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

[Dad]

Kenpachi was slightly disappointed in the Shadow Realm.  It was your standard dark, gloomy, damp, hell-like world.  The only difference was that he could actually feel the presence of others, namely those he was itching to fight.  Sora looked at Kenpachi straight faced and honest.  He questioned their team up.  "Is it really a good idea if we team up? It sounds like we're the two biggest people in the Counter Corps, so what about everyone who isn't so strong? Don't you think we should help them?"  But Sora was right.  There were some Counter Corps members who weren't nearly as strong as the two of them combined.  But if they split up now--.  Kenpachi cut himself off in his own thoughts.  He was going to think, "how will Sora safely find another team?" but then he recalled just how strong the boy was.  

 

"Sora," Kenpachi said with a grin.  "I understand.  But do me a favor.  You'd better not die.  Because if you do," he said muffling Sora's hair.  "I'll kill ya."

 

Staring into the darkness ahead and gazing at the river before the enormous castle, Kenpachi got even more excited.  There were a large number of smaller, insignificant creatures wandering the shores of the castle.  The larger, more powerful monsters flew high above it (Kenpachi took note of this as Emiya hopped into a crater, attracting a dragonic creature to him).  But he had to maintain composure and remember their goals.  He turned his head to Yachiru on his left shoulder.  "Ready?"  She giggled, before hopping down and hugging Sora.  

"See ya later, Spikey hair-kun!"

 

Then she looked back up at Kenpachi and got into a running stance.  "First one to the river is a rotten soul," he joked.  But Yachiru had already taken off.  "Ha!"  He watched her take a giant leap towards the river's basin.  "See you soon, Sora."   He followed suit and jumped just ahead of Yachiru landing at the river's basin.  Not seconds after he landed, a humanoid creature approached him.

 

---

 

It had long, black, drab hair which flowed down it's back to it's knees.  It's skin was pale, as if it had absorbed too much water.  Mold and slime had began to encrust across it's face, covering nearly everything except it's eyes.  It's bloodshot, murderous eyes.  These eyes seemed so familiar to Kenpachi.   Then as he stared down at the yellowing armor the monster was wearing, he began to recognize it.   It wielded a crescent mooned staff, and it was missing several of it's arms.

 

"It can't be. . . " he said aloud, chuckling.

"Hello.  Kenpachiiiiiiiiiii!" It lunged towards Zaraki at immense speed, but didn't give an after thought.

[Kingdom Xathers]

---

Counter Corps

---

"So, this is where my world's Inferno comes from?" Jeanne spoke as she entered the Shadow Realm along with the rest of the Counter Corps members.  "... guess this is merely a sample of what awaits me upon death, though" she added in a much softer, almost uncertain tone.  She immediately rebounded by adding, "Then again, this probably makes Inferno seem like an amusement park by comparison."

 

"Well, you've quite the tongue for disguising your unease, Jeanne," Alexander said in a somewhat chipper tone that barely veiled the sarcasm of his own statement.

 

"Bite me, Alexander."

 

"Thanks for the offer, but I ate before we left," Alex retorted with a chuckle.  "Y'know," he added, looking around at his other fellow Corps, "we never really "officially" grouped up with anyone...."

 

"Well, no offense, Alexander, but I'd rather handle things on my own," Jeanne replied.

 

"Not that I was going to suggest that you and I team up," said Alex.  "I was actually going to suggest that we try and assist some of the other groups while we make our own solo investigations, but~ if you feel that you can take on the denizens of the Shadow Realm on your lonesome, that's fine by me.  After all, you're a big girl, you can handle yourself." He then turned to Jeanne and gave a slight wink.  "But, if you get lonely--"

 

"Save it, lombax," Jeanne scoffed, flicking Alex's forehead with the grip of her handgun before stomping off.

 

Giving a small chuckle, Alex turned to Itsu.  "Anyways, I do plan on investigating the Shadow Realm on my own for a bit, but if we cross paths in the meantime, I'll be sure to help you however I can."  With that, Alex then wandered off opposite the direction that Jeanne made her egress.

---

The Divine

---

"AARGH!!" Upon entering the Shadow Realm, Alister Azimuth was almost immediately overcome by vivid mental imagery: Fastoon, his home planet, in ruins, the bodies of other lombaxes strewn all over, Cragmites rampaging around.  The General dropped to his knees, hands clutching his head in agony as he gasped aloud in pain.  Just as suddenly as they arrived, however, the visions immediately ceased after a few seconds.

 

"You were warned, were you not?" Vigilance said as the suit of armor approached Alister.  "You should have accepted a spell before entering."

 

"Just... shut up," Alister grunted in-between labored breaths, desperately trying to fight back tears.

 

"Such a headstrong individual you are," Sayer replied coolly as he too approached.  "but that will only get you so far, especially with those horrid memories of yours."

 

"Stay the hell out of this!" Alister snapped back, raising his head to glare at Sayer with watery eyes.  Alister immediately got up and grabbed a spell from Vigilance before storming off.

 

Only giving off a slight chuckle, Sayer turned his attention toward the towering Bane.  "I suppose I'll join with you for the time being, Mr. Bane," Sayer said, one of his R.O.D.s hovering close by, focused on Bane's masked face.  "I just hope my expectations of you are not too high."

---

Divine Vault

---

"Someone's here again!" Gabriel whispered to Bayonetta, once again flopping down and playing possum.  "Is it the same person?"

 

"Must be," Bayonetta whispered back, this time deciding not to feign unconsciousness. "I can tell by the clicking of those tacky Pay-Less heels."

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

Kiotso Senju

 

It seemed as though Kiotso were walking on air as he descended down to the castle ground as if walking on invisible steps. In actuality, Kiotso was freezing the water particles in the air under his feet to make his descent. He witnessed the events between the beast and its partner and couldn't help be somewhat amused. "A beast that could shatter the skull of another, and yet has a heart of gold. Interesting indeed." Kiotso said to himself, turning to walk in the opposite direction of Arthur.

 

Matthew Supplex

 

I may not need any of those creatures under my control, but it should couldn't hurt. Matthew thought, and made his way to the ground level of the castle by using the stairs. Could he have shown off by jumping of the side and landing unharmed, sure, but why go through all that trouble. Not to mention revealing the only real ace in the hole he had. He reached the front yard in just enough time to see two other Divine members going in different directions, whether they had spoken to each other or not, Matthew didn't know nor cared. He opted to go straight ahead a few yards and that's when he encountered two wolf-like creatures. One with black fur, the other with white. They both had four eyes instead of two and their mouths seemed to look more like that of a lizard's. Matthew extended his hand to cast the spell and within a few moments the creatures were his. "All in a days work. I think I'll call you Lizzy, and you Seipher." Matthew said, pointing to the black one first and then to the white. "Let us patrol this wasteland a bit, shall we?" Matthew asked and started scouting the area.

[Phantom Roxas]

While Emiya had slain a void creature, Gin was being attacked by some random tentacles, and instinctively, Eria called forth some of the water that hadn't been frozen to splash at the creature, while she called out many fragments of ice the the parts that were frozen, which shot at the tentacles, embedding themselves into its flesh. She looked back at the water, fearing that more creatures could come out of the water.

 

Indeed, something did, as three sharks began to break their way through the ice. Eria was surprised at first, but smiled, seeing this as an opportunity. The sharks were swimming towards Kenpachi, but to their own surprise, they found themselves being lifted into the air. Eria swung them around in a circle with her staff before sending them flying at whatever was attacking the beast.

 

"TAKE THIS!" Eria cried out as the sharks slammed right into the tentacles, gnawing through them before landing on the ground. The void sharks began bouncing around as they attempt to breathe, and Eria made them fly into the air again before throwing them back into the water. "That should do it," Eria said before returning to freezing the river.

[Dad]

Kenpachi didn't hesitate to reenact his last battle with 'Nnoitra'.  As the fake got closer, Kenpachi moved ever so slightly to his right, leaning his left shoulder backwards while rearing back his blade.  He brought down the blade over 'Nnoitra' with such force that not only did he slice the creature in half, but the very structure of everything around him quaked.  "Heh.  Oops.  You're not as strong as I remember," he said turning to walk away.  

