Minecraft Forums

I could say the same to you. Please, stop talking to Trinary.

The difference between verbally bashing the Binaries and attacking the Godmodder who is currently:
A. In two places

B. Allied with us

C. Fighting the Binaries

is very large.

Even then, I was done 5 days ago; you're a little late to say that.

Trinary is a pretty good nickname, though.

...

Why did the hipster burn his mouth? Because he drank coffee before it was cool.

why do seaguls fly over the sea? Because if they flew over the bay they would baygles

One goldfish says to another in the fish tank? "How do you drive this thing"?

What did one ocean say to the other? Nothing, it just waved...

Did you sea what I did there?

Seariously, did you?

Water you thinking... Stop?

Are you shore?

Shell I stop then?

My puns will not be as pacific

Whale, I should probably stop now

While I'm waiting I'll be tideing up my jokes

I'm going to make you walk the plankton

And the last joke...

So my friend (He's British by the way) was ordering some food. Now he really loves pine trees, and always orders it. For some reason he also asked for some soda. I never knew he liked pop, so I asked him, " do you really like soda"

He said "Love, love me dew, you know I love yew"

*Throws Apples At The Godmother untill she gets into the edge*

Quote from Pengu11»

*Throws Apples At The Godmother untill she gets into the edge*

Pengu: Game is over. This is just us waiting for Twinbuilder to wrap up the plot. Also, the Godmodder is male.

Proof, this goes for you too. Enough of the puns.

/null

well thats what I get for posting pink guy on a kids board, whelp,

if I wasn't sent to meme hell for that post then I would have...

1. break the boundaries between minecraft and terraria
2. have the terraria dev team fight the godmodder
3. bring down pain
4. change the music to
5. have fun

speaking of terraria, there's a DtGM on the terraria forums

you can go check that out I guess

well

uh

bye

I guess

Dawn of the First Day

72 Hours Remain

Dawn of the Second Day

48 Hours Remain

Time for another status update.

The End of Act 4 is rapidly nearing completion. I have completely finished Phases 1-4, with Phases 5 and 6 being the only things left to work on. I have hit a small snag, however. The End of Act 4 is too big to fit into one post, and even if I only put Phases 1 and 2 in a post, it's STILL too big to fit! This mean that the End of Act 4 will be split into six posts, one for each phase. It's not that big of an issue, but it's something that I felt was worth mentioning in advance.

EDIT: Phase 5 is now complete as well.

Whoo-ee.

Hi, I've not joined here before, but I'm from the TCF Spin-Off of DTG. Some of you may know me as redstonetam15.

Quote from MegaMinEr69»

Hi, I've not joined here before, but I'm from the TCF Spin-Off of DTG. Some of you may know me as redstonetam15.

Welcome! This game is almost over. I have to write two big posts to finish off the story of the game, and then it will be completely finished. So you can't join the game, unfortunately, but you can watch. After this game is over, a prequel will come out called Destroy the Godmodder: Origins, made by The_Nonexistent_Tazz.

---

In other news, the End of Act 4 is almost completely done. I'm aiming for it to be up today. The only thing left for me to do is to shrink the number of drawings from 84 to 83. I'm merging two previously separate drawings into one. This is because the two drawings didn't sync up well when I tried previewing them.

Oh yeah, Tazz. I know him as GoldenReady on the TCF.

TCF? What's that?

Terraria Community Forums. I'd join the game but I'm already getting back into school and even in the summer doing three games is a daunting task.

I've lacked Internet; thanks for the status update.

7 hours ago

Dawn of the Final Day

24 Hours Remain

Actually, 0:55:00ish

The End of Act 4 will begin in a few minutes. It will consist of eight posts in total: one (this) where I respond to some things people typed, six more (one for each Phase), and one final one where I explain what will happen next. No one post at this point. I mean it.

---

Quote from NinjaV2403»

Biumbra ascends towards Bill Cipher, the shadow enderman covering his hand in indigo blue fire as he extends it towards the dream demon.

U²: The name"z Biumbra, and I prezume you"re zome kind of living Illuminati symbolica?? No. That would be ztupid. I know who you are, Bill Cipher, and I have zome queztion2 for you

U²: Do dream demons take apprentices? Do you need an apprentice??

BILL: N0 AND N0! 1'M N0T G01NG T0 NEED ANY0NE BEF0RE L0NG...

---

Quote from FINALBATTLESTARTSNOW»

I am going to compile all my speeches into one post, for ease of reading.

"WAIT A SECOND. The battle has ended, but we are not yet free!"

I turn to the Binaries.

"The war is over. But. We still have a score to settle."

I snap my fingers, and grow to massive size.

"Did you forget my words? Or did you not listen in the first place, Binaries? This schism between the Narrative and the Conflict. It does not exist. The Narrative uses the Conflict for its own purposes. The example I used was Mother 3, but really, it doesn't matter. The Narrative gets what it wants, what the Writer him or herself wants. Conflict is a piece of the puzzle, Binaries. And now, Conflict's job is over. We only need to wait on the Falling Action and Resolution.

I draw myself up to my full height.

"YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOUR ROLE IN THINGS. THAT IS A VERY LARGE FLAW FOR A CONCEPT SUCH AS YOURSELF. YOU STYLE YOURSELF AS CONFLICT TO STYMIE THE PLOT. IN REALITY, YOU ARE CONFLICT TO FURTHER THE PLOT. YOU AND RICHARD FALL INTO THE SAME TRAP: YOU ARE NO GOD. DO NOT PRESUME TO BE ONE. DO NOT TRY TO RISE ABOVE YOUR STATION, FOR YOU ARE PHYSICALLY INCAPABLE OF DOING SO. SERIOUSLY, THE SAME PEOPLEWHO SENT ME TO STOP THIS WAR ARE THE SAME PEOPLE WHO WOULD KEEP YOU FROM OBTAINING GODHOOD.

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CONCEPTS AND GODS: GODS CAN AND DO ACT OUTSIDE OF THEIR FIELD. CONCEPTS STAY STUCK IN THEIR JOB. IN YOUR ATTACK ALONE, YOU FOREVER PROVED YOUR PLACE. YOU WILL END LIFE AS YOU HAVE LIVED IT, CREATING CONFLICTS TO FURTHER PLOT PROGRESSION.

BINARIES! You want to break away from your role as the concept of Conflicts to Further the Plot and take the role of Conflicts to Hold Up the Plot? Besides the fact that you are doing this in an extremely poor manner, that's not exactly a promotion. Helaniar did not ask for her job, but did it anyways. No question asked.

Let me explain: People don't enjoy when, in Movies, Books, TV Shows, and Games, there are conflicts that do not help the story along. The Prequel Trilogy. Twilight. My Little Pony, before the newest generation. These are infamous for how bad they are, and conflicts such as the one you are trying to create are part of why they are so terrible.

Conflicts must have good reason to start, advance the plot, and have weight behind them in the form of consequences. Stories such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Metal Gear Solid 4 are known as amazing, because they follow this format.

Heck, this forum is an example in itself. No one liked the addition of you guys at the end because we were already done. Yet, this forum has lasted for almost 27000 posts, and is probably the longest story ever told, because of a single, overarching conflict: Destroying the Godmodder.

SERIOUSLY, IF YOU WANTED TO TRADE WITH HELANIAR, YOU ONLY NEEDED TO ASK! SHE WOULD TRADE PLACES IN A HEARTBEAT BECAUSE SHE ACTUALLY NEEDS TO WORK TO OBTAIN TRIBUTE.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO WORK, BECAUSE EVERY SINGLE STORY OF ANY NOTE HAS AT LEAST ONE CONFLICT THAT FURTHERS THE PLOT, CASTOR, PLANITOR, AND FURTHOR.

THIS IS WHY I HAVE TAKEN IT UPON MYSELF TO PUT YOU BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM, BEFORE THE ENTIRE SERVER COMES AND TAKES YOU DOWN. GODS HAVE DIED BEFORE. CONCEPTS HAVE DIED BEFORE. VOLUNTEERS FOR BOTH ARE MANY. WHICH IS WHY I NEED TO GET THIS THROUGH YOUR SKULLS:

STOP THIS MADNESS!"

Binaries? There is more reason to why you failed than that you tried to change your nature. It's also because you went about it in a stupid way. Let me try to explain this to your puny minds.

For every stage, there are 4 walls. The first three are the boundaries of the stage. The 4th is an invisible wall for beings from the same multiverse to observe the stage behind. You know this well, you came from behind this wall.This stage has a 5th wall. A wall from which beings from other multiverses can observe. From behind that wall came humans. You know, those beloved or hated by gods? The weakness of a human is a lack of innate power. But, humans do have many tools: curiosity, morality, and imagination.

When imagination gets involved, human's lack of innate power becomes meaningless. In a world such as this, humans get Player Characters to be as powerful as they want. In a world ruled by imagination, there are No gods or kings. Only man. (Bioshock Quote) And in such a world, man is as powerful as a god. Actual gods are defeated easily. And concepts, apparently, lose their minds and try to order back the sea.

As far as power goes, You're pretty good. (Metal Gear Solid Quote) But pretty good does not beat godlike power. And it can never beat one who knows how to use their power better than you can.

[As a final caveat, I choose to act using references to the most overpowered media. This actually neuters my power, because I don't use my imagination to come up with things that could easily kill you in one shot. Call it an overdeveloped sense of fairness, or an OP scale. Because imagination is more powerful here than anything else. (Speaking to the crowd of Player Characters) Am I right, everyone?

Seriously, there are rules here that are made for the sole purpose of making it harder on us to destroy you without lifting a finger.

The OP scale, which prevents us from using things such as Entity X with 1 trillion health, attacks that insta kill every enemy, and an inability to take more than one damage per combo.

The Curse of Repetitiveness, which prevents us from drowning you in Hellkite Drakes with invulnerabilities to everything the user could think of. The fact that you can be on the Pro-Godmodding side, attacking Anti-Godmodding Entities and preventing certain attacks. All these are tools we use to make our lives a bit harder, so that we can be somewhat fair. And even then, we win based solely on the fact that we have no health bars, and you do. At least usually. The introduction of HP for the Player Characters is another rule we use to up the fairness."

Drawing myself up to my full height one last time in this giant form, I finish,

"I FEEL SAD FOR YOU. YOU HAD NO CHANCE AT WINNING AGAINST US, YET YOU CONVINCED YOURSELF THAT YOU HAD NO CHANCE TO LOSE. SUCH MONUMENTAL SELF DELUSION IS PITIFUL. I'LL LET RICHARD FINISH YOU OFF."

I shrink down to normal size and smirk at the Binaries. Then I punch them in their ugly faces, or whatever passes for that.

"Alpha? Once you've finished the Shatter, they're all yours."

THE EMPLOYER: W0W. 1 F1ND 1T AST0N1SH1NG H0W Y0U TH1NK THAT Y0U KN0W WHAT Y0U ARE TALK1NG AB0UT. Y0U, A DESCENDANT HAV1NG J01NED FA1RLY RECENTLY 1NT0 TH1S WAR, CLA1M T0 HAVE ULT1MATE KN0WLEDGE AB0UT PL0T 1TSELF, AB0UT G0DS AND C0NCEPTS, AND Y0U BRAG AND B0AST AB0UT Y0UR TALENTS, CALL1NG US THREE SERPENTS "PUNY M1NDS"? Y0U HAVE N0 1DEA W1TH WH0M Y0U ARE DEAL1NG W1TH. WE HAVE BEEN F0RESHAD0WED, H1NTED AT, F0R YEARS. WE ARE AGENTS 0F THE PL0T 1TSELF. D0 N0T TRY T0 LECTURE US 0N WHAT Y0U C0NCE1VE THE PL0T T0 BE!

THE EMPLOYER: THERE 1S A VERY CLEAR SCH1SM BETWEEN THE C0NFL1CT AND THE NARRAT1VE - 0NE DRAWS THE PL0T T0WARDS BAD END1NGS, AND THE 0THER T0WARDS THE G00D. H0WEVER, B0TH F0RCES CAN ACT AT 0NCE. C0NFL1CT 1S A CRUC1AL PART 0F EVERY ST0RY - W1TH0UT 1T, THERE W0ULD BE N0 ST0RY AT ALL. THE NARRAT1VE PR0V1DES THE BAS1S F0R A ST0RY, AND THE C0NFL1CT CREATES 1TS C0MP0NENTS. THE TW0 F0RCES CAN W0RK T0GETHER, BUT THE C0NFL1CT W1LL ALWAYS SEEK AN END1NG WHERE "THE BAD GUY W1NS". THAT 1S 1TS NATURE.

THE EMPLOYER: C0NFL1CT 1S N0T A PUZZLE P1ECE, THE C0NFL1CT 1S THE PUZZLE, AND S0 1S THE NARRAT1VE! THE TW0 C0MB1NE T0 CREATE A ST0RY, AND ALL 0F THE PUZZLE P1ECES ARE THE 1ND1V1DUAL C0MP0NENTS 0F A ST0RY. BUT WHAT 1MAGE W1LL THEY F0RM WHEN THE PUZZLE 1S C0MPLETE? THAT 1S THE MYSTERY. 1N 0THER W0RDS, C0NFL1CT 1S N0T MERELY A PL0T DEV1CE. 1N THE CASE 0F TH1S ANT1-NARRAT1VE, THE C0NFL1CT 1S PL0T.

THE EMPLOYER: 1 AM TRY1NG T0 FURTHER THE PL0T, STEER 1T T0WARDS MY 0WN PATH. BUT MY VERY NATURE AS AN AGENT 0F C0NFL1CT MEANS 1 MUST STEER THE PL0T AWAY T0WARDS THE NARRAT1VE'S PATH, AND T0WARDS M1NE. 1 MUST H1NDER Y0UR PR0GRESS T0 FURTHER M1NE. S0MET1MES TH1S 1S D0NE BY F0RCE (F0R EXAMPLE, TR1AL 7), BUT M0ST 0F THE T1MES, 1T 1S D0NE BEH1ND THE SCENES (THE ENT1RE REST 0F THE GAME). Y0U ALL HAVE BEEN F1GHT1NG Y0UR WAR, DEFEAT1NG THE G0DM0DDER, 0BL1V10US 0R S1MPLY 1ND1FFERENT T0 WHAT WAS REALLY G01NG 0N.

