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[attr="class","textbox"]"Where are-"[break][break]

"Buddy, we just popped out of a river of blood. You think I've got a clue what kinda fresh hell we've gotten ourselves into?"[break][break]

"So? You see the kind of places I've been? The Deep Sea? The freakin' Border? Newsflash, genius. Weird's been the norm for me since the day I-"[break][break]

"Stepped on that boat. Yeah, I get it. Save your story for someone that doesn't know."[break][break]

"The hell are you, anyway?"[break][break]

"I'm you, genius."[break][break]

"Bullshit. I'm not even that jacked in my dreams."[break][break]

"Turns out, pushing ourselves all the time stunted the hell out of these bad boys. We never really gave 'em a good chance to heal. Once John Sullivan hit us with a little bit of that good magic, boom. Like something out of a fuckin' movie."[break][break]

"You gotta be kidding me. A magic man?"[break][break]

"You're looking at a you with two eyes, and you're telling me you don't believe we know a magic man?"[break][break]

"What I don't believe is you looked at all the colors of the rainbow and picked the most basic bitch brown for us. Come on, buddy! If you're gonna do something stupid with our hair, reach for the stars a little, yeah?"[break][break]

"Oi, back off the shade. At least we match El Sunderland now."[break][break]

"Shit, good point. Still, we had a good thing going. Why shake it up?"[break][break]

"Turns out looking in the mirror's a lot harder when you see Cillian Quinn looking back at you."[break][break]

"Cil? I know he's been real cold lately, but c'mon. He's no Zev Harcourt. The hell'd you do to piss him off so bad?"[break][break]

"Oh, buddy. We've got so much catching up to do . . ."[break][break]

PART 2 - REVELATIONS

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[attr="class","textbox"]As the Isaacs of the past and future wrapped up their conversation, poor Past Isaac needed to lie down. It was hard to blame him. This had been a lot to take in.[break][break]

"Fuck, man."[break][break]

"Hey. Just count your lucky stars you're not gonna have to live through it. Must be nice being a dream."[break][break]

"Uh huh. Yeah. Sure. Tell me what's so nice about not actually existing? Is it the part where I just go POOF once this is all done, or is it the fact that I only got brought into the world so I could drown in some kinda fucked up blood ocean?"[break][break]

"Okay, okay, sheesh. No need to get all weird and existential about it."[break][break]

"It's your dream, genius. You're the weird, existential one."[break][break]

The argument ended there. How the hell was Isaac supposed to "no u" himself? Instead, he stepped away from his past self, instead squatting by the edge of the water. His fingers spread, mists dancing around them. Slowly but surely, he lowered them towards the surface of the ocean, the waves barely lapping at his fingertips. He eased his eyes shut, took a deep breath, and then-[break][break]

"What are you doing?"[break][break]

Then he damn near tumbled into the ocean after such a shock. Luckily, it wasn't anything important. It was just past Isaac, peeking over his shoulder as he tried to get to work.[break][break]

"Isn't it obvious-"[break][break]

"No."[break][break]

"I'm trying to purify this weird, fucked up ocean. I'm pretty sure that's the kind of thing I can do, at least."[break][break]

"Why, though? You're gonna wake up, and none of it's gonna matter, right?"[break][break]

"So? That doesn't mean I like having some fucked up blood ocean in the middle of my brain." Isaac took a shuffling step away from his past self, dipping his hands a little closer towards the waves. At first the "waters" felt gross and clammy against his fingers, but with each breath he took another ripple spread across the pond. " 'Sides. Might as well make this place nicer for you, right?"[break][break]

"For me. A dream."[break][break]

"If you can be self-aware enough to bitch about all this, would it kill you to be self-aware enough to say thank you? Arceus, man." Another breath. Another pulse. The ocean's deep red color began to soften, and the thick film atop its surface began to thin out. The ripples were gathering now, churning the surface of the ocean as if it were a wave pool. " 'Sides. I want to do it. Isn't it enough reason?"[break][break]

"Hey, you do you, man. I'm just sayin'."[break][break]

"Whole lot of saying, not a lot of helping. C'mon. I know we're better than that."[break][break]

"You're the Avatar here, not me."[break][break]

"You're the me here, dumbass!"[break][break]

