop and went dark.

"EVOX...ELIMINATED.  Good bye...and good riddance."

Violet's virus lab slowly began to shut down as she walked toward the exit...and the door slammed shut behind her.

Some time later...

There was a knock on Vi's door.

"It's not locked.  But you knew that, didn't you, Cinnamon Roll."

"So...you ever going to tell them about...?"

"I haven't decided yet, Goat Son.  It's kind of amazing you figured it out.  You knew."

"A lot of mistakes were corrected today.  Jeremy sends his best.  Dr. K...well...she's willing to hear you out some time.  I think...she's ready to put it behind her, too.  She's gone back to Corinth to start searching every system for traces of the VENJIX virus.  If even a data fragment exists, she's going to destroy it."

"So..  When you going to tell us what you saw while you were momentarily connected to the Morphin' Grid while trying to save Steel?"

"...well...the Morphin' Legacy goes on.  I can tell you that much.  Stick around and maybe by February or March...I'll finally be able to tell you."

"Not even a hint?"

"Well...it began with a theme...and it continues with a theme.  After all...we did see quite a team-up not long ago."

"Hmm?"

"Jason gives his best..."  Asriel walked out.

"Jason...?"  Vi thought for a moment.  "Theme?  What theme was he..."  Violet shifted her gaze at the plastic T-Rex on her computer table.

Then a smile crossed her face.

"Oh you clever little goat, you."

Asriel walked away smugly, thinking to himself that he'd seen the mighty and the morphin...he'd been through the thunder, he'd led the charge.  Now things were about to get some real...fury.

## Sub-Entry 039: "Christmas Comes Around Once More":

One thing hadn't changed about Goat Son for the 25 years we've known him.  Christmas has and always would always be the holiday most special to him.   Even more so than his birthday or Thanksgiving.  And it should be obvious why.

Christmas existed in his former life.

I've put of trying to find out from Chara if she brought it to the Dreemurr doorstep...or if it was pre-existing before her arrival.

It really seemed like a question I should have asked Asriel.  But...it was starting to look like he wouldn’t have the answers much longer.

But right now...other things were on both our minds.

"Hey.  You got a card, Azzy."

"From who?"

I handed it to him.

"From Maurice."

A moment of silence.

"I've...been older than 13 for a long time now.  Technically they should have never let me in.  Even when I was ten...I was a hundred years past KND's limit.  On top of that...I'm not human."

"You did a lot of good while you hung with them.  Numbah Five would welcome you back there even at your age."

"Yeah...but let's be real.  I was never going to be part of Galactic Kids Next Door.  It was Nigel Uno's birthright.  And...even being part of sector V for a while was...kind of living a lie."

He made a good point.  And...I don't think any of us would have been at liberty to give him up and have him leave for...parts unknown.  Maybe forever.  It was for the best.  Though...I wonder...what became of Numbah One since then?  Information on the gKND just......stopped after "Father" recommissioned Sector V as adults in an attempt to track him down and...well.  Quiet a fiasco that all spiraled from what was the ultimate in "The Cake is a Lie" memes.  Mental note to self, find out if Violet ever returned the equipment to Aperture Labs after hijacking the Golden Condor.

Frankly I thought the bigger lie was the one told to protect Agent Vine's identity.  And while it made sense to keep her close to Numbah One...the romance?  That...never made sense to me.  It was like Sonic the Hedgehog WILLINGLY letting Amy Rose date him instead of running off every time she tried to get him to marry her.  But you know...love is in the eye of the beholder or so they say.  Crazy Girlfriends.  Don't try to figure them out.  Just smile and roll with it.  You'll be in for a lot less hurtin' for certain.

"I'm no stranger to bending the rules for the greater good.  For taking risks when everyone around me is trying to reign in the chaos."

"It's all about perspective, Volt.  Destiny tries to keep chaos suppressed but in a way that prevents people from getting hurt or causing an era of pain and suffering.  Then there's Bradford Buzzard...who thought the best way to reign in the chaos of the world was to conquer it and rule it through shadow organization.  He's been the McDuck family's true enemy from the very start and now he's out in the open as the brainchild of F.O.W.L."

"Yeah.  But back to KND, goat son.  What's happened...since?"

Asriel shook his head.  "I'm afraid even in his position as the "experiment" of KND keeping kids commissioned after turning 13...that information is way above anyone's authorization to share it with, much less declassify it."

It was a big deal when Maurice was "decommissioned"...at least that was the official story given. It was the last time that Cree was one of the KND before her sister, Abigale took up the mantle of Numbah Five.

I wonder how old he was now?

"So...it's pretty much an...official goodbye card.  Right?"

"The original Sector V is grown up now...and de-commissioned.  If I were still a kid now, I'd have enough clout to get back in but.  I guess it's all behind me."

"Azzy...let's stop thinking about work and start thinking about--"

"I thought you'd never ask."  Asriel put the card away.  "We delivering this tankard of my special non-alcoholic egg nog to Mitzi or what?"

"Pat yourself on the back.  Egg nog made with ice cream and enough of it to fill an oil-drum sized refrigerated tankard is a crowning achievement.  You are a culinary wizard."

