#121

“...t?” the Emperor chokes out. Then he turns to look at the five. “What?!” he repeats. “We just recorded that message for them, how are they...” He blinks as he realizes that the Inspector, who stands to his right, has betrayed him. He moves as Susie predicted.

“Welcome,” says Puck the Vulture, in a dead voice. His eyes are dead, same as Mack Greasy's. The shark's head is chewing only weakly. Just as he croaks out that single word, Fox himself seems to mouth something private. It's “sorry”. For this is the last thing Puck will ever say.

With a final chomp, Lefty Sinister falls from Mack's mouth. He gives a false-mandatory cry of pain as his left leg is torn off. He rolls with the fall, even as he harshly considers—with bitterness, the only buddy he's ever really had in this chump's life—that without that mouth, he ain't getting that leg back. But he'll live.

Mack and Puck suddenly disconnect from Fox's body. They do not react, and there's no blood as they're severed; the suit he's wearing continues through the points where their heads should have had holes to poke through. They lift into the air before him, twirling as if in a ballet, just as Fox says, “After this. Four more.” Then, they burst into flames, but do not scream. The flames consume them instantly, and they turn into orbs of orange light, that is then just as swiftly sucked into his body. There's a flash of white, and those two are gone forever.

The party has no time to react to that; to them, it's just pointless surrealism.

“The circuit isn't continued, Lefty,” Fox intones weakly. “Wilhelm has saved Esau; Zanne has rescued Usius. Their souls are free.”

Lefty says nothing, pretending not to have heard, as he has for the last fuckin' eternities he's had to spend nearly connected with that idiot. He dusts himself off, and, finding nothing else to do, slowly and bloodily crawls over to the party.

“But my parts come back to me—my 'investments'. Better than money, Lefty...” It's now as if talking is merely a pretense for this creature. “And once I drink your universe, and the other one I tore up, I'll be free. The Time Nexus will be released. Kul'ul walks again...”

It's taking all of the party, except for You, all they've got to resist dropping to the ground and writhing from fear; the air around Fox feels wrong, and Jacob at the very least can see a wavering set of tentacles occasionally ring his perimeter. They're standing in the presence of something that humans were never meant to know of.

“Four more,” he repeats. “One beyond my reach forever: Robert Kirk. Two just a few miles from here: easy pickings.” Without turning, he addresses the Emperor. “I'm sorry I fooled you, Kai.”

“No!!” the Emperor screams. “You can't do this!! You promised me my son! You promised me the woman!!”

“Promises are nil beside Kul'ul.”

Suddenly, the flames flash around the Emperor too—but there's some human anger in this fire. It's slow. Susie, and indeed everyone, is glad You can't see this, and she in particular has to look away. She can't see the man's flesh melt off, his muscles turn to cinders. His final screams are taken away until he, too, is reabsorbed into his Father.

The Emperor is dead.

There is silence.

“Is this where it ends, then?” Fox says. It takes every once of strength to strain against simply calling him it, and it, Kul'ul. For Kul'ul is an ancient demon, but was born billions of years into the universe's existence. Now, once again, many years after its birth, it risks returning. The Nexus is active. In the past, it calls out to Doctor Kai, having a mental breakdown. It asks him to kill his father, and to split his own mind, to become evil. He gives in and becomes Kul'ul. Kul'ul becomes the Second Enemy and is destroyed, until now. Now, when time can be broken again, and the limbs of the demon can reach through.

They're already reaching through. It's impatient.

“I guess this is it, yeah.” Jacob's the one to say that bit. He's still nonplussed, in his way.

“Excellent. This has gone on for far too long. I will require the weapon you've brought with you.”

“The Cosmic D8? Sorry, mate,” Mark says. “Don't got it.”

“No, no. A fuel-infused being of an advancement beyond even my inventions? With a completed computer uplink, no less. Perfect.”

That's when all but You are thrown violently against the right-hand wall. You is lifted into the air. Lefty snarls like an angry lion.

“The Blue Tower has been working on a very special project. The Ultimate project. Adapted from the engine that brought my bicycle and I into this world to begin with. A terraformer, to rebuild the planet in my image. It's simple; when I unleash the power of The Cascade, I will use my redirected terraformed crystals to drive the beam into Earths Alpha and Gamma. The Prime Earth and the Paradise Earth, destroyed. The rest of the Multiverse destabilized and crumbling. Easy to rebuild.” As he says that last word, his voice twists, and his face is replaced briefly with that of a beaked shark.

At his words, the left-hand wall slides open, and inside is yet another computer terminal—or, at least, something that looks very similar. Before anything else can be said, You is slammed across this computer, and his right hand suddenly reaches over and seems to bond with the computer.