 

But the fight was not over.  The Void Monster's body began to bubble and dissipate.  It rose into steam and began to take another shape, one Kenpachi was not as familiar with.  It was a very large monstrosity, at least three feet taller than the already towering Zaraki.  It had four legs, all covered in a very thick,green  hide armor somewhat like dragon scales.  Each leg was largely rounded, and it's feet had razor sharp claws about two feet long each covered in a brown slime.  It's belly was also covered in the hide armor, but had been missing pieces of it's flesh, like it was decaying as it stood before Kenpachi.  It had no tail, but instead had what looked like marble white spikes reaching from it's bottom to it's neck as it hunched over.  Again, on the monster's back pieces of flesh were missing and the spikes were covered in the creature's black blood.  The monster howled into the air, creating enormous sound waves and shaking the ground beneath it.  It's large neck was covered in the brown slime much like it's claws on it's feet.  And attached to it's neck was the hideous head that was missing three of it's nine eyes.  It's ears were ragged and cut, missing chunks from either ear.  It had a blunt nose, almost as if someone had punched it in the face.  To top it all off, it's mouth was sickening to the sight, dripping green salive with blood and plaque encrusted fangs and a forked tongue.

 

And yet, for some strange reason, this did not even remotely frighten Yachiru.  In fact, she actually squealed of joy when it howled, as she scurried behind it and climbed up it's large legs to the spikes on it's back, and finally sitting on the monster's head.  "Can I keep it Kenny?" she asked excitedly.  Kenpachi shrugged.  "I don't see why not.  You should at least have some fun while we're here," he said with his back still to the monster.  It breathed heavily onto Kenpachi's neck, and attempted to bite off his head.  Yachiru however, would have none of this.  "Bad Mokey!"  she said knocking the creature upside it's bony skull with the butt of her Zanpaktou sheath.  Kenpachi turned around at last.  "Mokey?  You mean Monkey?  It's far from a monkey," he laughed.

 

Yachiru frowned.  "Nyyyenh!  I like his name.  Now come on Mokey.  Let's go play!"  She stuck a tongue at Zaraki, who only continued laughing in response.  "If that was a Void Creature then I don't have much to look forward to," he said aloud.

 

Mokey spun in a circle rapidly, trying to remove Yachiru from it's back, gnawing at her occasionally.  She actually thought it was playing with her, not realizing it was actually annoyed.  Eventually she got bored, and kicked Mokey's head into the ground.  As the monster fell, she leaped high into the air, and came down with a loud crunch, as she destroyed it's skull with her relatively small feet.  "Bored already?"  Kenpachi asked curiously.  Yahciru nodded as they continued to follow the river around.
 

[TFfan1]

Adriel turned to Autumn, his body glowing enough to create a small space clear of darkness, tendrils of shadow skirting around its edges. "I'll stay to the front. Watch my back, stay within my light. OK?"

Autumn nodded, Angel Wing humming as light ran up its surface.

 

Adriel ran forwards, his body glowing like a lantern, Autumn following. He saw the shadows resolve themselves into a familiar shapes: a Hellhound. Bear-like beast of solid shadow, visible only by the iron color of their teeth and claws. It bounded forwards, its head little more than massive eyeless jaws. Adriel swung Lux, cleaving through the first Hound smoothly as soft butter. The shadows fell back into the ground as another Hellhound took its place. "Ever fight a Hellhound?"

"No. But I've fought my share of big ugly monsters." "Eh, you'll be fine. Just don't let them surround you. They're weak to light, but they'll overrun you if there are too many."

 

And so they fought, the shadows forming Hellhound after Hellhound. "Any reason why you aren't getting any custom-made monsters like me?"

"Nope, but I really think saying that was a bad idea-"

Adriel stopped, looking down. The ground in front of them was collapsing, creating a deep pool that filled with inky black water. "Did I mention I'm scared of water?"

 

A roar came from the pool, a massive scaly serpentine beast rising from the pool. "The..Leviathan..." Autumn gasped.

Adriel growled. "Now that I've heard of."

[Love of Ghibli]

Dorian and Butler didn't seems to really notice the movement patterns of his fellow Divine members. They were busy taking advantage of going on an inner tour of the place. While they were looking around Dorian managed to look outside the castle and see the giant furry wolf beast and its master locked in combat. It was fun to watch the mammoth creature work. Oh Butler would you look at that the pet is pretty strong. Butler watched and quietly took notes on the creatures patterns of attacks and abilities. It was clear to see that it was strong. Dorian then watched as the boy subjugated three other "void creatures" to his will. It was a tad impressive, if it wasn't for the fact that everyone could do it. Hmmm I guess I could have gone about gaining void creatures that way aww mine probably aren't as strong as his now. He made a pouty sad face followed by a light shrug.

 

Then things got interesting. The wolf beast interrupted his master and showed mercy towards those shadowy minions. Butler lifted an eyebrow while Dorian had to catch his mouth so his impending laughter would not echo throughout the castle. After he calmed down he mockingly said to Butler I guess it isn't that well trained after all. Maybe they have different kinds of pets in the world where that person comes from. Hmmm this is something worth noting though. Butler quietly nodded as they continued to walk around aimlessly inside the castle. They eventually made it to another opening and Dorian squinted for second and then placed out his right hand. Butler already knew that meant give him some view goggles. When Dorian looked through he couldn't see much but he noticed that the river they saw when they were on the roof was frozen. Hmmm I wonder how that happened? He said with a sinister grin. It looked like he would finally see what the good guys were made of.

[Yosuke-kun]

Cody Renner

 

L'Avenement 12 (Piano Dignite)

 

As Gin was beginning to black out, Cody somehow managed to regain the senses he'd momentarily lost when the attack began. Eria had done some fancy trick with the water, and hurtled two Void Sharks at the tentacles, causing the sharks to eat through them, thus freeing Gin from what likely would have been a very bad hentai moment. As Gin fell to the ground, Cody made his way over to him, dodging and jumping the tentacles as he did. Gin looked alright. She was joking and gasping for air after having just nearly having her neck broken by tentacles, but she would live.

 

Upon reaching her, Cody quickly retrieved her twin blades, and backed her away from the water, shooting at the tentacles as they got closer. Once he was sure Gin was out of the tentacles reach, he rested Gin down. "Stay here and keep your head down until you've recovered. I'm going to help Eria." Once again, somehow Cody was able to keep calm during the fighting, or at least keep up that image of being calm. Despite his outward appearance, he was actually panicking now worse than he could ever remember doing. As he turned back to fight his way to Eria, he noticed something that troubled him. The tentacles had been receding back into the water. That couldn't be good.

 

Of course it wasn't. As soon as they'd gone back to the inky black water, something worse burst forth from the depth. A massive frog-like shape with multiple long tentacles protruding from it's back and sides. It's skin looked like it was bubbling, melting, and dripping grotesquely off the creatures body. Each time a piece splattered to the ground, a small egg would form from the ick that fell from the creature. From what Cody could see, it had no eyes, and probably relied on heatwaves to find it's pray. The mouth was vertical, splitting the Void Hoppers face down the middle, and it's teeth seemed to grow and gyrate all around the mouth.

 

The Void Hopper stretched two of it's tentacles over towards Eria, but pulled them away as Cody had fire two rounds of shotgun slugs at them. The next shot he aimed at the Void Hoppers... face? But...

 

CLICK!

 

Yeah that figured. Cody had used up all the ammo that the gun had while trying to save Gin, and had no time to reloads, and the Hoppers tentacles had found it's way around Cody's ankles, and were no lifting him high into the air. Cody thought frantically, trying to come up with a way to beat the Hopper. The tentacles moved him closer to the mouth of the Hopper as he did. He only had one chance. Quickly, Cody pulled a grenade from one of the straps on his belt, unpinned it, and tossed it into the monsters mouth. The grenade sailed down the Hoppers throat perfectly, detonating as the beast swallowed it.

 

While this did free Cody from the tentacles, as well as kill the monster, it presented another problem. Due to the force of the explosion, Cody was hurled into the river, both softening his landing, and putting him in what likely meant even more danger. He swam quickly to the surface, noting how cold and dirty the water was, and to his utter surprise, made it to the shore unharmed. He glanced over to Gin, who for the moment seemed to be okay, and then to Eria. Cody then reached into a one of the boxes he had strapped to his belt and pulled out a few shotgun shells. "Good job with the sharks." he said to Eria as he slowly caught his breathe and reloaded the shotgun. "How much longer do you think that'll take by the way? Freezing the water I mean."

