Gracie Grace smiles proudly at the trio.  “So, you and your grandkids joined Patriarch in Storyboard XI.  See?  You did meet him, just like you always wanted.”

    Vahnna smiles.  “I did, but we still have to talk about what happened next.  I wasn’t the only one pretending to be someone else.  It’s a disgusting feeling to have your life given back to you by someone claiming everything else they took from you was an accident caused by their rebellious creations, only for them to reveal, no, they ARE everything you’ve ever hated.  Maxwell Blaze was the SAME Max that tormented my parents.  He was the SAME Epoch Blaze that killed my father, and even though Kinjo was the one to kill my mother, it was by Epoch’s direct order.  I was to be next if the others hadn’t interfered.”

    As Vahnna goes on, she continues to hug Kammy in order to stay strong and not weep.  Patriarch rescues her by taking over.  “The world was in its darkest hour, with Epoch Blaze having spread his programming throughout all the technology on and above the globe right as some very unlikely heroes stepped forward.  While Warner, Powerhouse Jackie and the others battled Epoch Blaze’s duplicate bodies, it was determined a genius would be needed to hack Blaze’s computer.”

    Paul crosses his arms.  “I’m very glad that Epoch Blaze is Max, because that’ll make it much easier to differentiate him from Ultimax.  Max this, Max that; it’s just too much to remember.  Also, I’m assuming his assistant was his version of Melody, the same one from the Sacred Blade era.”

    Vahnna applauds his attentiveness.  “Exactly!  In fact, General Kat of FRANK was also his version of Eulogy in disguise.  You haven’t heard the last of her either.  Unfortunately, however, the story gets worse.  While Charlotte Tank was teleported in to handle the software issues, with her and her husband having the most hilarious romantic argument in history the whole time he was guarding her at the computer, Charlotte’s victory was the world’s defeat.  When she succeeded in deleting Epoch Blaze from the world’s computers, this caused a total shutdown.  We. Lost. Everything.”

    Noin shutters.  “I remember watching reruns of cartoons I used to watch as a kid to get my mind off my missing grandmother when everything went black.  I was so annoyed and just sat there in the dark, waiting for the power to come back on.  Then, my mind slowly filled with all sorts of bad scenarios.  Ha ha, they had nothing on what reality had in store.  I lay on my bed, thinking about Grandmother, and eventually dozed off when I woke up to tremors.  It was highly unsettling; I’ll tell you that.  It persisted through the night, but this was only the beginning.  The next morning, the sun brought with it more earthquakes, along with several tsunamis miles away all along the coasts.  All technology in the world was lost, including Hero and Sarah, including my cousin’s two angels who were her best friends, including…including…Volcano Spa.  The entire thing exploded.  Oh, you think this was terrifying?  Part of Epoch Blaze’s shutdown program made sure to pull the space city out of orbit before killing its power.  Yes, that thing crashed on Earth.  By the time the total destruction was done, a significant portion of the map was underwater, and our society was sent back to the equivalent of Storyboard XI’s 1890’s.”

    Everyone stands around, shaking their heads in dismay.

    Patriarch tries to brighten the tone.  “It took time, but everyone eventually pulled together to help the recovery progress go by much more quickly.  Before I was kidnapped by an anxious, widowed queen who wanted to spend the rest of her restored life with me, we all got together in Ruyngard for a glorious picnic that warms my heart every time I think of it.”

    With a radiant smile adorning her beautiful face, Vahnna pushes herself into Patriarch.  “It warms my heart as well, precious husband.”

    Duplica laughs and says with a smirk on her face, “Was that addressed to your man, or was it a subtle gloat of victory to the kids, V?”

    Didi quickly replies, “Both, obviously.  I mean, if they didn’t figure out I married him by now, they’ll probably flunk your class.”

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