The smell of burning fire fills your nose.

You hear the wind rush by your ears.

You feel sand brush against your hands and face, including your warm tears; it stings when it touches your cuts.

You can taste the disgusting bitterness of blood in your mouth.

The black sky above you glows slightly with the mirage of colors that flash between the cracks.

...

You see....

You see your friends....

....

They're not breathing.

Jade Harely, your biological sister...

Her white dog ears are no longer twitching.

Rose Lalonde, your therapist of sorts and best friend...

Her knowing smile is gone from her lips.

Dave Strider, your best bro and once-in-a-while a**hole...

His ridiculous ranting and rapping has ceased.

...

Your troll friends' blood is splattered on the ground.

The colors of candy-red, jade, teal, cerulean and purple mix into the sand.

The ghost army was also gone.

...

The Sprites were also gone.

Davepetasprite^2 and Jasprosesprite^2 disintegrated into lights when they died

Your other human friends were also killed in battle.

Jake English.

Roxy Lalonde.

Jane Crocker.

Dirk Strider.

...

Your name is John Egbert...

And you and your friends have lost the game.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Your blue eyes snap up in slight surprise and fear.

Lord English.

A green, cherub with a skull for a face.  His eyes were 8-balls.  White pants adorned his legs and lime-green suspenders held them up a bit. He towered over you; he was nearly five times your height. 

The cherub had a sister.  Read: had.  Once Lord English found that his sister, Calliope, was alive, he killed her on the spot.  Her lime-colored blood stained the ground.

Lord English gazes down at you mockingly; his sharp, golden tooth glinted in the dim lighting of the area.

"ARE YOU REALLY THE ONES THAT WERE MEANT TO STOP ME?  PATHETIC."

You support yourself on the hilt of your blue hammer, the Warhammer of Zillyhoo; your glasses were cracked, but you did your best glare of defiance through them.

Lord English sneered; his voice thundered out in the clearing.

"AND YOU'RE STILL TRYING TO STOP ME. YOUR DEATH WILL BE HEROIC INDEED, BUT IT WILL BE IN VAIN. I SEEK THE DESTRUCTION OF THIS UNIVERSE, AND I AM OMNIPOTENT. WHAT CAN YOU POSSIBLY DO TO STOP ME, JOHN EGBERT?"

You pause.

You're already losing feeling in your left arm and leg.

Yet you took a step forward and dragged your hammer with you through the sand; your blue eyes glowed slightly.  A whisper of wind drifted by your ears.

Lord English chuckled roughly.

"BRAVE. BRAVE...BUT FOOLISH."

The cherub raised a large hand up, prepared to strike you.

You grip your hammer tightly in your right hand.

Lord English brought his hand down.

Slash!

Your blue eyes widen in shock at the familiar Welsh sword stabbed into Lord English's leg, causing the cherub's attack to falter.

"G-God...d**n it...E-Egbutt..."

You dart your gaze to the side and widen your eyes as a certain ash-blonde attempts to stand up.

"DAVE!"

Lord English turned his head to look at the Knight of Time; he grinned maliciously.

"OH?"

Dave coughed up some blood as he clutched his stomach; his bright, red eyes were visible as he looked at you.  The aviators you got him for his birthday had long been destroyed in the battle against Lord English.

The ash-blonde quirked a shaky smirk at you.

"Th-Thought I was...dead, Eg-Egderp?"

Lord English was suddenly towering over Dave.

You knew your best bro was a strong fighter, but he looked so d**n fragile at the moment.

Dave sends a sneer at Lord English.

"P-Picking...on my...best bro?  H-Heh....n-not gonna...f-f***ing happen, pal."

Lord English chuckled darkly.

"WITH THE STATE YOU'RE IN?  I THINK NOT."

The cherub sent a punch at Dave's gut;  a flash of white light blasted Lord English in the stomach.

The Seer of Light has one of her wands raised at Lord English; blood dribbles sluggishly from her lips to her chin.

"Rose..."

She also struggles to stand up.

"I...second your th-thoughts....Dave...."

Lord English barked out a laugh; Dave limped to help Rose to her feet.

"WHAT'S THIS!?  YOU LITTLE INSECTS ARE COMING BACK FROM THE DEAD?  I HAD THOUGHT FOR SURE YOU ALL DIED FROM YOUR SILLY, HEROIC DEATHS."

The green beast lifted a clawed hand up to crush the ash-blonde siblings.

You set up a barrier of wind around Dave and Rose to protect them.

Lord English grunted at the barrier and sent a glare over at you.

"NOW YOU'RE JUST BEING A NUISANCE, JOHN EGBERT."

The cherub unhinged his jaw slightly; you see a set of pool balls in his mouth.

Sweat and blood rolls down the side of your face when the attack was aimed at you.

You send an apologetic look at Dave and Rose, who were sending you worried looks.

Sorry Dave, Rose.

You prepare for the feeling of pool balls shooting through y--

Suddenly, a green glow surrounds you.

You find yourself teleported next to your biological sister, the Witch of Space, who was also alive--just barely.

She smiles weakly at you as she also teleported Dave and Rose next to you.

"J-John....I'm s-sorry...."

Jade slumps against your shoulder; you ignored the fact that her broken, round glasses dug into your skin slightly.  You held her tightly to your chest, feeling her labored breathing.

She must've used the last bit of strength she had to save Dave, Rose and you.

Sh**.

Why did this have to happen?

You thought the game was won when you gave a new home for the Genesis Frog.

