”Damn that Bara…” I mentally grumble, pacing around as I tried to think of a way to help Zeke's Twilight from being nothing more than a prisoner. “Christ...this sucks…” I mutter, continuing to pace around. “What to do...what to do…” I mutter, hearing my stomach growl. “Well...food might be good right now.” I mutter while heading off to the kitchen to get something to eat and help think about how to get Bara out of Twilight.
After getting a quick bite to eat I remembered I have other shit to figure out. “Ah crap, I need to get ready for our trip to Zebrica…” I sigh out. “Well better go help back…” I mutter, knowing I have a clone to help but wanting to help them out. I walked around looking for where my girls were and see how much they packed up for our trip.
I found them all in our bedroom, several suitcases and such being packed and some already packed. “Oh, hey Ben. We packed some essential items for you already, but it’s gonna be a long trip so pack whatever else you’ll need.” Pinkie said.
“Right then.” I nodded, thinking about what I should pack. “Hmm...I mean...I have my Assistant so I have everything at the touch of a button…” I frown. “Did you pack some extra clothes?”
“Yes, Rarity even was working on some more durable clothings for you, as well as some enchantments we figured would come in handy from Daybreak.” Celestia said.
“Right.” I nodded. “What to pack...what to pack…” I mutter. “I've barely traveled, and normally I don't need to pack anything… “ I sigh out. “So I presume we're going to Zebrica first?”
“Yes actually, and we end at the Yak kingdom, that will have taken us all around Equis.” Luna informed.
“And then we can see how many more fiances I'll get.” I point out. “Hero of an entire world is basically whoring himself out to create world peace, who'd have thought that?” I joke at my own expense. “By the by have any of you heard from Joy? It's been a while and I haven't heard from him in a while.” I ask them, curious as to what's taking Joy so long.
“No, not yet.” Twilight said.
“Weird…” I mutter. “If memory serves I was going to look for a special book or something before meeting the Zebrica royals or the other way around?”
“Yes, we think it’s something from the Alicornien era.”
“Ah.” I nod. “Is anyone tagging along or is it just me looking for the book?” I ask, wondering if I'm gonna get a guide or just have to wing it by myself.
“Well, Gilda wants to tag along.” Flutters said.
“About time I get into a fight.” The griffon replied.
“Which Keyblade do you have again? I...kind of forgot.” I say sheepishly, not remembering what keyblades my fiances have knowing all of them have one.
Gilda raided her hand, a Gull Wing Keyblade appearing. “Been practicing, but I want some live action.”
“Good.” I nodded. “When are we leaving?” I ask curiously.
“A week.” Luna said. “The kids are staying here, and I’m including Joy in that, so he will be in charge of both our kids, his girlfriends, and because we both know that won’t work, Den is gonna babysit them.”
“I've seen Joy’s puppy dog eyes...at least mentally. And he could defeat any bad guy with those adorable eyes.” I chuckle. “And of course it's still a week of waiting…” I sigh out. “Wonder what I'm gonna do in the meantime?” I wonder, thinking of all the crap I need to work on. “I have too much shit to do…” I shake my head bitterly and start to pace. “Screw it. I’m gonna go see if Nelare is busy.” I say. “I'll be back.” I say while heading off to the Ponyville spa to see if my dagger master is busy.
As I was flying down I spotted a familiar officer waving at me, so, I landed near him. “Hey Ben.” Dorlu said with a smile.
“Sup Dorlu.” I nod while landing my glider down near him. “How are you doing?”
“Glad to be back in Ponyville, but sadly work is never done. Wanna hitch a ride, we got a crime scene a block down.”
“I've got my own ride but sure.” I nod, “There's...a lot of shit that went down and I need to start working more…” I sigh out, still hating how I couldn't stop all the guards getting brutally murdered like that.
“Yeah, normally this would be something we’d call the Guard for but….ya know. So, this is the first murder the police department is gonna handle.”
“Murder…” I mutter. “You'd think this world wouldn't have death in it.” I sigh out.
“It’s a fact of life, what can ya do.” Dorlu’s words rang in my head upon hearing that.
“I was actually told how to stop a fact of life...too bad a single world needs to last about a million years or so without said fact happening.” I sigh out. “And I'm going to try my damndest to make sure that becomes a reality.”
“Well then, good luck my friend.” Dorlu said, the two of us walking for a while til we came to a house where cops were everywhere, and an ambulance was parked out front. “From what I was told a stallion names Carmel got into an argument with his boyfriend and it went bad fast. Found him locked up in the basement, bloody, and the weapon in his hand. We’re trying to talk him out but he’s being difficult. Won’t reply and we can’t get the door open, he’s blocking it with something.”
“Have you tried putting yourself into a card and sliding under the door?” I ask curiously. “But...I wonder why this happened? A simple argument doesn't involve murder…”
“Being from Knowhere, I’ve seen people killed for less.” Dorlu said, walking me in the house and to a door. Heavy metal, a small window showing me a small view of a blood soaked Stallion clutching a knife. “Here he is. You try cause, we’ve tried everything and he’s not budging. Or talking back, which is both strange and concerning.”
