Summary: A dark reflection of hope, the darkness has hijacked the signal
Steven groaned as he woke up. Man, last night was crazy. Marco should not have brought the spiked fizzy pop. Cracking his back as he got out of bed, he began getting dressed, picking out his favorite stary T shirt and pink jacket.
"Maybe today will be better." He talked to himself as he noticed his room was a particular shade of pink for some reason. Not that he didn't mind, but it was weird. "Did Star do a paint job? Is this her idea of a prank?" She was losing her touch. She knew pink was his favorite color.
He went to the bathroom as he pulled his toothbrush out of the cabinet, closing the Mirror as he brushed … finding Rose staring back at him. "AAGG!" Steven jumped back, hyperventilating as he looked back, just finding his own face looking as panicked as he felt. "Sleep deprivation … spiked punch." He justified it as he rinsed his mouth out.
Just the usual nightmare. He wasn't Rose. Rose was a ghost and that ghost was gone. He was nobody but Steven. He was Steven. He was no one but Steven.
"Rose!" Pearl ram up the stairs, wearing her old homeworld form. "I heard you screaming! Are you alright!? Who do I need to stab!?"
"Pearl?" Steven blinked in confusion. "Were you rejuvenated partially or something, Rose is gone."
Pearl looked at her-her-him weirdly before laughing. "Oh Rose, it's just another one of your classic jokes. I know you like to trick people, but you don't have to do it with me."
Alright, this was a very, VERY twisted joke. "Ha ha, real funny, knock it off." He trudged his way out of the room as he made his way for some breakfast. He was fortunately greeted by the familiar sight of Amethyst raiding the fridge. "Hey Amethyst."
"Sup Rose." Really!? Her too!? "Are you finally going to give me the secret to that shapeshifting trick you have going on? I want to be able to bleed like you do."
"Not when you're in on, frankly, a really bad joke." He answered as he grabbed some bacon he planned on cooking up. "You know how much it hurts to hear that name Amethyst."
"What, I thought calling you Pink was the only name that pissed you off." Amethyst stated plainly.
"Whatever." He rolled his eyes. "Just tell me where Star is. I'll hang out with her today; where hopefully you guys will finally stop messing with me."
"Who's Star?" That caused him to stall.
"My sister." He responded, looking at her for any visible signs of faking.
"Rose, have you been watching those cheesy family dramas again?" He turned around and saw Garnet looking down on him. "Your acting like you're a human."
"Strike three, you're out." He could buy Pearl trying a joke and being bad at it, he could buy Amethyst being a jerk for fun. But the lack of Star and Garnet getting in on it was just sending out wrong signals. It was giving him levels of Glossaryck proportions of insufferable.
He walked out of the house, looking at Beach Creek. The nice, clear smoggy skies with barren wasteland-what?
He ran out onto the beach, looking around. The water was completely dried up, there was no semblance of any town being built there, there wasn't even any sign of insects crawling over anything.
"Wake up." Steven muttered quietly, but this nightmare still kept going. "Wake up." He began pinching himself. "Wake up wake up wake up."
"Rose?" Pearl walked out. "Ah, I see you're trying pain again. I still don't understand why people would want to feel that."
"Pearl, what happened to Earth!?" He shouted accusingly at the pale gem. "Why is there no life!!? Why is everything so empty!?"
"You colonized it of course." She answered, now looking concerned. "Is something wrong with your gem?" She reached out to touch it.
"No, stay away!" He swatted her hand back and ran off. "This can't be real, this can't be real!" She-HE kept running away, needing to make since of this, needing to get away from it all!
"Come on now Steven." He froze, turning to the familiar voice in a broken reflection. "You've had your fun, it's my turn to drive."
"SHUT UP!" He shouted, the ground breaking. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" He didn't care about the damage. He didn't care if anybody around him was getting hurt, this COULDN'T be real.
"Oh Pink, you got lost in your delusions again." He slowly looked up, and saw Blue Diamond reaching out again. "It was amusing seeing you play around in that suit of flesh for almost two decades, but you should really peel it off yourself by now. It's starting to smell."
"I'M STEVEN!" The very air became pink. "I'M STEVEN QUARTZ DEMAYO UNIVERSE BUTTERFLY!!! I'M STEVEN! I'M STEVEN!" He let his bubble grow bigger, trying to block out this horrid and wrong world.
"You just keep making up more and more ridiculous names for yourself." Yellow laughed from behind him and passed her hand through his bubble and grabbed him. "I appreciate a good joke, but it's time to get back to serious business again."
"THIS IS ALL A LIE! THIS IS ALL A LIE!! THIS WORLD IS A LIE!!!" He's seen himself not hold back, he's stronger, he just needs to keep pushing and break the illusion. Break. Break. Breakbreakbreakbreakbreakbreakbreakbreakbreak.
"The only lie here is the one you convinced yourself of." He suddenly found himself in the hands of White, reaching out for his gem once more. "Playtime's over, Pink."
He wasn't pink this wasn't real none of this was real wakeupwakeupwakeup.
"Seriously." Looked down to his mouth, which moved on it's own. "Just let me drive. I don't have a use for you anymore." He had no voice but he screamed.
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Star woke up, ruffling in the … uncomfortable sheets? She opened her eyes, finding herself in a white room. "Did … did something happen?" How hard was Marco's spiked fizzy juice? Maybe she shouldn't have drunk half the bottle.
The hangover at least wasn't that bad, the only really off thing was the fact she couldn't feel her arms. She went to stretch them out and.. "huh?" She looked to her side, seeing that she was wearing a straight jacket.
