CROSS-O-VERSE | Gameoverse

[SONIC.EXE]

The soft hum of Nimble's engines gradually faded as the small yellow craft descended toward the familiar green landscape below. Kit sat forward in the cockpit, one hand resting against the controls while the other hovered over the radar display. A small blue blip pulsed on the screen. She narrowed her magenta eyes and tapped her fingers against the edge of the console as she studied the signal one last time.

"Well... this is the place. The Hero Entity is here. At least according to my radar."

A metallic click came from behind her. Kaboodle had perched himself against Kit's shoulder, his segmented limbs loosely wrapped around the edge of her armour for stability. His mechanical eye shifted toward the radar.

"Well, at least this won't be too hard."

Kit glanced sideways at him.

"No Syntax to bother us."

She gave a small, relieved smile. "That's what I'm hoping."

Nimble passed through the atmosphere with barely a tremor. Below them stretched an almost idyllic landscape of rolling green hills, scattered trees, distant cliffs, and a bright blue sky. It looked exactly like the kind of place that was supposed to belong to a Hero Entity.

Too perfect.

Kit's ears twitched. She couldn't quite explain why, but something about the place felt... off.

Nimble touched down on a grassy clearing with a soft thump as the grass gave way. Kit unfastened herself from the cockpit and stepped out, Kaboodle hopping from her shoulder and landing on the ground beside her. She looked around. The wind was gentle, almost unnaturally so, and the grass swayed beneath it in waves across the field. Birds chirped somewhere in the distance while the trees rustled softly.

Everything looked peaceful.

Kit took a few steps forward, then stopped. Her eyes drifted toward the nearby water. A small river cut through the landscape, reflecting the sky above. Kit stared at it, her ears slowly lowering.

"...Is that supposed to look like that?"

Kaboodle turned his mechanical eye toward the river. "Look like what?"

"The water."

She walked closer. The surface moved, and at first it looked normal, with gentle ripples spreading outward as the current moved downstream. But the longer she stared, the stranger it became. The water was too opaque. There was no depth to it. It almost looked like a thin layer had been placed over the river, perfectly mimicking the movement of actual water without actually being water.

Kit crouched near the bank and extended one gloved finger toward the surface. The tip stopped just short of touching it. A ripple moved across the river.

Kit pulled her hand back. "...Huh."

Kaboodle shrugged with one of his mechanical limbs. "Maybe the world's just got shitty water physics."

Kit looked at him. "That's not how water works."

"Neither does half the crap we deal with."

"...Fair."

She stood again, brushing some dirt from her glove. Her ears suddenly twitched, and Kit froze. Her expression changed as something entered her senses: a smell, faint at first and almost imperceptible. She sniffed once, her nose wrinkling.

"...Do you smell that?"

Kaboodle's eye rotated toward her. "Smell what?"

Kit didn't answer immediately. She took another breath. The smell was stronger now.

Rot.

Death.

Her ears flattened against her head. "Something's dead."

Kaboodle looked around, his mechanical limbs shifting slightly as they scanned the surrounding area.

"I don't have a nose, Kit."

"I know."

"So I'm gonna take your word for it."

Kit's eyes moved across the field. There was nothing. Just grass, trees, water, and the occasional distant movement of something she couldn't quite make out. Yet the smell continued to grow. Every few steps, it became stronger.

She swallowed. "Something's really wrong here."

Kaboodle followed closely beside her. "Could be an NPC."

"Maybe." Kit's hand instinctively clenched her fist, the gauntlet ready to shift any moment. "But why can't I see anything?"

"Maybe it's underground."

"Then why can I smell it?"

"Because you're the one with the nose."

Kit shot him an irritated glance. "You're really helpful."

"I try." Kaboodle says with a smirk

They continued forward. The Hero Entity's signal remained steady on the radar. Kit checked it again. The blip was getting closer. Her pace slowed as the smell became overwhelming. She could practically taste it, and her stomach turned. Whatever was causing that smell had to be nearby.

And yet there was still nothing. No body. No blood. No signs of a struggle. Nothing.

Kit's tail curled slightly behind her as her hand tightened around the radar. "This doesn't make sense."

Kaboodle's eye scanned the surroundings again. "Well, we're almost there."

Kit looked ahead. Between the trees, she could see a figure: blue, tall, and spindly, with a pair of unmistakable quills swept backward from his head.

Her ears perked up. "There."

The two approached cautiously. The figure was leaning against the trunk of a large tree. Unmistakably a anthropomorphic blue hedgehog.

Sonic.

The Hero-Class Entity.

He appeared completely relaxed, his eyes closed and his head tilted slightly toward the breeze. His blue quills shifted gently with every passing gust.

For a moment, Kit simply stared. This was supposed to be the Hero, the central figure of the world, the person whose actions would eventually lead it toward its Win Condition. Usually, meeting one was straightforward: find them, observe them, figure out what narrative progression they were currently involved in, and then interfere.

Simple.

Kit slowly lowered her radar. "...That's Sonic?"

Kaboodle's mechanical eye narrowed. "Looks like it."

Kit's gaze remained fixed on him. Something about the scene should have felt comforting: a Hero relaxing beneath a tree, surrounded by a peaceful landscape and a gentle breeze. The world appeared untouched by conflict.

Yet Kit couldn't shake the feeling that she was looking at a photograph of something that had once been alive.

Her ears slowly lowered again. The wind passed through the grass. The water continued to ripple. Somewhere beneath the peaceful breeze, the smell of rot lingered.

Kit swallowed. "...Kaboodle."

"Yeah?"

She didn't take her eyes off Sonic. "Something's wrong."

Kaboodle was silent for a moment. Then his mechanical eye shifted toward the hedgehog.

"...Yeah."

Kit's grip tightened around her radar. For the first time since entering the world, she wasn't worried about Syntax. She wasn't worried about the Win Condition. She wasn't even worried about the Hero.

She was worried about what she couldn't see.

Because whatever was causing that smell...

It was close.

Very close.

And Sonic didn't seem to notice it at all.

[FIVE NIGHT'S AT FREDDY'S]

Kit stood in front of Withered Foxy, her head tilted slightly to the side as she listened to the explanation. Her magenta eyes narrowed in thought, one brown cat ear flicking forward while her tail swayed idly behind her.

