Reverie wasn't a stranger to failure and the ensuing punishment that came with it. Over the years, he had started succeeding more often than he failed, but he was human like everyone else. He made mistakes. He tried to make sure they were small enough to be inconsequential, but there were moments when that wasn't possible. His past mission, for example, was a huge failure. He had failed to capture the targets or any members of the Syndicate. Dream had refrained from mentioning in the reports that Reverie purposefully made a deal with the enemies after lecturing his sidekick long into the night. Despite how angry Dream seemed, he finished his long speech by saying he was merely concerned for a lot of different reasons. Dream rubbed his eyes with a drawn out sigh before saying that he was sending Reverie and Fantasy on a stake out mission, just the two of them, as his punishment. Reverie bit back any retorts he had. Dream knew how much he hated stake out missions. He had trouble sitting still and quiet for long periods of time (hell, even short periods of time).

Fantasy knew this, too. She asked Dream why she needed to be punished, and Dream told her that she needed to go on a mission since she skipped out on the last one. Fantasy's face turned red as her cheeks puffed out like all the words she wanted to stay trapped with the breath she wouldn't release. Dream gave them both fond smiles, ruffling their hair. They both stumbled back to fix their hair which made Dream laugh. The hero wished him luck while saying he had to attend a meeting for all the heads of the districts while they were on their mission.

That's how they ended up in this situation. They were sitting in a car borrowed from the Hero's Association. Reverie was in the driver's seat. Fantasy was in the passenger seat, her head leaning back against the window while her feet were in Reverie's lap, her knees bending over the middle console. The car would have been clean if the two of them hadn't thrown random things for entertainment in the backseat. They even had cartons of food or boxes of snacks, some of them opened with missing food. Fantasy had a newspaper opened in her lap with a pen pressed against her lips as she thoughtfully gazed at the crossword. Reverie was staring at the street in front of them. He was waiting for something to happen. He hoped their targets would come out soon to start some beef with the other rival gang. He really couldn't stand sitting in the car any longer.

"What is the name of that actor that played in that one drama about doctors?" Fantasy asked out loud. This wasn't the first time she asked him a question regarding her crossword. She had decided on doing the impossible one even though she didn't know much about pop culture. "He was a dirty blonde, I think. I'm pretty sure he's character's name was Daniel or David or some D named shit."

"Your name starts with a D," Reverie pointed out as he thought about it. He was pretty sure he knew what she was talking about, but he couldn't remember the actor's name. He shrugged his shoulders.

"You're useless," Fantasy groaned as she kicked his thigh with her heel. She wrote something in the newspaper before looking up at him again. "You might know this one. What is the name of the god in the Four Pillars religion that controlled storms? It's seven letters long."

"Foolish," Reverie answered. He knew this one because he had been investigating Church Prime a few weeks ago. Him and the other sidekicks had met Ankh who was working for Croupier. Ankh had told them about the creation and destruction of the world according to the religious ideas that Church Prime believed in. It had been interesting to hear, but it hadn't brought much clarification to their plans. It did enable him to meet Prescient and receive the rest of the prophecy. That meeting did ensure a chance meeting with Banshee, and that allowed him to discover the existence of the Egg. Regardless of the importance those myths would have, he didn't regret meeting or talking with Ankh. He would have liked to know why Ankh thought they needed to know all of that, but he would have to be satisfied with what he got.

"Huh. Why would a god be named something like that? Wouldn't you want a name that strikes fear into the hearts of your enemies? Unless you aren't a war god, but even then you want a name people won't feel embarrassed about respecting," Fantasy said after putting the name into the seven squares that it belonged in. It fit with everything else that was conjoined to it, but a name like that didn't feel like it should be there.

"He was named by the gods XD and Kristin, the gods of creation and destruction, respectively. They gave him that shitty name to make themselves look better. He was a new god with a domain they weren't allowed to touch. They were being fucking children. Foolish kept the name to make a fucking point. He wouldn't let those shitty gods degrade him like that. He would take the name they burdened him with and make it a blessing," Reverie said. He didn't want to admit that he looked into religion for more than just analysis purposes. He wanted to know more about the four gods. Everything he read about Foolish seemed to resonate with him, though. He was born from the feuding of the two great gods. He was cast aside by those gods, and he was given degrotive name to make sure he knew his place. Foolish chose the mortals over the gods, but they were disgusted by him. The mortals created their own god to worship, leaving Foolish in the dust. Even his creation of the books that allowed people to persist when they should have died or were supposed to be dead only landed him in trouble with Kristin instead of getting any renown for humans. Of course, none of this was said explicitly, but Reverie was good at reading between the lines. Foolish had been cursed, after all, and no one seemed to care. He was considered a pillar of reality, but he didn't have anyone who cared enough about him to discover the details of his curse or how to undo it. Reverie wondered if he would be like that. If he would one day die, and no one would care.

