Disclaimer: All Disney works are the property of The Walt Disney Company. All other characters and settings are the property of their respective legal owners.
Author's note: Originally posted by Anon e Mouse Jr. on 2017-11-25. This is the fourth of five chapters posted today.
Disney/Kingdom Hearts Loops, Chapter Eighteen, part 4 of 5 - Mega Man: Inside Out
18.16 (Crisis): [Inside Out] / [Mega Man] / [Mythos Hackers]
Mega Man: Inside Out - Weakness
"Oh, man, this totally needs some awesome music," Joy grinned widely. "Something fast... upbeat..."
"Something..." Riley agreed, thinking on what her emotions had told her that the Light twins had said about the Slenderman, as well as a few things that had happened to them on the way to save her. As she did, an idea bulb that had rolled near the console lit up. "...that shows we believe in them."
Joy blinked and picked up the lit bulb, before smiling brightly.
"I think this is a great idea!" she declared and slotted it into the currently empty socket. "Anger, go pick a few things out of my stash of instruments that you all rifle through all the time while thinking I never notice! Disgust, we're going to need some makeup–"
Dr. Light stood there, hands outstretched in the same position he'd ended his strike in, staring at the Slender Man and trying to control his trembling.
You always made such a good Jekyll, Doctor.
No matter how much he wished he didn't, he remembered the circumstances of his first meeting with the memetic abomination with crystal clarity. (36)
I much preferred you as Hyde though.
Dr. Light clenched his eyes shut at the images that assaulted him, fresh as ever.
Oh, the leg bones stretch gro~tesquely, and the arm bones snap quite lo~udly. The skull bone squeezes the ra~ge glands, and the jaw bone howls with a pai~ned cry. Then you glare with hate at your lov~ed ones, while your claw bones rip through your chi~ld's flesh–
"Dad," a hand dropped on his shoulder, and the man looked to see his two robotic children gazing at him with understanding.
"I'm sorry..." Dr. Light lowered his shaking hands.
"It's okay," Rock smiled.
"Like we said, we've got this," Roll added.
Then perhaps they should stop talking and bring it.
"Hey, mom?" Riley asked as he parents joined her again, looking prepared to get her out of the chair as fast as possible, and preferably as far away from the current room as they could run. "I know you probably want me to get out of here asap, but there's something I still need to do to help Rock and Roll. And I need you to press that red button there so I can do it."
Her parents looked confused, and more than a bit frightened, but they didn't immediately try to grab her out of the chair.
"But...?" her father managed to ask a whole field of questions with one word.
"That Slenderman thing... runs on belief, right? Well... I can maybe give them a boost... I just need to go inside my head and perform an epic song number with my emotions and I realize that makes no sense, but I promise I can explain later. Just... trust me for right now? Please?"
Her parents exchanged glances, before nodding to each other.
"Of course, honey," her mom leaned in and gave her a hug before her dad pressed the button that activated the original function of the Mind Machine and sent her inside her own head.
Rock and Roll charged, forming their arms into mediums for the emotional weapons. Slender Man formed two black-energy tendrils from his back and prepared to defend.
The first shot of the Joyous Sunburst from Rock was blocked by one of the tendrils, which promptly disintegrated in a flash of yellow light and a soundless scream from Slender Man himself. Roll's shot of Angry Flame tore straight through the other tendril, blasted through Slender Man's frame, and elicited another cry as the eldritch robot bent over double.
The two proceeded to unload everything they had on the Slender Man from where they stood. Joyous Sunbursts, Blooming Disgusts, Angry Flames, Sad Rainclouds, Frantic Frights, and even what they had left of their Zen Busters were fired one after the other at the pained Slender Man, who convulsed and screamed soundlessly with each hit until–
*click*
*click*
They were out already?
The Slender Man froze in his pained position before slowly, deliberately, straightening up to show his completely unmarked body (37) and pointed one hand at the stunned Light twins. His fingers spun and rearranged themselves into a bizarre five-pronged Jacob's ladder that began forming an orb of black energy in its center.
His turn then...
The black bolt shot, not at either of the Light twins, but at Riley, prompting Rock to jump in the way with both arms crossed defensively. The shot struck and a wave of monochrome grayness spread over a shocked Rock Light, who stood there unsteadily for a few moments before collapsing listlessly to the floor.
Heh... So predictable.
Dr. Light felt his blood run cold as he saw his son drop to the floor and looked around for something he could use to maybe help turn the tide. His gaze fell on the downed biker robot from earlier.
That would do.
All he needed was a minute and some luck.
"Okay, now the lyrics are going to go like–" Riley began while Disgust flitted around getting all of the emotions into costume, only to be cut off as Sadness tugged on her shirt.
"Um..." Sadness held up the Mind Reader, the headline declaring 'WE BELIEVE!' before opening it up to reveal the interior to be sheet music complete with lyrics. "Are these them?"
"Er..." Riley blinked in complete surprise. "Yes... That's them exactly."
Roll cursed her stupidity as she blocked a follow-up shot with a sweep of her broom, the inanimate object proving unaffected by Slender Man's weapon and incapable of transmitting it to her.
They should have known that would happen. The emotional weapons were all essentially variants of the Zen Buster; non-lethal, non-damaging shots that only affected the target's emotional state. And the Slender Man had already shown that he could take bursts straight from the emotions themselves without lasting effects. With a physical body buffering him?
They'd been wasting their time. Yes, indeed.
