After finishing their discussion, Illusion Steve teleported him to Sabre.

Snow crunched underneath Memory Steve's shoes and bounced light into his eyes. He hissed and shuddered at the biting cold as his mask adjusted to the sudden light. Living in the Spiritless World for so long only to start his first mission on a freezing mountain! He was about to complain until he heard someone.

"Alex?! Illusion Steve? Is that you?"

Memory Steve tensed and turned to the sound. Finally. Higher up the mountain was his target. Wearing that same black bandana on his face and that same chicken onesie.

"Is anyone..." Sabre turned around and immediately paled when he spotted Memory Steve.

"No way!" He scrambled backwards. "It's you?! Memory Steve?! It can't be; I destroyed you!" He forced on a sheepish smile. "No hard feelings about that, right?"

Memory Steve huffed and rolled his shoulders. He marched towards Sabre, who kept retreating backwards as his smile twitched. If Sabre had eyes under that bandana, they must be watering by now.

"Oooh, you're definitely mad about that," Sabre whimpered. Then he tripped and fell on his butt.

Memory Steve sprang forward.

"Ah!" Sabre frantically scooted away, but the snow engulfed his limbs. "Stay away! Stay away!" He tore his gaze away and shielded his face with his arms.

Then there was a flash.

Hiding in a cave on the side of the mountain, Memory Steve looked at the newly claimed flower, which replayed Sabre terrified and retreating. It worked! Now to erase Sabre's other memories.

"...What...just happened?" Sabre mumbled from above. Memory Steve sensed the player coming down. "I feel terrified. Well, I guess I have the right to be, because Illusion Steve's doing something to the world and no one is here with me. I'll just make my way down now. I should gather resources while I figure out my next decision."

Resources! Memory Steve snapped his eyes to the forest next to the mountain. He quickly looked at the stack of wooden planks he salvaged from that abandoned village. Planks that could easily become signs. He looked back to the forest, his hidden eyes narrowed in determination. Not this time, Sabre.

Memory Steve teleported on top of the mountain, cutting Sabre from the pathway down to the forest.

Sabre screamed. "OH MY GOD, I REMEMBER NOW. MEMORY STEVE?! I THOUGHT I DESTROYED YOU."

Instead of stalking towards him, Memory Steve circled around him like a cunning wolf.

"You're not mad that I destroyed you, right? Because with all the things I'm dealing with right now, the last thing I also want to add to my problems is you erasing my memories over and over again," Sabre said, slowly spinning to follow Memory Steve's gaze. Eventually, Sabre spun a complete 180 degrees, his back against the forest.

Memory Steve stopped walking and let out a dark chuckle.

Sabre shuddered. "Yeah, you're still mad."

Memory Steve charged at Sabre, who let out another scream and looked away. A white light.

Memory Steve teleported to the border between the forest and the mountain. He took out the cobblestone blocks (also salvaged from the village) and quickly constructed a wall on the border, separating the two biomes. He looked back at the mountain, seeing Sabre still stunned. He teleported on top of the wall, jumped into the forest side, and dashed into the woods, searching for hostile mobs.

One task later, he sprinted back to the forest side of the wall, still seeing Sabre dazed on the mountain.

"Ugh, my head. What the heck just happened? ...oh well, I'm just gonna head down this mountain. There's a pathway here anyways."

Sabre approached the border and paused in front of the wall. Memory Steve snapped his fingers.

Then spiders emerged from the forest in a marching formation and climbed over the wall.

"Spiders?! Aaaaahhh!" Screams and footsteps on the other side. "Nevermind! I'll find a different place to collect resources!"

Triumphant, Memory Steve telepathically ordered the spiders to return back to their homes. His powers allowed him to put his influence into one's mind, allowing him on certain occasions to mind control others. Because of this, he mind controlled those spiders to scare off Sabre. If Sabre thought the closed-off forest was a spider-infested hell, he wouldn't dismantle the wall and would go somewhere far away for wood.

Meaning he couldn't craft wooden signs for a while. That'll give me more time to properly erase the memories Illusion Steve wants gone. What I need to do to make Sabre think this illusion is reality, he thought. But first.

Memory Steve teleported to the other side of the wall and stalked behind Sabre. When Sabre finally turned around, Memory Steve sprang forward. The player screamed.

