Blackreach Alliance Headquarters
Shadow quirks an eyebrow at Pseudo, giving him a disbelieving look.
"And I'm an eons-old deific fragment composed of metamorphic dark matter and pure darkness. By all accounts I shouldn't go into panic attacks or have many emotions at all, but here we are. Plus we all know you're not just a machine, don't put yourself down like that. You're every bit an individual in your own right, and a very close friend of mine. ...plus, I have some mechanical friends who would likely disagree with the whole 'doesn't get panic attacks' take. You'd be surprised what advanced AI can do these days."
He raises both his eyebrows at hearing about the Apple of Enlightenment, and pauses, closing his eyes.
Yeah, but at what cost? , he thinks to himself.
He then sighs, nodding.
"Alright...but I'm still worried for you, and I'm going to be checking in on you every now and then, capisce? No questions. Think of it as part of my duties, since I've had a whole day of checking in on my friends today."
He covertly glances to the door, signaling subtly to the others that there's people outside.
"We've got company, but it looks like they're just listening at the moment."
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-StalkerBlackreach Alliance Headquarters
Pseudo does look genuinely amused for a moment.
"You think anything made in Porky's image can be called advanced?"
It sounds like self-depreciation for a moment, but his tone suggests that he's joking around a little. Maybe he's feeling a little better again.
He seems to hesitate on answering Shadow on his next matter, but eventually agrees and nods.
"You're always welcome here."
They then all look at the door, with Pilly motioning for everyone to be quiet, after which she sneaks towards the door with a little smirk. And when she opens it-
"AH!" "ACK!"
Yumuse
◊ and Eneru
◊ fall into the room. Pilly pauses for a moment.
"Huh, I was convinced it was gonna be Ken.", she admits as the two boys get back on their feet, slightly groaning. Shadow may be very caught off guard by their appearance, as the two have visible scars on them, and they don't look all too healthy either. Eneru has two different colored irises, but Shadow may be able to tell that this is not because of natural means. In fact, the energy going through their bodies doesn't feel natural at all either.
"Why were you eavesdropping on us?", Helryx asks, eyes narrowed. The two look nervous.
"W-we just saw you entering the room, a-and we hadn't seen that guy before so we got curious!", Yumuse says while gesturing to Shadow.
"We weren't gonna do it at first but I saw how different he looked and I wanted to know more, a-and I convinced Yumuse to come along with me!", Eneru says.
"... you're not gonna throw us out, are you?"
Helryx still has her eyes narrowed in suspicion, but Pilly shakes her head and puts her arms around their shoulders, smiling.
"It's fine, no worries! Besides, I don't think Locke'd be happy if we threw you out.", she laughs.
"... well, allow me to clear up some things for you.", Pseudo says to Shadow. "These children are not part of my organization. We found them outside and, as it turns out, they were victims of experiments. They were also familiar with Locke. As such we decided to keep them safe here, since Locke is the only one they feel comfortable around. ... and Pilly now too apparently."
"It's called 'putting in effort to get to know people', brother.", Pilly laughs.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE
Situation IX
Two had come, two great apex predators, kings of their own world that dared to challenge Him, the sword above kings. Another was quick on the way. As he dropped from his hind legs, quaking the street beneath, a rumbling snarl escaped him, lifting in cadence almost like a frighteningly human chuckle.
Luin’s heart, meanwhile, dropped at the sight of them. The appearance of Souleater Gore Magala and Soulstealer Xeno’Jiiva…this would prove either the worst possible scenario, or the best. She’d had to take care to keep from provoking them both, and hopefully they set their eyes upon their one, singular Foe. Still, Reyna’s dialogue proved curiously, and Luin wasn’t dumb to the rumbling of the dark stone on her wrist. Four dragons? Reyna…who was she, really? I can ask later, but right now, I have to worry about…
"The head and forelegs!" Luin called out in response to Megumi and Yuji, but also addressing everyone as she did. She forced her eyes shut, recalled the volumes of data she’d pored over, every book on the species in any library she had access to. "But we need to coordinate. Those spikes across its body is its armor — if we don’t focus on breaking them in specific spots, we’ll never get anything done!" There was something else too, something she recalled, a researcher’s estimation of the monster’s weaknesses, based on the lifeforms it had been recorded to have devoured. "Water! It’s weakest to water attacks, if you have them, then…draconic, then ice…it’s most resistant to fire and lightning!"
As though to demonstrate, Adinath drew the Annihilation’s attention with his two bullets, losing themselves in the mass of crystalline spines littering the monster’s form before blasting apart in flame and thinning the cluster somewhat yet failing to pierce into the hide beneath. Being the first to attack, the Drow won Annihilation Nergigante’s ire, finding himself the recipient of a spew of magmatic fireballs from the monster’s maw, some larger than others, that arced in the air before raining down in a wide spread across his airspace. Those that didn’t directly impact him would land in bursts of flame in an area consisting of Souleater, Reddie’s Gundam, Venti, Radahn, and Nick.
