So, judging by the amount of rough left, there's about 2-3 chapters left. Now that Underflow's mostly done, I can focus on finally finishing this story. It may still take a little while between chapters, since everything needs to be typed and then edited (and probably heavily edited at that). Still, thank you to everyone who has come this far, and still read this story after all these years. You know this thing's over a decade old? It's pretty mind-blowing.

66th Shot: Failure to See One's True Color

"Dal! Stop!" shouted Falcon, leaping out of the way of a vine strike. "We don't want to fight you!" Another vine whipped down onto his shoulder, and he cried out.

Razekar rushed in, obliterating the planet with a blast of lightning. "Falcon, you need to get serious here. We're going to need to take him down together."

"Yeah, I know, but-"

"Then stop taking hits I know you can dodge," Razekar growled, before electrocuting more vines trying to sneak up behind him. "I'm having enough trouble watching my own back."

Falcon stayed quiet. He knew Razekar was right, but what could he do? Dalios was guarded by a thick knot of plants, and Falcon couldn't just punch and kick through vines.

"Again, only certain kinds of power can truly defeat him," Neirnyx had said. "Punches and kicks will do nothing."

…Why did it have to be plants? Dalios knew Falcon hated plants, due to his old home…Then again, maybe that was exactly why Dalios was using them. If that was the case, then Falcon felt insulted.

Falcon noticed some burning branches on the remains of one of the electrocuted plants. Right. He could deal with plants. He snapped off one of the burning branches, gazing coldly at the flame. It wasn't blue fire, but it would do.

…Actually, what was that blue fire he had summoned in that fight with Jing? He hadn't been able to summon it since. Was it really just another product of fantasy in that world? Yet it seemed to work directly against fantasy…wait, didn't Neirnyx use blue fire too? Maybe she knew what it was.

Falcon couldn't ask her right now, though, so regular fire it was. He ran with the torch to the nearest tangle of black flora, setting them aflame as he dashed by. The loathsome things shriveled as the fire spread.

IIIIII

"So you're finally here," said Valium, as a ball of silver string rose from the muck. It soon unraveled to reveal Jing, Kir and Neirnyx, all glaring. Some of the released filaments wrapped around Jing's torso and spread out into artificial wings, which let him fly on his own.

"Is this the real one?" asked Jing. "The core, I mean."

"Yes," said Neirnyx replied, her eyes darting to the dazed Pharos, before locking onto the smirking old man. 'You will pay for what you've done to Pharos, and our dreams."

"It isn't any worse than what you did to me," said Valium. "Does it disappoint you that I have any semblance of a mind? That you couldn't obliterate your old master after all?"

Neirnyx hissed, shooting a blast of blue fire at Valium. The lean old master disintegrated into golden dust right before the flame hit him, before reforming a few feet away. "Now you'll have to do better than that." He snapped his fingers.

The dark liquid below spawned a mass of golden snakes, their squirming bodies adorned with gaudy emeralds. Their eyes were rubies and their fangs were diamonds. They rose their heads and hissed at the trespassers.

"He's as tacky as ever." said Neirnyx.

"Eesh, they're ugly!" exclaimed Kir, "How could something made of treasure be so ugly?"

"Because they're just tasteless lies, not true treasures," Jing replied. He immediately wondered what true treasure was.

"Guess you got a point," said Kir. "Well, they can hiss all they want. We ain't stupid enough to get close to 'em."

Sharp sapphire wings jutted out of the snakes' back, and they flew upward.

"…Me and my big mouth," grumbled Kir.

"Yep," said Jing, pointing the wireframe Kir down at the incoming swarm. "Give me a Kir Royale!"

The blast that came out was mostly transparent with a tinge of green, but it was enough to reduce many of the snakes to black smoke.

Neirnyx meanwhile roasted snakes with her blue fire. She also summoned some silver strings, which burrowed into some of the serpents and warped them into silver weasels. Said weasels turned on the remaining snakes.

"That should keep them busy.," said Neirnyx. "I need to get Pharos out of here and see if I can fix him. You distract Valium."

Jing nodded, shooting over to where the lean old man watched. He prepared another almost-Kir Royale.

"You don't think a simple toy like that will defeat me, do you?" asked Valium.

"Worth a shot," said Jing. "Give me a Kir Royale!"

The blast engulfed Valium, but he barely budged.

"That's not good," said Kir. "How're we supposed to beat him like this?"

"I don't think Neirnyx expects us to beat him," said Jing. "We just need to survive." Still Jing frowned.

"You look troubled," said Valium, still staying to place. "Troubled for your friends, or for yourself?"

Jing smirked. "Neither. If I could beat you once, I can do it again. I believe in my friends too, including Dalios, regardless of what you did to him."

