My Superhero University

Mason - Squad 1

A much more optimistic room than the one in Jennis, Mason couldn’t help but notice to himself. He watched as Ellie declared protection over the squad and thought, ‘what a badass.’

He didn’t need to be told twice about getting the hell out of dodge. He didn’t need to worry about the pull of the room, and was pleased when Ellie pushed through the pull and out the door to the hall.

Jenni was there, soothing one of his base fears and looked up and down the hallway for anything lingering. He didn’t see the innkeeper anywhere...and that concerned him.

Turning to Ellie, the only one of sound mind, he pointed. “I don’t know what we should do.” He outright told her. “I don’t want to Leave Jenni out here but we need to get the others. If you want to find Sam and Shane and double time it we can, I’m going to go get Lily.” He pointed to the room in question and dashed off, not even bothering to open the door and smashing through it.

His burning shoulder told him he’d regret that choice. But that was a job for Nurse Hello. He needed to find the others first.

Jenni – ???

The creature didn't react at all to Ellie and Mason's reappearance. Nor the latter's immediate beeline for Lily's door. She simply hummed, still entranced but having since stopped the chanting. Rocking back and forth. Almost as if she was meditating.

At least it was better than the alternative.

Lily – ???

Squelch.

Squelch.

Squelch.

The pair were a little ways away, but what was happening was as obvious as it was sickening. The bloated heads of the crowd grinned and leaned forward sadistically as the emotionless mountain of a man repeatedly slammed Lily's head into a wall; uncaring of her now limp and lifeless state.

Unsurprising, considering there was hardly any head left.

It was about when it burst into fragments that he lost his grip. Grunting, he picked Lily's body back up by the back of its neck, whispering firmly to where her ear used to be.

“Get up.”

The fragments of skull and scattered brain matter rose up in reply to the command, swirling back together between her shoulders as Lily desperately gasped for breath. Resurrection in this manner wasn't necessarily fun. Especially when she barely got time to recover.

Her newly intact form lasted all of a second as she was chucked into the opposite wall.

“Get up.”

It repeated. A different method every time. But always ending in Lily's brutal, merciless demise. Starting anew with a restoration. She barely had any time to react.

And her assailant was little more than a lifeless drone.

Edited by Enirboreh on May 24th 2019 at 12:01:22 PM

Squad 4

He felt his blood run cold at the odd voice, and at the revelation put forth he was lucky to stay on his horse. "Ain't exactly the kind of thing you should be saying without the ladies permission." once they touched down on the ground he grit his teeth. "Get back in her head and let her rest, I ain't gonna let her get hurt. Even if hell comes after me, these ain't nothin compared to what I've fought before," the helmet he wore shifted for a moment, and suddenly an open eye symbol bore its way to the front as he activated his third eye.

Now tracking all possible shot patterns. All shot patterns defined. Now activating Elemental Barrage

Clay turned the mechanical horse around and a multitude of different colored circles appeared in front of the horse.

Syncing up all possibilities. Locking the future in place

Clay raised his weapon as a new circle appeared before his weapon, spinning and humming with power.

"Quantum Locked: Wild Wild West!"

He fired the gun, which poured forth power into the circle in front of it before splitting off into each of the circles before him. There for just a single moment they hummed with power and fired off at once, beams of pure elemental energy aiming at the horsemen and their remaining forces. Even if the others moved the belt had already predicted it, enhancing its predictions through use of the third eye. An ultimate skill that read the future and accounted for every possibility, then creating the most advantageous to the shooter.

Evelyn – Not Rome (Squad 4)

Despite instructions, The Eye lolled about and watched for a moment with keen interest.

“Impressive,” it droned, a tone of approval injecting into its otherwise monotonous voice. “Very well. I'll release her now. I'm trusting you to care for her.”

It narrowed suddenly.

“Or drastic action will be taken.”

It receded immediately after this warning, the Eyes on Evelyn's hands following suit before she let out a quiet groan and slumped against him. She was out cold, it seemed like. The Eye had remained true to its word.

It brought to mind the question of it even could lie, but nonetheless the faith it seemed to have in the cowboy was nothing to be sneezed at.

Mason - Squad 1 - Nightmare

...Alright then. Guess this was how it was gonna have to go.

