Fresh New Antivirus

Ch. 72 - 69 Goes Down

"Who...?" 69's gaze darted around to find the source of the directionless, soundless voice.

<Even ... nothing?>

Fresh felt a chill as his magic was replenished. Not by regular magic no; but by cold void magic. That, too, began to flow into the demonic toy as Fresh understood what Void was planning. The very air surrounding him cut dark, darker and darker as the magic ate the gluttonous demon from the inside and turned the world monochrome around them, leaving Fresh the most vibrant thing in the area. Fresh himself felt a slight sting to his own code, but he pushed on - it was nothing.

69 screamed. A scream that continued to build in pitch and volume, pitch and volume. Until there was an abrupt sound between that of a pop and a crunch, the scream falling to silence.

Fresh stumbled as he stood, what's left of 69 still in hold and removed from a shaking Papercranes shoulder.

Hisss.

A black steam emanated from the crushed furby husk of 69, residue of the void magic. Fresh's dim eyelights no longer emanate their purple fog. Fresh smiled through the exhaustion as he vaguely looked upward as he directed his words at Void.

"Comin' in clutch there, daddio."

<What's a father for if not to prevent their child from being devoured by a possessed furby?>

"I can up and think of other responsibilities, but that can wait til later, yo."

The world around him remained etched in monochrome, that monochrome beginning to bleach.

<Yes. The mortal plan cannot handle my prolonged stay, even at a fraction of my power. I will see you later, Fresh.>

Voids precedence left and color bled back into reality, although slowly.

Fresh frowned down at the broken toy in his hold. He expelled the last of the void magic in his system toward the bundle of tech and faux fur watching as it crumbled from existence.

As the furby husk decayed trapped souls began to float up from their broken prison - the souls that 69 had collected were being set free. They looked all the more vibrant in a world cast mostly in monochrome.

The sight wasn't just magic - it was magical.

They twirled and spun in the air around Fresh as if to dance their gratitude of their new found freedom before they moved onto where souls go after so long stuck in one tormented furby body to the next. They remembered who they were. They were free.

A voice quiet enough to have been the wind spoke as the souls disappeared under a reaper's discreet guidance into the underworld. "nothing like unexpected overtime to kill my coffee break.'' The words were spoken with a hint of exasperated fondness as the god took a sip of their unfinished drink from a to-go cup, taking in the sight of liberation.

Reaper's gaze drifted over the remaining trapped souls in their furby prisons before looking away. He would escort them when the time came, but for now, he could let them experience Life a little while longer ... even if their souls were a little cramped and stunted in the electric components.

Soon the last of the souls moved on and the void magic had run its course, disappearing not into obscurity, but into a whole new adventure we all take sooner or later.

The previously mind controlled furbies looked around in confusion, the spell having broken but their memories still being confused. Other, less confused furbies shouted out their tiny cries of victory, others joining in. Some were already looking to prepare a full blown celebration handing out snacks, firecrackers and party poppers.

The skeleton house residents - including Tiffa - were already taking the moment for a breather and healing the injured, still keeping a wary eye light in the furbies as they discussed in low tones.

And lying on the ground face down was Papercrane, static clearing from his sockets and shakily shifting himself to be on his back. His hand reached out above him as if to touch the blue sky.

His memory was hazy but Papercrane knew the mysterious colorful skeleton saved him by getting rid of the small-furry-not-friend 69.

Papercrane turned his skull to the one that saved him. "... Thank you."

"No P." Fresh said, placing his shades back on and smiling gently. "You, my skel-bro, look like you've also had a mad eventful day." Fresh sat down next to Papercrane with a deep satisfied sigh, looking to the sky like Papercrane had been doing previously.

Fresh was looking over the conditions of the affected AU's and taking stock of what could be salvaged. It didn't escape his notice that the latest AU Papercrane connected to was still draining into him - though at a much slower rate to the point the place wouldn't be experiencing difficulties had it not already been massively drained.

Taking a closer look at his code, Fresh looked away, seeing the skeleton beside him in a new light. Seems he had something to ask Void about.

Papercrane returned to looking to the sky with the stranger, replying. "Yeah. very eventful. My name is Papercrane."

"I'm Fresh"

A gentle wind blew past as the two lapsed into silence.

There was a thump and the two looked over to see Swapfell Papyrus fall out of a tree he had managed to get stuck in at some point in the fight.

The Papyrus just sighed and accepted his fate on the ground next to Papercrane and Fresh.

Looking over the area he saw the furbies were really starting to get into the celebration mood to an almost dangerous degree. He would need to move them to a place they could safely let off steam because at the rate this was going, it looked like arson was going to be on the table and the AU was already looking worse for wear.

At some point during all that, Fresh received a message in the game chat. It was from the Server Owner

<consider this my late bi-century miracle. Let the kiddos have their fun>

They included a link to an AU with limited access. Its structure was very similar to UnderHacked, only empty and called UnderFurby with a similar AU lock as an Alpha Timeline. There also seemed to be a few changes to the attractions.

Fresh understood what he needed to do and opened a portal there gaining multiple people's attention.

"Rightio, furby-bruh's!" Fresh began. "This AU be yours to party as hardy as your radical little bodies can handle!"

"Ev aron?" ("Even arson?") A furby asked, holding a bucket of lava.

Fresh pointed to said furby and responded. "Even arson, yo!"

The furbies cheered even louder then when 69 was destroyed and began to rush the portal. As quickly and chaotically as they came, the furbies disappeared leaving a mess in their wake.

Though dwindled behind towering above the others in his mech suit to look back toward Fresh. It was Chris.

"I ye er nee uus o know air e ar." ("If you ever need us you know where we are.") Chris turned back to face the portal walking through as the sun began to set. "Em i cha nah!!" ("I'm in charge now!!")

There were several reactions to the statement but Fresh closed the portal before he could see how it played out. He's sure the furbies would figure it out.

"Tiffa, broski?" Fresh said getting the Mods attention. "You mind rolling back some o' the bits and bobs 'round here? I don't think I have the juice for world edit righ' now, bro."

She blinked. "Yeah I can do that. What about you-?"

Fresh let himself fall backward onto the ground to cloud gaze.

The skies were finally looking blue.

"A nap." Fresh answered, setting an alarm on his phone so he didn't sleep through the meetings he needed to attend.