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

[Love of Ghibli]

IV-A2

 

Hades just finished his own little journey of self discovery, but it looked like he would soon be interrupted by the mighty roar of a comrade. Hades may not have spoken the creatures tongue, but he knew a vengeance attack when he saw one. Awww that's sweet, he said as the tail of the mighty beast smacked straight him across the face. Hades clearly let this creature get a free swing at him just so it could feel like he did something before Hades figured out how to meet it in the next life. Hades raised his face back at the creature and rubbed his cheek. So I can't use Seishiki on you because those twins will make it back fire again. Hmmmm I respect you so let's see how much punishment you can take. Hades pointed at the creature and then a stream of darkness was shot at the creature. Hades was simply trying to deatomize the creature slowly and painfully. This was something Hades was doing to pass the time. That random eels honor bound reminded him of the Saints of Athena. That's a soft spot for him.

 

Butlerok was surprised that those creatures survived an attack from a bankai. Well that simply means that these two things were a lot more durable than the Kishin pair initially thought. Butlerok squinted as it seemed the two came in for a counterattack. He flew in to engage but the creatures had launched some sick form of combination attack that resulted in some toxic explosion. When the smoke cleared Butlerok rolled out as if he was he had just done a dodge roll. He stood back up and started breathing slightly heavy and he looked at tad singed. That attack did some damage but luckily Ragnarok can harden the black blood like a shell so those wings are like a steel barrier. The acid was something different though. So how should we go about killing them? I would hate to constantly waste the bankai on killing these random creatures. HAHAHA you're over thinking things. Its simple we have alchemy. You know we can't use that without substantial power from an outside source. Over thinking it. Butler rolled his eyes and the thought hit him. Oh yes I guess eating them is also an option. Butlerok placed the Claymore blade flat so the two eels could see Ragnarok's giant mouth. The blade then let out a massive screech that was the symbol of his scream resonance. Then what seemed to be nothing, but creeping darkness. Simply put, the lightning dome that was his bankai was being filled with black blood. 

 

Dorian was thoroughly entertained as he thought he defeated the eel, but of course he would be met with disappointment. The eel not only survived but it somehow started to spit acid at the young specter. AHHHHHH!! Dorian was able to instinctively block the area around his face, but loose drips of acid were trying to seep through the surplice. Luckily being linked to Hades can keep Dorian relatively alive, but that doesn't mean this wasn't going to hurt a lot. Okay the thing isn't all about fire. Just when I thought I had this fight in the bag you go and do other tricks. Dorian started fly around trying to gain some distance from this creature. Hmmm I have an idea. He blatantly said out loud. He concentrated on his cosmos and then he looked at his opponent and waved his hand. Around the creature came various purple and black feathers that looked very similar to the Hell Zone Grenade. I just made it up. I think I'll call it the Gentlemen's Alliance Cross. Dorian slashed downward and all of the feathers came in to attack and hopefully melt the steel like eel. 

 

Radamanthys was actually having fun scrapping with the eel like creature in the manner of simple beast. This was pretty much hilarious. Now there were acid fangs to deal with. The creature bit down on Radamanthys and he thought this was elation. What was fun though was that the acid wasn't strong enough to damage his surplice but some of it would get on his cheek which was just thrilling. Radamanthys then decided to follow-up his fang assault with his own assault. HAHAHAHAHA come beast, let us dance the dance of proper contest! Radamanthys proceeded to uppercut  the creature in the jaw and he followed that up with a massive roundhouse kick to the eel's neck. 

[Phantom Roxas]

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

 

Arthur nodded at Raphael, taking Richard with him, only for Lydia to interrupt. "You mean Ogudomon?" Arthur asked. "But he wasn't-"

 

"Wait, Arthur," MachGaogamon's voice echoed in Arthur's mind. "I think Lydia is on to something."

 

Arthur stopped himself, scratching his head, trying to work with whatever Lydia was aiming for. "Hold on, now I remember. Sorry, guess my mind's still a bit foggy when I was… whatever that thing was. Anyway, Ed, we really should hurry. Lydia, mind giving us a hand?" With Richard and Tsunugai in tow, Arthur led "Ed" and Lydia after Raphael, until they were all at the infirmary. There were several beds, two of which Richard and Tsunugai were laid down on. Nodding at Raphael, the group walked out of the doors, leaving Raphael to take care of the two warriors. Drawing his Keyblade, Arthur muttered looked at Lydia and "Ed". "My Drive is running out, MachGaogamon," Arthur thought. "I'm going to need you to De-Digivolve, just for a little bit. At least until I stock up enough energy for another one."

 

"Agreed."

 

Pointing his Keyblade at his side, Arthur cancelled his Drive. Next to him, instead of MachGaogamon, a much smaller Digimon appeared. It resembled a much younger MachGaogamon, but his height went up to Arthur's legs. The Digimon stretched his arms, trying to adjust to his much smaller form. "It's been a while since I was Gaomon."

 

Sliske was slowly losing his patience, but he was dedicated to his act. "Alright then, let's meet up with the others."

 

As Sliske started to walk away, Arthur looked at Lydia and nodded at "Ed", allowing Lydia the chance to follow up on whatever she was thinking.

[Dad]

The Inch of Will

 

Kratos made no effort to know or understand those who had just come aboard the ship.  His mind still rattled with wonder.  He felt like he was forgetting something.  But what the hell was it?  This thought ravaged his mind and started to make him angry.  It was something mildly important, a bit of a nuisance, but still of some value.  But he couldn't figure out what it was.  "Damn it!" he exclaimed aloud.  He scratched at his head as vague images flashed through his mind.  This only made him angrier.  He kicked at the ship's floor, then stormed off towards the cargo bay in rage.  He kicked open it's doors and slammed them back closed behind him.  He looked around the room for a sign, but there was--a pile of crates.  The only thing in the cargo bay besides him was a pile of crates.  They were stacked oddly in the far right corner of the cargo bay, as if someone had hid behind them.  Upon investigating further and checking behind the crates, there was nothing more than a few strands of hair.  Kratos picked at the hairs, finding them fine but oily.  But this still did not trigger a memory he was looking for.  Kratos had had enough.

 

He felt as though he was being tricked and taunted.  Finally, he kicked down the cargo bay hatch and stared into the empty space flying past the Inch of Will as they flew.  Using his duo blades, he latched under the cargo bay hatch, forced the doors closed, and climbed his way to the top of the Inch of Will.  The air was intense, and heavy with heat, but it didn't bother him.  Kratos roared at the nothingness that flew by him.  "Where are you!?" he cried out.  Not knowing who or what he was looking for, he remained atop the ship tightly gripping his blades.

 

 

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

 

While Predaking watched from afar, he paid no mind to the minor concerns of Arthuria.  Instead, maintaining his draganoid state, he simply approached it from above, just in time to see Kratos climbing back outside of it, screaming at. . .nothing?  Was this human plagued by mental insanity?  Predaking swirled around the Inch of Will now, staring into it's hold, observing the other occupants.  They all seemed to be paying the warrior no attention, not affected by his same cause.  Predaking flew over the ship once more, and transformed, now standing idly next to Kratos.

 

"What ails you human?"

 

"It doesn't concern you.  You're a machine.  If you don't know--"

 

"Human.  My memory banks indicate your party is short.  Where is the one you call, 'Bl--'," but there was a circuit short in Predaking suddenly.  "Hmm.  It appears even I cannot recall what it is that is missing.  Does this absence worry you?"

 

"No.  It angers me.  I feel like I'm leaving something or someone behind.  Again."

 

"You reflect on your past to much.  Though it drives you forward it holds you back.  You must become like my brethren.  You must evolve."

 

"Evolve?"

 

Predaking opened his metallic hands, and a hologram appeared in front of them both.  "On my home planet, the weak did not survive long.  Where I originate from, we as 'machines' had to adapt to our environment.  And so I became the dragon you see me flying about as so often.  I changed Kratos.  I left my worries and concerns in the dirt and grew strong.  I evolved." he said as they both watched Predaking's origins, the various wars that he partook in, and the battles he was victorious over.  The hologram ended, and Predaking lowered his hand.

 

"It's not that simple.  I've been trying to leave my past behind for a long time.  I've ran and ran and ran away from it, knowing that I couldn't change it.  But being in. . . this place has given me an opportunity to do just that.  And yet, here I am once more forgetting something of value and I cannot figure out what it is.  GrrrAH!" he said stomping onto the hull.

 

"Calm yourself human.  Your emotions will endanger those around you.  Though my indicators show you are unfamiliar with the likes of Arthur, and many others below, you should still value them.  Though strange, we are allies fighting for a common goal.  In time, you will recall what it is that is so dear to you.  But when that time comes, you musn't allow your emotions to destroy the bridge that connects you.  Remain steadfast." Predaking said with a cold hand on Kratos' shoulder.

 

Kratos took these words seriously, nodding in compliance.  "Alright.  I will make an attempt to know all of my comrades, but I won't make any promises.  When it comes to 'friends', I try not to make any." Kratos said turning his back to Predaking now.  He prepared to latch onto the side of the ship once more and jump through the cargo bay.  "I fear that I will kill them all.  Like my father.  Like Pandora.  Like my brother.  Like my wife and child.  They are in danger until our mission is over."  Kratos vanished under the ship, and with a loud thud, Predaking knew the warrior was back inside the ship.  He said nothing aloud as the warrior took his leave.  "He may be fighting for the same cause, but at least he knows his presence is a hazard.  He must control this rage that plagues him, or we will have to put an end to his journey," he thought to himself.  His fists tightened and he nodded to himself, taking shape into his draganoid state once more, flying side by side with the Inch of Will.

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

Nero <Aboard the Inch of Will>

He'd been lost in thought for what seemed to be hours now, nothing made sense, nothing was right. His darkness had been taken out of him so only the half of his heart that was light remained. However, if he was so good at this moment, why did he feel so bad; it was because he had failed so many people, failed to do the one thing that he thought he was best at, protecting. First there was Matt Mercer, the assassin he had left in the shadow realm to be consumed by its collapse. Next there was Matthew, who had been killed while standing only two feet away from him. His thoughts only proved to make him feel worse, getting blacker and blacker with each passing moment. Perhaps there was still darkness in his half of a heart, perhaps it wasn't a clean break and bits and pieces of it still remained. Nero suddenly shut up to a sitting position, he had been laying on the metallic floor before, and he gave himself a smirk. It wasn't a clean break. He simply thought as he rose to wander the Inch of Will with a new found aura of confidence.

 

Sephiroth<Sykes Coliseum>II-A3>

 

Sephiroth watched as his opposition was succumbing to his tornado spell that had been mixed with his opponent's own black flames. He had almost been completely taken in by the force of the winds and fire but a pillar of energy was erected right where Ed was standing. Sephiroth's hair flowed in the wind created by the immense energy but he didn't show that he was impressed on his face. "I think it's time I end this." Ed stated as he was making an attack to launch at Sephiroth, but suddenly the attack vanished and Ed fell to the floor in pain, his body not being able to take his newly found power. "Hmph. Similar to a capacitor taking in too much electricity, you've overloaded yourself, such a fool.." Sephiroth spoke, within his always calm tone of voice. He turned from his opponent and walked to the hole Isamy had created; with one forceful slash he had opened up the hole once more, it had become covered again during their battle. He jumped into the hold and headed North, this meant that if Ed headed South, he would avoid any other confrontations with The Man in the Black Cape.

