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

[Phantom Roxas]

Arthur, Eria, MachGaogamon, Gagagigo, & Megiddo

"What do you want with me?" Eria asked.

"Usually for you, nothing particular," Megiddo answered. "However, Ophelia brought my favorite l'Cie back, and I am grateful for that. His origin as a Dark Signer made him a reasonable choice to fight you. However, that other Dark Signer, Otto, Sent him, as well as his Earthbound Immortal. That beast was originally created by consuming hundreds of souls. However, given how it was a Sending that silenced Ccoshobar, I highly doubt that the souls moved onto the afterlife of their home universe. They belong to the Farplane now."

"That's not what she was asking," Arthur pointed out.

"I will get to that. Eria, what I require from you is to follow me to a world of my design. I will bring you to your counterpart there, the one that Solasiro alluded to. Upon meeting her, I shall fuse both of you together, and create a new Eria, one who shares everything about you. Your memories, your experiences, your minds, that which defines you both will become one."

Eria shook her head. "Why? If she's just me from another universe, then isn't she just a different person? Why do I have to fuse with her?"

"Because the universes should not be separate. Each action you make, even the most insignificant step you take, causes a new reality to form. The paths you forge grow more and more distant. I would see them cross back together. No alternates. No worlds that are decided what questions like 'What if?' Just a single world. Where all of creation is gathered together. I wish for you to fuse with your counterpart so that neither of you are redundant. By becoming one, only then will you be a unique being. One cannot truly be called 'unique' if they can be so easily defined as a counterpart to another."

"You're insane!" Eria protested.

"'Curious.' I prefer 'curious'."

"And what if I refuse?"

"The brand will ensure that you do not, lest you face the consequences."

"What are they?"

"You will slowly succumb to a fate that befalls all l'Cie who fail to complete their Focus. You will lose your humanity, your sense of self, and became a monster known as a Cie'th. The only thought you will have from then on is a prayer for a swift yet merciful end to the pitiful existence that you will have."

Eria looked at her hand, seeing the brand shine a bit, energy pulsating through her hand. "Those can't be the only options."

"Unfortunately for you, they are. Looking at the other people in this fragmented realm, I see others that I would be happy to brand."

Eria stepped forward in front of Arthur. "Don't even think about it. I won't let Arthur, or anyone else here be forced to do whatever you want."

"Worry not," Megiddo said. "You are the only one who is being 'forced' to serve as my l'Cie. I will give others a choice. However, as Solasiro was summoned to be your opponent, I merely decided that you would be a l'Cie, regardless of your personal feelings on the matter. I will not leave here without having at least one new l'Cie, and I don't need anyone's permission to have my mistress brand you anyway, as it is merely a courtesy that I would offer on a whim. Turning you into my l'Cie assures me that following you all here was not a waste of my time, and that Solasiro's role is not left unfulfilled."

"Are you saying it's my fault that you decided to give me this?!"

"As I said, your personal feelings are irrelevant here. Perhaps you would be satisfied if I offered you a choice for more gifts?"

"Do you honestly think I'd believe you? After you just admitted that you chose me to be your slave just because you felt like it?"

"I would have made any one person involved here my slave. Would you rather that I have done so to someone else? Perhaps one of the Divine, as they are your opponents? Or Ophelia, for while Solasiro was chosen to fight you, it was she who chose him to begin with?"

Arthur raised his Keyblade to MachGaogamon, commanding his partner to Digivolve to MirageGaogamon. The beam of light that signified the Digivolution shone a few moments, before MirageGaogamon began to swipe at Megiddo with his claws. Megiddo blocked one of the set of claws with his right arm, but MirageGaogamon struck at him with the other set. Moving his free hand to the direction the claw was coming from, a wall of black energy appeared beside him, blocking the claws, before more energy fired from his arm, pushing him back away from MirageGaogamon, while MirageGaogamon jumped back.

Megiddo held the black energy in his hands, and sighed in disappointment. "I am offering you an opportunity, Water Charmer," he said. "Are there not times when you are angry with who you are? I could concede that I understood you when you described your branding as 'slavery'. Indeed, it is a common practice to make a person that has become your property. However, that is not what you are. I do not see you as 'property' of any kind. You do not belong to me, and I am not asking you to forfeit your identity, but simply to improve it. I cannot ask you to forfeit your identity, as I cannot honestly say that you have any, only a fragment of one. An ingredient in a recipe for the most perfect being you can be. Every version of you, everyone version of all who are in this realm, are imperfect. Scattered about when even the simplest decision changed the entire direction of your universe. There are people you have not met, and shall never meet, who will not change who you are. But consider this, Water Charmer. Decisions can and do change your very existence. There are worlds out there where your parents did not meet, or have you, and beyond that, there would be worlds where either of their parents did not meet, and as such, it would have been impossible for you to have been born. The more the worlds there are, the more possibilities there are. And just as there are endless possibilities for you to be different, there are also endless possibilities that you just simply would not be."

"MirageGaogamon, don't stop!" Arthur ordered. "Eria, go and fight along with the others and take down that monster. We'll take care of him."

Megiddo chuckled. "Then again, this perhaps would be the only possibility where the two of you could meet. I wonder, what kind of child would you two have?" Within seconds, Arthur's Keyblade was held right against Megiddo's throat. Arthur's eyes were illuminated like the sun, and Megiddo laughed, grabbing Arthur's wrist, and squeezing. Arthur was forced down to his knees as he let go of the Keyblade. "The love you humans have for each other is so embarrassing. You value compassion, wasting time that could be spent on obtaining your absolutes." MirageGaogamon appeared behind Megiddo, but the dark energy solidified behind him. "Among my fellow fal'Cie, I am one of the strongest. Unlike most of them, I can control the power of Chaos!" The ground beneath Megiddo crumbled as the fal'Cie began to float upwards. Megiddo kept holding Arthur by the same hand, while rubble fell down into nothingness. "Perhaps I can coerce you by other means, Water Charmer. Agree to seek out your counterpart, and I will reward you by sparing your lover's life, and granting you items that will assist you in properly wielding the Egyptian God cards. Perhaps, I may even return an ally you lost back at that planetoid." Arthur looked down at the abyss below him, while MirageGaogamon kept trying to break through Megiddo's wall of Chaos. Gagagigo tried to attack Megiddo as well, but the Chaos extended to protect Megiddo from the front as well. Eria watched as Megiddo slowly loosened his grip, while the brand began to burn at her palm. "I would absolutely hate it if you needed to lose an ally instead, though. Especially one that is oh so dear to you. Now, Water Charmer. This is what happens when I give people a choice. I often find that people make the one that they will regret less. The only question is, what choice would that be for you?"

[Kōsuke Ueki]

The Inner Periphery

 

One thing after another, things have gone awry far more than anyone can comprehend...

 

The 4 warriors, Richard, Tsunugai, Maxwell, and Kurai, all saw without a doubt their most treacherous memories. The fact that the sudden spike of these nightmares came up so quick didn't make it any better. And although the four had their reactions to what they are reliving, they won't let their failures define them.

 

Kurai said nothing, but Maxwell was quick to react to the reliving of his ally's death. "No, I won't allow this to become my permanent future! I WILL fight for what I've lost!"

 

Richard felt indifferent in regards to what had happened to him in his past. "I've lived long enough to know that wallowing in my pain will get me nowhere. Vengeance is eternal and will never be satisfied, no matter how far you are willing to go."

 

Tsunugai was the most effected. Facing his inner demons was more than he could ever imagine. "This will not phase me anymore. I've learned from the despair put onto me, and I will not succumb to my past!"

 

Richard Mason

 

Then, Richard saw it.

 

Isamy turned to dust, her existence no longer detectable. Her aura was gone...

 

One thing after another, things became more complicated as time went on.

 

Next thing the 4 knew, the Inner Periphery cracked and cracked until there was nothing left, and was replaced with a world and a being who has made its nonexistence known...

 

The Rejected World

 

Without a second thought, Richard descended onto the thin plane that separates him from oblivion. From there, he began to walk slowly to the one enemy that stood in our way for the longest time, not even considering holding back his words...

 

"To think a Reyvateil Origin is capable of doing all this." he began towards Ophelia.

 

"​You may be wondering as to how I know what you are, or you might not even care. But I'm sure that you know who I am, but it means little to you. However, what you don't know, is how far I've come, to do what I am about to do right now." Entering Redemption Mode, he proceeded to explain what had become of him all this time. "Perhaps I shall make it known to you..."

 

Thieves Guild, Noirlune

 

The day that the Multiverse begun to destroy itself, the Counter Guardian Emiya had come to me for recruitment.

 

Richard was surprised that the ten-thousand karat ruby was not in the little girl's possession. If it's not with here, than was Lady Azami lying? Or did she merely assume that this was the case? Who knows? Maybe this little girl did have it, but lost it, like how certain creatures who have become shadows of their former selves become tainted by the powers of an artifact that can supposedly be used to rule all, and then become obsessed with getting it back at all costs. Regardless, there was nothing more to this, and he had to look somewhere else now.

 

However, he had felt a presence behind him almost instantly. "Who are you, and speak quickly before I strike you down." The warrior was in an odd attire, mainly in red. "You are Richard Mason, right?" Richard then turned towards the man. "What if I am?"

 

The red-clad warrior just stood there for a few seconds. "You might not believe this, but your world is at risk." Richard sighed. "And you have come to me for assistance...?" "​That is right. I am Emiya, a Counter Guardian. I am not of this world. In fact, I am only how you see me because I have taken the form of this fallen warrior, and became a Guardian of the Multiverse."

 

Richard raised an eyebrow. "The Multiverse?" Emiya sighed, for he expected for Richard to question his words. "Your world isn't the only one in danger. It appears that every universe is effected by the disruption in the flow of time. You were not meant to meet this girl without the ruby in her hand. In fact, the ruby you are looking for is no longer in this world." Richard then saw what was supposed to happen. He was supposed to take the ruby, and somehow create an illusion copy of it to keep the little girl satisfied.

 

Emiya noticed the look on his face. "I see you've been given what the time flow was meant to do for you. Now, will you join the Counter Corps and return your world and every other to the way it was?" Richard's eyes were closed the whole time. Emiya was confused. He thought Richard had fallen asleep. But before he could say anything, Richard spoke again. "And what if I don't?"

 

"I won't force you to make this decision, nor will I judge you if you choose to join Isamy..." Richard raised an eyebrow again. "I'm assuming she is the one against your so-called Counter Corps?" Emiya sighed in annoyance. "Look, there is far more to this than you can ever hope to imagine, so I suggest you make a decision." Richard groaned, his eyes glowing. "Then I'll make myself known to what it is you are trying to explain to me..."

 

At this point in time, Richard had activated his Redemption Mode, revealing the necessary information in regards to the mission of the Counter Corps, which is to find this...Door of Origin...and use it to return the multiverse to its normal state before times became messed up, and to prevent an opposing group known as the Divine to use the Door to become gods and gain control of everything. Richard then proceeded with sending a message within Emiya's mind, in which was the perfect plan, in theory.

 

"Now that I know as to what is going on, allow me to offer you something: I shall deny your request on purpose. This 'Isamy' will soon come to me after you leave, yes? Well, I will join this 'Divine' in an attempt to destroy it from the inside. From there, I will attempt to slowly gain allies from your 'Counter Corps', and rise through the ranks until the job is done..."

 

Emiya had no words towards this plan. He was in full circle, albeit with doubt of this plan succeeding. With a single nod, Emiya walked away, disappearing out of thin air while cut off from Richard's sight. Richard tried to follow where he was going, but he was already gone. It was then he felt another presence. It was in fact a woman in sorceress attire. "How ironic that this has happened?"

 

Richard merely sighed before asking, "I take it that you are Isamy?" Isamy didn't expect Richard to know who she was. But it didn't matter. "I don't know how you-" "Spare me..." This shocked Isamy, and annoyed her slightly that he would dare speak to her in such a manner. "I know who you are and your intentions. And I have only one thing to say: I shall join this...'Divine', in an attempt to undo what has become of me. I'm willing to use these abilities only once in reality, as I don't deserve to wield this power."

 

Isamy, like Emiya, said nothing. Whatever... she thought, proceeding to take him along to her castle through her means of travel...

 

My plan had worked. She was unaware of my intentions, for I knew that time sorceress could not enter my mind with the power I possessed. However, like all plans, none are perfect, and are bound to fail if something doesn't work to what you had hoped.

 

Shadow Realm

 

The Shadow Realm was collapsing, and Richard had to do something. His plan had gone to whatever afterlife that could even be considered, and he had to do something. He didn't have enough time to return to Isamy's Castle, even with the powers he had at his disposal. He had only one option left: Face oblivion and hope for a miracle. With that, he entered Redemption Mode, encasing himself in a protective sphere, and ascended into the unknown, in which his fate would be eternal oblivion...

 

For the longest time, I thought I was finished. My plan had failed miserably, and I did not believe my power was sufficient to enter another universe. There was nothing I could do. Then, a miracle came to me...

 

Unknown

 

All Richard could see was complete darkness. His only light source was himself. He flew threw the darkness for a while, not knowing of his fate. He thought he would come across something that might help him. But he found nothing. He grew frustrated. Frustration then turned to anger. Anger turned to Rage. And rage turned into fury. And by using all of his power at once, he did't care what would happen.

 

Using all of his power at once in a fit of rage, an ever-expanding sphere of white light glowed brightly in the infinite darkness...

 

When his power was exhausted, Richard had returned to human form, breathing heavily after letting all his anger out. For a whole minute, he reflected on his failures, not even acknowledging the good things he has done. It didn't matter what he thought, he had all of eternity to figure out all that he could have done, and determine what he has learned. But then, he heard something...

 

In the vast emptiness, the sound of a crack in the emptiness broke the ultimate silence, until a being larger than Lath itself appeared before him, the pure darkness replaced with what appeared to be a clear blue and purplish sky.

 

Then again, what he saw was in fact the most he can comprehend. Anything else would be too much for his human mind to handle.

 

But at the same time, he could not describe what he was seeing. His description would be nothing to what this being truly is.

 

I did not know what was to become of me. I did not know what this being was. It was then that it had done something to me. I was given the knowledge of all universes whom had ones with their original memories, and were aware of the disruption of time. It was on that day, that I...had become a Champion of the Estrelas...

 

The Rejected World

 

When Richard had finished, he turned his attention back to Ophelia, drawing his sword almost immediately after.

 

"From there, I learned of one who can redeem himself and fight for his world back. I also learned that the one known as Butler was able to enter Isamy's Vault, in which carries all of the things that have been taken from our world. That's right: Isamy stole what belonged to our respective universe. The Divine had every reason to not trust her, but that doesn't matter now. The Counter Guardians are there to defend the Multiverse whenever threatened, but when they begin to struggle, one shall be sent by one of the Estrelas themselves to support the Counter Guardians in their battles to defend the Multiverse. And that someone...is me..."

 

Richard then lowered his sword, and slowly began to walk to Ophelia, determination within his very tone. He was done playing games. The time to be serious was now, and one way or another, the Multiverse will return to what it once was. "Understand this, Reyvateil Origin: Your pawns have failed you, so whatever you have planned now with this abomination of nonexistence that was once Madara Uchiha, I will make sure that you will not follow suit with our destruction. You will fail, you will never be given the satisfaction of completing your mission, and you will truly know the meaning of fear..."

