Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

Thor looks visibly relieved.

"For a moment, I was worried it might have begun manipulating you as it did Pandora. Regardless of how responsible these four survivors might be for what you went through, I don't believe they deserve whatever gruesome demise the artifacts have planned for them," he says. "Nor would killing them solve anything."

He lays a hand on Iris' shoulder, offering her a smile.

"Just remember, you don't need to go on this search alone, Iris. As I said before, we're in this together. You have me, you have Amaterasu... we'll do everything in our power to help you find this solution."

Astil

Icarus doesn't pay attention to half of Nitori's chatter, instead communicating with another universe, and yielding...

"About that - I have bad news for you. You're probably not going to go back to the Genbu Ravine anytime soon, Yukari says she's willing to bring you back, and I quote, 'when she learns to behave well'. At least I won't have to worry about another robot incident..."

He facepalms.

"And on that note, I guess the safeguards on your assembler are superfluous."

Iris nods.

"I know. But at least for right now, I need to figure this out myself.", she says. She then smirks.

"But hey, when you do find the way to that world, be sure to let me know so that I can go in with you. We don't know what we'll be dealing with, after all."

Thor offers Iris a smile in return.

"Of course. I'd hate for you to miss out on a crucial part of your own quest. Until such time, however..."

He proceeds to give her a hug.

"Best of luck on your journey, Iris. Be careful, and remember to let Amaterasu know where you're going," he says. "And may the Allfathers watch over you. Hopefully, it won't be long until I can see you again."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Nov 9th 2022 at 1:57:24 AM

"Don't worry, I will.", Iris says, hugging Thor back, then pausing for a moment and breaking off the hug. A flailing Deliderp now drops to the ground. She'd briefly forgotten about it and the poor thing got smushed in-between them during the hug.

"Oops, sorry.", Iris chuckles as she picks it back up. Thankfully it doesn't seem to be upset.

"I'll see you again soon for sure, Thor. Hopefully with good news. Good luck in looking for that Ovarr guy in the meantime. With everything that happened in there, I wanted to make sure you didn't forget about that."

She now starts flying away, looking down at Thor as she leaves with the Deliderp.

"Goodbye!"

The Deliderp does a little wave down at Thor, as if to also bid him goodbye.

Astil

"Meh, I'm used to not expecting generosity from her." Nitori said, not sounding all that bothered. She then looks under the hood and accidentally bangs her head on some metal when Icarus next speaks up. "Oh, well. Hehe. Well I figured in this place they'd just get in the way. Not like I plan on making a robot army or something (again)."

After bidding farewell to the departing Iris and Deliderp in return, Thor walks out of the Bunkhouse before flying off as well, planning to rendezvous with Loki about what had transpired.

Data Sun

Tager, resident grappler, goes for a grab of his own, putting hands on Sun before being caught and restrained.

Odio

Defense switches off of Bunker, now channeling Polychronology Defense; he unleashes a massive fire breath upon Odio!

Strange blocks a few spare chunks of rock with a magical barrier. For now, he's still observing.

Edited by DefRevenge24601 on Nov 9th 2022 at 2:27:50 AM

Neuff smiles and laughs as well. You can't hide that smile from me, sis! C'mon, let's keep goin-OF Neuff is impacted by the exploded bits, although they don't pierce her skin, they do impact her strongly, and she kneels to the ground, in a way that is exaggerated but somewhat genuine. Such, that when she slams the ground, an immense rolling shockwave is sent Olivia's way!

Let's just have fun, you and me, sis! With that, Neuff claps her hands together and spread them, water flowing forth from her hands as she separate them. Electrified water, which she hurls at Olivia in the form of great mighty waves, generated by sweeping her hands forward with style.

If there's any remaining lava in the area, the water spills over it, causing a tremendous amount of vapor to raise into the sky, as the lava is solidified into more solid ground.

Edited by Bolded1 on Nov 9th 2022 at 11:43:41 AM

Data Battle

Data Music Man continues the stomps until the 52 second mark.

Tager is caught and left on the floor in bindings...

And then Data Sun stops, walks past DJ Music Man, and emerges out the other side as Moon.    "Night niiiight..."   

Moon snaps his fingers, and those who have been bound by Sun instantly fall asleep, unable to wake up on their own.

Balan barely manages to get Sunny free in time, but they both get hit by shockwaves. Fallen Sunny retaliates with a Sword Beam, while Balan hurries to grab Tager and lift him out of the way of the subsequent shockwaves.

"... I should probably get the physical animatronics back to where they belong before Noah gets any funny ideas. Be right back!" Addison cuts out.

"You...!" Charlie grumbles as she fumbles her way out from under Music Man.

Edited by KiriK on Nov 17th 2022 at 1:57:21 PM

Cassidy gets back up, kinda dazed. She's barely back to attention again when Sun shifts to Moon and puts some of her allies to sleep.

"Oh crud!"

And then Addison leaves.

"Double crud!"

She turns back into Golden Freddy. Specifically, the flying head form, allowing her to float over the remaining shockwaves.

She then lets out a roar as she charges right for Data Moon, attempting to ram him into Data Music Man. Size-wise, Cassidy is currently bigger than Moon, so she figures it should be easy.

3/5 HP

—

Noah, meanwhile, heard this too.

"So Addison's gone for a moment, huh?", he grins, turning around (and away from the fight) to try reformatting some more data. Nothing related to the Glamrocks, thankfully, as he's preparing for his (to him inevitable) escape into the wider web.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Nov 9th 2022 at 12:53:38 PM

Adam is hardly surprised nor even fazed by the gruesome transformations of the Pilgrims, merely seeing it as their true selves coming out, instead of a gruesome transformation. Besides, he has plenty of experience to spare: he only decides that it'll make things a bit less entertaining, because those evil beasts might not have the wits about to properly express terror before dying.

And as the pilgrims freeze, Adam's interest remains firmly the same, wordlessly raising his blade to kill them all. However, before he can properly apply himself to this, time freeze, and Adam glares at Kalt as he sees himself under approach. Instead of attacking though, he sheath his sword and focus it, letting his swordsmanship focus on itself.

His goal? Why, to cut himself free, of course, although since Gram hasn't had a taste of that particular energy yet, it'll need some time to get going. Which is why he does let the villain speak to him, although Adam's eyes remain closed, his face essentially neutral. Coincidentally though, the speech ends as he deems that Gram has spent enough time in its sheath.

And he could ponder about how Kalt could so easily deduce his motives, even his name, or give it some thought but he doesn't. Adam replies immediately, with no hesitation in his speech. Yes, two sides. Mine, and the wrong one. Adam immediately attempt to land a decapitating strike, performing a fast, fast, fast Iai motion by pulling his sword out of its sheath, with such pure efficiency to it that the air around him explode. Not particularly out of anything specific, but because the sheer friction allows him to.

Yet was is dangerous is his sword, imbued with a thin purple aura. Although it might not be strong enough to cancel the time stop, it might be able to cut through the fog, slicing it in half as it heads for Kalt's head.

Bannered Mare

Belligerence, "Don't drag some random bystanders or I'll do it myself!"

William stupors then gets into an iai stance, before drawing out the blade from his stomach and amputate the drunken man's entire arm in a sudden flash of blood. Then he runs in, seemingly about to attack, only to perform an emergency operation on the man by grabbing the arm — which would've hopefully let go of Or now thanks to Kiryu — and shoving it back in, healing it back together with some energy before tying a tourniquet on it with his soaked jacket.

Benevolence, "I forgot you were under the influence, a thousand apologies!"

Viagrae suddenly erupts from his position on the floor, snake arms wildly flailing, as he floats into the air and summons his staff to one of his hands- er, mouths I guess.

"FOOLS! YOU ARE CORRECT, I HAVE BUT ONE MORE DASTARDLY SCHEME UP MY SLEEVE! I, THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE WIZARD VIAGRAE THE ALL-MIGHTY, WILL NOW USE HIS ULTIMATE AND MOST POWERFUL TECHNIQUE TO LAY YOU DO-GOODING DUMBASSES OUT LIKE BLACK FRIDAY AT THE DOME HEPOT! HOOGA! FLOOGA! WOBBLEBLOCK! HUZZAH!"