"So let me get this straight," she began, raising one hand as she mentally pieced everything together. "The night guard keeps flashing your eyes to stop you?"

Foxy gave a small nod. Kit stared at him for a few seconds. "Hmm..."

Her eyes drifted upward as she thought. Her fingers tapped against her chin, her tail curling slightly behind her as the gears in her head began turning. The solution seemed obvious once she actually thought about it.

Then her eyes widened. "Oh."

A grin slowly spread across her face. "I've got it."

Kit quickly brought her hand across her chest in a familiar sweeping motion. A series of small blue square particles suddenly flickered into existence around her palm, floating in the air like tiny pieces of corrupted code. They briefly spun around one another before collapsing into a single object.

A pair of sunglasses. Kit caught them neatly between two fingers.

She held them up for a moment, admiring her own genius before stepping toward Foxy and offering them to him. "Here."

Foxy looked down at the glasses. Then back at Kit. Kit's grin widened. "With these, that night guard can't stop you!"

Foxy's ears practically perked up at the realization. He eagerly snatched the sunglasses from Kit's hand and immediately placed them over his eyes.

Kit gave a satisfied nod. "There. Problem solved."

Foxy seemed far more enthusiastic about the plan now, adjusting the sunglasses against his face as though he had just received the most important piece of equipment imaginable.

Kit turned away from him and looked toward the rest of the group. The other animatronics were already gathered around, watching her. Kit planted both hands on her hips, her tail flicking behind her as she looked over everyone one by one.

"Okay, you all have the game plan, right?"

She pointed toward Balloon Boy. "Balloon Boy, you'll try and unwind the music box."

She then swung her finger toward the other Withereds. "Okay, the rest of the Withereds, y'all will pop into the hallway at the same time."

Her finger moved toward the Toys. "Toys, you'll enter the vents from both sides."

Finally, Kit looked upward. "And Mangle!"

Mangle's twin heads tilted slightly with a mechanical grind. "You'll sneak in from the top while the night guard is distracted."

Kit paused. Her eyes slowly scanned across the entire group. Everyone seemed to be paying attention. She nodded firmly. "Everyone got that?"

There was a brief silence. Then the animatronics began nodding and moving into position. Kit's ears perked up. "Perfect."

She gave a small, confident smile to herself as the plan was coming together. "Let's make this guy regret taking the night shift."

[SUBNAUTICA]

The cool water drifted around Kit's body as she swam through the vast expanse of the alien ocean. Small streams of bubbles escaped her mouth with every slow exhale, rising toward the distant surface far above. Around her, the darkness of the deep was broken by countless bioluminescent bulbs scattered throughout the reef, their soft blue and violet glows illuminating the strange underwater ecosystem around them.

Kit glanced around at the unfamiliar scenery before turning her head toward Flappers. "Well... this water planet is a lot different from yours, Flappers."

Flappers, predictably, seemed to have completely ignored the observation.

The dolphin was several meters away, swimming in wide circles around a cluster of glowing bulbs. His movements were less like someone conducting reconnaissance and more like a child who had just discovered the existence of swimming for the first time.

"WEEEE!"

He shot past another glowing bulb, twisting his body around it before kicking himself toward another patch of illuminated coral.

Kit stared at him for several seconds. Her ears slowly flattened against her hair. "...Right."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, a small smile betraying her annoyance. "I don't even know why I bother."

A metallic clink sounded behind her.

Kaboodle drifted closer, its compact silver-grey body keeping pace with Kit as its articulated limbs adjusted themselves against the currents. One of its limbs remained latched onto the strap of Kit's swimsuit, keeping the little machine securely attached to her shoulder. Its mechanical eye followed Flappers for a moment before turning toward Kit.

"His brain has the processing power of a fucking toaster."

Kit snorted. "Kaboodle."

"What? I'm being generous."

Flappers suddenly dove downward, disappearing behind a massive glowing coral formation before re-emerging upside down. "LOOK, KIT! I'M A FISH!"

Kaboodle's mechanical eye narrowed. "You're a dolphin."

Flappers paused "...Fish?"

Kit covered her mouth as a laugh escaped her. "Close enough, Flappers."

Kaboodle let out a mechanical noise that somehow managed to sound like a sigh. "This is why I hate field missions."

Kit chuckled again before turning her attention back toward the reef. Her expression gradually softened as she remembered why they were actually here. "We still need to look for the Hero."

Her ears perked slightly as she looked down at the small scanner attached to her wrist. The display flickered with static, the usual clean radar interface distorted by the enormous amount of water surrounding them.

"All this water is making the radar fuzzy..."

She tapped the side of the device twice. Nothing. The signal remained a mess of scattered readings.

Kit frowns. "They must be somewhere in the ocean. It doesn't work any better above the surface, either."

Kaboodle shifted slightly against her shoulder, its mechanical eye scanning the surrounding darkness.

"Fantastic. An entire planet made of water, and the one person we're looking for is apparently hiding in the world's biggest swimming pool."

Kit gave a small shrug. "That's one way to put it."

She pushed herself forward, letting the current carry her deeper into the Grand Reef. The glowing flora became more sparse as she drifted away from the brighter sections, leaving the surrounding water increasingly dark. The enormous reef stretched around her like the ruins of some forgotten civilization, its formations rising and falling into the abyss.

Kit's eyes wandered across the darkness.

Nothing.

Just coral, bioluminescent plants, the occasional strange creature darting between the formations.

She slowly drifted onward, her tail moving lazily behind her with the current. Then she stopped. Her ears twitched.

Something had caught her attention. Kit squinted into the distance. "...Huh?"

Far beyond the edge of the Grand Reef, past the enormous crater that surrounded it, something glimmered in the darkness.

A faint blue light. Kit's eyes narrowed.

It wasn't one of the bioluminescent bulbs. This light was different. Sharper. More concentrated. She instinctively reached for her scanner, bringing it closer to her face as she stared at the distant glow.

The signal was too distorted to make anything out. Her magenta eyes remained fixed on it.

"Is that...?"

The blue light shifted, Kit's ears slowly perked upward. She couldn't tell what she was looking at.

A submarine? A machine? Some enormous creature?