 

(Current Location: The Rejected World)

[Love of Ghibli]

The Rejected World

 

Butlerok's Mad Blood experiment was definitely not a 100% success, but it did do its job. For the mere seconds that the Madara creature was incased in the Mad Blood Butlerok tried his hardest to to actually assimilate the creature whole. For a true millisecond the entities that made up Butlerok actually thought that they had a chance of actually pulling it off. Needless to say reality set in. "The Madara" had somehow fully adapted to the properties of Mad Blood and replied with its own iteration of the super liquid. Butler couldn't have helped but been impressed by this creatures adaptability. As "The Madara" broke out of its make shift prison it them went on with the counter attack in which he imprisoned Butlerok in his own technique. For a second he just seemed to be floating the nothingness that was the Madara Blood. 

 

Hehe it's empty. Butler said in an oddly relaxed manner

Ha ain't about this "Mad Blood" life. Ragnarok added.
Interesting he has high adaptability, but he cannot replicate the true effects. He has technique, but no depth. Genryuusai finally commented.

One who is lost cannot be a guide to others. The madness, the insanity, the sheer ability to feel is lost to him. He is searching and I think we have failed to retain his attention. 
That is for the better we do not need any unwanted attention anyway. Use this opportunity to see the strengths of your allies.
 

Butler and Ragnarok both looked at each other and then snickered. They both knew that Genryuusai meant to use the Alpha Stigma to observe the potential magic of the Counter Corp members. This was solely so that they would be used as valuable combat information to be used in the future. It was quite obvious that Genryuusai was descending into madness. Slowly he was become a more and more malevolent as the Mad Blood was being used meaning his Zanpaktou will soon be on the same wavelength as the rest of Ragnarok's collection. 
 

It was another minute that Butlerok noticed how this incomplete shell was shattering. Someone had simply stuck their hand through it and the "Madara Blood" was no more. Butlerok looked on at his new savior and he noticed that it was the lord of the dead himself, Hades-sama. Well that was harmless enough. Hades said in a very nonchalant manner. Didn't appear to suffer any damage to find out about its adaptability. He's seems to be able to copy abilities in some fashion, but on a much more grander scale. You are correct Hades, but that was only the secondary goal. While the Mad Blood doesn't effect him in any emotional standpoint it does seem like he didn't bother with actually cleaning himself of the vast stains of the Mad Blood. This will be useful later. Now let us see how far force is going to get us. 

 

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

 

A myriad of emotions danced in Radamanthys' head as he witnessed his frenemy land right next to him. Radamanthys snarled at the pet as it gave him some kind of attitude. The massive spectre looked at Kratos' and one could see the immense bloodlust waft over him. The need, the thirst, the base desire to conquer were all raging for proper conquest. The chance to challenge a warrior was once again right in front of him. The ultimate feast was once again right in front of him. BUT WHY CAN HE NOT PARTAKE? The obvious rude creature with an oversized blade that had made a previous attempt at Kratos' life. Radamanthys heard Kratos' words but the answer did not need to be stated. Of course he would assist. Kratos' life belongs to Radamanthys, no other death will be acceptable. 

From what Radamanthys could gleam Kratos was probably going to use that horrifically powerful blade that Radamanthys found himself vanquished by. Using the strength of the Gods again? Radamanthys asked with an evil smirk. I may not know your method. Just tell me where to aim.

 

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

 

Dorian had understood the plan that everyone had to deal with on the Team Dorian end. That being said he was slightly relieved that Kratos' showed up. It made Radamanthys' job less stressful.  He took a deep exhale and immediately flew away from the scene and put some distance between himself and "The Madara." Dorian, like others apparently was going to fight (or attempt to fight in his case) a different person than the massive centaur. Dorian made a beeline towards Lady Ophelia herself. Whether or not she was still locked in despair after watching her grand nuke plan fail was unknown, but that was besides the point. 

He landed in front of her and his eyes were clearly in his Cosmos ladened state. His body was loosely surround with feint embers of corona. He looked at Ophelia and waved ever so slightly. It looks like I get to be your dance partner if you will have me, Dorian said in a very polite manner. He flicked his hand upward and with that Ophelia would find herself caught in the hopefully unbearable heat known as a coronal hole then Dorian followed up with his version of a stellar wind.

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

Sephiroth<The Rjected World>

Sephiroth had observed as the ball that the other fighters had been dealing with seemed to form into a different shape; it seemed to take the form of a creature that was half horse and half human with the entire construct being made of some sort of energy. But The One-Winged Angel could sense something else from this creature entirely. "Your darkness is minimal, quite faint actually, and yet here you are causing chaos..." Sephiroth floated on towards the creature while he was talking. "In this existence that has become ours I have met and observed many warriors, all of them had something they could cling to..." Sephiroth had seemed to have flown into the path of the creature's downward sword strike that was originally intended for Kratos. "But you..." With a swing of his Masamune his blade collided with that of the creatures, causing a great surge of power throughout The Rejected World and a great ringing sound in the air as Sephiroth had deflected the creature's attack.

 

"You have nothing to cling to, your existence is hanging by a thread and as of right now you are a mere inanimate object with almost no will to speak of." Sephiroth paused for a moment to observe the creature, still just standing there, it was questionable if it had even been listening to the words of the being that stood before it. "You are, as it stands now, just a mere tool and an empty shell that could never hope to have anything inside of it; any hope you have of filling your worthless shell shall be silenced by me. You only attack us now, creature, because you think that is what you are supposed to do, that is your job, your duty..."  Sephiroth's very life had flashed before his eyes in the next moment, everything he had ever done up to this point and every word he had ever spoken had echoed throughout his mind in that one precise moment. Sephiroth closed his eyes and smirked at the creature while making a subtle hmph. "It is, your purpose." It had been amusing that he himself would use that word against anything or anyone else.

 

 

Ivero<The Rejected World>

 

The surface of the world started pooling black and bubbling ooze, ooze that could only be Ivero's liquid darkness. Several pools had appeared but none would produce the last remnant of Xansvita's legacy. No, for the last remnant had always been with the Counter corps, hiding in the cracks of darkness that had been inside the Inc of will and thus he appeared on top of the great ship. "And here is where I shall recreate him." That voice of his would surely get the attention of at least the Keyblade Warriors, as it had been the only attention he wanted. "The keyblade warriors had defeated my master from the inside out, but if I were to turn them into Unversed now, I could create a new  Xansvita that could pick up where my master had left off. After I give him rebirth, he shall take the key fro himself and fulfill all his wishes. Then it will be as it should be, his plans can continue and I will gain the everlasting reward of having been able to serve him. " Ivero raised his hand to the hood of his cloak and pushed it back, revealing the face of Nero with regular features. He looked down at all of the Keyblade Warriors at first, but then he looked directly into Sora's eyes and gave him a smirk. With the voice of Nero the Unversed simply stated: "You may surrender, now."

 

Odin<The Rejected World>

 

Odin had only just made his way off the Inch of Will when Megiddo appeared before Eria and had started talking to her. It seemed harmless enough but then things escalated when MirageGaogamon had attempted to attack Megiddo and then Arthur stepped in to but was easily stopped. Arthur had been raised high in the air by Megiddo and threatened Eria, with Gagagigo's attack also being blocked by his chaos. Odin decided it was time for him to step in and started running towards the conflict but then stopped as he heard the words coming out of Ivero's mouth. He turned around to look at him wielding the face of Nero. Then there was The Madara itself, Odin had little choice but to wait and see how the others might react, but he kept himself on-guard in case Megiddo decided to drop Arthur.

[Phantom Roxas]

Arthur, Eria, MirageGaogamon, Gagagigo, & Megiddo

 

"Let go him!" Eria pleaded.

 

"Do you agree to serve me?" Megiddo asked.

 

Eria stood silent, but Arthur spoke out, struggling to hold onto Megiddo's grip. "Just run, Eria!"

 

"I'm not leaving without you!" Eria drew out Obelisk's card. "Obelisk, I beg of you! Save Arthur!" The Egyptian God appeared, his shadow dwarfing everyone in the area. The Egyptian God himself was about half as tall as the giant centaur that had created the Rejected World, and he was focusing all of his attention on Megiddo.

 

"Well then," Megiddo said. "So that's what your choice is. A pitiful waste, then."

 

Megiddo let go, allowing Arthur to fall. However, seconds before Arthur fell into oblivion, a red hand appeared below him, catching him. Arthur sat up, looking back as he saw the hand connected to a red arm, its skin growing more transparent the further along it went, leading to the water that Eria was controlling. Eria pulled the arm back, and Arthur walked back onto the ground, holding his right hand, but managing to walk back to Eria. "Thanks."

 

"Recreating parts of Slifer's form, are you?" Megiddo asked. "I see I made the right choice after all." Megiddo broke through his Chaos wall and dived towards Arthur. "But using it to protect him is a waste." Megiddo drew the Chaos behind him, but before he could do anything with it, the Obelisk's blue fist drove towards him in an uppercut motion, knocking Megiddo upwards, with MirageGaogamon firing a Full Moon Blaster to push Megiddo right towards Obelisk, who followed up by raising his arm up and lowering his elbow right on Megiddo. Unfortunately, before he could hit the ground, he used the Chaos to create a platform for him to land on instead, but he did not have even a moment's reprieve before Obelisk kicked him. Megiddo was set on a path through the air, and MirageGaogamon and Gagagigo appeared on opposite sides of him. MirageGaogamon impaled him with his claws, while Gagagigo roundhouse kicked him in the head. In spite of the attempt, though, Megiddo's head stayed intact, but MirageGaogamon's claws had succeeded in running him through, one in each arm, and the middle through Megiddo's back. "You wretched beast!" Megiddo snarled. "Stand aside!"

 

"Not until I know for a fact that you're dead" MirageGaogamon began to prepare another Full Moon Blaster, but Megiddo used his Chaos to cut off MirageGaogamon's claws. Megiddo focused the Chaos to force the claws out of his body, and he sighed in relief. MirageGaogamon let the Full Moon Blaster loose, but Megiddo simply flew to the side, the blast harmlessly shooting off into the distance, hitting nothing and no one before fading away.

 

"That. Hurt."

 

"And I'm sure this will, too!" Obelisk grabbed at Megiddo, but his hand simply went right through him.

 

"My business is done here," Megiddo said as he began to disappear. "I will have you serve me, Water Charmer, one way or another. Perhaps, others will as well." Many teal spheres appeared Megiddo before launching off all across the Rejected World. "I must have more l'Cie. More people who will assure that I can populate my perfect world with perfect beings."

 

"So you're just going to run away?" Eria asked.

 

"I am afraid that I must. However, I suppose I may give you the other gifts I spoke of for forcing me to leave."

 

"I already told you, I won't take anything you have!"

 

"Then go that aircraft. I will leave you to decide if they are better than that brand."

 

Eria looked at the Inch of Will, then to the people who were all joining in the battle against the Madara. "Obelisk," she said to the Egyptian God. "Go help the Counter Corps."

 

"You are not seriously considering that this fool will actually be helping you."

 

"You said you would bring back one of my friends. Who is it?"

 

"I will leave you to find out for yourself. Worry not, though. They are not branded, and I have done nothing to them beyond bringing them to you. That is all I can say, though. Go and help your precious Counter Corps. There is work to do."

 

Megiddo vanished, leaving the group to fight the Madara. MirageGaogamon and Gagagigo stood beside Arthur and Eria, while Obelisk went directly towards the Madara.

 

"I'm going to kill him." Arthur tried to call for his Keyblade, but his hand seared with pain. He tried to rub his hand to ease it, but it was only making the pain worse.

 

"We'll tell Arthuria about him," Eria said. "People like him can stop Megiddo. I hate it say it, though, but we have to ignore him. For now."

 

Arthur watched as Obelisk confronted the Madara. The Egyptian God was just as a tall as one of the centaur's legs. "You think we can take that?"

 

"Do you think we can take Megiddo, either? He was blocking just about everything! You would have died if I didn't save you, or if Obelisk, Gagagigo, or MirageGaogamon didn't hold him back!"

 

Taking his left hand off of his right, Arthur managed to call his Keyblade. "How did I do it?"

 

"What?"

 

"How did I defeat Apocrypha?"

 

"Because you've changed. You're not the kind of man that it said you were."

 

"And I had you and MirageGaogamon. Both of you are the people I need. We may not be able to defeat that sun monster, but… No, wait."

 

"What's going on?"

 

"The sun. My father, Apollo. He's the god of the sun. Maybe… Maybe I can try something."

 

"Arthur, don't be ridiculous! Just because your father is the sun god doesn't mean you can take him all out on your own!"

 

"I know that! Then… maybe, maybe we should try something else."

 

"Ophelia?"

 

"Yes. She's the one we came here to fight. Even if we can't beat that monster, we can try to beat her. At the very least, she's not a giant monster like that thing, or LERNA."

 

"Neither is Megiddo, though."

 

"I know, and we don't really know much about what Ophelia can do."

 

"She killed Isamy, though, didn't she? If she could do that… who knows what she could do?"

 

"Judging by how proud of herself was Isamy was, and considering the fact that she was leading the Divine in the first place, I think that Isamy could have taken on this thing, but even if she couldn't, then what about Ophelia? If Ophelia could kill Isamy, why hasn't she tried anything against this monster?"

 

"Maybe she can't right now? Whatever she did to Isamy, maybe she can't do that to this thing?"

 

"Either that or she used it up and can't do it again. At least, not right now."

 

"Arthur, you're trying to make sense of so many things we don't really know."

 

"But we should at least know that, if Ophelia could do something, she would have tried it by now. We have to attack her while we have the chance."

 

"What if she wants to take down the centaur, too, though? Maybe we could have her help us?"

 

"I doubt that that would end well. Even if we did have her help us, what's to stop her from turning on us and going back to trying to kill us?"

 

"Good point. Then, let's just go after Ophelia, and then take down that monster."

 

"Agreed."

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

Ivero<The Rejected World>

 

He had been laughing to himself as the only thing onlookers could do was to look at him, some didn't know how to act and some were just tired of Ivero's s*it. The eyes, Nero's eyes, scanned The Rejected World until he came upon Eria, the simple maiden of all things water. "I really must thank you, Water Charmer." The voice of Nero boomed in to the heads of all present, an ability most likely obtained after Ivero became a familiar.  "For if you had heeded my warning, I might not exist today in present form." Ivero raised his hand and snapped his fingers nonchalantly. "But, I digress." He said, and then the pools of darkness started bubbling madly until they bubbled over and started making shapes and forms.

 

It came swift and powerfully, that first form that was gunning straight for Arthur, it was a mighty beast that could have rivaled any other Unversed the warriors have faced thus far. With a fierce roar it went to chomp down at Arthur and consume him, the creature had been much too fast as its mouth chomped down and shattered pieces of the world off. However, luckily, Arthur hadn't been there to be eaten; he was currently on the back of a horse, specifically Sleipnir, Odin's horse. The beast spat out pieces of the world and continued to track Arthur, at this point, Sleipnir had stopped and left it to Arthur to decided what to do.

 

^Mini-Boss Fight: Oozetooth^

 

Another shape had come, quick as the first, but running on six limbs; with its seventh, the tail, it quickly swept the female Keyblade Warriors from the group. Once they had been properly separated, the beast stood on its two hind legs with its two pairs of eyes looking the women. In each hand it spawned a different weapon: spear, sword, mace, and crossbow. With both of its heads it charged two elements, one of fire and one of wind, and spewed flames on the ground in front of it but not at the women. Once the ground was on fire it blew a huge gust of wind to push the flames and make them bigger and more ferocious as they rushed straight towards the female wielders.

 

^Mini-Boss Fight: Double Master^

 

It seemed the monsters were at an end and the other Keyblade wielders were free to help their friends, but when things are bad they have a knack for getting much worse. For now the low sound of the growling could be heard, and from the darkness they came surrounding Roxas, jaws dripping saliva and legs ready to pounce. And so, as they were ready to do so, they pounced on Roxas, each from a different direction and hoping to dig into his skin. Their draws were glowing three different colors, three kinds of poison, perhaps...