“Okay then.” I nod before knocking on the door. “Hello?” I call out, hoping if I could solve this with words first.
He gave no reply, didn’t even move.
“I'm scared he's dead.” I frown before summoning Fair Game and turning into a card before sliding under the metal door and getting into the room. I then flipped the card up and appeared in the room. “Hello?" I ask curiously, ready for anything.
Still nothing.
I summoned Frozen Pride and then poked the body gently with my shield. “Hello?” I ask worriedly, wondering if Caramel was actually dead.
”Heheheheh. Got ya.” A voice I recognized too well said, Caramel suddenly getting up, tossing me against the wall, and stabbed the knife THROUGH my side, and into the wall. His hand under my skin. ”Finally. A host from this Realm.” I looked at his eyes… Psychopath.
“Oh for fuck sakes.” I grunt, ignoring the throbbing pain coursing through me. “Dorlu! Get out of here!” I shout, using Frozen Pride to shoot a block of ice at the Psychopath to get him away from me.
Dorlu ran everyone out, the Psychopath in front of me with an ice spike in it’s chest, which it pulled out and dropped, it’s wound bleeding out...then the blood stopped and the wound was gone. ”Tickles.”
“Assistant?” I ask my Assistant, hoping it has a voice command.
”Yes?” A female voice came from my Assistant.
”Oh thank fuck!” I mentally shout in glee. “Call Cript or anyone that has Psychopath experience. I need help against a Psychopath.” I tell my Assistant, summoning my Lexicon and healing myself quickly. “Why the hell are you here at all?” I ask the Psychopath with a frown.
”Hehehehehehehhehehehe, the barrier is broken. We can finally claim hosts here. We can invade...we can kill. Hehehe. All in time.”
“That’s...thats not right.” I say worriedly. “How the fuck did that happen? What did you do?”
”We can’t claim hosts in realms for two reasons. One, it’s protected, a barrier of it’s own logic and reality, or Cript. All your realm traversing has weakened it, and we entered. So, travel, explore, for when the time comes, we will end all.” The Psychopath laughed, a pool of blood opening under it as it fell in with a splash. It’s ‘portal’ gone and blood staining...everything. Including my clothes.
“I...I didn't go to different realms that much…” I mutter. “I only stayed in this realm...no...nononono.” I say, starting to panic at how I could have caused these fuckers to enter my reflection and how much death and destruction they could cause. “No….damn it…” I mutter while using Arpeggio, my Sitar, to get the blood off of me. “Damn it….Damn it…” I mutter, not sure if the thing is still in the room or it left.
I looked around a bit, figuring the monster was gone and went outside, there, I saw Cript leaning against the ambulance, eating an apple.
“I didn't go to other Realms...I stayed in this Realm and all its reflections…” I tell him weakly.
“Blame isn’t totally on you...remember when Trinity took you to our realm to train you with your Chakrams, or when I took you to find that scroll?”
“Oh…” I look down. “But...if I was actually stronger and didn't need your help all the damned time this...ah who the fuck am I kidding, I sure as hell always need your, or the others, help considering all the shit going on that's outside my scale…”
Cript shrugged, putting a hand on my shoulder. “One thing at a time. Technically, I’m not supposed to do this, but things are getting out of hand. I’m gonna put you and Zeke, quote, Zeke, unquote, through a Script.”
“A Script? And Zeke is back, I can sense him.” I tell Cript.
“Know that, anyway, think of it as how a Video game needs certain events or objectives to be met before something else happens. If I run this, you’ll be able to take things on one at a time, with minor interferences, no major things until the last one is dealt with. Alright?”
“What about the others? John, the Foretellers? Are they gonna go through this as well considering this is...mostly my fault?”
“Right now you and Zeke are the ones stuck in this, I’ll worry about them when I need to, besides, a ‘pet’ project of mine is nearly finished and I wanna make sure there’s no buggs. So, run it, or no?”
“Run it.” I say. “I'm too far behind on a lot of things and Trinity said she would help me with my Ethereal Blades I don't have a Claymore master…” I sigh out. “Then there's the fact I barely know about Nothingness….” I take a deep breath, trying to keep my rage in check so I don't rant about me being a lazy bastard.
“Alright, but, this will be the last time you see me for a while. Den will be able to pop in whenever, but I won’t be able to be around till you’ve been totally caught up. But, I will be planning this script out some, so you can have plenty of opportunities to grow strong, also, you won’t be able to buy things or use your Assistant for much other than storage and it’s combat features.”
“Good enough for me.” I nod. “Shits going too fast right now and I have too much to do…” I sigh out. “Lets hope this works.”
“Alright, see you in a while, son.” Cript said, snapping his fingers as...everything went white.
