Untold Loss
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Jerrod took a moment to digest the information that Croque just fed to him via telepathy, and that's when the horror and dread starts to set in. While Croque has the capacity to keep her face perfectly neutral thanks to her mechanical nature, he does not have that level of absolute control over his own body. As such, the sheer scale of the weapon that might be unleashed made him look at Croque with a fine mix of incredulity, shock, and horror in his eyes.
Still, props to Jerrod for not showing too much of... any of those emotions on his face and managing to wrench his head back to look at the man in the center of the room, whose words are slowly devolving into panicked rambling before he just
disappeared.
The Controller's mind raced as he made a connection between the universe-wiping device and the manner in which the man disappeared. It may very well be the case that this man is erased through a similar phenomenon as the device, but that may mean the device has already been activated.
Shaking his head, he decided to dismiss these speculations for now and focus on getting to the weapon as soon as possible. With a far tenser look in his eyes, Jerrod carefully listened to what Croque has to say and shifted his attention to the holographic map to keep his eyes away from the man who disappeared into thin air, inwardly thanking her for giving him a means to open portals for everybody. "Thank you, and I think a map like this should be enough. I can open three portals that all lead to the basement area."
After closing his eyes for a few seconds to gain some focus, Jerrod waved his hand to create three sigil-like portals in the rooms where the shells are, including the one he is in right now. "Tell them that I may be able to open portals to the basement, I have no idea what's there until I step through." is all he said before walking through the portal and reaching the basement, his gauntlet manifested and at the ready. The man is now fully ready to pulverize whatever gets in his way of defusing the device, because erasing an entire branch of a universe is a crime so egregious that he simply cannot ignore.
Untold Loss
WOW!!!! SCORE ONE FOR POWER! SCORE ZERO FOR THE ENTITIES! THAT WAS PISS EASY! LITERALLY! I HAVE AN EASIER TIME PISSING THAN I HAD KILLING YOU! Power says, swinging her arms left and right while alternatively hopping on one leg after the other, swinging the leg of the side of her body she isn't swinging her arms to.
Then she stops to look at Aura.
But you did nothing! Geez! Am I the only one inspecting stuff around here?! Geez! And then one of Croque's shells run in, prompting Power to frown. She did NOT need more weirdos, geez! And the Croque shell probably realize this, because, as far as Power is concerned, it commits die immediately to become a weirdly swirling thing/
Weirded out, Power try shoving Aura into it, and wait a bit before sticking her head in.
Yo! You alive?
Edited by Bolded1 on Mar 2nd 2025 at 8:20:17 PM
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterPokémon World - The Past
It's too late for anyone to save Eliza. Quickly, they surrounded her and places her inside a cage. They moved the cage to a flat area. Waiting for Apollo...
From afar, the sound of Apollo's fierce roars echoed through the dense forest, resonating with a sense of urgency and power. Without a moment's hesitation, he sprints towards the source of the sound, his powerful legs propelling him down the mountain. His wings are tucked against his body as he sprints down the steep mountain slope. “ELIZA! HOLD ON! I'M COMING!” His cries grew louder as he bolted towards the direction of Eliza's roars. As he ran, the wind whipped against his body, and his wings remained tucked at his sides, allowing him to navigate the terrain with his speed.
Finally, Apollo reached the bottom of the mountain. His eyes widened in horror as he beheld the sight of Eliza, caged and helpless. Apollo knew he had to act fast to save her.
”ELIZA! DON'T MOVE! I'M HERE!”
”GO AWAY APOLLO! THEY'LL KILL YOU! GO AWAY! DON'T COME APOLLO! THEY'LL KILL YOU!” Apollo knew the risks involved, but the thought of losing her, and their unlaid egg was unbearable. Eliza's voice grew more desperate as she tries to warn him.
”APOLLO, NO! THEY'LL KILL YOU IF YOU COME ANY CLOSER!”
Ignoring her warnings, Apollo gathered all his strength and sprinted even faster. As he approached the cage, his heart pounded in his chest, and his muscles tensed, preparing to fire a Moonblast.
