The entire land of Falana was in shambles, molded with worlds that couldn't possibly mesh with one another. Conflicting art styles, mix-matched proportions, and stuttering textures plagued the land like a game-maker tool struggling to use the right parts to generate a new level. Penelope watches aboard her shuttle the entirety of the land from barely above atmosphere the further they descend, and Sarah's none the more disturbed seeing her home warped in an odd way.
She commented, "Eeeeeew…"
"Definitely not what I was hoping to see on my first trip to Falana," Penelope replied.
As they get close to the foggy surface marked by rough terrain and ancient city structures, Brigitte asks, "Sarah, what do you know of this place?"
"Nothin' except that it looks old as dirt."
"Well you're not wrong," the mouse added. "I say we head down there and do some digging."
The Cat-Sith nods, "Agreed."
The ship touches down close to the most stable-looking area in the ruins. But when stepping outside from the hatch to the side, it seems like they've teleported to a version of the world where everything has been restored. Suddenly, they're met by crowds of civilians wandering the busy streets of the kingdom that was. Anthros, Caninu and Felineko, flourish while everyday mechs patrol the neighborhood for trouble.
"So uh…anyone got an explanation for why we're on a different planet," Sarah asked.
"Can it be," Brigitte considered? "These structures resemble the ruins we've just seem from the cockpit."
"Which means we may have jumped backward in time," Penelope realized!
Sarah shook her head in disbelief, "No way! Everyone looks totally different from me!"
"Eeeeeh, no," Penelope replied. "A bit modern, but you do look like you fit in, Sarah. After all, there's no telling how different people looked back then."
"Lemme test that theory."
She paces for one of the Caninu officers, nametagged "Ryebread," fiddling with the systems of his personal mecha with a friend of his with a bone in his mouth.
"Hey misters, do you know what year it is?"
Nothing. They don't even face the Warmblood's direction when she gets closer to them. Curious, she reaches for Waffle's friend but her hand phases through his shoulder! Panicked, Sarah hops back, "AH!"
"Odd," Penelope thought. "I guess we're seeing a vision of what the kingdom looked like."
"That oughta do it," said Waffle's partner. "Just needed a few kinks to the alternators."
Waffle asked, "How'd you know that, Red?"
"Mom taught me. Speakin' of, I think she said she was visiting the castle today. Probably a girl's day out."
"Wanna sneak in and see?"
"Bruh, why'd you think I brought it up," Red smiled.
"Hmph…! Men," Brigitte scoffed.
Sarah points towards the towering manor at the end of the village. "If video games have taught me one thing, it's that the important place is that way."
"Well, my goat-mom senses are going off toward that direction, so it must be," Penelope snarked. "Let's go!"
Just down the street to the palace held together by the visage of its past self glitching into place, a few things became apparent: The creatures here are ancestors of Warmbloods but no signs of Moonbloods or Nimbats. Mechs seem to be a lost art these days. And finally, the entire kingdom is floating; in this sense was floating in Falana's early history. That much is certain as the trio made their way to the entrance to the castle at the large golden doors.
A plaque on the fountain at the entrance read, "Castle Prairie. Knock Before You Enter."
"Well, you heard 'em," said Sarah walking up to the large front gates.
She promptly knocks with the door rings and the gates automatically open like someone's on the other side. Feeling a wave of confidence, the Warmblood steps inside without looking first, being greeted by a spacious feudal-style corridor and a pit into a closet she falls in, along with the loud clanging of metal. Brigitte shakes her head and Penelope stops herself from laughing when she senses Toriel close by. At least she believes it's her.
"Honey, we've just found Murray's sister from another mother," she snarked.
"Totally," said Bentley on the Binocucomm. "Y'think Dust knew about any of this himself?"
"He couldn't. This place looks…kinda like General Tsao's palace, doesn't it?"
Brigitte asks, "I'm sorry…?"
"The Cooper Gang and me came here to rescue someone's daughter from a mean general. And it looks exactly like how I remember it."
Sarah asks while in the pit, "So you mind tellin' me what this is, girlfriend?"
Down below next to the Warmblood, a clear shard shines on a pedestal. Its surface has clock symbols carved into it, resembling some of the more ancient crystals the Time Sweepers normally find.
"Hey, that looks like a time crystal," Bentley announced! "Same kind we needed for my time machine!"
"Our time machine," Penelope winked.
Sarah faced the mouse very quickly, "What's this about a machine?"
"So Bentley an' me wanted to make a time machine but we never actually finished it. We figured it was best if no one ever had that kinda stuff so they don't screw with the timeline. Besides, I can't imagine why anyone would wanna do that other than making sure the Coopers are erased from history out of jealousy." Penelope grinned, "Me personally, I wouldn't have killed 'em. I would've first had one of them be the butt of a circus act, then feed 'em to a robot dragon and use his hide as a rug. Hehehehe…!"
"Wow, that's one good Gaius impression."
"Huh," Penelope tilted. "Oh no… I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to say that!"
"No, I understand now," the Cat-Sith nodded. "It seems you're gathering memories from different variants of yourself. But from where, I do not know."
"What variant of me would start announcing her plan to turn Sly into a carpet? I'd never do that to him! Even if Bentley and the rest of the gang were basically second fiddle to- THERE I GO AGAIN!"
"Please focus, hun. We can still fix this if we follow along with the plan."
"R-right," she pat the sides of her head to regain her focus. "Somehow I can sense Toriel was here, and it would explain why the door opened and the hole in the floor. Maybe she found the shard and that's what's causing the distortions, or most of it. From what remember from Blinx, maybe your Sweeper can take it and use it as a battery!"
