Lord Marvel grabs Doctor Unggoy by the collar. "Welp... Time to interrogate you. OPEN YOUR MOUTH!!!"
Doctor Unggoy backs away in fear.
Lord Marvel sighs. "Came out wrong, bruh."
"WHERE ARE THE DRUGS GOING!?!?" asked Slime Tutorial. "Kidding. Uh... I'm bad cop, he's good cop. We're gonna torture you."
Slime Tutorial inserts his slimy flesh into his hand and punches his face. "WHERE'S MISTER KRABS!??!?"
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!!!" sobbed Unggoy.
"GIMME THE GODDAMNED MISTER KRABS, YOU MOTHERFUCKEEER!!!" yelled Lord Marvel.
Lord Marvel laughs.
"You, two, idiots, stop fucking around and start asking the right questions," said the Reaper. The Reaper sighs, leaning before him.
"If it isn't the Reaper?" smiled Doctor Unggoy.
The Reaper takes out a drill from his utility belt.
"What's that for?" asked Unggoy.
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna use it on you," said the Reaper, as Unggoy sighs in relief. "She is." The Reaper hands it to Askal. "Askal: a Superegoist with lacunae."
Askal whistles and drills into his leg. Doctor Unggoy screams in horror.
"Listen, Doctor Cultural-Appropriation. Unless you want to die bleeding out all over the floor," said Dark. "What's your plan?"
"We're going to unleash something..." he panted. "Monsters... from the dark dimension..."
"What monsters?" asked Askal.
Dark breathes in, shakily. "He's gonna use a Bakunawa."
"A moon eater?" asked the Reaper.
"I've read some files about there being a Bakunawa Queen out there in Jupiter, large enough to swallow Earth-777."
"How would they bring it here?" asked Askal.
"Huh..." said Myrmex. "What if they use a similar manner to how I use my armies of ants with pheromones?"
"Like... bait the Bakunawa Queen?" asked Dark.
"You mean Jormugander?" asked Hercules.
"Who?" asked Askal.
"Jomugander. A giant snake I saved Earth from. Heard she got bigger after retreating to the heart of Jupiter," said Hercules.
"THERE'S A GIANT FUCKING SPACE SNAKE IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM!?!?" asked Askal. "How long do we got?"
"2 days," said Doctor Unggoy.
"So, can we kill it?" asked Askal.
Everyone turns to Beatle.
"I am not gonna kill a living creature," said Beatle.
"Then what do we do?" asked the Reaper.
"I can... lure it away into a portal."
"The question is, why did they lure it here in the first place?" asked the Reaper.
"Bakunawa eats Heaven's truffle-rich planets..." said Dark.
"Wait... You're saying this planet has-..." said Beatle.
"This planet has Heaven's truffle deposits somehow... No wonder Unbreakable wanted this world so badly..." said the Reaper.
"What?" asked the Aswang. "What is Heaven's Truffle, even?"
"It's a spiritually organic substance that has healing properties. When... combined with the blood of the Aswangs it can turn into Splooge. An addictive substance that can give you powers upon repetitive application."
"How?" asked Myrmex.
Askal prepares to drill his thigh.
"JESUS CHRIST!!! JUST ASK SOMETIMES!!!" yelled Unggot.
Askal slowly puts it down before pointing it back to his thigh. "Eh?"
"THERE ARE SPLOOGE FACTORIES ON THE PLANET!!!"
"This planet is clean from genocide of Aswangs. Even Stefan dislikes the idea of using Aswang blood as resources for these weird-ass Morningstar factories..." said Beatle.
"Well, that's the thing... You didn't know, did you? Hm?" asked Doctor Unggoy, before chuckling. "All Hail... Morningstar."
"You're a double agent..." said Beatle, eyes widening. "Morningstar... She's here!?"
"Yes... Unbreakable HATES her... Where do you think she went when you fucking had Mars stop her plan to destroy the Multiverse? Hm?" His lips quivered in fear. "She'll kill me when she figures out that I told you U double-crossed Unbreakable... KILL ME... KILL ME NOW!!!"
Beatle backs away. "Where the hell is she!?"
"YOU WILL DIE, BEATLE!!! AND SHE WILL BURN THIS... WORLD!!! HAHAHAHA-!!!" He bites into something, and his mouth foams, eyes rolling up. "She will harvest... all the... Splooge..." he gargled. "And will leave all her assets while the Black Spiral and you fight each other... to the death... AND I WON'T... GET TO... see it..." he bubbled, dying with his neck and head going limp.
"WHERE THE FUCK IS MORNINGSTAR!!!" Beatle tries healing him, only for his body and guts to explode everywhere. Beatle grabs his head. "NO!!! NOOOO!!!" He slaps his head over and over.
