• Published 29th Oct 2017
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Songs of the Spheres - GMBlackjack

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091 - The Twelve, Part 2

O’Neill had been in war. O’Neill had been in both normal wars between humans on the Earth, and in wars over the fate of the galaxy in spaceships. Even in wars on a multiversal scale, the things he had learned in those conflicts were still applicable.

Currently, the rule of engagement that occupied his mind was ‘if a bigger fish shows up, the worst of enemies will suddenly become the best of friends out of desperation.’

He found it very amusing that, for once, he was part of the bigger fish in this particular encounter. Never in his life had he imagined being the one to force eldritch abominations and totalitarian conquerors to work together. Neither of them wanted Merodi Universalis to have its way with the Green Sun.

Well, too bad. They had a victory platform, a bunch of magic, twelve players, and a metric boatload of ghosts to defend them from unwanted attacks. Let the big fish of the multiverse realize that circumstances could always turn the tables on them.

He imagined it was a very humbling experience for them.

…Who was he kidding, the Horrorterrors had already been beaten within an inch of their collective lives by their own creation and the Combine were almost robotic in the way they carried themselves. They wouldn’t learn anything here.

He was surprised how calm he was about every Combine ship and Horrorterror within range trying to destroy the victory platform. With Jade gone they didn’t exactly have good odds of winning anymore...

“CORONA!” Vriska shouted as the wall of ghosts between them and the assault weakened. “FASTER, MAYBE?”

Corona waved her hands past each other. “This isn’t an instant process.” The purple house on the platform flashed, indicating it was ready. A spherical magic construct purely of Corona’s construction lifted into the air.

There was a frog inside of it.

Allure blinked. “…I’m probably hallucinating from my injury. Ugh…”

The frog launched out of the magic construct, heading right for the Green Sun.

Combine lasers fired at the frog, attempting to just nudge it before it hit the Green Sun, but Omega Jade used the fire of the Green Sun to enclose the amphibian. It flew into the burning multiversal corona, allowing its essence to churn within the green flames.

“That’s part 1,” Corona said. “More than enough resources, and a good frog, but it’ll need to gestate for a minute…”

“A MINUTE!?” Vriska shouted. “WE DON’T HAVE A MINUTE!”

Dead Dave spread his hands. “Don’t worry, I got this”

“You can’t alter the flow of time for the Green Sun, Dave!” Omega Jade shouted. “It doesn’t work!”

John stretched his arms. “Then it’s time to do the windy thing.”

“The windy thing?” Jotaro asked.

“The windy thing.”

“You didn’t think retcon was his only power, did you?” Eve asked. “He’s the Heir of Breath. He’s got wind.”

John became wind. His body dissipated into blue breezes that coalesced into a powerful whirlwind of a tornado, pushing back the mixture of biomechanical technology and eldritch tentacles reaching for them. The other god-tiers cheered with him, pushing back as well.

But John was just one person. Without retcon, he was just a particularly skilled master of wind. It did little to prevent the Horrorterrors and Combine from moving in – from breaking the ghost wall down more and more.

“We’re out of time, people!” Meenah shouted. “You better have somefin for us STAT!”

Corona winced. “It’s still gestating!”

Deep inside the Green Sun, the frog’s essence began to pull at all the resources around it, dragging it into a new realm.

“It’s creating the new universe now!”

“I meant it when I said we were out!” Meenah said, she and several other ghosts being torn apart by a Noble Horrorterror. None other than Neoan himself.

“T_I_M_E T_O S_T_O_P T_H_I_S R_E_C_K_L_E_S_S F_O_O_L_I_S_H_N_E_S_S.”

He thrust a tentacle forward, ready to skewer the victory platform in one fell swoop.

“BARK!”

A Jade appeared in full dog-tier getup, driving the Green Sun right down Neoan’s tentacle, ripping it to dozens of burning shreds.

“…Omega Jade!? Weren’t you busy!?” Feferi blurted.

“That’s not me guys,” Omega Jade said. “I’m still busy keeping the rest of the Green Sun protected.

Jade smiled innocently. “Hey guys, I’m back!”

“But… you died,” Meenah said.

“And I was sent to the Dream Bubble right after. Then I came back.” She twisted the energy of the Green Sun around her, destroying the incoming Combine ship with little effort. She winked, making her empty eyes significantly more obvious.

“Wait, you died!?” John blurted.

“Yeah.” Jade giggled. “John, you really should work on your obliviousness.”

“But… I got you killed by-”

“Hey. John. If this works being a ghost won’t keep us from talking. So don’t worry about it.” She extended a hand, pushing Neoan back further.

“P_L_E_A_S_E S_T_O_P !” Neoan pleaded. “I_F Y_O_U E_S_C_A_P_E T_H_E C_O_N_S_E_Q_U_E-”

“Fuck you,” Meenah said. “We’re not gonna die out here.”

The Green Sun chose this moment to start imploding. The inner core of the verdant construct became one with the frog, sending the outer shell of the Green Sun into a swirling pattern that resembled a hurricane. But instead of an eye of the storm there was a green orb with a vibrant frog inside, the flesh of the universal amphibian swirling with stars.

…It was a mutated frog with sickly legs, four eyes, and another extra eye on its back.

“The fuck?” Vriska said. “That universe looks sick!”

“The universe was the frog!?” Allure blurted.

Corona held up her hands. “The universe we made didn’t need to be healthy – it just needed to get us out of here!” She pointed at the door in the purple house at the edge of the platform. “Everybody through there! Eve, we’re going to need Seraphim.”

Both Jades felt their power fading – but they no longer had to protect the Green Sun, they just had to help get everyone through the victory platform. They grew the platform’s size significantly, allowing everyone to flow through through the door by the dozen.

The Twelve went in first, followed by a few ghosts. The world on the other side was clearly broken. Space wasn’t black, but a sickly, inconsistent green. The stars exploded and reformed all around them. There were no planets for them to walk onto – just empty space. I had to create an air bubble for everyone now that we were no longer in Paradox Space.

“What the-” a ghost troll said, looking at his hands the moment he passed through. “I’m disappearing!”

“I REJECT THIS REALITY AND SUBSTITUTE MY OWN!” Eve declared. Suddenly, the space around us in the new universe became like that of Paradox Space. Specifically, a universe that allowed the presence of Sburb ghosts.

Corona pressed a few buttons on her dimensional device. “Working… working…”

With so many ghosts having left Paradox Space, the defenses were lower. With the new universe sucking the power of the Green Sun into it even after it was fully formed, the Jades were losing their ability to defend. The victory platform was cut in half, severing the connection between the new universe and Paradox Space.

Corona activated her dimensional device, making a direct connection. “COME ON IN! MOVE IT!”

The rest of the ghost army knew that this portal was being created on the other side – a side where there were no Horrorterrors or Combine. So they didn’t try to defend the platform. They floated right through into the sickly universe until every loose ghost was in. The two Jades came in last. Corona closed the portal just in time to cut off a Horrorterror tentacle.

“WE DID IT!” Feferi cheered.

“Not yet, this universe is so unstable it’s about to implode in on itself,” Corona said. She held out her dimensional device. “However… the Green Sun’s limitation on dimensional travel is vanishing now that we’ve used most of its power to create this universe. I just need to find a… single… universe…”

“Give me that,” Vriska said, swiping it away and pressing a few buttons.

A portal opened to another universe – one with normal stars against a black background.

The Jades used what little Green Sun powers remained in them to shove everyone through the portal at once. It closed behind them.

And there we were. Several thousand of us floating in a bubble of air forced to have the physics of Paradox Space by Seraphim.

Everyone started laughing.