"The real wizardry was keeping it cold and keeping this piping hot."  Asriel knocked on top of the insulated drum of something else.

"Ah.  We only have but one rule, never ever let it cool.  Keep it boiling in the pot, now you've got hot chocolate."  I recited Tom Hanks' lines word for word.

"So.  How much of it is going to be left after you and Chara have your go at it.  Well...mainly Chara."

Asriel burst out in a fit of laughter.  "Oh I promise we won't run out.  Or sister's getting coal in her stocking."

"Oh you."  I grinned.  "So.  What else is on the itinerary?"

"Well to put your mind at ease, I lightened my load this year so.......still helping out and keeping the true meaning of Christmas in my heart and soul...but not breaking my back over trying to please everybody and be in everyone's corner at the same time."

"You're still playing Santa Claus, aren't you?"

"Darn tootin' I am.  And with every year I get a little closer to matching....well..."

I paused at that.  He actually had to think to remember his biological father's name now.  Maybe there was a reason to be worried about whether or not I could keep my promise in time.

"Asgore."  He finally finished after  a pensive look.  He could never forget his sister but....Scott and Callista had been his dad and mom for so long...it felt like there wasn't anyone else but...there was.

And honestly...I knew EXACTLY how he felt.  I painful thing to admit but my birthparents in the Lycan Village.......I'd have to look up surviving Vorostovian records to jog my memory about anything even remotely familiar.   Even their own names.  The struggle was real.  To some of us adopted kind...we just don't realize that we've already made the choice not to search for our origins.  Some of us discover too late that it is already too late.  Some of us chose to never look back and knew what we were doing and why.  And some...some of us had to know.

Which were you, Asriel?  You...haven't exactly answered me.  Yet I haven't exactly asked, either.  Awkward.  So very awkward.  Especially for best friends.

"Asriel."  I decided to be the light of reason.  "Don't worry about measuring up to the Santa he was....measure up to the Santa you want to be.  And then just let it come naturally.  Legacy is what we forge of it of our own accord, not dictated by what came before.  If it happens to parallel what our ancestors have done and keeps a theme going, so be it.  Remember why destiny is derived from destine."

"Of course, best friend.   To carve a path to a given end.  I chose how I get there and the end of path does not define me when I arrive any more than it does before I set out on the journey."

"You really do sound like the Major now...Grand Master Asriel."

"Now you're embarrassing me on purpose!"

"I can take it if you can.  Besides.  A true friend rips on you to your face and says nice things about you behind your back.  A phony does the opposite."

"Wise words, Volt.  Wise words."  Asriel one-arm hugged me.

And this time Azzy didn't have to venture about his activities alone.  He split up the duties with all of us assisting.

Of course Mitzi handled everything culinary.  From cookies to candy canes to the aforementioned egg nog and hot chocolate.  And so much more. Rock-Afire Pizza was booming with business for the holiday season and Mitzi was donating a portion of the proceeds to the needy.

Sally and Team Acorn were home once more, following Rotor's birthday.  Topped off with his customary set of birthday cupcakes in a big fish-shaped formation.  And Rotor, at Skeeter's pleading, closed up shop; promising they wouldn't work over the holidays.

Antoine took on the responsibilities of adjusting She-Lion to Miranda life.  She was...considering getting a full makeover to keep from being mistaken for her counterpart--our "She-Lion" known by the name of Sue Silo.  I wondered...if Sue was counterpart to anyone else in another dimension...human, cat, or otherwise?  Eh...probably a mystery to put on the low priority back burner another day.

Willamina took all of the group with singing talent caroling.  Mitzi, Violet, Beach Bear, Foxy, Harmony, Sashay, and Red's wife Monique just to name a few.  And others who eventually joined in.

Pit agreed to take part in the pageant; playing the part of...well..the Angel.

Some day I would have to explain how and why our world even knew the story of Christmas or why we even celebrated it given the different history and religions of VGM-098.  But for now I was going to pile that onto to the ever-growing mound of procrastinations that I never explained to this date.

And of course...Azzy did make good on his promise to outdo himself as Santa Claus.  Or as Violet nicknamed him...Santasriel....or maybe it was Dreemurr Claus...or...something.  Huh...now I forgot what the exact name was.  Whatever the case was...he again topped Mr. Dad Guy.

The children of Miranda were more than delighted.  I think it was his best performance yet.

Afterword he was all too glad to join us with the "Oh no!  I juuuuust missed Santa!"  excuse.  What was surprising to some of us was how easily everyone who DIDN'T know he was playing the jolly guy in red completely bought it.  The kids, obviously.  The fact Azzy was such a straight arrow really sold it.  But the grown-ups?  Even Hyperion didn't figure it out until someone told him straight out a couple weeks later.

"This eggnog is to die for!"  Jon remarked, downing what was probably not so much his 3rd glass...but likely his third...gallon.  Heh...did I just reference his alternate universe name just now?  Hah!

"You're too kind, Jon."

"Well frankly, I'm more of a fan of something of a higher temperature."  I reloaded on Mitzi's hot chocolate.

"Now THIS...is what I call a beverage."

Oh yeah.  Hot stuff.  Next time I visit the Soul Society, Chara's getting a whole heated keg worth.   Definitely the way to get on her good side.