A flash of light and Memory Steve teleported back to the forest side of the wall, leaving Sabre on the other side confused. He raised his hands and summoned the several flowers he had collected.

Perfect. He had taken all of Sabre's memories about Memory Steve. Next time the player encountered him, he would be more confused and think he was a new Steve, instead of yell his name in sudden remembrance. He crushed the flowers, sending them to the Memory Dimension. This should make it easier for me to erase those other memories.

"Sabre, there you are!" A new voice cried behind the mountain side of the wall, causing Memory Steve to flinch.

"Guardian, you're here?!" Sabre's voice said.

"I came here because I sensed there was danger in the Overworld. I'm here to investigate it," the Guardian of the Spirit World said.

"Oh yeah," Sabre replied sheepishly. "You saw Illusion Steve take Alex's powers, huh? Sorry, you were right."

Wait, the same Alex that Illusion Steve told me about? Memory Steve pressed his ear closer to the wall. The powerful protector of the Steves and the first infected victim? He stole power from her?...No wonder he's so powerful and why his power feels alien to me.

"Well, yeah," Guardian said. "But I came here specifically there's a dangerous entity in this area causing trouble."

"A dangerous entity causing trouble? Well, now that you've mentioned it, I've been feeling really terrified even though I've seen no one yet. Is that the danger you're referring to? Is that why I feel so uncomfortable?"

"You haven't seen anyone?"

"No. Not at all."

"Then you must have seen the dangerous entity, Sabre! He has the ability to make you forget that you encountered him, but he sometimes leaves behind the fear of that encounter. Memory Steve."

"Memory Steve? MEMORY STEVE. I REMEMBER NOW. HE MUST HAVE BEEN ERASING MY MEMORIES."

Memory Steve double facepalmed, threw his head up, and let out a muffled scream. Why?! He stomped into the forest, his thoughts chanting Why why why why WHY, before he buried his face into the grass and wailed, "Wwhhhhhhhyyyyyyy."

Of course.

OF COURSE.

OF COURSE after Sabre lost his memories, the Guardian came in to make him remember all of his past encounters with Memory Steve.

OF COURSE it had to be the Guardian, the person who didn't allow Memory Steve into the Spirit World after dying.

OF COURSE Sabre had to be difficult and not remain oblivious. Memory Steve could easily erase his memories, but Sabre always felt more skeptical and curious than his Steve victims. Sabre would eventually figure out the missing pieces and a trigger that allowed him to remember everything he lost. In this case, hearing the name "Memory Steve" or just seeing him was a trigger, no matter how many memories he lost.

Memory Steve blamed it on the fact that Sabre was a player instead of a Steve. But why was he so special?!

After more muffled screaming, Memory Steve stood back up with a grumble. Ok, this is fine. This will ALL be fine. I just hope they didn't hear me. He trudged back to the wall and continued listening to Sabre and Guardian.

"So...Memory Steve has been in the Spiritless World all this time?" Sabre said. "That sounds like an awful place for awful Steves. Do you know how he got out?"

"I have no clue. I thought the Spiritless World was completely sealed off, unable to leak into the Overworld or my world. I've deal with that problem a long time ago with two allies..."

"Right now, it's more important that we stay safe from Memory Steve," Sabre suggested. "Do you have wooden signs on you? We can use those to remind us of him if he erases our memories. We should make a machine to destroy him again."

"No, I don't. Actually, I know an easier way to defeat him! I know everything about Memory Steve as the Guardian of the Spirit World. I know he has one critical weakness."

Memory Steve flinched. Crap...He immediately started channeling his powers, ready to use all of his energy for what he was about to do.

"You see, Memory Steve's weakness is that he can't..." Guardian's voice trailed off. "I...I don't seem to remember."

"Is it because you're worried that he'll come," Sabre asked. "Don't worry. I won't let anything bad happen to you. But I need you to remember for me."

"No, stress isn't making me unable to remember. I don't know what."

"Oh no, it must be the illusion. Illusion Steve...he's actually going through with his plan. His illusion is slowly blocking away your memories. Come on! Please just tell me. What's Memory Steve's weakness?!"

He knew that it was unintentional, but Memory Steve thanked Illusion Steve for the perfect timing. He teleported to the mountain side of the wall behind Sabre, who was looking away and shaking the Guardian back and forth. The Guardian was looking down, his blue eyes lost in thought and his white wings limp. Memory Steve approached the duo slowly.