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"What.. are Splooge factories?" asked the Aswang.
"They're holocaust camps that harvest YOUR KIND!!!" yelled the Reaper. "Then they make Splooge out of it. WHAT THE FUCK, BEATLE?!!? You got my son into this BULLSHIT AND BROUGHT THIS WAR INTO OUR-!?!?"
Beatle pushes him away. "BACK OFF!!! I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS!!! I DIDN'T ASK FOR ANY OF THIS TO STILL BE A PART OF MY LIFE!!! I THOUGHT SHE DIED ON THE SHIP!!!"
"Fuck you. You irresponsible MORON!!!"
"FUCK OFF!!!" yelled Beatle. "YOU THINK YOU'VE GOT THE MORAL HIGH GROUND!?!? YOU'RE A SERIAL KILLER!!! And maybe your parents would still be alive if you weren't such a psychopath-..."
The Reaper beats Beatle to the ground with his indestructible bones. "ENDANGERING... MY SON!!!"
"DAD!!!" yelled the Aswang as the others gasped and backed away.
"SHUT UP!!!" yelled Beatle, punching him away. "I didn't want to be the Saint King!"
They all duck and hold as the duo crash out in the Tomb,
"You became a rapture-starter, you demented FUCK!!!"
Beatle punches the Reaper. "I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS!!!" yelled Beatle, knocking him down. "I DIDN'T ASK TO BE USED!!! TO BE TREATED LIKE SOME SORT OF MCGUFFIN FOR THE CHURCH TO USE AGAINST LUCIFER!!!" he sobbed, HAMMERING the Reaper over, and over, cracking his bone armor.
The Reaper frowns and kicks him in the knees as he spins and strangles his neck from behind with his thighs. "YOUR WHOLE WAR CAUSED THE DEATH OF MY PARENTS!!! THE ASWANGS REBELLED!!! THEY WERE COLLATERAL DAMAGE TO A WAR YOU-!!!"
"I DIDN'T ASK TO BE MADE!!!" he sobbed, falling to his knees. "I didn't ask for any of this... I kept trying to fix my mistakes, man! But people kept dying! My mother. My mommy. My Dad... And for what?" he teared up. "I didn't ask to be God... I was forced into it... And here I am... Trying... AND IT NEVER... FUCKING WORKS!!!" he boomed, as the Reaper let go. "It never works... I never... I'm a fuckin' failure, man... I lost so many people I gave a damn about. WHY THE FUCK ARE WE ALL LIKE THIS?!?"
"I'm sorry..." said the Reaper.
"I'm sorry, too, man..." said Beatle. "I don't know..." Beatle stands up and walks away.
Night fell, and the group played some board games while brainstorming on what to do. They play Monopoly, with the money scattered all over the table.
"Alcohol?" smiled Askal, offering one to Lord Marvel. She offers to Myrmex.
"No, thank you," Myrmex's eyes dart back to the Aswang's before looking down.
The Aswang looks at every muscle and speck of her face, realizing she's not telling him something again. Might be good news this time, but it's dangerous to say it now.
"Any ideas?" asked the Aswang. "How the fuck are we supposed to move an entire genocide factory away from Earth? And stop the giant space snake?"
"Got nothing..." Myrmex sighed, brushing Antliom's fur, who purrs in her lap.
"Where's Beatle?" asked Hercules.
"Upstairs..." said the Reaper. "Fuck... Why'd he even start this war?"
"I read his history," said Myrmex. "He really didn't have much of a say in it when he was recruited by the Church. He was forced to fight against the norm and was judged for it. It's all written in Gospel Truth One."
"I've read the book. I call bullshit."
"It's not. It's written as a journal," said Myrmex.
"So, what!?" laughed the Reaper. "He could have twisted the whole storyline!"
"We could... ask someone WHO WAS there..." said Myrmex. "800 years ago..."
Black Sabbath gets a call. She sighs, cradling Gabrielle as she calls for Billy. "Billy!?"
"On it..." said Billy. "Mom? It's for you!"
"This is the Reaper-..."
"I know," said Black Sabbath.
"Why did Beatle Saint King start the war?"
"That's a stupid question. Everyone knows I did. Well, that's just self-blame that's talking. What happened was Aurora got jealous when I seduced him when he was younger."
"So, he cheated."
"No. I coerced him. He's autistic. He didn't know how to respond."
"That's not an excuse for all this."
"Of course it's not. He spent 800 years fighting in constant wars to make up for the bullshit he helped cause. Eleven variants of him including the original Beatle caused the Multiverse to split into various versions of itself becaus of one constant heartbreaking decision of Morningstar betraying Beatle. Not the other way around."
"How did Morningstar betray Beatle?"