Asriel chuckled, appreciating the sentiment.  I'm sure he knew his sister would appreciate the gift.

As he was readily distracted by Jon's and my dueling antics on which was better; hot or cold holiday drinks, someone else decided to try to capitalize on a different holiday tradition...

She-Lion struggled to cover up her snickering as she kept safe distance away and readied the pole with the hanging sprig of mistletoe on it.  And she was right behind Goat Son.  It was the perfect plan.

The moment of attack was right about--

Asriel suddenly side-grinned in a way that Haruhari Haruko alias Rahuro would have approved  of before he stealth fully slid down into the splits and rolled away just as She-Lion dangled the plant over his had and puckered up...!

And almost like clockwork the one to accidently step into position turned out to be none other than our own Miles Prowler (yes, Prowler with an L.).

"Mmmph!"  His eyes widened as she planted a big wet one on his lips.  But as soon as she opened her eyes...!

"I...uh...know we just met but...I didn't know you cared...!"  Miles was blushing ten kinds of red as his two tails fluttered.

"I kissed a fox!?"  She-Lion's eye twitched.

Well...foxes were closers to canine than feline.  Don't know how that's a step down from kissing a goat.  If anything she probably should have been more freaked out if it had been Antoine.

"Um...for the record, you're not the first cat to show me affection.  Nermal could be very motherly.  But uh...this is the first time I got it on the lips."  Tails tried not to be flustered.

"Sorry, She-Lion.  But I did tell you I wasn't looking for a romantic relationship."

"D'ohhhhhhh...."  She-Lion gripped her fists as she threw her arms down by her sides in a huff.

"No offense, She-Lion but take a number.  This kid's got more gals chasing him than--"

"Going to stop you before you finish whatever lewd metaphor you were going to utter, Violet."  Bunnie slapped her hand over her mouth.

"No hard feelings?"  Asriel backed away through the crowd to check up on family and friends.

She-Lion didn't say anything.  She just wrinkled her nose.  She...still had a ways to go.

"You know, I could hook you up with sexier wardrobe--"  Honey started before Willie grabbed her by a pig-tail.

"You've already hit your limit on giving dating advice when you dragged Asriel to the discotech.   Don't give her any bad advice or fashion tips."

"But come on!  I'm a fashion queen!"

"Brag about your clothing line another day."

"So I guess you offering tickets to one of your concerts--"

"I don't play match-maker, Honey.  Get your head out of the clouds or get a knot in your tail."  Willie narrowed her eyes, about ready to turn a shade of purple deeper than her hair color.

"You're no fun..."

"Hey, break it up girls.  I'd tell you to take out your extra energy on the track but no practice when it's snow and icy conditions."

"Yeah...also not good weather to speed around with exposed toes."

"Vi put you up to that line, didn't she?"  Sally crossed her arms.

At the same time, Lupe had found a new favorite desert in the chocolate peppermint cake that Hestia had come up with.

"It's good.  I love it!"  She actually wagged her elegant tail.  Guess she was picking up habits from Jon and me.

The party went all night long with a return appearance from Mitzi's old band; the Rock-Afire Explosion.  Now exploring the possibility of a more permanent reunion now that C.E.C. Entertainment was phasing out their star attractions.

Rumor from Foxy and Harmony was that Helen...didn't take the news well.  Or the breakup.  But hey...rumors of the rat of the hour having to be hospitalized when his newly ex-girlfriend went ballistic were just rumors...riiiiight?

"I'll drink to that, lassie."

"Bottom's up, y'all."

A clink of the glasses and a downing of the sparkling cider.

But of course it wouldn't be a Christmas Bash without Violet relocating it to her place for the mother of all blowouts.  Speaking of which, Lady Frieda and Emperor Fred of course made their appearance.  And with their appearance came the annual reigning in the insanity that was a security-crazed Al Dente.

Violet was allllll too glad to hand Chameleon his own custom set of darts after she made sure Al's behind was properly placed in a dartboard frame.

"Make sure...he doesn't sit for a week."  Was Vi's parting words before checking on Marcel.

"This time I didn’t' even leave the floorboards.  Or the walls and ceiling."

"You stole the entire room itself.  I guess I should have taken that more literally than I usually do."  Vi shrugged.  "Sell it for however much you want.  I'll stir up the bids...hehehehehheh..."

Considering Al Dente's already had to take out three mortgages by this point?  Yeah...he was going to die miserable and broke some day.  He was already in debt, so...he was halfway there.

"You ever get tired of torturing that pariah?"  Valkyrie asked.

"That's a solid no.  Upgradable to a Hell, no based on his next offense."

"Fair enough.  I won't tell you what he asked Chameleon to submit for analysis for drugs and contraband THIS time."

"If it involves the proctology protocol...he's lucky to escape with all his parts intact."

"Anyone should draw the line at a colonoscopy as a standard security measure."

"Good lord."  I facepalmed.  "I wash my hands of it."

Eventually the party wound down and we went our separate ways in anticipation of Christmas Day.

Eventually Al Dente was found duct taped to the ceiling with multiple dartboard darts stuck in his rump.  By then the chloroform had worn off, according to Violet.  While this Scrooge was accepting his metaphorical lumps of coal for attempting to ruin everyone's holiday. Yet again...