Whatever it was, it was far beyond the edge of the reef, sitting alone against the darkness of the crater. Kit's expression became more focused.

"There's something over there."

Kaboodle's eye immediately turned toward the distant glow. Flappers also stopped swimming. For once, even he seemed to notice something was different.

Kit slowly drifted forward, her gaze never leaving the mysterious blue light. "...Let's go find out."

[CASUALTIES: UNKNOWN]

Kit Bodega had dealt with a lot of things during her time as a Farcade scout. Hostile worlds. Narrative anomalies.

Entire civilizations trying to kill her because she happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She had even been chased across three planets by a sentient refrigerator once. But she had never dealt with this.

Nimble, Kit's small yellow scout ship, descended through the atmosphere, its engines humming softly beneath her as she kept one hand firmly around the flight stick. The planet below looked relatively calm from this altitude. A sprawling game world, covered in dense cities and strange structures stretching across the horizon.

"Alright..." Kit muttered, glancing between the windshield and her instruments. "Nice and easy. We get down, find the hero, make sure the villain doesn't lose, and we're back home before-"

Her radar suddenly lit up. Kit blinked. Then it lit up again.

And again.

And again.

The entire radar display became an incomprehensible mass of warning symbols. Her ears shot upright. "What the fuck?"

Kaboodle's mechanical eye snapped toward the display. "That's a lot of red."

Gobbles squeaked from somewhere behind her. "I-I think those are targeting signals!"

Flappers looked out the window. "Are those missiles?"

Kit stared at the radar. There were so many incoming projectiles that the display had practically stopped being useful. "Oh, you've got to be-"

The world flashed white. Nimble simply ceased to exist. There wasn't an explosion. No dramatic crash. No flaming wreckage.

One moment the ship was there. The next, there was nothing.

Kit remained in the exact same position, still gripping the flight stick that no longer existed. She stared down at her hands.

"...Fuck."

Then gravity remembered her. Kit, Kaboodle, Gobbles, and Flappers immediately began plummeting toward the planet. "AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Kit flailed through the air, desperately reaching for the others. "KABOODLE!"

The little robot spun helplessly through the sky. "I'M RIGHT HERE, YOU IDIOT!"

"I'M FALLING!"

"I KNOW!"

Kit stretched one hand outward, trying to grab onto anything remotely useful. Unfortunately, she had made the critical mistake of being nowhere near anything she could grab. The ground grew larger. Much larger.

"Oh, come on!"

She crashed through the roof of a building. The sudden impact knocked what little orientation she had left completely out of her head. Kit bounced through several floors, tumbling through desks, ceiling panels, and whatever unfortunate office equipment happened to be in her way.

Then she hit something soft. A couch. The couch collapsed beneath her. Kit bounced off it. Then through a doorway. Then directly into an elevator.

Ding.

She landed face-first against the floor. For several seconds, nothing happened. Then the elevator doors closed. A painfully cheerful melody began playing through the speakers. Kit slowly lifted her head.

"...Is this fucking elevator music?"

The elevator began descending. Kit blinked. She looked at the floor indicator.

B1.

Then it changed.

B2.

Her ears slowly lowered.

B3.

"...Okay."

B7.

Kit pushed herself upright.

B12.

"That's... pretty deep."

B19.

She stared at the numbers. The elevator continued downward.

B31.

Kit's expression slowly changed from confusion to concern. "How deep is this building?"

The elevator continued descending.

B46.

"Okay, we're underground."

B61.

The cheerful elevator music continued playing. Kit stared blankly at the ceiling. "...I hate this planet."

Eventually, the elevator slowed.

Ding.

The doors opened. Kit stepped out. Or, more accurately, stumbled out. She barely had enough awareness to understand what she was looking at.

A long industrial corridor stretched ahead of her, illuminated by harsh fluorescent lights. Pipes ran along the ceiling. Heavy machinery hummed behind reinforced glass panels.

Two men stood nearby, completely unaware of the strange woman who had just arrived in their underground facility.

One was a scientist. A very large, very loud scientist.

He wore a white coat that looked almost comically pristine compared to the filthy industrial environment around him. His blonde hair was slicked back, his glasses sat low on his nose, and his entire posture radiated the confidence of a man who had never once considered the possibility that he might be wrong.

Beside him stood a guard. The guard wore dark protective armor and held a rifle loosely against his shoulder. He looked exhausted.

Not tired.

Not stressed.

Exhausted.

The kind of exhausted that suggested he had been counting the minutes until his shift ended since the moment he clocked in.

"...So," the guard muttered, "what are you having for lunch?"

The scientist adjusted his glasses. "Ve shall be having schnitzel."

"Again?"

"Again?!" The scientist looked personally offended. "What do you mean, again? Schnitzel is a perfectly acceptable lunch!"

"We had it yesterday."

"Yesterday was yesterday!"

"Yeah."

"And today is today!"

"That's usually how days work."

The scientist threw his hands into the air. "Ach! You have no appreciation for German cuisine!"

The guard sighed. "I appreciate it fine. I just don't want the same thing every day."

"I am the scientist here, not you!"

"You're also the one who keeps ordering from the same cafeteria."

"Because they make excellent schnitzel!"

The guard rubbed his face. "Whatever, Fritz."

The scientist opened his mouth to argue. Then he noticed Kit. He stopped. The guard followed his gaze. Kit stood in the elevator doorway.

Her hair was a complete mess. Her clothes were singed and dirt-covered from her atmospheric re-entry, and the once-protective gauntlets on her arms had been reduced to little more than damaged scraps after absorbing much of the impact from her fall.

Her ears twitched weakly. Her tail dragged limply behind her. She looked like she had absolutely no idea where she was. The guard stared.

"...Is that a Gunsawanian?"

The scientist frowned. "Dummkopf. That's not how you pronounce it. It's Gunsawian."

The guard stared at him. "Okay, sure, Fritz."

He pointed lazily toward Kit. "But since when did we have cat Gunsawians?"

The scientist shrugged. "Who cares? There's always new types in the lab."

He stepped closer, examining Kit with the same interest someone might have shown toward a particularly unusual piece of equipment.

Then his expression brightened. "AND THIS ONE..."

