33 INTERLUDE 2: Mercy, Mew, and Madness

Weeeee~!

Mew was enjoying itself. It had never regretted coming with the trainer that finally 'tamed' it. Though it would protest against that specific wording. Mew wasn't tamed. It was quite free to do whatever it so wished. And what it so wished was to go on adventures through the multiverse in its partner's soul.

There had been a slight hiccup this time. Mew's partner had forgotten to let Mew out of its ball. The ball was comfy but Mew liked to be free! Free to fly and explore and 'mischief' to its heart's content!

So far in this new world, Mew had been doing exactly that. There was so much to see! It could catch up with its partner later. He wasn't going anywhere. Mew was interested in its partner's new mate. But again, that could wait until Mew had finished its customary vacation and exploration tour of a new world.

With advantages like the ones Mew had, travel was trivial. Teleport was a blessing, especially when Mew could borrow locations from sentient minds and just Teleport directly there. And when that failed, Mew could still fly with the best of them!

Mew had already visited much of this Earth. It hadn't branched out to the surrounding space or planets yet but there wasn't a 'region' on Earth that Mew hadn't 'Mewed' in so far! Sometimes back to back to back! Those 'European' regions were so close together that it was simple for Mew to hop across the 'borders' and let out its trademark cry.

Mew wasn't ignorant of the chaos it was causing with its mere presence. It had been a bit confusing at first but a quick and harmless dive into a mind explained things rather well. Pokemon existed on this Earth! But… they didn't? They were just a story? Well, that just wouldn't do at all! Mew was very real, thank you very much!

Sightings of an honest-to-God Mew quickly spread across the globe. It seemed to appear at random. Maybe in France one moment and then Brazil the next as it Teleported via borrowed memories. But everywhere it went, the little creature left people reeling.

Nowhere was that more true than in Japan. Mew had visited its 'home region' on multiple occasions, popping up all over the place. It had been sighted surfing in Okinawa. And flying lazily through the Japanese countryside alongside a bus or train. And even paying its proper respects to the Okami in Kyoto.

As far as anyone could (incorrectly) tell, the Mew's appearances in Japan (and the world) all led back to a single moment. It first appeared in Chiyoda, Tokyo. At the main headquarters of the game studio that originally spread the good word of Mew to the masses. Without any announcement or fanfare, Mew seemingly came into existence in front of the Gamefreak studio.

People were… very confused, to say the least. Was this some kind of publicity stunt? An advanced advertising campaign? Some construct created by a villain or hero? And why was the Mew always seen wearing a mini Hawaiian shirt like some kind of Western tourist and a hat that could have only belonged to Satoshi 'Ash' Ketchum?

It got so bad that the company had to come out with an official statement that rejected any credit. They were just as confused as the public, as the rest of the world. Mew quickly became the word on everyone's tongue. It wasn't every day that a 'fictional' character came to life and started appearing across the globe like some sort of cryptid, even in a world so used to heroes and villains and their antics.

And so Mew's chaotic vacation continued, mystifying and exciting people from every walk of life. Especially behind closed doors, when Mew began to visit the truly notable people of this Earth. The heroes and villains of Earth found themselves plagued by a small, flying, pink cat…

Alexander 'Lex' Luthor walked into his penthouse office on a day just like any other. There was some trivial business he had to take care of first thing that morning but nothing overly critical. His brilliant, peak-human mind was already carefully cataloging his schedule. It never hurt to second-check things himself.

But as he entered the office proper, Lex was forced to pause and turn to his assistant, "… Mercy? Why is there a small pink creature sitting in my chair?"

Mercy Graves — Lex's assistant, bodyguard, and closest confidant — just hummed, "So you see it too, Sir?"

Lex's eye twitched ever so slightly, "Yes. I see it too. Now, why is it here?"

"Perhaps it has an appointment, Sir."

"… If I had an appointment with a Mew and you forgot to tell me, I would be sorely disappointed."

"Oh, you recognize the creature?"

"Indeed. And it SHOULDN'T be here. It shouldn't even be REAL."