Time is speeding up again. No one can stop it, not even the two sorceresses in the room. It will only get faster, for K͇̱̮̖͚̔́͒̉̆ǘ͓̤̤̬̺̆͐̄̄l̨̰͓̝̳͆̿̊͝͠u̠̗̯̩͚̒̀̔̈́͠'̼̖̯̞͋̈́͊̈́̅͜l̛͚͇̲͎͊̽̑̐͜ ̧̙͙̱̟̃̄̒͗͝y̳̗͇̟̥̓̒̔̽͆ê̟͇̲͔̯̑͋͝͝t̨͈͇̮̬̀͛̀̎͝ ̯̭̜̞͙͒́͋̾̃ḛ̢̛͔̖̩̄̉͒͋n̪̤̺̖̬̓̄̈́̐̂d̞̱̟̤̯̋̄̅̍͘u̢͍̪̼͈̇́̂̀̎r̢̛̭͔̟̥̐̀͘̕e̛̬͈͊͒̑̅͜͜ͅs̮̬̝̫͇̎̎̈́͋͒.

“With a direct line of fuel being fed to the computer, in its own way of transmission, we can get past having to build a massive fuel core, like that of the White Tower. The intense passage of fuel will kill You. Of course. But my weapon will be complete. An Earth primed with both advanced tier soldiers and a built-in system of accumulation crystals capable of reshaping the fuel into any way desired.”

“No!” Susie cries, as she watches You faintly twitch against the device.

“No one anticipated the use of the terraformer. Because I never allowed the Emperor to know if it, until at last the Blue Tower was our only respite. The planet itself must be made hostile to those not linked to Kul'ul. The next stop is logical. The Multiverse itself must enter such a stage. Below me, all that is not orderly will be lost...”

“No!!” Susie shouts again. You is beginning to glow. Even as he's speaking, Fox is beginning to channel the fuel from somewhere—presumably from the two prongs at the top of the Tower. All the energy that ever was in Lefty and Jacob's home universes is now trying to pass through You. He's making a low grunting sound and despite his mindlessness is actually in pain—implying the agony is beyond comprehension.

The others try to strain, but already they can sense what's coming, from the future. They sense the freedom of Kul'ul, already flowing back on a stream of chronons, making its own release inevitable. The Nexus is active.

R̶̨̮͇̺̙̞͈̝͈͗̎̀̈́̌̇́͒̔̄́̚͜͜ͅI̵̺͇̺̮̦͕̰̤͈̪͋͂̀̅̆̃̎̓̅̾̍̾͜͜Ş̵̨̢͈̭̝̱̤̝̱̼͔̀̋̈́̽̃̾͐̉́͝͠É̷̢̛̳̠̪̳̞̜̭͚̮̣̂̀̈̊͋̉̽̇̎͜͠

Jacob screams first, because Doctor Kai is screaming. Klaus is screaming too, and Kurq'wes is driven very close to such a thing. They see what they are, and what they'll become. They see the curve of destiny and as Jacob shares this vision he sees the torture of his brother at the hands of an Earth-Gamma monster, just as Mina sees Aurel die, as Susie witnesses the traces of thought in the dark place where You is, and just before they all see a rush of images of things that outline the final physicality of it all. The Ultimate angles and curves and shapes beyond just a simple scientist sitting in a lab, tinkering with a time machine.

And three simple words, that come now from the past, from a time when the only audience they had was a set of empty prison cells.

K̺͕̹̰̦͍̫̻̹̙̣̊̈́̈́̀̑̈́̇̀͊̀͝ͅU̢͕̻̦̪̰̱͔͚̗͊̍̌̀̈́̎͂͛̑̒̓̊͜Ľ̡̦̲̖̯͖͕̞͉͇͈͌̏̍̄͗̇̂̉̀̍͜'̡̻̼̲̻̙̲̹̥̺̦̖̆̔̍̎̔̈̓̒̉͒͆͝U̡̧̜̭̲̗̖͚̟̹̟̰̾͛̀̈́́͐̈̓͆͘͘͝L̢̧̰͖̦̘͖͉̪̻̳̰̂́͒̅̎͑͌̀̀͆̚

Ý̧͕̬̯̣̻̟͉̟̼̲̗̋̒̈́̑̆̃̀̎͆̓̕Ȇ̡̡̛͔͕̘̘̪͖̣͇͇̈́͒̑̈́̽̏̈́͜͠͝͝Ṭ̡̛̛͎̝̬̥̥̥̝̺̯̖̌́͋͋͒̿̈́̌̌͝

E̡͇̗̦̝͙͇̦̜̋̆̾͊̓̓̇͗́͒̌̕͜͜Ň͙̫̩͙̠̙̘͕̜͔͔̓̽͊̽͑̎͆̆͂͜͝Ḑ̨̧̛̛̞̖̯͙̱̩̹͕͉͂̄̀͌̐͂̈́̒͘͝U̻͓̺̰̬̯̺̟̞̣̠͙̽̌͂̀͛̓̀̏̏̽̓͘Ŕ̛̛̠̖̞͇̙̹̭͓̰͈̲̣̌͋̃̄͐̃̚͘͝Ĕ̜̰̫̪̼̩̹̖͇͓̠͔̉̒͆́́́̂̀̑̽̕Ş̡̳̖̥͎̺̗̩̞̻̪̇͆͒̀̍͊́̔̒̇̋

Past, present, and future collided, collide, and will collide as the power of three universes enters the room, warping minds, fracturing space, and revealing the Ultimate message.

