Hell doesn’t have five letters in it
Also, I’m like 74 % sure that I’m not gonna show up since I’m a filthy degenerate or something
That, and the business with your discord server
2 Likes
(This drawing of Diero doesn’t actually have anything to do with the post, it’s just one I’ve never shared here and I like the vibe it gives off)
Please repost! There’s an impostor Everywhere you go! Please repost! Looking at most AmOgOuS SuSsOs!
Thanks to you now I can’t look at these lyrics without immediately thinking of squidward and hearing him sing them. Now this song has become ten times better
One of the benefits of already being dead inside. You simply can’t get more deader inside no matter what 
Chapter 15: round two electric boogaloo
Now that I’ve been blessed with the knowledge of invisible text, I shall expand my theorisin beyond the limit of visibility by visibilising the invisible text, making it uninvisible
The person speaking has to be Atobe (no pun intended, I don’t need your lifetime comedy award >:c), but I’m clearly late with this realisation, Atobe himself beat me to it.
But there’s still some information left for me to discern:
-
The “Hero” Atobe is referring to must be Yuo, because he indeed is acquainted with him and Yuo indeed used to be the Hero of the Dream World.
-
If the “why” in Renner’s line is a typo, bad things are going to happen.
-
I’m not entirely sure what Atobe needed “room to operate” for. Did he just help Renner force himself back into existence and get out of Monopoly’s fist? He certainly didn’t help him in the following part of the fight.
I actually don’t think this is the case. The person from the invisible text and the book from the end of the chapter had vastly different characterisations. The former was classy and collected, didn’t know Renner and talked to him like an equal, while the latter was energetic, knew who Renner was and treated him as if Renner was his boss. So, these must be two separate characters and you’re the first one
Ah-ha, no invisible text can hide from me now
You’d better not pull a timeskip on me in the next chapter 
Chapter 16
Well, I guess now we officially know how N01 is related to Cordax in these books. That one chapter from BoR makes some sense all of a sudden
Ghid’s son Winger is a furry confirmed? Makes sense why Ghid would want to go buy some milk and cancer sticks instead of being a father figure for him.
Now that is interesting… I can only come up with two more or less sensible explanations for this: either Winger is mechanical or Winger’s body is a wooden mannequin like Tott’s. The first option seems less likely because Winger seems to have human-level strength and durability, unlike the robots and cyborgs we’ve seen in the story, while the second option seems more plausible because his father has the technology to insert a person’s consciousness into a wooden doll.
Speaking of wooden dolls,
What a gamer. Wild sure likes to do a little trolling.
I don’t think that burst knuckles is an injury that would generate a puddle on the ground. Or is the blood coming from the wounds she had gotten after falling from Renner’s ship that opened during the Zippy fight?
By the way, that reminds me of something. You said that things brought from the Dream World should abide by the laws of physics of the real world, like Renner’s armour not being able to generate mass out of nowhere. So, how come there be an entire levitating pirate ship?
Also also, I just remembered another thing. You said that I should keep my eyes peeled for Cobalt and Jethryn’s return, but recently I’ve been reminded that presumably there was another person on the ship whom we haven’t seen since the crash. Krelikan. Tott inserted the chip with Krelikan’s consciousness into a sphere in the Volume Tower and he hasn’t been mentioned a single time since.
Seems like even you have forgotten about this plot thread smh smh
That seems extremely convenient. Apparently the tower getting obliterated by the Sun and the following fires and explosions couldn’t damage the Tott body to the point where Ghid can no longer use it. A phrase involving pianos and bushes comes to mind for some reason.
It’s nice to see such a long awaited family reunion though.
It’s exciting to see a completely different, vulnerable side of the Ghid character, instead of the usual snarky one.
I’m even kind of excited to see how this situation plays out when we return to this perspective.
No no no stop he’ll just do a triple father son reunion then
NOTaHFfan with DrPepper and Ghid with Root Beer when spripe
Well, if me breaking into Ghid’s house at 3am every night to read drafts of new chapters counts as theorising, this does as well. I think Cordax deserves the title of theoriser
8 Likes
–
Chapter 17
–
It took me a moment to get re-accustomed to splitting my focus in so many directions, and by the time I returned attention to my Dreamer form, I had a few eloquently-presented questions which I felt were both reasonable and pertinent.