 

^Mini-Boss Fight: Shadow Pack^

 

Then there left Sora, probably aching with the need to help and save his fellow wielders, but there would be something planned for him too. As now there was a colossal figure standing up from behind the Inch of Will, its one red eye shined on at Sora as one leg came over the ship and landed and another followed. Next its hands went straight for Sora, trying to pick him up to crush him in its mighty grip. The size of the beast was giant, but not as big as Obelisk.

 

^Mini-Boss Fight: Colossus of the Shadow^

 

Odin<The Rejected World>

 

"Your souls will be as good as mine in no-time at all, then Xansvita will-" "Argggghhh!" Ivero had been cut short, as he had to summon up his keyblade, The Darknes Within, to deflect the strike from Odin's Zantetsuken. "My my, what have we here, some fool who died and was spawned again as an even bigger fool?" The words stung for a moment, because they came in the voice of Nero, but Odin shook it of quickly and raised his blade so that he might charged at Ivero again. "I'm sorry, Nero, but you've become a problem." Odin ran towards him and swung but Ivero was quick with the block and then a counter strike which Odin had to jump back to avoid. "Well, this has been fun, but I do have other matters to attend to." Three suits of pitch black armor were summoned in front of Ivero with shields and swords, ready to do combat, yet they seemed to be empty. Nine more were summoned just like it about the Inch of Will and started to steadily police the area.

 

Ivero himself had started to fade into the shadows cast by the armors he had just created. "Goodbye now, Matthew." Ivero said, just before disappearing completely. He then appeared near Ophelia so that he could question her and intimidate her. "You shall surrender the key to me now, if not, you shall face utter destruction at my hand." He looked about at the other warriors who seemed to want to confront Ophelia. "Or, perhaps, one of their's, and I'll just watch and when you're defeat, snatch up the key for myself." Ivero said, not realizing that the key was no-longer within Ophelia's grasp.

[Reinforce]

The Rejected World

 

After appearing in the desolate looking world, Ayame stumbled as inside her head, the remnants had to focus on keeping control of the body. The situation was only aggravated for them when a bolt of lightning that should have struck just in front of Ayame came down right on top of her, sending a surge of lightning through her body that she instinctively converted to energy. Inside her mindscape, currently taking the form of the Shadow Realm, the bolt of lightning seemed to manifest and strike down directly onto the block of black shadows that had been holding Ayame, cracking it and allowing her to get out of the bindings she had been constrained in. Taking action immediately, Ayame dashed forward towards the shadowy forms that had been holding her prisoner, lightning crackling around her body and jumping forward with her to strike at them. Immediately abandoning any attempts to actually fight externally so they could concentrate on the battle inside, the shadows rose up around her to try and strike at her, only for lots of them to be struck down by the lightning manifesting around her body. Back in the outside world, Ayame collapsed to her knees, the demonic changes receding back to reveal her original form crouched on the ground, eyes flickering rapidly between her original dark green and the sickly yellow of her demonic side as she fought against the forces possessing her.

[The Warden]

|_)Magical Girl Lydia(_|

 

Well, all this happened. Everyone was getting into battle, and some annoying jabroni was being ominous on top of the ship, and he looked like whatever that Xansvita creep had created. But really, he wasn't important Lydia thought as she tried to grip the winds. However, there wasn't much air to grasp, which was vexing. She glanced to her tome, which had clearly been following her the entire time and I just hadn't mentioned it at all. Its pages flipped open to a very nice height so she could sit on it.

 

It took off, with Lydia blatantly ignoring the annoyance of Ivero and whatever Richard was talking about. No, the Madara was her focus. She clung to the book tight as she dodged past the attacks that were flying at the Madara. As such she climbed higher until she was eye level to the Madara, and christ he was big. Not as big as LERNA, so he had less of an intimidation factor at least.

 

Staring the beast straight in the eyes,, she declare in a loud voice: "Uhhh, hi there. Can we talk?"

 

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

 

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

 

...did, did that just happen? Isamy crumbled to dust literally before their eyes, but due to Frankram's intention of ceceding it didn't bother her as much as it would have had she clung to her demented dream. What was more of a worry though, was what the blob creature was doing- HOLY CRAP! The bloody snot bubble exploded, and all was supposed to go black. But it didn't, as the group learned as they ascended tot he Rejected World.

 

Ivankov marvelled at the new world that the Madara had thrust them into, despite the fact that it had hurt like hell. Well, if random changes to his body structure didn't harm him much a simple temperal shift wouldn't either. However, he was growing rather concerned for the Tenshi girl, who didn't look too good.

 

Frankram, on the other hand was busy scanning the world with her magic. Her soft eyes scannned the data like a hawk as the runic circle followed the movement of her hands. "It would appear that strange matter with Ophelia has brought us to a new pocket dimension, one that was clearly abandoned some time ago. I would hazard to say that this was not to Ophelia's plans, and that whatever the creature was... it saved us, rather than what Ophelia wanted, which was to erase us. And... yeah, I would hazard to say that our new saviour, is right over there" she explained, pointing directly at the very obvious Madara.

 

Ivankov looked upon the Madara, two clouds of smoke snorting form his eyes. The creature was the size of the tidal wave that had nearly crushed Marineford during the great battle three years ago. "Quite an insurmountable task it would seem Frankram-chan. If our allies' attacks were any indication, the beast must absorb attacks. Perhaps we should strike it physically, but ve would be like ants armed with toothpicks against a mighty giant. Ve would require some immense firepower" Ivankov summed up.

 

Frankram nodded her head, the duo blissfully unaware of Tenshi going totes cray cray. "Assuming it is not immune to magic my friend. I will take some time to analyze it, while our allies and foes fight to keep it occupied" Frankram replied, turning her analysis glyph towards the Madara.

 

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

 

|_)The Evangelist Hapshiel(_|

 

Gone again, it would seem. Hapshiel felt so disheartened to see the cute girl escape his grasp again, when all he wanted was to share his beautiful love. He wasn't even aware that the reality had shifted; as the force of the change was barely noticed through his barrier. His heart sunk to see such a damaged world, but ho, in the distance? There were many fine young hearts just screaming out for his love. Delighted, he skipped merrily, his tight behind swishing from side to side as he skipped onwards.

 

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

 

|_)Red, the Arisen(_|

 

Having joined the party, Red was made familiar to the sight of the Inch of Will, the ship that was seen in the fight against Xansvita that he defended from those ghostly jellyfish. And then... after. He shook the painful memory away as problems persisted, it would seem. The heir to Xansvita was making his move, and some wretched empty shells dared to approach him.

 

Two of the knights approached; one of which he irritibly knocked away with the flick off his tail, sending it flying into the side of the ship. The other was knocked aside with a swing of his staff, its body sliding along the blighted earth and down through one of the void holes. "So, those wretched shadows persist again. They will require reckoning" he remarked as he traced the glowing X with his finger. "BANISH!"

 

The first knight he had assaulted exploded in a shower of purple sparkles.

[Phantom Roxas]

Sora, Kairi, Roxas, & Xion

 

The arrival to the Rejected World had saved the Keyblade warriors from the end that Ophelia had originally intended for everyone, but the realm that had arrived in was far from ideal. The mass of solar energy from the Inner Periphery had transformed into a colossal centaur. Arthur and Eria were far away, but it didn't take long for the group to find dark energy being manipulated by an unknown figure, with Obelisk the Tormentor appearing to fight it. Before they could go to help, though, the Unversed energy appeared around the Keyblade warriors, followed by Ivero, who announced his intention to recreate Xansvita.

 

"We're not going to let Xansvita come back," Sora said. "Come on, Nero, we were able to fight him. You can fight whatever he did you, too." A photograph flew towards him, landing against his chest, before falling. Sora picked it up, but he tried to keep his attention on Ivero. However, he couldn't help but notice the people in the photograph. Together, smiling happily, were Byakuya, Kenpachi, and Yachiru.

 

Arthur, Eria, MachGaogamon, & Gagagigo

 

Ivero's voice echoed to Eria as he boasted about his very existence. "I should have been faster," she regretted. "I could have stopped you from taking over Matthew's body. From taking over Nero."

 

One by one, Ivero had commanded Unversed to appear. A tar monster charged at Arthur, but the arrival of Matthew's steed had saved him from being eaten. Eria quickly used her magic to weave water that she mixed in with the Unversed's base, hoping to freeze it from the inside out.

 

"Thanks," Arthur said. "But this thing is trying to fight me. I need to stop Ivero. You go take care of Ophelia."

 

Eria shook her head. "I'm not just going to leave you to fight him, Arthur! After what happened with Apocrypha, do you think I'm to just leave you alone?"

 

Oozetooth's head was kicked about, with Gagagigo landing next to Arthur. "Then allow me to help."

 

Arthur turned between Eria and Gagagigo. "I'm glad you guys are able to help me."

 

"You don't have to fight him on your own to prove anything," Eria told him.

 

"And you don't have to blame yourself for Ivero," Arthur responded.

 

Eria took a deep breath. "I know. But I still think I could have stopped him. Just be careful, alright? Both of you. I don't want to lose either of you."

 

"You won't," Arthur promised. "Not again."

 

"I'm free now," Gagagigo said. "I will not make the mistake of losing that second chance."

 

"I believe you," Eria said.

 

Arthur gestured to MirageGaogamon. "Think you can take care of that monster?"

 

MirageGaogamon glanced at the Madara, watching as Lydia began to approach it. "Lydia destroyed LERNA, but I'm worried that she won't be as lucky this time."

 

"Then go help her out." With his left hand, Arthur commanded MirageGaogamon to activate his Burst Mode. When the transformation was complete, MirageGaogamon bid Arthur good luck, and went off towards the Madara. Using his Keyblade, Arthur activated a Cure spell. He was able to move his hand, but it still hurt a bit to do it. While Oozetooth recovered from Gagagigo's attack, Arthur commanded kicked against Sleipnir, and traded the Keyblade to his right hand. "Ready?"

 

Gagagigo stood facing Oozetooth. "Of course." Though know one could see it, the symbols on the back of his neck briefly turned gold, before turning black again. Gagagigo and Sleinir both charged at Oozetooth.

 

Sora

 

Sora sank to his knees as he looked at the photograph. Yachiru's mangled bodies was clear in his mind, and Kenpachi… he didn't even want to imagine what happened to him. He had barely known Byakuya, but thanks to memories inherited from Xansvita, he remembered seeing him in Isamy's throne room. What had happened to him?

 

Sora crumbled the photograph and stuck it in a pocket. The hand of the Colossus of Shadows was just above him, but in an instant, Sora's Keyblade sliced off its hand. His body was covered in a golden aura, and his eyes shined the same way. He began to float in the air, his armor forming around him, until he was at eye level with the Colossus. He flew directly at the Unversed, his Keyblade aimed right at the Colossus' eye.

 

Kairi & Xion

 

The flames were sent towards Kairi and Xion, but Kairi cast a Reflect spell, sending some of the flames right at Double Master, while simply rolled out of the way.

 

"What does Ivero gain from trying to stall us?" Kairi asked. "That monster should be his enemy, too."

 

"You heard him," Xion replied. "He wants Sora, Roxas, and I to become Xansvita again."

 

"We won't let that happen." Kairi held out her Keyblade, and Xion raised hers next to it. Xion disappeared, but Kairi's armor changed. Now, it was white, red, and gold, and the pauldrons of her armor were decorated with small wings, as she too was covered with a golden aura. Kairi looked at herself in awe of the aura. Now with two Keyblades in hand, Kairi jumped into the air, throwing both of them. They spun through the air, with Kairi's Keyblade directed at the arm that held the spear, and Xion's at the arm with the crossbow.

 

Roxas

 

The Shadow Pack ambushed Roxas, and they buried their claws into his skin. Tearing his Keyblade through one of the hounds, a pillar of light struck down on him, pushing all of them away. Gold aura appeared around him, and he looked at the Shadow Pack. "I'm not going to let you stop me." Pointing his Keyblade upwards, more light pillars rained down on the Shadow Pack, but Roxas was focused on Ivero. Matthew was dealing with the Unversed, but the battle could go either way. "Give it up, Ivero! LERNA's dead! Xansvita's dead! The Counter Corps beat them, and they're not through yet. Let Nero go!"

 

Obelisk

 

While Lydia was talking with the Madara, Obelisk dismissed her, thinking only of destroying the monster in front of him. "I do not care what you are. I will tear you apart with My bear hands!" With both hands, Obelisk grabbed at the Madara's front left leg, and attempted to pull the leg away from the Madara. While the monster's body was as hot as the sun, and indeed, it was even burning into Obelisk's hands, the Egyptian God would not let go. He took one hand off of the leg and wrapped his arm around it, then with his other hand, he kept trying to punch the back of the Madara's knee. "I could do this all day if you'd like!"

[Dad]

Papa Legba

 

There was a seething rage on the surface of the world.  As he peered into his crystal ball, he felt a fire of fury peering back at him.  This fury was sitting atop a mountain of emotions, and cried out to Papa Legba like a Siren to the seas.  He smirked, and without a word vanished in a puff of toxic smoke.

 

Kratos and Chernobyl

 

Radamanthys complied, albeit hostile, and Kratos came up with a thought.  He pointed out that the Madara's Blade was much like his own,  But in order to test the will of this creature and how much it could endure--as well as put a little bit of power back into the hands of themselves--Kratos would need to get in the Madara's face.  "I need a diversion in order to get into position.  I'm going to drop a large amount of magic directly on top of the creature.  A physical magic.  This will aid us both in more ways than you know."  But just before Kratos could proceed with his plan, Predaking was swooping in towards the Madara, a flurry of missiles aimed at the creature, and already in flight.  "I guess that won't be necessary!" he said jumping back onto Chernobyl.  They took off once more, and weaved through Predaking's missiles.  As the missiles closed in, Kratos left Chernobyl.

 

Briefly, during his freefall, he spotted a golden aura which flared, and nearly blinded him.  It took Kratos by surprise, and he nearly crashed into one of Predaking's missiles in the process.  Chernobyl quickly reacted, and dove in to save Kratos, narrowly avoiding the salvo of projectiles.  Kratos shook his head, wiping his eyes as he turned back to where the aura came from.  But he quickly realized how he had become distracted and resumed his focus on the Madara.  He would concern himself with allies later.  Diving once more, now at a different angle, Kratos spiraled in at the Madara.

 

Papa Legba

 

Papa materialized out of thin air, seemingly seeping out of the ground which Sora had just leaped from.  He could feel the boy's anguish and rage.  It was what had drawn him here.  As the Keyblade warrior soared, Papa made his presence known, by washing a sinister pressure over Sora, a dark aura.  It did not harm him in any way, but it would call his attention to the ground below soon enough.

[Kingdom Xathers]

Alister and his past self continued to exchange blows, each one refusing to give the other an inch as they repelled and countered each other relentlessly.
 
"So, you really want to kill yourself that badly...," Past!Azimuth taunted as he deflected an energy blast from Alister's Z-Wrench.
 
"If... if it will stop me from making any more mistakes," Alister began, but was cut off by Past!Azimuth's indignant laugh.
 
"HAH!  Is THAT all?!  Is that REALLY the reason?" Past!Azimuth sneered.  "Or are you just looking for an excuse to run away?!"
*STATIC!*
"Alister, what are you saying?!" Alexander uttered aloud, feeling exhausted after having to withstand Alister's attacks for the past twenty minutes or so.
 