Just as Apollo was about to unleash the Moonblast, a sinister presence emerged from the shadows. It was a hunter, with a gun, pointed straight at him. The hunter's eyes gleamed with malice as he took aim. Before Apollo could react, the hunter pulled the trigger of the gun twice, and a searing pain shot through his chest. The bullets had found their mark, both of them striking Apollo in the heart. He roars in pain as two bullets strike him, as he collapses onto the ground.
’NOOO!”
Apollo, weakly, manages to extend one of his paws, towards Eliza, his eyes locking with her’s one last time.
”Please… Name our daughter Luna…
He then closes his black eyes. His body goes limp, never to awaken again.
..... Eliza just stared at Apollo's body in shock.
Doom Hell
As soon as everyone has left Argent D'nur, a figure stomps its way in and drops into the pit where the Enchantress's spirit lingers.
YOUR POWER
The spirit's fire flickers.
YOUR HUMILIATION
It drifts away from the stomping feet.
YOUR MALICE
The soul-flame zips to a distant wall. The fear it feels of this thing is instinctive, that which prey feels before a predator.
YOUR VENGEANCE
There is no escape.
F E E D S M E
—
The sword leads them a ways onward before they hear an eruption of fire in the distance back the way they came. At this point, they can recognize the distinctive crackling, explosive sound of the Flamelord outputting its power, even from afar.
Fortunately, they're still flying and out of reach, but somehow it got up to where they had been, and...well...did that.
"We must hurry to the objective."
Edited by KiriK on Mar 9th 2025 at 5:44:10 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."N and Uzi
are sitting there waiting, waiting, waiting...
And then a wall next to them randomly goes bust as a man wearing a Rhinoceros suit, his size and build so massive they matched his namesake animal, smashed through it, carrying four loads of big dollars bags (helpfully indicated to be such by the big green signs on them).
HAHAHAHA! CONSIDER IT CHARITY! YER GIVING AWAY THE MONEY TO THE NEEDY - ME! He says, his stomping feet shaking the ground as he runs through the street.
Uzi stops the projectiles in mid-air by using her Absolute Solver powers, coincidentally saving the humans behind her. Before she can try to totally undo that, N turns his hands into a minigun and further shoot them out of the sky, making them harmless and saving the nearby populace.
Ah, yes, a perilous situation! Surely we will find fellow heroes by partaking in one! I sure hope the cyborg won't make the situation even worse, that'd ruin your well-crafted plan!
No way he will! Coz we're gonna take down that silly Rhino guy before he can! AND make allies with whoever help us! Uzi says, smashing her metallic knuckles together with a grin. So long as they aren't like, edgelords or whatever.
We worked pretty well with the literal edgelords we met last time, didn't we?! N thinks of something tied to the Barrakis, something important given to them, but then Uzi goes off, surfing on a piece of debris while N shrugs, deploys his wings, and take off flying after Rhino.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterSpider-Man’s head jerked up a good few moments before the sudden pandemonium, tossing the phone in his hands back to the woman it belonged to just as the villain smashed through a wall and out onto the street. "Ah, jeez. I’ll be back guys, I gotta deal with this!" He ushered the panicking crowd indoors before departing with a two-fingered peace sign, swinging hastily after the Rhino.
"Turning Hub Centralis into a safari again, Alexei?" He shouted to the man as he gave chase, keeping a close eye on his wake; any dangerous debris made astray by the villain’s rampage he’d try to make harmless with a web. The vigilante fell back, keeping in pursuit but not quite so hotly as he fell in line between the two androids. "Good work stopping the collateral back there! Never seen you two before, are you new around here?"
With great power…you know the rest.N and Uzi
The Rhino grunted in surprise and disarray as he heard a voice so familiar, so grating, that he could hear it over the sound of his habitual monstrous ruckus. Turning around and angrily shaking his fist, the Rhino turns around to try to spot Spider-Man.
SPIDER-MAN! IT AIN'T A SAFARI BUT- Shots from N's miniguns bounce over Rhino's hide, but hit him strongly enough that he grunts, raising his arms to cover his face. IT'S A WHOLE INSECT NEST IN THERE! AND I'M GONNA SQUASH EM OUT RIGHT HERE AND THEN!