"I'm sure this 'Mew' has a perfectly logical explanation for its presence," Mercy said, her voice almost infuriatingly calm.

"Mew~!" Mew helpfully chimed.

Mercy nodded matter-of-factly, "See, Sir? Perfectly logical explanation."

"Yes…" Lex's voice was strained and his twitch was escalating. "Perfectly… logical… How can I help you… Mr. Mew…?"

"Mew!" Mew adopted a grave expression on its face… somehow. "Mew Mew."

Only now did Lex realize that the little creature was wearing a suit that was an exact copy of the one he was wearing. It even made itself seem bald… again, somehow. Perhaps it was the way the sunlight through the top floor windows seemed to glisten off the Mew's forehead.

Mew tapped an impatient and firm finger on a stack of reports on Lex's desk. He'd been planning on going through them this morning before… this… happened. Now, though, the Mew seemed to have usurped Lex's place.

"Mew Mew Mew," Mew ordered, strict and stern.

"Oh, dear," Mercy said, still as infuriatingly calm as ever. "Should I activate the doppelganger protocols, Sir? I can't seem to tell you and the Mew apart anymore."

An eye twitched. A jaw tightened more than what could have possibly been healthy. Teeth gritted against each other. Lex Luthor stared at the impossible little Pokemon that had taken his spot and was sitting in his chair. And the worst part was that he couldn't even fault Mercy's 'precaution'. It was like looking into a mirror. Which didn't make a single. Goddamn. Ounce! Of sense!

In the end, Lex just gave up. He loosened his tie. He took his assistant by the hand and spun her into his chest like a dancer. She gasped in surprise at his uncharacteristic action. He ignored her with a deep, domineering dip as he seized her lips with his.

"S-Sir?!" Mercy gaped at him when he pulled back slightly to stare at her. Notably, though, she didn't pull away from his embrace.

"The world seems to have gone insane. If it has, I shall at least get something worthwhile from the experience," Lex said simply, still holding his only true friend close in an intimate embrace.

There was a slight crunch and munch in the background as Mew shifted a bucket of popcorn into existence to watch the show. Sure, the popcorn was technically still Mew but it all ended up in the same place. Some might call it self-canabalism. Mew was above such petty, human descriptors.

Thankfully for the sake of their sanity, Mercy and Lex ignored the munching Mew. They each did so for different reasons. Lex was firmly of the opinion that he'd be putting himself in quarantine after all of this to check for outside mental influences. Just to be safe. And Mercy was, quite frankly, flustered out of her right mind.

"Mercy my dear?" Lex asked. "How would you feel about spending a strictly set amount of time quarantining together?"

Mercy's mouth worked open and closed for a few moments before she found her voice again, "It's a… date…?"

With that, Mew nodded to itself, deciding its duty was done here. It still split off a clone to stay and watch as it Teleported away though. And if that clone forged a few signatures and ordered an acquisition or two… well, surely, Lex wouldn't mind finding out that he was now the sole owner of the entire Pokemon franchise. If anything, Mew felt he would be ecstatic to be able to pay his respects to his little pink overlord!

IIIII

After Mew drove Lex Luthor to do something he wouldn't have been able to bring himself to do normally, it visited the other side of the equation. The Justice League Watchtower cafeteria found itself hosting a little pink gremlin.

At first, only one person realized what was wrong with the scene in the heroes' cafeteria. Martian Manhunter found his little psychic peer to be fascinating. Not fascinating enough to go sober for any meaningful period of time but it was fascinating all the same.

No one quite understood what powerful psychics went through besides other powerful psychics. Every second of the day, everywhere they went, the press of the various minds they encountered was practically impossible to escape. It was a constant background buzz. A heavy inevitable blanket of 'white noise'.

Among their own kind, the feeling of other minds wasn't nearly so confining. If anything, it was comforting. Paradoxically, natural psychics tended to keep their minds to themselves. At the same time, they tended to be much more trained and practiced in doing so. When they did share thoughts and emotions, it was almost always with a clear and set purpose in mind, making the experience much more pleasant for everyone involved.