"What's happening to him?!" Ratchet cried out from outside the barrier Rodin had erected to separate Alexander and Alister from the rest of the area.  He peered through the angelic runes which formed the barrier, watching as his mentor figure continued to spiral further into madness.
 
"Jus--Just shut up!" Alister shrieked to seemingly no one in particular, appearing as though suffering a massive migraine.  "I-I'll fix the mistakes I've made, even if it means--!"  "Even if it means killing yourself?"  After a sudden twitch of Alister's head, his voice went from fearfully defiant to cold and sinister in the span of a few milliseconds.  His eyes also seemed to change during that moment, his yellow sclerae turning black.  "How typical, Alister," Alister continued, berating himself in a voice that felt detached from the individual it was coming from.  "You just can't take responsibility for your actions, so you attempt to find a way to escape from it--"
*TWITCH!*
"No, that's not it at all--"
 
"Alister--!"  Alex attempted to step closer, but--
*TWITCH!*
"LIAR!  You caused the lombaxes to disappear from our world, and you thought you could use the Great Clock to just erase that tragedy from history, like the whole thing just never happened!"
*TWITCH!*
"Keep talking! I don't think my restraint is waning yet!"
*TWITCH!*
"Oh, save it, Alister.  I wouldn't be saying any of this if it weren't true!"
 
"Alister, that's enough!" Alexander called out, growing more frightened for the General by the second.  "Alister, it's not real! None of it's real! You gotta snap out of it!"
*STATIC!*
"Alister, it's not real! None of it's real! You gotta snap out of it!"
"What the...?" Alister blinked, confused.  He could have sworn he heard a voice call out to him.  In the Great Clock?  How was that possible?  Frantically, the General looked around, trying to find the source of the voice.
 
"Excuse me, I'm right here," Past!Azimuth muttered out loud, seeming miffed that Alister wasn't paying attention to him anymore.  "HEY!!  I'm f**king talking to you, you senile pr*ck!"
 
Alister scoffed.  "The pot calling the kettle black, you are.  Listen here, you "senile pr*ck", I've had it up to here with your incessant banter."  He resumed his fighting stance, adding, "If you and I are going to do this, I need you to SHUT THE F**K UP!!"
*STATIC!*
"So eager to meet you end," Alister said in the darker voice as Alexander prepared to defend himself once more.  "Fine, I suppose I can enjoy--" *TWITCH!* "DID I NOT JUST SAY "SHUT THE F**K UP"?!"
 
"Alex, what are you doing?" Ratchet asked suddenly, hands pressed against the barrier as he watched the fight about to start anew.
 
"Well, I have to defend myself, Ratch," Alexander replied matter-of-factly.  "Whatever is causing Alister to act this way--and I'm starting to get a good idea of what that is--"
 
"Alexander," Clank spoke up, "if Alister believes he is fighting himself, would it not benefit you to throw the fight?"

"... actually, Clank... I was just thinking that."  Without another word, Alexander charged at Alister, his own copy of the Praetorian Omniwrench in hand.  On cue, Alister rushed forward as well, howling as he prepared to strike at "himself".  Both lombaxes closed in on each other, both struck out with their Wrenches, and just before the clash... Alexander's grip loosened.  The resulting clash echoed as Alexander's weapon was knocked out of his grasp and sent flying through the air, vanishing without a trace before it had the chance to hit the ground. 
 
Of course, it was Alexander's plan to "throw the fight" this way, even if it was made on the spot--
 
--AND while the narrator was blabbing away, Alister tackled Alexander to the ground, clamping one end of his Z-Wrench around Alexander's neck to pin him down.  "It's over!!" Alister fiercely declared, his eyes welling with tears despite the savage expression on his face.
*TWITCH!*
"Well then... what are you waiting on?!" Alister growled in the darker tone.  "FINISH IT!"
 
"...!" Alexander could barely breathe let alone speak, his airway being restricted by the vice grip of the OmniWrench.
 
"No!! Alister, stop!!" a horror-stricken Ratchet cried out, pounding his hands against Rodin's barrier.  "Don't do it! You have to snap out of it!!  Zurkon!! Don't let him do it!!"
 
"No can do, fuzzy one," Mr. Zurkon's voice spoke from the Z-Wrench.  "It is out of Mr. Zurkon's metaphorical hands...."
 
Alister, still trapped in his delusion, could not hear the pleas of the young lombax, could not hear the surprisingly apologetic tone of Mr. Zurkon, could not even tell that the words of his past self came from his own mouth.  For all he knew, he was about to erase himself from history by killing his past self.  "... so be it," he whispered ruefully as he prepared to charge energy into the clamp holding Alexander in place, intent on unleashing the built-up energy all at once.
 
Unable to figure a way out of his impending doom, Alexander could do nothing more than to shut his eyes.
 
"ALISTEEEERRRR!!!!"
 
What happened next, no one could have anticipated; with a pained, heartful cry, Ratchet slammed his palms against Rodin's barrier.  The moment he did, cracks began to form in the wall, spreading through the Enochian runes until, with a resounding crash, the barrier shattered completely.
 
"... well, I'll be further damned," Rodin uttered in complete disbelief, stunned that his barrier could have been torn asunder by a small, fuzzy alien.
 
The barrier no longer obstructing his way, Ratchet rushed forward, desperately pounding his feet against the floor, toward Alister and Alex, all the while, his mind was racing:
 
"I have to stop him...!"
"I have to stop him...!"
"If I don't...."
"... he'll never recover from this...."
 
*STATIC!*
 
"Alister!!"
 
"Wha--?!" Alister looked away from his past self and toward the source of the voice calling out to him, his heart nearly jumping out of his throat when he found Kaden, breathlessly panting, further away before him. "... Kaden...?!"
 
"Alister, you have to stop!" Kaden pleaded with his dear friend.  "You're making a terrible mistake!"
 
"... I'm sorry, Kay," Alister croaked out, tears falling down his face.  "I'm sorry, but I don't deserve to--"
 
"Alister, listen to me," Kaden interjected, stepping forward, "that person you're about to kill isn't you! It's--"
 
"No, Kaden," Alister uttered with sad finality, "this has to be done.  I've caused to much pain to be left to live any longer.  I'm sorry... goodbye...."  The General tightened his grip on his Wrench, preparing to unleash the charge energy to finish "himself" off for good.
 
"Alister...," Kaden gasped out, his hand curled and tightened into a fist as he made a charge toward Azimuth, his pace hastening as he drew closer, "you're right, this has to end, NOW!"  Drawing back his, Kaden made one final leap toward Alister, throwing his fist out, aimed for his friend's face.
 
"WAKE UP!!!"
 
Alister was thrown away as the punch collided with his jaw, flying a good five feet away from where he had stood before landing with a thud onto the floor.  His world felt as though it were spinning as he attempted to sit upright, shaking his head to clear away his vertigo.  "What the... ...?"  As he blinked, the Great Clock appeared to dissolve away.  It took him a few seconds to realize that he was back on the Inch of Will.  Standing before him was a fearful-looking Ratchet, panting heavily and appearing close to tears, one of his hands clenched in a fist.
 
"Ratchet, I... wha.... what happened...?" Alister stammered, feeling as though he was waking from a dream.  "Ahh!" he gasped out as he reached a hand to his throbbing jaw.  "Ow, what the...?  Ratchet, did you just--?"
 
"I had to," Ratchet blurted out breathlessly.  "I'm sorry, Alister, but if I hadn't, you would've--"
 
"H-Hey...!  A... A little help here...?!"  Alister looked around Ratchet toward the croaked voice, giving out a horrified gasp as he saw Alexander lying on the floor, waving his arm for attention while the Z-Wrench was still clamped around his neck.  "Hey, uh, M-Mr. Zurkon," Alexander added as he addressed the Wrench restricting him, "is-is it possible that you could, uh, y'know...?"

 

"Just this once, stupid fuzzy one, Mr. Zurkon will honor with your request," replied the Z-Wrench, loosening his grip on Alexander's neck before hopping himself back over toward Alister.

 

"... yeah, I hope I don't have to explain what just happ--" Ratchet began as he returned his attention to Alister, cutting himself off as he saw the most mortified look on the General's face.  "Al...?"

 

"I... ... I was... about to... ...!" Alister gasped out, his breathing short and staggered as his body violently shook all over.  He was so close to killing Alexander... had Kaden--no, had Ratchet not intervened, Alex's blood would have been on his hands....  Alister let out an anguished howl as he broke down in tears.

 

"Alister...!" Ratchet rushed over to the General, wrapping his arms around the other's shoulders to comfort him, however much good it could do.  "Alister, it's all right, it was just...."

 

"I'm sorry...," Alister gasped out between sobs, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry...."

 

 

 

 

"... there's still a lot that torments you... huh, Al...?"

 

(Team Lombax current location: Inch of Will)

 

 

 

[sayer/"Unknown" Location (Inside R.O.D. Network)]

 

"... ...hm."  Sayer scoffed as his meditative state was interrupted.  "... something tells me there's more to that little lombax than I've been able to research...."

 

"What are you on about this time?" Terumi's ghost chimed in.  "What's the matter?  Your little trick run into a little snag?" he added with his typical taunting tone.

 

"Clearly...," Sayer replied slowly.  "Attempting to kill two or more birds with one stone is not as simple as it seems."

 

"Yeah, well," Terumi cut in, "I'm bored here.  There's absolutely nothing to do here.  Not even a damned Skeeball game!  You'd think a place this big would at least have an arcade or something--"

 

Sayer growled a agitated hiss under his breath.  "Terumi... zip it.  We're not here to have fun; we're here to acquire the power of the Door--"

 

""You're here", you mean," Terumi interjected.  "I'm only here because that trick Ophelia dragged me and Relius here.  To get rid of you, if I recall."

 

"Yet you only amounted to a speed bump and some cheap amusement."

 

"Well, when you say it like that, it makes it seem rather underwhelming, let alone boring...!"

 

"At least I'm giving my honest opinion on the matter."

 

"Well, thanks for that," Terumi uttered.

 

"But I will agree on this point," Sayer added: "We've wasted enough time here, though not just on mere petty tricks, thankfully."  As he spoke, a R.O.D. opened up behind Sayer, opening the way into the Inner Periphery.  "Time to make our re-entrance, Terumi.  Hopefully you won't be bored for much longer."

"Good."

 

[inner Periphery---> The Rejected World]

 

"So, how are we gonna do this, huh?" Terumi asked Sayer once they had stepped into the Rejected World.  "When do we get to wreak havoc?!"

 

"I'll proceed once I have studied this Madara a bit more," Sayer replied bluntly, sitting idly on one of his R.O.D.s.  "You, on the other hand, are welcome to go play whilst I do so... and please, do cause as much damage as possible."

 

"Does this mean I get to use a body--?"

"NO!!"

[Maeriberii Haan]

Rejected World

-=Tenshi(?)=-

 

It did not take too long for Tenshi to realize facing something like that alone would be suicidal. She turned around to see who was near her. She recalled about Gengetsu, and immediately assumed that this Gengetsu would be the same as the one that she knew. And she also noticed the woman that she could identify as Frankram, and Ivankov. Frankram was seemingly analyzing the entire situation, while Ivankov was helping her. Both seemed quite busy for now, so Tenshi turned away, and continued to walk.

 

It was kind of hard to admit for her, but she knew that she would need some sort of strategy this time, and maybe some allies, though she couldn’t be bothered to think of one. Midway, she stopped, and facepalmed.

 

She just remembered that she could just fly on her keystone to move around.

 

----

 

“Heh, this looks like fun~”

 

Tenshi watched from a distance as a group of men attacked a woman floating near the centaur-thing. From where she came from, situations like this usually ended up with the woman winning with a huge margin, though this woman looked somewhat too distraught to fight now.

 

Well, her quest on devising a plan or find some allies hadn’t been fruitful yet, though it didn’t bother her much as she was quite amused at the moment. The Centaur-thing was oddly static, as if it was not even bothered to move and deal with ants in front of it. Tenshi then thought that maybe she would try messing around with it for her own amusement, but her common sense finally activated, and prevented her from continuing with the idea.

 

That was the time that Tenshi was reminded that she almost missed something important.

 

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

 

Mindscape

 -=Tenshi=-

 

Tenshi sighed.

 

The fact that she kept on popping inside her mindscape started to bother her. But this time, it was intentional. A thousand memories overwhelmed her senses, and this is the only way to escape the full effect of it. It wasn’t clear for her though what she should do next there.

 

And then, her guts told her to walk in a straight line, on and on, until she stumbled upon a wooden door, standing alone in the middle of the vast, white void. As she moved her hand to the doorknob, she heard something moved at a fast speed, and immediately jumped backward, just in time as a single slash obliterated the door. From behind the ruins of the door, the familiar short-haired version of her appeared.

 

“…I demand you to explain what is going on here before I start beating some sense and manners to you.”

 

The short-hair opted to not listen to Tenshi, and instead, she started to move around and slash wildly on everything around her, which was mostly devoid of anything. Tenshi thought that the short hair had lost her sanity.

 

Suddenly, a crack formed on the air, followed by another and others soon follow. The entire realm cracked, as if it was made of glass. It cracked and cracked, up until the cracks were everywhere.

 

“I already said it multiple times, this white world of nothing of importance is dull as heck.

Let me renovate the hell outta it!”

 

Another slash was done. And thus, the white void crumbled, leaving only darkness behind it.

 

“Now, let me show you something, me.”

 

As if the darkness was a curtain, the short hair pulled it away. Behind it, a place up high above the clouds showed itself.  The sight was familiar to Tenshi. She was somewhat amused by what the short-hair did.

 

“Ah, home sweet home. What would be a better place for the meeting of two Tenshi aside from Bhava-agra, heh?”

 

“Two? Only two?

Ahahahahahah, you’re really damn funny!

 

But yeah, there’ll be more than two. A lot more.”

 

“What do you-

 

Oh. Should’ve guessed that.”

 

Appearing out of nowhere, another version of her greeted her. And then, another Tenshi.immediately appeared behind her. And another one.

 

And another thousands of alternate version of Tenshi.materialized. The actual Bhava-agra would pretty much be full at this rate, but since it was only Tenshi’s mindscape, a recollection of the actual place, the place felt large enough for everyone that was there.

 

Ah, of course. This is the reason why am I experiencing the surge of a thousand memories that time. But, why are they here now?

 

“Yeah, hag was right. You sure are composed of thousands of souls, me.

 

Though, I can’t play around with you now it seems. Your body needs to get moved.

So ciao, and have fun with them, ok?”

 

Short-hair waved at Tenshi, and immediately disappeared into the wind. Meanwhile, Tenshi felt quite uneasy with all the different versions of her there, and it seems like the others felt the same thing.

 

“….b****.”

 

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

 

Rejected World

-=Tenshi(?)=-

 

“Well, that should buy me some more time.”

 

When her consciousness returned, she immediately noticed that a blue giant had already started to attack the centaur-thing, and someone else followed too. Deciding that her current position was quite dangerous, she flew away to find another good spot to watch the entire thing.

Though, she noticed this certain woman, who tried to talk to the centaur. It was definitely something that would generate an interesting result, so she decided to stick around to watch how the centaur reacted.

 

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

 

Rejected World

-=Kazuya=-

 

Quickly after realizing the centaur-thing was able to somehow replicate what was thrown at it, Kazuya immediately dashed from his current position, as he wouldn’t risk on getting blasted by a Pasupata.

 

It was then, something inside Kazuya growled. What was it, Kazuya was not certain. Kazuya heeded it no mind though, as he thought it was merely just a side effect from fusing with Beelzebub.

 

Kazuya decided that he would wait before doing anything else for now.  Getting hit by your own assault would suck.