"Say less!" Sarah reached for the crystal when it abruptly launches backward into the darkness of the room! It's still lit in the shadows, but as it slowly hovers forward, a large clanky figure supersedes it. A dark medieval mecha, perhaps from Falana's distant past, marches before the trio, reaching for its sword on its side. The crystal remains in its chest cavity, shut off and supplying power to the weapon in its hand.
"Woah, a robot," the Warmblood barked! "And it's got a sword!"
"On Falana though," Penelope wondered. "Looks more like something I'd make."
"Pretty sure you did make it," Bentley remarked.
The machine slams its blade into the floor as if to initiate a fight!
"What would Sly do in this situation," the mouse thought.
Sarah pulls out her pink sword shaped like Ahrah, swinging it in preparation. "I dunno, but I've got a better idea!"
"I like pink, but you put it on your sword?"
"So my idol can't sue me," Sarah smiled.
Brigitte didn't even make a quip over her response. Instead she quietly grimaced, "Ugh…"
She pulls out her heavy Sweeper larger than herself and begins blasting plasma bolts into the robot, but it all bounces off! She's almost smacked away when Sarah jumps between the two, guarding with her sword. The path is clear. Brigitte swoops underneath them, setting her Sweeper to pause. Time's distorted effects are only visible to her and Penelope though as reality once again glitches around them for a split second. Objects from a previous era fumble in place as time resumes and the mech suddenly splits from its waist! Sarah didn't register that Brigitte had redirected the swing of her sword while frozen in place and pretends it's part of the plan.
"See," Sarah acted. "Piece'a…"
SMACK
"CAAAAAAAAAAAKE!"
The Warmblood goes flying across the room right over Penelope's hair! Her legless mechanized foe breaks open its cockpit, tossing and flinging the Time Shard to the upper floors far above it into the dark hallways fast enough before Brigitte can suck it with her Sweeper!
"No," Brigitte grunted. "I forgot to increase my Sweeper's suction power! We'll have to go after it."
Penelope sprung, "I'm on it," already on foot to the staircase to the balcony. Meanwhile, her two partners continue to deal with shutting down the robot. Once up the next level, the mouse freezes seeing the intense darkness in front of her, right where the crystal should be but now rests somewhere in the distant blackness at the end of the wide hall.
"On second thought, maybe I should've borrowed Sarah," she stuttered. But she snaps herself out of it very quickly. "What am I saying? I can do it! It's just a very spooky looking corridor. Nothing's in there."
As she continues forward into the darkness, she feels her surroundings getting smaller and smaller until she bumps into a wall with a single vent her size at ground-level. One peak inside and she catches a glimpse of the crystal close at the end of the shaft, which she crawls into. Funny. She pictures herself in Sly's outfit; this being more his gimmick. The closer she gets towards the light, the further it gets, and the tighter her boundaries squeeze in on her. Luckily, in her frustration, she crawls out the other side, entering yet another familiar sight. The bedroom of her old persona, the Black Baron, complete with a view of the rest of her operations from the airfield to the blimps hovering overhead.
"Now's not the time to lose your grasp on reality, Penelope," she said to herself. "Crystal's gotta be here somewhere."
And so she begins her search, beginning with the fine wood floors to beneath the computer desk and the tall bookshelves. It's during this that Bentley wheels inside from the entrance to help look around, where he parks himself next to one of the filing cabinets.
He tilted, "Having a bit of trouble, huh?"
"Yep, and I sure could use your help," said his wife.
"How bout we make it easy? Use your Black Baron persona again. He'd know where to stash his stuff."
Frustrated, she turns back not realizing her height is increasing ever so slightly, "I'd know where it is, Bentley. I'm not like an alter ego when I put on the costume. I'm just acting! And when did you get so short?"
Simply, the tortoise smiled at her and pat the cabinet next to him. The upmost drawer is at Penelope's height. Having not checked it, she walks over and opens it, finding the Time Shard inside!
"You did this on purpose, didn't you?"
To that, Bentley says nothing and keeps grinning. Grabbing the crystal and turning around, however, Penelope comes face to face with her old costume standing like someone is under the Baron mask! They throw a fist at her, but she swerves to the side and whacks them with the spin of her tail! The impact blows off the helmet revealing nothing but an empty black void underneath. Bentley has once again vanished, replaced by another empty Black Baron clone who doesn't fight back this time. Looking for her husband, Penelope finds more copies circling her until one of them, bursts into Sly leaping out at her! He strikes her with his signature cane with his usual cocky smirk, and by instinct, she fends herself with the crystal in her hand! It successfully blocks the attack but shatters into pieces in a loud flashbang!
Coming to, Penelope realizes she's just smashed the shard against a dusty brick wall in a royal bedroom. No sign of Bentley nor Sly. Brigitte and Sarah calmly walk into the room with no dents nor dings; both failing to notice the mouse's heavy breathing and her fist planted in the wall.
"You good," asked Sarah.
"Y-yeah," she stuttered. "Sorry guys. I accidentally smashed the crystal."
"No that's good," Brigitte nodded. "Without it, time won't be threatened again. All we need to do now is worry about the distortions based on your memories."
"I just hope I don't become a burden to you guys."
"No way girlfriend," Sarah shook. "You're our team's magical goat detector. Plus, you already said something like that earlier."
"If you say so."
Brigitte motions to the hallway, "Come. We must return to the ship so you can regain your senses."
And so they continue. On their way out the castle, back to the main hall to the grand entrance, Penelope faces the old busted mecha Brigitte and Sarah disabled. It wasn't what she thought it was. This machine was one of the Dahaks from the distant past having been reactivated by the Time Crystal. Has her perception of reality completely cracked, she wonders. Is this real -part of the distortions- or in her mind? And which Penelope's mind does it belong to?