Soon, the group walked back into the Administration Block, the place looking more or less the same...besides all the words written in blood on the walls.

"Well, look at that," Sword pointed out, "they redecorated."

"Can you not be so light about it?" Aster asked. "This is horrible."

"Well, after everything we've seen tonight, this is basically nothing." Miles claimed. "Still...how are you holding out, Hat Kid?"

HK, for her part, looked relatively calm for the situation, although Miles noticed that she was keeping her eyes on the floor.

"You're staying strong, huh? That's big of you." Miles complimented. "Now, where's Martin at?"

At this, a Variant came up to them, then gestured for the group to follow him. After a moment, the group did so, the Variant leading them into a theater.

"Well how about that? A show." Miles said. "Are we getting dinner too, or did we have to bring our own?"

The Variant said nothing, merely walking to the back of the room, where the projector was, and turned the movie on, the large screen in the front displaying what could only be described as a Rorscach test in motion. Soon, two voices started playing over the bizarre image.

"...exit interview recorded January 27th, 2019, several days after the disappearance of one Alabaster Dark and the reconstructing of the Dawn Kingdom. Clearance level Sierra Alpha. Subject, Dr. Rudolf Wernicke."

"So, Dr. Wernicke, from the little we've dug into what you were doing here, it seems that the films are what allow...The Walrider, you called it? The Walrider can touch you once you've seen the films?"

"It is not that easy. The Walrider...it cannot look into the heads of those who have not seen the films, not yet at least. It is learning, finding limits to what it can do."

"I see. So, doctor, would you mind explaining how...all this got started?"

"Ah...you want to know how it was born. It all started a week or so before the end of the war. People in Germany were scared, and the Führer had killed himself, leaving us to take the fall."

"Were you one of those people that were afraid?"

"Yes, I was. I knew that, at best, I would be imprisoned for the rest of my life, if not executed outright. Perhaps that is why he waited until then to approach me."

"Are you referring to Alabaster Dark?"

"Yes. He found me in my lab, struggling with the idea of taking my own life, offered me an escape in exchange for my research, and my services. I was a scared fool back then; if I had known what it would lead to…"

"You mentioned Dark wanted your research. What exactly did that entail?"

"...You say this world belongs in both the...Darkness and Psychic Universes, correct?"

"That is correct."

"Then that explains why it occurs… My homeland in those years...it's impossible to understand. The things we felt. What we believed. The overwhelming fear, ecstatic rage, and...English words are insufficient. More than hope. A human mind in that environment is capable of extraordinary things. My research led to the discovery of...something I found unbelievable at the time: new life."

"You mean...The Walrider wasn't the first."

"No. What I created...it was not as powerful as The Walrider, but even so...guns could not faze it. Bombs failed to slow it down. It tore apart an entire squad of soldiers in the blink of an eye...before it died, mere hours after it had been brought into the world, when the patient it came from died due to brain tumors. Alabaster Dark said he had heard of what had occurred, he wanted to try and make something that could survive permanently."

"And you helped him to do so?"

"As I said, I was afraid, my only other option was death. Besides, as it turned out, Alabaster's kingdom was the ideal place for research."

"Could you elaborate?"

"Through my research, I came to realize that the only way one of these...beings could be born is from pure pain and madness. An environment with a proximity to death, to overwhelming insanity. Only a test subject who had witnessed enough horror was capable of activating the engine and birthing one of them."

"And Alabaster chose one William Hope to be the focal point of origin."

"Yes. It was a strange set up: twenty dark objects formed in a circle. Billy placed within a sphere of glass, forced to view the video. And then…"

"Please continue."

"...He killed 100 people. Tortured them all, one by one, every single one of them died either screaming...or laughing, their minds shattered. It was then that I realized what I had done...I wanted to do something, but by that point, it was too late. The Walrider was born."

"What happened next?"

"Alabaster, the crazed fool, believed that Will would obey him. He failed to realize one thing: these beings are fueled by pain and anguish. Ergo, when they are born...they lash out. Everyone else present, guards, officials, they all died to The Walrider...all except me and Alabaster. He almost died, though; had he not gotten the seal up in time, he would have been killed as well."

"Then how did you come to remain here?"