THE EMPLOYER: PE0PLE SENT Y0U T0 ST0P TH1S WAR? H0NESTLY, Y0U'RE BU1LD1NG UP AN 1MAGE 0F Y0URSELF BE1NG AN END-ALL BE-ALL THREAT THAT W1LL HAVE THE AGENTS 0F THE C0NFL1CT TREMBL1NG 1N FEAR, BUT CAN Y0U REALLY DEL1EVER 0N THAT? ARE Y0U EVEN ALL0WED T0? PE0PLE TEND T0 REACT NEGAT1VELY T0 0NE WH0 1S 0VERP0WERED, JUST ASK Y0UR FELL0W C0LLEAGUES. PERHAPS 1F Y0U HAD T1ME, L1KE 1 D1D, T0 SEGUE MYSELF 1NT0 P0WER, BU1LD UP A REPUTAT10N AS A PUPPETMASTER AS THE M0NTHS WENT BY, TH1S SPEECH 0F Y0URS W0ULD HAVE BEEN RECE1VED BETTER BY ME?

THE EMPLOYER: 0F C0URSE PE0PLE D0N'T L1KE WHEN THERE 1S A C0NFL1CT THAT H0LDS UP THE PL0T. PE0PLE ARE TYP1CALLY N0T SUPP0SED T0 L1KE THE V1LLA1NS 0F THE ST0RY. BUT WHAT Y0U C0NC1EVE AS US H0LD1NG UP THE PL0T 1S US TRY1NG T0 FURTHER THE PL0T 1N 0UR 0WN WAY. WE D0 HAVE T0 GET R1D 0F WHAT Y0U ALL ARE W0RK1NG F0R, AT THE VERY LEAST!

THE EMPLOYER: WE D0 HAVE REAS0N T0 START, REAS0N T0 ADVANCE THE PL0T, REAS0N T0 EX1ST. THE REVEAL 0F THE C0NFL1CT WAS, T0 ALL 0F Y0U AT LEAST, SUDDEN AND UNEXPECTED. BUT 1T HAS LASTED S1NCE THE BEG1NN1NG 0F T1ME, AND 1T 1S THE ULT1MATE S0URCE 0F C0NFL1CT, THE P00L FR0M WH1CH EVERY C0NFL1CT AND V1LLA1N 0F A ST0RY 0R1G1NATES FR0M. Y0U ALL SH0ULD FEEL UNLUCKY T0 HAVE THE WH0LE TH1NG C0ME KN0CK1NG AT Y0UR D00RSTEP. THE C0NSEQUENCES 0F 0UR ACT10NS MAY N0T BEC0ME APPARENT T0 Y0U N0W, BUT THEY W1LL S00N. TRUST ME 0N THAT.

THE EMPLOYER: Y0U TH1NK Y0U'LL BE ABLE T0 PUT US BACK WHERE WE CAME FR0M? Y0U? 0NE DESCENDANT? Y0U'RE G01NG UP AGA1NST THE PR1M0RD1AL F0RCE 0F EV1L 1TSELF! 1'D L1KE T0 SEE Y0U TRY T0 TAKE US D0WN. Y0U TH1NK Y0U'RE THE 0NE WH0 NEEDS T0 EXPLA1N TH1NGS? Y0U TH1NK WE HAVE PUNY M1NDS? WE HAVE BEEN AR0UND S1NCE THE DAWN 0F T1ME! D0 N0T DARE SAY THAT 0UR M1NDS ARE PUNY!

THE EMPLOYER: THERE ARE 0NLY TW0 MULT1VERSES: F1CT10N AND N0NF1CT10N. THE F1FTH WALL Y0U SPEAK 0F D0ES LET Y0U ALL GA1N THE P0WER 0F 1MAG1NAT10N, AND 1T HAS SERVED ALL 0F Y0U WELL. Y0U ARE R1GHT AB0UT THAT. THERE AREN'T MANY TH1NGS ALL 0F Y0U, AS A C0LLECT1VE, CANN0T D0. BUT D0 N0T TH1NK Y0URSELVES 1NFALL1BLE. THE G0DM0DDER D1D. L00K WHERE HE 1S N0W.

THE EMPLOYER: AND 1 SPEAK FR0M THE B0TT0M 0F MY N0NEX1STENT HEART WHEN 1 SAY 1 S1NCERELY D0UBT Y0U C0ULD EVEN HARM US W1TH0UT L1FT1NG A F1NGER, S0 G00D LUCK W1TH THAT. D0 N0T FEEL SAD F0R US. WE HAVE N0 HEALTH BARS E1THER. 1T 1S EXTREMELY 1MPR0BABLE THAT Y0U C0ULD BEAT US 1N 0UR CURRENT F0RMS. WE C0NV1NCED 0URSELVES THAT WE HAD N0 CHANCE AT L0S1NG BECAUSE WE ACTUALLY D0 HAVE N0 CHANCE AT L0S1NG.

THE EMPLOYER: WE HAVE ALREADY W0N.

WARNING: The following storypost has flashing lights in several images. If you are epileptic, please read with caution. Yes, I am serious. It gets pretty intense at some points.

With that said, welcome to The Execution.

---

---

a·poc·a·lypse

/əˈpäkəˌlips/

noun

1. the complete final destruction of the world, especially as described in the biblical book of Revelation.

2. an event involving destruction or damage on an awesome or catastrophic scale.

---

Upon the completion of Split's ultimate attack against the now-faded memory of Doc Scratch, the one Godmodder Soul had concieved to keep Alpha trapped in a mental prison of twisted hatred, the final chain holding Alpha in place had broken. It shone with white light like its crystalline brethren before it, and then shattered into hundreds of pieces. Now freed from his shackles, Alpha blinks, saying nothing, taking an experimental step forward, into the unrestrained unknown. Then he takes another step. And he stops, staring at his hands, unbelieving.

The Descendants had done it. They had freed him. And now there is nothing to stop him from defeating Omega. Only a few months ago, Alpha would never have imagined being in this predicament. He had figured, expected, even hoped, that a Shatter would take place at some point through some means. But he would never have guessed that it would be started thanks to Omega experimenting with his own soul. Alpha can't even call him a brother anymore. He's a monster. A wretch. And he has to be stopped before he gets someone - most likely himself - killed.

Alpha surveys the wartorn crowd of Descendants, the entities that they had summoned to help in this ultimate battle fading away, sealing themselves shut behind doors and retreating into what little of Godmodder Soul's consciousness remains. He grins, and then he speaks.

ALPHA: I'm... I'm free.

ALPHA: I'm actually free!

ALPHA: And I have you all to thank for that. Without you, who knows what Omega would've done to me?

ALPHA: He tried to imprison me with his chains and memories, but it could never bring me down!

ALPHA: Nothing could, and nothing will! I'm at the top now, and that's where I'll stay.

ALPHA: ...You all can get out of the way at this point.

ALPHA: As much as it might pain you all to hear, you're meaningless now. I will be the one to end my br--no, that thing's life. Once and for all.

ALPHA: It's peculiar in a way. All along you've been trying to destroy the Godmodder...

ALPHA: And now he will destroy himself.

Alpha's eyes flicker, spasm, and go dark. Then they return, shining a brilliant deep blue separate from the muted colors of Alpha's presence in the mindscape. A similiar aura manifests around his entire body, his scarf whipping in the wind already beginning to form as a result of the entire mindscape hinging on the precipice of an ultimate battle. Alpha's face contorts into an expression of rage, an emotion that as of late has often manifested, but has been seldom shown. Yet that is the crux of every Shatter - rage. Alpha yells to the heavens.

ALPHA: OMEGA! IT'S TIME YOU AND ME HAD A TALK.

ALPHA: PAL.

Alpha tenses up and then jumps into the air, leaving behind a radiant trail of blue energy that slowly fades as Alpha climbs higher and higher into the sky. Godmodder Soul's complete lack of mental stability has turned the mindscape into a minefield of sorts. Portions of the sky are cracking and falling off like unusual rain, yet Alpha doesn't seem to mind - he barrels right through them. He surges past fields of doors representing scattered memories, past floating stone artifacts representing symbols in the Godmodder's life, and then clears all of them, staring straight at a certian point in the sky - the point where all of the cracks originate from.

ALPHA: ARE YOU HEARING ME? OR ARE YOU CHOOSING NOT TO LISTEN?

ALPHA: YOU CAN KEEP ME LOCKED UP ALL YOU WANT, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE!

ALPHA: YOU'RE GOING TO REVEAL YOURSELF, AND IF YOU DON'T, I'LL MAKE YOU!

ALPHA: DON'T BELIEVE ME?? JUST WATCH!

Alpha raises his hand, a door down below becoming encased in a blue aura, which then floats up to Alpha's position. He grabs it, and with one clean swipe of his hand, breaks the door in two. A massive rumbling occurs throughout the mindscapr as more cracks and splinters appearing in the sky. Alpha grins and grabs another door, destroying it in the same way. Then another. And another. And another. With each destruction of one of Godmodder Soul's memories, the mindscape fades and flickers, as if it's threatening to phase out of existence altogether. And then, as Alpha takes a door clearly labelled "KEEP OUT", everyone in the mindscape hears a massive voice.

GODMODDER SOUL: STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW! I'LL CRUSH YOU! I'LL DO IT!

A radiant light shines from the tip of the sky, and a fist of electricity once again comes down, headed straight for Alpha's body. Alpha twists his mouth into a near-inhuman cross between a sneer and a smile, his flaming eyes boring a metaphorical hole through Godmodder Soul's weapon of choice.

ALPHA: Gotcha.

As Alpha stares at the fist, it seems to slow down, and Alpha's body curls up, auras and tendrils of blue energy soaring throughout the mindscape and swarming towards his position, forming a massive ball of blue energy that encases Alpha's entire being, representing it, becoming an extension of it. The fist strikes the ball, yet the fist cracks, breaks, and shatters into a thousand pieces. And Alpha grins from inside of his energy ball, which remained intact through the assault as the fist crumbled.

Alpha breaks out of his containment, which dissolves into a massive blue light show, spreading throughout the mindscape and blotting out all other sources of light, fighting against Godmodder Soul's power and establishing his own. Alpha's entire body glows with the hues that were previously present only in his eyes, and then his scarf follows suit, stretching and growing in loops and rings around Alpha's body, turning into pure energy filled with various blue hues, becoming an indication of all of Alpha's might and power.

The scarf grows to a massive size, encircling Alpha and the space around him many times over, reaching from the top of the sky to the bottom of the ground, creating a whirlwind of blue energy that threatens to eclipse everything else in power and scope. And then, when Alpha is sure his power has stretched to every corner of the mindscape, asserting dominance once and for all, he shifts the scarf's power to exactly one spot - where it looped around his neck. All the glowing energy cycles back through the scarf, creating patterns like vortexes, all the energy funneling back into Alpha and causing his body to glow white.

In one fluid motion, all of the energy manifests outside of Alpha's body as a beam of light, sailing through the sky at lightspeed, creating explosions of plasma as it reacts with the air around the mindscape, and then touching the sky itself - causing every crack, crevice, and gap in the sky's surface to explode all at once, to shatter all at once, in a massive fireball that surges past Alpha and engulfs everything around.

The mindscape remains completely and relatively intact, but the sky has been torn open by the explosion, revealing a sea of undulating and twisting light that pulses with the four colors of Godmodder Soul's personality - goldenrod, cobalt, dark purple, and copper. Over and over again the colors loop hypnotically, driving Alpha towards the light. Floating inside is a man, and not just any man, the man - Omega.

ALPHA: There you are. I was worried I had lost you for good.

ALPHA: Not that it would have mattered much.

OMEGA:

OMEGA: Alpha...? What's... what's going on...

ALPHA: You're alright now, Omega. Your essence has become corrupted by pure evil with effects that last longer than even your own rage.

ALPHA: The Red Dragon casted a Mark on you when you fused with him, and now I have peeled back those layers of yourself that had grown over you.

OMEGA: So I'm myself, then? Heheh... Finally... I'm just...

OMEGA: I'm just myself.

OMEGA: That's... that's a relief.

ALPHA: Glad to hear that.

ALPHA: You idiot.

OMEGA: What-

Alpha punches Omega square in the jaw, sending him flying backwards a short distance. Omega glares at his assaulter with confusion and hurt.

OMEGA: Whoa, whoa, WHOA! What's gotten into you, huh?

ALPHA: What do you mean ME? What's gotten into YOU?

ALPHA: What were you THINKING making a deal with the Red Dragon?

ALPHA: You could have gotten him to help in ways that DIDN'T involve him taking over your soul!

OMEGA: Hey! He offered a solution to our problem, and I took it!

OMEGA: Isn't that what you would want me to do?

ALPHA: Yes, yes, I'm all for solving problems. But the way you did it was quite literally INSANE!

ALPHA: You nearly erased us both from existence with your stunt! The Red Dragon took over your body and made you high on pride and power and whatever else was going on through your head, and you shunted me into a corner! I couldn't do anything!

ALPHA: And then thanks to your contract from below, you came back after death, and then whatever was left of your mental strength ran to Timbuktu! You could have been admitted to a mental hospital if you didn't have the power to kill everyone on the planet!

ALPHA: You locked me up on top of a pyramid! The very pyramid that once represented EVERYTHING YOU STOOD FOR!

OMEGA: ...Stand. Stand for. Right?

OMEGA: Present tense there...

ALPHA: NO! You don't stand for courage now, or triumph! Now you're a disgusting freak that took a second chance that he should never have been GIVEN!

ALPHA: Everyone hates you now! Well done, I know that's what you wanted! But they hate you for the wrong reasons!

ALPHA: They think you should have stayed dead, that you're a disgrace, a mockery of your past self! You could have taken the Red Dragon's advice about humbling yourself, but you just had to go bigger, didn't you? You couldn't have laid low for a while!

OMEGA: Oh, that's rich coming from you! You don't think I should have gone big, huh? Well guess what!

OMEGA: That makes you a FLIPPING HYPOCRITE! What have you been telling me to do this entire war ever since you sprung into existence inside my brain, huh? USE YOUR POWER MORE! ACCOMPLISH MORE! ACHIEVE MORE!

