History Sandbox / HotmanX32PantheonVault

** During one of the Weskers' conversations, Albert mentions an idea he and Relius Clover once had to implant a trigger device onto someone's metal for an ambush; stating that he thought better of it and opted out over time while Relius proceeded, he notes that both the metal and said device broke in a fight not too long afterward, rendering it fruitless. This is a reference to an AbortedArc from Year 1 involving Edward Elric.

* HouseFire: As [[ComicBook/WarMachine Jim Rhodes]] flew up in high altitude to look at for a lead on Amon he sees [[spoiler:Vergil's temple burning.]] As he, Ed, and the Ferret Brothers rush to the House of Philosophy, the Dark Slayer's temple is still on fire with artificial vampires being inside.

* PunchClockVillain: Coyote Starrk. This tragically gets carried over from his days under Aizen, as the gunslingers are heartbroken over his betrayal, and Teddie is in shock that he returned to being a bad guy again. None of them, not even the protagonists themselves, realize that this is [[spoiler:part of Mami Tomoe's plan to have him spy on the GUAC and GUAE and send information back to the blonde Puella Magi.]]

** [[spoiler:After Bradley and Azula discuss matters regarding Vergil and Kat, Vandal Savage, grateful enough to overlook their extracurricular activities, thanks them for retrieving an associate who will help him with his plans in the future, hinting that his Illuminati alliance with Gill will factor into later events.]]

** [[spoiler:Mami Tomoe and Coyote Starrk discuss the how the latter's DoubleAgent status could jepordize the Gunslinger Group, how the the events of the story could bring Noel Vermillion out of retirement, and the Primera Espada giving the blonde Puella Magi a question to send to the Gunslingers.]]

* VillainousBreakdown: A subtle one; [[spoiler:After the cooperative attempt to eliminate Jin and Ragna failed, Esdeath angrily slams her hands on a desk after Bradley leaves, cursing the brothers (in addition to Spider-Man and Absol) for killing Seryu and Koro.]]

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The Almighty Saiyan Prince Vegeta is furious with disbelief that a true Super Saiyan such as his son Future Trunks could be captured by a bunch of Pokémon criminals. Furthermore, while he's beating on Raditz during the final battle, Vegeta overhears Lust calling his ex-squadmate "weakling garbage"--to which he instantly tells her off for assuming the authority to judge the quality of a Saiyan in his presence.

** [[spoiler:Ling Yao makes his ascension with Fu and Lan Fan at his side, as he collapses of hunger due to traveling on an empty stomach, to which Illyasviel von Einzbern, Toph Beifong, and Hercules also come to his aid. The six are later seen dining togetherwhen [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Kent Brockman]] appears with a breaking news announcement that Giovanni has escaped captivity. Their encounter is obviously condensed in the story, with the full details being saved for the young Xing Emperor's Spotlight.]]

** Despite this being round 2 of the Humans v. Homunculi struggle that defined Amestris, the retooling of the Pantheon/GrandUnitedAllianceOfEvil to prioritize consolidating power far above petty goals such as {{revenge}} can be seen in the fact that revenge is a secondary motive at best to the Homunculi's overall plans, which ultimately involve [[spoiler:creating the strongest Philosopher's Stone in history and assembling multiple factions (themselves, High Command, Team Rainbow Rocket) into a single organization. In fact, by the end they consider their plan a smashing success despite never killing any of their enemies]].

* SpannerInTheWorks: Mrs. Brisby, Basil, and Dawson infiltrated Bradley's temple, initially to look for the Stone of Nicodemus. After getting chased by Giovanni's Persian, the rodent trio stumbled upon [[spoiler:the deities Team Rainbow Rocket caputred in ''Fanfic/RainbowRivalries''. After they escape from Bradley's temple and head to Mrs. Brisby's, Basil points this out to Dawson that, despite their failure to reclaim the stone, calling the House of Justice about the trophies would expose the location of the missing deities. The 42nd Command Team (and their allies) decide to {{Troll}} High Command despite having nothing do with the Rodent Trio.]]
* StealthMentor: Vegeta seems more like a displeased mentor than a sworn enemy in Act Zero when he turns Raditz back from his fight with Greed and Beifong while chastising him for his weakened Saiyan pride, bad habits in battle, and mercenary service to the GUAE for the sake of petty revenge against Goku. [[spoiler:It's even further hinted when he recalls how Raditz secretly training with Saibamen and becoming strong enough to spar with him led to Raditz being assigned to track his brother, the mission that changed the course of Saiyan history, before showing him Super Saiyan 4. Confirmed when the pattern from Act Zero repeats itself in Exchange, and rather than kill Raditz after stomping him as Super Saiyan Blue, Vegeta not only defends him from Lust calling him weak despite the aforementioned beating being the cause of said judgment, but advises him to drop the idea of ingratiating himself to the GUAE. The epilogue shows this finally starting to somewhat sink in.]]