The soundless empty echo of her opponent's laughter grated on Roll's nerves and she charged, broom swinging to dispel another shot of... whatever it was. Screw it all, she was using the facts of his new physical body and pounding the bastard into tiny piles of scrap! Just like she and Rock should have done in the first place!
Such anger... Such all-consuming rage...
Roll swung at the Slender Man's head, and found her broom caught fast by a black energy tendril.
Why... she was like a yipping puppy... More ferocious than dangerous.
The tendril wrapped around the broom and tightened as Roll tried to pull it free. And then the broom shattered.
Roll blinked in shock for half a moment before recovering enough to throw the broken handle at Slender Man's head, only for him to bat it away easily as a second black energy tendril wrapped around Roll's neck and hauled her up to what would be eye level if her opponent had eyes.
So rude she was... Didn't she want his weapon?
"Huh...?"
That was what the two of them did, correct? Take the weapons of their enemies and defeat them with their own abilities? Or those of their comrades? Well, he had one of his own this time. Thanks to their own efforts even. It only seemed fair that they should have it as well. All she needed to do was reach out and take it. She was certainly close enough for it.
"Nnnngh..."
One touch, and The Void Stares Back would be all hers. He was quite fond of the weapon they'd helped give him. So much that he'd decided to name it. She should take it for her own and think of him every time she used it. Think of him and how glorious his power was as she inflicted it on others and fell to its sway in turn. Why, her brother already seemed to enjoy it.
"Do... not... want..." Roll ground out through clenched teeth and a vocal processor strained from pressure on her neck as she struggled to break free.
Disappointing...
The Slender Man formed the five-pointed Jacob's ladder with his hand again and a black orb formed in it as he pressed the weapon to Roll's chest and fired.
But refusal had never been an option.
Mr. and Mrs. Andersen held their place directly in front of Riley as the Slender Man dropped a grayed-out Roll to the floor and began advancing on them. It would only get their daughter over their–
They didn't need to worry. Their precious daughter would come to no harm. Why, there was every chance that she couldn't currently be affected by his weapon at all. So, no, he would do nothing to her. She would remain untouched and unsullied from this point forwards. The only person in the whole world to be so.
The Slender Man's arm formed into the five-point Jacob's ladder and aimed it directly at them.
Wouldn't that be something? To be the only sane person left in the world as everyone, from strangers to friends to her own family descended into the depths of madness? Left to watch as a tool invented by her dear friends for strictly peaceful purposes was twisted into the cause for global ruin? Left with the understanding that she was part of the reason why such a horror was even possible? Why...
The black orb formed, and Riley's parents closed ranks to shield their daughter.
...it could cause her to sna–
*Pnyow!*
The Slender Man's hand-weapon was knocked off-target in a flash of light. He turned his faceless head towards the source of the blast and saw Dr. Light standing with a barrel-shaped device strapped over one arm, smoking from the plasma bolt it had fired even as the good doctor shook where he stood.
Well, well... It seemed like Jekyll wanted to play after all. Now...
The Slender Man batted aside three shots from Dr. Light with black energy tendrils from his back.
...how long until Hyde came out? Hmm?
Dr. Light fired again and again as the Slender Man strode leisurely up to him, batting aside the plasma blasts with his black energy tendrils.
How long until his sins overwhelmed him? How long until the weight of guilt for what he'd created became too much to bear? How long until the man who preached peace admitted that his efforts only fueled war? How long until he realized that his precious creations were all failures? How long until he admitted that for all his genius... for all his virtue... for all his effort... for all his good intentions... he was the worst monster of them all?
"I..."
He needed to face facts. The future he had strived to build with his own two hands was a blight upon creation. A foul festering–gloriously so!–abomination that poisoned all caught in its current. He had built the foundation of the future, invented the technology that enabled the horrors that filled it. He was to blame for everyone killed with his inventions. He was to blame for every inch of destruction his creations and their derivatives wrought.
"No... I..." Dr. Light had stopped firing, his arm drooping and his entire body trembling as he stared at the advancing Slender Man. When a black energy tendril reached out to take the makeshift buster on his arm, he couldn't find it in himself to resist.
The likes of Wily, Sigma, and the rest were never the true villains. It had always been only–
"You're not seriously listening to that, are you?" a voice cut across the room, prompting Dr. Light to look up at the screen displaying the inside of Riley's head...
...and did a double-take as he saw Riley and her five emotions decked out like a heavy metal band.
"You? A bad guy?" Riley scoffed. "That's a load of bulls–"
"RILEY!" the girl's mother shouted, causing all six figures to flinch in chagrin.
"Sorry mom," Riley apologized. "But still! You're one of the best people I know! Rock and Roll wouldn't be such amazing friends if you weren't a good person too! That's what I believe!"
The Slender Man turned to consider the image above as he idly crushed Dr. Light's improvised weapon.
Was that so? That is what she believed? In the face of all the destruction made possible by this man's so-called 'genius', she believed that?
"Yeah!" Riley shouted back. "And you want to know what else we believe? Then listen up!"
A power chord rang out and the music began. (38)
Mega Man: Inside Out - We Believe in Rock and Roll
ERROR: MASTER WEAPON THE VOID STARES BACK ADVERSELY AFFECTING SYSTEMS
EMOTIONAL PROCESSOR OVERLOADED: SYSTEMS UNRESPONSIVE
MASTER WEAPON THE VOID STARES BACK LABELED MALWARE
ATTEMPTING TO DELETE
WARNING: MALWARE CANNOT BE DELETED
ATTEMPTING TO QUARANTINE
WARNING: MALWARE CANNOT BE QUARANTINED
ATTEMPTING TO FIX DAMAGED SYSTEMS
WARNING: MALWARE DAMAGE BEING INFLICTED FASTER THAN SYSTEMS CAN CORRECT
SYSTEM RESTORATION PROGRESS: NEGATIVE
"We pledge allegiance to the faith,"
"of everyone who rolls and rocks!"