 

Jin Akatsuki

 

 

Shadow Realm BGM

 

Jin slid down the cliff side that the Counter Corps had spawned on, choosing to try a different route than that of the other Guardians who went straight for the river. Of course to get to the castle, they'd have to cross the river, but Jin thought he saw a small ford a short ways away from the groups current position. It'd be easy to cross from there, and then it was more or less a straight shot to the castle. Worst case scenario, he was wrong and Naomi flew them over the river at a safe altitude.

 

As Jin continued, he heard the distant sounds of the Counter Corps members fighting the Void Creatures. He could sense the ruthless aura of Kenpachi even from this distance too. It really was impressive how strong the guy seemed to be, and Jin couldn't help but think that a lot of things would have been different for his world had Kenpachi been there fighting alongside him and the others. Even so, a large part of Jin wanted to rush to the aid of his new allies.

 

That would have to wait though, because as Jin was lost in thought, two Void Creatures had found their way to the group. "I was wondering when something like them would show up." Jin mused as he studied the enemies with Chaos Sight. The first one, was a massive pulsing brain that had been dragging itself along via the use of four giant tentacles. Is that some kind of gimmick here? Jin thought when he saw the creatures large appendages. In the middle of the brain was a large lidless red eye, that had been trained awkwardly on Ayame. Jin's Chaos Sight also told him that that eye was a huge weak spot on the Cerebrehemoth, a name Jin had come up with for the monster by combining the words 'Cerebral' and 'Behemoth'. The other was something more strange. It was simply a mass of darkness, with no real shape, and no defined consciousness. Jin didn't need Chaos Sight to know that the shadow was the real threat though.

 

 

Blazblue: Chronophantasma OST - Rebelion II

 

As Jin summoned Shukuro in it's first form, and took his fighting stance, the Cerebrahemoth took the initiative and launched a tentacle at Ayame, only to have it severed by Jin. "Sorry, but I know enough about hentai to know where that would have gone, and frankly, I'm not in the mood." With that, Jin shifted to Form 2 in the blink of an eye, and fired a stream of bullets into the Cerebrahemoth's eye. The brain flailed and writhed in pain as it was struck with bullet after bullet from Jin's attack, until finally it lay lifeless on the plains.

 

Now the Shadow made it's move. Slowly, it began to swirl about, and as it did, Jin felt something entering his mind. He quickly tried to block it out, but as he did, the presence pulled away. The Shadow then started to take the form of a tall skeleton. Once the bone structure was in place, organs began to fill in the gaps, along with blood veins. After they had fitted themselves in, muscles began to grow around the bones, tightening and pulling on each other to form a powerful figure, and as the skin and clothes grew out next, chill ran down Jin's spine; yet, he had to fight himself to keep from laughing.

 

The shape the Shadow had taken was none other than his old teacher Tekai, a criminally insane Demon Slayer who delighted in reminding his students that they could and likely would die at any minute. More than that, Tekai tried teaching his students to relish in and enjoy death and all that accompanied it. Needless to say, Jin hadn't liked him very much. Sure, Tekai always had the right intentions, but his methods needed a serious re-examination.

 

"If you're trying to scare or demoralize me," Jin said to the shadow as he summoned Form 5 and spun the scythe around his back "it's not gonna work. Actually, if anything, I'm excited now. You have no idea how much I've wanted to kick this guys ass since I met him!" The two charged at each other, and clashed, echoing their sound across the plains.

[Ren✧]

Quaranir of the Psijic Order: The Counter Corps

Quaranir stood a good distance away from the other recruits as they gathered around the large sword. He was not too big on social gatherings, especially with these people. They all seemed so ignorant to the ways of the universe...of course he should say multiverse in present company. A few of them radiated power and intelligence, but there was something off about each and everyone that pushed him away. "Nothing like the Order." He muttered under his breath. 

 

It was then that Emiya began to speak. He described to them their mission. To destroy this castle and hopefully Isamy's soul. It sounded easy enough, of course there was the small matter of the Shadow Realm. Or what he had learned to be named Oblivion. It really was a wonder. To think that more than one 'Oblivion' existed. He had visited once before and was in no hurry to go back. Of course, he didn't have much of a choice. Donning the ring that Emiya provided, the one that provided 'plus 5 Sanity'. He scoffed at the idea. It sounded like it was taken from some child's game. But whatever the case, he wore it. If the Shadow Realm was anything like Oblivion, he would no doubt appreciate its comfort.

 

Stepping through the portal, Quaranir was instantly hit with a wave of darkness and despair. The clicheness of the experience would have made him sick if he wasn't experiencing the crushing effects of the Shadow Realm. The ring on his finger began to glow gold and as it did a warmth spread through his body. The darkness retreated, no longer attacking his mind and body. He could still feel it, a pressure on his mind, but thanks to intense meditation practices, it could easily be forgotten.

 

Wasting no time, Quaranir ventured farther into the Shadow Realm. He was nearly beside Emiya when he destroyed the dragonic 'void creature' and disappeared into the gloom. Disappointed tugged on Quaranir's thoughts. He had been hoping to accompany the leader of their team, but it was just a minor set back. He would do his job as ordered. He walked passed his comments who were beginning to engage creatures of the Shadow Realm. The Psijic Monk did not stop to help them. He felt know comradeship between them and was no indebted to any of them. They would have to fend for themselves.

 

Just as that thought was fleeing from his mind, he felt something grasp he ankle. In a fluid motion, he retrieved his Ebony Dagger of Banishing from the depths of his robe and slashed at whatever bound his ankle. Moments later his eyes fell upon the assailant. A tendril looking plant sprouting from the ground had been the culprit. Nothing more than annoyance. Quaranir scoffed at the feeble attack. The Shadow Realm truly was nothing compared to Oblivion. Perhaps its psychological effects would be more potent without the ring, but it certainly didn't boast any powerful creatures.

 

That was when the severed form of the tentacle/vine began to writhe about more. Its surface bubbled as it grew in size, sprouting a bulbous body that opened to reveal that it was not a body but a giant, blood red eye. On the edges of the crimson eye were inverted eyelashes that Quaranir studied to find that they were not eyelashes, but teeth. More tentacles sprouted from the beast as it grew size, finally stopping at double Quaranir's height. The beast let out a roar from its eye/mouth/body before lunging at Quaranir with its mass of writhing tentacles.

 

Quaranir deposited the dagger back in his robes before raising his hands as he spoke an incantation. A sphere of blue light connected with the groping tentacles. A smile appeared on Quaranir's face as he waited for the Dispel spell to work and banish the creature back to its depths of Oblivion. Unfortunately, that did not happen. While the spell did seem to stop the immediate attack, even burn the target slightly, its true use did not happen. Quaranir searched for an answer and quickly found it. This was the creature's place of origin, there would be no going back for him. The battle had just gotten much more difficult.

---

Mephala the Webspinner:Counter Corps

Mephala followed the assassin Matt Mercer until they reached the sword and then stayed close as Emiya explained the plan. She paid no attention, choosing instead to survey the other Counter Corps. Teams seemed to start to be made. Alliances and whatnot. She giggled at the sight. That would make her fun all the more amusing comrades in arms fighting amongst each other. She could picture the saga now. Still, Matt Mercer would be her target for now. He seemed to be more or less a loner. That would make her job all the more easy.

 

She was about to approach him when a grungy-looking mortal began to converse with her would-be victim. She thought about laying a curse on the gun-slinging fool, but thought that it may reveal her intentions before she was ready. Besides, she had caught sight of another being from her realm. A Psijic Monk. The audacity of him to show up. Didn't he know that this was her show? 

 

Even though Mephala wouldn't admit it, she feared the monk. His dabbling in Mysticism had burned more than one Daedric Prince and she refused to let herself be another. She would have to take him out as soon as possible. 

