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

[Astolfo]

Arthuria had challenged him, and Cerebrum knew that he would almost certainly lose, given Arthuria's powerful holy magics, one of his weaknesses. Slipping away amidst the chaos, Cerebrum decided to relocate himself. Breathing in deeply, his particles broke up into the dark night, before vanishing on the wind.

---

Being pulled to another hotspot, he turned into a dark mist, searching for the source. Detecting it, Cerebrum noticed it moving towards a plane and moved to intercept him before he would escape. "Eating" up what he could detect creating the gloom, as usual, it would be only the slightest details - which however, would be more than enough, and actually perhaps better in some cases.

 

Pulling himself in front of the boy in a vortex-like fashion, the Dealer coalesced. Taking advantage of Kazuya's surprise, the hooded being grabbed onto him before diving through the ground, dematerializing himself and his target. Detecting a transmission item, he found a crystal, and pocketed it away with a sleight-of-hand while the child wasn't paying attention. It wouldn't do for him to go and contact his leader if the plan didn't go perfectly. Phasing through the first layer without the slightest ruffle, Cerebrum knew the second layer wouldn't be able to be phased through with that method and then stopped. From previous experience, this took the wind out of a lot of people, and set them up as easy prey.

---

Setting Kazuya against a wall, he removed his hood. Locking his own cold blue eyes onto the teenager's, he let his honeyed voice seep out and poison the mind.

 

"Greetings, human. What are you doing on this detestable pseudo-planet? You don't seem the leader type. Do you follow someone? That holy swordsman? The witch? Why do you do so?" Cerebrum left his words vague, leaving the victim's mind to create a good portion of the effect, before continuing. "Do you want revenge on those who stabbed you in the back after feigning to be allies? It seems you have killed them already, but that you haven't stopped them in time. Does this anger you? Everyone is against you, you know that? Just like those who sabotaged your efforts, both of the leaders are using everyone for their own foul purposes. Arthuria, was it? His intentions are not so pure as you might believe. Ironically enough, Isamy, if I recall her name correctly, has a purer cause for her goal, although her methods might be less than optimal." Weaving his words into a spiderweb, entrapping truths and lies, and partial truths, as well as twisting the ways possible for interpretations, it would be notoriously hard to penetrate. "Despite everything, you look like a goody-two-shoes, so I'll go ahead and guess you're with Arthuria. He wants to let those destined to die, die. He wants to let the world be destroyed, if some foolish fate deems it necessary. If someone you had close to your heart was destined to die, Arthuria would most certainly make sure it stays that way. Are you fine with that? Your friends that the traitors killed would be deemed part of fate by Arthuria, and he wouldn't have the slightest ounce of reason or compassion to changing that." With this, it wrapped up the first stage of his psychological attack, consisting of weakening his trust towards other and dropping the victim into the downwards spiral of doubt. To a viewer, if this was recorded and put on a screen - and it managed to capture Cerebrum, who didn't appear on such devices - then it would seem as if Cerebrum knew a great deal about Kazuya. However, this is incorrect. What the Dealer knows is a laughably small amount, at least at the beginning. With carefully placed words, the victim usually tends to reveal more. The Dealer of Despair knows naught about details, however, slight things such as reasons for despair or negativity similarly can be detected. With Kazuya, this would be someone or some people close to him betraying him, and injuring and/or killing those close to him, perhaps Kazuya included. That is pretty much the entirety of what he knows. The statement of the boy being allied with Arthuria was a guess, through how much light Cerebrum can see in the person's soul. The rest about Arthuria and Isamy was something he picked up through careful observation. Giving the slightest break, which would be just enough for Kazuya to have processed this initially, the figure led on to the second phase, which would consist of crushing the person's identity. The Deceitrickery in full effect, it would alter how the mind intakes information and remembers.

 

"No one wants you as who you are. You are but a useless human with some feeble, childish demons at your side. At best, you would be an average piece of fodder, that either side could throw about at will. You are nothing. Have you even any friends? With your personality, it seems unlikely. But then again, as I said before, you are cannon fodder. Nothing more." Normally, this sort of thing would anger people. However, with the enchantment over his eyes and voice, it leads to the victim apologizing or breaking down otherwise generally. "How does it feel to be a speck of dust in the grand scheme of things? A piece of trash, a sod of dirt, a pebble that people trod over without the slightest care for? Does it feel good? No, I'm imagining it would not. Feeling worthless, as if you are nothing, is a most terrible feeling. Your friends had turned on you. They did not have cared about you enough to not betray you. When the time comes, then Arthuria will use you and dispose of you, and your death will mean nothing." Smiling cruelly on the inside, the Dealer's third part would wrap up the preparations. This final part would consist of turning the victim to his own purposes.

 

"I can help you though. I am someone who wants to help those trapped in the web of lies spread by the two major factions. I try my best, but some refuse outright, while others even attempt to attack me, despite me doing it all for a good cause." The Deceitrickery's effect on Kazuya's mind would perhaps have weakened it enough to the point to hear such a "injustice" against Cerebrum would cause him anger, and feelings to defend him. "I have managed to get to you though. You are a special being, even if you start out from the base. Everyone starts out from the bottom and works their way up, except for the detestable, arrogant prodigies and leaders. I will shape you into what you want to become. I will let you fulfill your wishes, as Arthuria or Isamy could never have done. I will turn the nothing into a something. A very noticeable something. You will be the light, instead of the shadow. You want to hurt Arthuria now, do you not? What is the "wonderful leader" except a manipulative villain? While I will make you very strong,  you will not be able to take him on outright. Patience is a virtue though. I will build up your strength, and increase your light, until it can drive out his darkness. You have nothing to worry. All you need to do is take a Tarot Card, and let it seep into your soul. That is what will help the most in changing your fate, a detestable thing. You will be able to manipulate it however which way you will like. Until then however, you must lie in wait. It wouldn't do to have my precious friend injured, would it?"

 

Sealing off Kazuya from possible outside disturbances with a spacial barrier, it would create a pocket dimension attached to the planet they were on, so it wouldn't drift off to somewhere in the yonder. A dark purple seeping up from the ground, it rippled, before smoothing out again, without the slightest hint of the barrier there. The boy probably wouldn't have noticed anyways however. A target like him would be a perfect one, and his Deceitrickery would have sealed the deal long ago. Breathing in deeply, he exhaled, spreading out his hands in an arc on an imaginary table in front of him. Tarot Cards rotated around in a circle around Cerebrum's waist, spinning in the air. Snatching one out of the air, Cerebrum picked it up, knowing it would always give the best pick. Lifting it up, he viewed it.

 

Strength

This is not strength of brute force. Rather, the strength of character, and how one can control oneself. The lady opens the mouth of the lion. Through brute force, she would not win, however, she will wear away at the lion's reserves, and patiently defeat it. Determination and conviction connect to this card. There is no compassion or forgiveness or nurturing feelings within this card. The maiden forces the beast to her will, which does not fit with any of the previously mentioned words. Her will is superior, and her strength is near unstoppable. Like the dripping of water on a stone, it will wear away at it, until the water will penetrate all the way through, given time.

 

Perfect… Cerebrum knew this would restrain Kazuya's base emotions, and instead hone them to a deadly weapon. With this, it will give Kazuya incredible stamina and will to keep fighting, and will let him continuously wear away at his opponent, giving him powers to keep him going, with things such as dodging, or overcoming pain, or the like. Handing it to Kazuya, he refrained from stabbing the boy with the knife version of the card. Cerebrum, being a patient man, would prefer to keep it hidden, until the opportunity comes.

 

Kazuya would still have a chance to beat the deadly effects of this, however, it will require disposing of the card within roughly four hours. Any longer, and the card will have dissolved into the soul, infecting it with the Daemonia. As well as that, his mind will have to be purged of the corruption, or this will simply alert Cerebrum, who will simply summon the card back and redo the process, with Kazuya fully broken down. The time ticking, Cerebrum smiled.

 

What was going on in Kazuya's mind, he wouldn't know. Most likely, nothing at all, except utter obedience to Cerebrum. Of course, the possibility of it having not fully worked, or Kazuya having fought back exists, but with such a perfect target, this would be unlikely in Cerebrum's eyes. Already, the Dealer could see the Daemonia itching to get into Kazuya's soul, and a very cruel smile made its way across the being's face…

[Kingdom Xathers]

---

Alister Azimuth/Periphery/C3-Day

---

 

T'was a grueling task, fighting off the trees; even as Alister was able to freeze some of the herd with his CryoMines, the others would actually shatter their own brethren just to get to the lombax and the dragon. Luckily, Zurkon-Wrench was there to give Alister a bit of added utility.

 

"A buzzsaw?" Alister blurted out, seeing Zurkon-Wrench produce an electric-blue saw blade from his "mouth".

 

"Just trust Mr. Zurkon on this," Z-Wrench replied as he produced a second saw blade from his other end.

 

With a nod, Alister proceeded to swing his wrench around, launching each of the Spirals of Death into the herd of trees. The Spirals traveled in a wide arc, cutting through and mowing down many of the trees in the process before returning to the Z-Wrench's wrench-heads. "Somewhere out there," Alister mused to himself, "a group of tree-huggers are going berserk...."

 

"Mr. Zurkon is going berserk for a different reason," Z-Wrench spoke in a faux-aggravated tone. "The stupid dragon alien needs to hurry up and finish digging that hole."

 

"HEY! Red is doing the best he can, there's no reason to rush him--!" It was at this point that a thought occurred to Alister. "Wait... you might be on to something!"

 

"Of course!" Z-Wrench replied proudly. "... ... err, what is Mr. Zurkon on to?"

 

"If I can use my Time Control in conjunction with Red's Staff," Alister explained, "then we would be able to break through faster! ... Hypothetically speaking, of course. WHAT SAY YOU, RED?" He shouted over to Red. "Need a little boost?"

 

The Z-Wrench blinked its "eye". "... General, that is a completely moronic idea."

 

"Huh?!"

 

"You try that, General, and Mr. Zurkon guarantees that you would worsen the Multiverse's Time-Space Atomic Wedgie," Z-Wrench explained.

 

"What are you--wait, how do you know about quantum physics?" asked a perplexed Alister.

 

"Mr. Zurkon took a summer course at the Polaris Community College a few years ago."

 

"¡Mentiroso!" Alister blurted out. "Ugh, now you've got be speaking in Tongues...."

 

"Even so," Z-Wrench continued, "you know that you cannot risk damaging the Multiverse just for a minor chore. Or perhaps you have forgotten what would have happened the last time you tried that--"

 

"Yeah, hold that thought," Alister interrupted as he tossed a CryoMine over his shoulder, freezing another group of trees that were approaching him from behind before proceeding to smash them apart with the Z-Wrench. "Look," he spoke once his deed was done, "damaging the space-time continuum is the last thing I want to happen, Zurkon--"

 

"--then, don't try to cut corners, General. Besides," Z-Wrench continued, "doesn't the use of your Time Control have a negative effect on you, as well?"

 

"Y'know, you're starting to sound a helluva lot like Clank--" Alister began to say before Zurkon's words actually sunk in. "... you're right."

 

Once more, the Z-Wrench blinked its "eye" as if nodding in affirmation. "If Mr. Zurkon had to guess, the amount of time and energy needed to accelerate the digging process could very well cause real Soviet damage to your body... or worse."

 

Alister nodded somberly. "Right... like how Alexander can't use his power without--" Alister froze for a moment or two. "... wait, how do I know how Alex's powers work...?"

 

"Mr. Zurkon advises not to worry about that for now, General Fuzzy," Z-Wrench responded. "You still have more trees to chop down, which would subsequently bring the ire of many a tree-hugger against this RolePlay."

 

"Right," Alister agreed as he once more prepared to fend off against the remaining trees. "Red, just keep doing what you're doing! We'll get this done!"

 

---

Alexander/????/????

---

 

... Alex....

 

 

... hey, Alex....

 

 

 

... wake up....

When Alexander came to, he found himself lying face-up on the floor, a stained glass ceiling above him through which a white light shown through. Gingerly getting himself to a seated, upright position, he saw that he was on the top landing of a spiral staircase, with numerous photos, bookshelves and other trinkets lining the surrounding walls. On each landing, there was also a doorway, each one leading to places where only the Lord knows... well, He and a few other people, Alexander included; this place was, after all, his Soul Room.

 

"... Umbris?" Alexander began to call out, realizing that was the voice that had roused him awake. He got up to his feet as he continued to call out, "Umbris? Where are you?"

 

"Don't worry, I'm still here," Umbris' voice replied, blunt yet reassuring. "Just, uhh... not in the best shape right now, that's all."