"Alright, I'm clearly in a psych ward. Probably because I may or may not have blown up a building or two in an uncultured dimension, and now I'm trapped." She rationalized. "Lets see … what's a good spell for this?" The door opened up, as in came … "Pearl?"
"Star, we've been over this." They sighed. "Just because I like wearing Pearls doesn't make it my name, it's Penelope."
"Since when are you into human names?" Star raised an eyebrow. "And is this just an elaborate prank to get back at me for drinking while using magic?"
"Oh, you're stable this time. We may be able to actually get through to you yet." They gave a gentle smile, sitting in a chair. "Now, do you remember where you are?"
"I can tell that I'm in a rubber room and tied up like I'm sort of a maniac." Star muttered as she looked around. "How is it that I ended up here before Mina?"
"Mina …" They sighed. "'Loveberry' is in the room next door. Convinced that she's a 'warrior of god' eradicating the demons." Pearl seemed annoyed. "But we're not here for her delusions, we're here for yours."
"Pfft Hah, and here I thought you had a terrible sense of humor." Star laughed, starting to feel her arms fall asleep. "But seriously, if you can let me out of this straight jacket, that'll be great."
"Let you go, so you can cast your 'magic'." Pearl used air quotes. "The last time you did so, you went rabid and hurt Dr Amelia." She looked at her with a disappointed look. "You sent a pen right into her chest, thinking she'd poof 'into her gem'."
"What?" Star blinked, before shaking her head. "Alright, this isn't funny anymore. Come on, Marco would totally bust me out."
"Marco has been asking for you, but his age has caused his body to deteriorate." She sighed. "Only in a psych ward is a teenage girl dating a fifty year old the least concerning thing."
"What, ew, that's sick!" Star gasped.
"Finally got it through your head. Good." Pearl wrote something down. "For a second, I thought we'd have to put him down for everyone's safety. Now let's see if we can make you stop believing your conspiracy of a giant hand in the center of the earth."
"Okay seriously, stop it!" Star yelled. "I want to talk to my family! I need to see my brother!"
Pearl winced as she heard that. "Star, I told you, your parents don't want to see you, not until we can make significant progress."
"You're the ones being delusional." She rolled her eyes. "The joke is way old lady, now just bring Steven in here, alright."
Pearl looked down, a strange expression on her face. "Star, come on, you need to accept reality." The gem sighed. "Your brother has been dead for years."
Steven…was… "No..No…no, your…you're lying!"
"You couldn't cope with the reality of the situation, so you made up a fantasy land."
"No no no." She wanted to hold her hands to her ears.
"One where he was alive, and magic existed." Pearl kept going despite her protest. "One where no matter how deadly a situation got, you two would always come out on top. You've been imaging him inside your head for the past five years-"
"Shut up you bitch!" Star used her still free legs to vault at her. "Stop this twisted fucking game!"
"Security!" They screamed, trying to push her bound form back.
The door busted open, where two guards, one that looked like Jasper and another that looked like Rhombulus dragged her down into the ground. "This is getting really old, 'Butterfly'." The Jasper looking one grunted.
"No! No! No! It can't be real! It can be real! It can't be real!" Star cried as the pressure kept being piled on top of her.
"What's unreal is the lack of progress." The fake Pearl said with disappointment. "How many more years are you going to delude yourself and hurt everyone around you for it?"
This couldn't be real. This couldn't be real. "How.." She tearfully looked up at the Pearl, not sure why she was indulging this delusion. "How did it happen?"
Pearl sighed as she turned away. "You were playing princess and knights when he was ten. You got too excited and you pushed him down the stairs." The doctor walked out the door.
"It's a lie …" She curled up into a ball. "It's a lie …" It couldn't be true … it just … she didn't kill Steven.
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Luz broke down the door, taking in the throne room. On the right was the chained up owl lady and the little tyke known as King. They looked at her with worried and pleading eyes, but she wouldn't stop for this. Luz glared at the man on the throne … Emperor Belos. "If it isn't Luz Noceda." He greeted her.
"Release Eda and King, or so help me I will hurt you like you wouldn't believe." She threatened. Those two had basically been her entire family ever since coming to this wonderfully terrifying world, and she'd be damned before she let anything happened to them.
"Kid, I told you to stay back!" Eda called out to her. "I know you have a knack for barely escaping problematic situations, but this is a little above your pay grade!"
"I won't know for sure unless I try!" Luz answered definitely, twirling Eda's staff in her hands. "Come on, reindeer head, let's dance."
"Fine, I'll play." He chuckled as his body glowed red, teleporting right behind him.
After shaking off the weirdest sense of dejavu from that line, Luz threw down her plant glyphs and activated them using owlbert. Claws grew from the ground, tearing at them. She threw a paper mache of fire glyphs for an explosion, but it was just sucked up with the wave of a hand.
"You're quite adorable. Is it my turn to attack, or would you like to try some more fun little tricks?" The emperor asked condescendingly.
"Well I guess I can't just beat the most powerful witch in the boiling isles that easily." She growled.
"... Witch?" There was a hint of confusion in Belos' voice. "Where do you think you are right now?"
"In your castle, kicking your but." She answered, raising Owlbert at him.
The emperor stared at her, before turning to Eda. "You never told her, did you?"
"She never needed to know before." Eda responded with a face full of shame.
"What are you talking about?" Luz asked her wayward mentor. Eda was a liar by trade, so her having something to hide wasn't anything new. "Is it about her price of your mysterious backstory? Because I can wait until we get home?"