"...So.  I heard that McDuck finally buried the hatchet with Santa Claus after all these years."  I mused as I joined in the family and friend gathering of gift-opening and celebration.

"Don’t you mean..bear-ied the hatchet?"  Asriel couldn't resist the pun.  I'm sure Beach Bear was also grinning, appreciating the irony of it all.

"Hah.  Nice."

"Yeah...guess Scrooge finally understood there are more kinds of warmth in the world than the practical kind from coal."

"What an unbelievable tale."  Mitzi mused.

"Come on...in our circle of friends and family, what's EVER unbelievable?"  Asriel shrugged.

"Good point.  Well made."  I acknowledged.

All over Miranda joy was in the air.  But not just our world was united by the happiness.

Somewhere Chara had been invited to Karakura Town in the World of the Living to join in the festivities.  And of course...she got to meet Ichigo for the first time.  I'd have to ask her about her opinion of him some time.

From Bellwood to San Dimas, everything was excellent.

By some miracle...S.T.C. even made it possible for Hill Valley to temporarily escape Decepticon rule for a short reprieve and enjoy the Holiday in a safe space.  Though...the bittersweet end to that would mean everyone would have to be returned home and neuralized to preserve the time stream.  But for a time even the McFly, the Brown, the Parker, the Strickland, and yes...even the Tannen Family among many others would know a holiday reprieve and a bit of freedom.

I just knew this was a victory that somehow Lady Destiny earned for all of us.

I can't believe I'm actually saying this...but I was ready to put my grudge against Madam Fate on hold for a couple days.  And...really...I hope even the chaos and misery bringer herself could find something to bring warmth to her heart.

Something else was on my and Goat Son's mind.  This year was almost over and a new one would take its place.  Just another week to go, man.

For now...I think I spoke for all of us when I say:

> **MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!**
>
>

## Sub-Entry 040: "Hope From the Past, Dreams in the Present, and Wish For the Future":

The Christmas season was a good distraction from our problems.  But once the thrill wore off...

Goat Son could sense my unease.

And he called me on it.  Straight out.  Like a friend should.

"...you're scared, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Because of what could happen if we don't fix Hill Valley's timeline."

"Yeah."

"It would undo a lot."

"You know how much, Azzy."

"If it changes the course of Dr. Brown's life, the Institute For Future Technology never gets founded.  S.T.C. is never born.  The Council never comes to power.  You never discover the Quasar Pyramid...and..."

"The Goddess Contracts are never forged."

"Which would mean you'd never become immortal.  When the Ripple Effect catches up to you, that's it.  You're literally dust."

"Asriel, you're ignoring what comes after--"

"Your non-existence means you never meet me.  I likely perish in that...dark place...I can't remember.  The...Void...wasn't it?  And...there was a skeleton I think?  Dr.......Gaster."

Goat Son's fading memories of Undertale weren't really a concern until now.  It seemed like it was getting worse.  Was...Fate deliberately setting a time limit on us?   This was low.

As a time-traveler?  I hated and despised time limits.  The idea of having to accelerate anything was the route to sloppiness and...and it also meant acknowledging a limit.  I guess...that was what Adonis and I had in common.  That we didn't like the universe setting limits on things.

I abided by them.  He didn't.  And that's what got us here.  But I digress.

"Azzy...we'd lose each other...because we'd never have each other in the first place.  Our friendship would be erased before it began."

"Yeah...I figured that was what was bothering you."

"And it doesn't you?"

Asriel sat down.  "This is one time I can afford to afford less anxiety.  I had a feeling it would start to gnaw at you so I talked to Nicodimus, Faraday, and Archimedes.  And they've got some good news.  Nicodimus managed to complete some old research that we can use to buy us some time.  A good three or four months at least before we have to start hustling to fix things.  And yes...that's Miranda time-constant."

I'd explained before, that even with the ability to travel back and forth through time--to past, present, or future there were some limitations.  Time passed on all sides no matter where we were.  And our technology had to recalculate every time in order for us to set coordinates for any point in history.  As future became present, the past slipped further and further away from our reference point.  But that wasn't the only issue.  The Butterfly and the Ripple Effect were following us like the great white shark, Jaws...and we were trailing some bloody fish chum.

"You do know how to put a guy at ease--"

"And that brings up my point, best friend.  You're worrying again."

"...I...guess I am.  But...you're calm in all this..."

And it hit me what he was getting at.

In this moment, we were like our old selves.  I was worried.  Asriel was confident.

"Volt, you've become complacent.  Retirement hasn't been all good for you, y'know?   Sarge would tell you that you've got triple treadmill runs in your future."

I started to scoff...before I accepted that he was right.  But a jab like that...

"Yeah?  Well Violet and Ariel Rastajive would chastise you for not having enough fun.  Getting yourself all wrapped up in too many responsibilities.  All work and no play makes Asriel a dull goat son."

"Tch......got me there."  Asriel threw up his hands in an "I give up" gesture.  "I guess I'd be a fool to deny that I've spread myself thin again."

"So what do you suppose we do about that?"