The beast wasted not a moment to hesitate and immediately targeted the others, smashing his front-right claw, crackling with azure streaks, into the ground. For only a second, glowing traces stretched out like rivers across the plaza, under the feet of Somu, Luin, Khars’Li, Soulstealer, Reyna, and Megumi, before disappearing just as quickly as it’d come. Merely a hint of what was next; as following the paths precisely came a burst of lightning, razing the ground and surely injuring anyone slow enough to have been caught in it.
From the rooftops, a scout’s shout pierced the scene, addressing everyone as Luin had: “Hey! Call us in where you need us! We have thunder-spears for breaking its spikes, and razors for breaking skin!”
LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE // LOVE // HATE
With great power…you know the rest.Three ghosts
Wait a minute... How did you...
Before Gonzalete could finish his question, an angry Machín and a distressed Wendy walk outside the house and towards the group.
They are the ghosts! Those annoying ghosts! You must exterminate them!
With a strong hand movement, Wendy got free from Machín's grip.
NO! I don't want to get rid of them! They are my friends... Our family!
The ghosts let out an "Awwwww..." Tony approaches Wendy, his face almost touching her face.
I didn't knew you actually feel something for me.
Wendy pushes him aside. Actually, I do feel repulsion for you.
Machín gets even angrier. "Family"!? They are the main reason we don't get any bed action together! Since we bought this house, they are just there, peeping on us!
Hah! I don't wanna see your "misseries".
Machín holds a giggle, thinks a moment, and asks Miquella.
...Or you know about a place we can live in peace, far away from annoying peeping ghosts? Pointing at the ghastly trio.
Three freaking ghosts!Blackreach Alliance Headquarters
Shadow shrugs, giving a slight smirk.
"Hey, lemme' tell you, building a golem isn't exactly easy, but, ah, I've...had first-hand experience with his mechanical statue. However, you may note that it was intended to be indestructible. It...totally wasn't. Didn't even need a bomb or PK to destroy it, and for good reason. But I'm getting ahead of myself and kinda' rendering my point moot here. What I'm trying to say is, give yourself credit! You've got plenty of your own merits. You're not just a carbon copy of that loser."
He then blinks as Yumuse and Eneru fall into the room, moving to help them as they get to their feet.
"Woah, are you guys okay?"
He takes in their appearance, frowning slightly, giving a concerned hum as he notices their haggardness and the energy suffusing them.
"And I mean that, are you okay, like in general? You don't look very good..."
He tilts his head when they mention they hadn't seen him before and wanted to check him out.
"Ah, well, I can see why you'd be surprised...I, ah...kinda' have that effect on people."
He smiles, dropping to a knee.
"My name's Shadow. Real creative, I know, but I named myself, and it's the first thing I could come up with when I could think at all. What's your names?"
His eyes go wide when he hears about their origins, and his gaze snaps from them, to Pseudo, and back again, his facial expression filled with empathy.
"...oh, you poor souls...who'd do something that awful to you? That, in my book, is one of the cruelest possible things..."
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-StalkerBlackreach Alliance Headquarters
Pseudo can't help but be a little amused by Shadow calling Porky a loser (even if it is accurate).
"We're fine enough.", Eneru quickly says while standing in front of the other boy protectively.
"Hey, it's okay, he's a friend.", Pilly says, but Eneru shakes his head.
"That doesn't mean much when one of your friends is a creepy wizard. Unless mister Locke says he's okay I don't trust it."
"H-he doesn't really look like he wants to hurt us.", Yumuse says, who then looks at Shadow. "I-I'm Yumuse."
"Don't just... ugh.", Eneru groans. "... alright. My name's Eneru."
Neither of them seem to want to be the ones to explain more, so Pseudo relieves them of that.
"G.E.M. did. Or will do. According to Locke, 50 years from the present, G.E.M. will experiment with creating artificial Navitus energy in an attempt to save their planet. Unfortunately accomplishing this forced them to do some terrible things, including those experiments. Locke and their time's Alex free the two of them and let them escape, but then they ended up here."
As for the kids, they're now looking at each other and talking much more quietly.
"You're being angrier again. I thought you were getting used to this place.", Yumuse whispers, though of course Shadow'll still be able to hear what he's saying.
"That's got nothing to do with it! After what I saw I wanna be careful!"
"You're seeing something special again? What is it this time?"
"This guy doesn't... how do I word this... he doesn't look like a complete person."
Now that may be a genuine shock to hear. Eneru can tell he's a fragmented being by just looking at him?