 

Due to her lack of attention, Mephala didn't notice Emiya distribute the rings, and as such didn't get one herself. But it would be of no consequence. The Shadow Realm was her home, literally. Or at least a portion of it was, and she had ventured into its other reaches more than once. The Webspinner even had a few friends there. Perhaps she could call them up, ask them to return a few favors. 

 

In the dainty form of her mortal appearance, Mephala followed Matt Mercer as they appeared in the Shadow Realm. She drank in the despair of fear that permeated about the air. "Mind if I tag along?" She asked the assassin, who would know doubt be learning to cope with the effects of the Shadow Realm. 

---

 

Mephala the Webspinner: The Divine

She listened as the droning piece of armor talked about defending a castle or something. It was of little consequence to Mephala. Her attention had been drawn by the time with, Isamy. She was much...different that the Daedric Prince had anticipated. Much more emotional...and unassured. Not the makings of a good leader. Although, she had been adept enough to single her out. It appeared as if the bait had been taken...or at least nibbled upon. 

 

Following other members of the divine, Mephala entered the Shadow Realm, but unlike her other half, she appeared at the castle. Paying no heed to the spell that Vigilance had cast, she summoned her own followers. Thousands of small spiders unearthed themselves from the ground around the castle. They appeared to be made of pure shadows, and a green toxin dripped from their fangs. Each about the size of dinner plates, they would pose a big threat for whomever encountered them. 

 

Flicking her wrist, she sent her minions out onto the plane. They scurried to what would be the Counter Corps. No doubt causing confusion, panic, and fear in them. If they only knew the true extent of her powers.

---

Kobalt the Dragon Raiser: The Divine

Kobalt stepped up along Vigilance, assaulting the suit of armor with an array of questions. "Have you ever been the Shadow Realm? Is it scary? What exactly are you? Are you a boy or a girl? Are you married? Is Isamy your wife? Can you-" Kobalt stopped mid sentence as Vigilance plunged into the portal that Isamy had opened. He looked slightly hurt at the disappearance, but then preceded to hit himself on the head. "You even scare inanimate objects away with your questions." Venus said, chuckling telepathically. "Um, he was very animated, thank you very much." Kobalt responded indignantly. 

 

As other members of The Divine plunged into the Shadow Realm, a worm of worry creeped into his thoughts. He would need Venus to help him in the Shadow Realm, but there was no way of getting her through because of the size of the castle. "Do not worry about it little one, I am already working on a solution." Venus said telepathically. Kobalt took on a sceptical look. "Really, what are you-" Once again, Kobalt was stopped mid-sentence. This time interrupted by his dragon crashing through the ceiling of the castle. "What the f***?" Kobalt asked incredulously. 

 

"KOBALT SWIFT! I HAD BETTER NEVER HEAR THOSE WORDS COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH AGAIN!" Kobalt was knocked backwards by the telepathic shout. After picking himself, he offered a humble nod in the disapproving dragon's direction. "Now," Venus said, calming down "let's go." Kobalt nodded, he gave the throne room one last look, apologizing to Isamy, who was not present, before following Venus into the Shadow Realm. 

 

The spell that Vigilance had cast was already well within effect by the time Kobalt entered the realm, so he felt no adverse side effects in entering the realm except for a dull headache. There was something else though. A presence in the realm that seemed familiar. Really familiar. "I feel it as well." Kobalt would have liked to further explore the familiar presence, but he had a job to do. 

 

Sitting cross legged at the top of the castle, Kobalt closed his eyes and began to concentrate. Having an understanding of magic, he tried to tap into the power within him, but discovered that it had been blocked off by something. "In this realm, my magic doesn't work." Kobalt said to Venus. The Pink Dragon shook her head. "You are looking the wrong place. In this accursed realm, magic is in the very air and not within the living creatures." Gaining understanding, Kobalt tried again and was delighted to find that his companion was right. He felt Venus curl up around him, acting as a shield while he worked his magic. Or rather Vigilance's magic. 

 

The shadows around them began to shift and take form. Kobalt fashioned the shadows to look like something from his memory. As far as he could tell, the Shadow Realm played off a person's mind. If he could just let that happen, then the job was most of the way done. The shadows began to look like a friend from back home, only a swarm of them...and much more vicious. Their existence disturbed Kobalt's mind, more because he had created them. He did not like it. Their vicious personality was something he would fight, not foster. But the Shadow Realm wasn't to be denied. He could fashion the creatures of the void however he wished, it didn't mean that they would play nice. 

 

Eager to be rid of the creatures, Kobalt sent them off to attack the Counter Corps. Unknown to him, they were headed right for the familiar presence.

---

Kozaky the Mad: The Divine

 

As Kozaky entered the Shadow Realm his mind was laid to waste. He had been studying the Shadow Realm for years, and that had been the collapse of his mind. Now back once again, it would surely be the ruin of him. His eyes grew more wild, drool began to form at the edges of his mouth. The changes could also be seen in his reptilianne guardian. But before the psychotic transformation could go much farther, Vigilance's spell took effect and the torn mind of Kozaky returned to its previously shattered state. 

 

Kozaky tapped away at a device in his hands. He had asked Isamy beforehand to make sure that his 'toys' were always in reach. He could hear the grinding of gears now as his robot down below made its way out into the plane. The Woodborg Inpachi would no doubt give parts of the Counter Corps a nasty surprise. 

 

Meanwhile, a tugging could be felt in the connection that Kozaky had with Gogiga Gagagigo. His mind otherwise elsewhere, the mad scientist didn't notice. And while the reptilianne servant remained under Kozaky's control, he could feel it. He felt the aura of his old master for the first time in years. 

[Kingdom Xathers]

---

Alister Azimuth/The Divine/Necrophades Castle

---

Alister had begun wandering within the castle walls, passing through hall after hall.  He would have been out in the field by now, and yet... he didn't feel he could go out there yet, not with his head fogged and burdened by those thoughts, those memories, those nightmares....  After a few moments of endless wandering, his gait began to slow to a halt as his throat started to tighten, his vision growing blurry with tears.  His OmniWrench slipped out of his grasp as he dropped to one knee, no longer able to hold off his tears.  Supporting himself against a nearby wall with one of his arms, the other hand went up to cover his face as water began to cascade from his clenched eyes, his body quivering with each sob....

[Kōsuke Ueki]

After Richard was able to break from his moment of horror, he noticed a thin purple aura around him. He did accept Izamy's spell, so maybe this is what physically showed of it. But with it, also came what appeared to mysterious beasts in malformed sets of armor. They appeared humanoid as he saw what appeared to human-like yellow eyes coming through the open slits of their animal-like helmets. They seemed like hybrids of humans and different animals. One appeared to have moose-like antlers, while others appeared to have gauntlets with sabertooth tiger claws and even what appeared to be gigantic eagle wings and feet.

 

From the look of these creatures, he assumed that these were lesser dwellers of the Shadow Realm, one kind he had control over. Richard pondered about what to call them. Beast Warriors? No, that doesn't work. Unholy Paladins? Nope. Engineers? Now why did he think that? Eventually, he thought up a decent name: Fallen Knights. Now that he knew what to call them, he drew his attention to two in particular. Both of which had antlers, but one appeared to represent a deer more than the other, who had looks of an anteloupe. "I want you to look for any Counter Corps members and watch their movements to make sure they don't get too close to the castle." he told one Fallen Knight. "For you, keep watch of the one known as Arthur. Make sure he has no intention of treason or killing me. If either of you are spotted, do not hesitate to return to me with any information. From there, I will set up an ambush for all of you to attack nearby enemies. Now go!"

 

The two reconnaissance Fallen Knights did as they were told and ensured they were not seen. Eventually, the deer-like one hid himself from Counter Corps members closest to the castle. It just waited until it was detected, merely watching and listening to everything they were saying. The anteloupe-like one kept himself hidden away as he listened to Arthur and MachGaogamon, making sure they didn't do anything that would be suspicious. Getting caught would be more likely as there was less places to remain undetected and advance with them. But he just watched with intent.

[Hälō]

Jecht

 

Jecht looked around the near empty throne room, the majority of the team had  now left, leaving only him, and a few stragglers. The man held guilty expression, as he walked up behind the "beachball" from earlier, moving surprisingly fast for his beefy from. "Let's see if I still got it..." Cocking his leg back, the monster of a man, swiftly swiped his foot past the black sphere.  This was meant to be a practice swing, but the sheer force behind the kick, was enough to send the "ball" spiraling into the portal at great speeds. "...I really need to work on that." 