"Oh, this is almost too sad to be amusing." Belos chuckled as he approached her. "You really think this realm is some sort of fantasy land, a place for all your dreams to come true?"
"No, I accepted that not all my dreams would come true when an octopus in sandals said so." She argued. "But we can still make something wonderful out of the boiling isles."
"Amusing little name …'' He began circling Luz like a shark. "Do you really think a naturally occurring isle of any kind would have creatures so strange and bizarre, that destroy the laws of reality on a wim?"
"Well … yeah." She paused. "The titan was magic and …" How did a titan exist to begin with?
"Almost every second something seeks to kill you, eat you, skin you alive, or some other matter of horrible occurrence." Belos kept talking creepy. "Every act you make often ends with you making everything worse, almost like your being tormented for your decisions."
"That's ridiculous, you don't know what your talking about." Every word this creep was spouting was rubbing every inch of her body the wrong way.
"Luz Noceda …" Belos stopped, staring down at her. "How did you get here?"
"I …" She flashed to a bright light. "I fell into a portal …"
He laughed. "Come now child …" He leaned in closer. "How did you really get here?" They asked with a demonic glee.
She knew this story by heart, she was waiting for a bus-she was arguing with her mom.
Luz paused. She remembered not being on the same page as her mom before she left, but she wasn't mad at her. Why was she remembering things differently? Why was she thinking of a stormy night and lots of shouting?
"Come on now, everyone remembers eventually." Belos snickered. "I mean, you have all the time in eternity after all."
As the memory flooded in, a skull wreathed in nightmares bursting forth as it gazed on her with amusement. "Luz Noceda …" She gazed into the fiery maw of the devil himself. "Where … Do you think you are right now?"
"I …" She stepped back. "I don't belong here …"
They cackled, extending their hand and grabbing her head. "Oh everyone that's here belongs. Let me guess, did you piss off a parent? Say something you can never take back?"
"Luz i'm sorry!" Eda shouted, her voice faint. "I didn't want you to …"
"No, no, this isn't how it's supposed to be!" She shouted, doing her damndest to recall a faint memory that shouldn't have been faint at all. "My mom accepted who I was! She remarried…I…I have a little..!" Her mind became foggy. "A little … I little…"
"Just another delusional reality to rip you away from. You'll find that this world is perfect for crushing souls." They laughed. "Take solace, you can find people you get along with … in hell."
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Mabel couldn't believe it! Dipper was leaving for college, and she was going to be left behind! No, it was fine, it was fine. Worst case scenario, she and him become Grunkle Stan and Ford. Sure it may unleash interdimensional evil, but who hasn't?
Mabel kept her hands fidgeting on the table as she looked back and forth between her hands and her brother double checking his bags. She didn't want to be left behind, she didn't want..NO! She learned her lesson! She had a life outside of Dipper, she could live without him by her side all the time.
So what if every experience she had that last day before Weirdmageddon was an absolute disaster she couldn't handle alone, it was no big deal … Why did it feel like Weirdmageddon again? Because of how serious it was?
She wasn't a kid anymore, she's learned to cope, she's learned to be less boy crazy, she's learned to be cool with just herself. "Bummer huh?" She turned to Ben, sitting right next to her. "He's just moving on with his life and forgetting all about us, about the fun we had as kids."
"He'll be back when it's over." She tried to speak positively. "At least I still got you bud." She patted the boy's back. "So, wanna hit up Mr Smoothies after we say our goodbyes?" It was hard for Ben too, watching his cousin leave. "And it's not like we'll forget anytime soon … remember the bubbles of madness?"
"Those things spread all over gravity falls before we kicked Dorito head's face in, heck yeah!" Ben shouted. "Man, wouldn't it be great to just be back in that moment again? Reliving our greatests hits."
"Yeah.." Mabel began raising an eyebrow. She knew Ben liked being a kid, it's why she got along with him, but she didn't take him as the kind of guy to want to live in the past so much. "So, you plan on hooking up with Candy on video since you can't use Dipper as an excuse anymore?" She smirked.
"Pfft, I'm a full time hero, I don't have time for that mushy romance stuff." Okay, THAT got her attention. After that horrible day with that Kai girl, she'd understand if that was Ben's attitude, but she knew he was into girls still. He occasionally gave looks to that Julie girl during his soccer games.
Personally she knew it would never work out, considering Julie's stance on wanting a consistent life, something Ben was incapable of doing, and had a ten step plan to set him up with someone else, but that was a debate for another day. Something was wrong … "I'm gonna go use the bathroom, brb."
"Alright. When you get out, we need to come up with an overly complicated plan to get Dipper and Gwen to stay."
She nodded to him as she slammed the door. "Something's not right..it's like everything's trying to get me to get stuck in the past." Mabel looked at herself in the mirror…her twelve year old self, braces and all.
"AH!" She screamed, jumping back. "I just got these things removed! I'm stuck in a nightmare realm!" Literally. Problem was that the one before went on for infinity until she managed to WANT to leave … she doubted that was the case here. But how to trick it … of course! Roll along with whatever nightmare it has going against you!
Smiling, she walked out of the restroom, gracefully moving her way back into the dream as she took a seat near Ben, who had shifted to his ten years old body. Whoever made this nightmare really banked on her just going along with it without a second thought. "So you ready to get the plan rolling?"
"Yep." She smiled. "Oh, one thing first. I wanted to try out this thing I saw online, you cool with that?" Mabel asked the boy.
