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

[Maeriberii Haan]

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Kazuya (Sykes's Colosseum)

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Kazuya was not surprised when his bullets were easily shrugged off by the longhair, though what was more surprising was the insistence of the other man that was supposedly on his side to face the longhair alone. When he realized that the longhair sent him a pretty generous prize of several fireballs, he ordered Pascal to use the balls as a meal.

 

“Tch, those guys seems to be too busy with their business. I guess I can now proceed to the hole with ease.

 

But first…”

 

He withdrawn Pascal, and summoned Beelzebub once again. The giant fly was quite.. ecstatic for some unknown reasons, but Kazuya ignored it.

 

“Beelzebub, it’s not lively enough here. Please call your little friends.”

 

Creating several dark spheres, Beelzebub then spread the spheres all over the arena, and from it, a swarm of flies appeared. Kazuya knew from experience that those flies were really resilient to most attacks, and if given the chance, would multiply their number easily. That’d be a good roadblock for anyone that tried to chase him.

 

“And now, I bid you guys farewell. Please bear me no mind, and please keep your business with each other.”

 

After saying that, Kazuya threw a small ball into the air, which immediately exploded into an array of blinding light that engulfed the arena. As the activator, he would be the only one that’s unaffected by it, and he immediately withdrawn Beelzebub and make his way down into the hole.

 

“..As soon as the light vanished, the flies will start attacking anything in sight. Best case scenario, the two would become a host for new generation of the flies, while the worst case they’ll buy me enough time.

 

And that’s one problem cleared. Now I should start thinking about how to secure the key…”

 

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“Ran, please give me the current status update on this planet.”

 

“We-well, milady. It seems that there’s a really powerful reality-warper here, though the actual power level is unclear for the moment. Also traces of a second and maybe a third reality-warper could be sensed, but it’s unclear about their current location. There’s also several others non reality warpers here with quite dangerous power level and-”

 

“No, I want that one that’s a list of names with their current position and what are they doing now. Preferably with color, so I could read it without falling asleep.”

 

“….That’d be really impractical for us now to make a written status update, and honestly, we wouldn’t need that much information.”

 

“Tch, whatever."

 

Yukari looked once again to the Celestial below her, which seemed to have succeeded in frustrating herself with her fruitless effort. After yawning once, she shifted her attention once again to Ran.

 

"Hmm, this reality warper….where is this remarkable individual at the moment?”

 

“She was currently several miles down, milady. Somewhere near the core.”

 

“Well, since watching this pathetic celestial gets old quite fast, why don’t we check the situation down there? A good idea, eh?”

 

Yukari and Ran then disappeared into a purple gap nearby, and reappeared just a minute later several miles below their previous position. The place was quite hot and the gravitational force exerted by the sphere-like core was quite powerful, though the two proved to be only a minor annoyance to Yukari.

 

In the distance, Yukari could see a man was attacking another woman who wields a scythe. Yukari did notice of the other individuals and some beasts in the layer, but deemed them not important enough to worry for the moment.

 

“Milady, the girl there, the one with the scythe, is the reality warper I was referring to back then.”

 

“Yes, definitely. I could sense her overwhelming power even from here. Do you think the person attacking her currently had any chance?”

 

“Uh, I don’t know. I didn’t research him enough to make any conclusions. Though, would you enter the battlefield now milady? Securing the key is our goal, right?”

 

“Ran, did you ever pay me any attention? We have no urgent need to secure the key now; it would be quite the hassle to do so. Our mission here is to study our potential adversaries’ strengths and weaknesses.

 

If the brat above somehow managed to acquire the key, then huzzah, but for now, being an observer is enough. Though, if the situation requires it, we do still have our champion ready, right?

 

Hey, that gave me an idea…”

 

Yukari opened yet another gap, and brought the catgirl Chen out of it, before throwing her to Ran’s open arms.

 

“You two, stay here. Do not engage any of the opponents directly for now, though if you’re targeted for an attack, then feel free to retaliate.

 

As for me, let’s say that there’s somewhere I need to go to.”

 

Without any more words, Yukari disappeared into a gap behind her, leaving her two shikigamis completely clueless about what the hell was the woman ordered them to do.

 

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The sudden drop of altitude somewhat surprised Gengetsu, though she was quick to stop panicking.

 

While Tenshi was starting to be frustrated after several minutes of her drill not being able to penetrate the metal, Gengetsu decided to look upwards, and found a quite unpleasant sight of a hag and her two pets.

 

“…How?

 

..What are they doing here?”

But, just seconds later, the cat vanished, then the two others followed after another minute. Decided that it might be an illusion due to fatigue, Gengetsu decided to ignore it.

 

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Tenshi (Layer 2)

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“Why won’t you break….

 

Dammit, spin faster! Faster I say!”

 

Ten minutes had passed without Tenshi being able to penetrate the layer. In a fit of rage, she pulled her sword out of the stone drill, and planted it again forcefully in anger.

 

The sword, had gathered some energy from Tenshi’s frustration and anger, instead unleashed a dense scarlet beam that obliterated the stone drill and the metal layer, and the beam seemed to travel down for a while before losing its force. The force flung Tenshi up into the air, but she summoned a keystone midair to stop her from going to far.

 

“Uh…okay, whatever worked, I guess.”

 

She then summoned another stone drill and immediately hop into it and descended down the newly made hole, without waiting for the others to catch up.

 

Speaking of the others, after the drill got destroyed, Tenshi saw Frankram, Ivankov, and Gengetsu, but she couldn’t locate the elephant in the room, Hapshiel. She, filled with hope, assumed the worst had happened to him.

 

“God riddance. I hope I’m finally free of that creep until the end of time.”

 

After ensuring herself that Hapshiel shouldn’t be a problem now, Tenshi decided to sleep once again.

 

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"....That brat's hopeless."

 

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[Love of Ghibli]

III- A2

 

Hades snickered as Team Dorian managed to break through the adamantium layer. It was impressive in its own right. He looked back towards Isamy and nodded to the powerful female as they both simply jumped down to the final molten layer....

IV-A2 

 

When they landed they would see nothing, but the flowing of molten lava. The intense gravitational pressure was at its zenith here but that was still nothing before Hades. If anything he was mused by the planets core. It looked like one of the circles of Hell in which he condemns souls to. Nevertheless it was time that he got back to having a conversation with his soldiers leader.

So what were talking about again...that's right my God Cloth, I would like it back. 

 

As Isamy was ready to respond it seemed that the group had some unexpected visitors. Hades looked on to see that there was a mysterious man in white approaching with an army of white snake like creatures. Hades was more than annoyed, but to add insult to injury it seemed that he was being underestimated. One of those white beast like creatures came at him and Hades simply gave it a look. That creature then found itself encased nose diving into the lava like lake that the team was surrounded by. Hades then looked backed at the man as this man in white launched some kind of binding spell on Isamy. Hades knew that this was barely enough to stall the Goddess of Chaos and Entropy, but this opponent was throwing out a series of lightning rods. Hades was going to intervene...but it seemed that was already taken care of......

 

 

From beneath Isamy erupted lava plums that blocked the lightning rods. Then from beneath Isamy a pool of black blood arose from beneath her feet and shot up like spike releasing her from the binding spell. The only thing that could be heard was an echoing sound of someone salivating and panting like fresh meat had just presented itself. Hades looked to the left only to see that Butler was walking on the lava's surfaces a chibi Raganarok was drooling and point at the mysterious stranger. 

 

DO YOU SEE IT!! HE'S ONE OF THEM!! I KNOW THAT SMELL!! TELL ME YOU SEE IT BALDY!! Yes Ragnarok, I see him. I will admit he does seem to have the same smell as the other two. He isn't in the picture though. WHO CARES!! HE'S ONE OF THEM!! WE HAVE TO EAT HIM!!! Ragnarok's elation took control over his volume and tempo. He could not hide his need to eat a shinigami. And the fact that one as presented himself just made everything better. Calm down Ragnarok Butler said trying to tame his better half. I'm pretty sure that no one would object to us fighting this opponent buy ourselves. As Butler and Ragnarok slowly start to resonate the pool of blood comes and takes shape into a massive black claymore reflecting all of the the power that Ragnarok has accumulated. 

I shall cross this threshold first. Mr. Man-in-White.

Hades smiled as he was about to be witness to another great showing. Wait where are the others? Hades said as he looked at this new entity in front of him. Oh they decided to take out the rest of those snake like minions.

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

 

Elsewhere it seemed that the two specters were busy engaging in a lot of combat. 

Why is this happening to me! Dorian shouted as he was flying around trying to dodge the jaws of the incoming white snakes. The beast were, like everything else they've had to come across, incredibly dense. Once again Dorian found himself in that conundrum of having to keep his true power contained so as not to make another sun inside the core of this planet. In addition to that this intense gravitational pull was extra strong so he needed his concentration just to keep himself moving at a somewhat normal pace. Needless to say he wasn't really fighting as he much as he was trying to do some form of shoot and run. His immediate supervisor on the other hand, did not have the the same tactic.

One could hear the screeches of a White Sturgeon being ripped in half in the distance. Radamanthys was making more than quick work of the beast and he was bored doing so. Dorian! Why do you hold back? These minions are but a vague reflection of my previous opponent. Why would the fates curse me with these lousy opponents after such a glorious battle? If that black parasite wasn't so excited at the scent of whoever sent these creatures I would have intervened myself. 

 

[Dad]

The Inch of Will

 

Over come with failure, and grief at his lack of being beneficial to his team, Black Dynamite fell into a slump.  A deep, dark slump, that gripped his mind with fear.  He had never felt this before, and it was nearly unbearable.  Before anyone else noticed, Black Dynamite slipped away to the back of the ship, and hid inside the cargo bay.  There was a crate large enough for him to hide behind, and so he did so, curling into a ball.  His normally puffy afro fell flat and matted.  His sleek skin was blurred by his emotional distraught, and his smile was hidden behind tears.  No one could hear him over the sounds of the roar of the ship, and so he let out a scream.  He screamed his lungs out, as loud as he could, and his terror only yelled back at him.  He finally stopped screaming and gripped his head, rocking back and forth in a ball.  He felt his sanity slipping away, as the metal box began to change shape before him.  It went from a container of supplies, to an old, rickety rocking chair.

 

The chair creaked as it rocked back and forth.  There was a pair of wrinkled old legs in the chair, and they were attached to his crazed grandmother.  He followed the legs up to her face, and she was still as frightening as ever.  "Grandmomma?" he said choking back more tears.  Her eyes were missing, and he could only stare into the empty sockets that seemed to stare back.  She nodded, as a crooked grin crossed her aging face.  Grandmomma giggled, as she placed a hand on Black Dynamite's head.  

 

"What's wrong boi?  What got my grand-baby all messed up like dis?"  She had a Cajun accent, and you could almost feel the intense liquor coming off of her breath as much as you could smell it.

 

"I can't do nothin' Grandma.  Nothin'!  I'm useless.  Useless as yo old bones!" he sobbed.

 

She cackled this time, taking pleasure in Black Dynamite's pain.  "Now you know Grandmomma got a recipe fo' all dat don't cha?  You just gotta talk to the right people baby," she said wheezing.

 

"Whatchu mean Grandma?  Talk to who?"

 

"Why, an ol' friend o' mine.  He take heed from da Bayou ya know?  Got voodu dat even yo' ol' grandma can't touch!"  She laid a lot of emphasis on touch, and shrieked it into the air around Black Dynamite.  Suddenly, the ship's cargo bay had vanished, and Black Dynamite had been swept up into a vortex of orange, red, and purple colors.  They whirled around him extremely fast, making him sick, until the colors turned black and cut off most of his vision.

 

"Grandma?  GRANDMA!" he cried out, bawling once more.  He heard the rocking chair creak, and he felt her get up from her seat.  She kneeled down and placed a slimy hand on his cheek, and a free finger over his lips.

 

"Shhhhhh!  Shut that cryin'!" she said cackling again.  "Now you just listen up.  Call on' yo' grandma's friend.  He go by the name of Papa.  Papa Legba," she said, as the words echoed.  He couldn't see her face, but he felt ice cold shivers come from his grandmother, and they ran down his back as she mentioned her friend.  "He give you just what you lookin' fo' child."

 

"H-how do I call him?  Ain't got no p-phone grandma."

 

"You don't need no phone baby.  All you gotta do is repeat after me."

 

"O-o-okay grandma.  I'll talk to uh, Mr. Leg--,"

 

"THAT'S PAPA!  PAPA LEGBA!" she roared.  He felt as though the very fabric of space around him was quaking as she screamed into the darkness.

 

"Papa Legba.  Yes ma'am."

 

"Now repeat.  Papa Legba, open the gate for me, Ago eh

Papa Legba, open the gate for me
Open the gate for me, Papa
For me to pass, when I return I will thank the Lwa!"

 

"Okay.  Uh-uh, ehem.  Papa Legba, open the gate for me, Ago eh

Papa Legba, open the gate for me
Open the gate for me, Papa
For me to pass, when I return I will thank the Lwa!"

 

His grandmother's hands slowly slipped off of his face, and the darkness began to brighten back to it's orange, red, and purple colors.  He could see her again, her eye sockets right in his face.  He jumped back in shock, and when he did, his grandmother crumbled to dust.  Her ashes were picked up by an unknown wind, and they began to take shape.  At last, a man stood in place of his grandmother's ashes.  His face was covered in white paint.  His eyes glowed a malicious red, and his long dreadlocks covered most of his head.  He gave a wide smile, filled with wickedness.  His teeth were rotting and yellow, and he wreaked of death.  The top of his head was covered by a top hat, with strange magical symbols, and skulls of the dead around it's brim.  His suit was covered in ash, and every step he took towards Black Dynamite made the old hero cower.

 

"Ahhh," he said with a heavy Cajun accent.  "It's been a long time since anyone had to look for ol' Papa," he said staring into Black Dynamite's soul (literally).  

 

"Are you--"

 

"I am.  I am de one your dear grandmother told you about.  I am Papa Legba."

 

"But you--you look--"

 

"Old?  Da's because I am old.  I'm very old Black Dynamite.  Now come de usual questions.  How do I know your name?  Where did I come from?  What can I do for you?" he said proceeding without giving Dynamite a chance to open his mouth.  He had stopped across the void that Black Dynamite was in, but Black Dynamite blinked, and found himself staring Papa Legba right in the face.  "Dat all comes down to a some easy answers my friend.  Let's start wit' da most obvious one.  You see, Black Dynamite," he said standing up straight now.  "I have been here since, almost da very beginning.  Shortly after Lucifer fell from grace, I was born.  Before they gave it a name, I was here to take back da souls of de living.  I am de gatekeeper, Black Dynamite.  I am all things horror, and malice.  I am what de children fear at bedtime.  I am de boogie monster.  I am death." he said with a gross smile.  "But now is not de time for my back story.  You called on me because you want someting' eh?  Let's git down to business."

 

Black Dynamite was in a blur.  His head was spinning along with this void, and no one had any idea where he was.  If they were to look in the cargo bay, his physical body would not be present.  Meanwhile, he finally worked up the courage to speak to the man he summoned.

 

"Tell me Black Dynamite.  What exactly do you want from Papa?"

 

Black Dynamite gulped loudly.  "To be useful."

 

"Too vague." Papa said almost immediately.  "You can't just be useful Black Dynamite!  You came to me because you want to do something much more for you.  So what is it really?"