A correction! Spiders aren't insects, but arachnids, identifiable by their eight legs and creepy appearance! N says, taking flight around the Rhino, distracting him by peppering him with gunfire. The bullets are powerful, piercing the concrete floor at Rhino's feet easily, but they feel more like being peppered with small pills for the colossal criminal, who's nonetheless, at the moment, pinned down.
Until Uzi uses her power on the floor at his feet, making it flip over by raising her middle finger, causing the Rhino to get knocked down and briefly pinning him down with N's bullets as the latter fly in circles.
This leaves Uzi to socialize with Spider-Man, turning to the latter and blinking at his costume, she restrains herself from laughing. Coz they had to make allies! Haha, look at how crafty she was! Huh?! Kind of! But we ain't new to kicking ass! And we've saved a whole planet!
With only a dozen drones on it! N adds, shouting over his gunfire and Rhino's angry protests.
IT STILL COUNTS!
Edited by Bolded1 on Feb 26th 2025 at 11:47:19 AM
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter"Yeah, what he said!" Then, to the “he” in question: ”Nice gun, but word of advice: watch the bullets. His kind’s pretty endangered.” Once Rhino was knocked down and kept there by N’s bullets, Spidey got to work on webbing both hands to the ground, aiming to end this quick without the standard ado of a whole fight. He’d drop onto Rhino’s chest once it was done and the Rhino was secured, crouching on top of the gargant as he spoke face-to-mask with him. ”If we’re insects, what does that make you?”
With the situation dealt with—for now—he leapt over to an inactive streetlight and perched on top of it, looking briefly over the pair. ”A whole planet, huh? I must be talking to a celebrity! In any case, welcome to the city. Stuff like this happens…pretty often, but that’s what people like me are for, right? And besides, you two seem like you can handle yourselves.”
With great power…you know the rest.N and Uzi
N takes Spider-Man's quip seriously, covering his mouth in horror at the reveal. Luckily for Peter, he does so right in time for the superhero to use his webbings to neutralize Rhino, with Uzi seeing fit to use her powers on the webbing, making it even stronger and stopping the Rhinoceros from breaking out, as he usually could given time... and leverage, which he lacked here.
All he can do is roar at Spidey, hoping to throw some spit at him.
GAAHHHHHH! ITS NOT EVEN THE DEFEATS AT THIS POINT! HOW DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE THE RIGHT QUIP?! The Rhino lament, as the underappreciated HC police takes over. N, admirative of Spidey, land on a similar lamppost in a similar position, though he wobbles a bit, making him wrap his tail around the metal stick to try to get himself overall less... wobbly.
It works well, and he hold up his thumb.
I hope this poor Rhino will be sent to a zoo where it won't be endangered and will only have to inevitably suffer from the kind of death by entropy that all organic beings inevitably experience! He says. I'm N! And she's Uzi! Yep, we've saved a planet from an evil being and done some good for ourselves! We've got awesome friends! Like the spiky robots who lives deep in the water! Or the alternative universe version of a friend of us who tried to kill us but was actually a friend under the control of an evil godlike entity that's still sealed within my little Uzi! N says, somewhat sounding out of breath at the end.
N, you moron! I had a way better recap in mind! He's going to think we're insane! Look, Spider-guy... Huh... Yeah, basically, we can handle ourselves. He was built for... N gives a silly grin and wave as Uzi hesitates, eventually snapping her fingers together. Battle. And I can harness the awesome energy of the weird space eldritch godlike entity thing I totally ripped the heart out of! But we still need you and your... webs and quips. Because...
Uzi looks around.
There's a walking buttplug following us around. We'd need someone to knock him out good with us to figure out why coz we keep killing him but he keep killing back. Can you... blast him with your sticky white fluid until he gets immobilized and tell us WHY he want us so badly?
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter"Alternative universes…man, I’m way too familiar with that."
Internally he noted the overall…weirdness of the pair, yet rather than scorn it, he fucked with it pretty heavy. "Spider-Man, but yeah close enough,” he corrected briefly, though waited for Uzi to continue before adding anything else. Well, her request was definitely a little suspicious. Yet…
"Sure, my schedule’s clear." He shrugged, before lifting a finger. "But—I’m not big on beating guys up just because someone else told me I should. I’m gonna have to see that he’s actually dangerous first."