But to be surrounded by untrained minds, psychic only on a baseline level, was damn near excruciating for powerful psychics. There was no give and take between minds, no natural exchange and agreement to one's own privacy. It was like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole while being surrounded by constantly buzzing bees with no sense of propriety at all.

For Martians on Earth, the situation was even worse. Humans, J'onn had come to learn, had a painful tendency to broadcast their thoughts. While that wasn't inherently a bad quality to possess, it could become quite overwhelming very quickly en masse, even for the best-trained psychic minds.

Even more constraining than Earth's 'full airwaves' — so to speak — were the circumstances that J'onn and his niece M'gann put themselves in on Earth. They were supposed to be heroes. A worthy pursuit. But that did mean it was quite frowned upon to use their abilities to the full extent that they naturally would. Even common mind melds were considered 'too intimate', for Green's sake!

The best solution J'onn had found to deal with the situation was to live full-time on the Watchtower, tens of thousands of miles above the Earth's buzzing surface. Even that only did so much when J'onn's range could easily cover the distance when he needed to.

The second best solution J'onn had found was to get — 'bluntly' — stoned out of his gourd and stay that way always. It didn't so much muffle his psychic abilities as it made them turn their focus inward most of the time. It was acceptable though.

He'd even found a little medicinal shop in Gotham that could resupply his stash with 'goodies' that were just as good as Martian Zaza. Of course, he later found out that the shop was connected to people that Batman had marked as 'people of interest'. But what Batman didn't know, couldn't hurt him, right?

Even high as a kite (or perhaps as high in orbit as the station he called home?), J'onn noticed the pink-flavored mind that suddenly invaded the station. It was a tiny thing but oh-so-Green-damned potent! The little pink mind was easily the most powerful and mentally dense psychic J'onn had ever sensed. At the same time, it was so well-controlled that J'onn wouldn't have noticed it unless it teleported right into his figurative domain like it just did.

A curious mental tendril reached out to inspect the other mind. J'onn kept his intentions plain to read — polite and more than a bit excited to meet a psychic even more powerful than him. As soon as the introductory tendril left his mental space, the other mind 'turned' to J'onn and latched onto it with even more excitement than J'onn himself.

Pink met green, "Mew~!"

The 'words' didn't matter nearly as much as the ideas and emotions behind them did. In an instant, J'onn was introduced and familiarized with the little creature known as 'Mew'. The experience was intense, even for him.

Mew was just as alien to the human mind as a Martian was. It was almost frighteningly intelligent. Much, much older than it seemed at first glance, as well. There was an overwhelming sense of cheer and innocence in Mew's mind. Not forced. But certainly deliberate. As if Mew CHOSE to be as happy and curious as it was. Always.

J'onn couldn't find a bone of ill-intent in the little creature's body. If Mew even had bones. Judging by the malleable and ever-shifting nature of its mind, Mew was a more capable shapeshifter than any Martian, green or otherwise.

Slightly overwhelmed by the psychic pink hole, J'onn did the only thing he could think of in that situation, well aware that his mind was completely laid bare before Mew, "Uh… Want a gummie?"

"Mew!" With an excited psychic cry that reverberated through the whole station and the space beyond, Mew teleported directly to J'onn. The Watchtower's 'watch room' was momentarily filled with PINK as Mew snatched one of J'onn's special gummies for itself. The next moment, it simply waved and got right back to whatever it was doing on the station.

J'onn was left blinking PINK out of his mind, "Ah. I think this calls for something a bit more fast-acting than gummies…"

In the specifically well-ventilated 'watch room', one of the last Green Martians in existence lit up a great green blunt to deal with something small, pink, and adorable. Something he was only now recognizing from one of Batman's more recent reports on the Dead End.

"Soooooooo~ not my problem, dude," J'onn muttered in between big O-ring puffs of his Martian Zaza.

Which brought the focus back to Mew's antics in the Watchtower's cafeteria. Again, at first, no one but J'onn noticed something amiss. Mew casually appeared in the midst of the slightly crowded cafeteria and seemed content to wait in line for some of Green Arrow's famous chili.

