So... I'm here to regale you with quite a strange tale, the story of what's possibly the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me.

Let me set the mood first.

I'm a pretty big follower of the Virtual YouTuber "Ironmouse". She's this adorable pink-haired demon girl with, as one comment puts it, "the voice of an angel and the mouth of a sailor". She's very lewd and usually says whatever's on her mind, no matter how raunchy it is, but she's got such a big heart and is so freakin' cute.

And, really, when I found out about her condition, CVID (Common Variable Immune Deficiency), and I saw a video where her followers donated over TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS IN NOT EVEN TEN MINUTES for her to get a better workspace (because she can't really be up and about)...

I'mma be honest with you all, when I saw her reaction and how she started crying, that cemented it for me.

Ironmouse is a precious bean and I love her.

Okay, then, fast forward two months.

I recently got invited to a VR Chat session with Mousey (that's a nickname we all have for her) for her Patrons, and let me tell you, I was excited.

Hey, you finally get to talk to one of your favorite internet personalities in person (sort of), you try not getting excited.

After a little bit of waiting, I finally get my turn to ask her about something (namely, if she'd heard of one of my favorite anime).

That's when the strange happenings began.

Mousey and I were already getting into a fun discussion about a little show called Steel Angel Kurumi when a bright light suddenly overcomes my vision. And from the way Mousey was freaking out, it seemed like it was happening to her, too.

And, well...

...just watch what happens next.


(Don't just sit there and waste your precious time. When you want to do something, do it right away. Do it when you can. It's the only way to live a life without regrets.)

The Blue Time Ranger is proud to present:
The V-Tuber Fables: Mousey's Strange Journey
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Created: September 2nd, 2021

Story Summary: The first story of the "V-Tuber Fables" series. Nick was just a normal guy, as well as a fan of the Virtual YouTuber Ironmouse. But one night, during a VR Chat session, both Nick and Ironmouse are abducted by a blinding light and sent to a void of nothingness that only holds structures that seem to be based on other V-Tubers they know. With no choice but to work together, Nick and Ironmouse team up to explore these strange realms in hopes of finding any other V-Tubers who may have been dragged into this scheme, and hopefully finding out who or what brought them here and why...

Author's Notes: Okay, this is purely self-indulgence on my part, but to hell with it. As I said up there, ever since about June 2020, I've been following the exploits of the Virtual YouTuber Ironmouse, and as I also said, SHE IS A PRECIOUS BEAN AND I F'ING LOVE HER. My story self's description of how he started following Mousey is exactly what happened to me. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that Mousey is the reason I fell into the V-Tuber rabbit hole, and she's also the reason I refuse to climb out of that hole.

As you all know, my dreams are weird. One night after binging a crapton of Mousey videos on Youtube, my brain put my dream self into a world where I was exploring an underwater area with Mousey herself and then we had to battle a brainwashed Gawr Gura. That basically inspired this story. Anyways, let's not waste anymore time, though, and get on with this strange journey!

Oh, one last thing: when it comes to my "V-Tuber Fables" series, none of the stories will be connected to each other unless I specifically say otherwise. Get it, got it? Good.

Theme Song Notes: Since I can't post the opening and ending sequences anymore so I won't get my stuff axed, the opening theme is "Yuzurenai Negai" by Naomi Tamura (the opening theme to Magic Knight Rayearth) and the ending theme is "Unlasting" by LiSA (the first ending theme to Sword Art Online Alicization: War of Underworld).

And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Ironmouse, VShojo, Hololive or any other V-Tubers who may be showing up in this story. They belong solely to the V-Tubers themselves. The only things I DO own are any characters created by yours truly for this story. Anything I don't own, I am just borrowing with no intent of copyright infringement, only the entertainment of my readers. Besides, if I did own these V-Tubers, which I don't, why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?


Episode 1: One Strange Day

The first thing Nick saw when his vision returned to him was...

...ironically, a whole lot of nothing.

All around Nick, there was only white, as far as the eye could see.

"Whoa," Nick gasped as he got to his feet. At least there was a ground that he could stand on in whatever this white void was. "Where the hell am I? Did Exdeath actually come to life and make the world into THE VOID? And where the hell IS everything in this place?!"