"She killed him after she thought he cheated. Rebelled. Started a new regime where all suffering is deserved by Neurotypicals. She's a racist motherfucker."
"So, what? I'm supposed to forgive him for that?"
"Listen. Miguels tend to hate each other or lack trust for each other because they fear themselves being in their variants. I heard you have a kid. The Voice tells us that fact... and he's your variant. You tried to raise him differently, a path away from you. He did. Isn't that proof that maybe Beatle meant well? That he fought... he's just like you, yes, but he must have had something else that changed his path for the better nowadays."
"And what was that?"
"Me," said Billy, speaking into the phone. "I'm his daughter. I... changed... how he looked at the world. He believed in himself because of me, even when the world doubted him."
Miguel looks at himself, remembering how he was met with public scrutiny, back with the arrest of Dingdong Narciso.
"Do you understand how that feels? To have one person believe in you where the rest of the world hated you?"
The Reaper turns to Miguel. "I know... how to lose that."
"Then you understand how my Dad feels," said Billy. "He always feels like he's failing me... and that he could be better... and that I deserve so much better, but I'm just happy he's my Dad... If your son is there, tell him to stop hating himself. So should you. Bye." Billy sighs.
"He forced all this on my kid..." said the Reaper.
"Your kid's more special than ya think..." said Billy. "And there's another reason."
The Reaper and the Aswang sat beside Beatle.
The Reaper sighs. "So. You're dying."
Beatle just stares silently at the stars. He looked at how vast, dark, and distant they were... each star is just an infinitesimal grain of sand in a desert of failures. His failure. This whole Multiverse... He made it. His variants made it. All the same. And the other, weaker, more distant variants pay the price of suffering in this cruel world. Beatle, saddened, even brushes the star emblem on his chest. The one Anna gave him. The one Aurora tore. The one Morningstar burnt her face with. The very thing that started everything. Beatle doesn't cry, or scream, but gives out his signature sigh.
"You found potential in my kid... So, you chose him... not to doom him... but you knew-..."
"I knew..." Beatle turns to the Aswang. "I knew he could do what I could never. Have agency."
"Why would the Voice kill you?" asked the Aswang.
Beatle shrugs. "The Voice works in mysterious ways. I don't hate him. I don't like him either. I love 'im, he's Supreme in my religion from long before, after all... But he was never the best at making the easier choice. I know, deep down, it hurts when he did this to me, his own kid. But then again, he did it before. He'd do it again."\ Beatle looks up. "We fucking suck."
"I know. So does my kid," said the Reaper.
The Aswang smiles and laughs.
"I'm not... good at this..." said the Reaper.
"I am..." the Aswang sighs and grabs Beatle's shoulder. "Absolutely nothing is wrong with us."
"I'm an autistic fuck..." said Beatle, crying. "All of us were born... wrong... That's why the world hates our team... People like us... We caused all of this mayhem... for nothing..."
"No. We..." said the Aswang. "We chose what we thought was best... because we give a damn about the people. Don't let Stefan's words break who you are... who we are... Because who we are... is much more unbreakable than he could ever be."
"Fine. What are we?"
"We... are a group of Filipino neurodivergent losers... who are going to save this world..." said the Aswang.
"How?" asked Beatle. "What can we do?"
"We can see the world differently. We can break boundaries. We can change the world. And you did it the MOST out of ALL OF US. Better or for worse... You always chose the right thing. You inspired all of us... Why destroy that?" said the Reaper.
Beatle smiles.
The Reaper sighs. "Let's get to work."
"I have a plan," smiled Myrmex, with the others tearing up and crying while they watched from the doorway. "C'mon, sappy mushes... I have a plan..."
"WE MAKE Unbreakable MEET Morningstar..." said Myrmex.
"What? Morningstar already knows he's here," said Beatle.
"Does UNBREAKABLE know she's here?" smiled Myrmex.
"Huh..." said Beatle.
"What if we cause them to fight?" asked Myrmex.
"No, no... How? That'd cause the Earth to scorch... No... the entire 3 universes... tops..." said Dark.
"That's why we should bring them to a neutral dimension!"
"The Primal Forge," said the Reaper.
"You mean where all the gods are made?" asked Happy.
"It's a toilet. If a spiritual entity enters it, it comes out a physical one. If a physical entity enters it, it gets shot out of the Multiverse," smirked the Reaper. "My Dad told me." He arrogantly shrugged.
"Then the Space Snake?" asked the Aswang.
"We teleport it away, too," said Myrmex.
"My teleportation isn't strong enough..." said the Aswang.
"That's why we need to use the ship to teleport the entire thing away."
"And the factories?" asked Beatle.
"We free the Aswangs. Ask 'em to rebel..." smirked Myrmex.