** Also, Raditz. Last we saw him in canon, he was killed by a Makankosappo from Piccolo Jr. and had a max power level reading 1200 on a Frieza Force scouter. Now, thanks to massive fan support and ''VideoGame/DragonBallHeroes'', he is a Super Saiyan. He also later reveals that he gained the ability to go Super Saiyan 3. His tail, meanwhile, has gotten much stronger than it used to be, with its weakness taking much more effort to exploit during his attack on Republic City, then being done away with entirely when he returns to challenge Vegeta.

* WeaksauceWeakness: {{Downplayed|Trope}} first, then averted. Raditz's tail can still be used to restrain him and slow him down in Act Zero, though actually causing him pain by it requires more effort than just grabbing it like it did in his series canon. When he later returns to challenge Vegeta in the present-time of the story, the tail weakness is entirely rectified and it's even implied that his tail is part of why he's able to maintain Super Saiyan 3 for a longer period of time than, say, Goku in the Majin Buu Saga.

** Envy despises Raditz for making light of his enemies and casually spilling information that let those defending Republic City know who had ordered his attack on the place. Envy has shown to have a bad habit of angry outbursts which have also casually slipped certain details about their plans, being scolded and stopped by Lust in one case and flawlessly trolled by Selena in another.

** Also, Raditz. Last we saw him in canon, he was killed by a Makankosappo from Piccolo Jr. and had a max power level reading 1200 on a Frieza Force scouter. Now, thanks to massive fan support and ''VideoGame/DragonBallHeroes'', he is a Super Saiyan. He also later reveals that he gained the ability to go Super Saiyan 3.

* PowerCreepPowerSeep: The story finally acknowledges that the Pantheon has a way of condensing the powers of characters from universes where world-breaking power has become commonplace, as the explanation for how the Saiyans manage to fit into the current Pantheonic sagas without completely breaking them. From a pure objective standpoint, things like Raditz being kept at bay by Greed and Beifong's unit long enough for Vegeta not to see a post-apocalyptic hellscape when he shows up should be impossible[[labelnote:*]]especially at a point where he's already in the midst of his progression from his Saiyan Saga self to his ''VideoGame/DragonBallHeroes'' incarnation who can go Super Saiyan 3[[/labelnote]], and events like [[spoiler:Vegeta[[labelnote:*]]who's had a few fights as Super Saiyan Blue under his belt now[[/labelnote]] being captured by the Homunculi's trap, the power stolen from him by the "crest of blood" ritual NOT enabling Father to simply kill everyone with a blink, or even Future Trunks[[labelnote:*]]who by now has become strong enough to destroy the body of a half-Immortal Kai who at least fought evenly with ''SSB Vegetto''[[/labelnote]] being captured and turned into a trophy by Hunter J back in ''Fanfic/RainbowRivalries'']], should not even be a part of said characters' dreams. Going beyond characters like the Saiyans, this also has the larger effect of confirming why those with {{reality warp|er}}ing powers such as Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya and Nyarlathotep can't just routinely destroy, remake, and bend the Pantheon to their whims on a regular basis.

** The shot of Lady Dante standing ominously in Act Zero is taken straight from the "Rewrite" opening of the first ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' anime.