Valium sneered. "I only told him the truth. Though I must admit, his reaction to it was quire fascinating."

"That's not enough to make someone like Dalios turn," said Jing.

"Ah, but you must understand," said Valium. "He's doing this because he thinks this is for the good of everyone."

IIIIII

"Maybe…Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…." panted Falcon, as flames roared around him. They had spread much faster than Falcon anticipated. It was so hot and smoky because this was an enclosed space, which made it hard to breathe. He had no idea where Razekar was, much less Dalios.

"Oh, you think?"

Falcon jumped, because it was the first time Dalios had spoken since the fight began. It sounded like he was somewhere to the left of Falcon.

Fingers snapped. The ceiling of the half-melted palace broken apart and formed into rain clouds, dumping down water. The conjured storm quickly put out the flames and cleared the smoke. Falcon spotted Razekar across the room, and the knot at the center of the room unfurling to reveal Dalios.

"There," said Dalios, snapping his fingers to stop the rain. The clouds spread back out into a goopy ceiling, though there were a few holes near the top left to air out the palace some more.

"Huh?" said Falcon, now dripping wet. He shook himself off like a dog. "Wait, if you could just put out the fire like that, then why didn't you do it earlier?"

"To illustrate a point," said Dalios. "And because I don't want you guys dead."

"Then what do you want us for?" asked Razekar.

"I want to capture you," said Dalios.

The remains of the plants around him morphed into fantasy. But this was the bright-colored fantasy, not the dark kind that was everywhere else.

Falcon and Razekar took fighting positions.

"Don't bother," said Dalios. "Falcon, you can't burn anything if everything's soaked. Razekar, you'll just shock yourself if you try to attack now."

Oh right, thought Falcon. So he wasn't just putting out the fire to be nice. He did it because it messes up both of our strategies. "Why are you doing this, Dal? Why are you on Valium's side?"

Dalios folded his arms. "I never said I was on Valium's side. Does this look like his malicious fantasy to you? I'm capturing you guys for my plans, not his."

"And what is your plan?" asked Razekar.

"To bring everything back to how it used to be," said Dalios. "How it's supposed to be."

IIIIII

"It's almost adorable, his little plan," said Valium with a chuckle. "He wants to tap into my power to manipulate memory and reset everyone. Only this time, he and I will be in charge, and Pharos and Neirnyx's little revolt will never happen. He wants to keep an eye on me, of course, since he doesn't trust me that much yet. Then he'll be in a position of power to watch over everyone and make sure they stay happy and oblivious to their dark sides. No one will remember that he's not real either."

"So he's afraid of the truth then." said Jing. He understood the sentiment, even though he didn't agree with it. He wondered if Neirnyx had rescued Pharos yet. He couldn't risk a glance right now. He needed to keep Valium occupied. "And so he wants your power to bury it."

"You should be proud of him," said Valium. "He's a loyal child who only wants to protect his friends. Now that he has my power, he still only thinks of everyone but himself."

Jing glared at Valium, before smirking. "Yeah, he's loyal. And he isn't stupid either."

IIIIII

"You want us to forget everything?" asked Falcon. "Why? I know knowing all this stuff isn't fun, but it's all important stuff to know!"

"Is it?" asked Dalios coldly. "Does knowing your old self really makes things better? Does it make you stronger? Because I don't see that happening with anyone here. You proud of being a pyromaniac, Falcon?"

Falcon stayed awkwardly quiet.

"And Razekar, are you happy knowing that you took lives for money and lost the woman you loved?" asked Dalios.

Razekar remained surprisingly calm at the barbed words. "It happened. That's all there is to it at this point."

"Must be nice that you can be so calm about it," said Dalios with a slight edge. "Meanwhile Jing pretty much went insane when he found out the truth about himself. Kir, Stir, and Cassis nearly broke trying to save him. We are nearly broke, trying to save each other from the truth."

"But we got through it!" shouted Falcon. "And it does make us stronger, even if it doesn't make us happy. Now that we really understand each other, we're closer than ever! Everyone's still the people I've always known, including you Dal. I just know them better now."

Dalios was slightly taken aback. "You can say that even knowing the truth about everyone? Even without your previously clear conscience?"

"You could wipe our memories, sure, but you can't turn back the clock," said Razekar. "That's what Jing's problem was. He tried to bury his past, but it still haunted him beyond its grave. Deep down, he knew he was lying to himself. it's the same for…well, most of us. Fantasy doesn't seem to work on us cyborgs much, so I always kinda remembered, but I didn't say anything for…well, kinda the same reason you're freaking out about right now, I suppose. I didn't want to break everyone else's illusions, because they seemed happy."