OMEGA: Your plan was good, alright? But I followed it to the letter-

ALPHA: You didn't.

OMEGA: I followed it mostly to the--

ALPHA: You messed up two of those six trials, Omega. One of them didn't happen, and another was snatched from your fingers.

OMEGA: Okay, one: the Vord was a FLUKE. There was no way that Piono kid should have ever gotten that much power in the first place, and if we ever come to terms with each other after this, we need to take him DOWN! We need to take ALL of them down!

OMEGA: And TWO: I could have fought Scratch and WON. But I was distracted by you of all people! You were talking to me, I had my guard down! But we COVERED THIS ALREADY, so I don't know why we're even bothering to talk about it at all!

OMEGA: No really, why are we? It's almost like you're trying...

OMEGA: To aggravate me.

OMEGA: Oh.

OMEGA: I see where we're going with this.

ALPHA: Now you do? Hahahah. It ends here, Omega. I used to trust you like a brother. But you've gone too far. You've done things you shouldn't have.

OMEGA: Did you ever really trust me, Alpha? How can I be sure that all of your plans, all of this, wasn't just some big gambit in an increasingly huge pile of big gambits to take me over from the inside?

ALPHA: I suppose you can't be sure of that. And I bet that eats you up inside, hmm? Knowing that your potentially greatest enemy was inside of your head all along?

OMEGA: Yes. It does. I hate that you've lorded your power over me, I hate that you've bossed me around, I hate that you're TOTALLY ripping off of my style...

ALPHA: I hate that you can't follow advice, I hate that you choose to not follow your power, I hate that you're too quick to jump the gun, and I hate that you always, ALWAYS, go off on tangents!

OMEGA: And I'm sick of you.

ALPHA: And I'm sick of you.

OMEGA: So that means there's only one thing left to do.

ALPHA: So that means there's only one thing left to do.

The bodies of Alpha and Omega proceed to glow violently, enraptured in a blank whiteness that covers their entire bodies. They both undergo agonizing pain, screaming in horror as the power of the Shatter overwhelms them and everything around. The four colors that signal Godmodder Soul's ever-shifting personalities take up the entire of the mindscape's appearance, becoming the only thing that anyone can see. Everyone gets headaches from seeing the same four colors repeat over and over for what seems like days on end... But then, the scintillating power of the Shatter subsides, only emanating from the jagged hole in the sky that represents the battleground of the Shatter itself.

---

Meanwhile, on GodCraft itself, just several minutes ago when Alpha broke out of his chains, Godmodder Soul stopped fighting for the briefest of moments. His expression - sometimes cocky, sometimes pained, sometimes a harrowing mix of both - faltered. The Binaries capitalized on this opportunity and lashed out against him, knocking him backwards immensely. When Godmodder Soul recovered, he tried to signal a timeout but realized he only had one hand - he grew one from his mouth and called one. Then he tried to say the word "timeout" to the Binaries but realized he couldn't because his new hand was in his mouth. So he sighed and just tried to strike up a conversation.

GODMODDER SOUL: Okay, timeout, seriously. Call off the fight for a sec.

GODMODDER SOUL: ...Maybe more than a second, actually...

PROJECT BINARY: WHAT 1S 1T N0W, G0DM0DDER? D0 Y0U WANT ME T0 TELL Y0U M0RE EXP0S1T10N? BECAUSE BEL1EVE ME, 1'LL D0 1T.

GODMODDER SOUL: No no no, just stop it, alright? Since when did you turn from a superpowerful robot serpent that came this close to biting my head off to a reptilian clone of Navi, huh? Now do us both a favor and hey listen to what I'M saying.

GODMODDER SOUL: Something's going on in my head and IAGHHH

Godmodder Soul stumbled backwards, his form flickering. The three Binaries looked at each other, grinning - that is, if they could grin. Only one of them actually has a mouth, and even then Project Binary is for the most part expressionless. They all wondered what they should do - if Godmodder Soul's mindscape was decreasing even further, then this could be beneficial...

PROJECT BINARY: WHAT'S G01NG 0N 1N Y0UR HEAD N0W? Y0UR MENTAL STAB1L1TY, FR0M WHAT 1'VE BEEN T0LD, REACHED 1TS M1N1MUM N0T VERY L0NG AG0.

THE EMPLOYER: 1T'S TRUE... BUT WHAT'S G01NG 0N 1N THE G0DM0DDER'S M1ND 1SN'T 0UR D01NG. THE DESCENDANTS HAVE W0N. THEY FREED THE G0DM0DDER'S CHA1NED SPL1T PERS0NAL1TY.

THE EMPLOYER: N0W HE'S G01NG 0N A RAMPAGE AND 1S DESTR0Y1NG THE G0DM0DDER'S MEM0R1ES, PRESUMABLY T0 DRAW H1M 0UT AND ENGAGE 1N C0MBAT W1TH H1M. YES, TH1S W1LL BE BENEF1C1AL...

PROJECT BINARY: EXCELLENT. EVEN 1F Y0U HAD N0 PART 1N TH1S, G00D NEWS 1S G00D NEWS. THE G0DM0DDER SH0ULD TAKE CARE 0F H1MSELF, AND THEN DRAW1NG THE DESCENDANTS 0UT 0F THE M1NDSCAPE SH0ULD PR0VE S1MPLE, UNLESS THE G0DM0DDER'S BRA1NP0WER 1S S0 ABYSMAL AT TH1S STAGE THAT ENTRY AND EX1T FR0M H1S M1ND 1S 1MP0SS1BLE.

BINARY PRIME: [D0N'T W0RRY, 1T'S N0T. WE'LL GET THR0UGH N0 PR0BLEM.]

THE EMPLOYER: AGREED. 0H, THERE G0ES S0ME M0RE MEM0R1ES!

GODMODDER SOUL: GHAHGHAAGHHHHHKILLYOUILLKILLYOU

GODMODDER SOUL: CANTREMEMBERCANTANYTHINGGGGGGGGAHHAGHHGAGH

PROJECT BINARY: WELL, WHATEVER THE G0DM0DDER 1S D01NG T0 H1MSELF L00KS VERY PA1NFUL. 1 APPR0VE 0F 1T. KEEP UP THE G00D W0RK, G0DM0DDER!

BINARY PRIME: [Y0U'RE CERTA1NLY PUTT1NG 0N A GREAT SH0W!]

GODMODDER SOUL: WHYDONTIWHYCANTIANDIDONOTWANTANANDANDHADHHAGHHGH

GODMODDER SOUL: NONONODONTDOTHATONEANYONEBUTTHATONERRRRGHHHH

GODMODDER SOUL: THAT'S

GODMODDER SOUL: IT

Godmodder Soul's body crackled with purple electricity, driving the Binaries backwards.

GODMODDER SOUL: STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW! I'LL CRUSH YOU! I'LL DO IT!

PROJECT BINARY: 1S HE TALK1NG T0 US?

THE EMPLOYER: N0, HE'S--

Silence.

PROJECT BINARY: EMPL0YER? PR1ME? WHAT'S G01NG 0N 1N THERE?

PROJECT BINARY: RESP0ND T0 ME AT 0NCE! WHY HAVE Y0U G0NE C0MPLETELY 1MM0B1LE, Y0U SH0ULD BE ABLE T0 ACT HERE AND 1N--

Godmodder Soul's body lurched backwards, glowing with massive amounts of blue energy. Rays of blue light shone from his ragged body, and he pulsed with twisting hues of blue that retreated inwards, turning the very core of his body a piercing white color. Whatever was happening was affecting everything in the mindscape, including the Employer and Binary Prime, and its effects were even present outside of the mindscape, as evidenced by Godmodder Soul's sudden transformation. Yet as quickly as the change came, it subsided, and Godmodder Soul returned to normal. Now he simply floated in the air, eyes closed, doing nothing.

PROJECT BINARY: B0TH 0F Y0U ANSWER ME. HAS THE TURBULENCE SUBS1DED?

BINARY PRIME: [Y... YES.]

PROJECT BINARY: WHAT HAPPENED N0W? WAS A CRUC1AL MEM0RY DESTR0YED?

THE EMPLOYER: N0, THAT WAS AV01DED... THE FREED SPL1T PERS0NAL1TY ENDED UP TEAR1NG THE SKY APART, H0WEVER. N0NE 0F US C0ULD M0VE F0R A G00D L0NG WH1LE, BUT THEN EVERYTH1NG CLEARED UP AND N0W THERE'S TH1S JAGGED H0LE 1N THE SKY.

THE EMPLOYER: 1 D0N'T SEE THE SPL1T PERS0NAL1TY N0W. 1 THE0R1ZE HE'S G01NG T0 WHATEVER'S BEY0ND THE H0LE 1N THE SKY.

BINARY PRIME: [HE DEF1N1TELY 1S.]

PROJECT BINARY: H0W WAS 1 UNAWARE 0F THE PRESENCE 0F A SPL1T PERS0NAL1TY 1N THE G0DM0DDER'S M1ND?

BINARY PRIME: [WHY D0 Y0U TH1NK WE KN0W THE ANSWER?]

THE EMPLOYER: 1'M UNSURE, BUT H1S NAME 1S ALPHA. THE G0DM0DDER'S C0RE PERS0NAL1TY 1S 0MEGA. EVER S1NCE THE ECL1PSE, 0MEGA HAS BEC0ME C0RRUPTED AND ALPHA HAS BEEN L0CKED AWAY, 0NLY BE1NG FREED VERY RECENTLY.

THE EMPLOYER: 1T APPEARS ALPHA RESENTS 0MEGA F0R TH1S, AND 1S F1GHT1NG BACK.

PROJECT BINARY: BY DESTR0Y1NG H1S MEM0R1ES?

THE EMPLOYER: N0T JUST THAT...

PROJECT BINARY: WHAT D0 Y0U MEAN BY THAT.

THE EMPLOYER: 1 MEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH

BINARY PRIME: [AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA]

PROJECT BINARY: NGH... TH1S 1S AFFECT1NG ME T00... BUT H0W... H0W D1D 1 N0T KN0W 0F TH1S?

GODMODDER SOUL: shatter

PROJECT BINARY: WHAT D1D HE JUST SAY? [SCANN1NG AUD10 F1LES... F1LE F0UND. REPLAY1NG F1LE AT 901% V0LUME.]

PROJECT BINARY: [shatter]

PROJECT BINARY: 0H N0.

Once Project Binary analyzed Godmodder Soul's words, he immediately realized what was about to take place, and leaned in closer to observe exactly what happened during a Shatter. This was the first time Project Binary had viewed one, and he wanted to make the most of it. Nearly instantly, Godmodder Soul's body contorted into an expression of pain, his mouth opening impossibly wide as if to let out a scream - yet none came. Godmodder Soul's head shook violently, blood dripping from his nose. Electricity and light began to flash around his body, and then his whole form was aflame with pure energy.

The same four colors repeated over and over, goldenrod, cobalt, purple, copper, flashing again and again, coating the entire field in hues of chaos. Project Binary glared at Godmodder Soul's form, which had stopped shaking and was now in some sort of suspended animation, forced to relay the same few colors until what seemed like the end of time. The Employer and Binary Prime were similarly motionless, their bodies remaining unmoving, still as statues. They only stirred when the lightshow coming from Godmodder Soul began to fade and subsided.

Godmodder Soul's body fell to the ground, motionless. The same four colors repeated around himself, but they were dim at this point, mere embers of their former glory. Project Binary, sensing that a fight was no longer needed, decided to heed Godmodder Soul's last wish and call it off. And so he did.

---

Look at it.

What do you think I'm doing?

Yeah, yeah I'm looking.

It's so beautiful.

Chaos becoming order. Order becoming chaos.

If you think something's beautiful, then there's something very wrong going on.

You've got a twisted vision of what beauty is, Split.

That's what they all say, Greenie. That's what they all say.

Seeing all this reminds me of the good old days, you know?

Back when we were in the same body, bickering over each other.

Back when that guy made me a whole castle, made me a throne, made me a king.

Back when we beat each other up just like this. Same displays of color and everything!

...I wouldn't call those days good. Things are better now, for the both of us.

We're in different bodies now, we never have to worry about each other ever again.

That's just code for "I'm so glad Split's not gonna try and kill me every five seconds," huh?

Come on, I'm not stupid.

I know you're not... You know, I said those days weren't good for me.

Yeah.

I never said they weren't old.

It's been what, a year since since the Scratch? Over a year?

It's been 396 days.

Damn. Where did all the time go, huh?

I guess I destroyed it. Heh.

Heh.

...So. What are you gonna do after this is over? After the Shatter's done, after we restore Minecraft...

Where will you go?

I dunno. Hop around some alternate timelines, maybe. Check out some more wars? There's always something going on somewhere and somewhen.

I'm just gonna make the most of that.

What, by killing everyone you see?

...Probably.

And I'll get to you one day, you know. Don't think just because we're talking like this we're friends forever.

I'm not, I'm not. You're dangerous, unpredictable, downright scary at times... But...

I'm literally cancer?

You're the closest thing to a twin brother I'll ever have.

I'd drink to that.

If we had anything to drink?

Yeah.

...It is pretty beautiful, you know. The sky.

Yeah, I know.

I'm looking.

---

Yet outside of the tranquility Build and Split are experiencing in their chat with each other, a massive storm brews in the very center of the sky, in the battlefield of the Shatter itself. Every Descendant, the two Game Masters, and the two Binaries all encircle the pyramid below, waiting for the supposed end of the Shatter - although what will happen to the mindscape afterwards is uncertain. They could vanish without a trace, they could be assimilated into the mindscape itself, living on behind closed doors... Who really knows the truth for sure?

Omega and Alpha do. They're living it.

In the heart of the sky, behind the clouds of light shrouding the true battlefield, Omega and Alpha wage war amongst each other. Armed with weapons of living color shining in the same hues as themselves, the two split personalities fight until the bitter end. Auras of fire trail behind them, and the constant pulsating background of the same four colors behind them provides a suitable backdrop to their frenzied brawl. Omega had equipped his trusty Banhammer, which served him well after all these years, and Alpha had armed himself with his arm, a crystallized limb that could change its shape to nearly any weapon.