"Sure, what is it?" She planted a smooch on his face, instantly getting the room to freeze up.
"I TRUSTED YOU!" Dipper, predictably, ran at Ben with the force of ten thousand overprotective older brothers, because HE was the mature protector in this fantasy.
"Oh you are so asking for a diamond headed bruise across your face!" Ben slammed on the Omnitrix, and got four arms instead, though that still didn't stop him from punching Dipper across the face, and into the door, where a notable crack in the air was formed.
"See ya suckers!" She jumped forward … as a pink tendril wrapped around her leg. "... Crap, I forgot about Gwen."
"You think you can just run away that easily!?" Gwen glowed as she transformed into that cool if creepy alien form of hers.
"I do. I also want to let you in on a little secret." She said teasingly, knowing this was probably going to work, but at the cost of at least three broken ribs. "I kissed Kevin! Twice!" Once when they were kids, when she was attracted to that bad boy aura, the second time a few months ago when they realized he somehow came out of the null void.
After a single second of pure bafflement came across Gwen's face, it was replaced with raw rage as she launched the girl into the crack, sending Mabel free … into a universe that looked like it was behind a tv screen …somehow only about the third or fourth weirdest place she's ever been.
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Anne didn't know how, but she woke up a couple years ago … the day she had her thirteenth birthday … the day she opened up the music box. Never looking a gift in the mouth, this was her opportunity to fix everything! Stop Andreas before he gets started, fixing the team before things get too intense, and maybe … not die, hopefully.
Some might judge her for going through with it again, but Anne was utterly convinced this was what needed to happen. If she didn't come along, wartward would still be under the tyranny of the Toads, Grime would just remain a really tough jerk, the Amphibians would never achieve true peace with each other..
And Sprig…her best friend in the world, she wouldn't have met him. There was nothing in this universe or the next that she would ever trade for that. So as the other two girls stared at her in expectation to have fun with a crime they'd force her to commit through guilt, she wound up the music box. And waited … and waited …
"Hu." Sasha muttered. "Must be broken. You know, cause it's so old." What?
"Huh?" Anne shook the box and twisted the little knob, hoping for something when she closed and reopened it…only for nothing to happen.
"Sorry Anne." Marcy apologized. "It looked cool cause it matched a design I got for a D&D session, but I guess it just won't play." No, she got it because she hoped it would take them to another world!
This wasn't right. This wasn't right. This wasn't right. "It was … supposed to take us …"
"Take us?" Sasha asked with a raised eyebrow. "What, to new heights? We might be able to sell it …
"No, that's not what I meant!" Anne yelled before turning to Marcy. "You had me steal it because you thought it would take us to another world!"
"There's a legend about other world music boxes!?" Marcy asked with sparkly eyes. "Tell me everything!"
"Wow, didn't think you'd be dragged into that." Sasha rolled her eyes. "I thought fantasy was Marcy's thing."
"Well why can't it be our thing?" The girl in question asked. "You two never pay attention to my interests."
"Because if we did what you did all the time we'd be walking into school everyday in larping costumes or whatever nerd thing you're into." Sasha rolled her eyes
"Or maybe you'd just be mad because you wouldn't be in control of the situation for once." Marcy grumbled under her breath.
"Guys, guys, guys, don't fight right now.." Anne tried to interject.
"Not now, Anne, this is between me and Marcy." Sahara held her hand out.
"But.."
"End. Of. Discussion." Sasha spouted those disposed words that made her wince.
"Oh, Sasha bossing us around, must be a day that ends in Y." Marcy rolled her eyes
"Oh, says the girl who walked into a snake pit and didn't even notice. I much prefer living, thank you very much." Sasha growled.
"Hey, how about you remind me why I'm friends with you?"
"Guys..!" Anne tried to yell.
"I ask myself the same question everyday." Sasha ignored her. "I protected your sorry little butt back when we were kids, and you've been following me around like a lost dog ever since."
"I hung around you because Anne did! I was friends with her before you crashed into our lives, and you just..took over everything!"
"Well, did you ever think that she doesn't want you around anymore?" Sasha asked. "Because, you know, you have no life skills that don't involve fantasy games."
"I at least can get through my entire life without acting like a bitch to every living thing I come across!"
"Whoa, Marcy, calm down!" She turned to her. "We just need to.."
"You're taking her side!?" Marcy shouted with tears in her eyes. "You know what!? I'm glad I'm moving tomorrow! It means I'll never see either of your faces ever again!"
"Fine, I guess we don't need to see you off!" Sasha began pacing away.
"Guys, no please!" She had tears in her eyes as her best friends marched away … leaving her alone … no family, no friends … no Sprig. She wound up the music box once more, even if it played nothing. And again. And again. And again.
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KO was launched back as PKO was beaten. "POINT's too tough." He had spent so much time forming this rebellion against them, he couldn't let it all go to waste now "We need a new plan."
"I have a plan." He looked at TKO. "The power only fully comes out when I'm in control, give me the pilot seat."
"What?" KO hesitantly looked at..well, himself. "But you're out of control.."
"Does it look like we need controlled power when Ponit's ready to zap away everyone else's at any second!" TKO shouted at him. "I can give us the edge, no more half-assing this! We can save everyone if you just stop holding us back!"
"But-" He was cut off by an explosion, seeing his friends running. "I … fine, you can take it, just no hurting anyone but Point."
"Done deal …" In an instant, KO was locked away, in a black void with nothing but a TV screen. In it he saw TKO being threatened.
