FM!Understuck: True Muse Arc

* After returning from your bubble trip with Equius, you make your way to the green manor once more, ready to face Meenah head on.
* Right as the battle is about to start, you hear the transportalizer go off behind you, followed by rapid footsteps circling around you.

https://pastebin.com/qgmVyJuj

Get Up Everyone

* All of your friends have been chained up. The transportalizer activates once more, and foreboding footsteps approach from behind you.

CALIBORN: YOu PATHETIC HuMANS AND TROLLS!

https://pastebin.com/MNsAFXXy

Rise Up

* The swirls on Caliborn's cheeks turn fully green. A coat materializes itself onto the Cherub. They look down at their hands, clenching them into fists.

finally. i had been asleep for so long.

* She looks up at you, giving you a friendly smile.

CALLIOPE: hello! yoUr name is john, right?
CALLIOPE: thank yoU for calling my name. yoU awoke me from a deep slUmber.
CALLIOPE: i gUess yoU coUld say i was sleeping like the dead!
CALLIOPE: and now... i have another chance.
CALLIOPE: and all of this power my brother stole... with this i coUld...
CALLIOPE: i coUld rewrite the narrative. retcon everything he's done to it, set it all to zero.
CALLIOPE: ... yoU seem to not like that idea thoUgh. i'm sorry john, bUt for yoUr sake, yoU mUst let me do this.
CALLIOPE: i know that my class is UsUally the most passive of them, bUt please...

* In a bright flash, Calliope's clothes change. They look similar to Jades, with the symbol of space appearing on her shirt.

CALLIOPE: jUst sit back and let the me do this for everyone.

* The penumbra wanes.
> John: ACT > Check.
* Calliope - Muse of Space ∞ATK ∞DEF
* Phantasm awoken by your call.

Alpha And Beta

* Calliope's cheek swirls and eyes flicker between green and red. It seems like Caliborn is fighting back for control. His attacks sting. They hurt badly.
* Your grit is reduced to 0.
* You can't SAVE your friends. You can't SAVE Calliope. You can't SAVE your game.

* But as your body starts to glow, your life force returning to you, you feel at one with your aspect.
* Breath. The aspect of Wind. The aspect of Change. The aspect of FREEDOM.
* Maybe with this power...

* You can FREE them all instead.

Burn In The Green Sun!

* You reached out into Calliope's aspect and called out to your friends.
* They're in there somewhere, right?
* ... Within the depths of Calliope's aspect, something is resonating..!

* You FREE them all.
* Kanaya. Meenah. Dave. Jade. Karkat. Equius.
* But there's still someone else to FREE from this acursed narrative.
* You call her name.

CALLIOPE: what? what are yoU doing?!

FREE Her Soul

* Long ago, two kingdoms fought for control over Skaia. A kingdom of Light and a kingdom of Dark.
* These kingdoms, Prospit and Derse, were in for a big surprise. All of a sudden, an egg had arrived on the battlefield, striped in Red and Green. The two kings, thoroughly confused in the midst of their battle, investigated the newfound object.
* The egg suddenly hatched right before them, and out came a baby Cherub. As the serpentine infant consumed the shell of its own egg, the two kings recognized it as the same species as their sleeping royals. They agreed to a ceasefire as they decided on how best to raise this infant.
* And so it would be that the male, named Caliborn, would be raised under the White King, with hopes that he could be taught morals and values. The Black King then would be the one to raise Calliope, the female of the two.
* Raising a Cherub is no easy task, for the infant had to be traded between kingdoms before it was their naptime. Once one child went to sleep, the other would awaken in their shared body. However, the Black King enjoyed Calliope's cheerfulness all the same.
* When the war between Light and Dark continued, the Kings would leave the Cherubs in the care of their Queens. And when they too were busy, it fell upon chosen agents. For Derse, this job was given to one Jack Noir.
* Jack at first seemed to hate his job. Just another ridiculous call from the higher ups. However, Calliope's radiant joy seemed to shine past even his dark carapace and into his heart.
* When the cherubs grew, and Caliborn tasked Jack with the job of slaying his sister's dreamself... He found himself unable to complete the task.
* Jack Noir... Archagent of Derse, notoriously known for his "stab first, ask questions later" mindset... unable to kill? It was preposterous to him. But he just couldn't find it in his heart to do so. Instead, he called upon the abilities of one of the many trolls in the session to put her into a deep, endless sleep.
* Jack eventually reported the news to Caliborn, lying about his sister's death. Caliborn, seeing no further use to Jack, slew him.
* And thus, the Princess of Prospit... the Muse of Space... Calliope... slept and dreamed... A dream she is now remembering.

