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

[The Warden]

|_)Magical Girl Lydia(_|

 

Lydia smiled as Arthur took the hat. "It should work. The sun stands for heat more than light, so you should be able to tap into your full potential...!" she smiled, but cut off as the reunion of memory was short lived by the Madara that was stampeding towards them. "Run!"

 

Lydia split away from Arthur, the wind caring her over the segments of earth and away from the Madara; but, he wasn't after her, was he? Stopping mid-flight, Lydia twirled around, casting away many snowflakes to see the much more solid Madara hunting after Arthur. And that's when she also saw Slifer and... was that Eria on top of him? Squinting her vision, she could barely see the Charmer on top of Slifer's head. And that was where the Madara was headed. "ERIA!" she cried and sailed after the Madara, a strange buzzing feeling in her as she approached until...

 

POOF!

 

Suddenly, she was there, but, not there. It looked and felt like the Rejected World, but the buzzing was gone. Confused, Lydia looked around to witness an awe inspiring attack involving exploding planets.  "I really should remember to use an attack like that at some point" she noted.

 

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

 

|_)Red, the Arisen(_|

 

His attack ending, Red collapsed to his knees; his staff rolling away as he held a claw to his throat. He was coughing uncontrollably as large clouds of black smoke escaped his mouth with each hack. "That... *cough* didn't go as planned" he wheezed as his claw randomly snatched for his staff.

 

With the cool wood in his grasp, he used it to lever himself upright, though his legs shook from fatigue. Managing a snarl between coughs, he stared in the direction of Sayer and spat a disgusting black glob on the ground. "Attacking me... was one mistake I am GOING to make him regret" the dragon hissed.

[Merci]

Orbthuria?

 

Just as he was speaking with the Megiddo-named entity, a sudden, unexpected force washed over the Rejected World. A red light. It appeared so abruptly that he wasn't sure what to think of it, and yet, as soon as they came into contact with each other, he found his mana-construct body being taken in.

 

It only made sense. This 'shell' was, while a perfect container for anyone wishing to be powerful, nothing but a miracle brought about by a high power. However, an even higher power bringing about an even greater miracle, that alone was enough to negate the very existence of whatever this thing was supposed to be.

 

While the ones contained within would be brought into the illusion of an idealistic miracle, he would simply vanish into the void. Nothingness. Complete nothingness.

 

However, this void was all that he required.

 

It was all that he needed.

 

A paradoxical sentence, for he needed 'nothing'. It was this 'nothing' that would guide him on the way to the true path. The path that he had been prevented from traversing for time. Time far beyond eons.

 

So what if everything stood against him.

 

So what if it took several d u o d e c i l l i o n years.

 

The result would remain the same.

 

For the very concept of 'nothing' was itself infinite.

 

And for every 'nothing' that existed within infinity, there was a 'something' to make it come true.

 

And for every 'something' that existed within infinity, there was an 'everything' to define it.

 

And for the 'everything' that existed throughout infinity, existence itself was formed.

 

Yet the funny thing is, existence is not a constant. No, it is ever advancing onwards. Progressing towards utter destruction, towards 'nothing'. Always it ends this way. Always it begins this way.

 

...Except for he, the sole anomaly in this constant cycle of the multiverse.

 

 

~ ~ ~

 

ザまだら

 

"IGNORANT."

 

"FOOLISH."

 

"THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED 'REALITY' HAVE NO RIGHT TO SPEAK OF SUCH THINGS TO THE MADARA."

 

The massive centaur's charge halted immediately by a plethora of unusually powerful entities, each of them strong enough to take him on, he was able to comprehend almost straightaway the threat that this would pose to the investigation. No, he needed more time. More comprehension. More life. Something would have to be done as his body was being assailed continuously. He created a shield to hold in his now free-hand to further defend him, but it was hardly anything. As the Galaxian Explosion was unleashed and countless planets rushed towards him, he could fully understand that there was simply no way that he could possibly withstand it. Not even an entity with an incomplete existence could survive something so vast, so ridiculous, and yet, and yet-

 

This was perfect for the Madara. With all the true, suitable subjects moved out of the way, there was no risk as to the mission. The others had retreated, leaving only two. Let it not be mistaken, neither of them were feeble-minded. Their ideals were opposing and rich despite being twins of the same overall nature. Aspros was the one shining bright, while Deutros was considered as nothing but his shadow, although both were equally matched in every way. What brought them to the present from their early years, it was rife with potential.

 

However, these were but two men among many, and the function of actually appreciating the efforts they've had to go through was something that had not quite developed yet. Both of the lifeforms currently in his presence would have to be crushed in an instant, not only due to the danger they posed, but also because they were currently hindering the greater goal at hand. Useless though they may be towards the cause, this closed situation which they'd prepared for him would be convenient enough. At least, he could scavenge what was left of them.

 

"LOOK FORTH AND BEHOLD... THE ULTIMATE WORLD!"

 

Just as the Galaxian Explosion came into contact with and engulfed the body of the centaur, a tremendous amount of red light began to emanate from him, negating the attack entirely while increasing in intensity as it began to flood the whole Rejected World. No, it wasn't so much a light as it was the essence of the Madara himself converted into photons. And then, in an instant, these waves of light spread rapidly throughout the entire plane until it was drowned - like a pebble thrown into the ocean. There was no way anyone could avoid it, just like how a thrown pebble couldn't possibly fly away. Escape was possible, but nigh impossible as all those currently present were caught and drowned into it. Their power and their bodies were unraveled in an instant, their souls and memories laid bare, being replaced by a greater essence - that of the Madara himself.

 

Consent was something that was not necessarily required, as these beings had been broken down to such an extent that they no longer possessed the capacity to show resistance. Despite the mass of experience and uncertainty that came with them, their ideals were not too difficult to comprehend. Or at least...the one that belonged to Deutros did not. As for Aspros, he took some more time to drown due to the slight complexity that came about with his dualism. However, this dilemma was ultimately resolved, and thus both brothers were consumed.

 

The Saints of Gemini, Deutros and Aspros.

 

You are about to experience a miracle which neither of you thought possible.

 

Welcome to the land where all your desires have been granted. Everything has been made just for you. You will forget these words, but it will not matter to you after this point.

 

You attempted to deny my offer. However, you did so only in ignorance, so you are forgiven. This world, you see, is neither a dream nor is it reality. This is the 'IDEAL' that you have longed for all your lives.

 

Enjoy.

 

By the time the process was complete, having been sucked into the prototype of the world called Infinite Tsukuyomi, the bodies of both Gemini Deutros and Gemini Aspros were no longer themselves, . 'Transformed' would be one word, but it was more like switching with a clone, or rather, having a parasite clone eat and replace oneself. In a way, it was just like the process of fossilization. The two almighty Golden Saints had been caught in something that they couldn't possibly avoid.

 

Assimilated by the world of perfection that the Madara proposed, having dissolved into his essolve, all that were left of the Gemini Twins were two crimson humanoid masses in the shape of the Gold Saints, equipped with the same armour. Entities with a solid form and a personality, almost plantlike in appearance, yet faceless and featureless. This was nothing but the shell they left behind - in other words, Zetsu. Two subservient Zetsu, their true selves lost forever in their perfect ideals.

 

The temporary projection of Infinite Tsukuyomi had done more than simply take in the Gemini Twins and turn them into Zetsu.

 

There'd also been a spaceship in vacancy, which had previously punctured a hole into the Rejected World - leaving an empty opening high above - but which was currently being ravanged by the light, yet protected by a contradictory force. What was the name of the force? Was it Izumi? was it Itsu? Was it AKI? He could not be sure, for the force was a swirl of contradictions, and as he held out his hand to welcome it as well into his prototypical projection, showing 'her' a paradise world of her own - a boy called Damian Atlas even appearing in her mind, offering out his hand... Having seen the paradise, the very thought of it would ultimately consume her, surely. Everyone desired happiness after all.

 

Once the light had faded from the world, the barrier which separated the Rejected World and the Another Dimension shattered, bringing everyone back onto the proper battlefield. As for the the light itself, it left behind scattered memories all throughout the dimension, memories through which the Madara used to channel a speech.

 

 

 

 

 

~ ~ ~

 

It seems that there has been a leak. No matter. Perhaps you have been wondering about my identity, and do not worry. You all have a right to know what is about to happen.

 

My name is Uchiha Madara... Or at least, that is what I believe. I was a shinobi, fighting for the pride of my clan- No. Fighting for world peace, in the hopes that all people could be unified.

 

But I failed, because no one could understand me. Not even my best friend Hashirama Senju, who saved me from a path of further self-destruction, though unfortunately our ideals were so far apart that we are now no more than bitter enemies. The two of us fought for the same cause, but we desired such different things.

 

While Hashirama believed that mankind from all over the globe could be united through peace treaties, speeches, and sustained acts of kindness, I on the other hand believed that they could only be united... by shaping the world into one where everyone can open to everyone else without denial, suspicion, jealousy, or any other form of hatred.

 

Amongst you all, how many of you have never once in your life suffered? You cannot lie to me. I have read each of you. I have seen the shape of your tears and I have seen the ideals that they helped form. Some for the sake of good, others for evil, some for order and others for chaos.

 

This world is filled with contradictions. This world is full of things that don't go as you wish. The longer you live the more you realize reality is just made of pain, suffering, and emptiness... 

 

Listen. In this world, whenever there is light, there are also shadows. As long as the concept of victors exist, there must also be losers. The selfish desire of wanting to maintain peace causes wars and hatred is born to protect love. Man seeks peace, yet at the same time yearns for war. Those are the two realms belonging solely to us. Thinking of peace whilst spilling blood is something only people can do. They're two sides of the same coin. To protect something, another must be sacrificed. This will always be the case. 

 

That is, other than that of, say an IDEAL WORLD.

 

It is said, in an ancient legend from a time long since past, that the moon reflects the hearts of all those who look upon it. That is why I proposed the name of the new world to be Infinite Tsukuyomi - an eternal land embodying the ultimate ideal that lays in the hearts of everyone.

 

Unfortunately, the man you are listening to now, Uchiha Madara, never actually made it this far. He perished on the road to this goal, and I am all that is left of him. It was only due to the simplemindedness of that Ophelia that I happened to make it all the way hee, but nevertheless, his name symbolizes the importance that I now embody. The man once said thus:

"If there is anyone who rejects the world for what it is, if there is anyone who strives for a dream superior to the hell called ‘reality’, no matter who he is, or what is left of him, his name shall be——Madara!"

 

I, the Madara, may not truly exist, but even I must acknowledge that this is a beautiful ideal. The name shows me that I cannot give up. Understand that I will stop at nothing to achieve the 'Ultimate Ideal'.

 

Infinite Tsukuyomi needs a shape, a form. An IDEAL. Everyone here has ideals, even I, and your ideals are one piece in the puzzle that I alone shall solve. Why should you resist? No mortal can hope to harm me. No god can hope to come close to me. Simply surrender yourself now and help me build my paradise.

 

Which are the IDEALS that bring about despair, and which are the IDEALS that bring about change? You must help me with this matter. We must all unite, right here, together, in my INFINITE TSUKUYOMI! All of you, FEED ME YOUR EXPERIENCE! FEED ME YOUR EXISTENCE! 

FEED ME YOUR IDEALS!!!

 

~ ~ ~

 

 

The Rejected World

 

 

 

 

 

Akatsuki Theme Remix

 

There was something different about the gigantic crimson centaurus now, after having taken in the Saints of Gemini. His features had become more defined. On his face, the outline of eyes could be made out, and golden samurai armour had begun to make itself clearer around his centaurus torso. Also, his body overall had taken a more ruby-like, fiery appearance. Despite being at one-tenth of his original power, right now he seemed stronger than ever. The shield he'd created to defend against all the assaults from the denizens of the Underworld morphed back into a lance. Both lances he held now each had stone-like qualities.

 

Then, smaller lances materialized which the two Zetsu standing before him grabbed wordlessly. Each of the two were emanating incredible power, yet were nothing but remnants of their former selves.

 

The Madara observed his subjects one last time. It seemed that the others were getting prepared to take him down. Ridiculous. No sword could slay him. No power could annihilate him. Even if he'd been brought down to such a state, not a single being could possibly hope to stand against an existence such as himself that did not truly exist. No warrior possessed the capacity to beat him down. Even a god couldn't possibly hope to come close without being slain, since he had the power of the Blade of Olympus to back him up. Some were hoping to take out the object they called the 'Key' from within his chest and possibly negate him, but he'd taken countermeasures by hardening his armour further to the point of having a molten form. They couldn't hope to penetrate through it.

 

But they still had to be shown their place. Reaching out towards his contract with the Rejected World, he made a tear in it - a tear that shocked the world which hadn't been expecting such a thing. The effect was instantaneous, the clouds building up above as the ground shook tremendously like an earthquake was happening, even breaking apart from each other. Some crumbled away into dust, while others seemed to become resistant to gravity and float higher upwards. Down below, there was nothing but an utter darkness, a void which would consume everyone who fell into it.

 

He himself stood with his four legs on a large patch of ground at the center of the now-damaged Rejected World. Whilst some of the combatants had the ability of flight and were thus unbothered, others had to make sure they weren't close to the edge so they didn't fall or anything.

 

The two Zetsu he'd created scattered, flying up into the air. The Zetsu Deutros was sent to deal with his former Underworld allies, while the Zetsu Aspros was sent to assault the spaceship - which had withstood the light of Infinite Tsukuyomi somehow - and deal with its inhabitants, whomever they were.

 

However, those weren't the only Zetsu. Somewhere close by, there'd been a being called Tenshi Hinanai who had been mass-murdering alternate versions of herselves. It was true, they all lacked physical bodies, but each of them were souls in their own right, and as they floated away into the abyss, the Rejected World trapped them and brought them to the Madara, whereupon they too were consumed by his essence, dragged into the 'developing Infinite Tsukuyomi' and converted into Zetsu. As they didn't have bodies, the Madara had to separate parts of himself in order to create them. Thus, about a dozen other Zetsu resembling Tenshi were formed, crimson and featureless. Their power weren't too great and they lacked weapons, but a decent enough force as he commanded them to scatter, spread out and engage all those who dared oppose him.

 

As for the Madara himself, he expanded his presence so it could be felt by all. Everyone would be able to feel a presence at the back of their minds. Their experience and their defining moments, they were all being observed and judged.

 

It didn't matter who they were. Be they Kinzie, Kokonoe, all the others inside the spaceship 'Inch of Will', Alister, Alexander, Ratchet, Frankram Stein, Foster, Kairi, Roxas, Xion, Kree'arra, Zilyana, Lydia Armstrong, Emporio Ivankov, Yuki Fudo, Kazuya, Aesir, Riley Simmons, Ed Garith, Kriemhild Gretchen, Tsugunai Tamashī, Richard Mason, Chandra Nalaar, Kurai, Darcy, Dorian, Red, Otto Skorzeny, Tenshi Hinanai, another Tenshi, Ran Yakumo, Amato, Kratos, Predaking, Maxwell, Genryuusai, Radamanthys and all the other denizens of the Underworld, Butler, Ragnarok, Jecht, Sephiroth... However, some names remained missing. Who?

 

Moving his attention away, his gaze suddenly found itself locking onto a particular boy.

 

"AR...THUR."

 

Arthur. Arthur Ancyl. There was something about him. Was it his status as a demigod, a son of Apollo? Was it how he stood between three worlds? Whatever the case, it was something disgusting. The others had it too, but never to such a repulsive extent-

 

This matter would have be dealt with later, as his attention was caught by the divine Slifer the Sky Dragon. Did it believe that it could take him on? Ridiculous. No, it wasn't just the Egyptian God, it had fused with Eria the Water Charmer. A human. Both of his lances had a golden tint to them as words - the same words formerly engraved on the Blade of Olympus - lined the poles, proof that no god nor mortal could ever hope to stand in his way. He would have to deal with this himself. Anyone who dared interfere with Infinite Tsukuyomi had to be stopped, and there was no way he would let the childish dreams of a little girl - or a litle boy, for that matter - interfere with his plot!

 

The blades at the point of each of his lances suddenly ignited with golden flames, and the Madara launched them forth. Melting into lasers midflgiht, they were directed straight at the fusion entity, intended to take it down right there and then. As if this wasn't enough, it galloped forth barehanded at incredible speed, jumping from one large panel to another while closing in on the distance between them. Within ten seconds, he'd be tearing it apart if he wasn't stopped.

 

However, he was also leaving himself somewhat vulnerable each time he jumped. And, as he now had a solid form, it was practically a guarantee that normal attacks would now work on him... Or would they?

 

That remained to be seen.

[Dad]

Inch of Will, Cargo Bay

 

The thundering of exploding missiles shook him from his sleep.  When he realized he was alive, Zaraki bolted up right, and pushed his back to the nearest wall to the cargo bay's passenger entrance.  He was drowning in a cold sweat, his eyes widened at the shock of being able to recall the hell he felt like he had only just gone through.  Holding out his hands, he stared at them in disbelief, turning them over to either side.  He pulled at his hair, snatching the bells from them, and crushing them in his hands.  His long, jet black hair fell just past his shoulders, and he let out a quiet shudder.  "Wha--what's happening?  Didn't I--I was dead. . . " he mused to himself, staring blankly at the cold, metallic floor.  His eyes finally settled, as he recalled the events that occurred.  "And so was. . .Yachiru. . .".  Finally realizing he was alive again, Kenpachi cried silently, if only for ten seconds.  Before his mind could completely register that he had been rescued from death, and that he had failed his best friend, a stirring body caught his attention out of the corner of his right eye.  It was Yachiru, still asleep.  He was about to dash over to her, but his legs were still weak.  He attempted to call to her, but a force kept his vocal cords from working.  Grabbing at his own throat, he massaged it, as if to soothe his voice loose.

 

"Stop that.  It's weird," said an unknown voice from Kenpachi's head.

 

He zipped his head around to the left, then to the right.  With no other persons in sight, he was baffled at this new voice.  In his head, he began to think, "What the hell?  What was that?"

 

"I'd much prefer it if I wasn't referred to as a what, Zaraki."

 

"It can hear my tho--"

 

"Call me an it again and I'll be the one killing you this time!"

 

"Who are you!?" he demanded, in his thoughts.

 

"And why should I tell you my name after all this time?  Doesn't seem like you really earned it."  A rattling near Kenpachi's right leg caught his attention, as his Zanpaktou shook violently.  Kenpachi, surprised once more, picked up his blade, turning it over and over.  "That was you?"

[Gαr]

The Rejected World, Atop the Inch of Will

 

After finishing off the surrounding enemies, Ed decided to only to observe the going on around. He was never really into these kinds of battles. As a swordsman, one on one was how he normally fought his battles. He sheathed his swords, thereby deactivating his Zanpakuto, and began observing. It wasn't longer before Ed became confused yet again about what was going on around. He only watched the battle, but did not even attempt to process what he saw. The fight that had any real relevance to him was the Ivero fight, but that wasn't really meant for him. Eventually, he felt a very familiar presence in the cargo hold of the ship and that put a smile on Ed's face. He decided against seeing them for himself as things going on around him go even more chaotic and confusing, resulting in teleporting around and not really paying attention.

 

After a bit, the Inch of Will was brought back from the Another Dimension to the Rejected World which had a new look, even the Madara. The Reject World gave off a very "LERNA's Barrier" kind of vibe. After giving an awe inspiring speech, the Madara's new minions, the Gemini Zetsus, attacked. One went after the group that was already attack the Madara, and the other to the Inch of Will. "Finally, time for some one on one action."

 

Ed was the only fighter in the general area that he could see, except for the ship, but it was ship, and not a combatant, so it was just a weapon at this point. He jumped off the roof of the ship and unsheathed, activating his Zanpakuto in the process. Raising his swords above his head, he swung his swords, creating two black flame dragons that were going straight for the Zetsu's lance. The two dragons spun around the lance instead of hitting it head on before combing into one large wave of black flame that slammed into the Aspros. The flames then solidified into black ice, encasing it. Ed knew that the ice would not hold judging by everything he has seen so far in earlier battles.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

"DIE!!" 'Sarah' thrusted one arm forward, and towers of fire erupted all over the place. 'Sarah' didn't care who she was hitting; the Madara, the Zetsu, or even everyone else who was actually fighting the Madara. All she cared about was that she kept missing Jecht for god knew what reason. 'Sarah' also tried launching two gargantuan fireballs at Jecht, one of which ended up going straight for Madara, while the other landing on the ground among the other combatants and spread outwards. However, before she could do anything else, Jecht had summoned his big-ass rock and jumped upwards. Anticipating that he'd try to throw it her face, 'Sarah' up and vanished in a puff of smoke. Jecht only smirked in response to this, for his real target was the Madara.

 

After Jecht did his Ultimate Jecht Shot on the Madara, 'Sarah' reappeared behind him, and charged at him at full force, a blazing trail left in her wake. Jecht only just managed to catch this, and still found himself knocked over in his attempt to evade, but for 'Sarah', there was no stopping herself. By the time she could stop and turn to face and try to attack Jecht again, 'Sarah' would be in prime range for the Madara to absorb her, and there'd be nothing she could do to stop it.

[Reinforce]

Ayame

 

With a whispered "Thank you." to the woman who had come to her aid, Ayame's subconscious managed to break away from the shadows in the mindscape, returning to reality as the others backed out of her mind. As she did, the castle and it's surroundings where the remnants still remained was fast being destroyed by lightning, bursting out from the space Ayame had just left from to ravage the castle and strike off into the sky, where more clouds were forming. Quickly, all that remained of the shadowy realm was rapidly vanishing rubble, left behind in a wide grassy plain, light shining down through the thunderclouds still present in the sky, as lightning continued to strike the ground.

 

In the real world, Ayame had just enough time to react as the platforms in the area started to break away, regaining her feet quickly enough to dash back and avoid falling straight off into the abyss, before managing to gain her bearings once more, having missed all but the last couple of sentences of the Madara's proclamation.Not bothering to respond verbally, Ayame instead brought her hands together, a ball of lightning gathering between them before it was thrown at the now seemingly solid centaur. Following it, Ayame continued her attack with two bolts of lightning, before being forced to dodge again as a tower of fire erupted behind her. As she regained her balance once more, a hand was raised and several more lightning bolts sprung out of it, aimed directly towards the outline of the centaur's left eye, aiming to damage, or at least partially blind the eye if she could.

 

-----

 

Chandra

 

As the whole group of CC and Divine entered Another Dimension, noticing that her summons hadn't followed them in, Chandra was quick to dismiss them, rather than bother trying to sustain them as the massive explosions happened. As they re-entered, Chandra listened to the words being projected into their minds, dismissing most of them as the ramblings of someone crazy while picking out a couple that could give her a clue to how to harm it.

No mortal can hope to harm me. No god can hope to come close to me.

If no mortal can harm it, and gods can't reach it, how about beings that are not mortal beings, but are not gods either. Following that thought, even as the ground fell out from under her, Chandra brought up a trio of fiery creatures, another of her Phoenixes to fly on, as well as a Firewing Phoenix on one side, and a Magma Phoenix on the other, both burning birds hovering in the air momentarily as she gave her commands. With a screech, the two birds flew directly at the Madara, aiming to attack its arms where the spears were emerging. Then, just to test out if other methods might still work on it, Chandra also cast another of the red spells in her arsenal, Beacon of Destruction, sending a large gout of flame out from directly underneath the Madara's body.

 

-----

 

Darcy

 

With the transition to Another Dimension, Darcy lost sight of the being she had been observing, deciding to return her attention to the Madara as it pulled off another trick, wiping away the massive attack going towards it and seemingly turning anyone who hadn't been evacuated to this alternate dimension into featureless crimson beings. With that finished, the dimension the Divine and CC were in seemed to collapse, dumping them back out into the Ruined World as the crimson beings created started to spread out and target the various humans fighting the Madara. With one coming directly at her, Darcy sent a dark beam to blast through the Zetsu's head, before floating into the sky to gain some distance away from it, even as she sent a second beam to ensure it died from the attack. Refocussing then on the Madara, Darcy shot another beam of darkness, this one aimed at the now identifiable location of it's right eye, before following it with a sphere of the dark energy at the centaur's neck.

[Maeriberii Haan]

Why did I choose to continue existing?

I have nowhere to go back now.

No one is waiting for me to return.

No one will mourn me when I die.

So why?

…

…

..

Of course.

Yes.

You are right.

Ideal. Paradise.

Yeah, I am fighting for those things.

I desired to see my world come into fruition.

And that desire, that is why I am here.

It’s the reason I still exist.

And I won’t stop pursuing my ideal. I won’t give my dreams to anyone, whatever the reason is.

 

No matter who stands in my way, I’ll remove them.

Even if the universe itself stands between me and my paradise….

 

I will not stop.

 

[spoiler=Part 1]

------

 

The ground below them had broken down into pieces, but Tenshi managed to summon several keystones to keep her and Tenco afloat.

 

The centaur, or to be better said, The Madara had now donned his armor, looking far more menacing than the empty figure from before.

 

Tenshi found its existence to be absolutely disgusting. Its speech, its motivation, all felt like a mockery of her own. Her sword glowed brighter as it took the negative emotions from her that turned into temperaments.

 

“….A pathetic creature like you shouldn’t be saying things like that.”

 

 “Tenshi, what are those?”

 

Tenco pointed at some of the figures coming out from somewhere near the centaur. It was hard to make out the figures of those seemingly featureless individuals at first, but then, realization hit her.

 

“…You're really are mocking me, huh?

Do you really wish to perish into oblivion?”

 

As if Tenshi's disgust at this so called "The Madara" couldn't get worse, it decided to pull those..things.

 

Those figures that resembled her.

 

No, that’s not exactly the correct thing.

 

Those figures used to be her. She could see their spiritual traces, and recognized those as her own.

 

And that was when the last straw broke for Tenshi.

 

“Tenco.

Stay away from this.”

 

“…? I'll help you too!”

 

“Stay away!”

 

Without saying anything else, Tenshi propelled herself up high into the air using he keystone, leaving a very confused Tenco below.

 

-----

 

“What should we do now?”

 

Seems like we have no other choice but to just fire everything we have at the centaur.

 

“What about Tenshi?”

 

She’ll do fine, I believe. Now, may I take control of the body once again?

 

“…Go ahead. I won't really be able to help much anyway.”

 

Hmm.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Nothing.

But I do wonder. Why do you suddenly trust her like that? Minutes ago, you were acting as if she was the worst person ever, and now, you’re pretty much acted like she’s your long lost friend. That felt quite jarring, honestly.

 

“….You’re right.

But really, I have no idea about why.”

 

Well then.

Just..be careful, okay?

 

-----

 

"….Where is that help that you had promised, milady?”

 

Yukari didn't answer, probably due to the fact that everyone was transported into somewhere else moments before.

 

Angrily, Ran flew around to look at the situation at hand. The Madara stood menacingly in a place, and it seemed that he had summoned several minions to do his bidding. Some of his minions looked quite familiar, but Ran decided to not bother with them.

 

One thing caught her attention, however. A divine red dragon was hovering near the location where a tower was used to be.

 

While she was observing it however, she could feel the air around her suddenly heating up.

It indicates that an attack was coming at her, most probably a laser.

Without any time to move out of the laser’s path, Ran tried to form a barrier around her.

But she wasn’t fast enough.

Before the barrier formed completely, the laser managed to hit her first, disintegrating the upper part of her body completely.

 

Just one second later, the barrier was formed, while what's left of Ran’s lifeless body fell into the void below.

 

-----

 

“Ran-sama…?

Ran?

Ran, where are you?”

 

Chen could feel that her master was not around anymore.

A feeling of loneliness crept on her heart, a void formed inside her.

 

"Ran, stop with the jokes, please.

This isn’t funny anymore, Ran.”

 

No use.

She knew that Ran was no longer here with her.

No matter what she did, she couldn’t be with her anymore.

 

“…Ran-sama…

Can you hear me?

…

Please…

Answer me!

 

Ran-sama!

 

Ran!”

 

Yeah, no use.

Without Ran, Chen was hopeless.

Chen fell on her feet, overtaken with grief,

 

She didn’t realize that one of the Zetsu had appeared behind her, preparing for a strike.

 

-----

 

“Sometimes I wonder about her train of thought. Do I really need to direct her every action?

Do I really need to help her whenever she got stuck?

 

And here I thought Chen is the child in the whole system.”

 

Lying on the white floor of the room she was in, Yukari sighed. She was not really tired, but her mind was full of a lot of things that needed attention, and that quite troubled her. Not to mention, she couldn’t establish a connection with Ran for the last several minutes.

 

“Nah, it won’t be like me to feel troubled by these things. As Yukari Yakumo, these problems should not be a big deal for me.

But now, there's someone else that deserved my attention more.”

 

After several minutes of staring into the ceiling, she decided to get up and approach the bed near her. On it, a girl laid motionless, seemingly asleep. Yukari knew that she’s actually already awake, but she decided to just wait until the girl felt like waking up, which she did several minutes later.

 

 “Good morning, did you get a good sleep?”

 

“Ugh,,,

How do you know I’m already awake?”

 

“Probably because you’re a terrible liar, as always. But please answer the question first.”

 

“Well..Kinda. But my head still hurts now, somewhat.” The girl weakly replied.                                              

                                                                                

“That might be due to you sleeping way too much lately; it’ll sort itself out sooner or later.

Though, you might want to consider getting some exercises to prevent muscle atrophy soon.