I had noticed, as was quite different from before I had my focus re-prioritized, that the vehicle which Eilrach possessed had abandoned a passenger - namely, Diero, who had vanished into thin air. The car’s elevation was also something worth noting, as I could hear the cracking of loose roof tiles under the tires as it tore along.
“Catch him!” The car- sorry, Eilrach, bellowed. A dark object with small glowing lights was barreling towards the front of the vehicle, and at the current speed was slated to go right over. My connection to my Dreamers has always been a bit more nuanced than anyone else’s, and my arms snapped forwards at twice their original length to catch the speeding object and draw it in close.
“Thanks for the saAAAAAAAAAAAH” Renner eloquently spoke, reminding me how happy I was that I didn’t have ears. “GHID?! Diero, DREAM: WHIRLgblkgfmmbjgak!”
I know you must be wondering where this new Dream came from, but do not fret; it was simply a collaborative effort between me and Renner, with him doing the trying to scream and me smashing all my fingers against his mouth to shut him up.
“Where’s cerebruh moment, anyhow?” I inquired of the mad motorist, who was driving to progressively higher and higher rooftops, but was clearly running out of options forward.
“You don’t remember?” Eilrach replied, gunning it as he approached the final rooftop. “He said that if we could somehow manage to hit that thing in the trachea, we could cut off its air flow for good.”
“Is he as brainless as he is scalpless?” I frowned, even as my hands grew larger to accommodate for Renner’s armor getting new edges and points. “That thing’s made of Dreamers; it doesn’t have a trachea.”
Of course, my further comment was prevented by the vehicle leaving the edge of the last rooftop, plummeting downwards at a slow curve… And then rocketing high into the air with unprecedented force. Beneath it, holding the frame of the car, was the deadsperado himself, and he quickly clambered back into the driver’s seat.
“DREAM WHIRLING IRON!!” Renner bellowed, having finally built up his armor enough to sneak his exposed neck out the side and command his bodyguard. Diero’s eyes flamed, and then glared flatly at his superior.
“With. What.”
The group was silent for a moment. “I hate to kill the mood, but how are we flying?”
“At first I hated everyone in this group of yours.” Eilrach revved. “But I’ve talked, and thought, and dreamt empty dreams in those bullet casings.” The giant in the distance turned to face the vehicle, now identifiable as the Dreamer-formed monstrosity I had assumed it was. “And those dreams and thoughts point with unbridled resolution to one goal, unchangeable by opinion or times.”
Diero gawked at the two shiny new revolvers Renner handed him, which whimpered as they transferred owners. “If you’re going to wield power, why only go part way?”
The car zeroed in on the neck of its opponent, the giant roaring in reply to the two golden lights shining down on it. “If you’re going to fight, why only fight for yourself?”
Diero climbed onto the hood, finally fulfilling the dream of whirling iron as le lay down, spinning his two revolvers at furious speed. “If you’re going to live, why live for nothing?”
“Trachea time, car. Go, car…” Diero grinned as the car approached its target, his revolvers easily carving through the brittle Dreamers before the car smashed through the now-severed portions with the greatest of ease. The giant roared and fumed, while Diero let out a guttural cackle as the car turned around.
And then met the balled-up fist of the colossus, which customized it from a functional car form to a sad curve of sheet metal.
“TRACHEA CAR NOOO!!” Diero wailed, falling through the air in mock anguish at the horrendous loss. I must admit, trachea car was the best person I had ever met. I’ll miss him for certain.
“Wish we could use your actual flight again!” Renner grunted, having caught both myself and Diero and was now trying to hold us in each hand. What a silly little goober he could be sometimes.
“If you’re going to die…” Eilrach’s voice rumbled from Diero’s ribcage, as the deadsperado floated up into the air ominously. I saw his right eye begin glowing green as he stared down at Renner, who eventually nodded his consent for the situation. “…Why not die for something?”
The giant swung another fist, but this one fell into two halves onto the ground below, Diero’s flaming firearm spinning on his outstretched finger. Both guns began whirling. It was almost enough to distract Renner from me climbing up onto his shoulders.
