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

[Dad]

At first, it appeared the Avatar was at it's limit.  The Divine had practically pinned its every movement, unleashing furious attack combinations and driving the creature back with sheer force.  But it didn't last long.  They had all been dispersed by the sudden and rapid changes occurring with the Avatar.  It's normally simple, bounded state had begun to transform, now yielding a shell of it's former self.  It was thin, maleficent, and disturbing.  Sprouting a single wing much like that of a mosquito's, while the rest of its body morphed into a misshaped blob of rage.

 

"What's happening to it?" Killua piped up.

 

The Avatar could be heard groaning about "form" from somewhere in the distance.

 

"I'm not sure, but I don't like it.  We should move," Revy added.

 

It's cries grew louder, and more agonizing.

 

"Wait.  They're still fighting.  They will strike the beast down soon," Kratos said.

 

Louder, louder the Avatar bellowed, causing Yachiru to duck down behind Kenpachi.

 

"No.  No, this is bad!  Everyone get back!" Kenpachi urged.  The Avatar began to glow brightly, prompting Kenpachi to quickly put up a potentially fatal Hadou spell in an attempt to prevent the death of his comrades.  It would consume a large amount of his energy, but it had to be done.  Kratos, Revy, Killua, and Yachiru scrambled to hide behind Kenpachi, as he spread his palms and thrust them forwards.

 

"Danku!" he roared.  Four dark black walls began to erupt from Kenpachi's palms, building themselves outwards as he concentrated.  Behind him, Kratos pulled the others in, spreading his wings to cover them as they kneeled behind Kenpachi.  And now silently, his Spartan brothers arose from the dead, spears and shields in hand, as they began to cover the three vulnerable positions that Kenpachi could not.  Raising their shields and tightening their grouping, the undead soldiers braced for impact, as Kenpachi pushed forwards with all of his strength.  And then, everything went white.

 

---

 

He struggled to withstand the force of the explosion, as it shoved him backwards.  The now deafening silence distracted him for a brief moment, drawing Kenpachi's attention to a now cracking Danku Wall.  He refocused his efforts, managing to hold on just a bit longer, until the resulting massive shockwave subsided, and at its end, shattered the Danku Wall.  

 

Kenpachi took the shards of the blast face first, turning his head as the Danku Wall's shards became embedded into his skin.  He rolled his shoulder, as blood spilled down his chest.  Wiping his brow, Kenpachi looked backwards to see that Kratos and the others had survived.  Good.  But the rest of the area was desolated, the ground separated and destroyed, leaving them on their own little island.  In the distance, he could see the Avatar was still standing, which is what concerned Kenpachi more than anything else.  He frowned, as he felt the others stand up behind him.  

 

"What the hell just happened?" Revy asked first.

 

Kenpachi shook his head.  "I don't know, but we won't survive that again," he confirmed.

 

Revy breathed a heavy sigh.  "How the hell do we combat something like--wait, is that Reimu?" she asked, seeing a struggling little feminine figure limping her way.  

 

“Revy, you there somewhere?”

 

She could barely make out what Reimu was saying.  "Reimu!?" she called back.

 

“Come on guys, you’re all not dead just from that kind of explosion...right?"

 

Revy smiled.  She hadn't been so happy to see a super powered weirdo since she met Kratos.  Kratos took this opportunity to leap over to Reimu, his abrupt landing directly in front of her causing her to lose her balance, and tumble forwards.  And with another great leap and a flap of his wings, Kratos carried Reimu back over to Revy and the others.

 

Revy had forgotten how small Reimu was, but she embraced the girl as Kratos put her down.  "Glad you're okay, shrimp," Revy teased, as Killua looked on with envy.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Glad you're okay, shrimp,"

 

"I'm not even that short, I'm still growing, you know?"

 

That was kind of a lie, but to tell the truth, in Gensokyo everything is possible. It's not like Reimu looked anywhere close to 18 yet anyway. She returned Revy's embrace on her with relief, giving her the tightest hug Reimu could manage while also inviting Killua to come closer. After a while, she let go of them, and turned around towards the rough, sculpted demigod that lifted her there, and gave him a smile of gratitude. Kratos, was it? She was getting bad at remembering names. And then, the thought of her supposed goal flashed over her mind, which prompted Reimu to talk.

 

"I'm glad to see you all safe...but we're not done yet. I know we're still pretty darn tired after that explosion earlier and the previous battle..." Reimu paused for a bit, grasping air as she felt a pain on her lungs. She used the Orb again to heal the probable internal bleeding she missed, however she was sure that something else was happening here.

 

"Ah...sorry, I'm just still a bit shocked from the earlier blast. But that aside...that trio from the Divine...uh...you should know them, right? I mean, Rhadamantys, Dorian, and Butlerok, yeah them. They offered us to try coordinate a joint attack so we can clear this in one shot, hopefully. Well actually, they're asking me to get Kenpachi and his sword, though I figured that the rest of you would also like to help wherever you could.

 

Can't say I'm sure this will work out, but at this point, what else would we do? It's been going on for far too long, and we won't be able to continue for much further. Just piling up all of our strongest attacks on it won't do. At best it'd just be removed from existence by Desperate Space. We need to actually have an idea on what we're doing.

 

And the only way to do that is to think about this together.

 

Kinda bugs me to work with them, if I'm being honest. But hey, we all want the damn thing dead, and they're...i don't know, they're not really someone really bad I guess? Just pretty self absorbed but hey, that's kinda happen with everyone.

 

They're over there if you all decided to go with this plan." Reimu pointed her finger towards a distance, the one where she came from. The floating rocks would've shifted a bit since earlier, but it wouldn't be unreasonable to say that the three would still be near there somewhere.

 

"I'm not really in a position to help much, but I'll try supporting you all as much as I can. Is there anyone else you think I can get to help us finishing the Avatar off?"

 

Her sentence was said by her to say that she was really drained and in a bad physical condition to help them directly, but she ended up sounding like she was unsure whether she would even be much of help. Reimu realized this, but decided to keep quiet.

 

---

[Dad]

Killua sighed softly with joy, finding his hug with Reimu to be the one bit of enjoyment he had found since his time fighting against the Divine.  Yachiru, however, was not pleased.  She stomped on Killua's foot out of jealousy, causing him to yelp slightly, and take his attention away from Reimu.  He begrudgingly released Reimu, as she spoke about the Divine's plan to be rid of the Avatar.  And it just so happened to include Kenpachi.  Killua turned around slowly to see Kenpachi's hair standing on edge.  Probably thinking about working with his enemies for some sort of mutual gain.

 

"Well actually, they're asking me to get Kenpachi and his sword, though I figured that the rest of you would also like to help wherever you could."

 

Kenpachi winced at the thought.  Meanwhile, Kratos folded his arms and Killua raised an eyebrow.  "They only wanted Kenpachi huh?" Killua said, feeling as though he was unwanted.  He turned around pouting, staring into the back of Kenpachi's head.  "Well since they don't need us," he angrily joked.

 

Kratos however, still wasn't very good at understanding sarcasm.  "They do need us.  They have refuted our assistance, however," he said, looking into the distance to Rhadamanthys and company.  "With our battles making no headway, it is appropriate to kill our greatest foe, before we return to killing the Divine."  Kratos eyebrows furled into frustration, but he was intent on defeating the Avatar.  "Kenpachi," he said turning to the largest man of their group.  "What will you do?" Revy placed a hand on Kratos' shoulder, as he confronted his ally.

 

Kenpachi let out a heavy sigh, as Yachiru scurried back to Kenpachi's shoulder, and perched atop his left side as he stood up.  He finally turned to face Reimu, his Zanpaktou unreleased on his back.  "Here's the deal," Kenpachi said, approaching Reimu, towering over her like a mountain.  "No funny business.  We might have a score to settle, but if they try anything, I'll turn all of my efforts away from the Avatar, and I will kill the Divine."  Kenpachi started moving towards Butlerok, walking slowly, pacing himself.  "And if one hair is out of place on Yachiru's head," he said patting the pink haired girl's head softly.  "They're gonna lose theirs."

 

Kenpachi leaped away, a cloud of dust at his feet as he vanished and arrived a second later at Butlerok's feet.  Kratos offered a hand to Revy, and she climbed onto his back.  Killua of course offered the same to Reimu, albeit with more selfish reasoning.  Bowing his head, he waited for a slightly tuckered out Reimu to climb onto his back.  "Shall we?" Killua joked, taking her by the hand and joining Kenpachi and Kratos in a flash.

 

And as they arrived, Kenpachi was staring into the distance at the Avatar, with Kratos letting Revy down to her feet.  Yachiru playfully examined Rhadamanthys, climbing onto him and testing the elasticity of his skin.  Meanwhile, Kenpachi posed a question to Butlerok.  "Do you have a concrete plan?"

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Prologuous

 

It looked like there attempts to talk to the young shrine maiden bore some fruit as she made her way to the opposing faction. Unfortunately while she was travelling it looked like the Avatar was going about some new kind of madness. The team looked around as these random pieces of its essence of Avatar clump together on the main body. The team could only stare in awe as the Avatar turned into some massive...creature. To use the term loosely. This weird monster version of the Avatar caught the team off guard with its appearance. It followed up with a massive pulsation of power that destroyed the floating island the forces of the Counter Corp and Divine were standing on.  

Butlerok instantly shielded everyone in a sphere of Mad Blood which held strong. As the wave subsided it looked like there was nothing left of their previous battleground other than floating rubble.

Uhhh, what the duece? Dorian inquired as this was definitely different. So I guess this must be its final form or do you think it's a trick again?

Trick for what benefit? Rhadamanthys replied. There is no way this new form makes us want to drop our guard this is even more intimidating. 

At a glance I would guess this is a more primal and savage form of the Avatar. We may have done some significant damage to the Avatar with all of our attacks and this is what happens. Butlerok added. 

Well it's not making any big moves so maybe it is giving us time to strategize. So that whole cutting idea do you think it's still in play? Dorian followed up. But when he looked up at Butlerok and Rhadamanthys he would see both of them looking out in the same direction. Uhhh okay.

He turned to face the same way and immediately landing were the members of the Counter Corp. Oh was all Dorian could say. 

These are the dudes you talked about he asked.

Yeeeeepp Rhadamanthys said as his faced was constantly being played with by the little pink haired girl. 

 

"Do you have a concrete plan?"

 

Butlerok looked on as Kenpachi must have gotten the message. Butlerok simply replied. To be honest I had a plan before the Avatar's transformation. Now we do not know  about its abilities. However, I think between the lot of us we can simply run a distract and cover fire approach for you shikai. What do you think? I realize that not many of your teammates are as strong as you are...

Strong. They're not even proper cannon fodder. Rhadamanthys quickly interrupted. Wouldn't it be better to simply kill them and eat their souls. As if on queue Ragnarok shot out of Butler's back in his chibi form and rested on the man's shoulder.

 

Hey the God of Death has a point. We should listen to him more.

Dorian simply facepalmed as this was already starting to fall apart. Sometimes the side of villainy is a hard one. Look let's not do that and what about the clown thing? Can you still do that? 

Butler and Ragnarok looked at each other. We could, but it might not be good for them. Butler and Ragnarok responded. 

Either way that is the current plan. It does rely a lot on your ability to actually cut the creature. Do you think you can do it? Butler asked Kenpachi.

[The Warden]

I͍͖̦̱̪̔̂͗̅͆̈́̽̑t̢̛͎̯͇̀͆͛ͭ̀͟ ̸̓̈͏̞̩̱̺̥̞͇̟ḩ̟̔̈́͋́́ũ̯͇͇͓̲̤͖͎̫ͬ̋ͨ̓̃́r̦̮̮̞͊̈́̀̆̋ͪ̀̏ͦt̴͙̲͖̯̣̤̦̏ͮ̇̍ͣ͗ͨ̌̕͠ś̪̲̊̈́͆̑ͬ̃̾.͓̯̏̓͊ͦ͐͌͆̆.̧̗͈̯̯͎̣͈͎̼͂̉̓͗͑͌.͍̠͒ͦ͗̕.̶̲͔̲̳̤̰̬͖̾̔ͥ

 

 

 

 

The nightmare standing at the center of Prologuous was trembling. Its... limbs, it's as if its body was rejecting them. Its insectoid wing buzzed erratically as it dropped from its body, flickering off into the void. As if to compensate, an avian wing replaced it the, the sickly wing losing feathers constantly as it flapped about, desperate to get airborne.

 

 

 

 

I͔̪͓̥̳̖̎̅̂ͥ̐͂ͣͨ͢͠ͅt̖̬͖͕͇ͦ̔͢͝ ͗͒͑͡҉̘͚͈͈̹͖̳̤̘ẖ̷̖̹͎͚̰̯͇̬ͦͦ͌͊u̒ͪ̀̅͏̩̮̳̹̩̟͎r̨̲͙̺̃͟tͪͦ̾ͧͮ̿̇̿҉̗̮̤̦͘ṡ̛͙̼̬̬̘̜̯̮̐!̳̫͐̑ͮ͊̓ͤ̋͋

 

 

 

 

An arm dropped off from its body, writhing about helplessly until it went limp and melted away into shadows. Another two arms burst out from the same spot, the twins joint by the upper arm, and desperate to split away. Straining hard, the skin split, both parts tore away from each other, their visible innards, or at least, what could be considered muscle and bone visible and bleeding.

 

 

 

 

I̶̱͇̠ͣ̆ͭ̾T̗̜̩͗̈ ͖̖ͯ̿̆ͪ̓H̠̬̬̙̘̰̄ͦͩ̈́̔̀ͩ̌͘U̶̲̖̾ͪ͗ͅͅR̞̖͈̦͉ͧT̼̰̱͓͔̟ͪ̒͑̃ͣ̐ͧͮ͘͘S̯̒̃̉ͨ͞͝ͅ!̶̸̞͍̟͐͋͌̅ͬ̐́

 

 

 

The monster's many arms gripped at its head, its countless red eyes bulging out as the creature appeared to be in pain.

