Well, if your spells are world-ending, they'll be weakened for sure! So it all depends on your potency. She shrugs.

You talk to them or you can spare with them. You don't need to fight. Eve precises.

Edited by Bolded1 on Jul 7th 2023 at 5:38:14 PM

Jessica: Huh, so the arena name IS a bit of a misnomer then. But, I guess that was a botched spell then. (Jessica attempts to cast Kacrackle, it succeeds this time and multiple ice spikes emerge from the ground) See that? That’s to be used if violence is desired.

As the team gets working, Optimus glances at Merlin's clever usage of Infinity coupled with an attack spell, and Yammers working on it as well. But the ground apparently attempt to resist the attempt this time, Garon's mass shifting as it attempts to pour more "power" and mud into the hardened mud. Not enough to completely block their efforts out, but Yammers is going to end up nearing her limits more than ever. And if it hadn't been for Merlin's continuous usage of her beam through Infinity, her workload would've been even heavier.

This is basically a match of determination between Garon, who's discarded everything to focus solely on obscene defense, and Yamame, Merlin and Palkiadan, who manages to add pressure to the crack and shake the tower with his outburst. Up above, Nicole's Arcane Beams are far from pointless but are seemingly easily absorbed by the Goorons, although this is a result of Foxy's technique rather than her lacking power. Pampin, meanwhile, is successful at removing one of the Goorons entirely, in a way that won't allow it to spread its mass or fight back too, so it's definitely a pretty hefty contribution on her part.

And then Anna goes beyond batshit at the crack, which help further, especially with a bruiser like Subaru to help!

As the rest of the group work, Leah decides to pull out two Warp Panels. We'll make a big enough hole for the group's smaller members to slip out of. Then we'll use two Warp Gates to bring the bigger ones like Optimus or Jeridan our way.

No. We won't have enough time, I fear. The ground then start shaking violently, as colors start to shift around the dimension. They change at eyes-searing speed before settling on simply switching every... five seconds or so, blasting the groups with either dull collors, vibrant lime for Garon's insides, pure darkness, all-consuming white before settling on simply making everyone feel like what it's like to be struck with daltonism.

Outside, as Peppino goes in for a punch on a flying MUDMAN, he suddenly find himself and his opponent flipped up further in the air. Next to them, Starscream suddenly has to hurriedly fly away as gravity instead threaten to smash him straight into the outer hide of Garolympus. His own foes aren't as fast, naturally, but they don't mind, instead being absorbed by the Garolympus again.

A massive shadow start to be cast over the world, as the looming Namek and several other worlds start to make themselves much bigger and menacing. Chunks of Windmire start experiencing intensive gravity or float in zero-G, with the Hoshidan-Nohrian army being left confused in dealing with the situation. Making matters even worse for them, more intruders are still pouring in.

WRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! GO FORTH MY ZOMBIES! FEAST UPON THEIR BLOOD AND TEARS AS YOU REND THEIR FLESH! A vampiric Speedwagon call forth, his undead servants converging upon the soldiers sent to stop them. Fortunately for the combined force, Yes-Man's Securitrons engage them first, albeit purely because they happened to stumble unto them first. Bullets, missiles and lasers make quick work of the undead, at least until the zombies attack from the roofs, pouncing upon the robots to tear their metallic bodies apart with their fearsome strength.

Nothing that the group would be aware of, but they can still feel the universe slowly approaching the squashing point.

G-geez! I thought that she was being an hysteric but I do think that a deity is working against us here!

We are in the middle of a universe on the brink of collapse, my human friend. Those events might be the result of reality falling apart instead of the workings of a malicious will! Optimus pull out his trusty blasters and shoot the cracks, taking care not to hurt Yamame. He prepare to say more but he sees that they're finally punching in a fairly big gap. Big enough for all but him and Palkidan, really.

At about the same time as the Goorons above start twitching, ready to pounce on their preys.I'll hold them back! You will have to stop Garon! Optimus make his trailer into a backpack of a sort, putting in the warriors who are too tired or injured to continue on; Like the ninja girls. Or Foxy.

As much as I would like to kill Garon, I would not want to leave such a brave warrior alone to fend these odds! King Sumeragi will join you, Optimus Prime of....... a metal world, I surmise! To a death without regrets!

They're close enough to the real deal! I'll assist you two! Mikoto toss her Hoshidan Yato at Corrin, who catch it in his mutated hand. I'll tear them apart with my bare hands! Go!

It'd be a shame not to have a shot at Garon! I'll go at it! Salazar says, pulling out his trusty RPG. Regardless of who make their decisions though, Corrin decides that the time isn't for dialogue. He dives into the gap leading to the lowest levels of Garolympus. With Salazar and Beruka following forth. Samsara wordlessly goes to assist the others at holding off the Goorons, while Lucina and Wamuu go with the others down below.

Leah also slip through. But if Palkidan can't fit through the gap, she quickly slap in a Warp Gate A then a Warp Gate B for him to take. But only him! For as soon as someone pass through, the Goorons pour in en masse... albeit not before all being blown back by the gathered momentum of being hit at once by Nicole's Arcane Blasts, blasting them back considerably and making the workload easier for the group STAYING BEHIND.