Nick's proclamation echoed for miles, confirming to him that he really was alone in this strange place.

"Well, that's a bummer," Nick stated. "But now comes the pair of twenty-billion dollar questions: where exactly am I, and how do I get out of here?"

Nick started walking in a random direction, hoping to get something out of this strange place.

After a few minutes, though, he did eventually find something. Or rather, someone.

"Wait, there's someone else in this place with me?" Nick wondered. "That's a bit odd..."

As Nick walked closer to the strange figure, he gasped in surprise when he finally recognized who this person was.

"Holy shit," Nick gasped. "Mousey?!"

A closer inspection revealed that, yes, this was Ironmouse, the Virtual YouTuber he'd just been talking to before the flash of light that had brought him here. She was apparently in her "season two" form, according to the clothes she was wearing.

"What the heck is Mousey doing here?" Nick asked nobody in particular as he dashed over to make sure both that it was actually Ironmouse and that she was okay.

After a few seconds, Ironmouse slowly started coming around, shaking her head to clear the mental cobwebs from whatever had happened to her.

"Ugh... my head... what was in that cola my mom gave me?" Ironmouse asked, only then noticing the gigantic mess of nothing that was all around her. "Wait, where the hell am I?!"

"That's pretty much the same question I asked," Nick replied as he extended a hand to help Ironmouse to her feet. "I still don't know if someone let Exdeath loose."

"...do I know you? Because you sound very familiar," Ironmouse wondered. "Wasn't I just talking to someone who sounds like you a few minutes ago?"

"Before a bright light gobbled us up and deposited us here?" Nick finished. "That's the plot synopsis in a nutshell, basically."

"Whoa, whoa, it happened to you, too?" Ironmouse quipped, before realizing something. "ACK! Why the hell am I in my avatar body?!"

"I couldn't tell you," Nick admitted, glancing out at the void around them. "All I can think of is that it was because of whoever or whatever brought us here. ...that's the big question, though. What exactly brought us here?"

"And why did it only bring you and me?" Ironmouse asked. "There's literally thousands and thousands of people who follow me. It could have picked anyone."

"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Nick answered. "For right now, let's see if we can find anything in this mass of nothing."

Nick and Ironmouse started walking through the void, hoping to find something that would lead them to a solution.

"Oh, um, since I didn't get to say it earlier," Nick quipped. "My name's Nick. It's nice to meet you, Mousey."

"You, too!" Ironmouse giggled. "It's always nice to meet my fans, even if it's in a very unorthodox way."

After a few minutes of searching, Ironmouse quickly realized something else that was odd about their current situation.

"...I'm... I can walk just fine," Ironmouse stated.

At first, Nick was confused by that statement, until he remembered Ironmouse's real-life condition, CVID, and how it had gotten to a point where it was hard for her to even walk around her house. Even if she had been making progress on that, Nick knew it would most likely be a long, but hard-fought battle.

"I wonder if has something to do with you being put in your avatar's body," Nick responded.

"It... almost feels like... like I never even had my condition to begin with," Ironmouse admitted. "...the sad thing is, I know this is only gonna last while we're here..."

"Then let's make the most of the time we've got in this place," Nick responded. "After all, we have to find whoever brought us here and smack the absolute shit out of them, right?"

"Oh, you know it," Ironmouse laughed.

Before too long, Nick and Ironmouse found something in the void, and it was yet another strange sight.

It appeared to be a cross between a "tunnel of love" and a cyberspace area, though the structure in question was small and devoid of all color, much like the void around them.

"Okay, that's seven kinds of weird," Ironmouse stated.

"You're telling me," Nick admitted. "Man, it's like, for every new question we get, another twenty just pop up out of nowhere. You'd swear we were in Kingdom Hearts... but it seems like it's the only thing we have to go on right now, so we might as well check it out and hope we get somewhere."

A few more steps took Nick and Ironmouse to the entrance of the "tunnel".

"Well, all in who's going in, I guess," Nick quipped.

Nick and Ironmouse touched the structure at the same time, and almost immediately, they both felt the strange sensation of their bodies being transported somewhere.