 

 

Iͭ͛ͯͤ̏͏͙̝͎̝͠Ť̢̨̙̺̯͓̺͑͂ͬ̑̐͢ ̓ͭ͌͑̐̋̈͏̸̝̰̩͓̦Ḧ͓̱̳͈́ͧ͌̄̃ͨH͈͖͔̱͖̪̣̫͆͘H̨̝͇̘̬̻ͪ̄̚H͌ͬ̐ͩ́͏͍̩̱̬̹̦Ḩ̫̜͙̱ͯͬ̂͢H͆̏̑̄̎ͣ̌͑ͨ͏̪̪̯͓U̧̢͚̥̣̔ͤ͑̀͌ͭͪ̚̕U̪̤̲̮̖͌͑ͭ̂͐͒̾Ṷ̧̯̭̣̻̦͍͆̂̅ͦ̆̾̅͂̚͠Ủ̫̺̼̘̪̠͂͟͠Ȗ̸̢͔̬̻̙̹͕́̍͋ͮ̊͒U̶̡͖̇̊U̶̬͕̦̟̣̾ͪͯͪ̊͂Ṳ̴͖̠̯̣̹̥ͪͮͫ͂̇R̳̯̣͛ͯͦͥ̈́̿ͤ͢R̗̹͖͎̫͐ͤR͓͕͔̫̜ͣ̔ͅR͇͔̞̼͍̳ͨͭ͋̑̃͋R̓̓͗ͣ̒̈͏͏̵̺̟R̮̎̀̀̕R̒̎́̀͏̵͓̜̭̦̲ͅṘ̷̘͓͎̩̉̽͛̈́̍̕͠T̅̒ͦ̒ͭͫͤ͏̞̣̝̘͈͉̼́͡T̨̮̰̹ͫ̋͐͑̈́̉̔ͨ͜T͙͚͖̳̾ͤ̄ͭ͢ͅT̪̱͂͐ͭ̏ͭ̓̏̑̐͠͞T̹̼͊T̖̺̫̙͇̐͊̐̚T͚̖̱̪͖͓͇̠̲̽ͬ̌̋̏̃̏͌́̀T̛͍͙͉͔̱̟̝ͥͥ̚ͅŞ̮͍̩̫̃ͩ͂̊͌͌̈S̷̪̰̟͚̃͒̾͟ͅS̲̞̖̬ͫͬ͒͗͊̃͋͋S͎̱͙̠͓ͬ̍ͮ̈ͩͧ̔ͬͭ͟͢S̵̢̟͎̥͍̱ͦ̌ͪͨ͢Š͈̮͈̀S̶̷̤͉͙̮̫͂̅̈́̈̆̐̚!̥̼͉̼̟̟͕̘̓̇ͫͯ͛ͅ!̶̨͔͔̺̺͕̔̈́̆̓!̧̩̲̬͕̜̊ͧ̄͂ͤ̄̚!̧̮͎̮͇̙͚̣ͩ́̀͌͑̌!̨͍̲̯̰̘̺ͭͬ͊̒ͫ̀̓̍͘

 

 

 

 

Gripping at its head, the muscles of its arms bulged as it pulled with all its might, its fleshy skull slowly splitting apart. Grotesque spurts of blood squirted everywhere as it was ripped in two, the flaps hanging down, more black blood squirting out. And then... another head burst out of the spot, overlapping with the flaps. The eyes along its new head and the flaps stared blankly for a moment, as if registering what had just happened.

 

 

 

 

Ḵ̻̞̳͓̈́̊ͧ̃̋͋̈́̅K̳̼̋̈ͬͦͦ̅Ķ̛̊͐͏͍̙K̖̬͍̠̹̉̏͛̇̾̚͟Y̨͕̳̣̼̭͎ͫͯͤ͗̚͝Ÿ̩̬́̇͊ͧ̉̉ͪY̸͉̭̯̞̓ͣ̿̂̐̆̒̕͞Y̱̰̺̹͔̜̘̦ͣ͢Y̙̱̻̩̥̻ͤ́ͅY̢̲̟͉͐͋͐̿Ỷ̊̎̐̔ͣ̔ͦ̕͏͉̞̳̟Ỵ̨͓̗̮͌̿͗Y̴̡̬̞̜̱͚͔̞͙ͩ̌ͯ̂̐͌ͩͩ̚Y̨͔̝͓͔̐̉̓͑̑ͤͫ̔̀͠Y͚̟̣̙͑͂̑̾̔̐Y̧̒ͧͩ̽ͤ͏̙̻͖͍Y̾ͪ̌̿ͤ҉̖̝̜̦͖̺A̷͓̜̩͙̩͙̯̟̋̆̓̾ͨ̀A̫̼͈͚͐ͥ̓ͥ̿ͥ͢Ā̵̖̭̩̮̦̎ͤ̑͠͡À̸̷̼͍̯͛̈͊ͪ͗͟A̋͂ͫ̚҉̰͍͉̦̜͚͈̙Ḁ̷̦͔̣̲ͪͅA͌͛̃̈̅͒̾̔͘҉̺̮̦̖̬͚̣̬A̬̖͐̒̄͛ͪͨ̊̀͢A̴̵͓̩̖̱̫͚͈̞̅͂̎ͧ̊ͯ̍̓̒͜Ą͉̜̓ͬͮͮ͛̉ͪ͢A̎̇͊̉͛̈́ͥ͏̴̢̙̖̼̗̤̟ͅA̢̼͇͕̍͒ͧ̅ͮ̄ͤͦÀ̵̇ͤ̒̃̚͟҉̻̻̣̣͓̣̙A̶̡̹̤͓̳̠̣ͥ͊͌͌̊ͯͤͫ͢A͚͖͕̱̥̥͖̿ͅÂ̸͔͇ͤA̞̯̞͎̻̺ͥͭ̾A͔̪̩͉̹͕͚̒̄ͯ̋ͣ͐́͢Ǻ͔̞̱͖͚͍͔͎ͦ̉A̲͔̺͓̩̠ͧ̈́̃͒̀̐͞!͚̱̹ͪͪͬ!͇̮̫͓̠͗ͯ̏ͯ͆̇!̢͙̥͙͉̭̬͙ͣ͊̓̃̊̀̊͢!̰͚ͧ͗ͤͥ̽ͨ̑͠!̶̥ͤ!̷̛̺͔̻̒̌ͥ̏ͬ̚

 

 

 

 

The screams of the beast spread out across Prologuous as a terrible psychic scream, the force of its pain and anguish felt by everyone it washed over. To put it simply... everyone.

[Dad]

Kenpachi listened closely to Butlerok, but his plan was simple.  Use the abilities of Nozarashi to remove the Avatar from time and space.  The problem was getting close enough to the creature to land a precise strike.  And even then, it would take a large, and powerful strike to ensure the Avatar's defeat.  Not that he couldn't accomplish it.  But providing an opening for that type of attack would mean that the window of opportunity was small.  Furthermore, it meant he would be endangering everyone around his immediate area when he went in for the kill.  Scratching the eye patch on his face, Kenpachi contemplated his attack.

 

Either way that is the current plan. It does rely a lot on your ability to actually cut the creature. Do you think you can do it?

 

Kenpachi was getting excited, a grin creeping across his face as he bared his fangs.  "Cuttin' the bastard ain't the issue," he said turning to Butler.  "You give me a window, I'll get rid of the Avatar.  Just make sure you ain't in the way.  Wouldn't want too many more cas--sheet!" Kenpachi said, covering his ears.  There was a powerful shrieking coming from the Avatar, and it was giving Kenpachi a splitting headache.

 

Killua also felt it, falling to a knee with his hands on his head.  "What is that!?"

 

Kratos plunged his fingers into his ears, trying to stop the sound, unaware that it was psychic.  "We need to silence the beast!" he cried out.

 

Yachiru had fallen from Rhadamanthys shoulders and was rolling on the ground in agony as she too held her ears.  "Make it stop!"

 

Kenpachi snatched his unreleased Zanpaktou from his back, pointing the ragged blade at the Avatar.  He turned to Butler and Rhadamanthys, as Nozarashi appeared from the battered blade.  "I'm gonna need that window."

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian Prologuous

It seemed that they weren't going to get much more of a strategy sessions as the giant beast started whale on and scream in intense pain. That wouldn't have been much of a problem if it didn't somehow unleash a psychic attack that made everyone feel that creature's pain. While everyone was pretty much having their head split open and the team had to act quick. Similar to everyone else Team Dorian grabbed their heads and tried to think of a plan. Dorian managed to get one open for a second and all he could manage was to look at Butler and Ragnarock who weren't in as much pain as everyone else was. 

Butlerok felt the psychic attack like everyone else but it seemed that his inner mind was pretty cluttered with a constant debate and a collective of personalities was taking some of the brunt of the attack for him. What was annoying was that he was getting help from someone he didn't think he would have to deal with anymore.

So boys I see your little plan here is kind of over before it began. Spoke the woman coming back from the depths of the Butlerok collective conscious. 

Oh come on! You still bitter we won? Rangarock exclaimed. 

Look plebeian, something has happened to my actual spiritual body and therefore I can't seem to leave this chaotic bastille. Gyokuen spoke. 

I thought you ate this harlot! Hades said as he was still floating inside his soul protect bubble. 

We tried to but she is somehow able to manipulate her Rukh even after death. Nevertheless it doesn't change the state we're in now! Butler said pretty authoritatively!

I know, but now as my fate is somehow strictly tied to yours I might as well help out. You didn't take my Rukh but you do have an arsenal that you haven't tapped into. Let's do that now. 

On the outside world Butlerok seemed to be frozen as his eyes went completely black and the third eye opened atop his bald head. Up above him a massive magical circle opened up and what seemed like five massive lightning bolts came down. However it was soon clear that these were not lighting bolts, but more of windows opening.

Soon everything spread open and revealed a mass calling of mages
 

What dark works is that? Rhadamathys said looking up. Dorian was admittedly speechless as well after a couple of second he managed to get some words out of his mouth.

Um I think someone's about to open a window. 

At that moment some of the mages begin to shout in a congress.

"Extreme Magic Amon!!!"

"Pa'ir Al Hazard!!"

"Astor Inqerad!!"

"Bararaq Inqerad Saiqa!!"

All four attacks proceed to rain down and converge on the Avatar.
 

[The Warden]

"Extreme Magic Amon!!!"

 

"Pa'ir Al Hazard!!"

 

"Astor Inqerad!!"

 

"Bararaq Inqerad Saiqa!!"

 

 

The formless Avatar was only vaguely aware of what was headed for it, thanks to a red eye that bubbled up along its back. Watching the magic headed straight for it, the beast was unusually docile, save for one of its arms. Twisting and bending awkwardly, it clenched itself into a fist, save for one finger, which pointed towards all of the magics.

 

 

 

D͕̱͓̃͒ͬ̐ͩ͡ḩ͍̠̝̫̖̭̙͖̋̒̾̓̓̽̌̉o͕̖̟͎̬̝ͧͮ͛̅̂ͧ̂̋r̺̻̭͈̓̓̆ͬ̈́̀̔͞.̢̳̳ͣ̀̊̌.͉̳̜̥͇͚̺̫̓̋̉͐͐͌.̸̖͈̘̲͈̲̩̈ͭ̅̄͝ ̺̤͖̬̆̂̈̑͢ͅṙ̍҉͎̰͕̫͍̘͙͎̤u̝͍̦̬̤͇̱͆͆́f̴̲̱̗͙̫̅͌ͦ͑̒͒͠.̠͇͇̺̩̮̘ͭ̿.̢̘͇ͬ̀.̵̴̗͇̈͆̏̂̽.̨̞̰͙ͤ̓̓ͯ̌̓͌̍

 

 

 

Pointing towards all four magics, they twisted and bent about, their magics distorted as they combined into one column, rising high above the dark void of Shattered Prologuous as a glowing sphere. The finger slacking, the sphere exploded into countless projectiles of pure magic, filling the void with a complete and utter bullet hell. The projectiles that did strike the Avatar were absorbed and nullified by his strange tar-like coating. Its limbs however, were burnt and destroyed by the attacks, dropping off and quickly being replaced by other limbs and then being destroyed again. The fighters present would soon be as lucky as those limbs.

 

 

 

 

H͇͖͍̥̙͇ͥ͆̃̇ṳ͚͕̖͔ͯ͌ͤ̋̄̾r͚͓̺̳̮ͦ̇̂̆̿͑͟͞ṱ̸̖̪ͤ͗̇ͩ.̟̩ͯ̔ͨ͋̒͊̔̈́.̶̦͌̌ͤͥ̚͜.̡̬̘̪̣̥̤͖͕͇͗̆̎͜.̡͓̈́̍̆̾̂͒̒̈́ͭ́

[Tesability Black]

~Prologuous - ??? - Gemini's POV~

Oh, sh!t.

Gemini couldn't help but take a few steps back upon the start of the flailing, staying out of the range of the skeletal hand that emerged from the now-formless black as he kept the shield between him and it and the sword at the ready for instant use.

When the world shattered around them, Gemini instinctively summoned underneath his feet a crystalline disk to make sure he didn't fall into the abyss below, which turned out to be a correct call.

For where the rainbow sea once was, there was now nothing but blackness below.

"The end shall soon come," he muttered to himself, uncaring if the others heard as he watched the formless figure thrash about in pain before grabbing its equal to a head and raising it to the sky...

...however, whatever the beast tried to do simply failed...

...for you cannot inflict pain to a being that was no longer there...

~Path of Remembrance - Counter Corps - Neos' POV~

"...Jace. What. Happened."

Neos glared at the mindmage as Jace hesitated upon that statement, catching him glanced back towards the crystal behind him once or twice. "What are you not telling me?"

"T-there's nothing to tell," Jace stuttered to say.

A lie.

With a shove, Neos had Jace with his back against the crystal, neon-green meeting blue. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what happened."

‘Are you satisfied with your past’?

Neos lifted his head towards the crystal he had a bare hand upon, missing the fact that Jace had lowered his head, momentarily distracted by the glow now being made.

"...nothing I could do..." Neos only managed to hear a sliver of a phrase before Jace disappeared from between him and the towering jewel, a roar leaving his throat before balling a hand up into a fist and punching the tower in front of him.

"Arceus-dammit, Jace...I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong..."

~The White Room - Counter Corps - Jace's POV~

"The pain I've caused, intentional or not, the lives that have been lost from coming into contact with me. There's nothing I could do to bring them back, not as I am now. Even if they were to all come back to life, the ones that unfairly died because of me, I wouldn't be satisfied with my past..."

The words, faint as they had been when he said them to try and avoid Neos hearing them, were still ringing in his head as he emerged alone within the room, falling to his knees as the memories of all he had forgotten finally returned to the surface. The Key fell out of his hands when he did, freeing them for the moment as he covered his face with them as they became streaked with tears from the pain he both endured...and inflicted...