"Ugh. Fiiiiine. Can't believe I'm gonna waste what little existence I've got left on some woo-woo nonsense." Nevertheless, past Isaac walked to Isaac's side, spreading his fingers in the same way Isaac had. The two breathed in sync, each breath sending the more ripples along the water's surface. Moment by moment, breath by breath, the water's color continued to soften.[break][break]

"And there we go. See? That wasn't so bad." Isaac, content, stepped back to admire his handiwork.[break][break]

"Hold on. Isn't there still some blood there?" Past Isaac pointed to the thin veins of red running through the water, staining it a faint pink color. "You seriously just gonna walk away after talking a big game like that?"[break][break]

"See, that's the hard part." Isaac sighed, putting a hand on his past self's shoulder. "There's always gonna be something left behind."[break][break]

PART 3 - AVATARSHIP

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[attr="class","textbox"]It was a good thing he was as done as he'd ever be. That much cleansing took a lot out of him. Sure, Dream Isaac helped shoulder the burden a bit, but he was really just moral support. Isaac, on the other hand, was pretty much running on empty. Maybe he needed to lie down for a minute. Or for an hour. Or forever.[break][break]

Oof. Yeah. The second Isaac's head touched the floor, he could feel what little energy he had left ebbing away. Was he dying?[break][break]

"Dude. You look like shit."

Yep. That meant he was probably dying. Isaac let out a weary laugh, shooting Dream Isaac a cheeky grin. "Feel like shit, too. Probably dying or some crap like that. Yippee."[break][break]

"Probably dy- the fuck do you mean, probably dying!?" Dream Isaac shook Isaac by the shoulder, Isaac flopping around like limp spaghetti in response. "Dude. I'm your dream. I live in your head. The hell's gonna happen to me if you die!?[break][break]

"Calm your tits. I'm probably just dreaming about dying. Besides, didn't you say you go poof either way?"[break][break]

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I had a Ph.D. in being a fucking dream! I just live here, man!" Oh boy. Dream Isaac was having an existential crisis in the face of his own mortality. Was that a worrying thing for an abstract concept to have? Probably. "Ugh. C'mon, man. What am I supposed to do?"[break][break]

"I dunno. Maybe you just gotta become me."[break][break]

"Ha. Good one." Dream Isaac paused, then did a double take. "Wait. You're joking, right?."[break][break]

"I mean, you're past me-"[break][break]

"I think you mean you're some weirdass brown-haired, muscle-headed future man me-"[break][break]

"Oi, can it. You're the dream, I'm more me than you are. Anyway, that means you're gonna become this one way or another. So if I die here, you're probably just gonna pick up the torch, right? See? Simple."[break][break]

"How the hell's any part of that supposed to be simple? You said it yourself. I'm a dream. You're a real-ass guy."[break][break]

"I mean, maybe I'm a real-ass guy? Not gonna lie, kinda unsure about that sometimes."[break][break]

"Isaac, what the actual fuck are you talking about?"[break][break]

"So. Maldacena's digital world, right?" The island flickered, as if reality was running out of budget. Wireframe matrices appeared beneath the flickers, binary text dancing around like clouds of Naomi Sato's Unown. "Guy stripped me of my name, my face, my memories, my eye, my will to fight . . . downloaded it all into some digital clone and told me to off myself to make it whole."[break][break]

"Dude, that's our origin story. You don't gotta Isaacsplain that shit to me."[break][break]

"Hold on, I'm getting there. Sheesh. What I'm trying to say is, what if we weren't saved by some act of god?" The world flickered again. Data Isaac, some perfect, plastic doppelganger with a single, all too real eye, now loomed behind the two Isaacs. "What if the real Isaac's just dead at the bottom of some trench somewhere? And we're just this renegade clone with no purpose, living his life to the fullest for him?"[break][break]

"That's . . ."[break][break]

"Kinda sad, right? Guy lived and died a nobody, and we're out here showing the world everything he could've been, if just someone out there gave a shit."[break][break]

" 'Batshit crazy' was more what I was thinking. Dude, are you okay . . . ?"[break][break]

"Probably not. But I'm not getting therapy from my own dream self."[break][break]

"Your loss."[break][break]