They lose.

#120

As if in a sign, the time-vortex around the island clears up a bit, and when they exit the former prison they can all get a good look at the Blue Tower.

“Holy shit!” Mark cries out. “That looks even bigger than the Red one...”

Mina and Susie don't lock eyes but still have a sense of both humor and the grotesque inside.

“It looks like it has a set of prongs at the top, almost,” Jacob adds.

Okay, that's funny. Sort of. In the most immature of ways.

Mina sees those as well, and has a theory in her mind. “Didn't we find out that two universes in this Cascade thing have been destroyed? Including me and Jacob's?”

“Those prongs do seem to have energy on them. Fuel energy.” Mark is speaking. “Maybe each prong represents a universe...”

“The Inspector might be feeding off that energy, then,” Susie says. “You told me that he woke up in the White Tower's fuel core before he woke up a second time, which was the time where we went up and met you, Mark. He said that he saw a figure drinking in the fuel, but he thought it was a dream...”

“Hm. Maybe that's why they need the medics. It's nice to have an army, but he could also be infusing people with the fuel. Using them as batteries. Emergency backups, or something.”

“The mutants could work for that too,” Jacob says. As he says it, he recalls that—to his knowledge—Doctor Kai told him about the origin of Inspector Fox. (That happened, didn't it?) That Fox was once human makes this all worse, but that goes without saying.

“Now, how do we get in?” Mark asks, stating what everyone else was thinking. They're about to approach it, but You suddenly takes off again. This time, no one shouts after him. They just follow, because he's following those fuel-signals. Or, he's been hacked, and is leading them into a trap. Either way, it's worth a shot—what sort of traps could they have left that they haven't faced yet? (They know the answer is “many”. But they all want to act all world-weary, which is okay.)

As they approach the Tower, they see that there are actually several gates up ahead—all sealed of course, but You is already raising his arms. The virus unlocks these gates, and there are no Guards within. No mutants. Perhaps that initial wave of defense was put down after Fox saw that perhaps his attempt to complete his Beta-4 ritual failed. Perhaps he'll let them come straight to him with no problems. Which doesn't exactly bode well nevertheless.

They enter through one of the gates, and find that this Tower is different from the other two. It's ringed like the Red Tower, but much less is visible, like in the White Tower. A hallway leads down towards an elevator. There are no side-doors, unless there are ripple walls like the ones You saw in White. However, like in Red, there is a glass wall at the far edge of the elevator, revealing a central tube that seems to be full of little tendrils. The tendrils are moving matter about—anything from computers to random Kirbyesque machinery bits to large crates marked as containing weapons.

With no other choice, at least at this gate, they enter the elevator and go up. Mina approaches the glass wall and decides to tempt fate by looking down. “Whoa...”

She points, and they all take a glimpse. The shaft goes down, too, but it stops not far below ground. The ground is ringed with a strange but beautiful circle of crystal spires. In the center of these massive quartz chunks is some sort of black monolith. It makes a pulsing noise, which is easy to inspire thought of a correlation between this monolith and the crystals. To Susie, they dimly resemble a crystallized form of fuel, but much purer—meaning that instead of simply being a dull grey, they flash with a faint rainbow. The group can see the vague forms of Crimson Guards milling around the larger crystals—they could be harvesting them.

The elevator begins to ascend and eventually that lower level fades from sight.

However, Mark keeps an eye on the outside of the car, even as silence looms. He notices two odd things, but puts them aside as nothing. The first is that a large staff is apparently being shipped. It, like the Tower, appears pronged at the top. He instantly discards the image due to its connotations; he knew that Susie and Mina were silently picking on him. However, next he sees something different. One of the crystals from below is being sent up. Inside it, though, Mark can vaguely see the shape of a humanoid figure. This unsettles him greatly, but he could be hallucinating. He's incredibly tired, and if it's more trouble maybe it will just go away or something. And, this time-field, even in its diminished form now, is messing with his head. He can take that as an excuse to be lazy.

But he hasn't been “lazy Mark” for awhile. He should be disturbed by this sudden return of a trait, but he's too tired to face it. That will cost him later.

The elevator doesn't seem to have stops, which is weird. They all fear the worst, because they all know deep down that there is no challenge. There are no “stages” or “phases” of elevator duels against Crimsons or soldiers or whatever. They broke the ritual, and as they rise they can almost feel anger besides their fear. But it's not their own.

No, the elevator is under the control of whoever's at the top. He commands it just as he's done so for everything else in the tale of these five individuals.