 

"Wha... what do you mean?" Alexander asked apprehensively, a steadily growing dread coming upon him.

 

"Um, yeah... about that... ... ... promise me not to get too alarmed, 'k?" The sound of footsteps followed, coming from behind Alexander. The lombax quickly turned on his heel to face the source, only for the air in his lungs to suddenly retreat upon seeing what had become of the Neo-Spacian; Umbris' uniform was all but completely evaporated, his cape charred and tattered... and a great deal of his flesh had been blasted away, exposing muscle and bone across the majority of his back, the sides of his ribcage, and the top-left side of his face. "... yeah, I knew it was too much to ask," Umbris admittedly muttered with a sad smile.

 

Alexander was in complete shock; aside from some slight hyperventilation, the air was practically trapped in his lungs. He wanted to scream, and yet even that impulse could not be acted upon. Eventually, Alexander lost his balance, his legs failing him as he dropped to the floor.

 

"Uhh... yeah," Umbris continued, sounding unusually embarrassed despite his current condition, as if getting mostly vaporized was a mistake on his part. "Ya see, when Jeweled Red Dragon Archfiend used its ability, most of us were in danger of getting caught in the blast radius, not just Gorlag. The only way around that... was for the rest of us to switch to Defense Mode." He paused for a moment, waiting to see if Alexander had any response to his somewhat-cheesy-yet-valid explanation. Getting no such reply from the shocked lombax, Umbris continued, "So, before the blast got to you, I went and blocked the energy for you, using my body as a shield... and no, I don't necessarily mean the Spell Card, either, but it's the same principle. Long story short, you survived, and I... well, you obviously saw what happened to me." Another pause, more waiting for a response... ... still none. Umbris let out a sigh. "Right.... Anyways, it seems my physical body will be out of commission for a while. Good news is that there was enough left for me to make a Chrysalis for me to rest in until my strength returns, so you won't have to worry about me lounging around... in... here...."

 

Umbris slowed to a halt as he heard a mournful sobbing coming from Alexander, starting off with a long, siren-like cry which was then followed by a small pause as Alexander ran out of air in his lungs, then a sharp intake of air before entering his long string of sobbing. "Alex, c'mon," Umbris attempted to reassure the lombax, "it's not like this was your fault or--"

 

"--But-but it waaaaa-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaaaaas!!" Alexander cried out. "I-I-I-I didn't mean for--*hic*-for this to--*hic*--to ha-ha-ha-happeeeeeeeen!!!"

 

Umbris heaved a sad sigh once more, feeling great pity for his friend. "Alex...," he began, kneeling down before the hysteric lombax before him, embracing him in a pair of badly flayed arms, "I know. You've just been under a lot of stress lately--"

 

"Umbris, you know--*hic*--you know that's not--*hic*--not it al all...!" Alexander hiccuped into Umbris' chest. "I... I got angry--Gorlag, he--*hic*--I went and--*hic*--I shouldn't have gotten so--*hic*--"

 

"Okay, I get it," Umbris replied, getting the gist of Alexander's rambling. "Seeing Gorlag again--whether it was an illusion or necromancy--went and brought out an emotion you thought you'd never had to experience again. You... never really got over that memory...." Umbris paused for a moment, reflecting on something as Alexander continued to cry into what was left of his torso. "... ... Alex... this was my fault."

 

"...?!"

 

"I... I never should never have sealed off that memory," Umbris sadly explained. "At least not without helping you to actually confront it... had we just done that sooner, even from the beginning...." Tears now began to stream from Umbris' eyes... or, at least, actual tears from his right eye; his left eye, stripped of its eyelid, instead began leaking blood. "I'm sorry, Alex... this all happened because of me...."

 

"Umbris... ...." Alexander, numbed by Umbris' confession, ceased his mourning to look into the Neo-Spacian's mutilated face. "... but... if you hadn't, I wouldn't be here today. It's... it's thanks to you that I'm alive...."

 

"But all I did was shelter you," Umbris countered. "I should have prepared you for this, but instead, I... I hid you from the truth...."

 

Alexander breathed out silently. "... could either of us really have prepared for that?" He looked back into Umbris' face, the Umbra Panther looking right back at him. "Even if we had prepared for this a hundred times over, the result would have been the same. The feelings that I had... back when Gorlag killed Galen... back when I lost my father... ... those could never go away completely. I can't deny that they exist... but I can come to terms with them...."

 

---

Alexander/Periphery/C4-Night

---

 

Back in the waking world, Alexander sat upright, cradling the Chrysalis Pantail in his arms. "Uncovering my past is one thing...," Alexander uttered to himself, "but I can never truly move forward until I can forgive, until I accept what has happened. Only then... can I find closure...." He looked up into the sky, catching a glimpse of Jeweled Red Dragon Archfiend as it slowly faded away.

 

"'Ey! Alexander, over here!" Alexander's ears perked up as he heard a voice call out to him. Looking around, he spotted a large, orange-brown mole wearing drill-like pauldrons watching him from a hole nearby.

 

"Grand Mole?!" Alexander gasped in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

 

"Umbris called me!" replied Grand Mole. "Said he needed my help in getting you guys underground. I already got Ratchet and his little pals earlier, so I'm just waitin' on you guys!"

 

"Oh, right...!" Alexander took a brief glance down at the Chrysalis in his arms, the little kitten inside snoozing away peacefully in spite of the chaos around them. A small smile crossing his lips, Alexander approached the hole in the ground. "Right, let's get out of here!" With that, Alexander took a leap of faith down to the layer below....

[The Warden]

|_)Red, the Arisen(_|

 

As the fluffy little Lombax was doing his best to take on the trees, Red himself was feeling the burn as well. Maintaining the light laser was taxing at best, but this continued use was making his temples throb worse than when those rockets were hitting him... and when he was electrocuted... and shot at with lasers. Wow that battle he had with Spyro was pretty sadistic when you think about it. "WHAT SAY YOU, RED?" Alister shouted over to Red. "Need a little boost?"

 

"That would be nice, yes" he called back; but then became steadily aware that the wrench was right, messing with time would be very, very stupid.

 

"Actually, Zurkon is right. I can do this" he called back as he focused his energies on increasing the power of the beam.

 

By his assumption, he most likely would have cracked through the second layer by now, though the next two would be giving him the most problems. But, the problem is is that the trees are keeping up, and who knows how many more. There is simply no way Alister and Zurkon could keep up with the trees, as it took so much effort to cut down even one.

 

Deciding on a snap decision, Red halted the beam as he flexed his wings. In a quick display of airmanship he flew forwards, grabbing Alister in his claw as he somersaulted across the flaying trees and dived down into the hole, his staff falling down with him in the darkness to guide their way. "We ran out of time" he stated as he slowed the descent, his wings catching the air as they descended into the darkness, with only the staff and Zurkon's glow to light the way.

 

"From where we are now, I should say I can start digging in intervals, without the threat of horrible burning from the sun. And whatever that thing was above us..." he explained, but could feel a more pressing question, "Are you injured at all? You did an excellent job of protecting me, so, I just, need to know your status."

 

---

 

|_)Magical Girl Lydia(_|

 

Moonwhile, still in D1 Night Lydia had encountered some problems of her own. Due to the more invotative albeit weaker method of digging, her progress had been halted at the second layer. The tree drill had been removed from the dig as she stared down into the depths of the hole. "That's the best I can do; it'll take me too long to go to wherever the hell they went, so, time to improvise... again."

 

With the walking trees closing in, she leapt down the hole, the winds slowing her fal as she idly recovered the top of the hole, no way is she getting burnt when the sun explodes the planet. Cuestick lit her way down the dark space until she managed to land on the shell of BII. Her breathing echoed in the enormous hole she had created as her shoes tapped loudly on the metal shell. It seemed pretty solid, but without the horrible burning gases to bother her, she smirked.

 

Planting her staff on a certain part of the shell she concentrated on it intently, that was, until it started moving in a circular pattern, generating a stupid amount of sparks as it scratched across the surface, leaving red molten slag as she cut through the shell like a can opener. It took a fair few minutes, but the hole was cut and discarded. Christ, the metal was like ten metres thick. Well, she wouldn't be cutting through anymore of these things, but, hmmm. Lydia could feel a resonation in the dirt. "Teras, what's that? People are digging nearby, I can feel the shiftings in the earth, which is what you are feeling. Can you track it? Yeah, just leave it to me. Okay, lead the way."

 

And with that, she jumped onto the bare earth; it sucking her up as she began the process of tunneling towards where C4 Night would be.

 

---

 

|_)Okama Queen Ivankov, ~Moe~ Scientist Frankram, & The Evangelist Hapshiel(_|

 

Thankfully, the only thing Tenshi's psychotic scream broke was Frankram's glasses. But she was nonetheless right, Hapshiel was starting to get into bad touch territory. “And I guess we are now closing in to the UG-1 part of this planet. Thank you for choosing Tenshi’s Underground Drill Lift service, and please prepare your luggage before going outside. And mister angel, please release me from your hug. Please.”

 

"Yes, she is quite right Hapshiel, would you mind releasing us now?"

 

Hapshiel seemed quite sad, but released them all the same. To show off his sadness he began bouncing his pecs as Frankram & Ivankov explored this new part of the Sphere Forest. "Interesting. The minerals and dirt samples from this planet are in no ways naturally placed. Looks like that Ophelia truly did hollow out this world and recreated to her will. What an exhilerating prospect, to fight against one who could reshape a planet."

 

Ivankoc nodded solemnly, as he had little to no idea what the hell Frankram was actually going on about. "Yes indeed, planet-girl 's talent is certainly a marvel. But what do we do now? Young angel-girl, can we go any deeper than this? We don't seem near the core ofthat Key of Origin; and dirt isn't exactly a good way to move about except down."

 

Hapshiel caught wind of this remark, and he flexed with joy. "Going deeper? Why, that sounds absolutely delightful! Allow me to continue on our path!" he declared and quite literally pummeled his way through the earth and to under the drill. "LOVE & PEACE!" was heard in a muffled way as he began digging like a mad angel and punched his way through the metal barrier, allowing the drill to continue going as Hapshiel lead the way.

[Maeriberii Haan]

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Kazuya (Second Layer - ???)

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“No, you’re wrong!”

 

Realizing what the entity before him wanted to do, Kazuya tried to use all of his strength and willpower to resist the words from the being in from of him. At the time, the true battle was inside Kazuya’s mind as his remaining consciousness fended off the incoming influence. At first, his belief was strong enough to save him from falling into the being’s trap, and he was almost able to recompose himself and try pulling his sword to attack him and create a distance between them so he could safely summon one of his demons. Then, a voice that belonged to neither him nor Cerebrum rang in his head, and the voice changed everything.

 

“I am disappointed in you.

 

For all your life, for every time you have fought for humanity in the past, you stood by your own, refusing to serve anyone or anything. You triumphed against the angels and the demons using your own hands. But now, where is that proud hero?

 

You trusted Arthuria way too easily, and you went on to be yet another pawn in this cosmic-scale chess game. When your usefulness are gone, you’ll be tossed aside just like a trash. Is that the thing that you wanted?”

 

The words ruined Kazuya’s focus, and that made the mental barrier he had erected shatter before the overwhelming force of the words from the man before him. Kazuya feared the worst as he felt the words started to enter his mind, but strangely, he did not feel that he's falling into the clutches of the being.

 

No, the words opened his mind to the light of truth instead.

 

Kazuya realized that the being’s point was right. In the end, the battle between Arturia and Isamy would be the most important thing for him, and he was just saved from his death to serve as yet another of Arturia’s pawn. The realization made Kazuya smiled a little, now knowing how foolish he was in trusting the knight.

 

A seething feeling of anger overwhelmed him for a moment, soon followed by a surge of something else. Desire.

 

The desire to save his world, but most prominently, the desire to break free from the chains that entangled him. He wanted to be more in the grand scheme of things, not just a pawn to fate. No, he was definitely more than a mere pawn. He was the champion of humanity, and he wouldn’t let himself be bound by neither gods nor cosmic entities.

 

The desire removed any other thoughts inside of his head, and in a way, enlightened him as he now knew about what he must do.

 

Calmly, he took the tarot card given to him by the being, and then he walked away until he made a distance. In an act of gratitude, Kazuya bowed to him once, before smiling as he summoned Beelzebub.

 

“You.

 

Thank you for telling me the truth. I was definitely a fool in believing Arturia.

 

I don’t know about your identity, your alignment, and your true intention in this conflict. But, I know about your plan to me, and I refuse to bow down to your power. Despite that, I don’t view you as my enemy.”