" 'Sides. We don't have to be some clone. We could be a ghost possessing our own body." Mist, thick, heavy, and souplike, surrounded an island that rapidly turned sepia. From the mists shambled the Isaac who had perished to protect Ashley Shepard and kepler brueshaber, his Runegrigus still wrapped around his body. Aegislash in hand, he stared down Puppet Isaac, the macabre vision that poor parker jones had been menaced by. The two Isaacs clashed, all as Isaac recounted his tale.[break][break]

"So, I died in the Border, right? Like. Died-died. Soul left my body and anything. And we just kinda . . . popped it back in. Like you're changing a spare tire or some shit. Isn't that fucked up? That you can just do that? And when I was facing off with ugly over there-" He pointed Puppet Isaac's way for emphasis. "I was able to just. Detach it again. Try and reach him from the inside.[break][break]

"Part of me wants to try it outside the Border. Part of me's scared to know what happens if I really can just let that easy.[break][break]

"Yeah. Gonna make that 'probably not' a 'definitely not.' Just a hunch."[break][break]

"I mean, if it makes you feel better, maybe we're not the only ones? See, I've got this theory-[break][break]

"Oh, here we go."[break][break]

"Dreams have power, right? Dream mist keeps popping up around here, and it always brings these Paradox Pokemon with it. Nomi's tera experiments locked me in my dreams, where I could see all these different lifetimes. There was Galar, some dream within a dream within a shield. Then there's whatever the hell the RKS Simulation is, some kind of weird cyber dream that we pried out of a freaking rock. And when I went to go find Maldacena again, you know what I found where that Mirage Island was?"[break][break]

"Dream mist."[break][break]

"So, like. There's no way this doesn't all mean something, right? Dreams and power and creation and change and legends and this weird digital space between reality and Arceus and maybe rocks. But it's all gotta be pointing somewhere." As Isaac rambled, increasingly breathless, more Isaacs began to form on the horizon. Dream Mist mirrors, and Galarian Kings, and Blackwing Bikers, and Purifiers, and corpses, and all those other lives he could've lead if he chose an easier road to walk. Soon, the island was full of Isaacs, a thousand contradictions and one man.[break][break]

"What if that's Arceus, or something beyond Arceus? What if all of this, the multiverse, the digital world, the dream mist, is all just some dream it's having? What if that's why the Dark Triad is trying so hard to keep us away from this "origin point." What if that's the origin of everything, the creation to create all creations? And what if, when someone tries to get its attention-?"[break][break]

"It wakes up. And we all go poof."[break][break]

PART 4 - REUNION

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[attr="class","textbox"]A silence fell over the island in the wake of Dream Isaac's revelation. A hundred and one Isaacs stood atop the island, and yet none of them could find a single word between them. Even the pounding of the waves drew to a halt. It took the one who caused this silence to finally break out, Dream Isaac's voice nervously peeking through the veil.[break][break]

"So, what's it all for, then?"[break][break]

Isaac, still laying on the ground, turned to look at his dream counterpart. Every Isaac seemed to be clustered behind him, a sea of eyes carrying every emotion known to man, each one laser-focused on him. In response to them, all he could muster up was a lazy, one-armed shrug.[break][break]

"It's still living, right?"[break][break]

By now, the island was reduced to a patchwork imitation of its former self. Digital frameworks, pink mists, shimmering crystals, and land twisted by Ultra Space all intertwined together. Despite this unrecognizable, ever-changing landscape, the same breeze blew across the island, and the same waves pounded against its shores.[break][break]

"Who cares if there's some realer life out there? For us, this is the realest life we're ever gonna have. That's not gonna change just 'cause there's some new level above it." So what if they were all just a simulation or a dream or a reflection of a greater universe or some shit like that? How did that actually, genuinely impact them? "I'm not gonna waste the only life I've got worrying about it."[break][break]

He wasn't going to waste it dying here, either. With a roll of his shoulder, Isaac popped himself back onto his feet. " 'Sides, it's all gotta end one way or another, right?" he asked. "Maybe from Arceus waking up. Maybe from this war blowing up the world. Maybe from some weird science-y reason for why it can't keep going forever. But it's gonna happen. And we can't worry about that, either."[break][break]

"We'll find out when we get there. And until then, we're gonna make the biggest damn impact we can."[break][break]

We. Because all of these Isaacs weren't just possibilities. They weren't just alternatives. They were facets of him, just as their multiverse was a facet of a greater whole. The good, the bad, the ugly. Running away from any of them was as foolish as trying to run away from reality itself.[break][break]

One by one, the Isaacs began to fade. In their wake remained one of them, and yet also all of them.[break][break]

His rest drew to a close, and he knew what he had to do.