For the group GOING FORWARD, they'll find themselves falling down a long chamber again, albeit this time with a sort of fleshy black pillar, vaguely looking like an utterly enormous human spine with veins-like red lines running all over its length. Luckily for the group, the wonky gravity work in their favor. Instead of falling and ending up helpless once again, they'll wind up running down the spire without any trouble.

And maybe they could pull off a Sonic 06 and just slowly walk down the spine but they won't have time. Not with Garon shouting in panic before unleashing everything he has left at the group. Spikes sprout from the ribcage-like walls around them before launching themselves at the group while giant and small Goorons and Mudmen emerge from the spire itself or the walls, some attempting to spawn "on" the group itself. The last kind of obstacle? Huge mud tentacles, which attempt to directly slap away or ensnare the group.

SHINING FINGER SWOOOORRRRDDDD! Imitating the Smash version of her idol, Lucina raises her glowing Falchion to the "sky", with the tip of it shining brighly, and launch herself into a devastating blitz going forward, slicing off through hordes of the things, blasting off a lot of spikes and decapitating tentacles by the dozens. Assisting her, in his own unconventional way, Salazar blast off with his RPG, the Tyrant-killing rocket blast ahead of Lucina, blowing up a ton more of the mud atrocities.

Taking credit for the job? Not quite! Because for every destroyed thing, Garon attempts to throw more and more and more of them at the group, in a completely desperate bid to keep himself going. Corrin, who's off into a mad dash to reach the bottom of the structure, keep going in spite of this anyway. When killing a dozen of time in one strike doesn't matter, he simply kill thousands. And then killing that many in one strike doesn't matter, he simply kill hundreds. He's perfectly focused, wielding his two Yatos with unusual grace given his earlier difficulty handling two swords at once.

Raaaahhhhh! Salazar charge into a mob of mudthing, blasting them all point-blank with his weapons out. And when they run out of ammo, he start to rapidly cut them apart with his Vallite Knife, giving every swing his 200%. Go! Get him! We'll all die if we fail!

Lucina goes farther than he does, but is also inevitably caught when a tentacle manages to blindside her, blasting her back by several dozens meters. And before she can try to catch up again, more and more mud things appears in the way. She doesn't tell the group to go on though, instead fighting to cover their rear. But she's out of the "race".

Wamuu is using those fancy air tubes to fly over the group, blasting spikes with his Divine Sandstorm and covering for them. But he does plan to go forward... at which point, several tentacles manage to grab and slam him, throwing him backwards for good measure. Unlike Lucina, he doesn't accept this, getting up and running, but he at least provided good defense for a while.

As for Beruka, she follows Corrin, the trailblazer; His swords start to leave a black trail and a golden trail respectively with each hit, as he carve his way into the very bottom of Garolympus! But it'll take solid support from his allies to fight through to the very end of the spire. Which contains...

... Oh. More hardened m-GAARRRROONNNNNNNN! Which he effortlessly smash through by swinging his swords as hard as he possibly can, blood spurting from his arms in sheer effort. And as they reach the very depths of the Corpse King's hideous body, darkness briefly engulfs the group...

...

Decepticon Base

Megatron can't believe his optics despite literally upgrading them the day earlier for better accuracy. There's a small army of hideous-looking organic dragons converging for the world of Nohr! How?! And why?! Little did the Decepticon leader knew, all those variants of Anankos had severe beef with Garon for stealing "their" own Garon as a power source. And all of these were going over to Nohr to kick his ass.

That this Nohr was collapsing, they didn't care for it; All that mattered was getting all that power back, and they were confident they'd survive the phenomenon anyway.

   Between this and the collapse of the universe, Prime's odds of not dying by my hands are... increasing rapidly. Too rapidly! Soundwave! Quickly! To the cannon!    Moving swiftly, Megatron access a part of his lair where he store his weekly weapons of massive doom and energy, albeit this one is particularly ludicrous even by his standards: This massive monstrosity of a canon is 97% gun. Fitting, for a weapon meant to harness cosmic power. You could very likely grab a modern skyscraper, shove it into the main gun and still have room for a smaller skyscraper.

Soundwave wisely step away from the gun as Megatron walk up to a hole within it and shove his arm into the structure, aiming to aim the enormous device himself. Not because he doesn't trust Soundwave. But because if Soundwave is the one shooting the weapon, then Prime would die at the hands of Soundwave! And Megatron wouldn't want his kill stolen.

Frowning intensely and dispensing with the theatrics, Megatron moves the enormous mass of the Dimension Canon, lifting the enormous structure by simply flexing his arm. He lightly grunts as he shift the cannon around, listening to Soundwave's cues. The ever-loyal grunt fire up a smaller device, opening a portal similar to the one Starscream went through to get to Nohr, albeit much larger to fit for it.    678769 POINT OMEGA   

   676597 DELTA POINT TWO   

   59879 GAMMA THREE   

   676656 PRIME POINT   

   A coward's kill, striking you all the way from another world. Such a shameful ending to it all, Prime.    And then Megatron braces himself as he fire the weapon, being very nearly knocked off his ass and sent flying all the way to the Soviet Union as the gun, with a roar for the ages, proceed to fire at the enormous weapon.