 

He then pointed his finger into a point in the ground somewhere near Beelzebub. The gigantic fly made a gesture to show his affirmation to Kazuya’s order, before creating a sphere of energy at the top of his skull-tipped staff and blasted the area with it, creating a hole as the sphere travelled deeper and deeper into the center of the planetoid. Beelzebub shot several more spheres to ensure the hole was big enough for him and Kazuya to enter.

 

“Now, I will secure the key to myself. Whether I can use it or not is none of my concern now, I just wanted that an artifact with that much potential to not fall to any other sides in this conflict. I have killed gods before, and if I have to kill some more to reach my goal, I believe it won’t be that hard.

 

This is our farewell. Even for your help in making me realize my mistake, I won’t hesitate to strike you down if you dared to cross my path.

 

Goodbye.”

 

He jumped into Beelzebub’s back, and the two descended into the newly-made hole.

 

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“How foolish of the son of man to fall upon such words and promises. How foolish of him to trust his own ability that much. The pride of his, the pride of the one who rejected any lords, would be the end of him, I will make sure of that.

 

One who relied on his words and lies, will fall with words and lies. He pushed me to trust his lies, and I did the same to him. Such is the cycle of deeds.”

 

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Tenshi (Atop the UG Drill Lift Service)

 

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“That was quite amusing.”

 

Tenshi responded flatly as she saw the freaky angel-guy apparently named Hapshiel responded to the man-lady’s remark with a creepy delight, and continued to smash into the metallic layer of the ground below them. Actually, she somewhat admired the angel’s physical strength and endurance, but decided to not say anything about it to the other two people on her drill.

 

“So guys, as we are now waiting until we reached the core, why don’t we have a little nice chat first?

 

Let’s begin with introduction first. I am Tenshi Hinanawi, and yes, I am a Celestial, a being that was quite similar to angels. As for which side I am on in this…fiasco, I only swore my allegiance to myself, but I decided to be in Isamy’s side for now.

 

 

I don’t know if you two are my friend or enemy, but for the sake of not having several tons of soil and rocks bury everyone in this hole, I hope you two could postpone any fights with anyone here until we reached our destination. Anyway, let's continue with you, mister-”

 

“WATCH OUT!!!”

 

A familiar scream can be heard from above. Tenshi looked up, and saw Gengetsu was falling at high speed into them. She summoned several keystones and used them to try slowing the falling girl down. When she seemed to succeed in her attempt, she disintegrated the keystones, and Gengetsu fell on top of her.

 

“….For heaven’s sake, what are you doing here?

 

And gosh, you are heavier than you looked.”

 

Tenshi struggled to move away from Gengetsu, who immediately stood when she realized where she landed on.

 

“Nothing. I’m not intending to do anything here.

 

I was just trying to avoid my eventually inevitable death.

 

…I need time to be alone.”

 

Gengetsu moved into a corner, and sat there silently, her eyes seemed blank. Tenshi decided that bothering her more would not be nice, and instead, she tried to continue her conversation with the two other people atop the drill.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Love of Ghibli]

III A3

 

Team Dorian simply started walking around the layer so Dorian could get used to walking around while exuding his cosmos as such. Hades was simply happy taking a tour of the inner works of the planet. What was hilarious though was the intense lack of defenses that were around this core. Radamanthys found himself slightly bored as he thought it might time to just make his way to the core. With Hades lingering with some fake body and his without his cloth there was no real determining how long he could stay in this plain. Though Radamanthys had to chuckle inside that Lord Hades was basically playing hookie from Thanatos and Hypnos and those two couldn't even tell that it was happening. Those idiots, no wonder he was in charge of this recovery mission for the Hades God Cloth. 

Dorian was having fun walking around in the intense gravity like it was nothing. The discovery of Cosmos is probably one of the best things to actually happen to him. What was hilarious was that he was pretty lucky to be surrounded such powerful people. So far he has only had to fight one enemy and he seemed to have survived it. Now that he was surrounded with all of these powerful allies he determined that he could make it to the end. Thought he did realize that there was a question that should be answered. Dorian turned to look at Butler.

Butler how are you able to walk around so plainly. You don't know cosmos like we do. Do you? You are correct, I do not know Cosmos. There was a member of the Counter Corps who attempted to stall me by using gravity magic. I then learned that magic and am now able to replicate it. So the deeper we go down the more magic I use. Its pretty simple actually.

[The Warden]

|_)~Moe~ Scientist Frankram & Okama Quen Ivankov(_|
 
Whilst Frankram and Ivankov paid close attention to this girl, who certainly had very many signs of ~Moe~ about her; for one she was certainly very polite, but seemed more neutral than evil at least. When it looked as if she was about to address one of the two another girl fell on top of her. Frankram's face burned red with the delicious amounts of creamy ~moe~ that was leaking form such clumsiness.
 
Ivankov of course, just held his or her (I can't remember what gender I left him in) usual look of somehow having more teeth than the entire Osmond Family. Once both managed to pull themselves apart, Frankram began his address. "A Celestial? Is that so? We have various gods and devils in our world, basically all that exist within human theologies. I do not recall one such as yourself, and your power is quite different and, excuse the potential of the insult, weaker. I am Professor Frankram Stein, of the Magician's Academy. I am Divine as well, and I do vaguely remember seeing you during Miss Isamy's address" he replied.
 
Ivankov smirked a little as he held a daint hand forward in order to shake Tenshi's hand. "vI am Emporio Ivankov, of the Counter Corps. vI see your concern, but as you can see Frankram-kun and myself have formed a ceasefire due to a mesh of certain, 'interests'" the creepy crossdresser replied.

 

This charming moment was broken of course, by a muffled orgasmic cry from Hapshiel down below. Frankram shook his head in frustration as he stared the Celestial in the eye. "I apologise for my, err, fellow staff member, I suppose. His name is Hapshiel, and he considers Love & Peace his policy. He his a complete pansexual pervert, who derives pleasure from his many masochistic endeavours. In fits of joy he also french kisses you... with or without your consent. If you would take my a vice, avoid all unnecessary contact with him. And if possible, avoid all necessary contact as well."

[Phantom Roxas]

[b4 Day] - Xansvita

 

While the flames continued to burn around the trees, Xansvita thought it best to go to the next layer. Sayer had left earlier, but if there was a tunnel, Xansvita unfortunately could not see it. With the snap of his fingers, the Feral Bahamut flew to Xansvita, and the Familiar leapt out of the open tree and onto the Unversed's back. The Feral Bahamut flew up into the air, while Xansvita prepared an attack with his staff, hurling a molten ball of fire that exploded against the ground. After he did, six black, translucent blades floated behind him as a dark version of Wingblade, with Xansvita arranging them in a circle, all pointed towards the earth. The Feral Bahamut dove down and began burrowing into the ground while the blades spun around it, carving a circle big enough for the Feral Bahamut to sit through. As it did, though, the trees kept coming, but Xansvita resorted to using Blizzagun and Aerogun attacks to keep them at bay.

 

"We must admit," Xansvita scoffed, "They are certainly more formidable than the Troys." He held his staff above him as he cast a Reflegun spell to deflect more of the swinging branches. Ophelia! If you can hear us, you would do well to summon things with actual souls. It really isn't any fun fighting mindless trees. We would rather have something with a delicious soul, waiting for us to devour it!"

 

The Feral Bahamut had dug deep enough while the blades had cut far enough that Xansvita saw it fit to reabsorb the Feral Bahamut. With more of his strength returned to him, Xansvita stabbed the staff into the ground, creating cracks in the earth that formed over the trees. The ring created by the blades continue to grow in length, while Xansvita used the staff to blow away parts of the earth, blasting his way into the next layer. However, the trees would not let him escape so easily and began to follow him, coiling around each other and move straight at Xansvita, much to his annoyance. Aiming the staff at the trees, he cast a Dark Firagun spell, but the combustible gases reacted violently to the spell, for just as it launched, a sudden explosion began to consume the trees. As the trees were torn apart by the blast, Xansvita had managed to avoid a similar fate by turning his shadow form. He crept along the walls of his makeshift tunnel, following the blades. Darkness bled out of the shadows, summoning Monotruckers, small Unversed whose pickaxe hands helped carve the tunnel to Layer II, while Knuckle Bruisers appeared, their shields raised to prevent any more trees from following.

 

[C3 Day] - Ra

 

Though Alister and Red had managed to escape the trees, Ra was not willing to let them out of his sight. However, thanks to the flames from his Phoenix Mode, Ra set off an explosion that forced the trees back. Returning to normal - or as normal as he could be, given his transformation - he followed after the two Divine. However, as Ra could not fit through, he spun around, the flames of his Phoenix Mode spinning to open up room in the hope of advancing.

 

[b3 Day] - Gogiga / "Sora" vs. Kairi

 

Two explosions were set off in nearby areas, and they began to come close. "Sora" and Kairi each cast their own Reflega spells, while Gogiga raised his wings to guard himself. The force of the explosions pushed him back, but Gogiga buried his claws into the dirt to keep himself from being sent even further. When the explosion had subsided, his wings were burnt, and his armor had taken some damage, but Gogiga himself felt little pain. He turned his focus back to Kairi and the Unversed. The girl was determined to stop him, but Gogiga wasn't going to raise a hand against his master, his savior. Instead, decided to make haste towards the next layer. Trees had been blasted away thanks to the twin explosions, and as such, Gogiga could see two holes in the distance. He chose to go to the one at B4, darting past Kairi as he did, but not without telling her, "Follow me."

 

Kairi was surprised by Gogiga's words, but the Unversed swung down the hammer again, while Kairi parried with her Keyblade. "Come on, Sora. I know that's you. Remember Hollow Bastion? I saved you back then, and I can save you now! But I can't do it alone. You have to fight!"

 

The Unversed looked unfazed by Kairi's pleas as it continue to attack her, but as Kairi dodged and the hammer hit the ground, it simply left the weapon there. It looked up at Kairi, held its hammer, and began to fade away. Kairi ran towards him, grabbing his hand, but it was too late. The Unversed turned into black mist, flowing past Kairi, and heading in the same direction as Gogiga, with Kairi following.

 

Kairi caught up to Gogiga in no time, but when she did, Gogiga had already descended into the hole. On the surface, Kairi stood in shock as she saw several monsters, some with shields, others with pickaxes. Gogiga looked around, calling out for someone. "There is someone here who knows one of your creatures!"

 

"Oh?" Xansvita appeared from the shadow, flying up while his Unversed and the blades continued their work. When he looked at Kairi, he smiled, and when he spoke, all five of his voices were speaking. "Why, hello there, Kairi."

 

It was difficult to tell, but one of the voices was instantly recognizable to Kairi. "Sora?! No… no, you can't be him!"

 

Xansvita laughed. "Sora is but one of us. Tell us, Kairi, what brings you here? Wait, let us guess. Ophelia must have summoned you. First that boy, then Sliske, and now… you. Of course she'd send the one person with the greatest desire to rescue Sora."

 

"So you're Xansvita."

 

Xansvita applauded sarcastically, then called out to Gogiga. "Well done bringing the girl here, Gogiga! Remind me to think of way to reward you later."

 

"Gogiga, why are-" Kairi was blocked by the staff, with Xansvita shaking his head.

 

"Calm down, Kairi. If you're so eager for answers, then we will let you know. After Sora so miserably failed to save Olympus, he was recruited by a group known as the Counter Corps to protect the multiverse. Unfortunately, they came to fight LERNA, the Witch of Infinite Possibilities. She had a wonderful dream. A dream of filling the entire multiverse with despair. That dream gave us power. Power for Vanitas to fight from within, and destroy Sora. Now his body, his heart, his memories, his very existence… all of it belongs to us."

 

Kairi struck at the staff with her Keyblade. "I see. So you're Vanitas. That explains everything. So the Sora I fought earlier, that was just an Unversed, wasn't it?"

 

"Correct. While I would be happy to help you reunite with Sora and make you one of my Unversed, I unfortunately do not have that power. You'd have to be dead. Of course, I'd rather not waste what little time left I have with that, so…" Xansvita raised his staff, summoning black streaks of electricity at Kairi, but Kairi rolled along the ground, summoning a barrier. However, just as she charged forward, Xansvita disappeared into the ground, reappearing behind Kairi and impaling her with the staff. "Now then, why don't you just lie here, wallowing in your own weakness until the sun incinerates you?" Kairi fell down to her knees before falling over completely. Her chest was bleeding, and her Keyblade vanished from her hands. Xansvita laughed, leaving Kairi behind as he went back into the hole, where the Unversed and the blades had made more progress.