“WE’RE FREE!” Vriska shouted, throwing her fists in the air. “WE’RE FREE, THE SUN IS GONE, AND ALL OF US ARE ALIVE!”

I laughed along with them. I used my Eye to watch Paradox Space break down without the Green Sun, the impossible darkness shifting away. The Horrorterrors and Combine knew there was nothing left for them there. With the Green Sun’s power diminishing, they were able to leave those universes, allowing for a complete retreat of both high multiversal civilizations’ armies.

Paradox Space was, once again, no more.

Except for one remnant…

Seraphim switched to forcing the reality around us to accept the Dream Bubble – the universe held within the Jades’ hands. “I… need more energy to keep this large an area in a different reality…” Eve muttered.

Jade just increased Eve in size about a hundredfold. “That work?”

“…I guess. But now I can’t see any of you.”

“We’ll work it out. This’ll give us time to get everyone back in the Dream Bubble.”

“I’d like some ground to stand on myself,” O’Neill said. “Drifting in space is just… a bit uncomfortable.”

Jade nodded, setting to work. “Corona, can you make a fireball that’ll burn for several hours even in the vacuum of space?”

Corona nodded. “…Sure. It’ll be like a miniature sta- ooooh, I see.” She created a miniature star in her hand and gave it to the Jades.

The Jades set to work. Without the power of the Green Sun, they didn’t have as much dominion over universes and power – but they were still Witches of Space. They took out Earth C, the moon, Lopan, and the Dream Bubble. They grew all but the Dream Bubble to their full sizes, unable to deal with the universe-size of the Dream Bubble. They increased the size of the fireball to the size of the Moon, setting it in orbit around Earth C to warm it. Lastly, they shrunk most of the ghosts down so they could fit into the Dream Bubble, leaving only themselves, Meenah, and Feferi for Eve to keep alive.

They shrunk Eve down to normal size. “You can deal with three ghosts, right?” Jade asked.

Eve nodded. “There’s four of you though.”

Omega Jade shrugged. “I’m going to watch the Dream Bubble from inside. Jade, don’t shake it around too much.”

“I won’t!” Jade promised.

Omega Jade shrank down until she was inside the Dream Bubble, leaving only three ghosts among the living.

“…Hey, we can go back to Roxy’s little party,” Nova said. “Who knows, it might still be going on.”

Jade smirked. “Right away!” She teleported all of them down to Roxy’s house on Earth C.

Most everyone was still there. Dave and Karkat appeared in a time-warp jump.

Vriska held up a fist. “WE WON! We’re out!”

“And now astrologers everywhere are going to flip the fuck out about the changing sky,” Dave said, smirking.

Vriska chuckled. “Yeah, I bet they will be. Anyway, these are more of my friends.”

Eve walked up to the front. “I am Overhead Evening Sparkle of Merodi Universalis. I extend my official greeting to the deities of Earth C. I hope we can be good friends. Vriska’s been looking for you for a long time.”

“Consider us welcomed,” Roxy said, a warm smile on her face. The smile dropped quickly. “…Jade, what the fuck happened?”

Jade sighed. “I died. It looks like that might not change much, luckily. Don’t worry about it. I’ll just look a little weird without pupils now.” She laughed nervously.

“What do we do now that you’re here?” Kanaya asked, turning back to Eve.

Eve thought about that for a moment. “As soon as I can I will use Seraphim – an ability of mine – to contact Merodi Universalis and get a fleet out here. …Wherever here is. Then we can put Earth C in a universe where Earth is missing for one reason or another. You won’t be trapped by the Green Sun or a quarantine anymore, and will be given access to the multiversal resources Merodi Universalis has publicly available. Usually there’d be a process and a lot of paperwork needed to give you this right, but… honestly, I don’t think there’s any way we can mess with you more than Sburb already has.”

Kanaya smiled. “Well, since John will clearly agree with those terms, I will accept them as well for the trolls. The consorts will have no objections either.”

“They have no objections to anything,” Karkat muttered.

“The carapacians will have to be met separately, though,” Kanaya said.

“Bah. Why do we always have to be so indecisive?” Spades muttered.

“Hey. I killed you,” Dave said.

Spades threw a knife at Dave, cutting part of his cape. “Mention that again and the next one goes through your skull.”

“Gotcha, dude,” Dave said without any hint of fear in his voice.

Eve ruffled her feathers. “By the Tower, it feels good to finally be done with this endless adventure…”

“We’re not done yet,” I said.

Pinkie facehooved. “UGH. Why can’t we have a rest!?”

“Because we made a lot of powerful people very angry with what we just did,” I said. “That is widely regarded as a bad move, generally.” I pointed up. “You might want to watch the skies.”

~~~

The universe that now held Earth C was a simple one, with another version of Earth not twelve light years away. Nothing much happened there. There was no natural magic, but the laws of the universe did not demand so. It was a rather flexible world that had no issue allowing most things within its physics, even if to the outside observer it was naturally mundane in most ways.

It would not stay that way.

The Combine arrived first, a small percentage of the fleet that had been in Paradox Space jumping into reality through their dimensional portals. They all pointed their weapons at Earth C and the surrounding worlds, planning to vaporize the little embarrassment to their nation.

“D_O N_O_T F_I_R_E.” Neoan declared, shifting into the universe between the Combine and Earth C with a few dozen lesser Horrorterrors. “W_E C_L_A_I_M T_H_E R_I_G_H_T T_O I_N_V_E_S_T_I_G_A_T_E T_H_E R_E_M_N_A_N_T_S.”

Move out of our way or you will be destroyed along with them. You wanted them destroyed prior, why defend them now that our goals align?

“T_H_E G_R_E_E_N S_U_N I_S G_O_N_E, W_E C_A_N A_F_F_O_R_D T_O E_X_A_M_I_N_E T_H_E S_I_T_U_A_T_I_O_N M_O_R_E D_E_L_I_C_A_T_E_L_Y.”

Move or die.

A third set of ships appeared. They were a mixture of airplane-like ships that had parts resembling bows and smooth cylinders large enough to hold only a person or two… if they weren’t bigger on the inside, that is.

“The Time Lords of Gallifrey demand that Earth C’s quarantine be reinstated this instant to prevent further damage to the timestreams! No one can be allowed to leave!”

Holes appeared in reality, dropping a fleet of TSAB ships. Nanoha’s voice flew across the space. “The TSAB has these people under its protection! Do not take any action against them or you will be fired upon!”

A strange creature composed of galaxies and a pearly white mask appeared. “The Living Tribunal demands the escapees be allowed to leave and experience freedom. They are no longer your concern.

A Flower fleet appeared next. The Protectors of the Plot Continuum ask that all societies involved in this conflict stand down while the ka of the situation is assessed.

Several humanoid creatures made of stars appeared elsewhere in the space. “MOTION CARRIED: THE CELESTIALSAPIENS CONCUR THAT FURTHER TIME FOR DEBATE MUST BE ALLOTED.”

And then an instance of Them appeared in the sky, the white fractal pattern spreading across the sky. “Hey hey hey, who wants to collect their money? Whoever bet for a Merodi victory with the destruction of the Green Sun is a winner!”

>The Xeelee recommend the negation of anything Them say.

The Xeelee ships were significantly smaller and sleeker than any of the other ships in the area, taking the appearance of metallic seeds with long, flat wings.

And then the two societies Merodi Universalis hadn’t encountered showed up.

A golden mask appeared, that of a human man. It was not smooth, but geometric, as if generated by older computer software. “THE GREAT WILL WISHES A PROPER TRIAL BE CONDUCTED OVER THE EVENTS THAT HAVE JUST TRANSPIRED.”

A series of ships enclosed in a non-standard physics bubble appeared, giving the blocky constructs an eerie blue glow. “The Beyonders disagree. They must be destroyed immediately.”

The Abstract bristled. “Your warlike demeanor does not serve you well in situations as delicate as this.”

“Sweet!” the Them shouted. “Everyone’s here! …And the Combine.”

We have as much right in this conflict as all of you do, if not more so!

“Shush little Combine, the adults are talking.”

“I motion that the Combine not be dismissed out of hand!” Nanoha declared. “They have proven themselves to be formidable!”

The golden face responded indignantly. “ARE YOU FORFEITING YOUR POSITION AMONG THE SEATS TO THE COMBINE?”

No, that’s not my poin-”

“THEN CEASE YOUR YAMMERING, HUMAN. YOU YOURSELF ARE MERELY AMONG THE SEATS BECAUSE WE HAD EMPTY ONES TO FILL.”

The Gallifreyans spoke again. “Is that what we are to you? Extra space?”

“Do not make us remind you of your place!” the Beyonders spat. “You are a measly Class 2, Gallifrey! Do not overextend yourself with your daring words!”

“You could not handle the war through time we could bring upon you.”

“You are not warriors.”

The Them chuckled. “Taking bets now – how long do you think we’ll be at each other’s throats before we settle on anything? I’m betting about a year. Maybe two, if the Celestialsapiens drag it out.”

At this the conversation between the eleven most powerful civilizations in the multiverse devolved even further into petty bickering. Yet, no shots were fired.

They hated each other less than they feared the desolation such a war would bring.