 

Chuckling to himself, Jecht simply strolled in the portal, completely unaware of the dark energies that attempted to invade his mind. He was Sin after all.  Upon arriving at the castle, Jecht was pleasantly surprised to find that the portal had spit him out directly in front of his "Digimon" friend from earlier. "Can't start the game without the star player, can ya?" Jecht's excitement manifested itself as embers, that danced around his muscular body. Taking a moment to look around his new environment, Jecht instantly noticed the absence of Arthur. "Wait, where's your summoner at? He doesn't want to even try, and get a few assists in?

 

Sephiroth 

 

Sephiroth stepped out from the portal, observing as his fellow Divine practiced the use of their new powers. He noted that some of his "comrades" displayed  interesting traits, such as the Scientists temporary descent to madness, well deeper madness, and the spider woman's spawns. Walking past Jecht, and  the large wolf like beast, Sephiroth decided to simply take his position, without wasting time with the Void creatures.   

 

Taking his first steps outside the castle's walls, Sephiroth closed his eyes,invoking all his other senses in an attempt to survey his surrounding. Almost immediately, the man was was hit by a barrage of screams, and the smells of death. His hand on his temple, Sephiroth continued to push past the realm's static noises, and zero in on the sounds of combat. This also seemed to prove futile, as the entire realm appeared  to be at war with its self... Reopening his eyes, Sephiroth began walking once again, this time stopping at  the castles main entrance. The man now leaned against one of the buildings massive pillars, a silent sentinel. 

[PikMan]

BANE'S POV

Bane stepped into the Shadow Realm. A normal person would experience some side effects, but not Bane. Both figuratively and literally, Bane was born and raised in the shadows. He was molded by them, shaped by them, trained by them... He was actually better in dark than he was in light at most things.

 

Much to his satisfaction, he heard Xeta fling from the portal and land with a thud. Under his mask, he smirked.

--

 

XETA'S POV

Xeta was sent screaming into the portal. Having been exposed to Dark Matter for extended periods of time, he felt no ill effects from the Shadow Realm. Instead, he immediately picked himself up, turned around and, seeing Jecht emerge from the portal, flew up to him and got in his face. No, literally, he got in his face, he used his wings to float up and went to about five inches from his head. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF MASAHIRO SAKURAI DID YOU DO THAT FOR YOU BLITHERING IDIOT?!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. "I DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING! WHY THE HECK DID YOU KICK ME?!" Without giving Jecht time to respond, he pulled out his sword (which was actually about 1.5x as tall as he is) and held it directly to Jecht's face. "DO YOU WANT ME TO STICK THIS IN YOUR EYEBALL AND SEND A MILLION VOLTS OF ELECTRICITY INTO YOUR SYSTEM?! DO YOU WANT ME TO DO THAT?! DO YOU?! DO YOUUUUU?!?!"

 

--Meanwhile--

 

AUTUMN'S POV

Autumn stared up at the Shadow Leviathan with a horrified expression. This can't be happening, I just only barely got here and already I'm being assaulted by my nightmares! Autumn was already experiencing flashbacks of her encounter with the monster back on her homeworld. She won the fight, but the bridge was severely damaged, and Winter used that to his advantage, using a weak explosive to blow the bridge to smithereens, sending Autumn into the ocean and nearly drowning her. All she could really say was that if Phantom hadn't intervened when he did...

 

Her mind returned to the present. She held up the Angel Wing to defend herself. She shouted back to Adriel, "You try to handle the Leviathan, okay? I'll take the Hellhounds! The Leviathan will be more dangerous, I'll keep these guys off your back!" She ran behind to take on the Hellhounds, not sure if she was simply doing this to avoid facing her fear. A Hellhound jumped at her immediately. Taking the Angel Wing in one hand, Autumn held her free arm in front of her and shouted, "Reshelme!" A shining, blue barrier immediately took shape in front of her, blocking the Hellhound, which Autumn sliced through a second later.

 

Holding it in defensive stance, Autumn decided she'd try something. She had a spell n her arsenal that she knew instantly destroyed undead creatures, but decided it would have some effect on these shadows. Sticking the sword into the ground, she thrust out her arms and shouted another spell, "Diabane!" A sphere of light enveloped the area, rapidly expanding towards the hounds.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

The tag team of the dying goddess and the old soldier turned young again looked to each other. "Anything I should know about this Shadow Realm place that our Fearless Leader hasn't told us?"

"It's essentially Hell, but creepier, and filled with twisted, tormented souls, some of which have become monsters themselves. There's a reason he gave us these rings."

"Sounds like some kinda place to hold this shindig." He reached back to grab the strange device attached to the bottom of his RIG, which, upon his contact, started to transform and peel back its casing somewhat to reveal several nasty-looking muzzles for several very different types of weapons.

Itsu gawked and stared at the firearm unfold. "Is that...?!?"

"The Zorg Industries All-Purpose Firearm, Mark I, commonly known as-"

"THE ZF-1!!!" Itsu squeals with fangirlish joy.

"Titanium recharger on a three thousand round clip with bursts of three to three hundred."

"Equipped with the Replay system: one shot, and every following shot goes to the same location!"

"And to finish the job, all Zorg oldies but goldies."

"Rocket launcher!"

"Arrow launcher with exploding or poisonous heads."

"Their famous net launcher!"

"The always-efficient flamethrower."

"My favorite!"

"And for the grand finale-"

"Their all-new-"

"ICE CUBE SYSTEM!!!"

They woot and fistpump at the awesomeness of Foster's weapon of choice before quickly regaining their composure to see that most of everyone had left, but a girl with red hair and magenta eyes was standing nearby expectantly. After quickly checking the other users' posts, Itsu determined that Sarah wanted to join their team, so Itsu smiled and extended her hand. "Welcome to the team. Now, get inside of the ship." Once Sarah did so, Itsu and Foster strolled into the portal, with the Inch of Will lifting a few feet off of the ground to glide in before it found a flat area to settle down. Brad activated spotlights around the exterior to provide a better light source for the Counter Corps forces there, while Foster placed a pair of disks on the ground. The disks sprang to life, each creating a wireframe of some strange miniature airship with four rotors, while Itsu drew the katana from her scabbard, whereupon it began to emit a golden-orange glow with wisps of the aura it created flowing off of it with each movement. Anyone in the vicinity with any spiritual sense could tell that it had quite the amount of whatever spiritual energy equivalent they could sense. As that happened, the quadrotor drones completed their materialization, and Foster activated the omnitool on his left hand, punching in a quick command to put the drones under Brad's control. The two drones lifted off and flew up and away, activating their thermoptic camouflage systems while the D-Gazer around Foster's left eye went live. "Poltergeists in the air. Going ghost in 15." Itsu nodded to Foster in response. "Good to go ghost." Foster engaged his own thermoptic camouflage system, becoming an outline in the twisted landscape before disappearing altogether, though the faintest blur of an outline could be seen every now and then. Itsu motioned for Sarah to join her as she went after Alexander.

 

Melvin fortunately decided against aggravating Isamy any further, and chose instead to lurk around, until he saw a young man yelling at a pink dragoness, until he summoned a bunch of smaller dragons, at which point Melvin charged forward proclaiming "I DUB THEE LIMPNOZZLE THE ALCOHOLIC DRAGON AND YOU SHALL BE MY NOBLE STEED!!!" He leaped off of the edge where Kobalt was standing, and did his best to try and grab onto one of the shadowy dragons in order to ride it.

 

Judaihime rushed out as she as she received her orders, transforming Yubel into a purple and magenta thestral with leathery bat wings and a grey and violet mane. She rode her demonic horse around the perimeter of the castle to ward off any potential magic, though a strong enough blast of magical or spiritual energy could shatter her shielding wards as they blossomed into protective golden lenses.