"Alabaster, he was furious that he could not control Will. He demanded I 'fix it', but I told him the truth: The Walrider would not listen to him. In all honesty, I am surprised he did not kill me then. Perhaps he thought I would still be useful, or that I wasn't worth the effort. He said that he would be back when he could control it, then left. And so, there we were, trapped in this place for over 40 years."

"You say 'we'. Do you refer to yourself and William?"

"That is correct. Billy, he was terrified of being alone, of going mad from isolation and all the madness in his head. So, he kept me alive for all that time, even to this day."

"One more question, doctor. You said everyone except you and Alabaster were killed. Do you have any idea why you survived?"

"Hmm… I do not know for sure, but I have a theory: when The Walrider was born, it uttered three sounds that no one could understand, before it went on a rampage. Since that day, I have come to realize that they were words. One of them was 'murderers'. The second was 'hate'. The third it said as it looked at Billy and myself."

"And that word was?"

"Family."

The video then came to a close, the group taking in what they had heard.

"Is that why The Walrider was trying to kill me? Because I mentioned...killing that Billy guy?" Miles realized.

"That must be it." Aster said.

"Holy moly…" FG said in disbelief. "Thiz whole time...it waz trying to protect Billy."

"That doesn't make any sense." Sword spoke up. "It was created from death and madness, from twenty dark artifacts, created by f***ing Alabaster Dark. How could anything that was created from that have any positive feelings toward someone?"

"I have a feeling we're going to find out." Miles said as the Variant once again motioned for them to follow, leading them out of the theater.

The Variant then led the group outside, where it continued to storm, then into a building with a cross on it; the asylum's chapel. Inside, they passed through numerous bloody writings on walls, before they came up to a door flanked on either side by the Twins.

"Ah, the Messenger is here."

"Indeed. As are the followers, plus one more."

"So it seems. The father is expecting you. Please, come in."

"Make yourselves at home."

The two then opened the door, allowing the group to walk into the main room, where they saw Father Martin leading his group in a sermon of sorts.

"...and as we bask in the sunlight, we shall offer our belief to The Walrider, who-" Martin prayed before he noticed the group. "The Messenger has returned!"

The Variants in the chapel turned to look at the group, some getting up, some actually bowing down to them.

"Oh, cut it out." Miles facepalmed at the bowing Variants. "Martin, I've gone through hell now, and my mind's intact, if not my hands." he said, lifting up his eight fingers to accentuate his point. "So, am I ready to get outta here?"

"Yes, my son, the time has come. Our freedom...is at hand!" Martin announced as the Variants cheered before he motioned them to silence. "All you must do now is go down to the cradle, and allow The Walrider to accept you."

"Uh...about that." FG said. "We may have run into a...zlight zetback."

"The Walrider doesn't want to leave." Sword said. "At least, we don't think it does. It tried to kill us twice."

"Hm?" Martin said in confusion. "What do you mean? The Walrider-"

"Tried to kill us twice!" Miles said. "Look, there's this video that told us about The Walrider, said that it saw this place as home. Ask that guy, he'll tell you!" he said, pointing to the Variant that led them here.

"My child, is this true?" Martin asked the lone Variant, the other believers starting to glare at the group and the lone Variant.

For a moment, the lone Variant was silent...before it started shaking.

"T-They said they would allow me to live." they said fearfully. "I had no choice...they told me to."

"They? Who the hell is 'they'?" asked Miles.

"I-It's too late for us...the Murkoff are coming. They will be here in scant minutes." the Variant shook. "They know. They will kill us all. I thought, this way...at least one of our faith would survive."

"You've been in contact with Murkoff?!" Miles exclaimed, hoisting the Variant by his shirt. "You idiot, they must know everything, what we're trying to do!"

"Then why show us that video?" Aster asked. "If we're all going to die...why would it matter if we saw it?"

"B-Because...that way, I thought...you would refuse to go further. If we all gave up...maybe the Murkoff would-"

"What, spare us?" Miles asked. "News flash, buddy, people like Murkoff don't leave witnesses. They'll kill everyone in this asylum before they let word of The Walrider get out. Damn it!" he said, tossing the Variant to the ground. "We have to get that damn ghost and get out of this f***ing asylum before-"

Then, a bell started to ring, bringing everyone to a halt.