** Noob devises a plan to trick [[spoiler:Ragna]]. Place a recording where Envy, taking the form of Jin, slices a pillow with a picture of Noel, someone the real Jin hates with a passion, announcing intent to eliminate her. Then Envy, in the form of Franchise/{{Batman}} in the second Frozen Blade Campaign, approaches [[spoiler:Ragna]] with the footage of 'Jin', [[spoiler:provoking him to go after his brother]], pitting the two against one another.

** Noob devises a plan to trick [[spoiler:Ragna]]. [[spoiler:Place a recording where Envy, taking the form of Jin, slicing a pillow with a picture of Noel, someone the real Jin hates with a passion, announcing intent to eliminate her. Then Envy, in the form of Franchise/{{Batman}} in the second Frozen Blade Campaign, approaches Ragna with the footage of 'Jin', provoking him to go after his brother]], pitting the two against one another.

** Noob and Envy's scheme to deceive [[spoiler:Ragna the Bloodedge]] into thinking Jin is in cahoots with High Command particularly invoked by Envy as "Jin" preparing to destroy "the obstacle", which [[spoiler:Ragna]] instantly identifies is their sister Noel Vermillion because Jin always calls her out of her name. Narrator Jin proves the point as well. Noel doesn't appear in the story due to having retired from the military to become a pacifistic nun. Like Korra and Goku, she gets mentioned a lot by those connected to her. Kagura reveals that she's been away from the pantheon for 6 months.

** Noob devises a plan to trick [[spoiler:Ragna]]. [[spoiler:Place a recording where Envy, taking the form of Jin, slicing a pillow with a picture of Noel, someone the real Jin hates with a passion, announcing intent to eliminate her. Then Envy, in the form of Franchise/{{Batman}} in the second Frozen Blade Campaign, approaches [[spoiler:Ragna]] with the footage of 'Jin', provoking him to go after his brother]], pitting the two against one another.

** [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope A few silver linings, though.]] Vegeta's resistance and [[spoiler:Ragna's]] attack against Father during the ritual was able to reduce the amount of power they were able to get from it as well as introduce some painful residue in the Homunculi's stones. Lin Beifong is luckily able to save Greed's stone from being consumed by Father again, and though they have no way to restore his body at the moment, [[SharingABody Ling Yao has ascended to the Pantheon]]. Vegeta's words to Raditz during and especially after curb-stomping his former underling post-ritual seem to have rented space in the Saiyan guardsman's head. Furthermore, ''Street Fighter''[='=]s classic military/police quartet has made gains in their allegiances; Guile's addition to the Mighty Majors has proven to strengthen their team, [[VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha Charlie Nash]] along with [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars Selena Recital]] were able to recruit suitable members over the conflict's duration to form a coalition as assigned by [[Series/TheWestWing Josiah Bartlet]], Chun-Li now has hope again for the future of the Delta Cops through both Barlet's encouragement and closely working with Beifong, and Cammy is now friends with [[Franchise/XMen Storm]]. Then Liz Lemon realizes Bartlet's goal is to connect all four teams into a larger command unit through the World Warriors, directly countering Vandal Savage as an organizational [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]].]]

* HeroicResolve: [[spoiler:As one of the seven captives who are forced to relive humiliating memories as well as hear the screams of pain from everyone they've killed while tied to a homunculus for the Great Philosopher's Stone ritual, Vegeta holds tough on the Ouroboros BIG TIME. While the others scream helplessly in pain until their consciousness fades, Nyarlathotep's attempt to further break Vegeta with memories of Goku instead rouse the Saiyan Prince to fight. He grunts through the pain and turns it into power, imbuing his blood souls with ki so they start trying to get in the way of the other blood souls, some forming an unsteady barrier around the central pipes and others even pushing or dragging some of the other souls back. This slows down the ritual considerably and depowers the shield of energy around it, allowing [[spoiler:Ragna]] to make his play for Father's Stone with the Azure Grimoire.]]

* HowlOfSorrow: After Ororo defeats Starrk, Teana Lanster tries to get answers from him, only for Unohana to quickly swoop in, grab the Primera Espada, attack the magical girl, and leave. Teana screams out, anguished that she'll never learn why their follow gunslinger betrayed them.