When they could see properly again, they found themselves at the entrance to a long tunnel with cyberpunk aspects to it, with glowing "TRON lines" running across everything in sight.

"Oof, talk about the weirdest crossovers ever," Ironmouse stated.

"And believe me, I've seen some strange ones," Nick admitted. "We should probably get moving into the tunnels, because I've got a strange feeling that we're being watched."

Ironmouse agreed on that front, and so the two of them set off into the tunnel to find... whatever they were supposed to find in this place.

"Why am I getting the vibe that this place is kinda... glitchy?" Ironmouse asked as she glanced around the tunnel, easily noticing that some parts of the wall were glitching out randomly.

"Or that whatever this is based on was rushed?" Nick wondered. "Because some of those advertisements I'm seeing on the wall are reminding me of a whole f'ing lot of controversy... I'm not gonna open that can of worms, since it's not a game I've played..."

As Nick and Ironmouse continued through the strange tunnel, they made sure to take note of some of the weirder glitches, especially the ones that seemed to lead them down different paths, almost like the source of the glitches was actively trying to get them to follow these paths.

At one point, they even ran into a dead end, only for the wall to glitch out and reveal another way onward.

"This is starting to get really strange," Nick quipped. "Are you getting the same feeling that I am, Mousey?"

"Yeah, like someone's trying to draw us in," Ironmouse replied. "I almost wish we had a weapon or something, because I've played enough games to know that we're probably about to get ambushed by monsters..."

And, just like clockwork, they suddenly heard growling noises from not too far off.

"I really need to keep my mouth shut sometimes," Ironmouse sighed, clenching her fists, only for her fingernails to suddenly extend rapidly until they looked like Wolverine's claws. "...what the fuuuuuuuuu..."

Nick, meanwhile, was distracted by seeing something nearby that looked like a weapon he could use, and it turned out be something resembling the Kingdom Key keyblade from Kingdom Hearts.

"Not sure if this is an actual keyblade or not, but hey, at this point, I'll take what I can get," Nick quipped as he turned back around to see Ironmouse studying her "claw nails". "Whoa, Mousey, I didn't know you could do that!"

"Me, either," Ironmouse admitted. "But if it helps us fight off whatever's coming at us, I'll take it!"

The growls quickly got louder, and that got Nick and Ironmouse to ready their improvised weapons for battle. Rounding the nearby corner from a glitchy stairwell were about eight to ten gremlin-looking creatures, only they were glitching as badly as everything else around here.

"...okay, not what I was expecting," Nick stated as he rushed one of the gremlins before swinging his keyblade in hopes of doing some damage. To his relief, the keyblade actually cut through the gremlin and caused it to dissipate.

From the slashing noises he could hear behind him, Ironmouse had apparently been doing the same thing, using her new claws to cut down the gremlins one by one.

Thankfully, no more gremlins popped out from the stairwell, allowing Nick and Ironmouse to safely start climbing it and continue their exploration.

"That was oddly convenient, right?" Ironmouse quipped. "Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks that?"

"As long as we can fight back against any problems now, you certainly won't hear any complaints from me," Nick admitted. "But that did get me thinking... what kind of world did we get stuck in? I highly doubt this is our dream worlds, because otherwise we'd be controlling everything in here."

"Here's hoping we get some answers soon," Ironmouse stated as the stairway eventually gave way to a large, open area that looked like a circular arena mixed with castle-esque architecture.

Nick and Ironmouse gazed around the room, but braced themselves for a fight. Because they'd both played more than enough video games to understand that a big, open area like this usually meant either an ambush or a boss fight.

"Who dares enter my pleasure castle?" a loud, booming voice proclaimed.

"Well, looks like we've found someone here," Nick proclaimed, until he stopped in his tracks. That voice was starting to sound familiar, after all.

"I did not recall inviting any guests," the voice responded. "Trespassers must be punished."

A nearby wall exploded outward, the bricks and stone eventually crumbling away to reveal the source of the mystery voice.

It was a succubus girl with blue eyes, long white hair, pointed ears, a long black pointed tail, a pair of dark red horns, and a very stylish maid outfit. And she definitely looked angry.