 

It’s not like he was fighting on a time limit anyway.

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

 

Rejected World

-=Ran and Chen=-

 

“..Finally was able to establish a connection to your location. Give me a brief report.”

“Well, the inner periphery exploded, and everyone was transported here into the middle of nowhere. Also, there was this gigantic centaur-like creature keeping the key at its hold.”

“It won’t be too much of a problem for you, right?”

“Nah, it won’t. Oh yeah, Isamy disappeared at one point. She’s presumably dead, but I can’t be sure.”

“..Ah. But anyway, good luck.”

 

The mental phone call ended. Ran grumbled for a while, thinking why the hell didn’t Yukari go here on her own and make everything easier.

 

“Hey Ran, looks like there’s quite the commotion over there.”

 

Chen was pointing at what happening in something that looked like a spaceship(?) not that far from them, something that Ran didn’t quite realize was there at first. Then she remembered the other task from her lady that she must do there. Well, not her in person, but yeah.

 

“Chen, why don’t you try checking what’re they up to? Meanwhile I’ll wait here, planning on what we should do next.”

 

“Yay~

Alright then, see ya Ran!”

----

 

Rejected World, near the Inch of Will

 

The commotion was apparently a battle, and Chen couldn’t care enough to join in yet. Though, the individuals participating in the battle interested her more, so she decided to stick around.

The monsters looked quite amusing, that was also another reason why Chen was still around.

For now, she was content on just dodging attacks from either side of the battle, waiting for the battle to end so she could start inquiring about the individuals there.

 

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

 

Rejected World

-=Gengetsu=-

 

:”Well, she left.

What the hell happened to her anyway?”

 

Gengetsu was still quite confused on what happened to Tenshi. But in the end she thought that it would sort itself out, and now she was more curious on what Frankram was doing, whatever it is.

 

“Hi Frankram. Whatcha doin’?”

 

Though, she looked quite busy, so she didn’t expect her to answer her question soon. Meanwhile, she started to worry about Tenshi once again when she noticed she goofed around near the centaur-thing, while a battle was raging around her.

 

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

[The Warden]

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

 

The duo turned to Gengetsu's voice, and they smiled. She was looking much better now, compared to before. "I'm trying to analyze the composition of the Madara. It's quite a unique occurence, and it's proving resilient to most of my analysis spells. That's not what makes it so unique mind, just frustrating. However, I think our allies are acting in haste against it. But if the battle with LERNA was an indication, our allies our quick to assault anything bigger than themselves."

 

"Very true Frankram-chan. This creature didn't attack first, and yet they fling themselves at it. This battle was not planned; if your comments earlier were any indication. Hmmm. vI think vI should stop our allies attacks on Ophelia. Something is not right here, and she would have the best idea" Ivankov realized.

 

Frankram nodded. "Yes, good plan. Try to force a ceasefire while I continue to analyze the creature so we can figure out what is going on" she replied.

 

Ivankov nodded as she somersaulted across the battlefield. Her trim form was very aerodynamic as she easily dodged past the many void holes as she approached the metal girl, who currently had some company. With a fierce leap and a stomp that cracked the ground, Ivankov landed near to the combatants, specifically between Ophelia and Richard. "Before ve all do something ve might regret, perhaps you could give us a few answers first metal-girl" Ivankov declared, her gaze on Ophelia's back. "This was not to your plan, was it metal-girl? So tell me, what actually has happened here?"

[Merci]

Ophelia
 

A massive object had materialized in space, not too far away from a then-approaching Sphere Forest of the Periphery. Though she did have her doubts about one of her two chosen warriors, miraculously, Sykes had pulled through, engaging in combat with the Counter Guardian himself and retrieving the coordinates for the planetoid. The question now was; how to turn it into a trap? Obviously, the indigenous population composed of ridiculously powerful monster-warriors would be too troublesome to handle directly, so she would need another solution.
 
The energy needed to provide Sykes with transportation exceeding the distortions, as well as reach the Sphere Forest eight hours before the two factions, had exhausted Ophelia's SH Amulet Sphere. Still, she was resourceful, and her master himself knew this.
 
Protheus was never exactly the most observant when it came to his own subjects, thus, considering the undeniable notion that circumstantial predicaments and quandaries eventuate perpetually in tandem with the exponential presence of volatile and formidable experiments that possess the individuality, inclinations, and impulses to manifest their own modus operandi within an inadequate extent of simulations and ersatz environments, it served as the rationale for her being appointed as the absolute administrator of the laboratory, to manage the chaos and prevent needless destruction that would harm his work.
 
So when she reached the universe, she originally did not have enough energy left to do what was required of her. Therefore, the only solution was to teleport towards the first, most logical source of power - the sun's surface. Though she descended upon the umbra of a sunspot to make the task slightly easier, it was a fairly simple task to survive the heat and ridiculous gravity, utilizing the pressure waves generated by endless, burning flames at thirty-eight thousand kelvins to create a shield that 'negated the outside' and act as her defense.
 
Her plan, at first, was to do nothing more than harness the energy of the sun and use it to fuel the SH Amulet Sphere.
 
"How odd."
 
An umbra is the inner region of a sun spot, the coolest region of the photosphere, and one would typically stretch outwards for up to twelve-thousand kilometers. Though it is the 'coolest', it remains as incomprehensibly desolate as any other part of the sun, as anything material cannot exist for longer than a few seconds within it, only amplified by the supermassive magnetic field enveloping it, not to mention the solar radiation. Even at 149,600,000 kilometers away it poses a threat to the concept called 'life'. Sure, Ophelia may possess the means to sustain herself for a few minutes here, but logic dictates that the only other thing one would expect to find would be fire and light.
 
However, there was an anomaly here.
 
No - rather, there were thousands upon thousands upon THOUSANDS of them. An insurmountable number of gigantic red blots resembling bacteria, floating above the umbra, covering it over a radius of a hundred miles, each of them representing holes in the fabric of spacetime. Each of them with unknown origins. Each of them inexplicable, unexplainable, having absorbed so much energy that one alone could power an entire advanced civilization for centuries. And, although they could not possibly be 'alive', they were able to react to outside stimuli. The Reyvateil did not know what to think of them.
 
Against her better judgment, she retrieved one. She discovered that its reactions were due to an unstable form, an unstable existence, and decided and she could use it.
 
She used it to rejuvenate her SH Amulet Sphere and regain access to its Tower Mode, and went on to assault the Sphere Forest. The inhabitants were incapable of resistance as she bombarded their very world, blowing off chunk after chunk, annihilating everything until all that was left was a tiny, glowing white core.
 
Then came the new Sphere Forest's construction. With this unexpected power source, she was able to effortlessly gather the materials she needed to set up the trap, be they sediment, explosive particles, or vibranium.
 
By the time it had been brought into the blank world known as the Inner Periphery, its 'existence' - if it could be called that - was already unraveling. And with it, it would shatter all of spacetime around it. This much she understood about its nature. Even as the Counter Corps and Divine continued to resist, breaking through each shell until ultimately descending into this same, self-contained world containing the Key, she was confident that only one result would occur.

 

She was fine with sacrificing herself. With letting her existence, her past, present, and future disappear.
 
Not for a moment did she expect the unexpected, for reality is dictated by logic. Logic may appear more complex than on the surface, but as Protheus himself had demonstrated her with the laboratory - itself an amalgamation of the laws of physics - the truth remains that in the end, nothing surpasses logic.
 
.
.
.
 
But now?

 
It doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense at all...
 
The Reyvateil remained paralyzed on the spot, even after the centaurus monstrosity had turned away from her in disinterest. She watched as the it addressed in surprisingly clear Japanese speech a member of the Divine - the Butler-Ragnarok entity, was it? - and identified itself as Madara. Which was impossible. Which was utterly impossible.
 
Even if Madara had been sent into the sun by the Herald, even if he had some kind of jutsu to turn himself into an eldritch abomination, she had harvested the anomaly before even recruiting the shinobi, so it made absolutely no sense at all whatsoever. She could not emphasize this enough. This result defied all logic, all probability. Yet there it was, now fighting off someone called Kratos with a gigantic blade while others were rushing to attack it. Would it be in vain? Technically, if it eliminated them all, then her goal would still end up achieved, but this was an unknown variable. And with so little information, she couldn't help but be scared that it might pose a threat to Protheus himself somehow.
 
"To think a Reyvateil Origin is capable of doing all this." A voice remarked, and she recognized it as belonging to Richard Mason of the Counter Corps.
 
She isn't, thought Ophelia, but remained stationary as Richard addressed her.
 
He entered his Redemption Mode, a kind of transformation that involved amplifying his own mana to far higher levels, and began to speak. He himself was somewhat of an anomaly, as the information bank records on him did not seem to match with his actions in the Origin War thus far, including his presence in Isamy's Vault and an absence in-between the Shadow Realm and the Sphere Forest. Chances were that he had betrayed the Divine in favor of the Counter Corps, but under his circumstances, that shouldn't have been possible.
 
"Richard Mason. Right-hand of Azami Yamada, and a warrior whose existence has seemed rather nonlinear in the past two days. Apparently, you also lack insight, do you not?"
 
With her back turned to him, he ignored her words before procedding onwards to explain the events on his own will, telling his story. About how he had been a spy for Emiya in the Divine, about how he had entered the void and - despite how unlikely it seemed - encountered a being through sheer will, then becoming a Guardian of the Estrelas.
 
"I see. So you're no longer Richard Mason." Ophelia stated. "Instead, you became a pawn of these...Estrelas...with the form and memories of Richard Mason. I wonder, have you ever considered that they might've chosen you simply because you had access to the events of the Origin War and were immediately available for them to use? It could've been anyone who belonged to the Corps or Divine and ended up trapped in the void, anyone who would've become a Guardian. Although, this is only a theory."
 
Then, she moved her right foot and turned around to face him directly with a look filled with an emotion that wasn't there before, but wasn't entirely clear. Distress? Impatience? Nevertheless, their eyes met, and it was also at that moment that the offspring of Xansvita - recordings having identified its name as 'Ivero' - showed up, equally wishing to face her, demanding for the Key. It was at that moment that a vaguely familiar face showed up, that of the former Revolutionary Army's Commander Ivankov, who was the first to take a more logical standpoint.
 
"That would be correct. I'll make this as clear as possible to all of you: I am not responsible for the presence of this 'Madara'." Ophelia stated, in as clear a voice as she could muster even as fear of the Madara was pressing down on her. First, she looked to Richard. "You called it 'the nonexistence of Uchiha Madara', but that makes no sense, because I retrieved this before I even recruited Madara's aid. It should be impossible for there to be any connection between the two. I have no idea why this is actuallyhappening, why it has taken such a shape, and even why it is capable of combat and intelligence. I wish I knew, but there is no logic to this." Then, she looked to Ivero. "I no longer have control over the Key, for it is being hoarded over by that creature." And finally, she glanced at Dorian who had appeared behind her, also challenging her to a battle. After that, her gaze swept throughout the four warriors currently facing her, and something within her mind clicked.  "Although..."
 
Perhaps even now, even in this pit that defied the order, she could still follow logic.
 
As if on an impulse, Ophelia suddenly took a step back away from both of the combatants, coming closer to the wall of stormclouds which was less than a hundred meters away, while the sphere levitating next to her was beginning to vibrate on its own, letting out a faint ringing. The expression on her face began from a rather composed one into something else.
 
Something very, very twisted.
 
"Now that I think about it, this CAN still be part of my plan. I'll deal with the Madara myself, but before then... I suppose I'll have to help it EXTERMINATE you all. Starting with the most troublesome three; the descendent of LERNA, the Guardian of the Estrelas, and the Okama King of Miracles." Pause. "Oh, and Dorian."
 
While Ophelia spoke, her sphere had started the process of absorbing her body into itself, Dorian's coronal hole and stellar wind appearing to have no effect in stopping it, and she was enclosed before any of the three entities could stop her.
 
MA ZWEIE RA IRS MANAF CHYET OZ OMNIS
 
Then, a loud ringing came from it as its various segments opened up while transitioning into its Tower Mode, transforming through Cybertronian technology and expanding larger and larger until each section reconnected back at the size of a ten-storey building. Having shaped itself into the form of a horizontally-positioned metal tower with various unreadable symbols in Hymmnos lining the structure and a ring surrounding it, the large tower was stationed high above the ground, unaffected as several nearby clouds raced to bombard it with lightning strikes, as if daring the four warriors to fly upwards somehow and take it head-on. It wasn't quite as large as the Madara, but still quite impressive.
 
Perhaps even moreso when panels opened up to reveal an array of cannons that rained down upon the three warriors with deadly, heavily-condensed soundwaves.
 
 

~ ~ ~

 
 
ザまだら
 
Its strike against Kratos was suddenly deflected by another being who was floating in the air, quickly identified as Sephiroth. The very fact that something had managed to match its force was itself an impressive feat, whether or not the Madara had actually been using less than half its true strength. It was speaking to him, again in that strange language. What was it? It could not understand. Perhaps after enough research, it would, but as of right now it was incapable of that.
 
The Madara turned its gaze towards him for just a brief moment.
 
"NANI ITTEN NO KA WAKARANAI... ZASSHU NO JENOVA."
 
Then it simply trotted past him in large strides, preferring instead to chase after the God of War.
 
However, it was at that moment that something attacked it. At first judgment through Kratos, it appeared to be a artificial machine, but upon closer inspection, it was indeed a life form in its own regard, with its own mind and a basis for life. Predaking, he was called, some kind of Cybertronian who had currently assumed a dragonic form. However, for now, the Madara was not quite yet at the level of designating it as a subject, so it settled by countering the missiles with a single, fast swing of its Blade of Olympus that sliced through them all, having each and every one explode in midair.
 
Afterwards, it noticed that there was a hole in its chest, having been formed by some kind of thin energy beam. The damage was insignificant, the hole was immediately repaired, and it turned its gaze over to the source. A blank entity as far as it was concerned, but the one standing next to it was its summoner, a human named Kazuya. He may also be a suitable subject, though right now the Madara wished to deal with its current subject.
 
But before it could do anything, its attention was caught by two massive 'beings' that were attacking it. From Chandra, one of them was identified as Inferno Titan, and from Eria, the other was identified as ancient god called Obelisk. The former did not seem to have an individuality, and it was barely even aware about the existence of the latter at all. However, it knew enough that it decided to slam the same leg that the Tormentor was holding ahold of into the Titan's body.
 
There was also a far less notable attack being thrown at the Madara, an orb of black lightning from the Witch Darcy that was hardly noticed at all and ended up being absorbed. However, once it was, the principle behind it seemed useful.
 
At the same time, its primary subject was spiraling in towards it. How foolish, but at the same time, it would make things so much easier. There was no need to concern oneself with the others. 
 
"KAKATTE KOI, GODDO OF WAR!"
 
Readying its blade, it swung at the warrior once more, but this time assuming it was dodged again, the massive Blade of Olympus let out a powerful discharge of vermilion electricity to incapacitate Kratos and what had now been identified as a 'Chernobyl', a discharge which would also hit anything else that happened to be close to its blade.
 
However, while the Madara was fighting, an intelligent person would notice that it still seemed fairly passive, facing opponents only one at a time despite the fact that there were many of them, and despite that fact that it was under threat. Was this all it was capable of? Or, was it holding back its true power? Was it biding its time?
 
...
 
Though the Madara had not realized this, it had left Lydia utterly ignored. 
 
Not that it was not aware of her existence - before the battle had even begun, it had swept its presence throughout all the available combatants and observed their most precious memory, their most defining moment, in order to be able to identify them all. The truth was that the gigantic centaur simply found no interest whatsoever in a little girl. 
 