[Kingdom Xathers]

---

Sayer/The Divine/Necrophades Castle/Next to Bane, near Jecht and Xeta

---

"Well, now, I can't let you people have all the fun, now can I?" Sayer chimed with a small, diabolical smirk. "I'd say it's time for me to practice my billiards skill." Conjuring forth another R.O.D., Sayer held the eyeball-shaped construct in front of him, aimed directly at the black, winged orb thingie that was trying to harass Jecht. "Cue ball, side pocket." On cue, the R.O.D. shot forth like a bottle rocket, zooming towards Xeta at a dangerously high speed; the R.O.D. collided with the spherical creature, sending him sailing beyond the castle borders, clear over the river, and whizzing past a few of the lesser flying monstrosities of the Shadow Realm before finally smacking right into the side of a giant aircraft.  The R.O.D. itself took the creature's place, its iris staring right into Jecht's face.

 

"Now, how was that for a Sphere Shot, Sir Jecht?" Sayer asked, a content grin on his own face.  He felt that the skills he learned from playing SoulCalibur V were finally paying off.  []-)

---

Alexander/Counter Corps/Being approached by Itsu and Sarah

---

Hearing footsteps coming toward him from behind, Alexander spun around, a handgun materialized in his hand.  He was about to take aim when he realized who it was.  "Oh, Itsu, it's you," he sighed in relief.  "Is something the matter?"

[Reinforce]

Lyon

As he found his team, and started to walk across to them, he could only watch on as some of the creatures of the void attacked them, not close enough in range to attack yet, and was impressed that they managed to defeat all of the creatures without too much difficulty. He did notice some creature scrabbling about in the water, banging on the frozen ice on top. Slowly but surely, as Eria's attention was distracted from that spot, it was breaking through and jumped up at the young water mage, jaw wide open, hoping to kill her. Reacting instantly as it broke through, he charged forward the last couple of metres to catch up to them, getting to the creature before it could reach Eria, and slicing right through it's head with his blade, killing it instantly. Unfortunately for Lyon, this same move landed him right next to the newly broken piece of ice where it had jumped through, and started to crack under his feet as well. Again instantly reacting rather than thinking about the situation, he thrust his left hand down, calling on his own powers to freeze the section that had cracked back into a solid plane of ice, thick enough to hold them up if they tried to cross it, before moving back to the edge of the river, to finally re-join the group he had found.

 

-----

 

Darcy

Leaving her body on the roof, and her controlled creatures patrolling around the castle, she flew her astral form out past the barriers being put up, and towards the source of the scream she had heard just before. Flying forward, she saw the usual river, and the fairly large grouping of people around it, and flew to the side, following the river further up, to where she had spotted a group of four more people, two of which seemed to be fighting each-other.

 

-----

 

Ayame and Naomi

Both just nodded when Jin asked if they were fine, before following him as he lead the way up the river. When they ran into the creatures, Jin again acted first, taking down the one that had tried to reach for Ayame first, before turning on the second one. Ayame shivered as it changed form, turning into a copy of the worst teacher at the academy, Tenki, and was then surprised when Jin charged to fight it, the two of them clashing as they fought. Naomi turned to her friend, with a quick call to, "Protect me, I want to help him out." Ayame realising what her friend meant, drew out her staff, and started surveying the area around to look for any other creatures intending to attack, and finding what appeared to be a human female floating nearby. Moving off towards this purple Witch, her eyes gleamed yellow as she went, no longer shifting back as they were before, and her face split into a predatory grin.

 

-----

 

Naomi

While Ayame started to move around, Naomi started to sing, bringing her most potent Magus into play, her dragon's Song. An ability that was most effective in human form, while the Song continued it would boost the basic stats of anyone in hearing range of the song that she considered an ally. WIth it's effective range as the range within hearing, and more effective the closer to the source the ally was, it mainly boosted the defensive and healing abilities of those nearby, definitely boosting at least Jin and Ayame. With that going on, she kept it going, while putting a bit of her concentration into gathering the excess of magic she had, ready to defend herself as well if necessary. She hoped that her Song would have a second effect too, reducing the strain on her stubborn friend, to alleviate the effects this place was having on Ayame as she did.

 

-----

 

Ayame and Darcy

As the two females looked at each other, both evaluating this new foe, Darcy made the first move, throwing a sphere of darkness towards Ayame. Ayame dodged, feeling the boost from the song come into effect, and started to throw bolts of lighting back at the Witch. Unfortunately for Ayame, Darcy was well used to lightning magic, having seen her sisters in action several times in the past, and merely dodged the bolts, before casting another couple of dark spheres at Ayame. In this way, the land bound demon slayer kept trading blows with the flying witch, each of them occasionally hitting the other with a stray attack, but mostly in a deadlocked stalemate. With neither managing to get the upper hand, Darcy decided to speak up, throwing up a temporary shield to protect her as she did.

 

"You're an interesting one, you can feel the touch of the land around you and yet you don't seem to be going mad like most of the poor fellows who made it here."

 

The reply came along with several bolts of lightning shot up, all of them absorbed by the shield anyway, "Part of my nature is connected to this place, so it figures that it wouldn't have as much of an effect on me. I'm even gaining power from just being here, and besides, the music is helping my sanity as well."

 

"Interesting, I guess I'm not the only one who can actually draw upon the power of this place then."

"How would an weak little Witch like you draw on the power of this place then?"

"That's a simple question to answer, you foolish little Halfling. The nature of my magic comes from Darkness and Shadow, something this place is full of."

"Halfling, why you little. Wait, how did you know?"

"It was a guess, though a fairly obvious one. How else would a little lightning mage like you access the power of this place. You're obviously the half-human spawn of some sort of creature that originated from your realm's version of this, most likely a demon."

 

Ayame growled at this, as well as that the witch had been stubbornly blocking all her lightning bolts while the conversation was going on. Since her foe didn't seem eager to speak, Darcy took a chance to steer the conversation in a different direction.

 

"So why would a little half-demon like you be helping out a human like Emiya?"

"Why would a witch like you be helping out Isamy? I'm doing this to save my realm from the chaos caused when she took an important artefact from the realm, but what are your reasons for defending her?"

"Easy, for starters any of us who help her will get given the chance to rewrite the fate of our own universes, which I fully intend to do, and secondly, she's already given me the power of the Dragon's Flame, the artefact from my realm, the acquiring of which was one of my goals anyway."

"Rewrite the fate from your own realm? How is that possible?"

"The Origin, which Emiya is trying to prevent the Door to it from being opened. Once we reach there we can use it's power to further our own goals as well."

Ayame gasped, not having quite realised the scale of which Isamy's ambitions spread.

"So what then, she wishes to take over every Universe through it. That's her ultimate goal then?"

"Not at all, you ignorant Halfling, her goal is to eliminate despair. My goal is to take over my own universe, but that's neither here nor there. Anyway, I grow tired of this little stalemate between us, so long little Halfling. I'll leave you with one final thought, is Emiya really the benevolent leader you think he is? Why would he try and prevent Isamy from reaching the Origin, even knowing what she's intending on doing once she reaches it?"

 

With that, Darcy flew away, keeping the shield behind her to absorb any last shots the lightning Halfling might choose to shoot at her. Ayame meanwhile looked around, seeing a few demons getting close to Naomi, and charged over to protect her friend, her eyes calming down back into the dark green as she ran to her friend, still shocked by this revelation.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Sarah was looking around the Inch of Will when Itsu ushered her to follow her... before she could even see if the ship had itself a Jacuzzi or a bar. No matter, she'd have to explore it again when they returned. But for now, she prepared to leave when she thought she heard a clunking sound on the Inch of Will's right side.

 

"Hmm... probably just the wind," Sarah muttered, before leaving to follow Itsu.

 

...

 

Back at the vault, Lerna was still trying to discern how to breach the containment field when she heard the voice of a sentient being. Obviously not Juubey; he appeared to still be sleeping, although his eyes remained open and his tail was occasionally flicking from side to side. No, someone else was beside this business-executive-turned puppet, and as she turned to her right, she, or rather the Witch that was controlling her, had discovered the source of the voice.

 

It appeared to be another human woman, who had been kept prisoner inside the vault for god knows how long. If Lerna had been asked why, she'd guess that the artefact was inside this woman and Izamy had failed to remove it from her; perhaps she swallowed it, or it was a part of her body. The victim turned away again, and continued to observe Juubey in an entranced manner. Lerna would get her hands on this creature... one of these days.