Nick was about to make a joke about Morrigan from Darkstalkers, even if just to lighten the mood, but stopped dead when he got another look at the succubus. Because now he definitely recognized her.

And it seems like Ironmouse did, too.

"...Vei?" Ironmouse gasped.

In response, Veibae began floating off the ground, did a little twirl, and then struck a fighting pose, her eyes suddenly glowing bright red.

~Veibae : The Seductive Succubus~

"Vei, what's going on?" Ironmouse asked. "Why are your eyes glowing like that?"

"Um, Mousey, something tells me she's not in the mood for talking," Nick responded.

Veibae quickly proved Nick right by charging forward and dipping down, attempting to skewer Nick on her horns. Only a quick swing of Nick's keyblade saved his life and pushed Veibae backwards. She attempted another charge, only to this time whip Nick with her tail and send him stumbling backwards.

While Nick attempted to right himself, Veibae dashed over to attack Ironmouse, only for her to extend her new claws and slash with both sets at the same, stopping Veibae in her tracks.

"Why don't you try me on for size, you faker?!" Ironmouse proclaimed. Veibae happily obliged, grabbing Ironmouse by the shirt collar and yanking her into the air.

Nick saw this happening and knew he had to think fast. He wasn't sure if their bodies were any tougher in this strange world, but he didn't want to take the risk. After a couple seconds, Nick decided to try something and threw his keyblade towards Veibae. The keyblade spun through the air and smacked Veibae in the back, causing her to drop Ironmouse so that Nick could run underneath and catch her.

"Holy shit, I didn't want to know what she was gonna do to me," Ironmouse stated. "Thanks for the save."

"No problem-o," Nick replied as his keyblade re-appeared in his free hand. "Okay, good, so it does that, too."

His weapon back in his hands, Nick turned around as Veibae floated back down to ground level. "Now, back to the more pressing matter at hand, what do we do about her, Mousey?" Nick asked.

"Either something's masquerading as Vei, or she's being controlled by that something," Ironmouse replied. "We've gotta find a way to snap her out of it!"

While they were talking, Veibae decided to attack again, raining blasts of dark energy down on both of them from the sky.

"Okay, I don't think Vei could do that!" Nick exclaimed as he frantically dodged through the shower of dark bolts, using his keyblade to bat back as many as he could in hopes of grounding Veibae before this situation got too troublesome.

When the barrage was over, Veibae dropped back to the ground and slammed her palm into the floor, unleashing a large dark shockwave that Nick and Ironmouse had to jump over. Thankfully, this also seemed to leave Veibae tired for a few seconds, allowing Nick to slip in and land a few good hits with his keyblade.

After landing a fourth swing, Veibae suddenly stopped moving, stuck in an awkward-looking pose as her body was surrounded by an ominous-looking dark mist. At the same time, Nick's keyblade began to radiate with a bright silver glow.

"I have no idea what's going on here, but I think we did something right," Nick quipped, aiming his keyblade for the prone Veibae. "So, here's hoping this is the right thing to do!"

A powerful beam of light energy streaked from the tip of Nick's keyblade and blasted through Veibae's body, driving something out of her body in the process. When Nick was able to get a good look, it appeared to be a mist-like creature with beady red eyes.

Ironmouse quickly took care of that problem by running over and slashing her claws straight through the evil spirit, causing it to scream in pain before it dissipated completely.

It took a couple seconds, but Veibae managed to get back to her feet, shaking her head as if to clear the mental cobwebs from what had just happened.

"Vei? Are you all right?" Ironmouse asked. When Veibae looked at her, Ironmouse was relieved to discover that her eyes were no longer that soul-piercing shade of red, but instead were back to their normal blue hue.

"Ugh... why does my head hurt?" Veibae wondered. "W-Wait, Mousey?"

"Oh, thank goodness," Ironmouse proclaimed as she hugged Veibae.

"Just one mystery after another," Nick quipped as he looked around the castle area. "Vei, do you remember anything strange happening recently? Like, say, a bright light swallowing you up?"

"Now that I think of it, yeah..." Veibae answered. "I was just getting ready to play some more Cyberpunk and then my computer flashes this blinding light at me. Next thing I know, I'm here... wherever 'here' is..."