“Gah!” I yelp, shooting up in my...bed? “Wait...wasn't I…?” I mutter before shaking my head. “Never mind, a Cript thing.” I say while looking around and seeing I was in my bedroom back home. “Okay...back home…” I mutter before getting out of bed and seeing I was in my pajamas. “Well better get properly dressed.” I mutter while walking over to our walk in closet and starting to get dressed for the new day. “Wonder how this whole thing is gonna work...” I wonder to myself, Cript telling me this was like a video game but not sure what kind of video game he meant. “Can't buy items from my Assistant besides having it for storage...maybe I should just go to town and get some training from Nelare.” I mutter while getting dressed and heading off to Ponyville.
Once I flew down to Ponyville the first place I looked was the Ponyville Salon, wondering if she would be at work. I walked in and checked to see if anyone was at the front desk so I tapped on the little bell to get someone. “Hello?”
Rather than one of the spa ponies, Aloe, or Lotus, to greet me, a tall, muscular, oversized stallion came. “Yes?”
“Is Nelare in?" I ask curiously, hoping she was here and not sick again. “I was wondering if I could ask her something important.”
“Yeah, she’s here. Hang on.” He said, leaving. Waiting for a bit, Nelare came out from the main spa room entrance.
“Hello." I nod to the knife master. “How are you doing?”
“Feeling better. Flue sucks. So, I take it you are here to learn about the Kunai’s?”
“Yes please.” I nod. “Need to learn how to use Foudre properly.” I nod, naming of my lightning kunai.
“Alright then, Hey Rem, Aloe, Lotus, I’m taking some time off!” She yelled into the back room of the ponyville spa before she lead me outside. “While I can teach you some basic stuff, I will need your help gathering some more required items. Mainly targets.” She said.
I took a deep breath. “Do we really need to do this on live targets?” I ask worriedly.
“What, no. Just wood boards with a bullseye painted on them.” Nelare said.
“Oh thank god.” I sigh out thankfully. “Would going to the Everfree or Whitetail Woods be good places to train? All the trees can be used for targets.”
“That will be later, first rule of Kunai’s, you gotta be fast. When attacking, you are closer than with even a dagger in combat, so being fast makes sure you deal the hits rather than taking them. Let’s go to a hardware store, then we can start on some basics.” She said, leading the way to the shopping district.
I nodded while following along. “Question, is there any kind of special Kunai that are either very special or magical?” I ask curiously. “Cause I was told my Gun Arrows are very very cool, and my Scythe is made of a demon tree.” I explain, wondering if there's gonna be something special about them,
“Depends, let me see them.”
I nod and summon my Kunai, the yellow and blue weapons appearing between my fingers before I gently handed them to her. “This is Foudre, not entirely sure what the name means but it sounds fancy.”
She looked them over, inspecting them. She took her time looking them over before handing them back to me. “Well, as far as I can tell the metal is rather standard Steel, but it’s the enchantments that are what are impressive about them.”
“Is it because there lightning based?” I ask curiously, remembering the ton of crap Larxene did in the games but not sure if it was from her or her weapon.
“Well, from what I can tell the enchantments boost lightning based attacks by seventy five percent, those types of attacks already some of the strongest all by themselves, they increase your mana by about fifty percent, and speed by sixty percent.”
“That's a lot of buffs.” I say honestly, surprised about that.
“But, like with all magic, there is a catch. All those buffs take away from your defence, meaning wielding these means you’ll be able to take less hits than you would normally. Seems like a fair trade in my opinion.”
“Question...is there an after image technique that looks and feels more like cloning?” I ask curiously, always wondering how Larxene was able to do that. “Or is that some special magic?”
“That’s a technique. I can teach you that too if you want.”
“Please teach me everything you know.” I say readily. “Can't be a master of a weapon if I don't know all I can learn...well...everyone has room to grow and learn, even masters.” I say, quickly fixing my little mess up.
“Heh, true enough. Let’s get shopping.” Neler and I went into town, buying some wood items and paint. Once we made it to an open area not too far into the Everfree. We quickly set up some targets and such all around a mile long stretch of the area. Finally, the training was about to begin. “Alright, now then, let me see your pose.”
I summoned my knives, three in each hand and I thought for a moment about my stance. ”Can't use her stance...maybe I could…” I think to myself while sliding my right foot back slightly to form a stable stance, and moving my arms so my left hand was up around my chest looking like I could quickly jab someone and my right hand laid near my side, making it look like my right hand could either throw a strong punch or throw the Kunai quickly. “This okay?” I ask, my stance looking solid enough but leaning more on looking like a weird mix of a boxing stance and a martial art stance then a standard stance for Kunai wielders.
“Uh huh…” Nelear said, walking around me. Inspecting me I guess. “Well, pose can work, but, we need to start at the basics.” She said, taking all but one of my knives from me. She then pointed over to a target board across from me. “Basic throwing. Let’s see it.”
I took a deep breath and went to throw it. But when I threw it I forgot how fast I could go now and hit a tree just before it got to the board. “Huh...didn't expect to be that fast…” I mutter worriedly, clenching my fist gently and seeing a slight burn mark on my glove from how fast it was going.
