Someone laughs endlessly because he can do nothing else. The king has lost his body, leaving only his throne. The true nature of Old Ones is endlessly close to that of the sea since it is infinite space the spans across even the borders of the self. Azathoth's Dream has broken the border of dreams and reality, causing everything to become as one. And with Azathoth becoming Old Ones itself, his hands can reach everywhere since everything is a dream. This is what people of other worlds call Teleportation. That's why he's insane.
The world has reached a standstill, and it had a trap waiting for an All-Mighty All-Knowing one. Anyone like that no longer had anything to do, and there was no point to birthing a brood of various beings. If there is one All-Mighty All-Knowing being, then majorities stop mattering. In that case, being All-Knowing also has no significance, and therefore nothing Azathoth did mattered anymore. This is the dead end trap that befalls beings of such power and knowledge, and this became the world's bad end for Old Ones. The Omnipotence Paradox goes against Azathoth's being, and with a system that rejects contradictions in the world, Azathoth was trapped in an inescapable deadlock. He can't do anything meaningful because everything he did was meaningless. All he could do as a result was laugh at pointless dreams and games.
Azathoth then detached part of himself to be his family, there to help him enjoy the pointlessness of it all. They all lived in his dream. No matter how strong they were, they could never leave. But one of the divine children was decidedly different from the others. He was in charge of a little blue planet, which he promptly did nothing with as he went to sleep. He's nothing special, yet somehow his name is known because he had the power of telepathy, the ability to cross the border of dream and reality while sleeping. He is Cthulhu, and he awaits the echoing laughs.
Back to the present
Nyarlathoteps: HAPPY HALLOWEEN U GAIZ (cackles loudly enough to shake the air)
Alp: oh em gee why are there so many!?
MC: OMG / STFU / hey does this mean we're in Old Ones?
Azathoth: lolno stupid, that isn't really Nyarlathotep. It's just junk data here that just gets replaced in your mind by something that looks similar. And this is just some Other World that came to a similar end to Old Ones.
Hotei: but why do they all gotta laugh louder than an angry donkey!?
Azathoth: oh look guys Mr. Everyone-Gotta-Smile-and-Laugh is complaining about other people laughing
Hotei: um
Azathoth: they're just doing that because they can't do anything else. Just. Like. You.
Hotei: w-wait wha--(cut off by Nyarlathotep Tsunami)
Azathoth: map check! ...oh wow there's a thousand of them covering the minimap!
MC: overdoing it much!? This is a nightmare!
Hotei: hey Ebisu can we just ignore them and ride straight towards my body?
Ebisu: you CAN'T be serious! we're surrounded with no way to break out!
Touji: where would we even GO?
Alp: oh no we have to figure out where to go at least! We're gonna get buried alive!
Nyar: I hope you brought your tools!
Lat: The sea is scary dangerous, and so is Dream Land!
Hotep: Now strap your life jackets on and ride the sound wave!
Nyarlathotep: (MAD CACKLE)
The Treasure Ship gets rocked.
Ebisu: oh no grab on, I lost control of the ship!
Azathoth: hmmmm things losing all meaning and dreams invading reality sounds like that one time. Whatcha guys gonna do about it?
Nyarlathotep: hey it's almost time for a new Halloween. Let's dance boys! (Nyarlathotep Clone spam)
Touji: there's too many of them! We're surrounded and lost sight of our goal!
Hotei: does that mean this problem will fix itself if we have an idea of where to go!?
Azathoth: you gotta know that much at least when you get dropped on the giant world map.
Alp: We gotta think of something! Sooo anyone have any good ideas?
Azathoth: haha buck passer
Azathoth stops laughing and rolls his eyes back while opening his mouth
???: This world gone mad is still a world, so none can escape the hierarchy. Majority rule determines the truth. If False Nyarlathotep is the majority, then the only thing that will matter is meaningless, mad laughter!
MC: WHAT JUST HAPPENED
Hotei: uhh, maybe it means we'll win if we laugh more than them? Easy peasy, lemme handle our destination!
MC: well we're after Hotei's body. Maybe his body and mind are drawn to each other?
Ebisu: WHATEVER, just tell me what to do!
Everyone looks at Hotei.
Hotei: (deep breath)
Hotei: HEY Y'ALL HOTEI, CALL BACK IF YOU CAN HEAR ME
Hotei?: BOY HOWDY
Everyone else: !!!???
Hotei: there we go, y'all! Time to go that a way!
Everyone else: ...
Hotei: w-what, did I bomb that?
Ebisu: Haha, oh Hotei you're so crazy
Azathoth: Teehee that was dumb. Oh no wait it's because it was dumb that worked...
MC: good going Hotei / that was so dumb it was great / behold the Treasure Ship Comedians!
(A) Hotei: I know right? Whew, I thought I was dying there
(B) Hotei: I know right? Ahaha--wait that wasn't a compliment was it?
(C) Ebisu: NOOO my reputation...!
Touji: s-so anyways we have a direction now! We charge towards where Hotei's voice came from!
Alp: right! time to believe in ourselves and go through!
Ebisu: turning the ship around! It'll be hard to push through, but I'll move the ship as fast as I can!
Hotei: umm I know you said you'll do it yourself but you sure, Ebisu? it's hard moving the ship, ain't it?
Ebisu: I've gotten used to it. The Seven Lucky Gods always say "believe!" And so is the memories of everyone the ship carried! You should know too!
Hotei: wat?
Ebisu: well I guess you'll remember when you get your lucky bag back since artifacts hold our memories
Hotei looks over the Treasure Ship and faintly remembers his old memories
Ebisu: it was rough a lot of times too, but...
