The name Sidious is expectedly unfamiliar to Zeloai, the Jedi Master's look of confusion only growing more intense. The venom with which the vagrant spoke Sidious's name clued Zeloai in as to the relevance of this Sith lord.

" To be part of what caused the entire collapse of the Republic and the Jedi Order is not what I would call a mistake."

Zeloai retorts, pausing with a sigh.

"A doomed future for my order..."

He trails off for a moment, before locking his eyes to Starbird.

"You have lived it, so perhaps you finding your way here is the path forward, the will of the Force."

Zeloai moves his gaze to the lower robes of the vagrant.

"So if you are a Force-Sensitive, and you are not a sith or Jedi, what are you? Do you carry a lightsaber?"

Grandnova Gone & The Life Beyond

"Okay, okay…Listen to this one.”

The click as the cassette was inserted into the girl’s player. The whirring…Then, at last, the song began.

Yes I understand, that every life must end.

Months had passed since Grandnova had vanished without a trace. Where it had disappeared to, why it had disappeared, nobody quite knew. Arad sure didn't. And the man found…He didn't want to. The man didn't miss it. Previously, he had seeked only to better himself for the company that he had been essentially blackmailed into the employ of, but now…

As we sit alone, I know someday we must go on.

Now, he found a new reason. A new reason to live, to laugh, to better himself. A new reason to love.

I'm a lucky man to count on both hands the ones I love. Some folks have just one, yeah, others they got none.

“You like it?” Jennifer asked, one earbud in her ear as the other lay in Arad’s. The man only let his head fall to the side in her direction, responding with a smile. Overhead, the sun shined against the infinitely blue sky, a mere few clouds passing away from the great golden light. “Come on,” The woman giggled. “Is that a yes?”

“It’s nice. Different, from what we used to listen to.” The ginger answered at long last.

“What did you used to listen to?”

Practiced are my sins, never gonna let me win.

How could he answer that question? The screams of his enemies. The splatter of blood and the rattle of gunfire. The begging of soldiers who were simply looking to provide for their families or pay off their debts. Orders from the woman who claimed to care about him but didn’t really, not the way the one laying on the grass next to him cared. The one who had fixed him, who had taught him what it meant to be human once more.

Under everything, just another human being.

"I don’t know. It was just…different.” The Tenno shrugged, and Jennifer rolled her eyes, rolling over onto her side and propping herself up on her elbow.

“Okay, star-man. You can keep your secrets—on one condition.”

“What’s that?” Arad turned as well. The sun beamed its warmth down onto them, and a cool Spring breeze blew across their skin, rustling the Estraolean grass around them. The vibrant solar glow brightened her face, accentuating its every feature. Her long black hair and her dazzling lavender eyes. The old cut on her cheek that she tried to hide with makeup and the scar over her lips that she had earned in childhood and always covered up with lipstick. Imperfections that, to Arad, couldn’t be more perfect. His emerald eyes locked onto hers and he saw the woman he had fallen so deeply in love with staring back. In that moment, the Tenno was reminded of where he was. His heart raced, not from heat of battle, but from the company of the woman he loved, the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, however long the tumor, left by his first encounter in these lands, that accursed portal, slowly creeping closer and closer to his brain would allow before it wrapped it’s cold, merciless fingers around him and squeezed him of life until he was nothing more than a dead husk—

With two words, Jennifer saved him from his thoughts.

Yeah, I don’t wanna hurt, there’s so much in this world to make me bleed.

"Kiss me."

Stay with me…

…Let’s just breathe.

"A vagrant," Starbird replies, eventually. "Just a vagrant."

He does, at least, nod when asked regarding having a lightsaber, instinctively reaching into the deeper sections of his robe in the process, his intent clear in his actions: he does have one, but it's not used often.

"Same to you." Beerus becomes a blur of motion as he seemingly dodges many, many projectiles simply by pivoting around on one foot rapidly, until a few bullets finally tag him and cause him to flinch.

In response, he holds out one hand and starts firing his own projectile barrage in the form of basic ki blasts.

Flandre ,thanks to much danmaku practice, dodges most of the ki blasts relatively easily, though when a few are about to tag her she simply slashes at them to destroy them.

"Hm not terrible, but your patterns are rather boring." Flandre sighs before smirking. "Observe!"

Makai Sign "Scarlet Demon World"

Flandre dismisses Laevateinn and raises her hands. She then fires a barrage of danmaku projectile rings upwards that then start raining down individually like a storm of bullets. Meanwhile she fires further rings of projectiles outwards from herself in an expanding pattern. All the bullets leave behind a confusing afterimage, possibly disorienting Beerus.

"Pattern?" Beerus pauses to watch Flandre's spell card attack. He uses an energy barrier to block the projectiles from his front while he flash-steps side to side to avoid the shots from above.

"I see... So, something like THIS!"