"We've already started doing something about it.  We're being a team again.  You and me, me and you.  And we're bringing in the help we need to chop these problems down to size."

It felt like a pep talk for each other that we already knew.  Yet it went unsaid far too long.  It was time to hammer it home and get back to the balance that we were most comfortable with.  That dynamic we had honed for 8 years...then let slip away in  only 7.

"I guess that this issue is resolved.  Or at least it will be."

"Yeah.  On the backburner for now.  That said...maybe we should talk about--"

"Past, present and future."

"...you are the son of a psychic, Goat Son."  I only had a tinge of disbelief in my voice.

"I hang around a  psychic, a soldier, a time-traveler, and other good mentors.  The signs and between the lines are easy enough to read.  You've been wanting to talk for a while...touch base and...see where the both of us stand after fifteen years."

"...you got all that just now, huh?"

"I don't want to give myself too much credit."

"Humble.  Just the way we raised you."

A shared laugh.

"But I think...you're wondering...is it time...?"

"I did...but...I can tell.  I can tell that it's...not."

"Yeah."

"There's a question you want to ask."

"And you know what it is.  But I don't."

"Yeah.  And telling you what the question is would make the promise meaningless."

Asriel nodded.  "When I have the insight to ask it myself, I'll be ready.  That's the condition of the promise.   That's when I'm ready to know...whatever it is that's been hidden from me.  And by the gods...I've gotten so many cues and clues that confirm...it's something big.  Big enough for the multiverse to revere me and be eternally grateful for...something I did that I can't for the life of me understand is even close to enough to merit this much faith, trust, love, and respect.  It's more than any one person should receive but...so many are insistent."

I nodded.

"And it's tearing you up inside to keep hiding it.  And probably everyone else."

I didn't say anything.  I didn't have to.

"What a weird present I find myself in.  And all I really have to keep me grounded is that point in my past where I started living my life instead of feeling sorry for myself and praying for death.  And yet...I'm having trouble remembering why I ever felt that way."

I looked off to the side.

"You could tell me about my past until we're both blue in the face.  But...it wouldn't feel familiar.  would it?  That tells me...it's more than just being forgetful or moving on."

A moment of silence.

"The unresolved game of Destiny and Fate...likely has a contingency."  I reasoned.  "If...I won't make a choice soon to decide your future...then the sisters will likely deliberate and decide the course you life takes from here...and permanently overwrite the past you did have once.  They'll consider the promise locked it and what comes of it will be all there ever was and all there ever will be.  The truth...will die with your fading memories.  The ones of Miranda City and everything connected from there will remain."

"I know you're trying to make it sound like that isn't such a bad thing.  It's the part of you that's comfortable with how things are.  But...I know you.   You would kick yourself from now to eternity if you didn't offer me the truth.   You have as much integrity as me."   Asriel's eyes turned blue.

"You have all the answers, Asriel.  You have what you need except the question."  I looked down as my ears drooped.  "I gave Fate an ultimatum.  And she's taking every chance she can to test me...push me.  She can't help herself.  She wants us to dance to her script.  Not write our own."

"The Promise gets fulfilled on our terms.  Not hers."  Then he offered me a pleasant smile.  "Even fading...they're not gone.  I still remember I had a first best friend.  And we were close and became like siblings.  The plan...it almost ruined all that.  But we both still exist despite it.  The fact that Destiny gave us this second chance.  That past we had together. It fuels my hope.  The fact that I opened myself up to having a new best friend made me realize that there was a risk to opening up and coming out of my shell.  You saving me and giving me the chance to reconcile with Chara.  That gave me hope that continues now.  I have so much hope originating in my past.

From that hope came dreams.  So many dreams.   Dreams I didn't think could ever all come true.  But one by one...I lived each one.  I reached to the stars.  I've traveled back and forth through time with you...and on my own now.   I've seen other dimensions.  I know we're not alone in the universe.  And with each dream coming true, I learned to dream bigger and bigger until I began to believe...strongly believe that there was no limit to what I could dream...and what I could make happen.  What we could accomplish together.  And look at where we've come in 15 years, Volt.  We're at imagination's extreme...and still going."

"Azzy...you're...really selling it.  You're making it sound so dramatic."

Every the amazing orator. He had Asgore beat at public and even private speaking. No matter who he was talking to...he was had the gift of gab. He always had a way with words. He was so versatile he could be introvert or extrovert at the drop of a hat.

"Why shouldn’t I?  This life.  It means so much to me.  My hopes and dreams.  Your hopes and dreams.  Everyone's hopes and dreams are all around us and going on...they're self-sustaining concepts if we keep believing."

"Hmm."  I gave that some thought.  He was right but...there was just so much to sink in at this moment.

"There's only one last thing, Azzy.  From hopes and dreams come wishes.  Wishes which guide us toward our future.  Hoping and dreaming that they'll come true.  Sometimes they do.  Sometimes they don't."

"I have to live my life believing that wishes do come true.   When they do they don't just happen.  Even a miracle needs a helping hand."