He pointed dramatically. "...has been trying to escape!"

Kit's eyes barely focused. "What...?"

The scientist laughed. "SMART ONE, AREN'T YOU?!"

The guard glanced at Kit. Then at the scientist. Then back at Kit. "She doesn't look like she's trying to escape."

"Then why was that, Frauline in ze elevator?!"

The guard sighed. "Then why is she back down here instead of up."

The scientist waved dismissively. "Details!"

He pointed toward Kit again. "Too bad you don't know how to use a damn elevator, lil bitch!"

Kit's ears twitched. Her brain attempted to process the sentence. It failed. "...Wha...?"

The guard looked toward the scientist. "And what do you want me to do about it?"

The scientist stared at him.

For a moment, he seemed genuinely appalled that the guard would even ask. "Just..."

He gestured toward a nearby section of the facility. "...put them in a pod and send them off."

The guard stared at him. "The pod?"

"Yes."

"The one we use to send Gunsawians to find the lost cargo?"

"YES."

"Seriously?"

"Yes!"

The guard's eyes narrowed. "That's not exactly protocol for this scenario."

The scientist threw his arms up.

"Who cares! The deal is always the same in the end anyway! Put them in the pod, send them somewhere far away, and let someone else deal with it!"

The guard stared at him for several seconds. Then he looked back at Kit. Kit's vision swam. The fluorescent lights above her seemed to stretch and blur. "W-wha...?"

The guard sighed. "Sorry."

He raised his tranquilizer pistol. Kit's ears perked slightly. "Wait..."

Pfft.

The dart struck her neck. Kit blinked. Her knees weakened almost immediately. She reached toward the guard, but her arm refused to cooperate.

The last thing she saw was the scientist turning away while continuing his argument. "And make sure the pod is properly sealed! I am NOT filling out another incident report!"

The guard sighed. "Yeah, yeah."

Kit's vision faded. The last thing she heard was the scientist shouting from down the corridor. "And tell them I still want schnitzel for lunch!"

The guard's exhausted voice followed. "Nobody asked."

Then everything went black.

Kit woke to machinery. A deep, rhythmic THOOM... THOOM... THOOM... echoed around her.

Her eyes slowly opened. For several seconds, she couldn't remember where she was nor who she was. Then she tried to move.

Her body felt heavy. Confused, Kit looked around.

She was inside a small metal pod. There was barely enough room to sit comfortably. The walls were plain grey metal, interrupted only by a few emergency systems.

A small flashlight. A compact heater. A cooler.

And, somewhat bizarrely, a tiny emergency shower. Kit stared at it. "...Why does this thing have a shower?"

The pod shook violently. Kit grabbed the side of the wall. "What the hell?!"

The machinery outside groaned. Something struck the pod.

CLANG.

Kit's ears flattened. "Oh, that's reassuring."

The pod suddenly dropped. Kit's stomach lurched. "OH, COME ON!"

The pod slammed into something. Everything went still. For a few moments, Kit simply sat there, listening to the distant echo of settling machinery.

She slowly exhaled. "...I'm alive."

She looked down at herself. "...Probably."

A soft hiss came from the front of the pod. The doors opened. Cold air rolled inside. Kit cautiously stepped out. She found herself inside a massive cave system.

Dark stone stretched in every direction, with enormous tunnels disappearing into the distance. Strange artificial lights had been installed along parts of the cave walls, though many flickered irregularly.

Kit looked back at the pod. There was no Nimble. No Kaboodle. No Gobbles. No Flappers. Just her.

Her ears lowered, speaking to no one but the empty air. "...Guys?"

Silence. Kit swallowed. She looked around the cavern.

Then noticed something taped to the inside of the pod door. A piece of paper. She pulled it free.

Written across it in thick black letters were four words.

FIND THE LOST CARGO.

Kit stared at it. Then stared at the enormous cave around her.

"...You've got to be kidding me."

[DARKEST DUNGEON]

The road to the estate had grown steadily worse.

What had once been a respectable path had long since surrendered to weeds, mud, and the creeping roots of ancient trees. The road itself had become little more than two muddy tracks winding between the trees, with puddles deep enough to swallow Kit's boots if she wasn't paying attention. The last village had disappeared behind them hours ago, swallowed by fog and distance. Kit could still vaguely remember the last few crooked rooftops before the mist had claimed them, but even those had become little more than a memory now.

Ahead, atop a distant hill, the estate stood against the grey sky.

Its towers were crooked, their silhouettes jutting awkwardly against the clouds. Most of its windows were dark, though a few still held the faintest traces of reflected light. Great iron gates stood at the base of the hill, hanging open as though whoever had last used them had simply forgotten to close them.

Kit stopped at the bottom of the hill.

Her brown ears twitched independently as she stared upward. Her tail swayed slowly behind her, the tip making small, restless movements that betrayed the unease she was trying not to show.

She squinted. "...That's it?"

Kaboodle adjusted the belongings strapped to its compact frame before looking toward the looming estate. "That's it."

Kit stared at the manor for another few seconds. "That's the estate we've been walking through half a damn forest to reach?"

Kaboodle's mechanical eye narrowed. "You were expecting a gift basket?"

"I don't know. Maybe a sign that says 'Welcome, Farcade! Please don't die!' Something."

"Are you stupid- HOW WOULD THEY KNOW ABOUT US?!"

A few paces behind them, Gobbles had stopped entirely. The little magenta dino stared at the manor. "Its... really spooky looking..."

Kit's ears flattened slightly. "...Yeah."

She turned back toward the estate. For several moments, none of them moved. The estate simply waited.

There was something deeply unpleasant about its stillness. It had the appearance of a place abandoned decades ago, yet somehow remained occupied. No birds perched along the crooked rooftops. No insects buzzed through the overgrown grass. Even the wind seemed reluctant to pass through the open gates, leaving the trees around the estate swaying while the grounds themselves remained eerily quiet.

Kaboodle finally broke the silence. "We're looking for the Heroes."

Kit nodded, though her eyes never left the manor. "The ones who came here?"

"Yes."

"How long ago?"

Kaboodle paused. "Long enough."

Kit slowly turned her head toward it. "That is possibly the least reassuring answer you could have given me."

"I could have said 'a very long time.'"