Anyway, I’ll help you get changed and clean yourself, just tell me when you are ready.

You’re fit enough now for that, right?”

 

“I guess? Well, I think I’ll be pretty fit when my dizziness disappears.”

 

 “Well then, like I said earlier, just tell me when you’re ready.”

 

----

 

“So, do you manage to remember anything else?”

 

Yukari asked as she washed the girl’s back.

 

“I guess I have remembered most of what happened that time, and every detail of my life before that event.”

 

“Wonderful! I think-“

 

“Yukari.

 

I..I can’t forgive myself from failing to protect Gensokyo from those damn Lunarians. I could’ve finished the entire ordeal before it went too that bad, but I let my guard down when the Yin-yang orb vanished.

Yukari, I’m-“

 

“Shush, stop saying things like that, Reimu. It was my fault too that I interfered with everything way too late to make a difference.

But, that’s the past. We survivors needed to face the future with our heads up, not burdened by our pasts.”

 

“But what future do we have now? Gensokyo has been destroyed, everyone else had perished.

…You didn’t think of anything ridiculous, did you?”

 

“I do have something in my mind, but let’s just talk about it more sometimes later. But first thing first, you need to get cleaned up.”

 

“….Go ahead.”

 

----

 

“Yukari, that tickles.

Stop that,”

 

“Nope, can’t.

Hmm, you looked surprisingly cute when you’re all flustered like that.”

 

“YUKARI!”

 

“Alright, alright. Let’s get you properly clothed now.”

 

----

 

“Yukari, may I ask about our whereabouts now?”

 

Now in a simple pajama, Reimu asked Yukari as she sat on the edge of her bed while moving her mechanical arm around.

 

“To put it simply, we’re somewhere inside of my boundary realm now, or something. Yeah, you know.

If you walk out of the door right there, you will see that this room is floating in an empty space, and those ever-lovely eyes will be watching you as you fall into an endless abyss.”

 

“Uh..do you forget that I can just float away to prevent myself from falling?”

 

“Well..yeah. That’s certainly possible.

Anyway, how’s the arm? It’s still somewhat rough, but I think I managed to not screw it up this time. Also, it being detachable is really neat, right?”

 

“…This time?

Uh, I mean..It’s quite nice. Can’t beat real flesh definitely, but it’s almost felt like the real thing, with 100% more steel.

Though, may I ask something?

Not that I’m complaining or anything, but shouldn’t you be able to make or generate an actual flesh arm?”

 

“Indeed I could.

But oddly, so far I was not able to give you one that did not immediately rot or work independently from you.

It was quite messy back then, but in the end I decided that giving you a prosthetic arm is the best thing I can do for now. But good news is, I did do a good enough job to make other parts of your body that was damaged back then with actual flesh. Compare it to the last time you woke up.”

 

“Prosthe-what?

Also, are you implying that you’re experimenting with my body when I’m in a coma?”

 

“Hey, I do it for your sake, so stop complaining!”

 

“….”

 

“Alright, alright. I’m sorry.

I won’t do that again, I promise.”

 

“Yeah, whatever then.”

 

Yukari stared at a clock that was placed besides the bed. Due to the odd way time flowed on the realm, using it to indicate time was stupid, but Yukari decided that it would look neat with the entire thing, so it stayed there. The clock’s arms informed Yukari that the clock thought that it’s around 11 PM there.

 

“Well, it’s already late. You should get more sleep, and please don’t say anything about having way too much sleep to me.”

 

“Well, as you wish. Good night.

….Or is it?”

 

“I don’t know.

But still, good night.”

 

Yukari walked out of the room, and with a single flick from her finger, the lights on the room went off.

 

------

 

Once outside, Yukari immediately tried to reestablish the connection between her and Ran, but to no avail.

Another try, she still failed to establish any meaningful connection.

 

“…What the heck is actually happening there?

 

Alright, one last try.”

 

Yukari focused her mind, trying to connect with Ran.

This time, she was successful, but Yukari's felt that something really wrong was going on.

 

“Ran..?

Ran..

 

RAN!”

 

She couldn’t hear Yukari anymore. Yukari only managed to connect with her just as the laser pierced through her body.

 

“…

.

Ran..why?”

 

Panicking, Yukari tried her best to connect with Chen, hoping that at least she was okay.

 

“Chen, can you hear me?”

 

No answer.

 

Yukari could see that Chen’s eyes were empty, devoid of any light.

She must’ve known about Ran’s fate thanks to her shikigami bond.

As she grieved Ran's demise, a crimson figure that resembled Tenshi suddenly approached her from behind, without any sign of Chen realizing about it.

 

“…Chen, please move!

 

Get out from there!"

 

She didn't move.

 

"Move! Chen!

 

Behind you!"

 

No movement. Nothing.

Chen just stared at the ground.

 

"No…

Listen to me!"

 

She didn't seem to listen.

 

"CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!!”

 

In the end, Chen did not move an inch. She just sat there as the Tenshi-lookalike grabbed a floating boulder and bashed it into the nekomata’s head repeatedly.

 

"...."

 

And then, there was silence.

 

-----

 

From somewhere near the Madara, two more Zetsu materialized. One was short like a child, while the other was quite tall, even for human adult standard.The two had no other distinct features, though shades of what looked to be tails might or might not be actually there.

 

No words were said as the two blitzed on opposite directions, aiming to pull the rest into the Madara’s ideal.

 

-----

 

 

 

----

 

It’s not like I have anything else with me now.

I won’t let you have it.

My ideals, my dreams.

Those are mine, and mine only.

 

----

 

[spoiler=Part 2]

-------

 

“Ugh.”

 

Gengetsu frowned a bit.

She didn’t pay much attention to whatever the Madara said, up until it told everyone to feed him with their existence.

No way in hell she’d ever do that.

Still floating with the help of her cross, Gengetsu moved closer to the Madara, up until she was satisfied with the distance between the two of them.

 

“Ideals, huh? Probably don’t have them, but I do have my dreams.

It is actually pretty simple, really. My only dreams at the moment, none are too ambitious, but all is still too important for me to give up.

I want to return to my sister.

I want to never ever be lonely again.

I want friends.”

 

Twelve spheres, each with different colors, started to revolve around the cross.

 

“The moon reflects the hearts of all those who look upon it. That was what you said.

Yes, it is true.

But all of it was merely an illusion.

It’s not the real thing.

 

While I am a ruler of dreams, I know that dreams are not reality.

Living in an illusion without actually achieving anything…

Living a life like that is pretty pathetic, don’t you think so?

So yeah, no way in hell I shall give myself towards you.”

 

The spheres’ revolution became faster and faster, and a thirteenth sphere formed in front of Gengetsu’s chest.

 

“I am Gengetsu, the Illusory Moon.

And I shall turn your dreams into a nightmare!”

 

From the thirteen spheres, an uncountable amount of danmaku was fired into the Madara, the density of the bullets looked as if the Madara was drowned by them, but it was soon apparent that it didn’t do much towards it.

Gritting her teeth, Gengetsu prepared for another attack.

 

-----

 

“Give me a freaking break…”

 

Before Amato could even more close to the Madara to attack it, some of the Tenshi looking figures started to attack her. It wouldn’t be an actual problem normally, but she could feel that something very off was going on with them, and the feeling just become stronger and stronger as she got closer with them. She resorted to using energy blasts from her sword and stone bullets to fight them, but it was apparent that it was not enough. Meanwhile, the ‘Tenshi’ thingies repeatedly tried to dash towards her, and that made Amato have to move backwards, away from them every time they dashed towards her.

 

“Array of Mukai!”

 

An explosion of petrifying energy was created just as the pseudo-‘Tenshi’ managed to home in on her. But it seemed to not do any actual damages to them, and they didn’t even get petrified.

 

“Dammit!”

 

Uh…let’s be calm, shall we? I’m sure things will sort themselves for the better soon.

 

Seemingly not amused with their multiple various attempts to get close to Amato, the pseudo-Tenshi group apparently decided to…ride each other?

 

“Wait, what?”

 

The pseudo-Tenshi group immediately dissolved, but what remained of them started to form a three stories tall crimson Tenshi-looking thing, which started to throw the floating platforms near it into Amato’s direction.

 

“…What did you say back then about ‘things getting better’ and stuff?”

 

…Okay, okay, I’m wrong. Just ignore that now and beat its face.

 

“Stop telling me to do things when you didn’t even bother to help dammit.”

 

Amato created a sphere of destruction around her to protect herself from the thrown platforms.

 

“And you, whatever you are.

…Just funking die already. I had enough of you, and your maker.

 

Just calmly die right here, right now so I can funk up your maker real bad.”

 

Using another thrown platform as a stepping stone, Amato launched herself into the Tenshi-thing. Using her ability to control the earth, she turned several platforms nearby into stone pillars, all pointing at the Tenshi-thing.

 

“Fatal Knock Out: Heavenly Pillars of Rapture!

 

Now take this!

This is for not funking dying from all of my attacks!”

 

She launched one of the pillars, which struck the Tenshi-thing right in its chest.

 

“This is for looking completely funking ugly!”

 

Another pillar hit it in the face.

 

“And this one….is for making me completely pissed off!

 

Eat this, jabroni!”

 

Amato launched the rest of the pillars as a barrage straight to the Tenshi-thing’s ‘face’.

 

…You know what? Your mouth needs to be washed with soap.

Really.

 

“Wouldn’t that mean you’ll wash your own mouth with soap?”

 

….Damn, you’re right.

 

“Heh, gotcha.

Now let’s start beating the sheet outta that ugly freak of nature.”

 

-----

 

Neutrality…?

Ah, right.

That was what I was fighting for, wasn’t it?

But what does it really mean?

Is it what am I actually need to fight for?

…

….

I think, I get it now.

It was not about not being in either side of a conflict.

It was not about how I needed to oppose everyone.

None of the two things actually mattered much for me to fight for them until the moment I die.

I…made that mistake of misinterpreting what I was fighting for, and now, here I am.

Attacking a monstrosity that I had no hope of beating, while slowly dying from the inside, without any hope of fixing what’s already broken.

But just when I think I had fallen too deep, that speech managed to remind me of something important.

My ideal.

Something that I’ve lost in the midst of my madness.

Something that I’ve forgotten when I reached this world.

Yes. I have remembered about my ideal.

…

…

My name is Kazuya.

I am not the champion of neutrality or balance.

I am not fighting for either of those things.

Law.

Chaos.

I oppose neither.

But I am the champion of the human race. I will fight for them to the very end for their sake, even if I am no longer one of them.

If one thinks that they can freely manipulate our future, our life, without our consent…

I will end them.

Angels, Demons, Gods.

It doesn’t matter.

 

And neither do you.

 

-----

 

“And now, this is the end of your story.”

 

Michael stood in front of a figure hanged on the wall in front of him. Dark substances had covered most of the figure’s lower body, but it seemed as if the dark substance just stopped midway throughout the figure’s body.

 

“Kazuya.

You’ve lived for far too long, opposing the light of the Lord in heaven.

As His archangel, it will be my duty to punish you for your sins.

And your punishment shall be-“

 

“Death?

Do you think at this point I will be afraid of such a threat?”

 

A voice rang throughout the room. Michael was not able to detect its actual source, as it come from everywhere around him.

 

“My soul has become too corrupted thanks to that one deal that I couldn’t actually refuse. Or not, not really.

No, it was actually thanks to you, Michael.

You were the voice that compelled me to accept that offer, am I correct?

 

I realized the fact about my soul’s corruption soon after I dug deeper into the planet’s core, and I was forced to fuse myself with Beelzebub to prevent my soul from getting fully taken over, using his soul to block the corruption as long as possible.

But seems like that’s not enough.

 

I need to purge the corruption outright; otherwise I’ll get fully consumed by it sooner or later.

And guess what?

I shall use you for that very purpose.”

 

The hanged figure opened his eye, which were completely black, as dark as the night. Michael grabbed his lance and tried to strike Kazuya directly in his heart, but something completely stopped the spear from moving. Flies. Thousands of them. In the usually expressionless face of the archangel, a hint of surprise could be seen.

 

“How?”

 

“Miss me, old friend?

Did you forget that I can disintegrate myself into hundred thousands of flies?”

 

Michael desperately attempted to blast away the flies, but before he could act, the flies had already gotten into him, overwhelming him, slowly eating him alive while incapacitating him.

 

“It seems like Beelzebub’s right.

The pride from angels like you is your kind’s downfall.

And now, none of that pride of yours will be left when I am done with you.”

 

----

 

Initializing Demon Summoning Program.

….

…

Initializing Cathedral of Shadows.exe

…

Tyrant Kazuya + Herald Michael + Fury Shiva

Conduct Fusion?

(Y/N)

Y

…

…

Demon Fusion is successful.

 

----------

 

The new entity floated amongst the ruins of the world.

A being, both an angel and a demon, both a mortal and a god.

The entity smiled as chaotic spiral of energy encased his body. He raised his hand, and the spiral of energy shot upwards, far high into the sky. An explosion far above the black clouds could be seen, brightening the dark sky, even just for a bit.

 

“Javelin Storm.”

 

As he said those words, flaming spears rained down from the light in the sky, crashing down into The Madara just like raindrops. It didn’t do something quite noticeable on him, but the figure was just started.

 

“Humanity has the right to continue their life however they wanted.

They have the right to choose their own future. That right does not belongs to you.

Your ‘Ultimate Ideal’ did not give you the right to decide the fate of others.

Each of us has our own ideals, our own dreams.

The joy of being human is to work towards them with our own power, with our own effort.

 

If your ideal is to rob that joy, that meaning from everyone, Madara…

Then I, as the champion of the human race, shall stop you with all my might!”

 

Another spiral of energy was formed around him, and now, it was channeled to one of his open palm.

 

“I’ll show you…

I’ll show you the will of mankind!”

 

Kazuya dashed straight into the Madara, ignoring anything on his path. The energy channeled into his palm had formed a huge sphere made of light.

 

“Megidolaon!”

 

He fired the sphere of light into the chest of the centaur as hard as possible, before he moved backwards to prepare for another attack.

 

“Mahamaon!

Mamuudon!”

 

Two spheres, one black and one white, were fired from Kazuya’s palm into the Madara, hitting him directly.

Before waiting to see whether his attack worked against the centaur, Kazuya had started to prepare another attack.

A third eye opened from his forehead, and energy was gathered near it.

 

“Pasupata!”

 

A thin laser made of pure destruction was fired straight from the third eye, and he immediately backed away from the Madara as soon as the attack finished. Before he could prepare for another round of attacks, Kazuya started to cough blood. Things were not going well for him.

 

“So my time is indeed limited, even after all of this.

But that doesn’t matter. As long as the Madara is not dead, I shall will myself to keep on living.

I will see him go down.

Even if that’ll kill myself in the end.”

-----

 

The Sword of Hisou, the Hisou no Tsurugi. The Sword of Scarlet Perception.

Or whatever.

Name was never important.

A relic of the heavens itself, its existence was closely tied to what usually is known as qi.

Life’s energy. Something that flowed inside every single living thing.

While it had many special properties, its main purpose and function was simple.

Reading, gathering, and manipulating one’s spiritual nature, qi.

 

------

 

Up high in the air, Tenshi stood atop her floating keystone. While she realized she could just fly witout using it to support her, her next action would require her to be as steady as possible.

 

Tenshi raised her sword up high into the air, where it started to glow with a scarlet light. Scarlet thread-like lines appeared from its tip, which suddenly moved rapidly away from the blade, the red strings were coming to as many lifeforms on the world as possible, creating a connection between them and her. They probably wouldn’t realize it, and the strings were not exactly visible to others, nor it was actually physical.

 

Tenshi took a deep breath, and started to focus her mind. Following her, her sword glowed brighter and brighter.

 

“Gather.”

 

The strings glowed brighter as Tenshi started to take away fractions of everyone’s qi into her sword. It didn’t take too long for the spiritual energy to leak all around her, but she didn’t seem to mind. It was her goal all along anyway.

Her sword read throughout all the qi traces of everyone it linked with. The sword gathered information of all the various traces of qi with differing intensity across the land, and with it, Tenshi could decide on how much she would draw the qi from each individual, unlike her previous usage of this kind of skills, in which she pulled qi from everyone indiscriminately. This time, she needed to make sure that she wouldn’t create a new enemy for herself by draining too much qi from someone, while still making sure that she drained enough for her plan to work. It was not exactly that detailed of an action, though. She’d just check whether an individual’s qi pool had much to spare or not, and then she drained a fraction from those pools without making it really noticeable to the targets.

Though that exact method didn’t apply to some. Just as she connected her sword with everyone, she managed to recognize several…disturbances that she would really need to handle, and this would be a very nice way to kill them. Mainly, she detected the spiritual energy traces from her ‘clones’ that the Madara had created, and the spiritual energy of Ran, Chen, and…Yukari?

Yukari’s trace immediately disappeared though, but both of Chen and Ran’s were still there. Tenshi decided to use the two and her clones as an additional fuel for her, by draining their energy as much as she could. Who cared about them anyway?

The leak of qi around her had formed a thick scarlet mist cloud, which spun rapidly until it turned into a gigantic sphere of qi that encompassed her and her surroundings.

 

“Shape.”

 

The sphere pulsated for a second, and then it started to dissipate, only to be gathered back into a new form.  Limb-like structures emerged from the sphere, while the sphere itself slowly turning more and more to be not unlike a body. A moment later, what was supposed to be its head formed atop of the body.

 

“Awaken.”

 

Tenshi smiled. With a hand gesture, she summoned as many keystones as she could, and slammed them into the scarlet giant. The keystones were immediately dissolved by the giant, as it became more and more solid. With another gesture, she pulled some of the platforms near her into the giant, who immediately integrated them into itself.

 

“End.”

 

In the end, there was a titan. Depicting an idealized, yet mostly featureless version of Tenshi, it was made out of the chaotic mixture of pure energy and solid earth. The celestial herself was situated in the heart of the titan, safely protected by it.

When she was sure that her creation had been stable enough, she immediately directed it straight at the Madara. Its steps, while not exactly that fast, covered enough distance so that it reached the Madara in no time.

The Madara had made its presence clear to everyone. And Tenshi was even able to feel it on the back of her mind.

That should mean that it could hear what she had to say.

 

 “Ugh….

‘Ultimate Ideal’? ‘Ideal World’? Don’t make me laugh.

You have no idea of what you are talking about. Your idea of a ‘Paradise’ sounds like utter, complete bullshit. And worse, you forced your shitty ideal of ‘Paradise’ down to everyone’s throat.That makes me want to puke, really.”

 

The titan punched the Madara straight in its chest.

 

 “Why are you wrong?

Why, for heaven’s sake, why the hell should I tell you?

I know your type, how people like you acted. I know you won’t listen to my argument since you are too freaking hard-headed.

But whatever that reason you suck is, that is not important. It’s not like you’ll care.”

 

Not exactly thinking well about the thing that she said, she delivered it along with several more direct hits to the Madara, ignoring everything else that happened around her, ignoring every hit that she took.

All the thing on her mind was her desire to end the centaur’s existence.

 

 “You know what?

We’re kinda similar.

Both of us wanted to create a paradise.

Both of us desired peace.

Both of us are completely driven by our respective ideals.

Both of us will stop at nothing to achieve it.

But then again, our vision of paradise is different. Mine is not shitty, while yours is. That is enough reasoning for me to stop bothering

with your argument.

 

Also, your world’s name is lame.”

 

The titan manifested a giant version of Tenshi’s sword, and repeatedly slashed the Madara using it, though to little effect.

But she didn’t care. She kept on slashing at the Madara, and even when the sword broke down, she just manifested another one and start slashing him all over again.

 

 “’No mortal can hope to harm me. No gods can ever hope to come close to me.’

 

Do you remember ever saying that?

Well then, guess what?

 

I’m neither!”

 

After a moment, it finally came into Tenshi’s mind that physical attacks were not really working. She ordered the titan to take several backsteps, and proceeded to unleash a barrage of drill-like keystones at the centaur.

 

“Also, what the hell do ‘surrender’ means?

It felt like something you should have done when I, Hinanawi Tenshi appeared before you!”

 

Yet it did nothing.

None of the attacks seemed to do much to the Madara, but that only made Tenshi angrier.

 

“Madara!

I shall reject your ideal for the world, and replace that with my own!

It is ME and ME alone that has the right to decide where am I going!

It is I that has the right to choose my future!

 

AND IT IS I ALONE THAT HAS THE RIGHT TO CREATE A PARADISE!”

 

The titan started to float, while it created a spiral of energy in front if it, gathering energy from the red string connections by a bit more.

 

“‘FEED ME YOUR IDEALS’

‘FEED ME YOUR EXISTENCE’ you said.

WELL THEN, EAT THIS!

THE LOVE, THE HATRED, THE EMOTIONS, THE EXISTENCE OF EVERYONE!

 

FINAL SPELL CARD!

 

COMPLETE ECSTASY: SCARLET WEATHER RAPTURE OF ALL CREATION!”

 

From the spiral of energy, a humongous pillar of scarlet light was fired straight at the Madara. A scarlet beam of countless heavily condensed bullets made of qi, bathed the Madara with its pure, destructive power. The force of the blast knocked Tenshi’s titan backward, while the energy exerted from the attack seemed to destabilize its form.

 

“…..One minute left, it seems.

I hope that could damage that damn thing enough.”

 

-----

 

 

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

The Rejected World:
 
Izumi held onto the Inch of Will as best as she could, trying to protect her friends, until she SENSED something behind her, even though her current form had no eyes or ears to perceive it. The red energy washed over her metallic form, causing perverse life to blossom in its place. Silver metal was twisted and transformed into a strange red plant matter, tendrils now clinging to the ship and clogging its intakes, preventing the craft from actually flying. The Inch of Will started to falter and drop from the sky, Izumi's warped self still in shock at the apparition before her, a blonde man with blue eyes, clad in a strange gold and silver semi-armored bodysuit, a hand reaching out towards her quivering, organic form. All she could do was respond, her strange fleshy mass generating a hand in response, and, immediately, Izumi was plunged into a paradise of Madara's design. Here, under three suns, she was on a sandy tropical beach back on her homeworld of Hearth, with Damian nearby, smiling, along with others that the woman held dear. Fox, a fellow brother in arms, and a man she adored and admired, was in a pair of brown swim shorts matching his own short brown hair, as he played volleyball with others from the Univerba clan that Izumi had joined upon her ascension. Protheus was nearby, reading Machiavelli's The Prince underneath an umbrella to keep his pale skin out of the sunlight, while Pandora was sunbathing next to one of her fathers. Several of Itsu's children ran up to their mother in various types of swimsuits, from Mizu, whose blue hair and eyes completed her matching bikini and sarong, to Atsuko's red and green ensemble. And yet, Izumi knew that elements of this world weren't...right...Why were Protheus and Pandora here? Why was Mizu being nice to her, when she hated Itsu for supposedly abandoning her? Why was Fox getting along with Era Univerba, the matriarch of the clan, when both of them were mortal enemies? Why was Atsuko all better, without a single bit of Orichalcos corruption to be found? She tried to resist the effects of Madara's gift as her physical body fell to the ground, detaching from the Inch of Will, as it tried to avoid the attack from the Zetsu.
 
The Vault:

Deep in the bowels of the And With Strange Aeons, three figures rested in a triangular formation before a strange device made out of three rings, with an unmoving rectangular object in the center. The first of these three was a buxom woman with pixie-cut jet-black hair with additional hair flowing down and around her, glasses framing grey eyes, and, not much clothing. In fact, other than her own hair swirling around her, she was stark naked, said hair joined with a purple series of runes and magical circles in the metal surface of the ship around the ring. The second was a young man with spiky brown hair and an intricate golden staff, as well as some sort of school uniform, casting cybernetic-looking blue magic into the circle, adding onto the first's. Finally, the third was a red-haired woman in Kuro Gothic Lolita attire in a wheelchair, her left eye covered by her hair, but her right with a green iris and a glowing red pupil, as well as a strange glowing green sigil on her forehead. She was contributing the last layer of magic, a glowing green circle with runes that had a six-pointed star in the middle.
"Well, if my calculations are correct..." The boy told his acquaintances, trying to not stare too much at the larger woman to his left "...this spell, with Bayonetta's power, my summoning spell, and Atsuko's Seal, should be able to create a chain reaction with the Numbers' containment fields, sending enough energy to wake up this Numeral Code-"
"Numeron Code, dear." The elder woman, Bayonetta, corrected, keeping focused on her addition to the spell. "It helps to know what you are dealing with."
"Sorry. Numeron Code." He corrected himself. "Anyways, if Atsuko's testaments to the sentience of the Code are true, then our spell will prevent whatever made it dormant from affecting it..."
"...and without the interference, the Numeron Code can start transmitting power again to the ship..." The wheelchair-bound girl, Atsuko, continued.
"...which means we can finally get out of this stinking Vault." Bayonetta finished.
Atsuko reached up to an earpiece in her right ear, pressing the side. "Vice-Admiral, we are ready to begin the experiment. Are you and the Lieutenant ready up on the bridge?"
 
Hundreds of feet away from the trio, a tall, broad man in a white, silver, and blue uniform with gold accents, eyeglasses resting solely on his nose, and a sandy-blonde mustache contrasting with very little hair on his head stood at attention, manning a holographic console of a dimly-lit command center. Of the twelve stations of the submarine-like bridge of the vessel, only two were occupied: his, and the pilot's chair, which was more of a special chair where the blue-haired woman plugged into the ship rested. She was similarly interacting with holographic controls, but only basic screens, as the advanced holographic suite surrounding her pilot's chair was not at full power, but she could feel the ship through her uplinks and the special blue and black haptic bodysuit she wore.
"Lieutenant Trudge, are you ready to actually do something?" The Vice-Admiral inquired to his partner several feet in front of him, the stalwart man unmistakable as Theodore Roosevelt, former 26th President of the United States in most continuities.
"Ready as ever, sir." Trixie Trudge, one of the few MAGI-class transhumans that Neighborhood Watch had in their ranks, answered, her nanite-enhanced body designed for interfacing with complex machinery like this. Thanks to years of modifications and training, the Aeon was as much a part of her as she was of the Aeon.
"Specialist Fudo, you have the green light. Make our new acquaintances count." Vice-Admiral Roosevelt replied to the comm system.
 
"The Vice-Admiral has given us the go-ahead." Atsuko announced. "Bayonetta, you're up first." She glanced across the chamber to the nearly-naked woman.
"Alright, love, but I don't have much experience with talking to gods, just killing them." The Umbran Witch admitted.
"It's alright." Atsuko replied calmly. "Just focus on the groundwork Takuto and I have laid out."
She nodded back, and starting chanting in Enochian, the sigils her hair had formed in the deck glowing as the same magical sigils at her feet spun rapidly, her hair fluctuating as the power coursed through the spellwork, sending power to the next stage of the spell, the blue sections Takuto had crafted. At that cue, Takuto gripped his staff and plugged it into the framework, causing his sections of the spell, the summoning parts given additional life through Bayonetta's channeling, to activate, and he was rewarded with an audible CRACK!, all three looking up to see a section of the Code broken off like a puzzle piece to orbit the rest.
"Is that supposed to happen?" Takuto asked Atsuko, who was preparing her part of the spell.
"Yes! The Numeron Code is waking up! My turn!" Joining the Enochian chanting was the much more sharp language of Atlantean, causing the Seal of Orichalcos at the top of the spell to come alive, creating a wave of power coursing upwards, making additional seals form on the individual cylindrical cells embedded to the rings. Pulses of purple, blue, and green rippled through the machinery, causing more puzzle-like cracks to form on the Numeron Code, until the center began to glow brightly while the rest became translucent. In response, a bright sphere formed around the Code, glowing with an immense intensity as crackles of energy caused sparks to fly to the rings. Finally, with one loud GROAN, the ring shuddered and began to rotate on its repulsor guides, Atsuko breaking away from the spell, followed by the other two in reverse sequence. Immediately, the glowing sparks started to be collected by twin pronged turbines above them, spinning faster and faster as they reactivated to deliver power to the rest of the ship, the pulses of multicolored energy following them through the system to clear away Isamy's curse.
 
The Rejected World:
 
"Bradbury, what the hell?!?" Foster replied as the emergency shutters closed up the cockpit, and a bulkhead door locked Otto and Foster into the cockpit section.
"That strange light Izumi covered us from seems to be affecting people on the ground, and transforming them into...things..." The AI replied, a holographic screen appearing showing icons and coordinates. "Instead, I am using my sensors on the outside to translate the view into representations you can understand."
"So, if we saw that light, too..." Otto pondered.
"You would be unable to resist, and converted just as Izumi was."
Both men took some time for that all to sink in. Izumi just sacrificed herself to give her comrades the precious seconds they needed to survive.
"..How many hostiles?" Foster asked, a bit choked up.
"Scanning...Unknown, but more immediate concerns have to do with the creature heading towards us." A red figure was approaching them at high speeds.
Foster gave off an expletive as he made the ship bank to avoid the attacker, and aileron rolled out of the way, the artificial gravity of the ship working with the inertial dampeners to make the maneuver not as terrible as it should have been. The remaining point-defense cannons the ship had sprang to life as Foster keyed in the sequence to produce more Thanatonium missiles, while otto stepped towards the door, until his leg gave out, sending him tumbling onto the ground as dust came flowing out of his pants leg.
"Otto, are you alright?" Foster asked, watching the man he had worked with for the past few hours begin to pass on.
"Nein, mein freund." He replied, gasping in exhaustion. "This body is fertig. Finished. I barely have enough magic within to keep the decay at bay. But, I can at least give you all a parting gift." He traced purple sigils into the floor of the cockpit area, his body starting to disintegrate faster, even his clothes petrifying and turning into dust. "Es war eine Ehre, mit Ihnen zu arbeiten, Kommandant Foster." Otto finally gave in, collapsing as the last of him turned grayish-brown and collapsed under his own weight, nothing more than a pile of human ash. But his legacy remained as the shadows beneath the ship and inside of the ship flowed forth, coating the vessel in themselves, even covering the hull breach, until the Inch of Will was armored with pure enchanted shadows, nigh-invulnerable to any attack for the next while, until one of the doors was opened on the outside.
 