God of Destruction's Warpath

He surrounds himself in energy and charges in a straight line past Flandre, then suddenly veers to the right - again past Flandre - then travels further before taking another right, and finally makes a third right turn to get back to where he started, leaving a wall of purple light in his wake. Once the 'box' is complete, he shouts and thrusts a hand forward and the walls themselves start firing Cataclysmic Orbs every which way, purple ki spheres shaped like stylized atoms. The orbs bounce off of the walls and each other, but will explode if they hit Flandre. Some also go above or below the walls and destroy the ground below.

—

Whis suddenly appears next to Daiakuma inside the bubble. As he expands its width to encompass the whole Mintendo Noodle House and a number of Cataclysmic Orbs blow up against its surface, he quips, "My, they sure wasted no time ramping things up."

Daiakuma jumps and sighs.

   "That's Lady Flandre for you. She enjoys a good fight."    she says.    "First time I see someone match her destructive appetite thought."   

   "Ah! I'm Daiakuma by the way, and you are?"    she says, smiling awkwardly.

Meanwhile, Flandre finds out how other people feel about timeout spells. Namely it's not very fun as she ducks, destroys and weaves through most of the barrage. Unfortunately one does manage to hit her which "conveniently" hits her hard enough to knock her into the ground. After it clears up she stands back up, visibly battered but not as much as one might expect, frowning.

"Something about that feels oddly... familiar." she hums thoughtfully. "Whatever!"

She then flies up and raises her arms again.

Destruction "Closing Schwarzschild Radius"

Scarlet energy begins to gather around Beerus, energy which might feel oddly familiar to him as well. The energy then rapidly collapses into a facsimile of a black hole, aiming to immobilize or outright crush him with the intense gravitational pull as an ensuing barrage of destructive rainbow colored bullets begins pelting him, given additional impact force by the gravity well. Random debris gets pulled in as well but somehow Flandre herself is unaffected.

Edited by shroobot3000 on Jun 8th 2023 at 8:58:50 PM

   And I am so much more now!    Fallen King Sumeragi spreads his arms, enduring the bullets as they crash against his head. Little does the team notice, but his nails brifly widen as something start to crawl out from the tips of his fingers, the bullets coming off it and dropping to the ground. Then, with his hands still "bleeding" bullets, by way of pouring out of holes on his fingers, he moves them with great speed and dexterity, attempting to move fast, his arm like a blur, to try to catch Selena by her weapon's handle.

His grip is supernaturally strong. It looks like having dragon blood soup you up in this universe!

   What grandiose weaponry! What a shame that the surface won't live long enough to develop those!    He says, clenching his fist before attempting to jab Selena in the stomach, meaning to punch her across the room, right into Salazar. And though he holds out his hands to try to catch her, he's still blown off his feet catching her, the shock of it briefly knocking the wind out of him.

Should Mordecai be distracted, Sumeragi will be in front of him, grinning. If he keeps his eyes on him, then Sumeragi will merely move at a pace that's almost too fast for the eye to keep up with, blurring forward as an indistinct mass of fantastic hair and purple cloth. Then, he attempts to grab Mordecai's gun. And the mercenary will see his bullet wounds closing, as the water appears to flow back into his body, as if time had been reversed over it, with his shredded cloak and hood likewise reforming over his face, with nothing but his Slasher Smile to display.

With said grin fully in place, he attempts to slap Mordecai in the face with a backhand and try to wrestle his gun away from him by pulling it back by the shooty bit. Should he succeed in grabbing it, he observes the weapon briefly, and even grasp it the correct way, his finger on the trigger and all. But then, he simply gives another Evil Laugh and hold up the gun like a baseball bat, grasping it by the cannon.

   Take this!    And he toss it at Morgan, meaning to knock the boy over by hitting him in the face with it. He even laughs after doing it, the dick!

But thankfully, the reinforcements are coming, with Azura, Corrin and Beruka arriving within the room, although the former hangs back. Because of this, she doesn't notice Corrin's big, wide-eyed stare at the fallen king.

That's Sumeragi ahead of us, Azura points further back, after hearing the battle ahead. It will do good for Mikoto to put his soul to rest. Protect me while I sing and he will fall as easily as any undead. Beruka doesn't respond, having a look of subdued yet telling Oh, Crap! on her face. But before she can explain why, Corrin outright launch himself at Sumeragi, barging into the room in a manner that will have him just smack Morgan away if he's still in his way by the time it happens.

Moving with preternatural speed that almost match Sumeragi, and having the (slight now) element of surprise, Corrin roars as he rams into the former Hoshidan, lifting him off his feet and causing a shockwave to knock Salazar over as he get back up. Moving like a blur, Corrin slams Sumeragi through the heavy stone doors in a way that knock them off their titanic hinges, sending the two big slabs of stone flying, in pieces at the spot that he actually slammed Sumeragi through.

Beyond the stone door is a big black wall that probably had a door on it. Had because Corrin rams a big hole through it again, leading to yet another smaller room with some flickering torches within and white walls again. But these look more... metallic. Or at least, are a more resistant type of stone, because Corrin doesn't slam through it, instead merely carving a big dent into it as his stampede ends.