He now had an answer as to why he hated taking control of others, even when it seemed like he had never done it before while working in the Infinite Consortium.

He had. And he still has no idea if Caden ever woke up from that day...

~Path of Remembrance - ??? - Gemini's POV~

"...ow, my everything," the demon grumbled upon the sudden landing in the snow, the crystalline sword and shield gone for the time being as he pulled himself from chest-deep in the snow. Looking up towards the sky, he let loose a sigh upon seeing Neos ahead with a fist against the...wait, did he manage to crack the gem?

A single chuckle emerged from his throat as he approached his lighter counterpart. "Careful, you might actually be able to do something to this place," he managed to say before Neos swiftly turned around, lifting the demon into the air by the front of his outfit with one hand.

"What...did you do to Jace," Neos growled into Gemini's face.

It actually took effort to keep his eyebrows from going up into his hairline at this.

"Only what the Path of Truth wanted, dear counterpart," Gemini responded, to which he felt the tightening of Neos' grip on his clothing. "Now, would you be a dear and put me down?"

The only answer he got to that was the other fist flying towards his face, which he disappeared from his grip before reappearing behind Neos. "I was trying to be nice."

"You were trying to be an ass, Gemini. And like the Distortion you'd listen to anything other than yourself."

"At that moment, I did. Also, for someone whom views himself as a 'protector', you're really sucking at the position." Neos took another swing at Gemini, whom simply ducked and weaved out of the way before stepping behind the shapeshifter. "You need to hurry, what lies beyond isn't gonna be pretty."

Gemini watched as Neos turned around to face him again, a glare that could thaw permafroze aimed at him before his eyes suddenly widened. The man in yellow pushed aside the one in purple before planting a hand upon the jewel once more.

‘Are you satisfied with your past’?

Though Gemini had no physical contact with the towering jewel that signified the end of the pathway, he heard the question all the same. "I don't know about him, but I know I don't even care about my past, either way. Awakening to torture isn't something anyone would want to deal with."

And with that, Gemini vanished from Remembrance...

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"...Wait, that's it? That's the entire plan?"

 

Reimu's voice was filled with disappointment and annoyance as she learned about the nature of the plan the others were having. She was having a high expectation that this time the combo of the two opposing sides would produce something brilliant, but she was left disappointed with the simplicity of it. Of course, that's what they have now, and like it or not, Reimu's obliged to keep the shaky group from falling apart - alongside making sure that none of them die in a stupid way. Of course though, it was nice to see Kenpachi and the others actually getting on board with the plan.

 

However, soon something terrible happened.

 

A foul noise, coming from the Avatar, started to ring inside of her head. It was not doing anything physically, but just one second of it made Reimu's head felt like it's splitting apart. She wasn't even in a position to ask about the others' condition now, and it was so sickening coupled with her experiences so far that she ended up throwing up to the great beyond. Kenpachi was getting ready to strike in the middle of this, and Reimu had to once again draw in the energy from the black sphere to recover herself.

 

Like it or not, it's time for them to strike.

 

However, something that Reimu did not expect was Butlerok somehow summoning hundreds upon hundreds of mages out of nowhere, each which soon casted several impressive spells towards the Avatar. It looked quite exquisite, and due to the person in question's nature, Reimu had stopped being surprised about this, but it felt quite wrong too. Her scarlet sword's seemingly shaking giddily, somehow being excited about all of this happening. But Reimu, in the midst of this chaos, realized that as distracting as it was, something bad could potentially happen anytime.

 

And of course, it did.

 

The magics all converged into one pillar as soon as they went nearby, and the pillar soon exploded, sending countless amount of magical projectiles everywhere. Reimu's reflex was to respond to it with erecting several layers of barriers around the people she felt needed it the most. People like Yachiru, Killua, Revy, and Kenpachi, as he's going to dive into the center of this mess. It's the best thing she could do now, but...

 

Was it really enough?

 

Her self doubt started to rear its head once more. Of course, she wished to be able to actually do more this time, but...against people like this, and with her keeping on relying on artifacts that weren't hers to begin with, how could she even feel any satisfaction? She wanted to help, but at most that she could do was preventing those that weren't strong enough to fight directly from dying. Noble as it was, it's far from enough. It's an incident that she had been dragged into, and she's obliged to resolve it. Even if it's her final incident in her life, that'd be fine as long as she could resolve this for the sake of her world.

 

She's the Shrine Maiden of Gensokyo, no way she'd let others save her world in her stead!

 

But of course...that'd be just empty wishing, wouldn't it?

 

As Reimu was thinking about this however, a hole opened nearby. Reimu's mind instinctively thought about Yukari, and she started looking around where she was. But she couldn't see the hag anywhere, and the hole stayed still, nothing came inside or outside of it. Seeing it being there was as if it's inviting her to come in. Of course, nothing bad would happen if she entered it, right? Even if she's moved far away, she'd still have the barrier on the others to stay erect during the onslaught of bullets. So, her curiosity and desire gotten over Reimu's thoughts, and she thus decided to enter the hole, which ended up appearing near the Avatar's side.

 

The sound of the projectiles clanging as they impacted her barrier filled the air. With it being this densely packed, even Reimu would be unsure whether she could actually dodge them or not without assistance. So of course, she needed to stop this from continuing. The Avatar seemed to be as...unfine as before, so perhaps attacks of the previous kind wouldn't work on it. Which means...perhaps an exorcism would work?

 

She prepared her talisman around the Avatar, and erected her holy barrier around it. She followed it by chanting a few lines of spell and prayers, and so, channeling the gods and goddesses' might, she declared her attack.

 

The attack trapped the Avatar into a cube, like her previous attacks, and light of purification with the capability of purging anything material into the atoms to remove any traces of impurities from it, filled the box. Perhaps it wouldn't be effective, but Reimu need to make sure what kind of effect the attack could have on the thing, and keeping it contained perhaps would have some effect on helping distracting it enough for Kenpachi to strike.

 

---

[Dad]

Kenpachi watched Butlerok's magics become distorted by the Avatar's retaliation, filling the entirety of Prologous with and endless stream of projectiles.  Before he could react, Reimu erected a magical bubble around Kenpachi, as he stood still, watching the projectiles fall.  Kratos found himself ducking beneath the shields of his Spartan brethren, waiting for an opening to assist.  But that opening would never come.

 

"Kenpachi!" Kratos called over the rain of magic.

 

"I know," he replied, kicking his right leg backwards.  "Won't get any better than this," he mumbled.  "Yachiru," Kenpachi said as the tiny pink haired soul reaper jumped down from his shoulder.  "Assist Reimu.  The longer you can hold that thing still, the more time I have to get to him."

 

Yachiru nodded, placing a shielding incantation over Kenpachi before she left his side.  "Black and white net. Twenty-two bridges, sixty-six crowns and belts.  Footprints, distant thunder, sharp peak, engulfing land, hidden in the night, sea of clouds, blue line.  Form a circle and fly through the heavens.  Bakudo seventy-eight.  Million Shield," she recited, casting the spell over his chest and heart.  "Good luck Kenny," she said with a big smile.

 

Kenpachi pat Yachiru over the head.  "Thanks little lady."

 

He leaped away, Reimu's shield barely holding on as he absorbed a large portion of the bullet projectiles coming his way.  Yachiru remained at Reimu's side, spreading her palms over Reimu's back as she attempted to heal her.

 

"You used lots of energy.  Stand still, I'm gonna make you all better."  It was by no means a powerful healing spell, but over time, Reimu would feel rejuvenated and find her strength restored.  "Opening Revival," Yachiru said softly.  In the back of her mind, she was only hoping that Kenpachi would be successful.

 

Killua, Revy, and Kratos looked on as Kenpachi went alone into battle, being among the few who could.

 

---

 

As he fell through the projectiles and drew closer to the Avatar, he drew back Nozarashi,  and prepared a two handed strike.  "Gonna shut up that big mouth of yours!" he yelled, as he swiped down over the center of mass of the Avatar.

[Tesability Black]

~Path of Remembrance - Counter Corps - Neos' POV~

‘Are you satisfied with your past’?

The phrase echoed once more after Jace vanished from between him and jewel and Gemini vanished, leaving Neos alone on the pathway. Crossing his arms in front of himself before raising one balled-up hand to his forehead, he strained to think quickly of an answer that would work for this thing to let him move on.

Before now, he didn't feel that much of a rush...but now it was there.

"Arceus-dammit, I can't think of an answer that question," he growled as random flashes of memory crossed past his head. Unable to come up with an immediate answer, Neos fell to his knees, allowing his hands, which he had balled up into each other, to fall into his lap. Despite the breaths he was taking to calm down and think, he could feel the panic rising in his head.

Then, for a moment, he felt something on his shoulder, a hand or a paw, he couldn't tell what. He looked towards the shoulder in question to see what it could have been, but there was nothing around. "...am I starting to hallucinate?"

"Mew."

This had him stand up fully, now turned away from the large jewel at the end of the pathway to see what was around him. However, there was nothing out of place that he could see. "...I haven't heard her voice in so long, I'm surprised I can remember what it sounds like..." At the reminder, he found himself looking down towards the ground, closing his eyes to the last times he remembered being around the elderly Mew and allow a small smile to emerge on his face. "She knew...and yet, she didn't stop me."

Turning back around, he briefly muttered under his breath a simple "Thanks, Mistress" before returning a bare palm onto the stone, allowing it to reask its question before answering. "Yes, I am. Despite all the hardships endured after being forced to leave home, there are still worlds and people that would not still be around without my intervention. I'm probably the only Pokemon that can say that he's made a positive influence on more than one realm of existence."

A light began to shine from within the large jewel before allowing it to be released in a flash. Once it faded, Neos appeared to be gone...

~The White Room - Counter Corps - Jace's POV~

He didn't know how long he had been alone in that room crying, nor did he care. The illusions he had been using to hide his form had long faded, revealing the strange and revealing outfit that...angel...had been wearing, which also revealed the brutal white scars on his back and upper arms to all that would have seen him. Fortunately, he at least got used to wearing it so that he no longer felt the need to constantly fidget in it, but it didn't help his mood at all.

Finally allowing his hands to fall to his sides, face red and puffed from tears, his fuzzed gaze finally looked slightly ahead towards the strange box ahead of him...

...which was strangely start to taking itself apart, blossoming open for a lack of better word. Jace scooted closer, watching with caution and curiosity as it opened itself, revealing what seemed to be like a thick paper, thick enough to stay straight standing up on its own. "...what?" Carefully picking up the thick paper between fingers of his gloved hand, he brought it closer to himself to get a better look.

Brown and lightly decorated with some form of swirling pattern on one side while the other was completely white. It was a bit of a puzzle to figure out why such a thing was in such an ornate contraption.

...unless this sheet of paper was somehow the real Key and the box that held it was to make sure it was well-protected. Figuring that might be the case, he slid the sheet back into the box, where it had once been held, before watching the box reassemble itself whole. Once done, Jace picked up the box, this time with his bare hand, before standing up and looking around.

Unlike the past trips, the doors from before appeared gone, with only the middle door seeming to be remaining. With a gulp, he opened the final door and braced himself for whatever may happen...

...only to be suddenly overwhelmed by the psychic pressure that pressed against him in addition to the screams of pain that pierced the psychic silence otherwise. Dropping the Key in front of him, Jace found himself doubled-over himself in pain, gripping his head and most-certainly pulling out several now-fully-brown hairs in the process. Thankfully, the Key did not fall into the emptiness below...

~Prologuous - ??? - Gemini's POV~

"Argh, wimp," Gemini muttered soon after re-manifesting in the Prologuous before placing a palm against the ground and focused, a burst of dark-blue energy spreading wide across to at least the size of the original platform as he gritted his teeth in pain.

People could move around, but he'd highly advise doing anything like slamming against the ground. It may still break from underneath them. Looking over towards the newcomer to the area, he stood up after stabilizing the new crystalline structure before running towards the mind mage and the Key in front of him...

~??? - From Beyond the Screen - ???'s POV~

In the early morning, in front of a computer in a darkened room, a familiar woman rests with her elbows on the desk and her hands balled-up together and to her face as she glances at the screen in thought.

"Welp," she says quietly to herself. "This is going to be interesting, at the least..."

[Phantom Roxas]

[The Pathway to Remembrance]

 

Sora and Kairi

 

Sora didn’t realize how tightly he was holding Kairi’s hand. Kree’arra, Zilyana, Roxas, and Xion had all died in the past two Pathways. Xansvita haunted him on the Pathway to Death, and that ridiculous lion-like Sora took Xion. Everyone had to sacrifice themselves just so Sora could find the Staff of Armadyl. He didn’t deserve the power of the Mega Ultra… the Winged Dragon of Ra. He forgot about the sillier name the Egyptian God had.

 

Ophelia had derailed them with all her recruits. Sliske was nothing to Sora, or Xansvita, and yet Kree’arra and Zilyana threw themselves into this war just to stop him. How important was he? And there was some kid that Sora found. If Xansvita killed him, that was on Sora. No, he couldn’t let that be true. Xansvita was just Vanitas under another name, trying to act like he was in control of everyone. It wasn’t Sora, or Roxas, or Xion, or Ventus.

 

“So what are you guys going to do?” A snide voice startled Sora, the question asked right next to his ear. Sora and Kairi drew their Keyblades, and saw a blonde woman in a black cloaked.

 

”Larxene,” said Sora. ”Why are you here?”

 

Larxene rolled her eyes. “First off, watch your tone. Second, I’m not really here, dumbass. This is Remembrance. So I’m, you know, your memory of me. Figured you’d be used to that sort of thing after Castle Oblivion.”

 

“Get on with it.” Another cloaked figure approached, this one a man with gray-blue hair parted in a way that the bangs completely obscured his right eye. “These two have little interest in reminiscing.”

 

“Fine, Zexy,” said Larxene. “Look, I know what you guys figured out on Truth. Hanging out with us was just ignoring that, well, I tried to kill you, and Zexion here is just a dick.”

 

“You are not a paragon of virtue yourself,” Zexion muttered.

 

“But anyway, we had some good times, right? Just… hanging around. Kicking 4Kids’ ass, going on a boat cruise. You know, normal stuff like that.”

 

Zexion narrowed his eyes. “I fail to see how confronting the embodiment of a deplorable anime dubbing company could constitute ‘normal.’”

 

“…It was the evil- okay, double evil counterpart to Xemnas. And you’re the one who fused with him!”

 

“Fair.”