And the world shudders.

...

Garolympus - Depths

In what appears to be an infinite plain of fleshy grey mud, there stands the real Garon, his original appearance restored in its full kingly glory. Nothing more than a mask, he's afraid, but though he's still heavily weakened, he has one last gambit left in place.

Stalling. His body is covered in hardened mud. It's as solid as can be. Even if the group somehow surpassed his expectations and made it to him, he can still win, he think, watching as the heroes fall into the final battlefield. The ground is wet and sticky, and their surroundings are covered in a bizarre fog, but there's no sign of anything hiding in either. They're all alone with Garon.

There's no sign of universal chaos or disruption. Everything is at peace and utterly quiet.

Garon, who is not facing the group, instead standing next to a replica of his throne in Nohr, clutching the real Bolverk, his axe, by the mere hilt. His eyes are turned towards the endless darkness that serve as a "sky". He start speaking about as soon as he sees    This. Corrin. This is how the world should be. No war. No scheming. No lies. Just peace. Peace you and I both seek to achieve. For we are very much ali-   

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Corrin run in as soon as he hit the ground, reaching Garon and slicing him in half in one fell-swoop with Shadow Yato. He does it with such strength that Garon's upper body is fucking sent flying    BLEUARGHH!    and his legless body is sent smashing through the throne, shattering it as he starts to bounce pathetically on the ground.

Garon howls back at Corrin and, using his arms as support to stand up, like he's a Geodude or something, fling himself at Corrin.    RUUNNNNNFAUGHGGHHH!   

3 POSTS UNTIL THE END OF THIS PRECIOUS WORLD

Edited by Bolded1 on Jul 7th 2023 at 8:21:53 PM

Nohr

"I think... I'll stay behind." Yamame groaned, stumbling as she tried to get in a ready stance but all the fatigue was catching up to her. She doesn't remember the last time she had to deal with this much shit in one day. After this she's gonna find a hot spring to deal with how sore she'll no doubt be.

She tries firing off some danmaku bursts at the Goorons but it's obvious she's not at 100%, so no doubt Optimus ends up putting her in the trailer too. Something which she's not in much of a position to go against so she'll simply focus on getting rested as quickly as she can while in there.

Big Gambit

Outside, Einherjar Xander/Takumi/Scarlet bear witness to the shifting sky as they're fighting off mudmen.

—

The first dimensional breakdown-attack on their senses catches the five of them off guard. When it happens again, Merlin looks genuinely panicked.

"Our time is running out. We must find our way to Garon NOW!"

Then the times comes for them all to make their decisions.

"As much as I wanna punch that bastard in the face again, I'll probably be more useful as a living shield. None of 'em will get to you as long as I'm breathin'!", Ban says.

"We will stay behind as well.", Einherjar M!Corrin says.

"Go and annihilate that monstrosity!", Einherjar Oboro says.

Merlin nods to them.

"I'll go with them. They'll need as much firepower as they can get."

"Then I'm coming too!", Morgan says. Regardless of how much Corrin and Lucina trust him to not stab them in the back at the last possible second, they'll have no time to argue about it.

With their decisions made, they split up. Morgan jumps down, as does Merlin.

For those STAYING BEHIND, the two Einherjar immediately jump the recoiled mudmen, aiming to carve them up with their weapons. As for Ban, he'll go for lightning-fast superpowered punches against any mudman that DARES slip by his allies and get close to the hole. When he said he'd be a shield, he meant it.

For those GOING AHEAD, Morgan is briefly amused by the fact that he can run down a wall without falling, but a quick fingersnap from Merlin reminds him to keep his head in the game. This would be the worst possible time to lose focus.

When Garon attacks them once again, Merlin aids Lucina, sending her Fire Storm, Exterminate Ray, Random Ball and Endless Whirl at anything that comes their way. As well as a not yet used before-

"Shock Stinger."

Upon which she launches lightning bolts around herself. While not very powerful per se, they pack an amazing impact that would send anything they hit flying back.

In short, she's sending out the whole arsenal save for Icicle Castle, due to the fact that the ice spires would actively hinder them here.

Morgan, thinking quickly, actually throws out an Arcwind on Corrin. Not to damage him, but to speed up his descent towards Garon. He'd extent that courtesy to Beruka too, but, y'know, wyverns and wind magic... not a good combination.

"Quickly, go!", he calls out to Corrin. After this he gets caught by a tentacle too, and while he'll be able to free himself with more cutting winds, it looks unlikely that he'll be able to keep up with the rest of the group.

—

Garolympus - Depths

Merlin arrives here at the time the now halved Garon launches himself at Corrin. Her first instinct is to use Chrono Coffin, but with time and space already on the brink of collapse, using a time-related spell is asking for it to backfire somehow.

But she has something else that'll do just fine for this. Not a spell, but a magical item.

'"Goddess Amber!"

