#flashback mode

That'll be D612, thank you!

* An Addison waves goodbye to a customer, a Jigsawry, who scuttles away with a cup of tea carefully balanced on their head.

Dhanush as young Paandi

* The camera it was taken on didn't have any video function. Instead, there are scrolling subtitles on the screen.

* Because of the limitations of the software, there are only a few colours it can display.

* RED text is Net. ORANGE text is Survey. BLUE text is Vivi. PURPLE text is Vivi's, at the time, new boyfriend. PINK text is Cam. UNCOLOURED text is Spamton.

* You press play.

"Alright, I've got the camera all set up!"

"It's not the shitty camera again, is it, Serv?"

"Hey, don't diss it!"

* ...

"...Yeah, it's the shitty camera."

"Nerd."

"Wow, is this what holidays are usually like with Addisons?"

"Haha, be careful, love, or else someone will think you're insulting us."

"I'm not, weewoo! I just-"

"Guys, shush! The countdown is beginning!"

"Oh, sorry!"

"Hehe, I know you aren't, love. I'm just teasing you."

* ...

"So, this is a Lightner tradition, huh?"

"Mhm. They do this 'balldrop' every year!"

"I wonder why, weewoo?"

"Well, Cam and Net have some theories-"

"You see, in Lightner reproduction-"

"I think it's because of this game called basketball!"

"Hey, don't interrupt me!"

"I interruped you cause your theory's gross!"

* The two quickly dissolve into lighthearted bickering.

"-but we don't actually know the answer, haha!"

"Guys! The countdown's about to start!"

"Oh, sorry Spammy!"

* There's a brief pause, and then both Net and Survey make disgusted noises.

"Gross!"

"Get a room!"

"Wh- h- I just-?!"

* There's the sound of raucous laughter. Even Vivi's boyfriend chuckles.

* Cam huffs, slightly muffled.

"Pfft, Cammy, get out of my hair. The ball's about to drop!"

"!"

"Does anything special happen when it drops, weewoo?"

"Shh! It's starting!"

"No love, nothing special. Oh, but there is this other tradition-"

"Shush!"

"Heh, alright, you'll find out soon enough."

"Guys, eleven seconds left!"

"!"

"!"

"!"

"!"

"I wonder how they do that with their mouths..."

"Ten!"

"Nine!"

"Eight!"

"Seven!"

"Six!"

"Oh, I should count too!"

"Five!"

"F-four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"HAPPY NEW YEAR 1997!"

* The room erupts into cheers, along with a sudden, startled beep from the Ambyu-Lance.

"Ah! A kiss?!"

"Mhm! That's the other tradition!"

"They say it's for luck!"

* A loud whirring comes from Cam's direction.

"Yuuuuck!"

"Grooooss!"

"Netty, you brought someone home just last week??"

"Shut up, haha!"

"Okay, okay, I'm turning off the camera now! Does anyone else have anything they want to say?"

"Oh! Hello to the future!"

"Here's to many more years of awesome sales!"

"Keep up the good work out there!"

"Um, take care of yourself, weewoo! Remember to take a break if you ever get sick!"

"If you're seeing this in the future, after I've gotten big, be sure to come over and kiss my [@%!&]!"

"Spam!"

"No-"

"BAHAHA-"

* The feed cuts off.

* ...

* ...You are crying.

* ...

* You rewind the tape to watch it again.

* Cammercial begins to awaken, drawn by a preparatory stirring of magic from Noelle.

* Slowly, they pull themself up from a listless bank of snow, looking out into the endless white landscape.

* The sky, instead of being the familiar grid they'd known all their life, is a reflection of their surroundings. To their right is the human Lightner, a blank expression adorning a sweaty face. They are entangled in bright red strings, originating from a pulsing point of Light in their chest. In the distance, appearing like the sun, is an unfamiliar Lightner.

[-... ------? ------, it's me, don't you recognize me?]

* The ring is jerked backwards, and their vision suddenly becomes the bright white of their jailer's gown. It amplifies their already blinding Light, reflected by the snow and then again by the glass of the ring, turning their world briefly into a kaleidoscope of command, pure oneness with their Angel that threatens to burn them alive.