** During his fight with Al, Noob brings up his creation by Quan Chi, whom Narrator Ed remembers in a past incident where the sorcerer, alongside Outworld Emperor Shao Kahn, was beaten by [[LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD a group of devils]]. Quan Chi, alongside Shang Tsung, have also been mentioned at different points by Sub-Zero and Scorpion. Narrator Ed notes that he fought the necromancer twice, having never been told about Noob.

* PowerCreepPowerSeep: The story finally acknowledges that the Pantheon has a way of condensing the powers of characters from universes where world-breaking power has become commonplace, as the explanation for how the Saiyans manage to fit into the current Pantheonic sagas without completely breaking them. From a pure objective standpoint, things like Raditz being kept at bay by Greed and Beifong's unit long enough for Vegeta not to see a post-apocalyptic hellscape when he shows up should be impossible[[labelnote:*]]especially at a point where he's already in the midst of his progression from his Saiyan Saga self to his ''VideoGame/DragonBallHeroes'' incarnation who can go Super Saiyan 3[[/labelnote]], and events like [[spoiler:Vegeta[[labelnote:*]]who's had a few fights as Super Saiyan Blue under his belt now[[/labelnote]] being captured by the Homunculi's trap, the power stolen from him by the "crest of blood" ritual NOT enabling Father to simply kill everyone with a blink, or even Future Trunks[[labelnote:*]]who by now has become strong enough to destroy the body of a half-Immortal Kai who at least fought evenly with ''SSB Vegetto''[[/labelnote]] being captured and turned into a trophy by Hunter J back in ''Fanfic/RainbowRivalries'']], should not even be a part of said characters' dreams. Going beyond characters like the Saiyans, this also has the larger effect of confirming why those with {{reality warp|er}}ing powers such as LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya and Nyarlathotep can't just routinely destroy, remake, and bend the Pantheon to their whims on a regular basis.

** Charlie Nash's team, despite their quirks and tendencies, have quickly proven loyal to both him and President Bartlet and have no problem working together. Selena in particular seems to get testy quite often in response to Rashid's lighter moments, but Charlie knows full well that this is due to her stone cold professionalism when she's actually loyal to her team--hence, Rashid would be in trouble if she ''didn't'' act like this. [[spoiler:She makes this abundantly clear when she boards the AS Alegrias and {{whip|ItGood}}s Female Titan Annie to stop her from crushing the Turbulent Wind.]]

** Noob devises a plan to trick [[spoiler:Ragna]]. [[spoiler:Place a recording where Envy, taking the form of Jin, slicing a pillow with a picture of Noel, someone the real Jin hates with a passion, announcing intent to eliminate her. Then Envy, in the form of Franchise/{{Batman}} in the second Frozen Blade Campaign, approaches Ragna with the footage of 'Jin', provoking him to go after his brother]], pitting the two against one another.

*** [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra Saikhan and Mako]], Lin Beifong's Heralds, appear during both her ascension and said attack, returning to the scene after successfully evacuating the citizens while Vegeta deals with Raditz.

*** Of Lin's heralds, only Saikhan is a cameo, because Mako later ascends and joins the main party with his brother Bolin.

*** While reading Vergil's memories, Kat gets a vision of Nero all grown up, though she doesn't seem to recognize him until later, approaching someone who looks like an obvious clone of Dante, implied to be [[VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}} Jeanne]], who shares the same color scheme and is rumored to be Nero's mom. While Vergil doesn't know the young man is his yet, the notion of them being family has clearly been on his mind.

** [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope A few silver linings, though.]] Vegeta's resistance and Ragna's attack against Father during the ritual was able to reduce the amount of power they were able to get from it as well as introduce some painful residue in the Homunculi's stones. Lin Beifong is luckily able to save Greed's stone from being consumed by Father again, and though they have no way to restore his body at the moment, [[SharingABody Ling Yao has ascended to the Pantheon]]. Vegeta's words to Raditz during and especially after curb-stomping his former underling post-ritual seem to have rented space in the Saiyan guardsman's head. Furthermore, ''Street Fighter''[='=]s classic military/police quartet has made gains in their allegiances; Guile's addition to the Mighty Majors has proven to strengthen their team, [[VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha Charlie Nash]] along with [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars Selena Recital]] were able to recruit suitable members over the conflict's duration to form a coalition as assigned by [[Series/TheWestWing Josiah Bartlet]], Chun-Li now has hope again for the future of the Delta Cops through both Barlet's encouragement and closely working with Beifong, and Cammy is now friends with [[Franchise/XMen Storm]]. Then Liz Lemon realizes Bartlet's goal is to connect all four teams into a larger command unit through the World Warriors, directly countering Vandal Savage as an organizational [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]].]]