UNKNOWN ENERGY ACTIVITY DETECTED
RESUMING INTEGRATION
"And to that greatest hope for which they stand!"
"Two heroes under heaven!"
UNKNOWN ENERGY INTERFERING WITH MALWARE
"Oh, even gods love Rock and Roll!"
SYSTEM RESTORATION PROGRESS: POSITIVE
"Bring liberty and justice to all lands!"
REATTEMPTING MALWARE PURGE
"Repeating Time,"
"It tries us hard."
UNKNOWN ENERGY INTEGRATION SUCCESSFUL
"When every Loop,"
"we're dealt the cards."
ENHANCEMENT MODE INITIALIZING
"And every fight,"
"we're told exactly how we'll lose!"
MALWARE PURGE SUCCESSFUL
"But when we,"
"all lose control:"
EMOTIONAL PROCESSING RESTORED TO NORMAL
"We believe,"
"in Rock and Roll."
"Sis?" Rock sat up shakily, rubbing his head. "What...?"
"In the end,"
"They're gonna help to see us through!"
"I don–" Roll began before black energy tendrils slammed into both of the Light twins and flung them towards the wall. They flipped in midair, effectively on instinct, and hit the wall in mirroring foot-first crouches.
Blinking, they looked at each other to see their sibling encased in a shimmering rainbow glow all over.
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
SONG MODE ACTIVATED
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
"I think we just got a new toy," Roll grinned as they both leapt over a second strike from the Slender Man in unison.
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
"Then let's put it to good use!" Rock grinned back as the two charged the Slender Man.
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
SYSTEM STABILITY AT 100% AND RISING
SYSTEM CAPACITY AT 100% AND RISING
SELF REPAIR SYSTEMS RUNNING AT 1000%
"Do you trust these heroes,"
The Slender Man sent out his tendrils again–
"to save you from the curse?"
–only for the rainbow auras of Rock and Roll combined with mirrored kicks to carve through them like wet tissue paper.
"To take on quests of action and of stealth?"
The Slender Man hastily formed both arms into the five-pronged Jacob's ladder that was his weapon–
"Calamity and ruin,"
–and fired black orbs at them–
"they take it all in stride,"
–which Rock and Roll mirror-punched into nothingness with ease.
"and stare into the face of doom itself!"
The Slender Man let out a soundless cry and formed two very large black energy tendrils to bring smashing in from either side of the glowing Light twins.
"Repeating Time,"
With mirrored arm-blocks, Rock and Roll shattered the tendrils and leapt for the Slender Man.
"It tries us hard."
"When every Loop,"
They launched into twin kicks–
"we're dealt the cards."
"And every fight,"
That the Slender Man caught in each hand with significant effort, being pushed back by the force.
"we're told exactly how we'll lose!"
"But when we,"
The Slender Man pushed back, sending the Light twins into opposing spins–
"all lose control:"
"We believe,"
–that they turned into mirrored spinning kicks to his torso–
"in Rock and Roll."
"In the end,"
–followed by identically mirrored punches to the face–
"They're gonna help to see us through!"
–that launched him backwards.
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
The Slender Man caught himself in a one-handstand and sprung back from a follow-up diving kick–
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
–forming both hands into his weapon, aiming them at each other–
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
–and unleashing a shadowy shockwave–
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
–that broke upon Rock and Roll's rainbow auras, but also forced them back. The Slender Man then began charging up a massive ball of blackness between his weapons.
As he did, Riley began to speak as her emotions continued playing the music.
"Would that my cries were heard in the heavens. Would that they were inscribed upon the sky. As I was clutched in an iron fist of shadow and feared that I would be lost in the dark forever."
Seeing it, Rock and Roll stepped together until their rainbow auras were touching before stepping apart, with wisps of their auras stretching between them almost like a net right as the Slender Man fired.
"But I have learned that heroism lives!"
Rock and Roll braced their aura net like they were catching a boulder...
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
...and it held.
"I see now that it will stand forth and win the day against the ruin and the madness."
And as it held, the wispy net began attacking the giant orb of blackness–
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
"Even for those who trust them not, they shall strike down the wicked,"
–slowly converting it into a massive rainbow orb instead.
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
"and raise the flag of justice for all to see."
And the Slender Man stared in disbelief–
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
"And this is forever why–"
–as they threw it right back at him.
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
He reached out both his hands and black energy tendrils to catch it like they did–
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
–only for the tendrils to burn away and his hands to prove no impediment.
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
The Slender Man was engulfed in the massive rainbow orb for several moments–
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
–before being released, his mechanical body smoking and smoldering.
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
Only to meet twin charging punches to the chest that stunned him–
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
–followed by two roundhouse kicks from either direction to the neck–
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
–that popped his head clean off.
"We believe in Rock and Roll!"