* In this state, they lose a few minutes, unable to concentrate on anything other than the fear their jailer beloved Lightner feels. Any thought of their own is overshadowed and echoed into a chorus, wishing desperately to aid their warden Lightner.

> Proceed.

* The command lances through them like lightning, and wind begins to pick up chunks of the snow on the ground as weapon and wielder begin, in unison, to obey. The hand holding the ring falls limp, breaking the blinding feedback loop in favour of exposing them directly to the human's fervour.

* The other Lightner's words come to them in a fog, barely the flash of a firefly compared to the inferno blazing beside them.

[----, what are they talking about?!]

* ...

[Th-that's it, ----! I don't know what you're doing... But if you're hurting my friend ------...]

* For a moment, the sun shines brighter, and the Darkness in the air coalesces into a holy weapon at the Lightner's command.

[Then I have no choice but to stop you by force!]

[----, ready yourself!]

[W-wait, ------, stop!]

* Though their frenzy has subsided, the woozy Addison still aches to aid the Lightner, their own hand reaching out in unison with the wielder's.

[Run away!]

* With a chime, the snow begins to swirl around Cammercial in earnest, and the battle begins.

* Snowgrave.

[I'm telling you, I... I...] [I don't know what you're talking about.]

* Snowgrave.

[I'm telling you, stop!] [I... I don't know what you're talking about!]

* Snowgrave.

[...] [Fine. You want to see what happens so bad?] [Watch what happens when I cast a spell I don't know!]

* Snowgrave.

* ------ cast SNOWGRAVE!

* The raging snowstorm, kicked up in response to the party's TP, immediately stops. Each individual flake hangs suspended in the air, unmoving.

* Cammercial stands silent in the middle of it all, staring out through the ring at the expression of fear and confusion on the bird Lightner's face.

* And then it begins.

* With a horrifying twinkling sound, wielder and weapon lift into the air. The FREEZERING cracks down the middle, snow escaping into the open air. At first, it is only a few stray flakes. Then, with a deafening crack, the true snowstorm begins.

* In the center of it all floats the source of the sound, an Addison with snow gushing from their chest.

* Even with a full bar's worth of TP, the wielder does not have enough within them to cast the spell properly, and so it draws from their rings. The spell begins to take directly from their Pseudosoul, flakes of snow tearing out of their body with a vicious cracking sound, taking shards of Darkness together with what little Light they have, and in a desperate attempt not to completely shatter, cracks spread across their body, doing their best to prevent a hole from fully opening up in their chest.

* Frost covers their body, freezing whatever is furthest from the burning core of Light, causing further damage to their body as ice drives itself into semi-liquid Darkness, forcing it to full solidity. The world around them blurs into a fugue of thrashing white, as though they are trapped by the ocean's frothing waves.

* Just when they are nearly spent, the metaphorical backup generator kicks on, and the snow around them turns an awful red as the THORNRING supplements the spell with the energy taken from its wielder, converted into snow to further power the awful spell.

* Strings cut, the Addison collapses limply to the glass bottom of the ring, watching snow escape in spirals through the cracks in their prison, watching the other Lightner's final expression of fear, watching the human stand trembling beside them with an iron grip on their shield.

* The weapon closes their eyes before the spell can reach its conclusion, desperately trying to avoid its inevitable result.

* There is a clang as the Lightner's holy weapon falls to the ground, abandoned for the time being.

[What...]

[What happened?]

[There was so much snow, I couldn't see anything...]

[I...]

* The weapon barely notices as the scenery changes and their wielder stands, perfectly visible to them with the ring now empty of snow.

[I don't feel so good.]

* The weapon can barely bring themself to feel at all.

[I think. I'm going to go home.]

* The wielder begins to move, and the weapon's vision beguns to blur as their damaged body forces a shutdown.

[SPADE PIN]: A hulking pin symbolizing the alliance between the Knight and Card Kingdom. Unfurls into a mighty suit of armour.

+4 DEF