After all, a shortsighted dreamer couldn't possibly hope to compare to individuals who had experienced the ultimate horror known as 'war'.
 
 

~ ~ ~

 
 
Meanwhile, deep in Camelot,
 
There was a battle raging on. Order and chaos, hurricanes and storms of blood, a conflict on a whole other level with such ferocity that the ground shakes and the castle crumbles. 
 
The Herald of Darkness was laughing in glee, ecstatic at the opportunity to fight at full power for the first time in millennia.
 
His opponent the Counter Guardian did not share that delight, as he was being pushed into a corner, beginning to realize that this was a battle that would end with his loss if it were to continue. In order to achieve victory, some measures would have to be taken.
 
The Orb observed.
 
How curious. Two beings, one composed of time and darkness, the other composed of mana and light. It was not exactly a balanced fight, but somehow, it had managed to last for long as it did. But if anything, at least it was much clearer to understand than the previous battle with the 'soul-materialized force of nature'.
 
'It' continued to watch, up until the two warriors came too close to 'it', and a blast of light accidentally hit 'its' prison.
 
A crack formed, and for a passing moment, 'it' could feel the outside world with 'its' own essence for the first time in eighteen million years.
 
Again, how curious.

[Gαr]

The Rejected World

 

While Ed wasn't in the The Inner Periphery very long, he was there long enough to see Isamy turn to ash and for the nonexistence of the Madara to transport everyone to the Rejected World. What he saw there was the epitome of everything he did not understand about everything he was involved. Ed elected to stay close to Sora and his group for the time being since having an anchor in all this confusion for him would be one of the better decisions of the day. For them, the current battle wouldn't be with the Madara, but with Ivero, the Familiar of Xansvita turned from Nero. Ivero summoned Unversed for each Keyblade wielders to battle, but ignored Ed since he wasn't a Keyblade wielder. He saw Sora look at a photograph that apparently troubled him, but Ed didn't get a chance to look at it.

 

Ed saw Matthew engage Ivero, but the Familiar summoned several Unversed in the form of black armor and teleported over to Ophelia. It was time Ed started doing something. He jumped in the air towards the Inch of Will, activating his Zanpakuto. Landing on top of the Inch of Will, he went after the closest armor. Since this was his first time using his Zanpakuto in actual combat, this would be a learning experience for him. Ed raised both swords above and swung, hoping to create two waves of black fire and ice. What he got instead was two dragons made of black fire and ice spiraling towards the poor armor. The two dragons combined into one before hitting the armor and utterly destroying it. Ed was amazed at his newfound powers at work. "This is going to be so much fun for me."

[Love of Ghibli]

The Rejected World

 

So it seemed that the attacking Ophelia when she was down plan didn't have the effect that Dorian had hoped. Fortunately it seemed that there were others who had come to deal with Ophelia. Dorian looked on as she turned into some massive tower of cannons and she began to unload a series a sound waves against the modly crew of people. Dorian with his Cosmos fully activated wouldn't have any problem actually dodging attacks at this speed. Though he did actually wonder if the others would be able to. That didn't matter though. Dorian smiled as it looked like Ophelia didn't seem to think he was a serious threat. That meant she wouldn't pay that much attention to the others. Dorian simply used his power to dodge any portion of the barrage coming his way and he decided that it was best to see what the others she considered a threat were going to do. 
 

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

 

It seemed that Radamanthys was mean to be some kind of distraction as Kratos unleashed the force of his Gods on the creature. However it seemed that Radamanthys' part of the plan was taken care of by some massive mechanical dragon like structure. He looked on as Kratos took flight with his massive dog creature again. Radamanthys' studied what was happening and he realized what was the best way to actually be of use in this situation. As the Madara swung his/its sword Radamanthys made his move. 

 

小便や糞の横柄な生き物!!!!! He yelled at Madara. 死ぬ、死ぬ、苦しむ!!!! Radamanthys aimed his hands directly at the oversized Blade of Olympus. GGGGRRRRREEEEEEAAAAATTTTTTEEEESSSSTTTTT CAAAAAAUUUUUTTTTTIIOOOOONNNNN!!! As Radamanthys shouted his signature attack the massive wyvern shot directly at Madara's pseudo Blade of Olympus. The purple energy blast impaled itself directly on the blade keeping it from actually effecting Kratos. As the vermillion discharge discharged Radamanthys roar and so did his attack. It expanded its own discharge to perfectly counterattack "the Madara's." Radamanthys was laughing an angry laugh as this would've been the second time in his existence he actually used his strength to help someone else. Was he growing soft? There's a good chance of that. However Radamanthys was only going on the defensive he decided it was time to see what the creature was actually capable of. While the energy wyvern was impaled it reached out a claw jammed it into "the Madara's" sword arm. If one took a look at Radamanthys they would see his eyes had achieved the same appearance as Dorian's. While Radamanthys is infinitely more adept at Cosmos than Dorian is; he used the same principle Dorian does to enhance his basic understand of Cosmos. In short Radamanthys was looking at "the Madara" on an atomic level. The Wyvern's claws weren't trying to destroy the Madara on the surface, the touch of the creature was enough to destroy the atoms that make up the Madara. Let's see if this creature has a counter to this! Radamanthys thought to himself. Though as much as he wanted his attack to work he did note that he achieved his goal and gave Kratos the clear to continue his attack.

 

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

 

Meanwhile in the distance near where some of the other combatants had taken more a plan and prep approach to this battle Hades and Butlerok had landed next to the scientist and some other person where trying to use magic to analyze "the Madara." Butler was looking carefully at Frankam with his Alpha Stigma and then he looked at Madara. It seemed that Butlerok was getting the same resistance with that magic, but there might have been a better or more efficient option. Hades looked at Butlerok and politely asked. Do you know this scientist? Not by name, but he is a member of the Divine. I simply recognize the face. Interesting Hades said in a very dismissive tone. Butlerok then looked at Frankam. Curious, would your magic work better if you were inside the creature where it wouldn't be able to mentally defend against these techniques? 

It was clearly an open ended question. Butlerok didn't really make friends with any members of the Divine except for maybe Jecht...who mysteriously disappeared somewhere on the third inner layer. That being said it would be totally rational for Frankam to turn down any aid that Butlerok may offer. This teamwork thing is such foreign territory. Hades was busy looking off into the distance and he noticed a cluster of other battles going on. What is this? He asked out loud. I thought the general consensus between the two factions was to have some kind of ceasefire and unit against this common foe. Was I incorrect in assuming this? He then let out a chuckle. I guess it was wrong of me to assume. Hmmm maybe I should go have a talk with them. Hades said menacingly. Clearly there were stronger creatures who shouldn't be bothered with wasting their energy on the summons on someone else. Though it made a lot of sense for him to intervene he waited to see how the situation with Ophelia and this scanning of the Madara creature would play out.
 

[Maeriberii Haan]

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

Rejected World

-=Tenshi(?)=-

 

“Ah, poor gal.

You’re not getting noticed by Centaur-senpai eh?”

Tenshi laughed for a bit as she noticed that the beast wasn’t even noticing the woman, as it prefers to attack the man who dived into it with its sword, while also taking care of others that attacked it. It was a magnificent creature, Tenshi knew. She moved away for a bit from it though, as she wouldn’t really appreciate getting slashed to pieces as a collateral damage.

 

But then, she noticed something else. Ivankov had apparently dashed into the woman that was attacked by the men back then, and after talking to her a little, she backed down for a bit and..

 

What the f***, did she actually just transform into a tower?

 

What kind of madness was that?

 

“..uh what?

 

Well, that’s really something.”

 

And then, without her expecting it, several panels opened, revealing cannons behind them. The cannons then started to fire some sort of energy waves at the people in front of the tower.

 

At first, she just let them be, ignoring them to goof around even longer. But something changed her stance. What was it, she was not really sure, but she just had this feeling that she should join in the fight.

 

Summoning several dozens of keystones, Tenshi aimed at each one of the cannons.

 

“Well, seems like it’s my old stuff all over again right now.

I’m just gonna say..

I’M GONNA WRECK THAT STINKING UGLY TOWER OUTTA MY SIGHT AND I’LL CARVE MY NAME ON ITS FOUNDATION!”

 

Several dozen keystones were launched, and several dozen others were summoned.

Rinse and repeat.

It felt wonderful.

 

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

 

???

-=???????=-

 

The being had tried to take control multiple times, and every single time the being was thwarted by the abomination.

Though, the being did notice that slowly but surely, the being’s target were getting weaker and weaker as the target’s was eaten by something from the inside, and it would be a matter of time before the being could be successful.

 

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

 

Rejected World

-=Amato=-

 

Amato flew around the centaur-thing, looking for an opening while avoiding getting hit by any of its movement.

She was still quite annoyed that she was not able to use her stone pillars there, though she would still be able to do some other things, so she’s not really being useless.

Hey, is that-

No, it’s not. Let’s just focus on our current mission.

Dodging a raging blue giant and a fiery colossus, she was now under the centaur, and it seemed like it was a safe spot.

“Let’s conduct a test, shall we?”

A purple light emanated from Amato’s hand, and from it, a huge sphere of destructive force surrounded her, hitting anything else that contacted the sphere, while petrifying them in the duration, if able.

I don’t know why, but I think this will prove to be a stupid thing to do.

Shut up.

 

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

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

Ivero<The Rejected World>

After ignoring everything the keyblade warriors were saying, not letting an inch of it reach inside, he had turned attention to what Ophelia was saying about The Madara; about how she hadn't actually created it at all and never thought anything such as this would spawn from her original intentions. Ivero had frowned, and seeing as he was currently wearing the face of Nero, the frown was visible to all who cared about his face. "If you can't control the beast and have no access to the key, I can't see how you are of any usefulness to me at all. I can't see how you're of any usefulness to anyone." Ivero stated, just then however, Ophelia had transformed into a tower of sorts armed to the teeth with some sort of sonic canons. Ivero snapped his fingers and many faux Kingdom Keys suddenly appeared; he blended into the shadow now cast by Ophelia's tower to dodge the first wave of sound blasts sent at him. Then, after reemerging, he snapped his fingers again and the faux Kingdom Keys started spinning wildly as they launched themselves towards the cannons to hopefully destroy them.

 

However, Ivero was then hit by a sonic blast that he hadn't seen. What had happened? He should have seen that wave coming, it was as if some small glint of light had shone in his right eye at the exact moment it would need to so that he would be hit. Ivero thought that it mattered not, giving a smirk and then raising his keyblade toward Ophelia. Strangely, it was no longer The Darkness Within, Ivero held The Redemption Keyblade in his hand now to which he looked at in disgust. "Stay gone!" He shouted and waved the keyblade in the air, turning it back into The Darkness Within once more. Somehow, someway, the damage he had taken sparked something inside of Ivero, but he was quick with a barrier of darkness to block anymore oncoming sonic damage.

 

Oozetooth

 

There had been an attempt to freeze the creature from the inside out by mixing water in with its dark tar; however, any water introduced immediately became more of sludge-like substance that was surrounding, or was, the entire dragon. Next, the oozing unversed had been derailed from his flight path by a kick from a green being in which he couldn't register a name for, nor did it need to. Soon the green beast would be dealt with, because now Oozetooth's slime was on the beast, which meant it would now be spreading about his leg; once covered it would harden, making that limb completely useless. Even though the kick had been a powerful one, it didn't land the creature so it only had to correct its course to get itself back into attacking position once more. Once it was lined up with Arthur and Gagagigo, it unleashed a devilishly black stream of ooze at the two, hoping to encase their entire bodies...

 

Colossus of the Shadow

 

Darkness flowed from the creature's arm wrist after his hand was cut off, but it wasn't a liquid darkness like the pools of ooze the creature had come from, not really anyway. It was more of a mist, a very fine darkness that slowly drifted to the ground, not heavy like the ooze forming the pits. Now, however, the beast had to worry about Sora thrusting his keyblade into his one red eye. Its response to the attack was quite odd, he just let the attack come, the keyblade jamming right into the eye of the creature. Nothing happened though, no blood or other substance had spawned from the wound, and if Sora tried to remove his weapon he would find it quite stuck. The beast's body suddenly became the fine mist substance that was his blood, leaving the eye attached to Sora's keyblade. His body reformed with a new hand a bit away from Sora, a new eye then popped into its skull. Suddenly, a slight hissing could be heard from the eye, but by the time Sora would look, it would be far too late. The fuse of the 'eye' had already receded inside and the medium sized explosion was sure to engulf the keyblade warrior.

 

Double Master

 

The opponents had sent the fire back, but the Double Master merely ate it once again. Its two opponents had become on singular opponent, it remained to be seen if this was a good thing or a bad thing for the Double Master. Two keyblades came spinning at it but he threw his spear at one and shot a dark bolt from his crossbow at another; the keyblades had been sent off course. The spear had been implanted almost halfway into the ground because of the fragile nature of the world, but the dark crossbow seemed to reload itself. It shot yet another dark bolt, this time at their opponents chest, but it had been a diversion so the beast could sprint up onto its target and swing with both its sword and mace.

 

Shadow Pack

 

They had been pushed away from their opponent after watching one of their own being run through with their opponent's weapon. Then, more pillars of light had descended but the pack was quick on the dodge, their most potent skill being their speed. After the last pillar had been cast, the third pack member had turned into dark dust and swirled around the remaining two. The pack had been reduced by one but their speed, strength, and other attributes had increased from the death of the third member. Together they unleashed a deafening howl that would hopefully cripple their opponent; after which, they would charge Roxas out again, one reaching to bite his neck, the other his right leg.

 

Odin<The Rejected World, Atop the Inch of Will>

 

Odin had been quarreling with the three Dark Suit Unversed summoned up that give Ivero his retreat. He had been doing fine, but that didn't mean Ed's sudden appearance had been unappreciated. Odin jumped back to be closer to Ed so they could exchanged words with each other, and possibly reconnect. "Greetings Ed, I'm sure you remember me from when I walked on this earth as Matthew. I will continue to respond to this name for convenience's sake, however, I think we should remover ourselves from atop this vessel, I don't imagine it will stay out of action for long." With that, Odin had jumped down from the Inch of Will and expected Ed to follow, one Dark Suit had followed Odin but the second had started to march toward Ed, sword ready to be swung. Odin had noticed two other Dark Suit Unversed were destroyed by Red, glad that some of the problem was being taken care of by others.

 

Sephiroth<The Rejected World>

The One Winged Angel had been underestimated, told that there was no time for him to be faced right now, but Sephiroth didn't operate on the time clocks of beings he was about to destroy. He flew towards The Madara once again, but he was now facing his back, not trying to converse with him any longer and just merely wanting to end his meager existence. Sephiroth rose his hand to the air and when he brought it down, bolts of lightning crashed from the sky of The Rejected World and onto the body of The Madara. He had been aiming for the beast's center, aiming at the key itself.

[The Warden]

|_)~Moe~ Scientist Frankram(_|

 

Frankram lowered her glyph as that horrible Butler creature landed nearby. Ever since the Desert Seth just being near him made her teeth vibrate, and that aura of darkness all around him was incredibly unsightly. "I don't think you would survive being inside that thing. However, I have noticed one thing" she remarked as a small magical model of the Madara appeared in her hand.

 

"As you have seen, the Madara seems to counter our attacks given the time to do so. It negated that strange sludge of yours given the time to do so; and seems to absorb whatever attacks we throw at it. However, I saw it with my own eyes that he took damage. One of our allies managed to damage the creature" she explained as the Madara construct swiped at small dots, but a hole was made in it by a beam midswing of its attack.

