“Son of a…” muttered Kali. “How come I didn’t get an introduction in the video?”“To be fair,” IC-On began, “You DID get your own entire music video before.”“So did you!” Kali snapped.“And your butt was displayed pretty prominently in the title card.” added Kirie.“”SO WAS YOURS.”The girls continued to bicker as Cordie and Di walked over.“Hey guys, this party is killer!” exclaimed Di. “Where’s the beer? And the huma_I_MEAN_FOOD. And how did you find a hot spring… on the top of a mountain… during the winter… I DEFINITELY know what’s going on right now…”“Beats me,” Cordie shrugged. “I’m still trying to get used to having hands.”Cordie begins lightly drumming her fingers on IC-On’s head.“They don’t even stick to anything, how are you supposed to use these,” Cordie whispered softly to herself.Steam viciously emanates from IC-On’s eyes and mouth as her hand twitches.“Very bold of you to pat the head of a god,” sneered IC-On.“Oh,” said Cordie cheerily. “Bold of YOU to use that tone with a dangerous outlaw like me! Why, I’m so dastardly, I once shot a sheriff full of holes just so I could see behind him better!”“That’s cute. Once, I assimilated two men and a helicopter just to turn them into a bicycle for my admin.” IC-On retorted.Cordie furrowed her brow. “What’s a helicopter?”“You did that, huh?” Kirie inquired, shadows encompassing her eyes as she cocked her head. “That’s… very interesting.”“You want some too, huh? Come on then, TRY ME.” spat Ic-On venomously.“Malicious intent grew thick in the air, as Kirie confidently strode towards Ic-On.“I won’t try. I’ll succeed.” snarled Kirie.Suddenly, an enormous, invisible pressure brought both girls to their knees. They each looked up to see both of their torsos encircled by a pitch black chain, rattling ominously as though itching for blood. The chain extended to the girls necks, where a spear tip lightly caressed their chins.Kali stood unflinching beside Kirie and Ic-On, then calmly bent down, her long black hair cascading to the ground as she spoke.“I don’t think either of you want to be doing that right now,” she said with emotionless brutality.“Well, that was scary as shit.” exclaimed Di, walking over the Cordie. “What do you say you and I get outta here. You’re looking like a snack to me.”“That’s funny,” Cordie laughed, wrapping three arms around Di. “I was thinking something similar.”“…Hold up.” whispered Di.“Fine, I guess I can spare you peons for now if you help me get out of here.” Ic-On muttered. “I need to get back to my admin, and more importantly, my breakfast.”The pressure on her and Kirie dissipated, as Kali’s chains retracted hesitantly.Kirie looked irritated, but relented. “Whatever. We should probably figure out where we are, first. Last thing I remember, I was in a phone call with my… someone. Then, I was here.” Di spoke up. “I was going to a party. And I’m still fricken starving.”“I was about to have breakfast, then I got attacked by two weebs.” Ic-On sighed.Cordie began hopping with excitement. “Ooh, it was awesome! My future-husband and I killed a pterodactyl monster, then he taught me how to be a famous gunslinger, then we robbed a bank, THEN we met Death Itself and gave it a job as a Sheriff…”The other girls stared at Cordie blankly.“My memory is a little hazy, but I do remember fighting this annoying, inter dimensional rabbit puppet.” Kali said.The girls shifted their blank stares to Kali.“Well, that’s just silly,” Cordie stated plainly.“Wait, you said that thing was inter dimensional? That could go a long way to explaining how we got here.” Ic-On remarked. “That would explain why we were all brought here from both different places and different times, but all arrived together.”“If that lunatic was behind this, he would have shown up by now.” added Kali. “I doubt he would have bothered with the hot springs and bathing suits, either.”“Speaking of that,” Kirie offered, “There’s a stream leading to a waterfall, connecting to the spring up ahead.”The girls make their way to the stream, which has a signpost next to it, conveniently labelled as ‘Consciousness’.“Ooh, I get it!” proclaimed Di. “It’s like a stream of consciousness, which leads to a waterfall of ideas, which in turn get cooked in the hot spring, and that’s where we all appeared. So really, it’s a metaphysical allegory for the path us fictional characters take to be brought into the world. It all makes sense!”The girls all look blankly at Di.“So we’re… not real?” Ic-On whimpered.“We’re real enough, just… maybe not in the way we thought.” assured Kirie.“Somebody cared enough to create worlds and stories and personalities for us,” added Cordie. “Whether those stories finished or not, someone else cared enough to bring us here, too.”“Perhaps reality in this case is subjective, and this whole thing is someone’s way of preserving our existence beyond our own original purposes.” Kali said.“Ok, but… why are we in swimsuits, though?” demanded Ic-On.“
Fanservice, obviously.” shrugged Di.