"Guardian, please remember!"

"I...I..." Guardian looked up. "...Who's that behind you?"

Sabre tensed up but wisely decided not to turn around. "...It's Memory Steve." How did he find out without turning around? Memory Steve did not know. Though he heard a long time ago that players had the ability to look around without actually moving. An F5 mode. Ugh, he'll remember since he technically hasn't looked at me yet. No matter. I'll deal with Guardian first.

Memory Steve immediately glared at the Guardian's eyes and channeled all of his powers into his mind. Another white flash and he teleported back to the forest side of the wall. He let out an exhausted sigh and fell back, sprawled on the grass.

"He's gone! But Guardian, you saw him, right?!" Memory Steve drowsily heard someone shout.

"...Who are you?"

"It's me. I'm Sabre. I'm the guy you've been working with to figure all this out. Don't let the illusion get to you!"

"Get away from me! I don't know who you are!" Memory Steve heard the frightened rustling of wings and footsteps.

"No, come back!" Sabre cried.

Memory Steve weakly hovered his hand above his face, seeing the new flower he generated. This flower was shining so bright that it didn't even replay an image. This was because this flower was every single memory the Guardian had.

Memory Steve sighed in relief, desummoned the flower, and dropped his hand. He figured that Illusion Steve would block out all of Guardian's memories. Though he erased those concealed memories, just in case...So even if Sabre somehow pulled him out of the illusion, there would be nothing for Guardian to remember.

So Sabre lost a potential ally. Now Memory Steve had to get back to the main goal of the mission.

...After a rest.

Using his small bit of remaining energy, he commanded the mind controlled spiders to return and watch over him. Pushed to the limit, he passed out.

After waking up, he sat up with a groggy mind. He sent the spiders off again and fished through his inventory for a snack, immediately grateful to see the sky was still blue.

He wished he knew when the Guardian learned about his weakness. It would have been less energy-draining to erase one memory to protect himself. However, the Guardian was an immortal entity who spectated the living world for generations. He didn't know when he discovered his weakness, so alas, Memory Steve had to take away all of his memories to guarantee that his weakness remained a secret. Better than trying countless times to fish out that exact memory. It wasn't like handling the Demon Steves, when he had plenty of time in his hands and when depleting his energy risked his survival.

At least an amnestic Guardian can't warn anyone about me, Memory Steve gave himself a positive note.

"Galaxy Steve, do you know what a sandwich is?" Sabre asked.

"Of course! It's a...ummm."

Memory Steve spectated their discussion in a hideout on a mountain. After recovering, he had tracked down Sabre in a plains biome talking to Galaxy Steve. Sabre seemed happy to reunite with his friend, only to find out the illusion already affected Galaxy Steve, making him not remember his past.

Again.

Well, unlike last time, he was also unaware of his powers, which contradicted with how he knew about things not from this world, like sandwiches.

While he watched the two, Memory Steve channeled his powers again and concentrated on Sabre.

"Galaxy Steve," Sabre began. "I think it's time I tell you the truth. This world isn't what it seems to be."

The player began to explain the world before the illusion and his past with Galaxy Steve.

"We became super close friends," Sabre explained. "You and I went through a lot of adventures as we defeated villains. We defeated Void Steve and you absorbed him. We defeated Origin Steve with his own ego. And now we have a new villain to face. Well, that and an old enemy who I know is lurking around here."

Memory Steve leaned in closer. Sabre just reminded him about how Void Steve was defeated...and he played around with an idea.

Sabre proceeded to explain about Illusion Steve. Memory Steve waited, hoping Galaxy Steve would eventually run off.

"No...No!" Galaxy Steve panicked. "I don't want to forget! If I do, we won't be able to fix the problem that I CREATED!"

"Don't panic!" Sabre cried. "If you panic, Illusion Steve will catch on that something isn't right and restart you again! Remember, his main priority is to make you happy, so he has some connection to you and can sense your emotions."

"Nononono. This is not good! Not good!" Galaxy Steve cowered down into a hiding position.

"Please calm down. I need you to calm down!"

"I know you do because if I panic, Illusion Steve will find out and I'll mess everything up again, and knowing that makes me panic even more!" Galaxy Steve stammered.