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.The Annihilation
At first Venti's eye twitched areing all these dragons. They decided to gather all here today. How fun, how quaint, how...
Laughing, Venti shouted to the other three dragons, nothing an anemo bolt onto his bow.
"Let's bring it on!"
Immediately he flew back around to try and shoot bolt after bolt into the dragon's legs, trying to mind the spiky protection of the Nergigante as the bolts would hopefully pierce its scales.
As fire came for him, Venti took in a deep breath, his cheeks puffing out. As the fire would collide with him, his eyes dreamed with aqua-green energy, and he blew back against the fire heading his way. Anyone behind him would hopefully be spared, as he was pushed back by the ferocity of the flames, but maintained himself from being completely incinerated. Even then, he could feel the heat even after it passed him.
Just as much as he felt a rise of humidity in the air. And heard something rushing to them.
"Ah... good old mother nature."
A rising wall of water was rapidly approaching Annihilation Nergigante. Lightning struck near the tide as a massive, whale-sized shape could be seen within the surge itself. It seemed whatever was heading for Nergigante wasn't too concerned about bystanders in the way now. A twenty foot wall of water,
at its center mass colorful and elegant rows of flashing lights accompanied it.
As it crashed around the Nergigante, a crocodilian face jutted out from the surf and tried to take the beasy by the horns so that their head was lowered when the water rushed them.
As the waters receded to three feet on the ground level, the figure revealed themselves. Wavering sided like a mantle and cloak, a good like a cobra, crest before the eyes. A long serpentine, but thick body. It slithered as it circled the elder and other fighters.
Even worst it laughed as the circling clearly was done as the beginning stages of a whirlpool.
It was The God of the Sea... Nagadilotep.
"Hello again... Let's have some fun."
Before it lunged towards Annie with the intent to wrestle its head into a compromising position with the water.
AwawaThe Dream Killers: A Side
Fanto momentarily blacks out, falling backwards. Only a second later, though, he plants his foot, grits his teeth, and howls in anger, launching an Agony beam at the false Gengetsu to clash the Nightmare Spark.
In an act of desperation, he summons the monsters of shadow—his own greatest enemies.
Twisting Snakes, masses of entangled wires and tubes with endoskeleton heads on top, emerge from the shadows of Gregory, Ninten, and Cassidy, attacking their targets with electric blasts from their 'tails'.
A Decaying Rabbit, a pitch-black fiend in the shape of Springtrap himself, emerges behind Mike, trying to grab him by the back of the head and smash him into Evan.
Another Decaying Rabbit assaults Cassidy, moving to grab her...as its chest splits open to reveal a shredding ribcage very much like the one Fanto conjured. It goes without saying that if it grabs her, its next move will be to shove her in there.
For Giegue, Niiue, Charlie, Queen Mary, and Mugetsu, a lone Black Rabbit
◊ appears at Fanto's side. It calmly reaches a hand out and delivers retaliation in the form of a destructive psychic shockwave of its own...one that surpasses Giegue in power.
Charlie stands no chance against such an attack, almost immediately crumpling.
—
The Dream Killers: B-Side
Ginnungagap is fucking obliterated. However, as her body dissolves into nothing, her voice lingers on.
"A fleeting escape..."
"Guess she really is unkillable. How long do you wager she's down for?"
Sancho reverts to normal in the wake of the attack.
"Long enough, one can hope."
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."The Dream Killers: A Side
Fanto immediately waking back up again genuinely catches Giegue off guard. Ninten's about to act, knowing that something's about to happen, only for him to not notice the attack on himself in time, resulting in him getting caught and electrocuted by the wires and tubes, unable to concentrate enough to escape with a 4th-D Slip.
Cassidy and Gregory also get caught and start being electrocuted.
Mike gets smashed into Evan, but since the latter is still Nightmare Fredbear it's only really Mike who suffers the painful consequences, dropping to the ground with a weak groan. At least Nightmare Fredbear is still stunned though.
Shadow Bonnie reaches him now, about to merge with his shadow once again.
Giegue, now furious, is about to just drop all pretenses and attempt to kill Fanto for this, only for a superior psychic wave to sweep across the field, courtesy of Fanto's Black Rabbit, getting blasted all the way back and hitting the ground hard.
Niiue tries to physically defend Queen Mary with his body, and this does end up greatly limiting the damage that she takes, but they're both still blasted back as well, with Niiue taking significant damage. None of the three are capable of immediately moving again.
Cassidy is incapable of moving, and thus incapable of preventing herself from being grabbed.
Glitchtrap actually ends up getting caught in the psychic wave from the Black Rabbit and is sent flying further than anyone else.
Edited by DevilPsyco on Jun 2nd 2025 at 3:54:50 PM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Cairo
Adinath
"Tch-"
One of the balls of fire hit Adinath, but instead of being gravely injured, all the attack seemed to do was singe his clothing and annoy him a bit- seems that phoenix blood did more than just give him wings.