 

"It's just that. . . " Black Dynamite recalled being a coward on the battlefields, hiding behind others, ducking for cover, and only occasionally firing his pistols.  "I've done everything I can but it's not enough!"

 

"So you want to do more?  To give more?  To be more?"

 

"Yes.  I want-- dammit!  I want to be someone the Corps can use!  I want to be able to contribute!  No matter what it takes.  No matter what it costs."

 

Papa Legba smiled at this, and Black Dynamite felt it.  

 

"Da's a big price to pay, Black Dynamite.  Come on na'.  Tell Papa whatchu really want."

 

"I want. . . . ," he sighed, and finally lifted his head.  "I want to be remembered.  Not as 'a useless bastard'.  Look at what I'm up against.  All these magical mothaf***a's with super special ass power and s***.  Here I am tossin' round two magnums that prolly' can't get pass all their bullshit.  Hell, even Foster got this big ass ship to do somethin' with!  I wanna be remembered as a hero.  I wanna be remembered."

 

Papa Legba licked his ashy lips.  "So be it Black Dynamite."

 

"What?  Whatchu mean so be it?  That's it?  You just grant my wish?"

 

"Don't be mistaken my friend," he said hanging his head, admiring his own getup.  Lifting his head again, his red eyes pierced into Black Dynamite's soul again.  "You will be useful to your friends, Black Dynamite, make no mistake.  But you will pay me de same rate as everyone else."

 

"So I gi--"

 

"You give me your soul, Black Dynamite.  And everyting else will fall into place."

 

There was a dead silence, as Black Dynamite stared at Papa Legba, his eyes wide, and his face as pale as this demon's.  He straightened up, and offered Papa Legba a handshake.

 

"You got a deal.  Don't need the damn thing anyway."

 

Papa Legba laughed darkly, shaking Black Dynamite's hand. Dynamite could feel the life being drained from him, and watch this power seep up Papa Legba's arm and into his body.  

 

"Okay Black Dynamite.  Your wish has been granted.  But you will not see it's fill effect until de time is right.  And to keep you from screwing dis up, I will have you remain here for the time being."

 

"Until what time?"

 

"Your friends are about to enter a very big battle.  Dey will need your gift."

 

"But when?"

 

"When dey cross dat barrier to de udda side," he said moving his fingers upwards and pointing behind Black Dynamite.

 

"When they die!?"

 

"No, no, you bucket'a s***.  When dey move to the final barrier in dis strange place.  Dere, lies a foe for you all that cannot be defeated alone.  And you are now the key to deir victory."

 

"So then, where am I?"

 

Papa Legba began to lean back, and the void stopped spinning.  There was a smell of sulfur and ash, and the heat was intense.  But around them were many bone cages, and each held a voluptous woman.  "Dis will soon be your new home.  My home," Papa said.  He opened his arms as if to receive Black Dynamite, who looked around.  The floor was solid stone, and there was a pool of molten lava beneath the bone cages.  And behind Papa Legba, two people in chains, hidden in shadow, crawled towards Papa Legba's newly appearing chair, also made of bone and human remains.  "Welcome.  To your own personal hell."

 

---

 

The Inch of Will

 

Kratos looked around, and noticed Black Dynamite had slipped away.  "Hmm?  Where in blazes did he go?  Black Dynamite?  Has anyone seen Black Dynamite?" Kratos asked aloud.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Sphere Periphery II, Sector A2 (T-08:06):

Foster was pleased with how everything was going, save for the sudden disappearance of Black Dynamite. Many members of the Counter Corps were filing in, and Foster had replaced Yuki's communication stone with his own. Finally back in the cargo bay, he found his attention drawn to one of the new arrivals, who wanted his attention. "Hey, there. What's up?"
 
Sphere Forest of the Periphery, Night Side, Sector C3:
 
Otto smirked as the pitiful little monster formed on his opponent's side of the field. "Well, then, I bring out my own monster! Come forth, Black Tie Spider!" The shadows around them twisted and coalesced into a single mass, and something started to emerge from the liquid-like substance. It reached out and extended a pair of fuzzy arachnid legs, followed by a head wearing a top hat and a monocle over one beady black eye. Two prominent mandibles extended out from its face to give the appearance of a mustache, and its body was covered in black and white fur in designs resembling a tuxedo, complete with a parody of a black widow's hourglass on the thorax, but turned to resemble a red bowtie. The giant spider bowed to Solasiro, ready for "combat".
 
Sphere Periphery II, Sector A2 (T-07:42):
 
Meanwhile, Yuki and her party found themselves reaching the Inch of Will at long last, and their dragons dismissed once they had set everyone down so they could enter the ship that was rapidly becoming their ark. She watched as the people went in, making sure everyone was alright, and sent out calming waves to everyone present, hoping to help them out. Teslarc, on the other hand, proceeded into the ship and up to the cockpit, where she sat down. A tendril of nanites extended from her finger to plug into a port, and the AIs within Teslarc started to talk to the ship...

[Kōsuke Ueki]

Maxwell & Kurai

 

Maxwell sighed in relief that he didn't miss Foster.

 

"I have an idea, and believe me, it's definitely less crazy that what you tried to cook up. Care to walk and talk? I'm sure Bradbury will love to hear of what I have in store." Walking with Foster, Maxwell brought forth his plan. "See, there's a bit of a flaw in your plan. While you may be able to tear a hole in space to bypass the final layer, it's only gonna last for a split second. Plus, if you had any plan of making the ship move in a fast enough speed to pass through that hole, you're risking the structural integrity of the entire ship." Maxwell made another sigh, prepared to put his fears into fruition. "I am an agent of the multiverse. I know far too much for my own good, about your universe, about every other universe that the Counter Corps and Divine live within, you get the idea."

 

Richard and Tsunugai

 

Next thing Arthur knew, their communication stones were glowing. We're more than alright, we're coming in hot! Brace yourselves! If they were to watch what was going on outside the cargo bay, they'd see both a white and a golden human-sized "comets" were rocketing towards the Inch of Will's cargo bay. Had anyone gotten out of the way, Richard and Tsunugai would have crashed into the bay, their armors breaking their falls enough to not sustain severe injury. The two reverted to normal, and Richard has been knocked unconscious. Tsunugai was barely able to raise his head towards Arthur. "We'll need some help, and fast..." Tsunugai then lost consciousness, hoping somebody would get them help.

 

Maxwell (w/ Foster)

 

"See, I have a special ability. It's called Instant Transmission. Now, allow me to explain. The technique itself isn't actually teleportation, if that's what you're thinking. I just convert my body into lightwaves, or photons. Presumably, this multiplies my speed by the speed of light, allowing me to go virtually anywhere within reach of a universe, but also makes me completely harmless. Also, Instant Transmission isn't like normal teleportation, since what I do is lock onto what are known as ki signatures of other people, and use that as a homing beacon. However, in this case, the homing beacon is a set of coordinates on the other side of the final layer. That's where you, Bradbury, and the OC Drive come into play." Maxwell had a smile on his face, knowing that a risk like this would make him laugh if it succeeded.

 

Then Kurai showed up behind Maxwell and Foster. "And guess what? The Law of Zero Reverse only partially applies..."

 

(Current Location: Layer II-A2)

[Gαr]

Sykes's Colosseum

 

A black wing appeared from the back of Sephiroth that blocked Ed's attack. He tried to continue the slash, but the wing expanded and sent him flying, sliding across the ground. Before Ed could recover, the wing lifted him up into the air. Ed could barely defend against Sephiroth's attacks. The attacks did some serious damage, but they didn't cut him up. The final blow launched him towards the ground. Ed couldn't even move because of the speed he was going, finally hitting the ground with a thud. He coughed up some blood and bled from slashes along his body. He hasn't been this cut up or bled this much since the first time he flipped his switch. Ed licked his lips. "The taste of my own blood takes me back." He sighed a nostalgic sigh, but quickly coughed up more blood. He struggled to his feet using his swords as supports. A bright flash of light and the buzzing of flies was of little distraction to Ed, but it gave him a reason to be excessive. He raised both of his arms and launched several dragons spiraling towards Sephiroth. He swipes both of his arms in a circular fashion making the flames expand, consuming the flies. Continuing the circular motion, he flew up towards Sephiroth, flaring out the flames, consuming any remaining flies. Ed began unleashing a flurry of slashes, generating more flames with each attack. He knew his attacks would get blocked, but hopefully some would get through. During the onslaught, he felt his right arm strain, but he ignored the sensation, pushing onwards to land a hit on the one winged angel.

[Kingdom Xathers]

Alexander Abernathy/Periphery/II-B1

 

"It was just an accident," Chrysalis!Umbris spoke up in place of Alex's silence. "We, uhh, had to take a bit of a drastic measure and, um, I, uhh... sorta kinda got damaged in the crossfire--"

 

"You died again, didn't you?" Ratchet asked solemnly in a blunt tone.

 

"... well, not outright, but if you wanna put it that way--"

 

"--Umbris, that's enough...," Alexander spoke up, not wanting Umbris to speak half-truths for his sake. "Ratchet, the truth is... he got hurt trying to protect me. From my own monster's attack, no less. I--"

 

"Alex, it's okay," Ratchet held up his hand to stop the other lombax from going further. "You didn't mean for whatever happened to happen. It's not your fault," he added with a small smile.

 

"... thank you, Ratchet," Alexander replied solemnly, even though he still had his self-doubt in the back of his mind.

 

"Ugh...!" Nefarious groaned out, going so far as to pantomime vomiting. "If I knew I was going to be watching some crappy soap opera moment, I would've--"

 

"--started broadcasting "Lance and Janice", like you always do?" Ratchet cut in with a snicker.

 

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask, Ratchet," Chrysalis!Umbris mewled, "is that show any good? I'm, uhh... kind of a sucker for sappy love stories."

 

"... wait, you?" Alexander blurted, snapping out of his stupor in surprise at Umbris' confession. "I honestly never figured you to be the type!"

 

Unsure what to make of the scene unfolding before him, Nefarious simply slapped a hand over his face. "Well, if you squishies will excuse me, I'll be making my way to this ship," he rambled as he headed for the Inch of Will.

 

"I'll go with him," Umbris spoke as he levitated out of Alexander's arms. "I mean, someone's gotta make sure Nefarious doesn't cause too much of a ruckus on-board (and by that, I mean, "have him tied up and stuffed in a utility closet"). Unless you guys are coming on, too?"

 

Alexander and Ratchet looked at each other for a moment, a very brief, silent conversation being held between them. "Actually, Umbris," Ratchet replied, "you go on ahead. Alex and I are gonna see about getting further toward the core."

 

"'k, suit yourselves," Umbris nodded. "Just be careful, alright?" With that, Umbris flew off after Nefarious.

 

"... and now the question remains," Ratchet blurted out once Umbris had left, "how are we getting further down?"

 

As if on cue, a small portion of ground erupted next to the lombaxes, out of which emerged Neo-Spacian Grand Mole. "Did ssssssomeone call for an ex-sssss-cavation?"

 

"Ah, I was wondering where you went, Terris!" Alexander chimed.

 

"Yesssssssiree, brother!" Terris replied. "I wassss just gettin' a feel of the crussssst here, just sssssso I know how hard I gotta get my drill ssssspinnin'!"

 

"... what's with the lisp?" asked a confused Ratchet. "I could've sssssworn you didn't have it before--and I just did it myself, didn't I?"

 

 

Alister Azimuth/II-A3

 

Although he wasn't entirely prepared for getting tossed down a hole by Red, Alister still managed to activate his hoverboots in time to slow his horizontal flight, allowing himself to correct himself and safely land within the hole Red had made as shelter.

 

"Heh... a little bit more forewarning would've been nice, Red," Alister muttered to himself, somewhat miffed but still managing a small smirk. That was, until he turned and tripped on a random rock, falling face-first onto the ground.

 

"Ha-ha-ha!" chortled the Zurkon-Wrench. "What's the matter, General Fuzzbutt? Did those sneaky pebbles get the better of you?"

 

"... choke on one, Zurkon," Alister growled out just as Red flew into the hole, projecting a barrier to cover the opening.

[Astolfo]

As Cerebrum wrapped up his task and had sent Kazuya spiraling down on his path to doom, he grinned viciously as he felt the kid's soul being worn away by his Daemonia. How does he do this? They are more or less an extension of him, after all.

 

A massive shockwave which must've been somewhere moderately distant, but still on the same layer reached the Dealer though, and Cerebrum rendered himself as a mist to avoid damage. Feeling something strange after the tremors had ended, it felt as if the ground was being pulled somewhere. Assuming this to be probably the innermost layer, which seemed to be a magma of sorts, connecting the dots, it seemed as if a puncture had been made in the unbreakable shield he had seen. Despite all his previous efforts, with nothing else and no direct despair or negativity that he could detect, and without much physical strength, Cerebrum could not get through the shiny metallic armor. This would make it a great deal easier though.

 

Cerebrum immersed himself into the walls beside him, and to the viewer, if anyone even noticed, it would seem as if a shadow was gliding along the walls, although in truth, it was the mist gliding along the walls. Making his way across to where he was feeling the distortion, his face twisted as he felt a strange sensation. He knew this wasn't a real planet, but from what he felt, there was another world inside the core of his one, but as if it was both small and large at the same time. Trying to guess what it might be, he couldn't. He didn't understand how a world could be both small and large, and fit inside a larger planet, even if the larger one was just a fake.

 

Arriving at the general scene, he coalesced, but hid in the shadows. It seemed as if the next layer consisted of molten rock. While temperature or darkness or the chance of getting hit by another's attack wasn't too large of a concern, although the last one was slightly more possibly worrying, depending on what the attack was, a tangible form would be burnt, and everything else, such as liquid or a gaseous state seemed like it wouldn't stand a chance. Not really sure what to do, he stayed hidden in the shadows.

[The Warden]

|_)Magical Girl Lydia(_|

 

Lydia smiled warmly at being greeted by Eria. "Yeah, I tried tunneling myself but those barriers are way to strong, even for a fifty-foot wide tree turned drill surprisingly. So I'm just bumming a ride with these guys, which reminds me..."

 

Lydia looked ahead, but that annoying Maxwell guy had already abducted Foster, or at least, Lydia assumed it was Foster. The communication stone came in a little more elctronic. "Oh, undivided attention huh?" she said as she turned to Eria, "I've come to help out as well; Dizaster Four should be able ot help provide the energy to do... whatever it is he's trying to do, I kinda, forgot what we were doing."

 

---

 

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

 

It seems that the young celestial was starting to get frustrated with the barrier an- HOLY CRAP! In her fit of rage Tenshi shattered the drill, but thankfully Frankram thought fast enough to levitate the chairs alongside the explosion. Both chairs safely floated down to the new drill Tenshi had made. "Quite passionate, aren't we? You did the job at least, but-" Frankram began, but gave a pause for some reason.

 

He sat there for a few seconds, before a terrible noise echoed far below. It was Hapshiel's deranged cries of ectstasy. "But I think Hapshiel should handle it from here. His limitless strength lets him break through near everything, and if you just, I don't know, get him off every so often I'm sure he will stay motivated towards our goal."

 

---

 

|_)Red, the Arisen(_|

 

"I do apologize for the swiftness of my actions" Red replied in an adorably helium pitched manner, "but I chose to act on the fly so as to avoid painful crushing by whatever that abomination was. My estimates is thta it should be coming along shortly, so we'll let it do the work for us instead."

