Scooter thought about what brought her to this moment as the alarms went off.
To the very last thing she remembered before she was caught by Preksak.
It was pain.
…
The TNT was set to go off. Preksak’s lab was on the verge of being destroyed. Although she was about to face death, Scooter felt a sense of calm come over her. She lived a good life and was dying to protect the thing she cared about the most; Loka. She saw Cryptite off in the distance, telling her to stop and get away. But it was too late. The TNT went off.
Soon, pain and fire went throughout Scooter’s entire body, and time seemed to slow down to a standstill. She saw her life flash before her eyes. She closed them as she felt the rush of death come to her. But it didn’t. She kept her eyes closed for a few more moments, but she opened them, wondering why she was still alive.
Time was frozen. A shadowy figure stood in a blue portal over her, reaching out with their hand.
"Come with me if you want to live."
She took the hand. It would be the biggest mistake of her entire life.
…
The alarms in Mimiga were still going off, and this brought Scooter back to the present. Dwelling on the past wouldn’t help.
Commander said to Sku:
"Sku, how in hell do we get out?"
" I don’t know."
Scooter peered down the hallway and saw a red-haired figure running towards them. It was Dafyish. Dafyish soon came to a pause outside their cell and fumbled for something in his pocket. He pulled out a pair of keys.
"Andy has gone mad. The illness is starting to take hold. The moment he dies, it’s all over for us. You guys are the only ones who can stop him. And whatever those cyborgs are."
Dafyish opened the cell and beckoned for them to come out.
"Why should we trust you? After you lied to us and jailed us?" Commander asked
"Trust me, it wasn’t my idea." Andy is so desperate to fix everything, he’s not thinking clearly."
Suddenly, further down the row of jail cells, an explosion went off, and cinder blocks fell to the floor. Standing in the hole in the wall were two figures.
"Oh god. It’s Pac_Man and Evil_X. Look at what Preksak did to them."
Their cyborg implants contained many deadly weapons, and blood was already on their arms.
"Run! I will hold them off. Get that damn compass!" Dafyish yelled
Commander, Sku, and Scooter fled the jail cell down the hall, while Dafyish was fishing for the cyborgs with a pistol. It wasn’t having much effect, but it was slowing them down. The group came to a corner, and a metal door came slamming down, trapping Dafyish with the cyborgs.
Scooter looked back to see what was going on. She peered into a window, and the cyborgs threw Dafyish into a wall, causing him to drop his pistol.
"Scooter! Come on! He’s as good as dead. We can’t do anything for him."
Scooter sighed, running to catch up with Commander and Sku. They would be as good as dead if they didn’t get the compass back.
…
Chaos reigned supreme everywhere in Mimiga as the group ran down the endless hallways. Bodies lay everywhere, with blood splattered all over the place. Broken glass and doors were also everywhere. Lab technicians, residents, and all other sorts of people were running around in panic. The cyborgs had obviously done a number on all of Mimiga.
Coming to a halt, Commander said:
‘We've got to find Andy. We don’t know where he is."
Grabbing a passing lab technician, Commander held them strongly.
"Do you know where Andy is?"
The lab technician, terrified out of their mind, said:
"He’s in the central core... I don’t know what he’s doing down there. But he is not well."
Commander paused for a moment and looked back at Sku with a look of shock. The lab technician looked very familiar.
"Is your name... Skuhoo by chance?"
"How did you k-"
The lab technician caught sight of Sku and tried to suppress a laugh.
Sku in this reality had a full head of hair, while Prime Sku didn’t. Sku had a full head of curly brown hair.
‘Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m bald. Deal with it, kid. This will be you one day."
God, I hope not," alternate Sku said as Commander released him from his arms.
Commander and Scooter both looked at each other and tried not to laugh.
"Just get it out of your damn system. We need to keep going."
Stifled laughter was heard for several minutes afterwards as the group started running down to the central core of Mimiga.
…
Dafyish lay bruised and bleeding out. He stood no chance against the cyborgs. But, hopefully, it would give Commander and his friends enough time to stop Andy. Leaning up against a wall, Dafyish pulled out a remote controller and pressed down on it. The lights changed to a bright purple, and the loudspeaker announced:
"Self-destruct sequence activated. Minus T 1 hour and 30 minutes until the self-destruct of Mimiga. Please evacuate to your nearest escape routes."