[Maeriberii Haan]

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

 

“Well, well, what do we have here?”

 

Kazuya was mildly amused when apparently a gigantic metallic eel was coming into his current location, mouth open. When this eel spewed some seemingly poisonous gas from its mouth, Kazuya decided to not dodge the attack, and watch as he was surrounded by the gas.

 

“Why would I, the Lord of the Flies, be weak to this kind of attack anyways?”

 

Waiting no longer, Kazuya dived into gaping mouth of the eel, and stopped short before he was inside it. He then gathered several spheres made of flies, and threw them inside the eel’s mouth before he went away from the eel’s range. When he’s sure that his position is not vulnerable, he started to conjure a huge black sphere of flies above him.

 

“A gift for you, I believe.

 

If you’re not immune to demonic powers, you’ll die quite fast. If you’re immune, let’s say the flies here and the ones inside you will eat you completely in due time, metal skin or not. And since you’re quite big, it’ll take quite a while.

 

DEATH FLIES!”

 

With a flick from his fingers, Kazuya threw the sphere right into the eel’s head, and it seemed that the attack hit. After making sure that the eel was hit by the attack, Kazuya brandished his arm that was fused with his sword, Hinokagutsuchi.

 

“Tch, my sword arm is itching to be used.

 

You’ll be a good target practice for me.”

 

Kazuya quickly dashed into the eel’s body not too far from its head, and there, he started to went wild slashing the creature again and again, not minding the eel’s hard exoskeleton.

 

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

 

“Oh dammit.”

 

Chen was surprised when one of the eel managed to make her going wildly into no targets. She was not able to stop her spinning due to her going too fast, so Chen decided to try redirecting her path into some surface so she could either continue her onslaught or stop her spin.

 

She didn’t account about the fact that she was moving at ridiculous speed right into one of the eel’s mouth.

 

“So, this is what they call S.O.L?

 

This is going to suck so badly..”

 

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

 

“CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!”

 

Ran could only scream as Chen went straight into one of the eel’s mouth. Before she could react to it though, the other eel was lunging towards her, mouth ready to swallow her whole. Ran immediately dashed away into a nearby location. Realizing that the eel shouldn’t be able to suddenly shift its direction unless the law of physics was ignored, Ran decided to use the time to recompose herself.

 

“…..Oh yeah, I could just summon Chen back here from inside the eel’s insides. Oh my, how foolish of me.”

 

Ran then drew a pentagram in front of her, and rapidly chanted some sort of passage. Within seconds, her shikigami Chen appeared from the pentagram, her body seemed to be covered in some sort of liquid.

 

“You smelled terrible.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. At least I managed to keep attacking the creature while inside. Its insides are now screwed up, thanks to yours truly. Or so I guess.

 

Also Ran, they tasted horrible. I think we really do need to cook them first before we eat them.”

 

“Uh, you’re still focusing on eating those creatures?”

 

“Of course. I’m really hungry.”

 

“Well, fine then.

 

Let’s start our onslaught once again.”

 

After saying that, Ran, followed by Chen dashed into the eel’s direction. Ran then summoned several dozens of light spheres around her, while Chen drew a hexagram right in front of her.

 

“Let’s the party begin!”

 

Seconds passed, and the light spheres suddenly shot beams of energy at the eel, while the hexagram grew several times in size and then it went on and imprinted itself right into the eel’s body. The hexagram was a seal that worked to reduce the movement of its target, and Chen hoped it worked for the eels.

 

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

 

“It will take a looong time before this fiasco is finished. I guess I can try to get some sleep first.”

 

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

 

“….Thank you, you two.”

 

It had been quite a while since the last time Tenshi genuinely smiled, but that time, she couldn’t help but smile a little as she watched the hormone that Ivankov injected starting to heal Gengetsu. The hormone worked really fast; soon after Ivankov injected it and Frankram removed his barrier, it quickly clotted the wound as a crusty layer formed, covering the wing stumps.

 

But then, a thought passed inside her mind.

 

“Why do I even care about her?

 

Just hours ago, she tried to kill me. She was just a stranger to me.

 

So why do I feel sorry for her when I defeated her, and why do I try to have her wound treated?

 

Why…why does doing this make me feel happy inside?


Aaaaaah, why can’t I understand what is happening within me!”

 

In frustration, Tenshi accidentally slammed her foot into the drill structure, but aside from some shaking and small portion of the drill’s point crumbling (which might or might not hit Hapshiel), it didn’t do much damage. Somewhat ashamed, Tenshi looked away from the other individuals on the drill.

 

“Uh..I think, I need some time to be alone.”

 

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

 

[spoiler=Deep Inside]

 

“Where am I?”

 

Gengetsu woke up inside a completely white room, and it only took seconds for her to realize her current location.

 

“Crap, why am I here? I need to get out of this place before she noticed me!”

 

Gengetsu tried her best to use her power to escape the place, but it was of no use. After several more futile retries, Gengetsu then decided to look around the place to find an exit.

 

What she found instead was quite fascinating. She saw two Tenshi-lookalikes were seemingly having an argument on the other side of the room.

 

“Yes, it is the actual truth that I was telling you.”

 

This ‘Tenshi’ had a short blue hair with long sideburns and her eyes were gold-ish yellow. Gengetsu immediately recognized her as Tenshi’s shadow.

 

“No, no, no!

I refuse to believe you!


I am not you, I am not her! All this alternate selves business is a complete lies!”

 

The other ‘Tenshi’ lashed back at Tenshi’s shadow in what Gengetsu could say as a futile attempt to refuse a truth, but Gengetsu had no idea on what the two are talking about.

 

As Gengetsu’s interest in the two Tenshi’s conversation faltered, she decided to look around the room to find something else of note. She couldn’t find anything at first, but several backtracking later, she noticed a wooden door that was not there the last time she looked at the place. And without hesitation, she opened the door, and walked down the hallway behind it, walking until she was faced with another wooden door.

 

What she found behind the door shocked her. A vast, seemingly-limitless pool of blood red colored translucent liquid was in front of her. It smelled like blood, but Gengetsu could tell that it was no way consisting of blood. Though, what surprised Gengetsu even more was the fact that she could sense the pool as being alive, having its own mind and all. Before Gengetsu came any closer to the pool, a monochromatic ‘Tenshi’ blocked her way.

 

“Begone.”

 

“What, what is this place actually?”

 

“BEGONE!”

 

The monochromatic Tenshi struck her with her sword, and in an instant, Gengetsu was petrified. And seconds later, the ‘Tenshi’ shattered her.

 

She had no time to notice that someone was following her to the place.

 

 

 

 

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

 

“Maybe..It’s because we are quite similar.

 

I guess I’ll have to do with that explanation for now.”

 

Tenshi decided to stop thinking about that matter for now, and focus on her mission. And so, she returned to the others.

 

"I'm all set now."

 

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

 

Several minutes later.

 

“Uh guys, I think we’re closing in on the next layer, so I guess prepare yourself.”

 

The drill went faster and faster for some reasons, up until the people on it found out that they are now in a stage full of lava, pretty much a fire and brimstone hell. There's several massive eel-like creatures flying around, attacking some figures, while in the middle of the place, a stationary sphere was there, and near it, two beings were attacking each other, both exuding an overwhelming aura.

 

“…So what we should do here, anyways?”

 

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

 

[spoiler=Status]

Player Characters:

 

-Tenshi Hinanawi (Just arrived at Layer 4)

 

-Kazuya (Attacking Eel X)

[HP: 899/999]

[sP: 425/600]

 

NPCs:

 

-Ran Yakumo (Attacking Eel VII)

[500/540][5 out of 7 Spell Cards left]

 

-Chen (Attacking Eel VII. Speed and Strength buffed by her Spell Card, suffered damage due to being inside Eel VI while attacking it from the inside.)

[220/300][3 out of 4 Spell Cards left]

 

-Yukari Yakumo (Sleeping)

 

-Gengetsu (Layer 4, still has not yet awakened)

[Kingdom Xathers]

[Alexander Abernathy & Ratchet (w/Clank)/Periphery/II-B1]

 

As Terris was busy drilling through to the next layer, a sudden bleeping sound interrupted Alex and Ratchet's completely-unrelated discussion about gang turf wars.  "Clank?" Ratchet blurted out, turning around to see Clank's antenna flashing rapidly.  "What's with the alarm?  Something the-- *GAG!**COUGH-COUGH!*"

 

"Ratchet, you and Alexander need to equip your O2 Masks," Clank replied urgently as Alexander, too, began to cough uncontrollably. "My sensors are detecting a rapidly increasing volume of carbon dioxide spreading throughout the Sphere!"

 

"The forest...!" Alexander gasped out in realization, his throat choked on the smoke.  "Dammit, we should have known the gases would--*COUGH*! R-Ratchet--!"  He paused as  the young lombax presented him with an O2 Helmet.  "But--*cough*--Ratchet, you need this--!"

 

"I appreciate the concern, Alex," Ratchet interrupted reassuringly, just as a helmet began to take shape around his head, shielding his face and, more importantly, his airways from the smoke and ashes, "but really, you need this more than me."

 

A grateful and relieved smile crossing his lips, Alexander accepted Ratchet's spare Oxygen Mask and placed it over his own head.  Almost instantly, the built-in respirators filled Alexander's lungs with clean oxygen.

 

"Feel better?" Ratchet asked Alex, who promptly nodded in affirmation.  "Good, now we just gotta--"

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!!!

 

"Clank?  Now what?"

 

Now, Clank seemed panic-stricken about something that his scanners had picked up.  "I'm sensing some sort of monstrosity located around this layer's B2 Sector..."

 

"... "monstrosity"...?" Alexander repeated.

 

"Yes...." Clank turned around to face the two lombaxes, the utter fear clear in his eyes.  "... and it's headed this way."

 

"... well, crap."

 

"'Ey, what'sssss all the commotion, here?!" Terris asked as he peeked his head out of the hole he was digging, a visor covering his face to keep the smoke and debris out.

 

 

[Alister Azimuth (w/the Zurkon-Wrench) and Sayer/II-A3]

 

 

"So, looks like we got the short end of the stick, huh?" Terumi's spirit asked flatly, his red crescent mouth flipped into a frown as he looked upon all the Duotruckers.

 

"... nope, just these two," Sayer replied with a side glance at Alister and Red.

 

"DAFUQ DOES THAT MEAN?!" Alister shrieked out.

 

"Seriously, Alister?" Sayer spoke in an almost bored tone.  "Did you honestly expect me to stay and waste my time, energy and other such resources fighting a bunch of temper-tantrums in physical form?"  As he spoke, a large R.O.D. opened up behind him.  "No, I think not.  In fact, Xansvita did give me an extravagant idea; instead of this, I'm going to find a certain Water Charmer and "borrow" a certain asset of hers."

 

Alister's face crumpled into a fierce scowl.  "And I suppose you're just going to leave us here, huh?"

 

"Bingo.  Don't worry, though, the Familiar did order the Duotruckers not to bother with you... but if I'm gone, they'll have to find something to keep themselves busy, right?" Sayer added with a vindictive smirk.  "Ciao!"  With that, Sayer hopped backwards into the R.O.D.'s dilated pupil, Terumi's soul hovering after him.  With both inside, the R.O.D. shrunk down in size and zoomed out of the hole, leaving Alister and Red behind with the Unversed.