Roll pushed the decapitated machine to the side while Rock held out one hand to catch the head and formed the other into a screwdriver. (39)
18.17 (Crisis): [Inside Out] / [Mega Man] / [Mythos Hackers] / [Admin Shenanigans - Madoka]
Mega Man: Inside Out - Slender Season
"So... that's...?" the emotions heard through Riley's senses as they made plans for cleaning up Headquarters. There was so much to do. In addition to the huge mess that needed cleaning after Slenderman's occupation of Riley's head and the ensuing fight, there were all sorts of memory orbs that they all needed to convert to one or more emotions before sending to long term. And that wasn't even mentioning all the damage done to Riley's extended mindscape that would take a long time to put right. But put it right they would. For now, Riley was planning on finding the couch and laying down for a while once she got home so as to not need any of her emotions at the console, thus freeing them to clean up Headquarters. (40)
At the moment, Riley was leaning on her parents for emotional support and fiddling with a hockey puck she'd picked up off the floor while Rock and Roll presented a disturbingly black chip to everyone.
"Yeah," Rock's voice was heard. "That's Slender Man's IC chip."
"He's trapped there, completely unable to hurt anyone so long as we don't plug it into anything," Roll's voice added.
"That's good," Joy sighed in relief and leaned back in her chair. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm all for locking him up and getting on with our life. Whaddya say?"
"Um..." Sadness started, looking a bit uncomfortable. "Well..."
"What Sadness is trying to say is that you've been outvoted Joy," Disgust cut in.
"Huh?" Joy blinked in confusion.
"He really hurt Riley with what he did," Sadness pointed out.
"As long as that chip exists, someone could possibly send Slenderman back in here, or give him a new body, and we can't let that happen," Fear looked as determined as Joy had ever seen him.
"Um, I'm not sure that's–"
"GET HIM!" Anger yelled suddenly and all of the emotions save a confused Joy hit their controls at the same time.
"So long as–" Rock began, only to be interrupted as a tired Riley suddenly lunged forwards, swinging the hockey puck she held like a bludgeon.
"AAAAAAHHH!" She screamed, smashing the sport supply onto the chip over and over again, reducing the delicate piece of technology to pieces, and then smashing the pieces to smaller pieces, and smashing those smaller pieces until they resembled dust more than anything else. After nearly a minute of fury where everyone else could only watch in stunned shock, Riley collapsed weeping into her mother's arms. Her father joined the comforting motion.
"–no one breaks it, he can't escape," Rock sighed with resigned understanding. "Being of pure thought, remember? He doesn't need a physical form to survive."
Riley froze in her post traumatic sobbing at that and looked at Rock with weary horror.
"I was trying to tell you all..." Joy snapped inside her head.
"...oops."
"It's fine," Roll waved her apology off. "I was having trouble stopping myself from doing the same thing."
"Besides," Dr. Light began, "there are other beings similar to him. Others that will be as unhappy about his actions as we are and are in a better position to do something about it. We are not likely to see him again for a long time."
"You're certain about that?" Mr. Andersen asked.
"Quite," Dr. Light told the man. "I believe we all owe you a much more thorough explanation of things than we've been able to give so far. But for now, I believe it best that we all rest and recover from today's ordeals. Now... if I can just figure out where Auto got to during all of this and whether or not he can drive a vacuum cleaner..."
It was a lot for the Andersens to take in. Their daughter was caught in a time loop like that Groundhog Day movie? It was overseen by gods from ancient (and even modern) mythology? Some of them, like the Slenderman, liked to torment 'loopers' for fun? There was no known way for it to end? There were countless other universes that were undergoing the same thing (and Dr. Light's was one of them)? The very existence of their reality hinged on Riley's well-being? Riley had five voices inside her head that supposedly represented her emotions?
That last one should have probably been a great deal more disturbing to them than it was.
"One question Doctor..." Mr. Andersen finally spoke up. "How many times have you had to explain this to us?"
"Me personally? To you specifically?" the doctor raised an eyebrow. "This is my first time. Though I suspect your daughter's explained it a few times already. She seemed rather confident that you would take it well after all."
"I see..." Mrs. Andersen paused. "And... we might begin 'looping' as well?"
"Perhaps," Dr. Light nodded. "Or perhaps by some convergence of odd circumstances you may simply begin Dreaming of past Loops. Or, even more rarely, a combination of both like I have."
"Of... of course," Mr. Andersen nodded. "Well... at least Riley now knows it's too dangerous to go messing with the contents of her head, right?"
"Oh, sure," Dr. Light smirked in amusement. "Much like humanity has long since learned that it is dangerous to play with fire. Or to ride in wheeled vehicles. Or to cross the oceans in boats. Or to fly higher than the birds. Or to go into space." (41)
"But–"
"Mrs. Andersen, please understand that the single greatest threat to a looper's mental health is boredom. The best remedy for this is experimentation, novelty, uniqueness, and new ideas. Riley's idea to bring her emotions outside her head is not one that I foresee being easily discarded. She may set it aside for a time after this event, but I have no doubt that she will return to the concept eventually. Perhaps in a Loop with far fewer safeguards against disaster than we can provide. We can teach her proper experimental procedures and safety precautions to lessen potential disaster, as well as how to take such things slowly. A lesson we ourselves could perhaps use a refresher in."
The Andersens looked at each other, uncertain.
"I'd say we could also teach her the value of never giving up, but I do believe your daughter already knows that very well."
The Andersens found they had no argument for that.
Riley lay on the bench looking at the clouds and wondering just how long today's cleanup effort was going to take. Not the one at the lab, the one inside her head.
Every day, most of her emotions had taken leave to go out and help with cleanup efforts. It made sense, strictly speaking, but it left Riley herself a bit stunted for the day. Plus, she felt extremely paranoid that the emotions that left to help wouldn't come back. Even though they always did, and promised they always would.