Dazed but enraged, Corrin proceeds to swing a bunch of meaty combos at Sumeragi, flailing his arms about in a way that mostly works at hitting the fallen ruler. Sounds like gunshots go off, echoing all over the vast hallways of the temple, as Corrin's arms move inhumanly fast to make up for their lack of precision, small shockwaves coming off with every stone-crushing impact. Sumeragi's body convulses uncontrollably with every nasty hit, the crater around him widening and deepening with every consequent impact, a demented laughter escaping his lips all the same.

Corrin answers him in Engrish, being too mad to properly articulate or spell out his sentences. His teeth are bare, glowing red eyes staring daggers into Sumeragi's soul as they watch his zombified flesh be ruined time and time again.

The whole temple shake as sounds like artillery fire resonates within it, Corrin's careless anger causing cracks to spread everywhere near him, some of them wide enough that Beruka has to jump over one while making her way to him. What is he doing?!

That hooded man killed Mikoto in our world! His attack of the capital killed countless more innocents on top of starting the war! Beruka prepares to go in but one of Corrin's shockwaves push her back, so she can't go in so easily. His presence here is misfortune of the highest order.

''YOU'VE KILLED MY MOTHER! YOU'VE KILLED MY MOTHER! YOU'VE KILLED MY MOTHER! YOU'VE! KILLED! MY! MOTHER!! Corrin manages to get it together long enough to spell out his grievance, performing Punctuated Pounding on Sumeragi, meaning to cap it off with a heavy punch... before Sumeragi's hand deftly move to block it, a shockwave accompanying the Punch Catch.

   A tip you will not live to apply, my boy: Be more precise when seeking vengeance!   

Sumeragi's face is ruined, being a mass of spilling water with an eyeball and the broken lower half of Sumeragi's jaw within it, but as usual, he appears to get better, his face healing itself back together again as he squeeze Corrin's fist. The dragon prince simply try to hit him with his other fist but Sumeragi likewise catch that one, pushing Corrin back into a brawler lock. And as he opens his mouth to say something, Corrin comes at him with an headbutt, which Sumeragi answers with his own.

His strength easily overwhelms Corrin's, the young man screaming in pain and frustration as he gets blown off his feet and slammed into the ground. Instinctively, he reach for his bloodied forehead, writhing on the ground. Azura remains stoic while Beruka attempts to grab for a capsule to use to empower her Master Axe, remaining composed yet worried despite the circumstances.

   Kamui my boy! I've done a lot of things to your mother while I was alive but I've yet to kill her! Haha! What a strong lad you've become!    Sumeragi laughs, sounding jovial even as he's forced to "manually" set his jaw back in place. Before Corrin can get back up, Sumeragi places his foot on his torso, holding him back in place. Corrin is still furious, but also too stunned to fight back for now.    Lord Anankos is... attending to higher tasks but allow me to thank you on his behalf for bringing his wayward son home! He is in need of firm parenting but, luckily for us all, Lord Anankos quite literally has an eternity ahead of him for that!   

Beruka just wordlessly goes in, and Sumeragi chuckles, shaking his head briefly before he put his right hand on his neck and crane his head back and forth.    Gooooood.   

...

Leaving the kitchen will get the group to be immediately greeted with the shooty bit of a Plasma Caster, the weapon being almost shoved into Wamuu's face as he walks out. As for Nicole, she has a more common Laser Rifle to worry about, the weapon shoved into the back of her skull. And as for Pucci, if he's here, he'll have to worry about the Enclave officer "holding up" Wamuu pointing a Laser Pistol at him, although he's somewhat farther now.

Well well, what do we have here? The goon in Advanced Power Armor MK. II laughs while inspecting Wamuu's outfit, although Pucci's priestly garb also seem to amuse him.Hahaha! I guess this big place's a primitive asylum of a sort! Check out the priest, dude! He looks about as queer as the big guy!

Queer? Wamuu asks, sounding offended but also slightly befuddled. Then irritated. Is this the future of humanity? Hiding beneath metal shells to make up for their innate fragility? How disappointing.

Ohhh, "metal shells", check out the shaman shit! The woman holding up Nicole laughs, her voice distorted by her helmet. I guess we know who we'll be talking to now. Get moving. We've got some "questions" to ask of you.

Should the group accept, then the Enclave soldiers will happily begin to take them down a corridor branching to the right, holding them up with their energy guns.

If not, well... Did I ask? Get. Moving! Or else they're going to ship you back home on an ashtray!

..;

A source of water? That can easily be found in Father's throne room. We will tell you where it and you'll move along, Leo says, rubbing his hands at seeing the plan go over well. I'd help you find a way back but this is beyond my competency. I do know, however, that there are some waypoints around Dreiz that can supposedly lead to other worlds. The "closest" one is quite far from any civilization but it should be a good place for you to return to.