 

"Xansvita," Gogiga said. "Who is Sora?"

 

"That is nothing that concerns you," Xansvita replied as he seemed to try and adjust the tip of the staff, before being interrupted by the sound of Gogiga's wings taking into the air. Without looking away from the staff, Xansvita called out to him. "Do it and we will kill you if we see you on the next Layer."

 

"I am grateful that you saved me," Gogiga told him. "But… I realize that I was hasty in calling you my master." Gogiga gripped his chest, feeling a sudden pain in it. He looked at Xansvita, but the Familiar continued to look at his staff, while the Unversed paid him no mind. "Eria…" he muttered, though he didn't know why. Without looking back, Gogiga flew out of the hole.

 

Xansvita's eyes twitched. "We should have known you wouldn't give up. Don't think that just because you won't let us go after him doesn't mean that we are weak. Even if that lizard saves her, you will never be with her again. Just give up, Sora."

 

 

Gogiga arrived by Kairi, picking up the young Keyblade Master and holding her in his arms. "I'm sorry," he said. "The Divine… I don't know what they've done to me, but if they're all like Xansvita, then I can't stand by and let them do as they please."

 

Kairi coughed, but managed to smile. "Thank you." Kairi managed to call back her Keyblade, mustering the strength to cast a Curaja spell, her wounds slowly closing up, and the blood evaporating. She took a deep breath, and nodded her head. "We better hurry."

 

Gogiga nodded, and took to the air, looking for a tunnel that any of the Divine may have taken, but also trying to avoid any of the actual members. Taking flight, he found a perfectly round hole at B2. With Kairi in his hands, he carried her down there, descending to the next layer.

[Maeriberii Haan]

====================================================================================================

 

Tenshi (UG Drill Lift Service)

 

====================================================================================================

 

“…How dare him. Calling me weak just like that…”

 

Tenshi felt quite insulted when the glasses-boy (which apparently named Frankram) said that she was weaker that he thought. Though, this feeling was kind of short-lived, as Tenshi realized that he was comparing her to gods and other divine beings. Proud as Tenshi was, she knew she’s no match for actual divine entities, so she let it slide.

 

The glasses boy seemed to be her ally, while the man-woman was technically her enemy. But fighting in this small hole would be suicidal, and zhe seemed to be quite the nice person who even made some sort of alliance with Frankram already, so that was enough for Tenshi to consider hir as her ally too.

 

A muffled cry full of perverted desire could be heard from below them, and Frankram shook his head seemingly in frustration.

 

“I apologize for my, err, fellow staff member, I suppose. His name is Hapshiel, and he considers Love & Peace his policy. He is a complete pansexual pervert, who derives pleasure from his many masochistic endeavors.”

 

At the mention of masochism, Tenshi unconsciously smiled a little, but she wiped that smile soon after she realized what she was smiling at. Though, Tenshi didn’t quite understand about the mentioned pansexualism, so she decided to as-

 

“In fits of joy he also french kisses you…”

 

“Wait what.”

 

“..with or without your consent. If you-”

 

Tenshi’s stomach growled once again in disgust when Frankram told her about what did Hapshiel did to her, and the disturbance made it enough for her to not be able to follow the rest of Frankram’s sentence. She tried to hold it as best as she could, but after it was starting to become unbearable for her, she quickly summoned a keystone, and vomited on top of it before dropping it below the drill, which might have or might not have hit Hapshiel, but she didn’t care enough at that time.

 

“Uhh, sorry for that. I just..

 

That’s really disgusting.

 

Well, let’s just stop talking about it.

 

Anyway, let’s talk about our respective worlds, while we’re waiting this thing to hit the center.”

 

Tenshi tried to find herself a more comfy position in the stone lift and summoned another keystone in case she vomited once again. It was quite a weird experience for her to vomit that much in a day, as Celestial’s body rarely had the need to vomit usually. After she was sure that she had stabilized, she continued talking.

 

“Well, mine was not that great, to be honest. Back home, things were pretty ehh. Food sucked really much there in my version of heaven, everyone is busy being as boring as possible and not much else, so I usually go to the lower world to find interesting things to do. And pretty much the only reason I still sticking in my place was so I can act all high and mighty to the people of the lower world, and because I cared for someone that lived there, but that’s not important now. Though, I admit the peaches there are pretty tasty. Like this one.”

 

Tenshi pulled one of the peaches that adorned her hat, and took a bite out of it. Unsurprisingly, the peach didn’t grow back.

 

“See, it’s juicy, right?

 

 I should’ve stocked some more before I go here, but Miss Isamy didn’t give me enough time to do so. Well, there’s two left here, so if you guys want some, you can have it.

 

And, that’s it for me, I guess. Let’s hear about what’s going on in your worlds.”

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Gengetsu was confused.

 

Back when she was still hurting from the trashing that Tenshi delivered, she did hear Tenshi’s apology for beating her up as she was still half-conscious, but she lost more than the battle at that time. She lost her entire reasoning, her drive. Until that point, the only thing that kept her alive was her desire to punish the only one she could blame for everything.

 

But now the cause was gone, and she was feeling empty inside, having no more purpose here. And at this point, returning back to her world and to her sister was virtually impossible. She definitely considered ignoring everything and finishing herself off, but there was a simple problem.

 

The lady of nightmares was afraid of death. During her time in the world, she had weaved the image of death from time to time, and that should’ve made her able to accept the concept of it, yet in the end she was afraid about the idea that she would disappear completely, or seeing the other side if such thing existed. This fear was the only thing that made her alive now.

 

As for purpose, Gengetsu did remember Tenshi offered her a chance to fix Gensokyo by assisting her in her ‘mission’, but Gengetsu doubted that the shallow Celestial had any idea about what she would do, and what would it take to restore a broken world. Even if she knew that it had a chance of success, however microscopic it is, she still found the idea of helping the person she despised the most to be unthinkable.

 

For now, Gengetsu decided that she would do nothing, watching the conflict from the sidelines.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“..I have finally located you, you brat. Thankfully you have enough brain cells to try fixing this mess; otherwise my work here will be quite tiring even for me.

 

I swear, if you screw this up, I will really enjoy locking your soul, your senses, and your heart like you have experienced before.

 

No, that's quite inaccurate.

 

I mean, like a part of you have experienced before.”

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Meanwhile, Tenshi got a feeling that she was being watched by someone, but she couldn’t even bothered to check, as it was quite impractical for most people to spy on her in her current position.

 

She didn’t notice a purple gap opened above her several seconds ago, and before she could notice it, it disappeared into thin air.

 

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[Merci]

Arthuria, C4 Night (vs. Jecht)

 

 

Sword of Promised Victory

 

As the battle raged on, it appeared as though the two combatants were evenly matched. The warrior of Sin, Jecht, possessed tremendous strength and prowess unlike any other fighter, able to swing his gigantic weapon impressively and cause huge amounts of destruction to the surrounding area. On the other hand, the Counter Guardian Arthuria possessed almost unlimited stamina and energy, continually drawing in mana from the air and enhancing each of his blows with them in order to match might on such a level. Around them, the forest continued to oppress, but by then they were nothing but a footnote in this intense duel.

 

"It has been a long time since I have fought a warrior on such a level. Though my oath as a knight has long since been rendered null, Sir Jecht of Zanarkand, you remind me of the joyousness battle once had." Arthuria told him, stepping away just as a group of trees came between them. "A pity you had to join the Divine."

 

Then with a single slash of his sword, the wind around him sharpened and sliced apart all those trees in a blow, before he threw his body forward with a burst of mana and unleashed a massive attack that compressed the air currents around them and shoved it onto Jecht. The warrior defended himself with equal strength, of course, but then he realized what the Guardian had actually been trying to do - with great force, both their bodies were thrown over the hole, making them plummet downwards over a long two-mile fall.

 

Still, it didn't end there. In midfall, the duo resumed their mighty battle, and more than halfway down Arthuria had charged up his sword with large amounts of energy before sending it downwards, hoping to obliterate Jecht. It narrowly missed the man, and instead continued downwards until it penetrated halfway through the next metal shell.

 

Then, as they were about to 'land' onto II-B1, both of them unleashed blows unto the weakened part of the shell, causing that particular section to break apart and adding an extra hundred meters to their fall, until they crashed into III-B1.

 

 

---

 

 

Isamy, Sykes's Colosseum (w/ Ayame, Sephiroth, Ed, Sliske), II-C2

 

The Herald didn't pay attention to whatever Sliske was talking about, instead paying heed to Ayame's explanation of how they had all ended up there, nodding once she was done. "By Xansvita," she began, "You must mean the familiar that LERNA granted me. It doesn't seem like you're a member of the Counter Corps, however, the fact remains that you're an enemy of the Divine. I suppose I'll have to strike you down..."

 

That was when Sephiroth made his appearance, calmly voicing to her his opinion of the current situation.

 

"Or I could leave them to you. Why not?"

 

Then she took a step back, before smashing her other foot into the ground. From there, deep cracks erupted outwards, a deep crater forming beneath her to reveal that the surface below was of an unusual metal.

 

With a frown, she slammed her foot back down once more, using even more force this time, and the screeching sound of shattering metal echoed throughout the colosseum before it gave way towards an area beneath.

 

At the very bottom was a metal surface with walls and a corridor which, if one were to examine it closely, were actually gaps within an incredibly massive metallic sphere held together by gravity. This metal appeared to be more powerful, with greater properties than the one Isamy had just smashed through and may take greater force to get through. Not that it would stop her.

 

Why there was a gap in the first place was a mystery to her,but whatever the case, there was a hundred-meter drop down, and due to the highness of the gravity this deep down, no ordinary man could ever jump down without risking getting crushed.

 

"Don't take too long, Sephiroth. I'm beginning to suspect that someone has taken over this world before we even came here." She told the most powerful member of the Divine, having not heard Ophelia's announcement, before signaling for Ayame to follow her as she let herself fall.

 

Hitting the shell's surface harmlessly and leaving nothing more than a minor dent in the metal surface, while unaffected by the higher gravity, she looked around. There weren't any enemies in sight. However, by expanding her psychic senses, she was able to determine that Dorian, Radamanthys, and Butler were the only ones to have made it to this level---up until two other figures with superb power landed onto it as well, about a kilometer away. One was Jecht, the other was Arthuria. She would have to avoid them.

 

Then, gripping her scythe, Isamy started smashing at the third shell without mercy, gradually chipping away at it so she could make it to the next (and hopefully final) shell.

 

Ending Position: III-B2

 

 

---

 

 

Ophelia, Core of the Sphere Forest; The Inner Periphery

 

It was less than ten minutes until the Sphere Forest would be close enough to the sun to burn up entirely. However, to her quaint surprise, apparently the Divine and the Counter Corps had taken her speech - meant to be nothing more than a demoralizing speech in order to soften their resistance - as a kind of hint and had taken to diving into the planetoid's earth, attacking its shells. The earth and the outermost shell had been penetrated easily enough, but as of yet, few had made it past the second, and Sykes was waiting in the third. It seemed that they were taking advantage of the gaps.

 

There were four shells in total. They were ellipsoidally dense in nature, but due to the difficulty of such building a feat within hours, she had left fairly tiny gaps (by astronomical standards) the inner three shells to build over.

 

The largest and outermost shell, I, was composed of earth and had been simple to put together, making up the planetoid's base appearance and providing an opportunity to disguise it as the Sphere Forest.

 

If one were to dig deeper from the equator, however, they would eventually find themselves plummeting. Once they hit the surface at the bottom without dying, then it would appear as though they had entered a massive corridors with metallic walls that stretched three hundred feet up. These walls were covered in panels that could be smashed, but after that there was only dense, dense metal that led nowhere. Walking through the corridor would bring you around the core's equator given enough time, your sense of direction preserved by gravity, but on Layer II, it would take three miles of circling around to get to the other side. C1 to C3 was where Sykes's colosseum resided.

 

If one were to keep smashing at the surface, then they would fall another hundred meters and land on another metal surface. At this point, the high gravity would become apparent, so unless the person possessed incredible power or was in some kind of advanced vehicle, they wouldn't be able to survive past this point. The walls this time were covered in a layer of strange bedrock from Minecraft which trapped heat, and the surface was even stronger than the last, making it incredibly difficult to break through III.

 

Still... Hypothetically, if one were to break through even that, then IV would stop them. After one last hundred-meter drop, they would find that the last corridor had been flooded by a sea of lava, below it the final shell, which was composed of adamantium. With unbearable gravity, nothing but the strongest of the strong could ever get past that, which was why Sykes had placed himself there, expecting them.