"Riley," Joy had told her, "It doesn't matter why we leave or how far we go, we'll always come back to you. That's a promise."
It was the most reassuring and heartwarming thing any of her emotions could have told her. So why was she feeling more paranoid about the concept now than when she'd had the eldritch embodiment of paranoia squatting in her head?
"Maybe because me and Fear stayed behind today?" Sadness suggested.
"Maybe," Riley admitted back, "but would you two have been the ones to stay behind if I wasn't already inclined to feel this way?"
It was chicken-and-the-egg complicated. Riley's emotions influenced her behavior, but her need for any particular emotion influenced their behavior. It was insanely circular reasoning, but it boiled down to the same thing: They were in this together, for better or worse.
Riley felt the familiar, comforting pulse of Unity Island activating. She'd been drawing on that one a lot in the past couple of days, actually. It helped keep her mind off of... that.
Riley closed her eyes as several memories played in her head unbidden and shuddered.
"Sorry, we'll send those back down immediately," Fear told her quickly.
"It's fine," she sent back. "Not your f–"
"Hey," the voice of Rock interrupted her mental conversation and Riley felt the bench shift as something leaned against it from the back. Riley glanced to see her new friend leaning against the back of the bench, facing away from her.
"Hey," she said back, before the two settled into a few minutes of silence.
"You want to talk about it?" Rock finally said. He didn't need to say what 'it' was. They both knew there was only one event he could mean.
Riley spent a couple more minutes of intense internal debate, where her emotions tried to convince her to go through with it and she tried to talk them out of talking her into it.
"Not really," she finally said, much to Sadness and Fear's disappointment.
"Do you mind if I talk about it then?" Rock asked. "Not this one, I mean. The first time I dealt with... him."
Riley blinked in surprise. She hadn't really considered the fact that the Lights had obviously met–
"Hey guys!" Joy's voice called out. "We're back!"
"You're early," Fear noted.
"Eh, it felt like a good time to take a break," Joy waved it off.
"Plus, Anger blew up at some of the mind workers," Disgust added. "He wanted them to dump all the memories from that day and they told him nothing doing. Something about having to dump too many memories already or something."
"Sorry Riley, I think they sent a few back up here to spite me."
"Also, they sort of told us to get out of their way and stop interfering," Joy added sheepishly. "Said we weren't really helping... Anyway, what's going on? What's Rock doing here?"
"He wants to tell us about the time he first met Slenderman," Sadness replied before Riley could say anything.
"Oooo... sounds interesting!" Joy enthused, and Riley felt a sudden surge of intense curiosity.
"Gee, thanks Joy."
"You'll say that with less sarcasm later, I'm sure."
"Okay..." Riley gave in to the desire with a sigh.
And so Rock did. He spun her a tale of a mysterious Halloween night, when robots themed straight out of a horror movie marathon crawled out of the woodwork and plunged the city into madness, terror, and death. A tale where Rock was cut off from all of his friends, family, and allies to be gradually worn down by the cruelty and sadism of his opponents and the people they had infected to turn against him. Where he was forced to fight against his own infected father in a duel to the death, the both of them surviving only due to a timely intervention before their savior was savagely cut down.
"And that's when he finally showed himself," Rock said. "Stepped out and proceeded to prove that I could do nothing to him. He had me broken and beaten in minutes, and I couldn't stop him."
"Did Mega Man save you?" Riley asked. "Like you saved me?"
Rock paused for a moment. "You still haven't figured it out?"
"Figured what ou–" Riley cut off and blinked as it all clicked into place. "Wait... you're Mega Man? Does that mean Roll...?"
"She does the 'Mega Woman' bit most Loops," Rock told her, before slipping a photo to Riley.
She took it and looked at the familiar faces of Rock and Roll, only clad in armor and helmets. Rock's was cyan on his torso, upper arms, and upper legs, with bold blue for his lower arms, hands, lower legs, feet, hips (looking like he had a pair of briefs on), and most of his helmet. Roll's was similar, except yellow and cream instead of blue and cyan. The main differences past that were that her helmet apparently had an opening for her ponytail and her chest had additional yellow armor shaped like a sports bra, clearly designating her as female.
"Wow..."
"She's the one who saved me that Loop," Rock continued. "She saw how bad the fight was going, compared with what the internet had on Slenderman, and figured out his game. Then she commandeered a global broadcast to inspire the whole world into believing I could take him."
"What did she say?"
"A bunch of stuff that I find kind of embarrassing to repeat..." Rock's voice sounded like he was blushing, but Riley couldn't confirm that with him facing away from her. "It's... Do you know what I believe in Riley?"
Riley shook her head, before remembering that Rock couldn't see the gesture.
"I believe in the potential of humanity. I believe in the potential of robots. I believe in the possibility of people that are inherently different to understand each other and get along. To work together for a future greater and brighter than any one person could ever hope to achieve alone. I believe in the ability to stand up no matter how many times life knocks us down, and to keep going no matter what obstacles are put in our way. I believe that we can all stand together and become strong, that we possess the tools we need to solve any problem we can face. And that even if by some chance we don't, there are others who do that will stand with us to bring about that bright shining future. We may not always agree what that future should be or how to get there, but as long as we have faith in each other, we will get there nonetheless. No matter how long it takes, or how many setbacks we suffer, we will get there."