With great power…you know the rest.N and Uzi
Huh?! You want him to start shooting FIRST before we start swinging back? Uzi says, folding her arms while leaning towards Peter.
What Uzi means is that he's made his intent to kill us quite clear! And in a way that would hardly spare any innocent either!
Uzi waits, they could probably afford to just... exist and Adamas would attack. But a problem is that they were in the middle of a big city. So... ... I think lots of humans would die if that happens. And that'd bother ya so you'd, huh, start getting mopey and all during the fight. She says, kicking the ground in front of her.
N smiles, as if knowing this isn't the real reason.
You wanna swing by somewhere less populated? The guy found us in the middle of the ocean, he could be on his way.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterSpidey thought on it a moment with a hand to his clothed chin. They were right, of course; just waiting for an evildoer to do evil was reckless. Then, he snapped his fingers—which, inexplicably, did snap despite the suit over them. ”I know just the place.” He hupped up, waving at the HCPD taking the Rhino away before flipping from the lamppost and swinging away, expecting his two newest buds to follow.
"I’ll be your tour guide! On your right you’ll notice the T-DDOC plaza!” He thrust a finger mid-swing at an open hub of pristinely clean gras and sharply angled buildings, the tallest of which looming in the center. "I hear they’re putting some kind of superhero team together; they’re still waiting on Bolded to post for that, though. Alright, on your left over here is Tony’s Cannolis. Favorite spot to stop between punching various animal-themed criminals! Up ahead is Center Park*. It’s a good, open space where we’ll be able to find a quiet spot easy, away from any paths or trails, which means…”
- Center Park, not central park. This is important because we’re not just importing an entire real-life location into the Arena. I mean, geez, who would do that? Anyways cairo post coming soon
Edited by ISZATSO on Feb 26th 2025 at 9:01:11 AM
With great power…you know the rest.Whitebeard
folds his arms again and grunt, shaking his head as if to show his approval without making a big show.
N and Uzi
Shrugs and fly off after Peter. N actually observes everything going on, listening to Spidey's comments and glancing at him as if he's the coolest guy possible, yellow electronic eyes changing into various signs as he apparently writes down everything that Spidey is noting in his head.
Uzi's a tad more dubious, flying with her own telekinesis after deeming it cooler.
I don't know humans much. Do you all do animal stuff now?
Edited by Bolded1 on Feb 27th 2025 at 10:28:04 AM
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterFallen Planet Mira, New Los Angeles, Repenta Diner
Jason
◊ is currently sitting at the Repenta Diner's bar, his helmet resting on the counter as he enjoys a breakfast sandwich with some hashbrowns while watching Kaiba and Reyna's duel on a nearby TV. Seated at either side of him are his fellow Outlaws, Bucky
◊ and Vi
◊, the former feasting on a ham and cheese omelette while the latter wolfs down her bacon and sausage.
"So, Jason, if me and Vi are gonna handle evac duty if Sukuna shows up trying to level another city," Bucky says between bites, "does that mean...?"
"Yes, Sarge, you guys can borrow my car," Jason replies.
"That reminds me, are you ever gonna give that thing an actual name?" Vi asks. "I can only keep calling it 'Red's gun-toting ride' so many times."
Jason finishes the remainder of his sandwich.
"Look, I can't just go slapping the word 'Bat' in front of everything I own and call it a day. That's Bruce's thing."
Bucky raises an eyebrow.
"But didn't you decide to call that mech you built the Bat Out of Hell?"
"Hey, it's an appropriate name," Jason replies. "Besides, if I can't use Bruce's Hellbat against Sukuna, I might as well go with the next best thing."
Vi scarfs down the rest of her meats.
"Now'd be a really good time for that Artemis girl you talked about to show up, Jason," she says. "Sounds like she could beat that smug asshole right out of Corrin."
Bucky cracks a goodnatured smirk as he claps Jason on the shoulder.
"Heh, bet that's not the only reason he'd want her back."
Jason merely rolls his eyes, his slight smile betraying that he wasn't truly annoyed.
"Har har, laugh it up, Sarge."