Ebisu remembers a faint pain in his feet, and sometimes his legs would hurt since it became Halloween. He must have forgotten things too. It wasn't all fun and games back then, but he never stopped and made his way to this point. He didn't accept that point as an ending point, so the continuation of the legend of the Treasure Ship must be further ahead. He goes on seeking something that never existed before because there was something he was missing.
Ebisu: I don't want Tokyo and this journey to end. I want to talk with you more, Hotei.
Hotei: ...you got me there! There's gotta be more in the future!
Ebisu: moving the ship towards our goal! Time to cut through the waves and--ahh, what!? (gets pulled from behind)
Azathoth: No Ebisu, people don't just CUT through the winds and waves
Ebisu: w-what?
Azathoth: fine I'll say it since we don't have a navigator. RIDE the winds and waves, scrub!
Ebisu: ...oh! That is something Benten would say!
MC: wat / I get it!
(A) Azathoth: what did I JUST say, squirt?
(B) Azathoth: Bingo, squirt! We have only one option.
Azathoth: we laugh, together with them. We ride their wave, get them in a good mood, and he'll take us to where you guys wanna go. But don't get overtaken by madness as you do, or else it's game over.
Ebisu: I'll explain. So sailboats and yachts don't only go where the wind takes them. You can also zigzag into the direction of the wind and go at an angle. So we can just use the force of the data waves instead, right Azathoth?
Hotei: uhhhh, does this mean laughter can save the world!?
Alp: I'm gonna save Tokyo! With my dancing!
Touji: I suck at laughing, so Persona Change go!
Oni Touji: My time has come!
Hotei: let's go boys!
The Treasure Ship starts heading towards the voice, faster than before but still not fast enough.
Nyarlathotep: oooh, where we going?
Azathoth: hey you can defy me and laugh can't you? I collect bad ends because I have nothing else to do. But you know what? What kinda gamer would I be if I keep hitting the same bad end!?
Ebisu: There's a ton of them! I'm pushing the ship forward, but be careful of the guys coming from above too!
MC: Let's cut our way through!
Azathoth: That's not gonna be enough. Point your sword this way! Then we're going to move forward by cutting through dreams, further than the end I left off at!
Nyarlathotep: Wave battle, ride on!
BATTLE START (more happens after)
There was once a wandering monk in Hourai who carried a lucky bag. He was open-minded, never getting angry at anything. They say the lucky bag gained the faith as a bag of forgiveness that stowed away anger. The monk himself eventually gained a new name in another world, one of the Seven Lucky Gods, Hotei. The bag they say he has a bag that holds fortune instead. But if there's only one bag, then which one is real? That's why they split. That's all there was to it. And if this Halloween incident never happened, it probably would have stayed that way.
The present
Nyar: Wouldn't it be nice to keep laughing and if Halloween kept going on?
Lat: The world is so unfair! It doesn't care what you think!
Hotep: That's what trends are! Society can't see what's ahead!
Nyarlathoteps: If things end if you get candy, then things will never end if you don't! Let's laugh like crazy!
MC: I won't let Tokyo be destroyed! Police Henshin!
Oni Touji: Yes...ha ha ha...YES!
Alp: Dreams are brighter than this! That's how everyone's dreams I saw were like!
Hotei: Y'all I just got some new determination it's too early to retire! I wouldn't die even if I were killed! Ghost joke!
Azathoth: Hey, God of a Thousand Forms! Wouldn't you get sick of doing the same thing over and over!
Nyarlathotep: ...
Ebisu: Life can suck a lot, but we get past that! The Treasure Ship won't stop here because we are gonna go further on, to somewhere that isn't here!
MC: Ebisu, your necklace is glowing again!
Ebisu: What!?
Nyarlathotep: What? Nyarl feels...love!?
Infinite hands reach out from the necklace.
Necklace: WHAT THE HELL Y'ALL WHAT THE HELL Y'ALL (bitchslaps the Nyarlathoteps)
Azathoth: ha ha the real one's mad y'all
Nyarlathoteps: we give up!
MC: I can't believe they're getting whipped like this / what IS that necklace / chaos, chaos!
Ebisu: yeah I've never seen these hands before. But I have a memory anyway. Someone I paired with a lot who also had dark hands. Please help!
Necklace: (mimes a gesture)
Ebisu: (mimics the reverse handclap)
Ebisu performed the Ama no Sakate, the magic that hides everything!
Necklace: (seizes all the Nyarlahoteps, drags them into itself)
Nyarlathoteps: !!!???
Last Nyarlathotep to be dragged away: You win! Press shoot to advance to next stage! :)))
The party is teleported back to the ship. Cracks are appearing in the area.
Azathoth: lolbye Nyarlathotep and Not Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep: I SIIIIIMP! BON VOYAGE! (pop)
The next moment
Touji: so are we in the dream world now? It looks like another world instead
Alp: I think I've seen this somewhere before. Somewhere.
Azathoth: welp I haven't been to this stage before. Not like I know anything lmao
Ebisu: Today is just full of surprises. MC, do you know where this is?
MC: No / Yes I think
Hotei: y'all I think I know this joint
Ebisu: You DO? I mean it makes sense if this were Wa no Kuni
Hotei: I see this place in my dreams. I think it's called...Hourai.
---
Other Hotei: Oooh this servant of the Buddha walks a long long path until I reach the world I see in my dreams
Someone quietly gives thanks and makes wishes at the bottom of the sea, and he looks above to the sky-like surface of the water...
End of Episode Part
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