[Maeriberii Haan]

[Tenshi – Deep Self]

 

“This is starting to be quite tedious…”

 

As soon after she fell asleep, she found herself in a white, narrow hallway, and she was less than amused. She waited for a while to see whether there’ll be someone or something else in the hallway, but no one appeared. Before she tried her best to wake up from the dream, she noticed a mostly monochromatic version of her standing in front of her, looking at her with an empty expression. After a brief staring session between the two, the monochromatic Tenshi continued to walk along the hallway until she disappeared just before the visible end of the hallway.

 

“If that’s bait, then it’s a really bad one. But…why does my gut tell me to follow it?

 

Maybe it won’t hurt to try..”

 

She then followed the monochromatic girl and followed the pathway, and just like the girl before, she disappeared before she reached the dead end. Tenshi found herself in a quite spacious office room, and she found the really short hair version of her with a bad mouth from before, sitting behind a desk as if she’s the one that owned the place.

 

“Heh, finally got around to try messing around with your crappy room from back then.

 

Now then, what’chu wanna do here, Chiko?”

 

Chiko.

 

A name Tenshi hadn’t heard for centuries. A name that brought her some nice and some painful memories, however short-lived the name was for her.

 

“Uh, why are ya just standin’ there like a statue?

 

 C’mon, ask me something.”

 

“Ah, what?

 

Oh.

 

Sorry for dozing off. To be honest, I do have a question. Who are you?

 

You looked like me, seemingly have my power, and aside from your haircut and manner of speech, you are me. Any explanations?”

 

The short-hair was sort of confused, but after a while, she decided to speak.

 

“Well, as you have known, my name is TenshiHinanai, perfectly the same as you.

 

As for my origin..

 

Hey, lemme ask a single question first. Have you heard anything about a fat kid that broke through the boundary with an army of star-shaped aliens?”

 

“Uh…what?”

 

“Oh, nevermind then. I guess that’s the different part of our origin.

 

Hmm, where should I start….

 

Ah, I’ll keep this short. Frustrated with my father taking my sword from me due to an incident about wild weather and spirit outbreak, I decided to help a fat stranger from the outside world to take over Gensokyo because why the hell not. Well, that ended badly, as you can already guess.

 

That meddling shrine maiden and her dog..I mean her magician friend ruined the show at the last minute, the fatso escaped the realm somehow, and I was left alone so that damn hag could seal my emotions and willpower. Thankfully with the help of Lady Iku..you know her right?

Oh, and several kids from the outside world, I was saved from the lock, and I was able to return to my Gensokyo only to find it’s kinda messed up. And that’s an understatement.

 

Well, though at least I managed to brightslap the hell outta myself, straighten my act, and make a decision to wreck Gensokyo to renovate the hell out of its goddamn fat ass.

 

And that’s my story. Oh, and this room here? I modeled it from my office back when I’m the mayor of my own city, named after myself.”

 

“Uhh, okay.”

 

Tenshi found the entire thing to be quite confusing.

 

“That is certainly amusing. I wish I can hear more about the details, but that could be saved for another time.”

 

Tenshi and the short hair were really surprised when they hear that third voice in the room. Apparently, yet another version of Tenshi was there, standing near the entrance to the room. Tenshi found her appearance to be eerily similar to her shadow, bar her deep red eyes instead of the golden ones her shadow had.

 

“Oops, I guess let me introduce myself. My name is also Tenshi Hinanai, but you can simply call me Tenco. With c, not k.”

 

“Any particular reasons for that spelling?”

 

“Nothing, I just liked it better that way. Anyway, isn’t it my time to tell you all my own story of my origin?”

 

Before this ‘Tenco’ could continue with her story, Tenshi gave her a gesture to tell her to be silent.

 

 “Please stop. All these stories only confused me even more than before.

 

And besides, the biggest question here is still left unanswered.

 

Why are you two here?

 

Why your worlds are different from mine?

 

Why-“

 

“Tck, too many questions, you should be taking it easier with them, maybe asking them one by one.

 

But let me answer those questions for you, Miss Hinanai. It won’t be funny to see you all walking in the darkness all the time.”

 

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

 

“Kinda hot here.”

 

“Hush, stop complaining. Yukari-sama’s barrier should’ve protected us enough from the heat.

 

Anyway, those gigantic eel-like creatures.. I haven’t seen one in my entire life.

 

They seem to be something that shouldn’t be looked down, so stay on guard Chen.”

 

The two shikigamis oversaw the battle that unfolded before them, and tried their best to not get any attentions from the combatants. This went quite well until one of the eel-like creatures noticed them and started to go after them.

 

“…Ran-sama, I believe you should have your mouth shut if we get another reconnaissance mission. Well, IF we survived this of course.”

 

“Uh..should I be the one to handle this then?”

 

“Let me do this, Ran-sama. I really need some exercises after all.

 

Oh, and I wanted to eat some fish for dinner today. Because why not?”

 

“Chen, just let me do this, please? I beg you.”

 

“Shut up, Ran-sama.

 

.....But, if you persisted…. Go on then.

 

Just make sure you left something that I can eat.”

 

Before Ran could decide if she would taste the raw meat of the beast too, more of the creatures noticed the two, and they start going after them.

 

“….Tch, fine then.”

 

Ran grabbed a card from her sleeves and raised it up above her head, where it invoked a big magic circle around her.

 

“Welcome everyone, to Princess Ran’s Heavenly Show. Please enjoy the lights!

 

Shikigami’s Radiance ‘Fox-Tanuki Youkai Laser’!”

 

Several balls of light appeared in front of her, forming a line that lasted several second before they exploded into lasers that speared the creatures that coming for her. But Ran thought it was not enough, and she invoked another one of her spell card.

 

“And, this is the grand finale, the most brilliant show of light!

 

Shikigami’s Radiance ‘Charming Siege from All Sides’!”

 

Hundreds of bright-red colored spheres emerged from the magic circle surrounding her, and the spheres went on to devastate the eel creatures that managed to survive the first onslaught of lasers, and Ran also shoots thousands of smaller cyan bullets to ensure that every single one of the creature coming at them were toast.

 

“Is it enough to erase them….?

 

But eh, whatever. Ran-sama, let’s start beating up that man in white. He seemed to be the one that controlled these, and I had enough of these motherfornicating snake in this motherfornicating plane of existence.”

 

“Alright. Since those attacked us, I think Lady Yukari would be fine with this. Though be careful, that man seemed really powerful. ”

 

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

 

The gravity was crushing him into insignificance.

 

The heat was burning him alive.

 

The energy inside him was corrupting him.

 

Kazuya was a mere human.

 

As he starting to collapse, a desire from inside him awakened.

 

The desire to survive.

 

To survive.

 

Survive.

 

 

......

 

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

 

=DEMON SUMMONING PROGRAM ACTIVATED=

 

INPUT COMMAND: FUSION

 

CATHEDRAL OF SHADOWS.EXE EXECUTED

 

....

 

MATERIAL?

 

BEAST PASCAL + MEGAMI KIKURI HIME

 

....

 

CONFIRM Y/N?

Y

 

.....

 

RESULT IS FALLEN SAMAEL.

 

..............

 

ANOTHER GO?

Y

...........

FALLEN SAMAEL + DEITY ODIN

 

.....

 

CONFIRM Y/N?

 

Y

 

.....

 

RESULT IS FURY SHIVA

 

ANOTHER GO?

 

....

...

Y

 

....

 

TYRANT BEELZEBUB + HUMAN KAZUYA

 

CONFIRM Y/N?

 

..

 

..

 

..

 

..

 

 

Y/N?

 

.....

 

Y

 

...

 

Y?

 

..

 

..

 

..

 

RESULT IS..

…

 

-SYSTEM ERROR-

=SYSTEM ERROR!-

DEMON SUMMONING PROGRAM IS SHUTTING DOWN.

 

...

 

 

...

 

...

 

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

 

You, who have strayed

from the path the lord

will leave not a trace of

your existence.

 

But fear not,

you will no longer feel anything..

 

.....

 

Have a nice death.

[Merci]

Isamy Maximus, IV-A2
 
While Isamy was left wondering as to how Hades had managed to obtain a material form and summon himself onto this particular world, she eventually decided it wasn't important as she advanced down into what her senses were telling her was the final layer. Unaffected by the super-intense gravity and by the ridiculous amount of heat, she let herself stop mere feet away from the molten lava, in no danger of burning up due to her magical properties. That was when she, along with the team of powerful warriors that apparently revolved around the weak Dorian Schroeder for some incomprehensible reason, ended up facing a peculiar warrior that stood in their way, by the name of 'Sykes Huegares'. Not a name she recognized, but he seemed to know much about her, as he acknowledged her power on the spot and unleashed a powerful series of attacks that would've indeed distracted her for a few seconds.
 
Unnecessarily, she'd been protected by her Divine, and currently they were preparing themselves to face what appeared to be a Shinigami - or was he a Shinigami? It was difficult to tell, but whatever the case, she didn't care. For about twenty seconds, she stood by and watched to see if they would be making short work of Sykes or not, but once it was apparent that they weren't going to defeat him anytime soon on their own. 
 
"I can sense that you're pretty strong. Stronger than any other Divine I've ever had, and even now in these conditions, you're still holding back your true power. I'm kinda sad that I have to dispose of such a powerful warrior, but," Letting out a sigh, she withdrew her scythe, floated up into the air, and faced him directly, "You're in my way to the Key. Get out of my sight. Come forth, Mareka-لمطهر."
 
Then, upon closing her eyes, the bladed weapon in her hands was enshrouded in an aura of darkness, before this aura took form and split into thirteen different pitch-black orbs of varying sizes, each of them surrounding Isamy. She didn't bother to explain what they were - why would she do that and ruin her chances of victory? But it was very obvious that all thirteen of these orbs were dangerous, and contact with them had to be avoided at all costs. In truth, these orbs were spacetime distortions given form, and touching them would either destroy a certain portion of the target's past -and memories with it-, or permanently eliminate a chunk of the target's very soul. To stationary, nonliving things, these were harmless, but to someone who was alive?

 

Dangerous.

 

Very, very dangerous.

[Phantom Roxas]

[b4 Night] - Obelisk & Solasiro

 

Solasiro laughed in amusement at the sight of Otto's monster. "It's perfect! Oh, why must we be on opposing sides? Come now, your Earthbound Immortal must not be happy having to fight another of its kin. Ah well, en garde!" Shapesnatch raised its gloved ran, summoning a club with a pink handle, though the club itself resembled a cartoonish rocket with a black fist at the tip, with a spiked golden band around the "wrist". The cyclops raised the club over its head and jumped at Black Tie Spider, swinging the club at the top hat, knocking it off of the spider's head. The cyclops then took its fedora and slapped it onto the spider's head to add insult to injury, as if it was saying that fedoras were in fact better than top hats. Superior, even.

 

As Shapesnatch continued to battle Black Tie Spider, Solasiro nonchalantly made his way to one of the nearby holes. "As much as I want to stay and watch our monsters do battle, I'm afraid that I can't waste what little time we have left. That version of Eria is down there, and I want to see firsthand how different she is from the other one. She has the power of an Egyptian God, after all. That alone is interesting. Fenrir!" The slightly-less-big wolf rushed to Solasiro's side, its mechanical body suddenly transforming. Within instants, Fenrir had been transformed into a chariot, with Solasiro pulling at the reins. Another bead on Solasiro's hand glowed as he declared, "I summon you, Fabula Bestia Saphir!"

 

An alicorn materialized before Solasiro's chariot. Its fur was black, and its wings were purple, but its horn was made of a beautiful sapphire, while a sapphire was embedded in each of its wings. The reins wrapped themselves around the alicorn's snout, and the beast pulled at the chariot. Solasiro then called forth two spears, one of which he immediately threw at the Otto, while he used the other one to direct Saphir towards the hole. The beast pulled the chariot into the air, leading Solasiro downwards, and into Layer II.

 

Obelisk watched the Dark Signer escape, but Lobo was being surprisingly resilient for an Earthbound Immortal. "Aren't you going to follow your master, dog?" he taunted. "Stand aside, if you know what's best for you." He grabbed Lobo and lifted the monster into the air. He grabbed its left front leg in his right hand, and the right hind leg in his left, and began to pull them in opposite directions. The Earthbound Immortal howled in pain for moments until it couldn't bear it any longer, and the beast evaporated into black smoke. As it did, the wall of flames that shape the Dog mark disappeared, though Uru's flames still stood. Obelisk, however, did not seem satisfied, as he scoffed in disappointment. "Pitiful. I expected more of a fight before it ran away." He looked down at Otto, Black Tie Spider, and Shapesnatch. "If you are so willing to fight your own kind, Dark Signer, then perhaps I will allow you to live a bit longer. But if this is a trick, you will suffer the consequences. Finish your business with that… thing. For now, I must return to Eria." Leaving Otto to his own matters, Obelisk shined blue before bursting into a column of blue light, which shot down the hole.

 

Saphir led Solasiro down to II-A1, but he was annoyed when one of the beads on his hand stopped glowing. "No matter. I suppose it's to be expected, given your condition." Looking up, the light of Obelisk fired right towards Solasiro, but with the snap of the reins, Saphir turn the chariot around, narrowly avoiding the light. Solasiro smirked, and snapped again, commanding Saphir to follow it. He looked back up the hole, wondering how long it would take for Otto to follow after him.

 

[between E7 Day and E7 Night] - ???

 

At the horizon on the lower end of the Sphere Forest, twin beams of light struck the ground, signaling the arrival of two figures. The first was a woman with four angelic wings. Her uniform was blue and gold, with a shield strapped to her left arm, while in her right hand, she held a mighty sword. The second resembled an antropomorphic eagle, though he had arms, with talons in place of fingers. His armor was also blue and gold, but with the addition of silver. However, in spite of their similar color schemes, it would be a mistake to assume that they worked for the same side. In truth, they were only working together because they had to, though the woman was more vocal about her pleasure with the arrangement.

 

"You're lucky that we're here to reclaim your master's staff," she muttered. "Or are you going to run away like you did in Guthix's cavern?"

 

The bird shook his head. "Armadyl trusted me, just as Saradomin trusted you, Zilyana. Even with their combined powers, it took them quite some time to ensure our safe arrival on this world. I will not let that effort go to waste. If Saradomin was right, and the Crown Archival detected the Staff of Armadyl here, then we must bring Sliske to justice."

 

Zilyana rolled her eyes. "I don't know why Saradomin is wasting his time helping you aviansie. The staff should belong to him. Come now, Kree'arra, your god can't keep track of his own blasted staff. It would be better if my lord had it. Then he could finally bring an end to Zamorak."

 

Kree'arra laughed at Zilyana. "Tell me, who was it that led his followers to victory over Bandos?"

 

Zilyana pursed her lips, annoyed with Kree'arra's question. "Fine. Let's look around. But don't come crying to me if you run into something you can't handle." As they made their way forward, Zilyana and Kree'arra saw the purple flames in the distance. Zilyana wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead, looking behind her at the edge of the forest that shifted from night to day in an instant. The two took a battle stance, seeing a blue giant rise up before transforming into blue light, but it seemed that the light was going elsewhere. They had not been noticed. "This world is strange. What could Sliske possibly be doing here?"