** Seeing all the blood at the barracks, Guile and Chun-Li speculate on whether M. Bison could've ordered this, before agreeing that it was done too precisely for even his assassin Vega's skill level.

** Shadaloo and the Ze Balmary Empire are mentioned as two of the examples of the kind of threat President Bartlet wants to have a team prepared to fight against when he gives that order to Charlie Nash and Selena Recital, a goal which he states has been on his mind ever since [[Pantheon/GrandUnitedAllianceOfMachines certain machine criminals]] [[Fanfic/MechanicalOutbreak orchestrated an earlier outbreak]]. A few characters besides Bartlet mention the outbreak, with Guile himself mentioning [[Videogame/RatchetAndClank Dr. Nefarious]], and Narrator Ed noting that Jax helped Motoko deal with the robotic mad scientist. An angry Sub-Zero remarked that Smoke is now a puppet, after he tried to rescue him from Nefarious as well.

** [[Franchise/DragonBall Cell]] is first mentioned getting into a fight with Videogame/CrashBandicoot (presumably with help from his sister Coco, and Androids 17 & 18) by Bradley as High Command releases Nitrous Brio back to his temple. Mami Tomoe notes that he once tried to attack and absorb Noel to achieve a higher power, heavily implied to be a factor in the latter's departure from the pantheon six months ago.
* HeroicResolve: [[spoiler:As one of the seven captives who are forced to relive humiliating memories as well as hear the screams of pain from everyone they've killed while tied to a homunculus for the Great Philosopher's Stone ritual, Vegeta holds tough on the Ouroboros BIG TIME. While the others scream helplessly in pain until their consciousness fades, Nyarlathotep's attempt to further break Vegeta with memories of Goku instead rouse the Saiyan Prince to fight. He grunts through the pain and turns it into power, imbuing his blood souls with ki so they start trying to get in the way of the other blood souls, some forming an unsteady barrier around the central pipes and others even pushing or dragging some of the other souls back. This slows down the ritual considerably and depowers the shield of energy around it, allowing Ragna to make his play for Father's Stone with the Azure Grimoire.]]

* PragmaticVillainy:
** With a few exceptions [[spoiler:all taking place after they get the GPS]], High Command does not kill any of the heroes. This is so they won't make more enemies than they already have.

** Noob Saibot adivses Envy not to attack Noel, knowing that it won't be just Ragna High Command will be making enemies of.

** Noob and Envy's scheme to deceive [[spoiler:Ragna the Bloodedge]] into thinking Jin is in cahoots with High Command particularly invoked by Envy as "Jin" preparing to destroy "the obstacle", which [[spoiler:Ragna]] instantly identifies is their sister Noel Vermillion because Jin always calls her out of her name. Narrator Jin proves the point as well. Noel doesn't appear in the story due to having retired from the military to become a pacifistic nun. She's also mentioned by a distressed Rushuna Tendou calling out Coyote Starrk for betraying the gunslingers and joining High Command after everything he did for her and Mami Tomoe. Later when Asami was forced to go on Jax's plane to help Cyrax as part of Beifong's plan to keep away from attacking Azula, Kagura comforts Asami in regards to Korra's capture, telling her a story about how two women were desperate to save a friend theirs, noting that one of them was willing to "relive a painful memory" to get stronger, albeit with some help. Jin immediately realize this, as this is a reference to the time he, Noel, and Makoto Nanaya rescued Tsubaki Yayoi (a minor character in this story) from the Mind Eater's influence.

** Noob brings up his creation by Quan Chi, whom Narrator Ed remembers in a past incident where the sorcerer, alongside Outworld Emperor Shao Kahn, was beaten by [[LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD a group of devils]]. Quan Chi, alongside Shang Tsung, have also been mentioned at different points by Sub-Zero and Scorpion. Narrator Ed notes that he fought the necromancer twice, having never been told about Noob.

