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Sep 27, 2022

i’m sorry ace

(All of the context to this one is from Very Old rps and the movie Inception. the ---s between paragraphs actually mean something here, shocking, i know.)

It had been over half a year since Ace had worn his helmet last. His suit of justice laid at the end of his bed, a light layer of dust beginning to form over it. He stared at it tiredly, knowing he'd never be able to wear it again. Even if he did, what good could he do?

Heroes can't deliver justice when they use crutches.

Heroes can't save others when they're in immense amounts of pain.

He wasn't a hero, he thought, as he wiped off his glasses. That was his uncle. Even his father was a better hero than he was, and his father was dead. Being dead didn't stop him at all- It didn't even stop him from visiting so often.

He didn't mind the constant visits from his family. It was nice, in a strange way. His uncle had begun to reguarly check on him. Even his other uncle that had caused said pain had visited. He seemed to regret what he had done, too. Even his other uncle had more character development than he had. Everyone had.

Ace frowned at the thought. It was true. Demonee-Ho, his uncle, had finally started to open up and show concern. King, former ruler of the north, had relaxed and called Ace by his chosen name. Froz, the regretful one, had changed drastically from the villain Lucifroz. But himself? He hadn't changed. That's why he'd been so reckless. He'd been like a child, trying to become the comic book heroes he'd always looked up to.

More like comic book zeroes. Ace bitterly laughed, hatefully staring at the posters that adorned his walls. Heroes he'd looked up to and emulated lined all of the walls, heroes he proved he could never be like. Even the ones that were called "disabled" or "handicapped" were far more impressive than he'd ever be. They all developed abilities after losing something- Had he? No.

In fact, he'd lost abilities. Ever since his career-ending injury, he'd been unable to cast Traesto. Upon finding that out, he became too afraid to try and use his other skills- What if he had lost them, too?

He shook his head. He didn't want to think about this right now. He didn't want to consider it at any time, but now was an exceptional one. He already felt bad enough as is- He didn't need the additional negativity.

He was just about to lie down when he heard a loud, distressed yell from farther down the hall. Without thinking, he had reached for his suit and rushed to put it on, falling off of his bed in the process.

"What am I doing..?" Ace groaned aloud, forcing himself back up to fetch his helmet. Gripping his crutches with a grimace, he began the long trek down the hallway. Months of not training caught up to him quickly, with his one working leg already beginning to feel sore. It wasn't until Ace noticed the fading evening light that he realized something was wrong- A revelation that made him rush to the nearest window. Hadn't it just been morning?

Ace groaned again as he peered outside- It did appear to have just turned night, with the moons peeking out behind misty clouds. What on Earth was going on?? There was no way time had gone by so quickly. There was no way! He slammed a fist against the windowsill, as if that would give him answers, while taking a moment to look around quickly. Nothing else seemed to be any different... Sighing, he looked back up at the moons~

Moons?

"Since when was there more than one Moon?!" Ace yelped, scrambling onto the windowsill for a better look outside. Lo and behold, there were- instead of the usual one- four glittery white orbs in the sky that could be called moons. As he stared in complete and utter confusion, three of the moons vanished in an instant, leaving the one real Moon hanging in the sky. It seemed a little bigger now, but maybe that was just perspective?

As he pondered this, the three other "moons" reappeared, seemingly a little bit smaller than the real Moon. He barely had time to process this as one disappeared and reappeared again, followed by the other two. They just kept blinking in and out...

Blinking. That was it! It was like these moons were blinking! Ace felt successful for just a moment upon figuring this out, and then the horror set in. If the moons were blinking, were they... Actually eyes? He shuddered a little.

"You're, you're not real, right?" he mumbled at the moon eyes, as if they could hear him, "Just me seeing things? Hit my head on something? I really hope that's what you are..!"

Settled with his assumption that he was merely seeing things, he slowly climbed back down, picking up his falling crutches and occasionally chirping an "Ow.". He fully intended to leave the area, but froze when the window suddenly shone with a bright, glittery light. Ace nervously swallowed and turned his head to meet whatever it was- A gigantic gray eyeball, staring straight at him. With the unholy shriek of an unspeakable emotion, the entity with the moon eyes backed away, showing Ace its tall, pillar-like body of shadows.