Edited by IchigoMontoya on Feb 27th 2025 at 3:36:31 AM
Filthy Corpse World
Shadow Lenna hides in Lenna's shadow. "Don't screw this up for the both of us!" she teases.
Lenna just sighs and starts creeping along toward the well.
Following Sylux's lead, Collector Samus proceeds in her Morph Ball, and Morpho Knight reverts to butterfly form. As if knowing where Phantoon will appear ahead of time, it moves to keep the others between itself and Phantoon, ensuring that even if Phantoon notices them, he won't see Morpho Knight.
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Lex Corp Tower
Sometimes while he isn't LARPING as a hero
Lex Luthor didn't plan on making that particular trip to the Arena a long one - he had troubles at home and what he could do could be done remotely or via the use of henchmen. But he could hardly trust henchmen or supercomputers to be as remotely efficient as he could be when it came to what he needed to do - keeping track of those UTOPIA fools who came to him.
Even now, the silver buildings where the Fallen Decepticon Cull Ship stood, with a wide open arc leading to them, arrogantly stood beneath Lex's tower, offering visitors a literal safe place where they could enjoy food, a free roof, delight in social interactions sitting by the warm bench, gamble away (but responsibly!), assume their loves or otherwise have fun.
A city-block sized lethal dose of sugar, much like Eve's ridiculous hospitals.
They didn't know of the guns, artillery snuck in right into the walls of the city, meant to shoot down ships comparable to the Cull Ships. They didn't know that guards worked stealthily to remove troublemakers, identified in advance by psychics or machines, they didn't know that beneath it all there was something. Lex couldn't name it, but there was something.
You do not have an organization run by two trillionaires and not have it be somewhat shady. Lex knew this because he was one himself first, and also because the group also included Miquella, a demi-god, arguably as egocentrical as a mere billionaire by title alone, though he hadn't come out of his little UTOPIA to present himself. All that Lex knew so far was that there was a big melting pots of culture, science and magic he could contribute to at any moment.
It was sitting on his desk, a golden card, crisp paper, soothe as a baby's skin, with words on it written so fancily as to make Lex himself squeeze to read them as he leaned forward, although it could also be his eyeballs instinctively shielding himself.
'''JOIN US IN UTOPIA, THE ONLY SAFE PLACE FROM THE MADNESS OF THE MULTIVERSE!
The same as on the arch as the entrance of the new neighborhood, and what was told to curious or desperate visitors who wanted to never be caught in such a war ever again. They even offered return trips to countless dubious visitors, most of whom returned to pack their bags and return to UTOPIA straight away - it was, as far as he'd known, a vast city on a towering arch-like world, an Halo.
Madmen. Idiots. Naive. Synonyms for dangerous all alike.
Lex leaned back in his chair, the windows of his office open behind him, if protected by an invisible forcefield. Should he perhaps summon Nymbulda to spy on them for him?
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterFilthy Corpse World
The group makes it to the well and successfully hides behind it. Phantoon roams around for a bit before fading again. Star Boy softly groans impatiently.
" He takes such a long time to disappear again."
Sylux ignores him for now. They instead start moving for the side of the building, because it's the only thing that they can hide behind here.
However, as they (and the group) are moving, Phantoon suddenly turns tangible again much faster than before. Sylux is not prepared for this at all, unable to turn back or make it to the building in time.
Star Boy suddenly brings back his glow and snaps his fingers, turning into something a lot smaller and brighter
◊. And with small, I mean he now fits in Lenna's hand if she were to grab him.
The transformed Star Boy then floats up and away from the group rapidly. Due to him glowing like an actual star, Phantoon immediately notices and shrieks, heading over towards him.
Sylux makes it to the building and goes out of Lockjaw mode, looking back for a moment. P03 makes it too.
"He's buying you time."
"Continue on."
"Once we beat the Archivist, we can grab him and leave the area."
Regardless of what the others choose to do, Sylux goes along with this and goes into the building while Phantoon is distracted.
Lex Corp Tower
Lex Luthor would suddenly get a message through an intercom.
"There's someone here who wants to talk to you, sir.", a receptionist says through it. "Something about making a deal?"
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Glitchpost
The Good Hunter proceed to the building without looking back. One could see it as confidence they'll get it. One could see it as aloofness. Either way, they look eager to be bleeding something dry as they continue disappearing and vanishing forward.