PART FINAL - STEPPING UP

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[attr="class","textbox"]ERRANT - Your quest will never truly end, but you will find many adventures and dangers along the way.[break][break]

"Yeah? Tell me something I don't know, buddy!"[break][break]

It may have been the story of Isaac's life, but never was it more true than it had been now. The woods were dark and full of terrors, and those terrors seemed laser-focused on Isaac's current location. Whenever he tried to catch his breath, even for a precious few seconds, another Shadow Pokemon burst out of the brush to make him regret it.[break][break]

It would be one thing if he could just run past them all, but his Avatar powers had been left behind at the edge of the dreamscape. All his attempts at escape left him with were wheezing lungs and a burning tension in his side. Today, he was going to have to work both harder and smarter than ever before.[break][break]

Good. It sucked, but he couldn't let himself grow reliant on his powers. Moments like this helped keep him sharp.[break][break]

Danger and adventure would find him wherever he went. There was no peace to be found in this forest. Where some found a stroll through the woods, Isaac found deep ravines, rushing rapids, and the ruins of temples dedicated to Legendaries long since past. Shadows rained down their assault from around every corner, turning the already treacherous terrain into a death trap.[break][break]

At the very least, with treachery came opportunity. The ravines he risked falling down also sheltered him from attacks from above. The rapids that tossed him to and fro also dragged him away from the hostile shorelines. The ruins served as cover, the Shadows further desecrating them through their relentless assault. So long as Isaac kept moving, so long as he stayed those precious steps ahead of everything that wanted him dead, he'd make it through the night.[break][break]

Yet would they bring him any closer to his wayward Dhelmise? He was warned his quest would never truly end. So long as he was looking for Shi, would he ever find what he sought?[break][break]

Maybe it wasn't Shi he was looking for. Maybe he was looking for others stuck inside this dream, such as Eris Halla, so he could free them from their prison and protect them from the same worries that he'd once struggled with. Maybe Shi was just one of dozens he had been looking to protect, and not even the most important on that list.[break][break]

He believed in this goal with all of his heart, forcing any thoughts of his missing Pokemon into the back of his mind. Only then, through turning his half-truths against the universe itself, did he catch a glimpse of anchor in the distance.[break][break]

Tendrils of red and purple bled into her vibrant green colony. At times, they seized around her, causing her steady hover to break into a pained wobble. Isaac's heart skipped a beat, but he refused to let himself internalize that feeling. If the universe knew how he cared, she'd slip right through his fingers. Instead, he averted his eyes and squeezed them up. He had to approach . . . closer . . . closer . . . closer still . . .[break][break]

With his guard down, algal blooms crushed around his throat.[break][break]

Memories of Cillian Quinn pulsed through his head. Shi had been grown from a cutting of Sanford, but he hadn't been the only Dhelmise involved in that fatal clash. Was it Shi currently strangling the life out of him? Or were those Eurydice's blood red tendrils? The three Dhelmise blurred together in Isaac's memory, each squeeze drawing him closer and closer together.[break][break]

Isaac put the last of his strength into lobbing his Dream Ball Shi's way. With but a single brush against her algal colony, she was sucked into the ball, only a limp tendril lingering behind.[break][break]

Darkness frayed at the fringes of Isaac's vision. He tried to rise to his feet, but every cough and sputter sent him back to the ground. All he could do was clutch the Dream Ball close to his heart, feeling the gentle pulse of the life within against his chest. Maybe, just maybe, when they woke up this nightmare would be over.[break][break]

Did he even realize that he'd missed his chance to make things right?