She throws the Goddess Amber forward, and it'll attempt to seal Garon within itself.

Now, even at probably his last few breaths, Garon would still be too powerful a creature to trap into the Goddess Amber. And Merlin knows that, because that's not why she threw it. Instead she hopes that Garon is exhausted enough that at least the item's pull will limit Garon's movements and give her allies the opportunity they need to put a permanent end to him.

Doesn't mean that that's all she's planning to do to help though.

"Double Impact!"

Perhaps Merlin's most damaging offensive spell, it's a two-stage attack, where upon performing a sequence of hand gestures, Merlin unleashes a wave of force upon Garon that combines the magical attributes of the four elements and multiplies it. If this succeeds, she'll then set off a second, more powerful blast with a snap of their fingers that contains a weakening spell that decreases Garon's defensive properties. If the first attack hits, the second will hit by default as well. But if the first misses, so will the second.

As for Morgan, surprisingly he's in the process of falling out of the hole at the final possible moment. With zero hesitation, he launches a concentrated blast of his Grima's Truth, even if it's burning his hands to use this tome.

"... Looks like this is where we part ways. Don't get yourself killed again, Se'arah!" RF!Anna yells as she takes a stand against the Goorons, staying behind to face them. She pauses to lift Yamame onto her heavy plated shoulders to give the spider youkai some measure of cover.

"... Okay. You too."

Se'arah charges on through, hacking at the masses of mud as she struggles to get through them. "GET! OUT! OF! MY! WAY!"

—

And then, by the time they finally make it through to Garon's core, she finds herself spent.

"Just."

All she can muster at this point is a simple, yet brutal overhead slash with Alondite (think Ike forward smash)!

"DIE!"

Edited by KiriK on Jul 7th 2023 at 5:01:32 AM

Nohr Rescue Mission (The Final Stretch)

Jeridan raised his claws and was fully prepared to stay behind and hold off the Goorons and mudmen, until Optimus did that first and the young man quickly tried to pry the gap open until he saw the warp panel. Silently thanking Leah for the convenient device, he stepped into it and was warped into the depth of Garolympus, flying down the dark chamber to escort his allies while trying to adjust to the weird gravity.

With a snarl and recalling his experience in wielding the Yamato a while back, Palkidan raised his claws and performed a single swiping gesture with both, generating a full on barrage of mini-Spacial Rends at the spikes, Goorons, mudmen, and tentacles, shredding them to pieces before they can reach him and his allies not unlike a large-scaled Judgement Cut. Flying down at an even higher speed, he barreled through the last bit of mud floor alongside Corrin into the massive mud plain.

As soon as Palkidan realized that Garon is doing a fucking "You and I aren't so different" speech at this point of the fight, he burst out into laughter, the sound being a mix of Jeridan's laugh Palkia's otherworldly cry. With a vicious swipe of his right arm, he launched a full-scale Spacial Rend attack right at Garon immediately after Merlin tossed the Goddess Amber, the attack being more than large enough to cover the torso but not big enough to accidentally hit his teammates.

"Shut the fuck up, Garon. Please shut the fuck up." There is a strange, spiteful mirth in his voice as he launched another Spacial Rend with a swing of his left arm, not caring that it is starting to tax his body. This is it, Garon is going to die right now and Jeridan is not about to waste time verbally mocking how absolutely stupid his comparison is. This Corrin may not be the best leader in existence or the most rational person, but he is nowhere near like what this Garon is. The honorary agent will not stand for this piss-poor attempt as reaching an consensus.

Edited by cyzja922 on Jul 7th 2023 at 1:34:11 AM

Min Min's Noodle House

After Refia has had a nice long cry and gotten some food in her, she decides to check her phone and see if Rumia's started using her own.

Upon seeing the message, she cracks the slightest hint of a smile and replies, Sorry I ran off. I had a really bad nightmare and had to make sure it wasn't true. I suppose we'll see each other—kind of—tomorrow as usual.

Rumia frowned at the reply and started working on another.

   "Aw, I hope you feel better! When I have a nightmare I usually hold my plushies or eat something I like to cheer up."    she sent.    "See ya then!"   

Eventually, Refia returns to the Babey Mansion, greeted by Alear, who notices her acting normal and lets her be. Then, the next day rolls around.

Refia wakes up in her own body. She pats herself on the chest to feel her pajamas, then on her arm to feel the false skin with metal underneath.

"... Huh."

"Hey, Refia!" N calls. "Ready for game day?"

"What?"

"Y'know, we've been playing on the Switch every other day! I thought it was, like, a thing!"

Refia quickly sends a text to Rumia, who she thinks should probably be awake by now. Disregarding the fact we're still in our own bodies, have you been gaming with the others every single day we've swapped?
N seems to think spending every other day playing games is routine now.

woa trippy. Doesn't stop her from punching despite the chaos though. And then GOING FORWARD after Corrin, the de facto mascot of the group.

Rather than carelessly risk cracking her legs in a long fall again, she tempers her speed by occasionally sliding down the sides of the chamber - until it turns out it's not quite necessary. Whatever, wall-sliding is cool.