He extends out his staff- before chucking it in a random direction.

"LOOK OVER THERE! HOTTED BOOBS, BIG ONES!"

He then says, doing his best to point off into the distance.

"FOOLISH IDIOTS! IT WAS A DISTRACTION! I MAKE MY ESCAPE!"

And, unable to float because he did in fact just chuck his staff off in some random direction, Viagrae the "all-mighty" runs away as fast as his slipper-clad feet can take him.

Greentide: Cataclysm

After Hit gets struck then suddenly disappears, the Chaos Troll sniffs around, the other entities suddenly keenly aware that he hadn't left the battleground fully. Yet his reappearance was just as sudden, as the diving notion added with the sudden punch towards the spine, he was able to pierce it, and the creature roared like a hog just pierced, it's almost human but obviously animalistic cries displayed at first agony, then rage, as the flesh started to regenerate around the blow, and the troll tried to drive him through a wall. Granted it seemed to be the creature was somewhat focused on trying to protect the back of its head more than anything else.

Corva and Mahke were at first being squished between the unfortunate mosh pit of violence the battlefield had become. Troggoth Club smashing against chaotic horseman, daemonic scythe dismembering Ogor flesh, warp and Silent One gunfire arcing across the battlefield. Their fist and thunder were making contact with the heavy armor plating of their opponent, though despite the carnage on their front the enemy was still a skilled force, and many times an ally would fall at the two's feet, before another blade of the Chaos Warriors' would try and fall atop their heads. There was a sense of hatred that came from the soldiers, but it was not one based in anything beyond practicality. While Corva and Mahke felt outnumbered and out of their element… Wurrzag was not one to let anybody in the front line not fight their damndest. Da Boss ain't ready to run an' so expects da boyz to stay put too!

"OI UMIES! YA NOT KNO' HOW TO KRUMP?!"

By the bellow of an angry Warboss, there's always that little bit more murderousness to be squeezed from the boys. And soon Wurrzag is dancing about in place, his staff rattling as he excitedly chants up to the heavens. A massive green hand appeared above the Frontline the two were stuck in, and suddenly all those present, including the two girls, felt a great palm smack their faces to the side. Yet instead of their first instinct being "OW!", green energy gathered around their fist and weapons, and suddenly they all felt their hearts pump to the best of a great wardrum that rang through their heads, as each strike now sounded like a new percussive beat, invigorating the defenders to fight to this primal drumming.

Even though Green most certainly got the jump on them, the Chaos Warriors she was slamming into the Earth and flattening out were looking comical, especially as she used their own equipment against them, Skarsnik knew his getaway could easily be overwhelmed. And either she died and he got away with his deal. Or, she would come back and wonder why he didn't help. Or maybe she'd be too stupid to notice. He did see she had a spear sticking out of her elbow from a man she had headbutted their face into a fine bowl. He groaned and looked through his bag, Gobbla trying his best not to sniff into the bag and instead crunch on a dead Culinary Crusader's chef hat, scalp included. Then finally Skarsnik found it. A glass bottle with a single cork in it and filled to the brim with awfully wilted mushrooms. He looked at Green and shouted, throwing it into the crowd behind her.

   "DON'T BREATHE IN DA FUMES GREENIE! HOLD YA BREATH!"   

The glass collided with the armor of some fallen warrior, and soon rotten mushroom gas wafted towards the enemy, causing them to lose their mind at the worst possible moment in the battle. Warriors huffed and roared, fighting with invisible tendrils that weren't there. Yet in that moment while they were less decisive in their movements towards Green, they now just charged: berserkers against The Berserker.

Meanwhile Apothea was in a rough spot, as she saw many people simply cease to exist on their fronts as those terrifying aberrations of flesh and metal consumed them like some malign vacuum. And though the two warriors that cut into her fell at her feet in cleanly cauterized halves, the one she had stabbed was still standing and wheezing, while others of his kin rushed in to try and dispatch her. But her swiftness was now something to be feared as she waved in and out, striking them where it counted. Done was the act of fighting for fighting sake, rather it was fighting for the sake of survival. The most primal and ancient reasoning for warfare. No dispute of borders and politics as the decanter of this bloodshed. It was a raw instinct to fight to live another day. But even as she continued to chop them into bits and now then down, it soon seemed the one she had previously injured now rushed back into the fray like a madman. His speed seemed altered, as each swing now neared perfectly parrying her own. He was relentless, hoping to pierce her defenses and bring her fetid existence back to Malal to be made into zero.

Bu was cornered, and as soon as he punched at the claw, it became clear this one wouldn't relent. Suddenly a sturdy pressure was applied to their lower half, as though it was trying to squeeze him till he popped. And when the creature proved too stubborn to die this way, it raised its torcher-mounted arm up to incinerate him in warp fire. Hoping to do away with this nagging insistent thing. Cazdathos saw this and immediately rushed in, crawling suddenly towards the opponent as she shot the crossbolt into the aberation's throat, the creature pausing its assault only to see Cazdathos lunged forward, hoping to catch the beast by surprise. It dropped Bu's corpse and shot its claw forward, hoping to crush her as well, raising its own arm as it absorbed Bu's essence into its mouth. Cazdathos struggled, striking at the piston claw of her opponent. But instead to the shock of all there, she started to scream in retaliation, her voice wringing out as she peppered the chest of this creature in crossbolts. What she received instead, was hearing a similar wail.

Balboa's white song bird flew in and pecked at the eyes of the aberration, which at first did nothing. That was until Balboa suddenly crashed into the side of the beast and knocked it over, the piston claw letting go of Cazdathos as she tumbled out. It was a blur even for Karell, the red headed barbarian woman, as she paused her assault to watch what she originally thought to be a Zealous engineer suddenly on all six limbs scuttling around the Souls Grinder, as he then lunged in with his claws poised at it's back. The Soul Grinder tried to stand up, and shake the Silent One off. Only for Balboa to scream again, and pull the creature's Flamethrower arm back behind its shoulder, and popping it upwards. The soul Grinder continued to try and grab the Silent One, only for Balboa to wrestle the prosthetic completely off its torso, and drive it straight into the back of the construct, as it sputtered and fell limp on the spot. Cazdathos looked up, seeing the odd figure that saved her, standing stop the daemonic war engine as it quickly took it's fungal-shotgun out, looking back at her briefly, then almost as if in shame, disappearing into the horde, firing off as they continued the fight. Cazdathos picked herself back up, conflicted by the experience, and looked to the mostly ruined corpse of Bu, sighing as they moved on.

   "I'll see you in the next phase… if your soul has yet to be torched."   

Ody'nami had recuperated herself in the back, perched atop the withered remains of the warp flower, hiding herself in a shawl as she aimed her Toxote at the forces below. She didn't necessarily have to aim and take so long per shot, but she also didn't want to give away her location. She fired irregularly into the chaos hordes, usually in tandem with the Silent Ones and Xenarchs own arcing fire. Yet through her sites she caught Joseph back on the frontline. Some panic crashed through her, and she seemed almost ready to lunge back into the fray. He had just nearly been choked out by the Champion of Malal, and he was already on the front lines? Yet she saw him fight with a cruel savagery in his blows she had only seen in sparring. Yet there were none of his dirty tricks: No false display of weakness, no pocket sand, no crotch shots. Joseph was striking his foes down in a flurry of lightning-quick blows, back-stepping and reweaving his footing so he could trip up his opponents and deliver fatal plunges of his power rapier, grinning in some sick giddiness. Every body he felled, an Ogor rushed up to peel the armor off, and began to ravenously feast, making The Aristocrat's eyes sparkle and his expression jovial.

"There is more to be had! More barbarians to gut and render! Join me in this Dance Macabre! And your bellies will never empty again!"

Ody'nami was just stunned, biting her lip at the madness of her lover. She sighed and leaned against a sharp rock like structure, almost as if she was daydreaming, lazily firing her Toxote now at her opponents as she watched Joseph and The Ogors slam into the enemy's ranks.