Memory Steve gave a half scoff, half sympathetic sigh as his uncle spiraled more into panic. Then thunder struck and Galaxy Steve froze.

"Galaxy Steve?" Sabre shook his friend's shoulder.

Galaxy Steve stood up and looked at him with a smile. "Hi! How do you know my name?"

"What?! NO!"

"Don't yell at me! You're scaring me!"

"I'm not trying to yell at you!" Sabre yelled at Galaxy Steve.

Galaxy Steve screamed and fled. "Leave me alone, strange person!"

Sabre groaned, "Great. He just had to freak out."

Memory Steve teleported behind the player and coughed, "Ahem."

Sabre whirled around with an irritated expression. "What do you want?! I – AAAAHHHH."

A blink of white light.

He teleported back inside the mountain and looked at the multiple memories he collected from Sabre. All of Sabre's memories of Illusion and Memory Steve. He looked back outside and saw the player looking around the plains biome with a perplexed expression.

"How...did I get here?" He asked himself. "Alex? Time Steve? Rainbow Steve? Anyone? Great, I lost them...What was I doing again? Oh, well the team decided that we had to go find that Green Steve. Maybe they're still looking for him and if I find Green Steve, I'll find Alex and Time Steve. I just hope nothing bad happened to them. And I hope Rainbow Steve's alright too."

Perfect. Now he thinks this is reality, Memory Steve thought as he crushed the multiple flowers in his hand. Mission accomplished.

After Sabre walked away, Memory turned his attention to Galaxy Steve, who was running the opposite direction. He began to channel a large portion of his powers.

"That crazy chicken person was so strange! I hope I don't see another strange person."

Memory Steve teleported in front of his uncle.

"AH! ANOTHER STRANGE PERSON. GET AWAY FROM ME."

Memory Steve sighed and rolled his eyes. Here comes the part where he throws a bunch of fish at me.

"Get away from me!" Galaxy Steve took out a stack of raw cod, and then came the part where he threw a bunch of fish at Memory Steve. The masked Steve dodged the assault of fish, cringing at the smell.

Galaxy screamed and turned around to flee, causing Memory Steve's power to wipe out his memories.

Memory Steve teleported away and looked down to the two flowers forming in his hands. One was small and blue, replaying the memory of Galaxy Steve throwing fish at him. The other one was as huge and imageless. Instead of being a gentle blue, it was an intense red with a purple shine.

Honing in his teleportation powers, he exited the Overworld and retired to his home: the Memory Dimension. The "night" void sky greeted him. Ahead of him was the swamp biome with lava lakes instead of water.

Memory Steve sighed and smiled behind his mask. He scanned the swamp island and inspected the borders, the trees, and the vines. The dimension where he stored memories and created fake entities was exactly how he left it.

Memory Steve craned his neck up to the dimension's night sky, which was populated with blue abstract stars and one lone red star. If one had a sharp eye, one would notice that the celestial entities were actually the star-shaped forget-me-nots. He raised up a hand. The lone red star shook and transformed. Suddenly it was not a star billions of lightyears away, but the bright red flower collected from Galaxy Steve earlier today. It floated down from the sky into Memory Steve's hand.

"Welcome back home, father."

He set the flower down. The flower rattled and a new entity replaced it with a puff of smoke. The new entity dressed in a familiar dark gray hoodie and black jeans, with the face of the void and red eyes. Memory Steve almost bowed in submission, before reminding himself this new entity wasn't Void Steve. Just a projection or a copy of him, made out of Void's memories, which were trapped somewhere in Galaxy Steve before Memory claimed them. This fake Void was as artificial and insignificant as the other projections roaming in the Memory Dimension, wandering around mindlessly, occasionally reenacting a collected memory or playing a corrupted version of the memory.

Just like now. This fake Void Steve stared blankly at Memory Steve before wandering a few blocks away. Then he paused before purposefully striding towards a 3x5 grass block hill and sitting down, looking at the lava lake. Memory Steve tilted his head to his side, curious of what memory this fake Void Steve would reenact.

Void Steve patted the grass block next to him. "Come sit with me, my creation."

Memory Steve almost did before remembering this wasn't real. But then he struggled, thinking, What the heck, why not? and complied with the fake Void Steve.