 

"I have two theories here. Either: The creature's capacity to absorb our attacks is based on a willful action. Because he was distracted that one attack made it through and damaged him before he could absorb it. The other concept is that there was something inherently special about the attack. If you want to be useful, find out the nature of the attack so that we may emulate it" Frankram commanded.

 

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

 

|_)Okama Queen Ivankov(_|

 

So, Ophelia knew of Ivankov, but how? Sure, she might be privvy to the Multiverse; but to know him by name certainly was a bit of an anathema. But, more important, she was stepping up her strategy as that queer orb device of hers was finally doing something.

 

The enormous tower was an eyesore, and as a precaution Ivankov jabbed himself with his specialized skin hardening hormone. His skin tightened like steel, and it was a good thing too as the tower assaulted him brutally with condensed sound waves. As he had been before, he would have been torn up. But his tightened skin helped shield him from the effects of the sonic, allowing him to get out of the area of effect of that tower.

 

This would require a much more austere strategy; a strategy, that just so happened to have been skipping this way.

 

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

 

|_)The Evangelist Hapshiel(_|

 

Hapshiel's heart sang a merry tune as before his twinkling eyes manifested a glowing white totem of pleasure. A manly tear ran down his face as he entered the AoE of her attack, and he was in ecstacy. His body was assaulted by the waves, sending his everything into rippling pleasure. His pectorals bounced up and down as he sauntered forward, moaning every step of the way. His lips simpered as one shot bounce off his crotch; oh yes, just like the whip.

 

The attacks were threatening to tear his clothes away as he reached the base of the tower, and he leapt onto it. Oh god YES! The vibrating love rod reached to his very core; his tongue drooped like a dog as he clung onto the horizontal funstick, his behind jiggling like jelly as he was pleasured by the tower. And thus, using his powerful thigh muscles, he moved along the love mountain until the climax... of the fight. He held the hope, deep within his pansexual, masochistic, hard gay heart that this pleasure wand was expandable.

 

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

 

|_)Magical Girl Lydia(_|

 

Lydia pert her lips as the Madara blatantly ignored, as she instantly knew what this was about: He was going to be like that huh?

 

The book took off from the battle, leaving the Madara to his own thing as she drifted above an empty(ier) part of the battle. Her expresion hadn't changed as she sat there, watching the Madara battle. "Wanna talk about it champ?" Fox joked.

 

"Not funny, at all. I don't know what its problem is, but by the looks of it a casual conversation isn't on its to-do list."

 

"That's a horrible analogy" Blizzard remarked.

 

"Not the point. The point is, we have to stop it, and since reasoning won't work, looks like we're stuck with good ol' destruction. And, I was thinking about something Arthur said earlier, about Driving with me. I wasn't thinking straight before, since I had the Regret rocking about in my head. But now, I think it might be possible if you guys, split up."

 

"Split up?" Shine inquired.

 

"Yeah, you guys are pretty powerful, and maybe, you guys might be able to work with people who have the same powers as you do. Like, uhh, Eria. She has water and ice magic, so Aquos and Blizzrd, you two could work with her. And Shine, you can Drive with Arthur. I can't use you guys all at once, so I reckon if we split you guys up we can give our allies a better chance of beating that thing."

 

"No, absolutely not. We're bound to you, and only you" Terras declared.

 

"If you guys moved into me, I could move you guys elsewhere, and I think I need to spend some time without people in my head. It won't be permanant anyways; just for the fight. At least you'll get more use with them than if you're all just crowding around in my head playing Twister, which I AM privy too by the way."

 

"Okay... fair enough. How did she know? Fine, we'll give it a try; but if they're weak we'll dominate them. Let's hope your faith in them is as strong as their will, otherwise, we'll have some fancy new bodies to play with."

 

"Do it, and die boys. Come on, let's go enact plan Crazy Idea."

 

And so she did, turning back to the battle with the Unversed, not that she would know what Unversed are.

[Phantom Roxas]

Arthur & Gagagigo

 

The black slime began to form itself around Gagagigo's leg, and Gagagigo stood in place. He kicked to try and get the slim off, but it clung to his leg. "Damn it!" He began to fly higher up, while the Oozetooth fired a stream of its substance at Arthur and Gagagigo. Both managed to avoid it, and the ooze splashed against the ground. However, what was on Gagagigo's leg began to spread even further, covering up to his thigh. Landing on the ground, Gagagigo to Arthur, "Don't touch it, Arthur."

 

Arthur looked at Gagagigo's leg, and understood immediately. "I'll be careful. You better focus on getting that stuff off of you." Gagagigo attempted to protest, but Sleipnir began to run towards Oozetooth. Arthur thought back to how he had finished off Apocrypha, with the columns of light that blasted him apart. "Hopefully, I can do that again." He put one hand against Sleipnir's neck, helping himself sit in place, while a light began to shine around Arthur's Keyblade. His eyes shined pure gold, blazing like the sun, and Sleipnir began to grow closer.

 

Arthur wanted to go home, and take everything back. But five years was a long time. He said he was tired of running away, and he meant it. He had to save Nero, and put an end to Ivero, Xansvita's Familiar, and the the last remnant of LERNA's evil. "We're not going to lose to a pet!" Sleipnir kicked off the ground, galloping into the air. "Make sure your 'master' knows that he's running out of time." At the swing of a Keyblade, the pain in Arthur's hand disappeared completely as light sprung out from below Oozetooth, evaporating the ooze that made up the Unversed.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

The Rejected World:

 

 

 

 

"So you're the one who organized all of this...that led Pandora through the storm...that helped to rally everyone down here on the ground..."

 

 

"Well, hello, there. I know you're a bit confused, but you just came online. Can you tell me your name and designation?"

 

 

"The Fuhrer is proud of you. You accomplished something incredible out there, and you deserve a reward..."

 

 

"I'm giving you a recommendation. Your skills are needed elsewhere, and I know people who can benefit from you..."

 

 

"You are an artificial intelligence based off of a very brilliant man. You should read his works sometime. You would understand why I made you out of him..."

 

 

"I am impressed with your tenacity. Pity you are to succumb to your condition so soon...but I can use someone of your calibre myself..."

 

 

"Whoa, there. Take it easy. Coming out of rejuvenation is no easy feat. But you're looking good for a man in your 50s. Real good..."

 

 

"Yes. He was such a great writer. One of my favorite works is 'If Only We Had Taller Been'. I know you have read it, but it's much greater appreciated read aloud..."

 

 

"Welcome back from death. You are now in my service, as one of my elite. My general. One of seven. And the power flowing through you is something to be mastered..."

 

 

"Congratulations! You made it through Special Operations Training! I knew you would make it!"

 

 

"'I send my rockets forth between my ears, Hoping an inch of will is worth a pound of years. Aching to hear a voice cry back along the universal Mall: We’ve reached Alpha Centauri! We’re tall, O God, we’re tall!'"

 

 

"That is Uru. She will be your companion. Your partner. Your other half. For without you, she cannot manifest herself. And without her, you would still be dead. Welcome to unlife!"

The ship appeared on the ground of the Rejected World, not too far from some sort of giant...glowing...centaur...thing...but Foster was quick to get systems back online while Bradbury restarted the engines and point-defense guns, just in time to repel an attack from some ethereal jellyfish.

"Bradbury, what the hell just happened?"

"Unknown. We appear to be in a different dimension. Sensors are currently determining the size and specifications. They are also detecting multiple combatants engaging with the massive object above us. Scanning...[-ERROR. DATA BUFFER EXCEEDED.-] That was strange."

"You can't scan that thing?"

"I can scan it, but any probing returns random data. Give me a few minutes to analyze this..." Considering how much time actually passed for Bradbury, a few minutes was quite a significant amount of time, so Foster made sure everything was working again, and even got the ship to rise up and begin moving away from the beast. "Analysis complete. There is no set composition to this object, and in values that make no logical sense. I had to abort the scan before I was overwhelmed by the incoming data."

"I'm thinking we hold at a safe distance, and try and figure out what to do next."

"I concur. Determining safe holding pattern at 900 meters from the target 775-800 meters above the surface. This window will give us the capability to maneuver in case of attack, while also giving us ample time to evade."

"Plotting that into the autopilot."

The silvery ship turned to begin climbing as it fled away from The Madara, banking in its flightpath to settle into a gunship-like orbiting of the battlefield.

[Phantom Roxas]

Sora

 

The Colossus had managed to survive the attack, but its body disappeared before reforming itself once again. The eye that Sora had impaled begun to rumble, and the reformed Colossus was slowly approaching, so Sora pulled on the Keyblade, but to no avail. Instead, he called it away, but before he could called it back again, the eye exploded. Sora was engulfed in flame, but his armor had taken the brunt of the damage. Sora fell down to the roof of the Inch of Will.

 

Fight, Sora! Ra's voice said. You and your allies are drawing upon My power, but it is not enough. I see there is no choice.

 

"What do you mean?" Sora cast an Aeroja spell to protect himself, and the golden aura around him was joined by the aura of Fever Pitch. He saw Odin and Ed were fighting Unversed, and Sora shot a Gravigun spell at one of the Dark Suits.

 

Slifer chose Eria to house His soul. She is, to put in terms you may be comfortable with, His successor. I believe I can do the same with you, Roxas, and Xion.

 

Eria

 

Eria was using to ice to create a path towards Ophelia, but Ophelia was absorbed into a Tower, resting on its side in the air, and firing at the people below, while Obelisk had been tossed aside by the Madara. Dorian and Ivero were under attacked, and it was difficult to pick a side in either situation, but the thought of having one side destroy the other disturbed Eria, so she focused instead on her allies, Richard and Ivankov. Ivankov had managed to avoid getting hit, and Richard would likely do the same, so Eria focused on one of the cannons. Stopping her ice to form a platform, Eria gathered water, lowering its temperature until it was a mix of ice and snow. She levitated it between her hands, and she aimed the ball right at the cannon.

 

Eria.

 

Eria prepared another ball, launching it all the same, but she answered Ra nonetheless. "Lord Ra!"

 

I know this is sudden, but I must ask that you release Me.

 

The ball Eria formed melted. After a brief pause, Eria formed another one to attack the Tower's cannons. If the ice managed to hit, they would explode, and freeze over the cannons. As Eria kept up her attacks, she responded to Ra. "Sora and his friends need you, don't they?"

 

Yes. They will become to Me what you became to Slifer. Inheritors of divine power.

 

"If that's what You need to do, then I will do it."

 

Eria… you remember that We are not from the same universe as you, correct? If you return home, there will be others like Us. A Slifer who may demand to know how you came across a soul identical to His.

 

"I was raised to worship the three of You. Something like multiple universes don't change that. You are all true Gods to me."

 

And if you encounter Our counterparts?

 

"I have faith that You would all understand."

 

And if We are vengeful Gods in your universe?

 

Eria gathered frost in both hands, holding the resulting ball above her. Crimson energy flowed from her arms and into the ball, with red patches appearing on her arm. The pupils of her eyes narrowed, and as she threw out her arms, the ball grew even bigger, and it was twice her size. "That is not something I choose to believe."

 

Ra laughed. I am thankful for your loyalty. Though our time together was brief, I am glad to have spent it with someone who believe in Us so much.

 

"I'm glad that I could help," Eria smiled. "But what of your world? If Sora and his friends have your soul, and I have Slifer's, you won't be there for your people."

 

There is still Obelisk.

 

Eria watched Obelisk nodding towards the Inferno Titan, before flying up to be at level with the Madara's upper body. "What did You and Slifer think of Him?"

 

The air around Obelisk began to ripple, the lightning of the Rejected World crackling around him. Obelisk held his hands up, and the lightning struck them but Obelisk merely laughed at it.

 

He has always seen Himself as a warrior, Ra answered. But He values life. Not as servants who offer Him worship, but as His fellow warriors. People, who fight every day of their lives. I am certain that, with Him on your side, you shall see this war to its end.

 

Eria drew out the Millennium Rod and Ra's card. "He doesn't like to show that, does He?"

 

He does not. He values his pride very much.

 

Obelisk began to rise higher and higher, watching as Radamanthys began to destroy the Madara's arm. He brought his hands closer together, the lightning crackling as he brought them together, his fingers locking over each other.

 

"Don't you at least want to say goodbye?"

 

No need, Obelisk interrupted.

 

"Lord Obelisk!" Eria stammered. "Please, forgive me if I went to far."

 

Don't worry about it, Obelisk said to her. Ra, do what You must.

 

Then this is farewell, Obelisk. The transparent form of Ra appeared above Eria, nodding at her. Do it.

 

Turning away from the Madara, Eria looked at the battles going on around the Inch of Will. The giant Unversed stood out most of all, but she could see Arthur and Gagagigo fighting against the Unversed. The light from Arthur's attack tore the Unversed apart, but Eria could tell that it wouldn't enough. "I have to believe in them," she told herself. They can handle it. I know they will." Holding the Millennium Rod up high, and the card of the Winged Dragon of Ra towards the battle against the Unversed, Eria called out, "Glorious Ra, Heart of the Sun! I release You of your bond!"

 

The card burst into light, and the spirt of Ra flew towards the Inch of Will. He didn't look back while his body once more turned to flame. Eria was still watching, but Obelisk looked back for only for a moment before returning his attention to the Madara. All Ra said was, I wish you all luck, noble Counter Corps." His body split in three, all shaped like phoenixes, and they flew towards their chosen inheritors.

 

Sora

 

Sora jumped up from the Inch of Will, hoping to drive back the Colossus of the Shadow. The sound of fire approaching alerted him, but Sora wasn't afraid of it. In fact, he welcomed it. The phoenix opened its mouth and swallowed Sora, and it continued onwards, flying towards the Colossus, and piercing through its chest. The flames began to subside, and now, standing behind the Colossus, was Sora. His helmet changed, now adorned with a mask resembling the head of Ra, and his cape made of Ra's feathers. The Ultima Weapon floated in front of his hand, while Sora moved to face the Colossus.

 

"So this is your power," he said. "Thank you, Ra." He grabbed the Keyblade again, and gold and teal light both erupted from it. "Hold on, Nero. Just a little longer, and we'll save you.

 

Megiddo

 

The fal'Cie was sitting on his throne once again, with Chaos seeping back into his body, while monitors showed the many battles occurring in the Rejected World. "They truly are an interesting bunch. Now Sora has obtained the power of an Egyptian God. I hope that he shall accept my gift." He lifted up all the monitors, each one growing smaller before connecting each other, forming a sphere, the monitors now serving as panels on it. "Polaris, direct all research onto the universes the inhabitants of this world hail from. Mercurius, generate Waypoint Threads, and weave them into whatever Polaris finds."

 

The monitors briefly turned red, and Megiddo sank further back into his chair. His wounds had completely healed, and the monitors all assembled together, forming a sphere, each monitor acting like panels on it. A claw snatched the sphere away, and Megiddo summoned up more monitors instead. "I cannot afford to be distracted for too long. I must refine Wickenheim. The crystals can do the rest."

 

Kairi (Using a Drive with Xion)

 

Both of the Raid attacks had failed to hit the Double Master, but Kairi recalled them back into her hands just in time to block the dark bolt. Unfortunately, the bolt was but a distraction, and the Double Master was about to bring its sword and mace down on Kairi. She jumped back, missing the mace, but the sword was coming in fast. However, just before the sword was able to slice through its target, another sword had appeared to block it. Its owner was Zilyana, and she was holding the Unversed's sword back with her own.

 

"Thank you!" Kairi said to Zilyana.

 

"That's nice," Zilyana answered. "But that's not important right now!"