"Really?" asked Dalios. "So…I guess you knew about this long before the rest of us, then."

. "Like I said, I get it," continued Razekar. "You want us to be happy, Thing is, this isn't real happiness. Yeah, everyone needs a little delusion, but suppressing bad memories doesn't work in the long run. Again, look at Jing. When he finally remembered, he went nuts because he had no idea how to deal with it. He had no idea how to deal with it because he refused to even think about it. When he refused to think about it, he couldn't learn to accept it, so he couldn't move on. And let be honest here, life's all about moving on."

"Moving on…" Dalios muttered to himself. "Yeah, I guess everyone here's been stuck for awhile huh? No one changes unless Pharos or Neirnyx lets them change, or forces them to…" He paused, before smirking slightly. "Nay that I really planned on working with Valium for long anyway, but…Yeah, it's not really living, is it?"

IIIIII

Valium smirked. "Oh, I knew the boy would turn sooner or later. "That's why I programmed him to self-destruct."

"What?" exclaimed Jing.

IIIIII

Dalios doubled over,

"Dal!" Falcon shouted, as he and Razekar rushed over to the red-clad boy. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know…" Dalios gasped. "I…I just…" He collapsed.

"Dal!" Falcon yelled, but Razekar blocked him with his arm. "What is it, Raze?"

Razekar remained grimly silent.

Falcon took a closer look at Dalios. Red was slowly pooling around him…blood? No, that wasn't right. There were also traces of peach and white, like his skin and hair. "He's…melting?"

"Looks like it," said Razekar. "Which means he's just as dangerous as the rest of the fantasy here. Don't touch him Falcon."

"But what should we do then?" asked Falcon.

"…I honestly don't know," admitted Razekar. "We can't even touch him, much less move him. I think the only one who could do anything about this is Neirnyx, and she's off fighting Valium right now."

Dalios moaned, opening his green eyes. "Oh man, what happened? Feels like a Por Vora went off inside of me…"

"Uh, Dal…"

"What?" asked Dalios, forcing himself into a sitting position. Only then did he notice how all colors running off him. "Wh…What…?" He started to shake. "Can't be…:Why am I…"

"Dal…" Falcon began, his voice trembled despite himself. Yet another problem he couldn't just punch away.

"Hey, is there anything we can do to fix you?" asked Razekar. Even now he was so composed. Was that because he had dealt with so much back when he was a Torpedo?

"….Get outta here," said Dalios, not looking either of them in the eye. "It's…not just me. The whole palace…it's starting to destabilize. I mean really destabilize. Soon this whole place is going to be a huge soup of fantasy…and I don't want you guys getting caught in it, so go."

"But what about you?" asked Falcon.

Dalios smirked. "Don't worry about some dream like me. I'll probably come back soon enough. Go save some real people."

"What makes you so sure that you'll come back?" asked Razekar.

"Hey, I survived in the Uncanny Valley. Have a little faith in me," said Dalios. The walls of the palace marbled quickly and violently. "Better hurry. Warn the others and go."

"What about Jing?" asked Razekar.

"He's with Neirnyx, so he'll be fine," said Dalios. "She can bring me back later too, if I don't come back on my own."

'You've got a point," said Razekar, before glancing to the wreckage of one of the grocery stores splayed across the floor. "However…"

IIIIII

"Well, I say programmed, but really the boy's just paying for being greedy," Valium went on. "He thought he could take my power all for himself. However, as he is but a figment of fantasy, his ethereal body cannot handle that kind of power. He was weakened further by the stress of my dream worlds, along with the additional baggage of harboring my core afterward. So it's little wonder that he's breaking now."

Jing growled.

"His desperate overconfidence is his undoing. I doubt even Neirnyx can repair him now," said Valium. He summoned a swarm of platinum swords. "But don't you have other things to be worried about?"

IIIIII

Stir had just gotten her mother out and had gone back in when she noticed the walls shaking like jelly. What in the world?

"Now what's going on?" growled Cassis, running after Stir.

"We need to get out of here…" muttered Stir, knowing exactly how Cassis would respond.

"What? But there's still a lot of people in here!" shouted Cassis. "We don't even know where Falcon is, or Jing, or…do we know where anybody is right now?"

Stir had no idea, and that scared her more than she wanted to show. They were trying to rescue as many people as possible, but was it ever a good idea to split up like this in such a chaotic environment?

"Guys!"

Suddenly both girls spotted Razekar and Falcon running down the hall toward them. Razekar was pushing a grocery cart with Dalios in it. Said cart had all kinds of metallic shields and similarly-shaped treasures armoring the outside of the cart, making the whole thing clang noisily. The inside was padded with pillows and thick towels. If things weren't so dire, Stir would have laughed at the absurd contraption. It became less funny when Stir noticed splatters of red leaking from the cart.

