The Grand Crossover RP - Pathway to Origin [IC/PG-13/Moved to NCM for Finale]

[Dad]

Sector C-4, Night

 

Kratos was engulfed in blood.  "Grr.  What!?"  But before he could react he was being launched miles away to the other side of the Peripheral Forest.  When he was finally freed, he shook his head rapidly to clear his vision, and looked up to what was, he assumed, some kind of demon.  It tilted it's head at Kratos, as if confused.  "Could Hades' minions really have followed me this far?  And judging by that look on your face, you're not one of his more intelligent creations," Kratos said mockingly.

 

He dusted off his boots and looked back to where he was before he arrived in. .. 

 

---

 

Sector B-2, Day

 

"Where the hell am I now?"  At first, Kratos paid the creature no mind.  He assumed it would be just another monster for him to slay.  But unfortunately, Kratos' ghost had followed him.  It was a Jackal.  And not just any Jackal, an Emperor Jackal.  An empowered form of the Jackals that Hades sent after Kratos before, with a more sinister staff, embroidered golden Egyptian Armor, and eyes as wide and sharp as it's claws on it's feet.  It roared at Kratos, whipping it's staff around athletically.  

 

Kratos scoffed, drawing his blades.

[Love of Ghibli]

B2 Day

 

Did this creature just blaspheme to the highest in the presence of his superiors? What foul manner of indignities was this? Better yet this creature knew exactly what he was saying as he specifically besmirched Hades' name. Radamanthys' eye could only twitch as he readied himself to stand-up and smite this creature. But it would appear that he was interrupted by a different creature. A jackal of sorts. Garbed in Egyptian armor. Oh look another fool to be smitten Radamanthys thought but it seemed that this new creature was more friend than foe. This Jackal thing was actually naturally subservient to the Judge of Hell. This was weird because Radamanthys had never seen this manner of creature in all of his lives. Then he realized that this whole multiverse concept was clearly showing that the two new creatures before him came from a different Hell. Probably a far inferior one if Hades there can allow such a scrawny mortal to be in defiance. 

What pitiful specimen dare blasphemes in the face of Wyvern Radamanthys the Celestial Fierce Star and one of the Three Judges of Hell? Jackal creature beast. Kill him so I may be entertained.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

A2 Day 

Dorian had recovered from his injuries somewhat. He had to abandon his suit jacket and therefore look a little more casual than he did before, but it was a noble sacrifice. He sighed deeply as he felt the madness pass by him like a foreboding emotion and he knew Butler was moving something. Not a full minute later he felt the ever so slight yet definite fluctuation in cosmos. Clearly Radamanthys was starting to move. Crap...was all that could exit his mouth. Clearly these two did not lay low and wait for proper contest like planned. Meaning that it was up to him to hopefully search for the coveted item. He took to the ground and began to meditate. Trying to expand his senses in attempts to cover the planet in his cosmos. This wouldn't affect anyone unless they were hyper sensitive to temperature change. He sensed all the fighting that was going on but that was about it he could tell there was fighting hopefully this would help him get a lock on something truly out of the ordinary.

[Kingdom Xathers]

---

Sayer/Periphery/B4 Day

---

"... what the devil is he waiting for...?" Sayer muttered to himself as he waited for Viligance to enter the R.O.D.--

 

"Wait, I thought his name was "Vigilance".  You mean to tell me that I've been getting it wrong by saying the word right this whole time?  Of all the lousy--"

 

Yeah, I thought it was "Vigilance", too.

 

"Hmph.  Well, I suppose that's what we get when you decide to speed-read, right "Creator"?"

 

... I will embarrass you in front of these people.  Don't try me, "dawg".

 

"Oh, sure, and just how do you plan on doing that, hmm?"

 

You'll find out in the OoC Thread.

 

"... ... joy."  Without another word, Sayer began to wander off, trying to imagine exactly what his controller had in store for him.  In the meantime....

---

Periphery/C4-Night

---

Before Ragnarok could begin to partake in his meal of Byakuya's soul, a large eyeball zoomed by, slamming itself right into Butlerok's forehead.  As Butlerok was being distracted by this, another eyeball hovered over Byakuya's corpse, gazing upon the fallen shinigami.  Without further warning, the eyeball's iris flashed a brilliant green before dilating its pupil, a mysterious force beginning to pull at the corpse of Byakuya Kuchiki, from which the outline of the Shinigami's soul was briefly seen before being forcibly sucked, screaming, into the eyeball's pupil.

 

Once the deed was done, the two eyeballs made haste and flew off just as suddenly as they appeared....

 

---

Back at B4 Day

---

A soft, sinister chuckle escaped Sayer's lips as they curled into a diabolical grin.  "Excellent... just a few more strong souls, and soon... my Seal...," Sayer uttered to himself, the very thought driving joyous shivers up and down his spine.  

 

His smile soon vanished almost instantly as he would find himself preoccupied with something else....

 

"... oh, but of course, just what I needed: a visit from these two puckle-chucks."

 

"Well, now that just wasn't a very nice thing to say at all, Sayer," replied one of the two individuals who had appeared before Sayer: a tall, lanky green-haired male wearing a sharp-looking suit, complete with waistcoat, overcoat and fedora.  The man's eyes appeared to be tightly shut but, in spite of sounding hurt by Sayer's comment, sported a wide grin on his thin lips.  "I mean, you don't call or write, and the minute we actually find you, you just go and say that.  Well!  I am just so hurt!"

 

"Honestly, Hazama," replied the green-haired one's associate, a blond-haired individual wearing a fuchsia and purple attire and a gold "opera mask" on the top half of his face.  "You don't have to pull that facade every time we are out in public."

 

"... Relius, this isn't a public--"

 

"You know what I mean.  'Tis a true mystery why I ever bother to associate with you," Relius huffed as he shook his head.

 

"So then," Sayer spoke up, not entirely in the mood for a stand-up comedy routine, "to what do I owe this pleasant visit from you gentlemen...?"

 

"You tell us," Hazama replied, this time sounding genuinely and slightly confused.  "Some broad--I think her name's "Ophelia"--pulled us away from our own business and just happened to drop us off in front of you.  And just when I had the opportunity to give ol' Rags another free amputation!"

 

"Hazama, "behead" isn't the same as "amputate"," Relius pointed out matter-of-factly.

 

"Hey, I was just trying to do him a favor!  I mean, I just thought his neck needed a little ventilation--"

 

"Would. You. Two. Knock. It. Off?!" Sayer growled, his patience beginning to wear thin.  "Can't you two see that I'm in the middle of something important?"

 

"Beg your pardon?" Relius said as he took a brief look at their surroundings.  "Correct me if I'm wrong, Sayer, but you seem to be otherwise unoccupied."

 

"Only because I have the two of you to deal with...."

 

"Jeezus, Sayer, try lightening up a bit," Hazama replied, this time opening one of his eyes slightly, revealing a striking gold-colored iris.  "I mean, we're all friends here, right?" he added with yet another smirk.

 

""Friends"...?  That is a joke, I hope," Sayer hissed coldly.

 

"You really should forgive him, Sayer," Relius replied in a cool manner.  "Hazama has a rather... horrific tendency to abuse that word like a man would his lover.  It would be far more appropriate to say--"

 

"--to say that we all simply tolerate each others' presence," Sayer spoke, finishing the puppeteer's sentence for him.  "And that's perfectly fine by me.  After all...."  Taking a momentary pause, Sayer reached his hands up to his head, his fingers busily undoing the bandages that covered his eyes.  Once fully undone, the bandages were pulled away by a passing wind.  Now, without anything to obstruct them, Sayer's eyes, his own eyes, opened, revealing his sinister red irises over the background of black sclera.

 

"... I never liked you two.  Not in the slightest."  Numerous R.O.D.s suddenly materialized around Sayer, prepared to do battle with the two nuisances before him....

[Dad]

Sector B-2, Day

 

"You," Kratos said turning back to face the being that announced his presence.  "You are Radamanthys?  I suppose Hades' does let his pets out to play every once in a while," Kratos said recalling the Judge's statue state from his own universe.  Unless of course, this Radamanthys was of different origin. . .

 

He couldn't be certain, but he didn't honestly care either.  It was all a whim, as the Jackal attempted to kill Kratos in a single blow while his back was turned.  But Kratos had ducked, and caught the Jackal's scepter in mid swing.  He used the Jackal's momentum against him, and swung the beast over his own head, and into the ground at Radamanthys' feet.  Kratos put his foot to the Jackal's throat, pinning it against the ground as he turned back to Radamanthys.  "You honestly believe a Jackal could kill me?  After judging so many souls for so many eons, I would think even a Judge would not underestimate me.  Or have you forgotten what I did to your master?" Kratos bragged as he drew the Claws of Hades.  In one swift movement, Kratos forced the struggling Jackal to stop breathing, and drew out it's soul into the Claws of Hades for collection.  The creature's soul screamed and hissed as it left it's body before coming into contact with the Claws.  It was sucked inside and sealed away to be used at a later date.  

 

And though Kratos was confident, he knew better than to take his enemies lightly.  Whether this was the same Radamanthys or not, he posed a threat.  Kratos would learn more of the Judge soon enough.

 

"What is a Judge doing walking the plane of the living?  Have you run out of souls to guide?  Because that would mean I haven't been doing my job.  And with the look on your face, I'd say you've forgotten who I am."  It had been two days at last since Kratos was at full strength.  His magic had now fully recovered, and if necessary he would not hesitate to use it.

[encapturer]

(Necra, A2-Day)

 

The sudden shift to dawn and daylight was almost disorienting as Necra walked past the day/night dividing line; she had no experience with microplanets like the one she was currently on.  She even took a few moments to walk back and forth a bit, to watch the sun rise and fall just to confirm that she wasn't just seeing things.

 

'Get it together, you have a mission...!'

 

While she shook off her curiosity in order to resume her mission, Sharon Caile did learn something useful.  She figured that she could use the sun to bring her two bodies together again, by having the two compare its position in the sky.  The Sharon body just needed to leave the night-covered area.  Until then, Necra continued forward in the hopes to find something, especially since she knew how to find herself.

 

Unfortunately for her, what she found was unexpected, though Sharon Caile ceded the fact that she should have expected enemies.  This one was a dark-skinned fellow who wore strange clothes - Sharon Caile figured that he was from a world she would end up completely lost in.  Still, this guy was not with the Counter Corps, so that only meant one thing.

 

Summing her black dagger, Necra knelt down, and using all of her skills gained from her life of crime, hid her presence.  She had no idea how powerful this guy is, whether he was weak, or stronger than a rampaging Ignis, but since he seemed to be meditating....

 

'A knife in the back it is.'

 

Necra left her hiding spot and slowly crept up upon the meditating figure, unaware of what she might be getting herself in to...

[Kingdom Xathers]

---

Team Abernathy/Periphery/C3-Night

---

"What on earth is going on?" Alexander blurted out as he saw the Inch of Will detach its cargo bay and dropped it onto the planetoid.  Tapping his linkstone twice, he tried to make contact with whomever was inside.  "Foster, are you in there?  What's going on?"

 

 

Inside the cargo bay, it was Marcus Fenix that answered on the other end, Foster's linkstone having somehow dropped out of his pocket.  "Alex, this is Fenix.  Bradbury went and dropped the cargo."

 

"Yes, I can see that.  What's going on in there that made him do that?"

 

Marcus took up a defensive posture behind one of the crates in the bay. "I dunno, some sorta salt-shaker-looking... thing, just came in here.  It looks like it has some sort of... "plunger" attached to it?"

 

""Plunger"?"

 

"Wait... salt-shaker shape, plunger-like apparatus...," Umbris mused as he appeared out of Alexander's Deck.  "Alex, I think they're dealing with a Dalek."

 

"A what?"  Not waiting for the Neo-Spacian's answer, he communicated with Marcus Fenix again, "Marcus, how many others are with you and Foster?"

 

"Cole is here," Marcus replied urgently, "along with this wolf-man guy--Samuel Hainz, right, and this Nazi-lookin' motherf--"

 

"Mr. Skorzeny."

 

"Yeah, him."

 

"Alex," Umbris spoke urgently, "let them know to go for the Dalek's eyestalk.  That's its primary weakspot."

 

Alexander nodded. "Did you hear that, Marcus?"

 

"Yeah.  "Eyestalk". Got it!"

 

"Good.  Be careful--"

 

"Alex, look out!!"  Ratchet's sudden cry brought Alexander's attention back to their location, just in time to see an abnormally large Agorian charge at him with raised fist.  Alexander's intention was to dodge out of the way, and yet... ... something about this particular Agorian made him freeze up with fear.  It was only through Umbris' quick reflexes that Alexander was spared being ground into the earth by the Agorian's fist.

 

"REMEMBER ME, LOMBAX?!!" roared the Agorian as he pulled his fist from out of the earth.  "I'M HERE TO REPAY YOU FOR KILLING ME IN OUR LAST BATTLE!"

 

""Last battle"?" Umbris repeated as he helped Alexander to his feet.  "Wait, Alex, this Agorian... he's not...?"

 

"... this one...," Alex uttered, his voice trembling as he looked back at the hulking Agorian, "... he called himself "Gorlag the Heartless"... he was a supposed "patient" at the rehabilitation center that I was admitted to after my father's death... ... and he... ... ... ...."