~~~

Earth C called an ‘emergency meeting’ the instant the greatest powers in the multiverse started appearing in the sky. Every faction involved – Merodi Universalis, Earth C, the Dream Bubble, and the Land of Pyramids and Neon - sent leaders to discuss what to do given the new situation.

They met at a place set aside to be neutral territory for the four kingdoms of Earth C – an island known as the Apex.

Merodi Universalis had sent O’Neill, Eve, Corona, and Vriska. Earth C, as usual, opted to leave the big-picture things up to their Creators, which ended up bringing Roxy, Karkat, Jade, and Kanaya to the table. The Dream Bubble just sent Meenah and Feferi, while Lopan only had Spades representing. They each sat on a chair on a round metal table with a lot of papers, data pads, and notebooks on it.

I was invited as well – but I declined. This was something they needed to work out without my help.

Eve ensured she kept Seraphim active in the background to keep all the ghosts present from dissipating into thin air. “So, we have a situation.”

“No shit,” Karkat muttered.

Eve nodded. “Our actions in removing the Green Sun, freeing Earth C, and removing the Dream Bubble have drawn the attention of the eleven highest civilizations in the multiverse. The purpose of this meeting is to make all knowledge of the entities arguing over our heads public knowledge to Earth C, the Dream Bubble, and Lopan.”

“Pyramid Hell,” Spades corrected.

Eve sighed. “Before we dig into that, we wish to play a message sent to us by one of the entities in question. A known friend and ally, Nanoha Takamachi of the Time Space Administration Bureau, sent this to Corona’s device a few minutes after the engagement in this universe began.”

Corona tapped Raging Sights, projecting a hologram of Nanoha on the table for all to see. “You’ve really gotten yourself in a pickle, haven’t you? I don’t have long to talk since I need to keep up with the back and forth, so I’ll be brief. Do not try anything. Don’t try to escape, don’t try to investigate, and do not try to attack. Make sure everybody you’re in contact with understands this. You are not protected by the Green Sun anymore – any one of us could take everything you have out without much difficulty. Even with the TSAB backing me, I can’t protect you against all of them. So you’re just going to have to wait and cooperate when a decision is finally made. Keep an eye on John most of all – they will all flip their lids if he vanishes. I’m going to do what I can to make sure you get home safely, but I can’t promise anything. Good luck. Nanoha, out.”

Corona cut the feed. “That’s it. We haven’t received any messages from outside since, only intercepted ones going back and forth. Of which there is a… lot.”

“Now’s the part where you tell us what we’re up against!” Meenah blurted.

Feferi pulled on Meenah’s arm. “We’re not supposed to be fighting.”

“I can fight if I want.”

“Your ghost immunity is gone,” Vriska reminded her. “They could extinguish you by tossing you out of Seraphim’s range. I’m pretty sure even a god-tier revival can’t bring you back if you can’t exist.”

“Shell, why do they have to take the fun out of it?”

“Because they are so far above us it isn’t even funny,” Corona said. “Eve?”

Eve turned on her eye. “I would prefer to have access to Merodi Universalis’ actual files on these civilizations, but we can’t send a message out right now. So what I have on this pad is just what I can remember, and should be taken with a grain of salt.” She duplicated the data pad and gave it to everyone. “We will start from what we estimate to be the lowest power civilization on this list and move up from there.”

“Have to save the best for last, after all…” Rose said.

“The Combine,” Eve said, gesturing for Corona to bring up a holographic display to go along with what she was saying. “We actually know a relatively large amount about the Combine thanks to our close combat with them and Vriska’s personal experience. They are a nation devoted to the idea of conquering universes until everything is part of the perfect Combine. They are a mostly technological society with a focus on biomechanical innovation, experimenting on any race they conquer for the sake of adding it to their army. Due to the high presence of humans in the E-sphere, most of their army is composed of them, but the higher members of the Combine are not human.”

The hologram switched to show one of the Advisors. “We encountered these Advisors in our struggles against the Combine on our colony Farpoint. They were the highest rank we encountered within the Combine, and given the ships we saw in use in the battle with the Horrorterrors, we doubt they are the actual highest commanders.” The image switched to show a Combine ship with stars inside it. “The limits of their technology appear to revolve around using organic and synthetic materials to control and manipulate stars themselves, using them as power and weapons. A single Combine attack could vaporize all of our planets in an instant. There are a few weaknesses we know of – they cannot detect Stands, and they seem to not understand magic all that well.

“Mentally speaking, they’re all about efficiency and sending ‘just the right amount’ of ships in to get the job done effectively. They don’t send their huge ships to conquer planets since they don’t care for their soldiers. It is also worth noting they are not part of the recently revealed international entity called ‘the Seats’ while the other ten civilizations are, and thus the other civilizations appear to be mostly ignoring their input and wishes. Which are to destroy all of us, if you’ve forgotten already.”

Kanaya took in a sharp breath. “I can’t say I’m surprised the least threatening is able to wipe us out so easily. It doesn’t make it any less haunting.”

Eve nodded. “Precisely. I’m not even going to comment on the weaknesses or strengths of any of the other races at the moment – they could all face the Combine and win. The point is not to think of a strategy to defeat them, the point is to know who they are.”

She cleared her throat. “Moving up we have the Flowers. They are a race of plants who have devoted their entire lives to purging the ‘Plot Continuum’ from unsanctioned glitches. It would take too long to explain in detail, so suffice it to say that the multiverse runs on stories via a force called ka, and the Flowers take glitches in ka and remove them. They are extremely devoted to the idea of the ‘One True Plot’ of the multiverse and will follow it wherever they think it leads.

“We have reason to believe they will support our return to Merodi Universalis to continue our story, since none of this seems to be what they would call a narrative glitch, with the possible exception of John. If they deem him unsanctioned they will likely kill him outright.”

Jade let out a sigh. “Of course they would… John, why did you have to stick your hand into that House?”

