… Al…?   … Alister, wake up…   … AL!!   “Zzz--snrk! Hrmmuh…?” Alister snapped awake with a start, blinking rapidly as his vision gradually un-blurred itself.  “... did I seriously fall asleep?”   “Yeah, you did,” Alexander gently responded as he wiped away the drool Alister had slobbered onto his shoulder.  “It was in the middle of me healing your injuries and whatnot.” “No surprise, your healing’s kinda soothing… Oh jeez!, I didn’t miss anyone’s arguments, did I Alex?  Sheesh, I had the strangest dream….”   “About our writer procrastinating on writing this post to do other things like design OCs and Adoptables that aren’t selling at the moment due to potentially bad timing and the economic/sociopolitical climate of his world?” Alexander blurted out flatly.   “Saw into my dream, huh?” Alister assumed, pretty much used to Alexander’s myriad abilities by now.   “More like he’s letting us know through his typing right now.” “... … I beg your finest fucking pardon…?!”   “Erm, nevermind that,” Alexander waved it off.   “Alex, please, we can’t just lean on the fourth wall to talk about recent events in our writers’ reality and just play it off like it’s nothing!” “Well, better than putting our writer on a mini trial for his procrastination that ends with him blowing a hole through the fourth wall to escape punishment and procrastinate more--” “ALEX!” “FINE, fine, I’ll stop alluding to the scrapped warm-up our writer had originally planned to include in this post,” Alexander scoffed.  “In any event, I think we’re done warming up and are ready to proceed,” he motioned toward a simple wooden door before them… …?   “A door…?” Alister blinked, realizing there was no sign of Avatar Resolution, Lydia, or Koishi anywhere.  “But I thought we were having a hearing?  Alex, what’s going… on…?” he turned toward his left to address his fellow lombax, only to find nothing where he stood.  “What the…?”  Alister frantically glanced around, finding that there was no one within sight--just himself and the wooden door within the void of Epiloguous.   “Where did everyone…?” Alister uttered in worry, taking another hard look at the wooden door before him.  He proceeded to study it carefully, first with his eyes, then with his hands… he would’ve then proceeded with his OmniWrench, yet it--and the Mr. Zurkon inhabiting it--was as conspicuously absent as everything and everyone else.  Regardless, he found the door to simply be A Door™, and there was nothing apparently special about it, and yet he hesitated to open it… but only for a moment, before grabbing hold of the knob and--with a quick glance at where the hinges would be--proceeded to push the door open.   “... my house…??” Alister blurted as he walked into what appeared to be his home back on Torren IV, still as somewhat disorganized and messy as he had left it.  “What am I doing here?” he uttered as he glanced around, subconsciously avoiding making eye contact with the various diagrams and blueprints plastered all over one of the walls.  “Am I in one of the Pathways again…?”  He glanced out the nearby balcony, noting the same featureless void of Epiloguous outside.  “What even….”  Looking around some more, he noticed two more things: firstly, that the door he had come through had vanished, and secondly, that a different door--white and metallic--had taken its place.  “... guess I’m doing a bit now,” Alister rolled his eyes as he strolled past an out-of-place grandfather clock to push this new door open… but gave one last lingering glance back at his living quarters before doing so.  “... I should get this place cleaned up, once I’m… back….”  With a wistful sigh, he walked through the doorway…   … which led to the inside of his living quarters in the Divine’s Castle.  “Ugh, great, this place again,” the lombax groaned with irritation.  Not that it was a *terrible* place visually--it was certainly nicer than his home, to say the least--but the location in general held some less-than-stellar memories for him.  Still, a thought occurred to him: “... might as well see if anyone’s around….”  He approached the actual door to this room--while being oblivious to the egg timer on a nearby sidetable--and attempted to open it, but found that no part of it would budge or jiggle.  “For the love of--”  He proceeded to bang on the door furiously, yet it felt more like hitting the stone wall around it.  “HEEEEYYY, anyone out there?!”  Not waiting for a response, Alister ran towards one of the windows, which were just as resilient as the door was, and likewise only revealed the pale void that he saw in the previous “room”.  Heaving an exasperated sigh that screamed “Gee, lemme guess, I gotta go through the door that appears next to get outta here,” Alister turned on his heel and approached the newly-materialized door that looked like it belonged to a child’s bedroom and angrily pushed it open…   … to find himself standing in one of the hallways aboard The Inch of Will.  “Oh good, all the doorways are open,” Alister sighed with relief, “maybe I’ll be able to find someone here… when’d they put that there…?” he added in confusion, taking note of the calico cat clock ticking away on the far end of the hallway.  Shaking of his curiosity, Alister took the first doorway on his left, where he would find himself standing in the middle of the barren Shadow Realm.  “... nope,” the lombax peeped as he pulled himself out--having kept one hand on the door frame just in case some fuckass shit like this happened--and brought himself back safely to The Inch of Will’s hallway… or so he thought, as he would get a faceful of the sand from the Desert Seth blown into his face.  “BLEGH, PTOOEY, COUGH, SNEEZE, GAG, etc., etc.,” he verbalized irritably with sand in his mouth as he stumbled backwards through the same doorway, tripping on a root and landing on his back.  Blinking the sand out of his eyes--an easy task, thankfully, for a species known for living on arid planets--Alister’s vision cleared enough to show that he had stumbled onto the outer layer of the Sphere Forest of the Periphery.  “Oh, this just keeps getting BETTER…!”  Not wanting to spend another moment in that forest, Alister quickly scrambled to his feet and dashed through the still-open doorway, only to end up inside…   “... the Orvus Chamber,” Alister shuddered, a chill running through his entire body at the sight of the location of his duel to the death against Ratchet, as well as the place where he had given his life to save his universe… from himself.  Why was he here, of all places, and why were there various doors and timepieces scattered throughout??  It was as if the doors had all congregated to this exact location, waiting for Alister to pry them open, and the timepieces were voicing their impatience with his hesitance, filling the air with their collective, synchronized ticking.  It was all becoming too much for Alister.  “No, no no no, I’m not doing this--” he protested as he turned to leave the way he came, only to find said way had vanished without a trace.   “... th- this is just a dream, right…?” Alister implored to whomever would listen, which he hoped was anyone other than himself.  “Of course it is, it has to be….”  He clasped his hands over his ears, attempting in vain to block out the ticking of all the clocks and timers around him.  “Or is someone playing a trick on me… an illusion…?” he briefly considered, thinking back to when he had fallen under similar situations due to Sayer or the Madara.  He almost instinctively lashed out to try and strike whomever had him trapped in this “illusion”, but the memory of him almost killing Alexander while under Sayer’s spell flashed through his mind, causing him further headache and disorientation.  “Stop it… st-stop, please… just make it stop, someone… ANYONE….”     This ticking was going to drive him insane… at least if he went through one of the doors, he could give his ears a rest. Those were his thoughts as he gingerly motioned to push open the nearest door--  *BUMP.*  … okay, let’s try that again--  *BUMP.* … … … …-- *BUMP-BUMP-BUMP-BUMP-BUMP-BUMP-BUMP-BUMP-BUMP--*  … maybe the ticking *was* getting to him, because he couldn’t understand *why* the door wouldn’t open for him--oohhhhh… Umbris would have laughed if he were there.   “... ugh.  “Remember, Alister: this time we *pull*, not push”,” Alister recited in a mocking imitation of Umbris’s voice while imagining the snarky look on the Neo-Spacian’s face. “Fuckin’ hell, that was ONE time….”  Irritated as he was, remembering that moment did alleviate a bit of Alister’s anxiety as he opened the door the correct way.   “... fucking HELL…!!”  The alleviation was short-lived as he not only found more doors within what appeared to be the ballroom from Alexander’s Soul Room, but just as many timepieces, still ticking away loudly, and louder than before.  “!!!!!!”  Briefly forgetting his vocabulary, Alister opted for screaming at the top of his lungs as he attempted to remove and/or destroy the timepieces in the ballroom, but even as his hands and knuckles became bruised and bloodied in his frenzy, it was to no avail--they were all as immovable and impervious as the door and windows in his Divine quarters a few rooms back.  Seeing that violence against inanimate objects got him absolutely nowhere and nothing except physically hurt and on the verge of an anxiety attack--   “A--ALEEEEX!!!!” Having found his ability to form coherent words and names once more, Alister began calling out for anyone he knew, hoping for anyone to show up and help him, or even just EXIST in the same space as him--hell, even *Sayer* would’ve been a welcome sight-- FFFFPPPPPFFFFFTTT HA HA HA HA HA HAAAA, WOOOOOOOO~ heh, yeah, who’re we kidding.  Where were we?  Oh, right, Alister’s desperation, eh-HRMMM…    Realizing that no one was in the ballroom, Alister frantically started opening doors and entering “rooms” leading to familiar locations he had been to, while screaming out for his allies.     “ALEX!! ALEX, WHERE ARE YOU?!  UMBRIS!!! JEANNE!!!” he cried out as he stumbled through the Shadow Realm Safehouse.   “RATCHET!! CLANK!!!  ZURKON!!” he exclaimed as he made a brief detour through L E R N A’s Barrier. “RED!!  RED, PLEASE, I NEED YOU!!!” he pleaded while running through the illusory city created by The Madara’s Infinite Tsukuyomi.   “CEREZA!!  GABRIEL!!” he howled, making a mad dash down a corridor resembling a mishmash of the three Pathways of Origin.  As he continued his frantic search for aid, and the environments of each “room” progressively becoming more warped, twisted and overlaid atop each other, Alister’s screams joined with the ever-growing reverberating cacophony of the ticking clocks, becoming even louder but also gradually dropping in tempo until the vibrations felt like something akin to the strides of an invisible giant slowly approaching Alister’s location, threatening to crush him underfoot any moment no matter where he went.   Eventually, enervated and delirious, Alister feebly opened one last door, seeing nothing but pitch black inside.  He lingered in the doorframe, too exhausted physically and mentally to move forward, backward, anyward.  Weak, labored breathing.  Tired, lightless eyes.  Arms limp.  Legs that could give out    at    any    moment   … … …   … … … whether he fell in or was pulled into the void, he couldn’t tell… and at this point, he couldn’t bring himself to care about that, nor about whether he was currently falling, floating, or whatever else.     The act of thinking just felt so exhausting, so he simply thought of nothing, for several seconds… minutes… hours…?  He didn’t care for the length of time, really….   … … … time… … …   … … … time… … …   … … … time … … … it would be so nice… to not have to worry about “time”... wouldn’t it… … …?   … … …    … … …   … … …   … … … or about anything else, really… … … everyone else should be fine, right…?  Without… him… … … …?   … … … “without him”?  Why would such a lonely, depressing thought cross his mind at a time like this…?  Yet as said thought did, he could feel his body shudder with a few sobs, tears rolling down his cheeks.  Through his tears, he noticed a faint, pale blue glow begin to bloom before him; wisps of light danced and wove around each other and this slowly intensifying radiance.  Alister’s eyes were transfixed upon this somewhat familiar glow, unable to look away from it; it seemed inviting--comforting, even--and yet he felt a sense of finality from it--   “... oh… now I get it,” Alister thought to himself, the tone of his inner voice a mix of disbelief and solemn acceptance.  “This is… a return to Origin… … the end of… my story… … how miserable….”  He weakly blinked a couple times.  “After all that noise I made throughout this journey… about making it out of this mess along with the others… … and I go and… and pass away… … just like that… … what a bummer… … I would’ve at least liked to have known exactly when it was gonna happen… … would’ve been nice to at least have some time to say goodbye to everyone… ….”  Sulking sorrowfully, Alister willed himself into a fetal pose as he drifted closer toward the “Cradle” of Origin.  “... what now…?  Do I just… cross over?  Become one with Origin…?  Would it even be possible to just… not… …?  Maybe I could get a deal as a ghost: haunt the living… move stuff around the room… pester people with whispered claims of things I know nothing about… … … I’d probably risk getting exorcised, but… wouldn’t be too bad, I guess….”  It was a silly thought, even during a moment like this, but at least it helped stall his reunion with Origin, even if for a while….   “... met with a terrible fate again, I see.”   That voice… so familiar….  “You know that your story--your life--was meant to end, and yet… part of you still yearns to exist, still desires to live, even as you inch closer towards the light of Origin.  You know why, don’t you?”  He could… “feel” another light shine behind him, feel a familiar presence approach him--with desperation, but also hope.  “You believed in a brighter future, a new possibility, not just for yourself but others as well, even willing to avert the tragedy that befell you, no matter what it took.  You still wish for that life, don’t you?  To continue from where you left off?”   “... … …”  Alister had been through this scene before, hadn’t he?  It felt like a lifetime ago when she first approached him, even as he was on the verge of slipping away… “... here to give me… one more chance,” he croaked weakly, turning to face the figure gliding toward him, framed in this new, bright light.  “... are you… Isamy…?”   “Only if you’re willing to accept,” a teary-eyed Isamy called out, still a ways away from the lombax.  “You *can* accept, can’t you…?!”   “… if I can… if I *do* … what will happen?  To me?  And to you?”   “I’m not the one who’s important here, Mr. Azimuth.”   “You sell yourself short, my dear….”   “I’m serious, Alister!  You still have a chance, and I want to make sure you get it--it’s the least I can do for dragging you into this hell in the first place!” “Ugh, please… if anything your “father” is the reason we’re both in this mess….”   “Oh, yeah, no, full agree,” Isamy rolled her eyes in agreement, “but seriously, Alister, you’re running out of time--even if you don’t fall into Origin, your body will fully expire if you don’t wake up soon enough!”   “... … …”  If even this girl still had so much hope for him--being so willing to risk what remains of her own existence just to save him from the brink of oblivion, just so he could have a chance at a happy ending… “... heh… aw, what the hell.”  With a small morsel of renewed strength blossoming within himself, Alister reached a hand out towards Isamy.  “What kind of guy would I be to disappoint so many people after coming so far… now c’mon, Isamy… Isabella… Ameliorer…time for us to get our “happy ending”...!”     … no, not an “ending” …   … a new “beginning”.                 Alister came to with a shrill gasp of air.  He couldn’t remember when exactly he had lost consciousness, but even as he worked desperately to reinflate his lungs and get his heart pumping again--all while examining the varied expressions of grave concern on the rest of Team Lombax’s faces--the answer to “why” it had happened was fresh in his mind: “I… I was… dead just now….”   “You…,” a deeply shaken Alexander gulped, struggling with whether he should be relieved or mortified… hell, even livid was an option the lombax was considering even as he fought to keep his emotions in check. “... y-yes, you were… for roughly a minute or so….”   “Longer than that, even,” Jeanne clarified, likewise looking close to tearing Alister a new one now that her own relief had come and gone.  “Somewhere between you passing out in Red’s arms and Lydia opening the Door.  You’re lucky you revived when you did--any moment later and you would’ve likely *stayed* dead--”   “--I tried to find you in your Soul Room,” Alexander sniffed, fighting back the urge to cry, scream, lose control…. “ I tried… to catch up with you, but… y-you went somewhere that I… I-I couldn’t follow… I-I thought… we had lost you… for good, this time….”   “... so I… never did make it to the podium….” Alister nodded, realizing that almost everything he had “experienced” after taking out Alpha was merely a dying hallucination… or was it something more…?  “... and the others made their case?” “Just Lydia, ultimately,” Gabriel responded.  “She’s one with the Key of Origin now, so to speak--that being, the Phoenix, is like an extension of her will.”   “I see…,” Alister nodded again, staring at the brilliant figure standing before the Door.  “... … it’s for the best,” he relented with a weak smile while basking in the Phoenix’s radiance. “Sad as it is for Lydia to never return to her home, her being the one to open the Door… this feels right, somehow.”   “Though speaking of things that “feel right”,” Umbris interjected, “something about this doesn’t.”   “How so…?”   “I mean, you *died*, right?  If memory serves, shouldn’t that mean you would get recorded into the watch and another loop begins?”   “It… wouldn’t have,” Alister sighed. “I had Orvus deactivate the Return-to-Start feature of the Orvus Apparatus, to make sure Alpha would be trapped inside the watch with me after I uhhh…, used the distortion keeping me alive to reconnect him to the Cycle of Life….”   “YOU WHAT?!?!”  It wouldn’t matter to specify who said it, as too many voices buffeted Alister with enough force his ears and fur swished in the wind.   “WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO RECKLESS, ALISTER?!?!” Red bellowed, his anger being the only thing keeping his tears from bursting.  “Even for YOU that’s just… SO MUCH!!!”   Alister paused for a moment, knowing Red’s anger must’ve been due to the lombax having died while in the dragon’s arms. “Red’s right; we’ve already almost lost you a billion times now! How could you do this when we’re so close?!” Ratchet demanded.   “Let’s leave those questions as “rhetorical” for a moment,” Bayonetta broke in in an attempt to keep some order and prevent the group from verbally—or physically—dogpiling Alister, her curiosity over another issue far outweighing any concern or anger she herself may have had at that moment.  “Your dying just now was from you using most, if not all, of the distortion inside of you to give Alpha back his mortality.  If that’s true, how *did* you come back to life?”   Alister blinked hard, recalling the last bit of his “dying hallucination”.  “Is-Isamy… she …,” he stuttered, holding the hand still clutching his pocketwatch close to his chest.  “She must’ve--no… no, she *did* save me … again….”   “Her spirit…?” Alexander gasped quietly, glancing at Alister’s pocketwatch.  He took another moment to inhale a calming breath, steadying his nerves.   “Even in death, she’s obsessed with him,” Umbris rolled his eyes.  “But I guess she thinks as most of us do--that you deserve to see this through to the end.”   “... *both* of you, by the looks of it,” Kyros spoke up, reluctantly killing the mood with an observation: “unless lombaxes are capable of reproducing via mitosis, then how do we explain *this*…?”   “... what.”    Team Lombax collectively blinked as they all turned toward the direction of Kyros’s gesture, seeing what appeared to be an almost exact copy of their Alister--only differentiated by the small scar over his left eye--sitting just a few feet away from the group.  This “copy” gave a nonchalant wave to the gawking group.  “Took you guys long enough to notice.  I mean, I know you guys had your hands full with the actual me being a corpse for roughly a minute and all, but *damn*,” the copy snarked with a wry, friendly smirk.   Most of Team Lombax (plus Kyros) was frozen in place, completely flabbergasted--even Bayonetta and Jeanne couldn’t disguise their utter shock at what they were witnessing.  Only Alexander was relatively composed enough to (as calmly as possible) examine both of the Alisters while the others were busy choking on their words.  “... it’s your Altister, Al,” he concluded, sensing that both Alisters shared a common connection beyond just appearances: “you two share parts of the same soul… so, disabling the “Return-To-Start” function of the Orvus Apparatus doesn’t prevent it from creating a new After Image, complete with a portion of its bearer’s soul… huh, no wonder an Altister like Aligore can exist, it all makes sense now…!”   “Yeah, that’s how it works,” Alister’s Altister nodded.  “I was gonna make my presence known, to hopefully try and put you guys at ease over… well, my death and all, but it looks like it would’ve caused issues regardless, long story short,” he added with a glance at the vibrating Team Lombax (and Kyros). “... so, you’re literally me,” Alister remarked, raising a hand to gently caress the side of his Altister’s face.  “Everything I’ve experienced in this timeline, up to this point….”   “That’s right,” the Altister replied tenderly, copying and reciprocating the gesture.  “We’re two halves of a whole, you and I.”   “... this is so weird,” Alister chuckled softly, growing misty-eyed as he and his Altister proceeded to warmly embrace each other.  “But this… I think I needed this for the longest time….”   “Yeah… yeah we did… something that says… “I’ll be okay now”… ….”  The Altister radiated a warm glow which spread over Alister’s body a second later, before both the Altister and the glow faded, leaving Alister alone, hugging himself with a teary-eyed smile.   “That was quick,” Orvus chimed in as he appeared suddenly next to Alexander.  “Alister and his After Image reunited after only a brief moment.  Shame we may never get to see what “Altister Skill” he possessed seeing as he only existed for a few minutes, but—“   “—with all due respect, Orvus,” Alexander gently interrupted the Zoni, “I believe now isn’t the best time for scientific observations.” “No no, you’re absolutely right, Mr. Zenith,” Orvus conceded as he and Alexander watched Ratchet rush over toward Alister to hug the elder lombax, followed by a tiny Red.  “Now should be a time of celebrating victories big and small, followed by what should hopefully be temporary partings,” he added as he glanced over toward the Door of Origin, noting that Bayonetta and Jeanne had gone to see Hapshiel off--knowing them, the Umbra Witches were likely admitting that fighting alongside an angel was an oddly refreshing change of pace, and that they wouldn’t be completely against having an amicable interaction with him another time, though also warning that they’d be just as likely to get especially rough with him… which Hapshiel wouldn’t be opposed to in the slightest.  “The Phoenix will have a lot of work to do--as will I--but knowing enough about her, I’d say she’ll be able to help you all sort things out neatly.”   ““As will”... oh, right,” Alexander remembered something the Zoni had mentioned before.  “You’re going to prune the majority of the timelines to keep The Great Clock in check… and what of those Altisters?  What will happen to them…?”   “Well, that’s up to them, really; most of them are technically disconnected from their timelines already, so they *could*, as a possible example, ask to be reincarnated as something else, or perhaps be migrated as they are to another universe.  Of course, those such as Zayon will need to be returned to their respective Alister and timeline so they both may function properly--ohh!, especially HIM!  That one needs to be returned to the Prime Timeline if we hope to have that stabilized.” “Pr-Pime Timeline…?!” Umbris stammered.  “You mean “THE” main timeline of Ratchet’s world?!”   “As in the one that follows the game series proper?” Gabriel surmised.   “Yes, that’s exactly what he means.”  Another Altister approached Alex, Umbris, Gabriel and Orvus, this one dressed in Alister’s original Praetorian Guard armor.   “Hold on… Alpha-Romeo?” Alexander blinked hard as he somehow recognized the Altister.  “Are… Are you telling us you’re--”   “General Alister Azimuth,” Alpha-Romeo declared, assuming a kneeling salute as he recited his credentials, almost like second nature to him, “Four-Bolt Magistrate of the Praetorian Guard, elder councilman for the Center for Advanced Lombax Research… and also unofficially known as “Alister Prime”.”   “... hoe-lee shit,” Umbris responded in flat amazement, “so Alpha really did take a tour to the Prime Timeline.” “Pretty sure that was all but confirmed already,” Alex retorted, but paused in a moment of realization.  “W-Wait, that means when you’re returned--”   “--yes,” Alpha-Romeo/Alister Prime nodded solemnly, “and I’ve accepted and been prepared for that long ago, before all the time loops and Pathways shenanigans--the rest of me shall finally be put to rest, as it should be… but *your* Alister,” Alister Prime added as Alister, Ratchet and Red joined their discussion, “he has the chance now, to begin a new chapter of *his* life.”   “But, the distortion,” Ratchet began, “is it still keeping him-” He paused, looking at his Alister. “Is it still keeping you alive? Or did you die when you shared it with Alpha? Did Isamy give you a new one or just a few more minutes? Or did you going all “Steven Universe” with your Altister fix it? HOW are you alive?! Are you going to die again or what?!”   “Calm DOWN, Ratchet!!” Alister and Alister Prime barked in unison.     “... quite frankly, I’ve no idea,” Alister admitted uneasily.  “For all we know it could very well be “all of the above”--Isamy herself was kinda dodging the question about what her helping me would do to her… I can’t pinpoint her inside the Apparatus since that all happened… … did she… give up her existence just to pull me back…?”   “Probably be the first good thing she ever did,” Red said sullenly.   “... I know she put all of us through hell, in one way or another,” Alister acknowledged somberly, “... but for what it’s worth, she deserves some closure, too… unless she… already… … … … Aligore.” “Yes, General?” the Lombax/Boss Monster hybrid answered, appearing closeby.   (“How the hell are all these Altisters appearing? Are they breeding under the cabinet?” Umbris asked Alex as an aside.)   “... first off, just “Alister” is fine,” Alister requested.  “I really haven’t been a “general” for such a long time, have I?  That said… I have a question for you,” he continued, noting the patches of wet fur under the General King’s eyes.  “If I recall, Isamy was hanging out with you last in the Apparatus, so you would’ve been the last to see her before I did, so…,” he trailed off, realizing that Aligore was on the verge of tears for what must’ve been the second time within the quarter of the hour.  “... what happened…?”   “Isamy, she…,” Aligore wavered, choking back sobs as tears welled in his eyes, “... she… wanted to spend some time with me… spend it as “a normal child”... I-I did what I could to make sure she was h-happy during the short time I got to spend with her… … But then… but then you….”   “... I was dying,” Alister nodded in acknowledgement. “And the Apparatus was in the process of creating my Altister….”   “She said… she said she had someplace to be--had to leave urgently “before it was too late”... she thanked me for the brief moment of… of happiness that I could grant her… oh GOOOOOODS…!!” Having reached his limit, Aligore broke down sobbing, inconsolably heartbroken over having lost yet another child he had come to care for, even if their time together was short and finite.   “... … of course… that’s why she dodged my question before,” Alister realized as he watched Aligore slowly vanish, retreating back to the Apparatus.  “She didn’t want me worrying about her… … because--”   “... “a new beginning”, huh…?”   He remembered feeling her hand clasped around his.   “That sounds nice… and it’s sweet that you believe I deserve one, too, even after everything….”    He could remember feeling her pull him towards her, and away from the Brink of Origin.   “... but, you needn’t worry about me anymore.”   … she wasn’t just pulling him away from Origin--she was taking his place, throwing herself towards that pale blue glow.   “... maybe in some other life, if we--my original selves--and I had lived differently… normally….”   He tried to grasp for her again, futilely, even as she drifted beyond his reach.   “... no… this was the life I needed to live….”   The last he saw of her--before she vanished within Origin, and before he would reawaken in the living world--was a simple smile.   “And you know what?  I’m glad you were a part of it….   … now, go live yours, Alister Azimuth….”   “... she made her choice,” Alister solemnly whispered. Then think no more of it.    Not so much said as felt, the words seemed to have come from Phoenix, who though faceless, seemed to be paying attention to Team Lombax.     Her choice was made long ago, but now, many more remain.    Raising up the burning representation of a hand, Alister’s pocket watch floated towards it in a golden bubble, hanging above the figure’s incendiary digits.   Inside this watch are tens of thousands of your own past shades, each one from a different timeline where you failed, aside from a precious few. Obviously, some of them need to return to their timelines to correct it. What will be done with the others?   “According to Orvus, they’ve been discussing what is to be done among themselves, sooo… I dunno, you could ask them directly?” Alister shrugged.   Very well. Then, first thing’s first….   Gesturing slightly, 2 lights, one white, one red, floated out of the watch, joining the group as phantasmal forms of Zayon and Reid appeared before them.   The Altister known as Zayon, and his partner Reid, née Red the Dragon. You stand as one of the few who have generated a hole in your universe, due to an untimely mix-up with the pocket watch. As such, you will be returned to the time when Red first collapsed from having his soul extracted by the Orvus Apparatus. All I ask is thus: do you wish to remember what happened here? Or would you rather treat this affair like some bad dream; a fleeting memory that will be subsumed into your subconscious?   “... our being here,” Zayon started slowly, “was because I felt I had made a mistake somewhere, and I couldn’t foresee the consequences of that mistake until it was too late, and I despaired over those consequences silently, until it became too much to bear….”  He gave a shivering sigh, the memory of what happened that resulted in him and Reid being trapped in the Apparatus playing in his mind from different angles.  He silently trembled for a moment, until a scaly, clawed hand reached over to wrap around his, at which moment he felt more at ease.  He gave Reid a loving smile, which the dragon returned.  “... but I won’t regret this love I have, and the life we made together, imperfect though it may be.  As for the product of that love, our dear Rex… I hope to one day make things right with him--whether he wishes to forgive me or not is his right to choose, but I won’t give up on him, not for as long as I live.  I don’t think I can forget about what happened here, because forgetting means making all those mistakes again.  And I’m tired of making mistakes….”   “It’s a good thing you said that,” Reid began, “because I think I was going to throttle you if you chose to forget. Now, at least, we can take back what we’ve learned, and build a healthier life and mental state past what brought both of us here in the first place. And maybe, with some luck,” he said, giving the subtlest of winks to Phoenix, “we might find out where Rex is, and at the least, we can at least say we’re sorry. After then we can do the best thing we can for him, and get out of his life completely. Because, my love, I think we’ve interfered with enough lives as it is,” he resolved, gesturing with his head to our Alister and Red. “I mean, don’t rush out on our account,” Red chuckled politely, despite blushing(?) with embarrassment. “But I’m sure you two will be just fine,” Alister added with a warm smile towards his doppelganger.  “At least, that’s what I hope for.”   “Well, we have a new perspective on things now, and after everything we’ve been through, Reid and I have definitely suffered enough,” Zayon chuckled wearily.  Half-inhaling/half-choking up he took a good look to his partner, his hand joining in his.  “This is where we probably have to say goodbye now, correct?” he asked, looking to Phoenix.   Correct.   “Then, I guess we can’t really offer any spoilers.  Just be good to each other, and if you ever have a Rex of your own, don’t force him through military school.  Just be good to him, don’t repeat our mistakes,” Zayon begged.   “I think that was more you than me, but I enabled it so I’m hardly clean.  Also be sure to enjoy yourselves, and don’t forget Red that there’s a specific spot on the small of Alister’s back that really gets hi-”   Whatever was next to say was better left unsaid, as the two phantoms had returned home at last.   … okay, speaking plainly, that was starting to get a little too TMI for my liking.   “Yeah, sending them back just now was a good call,” Alister sighed in relief.   “So what happens next, with those two now that they’re back?” Red pressed.   Reid lied that the stress was what made him pass out, and he recovered quickly, unlike Zayon who needed some hospital time to recover from his overdose. Once he was out, the two worked on having a healthier life and mindset.  That said, it seemed that while Zayon was recuperating, a certain someone paid a visit to his hospital room during a time he was deep in sleep.   “Rex?” Alister guessed.   Correct. He had heard tell of what had happened to Zayon and, whether out of concern, morbid curiosity, or a more sinister third emotion, he took time out of his renegade travels to sneak into the hospital room.  He didn’t linger long, however.   “Did anyone see him?” Alexander pressed.   You did. Rather, the Alexander of Zayon’s timeline did. Rex hadn’t noticed that Alex was also in the room until a minute or so after he had entered; he actually hesitated in Alex’s presence--the one he considered more of a parent than his actual fathers.  The two of them conversed--quietly and in the empty hall so as not to disturb Zayon--after which Rex would leave without further incident, at least until he made a commotion outside while taking off in his ship--spooked Zayon wide awake, just in time to see Rex’s ship fly off.   “Typical,” Red said, clicking his tongue. “Right~?!  That last part he obviously got from my side of the gene pool,” Alister blurted before he could stop himself. “Yeah yeah, total Alister move,” Ratchet rolled his eyes at the antics of Alister and Red, “but hey, at least we know Rex still feels some sort of connection with his dads, enough to wanna know how things are with them.”   “When you have a child to worry about kiddo, then you’ll understand,” Red sighed knowingly.   “You don’t even have kids… yet,” Umbris snarked.   “I’ve looked after dragon whelps for years, thank you very much Whiskers,” Red snorted.   “Okay, can we get this ball rolling again, please?” Jeanne requested.  “Some of us would like to NOT age another 12-to-13 years in this void.” “Says the Witch with the Multiverse’s best skin care routine,” Umbris scoffed.   “Damn right I do,” Jeanne proudly purred in return.   I think it would be best if we moved on so I may resolve the remaining Altisters. I have located timelines where they can be seamlessly integrated into, allowing them another chance without Protheus or Isamy’s interference. Just grant me a moment.   Phoenix’s flames intensified for a moment, and then suddenly there was a bright column of light erupting out of the pocket watch. Well, to everyone it seemed that way, but to Phoenix time was slowed as she interviewed with each Altister passing through, their moment taking a fraction of a second before they moved on. It took only a few seconds before the light dimmed, and the pocket watch seemed less lively.   About ninety-nine point nine percent of the Altisters have now been sent off to a new destiny. However, I believe there are a few with greater significance to you that wish for their goodbyes to be a bit more personal.   Several lights left the pocket watch, which dimmed to the barest flicker as the named Altisters of the journey all appeared, just as see-through as Zayon and Reid had been: These phantasms being I.T., Too-Dee, Moony, Aligore, Alizure, Vortex Al, Left-Eye, Sniffles, and Trigger.   “Well, I can’t say it’s been the best of times, but I believe we made the most of it when it counts,” I.T. admitted with a knowing nod of approval. “Please, just don’t make the same mistakes Zayon did now that you’ve finally won. I don’t think we can handle another go around of this farce.”   Too-Dee just flopped about, but he gave the group a really spirited wave with his painted-on expression of happiness.   “I’m certain things will turn out fine for you, Al,” Moony smiled warmly, “but please promise us that if ever you feel frustrated, morose, or what have you, that you not try and act tough and stoic, or shut people out to try and deal with it alone--being open and vulnerable with those who care about you can do wonders for your mental and emotional well-being.”   “You’re bound to experience many surprises along the way, big and small,” Alizure chimed in with a slight sparkle, “some wonderful, others… not-so-much.  The key is to cherish those moments that matter most to you, and not to let missed opportunities get you down, for there will always be more to come.  As for me,” he added as he spun his favorite Shiny Charm around his finger, “I’m looking forward to studying all I can about Shiny Pokemon where I’m headed!”   “It warms my heart to see how far you’ve come, Alister,” Sniffles beamed, no longer shivering nor stammering from the cold.  “There may be times where you will want to lash out, even towards the ones you care about… but I feel that your bonds will endure even the most turbulent of storms, which never stick around for long… speaking of,” Sniffles added as his body proceeded to gradually evaporate into a fine, pale mist, “I know you’re not the Alexander I was with at the time, but… I still wish to tell you how sorry I am for the way I behaved, Alex.”   “I know,” Alexander nodded understandingly, watching as Sniffles’s body dispersed and drifted away as a wispy cloud, the blanket he wore falling to the floor with a soft thud before it, too, vanished without a trace.   “May you always look forward with clear eyes, tovarishch,” Trigger nodded in salute, “but also never forget the paths which brought you to your present.”   “And for the love of all that is good and holy, stop rushing into danger without thinking first, Alister,” Left-Eye chided, with Vortex Al nodding in agreement.  “Can’t exactly live your life to the fullest if you’re risking death with reckless abandon at every opportunity.”   Aligore Azimurr stood silent for a moment, clearly still recovering from his sorrows.  “... we’ve… all been changed throughout this war,” his deep voice uttered slowly, “be it during our own loops or in the countless others… some more than others, not always for the better, but hopefully for good… especially you, Alister.  Yet, despite everything, you’re still “you”.  It may be different from Alister Prime’s “you”, I.T.’s “you”, Moony’s “you”… even my own “you”.  But that’s what makes each of our “yous” wonderful--because in the end, that “you” is our unique truth.  And you held steadfast to that truth, which is ultimately why you triumphed over Alpha, who made every attempt he could to deny his truth…    “… it may take me some time to get used to the new reality I will be going to,” Aligore admitted, staring down at his hands with a frown.  “What trials that I… what the Alister and Asgore in me will have to face in deciding what is best for my people in the Underground… and for ourselves….”  The frown slowly, steadily, curled upward into a humble smile.  “But… at least I will have the Determination to see it through, and I--no, *we* will have each other.”  Aligore seemed to dissolve briefly, like Sniffles before him, only to show that the General King had simply morphed into the separated Alister Azimuth and Asgore Dreemurr.   “... golly, seems we’re each now whole enough to stand on our own again,” Asgore gasped in amazement as he examined himself briefly.   “Indeed,” replied Aligore’s Alister as he took Asgore’s hand in his, “but that won’t mean we can’t still support each other, whether together or individually.”   Asgore smiled at his Alister warmly.  “As we did back then… I shall gladly have this Dance of Life with you.”   “Just kiss already!” Gabriel called from the back, ruining the moment and causing the rest of the group to burst out laughing.   “No, get a room first…!” Kyros protested with his face behind his hands.  “I-I swear I’m not being homophobic, it’s just that these public displays of affection are getting to be a bit much… AND NO, I DO NOT NEED TO GET LAID!” he blurted out as he shot a glare in Umbris’s direction, having anticipated that the Neo-Spacian would be the one to make that “suggestion”.   “Good thing the two of us are showing restraint then, huh?” Vortex Al flatly asked Left-Eye, who merely stifled a laugh.   “I think this is our cue to leave,” I.T. chuckled as he and the other Altisters witnessed the hilarity before them.  “We’ll need to give the floor to the “After Images of Alpha” next.  Thank you, Phoenix, for allowing us one last moment for our goodbyes.”   “Buh-bye~!” Too-Dee chirped as the Phoenix sent the last of the Altisters off to their new homes.   “It’s strange, but despite having them all screaming in my head at one time or another, I’m going to miss them,” Alister remarked, wiping a stray tear from his fur.   “Yeah, me too,” Alister Prime agreed.   “There’s always the chance that we may somehow see them again,” Alexander suggested.  “Be it through my ability or… something else…,” he trailed off, having the strangest of feelings in the back of his head.  “...!!!” he jumped, having sworn he felt some presence behind him just now--one that should NOT have been there.   “There’s nothing there, Alex…,” assured Alister, though even he wasn’t entirely sure if that was true….   The Phoenix, too, seemed disquieted by whatever presence Alexander experienced, though they still maintained their usual composure regardless.   As I.T. stated before his egress, it is now time for the “After Images of Alpha” to make their case.   Two more wisps sprung forth from the pocket watch, materializing as the phantasmal projections of Alpha-Tango and Alpha-Delta, taking their place beside Alister Prime--formerly known as “Alpha-Romeo”.   Alpha-Romeo, or rather “Alister Prime”.  As the one deemed the “true” Alister Azimuth as per the continuity of your game series--   “--yes, we all know what’s to happen to me,” Alister Prime interrupted.  “My fate has already been determined, and it must remain so not just for the sake of the Prime Timeline but for the other timelines of our universe that will diverge from it.  It’s these two,” Alister Prime gestured to his fellow After Images, “that need to decide what to do about themselves.”   Rude, but fair enough.  Alpha-Delta, we will start with you, then, since I sense your desire to be rather simple by comparison.   “Indeed it is,” Alpha-Delta nodded.  “I’m opting to be dropped off in another timeline like most of the Altisters, and looking forward to setting up shop as a mechanic.” “Yeah, that sounds like a good fit for you,” Alister agreed.   “Right?  Thinking I’d set up in some out-of-the-way dirtball region or planet, something similar to, I-I dunno… like Bethesda IX, maybe.” “... “like Bethesda IX”…?!” Alister recoiled a little.   “The “Refueling Station” of the Solana Galaxy…?!” Ratchet similarly retched.  “I’m sorry, but you need to love yourself more and pick someplace better.”   “Oh fuck off, you two,” Alpha-Delta scowled irritably.  “Ugh, fine, I’ll try someplace that *wouldn’t* be some recently-divorced-father-of-two’s only option for seeking ample employment.”   “I think it’d be nice, having somewhere out of the way to settle down and stop beating yourself up over the mistakes of the past,” Red mused.   Alister sighed in agreement, “yeah….”   “Speaking of~” Kaden’s voice chimed as his phantasm invited itself to the conversation, taking his place by Alpha-Tango’s side.  “I’d say finding a place to lie low and get away from all our problems sounds like a good move, wouldn’t you say?” “K-Kaden…?!” Alpha-Tango blinked hard.  “But… for us to do that, we would have to avert my execution--” “--that’s the idea,” Kaden asserted; “I break you out of your cell a few minutes before the scheduled execution--which will of course put a target on both our heads--” “--you’d be willing to do all of that, for my sake?” Alpha-Tango questioned.  “Even after I--?”   “--omigod, babe, can’t you see I’m trying to give you a way out of this?!  Even though I was the one who turned you in in the first place… which again I’m sorry--” “--I know… who did what you had to at the time, for the sake of our people.  I don’t hold that against you--”   “Please tell me this isn’t gonna involve another PDA,” Atsuko blurted out, “Kyros here can only tolerate so much.”   “The daughter of Itsu Fudo is right,” Kaden sighed, relenting with a slight laugh.  “This little soap opera scene should be carried out elsewhere.”   “And that there is Exhibit #3 for the “Ain’t No Way Alister’s Straight” allegations,” Ratchet rolled his eyes, making Alister groan in exasperation.   “That may be true, Ratchet, though if you were born around their time then you’d best hope this version of your father and Alister take you with them.  Otherwise, we may not have our meeting on Veldin,” Clank interjected.   “Oh, trust me, Clank, I wouldn’t dream of leaving my son behind--to say nothing of how my dearly departed wife would haunt me for the rest of my days if I did,” Kaden shivered.   “Y-Yeah,” Ratchet blinked, taking pause at one of the few times his late mother was mentioned.   “And if I may say,” Kaden added as he placed a loving hand on the young lombax’s shoulder, “I hope my son turns out to be a lot like you someday.”   Even though this Kaden wasn’t *his* father, Ratchet nonetheless was moved to tears by how proud Kaden was of him.  “Dad….”  His voice seemed to echo as he went to hug Kaden tightly, unaware that two other Ratchets had joined to do the same. “Ratchet’s other selves…!” Clank exclaimed, realizing who the other two Ratchets must be: Ratchet Prime, and Ratchet 0.   “I see you two are ready for the finale here,” Kaden addressed the two alternate Ratchets, tenderly brushing each of his hands on their heads.   “Y-Yeah, we’re ready,” Ratchet Prime sniffled, with Ratchet 0 giving a hoarse cough in agreement.   “Wait, so, help me understand here,” Umbris asked Clank.  “If one of these alternate Ratchets is also from the Prime Timeline, then--”   “--the one with the cough,” Clank explained, a hint of sadness in his robotic tone, “is the one from Alpha’s Timeline.”   Alpha-Delta sensed it was time to make his leave and give his fellow After Images the floor.  “Welp, time for this old man to take up his “retirement career” in earnest.  It’s been real, you two….”   “Shall we, hun?” Alpha-Tango asked Kaden after watching Alpha-Delta be sent off, not even trying to hide their relationship at this point. “Just one moment,” Kaden nodded before addressing the three Ratchets one more time: “You’re doing great so far, kiddo,” he said to Ratchet Prime.  “I know your journey will take you far, very far, and I know everyone is anticipating the next grand adventure of your tale.   “You,” he next spoke to our Ratchet, “and Alister will likewise get to share in many experiences in this new chapter that is to come, along with the friends you’ve made during this journey.  I can only do as the named Altisters did before me and wish you guys the best of luck.”   As for Ratchet 0? “... you’ll be given a chance you couldn’t take before.  Do not hesitate, not for a second.  Are you prepared?”   Ratchet 0 didn’t respond immediately, instead slowly turning his head to lock eyes with Clank.  The Zoni-in-the-Shell blinked a few times… before giving Ratchet 0 a knowing nod.  “... yes,” the lombax coughed in response.   Kaden smiled, assured.  “I’m proud of you, Ratchet,” he said, addressing all three Ratchets this time, “in every timeline.  Be good, my son.”  With that final wish, Kaden joined hands with Alpha-Tango and was whisked away to their timeline.   Before the Prime Alister and Ratchet could make their exit next, Ratchet 0 approached the Phoenix, his ragged and raspy breathing picking up in tempo.   You are ready, then?  To do what must be done?   “... yes…,” Ratchet 0 said once more, a look of pained resolve flashing across his face.  Sensing his determination, the Phoenix drew out one last wisp from the pocket watch--this one seemingly frozen and surrounded by what resembled chains--and placed it in Ratchet 0’s hands.   … you may proceed.   Lingering before his portal for a few seconds--through which the inside of the Orvus Chamber could be seen--Ratchet 0 gave one last look back towards Alister and his group, and gave a pained, tearful smile before being teleported back to his timeline.   “... he’s going to kill Alpha,” Alister surmised as soon as Ratchet 0 was gone.  “Before he could activate the Great Clock… so that it and our universe wouldn’t be destroyed, and he will never witness the Door….”   The Phoenix nodded.   You already knew.  Even before Ratchet Zero left.   Alister confirmed with a nod.     “So is that it?  Is there even anyone else still left inside the watch?” Umbris spoke out.   “I would say the spirits that were the Altister’s Plus Ones, but it seems they, too, were also sent away,” Alister confirmed, sensing that the Apparatus was indeed finally vacant.   Indeed.  Like the Altisters, the Spirits were also either returned to their respective timelines, or merged with a compatible alternate self in another timeline. As of now, Alister Azimuth, your future is indeed your own.   Gently motioning with their hand, Phoenix sent the golden bubble containing the pocket watch down to Alister, its glowing mechanisms finally inert as it was deposited into his outstretched hand.   “At long last, the Orvus Apparatus is officially decommissioned for good,” Orvus declared jubilantly and with relief.  “It is now as it once was: a mere timepiece, albeit a much cherished one.”   Yes. However, Orvus, I believe you yourself have a date with the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler?   A knowing sigh escaped the Zoni’s mouth.  “Yes, yes, I suppose it is time for me to finally ‘face the music’, as it were.  Ah well, ‘twas a nice delay of the inevitable while it lasted,” Orvus chuckled mirthlessly as he floated towards Clank, while paying no mind to the knowing, horrified look on Ratchet’s face.  “Now another father must bid farewell to their offspring, and look at me without my wallet.  Please don’t think too badly of me that I have to leave without giving you all the pocket money I owe you.  But I hope you don’t mind if I leave you with my watch, although it’s a rather big one, ho ho ho!”   “It’s okay, father,” Clank said with a wonky smile, “we already have said our goodbyes once before.  I am just so… happy that at least this time we can do so in person.  And do not worry about the Great Clock, as Sigmund is doing a wonderful job as its new caretaker.”   “Yes, I figured as such,” Orvus beamed.  “Sigmund’s always been such a good boy, and I’m glad that he was the one you chose to fill in for you while you continued your adventures with your furry friend here,” he nodded in Ratchet’s direction-- “--oh okay, alriiiight,” Orvus rolled his eyes, “I suppose I gotta address your dread-filled expression now--” “--well YEAH, cuz you know I basically watched you quote-unquote “DIE” at Nefarious’s hands!” Ratchet ranted.  “And I know you saw me, too!”   “Of course I did, and I know why you were there, too,” Orvus said airily.  “It’s better if you don’t think too hard about it.  When you dabble in time as much as I have, weeeellll, you soon learn when it’s the right time to go.  I know that’s not the answer you were hoping for, but anything else would be a bit TMI into the inner workings of time itself; and I dare say our erstwhile companions may be wondering how much of it we’re using up dealing with the fallout of the Apparatus… siiiigh… for what it’s worth, though, I will say that I appreciated your joint attempt to save me then, even if it wasn’t meant to be.  A heroic heart is nothing to be ashamed of, even if you don’t manage to save anyone.  What will be, will be.”   “When you were just a little girl?” Umbris sniggered.   Orvus chuckled at the Neo-Spacian’s reference.  “Que sera, sera.  But I’m ready to go now, can’t keep stalling the wheels of time forever.  Now, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Orvus chuckled as he vanished into particles.   “Until we meet again, father,” Clank uttered wistfully as Ratchet gently cradled him.   “That’s our cue now, too, I suppose,” Alister Prime declared.  “We’ve kept destiny waiting long enough.” “Sure have,” Ratchet Prime agreed, dreading witnessing the inevitable once again and yet prepared to see things through.  He locked eyes with our Ratchet and smiled. “Don’t take him for granted, you.  Treasure every moment with him that you can, for he may leave you again without warning one day.  And if-and-when that day does come, please don’t retreat from the universe, or even from your friends--grieving in solitude only lets the pain linger.”   “He speaks the truth,” Alister Prime affirmed.  “Trust me, that’s what ultimately led me to do what I did.  Hopefully it won’t come to that for you guys anytime soon… let’s get going, Ratchet.”   “Right… see ya soon, pal,” Ratchet Prime waved to Clank before joining Alister Prime in lingering before their portal home, the scene beyond it showing the inside of the Orvus Chamber in the midst of its meltdown.  “... ready Alister?” he asked rhetorically.   Alister Prime took a deep breath, steeling himself for his impending swan song.  Looking away from the portal, he took one last look towards Alister and the rest of Team Lombax.  “Take care of yourselves,” he bid them all with a resolved smile, “... and each other….”   The Prime Ratchet and Alister Azimuth pressed onward, toward the predestined end of the latter’s story, and the continuation of the former’s… and just like that, they and the Orvus Chamber faded from view.   … He has done a brave thing once more… That is something to be proud of….   “... it is….”  A single tear of mourning for his original self rolled down Alister’s face.  “Rest well, General Azimuth….”   Despite the sorrow felt, there was a calm all around, as if the weight of over 40,000 lifetimes had finally passed. Now, quite truly, the Orvus Apparatus was no more. And all the ghosts of the past would haunt the future no more.  Alexander couldn’t help but place a comforting hand on Alister’s shoulder, and gave him a soft smile.  “It’s over,” he said quietly.  “It’s finally over, for all of us….”   “Yeah… … although, we really shouldn’t be forgetting the people still on the Aeon,” Alister pointed out while hastily drying his eyes, motioning toward “And With Strange Aeons” that was still docked further away.  “Huh?  What’s Rodin coming over for?” “And with Luka, too?” Bayonetta added, noticing her “favorite plaything” hadn’t vanished with the other low-power characters.   “Something tells me we don’t gotta worry much about that,” Rodin spoke up as he and Luka joined the others.  “The Phoenix here can do for the Aeon’s passengers what they did for the Altisters.  Ain’t that right, beautiful?”   Very.  Time to give the background characters a proper sendoff--   “YOU DID NOT JUST REFER TO ME AS A “BACKGROUND CHARACTER”!!!”   “Oh jeezus,” Ratchet and Alister groaned upon recognizing the shrill screaming.   “Seriously, is that guy incapable of being quiet or what?!” Alexander grumbled, rubbing his ears as he watched Dr. Nefarious make a mad dash towards the group.   “The absolute indignation of being treated like some glorified stage prop,” Nefarious continued rambling as he slowed down to angrily stomping towards Ratchet, “when I am vastly deserving of MUCH more screentime, especially compared to the likes of HIM!!” he added while jabbing a sharp finger in Kyros’s direction.   “Okay, diva~, pop off,” Atsuko snarked under her breath.   “Nefarious, please calm down before you start transmitting “Lance and Janice” again,” Ratchet chided his nemesis in a half-joking, half-concerned tone.   “GrrrrrRRRR… haRUMPH…!” the robot snorted, childishly pouting with his arms crossed.   “Guess I gotta look forward to this from now on, huh?” Alister sighed.   “Hoo boy,” Red sighed as well, realizing that he’ll soon be in that same boat.   “Look, Neff, sorry that you got downgraded from being a half-way legitimate threat to the butt of some cheap laughs during this adventure,” Ratchet addressed the Mad Doctor with an oddly sincere apology.   “Yeah, yeah… … hm?!” Nefarious began to half-heartedly accept Ratchet’s apology before quickly becoming offended once again: “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, “HALF-WAY”?!?!”   “What I’m getting at here,” Ratchet continued, unphased by Nefarious’s outrage, “is that when you’re allowed to really put effort into your schemes, you’re capable of some really heinous shit, something that wasn’t exactly possible for you when you got dragged into this mess during the Periphery Arc--which, sure, good thing for the good guys and all.  But it’s because I’m familiar with what you’re capable of that I can say you’re likely to give us plenty of trouble back home from time to time, even with the likes of Alister, Red or Alexander on our side.  Just know that we’ll be ready to take you on whenever you’re looking to get up to no good.”   Nefarious didn’t quite know how to feel; getting gassed up by a “squishy”--and one of his greatest adversaries, at that--irked him something fierce… but he couldn’t deny being invigorated by such praise.  Okay, he *could* deny it--and *will*, because his ego wouldn’t allow him to openly admit it--but that’s besides the point.  “In that case… I expect you lot to be ready,” he declared in grandiose, villainous fashion, “for the galaxy shall once again cower in fear and awe at the fearsome POWER OF--*bzzt*--[“Oh Janice, my love, I have returned to you from the Colosseum of Blood and Death and Bloody Death as its crowned victor!” “Oh, Lance~ how long have I wondered where you had gone these past 11-or-so years--I had absolutely no clue!” “What?! How could you not?  I recorded a holo message and everything--!”]”   The group’s initial shock at Nefarious’s sudden malfunction gradually deflated into bemused relief upon hearing the ridiculous plot of the soap opera blaring out of the robot’s head.   “Aaaand there it is,” Ratchet sighed, having half-expected the malfunction to occur at any moment.   “He does this quite often, right?” Alister asked.   “Yep, usually whenever he’s sufficiently angry or excited.  He’ll go back to normal once someone whacks him across the head.”   “... so in theory, we can just leave him here if we wanted?” Gabriel inquired.   “Eeeehhhhhhhhhhh…”   “Ratchet…,” Clank scolded in disapproval.   “Aw, c’mon, he did say “in theory”~” Ratchet asserted unconvincingly.  “So, who wants to do the honors?”   The Phoenix observed the scene intently, almost as if wanting to indulge in something they had always wanted to try.   … may I?   Confused yet amused by the Phoenix’s request, Ratchet and Alister briefly shared a glance--as if having a short, silent conversation--before turning to face the fiery form and nodding, curious to see how the Phoenix would go about it.   Despite their lack of facial features, the group could tell that the Phoenix was feeling a bit mischievous at that moment.   Thank you.   Floating up to the malfunctioning Nefarious, the Phoenix raised their hand in a way that looked like they were prepared to backhand the robot into next week, and it still seemed like that would be the case as they flung their arm outward towards Nefarious’s face, the back of their hand stopping just short of connecting with his jaw.  From there, the Phoenix simply snapped their fingers, creating enough of a concussive shockwave that slammed against Nefarious hard enough to knock him back to his senses while also sending him flying into the empty sky of Epiloguous. “--DOCTORNEFARIOUSDECREESTHATYOUHAVEN’TSEENTHELASTOFMEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeee…”   “Bye, Neffy~ See ya later~!” Ratchet waved merrily as he watched Nefarious vanish with a twinkle.  “Felt great, didn’t it?” he then asked the Phoenix.   It was alright.  Now, as for the passengers of the Aeon….   The Phoenix seemed to vanish from sight briefly, but in truth they had teleported over to “And With Strange Aeons”’s main deck.  Just like with the Orvus Apparatus before, several streams of light--the various passengers converted into ethereal forms--ascended from the Aeon, their various colors woven into a spire of flame that ascended skyward.  This scene, in reality, was the Phoenix once again interviewing the characters--some individually, others in groups--all in the span of a few seconds before sending them--and the Aeon itself, afterwards--back to their realities.   And that takes care of the NPC mess left primarily by Kingdom Xathers….  Now we can finally focus on your group.  Who wishes to go first?   “Maybe we should start with who has the least baggage overall?” Umbris suggested.   “So, the Witches,” Gabriel surmised.  “I mean, they’ve always had themselves mostly sorted out from the get-go--”   “--Mr. Zurkon would rather not wait, thank you very much.”  Separating from Alister’s Praetorian Omniwrench for what would be the last time, Mr. Zurkon interrupted the proceedings.  “Mr. Zurk--ugh, screw it, I don’t feel like keeping up the third-person schtick anymore.”   “Z-Zurkon?! What’s this about?” Ratchet questioned in surprise, not used to this sort of behavior from the Synthenoid.   “Seeing the ones that have been returned to their proper place, or migrated to their new one,” Mr. Zurkon explained, “has me wondering what will become of me--this particular Mr. Zurkon--now that this War has come to a close.  I… cannot deny the feeling that I have changed, too.  Irreversably, even.”   “I think he’s right,” Alexander confirmed after using a Scanning Spell to study the Synthenoid.  “He’s developed a… soul, I think?  He feels much different from when he was first deployed back in Emiya’s Reality Marble, that’s for sure.”   “Zurkon,” Ratchet approached the synthenoid, “are you saying… that you want to be reincarnated, like the Altisters?”   “I might,” Mr. Zurkon admitted.  “All I know is I cannot go back to how things were before.  Not since I’ve actually become… aware of things, now, beyond being a weapon.  Don’t get me wrong, Short-’n’-Fuzzy; I’ve greatly enjoyed laying waste to our enemies with you in the past, but… well, I was never the only “Mr. Zurkon” in the world, so it’s not like me going off on my own would have you lacking that particular gadget.  