CALLIOPE: what... did yoU do?

* In her dream, she saw a planet. A planet of green and blue. And on that planet, she saw a boy.

CALLIOPE: what are these memories..?

* The boy grew in care of a man. His father. The father was very proud of his son.

CALLIOPE: i don't Understand? why are yoU showing me this?

* The boy eventually grew into a young man. Before his thirteenth birthday, his father looked him in the eyes and told him something very important.

CALLIOPE: stop it! john, jUst let me do this for everyone! for yoU!

* "John. You have grown into such a fine young man. You don't let what anyone says keep you down."

CALLIOPE: can't yoU Understand why i'm doing this? why i keep fighting to rewrite the narrative?

* "You stand up for what you believe in, the right thing, no matter what."

CALLIOPE: i'm doing this becaUse i have to. this is my one chance to make sUre that i get my way after years of losing to my brother.

* "So keep on fighting, stay true to yourself."

CALLIOPE: i don't want ANYONE to sUffer any longer! Under my control, everyone's lives will be fUll of cheer and glee!

* "But most importantly, John..."

CALLIOPE: everyone will just go aboUt their day to day lives! free from any hatred or despair!

* "... don't let ANYONE have free reign over who you are."

CALLIOPE: so please... stop doing this... and just let me win!!!

* Calliope fires off her most powerful attack. You hang on tight and take the full brunt head on.
* You are weakened... but you are still hanging on. A memory is shared between the two of you.
* The man puts his hand on his son's shoulder, and the boy smiles back. The two embrace.

CALLIOPE: ... jack...

Her Melody

* Calliope stands there, out of her God Tier outfit, looking crestfallen.

CALLIOPE: those memories... they were yoUrs, weren't they?
CALLIOPE: ...
CALLIOPE: yoUr father seemed nice...
CALLIOPE: he reminded me of someone that i woUld call my own.
CALLIOPE: however, he's been gone for a very long time.
CALLIOPE: at least, the one that i knew is... this game makes copies of him for every session.

* She stares out into the void.

CALLIOPE: a version of him like the one i knew mUst be oUt there, somewhere... right?

* She takes a deep breath.

CALLIOPE: my brother mUst know by now that my dreamself hadn't been slain. he might even stoop so far as to doing it himself, if not jUst hiring another assassin...
CALLIOPE: i have a plan, bUt-

* You tell Calliope that there's no need.

CALLIOPE: what?

* You tell her that you used your aspect to help free her from sharing a body. Caliborn is now stuck as his dreamself.

CALLIOPE: yoU mean... my body is... all to myself now?

* Tears well up in her eyes. She wipes them away.

CALLIOPE: thank yoU, john... now, aboUt that exit.
CALLIOPE: with everyone's aspects, i shoUld be able to carve Us a path oUt of here... if i coUld have yoUr assistance?

* You nod. Together with Calliope, you unleash a Fraymotif to end all others, carving a doorway into the new universe. Calliope then lets the aspects go back to everyone.

CALLIOPE: that shoUld do it... althoUgh now i doUbt i'll be able to Use my god tier abilities anytime soon. not that i need them thoUgh, i have a new life ahead of me!
CALLIOPE: come on, john. let's retUrn to the others.