Corona switched the hologram again as Eve continued. “Our only known true ally in this encounter is the Time Space Administration Bureau, the only Seat run by humans. They are a magitech-focused society with a high focus on heroism and friendship. It is worth noting that they manage this while still technically being a military state, where their military handles every interaction. They are known to defend the defenseless and step up for what’s right in a cruel multiverse. I know Nanoha personally – everything she said in that message is true. They will be arguing for our complete release with little to no restrictions put in place.”

“No ulterior motive at all?” Kanaya asked.

“Not for Nanoha herself. The TSAB may wish to let the higher societies know they aren’t pushovers.” Eve shrugged. “Above them is the Gallifreyans. We, uh, don’t know much about them.”

Vriska snorted. “Right.”

“We don’t know much that doesn’t come directly from Vriska’s mouth,” Eve dejectedly corrected. “From her descriptions, they are arrogant, self-entitled, and rather cold. Their society is based around the complex manipulation of time, so much that they are known to have the greatest understanding of how time works in the entire multiverse. It is unknown what exactly they want with us beyond reinstating Earth C’s ‘quarantine’ to protect the timestreams, presumably from Lord English.”

Vriska rolled her eyes. “They also want to study us. Other than their precious ‘timestreams’ they want nothing more than to cut everything open to increase the matter in their brains. They’re assholes.”

“That’s your opinion,” Eve pointed out. “Every society we’ve talked about so far is classified as a Class 2 society, which is best described as being effectively decentralized, able to withstand the destruction of their core. The rest are all Class 1 societies, a rank reserved for those who have demonstrated almost complete mastery over the manipulation of universes within the multiverse. Every Class 2 society mentioned has at least minor physics manipulation and universe creation skills. Every Class 1 could shape clusters of universes with ease.”

Karkat put his hands on his head. “Once again, we’re thrown higher and higher into the realm of absolute fucking madness! THIS IS STUPID!”

Eve nodded. “Agreed. At the bottom of the Class 1 societies are the Horrorterrors. I don’t believe I need to explain them to you. They seem to want to capture us and examine the best way to deal with us. They want to prevent their own destruction if possible, and are hesitant to let any of their creations fall into anyone else’s hands. They seem somewhat uncertain of what they actually want to do with us now.”

Feferi closed her eyes. “I feel unrest among them. A large amount of fear and uncertainty. There are many who wonder if the battle they engaged in held any purpose.”

“That sounds good for us,” O’Neill said. “They might change their overall attitude.”

Eve nodded. “After Horrorterrors, we have Them. Them are a race of energy beings who reached a universe known as the Pinnacle and became the ‘highest’ life form they could. They proceeded to get really, really bored and have been a menace to the multiverse ever since. They mold universes and planets to create games. We were personally part of a deathmatch where we had to kill our closest friends. The deaths were reversed later, but we know that isn’t always the case with Them. Them want nothing more than their own survival and entertainment. They will take the act of the heckler for anything that doesn’t seem threatening. Expect them to just be a nuisance to the others and not care about us.”

Meenah smirked. “Y’know, I like the sounds of Them.”

“You won’t if they threw you in a game where you had to choose which of your best friends gets to live and which gets to die,” Vriska muttered.

Meenah blinked. “…Point taken.”

Eve continued. “The Celestialsapiens are… well, they’re beings where each individual member has the power within them to shape an entire universe from the ground up. We know they have three different personalities in their minds most of the time that are almost always in disagreement, so Celestialsapiens spend all their time debating. They act on a timescale slower than virtually all the races because of this. They value, above all else, patience, thoughtfulness, and understanding. We can expect them to be reasonable, but if they’re rushed, they’re known to act rashly. They trapped a woman in her mind for an effective eternity just for being impatient.”

Karkat snorted. “Bet she learned to be patient.”

“It… was effective,” Eve admitted. “Next on our list are the Xeelee. Prior to today we had not physically seen a Xeelee ship – they had always interacted with us via ‘wires’ from multiple universes away. From what little we understand of them, they are a purely technological society that exists as uploaded consciousnesses. They view themselves as the ‘good guys’ of the multiverse, and are known to help other societies from time to time. We can likely trust them to argue for our sake, but their idea of ‘help’ sometimes leaves much to be desired. They are so far above most beings and so sure of themselves they can ruin things in their carelessness.”

“So, John, basically?” Roxy asked.

“John is not a technologically advanced society of robots,” Karkat said.

Eve cleared her throat. “The last civilization we have any actual data on are the Abstracts, a race of beings known to be the ‘manifestations’ of ‘ideas’ in the universes they control. Things like Infinity, Chaos, etcetera. Most of them are in flux, defined by the overall feeling about a certain ‘idea’ in all their worlds. Their highest leadership is not. The being known as the Living Tribunal has contacted Corona here directly in the past. Above the Living Tribunal is the One Above All, theorized to be the most powerful entity in the multiverse, but we have no data to corroborate this. Thanks to their announcement upon their arrival, we know the Abstracts are solidly on our side, believing we need to be free.”

“And what about the last two?” Spades asked. “There are two other big honchos out there. Don’t you know anything?”

Eve shook her head. “Nothing besides rumors. Vriska never encountered either of them in her journeys, either. The Great Will is a ‘force of belief’ that is given power by the ‘belief’ of those within its universes.” The hologram showed the image of the golden face. “There’s a lot of conflicting information on if the Great Will is truly a civilization of beings, or just one being that controls a staggering amount of universes. The Beyonders…” She switched to show the blue Beyonder ships. “All we know is that they’re a warrior race and that their ships apparently need reality to be altered to exist in standard space. This suggests that they come from a universe far removed from the ones we understand, but isn’t eldritch. It’s similar to how the ghosts can’t exist in this world without Seraphim active.”

Eve sighed, leaning back in her chair. “And that’s that. Basically, we’re in the middle of a game of politics between giants that could swat us like a fly on the wall.”

“The only problem is we’re a really shiny fly and nobody can agree on what to do with us,” Meenah said with a smirk.

“There’s always a way to fight back,” Spades said. “You all talk about Lord English like he’s this overpowered demon that nothing could touch. I took out most of his gang with just me and my three buddies.”

Vriska raised an eyebrow. “What about Doc Scratch?”

Spades glared at her.

“Couldn’t do anything to him, could you? Lord English had all that guy’s power and so much more on top it wasn’t even funny.”

Spades threw a knife that cut off some of her hair. “Point taken.”

“You have a stabbing problem.”

“Revelation of the century,” Karkat muttered. “You know he stabbed me once, right? It was his way of saying hi.”

Spades smirked. “Yeah. That was the day.”

“You bet it was.”

Corona blinked. “…I could never say this before because I didn’t have enough of a sample size, but wow. Trolls are weird.”

“Have you looked in a mirror lately?” Karkat asked.

Corona smirked. “Heh. Point ta-”

O’Neill’s phone started ringing. He stared at it, startled. “There’s no way a signal can reach out here…” He checked who was calling.

Clandestine.

O’Neill answered, putting it on speakerphone. “Hello?”

“I’ve brought the cavalry, sir.” the unicorn said. “Though it appears as if we’ve walked into something a little too big for us.”

“Don’t do anything to make them shoot at you!” O’Neill barked. “Do everything they say.”

“They’re saying eleven different things.”

“Listen to Nanoha,” Eve said.

“…They’re telling us to stay put and not to move.”

“That’s what we were told as well,” Corona said. “Who do you have with you?”

“Uh, I brought Cosmo and the third division fleet. Oh, Starbeat’s also here.”

Vriska grabbed the phone. “Let me talk to her.”

They could hear Starbeat’s voice in the background. “Later, Vriska! They’re not jamming communications; we can talk back and forth easily. But we have other things to deal with right now.”