The furious fiend opened its horrendous maw and concealed the deadsperado inside, but as my grin grew even wider, so did the giant’s, until it wrapped all the way around and the head fell completely off. Diero was absent for only a moment after, having carved down through the neck and diced up the torso.
The remaining Dreamers sprawled down into a pile below him, all hissing and clattering in fury. As if the timing had been planned, Zippy’s hologram glowed on the horizon once more, and his pre-recorded voice filled the air around me.
“Hi! This is a pre-recorded message in the event I’ve been cut off from the computer network. Whoopsie!” He chortled. “My backup systems will make sure all Dreamers still have an active connection, so please surrender yourself to the proper authorities and be ready for execution immediately. Have a good day!” The lights disappeared as quick as they had arrived.
“Where’s his backups?” Renner looked up at me with a grunt, as his armor adjusted to support his spine. “You want to do something useful,you help us take him offline right now.”
“Take me back to the room Monopoly broke into.” I clenched my teeth. “I’ve got some house cleaning to do.”
–
4 Likes
My friend I'll say it clear I'll state my case of which I'm certain
good
I cannot confirm or deny allegations of atobe’s family possibly being the encyclopaedia britannica
WHAT SOMETHING MAKES SENSE NO
Time to bleach ttv’s servers
well there’s your problem
try not making sense and then we’ll talk
The blood is from yes
uhh I mean I cannot confirm or deny allegations of tomato juice
Well matey, if ye look at the periodic table, ye will notice that there be many elements. Now if ye can do anything, ye make it so that there be more of a specific element inside yer pirate ship’s construction, and such that it make it be lighter than air, yarrr.
It also be why a single car completely obliterates the entire vessel, because it be more fragile than me laptops, matey.
Who’s been around to see it since then?
Fires? Explosions?
Tott fell down a dark hole into nothingness.
like I said, I won’t repeat what I said because it would gives my plans away but you can go find it yerself yer a big boy you can read
I’ll be the judge of that
4 Likes
Yes.
I am very happy that this happened
oh nooo not the trachea car!
All in all this was a cool chapter. Diero finally gets revolvers, Eilrach is redeemed, and the Dreamer-conglomerate is defeated.
Coulda made it out of hydrogen
That would’ve been fun
3 Likes
Tonight on Top Gear
I return from the backrooms
James says a funny
And Hammond karate chops a man’s trachea into oblivion
I’ve lived a life that’s full I’ve traveled each and every highway
Winger is bad to the bone, so he can’t bleed
Winger was bitten by one of Monopoly’s bats and now he is Morbius, so he can’t bleed
Winger is a children’s cartoon character, so he cannot bleed no matter what horrific damage is done to him, or the studio will start getting constant complaints from angry parents
Winger is not real and everyone is just collectively hallucinating him, so he can’t bleed
Winger, the book, Ghid and the entire message boards are a product of my imagination and aren’t real, so he can’t bleed
Haven’t heard this one from you in a little while
I don’t know man, I usually look just for the ones at the bottom, mainly the most heavy and/or radioactive ones, to put inside a body pillow, which will be yeeted at you in no time
You just made all this up to deflect my unparalleled criticism
Bold of you to assume that I can read 
Chapter 17
I have found the funny. Truly, it was worth it
You know how I’m gonna react to this, don’t you?
This is a bit confusing. Did Renner land on the ground after catching Ghid and Diero and then Diero started floating, or did Diero start floating while being held by Renner and all three of them are currently in the air?
Also, I like to imagine that Ghid climbed on Renner’s shoulders just to mess with him. He can clearly walk by himself and his dreamer form should definitely be faster and have better stamina than Renner, so there’s no reason for the airhead to carry him around.
Okay, so, overall I give this chapter a rating of- * freaking falls asleep *
7 Likes
And more, much more than this I did it my way
probably the last one
I cannot confirm or deny allegations that your hearing is slipping
well you’re a weeb, makes sense you’d search for the lowest possible option
becoming anorexic and saying immature vulgar jokes every 20 seconds (he is very popular)?