-

Then everything breaks loose. More fucking Goorons, spikes, the works. Fuck that. While she thinks she could hold her own, she puts all her effort into just following Corrin, dodging the attacks of the Living Garon and juking around the hordes that may come her way as she descends into the depths, intent on the final boss.

...

THERE HE IS

THE GUY WHO CAUSED ALL THIS BULLSHIT

'This is how the world should be at peace-' FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCKJ YOU SUBARU TRIES TO FUCKING SHOULDER BASH HIS GEODUDE-ASS BODY INTO THE WALL

Rumia is in the middle of breakfast when she gets the message.

   "Well yeah. It seemed fun and Miss Dai and Flandre don't really play video games with me :T."    Rumia messages back. Don't ask me when she discovered emoticons.

"Is that a gift from your 'penpal'?" Flandre asked, curious as she sipped some suspiciously red tea.

   "Yah! It's faster than um, mail."    Rumia explained.

"I see. Personally I don't see the appeal of such tiny telephones." Flandre scoffed. Rumia stuck her tongue out and they both went back to their food.

"There's a lot more going on here than ya think," Nicole quickly explains to Optimus. "Maybe you'll see what I'm talking about if we make it through this!"

Opting to join the others pushing forward, she employs a few sweeping Arcane Beams in order to carve herself a clear path through the sludge monsters. The moment she reaches the core, she attempts to straight-up thrust her arm through Garon's chest, Injustice Superman-style. If successful, she'll proceed to grab the newly-formed hole in his torso with both hands before moving to tear him in half like a wishbone.

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Jul 7th 2023 at 4:09:38 AM

That's a shame. When all this is over, we can play together on weekends all you like.

Refia gets up and goes to breakfast. "Sorry, N. Game day was just me getting distracted. We can still play, but after my usual stuff."

Alear makes an audible content sigh, contrasting with N's sigh of disappointment.

Refia grabs a couple slices of toast with fried egg on them out of the magic oven, then stops to send another message before she heads to her seat.

How's Morag taking to his name?

Edited by KiriK on Jul 8th 2023 at 1:40:31 PM

SDM

   "That sounds like fun :D."    Rumia messages as she walks from the dining room to hangar/garage/nest. In there Morag is snoozing as usual, though this time he wakes up in a less jumpscarey fashion when Rumia starts serving food. He even lets her pat him on the nose.

   "Did you do something with him? He's a lot nicer now."    Rumia asks, looking at the Flaming Espinas.

I mentioned before how he ran off and I 'took a walk' to find him. He got into a fight with some other wyverns so I helped drive them off.

Refia almost leaves it at that, but she considers that if Rumia slips up as much as she did while she had Refia's enhancements in her favor, she might be kinda... slow.

While I was in your body, I mean.
Maybe he appreciated it.

   "Is that so? Sounds like it was fun."    Rumia said, though her concept of fun is skewed by being Flandre's bestie.

   "Well it's not like you'd have been in Karasu's body or something :P."    she adds.    "Anyway that makes sense to me. So what are you planning to do now?"   

So nanoka Counter: 2

Glacial Rift, Hub Centralis, Estraole

Glacial Rift

With the window of opportunity Sebastien had provided for the Lunagaron, she opted not to attack the Giadrome.

Rather, she took this to create a spiky coating of ice over herself once more. But this time was different, because now her very core had heated up, producing a vibrant red glow from the monster’s chest. In addition—her eyes were a bright crimson, staring into the Giadrome’s as she reared up onto her hindlegs with violent ice claws tipping her fingers. The Lunagaron immediately leapt forwards, aiming to being these icicle talons down onto the enemy predator.

____

Hub Centralis

Piovre seemed to look off into the distance upon being faced with the question, stroking his chin with one hand and counting his fingers with the other while muttering under his breath.

"Carry the one…Napoleonic dynasty…twenty years after…wild west…zombie hitler…nazi portal to the moon…” He continued to murmur and count, thinking to himself before looking back to William. "Bout…Five hundred, more or less. Lot longer than I’d like to have lived…But, the forces of Hell aren’t gonna keep themselves at bay.” The man shrugged, with long-since accepted dejection in his tone. ”Someone’s gotta do it. I figure it might as well be me; I know I can do it the right way. I know I can do it without killing anyone. So that’s what I do.”

____

Estraole

"Hm." Though their face was covered, there grateful yet mournful smile behind the helmet was audible in their tone. "I appreciate the offer, truly, I do. But alas, this journey is mine to make and mine alone. Though…Perhaps there is some way you can help." The Exile seemed to think for some moments before they nodded to themselves. "Yes, I think that will do just fine. This path is fraught with danger, David of the Evergreen Guild. To travel it is to put your life on the line, and if you fall behind for even a moment—you will die. That is why I must keep my skills sharp, keep from falling into rust. Tamer of hounds, have you ever heard of "Abyaas"? It is a sacred form of duel performed between two parties where neither side kills the other, but rather reduces their foe to a vulnerable position, one where—in a true battle—they would be open to a fatal blow. I wish to perform Abyaas with you, honorable David of the Evergreen Guild. For my continued training."