Plus there wouldn’t be much room for two sapient robotic lifeforms on your team, and since we all know how attached you are to your little tin can--” “--hey…!” an offended Clank piped in.   “W-Well, why not stick around with Alister?  You two did pretty well together, didn’t you?” Ratchet suggested.   “Not that I disagree with that notion,” Alister replied, “I mean, we were pretty synergetic when we were on the same page and all… but, if Mr. Zurkon would rather find a new life for himself, who would I be to stop him?  I just hope that if he ends up reincarnating in *our* reality, that he not be a stranger.  You hear that, Z?” he said to Mr. Zurkon.  “If and when we ever cross paths, we wanna know how you’re handling life as an organic… … you do know what being organic entails, right?”   “Of course I do--it will mean having to keep my fleshy form fed, hydrated, washed and maintained, knowing that it is susceptible to injury, pain, illness, deterioration, and eventually death.  It will mean having to understand social cues in order to function well in society or to form relationships--platonic, romantic, and what-have-you--lest you be potentially shunned at best or committed to an institution or jail cell at worst.  It will mean potentially having your heart broken when you, for one reason or another, eventually lose someone you care about… I know what it means, and I’m willing to take that risk,” Mr. Zurkon affirmed, “if it means I get to live like the rest of you… my friends.”   Well said, Mr. Zurkon.  May life as an organic treat you well.   “So wait, what will you end up becoming?” Alister asked Mr. Zurkon as the synthenoid made his way toward the portal made for him.   “You’ll just have to witness the surprise after I do.  But just know this: you haven’t seen the last of Mr. Zurkon!”  With what would be the first genuinely friendly (and non-hostile) wave of his hand, Mr. Zurkon zoomed away into the reality where he would be reborn, laughing heartily as he vanished from view.   Alister couldn’t help but to smile, looking forward to the day that he’ll meet the new Mr. Zurkon, and whatever surprises such a meeting would have in store.   “We’ll try and keep this brief,” Bayonetta chimed in as she and Jeanne took their turn, “but first: Rodin, you were telling Jeanne and I that you had something for the boys?”   With a slight, deep chuckle, Rodin pulled out a black box with ornately decorated edges from an inner coat pocket, handing it over Alexander before doing so two more times for Red and Ratchet.  “The ladies have been talkin’ about wantin’ to visit you guys whenever, so think of this as having y’all set up a network of sorts; each of those boxes, small as they may be, contain a phonograph of my design.  All ya gotta do is flip the included record over, and The Gates of Hell will materialize around you.” ““The Gates of Hell”?!” Red blurted in concern.   “That’s just the name of Rodin’s business, don’t worry,” Luka reassured the dragon.  “It’s a night bar that serves as a front for his own black market of magical artifacts and demonic weaponry.” “Why do I get the feeling you’re doing this for your benefit as much as for ours?” Alexander asked Rodin.  The barkeep merely chuckled without comment.   Phonographs? You’re going with something that antiquated?   “C’mon now,” Rodin shrugged playfully, “I know you’re a relatively new deity and all, but you gotta learn to appreciate the classics, too.”   “Speaking of, I hear that your galaxy tends to circulate a lot of music from Earth’s 20th century,” Jeanne added toward Ratchet and Alister.  “Your generation must love the Oldies.”   “You’re not wrong there,” Alister “Moonwalker” Azimuth nodded.   “Well, with that settled,” Bayonetta said as her and Jeanne’s outfits seemed to glitch before taking on the Umbran Styles of the first game, “I do believe I was trapped inside the statue of a goddess, and you were going for the eye, Jeanne.”   “Indeed, and I surely will not miss this time,” Jeanne replied with determination.  “Oh, as for your “boytoy”, Cereza...,” she added with a tilt of her head towards Luka.   “Right, he was back on Earth awaiting our return,” Bayonetta mewed mischievously as she strolled over towards the journalist.  “You’ll be a good boy and wait your turn, won’t you “Cheshire”?”   Rolling his eyes at his petname, Luka let it slide with a smile.  “Alright, I’ll be sure to bring over a nice bouquet for your return.  Maybe some rosemary?”   A knowing chuckle barely escaped Bayonetta’s lips.  “I look forward to it, Luka,” she said as she leaned closer to his face, a hand brushing up against his chest… and while Luka was distracted by this “foreplay”, Bayonetta gripped the lapel of his coat and hip tossed Luka into the air, the journalist’s baffled screams echoing as he appeared to vanish with a bright blue glow.   “A little rough, don’t you think?” Jeanne chastised her friend.   “He hasn’t complained yet,” Bayonetta replied coyly.  “And as for the rest of you,” she addressed the rest of Team Lombax, “do be good, and try to stay out of trouble… at least until we come over for a visit.”  With one last wink and a blown kiss, the Umbra Witches proceeded through a conjured Umbran Sigil, to deal with the Goddess Jubileus….   And once more, tomorrow is theirs… … although… they may not know this yet, but something big will happen to their Multiverse further along their timeline.   “You’re talking about *that*, right?” Rodin said to the Phoenix.  “Would certainly put a damper on the ladies’ reunion with the lombaxes if he came around to their timeline.”   Indeed… so, I think I’ll give them a reprieve and make it so their specific timeline doesn’t show up on his radar.   “Who are you guys referring to?” Alexander pressed in concern.   “Nothing to worry about,” Rodin brushed off the question, “so long as things go as they should.”   “Rodin…,” Alister asked slowly, “who… or “what” are you…?”   Rodin chuckled again, a bit more darkly this time.  “Why, I’m one of a kind, Alister Azimuth. If you wanna know more than that, though, it might cost ya more than just a pretty bolt….”  Continuing to chuckle sinisterly, Rodin spread his arms wide as he levitated backwards into a deep red demonic sigil, vanishing as he was surrounded in a sickly red mist.   “... goodness, he’s dramatic…,” Kyros uttered--   “--ah, shit, forgot one!” Rodin’s voice echoed from beyond the demonic sigil as another black box was spat out of it and conked Gabriel on the head with precision.   “Aye, maldita…,” Gabriel cursed under his breath as he rubbed at the slight bump forming under his mask with one hand, while holding the black box in the other.  “... guess Bayonetta wants to visit me sometime, too.”   “You were her companion for a time,” Alister remembered.  “She must’ve grown rather fond of you.” “Yeah,” Gabriel agreed warmly.   “... hey, wait, why didn’t I get one?!” Alister realized as he glanced among Gabriel, Alex, Ratchet, and Red before looking back at the sigil, half-expecting for Rodin to throw another black box through the threshold (and at his face), though grew disappointed as the sigil vanished a second later.   “I think you’re supposed to share with one of us, Al,” Red mused while rolling his black box in the palm of his hand.   Next are two of the Roleplay-original characters of Kingdom Xathers: Gabriel Guerra and Alexander Zenith.  I have already determined that your collective desire is for the histories of the respective events you’ve experienced to proceed as they should have (ignoring the fact that the RPs you two were part of never got to officially conclude, anyway).  Speaking of, this segment should also include Marzell Cresthill and Samuel Hainz, yes?   “Oof, you’re right…!” Alexander exclaimed as he pulled out some cards from his Deck, Summoning the Half-Orc and the Halloween-obsessed Psychic Wolfman, respectively.   “Can’t forget these two, either,” Atsuko added as she likewise Summoned the spirits of Carla Bellerose and Russell Oxford to stand next to Gabriel.   We will start first with the participants of the RP, “Yu-Gi-Oh Arcadia”: Marzell and Samuel.   “Jeez, it feels like such a long time ago that you and I first met,” Marzell uttered in a breath of reminiscence.   “Aye, and now we be headin’ back, to hopefully get ourselves on the road to more peaceful days,” Samuel waxed poetically.  “Ffen again, you’re still out lookin’ for your old travelin’ companion… “Telsarin”, innit?”   The half-orc’s eyes seemed to glaze over a bit, memories of a past adventure having flooded his mind.  “... I’m… sure I’ll see him again, someday, eventually… … maybe I’ll--”   “Mate, why not go home fer a bit?” Samuel suggested kindly.  “Visit yer mum, maybe hang out with some of yer old travelin’ pals, let ‘em know how’ve yuh been?  Clear yer head, and figure out wotcha wanna do next.  You’ll find yer friend eventually, but in the meantime, take as much time as ye need.”   “... yeah, think I will.  Thanks, man,” Marzell replied appreciatively.  “And you go reunite with your wife and kid, too--you all have a lot of lost time to make up for.”   “Aye, indeed,” Samuel warmly smiled as he hugged the half-orc.  “If ye can, yer always welcome to stop by ‘n’ visit anytime, but after ye’ve rested in yer home world first, right?”   “Will do.”   Separating from their hug, Samuel Hainz turned to face the group, and gave one last flourished bow.  “Ye all stay in high spirits now!” he waved as he returned home to Neo Domino City, where his wife and son awaited him.   “You guys take care, too!” Marzell took his turn to say his farewell as the Phoenix sent him back to the world of D&D’s “Rise of the Underdark”.   Next, we shall open the way to “Fusion of Worlds: Fall of the Crimson Dragon”, so that Alexan--   The Phoenix paused suddenly, as if reevaluating their information.   … no, I was mistaken; though Alexander was a major player in that Roleplay, the one who came here from that period specifically was “Neo-Spacian Umbra Panther” - Umbris.   “... wait, that’s right!” Umbris remembered.  “Alex, you and I came into this War at different points in our timeline--it’s technically a paradox because I’m from when the timeline got messed up, while you’re from when the timeline went as normal!”   “... and of course Orvus isn’t around to explain how this shit works,” Alister grumbled.   “Which means we don’t question it and just go along with it,” Alexander handwaved.  “But then that means, technically, we could both request to fix things,” he explained to the Neo-Spacian.   “But I’m more of an add-on for you,” said Umbris.   “So was Mr. Zurkon for Alister, and he made his request just fine.”   I’ll just go ahead and correct the paradox in question, so that Alexander wasn’t banished from that reality without a way back.   “Good, that’s one problem solved, at least,” Alexander beamed.   And according to another Roleplay--which will be referred to as ”Reopening the Academy”--Wolfram Collingwood, Wulf, and Farkas were all revived in a different reality after the (hypothetical) events of “Fusion of Worlds: Fall of the Crimson Dragon”, so I shall provide a retcon in which those three were revived in their intended dimension, which will also mean that Umbris and Wildheart will not need to set out on a search and rescue mission to bring them back.   “Well damn, y’all were busy…!” Alexander exclaimed as Farkas and Wildheart joined the conversation.   “Operative word being “were”,” Wildheart noted, “but it seems we’ll have time for other things now that Farkas and his cousin aren’t off in another dimension with their Duelist.”   “It’ll still be rough, considering Wulf’s guilt over what he did as his Forsaken self,” Farkas said in a sad tone.  “He’s going to need a lot of time to recover from what he’s been through….”   “Well, if you need any help with him or Wolfram, you guys are always welcome to Hero City--we’d be willing to help.”   “... really?  After everything that happened?  I mean, Bladedge lost an arm--”   “--Sun Queen’s fault, not Wulf’s, nor was it Bladedge’s first missing limb.”   “Yes but Wulf went and killed you--”   “--and I’ve got the scar on my chest to show for it.”   “... look, I get that some of you HEROes had a stint in Evil before--”   “--which is why I feel we can help, since Wulf ended up on that path, too, if only briefly.”   “Uh-huh... … … “Mr. Hartford”, what are your intentions with my cousin?”   “... excuse me--?”   “Nothing~, don’t worry about it,” Farkas smirked as he strolled off for a moment, leaving the HERO bewildered.   “So I guess I’m taking the slow path until we meet again, right Alex?” Umbris guessed.   “Oh… that’s right, you’ll still have to go back to play things out,” Alexander remembered, a slight tinge of guilt in his voice.  “... but yeah, we will meet again, especially ‘cuz I won’t be as preoccupied with my own problems anymore--mainly ‘cuz I’ll be helping Red with his!”   “Beg your pardon…?!” blurted the dragon.   “And at least you won’t be going back alone,” Terris chimed in as he Summoned himself from Alexander’s Extra Deck.  “Me and the rest of the Neo-Spacians are coming along with ya, Umbris, and we’ll all have your back in the meantime.  Not to mention~” the Terra Mole added suggestively as he embraced the Umbra Panther from behind, “that you and I can always find ways to wait out that time before you and Alex meet up again, seein’ as you and I are a thing now and all….”   “UYIRDSHGHSGDXFCGJHGVKSDAFFDHSJ” Umbris garbled the equivalent of a keyboard mash as steam shot out of his ears. “Yep, he’s gonna be just fine,” Elemental HERO Wildheart affirmed with a chuckle.   “Well, time for us to go,” Umbris declared as he broke away from Terris’s strong arms.  “We gotta help our Duelists to take on both the Sun Queen and Forsaken Wulf.  I know you’ll have your hands full in the meantime, too, but… we’ll see each other again, right partner?”   “Of course,” Alexander tearfully laughed, embracing Umbris tightly.  “I love you… so much….” Umbris tried to keep a straight face, and yet it scrunched up as he returned Alexander’s hug.  “Damn you… dammit, Alex,” he sputtered between sobs, “I was gonna… I was gonna step out a-all cool and shit--*hic*--and you just… had to go and say that….”   “Heh, sorry, sorry,” Alexander laughed, pulling himself away to dry Umbris’s tears.  “A hero--All-Caps or otherwise--has gotta look their best, right?” he added while lovingly cradling the Umbra Panther’s face.   “Yeah…,” Umbris agreed, holding the lombax’s hands in his own before stepping back.  “See you soon….”  Turning sharply, Umbris, Terris, Wildheart and Farkas took a running start toward a portal in the distance, followed closely by Marine Dolphin, Twinkle Moss, Fervor Scarab and Gale Hummingbird.  The sight of the Umbra Panther’s cape billowing gallantly behind him as he ran was a sight that stayed fresh in Alexander’s mind, even long after the ragtag bunch of Duel Monsters vanished from sight.  In fact, the scene appeared as a framed picture, proudly hanging in the halls of his Soul Room.   “So, what’s this plan of yours, Alex?” Red asked once the group of Duel Monsters had gone.  “Where do you feel you are needed next, if not where you left off?”   “Well,” Alexander said as he dried his face, “with you, actually.  If you’re going back to your homeworld to get your affairs in order, you’ll need someone by your side to get you through it.”   “I… right, of course--”   I shall grant your request, Alexander, but first--   (♫♪♫♪♫)   “Hey guys, we’re back!” Umbris chimed as he and Terris came back hand-in-hand to Epiloguous through another portal.   “You came back?!?!” exclaimed the remainder of Team Lombax (and Kyros).   Of course.  I saw no reason why Alexander and Umbris’s reunion should be delayed, so…   “... thank you, Phoenix,” Alexander smiled--   “--also we’re married and pregnant,” Terris blurted.   “YOU’RE WHAT?!?!?!” Team Lombax exclaimed again, with Red being louder than the rest; Kyros, meanwhile, seemed to have fainted from the sudden revelation, and even the Phoenix motioned as if they were shocked, though they may have just been indulging in some acting.   “... just kidding~!” the Neo-Spacians winked in unison, causing the others to pratfall in disbelief.   “Jeez, you guys…!” Alexander breathed a sigh of relief and annoyance as he and the others picked themselves up off the floor, though Kyros needed help from Carla to recover.   “Okay, so it’s not a complete lie, in a sense,” Umbris explained. “Like, yeah, Terry and I have been “creating nature documentaries”, if you catch my drift, and while neither of us have actually gotten pregnant--”   “--Lord knows we’ve “tried”,” Terris snickered.   “Yeah, as do Neos, the other HEROes and Neo-Spacians, AND the Giant Disembodied Tea Head of Friendship, babe, now SHUSH!  Anyways, we’re not expecting either of us to get pregnant anytime soon--like, EVER--BUT! Neos does have several new Chrysalis species for us to care for, AND new recruits training to join our ranks in the near future, which means you’ll likely have new Neo-Spacians for your Deck, too, Alex!”   “Oh, cool…!” Alexander squeaked.  “... oh, but it looks like the Crimson Dragon has relieved me of my Signer role once more,” he realized, seeing the Foot Mark of the Dragon fading from his forearm.   “Shame, I’m really gonna miss having RDA around,” Umbris sadly smiled.  Alexander nodded in somber agreement.   …   “... I’m still here, you know,” a voice grumbled behind Alexander and Umbris.  “Or did you really believe the Crimson Dragon would take me in the divorce, too?”   “CRIM!!” Alexander and Umbris yelped in shock and delight as they glomped the fiendish Neo-Spacian.   “Alright, ALRIGHT, you can stop that!” Neo-Spacian Crimson Fiend / Crim squirmed as he attempted to free himself from the two-fold embrace.  “Seriously, this is just… SO CRAMPING MY STYLE!!!”     With that concluded, now we go to the characters from “Return of the Orichalcos”: Gabriel Guerra, Russell Oxford, and Carla Bellerose.  We shall also include Atsuko Fudo, despite her being The Final Dan’s character--   “--okay, the “My Friends… and Zoidberg” treatment that Kyros has been getting is really starting to get old,” Gabriel interrupted the Phoenix (and the writers) to voice his displeasure.   “Dude…!” Russell blurted in shock.   “Look, sorry, I’m just tired of seeing the guy being treated like an afterthought now that the Sayer persona is kaputz and the Great Leviathan has been sealed inside of him, and--   “Gabriel, please, I do not need you coming to bat on my behalf,” Kyros interjected in a weary, almost offended tone.  “This old fool can fend for himself, thank you very much… there’s not much I can do, sure, but… what I’m saying is, I’ve spent most of my existence robbed of my agency, and now that I have it back, I *WILL* use it, godsdammit…!” he adamantly proclaimed in a cracking voice, his body trembling with rage and frustration, though most of it wasn’t even aimed at Gabriel or the others.   Momentarily taken aback by Kyros’s outburst, Gabriel simply nodded in understanding.  “You have the floor then, Kyros.”   Kyros took a few moments--and several breaths--to calm down.  “I could go over my life’s story… about how the Leviathan took advantage of my desperation to get me to corrupt my daughter--the one thing left in my life that gave it meaning--into its avatar, sealed my monstrous form away while it had a perversion of my human self commit further atrocities in its name, and then used me as its own puppet once its other toys were done away with… … and I know I did exactly that, but that’s not the point!  I won’t try and argue that I did not deserve what I went through--because I DID!!  It’s because of me that the Leviathan was able to wreak havoc across various worlds, and even the actions performed by Sayer may as well have been mine, too!”   “But Kyros,” Alexander attempted to interject, but--   “--SHUT UP!!!  I know I am not deserving of pity, of salvation, of ANY positive outcome BECAUSE I’VE DONE NOTHING TO EARN IT!!!  Not even using my body to stop the Leviathan from possessing Atsuko would be nearly enough to absolve me of EVERYTHING ELSE--”   “--ENOUGH!!” Alister bellowed as he threw a haymaker against Kyros’s face, knocking the Atlantean to the ground.  “We get what you’re saying Kyros, and believe me,” the lombax grunted as he shook his fist, “some of us do understand your frustrations, but you need to remember: It’s not just about OURSELVES!  If you even want to help make a difference here, you need to look past yourself and see what you can do for the people who share your reality—you’ll have plenty of time to pity or curse yourself afterwards!”   Realigning his jaw, Kyros gingerly picked himself back up.  “I suppose I should, seeing as the only other thing I could actually want isn’t even a *concept* anymore--not like I should ever be in the same room or dimension as her ever again…!  In fact I’d say the only thing that could benefit anyone at this point is if I were to make myself scarce and take the Leviathan with me….”  Kyros paused to take a few more calming breaths to steady his nerves.  “The only comfort I or anyone else can have is that the Leviathan will now be imprisoned for eternity.”   “Right,” Gabriel nodded somber, “so long as both you and I exist, be it physically or spiritually.”   “... that,” Kyros blinked, turning to stare at Gabriel, “that is how your Grand Magnum Opus Barrier works, yes…?  You are the one that maintains it…?”   “That’s right,” Gabriel confirmed.   “Meaning… should even your spirit ever be lost… the Leviathan will be freed from its prison… …?”   Growing concerned about this line of questioning, Gabriel paused for a few seconds, studying the weary expression on Kyros’s face, before giving one more silent nod.   “... so, even in the hereafter, it will always be on the back of your mind… … that is no way for one to live…,” Kyros uttered as he reached a hand inside his coat, retrieving a short green blade made of Orichalcum, “... when they have so much more to experience….”   “Kyros, what’re you--?!” Gabriel gasped before cutting himself off as he and the rest of the group witnessed the Atlantean drive the blade into his right temple.     Everything fell silent for a full minute as they watched Kyros pull the blade out, drop it to the floor, and used his fingers to examine his open wound, which for some odd reason was not spilling out nearly as much blood as one would expect from such a deep injury.  “... heh… I know I pierced my brain with that one… should I try severing my brain stem next, or…? (“Please don’t…,” Red quietly gulped.)  No, I suppose not, hah-hah….” Kyros emptily laughed, a tab bit delirious from his suicide test and perhaps disappointed that it amounted to little more than a flesh wound that quickly mended itself.  “Least I know it may take more than that to undo this prison… that’s fortunate… … Phoenix,” he declared to the Deity, resolve detected in his weary voice, “if it is not beyond your capabilities, I must ask for but one request: permit Rubedo’s spirit to not be required to uphold the Grand Magnum Opus Barrier’s power--allow my spirit to maintain it in his stead!”   “Wh-Why would you…?!” Gabriel stammered, gobsmacked by Kyros’s declaration.   “Rubedo--no, Gabriel,” Kyros explained with a pained smile, the faintest of light blooming in his eyes, “there should be no need to dedicate your very existence to keeping the Leviathan bound--especially not the rest of your mortal lifespan.  Why do that when you still have so much left to experience?  Every chance to find victories big and small, to find and build companionships, to know love… both familial and romantic….  All of those experiences would be marred by knowing that at any moment it could all be stripped away, rendering your burden for naught.  At least if I were to bear it for you… you could truly have those experiences that are beyond me now….”   What about… an alternative?   Stretching out one blazing hand, the Phoenix summoned a twisting portal, its strands of interwoven black and white, mixing about like a moving yin and yang symbol.   If you have the courage to take the future in your hands, then you need not fear the past. Before you is a portal you can take, if you so please. It will send you back to before all your problems began, while you still hold all the knowledge of the future. Just one chance, to set things right and to avert the calamity that plagues you. Otherwise, you can take your fate as it is, and be content with being the Great Leviathan’s container for the rest of your life. The choice… is yours.   Kyros stared at the portal, dumbfounded.  “You would… grant me such a chance…?”  He glanced around frantically, studying the expressions of the others, especially Gabriel.  “Wh… What could I possibly…?”   “... you could do right by Reatrey, for one thing,” Gabriel proposed once he regained some composure.  “Have it so her upbringing was not as constrained--let her experience life beyond what you alone could provide her.” “But what about the Leviathan? And Atlantis?  Would it still bring about our home’s destruction?  Would it still wreak havoc afterwards?!”   “Maybe, but…,” Umbris mused as he retrieved his history book from his cape, flipping through its pages, “... … it is said that, though Atlantis’s destruction is inevitable, and the Leviathan makes a return during a modern era… in that world’s Prime Timeline, it was defeated for good by the Ancient Pharaoh, Atem, and would not appear in any form from that moment onward--not in “GX”, nor “5Ds”, nor “ZEXAL”, nor “Arc-V”, nor “VRAINS”....” Carla gasped in realization.  “Backup!  The Leviathan had a backup--in more than one sense of the word!” “Of course!  In our timeline, though the Pharaoh vanquished the Leviathan,” Russell Oxford joined in, “it still had a backup plan in the form of the Faust comet, using Reatrey and Kyros--Archetype Earth and Sayer--as its backup vessels… it even tried using Atsuko as one, too!”   “So then the answer’s obvious,” Atsuko concluded: “Kyros needs to leave Atlantis with Reatrey before the Leviathan corrupts the city!”   “But, could I do that?  Just leave our home and our people behind, knowing what will happen?” Kyros fretted.  “Can’t I at least try to warn as many as I could beforehand??”   “You could,” Red surmised, “but I’d wager you’d get banished from Atlantis sooner, if not institutionalized… assuming they had asylums back then, I mean.”   “Oh no, they likely would just have me lobotomiiiiiiiIIIIIII’m going off-track!!” Kyros caught himself before he could accidentally derail the conversation.  “For me to have the chance to go back in time to fix what went wrong… how can I, when so many were brought here for that same promise…?” he said, once again looking Alister in the eyes.   Alister shook his head.  “It’s true that I once wanted that same chance, Kyros,” he admitted, “but I’ve come to realize that that desire caused me--and many other versions of me--to be shackled to the past, in more ways than one, never having the chance to move forward until I could free myself… now, I can see the past for what it is, without it robbing me of my view of the future that I can now be a part of.   “This chance you’ve been offered, though, is different,” he added.  “You can not only avert so many tragedies and disasters brought about by Sayer and Archetype Earth, but also give Reatrey and yourself a chance at a normal life… but also, y’know, give Sayer the FATTEST “Fuck You” ever.”   “Oh yeah, no, FUUUCK Sayer,” Kyros agreed.  “Yes, surely erasing him from history would solve SO many people’s problems… but also, the less we speak of him, the better….”  He paused to sigh.  “... so, only my memories need to be sent to the past, not the rest of me, right?  After all, we can’t risk bringing the Leviathan back with me, and Gabriel certainly can’t still maintain the Barrier if it’s currently over ten-thousand years in the past… goodness, what people might think if I were to recount all the things I witnessed over those millennia,” he mused wistfully.  “Ramblings of a “mad lunatic who fancies himself a prophet”, they could say….”   “... I mean, why not play into it?” Red suggested.  “If not orally for fear of being lobotomized or held against your will, then perhaps put it in writing--a grimoire of prophecies, with maybe over half of them being seemingly nonsense so as to make the historians believe that the ones that get it right were just coincidence, really keep the people guessing… what?” he shrugged at Alister’s bewildered stare, “it’s what I’d do were I in his position.”   “... not a bad idea, really,” Kyros admitted.  “I can simply sprinkle a bit of “prophecy” here and there before leaving Atlantis with Reatrey, keep the rest for myself… heh, might be neat if my bloodline’s descendents got in on the act now and then--the “lunacy” skipping a generation or two… … oh, but perhaps I should try and warn you and your brothers, Rubedo, so that maybe… well, not so much to improve your chances of success, but maybe mitigate some of the damage that’s to come.”   Gabriel gave a somewhat unsure nod.  “... so you’ve settled, then?”   “So long as the Phoenix is okay with what we’ve all discussed,” Kyros noted with a nod toward the brilliant deity  “This won’t overstep too many boundaries as far as the timeline or people's memories are concerned, will it?”   To do so will only ‘course correct’ your world, making it become the prime timeline. However, you will not change, becoming an alternative universe counterpart instead while the Kyros who will inherit your memories will become ‘Prime Kyros’. So unless you go back and sync up to become Prime Kyros, which will purge the Great Leviathan from you, your situation won’t change as you become an AU Kyros instead. Those here, regardless of your choice, will likewise become AU counterparts to their prime versions. I know this asks a lot, but unless you go back to personally fix what was broken, you will remain the same.   “You had me at “purge the Great Leviathan from [me]”, Phoenix, thank you,” Kyros chirped as he made his way toward the portal.   “... wait, shouldn’t that mean we should also…?” Carla fretted as she watched Kyros begin to leave.   “Yeah, I would rather my “Prime RotO” self NOT have visions of *me* in his subconscious,” Russell blurted.   “I think it should be fine, though, so long as we get sent to the period we’re meant to sync with in our Timeline,” Gabriel affirmed to pacify his friends.  “We’ll just head in after Kyros does his thing… good luck,” he said to the soon-to-be “Lunatic Prophet”, placing an ornate pendant in his hands.  “Give that to the original Rubedo--my brothers and I placed a memory in there that should help convince them to hear what you have to say.  It’s the best we can do, in the hopes they can do the best they can.”   Giving the pendant a quick once-over, Kyros looked into Gabriel’s eyes and gave an appreciative smile.  “Thank you… and to all of you here, best of luck,” he called out to the rest of the group.  “And I say this in the kindest way possible: I pray we never meet again.”  With that, Kyros stepped into the portal--returning to the month after his wife’s passing--to right what went wrong so many millennia ago.   Now aware of what went wrong before, Kyros got to work, starting with raising Reatrey without shielding her from the world outside their home, allowing her to properly witness its beauty and rot in equal measure and feed her curious and inquisitive mind.  Of course, he also did not forget about leaving Atlantis before the Great Leviathan’s arrival, which he and Reatrey managed to do, a year prior, on a departing shipping vessel with help from Rubedo and the rest of the Magnum Opus Knights.  With the calamity being contained within Atlantis’s perimeter by the Magnum Opus Knights, Kyros and Reatrey were able to peacefully live in their newfound home of Athens, where Kyros would eventually witness the birth of his great-grandchild a few months before his eventual, peaceful passing, though not before having cataloged countless predictions throughout his life--which his descendents would work towards preserving as best they could, for one reason or another.  Eventually….   “Er… pardon my intrusion,” a voice meekly chimed from the portal Kyros had left through.  “Or… was this supposed to happen…?”  As if taking the Phoenix’s pause as their cue, the voice’s owner stumbled through the portal, revealing themself to be a bespectacled, modestly-dressed woman in her late 20s/early 30s with a worn leather messenger bag slung over her shoulder, her wavy pale brown hair put up in a messy updo covered by a raspberry beret.  Her face had a look of hesitant wonder as her hazel eyes scanned her new surroundings, darting about as she studied the structures and the faces (or lack of face, in the Phoenix’s case) around her.  “Uhm… I don’t quite get what’s going on right now,” she uttered as she shuffled over towards Gabriel’s friend group--as they seemed the most “normal” to her, “it feels like I’m walking through a dream right now, but it also feels… like I’m meant to be here at this moment.”   There was something vaguely familiar about this woman, though Gabriel couldn’t quite place a finger on it.  “I’m… sorry, who are you, miss?”   “Oh! Yes, sorry, I-I got just a little excited being here, I forgot--” the woman stammered as she adjusted her glasses and hair: ““Rhea Spyrou”, that’s my name.  I’m a fiction writer currently living in Detroit, Michigan… a-and you all are…?”   “Oh, uh, my name’s “Gabriel Guerra”, and this is--” “--“Russell Oxford” here--” “--name’s “Carla Bellerose”--” “--erm, “Atsuko Fudo”....”, the RoTO Alumni blurted almost all at once.   “Oh, nice to meet you… all…?” Rhea paused as she felt a slight deja vu.  “... oh!, right, Gabriel and Russell, you two are from the DWF!  I knew I recognized those names, but, uhm, your outfits kinda threw me off for a while, I’ll admit.  Are you guys cosplaying?  Is this a convention?” “A rather bland place for a “convention”, if you ask me,” Carla snarked, suddenly becoming self-conscious of her armored appearance.   “Be nice, Carla,” Russell said with a slightly embarrassed chuckle.   “Do we, uhh, tell her…?” Atsuko asked Gabriel with a hushed whisper.   “I mean, we could,” Gabriel admitted, “but that would mean having to address the elephant in the room….”   “I’m a *dragon*, Gabby…!” Red huffed indignantly.   … I was under the impression that the “elephant” was me….   “Uhm, Miss Spyrou,” Alexander chimed in as he approached the writer, “I know you’re trying to make sense of what you’re seeing around you right now, but--” “Omigoodness, are you…,” Rhea gasped with hands over her mouth, the sparkle of wonder shimmering in her eyes as she stared in awe of Alexander.  “You’re… you’re a lombax, aren’t you?!”   Alexander, Ratchet and Alister stood in open-mouthed shock as Rhea proceeded to gush profusely: “Omigosh omiGOSH!!  I’ve read so many tales written by my ancestors about such creatures--I’ve always been so amazed by their noble, adventurous nature and their proficiency with tools that surpass those made by humans--but I never thought I’d actually see one for REAL~  IYAHHH-HA-HAA!!!”   “H-How in the--?!” Alister garbled as he forced a smile.   “Yeah, we definitely got some ‘splainin’ to do,” Ratchet sighed with a similar awkward smile.   “Mhm…,” Red hummed flatly, somewhat jealous that the lombaxes were getting such a reaction from Rhea and not *him*.  “... and here I was under the impression that the Duel Monsters Multiverse was obsessed with dragons.”   “Eh, more just select individuals,” Atsuko sighed.   “... OH!  I almost forgot!” Rhea took a pause from her lombax-fangirling to rummage through her messenger bag.  “I had a dream the other day that said if I ever encountered a group with a lombax (or more) that I should consider giving them a gift, sooooo….”  She retrieved a pair of books and handed them to Alexander. “The first one is my most recent novel, “Journey of the Orc and the Nameless Judge”; and the other, “The Many Tales and Prophecies of the Multiverse: Volume 1”, was written by my father.”   ““A collection of short stories and predictions… translated, interpreted, and retold from the ancient texts of the fable “Lunatic Prophet” Kyros… by Cyrus Spyrou”,” Alexander recited as he skimmed the covers of the second book.  “So Kyros really did it… he and Reatrey got to live normal lives… avoid becoming Sayer and Archetype Earth… and manage to leave behind a lasting legacy of sorts,” he thought to himself.  “... yeesh, not sure how to feel about her dad’s looks, though,” he added after seeing the insert of the author’s photo on the back cover, noting the similarities between Cyrus’s face and those of Kyros and Sayer… but ultimately just chalked it up to a VERY strong family resemblance.   “Oh good, I was kinda concerned that there’d be a language barrier, but hearing you read it out loud puts those fears to rest…!” Rhea sighed with relief as she gave the same gift to Gabriel as well as Atsuko.   “We’ll be sure to check out more of your works when we get home, Rhea, thank you so much!” Gabriel nodded appreciatively.   “I am so happy to hear that, Mr. Guerra!” Rhea beamed with appreciation.  “Anyways, this was a nice little daydream to break up the doldrums, but I really should get back to work on my latest novel, which is about a vast array of heroes from alternate worlds being brought together to partake in a tournament of power… okay, maybe I should just relegate that to a short story, thinking it over more, but whatever~!  Also, good luck with your next show later this week, Mr. Guerra and Mr. Oxford!”   “Just “Gabriel” and “Russell” is fine, Rhea,” Gabriel smiled as he waved goodbye to the writer.  “Oh, and do stop by to watch the show, if you can!” “I would love that, actually, thank you~!  Adieu, everyone~!” Rhea gave a final wave farewell before stepping through the portal once more, back to the world that had been slightly, yet significantly, changed by her ancestor’s efforts.   “Nice girl,” Carla said once Rhea had vanished.  “Kinda makes me wanna be her friend, if you can believe that.”   “Shit, I’d like her as a friend, too!” Russell agreed alongside Gabriel.   “Yeah… totally helps that she’s nothing like, well, those two you-know-whos,” Atsuko shrugged.  “I think I’ll take this as my cue to regroup with Neighborhood Watch--you three enjoy your new lives back home, okay?” she said while waving to the three grownups.   “You’re not joining us?” Russell blurted in confusion.   Atsuko shook her head.  “I’ve changed far too much at this point, Russell, and if there still happens to be an Atsuko in your new reality… well, she’s better off not having my memories, y’know? Let her enjoy the childhood I missed out on, without all my baggage.  Doesn’t mean *this* me can’t visit you guys sometimes, when I’m not busy,” she added as she approached each grownup to give them a hug: “Gabriel, I will never forget the bravery of you and your fellow Duelists of the Legendary Dragons; the city of Detroit, and the rest of your world, were able to survive thanks to your efforts.   “Russell, I will always be grateful to you for trying your best to save me, even if it didn’t go as anyone had hoped; your strength and determination, even as a more “normal” Duelist and person, were truly worthy of respect and admiration.   “... … …” Atsuko hesitated a moment as she reached Carla, remembering that the scarlet-haired woman was originally one of Archetype Earth’s Swordsman of the Orichalcos, and thus *was* partly responsible for the state she ended up in.  Carla understood the reason for Atsuko’s hesitance, and was fully prepared to get passed over for a hug (at best)….  “... oh fuck it, c’mere,” Atsuko blurted as she pulled the woman in for a hug anyway.  “For what it’s worth, I could tell that you’ve had some regrets for what happened back then, especially to me.  Maybe if things were different for you then, too… aw well, all of that doesn’t matter now,” she said as she released Carla from the hug.  “You guys have the chance to live normal lives now, build new relationships, maybe even… y’know~,” she teased while waving finger guns at the three adults, “but that’s all up to you to make it work, yeah?  Speaking of, there’s a guy I’ve been wanting to make things official with for the longest time, and I can’t wait to see him again real soon, soooo… bye, you guys!”   “Bye, hun, and good luck with your beau,” Carla waved, appreciative of the kind words that she still wasn’t sure she deserved.   “We’ll go for a McDonald’s run next time you visit, ‘kay Atsuko?” Russell sputtered while close to tears.  “Or Taco Bell, Chipotle, or whatever other fast food place you fuck with!”   “Take care, Atsuko.  Go make your mom proud,” Gabriel smiled warmly.   “Itsu was proud of Atsuko before,” Alexander joined in, “and wherever she is now, she always will be.”   “Thank you, Alexander….”  With that last farewell, Atsuko stepped towards a radiant light, as bright and warm as the sun, and vanished as the light seemed to sink below the horizon like the setting sun.   “... Gabby, listen,” Carla spoke up once Atsuko was gone, “about what happened--”   “--it was my fault, Carla,” Gabriel admitted.  “I had a moment of weakness that got in between you and Russell--”   “--well, yeah, but I was supposed to have been undercover at the time--”   “--you were developing feelings for him--!”   “--and your feelings were valid, too--!”   “--thanks?! But I-I don’t even like him like that--!”   “--hah! Ya coulda fooled me with how you were--!”   “ENOUGH!!” Russell shrieked, shocking the two out of their own game of “Blame Football”.  “We’ve had enough problems over this! I- I can’t do this again…!” “I’m sorry, did I miss some chapters?” Alister uttered as an aside to the remaining Team Lombax crew.   “With how often you engage in “Battles at the Center of the Mind”, I wouldn’t be surprised, Alister,” Ratchet snarked.   “I think Al means “from before this War happened”,” Alexander surmised, with Umbris nodding in agreement.   “Seems like a classic “Love Triangle” scenario,” Red observed, “where two rivals fight over their shared love interest--” “--KINDLY stay outta this!” Russell bellowed at the peanut gallery, looking to be at best a few seconds away from an anxiety attack.   Gabriel buried his face into his hands.  “God, I’m sorry, I’m sorry….”   “Gabe, chill, alright?” Russell demanded, despite also needing to do just that.  “I get it--you didn’t mean to kiss me like that, and the only reason you did was ‘cuz you didn’t know whether or not you’d make it out alive and… … and you… wanted to be honest with yourself, in some way….”   “... I still shouldn’t’ve done that, though, not with you…,” Gabriel whimpered as he removed his hands from his face.  “I mean, I’ve known you for so long, and you’re such a great, awesome guy, Rusty, I just… always wondered what it’d be like having someone I could actually be myself around, warts and all….” Gabriel scratched lightly at the right side of his mask, where his facial scars lay mostly hidden underneath.  “Someone like you….”   “... in all fairness,” Carla conceded, “things probably wouldn’t have gotten so crazy among us had I not started falling for Russell around that time--especially after my last breakup and all; if I had just stayed focused and not flown off the handle the way I did, Russell wouldn’t have gotten caught in the middle of it all… ….”   “... and throughout all of that, we never considered your feelings, Russ….”   “... … I guess not,” Russell acknowledged reflectively.  “... I dunno, a lot just sorta happened in such a short period… I didn’t have time to process any of it back then….”   ... … … …   “... so what do we do now?  About us three?” Russell asked, breaking the brief silence.  “Do we just--what the shit…?!” he yelped as he got distracted by the mock Duel being held by Umbris and Alexander.   “There’s a lot we ended up missing while being here, Alex,” Umbris explained while the rest of Team Lombax observed: “For instance, Pendulum Monsters and Pendulum Summoning, which was, like, pretty frikkin’ busted when it was first introduced, and also--”   “HOW CAN YOU GUYS JUST SIT THERE AND HAVE A DUEL IN A PLACE LIKE THIS?!?!” Russell yelled.   “Well, excuuuuuuse us, Mr. Kindly-Stay-Outta-This!  We were just doing what you told us to do,” Red scoffed with hands on his hips.  “Besides, this situation of yours is best left with you three, anyway… … so, Umbris, you were going to talk about these “Link Monsters” next…?”   “... so, we gotta figure out those new mechanics, on TOP of our situation…?” Russell groaned.   “Granted, we could do with a little rewrite,” Carla admitted, “have it so our eventual get-together doesn’t seem too forced.  Not to mention… lacking in Orichalcos bullshit.”   “Yeah… you, uh, still wanna meet Carla, right Russell?” Gabriel asked his friend.   “... I mean, I’d be lying if I said “no”... but how can we make that work?  It’s not like we can just all meet up at the diner unscripted,” Russell mused.   I may have a simple solution: perhaps make Carla join the DWF roster a couple years or so prior, which should allow you three a better opportunity and plenty of time to develop your relationships.   “... … I guess I could get behind that,” Carla considered.  “It would be a good way to put my gymnastics skills to use.”   “It’s a start, at least,” Russell nodded, somewhat satisfied.   “A new start,” Gabriel agreed, “for all… of us… … say, Phoenix?”   You wish for your fellow Magnum Opus Knights--your brothers--to also be reincarnated alongside you.  That is entirely within my power; I will make it so that all four of you, born initially of different bloodlines, will have grown up in the same orphanage, quickly forming a found family that will last well into your adulthood.   A grateful smile crossed the luchador’s face.  “Thank you… ….”  He quietly rummaged through his Deck, retrieving The Claw of Hermos and holding it before him.  “I… have to remember what you told me before, Hermos: “no doubts”.  I want to go into this rewritten world without doubts, to be brave… I really do… but parts of me are still scared, fearful that I may still falter, make mistakes, miss chances… I know it’s normal to feel that way, but….”   “Just do what you can, Brave One…,” Hermos’s voice echoed in Gabriel's mind.  “Remember, you won’t be alone, especially this time--you will have your brothers to guide you, and your friends to help you whenever you need it, and you will help them in turn.  I know you will be just fine, Rubedo… though our time together was ultimately short, I will miss you dearly… good luck, Gabriel… and goodbye…,” Hermos’s mental voice seemed to crack as his card emitted of faint glow, dissipating before Gabriel’s eyes in a cloud of sparkles.   “... you gonna be okay, Gabby?” Russell asked as he placed a hand on the luchador’s shoulder, getting the gist of what the disappearance of the card meant.   “... … I will be,” Gabriel sniffled, a faint smile on his lips.  “I will be.”   “Good, ‘cuz that dragon and his furry friends look pretty anxious to get things going,” Carla broke in, seeing that the mock Duel had just ended.  “We’ve slowed things down enough with this whole drama of ours as-is.”  The two wrestlers nodded in agreement.   “Well then… Ratchet, Clank, Alexander, Umbris, Red, Alister: Good luck to you all,” Gabriel bid farewell to Team Lombax as he, arm-in-arm with his friends, approached a new portal of swirling black, white, yellow and red.  “... ah, nooo, I forgot to give something to Cereza….” With the RotO group vanishing before Gabriel could say what that “something” was or how he’d get said “something” to the Umbra Witch, Team Lombax was now down to their last six members--   “--huh?!  Garlandolf?!” Alexander blurted out as he noticed the King of Destruction casually standing off to the side, back in his original form.  “What are you still doing here?!”   “Yo,” Garlandolf coolly greeted, a somewhat bored expression on his face.  “Just thought I’d hang back a bit before heading off to whatever hell I’m destined for, really--now that you-know-who is out of the picture, I can finally be more like myself and all that….”   “Soooo this casual way of speaking you're doing, that’s part of the “real you”?” Umbris tilted his head in confusion.   “... even if it is,” the Fiend replied with a low rumble in his voice, his smirking face inches away from the Neo-Spacian’s, “who’d believe you…?  But what I mean is,” he continued after pulling away from the panther, switching back to his bored conversational tone, “without that shade’s influence over me, I can go back to being the typical villain whom the valiant heroes rally against to beat back into the void.  I’ve a reputation, after all.”   “Not nearly as much compared to Demise and Ruin, though,” Umbris pointed out tauntingly.   Sucking his teeth, Garlandolf turned to Alexander.  “Could you please do something about your “pet” before I do?”   “ExCUSE you--?!”   “Umbris, chill,” Alexander idly shushed the incensed Neo-Spacian.  “So, that’s it, Garlandolf?” he asked the Fiend with genuine regard.  “You’re just gonna resign yourself to being a villain?”   “Not like I have much choice, do I, Alexander?” Garlandolf questioned the lombax.  “As your cat ever-so-helpfully pointed out, I don’t have much going for me, even *as* a force of darkness and destruction; the Roleplay Realms were pretty much the only place where I was able to shine as an antagonist, and even then it was only because of “that man” being the Greater-Scope Villain… at the very least, I can now be a proper threat on my own merit.”   “That’s a silver lining, at least,” Alexander nodded.  “And what about your “Lightray” form?” “What about it?  Do you expect me to indulge in being on the side of “good” and “righteousness” every once in a while?  Be all “kumbaya” with you heroic types?  Sorry, I just can’t see that happening.” “Well, really, that’s up to you, Garly.  I mean, you’re a big boy, you can handle yourself,” Alexander shrugged.  “... but if you get--”   “--please cease with the lyrical reference to Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous”, for the love of everything,” Garlandolf retched.  “Just do me a favor, and don’t try acting like we’re friends the next time we meet.”   “Deal,” Alexander agreed, offering a handshake.   “... fistbump,” Garlandolf sheepishly requested.  Alexander complied, balling his outstretched hand into a fist and proceeded to bump it against Garlandolf’s.   The King of Destruction let the slightest smile slip briefly before requesting to the Phoenix, “Okay, Phoenix, send me on my way to… anywhere.”   … where “love” is more than just your name?   “... … … … I hate you~♪” Garlandolf couldn’t help but smile wryly at the Phoenix’s joke as he began to evanesce from sight, consumed by a raging black inferno.  Once the flame was reduced to dead cinders, a pile of cards remained where Garlandolf stood: full playsets of “Garlandolf the King of Destruction”, “Ritual of Destruction”, and “Lightray Garlandolf”, among other cards.   “Left us a gift, did he?” Red observed as Umbris retrieved the cards.  “They’re not boobytrapped by any chance, are they?” he added, speaking from experience.   “No, they’re clean,” Umbris noted after a quick scrying of the Deck, handing the cards over to Alexander.  “Still, if one of us gets possessed by them like Wolfram did back then, we can always pay ol’ Garly a visit.”   Now with that bonus bit of business dealt with… Red, it is now your turn.   The dragon stepped forward, licking his dry lips as his heart was pounding in his chest.  “I, didn’t expect to make it this far, though I hoped in my heart of hearts that I would,” he proclaimed, looking back to his friends that made this possible.  “I started this with the intent to save my world from the entropy consuming it, but, it was only by the help of all of you and so much more that made me realize that maybe… my world should end.”   “WHAT?!” everyone exclaimed.   “S-So that it may begin anew,” Red added hastily.  “Whatever is left of my world’s time can only be stalled, forever and ever and ever again.  But it won’t be safe, as the entropy will come again, eventually.  And in the meantime my world is still vulnerable to the countless tendrils of Adrastos and the Shadow Realm.  He may have failed twice now; once by me and then again by his own hand, but failure has never stopped him before.  But, regardless, I no longer believe I should be a part of my world now, as it is or what will be.  I too am tainted by the darkness, and clinging to my world has driven me to do terrible things, to those I care about,” he lamented while clutching at his Seal of Orichalcos-shaped scar, turning his head to both Alister and Ratchet.  “It became my obsession, leaving me blind to what was in front of me as I desperately kept looking back the whole time, something of a running theme with those of us here,” he chuckled ruefully.   Alister couldn’t help but chuckle too, the irony not lost on him or the 40,000 Altisters that once were.  “At least you didn’t need a few thousand cycles to figure that one out,” he said wryly.   “So, all I ask is you open a portal back to my world, only seconds after I left it and still altered by Isamy, so that I recover whatever effects I may need from my world, before I finally leave it behind and so I may join Alister in his world,” Red requested.   That can be arranged.  The portal will remain open then, until you return.   By raising her hand, Phoenix summoned an archway made of polished white stone, with a portal depicting a fuzzy landscape in it.  Above it hovered words, made of thick pieces of gold.  They read “RETURN HOME”.  “Alister?  Ratchet?  Clank?  Alexander?  Umbris?  Will you join me?” Red asked of the others, one hand held out to them.  “What I need done will need more than one set of hands, and I’d be more than happy for you to join me in my world, so we can all see it.  One last time.  I’d truly appreciate the help and support.”   “For you Red, always,” Alister smiled, taking Red’s hand.  “After you?” he gestured.   “Al, thank you,” Red smiled, fighting back tears as the two walked through the portal.   “Huh, and to think I thought you usually needed a wardrobe to enter Narnia” Ratchet joked as he marched through the portal.   “Jokes aside, it will be interesting to engage with a world built on magic, rather than technology” Clank figured as they vanished.   “... D’oh, I forgot,” Alexander bemoaned briefly.   “What’s the matter?” Umbris asked.   “I wanted to see if we could try and restore some of Red’s injuries--his wing, at least--before we went in.  Y’know, in case we happen to come across any of his fellow elders, assuming any of them are still conscious… let him be a bit presentable, y’know?”   Umbris nodded.  “Understandable, but maybe it’s best we leave his scars as they are--let them help tell the tale of what he went through for his world.”   “... yeah, you’re right,” Alexander conceded before he and the Neo-Spacian stepped through the portal.   (♫ “Toriame (Fleeting Shower)” ♫)   The portal took them out onto a grassy hill, not too far away from what looked like a large temple/dojo.  Red himself breathed deeply in the air, though no wind was blowing.  “It’s worse than I thought,” he sighed.  “My leaving must have accelerated the entropy by breaking the balance; there may not be anyone left active now.  And I was gone technically for only a few seconds too…”   “Well, at least we won’t need to explain to everyone who we are or why we’re looting the place,” Ratchet mused.  “Not a bad place, reminds me of some of the forested planets back in Solana.”   “Yes, but it makes things a bit more dangerous, as anyone who touches a time-locked individual will also be frozen.  Naturally we can ask Phoenix to fix that, but I don’t want to waste too much time having to go back and make the request.  I feel like I’m missing something…  Alexander, are you alright?” he asked, noticing the Lombax was looking a bit… livelier than usual.   Alexander was scanning these new surroundings anxiously, his eyes filled with wonder and… familiarity(?) as his tail practically wagged back and forth.  “I feel… great…?” he pondered, his eyes shimmering as if close to tears despite his smile.  “It’s strange… the moment I set foot in this world I felt rejuvenated.  It’s like something in me is elated to be here--I think it’s the dragon mana in me… … I can feel the energies of this world--no, more than that, even! See, hear, taste, smell… it’s like all of my senses are being stimulated at once!  It’s exciting, really… kinda scary, though.  It makes me realize that before now I hadn’t even scratched the surface of what being a dragon of this world must be like.   “... also, though,” Alexander continued, his tail’s wagging slowing down as his elation deflated a bit, “I think it’s also because of the dragon mana in me that I feel like I’ve just… come back home to something familiar after being away for so long.  I feel joy and comfort… but also sorrow, knowing that this world as it is now won’t exist for much longer.  It’s bittersweet, really….”   Red’s eyes widened slowly, as he carefully scanned the area.  Such sights he had seen hundreds of times, and yet there was someone else experiencing it for the first time.  How could he have taken such things for granted?  “I’m sorry, with everything happening I had forgotten how new this would be for you, this place being your second home thanks to my mana.  I had completely forgotten-  Ah yes, I have forgotten a lot with all the drama going on,” he mused, a sly smile forming.  “I’m sorry Alexander, I should have warned you that this would be something of a homecoming for you.  I just wonder how the magic inside you will react, now that it’s come home.  It may try to retake its full shape, to match my own.  I surmise the longer you’re here the more magic you’ll inevitably soak up.”   “So, what exactly’s gonna happen when that mana “retakes its shape”?” Alister fretted.   “Think he’ll take the form of a dragon the longer we’re here?” Ratchet mused.   “Probably shouldn’t be a problem,” Umbris speculated.  “Since Alex does possess shapeshifting abilities now, morphing into a dragon and back should be of very little issue.”   “The shapeshifting may not be an issue,” Clank warned, “but other side effects may occur that we are not prepared for.”   “I don’t think it’ll be that dramatic, probably,” Red conceded.  “I was just referring to how he’ll more than likely grow more powerful the longer he’s here.  I’m not exactly a slouch in the magic department, I can assure you of that.  Still… he is something that hasn’t been seen before in my world.  Nobody has ever tried to steal dragon magic directly from a dragon before, so I can’t exactly say what the consequence will be.”   “So for now it’s “wait and see what happens”,” Alister concluded.  “... shall we get going?”   “I guess whenever Red is ready,” Alexander replied.   “Oh yes, of course.  I was just a little lost.  It’s only been a few days but it feels more like a lifetime now since I left.  Just be careful as we move, as interacting with anyone time-locked will freeze you as well, which won’t be ideal.  Oh dear, I really should have just asked the Phoenix for immunity for all of us, shouldn’t I?  It would have made this trip safer then,” Red sighed.   “Unless the Phoenix can hear us from all the way in Epiloguous,” Ratchet wondered.  “Like, how else would they have known to bring Umbris back, or to invite Ms. Spyrou?”  Before the others could respond, Ratchet called out, “HEEEEY, PHOENIX!!!  DIDYA CATCH ANY OF THAT?!”   “Ratchet, please,” Alister tried to shush the young lombax, “you want whoever’s still conscious to think there’s a loon around here??”   “Hey, it’s a wake-up call, at least.”   “NOT what I meant!”   “Let’s just be safe about things and assume she didn’t, so don’t touch anyone,” Red cut in.  “Now we’ll need to head to the Dojo, where the Elder’s Library and my room is located. It’s just a short walk across these hills, but be mindful if there are any sheep about.”   “What, are they gonna try to maul us if we get too close?” Umbris joked.   “I believe it is because they are likely to be time-locked,” Clank surmised.   “And they’re just a nuisance in general,” Red added.  “Really it’s the dogs and their fire resistant fur that are more likely to maul you.”   “Right, just avoid any sheep and dogs along our path, got it,” Alister nodded.   “Well then, let’s move,” Red declared, leading the way.   The grass was so soft as they marched across, the hills having gentle rises and falls as they ventured towards and into the township.  Red’s feet stopped, a dour expression on his face at the sight of young dragons and their dragonflies, frozen in place mid play. “These were,” he swallowed, his voice cracking, “they were some of the first to freeze,” he explained, fighting back a tear.   (♫ “Kaikyo (Homesick)” ♫)   Alexander sympathetically took a couple of steps toward the timestopped younglings, either due to his typical bleeding heart nature or the dragon mana instinctively wanting to help them, but he stopped himself before he could go further than that.  “This… this is horrible…,” he whispered sorrowfully, hands clasped to his collarbone as he took note of the other townsfolk who were likewise frozen in place.   “This isn’t a secret shame, but having to face this for days, without sleep… can you see why I was so desperate and willing to do anything to make it stop?” Red sniffled.   Alister gulped hard, knowing full well that we surely would have done the same as Red if the same had happened to the lombaxes, let alone the rest of his reality.  He repressed a gag, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach.   “Well, we certainly can’t blame you, Red,” Ratchet uttered somberly, glancing at Alister as he spoke.   “But it doesn’t excuse what I did, especially to the both of you.  That’s why, for once, I’m going to do what’s truly right, instead of selfishly right.  I think it’s best we leave these people be, and head for the Dojo.  I hope you enjoy stairs, because there are many,” Red said, fighting back his sorrow.   There were stairs, a lot of them, and the group had to be careful to avoid any time-locked figures who became frozen while either ascending the steps, or from putting their hands on another.  And those looked as if they fell asleep in their attempt.  The numbers thinned at the top, sporting a large, ornate courtyard that wouldn’t be out of place in a martial arts movie.  “Countless generations of dragons have practised Dragon Kata here, though it slowly went out of style as most threats to the Dragon Realms left or simply died off.  There were nuisances, but none so threatening until the attack of Gnasty Gnorc some time ago,” Red exposited while everyone caught their breath from the stairs.   “Neat,” Umbris chirped as he took some pictures of the courtyard with his iNomatoPhone.   “Umbris, be a little more respectful, please…!” Alexander huffed at the Neo-Spacian, trying to brush off his own curiosity as to when and how Umbris got a smartphone in the first place.   “Who says I’m not?  This world’s gonna disappear, so why not take some pictures to remember it as it is now?  I’m sure Red wouldn’t mind, right?” Umbris asked the dragon.   Red seemed aghast at first, his words caught on his throat as he slowly gained a more thoughtful outlook.  “I never quite-  We do have video cameras here, which have been present during the dragon interviews before Gnasty Gnorc crystallised all the adult dragons.  But I’m sure some mementos won’t hurt,” he shrugged, but couldn’t hide his smile.   “At least you won’t have to worry about anyone ruining the shot, huh Umbris?” Ratchet semi-joked.   “REALLY, Ratchet…!” Clank gasped.   “Okay, now THAT’s disrespectful,” Alister shook his head.   “Sorry,” Ratchet meekly apologized.   “Tastelessness aside, I’d say it’d be a good idea to keep an eye out for a spot where we could take a group photo, for the memories,” Red suggested.   “Shame the others are missing out on this,” Alexander lamented, his thoughts on Gabriel and the Umbra Witches who had already returned to their respective homes--   “--and who says we are?”   (♫ “Cereza” ♫)   The group yelped in shock as they turned around to see Bayonetta, Jeanne, Gabriel and Rodin behind them, all casually dressed and having arrived through an Infernal Portal that Rodin had made.  “Guys!! How--?!”   “Took a shortcut,” Rodin shrugged, “figured those black boxes didn’t need to be deployed to track you guys down across dimensions.  Y’all are welcome, by the way,” he added as he retreated back into the portal before closing it behind him.   “... yeah, I was just as shocked as you guys when Rodin suddenly showed up in my living room,” Gabriel said to the rest of Team Lombax.  “But hey, nice to see you all again!”   “N-Nice to see you too, Gabby,” Alexander stammered.  “And the girls, too.”   “Always,” Bayonetta smiled warmly.   “Bit risky for Rodin to just drop you off like this, though,” Alister fretted.  “If he had dropped you off anywhere else, you guys could’ve risked getting time-locked!”   “Right, because of the entropy and all that, yes?” Jeanne surmised.   “Yeah, so don’t touch anyone who’s time-locked, or you’ll get time-locked too,” Ratchet warned.   “Which is why it may now serve our purposes to split up?” Red said, a hand to his chin.  “With our newcomers here we can divide the workload between two groups.”   “Wow, not even a full minute here and we’re already getting put to work,” Jeanne sassed.   “Such is life,” Gabriel sighed.  “Ah well, we can sightsee later, I guess.  So, what needs doing, Red?”   “We need to head inside, as there’s two places we need to visit: the Elder’s Library and… and… the Council Room,” Red said in bitter tones.   “Hmmm, sounds like whatever’s in the Council Room’s gonna be heavy,” Umbris hypothesized, “so I think I’ll leave that to you five while I join Bayo, Jeanne and Gabriel at the Library.”   “Ah-ah, not so fast, Umbris,” Red chided as he grabbed the Neo-Spacian by the head and placed him by his side. “We’re going to need a fourth set of hands, so you’ll be joining us while our friends are at the library,” The dragon then strode across the courtyard to fling the enormous doors of the Dojo open.   On the inside was a simple-yet-artistically decorated entrance hall, starting with a small antechamber then opening up into the grand hall, which carried countless statues of former Dragon Elders stationed between polished stone pillars rising up to the higher floors above it.  The floor itself was perfectly polished stone as well, inlaid with a large golden disc in the middle, sporting a spiral shape going counterclockwise.  Tapestries hung from the ceiling, with one showing a dragon wielding carving tools on a grassy field, another with a dragon holding a war hammer proudly over a desert.  A dragon with crystal wings holding an orb on a snowy mountain.  A dragon hovering over a cauldron in a dark swamp.  And lastly, a dragon holding an hourglass in a castle above the clouds.  “These tapestries depict all the heritages of dragonkind.  The Artisans.  The Peacekeepers.  The Magic Crafters.  The Beast Makers.  And the Dream Weavers.  All represented equally in this hall,” Red informed the others.   “We’re definitely taking these tapestries with us, yeah?” Umbris asked as he took pictures of each one.   Red gawped in disgust.  “Absolutely not!  While there are some things we’re taking, I’m not going to ransack my own heritage,” he scoffed hotly.   Meanwhile, Alexander’s eyes were filled with wonder as they studied the statues and tapestries around him, as if seeing the histories of the dragon heritages in real time.  “It’s all so amazing…!”   “... is Alex okay?” Jeanne asked Alister.  “He seems a bit… touched since we left.”   “It’s the dragon mana,” Alister explained.  “His experiences here are apparently being heightened by the mana’s connection to this world and its magic, the latter of which he’s been absorbing since he got here.”   “Oh, that’s fun.”   “I just hope it’s not affecting him too mentally or possibly even physically,” Red said as an aside to Alister.  “Was it a mistake to bring him?”   “N-N-No, it’s fine,” Alexander stammered, shaking off his euphoria, “I-I’m fine, I promise.  Dammit, Alex, keep it together….”   “Then it might be best if we focused on our mission,” Red suggested, though his voice hinted at uncertainty.  Gabriel, you and these charming ladies need to ascend up the staircase to the third floor, two staircases up.  On that floor is a pair of large doors with dragon heads etched into the wood.  That’s the library, and I’m going to need you to access the computer to track down the files associated with the Professor’s portal technology, specifically the one he used to connect to other worlds.  Project Hello Neighbor, I think it was called.  You’ll need login information so use mine. The username is Red, and my password is… it’s ‘Blu’.”   “Blue?  How fitting darling,” Jeanne chuckled.   “It’s “Blu”, without the ‘e’,“ Alister corrected.   “How do you know that?” Red gasped.   “I, uh… saw a memory of yours,” Alister explained, “back when we were trying to break you out of Sa--erm, the Orichalcos’s grip on you.  Alex and I thought that viewing your memories would help… except the ones we had access to at the time were--” “--not good,” Alexander finished.   “But yeah, uhm… one of those memories we saw was of when your dragonfly, Blu, passed away.”   “You…?” Red staggered back.  “I see…. I, it’s fine.  At least if I had died there, had you not been able to save me, then his memory would have lived on with someone else.  It’s some small comfort during that dark time, at least.”   “You’ll have to tell us more about him sometime, Red,” Gabriel suggested as he jotted down the Login credentials on a notepad.  “Sharing the tales of the time you spent with him may do you some good.  Anyways, we’ll go ahead and grab those files now, so good luck with your task.”   “Before you go, the library is sealed.  Normally an Elder’s power is needed to open the door, but we created a lazier way to avoid the whole chanting thing,” Red cut in.  “Ratchet, the medallion I gave you is the key they’ll need,” he explained, gesturing to the over-large medallion Ratchet still bore.   “Welp, back to being a five for now,” Ratchet chuckled a bit as he removed the medallion from his neck and passed it off to Bayonetta.   “Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of it in the meantime,” Bayonetta assured the lombax.  “And you’re still a six, dearie,” she added with a wink before she, Jeanne and Gabriel began to ascend the stairs.   “I think she was only lowering your score to keep you humble Ratchet,” Red tittered, oblivious to Bayonetta playfully flipping him off from the stairs behind him.  “As for us, the Elder’s chambers are on the second floor, just up these stairs.  I have some blueprints I might need and some other effects before we visit the Council Chambers on the first floor, just down the hall from here.”   “Ugh, more stairs?” Umbris complained.   “Yes, so it’s best we don’t waste time complaining,” Red scowled as he shepherded the Neo-Spacian and the lombaxes toward the stairs.   The party made their way up the stairs, unawares Red was purposefully slowing down before he even made it to the first step.  Certain that they had all gone ahead, the dragon let out a loud shudder, his head falling past his haunches as he looked around at the grand hall.  So many memories to be found, both the good, and the bad.  “Don’t spend too long Red, or they’ll notice you’re not there,” he told himself.  “Just a little longer,” he said quietly.   Unbeknownst to Red, Umbris was keeping an eye on the dragon from the top of the stairs while in the form of a shadow.  “It looks like he’s just reminiscing for a bit, Alex,” he telepathically said to his Duelist Partner.   “Fair enough, we can wait,” Alexander nodded as he replied mentally.  “I think Red just needs a little time to himself,” Alexander confirmed to Alister, Ratchet and Clank.   “That’s fair,” Alister nodded with a slight smile, “a little extra time shouldn’t hurt.”   Down below, Red stirred.  “That’s long enough,” he told himself, and found the strength to climb the stairs where he found the others waiting for him.  “Apologies, I was just admiring the hall.  You know it’s funny, I’ve been through it countless times but never really, experienced it,” he lied.   “Oh yeah, totally get that feeling,” Alister agreed, playing along as he and the others discussed they would.  “Anyways, does, uhhh, this door require a gimmick to open as well, or can we just head on in?”   “Not really, just don’t expect too much,” Red said, pushing open the door to his room. There was a certain truth to it, as there wasn’t much to speak of.  Aside from a bed that looked like it hadn’t been used in a while, there was also some kind of drawing easel you could sit at, and boxes upon boxes stuffed with papers and blueprints.  There was also an old dresser, which didn’t have a lock but a large claw print pad on it.  “After the change caused by Isamy removing the Dark Gems from the world, I admit I had difficulty living here with a full recollection of my original timeline.  I used this room for little more than storage, as I preferred separate lodgings so my guilty conscience didn’t have to interact with those who acted like I had done nothing wrong,” Red explained as they piled into the room.   Aside from how relatively not-lived-in it looked, it kinda reminded Alister of his living space back on Torren IV.  “... I really should remember to get my place cleaned up,” he uttered as he examined the piles of boxes in the room.   “So what’re all these blueprints for, Red?” Ratchet asked as he poked one of the bundles sticking out of another box.   “Oh countless inventions, including things that technically shouldn’t exist, like the mining equipment when I had my dark gem mine.  I had to remember those from scratch, as they were my inventions.  Oh, I never did mention it, did I?   Despite being magically gifted I hail from the Artisans, where I displayed a knack for tinkering with machinery.   And apparently, in this altered timeline I collaborated with the Professor quite a bit, devising all kinds of new devices which live in these boxes too.  I don’t exactly remember them but I figured we could take them as they could potentially be of use to us,” Red figured as he put a hand to the dresser locker, a quiet click responding to his touch as it allowed itself to be opened.   There wasn’t much inside, as dragons rarely had a need for clothing, though it too held a lot of paperwork and a spare medallion hanging from a hook.  There were also a few books in there, including an old leather bound book reminiscent of a photo album.  “May I?” Alexander inquired as he retrieved the old book from the dresser.   “If you want, those aren’t even my memories-  That is, not as I remember them,” Red said dismissively.   Taking Red’s words now and prior into consideration, Alexander opened the cover, rummaging through the pages as Alister and Umbris looked over his shoulders.     “Er-HEM…!” Ratchet cleared his throat.   “Oh, right… sorry, Ratch,” Alexander chuckled embarrassedly as he lowered the book to Ratchet’s viewing level.   “I looked through it myself, after the reality shift happened,” Red said absently while looking through some papers.  “All happy memories, the kind of which I never got to enjoy because I don’t remember them happening.  It made me feel like I had stumbled into someone else’s life--like I had stolen the life of an identical twin with the same name,” he seethed.   “That’s pretty fucked, not gonna lie,” Umbris replied.   “It is a shame…,” Alexander nodded somberly.  He lingered on one of the pages--a specific photo, rather, one that featured a young purple dragon and their yellow dragonfly.  “Who is this youngling?  He seems familiar….” “I get what you mean, Alex,” Ratchet mused.  “I’ve never seen him before, and yet I can feel a, uhh… what’s the word I’m looking for?” ““Kindred spirit”?” Clank offered.   “Ah yeah, that,” Ratchet grinned.  “He looks like he knows how to kick butt!”   Alister leaned in carefully, studying the picture, and his eyes widened.  “Alex, that’s Spyro.  Remember, in the mental town square?  The… the crucifixes?” he shivered.   “...!!!” Alexander gasped in shocked remembrance.  “That was…!  Oh, but… of course I didn’t recognize him right away; the memory version of him we saw was--”  Alexander clasped his eyes and mouth shut, not wanting to recount what he saw--either to Red, or himself, for that matter.  “... … well, at least I know what we saw never happened to the real one.”   “Whatever you’re talking about is probably one more traumatic memory I don’t need.  But to answer your question the picture is of Spyro and most likely his dragonfly Sparx.  He has been the hero of multiple realms now, and bested more villains than any other living dragon can claim.  He’s the one who saved me from Adrastos’ control; shockingly, no pun intended, his Shock magic was powerful enough to tear through not only my defences but the conditioning and mind control Adrastos had me under,” Red summarised.  “To this day, I still have no idea how he did it.”   ““Kindred spirit”, indeed,” Alister echoed Clank’s words, giving Ratchet a proud smile.   “Poor kid’s probably time-locked like most everyone else by now, though,” Umbris surmised gloomily.   “It’s… it’s feasible.  Last I saw him, he and many other leader figures were still arguing what to do in the Council Chamber.  From the lack of noise, I fear the worst,” Red said grimly.  Sighing heavily he put on a stalwart face.  “It’ll probably take too long to go through all these papers, so we might as well just take the boxes and sort them out later.  Do any of you have anything we could store them in so they’d be less of a bother?”   “Where do we even begin?” Alexander smirked as he and Umbris winked at each other.  “I’ve got a few Bags of Holding with me, though Umbris could also just draw them into his cape in no time at all.” “Plenty spacious,” Umbris beamed with a swish of his cape.  “Though I can’t guarantee they won’t get knocked over while in there.”   “Then grab everything and we’ll sort them out later,” Red shrugged.  “Afterwards we’ll need to visit the chamber, and I’m not looking forward to it,” he shuddered.   “Y-Yeah, just give us a few secs,” Umbris nodded as he strolled over to one of the piles of boxes, removing his cape as he did before flinging it over the pile with a flourish; in the blink of an eye, the pile was gone, with Umbris showing everyone the front and back sides of the cape like a stage magician would to an audience of spectators-- certainly no smoke or mirrors to be found there, that’s for sure.   “Good work, Umbris,” Alexander congratulated as he stuffed the contents of the dresser into a Bag of Holding, “now we just have to do the same with the other piles.”   “And how’d you guys make out?” Ratchet chimed as Gabriel and the Umbra Witches made their way over from the Library.   “Went without much of a hitch,” Gabriel replied as he held up an external hard drive.  “Of course, the downloading took a bit too long for my liking--old tech and all that.” “Which is why we passed the time with some chatting,” Jeanne added.  “Cereza was especially curious of how Gabriel has been doing since he returned home.”   “I’ll tell the rest of you guys all about it later,” Gabriel said somewhat sheepishly, “seeing as you guys look about ready for the next part.” “Indeed we are,” Umbris replied as the last pile of boxes was stowed away into his cape.  “Right, Red?”   “We’re right here with you, Red,” Alister assured the dragon.  “Whatever we end up finding in there…”   “I’m fine, I assure you.  I’ve prepared myself for this,” Red said weakly.  “The chambers are down below so let’s not waste too much time here.”   He hastily led the way, pushing his way out of the room and hurrying down the stairs, with the rest of Team Lombax scrambling behind him.  Everyone else had to rush to keep up, only for Red to suddenly stop near the open doorway.  “There’s no sound,” he quietly uttered.   “Oh no…,” Alexander uttered in quiet dread.   (♫ “Aun (Breathe)” ♫)   The dragon staggered to the side, leaning on the wall for support.  “I’m not sure I can do this,” he whimpered, his dragging claws leaving marks in the wall.   “... … …”  Wordlessly, Alexander calmly approached Red, motioning for Alister and Ratchet to stand by him.  “... Red, bend down for me, please?” he requested softly, reaching his hands up to the dragon.   Red’s legs lowered, his neck following to be more level with the Lombax.   Alexander tenderly cradled the dragon’s jaw in his hands, lightly pressing his forehead to Red’s.  “Take a moment, Red… deep breaths… follow my lead, okay?” he gently guided, slowly drawing air in through his nose before blowing it back out through his lips just as slowly.  As Red began to follow Alexander’s lead, Alister moved to hold one of the dragon’s hands, while Ratchet held the other.     “I know what’s in there, but it’s going to be hard to face it,” Red said in a scared voice, his breathing not quite as calm as Alexander’s.   “We know, Red.  That’s why we’re all going in with you,” Alexander affirmed.  “You won’t be doing this alone… feel a little better?” he asked, pulling his forehead away from the dragon’s. “... a little,” Red replied, his grip on Alister’s hand tightening.  “We don’t need to be too long, we just need the staves of the four Elders.”   “Probably the only other way to preserve them, in a sense,” Umbris mused.  “In any case, shall we, Red…?”   Nodding quietly, the dragon lumbered along the hall, bracing himself for what was inside.  His knees instantly went weak, his walk turning into a stumble at the sight: a grand round table made of thick, sturdy wood and well-varnished, with gold trim.  At the table, either in the midst of discussion or argument, or sleeping peacefully, we’re the occupants. Red carefully walked around the chamber, the pain in his eyes immeasurable at each person he saw.  The Elders Titan and Magnus were both sleeping at the table, Astor was frozen mid-argument, while Tomas’ hand was on his shoulder clearly trying to calm him down.  At the other side Hunter was also mid-argument, probably who Astor was arguing with.  Bianca, next to him, was frozen with her head back, asleep as well.  Next to her was a young mole in climbing gear, and next to him was a fat, pompous bear also arguing while gripping a large sack of gems.  Lastly there was Spyro, asleep with Sparx sleeping next to him.   “... they’re all time-locked…,” Alexander croaked sorrowfully.  “... I was hoping at least someone here avoided that fate, even if for a moment….”   “Dammit,” Ratchet cursed under his breath at the sight of the young dragon with whom he felt was his kindred spirit.   “I had left an hour prior to this, tired of the arguing and from lack of sleep,” Red said as he pulled out the only vacant chair and sat a distance away from the others.  “No one could figure it out and we were all too tired to listen,” he added sombrely, before gesturing to the wall behind the Elders.   Their dragon-headed staves were all casually leaning against the wall, their Light Gems as silent as their owners.   “Alex…,” Alister gently nudged the other lombax on the shoulder to shake him out of his solemn daze, motioning for him to retrieve the staves.   “Ah… right…,” Alexander grunted as he shuffled over towards the staves, a Bag of Holding prepared to place them inside of.   “No! We need those out, for the last steps!” Red blurted out, spooking Alexander into dropping his Bag of Holding.  “Ratchet, you take the first staff, it is--was Astor’s.  Umbris you take the second, it’s Tomas’.  Alister, take the fourth one, it’s Magnus’.  And I’ll take the last one, which belongs to… to Elder Titan.  Be careful with them, as they’re heavier than they look, being made for dragons and all.”   “And what about Alex?” Ratchet asked as Alexander handed Astor’s staff over to him.  “O-Oh shit you weren’t kidding,” he strained against the staff’s weight, not helped that its length was roughly twice his height.   “Gabriel, it might be best if you help him with that?” Red suggested.  The luchador agreed, shouldering the staff with relative ease while letting Ratchet have a brief reprieve.   “We may need to get you working on your upper body strength, Ratch,” Alister recommended as he took up Magnus’s staff.  “Or perhaps the lower body.”   “Al, I am short, not weak,” Ratchet huffed offendedly.   “Didn’t drink enough milk growing up?” Bayonetta teased.  Ratchet gave a brief squeak as if to retort, but held himself back, opting to just puff his cheeks while waving a finger at the Umbra Witch.   “Just for sake of curiosity Umbris, the light from the gem won’t hurt you will it?” Red queried.  “Tomas’ staff has a habit of shining brighter than the others at times.”   “I may be solid darkness, but it shouldn’t affect me too greatly,” Umbris assured Red as he took up Tomas’s staff.  “Just in case, though,” he added as he morphed the crescent moon-shaped collar of his cape into a hood draped over his head.   Being the last, Red got up from the chair, his tail to the side and wings folded to avoid touching anyone at the table as he went around, and reached out for Titan’s staff.  His hand flinched an inch away from it, his eyes narrowing as he forced his hand out and wrapped it around the wood.  “The last time I ever even touched this, I was a teenager,” he recalled, misty-eyed as he looked fairly natural while holding it.  “I can still even see the patch that’s been worn in by him leaning against it all the time,” Red chuckled fondly.  “Oh, Titan,” he said fondly, a hand reaching out for the sleeping Elder.   He was inches from the dragon’s shoulder when Alister caught his wrist, a serious look in his eyes.  Red blinked rapidly, before jerking his hand away, realizing what he had been doing.  “Thank you,” he said, taking several meek steps backwards.   Alister gave a sad, understanding smile.  “I get it, Red, I do… but you can’t let yourself be trapped in this moment; you gotta keep moving now, for their sakes, and their memory.”   “Shall we get going?” Alexander asked as he strode over toward the door, having a vague idea of what’s to happen next--and possibly his own role in it.  He stopped just outside the entryway, looking back at Red with a mournful shimmer in his eyes.  “There’s not much else left for us to do here… except maybe say goodbye.”   “It would fall on deaf ears, I’m afraid, not that some of these old coots weren’t already half-deaf as it is,” the dragon joked as they all funneled out.  “The better thing I should be saying is “Thank you”,” he said, in the general direction of the table.  “Except maybe Moneybags; he was frequently more trouble than he was worth, which, after a good beating, was basically zero.  He was practically a war profiteer, playing both sides in several conflicts.”   “Oh, yeah, that type is the WORST,” Umbris groaned in agreement, with almost everyone else joining in and starting a conversation.  Alexander, meanwhile, hung back briefly, one last look inside the Council Room.   “... may we meet again, in a new dream,” he uttered a small prayer for the time-locked individuals.  “Rest well….”   “I never allowed him to work for me, even though I knew he could have been made to.  I just knew he was going to sell to Spyro on the side,” Red grumbled as they returned to the main hall, drawing the discussion to a close as Alexander rejoined them.  With a flourish he walked to the center of the golden flooring, and beckoned the others to it as well.  “On the count of three, I’m going to need everyone with a staff to tap it twice on the floor in unison,” he requested.   With Gabriel holding Astor’s staff alongside Ratchet, they, Umbris and Alister prepared for Red’s cue.  “One.  Two.  Three!” Red called, tapping Titan’s staff, with the others following suit.   The large golden disc suddenly shuddered, moving downwards as the floor rushed past them, several blades of gold extending outwards to replace the elevator they were on.  The tunnel was lit up by the Light Gems, with Tomas’ staff indeed providing the most light as they descended below the Dojo.   “Yep, this hood was a good idea,” Umbris mewed merrily, glad that at worst he’ll only be blinded temporarily (as opposed to forever).   The tunnel soon expanded, growing wider until the elevator stopped in a large underground cavern, with still-burning torches lighting the spaces in-between enormous stone doors, each marked with a different colour, and with an engraving of a dragon’s head on both sides of the vault door.  Everyone turned slowly, following Red’s lead to a red-coloured door, with engravings of his own head on either side.  “This is the Elder’s Vault, where we store valuables over the long ages we live.  Y’know, a sort-of rainy day fund,” Red informed them as he walked over to the door that was even taller than he was.   “First in my bloodline to see a dragon’s horde, kinda nervous,” Gabriel blurted out some Gen-Z humor.   “I think that counts for most of us here, actually,” Bayonetta noted.  “You’d think you and I would’ve seen one in Inferno or something, Jeanne.”   “Eh, Gomorrah’s not the type for that,” Jeanne shrugged.   “So what kind of loot are we talking about here?” Ratchet asked eagerly, with bolts in his eyes.   “Oh, odds and ends that accrue over time,” Red said blasely as he started to trace out a pattern on the door, a glowing thread forming as he did.   (♫ “Moshimo Bokura Ga Game No Shuyakude”/Daoko ♫)   It took some doing as he traced out a specific spiraling line, looking almost like the line you draw in a line maze.  Once he was satisfied the dragon clicked his fingers, and a glowing ball formed and ran along the line, with the occasional click as it passed a certain point.  There were plenty of clicks, until the sphere reached its end, and the door sluggishly moved upwards, dirt and dust falling from it as Red’s vault opened.  There was a collective jaw drop at the sea of gems glittering from the front all the way to the very deep back.  Rubies, and sapphires, emeralds, topazes, and amethysts all glittered merrily in what was an elaborate fortune of gemstones, with countless hunks of solid gold and silver too.  There were even pieces of ancient furniture and statues of old dragons and monsters.  It was basically like walking into the British Museum.   Alister’s eyes were wide as he staggered forward, leaning against Red as he did.  “Uhh, honey,” he began in a stunned tone, “when were you going to mention that you were rich?!”   ““Uhh, honey”?!” everyone aside from Red echoed in amusement before bursting out in collective laughter, making Alister and Red visibly flustered.   “Okay, you guys’ve had your fun, now ZIP IT!!” Alister barked at the chortling mass, briefly considering pulling out the “I. SAID. STOP!” maneuver before letting that thought perish--can’t let himself be that kind of man anymore, can he?   “Say Red, have I ever told you that you’re my favorite godfather?” Ratchet purred, unable to take his eyes off of the hoard.   “Little ingrate…!” Alister scoffed at Ratchet.   “Oh dear, I had no idea that Courtney Gears was in attendance with us today,” Clank snarked.  (“Courtney Who…?” Jeanne asked in the background.) “Oh you did NOT!” Ratchet hissed.  “Look, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to secure an inheritance, especially when your godfather happens to be richer than every celebrity in the universe combined!” he defensively insisted.   “Well he’s not wrong Alister,” Red crooned smugly, much to the Lombax’s chagrin, “because once we’ve settled down in your world, we are probably going to have to look at a lot of back allowance you probably owe him~”   “Okay, but seriously,” Alexander stepped forward, “we can’t be letting all these riches get to our heads, you guys.  Save most of it for the aforementioned “rainy day”, and all that.”   “Besides, we don’t even know what the gem to bolt conversation rate is… you covetous little sh--!” Alister began, but whatever else he may have had to say to Ratchet was cut off by a large red hand over his mouth.   “With that said,” Red hastily shifted the subject, “I’m not even as wealthy as the other Elders. Last I heard Titan’s hoard was so big the moles had to dig out more in the back just to fit it all in,” he recalled.  “Although Magnus does spend an awful lot on his beauty regiment.  Astor though, I can't help but wonder since he was pretty miserly.  Still, this will be useful for acquiring parts and materials for the portal project.”   Raising up a hand, Red levitated the entire gem hoard, each crystalline structure vibrating as it rushed towards his outstretched hand.  The fortune of gems seemed to merge together before him, forming into one singular glowing gem.  Red gave it a slight shake, a glowing golden number appearing above it to indicate the monumental value of the entire hoard condensed into one gem.  “A trick we dragons picked up for moving large sums of gems around,” he told them.  “As for the gold and other stuff, I guess we can leave them?  Unless somehow there’s value in it for any of you…?”   “I’ll just take one as a souvenir,” Alexander replied as he picked up the nearest gold coin by his foot.   “We’re good over here,” Bayonetta shrugged, Jeanne agreeing with the same gesture.   “Of course the dual-income, no-kids aunties wouldn’t want any more money huh?” Umbris said snarkily.   “What are you implying, Umbris…?!” Jeanne glared at the Neo-Spacian with narrowed eyes.   “Uhhhhhhh, anyways, that thingamajig looks neat!” Gabriel chimed as he playfully shoved a distracted Umbris into a nearby pile of gold before running off in a random direction away from the Umbra Witches’ potential wrath.   “Well if no one else wants it, I’ll take all these metals.  I could make a bundle on it selling it to Big Al for circuitry,” Ratchet decided, rubbing his large hands together.  “Clank, mind gathering up all this stuff?”   “Why not have Umbris--oh,” Clank began to suggest before seeing that the Neo-Spacian was currently being chased around the vault by Jeanne wielding a giant, solid gold slipper.  “Where did she—Where did YOU find that…?!?” he asked Red in astonishment.  “... ah well, nevermind then.  Hold this a moment, Ratchet,” Clank relented, turning away from the spectacle as he tossed a Vortex Cannon from his inner compartment over towards Ratchet, before quickly expanding into his Giant Clank form.  “This should not take long,” Giant Clank declared as he took the Vortex Cannon back from Ratchet, proceeding to use the weapon to vacuum up the coins and bars scattered about.   “That just leaves the furniture and decorations then,” Alister surmised.   “Oh those?” Red murmured.  “That stuff just accumulates, usually whenever we decide we’d like a change or when the Dojo gets redone.  It’s excellent quality, so if maybe we want to furnish our new home I guess we could take them?  It’ll save us having to get new stuff, but the statues might end up looking out of place.  I don’t think your world has much of a use for stone decorations?”   “Taking about a couple wouldn’t hurt, I guess,” Alexander pondered.  “Maybe one could look nice as a bit of outdoor decor… and I’m sure one of these wouldn’t look too out of place in Gabby’s dimension, or even Cereza’s.” “Heard ya loud and clear, Alex!” Umbris shouted, still being chased by Jeanne as he ran by three of the statues and some of the furniture pieces, each one vanishing with a billowing of his cape.   “Well, there’s just one thing left,” Red sighed wistfully as he twisted a finger, and a small black box from amongst the remaining items levitated over past him to Alexander.  “I’m going to need you to hold onto this,” he requested, dropping the suitcase-sized chest into the lombax’s arms.   “Wh-What’s this for?” a curious Alexander inquired.   “You’ll see,” Red smiled mystically.  “Well that’s all the treasure anyways, so now we get to the truly fun part,” he declared.   Returning to the elevator, where the staves had been left, each of them were taken up again and tapped twice.  But instead of going up it continued downwards through another shaft, only this one carried an odd shine to it, with hundreds of small lights twinkling in the air.  