The second one. Renner’s using his flying ability to do basically nothing in the air, and was holding both Ghid and Diero. The latter got a lift and the former got a piggyback ride, and Renner got an abbreviated disk, so everyone’s happy. 
whaaaat no I would never do that 
3 Likes
–
Chapter 18
–
More than a minute had passed before I looked back into the scene I had previously been so involved with, as by the time I had regained my focus I found myself being dragged by the foot by that Dreamer of Winger’s, the Maestro de Gofres, back down the pipe which I gleamed from conversation tidbits had been the way this cluster of ineptitude had initially come.
My vision waned briefly, blurring the next few moments into an uncertain mist, which eventually parted to reveal I was lying on my back looking up at a very tall hole in the ceiling, which Gofers was falling through. He hit the ground next to me rather hard, although he got up as if the impact had been nothing. “Ready?” he hollered, stooping to pick me up by the waistlike a respectful gentleman who didn’t go around grabbing people by the collar and flinging them around like a grocery bag.
“OH-KAY!” A voice yelled in reply.
His eyes glowed as he crouched, jumped, and began running up the side of the hole, very similarly to how Diero had once done a long… No, like almost a couple days ago or something. It felt like it had been almost a couple years since then, but I had very little time to dwell on it as the moment we began slowing down he sharply rounded the top of the hole, and I found myself facing a brand new floor.
A couple of hands grabbed at Gofers for a moment, making sure he didn’t tip back into the hole he had just ascended. Winger’s remaining hand was one of those, and he seemed to partially notice my glancing at the flat stump of his former arm, as he tried and failed to obstruct it by moving his shoulder.
“Hey, c’mon.” AI responded to the scene, motioning to the party to walk back towards Racie, who was groaning in pain. “I think these are her last moments in this forsaken world.”
“I wish.” groaned Racie, lying on the sad-looking sofa. “What are you planning to do?”
“Here.” Winger replied, taking an object out of his pocket and crushing it next to Racie’s face. Her expression went blank as her head dropped, the blue mist from the object slowly dissipating as Winger dumped the shards of the Tear on the floor. “Somebody get me something to write on.”
Gofers promptly dropped me and began searching for paper. I could tell because he came immediately back to my crumpled form and apologized for dropping me, saying he needed to find some paper. As the Wild cloud reminded him that there wasn’t any loose paper, and began coldly scolding Winger for beginning to suggest using the furniture as his canvas, I shambled up and over to where Racie lay.
“Keep those two preoccupied for a moment.” I murmured towards Winger, ignoring as the already offended Wild grew even more so at my dismissal of his protests. Examining the wound through the hole in the fabric, my mind was immediately distracted by a feeling of emptiness which seemed to emanate from Racie’s eyes. A suspicious notion crossed my mind briefly, and after very brief consideration for… I would say factors and leave it at that, but it was much more me trying to think up excuses. Regardless, my curiosity got the best of me, and I left the Tott body in order to take a look inside.
The trippiest feeling I have ever felt washed over me briefly, as rather than viewing things from the perspective of Racie’s uninspiring gaze, I found myself staring down a blood-waterfall which seemed to ascend into the sky on all sides, the darkness above making things difficult to perceive beyond a certain point. I had a feeling that trying to force more to reveal itself would not work.
There was an old cathedral in the middle, and reared up at my full Ghid height I could barely make out Racie nestled in the center of the room, but alas, the door was barred. Numerous holes lined the bottom of the structure, and through one of these as Tott I squirmed, wiping my feet on the already blood-red carpet before approaching. Her form tightened further into a ball as I drew near, prompting me to stop and slide my hands into my pockets.
“This is a Tear, isn’t it?” Racie spat, her words thoroughly venomous. “I had thought it was for a moment, but I had to consider the possibility I had just dropped unconscious. Then you showed up.” She looked away, evidently hoping I would disappear as quickly as I had appeared.
“You seem to know a great deal about how the world works.” I coldly mused, feeling around for a cigarette I didn’t have.
“I look things up.” She replied with equal frigidity.
“Like?” I continued, undeterred by her attempts to shut down the inquiry.