"Stand down now." The soldier said menacingly. "Or I'll retaliate with-"
They were cut off … on the account of a hand going through her chest … his hand. "Feels good to let loose!"
"No, no, this isn't how I wanted it!" He knew TKO wasn't a saint by any means. His disempowerment dome could potentially turn everyone around him into dust…but this was just unforgivably brutal.
"Enemy sighted." More soldiers came in. "Take no chances, all lethal force permitted.
"Oh hey, look at that. Some more fodder." They ripped out a spine, using it as a spear to go through multiple guys. "POINTED Kabob anyone?"
"TKO! Quick, give him hugs!" No!
"Rad, Enid! Get out of there! Get away from him! Get away from me!"
"Sorry to say, that doesn't work anymore!" They shouted. "TOTAL CONTROL!" He was helpless to watch as he heard two uncomfortable and brutal snaps. "Whoops…eh, they got in the way. Probably for the best." He was that heartless!?
"Let me out, let me out!" KO shouted in rage, trying to punch out the empty void.
"Nope, it's my turn, and i'm gonna enjoy it!" They shouted, fighting more and more people, brutally harder and harder. Blood and limbs were sent flying everywhere
"STOP IT!" KO punched the screen … leaving him in darkness, with no way to see what was going on. "No, come back, I don't want this, I don't want this!"' That was his body being used in that massacre, that was him committing all those atrocities.
What kind of hero was he if he killed everyone? What kind of sick, deplorable person was he if something like that was always inside of him?
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Ben slammed his Omnitrix once more, still getting the same dull purple. The thing's been on the fritz all day, and who knows when the next villain attack was. "Come on, work you stupid watch." He complained, hitting it once more with no results.
He thought this thing was finally working right for once after it got its weird update and redesign. He got brand new aliens to boot. Sure he missed the old ones from time to time, but when the goal was to save the world, he didn't have the luxury of being picky.
"How about you don't hit the highly complicated alien device and kill us all, dweb." Gwen snarked from her table, on her lap top like always. Weird, they hadn't called each other dweeb in years.
The moment a small surge of annoyance filled him, the watch switched on, giving him … "Heatblast is back." He said with a smirk. Suddenly the watch was getting all retro. "AND HE'S SUPER ANNOYED!" Where did THAT come from?!
"Ben, you okay?" Gwen asked.
"Ben's not here at the moment." They said, aiming a hand at his cousin. "Just the pyronite pissed off and trapped inside." … No … Ghostfreak was supposed to be the only one. "Now that I'm out, I'm going to burn away everything this brat cares about!" No, No!
"No!" A primal rage shouted from the body he had little to no control over, managing to lift his arm upwards as Heatblast tried to fire on Gwen, forming it into a fist made of diamond as he slammed it into his own face. "I want out two, she's mine!"
Another red arm grew out of his body before he could process it, fighting his other arm. This current body was almost like … Kevin, back when he was younger and evil. He was fighting himself, he was killing himself, he was drowning in his own DNA. Ben tried to scream for help, but he felt deeper and deeper as more aliens joined in his form, only vaguely able to hear Gwen scream.
"Get out, get out, get out!" He barely was able to make his voice heard as he felt his entire body slammed into every corner of the room. He felt it himself getting pierced and cut at every corner of his body. Blood of all varieties leaked out of his body and poured onto the ground. Was he even he anymore? Ben hardly remembered.
"Oh you're you alright." A voice that sounded like it was filtered in static called out to him, before he was kicked in the face. "You're still the same selfish little brat that still can't do anything right with all the power in the universe."
"No …" He looked up, blood blurring his vision, but there was mistaking who this guy was.
"That's right, it's me." The impossible alien spoke. "The one you let die … the one you never saved." The alien came closer. "The part of you that was ripped away."
"Feedback.." Ben called out, weakly gazing at the conductorian as he felt a sock to the jaw. "I'm sorry, I didn't want it to go.."
"What? Too afraid to own up to your mistake?" Feedback punched him again. "Too arrogant to realize that it was your selfishness that killed me?"
"I would've done anything different to save.." He was electrocuted by Feedback's power.
"Well it's a little too late for that. I get to finally get back at you for everything you did. Every wrong you caused me … I'm going to haunt you way more than the rest of these chumps." They grinned savagely as sparks began to fly. "Come on … wanna try and fight? Isn't it hero time?"
"Feedback..I'm…sor.." He couldn't finish as he felt the alien's hands around his neck.
"Sorry won't bring me back." They zapped him, the words sending searing agony running through him far worse than the electricity. "Sorry can't save the people you failed!"
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Number One woke up with a yawn, rubbing his eyes as he trudged forward, making his way to the bathroom … and screaming. In his reflection, there was an adult. "Not again! Not again!" He hadn't had this nightmare in years, and he barely survived it the first time! "I just need to do what I did last time! Hulk out, right?" He tried to rage, letting anger flow through his body.
Adulthood didn't scare him as much as it used to, he even accepted being a teenager (it was ironic that the GKND taught him about keeping his 'inner child alive' despite his age), but he still had youth to live out. He wasn't ready to get a job, to be married with a kid, and he certainly was not prepared to never, EVER be president.
He ran downstairs, trying to make it to the front lawn. "Hey Nigey. How's your morning doin, sugar bear?" There in the kitchen stood an adult that looked like Lizzy, his girlfriend. Sure, they broke up, then she was revealed to be a GKND operative testing him the entire time, then she revealed that she was a plant based alien … which his pubescent mind was processing MANY things about that made him both hate and pitty teenagers even more. Where was he going with this again?