"What a fucking heart throb…"

Meanwhile The Treekin, Balboa's Silent Ones, and Wyverian had to be careful about their attacks. They weren't in as rich a number to their opponent, and so struck along the edges, firing dozens of arrows into their side flanks, while the Treekin would suddenly ram into the Horsemen of Malal, trying to tie up the Calvary while they were suddenly Marauded by Wyverian shots or The Silent One Anteka Riders. But this drew them dangerously close to the Steed Maidens, and soon those Dragon Ogors of Malal and The Skulkers, those great big trolls of Malal, would run into the fray, tossing the forest guardians around and smashing them into scattered remnants of dark matter, cube shaped pieces of the material floating up into the air, before dissipating from sight. Kurnous quickly noted this and soon leaped into the fray, while Malal's Champion was a bigger deal, he'd rather preserve what little of his forces he had left. So he turned away from the fight, and threw amber spear after amber spear into the Malal marauders, trolls, and horsemen. Each projectile shrieked through the air as it collided with the armored warriors, sending them sprawling and torn across the battlefield, while the Wyverians and Silent One's fled from the counter charge.

The Steed Maidens continued to struggle against the Carnifexes, though now as many of their hosts had fallen, the odd nature of their stubbornness shined through. They continued to fight with savage blows from their hammer, mauls, and picks, trying to crack the hard carapace of the Carnifexes open, as their sisters beside them buckled and fell to the corrosive toxins. And soon joining them in dealing with the with the limited keystone biomorphs were the Chaos Trolls and Warriors of Malal, who soon started to lunge towards the warriors with their own weapons out, hoping to catch the Tyranid Beast off guard. However the Carnifexes and Warriors soon saw a massive reptilian charge into the flank of their isolated pocket. Nakai crashed into the Host of Chaos Warriors, sending them sprawling across the battlefield with the charge alone, and scattering their remains once his Ogham Shard crashed atop them, viscera and crumpled armor left in the wake of its arc. Yet as a Warrior was about ready to be felled by a Troll of Malal, it suddenly bursted into flames, the beast writhing as putrid smoke filled the air, and as it writhed and bubbled away like ignited rubber and carrion, a lone figure stood, smelling of burning bacon and hair. It was the Ogor Firebelly, though his entrails had now long been dragged out against the ground. He waved to the beast, chuckling in a knowing manner as he slumped over.

"From one devourer... to another..."

And as his face fell beneath the wave of mud of blood, his body seemed to ignite, and he well and truly started to cook beneath the wartorn sky.

Malenia and Grimgor being the meatheads they are lunged for the Chaos Drake, hoping to catch it as it landed, though both would suddenly feel the earth and wind push them back, as the beast was hoping to snap them up in its jaws. Grimgor would be the first to headbutt the Drake, hoping to knock it back. And though the attack did swerve its head away from them, the Chaotic Dragon stomped forward, and Grimgor suddenly had to lift one of the creature's paws up so it wouldn't crush them under it. The Chaos Drake finally regained it's bearings, and looking to Malenia, hoped to bathe her in White Flame, as the area around her started to incinerate into dark matter, swirling up and becoming mere reflections of the earth below it, before finally dissipating. In this struggle the Helcannons were raised, pointed at Grimgor, Malenia, Green, Kroq-Gar, and The Carnifexes. Yet before the Malal Chaos Dwarves could let the cannon's release their raw fury, a massive Fimir warrior shot a bolt into the head of one, the railroad spike sized crossbolt instantly annihilating the skull of one of the engineers. The other Chaos Dwarves looked to where it was fired, only to see the Fimir Lord Ghua'Hok smash into one of the Helcannons with such force it landed and broke a column on the adjacent artillery piece, causing it to detonate and send the artillery backline into disarray. Warp fire enveloped them, and as the Chaos Dwarves tried to stand, it was the obsidian sheen of the Fimir Lord's swords that greeted them. No words were had, only swift, brutal chops into flesh, as the other Fimir patrolled around the wreckage, shooting or stomping out any survivors that would pose a threat.

Kroq-Gar still stuck in this duel, was getting fed up with the Malal Champion, herding him towards the edge of the battlefield where none could assist the two. The Malal Champion recognized this, and immediately tried to pivot himself behind the Saurus Oldblood, hoping to strike in the process. Yet instead Kroq-Gar simply slammed his tail into the Champion's legs, as he watched the nihilistic Ambassador fall to the floor, and immediately went for their jugular with the blade. Only for the champion to turn into a black and white swirl of smoke, suddenly disappearing from sight as Kroq-Gar looked around the battlefield, his eyes landing on Apothea as she was stuck in the thick of it, marauder after marauder trying to dogpile on her. And as Kroq-Gar prepared himself to lunge back into the fray, he suddenly hear the air around his left being displaced, and he quickly pivoted his foot back around to crash against the drooling maw of the champion's Dread Axe. He walked forward, keeping the blade lock as the figure finally spoke in a manner unworldly, calm and filled with no rage nor lust, no joy nor sadness. Cold, and unemotive, and yet it still spoke like a person, and not a husk.

   "Few are seldom to admit the seductive comfort of hopelessness. It saves us from Ambiguity, and answers every question. Every doubt. That there is no answer. It is just how it is presented. There is no point. How many people in this realm are elevated by the divine, but tell me Saurus-   

   How many of those Gods will provide them the answers they need to grow. Or how many will just give them boons to grow their brand of deception. What did your creators… do to you?"   

Kroq-Gar snarled at the accusation, his mind immediately denying the claim of his creator's goals being shortsighted. Though on the others, he felt his mind pause slightly. He had encountered many who believed in divinity, he had encountered a few divine. He knew that to some extent this creature was right, but not in the way it intended. Kroq-Gar pushed harder against the Dread Axe, and as he did, he heard something speak clearly to him, a voice that was… oddly comforting. Familiar even, and for a brief moment he had assumed The Naoalli was talking. Yet it's infliction, a choir composed of a solemn whisper instead of an aged symphony.

"Hold onto hope, I'm homeward bound

In the darkest of night, there's Light to be found.

From a spark will be born a fire,

Shine through the shadow of doubt…"

And with that, the Saurus Oldblood fought with an unrestrained vigor, as Kroq-Gar soon began to actually strike with the swiftness of a pit viper, each swing of his spear barely avoiding purchase of the champion's skin, as Kroq-Gar swatted every attack on his person with a sudden slap of his tail of a backhanded slap of his gauntlet.

The Hub has fared better days. Makima's defenses were useful against the champions and isolated pockets of daemons, but the moment anything with explosive firepower got into the field it was a massacre. While they isolate and overwhelm the dazed warriors and overzealous neverborn… The Null Marines would charge in with the intent to completely tear asunder. Their explosive bolters made contact with the crowd and sent human remains and lesser devil's to the side as they continued their rampage. And those who dealt with the Heldrakes above finally had their chance to engage something with their claws, as they tried to send the aerial combatants into the ground as it soon became clearer these beast of daemonic iron and flesh soon started to dig into the flesh and cloth of the superheroes, all sides tumbling into the ground. As they crashed into the earth the ground crews soon found themselves being overrun by Hook Terrors and Nihiligaunts, the daemons swarming and now delighting in the isolated parties they bullied at first into submission, before hacking at their flesh as if it was prime flank. Denji fared better than the average man, but a Null Marine had paused his advance, striking at him with such ferocity it was hard to follow where a strike ended or began, especially as he aimed for the shoulder flesh of his Buzzsaw like opponent.

Simon heard Azura and Evelyn chat, and then looked around the wall at the crashing transmogrified creatures, shadow beast, and daemons alike, then to the wall. Looking to Evelyn, even though she was just following orders, he grumbled and took from his body a weird... cardboard box. He groaned and opened it up, and inside was a mess of wires he tried to seemingly, rearrange.

"OK TELL YOUR BOSS I JUST HAVE TO MAKE SOME QUICK ADJUSTMENTS! I also lied earlier, the handcannons were not my last trump card. This is."

Loki and The Seeker of Despair engaged in the strange quasi-hug, and immediately jumped up in down as if she had won a stuffed animal.