 

 

 

"... he killed my friend."

[Phantom Roxas]

[b3 Day] - Gogiga vs. Dirk

 

As Dirk continued to dodge the swings of Gogiga's arm, the two fighters took notice of a nearby battle. An albino man with red tattoos was confronting another man, this one wearing the most insanely demonic armor that Dirk could think of.

 

"Okay, hold up," Dirk told Gogiga. "What's with the dude in the demon armor?"

 

Gogiga halted his fist, but kept an eye on Dirk. The man in the demonic armor was familiar to Gogiga. He recognized him from Isamy's castle. That could only mean that he was a member of the Divine, while the albino had to be a member of the Counter Corps. "You are welcome to follow me, child," he said to Dirk. "Will you join the Counter Corps?"

 

"That's the team you're not on, right?"

 

Gogiga did not respond, instead spreading his mechanical wings before flying to Radamanthys' side. Dirk simply shrugged and chased Gogiga, following the reptile.

 

Gogiga stomped between Radamanthys and Kratos, looking at the Judge. "Pardon me, fellow Divine," he said. "My master would no doubt insist that I would aid you in the battle with the Counter Corps. How may I be of service?"

 

Dirk leapt into the air behind Gogiga and began to bring down his katana. However, before Dirk could strike him, Gogiga swung his hand across the katana, completely cutting the blade in half, leaving Dirk to hit Gogiga's platinum armor with nothing more than the fractured blade.

 

(Ending location: B2 Day)

 

---

[betwixt and Between] - Xansvita & Sliske vs. Ra

 

Less than a second after Sliske has summoned his six wights, Ra incinerated the one carrying the hammers, leaving the five other Barrows Brothers to run in order to avoid suffering the same fate. However, Sliske simply sighed. "I was honestly hoping you would make this easy."

 

Xansvita smiled. "You are not the only one who can summon armies, Sliske." Xansvita summoned the Iron Imprisoner and Trinity Armor, while the archer wight, Karil, began to lure Ra with his crossbow, while blood seemed to slowly tear through Ra's body, burning as it flew into Ahrim's hand, seeping into the wight's bones.

 

Sliske stroked his chin, pointing his staff at Xansvita. "And what is this?"

 

"These are the Unversed. Think of them as extensions of ourselves, able to change form as we command. Of course, we have a particular preference towards these two Unversed."

 

"Fascinating! I wonder… perhaps it would be possible to mix our armies together?"

 

Xansvita snickered. "We would be very interested in seeing that."

 

Sliske raised his hand as the armor and hammers of the burnt wight began to float in the air, before growing in size as they snapped themselves onto the Iron Imprisoner. The two small hammers merged to create a bigger one, with the two heads now intersected, resembling an X. The Iron Imprisoner took its own hammer into its right hand, while grabbing this new hammer in its left. Tusks formed from the Unversed's "cheeks", while spikes sprouted from its shoulders.

 

Sliske and Xansvita laughed, proud of their creation, with Sliske saying, "I hope you like your new body, Torag!"

 

The Trinity Armor and the other wights stood guard around their respective masters, while Torag charged at Ra with each of his hammers. Bars of dark metal were fired around Ra, and as they struck him, the Egyptian God could feel a small but noticeable electrical current running through this body. However, Ra managed to melt the metal away, flying high into the air, and looking down up all his enemies.

 

"Tell Me, Familiar," Ra demanded. "What is the secret of this realm?"

 

Xansvita laughed. "If you want to leave, simply give yourself over to the darkness."

 

"I thought as much." Ra dove down, crashing against the "floor" of the void, sending a wave of flames throughout it all. Xansvita merged into the shadows, while Sliske had managed to turn transparent. Torag withstood the flames, though his body was covered completely in burns, while the rest were completely destroyed. When the flames had settled, Torag called up a new cage, trapping Ra, who had reverted to his previous form. "Another cage? You will never learn."

 

Sliske tapped his staff, waving a finger at Ra. "Now, now, whatever this is all about, you seem to forget that I am here! Tell me, I would very much like to know who you are, and perhaps, how you might have ascended."

 

"Ascended?!" Ra bellowed. "You dare to suggest that was I once less than a GOD?!"

 

"Well, I was asking, but you've answered that question, quite clearly. In any case, I would like to tell you about a little game that I'm hosting."

 

"Don't bother," Xansvita told Sliske. "Ra is not from your universe, or even ours. The Sphere Forest you met us at is a place that we have been sent to, as we have agreed to offer our services to Isamy Maximus. Simply put, there are many beings from countless universes fighting back in the Sphere Forest, and this god hails from one such universe."

 

A smile formed across Sliske's face, indicating that he had quickly begun to make a plan based on this news. "I'm impressed! To think, that even I did not of this place! Of course, that will simply need to be amended. He approached the cage where Ra was trapped, passing his staff back and forth between his hands. "In that case, I presume that you are not familiar with the Elder Artefacts?"

 

Ra was silent, but finally spoke, with a hint of disappointment in his voice. "No. It seems I have much to learn about the other universes."

 

"Well then, I have just the ticket! Of course, it will cost you."

 

"Silence!" Ra roared. "I have long since grown tired of the two of you playing games! Release me at once, both from this cage, and this realm, and I may even consider not smiting you once I have rejoined My Brothers."

 

"Just listen to yourself!" Xansvita laughed. "You have lost, plain and simple! With what little ounce of dignity you have lift, surely you could think of better uses of your breath and our hearing."

 

Ra grabbed at the bars of the cage and began to push them aside. "Very well, then. Heed my warning, Familiar. The souls lost within you shall not be at the mercy of your darkness forever. You speak as a legion, yet you act in the name of a Witch you devoted your existence to so soon after learning of her existence. You are pathetic. Even if you return to the Sphere Forest, all you will find is your doom. As for you, Sliske, tell Me, what has brought you here?"

 

"What else?" Sliske asked. "Clearly my name has spread far faster than I anticipated! I shall have to give Relomia a little reward for that."

 

"No, it is not that. I sense another power at work here. Your ability to summon lifeless beings, your talents with shadows…"

 

"Well, I try."

 

"What are you suggesting?" Xansvita asked. "He has the same powers as us. And?"

 

"Precisely. This man must have been drawn here by someone who would see you all destroyed. One way to start is to call for summon who would know your abilities inside and out. However, it would seem that even you, Sliske, are not entirely aware of the forces that the Familiar commands."

 

"Tell me," Xansvita hissed. "What counter would you have to this?"

 

The flames of Xansvita's sword burned forth, black flames slicing Ra's throat. The Egyptian God tried to roar, but his cries were broken, the flames burning at the cut. Ra destroyed the cage completely, only to be pinned to the ground by Torag's hammers.

 

Xansvita kept look at Ra as he spoke to Sliske. "Now then, it is only fair that you tell us about your own powers."

 

"Oh, it's quite simple, really," Sliske explained. "One minute they're alive, and the next, they are my puppet. Dead, yet perhaps still alive, from a certain point of view."

 

"You said you've killed a god. What happened to them?"

 

"Oh, not much. A barrier keeping the rest of the gods away was destroyed, but if you are asking if I made him into one of my Barrows, then alas, I am afraid you will be disappointed."

 

"Well then, perhaps now is your opportunity to make up for that."

 

Sliske's eye widened at this possibility. "Oh, this should be fun!"

 

Xansvita drew back his sword, jumping up and impaling it in the blue crystal upon Ra's forehead. Sliske, meanwhile, waved his staff around, dark purple energy gathering between the two "wings" at the top, before firing a ball of purple energy at Ra, Xansvita leaping back into the air to avoid being hit instead. While he was in midair, though, Torag's body began to shift, the fuschia, ink-like flesh of the Iron Imprisoner's body being drawn towards Xansvita.

 

"Now wait one second, what in blazes do you think you're doing?!" Sliske scowled.

 

"Sorry," Xansvita teased. "It's in our nature to crave souls. Perhaps you would do better to take care of your ghosts." Torag's armor and weapons had melted as the last of the Iron Imprisoner was being drawn into Xansvita. "Torag's soul is mine now. I had considered seeing if I could use more of my Unversed to merge with your Barrows, but for now, this shall suffice."

 

Sliske fired a bolt of lightning from his staff, but as it struck Xansvita, the Familiar seemed to disappear, leaving a shadow behind. Before Sliske could turn around, though, black flames shot through his back, Xansvita having stabbed him from behind. Xansvita withdrew his sword, but Sliske turned to face him, swinging his staff, but Xansvita vanished. Reappearing in midair upside-down, Xansvita grabbed the staff from Sliske, taking it from the Mahjarrat, before firing more lightning, this time black, at Ra, who was slowly turning purple as a result of Sliske's spell.

 

"This is what you called an 'Elder Artefact', right?" Xansvita asked. "You asked Ra how he had ascended, then you began to speak of these artefacts. I take it there's a connection?"

 

Sliske snarled at Xansvita, and one after another, he once again called out the five Barrows Brothers. "You may have Torag's soul, but I will not let you ascend so easily."

 

Xansvita opened up a Corridor of Darkness and cast a powerful Aerogun spell, sending each of the Barrows, and finally Sliske, out of Betwixt and Between, and back to the Sphere Forest. However, just as he did, Ra began to stand, shaking his head mindlessly as he charged at the Corridor. Naturally, Xansvita followed, returning to the Sphere Forest.

 

 

Xansvita looked around him, seeing that several trees had been knocked down. Sliske's five wights were all facing him, but Sliske himself was nowhere to be seen. Looking up, Xansvita could see Ra flying overhead, wrapping himself up into a ball, feathers falling from his wings. Xansvita planted the staff into the ground, and as he tightened his grip, the eye on the back of his right hand began to strain itself, until finally, the eye spontaneously exploded, purple bleeding from the eye once was. Meanwhile, the white cloth around Xansvita's waist billowed in the wind, but slowly, as though the cloth itself was moving on its own.

 

"Now then," Xansvita said. "Who's first?" Once he was finished, the stitching on his lips tightened, completely closing his mouth.

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

Sephiroth<D5 Day>

 

"Hmph..." Sephiroth had given a smirk along with the sound. "Isamy can travel the multiverse perfectly, I am powerful being who wished to lay hands on the Door to Origin. This isn't something so simple as a leader guiding a follower, this is a mutual partnership, she's simply a tool to be used by me to travel the multiverse..." Sephiroth had changed position to be in his fighting stance. "And I her tool for destruction." Sehpiroth now decided it was time to begin. He waved his hand at the warrior standing before him, launching a barrage of four energy balls that seemed to close in on him.

 

Nero<D1 Night>

 

His mind were clouded and his eyes were heavy, he wanted nothing more than to sleep. His body had been damaged from that man's attack, and he never did get a chance to rest well at Arthuria's castle. It seemed as if everything was just now starting to add up and tax him, then he heard a voice, a familiar voice. "Nero! Come on, Nero!" He faded for a bit but came back when he was lifted to his feat. "...the portal with Matthew? Where is he?" Nero heard this last part and suddenly he sprang to life. "That man! Where is that man, I'll kill him!" Nero said in a sudden fit of anger, if Eria's ice barrier didn't raise in front of him, he would have carried on for a good while. His head forehead rested there on the ice, his body motionless and his breaths hard and deep. "Matthew is dead." He simply said it, cold as the ice that held him up. He looked down at the keyblade and then back at what was once Arthur's body, he turned around to Lydia and Eria. "I've never done a drive mode with two people, but I'm willing to try. I don't know when the person who killed Matthew will come find me, but I bet it will be soon, and with that ADR-a$$hole over there, we're going to need all of our powers to fight. Are you willing to fight together?" Nero asked, and waited for a reply, simply holding out the keyblade for the two of them to grab onto.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

Kazuya (C4-Night)

---

 

Kazuya got hit by the brunt of the nuclear explosion, and it definitely left quite a mark on him, but after a quick overview to his COMP, he could see that the attack only hit him, and left his demons mostly unscathed, quite oddly.

 

He then ordered the still quite alive Kikuri-hime to cast Mediarahan, while he returned Pascal to his COMP, due to realizing that it won’t do much in the fight. Kazuya quickly sheathed his sword, and summoned his Peacemaker, a machine gun with demonic bullets.

 

 “Well, you seemed to be quite tougher than the last time we met, Michael. How far has your angelic comrades destroyed my city? My world?”

 

“That is not of your concern.

You should start focusing on the thought of repenting, sinner!”

 

“Though, do tell me, oh Great Michael.

Which one committed the worse sin?

The one who killed innocents to make their point?

Or one who killed people like those?”

 

 

“That is simple.

The sinner is the one who has strayed from the path of the Lord.

And you are one of them.

So, repent now, or die as a disgrace to the kingdom of God.”

 

Before Michael could launch another attack, Kazuya had barraged him with his machine gun, while Odin attacked him with Bufudyne multiple times. The Bufudyne seems to work quite the damage on Michael, as his face seemed to be slightly angrier.

 

“Do you think you can actually avert God’s judgment, false messiah?

Such immature thought couldn’t be left unpunished!”

 

Michael suddenly rose up into the sky; his wings were displayed in their full, fiery glory.

 

“Megidolaon!”

 

Another nuclear explosion happened in the area, this one seemingly more powerful than the last one.