"Steves will tell you that life is about the grass that grows or the friends you make," the fake Void Steve began. Memory Steve instantly knew what this reenacted memory was. One of the lectures Void Steve had given him as a child.

"But that's not true," the fake Void Steve continued. "Not every Steve gets to experience one day under the sun, and some Steves never get the pleasure of getting friends. I'm gonna tell you what life really is about: balance."

Memory Steve looked out to the lava lake with the fake Void Steve. He tried his best to visualize the interstellar sunset they were watching on that day. He imagined the lava lake was crystal blue instead of scorching orange, and the night sky had hues of orange and red instead.

"There must always be a balance between good and evil. It's inevitable. The iron golem is made to defend families. The pillager is made to destroy and steal. This is the balance, but they are not equal. The good is encouraged, while people shame the evil. Barely anyone is willing to become evil to balance the universe, so those who are dedicated to evil must work harder than the good people and make the tough decisions for the sake of everyone. As my creation and my minion, you must also work extra hard to make sure evil balances with the good in the universe." The fake Void Steve rested a hand on Memory Steve's shoulder, causing the masked Steve to jump. He looked at his son with red eyes burning with inspiration and expectation.

"I'll teach you how, and you will help me with this difficult but necessary task."

His red eyes faded back to its neutral and blank aura. The fake Void Steve got up and wandered mindlessly again, ending the reenactment.

Memory Steve placed his own hand on that shoulder and squeezed it. Then he hissed in defeat and sulked, staring at the lava lake with contempt. He's gone. Void Steve...is gone.

He had worked for his father all his life, fulfilling whatever mission Void Steve assigned. They worked so hard...only for Galaxy Steve to take him down.

Memory Steve wondered what would have happened if he returned to the Overworld and didn't meet Illusion Steve. What would have happened to him if he learned about Void Steve's demise from someone else? If he wasn't hired by Illusion Steve, what would he have done then?

He bristled at these thoughts. The fact that Illusion Steve existed, and the mission the young Steve had, was an insult.

Of course the moment he's upset, Galaxy creates someone else to solve problems for him, he thought bitterly. That's all he's ever done...And of course Illusion Steve tries to make the world forget all the bad things. That's what all his sons do. Run away from problems like him.

It was insulting that they got away with it all. It was insulting that Void Steve failed and Galaxy Steve continued being a cowardly fool afterwards.

As he dwelled on the thoughts, he brought his knees to his chest and rested his arms and head on them. The gloomy silence lingered as his silent questions grew. What do I do now?

"Don't you get it, Sabre? We are Galaxy Steve."

Memory Steve looked up and saw the fake Void Steve donning a smug expression. Briefly, Void Steve's lively eyes met Memory Steve, and the entity smirked. A smirk that demoralized heroes. But to a minion like Memory Steve, he saw it as a cue.

That's it! Memory Steve jumped up and sprinted towards Void Steve. He tapped on his shoulder, ordering the entity to pause.

Galaxy Steve and Void Steve were created together, originally one entity before he split himself into two. Galaxy Steve inherited the original entity's personality and heart, while Void Steve inherited the memories and most of the power. So that meant...

Memory Steve hovered his hand above Void Steve's eyes, searching for that memory. A flash of light and he felt something in his palm. He stepped back and released Void Steve, inspecting the new red flower. Unlike the previous ones, this red flower had small cyan stars surrounding it. It replayed a memory that overlooked nothing.

"I have to do this. That guy's advice should be right," a disembodied voice spoke, sending a surge of emotion into Memory Steve. It was him...

"They'll take care of the world better than me. Goodbye Steves..."

The image flashed. Next, a young Galaxy Steve and a young Void Steve appeared, looking dazed.

"Hi! I'm Galaxy Steve! Who are you?"

"No way!" Void Steve in the memory jumped back. "That's my name too!"

"So we're twins! Brothers! I can sense that!" Galaxy Steve jumped up and down excitedly. "But can we call you something else? I get confused easily, and I remember my name better."

"Umm...yeah!" Void Steve puffed out his chest and scowled. "Call me Void Steve! It's so much cooler than your name!"

"Well, if you like your name, then I like it too!" Galaxy Steve smiled before a gloomy expression hit him. "Wait, if we're brothers, then..." He looked off to the distance. "Where's Dad?"