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[attr="class","textbox"]"I'm back in the fucking blood ocean!?"[break][break]

Great. It was even more gross the second time. At least last time, he didn't know the ocean was made of blood until it was too late. He also hadn't been a tiny, plinky-plonky avatar, devoid of all features but a little Dhelmise-shaped captain's hat, some hair wreathed of seaweed, and . . . a fluffy Skitty tail? Great. Talk about adding insult to injury.[break][break]

At least, if he was in the blood ocean, Isaac knew where to go. He beelined towards where Past Isaac had been drowning last time, fully ready to fish him out of the water. What he wasn't expecting was to find that Past Isaac wasn't alone. Now . . . Present Isaac? Future Isaac? Slightly Less Past Isaac? It was whichever him had dreamed last time, struggling under the weight of his own self.[break][break]

Ugh. It looked like everything was going to fall on his stubby, virtual shoulders. The Real Isaac (who was a dream, and a weird video game playing piece, making him seem substantially less real than either of the other two Isaacs) shot through the water like a bullet, his nubby little legs kicking around at full force as he tried to spear them to the surface.[break][break]

Past Isaac and Slightly Less Past Isaac turned to Real Fake Dream Video Game Isaac, mouths open to ask the same question. RFDVG Isaac held up his nubby hands, immediately cutting them off. "You're a dream," he said, pointing towards Slightly Less Past Isaac. "You're a dream inside a dream," he said, pointing towards Past Isaac.[break][break]

"I dunno. How do we know you're the real Isaac?" asked Past Isaac. "Yeah. How do we know it isn't me? Or this guy? Or all those Isaacs over there?" asked Slightly Less past Isaac. "Maybe, when push comes to shove, we're all just Isaac-"[break][break]

"Ohhhhh no. I am not doing all this navel gazing again," RFDVG Isaac said, holding up his arms in a little cross shape. "Been there. Done that. Not why I'm here today. I'm here because of this!" With a flourish, he pulled out a common handheld item that had been all the rage before the war started; the Vs. Seeker. "We've gotta thrash some ass, and this is our key to finding it."[break][break]

RFDVG Isaac sat down, fiddling with the device. Much to his irritation, his fluffy tail was swinging back and forth all the while. Past Isaac and Slightly Less Past Isaac peeked over his shoulder, trying to see just what he was scrolling through. "Do you think-" Slightly Less Past Isaac asked, only for RFDVG Isaac to flash him the device with a deadpan look on his nonexistent face.[break][break]

"Wow. It really is all Isaacs. And one . . . Iris?"[break][break]

"Neato. Good for her."[break][break]

"Guys, guys, guys. C'mon. Focus. Look." The endless ranks of Isaac were one thing. The fact that they all had the textbook ! over their heads was another. Briefly, Isaac remembered his unique power. He would always find adventure, and his quest would never end. "The second one of them sees us? We're getting stuck in World War Isaac."[break][break]

"I mean, we're all Isaac, right? That should be fine." Past Isaac kicked back and relaxed, a cocky grin on his face. "I dunno about you, buddy, but I know me like the back of my hand."[break][break]

"Buddy, you didn't even recognize me," said Slightly Less Past Isaac, who to be fair stuck out like a sore thumb from the crowd. "If anything, I've got the best shot. I've got something unique going on."[break][break]

"Get in line, buddy." Buddy no longer felt like a word. RFDVG Isaac rubbed his temples in irritation. "So do the rest of us. We're all the Isaacs that make something big of ourselves. I don't see Gas Station Attending Isaac or Single Dad Of Three Isaac slumming it over there. I mean. They're probably there. But once Underboss Isaac gets Beast Isaac to pick out some of the stragglers, we're gonna be in for a rough time."[break][break]

That was the first bloodcurdling scream. Past Isaac started, getting ready to run away from the action. Slightly Less Past Isaac started just as fast, trying to run towards it. RFDVG Isaac grabbed them both by the collar before they could do something they regretted. "Damnit, guys! That was Academy Award Nominee Isaac! He wants you to think that was him getting stabbed!"[break][break]

"So, what are we supposed to do? Just stand here and do nothing?" Clearly, that didn't sit well with Past Isaac. "We are so not winning the Isaac Games like this."[break][break]

"We're never calling this the Isaac Games again," Slightly Less Past Isaac said. "Anyway, you're small, scrawny, and blend in better with the rest of the crowd, so you go forward scout. And weird Digi-Isaac here, if he knows everything, can try and whip up a strategy from the back. I'll watch his back while he does that. Sounds good?"[break][break]

"Right! Before any other Isaacs could weigh in, Past Isaac crept forward to infiltrate into the mass of Isaacs. That left RFDVG Isaac alone with Slightly Less Past Isaac. He scrolled through his Vs. Seeker, nonexistent brow furrowing in confusion as he tried to peek around for some sort of discrepancy. Something didn't seem to add up . . . at least, of course, until he felt a crushing hand around his throat.[break][break]