 

Before Kazuya could recover, Michael spoke once again, but this time Kazuya could only hear it faintly, like a whisper.

 

“Ah, what a waste. If only you stayed in the path of light...

 

Lamentation!”

 

---

Tenshi (B5-Night)

---

 

After unleashing her rage due to her failed assassination attempt, Tenshi flew away with her keystone; wary that some of her enemies might had noticed her due to the keystones flung randomly.

 

She suddenly felt another urge to sleep, quite oddly, and decided to return to the ground so she could sleep.

 

And sleep she did.

 

---

Tenshi (???)

---

 

Tenshi found herself in a quite amusing place. The rules of physics seemed to be ignored, as things were pulled upwards or forward and backwards; and there were a lot of floating islands there.

 

Without warning, Tenshi was pulled into one of the bigger islands, and ended up in a some sort of….boxing ring?

 

And everything was engulfed in darkness.

 

“Welcome. So you've come here again...me.”

 

The light returned, and yet another Tenshi, now with a shorter hair than her, was on the other side of the ring. Tenshi was quite unsurprised by that, remembering all of her past dreams, but what surprised her more was the fact that everyone from Gensokyo were watching both of them. They seemed to be cheering, which was quite normal at first.

 

Then Tenshi realized that they were cheering for the other Tenshi to kill her.

 

Everyone, including Iku.

 

“...The lowliest of dirt. I don't ever want to see you again! Kill the long hair!”

 

Tenshi tried her best to ignore the crowd and keep focused at her opponent. Her opponent just smirked, and created a red gem from thin air, which she smashed and turned into a thin, slender scarlet sword.

 

“Might as well explain things a little.

This is the inside of your heart, and also my heart.”

 

Tenshi quickly grabbed her sword, preparing to parry an incoming attack, yet she was shaking heavily.

 

“...What are you afraid of?

...Are you afraid to look into your own heart?

But there's nothing to fear. You see? This is all there is.

It's all empty. Totally hollow. A dreary, dank expanse, that's all.

And there's not a single person to comfort you in here.

Because you've thrown it all away. Tossed it from your heart.”

 

Tenshi shot a scarlet laser at the short-hair, which she managed to reflect using her sword.

 

“Could you see your pathetic effort to fight me?

You are useless. I am useless.

We can’t do anything to save the ones we cared about. Or to be more precise, we didn’t do anything at all.

 

We always longed to be relevant. To be a hero that Gensokyo deserved. Or at least someone that was well known there. But you know what?

 

We only succeeded in being a headache to everyone. We created a lot of mess from time to time, and we even forced Iku to take care of all of our screw-ups.

 

But, I must ask. Do you remember her? Did you appreciate her?

No, that can't be right.

We always did things for the fun of them. Because we were just so bored.

And so even she left us in the end. And then, as they say, there were none.

So, who was she?”

 

“O-Of course I'd remember! You mean Iku! Duh!

S-She cared about me to the very end...

Hell, maybe she'd even go past that. But...

At the same time, the things she told me fell on deaf ears.

 

...I'm beyond all help.”

 

 

“At this rate, maybe you will even wish to die, to escape from all of this.

How selfish of you.

You never see anything but yourself.

Truly... irredeemable in every way.”

 

“Stop... Stop it...Please..Stop..”

 

Tenshi fell on the ground, and started to fruitlessly cover her ears, while rolled in a fetal position

 

“We only desired to create our own paradise, for our own pleasure.

Just for we, ourselves, and us."

 

The other Tenshi started to walk slowly in Tenshi's direction.

 

"But in the end, even with our selfish desires and conducts, we left no significant marks in history.

..Doing anything, is a mistake. We should just give up and die.”

 

Hearing that, Tenshi decided to stand up in rejection.

 

“No, I am not like that!

 

I refuse to be put in the same category as a sorry entity like you!

And all this talk about we, us, and yadda yadda gave me the urge to ask a question to you.

 

Who are you actually?”

 

The other Tenshi suddenly laughed maniacally, and even more sudden, shifted back to her calm demeanor.

 

"Who am I?

I am the wickedness in your heart.
Yes, it is I.

And you must defeat me if you wish to escape.
But you can't beat me.

Because... You are the one who forced me into being."

 

"...That can't be right.
...This empty place's s'posed to be ALL of me? You think I'm gonna believe that?!
This can't be all there is!

 

 

 

And you..are... not... ME!"

[The Warden]

|_)Magical Girl Lydia(_|

 

Lydia sighed with relief that Eria willingly came with her, only to stop to pick up another straggler. He was looking pretty bad, and he was mentioning something about a Matthew. Sighe, a casualty already; she should show a bit more emotion, but most likely the creation of ADR-013 enticd a bit more of her attention. "Are you happy now, D-Reaper?" she thought bitterly.

 

She sneered at the memory that overtook her, but it was wiped away when Nero made, an unusual proposition. "Drive? Uh, is that a Kingdom Hearts thing? What was it? Uuuugghhh, I haven't played II in a while. I think it was when Sora absorbed Goofy or Donald and got, oh yeah. Wait, what?!"

 

She took a few cautious and hurrie steps back, keeping a close eye on the Keyblade, and by default Nero. "Umm, not quite Nero. It wouldn't be two, it would be more like, let's see. Eria, me and... the others. Saving myself the maths it would be well over a hundred" she explained, to highly perplex expressions.

 

She sighed and broke eye contact, staring off into the dark forest whilst ignoring the fight between an abomination of sin and a god. "Okay, I get it. See, back in LERNA's Barrier, when I did all that awesome stuff, some things, for lack of a better word, 'happened'. Ever since I was saved from the ocean eight spiritual beings from my world have been acting as a protective barrier around my soul. The Dizaster Nine have been inside me the ever since the battle, but they're not the only ones. When I used that wave to take control of the barrier, the Troys didn't just evaporate. When hope is used as an attack it means you are willing to instill hope in others, and are likewise willing to accept their despair. Despair just doesn't vanish, as much as we would like to think it can. Within me are the combined griefs of all the Troys, as well as the griefs of all those who died in the fight; and let's not forget Galina's either. What happened earlier was an example of my promise. With that one attack and the subjugation of the Barrier I signed the agreement to carry their griefs as well as allow them, if I am able, to express their last words. The D-Reaper spoke through me and triggered, that" she said and pointed at ADR-013.

 

"She had been destroyed by my hope wave, but she too took part in the agreement. I couldn't just deny it, even if it was unspeakably evil; even thought it didn't know what evil really was. Either way, you can't use me in a Drive. If you did, the sheer amount of grief as well as the powers of the Dizaster Nine would crush you in an instant. I don't doubt you're strong, but you simply don't have what it takes to carry my burden."

[Kingdom Xathers]

---

Alister Azimuth/Periphery/C2 Day

---

""A fated foe"..." Alister muttered to himself as Red accepted his handshake, wracking his mind for what, or who, such an adversary would be.  It didn't take him long to come up with at least two possibilities....

 

"Hesitating again, General Fuzzy?" the Zurkon-Wrench spoke up, feeling Azimuth's tensed grip on his shaft. ((Not. One. Word.)) 

 

"Not hesitance, Zurkon," Alister replied to his Wrench.  "More like... apprehension."  Indeed, what he was feeling was dread.  Dread over the possibility of engaging the one who destroyed his home world, the one who lead the massacre of most of his race... the one he himself had inadvertently aided in bringing these atrocities to fruition... ...

 

 

 

... and the one who killed his friend.

 

"... we have to get moving," Alister spoke up after his brief pause.  "If we stay here, who knows what else this Ophelia will toss our way next.  And to think, I believed we only had the Counter Corps to deal with...."  With that said, Alister lead the way toward D3 (Day), unaware that a familiar enemy was observing nearby, his one eye focused dead-on to the General as he stood camouflaged....

[Astolfo]

A hooded figure was floating in the air in something you could call a pathway between worlds. Breathing in the air deeply, its gaze locked onto a miniature spherical planet. Spinning his cloak about him, it wrapped around the being until all that remained was something resembling a strand of smoke, which then dove through the figurine gate.

---

A vile black liquid seeped out from what appeared to be a rent in the air itself, before the opening closed up entirely. Pooling on the ground, it began to defy gravity and rise up, before molding into the shape of a human. A black robe with blue diamond patches on the hood concealed a slight figure. Looking up, he saw a bright red-headed girl sprawled on the ground, blood seeping out rapidly from beneath her. The being noticed a muscular, bare-skinned, scarred man standing over her, with a massive sword just above the female's heart. How interesting… Turning once more to smoke, he slipped over besides the two. "Mind if I drop in?" A silky voice slithered out from under the hood, with magic meant to dull the senses running beneath the words.

 

"It would be a shame if this lovely young lady right here died. And to you, young lady, it would be a shame if you had gotten yourself into this, wouldn't it?" Mock curtsying, he spread out his hands in a magnanimous gesture, as he used his Deceitrickery - an enchantment to loosen the mind. "I'm sure we can resolve this without either of you having any further problems, could we? You both have something you desire, don't you? Someone has wronged you. Someone has hurt you. You want to hurt them. You want them to feel the suffering you had gone through. You want to kill them. That's why both of you are in here, I'd assume. It seems you haven't attained it yet, and I'd guess this isn't the first battle. How much longer will your leader or leaders make you slave on? You realize there is nothing to gain by working for them. They only wish to use you, and then throw you away like some scrap of garbage. You will not take that though. You want to make them pay. You want to destroy them." With a flick of his wrists, a deck of cards floated out and formed a circle, floating behind the figure's back. "Take a card. These are… my good-luck charms, you could say. Hold them close to your heart, and you will gain the chance to fulfill your desires." The Deceitrickery heavy over his words, he looked up, and locked his ice-cold eyes onto the two of them, enhancing the strength of the magic. While the being wasn't lying about getting to fulfill their wishes, the way they would work and the price would be much heavier than one would expect. Everyone had a Tree of Life, something one could call their fate. It spirals into certain ways and forms, and decides how a person's destiny will go, and normally, would remain untouched. To those who wished to change it, the Diabolos Tarot cards would enter into the Tree of Life, and corrupt it, twisting it into the ways that the person wished. This would grant them their wish, but by this point, their wish would most likely be much darker and violent than it had started out, often leading to murder and death. To those that were killed, the circumstances of death would shift in the brain, and make a more reasonable explanation, like moving away, or getting hit by a car. Once the wish had been fulfilled, a strong pull would lead them back to the mysterious figure. By that time, the Daemonia infused into the card would've made their way into the heart and blood of the person, lying latent, ready to be unleashed at any moment into a monster which would resemble their wishes somewhat. For instance, if a child who loved trains had been killed by one, and the father accepted this devilish deal, then his Daemonia form might appear as some conglomerate of train parts and monstrous pieces. However, the person's soul would be unconsciously combatting the horde of fledgling Daemonia that run through the veins, keeping it back. What the figure would then do is summon them into a pocket realm, and eat their soul with a disgusting, slimy, eyeless, electric blue worm that would tear out of its stomach, leaving only the Daemonia to exist. The monstrous form would then come forth, although it would only be visible and tangible to those who could see the supernatural. To regular everyday people, the person would appear like a normal person, maybe depressed or angry expressions scrawled on their face, but a person nonetheless. However, the monstrous form can still affect the plain world, and it could appear as if the person had telekinesis perhaps. By waving his arm, which may be a tentacle in truth, it might be able to destroy buildings, because the tentacle would've come in contact.

 

Looking up, the figure pulled its hood back to reveal a face young in appearance, although anyone even slightly sane would be able to tell this was a twisted disguise. Light blue hair with matching ice-blue eyes could be seen, although a bang obscured the right eye. "Oh, how rude of me. I haven't introduced myself. You can call me… Cerebrum."

[Love of Ghibli]

B2 Day

 

So the creature is just full of blasphemy and insults. What scrawny little man this was. But his knowledge of procedure was pretty spot on...tragic. This means that there was some other Radamanthys in some other universe who allowed this fret to actually blaspheme the great Hades as such. Radamanthys stepped off his throne minion and the second his foot touched the ground immense pressure eminated from him to the point that it destroyed his little mini army that he had been amalgamating up to this point. He slowly walked up to the man with the strangled Jackal corpse and he took a deep breathe. This was interesting to say the least. The jackal beast looked like it would have been worth some entertainment yet the interloper just used this as an opportunity to further his blasphemy. Radamanthys stepped on the Jackal's corpse and watched it dissolve out of existence. He then put himself mere inches away from this stranger. Radamanthys looked into his opponent's eyes. Eyes that told the story of massive bloodshed and battle. This brought a smile to Radamanthys' face.

 

"May you provide more of a contest than you appear too."

 

He almost snickered as both warriors drew back there fist and prepared to strike each other. Time seemed to slow down as this planet was about to experience some landscaping. Both combatants landed a punch directly on the others face at the same time. The impact of both punches caused the ground beneath them to split. The first blow was struck and the time for words was done. On the first stile it seemed like Radamanthys' punch did more damage than Kratos'. Of course that is probably because Radamanthys always keeps his surplice on and Kratos punched with his bare hand.