 

”Isamy had some… weird ideas about our universe,” said Kairi. But all of that aside, you’re right, it was fun. But it’s not our how universe is supposed to be. It’s not real.”

 

“You’re speaking to Nobodies,” said Zexion. “Don’t tell us can is and is not real. What about Roxas and Naminé? They were your Nobodies, yet all of you acted as though the distinction between one’s Nobody and one’s true self was irrelevant. Roxas and Naminé were individuals, just like you and Sora. Only when they died did they finally return to you, because that was their fate.”

 

”But it doesn’t have to be that way!” said Sora. ”Roxas and Naminé, and Xion, too, they all deserve to be their own people.”

 

Kairi pursed her lips. ”Wait a minute… the Door. Sora, I… I know what we could do! We don’t have to choose. We can’t just tell the Door to put things back to the way they used to be. We’ll wish on the Door so both universes can exist. The one where all of us can live together, and the real… no, the one we lived in before Isamy stepped in.”

 

Sora’s foot brush up against something in the snow. Reaching down, he found a glass bottle in the show. Inside was a rolled up paper, with a seal showing three circles arranged like a certain mouse’s head. There was a day on Destiny Islands when Kairi brought a bottle to Sora and Riku, the same bottle that he was now holding. As Sora reached instead the bottle, he found the same letter he read that day: A message from King Mickey Mouse.

 

I wanted to tell you right away, about memories from the past that sleep within you, and about the pieces that will tie you to your future. Sora, Riku, Kairi, the truth behind the Keyblade has found its way through so many people, and now I know that it rests in your hearts. Sora, you are who you are because of those people, but they're hurting, and you're the only one who can end their sadness. They need you. It's possible that all your journeys so far,have been preparing you for this great new task that's waiting for you. I should have known there were no coincidences, only links in a much larger chain of events. And now the door to your next journey is ready to be opened.

-Mickey

Sora tucked the sheet into a space on his armor. ”After we read this letter, I don’t remember anything else. At least in that universe. Suddenly, we were just friends with Organization XIII. You’re right, Kairi. Maybe both universes can exist. Even if Isamy completely changed our universe, we could still make the most of what she did, and finish what we started before she came along.”

 

Larxene chuckled. “So you still want to be friends in one universe, but hey, let’s bring back the one where you killed me? Some friend.”

 

“I am no longer alive in either universe,” said Zexion. “Whatever you two wish for makes no difference to me.”

 

“You owe me,” Larxene told Sora. “Big time. But I’m sure the ‘real’ me or whatever will have a hard time accepting ‘Oh, I’m sorry I killed you that one time! Are we cool now?’”

 

”We still have something left to do,” said Sora. ”And I have a responsibility to everyone to make sure that they didn’t die for nothing.”

 

“That’s some brave words,” said Larxene.

 

Zexion nodded. “Yet they seem more… confident than before. Usually you would just say something like that because it sounded like the heroic thing to say, but there’s a little more substance to your words now.”

 

Kairi took Sora’s hand. ”And he has me. I won’t let him do this alone. We have to answer Mickey’s letter.”

 

Larxene raised an eyebrow. “You do realize that Xehanort might still be out there, right? That Roxas and Naminé are still just parts of you? I mean, do you even know who Xion is in that universe?”

 

Sora tried to recall when exactly he met Xion, and how. ”…I don’t. It’s just that, when Emiya first brought me into the Counter Corps, it’s like I had always known her.”

 

”It’ll be like starting from square one all over again,” said Kairi. ”But we made it this far. Even if we weren’t as experienced before Isamy came, even if I could barely use the Keyblade back then, we can’t just leave all that behind. We can still save our friends, and we’ll stop Xehanort once and for all.”

 

Larxene sighed. “You two are idiots. But, at least you’ve got guts. If that’s what you want, well, I’m just a memory. Nothing I can really do to stop you.”

 

Zexion waved his hand in a brief salute. “I doubt it will be simple once you reach the Door, and all your problems may not end there. But you each have two different pasts, both of which have brought you here.”

 

“And you’re both oh so insufferably lovey-dovey.” Larxene gagged, and Zexion laughed a little at the gesture. “Anyway, you guys go on ahead. You two aren’t all that the Counter Corps has left, after all.”

 

Kairi nodded. ”Right. Come on, Sora. Eria and the others are probably waiting.”

 

Sora and Kairi waved goodbye to Larxene and Zexion, and took off into the forest. No one else bothered, or dared, to approach them, and soon the edge of the forest was in sight.

 

---

Eria

 

There was laughter in the forest. Snow was turning to water wherever Eria stepped. It took her too long to realize that the laughter was malicious. It was not any the Divine amused by finding someone to fight. It was just a child’s laughter, with a soft chuckle approving of the child’s joy. As Eria approached, she saw a green woman with gills for ears sitting on a couch. The snow of the forest either didn’t bother the woman, or she was simply not aware. She was holding a book in her lap, and beside her was a young child, perhaps no older than seven. She had short blue hair, just like the woman, but messier.

 

”What happens next?” the child asked.

 

The woman closed the book. ”That’s a story for another time. You should get to bed, Eria.”

 

”Mom…” Eria was looking at her younger self and her mother. Eria opened her arms to embrace her mother, but her mother’s body turned clear for a moment, like she was made completely out of water. Eria passed right through her, her mother lifting up the younger Eria, completely unaware that anyone was watching.

 

”Be careful out there.” Her mother’s voice was coming from behind her now. Aqueria was standing over Rahz, who was buckling his boots. Eria looked back, and there was no one behind her. It was just her parents behind her now, no sign of her younger self. She was probably asleep.

 

”I always am.” Rahz was smiling, though Eria wasn’t sure if he meant it for her mother or himself. He stood up and gave Aqueria a kiss. ”Especially when I have you two waiting for me.”

 

”Eria!” Her mother was watching her younger self, sneaking up from behind a tree. ”Go back to bed.”

 

”The Dark Blade.” Eria let the name slip out, and apparently, her parents had noticed. Now they were staring at her. Eria looked back to where her younger self was, but she had apparently disappeared. How would you feel if your parents were killed, Arthur had asked. ”Don’t do it,” Eria said. ”Father, I’m begging you. I thought he had killed you.”

 

”Well, he was tough,” Rahz shrugged. ”But I came out of it okay.”

 

”After you needed weeks to recover! And now… and now you’re both dead anyway. Because of me.”

 

"A noble gesture.” Another woman was standing beside Eria. The woman’s metal arms were crossed, her emotionless eyes staring like daggers to Eria. "But it is a hollow one. You still hold some resentment towards the role I played in Megiddo’s arrival, do you not?”

 

Ophelia. Eria formed the snow into icicles, pointing them all around Ophelia’s neck. ”Yes. But I know that you were scared of me. Scared that we’d ruin whatever plans you had to give Protheus the Key.”

 

"Yet you were not successful in keeping it out of his hands,” said Ophelia.

 

”I know.”

 

"What will you do to make up for it?” Sonic waves echoed from Ophelia’s hands, shattering the icicles, but Eria kept the shards in the air, pointing them all around Ophelia. Ophelia used more sonic waves, but the icicles reformed just as quickly as they were destroyed. Eria was guiding all of the shards up with her Keyblade, holding the rapier almost like a wand. With her left hand, Eria weaved called forth more of the snow from the ground, melting it and pushing the water against Ophelia’s feet. Ophelia tried to force her feet forward as the water current began to rise against her, again using her sonic waves, but just as before, the icicles reformed. "Even if you stop me, you will never defeat the great Protheus Maximus.”

 

”Eria,” Rahz called. ”Be careful. Even if it’s not really her, you cannot revel in this. A warrior should not succumb to a lust for blood.”

 

”I understand, Dad.” Eria was pushing more water until Ophelia was thrown onto her back, drifting along with the water’s current, and Eria commanded the icicles to fire at Ophelia, one by one. ”I can’t lose control. No matter how much I want her to suffer. But for her to serve Protheus, as if he’s more important than her own life, I can’t forgive her for that.” Eria pulled the water back, commanding the icicles to stab Ophelia’s arms. Ophelia shook her arms, as if trying to use more sonic waves, but those she summoned were much weaker, forming mere cracks in the icicles. Eria used the water to push Ophelia back onto her feet, and the water spun around her lower body, the water rising into it was up to her neck. In an instant, Eria froze all of the water, leaving only Ophelia’s head free from ice. ”Even if we couldn’t take the Key then, I won’t believe we failed until I see the Door.”

 

"You barely know him,” said Ophelia. "You could not possibly understand the guidance he offers, and the loyalty that he cultivates.”

 

”You and Solasiro serve only your masters because you want them to control everything. Even yourselves. I won’t let that happen to me.”

 

"You are so quick to hate your enemies. But just as quick to love Arthur.” Eria began to summon more ice, but Ophelia kept talking. "The only one here who you really know is Gagagigo. Though he is your best friend, is that truly enough? You have lost far more friends throughout your journey.”

 

”I haven’t lost them. Not yet. Even if I didn’t get to really know everyone, all of us have made the Counter Corps what it is.” Something was moving through the trees. Eria had Ophelia right where she wanted her, so she could prepare another wave of water. There was a spark of flame where Eria had noticed the movement. She was expecting the Void Fox, but she saw a girl in those old brown robes, with red hair that looked like it could burn in the snow. ”My friends are still waiting for me for finish this.”

 

Hiita the Fire Charmer raised her staff, and flames began to swarm around Ophelia. The memory of Protheus’ servant flailed her broken arms free from the melting ice until she collapsed into the snow. The fire still burned at her body, her screams howling as Hiita smiled, proud of her work. ”Feels good to make a nice save like that!”

 

As horrifying as Ophelia’s screams should have been, Eria couldn’t help but laugh at Hiita. ”Come on, Hiita. You didn’t have to overdo it.”

 

”But I still surprise you, didn’t I?” asked Hiita. Ophelia’s screams descended into panicked breaths. Soon Ophelia was silent, leaving behind a silhouette of ash in the snow. ”That… was a bit easy, though.”

 

”She’s just a memory,” said Eria. She was barely doing much to Ophelia’s tower in the Rejected World before that meteor killed Ophelia. ”Considering how the real one died, I’d say you did… hold on. Why are you here?”

 

”Um… you’re welcome?”

 

”Fine. Thank you. It’s just that, you and Fox Fire had been that… that thing.”

 

”Hmm… well, this place is all about memories! You don’t know what I did, so if you can’t remember it, how am I supposed to know?” Eria’s silence told Hiita that she didn’t believe that. ”Damn it, you’ve gotten clever. Alright, after I ran off, I went to look for Arthur. The real deal, you know, not that faker you killed. He went on this train, or something. But it was really crazy looking, not like any train I’ve ever seen. Plus it could talk.”

 

”So you saw him! Where is he? Is he okay?”

 

”He ditched me! I mean, sure, I burned someone’s face…”

 

”What?!”

 

”He was attacking Arthur! With leaves and stuff!” Hiita pouted. ”I was just trying to help.”

 

”You helped me. Hiita, thank you. I’ll find him. And I promise, I’ll bring you back. You, and everyone else.”

 

”And I’ll hold you to that,” said Hiita. ”But, before you go. I know that you were the last one to join us and all. Not too long after Wynn, really, but… well, sorry for treating you like a newbie.”

 

Eria giggled. ”Thanks, but I’d rather hear it from the real you.”

 

”Wow, harsh. I try to be nice, and that’s what I get? Who taught you how to be such a jabroni?”

 

”Not the word I’d use, but you.”

 

”I’ll take that as a compliment of my teaching prowess.”

 

Aqueria coughed. ”Hiita. Sometimes I wonder if Doriado had the right idea keeping you on as a student.”

 

”Be nice, mom” said Eria. ”You and dad, I’ll save you both, too. I’m not going to forget about a single one of you.”

 

”And bring Arthur along some time,” said Rahz. ”I’d like to meet him.”

 

Hiita stuck up her nose. ”Sir, I’m sure that your daughter is a fine woman who can take care of herself and doesn’t need Daddy Dearest to hover over her and her boyfriend.”

 

”Hiita,” said Eria. ”You can shut up now.”

 

Hiita shrugged. ”At least the mood’s picking up, right?”

 

Eria giggled once more. Despite what Arturia had told the Counter Corps about the universes fading away, despite seeing with her own eyes what Megiddo had done, Eria could still find the simplest thing funny. ”Thanks, Hiita. Please, everyone, just wait a little longer.” Hiita and Eria gave each other a high-five, then Eria went to her parents for a hug. ”Mom, let’s talk about some stories when I get home. Dad, if you find that knight, the Dark Blade, let me help you. There are still some things we have to deal with in just our world.”

 

”You don’t have to go just yet,” said Rahz. ”What about Lady Doriado, or your other friends?”

 

Eria shook her head. ”The three of you are… enough. Ophelia was right, I still blame her. It’s not just my fault that Megiddo found our world, but I still have to do something. That Arthur from before was just the Pathway trying one more time to turn me against him. But that’s the last time it’s going to happen. I don’t need to spend time in memories when I still have something to do. I need to move forward.”

 

---

Gagagigo

 

Trees fell down as Gagagigo tore his way through the forest, kicking up snow as he approached a destination he did not know. All he wanted was to be out of this forest. He was only stopped when he heard someone’s voice. ”There you are!” Gagagigo swung his tail, but Eria ducked out of the way just in time. ”Gagagigo, it’s me!”

 

She had the same red robes from Slifer, and the Keyblade. He could sense her power. ”You’re just another trick! What am I supposed to learn from an hour ago?”

 

”A trick?” Eria shook her head. ”Okay, then how do I know you aren’t a trick?” Eria stopped herself. ”Wait, don’t answer that. I’m sorry, Gagagigo. Look, I’m real. I saw my parents. I saw Hiita.”

 

”And what of Aussa? Wynn? Do you think I had forgotten about them?”

 

”Gagagigo, stop it!” Eria’s voice made Gagagigo step back. Any desire to crush her, destroy any trick of the Pathway, was calmed. ”Oh no. Gagagigo, did I use my power on you?”

 

Eria was supposed to control creatures, even other people, as long as they had a special affinity for water. Not even a memory could replicate the power Eria could have had over him. ”You did. I’m sorry. I almost hurt you again.”

 

”No, I’m the one who should apologize. Lady Doriado taught me and the others that I should not abuse my power. Charmers are meant to be friends with our Familiars. We’re not supposed to… control you.” Control. The word seemed difficult for Eria to say. She was thinking about something else.

