You are now Brandon once again. It seems to me like Brandon has been a fuckload of chapters lately. Probably because the perspective of Jeremy in this situation would be boring and stupid, and this story already has those two factors in spades. Unless you somehow find this interesting. In which case you might need a mental exam. This story sucks ass. Don't worry though things will get interesting around chapter 437. That's right this story is gonna have a chapter 437 even if I just have to randomly name some chapter in the early 30s "Chapter 437"! Anyway back to the story.

You're Brandon and you're walking down the stairs from the second floor of your house with Cherry following behind. Once the two of you reach the bottom of the steps you hear small feet with claws scratching across the floors. It's your two little dogs, time to hear them bark loudly at the stranger then piss off your parents. To your surprise they don't bark at Cherry, instead they run up to her and start begging for attention. They usually bark angrily at strangers. You dismiss it as the fact that they haven't come into contact with a stranger that's a literal god.

"Cute dogs!" Cherry says as she picks the gray one up, "What breed are they?"

"The black one's a poodle and they grey one's a maltipoo."

"A maltipoo?"

"A Maltese mixed with a poodle. Can you stop playing with the dogs now, we need to save Alex."

"But cute dogs!"

"But friend who currently is trying to murder my team!"

"Fine, but I want a clone of one of the dogs as payment."

"You want me to clone one of my dogs and give it to you?"

"Yes! I think they would make a perfect team mascot!"

"Fine! After you cure Alex!"

You two head up to your second gate. You're gonna have to go past all of your co-players in order to get to Alex's planet.

After lots of gate hopping and running past several confused teammates you get to Alex's planet.

"Where is he?" Cherry asks.

"He's got legs. Stands to reason he's gonna move around the maze."

"Can we track him somehow?"

"I can sense pain and death this way." You say pointing toward a path through the maze.

"Lovely."

You walk until you reach a torn apart village. Several chameleons emerge from their hiding spots when they see you.

"It's the Heir!" Yells one.

"The Heir can help us!" Yells another.

"What happened?" You ask.

"The Mage went crazy!" Yells one lizard.

"You have to stop him!" Yells another.

"We're working on it." You address the crowd, "Where did he go?"

They all point to another path. You head down it until you hear something nearby. It sounds like murmurs.

You immediately get a vision. An attack! Alex is here! You quickly move to the side as a blade of light lands next to you.

"Here's the patient!" You yell at Cherry.

"I'm on it." She yells back while raising her hands toward Alex.

Before she can hit him with a blast of what the doctor ordered Alex dodges and throws up a Monado Shield.

"It's no use!" She yells, "I need you to hold him still for a few seconds!"

"You want me to try and keep the guy with a sword still using a rifle?"

"Just shut up and do it!"

You wait for a vision and get a clear view of what he's gonna do next. He lunges forward and you move around the stab and smack him in the skull with the butt of your rifle.

"There! He's down."

Cherry raises her hands again and this time hits Alex dead on with her "Healing attack" if that's even a thing. Alex starts to spasm uncontrollably and finally falls still.

"Did you heal him or kill him?" You ask angrily.

"Umm...both."

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"There was only way to remove the curse from him was to kill him so I used healing powers and did what was necessary to heal him."

"If we just had to kill him I could have done that alone."

"But you would have killed him permanently."

"How so?"

"He attacked that village. It would have been a just death."

"So now you've killed him for good?"

"No. He's just legally dead. I had his heart stopped then restarted."

"So he's okay?"

"Yeah. He should be fine."

As if on que Alex sits up and rubs his head. "What happened?"

"You went grimdark." You reply bluntly.

"Like Rose?"

"Yeah."

"Who's she?"

"I'm Cherry." She answers.

"Brandon I thought we killed all the humans that weren't in our homes at the time we started the game. Where'd she come from?"

"I'm from another session. I'm also the person who healed you."

"Thanks."

"Oh, and cool sword."

"Yeah. Brandon helped me make it."

"You used it well it combat."

"Wait it worked!?"

"Yeah," you answer, "It started working after you went grimdark."

To test it Alex picks the Monado up off the stone ground and lifts it. The blade emerges at full glow and the symbol in the middle of the weapon is clearly visible.

"I guess we got what we wanted out of this!"

"Yeah, I guess we did."

"What were you trying to do?" Cherry asks.

"The Monado didn't work, we were trying to get it powered up."

"Well I guess you got your wish. Now where's my father?"

"Can't tell you. Besides, we agreed your payment was to be one cloned dog and a pass for your team to enter our universe."

"Well I'm already here, so I want to know where he is!"

"See Cherry making deals is a lot like being in a fight. You're inderestimating your opponent."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. I'm in the position to be making demands. Not you. I can send you out of here by simply destroying the bracelet or shooting you. You'd dissapear and be completely unharmed however you'd lose a gift from a loved one and a cloned dog."

"Fine! I'll take the dog...but I want the catalyst to stay here! I want the free right to return and search for my father here!"

"You'll need to make a better deal then that."

"If you keep the catalyst, I'll help out by healing your team in important battles."

"Sorry, but I don't like those terms." You throw down the bracelet and smash it. Cherry's dream ghost dissipates into the air.

END OF CHAPTER 26