Nohr is a difficult country to travel through, I suggest you emerge as close to it as you can.

... But this won't fix our problems, Gunter point out. They were sent there by a force after all. Who's to say that they won't be teleported back after leaving? Even if they succeed in going home, I fear that our problems won't end so easily even then.

Well, hopefully they'll be able to figure something out! Our responsability stop at getting them out of Nohr. Their fight will finish elsewhere, simple as! But what a fight it'd look like, I bet!

   Indeed. It is a shame that none of them will live to finish this fight.   

It's Garon. Standing behind Gunter and Corrin's hiding spots, the fading lights of the torches around them making his eyes look as black and empty as the eternal night that is Nohr. The door is locked. The windows are shut. The bed doesn't look big enough for him to hide under. What is he doing here? How did he even get in?

The torches around the room dim some more, such that the light appears to concentrate only around the group, with Garon looming over them. Only the lower half of his face is visible, bearing its smuggest smirk as he glances down upon the group. At brief intervals, his eyes appear to shine red, two beady red orbs of a sort setting up a random member of the gathering.

Fath-

   You've always looked so hesitant about this, Xander. You've all looked so hesitant, the whole lot of you. But I see that you've caught some intruders...    Garon's red eyes briefly move for a second before resuming being pure darkness, glancing at Corrin and Elise. Elise noticeably look confused more than scared, genuinely not being able to perceive her father as someone who'd be a threat to her.    ... And were loyal enough to wait for my arrival. Serving them to me on a silver platter. Oh, and here I thought that I could only trust on Iago to apprehend them for me...   

Garon leans back further, out of the light.    Iago. Yes. I might as well have waited for them to be carried to me by a fortunate wind.   

My liege, Gunter starts. We were-

Something snatch him and Gunter goes screaming into the darkness, although his scream is abruptly cut off. Peri, Their Laslow, Their Odin and Niles likewise are caught and grabbed, although they can't even scream. In fact, as far as the group is concerned, they'll simply be there one instant, gone the other.

P-peri! Gunter! Wait! Corrin screams in panic, the young prince displaying his panic more than any other. He screams and look around the unfamilliar darkness, reaching out to where Gunter last was, only for Garon's hand to wrap around his head instead, the King coming back into the spotlight while holding on Corrin's thrashing body. The prince dares to kick and punch, and it seems like his "attacks" are actually "hitting" Garon's hand instead of simply being ignored or absorbed... but at the same time, they're not even hitting Garon hard enough for his hand to even shake for a moment. Or even be let go.

   Hm. I would like this to remain a family matter, thank you,    Garon smirks.    So you, Kamui. You. You disgusting little Hoshidan slug, is going straight to the deepest floor of the dungeon! You were never a part of this family and you never will be! This disgusting charade has gone on long enough!    Corrin muffles out something akin to "help" but most of his siblings are totally petrified, unable to so much as speak a word out, with even Xander looking like a fearful toddler in the face of his father's wrath.

The only one brave enough to get it together is Elise, standing up to try to get her hands around her father's pinkie and pry it loose. Dad, stop it! You're hurting Corrin and our friends! Garon groans in increasing irritation and flick her aside with said pinkie, hurling her off her chair and into the ground, before he simply toss Corrin off into the darkness.

At that point her siblings do leap to try to tend to her, but none of them dare protest Garon's callous treatment of her or Corrin, all of them visibly terrified.

He, too, disappears into it without so much as a scream!

   That you thought of turning my own blood against me is one thing! That you actually succeeded is another!    Garon roars, now turning his full focus to the group.    XANDEEERRRRR! I'll rip the flesh from you and your sibling's bones if you don't immediately slaughter these intruders! Massacre them! Slaughter them! NOW!   

Father, how dare you- Xander does reach for his blade as he speaks, but is once again interrupted, having to stand on some precautious scenery since Garon is so busy eating it all.

   DARE?! DARE?!    Garon roars, attempting to reach for Ms.Thingies with his big meaty arm, attempting to just straight up grab her with the firm intent of turning her bones to powder.    DAAARRREEEEE?!   

...

As soon as the sword moves, as soon as it does, the Paladin literally dies, screaming as he flops to the ground and goes unmoving. To make sure that he's dead, though, Foxy checks his pulse. ... You think they have potions for easy amnesia here?

No. But we should have some. The other guard speak out. He looks a lot more chill than the collapsed redditor, with green strands of hair sticking out of the helmet. He even smiles casually in spite of what he just saw. [[green:I think this event is bound to get some attention. Stick close to us. We happen to be heading the same way, after all.]

... Gnuh? What? Foxy says, as the Paladin answers him with a mysterious smile. How do you know that we're going to help with bringing these weapons somewhere secure? He says, attempting to kick the sleeping ninja glass girl awake. He's a bit envious ngl.

A magician never reveals his secrets, especially out in the open. Come after us.

He and the knight both walk it off, motioning for the group to follow them as the horse simply sniffs its owner's body and begin casually walking off the other way, unbothered.