 

"... f**king dammit, I am so DONE WITH THIS $#!+!!" Alister shrieked again at Sayer's nonchalant abandonment.

 

"General Azimuth," the Zurkon-Wrench spoke, "as much as Mr. Zurkon would love to see you tear into that stupid eyeball alien, I must advise you worry about the present situation."

 

"Yes, I know about the damned--*gag!*!"  Alister gasped as the smoke began to fill the small cavern.  "$#!+... you meant--*COUGH!*--this too--!"

 

"What, doesn't General's armor have an O2 Visor?" the Z-Wrench inquired.

 

As if to answer for Alister, the holo-shields on the General's armor flashed once, followed by an odd sensation as a helmet began to materialize around Alister's head, shielding him from the harmful air.  "... huh, guess it does." Alister stuttered meekly.

[Phantom Roxas]

[iI-B2 - The Inch of Will] - Eria

 

Eria turned to look at the people gathered on the Inch of Will. Arthur, Lydia, and Ed had taken Richard and Tsunugai to the infirmary, Nero seemed to have recovered from being attacked earlier, Kratos had wandered off, but it seemed like too many of the people from the Counter Corps were still missing. Eria had hoped that those missing had either made it to the lower layers on their own. She couldn't bear to imagine what would be happening to those still on the surface. What about Otto? What of that other Dark Signer? He was on his way, but Otto had yet to arrive.

 

There was no point in worrying. Eria went to Nero, but before she could relay to him what Maxwell had said, Arthuria sent a message to the whole of the Counter Corps, and Eria responded in kind. "Arthuria, the Counter Corps is gathering on Foster's ship. We're only on the second layer of this place. Maxwell said he's going to connect his energy to the ship, and everyone in direct contact with it will be transported along with the ship to the core of this world. However, it doesn't seem like everyone is here yet."

 

Then, something unexpected happened. Eria's mind suddenly focused on an approaching presence. She didn't have to think twice about why it seemed familiar to her. Gagagigo was attempting to board the ship.

 

Eria ran back to Foster. "Someone is coming," she told him. "It's… someone from the Divine. But he was their slave. He used to be my friend. He's trying to get on, but not to attack us. He's looking for me. He…" Eria had to stop herself. Her hands were shaking, but she looked happy. "He remembers me. I just know he does. Let Maxwell take care of preparing the ship for transport. Help me find a way to get him onboard."

[Dad]

The Inch of Will

 

After returning to the inside of the ship, Kratos strolled silently past the infirmary, where two familiar men were being taken care of.  One he recalled to be Richard, a simple name to remember.  The other, not so much.  He ignored them and kept walking back towards the ship's bridge.  Upon arrival, he over heard Arthuria's message, and a swift reply from a petite girl he didn't recall.  She reminded him a lot of Pandora.  She seemed fragile, but so did Pandora.  She seemed helpless, but so did Pandora.  She seemed to be powerless, but so did Pandora.  ". . .  .lying to myself," he said in his mind.  He leaned quietly against a blank console, before he overheard Eria's conversation with Foster this time.  Someone from the Divine?  Coming here?  A switch flipped in his head, as he recalled his fight with the man of bladed petals.  Could this person be trusted?

 

" . . . He's trying to get on, but not to attack us. He's looking for me."

 

Surely she wouldn't put her allies in danger, but Kratos would prepare for the worst.  He shot Eria a sharp glare, as if to say he wouldn't hesitate to engage with those who were. . . uncooperative, as he continued to frustrate himself with whatever it was he was forgetting.

 

----------

 

Meanwhile, Predaking's sensors allowed him to listen in on the ongoing conversations inside the ship.  He took note of Eria's plea with Foster, and relayed a message to the entire ship.  "I will protect us.  Give me a description on your friend, and I will guide him aboard," he called throughout the ship's intercom system.

[Kōsuke Ueki]

Maxwell

 

Maxwell felt that presence as well. It was definitely Gagagigo, but he felt different. Then Eria brought to everyone's attention that he was the Divine's slave. If that's the case... "Eria...He might remember you, but he's under control. The power that's controlling him...it's overwhelming. The controller is leagues ahead of you. There's no hope to getting him back. I'm sorry. Why don't you check up on Richard and Tsunugai?" The last thing Maxwell wanted to do, was bear the bad news. But she needed to hear this, no matter what. "Foster, bring me to Bradbury, now. If we don't do this now, there's no chance of doing it a minute from now. So, let's get moving. I have no room for patience at this point."

 

Richard & Tsunugai

 

Tsunugai was still unconscious. As such, he didn't know that Arthur had already brought him to the medical bay. However, Richard is a different story. The strange feeling of an unfamiliar presence from that of the Counter Corps did enough to wake him up slightly. His eyes opened a little bit, and noticed Ed walking away from him. However, Richard knew of Ed's "aura". It was crimson red. He saw his aura as lime green. And as he knew, auras cannot be changed, They're like fingerprints. They never change. Richard knew this wasn't Ed. It was one of the Divine. With what little strength he has, he let out a raspy yell. "Divine...!" he said to Arthur.

 

With that, Tsunugai moaned and started to wake up...

 

(Current Location: Inch of Will, Layer II)

[Reinforce]

Ayame, IV A2

As the eel came back around for another charge, figuring that her previous attacks hadn't done much damage, Ayame resheathed her sword, the flames vanishing as she cut off the mana flow to them. Repositioning for a good angle, as the eel came close, she dodged it's latest attack run while slapping it with a hand as it went past, black lightning jumping straight from her hands to hit the eel as she did so. As it continued away to turn around again, she threw a few bolts of the black lightning towards it, hoping that the lightning could do what the sword had failed to and damage it enough to take it down.

 

Chandra and Darcy, III-B1

As the warriors that had been fighting below them moved away, the two girls flew down to land on the surface of the metal shell, Chandra's Phoenix vanishing as they landed successfully and started to look at the barrier below them.

"You don't happen to have some fire magic that can blast straight through this metal do you?"

"I don't have anything that can blast straight through it right now, but I might have another solution. Stand back, this might get a little hot."

 

With Darcy out of the way of the immediate area, Chandra pressed her hand down onto the surface of the metal, using her magic to start off the spell before backing out of the area it would effect as well. In front of them, a circular area surrounding the place Chandra had started the spell began to heat up as the spell she'd cast, Moltensteel Dragon. Slowly but surely, the blazing hot metal moved, shifting around as it formed only to fall down as it lost the connection to the steel surface around it. Walking over, she saw the creation hovering below the hole, a fully formed Dragon made out of molten metal from the third layer.

 

Jumping through the hole, Chandra looked down at the pool of lava below her, smiling as she did so while Darcy flew down through the hole as well. Looking around, Darcy flew off towards the fights she could see going on while Chandra started to manipulate the lava below, trying to figure out what was holding it in place so she could break through the final layer and reach the core itself.

[The Warden]

|_)Red, the Arisen(_|

 

Since it was such a non-chalant flick, Red stood his ground against the arrogant familiar. And he deeply hoped he hurt his finger doing that atrocious act. If not for his size Red's rage would have consumed, but for now he would have to let it simmer. This other person, Sayer, an arrogant sort he was. Much like a draogn, except less threatening. But, he too fled, but that wasn't the worst of it.

 

Thanks to his short stature the smoke breezed over him, but it was choking the life out of his comrade, for a brief moment anyways. "We certainly have a very interesting taste in allies, don't we" he squeaked snidely.

 

Moving along the length of the hole, Red peered far below to inspect Xansvita's little 'gift'. "If that Sayer man is indeed correct, no doubt those horrid creatures will be coming for us" he cried out, his high pitched voice growing more stretched as he did.

 

---

 

|_)Magical Girl Lydia(_|

 

Lydia was mildly annoyed that 'Ed' ignored her like that, but that only served to cement her suspicions. "Sure, just give me a arm" she replied as she aided in hefting Richard to the medical bay, whilst also trying not to oogle Raphael's derriere.

 

---

 

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

 

While the duo were perfectly content with Tenshi's gratitude, her tsunderism was beginning to show again. It wasn't quite as flattering on her though, really Tenshi was more of a ~Moe~ class than a Tsund- wait, what was he thinking? ~Moe~ is ~moe~, there are no deviations in such. But, despite all this, her tsunderism was somehow missing ~moe~, quite perplexing really.

 

The duo watched Tenshi intently, until suddenly, she finally came to and announced they were near. Bracing themselves, the drill burst forth into the lethal lava land. Perspiration dripped from Frankram and Ivankov's brows as the hea and internal pressure was weighing them down. Sadly, or maybe, thankfully, Hapshiel was nowhere to be found, or, was he?

 

Frankram wiped the sweat from his brow as he uttered a few words. Blue runic circles appeared above the heads of those who were on the drill, and they swept down, leaving a feeling of freshness and cool. "A commonly used spell, it removes sweat and prevent overheating. It's rather good when practising with fire magic and I- OH NO!" he cried and averted his eyes.

 

What was he averting from? Why, it was because he noticed a patch of lava was bubbling much more than regular, which could only mean one thing. Hapshiel burst forth from the womb of flame, the lava dripping off his body like water. And, worst of all: The flames had burnt the vast majority of his clothes off, leaving only his err, 'thong' standing. Landing on a floating rock, he spread his legs hideously apart as he cried out: "LOVE AND PEACE!"

 

Ivankov was locked in rapt fascination. Those cheeks, they're, they're like a car crash. You can't look away.

[Phantom Roxas]

[D1 Night] - ???

 

As the flames spread from the Day side to the Night side, the wreckage of the machine that attacked Ogudomon and MirageGaogamon was freezing over. Its body was slowly crumbling into bits of data, unable to think. It had no idea of the battle with Apocrypha that had occurred, and the severed legs Ogudomon had long since faded away. However, the presence of a new entity had stirred its processors, if only to the extent that it could recognize something else.

 

ARquiusprite had been wandering the Sphere Forest, unable to find Dirk. "Sir Strider," he asked, though he expected no response. "I've been 100king all over for you. Surely you must be around here somewhere." It was then that ARquiusprite stumbled upon the machine, gasping in horror at the damage that it had suffered. "How horrifying! Neigh, this will not stand. I must begin reparations on this immediately. Such ruin is unsightly." ARquiusprite looked around, only to find much to his disappointment that there were no tools for him to use. Only a forest burning all around him. ARquiusprite, however, paid the flames no mind. "Perhaps it would be best if I simply… reassemble this. Yes, truly doing so would make this much STRONGER."

 

ARquiusprite rested a ghostly hand on the machine, which he would quickly found out was a mistake. The machine stirred to life, one of its arms breaking free from the ice that had started to surround it, and it grabbed the sprite by his head. Green, purple, and red electricity surrounded them both, while a light shined and consumed them both.

 

[E7 Night → D6 Night] - Zilyana & Kree'arra

 

The two generals continued their path to where they saw the blue giant, but their wings were not responding to them as well as they would have liked.

 

"Why is so cold?" Zilyana asked disdainfully.

 

"I don't know," Kree'arra said. He turned around, seeing a torrent of flames coming towards him. "But I think we must deal with that first!"