"This place is gonna go down any minute, so we need to move!" Razekar shouted. "And no heroic protests! We won't do any good if we get mired in this stuff again!"

"Where's Jing?" Stir yelled back.

"With Neirnyx. She'll protect him," Dalios reassured. "Once they deal with Valium-"

"Valium? I thought we got rid of that guy!" Cassis said.

"Nope!" said Razekar, rushing by both girls.

Now Cassis noticed the red dripping from Dalios cart too, "Is that-"

"Not blood!" Falcon reassured, also shooting by. "C'mon guys!"

Everyone dashed toward the exit, only for a cascade of fantasy to spill down and seal it off. The holes in the liquefying walls sagged shut as well.

"Crap…" said Falcon. "Now what?"

"We'll need to find another way out," said Stir, before she got a good look at the boy in the cart. "What…?"

"Kinda a long story," said Razekar. "To cut it short, Dal's actually made out of fantasy too. Explains his powers, huh?"

"Fantasy?" asked Stir. "Doesn't that mean…"

"No, he's not fake!" shouted Falcon.

"….Will you just relax, Falcon?" Dalios muttered.

"….Doesn't that mean that he's in even more danger than us?" Stir eventually answered. "That means that we need to get him out of here as quickly as possible. And none of us wants to get sucked into those nightmares again, right?"

IIIIII

"Give me a Kir Royale!"

The great blast of energy incinerated great gnarls of thorns, flaming birds, and sharp spinning cubes. More came from the dark much below to replace them. Jing was covered with scratches and bruises from all the indirect attacks.

He's toying with us, thought Jing. Why not just use the fantasy itself to attack? That would be far easier and more effective than all this…

Jing happened to catch a glance of Neirnyx unraveling the top of Pharos's cage with her silver strings. Neirnyx sent more filaments to wrap around Pharos and gently lift Pharos up.

Unless…

More fiery faux birds got in Jing's way. He quickly blasted them away. "Neirnyx!"

"Huh? What?" Kir asked, confused, before evading a volley launched thorns.

Pharos dissolved into a blob of dark fantasy, easily sliding out of the silver strings. While Neirnyx squawked in surprise, the cage itself tore open like a huge maw and clamped down on the Valefor. Neirnyx screeched as the liquefying cage melted around her and pulled her under the sea of dark fantasy below. There were a couple blasts of blue fire from the ooze, then nothing. The lingering silver strings abruptly curled up and crumbled.

Jing and Kir stared in dumbfounded silence. It had happened so quickly.

We weren't distracting him, thought Jing. He was distracting us.

Valium merely smiled. "And that is why neither of them are fit to rule this place. What kind of dream master lets themselves be fooled so easily by another's illusion?"

"So you did the same to Pharos as well?" asked Jing.

"Of course," Valium replied. "All I had to do was pretend to be Neirnyx when I went to see him. He was even more pathetic. Even while my fantasy sucked him under, he still believed I was Neirnyx."

Jing glared.

"Why that look? You of all people know how pitiful it is to deny reality," said Valium. "Though I suppose your actual reality leaves something to be desired. So don't worry. You and everyone in the palace will be reclaimed by fantasy soon enough."

IIIIII

It was chaos everywhere they went. So many other people were still inside. They darted about in creasing panic as all the exits were swallowed by fantasy. The lower areas were swamped with fully liquid fantasy, which was quickly rising. Tendrils stretched out of the dark fluid to catch hapless victims and sucked them into either the walls or the growing pool.

"Damn, this is bad," muttered Cassis. "So many people are going under…"

The wave of color twisted toward the group.

"That's gonna include us with we don't watch it," said Razekar. "Keep moving, fellas! We need to get to higher ground!"

Everyone fled from the growing flood. It sloshed against the walls as it sped forward. The group just got up the stairs before the wave crashed onto the lower steps. The areas it touched also started melting into ark fantasy, steadily adding the river of rising muck.

"Dal! Can you sense any exits?" asked Falcon. "Or can you make one?"

"I can barely keep myself together, much less manipulate any fantasy outside of me," Dalios admitted. "As far as I can tell, all the exits are blocked. Valium has full control of the palace now, so it's probably gonna stay that way."

"Seriously? What are we gonna do then?" asked Falcon.

"Stay above the fantasy as long as we can," said Dalios.

IIIIII

Thankfully this chapter wasn't too much of a pain to type up and edit. I wish I could say the same for the following chapters...It was a shorter chapter this time, since I had to split it.

It's interesting, if irritating, to go over years-old rough draft. Shows me how far I've come. as I cringe and edit things constantly XD.

Quick poll! Who's your favorite character in this fic?