Previously On…

Glacial Rift

The Stained Giadrome snarled at Lunagaron as she pounced it, turning to face her but not able to counter in time. This lead to it being knocked over with Lunagaron on top, the Giadrome attempting to use its claws to force her off. If that doesn't work it opts for a headbutt with its ice "helmet" into Lunagaron's own face, doing so until it manages to make Lunagaron back off.

If it does manage to force Lunagaron off, it will quickly get on its feet only to stumble from Sebastien hitting it with explosives again, cracking the ice armor further. If not then Sebastien keeps waiting for a clear shot since he doesn't want Lunagaron in the blast radius.

Garon

I'll follow you! I got the feeling that Garon is the big bad in all that.

And so, Pampín follows the going forward group, flying at breackneck speed, slashing through groups of mudmen and spikes with her staff. When they finally reach Garon...

Inti, seal him!

If the attempts to stop Garon on his place are successful, she will attempt to do the same disintegration spell on him.

Astil (workshop)

Maxi nods. We'll leave you everything on your hands.

And so, the explorers left the workshop to return home.

Soon AltArena

As Garon moves to attack Corrin, Beruka goes in, grabbing her axe and planting it in his opened maw. More mud spurt out of Garon's body as he very desperately struggle to break free, but Beruka drags him against the ground before tossing him upwards, his jaw noticeably broken by having an axe shoved against him. This leave him as prime fuel for Merlin and then Morgan to blast with, leaving Garon to visibly start to melt again as he's exposed to the full elemental fury of Merlin especially.

   GYYYAARRGHHH!   

His skin and armor alike melt, revealing part of his skeleton beneath it all. And he's, of course, unable to break free from the Goddess Ember until Inti attack him with her spell, the disintegration starting from his left arm. With a fearful yelp, Garon sever it, getting rid not only of the mud on it... but also his actual remaining arm, from his "core". Remember how it was described as a skeleton with a torso and two arms but no lower body? Yeah.

   UOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH!   

Desperately gripping his axe, Garon begin to deny reality as the hits keep pilling up. After Inti here comes Nicole, who thrust her hand through him successfully. But as she rips him apart, Garon transmit his consciousness into one half of himself, although he has to shed off a significant portion of his mass once again. Which mean that he's totally helpless to defend himself from Subaru slamming into him, slamming him into the ground and wrecking through Bolverk, which he desperately raised in an attempt to protect him, shattering the weapon into a thousand little pieces that vanish immediately afterwards.

   BLEUUARRGHHH!   

Garon still attempt to get up at this point but then Se'arah slam Alondite into his shoulder and dunk him high into the air. At which point, Jeridan shear off his remaining torso with his Spatial Rend, reducing him to a mere head. Literally a screaming head. Beyond helpless as Corrin run up to it and stab it with the two Yatos at once, stabbing Garon on the chin and glaring at him one last time.

   Gyyarghhh! CORRIN! JUST YOU WA-   

2 TURNS UNTIL THE END OF THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD

...

Nohr

And, well outside, a suddenly enormous gash of light appears on the surface of Garolympus, with sunrays peeking through. The whole structure shudders, as it appears to be pierced by an enormous sword fit to slay a mountain.

The mudmen don't collapse into mud this time. They turn to ash. Utterly destroyed. Gone beyond repair. Completely annihilated. Starscream watch in silence, at awe at what he's seeing. Even Peppino goes silent for once. Although that "once" is a short occasion.

LOOK!!!!

3 TURNS UNTIL THE END OF THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD

...

GAROLYMPUS - DEPTHS

die Corrin swings his swords upwards, completely slicing through Garon's head. He doesn't even leave a "half" to sever, instead combining the two Yatos and their power, almost instinctively, to create an aura that utterly disintegrate Garon's head. To such an extent that Garon doesn't get to scream anything before he gets completely wiped from the map, his scream cut-short as a pillar of light flare forth from in front of Corrin, who keep his swords very dramatically pointed to the air.

The mud world at their feet start to break apart as the fog clears, huge chunks of "ground" cracking apart. Some get vaporized by the light. But others, where the heroes are standing on, start raising to the air, back to where they came from.

The speed of the world.

The "sky" around the group start to crack and collapse into pieces as Corrin sit on his knees, utterly spent, well beyond a Stamina Drink's ability to fix. He pants, staring off at nothing in particular besides the light; His eyes are blank. His arms are limp. Even holding himself up on his knees is exhausting, and he simply let both Yatos fall to the floor as he glances at the group.

He look past everyone but Beruka, who's clutching her head, appearing to be lightly pained. But while this could indeed be worrying for the group, Beruka smiles once she's done, lowering her hand and looking at Corrin.

I remember... everything. You've done it! She says, almost excitedly. Which is a bit odd, it shouldn't be happening until she switched universes. Unless... someone was willing to give the group a bit of a handout. And Corrin must've known this ahead, because he smiles and collapse, utterly unconscious, beyond spent at the effort. And Beruka try to go for him, but she find herself likewise unable to even move, leaving up to Minerva, her wyvern, to try to pick up Corrin and put it in a "passenger seat", assuming nobody interferes of course.