"Just like us," Ironmouse gasped.

"Okay, if it pulled in you and Veibae, god only knows how many other V-Tubers may have been yanked into this world," Nick proclaimed. "We should probably get back to the 'hub world' and see if there's anywhere else we can go to."

"But how do we do that?" Ironmouse asked.

Almost as soon as Ironmouse had said that, a bright circle of blue light opened up at the center of the room, looking a lot like the Ocarina of Time after-boss teleporters.

"I guess that works," Ironmouse giggled. "Come on, Vei, let's get out of this dank place."

Though still extremely confused, Vei nodded and followed Nick and Ironmouse into the teleporter, and after a brief flash of light, they found themselves back in the mostly-empty void that Nick and Ironmouse had found themselves in not too long ago.

Only now, the structure they'd used to enter the glitchy tunnels was now full of color again, some background elements could be seen in the distance (and some of them resembled assorted knick-knacks from Ironmouse's "room" background that she used on her streams), and finally, there was another structure not too far away, this one resembling an ancient Greek temple surrounded by water.

"And the mystery just gets deeper and deeper, doesn't it?" Nick quipped.

"Yeah, now there's another one of those big gateway things," Ironmouse responded. "We should probably go check it out."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Nick answered. "Can you hold down the fort here, Vei?"

"Shouldn't be a problem," Veibae replied. "Just let someone get past my succubus skills."

Nodding to each other, Nick and Ironmouse walked the short distance to the next "portal" while Veibae began practicing her moves just in case she was needed for anything.

"Wonder who this could be for?" Ironmouse asked.

"Guess we'll find out when we get there, huh?" Nick replied as they both reached out to touch the structure, the same strange force pulling them through the portal and depositing them in what appeared to be a large ancient temple.

"Very old school," Nick quipped as he and Ironmouse began to explore the temple.

At one point, they came across a large statue of, of all things, a shark.

"Did whoever own this place make a deity out of a shark?" Nick wondered. "Makes you wonder what kind of nutjob owns this place..."

"I'm not so sure," Ironmouse answered. "If this place is like the tunnels where we found Vei, then whoever created this temple and most likely brought us here must have shaped this world to reflect a certain V-Tuber."

"Now I'm worried how many of your friends this weirdo might have dragged into this world," Nick responded as he swung his keyblade to break down a cracked wall and reveal a path to the outside of the temple. "If they snagged you and Vei, that means they've probably got the rest of VShojo somewhere in this crazy world..."

As the two of them made their way around the outer edge of the temple, following a precarious path that didn't always seem to be completely stable, they looked around, trying to decipher which of their V-Tuber friends this temple was modeled after.

Eventually, they reached the end of the path and had to climb up a nearby wall to get back inside the temple, which Ironmouse found she could do very easily thanks to her new claws. Nick, meanwhile, opted to take the slightly more precarious way and climb up like normal, but Ironmouse made it easier for him by using her claws to slightly yank out some stones in the wall for Nick to use as footholds.

As they continued to climb, Nick caught something odd out of the corner of his eye, and, to his eyes, it looked like a red-haired girl with rat features and big twintails swimming through the ocean below the temple.

Hey, why not? This world, whatever it is, is already wacky enough, Nick thought.

Soon enough, they reached the upper floor of the temple, slightly higher than where they'd started. After another quick check of their surroundings, Ironmouse noticed another pathway leading back downwards, down a long slide.

"Welp, all aboard who's going down," Nick stated as he and Ironmouse slowly made their way onto the slide before, well, sliding down it, going through multiple twists and loops.

The slide quickly and unceremoniously ended, dumping both Nick and Ironmouse into the water below. Thankfully, there was indeed a path onward, so they were just going to have to swim for it.

Ever thankful that he could actually swim nowadays, Nick followed Ironmouse through the water, swinging his keyblade at any evil-looking fish that approached them while Ironmouse did the same thing with her claws.

After a few minutes of swimming, Nick heard a loud rumbling sound from nearby. Nick looked at Ironmouse, but she merely shook her head, indicating that she didn't know what had caused that sound.

And then, it emerged.