 

”Let’s get out of here,” said Gagagigo. ”The sooner we do, the sooner we don’t have to play by these Pathway’s rules anymore.”

 

The trees seemed to grow fewer in number up ahead. Eria and Gagagigo exchanged stories of their various encounters, of how Gagagigo saw Kozaky, and everyone Eria had seen.

 

”It seems a bit wrong, though,” said Eria. ”Using the Door to say Kozaky can’t come back. There are some people our world would be better off without, like Erebos, but… it just seems like a shortcut to use the Door to dictate that sort of thing.”

 

”From what I recall, Kozaky was the one who said that Isamy had managed to capture the goddess Ma’at.”

 

”Doriado had sent me and the other Charmers to look into that before Isamy arrived.”

 

”Freeing a goddess… it seems like a more noble goal for Emiya to recruit you than saving me.”

 

Eria stopped. She wouldn’t look at Gagagigo. ”Don’t change the subject. We were talking about the Door. Think about everything we have to do. Get the Key from Protheus, free Ma’at, bring our universe back… I can barely understand one person coming back from the dead, much less an entire universe, or even more of them. We’re bringing everyone back, Gagagigo.”

 

”You would let that fiend back?” Gagagigo snarled. ”Even Erebos?”

 

”No. What happened after Erebos was different.”

 

”If Kozaky must come back, then so be it. But I will still find him. What about you? Will you go after Megiddo? You know I’m not letting you face him alone, right? I’m coming with you.”

 

”I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m counting on you.”

 

”And what about Arthur?”

 

Eria resumed walking. ”I’ll talk with him.” She couldn’t decide if she wanted to find some way to see Arthur again, to not need to say goodbye to him at the Door. He was already planning to say goodbye to MirageGaogamon. If Arthur was ready to go back to his own world after so long, Eria couldn’t try to work around that. ”If we’re looking for Megiddo, we might have to find Solasiro first. As soon as we get home, that’s the first thing I’ll do.”

 

”I guess I’m not the only one changing the subject. Do you have any idea where to start?”

 

”None.” No hesitation. Not even a hint of disappointment. Eria knew she had no plan. It was just hard to care. ”But we can’t even plan for that now. We still have to… ow!” Eria bumped her foot against a rock. Eria stepped over it, but she caught a glance of what she had stepped on. Even if she had only seen the man for a moment, she recognized the face of Protheus Maximus. A stone carving of his face laid shattered in the snow. ”I don’t suppose it’s too much to hope that someone turned him to stone and killed him?” Gagagigo was muttering something. ”What’s wrong?”

 

”Why does that…” Gagagigo was looking at two statues standing before them. The first resembled a child, yet their features were obscured beneath a cloak. Kneeling before the child was the second statue, a girl with two heads and four arms. Both of the second statue’s heads were identical, and they each had a familiar face: Isamy Maximus. ”Eria, step away.”

 

”You recognize it?” Eria asked. ”Is this from when…”

 

”Yes.” In the Castle of Necrophades, Kozaky’s command to kill Eria ended with her thrown through a wall. Thinking about it made her skin crawl, like her body was trying to pull itself together to make sure she wouldn’t break apart if that happened again. Eria did as Gagagigo said and stepped away. He wouldn’t hurt her, but she was still shivering, not from the cold, but as though she was preparing to be crushed to death. ”Kozaky was still controlling me, so I don’t remember everything, but this… I do remember seeing it. Before the Castle was destroyed.”

 

Eria approached the two-headed Isamy. One head had an etching just below its left eye, as though the shape of a teardrop was carved onto the body. The other head had a similar teardrop carving, but below the right eye instead. Both of the faces were emotionless, and Eria thought she had to put too much effort to try to match any expression of sadness to the tears. ”Why do you think the Pathways wanted to show these to you?”

 

”Who knows,” said Gagagigo. ”I say we keep moving.”

 

Eria took one last look at the tears in the statue’s eyes, and she and Gagagigo passed the last row of trees, finally exiting the forest.

 

---

Arthur

 

Arthur was humming music to himself, even if he could barely remember lyrics or rhythms to songs he hadn’t heard in over five years. He was resting his feet, mostly from the running, but also to recover from how tight the vines that Baxter had summoned were. The one person Arthur had hoped he would see was his biological mother. He had already seen Apollo on Death, so there was probably no reason for him to show up here either. Back at Camp Half-Blood, whenever Arthur had asked about his mother, Chiron would either not say anything, or if he did, it was to change the subject. All Arthur knew was that he had her last name. But he had no memory of her. There was nothing for this Pathway to pick at about her.

 

Locomon had stopped moving. A door opened, and Arthur walked down the steps. ”Thanks,” Arthur said to Locomon. ”Next time I see you again, it’s going to be when I take my ride home. To Earth.”

 

“As long as you won’t regret it.” Locomon’s horn began to blare, and his wheels carried the Digimon further into the tracks. Locomon tore through several trees, until Arthur could no longer see the train Digimon.

 

”I won’t.” Now there were trees only behind Arthur. Locomon had carried Arthur out of the forest, but the snow seemed to be falling more heavily, and a fog was settling in. Arthur tried to channel his father’s power, but his eyes only took on their usual glow. A convenient flashlight for the fog, but not so good for staying warm in a blizzard. ”“Gods damn it, Dad, you’re supposed to be the sun god. Shouldn’t I get some heat powers, too?” Light was faintly shimmering from Arthur’s bow, but it looked like scrambled pieces of data. Even after become a Keyblade and now a bow, somewhere inside was still that old Digivice. ”MirageGaogamon!” Arthur called out his name, and ran along a path, trying to keep the trees to his left. Locomon may have taken him too far to the east.

 

Something cut through a few of the trees, but the trees were pulled away. Standing among them was MirageGaogamon. ”You made it!” MirageGaogamon said. ”I hope the forest wasn’t too bad.”

 

”Well… I had to go see Locomon again, and Eria’s fox friend followed me and tried to burn a goat man’s face off. Plus… I saw Ytidens.”

 

”Ytidens?” MirageGaogamon looked behind him, but there was no one else. ”Are you alright?”

 

”Actually, I’m doing… a little bit better than I have in a while.”

 

”That’s good.”

 

”Hey. Is it… do you mind if I ask whatever you saw?”

 

After a pause, MirageGaogamon answered. ”Arthur, there’s something about me I never told you. You know of the Light Ancients, right?”

 

”Um… yeah. Craniamon - I think it was him - said that they’re the ones who fought the Demon Lords a long time ago. It was a standstill, but at least they drove the Demon Lords away. I mean, until they broke out.”

 

”Yes, but… there was a bit more than that. Two of them, AncientGarurumon and AncientGreymon, needed vessels for their powers. Flamemon and I were chosen.”

 

Arthur slowly nodded his head. ”…Okay.”

 

”First it was just Flamemon. I was called ‘Gazimon’ back then, but when I saw Flameon, I grew jealous. I wanted power like that for myself. I thought I could become just like him. It was selfish, but AncientGarurumon saw something in me. I don’t know why. He gave me more of a chance then I thought I deserved.”

 

”Sounds like when Sora gave me the Keyblade. We got powerups when we really didn’t deserve them.”

 

MirageGaogamon sighed. ”You’re talking this so casually. To be honest, I’m disappointed. I expected something more.”

 

Arthur shrugged. ”Well, I met you after you became Strabimon. You didn’t seem like someone who had just become a Chosen One. I guess it sounded like a usual Digivolution, but it was more than that, right? Either way, you were my partner who helped me fight the Demon Lords, and that’s all that matters to me. Strabimon, Gaomon, MirageGaogamon, Gazimon… whatever your name is, you’re my friend.”

 

”I can’t believe it.” MirageGaogamon shook his head. ”I thought this Pathway would make it feel like being the vessel of the Light Ancient was supposed to set me back to square one. Now it just means nothing. It feels so incidental.”

 

”I’m a demigod. I’m… not really good at that, but maybe I can say something. I’m not my dad’s son. I mean, I am, but that’s not all I am. I’m still my own person. I can be more than just whoever my father is. You don’t have to be someone who got to use a god’s power.”

 

”You mean like Eria?”

 

Arthur tried to respond, but closed his mouth for a moment. ”I hadn’t thought of it like that. More reflections like the other Me’s said. Whatever. Sorry, if there’s anything else about this you want to say, go right ahead.”

 

”Of course. The Light Ancient’s power, that is the Burst Mode. When you first helped me use it, I tried to purge Apocrypha from me. What Jeriii tried to do to us, and the Demon Lords’ power, I used the Burst Mode to stop them. But it turns out that AncientGarurumon’s power is also being purged from my body whenever I use the Burst Mode. I met AncientGarurumon in the forest. If I push the Burst Mode beyond its limits, I might become someone else. I might need the Digivice for that power. But… we have to say goodbye, don’t we? So it’s something I have to do on my own.”

 

”We could try to push you now, but… I don’t think that’s a good idea. Usually when you Digivolve, it’s in the middle of a battle. Maybe let’s save it. It’ll be our secret weapon. We’ll catch the enemy by surprise!”

 

MirageGaogamon laughed. ”After all the fights we’ve been through, I’m surprised you’re talking about another fight so eagerly.”

 

”I call it ‘Being more aware of my impulses.’ And I think saying goodbye might be one of those impulses.”

 

”Arthur, are you changing plans again?”

 

”Look, just hear me out. Before I go home, I want to talk to people at the Digital World. And when I go home… I spent five years in the Digital World. The first time I was there, it was… maybe a month? That was enough to draw out a giant. If I’ve got five years of Digital World traces or whatever on me, who knows what would happen? Assuming I don’t get overwhelmed by a bunch of monster, that’s where the Door will come in. I’ll have to talk with Arturia about it, but the whole… operating on a different timeline deal. A month in my world could be like a year for you. Maybe I can change that. Slow things down. Or at least put our worlds at the same time. So when a month passes in my world, only a month will have passed in your world, too. We can hang out sometimes. Just on holidays, you know. Whenever I’m off school, or whenever I have a birthday. Oh! What’s your birthday? I can come see you on your birthday!”

 

”Arthur, slow down,” said MirageGaogamon.

 

”That’s the plan!”

 

”No, I mean… stop this. You need to think about this. Really, this time.”

 

Arthur pursed his lips. ”I know. Every time I think about what we’re supposed to do after this, I can’t make up my mind.”

 

”Arthur, this may be too much to ask,” said MirageGaogamon, ”But I want you to make me a promise. That whatever you decide, you stick with it. Then we don’t have to talk about what must or must not be done. We just do.” Before Arthur could speak, MirageGaogamon raised a hand. ”You don’t have to say it now. We can wait. Give it time. Then I’ll know you’re absolutely certain.”

 

Arthur laughed. ”Alright. That’s probably for the best. Usually I do mean what I say, but I think some of it was just bragging. Trying to sound cool by making big promises. I’ll give it some time. Before we reach the Door, I’ll give you my answer.”

 

MirageGaogamon nod. ”I look forward to that. Now, we should look for the others.”

 

The snow began to fall more quickly. Instead of beating against Arthur’s back, the snow began to point downwards. The breeze almost began to seem normal. There was still snow, but not enough carried by the wind to say that there was a blizzard. ”I don’t think we’ll have to.”

 

Eria and Gagagigo approached through the snow, as frost that had gathered on trees turned to water. Arthur almost tripped in the snow still around him, but he ran to Eria, and brought his arms around her. Eria asked, ”Missed me?”

 

”Only a little bit!” MirageGaogamon called out.

 

Eria embraced Arthur, stood up on her toes to reach his cheek, and kissed him. As Eria leaned against Arthur, they both fell over, the snow cushioning their fall. Arthur and Eria laid side by side in the snow, still holding onto each other. For the moment, they could just stay there. Arthur was happy to just look at Eria. Eria wiped the snow from her lips and from Arthur’s, and kissed him. They both needed moments like this to last. Yet each of them pulled away and moved their legs, waiting for the other to stand back up.

 

Arthur broke the silence. ”Why did we have to meet like this?”

 

”In the middle of war?” asked Eria. ”Probably another way this whole thing likes to play with us.”

 

Arthur sat up. ”If there was any other way I could have met you, I’d gladly take it.”

 

Eria took Arthur’s hand. ”Well, we’re here now. If we survive this, maybe we can look back on this like just another memory.”

 

”When we survive this,” said Arthur. ”When.”

 

”You’re right.” Eria smiled. ”Hey. Along the way, I… I saw you. I mean, the way you were back at the Castle.”

 

”I figured as much,” said Arthur. ”Hiita showed up for me, but not the others. That had to have been you.”

 

”Hiita. You said her name. I’m… I’m glad you remember her.”

 

”And Wynn, and Aussa. They’re your friends, Eria. I’m not going to forget them.”

 

Eria stood up. ”And she came back. I saw her, the way she’s supposed to be. A Charmer. A human, just not like us.”

 

Human. Everything about being a demigod, a Heartless, or just being to the Digital World and back, all made humanity sound so foreign. ”You’re right. I… I saw Locomon again. The people I left behind. Some old enemy. My parents. Hiita… she helped me. Not because I was controlling me like I was back in the Shadow Realm. It’s because she wanted to.”

 

”You’re not the same man you were back then,” said Eria.

 

”And you helped me with that. You and MirageGaogamon.”

 

”No. Don’t do that. You left the Divine. You made the choice to stand with us against LERNA. You saved us from the Divine. I’m glad we can help you, but think of everything you did because you wanted to. You’re a good man, Arthur. Honestly, with how the Pathways work, you probably would have fought some version of you in Truth that was like ‘Oh, you’re really evil!’ or something, or the guy who went after me would have shown up for you instead.”

 

”That… would probably make too much sense. But if he went after you, then…”

 

”I don’t think you’re like that anymore.”

 

”Thank you.”

 

”What you did… it still hurts. But I’m not going to hate you for it. I’ve made peace with that. As long as we can get to the Door, as long as I can see everyone again, why dwell on it?”

 

Arthur and Eria walked back to MirageGaogamon and Gagagigo. Something rushed past the trees. Sora and Kairi were gliding away from the forest, and landed before all of them. ”Hey guys!” Sora called. ”I hope we’re not too late.”

 

”Looks like we’re all here,” said Gagagigo. ”We’ve formed quite the little team."

 

”The rest of the Counter Corps are still waiting for us,” said Eria.

 

”And the Divine,” said Sora. ”Just a little farther. Come on, guys, let’s go!”