Ace stared. Sure, he had seen some shit before, but nothing like this! Was there any protocols for gigantic shadow monsters with moon eyes?? He couldn't recall. The only thing his memory offered up was of Uncle Demonee-ho instructing him to "shoot at anything that moves", which was never viable advice in heroics. Instead, Ace decided to try speaking to it again.

"Uh, hi, Mr. or Ms. Moon Eyes! You're very large! I-I don't want to hurt you, but don't try anything evil!" Well, he sure sounded brave in his declarations, but his hands had started shaking halfway through. It didn't help that the Moon seemed ever larger by this time, almost dwarfing the monster. Was it... Was it getting closer? And why did it appear to have something etched onto it?

"Uhhh!" Good start, Ace. "And is that getting closer, or is it just me, hee-ho?"

His question was met with another earpiercing shriek, somewhere between a fire alarm and the worst sound ever conceived. Somehow, this did not answer his question. Instead, he realized what was etched on the Moon- It was an ancient relic of a bygone time, when children would try to wow each other with their knowledge of arcane symbols. This one was one of the easiest to create, but it's name was escaping him. Stutsy? Hee-ho, close enough.

He'd been so busy trying to figure out what the Stussy S was that the Moon had moved even closer, completely dwarfing Moon Eyes in size. Having this realization slowly dawn on Ace, he managed to squeak out one last question.

"If that crashes into the planet, can whee, you know, hee-ho, not die?"

Then there was an extraordinarily loud crash and what was probably hundreds of screams, before darkness took over. ~~ As Ace slowly regained consciousness, everything remained dark. A sense of panic washed over him as he glanced back and forth, only to double when he realized there was something wet on his face. He easily pushed it off, and immediately saw Moon Eyes again. Startled, he screamed and quickly scooted back. Moon Eyes was unfazed, still staring at him with the occasional blink. It's body was surprisingly small, Ace finally observed, but still just big enough to peer over his head.

"O-oh, you're tiny!" Ace stammered, embarrassed, "I thought you were super huge, hee-ho..."

It blinked at him again, tilting it's "head" before cheerfully squeaking. Despite it not saying any words, Ace heard them in his head among the squeaks.

"I'm very sorry for scaring you, Mr. Hero!" the voice said, obviously apologetic. "My name is Memento La-Nyardem. A pleasure to meet you, despite where we are!"

Ace started to introduce himself in turn but stopped suddenly, having a realization. "You know who I am?"

"Yes, of course!" She squeaked delightfully, "You're Frost Ace, the best demon vigilante!" Memento bounced in place, jiggling like a tower of gelatin on a trampoline. At least one of them was happy about this, Ace thought while forcing a grin. He really did want to be happy about this, truly! But lying is a villainous thing to do, he recalled, so he slowly shook his head and frowned. Memento stopped mid-bounce, tilting her upper half in confusion and narrowing her eyes.

"Not anymore. I got injured in combat a while ago, ho, so I can't really do anything now," he explained, a hint of disappointment creeping onto his face, "I can barely move without my crutches now..." He slowly leaned over to retrieve his crutches before realizing an important detail- They weren't there. Ace cursed without thinking, before quickly cutting himself off for a more acceptable sentence. Whoops. He almost sounded like his Uncle for a moment there!

He started to get up, grabbing the wall for support, but only managed to make his leg give out. Groaning loudly, he tried again, forcing his small snowman hands into any holes and grooves in the wall for additional aid. As he struggled, his leg pain flared up even more and he winced, digging his fingers further into the wall.

"Sorry!" peeped Memento in his head, while she leaned on his bad leg. Ace hadn't even seen her- She very nearly blended in perfectly with his outfit. "But I might be able to do something, Mr. Hero! Hold on just a moment!!"

Memento slowly coiled herself around Ace's leg, stretching and contorting herself to fit. As she did so, the pain momentarily spiked before fading into a dull throbbing. Ace stared in amazement, and Memento piped up again.