 

If the final shell were to be penetrated - which it wouldn't - then the lava would harmlessly drain itself away into the core, which was like a portal in a way, and provide an opening to enter the Inner World, where the Key of Origin resided.

 

But they would never make it here, to this world. There was such limited time, and the planetoid would burn its oxygen out before that could ever happen.

 

They would perish.

 

"We're almost there."

 

And then, it would be safe to travel the Pathway to Origin and use the Key, at which point reality could be rewritten.

 

In the way that Protheus Maximus has envisioned it.

 

---

 

 

Viligance

 

"Viligance, I require your assistance."  A man told his servant.

 

He had back-spiked black hair with silver trims, wearing slim, elegant, regalia made of an alien material resembling leather, with weightless boots, metal gauntlets, and an unstained coat with a single tear that seemed to lead into another dimension, as well as a belt which held a symbol which at first might appear to random, but actually spelled out the letter 'M'. By his waist, there was a pitch-black katana attached that emitted an ominous feeling, and on his face, there was an unreadable expression that was staring at a standing suit of armor opposite him this very minute.

 

"Would it happen to be about Isamy, mi'lord?" Viligance asked, remaining motionless on the spot. "This is a part in the timeline in which I now serve her, so I can assure you that she truly is your successor. She is still young and lacks your experience and aptitude, but has all your powers and more. You of all people cannot interfere with your own future, as your entire life is a fixed point in time. Besides, you do not strike me as the type of person who would fear death."

 

At that, the man suppressed a smile. Even now that his servant served another, it still lacked any flexibility in its thoughts. Nothing more than a shell, the remnant of the soul of what was once a proud Dark Signer knight. Amused at this thought, the man continued.

 

"I don't, don't be ridiculous. It still confuses me as to how this 'Isamy' girl managed to become my successor after Paradox did the impossible and destroyed my Master, but I suppose there's an explanation for that. Perhaps she's related to Ameliorer somehow, or perhaps that Isabella girl. That's irrelevant. What I'm concerned about are the distortions in space and time that are beginning to emerge - they're emanating from sources that my research highlighted. It's like she's actually going through with my original plan to find the Key of Origin."

 

A silence passed.

 

"Viligance."

 

"Then it's likely that she is, considering that she's from the future." Viligance responded immediately to his name.

 

"Future? Don't say that, I can travel wherever and whenever well, almost I want. And I didn't come here to ask you for advice, that would be ridiculous. I'm already aware of what she's attempting. In fact, I'm counting on it."

 

More silence passed, the space station as dreary and silent as ever. However, on the other side of the station, Herald Isamy and Counter Guardian Emiya were having a confrontation at this exact same moment.

 

"Whoever she is, she is a gullible human being. Anyway, so long as she keeps on following my notes, she should eventually set the appropriate conditions in the appropriate location. Mere minutes ago, I decided to rip a hole in spacetime under a prediction of her actions and obtained the location of the Key from her. All that trouble I had with Nox, solved in an instant. Hah! What do you say to that, Viligance?"

 

"I do not understand, mi'lord. You know the Key's location, so why not go and obtain it now?"

 

He tutted with his finger as if speaking to a child, before turning away towards a glass panel. Outside, not a single star was in sight. There was only pure, perpetual darkness. Worse than even the very core of the Shadow Realm, where his soul resided. Nothing could survive out there.

 

"I can't just DO that, Viligance. I told you, 'the conditions need to be set'. I could set them myself, but the consequences would be too severe, which was why I never risked it before. I cannot express how much more convenient it is to have my, er, 'successor' do my work for me. All I've had to do is give some Witch the coordinates to the Desert Seth. Pandora and Ophelia are following their orders as we speak, having taken their positions,  and now, the only thing left is for me to take mine."

 

"I do not understand. If that's the case, then why am I required? What reason have you to cross your own timeline and come here? What sort of assistance could you possibly require?"

 

The suit of armor tilted its helmet in confusion. That was the extent to which it could show free will and emotion.

 

"It's simple, really."

 

He held up his hand.

 

"Protheus Maximus will never be able to interact with Isamy Maximus, but you can. That's why I needed your help. Thank you, Sir Viligance of Peru."

 

Then he snapped his fingers, and all the magic from within the suit of armor that kept his servant alive, all of it suddenly drained away. In an instant, the shell that once contained an ancient spirit clattered loudly onto the floor, parts of armor scattering apart, rolling away from each other.

 

Putting the card back into his pocket, the man then proceeded to pick up the helmet . . . before placing it over his head.

In the present time, Sayer's R.O.D eyeball creatures generated the portal in accordance with Viligance's orders, and without hesitation, without pause, he stepped in. Then, through a loophole in the travel of spacetime, he was instantly transported into the world of Camelot, the reality marble of Arthuria that was secluded from the rest of the multiverse. The sight of the grey, smoky sky amused him, but it didn't stop him as he began to make his way through a forest, heading towards the ruined castle in the distance.

 

"And now it ends."

[Love of Ghibli]

III -A1

 

The group's senses all peaked when they sensed that someone had made it to the next Layer. Hades smirked as he could easily sense the strength of this new person who had arrived. Butler of course knew that it was Isamy though inside Ragnarok was chuckling at the fact that this group made it to this layer first. Dorian was on a similar wavelength as it seemed that the powerful people were already making strides to completing this little underworld challenge. All the members of Team Dorian looked at each other and they realized that they were on the same thought process. "Let's go meet Isamy" 

 

Butler decided to attempt his LERNA barrier trick one more time but this time he moved the whole group through his own "barrier." In a matter of seconds the team was right next to the leader of the Divine. They watched as she was hacking away at what could've been the final layer to this planet's defenses. Hades examined the women who was so bold as to steal his God Cloth. Esthetically she wasn't much to look at, but she definitely did not seem like someone who would need assistance in battle. Her scythe was pretty interesting to say the least. 

So this is...Hades was going to make a statement when the group looked up into the distance. While they couldn't see what was happening they could surely sense it. Two great powers were going against each other in the distance. Oh this became a very populated place all of a sudden. Ragnarok said as he made his chibi form known. Sooo boss lady looks like that layer of...something is giving you trouble. Mind if we help? Of course you don't mind Ragnarok said quite insistent. By the way, we picked up a guess on our travels. Apparently its Radamanthys' boss Hades himself. Hades, boss lady, boss lady, Hades. Ragnarok said making introductions.

As I was saying. So this is the woman who took my God Cloth. Interesting that you may not look like much but I current evidence would suggest that you must be pretty powerful. Now would you be so kind as to give it back. I do hate being in this temporary body for so long. Hades tried to say as politely as he could with a smile on his face. Radamanthys, the judge quickly got down on one knee in acknowledgement of his leader. YES HADES-SAMA!  You and the others get to work on breaking through to the next layer. I would have words with this woman. YES HADES-SAMA. The over excited judge went to work immediately and began to shoot a concentrated blast of his cosmos directly at the oddly dense metal. Dorian let out a sigh and he too followed this up with a similar attack.

 

(III- B2)

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Sphere Forest of the Periphery, Night Side, Sector C3:
 
With the Glory thoroughly defeated, Yuki finally stirred as Teslarc generated a Duel Disk, hers a strange crimson angular spiral of a shell with spikes for the card zones. Yuki concentrated, pulling from subspace a Duel Disk from her era, silver with blue trim, her old Duel Disk. Both girls saw the massive creature being summoned, and pulled out a pair of Synchro Monsters from their extra Decks, Yuki's Blue Ice-White Dragon morphing into a new form. "Silver-Eyed Azure Dragon?" She mused.
"No time for contemplations, sis." Teslarc stated, her voice sounding more like Izumi's as the core of the amalgamated entity stirred. "We have business in the core of this world."
Yuki checked their psionic link, probing the armored woman's mind, and discovered what she meant. Her eyes widened with horror as she exclaimed "PROTHEUS?!?"
"Somehow, he's probably behind all of this, and we need to literally get to the bottom of this matter. And that means meeting back up with the Inch of Will."
"I guess we should go and fetch any survivors as well."
"And both of our new friends can do that."
"Ready?"
"Let's do this."
Both women raised their cards to the sky.
"Calming light crosses time and space!"
"An ancient ally crosses time and space!"
"Pure-white flower, set into bloom!"
"Thunder in the heavens heralds your return!"
"Appear now, Moon Rose Dragon!"
"Open the gates, Azure-Eyed Silver Dragon!"
Both cards shined brightly as two draconic cries echoed through the skies, and both girls watched as two beautiful creatures appeared before them, one appearing to be made from a rose, with white glowing lines etched into its obsidian and crimson surface, the other a more bestial dragon of spines and armor, looking like a classical Western dragon. The silver dragon lowered his head to let his white-haired mistress, the inheritor of the Blue-Eyes legacy, aboard him, while the rose dragon extended one of her tail-vines so Teslarc could use her like a rescue helicopter. Both dragons set off towards Alex and the giant hole in the center of the Earthbound Immortals' marks. On the way, they noticed figures leaping off of the edge of the hole, and vine-tails were extended towards them to catch their falls. Teslarc herself caught Alex in her arms as they gently floated down.
 
Sphere Periphery II, Sector A2 (T-12:37):

The Inch of Will glided along, filled with what must be half of the Counter Corps, as they sought out another hole to descend through. However, thanks to the extreme curvature of the world, finding such a hole would be quite the challenge. The Inch of Will's active and passive sensors were having trouble scanning, probably due to the damage they had incurred over their journey. However, as Foster stood on the cargo elevator and contemplated their current situation, Bradbury chimed in on the channel he had with Foster's scouter.
"What's up Brad?"
"I have been running simulations, and I have a rather...risky...plan for potentially reaching the core before the surface, and the subsequent layers we are in, erupt into an inferno."
"Let's here it."
As Foster listened to Brad's pitch, his jaw slowly started to hang from his face in astonishment. "Are you...can we do this?!?"
"Potentially, but the odds of success require quite an amount of cooperation from our new allies."
"Alright...I'll throw it out there. I assume you can patch me into every communication stone?"
"I have figured out how to broadcast a message on the same frequency as the stones and execute a mass override of the resonance signal. However, there is some sort of molecular instability in the stones. Such an override could expend the stone."
"Do it, Brad. We don't have much time."
He raised up the communication stone that Arthuria had given him, and activated it. "Yuki." Bradbury's stone, originally given to Yuki Fudo, came online, and Bradbury piggybacked the signal to every other Counter Corps communication stone, causing Yuki's stone to start glowing white-hot. He also attempted to speak loud enough so those in the cargo bay and the cabin could hear him. "Counter Corps members, if you are listening, this is Commander Foster. In about 12 minutes, this entire planetoid is going to be engulfed in flames. Nothing will survive, and the only way we can survive is if we somehow reach the core. And to do that, I need for us to work together. The ship I'm on, the Inch of Will, has something called an 'Overload Cascade Drive', which utilizes a special type of energy called 'Ener-D' to create a hole in spacetime lasting only the blink of an eye, and pass through to the other side. We believe we can precisely aim the OC Drive, as it will be referred to from now on, at the core, and pass through the layers harmlessly. Passing through the hole is the tricky part, though. Our ship is damaged, and we need help ensuring that we all make it through the immense forces of what we are doing. It's not called an 'Overload Cascade' for nothing."
"I will have a companion of mine transmit a homing signal through the stones to direct you to us, but you have 10 minutes to reach us. We will try to wait for you, but there are no guarantees. Anyone who is the size of a human or smaller should stay in the upper level, the cabin, so larger members can occupy the lower level, the cargo bay. As for assistance, we need anyone who can project an energy field around the hull breach we have in the cabin to protect those there, at the very least, but if you can somehow protect the entire ship and everything inside, we would be very grateful. Furthermore, anyone who can help with calculations and energy usage can give us more of a fighting chance to reach our objective."
"From what I've seen, the Counter Corps has had a problem with cooperation throughout these various missions, but we are improving greatly. This will be the single largest undertaking we as a group will do, but if we can somehow pull this plan off, it will reward us immensely. But we must work together, or be left here alone and abandoned when this world catches aflame. You have 10 minutes to decide, and, if you do, please contact me with any information you might have regarding anyone who can aid us. Whatever your choice, I wish you the best of luck, and godspeed. Foster out."
As he ceased the communication, the stone in the cockpit ceased to exist, shattering into sparkling dust. "Well, Brad, let's hope someone heard us. Otherwise, let's find someone onboard who can help us." He continued to look at his comrades-at-arms hopefully.
 