"Your wig looks like shit," RFDVG Isaac spat defiantly.[break][break]

No longer needing it, the artist apparently known as Slightly Less Past Isaac whipped it off with a flourish. "It was good enough for the box office, baby," he said, flashing a smile that could get audiences everywhere swooning. RFDVG Isaac had fallen prey to a cunning ambush by none other than Academy Award Winner Isaac. "And now, it's time for your curtain c-"[break][break]

"Nnnnope." A ball of mud smacked Academy Award Winner right in the perfectly made up face. He dropped RFDVG Isaac at once, pawning at his face to desperately try and clean it off. No longer wanting to get stuck with him, RFDVG Isaac tossed out a Pokeball. Shi emerged, floating at attention before Isaac. Together, they scoped out the battlefield, Isaac perking up when he noticed an Isaac who still had his bike.[break][break]

Jealously gave way to pragmatism, on both Isaac and Shi's ends. Veins of purple erupted along Shi's body, a Shadow Lock entangling around the wheels of Biker Isaac's ride. That Isaac went flying, RFDVG Isaac shooting him a quick salute before swirling Shi around like a grappling hook. A single Anchor Shot was all he needed to steal the bike for himself, and with that it was showtime.[break][break]

As RFDVG Isaac rode into the fray, he could see anarchy breaking out all around him. Gym Leader Isaac and Champion Isaac were locked in mortal combat, lesser Isaacs being flung around in their wake. Alolan Pro Wrestling Face Isaac and Alolan Pro Wrestling Heel Isaac formed a dream of a tag team, brought to a tragic and untimely end when Alolan Pro Wrestling Heel Isaac laid him low with a steel chair. Beast Isaac had intimidated an entire cadre of lesser Grunt Isaacs into falling in line, only for a bright and eager ten year old Isaac to hold them off in a series of improbably decisive victories.[break][break]

Not all of the Isaacs were fighting. Investigative Reporter Isaac and Field Researcher Isaac were off to the sidelines, taking notes on the battle as Sexy Wrench Holder Isaac very attractively assisted them in their jobs. Unfortunately, they didn't last. With his grunts away, Beast Isaac came out to play, and after dispatching them with practiced ease he had his eyes set on Past Isaac.[break][break]

Luckily, even elite Team Rocket agents weren't immune to motor vehicles. RFVGD Isaac wiped him out with a heavy slam from his motorcycle, hanging off the side to offer a hand to his wayward past self. "Come with me if you want to live."[break][break]

Dude. You just ran one of us over.[break][break]

"If he was a Rocket Beast, he was gonna do a lot worse to you. Now, c'mon." He scooped Past Isaac onto the back of his motorcycle, the other Isaac forced to awkwardly wrap his arms around his own digital doppelganger's waist. "Figure by now, the field should be thinning out. But how am I supposed to know which of us is the final boss? We're all Isaac!"[break][break]

"Uh . . ." With a tap on the back, Past Isaac shook RFVGD Isaac out of his monologue. The water was swelling, and from beneath came so many more Isaacs. Normally, that would just be more fuel for the fire. However, these weren't just any Isaacs. They were wearing white copies of their old Team Rocket uniforms, and each rode in atop a Suicune.[break][break]

"Fuck. Who the hell invited all of those The Purifiers?"[break][break]

It was a bloodbath. Gym Leader Isaac (freshly awarded the title of New Champion Isaac) stood shoulder to shoulder with Underboss Isaac, but they both fell the same. Swarms of Isaacs rushed in to try and win through sheer numbers, but the Purifiers beat them back with the fury of a hundred Isaacs each. Not even Tera-Powered Isaac, from the universe where Naomi Sato's experiments worked, stood a chance.[break][break]

"I think you did. That's how all this works, right?" Past Isaac looked curiously towards RFVGD Isaac, whose expressionless face was currently lighting up with a stream of censored expletives. "You, uh. You okay there, buddy?"[break][break]

"I can barely keep up with Suicune when they're playing around, and now I gotta deal with a gazillion of them. Does anything about that sound okay to you?" Worse still, other Isaacs kept trying for cheap shots on them, seemingly giving up on victory in favor of boosting their own personal scoreboards. Luckily, Past Isaac was on the case, yoinking the fluffy tail off of RFVGD Isaac's butt and tossing it to the ground.[break][break]