“…All right, fine. I’ll be patient. It’s not like a decision is going to be made anytime soo-”

“MOTION CARRIED: ATTENTION!” a Celestialsapien’s voice boomed into the minds of everyone on Earth C. “THE SEATS HAVE DECIDED TO OFFICIALLY CONVENE AT NEUTRAL TERRITORY TO COME TO A FINAL VERDICT. UNTIL THAT POINT, NO ENTITIES ON EARTH C, THE DREAM BUBBLE, THE LAND OF PYRAMIDS AND NEON, THE LOCAL MOON, OR THE RECENTLY ARRIVED SHIPS SHALL MOVE UNLESS THEIR PRESENCE IS REQUESTED AT THE CONVENTION. THE CONVENTION WILL BEGIN IN TWO LOCAL HOURS, AT WHICH POINT A LIST OF THOSE REQUESTED WILL BE MADE KNOWN. THE COMBINE’S REQUEST TO BE GRANTED EQUAL SAY WITHIN THE CONVENTION HAS BEEN DENIED.”

Eve blinked. “That was fast.”

“Well at least we don’t have to wait much longer,” Kanaya said, frowning. “That makes me feel worse, actually. Curious.”

“Wonder who they’re going to ask for?” O’Neill pondered.

~~~

It was funny – Clandestine had rushed to get help for Farpoint the moment she escaped with the Combine whale ship. Had the Combine not been planning to create the Green Sun, or had decided to use a different universe for its creation, the cavalry of Cosmo would have been a great boon to the ‘war’.

The problem was, of course, that the Combine never would have let her leave the whale ship if they hadn’t been evacuating the station in the first place to prepare for the Green Sun. So either way, she was shafted.

So unfortunate.

These were my thoughts as I sat on a hill, waiting for the names to be called. I knew I would be called, because the Flowers knew I was here. It was not something I had ever been part of before – the Seats so rarely convened since they hated each other so much, and rarely was there an event that required all of them to come to a decision about anything.

The final list, inserted into our minds seconds before we were taken, was smaller than most would have expected. But I knew better. These were the giants – they wanted to talk to as few people below them as necessary.

EVENING SPARKLE. VRISKA SERKET. TWILENCE. ANDREW HUSSIE. ICATHR. JOHN EGBERT.

It made sense what they chose, really. Eve for Merodi Universalis, John for Earth C, Icathr for the Combine. Vriska served as a figure of importance to the past of the proceedings, as did I, though my presence was requested because of my knowledge. Hussie needed to be there simply because he wrote the story that started this whole mess in the first place.

The moment we processed the list, we were in a waiting room in a different universe. Eve smiled at me, Vriska, and John – essentially we were all on the same side. Hussie sat in a corner, looking nervously at Vriska.

Icathr was one of the Combine’s highest beings – and he was not one of the Advisor slugs. He was a being with a single eye inside a head that resembled a neon blue flower. Three tentacles hung from his head, pulsing and glowing with blue power, indicative of his psychic power that could be used for a lot more than just flying.

He had no expression we could read, but his gaze was that of contempt. He was surprisingly free of mechanical augmentation – rare for a member of the Combine as high up as he was.

“After this is over you’re dead,” Vriska told Icathr.

“It is you who will suffer for your slight against the Combine,” Icathr declared.

The doors in the waiting room slid open, revealing the convention floor.

The room was a circular one composed of gray metal. There were ten ‘Seats’ spread around equidistantly. Each one appeared about the size of a mansion to the six witnesses, but each chair was completely filled by its occupant. The Horrorterror appeared the same size as Nanoha, both giants, but in the Horrorterror’s case it was shrunk – and visually altered to not madden those who saw it.

I looked around, taking in everyone at the Seats. I did not recognize most of the people there, Nanoha and the Living Tribunal being the exceptions. The Gallifreyans had sent one of their Time Lords in full red robes with the ridiculous arching collars while the Flowers had sent some sort of deciduous Tree I couldn’t identify. The Celestialsapien was a male, standing as still as usual. The Them was just a white glow, impossible to discern identity from. Same went for the Xeelee – taking the form of a computer with a screen for text, though notably it did have a speaker for text-to-voice. The Great Will had sent a blue-colored face to the proceedings while the Beyonder… The Beyonder was several loose fragments of a body heavily enhanced with machinery, carrying the slightest hint of being humanoid behind the altered reality. It was clearly a being of another sort of physics entirely.

Of course, everyone else was busy looking at what rose out of the center of the room of the Seats.

It was the Dark Tower, ringed by a field of roses that reached only one foot before the ground harshly translated to dark metal.

“W-what?” Eve said.

“They built it around the Tower to declare it truly neutral territory,” I said. “The Seats are a relatively new creation, when you look at the whole of the multiverse, but they’ve been around for so long most the races you see here weren’t around when it was created.”

Eve looked like she had more questions but couldn’t vocalize them.

A robotic voice filled the room. “In the shadow of the Dark Tower we declare our opinions. Let the matter of Earth C open with the standard statements of intent.”

The Living Tribunal spoke first. “The Abstracts believe Earth C and those associated should go free and find their own destinies. They do not pose a threat to us nor should we invade their privacy for our curiosity.

The Xeelee spoke with a voice that was synthetic, and yet carried great emotional inflection similar to that in a public speaker.

>||< Those on Earth C and the associated worlds should go free, but sufficient precautions should be taken in relation to John and the House Juju to ensure that a higher-order paradox does not occur.

The Celestialsapien spoke with annoyance in his voice. “DESPITE THE SHORT TIME ALLOTED FOR DEBATE, WE HAVE DETERMINED OUR DESIRE FOR THE COMBINE TO BE PUNISHED FOR THEIR HUBRIS, EARTH C TO BE RETURNED TO QUARANTINE, AND MERODI UNIVERSALIS TO BE PLACED UNDER OUR JURISDICTION OR THE JURISDICTION OF ANOTHER CLASS 1 FOR STRICT OBSERVATION.”

Eve tensed at that remark – a reaction that was about to increase tenfold with what the Beyonder had to say.

“Destroy Earth C, the Dream Bubble, everything. Then we must destroy Merodi Universalis just to be certain.”

The Great Will was better, but not by much. “QUARANTINE MERODI UNIVERSALIS WITH EARTH C INSIDE – THEY KEEP THEIR NATION, WE DON’T HAVE TO CONCERN OURSELVES WITH IT ANYMORE. ENSURE THERE ARE NO LOOSE EXPLORERS WHO WILL SPEND THEIR LIVES SEARCHING FOR HOME.”

“WE BELIEVE THEY SHOULD GO FREE ONLY AFTER THEY ARE SEARCHED FOR SBURB REMNANTS. THE HOUSE JUJU MUST BE CONTAINED,” the Horrorterror spoke, providing a surprisingly helpful outlook.

The Them went last out of the Class 1s. “Look, here’s the deal. None of us actually give a rat’s gall bladder beyond ‘make sure Lord English doesn’t come back’. So here’s what we think would be awesome. Split up the Dream Bubble into a million different pieces and spread every ghost across the multiverse, edited to survive in any physics of course. Let the epic search for home begin!”

“The childish request of Them is ignored,” the Gallifreyan stated, even though he had no authority over any of the others. “The Time Lords demand that Earth C be placed back in Quarantine and, furthermore, that the heroes required to complete Lord English’s time loop be forced to go back in time through retcon the moment this convention concludes to ensure nothing like this can happen again.”

Nanoha cleared her throat. “We wish for complete freedom of those associated with Earth C and Merodi Universalis, asking only that they surrender the House Juju to be sealed away in a more secure location.”

The Tree went last. “Everything about them is sanctioned by the Tower, including John’s retcon ability. The Protectors of the Plot Continuum refrain from any further input to protect the purity of the Plot.”

Eve did tallies in her head. Four positive, four negative, one abstained, and one of whatever Them was trying to pull off. She didn’t like how even it was. Granted, only two of the negatives were actually brutal, the other two were just about quarantine. Only the Abstracts had voted for complete freedom – even Nanoha seemed very concerned about the House Juju and Lord English.

Eve made plans in her mind of what to say – to offer them freedom in their society, to say that Merodi Universalis was willing to comply with whatever they wanted to ensure the containment of Lord English, including sending John back instantly. She waited to be called upon.

But she never was. Nobody ever was.

The Seats just started yelling back and forth at each other in such a way that it became incomprehensible. Everyone talked over everyone and nothing was respected. These were ten nations who hated each other’s existence for the most part – they only agreed on anything when they had to. The fact that they did drove them all mad.