Riley blinked in astonishment and wondered if this was what finding religion felt like.
"Roll, she... she told everyone in the world that the one who put his faith in them now needed their faith in turn. That the one who had invested in them all of his hopes and dreams, needed theirs invested in him. She... heh... she asked them to believe in the one who believed in them."
Riley blinked at that last line. "Was that a reference to something?"
"Gurren Lagann," Rock smirked.
"Ah... never read that... or watched it... whatever. What did you do?"
"I took their hopes, their faith, and all their dreams... and I punched the ever-loving daylights out of the Slenderman. One. Two."
Riley snorted in amusement as she watched Rock mime a jab and then an uppercut.
"I... I think he may have held a grudge..."
"Maybe..." Riley admitted somberly.
"I just want you to understand something, Riley," Rock continued. "What you're feeling? What the Slenderman did to you? We've been there. We've felt that. Maybe not exactly the same, but close enough. You are not alone in this."
"It's..." Riley felt the tears come and didn't try to stop them. "He was in my head! Do you know what that's like?! I want to rip open my skull and scrub my brain within an inch of its life, and I don't think it would be enough! The things he was doing in there! The things he told me! The...*sob*"
"The things he wanted you to do for him?" Rock spoke up, and Riley's tears slowed even as her blood froze. "Yeah, he pulled that one on me too. He started with whispers to join him, to give in to the madness 'so we could rule together' to paraphrase. Then he started getting really disturbing..."
"I think at one point he was saying that he wanted to adopt me, or marry me, or adopt and then marry me (or was that the other way around (42))? I dunno *sniff* I was trying real hard not to listen to him. I just... I was so helpless... I could almost feel myself breaking and was sure I'd never be put back together again..."
"And then you kicked him out of your head, sealed him in a physical body, and proceeded to go heavy metal on him."
"That was my emotions..." Riley sniffed, before allowing herself a small smile.
"No, that was all of us."
"Together."
"Period.
"End of discussion."
"Double-taps no take-backs."
"Riley, the last time we fought the Slenderman, it took an entire planet's worth of belief to turn the tide. This time it just took you."
"...a robot body, some magic song powder, and a musical number," Riley added with a half-chuckle.
"Never underestimate the power of a good musical number," Rock grinned.
Riley was surprised to find herself in a fit of giggles at that one.
"So... what's next?" she asked upon getting herself under control.
"Next, after we finish getting the lab back in shape, we try the experiment again," Rock told her, "only smarter."
Riley didn't need to be told what experiment. There was only one that it could be. Bringing her emotions outside her head. Knowing what had happened last time, the idea filled her with dread. But... she still really wanted to find a way to make it work.
"We're here for you Riley, no matter what."
"Soo... what do you mean by smarter?"
"To start with, we're only going to bring one emotion out at a time. Basic frame, no accessories, much less weapons of any kind. We're going to keep them hooked up so the process can be reversed immediately if needed and there will be no walking around outside the lab during the experiment until later stages, and only then if you're certain you'll be fine. With your consent, either Roll or myself will monitor the experiment from inside your head while the other monitors from outside it. We've got a couple of hypothesis about symbiotic connections between you and your emotions, and we want to see if we can possibly isolate that connection and figure out how you can build it up. So we'll be attempting to induce an emotional reaction based on whichever one is outside your head at the time and taking readings."
"How long do you think it'll take?"
"No idea," Rock shook his head. "Our Loop's duration is pretty flexible, and we've never tried something like this before a few days ago, so there's a very good chance this is going to take longer than the Loop itself. Because of that, we're also going to be focusing on showing you how to perform the experiment on your own in safe, controlled environments. Which, yes, means boring technical explanations that you're going to have to stay awake for and pay attention to."
"Aww... Can't you just use musical numbers like Phineas and Ferb?"
"Hmm... Lab safety procedures in C-minor..."
Riley couldn't help it. The absurdity of the concept hit her like a ton of bricks and she broke down laughing.
"How about this one?" Rock asked before changing the image. A long dramatic gasp sounded, followed by a dull thump.
"And Fear just fainted," Disgust groaned. "Again."
"Seriously ugly, and whatever it is could really stand to brush its teeth, but not all that scary," Riley deadpanned, sparing a glance over to where Fear had slumped in his chair.
"Yeah, this isn't working," Roll sighed from her spot in Riley's head, her own body seemingly at rest in a third chair. There had been some debate about which of them would get 'internal' duty, but the deciding factor had been Riley imagining her dad's reaction to a boy being inside her head unsupervised. After all, her parents were perpetually only just getting introduced to the idea that she might be interested in boys, so... yeah. "Get Rock to download Fear back in and we'll try someone else."
"Oh! Oh! Me next!" Joy volunteered.
"Roll thinks we should try a different emotion so we don't have to keep waking Fear up," Riley relayed. "Joy's volunteering. And... actually, that reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask you. You mentioned having a Loop with Phineas and Ferb. What was that like? What were their robot masters like?"
"Oh, man," Rock chuckled as he pressed a few buttons on the modified Mind Machine. "That's probably the perfect thing to ask if we're going to test Joy out. Those guys... They made some of the best robot masters, really. Like the hard-skating roller-coaster riding Roller Man, or the refreshment serving Lemonade Man. Soccer Man X7 and Hockey Man Z9 were pretty fun too..." (43)
"How'd Doofenshmirtz work out?" Riley asked as the robot body Fear was inhabiting rearranged itself to a blank androgynous frame, ready for the next occupant. "Was he replaced by Wily?"