". . . Should I even ask why we're all distracted by a cat toy?" he asked. In response, Past Isaac simply shot him a smug grin and a "You're welcome." They were free now to ride off, ready to deal with the swarm of Purifiers.[break][break]

They drew to a halt atop a hill, Shi dangling behind them like a free balloon. "Oi! Dumbasses!" RFVGD Isaac called, giving her a swing for emphasis. "You might think you're hot shit, but only one of us didn't get merked by Dr. Holo. Whatcha gonna do about that, huh?"[break][break]

There were a lot of answers to that question. The Suicunes all melting into puddles at once wasn't one of them. "D . . . did we win?" Past Isaac asked. "Buddy, you know as well as I do our life is never that easy," RFVGD Isaac responded, watching as the puddles began ebbing into one another.[break][break]

The Purifiers now stood atop a colossal, Dynamax-sized Suicune. They all raised their hands as one, and the sky tore open in response.[break][break]

Rain Dance. No, damn near fifty Rain Dances at once. It was enough to flood the island in blood, water, or whatever the hell was going on now. Worse still, chilling mists danced across the air, slowly sharpening the raindrops into a tide of razor-sharp ice needles. RFVGD Isaac and Past Isaac pulled into a nearby cave, barely avoiding becoming skewered like the countless Isaacs that came before them.[break][break]

"So. We're fucked."[break][break]

"Eeyup."[break][break]

"Got a plan?"[break][break]

"I look like a Tamagotchi and that thing's bigger than Godzilla. Do I look like I got a plan?"[break][break]

"You're an Isaac. The Isaac, even."[break][break]

"Good answer." BANG! BANG! BANG! The crashing of the Vs. Seeker against the rocks was every bit as deafening as the sound of thunder crashing outside. Already, the cave was starting to flood, leaving water trickling up to their ankles. At this rate, if their plan didn't kick off properly, they would surely drown.[break][break]

Luckily, it wasn't long before RFVGD Isaac had opened a gap in the Vs. Seeker's Nintendium casing. He scooped down, dipping the Vs. Seeker right into the rising waters. A shower of sparks flew out, barely missing his face. He could already hear the batteries inside letting out a hiss of protest.[break][break]

"Man. I hate that I have to do this." He gave the effigy of his old motorcycle a pat on the side, knowing that this decision hurt all the more when it was at his hands. "Past Isaac, open up the fuel tank." Past Isaac hung his head, giving it a mournful shake before unscrewing the fuel cap. Luck was on their side. It was just big enough to fit a slightly smooshed up Vs. Seeker.[break][break]

Once it hit the bottom, Shi wrapped tendrils of algae around it. She flew out to face Suicune, desperately searching the Purifiers for something, anything, that could work. How many of them shed their worldly possessions? Why did this have to be so hard? All the while, the motorcycle's fuel tank let out an evil hiss and the waters beneath Suicune began to bubble. Two countdown clocks were coming for their lives. Shi needed to act fast.[break][break]

Finally, she saw it. A picture frame, clutched close to one of the Purifiers' hearts. Sentimentality always was Isaac's biggest weakness.[break][break]

Shi shook the motorcycle like a can of soda ready to burst. Cracks spread along the side of the fuel tank. Sparks and ice needles bit at her sides. The evil hiss grew to a deafening roar. Then, at the last possible moment, she unleashed the move that her father used to save Isaac from MUGEN.[break][break]

In a single Switcheroo, the motorcycle had been dropped right on the Purifiers' laps. They barely had a second to respond.[break][break]

A deafening explosion rocked across the island. The rain slowed, then stopped. The smell of battery acid, burned ozone, and catfish guts wafted across the island. Past Isaac peeked out, waiting to see if it was truly over, but RFVGD Isaac pulled him by the wrist to get him back into the cave. "Not yet. If they're not dead, we're fucked," he said.[break][break]

Only when the world fell still did the two Isaacs find themselves being returned to their last layer of dreaming.