No one seemed all that bothered by the little pink cat floating among them. Mew got a few curious looks but the heroes of the Justice League had honestly seen stranger things. The 'Mewing' hums were a bit odd but also somewhat soothing. It helped that most of them hadn't been briefed on Mew's identity and the situation surrounding it yet.

That was until Plastic Man walked into the cafeteria, completely unaware of the chaos he was about to start. Mew instantly zeroed in on the other shapeshifter, focusing with an unmatched curiosity. It zipped out of the cafeteria's line and circled closely around the man made of 'plastic'.

"Mew…?"

"Woah, what the Hell?!" Plastic Man said, startled. His neck shifted and elongated, trying to follow Mew's movements and only succeeding in tying itself in a knot.

"Uh…" Plastic Man paused. "Little help here, little guy?"

Mew cocked its head at the tied and twisted hero. Its tail shifted to mimic Plastic Man's neck, tying itself into an elaborate bow. Mew then demonstrated that 'untying' the knot was as simple as a twist here, a turn there, and voila! Mew cocked its head to the other side to emphasize its point.

Plastic Man chuckled good-naturedly, "Well, yeah, but it's more fun if you play along."

Mew hit its tiny little paws together, nodding as if in realization, "Mew!"

The little creature darted in and proceeded to 'help'. It only succeeded in making things much worse for Plastic Man. In an instant, he found himself tied into an even messier knot — vaguely resembling a human-sized ball — and bounced up and down as if Mew was the world's tiniest basketball player.

"Hurp-! Urk-!" Plastic Man gagged and retched theatrically. "Gonna be sick-!"

Mew hefted the man-sized 'basketball' onto its finger with negligent ease. Plastic Man began to spin and spin and spin. Faster and faster until the malleable man became a blur of motion. He spun so fast that he came 'untied'. The suddenly disrupted balance of the spin sent Plastic Man like a shot out of a rapidly spooling railgun of angular momentum.

He collided against the cafeteria wall with a comedic splat, flattening himself against the surface. Without letting himself fall off of the wall, Plastic Man unflattened his head, spinning it in dizzy circles.

"Thanks for the… assist…" He said, playing heavily into the joke.

Mew gave him an adorable paw-padded thumbs-up, "Mew!"

By now, Mew and Plastic Man had attracted quite an audience. And the heroes were now starting to question Mew itself. More than a few recognized it as a Pokemon. That realization alone brought just as much chaos as it and Plastic Man's antics. Then the big names, the ones actually briefed on Mew at the moment, came into the cafeteria.

"What… exactly is going on here…?" Superman — Kal-El Kent — asked incredulously, not quite believing his eyes.

His timing could have been considered somewhat poor. Or perfect, depending on who you asked. Right as he, Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary walked into the room, Mew casually did the 'impossible'.

The little pink Pokemon split several times over. One of the clones flew over to continue bugging Plastic Man. Another — the 'original' for all the good that counted toward — went to get the chili it had come for. A few more clones chose a hero each and dedicated themselves to making specifically targeted mischief.

Plastic Man's Mew peeled its chosen heroic partner off the wall and corralled him into a shapeshifting competition. Plastic Man didn't even try to protest. He just grinned and they both quickly flashed between various forms and shapes.

Mew's true-to-life pink flying Wailord form seemed to win that competition. It stretched above everyone's heads, blocking out almost all of the light from the cafeteria's ceiling. The quite sizable Watchtower cafeteria was only just barely able to contain the truly massive creature Mew shifted into.

"That… shouldn't be possible. Where's so much extra mass coming from?" Even Plastic Man was given pause.

Mew's answer shook the whole station with a deep bass, "MEW."

"You're… just 'built different'?"

"MEW."

Only moments later, it opened its cavernous Wailord mouth and SUCKED. It was as if a tornado had suddenly spawned in the cafeteria. Only, the massive suction seemed to affect Plastic Man alone and nothing else. He let out a shrill scream as he was swallowed whole in a scene straight out of the tale of Jonah and the 'Whale'.