“Huh.” She said, looking at my arm. “Hmm...Strength is good, just need aim, and the propper throw. You threw yours in a way that it it spun while in the air, to throw them properly, you throw them so they are stable while in the air.”
“I've...never actually thrown daggers before.” I say sheepishly. “Feels a lot different then cards that's for sure…” I mutter, the dagger in the tree disappearing and appearing in my hand. “Okay...maybe turn back the speed and strength a bit.” I mutter, trying again and throwing it again, now actually noticing it was spinning and sticking in the top right corner of the board. “This is gonna take a while…”
“Here.” Nelare said, showing me how she was holding one of the Kunai’s, the blade pointed backwards, resting against her wrist. “You hold it like this, and then,” She then made a throw motion, but held onto the Kunai, showing how once it was in the right position in the wrist motion, she would let go. “That should help you keep it steady while throwing.”
I nodded, taking a deep breath and trying once again, this time it only spun once before hitting the board a little closer to the target.
“Great, now, apply speed to your throw, and strength.”
I sigh out. “Just...don't be surprised in it doesn't look like I actually threw it.” I say, not really knowing how fast I could throw one of these but trying anyways. I did the motion of properly throwing before I threw it, my hand blurring and the Kunai hit the center, embedding itself almost all the way to the handle. “Better…” I nodded.
“Perfect. Now do it again five hundred more times.”
“Great…” I mutter before making a new one and proceeding to do as she asked, my hand and arm seeming to blur as I threw the amount of Kunai she wanted me, some missing completely and sticking into trees, some chipping off of the board, and the rest basically making the board look like a pincushion getting attacked by a needle storm. “Yeesh, and hear I thought swinging a scythe a lot was a little bad for your shoulder.” I frown while rolling my shoulder.
“You missed about half.” Nelear said, sighing. “We’ll work on that later, now, same thing, but with your left arm.”
“Crap…” I mutter. “This is gonna be a long day…” I say before using my left arm and throwing Kunai, but instead of just blazing through I toned down the speed a tad and actually tried to aim...didn't help I still got the same hit to miss ratio with my right arm. “Well...at least I didn't miss as much as I thought I would.” I say, glad that my non dominant hand was at least fine enough.
“Not bad, not bad.” She said, changing the very damaged target board for a clean one. “Again, we ain't leaving till you are accurate to a T.”
I rolled my shoulders and hearing them crack a bit. “Right then. Time to start praying I can do this right.” I say while going back to my right hand and doing the motion for a moment. “Okay…” I mutter, taking a deep breath and focusing before I threw the five hundred at a blinding speed, Nelare noticing sparks flying off of my arm which seemed to blur in and out. After I counted five hundred I stopped, my arm steaming from the speed and noticing I hit the target a lot more, but not perfectly accurate. “Maybe I should slow down a bit…” I mutter with a frown, thinking my speed is throwing off my timing or aim. “I hope I won't take too much of your time...actually, have two ponies come here to see Remilua?” I ask curiously, remembering I told Octavia about the scythe wielder.
“Yeah… Last I knew he went on a date with them...that was two days ago...though I did get a postcard from New Las Pegasus saying “Alive still”.”
I chuckled at hearing that. “Well don't be surprised if you see him with those two already married. This world can...have pretty fast herds...or at least in my experience.” I say sheepishly, not being one to look at for proper dating tips. “So, talking about love lives, you thought of anyone special around Ponyville?” I ask her curiously, switching to my left hand and starting to throw the Kunai carefully.
“Not really. I’m not really one for romance.”
“I understand.” I nod. “So, how have you been during your stay on Equestria?” I ask curiously, keeping up my throwing which got faster slowly.
“Relaxing. Back on Knowhere if you weren’t on your toes all the time you’d get robbed or worse, here, I can go for a walk, WITH a purse.”
“True, true.” I nod. “But...sadly...Knowhere is probably a been wasteland.” I sigh out. “Something I couldn't stop went there and probably killed everyone there…” I shook my head and threw more Kunai till I hit the five hundred mark. “Anyone at Knowhere you were at least friends with besides Remilua?" I ask.
“Not really, the only reason to be close to someone on Knowhere was for items, sex, or child support.”
“Ah.” I nodded. “Makes enough sense considering it was basically a massive black market.” I say, finishing my second attempt at five hundred hitting the board, seeing that I was getting my aim down at least. “Well I at least hit the thing with all of them this time.” I say simply.
“Yeah, arms hurt yet?”
I roll my shoulders and my arms did hurt a bit but nothing too bad. “Not so much. Why do you ask?” I ask curiously, wondering if she thought my arms hurt because of how fast I was throwing these things.
“Cause if they don’t hurt yet, I’m not doing my job.” She said, looking up at the sky and seeing it was getting late. “I’ll go tell your wives you’ll be training late, keep it up, or we’ll see how long you can last throwing at top speed.” She said, heading off for my home.