The Vault:
 
At the bridge of the Aeon, the emergency low lighting was replaced by full lights, the holograms turning from orange to green to blue, a full set of displays popping up for Teddy and Trixie. The former had a full board of statuses, while a holographic diagram of the ship came to life in front of the pilot, showing the various sections of the ship as they came online. Outside, a series of running lights activated, illuminating both the ship and the outside area immediately around it. Trixie surfed through the status updates with glee. "It worked! They did it! The priming rings are back online, and all cells show acceptable charges! All systems and subsystems are giving readings! We're ready for takeoff whenever you are!"
"Is everyone onboard who is coming with us?" Theodore Roosevelt asked his subordinate.
"Let me check...seems to be the case. The Freelancers just got back on from their last run. All hands have their locations on the ship. Not sure about our new passengers, but we can get the word out."
"Do that, and while we wait, we need to figure out an escape route. That door we found isn't big enough for the Aeon."
"And we don't seem to know where-" Trixie paused as she pulled up a screen, and started to give a rather goofy smile.
"What is it, Lieutenant?"
"WE don't know where we are, but the ship seems to. I have two coordinates in the system that weren't here a minute ago, and one of them is registering as being our present location."
"How is that possible? Can we trust these coordinates?"
"Permission to speak freely, sir?"
"Go ahead."
"Sir, I don't think we have a choice. We've scoured this place and found nothing that might help us get free from this Vault, other than busting open the door, and that would require potentially abandoning the ship. We don't know what's on the other side out there, though we also don't know what's at these other coordinates, either. It's your call, sir, and if you want me to shoot down that door, I've been working on a targeting and firing solution while we waited, but I wouldn't look this gift horse in the mouth. Call it a woman's intuition."
"Alright, then. Get us into an acceptable position to make the transit." The former President instructed before pressing the ship-wide comms. "All hands, stand by for departure."
Trixie pulled up the controls for the ship. Outside, the cargo bay door closed up, and the glowing subnacelles near the rear of the ship's main nacelles lit up, pushing off of the ground and the gravitational pull with their own power, lifting the vessel into the air.
"I just ran these coordinates through the system, and it looks like we'll be there in 17 minutes. These coordinates are strangely close together, so the shift will be really quick."
"That's an awfully short amount of time."
"Compared to the previous three transits this ship has done, I'm glad it's only that long."
"Hopefully, that gives us enough time to come up with a plan for whatever is on the other side."
"Beginning priming sequence." Trixie announced, the controls shifting to show a diagram of the reactor. "All rings reporting operational status. Releasing ring clamps." Within the reactor itself, the large metal ring suddenly split into three concentric rings, each governed by their own axes, each with their own set of containers inside of them. "Spinning up outer priming ring...middle priming ring...inner priming ring..." All three rings started to rotate rapidly, making the Numeron Code glow brighter and convert the slow stream of sparks into a pair of intense beams of light that connected with the pronged shifts to either side of the rings. "Drivers receiving power. Opening nacelle manifolds." On the outside of the ship, armor plates moved back to expose the true engines of the Aeon: a pair of spiraling turbines with rainbow-colored panels. "Directing power to turbines. Preparing for dimensional inversion." The turbines started to rotate as well, creating multicolored lightning both inside of the nacelles and out into the open air, turning the colors on places inverted. "Dimensional values inverting within affected spacetime. All factors going negative. Numerical expression of spacetime will be invalidated in 15...14...13..." As Trixie counted down, gripping holographic triggers, outside of her bridge, streams of inverted colors started to be sucked in by the turbines and ejected out the other side at a rapid pace, forming two halves of a shell that, on the outside, was starting to vanish from the Vault. "5...4...3...2...1...Inversion space created!" She pulled back on the twin handles and twisted them upwards in the display. "EXECUTING...TRANSIT!!!" She pushed forward as hard as she could, the turbines firing as the last of the ship closed up, now surrounded by bubble of inverted colors streaming through part of the ship, spacetime flowing around them. A digital clock appeared in front of Trixie and Vice-Admiral Roosevelt, starting from 00:00:17:31:09:56:27 and counting down, the 31 becoming 30 after a second, and decreasing, while the other numbers less than its value ticked off much faster.
Trixie breathed a sigh of relief as her CO remarked. "You don't have to yell every time."
"I'm just relieved that this keeps working. Anyways, I guess I'll check on the rest of the ship for the next 15 minutes."
"And I will go take one of those 'power naps' you people keep trying to get me to do." Roosevelt replied, heading out of the bridge.
"See you in 15, sir." Trixie heard the doors close behind her, and relaxed in her crash couch, beginning her assessment of her ship.
 
The Rejected World:

 

Yuki stumbled through the battlefield, clutching her head and trying to drive the Madara out of it, as the image of her former self offered her immortality, but Yuki was more resilient than that, and finally managed to gain enough coherence for her to wish that she wasn't so focused. Spread out in front of her was a writhing mass of crimson plant matter, tendrils slowly expanding outwards, with a female figure in the center, the lower half of her body covered by white robes marked with crimson magatama along the edges and the collar. Flowing white hair cascaded down a distant but familiar face, the hair tangling with itself until it was no different from the organic mass, while two white blade-like horns jutted from her hair, matching her pale face, while her eyebrows had been turned into crimson circles, and her golden eyes were heavy, but it was unmistakably Yuki's other half, prompting the woman to run across the creep towards the figure, merely standing there, and give her a tight hug, trying to pull Zetsumi out of her perfect world. The telepath gripped tightly onto the psionic bond they possessed, and pulled, drawing upon Zetsumi's strength, while also bolstering herself from the projection of Itsu.

"Izumi...please tell me you're still in there..." Yuki pleaded, tears starting to flow down her face.

"...Yu...ki...Where...am.....I....." Zetsumi groaned, creaking as she moved to hug her other half.

"You're becoming one of those plant people...A Zetsu, I think...This Madara thing, it wants ideals, and it will turn us all into Zetsus if we don't stop it..."

"Zet...su...So...ma...ny...of...us...so...perf...ect..."

"Izumi, focus!" Yuki cried out, more tears coming out as she tried to telepathically move the tree-like creature. "I need you! We need you!"

"Yu...ki...it's...so...beau...ti...ful...here..."

Wracking her brain, attempting to figure out a way to defeat this monster, Yuki hatched a brilliant scheme. "Remember all of those souls inside of you? All of the Kouaijou we absorbed as Itsu?"

"Kou...ai...jou...?"

"Yes! All of them! Wake them up, and give them to your master!"

"Mas...ter...wants...i...deals..."

"Yes, he does! And wouldn't he be pleased if you granted him his wish?"

"Wish...I...will...give...him...them....."

"Thank you, Izumi!"

On command, multiple motes of light flowed out of the creep, blossoming up from venus fly trap-like flowers, and flowing into the Madara, where they started listing their innermost desires and wants, as well as the values they held dear.

All twenty-eight thousand, five hundred and sixty-one of them.

Yuki kept linked to the weaponized essences, working through her sister, making sure that the Madara would be unable to grab hold of even one of the strands tying them to their goddess. One small slip, and the Madara would have hundreds of Zetsus at his command, so she worked with her unwitting sibling to be a massive distraction, for even something as mighty as the Madara could not POSSIBLY keep any measure of concentration on what he wanted while over two dozen thousand women prattled on incessantly in his very mind.

[The Warden]

|_)Dizaster One - Fire Fox(_|

 

Within Arthur's mindscape, a version of the Madara was stomping around his mind until, in a magnificent storm of flame, it was annihilated. The flame swirled around a mental image of Arthur, revealing itself as a fox forged entirely from flame. Its eyes shone like the sun as it stared down at the much smaller mental image. "It was about time" Fire Fox declared, its voice booming like a volcano.

 

It curled around Arthur, its eyes staring, burning into his own. "You humans are very complicated, tediously so. But now you understand the truth, excellent. NOW, we can get to work. It is time for you to realize your destiny as the lord of the sun and fire. You ARE fire, you ARE flame. You ARE the force that will consume all. It's time for you to realize this Arthur. Which is why I'm going to grant you a little tip: I AM the Dizaster of fire, and as such, I will offer you use of the technique my prior user utilized. The Twin Sun Elysium. Unleash your power into a force that can ignite even the sun itself into pure destruction. It is time to stop running, boy. Turn around, and fight" it roared.

 

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

 

|_)Magical Girl Lydia(_|

 

The moment the Another World effect wore off, Lydia felt a splitting headache as the Madara was peeking into her head as it continued to pointlessly monologue about things it had no idea what it was talking. Lydia gripped her head, nails digging into her scalp as she was forcefully trying to push the Madara. "I am starting... to get really annoyed... by... all... this... BULLS**T!" she screamed, her hands flailing in frustration as the snowflakes swirled like a storm around her.

 

"YOU WANT IDEALS!? I'LL GIVE YOU SOME!" she roared as her outfit shifted, becoming a white modest skirt and top, dusted with pure white feathers.

 

Cuestick warped into a metallic bow, the string was forged from pure light itself. A glowing sphere of light formed in her right hand as she took aim, right at the Madara's front left thigh. "ULTIMATE DIZASTER ART OF LIGHT! SEVEN WINGS ASCENDING!" she roared as the string was pulled tight. 

 

With a release, a bolt of light energy was sent hurtling towards the Madara's front legs joints, in the attempt to cripple the freak's mobility.

 

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

 

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

 

In a bunch of stuff I can't be arsed to write down, Frankram had been protecting himself and Ivankov from what had been going on as Frankram was able to finally decipher the Madara's composition. Thankfully, the power of the barrier was enough to protect them from the Madara's probe, as its weakened state prevented it from breaching the powerful magic. "This Madara creature, seems to literally be made of Ideals, as it claims. The substance composing of it has never been seen before, but, it seems to display chronomatic properties. Chronomatic? Time based properties. Somehow, a very peculiar circumstance has arisen as to why this thing exists. How yet, I can't say. Unusual, but, how is the Madara not interfering with our minds? My barrier is blocking his influence currently. I think as he's been losing essence, his power is deteriorating. So, think you can share your barrier with the others? It would stop them from moving, but, let's try."

 

Frankram concentrated intently, his barrier spreading slowly to create small bubbles around whoever was near.

[Dad]

Predaking

 

Whilst we waited patiently for Kokonoe to reply, Predaking was bombarded with bright lights, explosions, and a very bold speech.  He turned around just as the Gemini Twins' "Galaxian Explosion" came to and end.  Shortly after, the Madara probed the minds of those who were of flesh, leaving Predaking unaffected.  Perhaps he could donate some power to ending this fight.  With a sense of last duty, Predaking converted all of his remaining core power, into the launchers on his chest, shoulders, and arm cannons.  Without speaking a word,  he fired a volley of 1000 bouncing betty missiles directly at the Madara.  Upon doing so, he collapsed, almost forcing Kokonoe to use him, or trash him. The missiles, on impact, would explode into 10 smaller missiles each, but with the smaller missiles maintaining the same force as their larger counterparts.

 

Kratos

 

Before he could react to the Madara's annoying request, Kratos felt a sharp pain in his head, that made him wince as he grabbed at his temple.  But he had had enough people trying to claw their way into his mental fortitude.  None of them broke his mind, so neither would this creature.  Though he was without the Blade of Olympus, he still had an army at his side.  Mustering as much strength as he could, Kratos' black skin peeled away, and he returned to his ashened state.  Placing an empty palm towards the ground, he raised 300 souls to fight at his side.  Chimeras, skeletons, centaurs, and cyclops'.  Succubi, evolved hell hounds, and one particular soul he didn't think he would be able to retrieve.  Kratos must have reached pretty far into Tartarus, because the giant that now stood as tall as the Madara, moved it's ghostly hands as it reached for life.  With no results, the giant did not speak, but simply looked to Kratos for a command.

 

"Cronos!" he called.

 

The Titan nodded.

 

"Lead these creatures!  That beast," he said pointing to the Madara.  "Represents everything I despise.  Everything you despise!  It is a stronghold for the wicked and plague across more than one universe!  It is 'Mount Olympus' in the form of another!  I bring it's destruction!" Kratos proclaimed, as he whipped the Blades of Hades about, and latched onto Cronos' ghostly back.  After reaching the titan's right shoulder, Kratos pointed forward, announcing, "Madara!  I WILL have my revenge!" Cronos stormed forward, with the other souls close in toe.  Growing closer, Kratos leaped from Cronos' shoulder, switching to the Blades of Chaos.  He reached far back with both hands, as he attempted to drive both blades into the creature's chest as skin became ablaze.

[Kingdom Xathers]

[Moments earlier, on the Inch of Will....]
 
"... meow?"
 
The girls of Team RWBY were distracted from their conversation by the mewling of a brown-furred, green-eyed cat that had entered their doorway, sporting a red bow around its neck.  "Awww, how cute~!"  "Hey there, kitty!"  "How'd a cat get on this ship?"  "I believe it belongs to that man, Luka."  The four girls drew closer to the cat, Ruby Rose being the first to pick the cat up into her arms, cradling it as she proceeded to speak to it in baby-talk.  "Who's a pretty kitty?  You are~!  Yes, you are~!"
 
"Oh, there she is!" Passing by the girls' doorway, Luka back-pedaled toward Team RWBY's room when he heard Ruby speak of a cat.  "Claire came here on her own?  I've been looking for her all over this ship."
 
"Meow~!" Claire mewed, happy to see her owner again.  With the grace felines are known for, the brown tabby hopped out of Ruby's arms, launching herself toward Luka's expecting reach... and vanished into thin air as she was mere inches away from Luka.
 
"W... what...?"
 
"She vanished...?!" "What the--?!" "Something's not right...!" "Claire...?"
 
"But... how could...?" Luka didn't have long to ponder in his confusion, as Rodin's voice ran into his head, as well as the heads of Team RWBY.
 
"Luka, did you find your cat?"
 
"Uh, yeah, but--"
 
"She disappeared, didn't she?"
 
"What--how did you--?!"
 
"--because the rest of your cats just vanished without a trace," Rodin replied.  "And your little dog, too."
 
"But, how could that be possible, Mr. Rodin?" Blake Belladona inquired, as Luka had just then been struck with shock.  "Objects and living beings don't just "vanish" without leaving some sort of matter behind."
 
"You may wanna ask Professor Kokonoe for confirmation on that," Rodin answered with a verbal shrug.  "But, if you really want my opinion on what's going on... oh, hang on...."  Rodin momentarily cut off his communication with the group to attend to a matter in his bar....
 
["The Gates of Hell" Bar]
 
"Yo, Enzo," Rodin uttered to his portly bar patron, "don't start freakin' out, but--"
 
"Rodin, I'm a bit too buzzed to be freakin' out 'bout nuthin'," Enzo slurred drunkenly.  "Hell, the entire multiverse could--*HIC*--be goin' capootz right now, and I wouldn't be movin' from this spot even if--*HIC*--"
 
"Y'know, Enzo," Rodin cut in, not the least bit interested in hearing Enzo's drunken rabble, "I always thought I could see right through you, but I never thought I'd see the day when that would literally be the case."
 
"... say "what" now...?" Momentarily sobering up, Enzo took a quick glance at his raised hand, taking notice how he could see the neon lights of the Bar's signage right through his open palm.  At first, Enzo believed this to just be an effect of his drinking, but, soon enough... ... "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!!!!!!  JESUS F*CKIN' CHRIST, I'M DISAPPEARIN'!!!" Enzo howled at the top of his lungs, running about aimlessly through the bar.  This continued on for a good thirty seconds, with Rodin hanging back and watching as Enzo acted a complete fool, one half of him amused, the other somewhat concerned (though not by much), until finally Enzo vanished completely; not even an echo of his hysteric screaming was left behind.
 
"... well, that at least proves my theory," Rodin muttered to himself, tapping on his Communication Stone....
 
[Kokonoe's Lab]
 
"Kokonoe--"

"I KNOW, RODIN!" Kokonoe shouted in a tone mixed with fury and worry.  "People are starting to disappear; we lost Abigail just now!"  The half-Grimalkin slammed a fist against her console.  Everything just seemed to be going from bad to worse, one right after the other, and even she couldn't keep up with it all. "GODDAMMIT!!  How can this--?!"
 
"Don't say it, Kokonoe!" Washu chimed in warningly.  "This is not the time to jinx it--"
 
"Doesn't matter what I say at this point, something bad is just going to happen again!" Kokonoe retorted before returning her attention to Rodin.  "So, who "poofed" this time?"
 
"Enzo," Rodin responded.
 
"Hmph, as I figured," Kokonoe scoffed, almost sounding amused by these turn-of-events, if only because she was so damned irritated.  "It seems that people and creatures are beginning to disappear based on their power levels."
 
"You mean like my pets?" Luka's voice interjected over the communications.  "Sorry, I just wanted to know more about what the hell's going on."
 
"Yeah, that's exactly right, Luka," Kokonoe responded.  "The multiverse must be deteriorating worse than we expected.  With certain worlds gone, it would seem that any person or thing connected to those universes are being "caught up" with their destruction; the weaker you are, the sooner you evanesce.  Unless, of course, you happen to be one of the few individuals picked up by either the Counter Guardians or Isamy... oh, sh*t."
 
"Yeah, I just realized that, too," Rodin admitted.  "You and I aren't Counter Guardians, last I checked, so just about everyone that we've picked up--"
 
"--is doomed to eventually fade out of existence," Kokonoe finished with a somber tone.  "That is, if they don't get killed off before then, but--"
 
"Please, let's not think about who and how everyone's going to die!" Matt Miller cut in.  "Right now, we still have more pressing matters to be concerned with."
 
"Matt's right, and I'm usually not the first to admit that," Kinzie agreed.
 
"You're right," Kokonoe nodded.  "Let's get this over with, and quickly; I can feel the Madara crawling around the back of my mind, and I am NOT liking it.  Alright, Predaking, let's--HEY, what are you doing?" Kokonoe spat out in surprise as Predaking began to divert his remaining power supply into his weaponry, his sights set on the Madara.  Without another word or any acknowledgement of Kokonoe and the others calling out to him, the Transformer unleashed a barrage of missiles at the Madara's direction.
 
"Huh... now that's something I would've done," Kokonoe uttered as she watched the missiles sail off.  "Of course, I'd be using nuclear-grade missiles instead, but--"  A deafening thud and a violent rumbling of the ground brought Kokonoe's attention back toward Predaking, now apparently lifeless and no longer functioning.
 
"... he just gave his entire life into that attack...," Kinzie uttered solemnly.
 
"Hopefully this sacrifice of his won't be in vain," Matt Miller added.
 
Kokonoe, however, stood silently, taking a few moments to stare down at the lifeless Predaking, actually moved that the Transformer had decided to make such a sacrifice, not just for the Multiverse, but for individuals he never fully knew.  The professor gave a soft sigh as she closed her eyes....
 
"... of course his sacrifice won't be for nothing," she spoke up once again, the stern, no-nonsense tone never having left her voice.  "Hell, this is what he would have wanted.  The least we can do now is to help fulfill his last request."
 
"And that is...?" Rodin asked just as he entered the laboratory.
 
Professor Kokonoe turned to face the Weaponsmith.  "Rodin... you and I are gonna craft a weapon fit for a king."
 
""King", you say?" Rodin repeated with a slight smirk, personally anxious to craft a weapon again.
 
"Hmph... nah, more like, "fit for a god"."  The professor glanced over at the video monitor, the camera now focused on Kratos.  "A God... of War."
 
[isamy's Vault ---> The Aeon]

 

With her part in the restoration of the ship's Numeron Drive finished, Bayonetta re-weaved her hair into her outfit, restoring her modesty.  "Sorry, boys, peep show's over," she chimed in her typical teasing tone.

 

"So, we can leave now?" Dominic Santiago asked, with a large sack almost as big as himself slung over his shoulder, filled with some of the Vault's artifacts.

 

"About freakin' time," Heather Mason grumbled as she strode right onto the ship.  "I am completely done with this place."

 

"You did great, though, Cereza," Gabriel said as his plushie form scampered over to the Umbra Witch, who proceeded to pick him up into her arms.

 

"Was their any doubt, my little Simba?" Bayonetta replied cheerily as she hugged the plushie close to her busom.

 

"... please don't call me that again," Gabriel bluntly demanded, the smile that was previously on his face having drooped to a frown almost instantly.

 

AZ, meanwhile, walked over toward one of the Aeon's crew members, almost scaring them with his towering height.  "If I may ask, monsieur," he asked, making sure to keep the recently-inserted Millennium Eye hidden to avoid possibly frightening the man even further, "would it be possible to bring on another article onto the ship?  I, err... merely ask because the item in question is rather... cumbersome."

 

"And that item would be...?" Bayonetta asked, having overheard AZ's request.

 

With a heavy sigh, AZ raised a long arm, pointing off toward a far-off portion of the Vault, where what appeared to be a giant, crystalline flower lay, its petals closed.  "That."

 

"... I have a bad feeling about this...," Gabriel uttered in a slightly worried tone.

 

"Flo, Flo-te FLO-ette Flo Floette..." ("Oh, you have NO idea how right you are..."), replied AZ's Floette, shaking her head in disbelief at what AZ was implying....

 

[The Rejected World]

 

"I don't know how you managed to be one of the main participants in this game of power," Butlerok spoke to Sayer, staring him down as the Eyes of the Kishin formed all over him, "but just how far have you and whoever else is running the show planned. Did you see this coming? Do you see yourself or these constructs actually surviving an altercation with the likes of us." He paused. "I can hear them now. I can hear the screams of every soul I've ever eaten. My short time as a Kishin I have truly become quite a soul connoisseur. I think it is time I now add your collection and yourself to my own."

 

At this lengthy speech, Sayer merely scoffed.  "You're welcome to try," spoke the despicable man, "but be warned that I work for a greater power.  I won't be taken down so easily.  Fair warning."  Without warning, Sayer summoned a large number of "puppets"--more specifically, Wulf, Flygon, Carla, Relius (with Ignis), Xeta, and Orichalcos Bane.  Sayer sent Bane, Relius, and Xeta to distract Butlerok, while he sent the remaining three to engage Team Fastoon, Dr. Nefarious and Red.

 

Upon seeing Sayer's use of these once- and still-living individuals, Alex's right eye visibly twitched.  "You... fu*king bastard!" he cried out, causing Ratchet and Alister to glance over at him in shock.  Countering Sayer's offensive, Alexander Summoned forth Russell Oxford, Farkas Lightsworn Shaman, and Dark Magician Girl to hold off Sayer's familiars while the lombaxes and Nefarious went after Sayer along with Elemental HERO Wildheart and Samuel Hainz. 

 

"So persistent...," Sayer scowled under his breath.  With a snap of his fingers, Sayer called upon another R.O.D. portal.  "Let's see how you handle this, gentlemen."

 

"We can handle whatever you throw at us!" Ratchet shouted out, arming himself with the Silencer rocket launcher.

 

"Doesn't matter how many meatshields you put between you and us," Alister shouted out. "JUST BRING IT!"

 

"If you insist!" Out of the R.O.D.'s pupil came a large, quadrupedal machine resembling a throne, atop of which sat a large-headed, small larval-like creature wearing royal attire, including a large crown and a scepter.

 

The Team almost immediately skid to a halt (Alexander more out of instinct) upon realizing who this individual was.  "It can't be...." "You...!" "Wait, is that...?"

 

The small royal, reveling in the lombaxes' shock, gave the group a severe grin.  "Did you miss me, lombaxes?!"

 

"Now, let's give a warm welcome... to the Conqueror of the Lombaxes, Emperor Percival Tachyon!" Sayer declared in a needlessly-over-the-top manner.

 

"How did Tachyon even get here?!" Ratchet blurted out.  "I mean, he wasn't one of Isamy's chosen one, was he?"

 

"No, as a matter of fact," Sayer replied calmly, "he's actually one of Ophelia's."

 

""Ophelia"...?" Doctor Nefarious repeated.  "You mean, the same squishy who got ME into this mess in the first place?!"

 

"Oh, yes," Sayer replied.  "Except whereas you were called upon to be Ratchet's adversary, Tachyon... was meant for Alister," he added, glancing over toward the General.  "Of course, the poor sap couldn't maneuver through the forest on his walking throne, so he and Alister never got the opportunity to meet before the forest went up in smoke.  It was only through the goodness and generosity coming from my own heart that he managed to escape--"  Sayer cut himself off just as Alister launched an energy blast right at his face, which he irritably blocked.  "Seriously, Alister, can't you do better than--(*SPLAT!* went the pie to Sayer's face) ... ... okay, now I know the writer is starting to get tired of typing...," Sayer mumbled as he wiped the cream off of his face.

 

Alister let loose a massive, furious growl.  "DAMMIT, I don't know who to go after first!!"

 

"Alex!" Ratchet called over to the other elder lombax.  "Go after Sayer! Alister and I will take care of this with Nefarious' help!"

 

"Excuse ME?!" the bad doctor shrieked incredulously.

 

"Hey, you say yourself that you could "completely trounce that prepubescent larva nine ways to--"--"

 

"HAH!  I'd really love to see Nefarious try that!" Tachyon chortled.

 

"THAT'S IT!!" Nefarious had now exceeded his boiling point.  "I AM GOING TO SQUISH THAT LITTLE--!!"

 

"TAKE A NUMBER!!" Alister screamed out as he shoved Nefarious aside.  "I've been wanting payback on this little $#!+ for YEARS!"

 

"Ugh!" Ratchet moaned at this display.  "Alex, just go, already! We'll be fine."

 

"Right!" Alexander nodded before running off, with Samuel and Wildheart accompanying him. "You are NOT getting away with this, Sayer!"

 

"We'll see.  Garlandolf, prepare yourself."  The powerful Ritual Monster drew back a massive fist, imbued with dark, destructive power, prepared to strike at his master's command.

 

"Synchro Summon!" Alexander cried out.  In response, Samuel's body shone in a green light before disappearing, transforming into a series of 4 rings which encircled Wildheart.  "With a creation-shaking roar, arise!"  With a burst of light and a mighty roar, Red Dragon Archfiend rushed toward Garlandolf, its claws imbued with a red, fiery energy.  The two titans prepared to clash as each of their masters uttered but one order…

 

...

 

"Strike the Madara!!" Neither one would have known that the other would issue the same command at that exact moment, but their timing could not have been more synchronized.  At their respective owner's commands, both Garlandolf and Red Dragon Archfiend spun around, avoiding each other with their respective attacks at the last moment before launching themselves at the Madara.

 

At this turn of events, Sayer could not help but to chuckle.  "So, it's come to this, hasn't it, Alexander...?"

 

"I'll be honest, Sayer," Alexander admitted, shooting his enemy a piercing glare whilst flashing him a slight smirk, "I'm seriously considering taking you down right now, especially for what you did to Wulf...."

 

"Oh, yes, of course.  After that heartfelt speech you gave to him, you expected him to find peace, did you not?" Sayer replied in a taunting manner.

 

"... heh... why am I not surprised that you've been watching us this whole time...?" Alex mused calmly, fists clenched tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms.

 

"I suppose you do know most of my tricks by now," Sayer uttered, somewhat bemused.  "Don't be too disappointed, though.  I promise that I'll have one more surprise waiting... for all of you," he added, making a sideways glance over at the lombax, his evil eyes brimming with a sadistic glee.

 

Alexander returned Sayer's glance with his own.  "... in any case, as much as I detest you attacking my friends... you are honestly not the greatest concern here."

 

"Agreed.  After all... there's still a prize to be won."

 

"... ... ..."

 

It mattered not that the two were on opposite sides, nor that they hated each others' guts; at that moment, the two formed a truce, hasty as it was, to take out the Madara, one way or another.

 

"Garlandolf, Cataclysm Blast!"

 

"Red Dragon Archfiend, Absolute Powerforce!!!"

[Love of Ghibli]

The Rejected World:

 

The needless to say the twins were shocked that the beast had managed to survive the Ultimate Technique of the Gemini Saint. But that didn't matter, it was as spammable as it was ultimate meaning that they were anxious to how many of those it could take. Aspros and Defteros snickered as they had also gotten rid of all of the weaker beings who stood in their way of going all out. What they didn't realize though was that they apparently just saved everyone from a worse fate. Granted a couple idiots managed to blow a whole through the "Another Dimension." How that monstrosity of a ship was supposed to survive the Galaxian Explosion was beyond them but who cares right? As Aspros and Defteros were about to attack when the magic orange centaur creature started speaking to them. To quote the Incredibles he started "monologuing." As much as the twins snickered and rolled eyes "the Madara" followed up with some bright light. Instinctively the two unleashed their cosmos as some method of defense but there are some techniques that you cannot simply defend against. They were both embraced by the warm glow of Infinite Tsukuyomi! Slowly they ceased to be their own individuals as they entered an eternal blissful dream where Aspros was Pope and Deftros was by his side as the Gold Saint of Gemini in the peaceful world protecting Athena.