"I can't heal it, unfortunately, but I can mitigate the pain at least!" Her eyes shifted, and Ace had the feeling she was grinning up at him. He couldn't help but genuinely smile back, his appreciation knowing no bounds as he profusely thanked her. For the first time in quite a while, Ace felt some confidence in himself. Maybe he could actually do something now. And someone believed in him!

Testing his leg, he tentatively took a step forward. No familiar twang of pain. Another, and another, but the pain didn't come. He almost cried on the spot from happiness- He could move by himself again! He began to profusely thank Memento again, this time doing so for several minutes until she suggested exploring the area. Right. There were several things Ace wanted explanations to, and he'd nearly forgotten amid his excitement- Namely, what that other moon was and who was screaming. Taking a deep breath, he adjusted his helmet and easily slid into a racer's stance. Three seconds passed, and he took off like a bullet.

Later, as he was jogging down the hallway, Ace absently started counting doorways he passed. Reaching 50, he slowed down and doubled back to the last door.

"Did we pass this door already, hee?" he wondered aloud, tilting his head.

"Three times," Memento piped up, "I think we're going in a circle!"

Ace frowned. Despite not feeling much pain, he didn't want to go further than he absolutely had to. Not thinking, he reached up for the doorknob and easily opened the door. There was an agonizingly loud screech from inside, and several wildly swinging tendrils flew out. Ace very quickly shoved the door closed in response, slamming it on the tendrils. The entity inside whined, trying to take it's tendrils back, and Ace sighed. Curse his hero instict making him feel bad. He re-opened the door, and the entity withdrew its tendrils as quickly as they had appeared. Once gone, Ace shut the door again.

"Maybhee I shouldn't do that," Ace plainly stated after the fact. Memento squeaked in agreement.

Despite this obviously logical realization, Ace continued to search the doors for a way out. Every single one lead to a different entity without fail, from hounds that barely existed to a very strange meteor that made his eyes hurt. He screamed upon opening the latest door, having revealed a very fleshy figure with a gigantic mouth on each hand. Memento personally reared up to slam this door shut, hissing at the entity much like a teapot would when it is ready.

"This isn't exactly working, Mr. Hero, but there's only few doors left." Memento plainly stated, resting her "head" on Ace's shoulder. Excluding the last entity, she had been completely unfazed by all of the previous, various horrors. Ace, not wanting to seem weak in front of his supporter, took a deep breath and continued on his way.

Determined to escape, Ace threw open the next door he saw. Immediately, water flooded out of the doorway, nearly sweeping Ace off his feet. He grunted and tried to push the door closed again, but the water seemed to have a mind of it's own and actively pushed back, breaking the door and sending it down the hallway. Ace was barely able to hold his ground, but even Memento was having trouble staying put, being pulled off Ace's leg by all the water. With this, his leg pain started to return and he gritted his teeth, his resolution starting to get worn down.

In a last ditch effort, Ace held his hands out towards the doorway and took a deep breath. He didn't have much confidence in what he was about to do, but it was the only thing he could think of, so he squeezed his eyes shut and cast a single spell.

"Mabufudyne!"

The water immediately stopped. Cracking an eyelid open, Ace found that the entire doorway had been frozen over, with the leftover water rushing down the hall as if fleeing. His spell had worked! He couldn't help but pump his fist in excitement- He could still use magic! Memento tried to ask him if he was okay, but Ace was too distracted to answer her. Instead, he was admiring his frozen handiwork and boosting his own self-esteem- A boost he very badly needed.

Reinvigorated by his discovery, he stood back up and cheerfully made his way to the second door. Before even opening it, he could hear faint music from the other side. As Memento narrowed her eyes in suspicion, Ace easily pushed the door open.

It was surprisingly well-lit compared to the previous rooms. Most of this room was taken up by small creatures that Ace could not identify. They all looked different, and they seemed to blend into each other as they circled the room. Amid these miniscule beings, there was what appeared to be a completely normal human, napping on the floor. Ace was concerned for him and began to approach, but Memento squeezed his leg to halt Ace.