"That would've been worse."

She adjusted the equipment around her waist before finally starting up the hill. Her footsteps sank slightly into the mud as she moved, her eyes constantly roaming over the surrounding forest.

There were no obvious signs of recent activity. That bothered her more than anything.

She crouched beside one of the muddy sections of road, brushing aside a few leaves with her fingers. Several footprints had been pressed into the soft earth. Some were clearly human. Others were harder to identify, with strange spacing and uneven impressions leading toward the gates.

Kit's ears rotated toward the forest.Nothing.She looked back at Gobbles.

"Gobbles."

The little dino looked up as kit met his gaze.

"Stay close."

Gobbles gave a quick hurried nod.

Kaboodle passed through the iron gates first. Kit followed, with Gobbles reluctantly trailing behind. The moment they entered the estate grounds, something changed. Kit felt it immediately.

The air was colder.

Not simply because of the weather. The temperature seemed to drop around them as though the estate itself carried its own unnatural chill. The hairs along Kit's arms rose slightly beneath her clothing, and her tail stiffened without her consciously telling it to.

She slowly looked around.

The courtyard was overgrown. Dead vines crawled across broken stone walls, while weeds had swallowed much of the old garden. A fountain stood in the center, its basin cracked and filled with rainwater and leaves.

Kit's gaze shifted toward the manor. One of the upper windows flickered. Her pupils narrowed. "Someone's there."

Kaboodle stopped. "Are you sure?"

Kit nodded. "Light moved behind the curtain."

Kaboodle's eye shifted toward the window. "I didn't see anything."

"I did."

Kit's tail stiffened further. "I don't like this."

They continued forward.

Their footsteps echoed strangely across the courtyard. Every sound seemed louder than it should have been, as though the estate were listening to them approach.

Then-

Scrrrrk.

Metal scraped against stone somewhere beyond the ruined fountain. All three froze.

Kit's hand immediately went to her weapon. Gobbles ducked slightly behind her. Kaboodle's mechanical limbs shifted into a more defensive position.

The scraping stopped. Silence returned.

Kit stared toward the fountain. Nothing moved. Her ears twitched with anxiety. "...Hello?"

Kaboodle slowly turned its eye toward her. Kit glanced sideways. "What?"

The mechanical eye narrowed. Its expression somehow conveyed the exact question Why would you do that?

Kit shrugged. "What? Maybe they're friendly."

Kaboodle stared at her for a moment longer. "That's your strategy?"

"Well, it's worked before."

"Has it?"

Kit opened her mouth. Paused. "...Not recently."

A faint rustling came from behind the fountain. Kit's ears shot upright. "Look!"

Kit surges forward, toward the sound. Kaboodle and Gobbles rush after her as all three rounded the broken fountain...

Only to find an old coat hanging from a ruined statue. The wind caught it. The coat swayed gently.

Kit stopped dead. She stared. The coat swayed again. Her ears slowly lowered.

Kaboodle came to a halt beside her. Kit remained completely silent for several seconds.

"..."

Kaboodle's eye narrowed. Kit cleared her throat. "False alarm."

Kaboodle's eye briefly flicked toward the coat. "Very intimidating."

"Oh, shut up."

Despite herself, Kit almost smiled. Almost. The humor faded as quickly as it had appeared when she noticed what lay beyond the fountain.

The grounds were littered with signs that someone had been here.

Broken weapons rested beneath bushes. A discarded pack lay half-buried in the mud, its contents scattered across the ground. Several old bloodstains had darkened the stones, their edges softened by rain and time.

And there were footprints. Dozens of them. All leading toward the manor. Kit crouched beside one of them. She pressed two fingers into the muddy impression.

Still damp. Her expression tightened. "These aren't old."

Kaboodle stepped closer. "How recent?"

Kit looked toward the enormous doors. "I don't know."

She stood. "But someone came through here."

Gobbles looked at the trail. His nervousness returned almost immediately. Kit noticed. She placed a hand gently against his shoulder. "Hey."

Gobbles looked up.

"We'll find them."

He gave a small, uncertain nod. "I hope so too."

Kit looked toward the entrance.

The wooden doors were enormous, reinforced with blackened metal and covered in old scratches. Along the stone beside them, something had been carved into the wall. Time and moss had nearly erased the words.

Kit stepped closer. She brushed the moss away with her fingers. Letters emerged from beneath the green.

She read them slowly.

"Those who enter..."

Her eyes followed the next line. "...do not expect to return unchanged."

Silence. Kit stared at the message. Then she looked at Kaboodle. Kaboodle looked at Gobbles. Gobbles looked at the door. Kit sighed. "Well."

She rubbed the back of her neck. "That's encouraging."

Kaboodle moved toward the door. "You wanted a sign."

Kit blinked. "Not literally."

Kaboodle placed one mechanical hand against the wood. The door groaned.

Slowly, heavily, it swung inward. A wave of cold air rolled out from the darkness beyond. The entrance hall was enormous.

Dying candles lined the walls, their weak flames barely illuminating the faded portraits and dusty furniture scattered throughout the room. Long shadows stretched across the floor, twisting whenever the candles flickered.

The air smelled of dust, damp stone, and something old. Something that Kit couldn't quite identify. "Well we have a mission don't we?"

[HENRY STICKMAN]

The museum had been built to withstand almost anything. At least, that was what the brochure claimed. Its walls were reinforced concrete. Its windows were layered ballistic glass. The main exhibit hall was surrounded by motion sensors, pressure plates, infrared cameras, and enough security guards to make stealing a postcard seem like an unreasonable undertaking. At the very center of the exhibit hall sat the reason for all of it. A massive black opal rested beneath a glass dome. It was almost the size of Kit's torso, its polished surface swallowing the light around it rather than reflecting it. The stone seemed impossibly dark, with faint streaks of deep blue and violet shifting beneath its surface whenever the spotlights moved across it. A priceless artifact. A one-of-a-kind geological specimen. And, currently, the target of one particularly determined stick figure.