"Water, huh? Not an element I just have on hand... hm."
It's too early to use that, and it would be a waste just for being able to use something that deals more damage. He could do better sundering more of the armor, he thinks.
"The spikes, huh..?"
Reloading his pistol, Adinath glances about. There's more dragons before, and there's a good chance his bullets won't amount to much...
"Eh, fuckit- BEHOLD, THE MIGHT OF A PHOENIX!!"
Adinath's form explodes into flame as he morphs back into his phoenix form- even bigger than last time, it rivals the rest of the giant beasts on the field. Beating his wings heavily, Adinath flicks some feathers off at the Nergigante, aimed for the legs- which, when they land, each explode like small bombs, aiming to break off some of the armor but not being powerful enough to do much else.
Somu
Somu's arm, nearly vibrating with energy, starts to warp into a giant mass of tendrils, with his feet bursting into jets of flame as he rockets away from both the ensuing flood and the trail of lightning. For a moment, all goes still as his Node massively boosts his senses- aiming to give him one good hit.
"Shrug off this."
His arm morphs into a giant mass of tendrils, exploding outwards at the Nergigante- aiming to latch on to any less-armored part (as Somu doesn't control the attack itself once the tendrils expand out) and siphon as much energy as he could before quite possibly being forced to pull back. Somu's Node prepares itself for the influx...
The Path
"Oh you have got to be kidding me."
Lan braced himself for a fight, but there were way too many things to focus on at once. With a grunt, he focused on mending his own wounds via his discovered innate magic- though his clothes remained torn. Despite this, one of them wasn't injured at all. Lan looked over at Elizabeth, and his brow furrowed. From the look on his face, it was clear he was debating just lashing out at her, but after a moment he sighed.
"Alright, yeah, this is yours, and you can't play innocent anymore. Explain. NOW. Before all of us except you die of a thousand cuts and fucking bloodloss."
Edited by RainbyPlays on Jun 2nd 2025 at 12:10:54 PM
aeiou: the secondSubway, Larp
Homelander’s search from his position for an elephant-man was, ultimately, foiled by the cluster of fuzzy pachyderms still smashing stuff underfoot. Thankfully though, he wouldn’t need to search for it…
“The report was, ah…big. Furry. Like…an elephant, or mummy, whatever those things are called, but…a man.” After providing a most helpful description, the commissioner wiped away his sweat again. “He was reported by the monkeys. That’s…” The man glanced around, his attention settling on a kid in the crowd behind the tape. “You! Give me that map,” the kid did just that, handing a pamphlet to the officer, which he then supplied to Guivre…or offered to, before noting the lack of opposable thumbs. The commissioner opened it up and pointed the map out at the wyvern, his finger blindly prodding the gazelle exhibit right above the primate kingdom. “The monkeys. Here.”
——
"Gah, fuck! What the hell!" The azure fists of Stone Free roared through the biting swarm, though despite the Stand’s speed and precision, there was only so much she could do against such vast numbers and emerged from it quite scathed, cuts and bitemarks adorning her like leaves on a tree. She doubled over and groaned loudly afterwards, straightening herself to confront Elizabeth only to find Lan beating her to the punch…Lan, with his wounds cleansed to completion. Lucky prick.
"Yo! She’s on our side. Calm down." Jolyne levied at the man as a voice of reason, though her reasons for it were…less than reasonable. Maybe, on some deeper level, she was a little bit jealous of his healing ability. Not that she’d admit it. Jolyne turned her eyes next to Elizabeth, though: "But he’s got a point. If you got anything to say, now’s the time to say it."
As she said this, plucking a still-wriggling icon from her shoulder, dropped it, and stomped on it. Beside her, William mumbled an evaluation of his own strength; it took Jolyne a second to parse if he was talking to her or himself. For a reason she couldn’t place herself, she responded, albeit slowly and haltingly: "No. You’re…fine." I’m supposed to be a therapist now?
Edited by ISZATSO on Jun 2nd 2025 at 1:13:02 PM
With great power…you know the rest.The Zoo
"...hmmm, we'll be heading in. If they're heading for the primate enclosure... I can make some connections. American! Let's roll out!"
Guivre stomped forward, using his wings to throw him above the gate entrance of the Zoo and land with a crashing thud. He rattled his plates together, looking to the chaos left by the mammoth's stampede.
The Great Ezcape
A shot that would have collided with the Little Guy was somehow sidestepped by the Sauropod. Hissing back at the offending Quintesson, he shoulder checked the alien, and once it was on the ground did the mauling begin. Teeth taked against carapace until softer flesh was discovered, and Little Guy would begin to bite onto and tear, using his forelimbs to simultaneously hold him down and shank them.