** [[spoiler:Mami Tomoe and Coyote Starrk discuss the how latter's DoubleAgent could jepordize the Gunslinger Group, how the the events of the story could bring Noel Vermillion out of retirement, and the Primera Espada giving the blonde Puella Magi a question to send to the Gunslingers.]]

** One of the motivating factors for Raditz's attack on Republic City is that he hopes for his carnage to lure Son Goku AKA Kakarot there. When he gets treated to Vegeta intercepting his attack instead, the mid-class soldier asks why his former leader is bothering him rather than Kakarot.

** Mixed with CallBack. While lamenting that Gluttony stole her Stone, Mrs. Brisby recalls how Nicodemus gave it to her and it allowed her to save her family. Reference to it being called the Stone of Nicodemus appears regularly throughout the story after that.

** Noob and Envy's scheme to deceive [[spoiler:Ragna the Bloodedge]] into thinking Jin is in cahoots with High Command particularly invoked by Envy as "Jin" preparing to destroy "the obstacle", which [[spoiler:Ragna]] instantly identifies is their sister Noel Vermillion because Jin always calls her out of her name. Narrator Jin proves the point as well. Noel doesn't appear in the story due to having retired from the military to become a pacifistic nun. She's also mentioned by a distressed Rushuna Tendou calling out Coyote Starrk for betraying the gunslingers and joining High Command after everything he did for her and Mami Tomoe. Later when Asami was forced to go on Jax's plane to help Cyrax as part of Beifong's plan to keep away from attacking Azula, Kagura comforts Asami in regards to Korra's capture, telling her a story about how two women were desperate to save a friend theirs, noting that one of them was willing to "relive a painful memory" to get stronger, albeit with some help. Jin immediately realize this, as this is a reference to the time he, Noel, and Makoto Nanaya rescued Tsubaki Yayoi from the Mind Eater's influence.
** Goku's name actually gets bandied about A LOT as far as Vegeta and Raditz are concerned. Future Trunks was supposed to meet with both Vegeta and Kakarot before he got captured by Team Rainbow Rocket, and [[spoiler:Vegeta later admonishes Raditz to abandon the notion of the GUAE helping him attain revenge against Kakarot or himself. Even Ryu gets in on the act, remembering that Goku and Gohan are training in their own world as part of the reason it's up to him to protect the House of Power while the main party heroes take the fight to the Ouroboros]].
** Shadaloo and the Ze Balmary Empire are mentioned as two of the examples of the kind of threat President Bartlet wants to have a team prepared to fight against when he gives that order to Charlie Nash and Selena Recital, a goal which he states has been on his mind ever since [[Pantheon/GrandUnitedAllianceOfMachines certain machine criminals]] [[Fanfic/MechanicalOutbreak orchestrated an earlier outbreak]]. A few characters besides Bartlet mention the outbreak, with Guile himself mentioning [[Videogame/RatchetAndClank Dr. Nefarious]], and Narrator Ed noting that Jax helped Motoko deal with the robotic scientist. An angry Sub-Zero remarked that Smoke is now a puppet, after he tried to rescue him from Nefarious as well.

** As alluded to above, Vegeta is looking for information on the whereabouts of Future Trunks, another captive of Team Rainbow Rocket.

** Basil asks Mrs. Brisby whether or not [[WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective Ratigan]] took the Stone of Nicodemus. He is surprised that someone other than the rat criminal, who isn't seen amongst the ranks of the Ouroboros, had stolen the artifact.

* HouseFire: As [[ComicBook/WarMachine Jim Rhodes]] flew up in high altitude to look at for a lead on Amon he sees Vergil's temple burning. As he, Ed, and the Ferret Brothers rush to the House of Philosophy, the Dark Slayer's temple is still on fire with artificial vampires being inside.
* HowlOfSorrow: After Ororo defeats Starrk, Teana Lanster tries to get answers from him, only for Unohana to quickly swoop in, grab the Primera Espada, attack the magical girl, and leave. Teana screams out, anguished that she never got answers from the traitor gunslinger.