"That's so awesome! He's the god of storms and underdogs!" Fantasy exclaimed with a brilliant laugh that echoed all around them. Reverie was startled, at first, but he soon allowed a giddy laugh to fall from his own lips in response. The two of them were breathlessly giggling for some time before they had settled down. Fantasy nudged his side. "How come you know so much? I thought the only god you believed in was yourself."

"I'm not a shitty god. I'm just a Big Man, the biggest of them all, but a man nonetheless," Reverie said. He had never considered himself a god. If he were one, a lot of things would be different. He would have punished Schlatt, for one thing, and taken Tubbo somewhere far away where he could smile all the time without fear of his father. He would allow Ranboo to walk away from the Syndicate without any repercussions because he would have dismantled the organization with his godly power. He would take back Purpled, the boy who had been sold by his hero to the villains for no reason other than he started to lack usefulness (even though Purpled was one of the most competent people he knew). He would have rescued Deo before his untimely demise, and he would have been able to save Hannah all those years ago. He would be able to spend all of his time with Wilbur and Sam. He never would have let Nemesis' friend die, and he would have made it to where Niki never left. If he were a god, the world would be a far more peaceful place. But, a voice whispered, if he were a god, would he care about any of the people he mentioned before? He technically never would have met them. Not in the same way he had in this life.

"You're a child," Fantasy said with an eye roll as she looked back at her newspaper with renewed interest.

"I'm older than you!" Reverie said with disbelief sharp in his tone. Fantasy stuck her tongue out at him. Reverie rolled his eyes. If he were a god, he would have wanted to be better friends with Fantasy. He wouldn't have to worry about people hurting those he loved if he were a god. But he wasn't a god. He was a mortal that was struggling in the world. He had lost people, and there were people that he needed to protect. He needed to solve the mystery that had been plaguing his life for weeks now. His eyes flickered over to Fantasy. Maybe she knew...

"Hey, I need to talk to you about something that's really damn important. I want your opinion on it, no matter how shitty it is," Reverie said. Fantasy gave him her undivided attention. He took a deep breath before telling her about everything. He started with his meeting with the other sidekicks. He continued through every moment after that. He told her about each clue that led to other clues, and all the answers he was able to gather that only led to even more questions. He spoke of the Marionettes, the Egg, Church Prime, and anything else he could think of. He tried to refrain from bashing anyone too much, but he let a few insults slip about Minotaur. He said a few things about Dream, but he made sure none of them were inherently horrible. Fantasy listened patiently, nodding her head slowly as she listened to each word.

"Wow, you really are an idiot," Fantasy said a few seconds after Reverie finished. She sat up, pulling her legs towards her chest. She stared intently at Reverie. "Dream is trying to achieve something. In this pursuit, he accidentally created the Egg. We know this because the Egg has the same power as Dream. The Egg has these thick vines that are just like Dream's strings, and they are able to manipulate objects. Sure, they work differently, but Dream would have been experimenting with his powers when he made this. The Egg took over most people in the Badlands. One of the people that weren't corrupted was Alyssa, and she was trying to get you to help her homeland. Dream has been trying to gain control of the Badlands, probably to make sure that the Egg and his involvement in it doesn't spread. I can't tell you where the Marionettes come from, if it is the fault of a god, but they were created as karmic retribution for Dream's actions. They are constantly trying to steal his powers, after all. Something didn't like that Dream was trying to gain power over creation, and they were the ones to make the Marionettes."

"For fuck's sake, why didn't I think of that? It makes perfect sense with everything I've learned so far," Reverie said, hitting his head against the steering wheel. Fantasy snickered at him. Reverie gave her an unimpressed look. "Since you're acting like a fucking genius, how do you beat the Egg and the Marionettes?"

"No clue. But if they were created in Church Prime, that may be where they can be defeated. Perhaps you should exorcize them," Fantasy said with a shrug. She looked out the window, suddenly perking up. "Look, there's our villains! Let's go fight them, and turn them into the police."