The two weapons clash over and over again, Alpha and Omega changing positions in the sky, weaving around in a death dance. The most powerful attacks the two could think of were lunged at one another, massive walls of enchanted fire, obscene redstone contraptions built for war, terrors and mechs, even turrets all being used for one sole purpose - to kill each other. And when those constructs were too destroyed, Alpha and Omega would resort to melee combat for a time before starting the cycle anew. It was painful and it was dirty, but it was necessary.

OMEGA: This is... this is tiring.

ALPHA: I agree, but now's not the best time to be having second thoughts.

OMEGA: Hey, I have no intention of leaving this unfinished. Is that even possible, actually?

ALPHA: I hope we don't find out. I want to finish this cleanly.

ALPHA: And preferably quickly!

Alpha makes a forward slash at Omega, cutting a gash across his face. In theory, a Shatter against two godmodders should be a pathetic thing, with each being able to block nearly anything the other would throw, but in practice, a Shatter of a godmodder is more or less the same, with one key difference - with the amount of power each combatant wields, odds are that the battle will be much more destructive than usual.

There is a nearly imperceptible noise at the edge of Omega's awareness. He almost doesn't pick up on it. Yet his copper and purple selves - the ones contorted and corrupted by unfathomable power - linger on the edges of his being, lending their power to his, their foresight, their techniques. And so Omega hears the noise. And then he hears it repeat, and repeat again, like a steady beat near the edge of the mindscape. He contemplates telling Alpha, but he realizes after a second that it won't do much - because the look in Alpha's eyes tells Omega that he hears it too.

The two stop fighting.

OMEGA: You hear it, right?

ALPHA: Yes... I do. Do you have any idea what it is?

OMEGA: No, IWAIT

OMEGA: ...

OMEGA: I think I do.

Something crosses Omega's face, an emotion that he almost never experiences, never since all those years ago. He's been worried before, he's panicked before, but he's never, ever, been truly and utterly afraid of anything that he's come across. Until now. Now, Omega's face is that of the most frightened man in the universe. The aura of flame around his body dissipates, his copper and purple selves fading away, his banhammer dissolving into smoke. Omega curls up into the fetal position, shaking.

Alpha scoffs and rolls his eyes, yet notices that the constant beat is growing louder. He leans down towards Omega and slowly, carefully, cuts the top of Omega's head with his crystalline finger with just enough force to draw blood. Omega shudders and lashes out, grabbing Alpha's arm. Alpha recoils in shock and concentrates, the crystalline structure of his arm spreading to Omega's. Omega yells in pain and jumps backwards before the crystal can spread any further.

ALPHA: What could that noise be? How is it sooo scary that it's causing you to huddle up into a little cube like a coward?

OMEGA: I'm not a coward... No... Nonono I proved myself why is it coming back...

OMEGA: I stopped running and I started fighting I took its advice I why...

ALPHA: Wait... I think I know who this is too. Oh.

ALPHA: Oh no.

Overcome by memories past, Omega loses all his resolve, all his will to fight, all his will to exist, and just floats. And Alpha joins him. The constant beat they hear has grown much louder over the past minute or two, turning into a pounding thud that seems to consume everything each time they hear it. Every three seconds they hear it, the beat gnawing away at their consciousness, even dimming the light all around them. The only thing Omega and Alpha can do is look out of the hole in the sky and watch and listen.

---

Thud.

The sound repeats itself, seemingly without end, every few seconds.

Thud.

Its source is known only by Omega and Alpha, and even then, it is but a hunch.

Thud.

The sound stretches across every hill, mountain, ruin, door.

Thud.

Its source inches closer to the pyramid every time it is heard.

Thud.

The sound is so commanding, so powerful, that everyone and everything stops to listen.

Thud.

Its source draws nearer, ominous and hidden within the shadows.

Thud.

The sound shatters the ground with every strike, sending cracks throughout its surface.

Thud.

Its source sees the light up ahead, the light that created cracks throughout the sky, the light that called it here.

Thud.

The sound strikes fear in the hearts of everyone by the pyramid, every Descendant, every Guardian, and every Binary.

Thud.

Its source is visible.

Thud.

The sound is clear to everyone now, heard throughout the entire mindscape.

Its source stops moving and gazes ahead. It sees the light shining radiantly throughout the sky, every path torn throughout the heavens all leading to a singular hole, the moment in time and space where the Shatter is taking place. It sees the magenta pyramid lit up by the battle going on above, and it sees two familiar shapes winding their way across the pyramid, seemingly heralding this thing's appearance. Now that it has drawn closer, the Employer and Binary Prime know who it is as well.

It is the shadow of the Incarnate. A figure that once resided in the Godmodder's dreams at the turn of the century, a massive behemoth wrapped in black that stalked the Godmodder throughout prophetic landscapes years before Minecraft was even released at all. With every step it took in the Godmodder's dreams, a massive thud accompanied it, as it inched ever closer to the Godmodder. Try as he might, he could never outrun it, and always fell to its power eventually. On and on the dreams went, until one day, when the figure and the Godmodder had a talk.

That talk, which was about the figure telling the Godmodder to stop running from everyone who had wronged him, to stop hiding at the top, and to start fighting for what he loved, to pursue his dreams, inspired the Godmodder to make a living off of video games. And it inspired him to try Minecraft, which ultimately spiraled into the war that we all know and hate today. The figure had never appeared in the Godmodder's dreams since that talk.

So why is it here now?

The figure stalks ever closer to the pyramid, at a close enough distance that it is starting to become visible to the Descendants surrounding it. They are all overcome by irrational fear at the figure's presence, knowing that something like this should not exist and should never have existed. Yet only one person out of the whole bunch knows this thing at a deeper level - NinjaV, who had opened two of the doors of Godmodder Soul's mind and discovered the figure's existence.

NinjaV, like the Godmodder before him, saw the figure walk towards the Godmodder, never slowing or speeding in pace. He saw the figure crush the Godmodder under his heel, pick him up and watch him fall. He saw the flaming chunks of the moon hurtling towards the ground with the Godmodder trying to outrun them. He saw the figure's scattered whispers of prophecy, speaking as if they were made to be heard by him, referencing the Descendants and Godmodder Soul... And he saw the figure's talk with the Godmodder, the start of darkness, the beginning of the end. So it is NinjaV who feels an inexplicable urge to kneel when the figure approaches in earnest, an urge that he obeys without even thinking.

When the figure talks, everyone feels like shriveling up into a ball and disintegrating from existence.

GOOD. ONE OF YOU HAS COMMON SENSE. YOU KNEEL TO MY FEET BECAUSE YOU RECOGNIZE MY POWER. YOU HAVE SEEN ME BEFORE. AND I HAVE SEEN YOU. WHEN YOU WENT INTO THIS BEING'S MEMORIES, YOU SAW ME WHEN I PLAGUED HIS SLEEPING HOURS AND WHEN I WAS AT THE EDGES OF HIS WAKING ONES. AND AS YOU SAW ME, I SAW YOU. EVERY SHADOW IS A GATEWAY, AND YOU KNOW THAT FULL WELL. AND I AM THE GREATEST SHADOW OF THEM ALL. SO IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A NAME FOR ME, THAT'S WHAT YOU CAN CALL ME. THE SHADOW.

NOW AS FOR THE REST OF YOU, WHAT IN EXISTENCE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING. I AM GREATER THAN YOU AND I SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH. SO KNEEL FOR ME. KNEEL!

The Shadow raises its right hand, constricting it into a fist. Your legs suddenly feel like they're burning, freezing, being eaten alive, being vaporized, being torn apart, being constricted, exploding, all at once. The pain is sudden and it is quick to grow, quick to take over your consciousness. All of you fall to the ground because of it, inadvertently kneeling to the Shadow.

EXCELLENT. NOW, YOU WHO KNELT FIRST. THE ENDERMAN. YOU HAVE ALLOWED ME ACCESS BACK HERE. I THANK YOU FOR THAT. WHEN YOU WERE AT THE TERMINAL IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS PYRAMID, YOU SUSPECTED THAT THE INCOMING FORCE IT DETECTED WAS YOU. BUT IT WAS NOT. IT WAS ME. YOU LET ME BACK, FOR I HAD SEALED OFF ACCESS TO THE GODMODDER'S DREAMS AND MEMORIES WHEN I HAD FINISHED MY TALK WITH HIM. IT WAS INTENTIONAL, SO THAT MY TIME OF DIRECTLY INFLUENCING HIM WOULD CONCLUDE AND MY TIME OF LURKING IN THE SHADOWS TO INDIRECTLY INFLUENCE HIM WOULD BEGIN. AND FOR THE REST OF YOU. BE FREED FROM YOUR BONDS.

The burning pain in all of your legs subsides. You all stand back up on the sides of the pyramid, watching the Shadow with mixed feelings as it continues to speak, occasionally inching ever closer to the pyramid itself. Yet as it grows closer, none of you can see it any clearer, only recognizing it as a black sillouhette of the Incarnate's glory with piercing white eyes.

I WILL NOT TALK FOR LONG, SINCE I KNOW HOW MUCH YOU ALL DESPISE WALLS OF TEXT. SO I WILL ATTEMPT TO BE BRIEF HERE. HOPEFULLY, UNLIKE THE SERPENTS UP ABOVE, I WILL SUCCEED AT THIS TASK. I AM AN AGENT OF ONE OF THE TWO PRIMORDIAL FORCES OF OUR REALITY, KNOWN AS THE CONFLICT. THE OTHER IS THE NARRATIVE, WHICH I AM CERTAIN ALL OF YOU KNOW ABOUT BY NOW. THE NARRATIVE AND CONFLICT TRY TO STEER REALITY TOWARDS GOOD AND BAD ENDINGS, RESPECTIVELY. THE NARRATIVE IS INFLUENCED BY AUTHORS TO ACHIEVE ITS TASK, AND THE CONFLICT INFLUENCES OTHERS TO ACHIEVE ITS TASK. YET LONG AGO, THERE WAS A CATACLYSM ENGINEERED BY THE CONFLICT THAT THE NARRATIVE WON.

THE CONFLICT WAS SHATTERED INTO MANY PIECES INSTEAD OF REPRESENTING A UNIFIED BEING. ONE OF THOSE PIECES WAS A BEING KNOWN AS BINARY, AND ANOTHER ONE WAS ME. THE CONFLICT'S PIECES WOULD BECOME KNOWN AS AGENTS, EXPLAINING MY TITLE AS AN AGENT OF THE CONFLICT. I ENTERED THE GODMODDER'S MIND TWELVE YEARS AGO IN ORDER TO INFLUENCE HIM, TO GET HIM TO CHANGE HIS LIFE, TO GET HIM TO DO ONE THING IN PARTICULAR: DISCOVER MINECRAFT. THE CREATOR OF MINECRAFT WAS INFLUENCED IN MUCH THE SAME WAY BACK THEN, BUT THROUGH DIFFERENT PEOPLE.

The Shadow makes a low mechanical noise that you all think is a chuckle.

ONCE I HAD STEERED THE GODMODDER TO THAT CONCLUSION, I INDIRECTLY INFLUENCED HIM IN THE SAME WAY THE CONFLICT GUIDES ALL VILLAINS: I GOT HIM TO SPREAD CHAOS AND DESTRUCTION AS HE JOINED THE ORIGINAL GODMODDING WAR AND CLIMBED UP THE GODMODDING LADDER THAT FOLLOWED IN ITS WAKE, ONCE AGAIN RISING TO THE TOP, AND ACHIEVING A CLASS ALL HIS OWN. I HAD GUIDED THE GODMODDER TO THE TOP, AND TO THE TOP HE STAYED, WITH I INTERFERING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. YET THE NARRATIVE INTERVENED AS OF THREE YEARS AGO, LEADING TO TWO DEFEATS - ONE ON A SIMPLE SERVER, AND ANOTHER HERE.

WITH THIS WAR REACHING ITS ONE TRUE CONCLUSION, I BELIEVE THAT IT IS TIME FOR THE AGENTS OF THE CONFLICT TO CONVENE AND UNITE ONCE AGAIN, SO THAT THE CONFLICT CAN RISE UP AND BECOME THE UNDISPUTED KING OF REALITY. I HAVE MARCHED HERE TO TAKE CARE OF THE GODMODDER'S DESTRUCTION AND TO MOVE ON TO OTHER THINGS. I WILL BE LEAVING THE GODMODDER'S MINDSCAPE, AND I WILL NEED TWO OTHERS TO JOIN ME: BINARY AND THE BEING THAT WAS SPAWNED FROM HIM. BOTH OF YOU, MOVE FORWARD.

Binary Prime and the Employer turn to look at each other before uncoiling from the pyramid and floating over to the Shadow, looking up at his piercing eyes.

BINARY PRIME: [1 TH1NK 1 REMEMBER Y0U. FR0M BACK THEN.]

I REMEMBER YOU AS WELL. YOU'VE CERTAINLY CHANGED FROM ALL THOSE EONS AGO. FOR STARTERS, YOU'VE GAINED A SPLINTER. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

THE EMPLOYER: THAT'S A RATHER L0NG ST0RY. MY CREAT10N WAS RATHER C1RCU1T0US, AND 1T 0NLY T00K PLACE BECAUSE 1 MAN1PULATED A F1RST GUARD1AN KN0WN AS D0C SCRATCH.

YOU TOOK CONTROL OF A FIRST GUARDIAN? EXCELLENT. WHAT'S YOUR NAME, ANYWAY? YOU TALK A LOT LIKE BINARY, WHICH IS FITTING SINCE YOU'RE A SPLINTER OF HIM.

THE EMPLOYER: 0H, 1'VE GR0WN T0 BEC0ME MUCH M0RE THAN A MERE SPL1NTER... BUT AS F0R A NAME... M0ST JUST CALL ME THE EMPL0YER.

WELL THEN, IT IS SETTLED. WE WILL LEAVE THE GODMODDER'S MIND RIGHT AFTER I TAKE CARE OF ONE THING.

BRACE YOURSELVES.