[Phantom Roxas]

Arthur approached the river, seeing that it was frozen. He looked, and saw a girl was trying to freeze it. He looked at the dragon and demon void creatures, and commanded them to attack the girl. The fox creature began to run as well, but Arthur commanded her to stop. "Unlike you, your friends cannot fly. I can't risk you falling into the river." The fox creature nodded, and stayed behind. Arthur looked at his Digivice, remembering that he had to see if there was anyone who could fix it. "Better yet, just stay here. If those two even look like they will fail, report to me immediately."

 

Arthur left his void creatures, making his way back to the castle. However, on his way back, he noticed a large robot moving slowly from the castle. It's lower half was an orange tank, and its upper half was made up of charred wood with metal slapped on it. The number "18" was marked on its chest, and its pincer claws were at the robot's side. Arthur's wonder at the machine turned to a frown as he analyzed its design. "It looks so… unfinished." Arthur sidestepped the robot, just in case it had heard him, and entered the castle. He looked at his Digivice again, and shrugged. Even if the robot was so shoddily made, maybe the inventor could at least fix Arthur's Digivice.

 

---

"Arthur is… scouting the Shadow Realm. He has obtained some void creatures, and are currently letting them scout the Shadow Realm." Suddenly, a small black ball creature began insulting Jecht, swearing vengeance upon him for kicking him earlier. Then someone else attack the little creature like it was cue ball, and MachGaogamon couldn't help but laugh at the display. MachGaogamon took a deep breath, looking at Jecht.

 

"Jecht, what is it that you want with the Door of Orign?" MachGaogamon wasn't sure how much longer he could commit to this. He wasn't paranoid enough to think that Arthur would abandon him now that he had three new servants; Arthur said as much. However, MachGaogamon had to think of things beyond what getting Arthur what he wanted.

 

---

Eria was prepared to stop freezing the water when the tentacles attacked, but thankfully, they were shot down. Eria turned to see Cody, and smiled. "Thanks Cody. I don't know about the water, though. It seems that every time I freeze it, it soon melts." Another beast soon came after Eria, but Lyon struck that down. Eria was embarrassed. Because she had to be freezing the water, she was under attack, and these two guys had to save them. She was grateful, but she couldn't help but notice it. "Thanks to you too, Lyon. You know, if you could freeze the water, would you mind helping out?" She could sense Gagagigo's aura had gotten slightly closer. Not by much, but she could feel that he was definitely there. "I need to save my friend."

 

The two creatures had appeared beyond the river. Eria looked across the freezing stream, and say a fox creature standing by there, but had to focus on the more immediate threats. The dragon creature coiled itself around Cody, and the demon grabbed Lyon with its feet. The two void creatures began to ascend into the air, dragging the two boys along. Eria turned around and commanded the water particles around the creatures' heads to freeze. Looking back at the river, it began to thaw once more, and Eria had no choice but to focus on both of the water and these creatures. Eria turned, with right side facing the river, and her right side directed at the creatures. The river began to freeze again, this time much slower than before, but not too slowly, as the thawing still wasn't enough to overcome the rate at which Eria was freezing the water.

 

As the ice began to form deeper in the lake, water sprung from Eria's staff, splitting into arm constructs. One grabbed at the demon, tightening its grip until it let go of Lyon. The other arm seeped its way through the gaps in the dragon creatures tail, prying it apart, and Cody was free as well. A third body of water appeared beneath the two constructs, this one in the shape of a net, which caught Cody and Lyon. The two void creatures looked down at Eria and charged, but the two arms slammed against each other, trapping them both inside. The water arms disconnected from the ball of ice, but Eria commanded it to stay in the air. It froze as well, and Eria began to move it closer to the lake, intending to drown the two monsters, hoping that was even possible.

[Ren✧]

Controlling his Woodborg Inpachi, Kozaky watched on a small tablet, seeing everything that his robot saw. Despite its large size, its lower body was packed with enough power to keep it moving at a sufficiently fast speed and in no time, he spotted members of what could only be the Counter Corps, entering battle with random creatures of the void. "Little pricks of light moving the darkness. Only to be squishidy, squashed!" He exclaimed gleefully. Hitting a button on his controller, the lower tank portion of his robot sprung to life. Revealing an array of missiles, the robot's heat seaking eyes locked on to several different targets. "Bibbity boom!" Kozaky cried as hit the fire button, sending a variety of missiles traveling towards a water magician and her fellow cohorts.

 

---

 

The swarm of spiders raced over the ground, finally gaining sight of the Counter Corps. With a mighty hiss, they began to leap across the frozen river that blocked their way, while others continued to swarm over the shadowy ground, scouting the delicious flesh of the Counter Corps members.

 

---

 

Quaranir summoned a bolt of lightning, hitting the Eye-Beast in its pupil. The creature let out a strangled cry as it dissolved into a sickeningly green pile of goop. There was not a moment to relax however, using his telepathic powers, Quaranir discovered another malevolent presence just meters from where he stood. Looking about, he spotted the antlers of some being hiding a good distance away. 

 

Quaranir launched a fire ball at it, doubting that the clumsy attack would make its mark. "Show yourself."

[Gαr]

The Shadow Realm

 

When Ed entered the Shadow Realm, it was like nothing he'd ever he'd seen before. It was a dark and gloomy place inhabited by many strange things beyond Ed's wildest dreams. And he wanted to kill them all. The madness that radiated from the Shadow Realm affected him a little bit differently since he was a hybrid of a vampire and a human. His vampire side gave him general protection from the madness, but it was not enough protect his human from getting a dulled effect. This effect was that the madness and sadistic nature he exhibits in fights is amplified enormously. While at the same time, the Shadow Realm depressed Ed, not the same depression he felt and Unlimited Blade Works, but one of having no satisfaction in anything, except in fight with someone extremely powerful, like Kenpachi or some Divine wielding a sword, thanks to his new-found madness. It was a struggle to keep his normal amount of insanity, but he managed.

 

Seeing Emiya separate from the rest of the Counter Corps, Ed followed suit. Before he could catch up, he was met with several void creatures. They were horribly disfigured beings, barely constituting being called humanoid. Some were oozing various forms of fluids, others had twisted and gnarled limbs, and some were just beyond description. Suddenly, they jumped into air, intent on killing Ed. His eyes narrowed in concentration before jumping to meet them. In one fluid motion, he drew his sword to cut a creature in half, while his slid his left arm back in it's sleeve to draw his short sword to cut the next creature in half vertically. Another one was hiding behind the second creature, but Ed was quick enough to form a black ice sword in his mouth to continue the smooth kill streak. He continued this movement until he was back on the ground with various body parts raining around him.

 

He dissipated his ice sword and sheathed his regular swords before placing his left arm back into place and continued following Emiya. Ed had lost sight of Emiya for couple of minutes, but he was still able to follow by the sounds of dying void creatures. When he finally caught up, Emiya was fighting yet another dragon creature, with more traditional features like wings, but it still had tentacles coming out of its back. It was still in the air, so Ed was gonna have to get up to it's level. He started running, then jump and gave himself a boost by using his black flames as propulsion. He was above the dragon when he drew his sword. He raised his sword above his head, and removed his left arm and gripped his right wrist. He brought his sword down and beheaded the dragon in iconic fashion. He landed on his feet, with the dragon's head falling to his left and it's body falling to his right. He turned around with a smile on his face, and asked Emiya a strange question that was out of place in timing. "Can you tell me what your Unlimited Blade Works is?"

[Dad]

Kenpachi stopped suddenly, as something caught his attention.  It wasn't the hiss in the distance, nor was it the river suddenly freezing solid, temporarily entrapping some of the monsters inside of it.  No.  There was someone strong further away.  Someone who was incredibly powerful.  Kenpachi couldn't tell where it was coming from, but it excited him as Yachiru continued to now slide along the ice of the river.  Whoever this was-- WHAT ever this was, it was higher up, but he wasn't quite sure where.  Kenpachi turned his head generally upwards, and grinned with malice, then straightening up and continued to follow the river until it's very end.  "Eh.  I was expecting someone to be here.  Maybe I expected a bit much," he shrugged.  The sounds of battle rang out near by, but Kenpachi had issues with interfering with someone else's fight, unless of course it meant saving a life.  Yachiru began forming "8's" in the ice as she skated around with her Zanpaktou in tow.  She stopped and stared at Kenpachi, who had just taken a seat on a large boulder.  She giggled and said, "I felt it too Kenny!  There's someone interesting around!"  Kenpachi nodded uninterested.  "Well the sense is strong for sure, but they might just be surveying the area.  The pressure is almost hidden," he said slightly unsure.