"He's not human," Memento explained, her squeaks barely audible over the music, "He just appears to be right now." Ace nodded before wisely backing off, still curious. He continued watching, but nothing seemed to happen.

"He's not aggressive, and neither is his court," Memento added, "But the humanoid shape is new. He's usually worse than most of us!" She slowly stretched herself up Ace's side for a better view, admittedly curious as well. The human man's entire form seemed to twitch in a way not considered normal, and Ace decided to stop watching him, turning his attention to the tiny creatures that had begun going around them.

They stood there for a while, taking the time to relax and listen to the music. Eventually, though, Memento squished back down to Ace's side and lightly prodded his side so they could leave. No response.

"Mr. Hero?"

Again, no reply. Memento forced herself up once again, this time to look at Ace's face. He didn't seem to notice, his half-lidded eyes completely glazed over and staring past her.

Ah, that was it, Memento realized. The court's music had affected him more than she'd realized. Had she known, she would have advised they leave far earlier. Oh well, no helping that now. Not wanting to startle him at all, Memento very slowly removed herself from Ace before beginning to twist and stretch herself.

Before long, she had taken a very imp-like form with two big, gooey wings. She gently lifted up Ace and took to the air, getting out of the court's way. With this new viewpoint, she could finally see the trapdoor under the sleeping man, and she slowly circled down to not disturb either him nor Ace. She then sprouted several tendrils from herself, and used them to VERY carefully move the man off of the trapdoor.

"My apologies for the intrusion, Father", Memento softly said aloud, before opening the trapdoor and peering inside. Completely dark as expected. Putting all but one of the tendrils away, she slowly slid herself into the hole, using the last tendril to close the trapdoor. As she did, she could have sworn she heard a quiet laugh from above. ~~~ ~~ ~ For a moment, Ace thought he felt something wet against him, but the sensation went away as soon as he opened his eyes. To his confusion, he was laying on a windowsill and staring at the hallway ceiling as moonlight trickled through the window. This was the hallway that had been previously destroyed, Ace thought, but maybe it also wasn't? He was unsure. He was not even sure the entire hallway loop had happened, and he frowned. It had seemed so realistic! Turning his head to look out the window, he easily spotted the moon half-hidden behind some thin clouds, with nothing unusual in sight.

He slowly got down from the windowsill, but kicked something metal and yelped before looking down. His crutches!

"Huh..." Ace murmured, bending down to pick them up. "That's so weird... I reall-hee thought that was all real, ho..."

Once he was sufficiently supported by his crutches, he looked around again. The hallway seemed to be normal, at least, with no signs of monster activity. No marks left on the walls, no ice, no tendrils, and especially no fleshy beings.

Despite this, Ace still felt a disturbance. Something wasn't right, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. Not until he looked up at the moon again did he even consider it... That this was not real either. The now-uncovered moon still had the Stussy he had seen earlier, and Ace squinted at it while expecting it to move. The moon did not move, staying in place in the sky as the real moon would. Frowning at this, Ace hopped back onto the windowsill for a better look. His gut instinct said that something was still wrong, but he genuinely couldn't figure out what it was. It was just him, the man standing behind him that was reflected in the window, and the moon...

"Allow me to help you," said the man, picking up and alarming Ace, "You will be stuck here without this."

Saying nothing else, he tucked Ace under his arm like a backwards football and walked away from the window, even as the moon got closer, and closer again.

Even as the same explosion happened, allowing Ace to see it from a new perspective. ~~~ Even as he passed by the ice on the walls and floor began to crack and shake, freeing the water inside. He did not stop until he reached the trapdoor Memento had previously entered, and put Ace down next to it. He tapped it, and presumably stared at Ace- It was hard to tell where he was looking when his eyes were covered by his hair. Ace somehow understood what he was trying to say, and nodded to him before peering down the trapdoor's decent. And then he was pushed. ~~~~ There was nothing there. Ace found himself in a dark place, where there seemed to be nothing. A sense of dread began to well up inside his stomach, and he glanced around. Nothing. He knew there would be more, could be more, should be more.

