Peridot, in an attempt to steal the Crystal Shack's deed, summons a sinister group of demons called the Zodiac Demons to aid her. Chara, Frisk, and Asriel must venture together through Pearl's mind to stop the Demons' raid, and Chara is going to learn along the way what her great aunt truly thinks about her.
Tropes in this chapter:
- Art Shift: Frisk's semi-imaginary friends are cartoons from The Golden Age of Animation.
- Antagonist Title: More subtle compared to other examples, but... The Zodiac Demons are technically "Nightbandits", in the sense that they invade dreams in the night to get something they want.
- Big Damn Heroes: Chara comes to the rescue seconds before Frisk and Asriel can be finished off for sure.
- Big "NO!": Frisk shouts one when the Bendy trio dies for the sake of her and Asriel.
- The Beastmaster: Frisk's method of fighting back against the Zodiac Demons is to call for the help of neon animals.
- Came Back Strong: Frisk's last offense is to call back the Bendy trio (who previously sacrificed themselves to keep her and Asriel safe) back to life to play a swing version of their cartoon's theme song.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Bottomless Hole from "Stories Under Earth".
- Cliffhanger: The chapter ends with Peridot boasting her new power over the Shack as she destroys a part of it.
- Darker and Edgier: The beginning of the story's darkest point.
- Deal with the Devil: Peridot makes a deal with the Zodiac Demons. They invade Pearl's mind and discover the combination to her safe, and in return, she helps them with their mysterious goals.
- Dream Walker: The Zodiac Demons are creatures that live inside the other's sleeping dreams and when inside one's mind, can bend it to their own will. Considering who they are, though, don't expect them to do anything pleasing to those.
- Dual Wield: Chara arms herself with a pair of knives once she learns about the Reality Warper capacities of the group.
- Eldritch Abomination: The monsters of the week latter promoted to new bad guys, the Zodiac Demons, fit the bill.
- Establishing Character Moment: One of the Zodiac Demons' first acts after being summoned is to courteously offer items to Peridot... Except they are covered in
blood. Even Peridot thinks it's too low. - Exact Eavesdropping: Chara overhears Pearl, but misses out a piece of context and, as a consequence, misinterprets her opinion on her.
- Heroic BSoD:
- The Bendy trio is shocked after finding out they were Unwitting Pawns to the Zodiac Demons all along. Kind of subverted that they let go of the worry and grief easily and still keep fighting for Frisk's side.
- Right afterward, Asriel spots and finds out Chara is catatonic over the possibility that Pearl's sweetness for her might'vee been faked all along.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Of Taking the Bullet variety. Frisk's imaginary friends, the Bendy trio, sacrifice themselves by pushing Frisk and Asriel out of the way of the Zodiac Demon's attack so they can complete their journey. They eventually get better.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: The Zodiac Demons once they decide the Dreemurr kids had enough fun. In the blink of an eye, Zalgo punches out the dreamscape, they congratulate them as worthy opponents and leave them behind a warning of future events.
- Impact Silhouette: Done by the Zodiac Demons in the dreamworld's Crystal Shack.
- Insult Backfire: Slenderman is genuinely confused over him and his buds being insulted as clods by Peridot. Averted when they are insulted by Frisk; Slenderman severely punishes her.
- Journey to the Center of the Mind: In a nutshell, the plot of the chapter.
- Let's Get Dangerous!:
- The Zodiac Demons once they decide to stop playing the funny villains card and actually destroy Frisk and Asriel's dream bodies.
- Asriel becomes a Barrier Warrior and gains Shock and Awe powers with the dreamscape's capacities and doesn't fool around with those skills.
- Misery Builds Character: Despite being unconditionally sweet to Chara, Pearl uses Tough Love on her so she can face the world.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Frisk is so emotionally shaken with the Bendy trio's sacrifice, she actually insults the Zodiac Demons with an, for her, untypically strong insult.You... BASTARD MONSTERS!
- Once More, with Clarity: Chara sees a door with a memory of Pearl apparently calling her a loser. Later, it's actually revealed that's her mimicking the children that mocked her at childhood, and she actually loves Chara and enforces tough lessons on her out of love. However, Poor Communication Kills resulted in Chara previously doubting if Pearl's doting love towards her was really genuine.
- Pet the Dog: Slenderman summons Frisk's favorite 30's characters from her imagination as a consolation gift for her failed assault on him. Subverted when actually they unwittingly worked as spying cameras to check up on the Dreemurrs as well.
- The fact the Demons still kept the Bendy trio alive when they became byproducts of Frisk's imagination bringing them back to life, however, could be a minor double subversion.
- Reality Warper: Anyone in the dreamscape can materialize whatever they want.
- Season Finale: The first part of the ending of the first arc.
- Technically-Living Zombie: Frisk becomes one after insulting the Zodiac Demons. Her clothes become ripped, one eye of hers hangs by its bowel, and her voice in-universe becomes weak and husky.
- Torso with a View: Chara receives big claw marks from Zalgo. It's fixed later by Pearl's mindscape counterpart.
- Turned Against Their Masters: The Bendy trio ultimately rebel from their true purpose as Unwitting Pawns and living spy cameras and fight against their summoners, the Zodiac Demons, ultimately giving their life to their true friend, Frisk.
- The Unreveal: It's not revealed-
- What is behind the vending machine of the Crystal Shack, as Pearl's memory talking about it is abruptly interrupted by Asriel. Probably intentional of his part, though, since he's actually a disguised X.
- The part of Peridot's deal she'd need to fulfill since she breaks ties with the Demons before she can pay them.
- Wham Episode: Not only because of the cliffhanger but because of the debut of the Zodiac Demons.
- Wham Line: Somewhat minor, but what Zalgo says to Bendy after he tries to defend the Dreemurr's honor reveals that Slenderman's apparent Pet the Dog moment of bringing Frisk's favorite 30's cartoon to life was not what it seemed to be.Shut up, spying cameras. Slender didn't summon you to fight us.