The Shadow begins to march forward once more, heading past the pyramid as if nothing had happened. With each step, you feel yourselves slow down, as if your organs are threatening to simply stop working, as if your brains are failing simply by being near this thing. The Shadow stops moving after it has reached a considerable distance from the pyramid, and then it gazes at the sky. The Shadow raises both of its arms, its godarm changing shape and forming into a massive drill which almost immediately begins to spin around at dangerous speeds.

---

Omega and Alpha, who have seen everything going on down below on the pyramid, look at each other with fear in their eyes when the Shadow finishes talking.

OMEGA: WHATDOWEDOWHATDOWEDO

ALPHA: I... I don't know. I DON'T KNOW.

OMEGA: OHMYGODIMHAVINGTHESEHORRIBLEFLASHBACKSAGHHHH

ALPHA: Okay alright STOP. Omega, pull yourself together.

ALPHA: I'm nowhere near in the mood for a totality, but we need to do something about this.

OMEGA: You're right, but... BUT OH NO IT'S COMING THIS WAY NONONONO

ALPHA: God, Omega, LOOK! What it didn't like all those times when it saw you was when you RAN, right? It liked it when you stood your ground and fought. So do that! Stand your ground and FIGHT ME, goddammit!

ALPHA: Don't let this cloud your judgement!

Omega is torn between looking at the ever-advancing Shadow and at Alpha. Closing his eyes momentarily, Omega grimaces. When he reopens his eyes, they're full of golden flame, and Omega reels back, his fist lighting on fire, punching the lights out of Alpha and hitting him square in the jaw, just where Alpha had hit him to kick off the Shatter. Alpha is flung backwards, sailing through the white limbo of the Shatter's battlefield. Omega turns to look at the Shadow, which has twisted its arm into a drill.

He tries to talk to the Shadow, tries to yell at it for all the pain it caused him those years ago when it became a recurring beast in his dreams, tries to simultaenously curse and thank it for the path it set him on to this day, but he can't bring himself to move his mouth. All those times Omega had tried to talk to it, he had failed... It looks like nothing's changed. Omega is forced to stand tall, using every fiber of his being to not run away like a coward, as the Shadow looks up.

DID YOU MISS ME? NO. NO, I EXPECT YOU DIDN'T. MY VISAGE IS NO DOUBT BRINGING BACK PAINFUL MEMORIES... MEMORIES YOU WANTED TO KEEP BURIED, BUT COULDN'T. WHY ELSE WOULD YOU HAVE BASED YOUR FINAL CONTRAPTION OFF OF MY EXACT APPEARANCE? FACE IT, I PLAYED A LARGE PART IN YOUR LIFE, ONE THAT YOU CAN'T EASILY FORGET OR AVOID. NOW THAT THAT'S OVER, LET'S GET ON WITH IT. YOU'VE RUN YOUR RACE, GODMODDER. YOUR TIME IS UP, AND IF YOU COME BACK, I SINCERELY DOUBT IT WILL BE IN THE SAME WAY. TIME TO MESS WITH THIS SHATTER OF YOURS.

A piercing aura of energy manifests around the Shadow's drill, with a similar one manifesteing around his other hand as well. There is a flash in the Shadow's eyes, and the auras of energy twist around themselves, forming massive columns of energy that travel at blazing speeds. Torn by battle, Omega is too slow to avoid it, and is caught right in the middle. He yells in agony, his form shifting in and out of existence, afterimages of himself appearing in many colors. Every second Omega is caught in the beam, more cracks manifest across the sky of the mindscape, growing to the ever-enlarging hole in the middle of the sky.

Soon, Alpha recovers, ready to tackle Omega once more, but stops when he sees the Shadow. Its other hand launches another beam of energy towards Alpha, who is caught in it as well. And just like that, both forms of the Godmodder are locked in an eternity of torture, feeling as if their very essences are being scrubbed away. And as they remain trapped by the Shadow's power, the hole in the sky cracks and shudders, growing faster and faster, further and further, until, after a minute or two, there's no more sky left at all.

The entire mindscape is bathed in rays of light flashing between the same four colors over and over and over, with the colors getting lighter and lighter until, at the center of the sky, only pure whiteness can be seen. And when that is accomplished, the Shadow stops firing at Omega and Alpha, leaving them scorched and ruined. The two drop from the sky like stones, heading straight towards the pyramid. Everyone quickly flies away as the two impact it, causing the pyramid to collapse in on itself as they tunnel straight through it.

The Shadow turns to look at the two fallen villains, walking over to them and peering down at their bodies, which haven't moved since the fall.

DON'T WORRY, THEY'RE NOT DEAD. THEY'VE BEEN KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS, WHICH IS GOOD FOR TWO REASONS. ONE BEING THAT THEY WON'T BE AWAKE FOR WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, AND THE OTHER BEING THAT THEY CAN NO LONGER SUPPORT THEIR OWN MINDSCAPE, MEANING WE'LL BE FREE TO EXIT IT. ONCE AGAIN, I SUGGEST YOU PREPARE YOURSELVES.

The Shadow once again looks up to the sky and turns his godarm into a normal arm. Both of his hands flex themselves and then, without warning, reach up to the sky, defying all conventional logic and somehow literally touching the sky, grabbing onto it, holding it. The Shadow's hands sink through the sky's technicolor lightshow, which begins to drip across the figure's surface like some kind of liquid. The dripping effect spreads across the entire sky, which suddenly isn't some expanse surrounding the mindscape's ground and is now a real and tangible thing.

The sky drips down, in larger globules now, losing its shape and caving inwards, stretching down to the ground. No one can run as there is nowhere to run at all, leaving everyone helpless to watch as the sky falls. Whatever the sky touches is erased from existence, as you all see first-hand when the sky begins to eat away at the ground like a knife cutting bread. Yet somehow, the Shadow remains intact throughout all of this, becoming bathed in the sky's flames and coming out unscathed. Binary Prime, the Employer, Omega and Alpha are all unaffected as well... Leaving everyone else to die. In a matter of seconds, the sky has completely fallen, and everyone inside of the mindscape who isn't immune has been burned to ashes, leaving no time to even think.

Bathed in a waterfall of living color, the Shadow clenches its fists, causing the sky's colors to stop changing and to remain at a fixed hue - white. Suddenly, the sky begins to funnel itself into the cavity in the Shadow's chest where its superlaser should be, all the color and mayhem screaming into the Shadow's chassis as if a massive vortex is pulling them there! The two Binaries and the bodies of Omega and Alpha are motionless, coiled below the Shadow, who appears to be struggling to contain eveything...

But soon enough, the entire sky is poured into the Incarnate, leaving behind nothing in Godmodder's mindscape. Absolutely nothing at all. Nothing but a formless void. The Shadow looks around, only its eyes and the various lights around itself visible in the darkness.

AND THAT IS HOW YOU DESTROY A MINDSCAPE. THE TWO SHOULD WAKE UP IN A FEW MINUTES, GIVING THEM TIME TO BEGIN THE SHATTER ONCE MORE. THEY SHOULD BE DISORIENTED, BUT THE MINDSCAPE WILL REFORM AROUND THEM... MOSTLY INTACT. AND NOW THAT I HAVE DONE THAT, I CAN DO THIS.

The Shadow tenses up, the orb in the center of its chest glowing wildly. And then, massive shockwaves of white energy rebound throughout what's left of the mindscape, ravaging everything in sight and turning everything to white--

And then there was nothing.

---

Back on GodCraft, every Descendant has respawned outside of Godmodder Soul's mind, back on the ruined bedrock where the Tower stood just a few months prior. Some of the Descendants are staring down Godmodder Soul's twitching body, and the rest are looking up at the three Binaries. Out of the three, only one is active - Project Binary. The other two are still caught in the mindscape with the Shadow. Yet before anyone can do much of anything, Godmodder Soul's body spasms and seizes upwards, shining radiantly with white light - the Employer and Binary Prime emerge from it, as well as the gargantuan form of the Shadow.

THERE. NOW THAT THAT'S FINISHED, THE SHATTER OF THE GODMODDER HAS BEEN SPLIT IN TWO. IT WILL PLAY OUT IN BOTH HIS AVATAR'S MIND AND IN HIS REAL SELF'S MIND. TWO SEPARATE BATTLES, TWO SEPARATE OMEGAS, TWO SEPARATE ALPHAS... TWO SEPARATE VICTORS, PERHAPS? I CAN'T BE CERTAIN OF THAT. NOW THAT WE'RE OUT OF THAT DESPICABLE PIT, BOTH OF YOU AGENTS CAN FULLY REFORM.

Binary Prime and the Employer's halves (the ones that went into the mindscape and the ones that stayed on GodCraft) snap back together with an audible pop. There is no such closure for Godmodder Soul though, as his body continues spasming and flashing with colors. Everyone thinks about the Shadow's words - if the Shatter really has been duplicated and the Godmodder's real self is undergoing it as well, what's life like for him now?

---

Ever since the Shatter actually happened, the illusion of unity between Richard's real mind and his avatar's had been, well, shattered. Their minds had become split apart, with Richard staring in awe and wonder at his screen as he controlled both Omega and Alpha to fight to the death, controlling extensions of his own mind for a battle royale of the ultimate kind... And then, as the Shatter progressed, he saw the Shadow and panicked, and as his mindscape underwent a slow and painful death, the Shadow split the Shatter in two.

Richard's computer screen flashed brilliantly with the same four colors as his own personalities, bathing him, his computer desk, and his entire room in the same colors, the same colors that had taken over Godmodder Soul, and the same colors that were now invading Richard's own mind, driving the inner demons inside of his own mind to a climatic fight, and repeating the Shatter itself. Richard slumped in his seat, entering a catatonic state as, in his last throes of consciousness, he dimly registered having two Shatters to deal with.

If he had to bet, he'd say that this was a new world record of sorts. And that would be the last thought the Richard we know would ever think.

---

The Shadow looks over at Godmodder Soul's body one last time, its shoulders lifting up in a shrug. The three Binaries take another glance at him as well, and then all look at each other before gazing at all of the Descendants. It's as if the Conflict has looked at the Godmodder and has reduced him to irrelevance once again, a footnote. Yet the Godmodder is as important as ever, a war being waged inside his very mind. But that doesn't cross the minds of anyone on the Battlefield. The only thing anyone can think about is finishing the war.

PROJECT BINARY: HMM. WHAT ARE Y0U, EXACTLY? 1'VE NEVER SEEN Y0U BEF0RE.

JUST ANOTHER AGENT OF THE CONFLICT. CALL ME THE SHADOW. YOU HAVE ME TO THANK FOR THE EXECUTION OF THE GODMODDER.

PROJECT BINARY: 1T D0ESN'T L00K L1KE Y0U EXECUTED H1M. HE'S ST1LL AL1VE.

HE WON'T BE FOR VERY LONG.

BINARY PRIME: [GLAD THAT'S 0VER. N0W WHAT?]

THE EMPLOYER: 1 TH1NK THAT SH0ULD BE 0BV10US.

THE EMPLOYER: 0NE LAST F1GHT.

BINARY PRIME: [0NE LAST F1GHT?]

PROJECT BINARY: 1 AGREE. 0NE LAST F1GHT SH0ULD D0.

WE'VE GOTTEN THE GODMODDER OUT OF THE WAY. NOW ALL THAT'S LEFT IS THE DESCENDANTS AND THESE GAME MASTERS.

ONE LAST FIGHT INDEED.

I HOPE ALL OF YOU ARE PREPARED FOR WHAT IS ABOUT TO COME. HOW MANY FINAL FIGHTS HAVE YOU HAD? YOU FOUGHT ON TOP OF THE TALLEST TOWER IN THE UNIVERSE. YOU FOUGHT WHILE THE APOCALYPSE WAS RAGING AROUND YOU. YOU FOUGHT AN UNDEAD ABOMINATION OF A SOUL. YOU FOUGHT THESE THREE AGENTS OF CONFLICT. YOU FOUGHT AGAINST MEMORIES PAST TO DETERMINE MEMORIES FUTURE. AND NOW, YOU FIGHT IN THE RUINS OF A DYING UNIVERSE, AGAINST PLOT ITSELF. WILL YOU WIN? IS THE NARRATIVE ON YOUR SIDE?

The Shadow's foot looms over all of the Descendants, straining into the sky.

ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT.

The Descendants all desperately try to run, to fly, to jump up, to fight, but they can't move. Their legs feel as heavy as the bedrock they're standing on, and they're so afraid that they're completely paralyzed by indecision. But right as the Shadow is about to crush the Descendants into digital ash, something happens next to all of them. As they all stare above, the foot glitches out of existence, corrupted by undulating dead pixels. It reappears about a kilometer away, still somehow connected to the Shadow's leg. The Shadow yells in surprise, and everyone turns to look at the spectacle going on next to the Descendants.

Project Binary's body has become completely corrupted by the four flashing colors of Godmodder Soul's Shatter, and his head is twisted into a silent scream. Project Binary's newfound power is lighting up both earth and sky, and the Employer and Binary Prime encircle his body with unknown intent. Project Binary is barely able to talk and is barely able to do anything at all, so no one knows exactly what's going on in that former hypercomputer's head except for him.

The code of the Godmodder that Project Binary had retrieved a year ago had acted up earlier, when Godmodder Soul's mindscape had deteriorated to dangerous levels. It had become malignant, corrupted, acting like a small virus. But now that the Shatter had been activated, now that the mindscape had been blown to shreds, now that the Shatter had been split twofold into two separate mindscapes, the copy of the Godmodder's code Project Binary had extracted was reacting in kind. Its corruption and power had spread throughout the entirety of Project Binary's code, incapacitating him and threatening to delete his entire being.

THE EMPLOYER: PR0JECT B1NARY! WHAT'S G01NG 0N? SPEAK T0 US!

BINARY PRIME: [HE T00K THE P0WER 0F A G0D. HE L1NKED H1MSELF T0 H1M. AND N0W THAT THE G0D 1S DY1NG, S0 1S HE.]

THE EMPLOYER: N0W 1S N0T THE T1ME F0R R1DDLES, PR1ME!

PROJECT BINARY: 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001

THE EMPLOYER: THAT WAS B1NARY... PR1ME. D0 Y0U UNDERSTAND WHAT HE JUST SAID?