A bitter sigh was growled out before she continued. “I found old footage of the Dreamers first arriving. It was made by that Renner person, and was just Diero standing on a pile of Dreamer bodies, raging at everything he saw.” Her knuckles were turning white. “I knew about your suggestion chips from a forum post, and I confirmed it with Zippy’s private data storage. If he knew I was the same person who leaked that info, he would’ve spent all his effort killing me.”
“Is that what you would’ve wanted?” I asked.
“I want to be left alone.” She glared.
“You’ll be drawn back out in a few moments.” I folded my arms. “I’ll make sure of it. In the meantime consider this: I don’t have-”
“I don’t care.” Racie growled, turning away once more.
“Your knuckles are bleeding, you have some kind of rot developing in your side, you’ve suffered a concussion and internal bruising so obviously even scalp polish could see it.” I retorted rather angrily, the strange nickname choice drawing her attention. I’m running out of ideas, it seems. “Now maybe you have it decided that you’re just going to decay all alone in this decrepit wreck for the rest of your life just because of-”
“Decrepit.” She looked away again. “That sounds about right.”
My nonexistent blood was beginning to boil. Reaching out, I could feet the blood moving in the faux waterfall. Realizing that the world I viewed was subject to my whims, I ripped at the air, tearing the building apart and flinging the remains in every direction.
“LOOK AT YOU!!” I bellowed, and then, after a pause to get a grip on my emotions, “You’ve put yourself in this place, this honestly rather weird choice of locations because of your own ignorant self-pity, all because, what - you’re injured??”
“Because I’m-” She began, but greedy for comeuppance I cut her off.
“You’ve had plenty of opportunities to prevent some of this harm, or prevent other people from being harmed.” I glared knives into her eyes, stepping closer and closer. “Instead you wallow in your own sorrowfulness, waiting for the opportunity to be used, to have some kind of worth thrust upon you to make up for your own incapability, and- You let him get hurt.” I growled, my wooden mask inches from her face. “You let him lose an arm. You were there. You did nothing. You let him die tonight. He’ll never live again. He’ll never be the same and it’s because of YOU.”
If the Tott form had been crafted with teeth, I would prescribe myself a psychological examination, because that is terrifying. But more to the point, they would have been ground into powder by now, as my fury was making all the blood pouring into the scene bubble violently. It was only clear then to me what the point of my inquiry had been - not to build her up, but to blame her for what had happened. As quick as I had cut her down, however, she turned the knife on me.
“Where were YOU?” She shouted, the volume of the reply forcing me back. “I thought you were his great and wonderful father, but you were too busy being an egotist to care before, and you didn’t care remotely enough to check up on him afterwards!” She uncurled from the ball she had forced herself into, and wearily standing, she advanced on me, prompting me to bitterly step away from her as she approached more and more.
“I did what could be done - I held my wounded side as I crawled towards the only operable computer in the room, and I beat the skin off my knuckles forcing a panel open, so the giant fish monster wouldn’t kill anyone!” Racie hissed, the force of Kill knocking me on my back. The blood had stopped boiling, and instead froze in place, immobile under the verbal assault. “I did the only thing I could do, defending myself and the people I care about - I refused to be as useless as you are. Well?”
“Well?” Racie gestured, waiting for my reply. I simply glared back at her. “You talk about self pity, but look at you - tried to take over the world because your son doesn’t love you? Killed dozens of people because yo don’t have friends? Talk about pathetic.”
"It’s not-" I snarled, but Racie turned away with a dismissive wave, stalking off to stare at the blood waterfall. Already I could feel the process starting, in spite of my bitter resolution to hold it at bay. Shakily, I observed my palm, noticing the blood - which was rapidly turning black around me - was seeping not from the sky above, but from the grooves worn into the wood.
“I can’t-” I gasped, the substance turning into sticky sludge which seemed to pin me down, refusing to be torn by my frantic struggles. “H-Help…” I struggled out, but it was too late. Why deny it? Why hold back the truth? It wasn’t anyone else who had failed, it wasn’t someone else’s grand machinations conspired against the world which had crumbled so dramatically on top of me. It was my own. My disregard for my son, my apparent hatred for those around me, which has lead to this dark and desolate place.