Lex Luthor
puts his finger unto a big red button. One of several. At least three of them can detonate the building instantly. He's ready to say "No." and leave it at that but...
... Ah well, this was a world of opportunities.
Yes. Ensure regular protocol for checking magical and/or esoterical bombs attachments. It would be the third time this week.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterLex Luthor
After a minute or so, another message comes through.
"The boy has nothing dangerous on him. We'll send him up."
... Boy?
Once the doors open, Greyface (still without his mask) comes in, standing on his now driving platform. He's wearing his fancy red suit
◊ now to look more professional.
"Thank you for taking the time to see me, Mr. Luthor. I've heard a lot about your impressive efforts."
Well, despite being a child, he sure knows how to talk like a businessman.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Luthor
doesn't actually squints at hearing "boy". He's worked against and with teen geniuses. But Greyface showing up in a suit makes him smile briefly, because he knows what it means.
He's trying to impress Luthor. To look like a businessman, a fellow entrepeneur, a man of wealth and talent. He doesn't waltz in with regular clothes or a silly suit nor does he try to make a big show out of walking in with a toy : he's trying to be respectful.
So Luthor smiles...
And I haven't heard of any reasons why I should have accepted to leave you up there to talk to me. He says, still smiling. You're looking for something out of me. No need for politeness. Get on to the point.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterThe boy's smile widens. It seems they both prefer to cut to the chase.
"I'd like to make a proposition. See, I used to have quite a lot of resources, but those have been lost to me. I want to build something special, something more powerful than I've ever made before! Which is why I knew to come to you. You have everything I need to make what I'm trying to get made. But of course this wouldn't be a deal if I didn't give you something beneficial in return."
He steps off of his platform, which now projects a hologram of an alien mothership.
"While it may be hard to believe.", he chuckles. "I used to work for a former alien warlord. One who has grown weak and sentimental. That's how I had my former resources available to me. But even if I don't have what I need to make what I want, that doesn't mean there's nothing left."
He grins.
"Giegue's technology could be yours, Mr. Luthor. And I don't care what you may or may not use it for. All I ask in return in that you allow me to use your grounds and resources to create what I need."
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Filthy Corpse World
"We could also beat Phantoon up while he's tangible..."
"I like that idea, can we do that idea?"
"But it'll tax us of time and energy we'll need for the next two fights."
Lenna looks dismayed as she trudges along to the boss.
Edited by KiriK on Feb 27th 2025 at 7:13:32 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Luthor
appreciates Greyface's bluntness slightly more, humming along as the evil fucking kid exposes on his idea.
He takes the time to contemplate this, then shrugs.
I've had opportunities to work with alien warlords before, receive help from or be a beneficiary for them. What make Giegue's technology so unique that I would give away some of my own resources? He asks, leaning forward, well-chiseled chin resting on the back of his hand.
Edited by Bolded1 on Feb 27th 2025 at 2:36:47 PM
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterLuthor
"I'm glad you asked.", Greyface says as the holograms shift.
"Aside from the obvious interplanetary travel advanced enough to cross the solar system in less than an hour, Giegue's army consisted of various robots and living machinery, all completely loyal to his whims."
The platform projects an image of Kelly, Nancy and Juana
◊.
"Robots that are advanced enough to learn and adapt... but not smart enough to start wondering why they're taking orders. If built to the blueprints' exact specifications, it'll be a cinch for me to reprogram them to answer to you."
The holograms shift once again.
"But the thing that you may find most interesting would be the robotic armors
◊ that can be worn or steered by people. With altered R7039 suits that I can provide, you could wear a suit strong enough to withstand hits from even this worlds' more dangerous forces."
Filthy Corpse World
"Hey, he said he could do 'anything', right. Surely he'll actually survive.", Sylux says. Is that some weird attempt to make Lenna feel more at ease? Or is it a bitter taunt? It's genuinely impossible to tell.
"..."
P03 seems to be in thought. And because of that, he doesn't realize how deep the group has gone into the building. They pass through a large open gate, and it's only here that P03 snaps out of it.
!!!
"Wait, don't go in there yet!"