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

 

Of course with the twins gone Another Dimension collapses and everyone returns relatively back to normal. However it seemed that the Madara was not totally done with the Gemini Twins just yet. While they were busy in the dream world. They began to develop plant counter parts who mirrored their raw power but not their techniques. They only had one purpose. Do as big daddy Madara said. Z. Aspros was sent to destroy the massive ship that punctured a whole in his true self's Another Dimension. Hmmm maybe the Madara  has a sense of justice after all. The ship did do some very interesting evasive maneuvers, but to be honest a massive warship probably can't fully evade a single small person...plant...thing. Fortunately there was some other distraction coming at Z. Aspros. Two massive dragons made of black flames were launched at him. If this was truly Aspros he would be laughing right now. Mainly because unlike Kagaho Dorian's black flames these flames did not signify heat they signified magic. Unfortunately for Ed he is a construct of Cosmos and Z. Aspros still knew Cosmos. It stuck out his hand and a massive ripple of energy came from it. The two attacks were neutralized on the spot. Z. Aspros noticed that at this point many of the other "unsaved" had begun attacking the Master. He could not let this stand. Of course this current annoyance would have to be dealt with first. Z. Aspros pointed his finger at Ed and shot a concentrated beam of energy at the boy hoping to labotomize him.

 

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

 

The massive gathering of specters landed on floating panels somewhat shocked and dismayed at what has been happening. To think that a creature could not only survive Terrible Providence and Galaxian Explosion but it also managed to zap the minds of the Twins. They only looked as it seemed like the twelve or so participants had unwittingly surrounded Z. Defteros. Well to be more exact Z. Defteros chose to land in the middle of the group. Radamanthys was already in battle mode and launched himself at the twisted plant saint. But it was too late. Before his punch could connect Z. Defteros had seemingly disappeared at the last second. Minos looked around and his eye widened as the plant creature already had Genbu's heart in his hand stil beating. Genbu didn't even have time to realize that he was actually dead before his head was blasted from his body. Valentine and Sylphid and went in for a pincer attack and were immediately swatted like flies through other floating tiles of Earth. Z. Defteros once again simply speed blitzed and two more specters went down for the count. Their blood spraying all of specters spraying all over the read emissary of "the Madara." It was frightful how strong the gemini saints actually were. With the specter's blood still fresh on his lance Z. Defteros walked up to Nasu would was admittedly a little afraid. But as he scanned the creature he knew how this creature would meet its end. With that Z. Defteros stuck his lance through the girly man's forehead, but what it didn't realize was that was a last ditch trap of the specter. Nasu used the last of his cosmos to make Z. Deuteros' lance decay. Along with the rest of blood that he was coated in. The blood became sticky and began to fester. Soon Z. Deutros was unable to move which was a moment that was capitalized by Three Judges.

GARUDA FLAP!!!
GRIFFON WING!!!

ROAR OF THE WYVERN!!!

A massive explosion of cosmic force was unleashed on Z. Defteros. When the smoke cleared you could tell that there was some damage done but not enough for the creature to show any signs of fatigue. On the bright side the lance was destroyed. and with that there would be some kind of decrease in his defenses. Nevertheless Z. Defteros didn't show any signs of being halted by the efforts of the three Judges of Hell. He launched himself at Radamanthys and naturally the proud judge launched back. The two figures proceeded to trade blows but Radamanthys was gaining the upper hand mostly because his surplice was taking an incredible beating. Valentine and Sylphid then did a double tackle on Z. Defteros managing to hold him in place for more than two seconds. Doo it my lord! They shouted in unison without any concern for themselves. Z Defteros proceeded to smash them vigorously but the two would not be moved. Radamanthys only looked shocked as he would watch the pride of his army sacrifice themselves again. Soon Z. Defteros showed signs of being frozen in place. Kage Nui....silently spoke Violante as she stood on Z. Defteros' shadow. So much cosmos and energy. Almost a pity we have to kill him. A pity we have to die killing him. She spoke with her head down using all her strength to hold Z. Defteros in place. Radamanthys turned around to look at Aiacos who also head his head down with a trail of tears coming down one side of his face. Yes Radamanthys this is what has to happen. But fret not, we shall make them all suffer. 

Aiacos spread his wings and opened his arms. At that moment the bodies of Nasu, Valentine, Genbu, Wolfsbane, Pharaoh, Violante, and Sylphid started to glow. Then thousands of eyes appeared surrounding Z. Defteros. GALACTICA ILLUSION!! Z. Defteros was literally trying to use what it had retained from the original of Cosmos to save itself but there was no helping his inability to move.  Within seconds he was utterly torn to shreds by searing winds and Cosmos. The glowing bodies all nodded as they began to look at the Madara.

Your deaths will not be in vain. If it is one thing we Judges of Hell can do...Is make someone suffer immensely!

The three Judges looked at the Madara and noticed that others were attacking the massive boss monster. The glowing bodies then self destructed into a massive pillars of Cosmos. Surendajit...Aiacos proceeded to turn said pillars of Cosmos into never ending barrage of black feathers to rain down on the Madara. GREATEST CAUTION!!!! Radamanthys launched his signature Wyvern like move at the massive orange centaur.  Minos attached his threads to the creature and yelled COSMIC MARIONETTION!!! Minos was logically trying to rip the Madara apart.

 

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

 

Butlerok could only raise an eyebrow as this devious second antagonist proceeded to using puppets as a method to distract him. Buterlok was about to move and strike down these distractions when all he heard was whipslashes in the vicinity of the targets. Just then Balron Lune appeared with his whip in hand looking at the puppets as if they were data for him to record. With the Saints of Gemini turned into the enemy all available strong bodies should focus on the primary target. These toys will stand no chance against me yet I myself do not have a massive attack with which to significantly harm something on that scale. I can tell you do though.  Now go I shall handle these beast. Lune looked back at these puppets waiting for them to make the next move as Butlerok began to take flight. 

While in flight Butler was deep in thought about what his ideal world would be. He daydreamed sitting in the stands watching Dorian win that all powerful World Duel Carnival trophy proud of his own achievements. It was interesting to say the least. In this daydream of his he walked up behind Dorian and the young duelist spoke quite abruptly. Don't touch me! Butler was a gasp at this answer. How dare you make believe some sappy dream like this with all that power and have me in it. The boy didn't even turn around. Who would have thought that all that power has made you weaker! Do not dare imagine my face till you get a hold of yourself! I shant be insulted with such mediocrity. Butler quickly snapped back into reality as he could hear the multiple voices of mocking laughter in the back of his head. 

You're a Kishin now and you're still are subservient to such a mortal?
You've eaten a God and you're still willing to serve a common man?
You're a soldier who has forgotten his duty. Its about time you remembered youngster. 

Genryuusai truly understood his host. A disciplined person who was ruled by order. Then Chaos came in its insane and maddening form and tore him asunder. But now he is back and stronger than ever. Butler stopped and pulled his sacred Desert Eagle and aimed it at the Madara. AWWWWW SHHHIIIIIZZZZZNNNNIIIIGGGGHHHTTTT!  The baldy I fell in love with is back! Let's wreck some faces and cause some havoc! Zanka no Tachi: Resonance Chamber! Butlerok was quickly covered by intense flames, then crackling black lightning, then a malicious green aura of death. Finally, all of that disappeared as if it was never there. He fired one bullet at the Madara's head which was clearly more deadly than it looked. Inside that bullet was the equivalent of a tactical nuke of raw energy coming at "the Madara's" skull.

[Phantom Roxas]

Sora, Kairi, Xion, Roxas, & Kree'arra

 

The Dark Suits were stronger than expected, each one being able to fight an even match about Sora and his group. While Kairi, Roxas, Xion, and Kree’arra were determined to destroy the Dark Suits they were fighting, Sora kept trying to force his Dark Suit out of the way so he could confront Ivero. Even in the brief moment when everyone entered Another Dimension, the battles waged on.

 

”We’re wasting time here!” Sora shouted at Ivero. ”Nero, come on, fight back! We need you to help us! As long as we fight Ivero, we won’t be able to fight against the real enemy!”

 

The Dark Suit was about to ready another attack, but it was kicked aside from someone. Zilyana had pointed her sword at the Dark Suit, looking at it while she spoke to Sora. ”I am not one to deal with such low-level minions, but if you know how to deal with their leader, then I will leave him to you.”

 

”Thank you,” Sora said.

 

”Do not misunderstand,” Zilyana added. ”My priority is on retrieving the Staff of Armadyl and finishing my mission. That is all”

 

Sora shrugged. ”Still, I really appreciate it.”

 

Sora ran off towards Ivero, while Kree’arra appeared next to Zilyana, dragging a Dark Suit along the ground. ”And what of that Door? Do you not intend to take the Key that everyone here is fighting for.”

 

”Baby steps,” Zilyana said. ”First, we must deal with this distraction.”

 

”You know, this is perhaps the longest we’ve worked together in all these years.”

 

”Don’t get used to it,” Zilyana insisted, though she cracked a smile as she said it.

 

 

The ground was breaking up, cracking to separate Ivero from the battle where everyone was fighting his Dark Suits. Before the two pieces of the ground to break off completely, Sora had managed to jump onto the same platform as Ivero. He listened in on the Madara’s speech, talking about how he spoke of ideals, dreams, and his ideal world. He even called out to Arthur specifically, and reminded Sora of something.

 

”Nero, you worked with Arthur, didn’t you? To save me? Come on. Look at yourself. Who were are, where we stand, we’ve switched places. This is my responsibility. I couldn’t stop Vanitas, and now you’re the same kind of monster that he was. I want to stop you, I want to save you, but there’s only way I can do that. I have to be prepared to kill you. Please, forgive me.”

 

The golden aura of Ra crackled around Sora. He charged forward, ready to strike with his Keyblade, while the mark of the Trinity Limit appeared below Ivero. Sora thrust his Keyblade, towards Ivero’s chest, while light shot out from the Trinity Limit, completely surrounding Ivero with its brilliant light.

 

MirageGaogamon

 

MirageGaogamon was exhausted from using Final Mirage Burst, and his attack was in vain anyway, as the Madara he had attacked self-destructed on its own. Finding the strength to stand, he realized that he was on a platform of land floating in the air, separate from the rest of what once made up the ground of the Rejected World. MirageGaogamon fell to one knee, but it didn’t stop him from firing his own attacks. He was looking at the left side of the Madara, so MirageGaogamon fired a Double Crescent Mirage at the Madara’s hind legs, and a Full Moon Blaster at the Madara’s arm.

 

Megiddo

 

While the distorted voice of the knight echoed in Megiddo's mind, he was able to, with some effort, make something relatively coherent out of what was being said. "You said it yourself, I am Megiddo." Opening up a monitor to show the battle on the Rejected World, Megiddo observed "Arthuria". "Unfortunately, I am not Arthuria. If you must know, a subordinate of mine appeared on a world, and I have been observing the young girl he was summoned to fight. Judging by your question, I can only assume that the difference I detected was you. So, you managed to make the legendary King Arthur a meat suit for yourself? Curious." The image on the monitor began to turn to static, and he could no longer hear whoever he was speaking with. Throwing outside the cube he held, which was snatched up by a claw appearing from the shadows, Megiddo placed both of his hands on the monitor. "No!" he shouted. "It seems this world will never stop surprising me. Show me more…" He pointed his fingers on the screen, and began to rotate his view around. The static cleared, and the image showed Eria, though she was different. Somehow, she had fused with Slifer, the Sky Dragon. "Impressive," he muttered. Holding to fingers against his head, he hoped to restore his connection with the entity possessing the knight Arthuria, all the while smiling as he awaited Eria's next move.

 

Eria, Gagagigo, Totodile, Lucario, & Lea

 

In spite of two figures that appeared suddenly briefly sending everyone, including Eria, into Another Dimension, while they attempt to blow up the centaur, it hadn't managed to completely destroy the monster. The Madara had thrown a lance, but Eria used her staff to form a thick block of ice to counter it while she commanded Slifer's body to dive downwards. To her surprise, the lance passed right through the ice block, with the lance continuing beyond that. While the Madara had managed to survive the attacks thrown at it, and Another Dimension was destroyed, Eria looked down at the people gathered around her. She recognized Lucario, but not the red-haired man with the Pokémon. "Forgive me for not recognizing you, but please, I beg of you, take those two creatures and hurry to safety."

 

Lea scoffed at her suggestion. "Ah, please. I can fight!"

 

Lucario shot a glare at Lea. You were entrusted with watching over us, his voice said in Lea's mind. Use the device Kokonoe gave you. I will handle things from here, and take Totodile away from here.

 

Lea shook his head, sighing. "Fine, fine, whatever you sa-"

 

Before he could say more, lightning struck against the ground. Another storm cloud rumbled, while Axel drew out his chakrams, but Lucario could only tell him, Leave, now!

 

Lea bit his lip, setting one chakram down on the ground. "Alright, alright. Just do me a favor and kick his ass for the both of us." Pulling down one of his sleeves, Lea pressed down on a stone on a wristband he was wearing. A light shot out from it, spiral around Lucario as the Pokémon was wrapped in a shell of the same light. Within seconds, Lucario burst out of the shell, newly transformed. The appendages on the back of his head each split in two, the out two of the four appendages gaining a crimson tip. Black lines spread over his body, while his hands and feet gained a red coating. Lea smiled, saluting Lucario as he took the other chakram, holding both of them in one hand, while he used his free hand to grab Totodile, holding the little Pokémon under his arm. His eyes turned to the Inch of Will, hoping that he could somehow make it onboard the ship, while Totodile stared at Lucario worryingly. Lucario turned to look at Totodile, and nodded in reassurance, leaving Totodile with some comfort while Lea ran for cover.

 

 

Lucario approached Gagagigo and Eria, the latter nodding at him. "Thank you for staying with us," she said.

 

Lucario simply shook his head. Don't worry. It is what Silver would have wanted. Leaping into the air, Lucario gathered aura in his hands, until finally, while still floating in midair, he launched all of it, firing a blast of pure aura straight at the Madara’s chest.

 

Though the Madara was being assaulted by Counter Corps and Divine alike, the Madara had made called out Arthur’s name. She wanted to look for him, but the Madara was running towards them, pressing on as though Lucario’s attack was doing anything. The Madara took his twin and lances and launced them, the lances transforming into lasers in the midst of their flight. Eria summoned two blocks of ice aimed to collide with each of the lasers, but unfortunately, someone, though Eria was not sure who, was hit by one of the lasers. She wanted to mourn the girl somehow, but the Madara was getting closer.

 

Fortunately, Obelisk had appeared above her and dove right at the Madara, forcing the Madara to catch Obelisk’s fists in his hands. ”So, I see you’ve manifested Slifer’s power in full,” the Egyptian God said to her. ”Well done.”

 

”Thank You, Lord Obelisk.”

 

”You can drop the formalities, Eria. I have reason to trust you, unlike that bastard Butler. You are welcome to consider yourself My equal.”

 

”Thank you,” Eria said, moving Slifer’s form along to approach the Madara from the side.

 

”Now then, let’s finish this!” The air rippled around Obelisk’s hands, while Obelisk and the Madara were each pushed away from each other. ”Fist of Fate!” He punched at the air, sending shockwaves against the Madara. ”I’ll try to hold him off. He detests your little boyfriend. Go to him. Maybe you two can think of something.”

 

Eria nodded. ”Understood.” Eria gestured to Gagagigo to climb up on Slifer’s back, and he did so, while the form of Slifer flew around the Rejected World. Eria looked around for Arthur, while Slifer’s head was firing volleys of Thunderforce Cannons at the Madara.

 

”Eria!” Arthur’s voice called out. Eria looked around from where she could hear Arthur until she found him. Slifer brought himself up to Arthur, while Eria create a series of steps to lead Arthur up onto Slifer’s head. Arthur climbed it, and stood on the head. He stopped for a moment, simply looking at Eria. ”This is… unexpected.”

 

”So is this,” Eria replied, gesturing to Arthur, but particularly his hat.

 

”Long story,” Arthur somewhat answered. He looked up at Gagagigo, not even recognizing him for a moment. ”What happened by the tower?”

 

”I tried to fill Ophelia’s tower with water, hoping to drown her.” There was a brief silence for a moment, but neither Eria nor Arthur showed any signs of wanting to break it.

 

Finally, Gagagigo spoke up. ”I sacrificed myself to save Eria, but Slifer’s power brought me back from the edge of death.” He rubbed against the back of his neck, sighing in relief. ”And I feel so much different. Everything Kozaky did to me… I thought that he’d left something behind, so even death wouldn’t stop him from haunting me. Now, though… now I feel like whatever power he had over me is finally gone.”

 

”Well, glad that you can stay with us,” Arthur said. ”So, what do we do about this Madara thing?”

 

”He called out to you,” Eria pointed out. ”You think it hates you because you’re a demigod?”

 

”No… I think my guess was right.”

 

”What do you- No, Arthur, you can’t be serious!”

 

”I’m not going to do it alone, though. I have you, right?”

 

”But this thing keeps surviving everything we throw at it! We have to think about this differently.”

 

”My father’s power has to be able to do something to stop this monster.”

 

”Then I’ll try to give you an up opening. In both of Slifer’s mouths, lightning gathered as it prepared Thunderforce Cannons, while Eria weaved water, ice, and snow within the spheres. ”The monster is going to keep regenerating, and even if we try to whittle it down, it will only get stronger. That Infinite Tsukuyomi it mentioned… we need to stop it from using that.”

 

”I have something to do first. If we can get its defenses down, destroy as much of it and finish it off before it recovers, we’ll be in the clear. The reason I look like this is because I’m using the power of one of Lydia’s spirits. But… I’m worried.”

 

”What do you mean?”

 

”I could use the power of the sun, but… if this thing can absorb anything, and if it’s made up of energy from the sun, then if I get this wrong… it’ll make things worse.”

 

”Because it’s yours,” Eria assured him. ”Listen to that thing. It… he, believes that he’s the only one who can decide everything. You want to give your father a second chance don’t you?”

 

Arthur nodded. ”I do. So, what, I just have to make him believe that my sun power is better than his?”

 

”Wasn’t that your plan anyway?”

 

”Yes, but-”

 

”Okay.” Eria interrupted. ”Now I understand. I’ll give you some advice on how to manipulate the elements. You don’t just throw them around and expect them to do what you want. You can’t just say that you’re in charge. You have to work with it, ask for its help. It’s not about you being in control. It’s about you and your element sharing a goal. If the Madara is weakened, then you can take control of its light. Turn it against itself.”

 

”I see,” Arthur said slowly. He raised his hand, and two balls of flame appeared in front of him. ”Then these have to burn hotter than he does.” He threw out his hand, while the two fireballs shot forward, expanding in size, while Slifer launched a powerful Thunderforce Cannon, carrying the force of the spheres of lightning, and infused with Eria’s elements. Arthur had aimed at the Madara’s head, while Eria had aimed at the Madara’s right hip, each of them playing their own part in the barrage of countless others lending to strength towards destroying the Madara.

[Merci]

͏҉҉͏̸͞͏̸҉͘͏̸͘͏̨͝͏҉҉͏̸͞͏̸҉͘͏̸͘͏̨͝

 

 

~ Ever-Present Feeling ~ Kie nai Omoi 消えない想い ~

 

An ever-clear blue sky. Grasslands stretching on eternally. The view of a small, wooden cottage. At the bottom of a hill, a small village. Not too far away, a city where e͘v̷ery̵one lived in prosperity. These were the traits that originally defined this story.

 

A child with dark-brown hair was standing before another child with blond hair, both of them wielding wooden swords in hand.

 

The two siblings started to play pretend.

 

Who won? Who lost? It did not matter. What mattered were the things that led towards peace. Towards respect. Towards honour. Towards the greatest victory there can possibly be, and that is the victory of e͘v̷ery̵one involved.

 

Suddenly, the girl stopped fighting.

 

The boy showed concern as she shed a tear, for some strange reason. She'd never done that before, after all.

 

She said it was nothing, and the two continued on with their game.

 

Who won? Who lost? It did not matter. What mattered were the things that led towards peace. Towards respect. Towards honour. Towards the greatest victory there can possibly be, and that is the victory of e͘v̷ery̵one involved.

 

Suddenly, the girl stopped fighting.

 

The boy showed concern as she shed another tear, for some strange reason. It was getting a little odd.

 

She said it was nothing, once more, and the two continued on with their game of pretend.

 

Who won? Who lost? It still did not matter. What mattered were the things that led towards peace. Towards respect. Towards honour. Towards the greatest victory there can possibly be, and that is the victory of e͘v̷ery̵one involved.

 

Suddenly, the girl stopped fighting.

 

The boy showed concern as she shed yet another tear, for some strange reason. It was very rare for her to cry, after all.

 

She said it was nothing, reassuring him, and the two continued on with their fun game of pretend.

 

Who won? Who lost? It still did not matter. What mattered were the things that led towards peace. Towards respect. Towards honour. Towards the greatest victory there can possibly be, and that is the victory of e͘v̷ery̵one involved.

 

Suddenly, the girl stopped fighting.

 

The boy showed concern as she shed yet another tear, for some strange reason. She didn't cry a lot, after all.

 

She said it was nothing, once more, and the two continued on with their game of pretending to be warriors.

 

Who won? Who lost? It couldn't possibly matter. What mattered were the things that led towards peace. Towards respect. Towards honour. Towards the greatest victory there can possibly be, and that is the victory of e͘v̷ery̵one involved.

 

Suddenly, the girl stopped fighting.

 

The boy showed concern as more tears began to flow down her face, for some strange reason. She didn't cry a lot, after all.

 

She said it was nothing, with all her strength, and the two continued on with their game of pretending to be warriors, practicing for when the time finally came.

 

Who won? Who lost? It should never, EVER matter. What should amtter were the things that led towards peace. Towards respect. Towards honour. Towards the greatest victory there can possibly be, and that is the victory of e͘v̷ery̵one involved. E͘͜ve̢r͏͜y̴̨͠o͏n̵͟͡e.

 

Suddenly, the girl stopped fighting.

 

This time, she was about to burst into tears.

 

"Um, Kay? I have to tell you something."

 

"Alright. What is it?"

 

Her blond hair reflected the sunlight above.

 

"I'm just not so sure...if I really want to be a knight."

 

 

~ ~ ~

 

ザまだら

 

 

Obscurus -Mix II- ~ Prelude to Calamity

 

None, if any, were submitting to his will. A disappointment, but something that would have to be rectified.

 

The Madara found himself being bombarded by an incredibly large array of attacks as he charged towards the Eria-Slifer merged entity. In normal circumstances, he would've moved to counter and evade them all, but he was abruptly interrupted by an onset of twenty-eight thousand, five hundred and sixty-one unwelcome presences that flowed in and threatened to undermine everything he stood for and everything he was working to accomplish. But even as he tried to grasp hold of their ideals and convert them into usable Zetsu, there was another force. Channeling them in. Blocking him out. It took only a moment to discern that the one responsible was Yuki, a girl who was taking advantage of his incomplete Zetsu Izumi.

 

Very well then. As much as he disliked doing so, he had to temporarily cut off Izumi from the ideal world in order to prevent any such disaster from happening. Now that Infinite Tsukuyomi was so, so very close to completion, he couldn't let anything get in the wa-... Hm. Though he'd successfully prevented the ideal world's progress from being disrupted, it had distracted him from the oncoming attacks.

THE ANALYSIS OF ZARAKI KENPACHI HAS BEEN CONCLUDED.

"WHY..."

 

First, a giant boulder with an unprecedented amount of force behind it smashed onto him, to the point that it made a tiny crack in the armour that protected his centaurus body.

THE ANALYSIS OF YACHIRU HAS BEEN CONCLUDED.

"DO..."

 

It was quickly followed up by bolts of lightning and a beam of darkness that struck his eyes, not hindering his senses, but still causing damage and further corrupting the essence within. Fiery birds and a large amount of flames slowed him down as well, and as he trapped the birds, pulled them into his essence and transformed them into winged Zetsu that he sent out, a second beam of darkness appeared that pierced through his neck and left a small hole.

 

"YOU NOT..."

THE ANALYSIS OF AYAME KAGUYA HAS BEEN CONCLUDED.

An unlimited amount of bullets came out of nowhere, engulfing his entire armoured form, and though the damage it caused was minor, it had slightly weakened his whole essence, and just in time too as flaming spears flew out from the sky and further hit his armour, and though he charged on, ignoring the damage, his Zetsu becoming ever more frenzied in their attacks.

 

"UNDERSTAND...?"

 

He endured them all, but they were only the beginning. One of the younger boys had somehow managed to launch a powerful attack comprising of two entirely opposing elements, the very contradiction of which shattered entirely the front of the armour that protected his chest. At the same time, the childish magical girl had launched an attack of pure light onto his legs that shattered the armour there as well, and dealing such damage that it temporarily halted him.

 

To follow, an aura sphere went through the created hole in his chest and burst against his essence. A Full Moon Blaster had hit his exposed legs and a Double Crescent Mirage caused cracks in the armour that protected his arms. From not too far away, two separate energies fired by Garlandolf and Red Dragon Archfield hit his back, nearly causing him to stumble.

THE ANALYSIS OF GARLANDOLF AND RED DRAGON ARCHFIEND HAVE BEEN CONCLUDED.

Then, once he was close to Eria, two gigantic titans about the same size as him, if not larger arose. One was a kind of massive avatar created by qi and controlled by Tenshi, while the other was a kind of organic god-Titan called Cronus, which had been summoned by Kratos. Both of them immediately set to work about pounding him and smashing into his physical form, and one of them was delivering a monologue about what he believed in. How pathetic. How childish.

 

"BUT... I AM CREATING A NEW WORLD."

 

As soon as he saw an opening, the ravaged, heavily weakened Madara lashed out at the two titans with his bare hands. Plunging his hands into the Tenshi avatar's body, he let his essence expand into it, picked it up, and bludgeoned it straight into Cronus's own body.

 

"FOR YOU!"

 

While the Tenshi avatar had collapsed from being used as a bludgeon and Cronus had been left critically injured, that was when Kratos suddenly leaped off, took out his Blades of Chaos, and plunged them into his exposed chest, which caused such a reaction that - even when he sucked in the blades and threw off the warrior - an explosion happened that reached the very 'container' of the Key within and made a dent in it.

 

"AND YOU! AND YOU! AND EVEN YOU!"

THE ANALYSIS OF SARAH HAS BEEN CONCLUDED.

The Madara turned to look back at Eria, but the marching army would prove to be a great disruption, so he would need an even quicker method - this came in the form of a being called Kriemhild Gretchen, which was residing within someone called Sarah. Grabbing the body in mid-air, he made contact with the entity. A Witch of despair, and yet, contrary to its nature, it was like him. All he needed to do was ask if it would like to join the conglomeration that was Infinite Tsukuyomi, and the remnant of Kaname Madoka was swayed instantaneously.

 

Thus, she was inducted in - and in return, a massive Zetsu of Kriemhild Gretchen was generated that binded around his body and served to replace all the damage caused to it.

 

"WHY NOT CEASE THIS FUTILE EFFORT AND SURRENDER?"

THE ANALYSIS OF SLIFER HAS BEEN CONCLUDED.

However, this new defense had come just in time as Surendajit rained upon him in the form of black feathers, as well as Cosmic Marionettion which threatened to utterly tear him apart. The Kriemhild Armour barely sustaining damage from this, the Madara noticed that there had been a third attack launched...which had done absolutely nothing, and thus was of no ill consequence.

 

"FOR YOU ALL, THERE IS NOTHING TO LOSE! ONLY EVERYTHING TO GAIN!"

 

At that moment, a bullet had been fired at him, going through the opening. He expected it to do nothing, since to use such a crude weapon in a titanic fight was ridiculous under any conditions. Not bothering to put up any resistance against it, he let it sink into his head - only for it to explode with such raw, massive energy that it annihilated his entire head, causing a further unprecedented amount of damage. He was reaching his limits, this much seemed certain, and he had to move part of his mass to rebuild it, having to shrink even smaller in order to compensate for this.

 

But these didn't matter, because as he continued to analyze the ideals of those that remained, making sense of them, progress were only getting ever closer.

THE ANALYSIS OF ERIA HAS BEEN CONCLUDED.

As he continued to race towards Eria, with only a few panels of earth left between them, the large, hulking, and somehow-still-alive Obelisk the Tormentor met his force with his bare hands, halting him before sending him back with shockwaves, which was helped by the Thunderforce Cannons that Slifer contributed to damaging him. He generated five more lances around him and launched them as lasers towards the two gods, but it didn't stop the fact he'd been pushed back to the point of reaching the edge of the ground panel. But, he still stood his ground so that he wouldn't fall.

 

"...NONE OF YOU UNDERSTAND, SO IT IS ONLY NATURAL THAT YOU WOULD DENY IT. HOWEVER, ONCE YOU EXPERIENCE IT FOR YOURSELVES, YOUR MINDS WILL SURELY CHANGE."