Finally catching up to the White Gundam, The Medicine Vendor stood atop one of its fallen adversaries, waving his arms over his head to catch Ez's attention. It was reslltnan insignificant approach for him, especially considering that he felt deep in his heart, this mobile suit was less... well he wouldn't say real. And it's expressions eere genuine. But reasonable? It wasn't that.
"Ez! Take a step back!"
AwawaMiquella
smiles politely as the problem in front of them more or less solve itself, although he's a bit embarrassed at how... cavalier the members of the house speak of their private activities in front of ectoplasms and complete strangers. But, well, he guessed that it was just how it was for them. And for his part, he was above showing embarrassment.
Leda, though, coughed loudly at the statement, as if wishing to restore some sanity to it all.
We have one such place - UTOPIA, where you can be free from the chaos of the Astral Sea! Should you wish, you can move there. And don't worry about any housing price. Peace shouldnt be earned by sacrificing coins of gold.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterThe Dream Killers: A Side
Muge raises a barrier before the attack hits, though it breaks through after a moment of struggle. She's knocked out of the air and crash lands with a grunt. After a moment she gets sits up and glares up at their foe with obvious aggravation on her face, though needing a turn to recover.
Fake Gengetsu meanwhile I assume is also caught in the psyblast and dissipates.
Situation IX
Seeing as how they weren't targeted this round, Sebastien could focus on attacking. He fired a pair of explosive crossbow bolts at Annie's head whilst Brutus began maneuvering to flank the beast, slapping a chunk of debris towards the dragon's forelimbs as he did so.
Soulstealer growled and leapt like a Nargacuga from the building he was on towards another, avoiding the lightning attack. The Immortal Emperor then charged up before firing a blast of its species' characteristic energy beam and aimed to rake it across Annie's back while he was pinned down by Nagadilotep.
"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."Miquella
The couple looks at each other.
FREE HOUSING!?
[Insert fast-track montage of them stuffing their suitcases with all sort of things and taking them outside. In universe, this takes less of one minute.]
Alright, we're off!
And you, half-assed spooks, stay at home, far away from us! Go to hell, for what we care!
The ghosts are just looking, shocked out. The couple takes their suitcases to the family car: a yellow VW Beetle without roof. Machín waves Miquella and Leda, pointing to the backside of the car.
Hop in.
Three freaking ghosts!Cairo - THE ANNIHILATION
Reddie's Gundam get moving, dodging the flames. Reddie would usually have no troubles pitting her Lion D'Or up against the might of those flames, for they surelty could not be as hot as the beams that it could shrug off, but something about Annie gave Reddie... worrying sensations. Like it was a living being that was closer to a Gundam in strength, fortitude and ferocity than anything else. Scales, flesh and bones on par with steel. Flames hotter than any light-based weaponry.
It was not a giant monster ready to taste the progresses of society by being simply decapitated - it was something a Krayt Dragon would steer clear of. And Reddie took that into account as she flew upwards, trying not to get in anyone's way as she flew towards Annihilation Nergigante's right foreleg, thrusting her lighttrident its way with a powerful thrust, backed up by the boosters at the tip of the machinery.
As for Megumi, he takes to the sky with Nue to dodge the lines, observing so far as they thoroughly wreck the ground underneath him. As a scout volunteer to help, he turns to them and nod.
My friend Yuji can deal severe damage to its head but he'll need to hang on a while to get there. Distract that monster by attacking its eyes or help him get there faster. He commands, himself joining by having Nue sweep him closer to the rampaging face so that he can swipe at it with his knife.
He'd try using Nue's electric wings but, huh...
Electric resistance.
As for Yuji, he jumps across Reddie's raised debris and then try to make its way to Nergigante's face, dishing out several jumps as he attempts to apply his patented technique of "running AT the scary thing". Should he succeed, Yuji attempts to hop unto his head, though he'll wait for some attacks to land first as to offer a distraction.
He winces as blood flows from the parts of his body that impact the scale spikes on its head but pain is hardly a detriment to him. Should he succeed, he'll try hooking his leg around one of those as leverage while he try to slam his hands unto Nergigante's head!
CLEAVE!
From Yuji's hands, dotted lines with a scissor behind them will appear. They'll try to adapt to Nergigante's tough scales and cut through them, although Yuji's low output and experience with the technique means it might take a while.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterThe Dream Killers - End
Fanto looks over his enemies.
"Finally."
The Decaying Rabbit moves to stuff Cassidy into the deathtrap that is its chest, but at the last second, Baiken cuts it down, saving her.
"Weren't you just fighting her?"
"Yeah. And we kicked her...uh...butt."
Sancho scowls.
"You may be a child, but you are committing a despicable crime."
"..."