... Hm, so... do we tail them or...?

Morgan gets rekt.

Selena gets caught off guard by Fallen King Sumeragi's speed, and as such has her weapon's handle grabbed mid-attack. Before she can even try to pull it free she gets punched and sent flying towards Salazar. Even with him trying to soften the impact, she'll definitely need a moment to regain her bearings after that.

"Oh no!", Morgan says as he's about to throw his enchanted Hand Axe, only to potentially have a gun thrown at his face instead, knocking him over while he lets out a pained yelp. ... well, if it even gets thrown.

But regardless, he gets knocked over anyway (for a second time if the initial gun throw succeeded) as Corrin charges into the room, knocking the Hand Axe out of his hand if the initial gun throw failed. He slowly gets back up again while Corrin and Sumeragi are fighting. He catches a glimpse of what Beruka is doing with the capsule and quickly puts two and two together.

He knows that his Hand Axe isn't going to be all too effective against a Swordmaster, so when Beruka eventually charges in and Sumeragi's attention is on her, Morgan tries to find two capsules. If he finds them, he'll take one and try to apply it to his Thoron.

If all of that is successful, he'll then try to back Beruka up by launching a surprise attack Thoron at Fallen King Sumeragi. Perhaps the lightning will have some devastating effects on what is essentially a water zombie.

—

oh shit oh god oh fuck-

Laslow is about to attest to what Camilla says, that simply getting them to their friends would be all they'd ask of the royals and the rest would be their own responsibility.

But then Garon shows up, and Odin and Laslow go pale instantly. Iago showing up would be bad, but they could've adapted to the situation. But this? They can't do anything in this situation. They can only watch as this world's retainers vanish, Corrin gets grabbed, and he and Elise get hurt.

Then Garon goes for Ms. Thingies, and Laslow immediately moves, trying to grab her and leap out of the way with her to prevent Garon from getting to her.

"Lord Leo, you may execute me for breaking my promise after all this, but I must protect my friends!", Odin then says to Leo before whipping out Excalibur and attempting to blow Garon to the other end of the room. Even if it'll do little to no damage (and Odin doesn't expect it to do any), forcing Garon back and trying to keep him at bay is already useful in itself.

—

R.I.P. bozo

Ban blinks.

"... holy shit, I just wanted to give him a scare.", he mutters before turning to the other guard. He listens for now as he and Foxy talk, and once the guard starts moving Ban, grabbing the bucket again, starts to move. He looks back at Foxy.

"That guy seems way more reasonable than the first. Besides, as long as he's not bringing us to a mud monster I think we could handle any trap he'd set for us.", he chuckles.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Jun 8th 2023 at 9:58:22 PM

Fortunately, Mordecai is not distracted, allowing him to see Sumeragi coming. His energy shield breaks from a single backhand, but it takes the blow well enough to keep him on his feet. Even so, he really never stood a chance in the strength department, allowing the fallen king to disarm him.

Mordecai grimaces and sends Talon to retrieve his rifle after it was thrown, while he coats a sword he brought here with him in Vallite water and takes a simple swing at Sumeragi.

The moment Garon enters the room, the floor starts to bubble as if turned to liquid. At first, only a little bit of shifting and rising, but with every sentence he speaks, it grows more tumultuous. By the time he's roaring at Xander, the floor itself seems to be roaring back...

Until it finally explodes in a shower of crystalline water with yet another Corrin emerging from what appears to be a hole in spacetime. This one has a scarred left eye, slicked-back purple hair, an oni mask hanging from a belt, and the look of a demon on his face.

And he emerges hand-first to grab Garon by the throat.

   "GAROOOOOOOOOOOOOOON"   

Life Stoking Within the Storm

"How interesting indeed..." Beerus stands firm inside the gravity well, though its pull proves strong enough to ensure he gets hit directly by a number of Flandre's blasts, somewhat knocking him about.

Eventually, he releases a kiai that disperses the black hole. "Alright, now I'm getting serious!" he boasts. The destroyer charges in with a wild yowl to throw a simple meaty punch at Flandre's face.

—

"What a lovely name. My name is Whis. I am Lord Beerus's watchful attendant. It's my duty to see to his needs, but also to make sure he doesn't get... out of hand."

Edited by KiriK on Jun 8th 2023 at 3:28:25 AM

Amphitheater.

Sometimes, she wanders a library.

Filled to the brim, it is, with video tapes and discs, with records and scrolls- and books, so many books, more than anyone could ever read.

The air is open, well-lit by fluorescent lights. The marble-colored walls reflect the uncanny white light in a startling manner. Everything is lit well, but the sun has not touched this floor in a long, long time. At once, it is open-concept, and claustrophobic.

N has never been to this library. She will never go to this library, as it no longer exists.

But in her mind, it does. This vast assortment of records is real, to her.