The blatant violence was quite a sight to behold, and something he was probably gonna need to get used to this time around. He watched Jae, not mere weeks ago, get shredded apart from the inside. He stood by and did nothing then.

It wasn't gonna happen this time around.

So, he gave a loud whistle, a shrill one that was a little muffled by his mask but loud enough to hopefully get his attention. He lifted up his gauntlet so it faced him.

"Hey!" He shouted, put one hand on the switch. "Get the hell away from my Squad Mate."

He flipped the switch once, and his hands erupted into light, electricity dancing around his fists as he got into a fighting stance.

"I'm not asking twice."

This guy is gonna kick my ass but maybe Lily can use this to get the hell out of dodge.

Squad 1

Sam managed to hold to some semblance of sanity to try and see some familiar face. Trying to make sure someone could see him. Even if it was just for one second, anyone, anything...

Why am I running? The thought came to mind, but he dismissed it. As the building, he walked up to Shane flirting with some girl. He walked up to him, and tried to call his attention, even tossing a snowball at him.

Straight through He observed, growling, before going to look for anyone else, but he could only focus on what he was going to do. He needed to think.

What, what am I doing? Everything was getting blurry, as he tried to reach for someone, anyone.

But someone left something behind him. A gun, he could feel the eyes on him, as he picked it up.

There were so many moments, good and bad slipping away.

He was... empty.

Might as well, end it while he was still himself.

But, could he?

I.W

Ryuu, had managed to push the fog away and relax his body. He surprisingly found that his body hurt a lot less.

"Dunno, what are you, but I can surprisingly do more than breaking things" He said, taking a swing to the vanishing foe. "Goodbye, nightmares.

But he stopped the swing as he found himself back on the classroom.

"Man, that was an experience" He muttered, as he checked on the others.

Lily – ???

Every single head in the nightmare turned towards Mason at his whistle. Lily, Lily's assailant, and the multitude of grossly deformed spectators. The spectators scoffed. Leon Aquatos stared blankly at him. Lily looked on with a mixture of confusion and amazement.

Then, slowly, Leon began to trudge forward.

Lily could hardly believe her eyes. She'd been in here for so long she'd wondered if this was even fake to begin with. She'd begun to forget herself. Started to accept the situation. Hadn't even attempted to fight back anymore.

But with one whistle, Mason had broken the cycle.

Lily didn't let her chance escape her. She scrambled back up onto her feet—bruised and cut as she was; it seemed her latest assault had reopened some old wounds—and made to hobble away, aiming for the falter in the false room that represented the broken down door in reality.

But as Leon got closer to Mason, she paused.

She looked back.

She remembered every hit.

She remembered every splatter of her brains against the walls.

Every low blow.

Every demeaning comment.

Every cold, calculated angle of his assault.

And she shook with fury.

Her feet moved, and her palm flew forward. Her joints screamed in protest, and her muscles ached with the impact, but the crunch and following squelch of bone giving way to grey matter was satisfying. Deranged she looked over him as he tipped over like a falling log, a hint of a sardonic smirk twitching against her lips.

“Get up.”

The crowd fell silent.

Squad 1 - Nightmares - Ellie

"Right." Ellie nodded at Mason as he charged through Lily's door. She strode over to Jenni and crouched down to meet the girl's eyes.

"Hey, baby. Are you all right?" She reached out and pulled Jenni into a gentle hug. "It's okay now, Mama's here. It can't hurt you anymore."

She ran her hand through Jenni's hair, her eyes briefly flicking towards Sam and Shane's doors. She didn't know how Mason escaped his own prison, but she guessed the others would need saving. But she didn't want to leave Jenni alone. Even if the Innkeeper was gone, there was no telling what could come for her.

And as broken as she seemed to be, there was probably a nonzero chance of Jenni walking back into her own door as well.

"I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you, anymore. Ok?" Ellie smiled, holding Jenni in her arms, and planting a kiss on her baby's forehead.

Mason - Squad 1 - Nightmare

Okay. So, Lily was obviously getting beat around by this guy but this is HER Nightmare, she's gonna feel helpless in here. I could theoretically fight him but if that's true, her nightmare is wicked strong. I'm not great at hand to hand combat but I can sure make it work. Okay, he's getting close. Lily's clear so as soon as she's through that door-

Wham.