 

Another Thunderforce Cannon was fired at him then, this time at full power and laced with Eria's own abilities, aimed towards his right hip. As it collided, he stood his ground, though it tore so hard through him that his hip had almost been detached off. At around the same time, two fireballs were launched at his head then, and he underestimated their strength as they turned out to be unexpectedly powerful, enough to tear through the solid mass of the Zetsu Kriemhild Gretchen and end up hitting him so hard that his balance was disrupted, he was thrown even further backwards-

 

And,

 

the

 

Madara

 

plummeted.

 

"WAIT. NO. NO. THIS IS NOT HOW IT IS SUPPOSED TO END-"

 

It did attempt to grab onto the edge, but no matter what kind of nature he had, the body of a centaurus simply was not advantageous to pulling oneself back up.

 

So it fell deep down, into the bottomless void below.

 

Where there was nothing, and where nothing would eat at its being for the rest of eternity.

 

This was how it would perish.

 

This was how it had been destined to die, taking the Key of Origin along with it.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

THE ANALYSIS

 

OF ARTHUR ANCYL

 

HAS BEEN CONCLUDED.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Just when it appeared that the gigantic centaurus thing composed of red energy had finally been taken care of, a small, humanoid being emerged from the opposite side of the panel from which it had fallen off of.

 

By now, it should be obvious...that the Madara would never allow itself perish in such a manner! It had come this far, after all. It had withstood sixty billion years for this sole chance - the realization of its ideals, and the opportunity for everyone to realize their own as well!

 

The Madara had shrunk exponentially as it climbed up, to the point that it was about the same size as everyone else, and had even lost its horse-like lower body so it had a far more humanoid appearance. Its long, spiky hair, its features, its samurai-like armour, everything was discernible at this point, though it still had that translucent, blood vermillion energy composing its whole form. And yet, somehow, despite being reduced to such a state, it was emitting far more power than ever before. They had done well in delaying it, but it had changed nothing. Its progress had still reached a result, and now it understood the Ultimate Ideal. So simple. But so beautiful. It was this that would serve as the core of the new world.

 

And so, it was time to commence Infinite Tsukuyomi.

 

THE TIME HAS COME.

 

Not words that were spoken, not even telepathically, but a kind of force that etched itself into the minds of all those present.

 

NOW YOU ARE ALL ABOUT TO ENTER A WORLD.

A PERFECT WORLD.

EMBODYING THE ULTIMATE IDEAL.

 

As it climbed up, it happened to emerge right next to Arthur Ancyl. He might've tried to move, possibly to instantly retreat or to attack, but found that within the presence that it was exerting, he had no control over his own body. In fact, no one did. The mere telepathic presence that it emitted outstretched through the whole realm, and it was almost, if not entirely impossible for anyone to resist. Locked in such a way, they could do very, very little as it went on with its plan.

 

It turned to face the son of Apollo, letting their eyes meet - with the expression on its face being a cold annoyance - before it raised its hand.

 

YES.

EVEN YOU, ARTHUR ANCYL.

BEHOLD, THE ANSWER TO ALL YOUR IDEALS!

 

Then it clenched its hand, and immediately the entirety of the Rejected World was flooded in light.

 

 

~ BEETHOVEN - ODE TO JOY ~

 

A light so pure, so powerful, so ultimate that it gave off such a feeling that anyone could agree with the world it proposed. It sucked them in whether they liked it or not, each and every single living thing in their presence, and there was absolutely no way to hide from it. It simply penetrated, through, everything, and there was not a power in the world that could stop it. As soon as Infinite Tsukuyomi had been activated, the battle, the war, and everything they'd been hoping to achieve with their ideals came to a sudden stop. Everyone was pulled into a single world, constructed by a fusion of the culmination of all their ideals, one which none would question. One where everyone would be happy. The connections were tightened ever further, and the contradictions were all disposed of, whereas the illusion of individuality amongst them all was maintained. It was perfect.

 

There was no escape, for this was the perfect realm. This was the realm that reality was supposed to be - not a muddling mess of conflicting ideals and truth that continually brought about despair for everyone involved. Whenever something bad happens, there is always that someone who will ask 'is this real?' and say 'this can't be real'. They will hope for it to be a bad dream. This was a feeling that could be shared by everyone. And so, entering Infinite Tsukuyomi would be like waking up from this bad dream. This world itself may be a fake illusion, but it was an illusion that none would ever question.

 

This was where the Grand Crossover ended, for there were no more crossovers. Just one world where everyone's ideals had been realized. With just that, the Madara had won. It had succeeded in its goals.

 

Just like that, everything was over.

 

Or at least... That was how it was intended to be.

[Phantom Roxas]

The End of Evangelion / Super Robot Wars Alpha - Komm, süsser Tod

The sky was clear, the sun was shining, and the wind was calm. It was the perfect day for a celebration, and what a celebration it was. Tables filled the room with hundreds of people looking up in anticipation for the wedding to commence. Sora stood with a smile on his face, while Roxas standing by as his best man. The music on the piano echoed throughout the room while people conversed with another.

Arthur and Eria sat at one table, with Wynn next to Eria, and Nero next to Arthur. At another table beside them, Hiita, Aussa, Dharc, and Lyna sat with Baxter and Samuel. Aussa and Lyna were laughing at Samuel, who was attempting to perform crude magic tricks, though the others were showing a variety of displeasure, with Baxter burying his head in his hands, Dharc resting his head against one of his hands, and Hiita simply slapping her forehead and groaning. Arthur was dressed in a tuxedo, while Eria wore a silk white dressed, with her hair tied back in a bun, and Eria tucked Arthur’s hands under her fingers.

The music on the piano stopped. Everyone turned to the door, watching as Kairi entered through the doorway. The music started up again, this time with a different song, while Naminé walked aside Kairi, the latter’s gown running against the red carpet. They walked up to the altar, Naminé stepping behind Kairi as Kairi faced Sora. The bride and groom stood before King Mickey Mouse, the officiator of the wedding. He straightened his robes, and spoke to the audience. “Marriage,” he said. “Marriage is what brings us together today! Marriage, that blessed arrangement! That dream, within a dream!” The wedding went about as happily as you would expect. Vows were exchanged. Sora and Kairi each said “I do,” and the couple was pronounced as man and wife.

Once the formalities were out of the way, the reception had begun. Women flocked for the chance to catch the bouquet. Kairi turned her back to them, giving them a playful warning to hurt each other too much, before she threw the bouquet into the air. Arms raced up towards it, hands scrambling to claim the prize. In the end, it was Eria who claimed the bouquet for herself.

The flowers in the bouquet rested in a vase in the middle of a table at Arthur and Eria’s home. They cuddled together on the couch, a blanket wrapped over the both of them. Each of them gazed into the fireplace, watching the flames dance along the wood. Arthur thought he saw a shape in the flames, but he thought it was nothing. That is, until the flames began to move in a particular pattern. The image of a man fighting against a giant.

”I wonder how MirageGaogamon is doing,” Arthur said wistfully.

”I’m sure he’s having fun with Dianamon,” Eria answered, her voice sounding like she was half-awake.

The images in the flames continued to dance. The giant doubled over, while the man simply stood still, watching as the giant’s image flickered away. The flames burned around the image of the man, and Arthur could only smile, while Eria caressed his cheek. They looked each other in the eyes, and kissed.

They held each other together. That was all they needed. To be with one another. To hold each other. They held each other in their sweet embrace. Their bodies were entwined together. The flames continued to burn. The lovers did not dream. They didn’t need to. They were together, and that was all that mattered. This was real. This was all that they needed.

That was what the Madara’s work had brought them. A happily ever after for Arthur Ancyl and his beloved Eria. Their bodies were crimson, and they both were beginning to sink into Slifer’s head. Not that it would matter. They were together. What could be more important than that?

MirageGaogamon was on his way, after all. He was fighting, but he would be home soon. Soon he’d be done fighting the Mad…

Against the Mad…

Against the Mad…Leomon. Yes, the MadLeomon. A MadLeomon army was invading, and the Royal Knights had called upon MirageGaogamon to help them in stopping them. MirageGaogamon was sure to impress Dianamon if he did a good job.

And it was in the morning that MirageGaogamon had arrived. Arthur woke up first, and Eria’s eyes opened just a little bit. He moved her legs off of his, and stood up from the couch, kissing Eria on the forehead before he placed the blanket back over her.

Stepping outside the house, MirageGaogamon and Dianamon were looking at him. MirageGaogamon’s knees were buried in the ground, while Dianamon simply watched him.

”Arthur,” he said. ”You have to snap out of this.”

”Out of what?” Arthur asked happily.

”Believing in this world,” MirageGaogamon answered. ”Whatever this is, it wasn’t meant for Digimon, but I can I feel myself giving up.”

”So you’re going to rest, too?”

”What? No, I- Damn it, Arthur, just listen to me!”

”Dianamon, what happened?”

Dianamon said nothing, but as soon as Arthur asked his question, MirageGaogamon stood up. ”Stop it!” he shouted. ”This… isn’t… real…”

”But we’re all happy here. Everyone is. This is perfection.”

”It’s not…”

”How?”

MirageGaogamon knelt back down to Arthur, his eyes inches away from Arthur’s. ”Where… is… your family?”

”Right here.” Arthur stroked MirageGaogamon’s chin. ”You and Eria are my family.”

”And your father?”

”Probably at Olympus right now.”

”What about your brothers and sisters?”

Arthur’s hand stopped. ”My… what?” Arthur took a step back. ”No, there’s… that’s right. I remember. They’re coming here today. All of them. To see me.”

Dianamon rested her hand on MirageGaogamon’s shoulder, and MirageGaogamon screamed in pain. ”Then tell me this: What are their names?”

Arthur laughed at MirageGaogamon’s question. ”Come on, MirageGaogamon, you know all of them! There’s…”

MirageGaogamon grabbed his hand in pain, while Arthur looked all around him. White figures began to walk out from the sides of the house, their shapes constantly changing to come down to something definitive. ”Give me a second, I know this…” He tried to look around at the people, but his vision in his left eye turned bright red. He held his hand against the eye, but all he did was make his hand feel the same thing he felt in his hand: burning.

”Arthur, what’s going on?” Eria walked out of the house, her wardrobe a mix of the dress from the night before, sandals, and white gloves. ”MirageGaogamon, what’s going on?”

Dianamon pulled MirageGaogamon back, but before MirageGaogamon could protest, Dianamon cupped a hand over his mouth. Her eyes glowed red for a brief moment, then MirageGaogamon’s, but MirageGaogamon pushed her arm aside. ”Don’t you dare show me her face!” He began to strike at Dianamon, but his hand stopped halfway on their path. ”You’re not her,” he snarled. ”I know you’re just a fake, but… I can’t hurt you.” Dianamon reached out to MirageGaogamon, stroking his chest, then his face. MirageGaogamon raised up his arm, and they began to wrap up behind her. ”I won’t hurt you. I won’t let anyone do that. Isn’t that right, Dianamon?”

Eria ran up to Arthur, whose left eye was completely covered in crimson energy. The energy spread slowly, over the rest of his face, but Eria didn’t even seem to notice the energy. Arthur tried to scream, but either nothing came out, or he couldn’t hear it. He couldn’t even feel if he he screamed or not. All he could do was look at Eria, the image of her constantly changing. One second, her body was made of crimson. The next, she was back to as she was. She was still her beautiful self.

The burning had reached his right eye. He wanted to close his eyes, but even after trying that, he could only see red. Let’s go inside, he wanted to say. I’m feeling a little dizzy, he’d lie. No, it wasn’t a lie. It was the truth, wasn’t it? The truth was, he felt like he was being drowned in a sea of flame. Flames that no mortal should be able to survive if they were so much as within five feet of it. He couldn’t even tell if his body was capable of responding to his thought, or if it was capable of feeling pain. His head was all he could feel. His skin felt like it was being flayed with fire again and again and again and again.

Yet he hated none of it. This world was beautiful. The very idea of pain was supposed to be gone. The farther he descended, the more his head burned, and yet, he could not call it pain. Intrusive, maybe, but not painful. “Pain” cannot exist. “Pain” is but another lie.

Then why did he want to believe that it was real? His brothers, his sisters, they were all waiting for him. He couldn’t hear then, but somehow he knew that they were calling his name. And yet, he could not even remember a single one of theirs. Ridiculous, they were all children of Apollo just like he was, weren’t they? He had to have known all of them. But he didn’t. They only knew him, but he only knew himself. At least, he thought he did. He knew he loved Eria. He knew he was a hero to the Digital World. He knew he was the son of Apollo.

The son of Apollo.

The son of Apollo?

Apollo had other sons. He had daughters, too. What made Arthur the son of Apollo? What had he offered to-

No. He is the son of Apollo because he thought he was a greater hero than the others. But then, why would he treat the others with such dismissal? To not even be able to name one of them? None of them deserved to have their names-

Known. Yet he was still unsatisfied. And so, names flooded into his mind. Somehow, he knew all of them. He knew the names as though he had always known them. Were any of the names real? It didn’t matter. They were names. Now, Arthur had a way to refer to each of his siblings.

He could taste fire. His tongue was incinerated. But his body could feel again. It was lying against a soft, welcoming bed. He tried to open his eyes, but he had only returned to the crimson unknown he knew before. An image of Eria flashed before him. She was looking at the back of her hand, smiling. He wanted to hold his hand up to hers, but still he could not move his body. His body could feel, yet it could not move. He tried to tell her he loved her, but he could still not make a sound.

What he heard instead was the scream he had longed to let out. And yet, he did not feel it escape from his throat. Trying to so much as even ask where the scream came from made the screams both louder, and yet also muffled, while the red color of his vision began to turn orange.

”None of this is real!” The screams began to form words, but Arthur could only look at Eria, wishing that he could smile. A crack emerged in his vision, not that he would notice.

”I already showed you that I won’t throw away anything.” The voice – why did it sound so familiar? – kept disrupting his peace. Their peace. His and Eria’s.

Next thing he knew, he and Eria were sitting at large table, eating dinner. To Arthur’s left, he saw his aunt and uncle.

”Don’t lie to me.” The crack had grown larger. The color in Arthur’s vision began to turn even brighter. ”Show her to me.” Alexandra appeared at the table as well. ”Not her.” The cracks continued to grow. From what Arthur could see, the cracks had line up perfectly over everyone’s eyes. His “uncle”. His “aunt”. Alexandra. Eria.

”I fought against the Demon Lords.” A crack spread up and down Alexandara. ”I know what I’m supposed to be.” Lines across his uncle and his aunt… no, his mother and his father. ”I want to be with Eria.” Now, even Eria herself was obscured by the cracks. ”But I never knew my mother.”

Arthur was confused by the voice. Was it his? No, it couldn’t be. He hadn’t spoken since…

…When did he last speak?

How could he speak?

How could he speak when he couldn’t even remember what it was to speak?

The cracks had consumed everything. Orange had given way to pitch black darkness. But, for the first time in what must have been an eternity, he could feel. He could feel something in his hand.

A photograph.

He stared at it. Even the darkness, he could only stare at it, wondering what he was supposed to see. Wondering why he hated not knowing that. Wondering why he could even feel something like hate. Wondering why he took the photograph in both hands. Wondering why he knew the voice was his. He knew this wasn’t real. He shouldn’t have, but he did. And he knew something that the Madara hadn’t anticipated. The very ideal that set Arthur on his journey in the first place.

He pressed his thumbs against the paper as he managed a smile. All at once, his body was as it should be. No burns. No crimson energy consuming him. Just the shining eyes of Arthur Ancyl.

”Word of advice on making an ideal world: Don’t mess with the demigod who hates self-righteous bastards trying to control him. Especially if he controls light.”


In the Rejected World, the bodies of Arthur, Eria, Slifer, MirageGaogamon, and Gagagigo were consumed in a golden light. A solid barrier surrounded them, pushing the Madara back. Within the light stood Arthur, free from the Zetsu transformation imposed upon the inhabitants of the Rejected World by Infinite Tsukuyomi, and no longer bonded with Fire. After a quick look at all the people transformed by, Arthur grabbed Eria’s hand and pointed his Keyblade at MirageGaogamon. The substance covering MirageGaogamon dissolved away, allowing MirageGaogamon to activate the Burst Mode. By the time he had looked back at Eria, she was already free, but she was holding her head.

”Arthur…” she started. ”What was that?”

”An illusion,” he answered. ”One I plan to end for good.” Looking behind them, Gagagigo was still a Zetsu, and he lunged forward at them. Eria summoned some ice to bind him in the air, but Arthur stepped forward. ”Don’t worry, I’ll stop this.” Arthur looked at Gagagigo in the eyes, and the light in Arthur’s eyes shot into Gagagigo’s. Gagagigo reeled back, but he quickly relented, as the crimson energy dissolved off of him.

”What happened?” Gagagigo asked.

”The Madara put us under an illusion,” Arthur told him. ”But we’re free now.”

Gagagigo paused for a moment. ”So what’s the plan?”

Arthur tapped his Keyblade against the ground. ”I’m never going to be able to you thank you two enough for sticking with me this far. We’re going to combine our powers. Not just using our attacks together, but fighting as one.”

”I will join you,” Gagagigo volunteered.

Arthur stood still, but finally shook his head. ”I don’t think I have enough power for the three of us, and that’s including Eria fusing with her god.”

Gagagigo nodded. ”Very well. Then I will try to provide cover for the three of you.”

”Thanks.” Arthur held his Keyblade out, and looked at MirageGaogamon and Eria. ”Let’s go.” Taking his Keyblade in both hands, he raised it to the sky. ”Drive!” Eria, Slifer, and MirageGaogamon were surrounded in golden light, while the light barrier expanded bigger and bigger so as to consume the entire platform they were standing on, until finally, it subsided.

The Rejected World was quiet. Gagagigo looked down at the Madara, while each of them would be waiting for something to break the silence. The sound that broke it was that of two Keyblade strikes hitting against the Madara’s back. The Madara was sent flying, falling down into the void, but before he could fall too deep, a platform of red ice appeared just below where he would fall, only for the ice to expand, pushing him back up into the air.
 

Digimon Tamers – One Vision

”I don’t give a damn if you think you had the best of intentions.” Arthur’s voice echoed around the Madara, while a golden streak circled around him, leaving ice in its path. ”You know what your ‘perfect world’ is missing?” The golden streak was about to slam down on him, but instead, it bounced back off more red ice, which rained down ice spikes on the Madara. Above the Madara, Arthur was wearing a golden version of the Counter Corps cloak Emiya had given him. His shirt was blue, and he wore a necklace shaped like Slifer’s head. In his left hand, he held the Millennium Staff, with the Lunar Eclipse Keyblade floating in the air alongside it. However, when Arthur spoke again, his mouth didn’t move. Instead, Arthur was in front of the Madara, the Millennium Staff pointing the spinning Lunar Eclipse. ”It isn’t real.” Above the Madara, what looked like Arthur simply disappeared, while Arthur was very much real in front of the Madara as water flooded out of the Lunar Eclipse.

The Madara would have been at risk of falling down into the void again if it didn’t hit against yet another piece of red ice. However, unlike before, the ice didn’t expand onto him. Instead, it thickened away from him, and it began to spread. Now, the Madara was surrounded by twelve images of Arthur. The images were rotating in a clockwise pattern, until eventually, the pattern broke, allowing Arthur to create mass of ice that began to expand. After that, the rotation seemed to reverse.

”The thing about ideals is, we’re the ones who get to decide them. There’s nothing wrong with a perfect world, but entrusting them to a single person? No one should get to decide that.” The ice was continuing to expand, while Arthur took his new Keyblade, the Lunar Eclipse, and slashed the Madara’s left arm from behind, then the right arm from the front. ”Wanting to control that much power just ended with me realizing how stupid I was.” Pointing his Keyblades to his left and his right, Arthur created light panels that expanded just as the ice did. ”You might want to thank Ophelia for that, I guess. I made some great friends here in the Counter Corps. I don’t know if I’ll see all of them again, or even any of them once all this is over, but I don’t care. I told you, I’m not throwing away anything. Even if it will only be for this short time, I’m glad that I at least met them. I’ll keep those memories.” With each sentence he spoke, Arthur dashed all around the Madara. From in front of him to behind him, from left to right, the Madara was struck by Arthur’s Keyblades. ”I’ll never be this fast again if I have to say goodbye to MirageGaogamon.” Arthur summoned water to push him away from the Madara. ”And I’d give anything to be with Eria, but I’ll be damned if I let anyone like you or Megiddo be the ones to let me have that. All that our lives are to you are problems you just decided that you get to be the one to fix."

The barrier was almost finished, but Arthur had to make sure that the Madara couldn’t get away. ”And why does it need to be you who gets to decide all that? Because you’re the ‘strongest’? That just because you’re powerful, you get to decide our future? No. You don’t get to do that. People don’t grow just because you want to cram together everything about who they are. It’s not a math equation or anything like that. Everyone is different. Everyone has their own life that makes them unique. That is what makes our worlds, our universes so distinct.”

With the Millennium Staff, Arthur commanded the ice and light to grow closer to the Madara, but then he cast two ice spells to keep the Madara back. ”But enough about me. Let’s talk about you. There were a couple things I wanted to talk about. First, you ‘believe’ that you’re this Uchiha Madara guy? I’d ask if you have amnesia or if you’re just crazy, but I think we both know it’s that you’re crazy, which brings me to my next point. So you say you’re not really supposed to exist. Okay, so then what do you care about how ‘perfect’ the world is supposed to be? That everyone can be honest with each other? Cute. Let me know how playing God will make people like you. I’ll tell you what I think. You have no idea who you are. That’s why you’re taking our ideals. You said that even you have ideals, but you don’t. You don’t know what you want, or if you want anything at all. You just know that all of us want our own thing, and you’re just trying to take all of that for yourself, because you think that the man you think you are would want that.”

Finally, the ice and light panels had managed to connect, and were beginning to overlap each other. This time, Arthur quickly struck at the Madara’s legs, while the Lunar Eclipse propelled itself to pin the Madara against the ice. ”Instead of using us for your little experiment, you should think about the real you for once. I’ll show you that your perfect world isn’t anything more than what you are: Nothing.” By now, Arthur had the Madara all but trapped in a sphere. Arthur struck at the Madara one last time to keep him at bay, before he held the Millennium Rod end of the staff up to the Madara’s throat, giving one last spiteful look into the Madara’s eyes, while Arthur’s eyes shined with a light that would make Arthur’s command the last thing the Madara would ever hear: ”Disappear.”

[Merci]

In that world, anything and everything was of a perfect essence, and yet that . . . that sole brat had broken out. It wasn't possible. It was never meant to be possible.

 

No. NO. NO. IT WAS ALL HIS FAULT. HOW DARE HE.

 

How dare he do such a thing...

 

How dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, how dare he, HOW DARE HE, HOW DARE HE, HOW DARE HE DENY THIS PERFECT, PERFECT WORLD?!?!?

 

The very act, impossible though it was, was causing gigantic cracks to appear all over its Infinite Tsukuyomi. NO. I WILL NOT ALLOW THAT. It was breaking apart at a rapid rate, and despite its greatest attempts to keep the illusion all together, it was simply beyond the power of an entity who did not truly exist. The 'Ultimate Ideal' that the world had been built around was beginning to be crushed by the sheer pressure of everyone's hopes and dreams. Even though it had built the world from each and every one of their ideals, even though it had constructed each and every detail of the illusion so that they would be happy, and even though it had gone through all the efforts of bringing them their salvation, still it had been denied. Why would they do such a thing? Why would ANYONE ever do such a thing?!

 

So how dare he. HOW DARE HE DEFY THE MADARA. How dare he claim its ideals were fake. And how dare he say that it doesn't have ideals. The Madara existed too. The Madara was real.

 

The Madara had i d e a l s o f i t s o w n t o o, i t d i d d d d d ddddddddddddd...

 

But, in all honesty, it was nothing more than a creature formed from a single ideal. Having been formed from just one ideal, it could not possibly hope to understand what lay in the hearts of others.

 

Arthur launched a blast of light from his Millennium Staff, and it was so powerful, so amazing that all the ideals responsible for the actions of this 'thing' were dissolved away in that one, lone instant. The clouds high above relaxed, as if finally accepting their fate as a world rejected by all, and droplets of water began to fall from the sky in a rhythmic way, growing with intensity with each passing moment until it had turned into vigorous rainfall.

 

...And thus, once the light faded away, having purged the corrupted ideal, there it was. The 'remnant'. A man long since gone.

 

うちはマダラ

 

This time, over sixty billion years had passed.

 

Over the course of his personal life, everything that defined the world as he understood it had changed, yet the core concepts that defined him, everything he believed in and everything he strived to achieve remained like steel. They were impenetrable, no matter what happened and no matter how much time passed, and drove him to survive even when it all seemed hopeless. His body stood powerless on the surface of a rocky platform, ruined as the result of destruction caused by an epic, legendary battle that had transpired, the loser of which happened to be him. Or at least, a part of him. His long, heavy raven hair had become but a burden, and his clothing was tattered. While there was no apparent wound anywhere, it was apparent that his life force was slowly but surely fading away, and in the midst of this heavy rain that was pouring down, there was no way that he’d be able to walk away from all this in his condition.

 

With tired eyes he stared up at the sky, clouded though it may be, and allowed himself to reflect over everything that had transpired ever since that defining moment at the riverbank, when he met him. Not that it mattered, as in the next few moments, he would be dead. It would all be over.

 

Once upon a time, he had thought there was a way, after having encountered someone that made him feel as much. However, as it would later turn out, their dreams were not the same. Their beliefs did not align, as much as he wanted them to.

 

See, the truth is that in this reality, nobody can ever really understand each other.

 

...But maybe, maybe that's okay.

 

 

~ Sadness and Sorrow ~

 

"So. That's how it ends, huh. My dream."

 

Maybe it's the fact that people try so hard, the very effort that they put into understanding each other that makes reality so beautiful.

 

As if admitting defeat, the man let out a sigh, with a look of slight annoyance on his face. Even though he was dying, he didn't seem to care much about that.

 

"I've been acting like a child this whole time, chasing a dumb cause." He remarked to himself, saying so with an ironic tone as he hung his head low. "I suppose...he might've been right."

 

That boy he met long ago at the riverbank, whom had grown up to be his trusted friend, then his comrade-in-arms, and in the end his bitter enemy. Both were idealistic, but one more so than the other. Really, they should've just worked together.

 

"You..." Thus, he turned to face the one responsible for defeating him - or rather, his ideal. Arthur. Some demigod with a Keyblade and a partner from a digital world. "You're still a little young, but you...remind me of him. Senju Hashirama, that is."

 

Somehow, just saying that name made him grin. It was a funny name. So funny in fact, that despite being extremely close to death at this point, the warrior burst into a fit of laughter.

 

"Hah... Ahaha... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHH!!!"

 

Not an evil laughter, filled with sadism and malice, but a childish, pompous laughter. Like he'd just lost some kind of game, and not have his life goal crushed before him. Though, it was indeed hard to not call him mad.

 

As he laughed, he began to wonder to himself what might his life had been like had he chosen to follow his own ideals and continue to stand by that other man's side...and not follow the words of some random, damned stone slab just because it offered what seemed to be a clear solution. He wanted to be the herald that others looked up to, but if he was looking up to something else to achieve his goal, then that was just plain stupid. He'd wasted his whole life like that.

 

Once the fit of laughter had subsided, his eyes met with Arthur's.

 

"The path ahead of you is long and treacherous. It won't be easy."

 

The haughty bravado that he'd been maintaining began to fade away, and suddenly, he found himself his losing his strength as well. Yet still, he continued on.

 

"You are not invincible. And your loved ones won't stay with you forever. Some will leave, some will be taken away. You might just be surprised at the kind of horrible sheet reality can do to you, even when you think things can't get any worse."

 

Struggling as he walked towards the demigod, visibly in pain with each step, his body was noticeably turning more transparent, fading away as his voice became softer.

 

"But, you crushed my ideal.... Therefore, I'll need a new one. That light you showed me, I suppose, will suffice. You're not too bad, so don't disappoint me, brat."

 

Then, once he reached the boy, he raised his hand——

 

"These will be my parting words."

 

——and then Uchiha Madara patted him on the shoulder.

 

"You're welcome in Konoha anytime."

 

Finally, a smug grin formed on the shinobi's face as his existence ultimately caught up with him. Having been holding onto his physical form using nothing but pure will, just the fact that he'd been able to be there, in person, was itself a miracle. As he faded away from the universe, he looked down at the ground below his feet, and somehow felt satisfied with what he'd done, despite it meaning so little in the grand scheme of things.

 

Did he have regrets about his life? Of course he did. Everyone did. But it wasn't like he could turn back on his decisions at this point.

 

...

 

Or so it may appear to be.

 

Somewhere, far, far away, in a land long ago, a miracle occurred.

 

Two boys were skipping pebbles across a river. One an Uchiha, the other a Senju, two clans which were bitter enemies in a time of battles and distrust. However, neither of them knew this back then. All they understood was that they were friends - and that they lived in a time of war and hardship.

 

“Is it really that impossible to show each other our real thoughts?” The Senju asked in a solemn manner.

 

“I don’t know.” He answered honestly. “But that’s why I always come to this place. In hope that a way exists.”

 

By the riverbank, one of the boys withdrew his arm out high with a firm grip on the pebble in his hand, in tune with his thoughts, and his hand moved, flinging it forth.

 

The pebble skipped several times over the surface of water,

 

against the currents,

 

refusing to fall.

 

It was as if the boy’s very will had been embedded into it, embodying it with his dream.