“Alright.” I nodded before using my right hand and throwing five hundred Kunai again, this time starting to bunch them as they all hit within the target thankfully. “Okay...time for the left.” I say while moving to my left and throwing five hundred again, this time going a bit faster and seeing I'm getting better at it. “Glad I'm a quick learner.” I mutter thankfully.
I kept it up for a while. It was an hour or more, the sun getting lower and lower. Finally, the light from Flashlights came over me, when I looked around...it was the girls. “Hi Ben!” Pinkie and Twin said in unison.
“Oh, hey.” I nodded. “What are you doing here?”
“They wanted to tag along and watch you.” Nelear said, walking up from behind the mini army that was my fiances. “Can’t really say much against it, so long as they don’t interfere.”
“Okay.” I nod before changing the stabbed to hell board for another board and went back to my starting position. “Okay, five hundred.” I say before all my fiances barely saw my right arm blur as five hundred Kunai embedded themselves in the board where the target was. “Well got the five hundred in the target.” I say to Nelare before switching to my left hand. “Alright...left hand.” I say while throwing them all at the same board, managing to get them all within the target. “There.” I say while rolling my shoulders. “Think my aim is good?”
“So far.” Nelear said, helping my fiance’s set up a campfire. “Do five hundred more and we can take a small break.”
“Right then.” I nod while switching my target again. “Five hundred more.” I mutter before throwing five hundred from each arm again, hitting the target accurately. ”Good.” I nodded, thankful that I was progressing well with my throw and aim.
With that done I took a seat near the campfire my fiances set up. “Did someone bring marshmallows?” I ask curiously. “Or...is that something people normally bring to campfires?” I ask, not entirely sure given I've never camped out before.
Twin brought out a...Large, to but it mildly, bag of marshmallows from her way to small to hold that backpack...quickly followed by cooking gear, gram crackers, chocolate bars… a...cat? And fishing poles. “Always prepared!” She declared.
“Why the hell did you bring a cat and fishing poles?” I ask, staring at Twin and kind of concerned at how the hell she fit all those things in that bag. “And...how did all that fit in your backpack when it's way too small?”
“The Fishing poles I brought cause late night fishing is a hobby of mine, and the cat...I have no idea how it got into my bag.”
“Weird…” I mutter while checking the cat to see if it was hurt or if it was special in some way. “Okay little cat, what are you?” I mutter while gently picking up said cat and seeing what breed the cat was. It was Siamies, white just about all over save for her, and it was a she, front paws, tip of her tail, and ears. She had pretty blue eyes, and a collar, with a simple name.
Cheese.
“Her names Cheese.” I say, gently petting the cat. “Anyone know of a person who owned a Siamese named Cheese?” They all shook their heads. “Well...looks like we got ourselves a pet cat...lets just hope Cerberus doesn't mind.” I say nervously. “Also before you ask, it's a different Cerberus, not the one near Tarta-" I cut myself off as I took a deep breath. “Fuck...I completely forgot about that place…” I sigh out, completely forgetting this world's super prison like a jackass. “Anyways, how have all of your days been?” I ask everyone curiously, not really having many times to ask that simple question.
“Baked.” Twin and Pinkie said.
“Practiced some spells.” Luna said.
“Went shopping.” Rarity said.
“Splic- I mean, read.” Brigid said, quickly fixing what she said.
“Better not be splicing.” I say. “And the rest of you? Anything special?” I ask the rest of my wives curiously.
The rest was some simple things, Twilight visited her family, Celestia was going over some documents about how to handle the lack of guards. It was nice. ”Wonder what Joy is doing?” I thought, roasting a marshmallow.
(Joy POV)
“Okay...so this is where God is huh?” I muttered, looking around the new world God was hiding in. “Wonder where he is…” I muttered, starting to walk around.
It was a rather baren world, only a few buildings along a single, solitary stretch of road. With not much of an option, I began looking through the dirty windows and such, the inside of the buildings rather empty and barren. Finally, I found a building that, on the inside, looked rather clean and kept, and went in. “Hello?” I call out into the clean home.
“Huh?” A familiar voice calls out as the old man I knew as God from Ben’s memories walked into the room from another. “Oh...Joy right, you were from Ben? Well, his emotions, right?” He asked, looking...terrible, no beating around it.
“Technically Ben is my reincarnation but pretty much.” I nodded. “But you look like you need some help...and a lot of shit to be told about.” I say, bringing out my Assistant and deciding to just start with scanning the old man to see what's fully wrong with him besides a universe collapsing inside him.
Function no longer available.
“The fuck?” I frown, checking my Assistant to see why a simple action was no longer available. “Weird...anyways, how can I help?” I ask simply.
“Heh, you can’t.” The old man says simply, taking a seat on a rocking chair. “When I made this universe, I knew it would not last forever. You’ve met my father, I presume?”
“Yes I'm met Mr. Disney...but...I've also met your mother.” I tell him. “I know you won't believe me...and you probably won't believe me if I told you Core is only a heart and not a crazy person and your long lost brother Hollow is alive and well with Void powers.” I explain with a shrug.