And the lights, they sting, most certainly- like the sun taken and broken into everything "useful" about it, stripped of everything that made it warm. She's seen so little of fluorescent light-bulbs that they do not register to her as something "real". To her, they are an artifact of this dream.

Though she is awake.

Yes. N is awake. And her mind wanders the library, alone.

A million years ago- or more, she does not know- this library did exist. It was a feature of the second low orbit station Aeacus, a cultural attraction of monumental size, a testament to the ingenuity of humanity. Like a dozen or more libraries of Alexandria, brought back from their burning just to laugh in the face of plausible reality.

N does not know a thing about the library of Alexandria.

Set within her core crystal is a list, or perhaps, a databank. It whispers to her, sometimes, about things that are lost and cannot be retrieved.

Once upon a time on a planet called "Earth", there was a history of humanity stretching across some 10,000 odd years, and it was brilliant and bloody and terrible and beautiful and N remembers just enough of it to know it was real and just enough of it to know she knows nothing.

Every book she opens is blank. Every record that plays is static.

N paces the hallways. She opens every book, looking for an answer to a question she cannot remember being asked. In fact, she cannot remember the question at all.

There's a wind down these corridors.

Every second, she can feel it sweep up a part of her she's trying to cling to.

In the "real world", N sits alone. In the darkness of the Amphitheater, there is nothing but her, and Icarus, and the screen ahead- the world itself a movie upon its cloth, tattered and ancient yet never decaying.

But in her head, N sits together in the library with a shadow. It had red hair and eyes and teeth and a mouth. N thinks it had a gentle voice, and warm hands, and a beautiful smile.

N thinks her name was The Aegis. Or, maybe it was Melia- or, maybe, that can't be right, because she knows a Melia, and Melia has silver hair.

"You're losing us," says the shadow. The voice is N's default- that is, the voice that she picks for anyone in her head whose voice she cannot remember. She can't remember who that voice belonged to. Maybe it belonged to Mio?

Mio?

No, no, her daughter was named...

...Icarus?

No, that's not right.

It was Glimmer, yes. Her name was Glimmer, and she had red eyes and short, silver hair tied up in a long, red ponytail. N dimly recalls the sound of a cello and the playing of a...

Of a flute.

N remembers, in that moment, how to attach a name to the voice she hears in her head.

Her name is Pyra. That is who the shadow is. N smells the midsummer air and the scent of perfume and recalls warm hands on hers when the air's gotten cold.

There is no recall of the face attached to that name. Or the person. Just, the vaguest sensation in the shape of her.

When N considers that, she feels like she's had her heart torn in two. But she cannot understand why.

"I get it," N says to the shadow, "I do. The file size was too large. We had to compress it."

The shadow, sitting by N's side- Pyra- remains silent. The air is still.

"Don't look at me like that. At least- at least, I'm just... losing track. Icarus says the data shouldn't degrade any longer. It's my fault."

Silence, save for a single lonely melody.

"Really, it's my fault."

Silence. The air is still. The lonely melody plays. The shadow does not shift. The fluorescent lights glare at N in silent accusation.

"I'm bloody saying it is! My fault, my fault, my. fault! I should have done more, I should have tried harder, and now I'm alone and it's my fault!"

N remembers, or perhaps, extracts, the sound of fluorescent lighting.

The hum of it, silent in the busy hours of the day.

In her ears, now.

The sound is deafening.

The humming of the lights. The sound of the music.

"Stop it," she states. It's all in her head.

"Stop. it!" she declares like the queen of the world, telling her subjects that they'll find a way to fix it, that the world's not coming to an end because they'll find a way. It's all in her head.

"STOP IT!" she shouts like a cannibal on the run, channeling inhuman speed through short, malnourished legs because if she stops for a second they'll take her in and do the sorts of things to her that nobody wants to talk about, because if they do, they'll have to accept that it's real.

It's all just in her head.

"JUST STOP!" she screams, like the world's coming to an end.

...

...

...

She cannot recall the sound of her daughter's music, any longer.

In the darkness of the Amphitheater, N is still, and silent as a corpse.

She's lost track of the library in her head, and in its place, a new and fascinating delusion. Again and again, she speaks to herself in these daydreams.

When, finally, her eyes return to focus, and she remembers where she was, N cannot tell whether or not it is just another memory.

It seems to her just as likely that it is.

And Icarus, not far away, continues to stare at the stage with their single red eye, endlessly watching the events of the world transpire. Upon the screen, a fascinating scene, depicting Zeloai and Starbird. A master and a vagrant, comparing histories in mutual distrust. The sight cannot bring a smile to Icarus's face, as one cannot smile without a mouth to do so.

...

N remembers standing within it. Suspended in the image upon that great tapestry, taking the only path that she could have ever taken.

(right)

Of all her memories, this one is clear as the day it happened. She needs not search the library for this. Of course.

(the right path)

To choose Icarus. To continue to exist, unchanging, forever. N recalls that day, and wishes in that moment, desperately, that Icarus would set her free, striking her down upon the spot without a flinch of mercy.

(Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right.)

She wants to die, to cease to exist, to remember nothing and to be nothing. She wants oblivion, the end, to be terminated, lost, expended.

And, upon recognition of that, a great and disappointed frown forms upon the face of the shadow in the delusion N exists within now.

It seizes N by her exposed throat, and lifts her into the air.

And within, it chokes her, relentlessly, until she is gray as a corpse and equally as still. And upon knowing that N understands, the shadow throws her against her seat, and parts ways with a few choice words.

"You're despicable. Our whole world only exist in your head, and you'd just throw it away because you're tired of carrying it!? I hope you choke, you fucking piece of shit!"

...

N agrees, with the shadow- with Pyra.

With the version of Pyra that exists in her head.

With the shadow whose hands are as cold as stone.

Yes, N agrees, with herself. She is despicable.

The most utterly despicable creature of them all.

" "

Wow what.

"I am."

"So confused?"

She shakes her head to clear it, before adding: "Erhm, yeah, I think we can handle it even if it's a trap or something. I vote we follow along."

It's Piano (R)! She is waiting patiently.

"..."

whitetext

What is she thinking about? Who knows. She probably does.

Edited by Rbade on Jun 8th 2023 at 2:42:46 AM

Nohr Rescue Mission (Garon? HERE?)

Jeridan can't help but let out a sigh of relief when the royals seems to have agreed to help them at least get people out. Unfortunately, any thoughts about getting out of Nohr without a fight is immediately crushed by Garon's intrusion. "What the HELL-" His heart jumped when he realized Garon is standing inside the room. 'How the hell did he get inside undetected?!'

Instead of panicking, however, the honorary agent's body sprung into action, courtesy of many rigorous and humiliating training regimes he went through at the Lookout. "Thanks for showing your children how cruel of a man you are, Garon, because now I don't have to break it to them!" Instead of borrowing Balmung, a cruel weapon appeared in his hands. Balmung's True Name activation can unleash an attack powered by True Ether, but that will destroy the entire room and endanger everybody inside, so god-slaying fire will do.

The entrance of yet another Corrin surprised him for only a brief moment, and he almost inmediately decided to take advantage of this opportunity. Jeridan slung a black fireball directly at Garon's arm using a Godslayer's Seal to stop him from grabbing Ms. Thingie and stun him long enough to be grabbed by the new Corrin, prior to coating the Godskin Peeler with the same black fire and cautiously waited for the Nohrian king's next move while his face is contorted into an ugly frown by animosity.

"XANDER! LEO! CAMILLA!" The young man cried out with some desperation in his voice. It is fairly easy to tell that he has no more intention to deceive them. "Fight back against this madness, damn it! Fight for your own siblings that you father dearest just threw aside like trash!"

Edited by cyzja922 on Jun 8th 2023 at 1:47:46 AM

   "I see. I'm Lady Flandre's familiar."    Daiakuma nods.    "My job is well, basically the same."   

   "Though she doesn't always listen to me."    Daiakuma sighs.

Flandre grins and decides to meet Beerus' charge with one of her own with her full vampiric strength behind it, bringing her first forward all Fighter Z style. This does leave a shockwave behind her but at this point who is counting property damage.

"Neither does Lord Beerus, but fortunately..." Whis smirks.

"I am the stronger of us."

—

Beerus gladly meets Flandre's clash, bouncing away from the impact and promptly kicking a trio of Cataclysmic Orbs at her. Instead of just standing and seeing what she does, he grabs one and rushes back at Flandre to try and slam it into her.

Hidden Wily Base

Glass Man is standing there as well. Is he there to keep an eye on her? Even if Dr. Wily allowed her to be in the base, he'd probably still be hesitant to just let her be on her own while he and Eggman Nega are busy with Bass' repairs.

Glass Man is quiet. Is he suspicious of her? Does he feel awkward about the situation? Perhaps he simply does not know the words to say. Either or, it doesn't really matter all too much right now, because all of a sudden the doors to the room in front of the two robots opens.

   "I'll certainly get results, I'd say. Send him out for a test when he boots up."   , Eggman Nega can be heard saying before he walks out that door. He pauses upon seeing Piano.

   "You must be that mysterious new Robot Master that Wily told me about."   , he says, looking contemplative. He then moves out of the way and grins.

   "If you're here to see Bass, you're free to enter."   

Her face brightens, albeit tinged with confusion upon seeing Neggman. Who is this guy.
There was similar confusion regarding Glass Man, but it was more easily brushed aside. He's much more easily identifiable as 'some Robot Master'.

She gets to her feet, bows quickly to the Dr., and makes her way forwards. Baaaaaaass are you here

oh no.

Thanks to the timely intervention of Jeridan, the other Corrin and co., Ms. Thingies was saved from a cruel death.

He's that guy we were talking about... Ganon?

Well, close enough.

She inmediately takes her tome, and reads the first spell she found.

...