   "OH MY OH MY I WON A TRICKSTER GOD-"   

Only for Zyr to suddenly pluck her from Loki's grasp, shaking the bugs off of her as a giant gaunt arm retreated back into the broken glass, the Greater Daemon Obviously mumbling about her odd excitement. The Daemon Princess didn't seem to get the big deal and waved back to Loki.

   "CALL ME! UH JUST UH, LOOK AROUND FOR A SIGIL AND IT'LL BE MY DAD-"   

And she disappeared from sight, leaving the Norse God to his devices. However as Zyr faded, the Null Marines Murasa found herself in the midst of slowly turned to her as if at first started by her appearance, and then trying to come up with someway to deal with her. Which they all unanimously agreed upon by firing up their chainswords and chain-axes, and lunging for her with an intense hatred in their visors. They had no idea what she was, but it was not in Malal's name. So it had to be snuffed out. Though as she was surrounded Tiktaq'To flew in atop Zwuup, and dropping a Sphere of Tepok on top of his opponent, rendered many of the marines into flattened stained creatures on the floor, burning away in white fire as their corrupted souls were made into golden embers. Yet surprisingly, the fires didn't fade. Even as Tiktaq'to approached Adam a while away from the drop site, the flames roared and beckoned higher, soon beginning to spread across the dead.

Adam was soon surrounded once more as they continued to take potshots at him and try to strike his vitals with their blades. Slicing Blades and cruel tongues that seemed to poke and jeer at his proclamation filled his ears, as many tried to dogpile him. Even Eve seemed now to be in trouble, for as she kept the portal entrances a flame, the reality beyond the portals was not so entirely dismissive. A few portals just combusted completely, though in the process great columns of warpfire came forth, and soon swirled into fiery vortexes that beelined for the defenders.

And though Melina and Nia were back on the fray and seemingly kicking daemonic ass, the attack against eh abomination didn't seem to falter the kaiju sized daemon, as it even tanked Eve's own strikes. Did they pause it's advance slightly? Yes... but it still made a beeline for the Greater Angel and Phillip. And once those two disappeared, and one of which departed with a great wake was left as it departed, the Creature was thrown back slightly, striking a building behind it and crashing through. Yet its robust human limbs soon pulled it forward, and it began to look to the sky, firing at the fighters, angels, and heroines that swarmed above it. Great stuttering arcs of gunfire rang above it, and yet in the gleam, there was a single white light. It looked out of place amidst the chaos in the heavens, and it seemed to glow brighter slightly.

Simon grumbled and finally readied the box, looking to the shambling shadows and the madmen and women trying to gnaw and claw at the defendants. He took a deep breath and crawled up Azura's wall, looking to her with a cheeky expression.

"So... ever heard of Fourth of July? It's an American thing... so it probably doesn't make sense."

He then climbed to the top of the wall and threw the box into the crowd, and fired at it with his pistol before slipping back behind the wall, a great explosion heard as some droplets of blood came down as a pink haze, and Azura could hear the body parts and bits of armor slam into her wall.

"Alright first day on the job... how am I holding up?"

Melina and Nia cut through squad after squad of Warrior and Null Marine, and yet the opponent did not relent, some instead taking cover fire to pepper them with explosives, hoping to knock them off their footing. And while Adam would be able to break through the dogpiling, the crossbolts still rang against his armor, and many more Artillery Beast seemed ready to snap him into their jaws. Until there was a booming roar from across the Battlefield. On the other side of the city, was a whole host of warriors. Yet it did not come at the aid of Malal, and instead it was composed of denizens all across the realm, but was seemingly spear headed by the Last Defenders, The Lizardmen.

The force deployed for battle is a formidable sight. A screen of nimble skirmishers spreads out first, followed by rank after rank of merciless warriors. Guided by a battle-scarred veteran of the Empyreich skirmish, the Saurus Warrior was coated in a new set of scars, signifying their will to fight to the bitter end. In the air above Tiktaq'to soared back in to help give them some more of an Air Presence, while out from the swamp stomps hulking reptilian monsters; pitiless, savage creatures of an elder age. And alongside them were a whole host of men armed with nothing more then plate armor and black powder, alongside legions of Deku Scrubs that tried their damndest to not be stomped out by the Aptonoths, Velocipreys, and Slagtoths that charged forward alongside the Skinks and Kroxigors. The daemons of course looked to the oncoming force and shrieked in delight, charging their ancient adversary head on. Although the wailing and sight of the evil hordes would've struck terror into the hearts of mortal men, the Lizardmen were not at all afraid, and instead charged into the fray in turn. Armed with spears and shields, they fought savagely, thrusting with their hefty bronze and volcanic glass tipped spears into cursed hearts and immaterial flesh. Their beast rushed in claws and domes first, either slicing or knocking their adversaries aside, giving the defenders a needed break as the forces of chaos focused in on them.

The men with their black powder guns and the Deku Scrubs fired at the daemonic horde like a clap of thunder, and though their armor bounced off the Null Marine's chassis, it pierced the fodder daemons in great volumes. And as The Titanic Abomination tried to mow down the aerial fighters, a great roar came from its flank as Nagadilotep crashed through a fallen sky scraper, and met the daemon's rotary gun mounted arm with its jaws, as the two giants wrestled against the other for control, tossing streets into the air as it seemed the forces of Malal had spread themselves out enough into which they were caught between the Tattered Forces of the Hub, and the Encroaching Backup. Yet, the fire Tiktaq'to started, hadn't stopped, and as he looked down, he noted wherever the dead were across the arena, white fire was present. It struck him as anomalous, and yet nothing told him anything about this flame was outwardly malevolent. And soon, he saw golden embers rise from them. All across the arena, the dead combusted, and golden flakes started to float up.

Space was cold, yet fantastical. Yet, this consciousness hadn't seen the wonder in it in so long. No matter the time, no matter the paracasual sensation of phantom limbs displaced across time and distance, twinging as if a memory had been made manifest, it never gave it a higher thought. Other then of course, to quiet. Even from so far away, with galaxies looking like distant specks of white, blue, and gold... It feared even a shuffling of it's atrophied eyes would give away its presence.

It was frightened, it only knew how to preserve itself in the moment, unable to watch, unable to help. It had run so many thoughts through its head, yet they were all incomplete. Visions of abstract creations, men and women who called it father yet were not of blood, and their wails for it to return. Parts of it's body long gone and hidden would tinge at the thought, and it pushed them back... What was more raw, more clear, was how it was severed. Cut apart and eaten alive, given no escape. Every exit another turn back to where its limbs were popped free, and its skin flayed. In a fit of fear, it remembered covering itself up in a protective outer shell, and ending up here. The time seemed wrong. It only felt like it had been here a day, yet it saw into things beyond its escape. It knew it had been here for longer. And it twitched its eyes away, before suddenly pausing. Too much movement could give it away. Too much movement could give it in to feeling free. And if it felt free it would act bold, and if it acted bold, it would be caught. Yet as it paused, it saw something ahead of it. White and black dancing in the void. A universe not being born, but yet it felt something was raw, off putting. Visions of death filled its eye, new beings it had never dreamed of and old beings that had haunted its thoughts engaged in conflict with... a greater enemy then its devourers. No... it was in some essence one of its killers, yet it stood with the ideas of The Great Foe. And yet, there was not a tinge of hopelessness in these new beings. They fought for nothing else in that moment, bar a great evil that watched like a bemused child. Yet it found itself having spoke to some creature, one that was oddly familiar. One that perhaps it had aided in the creation of? No... that couldn't be right... Yet it felt the heartbeat of that figure, and as it did so. its gaze widened to the beyond.

Nestled in the tapestry of creation, shading off this lone orb that clung to the shadows, was destruction. Entropy. Malevolence and cruel indifference. It watched star systems disappear, withered away by forces beyond its line of understanding. And yet they paused, dancing around the universe of white and black. It was at war, and unlike many others fought back like a cornered animal. And in that moment, the lone orb heard it. The cries of defiance, as the dead refused to stay dead. They refused to hide. It suddenly felt, shame that it had been hiding. Was it worth living a life of fear? Hope was messy, and uncertain... Though if things work out, would this being have to live in fear? Could it find solace in the defiant? And so it started to move forward. And as it did, it felt eyes suddenly locking in on its position. Yet it did not freeze, it continued moving forward, it continued to run over that hill of uncertainty.