“That I knew, but Core being just his heart… that’s new.” He said, pulling out a bottle of Whisky and taking a swing. “Tell me, do you know how dad and I lived so long?”
“Magic? Special abilities? Being actual god's?” I ask simply.
“Our hearts. While hearts can be destroyed, they themselves are pure energy or light, dark, pure light or pure darkness, all feeding from Kingdom Hearts, and worlds are no exception. Father learned long ago how to feed that energy into his mortal body, extending his life from the beginning of everything, to this day. Core, his Nobody, exists outside of time, and Hollow, the void keeps him young, for time, space, not even meaning or logic have meaning there. When I made your universe, I used my heart to create it, fuel it, keep it stable. It’s why all I can sustain for my body is this elderly form. Sadly though, your universe crumbling...also means my own heart is shattering.”
“There has to be a way to help.” I say worriedly, not really knowing how to help. “Damn it, the one time when I need this damned thing and suddenly it doesn't work.” I growl, glaring at my Assistant like it kicked a puppy. “There has to be a way to help...your heart is crumbling how?” I ask, wondering when Eve is gonna appear and try to do something for her poor son.
“Parts of your universe, you know this, items, places, people. All parts of my heart. If you saw earth itself, you’d cry…” God said, taking another sip. “When it all breaks, it will all spill out into the reflections. My heart will be gone, my body, not sure. Soul, you don’t want to know. Just, here.” God said, taking Joy’s hand and placing a small, red box in it, a small keyhole on it. “It’s the power I used to bring you all from my mind into my reality.”
Joy looked at the box. “I have no idea what it does…” Joy says nervously.
“Just don’t open it. Hide it. Anyone with bad intentions gets their hands on it, heh, well, let’s just say it’s Apocalypse Now.”
I nodded and checked if his Assistant could at least be a good item storage as he tried to put the box away. And thankfully it did. “Okay…” I nod. “But…” Joy mutters. “Eve? I know you can hear me, especially when I'm so close to your son. You can come out and say hi.” Joy says to no one in particular, hoping for once calling someone powerful out would cause them to appear when he actually needs them. ”Can't believe I'm calling Eve here when she's someone we need to fight…” I mentally sighed out. “Never mind...but is there a way to keep your heart and send my world into the reflections we know?” I ask him curiously, thinking that if he doesn't fight it and let's it flow his heart will stick around.
“Heh...I don’t think so. There’s someone I’ll need you to find, he has a world all his own in your friends the Foretellers world. He goes by Chuck, and for a time, was my apprentice. He is the only other person who knows how to bring imagination into reality. Though, you may have to watch out for his ‘sister’ if she’s still around.”
“I was going to ask if this Chucks last name was Norris but...I don't remember the guy ever having a sister.” I shrug. “But...there's literally no way to save you? Even if...even if I used Memory Stealer to preserve your heart and memories? It's worked Roxas, Namine and Xion, it can work with others.” I say, trying to draw any straws I can to help the poor guy.
“Joy… there’s not much time left for me.” He said with a chuckle. “Here.” God said, raising his hand as a Keyblade, it’s handle shaped like ice caps, blade and hilt the continents of earth going up until the tip, which were more ice caps, the sun and moon, the moon in front of the sun slightly. “It’s made from the memories of earth. From the day it appeared, till now. My memories of it. I call it, Mankind.” He said, handing it over to me. “Take it. It will help you find those from your reflection.”
I looked down, saddened that the guy that gave Ben and me so much has to die in such a way. “I'm sorry I can't help…” I say sadly while taking the Keyblade.
“I have to admit, thought I’d at least see Luxu one last time. If you see my boy, tell him to let go. His fear of the X-blade made him do so much harm. Heh, Core’s descendants became grand criminals, mine started the Keyblade War, for nothing, and Hollow never had any. It’s funny really. We all had high hopes for ourselves, only for us all to end up this way.”
“Which seems even worse when Core’s descendants all have the capability to become Psychopaths, and...wait your son is named Luxu? I thought your grandson was named Luxu?” I ask curiously, confused on that part.
“Luxu is my grandson...My son’s name is…” He dropped his whisky, shaking a bit. “Heh, there goes the last of it…” He said, looking...tired. “Luxu’s father is called… Michel…” God closed his eyes, a flash of light coming from his chest as his body began fading into shards of light, rather quickly his body vanishing completely and into the air.
I stood there and took a deep breath. “Damn it…” I growl. “Damn it…” I sigh out. “Well...I better go find Chuck…” I sigh out while using Mankind to open a door to where Chuck was. “Lets hope this will lead me there.” I mutter while walking through the door, hating how I couldn't save God.
I exited the door, finding myself in a...bar? There was a homeless looking man here too. “Who are you?” He asked.
“Names Joy.” I say simply. “Who are you if I may ask?”
“Well, on earth people knew me as Marv, but my real name is Mettaton, in another time I was the scribe of God.” He said, taking a seat on a barstool and grabbing a mug, filling it with beer from the tap. “So, if I may ask, what in the hells are you?”