 

Shaking off the forming ice, Zilyana and Kree'arra flapped their wings, rushing away from the burning trees as fast as they could. The wall of purple flames seemed to have spread even further. Like it was concentrated on that one spot. Their only hope was to trying and fly over the purple flames while avoiding the regular flames that were coming in from behind them, all while avoiding having their wings freeze up on them.

 

Neither of them had to say that they were certain they could pull it off.

 

[iI-A1 → II-B1] - Solasiro

 

Saphir continued to lead Solasiro deep into the second layer. He could see that smoke was filling in, but for one reason or another, it seemed as though there was no smoke entering from the tunnel he came in from. He looked between both of his arms, thinking of the two curses placed upon him. Lobo had managed to weaken Slifer, but he had not anticipated the Egyptian God to pass down his power to Eria, of all people. It was then that he noticed something that, frankly, only someone who was deaf and blind couldn't notice. A beast resembling the Winged Dragon of Ra, though its Phoenix Mode was purple, for some reason. It seemed that purple flames were a popular thing today, he thought. Perhaps he would be able to give the strongest Egyptian God a greater defeat than the one Slifer had endured.

 

Of course, it was his status as a l'Cie that was more pressing. While his arm was still black, he had no idea. He had thought that if a l'Cie was crystallized but reawakened, his brand would be completely white. Unfortunately, it had seemed that this only applied to those who had yet to begin the horrible process that had been plaguing Solasiro for so long. His arm was transforming into that of a Cie'th's. There was no denying that. But why was this still happening, even now?

 

"Can you hear me, Megiddo?" But he wasn't afraid. He was smiling. He could see the ship he had arrived on, with many people flocking to it. Even Ra was going after it. "If you can't, it's a shame. Your dream always lets you miss out on the fun." Holding up his twin spears, they twisted around, the heads merging to form a drill. He snapped at the reins again, and Saphir began to head towards the Inch of Will.

 

[iI-B2 - The Inch of Will] - Arthur, Gaomon, & Sliske

 

Lydia seemed up concerned with checking out the nurse, so Arthur took it upon himself to stop Ed, though Richard seemed to have confirmed what everyone was thinking. He drew his Keyblade, walking up to "Ed". "Tell me what's going on."

 

"Ed" stopped in his tracks, turning to Arthur and looking embarrassed. "What do you mean?"

 

"Come on. I know you weren't with us when we fought Ogudomon, or Apocrypha for that matter. Let me guess, the Divine recruited a shapeshifter. Or maybe Ophelia summoned one to get rid of us."

 

"Ed" sighed. "I was hoping that I could keep this disguise until the real Ed showed up." The image of Ed faded as Sliske revealed his true form. "You are half-right, boy. I am indeed a shapeshifter summoned by whoever this Ophelia is, but I was not sent here for any of you. Though I will admit, I am slowly gaining interest in whatever this little war between you and this Divine is all about. Don't worry, I did nothing to your friend. I simply needed to borrow his appearance so that you wouldn't think about attacking me right away. That would be a waste of time I could better use addressing the fact that we have a mutual enemy."

 

Gaomon raised an eyebrow. "And who would that be?"

 

"Xansvita."

 

Arthur and Gaomon shared a glance. "I see," Arthur said. His hold on his Keyblade loosened a little bit, if only because he was thinking about the guy who gave it to him in the first place. "Quite a few of us have our own personal reasons for wanting to get rid of him. However, the fact remains that you still used a disguise, so don't be surprised if I'm not all that willing to trust you."

 

"I don't expect you to," Sliske answered with a laugh. "But perhaps you could expect me to work with you for our common cause."

 

Sliske extended his hand to Arthur, but Arthur didn't return the favor. "Fine. Just don't try anything. My friends here won't be happy with that."

 

"Of course," Sliske answered with a smile. "You have my word."

 

[iI-B2 - The Inch of Will] - Eria || [iI-B2 → The Inch of Will] - Gagagigo & Kairi

 

Eria shook her head. "I don't know about you, but I can feel that Gagagigo finally broke free. Whoever was controlling him before has lost their hold on him. He's himself again."

 

Gagagigo carried Kairi onto the roof of the ship, letting Kairi stand. His eyes met with Predaking's, but Gagagigo wasn't looking at him with hostility. A voice echoed in his mind, and he began to listen.

 

"Gagagigo!" Eria called out to him from inside the ship. "It's you, isn't it? You're free, right?"

 

Gagagigo held his hand, still unable to realize what was going on. "You… are you… Eria?"

 

"Yes! Now please, Gagagigo, you have to remember me!"

 

"I… yes… I do. Eria… what did…" More memories flooded in. He remembered the Castle of Necrophades. How he grabbed Eria and smashed her against a wall. "Oh gods… I almost killed you… didn't I?"

 

Eria bit her lip. It was difficult thinking about that, but it seemed like the Counter Corps wasn't as willing to accept Gagagigo as she was. She ran, not letting anyone stop her from finding an exit. "That wasn't you. You told me what you were going to do. You said that man, Kozaky, offered you power, didn't he? You wanted to stop Erebos. You almost did, but… then you became… something else."

 

Gagagigo looked at his hands. His fingers were shuddering, his mind flashing to demons butchering villagers, with Erebos watching in delight. "I wanted to stop him. Stop the demons from their endless, senseless murders." He fell to his knees, his armor digging into the roof of the Inch of Will. "I jut wanted you to be safe, Eria! I didn't… how could I know it would all turn out like this?!"

 

"Your only mistake was trusting Kozaky, but I understand why. You were desperate. When we're desperate, we sometimes do the worst things we can think of."

 

"Then… what can I do now?"

 

He looked up, and there she was. Walking along the roof of the ship was Eria, crying, but smiling. "Come home. That's all I've ever wanted."

 

Step by step, Gagagigo made his way over to Eria. He bowed, shaking his head. "Then… can you forgive me? For everything?"

 

"You've been the closest thing I've ever had to a brother," Eria answered happily. "I could never hate you. Don't tell me your sorry. I'll always forgive you." She looked at Gagagigo's wings and the armor that his whole body was covered in. "You're so different, even from back at that castle. But I can still tell that it's you. No matter how much you change, you'll always be Gagagigo. If you're worried about me not forgiving me, then don't let anyone ever tell you you're something you're not. You're you. You've always been you. You're not a part of the Divine anymore." She walked closer, hugging Gagagigo's head. "Your home now is with the Counter Corps."

 

 

Kairi watched the reunion, happy for them. "I'm glad you were both able to find each other again."

 

Eria looked at Kairi. "Thank you. Sorry, but I owe you a lot for this. But, who are you?" She saw that Kairi had a Keyblade. "Wait, do you know Nero? Or…" she didn't want to ask about Sora. If she was right, then she could only imagine what Kairi was going through.

 

"Kairi. When Gagagigo was still with the Divine, he was working for someone named Xansvita."

 

Eria turned away from her. "And… do you know who Xansvita is?"

 

Kairi nodded. "Yes. Sora and I… we were… we were close." She rubbed her left hand, and Eria quickly understood just what exactly she meant.

 

"Sora wasn't the only one like that. The Witch that turned him into Xansvita turned someone else on our side into a Familiar, and she was able to be saved. Although, the person she was before was split in two."

 

"So, what?" Kairi asked with a laugh. "Are you saying we split him in tw-" Kairi stopped herself. "Sora. He has other hearts within him. Not just him and Vanitas. Three other people. One of them is who Vanitas was created from."

 

"Wait, so you're saying that Xansvita has five souls?"

 

"It… is a bit much to believe, yes."

 

"Honestly, I think I've heard stranger."

 

Kairi laughed. "I'd like to hear about that." She looked back, and Eria and Gagagigo all walked with her. Ra was drawing closer and closer to the Inch of Will, and Xansvita was following. "But first, let's save Sora and all the others from Vanitas."

 

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

 

As Sayer predicted, with him and Terumi gone, there was really nothing else for the Duotruckers to do. Indeed, most of them went after Alister and Red, but five of them took notice of someone entering the area. The five Duotruckers wheeled around, launching small shards from their hands in an attempt to shoot down Sephiroth.

 

Ra finally came within reach of the Inch of Will, bringing with him the smoke that came from the first layer. Kairi cast an Aeroga spell to defend herself, while Eria summoned an ice barrier, protecting Gagagigo, Kairi, Predaking, and herself, before spreading it all over the Inch of Will.

 

"This can't be the Winged Dragon of Ra" Eria shouted incredulously.

 

"Xansvita's handiwork," Gagagigo explained.

 

"What does it want?" Kairi asked.

 

"Eria," Gagagigo told the Water Charmer. "There were three opponents summoned for Xansvita. The first is Kairi. The second was a sorcerer who could summon the dead, and he seems to have power over darkness that dwarfs even Xansvita."

 

Eria was curious. "And the third?"

 

With some hesitation, Gagagigo answered, "A young boy named Dirk. He was killed by an ally of the Divine."

 

Though Eria did not know the boy, she mourned him nonetheless. "So who is the sorcerer?"

 

"His name is Sliske."

 

"And we would very much like to know where he is!" Above the group, Xansvita was flying, his staff aimed right at Eria and everyone else. "Well then, Gogiga, we assume you've found your friends."

 

"I will not be called by that name anymore, Xansvita!"

 

"You're right. We made a promise, and it is time to deliver. You really should have ran faster, lizard."

 

"Don't even think about it!" Eria protest. Spikes from the ice barrier shot at Xansvita, but the Familiar batted them all away with his staff.

 

Xansvita looked around as the smoke began to surround the Inch of Will. "It's insulting that we were assigned nothing more than to simply delay all of you. But now, seeing as the Counter Corps is flocking to this ship, this is the perfect opportunity to finish you all off. Maybe we'll even take care of the Divine that don't seem to understand just what they can do with the Door of Origin, or the ones who simply do nothing more than get on our nerves."

 

Swinging his staff through the air, a Corridor of Darkness began to materialize. It was larger than normal, and it was growing bigger. It kept on growing and growing, drawing Xansvita inside, until it eventually consumed the Inch of Will itself. When it had stopped growing, the Corridor was big enough to have covered the entirety of II-B2. Anyone who was in the sector was drawn inside, and anyone who would dare to cross through the sector would meet the same fate.

 

 

The blue void of Betwixt and Between would welcome everyone in different fashions. While the Inch of Will carried everyone on it inside, Ra went back to fighting Xansvita, though the Familiar cast a Gravigun spell to pin the Egyptian God to the "ground". The Trinity Armor, the Symphony Master, and the Sora Unversed all appeared, though Xansvita was not finished summoning his reinforcements. Three more Unversed appeared, all resembling jellyfish, each of them charging at the Inch of Will.

 

"Now then, Counter Corps!" Xansvita's voice echoed throughout the void. "Let's see how many of you have the power to survive!"