Eve looked at me. “What… do we do?”

“We stand here,” I said. “We stand here and remain unable to keep up. All our witness testimony is in our minds – they take it out whenever they need it with a simple mind spell. We’re all open books to them and we don’t even feel it.”

Vriska blinked. “Wait, they’re in my head? I don’t even know it?”

“This room is one of the few things that was actually built by a cooperation of Class 1 societies,” I said. “Its facilities are the best possible. The mind-reading is absolute. There are no secrets. ...Secrets we can hide, anyway. They’ve got tricks available.”

John glanced at the giant form of Nanoha. “How does she manage?”

“She’s shunting most of it not only through Raising Heart, but also twenty other TSAB devices. She’s just serving as the voice. The Gallifreyans have a similar problem, but they solve it with computers and time loops in their minds. The Celestialsapiens…” I shrug. “They just don’t care that they take forever to think. They’ll speak when they’re good and ready to do so.”

“We’re really just ants to them,” Eve said. “Some of them think we’re fire ants, while others think we’re good for the environment, but we’re still ants.”

“You’re just now figuring this out?” Icathr asked contemptuously. “Even the Combine, we who are just barely below the Flowers, is seen as nothing more than an anteater. The Time Lords, the TSAB, the Flowers – they all have something that makes the Class 1s notice them. Their mastery over time. Their understanding of ka. Or their ability to represent the best of the most common race in the multiverse.” Icathr growled. “We could beat the TSAB or Flowers in a full on war, and yet we are denied a seat because we are seen as insignificant.”

“Your fault for not conquering higher-value targets,” Vriska said.

“That is where you are wrong, Vriska Serket. There have been other conquerors in the past. Those who conquer as we do, with pure power, cause those like the TSAB, Xeelee, and Abstracts to consider intervening. Only one conquest culture has made it this far, and that is the Beyonders. The examples of others who have been crushed because they declared who they were too loudly is numerous.”

“Maybe that should tell you something about conquerors being, y’know, evil.”

“It is pretty evil,” John added.

Icathr turned away from them. “What is perceived as evil by the Dark Tower is not as absolute as it wants you to think. It is based off a flawed perception within most beings that there is a good and evil. There is no such thing as morality without the presence of the Tower. Ka is a disease that creates a world of lies around us. The Combine defies those lies.”

“…Why though?” Eve asked. “If there’s no morality, why do you care to defy it?”

“Biological need for survival and perpetuation of life,” Icathr said. “Those at the bottom are told it is ‘good’ to Combine everything into one.”

“Didn’t you just say you didn’t like the Tower’s lie?” Vriska asked. “Contradiction!”

“There is no morality. We may lie and teach those below us whatever we wish for our own sakes. There is no idea, just continuation and perpetuation. It seems best and most efficient to Combine all life under one power in order to maximize the effectiveness of this process.”

“And why care about that!?” Eve blurted. “Seriously, why care?”

Icathr stared deeply into her. “There was a choice between life and death. There is no logical conclusion either way – both are equivalent. The Combine chose life over death, and so have become devoted to it. All for the sake of life.”

“So you just… live to keep living? No meaning at all?”

Icathr stepped back. “We allow ourselves to feel driven, to seek greater power, to look at what we do as grand work. We lie to those below us to give them more drive and improve productivity. But those of us where I am know.” He glared at me. “And now you know the philosophy of the Combine. It will disturb you until the end of your days. Hopefully at our hands.”

I rolled my eyes. “See everyone? That’s the problem with the true ‘pointless’ philosophy. Nobody can live by it. Not truly. Even those who ‘know’ about it, well, they still act on their emotions out of a drive for completeness, or in the case of Icathr, revenge.”

“You are mistaken, Twilence. There are those who have had their minds altered to follow the Combine perfectly,” Icathr said. “I am not one of them. Specifically kept around to ‘understand’ that which is outside that image. It is why I was the one summoned here.”

“If their minds are altered, how can it be said that it’s right?”

“An argument assuming biology is correct,” Icathr said. “In truth, life or death is nothing more than a coin flip. Biology is not any more ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ than anything else. We just chose life. We could have easily committed mass suicide. Chose not to.”

John shook his head. “…You guys are messed up.”

“All for the Combine,” he said. “And now you understand. Enjoy.”

“You get a real kick out of disturbing people with the way you think,” Vriska pointed out.

“Just because there is no morality does not mean the feeling of enjoyment does not exist. It means nothing, but I like it.”

The robotic voice chirped for all of them. “A verdict has been reached.”

“That seemed fast…” Eve said.

“Our time was accelerated,” I explained. “It took years in their minds to get here. It took no time back home given this universe’s time signature.”

John blinked. “Yeesh. Was it really that complicated?”

“YES IT WAS!” Hussie shouted. “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD IT WAS TO WRITE THE MESS THAT TURNED INTO THIS MESS? THERE WERE FLOW CHARTS! SLEEPLESS NIGHTS! A SCARY FUCKING WOLF! I EVEN DIED ONCE!”

Vriska blinked. “I forgot you were here.”

The robotic voice forced their conversation to close. “The verdict has been transcribed. Firstly, concerning the Combine. The Seats have decreed you are never to interfere with any remnants of Sburb ever again, or you will suffer consequences from whichever Seats feel inclined to react.”

Icathr bristled but said nothing.

“Merodi Universalis is to remain unaffected by these events. All citizens will be allowed to return with no changes to them or their society.”

Eve let out a sigh of relief – the worst had been denied.

“The House Juju is to be placed in Celestialsapien custody, where it is to be kept under lock and key for eternity.”

“No problem so far,” Eve said, biting her lip.

“The Dream Bubble and Earth C are to remain free from quarantine.”

“YES!” John whooped.

“However, the danger John Egbert poses cannot be ignored. He and the other eight entities who need to retcon through metatime to defeat Caliborn must agree to a Gallifreyan fate lock. At the moment of their death – any death, even if it would result in a Sburban revival – they will be locked away in their fate until all nine have been collected. At this point, the conditioning within John will activate, and he will use his retcon powers to complete what needs to be done. They do not have any choice in whether they are to be conditioned or not, but at any time before their deaths they may go to Caliborn. Communication with Caliborn is forbidden and will result in the fate lock activating early. The Gallifreyans can activate the fate lock earlier if it is deemed necessary. The fate locks have already been created and added to everyone involved.”

John blinked. “Wait, I’ve been… conditioned? What?”

“The fate lock will also activate if John Egbert ever uses his retcon abilities to return to any moment before this trial according to multiversal metatime. Accidental activations will count.”

There was a brief pause.

“The Convention is now over. May Lord English never return.”

And then I was back on my hill as if nothing had happened.

I shook my head – it was one of the better options, at least. John and his friends could live out their lives until the Gallifreyans decided he needed to stop. But one wrong move and his lock would just activate.

I imagined they were relieved though. Effectively, they got away. The Combine couldn’t hunt Sburb remnants anymore, and every ghost was a Sburb remnant. Earth C and the Dream Bubble were free. Merodi Universalis was unaffected.

And as such, my work was done. I folded up my new notebook and prepared to walk away.

“You’re leaving?”

I smiled. “Yes, Eve, I am leaving. You are not quite ready for me to stick around just yet.”

Eve’s face was sad. “…You’ve been very helpful. I saw you struggle with us.”

“Yeah. I was not expecting to be thrown that sideways,” I admitted. “Though I should have. This is Homestuck we’re talking about. Mindscrews are generally how it works.”

Eve nodded. “It’s soon, isn’t it?”

“The end is not soon,” I said. “Chapter-wise, perhaps, but there’s going to be a large gap of time in the middle there.”

“I meant when you stay with us.”

I smiled. “Yes. That is relatively soon. But you may not be happy when you get there.”

Eve nodded. “There’s always one struggle after another…”

“And more and more friends. You just made a few thousand.”

Eve smirked. “Heh. Yeah. I guess we did.”

“Treat them well, Eve. They’ll help you go far.”

With a wave, I was gone.