Growing darker and more desolate, why not? Growing deeper and deeper…
Racie did not look back in time, her shocked expression I successfully gaslighted myself into believing was one of mockery, her frantic dash to reach me simply a trick I played on myself for my own cruel amusement. Her cries towards me as I plummeted into the darkening abyss must have been jest, surely. After all, it’s what I wanted for myself.
To be left alone.
–
5 Likes
Dang
Tottk spoiler
3 Likes
bet you weren’t expecting that tonal shift
NINTENDO STOLE IT FROM ME THEY’RE THE CRIMINALS I’M THE BIG BRIAN ME THE FREAKING GENIUS
3 Likes
well that came out of nowhere
1 Like
Not me when new chapter
We got a number one victory royale Yeah fortnite we bout to get down (get down)
whaaaat
Well I am reading BoT when I could be reading Tolstoy or something, so you’re probably right.
Wait wait wait is this some kind of me being into feet allegation you’re making?
You know I would never!
This is a weird way to say peak human physique
Chapitre dix-huit
I sure wasn’t. This got very heavy real fast.
I see you’ve been correcting typos… I can’t believe you are trying to take away the pleasure of finding them and mocking you for not being able to wrtie properly from me 
Me on a Saturday morning
Where’d he get that tear from? I thought he was too preoccupied getting his arm torn off by a small pitbull a moment ago to collect the legendary loot from the deceased policemen
If her inner world is that, this must be Racie face reveal
It would be pretty neat to find out more about how Renner and Diero first met and how this whole dynamic between them started…
I’m glad that redditors are finally getting the representation they deserve.
Well
My name is Skyler White yo
My husband is Walter White, yo
ah-ha
you can never get rid of all of them
I think you nailed the tone and the emotion of this whole scene with Tott and Racie quite well. It’s all surprisingly profound and well written. The emotions of characters are carried over well, you can really feel them. This also solidifies Tott/Ghid as the most well written character in these books. I remember you saying that you put the biggest effort into his characterisation and it shows. You can see him change as you read, until a completely different side of his character is revealed to you and-
Wait I’m not supposed to be saying those things…
Uhhhhhhhh dumb stupid chapter, 0/10, didn’t even read
Also, cordax wasn’t even mentioned once, -50/10 
Can’t wait to find out what whimsical shenanigans Renner and the gang will be up to in the next chapter
Amogus
6 Likes
Ten kills on the Boards right now Just wiped out Tottmato Town
The only thing peaking is his mic 
bro can’t even lift
boy this better have been intentional 
The power of Ghid not noticing the scene for a few moments leads to many pathways (characters doing things without being observed) some consider unnatural…
Tales Of BoT/D, most likely
TOO LATE
(so the gif loads it’s going outside of the summary)
fair
4 Likes
I’m really really behind so I think I’m just going to start from the beginning and reread ramblings
3 Likes
i’ve done that multiple times before
it’s pretty fun but you need quite a bit of time
3 Likes
–
Chapter 19
–
“Aɯαƙҽ.”
I opened my eyes.
To declare myself as being in one form or another would be discrepant with the truth. I was more properly defined as a void, with chagrin. My senses were flying wildly in every direction, and yet in spite of this bizarre shift in perspective, I could clearly feel the sensation of viewing the world with four eyes, as before.
The area around me seemed an infinite void of blue and black, pulsating with life, as if these two forces were intertwined on a galactic scale, each vying for dominance over whatever lay beyond. The blue glowed almost white, and the black seemed to seep the light away into nothingness, but both forces combined gave me the undeniable sensation that I was being looked at.
Rude.
A voice… I guess ‘spoke’ would also be the wrong word choice, but I find myself at a loss of words for how to describe it, so that’s what you get. “Aɾҽ ყσυ αɯαƙҽ?” It inquired, seeming both uncomfortably close and painfully distant at the same time.
“Not for long, with a voice as boring as yours.” I replied. No, not even being in a strange ethereal realm beyond the levels of comprehension I was capable of would prevent me from being pretentious.