This would give everyone enough time to evacuate and stop Andy. Dafyish said a silent prayer as he felt his life force drain. The remote clattered to the floor beside him. Dafyish was dead.
…
The group came to what looked like an even bigger space than the residential areas of Mimiga. In the middle of the room lay what looked like a massive reactor of some sort, with pistons firing constantly. Radioactive warning signs were everywhere, warning unauthorised personnel to stay out. Standing on a platform below, Andy hooked up the compass and the knife directly to the reactor.
"Andy! Stop!" Yelled Commander
But Andy wasn’t listening. He turned around, and the group looked on in shock. Andy had mushrooms growing out of the side of his head and a rabid look in his eyes.
‘Nothing can stop what is about to come! We are all going to return to the void! Praise the great one! PRAISE PREKSAK!"
This is when the group launched into action. Commander jumped down to face his older self while Skuhoo and Scooter covered Andy's back.
"Look, Andy. I know there is still a rational part of you in there somewhere. I know you are desperate to fix your mistakes. I know you want to fix the past. But risking the deaths of trillions isn’t worth it."
Suddenly, Dafyish’s announcement came over the speakers, and the central core was bathed in purple light. This gave Andy the distraction he needed. Leaping with superhuman speed, Andy jumped on top of Commander, pinned him to the ground, and started wailing at him. Punch after punch, Commander struggled to fight back. It was impossible. Andy was too far gone. But it was the distraction needed to get the compass. Sku and Scooter came flying up behind the display, holding the compass.
Suddenly, gunfire went off, and Andy stopped beating up Commander for a second. Everyone turned to look. Standing on a metal platform above Alternate Sku.
"I am not a coward! I WILL... NOT... GO... BALD!" alternate Sku said, unloading a full clip on Andy.
Andy kept up with ease, chasing after him and deflecting the bullets like they were minor annoyances.
Commander lay collapsed on the ground, covered in blood, and all his bones felt broken. He coughed, and blood came up.
Wonderful, he thought. Am I going to die here?
Tilting his head up, he saw Sku with the compass and shard in hand.
"Help Commander up." "I gotta get this thing working again."
Scooter rushed over and helped Commander up to his feet, but as that was happening, an explosion rocked the chamber. Turning around, the group saw the cyborgs. Moving slowly but with purpose, they approached the group.
"Come on, Sku! We are literally about to die!"
Sku, in frustration, brought the two items together by banging them. Something happened. A blue portal, just like before, opened up, and things from inside the central core started getting sucked in.
"Come on! Everyone into the portal!"
Scooter helped Commander into it, and they went flying inside. Sku took one last look to make sure the cyborgs weren’t chasing them. Instead, they had stopped completely. Leaping from above, Sku infected Andy, roaring at them. The cyborgs start firing at him.
"Time to get the heck out of dodge,"
Before Sku entered, a figure went flying by into the portal. It was Alternate Sku. He was bloody and sweaty but looked fine otherwise.
"Thanks for giving me the cour-" he yelled, but it was too late. He was sucked into the portal before he could finish the sentence.
Sku facepalmed and finally stepped into the portal. It closed behind him.
…
It was T-minus 15 minutes until the central core blew. Andy thought nothing of it. Any chance to get closer to the void was a sweet release. The fight against the metal ones was enthralling, as he knew they came from the Master himself. Preksak. The cyborgs managed to finally pin Andy down, despite the fierce resistance he put up.
"Kill me, you bastards! Send me into the void! To Preksak! So that I may finally embrace the darkness!"
Pac_Man spoke:
"No. The Observer needs you for something else."
Now, this was a development that Andy had not seen coming. A chance to serve the Observer? Andy stopped resisting.
"Where do I sign up?" he asked with an evil smile.
…
Alternate Sku found himself in a strange marketplace. Apparently, he was in Aldara, he thought. But it looked a lot different than what he was used to. He also noticed something. Everyone was bald.
"Huh, where am I?" he said out loud.
Trumpets went off, and a man approached him.
"It’s the Man with the Hair! The one destined to save us all!"
"And who are you?"
"I am Borne, but I am now your liege. Anything you want, I shall bring to you. You are now the king of Loka."
A crowd of bald people swarmed around Sku and picked him up.
"So, this is what it’s like to be Crpyt." "I think I could live with this."
And thank God, he was also naturally immune to the blight. Everyone was safe here.
But where did Commander and his friends end up? Sku shrugged internally. He didn’t care. He was king now. Limitless possibilities lay out in front of him.