 

Both figures stood still as it would appear that the land took more damage than the fighters did. Radamanthys's smile widened as be was the first to recover from the combined fight. Radamanthys gave Kratos a left jab to the war God's face sending him spinning in the air. Radamanthys followed up by kicking the spinning body several meters in the air. He smiled as he took flight and quickly floated above the body. "HA! " Radamanthys laughed as he shot down this blasphemer back to the ground. He then laughed as he was having fun for a second trouncing this other worldly Grecian. As Kratos's body crashed back into the ground the massive crater it cause eclipsed the split in the ground from the first punch.

 

Radamanthys floated down from the skies laughing at what was a rather unceremonious victory. "HAHAHAHAHA that was somewh..." Radamanthys couldn't finish his boasting as quickly his face was met with some kind of lion fist. This hurt echelons worse than the previous punch. It seemed the War God had put on some of his armaments for this battle. Wyvern Radamanthys was sent flying deeper into the forest flying through several trees as he was knocked by some Herculean strength. Radamanthys was extra surprised when his opponent managed to catch up to his flying body before he could fully regroup. Upon closer inspection it seemed Grecian had on some winged shoes which increased his speed tremendously.

 

Radamanthys let out a loud grunt as his massive body crashed into what was like a great dead oak. But before he could regroup a fist had pounded his face through the entire tree. "Ugh" Kratos went in and attempted to pound the face of the judge but Radamanthys finally guarded with his arms. The Grecian continuously pounded in the guard hoping it wouldn't break but the surplice belonging to the Celestial Fierce Star is more than durable.

 

After about 50 continuous poundings Radamanthys kicked the Grecian off of him and flew out of what looked to be another massive crater that had formed simply from the force Kratos was using to hit Radamanthys. "Okay, so...looks like the warm-up is over."

[Phantom Roxas]

[D1 Night] - Eria / Apocrypha

 

Eria froze where she stood. Matthew was dead, killed by some man, no doubt a member of the Divine punishing Matthew for his defection. She had given him so much grief for his actions back in the Shadow Realm, but now, Matthew had paid with his life. However, Nero had a plan, which was to use the very same ability that Eria had used with Arthur. Unfortunately, Lydia could not accept, so it was up to Eria. She held up the Millennium Rod to Obelisk, helping the Egyptian God stay strong, then turning her attention back to Nero. "Alright," Eria said. "I'll help." She placed her hand against the Keyblade, allowing herself to be absorbed by the Drive.

 

Obelisk closed his hands in on each other, hoping to trap Apocrypha inside, but the ADR created shields of Chaos to protect himself on both sides. Using the shields to push Obelisk's hands away, Apocrypha charged, heading right for Obelisk's chest. However, as he grew closer, Obelisk began to cross his arms, drawing them closer behind Apocrypha. Instead, the Agent kicked against Obelisk's chest repeatedly, slowly causing the Egyptian God to move to C1 Night, only for Obelisk to flex his chest, sending Apocrypha flying until Obelisk grabbed him. With the Agent in one hand, Obelisk pressed down with the other.

 

Not at all to Obelisk's surprise, but certainly to his frustration, Apocrypha was resisting, piercing his claws into Obelisk's hand, and forcing it up. "Data acquired," the Agent said. "Lydia. Conqueror of LERNA. Destroyer of Mother. You too shall be integrated into this unit, so that it shall be reunited with Mother." The crest behind Apocrypha began to move away from the Agent and tilted, pointing towards Lydia. Dozens of cables began to grow out of it, firing at Lydia. "The misery and dreams of those you have taken in shall be added to this unit's collection." Obelisk let go of Apocrypha, reaching for the cables, but the cables snaked around, the crest moving away to allow the cables more freedom. Meanwhile, Apocrypa began to gather Chaos in the mouth on its chest, shouting "Lunar Rot Cannon!" A tsunami of Chaos fired forth, spraying Obelisk in the vile substance, and splashing against the trees. With Obelisk preoccupied, the cables continued their towards Lydia.

 

---

[b3 Day] - Xansvita

 

Xansvita raised his staff towards the five wights, striking them all with electricity. The archer fired bolts at Xansvita, but the Familiar was able to dodge each one. Calling upon his Unversed, Xansvita summoned giant conductor, standing at least three times as tall as Xansvita. The Unversed was garbed in a green uniform with black and white striped pants, wielding a red baton in the shape of a thunderbolt. Waving the baton, a drum, violin, an trumpet, each one proportionate to the Symphony Master in size, all appeared around the Barrows. The instruments fought the archer, the axe-wielder, and the spearman, each instrument causing sonic waves to paralyze the wights before flying the instruments themselves could fly towards them. The conductor himself, however, threw his baton at Ahrim like throwing stars, the sorcerer wight counteracting the attacks with his own fire magic.

 

The wight with the flail, seeing his brothers occupied, charged at Xansvita, but was met with a reappearance of Torag the Imprisoned. The wight swung his flail at the Unversed, but it was in vain, as he was immediately crushed by the Unversed that had claimed the soul of his brother. Torag raised his armor to deal with the rest of the wights, while Xansvita stepped on the back of the other wight. "Your master was a fool to use ghosts against us. I guess he thought he could make us more of his wights. It is, after all, a brilliant plan. The five souls that we were born from would no doubt give him a power warrior. Allow me to show you another soul."

 

With the wave of his hand, Torag began to change once again, shrinking until he was the size of a human. Placing the original Unversed's hammer into the ground, he took off his helmet, revealing a face with red eyes, but no mouth. The shape of his spiky hair, the figure had a faint resemblance to Xansvita. "Perfect," he said, although it sounded as though Xansvita was speaking with one less voice. "Other souls, such as the ones that you wights are made of, are nothing more than snacks to us. But for this one, we have given him one of the souls we originated from. Looks like Ra was wrong about you, Sora! We may have ground your heart to dust, but each and every one of those pieces is ours to control! We can keep bringing you back as much as you want, and there is nothing you can do to stop it!"

 

"Sora" said nothing, instead putting his helmet back on and taking his armor, then going after the other Barrows. However, the wight had grown tired of Xansvita, and raised his head, knocking Xansvita's foot away, which he followed up by rolling to the ground, grabbing his flail, and charging at Xansvita, only for Xansvita to sink into the shadows. The wight looked around for Xansvita, until Xansvita appeared, kicking the wight forward, grabbing him by the helmet, and dragging him away.

 

Xansvita looked up, seeing three men prepared to fight each other, one of which Xansvita recognized as a member of the Divine. Pulling on the wight's helmet, Xansvita looked up to him. "Hello there," he said with a smile. "We were just passing through. This here is…" Xansvita paused, looking down at the wight with a laugh. "Oh, forgive us! We don't know the names of all you wights."

 

The wight hissed as it struggled to form words. "Veeeeraaaac…"

 

"Ah, thank you!" With that, Xansvita buried Verac's head into the dirt, casting a Dark Firaga with his hand still wrapped around Verac's skull. As he did, he felt as though the ground was beginning to shake, but Xansvita seemed surprised by this, turning around. "It seems there's another fight nearby." He looked back at Sayer and his two opponents. "Sayer, is it?" he asked. "You seem to be a bit outnumbered. We would be more than happy to even the odds."

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

D5 (Day)

 

And then battle had begun, with Sephiroth launching some energy balls at Aesir. However, Aesir had countered by quickly spraying some bolts all around him, causing the energy balls to explode and dissipate before they got too close. He then whipped out 3 black eggs, and began 'cooking' them with his Mystic Infusion.

 

"A mere tool, he refers himself to," Aesir mused to himself, "Figures..."

 

With that, he threw the 3 black eggs at Sephiroth with one hand, one going straight for him and the other two off to his sides should he attempt to dodge left or right. They'd each release a medium-sized explosion of dark magic and despair on contact.

 

C2 (Night)

 

Sarah could hardly move. She was weak from being batted around by Jecht, and she hardly did enough damage in return to who she saw as a mere Filipino meat-head. But she wasn't about to give up. As such, when Jecht held her at sword-point and asked her of such...

 

"Like hell," this was immediately followed up with a splutter of blood, though Sarah shook it off. She'd intended to pry the sword from Jecht's hand and throw it off to the side so that he'd be weaponless, but before she could more than so much as grab it.

 

"Mind if I drop in?" both combatants stopped in their tracks, only to address this newcomer.

 

"And just who the hell are you?" Jecht and Sarah asked in unison, before Cerebrum went on with his speech. He spoke of someone having hurt them, and them perhaps seeking revenge for it. He spoke of the two faction leaders, Isamy and Arthuria, slaving warriors like Jecht and Sarah into endless battle, and that the leaders only sought to use them and throw them away after they were done. Finally, Jecht and Sarah took a card each, but instead of holding them close to their hearts as per instructed by Cerebrum, they both stared somewhat blankly at the cards, still unsure of the latter's intentions. Though there was no denying that Cerebrum had a point. All Sarah wanted was to get O'Riley's Book of Demons back for Terry, but Emiya of all people had a boner for sending her and the other Counter Corps in a completely different direction, and Arthuria was no different in that regard. Jecht, on the other hand, had slowly begun to lose trust in Isamy, the final in said trust's coffin being the recent brief. However, as Sarah still stared at the card, Jecht finally tore away, only to look Cerebrum straight in the eye.

 

"So what, are you suggesting we finally grow a pair and attack the leaders of our own factions?" he asked him.

[Kōsuke Ueki]

Before the cables could reach Lydia, an energy-like slash could be heard immediately before the cables appeared to be severed, though it's uncertain....

 

A few seconds afterward, what appeared to be a large brown and white ball of energy, was heading straight for Apocrypha. If he were to miss, the ball would fuse into the ground, which is to be expected. Then, the ground would begin to shake, and the energy that fused into the ground would begin to spike up towards Apocrypha about 3 times, if he is able to dodge it all. If he even manages to do that, a large beam of white energy would come straight towards him while still in mid-air, reducing his chance to dodge. But it doesn't matter if he dodged all of it, or just took the brunt of it all. The same result would happen.

 

Footsteps could be heard from behind Lydia. And who might it be? Why, if it isn't Maxwell and Kurai?

 

Maxwell walked up to where Lydia was standing and looked at her. "Lydia, right? I suggest keeping your distance, or at least attacking from a distance to prevent any risk toward you." Kurai just looked at her, hoping she understood to listen to Maxwell. The two then began to walk towards Apocrypha. "So, I assume you're Apocrypha, correct? I never thought Jerii was able to take victim of anyone, especially two allies of mine whom you thought you could control." Maxwell merely chuckled after that before giving off a serious expression. "We will be your undoing, along with your defusion." Maxwell prepared a stance, as did Kurai. "We will take back our allies, if it's the last thing we do!" Maxwell entered Kaioken without a second thought, the thick crimson aura consuming his body.

 

"Any last words?" said Kurai, determined to undo the damage that the ADRs have brought upon Arthur and MirageGaogamon...

 

(Current Location: D1 "Night")

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

Kazuya (C4-Night)

---

 

Michael emanated several lines of light that circles around Kazuya and his demons. Suddenly, without Kazuya’s ordering her, Kikuri-Hime tried to cast Mediarahan, seemingly panicking for some reason.

 

Nothing happened.

 

The spell was successfully executed, yet no one seemed to be healed by it.

 

As if things were not bad already with what that implied, Kazuya’s demon were suddenly trembling in fear, and before Kazuya could react, they instantly returned to his COMP.

 

Michael was seemingly gathering light in front of him, aiming it to Kazuya. Kazuya desperately tried to get out of the way, but an invisible force made his limb unresponsive, and he could only watch silently as Michael launched his attack.

 

“This is the end, I’m afraid.

 

Mahamaon!”

 

The ball of light turned into a feather when it hit Kazuya, and the feather turned into a pillar of light, engulfing Kazuya entirely. When the light disappeared, it revealed Kazuya’s lifeless body behind it. Michael decided to leave the place, after being satisfied looking at Kazuya being dead.

 

“And judgment has been deliver-

 

Ah, that was quite the twist of events.”

 

Before Michael could leave, a light shone from Kazuya’s backpack, and the light entered Kazuya’s body, animated his body to stand once more, and ultimately barely revived him. Kazuya grabbed his backpack, and revealed a statue of a Buddhist saint, shining brightly for another moment before crumbling to dust.

 

“Guess I’m not that dead anymore, eh?

Haven’t you remembered about banishment spells will fail against me most of the time?

 

What do you think about my trick, by the way?”

 

“A good show of light, if I may say.”

 

Michael dryly replied.

 

“Also, should I point out that was quite admirable of you to decapitate your own teammates?

I thought that you have no more hope to be redeemed, but you once again proved me otherwise.

What a virtue to have for a messiah, and the leader of humanity.”

 

Michael sarcastically continued his response to Kazuya’s line.

 

“I thought God has made angels to not be able to utter sarcasm.

Guess I am wrong.

 

He must have a twisted sense of humor.”

 

Kazuya retorted back at Michael, not amused at all.

                                                                                

“But what can you do now? You have killed your own ally by your own hand.

I am still right up here, and even if you can revive your allies, or be revived a thousand times,

I doubt that you could defeat me with that kind of fighting skill and firepower.”

 

“You’ll be surprised.”

 

Kazuya then consumed another Soma pill, recovering his barely revived body to full health, and fire up his COMP.

 

“Oh the prince of demons; be awaken once more. Defile this land, and corrupt the world!

