Chapter Text
“Chaos.” That was the only word that could describe not just one world, but many. Across the universe, a mysterious multiversal calamity occurred, causing random portals to rip open across countless worlds, sending heroes and villains hurtling through the multiverse. In response, a small band of heroes formed an alliance, bound together not by familiarity, but by necessity, against threats none of them had ever faced before. There was the heroic and mighty Shovel Knight, the cocky cartoon sharp shooter Cuphead, the athletic and agile young trans woman Madeline, and the silent bug-like creature known only as the Knight, or Ghost. Together, they traveled through a desolate wasteland planet and into a dystopian city planet ruled by robots, aided by a mysterious machine who preferred to be called Charlotte.
Their journey paused when they crash-landed into a bar, stopping to regroup and cool off. There, they encountered new allies: the adorable child, Niko (despite their looks, they are not a cat, they are a person), who wielded their world’s sun, and the silent but ill warrior known only as Drifter. Their brief rest was shattered when they were ambushed by one of the Rogues.
As Charlotte described them: “They are evil robots that want to take over the world… because they are evil.”
It wasn’t long before the rest of the Rogues arrived, destroying the bar in the process. Shovel Knight was hurled into a portal, while Cuphead and Niko were thrown into another. The Knight sacrificed itself so Madeline and Drifter could escape, resulting in his body being petrified into gold by one of the Rogues.
Charlotte had hidden beneath a table when the remaining Rogues stormed in, scattering everyone she needed for her plans across the multiverse.
“Those damn things…” she thought bitterly. They had ruined everything.
Forcing herself to focus, Charlotte searched for positives. One of the Rogues, the GameMaster, had been defeated, and she had absorbed his energy.
She cautiously peeked her spherical head out from under the table, ensuring no Rogues were nearby, then tiptoed across the wreckage of the bar, Grillby’s. Distant explosions and collapsing buildings echoed through the city. Panic surged through her as she looked up and spotted the Rogues’ largest member, the centipede-like robot Unreal, weaving through the sky and tearing skyscrapers apart.
“What the hell is it doing?” Charlotte wondered, until she spotted Unithor, the Rogue’s leader, leaping between collapsing buildings while attacking another robot.
Charlotte recognized it instantly. V1, the machine that destroyed Hell itself in its own universe. Due to how much of a threat the war machine is, she wanted nothing more than to portal out immediately, but before she could, a bright light reflected across her face. Hidden inside a cupboard was Niko’s sun. Charlotte knew, and had always known, that Niko needed the sun to restore their dying world. If it broke, that world would perish. She was shocked that it was here, of all places, but she didn’t care why or how. She opened the cabinet and reached for the sun. And was instantly knocked aside by an unseen force.
When Charlotte scrambled back to her feet, an orange hue, like a swarm of glowing flies, surrounded the sun. Panic seized her. “No, no, no! What is she doing here?! GET OFF!”
Charlotte rushed forward, but it was too late. The orange glow absorbed the sun completely, its color slowly shifting from yellow to a blinding white as it molded itself into the shape of a body. When the transformation finished, the glow revealed its true form. A massive, white, moth-like goddess hovered before her, crowned, radiant, her sides adorned with countless flowing arms, light pouring from her very being.
The Radiance had returned.
Charlotte fled instantly, escaping before the Radiance could notice her. Even if she had, the goddess’s attention was already locked onto the battle raging in the distance.
Across the city, the clash between V1 and The Rogues intensified.
V1 had already destroyed their smallest member, Godotrix, and now turned his attention to the rest. The Rogues knew the danger he posed, the infamous, blood-fueled war machine that annihilated Hell itself. Though they were multiversal-level threats, their greatest weakness was speed and massive amounts of damage that can cause them to overheat. V1 had the power to preform both.
Unreal slithered into the sky, with V1 riding atop him, firing his Attractor Nailgun like a machine gun into the massive robot’s body. Unithor leapt onto Unreal and swung his colossal battle hammer, while Midusara attempted to petrify V1 into gold. V1 parried Unithor’s hammer effortlessly, climbed onto it mid-swing, pumped his shotgun, and blasted Unithor point-blank, all in mere seconds. He sprinted toward Midusara, dodging every beam fired from her face. Grabbing one of her arms, he switched to his more powerful red Knuckle Blaster and sent her flying.