The power coming from the conquest of the whale is still in Susie and Mina. The others will have to be more careful. Boxing glove won't do much; not even a laser pike could do what's needed. You might stand a chance, but not much of one.

Time isn't a factor aboard the elevator. All that matters is that it reaches its destination, and what's behind that door.

It's over, and the door slides open.

#119

What is transpiring presently on the Ocean of Dreams, now slowly going back to simply being the Gulf of Mexico, cannot be described, because the actual events taking place are being presently shielded from the narrative. Try as we might, we cannot breach the “trope-dome” spun over it by a certain Incomputare. Within are Incomputare matters, and the Incomputare are the Uncountable; so their tale cannot yet be told.

However, the dome is retracting at this point in time due to a spell cast that will make sure that you (not You), the reader, will not have to wait as I, the author, deliberate pointlessly until the dome retracts. Time magic is very nice, but very confusing, and Entry 117 was already weird enough, so I'll say only this: a long meeting has taken place in only the time necessary to jot up a couple of paragraphs.

When the dome retracts, it's only another hour until the airboat reaches the island. Of course, the island hasn't been mentioned yet, but indeed, a small island that is almost exactly two hours from the Louisianan shore is the location of the Blue Tower. The Blue Tower is spotted almost immediately by those within the airboat, but the now oft-mentioned presence of Inspector Fox prevents them from seeing clearly. This Tower, unlike its Red brother, is defended from the outside, however, and mounted machine guns begin to open fire on the boat.

However, You detects the presence of fuel tanks powered these guns; so before they even get three seconds worth of shots off, he drains it at once, and they power down swiftly. Thus, what would have been a dramatic struggle to survive is prevented from ever taking place.

Of course, the trio—or at least, the two from the trio who maintain sentience—want to avoid any sort of “dramatic struggle”. At least, until they can fight on land. Giant turrets aren't playing fair for now.

There's no way to dock the airboat aside from landing it on shore, but it's what they'll have to do. As they approach, the systems have already stirred up alarms. Guards will be on their way soon, likely supplemented with mutants and medics. The Empire can be very uncreative, and if they don't start specializing their forces they're going to lose.

They immediately step out onto the shore and start running. Now is the time to talk.

“Where do you suppose they are?” Susie says. “I think I can see better now that we're on this island...”

“I can't take my eyes off that Tower,” Mina replies. “Probably not a good thing given our analysis of it. But it looks like there's some secondary stations that supplement the Tower in some way. Maybe we can hack a computer in one of those and find a prison block?”

“Maybe one of them is a prison block. Let's try to be lucky.”

“Having faith, right?”

“Right.”

There is a large rectangular building ahead of them, which they head for. It has a hand-scanner, which Mina presses. She's amazed that they kept her and the others in the system after all this; but maybe they just haven't had time to react. It's literally been less than a day since they tore down the Red Tower. Now it looks like they're on a roll.

The door opens, and inside is a simple rectangular room. However, there are two Crimson Guards inside, which cause the two to stop for a second. The Guards point their pikes at them, and there's a single second where time slows down. But it's only a second. Susie grins.

“You,” she says simply, before dodging aside.

You walks in and his hands glow with crackling electricity. Within moments, it's all over. He chose the right weapon—if he'd used his fuel-beam the whole room would be covered in blazing fuel.

There is a computer terminal as desired, and Susie approaches it. Before she can do anything, however, such as hack past the password screen, You waves his hand—and they're suddenly logged in. The virus of Lord Kletus can be transmitted wirelessly now.

That's when Susie does touch the keyboard, and at once it detects her hand-print. Once more, before she can act, a message begins playing.

“So. Berkley's cousin, and the mutant's friend. You've reached the Blue Tower to rescue your Scotsman and the man himself.”

“That's Fox, right?” Mina asks. Susie shrugs, but knows it can't be the Emperor. “He doesn't seem to know what we...did. We did something...”

“At least, so S. said. We might have done something.”

“Sh. Keep listening.”

“I will give you a trial that you must pass to open their cage. Go through the door, and you will see it.”

But then, as Fox stopped speaking, the recording continued, and there was the sound of someone else interrupting. Susie knew it at once to be the voice of the Emperor. All he said was, “Wha...”

“Hm.”

A theory.

Mina has one too, but a different one. She turns to see the door that Fox referred to; and goes to open it.

Via the time dilation, Mark and Jacob are just now walking towards the exit from where they were sealed.

“Okay, She was right! We're not crazy!” Mina says at once. “How's it hanging, scumdog millionaire?”

Mark and Jacob decide actively to be very much like the reader (in a presumed hypothetical state) at this point and become very confused.

“What the fuck?” Jacob shouts. And we know he's not a shouter.

“I asked how you were doin'. We were in the neighborhood, figured we'd drop by...”

“Mina, don't be mean.”