 

[iI-C2 → II-B2] - Sliske

 

Materializing in his regular form, Sliske shifted his body, allowing demonic wings to sprout from his back, allowing him to fly. In the distance, he could find a vessel floating in the air. He had no idea who was in control of it, but Sliske loved gambling, so he made his way around it until he found the opening in the cargo bay. Knowing that Ed was still in the coliseum, and hoping that the ship was controlled the Counter Corps, Sliske hatched a little plan. He flew down below the ship, keeping his distance so as to not be noticed by anyone onboard. When he was out of view, he folded the wings in front of him and blasted them backwards, sending himself towards the ship, and just as he did, shape-shifted into Ed. He landed on the floor of the cargo bay, and stood up. He chose to say nothing, lest he have ended up in the wrong place. If the people on the ship were indeed the Counter Corps, someone would approach him, mistaking him for their ally. If not… well, Sliske would have a plan.

 

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

 

As Maxwell began explaining his plans to Foster, Eria picked up on a few things, and felt like a comment was necessary. "Excuse me," she said with a bow to Lydia. "Um, so let me see if I understand you," Eria asked Maxwell. "You're going to 'target' Ophelia, right? But… you said you only do that to yourself. If we're all going to just jump through every layer, wouldn't you have to transform everyone, as well as the ship? I'm sorry, but this is kind of risky. Although, there's also the OC Drive that you talked about, Foster. Everything is as messed up as it is. My world may not be as advanced to have something like this ship, but I know what a black hole is. Worst-case scenario, we could end up as far away from this planet as possible!" Suddenly, a blue light flew into the Inch of Will, as Obelisk's card returned to her hand. She looked back outside, wondering how the battle went.

 

"That other Dark Signer is on his way," Obelisk's voice said. "Whatever it is you're all doing you, you had better be quick about it."

 

"And Otto?" she asked mentally.

 

"Dealing with a monster that the other summoned. I doubt he's far behind."

 

Eria wasn't sure if she should be relieved or worried. While Otto was still a part of the Counter Corps, Slifer and Obelisk had warned her about him. If nothing else, she was hoping that the "leash" Otto claimed to be on was still tight. Just as Obelisk said, the Corps needed to be quick, so she turned back to Foster and Maxwell. "Sorry, where were we?"

 

 

Meanwhile, Kratos asked the crew of the Inch of Will if they knew were Black Dynamite was. Arthur sighed, showing his communication stone to Kratos as a way of suggesting to use his own to find him. Looking at the man, Arthur recognized his clothing as being that of a Spartan warrior. He had considered asking him if the Greek gods were also real there, but before he could approach him, Richard and Tsunugai answered his call just moments before crashing into the cargo bay. Tsunugai asked Arthur for help, only to join Richard in unconsciousness. Running up to the two, Arthur turned Richard on his back and lifted him up, dragging him by his legs. With the strength of his Drive, Arthur was able to lift Richard onto his feet, then rested Richard's arms over Arthur's shoulders. He nodded towards Tsunugai, and asked to no one in particular if they could carry the paladin. Walking up to Foster, he asked, "You got a medical bay on this ship?" Just then, Ed had arrived. Arthur hadn't spoken with him much in their time with the Counter Corps, but he was still an ally, so he called out to him nonetheless. "Glad you could make it. Mind giving me a hand?"

 

Sliske held back a smile. So he was with the Counter Corps. Perfect. Of course, he had to be prepared for when Ed showed up. If nothing else, Ed could tell people that he was trustworthy, and then Sliske could simply pass off his disguise as a necessary evil. At the very least, the fact that he would want to get rid of Xansvita would be enough to keep people busy. He cleared his throat, altering his vocal chords so that he could replicate Ed's voice as well. "Alright." He rushed to Richard, helping the young man stand. "So, what's going on?"

 

Arthur shrugged. "That's what we're trying to figure out. Maxwell over here seems to have an idea as to how to get to the core."

 

"I see."

 

"You know, we haven't really talked much, have we? Ed, right? I'm Arthur."

 

Sliske looked at Arthur's extended hand and took it in his own. "Nice to finally have the chance to talk." Good. This boy didn't seem to suspect a thing. Now all that Sliske had to do was wait.

 

[b4 Day → II-A3] - Xansvita || [C3 Day → II-B3] - Ra

 

It had taken some time, but Xansvita finally managed to break through the hole, entering Layer II. However, he found himself crashing right above two members of the Divine. The first was the dragon he had encountered back in Isamy's castle, though he was significantly smaller for some reason. The other, however, was someone Xansvita knew full well would not be happy to see him. It was the furry little creature that had fought the Iron Imprisoner back in LERNA's Barrier. The thought of the Lombax being uncomfortable with his presence made the Familiar happy, and he rested a hand on his shoulder just to see how he'd respond. "Well, what do you know, seems like we've run into more of our 'comrades'. We do hope you're more welcome to an alliance than Sayer is."

 

As Xansvita waited for Alister to respond, they watched as Ra continue to dive downwards. Xansvita walked through the hole in the wall that Red had created and look down at Ra. "Oh, running from that, are you? Sorry, that was partially our doing. The result of a little test between us and one of the several opponents that Ophelia summoned against us. Imagine, a god torn between becoming a ghost… and becoming one of our Unversed. We'd feel pity if it wasn't so fantastic." He looked back at Red and Alister, and while he no longer had a mouth, Xansvita looked as though he was smiling. "Of course, you two are safe from having that happen to you. We're on the same side, aren't we? And as such, we believe the two of you owe it to our common cause to help us find our opponent, Sliske, and put an end to him. If that thing is effectively undead, then killing the necromancer could make that oversized candlelight completely dead."

 

[b2 Day → II-A2] - Gogiga & Kairi

 

Gogiga and Kairi arrived in the second layer. Gogiga let Kairi down, but as soon as the Keyblade master stood up, she fell back down to her knees.

 

"Kairi!" Gogiga called out.

 

Kairi buried her hands into the ground as darkness began to seep out of where Xansvita had stabbed her. While her physical wounds had been healed, the effects of Xansvita's power had left their mark. "I should have gone with Sora," she said to herself. "I should have gone with him to stop Hades and the Horned King. Now… now he's gone. I heard about Vanitas, but I didn't imagine that he'd come back like this. I'm useless. There's no way I can stop him."

 

Gogiga tried to reach out to Eria, but he once again felt the pain in his heart. He picked Kairi back up again and began to look around, trying to find another place to go. However, there was something there that stood out to him. A gigantic ship, floating in midair. It wasn't moving, but considering how it was flying, he didn't think it could be docked. Someone had to be keeping it afloat. Looking at it more, Gogiga sensed that someone was on there. Someone he knew. It was the same presence he felt at the Shadow Realm. A presence he had felt ever since he arrived at the Sphere Forest.

 

Suddenly, the memories were returning to him. Memories of a young girl taking an egg her father had brought home. The egg was about the size of the girl's head. The girl cared for the egg for weeks, guessing at what could possibly be inside. It turned out that what was inside was a small lizard. The lizard crawled on all fours, but quickly learned to stand only on its hand legs. The girl protected the lizard like it was her little brother, even when people feared it would become a monster. And a monster the lizard did become. A golden man in a black cloak led an army across the village, and while warriors fought valiantly, few were able to accomplish much. The lizard wanted power. Power that he obtained by giving up his body to an idea. The idea of science. Science gave him power, but that power became the lizard's only desire. It consumed him, driving him to madness.

 

Gogiga was that monster. That girl who protected him, took her as his friend, led him on adventures with three other girls who had companions of their own. He had abandoned her, even when he thought he was returning the favor of protecting her. But no more. His wings opened wide, and Gogiga looked at them in disgust. They weren't a part of him. They were just another tool for war that Kozaky had given him. Now, Gogiga knew what he had to do. More than that, he knew that "Gogiga" wasn't his name. His name was that which the girl had given him so long ago. He took the air, carrying Kairi towards the ship. For the first time in forever, he know exactly who he was. He knew he'd give everything to make up for the lies he let himself believe. And most important of all, he knew why he was fighting.

 

"My name," he told Kairi, "Is Gagagigo."

[Kōsuke Ueki]

Maxwell and Kurai

 

Maxwell sighed. Although Eria was close, she didn't seem to fully understand. "Unfortunately, there's a problem with that." he began. "See, Ophelia, as far as I'm concerned, does not have a Ki signature. Even if she did, the other layers protecting her and the core block out any chance of detecting her location." Kurai chuckled. "Technically, you're also right about sending everyone in the ship, including the ship itself, to the core." Maxwell nodded. "You're right about it being risky, Eria, but it isn't as risky as what Foster tried to cook up. It's a smarter alternative. I'm going to connect my energy signature, along with my body, to the ship's mainframe. And because I'm using this technique on an item, any living beings within it that are in direct contact with it will be transported too."

 

"I suggest we do this now before time runs out. Eria, let everyone else know of this, so they know what to do. Be sure they are directly in contact with the Inch of Will, or they'll be left behind. So, Foster, take me to Bradbury."

 

Tsunugai and Richard

 

It seemed as though they took less damage then expected. As such, for a moment, the two armor-clad sword wielders were able to open their eyes for a split second. It was then that Richard had noticed Ed, but he had a different aura about him. Hopefully, when he wakes up again, confrontation may be necessary. Tsunugai on the other hand, wasn't waking up anytime soon. But give him a few minutes. He'll come to, hopefully in time to face whoever is at the core.

 

But everyone will cross that road when they get there.

 

(Current Location: Layer II-B2)

[Reinforce]

Ayame, III-A2 -> IV-A2

 

Watching the battles going on from above the most recent hole, the remnants inside her mind were looking through various memories, trying to figure out a way to prevent the gravity and lava from killing her the instant she descended. After having no luck from the fragmented memories of the former inhabitants of it's realm, the remnants stumbled on a possible solution from a place they hadn't even thought to look, the copying and use of one of it's own powers from the battle against LERNA. With that idea in mind, Ayame started to bring up the power that would usually take everyone around her into her reality marble, but instead of taking them inside, she turned the concept so it would partially form around her body, the internal gravity of the marble counteracting the pull of gravity from below. The use somewhat changed her appearance as well, her previously pale skin seemingly black, as if it was covered in shadows, somewhat blurring her body shape and covering her clothes as well. With a quick test of her wings to ensure she could fly fine again, she stepped down into the hole, using the wings to ensure she stayed above the level of the lava. Noticing some sort of white snakes flying through the air towards her, likely conjured from Isamy's opponent, she brought her sword up, black flames appearing around it as she did so, and started to dodge around and chop up the creatures attacking her, taking careful note of the black spheres conjured by Isamy, expecting them to be dangerous and making a mental note to avoid getting hit by them.

 

-----

 

Chandra and Darcy, between II-B1 and III-B1

 

Descending further down into the hole, the dragons and their riders having left to find the Inch of Will instead, Chandra passed through the next hole to watch on as her faction's leader fought against the warrior from the Divine. Across from her, also just inside the hole was what appeared to be a black witch, just hovering in place and watching the fight going on below. As she didn't recognize the witch, Chandra simply assumed she was a Divine and threw a quick fireball at her, only to be surprised as the witch raised a hand and brought up a shield without even looking  across. Flying across rather than choosing to launch another attack, Chandra brought the phoenix to hover next to the witch, waiting to see what she would have to say, seeing as she wasn't attacking. 

"Why are you not down fighting as well, why just watch from here?" 

"And what would I do in a fight like that, both of them are close combat fighters and both seem like fairly honorable opponents, I very much doubt either of them would take kindly to someone interfering in their fight."

"You didn't bother attacking me either, even though I attacked the instant I realized you weren't a Counter Corps?"

"What's the point, right now our immediate goal is the same, to reach the core before the planet burning up kills us. Why should I bother fighting you right now, when it would be smarter to save my strength for the fight against the key's protector."

"You may have a point, but even so wouldn't it be better to try and break through the next layer, rather than just sitting here and watching them fight?"

"Again, there's no point to doing that, it's more likely to interfere with their fight than it is to actually break through, and considering that those two have broken through the past couple of layers just by fighting each-other, I'm expecting that layer to break pretty soon. So, a truce until we at least get down into the core then?"

"Fine, I won't attack you or the warriors below until we reach the core."

"Good, now quiet, I'm enjoying watching this."

Rolling her eyes at the witch next to her, Chandra returned her attention to the warriors below, hovering in place just below the previous hole next to the witch as she did so.

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

The White Sturgeon<IV-A2>

 

EEL I: As the great eel was gaining speed on Hades, there was a command for him to dive into the lava, it hadn't truly taken hold of the best but it played along and dived straight into the lava that surrounded their fighting grounds. Next, since the lava was exactly where the beast originated from anyway, it appeared unharmed from behind Hades and arced its body so that its teeth may crunch down on its intended target.

 

EEL II: Radamanthys had been trying to rip one of the great beasts in half, a challenge not easily done with The White Sturgeon's steel-like skin. However, it seemed as if he had made a crack in the skin with all of his power; before he could complete the task the eel had wriggled out of his hands. Turning, the beast went to hit Radamanthys with a swift wave of its mighty tail.

 

EEL III: It had tried to crunch down on Dorian, who had managed to dodge, and break out into a strange run and gun tactic that only resulted in a few grazes on the giant eel. Unfortunately, the beast did not feel much up to playing chase with its food, it opened its mouth and inside the saliva coated walls a ball of orange energy had formed. After a moment the energy projected itself into a beam and headed straight for Dorian.

 

EELS IV&V had made their way in between Sykes and Butlerok, mouths full of orange energy. A moment after their arrival, they fired upon Butlerok, the intense beams of heat energy that would feel as if someone had plunged him into the sun.

 

EELS VI&VII: They were heading for two figures who seemed to be merely observing the battle thus far. However, they hadn't approached the two unnoticed as they had hoped they could, instead they had gotten a face full of spell. First, lasers sprang forth and attempted to spear into their metallic-like flesh; before they could even begin to absorb the fact that lasers were fired, many balls and blasts of brilliantly colored energy were launched at them. A thick cloud of smoke had formed from all of the energy blasts, then suddenly two large beams of bright orange energy fired from the eel's mouths and went directly for the observers.

 

EEL VIII: There was now a humanoid creature coated in black entering the layer that the battle was on, and it was something that one Sykes' eels had picked up on immediately. Flying through the air he went at the humanoid but it was quick and started slashing at its steel-like skin. The damage was quite minimal and hadn't effected how deadly the eel could be. It tried to bite at the humanoid now, attempting to catch Ayame's blade within the grasp of its mighty jaw where it would then toss it away to reduce her threat level.

 

[spoiler= Oh REELY Now?]

 

EEL I:
[350/350]

Attacking Hades-Has taken no damage.

EEL II:

[185/200]

Attacking Radamanthys-Has take slight damage.

 

EEL III:
[195/200]
Attacking Dorian-Has taken very little damage.

EEL IV:
[200/200]

Attacking Butlerok-Hasn't taken any damage.

EEL V:
[200/200]

Attacking Butlerok-Hasn't taken any damage.

 

 

EEL VI
[150/200]

Attacking Ran-Has taken mild damage

EEL VII

[150/200]

Attacking Chen-Has taken mild damage

EEL VIII
[190/200]

Attacking Ayame-Has take little damage.

EEL IX
[200/200]

Just chilling.

EEL X

[200/200]

Just chilling.