Back at the area where they'd been dumped into the water, the wall over by the waterfall exploded outwards to reveal a large, shark-like creature with wide eyes, a rounded body, and, of all things, a tuna can on its head.

And it was charging towards them with its mouth open, its intent obvious.

No words needed to be said as Nick and Ironmouse began to swim for their lives, swimming as fast as they possibly could through the cramped, water-logged pathway even as the strange shark was hot on their tails.

In the back of Nick's mind, he noted that something looked familiar about the shark that was chasing them. But he'd discuss that later, when they weren't busy trying not to become shark food.

At a few points during the chase, Nick and Ironmouse found their paths blocked by injudiciously-placed rubble, but it was thankfully easily broken through.

Just when they felt like they were running out of stamina to keep swimming as fast as they were, Ironmouse was the first to notice a light just up ahead, and the two of them continued to push themselves as hard as they could until they reached the end of the pathway and re-surfaced, then jumped out of the water and onto dry land just in time for the strange shark to crash head-first into the edge of the wall, then shake its head, turn back, and swim away.

"Holy shit, that had my heart on the edge of its seat," Nick gasped once they were finally able to stop and catch their breath. "You doing okay, Mousey?"

"Just barely," Ironmouse replied. "What the hell was that thing?!"

"Probably local wildlife," Nick quipped. "But whoever put it here probably has a cruel sense of humor. You good to go?"

After a nod from Ironmouse, they made their way forward, eventually coming across a large arena much like the Roman Empire would use for their gladiator arenas.

"I'd get ready if I were you, Mousey," Nick proclaimed, bringing out his keyblade while Mousey extended her claws. "We know how this went down last time."

Nick and Ironmouse waited for whoever it was to approach them.

After a minute, a nearby wall cracked and allowed a stream of water to start pouring into the arena, slowly filling up the ridges around the arena.

"Oh, that sounds like trouble," Ironmouse stated.

Almost as if fate has been waiting for them to say that, a pool of water began to form at the center of the arena, only instead of flooding outwards, it stayed confined to the center.

A shark's tail poked out from the center of the pool.

"Ek lógou állos ekvaínei lógos"

Before either of them could ask where that voice had come from, the owner of the voice burst out of the water pool, which became an upwards water geyser that the voice in question landed on.

It was a young-looking girl with white-silver hair with blue streaks all over, blue eyes, and wearing a shark-themed hoodie. She carried an aquatic-blue trident in her right hand that she was now aiming towards Nick and Ironmouse.

And just like Veibae, this girl's eyes quickly shifted from her natural blue to an evil shade of red.

Now Nick knew why he recognized the shark from earlier, because he now knew who they were up against.

And he wasn't looking forward to this one.

"...Gura?!" Nick shouted.

("REFLECT" by Gawr Gura plays)

~Gawr Gura : Heart of Gold and Head of Bone "a"~

Gura slammed the pommel of her trident into the ground and sent a shockwave of water towards Nick, who quickly slashed through it with his keyblade, only for Gura to send another shockwave his way.

"I don't think we're gonna get anywhere if we have to keep fighting at long range!" Ironmouse exclaimed.

"Can you get up close and stop this water wave nonsense, Mousey?" Nick asked.

"All over that," Ironmouse quipped, dashing around the arena in order to throw Gura's aim off while Nick got in close and swiped at Gura a few times, even if she blocked each swing with her trident. But this allowed Ironmouse to lunge at Gura from behind and hit her with a massive double claw strike, knocking Gura off of her water pillar.

"Okay, so... now what?" Ironmouse asked.

Gura responded to that question by lunging forward with a trident stab, trailing geysers of water as she did so. Ironmouse dove to the left to avoid the attack, only for Gura to do it again in the middle of her dive, sending Ironmouse stumbling backwards.

Nick raced in to hopefully land a few hits while Gura was distracted, but the denizen of Atlantis simply spun her trident and caused a flare of water geysers all around her.

"Okay, we're not getting anywhere if she keeps this geyser crap up," Nick quipped. "We've gotta find a way to get through her defenses."

"I think I might have an idea," Ironmouse replied as she ran up to jump off of Nick's shoulders and above Gura, then lunging down with a diving claw strike to get Gura to stumble, and this finally allowed Nick to land a few hits with his keyblade.