It had to weather the possibility of happiness.

And soon, the Arena shook, this time not because the earth was sickly and torn, or the skies were warping and malign. Gor felt a familiar presence, one that had briefly graced them in their playtime with Tiktaq'to. Though it was so much more raw. And the white flames of the arena danced towards the heavens, and soon, the land was full of... song. Yet not a song of death, not a song of despair. Not even a song of war. It was a song of hope, and it seemed though it was only a gentle choir, pleading they weather the storm. Those alongside the Greentide saw the flames dance up and around them, into majestic displays akin to songbirds, moths, and flowing pedals, as the golden flakes floated into the heavens, and as they did, the sky started to part, and the daemonic horde looked up, their bodies starting to shimmer as if reality was beginning to phase them out. The choir finally turned, to true words, forming within the gentle breeze rolling over the dimensional nexus.

"In light, there is strength.

In darkness there is faith...

A thin blade we dance upon,

Hoping to give us truth to such a phenomenon,

And in such solace we crave,

A hand, to touch and guide,

For our fates unique, yet intertwined..."

The flames rose higher, swirling off the ground into the gentle clutches of the wind, as the howl of ghostly, angelic calls began to move over the ruins like a fog, blanketing up into the sky as a halo over the arena. And as the current of fire, gold, and song spun, the warp continued to disappear, and its warring beast shrieked as they fizzled out of sight. The Great Behemoth looked to the sky almost as if to rebuke it, yet its tongue became garbled, and it instead started to shrink in on itself, before suddenly fading away from the material plane, leaving a very confused Nagadilotep in place as he realized he was biting down on nothing now.

The voices continued to sing, as not all the White Flame subsided, and infact one appeared within Gor's church, just beyond its outer walls as something began to kick and stir, gasping and coughing. A man felt himself finally breathe in again, as he would stand up, enveloped in the fire as his body felt blood run through again, and the voices now continued to speak, as across the land bodies ignited in white flame exhaled golden flakes, and took to their feet.

"Constantly brave,

Come as you are...

For with life comes choice,

And in choice comes action,

Premonition, premonition

Let its miracles be your guiding light..."

Within Reprium, a man started to dig himself out from the dirt, his skin having well rotted, and his hair slick and mildewed. And as he basked in the flame, youthful skin and large fennec like ears stood straight up as muscle and cloth returned. Their eyes filled in, no longer just dried watery orbs, instead bright green filled their frame, and as he sighed, the realization he could breathe again struck him. On a distant shore, a crab claw struck through the turf, great in size the carapaceon dragged itself out with a newly forged shell, and as it exhaled, it soon found the flame in its claws shift into two ornate axes, as if tailored for its body. It looked to the city in the distance, and found it could make the distance- It could think in such a manner? And where the greentide took its bloody pace, the daemons there and the marauding warriors began to disappear as well. And from the blood soaked earth, The Lone Centurtion's eyes opened, and alongside him Rotgut immediately stumbled, feeling around his neck for any wounds ands finding them sealing up, golden flame even curing him of his past scars. Near Nakai as he watched the miracle unfold, he heard a wail of terror behind him, and as he turned around he saw a steedmaiden- Though now with her natural colors and without the marks of Malal, she panicked, looking over herself as her weapon soon changed, the sigil of Malal Disappearing as her hammer now arched back with flowing engravings.

And soon, coming through the sky was a great white orb, scarred and battered and yet still looking as pristine and priceless as a pearl came into view of the Arena below. It was massive, only a tad bit smaller then Earth's moon. And as it passed the stratosphere and began to enter the Arena's atmosphere, the world around it shifted. Where the Dreamstalk once bore its roots, the land elevated, and began to churn into a colossal landscape of flesh, red rock, amber, and ivory stone. Reprium bloomed, and as the man with the fennec like ears tried to find his bearings, he noted the trees grew taller and thicker, until it seemed like every damn part of the forest he was in consisted of redwoods, and at his feet he had to hope away from the earth cracking, and filling with great clear spring water. Part of the warp condensed in Estraole, and on the volcanic badlands great coral reefs and towering cityscapes of polyp born material condensed and arched out great canyons and ravines as if one uplifted the continental shelfs. More realms seemed to appear etched into the landscape, and as they did, the daemonic invasion soon fizzled out completely, and in its place even the flames finally started to die. But hanging above Hub Centralis, was that strange orb.

It soon hovered in place above the city, and near Makima's Office, Eve's Hospital, and Gor's Church did it hang low, and in the process a great column of flame, forming into something akin to a narrow tower positioned itself clearly beneath the middle of the astral body, creating a great space needle whos tip cleanly graced the surface of the great sphere. And with a great thunderous boom, as air rushed back and struck the denizens below harmlessly. The Arena was calm, and yet, those who had arisen from death upon its arrival felt a strange compulsion to rendezvous to the tower. and so too did those great armies at the Greentide. And after baited breath, the Sphere hummed, and soon it spoke-

"Deliver Us..."

Before falling silent.

Hub Centralis, After the Battle

Makima rises from the mess of the battlefield, the combat having been such a blur that she expects that she may have died. And She did... but, something's wrong. she's not in hell.

She looks down and sees that not only is she where she was moments before, but in her same body, same clothes... Same everything.

"This is... new. I... survived."

The population she had contracts with would not justify this survival. Either something else brought her back from the dead, or some miracle allowed her to survive the battle unscathed.

She then looks up to the sky, seeing the Tower and the sphere in the sky. And seeing that it made a signal to the building she was occupying earlier.

"An invitation. I will have to accept." Makima looks through the now minimal corpse'd battlefield, finding a car with their owner there. Denji, having also recovered, mainly due to the fact he Can't really die, runs after Makima, but not before she can enter the car and "Convince" the driver to bring her to the tower, Ignoring denji... Why? Perhaps she cared more about the tower than the chainsaw... or... maybe something else.

Makima arrives at the base of the tower, the car stopping, as she steps out. "At the very least, I'm dressed for the occasion."

Denji, back at hub centralis, looks around, before a metalic hand rests on his shoulder. Aki calls out "Denji, don't worry about miss makima. She can handle herself. As for now... Maybe we could get something to eat."

Pogo is confused as hell and runs around the city in a panic

V1 is out of deemons to shoot and looks for other things to shoot.

Hub Centralis

Eve keeps her assault going, and so does Adam, both determined to fight on to the very end: Warpflames might hurt her body and sharp slices and insults might torment his flesh and mind, but they keep fighting on, grim as it might be, before what seems to be the end. Like fucking hell I'm giving up! Cry out Eve, before screaming, as her right arm is blasted off by Warpflames. Kneeling on the ground, teeth grited, she simply prepares to fight it on one-handed.

Above, her clones are finally overwhelmed, the "offensive" Eve exploding while the other barely hang on unto her life, shooting as much magical benediction as she can, although deep gnarly wounds are carved unto her back. Still, she fights on, beams shooting out from her fingers until she, too, is overwhelmed and perishes with less fanfare.

The situation is grim, and even Adam sees himself kneeling on the ground, unable to move: too many sharp things lodged in his body, too much damage, even for him. Try as he want, he is of flesh and bones, capable of wear and tear. He just so happen to look like an Elven Pincushion;

Until both notice assistance, along the way. Lizardmen, Deku Scrubs, beasts of another age, fearless before the Warp. Adam is the first to smile, smiling wearily through the pain, blood going down his forehead and mouth in drove as he nonetheless raises to his feet, pure willpower holding his stabbed legs together. Tetragrammon... 2. He says, before vanishing, attempting to decapitate and eviscerate, literally, every evil servant of Malal around him. As vengeance. He's not about to let them just bleed him up while they get their blood shed by someone else.