 

 

Sykes <IV-A2>

 

He had been observing the battle thus far and was pleased that the attacking force had been taken in so easily but what they hadn't known. What they hadn't known was that The White Sturgeon's numbers had been reduced, from forty down to ten; this was because they had been biologically merged with one another to increase their power dramatically. If one were fighting a White Sturgeon now at this present moment, they would be fighting against the might of four, in actuality.

His expression hadn't changed when his attacks were neutralized, even though it wasn't by Isamy, the one he was attacking in the first place. However, now two of his eels had stepped in between him and Butlerok, causing him to make a move to the left. This was where he had met her, and also where she had summoned up thirteen pitch black orbs of energy, so it seemed. "Space-time distortions given form, touching them would either destroy a certain portion of the target's past--and memories with it--or permanently eliminate a chunk of the target's very soul." Sykes had said suddenly, not being surprised at all by the attack Isamy had created.

 

"There is a file on you, contained inside of a device know as a computer." Sykes put his right hand on the sheath of his blade, which was currently on his left hip. "Any and all things you can muster, or rather, have mustered, I know of." Sykes then placed his left hand on the handle of his blade. "The battlefield that has been drawn, is not as much in your favor as you might have thought." He pulled the blade from its sheath and a breath of new energy flowed through the battlefield, increasing his presence. "And though your attacks might be quite deadly, some might say the most deadly,"  Sykes raised his right hand, yellow energy being harnessed within the center. "You'll find quite quickly, that your efforts to advance are futile." The energy intensified and grew stronger. "Hado #63." Sykes uttered, however, within the next flash of a millisecond, his hand was now a mere centimeter in front of her face; the energy warm and radiant. "Raikōhō." A massive wave of yellow energy was released in the face of Isamy.

 

[spoiler=Sykes Huegares]

Health

[1500/1500]

Battling Isamy-Hasn't taken any damage yet.

 

Energy

[500/700]

 

 

Sephiroth<Sykes' Colisieum>

 

Flies had surrounded the two fighters and the one who summoned them had taken the opportunity to escape the battle, the coward inside of him must have been strong-willed. With a few quick swings, Sephiroth had exterminated any flies that were unlucky enough to be within his immediate area. Just then, his other opponent had launched many black dragons at him. Because of the flies, he hadn't been able to raise a powerful defense and was forced back by the dragons. When the smoke cleared, Sephiroth still stood, singed and smoking with his head down. However, when he rose his head there had been a dreadful smirk about his face, if Ed could see it through the new torrent of flames he was now creating. Sephiroth pointed his finger towards the ground and in an instant a tornado had kicked up, but instead of trouncing the flames and putting them out, it had collected them. Now, a tornado of fire was heading straight for Ed.

 

Nero's Darkness<Leaving III-B1-Flying>

 

He had been flying about the layer for quite some time now, thinking of what his next move would be. It was then that he had sensed incredible darkness from two sources. One had been much closer than the other and he would obviously need to go towards the closer one; if he had the chance to absorb this darkness, he would become much more powerful. Following the layer even further he came to yet another hole, this one looking down on the two fighters, one of which was the one he was seeking to absorb. However, there was an immense force that made him feel quite small, as if he could be squashed at any moment, crushed underneath some giant boot.

[Love of Ghibli]

IV-A2

Hades must have laughed as the creature that was slated to destroy him was still alive. He did it tell it to kill itself but what was the point if it actually listened. Hades turned around with a polite smile on his face and looked at the creature who dared to bare to its fangs at a God. The might beast bore down unto Hades and his simply moved to the sides narrowly dodging the attacks. He then laughed as he simply held his hand up at the beast. What did they call it again? Oh I remember "Sekishiki Meikai Ha". Hades announces softly as purple rings of fire began to surround the beast. The attack wasn't meant to deal damage as much as it was literally ripping its soul out and sending it to the gates of Hell. Not actually to Hell, but to the gates where its soul should wander in a straight line with the rest of the souls about to make the final plunge into the depths. Hades could only laugh as he was now fighting with everyone else, this was clearly fun. 

Dorian was still managing to dodge the beast attacks while he was flying around. But it seemed that it was time for his opponent to be taken with some level of seriousness. Dorian braced himself for the attack as he hoped his Surplice was able to withstand that attack. He took the beam full on, but he opened his eyes wide in shock as he didn't know it was some form of intense heat. Dorian looked at the creature and laughed. HAHAHAHA heat and fire based powers. Oh silly snake, come at me bro. Dorian's powers are completely fire based and therefore making him resistant to intense heat. It was actually due to his affinity to fire that he could survive down inside the core of the planet. He began to glow bright purple and his laughter got more and more intense. Time for shenanigans. No holding back. Corona...blast. Purplish black flames swirl around Dorian in a circle and are fired at his opponent. Where his opponent might have been able to have heat as hot as the sun. Dorian was literally using the flames the sun to melt this creature. 

Radamanthys was slightly annoyed that his opponent was actually still alive. Clearly it was not something seriously meant to defeat him, but more of a stall tactic. This was insulting. Clearly he would be better off to leave such tactics to the man in white. Nevertheless he was going to have to deal with this at some point so it might as well have been now. The mighty beast swung its tail at Radamanthys he simply stuck his arm up to block it. There was something funny about the amount of impact the creature dealt. It was definitely impressive for a stall tactic but definitely not capable of winning. Radamanthys stroked his chin and simply decided to fight at this things level. Alright beast, I shall meet you where you are. Radamanthys then decided to simply punch the creature across the face as he decided against using any of his serious moves.

Butlerok grew a pair of black wings and then he flew out of the way of the two creatures' attacks. He could feel the heat even as he dodged. Butler took this time to process the information that he overheard coming from Isamy. Stronger than any of the current Divine she said. Butlerok thought as a he simply engaged in an aerial chase with his opponents. She was pretty sure of that, correct Ragnarok? So who cares we just need to eat him and be done with it. That's not all it seems as if he was able to prepare specifically for attacks made by Isamy. Meaning? That we are fighting someone who is prepared and we are not. I don't like going into combat with the flow of information being this one sided. These white snake minions must be a stall tactic so he can deal with Isamy himself. What are you saying...NOT TO EAT HIM? Curb your appetite for once. We just have to get some kind of information on the character first and for that we're going to have to deal with these two. 

Butlerok stopped dodging and decided to face his opponents. He stuck his Claymore up in the air and said lightly. Ban...kai! Lightning surrounded his body and then it shot upwards. A black cloud was formed up above and one could see that was purple and black lightning crackling inside it. This lightning expands and becomes a dome of lightning and with it pillars of lightning connected the top to the lake. Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū he said as he looked at the two eels. He waved his hand downward towards the eels and lightning bolts came to strike them down.

[Maeriberii Haan]

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

 

[spoiler=Tenshi-Deep Inside]

 

“What…

 

The hell are you doing here Yukari!”

 

From a purple gap in the middle of the room, the woman in a white dress appeared, smiling eerily. Her appearance seemed to anger the short hair much, as she was now firmly gripping the…lance (?) near her, while ‘Tenco’ just seemed to be somewhat curious about her.

 

“Tell me why you are here or I’ll forcibly eject you from here violently. You have a minute to do that.”

 

“Oh my, that is certainly not the right manner to treat a guess, right?”

 

“Forty-five.”

 

“Well, I can say, this is a pretty neat office. Bring back memories for me.”

 

“Thirty-two.”

 

“Oh, anyway, please stop with the counting. That is somewhat annoying.”

 

“Ten.”

 

“Alright then, I guess I’ll tell you about why I am here and not trying to do something about Gensokyo.

 

Well, I did something, and that’s why I am here right now.”

 

“Oh, color me curious.

 

Also, consider yourself spared. Though, what did you do?”

 

“Well then, I think this’ll be quite the long story….

 

As you could’ve concluded from your other selves’ testimonies, there are a lot of versions of Gensokyo in the multiverse.

 

When I first known about the fact, I tried to establish a connection to one of those Gensokyo, and suffice to say, I succeeded. Though, the Lunarians managed to know about this, and out of envy, proceeded to invade Gensokyo to force me to impart the knowledge to them. Well, and you know the rest of the story. Then-“

 

Before she could continue, Tenshi decapitated her in one quick strike, and the head fell down to the floor, looking unamused.

 

“…So you..

 

You’re the one that caused the end of Gensokyo….

 

May you rot in hell eternally, you b****.”

 

“Oh my, what a word to come from a Celestial’s mouth. Also, hell is kinda too boring so I suggest you to find another place to dump me into.”

 

The head on the floor fell into a gap, and reappeared soon after on Yukari’s neck. After ‘ensuring’ that her head was attached, Yukari started to talk again as if nothing just happened.

 

“Well, I survived the colony drop of Heaven, of course, but since Gensokyo’s still doomed, I tried to find a way that could save it.

 

Then, I remembered about the alternate Gensokyos, and I decided to try pulling one of them here, to replace ours.

 

But you know what’s funny? Apparently, thanks to your current boss and some other people, the boundary between worlds became messier and messier.

 

And thanks to that, I accidentally every single Gensokyo in existence.

 

In other words, the only thing remained from every single Gensokyo now is a handful of individuals, some stray souls and memories, and a primordial chaos that consisted of the remains of the rest.

 

And that brings us to your question about why you all are here right now instead of minding your own business.

 

You are now an amalgamation of every single Tenshi in existence, all fused into a single soul. This is because of you happened to be still in Gensokyo just as I accidentally all of it. I think that might also be the case for Miss Gengetsu, but I’m not sure about that.

 

Anyway, if you have ever felt that you’re not acting like you should have been, this is the reason. Though, the fact that there are two of your alternate selves that managed to regain their individuality from you kind of surprised me.

 

But no worries, I know how to-”

 

Now it’s the short hair that stopped Yukari from continuing her speech by throwing a crystal spear straight into her heart, which then promptly exploded, sending parts of Yukari all across the room.

 

“Oh my, did you just blow me off?

 

This office is too neat to be stained by my remains, in my opinion.”

 

Before the Tenshis could react, Yukari had already reformed her body back and returned into her previous position.

 

“Killing me off mid-sentence is impolite, miss Celestial.

 

Anyway, continuing from the previous episode, it seems that I happened to know about the way to fix this mess.

 

Speaking of which…

 

Tenshi!”

 

“Who?”

 

“Uh, I mean the one with the long hair!

 

Do you know about a certain Key of Origin?”

 

The Tenshi that Yukari was referring to looked like she was ready to brutalize Yukari once again, but she decided to answer Yukari’s question instead.

 

“Yeah, you mean the stuff that contained a great deal of power sealed inside this sphere’s core, right? What about it?”

 

“Well, you are..

 

…half correct.

 

Obviously, the key was made to unlock something, you dummy.

 

And that something is…yeah, there’s something. I do know little of the details about it, but I do not wish to impart this knowledge to you.

 

I’ll just let you know that this something holds infinite power to create and destroy realities, universes, and even more. Compared to my power, I am a raindrop faced against the raging waves of a tsunami.

 

And that brings me to my reason of being here and wasting my time explaining things to your brain-dead minds.

 

I have a single request for you. I want you to secure the key, ignoring any of your current ‘allies’, and then bring it to me.”

 

“Why the hell would any of us do that for you of all people?”

 

“Because…I am the only one that could restore all Gensokyo to their previous state. The building blocks of all the previous Gensokyo…it’s stored in a place that only I can access.

 

You can try securing the key for yourselves, but face it, you won’t be able to do anything with it.

 

And your boss..I believe she won’t even let you touch the key, as I believe she has her own plan with it.”

 

Yukari smiled smugly after saying her offer to the three Tenshi. The long-haired one thought about this for a while, before started talking once again.

 

“I think us three will need to talk in private first.”

 

“Okay then. Suit yourselves.”

 

The three of them swiftly backed into a corner, and formed a small circle between them to discuss their next action.

 

“…I barely know any of you, but I think, it’ll be for the best of us three to discuss this together.

 

Anyway, I hate her guts. And there’s definitely something fishy about this.”

 

“Yeah, we should have that hag to get rekt.”

 

“Umm, may I ask a question?

 

What is this Gensokyo actually?”

 

“Wait what.”

 

That simple question stunned the two other Tenshi for a while.

“I’m serious. What is this Gensokyo you all keep talking about? “

 

“Uh, okay.

 

Let’s just keep that for later, we’re in a middle of something important currently.”

 

“Yea, ya’d better keep ya mouth shut fo’ now.”

 

“Now let’s get back to our discussion. Who agreed to kick this mysterious-wannabe hag out of our place?

 

I do.”

 

“Count me in, yo”

 

“Aah, she seemed somewhat nice, I think we can trust her.”

 

“Wait what.

 

Well, it’s still 2 to 1 votes, so we’ll kick this hag outta this place.”

 

After making sure that none of the other two changed their minds, the long-haired Tenshi walked back to Yukari calmly, her sword brandished in one hand.

 

“So, what’s your decision?”

 

“Well, you know something Yukari?”

 

Tenshi jumped straight at her, pinning her into the ground. Yukari still managed to escape using one of her gaps though, and Tenshi stood back up, pointing her sword back at Yukari.

 

“What the hell have you done so we need to serve your pathetic ass?

 

This Isamy girl..I don’t know about her motives, and she seemed to be kind of jerkass-y, like you.

 

But she saved my rear, and gave me a goal in my life when I had none.”

 

Yukari seemed to try her best to not look bored at the sight before her.

 

“And I have vowed. To father, to miss Iku, to Gengetsu, and to others that might have perished.

 

I vow to create a new Gensokyo! Start from the very beginning, without your tyranny!

 

I swear I’ll make that the best dang Gensokyo in this goddamn multiverse or something!”

 

The room turned into its original form, a vast, empty white room without any features. Yukari was mildly amused by this.

 

“Oh my, why you’re so sure with your non-existent ability to accomplish that?”

 

“Because..

 

I believe. I believe that I can.

 

Even if I have to support that scythe girl for now, I’ll find another way to accomplish that!

 

Yukari! This is my resolve!”

 

The sword in her hand turned into a double-edged lance made of pure energy, while she was starting to be surrounded by a scarlet aura.

 

“To think you can sway me with such empty promise….

 

..after outright saying that you caused all this mess…

 

..that is certainly a matter to be laughed at.

 

Yukari!

WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!”

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

Meanwhile, the short haired Tenshi chuckled for a second.

 

“Oh my, that girl finally be done being a goody-two shoes, and showed her true color.

 

Wreck that hag, girl!”

----------

A scarlet sphere formed at Tenshi’s right hand, and soon after it fully formed, Tenshi smashed it with her bare hand. A voice then could be heard inside the room.

 

“From the darkness of the sea of your unconscious, you have summoned me.

Summon me by my true name!”
 

“…Yukari, screw you, screw your plan, screw your lies.

 

AWAKEN YOUR TRUE FORM, DURANDAL!”

 

A familiar knight figure immediately appeared behind Tenshi. Compared to the last time, it was more well-defined in form, now with a distinguishable head and some other details. Immediately after the knight fully materialized, Tenshi pointed her lance at Yukari, who seemed to be more curious than worried,

 

“Brave Blade!”

 

Durandal teleported behind Yukari, who tried to escape using her gap. Before she is successful, the knight grabbed her by the hair and threw her up into the air, and seconds later, the knight slashed at her, sending her crashing into the wall.

 

“MORE! Magdyne!”

 

Before Yukari could recover, several stone pillars appeared from around her, before they start crushing Yukari between them.

 

“NOT DEAD ENOUGH! CURSE THY ENEMY!”