 

 

 

Ending Location: Approaching C8…

[The Warden]

O̧͞͡҉̱̰̰̩̖̼̫͚̜̺͚͎̹͇͖̪̠u̴̧͓̤̰̲̫̮̺̼̣͉̮͖̰̠̫̟̮͜t̀͘͏̷̠͈̥̱̬̜̗̦̤͍̙͉̤͎͇̳̫ͅ.̧̢̱̞̞͓͉̝̳̹̝.̸̀͢͏̴̻̘͓̯̘̠̫̘̲͈͙̲̪.̴̻̦͓͔̙͎͔̞͈̙̫͙͓̬̹͍͟͟͡ͅ

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pounding what limbs it could against the box, the Avatar grew more and more agitated as it struggled against its cage. It irritated the mindless thing immensely, and each furious crash against it came with intensifying force.

 

O̧͞͡҉̱̰̰̩̖̼̫͚̜̺͚͎̹͇͖̪̠u̴̧͓̤̰̲̫̮̺̼̣͉̮͖̰̠̫̟̮͜t̀͘͏̷̠͈̥̱̬̜̗̦̤͍̙͉̤͎͇̳̫ͅ.̧̢̱̞̞͓͉̝̳̹̝.̸̀͢͏̴̻̘͓̯̘̠̫̘̲͈͙̲̪.̴̻̦͓͔̙͎͔̞͈̙̫͙͓̬̹͍͟͟͡ͅ

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The box Reimu had created started to fracture the closer the Shinigami came to it, the holy light doing nothing to the creature. If anything, it made it even more dogged as every single limb pounded and smashed against any wall they could find.

 

I̩̞̣̗̙͍̖͕̭̗̱̪͖̜̠͜͜ ̴̫̙̘͖̲̤͓̤͙͔̜̘̪̥͙̳͎̙͉͘W̬̥̲̗̩̣̥͜͜͝Ą̸̶̼͉̭̞͕̯̼̘̻̪̯̳͔̝̖̭̖̻N͏̸̧́͏̻̟̬̦̝̝̗Ţ̭̺̖̲͙̠̗̫̱̱̦͓̪̜̖͟͞͞͠ ̸̶̛̥̺͚͉̺̣̫̖̰̠̥͘͟O̵҉̢̟̩͙̫͓̗̮̦͍̬͙̟̟̞͖̞̗ͅU̴̢͞҉̘̩̙̖̝̗̯̦̗̜͉̫̪͎Ţ̜͔̻̖͈̼͓̘̯̞͔́ͅ!̢͙̜̝̠͇̲͜!̶̵̨̟͈͈͇̳͎̰̣͍̰̩̲̞͘͢!̶̨̠͇̗͡ͅ

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unleashing another agonized psychic scream, the container shattered into sparkles, the feedback of which striking the Shrine Maiden exceptionally hard. Finally free, the way blasted out in all directions, striking Kenpachi pretty damn hard while the others would only feel moderate pain. Finally free, the Avatar began to calm down, although, it wasn't as docile as before. Head moving about, it almost appeared to be... sniffing, the air for something. Turning its many glowing red eyes in a certain direction, the beast let out an unholy scream.

 

 

K̨̩̦̞̩̠͔̳̯̞͖̦̼̪e̡̱̟̫̻̗̤̺͕͢͠y̶͟҉͓̺̼͚̩̜̰.̷̠̬̤͚̠͈̫̤̮̙̗͉.̷̷̞̘̪͉̗͔͍̰̳̠̞͉͓̪͍.̧̡̧̼̬̥͙̪̣͔͍̮̻̙͚̣̯͝

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It sensed the Key of Origin, and it didn't like that. Form shaking violently, countless mismatched wings burst out of the creature's back, all of them flapping erratically in a bid to get the monster airborne. It didn't like the Key. It needed to destroy the Key. Destroy the owner, destroy the Key.

 

K̨̩̦̞̩̠͔̳̯̞͖̦̼̪e̡̱̟̫̻̗̤̺͕͢͠y̶͟҉͓̺̼͚̩̜̰.̷̠̬̤͚̠͈̫̤̮̙̗͉.̷̷̞̘̪͉̗͔͍̰̳̠̞͉͓̪͍.̧̡̧̼̬̥͙̪̣͔͍̮̻̙͚̣̯͝

[Kingdom Xathers]

Team Lombax
Pathway of Truth/A-11

“... well, that’s all very interesting….” “Certainly puts things in a new perspective, doesn’t it?” “Yeah, I was pretty surprised to learn this all myself.” “This will certainly make things a bit more interesting now, won’t it?” “Yeah….”

Voices began to phase in as Alister once more experienced the sensation resembling the regaining of consciousness. As his vision returned, he found himself standing upon a wooden platform, amidst a cloudy, orange atmosphere; aside from this, the first thing he saw was a conversation being held by the rest of his group… well, most of them, anyways, as Ratchet and Clank were nowhere to be seen at present. “Al!” Alexander chimed happily upon seeing Alister show up from seemingly out of nowhere. “You made it!”

“Glad you all made it out, too,” Alister nodded as he and Alexander exchanged a quick handshake. “... but wait, where’s Ratchet?”

“He must not have come out, yet,” Red responded, a slight hint of worry in his voice. The worry disappeared quickly as, at that moment, the yellow lombax and his robotic companion phased into view beside Alister. “Ah! Speak of the devil himself…!”

“Sorry if I worried anyone,” Ratchet apologized with a slight bow. “I only stayed behind for a bit to see that everyone else was all right.”

“Technically, it was Ratchet’s mirror self doing the checking,” Clank confirmed.

“When the Mirror Me said that the other Mirror Selves could kill us and/or take our place in the real world,” Ratchet explained, “I got pretty worried for you all, so I had asked my Mirror Self to check on you guys, at least to make sure none of you got trapped or killed and replaced by someone else.”

“We’re just okay that you’re here and safe, Ratchet,” Alister said tenderly as he knelt down to hug Ratchet. “... … you are you though, right?” the General added after a brief pause, pulling away from the young lombax briefly.

“Of course I am, don’t be stupid Al,” Ratchet laughed.

Though subtle, the General still heaved a quiet sigh of relief. “Well, that’s good, but, umm, is everyone else themselves?” he asked with uncertainty.

“Well, I should hope so. I impaled my hammy self quickly, and then spent my time talking with Reid. So unless he did something, I should still be me,” Red remarked with some dry sarcasm thrown in.

“Umbris and I learned of our past--our real past--from our mirror selves, and then they let us move on. So, we’re better than our original selves now,” Alexander reported with a content smile.

“I’m… grateful that you forgave me,” Umbris whispered.

“We got the same old same old as well,” Bayonetta reported in a bored tone, Jeanne nodding with as much enthusiasm.

“I had a chat with my “older brothers”, the portions of the three knights that gave birth to my soul,” Gabriel reported. “It was a rather nice chat, too; we got to catch up on some things, reminisce about my original life in Atlantis… oh, and they told me some backstory stuff about Sayer’s original self, Kyros.”

The group then turned to Alister, all of them expecting his answer. “And how was it with the thousands of other yous?” Alexander curtly inquired.

“Well, I can tell you with complete confidence that I’m NOT one of them, in any sense of that sentence,” Alister replied with arms crossed. “Although I’m lucky that I even made it out of there alive; one of the Altisters attempted to stage a hostile takeover, manipulating most of the other Altisers except for, like, a handful. If not for Kaden, Reid and some amalgam of myself and a king formed during another timeline, I would not have been able to stop Moony.”

“Moony?” Alexander cut in inquisitively. “Isn’t that the one Altister that went crazy (and said those hateful things to Zayon)?”

“That’s right,” Alister nodded. “Although, as it turned out, Moony was acting that way in my Mirror World for two reasons: One, he was manipulated into killing himself in his timeline by Sayer, so Moony ended up adapting a bit of Sayer’s powers and personality. And Two, he was corrupted by a lingering trace of Adrastos’ darkness that had managed to slip its way into my pocket watch--”

“What?!” Red gasped in horror, his scales noticeably paling. “He got to you as well?” the dragon lividly demanded.

“Red, take it easy,” Umbris reasoned with the dragon, noting Red’s suddenly increased agitation.

“How?” Red uttered despairingly, “how could I have let my guard down so that Adrastos could escape my mind into your soul?”

“He didn’t last long Red, not once Alpha got to him. Although, I can’t say what Alpha did to Adrastos wasn’t horrifying,” Alister informed the dragon, his white cheeks tinged with green.

“What HAPPENED?” Red demanded.

The General swallowed hard; he was not looking forward to explaining this in detail. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Alister gave the short version: “Adrastos emerged from Moony once that Altister was incapacitated, and threatened that he would remain in my watch and corrupt the other Altisters before doing the same to me. Then Alpha showed up, and chained Adrastos in place. It was… actually pretty pathetic to see him helpless and stuck to the ground.”

Red’s scowl faltered for about a second before giving a curt snort, “I hope it was, as that’s how he held me for weeks.”

“In order to purge Adrastos from the watch--or I guess my soul would be more accurate--Alpha, err… … he, uh, “un-birthed” Adrastos, reversing Adrastos’ time until not… until not even the reproductive cells remained,” Alister continued, the green shade of his cheeks intensifying with his unease.

“Oh,” Red squeaked, his pallor returning as the others expressed similar levels of disgust.

“That’s… that’s dreadful,” Clank groaned, trying not to hurl bolts.

“Getting de-aged is never fun,” Bayonetta shook her head, speaking from her experience of being turned into a 4-year-old by Jubileus (and the occasional Resentment). “But, to be regressed that far….”

“He deserved it,” Red growled bitterly.

“I can tell the guy was a complete bastard,” Umbris chimed in, “but could anyone honestly wish something like that even on the most despicable of living beings?”

“He stole how many years of my life?” Red demanded angrily. “How many years was I his thrall? I spent two weeks with him, and then decades afterwards. He deserved what happened to him for EVERY life he himself stole an- What is it Alister?” the irritable dragon demanded, noting that the General had taken his hand.

“Come with me,” Alister said quietly, leading Red away.

The group watched them go, and Alister whispered something to him, Red nodding along, until the red beast wore a very surprised and contemplative look. Their talk over quickly, they returned, the dragon bearing a grim look. “I recant my statement,” he declared weakly.

“Quite the sudden change of heart, Red,” Jeanne commented with arms crossed and a raised eyebrow. “What made you change your view?”

“Alister, or should I say Zayo-kun (did I really just say that?) gave me a new perspective to look upon things, courtesy of my other half,” Red explained. “I… take back what I said.”

“Reid postulated that, had Adrastos not been sealed off in the Dark Realm, with nothing but Shadow Beasts and Nightmares as his only company, he could’ve been a much more decent dragon, even a great one. The fact that Adrastos knew nothing of love or kindness since Day 1, well… it certainly makes one see things differently, huh?” Alister surmised

Red turned away awkwardly, his claw to his mouth as his eyes closed in contemplation. “That… kinda puts things into perspective doesn’t it?” Alexander remarked casually.

“Just like with Kyros,” Gabriel pondered reflectively. “He was just a simple, widowed father of one, who loved his daughter very much and would do anything to keep her safe.”

“He sheltered her, if you ask me,” Jeanne remarked with a slightly sour edge. “That’s the only reason her heart stayed as pure as it did prior to her transformation; Daddy Dearest protected her a bit too much.”

“Gabriel was telling us about Kyros before you guys came back,” Alexander said in an aside to his fellow lombaxes, both with a confused expression on their faces that slightly ebbed away at Alex’s explanation. “He was relaying the information that his Brothers gave to him in his Mirror Room.”

“I see…,” Ratchet said slowly. “... but then, what does that mean for Sayer?”

“Nothing that’s going to change our goal,” Alister interjected sneeringly. “Regardless of whether Kyros was a decent man or not, he is not who we are dealing with. I’m sorry to say, but even if there is a chance that Kyros’ will is still somewhere inside of Sayer--”

“I know what you mean,” Gabriel spoke up as he approached the Lombax Trio. “I’ve been pondering this myself, trying to think of a possible way to save Kyros from Sayer. I mean, yes, I know that what Sayer did--to me especially--can never be excused or forgiven, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel any sympathy for Kyros. That being said… I don’t think we’ve much choice in the matter,” the plushie concluded with head hung low.

“I know how you feel, Gabriel,” Alexander said softly as he knelt down before the plushie. “Despite Kyros’ own role in all of this, you still wish to help him in some way… but sometimes, you just... can’t save everyone,” he concluded, his head hung solemnly.

“... in which case,” Bayonetta spoke up, breaking the silence that followed Alexander’s surprisingly dour moment, “taking out Sayer and that Leviathan of his may be the only way to finally allow Kyros to find peace.”

“Speaking of Sayer,” Alister spoke up as he scrutinized their surroundings, “I hope he didn’t already leave this Pathway yet; he did run off ahead of us, after all.”

“Well, I managed to scout the area ahead with Eagle Vision,” Umbris replied, “and I can say with certainty that Sayer is not anywhere further ahead. Which means that he’s either already left the Pathway of Truth….”

“... or he’s still in his own Mirror Room,” Alexander completed as he and the rest of the group looked back towards the empty space that they had all materialized from.

“Either way, we should hurry on to the end,” Red reckoned urgently, having long since come out of his moment of reflection. “If Sayer did manage to leave this Pathway, then we’ll need to catch up to him. Of course, if he has yet to come out of his Mirror Room--”

“--then we’ve got a chance to cut him off,” Jeanne nodded, the rest of the group mimicking that motion.

“Just one thing left to overcome, really,” Gabriel said as he scuttled to the edge of the wooden platform, looking over it down to the seemingly endless twilit atmosphere. “How are we all gonna get across this, exactly? I mean, each of us has to have some sort of method, right?”

“Even if we did, we might not even need our own method,” Ratchet called out to the others; the lombax was currently standing in a wide stance, with only the left half of his body standing on the platform, while the right half was hanging over the edge. Despite this, the lombax’s footing was completely secure on both sides.

“H… How are you doing that?” Umbris blurted out as the rest of the group looked on with various puzzled expressions.

“A little bit of generosity from this Pathway, so to speak,” Ratchet explained as he removed his left foot from the platform, so that now he was completely standing “on air”. Upon closer inspection, the group noticed that a mostly clear barrier had appeared underneath Ratchet’s feet. “Seems we’ll be able to utilize these if any of us have no other way to cross this huge-ass gap.”