Alexander had an odd feeling about this, as the further down it went, the more a strange feeling inside of his soul seemed to be rearing up in… excitement?  “There’s something special down there,” he whispered,  “something big, and powerful…”   The lift soon came to a close in a vast cavern, hewn from ancient rock.  Ancient carvings lined the walls, written in an obscure language.  Above them were pictograms of dragons from long ago, including several ones much larger than the others.  An angelic hum was faintly heard in the air, and the strange ambience had just about everyone on edge; even the Lombaxes’ fur was standing on end.  At the end of all the inscriptions were massive doors, marked with four enormous Light Gem sigils.   “Alex, are you okay?” Umbris worried as he noticed the lombax was practically hyperventilating with his one free hand gripping the front of his shirt tightly.  “The mana’s growing more restless, isn’t it??”   “I’m… fine…!” Alexander insisted between breaths, a deep rumble in his tone.  “I can… handle this… just fine!”   Alister, far more experienced than the others, sidled next to Red and beckoned his head down.  “There’s something dragonic behind that door, isn’t there?  It’s not related to the Ancestors, is it?” he whispered.   “No except–  Well there’s been theories but–  Sorry, I’m distracting myself; nothing Ancestor-related, but there is a high concentration of magic on the other side.  Alexander is going to need to soldier through it, that’s all I can say,” Red whispered back.  “What we need is behind that door, and I promise you, it’s a great honor to witness it.  From here you are going to experience something only dragon Elders have experienced for countless generations.  And we’re going to need to open the door, which requires four Light Gems; the Elder Light Gems, of which we now have.  So those of you with a staff stand on one of the matching Light Gem insignias on the floor, and raise your staff as high as you can.  Ladies, I will advise you to stand back a little, as the interior of the cavern is going to be bright,” Red warned, taking his place on one of the insignias.  “On second thought, Umbris, it might be best if you pass your staff to Gabriel, to avoid potentially being reduced to atoms.”   “We’re good, Red,” Bayonetta said as she clipped a pair of aviator lenses onto her glasses, while Jeanne simply pulled her goggles over her eyes.  “Umbris, you’re welcome to get behind us--just remember to keep your hands to yourself this time.”   Still recovering from the slap he had received from “La Chancla Dorada” that Jeanne had chased him with prior, Umbris shook his head. “Thanks girls,” Umbris coolly replied as he handed Tomas’s staff to Gabriel, “but I can just hide out in Alex’s Soul Room for the time being.  That cool with you, dude?” he asked his Duelist.   Alexander merely nodded, appearing to be focused more on both what was happening before him and the dragon mana within him.   “You sure that’s a good idea, Umbris?” Alister worried.  “For all we know, the dragon mana might make being in his Soul Room--”   “GYAH--!” Umbris yelped, having been shoved away from Alexander by an invisible pulse that slammed into him as he got close enough to the lombax.  “Alex, what the heck…?!” the Neo-Spacian sputtered as he picked himself up from the floor.   “I-I didn’t do that…!” Alexander gasped.   “That dragon mana’s getting clingy!” Gabriel remarked in shock.  “Either that, or maybe it was trying to protect Umbris from itself…!”   “Fuckin’ rude, is what it was,” Umbris scowled, dusting himself off.   “Then try me, Umbris,” Alister offered.  “You’ve been inside my Soul Room before, so you should have no problem getting inside.”   “He’s got a point, Umbris,” Alexander agreed with a heavy breath.  “You’re likely safer with him than with me as I am right now….”   “... okay.  Just hang in there, Alex,” Umbris nodded before quickly melting into a dark-purple puddle that quickly traveled across the floor and merged itself with Alister’s shadow.   The elder lombax stumbled a bit as he felt an odd sensation work its way up his legs and along his spine, making his body shiver briefly.  “Yikes, that felt weird.  Didja find your way alright in there, Umbris?” he said while placing one hand to his chest and the other to his temple.   “For future reference, you don’t need to speak out loud to communicate with me while I’m in your Soul Room, Al--I can hear you just fine via mental thoughts,” Umbris replied from within Alister’s Soul Room.  “But yeah, I made it inside just fine… and I gotta say, your Soul Room’s looking a lot more welcoming now that the Orvus Apparatus is out-of-commission.”   “Oh nice, I’ll have to give it a look myself sometime,” he mentally said to Umbris.  “Umbris will be fine for the time being,” he declared to the others as he took his spot alongside Ratchet, Gabriel and Red at his corresponding insignia.   “Then we can begin,” Red nodded, his tone sounding a bit excited as he raised up his staff.   Alister and Gabriel raised theirs with no issue, though you could tell Ratchet was straining just from how red in the face he was getting.  Eventually it made it up high enough to match the others, as the insignias beneath their feet began to glow, as did the staves.  From each Light Gem a rainbow beam erupted out, striking the insignias on the door which lit up like the floor.   A deep rumble shook the room as the mighty doors parted, a sharp wave of light bursting out of them, forcing all there to shut their eyes.  But when they opened them, the group was met with an extraordinary sight!     (♫ “Kanjaku (Tranquility)” ♫)   For beyond the doors was an enormous cavern filled with small trees and plants, with a small field of flowers growing around a carved stone walkway.  From one side an underground river flowed from a waterfall, cutting through the cavern and out another way.  But the most incredible of the sights were hundreds upon hundreds of Light Gems floating in the air, each singing in perfect harmony, all led from on-high by a gargantuan cluster of Light Gems jutting out of the roof of the magnificent cavern.  The central component was by far the largest, its enormous body tapering into a perfect point, like all the other Light Gems surrounding it.  The light all the gems were exuding cast the cavern, deep underground, as if it were found on a sunny day.   “Welcome to the Cavern of Light, though others may call it the Sacred Glade.  And once it was called Choir’s Rest.  This is the birthplace, and resting place, of every Light Gem an Elder has ever wielded,” Red euphorically proclaimed.  “And it is home to The Original Light Gem.  Or the Primordial Gem.  Or, The Light Gem, emphasis on ‘the’.  Believed to be a gift from the Ancestors so that dragonkind might have a tool to fight against Necron, should his blight ever come for our world, it has been the source of the Elder’s power for longer than history has been recorded.  It should be safe for you all to lower your protection, by the way.  It’s usually that first flash that gets you.”   “Not like we haven’t come face-to-face with Paradiso itself, but we appreciate your concern, Red,” Bayonetta replied appreciatively as she removed the aviator clip from her glasses, while Jeanne pushed her goggles back over her hairline.  “Although, I don’t think I’ve ever been flashed that hard since Joy.”   “That light sure was something else, even as I watched from inside the Soul Room,” Umbris chimed as he emerged from Alister’s shadow.  “But thanks for giving me shelter there, Al.” “Y-Yeah, no prob, Bob,” Alister shivered once more, hoping to not experience such a sensation again anytime soon.  “How are you feeling now, A--Alex…?”   More than any other member of Team Lombax--even Red--Alexander’s tear-streamed face expressed a euphoria akin to a religious experience, his hands clasped together as if in prayer while his eyes shimmering in awe at the sight of The Light Gem.  “... I… I think I understand now… why I’ve been feeling this way since coming here,” he uttered calmly, despite his body practically vibrating from not only the waves of magic emanating within the Cavern of Light, but also anticipation for what’s to come.  “The mana within me… it’s been anticipating this moment… even without Red saying what we’re here for; it knows… it remembers….”   “It remembers this moment, as I stood once where you did for the same reason,” Red said kindly, his hand to Alexander’s back.  “And now, it’s your turn.  Across the path to the centre, all of you,” he commanded, using Titan’s staff to point to a circular dais at the end of the stone walkway, exactly below the Light Gem cluster.   “Up until now,” Alexander said as he and the rest of Team Lombax followed Red to the dais, “I’ve only really experienced what it’s like to be a dragon of this world secondhand--even the power granted to me by the mana felt more like it was being lent to me… but now, at this moment, I feel… happy, overjoyed… but also scared, terrified—“   “Unworthy?” Red suggested.   “I… m-maybe…?  But more like… … fearful, that what’s to happen here could change me--consume me, even….”  Alexander’s eyes trembled, wide open with slightly shrunken irises.  “... but, I need to do this…,” he blinked, his eyes returning to a more determined expression, “and let come what may… there’s no turning back now….”   “You’re strong, Alex, stronger than you may ever know.  Whether you realize it or not, you are a healer without compare.  A courageous being willing to dive into the darkest depths of the soul with your hand outstretched, which is why we are here and now: to honour that courage.  Those of you with staves, take them to the edge of the circle, and find a slot to insert the base of the staff into,” Red called, taking up one of the quarters and inserting Titan’s staff into it.   Ratchet was more than happy to place Astor’s staff down in a spot that held it upright for him, while Alister and Gabriel each took to the remaining slots with their respective staves.  Once the last one was set in place, there was another rumble as each one sank down a foot, flowing lines forming a circuit through the stone.  In sequence they filled out hidden runes, each one igniting until the magic reached the inner circle, forming a ring around the party.  Everyone’s balance was challenged as the platform started to move, rising into the air towards the cluster.  The brightness never seemed to shift and yet, it felt like there was a brightening of everyone’s souls as the platform ascended until it was just below the cluster, the fine point of the largest gem only a few feet from the stone.  Wordlessly, Red took the case from Alexander’s hands, and spun it in place.  The dragon could not contain his obvious glee as he opened the case, revealing a knife with a blade made of Light Gem.   “Light Gem knives such as these have been passed down from master to student for generations, once the master has seen that their student has become worthy of becoming an Elder.  And once their worthiness has been recognised by the Council, they are taken here so that they may cut their own Light Gem from the original, to signify their graduation, and ascension to the leadership of dragonkind.  This knife once belonged to Elder Titan, who passed it on to me, and now, Alexander, I pass it on to you.  Though I am the only Elder left in this world, I have no doubt the others wouldn’t refuse you, once they knew of your honour, your courage, and the sacrifices you have made in the name of all of existence.  None here can contest your achievements, both personal and self-sacrificing.  I now pass this charge onto you: Alexander, will you become an Elder, to carry on the memory and legacy of this world?” Red requested, the open case held out to the Lombax.   Alexander stared at the knife held before him, studying its iridescent sheen for a moment and noting that its size made it more like a short blade to someone like the lombaxes--of course it would be more of a “knife” to a dragon.  He balled his hands tightly to keep them from trembling, almost to the point that his claws were likely to puncture his palms--wait, claws?  Since when did he (normally) have…?  He opted to push that distracting thought out of his mind with a deep breath, glancing up from the blade to look directly into Red’s face, the dragon’s smile brimming with both pride and reassurance; the lombax couldn’t help but to smile back.  “It shall be my honor, Elder Red,” he declared with as clear of a voice as he could muster, taking the blade into his hands.   “Then step before the Original and claim what is rightfully yours.  Just uhh, be sure to cut a little bit more off than you think you’ll need, as cutting your gem once you have it can be tricky," Red warned.   With his excitement rising again, Alexander stepped forth toward the Original Light Gem; he carefully considered the beautiful crystal before him, carefully estimating just where he’d need to cut based on the other staves around him.  With one more determined blink, and ignoring the butterflies in the pit of his stomach, Alexander wound his blade-bearing arm to the side, and made a single, swift slash about 22 inches up from the Gem’s tip.  For a brief moment, it looked as if Alexander had failed to leave even a scratch on the crystal, but the lombax and the Dragon Elder knew better, as the piece of Light Gem eventually dropped right into Alexander’s open hand.  It began to sing sweetly, like all the other free Light Gems in the cavern.   “Everyone, if you would, please join me in honouring the newly ordained Elder Alexander,” Red called, his hands brought together in a mighty clap.   The rest of Team Lombax erupted in applause, each one congratulating Alexander on his graduation.   Alexander stood before the team, pride and joy radiating from him as the Light Gem shined brightly in his hand--   “Ah--AAARGH!!!”   The Light Gem fell from his hand with a clatter against the stone, Alexander following it shortly after as he doubled over in excruciating pain, loud, shrill gasps escaping his open mouth.   (♫ “Scrap and Build Ourselves (From Revolution)” ♫)   “A--ALEX!!” Alister cried out as Team Lombax’s celebration was cut short, rushing over to Alexander in an attempt to aid him.  “Attempt” being the operative word, as just when Alister came within 2 feet of Alexander, he was violently struck by the same invisible force that had knocked over Umbris just moments ago; he sailed past Red and likely off the platform, too, had Jeanne not reacted quickly and dove to catch him, and had her Demoness Madama Styx not caught them both at the edge.   “What’s happening to him?!” Ratchet called out as the invisible force around Alexander gradually became not-so-invisible, appearing as a rapidly spinning vortex of red energy that was slowly gaining in size and intensity.  “Like what is this, dragon puberty or something?!”   “I mean, I know puberty can hit hard, but normally it’s just the one going through it!” Gabriel quipped as he and Bayonetta checked on the dazed Alister and Jeanne.   “He’s deciding who he is,” Red said matter-of-factly as he shielded his eyes from the light and the whipping winds.  “Is he a Lombax?  Is he a dragon?  Or something in-between?  He needs to decide once and for all what shape his soul will take; a decision he’s been needing to make ever since he sampled my mana.  It's that, or quite possibly my mana may be tearing him apart; it’s hard to tell at a glance.  But none of you will do any good getting close to him now until the storm settles.”   Staring down the vortex, Red raised his voice as loudly as he could.  “THE MAGIC DOESN’T CONTROL YOU ALEX, YOU CONTROL IT!  IT’S UP TO YOU TO SHAPE IT AS YOU SEE FIT, LEST IT SHAPE YOU!”   “It might not just be that!” Umbris explained as he studied the energies swirling around Alexander.  “It could also be the various energies within him having a strange reaction with each other--especially the Surinox power, residual Signer power, Dark Panther power, and now the dragon mana trying to put itself front and center.  But I agree; right now Alexander needs to reconcile all the different parts of himself if he wants to make it outta this in one piece!” he added with urgency as he activated “Yellow Luster Shield” to keep everyone on the platform within a near-impenetrable barrier, while Alexander began to levitate in a fetal position off the ground, the vortex encompassing him within a raging bubble as it began to glow brighter.   “Whatever is going on within him must be reaching a crescendo!” Gabriel fretted as he reinforced the Yellow Luster Shield with his alchemy, transforming the simple glowing wall into a hexagonal barrier.  “... oh, huh, I still have my alchemy powers.  Nice!”   “I’m so happy for you, Gabby!” Bayonetta yelled over the turbulence of the vortex, thankful that her magic was allowing her glasses to stay affixed to her face.   Alister stumbled to his feet, bracing himself against the whipping winds.  “Red…!” “I know, I’m coming…!” Red responded as he scrambled away from Alexander and toward the rest of Team Lombax.   “There has to be something we can do for him!” Ratchet cried out.   “All we can do is be here for him!” Red responded.   “And that’s exactly what we’re gonna do!” Alister declared, reaching a hand out to Umbris.   Understanding Alister’s gesture, the Neo-Spacian grabbed hold of Alister’s hand.  “Everyone, place your hands on our backs!” he ordered the others.  “It’s the best we can do at this point, but we need to send our thoughts to him!”   “Thoughts and prayers at a time like this?!” Gabriel yelped.  “What are we, politicians?!”   “At least we know it’s likely to actually work in this case!” Jeanne argued as she and the others placed their hands on Alister and Umbris’s backs.   “Ready Al?!” Umbris shouted.   “Ready!!” Alister replied as he and the Neo-Spacian held their free hands up towards Alexander….   Within Alexander’s Soul Room, he was being flung and tossed about helplessly through the air by the conflicting energies within him; though some of these energies were trying to help him get his footing (metaphorical or otherwise), their own efforts in doing so were as much a detriment to him as those of the energies attempting to assert their will.   “Stop it!  Please, just stop so we can talk this out!!” Alexander pleaded, trying to get a hold of the hands of the Dark Panther Power’s avatar, though even it was being buffeted by the turbulence.  Meanwhile, the avatars of the Surinox Power, Signer Power, and So Cold paid Alexander and DPP no mind, more focused on forcing the titanic Dragon Mana to back down, though not without extreme difficulty; So Cold’s and Signer Power’s avatars were growing increasingly exhausted from the effort they had been exerting, and the Surinox Power’s avatar was only mostly faring better, yet it was obvious that the draconic essence was effortlessly dominating this battle of wills.   This could not have been made more clear as the Dragon Mana gave a beat of its wings, sending a shockwave of energy careening towards the trio of avatars facing it; though the Surinox Power was prepared to defend all three of them, it was So Cold that made a desperate move by flying towards the shockwave, an ice claymore in hand which it swung in an attempt to disrupt the Dragon Mana’s attack, yet it was in vain as the shockwave shattered the claymore and struck So Cold head-on in a massive explosion.   Alexander screamed in horror as he witnessed So Cold limply fall out of the sky and crash into the fountain in the center of the Soul Room’s courtyard.  DPP’s avatar eventually succeeded in grabbing hold of the lombax, holding him close as it made its way back to solid ground.  As soon as his feet touched the cobblestone, Alexander stumbled his way over to the downed So Cold and pulled the avatar out of the fractured fountain.  “Please be okay…!” he begged as he studied the avatar’s face--one that resembled his own save for its icy blue eyes, which it had trouble keeping open.  So Cold gave a slight blink to the sobbing Alexander, its once frigid frown curving slightly into a weak smile as if to say “... you no longer need me… you’ll be okay now…” before it went inert, its blue eyes closing in peace as what remained of its strength flowed into the lombax and its form faded away.   DPP’s avatar silently blinked in understanding, rubbing Alexander’s shoulder gently before shooting a glance up at the remaining two avatars, mentally shouting a silent request.  Signer Power and Surinox Power glanced at each other before acknowledging DPP’s request, teleporting themselves to be next to Alexander.   Knowing they had little time to act before the Dragon Mana got impatient, the Signer Power’s avatar--resembling Alexander during his time as a teacher at Duel Academy--gently took Alexander’s left hand into its own and ran its right hand over his forearm before placing against his chest, over his heart: “A part of me will always be with you, especially here.  The miracle to come shall be by your hand….”  It gave Alexander a reassuring smile before fading away, transferring its power to him.   “The next part is up to you, to carve your own path.  But know that your path won’t always be yours to travel alone--those that helped you get this far are rooting for you…,” the Surinox Power’s avatar--resembling his younger self from when he lost Galen and his father Artorius--silently said to Alexander as it gave him a hug, fading away like the avatars before as it gave its essence to Alexander.   “I may have only just awoken as a part of you recently, but I can tell you have boundless potential within you, and it’s only going to keep growing from this point onward.  This is the only thing I can do for you now--the rest is up to you.  Now go get’ em, tiger!” the Dark Panther Power’s avatar proudly smiled as it offered a fistbump to the lombax.  Though he was close to being a sobbing mess at this point, Alexander gave a brave smile back as he accepted DPP’s fistbump, receiving the power of the Neo Space-garbed avatar in the process.   “... and then there were two…,” Alexander uttered softly before shooting a fierce glance at the Dragon Mana’s towering form.   “Are you prepared for your destiny then, Alexander Zenith…?” the Dragon Mana questioned.  “To become like the Elders before you… to become a proper dragon…?”   “And what if I happen to choose otherwise?” Alexander demanded.  “What will you do then?!”   “Hmph… you speak as if you have the power to resist what is fated to occur,” the Dragon Mana snorted haughtily as it stooped down to reach at Alexander with its clawed hand.  “You and I are to become one… regardless of what you “choose”...!”   “... Alex…!”   The Dragon Mana’s attempt to scoop Alexander up were impeded by a shiny barrier that formed around the lombax, repelling the clawed hand.  “What is this…?!” the Dragon Mana gasped in amazement.   “... guys…?” Alexander blinked as he looked around, trying to find any sign of his friends in the Soul Room.   “We’re not in your Soul Room, Alex,” Alister’s voice rang through the area, “but we’re still here for you--we’re transmitting our thoughts to you as we speak!”   “You’re faring well right now, I hope??” Red’s voice called out.  “Has my mana been giving you much trouble?”   “Bit of an understatement, Elder Red!” Alexander sassed, appreciative of the dragon’s concern.   “Just know I’ve the utmost confidence in you still, Alexander--I know you’ll pull through this stronger than before!” Red’s voice replied.   “You certainly had better, Alexander--we can’t have a graduation party if this ceremony ends on a bad note!” Bayonetta’s voice chastised.   “Yeah, we still need to get an ice cream cake to celebrate!” Gabriel’s voice chimed in.   “Not to mention the commemorative group photo!” Clank’s voice added.   “No matter what happens, dude,” Umbris’s voice sniffled, “we’re proud of how far you’ve come--just come back to us safely!”   “You can do it, Alex!” Ratchet’s voice cheered.  “We can all celebrate at my garage at Veldin!”   “So long as it’s tidy, I hope,” Jeanne’s voice demanded of Ratchet.  “And we’ll get some of Rodin’s best liquor, too!”   “Not much of a drinker myself, Jeanne, but thanks!” Alexander replied.   “Bring it on home already, Alex!” Alister’s voice spoke again, this time with some urgency.  “We can only brace ourselves against this storm for so long!”   “... you have come such a long way, haven’t you Alex?  Never could we have imagined this is where your journey would lead you….”   Alexander gasped upon recognizing the voice that echoed in his mind just now.  “Galen…?”   “That’s right!  You didn’t think we’d miss such a momentous occasion even in the afterlife, did you kiddo?” Galen’s voice chuckled softly.   ““We”…?”   “That’s right, I’m here, too, son,” replied the voice of Artorius, ringing with the joyous pride of a father.  “You have traveled to so many wondrous places, met many unique faces, helped so many… I’m just… so happy and proud to witness the man you are today.  But I know that there is much more for you to see and do beyond this moment, so I grant you this wish of mine once more: for you to spread your wings, soar to greater heights, and never lose the wonder and joy of witnessing everything the world—no, the Multiverse—has to show you!”   “… are you all quite finished yet…?” the Dragon Mana huffed in a bored tone.   “… not yet,” Alexander responded valiantly as he wiped away his tears of joy.  “You and I still have an understanding to reach, and you had best be ready to listen,” he said as his form grew in size to match that of the dragonic essence, “because I certainly am!”   “We shall see just how good your hearing is, then…!” the Dragon Mana taunted as it lunged forth with an open-palm strike, while Alexander countered with one of his own.  The two attacks collided together, sending shockwaves throughout the landscape that sent tremors through the ground and cracks along the infrastructure of the courtyard—even the innermost parts of Alexander’s Soul Room were not safe, as the spiral staircases buckled and shattered, the bookshelves imploded, and the furniture was thrown into disarray.  And yet, Alexander pushed onward, not giving an inch as his and the Mana’s energies clashed between their hands.   “If you continue on like this, your Soul Room will be destroyed…,” the Dragon Mana warned, even as part of its clashing arm was beginning to take on a snow white hue.  “Are you truly willing to risk that happening?  To risk oblivion??”   “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been rebuilt from the ground up,” Alexander grunted defiantly, even as glowing cracks began to spread along his arm as well as other parts of his body, “but at least this time, I’ve got a pretty good idea of how I wanna remake myself, if need be…!”   The Dragon Mana’s maw twisted into a wide grin, as if pleased with Alexander’s response.  “Good answer….”   Back in the physical world, the crimson vortex swirling around Alexander was gradually changing color to a pale bluish-white.   “He’s doing it!” Umbris cheered.  “Alex is making the mana his own!”   “Well done, Alex!” Red beamed proudly.  “You’re almost there!”   “Shouldn’t the vortex be dying down, though?!” Gabriel broke in, growing concerned over the still-escalating turbulence around them, except this time it seemed to be going in reverse, forcing everyone to brace themselves in the opposite direction of the whirlwind-like suction.   “... something’s happening…,” Alister uttered, seeing the inside of the vortex--Alexander--beginning to radiate even more light, cracks forming over the surface of the lombax’s physical body.  “... Alex…?!”   Alexander gradually opened his eyes, as if awaking from a deep sleep, and craned his head to look at the group before him, studying their faces through the vortex encasing him.  His green irises had become a pale, iridescent white, and were filled with calm and serenity despite the chaos raging both around him and within.  Likewise his face was almost expressionless, in spite of what appeared to be the imminent breakdown of his entire body, yet he eventually managed to flash his friends a reassuring smile as he giggled… before the vortex collapsed in on itself into a shining white “star”, emitting a high-pitched sound.   “ALEX--!!” was all Alister could shout in horror just as the “star” exploded, striking Team Lombax with a violent shockwave--   “... is everyone alright…?!” “Y-Yeah, I’ll live… fuck, man….” “Jeanne…!” “I’m okay…!” “Ancestors, I’m glad that didn’t knock us all the way out… we would’ve been in trouble….” “Aye, carajo… what was that even about…??”  “Ratchet, are you alright…? Ratchet…!”   … clinging to consciousness desperately and with a severe ringing in his ears, a disoriented Ratchet struggled to pick himself up from the floor, propping himself up on his hands and knees, his breathing ragged and trembling.  “N- Not again…,” Ratchet sputtered, another memory playing in his head--one that tormented his dreams many a restless night.  “I- I can’t… not again….”  He was hyperventilating, a cold fear gripping him in his very core.  This was almost like last time.  Mortifyingly like last time, that day when Alister… ….  Bracing himself as best he could for what he might see, Ratchet willed himself to look behind him, towards the Original Light Gem, towards where Alexander stood just moments before.   Several objects were strewn about the platform, including: the piece of Light Gem Alex had cut off moments before; the Light Gem knife--which MERCIFULLY had not been blown away by the explosion and embedded itself into someone; Alexander’s Duel Disk and Duel Monsters deck which, though it had spilled out of its case, had escaped being damaged by the explosion; the black box given to Alexander by Rodin; shreds of the clothing Alexander was wearing… and in the center of it all was a glowing dust cloud, gently spinning in the air where Alexander and the vortex had been….   “... no… no, no, nonononoNONO…!” Ratchet desperately scrambled to his feet, tears streaming from his eyes as he ran towards the dust cloud.  “This can’t happen!!  Not again!!!  ALEX!!!!”   “Ratchet, WAIT…!” Alister cried as he followed after Ratchet, catching the young lombax just as he tripped a few feet away from the cloud.   “HE CAN’T BE GONE!!  I--WE CAN’T LOSE HIM LIKE THIS, WE CAN’T!!!” Ratchet howled as he sobbed into Alister’s chest.  “Why… we were so close to getting out of this… all of us… why….”   Umbris stumbled forth, dazed and stunned with disbelief, as he stared at the glowing dust cloud.  “... h… hey… doesn’t this… remind you guys of anything…?”   “Umbris, please,” Alister gulped hard, rocking back and forth trying to console the young lombax, all while fighting back his own tears, “we… this isn’t the moment for a guessing game….”   “It’s… a nebula…,” Umbris continued, studying the cloud closer.  “A miniature nebula… I can see it drawing in particles from around the… glade… you feel that…?”   Alister blinked at Umbris’s question.  “Feel…?” he uttered, glancing around.  “... … wait… he… I can still… I can still feel him here, all around us…!  How’s that… possible…?”  He stared into the mini nebula, a cautiously hopeful sensation taking hold of him.  “... Alex…?  Are you still there…?  Are you still with us…?!”   … … … … … …   … after a brief, anxiety-inducing moment of complete silence--even the Light Gems nearby seemed to go silent with anticipation--a sigh was emitted from the mini nebula.  “... well, this uhhh… this is kinda awkward…,” the brightness of the nebula flickered in time with the echoing voice speaking from it.  “Y’know, not that I had planned for that explosion to happen and all, but I was kinda hoping you guys would be dazed a bit longer so I’d have enough time to reconstitute myself before you saw me again, heh-heh… sorry~!” the nebula apologized with a slight bobbing motion.   Another moment of stunned silence went by as Team Lombax sat/stood in disbelief, among other various emotions.  The silence was soon broken as Ratchet took a deep breath of air through his nostrils: “I’mgonnakillhim.”   “WAIT, RATCHET!!” Alister yelped as he grabbed onto Ratchet once again, fighting to keep the young lombax from violently assaulting the Alexander Nebula.  “You end up scattering him, and we’ll be stuck here even longer!”   “If--uhm… yes, what Alister said,” Clank agreed with a deflated tone, Alister having said what the robot meant to.   “GRRRR!!!  YOU ASSHOLES STRESS ME THE FUCK OUT, YOU KNOW THAT??!!!” Ratchet roared as he thrashed against Alister's grip. “You, Red and Alex, making my blood pressure spike almost every other FUCKING hour--I swear you guys are worse than QUARK when it comes to that… AND YOU!! RECONSTRUCT YOURSELF ALREADY, ALEX!!!” Ratchet spat as he thrust a finger towards Nebula!Alexander.  “I WANNA MAKE SURE THE BEATING I GIVE YOU FUCKING HURTS!!!!”   “Why take so long to reconstitute yourself anyway, Alex?” Bayonetta asked curiously, paying no mind to Alister putting Ratchet in a submission hold.   “Er-hmm, well, uhh,” Nebula!Alexander’s voice coughed with embarrassment, “thing is, I kinda wanted to figure out what I’d be wearing in my full form, y’know?  Like, do I go with the outfit I wore today, or make up something from scratch--” “--well if you’re about to take on the form of a dragon, dear boy, you could just go without,” Red suggested, oblivious to Ratchet and Alister having a fistfight within a large dust cloud.  “Works for me, anyway.”   “Thanks, Red, but I’m a bit too modest for that,” Nebula!Alexander declined.  “‘Sides, I want something that works with my original form, too--what with me being able to shift and all.”   “Ah well, suppose I can’t blame you for wanting to make as good of a first impression as you can,” Red shrugged.   “Shame he has to make such a huge production out of it,” Gabriel snarked.  “Like many of the other ideas “Unimaginative Uncle Alex” has.”   “JEE-ZUS!!  I get it!!!” Nebula!Alexander huffed, briefly flashing an irritated red while throwing some “cosmic dust” at the luchador.  “... oh, wait, I need that back, actually.”  Gabby’s response was to simply spit out the “cosmic dust” he had inhaled, visibly disturbed and unamused.   “There’s nothing wrong with making sure everything’s just right, Alexander; you just need to work on your production time, is all,” Jeanne chimed in with a polite critique.  “After all, who doesn’t love some good theatrical showmanship?  I for one shall gladly defend your--nay, EVERYONE’s desire to be as bombastic as they wish, and THAT is becaauuuuuse--!” Bayonetta’s eyes widened, knowing well what was about to come next.  “Jeanne, DON’T--!!!”   “Those distant: hear the sound!” Jeanne recited in a heroic intonation, performing an entire choreography of gestures in time with her mantra while illuminated by a spotlight shining down from above.  “Those close by: see the spectacle!  Evildoers: fear final justice, as the Platinum Knight has arrived to defend the weak and innocent!  Cutie J is HERE!!” With a final henshin stance and dazzling special effects, the mild-mannered high school teacher Jeanne had donned the mask and suit of the Platinum Knight, Defender of Justice and the Way of the Umbra: Cutie J!!!   “... and that’s how you do it, Alexander~” Jeanne smiled as her Cutie J outfit went back to her fashionable outfit in the blink of an eye.  “Dazzling, yes, but just short enough to get your point across.”   “... oh, Jeanne, you dork…,” Bayonetta groaned in embarrassment, hiding her face (and her snickering) behind her hand.   “But yes, I’m looking forward to your big reveal, Alexander,” Jeanne concluded, ignoring her bestie’s reaction.  “Just promise us it won’t include another explosion like the last one.”   Red sighed softly.  “Alex, you needn’t worry too much about what you’d look like or what everyone else will think of it. Just… go with what feels most natural to you.  And above all else, it is probably best for you to find a focus before Ratchet and/or Alister get going again,” he frowned, casting a side-eye to the two lombaxes who were fuming at each other, fur standing on end and backs arched upwards like cats, waiting for whatever happens next to react accordingly.  The dragon, however, gave a subtle smirk.  “I knew you weren’t gone; I could still feel you, among the gems.”   Nebula!Alexander “blushed” a bright pastel green.  “Thanks, Red.  Well, here goes… something new…!”   (♫ “Opening Credits” - Hybrid ♫)   The nebula began spinning faster, drawing in the particles like a vacuum.  Twisting shapes began to dance about in the vortex, with spectral forms of a Lombax, a dragon, a Dark Panther, and various others all in different colours.  They moved and twisted about, shifting closer to the centre, their arms reaching out for each other.  The other particles started to build a whole form, some ten feet tall in an outline shape.  The smaller beings were spinning about the centre of the shape, faster and faster until they took the form of simple spheres merging together.  Everybody braced themselves against the suction as the nebula rose upwards. There was another flash as the outline started to fill, a new shape being born as white fur and red scales materialised in the outline, spreading outwards to form the shape of a torso and then the limbs, gaining black on the way as Alexander’s head formed, a pair of crystalline horns sprouting from the top of his head as a fan of long hair erupting out the back and down to the base of his new, much thicker tail.  With a gasp his eyes opened, a new set of clothing materialising as Alexander’s sandaled feet landed back on the stone.  His draconian tail idly flicked about as he spread his wings, several ‘feathers’ scattering from it that soon vanished into particles.  Once his eyes had focused he suddenly grabbed at his head, his balance a bit off until he straightened out his relationship with gravity and where the centre of it was.   “... so,” the newly-restored Alexander panted as he straightened up to his full height, a slight smile on his maw, “... what’s the verdict, guys…?”   Umbris was the first to emit a noise: a garbled, joyous mess of sobbing and laughter.  “Broooo, you look amazing…!” he squealed through the hands cusped around his muzzle, tears pouring from his eyes.  He stumbled forward to hug Alexander tightly around the waist, which the Dragobaxian reciprocated with a tender caressing of the Neo-Spacian’s back.   “A culmination of your life’s journey so far,” Jeanne assessed, theatrically dabbing a handkerchief against the corners of her eyes.  “Truly a delightful and wondrous display, Alexander--well worth the wait… and maybe the prior flashbang, too.”   “Yes, this may have made up for you literally going supernova on us earlier, Alexander,” Bayonetta nodded.  “This new look of yours is certainly a thing of beauty.”   “Almost like an angel,” Gabriel breathed, mystified.  “I mean, you were technically an alien to begin with, but now you’re really outta this world, Alex--and, well, many others, too…!” he added with a lighthearted chuckle.   “... yeah, okay, I can’t even be mad anymore,” Ratchet blinked admittingly, his rage having abated as he stared in amazement at Alexander’s new form.  “Well,” he said walking towards Alex, “maybe just a little,” he said, playfully punching the Dragobaxian’s side and immediately wincing as he grabbed his wrist.  “Wow, you’re thicc,” he grimaced as he shook his stinging hand, hoping he hadn’t fractured anything “I see you have made sure it hurt after all, Ratchet,” Clank giggled.   “... heh, guess I know what it’ll be like meeting with Rex one of these days,” Alister surmised as he approached the Dragobaxian, craning his head back so his eyes could meet with Alexander’s.   “Seriously though, Alex… you did great,” he said with a warm smile.  “You’ve really grown a lot.”   “You’ve grown too, Al,” Alexander smiled back as he stooped down a bit before Alister, his eyes focused on the scar over Alister’s left eye.  “More than you may give yourself credit.”   “Uhh, Red?” Ratchet quavered, noticing the dragon standing still as a statue, a massive smile on his face as his hands were clasped together, his pupils dilated.   His sudden movement was way faster than anyone expected, barely giving Ratchet time to get himself and Clank out of the way as Red knocked Alister aside whilst comically trampling Umbris underfoot.  The dragon started to breathe a lot more heavily as he looked in Alex’s eyes, which weren’t as low anymore now that he came up to Red’s shoulders.  “Red, are you okfrrmmff?” Alexander mumbled as the dragon sandwiched his cheeks with his claws.   “Your face,” Red said breathlessly, gripping at the Dragobaxian’s face, squeezing and squishing it.  “Your claws, your wings, that tail.  Look at your muzzle you’re the spitting image-  Oh, my boy, my boy,” he quivered, his voice getting higher with his hands on Alex’s shoulders.  “Look at you. Look at you!” he laughed, hugging Alexander surprisingly tightly.  “My boy. My boy. My son. Oh my son!” he laugh-cried, nuzzling the top of Alexander's head.   “R-Red can we talk about how you t-turned Umbris into a pancake--” Alexander gasped as he felt himself being squeezed excessively. “O-O-Okay, you’re kinda smushing me--oh-oh god that was my back--my BACK is cracking,” he yelped as he tried to tap out of Red’s submission hold-like grip. “Oh my GOD--Red, could you please--YOU’RE GONNA BREAK SOMETHIN--!”  He ceased his struggling to blink hard several times.  “... did he just say “my son”...?”   “... I meeeeaaaaan,” Gabriel spoke up, who was as flummoxed by Red’s melodramatic display as the rest of the group (sans Umbris whose muffled screams could be heard coming from under Red’s feet), “I guess you are technically part-Red now--as least where the dragon mana’s concerned.”   “To paraphrase Alister, Alexander’s new form could be seen as a preview of what the hypothetical interaction with Rex could be like,” Bayonetta pondered.  “... that, or Red really is going full-on “Mother Dragon”.”   “Looks like you’ve got yourself a new big brother, Ratchet~” Jeanne teased the young lombax.   “Dude he’s like over a decade older than me” Ratchet blurted with a lack of punctuation.   “Dude he’s like a decade younger than me” Alister likewise piped in with a similar lack of punctuation.  (“... wait why am I saying that like I’m gonna be his DAD?!” Alister thought with an alarmed grimace and aside glance.)   “And still fine as all hell, thank you BOTH very much,” Alexander boasted proudly.  “... oh jeez, I really AM becoming like Red.”   Red blinked suddenly, his pupils returning to normal as he looked about, before it all came back to him what had happened.  He put Alexander down slowly, and sheepishly back away.  “I err, my apologies.  That was very unprofessional.  I don’t know what came over me,” he said, his face somehow even redder than usual.   Alexander gave a lighthearted chuckle.  “It’s fine, Red, no harm done.” “Uhm, hel-LOOOO~???” Alexander and Red blinked before looking down to see a footprint-covered Umbris between them, his flattened form glaring lividly up at the Dragobaxian.  “... next time, Alex, I’ll let YOU get trampled underfoot by a charging dragon, and then we’ll see if there is “no harm done”...!”   “Sorry Umbris, somehow I didn’t see you there,” Red grunted as he stooped down to peel Umbris off the floor, then proceeded to shake him back into three-dimensional shape. “I do hope you can forgive me,” he said as Umbris ‘popped’ back into shape.   Ratchet snickered to himself.  “Guess he didn’t need ‘mouth-to-mouth’ like in the holovids huh Clank?” he whispered to his mechanical friend.   “Geez Mother Goose, maybe watch your step next time,” Umbris grumbled as he was put back on the ground.   “As I said I am sorry, I just couldn’t quite… see you,” Red said as he walked over to Alexander’s Light Gem and gently picked it up.  “Son, I really am going to need to make sure you learn not to leave important items lying about the place,” he scowled, only for him to realize what he said.  “I did it again,” he sighed, hiding his face with his hand as he held out the gem for Alexander to take.   “You did do it again… but that's okay, Red--I understand everyone is still in the throes of elation over my grand unveiling,” Alexander replied calmly as he gently accepted his Light Gem once more.  “... though being referred to as “son” by a man other than my biological father does leave me with a rather… perplexing sensation.”   “Onii-chan~ Help! I’m stuck in the dryer~!” Ratchet cried in a faux fem moè voice.   “Okay, I’d very much like to go back to being the “uncle” in this “family dynamic” of ours, thank you…!” an unamused Alexander verbally retched, his horns turning a putrid green in response to his discomfort.   “Oh hey Alex, you’re a mood ring!” Umbris joked excitedly.   “Funny, the same thing happened while he was a mini nebula, too,” Gabriel observed.   “Ratchet being gross and you wearing your emotions on your sleeve aside, what are you planning to do with your Light Gem now that you have one Alex?” Alister inquired.  “Are you going to make a staff like Red’s?”   “He could, or he could grind the gem down and reforge the material into a different shape.  It’s how the daggers were made,” Red advised.  “Light Gems are exceptionally resilient like that: grind them into a powder, heat them, reshape them, and they will still maintain the luster they bore when they were first cut from the whole.  I recall once an Elder of old who chose to reshape their Light Gem into accessories he could wear.  He was something of an outlier, as most Elders tend to just create a staff for ease of use.”   Alexander nodded in contemplation.  “Sounds like I can make use of any remaining shavings from fashioning my staff to make a ring or two,” he considered.   “You can’t go wrong with a good pair of earrings, darling, as I always say,” Bayonetta purred.   “Indeed~  A pair of studs for the stud,” Jeanne agreed.   “Another excellent proposal for consideration,” Alexander nodded, chuckling at Jeanne’s wordplay.  His smile diminished as a melancholic feeling washed over him.  “That said… I feel as if our time in this world is drawing to a close, Red.  Not that this world is about to disappear, just that we… will have to leave soon.”   “Which uhh… which means this is about as good a time as any for our commemorative “Graduation Group Photo”, right?” Umbris spoke up while waving his iNomatoPhone, his chipper tone underlined with unease.   “That, and we have one last thing we need to take with us,” Red nodded sagely.   “Ugh, do we need to go looking for something else in the Dojo, cuz my feet are starting to hurt,” Ratchet complained.   “No, we’re already here,” Red said cryptically.   “So was the ceremony only part of why we’re here?” Alister pressed.   “That was the major reason, of course.  And well, turns out it was more of a graduation than I expected it to be,” Red said, catching a look at Alexander who chuckled modestly.  “But, aside from granting Alexander his rights as an Elder, we’ve also come for them,” the dragon explained, gesturing to the Light Gems hanging in the air.   “We’re taking the Elder’s Light Gems?!” Alexander exclaimed.  “I-I mean, it’s probably the only way to preserve them once this world’s gone and all, but… I dunno, that feels weirdly blasphemous to me…  almost like we’re desecrating a tomb here.”   “I have the same feelings, but if we’re going to be powering a portal that will become a permanent link between dimensions so the Lombaxes may return, we’re going to need a lot of power and magical materials.  And I want to bring something far more stable and powerful than an Avalarian Orb.  Hence, I will be desecrating my ancestor’s legacies by taking their gems to provide the power we’re going to need.  And though it pains me to say it, we’re also going to be taking The Original Light Gem with us, as it will serve as the portal’s permanent power supply,” Red explained.   “That thing?!” Umbris balked, pointing to the giant gem cluster behind them.  “How in the nine hells are we taking that with us?!”   “I have a working theory on how to do so, but nonetheless it is important we take it.  I probably forgot to mention this, what with my excitement in regards to the ceremony, but The Original Light Gem is the only Light Gem that can regrow itself by absorbing nutrients from the soil surrounding its roots.  That’s how so many Light Gems have been cut over the years, as the tip will regrow in time.  This means that, while it will be a slow process, we will have a potentially infinite supply of Light Gems so long as we can match the conditions of this cave.  And with your technology and my- Alexander’s and my dragon magic together, we should be able to do so,” Red vowed.  “I know it was sanctimonious of me before to talk about looting the banners, but this plan has been on my mind ever since I chose to join this team.  I want to prove how serious I am in returning your people back to your world, and if it means performing a great transgression against my history, then that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.  And though I can’t speak on behalf of the other Elders, I choose to believe that it is a worthy sacrifice to make.  On the bright side--no pun intended--having The Original Light Gem in your world might deter Adrastos, should his gaze somehow fall upon it due to how connected our worlds are going to become.  This includes the fact that I will be there, of course.”   “... well, can we at least take our photos first before we remove the Original?” Umbris suggested.   “That would be for the best,” Red nodded.   “Then I suggest we take at least two pics,” Alexander responded: “One with my Dragobaxian form, and another in my original Lombax form.”  To illustrate, Alexander’s form shimmered briefly, during which his silhouette shrunk and readjusted itself to his original Lombaxian self, his outfit also having been altered to accommodate this change in proportions.  Well, we say “original self”, but…. “... ah, your goatee marking’s gone,” Alister broke in, noting that the fur on Alexander’s chin was now completely white, lacking the reddish stripe it once had.   “Yeah, I thought it’d be for the best,” Alexander acknowledged as he stroked his own chin, “considering the amount of red in my Dragobaxian form.  And hey, at least now people can actually tell you and I apart.”   “Alex, you’ve always had green eyes and I have what many would believe looks like jaundice, among other vast differences,” Alister pointed out in a huffy, matter-of-fact tone, but quickly smiled amicably.  “Still, I’ll admit that was a good call--suits you better this way.”   “Huh, I thought the yellow eyes were just from being consumed by your own negative feelings,” Red pondered, also being rather jaundiced in the eye department.  “That, or the lingering scars of torture.”   “Well if we’re going to take a photo, give me a moment to reapply some makeup; a lady’s got to look her best after getting flashed like that, Alex,” Bayonetta declared, earning a playful roll of the eyes from Alexander. “You mean you haven’t already?” Umbris snarked while Bayonetta and Jeanne busied themselves with their respective lipsticks.  “Thought you two would’ve gotten that taken care of by now.”   “We would’ve,” Jeanne replied as she applied mascara, “but Cereza here decided she wanted to fuss over Gabriel first.”  As if to illustrate, Gabriel did a few model poses to showcase the neatly-brushed, styled, lustrous lion mane of his luchador mask.   “Alright, already, c’mon everyone! Let’s take the photo before we go tomb raiding,” Umbris irritably chided as he herded everyone in front of the Original Light Gem while fiddling with the settings of his iNomatoPhone’s camera app….     After the group photos were taken, the next order of business was to find a way to stow away and haul the Light Gems, especially the Original Light Gem.  “So are we going to need to fly around and gather them all?  There’s so many!” Alister exclaimed.   “Thankfully not,” Red replied, shaking his large head.  “I’m just going to call out to them and draw them in, and it’ll be up to you to gather them all into Alexander’s surprisingly capacious sack.”   “Pause…,” Umbris snickered, earning yet another eye-roll from the once-more Dragobaxian Alexander.   “So, you’re going to rollcall them to come towards us?” Ratchet asked while holding one of Alexander’s Bags of Holding.   “If I said every name we’d be here all day.  I’m not going to call the likes of Elder Angelis and Elden Xanthus to form a chorus line.  Thankfully, what I must do is much easier,” Red said as he held out his right arm.  Raising it upwards, he slowly brought it down parallel to the floor, twisting his wrist about so his fingers looked to the ceiling.  And with one curled finger he made a beckoning motion.  The chorus of gems quieted down as they began floating towards the platform, clustering around Red and the party.  They hung there, expectantly, all held within the dragon’s pull.   “... welp, I suppose this is one Gathering Sidequest I won’t hate doing immediately,” Ratchet shrugged as he, Alister and Alexander got to work stuffing the Light Gems into the Bags of Holding, a job that surprisingly became a lot easier as soon as Ratchet grabbed the first Light Gem, which proceeded to dive into the Bag of Holding seemingly of its own volition, followed by several of its nearby kin.  “... okay, that happened,” Ratchet uttered in a “sure, why not?” sort of way.   “Shit, I ain’t complainin’,” Alister snorted as he replicated Ratchet’s process, gathering several more of the Light Gems into his Bag of Holding in under three seconds.   “Heh, game mechanics,” Gabriel observed, being the only other individual (alongside Umbris) who didn’t originate from a video game’s universe.   Alexander glanced around, noting that there were still plenty of Light Gems left to gather.  Tilting his head to the side, an idea formed in his mind; using his index finger, he scribbled a sideways Shock glyph, then a “U” shape underneath it.  “Attract!”  An energy resembling electricity sprung from the glyph as soon as Alexander swiped his finger across it, its current spreading across and connecting the smaller Light Gems in the area.  Fascinated by his own homebrewed Dragon Spell, Alexander found himself caught briefly off-guard as the Light Gems started to converge on his location, forcing him to scramble to open his Bag of Holding wide enough to catch the pursuing charged crystals.   “Showoff…!” Ratchet and Alister scoffed in unison, unknowingly making the same annoyed hand-on-hip pose at the same time. As soon as they realized their moment of synchronization, the two snickered lightheartedly.   Red laughed softly.  “I wonder if we have time to grab as many spellbooks as we can?  You may very well learn from them and become a new advent in Dragon Magic, Alex,” he warmly smiled.   “Wouldn’t be such a bad idea,” Alexander nodded as the last of the Light Gems stuffed itself into his satchel.  “I could probably have “Royal Magical Library” store as many books as they can.” “Y’know, with so many Light Gems we could totally invent a whole new class of weapons and gadgets back home,” Ratchet theorised eagerly with a devious glint in his eye.  “No ammo needed, just pure energy.  We could put Gadgetron out of business!”   “I think, Ratchet,” Alister said slowly, “that maybe we might focus our efforts on returning our race from exile before becoming arms dealers,” he explained patiently.   “Oh for sure, but after seeing what one of those things did to a Tesla Claw, you won’t mind me uhh, ‘borrowing’ some for testing, right?” Ratchet pressed eagerly.   Red and Alister both took one look at each other.  “Ask your father!” they said at the same time, pointing at each other.   “I would, but he’s dead,” Ratchet snarkily smiled flatly, causing the elder lombax and dragon to faceplant dramatically.   “... one has to wonder if those two are doing this for the bit, or if they really are trying to be Ratchet’s parents,” Jeanne whispered to Bayonetta and Gabriel.   “I’d be careful, Ratchet, lest we all get assassinated by the intergalactic government for attempting to make use of an unregulated infinite power source,” Umbris warned.  “I’ve heard similar tales of people “dying under mysterious circumstances” after modifying their cars to be powered by water,” he added as an aside to Alexander.   “Okay, anyway,” Alexander semi-impatiently snipped, “next part is the Original Light Gem, right, Red?”   “Indeed,” Red nodded as the platform started to descend.  “I intend to use the laser vision of my mecha form to cut out a chunk of the surrounding earth around its base, to avoid harming the roots as I pull it free.  Ideally it’d be best if you weren’t in the cavern for this, as I don’t want debris or falling Light Gem fragments harming you.”   “So maybe we could go retrieve some of those spellbooks Red mentioned?” Gabriel suggested.  “It would get us out of the way and give Alexander one last look at his spiritual home.”   “Would it be alright?” Alexander asked Red as the platform returned to ground level and everyone retrieved their staff.   “By all means, take all that you can, as even I can use a refresher.  And we might need them so the legacy of the dragons can live on, should you maybe have some ‘Dragobaxians’ of your own,” Red said while wiggling his brows suggestively.   “Oooooohhh-kay on that disgusting note, let’s go get ourselves some books,” Umbris declared awkwardly, dragging Alexander away before his face could get any redder.   “Do you think Alexander can even have kids since he kinda… made himself?” Ratchet said to Clank as they walked away.   “Not without copious amounts of testing,” the robot replied.   “And that’s the kind of testing I don’t plan on doing any time soon,” Alexander’s voice chimed in wearily.   “You sure you won’t need some help Red?” Alister inquired, his hand moving to the dragon’s arm.  “I’ve got a bunch of explosives we could use, including the cryo mines that kinda blew up your fa– Uhhh sorry, sore subject there.  But you don’t have to do this alone just for my sake.”   “Who said I was?” Red snorted.  “I know I had that ‘lone dragon’ thing going on during the Pathways but I’m over that; really, I am just worried about everyone’s safety, as I’m going to need my jet boosters to stabilize myself and I don’t want to risk incinerating any of you, or getting someone crushed by debris.  I know everyone is a lot stronger than they look but…” the dragon paused, looking distant.  “Well, I guess in part it’s also because I once was the potential destroyer of my world, and I don’t want the sight of me ripping out my world’s most ancient relic so I can steal it to be committed to anyone’s memory.  The less villainy anyone can see me doing, the better,” he snorted.   “I get it.  I got to see my mistake of forcing the Great Clock to turn back time despite all the warnings and, yeah, it hurts.  Just don’t hurt yourself and use the phonograph to call us if you need it,” Alister advised as he followed the others out.   “JUST LET ALEXANDER KNOW HE CAN CONTROL THE PLATFORM NOW THAT HE’S A DRAGON!  JUST TELL IT TO GO UP!” Red bellowed as loudly as he could.   Sighing to himself, Red took a long look around the cavern.  Without the Light Gems all you could hear was the trickling of water as the underground river weaved through the place.  It felt like a crime.  What he was about to do was practically forbidden.  What Elder in their right mind would rip out the most sacred gemstone formation in the world?  Red lowered his head, remembering on that platform when he, as a gangly youth, was granted the honour of cutting his own Light Gem.  But that wasn’t what happened, was it?  That was the Red who got to live in this world, where Dark Gems didn’t exist and Adrastos was nothing more than a myth.  What Red instead got was argument, and torture, and power lust.  He ruined his chances, so what Elder was he…?  “The one who will see this through.  I came back but was never one of them, not really.  Call it mind control all you want, but THAT was my past, and this place cannot be my present,” he said, mustering the courage.   Roaring over dramatically, Red engulfed himself in a glowing, green light, growing larger and transforming him into his giant mecha form.  Igniting his boosters he carefully moved towards the enormous cluster, painfully ignoring the torching of the greenery that had lived in harmony for millennia.  Gripping onto the cluster for support he worked his eye beams into the ancient rock above the cluster, working his way around and cutting deep into it.  The Original Light Gem shuddered, part of the stone coming loose as debris fell from the previously undisturbed cavern.  Even as a robot Red could feel his heart aching as he continued cutting through the stone, the cluster getting heavier as he went from it supporting him to him supporting it.  It took so much care to cut while avoiding being cut by the sharp gems, but eventually Red worked his way back around, the weight getting heavier but the cluster not fully falling out.  Gripping tightly the mecha dragon began to work TOLG free, large shards of Light Gem falling and spearing everything below it.  With a frantic twist the cluster came free, long winding roots ripping themselves from the soil above as Red came crashing down, his shock absorbers squeezing to take the force of the blow from the fall.  But, he had done it, the greatest Light Gem in the world was his.  And with how he smashed the walkway and the ancient landscape with it… he really didn’t feel any better about it.  Unleashing his green glow again, Red began to shrink down.  But, forcing it as hard as he could, he extended the green barrier around TOLG as well, the cluster shrinking with him all the way down to his tiny form.  Dropping the shrunken gem he moved away, growing back to his original size.  “I had wondered if I could affect other things with this strange power of mine, but now I know,” he mused as he bent down to pick up the tiny cluster.   Holding it between two fingers he eyed it carefully, and nodded as he grabbed his phonograph.  “I’ve acquired the Original Light Gem.  Please come get me from the lift,” he said into it, hoping they got the message as he walked out of the ruined cavern, never looking back as he made it to the lift waiting for pick-up.     “... so, lemme summarize so I know I’ve got this right,” Umbris began as the party waited for Alexander to retrieve Red, having heard Gabriel’s story while they gathered the tomes from the library: “In addition to Gabriel’s counterparts-slash-brothers being reincarnated alongside him in his rewritten timeline, Russell was also born around the same time he was as opposed to four years prior.  Gabriel and his brothers got together to beat up and forcibly disband the street gang that Gabriel had joined in the original timeline, which also had the benefit of Gabe NOT receiving that terrible burn scar to the side of his face--instead he just got easier-to-manage lacerations running along that same side of his face.” “Gabriel and Russell would end up meeting at the same college,” Alister continued for Umbris, “establishing their friendship and, ermm… experimenting,” the lombax faltered with a slight blush, remembering such an “experiment” he once had with Kaden.  “The two figure out, after a few such experiments--both with each other as well as on their own--that they each have a differing degree of bisexuality; Russell’s being more 50/50, while Gabriel’s is a greater preference for men.  They don’t officially get together at any point, but remain good friends throughout their college years and into adulthood… with the occasional “benefit” from time to time,” he added with yet another blush.  (“Who the hell decided I had to be the one to summarize that part?!  The mods had better not nuke us for this….”)   “And during said adulthood,” Clank spoke up, taking his turn to summarize, “is when the two of them took up employment with the Duelist Wrestling League, which combined traditional pro-wrestling with the Action Duel format (which was not a thing in their world’s original timeline but certainly was a benefit to the performances of their shows).  