Chapter 23: And Now Back to Our Very Short Interlude

Monika went over to the fisher. A log inexplicably appeared out of nowhere next to him, and she sat down.

"Sorry to say you have gone too deep into the code. There is no way back out." The voice of the red entity was clear, not like the glitched mess that Monika had somehow expected.

"What's your name?" Monika asked politely.

"My name is Old Man Consequences. Come, let's fish for a while. You have nowhere else to go."

Suddenly, Old Man Consequences' fishing rod dipped into the lake.

"Oh. It's been a while since I caught anything," the Old Man remarked, and he tugged his rod out of the water.

He reeled it in. On the hook was a small piece of paper, and on the piece of paper, two sentences were written.

It's over. We lost.

"What? No!" Monika cried out in despair. "My friends…"

"Don't worry," Old Man Consequences said assuredly.

"Don't worry?!" Monika was now somewhat bordering on hysterical.

"This is from a future timeline. A timeline that has not yet happend," he went on.

Monika took a deep breath. "So what you're saying is that if we they avoid the reset and end it here, this will never happen?"

Old Man Consequences nodded.

Monika sprang up again, full of energy. "Well, we have to warn them! How can we warn them!"

An idea struck her. "Your lake! If things from outside can end up here, can we send something from in here to out there?"

Old Man Consequences seemed to be thinking. "It's possible, although unlikely. There's no telling where it would end up."

Monika made a pencil appear and scribbled a message on the back of the paper. From the next timeline. Stop him now.

Monika looked up. "We have to try."

Old Man Consequences nodded. "Try we shall."

She passed the paper over to him, and he threw it into the lake without ceremony.

The two of them stared as the paper spun around and oh-so-slowly sunk through the lake's depths, as though it were made of honey or some other thick substance.

"And now we wait," said Old Man Consequences, casting his fishing rod back out across the lake.


Two chapters in one day? How can this be?

Well, they're both incredibly short. Anyways, I wanted to make it up to you for not posting for so long.

Enough with the timelines and resets and filler. The next chapter is the final battle, and although I hate making promises, I can promise that it's coming. Very soon, it's coming.

Until next time!