“I suppose that’s a relief,” Alister nodded, briefly glancing over at the tattered membrane lining the digits of Red’s right wing. “How about the rest of you, though?” he added as he glanced over at each other member of the group.

“Jeanne and I are covered,” Bayonetta replied as she and her fellow Umbra Witch each formed a pair of feather-like wings on their backs.

“Same here,” Umbris joined in, his cape morphed into a pair of white wings, with dark-violet inner feathers.

“I’ve got Ratchet,” Clank declared as he pressed the large red button on a remote he had pulled out of his carrying compartment; in seconds, Clank’s size had expanded to that of a medium-sized mecha. “Hop on, Ratchet,” Clank said as he held out his hand for the lombax to climb onto.

“Thanks for the lift,” Ratchet replied as he shimmied his way up Clank’s arm and onto his back.

“I’ll have to hitch a ride with Bayonetta, most likely… oh, that’s right,” Gabriel chimed with realization, “Red, you still have access to that Mecha Form, correct?”

“More or less. My body remembers the form,” Red nodded, his wings flexing slightly.

“Hopefully it’ll have no problem crossing the skies to the end of this Path,” Alister hypothesized. “Although Umbris should probably shift into a larger form to carry Alex… or perhaps Alex can have Red Dragon Archfiend carry him--”

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary, Al,” Alexander interrupted, bringing the General’s (and the rest of the group’s) attention to him stripping off his shirt, leaving his reasonably toned torso bare. (“Oh my,” Red uttered under his breath.) “I think… I’ve got something of my own….” Closing his eyes, Alexander gripped his arms tightly as he began to focus on a currently-unknown task.

“H-Hey! Don’t strain yourself, Alex!” Umbris exclaimed in concern. “We don’t know if you’re ready for--!”

“Can’t really… hurt to try…!” Alex grunted through gritted teeth as he continued his task, which was now starting to become quite apparent to the others as two lumps formed over his shoulder blades, steadily growing in size until, with a forceful yell from Alexander, they suddenly burst outward into a pair of fur-covered, dragon-like wings, their crimson membrane a sharp contrast to the snowy-white shimmer of the surrounding feather-like fur. “... well, that… was certainly an experience,” Alexander uttered between breaths as he took a moment to inspect his recent alteration.

“... wait, what just…?!” stammered a bewildered Alister, glancing from Alexander over to Umbris, his eyes begging the Neo-Spacian for an explanation.

“Yeah, about that,” Umbris coughed. “While we were in the Mirror World, we had also found out that, because I had used my body to repair Alexander’s, he… well, he’s basically part-Neo-Spacian now--Umbra Panther, specifically--and technically has been for quite some time.”

“Well, that certainly explains a great deal of things,” Jeanne remarked as she and Bayonetta began their own hands-on examination of Alexander’s new wings.

“Quite the curious design choice, though,” Red mused as he, too, looked over Alexander’s fancy wings. “Almost would’ve thought you to go with fluffy feathered wings,” he dryly added. “Was that intentional?”

“Actually, I’m not quite sure,” Alexander admitted, flusteredly waving the Witches off his wings. “I guess something in me influenced their design… either my connection to the Crimson Dragon, or Red Dragon Archfiend… or perhaps…,” he trailed off slowly as he made eye contact with Red.

Red smirked a little, not really saying anything, as the point was already made.

“So, I guess that just leaves me,” Alister shrugged as he glanced down at the edge of the platform. “My hoverboots aren’t meant for sustained flight, so I suppose I’ll have to use the invisible pseudo-hoverboard--”

“Er-hem.” The sound of a clearing throat and a bright green flash brought Alister’s attention towards Red, having assumed his Mecha Form. “I think it would be easier if you just did as our godson does,” Mecha-Red whirred as he held a hand out for Alister.

“Heh, right, uh-of course,” Alister admitted with an humbled chuckle before hopping onto Mecha-Red’s hand and climbing up to his shoulder, not even bothering to ask if Red had made a typo.

“Guess we’re all set, then,” Gabriel confirmed as he hopped into Bayonetta’s waiting arms. “Now, we take flight.” With that, the Umbra Witches took off into the skies on their wings first, followed by Alexander and Umbris, then Mecha-Red with Alister, and finally Giant Clank with Ratchet.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Nero - Keyblade War Master / The X-Blade's Wielder ~ Prologuous [[Another Time, Another Place]]

 

The Keyblade Master awoke to find himself sprawled on the ground, while the others tried to deal with the Avatar. He could feel his ears still ringing, as he held his head. W-What...what happened? he thought, shaking his head slightly.

 

It finally came to him as he recalled the events. He had used Curaga to heal those currently present in this Prologous and when he did that, the Avatar unleashed a power shriek...wait...before that, oh no... Nero looked around and saw the remnants of Prologuous. He remembered clearer now...the Avatar unleashed an explosion from himself...and this was the result.

 

After that...came the shriek... Nero thought, finally getting steady and watching what transpired.

 

From where he stood, he could see the Avatar bound within a strange cage and Kenpachi about to strike at it again. Unfortunately, the being unleashed another scream, forcing Nero to hold his ears and head from it. And at once, the cage shattered and without so much as a second thought, it struck Kenpachi and Reimu. It was obvious this creature was letting the darkness overtake it without so much of a second thought. That's when Nero noticed something new about the Avatar...

 

It was searching for something. Sniffing the air like a dog...

 

K̨̩̦̞̩̠͔̳̯̞͖̦̼̪e̡̱̟̫̻̗̤̺͕͢͠y̶͟҉͓̺̼͚̩̜̰.̷̠̬̤͚̠͈̫̤̮̙̗͉.̷̷̞̘̪͉̗͔͍̰̳̠̞͉͓̪͍.̧̡̧̼̬̥͙̪̣͔͍̮̻̙͚̣̯͝

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-BGM-

 

Key? It wasn't him...nor his Keyblades, Nero knew this for a fact. Then what else could it wa- "It's THAT Key!" he finally spoke, watching the Avatar now flying in a certain direction. He felt so stupid now. The Avatar was after one thing now...the same thing that both sides were warring over in the first place. The Key of Origin...

 

Finally bursting with energy, Nero began to rush and jump on the floating debris that was around him, summoning up both Divine Remnant and the X-Blade. "He told me that light and darkness is within each heart...within each person..." he said, making his way towards the Avatar. "Yet he chose the path of pure darkness...still, he reunited me with you." Nero glanced down at Divine Remnant, before fixing his gaze upon the Avatar.

 

He jumped onto another piece of floating debris, seeing the being flying a ways off. Nero closed his eyes and exhaled slightly, before throwing Divine Remnant up into the air, watching it immediately take shape into his Keyblade Glider. It was good to see this Keyblade hoverboard again...but nostalgia would have to wait. He jumped onto the glider and quickly zoomed off towards the Avatar.

 

"I'm not letting you get to that Key..." Nero shouted, quickly casting three sets of Thundaga in a row to slow the Avatar down. With that, he swiftly flew directly towards the back of the Avatar, swinging the X-Blade at the wings the Avatar had, doing his best to impede his progress.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"...What the hell is it doing now?!"

 

Reimu was surprised, to say the least. The demon-slaying barrier she erected around the Avatar only made it more and more frantic, and while she was trying to hold on and continue the purging process, she realized that it would only end badly. But before she could do something, another round of the creature's intense psychic scream broke her mind from the situation, and so the barrier broke apart. The backlash from it was a torrent of powerful energy that slammed her right into a nearby platform, potentially crushing her bones. The Orb would allow her to heal, but both the pain from getting smashed that hard and the fact her mind was still disoriented due to the scream of pain was too much for her to do anything right now.

 

And so, Reimu closed her eyes. Her instinct, for now, decided that she should take some rest.

 

---

 

"C-can't say I...well actually, it went better than expected."

 

A statue-like figure on one of the platform groaned as the Avatar fired its bullets, and soon the person regained her normal structure, just in time for him to activate Shield All to block the incoming energy bullets. Kazuya tried to flex his sore muscles a little bit as he trying to figure out what he should do now. So far, he managed to survive by using his privilege as the King of Bel to channel the ability of one of the Bels, something he really didn't want to utilize at first had her COMP didn't end up being broken. That damn Naoya. The form he assumed earlier was that of Beldr's, and as much as he wanted to stay in that form for longer, it was hard to maintain.

 

So right now, the group consisting of those Divines and those Counter Corps people were trying to team up to fight the Avatar's new form, and looking at how it ended-

 

Kazuya activated Shield All again, absorbing some of the damage from the explosion of the barrier breaking, while enduring the psychic scream on his head. That was quite painful.

 

Suffice to say, for now their effort ended up badly. The Avatar however, felt like it was actively searching for something. But what? Kazuya's eyes explored the area, and noticed something interesting. Someone was clutching their head in pain, with a certain object not too far away from them. And the Avatar was clearly going at that direction.

 

What kind of thing would the Avatar deemed as important enough to personally pursue?

 

One of the few available options would be the Key of Origin itself. In that case, for the sake of what he was supposed to do, he needed to retrieve it despite the risks. It wasn't that far away from him now, and so Kazuya believed that he could just run there and snatch it away-

 

Wait, it's gone now.

 

Kazuya looked around in confusion. What's happening?

 

---

 

"Heh...in the end...so this...this is the key? It...doesn't look that key-like compared to what I expected."

 

Yukari, still quite drained, held the key before her. She was keeping her gaps around the broken prologuous to see how things were going, and noticed the psychic dropped the key after one of the Avatar's mental attack. It wasn't that hard to open a gap to snatch it at the right time, but of course, she's also aware of the fact that she's going to be the Avatar's next target. She couldn't afford that to happen now. Especially not while she's tending to a wounded Koishi. And so, she opened up her gap, and had her head pop up on the group with her tea guests, although she chose to address everyone there in the end.

 

"Uhh...hello all? This is a definitely-not-suspicious floating head talking. Apparently I have the Key in my grasp now. And uhh...maybe you can do something while the Avatar would try its best to murder me and erase my existence?

 

Doing something would be quite appreciated."

 

---

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Prologuous 

 

To be fair watching four extreme magics was a tad disheartening. Buterlok still looked unconscious but he was still there. It seemed that the "Hail Mary" play was definetely going to be harder to pull off than they had initially hoped. The Avatar had countered the cooperative task force's efforts with another psychic screech and this time a series of arm swings. Dorian and Rhadamanthys were about to jump into action and try to join the cooperative forces but then something even more interesting happened. 

 

The monster somehow grew wings (well more wings) and attempted to take flight. Through the cluster mental screeches, the word "Key" was heard throughout the team's collective mind. This must have been the Key of Origin that this was all about. But if that was the case then that means Protheus was getting closer. Which is weird because it seemed as if the Avatar did not want this to happen either. To bad the whole enemy-of-my-enemy strategy doesn't apply to this situation. However before they could have processed this information it looked as if there was someone else had something to say.
 

"Uhh...hello all? This is a definitely-not-suspicious floating head talking. Apparently I have the Key in my grasp now. And uhh...maybe you can do something while the Avatar would try its best to murder me and erase my existence?

 

Doing something would be quite appreciated."

 

Besides the fact that the team was trying to figure out how in the world she got the Key from Prologuous if she wasn't flat out lying. Unfortunately, it didn't look like she was. This was its own kind of torture. Nevertheless Dorian and Rhadamanthys took flight while Butlerok seemed to continue to be motionless. 

Ha that's good now we can kill all of them Gyokuen added in the inner mind.

No we can't until we have all the facts. The only thing we can be sure of right now is that the Avatar must perish. 

Ugh fine! 

In the outside Butlerok stood up and the thousands of dolls mages that were still standing in the rift simultaneously echoed!

EXTREME MAGIC LELAZZO MADRAGA !!

 

Intense pressure came down on the Avatar as this was the strongest form of "gravity magic" in the Alma Toran arsenal. 
 

Rhadmanthys and flew a safe distance from the Avatar and he took a deep inhale. 

 

BREATH OF THE WYVERN!! He bellowed as concussive sound waves came at Avatar. 

Dorian on the other hand flew over to the pink haired shinigami who is always next to Kenpachi and looked at her inquisitively. 

 

Not to sound rude, the black blood inside me is forcing me to ask you a question. What are you?

 

[Dad]

Kenpachi was struck mid attack, being knocked backwards by the blast from the Avatar.  The shield had shattered, and Kenpachi was sent reeling backwards, his chest burning with pain.  He caught himself in flight, righting his balance.  "Tch.  That's inconvenient," he said with a visible series of gashes across his chest.  The Avatar had broken free with little effort, and now had set its sights on something else.

 

Red eyes and battered wings sprouted from the Avatar, a series off odd shapes and sizes with one direction in mind.  The creature barreled outwards, chasing down its intended target, as Kenpachi looked on.  "Where the hell is it going?"

 

The Avatar was moaning, groaning something about a Key.  The Key.  "The Key is here?  Why is it here!?" Kenpachi wondered aloud.  Kenpachi followed the Avatar closely, trying to locate the key from above.  He was cut off by a series of thunderous strikes from the sky, which nearly fried him.  Looking around, Kenpachi's eyes landed on Nero.  "When did he get here?"  Following the Avatar with his eyes, Kenpachi spotted two more persons he didn't recall.  Both of them were buckled over, and Kenpachi could see the Key at their feet.  "sheet."  Kenpachi doubled back, racing towards Kratos and Yachiru, who had just been joined by Dorian.

 

Not to sound rude, the black blood inside me is forcing me to ask you a question. What are you?

 

Yachiru was standing over Reimu, noting that she had all but passed out.  Casting a healing glow over the girl, she did what she could when she was approached by the stranger.  Just as she was about to answer Dorian, Kenpachi landed beside them.  

 

"Kenny!  Didn't go so well, did it?" Yachiru asked, focusing on Reimu.

 

"Not as well as I had hoped.  Yachiru.  Stay here and stay safe.  You're doing a good job.  I'm proud of you.  I'm gonna rally the troops.  We gotta protect that damn Key."

 

Yachiru nodded, smiling and focusing on Reimu.  

 

"Kratos!" Kenpachi called, walking away.

 

Yachiru raised her head to Dorian, still smiling from ear to ear.  "You can sense it, can't you?" Yachiru lowered her head back to Reimu.  "I'm part of Kenny.  He just hasn't figured out which part I am yet."

 

---

 

"Kratos.  The Key is here."

 

Kratos nodded.  "Then we shall go."