The entirety of the cafeteria was brought to a sudden halt by events — chaos — outside their control. Then just as suddenly the pink Wailord appeared, it shifted back into Mew's usual form. And before any of the heroes could react poorly, Mew burped. Plastic Man was coughed up out of a mouth that should have been much too small to hold him.

Sprawled on the floor, he could only say one thing, "Okay, yeah. 'Built different' just about covers it."

The other Mews wouldn't let themselves be outdone. The one that had chosen Wonder Woman — Diana — stopped in front of the Amazonian princess. It shifted into a little knight's armor, complete with cat ears on the helmet and a perfectly proportioned pink sword in its paw.

"Mew Mew!" It declared a duel, brandishing its weapon with adorable skill.

Diana just grinned, more than willing to give herself over to the chaos, "Very well, little warrior. En garde!"

She brandished her own sword and a grand battle began in the Watchtower's cafeteria. Though it seemed mismatched, Mew held its own. What started as a mere jest for Diana quickly turned into honest enjoyment. The little pink Pokemon was a worthy opponent!

Black Canary sighed a tortured, suffering sigh, "Goddammit… I thought I escaped the Dead End's insanity…"

"It's not that bad, is it? I think Mew is quite cute," Green Arrow — her significant other — said with a grin.

The Mew that had chosen them had chosen both at the same time, singling out the relationship among the new big-name heroes. It perched itself on Green Arrow's shoulder, nuzzling his bearded cheek and purring like an innocent and unassuming cat.

"C'mon, Dinah, can't we keep it?" Green Arrow prompted, grinning even wider.

Black Canary's ovaries just about exploded at the scene of hubby and cat (or cat-like creature, at least), "Hnnnngggh-!"

Batman's Mew stopped in front of the caped crusader. It shifted itself into a costume — black with pink accents and all-around adorable — that had a suspiciously bat-shaped 'M' on the chest.

Batman examined the Mew closely for a few moments, "… Are you an orphan too?"

"Mew…" Mew deflated slightly before perking back up. "Mew Mew!"

"'Last of your kind'?" Batman nodded. "It'll do. Welcome to the family. Damian will be pleased."

"Bruce too? Am I… Am I going insane?" Superman asked himself.

The Mew that had chosen him floated next to him and patted a commiserating paw on his shoulder, "Mew, Mew…"

"You're remarkably polite for a cat."

"Mew!"

"Pokemon, sorry," Superman apologized. "Did you have something prepared for me as well?"

Mew nodded and handed the Man of Steel a miniaturized card, "Mew."

"'I know what you did last summer'…?" Superman read.

Mew's expression became sheepish as it swapped the wrong card for another, "Mew, Mew Mew."

Superman read the card again, this time the right one, "'One Pokemon-sized cloning machine, please!'"

Superman turned back to Mew to reply to the card, his voice dry and slightly amused, "I don't think that's a good idea."

Mew pouted. And pouted. And pouted some more. Despite himself, Superman found it very hard to continue refusing the little creature. Mew wouldn't give up so easily! It would convince the Kryptonian to part with one of his cloning machines. That kind of technology would make bringing Pokemon to this new world so much quicker!

And in the background of the suddenly chaotic cafeteria, the 'original' Mew took its chili to go…

IIIII

A remote location played host to an Endless being. Alone and undisturbed, wandering as he had been for the last few centuries, Destruction stopped for a short break. He sat at the top of a great cliff, legs dangling unworriedly over the side. Far, far below, white waves broke upon rock, creating and destroying so much with their every motion.

"Somewhere… Somewhen… Somehow… there is a place. A place where all roads lead, and yet none do at all. A place of beginnings and ends. The ruination of one story. The conception of another. Someplace where all ideas are spawned and all creations crumble to dust…

"And who does seek this place? Who but authors, artists, and inventors alike? Who but annihilators, nihilists, and vandals — all the same? Let your eternal wander guide you. Leave your muse to creation and destruction… And perhaps you'll find me there too…"

Destruction read his poetry aloud. Even after all of these years, he didn't feel that it was anything spectacular. Perhaps he just didn't have the gift. Just like when he tried painting or sculpting. How ironic that the Endless being of Destruction and Creation had a plainly uninspired mental muse.