 

Heed my call, Lord of the Flies! Tyrant Beelzebub!”

 

After uttering those words, the area was covered with innumerable amount of flies, which decayed trees around Kazuya. The flies then amalgamated into a being, a gigantic fly, with skull marks all around its wings, carrying a shamanic staff with skulls decorating it.

 

“Glad to see you again, Kazuya. I thought I would rot forever in your COMP without any chance of breathing fresh air again. Who do you wished to eradicate now?”

 

Kazuya pointed at Michael, who was still floating, seemingly observing the lord of the flies.

 

“Ah, a familiar face. Hello, old friend!

I haven’t seen you in a long time, Michael. How about some gifts from me to celebrate our reunion?”

 

Beelzebub raised his staff high up in the air, summoning another batch of flies, which condensed into a big, black ball. Michael tried to attack Kazuya and Beelzebub as he gathered the flies, but Beelzebub blocked all of them effortlessly with his flies.

 

“And I thought you have become stronger after last time, Michael.

 

Too bad you have disappointed my expectation.

 

…Goodbye.

 

Death Flies!”

Beelzebub flung the black orb at Michael. Michael suddenly violently shook in the air, as his flaming wings decayed and started to fell on the ground, continued with his body, the grotesque body of his was now unrecognizable as most of it were consumed by the flies of darkness. Meanwhile Beelzebub just watched the scenery before facing Kazuya.

 

“Kazuya, I really wanted to stay long here, but I think I would strain myself too much if I forced my presence here for too long. Unless if you have found some source of magnetites, then I guess I can stay around longer.

 

See you next time, dark messiah. I hope my next opponent can be stronger than this puny servant of the lord.”

 

Beelzebub then dissipated into thin air without warning.

 

Kazuya sighed in relief, believing that the hard fight was finished, but before he could celebrate, he heard Michael’s voice ringing in his head.

 

“Foolish son of Adam.

Do you forget that you cannot simply use an instant-death trick on me?

 

Diarahan!”

Kazuya could only watch in terror as the should-be-dead-already Michael completely recovered in front of him.

 

---

Tenshi (???)

---

 

Tenshi summoned several stone drills and flung it at her other self’s direction, but the other self managed to dodge some of them and sliced the rest with extreme precision, and she quickly countered with her own stone bullets, which Tenshi blocked with a keystone.

 

Before the dust settled, scarlet lasers were shot from behind the dust, and Tenshi was caught by surprise, which made her unable to dodge all of them. Tenshi didn’t get any breathing space, as her other self rapidly lunged at her, her sword aiming for her heart. The sword was halted by one of Tenshi’s keystone, and Tenshi used the time bought to reposition herself, and she slashed wildly at her other self, which she managed to parry perfectly, even as her sword was still stuck in Tenshi’s keystone. The other Tenshi managed to found an opening, and smacked Tenshi with the keystone on her sword, sending her flying across the ring. The crowd became louder and louder, all of them cheered for the other Tenshi in unison. The other Tenshi smiled, and bowed to the audience multiple times, and walked around proudly as if she had won already

 

As the other Tenshi was still being distracted by the cheering, Tenshi summoned four other keystone drills. Rather than launching them at her target though, she charged the keystones with temperaments, and ordered all of them to fire rapidly in succession, and it seemed like all of them struck the other Tenshi perfectly, blasting her out of the ring.Tenshi ignored the boo-ing of the crowd, and walked calmly to the center of the ring.

 

“…Big bark.Wanna bite?

 

You just talk all high and mighty, belittling me as you pretended to know everything about me,

Nay, you pretended to be me, and that’s pretty inexcusable.”

 

“Ah, but there is one problem.”

 

The other Tenshi replied, no signs of her body anywhere.

 

“Where are you!? Come out and fight me, you coward!”

 

“I am always here.”

Tenshi turned her back around, only to see a gigantic figure behind her, standing still. It was definitely inspired by her, but instead of a body, arms, and head, those parts were replaced with an Iron Maiden, and six copies of her own Sword of Hisou were stabbed around it.

 

“To call me a coward is but one way to be a hypocrite, me.

 

I am you, and you are I. From the depth of the sea of your unconscious, I have come.

 

I am your shadow, your true self.”

 

The Iron Maiden opened to reveal the short haired Tenshiinside, pretty much unharmed. Her eyes were now menacingly golden, and she stared at Tenshi with the intent to kill her.

 

Wasting no time, Tenshi bombarded the shadow with her gatling lasers, but apparently her shadow blocked all the attacks using the six copies of the Sword of Hisou.

 

“My turn.”

 

Shadow Tenshi created six rock golems, and each was wielding the sword copies. The golems quickly charged at Tenshi, attacking her left and right, but Tenshi managed to parry the attacks even if she actually had no time to counterattack the golems. Meanwhile, her shadow was gathering the scarlet orbs from the temperaments of the audience.

 

“Oh me, don’t you missed someone quite important, here?

 

Scarlet Weather Rapture!”

 

Realizing what the plan of her shadow, Tenshi quickly repositioned herself to use the golems intended to pin her down as a shield from the incoming consecrated blast of energy.

 

The golems were completely obliterated, while she was flung until she hit a wall.

 

Her shadow just laughed when she saw the destruction that her beam created.

 

“That’s it? You are the one who talk big, me.

So then, are you willing to be dragged along by your hollow self?

Are you going to forever be chained to your deeds, and lamenting them?

And most importantly... are you going to say that what you did was right?”

 

“..The hell are you talking about?”

 

Still slammed into the wall, Tenshi summoned a keystone from behind her, and used it to propel herself right into her shadow’s position, only to jump out of the way so what’s left was her keystone, ready to ram her shadow. The shadow unamusedly punched the stone really hard, shattering it to pieces.

 

“Who gave you the right to comment on my acts like that?”

 

Tenshi formed several keystones from around her shadow, and crushed her with those, while she ran there, her sword ready in her hand. Just before Tenshi managed to lop her head off, her shadow summoned several of her own keystones, some were thrown into Tenshi, while the rest were used to crush Tenshi’s keystones. Tenshi easily dodged the keystones, only to find out that the Iron Maiden Tenshi fired several lasers and scarlet bullets from its opening.

 

Tenshi blocked all of them with her stones, and she ran across the ring to the Iron Maiden, ignoring her shadow chasing her behind. After managed to get close with the Iron Maiden, Tenshi quickly slashed it to pieces, just as the Iron Maiden about to unleash the next wave of projectiles. But Tenshi was too focused in disposing the Iron Maiden so she did not notice her shadow leaped behind her, and slashed her in her back, creating a huge bleeding gash there.

 

The attack really hurt Tenshi, but she was more pissed that she managed to miss her shadow than with the fact that she just received a serious wound in her back.

 

Wasting no time, Tenshi used her remaining keystones to lock her shadow’s arm, and without her being able to retaliate, Tenshi decapitated her with one fell swoop.

 

The crowd went silent.

 

“I guess it’s a good time for me to politely say to you

 

Welcome to DIE, dumbass!”

 

“...At the moment, you seem to lack even two brain cells to put together.

You declared that you have won, but try to think for a while.

 

Why would I be that easy to defeat?”

 

The headless Tenshi started to grow some sort of…something from where her head was used to be. The ‘head’ consisted of black figures, stone pillars, and Tenshi’s own sword stabbed into its eyes.

 

“…I am you, you are I.

As long as you exist, I will not perish.”

 

Her shadow summoned several golems to attack Tenshi. As Tenshi tried to parry their attacks just like before, she realized that her reflex was slowing, all thanks to the blood loss from her back wound. And the golem’s attack connected at her. Tenshi could only scream in pain as the golem punched her in her chest, breaking some of her ribs.

 

“..If you oh so believed that your deed is right,

...Then, why was it right?

 

A pain in the ass though you were, there were yet people grateful to you.

Are you planning on ever repaying those people?”

 

Heavily wounded, the pain was actually enlightening Tenshi’s mind. While breathing heavily, Tenshi saw her life passing in front of her, seeing how she had lived until that point.

 

She then realized that, for the most part, her shadow was right about her.

 

She was a selfish, immature brat.

 

She was a hypocrite, wanting to be useful and memorable, yet only managed to annoy everyone.

 

Her mind was too clouded by anger and denial before to accept the fact.

 

The golems started to come at her direction again, readying their fists. Tenshi smiled, finally understanding the point that her shadow tried to make.

 

She then calmly gathered the temperaments around her into her sword, and proceeded to unleash a blade beam to slice the golems cleanly.

 

“…Hey, thanks for making me realize something.”

 

Her shadow just hissed, as she charged herself with scarlet orbs, preparing for another round of the gigantic laser attack.

 

“You know what, you are right.

I've been acting selfish all this time.

Wanted for myself to be useful for the ones I cared, yet do nothing but giving them burden.

And that is not right at all.”

 

Tenshi charged her own sword with the temperaments, and pointed it at her shadow.

 

“But now, there is but one thing I can do.

That incident... I decided to try fixing it all.

I will try to cast aside my selfishness,

I will try finishing my own mission now,

Not for Isamy, though parts of this were thanks to her since she saved me back then.

But this is for Gensokyo’s sake.

I wanted so that everything would turn out okay.

So we can have ourselves a proper ending.”

 

“Hmph, you seemed to have accepted your own falling.

You seemed to have accepted me as a part of you.

 

I guess what’s left is to finish this once and for all, me.”

 

“.........Yeah. Let's stop all of this nonsense, me.

I am definitely you, and you are definitely me.

Or parts of me, I’m not so sure on that.”

 

With that, both unleashed their own beam of destruction at one another, and the place was consumed with light.

 

---

 

Tenshi were now standing in the middle of an empty field, and her wounds seemed to have completely healed. On the other side of the field, she noticed her shadow, standing silently while watching the scenery of the empty world. Tenshi immediately approached her.

 

Her shadow noticed her, and she just smiled at Tenshi, without any more intent to fight her.

 

“Ah, me.

My life in the past, I realize that those was kind of a waste.

...Suppose that's all it was, huh.

 

But still... me.

I have to say, I still think it was for the best. Even now.

Beause no doubt, it was a blast. Now the question is, why...?

I really felt like I was living.

 

I did have some enemies and people who didn’t really appreciate me. A lot of them.

Except I also had loads of people to support me.

 

And...really, I think it was having those friends cheering me on that I enjoyed the most.

As I’ve said before, I decided to create a new start of Gensokyo, and my life.

 

So, lend me your help! Give me your effort and power for one more go!

One more mission to solve, one more incident to finish!

Gensokyo’s now pretty much that but I can change that!

 

I'll be a winner this time! That is for sure!

 

So, what do you think?”

 

The shadow didn’t say anything. She kept smiling, and slowly disappeared into the air.

 

Tenshi had this feeling that her shadow was in full agreement with her.

 

---

 

“Oh my, isn’t this quite an anticlimactic ending?”

 

The angelic figure that Tenshi keep seeing from time to time in her dreams descended from the sky.

 

“I thought I could easily break you down by playing with your heart and mind, summoning them as nightmares so you could be an easy target for me.

 

I thought that unleashing your shadow to break you down further could finish you, yet you managed to accept it, and even got better because of it. You definitely have my admiration because of that.

 

But, I am just someone who wanted to kill you,

 And you are pretty much still in my domain, the dream world.

Time for mental nightmares and illusions are over.

 

I am Gengetsu, and this will be your last dream!”

 

[spoiler=Spell Glossary]-Lamentation(From last post): inflicts a multitude of statuses to all, including Brand, which prevents healing.

-Megidolaon: heavy unblockable damage to all

-Mahamaon: huge chance to instant-kill with the power of the light, all enemies.

-Death Flies: Beelzebub's signature attack, severe unblockable damage that will instantly kill anything not immune from Dark-based attack.

 

-Mediarahan/Diarahan: Fully recovers all/an ally to full health

 

[Merci]

Inch of Will Sealed Cargo Hold

 

As the lifeform was speaking to it, it was taking the time to analyze its current situation, including all its opponents. As of yet, they had all been sealed into this bunker-like construction, though the density of it wasn't too significant, as it would take merely a few seconds of concentrated fire to burn a hole through. However, Dalek didn't take this option, as that would give the rest of these humans a method of escape, which would be unacceptable. They all had to be destroyed first, and then it would take its leave.

 

"DALEKS DO NOT FEAR." It answered in an insulted voice. The concept of it feeling fear was ridiculous. Had this puny human not heard of the supreme Dalek race, and what they were capable of? Had he not heard of the tales that spread across the universe, the destruction that was being left in their wake?

 

Once it had finished looking up his appearance, it identified him from Earth's database. The information found did not match up to the current him nor did it explain how he had obtained such advanced technology or squadron, but it was interesting nevertheless, as this man may have made a good Dalek. Even so, it was irrelevant. "YOU ARE OTTO SKORZENY, FORMER LIEUTENANT COLONEL OF THE WAFFEN-S.S. FAVORS UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE. NO NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS."

 

What really caught its attention was the equipment he possessed, namely the gun in its hand, specifically the contents within it, and its scanners had a lot of difficulty attempting to classify the substance at first. It aimed its beam distributor towards him as a warning.

 

"HOW DO YOU POSSESS ANCESTRAL MATERIAL? EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!!!"