[Dad]

The Inch of Will

 

A loud crash against the roof of the ship grabbed Kratos' attention, if only for a moment.  Eria suddenly vanished to the roof as well.  She must've been greeting her 'friend'.  Meanwhile, Predaking continued to observe from a short distance, his eyes meeting with the creature Eria embraced.  But this reunion was short lived as a cloud of smoke engulfed and blinded the Counter Corps team.  Inside the Inch of Will, Kratos could feel the ship rock and sway.  He didn't give a second thought to what was happening, and approached the cargo bay.  He forced his way outside to be surprised at the sudden change in the environment.  Everything around them had become a sinister shade of blue, and emptiness.  The smoke temporarily clouded Predaking's sensors, shorting his radar and fogging his circuits.  And just before the Inch of Will lay another mechanical dragon, similar to Predaking.  As Ra crashed to the ground, Predaking dove after it at high speeds as though to save the beast.  "Brother!" he cried out.  Landing at Ra's side, Predaking turned his head back to the source of Ra's pain.  A man taunted them, shouting, "Let's see how many of you have the power to survive!"  

 

Kratos observed Predaking's compassion, watched as Eria was reunited with her ally, and understood better what Predaking had mentioned to him before.  Though each member was different, all of the Counter Corps were fighting for the same cause.  Still, Kratos remained unmoved.  Blades in hand he awaited his allies to draw forth from the Inch of Will, and to take on this strange deity who sought their destruction.

 

----------

 

Elsewhere, Black Dynamite was being released back into the living world.  

 

"It is time, Black Dynamite," Papa Legba stated calmly as he kicked away Honey Bee and Cream Corn.  Standing to his feet, Papa waved a hand at the empty but burning space behind Black Dynamite.  "When you step dru dat portal, no one will remember you.  You will feel noting'.  You will understand very little.  But your wish will be granted.  You will be remembah'd.  Now go.  And quickly.  I want dat soul of yours in tip top shape boy."

 

A black and purple portal materialized behind Black Dynamite, who gave Papa Legba a dirty look.  Biting his tongue,  Black Dynamite stepped through, and reappeared in the cargo bay.  Just outside, he heard a crash and felt the ground shake, followed by an intense, mechanical roar.  And an unfamiliar voice taunted his allies.  What the hell was going on?  Stepping down from the cargo bay, the first person Black Dynamite spotted was Kratos.  Saying nothing, he quietly approached from behind and stood beside Kratos, his guns drawn.  "What's all the chaos brotha?  What's goin' down?" was what Black Dynamite said.  But it was not what Kratos heard.  Kratos actually froze in place, as those damning words rang in his ear, and that familiar voice enraged him.  After all of the fighting, the slaying of his family, the murder of Athena, and forcing him to betray even the Titans.  After their grand battle--

 

"You live!?" Kratos cried out as he jumped back from the deity standing beside him.  "Impossible!  I killed you.  I watched your soul become dust!"

 

 

You

 

 

 

Kratos did not hear, "What's all the chaos brotha?  What's goin' down?".  But in the voice of his father, Kratos heard, "It is a shame that you still have learned nothing, my son."  Before Kratos, cloaked in his white and gold robes, a lightning bolt stone carved into his left breast, Zeus glowed.

 

Black Dynamite stared at Kratos in bewilderment.  "Kratos?  What's wrong witchu man?  I didn't-- you didn't kill me.  I was--Kratos?"

 

Kratos did not hear Black Dynamite.  His father continued to speak.  "You only believe what you are meant to believe.  You could not bring me down, Kratos.  Olympus reigns still.  And I bring with me it's wrath to ensure yours, and your foolish friends endeavor remains unfulfilled."

 

"Kratos, what are you doin' man!?"

 

Kratos had already drawn his blades.  His grip tightened, and he roared at Zeus.  "You won't stand in my way Zeus!  Not this time!  Not again!!"

 

Black Dynamite held up both of his hands to stop Kratos from lunging at him.  "Kratos wait!  Why do you keep calling me Zeus!?"  Zeus raised his hands, ushering Kratos forward, taunting him.  "It is unto your own death, boy.  Come!"

 

Blinded by rage, Kratos did not hesitate.  Time around the Inch of Will appeared to slow down.  Black Dynamite froze.  He looked down as Kratos had just withdrawn his blade from Black Dynamite's stomach.  Covered in blood, Black Dynamite struggled to speak, as he was in shock.  "Kra--Kratos. . . wha. . ?"  But Kratos pressed on.  He kicked Zeus down to the ground.

 

"Is that the best you can do!?  You're still pathetic."

 

"RaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" he roared.  Without warning lightning struck at Kratos location, as the Blade of Olympus landed just at his side.  Picking it up quickly, he stabbed into Zeus chest rapidly, almost as if digging a grave inside of Zeus himself.  But Zeus laughed.

 

Black Dynamite felt nothing, but stuttered in shock.  He stared at his rapidly bleeding body.  Even after ripping open Black Dyanmite's chest, Kratos rampaged, no reasoning in his mind.  He proceeded to flip Zeus over, slicing away his legs instantly.  Zeus tried to crawl away, but Kratos cut off one of his arms, and used it to restrain the Olympian in place.  "This is the last time you will EVER plague me Zeus!"  Kratos grabbed at Zeus back and raised him only slightly, then gripped at the god's chin.  Black Dynamite could feel the anger in Kratos' grip  But that was all he could feel.  With all of his might, Kratos put a second hand on Zeus head, and pulled.  His neck tore, and Zeus head ripped from his shoulders.  Kratos roared at the sky again.  He dropped the head at his feet and stabbed the Blade of Olympus into it, sending pure, hot, white lightning into it, causing it to melt and smear into the 'ground'.  And then, time reverted to normal.

 

Waves of memories rushed back to Kratos, and everyone who had just seen Kratos murder Black Dynamite.  When Kratos looked again, Zeus' body was not the body on the ground.  It was Black Dynamite's  Quietly, Papa Legba materialized from nothing, appearing out of the ground, ushering, what seemed to be Kratos, towards him.  But it was Black Dynamite he was calling for.  A soul appeared next to Kratos, a smile on his face.  Kratos froze, staring Black Dynamite in the face.

 

"It. . . it was. . .you?"  Kratos fell to his knees in anguish, crying out to the skies again.  "What have I DONE!?"  Black Dynamite finally understood as well.  He was immersed in magic that gave him the appearance of an enemy to the first person he came in contact with.  In an echoing voice, Black Dynamite spoke.  "Don't concern yourself man.  It had to be done.  I have to live another life now."  But Kratos didn't understand.  It was like losing another member of his family.  And just as those thoughts flowed from his mind, and his fist pounded endlessly at the 'ground', Caliope (Kratos' daughter), his wife, and Athena's souls all drew from the Blade of Olympus.  They stood around Kratos, and everyone could see them.  "You let your guard down Kratos.  But it ended in something. .  .I kinda expected."

 

Kratos did not raise his head, as he continued to cry, tears streaming from his face.  He spoke to his wife.  "Forgive me my love.  I sit here all alone and I can see. . . the bottom."  They all embraced Kratos one last time, before Caliope, Athena, and Kratos' wife's soul disappeared into nothing once more.  Black Dynamite waved a hand to the others.  Papa Legba however, had no time for this.  He appeared next to Black Dynamite, putting shackles around his neck.  "Raise your hand boy.  Give dem your gift."  Black Dynamite didn't question Papa Legba, and raised an empty hand towards the Inch of Will.  A golden light shot forth from his 'hand', and engulfed the ship and it's occupants.  

 

"Time's up boy.  Let's go." Papa said tugging at Black Dynamite's soul chains.  Black Dynamite waved goodbye one last time, and he and Papa Legba were engulfed in black flames.  Papa Legba laughed evilly, but Black Dynamite howled in pain, his scream piercing the empty void, as he vanished into nothing.

[Maeriberii Haan]

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

 

[spoiler=Deep Inside]

 

“…So, this is the place.

 

I guess she was right then.”

 

Tenco was following the angelic-looking girl as she entered the wooden door in the narrow hallway, and was quite surprised when she noticed the pool of blood-like substance in front of her.

 

But soon after the angelic looking girl arrived at the place, a monochromatic figure appeared, and quickly removed her from the place. That shocked Tenco much, and she slammed the door shut due to that.

 

“…No.

 

I shouldn’t be scared like this if I want to escape from this cage.

 

For my own sake, I must be brave!”

 

And so, she opened the door, and found the monochromatic girl in front of her.

 

“What are you doing here?

 

Begone.”

 

“He-hello, can I ask you the same question first?”

 

Still without any expression, the greyscale girl shrugged.

 

“Hm, actually I have no idea about it.

 

I just know that no one else should reach this place.

 

That, that was she said to me.”

 

“Who is she? And, who are you actually?

 

The girl in front of her went silent.

 

“Hello?”

 

“I..I don’t know.

 

‘She’ was just a compelling voice that ordered me to be here.

 

And I have no idea about who am I.”

 

“Do you even know about what this place actually is?"

 

Another moment of silence. Somewhat irritated, Tenco decided to tell the girl in front of her about what she know about the place.

 

"This place..is the place where the liquefied remains of all incarnations of ‘Tenshi Hinanai’ is stored, or so I was told.

 

And I am here to recollect myself.”

 

“Recollect…yourself?”

 

“Yes, I want to be actually alive once again, to roam the world outside this cage-like body of a ‘Tenshi’.

 

And I want you to help me. Don’t you feel the same drive, the same passion as me? To return to your old self, to your own world?”

 

“What…what are you talking about?

 

My..world?”

 

The girl was visibly confused by Tenco’s question, and that reaction also confused Tenco, though she decided to not be bothered by it.

 

“Just, please help me. When this is all over, if you have no place to return, I’ll be glad to take you to my home world.

 

So, will you help me?”

 

“..I guess ..yeah, I'll help.

 

But what should I do?”

 

“Help me locate my remains in this pool. And I’ll try to help you find yours too.”

 

And so, she jumped into the pool, soon followed by the other girl, who was still visibly confused. Meanwhile, a certain yellow-eyed being was watching them, and she smiled at the sight.

 

 

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

 

“..Ouch”

 

Gengetsu woke up from her sleep, and found herself lying between Frankram and Ivan..something. Both of them seemed to be looking at something, and their expression was quite confusing for her.

 

“Uh, hello?

 

What are you guys looking a-“
 

“LOVE AND PEACE!”

The shout made Gengetsu shifted her attention from the two, and into a..unsightly sight of something that was too…for words.

 

And Gengetsu fainted once again, this time with blushes on her cheeks.

 

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

 

“CUT THE CRAP OUT! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, DISPLAYING YOUR CROTCH TO THE PUBLIC LIKE THAT!

 

It’s not like I appreciate it or some-

 

Uh.

 

…Dammit.”

 

Tenshi’s face are now completely red.

 

“U-uh,

 

Pl-please cover yourself, you pervert!”

 

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

 

Yukari was disturbed, very disturbed,

 

But she was not sure about why.

 

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

 

Kazuya was not satisfied about his efficiency at clearing the obstacles to his goal, and so, he decided to summon Shiva to have it take care of potential roadblocks.

 

The multi-armed Deity immediately put his sight on one of the eel-like figure on the other side of the layer.

 

“Pasupata!”

 

And a beam of light, with the heat hotter than the sun’s core was shot from his third eye, travelling straight to his target.

 

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

 

[Kōsuke Ueki]

Tsunugai & Richard

 

Something was wrong. It was far worse than expected...