It was time to fix the future.
…
To the very last thing she remembered before she was caught by Preksak.
It was pain.
…
The TNT was set to go off. Preksak’s lab was on the verge of being destroyed. Although she was about to face death, Scooter felt a sense of calm come over her. She lived a good life and was dying to protect the thing she cared about the most; Loka. She saw Cryptite off in the distance, telling her to stop and get away. But it was too late. The TNT went off.
Soon, pain and fire went throughout Scooter’s entire body, and time seemed to slow down to a standstill. She saw her life flash before her eyes. She closed them as she felt the rush of death come to her. But it didn’t. She kept her eyes closed for a few more moments, but she opened them, wondering why she was still alive.
Time was frozen. A shadowy figure stood in a blue portal over her, reaching out with their hand.
"Come with me if you want to live."
She took the hand. It would be the biggest mistake of her entire life.
…
The alarms in Mimiga were still going off, and this brought Scooter back to the present. Dwelling on the past wouldn’t help.
Commander said to Sku:
"Sku, how in hell do we get out?"
" I don’t know."
Scooter peered down the hallway and saw a red-haired figure running towards them. It was Dafyish. Dafyish soon came to a pause outside their cell and fumbled for something in his pocket. He pulled out a pair of keys.
"Andy has gone mad. The illness is starting to take hold. The moment he dies, it’s all over for us. You guys are the only ones who can stop him. And whatever those cyborgs are."
Dafyish opened the cell and beckoned for them to come out.
"Why should we trust you? After you lied to us and jailed us?" Commander asked
"Trust me, it wasn’t my idea." Andy is so desperate to fix everything, he’s not thinking clearly."
Suddenly, further down the row of jail cells, an explosion went off, and cinder blocks fell to the floor. Standing in the hole in the wall were two figures.
"Oh god. It’s Pac_Man and Evil_X. Look at what Preksak did to them."
Their cyborg implants contained many deadly weapons, and blood was already on their arms.
"Run! I will hold them off. Get that damn compass!" Dafyish yelled
Commander, Sku, and Scooter fled the jail cell down the hall, while Dafyish was fishing for the cyborgs with a pistol. It wasn’t having much effect, but it was slowing them down. The group came to a corner, and a metal door came slamming down, trapping Dafyish with the cyborgs.
Scooter looked back to see what was going on. She peered into a window, and the cyborgs threw Dafyish into a wall, causing him to drop his pistol.
"Scooter! Come on! He’s as good as dead. We can’t do anything for him."
Scooter sighed, running to catch up with Commander and Sku. They would be as good as dead if they didn’t get the compass back.
…
Chaos reigned supreme everywhere in Mimiga as the group ran down the endless hallways. Bodies lay everywhere, with blood splattered all over the place. Broken glass and doors were also everywhere. Lab technicians, residents, and all other sorts of people were running around in panic. The cyborgs had obviously done a number on all of Mimiga.
Coming to a halt, Commander said:
‘We've got to find Andy. We don’t know where he is."
Grabbing a passing lab technician, Commander held them strongly.
"Do you know where Andy is?"
The lab technician, terrified out of their mind, said:
"He’s in the central core... I don’t know what he’s doing down there. But he is not well."
Commander paused for a moment and looked back at Sku with a look of shock. The lab technician looked very familiar.
"Is your name... Skuhoo by chance?"
"How did you k-"
The lab technician caught sight of Sku and tried to suppress a laugh.
Sku in this reality had a full head of hair, while Prime Sku didn’t. Sku had a full head of curly brown hair.
‘Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m bald. Deal with it, kid. This will be you one day."
God, I hope not," alternate Sku said as Commander released him from his arms.
Commander and Scooter both looked at each other and tried not to laugh.
"Just get it out of your damn system. We need to keep going."
Stifled laughter was heard for several minutes afterwards as the group started running down to the central core of Mimiga.
…
Dafyish lay bruised and bleeding out. He stood no chance against the cyborgs. But, hopefully, it would give Commander and his friends enough time to stop Andy. Leaning up against a wall, Dafyish pulled out a remote controller and pressed down on it. The lights changed to a bright purple, and the loudspeaker announced:
"Self-destruct sequence activated. Minus T 1 hour and 30 minutes until the self-destruct of Mimiga. Please evacuate to your nearest escape routes."
This would give everyone enough time to evacuate and stop Andy. Dafyish said a silent prayer as he felt his life force drain. The remote clattered to the floor beside him. Dafyish was dead.