** Before the story's climax, Greed talks with Lin about his future plans in complete seriousness, without the whole TakeOverTheWorld cover that usually annoys her, and she invokes the "Queen" moniker he usually foists on her to get him to cut her in on certain resources.

* AscendedExtra: Everything Sloth does in this story is as Father's Herald. He only officially ascends to his own throne in the epilogue. Similarly, ComicBook/PepperPotts, ComicBook/IronMan's obvious and important second, sees plenty of screen time similar to her role in ''Rainbow Rivalries'', despite officially being a mere follower of an unrelated deity. Said deity later turns her over to Tony's temple officially as his Herald, allowing her to operate at Stark Tower full time... also in the epilogue.

* HouseFire: As [[Comicbook/WarMachine Jim Rhodes]] flew up in high altitude to look at for a lead on Amon he sees Vergil's temple burning. As he, Ed, and the Ferret Brothers rush to the House of Philosophy, the Dark Slayer's temple is still on fire with artificial vampires being inside.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: The Great Philosopher's Stone is successfully created through the souls and partial powers drained from seven captive "walking crests of blood" passing through the Homunculi (including an unwilling Greed, who unlike the others doesn't get to keep any of the Stone's power) with the help of an avatar of Nyarlathotep, making Father more powerful than he has ever been. With an assist from [[Franchise/TheLionKing the lion Scar]] keeping Mrs. Brisby, [[WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective Basil, and Dawson]] at bay, Lady Dante gets to keep hold of the Stone of Nicodemus that Gluttony stole from Mrs. Brisby to try and reverse her PossessionBurnout so she can keep Lyra's form undeterred. [[Manga/ElfenLied Lucy]] and [[Franchise/NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji Ikari]] are two of said walking crests of blood, giving them each yet another psychological scar (which they ''[[BrokenBird don't need]]'', to put it mildly). Thanks to the power of the two stones, Sloth the Indolent has been ascended to his own temple, with Dante pulling strings to add her world's Sloth, Juliet Douglas, as his Herald. On top of that, [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Giovanni]] has been broken out of prison, continuing the group's other plan to annex Team Rainbow Rocket into their ranks and turn the Order of the Ouroboros into a full-scale organization per the business model devised by the GUAE. They also OutGambitted Vergil Sparda into fighting them on their terms, leading to not only his capture for experimentation by Alex and Albert Wesker, but also Kat's as well, in another joint plot devised by Bradley and Azula; furthermore, this is hinted to be connected to Vergil's grim state at the start of ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5''. And finally, Greed, the rebel son who helped kill Father in their homeworld, finds himself boiled down to his stone form again after going through several levels of torment. Aside from ultimately failing to kill their enemies, which they only really tried ''after'' creating the GPS, The Homunculi's EvilPlan is more or less successful.]]
** [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope A few silver linings, though.]] Lin Beifong is luckily able to save Greed's stone from being consumed by Father again, and though they have no way to restore his body at the moment, [[SharingABody Ling Yao has ascended to the Pantheon]]. Vegeta's words to Raditz during and especially after curb-stomping his former underling post-ritual seem to have rented space in the Saiyan guardsman's head. Furthermore, ''Street Fighter''[='=]s classic military/police quartet has made gains in their allegiances; Guile's addition to the Mighty Majors has proven to strengthen their team, [[VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha Charlie Nash]] along with [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars Selena Recital]] were able to recruit suitable members over the conflict's duration to form a coalition as assigned by [[Series/TheWestWing Josiah Bartlet]], Chun-Li now has hope again for the future of the Delta Cops through both Barlet's encouragement and closely working with Beifong, and Cammy is now friends with [[Franchise/XMen Storm]]. Then Liz Lemon realizes Bartlet's goal is to connect all four teams into a larger command unit through the World Warriors, directly countering Vandal Savage as an organizational [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]].]]

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Once Coyote Starrk is cornered by both Iron Man and War Machine after trying to stop Sanger Zonvolt and [[Manga/StrikeWitches Mio Sakamoto]] from intercepting a missile launched by High Command, he immediately stands down rather than engage the two Armored Avengers in combat. [[spoiler:Later, the Primera Espada battles Storm and is already having a slightly difficult time with Ororo when he notices that Unohana is watching, realizing that he's screwed, even with Resurrecion and decides to go down in surrender. This becomes rather relevant in the epilogue conversation that reveals his true role in the story's events.]]