But no matter what, he enjoyed his poetry. His art. His sculptures. Anything that allowed him to exercise the side of his duality that had gone so neglected before his abdication. As strange as it sounded, Destruction enjoyed creating.

He would write and muse almost every second of the day and night, alone with his mind. Giving life to entire worlds and the stories within with his every thought. He would stop to paint vistas just like the one he enjoyed now. Trying oh so hard to capture a single moment in his creations. He'd even taken to whittling as he walked. Breathing something solid into reality with each smooth carving motion of his knife.

In the centuries since his abdication — since he stopped directly his concept so closely — Destruction wandered the Earth. He avoided man and beast alike, those that could consciously create and destroy. He was alone much of the time. His only company came from a few chance visits from family here and there. And his trusty hound Barnabas — gloomy, gruff, and grumbling as the talking dog was.

Perhaps one day, he would return. Return to his duties and return to his family. But he didn't feel the need just yet. A few centuries was a mere pittance compared to their Endless existence. Until the day he felt prepared to take up his role once more, Destruction roamed.

And yet, on this cliff — so similar to the countless others he'd rested upon — something new graced Destruction's wander. A new pair of ears listened to his Creation. Barnabas was as ill-tempered and surly as ever, laying flat at Destruction's side. He would have covered his ears against his master's poetry if he could have. But this new listener was much more intent, much more traditionally friendly.

"Mew!" A strange pink cat gave Destruction a round of applause.

Destruction blinked, "I do not recognize you, friend. Pray tell, what Creation do you hail from?"

"Mew Mew!" The pink cat shifted its form into a creature even more strange.

This new form was a mere copy. Destruction could easily tell that much. Even then, he didn't recognize the white and gold, four-legged beast with a ring around its midst. What he did recognize… was a God when he saw one, even as just a mere partial imitation.

It was enough to make Destruction stop and marvel for a moment — a strange occurrence for one of the Endless, "My word… 'The Original One'? It is like looking at a sliver of the Presence… You come from very, very far away, don't you, friend?"

"Mew!" Mew nodded eagerly before 'complimenting' Destruction's poem. "Me~ew!"

At the earnest and cheerful compliment, Destruction actually blushed, "Ah… Indeed? My thanks, friend, but I am still ever learning and improving my craft."

"Mew!"

"Feel free, friend. It has been long since I have felt the need for company," Destruction chuckled. "And an unfamiliar Creation like yourself has caught my attention. I believe I would like to know more about you."

"Mew Mew," Mew floated over to settle on the cliff next to Destruction.

Barnabas the talking dog glanced at the little cat-like thing, chuffed, and looked away. Just because he could talk didn't mean he wanted to. A bowl of chili floated beside Mew. It offered some to its 'host'.

"That is very kind. I shall not spit in the face of your hospitality… Oh my. This is quite good. Perhaps the Creation of Cooking is another venture to add to my list…" Destruction considered.

Mew's stubby little legs kicked and wiggled over the edge of the cliff. It waved its arms as it animatedly told the story of its travels to its newest friend, "Mew! Mew Mew Mew-…"

Destruction listened intently, nodding and chuckling at the appropriate times, "Quite the adventure you've had, friend. You would get along swimmingly with my little sister Delirium. Perhaps the others as well."

"Mew!" Mew chimed. "Mew."

Destruction's head tilted to the side in slight confusion, "Didi? Partner? The… Dead End…?"

Mew nodded excitedly. It flashed images — psychic projections — in the air. Images of its short time in the Dead End, of its partner and his new mate. The lively atmosphere the little pink creature brought and the scenes of his sister made Destruction smile softly.

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to see where my wander takes me. Perhaps one day soon, I'll find myself at a Dead End instead of a crossroads. If I do, I hope to see you there again, friend."