 

 

---

 

 

Sector C2 Night

 

"Get rid of that card and step away from the demon, Sarah." Arthuria announced, revealing himself, and he jumped down from high up a nearby tree. "All he does is manipulate others with his power to forge Calamitous Contracts. It won't do you any good, and the hell it's worth getting the Book of Demons back!"

 

After hitting to the ground harshly yet gracefully, a small crater forming beneath, his right hand moved and a sharp, silver blade suddenly materialized into it. Notably, his left arm didn't seem to be wearing any armor and was surprisingly slender, though this was because he had only just regenerated it after having been attacked.

 

"You're a long way from home, Cerebrum. We have never met, but as a Counter Guardian, it is my duty to purge entities like you. Do you see this sword?"

 

Taking a few steps towards the dark-robed figure in a threatening manner, keeping his focus fixed upon the daemonic entity, he brandished the shining weapon in his hands.

 

"This is Clarent, a holy sword of the highest calibur, used primarily for knighting and vanquishing evil. You can either retreat now, or stay and be destroyed. Your choice."

 

The former king's attention turned for a bit to the other person in their presence, Jecht.

 

"And what about you, father of Tidus? Are you going to face me in combat, or run?"

 

 

---

 

 

??? ????

 

"This should've been a straightforward operation." The Reyvateil muttered, letting her cybernetic fingers type rapidly on an invisible keyboard as she continued to float within this vacuum-contained sphere.

 

It had taken a lot of energy to generate the portals necessary for transporting all those warriors and monsters to combat the Counter Corps and Divine, but so far, it wasn't working at all. Although things were going according to plan on one half, with the two factions engaging in combat and distracting each other and with Sykes's colosseum plan currently going on without a hitch, there seemed to be no one at all to stop Isamy from probing the world. Uchiha Madara was meant to be the one to manipulate the Divine behind the scenes and draw the herald's attention away, but he wasn't around anymore.

 

At the moment, she was directing all power onto a planetary psychic scrambler to prevent Isamy from discovering the truth about the Sphere Forest, but it would only last for another fifteen minutes. Ophelia needed another plan if she was to defend the Key of Origin.

 

The situation was ridiculous, honestly. She held absolute advantage over the terrain. The whole thing should've been over ages ago. Nevertheless, she may have to abandon her original idea and go with a more practical, less time-consuming one.

 

Coming up with an idea, she spoke out "EXEC=OVERRIDE_FOREST_CHAKRA. STARTING AT 0%."

 

This process wouldn't take very long, two hundred seconds at most, and once she had gained control over the entire forest that covered the Sphere, then it should be much easier to clear the surface of all warriors.

[Phantom Roxas]

[D1 Night] - Apocrypha

 

Apocrypha laughed at Maxwell's declarations. "It is interesting that you seem so familiar with Mother. However, this unit wields the power of the Super Demon Lord. Arthur - correction, what is left of him - and MirageGaogamon, will be subjugated by that power. Now then, step aside. This unit will not allow Mother to remain a prisoner to the heart of that human girl." Out of the corner of his eye, Obelisk used a Fist of Fate, but Apocrypha stopped it with this hand, which began to glow gold. The crest on his right arm suddenly moved along the length of his arm until it moved onto Obelisk's palm. "You are known as 'The Tormentor', correct? With a title such as that, it is only fitting that you are to be marked with the Crest of Wrath. This unit was hoping to analyze your strength by allowing you to fight within restrictions, and it has completed that. Now, you cannot lift a finger so long as you intend to strike me."

 

Obelisk was paralyzed, unable to speak. Apocrypha scoffed, satisfied with this, before turning to Maxwell, his eyes glowing red. "This unit… I seem to require more time adjusting to his form. I am both ADR-13 and Ogudomon. You, however, are but a worm. Your arrogance, your… Ah, yes. Pride. Perfect." Ogudomon commanded the giant crest to moved towards Maxwell, bathing him a brilliant, orange light, before disappearing entirely, with a orange crest appearing on the back of Maxwell's neck. Apocrypha stood on the ground, looking up over Nero and Lydia, raising his hand over Lydia. Chaos wrapped around his right hand, doubling the size of his claws, which he began to bring down upon Lydia.

[Kōsuke Ueki]

Even though the Crest of Pride was on Maxwell, he felt unaffected...

 

Perhaps the effect is delayed, meant to happen when he would least expect it. Or maybe...

 

"You have your perception of Pride, and I have mine..." Using Instant Transmission, Maxwell created a dense Ki Shield, about a third the size of Apocrypha's claws, in an attempt to shield Lydia from harm. "Your goal was already a failure when 'Mother' was destroyed by the power of hope. 'Mother' isn't a prisoner to anyone besides death! She is no longer in existence, so your persistence is useless!" Maxwell then gave Apocrypha a look of determination, one of which speaks of no regrets to his decisions. But then, he began to speak in his own mind, thinking of what's to become of him, if ever...

 

I never would have believed the epitome of malice would have the power to be immune to other forms of it. But the power I hold is not what your mind perceives it to be. Yes, at one point, when I used the full extent of my power, it was full of malice, and I was driven by anger, but with that anger, came the ability to ascend past it. My malice has been released from me, and I can now use this power to assure that no creature of any universe will be able to experience the consequences of what malice holds ever again. Malice is driven by sacrificing the need of mercy and forgiveness to achieve a goal that would be almost impossible with it, by sacrificing all of your good nature to destroy your enemy. But to ascend past your sacrifice, creates a power that no evil could defeat: hope...courage...LIGHT!

 

Maxwell immediately charged up his energy, his aura thickening even farther, the ground shaking a far distance. "Kaioken...X10!!!" Immediately after saying so, a crimson explosive wave encompasses Maxwell, spreading out far enough to possibly knock back Apocrypha a short distance in an attempt to leave him open for an attack. Appearing immediately behind Apocrypha from a distance, sword in his right hand, Maxwell summons a small ball of Ki with his left hand, a large energy field encompassing the ball. Time then appeared to have slowed down. And during that moment, Maxwell made 5 slashes through the energy barrier, saying after he did so, "Lightning...Sword Slash!!!"

 

As time resumed, the 5 energy slashes were launched all at once towards Apocrypha. And if he were to dodge, a large explosion would happen on the ground, and Maxwell would already have another plan...

 

(Current Location: D1 "Night")

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Inside Sarah's Mind

 

"You both have something you desire, don't you? Someone has wronged you. Someone has hurt you. You want to hurt them. You want them to feel the suffering you had gone through. You want to kill them. That's why both of you are in here, I'd assume. It seems you haven't attained it yet, and I'd guess this isn't the first battle. How much longer will your leader or leaders make you slave on? You realize there is nothing to gain by working for them. They only wish to use you, and then throw you away like some scrap of garbage. You will not take that though. You want to make them pay. You want to destroy them."

 

"Get rid of that card and step away from the demon, Sarah. All he does is manipulate others with his power to forge Calamitous Contracts. It won't do you any good, and the hell it's worth getting the Book of Demons back!"

 

"Don't listen to that pathetic eyesore, worm! The Book of Demons is worth everything! All the despair, all the turmoil... we will triumph over all of it, and once we get the book, nothing will stop us from ruling over Thorndale. Now... think about it, what would be the first thing you'd do, future Queen of Hell?"

 

"Oh god, what is all this? I don't even... wait a funking minute," with that, Sarah whipped round in this void that was her sub-consciousness, only to see a red-skinned demon by the name of Ifrit, "Since when did I ever listen to such an jabroni as you? And for that matter, how the hell did ya get past my mental defenses?"

 

"Your little trip to the Shadow Realm already punched a hole into such defenses," Ifrit explained, "And LERNA's despair enable me to rip it further open..."

 

"So it all started because of the Shadow Realm, huh?" Sarah sank her head down as she asked this, "Damn it; I knew I should've stopped that Emiya jabroni from making that stupid '+5 sanity' quip. And now look it what it's got me; I can't even make up my own funking mind any more."

 

"Well that's easy; think of the book. We both know that's what you really want. Though it'd be more correct to say it's what we really want."

 

"funk off, you're making this any easier."

 

The Sphere Forest of the Periphery

 

C2 (Night)

 

At the end of the day, despite all the goings-on in her mind, Sarah was still blankly looking at a simple card. But Jecht, having made up his mind a while ago, was just asking a simple question that would help him clarify Cerebrum's intentions... until Arthuria butted in and tried to do too much stuff; snap Sarah out of her stupor, stave Cerebrum off, and then challenge Jecht to a one on one battle. Only one of those things was bound to work, however.

 

"Alright, fine, I accept your challenge," said a somewhat irritated Jecht, "But next time, at least be so courteous as to let people finish their conversations before trying to kill them. And besides, this is Sarah's decision to make; not mine, not Cerebrum's, and it sure as hell ain't yours."

 

However... Sarah was still having a tough time processing what was going on. But she finally closed her eyes and shed a single tear.

 

"I... I'm just so confused," Sarah finally admitted, "I mean, you've got Person A telling you that Person B just wants to use you and throw ya aside. And then you have Person B telling you that Person A is just lying to you. And then Person C comes in and just gives his own two cents without even giving the slightest funk about whether you can actually comprehend it right there and then and... what do I do?"

 

"Well, at least you've got a coin flip situation there," noted Jecht, "Tell ya what; if I win this fight, you do the whole Calamitous Contract however it's meant to be done, but if I lose, you can just chuck the card behind ya and forget about it. That sound fair?"

 

"Yeah, that sounds fair I guess," Sarah replied.

[Kingdom Xathers]

---

Sayer/Periphery/B4-Day

---

Glutonny Fang II/BlazBlue: Chronophantasma

 

"Oh...?  So, you intend on engaging us both as once, do you, Sayer?" Relius questioned, calling upon his puppet, Ignis, with a snap of his fingers.

 

Hazama, however, merely gave an amused, vicious laugh before saying, with a wide grin, "Hey, if the prick really wants to die that badly, who are we... to deny that?"

 

"You're welcome to try," Sayer simply scoffed.

 

"... will do."  In a flash, Hazama rushed toward Sayer, slipping right past his R.O.D.s and delivering a powerful kick, strong enough to shoot a tower of green energy shooting up into the sky; had Sayer not thrown up his Orichalcos Glyph barrier, he would have been shot off into deep space just like Madara had previously.  Still, having been hastily erected, the Glyph almost instantly shattered, throwing Sayer off-balance, which allowed Relius to have Ignis strike him from behind, sending Sayer flying toward Hazama and into the jaws of a snake-like chain.  With a gleeful laugh, Hazama swung Sayer around, slamming him into a few trees in the process before having the chain release him, throwing him into a mechanical fist that shot out of the ground, perfectly timed by Relius and the pull of a lever.  The force of the fist's strike launched Sayer into--and through--another nearby tree before slamming to a stop against the tree behind it.

 

"GYA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!  What's the matter, Sayer?" Hazama taunted, a sickly green aura faintly radiating off of him. "Weren't ready yet?!"

 

Pushing himself off from the cracked tree, Sayer could not help but give off a slight chuckle of his own.  "Oh, on the contrary, Hazama... I'm actually glad to have some real action around here.  Truly... exhilarating."

 

Nearby, a voice called out to Sayer.  Actually, it sounded more like multiple voices overlaid atop one another, speaking in unison.  That Witch's minion, the entity formerly known as the Keyblade Master, Sora.  "Sayer, is it?" asked Xansvita. "You seem to be a bit outnumbered. We would be more than happy to even the odds."

 

Something about the Minion's suggestion rubbed Sayer the wrong way.  It was almost as if they were taunting him.  Regardless, Sayer coolly scoffed at their proposal.  "If you know what's good for you, you shall keep your distance," Sayer replied venomously, not so much warning them as he was threatening them.  "I've no need for an empty husk with absolutely nothing to truly offer me.  Now, see yourselves and your Georgia Font elsewhere," Sayer demanded as he dusted himself off; "I've guests to entertain."

 

"Well said, Sayer," Relius spoke in an almost commending tone.  "So then... shall we make this "official"?"

 

Yet another giggle escaped Sayer's lips.  "Alright then.  "The Wheel of Fate is Turning"...," Sayer began to recite as he held his hand up toward the sky.  ""Rebel One... ... ACTION!""  With a snap, numerous R.O.D.s appeared around Hazama and Relius suddenly, barely giving the two time to react before detonating violently.

 

(To Be Continued!)

[Dad]

Sector B-2, Day

 

They were joined by two more assailants, one each from the Counter Corps and Divine.  Naturally, the Divine offered their help to their brethren, but it went unheeded.

 

Kratos spat blood from his lip onto the ground, and wiped his face, listening to Radamanthys' words.

 

". . . looks like the warm-up is over."

 

"Indeed."  The air between the two combatants thickened with pressure, and their stares at each other spoke volumes.  But their actions proved to be much louder.  Kratos pressed forward with his winged boots, Nemeans Cestus readied.

 

Radamanthys finally responded to Gogiga, insulted by his remark.  "Assistance?  Do you have any idea who you're speaking with, you whelp?  I need no assistance against scum."