“I can't honor my name's first syllable? C'mon. Not like you're bad company, luv, but I'm just happy to see this guy...”

“And I'm happy to see him too. And Mark, of course.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Now look. I think we're allowed to tell you that we freed you after...fighting something. That doesn't violate the clauses set up by our faith. Also, you're on an island. We chased you with You's airboat, and now you're near another Tower. Blue one this time. A likely base for the Emperor and Inspector Fox, given that we just heard a message from Fox indicating we originally had to solve some sort of puzzle or something to free you. But, because we've already freed you, we've broken his method, which I'm guessing is really important.”

“Um. Okay.”

“Wait,” Mark says. “This doesn't make a lot of sense. I feel like...something's missing. Time is messed up, and there are continuity flaws, maybe. Some popping in and out.”

“Hm. I thought about that. Guessing from some of the experience we've had when he's nearby, Fox influences time. Maybe someone's told us that already, because you're right. There's all sorts of things messing up, and I think it's because of him. Could he be a living continuity flaw? That's what I'm thinking, at least. Probably much more complicated. Involving eldritch abominations.”

“I think I was told something about eldritch abominations?” Jacob interjects. “Kul'ul? Does that name sound familiar? By the way, where's Doctor Kai?”

“We had to have faith...” Susie starts, but Mina interrupts her. 

“We had to do something that probably is linked to that weird continuity mess-up aura thing that doesn't make a lot of sense, except to Susie. Which means Doctor Kai, Klaus, and Madame Levingt are not with us. Well, except for...”

“Shush.”

“Okay. But yeah. We ran away from them, basically. Leap of faith. Apparently something is being withheld.”

“We had confirmation that the others aren't supposed to be at the final...”

“Now you shush.”

“Okay.”

“Um...” Jacob begins, but he doesn't know where to go with it. There's an awkward pause.

“Overall, here's what we know,” Susie says. “We had to leave Kai and Klaus behind. I think maybe this will set something up for the future, somehow, possibly because this has already happened to certain people involved. It's like a story to these parties, but the story is breaking because Inspector Fox exists. So we'll get intuitions that don't make any sense and things will happen not only because they have to happen the way that these parties remember it as, but because perhaps, as has been indicated a few times in ways that are hard to notice, our future or past selves are lending us hints. This ties in with the broken continuity aspect, which is making events hard for us to navigate through. I think maybe we are the parties remembering the story, perhaps shifting it around somehow from the future using abilities or devices we don't have yet.”

“Do you think the Cosmic D8 ties in?” Jacob asks. He doesn't quite comprehend but that's okay.

“No...I don't know how that links in with all this. Maybe it was rolled in a way where one of the effects made it latch onto our story? Who knows. Well, I know who knows, but...”

“Shush,” says Mina.

“Okay. Anyway. The fact that I know all this is indicative of the influence of vaster energies than we can know working on us right now. I think, overall, though,” and she pauses, looking up at the heavens. Then she sighs. “Okay, fine, screw the 'spoilers', I'm just going to say it. I think that because he has had multiple lives and is a seasoned time traveler, and because I think that She's the most important Being of all, Doctor Kai and Madame Levingt are the parties observing and manipulating the story. They have to make sure everything goes as it was told to them, or as they remember it, barring only the continuity troubles induced by Inspector Fox, who is vastly exceeding either of them. I'm thinking I and perhaps Mina only know this because Madame Levingt told us, but because She, um. Motions in ways most occult, we'll say, and because of the influence of Fox and possibly a pair of eldritch abominations, I don't know for certain what this all means, aside from an assumption that this will all be explained when it's all over.”

Mark blinks. “So. To summarize.” He clears his throat. “Time is broken, we're living in a fictional continuum, and that continuum is also broken because of a tug of war between possibly up to four Gods.”

“And the Emperor meant to capture people besides you and Jacob, because in the recording we just heard he was confused when Fox said to us that he caught you two. Did you hear the 'wha...' at the end? The Emperor is being lied to by something much stronger than him; but he'll get angry at it nonetheless. Meaning that he's probably going to die.”

There's a pause, but it's broken almost instantly by Jacob laughing. “And...we're deducing all this right now because of the influence of one of those Gods? That's...that's possible, right?”

“Most likely. Assuming what, uh...well, what Madame Levingt's other self possibly said.” Then she looks up again. “I'm really sorry. Please don't smite us.”

They are not smote.

“Pretty great explanation, given that originally I only wanted to know where I was,” Jacob then says. “I mean, by 'great', I mean 'confusing as fuck', but strangely the whole thing seems...saved in my head. I can look back at it anytime if I get confused.”

“And don't be afraid to ask questions. I think we've got some answers,” Mina adds, looking back at the metallic face of You.

Mark sighs. “Very well then. So you think the recording means that Fox is in that Blue Tower you mentioned?”

“Yes. And the Emperor will...no longer be an issue, soon. Possibly by the time we arrive, if things pan out the way I expect. Though I am going off of a limited psychological profile on Fox.”