Henry Stickmin crouched behind a display case several meters away. He peeked over the edge. One guard walked past. Then another. Henry lowered himself again. A laser swept across the floor. He waited. The laser passed. Henry produced a small device from somewhere inside his pocket and examined it. He pressed a button. Nothing happened. He pressed it again. Still nothing. Henry frowned. He shook the device. It exploded into a tiny puff of smoke. Henry stared at it, then quietly put it back into his pocket. A nearby security camera rotated toward him. Henry froze. The camera paused. Henry slowly raised one finger. He waved. The camera continued moving. Henry lowered his hand. He shrugged. Apparently, that counted as stealth.

Across the city, several blocks away, Kit sat inside Nimble's cockpit. She had one hand on the controls and the other resting against her cheek. A security feed was displayed across the windshield. Kaboodle was attached to the side of the console, its mechanical eye scanning the footage. "target has entered the building." Kit nodded. "Good." "he's currently in the east exhibit hall. he has bypassed twelve security measures."

Kit smiled. "Great."

Kaboodle paused. "he's now standing directly beside the opal."

Kit's smile widened. "Excellent."

Kaboodle's eye narrowed. "You seem suspiciously happy about this."

Kit looked over her shoulder. "Because this is easy."

"you said that before the last three disasters."

"Those weren't my fault."

"you flew directly into a building."

"That was tactical."

"you called the building a tactical obstacle."

"It was."

Kaboodle sighed through its speaker.

Kit turned back toward the screen. Henry was now standing directly in front of the black opal. He looked left. He looked right. Then he pulled out a grappling hook. Kit's ears perked. "Wait."

Henry fired. The hook latched onto a ceiling beam. Kit leaned forward. "Oh, he's actually going for it."

Kaboodle scanned the security system. "security response incoming."

Kit's eyes narrowed. "How long?"

"approximately thirty seconds."

Kit looked at Nimble's controls. Then at the building. Then back at the controls. A thought appeared. It was a terrible thought.

Kaboodle noticed the expression immediately. "...No."

Kit blinked. "No what?"

"whatever you're thinking."

"I'm not thinking anything."

"you are absolutely thinking something."

Kit's ears perked. She smiled. "Okay." She grabbed the controls. "I've got a plan."

Kaboodle's eye widened. "oh no."

Kit slammed a switch. Nimble's engines roared to life. The little yellow scout ship rose into the air. Kaboodle grabbed onto the console with two mechanical limbs. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Kit grinned. "Stopping the robbery!"

"BY DOING WHAT?!"

Kit pointed toward the museum. "THIS!" Nimble accelerated forward.

Kaboodle's limbs desperately clung to the console as the ship tore through the air. "THAT IS A BUILDING!"

"I KNOW!"

"YOU CAN'T JUST CRASH INTO A BUILDING!"

Kit's grin somehow became even wider. "Watch me!"

Inside the museum, Henry had successfully retrieved the black opal. He held it triumphantly in both hands. He looked at it. The opal sparkled beneath the exhibit lights. Henry smiled. Then he heard something. A distant rumble. He looked toward the windows. The rumble became louder.

One of the guards looked up. "What the hell is that?"

Another guard turned toward the sound. "I don't know." The entire building began to vibrate.

Henry's eyes widened. The windows rattled. A ceiling light shook. A terrible mechanical roar echoed through the exhibit hall. Everyone looked upward. Then Kit's voice came over Nimbo's external speakers. "THIS IS THE GREATEST PLAN!~"

[UNDERTALE]

The corridor was quiet, far too quiet. Kit stood in the center of the hallway, arms folded as she watched the empty path ahead. Beside her, Sans leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets, looking completely unconcerned.

"For someone who's supposedly one of the strongest people down here, you don't exactly look prepared," Kit said.

"heh. i'm always prepared."

"You've been leaning against that wall for ten minutes."

"exactly. if things go south, i'll already be leaning."

Kit flattened her ears. "That was terrible."

"yeah. i've got more."

"Please don't."

Sans told another terrible joke, earning a blank stare from Kit. When she accused him of getting them killed, he only shrugged. "probably."

The humor helped distract Kit from what awaited them. The human had slaughtered nearly everyone in their path, friends, guards, shopkeepers, and innocent monsters—and was now coming toward them.

"Just to make sure we're clear," Kit said. "I keep them occupied from the front. You control the battlefield."

"yep."

"And if they try something unexpected?"

"then we improvise."

Kit hesitated. "...And if I go down?"

Sans' expression grew more serious. "then i don't let 'em get past me."

Kit smiled faintly. "Thanks, Sans."

"don't mention it."

She glanced at him. "I still don't understand how you can be this relaxed."

"what's the point in freaking out before the bad thing happens?"

Kit admitted that was fair, though she still felt nervous. When she told him the human was terrifying, Sans grinned. "kid, you're a catgirl with a magic gauntlet. i'd be scared of you too."

Kit snorted. "Okay. That was actually pretty good."

The humor faded when her ears twitched. Footsteps echoed from the darkness, slow and measured. Kit straightened, and Sans pushed away from the wall.

"That's them."

The human emerged, looking almost ordinary. That was the worst part. They stopped several meters away without saying a word.

"...That's the human?" Kit asked.

"that's the one."

She stared at them. "You've walked through the Underground killing everyone you could find, and this is the big entrance? Not even a 'hello'?"

Sans scratched his skull. "guess they're saving their dialogue budget."

Kit stepped forward. "You've been terrorizing an entire underground civilization, and you can't even manage basic conversation? They're really committed to the silent protagonist thing, aren't they?"

"method acting," Sans replied.

"At least villains usually monologue. For someone who's apparently decided to become the single worst person in this entire place, you're remarkably boring."

Sans grinned. "she's got a point."

"you've killed everybody, walked all this way, and didn't even stop to say 'sup.'"

"Rude," he added.

Kit tried not to laugh. "You know what? You're right. That's actually incredibly rude."

The human shifted their stance, and the humor vanished. Kit's smile disappeared as she realized the battle was about to begin. Sans' lazy posture faded, replaced by a dangerous stillness.

Kit stepped beside him, her gauntlets humming with energy. "Ready?"

"ready as i'll ever be."

She faced the human. "You had every opportunity to stop. You didn't. So here's the thing: you don't get to walk past us."

Sans' grin returned, though there was nothing funny behind it. "guess this is where we say..."

"Welcome to the final boss fight," Kit finished.