"Nigey, you alright?" Right, if this nightmare was anything like the last one, he was married to Lizzy again. "Did you have too much hot wings again last night?"
"No…there's just something I need to do regarding.." Please don't let this be another dystopian kid reality. "The kids next door."
"The kids next door?" The woman that looked like Lizzy asked. "You're going to have to answer me a question first."
"... Sure, anything … my Lizzy bean." Please let her buy that.
"What's a kid?"
"What?" That almost got him out of that stumper. "You know, a child, little people?"
"Oh right, I forgot there was a name for those things." Lizzy laughed hysterically. "Don't you remember? They're outlawed and placed into storage until they're old enough."
… Correction, this was Dystopian times TEN. "Alright then." Just bottle up all your inner panic until you're alone, find out your job, then use it to break those kids out of storage, and fix the system. "I'll be out for a walk for a minute."
"Don't forget to put on your labcoat!"
"My lab coat?" He asked. "Am I a pharmacist or something?"
"No, boy you're really forgetful today." Lizzy poked his head. "It's the law all citizens have to obey under the direct command of emperor Doofenshmirtz." … That one guy who never amounted to anything and complained about Phineas's pet for some reason? He almost forgot they existed … seemed like this would have been more of a grandfather situation than anything, but whatever, they'd at least be easy to beat.
"Right right, just woke up on the wrong side of the bed." He chuckled. "Have a great day dear."
"You too, Nigey-bear!" Well at least this version of adult Lizzy was much more amicable than the last time.
The moment he was out of the door, he pressed his hands to his mouth and began screaming until his throat began to hurt, and then screamed some more. The moment he couldn't vocalize it anymore, he let out five tears, before bottling himself up. He didn't have time for panic or fear. He was Number One of the Kids Next Door. He was the only one those children could rely on.
"Halt." A couple of people in lab coats held up what looked like laser blasters at him. "Your in direct violation of Emperor Doofenshmirtz's monthly allotted complaining and screaming. Pay the fine or risk severe punishment."
Nigel paused. "How much is the fine?" He asked hesitantly.
"One million doofen dollars."
… Not even trying to process that, he reached into his lab coat, pulling out a wallet with a fifty on the face of Doofenshmirtz. "... So the thing is-" He began running.
========================================================================
Phineas checked his calendar. "Lets see … we already did the annual derby match between grandmas, the Rocket trip to Pluto to prove the ice there is the best for snowball fights when crushed, and building a new house for bed bugs." Everyone needs their own bed. "Next up is customizing Ferb's bed to catapult into-" He paused, rolling his eyes. "Ferb, stop trying to see Vanessa, she moved on."
"Grief takes a while to process. Let me stew in misery for just a little bit longer." His brother finally started talking regularly and it was right when he hit the teen angst phase.
"Dude, she has a boyfriend. It's not the end of the world."
"Like you wouldn't be the same if Isabella suddenly had a boyfriend."
He paused. "Yeah that's fair." Phineas relented. "But now we have nothing planned for today." He lamented, before turning to the empty spot. "Hey, where's Perry?" A question Phineas asked mainly once a week instead of everyday now. Once that last day of the great summer hit, the monotreme had been going off less and less.
"Should we experiment with the ask and 'he shall appear' principle of Murphy's law?" Ferb asked.
"No, I kinda want to avoid that. I know it's not his fault but the last time we went to Milo's place, the entire city tried to eat us." He answered. "It's gonna be really hard to introduce him to the gang when Steven's still off and on with stress." That gave him an idea. "Oh, what if we made a spa that runs on the stress levels of the patrons. Each experience and treatment is different depending on the different levels of stress."
"We may need a high limit stress test, just to create something capable of withstanding that." Ferb said. "Maybe we should aim for someone more repressed? Mom got really concerned last year when we came back home in a spaceship."
"I don't see what the big deal was." Phineas shrugged. "We do that stuff all the ti-"
BOOM
Their room blew up, the two of them being launched into a wall. "What the.." There weren't that many people that would just attack their home like this. The KND villains for the most part never attacked houses directly. A bit strange, considering a concerning amount of them had a thing about cooking kids, but not unwelcome.
The smoke cleared as they gazed at the intruder … "Perry!?" It was Perry, but something was off. Mostly the metallic body covering them, complete with a claw arm and the laser sight on their head. "Perry, what happened to.."
"Look out!" Ferb pushed him out of the room as a missile was launched, making them tumble down the stairs in a scared stupor.
"Ferb, what the heck happened to Perry!?" Platypuses didn't do much, and Perry would never in a million years ever try to hurt anybody!
"Someone hacked our Platypus." The boy answered. "He's probably not in control of his actions with all that equipment. We need to-" Their pet/best friend jumped through the hole in the in the wall, running at them. "We need to run."
"Perry, it's us, remember!" Phineas shouted as his brother led him to the backyard. "Phineas and Ferb, your family!"
"Kikikiki." Doing their chittering, they began aiming an arm as it changed into a laser cannon, charging up and firing as they both ducked, the boy feeling the heat singe his hair.
"I don't think he's in a talkative mood!" Ferb yelled as they avoided the spiked tail swinging at their heads. "Our attention should be focused on getting the gear necessary to snap him out of this!"
"Right right." He nodded. "We just need the garage." The platyborg fired missiles, destroying said section of the house, along with the kitchen. "Oh come on!" Was there anything that would get his attention off of them!?