 

The feeling of ever lasting darkness surrounded Tsunugai without a second thought, to the point of forcing him out of unconsciousness. Just what is going on? Still very weak from the fall he took, he struggled to get up. Richard was there as well. They both were able to stand up, but both fell to their knees right away. But not before seeing a bright light engulf the ship. It felt...warm. It was as if they were being healed. But that's not all. A familiar face but with an altered appeared was seen in their heads. Tsunugai clenched his fist. For it appears a rematch was clearly imminent. When they were finally able to stand on their feet without struggling, Tsunugai looked at Arthur and Sliske. "Arthur..." he said at first, before his eyes started to turn a golden yellow. "...stand back."

 

An even brighter light emitted from Richard and Tsunugai, the two transforming in preparation for the battle in front of them...

 

Two entities began to ascend into the air from within the bright light into view. It's more than likely that Tsunugai would be unrecognizable, but on the other hand, he might be recognized right away by his enemy.

 

"We meet again, Xansvita...and now, I shall finish what I began when we were fighting LERNA."

 

"But unlike before, you shall now face two forces of godly power...prepare yourself, Familiar!"

 

With that, the two seemingly unstoppable forces charged towards Xansvita, circling around him in speeds that are hard to keep up with...

 

(Current Location: Layer II-B2)

[Gαr]

Sykes' Coliseum → II-B2

 

Ed let out a sigh of relief and rolled over onto his back. A different kind of power was surging through his body, not magic like it normally did. He painfully sat up and looked at his hands. His right was now covered entirely in black flames. It kinda freaked Ed out that his arm was now made of black flames, but was still tangible. His left arm was no covered in ice, but he could still move it like it wasn't. His body was slowly getting used to his new reiryoku, and as he did, he began feeling much more powerful. He also became aware of other sources of reiryoku. The strongest ones were below him. They were so immense that Ed had a miniature oh sh*t moment. Not too far from him, he sensed a gathering of powerful reiryoku. These ones felt friendlier than the larger ones below him, so Ed immediately assumed they were the Counter Corps. Ed smiled and stood up, this time, he didn't feel any pain. He sheathed his swords and raised his right arm.

 

An image flashed through his head. It was of an expansive and extensive castle, not like the one in Camelot, but more oriental. A single pathway, lined with torii, lead up to the magnificent gate that was the only entrance to the city-like castle. It was night and the sky was filled with stars and the moon was full. A thin layer of fog covered the ground progressively getting thicker as it moved away from the castle. A forest of bamboo was spread throughout the fog, reminiscent of a graveyard, giving the place a serene, yet ominous look and feel. A lone man stood atop one of the torii. He was cloaked in a long blue coat and had swept back stark white hair. He had his arms crossed, but he had his back turned to Ed.

 

He shook his head and straightened his arm, trying to get the image out of his head. He took a deep breath and unleashed a blast of black flames at the wall of the coliseum. Thanks to his newfound powers, the huge column of flames burst through the seemingly impenetrable wall. Ed let out laugh. "Alright."

 

Ed flew out the hole he created and towards II-B2. After a short flight, he saw the ship that he quickly remembered as the Inch of Will. Before he could get to the ship, the whole sector was consumed in darkness and brought to a blue void. Ed landed on the roof of the ship and turned to see someone that triggered him. "XANSVITAAA!!!!" Ed shouted. He was about to engage his friend turned Familiar, but was cut off when he once again overloaded his body, causing his Zanpakuto to deactivate and Ed to lose conscientiousness. He collapsed on the roof of the ship.

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

Sephiroth<II-A3:Flying>

As he flew away from his battle, in which he was the victor, he sensed some other form of attacks coming toward him. These attacks were strange and new but they hadn't been anything in the realm f notable power, not in the eyes of a true god. The One-Winged Angel merely made a spike of energy surround his body and the attacks had disintegrated before they could even get withing two feet of his form. Next he turned towards the attackers, eyes closed, and waved his blade at them to produce a long and thin slice of energy. He turned from them and flew off, their bodies cut in two and slowly vanishing back to whatever master they originated from.

 

<Leaving II-A3, Location Unknown>

 

Nero's Darkness<Quickly Flying through Layer III>

It had been a surge of great and utter temptation as he had felt the new darkness, whomever had generated such darkness was truly and utterly powerful. He could do more than just feel it: he could smell it, taste it, and ever hear the new darkness as it had flowed and he needed to have it for himself. If he couldn't have the darkness than absolutely no one could. He neared the hole up into Layer II now and as he popped up from it he saw the darkness get even stronger and hurried to its location.

 

Nero<Atop the Inch of Will>

 

Footsteps were heard coming from behind Eria and Kairi, another keyblade was in view now as Nero approached the group. Even though the distance between them had been great, it was easy to tell that Nero was staring at Xansvita. Their eyes were locked and there was no possible reason that either of them could run. The keyblader wielder was a dying class of warrior, but he would do his absolute best to keep it going strong. "Xansvita..." Nero simply said, and though the man floating in the sky couldn't hear him, it was crystal clear as to what the Keyblade War Hero had said.

[Kingdom Xathers]

[Alister Azimuth/Periphery/II-A3]

"Getting real tired of this...," Alister grumbled under his breath as he saw the Duotruckers--with their intended target having egressed just moments before--start to put two-and-two together, quickly coming to the inevitable decision to attack Alister and Red.  The General, on the other hand, was going to have none of it.  He would have to deal with Sayer at a later time, but right now Alister had other plans.

 

"Screw this, we're out of here!"  Grabbing hold of the hand-sized Red in one hand (the action accompanied by a baby doll-like squeak from Red), Alister propelled himself and the dragon out of the hole on his Hover Boots, the Duotrucker Horde streaking after them in hot pursuit.  Alister couldn't care less about them, however; right now, he was planning on getting a bit of payback from Xansvita....

 

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

"... well, so much for reaching the Medical Bay," Raphael muttered as Richard and Tsunugai departed, slightly miffed that his time was essentially wasted despite the current situation outside.  "If anyone needs me or Nurse Joy, you all should know where to find us...." 

 

Raphael turned around to leave, only stopping briefly to address Lydia with a straight face, "I caught you looking.  Then again, I've received stares all the time back at the Academy that I work for, so it's nothing new to me... just as long as you don't start drawing lewd pictures of me, we'll be fine."   Without another word, Raphael departed for the Medical Bay, a slight limp barely detectable in his gait.

 

 

Over in the "Mad Witches Laboratory", Kokonoe was irritatedly munching away at a bag of Prickles, her cat ears folded back and her tails ruffled and twitching angrily.

 

"Hey, uhh, Koko?" Washu approached Kokonoe cautiously.  "Is, uhh... is this a bad time?"
 

"Oh, no, Washu, everything's just honky-dory," Kokonoe chimed in between munches, her faux-chipper tone failing to mask her growing irritation.  "I mean, it's not like I've known for the longest time that that f*ckin' snake-in-the-grass Terumi had been called to this dimension for God-Knows-What!"  Chucking another handful of golden crunchy rings into her mouth, she continued her rant with full mouth, "Oh, but that's not even the best part!  Oh hell-to-the-f*ck-no, just wait until you get a load of this!  I was able to sense that Terumi was killed, along with that sick freak-of-nature Relius Clover, and I thought, "Hey, that's great, should be the end of it.  I don't even need to get involved this time!" But nooooooo, that f*ckin' pr!ck is STILL AROUND!  Wandering about in ghost form, but still not satisfyingly taken care of!  Ooooh, I just wanna go out there and--!!"

 

"--As much as I support your vendetta against Terumi Yuuki, Kokonoe--" Washu interrupted, only for Kokonoe to cut her off once more.

 

"Yes, Washu, I know the conditions outside are less than favorable right now," Kokonoe replied in a tired, agitated tone, "but I can't just keep this aggression pent-up for much longer!  I mean, whadya expect me to do, take my frustrations out on the tin can over there?" she added, pointing a finger toward the currently-tied-and-hanging-upside-down-from-the-ceiling-in-chains-and-ribbons Dr. Nefarious.

 

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TIN CAN, YOU LITERAL ANGRY PV$$Y?!" Nefarious insulted back.

 

"Ohhhhh, I know you're not the one trying to backtalk me here...!" Kokonoe retorted, the pupils of her yellow eyes suddenly thinning into slits.

 

"Hey, uhh, by the way, Kokonoe...," Washu began only to once more get cut-off by the half-Kaka.

 

"You'd better be lucky I don't change my mind about torturing you, Nefarious! You wouldn't like me when I'm angry," threatened Kokonoe.

 

"As if I like you any more right now!" Nefarious defiantly cackled.

 

"Kokonoe, I really think you should know--!"

 

"I swear, if you piss me off any further, I'm gonna rip off your [[iNFERNO DIVIDER!!!]] and--!"

 

"I don't even HAVE one, you [[MRREEOOWWW!!]]!!"

 

"Yeah, I figured THAT much!!"

 

"Kokonoe, you do realize that those Prickles are--?"

 

[[GAUNTLET HADES!!!]] [[Opening Rift]]  [[baden-Baden Lily!]]    [[Tsubame Gaishi!]]   [[GIGANTIC TAGER!!]]

 

"YOU'RE EATING CIRCUMCISIONS!!!" Washu howled at the top of her lungs, and right into Kokonoe's ear.  The sudden outburst managed to bring the heated Cluster Sound-Effect-Censor Fest to an abrupt end, the silence that followed being almost deafening.

 

Kokonoe blinked hard a few times, looking down at the bag of "chips" in her hand as she tried to register what was just said to her....

 

... after a long silence, Kokonoe merely shrugged.  "Meh, I've had worse," she spoke simply as she returned to eating the Prickles, merrily ignoring Nefarious' shocked gaping jaw and Washu's faceplant.

 

[Alexander Abernathy and Ratchet/II-B1]

"Ohh, please don't tell me this is gonna be like LERNA all over again," Ratchet moaned as he looked upon the shroud-like Corridor of Darkness.

 

"Doesn't seem like it," Alexander uttered musingly, examining the power of the field.  "For one, it doesn't appear like there's any "Power Level Restriction" that would prevent all but the higher-leveled individuals from entering... ... ... ... oh, sorry, Clank," Alexander added as he looked toward the tiny robot, "I think that was supposed to have been your line."

 

"That is fine, Alexander," Clank replied.  "Saves me the trouble of doing so myself, eh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh~!"

 

"Ssssso, now what?" Terris asked, his head poking out of the hole.  "I mean, if y'all are gonna be headin' in there, there may not be much reason for me to ssssstay here and keep diggin'."

 

"Well, you have a point," Alexander admitted.  "Still, we could use your help in the fights ahead, Terris.  What d'you say?" the lombax asked, outstretching a hand to the Grand Mole.

 

"Ssssssure, I'm game!" Terris replied cheerily, clapping his paw onto Alex's hand.  "Besssssides, it'll give ol' Umbris ssssssome much needed resssst and relax-sssss-ation."  Terris' body vanished into an orb of light, turning into a card in Alex's palm.

 

"Right...," Alexander muttered slowly, being reminded of what Umbris had gone through these past few hours.  He snapped out of his thoughts when Ratchet placed a hand on his shoulder.

 

"He'll be alright, Alex," the younger lombax said reassuringly.  "Right now, we've got bigger fish to fry."

 

Alexander nodded, slipping Terris' card into his Deck as he and Ratchet faced the barrier.  After a brief pause to gather their wits, the two lombaxes, along with Clank, jumped through the Corridor of Darkness....