 

Kairi nodded in agreement, looking over the Double Master's various weapons. The spear and the crossbow were the biggest threats, but the Double Master had thrown its spear, and it had yet to retrieve it. Right now, the arm had no weapon. It was about as good as an opportunity as they could get.

 

But then something unexpected happen. A phoenix had appeared, biting through the weaponless arm at the shoulder, but Zilyana dropped her guard to avoid being hit the flames.

 

Ra. Kairi could hear Xion speaking to her. He's here to give me and the others power.

 

"He is?" Kairi asked.

 

Yes, Xion answered. He'll help us destroy this.

 

"The more the merrier," Kairi said in relief. She kept her distance away from the Double Master, while the phoenix circled around it. When the phoenix was behind the Double Master, Kairi ran towards the Unversed, tossing the Keyblade in her left hand at the ground. "Xion, take it!"

 

Kairi's armor changed back to normal, while Xion's Keyblade flew towards the phoenix. The flames of the phoenix began to transformed into armor, which assembled around Xion as she returned to her form. Taking her Keyblade, the flames of the phoenix burned around it, extending the length of the Keyblade, before Xion swung it down the Double Master's back.

 

Roxas

 

While one of the hounds had been destroyed, the dark mist it left behind was absorbed into the other two, who let out a screeching howl. Roxas covered his ears to deafen the sound, but his body refused to move. The hounds were getting closer, and Roxas could do nothing to stop them. If it were not for the help of small, blue whirlwinds, Roxas would become their meal.

 

The whirlwinds knocked pushed the Shadow Pack away from Roxas, who felt a hand on his shoulder helping him out. Towering over him was Kree'arra, who simply asked, "Can you fight?"

 

"Yes," he answered. "But not alone. Thanks for the save."

 

"Zilyana is helping your other friends. I believe that your leader can handle himself, so I saw it fit to help you." The cry of the third and final phoenix came from behind Roxas and Kree'arra, and they turned to face it. "It seems we have more company."

 

"No," Roxas grinned. "It's more help." Roxas turned his back to the monster, while the phoenix drew closer before consuming Roxas entirely. Now Roxas himself had the same armor as Sora and Xion, his Keyblade burning as it sliced through the upper jaw of one of the Shadow Pack.

 

???

 

Kokonoe's lab had received an unexpected visitor. It was small creature, and its eyes were slowly opening. It could see something gold lying before it, but its vision was too blurry to make it what it was. The creature was growling, but it wasn't angry, it was tired. That was when it began to speak.

 

"Totodile…"

[Dad]

Kratos & Chernobyl

 

Kratos was nearly beheaded by the false blade when Radamanthys counteracted with powerful magic.  Powerful enough that the Blade was stopped right in it's tracks.  But of course, the Madara was rightly prepared.  It launched an assault of lightning at Kratos, to which he quickly responded with his Golden Fleece to deflect the lightning.  Unfortunately he was successful.  When Kratos raised his wrist, the lightning streamed just around his left and right, straight into Chernobyl's chest.  A wild yelp was heard, as Kratos turned his head.  "Chernobyl!" he cried out as he watched the giant pup slowly decrease in size as he spiraled to the ground.  This sparked an intense burst of anger inside Kratos, and the Rejected World began to shake.  Kratos turned his attention back to Madara, his blood boiling and his eyes filled with rage.  A streak of white hote lightning blew past Kratos and struck at the Madara's feet, and with the momentum of a rocket, the Blade of Olympus fell from the sky.  Kratos latched onto it with both hands, and pushed, accelerating directly at the Madara who was being held in place by Radamanthys.

 

Papa Legba

 

Sora continued his assault, but eventually fell down to the roof of the Inch of Will.  Papa would take advantage of this quickly, apparating right beside Sora.  Tapping the boy's temple, Papa could bathe in the anger that resided in him.  "Sora, Sora," he daunted.  "What a pleasure dis is," he said standing the boy to his feet.

 

"You are anxious and angry, young one.  Do you miss your friends dat much?" he said with sinister intent.  "Because you know, Sora.  Dere is a way to retrieve de dead, and at no cost."  A wicked smile crossed Papa's face as he awaited a reply.

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

Oozetooh

 

The dragon composed of oozing and dripping darkness had succeeded in incapacitating Gagagigo as intended and had now only the horse riding boy to worry about. For the now slowed lizard would be an easily captured snack as a celebration of victory. However, the boy had come closing in unnoticed, and when Oozetooth had finally noticed the boy it seemed to late. A huge pillar of light had erupted from the ground and started evaporating the ooze that was surrounding or was what the Unversed was made of. After the pillar of light had subsided, a skeletal system of pitch black bones revealed that it had been more than ooze; the skeletal system took a step toward Arthur just before collapsing to the ground of the world in defeated pieces, which had then started turning into dust.
 

The Colossus of the Shadow

 

An explosion had erupted from the eye engulfing the Keyblade Wielder, just as the Unversed had planned, but what The Colossus of the Shadow hadn't planned was the hole that had now appeared within its chest. The Keyblade Wielder had then been in front of him, dancing his keyblade about his hand before grabbing, and his armor shining golden as if he belonged in a treasure trove of sorts. But the Unversed didn't yield, it couldn't, it was merely a pawn to its master, even though it wouldn't have known that thought. The Colossus of the Shadow had no choice but to press on, even though its body had been noticeably disappearing, mostly corroding from the hole where it had received the damage earlier. If anything good could be said about the Unversed, anything at all, it was that their loyalty was impressive; even if they were voice of their own thoughts.

Double Master

 

It had the Keyblade Wielder on the ropes now, with a slash of its blade he would begin the defeat of its opponent and then all would start to be in its hands. However, now there was a new warrior, not a Keyblade Wielder, and therefore not of interest to the Unversed. It stared to devise a plan to deal with the uninteresting warrior, but then its arm had been ripped off by a phoenix-like apparition; it had made a sound as if in pain for but a moment. Then the two Keyblade Wielders had separated, causing more trouble. One was in front of the Double Master, at first he didn't know where the second had gone, but the slash at its back soon made it realize where the other Keyblade Wielder had gone.

 

Double Master had fallen to the ground, dropping its mace and its sword about the area of its body. However, just like its comrade, it had no intention to simply stop fighting just because it had taken some big damage to its body. Its wound had started corroding its body, just as the other wound had crippled the other Unversed's body. It didn't bother to pick up its sword or mace, it hadn't the strength to carry them, and would just rely on its elementals and its crossbow from here on. Speaking of the weapon, it fired yet another bolt at the newest appearing warrior, then it arched one head to Kairi, and one to Xion. Suddenly, a stream of fire blasted towards Kairi and a blast of razor sharp wind echoed at Xion.

Shadow Pack

 

It seemed that all was going well for the Shadow Pack, the first kill of the Keyblade Wielders was about to be theirs. Suddenly, small blue whirlwinds appeared to block the path of the Shadow Pack and push them back from their prey. The new warrior talked to Roxas for a moment just before a phoenix-like figure came and gave the Keyblade Wielder much more power and shinier armor. Next, the second death of the Shadow Pack had taken place when the Keyblade Wilelder's weapon plunged into its skull. The last member had jumped back to avoid any further attacks, and upon landing, the dust resulting in the defeat of his comrade had now made the last member of the Shadow Pack stronger. Just like the last time, it had grown in size and had given him an increase in his abilities, but it had also given him another dangerous ability. The last member of the Shadow Pack fired off a devastating bullet of hot black energy flaming with the intensity of the last members final assault.

 

 

Odin

 

As the Keyblade Warriors were fighting their own Unversed, Odin had been dispatching the Dark Suit Unversed and was doing well at the task. There had only been five Dark Suit Unversed left but they had wandered quite the distance away from the Inch of WIll. "Interesting, they seem to have no interest, wandering aimlessly now where as just before they had every intention of fighting." Odin commented on the Unversed's odd activity and behavior. He then scanned the area for Ivero and found him confronting Ophelia. "Could he be losing control I wonder?"  Odin thought, and then started making his way to the Keyblade Warriors.

[Merci]

Ophelia

 

Her body was floating inside a white space devoid of gravity, contained by the SH Amulet Tower, which continued to rain down upon the combatants with condensed soundwaves, and whilst three of them were able to successfully avoid the barrage, the familiar Ivero had been caught. Perfect.

 

However, before Ophelia could do anything else, she found herself distracted by three others joining this extermination, them being Tenshi, Eria, and Hapshiel. 

 

The first was a sorceress of the Divine whom had unleashed large, sharp rocks called keystones, and the latter a sorceress of the Counter Corps who was throwing out spheres of ice and snow, each of these aimed at the cannons. Although the Reyvateil wasn't able to respond quickly enough, both of these crashed into the sound-based energy forcefield surrounding her tower, negating any potential damage to the structure.

 

As for the last of them, someone she herself had brought and would prove to be most troublesome, he had managed to bypass her forcefield partially due to his nature and partially because he was one of her summons. The man, Hapshiel, looked like he was doing something that appeared to be of an inappropriately sexual nature,  but as it wasn't having any effect on the exterior shell of the Tower, she decided to ignore him for now. So long as he was distracted by his own pleasures, he was of no immediate threat.

 

What is he doing anyway...? Ophelia wondered somewhere at the back of her mind, though not to such an extent that it interfered with her concentration.

 

She observed the ones resisting her, and though they hadn't yet made much of an effort to take her down, they would soon be coming up with more complex plans to get around her powers. However, in this regard, so could she.

 

As her attention went back to the ground, she opened up a holographic screen of Ivero and pressed on it. It was quickly followed up by the air around Ivero vibrating, becoming faster and faster to the point that he could probably feel it. Then, he might've noticed that his energy was being drained away. 

 

Then, once again the cannons fired, this time including Tenshi, and this time they were being fueled by dark lasers - lasers not unlike Ivero's own - with such an intensity that they tore through the air as they made their way down towards their respective targets.

 

But this was only a distraction. Since Ophelia already possessed a full database on the abilities of each Divine member, along with having collected enough data to build a sufficient one for the Counter Corps, she was currently preparing the formaics for a much grander counterattack against her many opponents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~  ~  ~

 

 

ザまだら

 

Something was yelling at it in a language it could understand, insulting it, though the grammar was less than subpar. Its speech was irrelevant, but it seemed to be coming from one of the entities close to Butler, namely Wyvern Radamanthys; a Judge of Hell. Due to the level, this demonic entity was of no immediate interest, although he did interfere with its matter concerning Kratos, unleashing an attack named 'Greatest Caution' which interrupted both its Blade of Olympus swinging and the resulting discharge.

 

However, as the Wyvern's claws dug into its arm and the Madara sensed itself being analyzed on what was called an 'atomic level', it also sensed that Radamanthys was receiving no results.

 

None.

 

Nothing. Void existence. Something that could only be defined as " ".

 

Cosmos is a fundamental concept belonging to each and every universe, originating at their Big Bang, and everything is borne of it. It is impossible for anything in this current reality to not belong to Cosmos in some form, because everything is destined to originate from the exact same multiverse. To assume otherwise would be ridiculous.

 

So the very fact that the Judge of Hell - for all his knowledge - was unable to find anything it could comprehend in the Madara, was itself an anomaly. There were atoms, certainly, atoms and energy, but these were almost completely alien to Cosmos

 

But wait. Upon closer analysis, there were parts resembling Cosmos within it. Elements were scattered all about its body, partly remnants of the Mad Blood, partly remnants of Darcy's energy attack, partly a mysterious energy contained in its torso, and partly a 'something' which was primarily concentrated in its sword. Like metal, but not quite.

 

Though this revelation wouldn't lead to much as it just meant that Radamanthys failed to do anything notable.

 

Still, Kratos had taken advantage of this (by the way, it seemed that his pet had been killed by the earlier discharge attempt, enraging him), and lightning struck at the Madara's feet. Only a moment later, the Blade of Olympus was in Kratos's hands, and he thrust forth in tandem with Sephiroth sending down bolts of lightning, which was aimed at its torso, along with an entity called Amato who was positioned beneath him, sending up a sphere of destructive purple light.

 

"いまいち." It spoke in a psychic manner, again in that same, deep voice.

 

The bolts of lightning and the sphere of destruction were halted as the body of the Madara temporarily hardened, not unlike how Butler-Ragnarok tended to harden his Mad Blood. It moved its Blade of Olympus in order to combat the other - however, it turned out that the original was more powerful, the golden blade tearing through its inferior counterpart.

 

"...いまいち!!!"

 

Just before Kratos's blade could reach it, the hardened parts broke off only to turn into a liquid-like state that rushed towards him, catching and enveloping his body. Then it hardened, especially over his arms in order to prevent him from freeing himself with the power of the Blade of Olympus. The liquid was connected to the centaurus anomaly by a thin, crimson cord which swiftly picked him off the ground, raising him high until he was right in front of the Madara's face.

 

This way, the subject was left defenseless, and being in direct contact with the red energy, it must've felt like it was seething uncontrollably hot, unlike anything he had ever experienced before, like his body would combust on the spot. Such was experiencing the heat of the sun. But - the burning was psychic, having no effect on his actual body.

 

Around the same time, Sephiroth and Amato found themselves assaulted by streams of red liquid, attempting to grab ahold of their bodies and trap them like they did Kratos. For the god Obelisk the Tormentor, who was also opposing the Madara, it did the same, but had to temporarily detach and sacrifice its left arm in order to do so, so as to to compensate for the large amount of mass.

 

More energy began to envelop Kratos, spreading further out while the mental inferno in his mind only increased. A second presence was manifesting into his mind. Invisible, yet with such an aura that it was not unlike his own.

 

And then, it 'spoke', not in his language, but in such a way that Kratos could understand its meaning directly.

 

Kratos.

 

You are a Spartan General. Son of Zeus. The most powerful- no, more than that. The bravest warrior anyone has ever known.

 

The gods, Olympians, they betrayed you. They took your brother Deimos away, and made you kill your wife, Lysandra, and your daughter, Calliope. Your mother. Pandora. So many loved ones you have lost.

 

In your quest for vengeance and redemption, you have slain gods and challenged the order, defying fate and having to make even more difficult decisions. You have had to struggle, waging war on everything around you.

 

A Counter Guardian appeared to you, offering you a chance to fix things. To save your family.

 

This is why you are here before ME, THE MADARA. You understand war and pain as I do. You understand what the world is like, and the depths to which its contradictions and cruelty can sink to.

 

Think, Kratos! Even if you were to defeat me, even if you defeat every last soldier of the Divine, there will be no miracle to bring back your family. Your life will be no different.

 

And even if they did come back, who's to stop them from being taking away again? The very gods of death hold grudges against you. You will be fighting, spilling the blood of everything around you for the rest of your life.

 

However...

 

While Kratos appeared to be in a trance on the outside, his body still being encased within the hardening liquid, something strange was beginning to happen to the dying hellborn pup. It was slowly beginning to glow a red aura, an aura which was thickening, becoming more and more solid as the poor creature's lifeline slipped away. If it died, then there was no telling what would happen to it. And whether it would be for better or for worse.

 

 

Do not give up hope.

 

There is a way. A way to save yourself. To save everyone you love.

 

Look.

 

Open your eyes, and see a miracle right now.

 

Suddenly in his vision, the figure of an oh-so-familiar little girl walked up to him with a smile on her face——it was his daughter Calliope, with Lysandra close behind. Both of them looked happy, looking like they were waiting for Kratos to join them.

 

Go on. Join them!

 

Oh mighty warrior, you above all have earned the right.

 

"Father!" The little girl cried happily, running over to his side, only to pause a few feet short. She held out her hands anxiously, as if waiting for him to take them. A force was beckoning him to do so.

 

Come, Kratos... Come and reject that hellish dream called 'reality'.