Unreal flipped upside down and slammed himself into nearby skyscrapers, trying to shake V1 loose. The distraction worked. Unithor caught V1 off guard, dropkicking him off Unreal and hurling him into the city below. The fight stalled. Unithor was too durable to seriously damage, and V1 was too fast to pin down. Midusara rejoined the battle, attempting to petrify V1 while he was distracted but this time, V1 had prepared for this.
He tossed a handful of coins into the air, pulled out his Railcannon, and fired. The laser ricocheted wildly between buildings before slamming directly into Midusara’s face and temporarily blinding Unithor. V1 wall-climbed, then ground-pounded her into the concrete street. It was too much for her to take. Midusara overheated and died. V1 used her head to smack a Unithor who just recovered.
Across the city, the Knight shattered free from it's golden prison. Midusara’s death had broken it's petrification.
Elsewhere, another petrified warrior broke free as well: the foul-mouthed homunculus who possessed corpses, Beheaded. “Where is that son of a bitch?! I’ll kill them!! Peasant?! Peasant, where the hell are you-” He spotted the distant battle between V1, Unreal, and Unithor. “Oh. That’s probably where he went.”
The Knight regrouped with Charlotte, who stared in horror as The Radiance rose into the sky and unleashed a deafening roar. Unithor and Unreal turned their attention to her. V1 did not. Unithor smashed V1 into a nearby skyscraper to keep it away, then ordered Unreal to kill The Radiance.
Descending, Unithor retrieved Midusara’s head and Godotrix’s as well, the latter damaged from when V1 had used it as a weapon earlier. Channeling his energy, he revived them both, then smacked each with his hammer in visible disappointment. Suddenly, Unreal screeched in agony. They flew upward and Unithor realized his mistake.
The Radiance had wrapped her arms around Unreal, draining his energy straight from The Core itself and slowly killing him. Her body shifted from white to blazing orange, her eyes glowing yellow, flames burning from her crown. She had entered a Nightmare form!
Without hesitation, Unithor opened a portal and fled, with Midusara and Godotrix following close behind. The Radiance charged an attack, glowing brighter and brighter, like a living sun, before unleashing a roar that echoed across the city. Infectious vines and goo erupted outward, engulfing skyscrapers and entire city blocks within seconds.
“Son of a bitch!” Charlotte yelled. She opened a portal. The Knight jumped in.
In the distance, Beheaded sprinted at full speed towards them. “WAIT FOR ME!!!”
V1 freed themself and saw Beheaded running. Instantly, it bolted after him.
Beheaded leapt through the portal. V1 followed seconds later just before the area was swallowed by The Radiance’s infection.
The Radiance gazed down upon the devastation and reveled in it.
Every robot and drone in the city had become infected, coated in her glowing orange goo. But her greatest victory yet came. Unreal stirred. Though drained of his original energy, he rose again, his massive body now overtaken by her infectious goo and vines. His antennae and giant eye glowed orange as he floated obediently to her side. The Radiance reflected on her past: the moth tribe worshipping her, the arrival of the Pale King, the abandoning of her followers to him. So she infected Hallownest, and even with The Hollow Knight sealing her, it had failed to contain her forever as centuries later, it began to break. Then came the Knight, meant to replace it until a strange species slayed the Hollow Knight in a single blow and escaped through a portal. Curious, The Radiance followed. She saw worlds beyond Hallownest, worlds that never knew her existence, heroes who never dreamed of her, villains who destroyed without her presence. She followed the heroes across the wasteland, into the city, into Grillby’s and there she saw another sun. She waited. And with her patience, she got it. Still, rage burned within her. Billions of realms had never known her existence. She would change that. Soon, there would be no realm where the Radiance was unknown. She would never fade into the past again.
They would worship her infinite might.
They would bask forever in her eternal light.
Far away, Unithor, Midusara, and Godotrix emerged into another universe. Unithor trembled with fury, gripping his battle hammer as if it might be taken from him. Everything had been under control until Charlotte arrived, followed by V1 and The Radiance who then took Unreal and their entire planet. Midusara placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. It helped…slightly. Unithor steadied himself and devised a new plan. Speaking in a language only The Rogues understood, they communicated briefly before splitting apart through separate portals.
New Goals:
• Optimize realms for energy
• Use it to restore Unreal
• Stop the Radiance and eliminate all remaining threats
But unlike the other two, Unithor wrote down his own personal goal: KILL “CHARLOTTE”