“I know not what a voice is.” The voice replied. “Nσɾ ɯԋყ ყσυ ƈԋσσʂҽ ƚσ ιɳƚҽɾɳαʅʅყ ɾҽϝҽɾ ƚσ ɱҽ αʂ σɳҽ. Bυƚ I ƙɳσɯ ყσυ αɾҽ ϝɾσɱ Ⴆҽყσɳԃ, ɯιƚԋ ρσɯҽɾ ιɳ ყσυ, ҽʅʂҽ ყσυ ƈσυʅԃ ɳσƚ ƚɾαʋҽʅ ԋҽɾҽ.”
Oh, great. This thing can read minds. I wasn’t caught off guard too much; dealing with Renner’s little rebellion reminded me of what holding that kind of power was like. “And yet you show little concern for this.”
“Yσυɾ ιɳιƚιαʅ ρҽɾϝσɾɱαɳƈҽ Ⴆɾσυɠԋƚ ɱσʂƚ σϝ ɱყ ƈσɳƈҽɾɳ ƚσ ყσυɾ ɯҽʅʅႦҽιɳɠ.” The figure replied. “I ƙɳҽɯ ɳσƚ ιϝ ყσυ ɯҽɾҽ ʅσʂιɳɠ ყσυɾ ԋσʅԃ σɳ ҽxιʂƚҽɳƈҽ, ʂσ I ɾҽραιɾҽԃ ყσυɾ ҽɱσƚισɳʂ, ɯԋιƈԋ ɯҽɾҽ ϙυιƚҽ ʂԋαƚƚҽɾҽԃ.”
I could feel myself getting angry again. “And who are you to manipulate others like this?” I know, you must think it ironic that this occurred, and hypocritical that I take such offense to it. But remember that I’m being pretentious here.
“Wσυʅԃ ყσυ ɾαƚԋҽɾ I ɾҽƚυɾɳ ყσυ ƚσ ƚԋαƚ ʂƚαƚҽ σϝ Ⴆҽιɳɠ?”
“NO.” I rather coldly responded, and then, to make it seem less like I was trying to avoid it, “No more tampering. Tell me, instead, what this rather boring place is and how I can leave.”
“I ԋαʋҽ ϝҽʅƚ ყσυɾ Ⴆҽιɳɠ Ⴆҽϝσɾҽ.” The figure replied, seemingly ignoring my request. “Sσ ɱαɳყ σϝ ყσυ, ιɳ ʂσ ɱαɳყ ԃιϝϝҽɾҽɳƚ ɯαყʂ… Eαƈԋ ϝιɳԃιɳɠ α ριҽƈҽ. Eαƈԋ ƚɾყιɳɠ ƚσ ʂƚαყ ιɳ ƈԋαɾɠҽ. Sσ ɱαɳყ σϝ ƚԋҽɱ ɯιƚԋ ƚԋιʂ ҽɱρƚιɳҽʂʂ ƚԋαƚ-”
“Sensitive topic.” I growled as much as this state of existence would allow me to. “I would like to go now, if you would so oblige.”
“Wԋσ ιʂ Cσɾԃαx?”
“………Uh,” I replied to the rather abrupt and altogether peculiar inquiry. “He’s a… A friend. He’s got it where it counts, even if he does come up short in a few areas.” You have no idea how pleased I was with myself for that albeit incredibly forced pun, and equally disappointed that the ominous voice didn’t pick up on it.
“Hҽ ɯιʅʅ Ⴆɾιɳɠ υʂ ϝσɾƚԋ.” The voice replied, even as the blue lights started getting brighter and brighter. “A ʂαƈɾιϝιƈҽ, αʅσɳҽ. I ϝҽҽʅ ყσυɾ ԋαɳԃ ɱσʋιɳɠ ƚԋҽ ϝυƚυɾҽ. Yσυ αɾҽ ϝαɾ ɱσɾҽ ρσɯҽɾϝυʅ ƚԋαɳ ყσυ ɾҽαʅιȥҽ.”
The lights grew too bright to perceive.
“I had heard it before.” Cordax replied, sulking back slightly.
Winger gave a deep sigh in reply. “Look, let’s- oh. Oh.”
A large portion of the wall had moved aside, and revealed a hidden room with bookshelves lining the walls, a small stool, and an archaic metal mirror. Or, at least, the frame for it, as the inside was completely empty. The room this was originally concealed in looked the same as before, albeit without the additions of the decapitated body and the ruined robotic shell.
