"I knew you'd come..." A voice said as all Cherry and Jack could see so far was just darkness.
The lights soon came on to show someone who looked like Jack, but with brown hair and a dull hoodie.
"What?" Jack asked. "Who are you...?"
"You seriously didn't miss me?" The stranger glared coldly. "I'm disappointed in you. I'd have thought it would have been obvious. After all this time, running around and trying to undo my work."
"You mean...?" Cherry spoke up.
"I'm The BOSS." The stranger grinned.
"You're The BOSS?" Cherry asked. "Okay, who are you really? We're both anxious to go back home, especially me, I need to see my Katie after seeing all these alternates and where's Teller?"
"Wow... I guess it's true that no one really cares about me..." The stranger huffed. "They only ever tune in to see you. The 'BOSS' is nothing after all."
"Jack, who is that...?" Cherry asked. "It's not Anti, right...?"
"No..." Jack frowned before looking to the stranger. "It's Seán, isn't it?"
"Ah... You've caught on at last..." The stranger grinned chillingly. "About time. I wonder if you would figure it out or blunder around like an idiot with no idea what was really going on."
"Isn't Seán your real name?" Cherry asked Jack.
"No... Seán is his real name..." Jack told her.
"I'm still confused." Cherry frowned.
"Don't you get it? That's Jack... The goofball..." Seán replied. "The yelling idiot who never knows when to quit. He's not me, not anymore... Of course, you'd know all about that, wouldn't you, Cherry, or should I say-"
"Wait, that's not true." Jack interrupted.
"Don't give me that. Don't try to turn against me," Seán glared. "I made you. I'm the reason you even exist."
"No, you don't give any of us that, Seán!" Jack argued. "You trapped millions of people on my hard drive and took an innocent bystander along with you! And for what? What was the purpose? It just doesn't make any sense!"
"Of course it doesn't; I didn't trap them here!" Seán retorted.
"Then who did?" Cherry asked.
"Don't you understand?" Seán grinned wickedly. "It was Billy and Katie who orchestrated this whole thing. They trapped the subscribers. They called us here!"
"No, that's crazy, I don't know Katie as well as Cherry does, but Billy wouldn't do that to us," Jack replied. "He cares about the channel and the subscribers. They're what made him who he is."
"And Katie loves and supports me like she is my own sister even if she isn't," Cherry added. "Whether for our friendship or about my career as an artist."
"Oh, they didn't know what they were doing~" Seán replied. "They actually thought they were doing us a favor."
"No, that makes no-" Jack was about to defend.
"Haven't you wondered how Billy knew you needed power regulators and just so happened to have them on him?" Seán smirked. "Or how about Katie suddenly respawning in the worlds you travel into Wireland? How they both always seemed to know just the right things to say at just the right moment? They trapped everyone, but they didn't do it to hurt you or anyone at all. They knew that I was in conflict, so they decided to set this whole adventure thing up so that I would be the hero. I would see how much my subscribers love me and need me."
"So, why is there two of you?" Cherry wondered.
"What do you think, Jack?" Seán smirked. "Why are we two people?"
"I was so conflicted... Perhaps the computer saw two different people when I was uploading," Jack replied. "It turned 'I' into 'us'."
"And he's not as dumb as he looks~" Seán smirked.
"So... Jack wasn't completely him..." Cherry commented. "I feel like my whole life is a lie."
"It is, 'Cherry'," Seán retorted, using air quotes. "I'm surprised you caught on or that you would even care as a fellow internet celebrity as well as a subscriber to Jack."
"Why did you leave those messages?" Jack about saying negative things about The BOSS. "What's the point leaving them all over the computer? To stop us from coming?"
"Come on, Jack, you're smarter than this," Seán replied. "You know how this place works. Cherry of all people should know that we affect our canon more than canon. Our thoughts, and opinions, and moods, they shape this place. What it is. What it looks like. It's far more than ships or voices or headcanons. Even the messages found all over reflect how we really feel inside, especially when one of our collab partners is a total Gary Stu."
"True." Cherry had to admit about some point in that last claim.
"So, why are you still here?" Jack asked his counterpart.
"The only reason I didn't just leave is that I noticed that one subscriber was missing, and I couldn't just leave a 'person' trapped in the hard drive forever." Seán defended.
"You mean I just glitched into the games instead of... Wherever this is?" Cherry asked.
"Yes, it was a mistake," Seán replied. "You should've been uploaded with the others. Just come with me, Cherry, and everything will be fine."
"NOOOO!" Katie soon rushed out as something came down to beam Cherry and suddenly, she was taken instead.
"Kat?!" Cherry gasped.
"Yes, Nee-Bear, it's me, the real Katie..." Katie told her. "For real this time... I'm sorry this had to happen... I'll see you on the other side."