4 TURNS UNTIL THE END OF THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD

Up above, the Goorons likewise evaporate to nothing, with the dust they leave behind being erased outright. Like with the group below, the whole structure break apart into one huge pillar of light, carrying them upwards, with a designated platform for everyone involved. Lucina, Wamuu and Salazar, for instance, are brought to Optimus, Ban, Yammers and everyone else's platform, joining up to form a bigger platform. And the people even further down join on their own platform, rejoining up with the group.

You've done it. You've saved countless worlds and freed this one from Garon's tyranny. Optimus says, pride in his voice at seeing how people from different worlds were able to all come together to defeat a great evil. The whole group is carried upwards, with Optimus assuming Truck Form once again for everyone to pour in after the tough fight.

5 TURNS UNTIL THE END OF THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD

Up above, for the fliers, a chasm of light split the mountain in half vertically before an outpouring of light blast through it, causing it to be vaporized to nothing in a wave of powerful yet harmless light. But this isn't what Peppino was pointing to: the worlds are parting. Namek and the other dimensions start going away, making way for a much more conventionally dull, yet almost missed, Nohrian grey sky.

The phenomenon is quick but only truly begin once the heroes are on top of the pillar of light, surfing upon its very tip on a platform now made of regular earth. As if to show them that they've indeed warded off the great peril menacing the world. And for a second, everyone from different worlds. Dragons, immortals, wizards, Stand Users, youkais, Nohrians, Hoshidans, Castellans, Pirates, Cybertronian, Green Lanterns, Ninjas, Divine Agents, Dolls, can see the world being restored.

BEAUTIFUL WORLD : SAVED

And, as a bonus, a purple beam streak through the restored night sky of Nohr, so thin as to be mistaken for a wishing star. Little do they know, there's about hundreds of Anankos who suddenly eat a lot of shie and die, although it might be cause for celebration on other worlds.

...

Decepticon Base

Megatron watch, with his arms folded, the final result of the fight with Garon. Knockout tilt his head to the side, lightly tapping one finger against his pronounced chin as he behold the phenomenon. They've done it.

   You shouldn't be so surprised at the idea of Prime pulling through desperate odds, Knockout!    Megatron says, looking satisfied to see his old nemesis survive.    He shall have the pleasure of dying by MY HANDS in our next battle! Muhahahahahahahhaa!    The Decepticon leader laughs. But as he prepare to ask for reports on Starscream. A confusing echoing chorus suddenly enter his head, prompting him to grab his helmeted mug in shock and annoyance;

   Megatron of Tarn... Megatarn Megatarnf Megatronof Tarntronybermegofofmegataof Megtronaof    The same message, "Megatron of Tarn", is repeated over and over, cascading in Megatron's head. And the group must be aware of this because they briefly pause to get their message out and allow some build-up.    Thank you!   

   Gahhh! What is wrong with these Organics? They're thanking me for blowing them up! The insanity!   

Well, let's hope Starscream will find his way out before he start picking up weird habits!

Elsewhere, Starscream does indeed "blink" and get out of there with his portal.

...

   ... Hmph. Not. Bad.   

...

The pillar of light lower itself, allowing Optimus to simply drive on it like it was a regular road, back towards the cheering Nohrian-Hoshidan army. Inside his trailer, Beruka sits holding a napping Corrin, with everyone else kind of piled up on each other. Aside from Salazar, who's sitting in the front row and is, once again, playing Dare once again.

If I had to do this all again... I would probably not accept. But I'd consider it! Or I'd have the wizard chick with us the whole time! Foxy says, wiping his forehead.

Hm. This song is about having "the power", correct? I wouldn't expect a common human artist to grasp the intricacies of power so easily but it is passable as a song. Wamuu simply ponders, eyes closed and arms folded.

It's only a shame we couldn't assist you earlier! I apologize for our capture. Lucina tells Samsara, who simply shake her head, herself a tad exhausted.

It's good to see you alive and well, Lucina.

Hope is like a newborn flame. Although fickle and easy to snuff out... It can grow to become a very powerful force. And though it can be sometimes easy to lose hope against the tides of an overwhelmingly powerful and ruthless evil, one must not forget that good will likewise rise to combat it. No matter the source, even another world if it must, there will always be people to unite their strength against injustice and evil. And against such a powerful force, evil will always lose. I am Optimus Prime. Telling all defenders of good, be they Autobots, Shepherds, Nohrians, Hoshidans and more: do not lose hope. For in our darkest hour, there will always be a flame to light our way.

WHHATTTT I'VEE

DONNNEEEEEE

(VICTORY!!!)

I'LL FACE MYSELF!

TO CROSS OUT WHAT I'VE BECOMMMEEEEEEE

ERASE MYSELF

AND LET GO OF WHAT I'VE DONNNNNNEEEEEE

Edited by Bolded1 on Jul 8th 2023 at 8:08:52 PM

Se'arah continues to hold Alondite, dragging it against the ground and glaring at Garon. Even after Corrin seemingly strikes him down for good, she stays on guard, her breath low and heavy.