Crunch.

Squelch.

Thud.

Lily was where the man was mere moments ago, her hand having nicely carved through his skull and into his brain. The suddenness of the situation almost made him falter, but instead he froze, looking back and forth like this wasn't some kind of lingering illusion. He unclenched his fists when he did recognize Lily's voice, and his arms went to his side.

"Well...that...works too, I guess." He mumbled to himself more than anything, making note of Lily's shivering form. The others were watching silently as he approached Lily and put a cautious hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, Lily...?" He asked slowly. "We should...get going...something tells me we're not very welcome here at the moment..." A poor tasting joke, but a joke regardless.

Lily – ??? (Squad 1)

As Mason placed a cautious hand on her shoulder, Lily seemed to become reflective for a moment. Her smile faded away in favour of a grim purse of the lips, and her eyes gained a look of deep contemplation as she fully settled back into the reality she'd known and loved.

Or at least, loved in comparison.

“...O-Okay,” she eventually nodded, still staring at the headless form of her father's visage as she unconsciously clenched and unclenched her fists. “Let's go.”

Lily seemed to be more locked in autopilot than in shock. One could practically hear the gears turning in her head. It had been a tight, overwhelming assault on the hydrokinetic—mentally, physically, emotionally, and morally. So fast and so relentless that her mind simply couldn't comprehend it.

She needed time to think this through.

“Are the others...?” she asked distantly, glancing briefly to Mason as she subconsciously touched at her own head. Checking if it was still intact. Occasionally she'd grunt to herself and cough. Checking on her throat.

She'd developed a tic.

“I um... I can help... I-I think...” she offered as they stepped out, self-consciously rubbing her upper arm and the bruises beneath her sleeve. “I mean... I might get in the way, so... whatever's easier...”

Jenni – ??? (Squad 1)

Meanwhile, the little harpy managed to crack open her eyes enough to look back at Ellie, and gained a small smile in response to seeing her. She accepted the hug without protest, breathing a soft sigh as she shut her eyes and teetered on the verge of dropping off again.

“...Mother's... left me...” she murmured, relief audible in her voice. “But you've come back...”

She and her voice became drowsy as the extent of the experience fully hit her, and she slumped against the demoness with a familiar sounding grumble as she snuggled further into her embrace.

“...I love you, Mama...”

Edited by Enirboreh on May 24th 2019 at 11:10:24 AM

Mason - Squad 1 - ???

Mason looked at her as she began to walk and nodded his head idly as she robotically, dream-like walked beside him. He was almost concerned until she started talking, and turned to her entirely, head tilted to the side.

"Well..." He held up his fingers. "I found Jenni, brought her back but she's not...doing well right now. Last i saw her, she was speaking in tongues and meditating. We got Ellie back and last I saw, she was taking care of Jenni so hopefully there's progress there. So far it's just you, me, Jenni and Ellie. We only have Shane and Sam left, and then I say we get the hell out of dodge and put as much dimensional space between us and this Dimension and..."

A memory flickered back. Gigantic fingers holding Jenni up like a prize. An eye bigger than he was, the sound of its voice against the back of his head and somehow making his brain itch.

"Whatever the actual fuck Mother is. The more space between us, and this place, and that, the better. So..." He looked at her and smiled at her from under his helmet. Not like she could see it. "I could use some help finding Sam and Shane...if you think you're up for it anyway."

A pause, and he put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay." He suddenly said to her. "You're out, and safe, and with friends. You're not in danger anymore, alright? Not with all of us around. I promise."

Edited by MichaelDj54 on May 24th 2019 at 5:16:18 AM

Jumping Bean (3)

"Ahahaha...I'll be glad to be rid of this place, to be honest," Jumping Bean laughed awkwardly. "They didn't even bother to use the good stuff like lotus root to make my body, and they used two mismatched molds."

"Anyways, let's get out of here before we get arrested, sound like a good idea?" she asked sardonically.

Perry (4)

Pestilence's minions and powers may have been effective against whatever schmucks she had gone up against in the past, but they sure as hell weren't effective against Geistcutter.

The weapon sang through the air and cut dead, maggoty monster upon monster into ribbons and dust—with the final target being Pestilence herself.

   You are not my mistress, harlot.    snarled the sword.    We would never submit!   