“And...we're going to have to fight him?” Jacob asks.

“Yes.”

He sighs. “Because that went so well last time? Taking into consideration that he's probably stronger now?”

“I think we seriously broke something when we didn't let him kill you guys with his trap. I said that before. I don't know what, why, how, any of that stuff, but I just have a gut feeling.”

“Which I should say is better than blind guessing, which is something we could totally be doing right now,” Mina says.

They all think, all save You. You is elsewhere right now, separated by a wall of sorts; but You'll be back in the story soon enough. You's not entirely absent.

In the end, they only have the one thing they've just barely had all this time. It's all for one and one for all, and even in the face of total destruction a vow for such a thing will not be broken.

The ultimate battle on the penultimate island is at hand. It's time.

#118

In a much less confusing area of space, Jacob and Mark are stuck in two large, transparent cells suspended from the ceiling. They have no idea where they are, aside from in a large, boring, rectangular room somewhere. There are no windows. The energy that frees them from these cells hasn't reached them yet due to the massive time distortions coming from Inspector Fox.

“Well, this is another fine mess you've gotten us into,” Mark says.

“What?”

“Laurel and Hardy reference. Probably ancient even on your Earth.”

“Oh. Is this meant to be ironic?”

“Sarcastic.”

“Ah. Well, I got that much.”

“'Oh, you could've fooled me.'”

“What?”

“You could've replied to my sarcasm with more sarcasm. That would've been ironic.”

“Don't be stupid.”

There's a pause. “We do need to get out of here, though. They left us our weapons. Doesn't look like we can break out then.” He hits the wall with one of his metal gloves. The wall ripples with a comedic bungee chord-like sound, but nothing else happens. Mark looks down at his knife, and sighs.

“Wish I had something bigger,” he says. Suddenly, the knife seems to grow a longer handle, and below the blade, one of the Imperial rifles appears. The transformation is near-instant, and Mark nearly drops the thing as it happens. “Whoa!”

Jacob glances over and sees the change. However, he doesn't really react at all.

“Is that You's fucking laser pike?” he asks.

“I-it looks like it...” Mark replies. “How it replaced the knife, I don't know, though.”

“Well, use it. See if it can break out.”

“What if the shot reflects.”

“No, stab with it, dumbass. Pikes can be used for more than just firing lasers.”

Mark gouges the wall ahead of him, but to no avail. “Shit.”

Jacob sighs again. “Do you suppose they'll execute us?”

“Probably.”

“Damn.”

“Well, wouldn't that, y'know. Let you have a reunion with...” He trails off.

“With?”

“With your bro?”

“No, it wouldn't. I think my bro has moved on.”

“From the afterlife? Does that work?”

“I don't even know if I met my brother in the afterlife, dude. I don't remember much from when we...used that die. Did I even tell you what happened when I used that?”

“No, I don't think so. Do you still have the die?”

Jacob checks his pockets. No luck. “Nope. I don't remember who had it, really. Maybe You?”

“Not me.”

“Don't be stupid.”

“Okay. But seriously, didn't the Emperor want that? What if You or Susie or your cousin has it, and they're headed here?”

“Do we even know if the Emperor's here. Or if the others are on their way.”

“Hm. Well, I presumed things...”

“Not good. We should probably only assume the worst given the situation here.”

“Are you sure?”

Then, suddenly, there is a clicking sound one of the walls of the cage. The material of that wall detaches from the frame and lifts. It's a long drop down, but the two are free.

“Welp,” Jacob murmurs, shortly before he tries to go down.

#117

Originally, the voyage goes rather well. You is using his powers to keep the boat charged, and Susie is steering. Mina is keeping her eyes open for a trouble. About three minutes into the voyage (which leaves them still in Louisiana) they catch sight of the two capture-pods, very far in the distance. They seem to be gaining speed as they pick up, as they fade away into the horizon soon after. However, they are headed due south. And their destination seems very far.

But, as mentioned, things go s̶h̶i̶p̶s̶h̶a̶p̶e̶ s̶w̶i̶m̶m̶i̶n̶g̶l̶y̶ pretty well, for a good amount of time. They continue to pass landmasses, but it seems as if whatever presumed cataclysm narrowed down the population of this alternate America in the years leading up to the present year of 2070 has also reshaped Louisiana. They enter the open ocean much sooner than they anticipated. And as they do so, the waves seem calm. The boat perseveres. Things are as yet still good.

And yet, when the ocean is reached, there is no talking. It's not like there needs to be more focus on steering or something—it's just that the ocean itself commands a lack of speech. And this is when the dreaming begins.

The Ocean of Dreams is a makeshift name lurking at the back of the party's heads, except for that of You. Somewhere, in a familiar way, You is having a vision of something You's seen before. You has the name in Your head as well, but not in Your physical head. Elsewhere.