 

And this time, it finally landed on the other side, before bouncing off and rolling into the woods. It appeared as though his wish had finally reached the place it had wanted to go to from the very beginning.

 

"I guess there is." Hashirama said with a smile.

 

"This time..." Madara couldn't help but grin in response at his own success. "It looks like maybe, just maybe there's a way!"

 

~ ~ ~

 

The Rejected World

 

Watching coldly from a distance as Uchiha Madara talked dramatically to the one who had defeated him, in the middle of the pouring rain, he lay in waiting until the remnant had finally disappeared. After all, there was no telling if even a remnant from another universe could prove to be a threat. Once the figure had disappeared, he left behind nothing - nothing except what appeared to be a blank dark box with galaxy-like etchings all over it, suspended in mid-air.

 

It should be obvious what it was. It was the Key of Origin...or at least a container, designed to protect it.

 

Kingdom Hearts II Music - Organization XIII

 

That was when a unknown being with black-and-silver hair, wearing a full set of dark, metallic armour decided to descend, swiping it in an instant before delivering a roundhouse kick into Arthur's abdomen. Even though he was wearing armour, the speed at which he moved was ridiculous, though his hits weren't quite as powerful as any of the Madara's. In any case, the newly-victorious Arthur was thrown off to the side, his Drive transformation being forcefully canceled all of a sudden, thus ensuring that the boy wouldn't be able to stand in his way. As for the others, most of them should still be recovering from the after-effects of that Infinite Tsukuyomi.

 

"Well, well, well. Congratulations, slayer of the Madara." He spoke in a mocking voice, making sure to cast spells around him to form multiple layers of force-fields, just in case any of the others attempted to attack him. "After all your efforts, surely you must've earned the right to hold the Key of Origin... But unfortunately, I won't be giving it to you anytime soon."

 

Now holding the box in his left hand, the mysterious man turned his back. "Well then, you may as well know who I am. My name is Protheus Maximus, and just as I planned, this...both this 'Isamy' girl and your leader the Counter Guardian are no more. Experiment Nine did an utterly horrible job at securing the Key for me, but it is of no consequence now that I have it within my grasp. Understand that I have nothing against you, or any of your friends. This is only a necessity that I have to do if I am to ensure my own survival."

 

As he talked on and on, the sorcerer proceeded to walk away, each step bringing him higher as if he were walking on an invisible, magical staircase. Then, once he was finished, a look of annoyance could be seen on his face as he observed the heavy rain that was drenching him- no, that was coming into contact with the Key of Origin, though the water droplets simply phased through it like it dind't exist. Nevertheless, he went on.

 

"Members of the Divine!" Protheus announced throughout the Rejected World, letting his voice boom out. "You may have known before as Viligance, but as you can see, surprise surprise, I am actually Protheus Maximus! Your previous leader is gone, by the way. Forever. Poof. But do not fear, for I too wish to obtain the power of the Door of Origin! And I'm feeling gracious enough to bring the rest of you along! Why, isn't that just splendid?"

 

Once Protheus was high enough, he stepped onto the highest floating platform in the realm and snapped his fingers, a dark vortex ripping itself into spacetime continuum instantaneously.

 

"So come along then! It's not like you'll be able to escape this rejected wasteland any other way, RIGHT?"

 

This particular Maximus was totally unlike Isamy in that he didn't even bother to put on a false facade about 'goodness' and 'salvation'. However, that was only because he understood that these people would have no choice but to follow him. If they wanted their wishes granted, if they wanted to partake of the power that the Door offered, then they would have no choice but to follow him whether they liked it or not. It was as simple as that.

 

Thus, after a few minutes, most of the Divine had reentered, though he couldn't help but notice that some, such as Frankram and Alister, were choosing to stay away. Afterwards, the decided to say one last thing to the ones who were choosing to stay in the midst of this rainfall.

 

"None of you are going to join me? No matter. You can spend the rest of your days here, then! Rot in this FORSAKEN REALM! See, that spaceship over there," he gestured towards the Inch of Will, "won't be working anytime soon. And given enough time, I even expect some of you will be driven to cannibalism. You see any food here? Nope, didn't think so. So I'm afraid that you're all going to live very, very pitiful lives. Frankly, I feel sorry for you. Well, no, I don't actually, but eh, sayonora."

 

Giving off a shrug, the sadistic madman turned to walk off into the portal. But at the very last second, as if just remembering something, stopped.

 

Itsu... Hm. I can't sense her. Where the hell is she?

 

He could sense an aura not too far away that was vaguely similar to her, but dismissed it as being a coincidence since it was far, far too twisted to be the sun goddess that he was familiar with. Had she gone off somewhere after the Shadow Realm and the Desert Seth? Whatever the case, she didn't seem to be here.

 

Just what happened to that woman...?

 

Showing only the slightest hint of disappointment since he'd been intending to bring her along too, he dismissed it and went back in to rejoin the new Divine.

 

 

~ ~ ~

The perfect world. Infinite Tsukuyomi.

 

It wasn't thought possible that such a thing could apply even to one as high and noble as a Counter Guardian, practically the highest status a hero can ever rise to. Having served the Throne of Heroes loyally from beginning to end, it was almost a ridiculous concept even as it was being experienced. And yet, there was happiness. Peace with everyone else. No need to uphold the useless notions of knighthood or kingdom, simply focusing on making the whole world a better, safer, and more civilized place.

 

If there was a king amidst this illusion, it was the king who never really became king. Or, to put it another way, this was a version of the king that had actively refused to become the king after having become it before. Certain events in the distant future had allowed this so-called 'Never-King' to redo the time in Camelot, and yet, it had ended in failure.

 

Even so, the efforts of this knight were recognized. The knight was elevated to the Throne, and became one archetype amongst many whom could be used and deployed to maintain the safety of the multiverse. This was how the life of a Counter Guardian was like, and it was an extreme honour to serve and contribute towards it.

 

However, this world contained no trace of that life.

 

And as it cracked apart, a voice revealing everything to have been an illusion all along, a certain someone ended up being shocked beyond belief, after having been immersed deeply into it.

 

With this destruction, the end of Infinite Tsukuyomi, the Counter Guardian was left with no choice but to rise to the surface.

 

Arthuria, the Rejected World

 

While Protheus was busy monologuing as he walked away, his attention unfixed on anything in particular, a crimson, bubbly-like essence suddenly began to grow nearby Arthur and the others, which expanded further and further until it was in the shape of someone familiar. Then the colours solidified, and finally it became clear that this was the leader of the Counter Corps. Arthuria...right?

 

At first, Arthuria looked to be in a sort of daze, as if still half-asleep. But then, as the Counter Guardian took a falty step forward and embarrassingly slipped over the wet surface, falling down, this brought the warrior back to his senses.

 

"Wha- what?!" He squealed in a voice that was more especially feminine than usual, just as his back hit the ground.

 

Surprise registered in his face immediately, since the very fact that he'd 'slipped by accident' was an anomaly. As a Counter Guardian, reality itself should constantly emit small bits and pieces of support through the laws of physics, which would include preventing any detrimental effects like tripping from occurring. While it could still happen, the chances were astronomical, and that was when walking on oiled ice.

 

And that wasn't the only thing Arthuria noticed. His body felt heavier than usual even though beings like him couldn't really gain weight, and the mana that would normally come to his aid at a second's notice was being a little harder to channel this time around. Also, while it was somewhat difficult to describe, the rain felt...wetter than it would normally. Far more raw in senses. It was beginning to dawn upon him that, somehow, though he wasn't sure how, sometime in between his battle with Protheus and the present time, he ended up being given a physical body. In other words, he was no longer a summoned mana construct, but a flesh and bone, living entity.

 

Though for any observer, they would notice something much, much different. To put it simply, he looked just a tiiiiinnnyyy bit different from what they were used to. Was it how his eye colour had changed from gold to a teal green? Was it how his crown had shrunk and taken a much odder form? Was it how he was now wearing a much tighter, lighter white outfit than the Briton-esque armour he'd been wearing before...or was it the strangely-shaped form of 'his' chest that ultimately ended up giving him away as having been a girl all along?!

 

Indeed, it was when Arturia finally thought to look down at herself and noticed her own clothes that things really started to click in her mind.

 

"...I see. So that's what happened."

 

When Arturia had entered Infinite Tsukuyomi, as a mana construct, she'd totally dissolved. Therefore, in order to make up for this, the Madara had constructed an actual body for her based on her ideals.

 

And this... This was exactly what she'd looked like inside her dream. An epic king with no need to hide her gender.

 

Her face suddenly lit red with embarrassment, and she instinctively moved to cover herself with her arms for a moment before getting back to her senses. Doing such a thing would be extremely childish.

 

Arturia. Calm yourself. You're human, but that's irrelevant. That still makes you a Counter Guardian. You still have to do your duty.

 

Look at that. She even had to tell herself the mission.

 

This was childish. This, all of it was childish. There was something far more important at hand here. Forcing herself to act as rational as she would as a king, she analyzed her surroundings and tried to make sense of the jumbled-up memories that were now scattered all over her mind. The Madara's defeat. Protheus Maximus. Something about him mocking their inability to escape this 'rejected wasteland'...

 

Ah. Right. They were in the Rejected World. The former Counter Guardian noticed that, amongst all the stone platforms scattered throughout the realm, the only ones that seemed to be present in this rainfall were members of the Counter Corps, with a few unfamiliar faces here and there. While one or two of them might've possessed the ability of interdimensional travel in normal circumstances, with all these distortions, there was no way any of them could maneuver about freely. Even Arturia herself needed a proper location that she could use to access other universes, and a 'rejected' place such as this wouldn't do.

 

She took note of the hole in the sky. Had it been formed during the prior battle? Perhaps if they took the Inch of Will and exited through there, then...

 

No. Looking at the spaceship, it was in a horrible condition, and even if they could somehow make it out through hole, Arturia had lost her connection to Camelot no thanks to that unexpected event with the Orb. The void would destroy them, and it'd be impossible to travel towards where they need to go, the place that Protheus and the Divine were definitely heading to.

 

"I see, it's worse than I thought..."

 

It was like Camelot all over again. Had coming all this way really been for nothing? She and Emiya, everyone who'd ever been part of the Counter Corps, was this where all their fighting had let to? Abandonment in this barren world which no one could do anything about?

 

Just as Arturia was losing hope, that was when she noticed a strange phenomenon occurring high up, beyond the sky and the stormclouds, which was growing larger and larger until...

 

Their saviours had come.

 

"Exiting transit in 3...2...1..."

 

The hole in space and time that the Inch of Will blasted into the fabric of the Rejected World started to warp as something began to fill that void. A swirling assortment of inverted colors emerged from the darkness, spiraling until it created an opening, out of which came a massive spacefaring vessel, easily bigger than the Madara itself, equipped a pair of nacelles opened and containing a pair of spinning turbines with multicolored panels, the gigantic ship appearing of nowhere within this heavy downpour.

 

 

"Lieutenant, what are we looking at?" The Vice-Admiral asked his subordinate.

 

"Survivors, sir. Survivors of something. Good news is that this place has air, as well as gravity on the land sections. We don't want to go down into that void, though. I'm also reading all sorts of individual life signs down there, of all different types, as well as..." Trixie went silent and her eyes widened as she analyzed the reading.

 

"As well as what? What else is there?"

 

"You're not going to believe this, sir." Trixie replied, choking up while she pulled up the three-dimensional image of a modified Manta-class Missile Destroyer, which had gently skidded into the ground on one of the floating sections before stopping.

 

"This ship is registering as the Inch of Will. I know her name because she's broadcasting that info with a Neighborhood Watch IFF."

 

Roosevelt adjusted his glasses as he took up a place next to her.

 

"What in damnation is one of our ships doing all the way out here?"

 

"No idea, sir, but this makes out new friends much more interesting." Trixie replied, walking towards the console.

 

"Lieutenant, activate external comms and search lights. I want to see if anyone down there has some answers."

 

"Bringing external comms online. Yet another subsystem I wasn't expecting for us to test out."

 

Above the remnants of the Rejected World, the ship hovered, retracting the paneling around the drive systems that brought it here, while a series of floodlights joined the external lights and circled amongst the slabs of earth.

 

With this, a male voice, steady and calm, but still firm and authoritative, announced in English, "I am Vice-Admiral Theodore Roosevelt, acting commander of the Neighborhood Watch vessel And With Strange Aeons. We come in peace, and we mean you no harm. However, we will act if you mean us harm. If you have a leader, please find him and make sure he or she is in fit condition to raise their hand. We will bring him or her aboard to establish contact and get updated on the situation. Meanwhile, our operatives have three objectives.

 

First, any of you needing medical attention will be found and receive it aboard our ship. Please aid our operatives in locating those that need it. Second, we will be gathering you all together in groups for processing and boarding. Form of groups of no more than six. Any large beings stand independent of others. This will take no more than a few minutes after we have been briefed from your leader. Finally, we have a friendly craft in the area, the Inch of Will, which belongs to our allies. We need to ascertain its situation and see if they need help. Anyone with information, please seek out our operatives. Do not approach the ship until we determine your situation. Anyone who attacks the ship will be responded to with force.

 

This message will repeat. I am Vice-Admiral Theodore Roosevelt..."

 

Four figures stepped out of the opening cargo bay, clad in multicolored powered armor and bearing strange backpack-like devices. Each one gripped joystick-like handles in their hands, and thrusters on their packs spun up, letting each member fly off from the ship to go and find other people. Each of the four Freelancers approached a slab and approached the people there, giving anyone still unconscious a special tag that, after a few seconds, teleported them to the ship's medical bay, filled with comfy beds in two rows that faced each other in a white and metal environment.

 

They also guided people together, giving them tags so their group could be teleported aboard the Inch of Will when their time came.

 

But one of the Freelancers found something incredible: a giant rose made out of a strange red fleshy material, coiled up with its petals as humanoid figures writhed at the base. When the Freelancer approached, the flower bloomed, unfurling its petals to reveal even more people inside, all of them female, with the stamen of the whole thing being a pair of women fused together, the pale flesh of one combined together with the altered, alien flesh of another, the Fudo "twins" resting in their catatonic state. He also found a purple gemstone sitting at the base, gently glowing and pulsating.

 

"Uhh...guys? We've got something here... Something big..."

 

...

 

Meanwhile, while this was going on, as soon as the Counter Guardian had listened to the recording the first time she instantly raised her hand, identifying herself as the leader of this group of survivors. She was immediately taken to see the one responsible for directing the ship, which appeared to have connections with Neighborhood Watch, and by extension, the Inch of Will. This would be convenient, since Foster could help gain their trust. If they could be convinced in using their spaceship to provide a ride, even if it was just one...

 

"Vice-Admiral Theodore Roosevelt, it is an honour to meet your acquaintance. Now, there is no simple way to brief you on the situation, as this is a rather long story. What you choose to make of it is up to you." Arturia said, sitting on a seat across the alternate version of a famous American President. "First and foremost, let me start by introducing ourselves."

 

For a moment, she closed her eyes as if to regain her composure. And then, when she opened them again, it was like she'd gained an incredible amount of determination in just a split second.

 

"...We are the Counter Corps. And we're here to save the multiverse."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

 

Arc IV

FINAL

 

 

---

 

 

Divine, Hollow Asteroid

 

The Key was with him. It was literally in his very hands. Now all that was left was to use it to open the Door of Origin and accomplish his true goal. Chardonnay had been far too shortsighted when she made that prophecy, and with this, he would shatter it and prove her wrong.

 

The dark sorcerer had since discarded his armour to reveal more regal clothing underneath, and during the whole trip, he hadn't really done much apart from float high up in the air holding his beloved Key of Origin - which was in the shape of a galaxy-themed box - and occasionally part to find any new members of the Divine.

 

For all those who'd been part of the Divine previously, they might not have liked their new resting location - which came in the form of a gigantic, hollow, sphere-like asteroid which was so spacious on the inside that it was like being within a stadium, minus the seats, the comfortableness, and the entertainment. The borders had all been enhanced with magic to prevent any breaches, a gravity field was set to allow everyone to walk normally, the temperature was regulated, and there was more than enough oxygen for the 'simpletons' to breathe. Plus, various mystical orbs of light had been scattered all throughout the area in order to provide, well, light. And just in case it became absolutely necessary, a small room had been created in a far corner which served as a bathroom, and which also ironically became the most comfortable part of the whole thing.

 

Still, even with all these, it didn't make the Hollow Asteroid and its constant shaking much more comfortable, especially considering that a total of thirteen hours had to be spent inside of it during their journey.

 

One would think that the great Protheus Maximus would be able to give them better living conditions as they head towards the final destination, but perhaps he just wanted to rub in their faces how much they needed him and the Key in order to get to the Door. Really, at this point, it was hard to tell.

 

For a moment, the sorcerer glanced down at the Divine, as if unsure what to make of them. He might've been doing it on a whim, he might've had ulterior motives by bringing them along to the Door, or he might've truly wanted to grant each of their wishes, but in any case, they didn't have much of a choice but to follow him.

 

"We'll be arriving very shortly." He stated to them, his expression cold. "So since you still have time, you should focus on preparing yourselves, if you haven't already. After all, the climax is waiting for us."

 

 

 