And then the world, and Beruka, and everything begins to heal. She lurches into Optimus' trailer, doing a Sword Plant just to keep her balance. RF!Anna catches up on the way out.

As soon as they're out and she can see the sky again, Se'arah drops Alondite and falls to her knees, staring into... well, it's not exactly clear and blue, but it's better than it was.

Finally, she lets out a victorious yell. "HHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

Then, with all the pain and stress she's suppressed catching up to her at once, she doubles over and vomits. RF!Anna kneels down and pats her on the shoulder reassuringly.

"Looks like you did it," Mordecai says with a chuckle. "Hope you didn't miss me."

Refia pauses to actually eat some of her food, taking a bite of toast.

She replies, Dunno. Probably gonna train until the afternoon like I usually do. We'll just have to wait and see if this is it for the swaps.

Edited by KiriK on Jul 8th 2023 at 1:39:57 PM

Fatality

OUTSIDE

The three Einherjar pause now that the mudmen disintegrate, and they too become speechless as they now witness what's happening to Garolympus, as well as the worlds parting around them.

—

INSIDE

A second after Garon's demise, Morgan lands from his fall... not making a very graceful landing, but hey, he's alive. Grima's Truth falls on the ground besides him.

And then the world around them starts to crumble. Being dazed, Morgan briefly wonders if that was somehow his fault before snapping back to his senses. Thankfully the pieces of ground are rising instead of falling.

He does look worried about Beruka for a moment, then relieved when it turns out that nothing's wrong with her, with it even being the opposite.

"Time and space are mending again.", Merlin says as she looks up around her.

When Corrin collapses, Morgan actually looks like he's about to try to go get him to safety. But when Beruka's wyvern Minerva moves in he stops, as the wyvern would probably be better at getting Corrin back to them than he can. Merlin does help out a little, trying to levivate Corrin up on the wyvern's back with her magic.

Morgan quickly picks up his tome and can still feel it burning a little. Opening the book and flipping to the final page, he notices that there's still magic energy left... in literally the last letter in the whole book. Which means that he does still have a single use left of Grima's Truth after all.

He'd keep this in mind for when he deems it necessary.

-

Ban stops throwing punches when the Goorons disintegrate. He's about to wonder if this means the others did it, but then the world around everyone starts breaking apart. Einherjar M!Corrin and Einherjar Oboro make their ways to the bigger platform as well.

"That was closer than I would have liked.", Einherjar M!Corrin says.

"But we did it. Anna will be happy to hear we managed to do our parts.", Einherjar Oboro says. Then the two are taken by surprise as Ban lifts them both up with one arm each, still strong enough despite his stolen power now leaving him, as that power's original host is gone.

"I'd love to celebrate, but let's actually make it back to solid ground first.", Ban grins before tossing the two Einherjar into Optimus' truck. He himself doesn't go inside, instead deciding to hang onto the side so that someone else will have an extra seat to sit in. He gives Nicole a happy thumbs up at a successful mission regardless though.

When the two groups join up again, Morgan, having pocketed his tome again, goes into the truck as well. Merlin decides to fly on her own, partly because she doesn't need transportation, and partly to catch Ban if he lets go by accident. It wouldn't be the first time.

And once they all get to the top of it all, Morgan, Ban, Merlin and all five Einherjar can watch the world being restored.

"Talk about a sight to behold.", Merlin says, smiling warmly.

—

As Optimus drives down towards the rest of the army (the three Einherjar on the wyvern now flying alongside him and Merlin), Morgan feels both exhausted as well as excited. They actually managed to pull it off. The mission was a success, and while they ended up handling much more than they originally planned to do, they still succeeded in the end.

The mission is over now. ...

...

And so is their team-up, huh?

Morgan's enthusiasm fades a little. Soon they'll actually have time to just stop and talk, and no doubt will that mean trouble for him. He keeps quiet for now, hoping that the others will soon be too busy celebrating to remember this. At least until they get back to Anna, who he made this deal with.

He stops thinking about bad scenarios as Optimus Prime gives them all a victory speech. Hope, huh? The only times he'd ever heard that word are when his mother would damn her enemies for holding onto it. Perhaps Grima's 'Truth' really isn't that much different from that of Garon. And Optimus' speech finally lets him put into words all those many, many thoughts and doubts he's been experiencing ever since he started this mission.

What would be his truth?

My Castle (well Corrin's and Lilith's castle but you get the idea-)

Selena, Odin and Laslow, who were sleeping (after Jake told them it'd be the best thing for them to do) until just now, awaken with a start. They too experience some headaches, but none of them panic over this, as they realize they're remembering a bit more again.

"They did it...", Selena says, beginning to smile.

"..."

Subaru, after freezing for a moment, makes a mad dash for the trailer.

". . ."

It's beautiful. But it all passes in a blur.

-

Well, that's it. The guy is... gone. The rage she summoned to keep her going is... it doesn't have anywhere to flow from, anymore.

She feels empty. Glad that the mission is complete and this place is safe, sure, but it's like the LaCroix of emotional catharsis.