Fanto launches his own psychic attack, showing his foes a vision. It's the same horrors from after the Bite of '83 seen when he absorbed energy from the portal and transformed, but this time, no cutesy 8-bit sprites mask the brutality in play.
"This was my life. My waking Hell. I just want to not have to see it again every time I close my eyes!"
A new vision appears. A city covered in black clouds, where dead-eyed, unthinking adults line up in front of a derelict house to receive markings on their wrists carved in blood from their undead animatronic master—marks that indicate their imminent fates. Meanwhile, monsters that appear only as shadows latch onto children and tear their shadows apart, inflicting the same brutality on the real victims.
"If you're so insistent on letting dreams live, then have a taste of mine! Take this as my curse!"
The visions then...turn to static and fade away.
A spiraling spear of coagulated blood is sticking out of Fanto's chest from behind, large enough to reach from the boy's neck to his waist. Unbothered, Fanto looks back at the source of it...
The silver-haired man who called himself the original Don Quixote.
Boss Battle Theme 4 - Limbus Company Canto VII: The Dream Ending
The Dream That Will Never Die - Start
"You...are a dream-eater..."
"Is that what you call this vessel so graciously granted to my dead soul?"
Don Quixote raises his spear into the air, lifting Fanto off his feet.
"Let me tell you something, boy."
Fanto grips the edge of the lance and yanks himself free, shattering it in the process, only for Don Quixote to immediately conjure a sword, Flash Step above Fanto and slash him down to the ground.
"Some dreams may be worthless. They may be impossible imaginings, drive people to delusions, give false hope."
Fanto lands on all fours, from where he looks up at Quixote. He conjures a swarm of Shadow Animatronics with a mere gesture, each as strong and agony-fueled as Charlie's Nightmarionne form, which all lunge at Quixote at once.
"Such dreams are doomed to die, whether the dreamer abandons them in life or dies clinging to them."
More lances of blood shoot up from the ground around Quixote's feet, instantly impaling and obliterating the Shadow Animatronics. The lances then slide toward Fanto and smash against him, causing glowing cracks to appear in his pitch-black form.
"I had such a dream once, of peaceful coexistence between humans and we Bloodfiends who prey on them—doomed to fail from the beginning."
"Then you know how meaningless it is to want to preserve them!" Fanto shouts, spitting up glowing purple blood with every word. "Even the happiest dreams just lead people astray!"
"I say thee nay. There is one dream that can spread from one person to another. One dream that can be shared by anyone."
Quixote melts the blood from his shattered weapons back into liquid form and sucks it into the blade of his sword, making it larger than his whole body.
"One dream that will never die, so long as even one person strives to make it real: the dream of making the world a better place."
Fanto conjures his own sword out of agony, its edge glowing black with Dark Remnant.
"What a stupid, hopeless dream!"
Quixote smiles as he brings his sword to his side.
"You remind me of my most rebellious Child."
He glances at Sancho and smiles. She gasps, still trying to process what she's seeing.
"This dream...is a dream I taught her. And when I had lost everything, lost all purpose but to support my Family...she taught it back to me."
They simultaneously vanish in bursts of speed. There's an earsplitting shattering sound accompanied by howling souls, and when they reappear, back-to-back, Fanto is down on one knee, the remains of his sword strewn on the ground in front of him.
[[evil:"And for what it's worth..."
Quixote turns around and slams his sword down on Fanto. The impact sends the boy flying upwards in a tailspin, where Quixote jumps up after him and unleashes a lightning-fast flurry of slashes. As Fanto falls to the ground, Quixote lands first and drives his sword forth with a horizontal sweep, smashing it into his body, leaving the child down on his rear with his entire Nightmare Mode form covered head-to-toe in cracks.
Don Quixote smirks. His sword has shattered, but he has obviously won this duel. Singlehandedly, at that.
"You're not half the fighter Bari is."
Edited by KiriK on Jun 3rd 2025 at 4:33:00 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."The Dream Killers - End
Cassidy is grabbed, but thankfully Baiken saves her just in time.
"Thanks.", she weakly mutters, still in pain from the electrocution. It seemed to have quite the effect on her.
Gregory is still getting shocked, and Nightmare Fredbear is trying to pry him free. Aside from those two, everyone else (Mike, Giegue, Niiue, Queen Mary, Glitchtrap) is on the ground somewhere.
But then Fanto's vision comes in, and it stuns all of them, forcefully turning Evan back to normal in the process. Even as the old vision flows into a new one, forcing them to see this horrible timeline that Fanto had to endure...
It suddenly stops, and most of them collapse now from exhaustion and stress. Evan and Queen Mary are the only ones out of the group who are still capable of standing up, and even then only the former can actually potentially still act. But it doesn't look like it's necessary.