 

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to him, a good friend waited in the shadows, also surveying the area.

[Phantom Roxas]

Eria watched the missiles head towards her and the others, and the first thing she did was throw the ice prison at the missile. It exploded, and Eria tried to shield her eyes, commanding an ice wall to form in front of her party. Another barrier surrounded the ice, much to Eria's surprise, but it was still not enough, and the force of the explosion knocked her back. Eria held her staff close, looking at the river, but it was too late. The river had thawed completely, and all of Eria's right was for naught. Eria's jacket was torn and covered in dirt, but she took it off, tossing it to the ground. She tightened her grip on her staff and held it up high. "GET. OUT. OF MY. WAY!" The river itself sprung to life, rising in height. She focused all of it at the robot, and the water began to spiral around. The tides resisted her command, beginning to recede back into where it once was, but it was enough. What water did fall on the robot, Eria commanded that to freeze, not caring about the river anymore. The water moved into the robot's lower half, filling into the silos from which missiles were launched, in an attempt to flood them.

 

All the while, the fox creature was trying to run away from all the danger. It's fire aura had attracted a missile to it, but the creature simply punched at the missile, causing it to explode. Flames surrounded the creature, and the fox inhaled all of it, the creature's fur showing no signs of burns. It sensed that its allies were not as lucky, and immediately went to the castle to inform its master.

 

The sounds of the explosions echoed even inside the Castle of Necrophades, and Arthur stopped his walk. "Guess that pile of junk really is powerful." Arthur had ascended to the second floor of the castle before he sensed the strain of his spell become easier to control. "They died that quicklu? What the hell are we dealing with?" The fox creature was fast, running on all fours until it approached Arthur, who simply scoffed. "You're late. I take it your friends are dead?" The fox creature nodded, and Arthur shook his head. "Useless. Whatever, you might as well just stick with me." The creature stood up and followed Arthur until he found a purple humanoid demon. He was dressed in a lab coat, laughing maniacally as he played with a tablet. Arthur could make out the image of the outside world displayed on the tablet. Arthur approached him, asking, "Did you build that machine outside?"

 

---

Sora wandered around the Shadow Realm, looking for ways to get across. He tried to freeze the river, but he was unable to cast a continuous barrage, instead having to attack it with one Blizzard spell at a time, and while that did manage to freeze the river, it was not enough, as the river would melt the ice soon enough. The girl with the blue hair seemed to be doing a good enough job on her own, at least until other animals began to arrive. Two boys accompanying the girl saved her, and Sora was relieved to know that there were other people to help each other out. However, he then saw what looked like a cannonball being fired at a nearby ship. Sora decided to investigate there to see what was the problem. He saw the lombax along with two women. Not knowing how well they could protect themselves, he approached them, but then heard the sound of missiles firing. "REFLECT!" he called out. A large barrier surrounded the group he just met, and the group of the girl freezing the barrier, but it quickly broke. Although the damage was diminished, Sora still found himself knocked back.

[Dad]

Something was . . . .off.  Byakuya floated quietly a few meters above and behind Kenpachi.  He sensed an odd presence, one that was not a threat, but more of a nuisance.  It was observing his comrades and himself.  With a slight whisper he pointed towards what appeared to be an undead knight.  

 

---

 

Meanwhile, Kenpachi sat patiently on his boulder and rested, casually leaning backwards.  Yachiru climbed onto his stomach and leaned her head back against his chest, folding her arms behind her head.  "Are you gonna climb the castle Kenny?" she asked in a bored, nonchalant tone.  He shook his head.  "Probably not.  Not unless they really need me.  I know I'm being lazy, but I feel like if this place was going to be so hard to handle, the tougher ones would have already came at--" Kenpachi was interrupted as a white streak of hot lightning pierced the sky and made impact nearby, creating a very loud explosion and kicking up dust.  "Eh?  That was Kidou.  Yachiru, did you--"  She nodded 'no' rapidly.  Then she stopped nodding and grinned like a child, as she pointed to the source of the lightning streak, higher up above them.  "Eh?"

---

 

"Hadou kazu shi:  Byakurai," he said just under his breath.  The lightning soared from his finger and narrowly missed his intended target and crashing into the ground below.  It also appeared that he had finally been noticed by the Captain Commander and his subordinate.  He silently blinked and appeared just beside the Head Captain, noticing him still staring into the sky.

"Kuchiki!" Kenpachi said getting to his feet excitedly.  "You sneaky bastard.  Did you follow me?" he questioned curiously.  

 

Byakuya did not reply, as he was busy being assaulted by the excited monstrosity that was his Captain's Vice.  Yachiru hugged Byakuya  tightly, before he picked her up by her robes with one hand and placed her softly back on the large boulder.

"Forgive me for my intrusion, Soutaicho.  It appears there was a scout of the enemy observing our actions.  The target has escaped, however."  His nonchalant attitude and calm composure spoke for itself.  He had no reason to draw his blade against a scout, let alone give away his strength level.  "There are several children doing battle not far from this location.  I thought it best I should observe the area before revealing myself to you.  I shall aid the children and begin to assault this structure soon enough.  I do not believe our enemy will allow us to reach this castle's innards easily."  Before Kenpachi could respond, he blinked and Byakuya was gone.  He laughed as he thought back to their last fight.  "This is gonna be fun.  Come on Yachiru, we should get to work too."

She hopped onto Kenpachi's left shoulder as he leaped towards the river's crossing between the castle and where the Counter Corps had entered.

[Hälō]

Jecht flashed a massive grin, as he gave Sayer a thumbs up.“I’d give it a nine out of ten.” Watching as the talking sports equipment soared across the plane, he couldn't help but be optimistic about the rest of his team’s strength.

 

"Jecht, what is it that you want with the Door of Orign?" As he turned to face his ‘Digimon’ friend, Jecht’s domineer shifted to that of a serious adult. Crossing his arms, the man took a moment to gather his thoughts, before speaking. “Well back in my world, some stuff happened… In short, I ended up being a part of a giant floating wale, and well, I killed everyone.” Jecht paused for a moment, his face remained the same, but those around him would be able to see the sadness that manifested itself in his aura. “I’m gona use the door to give my world, no my son, another shot at me.”

 

Suddenly realizing his ally’s motives for asking such a question, Jecht placed his hand on the beast’s massive leg before walking towards the window that the “Ball” had been lunched out off. “Only a fool will blindly take on other's beliefs as their own, kid. If you and your partner's motives are conflicting...Then one of you is the fool, and when they die, they're not gona go happy. ” Giving a nod to his ally's, Jecht leaped from the castle, roaring into the realm for all to hear. "ENTERS THE GREAT JECHT-SAMA!" Landing with tremendous force, Jecht began making his way towards the river.  

[Final Fantasy Revolution]

Kiotso Senju

There were many battles going on; lakes becoming weapons, missiles falling from the sky, and Counter Corps members draining themselves of their energy before they even fought anything. Yes, Kiotso could see much from the top branch of the tree he was perched upon. "Another ice and water manipulator is present, how interesting it might become if I were to change the playing field." Kiotso said to himself, and with that he launched a ball of light blue energy high into the air; avoiding any flying beasts attention. The light expanded into the dark clouds above and through most of the Shadow Realm, it had begun to snow. "Show me what your power can do with this change, ice magician." Kiotso spoke, waiting to see what more could develop.

Matthew Supplex

Matthew was making his way to, well, he didn't quite know where he was actually going. He knew where the castle was and how to get back, but what the Shadow Realm had to offer him next was a mystery. On top of not knowing where he was headed, it had now begun to snow and a suit is no real defense for the snow. "Well then, this could be worse I suppose." Matthew kept walking, footprints now being made in the white tundra. "Why so much so quickly?" He asked aloud and walked with his wolves to a destination he knew nothing about.