~~~

“I hate feeling powerless,” Vriska told Starbeat, lying on the couch.

Starbeat put down the data pad she had been studying: the Collection’s procedure for moving the Dream Bubble and Earth C to Merodi Universalis space. It was a nice loophole in Collection policy since, technically, the worlds weren’t part of Merodi, so the assistance wasn’t ‘biased’. “That convention getting to you?”

“It really is,” Vriska admitted. “I’m so used to being able to have some say. I thought I proved to myself that would always be the case when we were fighting for the Green Sun… But then BOOM, I’m reminded that I am just an ant. One of those nasty ants that almost kill you when they bite you, but still just an ant.

Starbeat nodded. “I feel the same way. In the Collection all we do is think about what problems we can solve. We can solve a lot, but there’s a lot more problems we can’t deal with. Some because we don’t have the power, but most because we simply don’t have enough people. There’s too many issues in existence for us to handle. As expansive as we are, we’re still just drops of water in the ocean.”

Vriska stared into space. “Welp, everyone’s gonna have to accept that like they accepted they were part of a story.” She stood up. “…I’m going to go build my house on Earth C.”

“Will it be a castle?”

“Of course it will, who the fuck do you think I am?”

Starbeat smiled. “An amazing troll with an ego that’ll never go away completely.”

~~~

Eve and Maud sat on one side of the desk, with Meenah and Kanaya on the other side.

“I can accelerate the process of acceptance into Merodi Universalis for your sake,” Maud said. “You’ve earned it, according to Eve.”

“The question is if you want to join,” Eve said. “You’d be welcomed as part of our family, and a major part at that, given the resources you’d be bringing. But it’d prevent you from ever acting truly on your own.”

Meenah shrugged. “Hey, I don’t wanna have to figure out how to make these arm-bands.” She held up her wrist, showing Corona’s newest invention off. A simple ring of metal that hung around a ghost’s wrist, allowing them to exist in most universes comfortably. “I also wanna see everything. There are whole oceans out there to explore and you’ll want my ghosts to do it.”

Kanaya nodded. “And on our side, the four kingdoms of Earth C all have expressed high levels of interest in joining up with our saviors.”

Eve rubbed the back of her head. “Your people really like exalting others, don’t they?”

“It is a trait resultant of Sburb,” Kanaya admitted. “Not always positive, but perhaps this inclusion will allow them to finally move past seeing us only as gods.”

Eve smiled. “In that case, expect Earth C and the Dream Bubble to be part of Merodi Universalis in a couple months.”

“Ahem,” Meenah said. “Skaia’s Dream. We’re not callin’ our universe flipperin’ Dream Bubble. We’re not just dreamers, or ghosts. We’re gonna be called Skaians. Got it, flounder?”

Eve smirked. “Skaians. …That sounds great. I’ll put that down.” She scribbled a note on one of the pages. “I hope to see you Skaians walking alongside ponies, humans, and Gems soon.”

“We’re already here. And we’re not goin’ away.”

Kanaya rolled her eyes. “Meanwhile my world will be a little less loudmouthed about the whole debacle. We can move in slowly, just having a connection to you. I do wonder how much Sburb technology and god-tier powers are going to have to be restricted, though…”

Maud put the papers into a neat stack. “That’s why this’ll take a few months instead of a few weeks.”

“I see.”

“We aren’t fans of bureaucracy,” Eve admitted.

“Thank goodness. I do believe I would have gone crazy if I was subject to the level of detail the humans require within their reports…”

“You’d be surprised what we can hide under a supposed lack of bureaucracy,” Maud said.

Eve shuddered. “Renee’s expedition member application…”

~~~

Farpoint City was rebuilt quickly. It wasn’t as shiny as it once was, and it lost its glory as a resort planet – but the City as a community became stronger.

With the previous mayor dead in the invasion, a new mayor was elected as soon as things settled down. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, that mayor was Anesthesia. She’d gone from hotel manager to City manager over the course of the rebellion.

Some would say the power would go right to her halo and drive her mad. She sure hoped not. She wanted to lead these people as best she could into a new era. They wouldn’t be a tourist town anymore, but instead an outpost on the edge of tomorrow. Her policy began with building a decently-sized Expedition Division tower, which Renee had approved in record time to begin explorations of the distant multiverse in the E-Sphere.

Farpoint would become the launchpad for new discoveries far from home.

A few days after her inauguration, there was a knock on her office door. “Come in,” she said, not taking her eyes off her personal window that gave her a view of Farpoint City. It was beautiful.

“Hey,” Affix said, coming in. “Congrats on the big promotion.”

“Thanks,” Anna said with a smile. “I’m a little nervous about how the expeditions will pan out. We’re in the middle of human territory here, it’ll be a bit weird for them. But fun.”

“I hear we’re on the edge of the E-Sphere, might run into some of the multiverse limits type stuff.”

“That’ll be even more interesting,” Anna admitted. “…I was given this completely by fate, Affix. Just thrown into a leadership position because the heroes of Merodi Universalis stayed at my hotel.”

“Tried to stay at your hotel.”

Anna chuckled. “Yeah, tried. …So, what are you doing these days?”

“Abandoning the fashionista’s lifestyle!” Affix blurted. “I’m going to the Hub and signing up to work on an exploration team. No offense to your little place, but I’m looking for a change of scenery, and I think that’ll be better for me.”

Anna smiled. “You sure Renee will accept you?”

“I already filled out her nightmare of a form in triplicate. I’m a form-filling machine!” She laughed maniacally. “Also I make bombs. Apparently that’s helpful.”

“Good luck.”

