Author's Note

And, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Binding of Isaac: Emancipation! Another obscure crossover that I'm doing, inspired by the incredible The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, the original The Binding of Isaac, and it's DLC the Wrath of the Lamb. This chapter is really fast-paced and short, I know, but how do you describe a game that either kills you in the first minute or takes five to complete? Anyway, here's the chapter, criticism/praise and rating are appreciated, enjoy.

Chapter 1: These Chains That Bind Me

Isaac and his mother lived in a small house on a hill. Isaac’s mother was content to sit on the couch and watch Christian broadcasts, while Isaac doodled and played with his toys, as children were wont to do.

And they were both happy.

Then one day, Isaac’s mother heard a voice from the heavens. It told her that her son was corrupted by sin, and she must cleanse it.

Each time it spoke she responded, “Yes, my Lord.”

Upon the third time the voice thundered, it commanded, “You have done well, but I still question your faith in me. I require a sacrifice to prove your faith. Your son, Isaac, will be this sacrifice.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

Isaac’s mother went into the kitchen and grabbed a butcher knife, muttering while waddling to Isaac’s room.

Isaac watched in horror through a sizable crack in the door, tears beginning to stream down his face as his crazed mother stormed to him. He looked about his room, trying the barred windows, seeking escape, but there was none. Then, just as his mother slammed the door open, he lifted the rug and found a trapdoor.

He jumped down.

Isaac sobbed, his tears lifting away from his face and launching ahead, impacting the monstrosity before him. He stood within a room of the massive basement beneath his house, a labyrinth he had no previous knowledge of. “Why, mother, why?” Echoed throughout, the words ricocheting off the rocky walls.

The body before him exploded in a puff of gore, flesh and blood spattering in a small radius as his tears dealt the final blow. The Isaac-replica was now just a pile of mush, it’s terrible smile and tears of blood would hurt him no more. The doors set in the walls creaked apart, the chamber opened once more. One door, however, remained shut, it’s golden edged key-hole holding it. Isaac walked forward, uncertainty in his eyes, before pushing the key he had found in, slowly twisting it. The doors immediately vanished, revealing an empty room before him.

Well, almost empty. On a stone pedestal sat a shovel. Just an ordinary shovel, a mere spade. Isaac stepped towards it, before reaching his arms out to grab the tool. It disappeared in a puff of smoke, only to form in his arms. Isaac looked down at the shovel in wonder, before plunging the head into the ground.

Isaac wiped the sweat off his brow. He had dug from floor to floor, each area appearing darker than the last. The one he was currently in was made of flesh, bones supporting the ceiling, blood dripping all about the forsaken child. He dug one last hole, jumping into the abyss below.

Isaac landed hard on an unforgiving rock floor. He stumbled to his feet, wincing as the many scrapes on his knees voiced their denial. He looked about the dark gray room, before his eyes rested on a large golden chest. He stepped to it, eyes wide in wonder at the beautiful box. He pushed the lid open, eyes glistening as light burst from inside, reflecting off the streams of tears. He shoved the lid all the way up, before leaning over.

A massive hoof of black smashed into the ground behind Isaac. Slowly he turned his head, only to find an enormous goat leg, which left a crater in the stone. His lip quivered, before another leg came down, barely missing the poor child. Isaac quickly clambered into the chest, taking one last look at the dark room, before shutting the lid in on himself. One of the hooves picked up, before coming down on the chest uselessly.

The chest vanished in a burst of tears, the water causing Satan to roar in pain. And Isaac's mother's voice could be heard, screaming in anger along with the Devil.

Princess Celestia sighed, gazing about the hall. Yet another noble had pled their case with her, this one wishing for a particularly preposterous notion- a tax on taxes. She had swiftly denied it, then found her Day Court was open. She had barely finished looking about the empty room, only for a large, golden chest to appear in a flash of white. It landed on the marble floor with a thwump, as well as a muffled “Ouch!”

Celestia blinked. She stepped forward to the object, before poking a hoof to the lid. There was no response. Then the chest began rattling, accompanied with heavy breathing from inside. Nervously- although she would never admit it- Princess Celestia opened the lid with her magic, only to find… Something, inside.

And that something was crying, holding onto a shovel, and looking up at the Princess with the most terrified eyes. The creature’s lower lip quivered, it’s snout red and dripping snot. It looked to have been crying for some time. Then it spoke, in a heartbroken voice, one that sounded like a colt had been shedding tears for hours, “Please don’t hurt me…” And it curled up, holding it’s forelegs above it’s head, dropping the shovel in the process.

The Princess was shell-shocked. Everything was happening too quickly. Something inside her stirred, and almost automatically, she picked up the creature in her magic and held it to her coat, letting it cry into her pristine fur. Celestia sighed, wondering just what exactly she had gotten into, and what she was caring for.

“Shhhhh, it’s okay… I won’t hurt you.” Celestia spoke, stroking its mane-less head and letting it relax.

It lifted it’s head away from her shoulder, looking at her, and asked a question she could not answer to this day. “Why?”

Celestia blinked, before replying with a question of her own, "I... Do not know. What are you?"

It sniffled, before wiping its snout with a claw, the limb coming away covered in mucus, "My name is Isaac."

Celestia smiled at Isaac, before bringing him into the warm embrace of her wings. "Then please, do not cry anymore, Isaac. You're safe."