"I haven't fully explained-"
The lights in the room turn red. P03 pauses for a moment.
". . ."
"There it is. The Uberbot you sought."
"The idiotic undead of this region used to worship it... as it sits here covered in filth and grime."
"Ready to clean it up?"
Sylux looks back at him. What's with the sudden shift? Is it because the battle has started? Is he programmed to respond in this way?
P03 moves to the wall and is able to enter through a hole that closes behind him. The huge monitor at the opposite end of the group activates.
. . .
"Unpacking Archivist.ZIP..."
"Applying personality matrices..."
"Cleaning up some glitchy temp files... ok, here we go."
The Archivist's face appears on the monitor, smiling at them. It's not clear whether this is a kind smile or a cruel one.
"Ah! Greetings."
"If you had not gleaned it from the title of my zip file, I am the Archivist."
"I eagerly await the opportunity to explore your hard drive."
"Files and directories are my specialty you see."
"... oh? What's this? You're not mechanical?"
"No need for concern. I can improvise."
"I will simply scan your mental drives instead."
A harmless scan goes over the entire field.
"Now to scan this realm for a matching counterpart."
... what?
Yes, it takes a few seconds, but the Archivist eventually continues talking.
"I have found a shared glitch file comparative to a component of her mental drive." , she says while looking at Collector Samus.
"Unpacking Beta Dark Samus.EXE."
A hologram of the regular Dark Samus appears on the middle of the field for a moment, but a different Dark Samus-like shape is overlayed over it and creates a larger, much more armored Dark Samus variant
◊.
"Real world files matching with glitch files. What an unique opportunity."
"I'll see if I cannot find more."
"Do aid me with further battle knowledge. For that reason, direct attacks will not harm me."
"In return, however, for each one of my files you destroy, I will take 2 damage."
Two more Beta Dark Samuses appear. They are now on lanes 1, 3 and 5. A pair of gravestone holograms appear in lane 2 and 4. The gravestones cannot be attacked, merely taking up space on the Archivist's board.
Of note is that the gravestones are only on her side of the board. The group's side is the same as it always is, giving them more room to move around.
"... this one's... a weird one.", Sylux notes. "And suspicious too. Be ready in case this is a ruse."
Speaking of suspicious, unlike with the previous bosses, the Mad AI has not yet shown itself. There's no sign of the Mother yet.
—
Scales: 5 - 5
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.

Untold Loss
Croque - Popillion
Croque seems to look a bit less agitated, before relaxing slightly and nodding. When the defenses flick off, multiple limited systems of hers are able to fully power up again, making her body glow for a moment as her internal reactors spike to counter the sudden draw.
Croque - Jerrod
Croque stares at where the man had been moments before, seeming to freeze for a moment... Though she quickly comes back to her senses. Holding her hand out, a holographic map of the facility opens up- notably, there's several dots on the map, each denoting a different Croque shell.
"-the defense system is off. Popillion is asking you to warp everyone to the basement... is the map enough to go off of?"
Croque's gaze still seems to be on where the man they had just seen simply stopped existing, and though she doesn't show it-
She's more than a bit worried that this will be her fate, too.
???
"...shouldn't we do something about this? This thing could threaten a lot more than just the place it originates from."
"I'm trying to find a way for us to get there that isn't a one-way trip. Even with both of our strengths combined, we can only go so far before we run out of energy..."
"Does that matter right now?? Either way, it would still be a one-way trip if we don't get there fast enough..."
"..."
"...you DO have a point. Well, let's get going, then."
The Angel Descends
Lune, inside the cockpit, doesn't even flinch as the beam streaks towards her. Her eyes do flick to the Graze that just took the hit for her mech, though.
"-don't worry too much about me! This armor's thicker than ever right now- Even that huge beam would probably take a few shots to take me out!"
The Apocalypse Rail is really starting to spool up now- Electricity starting to spark off the guiding rails as the actual part holding the round starts to hum with power...
Apocalypse Rail Charge: 2/4
Lune is still immobile. The Stalwart Steel hunkers down, the cannon calmly moving as the mech gets into position to cover some of its weak points.
"Just make sure to not be in the firing line once I use this- It's not a precise weapon."
aeiou: the second