Sphere Forest of the Periphery, Night Side, Sector B4:
 
Otto raced upwards, part of him a cloud of smoke, and passed by Izumi on her way down, slipping her something before heading up to Uru, who was now pursuing Solasiro with Obelisk. Otto rematerialized in Solasiro's path and used the force of the impact to knock Solasiro to the ground, where they both tumbled until they stopped in a small clearing, giving Otto time to pull out his Walther PPK and point the pistol at Solasiro, who was getting up at the time. "Not this time, mein Freund. The two of us are going to settle this like the undead men we are, by comparing the power of our decks." He pulled out a deck of Duel Monsters cards. "However, we both know our Earthbound Immortals are the strongest monsters we have, so that contest would be irrelevant. I propose a different contest, one where we choose the most ridiculous monsters in our decks, summon them with our powers, and have them compete for supremacy. Or I can just try to shoot you with bullets and attack you with shadows. I think the former option is much more entertaining, but if you wish to do the latter, we can do that afterwords." He lowered the pistol. "What do you say, Herr Dunkel Zeichener?"

[Reinforce]

Ayame, Under the Forest of the Periphery -> III-B2

 

Filing away the infomation that the Xansvita mentioned was the once-familiar of LERNA turned divine, and now with a face to match that name, Ayame didn't say anything more, merely sheathing the sword once more before stepping down into the hole Isamy had made. As she plummeted down, her wings expanded once more, flapping hard to soften the fall and allow her to land safely on the metal surface below them. Landing next to the group that had formed, she gave a quick nod of acknowledgement to the guys next to her before bringing her lightning up, using fractured memories from those who ended up in the Shadow Realm to form her lightning in a semblance of a lightning technique from a different universe. Copying the technique wasn't difficult, and as the lightning formed in her hand she found the name for it, Chidori, though her version was almost black, rather than the blue of the original. Once ready, she brought her hand down with the lightning onto the surface of the ground in the same area the others were attacking, using the lightning to try and pierce through the metal, hopefully weakening it for further strikes from the others.

 

-----

 

Chandra, I-B1

 

Hearing the message, Chandra considered going back to find the ship, but as it seemed to be a while away, she instead just continued down into the hole, as first Arthuria and an opponent he was fighting, and then a pair of dragons descended into the hole as well. With her Phoenix flying her across the gap to meet them, as it reached them it hovered in the air, allowing her to hover next to the dragons, the bird entirely formed of fire flying next to the armoured silver dragon and the crimson and black dragon that almost seemed to be made out of a rose. Without a word, she flew down at the same speed as the dragons, starting to gather mana into her gauntlet once more in case she needed it to help break through the barriers to the core.

 

------

 

Darcy, II-B1

 

Seeing the dragons on their way down, and the phoenix that joined them on the way, Darcy slipped through the hole made by Arthuria and Jecht, hovering on the edge of room as she watched the two fight down below. Moving just to the side wall of the newly dug out section, she realized that the leader of the Counter Corps was unlikely to react well if she tried to join the fight, and decided to wait where she was, leaving them and those above who were on their way down to take care of the layers that were preventing her from reaching the core.

[Phantom Roxas]

[iI-B2] - Arthur, MachGaogamon, Eria (w/ Nero, Maxwell, & Kurai)

 

As Eria led the group down the hole, there were surprised as Arthuria came out of nowhere, forcing Jecht downwards. Everyone kept their distance to avoid being caught in the crossfire, but MachGaogamon looked down in disappointment, saddened that Jecht still refused to join the Counter Corps.

 

Their attention was caught by their communication stones all activating simultaneously. Foster was calling everyone onto the Inch of Will, preparing to take everyone to the core. If they were lucky, they wouldn't have to worry about whatever dangers may lurk on the other layers. Time was of the essence, after all.

 

"MachGaogamon," Arthur called out. He was on the ice platform, standing next to Eria, who was approaching the Tau Manta as it came closer into view. "We might as well use a Drive. If we're fused, we don't have to worry about you taking up more room. No offense."

 

"None taken." MachGaogamon brought Nero over to Arthur and Eria, the latter summoning an ice clone of Gagagigo to hold Nero as MachGaogamon allowed himself to be absorbed by Arthur's Drive. Arthur's cloak had been destroyed in the battle with Apocrypha, though the Drive still generated a blue cloak for Arthur.

 

They could see dragons descending below them, and while they could faintly recognize Yuki and Teslarc, the situation Inch of Will was more pressing, so the group slowly but surely made their way to A2. However, they could feel the gravity weighing down on them, but Arthur was able to cast a couple Aero spells, intending for everyone to be lighter, effectively canceling out the increased weight from the gravity.

 

Fortunately, the loading dock on the Inch of Will was opened, and everyone landed inside. The ice clone of Gagagigo turned Nero over to Arthur, who held the Keyblade master's arm over his back, helping him move around. Eria smiled at the ice clone, withdrawing the ice back into her hand. She was happy to be able to depend on them, but she was hoping that Slifer's power would help her reunite with her old friend.

 

As much as Eria didn't like the idea, Gagagigo wasn't important at the moment. She approached Foster, bowing her head before speaking. "One of my Gods has granted me power that I believe could be helpful in powering this ship."

 

"Are you sure about that, Eria?" Arthur asked.

 

Eria nodded. "I will do whatever I can to help."

 

"Just… be careful, okay? I know that you just got the powers of a god, but don't you think you should think about this a bit more before doing something like this? You're offering to basically be a better."

 

"I'll be fine, Arthur," she assured him. "And to be honest, if it wasn't for me, that monster back on the surface would have… well, you know."

 

Arthur sighed. "Alright. I trust you."

 

[b4 Night] - Obelisk & Solasiro

 

Solasiro wiped his check, which had cracked and was dripping black dust, but the wound healed quickly. The Dark Signer l'Cie laughed at Otto's proposition. "I must admit, you have an exceptional flare for competition, and I couldn't possibly say no to something like that. Of course, we have a guest who needs to disappear. Soon."

 

The brand on Solasiro decayed arm shined, while a silver crystal shaped like a fang appeared in his hand. Solasiro took a step back and threw it at Obelisk, the crystal shattering suddenly, resulting in a mechanical wolf appearing in its place. The wolf was nowhere near as big as Lobo. If anything, it was only as big as Obelisk's forearm, which the beast began to bite, keeping the Egyptian God at bay. He tossed it aside, but the beast landed on all fours, howling into the air. Once it did, the ice trapping Lobo cracked, allowing the Earthbound Immortal to break free.

 

"Good boy," Solasiro said. "Now then, while Lobo and Fenrir keep that brute occupied, let us play." Solasiro held up his decayed arm, and on his knuckles, golden beads appeared. The one on his thumb glowed as a card appeared in his hand, and Solasiro chuckled. "There is only one card whose foolishness is the greatest! And that terrible power fits your criteria to a T!"

 

Solasiro twirled on his toes before stepping his right foot far back. He ran his left hand through his hair, while holding the hard high up with his right. "Come forth, old friend!" Staying in his pose, he turned the card in his hand, and before him appeared a cyclops, one that stood no taller than Solasiro. The cyclops was dressed in a dapper white suit, complete with a red bow tie, but its sleeveless arms had no muscle covering them, and its shoulders were covered by spikes balls. The cyclops bowed, tipping its green fedora at Otto, while Solasiro stood up like a normal person would, sighing happily as he marveled at his summon.

 

"Now then, Otto," Solasiro said with a wave of his hand. "I dare you to summon something more ridiculous than Shapesnatch."

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

Sephiroth <Sykes's Coliseum>

 

Isamy, as well as his supposed ally known as Ayame, had left him and that was just find; it was just as he intended and desired it in fact. He had smirked, a smirk of intentions most cruel, and powerful intentions they surely were. Sephiroth waved his hand at the group of warriors that remained, unleashing a devastating magic attack by the name of Flare; he then swung his blade at the fire, if the group were to somehow ward of the flame, the slash of energy he unleashed would surely cut down their defenses. His next move was to make escape impossible, with one point of his left index finger, Sephiroth had cast Quake to cave-in the hole that was made within the coliseum floor. The rubble itself would surely be capable of being destroyed, but none would get the chance before death could swiftly take them away.

 

Nero<Aboard the Inch of Will>

 

He merely cooperated with being taken aboard the massive ship, even though it was in the hands of another, making him feel as though he were dead weight. After arriving on the ship, he leaned against the wall and slid down to the bottom so that he might sit. Was he ready to fight another impossible fight with horrible odds? He guessed he might as well be. His eyes looked toward Eria who mentioned helping with the ship's traveling and then at Arthur who had just initiated at Drive Mode with MachGaoGamon, then his eyes were on the floor; his head was cradled by his knees as he simply sat there in deep thought.

 

Nero's Darkness(Flying)<II-B1>
 

The entity composed of a hero's darkness and a demon's soul had made his way down to another level of the planet via a hole made by the leader of the Counter Corps. Just as he was facing the impasse of having to advanced down a level, the two warriors came falling (and brawling) their way down the hole. They narrowly missed getting him caught up within their bout as they crashed through to the next layer of the planet. How convenient this had turned out for the entity encased inside a repenting sinner's long-dead body.

[Kōsuke Ueki]

Since there really wasn't much to do, Maxwell and Kurai stayed with Arthur, MachGaogamon, Eria and Nero. Strength in numbers and what not...

 

The two didn't really say much, to anyone's surprise. But when they got the transmission from Foster, he knew the plan was too dangerous. However, something did come to mind, by the name of Danny Phantom. He remembers the event vaguely, but he remembers it nonetheless. The last thing he remembers, was a giant meteor larger than earth itself on set for collision. Because Danny had ghost-like capabilities (At least when it comes to the ways of that universe), such as temporary phasing through physical objects, he had to connect himself to earth and gather all the energy from the planet in order to make it phase through the meteor but remain in orbit.

 

And through scary timing, it worked. Earth was saved from a demise similar to that of the "New Planet Vegeta", but on a much smaller scale.

 

Maxwell thought about it for a moment. Maybe I can do the same thing with the Inch of Will but with Instant Transmission to reach the core...

 

Hopefully, Foster won't think of this idea to be that crazy. Then again, Maxwell's idea seems to be a better, less risky alternative.

 

As he got to the cargo bay of the Inch of Will, he wondered at to how he was going to get to Foster. Maybe he can lock on to his Ki signatu- Oh wait, he's human. He'd assume that Foster was in the cargo bay with the others, but he couldn't be sure. So, he just straight up called out. "Foster, where are you!? I have something to add to your plan!" Kurai sighed. "Let me guess, because he's human you can't do it right?" Reluctantly, Maxwell nodded. If he was going to do this, he might have to do some convincing with Foster before any progress can be made. But considering the situation where everyone's short on time, he'll most likely take any suggestions that'll help at all. But again, Maxwell won't know until the scenario is brought to Foster's attention.

 

(Current Location: II-A2)

[Kingdom Xathers]

Alexander Abernathy/Periphery/Descending into II-B1

 

As Alexander plummeted down the hole toward the next layer of the planetoid, the lombax called upon a Baby Dragon to act as his "noble steed" to slow down his descent. "Shoulda thought this through a bit more thoroughly," he admitted to himself, cradling Umbris' Chrysalis in one arm as he gripped onto the Baby Dragon with the other. Above, he could here the roars of two other dragons from above. The prickling feeling he could feel along his Signer Mark told him that at least one of these dragons belonged to the "Itsu Sisters"; looking up, he confirmed his hunch as he saw Moon Flower Dragon - Black Rose coming down the same hole, along with what looked like a relative of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

 

"Hey, girls, you holding up okay?" Alexander called out as his Baby Dragon waved its arms in an overjoyed gesture. He then took a brief glance down below, sensing another friendly presence awaiting them. "Hang on, I can see Ratchet and Clank down below. Let's see if they're okay...."

 

Ratchet (w/Clank and Dr. Nefarious)/II-B1 (retconned from last post)

 

"What in blazes is that?!" Dr. Nefarious shrieked as he saw the dragons up above.

 

"What on... wait, I think I see Alex," Ratchet uttered out loud. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he called up toward the Dragon Riders, "Alex! Down here! We're down he--!" A sharp pain in his chest suddenly caused Ratchet to gagged mid-shout, stumbling over on his hands and knees as he coughed.

 

"Ratchet!" Clank blurted in concern.

 

"Not again...!" Alexander uttered to himself in horror upon seeing Ratchet having another episode. "Ratchet, hang on, we're coming!!" Alexander order the Baby Dragon to descend further and approach the younger lombax.