I smiled as Asriel borrowed a quote from an old animated Christmas Special.  One of Gadget's favorites.  A clockmaker, a clocktower, a family of mice, and one know-it-all college-level mouse named Albert.  A disbeliever in Christmas, whose tampering nearly ended Christmas for everyone.  But even a know-it-all can make things right again once he starts to have a little faith and listen to his conscience for a change.

"Yeah.  Yeah they do.  So--"

"Volt.  Like I have a question that I need ask once I know it...I also have a wish of my own.  One that my best friend should be able to figure out for himself some day."

"Oh, I see....so it's a double challenge."

"If you want to put it that way.  Call it...dual motivation."

I was quiet for a good long bit before I smiled and replied.  "You're on, Goat Son.  You're on."

The race was on.  To save the McFly and Brown Families and their world's space-time-continuum; and by extension our own.  But it wasn't the only one.  The challenge was made for Asriel to figure out the trigger question.  The one I was dreading.

And now I had a mystery of my own to solve.  What was Asriel's wish?  Whatever it was, it was giving him renewed confidence and motivation.

Toward the future, Goat Son.  Toward the future.  Whatever it might bring.

## Sub-Entry XXX: New Years Gives Promise To Our Wishes For the Future

"...glad to see you looking chipper again, Commander.  You were off on a cloud after--"

"Yeah.  Just needed a guiding light to help me stay the course."

"He is your favorite sunflower child."

"That was...so corny, Mitzi."

"I liked it."  Asriel smiled.

"So.  How you doing, birthday girl?"  I asked.

"Fifteen years ago, that would have been a spoiler for Azzy."

"Now I'm the one reminding you.  Don't tell me you're starting to let age get to you."

"I'm going to let that slide because I know Vi put you up to it, Asriel."

A grumbled "Rats." was heard just behind the offline air conditioner unit.

"You should know better, but you're too sweet to be mad at.  But certain naughty rabbits won't get off the hook so easily."

"But you are still going to wear those sparkling icepick sandals she keeps picking out for you every New Years, aren't you?"  I rolled my eyes.

"What?  They're nice shoes."

"Why does everyone have to feed Vi's weird fascination with toes?"  I facepalmed.

Asriel held back an awkward chuckle.

"Violet's strange fascinations aside...I think a lot of us are anxious to leave this year behind."

"No argument there.  Despite peaceful times this hasn't exactly been...the best of years."  Asriel rubbed the back of his head.

"Let's not stew over details and clarifications.   The past is behind us, now we have a future to renew our hopes and dreams and with a little luck and some elbow grease, we'll make our wishes come true."  I agreed.

"So.  You ready for another year, Dr. Lynx?"  I turned to where Nikita was projecting from a holographic conference call.  Only this time it was from her real lab in New Lemurinopia.

"Just so we're clear...you DID hold back some.  Right, Doctor."

"You insult me, Commander.  This world isn't ready for the full scale of what Lemuranopian technology can really do.  I assure you...I've saved plenty levels of one-upping myself for years to come."

"Darn right you did."  I grinned a toothy grin.  "The download is ready?"

"And waiting.  How is the crowd down below?"

"Record-setting numbers.  We'll make history...Nicole."

A pause.

"You're getting used to hearing your real name.  Aren't you?"

"Even that may not be my real name.  It's just the name that was on my BIOS header at one time.  For all I know...it was an acronym I chose before...implanting myself into whatever bio ware ended up in the Royal Portable Mainframe."

"Hey.  Royal Portable Mainframe.  R.P.M.  You and Kayla--"

"Going to stop you there, Violet."  Nikita warned.  "Our similarities are coincidental at most.  Do not press it any further.  Dr. K and I are still resolving our...differences over repurposing her life's work for professional powered sports application."

"And she's a sweetheart for being cool with it."  Sally smirked as she joined us top-side.  "When this this tomboy of a former princess say she's not wearing a Barbie dress, she means it."  Sally said as she slipped her headphones off and left them hang around her neck.

Pit hovered down and joined us.  "Skies are clear.  Also, welcome back, Sally."

"Glad to be back, Pit-ster.  How's our favorite fledgling?"

"I'm well.  Can't say the same for Ambrosia."

"What did she do?"  Asriel crossed arms and rolled his eyes.

"Well...Poseidon might have an...issue with her using his trident for......um...personal recreation."

"She tried to make her own whirlpool spa again.  Didn't she?"

"Err...this time she wanted to make a waterpark like the mortal world has."  Pit rubbed the back of his head.   "In time Goddess Viridi's room might actually drain by the time she's ungrounded."

"Annnnnnnnd Viridi's taking it out on you, isn't she?"

"..........I don't think I want to go home for a while..."  Pit wrapped his wings around himself.

"Sorry, man."

"What about you, Gadget?"

"Uncle Gyro doesn't have as much free time.  Now that..."  Gadget pursed her lips, looking deep in thought.

"Now that Bradford has been revealed to be heading F.O.W.L."

An ominous silence gripped us all.  Even Violet.

"War is coming to the McDuck family."  Violet finally spoke.  "Believe it or not...we upper 1% still look out for each other.  I may drive Scroogie nuts, but he's no less a friend than anyone else in my online Rolodex."

"Glad you're thinking of friends and not how it'll make the stock market crash."  Jon jabbed.