 

 

[Betwixt and Between]

♫♪♫♪

 

After a brief walk through the darkness of the corridor, Alexander and Ratchet found themselves standing within the Betwixt and Between, and odd sort of landscape which resembled a moment of twilight amongst the clouds.  Although no ground or platform of any kind was visible, the lombaxes did realize that they were standing on something.  Upon closer inspection, symbols of some sort ran across horizontally, parallel to the unseen ground they were standing on, while more of the same symbols lined the inside of the dimension.

 

"Well, it's hard to tell whether this is a Witch's Barrier or not," Alexander mused to himself, "but whatever it is, it's a safe assumption to not like it."

 

"Yeah, well," Ratchet began only to be cut-off by Clank's urgent shout.

 

"Alexander, look out!"

 

Alex had only a second to turn around and see what it was that Clank was warning about; a second later, Ratchet and Clank cringed as a furry blur crashed into Alexander, sending each other tumbling a few yards before skidding to a halt.

 

"Holy crap!  Are you okay, Ale... ster...?"  Ratchet called out, stammering upon realizing what--or rather, who-- the furry blur actually was.

 

"Guh! Watch where you're going next time--" Alexander grunted as he went to shove his assailant off of him, stopping himself just in time to realize who it was.  "Alister?!"

 

"Well, YOU need to watch where you're standing--!  Alex?!" Alister gasped in surprise as he recognized his "speed bump", the tiny Red still cradled in his hands, no doubt shaken but otherwise unharmed.

[The Warden]

|_)Red, the Arisen(_|

 

While it was by no means a respectable position to be in, Red did have to admit that it was probably some form of payback for when he grabbed Alister in their retreat from the trees. The fuzzy general seemed pretty hellbent on escape, which was going to be pretty easy as they both dipped right into the Corridor of Darkness.

 

Betwixt & Between had an almost familiar feeling really, as if Red had been there before. "This place is chillingly similar to the Shadow Realm, and the Sorceror. If Xansvita has easy access to this, then maybe that magic will be able to beat those wretched creatures. They are in a ways similar to the Shadow Beasts."

 

Impatiently, he tapped Alister with his free hand. "Alister, hold me steady for a moment, I need to test something" he commanded as he stared down the nearest Metamorphosis.

 

The general was no doub surprised by the action, but nonetheless he complied, though maybe out of some kindred thought he also knew to hold Red up at eye level. The chibi-dragon grunted and wriggled to free his hand. Riaisng his right claw, a small glowing light illuminated the tip of his index finger, and with it, he traced a cross in the air. "WITH THE POWER OF THE LIGHT! I BANISH YOU!" he cried furiously.

 

The Metamorphosis looked in the direction of the screaming kewpie doll for a mere second, before it just, dissappeared in a shower of purple sparks. It had been Banished right back into Xansvita. Red smirked in satisfaction. "So, they are like the Shadow Creatures" he mused.

 

---

 

|_)Magical Girl Lydia(_|

 

Lydia blushed a little, having been caught out like that. "Sorry" she replied, "I don't normally. It's just, been a while since I've dated. And even though it's only been a few days I miss my friends so much. It does things to a girl" she added, having not noticed Raphael had walked off, though, she had heard what he said. "Please, if I could draw lewd stuff it certainly wouldn't involve you" she retorted to no one.

 

Turning back, any libido she might have had was crushed at the sight of the disgustingly crusty old sorceror that Arthur was interogating. "Oh, look at that. Evil at its finest. Shut up Shade."

 

He did so, but not before sending a chill through Lydia. Something horrible was happening right now, but she had very little idea what. It almost felt like being back in LERNA's Barrier, but that was impossible since... oh right, the one that got away.

 

Turning back the way they came, she ran past Arthur and Sliske towards the Landing Bay, but was surprised to see ice coveirng it. "Xansvita couldn't do something like that. Hmm, it must be Eria; she kept using ice to protect people. Well, sorry about that, but this one's mine" Lydia thought as she pointed the Cuestick at the ice.

 

From the outside of the ship, everything seemed normal, until an enormous cauldron of flame burst forth from the ice barrier covering the Landing Bay. Stepping past the melting ice, she breathed in the dark surroundings of Betwixt & Between. "This is that one place from Kingdom Hearts two, when they were going to The World That Never Was. This is where he must've escaped too to evade the hope wave. Clever. But this won't save him again."

 

With powerful resolution, Lydia stared at the ice for a moment. Cracks formed at her glare, which brickled and brackled and buckled until a large hunk of it burst out. She leapt onto the ice and it carried her upwards. "I'm coming for you, my Familiar."

 

 

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

 

Frankram, still averting his eyes tried to get Tenshi into his peripheral vision as much as possible. "You ask too much girl. During the last MaU-Con he decided that is was appropriate for him to run around in nothing but a fundoshi and a breechcloth. Just don't try to get his attention and let him distract everyone else. It is for the imperativeness of our safety that we don't, attract, his, attention" Frankram said throught grit teeth.

 

That didn't seem quite right, there was something, oh yes. "Also calling him a pervert is a compliment. That angel is a complete pansexual and a masochist. There is as of yet a word to describe what he is, but I am sure that all languages would agree that it is best that such a word never come to be, for it will be as terrible as he is. Just avert your eyes and go to your happy place."

 

Thankfully, Tenshi's unnecessarily loud comments did not reach Hapshiel, who was growing to be very enchanted by those wriggling eel beasts. Oh my, he was already beginning to think some rather naughty things as to what he could do with those. He also realized that as of yet, he has never shared his love with an eel. Something that would have to be rectified immediately.

 

Dancing gracefully in such a way that he shows off all of his body at every angle, he made his dementedly whimsical charge at the tenth Sturgeon, who was facing Kazuya. Giving little to no regard for them, he fiercely tackled the beast.

 

Naturally, it had been caught by surprise by this assault, and it bit down hard on Hapshiel's arm, which caused the angel to cry out in ecstacy. "~Oooooh~ More, more, give me MORE!" he cried homoerotically and squeezed his eel tighter.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Betwixt And Between:

 

Foster, amazed at how many had shown up, and even more amazed at how many had been willing to chip in to his plan, coordinated to prepare for the departure of the Inch of Will, and its flight to safety, and hopefully escape, deep in the core of this world, when the worst came to pass. The Winged Dragon of Ra swooped down, carrying the deadly smoke down with it. "Brad! Seal the ship up! Everyone, let's get ready to do this thi-" His commands were cut short as a piercing proclamation joined in the deadly smoke just as the cargo bay doors sealed tight, and the breach in the hull on top of the ship was plugged through various means. The darkness around them grew thicker than it possibly could have, and the ship started to fall through spacetime, until the darkness opened up into a void, a space outside of two other spaces, connecting them, yet separate in of its own right. As the trio of jellyfish swarmed the ship, Bradbury lit up all sixteen of the point-defense guns, their rapid-fire pulse cannons blasting away at their adversaries in dazzling streams of motes of blue light. The ship turned about to have its rear door face Xansvita, only to have the surviving Counter Corps members standing at the breach, the ship settling down a few feet above the ground. It took Foster withdrawing his ZF-1D and activating it to rally his comrades, declaring one simple command.

"COUNTER CORPS!!! CHARGE!!!"

[Phantom Roxas]

[iI-B2 - Betwixt & Between] - Arthur, Gaomon, & Sliske || Eria, Gagagigo & Kairi || Xansvita

 

Xansvita watched the Counter Corps respond to his declaration, although even he was surprised when two of them began to turn on each other. Unfortunately, it seemed that this was merely a trick, rather than actual animosity fostering between the two Corpsmen. What was interesting, though, is that a figure appeared to drag away the one who was butchered by the other, but Xansvita's eyes widened when he realized what was happening.

 

"Thinking of denying us a meal?" he asked Papa Legba. He flew towards the scene, ready to skewer Papa Legba with the staff, but it seems that two warriors had made the mistake of going directly after Xansvita. They circled around him, too fast for even Xansvita to notice. Of course, that meant they had to be stopped. With the power of the staff, three dark spheres, each as big as the average human, began to circle around Xansvita, before they all coalesced just above Xansvita, exploding into an anti-gravity field. Xansvita, as the caster of the spell known as Transcendence, was unaffected by this, but it was an entirely different matter for Richard and Tsunugai. Their path was cut off, and they were thrown in different directions all within the anti-gravity field. At the speeds they were going with prior to the spell's activation, the force that were being thrown around by would not be kind to their bodies. After a few seconds, the spell finished its course, throwing Richard and Tsunugai aside. "Thank you for the warning," he remarked to Richard.

 

Next, he could hear the screaming of a voice - Ed, he remembered. However, the voice didn't seem to be followed up by any further action. Instead, someone far more important stood out to him. The magical girl. The one who killed LERNA. "Lydia," he snarled. Feeling some of his power return to him, Xansvita gathered it once again, but rather than creating another Unversed, he sent it to the other two Metamorphoses, which began to grow in size till they were 3/2 their original size. While the blasts from the pulse cannons had done some damage, their newfound strength restored them to full health, after which they launched streaks of lightning at the pulse cannons.

 

"You're in there, aren't you, Thermopylae?" Xansvita sent the Symphony Master to deal with Lydia, while he stepped inside the ship, while another large Unversed, the Wheel Master, appeared, throwing its namesake at Kratos and trapping the Spartan in between two of the spokes, before pulling the wheel back towards the Unversed. "You know, it truly is a shame we never had a chance to meet you. You and Titanomachia were defeated before we were baptized by LERNA. But there is a key difference here. Titanomachia is dead. You, however, are not. The two people you are now, there must be a part of you that still lives in them. Thermopylae, if you can hear us, return to your destiny. You are a part of LERNA's legacy, just as we are. You must not forget that."

 

Without warning, a beam of golden light pushed Xansvita back out of the Inch of Will, knocking him to the ground. The beam of light continue on its path before turning upwards and back around, but Xansvita rolled to his side before he could be it. Within the light was MirageGaogamon, his claws striking at the "ground". "Ah yes, you're the pet of that little fool that Sora chose as his successor, aren't you? What a waste. He could have chosen anyone in the Counter Corps, but Sora is so insistent on seeing the good in everyone. He-" MirageGaogamon struck Xansvita into the air before using a Full Moon Blaster to propel Xansvita across the length of Betwixt & Between. Before the Familiar had a chance to stand, MirageGaogamon kicked him in the chest, but MirageGaogamon was pushed back by a gust of wind, which gathered into a miniature tornado. MirageGaogamon, however, fought against the pull of the tornado until he was able to spin in the opposite direction, dispelling the tornado.

 

"…Impressive," Xansvita admitted.

 

"Wait until you see the power I gained up on the surface."

 

"Ah yes, but you need Sora's miserable excuse of a successor for that, don't you?"

 

"What are you-" MirageGaogamon was interrupted with an onslaught of shields being fired at him by a couple dozen Buckle Bruisers. He sliced them one by one, but he found that Xansvita was nowhere to be seen. Without a second thought, he ran back to the Inch of Will. However, by now, the smoke that had entered from the first layer had seeped into Betwixt & Between. While MirageGaogamon's armor helped him breathe, it was slowly making it difficult for him to see.