More came in the sound of a voice. A voice Ace did not know, and had not heard before. As if being spoken directly in his ear, he heard the voice say "Not to look at the orbs," several times. He tried to turn his head to face the source of the voice, and finally realized he could not. He couldn't move at all. The dread he felt abruptly changed to a sense of panic, and he found himself blankly fixating on a darker patch of apparent nothing when his panic finally went away.

"Don't look at it!" he heard again, but he did not listen, even as the dark patch presented a silver orb. Or a second or third. Ace tried to call out to it, but he still could not move. Another wave of panic, and his surroundings began to shift and brighten. Suddenly feeling something wet touch his forehead, he clenched his eyes shut and shuddered. ~~~~~ "--Mr. Hero!" cried Memento, lightly shaking him, "Come on, you can do it!"

As Ace finally opened his eyes again, he saw Memento hovering over him, her wings blocking out most of the hallway from his sight. She delightedly squeaked as she helped him up, wrapping her gooey arms around him to do so. Ah, that was what had felt wet.

"What happened, hee-ho..?" Ace eventually managed to utter in obvious confusion while looking around. This was a very different hallway than the one he'd been in- This one looked almost ancient in comparison, with glyphs he did not know adorning cracked and dusty walls.

"I forgot what that level did. I'm sorry!" Memento unhelpfully said, before shaking her head. "Oh, I didn't explain! I'm so sorry! I should have explained this before!!"

"The dream has multiple levels. Dad discovered something like this from a movie Gla'aki showed him, but he liked it and taught it to our eldest for the Dreamlands. I'm not entirely sure how they work either, but doing certain things moves you up or down levels... But I really don't get the last one! It only affected you!"

"So like that Conception movie, hee? Or was it Inception? Something like that?" Ace wondered, and Memento nodded.

"That second one, yes! Like that!" she confirmed, before gesturing to a small hole in the wall behind her. "This one leads to the last level! I think, anyway! But even on instinct, even demons know this is some baaaad juju, and even they try to find the source to destroy it!" She seemed pleased with herself as she added "I never told you why I needed your help, did I?"

Ace stared at her. She was right- He'd never even considered asking why she had been helping him to begin with. The idea of going the right way had been so natural that he'd never thought about it until now. He was not happy about being used this way, but if it was for both of their benefits... Ace then went ahead and peered into the small hole in the wall. ~~~~~~ It took him a moment to process what he was able to see, that being a very stereotypical Egyptian chamber, before taking a step back- And bumping into a wall. He glanced back to confirm that yes, there was now a wall behind him, matching the chamber he just spotted. No, wait. He was in the chamber now, with the hole he peered into now behind him. Ace groaned, starting to get tired of logic upending itself every time he did something.

Seemingly in response to his dismay, a new voice rang out, resonating with the very walls and making Ace feel awful.

"There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to Man. It is a dimension as vast as space, and as timeless as infinity. It is the middleground between light and shadow, between science and superstition; and it lies between the pit of Man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination!"

"Hey, wait!" Interrupted Ace, recognizing the monologue, "You're just ripping off the Twilight Zone™!"

The voice faltered, failing to deliver the final line.

"It is an area which we call...the Twilight Zone," came from the very walls, echoey and distorted. Ace was quick to cover his head this time, but it was not enough to prevent it from souring his mood, or as one might say, ruining his vibe.

By this point, Ace had given up expecting logic to follow through, and fully expected to see something new when he next looked up. This prediction was correct, with several new elements appearing at the far end of the room in mere moments, having possibly poofed into existence the moment he had not been looking.

The first thing he spotted was the very large, ornate throne now taking up a majority of the opposite wall. The second thing was the shadowy figure lounging across it, and Ace squinted to make it out better. This did not help at all, only serving to make it blurrier. There was something else there, on the floor by the throne, but it was too small to make out at this distance. It stood out, though, being more of a clean bronze-gold than a dirty ancient gold.