"Hey.  Low blow, Talbain.  Play nice or you and your lovely wife will be playing bed and breakfast motel for Victor Von Gerdenheim, Rikiu, and Sasquatch for the winter."

"Oh no.  You are NOT gathering any more Darkstalkers here!  That's like holding a neon sign for Morrigan to crash the party.  Or for Demitri to renew his efforts to being another of his werewolf slaves for when he makes another attempt to challenge her for the throne of Makai.  And if Hsien-ko comes around, I'll have to put up with her being a whiney teenager and be reminded how timid the both of us actually are.  I don't even want to KNOW what her sleeves have devoured since we last talked.   And don't get me started on attracting unwanted attention from Bishamon or Donovan Bane."

"Notice you left out your favorite headaches--"

"You do NOT get to bring up Lord Raptor.  Or Baby Bonnie Hood."

"I can take it if you can."

"Good grief, Vi..."  I facepalmed.  "So.  The extended guest list?"

"Chameleon's...having to take steps to keep the repeat-offenders from meddling with Drew's firework and pyrotechnics show.  You remember how many bruises Ripper walked away from when his extra nitro made him a little extra crispy and hard of hearing for a while?"

"If he keeps this up, Drew's going to join forces with Hestia.  Ripper's starting to amass a club of people with a bone to pick with him."

"Red?"

"Kind of disappointed.  I think he's gotten the glory days of the NULL armor out of his system."

"Null's been retired and his modules and armor have been on the shelf for ages now.  Don't think the \*cough\*...Bringer of the Red Mist and the Crimson Queen are going to have any more reunions.  Your farewell performance MEANT farewell.  It's like the Undertaker's Last Ride, Vi.  Take the hint."  I scolded.

"You're no fun."  Vi stuck her tongue out as she worked at her laptop to make final preparations on the Shimmer Ball.

As we went down the list, more and more people were confirmed on their way or in attendance with us roof side.  The usual precautions for the light sensitive such as Mina Scalnistro were taken.  Brooke was most certainly watching from the Palace through her viewing globe summoning.  Talk about memories of Rance and Chameleon's rampage through town way back when.

And finally the countdown arrived.

Tiemtiarin, also known as the black wyrmling of Rainbow Wing took his own set of precautions to make sure the others didn't get into mischief.

Which lastly left Crystalliana and Hailsarinth to be triple checked to make sure we didn't have another explosive incident with mysterious bottles of dragon magic infused water.

"Download complete."  Dr. Lynx materialized the last of the Shimmer Ball in place.

"Again you outdid yourself."  I stood in awe of the magnificent sphere covered in lights, display, holograms, HD panels and strobes.  It truly was impressive beyond even last year's.

"Beautiful."  Bunnie smiled.

"Oh wow!"  Asriel agreed.   "it's going to be hard to top this next year."

"Oh she'll find a way."  Violet smirked.  "And I'll give it the zazz befitting of a kingdom."  Vi said as she uploaded the software and brought it all to life.  "I on the other hand don't like holding back."

This was true.  Once again, Violet pushed the boundaries of what lights and display were capable of.  And probably risking the health of anyone in town sensitive to flashing lights.

"Ready the birthday girl's lime cake and sherbet."  Sally gave Mitzi a one-armed hug before going back to hosting the party's tunes as D.J. Aelita.

"Cleaning up real nice and going from girl next door to dead-sexy bombshell is a refined talent, eh?"  Violet prodded.

"Oh stop."  Mitzi was pink in the cheeks.  "I wore your heels.  Don't make a fuss about it or anything..."  Mitzi added a little taunt by making sure Violet saw her wiggle her toes.

"Now Mitzi.  Do not encourage her."  Bunnie hovered behind her best friend.

"Eheheheh....I'll behave. Oh boy..."  Violet's ears drooped.

"But while the New Year does mark another year for me...I think I'd like to get the spotlight off of myself for a bit so we can welcome someone else to this.  Okay...you can come up now."

There was a bit of hesitation before...

"She-Lion?"  Asriel noticed her arrival.  The colors were familiar...indicative of her old outfit.  But it was most certainly a gown like Mitzi's with all the sparkle and of course gold sequins that Mettaton would have approved up.  Ohhhhh yeeeeees.  And yes...Violet picked the footwear.

I think it was the first time I ever saw She-Lion with matching earrings.  She always only had only one she wore in her right ear.    She looked a little more like herself now that she was wearing her familiar blue eyeshadow.

To be honest...after she turned against the Master Blaster and the other Copy Cats...or is it Kopy Kats?  Huh...ahem.  Truthfully I didn't think we'd ever see her again.  Much less her becoming this big a deal joining our extended family.  But...politics (and being fed up with corrupt record producer super villains) make strange bedfellows.

The cat of the hour was having reservations about the outfit that Honey had made for her.  But if she couldn't trust the fashion sense of another fellow cat...

"You look great.  C'mon.  Don't be shy."  Sally was the first to speak up.  There was a weird irony she appreciated.  For years another cat hybrid with She-Lion's face and voice had been her bitter, heated rival and made every waking moment on the track miserable.

Truthfully...She-Lion was wrestling with being shy.  She'd never felt shy or been shy in her life.  For years she was always the pushy, vain, snob that might as well have been her counterpart.