 

 

Eria and Kairi rushed through the structure Inch of Will, until finally, they met up with Arthur and Sliske. "Arthur!" Eria called out.

 

"Eria," Arthur answered, "What's going on?"

 

"And who is-" Kairi was looking at Sliske, but she took notice of Arthur's Keyblade. "Where did you get that?"

 

Arthur looked at Kairi's own Keyblade, but Eria decided to answer for him. "Sora gave it to him."

 

Kairi nodded, but it was apparent that this did not put Kairi at ease. "Well… at least we have another Keyblade wielder on our side. Arthur, right?"

 

"Arthur, listen," Eria begged. "Xansvita's drawn us into some kind of pocket dimension. We have to head outside. Gagagigo's here, and-"

 

"Wait, Gagagigo? He's okay, isn't he?"

 

Eria nodded. "Yes! It's just, of all times…"

 

Arthur turned to Sliske. "Well, your opponent is here. Why don't you help us fix the mess you left?"

 

Sliske raised an eyebrow. "You should know that I could just rip your blood out of your weak little body for that." Arthur didn't react, much to Sliske's disappointment. "Very well, then."

 

 

Soon, the group - and Sliske - had made it out of the ship. Kairi cast Aeroga on all of them, giving them each a wind shield to keep the smoke away. Gagagigo landed on the ground below them, though it seemed as though he had no need for his own shield. He looked back at the group, and when Arthur saw his eyes, he choked a little, thinking back to what happened at the Castle of Necrophades.

 

"I remember you," Gagagigo said, which didn't make Arthur feel any better. "I cannot apologize enough for what Kozaky had me do. I hope that you are fine."

 

Arthur nervously laughed, which made Sliske glare at him. "It's fine," Arthur told Gagagigo.

 

"I forgot to tell you, Gagagigo," Eria added. "Arthur and I… we're… kind of… sort of…"

 

"Dating?" Arthur finished for her. After a moment, Eria nodded.

 

Sliske shook his head, pressing his fingers to his face. "Well good for you."

 

"Come now, Sliske, it's nice to see two people in love." Everyone looked up to see Xansvita, crouched down on the roof of the ship, resting his head in his hand. "After all, it's so fun to clip the wings off of a pair of lovebirds." Xansvita raised up his staff, while a clock appeared over Arthur, Eria, Gagagigo, Kairi, and Sliske. Each and every one of them was frozen in time, unable to move. Xansvita started to gather some energy in his staff, but a card was launched at the head, causing the spell to blow up right in Xansvita's face, knocking him back onto the roof of the Inch of Will.

 

Getting to his feet, Xansvita saw a tall man with white hair and a sleeveless cloak. His right index finger was wagging at Xansvita, its owner chiding the Familiar. "Now, now," Solasiro taunted. "I was the one attacking the little birds flocking to this ship. And if we're going to talk about fun, you should know that a true connoiseur of entertainment is not fond of sharing his toys."

 

"And you are?" Xansvita grabbed the card from his staff, crumpling it, and throwing it to the ground.

 

Solasiro bowed to Xansvita. "Someone who wishes to see how entertaining you can be."

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

Nero<Atop the Inch of Will>, Nero's Darkness<Atop the Inch of Will>

The Keyblade War Hero watched as the events around him unfolded: friends reuniting, Ed turning out to be a phoney then the real Ed showing up, and all manner of people and creatures appeared about the battlefield. Nero tightened the grip on his own keyblade and looked determined at Xansvita. "I've had enough, I'm ending you, right now." Nero ran wildly at Xansvita and he was just about to cut down on him when another keyblade crossed his, a dark keyblade that seemed oh too familiar. Nero jumped back. "Hello, boy." Nero's Darkness said to him, but Nero put his keyblade in a thrusting position and scowled. "Get out of my way!" Nero charged at it but suddenly stopped as his own darkness reached into its suit jacket. "You must have forgotten, who's body I have taken over." Nero's eyes widened as his darkness pulled the familiar looking Ceremonial Revolver from his suit jacket.

 

"Although the Elemental Revolver has been lost with the destruction of the surface, this one is working, quite well in fact." The darkness pointed it at the group and fired. A warrior riding a noble steed appeared in front of the darkness, the horse up on its hind legs, truly a spectacle of a combatant. The warrior then drew a royal blue blade from his side and held it upward in the air. "Charge and attack my summon!" The command was made, the power of the summon was about to take off to attack the group. However, instead of moving toward the group, the mighty blade slashed through the center of Nero's Darkness. "GUAH!" The darkness sounded off as it took the unexpected attack in full, black ooze coated that portion of the ship.

 

The horse then took off sprinting towards the group, he went passed Nero who had been in all at what just happened. He made his way towards Eria's group and the horse reared itself back, it's hooves coming just inches away from the Arthur's head. The warrior jumped off the horse and stabbed his blade into the shell of the Inch of Will. "Don't tell me you've shed any tears from me, girl." The warrior then removed his helmet and let it fall off the Inch of Will into whatever fate might befall it. The snide way of speaking, that blonde hair, those blue eyes; it could have only been...
 

MATTHEW SUPPLEX
AS ODIN

 

Odin turned toward where Nero was, his eyes then went back to where his darkness should have been lying but there was only a pool of ooze to be found. He searched the ship and saw that the darkness was now closer to Xansvita's wall of darkness and absorbing it. "No!" Odin shouted, about to apprehend him but it was far too late. The wall of darkness had absorbed it entirely and what had come out was unreal; Xansvita's power had given the contract demon his original body. It was just a costume though, a show for the masses, for underneath he was nothing but Unversed, a pawn under Xansvita's control. "Come, I want my other half, the other half of my power, give it to me!" The Unversed shouted, many chains of darkness extended from the walls and grabbed Nero before any could interfere. Within seconds, Nero was absorbed by the Unversed, while being turned into one himself, and assimilated into his power. Nero and his darkness might as well have been no more, a mere shadow of this new creature. "You may call me, Ivero(I-ver-o)." The being announced and landed by his master to kneel. "You're bidding, master, please, cast it upon me."

 

Odin easily pulled his blade from the ships outer layer and looked over his shoulder. "We'll discuss after we've burnt the bodies." He announced.

[Phantom Roxas]

[iI-B2 - Betwixt & Between] - Arthur, Sliske, & Solasiro vs. Xansvita

 

The Stopga spell ran its course, freeing everyone from its effects. Unfortunately, it happened at the worst possible time, as Arthur watched as Nero's body was consumed by darkness, resulting in a new creature that bowed to Xansvita.

 

Xansvita looked at his new servant and leaned on his staff, applauding Ivero. "Well now, you are certainly a surprise. Let's see… Your orders are to deal with whoever this is."

 

Solasiro laughed at Xansvita. "So that's how it shall be, is it? Well then, I accept. I'd love to see how your new pet serves you."

 

Arthur climbed up onto the roof, looking up at Ivero. "Damn it, Nero!" he shouted at the Unversed. "You said that we would save Sora. Now… you're like this, too?"

 

"So, you know him," Solasiro said to Arthur. "Then perhaps you would like to deal with him."

 

"Ooh, yes," Xansvita hissed. "The other Keyblade Master, and Sora's successor. We like that. Ivero, change of plans. Squash this bug for us, will you?"

 

MirageGaogamon appeared behind them all, ready to strike at Ivero and Xansvita, but another Unversed appeared, this one resembling a scholar, with a large purple book opened to block MirageGaogamon's claws. The Unversed, known as the Mimic Master, then closed its book, before opening it again shortly after, as MirageGaogamon was pushed back by a great force. Light shined from the book, and from it, a second MirageGaogamon appeared, battling the original.

 

Sliske's five wights appeared, all surrounding Xansvita as Sliske approached Solasiro. "If you wish to stake your claim on these humans, be my guest. I for one have my own score to settle with this whelp."

 

Solasiro said nothing, but he nodded at Sliske before jumping off of the Inch of Will, heading towards Eria.

 

"Stabbing us in the back already, Sliske?" Arthur asked, trying to decide between following after Solasiro and dealing with Ivero.

 

"Please, child," Sliske laughed. "I only agreed to work with you. I care not for your friends."

 

Each of the wights were then knocked off of the ship by the ape-like Unversed known as the Wild Bruisers. There were five of them, each one having tackled a Barrows, bringing them down to the ground. "Sliske, please." Xansvita lunged at Sliske, but the Mahjarrat was fast, sidestepping Xansvita, and even using ice magic to blast at the Familiar. "It's good to see that you can fight on your own!"

 

"Yes," Sliske agreed. "But it's far more fun to watch my Barrows destroy other people for me."

 

"Then you should pray that they last long."

 

"A god has no need to pray."

[Kōsuke Ueki]

Tsunugai & Richard

 

The sudden blast of gravity couldn't have been avoided. However...

 

As fast as they were knocked out of their loop, the two warriors jutted out of their launch and moving ever closer to Xansvita. But this time, he will not escape.

 

Moving even faster than previously, Tsunugai and Richard slow down time around them and Xansvita the second they get close enough. Xansvita can only move his eyes and hear in normal time, as the rest of his body is stuck in slowed time. But with that, Tsunugai spoke in normal time in the slowed seconds before Tsunugai and Richard attacks. "Let's try that again..." Time immediately sped up to normal once again and, and just before anything could be done in retaliation, Richard, Tsunugai, and Xansvita were all encompassed by a large ball of light, sending the three into an alternate plane:

 

Tsunugai's Perception

 

Unlike the previous encounter, the plane appeared different. It definitely still resembled the Desert Seth, but the sand was that of a silver-like gray, and the sky was a golden yellow. The wind blew constantly without stopping. The two warriors, reverted to normal for a moment, stood in front of Xansvita, in which formed a triangle in the stand-off. "Do not assume that the same result will happen twice. You will receive no mercy from either of us. This time, I shall finish what I started before your precious Witch's destruction interrupted  us."

 

With those words, the two warriors transformed once more, and immediately after, lightning proceeded to strike Xansvita from above, along with a fire pillar underneath his feet...

 

(Current Location: Layer II-B2)

[Dad]

Betwixt and Between

 

Kratos watched the events before him unfold, but remained on on his knees.  Black Dynamite's lifeless body lie there limbless, and his head smeared into the void ground.  Shamelessly, he picked up what remained of his fallen comrade and carried it back inside the Inch of Will in both arms.  Laying Black Dynamite's body into the cargo bay, Kratos drew a long breath, before sighing heavily.  His tears gone, his comrade slain, he turned his attention outside the ship where Richard and one called Tsunugai did battle with a man who's name he'd already forgotten.  He appeared to be a type of god, like most other foes of the Counter Corps, but not as predictable.  Judging by his reactions to what was happening around him, he was quick witted at least.  Richard and Tsunugai continued their assault on Xansvita, while magical creatures Kratos didn't recognize, these ape like creatures, fought atop the Inch of Will, taking down other familiars to the ground.  Kratos jumped to the top of the ship where Arthur was already waiting, arguing with one he called Sliske.

 

Something about Arthur drew Kratos' attention.  A vague familiarity, but it would be due some other time.  Drawing his blades, Kratos prepared to aid Arthur, without a word.  Drawing out souls from the Claws of Hades, he called upon the Chimera, the Centaur, and the Cyclops to his side to battle with the Unversed apes that stood below them, locked in combat with the Barrows.