"Mom!!" Candance, visiting from her first year at law school, "Phineas and Ferb tuned their pet into a cyborg!" All these years and that busting thing never died off.
That however did get Perry's attention, as he aimed that missile launcher at Candace. Candance was never Perry's biggest fan, so some bitterness must've carried into this.
"Perry no." Phineas pleaded. "Don't do this please!" Please don't do something you'll regret.
"Kikikikiki." With a click, it fired into his sister, a large explosion drowning out her shriek combined with his own screams.
"Nooooooo!" Phineas fell to the ground as the smoke and ashes spread all over. "Why…why…why.."
"We gotta leave NOW!" Ferb pushed him on his feet. This was more than the worst day ever…this was a horrid, messed up, nightmare of a day.
========================================================================
Chat Noir wasn't good enough. He should have been, he needed to be. That was what Ladybug relied on him for, that was what she needed. Otherwise the pressure would be too much, otherwise she'd snap. Otherwise she'd be akumatized … like she was right now. He could only stare in horror as the only one who could fix akuma was enveloped in a purple mist.
The hero jumped back, watching as the woman he once loved was consumed in hatred, emerging with a black costume, covered in red stripes. "I am … Miss Fortune." She smirked. "Hand me your miraculous, Chaton."
"Ladybug, you have to snap out of it." Adrien held his hand up as he began making distance. "You know it's Lila in your head. I know that you hate her, don't let her boss you around now." The new hawk moth was slippery, but without her secret identity, she was getting closer to being caught everyday.
"But I'm in control now." She smiled. "I've always been in control … cause you just played along to whatever I say instead of doing your own thing." They created a dart gun, firing off a ricochet that was hard to dodge. Great, unlimited lucky charms, just what he needed. "You let me get akumatized, you could have cataclysmed that Akuma, couldn't you?"
He could've. Had he been a better hero, he could've prevented so many Akumas without his lady's assistance. "Yes, I made a mistake. I should've done more…I relied to much on you" he sighed as he flipped out of range of her hold.
"And now you need a punishment." She smiled. "How about this time, someone you actually care about is taken away." She produced a bola net, swinging at the cat hero as he got tangled up.
"Cataclysm!" He turned the net to dust. He didn't have the time limit anymore either, but he still required time to charge it up between each attack. "M'lady, of all the times to learn more about my private life, now's not the most appropriate!" He used his pole to shorten the distance to her.
"Oh, as if I need you to say anything to me, Adrien."
"How the he-I mean, the model? I dunno, he seems like an ugly son of a gun to me." He tried to deflect.
"Oh don't try to deny it. You were so emotional when we took down dear old daddy, how cold and vengeful your face was when you saw mommy's lifeless body. Like loser father like loser son I guess."
"Okay, that hurts." He grumbled. A bit invasive for his taste.
"So how about we pay Marinette a … what's the word?" She asked. "Beating?"
"You stay away from her!" He sidekicked her in the hip and launched her into a wall. "The real Ladybug would never threaten a civilian, especially someone as sweet and innocent as Marinette!"
"Well sadly, you're dealing with Miss Fortune." She cackled, raising her hand to the sky, creating a massive cloud. "So let's cause some carnage!" And down came the rain … rain in the form of black and red spikes the size of minivans. "Let all of Paris feel my stress!" This is why Lila was the bigger threat.
He let her go, jumping into the air to try and block the tidal wave of swords falling to the planet. He twirled his staff over his head, forming it into a shield as he had no choice but to watch the citizens of Paris suffer by his lady's hands. Some were being brutally cut, others sadly couldn't duck into cover in time. Without Ladybug to do her miraculous ladybug, there was nothing he can do to fix all of thi…
That's it! She was already summoning lucky charms. All he needed to do was get her to say Miraculous Ladybug and the damage would be fixed! Whether or not that would get rid of the Akuma was up for debate, but it would saved all the people here for the moment. Now the only thing was how to get her to say….
"AHHHHHH!" That scream, that sounded exactly like..
"MARINETTE!" He rushed forward, doing his best to swing forward, to stop-his two ladies being enveloped in a sickly crimson, one horrified, the other smiling maniacally.
"Another failure … Chaton." Ladybug…mis fortune…whoever the HELL she was, was holding the woman she loved hostage…he couldn't…he WOULDN'T stand for this again…never…again!
"CATACLYSM!" He rushed forward and grabbed Mis Fortune by the arm, pure anger and spite driving his entire vision.
"You….You…" Mis Fortune looked at him astonished. "You….idiot…" She turned into dust….Chat Noir just killed Ladybug….Paris's greatest hero….his partner….
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"
========================================================================
Dipper broke out of that dimensional trap, taking a deep breath as he looked around. There were other bubbles, along with Mabel, who was repeatedly poking at one. "Status report."
"Nightmare bubbles as we exist in broken tv land." She answered. "I got myself reliving Weirdmageddon problems again. You?"
"Bipper, Wendy, and a Leaf Blower." He shivered at that last one. Now he knew how the gnomes felt. "Whoever trapped us there was banking on us falling for some pretty old tricks." It gave him the most uneasiest feeling of deja vu he's ever had. "Have you had any luck getting anyone else out?"
"Well I tried popping everyone out, but these things are super durable." Mabel answered. "Right now I'm using a mix of flaming hairspray and overheating drill bits I found lying around."
"Why would flaming hairspray be lying around?" He asked.