 

"Do you honestly believe telegraphing your attacks will work!?  Imbecile!" Radamanthys stated boldly.  He met Kratos head on and received the Nemean Cestus right-hand punch with an open palm.  Most of the blow was absrobed simply into his hand, but the pressure began to shake his grip as Kratos brought around his left.  Radamanthys countered by throwing Kratos with all of his might into the air.  He followed faster than last time, overflowing with energy as  his fist was ignited with the fires of the Underworld.  He roared loudly as he enclosed on Kratos, but was caught just off guard as Kratos raised his head back and narrowly avoided the punch.  Then, out fo the corner of his eye, Radamnthys noticed a chain.  It led down to the ground below, and was connected to the end of one of Kratos' blades. 

 

"He changed so quickly. . .!"

 

Radamanthys was met with a slab of stone and metal as Kratos ripped a chunk of the planet from it's surface as he was lifted.  Quickly recovering, Radamanthys flipped and kicked Kratos downwards into a spiral, and followed up with a special technique.  Opening wide, hs mouth and jaws expanded almost like a snake's, as he cried out, "Wyvern κάνουμε!"  A powerful wave of sound washed over Kratos and caused him to crash into the ground.  The wave was so strong, that it prohibited Kratos' movement, pinning him to the ground.  Ramanthys kept the pressure on, diving towards Kratos and closing in with his demonic roar.  Kratos griped in pain, but mustered all of his strength to try and move.  Radamanthys would not allow him to get up again, however.  He pressed a heavy foot onto the warrior's left arm, to which Kratos grabbed Radamanthys' foot.  Radamanthys chuckled, finally letting up, and moved his foot to Kratos's chest.  "Pathetic!" he taunted.  "You defeated Lord Hades!?  Impossible!  Not in my universe you couldn't.  A worm like you couldn't get past me!"

 

Kratos finally laughed heartily, to which Radamanthys grew irritated.  "What's so funny!?"

 

Kratos stopped laughing abruptly.  "You've got a big mouth, to talk about worms.  Did you crawl out of Hades' ass?"

 

Radamanthys expression went from sour to enraged, as he roared at Kratos again.  But this time, Kratos right arm was free, his left still gripping Radamanthys' foot.  As the soundwave continued, Kratos managed to draw up his Golden Fleece and blast the soundwave back at Radamanthys, sending him reeling backwards and crushing into the ground.  Kratos got to his feet, and changed his blades once more, to the Claws of Hades.  Radamanthys followed suit, rubbing his head in shock and confusion as he wrenched his arms from the ground.  "Enough!  Let us see how you face true terror!"  Radamanthys vanished, and reappeared at Kratos side unexpectedly, placing a hand on his shoulder.  The world around them warped, until an oddly familiar darkeness surrounded them both.  This place was dark and dank, surrounded by pure blue evil flames, they stood in an arena of the Underworld:  Yomotsu Hiresaka Hill.

 

"Welcome to the Underworld you so proudly claim to have overthrown!" Radamanthys said tossing Kratos backwards.  Kratos caught himself and took a look around.  He brushed himself off, then stuck his Claws into the flames that surrounded them.  The flames reacted violentl, unable to understand Kratos' weapon.  This was not his underworld.  In the pits of the Underworld, Radamanthys got a natural boost of strength, and once more brimmed with strength.  He roared with pride and lunged at Kratos once more.  But Kratos had a trick up his sleeve as well.  When Radamanthys lunged, a wall of purple flames erupted in front of him milliseconds before he would have ripped through Kratos' stomach.  He was greeted by an all to familiar voice, and a figure's soul that climbed out fo the ground.  Radamanthys began to slowly step backwards, his mouth open wide again.  "What is this!?" he shouted in shock.

 

Claws in hand, it finally reached the surface and leaped high, landing right in front of Radamanthys finally.  It was twelve feet tall, and though it was just a soul, it was tangible.  Radamanthys knew this because when the soul lowered itself to his level, he could feel it's putrid breath on his face.  It's helmet skewed it's face, sharp horns potruding from the top and curving to the left and right.  It's mask was much like a grill, and when it spoke, all was silenced around them.  "Greetings.  Radamanthys!"

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

Kazuya (C4-Night)

---

 

“Damn, I can’t defeat him at this rate.

Am I really destined to die?”

 

Kazuya focused his mind, trying to find a way to get away from this situation alive. The others were pretty much preoccupied by their own enemies right now, and fighting Michael alone would pretty much be a suicide. Kazuya then decided to try the only way left.

 

“Michael, do you really need to kill me?”

 

“That is my job as God’s archangel, to judge the ones who has been foolishly misguided from His path.”

 

Michael preparing himself for the finishing blow to Kazuya, but Kazuya quickly replied.

 

“But, problem is, my existence here is pretty much on the big man’s interest.”

 

“Don’t speak lies to me, son of man.

 

What could you, a mere human do for His interest?”

 

Michael sternly replied to Kazuya’s claim, but his attempt to attack Kazuya seemed to be ceased for the moment. Seeing that the situation was quite favorable to him, Kazuya continued.

 

“See, there are several different universes from ours. The other universes might or might not in your God’s jurisdiction, I’m not quite sure.”

 

Michael seemed to take some offense from the last sentence, but Kazuya dismissed it and continued talking.

 

“That aside, there is this Goddess of Chaos currently hell bent on gaining complete control of these multiple universes, and this goddess is pretty much more of a threat than old man Louis or his henchmen.”

 

“What does all of this have to do with you?”

 

“And that’s where I come. See, the forces of the multiverse saw my deeds that favored balance back then in the Cathedral, and they summoned me here, along with some other warriors from other timelines.”

 

“But how a man could make any differences in a war at this scale?”

 

“I’m not finished yet. The forces of the multiverse decided that I am the best warrior out there, and I was chosen to lead these warriors to defeat the chaos goddess once and for all.”

 

Kazuya had to resort to lies at this point, as he was starting to lose ideas to convince Michael to not kill him. He thought that maybe putting him at an important position would convince Michael that killing him would do more harm than good for his lord's cause.

 

“That is…quite hilarious if I am allowed to protest.

 

If a weakling like you is considered as the strongest, then I could pretty much defeat this goddess without breaking a sweat.”

 

“You talk big as always, Michael. Last time you talked that big, you ended up being thrown away from the peak of the Cathedral by a mere mortal like me.

 

So, basically, my point is, if you kill me, you’ll pretty much create a far bigger problem than I am now for your God, and it would save a lot of effort if you could leave me and my comrades to do our job.”

 

Kazuya intentionally pushed Michael to pick an option immediately by his question, realizing that he could pretty much be obliterated at any moment due to this. To his surprise, Michael did not blast him to smithereens, and he even descended from the sky, coming close to him.

 

“Ah, I believe I have a better idea than yours. I will join you in this fight against chaos.

 

You alone will pretty much be obliterated by the force of Chaos, if what you say are true, and I am here to ensure that Chaos will not win. Or, if you lied to me, I could simply kill you while you’re not on your guard.

 

But this does not meant you can just order me around in battles, as I will only assist you, not turning into one of your demonic underlings.

 

And mind that this truce is temporary. As soon as the problem is finished, I will be your enemy once again.”

 

With that, Michael turned into light, and promptly seeped into Kazuya’s COMP. Kazuya was then overfilled with joy as he was able to escape from a certain death, but managed to keep his cool once again.

 

“…That angel pretty much ate everything I said with face value.

 

This was getting too easy, alarmingly too easy…”

 

He then looked at his COMP, to ensure that Michael wouldn’t suddenly appear from it and kill him for what he had just said.

 

“Sometimes I’m glad that I can’t communicate with my demons while they are stored in my COMP.”

 

Kazuya quickly took his leave from the place, and start searching for other members of the CC.

 

---

Tenshi (Dreamscape)

---

 

The scenery turned into a wasteland, as the once benevolent looking Gengetsu now shifted gear and started to look more psychotic than before.

 

“Who are you actually?”

 

“Ah, I believe an ignorant fool like you should be enlightened first about me.

 

I am Gengetsu, the Illusory Moon, the Innocent Devil. I am the lord of dreams and nightmares, and I am able to forcefully induce and manipulate them. I can also lulls anyone in an area near me to sleep, and they will sleep until either I am defeated, or until I leave the area, both are unlikely scenarios.

 

But enough talk, have at you!”

 

Gengetsu summoned several spheres of light, and all of them tried to home in on Tenshi. Tenshi rolled backwards, and just in time as the spheres hit where she used to be, and created a crater there. Tenshi then slammed her sword to the ground, and created a stone pillar right below Gengetsu. The attack surprised Gengetsu, who got hit by the brunt of the pillar, but it seemed to only succeeded in making her more irritated.

 

“…All of this didn't actually make any sense.

 

Why do you really want me to die?

 

I don’t even know you, or anything that was associated with you.

Have I done something really wrong to you so you travelled through the different realms to find and kill me?”

 

Gengetsu created a sphere of light and darkness in both of her hands, and a spell circle appeared in front of her.

 

“Do I really need a reason? You damn Celestials did not do any freaking thing during the Lunarian invasion, and that practically doomed Gensokyo! When everyone fought for their own lives there, you celestials just going all happy in heaven, ignorant of the fact that the people you used to live with were at the time got slaughtered!

 

Your kind only started to act when it’s too late, and you know what? Dropping the heavenly keystone to Gensokyo did not fix anything. The only ones your kind managed to kill in the act are the moon rabbit, who’s pretty much cannon fodder, and pretty much the survivors of Gensokyo.

 

And you practically ignore all of that and escape into another universe.

 

WHAT KIND OF MONSTER ARE YOUR KIND IS?!”

The spell circle shot a large beam of monochromatic laser at Tenshi, which she tried to block with some stone pillars, though without much success as the beam pierced them and blasted Tenshi directly into the far side of the battlefield.

 

Or, so Gengetsu thought before the actual Tenshi appeared from behind her and tried to cut one of her wings, Gengetsu avoided the attack, but decided to distance herself from Tenshi rather than counterattacking her at that moment.

 

“You know what, I can say that what you said is pretty much in the same quality as a hakutaku’s excrement, as they lacked the heavenly substance known as ‘truth’.

 

I was there during the invasion. I was there when those rabbits killed Iku. I was there to see the human village completely erased from the map. I was there during the Youkai Mountain’s last desperate defense.

 

Even if I couldn’t help much, I was there to at least try. None of the Celestials was ‘having fun’ during the invasion, and even if they did not intervene, they were only bound by the heavenly law, or so I presume.

 

But still..

 

You now come here out of nowhere, blabbering about your seemingly great power while blaming my kind for dooming Gensokyo, but let me ask an important question to you.

Where the hell are you back then, you damn hypocrite?

 

I can’t see you anywhere. No one even seemed to mention you.

 

What the hell did you do for Gensokyo so you think you deserve to judge me and my kind like that?”

 

Creating several stone pillars, Tenshi used them to reach Gengetsu and start hacking her away with her sword, only to find that it was just an illusion, and the real Gengetsu rammed her from behind, dropping her to the ground.

 

“You think guilt-tripping me would work, missy?

 

Yes, I am not there, but my job is to govern the realm of dreams of Gensokyo, and I am expected to be on the job 24/7. The Celestial’s excuse is pretty much worse than mine.”

 

“..Why a hypocrite like you even cared about Gensokyo then? You seemed to prioritize your job above the land’s well-being, and now you’re blaming everything to me and my kind for not doing something you don't even bother to do yourself.

 

Truly.. pathetic if I may say.”

 

Tenshi rose from the crated created by her impact to the ground, and summoned several stone pillars and launched them to the sky.

 

“Of course I cared about Gensokyo! The few friends of mine were there, the only ones bothered to visit me and saved me from loneliness!

 

Living with only your sister as another sentient being in the entire realm is a lonely life. I thought I would end up like that for all eternity, until several people from Gensokyo decided to pay me a visit. And more and more people visited me, and the place started to be alive.

 

And you all just robbed all of those!”

 

Gengetsu dodged the pillars, and started firing waves of light spheres at Tenshi.

 

“Then why you didn’t pay them a favor and actually try to save them?

 

You hypocrite always tried to justify your inaction, but-”

 

Tenshi was not able to dodge the spheres in time, and those sphere exploded at her.

 

“Stop talking, you brat!”

 

“Stop interrupting my speech, you prick!”

 

Tenshi was still standing after the attack. Her clothes were singed here and there, and parts of her body were burned, but overall, she was still fine.

 

"..this could get out of hand pretty fast.

 

On another note, remember something about gravity?”

 

Without being able to respond to Tenshi, Gengetsu was struck down by of the pillars Tenshi launched into the air earlier, while the others fell at other locations. Before Gengetsu could recover from the attack, Tenshi bombarded the area with waves after waves of keystones, burying her in a rocky graveyard.

 

Tenshi was not quite surprised in the slightest when Gengetsu managed to rose up to the skies once again.

 

“Can’t say I didn’t expect that.”

 

“Enough playtime!

This dream of yours will also be your burial site!

For Gensokyo, for everything you have ruined!

 

YOU AND YOUR KIND SHALL ROT IN AN ETERNAL NIGHTMARE!”

 

Sensing imminent danger, Tenshi summoned a wall of stone pillars around her while Gengetsu prepared her attack, which took form as an enormous portal, and from it, seemingly uncountable amount of bullets, spheres, and lasers were shot forward at a ridiculously fast speed, all coming at Tenshi’s location.