 

"I, uhh... I'm not used to this whole "helping out" thing," Nefarious said as he helped Ratchet to his feet (as in, grabbing the lombax by the collar of his shirt and lifting him up to his feet). "So, don't get used to it!"

 

"*cough* Uh... thanks, Neff," Ratchet muttered as he tried to clear his throat.

 

"... huh? Nefarious?" Alexander blurted as he approached Ratchet's spot.

 

"Yeah--*cough*... about that," Ratchet began, his coughing persisting but steadily calming down. "That Ophelia character--*cough* called Nefarious as my "oppo--"*cough**cough*--"opponent", but we kinda ended up--*cough*--helping each other a bit since coming down here--*cough*--"

 

"Speak for yourself!" Nefarious interjected. "You haven't been helping ME one BIT--!!"

 

"You would've been made scrap metal by those angry trees, you know."

 

"... oh," Neffy uttered, slightly humbled. He tried to shake it off, saying, "Well, we're still enemies, got it?! No amount of dimensional hodge-podge is gonna change that!"

 

"Whatever--*cough**cough*--you say, Neff... wait, Alex, where's Umbris?" Ratchet asked, noticing that the Neo-Spacian wasn't there--or rather, overlooking the Chrysalis in Alexander's arms.

 

"Mmmm... somebody call for me...?" muttered the Chrysalis Pantail as he stirred awake, brushing a paw against his face.

 

"Umb... Umbris...?" Ratchet stammered, realizing who the Pantail was. "Wait, Alex... what happened up there?"

 

Unable to bring himself to answer, Alexander looked down to the side, somewhat ashamed of himself....

 

Alister Azimuth (w/Red the Risen)/II-B3 (presumably)

 

"I... I'm okay, Red, thank you," Alister humbly replied to Red, caught off-guard by his concern but appreciative all the same. "I only regret not handling those trees better... ... what on earth?!" Alister looked away from Red and toward the hole they had entered through, growing a bit fearful as he saw the blackened draconic... thing trying to enter through the same hole, even attmpting to widen it it by making a drilling motion with its body. "Oh, gods, I hope that thing isn't after us...!" he mused out loud, almost terrified. "Red, we have to lose that thing, whatever it is!"

 

"Scanning... ... scanning... ... scanning...," the Zurkon-Wrench droned as it made an analysis of the creature. "... Scan complete! General Fuzzy, this stupid alien has the same signature as the other alien we fought before, back in the Witch's Barrier."

 

"Same as the other... ...?!!" Alister's heart nearly jumped out of his throat upon remembering that fight with the Iron Imprisoner, and more importantly, realizing just who had called upon that creature to begin with: the Witch's Familiar, Xansvita.

 

"SH!T, that thing IS after us!!" Alister gasped out. "Red, now I know we have to get away from that thing, and fast!"

[Love of Ghibli]

III - A2

 

So trying to dig through this hyper dense metal was way more vexing than the team initially thought. They were barely making strides in the indentation. They could see that made it at least several inches but that was about it. Radamanthys was looking pretty upset and could do nothing but watch as his eye twitched. There had to be an easier way. Even the strongest of metals can fall to a superior cosmos. The problem here was simply that there was sooo much metal. Radamanthys started stroking his chin in bewilderment while Dorian simply toiled away. He was not going to let himself be insulted by asking the great Hades-sama for help. The question now was dealing with the proper ratio of power output versus the damage to the planet. Sure he could blast through this wall if he unleashed his true power like he did against Kratos, but similar to the battle with Kratos he would destroy the planet. 

 

Ugh! This is ridiculous. Why is there such a stubborn metal in this world? Radamanthys shouted in frustration. 

Well aren't are surplices denser than this? Dorian said as he was bored trying to pierce the adamantium by himself. Radamanthys simply rolled his eyes in response to Dorian's question. There will be thrashings for this level of disrespect later on. But still the problem of this layer of hyper dense metal was still a problem.

Butler and Ragnarok were busy looking inside their mental library of 103,000 grimoires to see if there was some magic or alchemy that could possibly be of some kind of service to them. What was evilly ironic was that whatever magic they did have enough power to actually use would not be that much of assistance and whatever magic that would be of great assistance to them was far beyond their reach (well without the aid of something like Slifer again).

Dorian was still busy drilling when he realized that there was an option in which that these guys could go all out. 

Hey guys I think I see a crack here. He said with great zeal. Of course there are, between that woman's staff and our cosmos of course a crack would form. The fact that its only a crack is the problem. Now just hear me out. What if we did something akin to concentrating all our power on the crack itself. That way we could probably just shatter this thing at its weakest point and continue to simply drill downward. 

Butler and Ragnarok applauded. Novel idea. GJ kid GJ. Your idea is not without reason. But even if we were to concentrate all of our power on this point here how would we not ensure collateral damage to the rest of this floating desolate rock. Don't worry about that we can put a barrier up that can funnel all of our attacks into a single point. Though it will still require a great deal of concentration on everyone's parts. Fine then let us put mind to task and be done with this.

Dorian snickered as he stepped a couple of steps backwards. He took a deep inhale and began to glow bright purple. Then a series of magical barriers were erected directly over the crack. Radamanthys only grinned as he was once again letting loose and letting his cosmos flow. While erecting the barriers Butlerok was getting ready as well and slowly letting his madness seep through. Their power was causing the ground to shake and it resonated throughout that layer of the planet. 

Alright. Let us proceed! On the count of three. 

1....2.....3.... GREATEST CAUTION!!! CHORONA BLAST!!! SCREECH ALPHA!!!

In unison the three attacks collided and swirled into one. They then formed a powerful stream that was funneled by Butlerok's barriers until it fully clashed with the crack in the adamantium layer. All three entities concentrated harder and then they felt the sensation that the crack was getting bitter. The more they focus the better the crack began. Finally they did the seemingly impossible and broke through what they hoped to be the last layer of this forsaken planet. A swirling spire of energy and lava came up to show that they some how penetrated that layer and it rained down on them and as some form deadly confetti rain. Luckily none of the parties seemed to be injured by the lava, between the surplices, Black Blood, Hades being Hades, and Isamy being Isamy all were well. 

 

Well that worked out right now didn't it? Dorian said with a hint of happiness and exhaustion as the lava subsided and the group proceeded to jump down to the next layer. There was no doubt that Hades and Isamy could defend themselves so they might as well go on ahead. 

 

(IIIA2 - IVA2)

[The Warden]

|_)~Moe~ Scietist Frankram, Okama Queen Ivankov & The Evangelist Hapshiel(_|

 

Frankram wasn't exactly surprised by the girl's reaction to Hapshiel; usually 1 in 5 people have that exact same reaction. Poor Suzuho. He decided to feign ignorance as the girl composed herself, whilst Ivankov still didn't really get what the big deal was; as far as he remembered his candies never minded a sweet kiss from their queen.

 

The scientist listened intently as the girl told the duo of her own world, and Frankram did realize sitting felt like a very good idea. With a snap of fingers two very nice Eams Chairs were poofed in existence, one fit snugly for Frankram with the other being oversized for the Okama Queen. As he politely refused the peach, Frankram began his logue: "My world is one of many incarnations of the standard Earth. The only differenct of course is the existence of magic. Normal humans are kept in the dark about this, largely for our own protection. I personally am a Professor of the premier Magician's Academy. Even though magic is prevalent, the school is relatively uneventful, save for the occasional full assault brawls between miss Suzuho and miss Tanaror. It certainly is quite a sight to watch those two passionate spirits battle. And miss Tanarot, well, just just perfectly emphasizes ~MOE~!" he cried, rising from his chair in passion as cherry blossom petals scattered all around.

 

Ivankov casually swatted away a few of the petal. "My world is full of adventure; but much strife, oh yes, very much strife indeed. vI stand as one of the leaders of the Revolutionary Army, who stand to overthrow the New World Government and their cruel regime. It is a sad time for the innocent, but that is why my allies stand strong, as do the countless pirate bands that sail the world in search of the One Piece; the greatest treasure around. It's existence is why I have such great faith in Strawhat-boy, I could see so much of his father in him too."

 

---

 

|_)Red, the Arisen(_|

 

Red felt relief in his heart that Alister was okay, but there seemed to be something more pressing indeed. The strange being from high above was chasing after them in a fit, and by the sound of General Fuzzies' tone, it was desperately urgent. Going down would only get them so far before they hit that unfortunate wall; which is why they were going to have the rock hit wall and make the way for them.

 

Keeping Alister firmly in his claw, he used his other hand to clench his staff tightly as he pointed it at the wall opposite; and then a rainbow beam cascaded from the focal point of the tip. Unlike the downwards shot this beam was much thinner, but well sized for Alister's size. It also progressed much more easily, leaving a nice clean cylinder shaped hole in the wall, which Red unceremoniously hurled Alister through. General Fuzzy flew along the fifty or so metres of the hole before he even hit the end. Casting an aside glance to the now very much closer Diseased Dragon of Ra, Red concentrated as he flapped towards the hole. With each second he was becomming rapidly smaller, until he was but the size of a pickle, or a banana, or something small.

 

This change was accompanied by a little Kewpie doll squeak as his wings beat fitfully to move him down the hole, until he found the splayed form of Alister. Landing on his overhanging knee Red raised his toothpick sized staff upwards, generating a shimmering rainbow barrier in order to spare them any fallback from Ra's descent.

 

---

 

|_)Magical Girl Lydia(_|

 

The earth undulated as Lydia passed through it, she squeezed past the welcoming earth as her cleavage began transmitting a message.

 

"Counter Corps members, if you are listening, this is Commander Foster. In about 12 minutes, this entire planetoid is going to be engulfed in flames. Nothing will survive, and the only way we can survive is if we somehow reach the core. And to do that, I need for us to work together. The ship I'm on, the Inch of Will, has something called an 'Overload Cascade Drive', which utilizes a special type of energy called 'Ener-D' to create a hole in spacetime lasting only the blink of an eye, and pass through to the other side. We believe we can precisely aim the OC Drive, as it will be referred to from now on, at the core, and pass through the layers harmlessly. Passing through the hole is the tricky part, though. Our ship is damaged, and we need help ensuring that we all make it through the immense forces of what we are doing. It's not called an 'Overload Cascade' for nothing."

"I will have a companion of mine transmit a homing signal through the stones to direct you to us, but you have 10 minutes to reach us. We will try to wait for you, but there are no guarantees. Anyone who is the size of a human or smaller should stay in the upper level, the cabin, so larger members can occupy the lower level, the cargo bay. As for assistance, we need anyone who can project an energy field around the hull breach we have in the cabin to protect those there, at the very least, but if you can somehow protect the entire ship and everything inside, we would be very grateful. Furthermore, anyone who can help with calculations and energy usage can give us more of a fighting chance to reach our objective."

"From what I've seen, the Counter Corps has had a problem with cooperation throughout these various missions, but we are improving greatly. This will be the single largest undertaking we as a group will do, but if we can somehow pull this plan off, it will reward us immensely. But we must work together, or be left here alone and abandoned when this world catches aflame. You have 10 minutes to decide, and, if you do, please contact me with any information you might have regarding anyone who can aid us. Whatever your choice, I wish you the best of luck, and godspeed. Foster out."

 

Well, Lydia had little to no idea who Foster was, but he probably had had something to do with that giant ship that had been floating insid Camelot. "Hey Volt? What? Can you follow where that came from? By the sound of it he was addressing everyone, did he maybe leave a signal to follow? No, no there isn't. I'd know. But it doesn't matter. Why's that? We've already found them."

 

Finally through the soil, Lydia caught on the remaining winds before she fell onto the space cruiser that was hovering in a freakishly enormous hole. Yep, that was certainly; err, what had the guy called it? The Inch of Will? Well, that thing certainly had more inches that could be certain. Hmm, other people were already joining with the ship, so she followed at her own pace as she landed in the landing bay.

 

It was a pretty sweet ship, no rally, it was. One of the things Lydia had loved was sci-fi, even thought she never really told anyone that. Being a magical girl fan was one thing, but being a Trekky meant social death in most female circles. Without the wind keeping her up, gravity was certainly pretty powerful in this part of the planetoid. Man, how deep had she gone, err, they gone?

 

As she mused on this, she didn't even realize that she was walking into Eria's back before it was too late. Lydia stumbled back in surprise, and was going to shout in annoyance before realizing who she had hit. "Oh! Sorry about that Eria, I didn't, err, see you there."