But the moment you touched the doorknob of the white house on the lily pad, you were immediately sent here to this f***ing desert.

Jade presses a cold, shaky hand to your cheek; her eyes were still as green as ever as you looked at them.  She then drops her hand down, leaving a slight smudge of blood on your cheek.  But yet again, you didn't give a sh**.

You lift your gaze to look at Lord English, who made gagging noises.

"OH, SO SWEET.  IT MAKES ME F***ING SICK."

You search through your Strifedeck and pull out Fear No Anvil.  Perhaps you could buy some time for your frien--

"John...stop...I-I know that l-look on your face."

You turn to look at Rose, who had a sad, fond smile on her lips.

"Y-You don't need t-to fight now....."

"But Rose--!"

"Th-There's....something e-else you need to...do..."

She places a pale finger on your forehead; there was a brief glow of yellow.

You gasp slightly in surprise when a mirage of images flashed before your eyes; it suddenly stopped.

"R-Rose?  Wh-What did you do...?"

"I sh-shared my powers w-with you.  It's only a-a little, but...i-it'll.....help...."

Her voice grew weary and she slumped slightly onto your other shoulder.

There was a glow of green on your left arm; Jade giggled softly as the glow died down.

"N-Now you have s-some of my powers too...."

You feel a light poke on your chest--above your heart.

Dave had a small smirk on his face as a red glow surrounded your chest area.

"Welp, E-Egbutt, be the f***ing hero y-you were....m-meant to be...."

Suddenly, the world flashed white around you.

You remember seeing Lord English's enraged expression over Dave's shoulder before everything disappeared.

~~

==> John: Wake up.

Your blue eyes snap open.

You see...a ceiling you haven't seen in a very, very, very long time.

The smell of Betty Crocker brand pastries fills the air.

You feel....warm...and safe....

The mattress below you feels like a dream.

But you just know.

You f***ing know that this is not a d**n dream.

You sit up in bed and find your glasses on a nightstand beside your mattress.  Yet again, you hardly recall it being there before...

You put the square glasses over your nose and blink your eyes rapidly.

Cautiously, you climb out of your....bed.

Your wounds are gone.

You stand up on slightly shaky legs.

==> John: Look around.

You do just that, finding posters of your favorite movies...your giant chest of prank tools...your computer desk.....

Holy sh**.

...

It's your room.

==> John: Check the calendar.

Why would you do that?

==> John: Just do it.

You walk over to the calendar.

It takes all of your willpower to not collapse on the floor when you see the date.

4/13/2009

Sh**.

Sh**.

Holy sh**.

==> John: Pinch yourself.

Ouch!

Okay, this isn't a dream.

But then....was SBURB just a dream?

Ping!

You widen your eyes.

That was the familiar chime of...Pesterchum....

==> John: Don't freak out, but check who's pestering you!

You open a window and look at the text with bated breath.

-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] at 16:13 --

TG: hey so what sort of insane loot did you rake in today

You stare at the familiar red text on the screen.

You think you've forgotten how to breathe.

==> John: Breathe.  You're the f***ing Heir of Breath!

You take a deep breath and let it out.

Slowly, you answered, trying to remember the day that happened seven years ago.

EB: i got a little monsters poster, it's so awesome. i'm going to watch it again today, the applejuice scene was so funny.

TG: oh he** that is such a coincidence i just found an unopened container of apple juice in my closet it is like f***ing christmas up in here

You smile as the conversation goes on smoothly, until...

TG: but who cares about this lets stop talking about it

TG: did you get the beta yet

TG: egderp

TG: yo

TG: you still there

Your stare at your screen with wide eyes.

The game....it was real.  SBURB--!

You take a few more breaths and quickly respond.

EB: no.

EB: did you?

TG: man i got two copies already

You swallow.

That's right.

And then the copies would get destroyed by some apple juice....and then...

==> John: Come to a realization of where you are now.

You're in the past.

Before SBURB started.

Before all of the he** and sh** went down.

A few images flash past your eyes and you gasp in slight alarm.

You can see that Dave was going to ask you about the beta copies.

Ping!

You look at your screen.

TG: is it there

TG: plz say yes

TG: maybe you can play with TT shes been pestering me all day about it

Did you...did you just see....the future?

"I sh-shared my powers w-with you.  It's only a-a little, but...i-it'll.....help...."

You think back to Rose's....last words.

Oh sh**.

You quickly check your Strifedeck.

Your hammers were all there.

You look at you left arm; you a feel a strange, warm sensation near your shoulder.

You cautiously roll your sleeve up and find....the white Godtier symbol for Space.

You quickly start to pull your entire shirt off  and find a familiar red gear for Time was over your heart.

You fumble around your room for a mirror and check your forehead.

A yellow sun for Light was present.

You swallow.

Thankfully, your bangs naturally hid the small sun symbol from sight; you let the black locks cover the middle of your forehead.

Ping!

TG: hey

TG: dude

TG: why arent you responding anymore

TG: i thought we had something special egbert

TG: now im sad

TG: youve broken my heart into tiny pieces

TG: look at these shards and tears

TG: like sh** whos gonna clean this up

EB: you're such a dork, dave. :B

TG: woah you finally responded

EB: :BBBBBB

TG: youre being weird now

TG: wtf

==> John: Cry tears of joy.

You do that gladly.

You have another chance to save them.

And you're not gonna let this chance slide away from you.

Your name is John Egbert, and you've just gone back in time.