“I'm also a person from Earth, well...technically speaking. Then some magic stuff happened and made me half dire wolf.” I explain simply. “So what's the scribe of God doing here?” I ask curiously. “Especially looking like this.”
“No idea, was in a dumpster scrounging for some food, long story short I had my grace taken and became mortal. Next thing I know, I’m here.” Mettaton said, taking a swig of beer.
“Hey, who are you?” We both turned around, seeing a skinny, tall man look at us from a booth, pointing at me. “Wait… no. Don’t tell me… Is he dead?” The mystery man asked.
“Wish I could have saved him…” I sigh out bitterly. “But the names Joy. Who are you?”
“Uh...Heh...Uh...this is gonna be a long story…” He said, rubbing the back of his head.
Turns out, this was Chuck, the first thing God pulled from his mind, himself, younger, as well as his darkness, Chuck’s sister, Amara. Where Mettaton and I were now was his ‘safe room’ the only place Amara couldn’t touch or find. Chuck locked up his sister a long time ago, but she was released when a curse she was bound to was broken, releasing her. Now, the world Chuck, or ‘God’ as they all know him as, are being harmed by her, and to sum it up. “You’re a coward.” I said simply.
“Hey! She is just as strong as I am, if not more. Besides… I’ve had more important matters to attend to.” Chuck said.
“Like what?” Mettaton asked, having a mental breakdown as everything he thought to be true was all a lie. “You lied to everybody, angel, demon, human, yourself. You’re just a… a young clone of the actual God, what’s so important for you given you’ve been missing for, oh I don’t know, the last ten thousand years!”
“Okay that's enough.” I state bluntly. “No need to be pissed at him for things outside of his control, and to be honest angels and demons probably weren't lied to because of obvious reasons like the after life being outside even his powers.” I explain.
“I uh...made my own. This world, completely cut off from Kingdom Hearts, it has its own afterlife, and such. Guess I inherited that from the big G… Can’t believe he’s really gone…” Chuck sighed.
“What's funny is that he wasn't really a god to begin with. Sure having the power of Imagination is overpowered as hell I've actually met gods...and Admins...and Psychopaths…” I frown. “Christ did we all jump the gun on seeing what's strong…” I say, having thought Core was the strongest then jumping straight to Cript and Psychopaths.
“Well, that said, I suppose I can tell you about someone you might know. While ago a door to Purgatory, different purgatory Mettaton, and out appeared a Nobody, one of those human looking ones...If I didn’t see it I wouldn’t have believed it, but he had a Keyblade, and his energy...I haven’t felt anything like that since big G brought me to see Kingdom Hearts itself.”
“Yeah that’s Zeke. I can sense him even from here, and the Nobodies won't shut up about it.” I grumble. “Nothing like being a human X blade while having the ability to wield the X blade.” I explain. “So, know where he is?” I ask him curiously, remembering Yellow talking about Purgatory before.
“Uh...No. After he appeared is when I built this...kinda freaked me out.”
“Of course you did.” I sighed out. “Well good thing God gave me this.” I say while showing Mankind. “This can help me find him...but poor Yen Sid and Eve...gonna be tough for them to hear this…”
“Well, uh...Good luck with that. So, um...I’ll just drop you off where he landed and...you take it from there. Bye.” Chuck said with a wave, I finding myself in a forest where it looked like a nuke went off. Trees scorched and burned to crisps for as far as the eye could see.
“I probably should have warned him about shit that might hunt him…” I muttered before raising Mankind. “Okay you, help me look for Zeke.” I say, trying to use the Keyblades special ability to search for people from Earth here.
It glowed, a blue orb of light appearing out of it and began gingerly floating away from me. Leading me to, hopefully, Zeke.
“Right then.” Joy mutters while putting his hood up and following the orb to find Zeke hopefully.
”How far...IS HE!?!?” I mentally scream, having been walking all night through what felt like an endless forest. “If I don’t find him soon…” I grumble, seeing the orb speed up. “That better mean what I think it means.” I say, picking up the pace. An hour of a slow paced jog, I found what looked like… I’m not sure. It kind of looks like it would have been an old entrance to some sewers… or a bunker of sorts. “Riiiiiiiiight…” I mutter. “Hello?” I call out, wondering if I'll hear an echo if it was some sewers or someone was there if it was a kind of bunker.
I tried to enter, but it was locked. Smirking, I tapped Mankind against it, knowing just a tap works… Jenny’s opened the locked bathroom door enough times… I pulled the door- Locked? “The fuck?” I frown, switching to Hearts Guardian and tapping it again, trying to pull it open again.
Nothing… a lock immune to Keyblades? How? As I started banging the door I was knocked back when it was kicked open from the inside. Ouch, my nose! “Ow!” I whine and hold my nose. “Maybe try not kicking the door down next time jack ass!” I frown, looking up at who just kicked the door down.
I froze. My blood went cold… “How...you’re dead!” I said, backing up a bit.