"Actually it was carried by some very flamboyant dodo birds." She pointed out the weird objects in question. "Everything around here seems to be a bit…outdated. I passed by like five vhs players next to six laser disks while disco music played in the background."
"Disco is not outdated!" Dipper shouted.
Mabel merely rolled her eyes. "Anyway, if this doesn't work, I'm gonna find that broken chainsaw I found and try to just wack this thing in."
"Mabel, you just got unbanned from the home depot, let's not give them reasons to re-ban you." He pointed out as he looked to more of the bubbles, each one having a particular symbol on them. "At least it's easy to figure out who is where." He pointed to one with a ninja mask right next to one that had a picture of a dragon. "If we were able to fight off the nightmare, they must be able to do it too. We just have to find the one who's the closest to breaking out and work from there."
"The problem isn't helping them, it's that these things are locked up tight." Mabel explained. "I already broke a pinecone powered bus trying to crash into yours."
The Pines twin turned to see said smoking wreckage. "Hmm …" He would just ignore how close his sister was to running him over and focus on the task at hand. "So you're focusing on Steven?"
"If he's out, we can pretty much just punch our way through the tough parts." She explained, pointing to the one with a gem symbol on it. "Plus, I'm sure he has some nice soft starter nightmares." From arguably the most stressed out guy in the group? Dipper highly doubted.
"You sure you're not just saying that because of your crush on him?"
"Pfft, Dipper, I'm not twelve anymore. I have a life outside of boys." He raised an eyebrow. "I'll admit it when you admit you didn't think Kelly fighting during the gem war was hot."
"If I said that, he'd squish me like a grape."
"And Kelly would chop my head off, so I guess we're both staying quiet." While he hated that Mabel had a point, she began whacking against his sphere.
"Well maybe we could meet halfway." He wondered. "It would depend on how much energy we're hitting the outside with compared to how much he's rejecting the inside."
BOOM
BOOM
CRACK
What sounded like thunder boomed from the bubble as tiny little cracks of white began forming all around it. "I think he's rejecting it pretty hard." Mabel replied thoughtfully. "I'm gonna turn the hairspray up to eleven." She lifted up the highly volatile can of chemicals and lit a lighter in front of it. "Sorry about this Steven, but I'm turning up the heat in this frying pan!"
The fires grew blazing, larger and larger as they enveloped it, the cracks growing further and further, until-
SHATTER
It broke, Mabel instantly cutting off the flame. "You're out." He walked up to the boy. "Listen, there's no time to-"
"I'M STEVEN!!!" A massive wave of Pink sent Dipper flying back. "I'M STEVEN! I'M STEVEN! I'M STEVEN!!" The energy blasted and radiated off him, cracking the ground and possibly the air, either that or he was concussed.
"Steven!" Mabel shouted, having dug her hands into the ground. "You're free now, dude! Our friends are still trapped in those bubbles!" She pointed to one that had a symbol of a corn on fire. "Your sister is trapped in one of those bubbles! She needs YOUR help!"
Steven turned his attention to the bubble in question, and narrowed his eyes. "I'M STEVEN QUARTZ DEMAYO UNIVERSE BUTTERLY!!!!!!!!" He shouted into the air as he sped right into the bubble, and threw a single fist, creating an incredible show wave of force that could've been felt for miles.
Upon contact, each one of the bubbles began to ripple and shake wobbly, just like a normal bubble would do when it was about to pop. And for a tense second, everything was quiet.
BOOM
Until every bubble exploded, people falling out left and right. "He's dead and it's my fault." Star muttered. "I hallucinated my brother …"
"I'm nothing but bones in human skin." Marco looked down at his hand. "Dead any minute without comprehension of a friend."
"I sucked away the life of everyone I meet." Kelly hid herself in her own hair. "No one's safe with me."
"I'm so stupid! I can't add math, I can't spell grammar, I'm too stupid to be a hero!" The ninja banged his head against the ground.
"Of course I belong in Hell, I'm terrible no matter how good I try to be." Luz hugged herself as she laid on the ground.
"I outlived all my friends…I'm just going to be wandering all alone until the universe faces the inevitable heat death." Wander looked driftless at the static looking sky.
"I mess up over and over and over. Every good action causes ten bad reactions." Ladybug muttered. "Trying is worthless."
"I'm not a real person, I'm just a poor copy of someone else." Webby buried her head into the dirt.
"I have to get this stupid watch off of me!" Ben tried to rip the omnitrix of his wrist. "I need to get rid of it before it kills everyone I love!"
"I'm a horrible person." Rex spoke quietly. "I just don't remember I was one …"
"Honestly, it could be worse." Molly spoke with a shrug, before being punched by Dewey. "Ow!"
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT CAN BE WORSE, BECAUSE IT'LL ALWAYS BE WORSE!" The blue duck boy shook the ghost. "I HAD TO SPEND THE HOUR IN THE BUBBLE EXPERIENCE TEN YEARS OF BEING TRAPPED ON THE MOON! DON'T TELL ME IT CAN'T GET WORSE THAN THAT, BECAUSE IT WILL GET WORSE THAN THAT!"
"We lost uncle Donald." The duck family looked at Louie. "Scrounge, Beakley, everyone … it was just us in an orphanage …"
The pines twins stared at the hot mess of … well, everyone in front of them. "Does this make us more or less stable than everyone else?" Mabel asked.
"Either way, I don't think anyone's sanity is going to be intact by the time we're done with this." Dipper sighed as he looked up at the staticy sky. Today felt like an Armageddon level disaster just waiting to happen.