"actually, i was gonna say 'have a bad time.'"

Kit stared at him. "...That's worse."

"i know."

The human stepped forward. Kit's ears snapped upright, Sans' eye began to glow a soft blue, and the corridor suddenly felt much smaller.

[RESIDENT EVIL]

The first thing Kit noticed was the smell. It wasn’t the usual damp stone or old machinery she had grown accustomed to after entering unfamiliar worlds. This was sharper—chemical, metallic, and mixed with the scent of something that had been sealed away for far too long. Kit stood in the middle of the abandoned laboratory corridor, nose wrinkling. “...God, this place smells awful.”

Kaboodle hovered beside her, its mechanical eye scanning the walls. “you say that about every laboratory.”

“Because every laboratory I’ve been in smells awful.”

“Fair.”

Kit adjusted her equipment and continued down the corridor. Her footsteps echoed across the stained white tiles while emergency lights flickered overhead, plunging the hallway into darkness every few seconds. She didn’t like it. The facility had clearly been abandoned in a hurry. Papers were scattered behind reinforced windows, computers still ran on emergency power, and several doors had been forced open from the inside.

That last detail bothered her most.

Kit crouched beside one of the doors and ran her fingers along the warped metal. It had been bent outward, not kicked or shot. “Something strong came through here.”

Kaboodle scanned the damage. “very strong.”

“How strong?”

“Strong enough that I recommend we don’t find out.”

“Wonderful.”

The corridor opened into a larger intersection, and Kit stopped when she heard footsteps. She pressed herself against the wall, one hand hovering over her gauntlet as Kaboodle tucked itself behind her shoulder. The footsteps grew louder, slow and measured, until a man in a dark jacket appeared around the corner with a pistol in hand.

He stopped.

Kit stopped.

His gun rose immediately, and purple light began gathering around Kit’s gauntlet.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“yep,” Kaboodle whispered back.

“Don’t shoot unless I shoot.”

“that’s usually how this works.”

“Don’t move,” the stranger ordered.

Kit slowly raised both hands. “Okay. Not moving.”

His eyes flicked toward Kaboodle. “What the hell is that?”

Kaboodle’s mechanical eye narrowed.

“That’s Kaboodle,” Kit said.

The man stared at the machine. “And?”

“That’s it.”

He looked between Kit and Kaboodle. “You’re going to have to narrow that down.”

Kit tilted her head. “You’re Leon, right?”

His eyes narrowed. “How do you know my name?”

“Your name’s Leon.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“No, it’s literally the answer.”

Leon stared at her. Kit stared back. Kaboodle slowly turned its eye toward her, as if questioning her conversational strategy.

Kit sighed. “Fine. Dusk gave me information about this world.”

“Dusk?”

“Yeah.”

“Who’s Dusk?”

“My boss.”

“Your boss sent you here?”

“Pretty much.”

Leon glanced around the abandoned laboratory. “To do what?”

Kit pointed down the corridor. “Stop whatever’s causing all this.”

Leon gave her a tired look. “That’s not very specific.”

Kit shrugged, carefully keeping the real reason to herself as she lied through her teeth. “I wasn’t given a very specific objective.”

“Great. Love a mission briefing with all the clarity of a ransom note.”

Leon lowered his weapon slightly. “So we’re both working with incomplete information.”

“Seems like it.”

A wet, distant groan echoed through the facility. Both of them turned toward the sound. Kit’s ears flattened as Leon raised his pistol again.

“That,” he said.

“Yeah.”

Another groan sounded, closer this time.

Kit glanced at him. “That’s probably important.”

“Usually is. Around here, it’s either important or trying to eat us. Sometimes both.”

They started down the corridor together. Kit glanced sideways at him. “So, Leon. What exactly are we dealing with?”

Leon sighed. “Depends.”

“On?”

“How bad your definition of ‘bad’ is.”

“That’s not reassuring.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be. Reassurance is for people with backup.”

They rounded the corner and found the corridor covered in blood. The stains ran across the floor and walls, leading toward a set of reinforced doors at the end of the hall. Kit stopped, her tail going rigid.

“...Okay.”

Leon looked at her. “You alright?”

“Yeah.” She forced herself forward. “I’ve seen worse.”

He glanced at the blood. “You sure?”

Kit hesitated. “...No.”

Leon gave a small nod. “Fair enough. Honesty’s refreshing. Usually people wait until after the screaming.”

They reached the doors. A red emergency light flashed above them.

BIOHAZARD CONTAINMENT — LOCKDOWN ACTIVE

Kit read the sign, then looked at Leon. “Please tell me that’s just decorative.”

“No,” Leon said. “But if it helps, the warning label is very professionally designed.”

“Of course it isn’t decorative.”

Kaboodle scanned the door. “multiple biological signatures detected.”

Kit’s ears shot upward. “How many?”

Kaboodle paused. “...Twenty-seven.”

“Twenty-seven?”

Leon tightened his grip on the pistol. “Could be worse.”

Kit looked at him. “How?”

He considered it. “Could be twenty-eight.”

“You’re terrible at reassurance.”

“I’ve been told. Usually by people I’m trying to rescue.”

A violent crash came from behind the containment doors. Kit jumped as Leon aimed his pistol. Another impact bent the reinforced metal inward.

“That’s not twenty-seven, is it?” Kit asked.

“No.”

The door buckled again.

“Then what the hell is that?”

Leon stared at the metal. “Something I really hoped I’d never see again.”

“Comforting.”

“I’m not here to comfort you. I’m here to keep you alive. There’s a difference.”

The metal screamed as something struck it from the other side. Kit’s ears flattened completely.

[HALF-LIFE 2]

Nimble was cruising comfortably through the upper atmosphere.

Kit had one hand resting on the controls, the other supporting her chin as she watched the unfamiliar landscape pass beneath her. The world below was bleak. Vast stretches of ruined cities and abandoned highways were broken apart by enormous concrete structures, while distant towers rose into the sky like monuments to something that had already won.

She had seen plenty of depressing worlds before. This one was putting in an impressive effort. Kit yawned. "Okay... resistance base should be somewhere around here."

Kaboodle sat against the edge of the console, its mechanical eye scanning the terrain. "assuming the coordinates you were given are correct."