Schlock.

With that, Pestilence's head landed on the ground, bounced some distance, and was snapped up by a dragon-looking thing before it faded back to the Other Side, a look of serenity on its rotting visage. Perry stood over Pestilence's cooling corpse with Geistcutter in her hands and an angry look on her face.

"It done," she intoned. "Ding-dong, witch is dead and has no head..."

Edited by JumpingFruit on May 25th 2019 at 10:30:13 AM

Lily – ??? (Squad 1)

Lily managed a smile despite herself, nodding firmly in agreement and determination as she briefly assessed her (current) wounds. A couple of heavy bruises on her abdomen and limbs, a somewhat jarred back, strained muscles, and a black eye for good measure. Joy.

“...Yeah, I think I'm up to it...” she nodded, stretching a little in preparation and grimacing as some of her joints popped. “I think I can take Shane, if you go find Sam... I'll need to vent either way...”

The added comfort from him brought a genuine grin to her face, and she caught the hand on her shoulder a brief moment as she stared up at him.

“Watch each other's backs, right? I can live with that.”

Releasing his hand as she walked away, she scanned the doors for Shane's plaque determinedly. A sense of purpose to her stride, she took only a short moment to take a breath upon finding it—before twisting the handle and opening the door. Lily supposed she should be feeling concern for Shane.

But right now, her angry and confused mind begged for there to be something she could hurt.

Mason - Squad 1 - Nightmare Realm

Mason smiled at the sudden burst of enthusiasm by the younger hydrokinetic, nodding as he surveyed the scene before he found Sam's door.

Wren/Jenni...Wrenni? Jren? Jenni was talking at the very least and made it very clear her relief and appreciation from Ellie. Good, that was one problem he didn'r need to concern himself with, as he turned back to the door and opened the door.

"Lily's got Shane, I get Sam, we group back up and get the actual hell out of this place. Then, we grow as people! Or something. I think that's what True Fear arcs do for heroes. At least, that's the stories I've heard....or at least what I'm gonna get out of it." He chuckled to himself as he stepped into the oddly quiet room. At least with the other rooms, he heard people screaming in Jenni's room, or the sound of chains and dragging from Ellie's, or...stepping IN Lily in her room...

So why was it so-

The sight of Sam with a gun and the look of despair on his face made him pause mid step. He whipped a hand to the bracer and flicked it twice, his body coating with Electricity and surging over to him as quickly as he could, nearly sliding and falling over and grabbing his Wrist.

"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa!" He exclaimed quickly. "Let's not go down the worst possible path big guy! It's okay!"

Squad 4 - Cole vs Death (74) (54) (60) Theme

The silence after the demise of Pestilence was broken by the sudden, raucous explosion of the Earth, as a massive mountainous pillar erupted upwards within eyesight of Perry and the others - trailing streaks of internal magma able to be seen on the sides. The tip of the pillar was marked by numerous sonic booms and blasts followed by series of explosions.

Eight of the Shriekers were blasted down by rippling coils of energy from Cole's hands, which then was in turn cut short by Death's scythe blade, followed by the grave entity charging forward and crashing his scythe against Cole's telekinetic armor, actually penetrating deep enough to cut slightly at Cole's face even as the young man dived to the side.

The air was fraught with further bursts of light and force as Cole extended golden energy armaments resembling swords from his telekinetic armor, clashing with the scythe of Death in incredibly fast succession.

The sparks flying from these collisions illustrated the grim determination and resigned scowl of Cole and the still covered face of Death.

"You fight...as a man who has fought me before. Truly, it is regrettable one of your stature fights for the sake of worms."

Cole didn't answer, and instead shifted and dodged a sudden swipe from the scythe aimed at his collar and neck.

Rebounding backward in a dodge and then steadying himself just by tensing his arms and legs, Cole covered himself in telekinetic force and charged forward, again matching Death blow for blow up there...

...Until Cole extended his power far and wide.

He shifted to one knee, taking Death's scythe by its handle, the blade landing behind his back in one swing—-

—-Cole's hand by now began to glow in a bright golden tone, everything else around it sinking into that glow. Even those down on the ground would be able to see it.

Both Cole's eyes matched the glow, bright blue - almost burning.