 

~~~

 

 

Counter Corps, The Aeon Spaceship

 

Thirteen hours had passed since they'd broken out from the illusion that was Infinite Tsukuyomi, defeated the unstoppable Madara, and had been rescued from the abandoned Rejected World by a strange spaceship that had come out of nowhere. Then again, it wasn't so bad - while Arturia himself wasn't exactly fond of technology, the spaceship they were within was so advanced that it would be able to take them towards the final battlefield, though of course she had to provide the information on how to get there.

 

For a prototype long-range Stealth Command Cruiser that was supposedly drifting, low on stocks, and far from home, it was well equipped enough to bring the large variety of Counter Corps back up to their normal physical conditions. Its full name was "And with Strange Aeons", but for simplicity, Arturia simply called it the Aeon Spaceship. Technically, it wasn't really flying through space since it was using a Numeron Drive to create a pocket universe around it and use this unconventional method for interdimensional travel in a multiverse that was otherwise stricken with distortions, but it helped simplified things for everyone so why not.

 

The Aeon had enough equipment and facilities to help them, from a gymnasium for training to a mess hall to even beds, along with a fifty-foot observation deck below which which they were free to explore, and even an armory filled with high-tech weapon. However, if there was anything bad about it, it was that it was mostly metal and bulkheads with very little glass, and virtually no viewports outside.

 

Not only that, but many of the various Freelancers and other members of the crew didn't seem too pleased about the detour they were having to make for these warriors, even if it was for the sake of all reality.

 

Having overcome her initial embarrassment over being exposed as a girl - and reasoning that, as a Counter Guradian, she really didn't have a gender to begin with - the leader of the Counter Corps ultimately decided to just wave it off and deal with it. If anyone else was in shock that the ancient King Arthur was actually a girl all along, then they'd have to deal with it. Even if she looked young and inexperienced, and had even been cut off from the Throne of Heroes no thanks to the Madara, she was still more than strong enough to to take them all on at the same time.

 

Plus, even with her gender being shown this way, she still somehow managed to exert that same kingly aura. She considered asking for new clothes to replace the ones which the Madara had realized for her, but as much as she hated to admit it, these clothes suited her. Although, her body being flesh-and-blood did not.

 

From the Aeon, she was able to take some time to travel to different universes and attempt to recruit more members. There weren't that many, but by now, every single person should count.

 

And for those who'd have to fight in the Madara battle, she couldn't imagine how experiencing Infinite Tsukuyomi might've affected any of them. Seeing a perfect world, and then having it taken away just like that... They'd also lost comrades on the Sphere Forest, and they didn't even succeed in getting the Key. All they could do was hope to catch up to the Divine and hope to take it from them. Now that they were fully recovered, they should be able to deal with that Protheus head-on along with any of his Divine, but that remained to be seen.

 

For now, while they were on their journey towards that place, they would have the opportunity to bring the other members up to date, recover from the battle, and prepare for what was to come. Things looked bleaker than ever, but they couldn't give up.

 

After having made it this far, their resolve couldn't afford to falter at this point. There was no telling what in lay in store for them in the future, so they had no choice but to keep on going and see where it led.

 

"But... Where will that future lead?" Arturia asked herself, a tone of remorse in her tone.

[Love of Ghibli]

The Perfect World.

It seemed that there were a myriad of techniques being launched at the Madara yet it didn't give the final blow. Tragic of course. What was interesting though was that everyone got a chance to see their perfect world come to fruition. Like before Butler's perfect world was simply him talking to Dorian who was insulting the fact that he was actually caught in a genjutsu. Something on the lines of a paradox where Dorian's perfect balance doesn't allow him to be controlled or whatever. All of the specters seemed to mirror a similar version of the same perfect world. The utter destruction of the saints and Hades' conquest of Athena. What was most sad though was that Dorian's Perfect World was black. He didn't have one. It was weird to say the very least. He didn't understand as he just walked in the sea of blackness and red. He knew he had "amnesia" but he did have some sense of self. Though the only thing he did  hear though was someone in the back round of his mind going...You make me sick! It was weird though because it sounded like a very familiar presence. He was fortunate though. He would not have to live in the fake world of nothingness for much longer. It seemed that they were all saved by the great hero known as Arthur. As everyone was slowly being freed from the Infinite Tsukuyomi he definitely stood in the background and simply gazed at the young but who not so long ago hated him. His head was throbbing as if Arthur deserved some kind of emotional response from him. 

Anywho it seemed that the man from behind the scenes finally decided to reveal himself. Butlerok gazed at this man and instantly noticed all of these barriers. Impressive pieces of magical work. The reveal that he was headless suit of armor was pretty much a spit in the face, but it least it gave those who knew some foundation of trust to work with. As he mentioned how things were going to work from now on Team Dorian looked at each other naturally everyone simply hoped along for the ride. It wasn't like they had any better options. In fact Dorian was wondering how long would the rejected World retain form if "the Madara" did not actually exist (or whatever the complex method of that is). The specters, Aspros, and Team Dorian all jumped in the portal to the boundless asteroid. 

Hollow Asteroid

 

It was certainly an eventful little stint in time that they all did in the Rejected World. But it was time for the specters to part and return back to the Underworld to greet their fallen brethren. Minos, Aiacos, and Radamanthys all gave each other a very rare fist bump. Well that happened, Minos said very annoyed that he had to stay in this uncomfortable place. Yes, but we should hurry back quick. Lord Hades must've used a large amount of Cosmos to stabilize the Underworld and make it so the others and their surplices can be revived. What's the purpose of Thanatos and Hypnos if not for an emergency like this! Radamanthys exclaimed. Doesn't matter at the very least we got the pleasure of killing a Gold Saint. HAHAHA what makes you say that upper minion number 1! From behind the group Defteros and Aspros both walked out of their own Another Dimension. How the hell is that possible? Minos said in defiance. Come on the red light basically put you in a hyper dream state. Meaning I was beating all of you in my sleep. HAHAHAHA but yeah I guess that last attack stirred up my own cosmos and freed me from the Genjutsu. Which was never your strong suit anyway. Aspros added. Anywho, once I woke up I count as a Saint again meaning my cloth is real and I tank your foolish attacks.  

Don't brag now! Said another voice coming from nowhere in particular. If we wanted you two dead it wouldn't take that much work. Walking out of a different warped space was none other than Yoma himself. I admit I didn't have that much fun until your your special little move there. Surprised you didn't use the version I had to fight against you. If I did I doubt there would be many survivors and even there were they would literally be too far to stop the centaur. This was the best course of action. Though I guess if I'll give you credit you did keep me from killing that random samurai boy. Meh. Yoma replied unamused. So if we go back to the Underworld what do you two do. We're currently surviving as guardians of Apollo. Which makes it horrifically ironic that the final blow was struck by his descendant in another universe. The two parties left view Yoma and Aspros' dimension making techniques. Aspros looked back for a second only to notice Dorian lost in thought. He motioned silently to Defteros to take a look and after close inspection Defteros and Aspros both nodded at each other then left.
 

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

 

Dorian was admittedly sad to see everyone go. It was almost as if he bonded with his captures through bloody conquest. However Radamanthys and Butlerok were simply inspecting their new living quarters. Which is a pretty liberal description of this place was. Dorian normally would be annoyed and would constantly complain about this place empty space, but he's a different person now. It was sudden shift in scenery and Radamanthys seemed to be quite bored with it. Radamanthys was going to let out a sigh of relief when he heard what sounded like shattering glass right in front of him. He looked down only to see Dorian's sticking out of his chest and his hand seemingly buried inside. Radamanthys and Butlerok were both quite in shock but the reason for this madness soon made itself clear. Dorian pulled out Radamanthys' beating heart with his right hand and then proceed to cut open his left hand with some flames. It was then Radamanthys realized what was happening. Dorian had clearly been possessed by Lord Hades himself. Dorian then stabbed his bleeding hand through Radamanthys' heart and then immediately sealed the wound closed. He then put the heart back into the Judges' body and then sealed that wound closed. 

Dorian simply stood still and snapped his fingers. Instinctively Butlerok absorbed Radamanthys with the Black Blood. A second later Butlerok realized he just had a nostalgia blast seeing as it felt like ages since he flowed with his master so effortlessly. Maybe that was Hades payment for being Radamanthys temporary holding cell. Dorian snapped out of his trance and he decided it would be best to take a look around but it seemed that there was nothing to actually look at. Well this could be better. He said in very disappointed manner. Well we could use the Ars Magna. The what? Its a magic we can use. Ragnarok said revealing his chibi form. It basically has the power to make anything happen as long as you whole-heartedly believe it can happen. Sounds oddly limiting. Well the Kishin status makes that "limitation" non-existent. But I could make everyone's journey a lot more pleasant. I would just have to coat this entire location with my Black Blood and from inside I would be able to make everything a lot more comfortable. Go for it. Dorian commented. 

In typical Butlerok fashion the Evolved Kishin flooded the area with Black Blood hopefully assimilating everyone. While he didn't eat them for nourishment he ate them as a method of translocation. Now instead of the vast emptiness and depressing nature of the asteroid the Divine were at a relaxing bath house and hot spring. Well that's what Ragnarok chose to emulate in his own inner world anyway. This should be much more entertaining for the Divine though he wondered how Protheus would see this kind of behavior.

[Dad]

Kratos

 

It was over.  Before he could accomplish more, his allies had mustered strength from deep, deep in their own hearts.  It was Arthur's unwavering will that allowed them all to be free.  Though, 'free' wasn't an ideal choice of words.  For just a moment, Kratos went unburdened by true reality, and sat atop his throne over the Spartan Empire.  His wife and child stood at his side again,  his heart not trembled from the nightmares given to plague him.  His mind was free of chaos, and he had no need to fight.  There was a lack of violence, a time of peace, and an unending love that he could feel, one last time.  Though it hurt to see that taken away, Kratos understood it was nothing more than an illusion, a falsehood, a lie.  Perhaps "free" was acceptable.  To be able to choose to go on, to be able to allow his loved ones their rest.  Yes.  He truly was free.  And he had the Madara, and nephew Arthur, to thank.

 

It wasn't long, however, before Kratos realized the fight wasn't over yet.   The Counter Corps had also lost so much, but their determination did not wave.  A strange ship, floating miles above called down to the Counter Corps, and they were quickly rescued.  But before Kratos went aboard. . . 

 

Kenpachi & Yachiru

 

Picking up his Zanpaktou from his side, Zaraki examined it carefully, as it spoke to him.  Finally able to utilize his voice, Kenpachi spoke directly to his blade.  "I really wish you had spoken sooner," he said with a pause. ". . .maybe we could have saved her."

 

"I had my reasons, Kenpachi.  In watching your battles, you were not yet prepared to do what was necessary to protect her.  But you have matured.  It is only because of your care for her that I am prepared to teach you."

 

"Teach me?"

 

"We have a lot to discuss, Kenpachi.  But for now, she's waking up."

 

"Hmm?"  Zaraki raised his head to see Yachiru turn over, rubbing her eyes and sitting up right.  For a moment, she too froze in place, not understanding why she was alive.  "K-Kenny?" she uttered, barely able to speak.  "Yachiru."  She rushed at him, suddenly regaining her strength.  Yachiru embraced Kenpachi, hugging him tightly, crying into his shoulder.  "Kenny, why!?" she cried aloud.  "Whhhhhhhhy!?" she continued wailing.  But Zaraki couldn't respond.  He hugged her back, holding her tightly, matting her pink hair.  "I don't know little lady.  But obviously someone needs us.  Someone brought us back for a reason."  He pulled her from his shoulder, as her tears continued to stream from her face.  "But. . .," she gave an exasperated sigh at last, wiping her face.  She understood where Zaraki was going with this, and she knew that she had to get stronger so that she could protect Kenpachi.  From protecting her.  "I'll never--" Kenpachi received a shock from his Zanpaktou as he spoke, but gripped it tightly in response.  "I'll NEVER, let you down again, little lady.  You're my best friend, and we've done our suffering, Yachiru.  Now it's time for a little payback," Zaraki said finally getting to his feet, carrying Yachiru against his chest.  They stumbled a bit towards the door, where they were greeted by a stranger.  A bald man, with scars and a bright red tattoo along his ash white skin.

 

"Was it you?" Kratos asked as his eyes met Kenpachi's.

 

Zaraki paused, but finally spoke up.  "Was it me. . .what?  What are you asking?" he stated calmly.

 

"Was it you that I saved?"

 

Then Kenpachi knew.  This was the man that had brought himself and Yachiru back together.  He saved them from death.  He. . . this bald BASTARD.  He was putting Yachiru through this pain again!  Kenpachi kept himself composed, for fear for killing Kratos and possibly everyone nearby.  "You didn't save us," he said at last.  "We had done our duties.  We had given our lives, and we had done our suffering.  But here we are again, back to suffer again.  And it's because of you.  You'll get no thanks from me," Kenpachi said, shoving Kratos aside with his enormous shoulder.  Kratos did not respond, his head held low as he tried to understand his fault.  How selfish could he have been?  Chernobyl writhed in pain and died, only to give his life to bring back someone who didn't want to live again.  They were at peace!  But Kratos had once again found himself as the root of the problem.

 

Lysandra, his wife.  Caliope, his daughter.  Ares.  Athena.  Hera!  ZEUS!  All the lives he had taken, and still he could not put it behind him.  Now he had taken the lives of those who did not deserve it.  Black Dynamite.  Chernobyl.  There was a path of death and destruction in his wake, and he had no forgiveness for himself, nor did anyone else.  Kratos was filled with remorse, but at the very edge of his mind, he knew through all of this chaos, he had to press on.  Even if, at the end of it all, he would be tossed back into a world, alone, to think on his nightmares.  To. . . no.  He couldn't keep filling himself with the past.  He was free.  Remember?  He turned around to watch the stranger turn the corner, and waited for the rest of the Counter Corps before he boarded the Aeon.

 

Revy

 

When she awoke, she was in a hard bed, covered in a thick, wool blanket in a freezing room.   She sat upright, grabbing at her head trying to figure out what the hell happened.  One moment she's scolding Rock for giving her gifts and the next she's drowning.  Now she's in bed?  Was it all a dream?  Her weapons had been placed at her bed side, and she quickly holstered them.  Making her way to the door, she opened it, only to be shocked.  "What. . .the. . .fuck?"  This was very clearly something out of a movie.  Gadgets and gizmos and lights and dials everywhere.  A crew of half humans, half aliens, half machines, and half animals.  This was truly the worst thing she could've woken up to.  "Alright.  There's no fuckin' way.  I need a drink," she said denouncing all the bullshit she was observing.  She walked quietly around the rest of these weirdos looking for a bar.  And if she didn't get one soon, she was gonna have some strong words with the a******s that kidnapped her.

 

Killua

 

The tone set was quite monotonous.  It seemed as though all those here, save for himself, had just been through a tragedy, but they were all too tired to care.  He wasn't sure how he'd gotten here, but after the things he had seen, being whisked away onto a space ship wasn't too shocking.  Getting up from a cold seat, Killua paced silently around, looking for someone or something familiar.  He didn't particularly care, but a familiar face was always nice.  It was easy to gauge to the level of power in the room.  The larger ones seemed to be the strongest, until he set his eyes on others not much taller than himself.  There were all types of characters here, some weren't even human.  What was going on, he didn't quite know, but he was able to quickly understand that they were all on the same team.  He'd rather introduce himself now than wait for the awkward moment of battle to speak up.  He eyed one purple haired lady, who seemed quite stumped and agitated, and decided it best not to pester her.  She seemed likely to kill someone.  Anyone, really.  A quiet sight, and he spoke softly to himself.  "I wish Gon was here.  But maybe this mess will help him get better."

 

Albert Wesker

 

There wasn't much to be said, or done.  It was very clear that someone of greater power had whisked him away.  Needless to say, Wesker was, for once, impressed.  Inside this asteroid, there was essentially, a headquarters.  Not the coziest or classiest of places, but it would do fine for operations.  And there was quite a talent of power about those gathered.  Clearly there was.  And if not for the blatantly obvious problems it would cause, Wesker would have attempted to sample their blood.  But that would've been rude.  For now, Wesker wasn't too sure of things outside of the asteroid, so he waited patiently for some kind of pamphlet or introductory flier to fill him in.

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

Ivero <The Rejected Werld>

 

Perfect, for just a moment it had been a perfect world. Xansvita had been revived and together they had control everything and anything in the name of, well, Xansvita himself. However, once Ivero locked eyes with Sora again it had all been forgotten. In a surprising turn of events, Ivero grabbed hold of Sora and took the full brunt of the Trinity Limit, possibly stunning Sora with the shock of the decision; he then made his move. "Now I have you!" He said, and then flooded Sora to the ground with a stream of Faux Keyblades that would surely leave him incapacitated for at least a short few moments; Ivero landed back on the ground and chuckled to himself. Although the damaged he sustained from the Trinity Limit was hefty, it had been worth it to create the opening. "You foolish fool, you honestly think all you "light" and "goodness" could bleed me from your beloved friend's body? Ridiculous!" Ivero gave a devious looking smirk as the Faux Keyblades slammed into the ground. "As punishment, I shall not allow you to gaze upon your friends image any longer."

 

Black ooze started to flow from his pores as he slowly went to turn himself back into the form he first took when becoming an Unveresed; however, instead of collecting and forming around the body itself, the ooze merely puddled at the body's feet. The body fell to its knees, weary as it surely must be. "Sora, are you oka-" Nero started to call out to his ally, but just then the ooze shaped into a body and slammed a fist into Nero's face, making him roll backwards. "You insolent little curd, how dare you deny the power of Xansvita, how could you even!?" The ooze-body questioned, Nero started to stand but stumbled and was back on his knees again fast. "The entire time we've existed as one, I've been working to separate our essences into two again. Had you not taken the full brunt of Sora's Trinity Limit, it surely would have taken me weeks, even months to separate us by my power alone. Thanks to his light, his undying friendship to me...I was able to split our essences within a fraction of the time." He couldn't believe what he had just heard, the absorption process hadn't been complete, he had been so arrogant of his own power he had forgotten to keep Nero's in check.

 

The ooze-body smirked as it had then realized something, as it summoned up both of Nero's Keyblades, much to his surprise; The Redemption Keyblade in his right, and The Darkness Within in his left. "Your essence separation has confused them you fool! They are now loyal to me because I've cleared that confusion by calling upon them!" In desperation Nero reached out and tried to call either blade to his hand, but they didn't even shake, it was true, Nero had earned his freedom, but had lost both of his keyblades. "You fool, what kind of warrior are you now!?" It mocked as its wings grew from the ooze on its back, it took of screaming at Nero. "You've lost any chanced you've ever had against me, boy!" It slammed both keyblades downward on Nero, he raised his hands to defend himself and closed his eyes to accept his fate....

 

~cling....~

 

As thoughts of death and defeat filled his head, and darkness filled his eyes; his ears were filled with a metal sound, and his hands were filled with a weapon he did not recognize. Nero opened his eyes and turned his head to look, and what he grasped in his hands had been the legendary X-Blade. "You can't have that!" The ooze-body said, a twinge of fear in his voice as he made the words. "It's the exact opposite, I'm the only one who could!" Nero shouted as he first deflected the keyblades away from him and with one slice he had cut off both of the ooze-body's arms; after the body turned, Nero made another cut that disabled its wings. "Xasvita's will won't end like this, I won't let it!" It turned to run but in his path stood Odin, who exchanged a nod with Nero. "It's over." The two said in unison. Nero then launched a huge beam of energy that took the shape of an 'X' and Odin used the Zantetsuken; the two attack collided to vaporize the ooze-body in an enormous column of devastating energy. "ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH" It sounded off as its last sentiment.

 

Nero and Odin met in the middle of each other, their blades still drawn in all of their glory; the two warriors who had started off so differently, came to realize they were part of the same light. "It's finally over." Odin said, offering Nero his hand. "This chapter, at least, but I have a feeling that the story will continue, but with a different author." Nero lamented, they both went to rejoin their group of friends, helping Sora to his feet and meeting the group just as the tagging crew came to teleport them to the ship. For now it was calm...for now.

 

Sephiroth<Hollow Asteroid>

 

He had joined Protheous Maximus absent-mindedly; it wasn't as if he no longer wanted to be apart of the Divine, it was only because of what he hadn't seen in his so-called "perfect world". In his mind, in his heart, he had expected a world destroyed, crumbling, and set to flame as humanity had been laid to waste; what he actually saw was...different, to say the least. The eyes of the One-Winged Angel gazed outside of a viewing space that was planted in the wall of the hollow rock. A man he had come to know as Butler had released some sort of "blood" to change the surrounding, but he had used his power to leave his corner of the room unchanged. He didn't know exactly what his intention might be, but he knew that he had no desire to join any reality altering event planned by the one called "Butler".

 

???<Location Unknown>

 

It was hurtling through space at many lightyears per second, making the wind on its surface swift as it whistled through cracks and crevices harshly. His cloak whipped about as the cool air swept over his face and hair, giving him a slight feeling of pleasantness that hadn't lasted long as he thought of the reason he was here. There was nothing to see on the surface, sans a crumbling structure with a few letters left on its sign spelling "Den"; the former beings of this galaxy must have tried to inhabit this rock, pitiful. He heard the jets approach the flying rock, they belonged to a smaller flying object, it had finally arrived and the only proper thing was to turn to it as its legs touched down on the surface. His blade was still drawn, signifying that he himself hadn't been their long before it arrived at the scene. "For a moment, I was certain you wouldn't arrive..." The jets fired off and the figure stood there, ready to converse with him. "Ophelia..."

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Tsukasa/Decade ~ ??? / The Aeon Spaceship

 

.:Before:.

 

The scenery seemed the same for too long, how long he had been within this rift between time had seemed to escape his mind. Sitting in the kneeling position, he looked at the badly developed photographs that were laid out in front of him on the ground. They were of the Counter Corps...HIS Counter Corps...and now, these photos were only here to both remind Tsukasa of his failure to save them...and to show that the events were definitely hinted at.

 

I'm sorry I let you all down. Tsukasa sighed as he held a few cards in his hand, his eyes shutting as he began to regain his composure. My journey won't end because of this...I will find a way to make it up to you all.

 

However, his eyes would be shot right back open when he saw someone before him...holding out a hand towards him. His eyes met the person's eyes, as something clicked with the two. Tsukasa could only extend his hand out to reach the person's hand, as he stood up. Not a word was spoken, until he smirked some at the person who stood before him. "I think I get the gist of the situation." And with that, Tsukasa followed this person: Arthuria through the portal she had formed.

 

.:Present Moment:.

 

Tsukasa stood within the Aeon, as his journey had brought him to this timeline and to Arthuria's Counter Corps. He removed the lens of his camera that hung around his neck as he started to take a few pictures here and there about the Aeon's interior.

 

Takuto/Ginga Bishounen ~ Zero Time Dimension / The Aeon Spaceship

 

.:Within the Zero Time Dimension:.

 

"WAKO!!!!!" a voice shouted from within the body of the giant robot, otherwise known as a CyBody. Within the middle of the CyBody, the red gem in its chest held the owner of this voice as he searched all over the dimension for the one he lost.

 

Darn it! Where the heck did she go?! Takuto thought, as he had Tauburn go all out on the speed, as the beautiful scenery that was the Zero Time Dimension zipped past them.

 

As Takuto continued to pilot the CyBody, a bright flash of light appeared before them, as he could only smirk. "There! Something is telling me that Wako is somewhere on the other side! It's a pinch!!!" he yelled as he and Tauburn embraced the bright flash of light...which was the workings of a portal. As they exited the portal, Tauburn and Takuto could see before them a wonderful spaceship. However, as the CyBody exited the dimension, he suddenly disappeared, leaving his pilot within the reaches near the ship...

 

.:Present:.

 

Takuto woke up suddenly as he found himself on a spare bed, presumably inside the spaceship. He groaned some as he sat up, seeing himself as he was back to normal and no longer as his Ginga Bishounen self. He yawned a bit as he stood up and stretched. Takuto didn't know how he got on the ship, but he knew he'd probably figure out that part later.

[The Warden]

|_)Red, the Arisen(_|

 

|_)Infinite Tsukuyomi(_|
 

In Red's dream world: His world had been so very very different, yet, truth be told, nothing changed. Red's desire had been very basic in truth: His desire to not wipe away the past that hounded him like a ghostly dog, but rather, to accept it and move on. In his mind he had grown old, and the other Elders had past on, leaving Red as the head Elder leading the younger ones. His once proud and mighty body had been left weak and brittle, a horn had broken off some time ago and he had few teeth left. And yet, he was at his happiest at that point. He sported a smooth and long whit beard that the Dragonlings just loved to tug on, despite his insistences that it was real. But then, it wouldn't be fun for Elder Spyro if he couldn't mess with the Head Elder. His heart and spirit were truly at rest as he watched the young dragons learn their Kata; with the world itself being truly at peace. No Gnasty Gnorc, or Ineptune. No Ripto, Sorceress or Sorcerer. There were no threats anymore, and Red was happy to no longer need to fight.

 

His frail body stood next to Elder Spyro's powerful one, and he smiled contentedly. "The young ones are learning quite well" he remarked, his smooth drawl having given way for a husky and wise tone.

 

Spyro gave a coy little smile as a young dragon with their green dragonfly ran past. "They're learning very well Red. I guess having a good teacher helps" he replied.

 

Red gave an inquisitive brow raise to his friend, and he smiled in the same coy manner. "You were always a very modest dragon Spyro" Red laughed.

 

Spyro chuckled as well, placing a comforting hand on Red's shoulder. "You're right, I should have to remind everyone just how great I am much more huh? Ha! You know, it's still remarkable how, so long ago, you tried to conquer us so you could rule alone. Never would have guessed that you'd succeed your goal either way."

 

Red screwed up his face in annoyance, and he gave the impudent dragon a quick wap on the back of his head. "There's no need for that Spyro. The past is what it is, we need not dredge it up now. The Sorcerer is long gone now, and we have outlived the many threat to our world. Let us just be happy with what we have. Speaking of which, isn't Hunter's memorial service tomorrow?"

 

Spyro rubbed the back of his head, though his enthusiasm swept away as he was reminded of something unpleasant in return. "Yeah, I'm really going to miss him."

 

Red nodded thoughtfully. "We all will. He was a great warrior, and, a good friend to us all. Though, you can't say that his daughter Huntress isn't a fair compensation huh? Huh?" he replied, elbowing Spyro in a less than subtle manner.

 

Spyro recoiled a bit as he held his hands up defensively. "Hey, come on now! It's not like that. Besides, she's way too young for me; and with Elora... I promised her Red" he replied.

 

Red cackled at a successful ribbing. "Calm down Spyro, I would never imply that, ever. Though, if I were a century younger, well, heh heh heh. You know, I do regret never seeking love when I had the chance. It became far too late for me once I returned to the Order, and, well, the others were rather weary of me."

 

"You never noticed Nanny giving you a few, y'know, looks?"

 

"Is that what she was doing? I thought she had something in her eyes. Well, I guess you can score one for ignorance. It's a pity, she was a bit of a looker, back in the day" Red mused.

 

Spyro poked his tongue out at a rather unpleasant thought that presented itself to his mind's eye. "Too much information Red" he replied as a bell rang three times. 

 

Red's eyes narrowed as Spyro lumbered off. "Leaving so soon?" Red inquired.

 

Spyro turned his back to Red, and his eyes were unnaturally dilated. "Lrnu. V arrq gb frr Fcnek. Frr la yngre" he... said(?), and walked off.

 

Red was baffled beyond belief. Something was wrong, and that something, was a light breaking through the sky. It ran along it like an ugly mark, and then, everything shattered.

 

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

 

|_)The Rejected World(_|

 

His mind free, Red was shaken to his core as the event of the Infinite Tsukuyomi slowly faded away from his mind, leaving him right back where he was before. His legs were growing weak as he sought more support from his staff to keep him up. The rain poured down, almost as if the clouds themselves were mourning. The water washed down his body, taking with it the dirt that had stuck to his scales. A rain to wash away the dirt of bad memories, amongst other things.
 
"Members of the Divine!" Protheus announced throughout the Rejected World, letting his voice boom out. "You may have known before as Viligance, but as you can see, surprise surprise, I am actually Protheus Maximus! Your previous leader is gone, by the way. Forever. Poof. But do not fear, for I too wish to obtain the power of the Door of Origin! And I'm feeling gracious enough to bring the rest of you along! Why, isn't that just splendid?"

Red's weary neck stretched skywards to see a man in black rend time and space itself. So, this was the Protheus Maximus the Counter Guardian was so concerned with. Though exhausted, Red's inner fire lit up to see that Protheus did indeed have the Key, and, more surprisingly, he was offering the Divine the opportunity to join him still, despite, from Red's perspective, having power great enough to cut through reality in a glorious wave of destruction.

"So come along then! It's not like you'll be able to escape this rejected wasteland any other way, RIGHT?"

 

Like a trained dog Red lumbered forth, his staff digging deep with each step. But, something else pulled at his heart. Dreading the sight, Red looked back towards Alister, who was still rising from his own personal dream. Guilt played on his heart strings as his eyes welled up. Bearing down, he wrenched his gaze from Alister back to Protheus, who was already leading some of the Divine away. "Alister? I'm sorry" Red said as he flexed his wings.

 

Leaping into the air, his body serpentined with each beat as he flew through the portal, though, he could never fly away from guilt.

 

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

 

|_)The Hollow Asteroid(_|

 

He had been given thirteen hours to rest, and Red had taken it. Claiming a corner for himself, Red had planted his staff deep into the stone of the asteroid. The Light Gem had cast a soothing glow as Red slumbered in a coiled position around it. His expression was pained as his dreams were less than pleasant.

 

Visions from his time in the IT passed through his mind, and his heart both yearned and rejected the what it showed him. Oh, how much he wanted to be happy, but, sadly, it was a future that would never come. They could not age in a world without Time. Only the Door could save them. The memories from the Infinite Tsukuyomi faded away as a new thought entered his mind. From his perspective, he could, see himself arguing with Alister. Their voices were mute, but it was almost as if he could feel his arms flail around the way his dream self's did. Both red in the face, Alister gave one last stand. And though there was no sound, it was most likely the most unbearable thing he had ever heard.

 

By pure instinct, Red could see his hand grab Alister by his throat, and in one effortless thrust, ran his staff through the Lombax. His ichor ran down his ruined body, which was callously  tossed away. It was on his hands, he could feel it. His perspective changed as his head craned into the pool of blood, which reflected everything as perfectly as water. As his image took shape, Red stared back at himself with pure black eyes...

 

Red awoke with a start, and, out of fear, inspected his hands. They were clean, though, the area around him wasn't. That horrible Butler creature was unleashing his Black Blood again, but it could not reach Red as the light from the Light Gem cast a soothing glow that repelled the horrible mess.

 

Drugged as he seemed, Red pushed himself up from his reclined position, the dreams in his head scattering like ravens into the night; never to be thought of again. He sighed sadly as he stared up to the endless void of space above them. "Was it worth it?" Red wondered.

 

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

 

|_)Magical Girl Lydia(_|

 

|_)Infinite Tsukuyomi(_|

 

A lady's inner dreams aren't for public viewing.

 

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

 

|_)The Rejected World(_|

 

Lydia awoke from her dream in a cruel daze, the memories of her vision fresh in her mind as something else came through. A bright red spark lashed out through the air, and dove right into her head. Fire Fox has re-entered the building. "That was a trip" Fire remarked as he joined the octet.

 

Lyia groaned, her head pounding like that one time in high school. "Glad you think so. My head hurts and it's full of weird thoughts. That was the Madara creature. It used some kind of spell to send us all into a world of desire. Amazingly, it created one for each of us as well. Well, whatever that thing was, it certainly wasn't natural. I'm just glad it's over. Now, could the peanut gallery be quiet for a moment so my head can stop pounding. Rude."

 

The voices silenced, which was a odd statement in and of itself, Lydia found that she was very wet, from the rain that covered the Rejected World. Protheus had already made his grand entrance and escape whilst Lydia was pre-occupied, and had no idea that Arturia had resurfaced as a woman, or, was revealed to have been a woman all along. It was complicated obviously.

 

Another thing she felt, was that she was tired. The events of the Sphere Forest and the Rejected World had been very draining, and she wasn't sure what to feel as a new ship entered the fray. Thankfully, it revealed itself to be friendly, and it adopted all of the CC into its decks.

 

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

 

|_)And With Strange Aeons(_|

 

The CC had obtained lodgings in the massive warship, and Lydia had taken one that was a little far away than the others. Discarding the dress she wore, her clothes had changed into the form of a loose fitting wifebeater and some skinny jeans. She barely slept a wink over the thirteen hour period, as the Dizasters wouldn't stop talking and she had no way to make them be quiet. At best she got about 2 ²/₃ hours of sleep, which were dreamless.

 

Having woken up, she walked wordlessly around the ship, dodging soldiers and other CC as she thought about what she got, when she finally got what she want.

 

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

 

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

 

|_)Infinite Tsukuyomi(_|

 

For a pair of long-suffering individuals, their dreams were rather simple really. Frankram had been granted his ultimate world of ~moe~. Animal ears... animal ears for miles as he and his fellow otakus celebrated in their Eden. Ivankov, meanwhile, was happily ruling his Kamabakka Kingdom in a world where the World Government was overthrown. The Okamas would celebrate each day with their king Ivankov, who would toast the brave men and women who died to bring peace to the world. That was, until both worlds shattered like glass.

 

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

 

|_)The Rejected World(_|

 

The pair awoke from their dreams drenched in water and mud. With a quick wave of his hand Frankram's coat and clothes became clean, as well as Ivankov's to boot. The smiled at each other, but, Protheus came to ruin the parade. He couldn't rain on it, as it was already raining.

 

In a speech already heard, Fankram stared up to Protheus' portal, and the Divine who were fleeing through it. "Do you want to follow him?" Ivankov inquired.

 