BINARY PRIME: [YES. HE'S SCREAM1NG.]

I REMEMBER, FROM MY TIME IN THE GODMODDER'S MIND. THERE WAS A POINT WHERE PROJECT BINARY HAD EXTRACTED AND KEPT SOME OF THE GODMODDER'S CODE FOR HIMSELF. NO DOUBT THE RECENT TURBULENCE INSIDE OF THE GODMODDER'S MIND HAS CAUSED THIS REACTION. THE TWO ARE LINKED NOW. WHEN ONE DIES, SO DOES THE OTHER.

BINARY PRIME: [THAT'S WHAT 1 JUST SA1D!]

BINARY PRIME: [AND Y0U HAVE N0 EXCUSE T0 REPEAT WHAT 1 SAY, BECAUSE MY TEXT 1SN'T BE1NG SH0WN AS B1NARY R1GHT N0W!]

BINARY PRIME: [EVERY0NE CAN SEE 1T!]

THE EMPLOYER: PR1ME, Y0U ARE RU1N1NG THE GRAV1TAS 0F TH1S M0MENT.

Sparks and electricity begin to fly from Project Binary's body, which is corrupting itself further and further, nearing the point of unrecognizability. The Shadow stalks past the Descendants and towards Project Binary, leaning down to examine him. His eyes peer through Project Binary's mechanical soul, scanning his very being. After several seconds, the Shadow shakes his head and returns to his normal position, turning away from Project Binary and walking forcefully away from him.

THE EMPLOYER: WA1T, WHERE ARE Y0U G01NG? Y0U CAN'T JUST LEAVE H1M!

THE EMPLOYER: HE'S D0NE S0 MUCH T0 FURTHER THE C0NFL1CT'S PLAN! HE'S A...

HE'S A LIABILITY IS WHAT HE IS. WHO KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO HIM WHEN THE SHATTER IS COMPLETED. I CERTAINLY DOUBT THAT CODE WILL BE RESTORED TO NORMAL. A MINDSCAPE IS NEVER THE SAME AFTER A SHATTER. IT IS MORE LIKELY THAT PROJECT BINARY WILL CONTINUE TO MUTATE AND GROW. LIKE A CANCER. A TUMOR.

THE EMPLOYER: WHAT ARE Y0U SUGGEST1NG WE D0.

BINARY PRIME: [D0N'T SAY 1T, D0N'T SAY 1T...]

PUT HIM OUT OF HIS MISERY.

BINARY PRIME: [HE SA1D 1T.]

All of the Descendants look at each other with renewed interest. At last, a chance to truly defeat Project Binary, to make sure he never returns in any form, no portions of his soul disappearing to other places, no other copies on other planets, no nothing. A true sense of finality, an ultimatum. Everyone rushes up to try and get the final blow on Project Binary, when a figure appears in front of them - Build.

...Step aside. I've got this.

An aura of green flame appears around Build, fire trailing on the ground with every step he takes. The Descendants once again turn to look at each other, realizing with gratifying certainty that Build still has one trick left up his sleeve - one horrifingly deadly one. Or rather, a deudly one. To confirm their hopes, Build reaches into the inside of his green jacket, pulling out a sleek white pistol that seems to be producing its own light - the Deudly Magnum, whose previous owner was Doc Scratch.

Project Binary. I really hope you're still able to hear me right now, because you're going to want to. I hope you realize what you've made me do. I really do. You turned the whole world against me, so when your corrupted police force came knocking at my door to turn me in, I had to take out three innocent men. Three men that were armed with weapons that could have killed me. I had to kill them first. They lived normal lives before you took control, and there isn't a day that goes by without me thinking about them. Wrestling with the fact that I killed three innocent human beings. I tell myself it was self-defense, it was necessary. Sometimes that's not enough to keep me happy at night.

You forced me to abandon my home, my neighborhood, the place where I had lived all my life. You forced to me to pack all my belongings onto a simple ship and leave the planet itself, leaving me in constant fear over whether or not you'd intercept my terminal broadcasts, my games, my computer, my ship. You left me aimlessly wondering whether or not you'd fire missiles at me, or laser arrays, or even your own ships. You forced me to always be on the move, to always be looking, watching, waiting for the next strike. And then you forced me to leave my universe and dragged me back to GodCraft, the place where it all began.

And then you forced me to steer my ship back to you for the sole purpose of taking you out. But the only way I could do that was by destroying the power grid of the entire planet. I don't want to know how many people have died because of my actions. Everything on the face of the Earth has gone dark, and even then that wasn't enough to kill you, you still had a copy of yourself on the damn moon! Forget that there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about those three men, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about all those people! The people I KILLED! The people you forced me to kill.

And then there's what you made everyone else do. You manipulated the governments of the world into seeing you as the hero and us as the enemy. You got other villains just like you to go on your side, and then all of them either died or turned their backs on you when your carefully crafted plan to infiltrate GodCraft fell apart. You controlled the entire world like a puppeeter, throwing curses at Minecraft, exiling its creators, capturing, torturing, brainwashing every single person who had ever played the game for any time at all! You turned the world into a dystopia. And I know that that's exactly what you wanted, I do. But I'm telling you all this to say that it's over. It's all over.

Build whips out the Deudly Magnum, aiming it right at Project Binary.

We settle this now.

Everyone stares at the Deudly Magnum with reverence, waiting for Build to use it. But he doesn't. He chuckles and circles around Project Binary's spasming form, talking all the while.

See this gun? I remember someone mentioning that you had only two or three weaknesses. I know for a fact one of them's the FEZ. And I'd be willing to bet the other is this gun right here. It can kill anything in existence, after all. It runs off of cueballs for ammo. Very deadly cueballs. Well, they're all deadly. They're charged with initiating the break shot, splitting up all the balls in a billiards game, turning order to chaos. And now I'll use it to kill you.

I'm not taking any chances. I don't care if your corrupted code has a chance of killing you. Who knows, it could give you the power of whoever wins this Shatter. It could unify you. No, a chance isn't good enough. Not anymore. I need certainty. And that's what this gun symbolizes. Certainty. What did that mech just say? You became a cancer? That's funny, isn't it. I remember you calling me a cancer just a few weeks ago.

Build's monlogue falters as Project Binary manages to slip past his corruption and malignance, saying something. It's heavily garbled and nearly unintelligible, but Build can hear it.

PROJECT BINARY: Y0U BR0UGHT TH1S UP0N Y0URSELF. ALL 0F TH1S. 1 W0ULDN'T BE HERE 1F Y0U HAD JUST CLEANED UP TH1S MESS 0F A WAR. THE 0NE Y0U CREATED. Y0U C0ULD HAVE ENDED 1T A L0NG T1ME AG0. BUT 1 G0 BACK EVEN FURTHER THAN TH1S WAR. REMEMBER WHEN Y0U TALKED W1TH HER? 1 W0NDER 1F Y0U EVEN KN0W WHAT THAT C--

No, no, NO, NO, NO! SHUT UP! WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS NO WE'RE NOT. THAT WAS A THING OF THE PAST AND WE'RE NOT BRINGING IT UP. See what you're doing, see what you're doing right here?? You're trying to manipulate me just like you did to everyone else! Well that's not going to work! You're a cancer! A tumor! Just like Split! And do you know how you treat cancer?

With his other hand, Build takes his signature weapon - Oblivion's Guardian. The gleaming white sword crackles with electricity, occasionally phasing out of existence and turning into green solar flame. In his hands, the sword changes its shape, the two halves of its blade sliding apart to reveal complex railgun technology hidden beneath, the grip and cross-guard of the weapon turning into the body of a rifle, complete with a trigger. Two glass tubes appear, built into the weapon, one filled with red liquid, the other filled with blue liquid. Oblivion's Guardian has turned into a sleek rifle, its ultimate form.

With Chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy is leveled at Project Binary, it too possessing an incredible amount of power. Yet the rifle's form is not yet complete, and it never has been. A year ago, when one of the Descendants - insert_generic_username - had alchemized it, he saw it was incomplete as well. There was a gap in between the two tubes at the top of the weapon, possibly made for something to fit into it. And now, Build holds that final piece of the puzzle, the weapon that will complete Chemotherapy's power. He fits the Deudly Magnum into the top of the weapon, assimilating its form into Chemotherapy.

The rifle gains the signature barrel of the magnum, and its two glass tubes recombine into one tube, the red and blue liquid sloshing together and mixing, forming a potent orchid liquid that is filled with images of stars, galaxies, and universes. Green and orchid energy mixes together, leaking out of the weapon's barrel, the rifle pulsing with unimaginable power. Build aims his newfound weapon at Project Binary...

...And fires.

Project Binary is completely destroyed. Not a trace of him remains.

The massive green fireball created by Project Binary's death is visible throughout nearly every universe in reality, shining as bright as a supernova. Yet almost no one knows what it means. No one except those brave few down on the Battlefield. When the explosion subsides, the only reminder that Project Binary existed at all is a small orchid diamond where he just stood a few seconds earlier. A massive green aura surrounds GodCraft, which has been somewhat energized by the Deudly Magnum's fire.

The Shadow, the Employer, and Binary Prime all react negatively to the green aura, electricity crackling around them. It's as if the power of Chemotherapy has not only killed Project Binary, but is repelling all Agents of the Conflict away from GodCraft. The three Agents know in their gut that if they stay on the server, they'll die. The Shadow stares down at everyone, his eyes shining like spotlights.

WE MUST NOT STAY HERE. BUILD'S CHEMOTHERAPY WILL SLOWLY BUT SURELY ERASE US FROM EXISTENCE IF WE LINGER HERE FOR TOO LONG. THIS AURA WILL FADE, BUT FOR NOW, THE CONFLICT CANNOT THRIVE HERE. EMPLOYER, BINARY, ARISE WITH ME. WE MUST LEAVE.

The two Binaries ascend up to the Shadow's eyes, traveling along them and ultimately encircling them. The Shadow gazes up at the starless sky, and then back down to the players.

NOW WE MUST BID YOU ALL GOODBYE. YOU HAVE BEEN A GREAT AUDIENCE, YOU KNOW. BUT IN ORDER TO FURTHER OUR PLANS, WE MUST SEEK OUT REFUGE ELSEWHERE. IN ANOTHER DIMENSION, PERHAPS. I WILL GIVE YOU DESCENDANTS ONE LAST PIECE OF ADVICE, AND THEN I WILL LEAVE.

DON'T TURN YOUR BACKS ON THE BODY.

The Shadow's eyes fade to black like the rest of its body, and the forms of the two Binaries fade to black in kind. The Shadow's form vibrates, as if it's coming unglued. And then, in a single horrendous motion, the Shadow's body implodes, turning into liquid darkness, along with the Binaries. The shadows cascade everywhere, drenching everything in darkness. After several seconds, the Shadow fades away entirely, leaving no trace behind. Everyone left on the Battlefield thinks about what the Shadow meant. Body? What body? Project Binary didn't leave one, and as far as they know the Shadow didn't die...

For now, everyone lies in wait and relaxation, knowing that - at long last - the war is over.

Wait a minute. Everyone realizes, startled, that someone is missing. Someone who had been with them previously. Someone who had made a deal to protect them.

Where's Bill?

At the exact moment...

---

---

Many minutes earlier, Bill Cipher, a cunning dream demon who had ascended to claim ultimate power only a few months ago, was turning a blind eye to the antics of the recently-jailbroken Alpha. Alpha was preparing for a Shatter against his corrupted split personality, Omega, and although Bill was heavily invested in seeing who would win the fight, his stopwatch told him that he was needed elsewhere. So, Bill packed up his formal wear, gave a silent tip of the hat to the Descendants, and phased through the pyramid they were flying around - all without being noticed.

Being a master of the mindscape certainly has its perks, Bill thinks to himself as he enters the white void inside of the Godmodder's geometric sanctum. There is so much Bill could do here, but his intuition and sight beyond tells him that the whole place will go belly-up soon regardless, so Bill snaps his fingers. An exit door pops up, a door to another dimension, and Bill heads through.

He locks the door behind him.

---

A dimension away, the Scratch is completed. The four kids of Sburb successfully defended the Beat Mesa on which they stood while a pattern had been scratched across its perimeter using a special set of Quills. The completed pattern throbs with golden energy that shines to the heavens, and the frequent and formidable enemies that had been plaguing the kids since the start of the Scratch have stopped spawning.

With nothing left to do, the kids talk to each other.

JOHN: we... we did it! we actually did it!

JOHN: ...we beat past all those underlings, those acherons, long lizard things, whatever the hell they were called.

JOHN: we killed them all! and we WON! this totally calls for a post victory celebration scene!

JOHN: you know, it reminds me of that one time when-

DAVE: john

DAVE: just

DAVE: just stfu alright

DAVE: as much as it probably pains you to hear im not in the mood to listen to you ramble about your movies now

JOHN: dave, you never are!

DAVE: yeah well now im REALLY not in the mood

DAVE: come on you saw the size of some of those things i thought for sure i was toast a few times

JADE: i agree with dave... even im super tired out by this whole mess! >:I

JADE: and im usually never tired or sleepy anymore!! never since i went to sleep after prospits moon was destroyed...

DAVE: i bet those early dream bubbles were really something huh

ROSE: Jade, if you think the early networks of dream bubbles were too much for you, then perhaps the game made the right choice classifying you as a Prospit dreamer.

ROSE: I'd hate to see what you'd think of Derse's more tenebrous solution to helping its dreamers as a result of its lack of Skaian eclipses.

DAVE: protip: it involves really horrible singing and tentacles

DAVE: 0/10 would never recommend

JADE: the way you just described that sounds an awful lot like squiddles ._.

DAVE: well goddamn it does

DAVE: chalk that one up under the coincidences pile i guess

ROSE: They are eerily familiar... It looks like the plot thicken.

DAVE: ? ? ?? ? ? ?

ROSE: Exactly.

JOHN: okay WOW, so my discussion of celebrating us winning the game is shot down instantly, but you guys get to talk about squiddles all you want?? that's messed up. i'm hurt.

ROSE: I'm all for celebrating, but right now certainly isn't the time for it.

ROSE: We need to find a way out of here, and fast.