The name “Ocean of Dreams” is meant to recall some false cliché of an ultimate imaginary locale, not unlike “The Thicket”. The Ocean of Dreams is described, in its ideal form, of being made of pink puffs of sleep-stuff, wherein candy fish swim. Yet it can also be an Ocean of Nightmares; black as Hell, deep as night, and churning with the force of a galloping pony, suddenly now no tired girl's fancy. The Ocean of Dreams, as they enter it, begins to embody its Nightmare aspect, and that is when they begin to all feel odd. And scared. As odd and scared as Jacob was when he walked through The Thicket and saw a forgotten glimmer of Mark, just as Mark came across Susie and Jacob both.

Susie privately notes the shift of the Ocean, and as a pirate-storm crackles open overhead, her thoughts drift back in time, giving her faith in something, and belief in this penultimate “final trial”. Of course, these thoughts falling back in time are indicative of closeness not only to the spatial mass of Inspector Fox, but to the chronal mass of someone else, someone who hasn't manifested yet.

At the exact halfway point to the Blue Tower, where the Emperor waits, about an hour has passed. You must be somehow enhancing the speed of the boat—or else time is being abbreviated for the sake of the journey. Mina notes that, just as it was in her own travel through The Thicket, things seem to be moving too fast, and as such it all feels unnatural. But the trial is coming. Nothing can stop it.

It lunges out of the water with a terrible cry that shakes the stars.

Mina gasps and crumples to the ground as dozens of names spin through her head: she only catches those of Namazu, Ketos, Ceirain, Labbu, Cadborosaurus, Ravgga, and Dagon. This beast—simultaneously a shark, a squid, a whale, and an octopus, alongside any other terrible thing of the deep—is intended to be the literal archetype of all the beasts of the water. It's a living idea. Thus the battle is a mental one, but it is on the Ocean of Dreams. Therefore, all things are real, and even shadows can incarnate their stories. This creature—the trial whale—happens to be the largest shadow in the sea.

Susie knows now that she was right. And in response to that knowledge, she lifts her gun and opens fire at the beast. It rises again, dwarfing the sun in its hugeness. Her brain instantly scans it, and sees several things in its private mythos: and one of them is a phallic symbol. The entire quest is peppered with horrible masculinity. They have to defeat a penis-shaped beast in order to reach a giant Tower and free two men. And in that second, she instantly knows the riddle of their benefactor.

Mina senses it too, of course, and the idea of having to face a thing like this just makes her angry. But it's meant to draw out that anger, the trial. So she instantly draws her magic guns—which possess, of course, a shape that doesn't help this whole affair—and starts shooting.

Of course, as they unravel the riddle, that's already killing the thing. In command of power in the form of knowledge, and in the form of having overwhelmed the idea of the phallus, the two ignore You and find their weapons do incredibly damage to this giant whale. (A sperm whale, naturally.) It is not a terrible thing. It's a resolution to a big problem. And as they realize this, the Ocean grants them gifts that make their blows even harder. The evil in the whale dies away, to become something more equal. More manageable. It's a metaphor, and now as the Ocean opens up the gifts they can pick up the metaphor and use it.

The battle is much more fierce than can be described here. Rest assured, it involves much flailing and churning of fluids, and a bitter red sky that's also evidence of that future something that isn't here yet. The battle has to be difficult, but it goes much faster and much easier given the nature of the fighters. The whale was never meant to be defeated by man. It's a sign of absolute power. And so it's being conquered by something else.

The battle, from an external perspective, seems to go very quickly. That's because Mina and Susie are very clever, and, as we have mentioned, have already solved the riddle. This could be the product of another chronal echo—of a future version of themselves sending the answer back in time, at this time-vortex, creating a paradox. But they are also just very naturally smart, and have senses that their other friends don't.

When at last the beast is shrunken by the battle—not torn apart, not broken by violence, but equalized—Susie holds it in her hand. She senses magic flow into her, and then suddenly feels a kinship beyond even language with Mina. It's like a kiss or a wink. The two are reborn as sorceresses, and now as Susie holds the whale-magic in her hand, she converts it into a rawer form and knows what she has to do with it.

She unlocks Jacob and Mark's prison cells in the Blue Tower. How that happens, exactly, neither of them know. But we'll get that in a bit.

“Really?” Mina says. “We do all that and our fate is to...stick a key in a hole? That's terrible.”

“I'm glad you understood, though,” says the voice of someone invisible.

#116

“The path ahead won't be easy. They've chosen the hardest one of all—that of the warrior. Which gladdens me.” A quick suck-in of breath. “But they'll need an extra burst of heroism in order to disrupt his ritual. They'll need a penultimate trial, one to follow the battle, but one before the last. A magic that they'll know to direct.”

“How will they know how to direct it?”

The second speaker is looked upon with scorn.

Deep below the sea, something from You's vision stirs. It is directly from the dream; dreams have been powerful in this quest, and now they are needed more than ever.