Pft... Adam collapses, and Eve follows his lead, not even getting off with an attack herself: she instead take a breather, somewhat exhausted by the mental and physical strain of it all. And a missing arm, too. Still, her reaction to it is a bit more deadpan than one would think. Azura doesn't share it despite her recovery, watching with only mild relief, not even being able to stomach victory at this point, and only smiling timidly to what Simon says -or does-.

You did well... But this... I apologize, may I request for your ai-

Time freezes around her, time freezes for everyone as Meteorika finally assumes her stance, taking delight in jumping in the middle of the fray. All the more people to trap in her world! All the more people to invite to-

   自じ閉へい円えん頓どん裹か   

   SELF-EMBODIMENT OF PERFECTION   

Meteorika's mouth opens wide, as two tiny hands appears inside her mouth, joining their fingers together to make a seal, shortly before large black hands emerge into reality all around her, pushing away any nearby EV fighters and engulfing a large portion of the battlefield. Not all of it, mind you: prudent fighters might stay out of reach, but the subsequent black sphere engulfs from the church of Gor to Adam in the distance, about 4,5 miles wide or so. It expands very quickly, too.

A kaleidoscope of hands is what greets those trapped in this void, warp beasts, Arena-goers, Church of Gor-goers, Encroaching Backup. With an unusual cacophony of hands. Writhing masses of it, some the size of small cars, other literal mountains writhing in the distance, closing and joining together into a greater mass of perfect harmony. And at the center of the mass is Meteorika, who swings her head left to right in one dramatic motion, throwing her hair back as it comes loose, into a big black mass covering her face.

Then, as quickly as SELF-EMBODIMENT OF PERFECTION BEGAN, it ends. Warp Beasts caught within, those left after the rampage of the Encroaching Backup and Arenagoers, will explode, their very souls destroyed in one swift blow. Meanwhile, defenders, and especially those at the Church, will be fully healed, their wounds gone. And their memories changed in slight ways.

They won't remember horrifying beasts charging the Warp, nor many of them dying or being corrupted. Instead, they'll simply think that Meteorika and Gor led an heroic charge together to help defend the Arena, some dying tragically (thanks, Simon, Meteorika can't quite bring the dead back) but most prevailing, and being safe and secure. Most, after all, were by this point on the verge of death or Hulkified.

It won't bring back the ones Simon killed or those who were taken, hell some might start beef with her after seeing SELF-EMBODIMENT OF PERFECTION into action, but Meteorika is confident that it'll look like a benign spell, cast to heal everyone and save them from death. Eve and Adam's wounds are gone, and the flock is back together, missing quite a few members, but nothing that their heroic deeds won't refill.

... Given time.

Inside, Meteorika's smug smile conceals a terrified grimace, at what just happened. That was close! Even with Gor around as deterrent, the church still lost many more members than she would have wanted, and Azura had nearly turned traitor again! It's a fortune that she's now just solemn, having had the impression of leading her flock through a tumultuous fight, losing many of them, yet saving as much.

I shall weep for them, but not here, not as many need comfort and relief over all.

Loki, elsewhere, simply waves at his opponent. He'd been standing just outside of the Domain Expansion, but is too busy thinking about his newfound conquest. Ah, the fun they could have! Evelyn notices this and Azura's look, but simply shrugs. Her memories have been messed with too, but with her role as the crowd enrager gone for the sake of PR, she remembers not doing too much.

Still, even with her pillars uncaring or changed, Meteorika can only glance at Gor in awe mixed with fear. It'd have left them all to die if they proved too weak. She definitely knows that, and she feel like that Warp business might only have been the start of something greater, what's with that floating planet and all. Or was it a moon? She was too tired to care. Or even give a big speech, for now.

My friends, we have prevailed over this terrifying force today! Had it not been for your efforts, and for those timely reinforcements, this realm would be long dead and overrun! May this be a day of celebration, and not sorrow, for many worlds will sing of this! She improvises, masterfully hiding her freak out, approaching her flock. I would congratulate Philip for this. But he isn't anywhere! Oh well!

As for that planet, gah, she'll have to send Azura in, perhaps. Or herself. Or Saitama, graahh! Why couldn't she run wild with her technique for once?!

Elsewhere, Gor isn't as pleased likewise. Meteorika screwed up, and it's lackeys likewise didn't get to progress as much as it has hoped, after the initial buff. And it dislikes feeling that power from earlier: more potent, closer, in a realm where all are equal. It really can't say that it's happy with today's results.

Wait, no, it's angry, actually. Is anger that emotion you feel when you want to strangle someone? To wrap your hand around their neck and sq-oh, yes, then yeah, it was angry.

Perhaps a direct touch was needed.

Elsewhere, a recovered Eve glances at the planet, and the path of flames near the hospital. With the crisis passed, it was her time to put these people back in their houses, but first, she'd have to watch out for hidden creatures or other gifts. And investigate that planet as soon as possible, too. And, more pressingly, investigate that presence, which was much closer to her than the planet at the moment.

Hello! Greets a regenerated Adam, waving an awkward hand at Eve. She fully turns around for him, in obvious interest, and tilt her head to the side.

Sorry for just sneaking in there like this, I guess it'd look bad but...

Oh, don't worry, I can watch my back! Eve says, laughing slightly. I knew it was you! So, how about we go for proper introductions, now that these guys are gone, hm? Ladies first! Eve says, raising her hand to her chest.Hi, I'm Eve!

Hi, I'm Adam!

Greentide

Because of the ork magic, Both girls enter a state of pure bloodlust and begin ripping and tearing their way through the hordes of chaos like the Doomguy after they killed his pet rabbit Daisy. Corva summons a fireball cannon that unleashes a shit-ton of burning dakka at the horde, giving the ork fighters some hope that the humies could do dakka, just not at their level yet. Mahke turns her sword into a gigantic claymore and cleaves some of the Chaos horde into oblivion.

Memories o-

Makima lashes a chain onto aki from a range, protecting his memory right as the domain expansion triggers, protecting aki from the domain expansions effects...

Aki looks onwards, as makima, in the distance, realizes something. "Rewriting history. Clever. Won't help a corpse."

Golden Freddy will be seeing double... of itself, seeing its own head from ten seconds in the future. Diavolo Data Moon steps around the future Golden Freddy head, turning to flash his frightful grin.

Despite seeing the actions of its own future self, Golden Freddy is unable to change them. It is fated to follow the path before it...

But Moon is not. And as Golden Freddy follows its destined path, his future self gets struck and sent flying... but he circles around to stand behind its final destination.

   "Allow me to put you to rest."   

He jumps up, places his hands on top of Golden Freddy's head, and tries to slam it into the ground!

Meanwhile, Data Music Man, Charlie, Fallen Sunny, Balan, and even the background music have all skipped forward in time by ten seconds without realizing their own actions. The music pauses as Music Man stops to gain his bearings.

"What just...?"

   "Moon is a problem. Kill him first."    Fallen Sunny rushes at Moon from behind to do just that, while Charlie stays at a distance and peppers in projectiles.

Hit grunts and gasps in pain as he is smashed through a wall. He breaks away from the troll and quickly shifts his stance, bringing his hands out of his pockets. "You're not going down easily."

Then, before his eyes, the Warp reclaims its escaped residents, and he coolly lowers his hands back into his pockets. "I stand corrected. Our job is done."

Edited by KiriK on Nov 10th 2022 at 2:02:09 PM

Apothea alone

For a moment, and only just, Apothea is left to fight for herself- a spiraling battle of blade and blood, her enemies turning from expert warriors to monstrous beasts one by one.

She cannot sustain it. Her muscles ache with every movement, and though she knows she must fight, her own body betrays her. Soon, she finds she cannot catch her breath, as she fights even with the mad warrior that could even call itself her equal in this desperate hour.

Her decision, to fight to live rather than fight to die- moment by moment, it feels more and more... pointless.

But as she finally succumbs, her senses breaking like snakes in retreat, succumbing to exhaustion and despair-

-She feels no final blow cleave her through.

And though, with her senses themselves defeated, she can only guess as to why, the reassuring light of the newly arrived orb reminds her of home.