Racie was off to the side, her eyes red and moist, trying to avoid contact with Gofers, who was doing an abominably bad job at comforting her. Winger was crouching by the entrance to the hidden room, inspecting a keypad which his finger traveled over - the A, O, R, S, T, and V keys, respectively. Cordax was eyeing the mirror from a distance.
“It’d be of the greatest help if Ghid were here right now to clarify a couple things.” Winger grumbled, standing up and looking towards my wooden form. After a couple seconds of staring he jolted, noticing the color in my eyes. I wearily pushed myself up as he bolted across the room to assist me.
“I suppose you’ve missed me?” I tried to joke. That’s funny, nobody laughed. Perhaps they all lost their senses of humor while I was gone. Winger just hugged me wordlessly, which felt awkward with only one arm. Yes, I’m still guilty about that.
“Racie said she lost you.” He mumbled. “She was torn up so bad. But you’re-”
I was going to make a comment of how you couldn’t get rid of me that easily, but Cordax gave a yelp and backpedaled from the former massive window, interrupting yet another wonderful comedic moment. The metallic figure that had crawled through slowly stood, his blue skin reflecting the sadness in his eyes as he glanced about, taking in all that was there.
“My ship…” He began, but before he could continue he was shoved out of the way by the familiar sight of Jethryn, who was hobbling with a pretty severe limp. “Thanks to this tremendous idiot, we’ve had to wade through a literal dump just to get to the steering wheel of his ship all so he could cry about it.” Jethryn looked about for a moment. “Need a hand?”
“Boy-” I began, but Winger held me back and thus saved Jethryn’s nose a nice impromptu amputation. “So where’s ol’ Bossman? I thought he would’ve had quite the time dispatching all these Dreamers running about.”
I tried to shift back over to my Dreamer body, but I couldn’t access it. The answer for why because evident, as the form of Renner blasted in through the ceiling, holding onto Diero and Ghid. Uh, the Dreamer, that is; the glowing green eyes told me Eilrach had moved in during my absence.
“Monopoly made it in.” I commented as soon as he landed. “Also thank you for the skylight.”
“I kno- uh,” Renner glanced at me suspiciously, and then started at the sight of Winger’s arm. “…Right, he uh… He was there. We fought, and I imprisoned him inside. But how did he get there?”
“The mirror.” I pointed at the empty frame. “The more shards that were in it, the more power one would have peering into the other world. But the shards are gone.” I glanced at the frame. “I don’t know what this means.”
“Then we have to destroy it.” Renner growled. “If he got in through there, he could figure out how to get back out. We can’t allow that to occur now, or ever.”
“No!” AI spoke up, his holographic image suddenly reappearing. “That’s the weeping mirror! Right, El Cadáver Tonto?”
Gofers, who was still trying to think of something not cringe to say to Racie, looked towards the commotion. “Uh, yeah, what’s- What happened to the weeping mirror?!” He gripped both sides of his stony face and wailed. “Somebody broke it!”
“And somebody’s about to break it more.” Renner growled, snapping his fingers. “Diero, let’s get this over with.”
“No!” Gofers cried, darting in front of the open room. “If you destroy that thing, all of the Tears in the world will break! We have no idea what kind of chaos-”
“I said MOVE IT!” Renner barked. “I’ve been stayed from bringing Monopoly to justice for all this time, and I will not be hindered by some imitation Dreamer idiot just because he wants to fanboy about it!”
Winger moved to intercept the pair, but Renner angrily shoved him aside. Gofers responded by catching his master with one hand and socking Renner on the nose with the other. Diero snarled, half the people in the room jolted, and the tension rose sharply.
“I’m breaking that mirror.” Renner growled.
“You’d better not.” Gofers snapped back. Winger eyed the reflective recluse with a defiant air, clearly showing where he stood on the issue. Cordax tried to backpedal out of existence, impeded yet again by the wall. Jethryn and the Chronicler inched towards Renner.
“What will you do?” Eilrach asked me.
–
5 Likes
intriguing
so that’s where the tears come from
3 Likes
RUKAAAAAAAAAH
you never cease to amaze
3 Likes
I’ll take that as a compliment
3 Likes