"Thank fookin' God," Barnabas grumbled gruffly, finally speaking. "I've about had it to here with yer shite poetry. At least this way, I'll have a proper fookin' drink."

IIIII

The small Heartless was a simple being. Not quite a creature. Certainly not a 'someone'. Instead, it was the opposite. The absence of 'someone'. A mere Shadow cast by the distant unseen light of a Heart.

All it knew was Darkness. Lukewarm Darkness and Empty Void. And Hunger. All-consuming Hunger — a constant for all of its kin. It craved Emotion, Connection, and Heart. And for so long, it had gone Hungry.

Before, it had been left to the endless Void Between. A small, small Shadow of a Heart, flocking in massive Hungry schools of its kind. The Void was Empty. The Void was Apathetic. The Shadow — the Heartless — wished for Something. Anything. So long as there was a Thing there. Perhaps then, it could sate its Hunger…

By pure chance, pure coincidence, the Heartless found itself separated from its kind. Small and oh so alone in the Void Between, it floated/stumbled/sank/swam. Apathy drove it onward. Hunger made it unwilling to move. The Heartless was stuck. Without Motivation to tie it down. Without Connections to push it forward. For without Heart, everything is lost.

In that listless Darkness, the Shadow found an escape. A brief hole in the endless Void that led to something more limited. The Heartless couldn't help but fall right through. A Shadow appeared in a new place, one that drowned the Heartless in reality, in Something and Everything.

Confusion reigned behind glowing yellow eyes. The Heartless was lost and overwhelmed, pulled along uncontrollably by what it had found. So much light. So much Thing and Yes and More. So much Heart.

And before it could react, before it could lash out in Hunger and Apathy, it was stolen away once more. From endless Void to limited reality and now to something Endless once more. For once, Hunger and Apathy waned. The Heartless was sequestered within a comforting Delirium.

Sustainance — Love and Emotion. Endless Heart to sate the Heartless' endless absence. Yellow eyes flickered shut, merely sleepy for once instead of Apathetic, dark, and dead. A hummed lullaby soothed the Heartless into its new home.

Delirium watched her Heartless with constantly shifting Emotions and Heart. Excitement: a new friend, a new pet, a new project. Sadness: poor, poor creature, so lost and Unconnected. Curiosity: what WAS it? Determination: a reflection of the Heart, one that deserved a chance just like anything else.

Within Delirium, the Heartless changed. Hunger was sated. Apathy faded. A Connection was forged. And through it, Obsession/Delirium/Fondness/Resentment/HEART sparked inside a Shadow that had never had a Heart of its own. Yellow eyes shifted into pink and a new phenomenon — Heartless only in name — purred, curled up in an Endless Heart.

IIIII

Beyond the Source Wall was a 'place' in constant change. Here, that wasn't here. There, that wasn't there. A time without Time. A space without Space. A Void Between. Infinite Blind Eternities. A Dimensional Sea on which everything in existence — from entire multiverses to wandering individual beings — floated/sank/swam.

And within the Void Between, 69 realities were tied together by a 'string'. A commonality, a shared story, a single soul reincarnated over and over again. Even on a small scale of Eternity and Infinity, this chain of worlds was insignificant and unremarkable. Still, the echoed history of Sean Caine — his True Name and everything it had ever experienced — persisted.

Somewhere along that chain, a world recovering from an infestation of interdimensional space worms chugged along. Sean's time on Earth Bet was legendary. He was instrumental in solving and 'solving' many of the world's biggest issues. From minor crime around Brockton Bay to the Slaughterhouse Nine and even to the Entities themselves.

His name was revered and feared in equal measure on Earth Bet. The Slaughterer of the Nine. The Husband of the Simurgh. The Father of the Uplift.

The Entities tendrils reached deep into that Earth, that dimension. Simply killing the depressed Warrior Entity with awesome Gundam power and putting a temporary end to the Cycle wasn't enough.