Hub Centralis

Melia recalls a conversation she had with a close friend, not all too long ago.

"Well, the Monado was only ever an illusion. Sort of like, the admin console on origin, but to the world instead of just a computer. That's what Alvis told me, at least... I think."

Though in the heat of battle, the memory brings a smile to her face- and it isn't as if she is having any particular struggles fighting now. The light of the Sword of Origin is anathema to the warp and all born of or affiliated towards it-

"Think of your enemy, and the power to defeat them is yours!"

-Was what Zanza had to say about it. She had been the only person other than Shulk to hear what she at the time supposed was the "giant's" last words.

In the hands of Zanza, those words were a frightening omen- a guarantee, she had worried, that ultimately their combined efforts would be dreadfully, profoundly pointless.

In her hands, however, The Sword of Origin was precisely the opposite- a beacon of hope.

If she knew how to use it, perhaps, even a guarantee that this battle would be won.

Unfortunately, as it were, Melia does not know how to use this new and unprecedented power. Her understanding of all things pertaining to Monado is limited, despite the role she had once played as replacement processor to a trinity system of her own.

Those words from the past, however, they are not useless in her hands. She understands, though distantly divorced from comprehending, the weight of the weapon she holds. She understands on an intellectual level that the weapon is an illusion- it should at the very least be able to replace her staff, and at the very most, allow her to do practically anything imaginable.

But on a practical level, she's out of her depth, the unfathomable complexity of, well, herself, a barrier between her and the boundless power she technically holds. On a level just literal enough to be true, the sword she holds is Melia Antiqua, herself, a person just as endlessly complex as any other.

Too complex for her to use as anything but a metaphorical blunt instrument, guided by feelings rather than skill. Effective in this instance at destroying the enemy before her, but nothing more complex than that.

It certainly does not help that she cannot figure out how to use it to channel ether attacks.

Even still, for a moment, Melia's light of hope and force of will is the only thing beating back the darkness- but only for a moment.

Until the metaphorical cavalry arrives, bringing with it a hopeful light far beyond anything her sword alone can achieve.

...so far

As the fighting comes to its close, Melia finds herself alone, the population of dead and dying around her melting into thin air as the light above them all burns it away. A part of her cannot help but feel slighted by the miracle, but she counts her blessings.

Nia, meanwhile, finishes with a flick of her Anima Sword, the process of cleaving through the last of a beast that had her in its clutches. Not that she had to do much work, with it vanishing out of sight as she cleaves through it.

"Hah! And stay out, you buncha goons!"

Melia can only chuckle, hearing Nia just as enthusiastic as ever despite the harrowing events coming to a close.

It is Nia that approaches Melia first, visibly slightly distraught despite the danger having pass.

Melia does not realize why, the adrenaline lingering in her system, until she reflects.

Of course. Nia had seen her die- felt her die, their shared affinity link snapping like a twig as a shard of metal pierced her chest.

But just as Nia prepares to get in her word about the subject, starting with a quick: "Melia! Come here, do you have any idea how-"

And then... something happens.

In a split second, Melia realizes, something is... wrong. Very wrong, terribly wrong, like there had been a haze over her mind for a millisecond or less that had faded away just as fast. A darkness in her vision.

Then, she realizes with a start, that Nia stopped talking.

...

From Nia's perspective, it had been as if in one moment she had known for certain what it was she had to say, and in the next, it had vanished without a trace. Her memory, strong as it is, was putty in Meteorika's hands for that split-second moment. To her, all of the sudden, Melia had not died, nor had she ever been in danger in the first place- Meteorika and Gor had seen to that.

From Melia's perspective, however, those memories had remained, her mind completely unassailable, the only remnant of Meteorika's attempt at seizing her mind and soul a faint darkness around the Sword of Origin that its light quickly and quietly shatters apart.

From an outsider's perspective, the attempt would appear almost comedic- Meteorika contesting her will against the combined will of every living thing in existence, including her own, for dominion enough to change Melia's memories. If that conflict were anything more than a footnote in what by all means was Meteorika's victory over the majority of the present souls, it could even be called funny.

Even still, the lingering sensation it left was... too wrong, too... strange.

A pit forms in Melia's stomach.

"Nia," she says, before allowing her another word. "I need you to take me very seriously when I ask you this question. Do not spare a single detail. How did I get this sword?"

Nia blinks.

"Did you hit your head on somethin or what?"

"Nia"

"I kid, I kid, sheesh."

She clears her throat, and crosses her arms, closing her eyes to think.

"...I don't remember. Must've been out of my sight, or somethin. How did you manage to get your hands back on the Sword of Origin anyways? I coulda sworn that was an "Aionios Only" thing."

Melia leans in towards Nia. "Nia. Our affinity link, do you feel it?"

Nia closes her eyes, maintaining her pose for a moment, before breaking it as concern hits her heart for a moment.

"It's- it's not there. But, I coulda sworn that- Melia, did you die?"

Melia nods, swiftly and politely. "I did. Quite terribly, in fact. Do you not recall the shard of metal that had pierced through my chest?"

Nia shakes her head, now growing increasingly worried. "Not at all. Wait, did I lose some of my memory? Melia, did something... happen?"

All of the sudden, though among people that are technically their allies, Melia feels remarkably exposed.

A simple, logical conclusion, further than the simple "too good to be true" facet of the strange orb that had acted as their collective savior. Something or someone, likely independent of the warp, had caused this.

A piece of Melia feels angry- mostly on behalf of Nia. There is an importance- a sanctity, even- to memory, for blades like her. To have it compromised in such a fashion...

There are few things she could think of that Nia would find more insulting, and while she's sure Nia would not make a scene if she could help it, that still didn't mean they were safe here.

"All of you!" she shouts, suddenly, her voice echoing strongly as she gently ascends into the air on an updraft of ether, "Something has just occurred that I believe will be of interest to us all. May I have your attention please!"

Melia considers herself grateful, in this moment, that aquiring the Sword of Origin acted almost like a reset on her stamina. Sensibly so, considering it brought her back from death as well.

"I have reason to believe our memories... in some fashion, have been altered, and I find myself increasingly concerned that someone among us is responsible for it. I suspect foul play, a violation of our minds that cannot go unnoticed. If any of you know why this may be, I would be glad to hear it, if only to hopefully learn that this is all a misunderstanding."

Nia nods, though she super doesn't have any idea what's going on. Nevertheless, she trusts Melia without question.

"So whichever one of you did this, you might as well fess up now. Better that then make us do a whole investigation or whatever."

Exhaustion remains in Nia's voice and movements. She, unlike Melia, is on her last leg. She knows very well that if this turns into a fight, it could end badly for her.

Edited by Whoma on Nov 9th 2022 at 10:38:14 AM

Astil

"Hm. Even if you did, there's a whole bunch of people who will go up against you. This universe is really wacky in that regard... Can I come in? I won't mind the mess."

The lens vanishes.

~13 pc from the arena

The five probes have established space stations in five new galaxies, all of them as expansive as the one they originated from. The original one, meanwhile, is sitting on stand-by, idly harvesting resources. And constructing more probes, along with the new ones.

Dark Fog infested star systems: 6

Icarus

"Indeed so..."

Lucas nods, a moment of silence passes, while an answer should be expected by now, it doesn't happen.

"But I believe this is where my expertise ends, most other logistical inquiries could likely be answered by my commanding officer, who was a former combat engineer. My sincerest apologies for the seemingly emptier facility, all available officers in the general area are in a combat zone."

One of the windows quickly becomes a display of the currently recorded visual data from the Bell Units' and Emma's perspective alongside sub-windows having multiple profiles pertaining to the physical details of their targets, whether it be the Sith Warriors, Laxin, or his Sith Empire at large. Many of these profiles laden with question marks except the names and their designation to the Empyrreich, which is "Hostile Mage Warriors", "Hostile Cult Leader", and "Imperial Magicracy".

Edited by BoniniBanana on Nov 10th 2022 at 5:28:21 PM

Group 1 - IM/Krampus/Bombon

As the conscious trio makes their way down the hallway, Wrustoiz's slight limp becomes not-so-slight. The Sith lord grunts in anger at his current predicament, angered by his body's lack of cooperation.