-
The Dream That Will Never Die - Start
The two of them simply watch as Fanto and Quixote have their insane duel. Evan can't keep up one bit. Makes him realize that power-wise their group was probably doomed from the start.
Despite everything, Queen Mary does still look concerned for Fanto.
Quixote proceeds to win the duel, and both Evan and Queen Mary approach as everyone else stirs. Evan doesn't look so sure on what to do, Queen Mary looks more certain.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.The Dream Killers - End / The Dream That Will Never Die - Start
Mugetsu looks remarkably unbothered, emotionally anyway, by the nightmarish sights. She does look more impressed by Don Quixote's fighting skills though. She's reminded of fabled devils of myth.
When the fight ends though, she simply dusts herself off and gets back on her feet with a sneer on her face.
"Just another self centered Dreamer, like many." she notes, looking down at Fanto with contempt. "Tell me, child. What do you think will happen to this place, its inhabitants and dream beings like myself if you were to truly eliminate dreams in their entirety?"
She leans down to his level.
"It would all vanish, wiped out of existence." she says. "You'd become just as bad as the one you so hate. Ironic I suppose."
The Great Ezcape
The Quint would have prolly but up a better fight against Mal if a little rabbit wasn't pulling his back plating and wires out. Ouch. He does end up tipping over so the bunny should probably move out of the way.
"A white Gundam...?" Deux comments, sounding oddly... offended by it as she stares.
The one Ez faces is caught off guard by her mobility and only manages a stray shot before being pummeled to dust. As they all drop, it almost seems too easy for them. But when she does take a step back as Medicine Man suggests.
The lab door opens and a blur zooms out and smashes into her!
Revengeance - Red Sun Game Mix
Said blur drags her across the arena and slams her against the opposite wall, resolving into the form of Delta-R who looks less than pleased.
"You impudent inferior lifeform! I knew I was treating you too kindly, the scientific accuracy was not worth this rebellion." she growls out as she steps back and aims a plasma rifle at Ez. "I guess we'll have to start over from scratch with a new batch. After expunging this lab of you filth!"
She'd then fire.
The others won't get much room to rest or help as more Quintesson troopers appear. Deux shouts something indecipherable over comms as she tackles one whilst #12 takes a shot at Little Guy and #14 tentacle rushes Mal!
—
Meanwhile Domon (and maybe stupid Maul! if he looks south) when following the kids would notice off to the southwest of the lab entrance some Federation mobile suits. What could they be doing here...
Edited by shroobot3000 on Jun 3rd 2025 at 12:51:40 PM
"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."The Dream That Will Never Die
Fanto gasps, staring wide-eyed at Mugetsu in stunned silence.
"...That really didn't occur to ya, huh?"
Wordlessly accepting his defeat at last, Fanto falls to his knees. The shadow monsters that weren't annihilated as collateral damage from his clash with the original Don Quixote vanish, and Cassie, Omori, and Grape are brought back into Dökkálfheimr.
Cassie is sweating and shaking profusely. Omori is, of course, completely flat-faced about the whole thing.
Charlie sits up, hand on her head and one eye shut, nursing a lingering headache from the Black Rabbit's shockwave.
"So...we win? It's over?"
"Not quite. That rift is still there around Freyja's palace. And Ginnungagap ain't dead, just vanished."
Sancho is still staring dumbfounded at Don Quixote.
The Great Escape
Bloody Bunny squeaks like a normal plush being squashed. Also like a normal plush, she manages to survive being pinned under the Quintesson due to being made of flexible and soft material.
After wriggling her way out, she scavenges the remains of the fallen Quint for anything she can use as a blade, makeshift or otherwise.
—
Domon keeps en eye on the Feds as he follows along.
Edited by KiriK on Jun 3rd 2025 at 5:10:24 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."The Dream That Will Never Die
Yeah, Grape is... pretty much the same as Cassie right now.
Gregory, while still badly hurt, still manages to get up and get over to Cassie.
"Cassie! Are you okay!?", he asks, concerned.
Ninten also starts getting back up. As does Glitchtrap. Cassidy, Mike, Giegue and Niiue are still mostly down.
Queen Mary crouches down next to Fanto.
"Young one... you've suffered so much. You almost did something horrible, but there is a way to atone for that."
She smiles warmly. In a motherly way that Fanto likely (and sadly) isn't familiar with.
"Won't you help us close that rift?"
Evan says nothing, just looking down at Fanto. Shadow Bonnie has rejoined him at this point, and that's having some effect on Evan... but he doesn't do or say anything yet. He waits to see what Fanto will do or say.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.THE SWEET EZCAPE
huh why hy should i stop Ez says, even if she takes a step back. '''papa! im hurting the people who hurt me! you would do the same too if you could! She says.