“So I heard.” A voice I thought I’d never hear again spoke...Core… His blank wooden mask on, but his apparel a purple version of Eraqus's clothing.
“Okay...how the fuck are you alive and why are you here?” I ask worriedly, confused on how Core is here and not in Daybreak.
“That’s not important.” He said, a...rather strange Keyblade appearing in his hand. It was like the swords the Invisible’s wield, a cloth wrapped around it partly as the tip was a heart shaped moon. “You’d best leave. There are...things Dexez needs to complete.”
“And I also want to see a friend me and Ben thought died when Drezke killed his Light half.” I frown, summoning my new and improved Lindworm. “Also...want to know some special things I figured out not too long ago?”
“Does it matter? You. Need. To. Leave.”
“When it involves your mother and the descendants of your own son then yes it does matter.” I say simply.
“Like I said, You. Need. To. LEAVE!” Core shouted, charging as I blocked. I used Wind Guardian and sent him flying back a bit...until I went in to strike him...He blocked me and I saw green energy fill him...oh crap. He used the Jump reaction, hitting me five times continuously and hitting me with a hard combo before he jumped back. “You’re leaving. Conscious or not.”
“You'd think I would be immune to that Reaction crap…” I cough. “But can I at least get an explanation here? It's not everyday your friend that sacrificed himself to stop you, get split in half, then have his dark half kill his Light, Psychopath corrupted half, and then literally feel and hear him come back to life.” I frown.
“Let’s just say…” Core started, looking at his own hand… then to me. “He’s setting things right.” Core rushed at me, and everything went black.
“Joy?” I heard Sweetie Belle’s voice call to me as I woke up...in our bed. “Oh thank goodness. Are you alright?” She asked. I took a quick look around, seeing some bandages and such on the bedside table. I looked at myself. My cloak was off, just shorts on as my arm and forehead were bandaged.
“Oh you know, just wanted to meet a friend I once thought was dead, then got stopped at the front door by some asshole that managed to kick my ass. You know, the usual.” I joke, wincing as I felt my head sting like mad.
“You just flew out of a DTD unconscious. It’s been about an hour.”
“Well...better than it being a day or so.” I sigh out. “Where are the others? They're probably gonna freak when they know I woke up.” I chuckle, knowing at least Jenny would want to start messin with me a bunch now.
“Jenny, Applebloom and Scootaloo are in town doing a bit of shopping. Lovely, Gabby and DT went to Canterlot for sightseeing. Frisk, Chara, and Asriel are up in New Manehattan, visiting their family. I stayed here cause I was taking a nap.”
“Right…” I nodded gently. “Um...for some reason it feels like I should have a wolf girlfriend...maybe I should go back to the Diamond Dog kingdom and check…”
“Heh, taking after Ben I see.” Sweetie said with a chuckle.
“He has twenty fiances, I have ten girlfriends. I doubt I'm gonna get more girlfriends over eleven….but don't be surprised if I get more.” I chuckle. “So, how’s everyone else been doing?
“Ben’s training with his knife teacher. All his fiance’s are out with him, so I guess it’s gonna be a while.”
“Right.” I nodded, before hearing the sound of a twenty foot dog barking outside. “Did Jenny go to Olympus Coliseum or something?” I ask curiously, wondering if that was Cerberus I heard.
“Yeah, in the round against him she just pet him and he turned himself into a puppy and she adopted him. He’s not too bad either. Though he ate...ALL the meat stuff we had so that’s why they are shopping.”
“Of course.” I sigh out. “But glad to hear Cerberus is a good dog...but is it a male or female?”
“Jenny says, according to lore from the world he’s from, he’s a demon hound, so he’s both and neither. Not sure what that means.”
“I think Cerberus has both sets of...parts, but when you look at him it doesn't look like he has any at all.” I say. “But I have no idea, I'm not good at demon hound biology...or demon biology to begin with.” I shrug while getting up. “So, what do you want to do?” I ask curiously, wondering what the two of us could do right now.
“To be honest…~” Sweetie said, getting real close to me with a look I haven’t seen on her since her heat. “Borrowed Rune’s book. And it’s just you and me to test them out~”
“Nope.” I say while getting out of bed. “Nope. Nope. Nope. Not dealing with all the fetishes there. I don't even want to know some of the sick shit she wrote in there.” I say bluntly, not knowing what things Rune wrote and there and honestly not wanting to find out. “You read it haven't you?”
“Yup.” She said, putting a...dog collar on...why am I… “This was hard to get, but has hormones in it that draw male diamond dogs to mates. And judging from your drool...it works on you too~”
“Are...we at least keeping it safe enough?” I ask, trying my best not to just rush her and make her mine.
“All I have to do is take it off if things get too hot.” She said, not even touching me as I followed her finger and was now over her.
“Fine...but if I turn into a girl I'm not having it there got it?” I tell her bluntly.
Before she spoke, she pulled my head down, my nose right in front of her collar...the hormones floo-
“Hehe, think less, act more.”
To be continued...