   "There were a few things Laxin never taught me that could come in handy,"   

He says, with a pained smirk on his face.

   "Being able to drain the life from these damned soldiers to heal myself wouldn't have been so bad to learn."   

He quips, but Wrustoiz is serious. Wrustoiz looks back at Ben, noticing the severed half of Tenzen's saber staff.

   "Impressive Ben, good kill."   

He assumed Ben had killed Tenzen, a quizzical brow raising on the Sith Lord.

   "You'll have to regale me with the tale of your duel when we finish this, yes?"   

Wrustoiz's gaze moves to Pepeta as he nears the door leading to the next room, the sound of an elevator arriving on their floor echoing from behind it.

   "Is that one going to wake back up?"   

He asks, not a hint of concern in his voice.

Group 2 - Bolded/Irish/Krampus

"Alright, let's try it."

Zeloai concedes to Veilman, though the Jedi Master suspects not much can be done. He leaps forward, deflecting blaster shots, aiming the reflected shots to slam into the walls of the hallway. Pushing deeper into the hall, Zeloai watches with gritted teeth at the ball as it gains momentum.

Veilman's knockout blasts manage to knock over and incapacitate a pair of heavy troopers, saving them from the slaughter about to be wrought by Skull Squadron. The bouncy ball was focused down by inaccurate blaster fire, but it was too fast to possibly catch without luck.

Unfortunately for the Imperials, luck was not on their side. The ball first bounced from the floor and through the stomach of a soldier, prompting a guttural choking sound as their guts poured out and onto the floor with a pool of blood. The next soldier's neck is torn through like butter, spattering blood across the walls and their fellow soldiers.

They cannot even manage a croak before falling over dead, the ball next tearing through an Imperial's elbow, leaving their forearm hanging by a thread. Screaming in pain, the ball bounced off the wall and back into the same Imperial's back, sending them flying forward a few feet before collapsing with a hole in their chest.

The ball crushed two birds with one stone next, two Imperials lining up perfectly to have their legs torn off. Four limbs are separated in an instant, and the pained screaming from the soldiers following it echoes down the hall. The ball, despite having lost a majority of its mass by this point, tears through another soldier's neck.

Blood sputters out like a high-pressure valve would release water, the soldier clutching their neck before slumping over from blood loss a few moments later. The remaining four Imperials untouched by the ball are all knocked out by Veilman's second, stronger burst of knockout beams.

Zeloai rushes up the hallway as the two legless infantry pass out from blood loss, letting out two final croaks before doing so. The Jedi Master looks down at them with a pitiful gaze, a little disgusted by the revolting amounts of blood present.

"Leave the ones knocked out alive."

He commands, stepping past the corpses and knocked out Imperials into the next room. It's a hangar, with a few shuttles docked within. Some are attached to small fueling rigs next to them, fuel lines connected to them. Out of the many shuttles docked here, two stand out.

One, is a large strangely shaped vessel.◊ The other, a Fury Class Interceptor◊.

Group 3 - Bonini/Krampus/Irish

Arad's counterattack works, and Laxin is briefly dazed by the headbutt. The dark lord didn't expect such a brute force tactic, but he wasn't stunned for long. Coming back to, Laxin's gaze centered on Arad's blade. Just as Arad swung, Laxin's blade was grasped by Emma. Widening his eyes for a moment, Laxin quickly thinks of a way to avoid any devastating damage.

Laxin shoots a free hand out and willingly impales his hand on Arad's sword. He pushes against the blade enough to prevent it from going more than an inch or two out of his hand. As the energy from his lightsaber was sapped, Laxin turned his head toward Emma and unleashed a Force Scream. So powerful in fact it blows the potshot away.

A devastating sonic attack that amplifies his scream to something that could shatter bones and minds alike, and while its primary target was Emma, Sovereign felt its effects. Dropping to one knee, Sovereign clutched his helmet and screamed back, trying to drown out the intense noise. Izawano's training in the Force allowed him to better defend against such a technique, but it still prevented him from doing little more than stumbling forward a few feet.

Laxin deactivated his lightsaber to stop Emma from grabbing it, reactivating it a moment later. Though when it activates, it barely sputters to life. The blade is unstable, Emma having sapped a great amount of energy from the kyber crystal. Acclimating to his current predicament, Laxin calls upon the power of Darkness to flood his lightsaber with dark magic.

The kyber crystal's color changed to a similar hue to the Darksaber◊.

Group 4 - Rbade/Krampus

"Good to know."

Silver responds, his tone lightening a bit when reassured. As the two clones make their way down the hall, the other door from the chamber behind them opened. In tandem, the door in front of them opens. Boxing them in quickly, six standard infantry (three per door) raised Blaster miniguns◊ and begin revving them up. Bogey and Silver both look around the hallway for any doors leading to parallel chambers, but there are none. There is no escape, Silver and Bogey drawing thermal detonators from their belts and chucking them at the soldiers from the door leading forward.

The infantry begins to unleash Bullet Hell upon the hallway, the clones quickly getting pelted by blaster fire. Their armor stands against it for now, but it still hurts sufficiently.

Group 5 - Small

" Pyra huh? Good with Fire?"

He asks, surprised by her resistance to the paralyzing gas.

Neek, seeing Angel!Pyra attempting to take the close-quarters battle decides to create distance between the two. Neek does this by shooting a hand out toward a small metal beam in the room, a durasteel wire shooting from his wrist and wrapping around it. A moment later, Neek rapidly pulled away from Pyra and toward the beam.

Neek opens fire on Angel!Pyra, but his blaster fire isn't like the other blasters she's seen. Each shot released a blue ring projectile which rapidly expanded as it careened toward Angel!Pyra, which would make it much harder to dodge than a standard projectile.

" Something tells me you're good with your fists to be rushing in against an armored Mandalorian like that."

He quips, the durasteel wire unwrapping from the metal beam and retracting back into the Mandalorian's wrist. Neek grabbed another bomb from his belt, but its contents remain unclear.

Outside

The Sith Warriors and troop transport stand literally zero chance against an orbital bombardment of this intensity, and as such, when the dust settles, little remains but scattered corpses.

Edited by KrampusTheTherapist on Nov 10th 2022 at 9:23:37 AM

Exotic Battlegrounds

Simón corpses. Is your name actually Cubical?

Luna pokes him with her elbow. Nice to meet you. I am Luna, she is Nina, and my irreverent friend here is Simón.

Nina thins about the bosses options.

"Hmmm... Do you have some boss fight that involves... teamwork?"

Hub Centralis

Huh? What?

The Musician looks away, not because of the b00bs promise, but because the wizard was pointing away.

After he fleed, he searched for the wand, without success.

Imperial base

...I hope so. And she's not that one.

In the monent when the elevator was heard, Crisol was regaining conscience.

"Uhhh... Where am I?"

Crisol! You are finally with us again! Pipeta hugs her.

"Stop with that, I think we aren't over with this yet."

End of the Warp

...

Lourent

It was a calm, peaceful and clear night. On the top of a small mount, there was a camp installed, along with a fire. Near the place there was an oasis, and desert fruits such as dates are readily available, so the camp occupants doesn't suffer from thirst or hungry.

There, the Dr. G (the yellow clad guy) was watching the starry sky with a telescope.

His Guinea pigs assistants, known as Sir from Here (short-haired orange-clad guy, cinnamon font) and Sir from There (curly hair, glasses, mustache, cinnamon italic font) walked towards him.

Can you tell me what are you doing at this time of the night?

I am watching the stars, trying to unfold the secrets of the universe.

And why do you brought us here in our vacations? I'd rather spend my free time in a lively beach or the bubbling city than the desert.

Because we are researching the microorganisms of the oasis. You know, the universe is the ultimate, perfect machine, that doesn't needs somebody to operate.

The glow of one of the stars seems a bit... off. But G didn't noticed. It could be anything.

Edited by BombonBombin on Nov 10th 2022 at 9:03:02 AM