Gura recovered quickly, though, raising her trident and causing a rain of bubbles to fall on Nick and Ironmouse. They dodged through the bubbles as best they could, with Nick even sending one back to Gura with a swing of his keyblade, which stunned her long enough for Ironmouse to rush in and slash at Gura a few times, hoping to do enough damage to force whatever was possessing her out so they could deal with it.

Eventually, Gura jumped back to the center of the arena and began strumming her trident like it was a guitar, and this caused many, many watery clones of Gura to appear around her and start attacking Nick and Ironmouse.

"Oh, hell no, this is reminding me of a certain Kingdom Hearts boss and I am not having that shit," Nick growled as he swung his keyblade rapidly to destroy the clones. Thankfully, they only took one hit to dissolve, but they just kept coming.

"I know what you mean," Ironmouse quipped as she slashed through clone after clone with her claws. "That boss brought back baaaaaaad memories of insta-kill time limits..."

Thankfully, it didn't take too much longer to exterminate all of the clones, and this caused Gura to start strutting towards Nick while "strumming" on her trident.

Remembering how this one worked, Nick got close to Gura, then ducked under her trident swing and slashed upwards with his keyblade, sending Gura into the air. When she landed, her body froze up and was surrounded by a dark glow.

Nick didn't waste any time in raising his keyblade and firing a beam of light from it that pierced straight through Gura's body and drove the dark spirit out of her. Ironmouse quickly rushed over and slashed the dark spirit in half before it could attempt to re-possess its host.

"And that's two down!" Ironmouse exclaimed. "We're on a roll!"

Gura shook her head to clear the strange mental cobwebs before looking around, wondering why she was in Atlantis, of all places, and not back home preparing for that big cross-gen Mario Kart tournament.

"A... okay, I have several questions," Gura stated.

"That was the first thing I said, too," Ironmouse laughed.

"Hey, whoa, aren't you that Ironmouse girl that Calli collab-ed with a while ago?" Gura gasped once she recognized Ironmouse.

"I can imagine you've probably got some more questions besides the obvious, Gura," Nick stated. "Long story short, Mousey and I got pulled into this very weird world during a VR Chat session, and we had to fight off one of Mousey's V-Tuber friends just like we did you."

"That's a problem, because if they got Mousey's friends, that means they've definitely got my gen-mates, too," Gura stated.

"Everyone who got taken here is probably being possessed by more of those dark spirits that got you, Gura," Ironmouse quipped as another portal appeared at the center of the arena. "And that can only mean we're gonna have to do some more fightin' if we want to take down the coño carajo who yanked us from our world."

"For right now, let's get back to the Cradle and see if there's anywhere else we can go," Nick stated.

"...the Cradle?" Ironmouse asked.

"Oh, yeah, that," Nick laughed. "I guess, for convenience's sake, I decided to call that strange hub world place 'Mousey's Cradle'. ...it's not a dumb name, is it?"

"Honestly, it's cute," Ironmouse giggled as she, Nick, and Gura stepped into the teleporter that would take them back to Mousey's Cradle to continue their adventure.

When the arena was calm again, though, that red-haired rat girl from earlier picked herself up and jumped onto the platform, looking at the spot where Gura had just been.

"Huh," Hakos Baelz quipped. "If Gura's here, that can only mean..."

To be continued...


On the next episode...

Nick: Well, that was a pretty interesting start to this strange journey of ours, but how much do you wanna bet it's only gonna get stranger from here?

Ironmouse: Oh, tell me about it, considering this pirate fleet and its kraken! I don't even play Sea of Thieves anymore, for crying out loud!

Nick: And then there's this place that looks even more glitched out them Veibae's castle did!

Ironmouse: Weird just runs in the family with V-Tubers, doesn't it?

Nick: Sure does. But we'll see the craziness of these new hotspots on the next episode of The V-Tuber Fables: Mousey's Strange Journey, "Booty and Plunder"!

Ironmouse: Oh, that's subtle.

Nick: Methinks the scriptwriter loves his puns. And did he follow us here from The New Adventures?!