Memory Steve safely placed the flower in his inventory, smiling sinisterly. The memory of their father creating Void and Galaxy Steve. If I restore the memory into Galaxy Steve in a certain way, I can trick him to reenact what his father did. I can force him to bring back Void Steve! That's what I'm going to do!

His hidden, triumphant smile fell when he remembered Illusion Steve and that pink plane of false memories.

As long as the illusion covers all true memories, I can't do this. Galaxy Steve can't bring Void Steve back if the illusion covers that memory when I give it to him.

He huffed, reached out to the sky, and summoned more flowers down. This time, it was all the memories collected from Sabre today. He rested them all on a flat hill.

Memory Steve detested the situation, but he was at least grateful Illusion Steve promised not to read his mind. It felt strange, but he was secretly rooting for Sabre now. If Sabre defeated Illusion Steve and took down the illusion, it would be Memory Steve's chance to bring back Void Steve. To bring back the reign of destruction, and to help his father complete his revenge.

For now, he had to wait and do this new job. Serve Illusion Steve until Sabre defeated him. Then he would seize the moment.

He inspected the flowers and the memories they hold. He paused in the middle of his inspection when the face of a clock caught his eyes. He snatched the flower and peered into it. It replayed an image of Time Steve looking embarrassed and fidgeting with his hands.

Time Steve...Memory Steve's oldest cousin.

"Time Steve, I need you to be honest with me. You're not infected, are you?" Sabre asked.

"I'm...I'm infected..." Time Steve looked down in shame.

Memory Steve watched Sabre and a woman he never saw before (presumably Alex) help Time Steve into a machine and brainstorm how to save him from the infection. Then the memory jumped ahead, showing Sabre chasing after Rainbow Steve (well, technically Illusion Steve disguised as Rainbow Steve) who was approaching Time Steve's machine.

"You won't be able to stop me, Sabre," Illusion Steve snarled.

"I know I can't. I can't do anything, but you can," Sabre begged. "Please, do the right thing. Spare Time Steve and help us. You haven't destroyed anyone yet, and please don't change that by destroying Time Steve. We can be friends again and make things right."

"Time Steve is just in our way like Alex is."

"Please don't! You used to be a kind person and you can still be that person."

"This is for the best, Sabre." Illusion Steve raised a hand and shot lightning at the machine. "Goodbye, Time Steve!"

Thunder and lightning engulfed the memory, with Sabre's cries barely audible.

Memory Steve dropped the flower and stared at it. It still roared with thunder and eventually showed an image of a crater where Time Steve used to stand.

Time Steve was dead. Illusion Steve killed him. Illusion Steve killed his own brother.

Memory Steve felt numb, and that frustrated him. He wasn't supposed to feel numb. It was Time Steve, after all. He was supposed to feel satisfied. Time Steve would eventually be destroyed one day, either in the hands of Void Steve or by an accident from Galaxy Steve. But killed by his own brother? Even Elemental Steve couldn't bring himself to kill his brother.

Memory Steve sighed. No matter. He's gone. He's finally gone. I never liked him, so I'm glad he's gone!

Memory Steve flinched when he heard a static sound. Some of Sabre's memories were glitching out and fading away.

"What?! Again? No!" Memory Steve tried to gather up the flowers, but they all disappeared before he could pick up any. The only remaining flowers were Sabre's memories about Memory Steve.

"DAMN IT. Why?!" He banged a fist at the grass block. Sabre was a player. He had an easier time remembering and reclaiming his memories than Steves. He must had encountered something that triggered the return of his memories, causing those flowers to disappear. Memory Steve growled until a chilling dread replaced his anger.

Since Sabre remembers that this world is an illusion...I failed my first mission.

When Memory Steve first met Sabre and tried to erase his memories, he was not afraid of failing because it wasn't a mission. Void Steve didn't tell him to erase Sabre's memories. It was Memory Steve's personal goal. But this time, someone else expected him to succeed. This time, someone else was going to learn that he failed.

Worse of all, Memory Steve had no clue how Illusion Steve would react to his failure...

Word count: 4950

I think Sabre needs to put down less signs warning him about Memory Steve and put down more Christian crosses. Only that can ward off the spooky boi that is Memory Steve.

Thanks for reading! Tune in next Friday for another chapter! Take care and stay safe.