[Gαr]

Sykes's Colosseum (w/ Sliske and Sephiroth), II-C2

 

Ed was patiently his death sentence for Isamy when a gust of wind blew past him along with the sounds of heads on the ground. Ed looked up to see a strikingly handsome man with long silver hair and a long coat as black as midnight. He wielded an extremely long sword, but handled it like it was any other blade. "Oh, I wish I was him, but he called me a lower lifeform. I was rather triggered by that."  Isamy and Ayame exited the coliseum through a hole created by Isamy, leaving Sephiroth to deal with Ed and Sliske. Sephiroth cast Flare, but Ed counterattacked by erecting a wall of black flames. Ed jumped out of the way of the energy slash, which left a deep rend in the coliseum floor, even though he could've redirected it, but he didn't want to risk it. The hole left by Isamy was closed up while he was distracted. "It's been quite a while since I last flipped my switched."

 

Ed closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were narrow and cunning. His mouth twisted into a calculating and smug grin. He flipped his swords into a reverse grip and launched himself at Sephiroth. He swung his sword directly at Sephiroth, but it was a feint. The real attack was his short sword where he concentrated a large amount of flames and when he swung, it released a large blast of black flames that became ice. Ed knew that it wouldn't be very effective against such and insanely strong man, but Ed just wanted to have fun.

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

Sephiroth <Sykes' Coliseum>

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

 

The heat and force from his flare spell had been blocked by one already, and the beam he had sent along with the flames had been avoided by this one as well. In an act of insanity, bravery, or simply in an act of being unaware who it was that he was fighting, he had chosen not to perish immediately. The swords of his opponent were readied and he was speeding towards The Man in the Black Cape with much tenacity.

 

The Man in the Black Cape had given a smirk, for he had seen through the facade that was his opponent's first strike. With one quick step, he had dodged the false strike and had hit the short sword that was within his opponent's opposite hand before he had gotten the chance to swing the blade or use its flames; the blade's fire had dissipated from the force of the block. "You know nothing of who you face, boy" With that, The Man in the Black Cape had sent one fluid slash across his opponent's chest. "You may address me as, Sephiroth. He announced, confident that his attack had connected, ready to defend if this were not the case of course.

[Maeriberii Haan]

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Kazuya (Metal Pathway)

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After digging through the layer of the unnatural planet using Beelzebub, Kazuya found a quite inconveniencing obstacle; a corridor made from some really durable metal stood in his way, refusing to bulge when faced against Beelzebub’s light spheres.

 

“Is that so…

 

Let’s not waste our energy here, and find another entry point around this corridor. There must be a way, and I believe someone from one of the sides had bypassed this layer.”

 

Actually, Kazuya knew that using Beelzebub’s Megidolaon should be enough to blast the metallic surface into smithereens, but he decided not to, as he needed to save as much energy as possible for any future battles. So he returned Beelzebub into his COMP, and summoned Pascal in his stead. Unlike Beelzebub’s indifference, Pascal seemed to sense that something was quite off about his master, but he had no choices but to comply with his bidding. Kazuya jumped on Pascal’s back, and it ran across the corridor, searching for a way down.

 

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Tenshi (UG Drill Lift)

 

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After hearing about the two guy's homeworld, Tenshi ran out of conversation fuel for them, so she decided to use the time to rest.

Though, before she was able to sleep, she realized that the drilling abruptly ended, as the drill levitated slowly atop what seemed to look like a metallic corridor.

 

Smiling mischievously, Tenshi summoned several more keystones to strenghten the giant drill. The keystones all immediately was fused by her into a properly giant-sized one, with the bottom spinning perpetually.

 

"Well everyone, I advise you all to find something to grab, and I hope you all to have a strong heart, or else..:"

 

The drill spun faster and faster, then Tenshi summoned her sword and planted it on the giant keystone.

 

" This is it!

Keystone 'World Creation Press'!"

 

With great speed, the drill descended from the height and slammed straight into the metallic floor.

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While Tenshi tried her best to pierce the metal, two girls and a woman sat on a purple gap filled with unblinking somewhere above the celestial.

 

"Milady, shouldn't we....you know, try helping her?"

 

The blue-white girl with fox tails asked.

 

"There is no need to do that, Ran. I believe that the brat would be fine on her own. Also, seeing her struggling like this is quite satisfying." The woman replied.

 

:"But, what about our-"

 

"Shuush. No need to rush things. She was never an actual part of our plan, remember? If she failed, we have our own champion to finish all of this. Tenshi just coincidentally has the quite similar goal as ours."

 

"To actually pinpoint her coordinate in the multiverse and to move across the jumbled up dimensions with only several dozens of misdirection, I'd say we're quite lucky that time, and I believe all of this couldn't be achieved otherwise.

So please don't push our luck, Lady Yukari. Guide her like you'd guide our hero. Not to mention your reason for not helping her is kind of stupid." The catgirl sounded her objection to the woman.

 

"But you are wrong, Chen. It is not luck that brought us here.

 

Everything, even the misdirections, is a part of my plan.

 

And what? Can't this lady have some fun sometimes? And that brat below us deserved it!"

 

The two girls didn't reply to Yukari's statement, and the three then just continued to watch Tenshi's struggle in silence.

 

"...You're really just saying that to save your face and to not admit your limitations, you old hag?"

 

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After a while of moving, Kazuya stumbled an interesting stone complex that looked not unlike a colloseum, and just like an actual colloseum, there seemed to be people fighting inside it.

 

The fighting did not pique Kazuya's interest, but he then noticed something that do, a hole going down. So he decided to carefully analize about the current combatants, and found out that aside from the long-haired person with impractical-looking sword, the other seemed to be his ally, technically. For this one time though, he decided to keep a low profile about his true intention.

 

He whipped out his machine gun, and started to open fire to the longhair. Even if he could sense that his current enemy was quite powerful, he decided to ignore that fact for now.

 

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[Phantom Roxas]

[iI-B2 - The Inch of Will] - Arthur (Merged with MachGaogamon) & Eria

 

Arthur held his hand to his head, feeling that Maxwell was rather loud when he called out to Foster. "He's right here!" he responded in kind. He rolled his eyes, a gesture that earned him a nice ribbing from Eria.

 

Lydia began to approach the group, her mind apparently focused on something else, but before she could be greeted by Arthur, she had bumped right into Eria. She apologized, but Eria smiled and waved her hand as if to dismiss it. "Don't worry about it. Glad you could make it."

 

Arthur tapped his communicator stone. "Richard, Tsunugai." He had hoped to be able to help them out while they were on the surface, but thanks to Solasiro, that plan seemed to be put on hold. "Please tell me you guys are in the clear." Best-case scenario, the members of the Counter Corps that weren't on the Inch of Will had already made it to the second layer of planetoid, but he didn't want them to be abandoned. The three of them all used to be a part of the Divine, and though it was a bit weird to think that they were different from when he first met them, Arthur had seen weirder stuff. Especially stuff like the Troys and LERNA's Familiars.

 

[sykes' Coliseum → II-C2] - Sliske

 

A cut formed along Sliske's hood, barely grazing the Mahjarrat's cheek. It seemed that a lackey of the so-called "Herald" had appeared before almost immediately dispatching two of his wights, the axe-wielder Dharok and the spear-wielder Guthan. Isamy left with one of the followers, the one that had originally been sent here, while this new servant, a white-haired swordsmen who seemed to generate a reaction in Ed that Sliske didn't want to think very much about. The man's name was name was Sephiroth, and he quickly began a battle with Ed. While they did, Sliske whistled nonchalantly as he approached the hole that Isamy had created, but when another man appeared - he seemed to be aligned with Ed - Sliske to it as a sign to make haste.

 

As soon as Sliske leapt down the hole, he vanished, his mastery of the shadows keeping him hidden, though he suspected that Isamy would be able to somehow sense him. He thought about what he had learned about Xansvita. From what he could gather, he used to be known as Sora, though LERNA apparently enslaved him, though Xansvita made it sound like he joined Isamy of his own accord. Fascinating. He seemed to be like the Barrows if they had anything resembling free will. It seemed that, if there was any way of getting back at him, he would need to work with whatever this "Counter Corps" was. With Torag and Verac taken from him, Sliske needed to make up for losing them. Of course, that would come after he gets rid of Xansvita. His multiple personalities needed to know what happens when you take a host away from his game.

[Dad]

The Inch of Will

 

Kratos heard Foster's cry (quite clearly) and stepped forward, making his way to the bridge.  Summoning four of his burning, skeletal Spartan brethren, they spawned forth their magical shields and approached the gaping hole in the ship.  Each soldier individually, but silently placed a shield into the wound of the Inch of Will, managing to completely seal the gap, if not for a few, small cracks of light.  Their shields aligned perfectly with each other, tightly meshing together.  Kratos then took some of their emanating flames, and welded the shields in place to give them a solid hold.  "It's done," he said abruptly, before disappearing back into the ship's cargo hold.

 

Black Dynamite watched as Kratos strolled away, wondering from where this man drew his strength.  "Now why do I have to be so damn useless?  I mean, yeah, I'm sexy, but damn.  Black Dynamite wants to provide somethin' to his team.  Heartbreakin' man."

[Gαr]

Sykes' Coliseum

 

"Oh my, you're quite strong." To be able to dissipate the black flames with one strike, Ed was impressed. "And I know exactly of who I am facing, pretty boy." With that, The Man with the Long Hair launched a slash aimed at Ed's chest. Ed pulled back and raised his swords in front of him to block the strike. The force of the slash was powerful enough to push him back, but all that power made Ed even more excited to fight this man. "Sephiroth, eh? It resonates with the power of an angel and of a demon. My name's Ed. Now have at you!" Before he could go after Sephiroth again, a stream of bullets was fired at him. Ed turned his slightly to where the bullets originated from. "If you would so kindly stay out of this, he's mine!" Ed launched himself with black flames to get behind Sephiroth, since those bullets would only distract him for a second or two, he needed to act fact. When he got behind him, he positioned both of his swords parallel to each other on his right side and began rotating himself to bring them down on top of Sephiroth.

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

<Sykes Huegares <IV-A2>

 

Footsteps echoed throughout the last layer of the this small planet, the last layer before reaching the core; the key was so close and yet so far away. He had, of course, already known that this group would be the first to break through the last layer and face him. Since the beginning of their journey to the center of this planet he had been tracking their progress, feeling their individual energies. Though the attack that had broken the layer was quite fearsome, he suspected the only real trouble would be Isamy; she had come through the hole and was now face to face with him. Each of their presences collided with each other for a moment before evening out on the battlefield, his eyes momentarily went to Hades who had come through the whole next; the so-called god of the underworld wouldn't be much trouble either. From the bubbling lava came the beasts he had summoned earlier that hadn't seemed to do their job on the surface, but now he would give The White Sturgeon a second chance. "Attack all but Isamy, you'd be useless against such a being." Sykes commanded, and the giant eel creatures set out to attack Hades, some others were waiting in the wings for the rest of the group to descend through the hole.

 

Sykes had once again turned his attention to Isamy. "I've seen and heard much of you, Isamy Maximus, "The Herald of Chaos and Entropy". Allow me to introduce myself, however unnecessary it might be. My name is Sykes Huegares, we are to do battle." He said to the being standing before him, no doubt the strongest being he had ever crossed with. Killing or even defeating her was only a small possibility, but slowing her down was something he could surely manage. "Bakudo #61. Rikujōkōrō." Six thin and wide beams of light were fixed to slam into Isamy's midsection, holding her in place. She would then be unable to move any part of her body including the parts that were not struck by the beams. Such spell would work for maybe a second, if not less, so he quickly followed with another. "Hado #91. Senjū Kōten Taihō." Several spears of light were summoned and fired toward Isamy, locking on to her current location. The culminating explosion of said spears were to be exceedingly devastating if the attack were to hit its target.

 

Sephiroth <Sykes' Coliseum>

 

The attack that was intended to kill his target had been blocked, but just barely, giving him even further reassurance that Ed was no match for his power. Sephiroth suddenly sensed the presence of another and turned to see a man brandishing a machine gun. Sephiroth waved his hand and balls of fire emerged to not only defend against the bullets but to attack the man who had started firing them. Suddenly, his first opponent was also initiating another attack; there was enough time to do a quarter turn but no time to raise his sword. Ed's blades collided with the black feathery surface of a wing which seemed to have appeared from nowhere and hadn't seemed to taken any damage from Ed's attack. The wing flexed to whole span and Ed was pushed to the ground where he slid several feet away from Sephiroth. "I won't waste my time with you..." Sephiroth said and suddenly appeared in front of Ed, using his wing to launch him into the air; after doing so there would be a combination of eight attacks, the last of which would hurl Ed straight into the ground once more...