…
The group came to what looked like an even bigger space than the residential areas of Mimiga. In the middle of the room lay what looked like a massive reactor of some sort, with pistons firing constantly. Radioactive warning signs were everywhere, warning unauthorised personnel to stay out. Standing on a platform below, Andy hooked up the compass and the knife directly to the reactor.
"Andy! Stop!" Yelled Commander
But Andy wasn’t listening. He turned around, and the group looked on in shock. Andy had mushrooms growing out of the side of his head and a rabid look in his eyes.
‘Nothing can stop what is about to come! We are all going to return to the void! Praise the great one! PRAISE PREKSAK!"
This is when the group launched into action. Commander jumped down to face his older self while Skuhoo and Scooter covered Andy's back.
"Look, Andy. I know there is still a rational part of you in there somewhere. I know you are desperate to fix your mistakes. I know you want to fix the past. But risking the deaths of trillions isn’t worth it."
Suddenly, Dafyish’s announcement came over the speakers, and the central core was bathed in purple light. This gave Andy the distraction he needed. Leaping with superhuman speed, Andy jumped on top of Commander, pinned him to the ground, and started wailing at him. Punch after punch, Commander struggled to fight back. It was impossible. Andy was too far gone. But it was the distraction needed to get the compass. Sku and Scooter came flying up behind the display, holding the compass.
Suddenly, gunfire went off, and Andy stopped beating up Commander for a second. Everyone turned to look. Standing on a metal platform above Alternate Sku.
"I am not a coward! I WILL... NOT... GO... BALD!" alternate Sku said, unloading a full clip on Andy.
Andy kept up with ease, chasing after him and deflecting the bullets like they were minor annoyances.
Commander lay collapsed on the ground, covered in blood, and all his bones felt broken. He coughed, and blood came up.
Wonderful, he thought. Am I going to die here?
Tilting his head up, he saw Sku with the compass and shard in hand.
"Help Commander up." "I gotta get this thing working again."
Scooter rushed over and helped Commander up to his feet, but as that was happening, an explosion rocked the chamber. Turning around, the group saw the cyborgs. Moving slowly but with purpose, they approached the group.
"Come on, Sku! We are literally about to die!"
Sku, in frustration, brought the two items together by banging them. Something happened. A blue portal, just like before, opened up, and things from inside the central core started getting sucked in.
"Come on! Everyone into the portal!"
Scooter helped Commander into it, and they went flying inside. Sku took one last look to make sure the cyborgs weren’t chasing them. Instead, they had stopped completely. Leaping from above, Sku infected Andy, roaring at them. The cyborgs start firing at him.
"Time to get the heck out of dodge,"
Before Sku entered, a figure went flying by into the portal. It was Alternate Sku. He was bloody and sweaty but looked fine otherwise.
"Thanks for giving me the cour-" he yelled, but it was too late. He was sucked into the portal before he could finish the sentence.
Sku facepalmed and finally stepped into the portal. It closed behind him.
…
It was T-minus 15 minutes until the central core blew. Andy thought nothing of it. Any chance to get closer to the void was a sweet release. The fight against the metal ones was enthralling, as he knew they came from the Master himself. Preksak. The cyborgs managed to finally pin Andy down, despite the fierce resistance he put up.
"Kill me, you bastards! Send me into the void! To Preksak! So that I may finally embrace the darkness!"
Pac_Man spoke:
"No. The Observer needs you for something else."
Now, this was a development that Andy had not seen coming. A chance to serve the Observer? Andy stopped resisting.
"Where do I sign up?" he asked with an evil smile.
…
Alternate Sku found himself in a strange marketplace. Apparently, he was in Aldara, he thought. But it looked a lot different than what he was used to. He also noticed something. Everyone was bald.
"Huh, where am I?" he said out loud.
Trumpets went off, and a man approached him.
"It’s the Man with the Hair! The one destined to save us all!"
"And who are you?"
"I am Borne, but I am now your liege. Anything you want, I shall bring to you. You are now the king of Loka."
A crowd of bald people swarmed around Sku and picked him up.
"So, this is what it’s like to be Crpyt." "I think I could live with this."
And thank God, he was also naturally immune to the blight. Everyone was safe here.
But where did Commander and his friends end up? Sku shrugged internally. He didn’t care. He was king now. Limitless possibilities lay out in front of him.
It was time to fix the future.
…