 

Durandal launched a shockwave from the tip of his sword to the still-not amused Yukari. The shockwave directly hit her, and it continued to envelop her, binding her to her current place, ready to be targeted by Tenshi’s last attack.

 

“Well, well, well. Give me a break, will you?”

“AND THIS ONE…

 

THIS IS THE FINAL JUDGMENT!
 

 SCARLET WEATHER RHAPSODY OF ALL CREATION!”

 

The knight pointed his sword at Yukari, which immediately split into several pieces before fusing back into a cannon-like structure.

 

But before the attack could be executed, a gap opened just below Tenshi, and she fell into an endless pit.

 

And thus Tenshi woke up from her sleep.

 

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

 

“Heh, what a try hard.

 

I’ll just wait from the sidelines and see her fail miserably then.

 

Though, she might make it easier for my true champion to reach it….”

 

Yukari then felt an itching urge to do something, and with that, she disappeared in one of her purple gaps.

 

“I wonder…will my blind guesses be right?

 

But that won’t matter at all in the end.”

 

 

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

 

Compared to the others, Gengetsu was not quite lucky when Tenshi shattered the drill. She was blasted quite far away, and her wings were crushed by some of the fragments of the drill. She was too exhausted to try moving the boulders.

 

“I guess.. my story ends here..”

 

“But I refuse that.”

 

A purple gap opened in front of her, revealing the woman in the white dress, Yukari Yakumo.

 

“…Ah, so that was definitely not my mind messing with me…

 

It’s been ages, Yukari. To think I’ll meet you again in such a condition…”

 

“Well, I don’t think we shared that much bond between us.

 

But yeah, I came here to save you.

 

Somewhat.”

 

Without saying anything else, Yukari whipped out a sword from her gap, and with it, she swiftly severed Gengetsu’s wing from her body. Another slash, and her other wing were clipped too.

 

The painful scream could be heard miles away from the place.

 

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

 

“So, this is what it feels to attain a higher level of power?

 

…It’s..

 

..surprisingly feels hollow, as if I have not achieved anything.”

 

 A humanoid creature appeared out of nowhere. It is still clear that it looked like a human male, until one looked closer. He was covered in what looked like bug shells, he had a pair of fly wings with skull marking, his red compound eyes looked menacing on his horribly mutated face, and he apparently had an extra pair of fly limbs. In one of his hands, a flaming sword was seemingly fused into it, and more attentive observer would notice a metallic construct a bit higher in his arm.

 

“Whatever. I think I’ll see how much power I have gained.”

 

When he continued his descent, he suddenly stopped mid-air, as he was feeling a powerful presence at the other end of the pathway down.

 

“..Hmph, so the leader and the strong warriors of one side had arrived to the bottom layer.

 

I guess I’ll try entering from another point then.”

 

The humanoid flew around, trying to find a suitable place for him to go to the next layer. He soon found a place he deemed quite adequate to pierce, though he immediately heard the ground somewhere above him shaking, as if there was something that would be coming down from it.

 

“Tch, and here I thought the non-leaders are all pushovers that would easily be nuked.

 

Speaking of that…”

 

He raised his hand, and a sphere of light appeared on it, growing bigger and bigger each second until it looked like a miniature sun,

 

“Hmm, this is enough.

 

Megidolaon!”

 

He threw the sphere of light into a point in the ground. As the sphere contacted the ground, the sphere smashed it like a wrecking ball, and kept going down until a sound of an explosion could be heard from his position. When the dust settled, the action left a big hole on the ground.

 

“Now, I believe things will be getting pretty serious.”

 

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

 

Both Ran and Chen was not amused when Ran’s spells was apparently not enough to eradicate the gigantic eels, and now the eels were starting to attack them mid-air with a yellow beam that looked eerily similar to the surface of a certain star.

 

Both of them darted into separate directions, before regrouping somewhere else.

 

“Ran-sama, next time you plan on targeting something like these, just use focused attack. This is not a situation to show your lights off, or a situation where crowd control attack would be necessary..

 

..You should’ve left this to me.”

 

“Oh reely?”

 

The catgirl immediately slapped the other girl’s face.

 

“I hate your puns.

 

Oh yeah, I guess it’s time to go back to eel-frying.

 

Watch closely, Ran-sama, as I inspire you!”

 

Chen pulled a spellcard of her own from her pocket, raising it up high in the air as she struck a pose.

 

“You two will be my next meal!

 

Oni God ‘Flight of Idaten’!”

 

The magic circle spun around Chen’s body as it produces an aura that surrounded her. Chen’s expression changed into a psychotic one, and she immediately spun mid-air, before darting into one of the eels, and bounced from one eel into another in a ridiculous speed, while also releasing bullet trail as she moved.

 

Meanwhile, Ran decided to look around to see what else happened nearby.

There was several of the eels in the layer, most were attacking the other combatants there, with the curious exception of two, who seemed to just chill around. As for the combatants…aside from the scythe-girl (who’s now surrounded by black spheres. Ran immediately made a mental note to not go near her for now), the man-in-white (who had just assaulted the scythe lady with a wave of yellow energy), and the figure in black that had just descended from above, nothing else of interest happened.

 

Well, scratch that. Ran saw one of the man that fought one of the eels summoned a dome of lightning, complete with menacing lightning pillars. He then seemed to strike the two eels he was facing with lightning, but Ran thought it won't be enough to finish any of them.

 

After enough looking, Ran looked back at Chen, who still pounced repeatedly at the two eels while going faster and faster. The nine-tailed fox sighed at the sight.

 

“I often wondered what had happened to her poor little mind that made her somewhat lunatic as of late.

 

When this is all said and done, I think I’ll try to be closer to her..”

 

Ran’s musing was immediately cut off when an explosion happened above her, creating a sizable hole from where a figure descended from it.

 

“Tch, more people have arrived here it seems.”

 

Hastily, Ran immediately darted away from the newly made hole.

 

Meanwhile, Chen was disappointed that the steel coating of the eels made it harder for her to eat them.

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

“….Dammit, she got away.”

 

Tenshi woke up from her sleep to find herself back with the two hitchhikers. Seeing no Hapshiel nearby, Tenshi sighed in relief. But the fact that Gengetsu was not nearby somewhat worried her for a while, though she decided to not think much about it.

 

“Quite passionate aren’t we? You did your job at least, but-“

 

Frankram paused for some unknown reason. Before Tenshi could ask about why, a sound could be heard from down below. It was Hapshiel’s cry of extacy, and Tenshi started to be sick once again.

 

“But I think Hapshiel should handle it from here. His limitless strength lets him break through near everything, and if you just, I don’t know, get him off every so often I’m sure he will stay motivated towards our goal.”

 

Tenshi tried her best not to puke once again, though she immediately shown some objection when she heard about Frankram’s idea to keep going down.

 

“Uh.. why should I be the one to ’get him off’?

 

Oh well..”

 

Tenshi decided to not speak of the matter after that. After a while had passed, the drill broke through the layer and the three found themselves in a hot place with a powerful gravitational force, though this only mildly inconvenienced Tenshi due to her natural resistance. The more curious thing was the fact that apparently someone had made a hole in the ground quite nearby their current position, enough for the drill to go down effortlessly. Tenshi was unsure about how to react to this, whether she should be happy that the way down there would be easy (and she didn’t have to worry about keeping Hapshiel occupied), or worried that there’s a potentially powerful enemy nearby. And there’s still the fact that she might or might have not pissed off Yukari, but she was quite confident that the hag would just ignore her for the moment.

 

When she was bus thinking about her current situation, she noticed that a body suddenly appeared from above, falling straight into her. Tenshi managed to immediately summon a keystone to halt the fall and bring the body closer to her.

 

“..What the..?

Gengetsu! What has happened to you!”

 

It was Gengetsu, her wings were apparently severed from her, while the stumps keep bleeding non-stop without Tenshi knowing how to handle it. Even though she apparently just passed out, the fact that she’s still badly injured without Tenshi knowing anything on what to do in this situation made her panicked.

 

“Dammit!

Is there anyone here able to use healing spells, or trained to treat wounds?”

 

Tenshi immediately turned into the other two persons on the drill, hoping that maybe one of them could do something.

 

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

 

‘..So, apparently some of my items were accidentally fused with me.

 

Doesn’t matter. I think these should be enough.”

 

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

 

[spoiler=Current Status]

Player Characters:

 

-Tenshi Hinanawi (IIIB1, now starting to descend to layer 4)

 

-Kazuya (Fused with Beelzebub, made a hole somewhere in IIIB1/B2 with Megidolaon, had just arrived at IVB1/B2.)

[sP: 525/600]

 

NPCs:

 

-Ran Yakumo (Was in IVB2/B1, now avoiding the hole that Kazuya made.)

[540/540][5 out of 7 Spell Cards left]

-Chen (Attacking Eels VI and VII. Speed and Strength buffed by her Spell Card, suffered minor injuries due to repeated bumps into a steely surface.)

[280/300][3 out of 4 Spell Cards left]

-Yukari Yakumo (Last seen on Layer 2)

-Gengetsu (IIIB1, on Tenshi’s drill. Suffered heavy injuries due to prior events)

 

[The Warden]

|_)Red, the Arisen(_|

 

The Familiar was a very smug, and unsightly creature. And while his words had very little affect on Red, no doubt Alister was going to be feeling the, burn. In a hopefully subtle matter, Red pressed his staff down on whatever part of Alister he was now currently standing on, in a bid to hopefully insinuate that he shouldn't speak, at least, not to this thing. "A kindness of yours I am sure. But this Sliske person, he is none of our concern really. You did not lend a... are those hands? Well, whatever, you didn't lend a hand to help our battles, so we shouldn't feel much need to aid you with yours. Though, you are a confident sort, how did you not deal with him already that you would require our help? Doesn't speak much to your competency if you let this Necromancer get away."

 

"Oversized candle? Really? If anything removing Sliske's ties to that creature will make it completely yours, and that is something I shudder to see."

 

Despite his small stature, Red displayed no fear when facing something that was currently several times his own size, but hey, that's dragons for ya.

 

---

 

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

 

"Why you? Well, to be honest, I don't want to go near him. And if he remains unmotivated, he will take personal interest in us again. I have no magic that will get to him, and you have that energy beam you used earlier" Frankram explained, before being caught up with the untimely appearance of Gengetsu.

 

“Dammit!

Is there anyone here able to use healing spells, or trained to treat wounds?”

 

Both sides mobilized immediately, with Frankram casting a quick spell that caused runic circles to appear halfway along the stumps, cutting off bloodflow. "It's shielding magic, it will cut the blood flow. As for healing, I have nothing. The medical staff was responsible for the student injuries."

 

Ivankov stared intently at Gengetsu as he rubbed his veyr big chin thoughtfully. "vI have had much experience with human anatomy, and this candy doesn't seem too different from that. I have just the thing" he declare as the fingers on his right hand became syringes.

 

With a quick jab they planted themselves in Gengetsu's side; they bulged as something went into her. Satisfied, Ivankov removed the syringes and nodded to Frankram. "I injected the girl with a hormone that causes the body to react to the wound and clot it at a heightened rate. Frankram-kun, if you would remove the barrier so they may do their work."

 

Frankram nodded and the circles vanished. Blood spurted again from Gengetsu's wings, but in a matter of seconds the bleeding slowed down to a bare trickle as something strange and crusty formed over the stumps. "It is remarkable as to how the body can mend when it is given a light push."

 

---

 

|_)Magical Girl Lydia(_|

 

"EVIIIIILLLLL!!!!!"

 

Lydia gripped her head in pain as one of the Dizasters went into an uproar. "What the hell is wrong Shade?"

 

Within her mind's eye, the night-eyed bat was flapping erratically and hopping like a spider on a hotplate. "Something very evil has appeared nearby."

 

"Okay, how do you know that? I thought Darkness and evil weren't inherently linked. They aren't, I just got so sick of people making the connection that I developed a sense for evil intent. An evildar? I call bull on that one. Call it what you will, but there is something very evil nearby, or should I say, someone? I would call you batty; actually, I will, the terribleness of the pun is too much to pass up.You've gone completely batty Shade. Child, do not doubt his premoninition. I myself can sense good intent, he can sense evil. It's a common thing when you embody creation and destruction respectively. Okay, fine, I get it. If something mega evil has appeared, where is it? Near. ...anything else? Near isn't much to go on. Okay, behind you at least."

 

Lydia went from deep inner monologue, which kinda makes her look constipated, back to internal external mode. She gave a small sweep behind her, and, did those guys seem familiar?

 

Arthur was talking with some familiar people, but one of them, was exuding an immense feeling of dread. "Him" Shade pointed mentally at Ed.

 

Now that she really thought about it, the person Arthur was talking to did give off a pretty evil vibe, but, he was a Counter Corp. Well, when you think about it the CC aren't all inherently good, no doubt there were a fair few sinners in the ranks; but this kid didn't look like he'd be inherently evil. "He doesn't look evil. One never looks evil, you only have to FEEL evil. So, do we attack him right away or? No, that would make you look like you're crazy. As crazy as talking to a voice in my head? Less crazy than that. Hearing voices is the most definite sign of being crazy. I think I vaguely remember him, back in Camelot. I don't recall you going berserk then. Because I had no reason too. He was clean. So, just putting it out there, could he be possessed, or, oooh. What? Think about it right? Ophelia summoned monsters to hard counter us. She could have brought along a shapeshifter to mess with our sense of trust and break up the Counter Corps; if she could think that far ahead. It is feasible, and if he is a fake, then just, watch him, and if an opportunity to get him alone appears, go for it. Or I could just expose the liar. That... works too."

 

Sauntering over casually, and though it was rude, Lydia addressed "Ed". "Hey, it's great to see you caught up with us. I thought those monsters were going to eat you alive out there. But, you would remember that right? You helped us take down that big one" she said with a sweet smile on her face.

[Kingdom Xathers]

[[sayer/Periphery/II-???]]

"... seriously, this damned slacker needs to stop getting distracted...."

 

"What are you yammerin' about?" Terumi's ghost asked Sayer, curious as to why the "Sinister Prophet" was muttering to himself.

 

"Oh, err... nothing you need be concerned with Terumi!" Sayer snapped back, flustered.  "In any event, we need to make up for our lack of inactivity and get back into the thick of things."

 

Terumi's red outline of a mouth formed into a wide grin.  "Well, why not f**k with someone else's business?" he suggested.  "Might be fun to throw a monkey wrench into someone's grand scheme."

 

"Is there nothing you can think of that involves aggravating some--oh, hang on," Sayer blurted out, holding up a hand at Terumi while he looked off to the side, as if concentrating on something far-off.  After a few brief seconds, Sayer's mouth curled into a wily smirk.  "Hmm~!  Actually, Terumi, you may be on to something, after all!"

 

"I am?" Terumi blinked.

 

"Oh, but of course," Sayer replied as he called up a R.O.D., expanding it so that its pupil was large enough to let him through.  "You and I are going to go pay a certain "lifeless one" a visit...."

 

[[Meanwhile, on the Inch of Will...]]

 

Dr. Nefarious received a great deal of glances and funny looks as he strolled through the halls of the ship, all of which he nonchalantly ignored; in his mind, all of these "squishies" were simply cowering before the might of such evil genius!  Which was why he became confused as he halted before a young, golden-haired school girl standing in his way.  "Err, what's this--?"