And then he brought his clenched fist into a devastatingly powerful blow at the center mass of the Horseman.

Even as cracks showing red and blue energy spread from the point of impact, Death had words to say on the matter, "The—-children—-rise up, and seek to govern their own fate—-perhaps this is inevitable. The weak seize strength—-and reject what had been enforced upon them—-Love—-"

The figure was engulfed in a tremendous explosion that left only Cole standing at the peak. The young man turned and swiped a hand to the side, his bruised right arm used for the blow quivering a little. The smoke was pushed aside and showed no body remaining.

Cole looked up at the heavens and shouted in a single moment of raw emotion, "I AM COLE!! SLAYER OF DEATH!!!"

Shane - Nightmare / Squad 1

Shane walked amidst purple mists on the floor, trying to find his way back to his Squad, but ultimately all he saw was more mist...until he stepped out and into a place that dragged a gasp from him.

It was the classroom. But heavy with these vile mists.

The same room he'd seen that teacher brutally exploit one of the students in his old school for her own carnal amusement. The same place he'd been...discovered.

Then he saw the mists shake and shudder, and Zach was standing there, looking directly at him with a stare that could penetrate from a mile off. I can't believe you'd think for a moment ANYONE could trust a murderer - a mercenary like you. You're a moral reprobate.

Shane stepped backward, trying to distance himself. Not Zach...Not Zach...please...why...?

Then he saw Ellie walk in, and she looked around, "You see injustice, and your response is blackmail and manipulation. Shane, you're a user. You use women for their bodies, and then you're out and done. Wham. Bam. Get the fuck away, slut."

"That's not how it is!!" Shane found himself shouting.

And then Benny showed up. Of all people. Shane almost chuckled darkly, but then Benny stated, "Let's be honest here Shane. As good and as liberal as you want everyone to believe you are, you're not. I'd call it virtue signalling if you ever cared about virtue. You're interested in Shane Supremacy. And if you had your way...this is what you would've done in our interview." Producing a butcher knife, Benny merrily sliced out his own throat.

Shane was left shivering, pressed up against a wall...which quickly began melting, showing the decayed, eyeless faces of his many romantic dalliances; "Do you care about me, Shane?" "How about me?" "Why didn't you call? I was depressed..." "You're totally heartless, Shane."

Prying himself away from that, Shane was hyperventilating - and the wall was back to normal.

He was close to breaking down crying by this point. Why? Why any of this?

And that was when Sam entered, glaring at him, "You're nothing but a damn animal, Shane. A creature of your basest, most hateful and libidous urges. You're gross, you're disgusting, you parade yourself around like you expect everyone to appreciate you as much as you yourself do."

As Shane was about to try to refute this...another Shane entered the room, golden eyed and smirking darkly.

One by one, he went by each of the others, and fired a single shot from a revolver into their skulls, sending gray matter, blood and gore all over the room each time.

Ellie, her eye only barely attached by a string of flesh, looked up at him and said, "This—-is all—-you." And then Ellie was dead.

Shane screamed, and the other Shane scoffed; "Don't be whining like that man. This is you. This is all you. This is all you ever were, and all you'll ever be. You'll NEVER be sung for your heroics. You're just going to be a two bit torturer and athletic scumbag. But hey. At least you enjoy it."

Shane sank to his knees, sobbing, barely cognizant of anything.

Lily – ??? (Squad 1)

It was the aftermath Lily saw when she walked in, but it was clear as day to her what had happened. The bodies spoke for themselves. The two versions of Shane too. From what little she knew of him, she was surprised to see one of them sobbing brokenheartedly in the corner.

Then she remembered herself, and it all clicked into place.

Deciding not to attack the doppelganger for now (if he did attack she could deal with him separately), she instead made a beeline for the upset Shane; the dreadful thought that he was the duplicate manifesting in her mind for a moment before she squashed it down.

“Shane.”

She paused for a moment as she knelt down next to him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

The same hand that had gone through her father's skull.

She shivered a moment, before shaking it off.

“You have a lot of anger, don't you?” she murmured, looking back towards the duplicate for a moment before returning her attention to him. “Shane, I... I-I'm not gonna act like I know what's going on here, because I don't. But... If there's something you're holding back, or... just something you haven't addressed, please try and face it. It... i-it's not gonna go away on its own.”