 

"Me too!" Killua said, jogging in place.

 

"You're not leaving me behind," Revy announced.

 

Kratos and Kenpachi looked to each other, then to Revy.  "We can't carry you while we fight."  Kenpachi folded his arms.  "You're a risk.  You try to fight the Avatar and it'll devour you."

 

Revy pointed at Kenpachi.  "I'm not about to stay back and do nothing.  Just because I ain't super powered doesn't mean I can't kill you, or any one of the rest of these weirdoes.  So I'm going.  It ain't negotiable."

 

Kenpachi sighed, but Kratos nodded.  "I will stick by her side.  Come.  We must defend the Key."

 

Killua vanished in a blur of blue and white lightning, as Revy was lifted by Kratos.  The Spartan left flames in his wake as he charged towards the battlefield.  Kenpachi leaped behind them, shrugging off his wounds.  Butlerok and Rhadamanthys were hard at work unleashing their magics on the Avatar.  Kenpachi skirted around their attacks, looking for a good vantage point.  

 

When Killua reappeared, he was standing beside Nero, who was casting Thundaga spells.  "Hey!" Killua said with an excited smile, mimicking Nero's casting techniques.  "Is that how you use lightning?" he observed, curiously.  "Interesting technique.  Using that giant key sword thing.  Never seen something like that."  Killua's hair spiked, as he extended a palm outwards at the Avatar.  "I prefer my hands.  Thunderbolt!" he proclaimed.  A white hot bolt of lightning exploding and expanding outwards, growing and widening as it traveled towards the Avatar.  

 

Kratos set Revy down beside him, drawing his weapons as she drew her own.  "Revy--"

 

She put her pistol to his lips.  "Go.  I'll be fine."  They kissed, and Kratos turned to the Avatar.  "Go!"

 

Kratos paused, still staring at the Avatar.  He stomped, causing the ground behind him to quake.  A burst of steam erupted behind himself and Revy, and out of the flames the three hundred Spartans rose again.  "Use them at your will.  As long as I breathe, they will be at your disposal."  Kratos sped off, ripping up the Prologous flooring as he dragged his blades behind him.  His chains whipped as he approached the Avatar and leaped, covered in blue flames.  He threw his dual blades at the Avatar and sank them into its 'flesh'.  Using the magics of Zeus, he channeled lightning through the chains of his blades, and fed it into the Avatar directly.

 

Revy turned around, facing the Spartan skeletons.  As she turned around, they stood at attention, awaiting orders.  And there was something she wanted to try, ever since she saw Kratos do it.  Clearing her throat, Revy stood with her pistols at the ready.  "Spartans!"  The skeletons stomped in unison.  "Cool.  Do as I do!  Unleash hell!" she said turning back to the Avatar.  "With me!"  Revy charged, unloading clip after clip at the Avatar, as the Spartans charged behind her, a mass volley of ethereal spears raining down over the Avatar.  

 

Kenpachi found an opening when Kratos latched onto the Avatar.  Kenpachi assisted with a heavy concussive blast of his reiatsu, emanating from his blade and firing in a massive arc at the Avatar's back.  

[The Warden]

Drifting through the black void, the Avatar's many eyes were all focused on the presence of the Key, and that whom currently carried it. The creature blatantly ignored anything else in is general vicinity, such as Nero desperately trying to slice through its wings. But for every wing cleaved, a new one took its place. Desperately he cast Thundaga, the randomized storms having a lukewarm effect of damaging some wings, while many bolts merely got absorbed into its tar-like coating. However, the worst was yet to come.

 

EXTREME MAGIC LELAZZO MADRAGA!!

 

The intense gravity magic made getting close to the creature impossible as the wave bore down on it, the beast's malleable body starting to flatten from the force, until... it just stopped. The conflicting gravity was absorbed into the liquidized Desperate Space, which in itself had its own gravity. The grey ooze shifted to a jet black, an intense sucution-like force issuing from it as all projectiles attacks were diverted into whatever available mass was visible, neutralizing it entirely, allowing the Avatar to continue drifting as any participants that were too close to it would feel themselves getting drawn towards the Avatar.

 

 

K̨̩̦̞̩̠͔̳̯̞͖̦̼̪e̡̱̟̫̻̗̤̺͕͢͠y̶͟҉͓̺̼͚̩̜̰.̷̠̬̤͚̠͈̫̤̮̙̗͉.̷̷̞̘̪͉̗͔͍̰̳̠̞͉͓̪͍.̧̡̧̼̬̥͙̪̣͔͍̮̻̙͚̣̯͝

[Tesability Black]

~Prologuous - ??? - Gemini's POV~

Gemini stopped running as he saw the Key soon disappear into a small circle of nothingness, an annoyed grin showing on his face as he realized what had just swiped it.

"This will throw a kink into my plans," he growled under his breath before seeing the Avatar, mind still broken, trying to chase after anyone and everyone that wound up with the thing in their possession.

Maybe there was a way to absolutely confuse this bastard in regards to where it was...though his idea was likely to get everyone killed except---

---NOPE, he can no longer count himself among the exceptions now! Not after seeing that familiar flash of yellow behind Jace...

~The White Room - Counter Corps - Neos' POV~

For once, he landed on his feet instead of his back, preventing yet another crack from emerging upon the floor under his feet. Raising his head to look around once more, he had expected to see the doors around him...but there was only one door that lacked any form of symbol above it.

"...just what could be left now," he asked himself before steeling his nerves and walking through the door after opening it...

~Prologuous - Counter Corps - Neos' POV~

"What in the Distortion is that?!" The first thing in Neos' view was not the mindmage in front of him nor the dark duplicate in front of and slightly to one side of his view.

No, it was the monstrosity of black that kept repeating the same word over and over.

"That...was...an entity known as the Avatar Conflictous," he heard, finally registering Gemini's presence and tensing up at it.

Avatar Conflictous...
 

[[Pathway of Remembrance: A3]]

"Heh. Heh heh heh. Ha ha ha! AH HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA HAAAA!"

Gemini's body was cackling to itself as it rose, its eyes changing to black as it sneered at the pair. "Ah, Counter Guardian Arturia, and the one from which this failed construct arose. So good to have caught you, despite the fact that you're one to talk about overstepping boundaries Counter Guardian, as you shouldn't be here in the first place. You know as well as I do that the Throne of Heroes prohibits your entry into this most sacred of places. But unlike you, I am not overstepping my boundaries. The Pathways and Origin are my wards to keep, and it is only because I am of Prologuous that I cannot enter the Pathways normally. I am just glad this construct provided me with the means to inspect the Pathways, as to investigate certain incongruences making their way through here. Namely, him" the Avatar declared, nodding at Neos. "I do not know fully what nightmares exist in your head, but they must be incredibly potent for you to have broken the Pathways so utterly as to have created a terminal construct. Such a thing shouldn't exist in the first place, and yet, here it is, idly prostrating itself in Prologuous with the smug air worthy of Protheus himself, though arguably carrying much less refinement in regards or verbosity. However, it doesn't matter, because I am here on business of a different kind..."

"That bastard showed up through you on Remembrance," Neos recalled with a wince, though he didn't miss the snarl in Gemini's voice.

"Exactly. With the stakes as high as they are, I would not suggest trying to fight me while we're here, now that another has the Key in their grip and your current charge is currently passed out at your feet."

Eyes widening, he looked down, seeing that Jace Beleren had indeed passed out at some point. "My suggestion, one of us stays back to protect him, while the other continues the fight against the thing. I have been fighting off and on against this thing, so I would say that it is your turn. Please don't get yourself killed."

"...you make it sound like I plan on it," Neos stated while raising his hands in front of himself, a quarterstaff comprised of light-blue crystal appearing in them before jumping into the fray...

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Prologuous 

 

It even had a defense for gravity magic! This creature was just getting more and more absurd. Rhadamanthys thought about going in for a more close up assault but it took a couple of seconds for him to feel the subtle effects of the Avatar's own gravitational pull. It was clear that close range was not an option. This led him to make a more tactful withdraw for the time being. 

Dorian on the other hand was talking to Yachiru as she was patching up Kenpachi. Dorian looked on as the massive Shinigami made his move. To be honest he seemed completely oblivious to the suspicions that Butlerok had. It was when he left that Yachiru turned around and gave Dorian a smile that almost shook him. 

 

  "You can sense it, can't you?" Yachiru lowered her head back to Reimu.  "I'm part of Kenny.  He just hasn't figured out which part I am yet."

 

Well.. was all that Dorian could muster. It was true that Dorian was getting some silent whispers from Butlerok's black blood inside him, but it didn't actually give him a .concrete answer to anything. Dorian raised an eyebrow and looked towards the pink haired shinigami. Yet you have your own zanpaktou, doesn't that mean you have some ability linked to your soul? Dorian started piecing things together and he began to realize how much raw power that man must not be utilizing. No wonder Butler and Ragnarok want to eat his soul again. She couldn't be a projection of something could she? Dorian pondered as looked at his teammates failure to stop the Avatar's advance. 

Dorian looked at Yachiru and proceeded to inquire. "Alright but if you have the ability to actually assist him, why not do that? Or is this something he has to discover on his own?"

 

Butlerok and the other inside his head were pretty much looming over the fact that the ultimate magics don't seem to be having any effect. 

This is preposterous. It simply eats all of the Extreme Magics that we throw at it! Gyokuen said as could not hide her disgust at this situation. Now what was she to do. 

 

If killing it is beyond your capability...why don't you just move it? Genryuusai and Hades both added. 

That is a thought. Butlerok added. It was at this moment he noticed that the other combatants simply had their attacks repelled. 

Support? 

Support. Everyone replied.

Butlerok then channeled the army of mages once again and this time they all shouted 

EXTREME MAGIC LELAZZO MADRAGA!!!

Thought this time it didn't look like anything had happened. But what was not seen was that instead of trying to hit the Avatar this extreme magic dramatically amplified the striking strength of Kratos and Kenpachi! That combined with a super thick Borg protecting them from the Avatar's pull should be enough for them to actually lay hands on the creature.

[Dad]

Kenpachi | Kratos

 

For a moment, they were dispelled from attacking the Avatar, its defenses proving once more to be nearly impenetrable despite their efforts.  Kenpachi wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

 

"You're startin' to piss me off," he muttered, still grinning.  Then, a gravity magic spell from the creature tugged on him with great strength, pulling Kenpachi closer to the Avatar.  "Trying to get better acquainted, huh!?" he said, not fighting the gravity, but instead charging headlong into it.  And just out of Kenpachi's peripheral vision, Kratos was feeling the effects of the gravity increase as well.

 

He struggled, trying to maintain control.  Eventually, his wings folded, and Kratos was also put under the Avatar's spell.  Fortunately for he and Kenpachi, their counterparts Rhadamanthys and Butlerok were watching their backs.  Butlerok unleashed a powerful counterspell, freeing Kratos and Kenpachi both from the gravity control.  In synch, they broke free from the Avatar's pull, and righted themselves in the air.  Kenpachi examined himself carefully, before turning and giving Butlerok a crazed smile, his excitement unable to be contained.  "Thanks, comrade," he mouthed, turning to Kratos now.

 

Kratos caught Kenpachi's gaze, and they nodded to each other in understanding.  Kenpachi dove past the Avatar, and directed himself to its 'face'.  Kratos took the rear, taking the large blade of Promise off of his back, and pointing it at Kenpachi as it charged with power.  Kenpachi taunted the Avatar, running a finger over Nozarashi.  "If I can't cut you," he began, charging straight at the Avatar.  "Then I'll cut the space you exist in!"

 

And opposite him, Kratos charged, diving into the Avatar and plunging into it with the Blade of Promise.  And attack on two planes of existence.

[The Warden]

All of the Avatar's disproportionately shaped eyes focused intently on Kenpachi, like a chameleon would focus on a tasty morsel.
 
 
 
 
 
Wͮ̌͏̹͙͈̯̱͠h̷̬̠͖̻̘͂̊ơ̢͖̖ͣ́ͩͦ̍ͯ̓ ̵̟̤̲̥̬̙̮̊̇a̶͓̪ͮ̅͗͜ͅŗ̢̤̳̮͔̯͖ͩ̀ͅe̴̴̳̖͖̮͍̜͚ͦ̍͡ ͈͔̖͔̣͚͌͌̆̉̓ͤͣy̬̣̰ͧ̉o͇̔̓̀ͦ͋̀͂͞u̴̗̲͔̲͑̃̾͒͋͛ͧ͡?͔̜̙̖̞̬̮̽
 
 
 
The questioned was directed at Kenpachi, but they were still words felt by everyone and everything around it. Even Kratos could mentally form them as the Blade of Promise was plunged into the Avatar's "back" with a thick squelch. Sinking deep into the black tar-like mass, it started to sink faster as tendrils curled around it, trying to absorb the blade into its nothingness. Shuddering, the handle was torn from the demi-gods grip, and his weapon was lost into the Desperate Space, as many things before it had. Shuddering angrily, the Avatar's head and torso sank into its body, and suddenly it reappeared on the opposing side, its eyes all on Kratos.
 
 
 
 
B̹̱̻̭̳͙͕ͣ̓̏̄̕͝͡e̼̓̿͋̿͑̌͋̑͑g̴̳̺ͭ̒̋ͯ̈́͆̀͐ȏ̢̰͕̤̬̼͙̪̱̏̔͟n̪͙ͫ̐͒͑͌ͯͨ̐͘͝ě̪̞̞̮̟̱̄̓ͦ̉̿̂̚!̘̖͕͍̞͂͒͛̆̃̓̍
 
 
 
Summoning a bright light from deep within its core, the Avatar blasted Kratos with an intense beam of light that radiated an insane amount of heat.

[Dad]

Kratos

 

The Avatar contorted its strange body around, its head now facing Kratos as it presumably ignored Kenpachi.  

 

"Who am I?" it questioned to Kratos, its nothingness ripping the Blade of Promise from his hands.  He watched it become absorbed into the blackness, all light being blocked out.

 

"Who am I?"  Kratos repeated aloud, just as he lost grip of his blade.  He clenched his fists as the Avatar emitted a beam of light in his direction.  Holding up the Golden Fleece on his right arm.  "I am the god of war!" he replied.  The fleece hummed as the light hit it, and Kratos pushed back against the Avatar.  He slowly changed the trajectory of the beam, as it continued to be reflected  by the Fleece.  Slowly, but surely, Kratos turned the light around completely, reflecting it in its entirety, back at the Avatar.