"Nah," Rock shook his head. "Dr. Doofenshmirtz was actually a huge Wily fanboy that Loop and they teamed up a few times. Roll and I often teamed up with Perry to take on one or both of them and strangely neither of them figured out that Mega Man and Mega Woman were actually Rock and Roll despite us not trying to hide it. Neither did anyone else for that matter, except Phineas and Ferb really. And Perry."
Rock pondered that strangeness for a moment as the generic robot body rearranged to create Joy's form before continuing.
"Anyway, there was this one time that Doofenshmirtz decided he wanted to create a robot master of his own rather than his usual -inator and–"
"–So Dr. Wily says 'Norm Man?' and Doofenshmirtz replies 'No, just Norm. The 'Man' thing is your trademark after all I mean, unless you think I should...'"
Joy was so caught up with the giggles that she was barely staying in her seat. Riley on the other hand...
"Enough! Stop!" Riley demanded.
"What's wrong?" Rock looked concerned.
"What's wrong?!" Riley fumed, before getting ahold of herself and taking a deep breath. "Have you ever not gotten a joke that someone else finds hilarious and been really angry about it? Because that's been me for your entire story about Doofenshmirtz and I'm really getting fed up with it! Sorry... I know it's funny, because Joy is cracking up, and I know I should be laughing, but I can't seem to, and it's just ticking me off..."
"Yeah, we thought this might be the case," Roll piped up from inside Riley's head as Rock dutifully began the transfer of Joy back.
"What?!" Anger fumed back. "Why didn't you say anything?!"
"Because that's the point of testing," Roll replied in exasperation. "To see if your assumptions were correct. Why? Are you volunteering to go next?"
"Hey, Rock, what's the plan for testing if I still feel Anger?" Riley asked.
"Hmm... I think we determined the most effective method would be snapping you with rubber bands."
"WHAT?!" Anger bellowed.
"Bad idea! Really bad idea! A bad snap could draw blood, which might bleed too much and get infected and cause us to die!"
"What?" Roll asked incredulously. "Do you have any idea what the sheer odds against that are? Eve–"
"NEVER TELL ME THE ODDS!"
"Yeah... that might not be the best idea at this stage," Riley relayed.
"We thought the same," Rock nodded, "which is why we weren't planning to try Anger until after noticeable results with at least one of the others. If any of your emotions are going to say 'stop' first, it's probably him."
"Hmm..." Riley pondered her emotions and the roles they served for a moment. "Actually, we should probably start with Disgust."
"Wait, what? Why me?" Disgust wondered.
"Hmm... not a bad choice all things considered," Rock nodded. "The lab's pretty clean by necessity and we weren't planning for you to eat lunch still strapped in, so there's negligible chance that she'd be needed to keep you from making a health mistake. So long as we avoid images that provoke a fear reaction, there shouldn't be too much disruption..."
"I. cannot. believe. that. you. found. nothing. wrong. with. broccoli!" Disgust ranted in Riley's head after the day's test. Neither Rock nor Roll had identified any connection that could be made to work over a distance yet, but as they kept reminding her, the whole thing was new territory. They had no more idea of how to solve the problem than she did, really, so it wasn't that surprising.
"Well, it's disgusting and you weren't in my head, so..." Riley shrugged.
"And all those missed snarks! It's like you forgot everything I taught you over the years!"
She had to admit though: Winding up Disgust was amusing. She could see why Joy liked doing it.
"And do not get me started on your fashion sense without me!" Disgust continued ranting. "That's it. We are figuring out how to remain connected over distance, because there is no way I am going to risk you spending a Loop with fashion sense that bad ever. Not happening!"
"So?" Roll asked.
"Disgust is ranting so much the others can't get a word in edgewise," Riley answered, "and I am stiff like you would not believe from sitting down, but other than that I think it went pretty well. I just don't want to do it every day..."
"We won't," Rock told her. "We have a few more ideas that don't require the Mind Machine."
"Oh? Like what?"
"Like trying activities and seeing how well you can feel certain emotions while they're away from the console. Think Anger can handle a hockey game without being directly at the controls?"
"WHAT?! That's cruel and unusual punishment!"
"No," Riley smirked, "but I think I can talk him into trying it anyway."
The Slenderman returned to himself in an unfamiliar pace and tried to figure out what had happened. His failsafe for returning him to his hacking workshop had taken far longer to run its course than it should have. It had also returned him to the wrong place.
If one of the other members of Shoggoth-chan had decided to dump him somewhere as a prank, then he was going to–
A message on the terminal screen–an Admin-quality terminal at that–caught his awareness and he turned his attention to it fully.
Normally, I would see my son's failures as his own problem. However, your actions have threatened his successes. Successes which have reflected well on the reputation of the Olympians. Were his triumphs to be undone, it would reflect poorly on that same reputation, and I cannot allow that. Your actions have been brought to his attention and he should be returning to his office presently. I would suggest you leave before then if you wish all your body parts to remain connected to each other, but the delay in your return I arranged should have made that a moot point. Let this be a lesson to you.
– Zeus
The Slenderman didn't waste any time before bolting. He dove for the door and yanked it open before dashing out...
*Wham*
...and crashing faceless head-first into a massive bare hairy barrel chest over loud volcano-print swim trunks, and flanked by three very shapely and fit forms in honest-to-Yggdrasil chainmail bikinis. Skimpy ones. All four bodies were very much tanned bronze.