Frankram's eyes narrowed as he stared to the portal, and he shook his head. "No, that man is clearly insane. I think my place is better off here helping the Counter Corps. I never liked the Divine anyways. And... with what the Madara showed me, I finally got a taste of my perfect world. Now, I get to work for it. I have time after all..." he smiled contentedly.

 

Ivankov smiled as well as she looked around: The other CC were rising slowly, and, it seemed that another Divine was preferring to stay behind instead of following that crazed madman. The long lashed pointing like compass needles, until they settled on an unfamiliar sight. It was a petite young lady who looked not unlike... oh what a fool Ivankov had been. With all the mayhem going on, she failed to take notice of Arthuria, with her feminine looks, to be a woman desperate to come out... literally. Shaking Frankram's shoulder, he joined Ivankov's gaze, and his cheeks flushed red. "~MMMOOOOOOOEEEEE!~" he shrieked, his body flailing like a noodle at how cute Arturia was.

 

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

 

|_)And With Strange Aeons(_|

 

In the thirteen long hours they had spent on the ship, Frankram and Ivankov got to interact with the crew, and how woefully understaffed they were. Frankram was surprisingly well taken in by the CC, despite that unfortunate incident with Eria at Castle Necrophades. Frankram had also been ecstatic to see Takuto again, who was also happy to understand why he had been taken in the first place. Their reunion would have lasted longer, except Hapshiel also decided to visit.

 

Now, they had approached Arturia with their own decision. Frankram's cheeks were bright crimson as he stared into the eyes of the very ~moe~ Arturia. "Arturia, Ivankov and I have decided to stay with the ship" he declared.

 

"Indeed. The medical team on this ship is, for lack of a better word, pathetic. My skills will be of much better use aiding the crew due to the numerous injuries obtained in transit, as well as our comrades who were injured in the battle."

 

"And, I need to stay to keep an eye on Takuto. He was taken from my world by Isamy, and his absence has caused a grave imbalance in my world. And as the only member of staff on this ship, I am responsible for him. Which is why, in our place, Hapshiel has agreed on fighting for the Counter Corps. He's... well, you've seen what he's like. I'm sure it'll be safest for all of us if he's fighting on the battlefield rather than guarding the ship."

 

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

 

|_)The Evangelist Hapshiel(_|

 

|_)Infinite Tsukuyomi(_|

 

[NSFW]

 

[VERY NSFW]

 

[OH GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! THAT DOESN'T GO IN THERE!]

 

[iS... IS THAT A FISH?! AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH SQUID?!]

 

[bRAIN BLEACH MOMENT]

 

[OH GOD! THERE IS NOT ENOUGH BLEACH IN THE WORLD! MY EYES! MY EYES!]

 

And then the world broke.

 

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

 

|_)The Rejected World(_|

 

Hapshiel awoke from the most wonderful dream. Well, it wasn't much of a dream, it was last Tuesday. The falling rain soaked his hair, causing it to slick forward in a perfect bishonen style. His knees dug into the mud as he stared upwards. That horrible create was gone, and the clouds were crying for their master. Hapshiel couldn't help but tear up as well from such beautiful camaraderie. And then, his vision was taken over by a spaceship. A spaceship full of people. Hapshiel couldn't help but smile. "Love... and... peace."

 

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

 

|_)And With Strange Aeons(_|

 

Hapshiel spent much of his time being avoided by anything living on the ship. And those that were injured wished they were did, despite his smooches making their injuries feel a lot better. As of now Hapshiel was gyrating his tooshie through the hallways, his angel senses hunting down a life that was nearby.

[Dad]

Kratos

 

While aboard the And with Strange Aeons, Kratos found himself in awe.  He not only had a living relative, but one as strong, if not stronger than he.  To top it all off, a new mob of heroes was joining the fray.  Surely this ride was getting more and more interesting.  In the meantime, Kratos decided to wander a bit and clear his head.  Sneaking quietly around, he by passed Arthur, giving him a congratulatory pat on the back, slipped past the ever present Frankram and crew, and reluctantly avoided Kenpachi, who had nabbed himself a seat in the middle of the observation deck, Yachiru at his side.  He and Kenpachi didn't share a breath, as Kratos continued to stroll past him.  Finally finding a quiet place to stare out into the nothing, Kratos grasped the comfort of a cold window for but a few moments to think.  He understood that he had a lot of work to do in order to gain the trust of new comrades as well as fix the bonds between old ones, so to speak.  He understood Kenpachi's rage with him, but he would still like to have less enemies on the battlefield.  Then, in his moments of silence, a spirit emerged from the Claws of Hades at his side, and took a stand directly next to Kratos.

 

"You know, Kratos. .. in all this time I've been dead, I've been truly alive in my revelations."

 

Kratos didn't turn to face the spirit, as he was nearly haunted by her death still.

 

"Why are you here, Pandora?"

 

"I came to give you back something you seem to keep losing."

 

Kratos raised an eyebrow, finally turning to face her.  She placed a single hand on Kratos' chest, before disappearing again.  Kratos smiled, understanding completely.  In order to press on as he kept reminding himself, he would need more than just strength.  More than just "letting go of the past".  He would need a bit of hope.

 

"Hey.  Big guy.  Know where I can get a drink around here?  Place is drier than your skin," called a female, but dominant voice.

 

Revy

 

She turned the corner to see a tall, bald warrior in ash white skin staring out into the depths of space.  A blue flame disappeared at his feet, and Revy began to question her surroundings much more. She figured she'd may as well ask around for a cold one.  "Hey.  Big guy.  Know where I can get a drink around here?  Place is drier than your skin," she called on the opposite end of the hall.  He didn't respond immediately, so Revy felt disrespected.  "Hey!  Hard ass!  I'm talkin' to you!"

 

Kratos finally raised his head, a dark expression on his face.

 

"You wanna go, jabroni!?" she taunted.

 

Kratos just shook his head.  "If you're looking to drown that mouth of yours, ask elsewhere.  I've no time for whores."  Well that wasn't the way to get started.

 

"What'd you say!?" She darted at him, guns drawn.  She was fast, surprisingly so.  With the steel to his head, Revy leaned in closer to his face, her eyes looking up at the bridge of his nose.  "Now gimme one reason--one good fuckin' reason I shouldn't blow your brains out all over this wall?" she said harshly.

 

Kratos didn't respond quickly, looking down his nose at the crazed woman.  "Because you have too much to live for," he said as his tattoo glowed.  Revy stared still, before cracking a smile.  "I like you.  Ya got balls," she said looking Kratos up and down, before looking at his kilt.  "Somewhere down there."  Kratos face remained rather expressionless.  Holstering her guns, Revy began to walk past Kratos, before Kratos grabbed her arm.  She turned back quickly, one gun drawn.  "I can still use this ya know."  "I apologize for my actions," he said quickly.  "I did not mean disrespect.  I am a bit distraught after a weary battle."  "That's no excuse to be a dickwad," Revy replied.

 

"I suppose not.  Until we meet again," he said letting her go.

 

"Tch.  Yeah." she said under her breath, waving him off as she turned the nearest corner now.

 

Kratos' expression changed immediately as Revy vanished from sight, and he chuckled.  "She reminds me a lot of you, Lysandra."

 

Kenpachi

 

The bald man strolled past them, obnoxiously so.  And just moments later he was having a rather loud conversation with another annoying voice.  "Damn fools," he said to himself.  Yachiru looked back and forth between Kenpachi and the end of the observation deck where Kratos had walked to.  "Kenny.  He had good intentions, don't you think--" "No, Yachiru.  I know there's a lot we can do, but we shouldn't be here.  We should be--" "Dead?"

 

They both went silent.  Kenpachi let out a heavy sigh, his fist to the floor.  Finally getting to his feet, Kenpachi nudged at Yachiru.  "C'mon.  Let's go find a familiar face and see if we can't get caught up in the action.  I could use a good fight right about now."  Yachiru smiled at last, glad to see Kenpachi back to himself for the most part.  They walked back to the ship's interior, hoping to spot Byakuya, Sora, or Emiya.

[Kingdom Xathers]

[Moments before, within the "Perfect World"....]
 
"D'ohh~ where could he be...?" Ratchet huffed under his breath agitatedly, tamping his foot impatiently as he glanced at his pocketwatch.  He had been waiting in the park for over half an hour now, and he had a, err... "meeting" with Talwyn to get to soon.  Ratchet was inwardly asking himself why this couldn't wait until later.
 
"Patience, Ratchet, he'll be here soon," Clank assured him calmly. 
 
"That's right," Ratchet's father, Kaden, added.  "He said he was just making a brief run over--Oh! Here he is now!" Kaden chimed happily as he caught sight of Alister Azimuth approaching them from the distance.  "Al! Over here!" Kaden waved over to Alister.
 
"Sorry I'm late," Alister apologized as he reached the two, disengaging his hoverboots before walking the rest of the few feet towards the two.  "I would've gotten here sooner, but I'm afraid Alexander said he couldn't join us today.  He, uh, gives his apologies."
 
"That's odd," Kaden uttered slowly, "I would've thought Alex to be the more sociable--"
 
"I'm sorry, but," Ratchet interrupted, a slightly confused look on his face, "... who's Alex?"
 
"... ... ..." "... ... ..."
 
"... heh, uh, Ratchet, don't be silly," Alister stammered, somewhat taken aback by Ratchet's comment.  "Y-You know who Alexander is by now.  Surely you can't have forgotten--"
 
Ratchet merely shrugged.  "Sorry.  Don't remember.  What about you, pal?" he asked Clank.
 
"I do vaguely recall an "Alexander"," Clank replied analytically, "but I don't seem to recall knowing this "Alexander" that the General is speaking of."
 
"Well, that's funny, Clank," Kaden spoke up, "because we were only just with him a few moments ago."
 
"Really?"
 
"... actually, Kaden," Alister cut in, rubbing at his temple, "it has been a long time since Ratchet's seen Alex.  He probably--"
 
"You didn't hear a word I said, did you?" Kaden said, put-off yet concerned.
 
"What?"
 
"Alister," Kaden said in a firmer tone, "Alexander was with us just a few moments ago; Ratchet could not have forgotten who Alex is in such a short amount of time."
 
"Dad, what are you even talking about?" Ratchet asked, even more confused than before.
 
"Yes, Kaden, what's going on?" Alister demanded.  "I mean, Alexander's still tired and recovering from the battle. Of course he'd want some time to himself--"
 
"Alister--" Kaden heaved a sad, somewhat exasperated sigh.  "... you don't realize it, do you?"  Taking a moment to quickly glance over the confused faces of the other two lombaxes, Kaden continued, "... you say the fight is over, right?  That you guys managed to reach the Doorway to Origin before the Divine?"
 
"Well, yes, of course!" Alister replied.  "I've told you the story numerous times--"
 
"Please, just left me finish."  Kaden shot Alister a pleading look, stopping the General in his verbal tracks almost instantly.  "You had reached the Door, right?  Then tell me this: Did you, or did you not, make a wish to bring back the lombaxes?"
 
Alister's brow scrunched in confusion, his temple slightly hurting.  "I... ... I don't--"  But, of course he couldn't have.  Alister made the resolve not to mess with the universe, right? But--
 
---but... how was Kaden standing before them if he had not made that wish?  If he had promised not to undo the past?  It couldn't have been Ratchet who made such a wish; he knew more than the General himself the consequences of altering the universe.  And yet, once again, Kaden was right there, standing before them all.
 
"... maybe... maybe it was Alexander?" Alister reasoned.  "Maybe he decided to wish the lombaxes back in our place--"
 
Kaden shook his head solemnly.  "That wasn't the goal of the Counter Corps, remember?  You guys weren't supposed to alter the Multiverse, only restore it to what it was before.  Alexander was aware of that, as were the others.  He wouldn't risk doing that--"
 
"--but that makes no sense!" Alister blurted out.  "How can you be here, if the Multiverse wasn't altered in some way--?"  Suddenly, an idea came to his head.  Well, maybe not "came to" so much as "was forced into", but, it didn't matter.  It was a suitable explanation.  "I get it now!  Professor Kokonoe must have crafted you a new body!"
 
"... ... ... we're gonna be here for a while," Kaden sighed out, almost considering just letting Ratchet run off for his "meeting"....
 
 
[Meanwhile, at Alexander's Penthouse Residence....]
 
 
High atop the tallest building in the city, Alexander stood at the edge of the outdoor terrace, gazing out over the wide expanse of the brightly lit world, the furthest horizon melding with the clear skies above.  Such a wondrous scene.  And it was safe.  It, and all of its inhabitants were safe and happy....
 
... and yet, in spite of the soft smile on his face, Alexander felt... empty, still.  Lost, even.  True, the feeling comes and goes almost instantly, but it was such a persistent feeling.  Maybe he should have gone with Alister to meet with Ratchet and Kaden, after all.  Perhaps, at least, this hollow feeling wouldn't plague him, torment him so....
 
"... now, why do you think you feel this way?"
 
At first, Alexander thought he was just hearing things; how could a voice appear to reply to a (supposedly) non-verbal narrative?  But as he pondered this peculiarity--
 
"Oh, come now.  I don't have time for this.  Stop wasting time and look this way, Alexander."
 
The air in Alexander's lungs became trapped, almost as if it was being held hostage by his own body as he himself was held captive by whomever the voice belonged to.  Dread seized him, desperately keeping him from turning to face his--
 
"You know what, to hell with this.  Direct approach it is."  Without further warning, Alexander was violently yanked by the back of his shirt collar and sent sailing a few feet before slamming backwards into the nearby wall.  Dazed, Alex could barely see through his blurred vision, but could still make out the general form of his approaching assailant; pleated khakis, a green turtleneck sweater, a long, black jacket, dark-platinum-colored hair, and, as the vertigo finished clearing itself, black eyes with red irises.  "Hello again, Alexander...."
 
"S... Sayer...?!" Alexander sputtered out, aghast that Sayer had so easily breached his personal space.  The lombax's attempt to pick himself back up was interrupted by yet another grab from Sayer, another throw, and a flight, this time, through a glass wall before landing less-than-safely onto a couch, which tipped over from the force.
 
"Sorry for the intrusion, Alex," Sayer spoke as he strode over toward the struggling lombax slowly, his sinister smile even more crooked than usual.  "I just wanted to stop by and say "hi"."
 
"But... But I though...," Alexander breathed out as he struggled to right himself upward.
 
"You thought you had seen the last of me, hadn't you?" Sayer replied tauntingly.  "Oh, but assure you this, Alexander," he added, leaning downward and placing a hand on Alexander's cheek, almost caressing it gently, "it is far from over."  From the cheek, Sayer's hand swiftly flew toward Alexander's throat, clamping down tightly around it before lifting the lombax by his neck, attempting to strangle the life out of him--
 
--and then, just as suddenly as he appeared, Sayer vanished without a trace.  Literally left hanging, Alexander tumbled hard onto the floor.  In his daze, Alexander didn't notice as the damage to his apartment was almost immediately done away with.  As if nothing ever happened.  As his own cuts and bruises began to vanish, Alexander heaved a sigh of reli--
 
"Oh, I know that Madara fu***r did NOT just try and kick me out."  Alexander nearly jumped out of his skin as he realized Sayer was once more standing above him.  "What?  Did I play too rough with Alex?  Is that it?" he inquired, supposedly, toward the sky.
 
This time, Alexander managed to get up from the floor.  "Just... what are you doing here?!" Alexander demanded.
 
"Oh, I just wanted to have a little chat with you, Alexander.  That's all," Sayer answered in a calm, almost sweet tone.  A sweet tone which nonetheless hid a venomous intent.
 
Alexander knew better, though.  "You never just "want to talk", Sayer," Alexander uttered as he cautiously backed away.
 
"Well, at least you haven't forgotten that," Sayer replied with a small smirk.  He took a seat on the sofa--the same one that had been tipped over previously before being corrected--before continuing, "Now, I'd like to ask you a few questions, and I trust that you'll give me a straight answer."
 
"... ... ..."
 
Taking Alexander's silence as an invitation to continue, Sayer proceeded.  "Out of curiosity, I'd like to know what your goal has been throughout the battle.  What are your goals and ambitions? Your life's dream, if you will."
 
"... my dream...?" Alexander repeated slowly.  He was disturbed yet curious as to why Sayer would ever wish to know anything about him.  Should he really tell him...? ("The answer is "yes", of course," Sayer replied to the narrative.)  "... my dream... my dream is to help others.  To make a difference in their lives."
 
"How noble...," Sayer responded in a ho-hum kind of tone.  Outside, the skies around the penthouse began to darken ever so slightly.  "... and what are your views on friendship, hmm?"
 
"... what are you getting at?" Alexander asked, his suspicions growing stronger by the minute.
 
"Would you like me to present an example?" Sayer responded with his own question, ignorant of the clouds that began to form just outside the penthouse.  "For instance: you enjoy being in Ratchet's and Alister's company, right?  Or anyone else's, for that matter?  You enjoy forming connections with them, creating such fond memories of your adventures with one another... ... and yet, when everything is done, you would just as easily have them forget all about you, everything related to you.  Now, why don't you tell me--?"
 
"I only do that to protect them!" Alexander snapped back, his blood beginning to boil.  "If they remembered anything about me, their lives wouldn't be the same!  I have them forget only so that they can continue their lives as normal--!"
 
"Or perhaps," Sayer interjected, a sneering grin crossing his face, "you remove yourself from their hearts and minds because, deep down, you feel that you have no right to be a part of their lives.  That you aren't even worthy of being thought of as a figment of their imagination!"
 
"That's not--!!"
 
"The truth, Alexander," Sayer continued unabated as the storm outside quickly reached a fever pitch, firing bolts of lightning across the sky, "is that you are simply a hollow, feeble shell of a living being!  There are no true ambitions that you possess; you only do what you do to fill whatever void is in your heart.  A void that you yourself created!"
 
"Stop it--!!" Alexander pleaded, his emotions beginning to claw their way out to the surface. Before he could continue, however, a bolt of lightning struck the patio outside with such force that the glass walls of the penthouse shattered from the shock, also sending Alexander stumbling to the ground.  What's more, the lightning strike had now caused the wood floor of the deck to catch fire, and the blaze was spreading fast.
 
"You are no better than the Madara, Alexander!" Sayer went on, the flashes of light dancing across the surface of his eyes, the corners of his spiteful smile almost reaching to his ears.  "The Madara has no true ambitions or ideals of its own!  All it could do was to grant this supposed "eternal happiness" to you all, just so it could feel that it had accomplished something!  To feel that it truly exists!  But, nay!  The Madara is still NOTHING!"  By now, the blaze had surrounded them both.  With a triumphant gleam in his eyes which was merely intensified by the glare of the blaze, Sayer strode his way over to the prone lombax on the floor, gazing down at the sobbing emotional wreck before him.  Kneeling down to Alex's level, his face drawing dangerously close to the other's ear, Sayer uttered in a low, calm, chilling voice.  "He is nothing.
 
Just...
 
... like...
 
... ... you."
 
 
 
"... ... get out...."
 
 
 
 
GET OUT!!!!!
 
 
 
 
[back at the Park....]
 
The other lombaxes jumped is shock as they witnessed the top of the far-off apartment building suddenly erupt in a burst of ice, the crystalline formation jutting off all sides of the penthouse and causing massive damage to the twenty-or-so floors directly below it.
 
"Oh my god!" Alister gasped out, eyes wide with fright and realization.  "That was--!"
 
"Alex!!" Ratchet cried out, fearful of the man who, seconds before, he had no recollection of.  Realizing what he said, the young lombax brought a hand up to his mouth.  "... I... I do remember him.  But... how did I ever...?"
 
"What is happening--" Alister began, but suddenly cut himself short as he, too, came to a conclusion, just as orange glowing cracks began to form in the sky above.  "... none of this is real, is it?"  He turned to face Kaden, his saddened gaze meeting with the other's.  "And you... you tried to warn me... and I didn't listen... again, I didn't listen to you... even if you're not real...."
 
Kaden gave a sad smile.  "My case, it's... it's hard for me to say right now."  Kaden took a moment to look up toward the breaking sky.  "... Alister, you have to help Alexander as soon as you're free from this illusion.  I fear that man has done something terrible to him."
 
"Sayer...?!" Alister uttered, his blood boiling at the mere mention of that man.
 
Kaden nodded slowly before turning to face Ratchet.  "I have to go now, kiddo," he said calmly, a tear running down his face as he knelt down to his son's level.
 
Ratchet, too, let a tear fall.  "You know... even though this wasn't real... I'm glad I got to spend some time with you, dad..."
 
"I know.  Me, too," Kaden replied, drawing Ratchet, Clank, and Alister in for a group hug.  "Don't worry," he said as he began to slowly fade away. "I will always be with you guys.  Always...."
 
By the time Kaden had completely disappeared, the sky above finally shattered completely....
 
 
 
[The Rejected World]
 
... it was as if waking from a deep sleep.  Alister's eyes took a while to get adjusted to seeing clearing again, but as soon as that was done, he took a moment to glance around the area, seeing all of the others coming out of the effects of the Infinite Tsukuyomi.  It was raining, for some reason.  Almost as if the whole Rejected World was in mourning of its fallen master.
 
No time to be concerned with that, though.  As soon as he caught sight of his next objective, Alister jetted off on his hoverboots, furiously rocketing himself toward where Sayer stood, contently staring down at the now-catatonic Alexander lying on the ground.  "ALEX!!" Alister cried out, skidding along the wet ground before coming to a halt as he tripped and fell by Alexander's side.  Scrambling, he cradled Alex in his arms, taking note of the wide, blank, vacant stare in the other lombax's eyes.  "WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!" Alister furiously roared out at Sayer.
 
"... me?  I merely had a little chat with him," Sayer answered simply, a small smile playing across his face.  The same face which, immediately afterward, had a wrench head shoved threateningly into it.  "Oh, please, General," Sayer chuckled as he brushed the Z-Wrench aside, "I fear you're in no position to make such threats.  The Madara is now gone, yes. Defeated by that bastard child of Apollo. And yet you and the rest of the Counter Corps have still lost; we now have the Key."  To illustrate his point, Sayer motioned an arm toward Protheus Maximus, who now held the Key in his hands.
 
"I didn't ASK who had the DAMNED KEY!" Alister shouted angrily.  "I asked you WHAT THE F U C K YOU DID TO ALEX!!"
 
At this, Sayer gave yet another taunting smile.  "I told him the hard facts.  He didn't like it.  That is all... what?!"  Sayer's attention was suddenly redirected to his D-Pad, as two of his cards suddenly vanished before his eyes: Harpie Carla and Wulf, Lightsworn Beast.  "Well, this is a queer development.  Just what is going... ... you know what? Nevermind.  I've no further need for those two, anyway." 
 
With that said, Sayer was then absorbed into one of his R.O.D.s, which then began to hover away toward Protheus, but not before stopping to speak one last time to Alister: "Oh, and have fun trying to get Alexander out of that stupor.  I'm sure that will be quite the experience."
 
"BASTARD!!!" Alister howled out, having no other choice but to let Sayer fly away.
 
"Alister?"  The General's attention was then directed toward Red, who was staring down at the two lombaxes, his eyes filled with guilt and regret.  Before Alister could ask him, the dragon turned his head away--perhaps out of guilt--to look toward Protheus and the other Divine members making their way towards him.
 
"... are you leaving, too...?" Alister calmly asked, his voice barely heard over the downpour.  He desperately wished in his heart that Red would reconsider, that the dragon would instead join the Corps... but even he knew that wish would not be fulfilled.
 
It was difficult to tell if the water falling from Red's eyes was the rain or his own tears.  "... I'm sorry."  Having uttered his apology, Red took to the sky, flying away from Alister.
 
"... so am I."  Feeling the tears fall from his eyes, Alister shook off his depression.  He still had to get Alexander to safety. 

 

Despite not giving any sort of response as Alister hoverbooted his way back toward the other Counter Corps, Alex was still alive.  He also felt cold to the touch.  Very cold, in fact.  Like holding a soft block of ice.  And he was getting colder by the second.  And... heavier?  By the time Alister looked down at Alexander again, the other lombax was encased in a layer of ice, which was now quickly spreading up Alister's arms.

 

"Alister!" Ratchet called out as the General struggled to reach the Aeon, shocked to see that Alister and Alexander were slowly being trapped in ice.  "Alister, what's going on?!"

 

"$#!+," Umbris, recently restored to his Umbra Panther form, gasped out.  "Don't tell me Alex withdrew himself!"

 

" "Withdrew"?!"

 

"When he's under a lot of emotional stress," Umbris explained urgently, "Alex tends to withdraw himself into his Soul Room.  When he does, his body tends to go into a "semi-autopilot" mode, where he can control his body from within his Soul Room.  During that time, he gains a control over ice."  Umbris took another glance at Alexander, the lombax's blank expression visible through the ice.  "But this time, he's withdrawn himself completely, if all of this ice is any indication."

 

"It was Sayer that did it, I bet!" Alister cut in, struggling to break out of the ice, but to no avail.

 

"Yeah, I wouldn't put it past that fu***r to do this," Umbris replied, his brow furrowing at the mere thought.  "Seems he finally managed to do a real number this time.  If we don't get Alex out of the ice and out of his trauma soon...."

 

As Umbris went on, Alister could not help but be more concerned about Alexander.  He couldn't even begin to imagine what Alex was going through.  He must be so lost....

 

For some reason, the image of a ballroom flashed through Alister's mind, followed by a burning house--a home, rather--and a hospital of some sort.  Alister knew none of those places, and yet they seemed familiar, somehow....  He knew they weren't his memories, but couldn't tell if they were memories.  Wait--

 

"... I think I can see what's going through his mind!" Alister blurted out, bringing Ratchet and Umbris' attention back toward him.

 

"You can... what...?" Umbris stammered, trying to understand what Alister meant.  "... wait, of course!  You've been inside Alex's mind and body before!  Then, maybe--"

 

"--you want me to somehow get inside his mind, right?" Alister asked just as the ice fully encased his legs.  "Try and pull him out of his depression?"

 

"Yes and yes!" Umbris replied.  "But I'll be coming with you; we need to find the issue that's causing this and resolve it as quickly as possible, and I pretty much know my way around Alex's Soul Room.  In the meantime--"

 

"--we're gonna have to get you "Bax-sicles" inside and try to break off the ice you're in," Kokonoe spoke up as she and Iron Tager approached.  "Hypothermia's a real b****, after all, not to mention that you won't be able to breathe while trapped in there."

 

"Right," Alister nodded, which was difficult to do as the ice was now up to his neck.  "Alright, Umbris, do your thing."  With that, the Umbra Panther slipped into his shadow form, slipping through the ice and into Alex's trapped body.

 

"Al...," Ratchet uttered as Tager picked up the ice prison to take onto the Aeon.  "... please, be careful."

 

"Don't worry, Ratchet.  I'll get Alex back safely," Alister reassured the young lombax with a small smile, even as the ice began to close around his head.  "After all... he made you a promise, right...?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(((OH! By the way, Ratchet, Alister and Nefarious managed to defeat Tachyon before the Infinite Tsukuyomi was activated.  Tachyon was ultimately knocked into the void of the Rejected World, but Nefarious had receive major damage beforehand, as well.)))

[Dad]

Revy

 

Finally losing her cool from a dry mouth, Revy stormed back into the innards of the And with Strange Aeons, irritated beyond belief.  She raised one of her two best friends to get some attention, cocking the hammer to make sure everyone could see her.  "Hey!" she yelled to silence any chatter.  "I'm in the middle of fucking nowhere, I'm separated from my crew, and Rock is probably panicking and screwing up my missions.  If I don't get something lined with alcohol in about ten seconds, a lot of people are gonna be screaming.  And I don't mean a God damn mojito either.  Somebody make me a stiff one!" she said angrily.

 

Kenpachi

 

Also returning from the observation deck, Kenpachi came into the storm of Revy.  Already annoyed, he brushed past her as she finished her speech.  "Watch it jackass!  Or I'll start with you!"  Kenpachi had already had his blade at Revy's throat by the time she finished her statement.  "I'd watch it lady.  The last thing you wanna do is piss me off.  Not right now."

 

"And you shouldn't be threatening a lady," said Kratos, joining the rest of the crew.  Now it was a real mess.  Kenpachi turned his blade from Revy to Kratos.  

 

"Don't talk, guy.  I'm still pretty annoyed with you, and I won't hesitate to--"

 

"Both of you shut the hell up!" Revy said drawing her second gun, pointing it at the two of them.  But everyone knows, you don't threaten Kenpachi.  Not in front of Yachiru.  The room glowed bright in a pink light as Yachiru hopped down from Kenpachi's shoulder, taking one slow step after another towards Revy.

 

"Put that away, crazy lady."

 

"What'd you say, brat?"

 

"I said, put it away.  Crazy lady."

 

Revy cocked the second hammer.  "Call me crazy, one 'mo time."  At last, someone stepped in to stop the fight.  Before Yachiru could draw her Zanpaktou, Killua had already silently entered into Lightning Mode, and placed a hand gently on Yachiru's wrist.  He stared her in the eyes, and nodded slowly.  Yachciru's temper died, and she returned to her chipper self.  Revy let her guns down, holstering them quickly.  She began to understand how strong these people were.  "Tch.  Shit.  I just wanted a drink.  You guys are fucking weird."

 

Kenpachi let down his Zanpaktou as well, and Killua finally spoke.  "I don't think this is the proper way to do things.  Not among allies."  His hair and stance returned to normal.  Kenpachi and Kratos noticed however, that Killua's hands were the last thing to return to normal.  They both made eye contact after seeing Killua's knife like hands suddenly become normal again, nodding reluctantly to each other.  "My name is Killua.  It's a pleasure to meet you all," he said jokingly.  "Now was this all necessary over a drink, Ms. . .?"

 

"Whoa kid," Revy said with a sigh.  "Don't call me miss.  I ain't that old.  Christ's sake, I'm 28.  Call me Revy."  Behind Killua, Yachiru had become enchanted with the lightning fast Killua, tugging at his shirt to get his attention.  Hm?  Oh sorry.  Yeah, I'm Killua.  Nice to meet you little girl."  Yachiru frowned.  

 

"I'm much older than she is," she said in a serious voice.  "You can call me Ms. Yachiru."

 

"Eh?  But you look so young."

 

"I'm a Soul Reaper!" she said proudly.

 

"Soul Reaper!?" Killua said, taken aback.

 

"Yup!  I'm 180 years young!"

 

"Well.  It's uh, a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Yachiru."

 

Yachiru smiled, blushing at Killua's introduction.  She quickly ran back to Kenpachi, who next got Killua's attention.  "You're fast.  Always the little ones who are fast," Kenpachi said with folded arms.  Killua of course, took that as a compliment.  Offering a hand shake, Killua had to crane his neck to see Kenpachi's chin.  "Killua," he proclaimed.  Kenpachi got to Killua's level and gave him a firm handshake.  Almost whispering, he gave Killua a dark smile as he said, "You break her heart, I'll break your soul," he said using his free hand to pat Yachiru's head.  "And you can call me Kenpachi," he said standing up straight now.  Killua scratched his head, until he realized Kenpachi was implying that Killua would be seeing Yachiru formally.

 

"Eh!?"

 

Meanwhile, he sent Yachiru off for a bit.  "Don't cause any trouble.  I'll be back."  Kenpachi returned to the observation deck, Kratos in tow.  

 

Kratos

 

"You saw it too then?"

 

"Yeah, kid is strong," Kenpachi said with a sigh, as he leaned over a nearby railing.  "Look--"

 

"You don't have to explain.  My reason for doing what I did was selfish.  And it only disturbed your rest."

 

"Thank you."

 

"Hmm?"

 

"I have a chance to make good on my promise now.  And, thanks to Yachiru, I can see you meant well.  So thank you."

 

Kratos followed suit, leaning over the same railing.  Reaching out a hand, he declared, "Kratos.  Former god of war."  Kenpachi received it.  "Kenpachi Zaraki.  Current death god."  

 

"Death god?"

 

"Soul Reaper.  It's a title.  In my universe, we shepherd souls between the land of the living and the Soul Society."

 

"If you're a god, does that mean I have to kill you?" Kratos joked.

 

Kenpachi tightened his grip and brought Kratos in, as they met forearm to forearm.  "If you're askin' for a fight somewhere down the road, then you're God damn right."

 

. . . sometime ago. . . 

 

". . . . if you see my allies again. . . tell them. . I'm sorry. . ."

 

Kratos

 

That's when he recognized Kenpachi.  From the photograph.  "Oh no. . .you're. . ."  

 

"Hmm?"  Kenpachi went from elation to concern.  "I'm what?  Spit it out."

 

"You're his comrade.  The warrior of rose petals. . ."

 

Kenpachi's curiosity exploded.  "You mean sakura petals!  Did you meet Byakuya!?  He's my second in command!  Where is he!?  Do you know!?  Is he ali--"

 

"He's dead." Kratos declared with a pained look on his face.  "We. . .his heart. . .his petals were grey and black.  It was like I was fighting a dead man."

 

"What?" Kenpachi struggled to maintain his cool.  "You fought him?"

 

"He was not himself.  He had entrusted a picture to me but--"

 

"What did you do!?" Kenpachi yelled

 

"I killed him!" Kratos yelled back.  "I ended his misery."

 

Kenpachi calmed down.  By the look in Kratos' face he was telling the truth.  "Something got to him, huh?"

 

"Someone."

 

"Then I guess I have one more promise to keep."  Kenpachi formed the words on his lips that Kratos was all too familiar with.

 

"Vengeance will be mine." They said in unison.

[Gαr]

Ed
 
Ed's perfect world was simple for a swordsman like himself. He started back on Lath and defeated his long time rival Adrian in a long awaited and long fated rematch. Ed then traveled from world to world, becoming stronger along the way and earning a myriad of rivals. He even bested Sephiroth and gained him as a rival. He stood above all others, but was humble and respected. Ed was the culmination of what walking the path of the sword garnered.
 
Ed was pulled from his perfect world back to he reality of the Rejected World. A new ship appeared in rainy and it's crew introduced themselves as allies. The gloomy atmosphere felt homely to Ed for some reason. He stood there, taking it all in, the dreary aftermath of the Rejected World populated by his allies. "You know, I'm not too far from my perfect world after all."
 
Aboard the new ship, And with Strange Aeons, Ed began wandering around looking for the new recruits or maybe one of his friends.
 
Elsa
 
Elsa sat quietly in her room, hands folded across her lap, slowly breathing. She had no idea why she was here. Well, she did, but she did not know what possessed her to agree to come. They told her there would be others like her, but she was still hesitant. She finally worked up enough courage to stand up and face the door. "You will do this. You can do this." With one final breath, she opened the door and walked out. She was greeted with an empty, metal hallway. Looking around, she closed the door and began to walk down the hallway. She didn't meet anyone until she turned a corner and then she saw him. And he saw her.

~Dream Weaver~

 

He was clad in black and grey, she was dressed in an icy gown. His hair was silver and short, her's was platinum and braided. He wore two swords at his side and she only had her powers. From his perspective, his view of her was speckled with sparkles and snowflakes while her view was normal, but the effect was still the same, they became infatuated with each other. Elsa was the first the regain her senses. She began to quickly walk away, and Ed went after her. He reached out for her arm and asked for her to wait. She only saw a hand reach out for her and became frighted. She slapped Ed's hand away, creating wisps of snow that followed in it's wake.

 

Elsa's face filled with horror, but Ed's filled with wonder. "I'm so, so sorry, mister. I truly am, really." She slowly tried backing away, putting her hands up defensively.

 

"No, no, it's quite alright. There's nothing to be scared of. We're not so different, after all." Ed raised his hand and formed a ball of ice in the palm of his hand. It's was Elsa's face's turn to fill with wonder. "How did you do that?"

 

"Like I said, we're not so different. We both can control and manipulate ice. The difference is the way we are able to do so." Ed held out his hand and Elsa gingerly picked up the ice ball. She rolled it around in her hands and followed it with her eyes and so did Ed. They both looked up and their eyes met. They both looked away with Elsa becoming flushed, but Ed just smiled. This could turn into something, they both thought.

 

Gon

 

Gon was exploring And with Strange Aeons just like he and Killua did during their Hunter Exam. The first place he explore was the cockpit, which was Killua's favorite place to explore, but as promptly kicked out. Gon just laughed and turned to say something. He stopped himself when he realized Killua wasn't with him. He knew he was on the ship, he could smell him, but he hadn't found him yet. Gon got on all fours and began sniffing the ground, his fishing rod sticking out of his backpack and almost touching the ground. This must have been a strange sight for some people, a kid crawling around and sniffing the floor. Gon didn't care or probably didn't even notice the people's stares.

 

Gon eventually found the source of Killua's scent, but there were others with him. Two reeked of death, and the other smelled of alcohol, but Killua was there. He got up off the floor and continued sniffing the air. Gon found Killua when he saw two large men that were the source of the death smell leave towards the observation. Gon ran full speed ahead towards his best friend, shouting, "Kiiillluuuuaaaa!!!!"