"They're correct."

"you said that about the last coordinates."

"Those were correct too."

"we landed in a landfill."

"It was technically near the objective."

"It was three countries away."

Kit frowned. "You're being difficult."

"I learned from you."

Kit opened her mouth to respond. Then the world stopped. Not slowed. Not froze. Stopped.

The clouds outside remained perfectly still. The instruments in the cockpit froze mid-readout. Even the soft hum of Nimble's engines vanished. Kit blinked. "...Kaboodle?"

The robot didn't respond. Kit reached toward it. Nothing. She waved her hand in front of its eye. Nothing. Her ears slowly flattened. "Oh, that's not good."

A faint ticking sound came from behind her. Kit turned. A man stood in the cockpit.

Tall, thin, impossibly pale. His suit was immaculate despite the fact that Kit was currently flying several thousand meters above the ground.

He carried a briefcase. Kit stared at him. He stared back.

Kit's hand slowly moved toward her gauntlet. The man smiled. "Good morning, Miss Bodega."

Kit froze. "...Who are you?"

The man tilted his head slightly. "A reasonable inquiry."

Kit waited. He said nothing. She waited longer.

Still nothing. "...Are you going to answer?"

"Names," the man began slowly, "are rather interesting things, wouldn't you agree?"

Kit's ears twitched. "No."

He smiled faintly. "They are labels. Convenient little boxes into which one places a person, a place, a memory... sometimes even an entire world."

Kit stared. "...Okay."

The man continued. "And yet, despite their usefulness, they are ultimately meaningless."

Kit looked at Kaboodle. Then back at the man. "...Are you always like this?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're about to tell me the secrets of the universe, but instead you're talking about fucking labels."

The man's smile widened slightly. "I like you."

"That's concerning."

He stepped closer. "Your employer has sent you here to interfere with a certain... progression."

Kit's eyes narrowed. "How do you know about Farcade?"

"One hears things."

"That's not an answer."

"It rarely is."

Kit crossed her arms. "Okay, weird briefcase guy. What do you want?"

The man glanced toward the windshield. Below them, the ruined city remained frozen in time. "Consider, if you will, the nature of choice."

Kit's expression immediately became exhausted. "Oh, God."

"Every action creates another possibility. Every possibility creates another branch. Every branch produces another consequence."

"Uh-huh."

"And yet, despite the infinite number of possible paths..."

Kit nodded slowly. "Yep."

"...you continue to choose the same one."

Kit stared at him. "What does that even mean?"

The man smiled.

"That is for you to determine."

"No, I mean literally. What does that mean?"

He paused. Kit waited. "Are you actually saying anything?"

A faint smile. "Perhaps."

Kit rubbed her forehead. "I've dealt with reality-bending entities, sentient machines, cosmic organizations, and people who can rewrite the rules of their own worlds."

She pointed at him. "You're somehow the most annoying one."

The man seemed almost amused. "How flattering."

Kit sighed. "Can I go now?"

"Not quite."

"Why?"

"Because I have not finished."

Kit slumped into her seat. "Of course you haven't."

The man raised his briefcase slightly. "You have been selected for a rather unusual opportunity."

"Which is?"

"To intervene."

"Intervene in what?"

"Something that must not yet conclude."

Kit stared at him. "...You're describing my entire job."

"Indeed."

"Then why are you telling me?"

"Because you are going there."

Kit blinked. "Going where?"

The man gestured toward the frozen world below. "There."

Kit looked through the windshield. A battered resistance settlement was visible several kilometers away. Her ears perked. "Oh."

The man continued. "You will find someone there."

"Who?"

"Someone who has already been waiting."

Kit looked at him. "Who?"

He smiled. "Yes."

Kit's eye twitched. "The fuck you mean by 'Yes'?"

"Exactly."

There was a long silence. Kit slowly looked toward Kaboodle. Kaboodle remained frozen. She looked back at the strange man. "I genuinely cannot tell if you're messing with me."

"That would depend on your definition of 'messing.'"

"My definition is currently 'talking like a fortune cookie with a college degree.'"

The man's smile didn't change. Kit sighed. "Fine. What's the actual mission?"

He finally gave her a direct answer. "Find the resistance."

"Okay."

"Assist them."

"Okay."

"Do not allow the Combine to complete their objective."

Kit paused. "But- If I let the heroes win..."

Her ears perked. The man hushes her "Trust Me."

The man turned toward the cockpit door. Kit blinked. "Wait."

He stopped as she asks. "Are you sure... that that will actually work?"

"Trust The Proccess."

Kit stared. "...Right."

He opened the cockpit door. Kit looked outside. There was nothing beyond it. Just an impossible darkness where the rest of Nimble's interior should have been.

She pointed toward it. "That's not physically possible."

The man looked back. "Neither are you."

Kit frowned. "You make zero sense."

He stepped through the doorway. Then paused. "Oh, and Miss Bodega?"

"Yeah?"

"Try not to die."

Kit stared at him. "...That's it?"

He smiled. "Until next time."

He vanished. Time resumed. Nimble's engines roared back to life. Kaboodle's eye immediately spun toward Kit, detecting the temporal change. "WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?"

Kit stared forward. "...I have absolutely no idea, some guy came..."

"who was he??"

"I don't know."

"what did he want?"

"I don't know."

"what did he say?"

Kit paused.

"...Mostly nonsense."

Kaboodle stared at her. "THEN WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!"

Kit slowly pointed toward the resistance base below. "He wants us to help those people."

"that's it?"

"Apparently."

Kaboodle processed this. "...You got a stern talking to, mid-flight by a supernatural man, had your brain melted by vague philosophical nonsense, and his final request was basically 'go help the rebels.'"

Kit nodded. "Pretty much."

Kaboodle sighed. "i hate this world already."

Kit smiled faintly as she adjusted Nimble's trajectory. "Story of our life."

She looked toward the resistance base as they close in for a landing. "But at least we know where we're going."

A few seconds passed. Kaboodle's eye narrowed. "you have no idea what we're actually supposed to do, do you?"

Kit's ears drooped."...Nope."

Kaboodle sighed as Kit gave a smile. "Let's wing it, like how we always do."

Blank Scenario