#115

“What the fuck was that?” Mina and Susie asked at the same time. It was a miracle, to be sure, but if it was, it came too late. Only minutes into the battle—which now seemed pretty decently resolved, in all honesty—and Jacob and Mark had been captured, taken to an unknown location in the south. The battle seemed intended only for the capture of members of the group. In reality, the devices that had seized Jacob and Mark had been intended—by the Emperor—for Madame Levingt and You, but they were blind. But the Empire had underestimated Madame Levingt's power and foresight.

At least, so the official story (the one told to the Emperor) goes. There are rituals to be done, and there are other rituals at work besides those of Fox. An ultimate push was needed. Now there was true urgency; no time to lose. There was pity in the air for the young people, but it was anonymous, and wasn't sensed.

Susie and Mina had returned to the bridges, and met up with each other.

“I saw Jacob get...”

“And I saw Mark...”

“Damn.”

They look over, then, at where the drawbridge You had burnt once was. You had returned to the other side of the chasm, no doubt after having sensed that lack of enemies. He seemed to beckon for them to cross over and join him.

Mina pointed to the canal. “We can't get over there, Yorick! You burned the bridge, remember?”

You pauses for a second, and then seems to be comprehend. However, his reaction is to turn and leave. Mina looks over at Susie.

“Did I offend him?” she asks.

“I, uh...I think he's beyond being offended at this point,” Susie replies. Then she says quietly, though Mina can hear her: “I know he still knows what he's doing. He always does, even like this.”

As if in response, You comes running back, carrying a very large object over his head. It's his foosball table airboat. It had been stored all this time, in a paid covered dock, and it's survived the bombing somehow. It looks like it's in working order, too; though it lacks a battery, You could maybe power it up using his new fuel abilities.

“Oh my God,” Mina says then. She just stares at it for a second, until at last he sets it down, jostling a charred Crimson corpse as it touches the water.

And suddenly, the action runs out; the clock slows to its ordinary tick; and the battle is over.

“Are we supposed to follow in that?” Mina whispers to Susie. Susie says nothing, and climbs inside.

“Wait. What are you doing...?”

“I am about to go with You. With him. To rescue your cousin and our friend.”

“You're just...jumping in, then?”

“Yes.”

“They're headed south! What state are we in? Assuming your America followed some basic history guidelines...”

“I've been told that in the 20^th Century, they called this place...Louisiana.”

Mina's hands, which had normally been gesticulating, dropped to her sides. “Great, Louisiana, and New Cenabum—Cenabum being what? The Roman name for Orleans, I'd guess, something like that...?” She sighs. They're in Nahlins. And south from here is maybe a bit more of Louisiana, and after that...

“You do know where this will take us, right? Like, I trust Yorick, he's your friend, but alas, poor him, he's no engineer. He...said he made this out of a foosball table, right?”

“That he did.”

She computes some stuff in her head, and the nerdy girl who had never dreamed of having her school attacked by undead cyborgs came back as those computations entered. This girl had the spade to bury the action heroine that had just been out for the last several days.

“Come on.”

Susie was holding her hand out.

Then Mina laughed.

“You must be his brother in some way. If he'd been the one kidnapped by his father, you would've been the one building airboats, fighting cultists, trusting sorcerers. You would've rescued him just as easily as he rescued you.”

“Probably better. And don't forget. He is still at stake.”

Mina pauses. Some tension bleeds out of her. “You think going and saving Jake the Dolt and Mark the Hipster will get Yorick's soul back?”

“I get the impression it will win us favor with those who hold his soul. Don't forget. They have a backup plan.”

Another pause. “Is this why we're...starting to take off, without telling the Doctor or anyone?” She's already gotten in the boat, incidentally.

“They'll catch up in The House once that's fixed if I'm wrong. But. I don't believe I'm wrong. There's a trial ahead for the sake of the soul. Or, the soul is being withheld for some reason. We just need to have faith. Maybe having faith will compound whatever award we have up ahead waiting for us. At least, that's the impression I'm getting out of You. Of him. I can feel something about him, being close to him as I am, and it's...challenging.”

“You think you know something about one of them?”

“Of course. And if my suppositions are correct—we need to have faith.”

As the ship begins to head south down the canal, Mina smirks. “I'll put faith in you, girl. Don't know why. Maybe it's just because I just saw two sides of me, and I'm picking the one I like. Maybe in more ways than one.” Her expression widens in greater humor. “For a farm girl, you have soft hands.”

“Don't.”

“Ah, but you're smiling.”

“No.” But she is. “Um...are you...shipping?”

“What better place for ships than a ship?”

“You is right there.”

Mina's about to make a joke at You's expense, but suddenly can't do it.

“Well, at least...whoever you're putting faith in. At least They sponsor also having faith in humor.”

“It's a wide gulf we're entering, friend. I'm sure our benefactor knows we need it.”

And indeed, having approved all this, She does.