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[attr="class","textbox"]All was quiet. All was dark. When the two Isaacs returned to their dream, they were surprised to see themselves right back where they began. "Eh? What gives?" asked past Isaac, for whom it seemed no time passed at all. "Did it not work or something?"[break][break]

"Sssh!" Isaac clamped a hand over his past self's mouth. "Something's not right." For one, when they'd left the dream, Shi hadn't come with them. For two, the triumphant afterglow from their struggle with the Purifiers had faded. In its wake was a cold, clammy tension, as thick as the fog that surrounded Mt. Pyre.[break][break]

The third reason, and the one why Isaac hushed his past self in the first place, was the sound of crunching bone and tearing flesh.[break][break]

The sounds, as bad as they were, were little more than the tip of the iceberg. Before he even heard death rattles drifting along the wind, Isaac felt them somewhere deep inside the pit of his stomach. He shuddered, each one leaving his body trembling more than the last. Past Isaac gave him a quizzical look, confusion quickly shifting to concern as he saw Isaac shrink against the cavern wall.[break][break]

"You okay, buddy?" he asked, eye wide and uncomprehending. "I dunno if you had some bad sushi between dreams or some shit, but if the guy running the joint's not gonna open the way up for us, then we're just gonna have to find our own. C'mon. Let's get you up. We're blowing this joint."[break][break]

It was a noble sentiment, and yet it filled Isaac with untold dread. The hollow squish of ruptured organs. The clatter of rusted chains scraping against themselves. The low rumbling of miasma in his ear, pure anathema in the form of a haze of black and purple. The more he put the pieces together, the more he pushed back against the conclusion they lead to.[break][break]

If he was going to be so stubborn, the universe would solve the puzzle for him. In the blink of an eye, a rusted anchor shot through a rift in time and space. Past Isaac didn't even see it coming. One minute, he was trying to help Isaac up. The next, the anchor pierced clean through his guts, snagging him like a fish on a hook. Blood splashed the cavern wall, the stains spelling out the truth Isaac had tried so hard to avoid.[break][break]

Shi.[break][break]

Isaac took a shaky step back, heart jackhammering in his chest. Past Isaac reached out towards him, hand trembling, only to fall to his side. Isaac lunged for him, but his efforts were too little, too late. Before he could reach, Shi flicked her anchor, flinging Past Isaac against the cave wall. With a crack, a thud, and a final sigh, Past Isaac was no more.[break][break]

The Dhelmise that floated over his remains couldn't have been more different from the one Isaac had arrived with. Her algae, usually a vibrant green, was now a noxious purple lined with red veins. Her anchor, once pristine as a Dhelmise's anchor could be, was coated in dried blood and chunks of glistening flesh. Her compass twitched wildly, giving the impression of a maddened glare.[break][break]

"W-wait, Shi! I don't know what this place did to you, but-!" There was no talking his way out of this one. Not when one of Shi's Power Whips smashed around his throat. Isaac was lifted off his feet, reduced to weakly pawing at the algal blooms that were rapidly threatening to squeeze the life out of him.[break][break]

At one point, this island had been a monument. Isaac's infinite potential had been on full display, spread across dozens upon dozens of alternate selves. Even when the whims of the dreamscape had twisted it into a battle royale, it was at least one of the liveliest dreams Isaac had ever known. Now, as he was dragged form the cave he sheltered himself behind, that couldn't have been further from the truth.[break][break]

Some of the Isaacs were lucky, their lives ended quickly by an Anchor Shot through the head before they even knew what was going on. Others, broken apart by anchor smashes and power whips, had spent much more time suffering. A few had suffered from particularly creative deaths; one with algal Growth poking from places it didn't belong left Isaac shivering.[break][break]

With each Isaac that he bore witness to, he could sense both who they were and what had happened to them. None of them were him, and therefore he would share none of their fates. The only commonality was the miasma that had twisted around their legs. Under Shi's Shadow Hold, there was no escape for them. Nor, then, would there be any escape for him. As he tried so desperately to move, he found the miasma encasing his body as if it were a cocoon.[break][break]

The seas had been where Isaac began this dream, and now they would be where he ended it. Shi plunged into the depths, and not even Suicune's gifts could stand against her weight. Her chain sank deeper and deeper into the abyss. Her blooms crushed tighter and tighter against Isaac's throat. The light of the surface world began to fade, ray by ray, until soon nothing was left.[break][break]

In the inky blackness of the depths that threatened to take Isaac, the weight of Cillian Quinn's glare was immense.