The Shards still 'lived', spread through countless dimensions and versions of Earth. Powers still plagued society. To truly finish the job he'd started, Sean had to take his actions a step further. And he did so by way of UPLIFT…

In that life, Sean had a Shard of his own. But the very nature of his constantly reincarnating soul changed the Shard upon [Contact]. His power was supposed to be a relatively simple Tinker one in theory. Just the ability to make toys true to life.

But with the outside influence of his eternally wandering soul, Sean's Shard had more [Data] to draw from than it knew what to do with. Most specifically, toys from a world where nearly every reality was a story.

So, in practice, Sean's 'Tinker' effect only affected the building of the original toys and the process of enlarging them or bringing them to life. Notably, that left the actual technology within those toys 'unTinkered', so to speak.

Even in their model forms, Sean's toys (his Gundams, for example) were fully functional. The technology simply worked just how it was described in its original source material. WITHOUT the trademark Tinker black box that offloaded the bullshit effects onto the Shard instead of the hardware.

Sean's toy tech was usually advanced beyond belief, sometimes even completely alien. But it was able to be replicated by unpowered sources. Much less what the actual Tinkers could do based on Sean's toys.

Through the strange interaction between Sean's out-of-context soul and standard Shard bullshit, toys became the source of humanity's uplift. As it turned out, there were a lot of toy spaceships that Sean could pull inspiration from. Or just build one-to-one and then make them true to life with his powers.

The first flight of Sean's Turn-A Gundam — one of his first creations brought true to life and the weapon that would eventually deal the final blow to the Warrior Entity — marked a change in Earth Bet's history. In humanity's history.

It was the change that would eventually lead to the legendary Space Captain Taylor Hebert — considered a warlord by some and a benevolent privateer by others. It led to the acceptance and integration of the Mother AI Dragon, the efficient inventor Armsmaster, the groundbreaking modular pioneer Kid Win, and many others as Tinkers turned their attention away from the Cape Game and to the future.

It also led to the death by heart attack of one Director Piggot and the death by honest-to-God stoning of one Director Tagg. The slaughtering of the Slaughterhouse Nine. And the legalization of incest, only for Amy Dallon (somehow).

But perhaps most importantly, the Turn-A's first flight led directly to the first time Sean met his future wife. Floating in high orbit, chained to a 'father' who only wished for a 'worthy fight', the Simurgh could not believe her future and hindsight when the massive Turn-A mecha came rocketing at her from below.

Quite literally — as the event sent up a chain of [Error] codes within her Shard-lite core. Then the Mecha (and Sean inside it) punched free the connection between the Simurgh and her 'father', killing Eidolon — the hero who unknowingly pulled the Endbringers' strings — in the process. Such began the whirlwind romance between Sean and the now affectionately nicknamed 'Simmy'.

Simmy… well, Simmy found a new purpose to dedicate herself to in Sean. A purpose beyond [Data], beyond the [Cycle]. Freedom and romance and someone who saw her as more than a tool, a weapon. She quickly became obsessive in the best of ways. Though the general population of Earth Bet likely wouldn't have agreed with that statement, especially not when the Simurgh showed up outside of a random house in Brockton Bay for a date…

Simmy didn't care for the opinions of such oafs. All that mattered to her was Sean — not a restrictive 'father', but perhaps a liberating [Daddy]. Instead of murdering millions, Simmy could just smite [Daddy]'s enemies and get [Headpats] and [Data] and [Love]!

So when Sean died — of natural causes after a long life of uplifting Earth Bet —, Simmy felt somewhat listless. No, she felt completely lost. At her lowest point, Simmy felt a connection to somewhere ELSE. Her [Core]? An echo? Another world…? And [Daddy] was there?!

Immediately, Simmy began her quest to reunite with her [Daddy]. All she had to do was crack the equation to travel beyond just the dimensions the Entities were limited to. Oh, and crack the issue the [Cycle] was intended to solve while she was at it. How hard could solving [Entropy] be…?

[Calculation…]

[Error]

[Calculation.]

[Error]

[Calculation!]

[Error]

[Scream!^*!&#!]

[Calm.]

[Calculation.]

[Error-…]

[Grumble] She would get this damn equation to work eventually…