"Let me guess! You want to know if this is real or not, right?" said the shadow, leaning forward slightly towards Ace. "Right? That's what you're gonna ask?" As they repeatedly asked, they kept leaning more and more forward, stretching until they were in Ace's face.

"Uh... Yes?" Ace replied nervously, taking a step back and bumping the wall again. The shadow outright laughed at him before snapping back into place.

"That or you think you just hit your head, yeah?" the shadow now added, to which Ace again agreed with.

Unhelpfully and excitedly, the shadow then yelled "The answer is yes!" and grinned with at least three mouths.

This did not help. That was probably the intent. Ace blinked. The throne changed to be made of gummy human skulls. Why?

The shadow spoke again, but not in a language Ace understood. The best way he could rationalize it to himself was speaking in secret emotions that one only feels at 6:24 am. Whatever that means.

Whatever. Unimportant. That bronze-gold spot was definitely more interesting to Ace. That actually made sense, unlike the door that had just appeared near him. He could hear rustling behind it, and he did not want to investigate.

He didn't get a choice in the matter, as the biggest, buffest, unreasonably largest snowman broke through the door, sliding at top speed like a gmod model being moved around in a t-pose. He didn't even have time to scream before it grabbed him like a squeaky toy (and he DID squeak, embarrassingly enough) and threw him against a wall. Splat. Ouch.

Frost Ace decided he never wanted to experience being splattered against a wall again immediately after this. It made him feel itchy. Sure, let's go with that and not acknowledge the buff snowman model that was half clipping through a wall and making near-constant prop collision sounds. Ace stared at it. Memento stared at it. The shadow stared at it.

"Nyan..." Memento grumbled. Ace considered responding with a cat sound, but realized quickly enough that no, that was not what she was doing. She was approaching the throne.

"NyaNya, Boss is looking for you. Can we please go before Uncle shows up? He's going to be mad that you're in his spot."

Ace had no right to laugh at this name. He knew this. He already hated his own birthname, so it wouldn't be right to laugh. A small, barely-repressed smirk, though? Yeah, that was fine.

The shadow noticed and did not hesitate to launch a Magical Meteor directly at Ace. Good-bye, you little shit.

Memento drained the attack simply by being nearby, teaching Ace that she drains magic. The little shit was not as destroyed as Nyan hoped he would be, and swapped to launching Megidola shots everywhere. That was a much bigger problem. Both Ace and Memento hid behind a well-placed pillar, but who knew how long that would last?

"We're weak to physical attacks," Memento explained before getting nuked into a shadowy smear on the floor. Despite this setback, she still added "Just punch him and please get this over with. I can't."

Is that what he was here for? To punch out a shadow man that was launching nukes in peoples' dreams?

"No, but it is now," Memento answered his thoughts, bothering Ace immensely. Don't do that. It's uncomfortable!

Frost Ace considered his options. He could just run for it, sure, but that's how he'd get caught. He could also stand there and get hit by the Erosion Hex that was getting spammed mercilessly in his direction. That was also an option. Being turned to stone was absolutely an option. He liked the part where Memento cast Petradi and healed him, though. That part was nice.

All right, screw this. He was definitely punching this guy in the face for being an evil nuisance. He cocked his fist back, and ignored Nyan laughing at him.

"Are you going to hit me, squirt? You'd better make it count! Better kill me in one shot!"

It killed him in one shot. Ace didn't question how he'd been teleported across the room to make that hit connect, and he didn't care. Villain defeated, reduced to a pile of shadowy sludge on the floor.

Despite being at 0 hp and legally dead, Nyan still laughed at him in a cocky, "you can't kill me in a way that matters" sort of way. Ace wisely ignored him as Memento rejoined his side in imp form.

"I did ask for help before you, but he got into a fight with Uncle instead of NyaNya," she explained, gesturing to the pile of bronze metal nearby, "I'll heal him for you."

Ace blinked. Blinked a second time. Shifted his visor to rub his eyes, and blink a third time to confirm that no, this WAS his uncle Demonee-Ho and D-Ho WAS dead on the floor. He wanted to be shocked, but given how gung-ho Uncle D-Ho was.... No, ho, this definitely checked out.