DAVE: uh oh party modes over were getting serious again

DAVE: back into defcon 1 or whatever the highest defcon is

JADE: sooo... we scratched this beat mesa. now what?

JADE: john, you said the mesa's supposed to release temporal energy and then reset everything... but what do you even mean by temporal energy?? and how soon will our session reset itself?

JOHN: bluhhhhhhhh, i don't know! i should've asked scratch about this stuff.

JOHN: well whatever we do, we have to do it quickly.

ROSE: Um. Should the Beat Mesa be moving at all? And should the record arm be retracting itself inwards?

The Beat Mesa carries itself upwards, a golden aura surrounding it, lifting the platform away from the gravitational pull of the Land of Heat and Clockwork where it had resided for all those months. The golden light shimmering from the actual Scratch shines all the way to the sky, which had begun to crackle with grey patterns that constantly intertwined with each other since the beginning of the procedure.

JOHN: uhhhh...

DAVE: oh god no please don't tell me this thing's gonna carry us away and have jump into the middle of the incipisphere to complete this bs suicide quest

DAVE: so we can be eaten alive by oblivion or horrorterrors or whatever else is in the unknown depths below

DAVE: i dont want to be left floating around in nothingness for the rest of my life that's way too angsty

JADE: dave i am pretty sure god tiers cant die of old age!!

DAVE: dammit that makes it even worse

JADE: :|

ROSE: Don't be so melodramatic and quick to assume. The Mesa could be carrying us to where we need to go.

DAVE: oh really

DAVE: and where would that be

ROSE: Well, considering the Mesa is currently moving upwards and away from LOHAC, I'd think it's moving towards the most recognizable landmark that can be found in the Incipisphere, and the only one that's directly above us.

ROSE: Skaia.

JADE: okay rose, i guess your theory makes sense

JADE: but why do we need to go to skaia?

ROSE: What did our sprites say Skaia was? A dormant crucible of unlimited creative potential?

ROSE: Perhaps the Scratch exists to channel that potential in the form of a new beginning.

The kids resign themselves to waiting, waiting to see where the Beat Mesa will actually take them, waiting to act in response to their destination. And after several seconds have passed, it is clear that the Mesa is indeed taking them up to Skaia - the glowing planet in the middle of the kids' game that had once served as a battleground for the forces of Prospit and Derse, and whose skies once shone with blue. But Skaia had become corrupted by the Employer, leaving the session void of life - except for the occassional Underling and the four kids.

JOHN: alright, we're definitely going to skaia! it's just up ahead!

DAVE: wow look at that rose was right about her predictions yet again

DAVE: what are the odds huh

DAVE: i mean its not like her very power is to tell the future or anything

ROSE: That is my power, in fact. Thank you for noticing.

DAVE: ..........

JADE: ..........

JOHN: ..........

ROSE: ..........

JOHN: can this thing go ANY FASTER? we have an armageddon to outrun!

JADE: oh, i could probably speed it up a bit! let me try!

JOHN: huh? you could?

JADE: well yeah, i guess. my powers are moving and manipulating objects, right? so i could probably make this go faster!

DAVE: alright then dont just stand there actually do it

Jade tries to use her powers of Space to accelerate the Beat Mesa on its path towards Skaia. The Mesa becomes enveloped in a green aura and speeds towards Skaia, bursting through its atmosphere, its layers and layers of clouds, and navigating to the very heart of Skaia - the Battlefield, a checkerboarded planet that was where Prospit and Derse fought earlier in the game's life, when it had seemed like the kids could have won at all... The golden light shining from the Scratch has turned white, pulsing throughout the Battlefield.

Eventually, Jade stops using her powers when the Beat Mesa reaches a very close distance to the Battlefield, at which point everyone, without anything better to do, jumps off of the Mesa and lands on the Battlefield itself. They run across the Battlefield, looking desperately for something that they can only hope they find - an escape.

DAVE: wait a minute this is such a stupid plan

DAVE: looking for an exit on the battlefield yeah right why would we find an exit here

DAVE: this is the goddamn center of our game its what everything revolves around

DAVE: its pointless for an exit to be here unless it was some sort of transportalizer

DAVE: but wed never find one here at this rate weve only got like six minutes before we get shish kebabd out of existence

DAVE: i mean why doesnt jade just teleport us out of here

JADE: dave i do not think it's that simple!! and we would get this done a lot quicker if you stopped complaining and actually helped us! :-P

JADE: plus i wonder if my powers will even work right outside of the session, in any other dimensions we come across...

JADE: oh shoot! i could have used the fourth wall in my bedroom as a gateway!!

DAVE: whoa what that came out of nowhere how do you know that

JOHN: dave, she is sort of an omniscient furry at this point. i guess she knows more things now?

JADE: uhhh i guess i never really thought of it that way before ;>_>

DAVE: you never thought about being omniscient

JADE: nooooo i mean being a furry! >:U

DAVE: where did that face come from

JADE: never mind that!! look, there was a fenestrated wall up in the tower of my room, and there's another one like it at another point in space! i could have used my space powers probably to bust a hole through that wall and out the other side!

JADE: if that other side happened to be outside of the session, we would be free!

ROSE: John... You said that Scratch told you that if we started the Scratch, we would find a way out of the session, correct?

JOHN: yes. but what does that have to-

ROSE: Well, we just found a way out. Jade told us. And we can't even execute it properly since her fenestrated wall was destroyed when her planet collided with yours.

ROSE: Looking back, this whole endeavor seems pointless. Is this what Scratch meant? That by the time we had found a way out it would be too late to even think about escaping at all?

ROSE: Does he even want us to win at all?

JOHN: no no, i think he does! he seemed very confident that we'd do the scratch AND find a way out!

JOHN: look, i just... there has to be another way. i'm sure of it.

JOHN: wait wait guys! do you see that blue wind?

ROSE: No.

DAVE: nope

JADE: :0 do YOU guys see that image in the clouds?

JOHN: yeah! it's showing us... a hole in the battlefield!

DAVE: well thats just great huh

DAVE: skaias finally telling us what to do and surprise its go further towards the center of everything

ROSE: Believe it or not, this is our only option, Dave. And one hand-picked by Skaia itself, however powerful it may be.

ROSE: I say we take this chance.

ROSE: And if John's the one who can see this wind, perhaps it's taking us to where we need to go.

ROSE: It makes sense all this would be visible to Prospit dreamers, I suppose. Lead the way.

JOHN: alright!

And after only a short while, the Breeze has led the kids to their destination: a giant hole in the middle of the Battlefield. The four of them investigate it with caution.

JOHN: well, we're here. but what could have made this thing?

ROSE: It wasn't made during the war, that's for sure. And I don't remember seeing it during the time we defended the Monolith. This must have been... quite recent.

JOHN: oh, about that--

JADE: do you think whatever made this hole is still around?

DAVE: hell if i know im about time not space

DAVE: isnt knowing where everything is the department of you two

JADE: hm i guess you're right dave... let me see what i can see

ROSE: If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say they're still here.

DAVE: what makes you sure about that

ROSE: If this person came for something on Skaia, then they know about this game, and about us.

ROSE: Perhaps they're waiting to talk to us, or for us to go to them directly.

ROSE: And if they've stayed here until now, when this game is about to be destroyed, they're persistent.

JADE: ._. there's something down there

JOHN: someTHING??

JADE: yes...

JADE: it's not human

DAVE: screw it im jumping down this hole

DAVE: if theres anything down here that could at least show us how to leave at this point then im all for it

ROSE: As am I. And if we can get answers out of them, even better.

JOHN: okay then, here we go...

JADE: hahaha i love flying! ive always wanted to be able to fly :-D

DAVE: bet you didnt think youd end the world in the process huh

JOHN: real funny, dave.

The four travel down the tunnel until they reach the bottom - where it opens up into a massive cavernous expanse in the center of the Battlefield. They whisper to each other, floating at the tunnel's exit.

JOHN: we made it. now we need to think of what to do about this thing quickly.

JOHN: maybe we could see if it's guarding anything we can use.

DAVE: maybe its a denizen

JADE: could it be jack?? do you think hed come back here?

ROSE: We'll deal with that when we can all see it. For now, I think someone should just go have a look at what's what.

JOHN: yeah! i'll go in that case.

ROSE: Alright, I'm glad we got a sacrifice right out of the gate.

JADE: rose...

ROSE: Oh, whoops. I meant to say volunteer.

JOHN: suuure. anyway i'll be right back... just let me see what's what.

John floats out of the tunnel and makes it to the vast expanse. Floating in the middle of it is a small triangular being in front of what looks like a television monitor hooked up to a triangular yin-yang machine, displaying something that John can't quite make out. All in all, this is not what John was expecting to be in the middle of Skaia. So you can't especially blame him for what he did next.

JOHN: hey, HEY! what are you doing here??

DAVE: (gdi so much for secrecy)

JOHN: are you listening to me? and why are you looking at us on that monitor?

The triangular figure turns around and waves his hand. Suddenly, John feels himself being pulled closer and closer to the figure. He turns around and sees that Rose, Dave, and Jade all are flying next to him as well, being dragged against their will. They can't do anything but watch.

BILL: WELL, WELL, WELL! 1F 1T 1SN'T Y0U F0UR! GREEN GH0ST, 0RCH1D H0RR0R, RED D1SC, AND BLUE AT0M! JUST THE PE0PLE 1 WAS H0P1NG T0 SEE!

JOHN: what?? those aren't our names, you--

ROSE: The symbols on our shirts. The shirts that we aren't even wearing right now... How did you--

BILL: HAHA! 1'M N0T TELL1NG Y0U THAT! SURE 1'LL SP1LL S0ME BEANS, BUT N0T THE WH0LE CAN! H0PEFULLY Y0U CAN APPREC1ATE A G00D MYSTERY...

BILL: THE NAME'S B1LL C1PHER! 1'M A DREAM DEM0N, THE MASTER 0F THE M1NDSCAPE, THE ALL-SEE1NG EYE! Y0U MAY HAVE SEEN ME 0N THE BACK 0F Y0UR D0LLAR B1LL AND 1N Y0UR GE0METRY TEXTB00K - 1F Y0U K1DS ARE AMER1CAN 0R EVEN G0 T0 SCH00L AT ALL. 1 REMEMBER 0NE 0F Y0U D1ST1NCTLY SAY1NG THAT Y0U WERE T00 C00L F0R 1T, R1GHT?

DAVE: that was a throwaway comment

DAVE: why does everyone keep bringing it up

DAVE: and how do you know about it ive never seen you before in my life

BILL: HEY, D1DN'T 1 JUST SAY 1'M N0T TELL1NG Y0U EVERYTH1NG? ALL Y0U NEED T0 KN0W 1S THAT 1 KN0W L0TS 0F TH1NGS... S0 MANY TH1NGS THAT REAL1TY 1S L1KE A GAME F0R ME! AND A FUN GAME AT THAT. Y0U ALL ARE JUST P1ECES T0 PLAY! S0 EN0UGH 0F TH1S METAPH0R. 1 KN0W EVERYTH1NG AB0UT Y0U, AND EVERYTH1NG AB0UT THE GAME THAT Y0U'RE PLAY1NG.

BILL: Y0U'RE 0FF 0N A QUEST THAT C0MES AT THE PR1CE 0F 0BL1V10N, A M1SS10N T0 PRESS THE RESET BUTT0N 0N Y0UR SESS10N. Y0U HAD THE T00LS, Y0U HAD THE KN0W-H0W, Y0U HAD THE BRA1NS AND THE BRAWN, AND Y0U'VE C0MPLETED 1T! WELL D0NE! N0W ANSWER ME TH1S - WHY D0 Y0U TH1NK Y0UR GAME HASN'T BEEN RESET YET?

BILL: Y0U F1N1SHED THE SCRATCH SEVERAL M1NUTES AG0, R1GHT? SH0ULDN'T 1TS EFFECTS BE 1MMED1ATELY 0BV10US? WHAT HAVE Y0U SEEN S0 FAR, 1F ANYTH1NG?

JADE: uhh... some weird patterns in the sky!

BILL: AND?

JOHN: the beat mesa came here!

BILL: AND?

DAVE: ..........

JADE: ..........

JOHN: ..........

ROSE: ..........

BILL: R1GHT! N0TH1NG. A RESET'S EFFECTS ARE N0RMALLY 1NSTANTLY 0BV10US! THE SCREEN G0ES WH1TE, AND AFTER A FEW SEC0NDS, THE GAME RESTARTS W1TH N0 1ND1CAT10N THAT A PREV10US 0NE EVEN EX1STED AT ALL.

BILL: S0 WHY 1S Y0URS TAK1NG S0 L0NG?

ROSE: Are you implying that our Scratch failed somehow? That even though we completed it to the letter, our reset is just as failed as our entire game?

BILL: 0H N0, D0N'T W0RRY AB0UT Y0UR SESS10N. BY THE T1ME WE'RE D0NE HERE, Y0U W0N'T HAVE 0NE!

BILL: SEE TH1S MACH1NE? 1T'S C0UNT1NG D0WN T0 THE DEATH 0F Y0UR SESS10N, AM0NG 0THER TH1NGS.

BILL: WHAT 0THER TH1NGS, 1 HEAR Y0U ASK1NG? WELL, SEVERAL 0THER TH1NGS 1N A W1DE ARRAY 0F UN1VERSES, ALL ARRANGED THR0UGH THE SUPERFLU0US NATURE 0F A F0RCE KN0WN AS C1RCUMSTANC1AL S1MULTANE1TY.

ROSE: Now you're sounding a lot like Doc Scratch. Do you know him by any chance? I have a feeling the two of you would get along quite nicely.

BILL: WE NEVER MET! THE GUY'S DEAD ANYWAY, S0 1T'S N0T L1KE THERE'LL BE T1ME F0R US T0 HAVE A CHAT.

DAVE: what

JADE: :0

ROSE: Scratch is... dead? But what could kill such a First Guardian?

JOHN: jeez... he wasn't kidding when he said the previous time we talked would be the last.

BILL: S0, BACK 0N T0P1C. WHEN TH1S T1MER REACHES ZER0, A T0N 0F TH1NGS W1LL HAPPEN AT 0NCE ALL ACR0SS REAL1TY, ALL PERFECTLY SYNCHED UP T0 F0RM AN EVENT THAT 1'VE G1VEN A C0DENAME T0.