A couple of years prior to their show in Detroit, Michigan was when Carla was also hired by the DWL as one of the female wrestlers.  Although at first she appeared to have forgotten everything that had happened in the original timeline, she eventually relents and reveals to Gabriel and Russell that she, too, had retained her memories as she relived most of her life, much like they did. She was admittedly reluctant to get too close to either of them, but she eventually warmed up to them, perhaps due to feeling they were the only ones who were in the same boat as her.  Likewise, Carla and Russell are currently in no rush with their own relationship, preferring to go about things steadily.”   “Yep, you guys got the gist of it~” Gabriel nodded chipperly.   “Aww, and here I was rooting for you three to be a throuple,” Ratchet said to Gabriel, genuinely pitying the luchador’s love life.   “It’s okay, Ratch,” Gabriel replied with an appreciative smile.  “I had personally decided even before returning to my world that, should Russell and Carla decide to start over again with their relationship, I would do nothing to disturb it.  I’m happy for them, really… and besides, it’s not like I don't have something lined up for me for later; Carla actually went and set me up on a date with one of the other wrestlers in our roster--he goes by “Raul Lobo”, also a luchadore,” he said as he pulled up some photos on his phone to show the others, each one showing a well-tanned, tattooed wrestler with amber-colored eyes and neatly-trimmed facial hair, his long wavy hair spilling out the back of his dark grey wolf mask.   “Okay, he’s pretty hot~,” Umbris whistled, “but Gabby, I kinda get the feeling Carla paired you up with him primarily for the animal-themed masks you both wear.” “Yeah, that’s exactly what she said, too!” Gabriel burst out laughing.  “But yeah, I’m looking forward to our first date together, regardless.”   “I’m sure it’ll go just fine, Gabby,” Alister nodded.   “I’m guessing you’re probably going to leave out the part in your life when you were a stuffed animal right?  Cuz that one tends to be a vibe killer for a first date," Ratchet snarked while thumbing through a book. “Yeaaaaah, I’m definitely not gonna bring up anything that happened during the War,” Gabriel shook his head.  “That stuff stays with me, Rusty and Carla.” “Although speaking of stuffies,” Bayonetta chimed in as she pulled out a decently-sized lion plushie from her hammerspace, “I really cannot thank Gabriel enough for this adorable number he brought me from his world~”   “I swear, though, if I catch you trying to hold an entire conversation with that thing, Cereza, I will have you committed,” Jeanne teased her friend, likewise briefly cradling her own gift from Gabriel: a blue-colored minotaur plushie of her own (themed after Russell / Battle Ox).   “What on earth are those things?  They look like something Mudada would play with,” Red said as he and Alex entered the library.   “Red, we literally traveled with one in our party for most of Truth Path,” Umbris sassed.  “You really had no idea what a plushie was this whole time?”   “I mean, this whole time I thought it was some pint-sized eldritch monstrosity,” Red sassed back.  “Or do you not remember my first meeting with Gabriel?”   “Again, Red, I’m sorry about that little performance of mine,” Gabriel bowed melodramatically in apology.   “Hmmm,” Red scowled, “but I know what dolls are.  I’ve just never seen designs like those before.”   “Dolls and traumatising Chucky moments aside, I’m guessing you got the Original Light Gem?” Alister pressed.   “Indeed,” Red grinned, holding up the shrunken gem cluster for everyone to witness.   “You… shrunk it…?” Ratchet inquired, tilting his head.   “Apparently, Red can somewhat extend his size alteration ability to anything in his possession,” Alexander explained.  “He accomplished this by shrinking to his mini form while Atlas-ing the Original Light Gem.”   “I’m still figuring out if I can apply this to living things, but my theory was the best bet we had towards bringing it with us,” Red added on.  “What’s most remarkable is how despite the change in its size, its power has remained unchanged, though I wouldn’t advise casting anything using it as a focus.”   Umbris focused intently on the OLG in Red’s hand, more specifically the earthen deposit on its bottom.  “You said the Original can continuously grow so long as it's absorbing the necessary nutrients through its roots, right?  I think Terry can figure out the composition of the soil still stuck to it--that way we can try to replicate it wherever we transplant it next.”   “That would be ideal, as while there is most likely a magical component as well, the presence of a dragon should provide a symbiotic relationship of mutual mana exchange.  So long as the conditions can be replicated, we will have plenty of Light Gems for years to come…” he paused as a thought occurred to him.  “Just none for weapons dealing.”   “OH COME ON!” Ratchet protested.   “No…!” Alister “scolded” in a parental tone, eliciting an equally faked “mini tantrum” from the young lombax.   “I guess we’re done then huh?” Umbris concluded.  “Not that I don’t enjoy the Dragon Realm and all, but is there anything else left for us to take?  Besides the curtains?”   “We’ve basically taken everything but the kitchen sink at this point,” Gabriel nodded.  “Not to mention most, if not all of the locals here don’t seem to be in any state to give us so much as a pre-recorded greeting.”   “I’m sure it would be nice to hear something as simple as a “Thank you for releasing me” from any of the timelocked victims…,” Alexander sighed sadly.   “They will be released, once this world is born anew,” Red said sombrely.  “Also be sure to take the Light Gems from the Elder’s staves, as we have no further use for the wood.”   “... no, I,” Alexander began in objection, “I think we should take the staves with us as they are… it just seems a shame to leave them behind…,” he trailed off as he gently held one of the Elder staves--Titan’s specifically.   Red turned his head, hiding his guilty look from Alex.  “D-do what you want with them then, we have plenty of Light Gems to work with anyways,” he grunted dismissively.  “If you wish to be emotionally attached to some sticks then that’s… that’s your prerogative,” he added and stomped out of the library.   Alexander and Alister shared a sad glance as the Dragobaxian stowed Titan’s staff into his satchel before doing the same with the others.  “I just thought… it’d be a way to honor them somehow,” Alexander sadly sighed.   “It’s fine to feel that way, Alex, you did nothing wrong,” Alister assured the Dragobaxian.  “And Red’s feelings--secretive as he may be with them--they’re valid, too… ... but yeah, our time here is just about over--we’ve done all we can… nothing left for us to do but go back to Epiloguous.”   “... back to the fucking “building” again,” Jeanne breathed heavily as the party followed Red out of the Library.   The dragon was nowhere to be found in the hallway, though a furious howl coming from the main hall was some indication of where he might be, alongside the smoke.  When they got there they found Red putting out a burning tapestry with a stream of water from his own staff.   “... definitely not taking that with us now,” Umbris blurted in slight shock, noting the large hole burnt into the fabric, the poor half-destroyed embroidered dragon being the main casualty.   “Red, are you…,” Alister began to ask, trailing off as he caught sight of the dragon’s dour expression.   “It’s fine.  This old banner came loose and got too close to a torch is all.  This old place is falling apart on us, so we should leave before there’s an earthquake or some other calamity brought about by the entropy,” Red said dismissively.   “... yeah, better not press this issue,” Alister thought to himself, he and the rest of the party wordlessly agreeing to not press the issue further.  “R-Right, let’s hurry on to the portal outta here, gang,” Alister declared with some urgency.   “Or you could have me punch a hole for y’all to jump through,” Rodin’s voice called from Alexander’s phonograph.  “I’ll get you back here to Epiloguous straight away as soon as you deploy your phonograph.”   “Sure beats the trek back through the village and the hills,” Umbris agreed.  “Go for it, Alex!” “Got it…,” Alexander nodded as he placed his black box on the floor, the black and silver phonograph springing into existence and playing “Clair de Lune” as soon as he took a few steps back.  Remembering Rodin’s instructions, Alexander proceeded to flip the record over to its B-Side; as soon as he placed the needle back on the record, the theme for The Gates of Hell played, conjuring a large hole to Rodin’s bar in the process.   “Step right up,” Rodin welcomed the party from behind his counter, the Phoenix patiently seated at the bar (if for no other reason than simply because they felt like it).  “Not everyone all at once, of course--whoa, okay, starting with the dragon first, alright then…!” he blurted as Red rushed to be the first one through.  “I take it y’all enjoyed the trip?” he asked the others as they filed in.  “Love the new style, Alex,” he added as Alexander walked through carrying his phonograph. “Thanks, Rodin.  And yes, it was a nice trip, while it lasted…,” Alexander replied somberly as the Dragobaxian stared toward the original portal that had taken them to the Dragon Realms, the golden letters decorating the arch now reading “GOODBYE…”, as if the world itself had left that message for them.   Red stopped dead before it, his shoulders trembling as a violent shudder escaped him.  “You think I don’t know that?” he said resentfully, as if speaking to the portal.  His breathing was getting heavier, and his pupils were shrinking as Red turned his head skywards and let out a stream of flame so big and bright it lit up a circle around him.   “... I think that portal has overstayed its welcome, don’t you?” Rodin mused rhetorically, Red’s flames reflecting off his sunglasses.  “It ain’t gotta go home, but it sure as hell ain’t stayin’ here.  Get what I’m sayin’?” he asked the Phoenix.   Indeed, they have all seen enough, Red especially--no need to linger and watch a world go the way of Koholint Island as its flame is fully extinguished.  But know that one day, its spark will be reignited, and its legend will begin anew--like an eternal night dispersed by the dawn.   With a sweep of their flaming hand, the Phoenix dispelled the portal to the Dragon Realms, the archway and its lettering fading away like the wisp of smoke from an extinguished candle.   (♫ Kuon (Eternity) ♫)   “Good riddance,” Red snorted.   Alexander hung his head, desiring to say something to comfort Red yet hesitant that he might exacerbate the dragon’s already turbulent mood.  Though not wanting to pry, he closed his eyes, feeling out through their shared mana.  Surprisingly, the dragon’s mana wasn’t spiking as his mood would suggest, but was small, and retreating.  A representation of his true feelings?  Probing deeper, words began to take form.  Don’t let them see you cry, they’ll feel guilty if you do...  Why did he have to bring the staves and remind me of who I’m losing…?  You know you need to do this, you can cry on your own time…  They’ll understand, just keep it to yourself, for now…   “... let’s leave it be for now,” Alister whispered to Alexander as he gently held his hand, having caught a glimpse of what the Dragobaxian had sensed.  “When he’s ready, we’ll be there for him….”  Alexander squeezed Alister’s hand in understanding, forcing back his own urge to cry.   … shall we proceed now, to your party’s last order of business?   The Phoenix conjured a new portal, this one leading back to the home dimension of Ratchet and Clank.   “... so this is it,” Ratchet uttered carefully, butterflies in his stomach as he could make out a nighttime view of a familiar garage and surrounding landscape beyond the mechanical archway.  “Our way back… it almost doesn’t feel real….”   “You said it,” Alister croaked as he walked up to Ratchet’s side, likewise wondering if he was dreaming.  “... to think… I’ll be returning to our universe… alive….”   “It’ll be a new beginning, for many of us,” Alexander added as he joined the two lombaxes.  “I haven’t been to our universe in such a long time, ever since this journey of mine began….”     Without warning, Alexander roughly pinched and yanked on Alister’s ear.  “Ah--OWWWW???!!! ALEX, WHADAFUQ?!!” barked the elder lombax.   “Heh, sorry, just helping to make sure you’re definitely still alive,” Alexander shrugged as he let go of Alister’s ear.   “Well I definitely felt that, so thanks,” Alister grunted as he massaged his stinging ear, secretly appreciative that the pinch did as intended.  “... … wait,” he blinked hard, a realization striking him.  “Can I… really just return like this…?” “What do you mean?” Umbris asked.   “Think about it; officially I’m dead. How do you think people would react to a dead man suddenly roaming about?  A *criminal*, I might add!” Alister added with emphasis, almost having forgotten that last part himself. “Oh right, you were pretty much a fugitive, huh?” the Neo-Spacian acknowledged.   “It might be worthwhile to invest into a hologuise?” Clank suggested.  “At least until we can ascertain a more permanent solution?”   “I mean, if Alister is canonically ‘dead’, then… I mean, can you even put out an arrest warrant for a dead guy?” Ratchet pointed out.  “Doesn’t dying basically wash away all your crimes?” “... waitwaitwait, hold on, we’re skipping over a thing or two, I think,” Alister interjected.  “We need, maybe… a way to justify my reappearance.” “How do you propose to go about that?” Alexander pressed.   Alister paused for a moment to consider his next words and actions carefully.  “... … Phoenix.  If the Prime Timeline is now ensured to continue on as it’s meant to, then any other timeline is permitted to deviate from it in some way, right?” “Al, what’re you suggesting…?!” Ratchet worried.   “Phoenix, for the timeline we will be returning to,” Alister declared, “have it so that I vanished from the Great Clock when I aborted the time shift--make it ambiguous as to whether I died that day!”   Oh, that’s a bit convoluted isn’t it?  Your universe has a rather lax view on death, what with all manner of explosions and people dying in random accidents all the time, like the Proto Pet fiasco.  There’s also the many times people have faked their own deaths.  How many times has your Captain Qwark done so now?  Like three times at least?  Really, nobody is going to notice or care all that much… well, maybe besides conspiracy theorists, but then who listens to them?   “... he’s asking for me,” Ratchet realized.  “I was the one who reported Alister’s death originally, and I won’t remember what really happened until I return to around the point where I left--until then, the me who was at the Great Clock will still have to witness and go through everything else that happened.” “I get it… he wants things to be consistent,” Red surmised, his mood having improved somewhat by having something to distract himself from his own troubles.  “Making it so that Alister “disappeared” from the Great Clock instead of dying would keep Ratchet’s report on the events at the Great Clock from being contradicted by the eventual return of both Alister himself and Ratchet’s memories… of course, the conspiracy theorists will still have their field day whenever that happens.”   “As if they wouldn’t if they saw dragon-like beings roaming about, Red,” Alexander snickered.  “You alone could be like the Polaris Galaxy’s Bigfoot.”   “Then I may have an elegant solution,” Clank spoke up, hopping off of Ratchet’s back.  “If we simply need to handwave a disaster, then all we need to do is ‘tweak’ the outcome.  In this case the explosive blast of feedback simply ‘displaced’ Alister in the timeline, sending him forwards in time to the year after Vendra Prog tore open a rift to the Netherverse.  Aware of what’s going on, he sends an Infobot out to Ratchet, anonymously asking for a meeting on Fastoon.  In doing so, we can arrange a meeting point for Ratchet and myself with the rest of the team at the point in time when you leave the portal, allowing for all of us to chronologically catch up.  This way, Alister will still be presumed dead in our timeline while also justifying his survival, as any questions can be handwaved with ‘time shenanigans’.  This leaves few questions asked, and even fewer loose ends to tie up.”   “And that, right there, is why YOU are the man, Clank!” Ratchet popped excitedly, a broad grin on his face as he fistbumped the robot.   “That sounds like it might actually work…!” Alexander said hopefully. “So long as everything else lines up as it should,” Alister noted with cautious optimism.  “That includes putting some other things back where they should be….”  He demonstrated by taking out his pocket watch, the chain Bayonetta had attached to it having fallen off during his fight with Alpha.  He stared down at it fondly for a moment before pressing it to his forehead.  “Until we meet again….”  He nodded towards Ratchet, motioning for him to pull out his version of the pocket watch.   The younger lombax did so, holding it in his palm with the dented side facing outwards.  Clasping it between both hands, Ratchet held it up to his mouth as if praying.  “... thanks again, Dad….”  Both lombaxes then held their respective copies of the pocket watch against each other; now seemingly affixed to each other, the watches began to float, emitting a pale blue glow as they began to spin, faster and faster, brighter and brighter, until the glow dispersed in a shower of sparkles, revealing that the two watches had merged into one, which floated back down into Ratchet’s open hand.  “... okay, we totally just did all of that on a whim, right?” Ratchet asked Alister.  “Like, there was no way either of us could’ve known that would happen.”   “... well, shit, it worked, didn’t it?” Alister shrugged, amazed that his hunch of a gesture actually worked.   “... it’s fixed…!” Ratchet gasped, noting that not only was the watch dent-free, but its internal mechanisms were once more working. Concerned by its sudden functionality, Alister placed a hand on the watch.  “... I feel nothing but the mechanisms of the watch itself,” he sighed in relief.  “The Orvus Apparatus truly is no more, now.”   “Now we just have to send this back to where it’ll be found,” Ratchet nodded.   “Along with the Chronoscepter,” Clank chimed in as he retrieved the Artifact from his inner compartment.   “Don’t forget the Surinox shard,” Alexander helpfully reminded.   “But of course,” Clank agreed as he retrieved the shard as well.   “Is there anything else we need to put back?” Alister queried among the motley crew of items, lightly tapping his fingers against his Praetorian Omniwrench as he counted off a verbal check list: “We’ve got the shard, the scepter, and the watch… Orvus has been sent back to meet his fate, as have Alpha and my Prime counterpart….  Is there anything else we may have forgotten so the universe doesn’t go up in smoke?”   “I don’t… think so…?” Ratchet stated, trying to rack his brain for any detail he may have overlooked.  “... wait.”  He did a double take at Alister.  “Al, your Omniwrench!  You gotta leave that behind, too!” Ratchet remembered.   “That is correct; Alister’s Praetorian Omniwrench was used as a replacement lever for the Orvus Chamber’s main mechanism after the Chronoscepter was snapped off.  It then served Ratchet during his confrontations with Artemis Zogg,” Clank summarized.  “To ensure that our timeline proceeds as closely as possible to canon events, it will need to be left behind in the Orvus Chamber along with the pocket watch and Chronoscepter.”   “Jeez, it was staring me right in the face, how’d I forget about that?” Alister blurted as he held his Omniwrench at arm’s length.  “It’s a huge part of why my sacrifice even succeeded,” he added, taking a moment to study its slightly rusted surface.  “... heh, I admit I had gotten used to it being fused with Mr. Zurkon these past couple of days, but now that it’s back to normal… it’s like being reunited with one’s first love,” he reminisced as he ran his fingers along the wrench’s shaft.  “You take care of things while I’m gone, okay, beautiful?” he purred lovingly, rubbing his cheek against one of the wrench heads.   “... okay, I know I can get enamoured with my weapons sometimes, so I don’t have much room to speak here,” Ratchet blinked in response to Alister’s public affair with his Omniwrench--   “--I do,” Alexander blurted flatly before shouting jokingly to Alister, “Al, please get a room if you’re gonna be rubbing yourself on your Omniwrench!”   Alister scoffed at Alexander.  “Yeah, well, once you have an actual Omniwrench of your own, Alex, then you’ll realize how much you’ve been missing,” he taunted while grinding against his Omniwrench like a gogo dancer to a stripper pole, earning some loud cheers, screams, laughter and applause from much of the peanut gallery--Ratchet, Alexander and Red were the only ones to (mostly, in Red’s case) avert their eyes in varying degrees of discomfort.  “... oh my GOD, what am I doing?!” Alister shrieked as he dropped his Omniwrench onto the floor.   “Getting carried away with your posturing, obviously,” Jeanne jested in the midst of her applauding laughter.   “Dude, you are a little too good at that,’ Umbris chuckled.  “You didn’t do any dancing on the side to pay for college, did you?  Not that there’s anything wrong with that--mad respect to sex workers in all fields.”   “Yeesh, I haven’t been this soft since I used a Groovitron on the Valkyries,” Ratchet blanched.  (“WEAKLING!!!” Dr. Nefarious’s shrill voice taunted from beyond the portal.)   “Here, Red,” Alexander volunteered, aiming one of his hands at the flustered dragon and reciting a quick incantation before proceeding to douse him with a torrent of cold water.   The dragon sputtered loudly, water dripping off his steaming scales.  “Much obliged,” he hissed.   “Th-That won’t be necessary, Alex!!” Alister yelped, holding both hands up defensively as Alexander motioned/threatened to douse him as well, despite his own furiously burning face.  He made a calming sigh before turning his attention once more to the Phoenix.  “So… what’s the order in which we should take care of things?”   What order do you want?   “If I may make a suggestion,” Rodin spoke up while dispelling his bar counter.  “To build off of Clank’s solution: after we drop off the items that need returning--syncing them with their intended spots in the timeline--I’ll take Bayonetta, Jeanne and Gabriel back to our respective realities; Alexander and Red should hide out somewhere--likely wherever y’all wanna set up Red’s new home--and keep a low profile for a while; Ratchet, I believe you had a little date at the Intergalactic Museum of History; and Alister, well… hopefully wherever you end up after getting displaced in time is at least hospitable enough that you wake up without any issues, not to mention having any Infobots laying around for you to send out.  Once Ratchet gets Alister’s “anonymous” InfoBot, he should use his Umbran Phonograph to contact Alex, Gabriel and Bayonetta so y’all can get the band back together and meet up with Alister on Fastoon.  And after that, maybe even hold a proper “graduation party” for Alex,” Rodin added with a slight smirk towards the Dragobaxian.   “... “wherever I end up”?” Alister broke in.  “What’s that supposed to… oh… aw, c’mon, again…?!” he bemoaned as he caught sight of another portal, once more showing the inside of the Orvus Chamber. “I swear, this had better be the LAST time I see that Chamber….”   “For better or worse, Alister,” Clank said, “it certainly will be.”   “At least it’s one way you’ll be moving forward,” Ratchet gave a worried chuckle.   Alister swallowed hard, dreading having to physically relive that moment once more, even if it would result in a different outcome.  “... Well… at least I’ve got more time to say my goodbyes this time,” he croaked as he turned to face the rest of the party.   “Bayonetta, Jeanne… we’ve had a hell of a time on the Pathways, facing demons while fighting alongside them.  I’ve learned that things aren’t as black-and-white as they seem; both the light and the dark can be dangerous, but also helpful--it’s all about perspective… and I’m glad I was able to change mine.  I hope that either one of you could indulge me with a dance next time we meet,” Alister bowed to the two Umbra Witches.   “It’d be our pleasure, Alister,” Bayonetta smiled as she and Jeanne returned his bow.    “Gabriel…,” approached the luchador, “we’ve only known each other for a short while, but I’ve seen you display great bravery and courage in the face of tremendous danger, even while trapped in the form of a stuffie.  Your quick, strategic thinking was also brilliant to behold.  I hope to follow your example as I face what’s to come next and beyond, without fear or hesitation.”   “You’re plenty brave already, Alister,” Gabriel nodded as he shook hands with the lombax.  “Good luck to you out there.”   “Alexander…,” Alister addressed the Dragobaxian next, who took a moment to shift back into his lombaxian form, “we may have entered this war on opposing sides, but even then something in me--like a distant, foggy memory--told me that I could trust you in some way… even if we did hit a rough patch near the beginning, yet you still were willing to put your own trust and faith in me despite my antagonism towards you.  You were like a shining star, helping to guide me out of the dark--one of several things to do so,” Alister added as he glanced towards Ratchet and Red, “which was why I couldn’t stand by and see that light be extinguished… I’m glad I could help pull you back from the brink of your despair, as your light is important to so many, and will be to so many more.”   “As is yours, Al,” Alexander beamed as he took Alister’s hands into his.  “Red and I could not have gotten this far without you, and you helped to free the Altisters, too.  Never forget the importance of the light within you, Alister,” he said as he gave Alister a quick, grateful hug.   “Red….”  Now it was the dragon’s turn.  “I–”   “Whatever you have to say, save it for when you get back to me alive,” Red told him.   Alister simply gave a slight smile and an understanding nod.  “Fair enough.  I’ll keep this next part just as minimal, then,” he said as he strode over to Ratchet, kneeling down and pulling the young lombax into a hug, holding on for as long as possible, as if he were scared to let go.  “Thank you, Ratchet,” he tearfully whispered.   “I know, Al,” Ratchet replied while returning Alister’s hug, fighting back his own tears.  “I’ll see you again… it’s gonna be okay.”   “… yeah.  It will be….”  Forcing himself to pull away, Alister straightened himself out before retrieving his OmniWrench.   “We are just about ready,” Clank declared as he took a moment to stand before Alister’s portal, the Chronoscepter vanishing from his hands to signify that it had been returned to its proper point in history.  “The Surinox shard has also returned to the place and time it had originally been in before Isamy had stolen it.”   “Then this is goodbye again,” Bayonetta said as Rodin opened a way back to her world.  “Let’s catch up again soon.  Gabby, we’ll drop you off on our way back.”   “Right.  Take care, everyone,” Gabriel said, waving goodbye to the rest of the party.   “That’s our cue, too, Red,” Alexander said once Gabriel, Rodin and the Umbra Witches had departed, reverting back to his Dragobaxian form.  “We’ve got some work ahead of us setting up your new place before we find Alister again.”   “We’ll need to find a cavern to plant The Original Light Gem as well.  Somewhere safe and secure no raiders might find it.  As for finding them, I think we’ll be fine; after all,” Red paused, looking at Ratchet and Alister, “they’ll come to us.”   “Don’t keep us waiting, Al,” Umbris smirked as he, Alexander and Red left for their new destination.   “... go on, Ratchet,” Alister urged the young lombax.  “I just… need a moment more before I….” “I get it,” Ratchet smiled as he strapped Clank to his back.  He placed Alister’s pocket watch back into the elder lombax’s hand before making his way over towards the portal back to his dimension, lingering a moment to study the scene it revealed to him: the Lombax History Wing, with Alister Azimuth’s statue still displayed.  “... at least this goodbye… won’t be our last this time.”  He turned to give one more look towards Alister, a warm smile on his face.  “... take care of yourself, Alister.”  Once Ratchet and Clank had stepped past the threshold, the archway to their timeline blipped out of existence, leaving Alister alone with the Phoenix.   “... … … …,” Alister ellipses’d as he stared at the portal that was to send him back, to that fateful moment.  “... … … Do… … do you think I did alright this time…?” Alister stammered, anxiously gripping his pocket watch and Omniwrench.  “... enough… to deserve this second chance…?”   … It’s really not for me to say, Alister Azimuth.  What’s important is whether you believe you deserve this chance… but I will at least say this: for what you managed to accomplish here, you should be proud of yourself.   … mulling over the Phoenix’s words for a moment, Alister heaved a deep sigh, taking one more look down at his open pocket watch, at that familiar photo of himself and Kaden in their youth.  A faint smile forming on his lips, willpower swelling in his chest.   … Are you ready?   Pocketing his watch, Alister Azimuth engaged his hover boots, lifting off from the ground and propelling himself forward through the portal to the Orvus Chamber, prepared for the role he was to play--and knowing, this time, that it would not be the end of his story….     … but the prelude to a new chapter.

The sight that the Nightwalker was holding in the same position was definitely a good sign... he hoped that this would mean it would be down for good soon. However, it was nowhere close to the moment to celebrate. In fact, right now Chris was looking down four shadow creatures in a rough semi-circle. Then they broke off into two groups of two... which didn't bode too well for them, however, Ziun did take this as a sign of good fortune. After all, he knew exactly how to handle these things... to an extent at least. "Since they separated... let's see if we can cause some dissension in their ranks." Ziun smirked, going for one of the groups of two... immediately casting Hypnotic Pattern. Those two shadows seemed to be entranced and dealing with that. So they were technically out of the way. The other two on the other hand, while he could've cast Color Spray on them... he risked hitting Chris and screwing him up in the process, he didn't need that on his conscience today. Instead, he thought of a different idea: get their attention on him... like usual. Ziun quickly cast a few icicles towards the second group of two... however, only one seemed to take notice and started to lurch towards him. "Well then... that's slightly unexpected..." Ziun bit his lip in frustration, not liking how this was going. Nevertheless, he immediately cast Color Spray on the one lurching forward, just as his plan was set on. Indeed, it did mess with the shadow, but... it continued to lurch forward, not really breaking its stride. He decided to quickly cast Ghost Sounds on it, knowing that helped before. And yet... it didn't seem to affect it at all. "That's not good either... seems you happen to be learning..." he muttered, casting the vines to grip a hold of the shadow, trying its best to keep it in place. As the vines surround it, the shadow stopped, thankfully... but only for a little bit. Once that time frame was up, it started to... squeeze through. "Okay... that does it." Ziun frowned, really not enjoying this shadow's little game here. He looked towards the giant celestial bee he summoned, and motioned with his hand. "You're up. Give this eldritch being hell!"