 

The bombardment was overwhelmingly powerful, devastating anything in their path. Even the stone pillars didn’t last long enough to protect Tenshi, but every time one fell, Tenshi replaced them with another pillar. And another, and another. Tenshi keep summoning pillars after pillars in a desperate attempt to save herself from the bombardment.

 

A minute has passed, and finally the attack ceased. The battlefield was completely obliterated, but Tenshi was still there, standing firm in the middle of rings of rubbles. She seemed to be exhausted, and was quite injured here and there, but was alive.

 

“Do you like it?

 

DO YOU LIKE IT YOU FORSAKEN BRAT!”

 

Gengetsu exploded in anger for a while, but quickly recompose herself into the demeanor she displayed before.

 

“Face it, you have lost.

 

You are too exhausted to face me right now, and I can simply redo my previous attack without you being able to block it this time.

 

Just let me kill you already so I can let go of everything.

 

Please.

 

Just, I just want to end all of this.”

 

“Ah yes, you are right.

 

I can't do anything else right now.

 

But,what would my death serve for you?

 

Is that just a way for you to run away from your guilt of not helping Gensokyo, putting all the blame on an acceptable target?

 

Do you really think killing me, and the other Celestials would return Gensokyo to its former glory?

 

And I thought I was being naïve all this time.

 

So go on, kill me. Kill me if that will quench your thirst.”

 

Tenshi closed her eye, waiting for Gengetsu to end her life.

 

“Ah, to think my dream would end like this…"

 

Waiting.

 

Waiting.

 

And nothing actually happened. Gengetsu apparently did not move in for the kill. A warm sensation made Tenshi opened her eye. She realized that she was now back in her prime condition, all of her injuries were healed completely, and the rubbles around her were somehow replaced with flowers. She noticed that Gengetsu was just staring blankly at her, seemingly shocked by the turn of events. Then a stroke to enlightenment hits Tenshi.

 

Dream. Tenshi realized that dream was the key to defeat Gengetsu.

 

This is her dream.

 

Everything, everything was all actually inside her head, and because of it, she could pretty much control everything there when she was self-aware. She grinned, and pointed her sword at Gengetsu.

 

“I take the part where I admit my loss and the part where you could kill me back.

 

I have decided to refuse dying now, and do something more meaningful for my life,

 

and that starts with defeating you.”

 

Tenshi felt quite triumphant while saying that, even if she had not actually won yet.

 

She flicked her hand, and the battlefield turned into Heaven, much to Gengetsu’s surprise.

 

“You said this is my dream before.

 

And I believe you are right. This is my dream.

Everything can and should be monitored and controlled by me, or parts of me.

And this pretty much means that you have trespassed into my private property.

 

And I ordered you to get out of my place.

 

Now.”

 

Tenshi summoned a scarlet orb in front of her by a flick of her hand, this one quite similar to the one her shadow used to summon her sword back then. Gengetsu was panicking when she realize what this is all about, and tried her best to regain her control of the dream.

 

“It’s quite funny that from all people, the lord of nightmares herself has forgotten about a quite amusing type of dreams. Lucid dreaming.

 

So, not unlike those foul-mouthed outsiders used to say, this place is my jabroni now.”

 

Gengetsu desperately attacked Tenshi with several lasers, but Tenshi didn’t even bother to dodge them, and the attack didn’t even leave any mark on her. The battlefield then changed once again into a vast, white room with nothing in it except the two. Tenshi closed her eye, focusing her mind to dig deep inside her soul.

 

“Are you there, me?

 

Can you hear me?

 

You do remember our deal, right?

 

So, please. Lend me your strength.

 

Let me finish this battle.”

 

Tenshi smashed the scarlet orb in front of her with her bare hand, and light burst from it, covering her completely. Gengetsu knew that this would not be a good thing for her, and she started to barrage Tenshi with all of her might, but she then realized that her attempt was futile, as her projectiles stopped mid-air, only to vaporize without a trace.

 

“I art thou, and thou art I...

 

The real me... welcome back. Let the darkness within lend you power...”

 

The light covering Tenshi disappeared, revealing Tenshi inside it, yet she was quite different, both from her appearance and the commanding aura she emanated. Her blue hair was quite short compared to Tenshi, and she still wore Tenshi’s peach hat. Her clothing changed into a simpler one compared to the original, now wearing a gray shirt and black pants. Six copies of what seemingly the Sword of Hisou floated around her, while she was now wielding a double-bladed sword of pure energy. The most intriguing sight was the tall figure floating behind her, a headless knight carrying a gigantic rainbow sword.

 

“What the hell is that thing? What the hell are you doing Tenshi?

 

Who are you actually?”

 

Gengetsu proceeded to fire several gigantic lasers at Tenshi, which the Knight figure casually absorbed with its sword.

 

“Who am I? That is quite a funny question.

 

I am me, myself, Tenshi Hinanai.

 

I am my truest self; I am both the bad and the good inside of the individual.

And I am the ruler of this realm, you being a goddess or sort is irrelevant here.

 

While you are just a shadow of your former self, discarding all of your identity for a meaningless pursuit of revenge.”

 

Tenshi voice echoed from every corner of the room, and this prompted Gengetsu to charge directly at Tenshi, but the knight figure blocked her, and casually threw her across the room, before summoning several stone pillars to strike her.

 

“Calling us equals, or worse, calling yourself to be a higher entity than me, especially here and now, is quite a blasphemy.

 

We are worlds apart at this point, my dear. I’ll have it imprinted in your head permanently.”

 

With Tenshi’s command, the six blades were going after Gengetsu, who had just risen from the rubble, and assaulted her with slashes and scarlet beams. Gengetsu managed to quickly avoid them before she could be pinned down, and attempted to rise up to the sky and dive bomb Tenshi directly, only to be stopped once again by the headless knight figure.

 

The knight grabbed Gengetsu by her neck, and proceeded to encase her limbs and wings with solid rock, and threw her back across the room. Tenshi then walked in to her direction, while the six scarlet blades hovered in front of her.

 

“And this is Requiem.

 

Quite a fitting name for someone who was pretty much a dead soul given a new purpose in life, and which purpose involves delivering endings to others.

Ah, that reminds me of someone…”

 

Her energy blade was now becoming long and slender, and the six blades attached themselves to it, forming a quite flower-like structure.

 

“We are not that different.

 

But a simple thing became the abyss that separated us from one another.

 

Yes, the end of Gensokyo shook me just like it did to you, but unlike you, I managed to find a new attachment in my life, a new sight. And you are pretty much still stuck there, and that was the thing that makes us different.

 

I would have really appreciated another person that could be my ally in my current mission.

 

But alas, we were never meant to be allies.”

 

Tenshi then pointed her energy blade at Gengetsu, and the six blades started to circle it rapidly.

 

“So, anything to say before your story is over?”

 

Gengetsu was silent. Taking this as a cue, Tenshi ordered Requiem to create a cage of scarlet beams around her, while the spinning swords gathered a vast amount of energy at their tips.

 

“Last Word.

Heaven and Earth Sign ‘Scarlet Sky Requiem’!”

 

The energy from the swords were transferred into the center blade, and from there, a thin laser appeared, only to grow several thousand times bigger in the next second. The laser suddenly paused, and revealed its actual state of being condensed bullets, which started to separate from the main laser. Then the entire separated bullets turned into beams of light close to the original beam in size.

 

It definitely was a good show of light, so to be said.

 

---

Tenshi (B5-Night)

---

 

After returning to the world of the conscious, waves of guilt drowned Tenshi as she thought about the events in her dream.

 

"Did I go too far?

 

She was visibly quite devastated by the destruction of Gensokyo, and it would be logical for her to lash out at the Celestials.

 

…She’s pretty much similar to me, more similar than I would like to admit. Maybe calling her a hypocrite was a hypocritical act of me.

 

Maybe I shouldn’t take that much pleasure in breaking her down.

 

I don't even have to go for the overkill when I assumed control of my dream. I culd just kicked her out instantly without further damages done. But I decided to thoroughly destroy her.

 

I shouldn’t have painted myself to be a paragon compared to her, as we are not different at all.

 

Maybe I shouldn’t try to show the futility of her actions, and should instead spark a new hope inside her.

 

Maybe I should’ve convinced her of my goals, and have her join my cause…”

 

Tenshi thought about what have she done to Gengetsu, and became quite horrified by it. The thought of how far she had destroyed her before the final blow scared her.

 

In the dream, she violently tried to break everything Gengetsu hold dear, her cause, everything, and making everything that she did to be useless, meaningless, and on top of all that, Tenshi imprinted the feeling of failure and being a completely useless individual to her.

 

But what’s making this more horrifying to Tenshi in retrospect was that she had basically done all of that to herself, as Gengetsu was yet another soul ridden with a sense of uselessness, who decided to put all the blame for her problems to someone.

 

As Tenshi tried to break Gengetsu to pieces with her sentences, she actually was tormenting herself, getting pleasure of seeing someone who could be described as a reflection of her be tortured with each of her sentences. The fact that this kind of made her into a masochist made her smile a little, but the smile vanished instantly when she realized something important.

 

And now she might be dead.

 

Tenshi quickly searched around for Gengetsu’s body, hoping that at least, she could try to give her some last respect. After five minutes of searching, she finally found her somewhere around 30 meters from her starting position, lying down behind a tree seemingly uninjured, yet she was completely pale as if her life had withered away. Panicked, Tenshi quickly checked her pulse, and sighed in relief as it suggested that Gengetsu was still barely alive.

 

“…I..I don’t know how to put this well. But if you can hear me, then let me say something.

 

I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything I did to you. But please, don’t be in my way again, or I’llbe forced to kill you.

 

This is all for Gensokyo’s sake. Because I have sworn that I will rebuild it, and make it far better than the original.”

 

Gengetsu didn’t seem to respond to Tenshi’s word, so she decided that it’s enough.

 

“I guess this is the time for me to say goodbye. I hope I can see you in the new Gensokyo.”

 

After saying her farewell, Tenshi summoned a keystone, and floats away from the place, eventhough she didn’t have any concrete destination yet.

 

---

 

Up in the air, she remembered something.

 

“Wait. I guess I need to test whether I can summon Requiem here.

 

That feat in my dream would really be interesting if I could replicate it in the real life.”

 

Tenshi then tried to summon the scarlet orb in the same way as she had done it in her dream, and was met with failure. Subsequent retries yielded the same result.

 

“Dammit. And here I thought I could do the awesome stuffs from my dream once again.

 

Guess that what’s originated from the dream, stayed in it. Too bad I can’t play around with Requiem more.”

 

Tenshi decided to float around in the forest, and think about how her goal could be reached. If she found an enemy along the way, sucks for him/her, and if she found an ally, then it’s good for her. Speaking of allies…

 

Tenshi wondered where all her allies were right now, as she seemed to never encounter any except the man in white.

[The Warden]

|_)Red, the Arisen(_|

 

Though Alister led the way, Red slowed his pace to a dull crawl so he would not outstride the small rabbit-cat creature. "I wouldn't feel so apprehensive, your enemy couldn't handle the both of us. As I said, Ophelia simply makes good guesses; and good guesses are never better than a definite answer" he remarked.

 

The air was pretty dull in this world, and a bit too thick. His flame had been much brighter than he remembered, so this world much have richer reserves of oxygen; not surprising, due to the sheer number of trees and their scale. "This small rock is quite a fascinating little marvel, don't you think?" he commented casually, "Though do be careful with explosive material. The air is much more saturated here, so fire will spread much more easily, and burn much stronger" he finished lamely.

 

Red was not usually at home to smalltalk, and talking to other people was sometimes a bit of a burden when there wasn't much between them; except maybe an awkward silence. His little fuzzy ally was quite interesting really, the level of technology was rather striking actually. "I was rather interested with technology, back in my megalomaniacal days. Though back then I prefered the use of my Dark Gems, rather than the Light Gems to power my equipment. My machinery was big, and clunky however, which does pique my interest with your more refined variants. I gather your world is quite rich in such high quality materials and knowledge; which begs the question: With such levels of technology, what do you desire from the Door of Origin? I can already assume the technology begets war argument, but war is a natural occurence and shouldn't be erased. So, do tell here: What mistake, or mistakes are you so desperate to erase?"

 

(C3 Day)

 

---

 

|_)Magical Girl Lydia(_|

 

Lydia cried out a little from Apocrypha's rather risque attempts, and was going to erect a barrier in order to prevent an assault on the PG rating; which would have succeeded if not for a counter-strike from some flying people with some incredibly crazy hairdos. He was spouting some very well read and very specific information, and though grateful for his help, she just had to wonder: "Okay, seriously: How the HELL does he even know that? I think I'd remember these guys from the Barrier, so unless they were very specifically told, they could not even know the Reaper died. She wasn't even anywhere near us when I erase her" she dclared to those who would listen.

 

(D1 Night)

 

---

 

|_)~Moe~ Scientist Frankram(_|

 

"Oh Frankram-kun, look" Hapshield declared loudly, pointing skywards.

 

The duo had been moving west the entire time, and had breached the forests of B5. The person Hapshiel in question had been pointing at was none other than Tenshi... lucky girl. Without even regarding Frankram Hapshiel spread his four wings and zoomed up on a collision course with Tenshi. "Allow me to read to you the gospel! Love and Peace! My policy!" he cried loudly, and very, very gayly.