But that's because that's my ROLE! Let me carry the burden of... making those people who hurt you hurt as well! You're too young for this, Ez! You should never have to do any of this! Mal says, tone angry at first, before he simmers down into contained dad scold. Your mother didn't want-
i dont know what mama wanted because i never spoke to her! The White Gundam raises its hands in frustration, its entire body standing still as its arms spazz out. im going to keep hurting bad people until you tell me more about mama! and- Ez screams as Delta-R tackles her all the way into a wall, with his daughter's surprised yelp of pain and fear instantly causing Mal to discard any thought of rationality.
YOU'RE THE ONE BEHIND THIS?! TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF HER YOU FAT BITCH! I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU! THAT PLASMA GUN IS GOING INTO YOUR- But before he can accurately describe the unwanted side-effects of having a plasma gun shoved into one's rectal, or even deduce where that'd be, he's swarmed by tentacles, which he actually struggles against due to his rage impeding his movements.
His Mobile Suit ineffectively lash out, unable to gather its strength into anything other than frenzied flailing until Mal gets a good handle unto his emotions, sighing as if to expunge all the hatred in his heart. But the Quintesson will soon discover that this was very much metaphorical as Mal attempts to drag it closer to him by ways of pulling his arms back before he suddenly try to thrust forward, keeping a tight grip upon it as he attempts to slam it, and himself, into the other side of the room, right next to where Delta-R emerged from, with enough force to shake said room entirely.
He's eerily quiet through the comms as the ZILM-O try to headbutt it, with sparks flying off the impact point should it occurs. Then, Mal attempts to raise his mobile suit's leg to push against it while holding unto its other tentacles, trying to rip them off the quintesson while kicking it against the wall. Should that succeed, Mal then try to whip the Quint to death with its severed tentacles. Although he gives only four to five blows before turning around to check on Ez.
Ez who fearfully wimper as she raises her shield to protect her from the plasma bolt, which goes through, pieces of red metal flying off the blast as smoke briefly covers the battlefield. And as it does, the sound of metal being visibly torn off might assures Delta-R that she successfully slew the White Gundam in one clean hit, something that Mal... isn't mad at. Because he can sense Ez is alive and well.
And indeed, emerging out of the smoke
with its head appearing first, followed by the rest of its body, the White Gundam raises its shield to reveal that, while badly damaged by the hit, the shield endured to shield its owner from harm. And has been, and is being, apparently demolished at the White Gundam's hands, the machine ripping out bits of damaged metal to make the shield into... a shiv.
you! im going to make you hurt! im going to make you... die! Ez threatens through the comms. The White Gundam, though, only look at its shiv in disinterest, "tone" completly contrasting its rather nonchalant demeanor as it cracks its head from right to left, as if the slam that damaged it, with a mark on its chest, was simply a "good shot".
It raises its plasma gun and promptly fire off about four shots, approaching Delta-R. As it does though, it fly off towards one of the dead quint corpses across the room before kicking its head at her, attempting to have it slam into her with the beams as a "distraction" that could be an happy landing.
Within the Gundam, Ez's exoskeleton has cushioned the impact, but she looks mad as she try waving her arms around. And the Gundam obeys her will by accelerating, thrusting its shiv at Delta-R.
the entire world is so mean to dad and to me! stop being mean! STOP!
Maul chuckles listening to this, almost casually strolling over to where Domon made his impacts. He would soon join the brawl, but both he and Null knew that seeds of anger were now planted in Ez.
Edited by Bolded1 on Jun 3rd 2025 at 12:19:44 PM
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterCOMING WAR
Baz nods. More help was nice, and she could use some manpower. We are looking to save the prisoners trapped within those camps. Infiltrating them from within would be helpful in neutralizing the guards. And we can't trade fire with so many prisoners to be used as hostages or collateral
SUBWAY
Eve is at awe of what's coming at her. She naturally raises her Barrier Magic, but that shatter. So she try stronger Barrier Magic but that shatter. So she try to just use Space Magic but that doesn't work, and she end up overwhelmed, screaming in pain and surprise from the sheer surprise of being hit and bled so easily.
Left on the ground, the witch get back up with a wrathful expression on her visage, but it dispels as she realizes wrath won't help.
Elizabeth, you're the key behind this, I believe!
Edited by Bolded1 on Jun 3rd 2025 at 12:53:49 PM
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter

The Great Escape
Domon only sticks around long enough to make sure Deux has a handle on it before promptly dipping. He notices the fleeing children from his vantage point up in the sky and falls toward them to cover their escape.
Bloody Bunny darts across the room and slips between the legs of the Quintesson Mal is bludgeoning before jumping up onto its back, set on ripping off the plating on its back with her bare paws. She won't much mind if it falls on her.
Edited by KiriK on Jun 2nd 2025 at 5:51:58 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."