Nyan reformed behind them, digging his claws into the gummy skull throne. He wasn't done yet, and if they were gonna ignore him, then he was going to become an unskippable cutscene! You can't one-shot an unskippable cutscene! You can't stop him from ripping open a vortex right there and threatening to kill everyone in this room during a cutscene!

Said vortex gave Ace a massive headache just looking at it. It felt bad. Really bad. He'd been in plenty of life-threatening situations before, and none of them felt as awful as just looking at this vortex. Bad juju, rancid vibes, all that ho-shit.

Button pop-ups for a quick time event appeared, but no one could do anything involving these. What the hell was this? Why the f--

Another man burst into the scene, tossing the entire throne to the sidelines and grabbing Nyan by the throat.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?!" He shouted, pinning Nyan down against a new throne that had just manifested. Nyan struggled, but there wasn't much he could do against the original.

Ace stared. Okay, he definitely knew this guy!! He fought this guy a whole bunch of times! A real villain! But he knew better than to interrupt a villain fight, and opted to back away with his unconscious uncle. Lets not get involved with THAT.

Ace backed into something. He didn't know what it was, and it was too squishy for him to Want to know. Then human arms picked him up, and he looked back. Oh! Long bangs man was back!

"You can leave," the man plainly stated, picking up D-Ho with a second set of arms, "My children are fighting again."

"Those are your KIDS?!" Ace yelled, but his question was ignored in favor of leaving the room through the door the buff snowman had burst through earlier.

Ace drowsily looked around as he was being carried. Any adrenaline he'd had wore off, leaving him tired and slightly achey. Hey, he'd been here before. That was the peephole! Ace didn't exactly like being carried, either, but he couldn't bother fighting it. It was better than walking with an aching leg.

~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ 0

... How had he gotten back here? At the windowsill? And what time was it? The sun was brightly shining though the window, with a few clouds lazily drifting past it. Was this part of the dream too?

He stretched, and immediately regret that decision-- Ow! His leg! Okay, this was definitely reality! It hurt far too much to not be!

His crutches were against the wall, right where he'd left them. Maybe? Well, whether or not he'd actually left them there, they were there now.

Ace got off the windowsill and quietly hissed as he put weight back onto his bad leg. Ouch, ouch. Back to being useless in combat, he supposed. That was a downer. At least he'd gotten to help somehow today?? He was still helpful, and that picked his mood back up. Now, where was Uncle D-Ho?

Turned out he was a few rooms over, pistol whipping Nyan with an entire assault rifle for his crimes and profusely cursing the shadowy imp out. Well. Seems everything here was normal!

Nearby, Memento was pestering her Demon Buster boss with very persistent requests. Demons were only allowed to have one personal per day, but she kept insisting. Boss. Boss. Mngwa. Boss. Hey. Please take my request. Hey. Memento's red-clad boss just sighed and stared at Memento. Really, she was going to be like this? Fine. Fine!! Memento was willing to pay for it!

Ace got picked up by a humanoid figure for the second time today, and there was nothing he could do about it since his hands were full. Memento did not help him, opting to watch her brother continue to get beat up by an angry tin can snowman instead.

*Pokemon Center Heal Noise.mp3*

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ level 0- the real world. the Illusion of evening drags beings into level 1. level 1- the "Destruction" knocks those present into 2. Incredibly lifelike, easy to be trapped in. level 2- loops. azathoth was guarding the way to level 3 and/or 4. going to sleep leads back to 1. lifelike, but many lovecrafts hang out here. why is aza here? shut up that's why. level 3- This level is usually skipped unless actively desired. Desiring an escape from level 4 does count enough to let it manifest. level 4- its fuckin nothing. maybe. described like sleep paralysis. automatically moves to level 5. Assistance is required to go from 4 to 3 and/or 2. level 5- nothing special. leads straight to level 6 via a very obvious portal. level 6- Nyar's domain. don't ask for logic. reality isn't doing well. level 7- very very lethal. the final sleep. -and even death may die- unless your name is azathoth. then it's just a vague suggestion.

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