** The Guardians of the House of Family, plus [[Videogame/Persona4 Yu Narukami]] and barring Scar, Lady Tremaine, and Ozai, make quick work of the mannequins and artificial, allowing [[Videogame/MortalKombatII Jackson Briggs]] to leave the House of Family and be picked up by Guile and Nash.

* OtherMeAnnoysMe: When Kat attempts to refer to Nephilim!Vergil by name in a conversation with the original Vergil, he instantly cuts her off for naming "the weakling" in his presence. She has to settle for calling her old boss "[his] Nephilim".

** [[spoiler:After Bradley and Azula discuss matters regarding Vergil and Kat, Vandal Savage, grateful enough to overlook their curricular activities, thanks them for retrieving an associate who will help him with his plans in the future, hinting that his Illuminati alliance with Gill will factor into later events.]]
** As Raditz fights Ryu and Ken as part of Nappa and Sabrina's bet, Raditz reflects on the events between him and Vegeta, planting the seeds of doubt in his membership within the GUAE.

* TameHisAnger: The Homunculi, and Noob Saibot in particular, try to suppress Envy's frustration for not killing any of the heroes or harm any non-combatants as to not have people down on their heads.

** Noob and Envy's scheme to deceive [[spoiler:Ragna the Bloodedge]] into thinking Jin is in cahoots with High Command particularly invoked by Envy as "Jin" preparing to destroy "the obstacle", which [[spoiler:Ragna]] instantly identifies is their sister Noel Vermillion because Jin always calls her out of her name. Narrator Jin proves the point as well. Noel doesn't appear in the story due to having retired from the military to become a pacifistic nun. She's also mentioned by a distressed Rushuna Tendou calling out Coyote Starrk for betraying the gunslingers and joining High Command after everything he did for her and Mami Tomoe. Later when Asami was forced to go on Jax's plane to help Cyrax as part of Beifong's plan to keep away from attacking Azula, Kagura comforts Asami in regards to Korra's capture, telling her a story about how two women were desperate to save a friend theirs, with Ragna noting that one of them was willing to "relive a painful memory" to get stronger, albeit with some help. Jin immediately realize this, as this is reference to the time he, Noel, and Makoto Nanaya rescued Tsubaki from the Mind Eater's influence.

** Shadaloo and the Ze Balmary Empire are mentioned as two of the examples of the kind of threat President Bartlet wants to have a team prepared to fight against when he gives that order to Charlie Nash and Selena Recital, a goal which he states has been on his mind ever since [[Pantheon/GrandUnitedAllianceOfMachines certain machine criminals]] [[Fanfic/MechanicalOutbreak orchestrated an earlier outbreak]]. A few characters besides Bartlet mention the outbreak, with Guile himself mentioning [[Videogame/RatchetAndClank Dr. Nefarious]], and Narrator Ed noting that Jax helped Motoko deal with the robotic scientist. An angry Sub-Zero remarked that Smoke is now a puppet, after he tried rescued him from Nefarious as well.

* SpannerInTheWorks: Mrs. Brisby, Basil, and Dawson infiltrated Bradley's temple, initially to look for the Stone of Nicodemus. After getting chased by Giovanni's Persian, the rodent trio stumbled upon [[spoiler:the deities Team Rainbow Rocket caputred in ''Fanfic/RainbowRivalries''. After they escape from Bradley's temple and head to Mrs. Brisby's, Basil points this out to Dawson despite their failure to reclaim the stone, calling the House of Justice to expose the location of the missing deities. The 42nd Command Team (and their allies) decide to {{Troll}} High Command despite having nothing do with the Rodent Trio.]]

** [[spoiler:Mami Tomoe and Coyote Starrk discuss the how latter's DoubleAgent could jepordize the Gunslinger Group, how the the events of the story could bring Noel out of retirement, and the Primera Espada giving the blonde Puella Magi a question to send to the Gunslingers.]]