 

With a dainty smile formed across her lips, the young girl gave a polite curtsy to the Doctor.  "Dr. Nefarious, I presume?" she spoke, a rather formal tone detected in her voice.  "My name is Mami Tomoe, and if I may be so bold, I wish to personally welcome you on-board the Inch of Will."

 

"... um, thank... you?" Nefarious replied back, his confusion slowly escalating further, for he was not used to being treated so nicely, especially by a "squishy".  "... hey~, wait a second," he growled after a moment's pause, "this is a trick, isn't it?!  You're just acting nice so that I'd let my guard down, and when THAT happens, these others MEATHEADS--" (Nefarious points a finger toward a few COGs nearby) "--will charge in and restrain me before locking me in a broom closet!!  Well, just so YOU know, I'm NOT FALLING FOR IT!!" Nefarious concluded as he shouted the last sentence into Mami's face.

 

"Oh, but I assure you, Mister--"

 

"DOCTOR!!!"

 

"Doctor Nefarious," Mami corrected herself as she twirled her right index finger through one of her hair ringlets, "you have us all wrong.  Nothing would happen as you've just described."

"... huh?"

 

"For one thing," Mami explained, "you assumed that a little girl such as myself would require assistance from at least one COG soldier to restrain you.  I can assure you," she added with a slight smirk, "that I need no such help to do this!"  Mami proceeded to thrust her hand toward Nefarious, a bright yellow flash bursting out of a ring on her middle finger.  The rays of light rushed around Nefarious, transforming into ribbons as they wrapped themselves around the evildoer, eventually being held in place by a flower-shaped padlock.

 

"GAH!!" Nefarious gasped out in rage at being deceived by a little girl.  A human girl, at that.  "DARN IT, HOW COULD LET MYSELF BE DECEIVED BY A LITTLE GIRL?! A HUMAN GIRL, AT THAT!!!" he shrieked as he struggled against his binds, to no avail.

 

"And as for the "stuff you in a closet" thing," Mami continued, "we couldn't possibly do that to you.  We'd want for your stay here to be as comfortable as possible--"

 

"YOU CALL THIS "COMFORTABLE"?!?!"

 

"As for your actual accommodations," Mami continued unabated by Nefarious' outburst, "Miss Kokonoe Mercury has been kind enough to allow you refuge in her laboratory."

 

"Oh, but of course!" Kokonoe chimed as she approached the two, grabbing hold of the ribbons binding Nefarious.  "Just, uh... don't expect the "comfortable" part to come up too often, MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAA!!"

 

Nefarious merely blinked, realization coming before the inevitable horror.  "... huh.  And I thought I was evil."

 

"Buh-bye, Neffy," Mami waved as she watched Nefarious being dragged off screaming behind Kokonoe toward whatever horrors she had in store for him.  As she watched, Chrysalis!Umbris floated up next to her.

 

"So, uh," the Pantail began, "why didn't you go through with the "broom closet" thing?"

 

"Because this Tau Manta doesn't have any."

 

"... oh, right."

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Raphael the morphic Audino, approached Arthur's group.  "Arthur, right?" he inquired.  "Follow me, I will take you all to the infirmary."

 

[[Alister Azimuth/Periphery/II-A3]]

 

As much as Alister appreciated Red stepping and answering on their behalf, the lombax nonetheless felt the need to speak his own mind.  He stepped around Red, the Z-Wrench firmly gripped in his left hand.  "Long story short, Xansvita," Alister spoke up, "our response can be summed up as thus: F$#K OFF, @$$HAT!!!"

 

"Could not have said it better myself, General."

 

Unable to stop himself, Alister shrieked as he suddenly hover-boosted himself upwards, comically striking his head against the roof of the tunnel before landing with a thud back to the floor.  As soon as he cleared his vertigo, Alister looked around to find Sayer standing by where the lombax stood seconds ago.

 

"Oh my, that was quite the overreaction, Mr. Azimuth," Sayer uttered snidely.

 

"Oh great," Alister muttered under his breath, "just what I needed...."  Raising his voice, he added, "and just what the hell are you doing here, Sayer?"

 

"Oh, just wanted to give my own two cents to Mister-and/or-Miss Xansvita," Sayer replied nonchalantly.  "I must say, though, your decision to not accept the Familiar's request for an alliance was a good call," he continued, his focus directed toward Xansvita even as he spoke to the lombax and the dragon.  "We certainly cannot have another LERNA on our hands."

 

"What are you on about?  "Another LERNA"?"

 

"A little "Witch Hunters 1-Oh-1", General," Sayer replied.  "If a Witch's Familiar is left to roam about, even long enough to absorb at least one soul, it will eventually become a Witch itself, usually with a visage similar to the Parent Witch.  Isn't that right, Xansvita?"

 

"WHAT?!"  Alister was horrified and appalled.

 

"Besides," Sayer continued, his brows furrowing as his gaze toward Xansvita intensified, "I still have quite the beef with this little puppet for c*ckblocking my chance to acquire Ra for myself.  Ra, of course, being the decaying, dragon-like monstrosity that's been hounding you for quite some time."

 

"F*cking lovely...."

[Gαr]

Sykes' Coliseum

 

Ed blew off some steam with his last torrent of attacks, so he was almost out of ideas. When his flames began to work against him, he got one last idea. He reached out with his right arm and stuck it into the tornado of flames. His arm exploded in a burst of black flames, but he kept with it, they didn't really effect on him. The tornado kept creating more and more flames. Ed could only reabsorb so many flames. His right arm acted as a container for the black flames, creating and holding endless amounts of flames, but when it absorbs flames that it didn't originally create, things get complicated. When his arm can't contain the flames, they spill over into the rest of his body, which can only withstand the flames, not contain them. His body began to break down, not being able to hold the foreign magic. The flames that weren't part of the flame tornado began to die down. Ed was one the brink when the brink when a name rang through his head in a hushed tone. A name unknown to him, the name of his Zanpakuto. "Kiotso Kurokōriwa."

 

Upon the statement of the name, a large pillar of black reiatsu with a gray outline consumed Ed and the tornado. The pillar dissipated, revealing Ed's Shikai. His right arm was now completely black, being made of black flames. Ice covered his shoulders, forming a cowl that extended down his left arm, encasing his hand. He still wielded his ever faithful swords. Ed turned his to look at Sephiroth. "I think it's time I end this." He raised his right arm once again and began to form a ball of black flames. A jolt shot through Ed's body causing him to dissipate the ball and double over. He fell to the ground and started to clutch his body. It was becoming unstable as there was spiritual energy surging through his body even though it was a magical oriented body. Soon, he stopped writhing and went limp. Don't let me be dead again. Please. Oh god, let him think I'm dead so I don't have to fight him in this condition.

[Dad]

The Inch of Will

 

No answer.  There was no recollection of Black . . . whom?  For a moment, a memory of a darker skinned man appeared in Kratos' mind, but it was foggy.  He gripped his head in confusion.  "What is this I'm feeling?"  The feeling was likely the same for everyone Black Dynamite had met.  His gift. . . his wish. .  .to be remembered.  It would soon come to fruition, but only after everyone slowly forgot he existed.  His memory became clouded in a void fog in the minds of those he had met, causing minor, but annoying headaches that were easy to brush off.  "Likely some kind of pitiful magic," Kratos renounced to himself.  He ignored the brief headache, Black Dynamite's image slowly slipping from his mind.  Meanwhile, Kratos listened in quietly on Foster and Max's--whom Kratos had never met--plans.  They were going to magically move the ship throughout the planet's cores, almost instantaneously.  But how?  Not being from this century, Kratos took his mind off of the confusing conversation and admired Max's strange appearance.

 

He was built, as equally as the Spartan, but he was clearly ahead of Kratos' time, most likely from the present in which Kratos was standing.  Meanwhile, everyone else aboard Foster's vessel was either from a further future, or a further, further future.*  Going back and forth between the different people around him, Kratos realized he wasn't in Sparta anymore.  Though he understood that for some time, it never truly clicked until he realized the strangers he was working with were far more strange than he had thought.  And yet so alike.  But still, something seemed to be missing. . . . .

 

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

 

???

 

"So I just gotta sit here then?  Who are these people?  Why are you torturing them?"

 

"Rememba', Black Dynamite.  Dis is your own personal hell.  I made it just for you.  What you see is exactly as you tink.  Look closer," Papa Legba said waving a hand at the slaves licking his feet.  

 

Black Dynamite fell to his knees by magical force, and got a closer look the two slaves.  They were pierced with spikes and stakes.  Their legs were broken, femurs sticking out from their legs.  Their flesh was charred and black, but their eyes screamed Black Dynamite's name.  One was female, and upon raising her head, Black Dynamite knew just who she was.  "Honey Bee!?" he cried out in horror.  He couldn't believe his eyes.  And across from her, licking Papa Legba's heels was his criminal comrade.  "Cream Corn!?  But--"

 

"Ah ah ah.  No buts.  Rememba'.  You owe me," Papa said with a laugh.

 

"This isn't what I wanted!" Black Dynamite cried out, his voice cracking as the fire around him began to grow.  He had made a grave mistake.  Papa Legba's voice went from calm and collected, to bold and frightening.  

 

"I granted you your wish, Black Dynamite.  Dis ain't about what you want no more.  I always get what I want.  And after you step outta here and die, you'll be comin' right back.  So take this time to get used to your surroundings.  You'll be spending eternity here, boy."  The souls being burned alive in cages above the flames screeched in agony as the flames roasted their feet and legs, cooking them alive.  Papa Legba took joy in their anguish, a crooked smile crossing his face.  Black Dynamite's wish was slowly beginning to take shape, when Papa Legba realized those in the living world were slowly forgetting their ally.

[Merci]

Isamy, IV-A2

 

The Herald opened up her mouth to say something, but did not get a chance as a gigantic blast of thundering, golden energy was unleashed at point-blank range in front of her face, setting off an explosion that destroyed her whole body from head to toe, the only parts of her remaining intact being her legs and indestructible dark-matter clothes and scythe, which quickly fell down into the inferno below, powerless, sinking through the molten lava. It seemed for a second, just a second, that the almighty leader of the Divine had been defeated in an instant, despite all her claims of power, all her feats of power, and all her beliefs in her own power. Even her orbs had disappeared.

 

It was ridiculous, yet it had happened, had it not? Had not a mere warrior by the name of Sykes Huegares defeated the almighty Isamy Maximus in an instant?

 

"Futile for me? Hah. That's funny."

 

No. He hadn't. It was true in its ridiculousness, because only a moment later, she emerged from the lava fully unscathed, with nothing more than an amused look on her face and a burning look from within her eyes, scythe gripped firmly in hand. Rising in such a way, it was as if she were a shinigami - not the sort that Sykes was familiar with, but a true god of death. A being who had conquered such a concept.

 

"So you read my file. You must know everything about me, all my powers, all my control over the distortions of multiverse. But so what? If that's the case, then you also know that you can't possibly hope to defeat me in this place." Isamy declared. "I'm a lich of sorts. My soul isn't here, it's in the Shadow Realm Prime, hidden within the very time vortex of that realm. You don't possess the means to even touch it, let alone destroy it! Everything you speak to me about, it's all just words, words, and words. The fact remains that I'm deathless... And you're not, Huegares, sorry to say."

 

As she was speaking, the thirteen orbs rematerialized, but this time they were beginning to morph into something else - the form of a scythe identical to her own. Considering that her opponent was already familiar with all of her abilities, he must've understood what was happening. This time, what she was doing was creating a concentrated time paradox, something she had prepared while submerged in lava, something enabled by the distortions. It was simple; throw her scythe into a vortex, let it materialize into a different time, and since it was utterly indestructible, there was no paradox in bringing it back into the past a hundred years later, and doing this again and again, up to thirteen times, utilizing the distortions as portals, until retrieving it at the end of it all so that the one she was holding right now was actually thirteen-hundred years older than the one she'd been holding a few minutes ago.

 

If that was difficult to understand, then to put it simply, she had thrown her scythe away, then retrieved it from its future at multiple points so that they were all assembled here. Its indestructibility was a fixed point of time, meaning it was assured that none of them had been destroyed by Sykes at any point in time, therefore there was no paradox in taking it back at a later point.

 

To put it even more simply, there were thirteen scythes of dark matter surrounding Isamy, plus the one she was currently holding, and quickly afterwards, this unstoppable force was rushing at Sykes on their own at tremendous speeds, attempting to cut him down. 

 

But Isamy wasn't expecting that to succeed. What she did expect to succeed was another orb with the same properties as all the other ones, aimed to attack him as soon as he'd dealt with all thirteen scythes at once, which would create an opening for that orb to hit him.

 

 

---

 

 

The Surface of the Sphere Forest of the Periphery

 

On the surface of the planetoid, the spectacular forest, with all its living trees stomping on everything that was still alive on the surface, was beginning to slow down on both sides, though for different reasons. On the night side, everything had begun to become so cold that things were even starting to freeze up, but as for the day side, that was where temperatures had reached levels too hot for an ordinary human to handle. Everything was deadly hot, even hotter than the Desert Seth, such that any person would be dehydrated in seconds. But of course, there were some who were able to withstand even such levels... However, the mastermind of this trap against the Counter Corps and Divine had prepared for such a result beforehand.

 

Then, specially-flammable particles were heated up to such levels that they were followed by enormous, cloud-like explosions, carrying down to the forests and ground, setting them on fire, starting a dreadful inferno that was working its way through many miles to burn everything down. The reason why the forest had slowed down on the day side was because they were dying. Burning to death. The entirety of the surface of that side had caught flames, and it was spreading throughout the trees onto the colder side, incinerating everything in its way.

 

Smoke and fire filled the air. Surely, life could no longer exist here, especially as oxygen was being used up, replaced by colossal amounts of carbon dioxide, depleting the atmosphere. And the effects would not only affect the surface, but the lower levels as well. 

 

Though the blazes were incapable of traveling down the many holes of earth created in order to reach the core, they did send smoke further and further below through these tunnels, smoke that could very well corrupt the supplies of oxygen within and make visibility harder.

 

Within a few minutes, the second layer will have been filled completely with dark, unbreathable smoke, followed shortly by the third, then the last.

 

The Sphere Forest - or what was left of it after the trinity of Ophelia, Madara, and Sykes first came to that place and razed it utterly - was dying.

 

 

---

 

 

Ophelia, the Inner Periphery

 

Ophelia observed everything that was happening from several holographic screens projected around her. Even with Madara having been taken out at the start, Sykes was doing a good job delaying the Sorcerer of Maximus and the rest of the Divine at the fourth layer. She was still surprised that they'd made it that far, but it could not be helped. Even if they managed to penetrate through to the core, the only thing they would be met with is an enemy beyond all their powers combined. Waving her hand, a panel opened up to allow passage outside of the metallic, anti-gravity sphere she'd been traveling within, and she stepped out into a world of pure white, of blankness.

 

In this space, there was nothing. Nothing but the Key of Origin.

 

It was already under their control, was it not? All they had to do now was deal with the Divine and Counter Corps, before leaving for the Door. Here they had the advantage, the power to defeat Isamy. If they left now, then she would pursue them into the Pathway and defeat them right there and then, taking the Key away from them. Whether her master's plan of coming into this particular timestream was another matter; defending the Key was her own, and even though things weren't turning out quite as she planned, it would be protected.