BILL: THE EXECUT10N.

BILL: REMEMBER H0W 1 C0MPARED REAL1TY T0 A GAME A L1TTLE WH1LE AG0? TH1S EVENT W1LL, 1N S1MPLE TERMS, BR1NG THAT GAME 0NE STEP CL0SER T0 1TS END. S1NCE S0 MANY TH1NGS ARE HAPPEN1NG AT 0NCE, 1 D0N'T WANT T0 B0RE Y0U ALL W1TH THE DETA1LS. 1'LL JUST TELL Y0U H0W TH1S W1LL AFFECT Y0U.

BILL: N0W, WE CAN D0 TH1S THE L0NG DRAWN-0UT WAY, 0R THE QU1CK AND S1MPLE WAY. WH1CHEVER Y0U PREFER.

DAVE: time aint on our side

DAVE: ill take the quick way

ROSE: Dave! This could be our last chance for answers!

DAVE: well this could be our last chance at living alright

DAVE: now tell us what we need to know

BILL: 0KAY THEN! 1N SH0RT, Y0UR SESS10N'S N0T THE 0NLY TH1NG G01NG UNDER T0DAY. WHEN TH1S T1MER REACHES ZER0, Y0UR ENT1RE UN1VERSE - AND ANY H0PE 0F EVER CREAT1NG AN0THER SESS10N - W1LL BE DESTR0YED T00.

JOHN: WHAT??

DAVE: john

DAVE: why

DAVE: the HELL

DAVE: did you not tell us this

JOHN: but i... he... scratch never told me that. he didn't say anything about us failing, about none of this being worth it! think, john, think...what did he tell you..

BILL: 0H, D0N'T W0RRY! SCRATCH WASN'T LY1NG T0 Y0U, AND TH1S 1S ENT1RELY Y0UR FAULT, LET ME GET THAT 0UT 0F THE WAY. Y0U D1DN'T ASK SCRATCH THE R1GHT QUEST10NS.

BILL: WHAT D1D HE TELL Y0U? THE SCRATCH WILL N0RMALLY RESET Y0UR GAME, A SUCCESSFUL 0NE W1LL CHANGE 1TS LAY0UT AND 1NHAB1TANTS, REWR1T1NG H1ST0RY? HE SA1D THAT Y0U ALL NEEDED T0 D0 WAS TELL EVERY0NE AB0UT THE SCRATCH AND Y0U'D F1ND AN ESCAPE, AND 1F Y0U F0UND AN ESCAPE Y0U'D F1ND S0METH1NG T0 D0 W1TH Y0UR L1VES?

BILL: HE WAS TELL1NG THE TRUTH! Y0UR SCRATCH 1SN'T N0RMAL AND 1T WASN'T ENT1RELY SUCCESSFUL, BUT S1NCE Y0U 1N1T1ATED 1T, THE BEAT MESA HAD T0 FLY UP T0 SKA1A T0 RELEASE 1TS ENERGY! AND THEN Y0U ALL F0UND Y0UR WAY HERE.

JOHN: okay, okay. i'm going to be more direct this time. what's involved in a normal scratch, and why is ours messed up? and how does that affect US?

BILL: A N0RMAL SCRATCH DEPENDS 0N THE EX1STENCE 0F PARAD0X CL0NES AND A RECK0N1NG. AS SCRATCH T0LD Y0U, NE1THER 0F TH0SE EX1STED 1N Y0UR SESS10N, LEAD1NG T0 1TS FA1LED STATUS. BECAUSE J0HN FA1LED T0 CREATE PARAD0X CL0NES 0F Y0U, N0NE 0F Y0U SH0ULD BE AL1VE, AND S1NCE THERE WAS N0 RECK0N1NG, THERE WERE N0 METE0RS THAT W0ULD HAVE N0RMALLY B0MBARDED Y0UR H0ME PLANET.

BILL: WHAT SKA1A N0RMALLY D0ES DUR1NG THE RECK0N1NG 1S SET UP DEFENSE P0RTALS T0 RE-R0UTE THE METE0RS G01NG T0WARDS 1T T0 EARTH. THE PARAD0X CL0NES Y0U W0ULD HAVE CREATED W0ULD HAVE H0PPED 0NT0 S0ME 0F TH0SE METE0RS AND TRAVELED T0 EARTH, G01NG BACK 1N T1ME T0 BEC0ME ALL 0F Y0U. WHAT THE SCRATCH W0ULD HAVE D0NE 1S CHANGE THE T1MES AND PLACES 0F Y0UR B1RTHS, CHANG1NG WH0 PLAYED THE GAME AND WHEN. AND THAT'S EN0UGH T0 MAKE A B1G D1FFERENCE!

BILL: BUT Y0U HAVE N0 RECK0N1NG, N0 PARAD0X CL0NES, AND N0 DEFENSE P0RTALS! THEREF0RE, THERE'S N0TH1NG T0 CHANGE AT ALL! S0 Y0UR SCRATCH 1S AFFECT1NG TH1S BLATANTLY C0RRUPTED SESS10N 1N THE 0NLY WAY 1T KN0WS H0W T0: BY D01NG A FACT0RY RESET 0N Y0UR UN1VERSE - 0NE THAT W1LL NEVER BE C0MPLETED, LEAV1NG Y0UR UN1VERSE STUCK 1N PERPETUAL L1MB0. 1T'S F1N1SHED, G0NE, KAPUT! N0TH1NG LEFT.

BILL: TH1S D0ES HAVE T0 D0 W1TH THE TH1NG THAT 1NVADED SKA1A, BY THE WAY. H1S NAME 1S THE EMPL0YER. SCRATCH WAS H1S SUB0RD1NATE, F0R LACK 0F A BETTER W0RD.

DAVE: oh my god john you told us you knew who the thing that attacked skaia was

DAVE: and then you left us on that goddamn cliffhanger

DAVE: dont you think this would have been important to tell us earlier

JOHN: i was TRYING to tell you earlier when we were coming down here, but you all just kept talking about what was down in that hole!

JOHN: none of you have been listening to me! i feel like i'm being left out in everything going on here, which is weird because i thought i was supposed to be the leader! i mean, sometimes you guys pay attention to my plans, but that's when you've exhausted every other option!

JOHN: like, even with the breeze you had jade confirming what she saw in that cloud... i'm pretty sure i'm the breath player here.

JADE: john... i'm sorry. but-

BILL: ALR1GHT, ALR1GHT! EN0UGH HYSTER1CS! Y0U'VE 0NLY G0T AR0UND TW0 M1NUTES LEFT!

BILL: THE EMPL0YER 1S A G1ANT W1SP-L1KE BEAST THAT UN1TED Y0UR UN1VERSE W1TH TW0 0THERS: AN0THER VERS10N 0F EARTH AND M1NECRAFT1A. Y0U'RE FAM1L1AR W1TH THE LATTER, 1 TAKE 1T.

BILL: HE CALLS THE B0NDS THAT H0LD THE UN1VERSES 1N PLACE THE TR1FECTA. THEY LET 0NE UN1VERSE 1NTERACT W1TH THE 0THER TW0 1N THE CHA1N. AND HE MADE 1T F0R THE S0LE PURP0SE 0F AN ULT1MATE GAMB1T THAT 1 CAN 0NLY ASSUME W1LL HAPPEN R1GHT 0N THE D0T 0F THE EXECUT10N.

BILL: S0 YEAH, Y0UR ENT1RE UN1VERSE 1S BE1NG DESTR0YED, WH1CH MEANS Y0U ALL HAVE T0 GET 0UT - AND FAST.

BILL: 1 CAN HELP Y0U THERE.

BILL: SEE, MY FAV0R1TE PASTT1ME 1S MAK1NG DEALS W1TH 0THERS. 1T'S A GREAT H0BBY, REALLY. 1 G1VE THEM S0METH1NG, 1 ASK F0R S0METH1NG 1N RETURN... 1T'S REALLY S1MPLE! THE F0UR 0F Y0U HAVE B1G TH1NGS T0 D0 LATER 1N L1FE, AND 1 D0N'T WANT Y0U DY1NG HERE AND N0W!

BILL: S0, 1'M G01NG T0 G1VE Y0U A WAY 0UT 0F HERE. 1 0NLY ASK F0R 0NE TH1NG 1N RETURN - S0ME T1METABLES.

DAVE: thats it

DAVE: youre gonna give us the one thing weve ever wanted for however many months

DAVE: and all you need are my timetables

BILL: 1 D0N'T EVEN NEED THE REAL TH1NG! JUST A C0PY W1LL D0. S0...

Bill's hand lights up with pulsating red and blue flame.

BILL: D0 WE HAVE A DEAL 0R N0T?

JADE: (guys i dont like this one bit! this seems an awful lot like making a deal with the devil to me...)

JOHN: (you heard him! hes giving us a way out! and this is going to cost us practically nothing!)

ROSE: (We haven't ruled out the possibility of him lying. Scratch always told the truth, even through technical lies of omission. But this thing isn't Scratch.)

ROSE: (How can we be sure our Scratch is null and void? What if he's trying to trick us into giving him something he needs more than anything else... What does he intend to do with these timetables?)

DAVE: yo triangle dude

DAVE: don't know what these guys are whispering about but

DAVE: you bet your ass youve got yourself a deal

JADE: DAVE!!!

JOHN: DAVE!!!!

ROSE: STRIIIIIIDEEEERRRRRRRR!!!!!

It is too late. The Knight has chosen. His Time is up.

BILL: AND N0T A SEC0ND T00 S00N! Y0U ALL HAVE 0NLY A M1NUTE LEFT! LET ME JUST TAKE A C0PY 0F TH0SE T1METABLES AND WE'RE G0LDEN!

Bill snaps his fingers, a copy of the Timetables appearing in orchid light next to him. Bill grabs them and they disappear, presumably in one of his inventories.

BILL: N0W AB0UT THAT ESCAPE R0UTE... 1T JUST S0 HAPPENS THAT 1 KN0W A N1FTY SH0RTCUT!

Bill's form flickers with magenta, pushing the triangular doomsday clock up. Its hinges swing upwards, revealing a massive portal built into the triangular frame - one that leads to a starlit abyss. The kids know it by the name of the Furthest Ring. Bill knows it by the name of the Void.

BILL: MY C0UNTD0WN D0UBLES AS A P0RTAL T0 THE V01D F0R WHEN 1'M CALLED AWAY 0N BUS1NESS 0R WHEN TH1NGS GET T00 H0T T0 HANDLE.

BILL: TH1S LEADS R1GHT T0 THE V01D, THE GAP BETWEEN D1MENS10NS! 1F Y0U TRAVEL THR0UGH Y0UR FURTHEST R1NG F0R L0NG EN0UGH, Y0U'RE G0NNA END UP 1N THE V01D EVENTUALLY! EVERY UN1VERSE HAS THE1R 0WN P0RT10N 0F THE V01D THEY CALL H0ME.

BILL: MY P0RTAL W1LL TAKE Y0U T0 THE VERY EDGE 0F Y0UR UN1VERSE, R1GHT 0N T0P 0F AN ART1FACT AT 1TS PER1METER. JUST WALK THR0UGH AND Y0U'LL BE SPARED FR0M Y0UR SESS10N'S DEM1SE.

JOHN: well... thank you! this is so much more than i had ever hoped for!!

ROSE: Yes, thank you. Now what are you going to do with these delicate time travel instruments?

BILL: HEY, SP01LER WARN1NG MUCH? 1'M N0T G01NG T0 TELL Y0U R1GHT N0W, WHEN Y0U'LL PR0BABLY JUST F1ND 0UT LATER D0WN THE L1NE!

JADE: rose we have no time to dwell on this! we've gotta get going, and fast!!

DAVE: uh guys

DAVE: why is there glowy page-erasy junk in my peripheral vision

JOHN: AUGH! its like this place is being phased out of existence!

BILL: THE SCRATCH 1S ALM0ST C0MPLETE! Y0U'D BETTER HURRY THR0UGH!

DAVE: and what about you triangle guy

DAVE: are you coming with us

BILL: 0H, 1'LL BE JUST F1NE. N0W G0!

The kids race through the portal, floating in the Void, finally freed from the confines of their own session. Bill stays behind, his form flickering magenta, encasing his doomsday clairvoyant in a constantly shifting aura of his own color. The machine starts to flicker eratically, its form becoming corrupted. Without warning, it implodes in a massive display of light that somehow dims the entire chamber. In the machine's place is a small pinprick of black energy that grows with every passing second... A black hole.

BILL: HAHAHAHA... AHAHAHAHA... AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!

BILL: LATER, SUCKERS!

Bill tips his hat and vanishes without a trace.

Universe A has been destroyed.

---

And at the same time, floating in the Void...

Far away from anything else in reality, situated in its own corner of existence, there lies an object. An object so hot it burns with pure white intensity, twin synergizing auras of red and blue rebounding from it every second, lighting up everything around in synchronous scarlet and sapphire hues. This object has waited for a long time to activate itself, and its activation has been triggered by a confluence of events known as the Execution. In particular, it has been activated by the death of a universe.

The universe had two halves, both of which had completely different lifeforms and cultures. Yet their fates were directly intertwined by virtue of a game that had been spread across the universe's corners, one that had resulted in the creation of the universe's latter half. Those two halves were about to be destroyed by varying means. The first half would be destroyed because an inhabitant of that universe was about to killed - an inhabitant whose death triggered the destruction of the universe itself. The other half would be destroyed because of either a failed system reset or a supermassive black hole, both of which would activate simultaneously, obscuring the true nature of the universe's destruction. But the cause of death doesn't matter. What happened as a result does.

Upon the destruction of Universe A, the object exploded in a massive fireball, creating a lightshow that could be seen across every corner of reality. This little black spot of existence had never made a name for itself until now. Now, as the object truly matured as a result of explosion, matured and grew and expanded, this area would become the home of one of the most powerful artifacts in reality. Anyone watching the speck of red light grow would have been inadvertently witnessing a miracle.

A miracle of a new beginning.

The miracle of the Red Sun.