Both sisters nod and follow the bucket group. But before, Cardboard hides the creepy man's corpse, and his horse's too. Now, both can be together in... Dunno, horse heaven?

Edited by BombonBombin on Jun 8th 2023 at 4:57:51 AM

Eggman Nega glances at Piano as she enters the room. Glass Man slightly turns to look at him, seemingly not liking this.

"Doctor. Your presence is required at the project." , he says. Eggman Nega looks back at him.

   "Hm? Oh, yes, that's right."   , he chuckles eerily, stroking his moustache supervillain style before he sets off. Glass Man goes with him.

Bass is indeed there, lying on a table and currently inactive, with Treble sitting by his side◊. Dr. Wily◊ is sitting behind a computer, seemingly running some tests. A tube is currently connected to both Bass and the computer.

"He'll be back online in a minute.", Wily says, having heard Piano come in. "I'm just running one quick final test to see if his energy reserves are stable. My colleague applied a new energy source that should make Bass stronger than before. Not that I don't trust him, but... just in case."

He turns to Piano.

"So, introductions were very brief when you came in. You were created by an alternate world's me, you said? How about some quick elaboration before Bass reactivates?", he says, looking curious.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Jun 8th 2023 at 12:04:19 PM

"Y-yes, Doctor." Maybe it would be better to wait until Bass is awake so she doesn't have to reiterate... but the man did ask. "It took me a bit, but I've spent enough time... marooned in this place to figure out its status as a sort of inter-world nexus."

"I am SWN. 002. I was created to act as a foil to DLN. 002, 'Roll'. I'm afraid I can't elaborate much further on the state of the world I come from, as I... have no way of knowing exactly what differs between ours?"
"Other than the fact that, based on your and the others' reactions, there doesn't appear to be any presence of me there."

"Hm... it never crossed my mind to try to make a foil to Roll. But it sounds intriguing. A potential future endeavor to keep in mind.", Wily says as he writes it down on a notepad.

"At a first glance you don't seem too different from my usual Robot Masters. I would be surprised if there's a notable amount of differences between our worlds. Now, going from the footage recorded through Bass' eyes, you seem to be quite attached to Bass. Which I suppose makes sense given your origin."

He now looks up from his notepad and back at Piano.

"I don't know what your relationship is with your world's Bass, how close you are as siblings. I should warn you, keep in mind that this Bass has nobody he considers a family. He might not be as welcoming to you as I'm guessing your world's Bass likely is to you. I doubt he will be hostile, just be mindful not to expect too much from him. Either or, the initial scan I did of you showed nothing I should worry about, so as far as I'm concerned, you're free to come and go as you please to visit Bass. All I ask is that you do not interrupt our work and that you use your warps to get here. I don't want to risk anyone following you and telling Mega Man where to find me. He's probably already looking for me after I was broken out of jail."

The computer then starts to beep. Wily turns back to it.

"And that's done. Nothing inherently hostile found... alright.", he hums as he types in a few more commands. The tube is disconnected from Bass, after which he opens his eyes and sits upright, hand on his head. Treble looks happy to see him.

Weird Cat vs Magical Girl

   "I see. Can't say it's the same with me and Lady Flandre."    Daiakuma sighed.    "Vampires are stronger than devils like me. So I have to persuade her in other ways."   

Flandre flies back as well, summoning Laevateinn again to remove the armor magic encasing it. She then swings it in a wide arc, sending a much bigger wave of destructive flames towards Beerus that burn through event the solid ground and walls in their path..

"Based on exchanged stories between the others I've met, it appears that the average is that several fundamentals are in common, but the general state of the world can vary wildly."
"Ah, right. I've been... residing, with two others from worlds of their own. Another robot called Piano, and one called Waltz. Waltz has spoken of a third other, 'Minuet', but she doesn't appear to be present here."

She laughs sheepishly when Wily talks about Bass's... attitude.

"The Forte- erm, Bass that I know isn't very friendly either. I can't help caring about him, though - as his junior and younger sister, it's my duty."

"It probably doesn't help that I. Uh. That one time I."
Her voice shrinks and becomes a nearly inaudible mumble, but the next words sure sound a lot like 'I managed to beat Rockman'.

"Perhaps I could give you some help in that. Provided Lord Beerus decides he likes Lady Flandre, at least."

—

The flames scorch through Beerus, causing him to stumble back.

"Yes, good. Very good! Now then!"

He flies at Flandre again, seemingly for another clash, but vanishes behind her and tries to put her in a headlock. If successful, he'll then spin and release her to send her into a tailspin, then drive his foot into her full-force to send her flying through several buildings.

Edited by KiriK on Jun 8th 2023 at 5:59:35 AM

Nicole just looks more annoyed than anything else. She was in no mood to deal with a bunch of arrogant jackasses who thought their fancy armor and laser guns meant they could just boss her around. Before she does anything, however, she waits to see if Wamuu and Pucci planned on either fighting or playing along with the Enclave grunts.