"The bell…" Martin said in dread. "The Murkoff have come."

"HQ, this is Gauntlet, Squad Delta leader of Murkoff's Tactical Division. We have arrived at the asylum and have met with Mr. Blaire." a man wearing rather large gauntlets called over his radio. "Preparing to seek and destroy, over."

"You know, you guys really couldn't have come at a better time." Jeremy Blaire said to the man as they stood in the entrance. "At this point, every other worker here is dead. Those nutcases are trying to free The Walrider. Don't let them."

"We know our orders, sir." Gauntlet said. "Search and destroy, leave no survivors."

"God dammit all!" Miles shouted. "How're we going to get to The Walrider now?"

"We'll have to fight our way through." Sword said. "Martin, you and your followers need to hide. Head deeper into the asylum, maybe the sewers. That should be safe enough for-"

"No." Martin said. "I am not going anywhere."

"This ain't the time for a crusade, Martin, you gotta-"

"You must understand, Messenger. Before I found myself in this place, I was lost. I believed myself to be saved, yet I could not find it in myself to do the same for others. Here, in this place...I am capable of doing so much more. This is my flock, and I shall die before the Murkoff take from them what they have worked and believed so hard in: a chance to see the sunrise once more, from outside the bars and walls of this asylum. If I must die, then I shall die standing by my faith! I thank you for your service, Messenger and followers, but I-!"

"Alright, fine." Sword said blankly. "Aster."

"Right, right." he said, conjuring a sword made of fire. "Here you go, one fire sword. It'll last about a half-hour, can't make any more." he apologized.

"Rest of you, use whatever you can find lying around." Sword said to the Variants. "Oh, and don't be suicidal; they won't play fair, so neither should you. Bullrush 'em if you can, sneak up on them, fight dirty...all that."

"If we survive, we'll join you, I guess." Miles said. "Uh...go Team Walrider."

"FOR THE WALRIDER!" The Variants roared as they ran out of the chapel, prepared to fight for their faith.

"Messenger...Miles…" Martin said. "I put my faith in you and your allies. Save us all."

"Just don't get yourself killed, you crazy preacher." Miles said. "Good luck to you."

The group then departed, with Father Martin going off to join his flock.

Soon, the group made it back to the Administration Block, a place now crawling with soldiers.

"Damn it, they're everywhere." Miles whispered as the group sneaked their way around. "This plan is gonna get us killed."

"Just stay quiet." Aster whispered back. "It won't be long now…get ready for our signal."

"This area seems secure." One of the soldiers said. "So, what's all this talk about a ghost?"

"I don't know, it's above our security level." another soldier said. "If it wasn't for the higher squads being deployed with those government guys in the Magic Universe, we probably wouldn't even be allowed here."

"Good point. Say, speaking of the Magic Universe, did you hear about Prime taking over another world? Last I heard, he was up to five."

"Nah, man, I heard it was twice that. That guy's crazy good when it comes to invasions. Guess that's why the Future Universe was scared s***less of the bastard."

"Yeah...guess we're lucky ending up here instead of there, huh?"

"Amen to that."

"Hey, fellas!" a voice called out at the two soldiers pointed their guns at Miles, who had gotten out into the open. "Don't suppose you could take the time for an interview?"

"Hey, hands up!" one of them yelled...right before FG smashed his claw on his head.

"What the-?!" The second soldier exclaimed before he was knocked out by Sword.

"Come on, let's go!" Sword said as the group made a dash to the elevator.

"D-5 & D-6, come in. I repeat, D-5 & D-6, do you copy?" Gauntlet said over his comm, receiving only static. "Damn it…"

"What, what's wrong?" Blaire inquired.

"We have a potential breach. I'm heading down to the lab." Gauntlet said as he headed off. "Don't leave yet."

"Right, gotcha." Blaire said. "Yeah, I'll be fine here. A few dozen soldiers, all armed to kill, I'll be fine."

Just then, several rocks were thrown at the surrounding lights, shattering them and leaving the area in darkness.

"Wha-What the-?!" Blaire stammered...before he heard the three most terrifying words in his life.

"FOR THE WALRIDER!"