"Listen, if it's about Violet insisting on the sandals--"

"No.  I'm used to wearing sandals.  It's just that..."

"You don’t' feel like you belong yet?"  Bunnie spoke up.  Uncharacteristically blunt of her.  But maybe she wanted to nip the issue in the bud while there was still time before the ball drop.

"If you knew the things--"

"I'm going to stop you there, because the things you've done are pretty much in recorded history.  I found the Flip-Side's entire historical archive after searching S.T.C. so I could compare our Kidd Video to yours.  Yeah...you, Kool Kitty, and Fat Cat have a lot to answer for.  Though you were kind of bullied into it by the Master Blaster.  Past is past.  It's easy enough to say "just start over".  But...I'm not going to pretend I don't know how tough it is for you.  One day at a time."

She seemed to accept that.

A tense moment before Callista volunteered something.  "You know she has a talent for art and painting."

"Doctor!"  She-Lion protested, clearly embarrassed by it.

"You know I probably should have remembered that after hearing the story of the Twilight Double Header."

Asriel rubbed his chin, recalling how she tried to one-up Kool Kitty's plan to keep Kidd Video from getting to the siren, Sylvia by blocking their path with a giant rock.  Then She-Lion painted over it with a fake scene in a move that Wile E. Coyote had to have inspired.

She-Lion sighed and gave up.  I think..she was actually afraid to show any pride.  Letting praise and greatness go to her head was addictive...and a hard bottle to put down once you picked it back up.

"I do hate to break up this touching moment but...we have a schedule to stick to."  Nikita's holographic image swelled a few sizes and a few decibel levels.

"Right as always, Dr. Lynx."  I got busy powering up the hardware.  "Vi, tear your eyes away from She-Lion's feet and load the program already."

She-Lion jumped back, creeped out by Vi being...Vi.  Bunnie gave her a good thwapping before she got back on task.

"Ten four, supreme space commander, sir!"

"And drop the Ruby-Spears references.  Bunnie's authorized to smack you again if you bring up Guts Man's rear end."

Asriel snickered, knowing which meme I was talking about.  She-Lion looked at us like we were crazy.  In a way...it kind of reminded me of when Asriel first got to town and wasn't in the know.  Which, was also a reminder of when Pit was new to our team or when I first met Starfire.

"Think you can finally pull of a normal one of these, Sparks?"

"Bound to happen sooner or later, Chameleon.  Do me a favor and don't jinx it."

"I'm already doing you a favor by keeping Ripper from setting so much as a whisker near even a box of those pull-string poppers let along actual fireworks.  Any other favors costs extra."

"Enterprising?"  I wrinkled my nose at the price-gouging.

"Enterprising."  Chameleon grinned a toothy grin.

"Come on.  Let's give it a countdown already."  I said as the sunglasses and other light protection went on and Asmirus became VERY scarce.

"One minute to ball-drop."  Nikita confirmed as Violet's programming really took off.  Darn it, I knew she was holding back and saving the really gaudy displays and light shows for now.

Once it got to the last ten seconds...

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

HAPPY NEW YEAR, MIRANDA CITY!!!!

Asriel raised a champagne glass filled with sparkling grape juice as I did the same.

"To a better year."  We clinked glasses before downing the contents.

Usagi got one over on Violet by catching her off guard with a kiss.  I think it was the first time Violet wasn't the one to steal the kiss.

"Happy birthday, Mitzi!"  Gadget offered her the cake and ice cream.

"Don't mind if I do, Gadget."  Mitzi smiled.

Antoine raised his rapier to the sky.  "Viva Miranda!"

She-Lion just...stayed off on her own.  Everyone else was in too much of a celebrating mood to notice.

Almost...

"Hey."  Sally flagged her over.

"Hope you don't mind if I dedicate a song to you."  She said, slipping he vinyl onto the turntable.

The cat nodded.

And the tunes were underway.

It was the first time that the former Copy Cat didn't miss the Flip Side.

Once Azzy was sure all was well, after checking on them out of the corner of his eye.

"Happy New Year, best friend."

"And to you too.  And to you as well, Major."

"Akemashiteomedetougozaimasu, Commander.  Asriel."  Bunnie bowed before offering Asriel a little something for old time sake.

"Otoshidama?"  Asriel didn't sound surprised but he did look amused.  "I'll...try not to spend it all in one day.  Arigato, Bunnie."

That earned a smile.

He accepted it because of the sentimental value.  It would do no good to remind he was way past the age of being issued a yearly allowance.

The rest of the night we all partied until the wee hours of the morning.  There was song and dance and of course She-Lion earning her stripes...by expressing her displeasure when Al Dente tried to be a party-pooper.  I won't go into details, but suffice to say that in time Dente may actually be able to pick himself up off the roof on his own power.  Though, Violet's betting security will toss him in a dumpster.  Again.

Easy way to get accepted by the group?  Clobber the pariah: FULL POINTS!

For with a new day and a new year the hope and dream that our wish for a good year might be answered with a little luck and all of us working together.  To whatever it might bring, here's to the year.

> **HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!**
>
>

Chapter 5

Back to Part 1