"...I see our beach vacation was not interrupted as a prank," Hephaestus's voice rumbled like a volcano about to blow its top. "You have exactly three seconds to explain yourself before I break you over my knee and give you to the ladies here for discipline. O–"
The Slenderman didn't even wait for the first number to finish before bolting through a gap between the four figures that was just barely wide enough for his impossibly thin frame to slip through and running for all he was worth.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" the enraged howls of three Valkyries boomed after him as they gave chase.
Slenderman didn't look back as he ran for everything he was worth. All of the usual advantages he boasted in the mortal realm, even before Ascending, meant nothing at this level of existence, making him far too vulnerable for his liking. All the strength he had from belief was offset, matched, exceeded, or even eclipsed by all other beings who existed here. He had no problems messing with the Admins and their precious fragile mortals–enjoyed it immensely in fact–but that was when he had the benefit of plenty of distance between them. Dealing with them face-to-no face? Not a chance.
And so he ran, the sound of three very angry Valkyries hot on his trail. As well as the rumbling sound of a furious volcano god behind them. He needed to get out of the Admin complex. Escape and find his way back to somewhere they had less influence. Not the Nidhogg complex though. Hild and the other Demons and evil Gods rather had it out for the members of Shoggoth-chan in general, so he was no safer in their neighborhood than he was here.
"Hey! There he is, sis! Just like the Great Apollo said!" the third-person speaking Admin declared at the end of the hall the Slenderman was running down.
"I see him," his sister Artemis drew back an arrow and let fly.
The Slenderman was very thankful for many things about himself. Right then he was thankful that his impossibly thin body was ideal for sidestepping arrows before making a sharp turn down another hall.
"Damnit!" he heard Artemis swear. "Aft–"
"Nah, no need. Not with who's waiting for him that way."
What did that mea–
"Well, look whosh it ish!" the drunken slur of Dionysus boomed from ahead. The oaf would be no trouble to get arou–
The Slenderman then spotted the hovering mass of pasta (with two giant meatballs) behind Dionysus, revised that impression, and veered down another side hall. The Flying Spaghetti Monster was one of his least favorite entities in all of creation–eldritch abominations were not supposed to be lovable and tolerant!–but he had no desire to tangle with it right then. Not with who was chasing him.
"He wentsh thatsh way!"
He ran, tearing past doors before seeing a gathering of females in the distance. The elder Charites, Pandora, some goddess from outside the Olympian pantheon, and...
Athena. Nuts.
He abruptly turned down another side hall, a cold sweat enveloping him as he wondered just what the hell was going on. He needed to lose pursuit and fas–
The sound of jeering from many of the side halls informed him that he was being boxed in. Herded almost. It was not a feeling he liked being on the receiving end of. He tore through the Admin complex, taking each unoccupied hall that he found, twisting and turning until he had no idea where he was anymore and simply wanted to find a way out. And then–
"Hello," a two-faced Admin smiled from the sides of each mouth at the Slenderman from between two doors. The sounds of pursuit were distant, he must have gained ground, but closing in fast.
What did he want?
"Want?" the Admin–Janus, if he recalled correctly–spoke from his single head's left-facing face, tossing a key from one hand to the other before his right-facing face continued. "Why to offer you choice!"
Huh?
"A choice! The kind of choice you never give any of your victims," the two faces alternated speaking. "In this case, which of these two doors to take to escape pursuit. Unless you'd rather just wait here for them."
Get to the point already!
"So impatient! Very well, this key can open either door, but only one. Once open, you must face what is behind the door alone. The door on the right holds a magical girl."
They must think him an idiot. He knew exactly who they meant and he wanted no part of her.
"A wise choice. Yes. Magical girls have such a history with eldritch abominations after all. Oh, the violence they perform on the–"
GET ON WITH IT!
"Such impatience, but very well. The door on the left holds a kitty ca–"
He'd grabbed the key and opened the door before another word could be spoken, slamming it behind him.
"Dear, dear," Janus's left face grinned sinisterly. "He could have waited for us to tell him the rest of it."
"To be fair, we did present the choice as obvious," his right face chuckled.
"Ah, but one should always beware the obvious choice!"
"Thanks for helping us get this set up so fast, Hermes!"
"My pleasure!" the Olympian trickster stepped out from where he'd been hidden.
The Slenderman was confused. The room he'd entered seemed to have no walls that could be seen, and the door had vanished behind him as he entered. What trickery was this?
"Hi there!" a chipper female voice greeted him, and the Slenderman turned and looked downwards to see a common calico housecat dressed like a train stationmaster. "I'm Tama!" (44)
He didn't care. He was–
"The Slenderman!" Tama interrupted, her feline expression still chipper. "I've heard of you. You like tormenting innocent people and driving them insane, right? You wanna know what I like?"
He most certainly did n–
The feline's expression suddenly shifted from chipper to a feral glare.
"I. Like. Trains."
The sound of a steam whistle reached him moments before the front of the train did. (45)
"Sounds like he chose Tama," one of the Palici twins (46) stated with a grin from the archery alcove Janus and Hermes had set up to connect the two rooms. The twin steam gods had been happy to lend one of their steam trains to this little trap of Janus's. Heck, Tama seemed so happy with it, they might let the cat goddess keep it.
"Which I guess means it's your turn, m'lady," his brother gestured to the alcove with a bow.
"Thank you," Madoka Kaname smiled before readying her bow and stepping up to take her shot at whatever Tama had left for her.
Compiler's notes: Coming up next, the epilogue and author's notes.