“Right back ‘atcha.”

~~~

Vriska built her troll-style castle in the human kingdom of Earth C, just like she said she would.

She had taken to sitting on her balcony, legs dangled dangerously off the rail-less edge, staring out at the human city in front of her. She grinned.

Aradia appeared next to her. “It’s nice, isn’t it? That we’re finally home.”

“It really is,” Vriska said. “I… I don’t remember when I last felt this good. Actually, I don’t think I ever felt this good. I was shit back in Sburb, and I was doing okay in MU but I missed everyone. Now it’s just… Life is good Aradia.”

“Glad you finally realized that,” Aradia said with a giggle.

Vriska smirked. “So, aside from that opening party, how did your reunions go?”

“Pretty well, actually! Probably had something to do with me not having to apologize to everyone I met.”

Vriska rubbed the back of her head. “Heh…”

“I did have to talk to the Daves and the Nepetas though,” Aradia said, frowning. “It was… difficult. Because I didn’t express much in the way of remorse. I wish I didn’t have to do it, don’t get me wrong, but I just…” she bit her lip. “Nobody sees death the same way I do.”

“This is news?”

“No. It’s just a difficulty in my life I have to deal with.” Her smile returned. “The Nepetas forgave me right off the bat. The Daves… They’ll come around. We Time players tend to get each other. …Actually, never mind, I tried talking to Damara. That did not go over well.”

Vriska shrugged. “Her level of psychobitch makes me look like an angel.”

Aradia nodded. “You know, I kinda wanted to see Gamzee.”

“Really?” Vriska said. “But he killed, like, everyone!”

“And I wanted to see what he thought,” Aradia said. “There should be an Omega Gamzee ghost somewhere in Skaia’s Dream. But nobody’s seen him.” Aradia shook her head. “Mysteries to be solved later…”

Vriska chuckled. “When we least want it.”

“I wonder what they’ll all decide to do,” Aradia said. “I think most of the ghosts will use the bands and ‘live’ again in Merodi Universalis. But our friends? …I think some will go live their lives. I don’t see Rose and Kanaya going adventuring. I see Dave eventually going out on his own. Roxy is definitely going to see the multiverse, and probably drag John along. I hear Jade has already taken a liking to the League of Sweetie Belles…”

“So many changes,” Vriska mused. “There’s even more of me running around now. More of you.”

“Most of those other mes are soulless robots,” Aradia muttered. “Such a shame…”

“Hey, we’ve got an army of a million ghost robots now. That’s sweet.”

“I guess it is. Just as awesome as it was when we took out the Black King.”

“Oh that was the best boss battle ever!” Vriska said with a laugh. “Nothing like this ‘become an ant in the gaze of giants’ bullshit. We got an actual struggle and an actual victory.”

“You got a victory here, too,” Aradia pointed out. “You escaped.”

“And then we got put in a trial where nothing even mattered,” Vriska said. “Or everything mattered. I’m really not sure.”

Aradia put an arm around Vriska. “It’s behind us now. Let’s not worry about the past – let’s worry about the future.”

“Isn’t that the opposite of what you do?”

“I’m still restricted by the laws of time,” Aradia said. “I’m not John.”

“Ah… John…” Vriska shook her head. “He’s not going to care at all that he’s basically got a kill-switch in his mind. He’s gonna forget and screw it up…”

“He’s smarter than you give him credit for.”

“He’s still a huge dork.”

Aradia laughed. “No argument there!”

Vriska stood up, flapping her wings. “I’m going to fly around the world. Wanna come?”

“Sure!”

They took off through the skies of Earth C.

~~~

Sunny’s Survey team usually didn’t do this sort of thing, but Renee had asked her to do it just this once. It was a nice change of pace, at least. Her team had joined up with a standard exploration team to explore the depths of Skaia’s Dream and tell all the lost ghosts what was happening with the dreams they were in, give them a bracelet, and tell them how to get to Merodi Universalis. It was a simple and rewarding job, and they got to see a lot of bizarre, alien geography created from the dreams of the dead.

One day, she was traveling with a member of the other team – the Rarity known as Affix. They had just gone for a walk to talk and get to know each other better.

How old?” Affix asked.

“Not saying it again,” Sunny huffed.

“Oh c’mon, I need confirmation of the outrageous number!”

“Every Merodi will be as old soon enough,” Sunny dismissed.

“And then you’ll be even older!”

“Diminishing gap,” Sunny said. “Think about it mathematically.”

Affix rolled her eyes. “Nah. I’ll think about it as explosions or fashion, or not really.”

Sunny chuckled. “If you say s- hold on. Affix, what do you see over there?”

“I see a Sweetie.”

“There’s no Sweetie in our team,” Sunny said. “And this dream realm doesn’t create conscious entities that don’t exist.”

The Sweetie blinked over to them in a sort of pseudo-teleport, revealing her pupil-less eyes. “…Rarity? …Sunset? Why do you look… Different?”

Sunny blinked. “Uh… I don’t think I’m the Sunset you know. …Did you play a game called Sburb?”

Sweetie blinked right back at her. “Yes…? But so did you! All of your versions did!”

Sunny shook her head. “Look at my eyes. Not dead. Not a ghost. I’m from another universe.”

Sweetie gasped. “Another universe? Oh yes oh yes oh yes that’s so cool! We created a universe – well, the version of us that won, anyway. I didn’t think we’d ever get visitors though!”

Affix held up a hoof. “Hold it. Do you all know what this means?”

Sweetie cocked her head. “Besides everything being awesome… no?”

Sunny shrugged. “That there was an Equestria in Sburb?”

“Yes, but it’s more than that.” Affix grabbed Sunny’s cheeks. “Every player who has ever played Sburb and died is in this universe. That is a lot more than just troll ghosts.”

Sunny’s eyes widened. “That’s… actually a big deal.”

Sweetie blinked. “Trolls? The grey-skinned weirdos? Didn’t really notice they existed before today...”

“You’re in for quite the startling set of revelations,” Affix said with a chuckle. She then started to explain everything to the Sweetie that would one day be known as Blink.

Soon, the deeper Skaians of Skaia’s Dream would rise to the surface, slowly making their way to Merodi Universalis.

Most those who had been lost to Sburb would be given a chance at a new life.

Author's Note:

[END OF ARC 7: BLOOD]

>>ARC 7 INTERLUDE<<

That was a lot to take in all at once. I, personally, blame Andrew Hussie, as do so many other denizens of the multiverse.

Regardless, big announcement, since GM is done writing the core of SotS, we now have a MAJOR SIDESTORY! If you wanted to see a bunch of Sweeties in the League of Sweetie Belles visit various fanfic worlds, you’re in luck, The League of Sweetie Belles has just that!

And now, chapters. Because that’ll be interesting.

Arc 8: Rage
092 - The Allure of Time, Part 1
093 - The Allure of Time, Part 2
094 - Sombra’s Clipshow 2: Electric Boogaloo
095 - Creators
096 - The Odd Pair
097 - The Handmaiden’s Aliens
098 - The Elements of Harmony
099 - Clay Universes
100
101 - The Spark
102 - Regret
103 - Conquest, Part 1
104 - Conquest, Part 2

SWEET! The openers are the chapters I finally get to do something! AWESOME!

And that’s not the end of the awesome! Yes, those of you who were somehow not aware, 094 is the NEXT SOMBRA’S CLIPSHOW! You have 18 days to submit snips for the compilation! Rules here. Please don’t panic. But I kind of expect you to panic anyway. ...Maybe you should panic, given how little time is left...

And what about CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED? It’s very special. It’s interactive, but it’s not a clipshow. Whatever could it be? Well, you don’t get to know yet! The blog post about THAT chapter will go up after Sombra’s Clipshow 2 goes live.

Once again, let us consider a poll for the best chapter. [ https://strawpoll.com/3a4b4pa1 ]

Franchises Time!

Falling Water belongs to USA Network
Stranger Things belongs to Netflix
The Matrix belongs to Warner Bros.
Cookie Clicker belongs to Orteil
One Punch Man belongs to ONE
The Expanse belongs to James S. A. Corey and Syfy
Half Life belongs to Valve
Shin Megami Tensei belongs to Atlus
Adventure Time belongs to Cartoon Network

Also discord server [ https://discordapp.com/invite/eTuseTh ] and fimfiction group [ https://www.fimfiction.net/group/213761/songs-of-the-spheres-extended-multiverse ] links. Obligatory, as always.

Until next time!

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