"No, Katie, don't leave me!" Cherry cried out with tears in her eyes before glaring at Seán. "What have you done with her?!"
"She's with the others now... It should've been you..." Seán replied icily. "I've had the real Katie with me all this time. I could've kept you safe, but that was the last beam I had."
"You are not leaving me here!" Jack told his counterpart.
"And what are you going to do about it?" Seán glared firmly.
"I'm not gonna let you leave me or Cherry here." Jack replied.
Suddenly, they were in a fight screen like in Undertale with options of FIGHT, TALK, or GIVE UP.
"You should've left when you had the chance, 'Nee-Bear'." Seán huffed to Cherry as she felt her heart beating and her hands shaking.
"Come on, Seán," Jack told him. "I know you don't want to do this."
"Do you? Do you REALLY?!" Seán replied. "We might have been the same person once, but now? Everyone expects me to be you. All the time. But I'm more than just you! I'm sick of drowning in you so much that I don't even know who I am anymore!"
"Run, Cherry!" Jack told the perky goth.
They soon began to run away before they would be trapped again. They both felt powerless, but they didn't seem to be seen just yet.
"I'm sure that's not true!" Cherry called out.
"You stayed for Cherry and Katie, you wouldn't leave without them!" Jack added. "I know you still care!"
"That's not what this is about!" Seán replied.
"Then what is it about?" Jack asked.
"It's about the real reason we're doing this," Seán stated. "It's for the subscribers! It's because we want to make them happy! It's because they expect it of us! And I am sick and tired of keeping up this façade!"
"We have to change his mind, but he's not listening." Cherry frowned to Jack.
"What do you mean?" Jack asked Seán. "You aren't making any sense!"
"YOU!" Seán replied. "You have no idea what it's like trying to act the same way day in and day out, without anyone recognizing the real person behind it all. It's tiring. If it weren't fun for me to make the videos, I would have quit a long time ago, but now, it's starting to lose its luster."
"But Seán, I feel that way every day of my life!" Cherry cried out.
They soon had to run and they came across negative words that were blue and they sensed that they would have to avoid them.
"What do you know anyway?" Seán scoffed at Cherry. "All people care about is your stories. No one sees you as a human, even when you post something going on in your life, people just demand more and more stories from you. Who are you trying to impress anyway?"
"I just want to share the world my talent!" Cherry told him. "Writing stories is just something I love doing that happens to get a lot of attention! I'm doing it for the art, not for fame or popularity! You probably just need a change of pace, but getting rid of Jack isn't going to do anything."
"Like what? A vacation?" Seán huffed. "Do you really think I can just put everything down and turn off social media and uploads that long? Three days off the schedule and the relentless algorithms of the internet relevance would begin to crush me! And even if I could take a vacation, I can't even go to the movies without him being called out too! Ever heard of a burn-out?"
"Of course, I used to go to college," Cherry replied. "I still get some now and then, so I turn off my computer, go to my living room with some junk food, and I watch some 90's TV."
They soon went back to running until they were caught again.
"So, you're just giving up?" Jack asked Seán as he held his head.
"You don't know what I've been through," Seán growled. "I don't even share that with you. You literally can't feel despair. You can't understand how this feels. You and your friend are just two faces out of many. One little piece of me who monkeys around for the amusement of others. Haven't you seen what they're saying about you, Jack? I guess you wouldn't care. You wouldn't care how what you do reflects on us. Anything to get a laugh, right? It was all right for a while, but now we're too divided. I need more space from you. We can't coexist anymore."
Cherry and Jack looked to each other. They had to wonder now if Seán was right since he seemed to really hit close to home for both of them.
"The community isn't going to care if you're me all the time!" Jack told him. "They want to see our real face. Even if they don't like what they see. They want the connection. We always tried to be genuine and honest. Why should it be different now."
"I can barely muster up the energy anymore, Jack," Seán replied. "I can't be the person they want. And I don't want to let them down. I can't let them down. This is the only way to end this."
Seán soon began to chase them both.
"You can't catch us, nyah, nyah, nyah~" Jack taunted.
"Jack, we have to save him before he does something he'll regret." Cherry advised.
Jack looked to her and tried to become motivational like she was. "You're wrong about the subscribers..." he soon said. "You're wrong about the community. They really care about you."
"Yeah... They might say that..." Seán replied. "But they're just looking for their next laugh. Their next 20 minutes of entertainment. Their next gripping adventure based off of a movie or a cartoon they admired as children. Now stop struggling. I'm sick of fighting. One of us has to win. It has to be me. I have to make it right."
"Seán, what is it you have to make right?" Cherry asked him, trying not to give up.