 

Actually, to say that there was nothing in this space would be inaccurate. Directly below the magnificence of the Key was a 'something'. A shimmering light, dormant and asleep, but ready to take form should she so desire it.

 

She wasn't sure what it was exactly, but she did understand that it was a powerful entity, a mindless entity. Something she'd harvested from the sun of this universe long ago, her ultimate and final weapon against the many warriors that were about to enter. What had it even been doing there? It was difficult to tell, but conveniently, did not possess a will. Perhaps it did at one point, but billions of years of time gone by have eroded whatever existence it may have attempted to maintain. Thus, this 'thing' would be under her absolute control, free for her to use.

 

.

.

.

 

Or so she thought.

 

---

 

 

Camelot

 

He found himself standing on top of a clear, wide lake that stretched incredibly long

 

The helmet splashed into it before sinking down harmlessly, and the face of a human beneath had an expression that was a mixture of excitement and anticipation. He had made it here, and in so simple a manner as well! How convenient had it been that things went his way so easily? All he'd had to do was make a simple distortion, steal future information from his so-called 'successor', pose as her servant in order to circumvent narrative impossibilities, and follow the plan of a familiar figure who'd just so happened to be there. It was all, just so, simple.

 

"I almost regret killing you now, Sayer, all those years ago." The voice of this warrior out, the silver trims of his hair shining even under the dark clouds, his signature sword brimming lightly in the air. "You would have made an excellent right hand, had you not been the father of the woman who thought it funny to revert me into a teenager."

 

His very presence distorting space around him, the owner of this world was instantaneously alerted to an intruder. A lightning strike came from the sky above, crashing into the ground, and the Counter Guardian with his blonde hair and crimson  fur-coat materialized on one foot at its center, with his own holy sword in hand.

 

As a huge booming sound echoed throughout the world, Camelot darkened and the rain fell - but it was not just any rain, as it happened to be heavily acidic. Yet another symbol of the warrior's past failures. 

 

"I should have known you were responsible for what's going on in the Sphere Forest."

 

Disgust was apparent in Arthuria's eyes as he said this, aimed at the one man who never failed to disrupt the balance between worlds. As the rain soaked his hair and poured his face, the droplets morphed into a red color as they burnt off parts of his skin while it regenerated, absorbing his blood. 

"I- no, Emiya before me had long since been suspecting that there was something wrong with the version of Viligance he had to deal with in this Origin War. He was too...active, too quick to make his own decisions."

 

"Really? I thought I gave off a convincing act." The man responded, shrugging a little. The falling drops of acid did not affect him in the slightest. "Well, I fooled that Isamy girl, so that counts for something, does it not? Plus, Origin War? Come now, do you really think that a bunch of warriors fighting each other constitutes as a war? Or are you still letting your experience with the Holy Grail 'Wars' affect you, Saber?"

 

"Do not call me by that name. I long since learned from my mistake. And when the fate of all reality is at take, when the ones we have to oppose are people such as Isamy and yourself, then yes, of course this is a war!" Arthuria spat out viciously, taking a step forward. The winds blew heavily around him, condensing into a hurricane barrier and making it virtually impossible to approach him. Within his own realm, he was practically undefeatable. "I hope you don't think that we've forgotten your previous atrocities, and your previous battles against us, Protheus Maximus!"

 

"It's unwise to lose your calm in battle, little girl. These aren't the best marks of a good leader." Protheus remarked amusedly, unperturbed. In order to counter his opponent's intense aura of wind, the shadows surrounding them began to gather around his body. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you know why I'm here. To disable you, and then escape into the outer world, where the Key will be laid right before me."

 

"Oh, don't misunderstand. I am perfectly focused."

 

The Counter Guardian assumed a combat stance, as did the man before him wearing Viligance's armor, each of their swords ready for battle.

 

"While I have no idea how you managed to enter this plane, you made a mistake in doing so. I shall defeat you, here and now, before any plan of yours can come to fruition. Even if you can't do, your body may be chained up and buried for the rest of eternity, can it not?!"

 

"Well. You're welcome to try."

 

And then, just like that, the two warriors charged at each other, engaging in combat.

 

.

.

.

 

Not so far away, an Orb watched. Observing with disinterest.

 

 

---

 

II-B2

 

"What- did you just---"

 

That was the last thing that came out of Jecht's mouth before he found himself unable to say something. There he was, standing on a metal surface with his entire body stopped in place, his arm locked in midswing with a sword in hand. He couldn't even move his eyes, to look around. He was virtually frozen, and only his mind was still working.

 

"I apologize, Sir Jecht. You left me with no choice but to do so." The real Arthuria explained, taking a few steps back as he clutched at his chest.

 

Having engaged in combat with a tremendously powerful being on the inside, it was in pain, and he had to struggle on focusing most of his energy on his internal avatar. He couldn't afford to lose, and because of that, had to cut the battle with Jecht short with a spontaneous spell.

 

After closing his eyes and doing a quick scan on the surrounding area to make sure that there were no Divine, he was able to spare a little energy to project another communication stone for himself, exactly the same as the one he'd lost earlier.

 

Then, he tapped it and sent a message to all the Counter Corps; I apologize by my absence, but I'm here again. By now, I'm sure we all know that there is something wrong with the Sphere Forest. A third force is working behind the background, and as far as I'm concerned, they've been trying to kill us since we arrived. Someone called Ophelia is the one responsible, but she is working for a greater force; Protheus Maximus.

 

When he died, he was succeeded by a certain girl I'm sure we're all familiar with, but he's somehow become aware these future events and is attempting to enter them through my Camelot. I can only assume that this 'Ophelia' is keeping the Key of Origin in preparation for him, and chances are that she'll be waiting in the Inner Periphery for us.

 

Now then, Corps, report each of your statuses if able. Have any of you managed to penetrate through the next few shells and enter the Inner World, and if not, what is your progress? Do you have any plans to do so? Also, have any other unexpected obstacles come in the way?

 

Once he was done, he tapped it again to check if there were any stones that had become damaged or no longer had anyone holding them - there was only one. Matthew Supplex. Visibly worried, Arthuria tapped it one last time to access a record (something he'd kept as a secret from the Corps) just to see what had happened, and whether he'd survived or whether he'd just dropped it.

 

Arthuria ended up witnessing how Matthew had died, just like that, by a man named Sykes. No doubt another member of the Divine. But it didn't end there. His body was then taken by some sort of darkness that came from Nero, making it difficult to see anything, and soon this 'thing' was speaking to Nero while the stone's recording was being corrupted bit by bit. It was some kind of Contract Demon, and had grown powerful over time, ultimately becoming Nero's very own darkness... That was when the record ended, unable to take the surplus of dark energy any longer.

 

First Protheus and his servant, then Cerebrum, and now a superpowered Contract Demon.

 

It was as if there was no end to the evil that had to be extinguished.

[Phantom Roxas]

[iI-A3 → II-B3] - Xansvita || [iI-B3 → II-B2] - Ra

 

Xansvita scoffed, but it was obvious to everyone that he wasn't really that offended. He waved a hand at Sayer. "Please, Sayer. Ra has been our prisoner ever since you lot fought our late mistress. Doesn't that Eria girl have two others you can take? We have staked our claim on Ra. You can settle for second best, can't you?" He turned to Alister and flicked Red where he stood. "To answer your question, did we not just say that Sliske was summoned by that Ophelia woman? Though yes, you are unfortunately correct. We see that it was a mistake expecting you to lend us your assistance. Well, at least that means that we will not have to share in victory with any of you.

 

Suddenly, smoke seeped into the hole that Xansvita had entered through. Looking around, he could see that it was coming from all sides. For a Familiar such as himself, the smoke were little more than a nuisance. He pushed Alister aside with his staff and left the tunnel, but not without more words for the Divine. "You know, Sayer, if you're so afraid of us becoming like LERNA, then perhaps you'd like to stop us? Then maybe, just maybe, you'll have a chance at claiming Ra."

 

Xansvita dove downwards, but the Egyptian God's rampage seemed to be leading it towards something. In the distance, Xansvita could make out something familiar. Thanks to Sora's memories, he was able to recognize that it was a ship belonging to the Counter Corps. Not only that, but he could see that Gogiga was carrying Kairi. Well, a promise is a promise, after all. Expecting Sayer to take the bait, Xansvita summoned his army of Monotruckers. Dividing them in groups of two, each pair began to fuse together. The width of their lower bodies began to thin, while each wheel began to increase in size. The pairs all stood back to back and raised their arms against each other. Their upper bodies began to twist, while the arms coiled around. The pickaxes on each hand crossed over, the heads rotating in place, until each hand had four pincers. The lower bodies extended until they had formed two legs, with wheels in place of feet. The lanterns on the heads spun round and round, before crossing over like an "X" over the Unversed's face.

 

"Keep Sayer and his 'friend' busy, will you?" Xansvita asked the newly-formed army of Duotruckers. "Feel free to ignore the other two, though." Leaving the Unversed to their task, Xansvita resumed chasing Ra. "You weren't entirely wrong, Sayer, but we will be not simply be another LERNA. We shall be more than her." Xansvita pointed his staff at Ra, and cried out, "Blizzagun!"

[Love of Ghibli]

IV- A2

 

While the team was busy dealing with their eels Hades was pretty much thinking how much fun he was having. Surely his opponent had sent these eel like constructs as a method to stall, but this definitely was entertaining. This was all going well until he felt the pulsation...His look of humor quickly went south. It seemed as if his two sub Gods Thanatos and Hypnos finally caught on to the fact that he left Hell. He let out an annoyed chuckle as they were actually trying to yank his soul back out of this fake body of his. Oh they are such the kill joys. Okay now how do I actually keep them at bay? Hades looked up as there was some odd things going on with the fight between the man in white and the leader of the Divine. Hades looked as she summoned a series of scythes that she had prepared to wield. It was interesting this distortion in space time and whatnot. Maybe that was the method in which he could use to stall those two. Hades surrounded himself in a dark aura and he was soon cloaked in darkness. A second later he revealed himself and he was laughing at how this grip on his soul seemed to have disappeared. Not quite time distortion, but I guess there are some benefits to a fake body made from corpses from Hell. Note to self. Have to try this again. 

 

Basically Hades used his dominion over the dead to actually regenerate the slowly decaying lump of flesh that his body. The anchors his soul more firmly to the body and severs the preverbal chains that those two other Gods had attached to him. That should buy him some time, at least until this battle was concluded.

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

The White Sturgeon<IV-A2>

 

EEL I<Defer to EEl IX>: Its attacks had been dodged quite easily by the god in a shell that stood before it. Its mouth had opened so that it might gather energy for a beam attack, however, purple rings of fire surrounded the beast; white and cloudy wisps started bubbling out from the eel. After a few moments of the wisps being collected in the rings of purple fire, the eel had crumbled to dark grey pieces and had been disintegrated within the lava.

 

EEL II: The tail of the creature had been bested by Radamanthys's block, and now the star-man had gone up to its face and punched it square in the jaw. It was an attack that was simple, yes, but it had good force behind it that made the white sturgeon reel back. However, it had come back at the star-man with the same powerful jaws he had hit, the stomach acid made inside of its body was coating its teeth to deal additional damage.

 

EEL III: Much to eels dismay, the beam of heat energy it had fired was taken at full force by Dorian without him taking any damage. Next, the star-boy had unleashed a blast of purple fire at the beast. Although it had only taken a glancing blow, the heat was quite intense and its steel-like skin could only absorb so much. It hadn't thought about the pain for more than a moment or two, for now it was time to be back on the offensive. It opened its mouth once more, its opponent would most likely expect yet another heat beam, but this time it was a noxious plume of vial stomach acid that could melt most beings to the bone.

 

EELS IV&V: The lightning had come swift, strong, and was devastatingly effective. However, the beasts still stood, their blackened skin cracking as they flew towards their opponent. The aura's of hatred that were around them couldn't be masked and were almost generating power in themselves. Eel IV had spat a generous amount of stomach acid at their opponent and EEL V had fired yet another heat beam, the two powers combining would surely cause a small explosion upon impact.

 

EELS VI&VII: Their attacks had been dodged and now it seemed that there was humanoid bouncing back and fourth and making them take damage even through their steel-like skin. The solution was simple, of course, one eel simply flew off, thus allowing Chen to bounce of the second eel and go much further than intended. EEL VI had stayed behind and was now gaining on the still flying Chen, about to chomp down with its jaws.

 

EEL VII: It had left its comrade to tend to the bouncing humanoid as itself had made its way to the one it had been attacking before, Ran. It opened its jaws to devour Ran and hopefully make a meal out of her like she intended to do to it.

 

EEL VIII: <NO POST MADE TO PROCEED>

 

EEL IX: Upon seeing its comrade fall in battle, the white sturgeon that had been waiting in the wings dived under the lava and within a few moments appeared in front of Hades. Giving off a powerful roar, it summoned up all of its might to swing down upon him with its tail.

 

EEL X: Another presence had entered the layer, and it hadn't gone unnoticed by the last white sturgeon available to accept a new confrontation. It flew up to the newest competitor and spewed much of the stomach acid onto the new enemy.

 

[spoiler= Are you fEELing it??]

 

EEL I:
[The Value of a Soul/200]

No longer active.

EEL II:

[115/200]

Battling Radamanthys- Has taken decent damage.

 

EEL III:
[125/200]
Attacking Dorian-Has taken moderate damage.

EEL IV:
[120/200]

Attacking Butlerok- Has taken a good amount of damage.

EEL V:
[120/200]

Attacking Butlerok- Has taken a good amount of damage.

 

 

EEL VI
[105/200]

Attacking Chen-Has taken mild damage

EEL VII

[105/200]

Attacking Ran -Has taken mild damage

EEL VIII
[190/200]

Attacking Ayame-Has taken little damage.

<NO POST MADE TO ADVANCE BATTLE>

EEL IX
[200/200]

Attacking Hades-Has taken no damage

EEL X

[200/200]

Attacking Kazuya-Has taken no damage

 

 

Sykes <IV-A2>

 

Sykes hadn't been surprised that Isamy had survived his assault, however, he was impressed by the manner in which she was attacking know. He was an intelligent breed and he had followed all that Isamy had done, after listening to her talk about her file and how he couldn't kill her. "Of course I couldn't destroy you, not here, in this environment. However, death is an endgame, and can't be reached without placing a few other pieces first. I might not be the King, or even the Queen..."  Sykes had been wielding his zanpaktou with his left hand, this meant that Deya was active and Sykes's strongest defenses were available. He raised Deya horizontally and a barrier of blue energy had surrounded his body and all the scythes had become lodged within the walls of his defense. Sykes smirked, for it had been long since any could pierce Deya's barrier. He lowered it and all the Scythes fell from the air, he then looked back at Isamy. "However, if one plays the role of the Bishop or the Knight well enough, they could take a King." Suddenly, an orb of energy had hit Sykes and caused a cloud of dust to surround him. When he emerged from the cloud, his cloths were singed and it seemed as if he had forgotten something. Some of his memories were deleted from his brain, which ones he couldn't be sure, because remembering which memories you've lost would defeat the purpose of the attack.

 

"And now you show some skill, being able to hit me with such an attack is quite the accomplishment." Sykes said from her direct right, he had suddenly appeared next her her and was swinging down on her as he spoke...

 

[spoiler=Sykes Huegares]

Health

[1350/1500]

Battling Isamy-Has taken slight damage and has also lost a portion of his memories.

 

Energy

[500/700]