"I need to set us all free," Seán told her, mysteriously. "And I can't do that if you two keep getting in my way, then again, Cherry, that's what you do when you write stories based off of movies and shows everybody loves and ruin them with your OCs."
"We can help you!" Jack told him.
"I don't want your help!" Seán retorted. "It's over..."
The stars surrounding them seemed to glow blue as Jack fell to his knees in despair to his counterpart. Have they lost the battle?
'I'm sorry, if I made you feel that way,' A star spoke in a girl's voice, coming out in front of Seán. 'But for me, even if it's only 20 minutes of laughter, it sometimes seems like the only 20 minutes in a day. I can laugh, you keep me company, like a friend, when there's no one. Thank you. Please, just thank you.' The star then concluded before turning bright green.
Seán began to watch this and feel touched deep inside.
'It's not just her,' Another star added before becoming green as well. 'We all love you. Not just 'cuz you're freakin' hilarious, but also because, you know, it's real for us.'
More and more stars came alive, revealing to be subscribers that were trapped.
'I was the one who told Cherry about you in the first place,' A voice like Katie's informed. 'Our Undertale story happened because of you and I wanted her to have a fun and unique experience of someone she had never heard or seen before who helps make her laugh and feel like she's hanging out with someone when she's goofing off on YouTube. She's also a creator and she even includes you as one of her inspirations to continue onward to be as successful and fun to be around like you are.'
Though she rarely ever cried during anything, Cherry found herself breaking down into tears. The stars all turned green and they began to applaud as Jack soon stood up while Seán felt emotional.
"See? They do care," Jack smiled. "Even if it doesn't feel like it. I know that's easy to forget, but that's why I'm here. That's why you need me."
"You can't do it alone," Cherry added as she took her glasses off from crying as she felt empathy for Seán. "And nobody should expect you to either."
"Burdens are lighter when carried by two," Jack helped. "Or more... Like... A few million more."
Seán slowly turned around to them with a solemn frown. "I'm sorry, guys." he said to them softly.
"Don't be; I might not be able to feel despair or burn-out, or anything negative really, but I think that helps me see things in a better way," Jack supported. "It helps me see the way everyone else does. It's so easy to forget that everyone else sees us differently than the way we see ourselves. So let me continue to be the one to remind you of that."
"Thanks." Seán smiled back to that.
"Now, come on," Jack nodded. "I think we've been separated for far too long."
The two young men soon came together, creating a glow and suddenly, they became one.
"Well... That feels better... Come on, Cherry." He then said.
They both left and soon came back into the apartment and found Katie in the editing room.
"Kat!" Cherry cried out and hugged the older, but shorter girl with tears in her eyes. "We thought you were gone. Is everything okay?" she then asked.
"Wow, thanks for the warm welcome." Katie smirked playfully.
"You know what I meant," Cherry smirked back. "What happened to you?"
"There was this burst of light, and... I don't remember very much..." Katie replied. "Are you alright though, Nee-Bear?" she then asked, almost maternally.
"Don't worry about it," Jack smiled. "We're glad you're back."
"So, where's Seán?" Katie wondered.
"Well... Here... I mean, we were the same person this whole time," Jack said. "Now it's just official."
"I'm sorry I had to trick you, Cherry, but he was going to destroy you for his claims of you damaging the fan fiction community, and you know I love yo both as a creator and a sister." Katie soothed.
"Thanks, Kat, it's words like that that motivate me into creating to infinity and beyond." Cherry replied.
"Even about Billy?" Katie smiled.
"Even then... Surprised about him though." Cherry smiled back.
"Believe it or not, Billy was just trying to help," Jack replied. "My Seán side did some digging while trying to figure out how to get us back, and found out what happened."
"Well, that was a pretty fun way to do it," Cherry shrugged. "I could meet Jack, even if it's kind of not real, and we met the beloved game characters along with the several other Katies based on our realities in the fan fiction world."
"Yeah... It read a bit like a fan fiction..." Jack had to agree. "And that's what it was. A well-intentioned story, starring me, being written by an unsuspecting person with an imagination as big as her heart."
"He is a clever kid... Even more than we give him credit for," Katie replied. "He's basically one of the most powerful people here."
They all smiled to each other.
"Well, I guess we better say goodbye before Billy sends us off then..." Cherry suggested, a bit emotionally, but also relieved at the same time. "It was great meeting you, Jack."
"Well, it's not like this is goodbye forever," Jack said to her. "You can meet me at conventions and stuff."
"And you'll always have YouTube!" Katie piped up.
"Yeah, thanks for everything, see ya." Jack smiled.
Before anything, Cherry soon quickly hugged Jack with tears in her eyes one last time. There was then suddenly a bright light which blinded them all briefly.