She pursed her lips for a moment, squeezing his shoulder.

“But... if I'm completely off the mark it doesn't matter. I'm sorry if I'm... intruding in something. But I do know this...”

She caught his chin with her hand, forcing him to look at her and listen.

“The others are waiting for you. For you. And I came in on my own for you too. Look at me,” she insisted—gesturing at the cuts and bruises lining her body from her repeated assault. “Don't you think that says enough?”

Edited by Enirboreh on May 25th 2019 at 4:11:48 PM

Rome?

Speaking of the red one, Iuvem would be targeted by a barrage of dark hands that erupted from the red armor of the Horseman of War. He did not in all honesty seem very bothered by the fall of his fellows. In part because of the transitory nature of it all - a nature War was intimately familiar with.

"...Pitiful, gormless golem."

Plunging a gauntlet into the ground, a large number of huge shadow blades began erupting from the ground in the direction of Iuvem.

Meanwhile, the quantum shot output of Clay outright tore the form of Famine to pieces, various plant-like structures evident as her cloaked form went to pieces. The battle seemed over for a hot moment...until vines erupted from the said pieces, and connected back up.

Not even sparing words, Famine sent a large number of razor sharp coiling vines and roots at Clay and Evelyn. Especially at Evelyn.

Squad 4-Rome?

Clay watched the vines coming, tracking their angle and seeing exactly where they were aiming for. Attacking someone who was already down, trying to harm the person he swore to protect. With a quick flourish he froze the vines with blasts of cold energy from his gone that even bound the water within them, stepping off his horse and looking toward Famine. No matter what it takes, this thing isn't going to get another chance to hurt her

Very well, let us take it from here

The armor faded away from Clay, leaving him only in his duster as he dismounted from the horse, the ice covering the ground melting as he walked. His hat blew off to the side, carried to the horse, hair parting to reveal the third eye glowing with psychic energy.

"You who defile the garden, you who poison the well, as one who is meant to keep the world I will not allow you to spread your malice any longer," the belt flashed as the barrier that always kept itself around Clay faded, and appeared around Famine. "Within our domain judgement is cast," he slowly lifted the gun, its shade becoming a pitch black that drew in the little light cast in the world. "It is within this endless well of gravity that even your screams shall be condemned to endless contraction and expansion, until you are reduced to the smallest possible numeral, cast down into the well and consumed by the passing clock, only to be crushed and expanded into a greater form," the gun fired a single shot into the enclosed space, an orb of pure black that drew in everything within as the barrier closed itself off.

"Blackhole Judgement. Your future is decided." the third eye on his forehead pulsed as a steady stream of blood began to fall from it over his face, but he kept watching as everything within the barrier was drawn into the darkness, only for it to tighten to a pinprick and disappear.

Edited by Kingxana0 on May 25th 2019 at 8:14:36 AM

Squad 1

Sam, managing to look at the gun itself, as Mason appeared to knock the gun away, snapping him out of it.

"Mason?" He called out "You can see me?"

He lost track of himself as he basically glomped Mason. His eyes started taking their normal shine. Turning to the figure that handed him the gun, he simply gave a stern look, compared to how weak he looked before.

"Sorry, but still got some life on me" A six armed goliath rose, walking towards the figure, and unleashing a six armed beatdown so fast it was hard to follow "And can't let the past slip through me"

Walking outside, he didn't notice he was crying, as he sat on the ground, nearly curling into a ball.

Edited by Blueace on May 25th 2019 at 12:43:42 PM

Squad 4 – Apparently Not Rome

Chaos Mode Iuvem, at first, seemed to be overwhelmed by the attacks of the Horseman of War. In fact, his limbs got severed by the blades, while the wraith-like golem was ensnared by the shadow's arms.

And this shadow...it reminded him of someone. The shadow villain that they fought months ago...

..The very entity who enraged him into unlocking the Chaos Mode.

Bluish-black appendages came out of what were his mutilated limbs. They slowly tramsformed into fresh new limbs for the golem.

   You...   , he began, his voice sounding raucous,    You should be the pitiful one, shadow-borne evil!   , he tried to free himself from War's dark arms. If he did, he'd instantly to quickly hover towards the horseman, preparing another "Gleam Bomb" in his right palm. If he managed to reach War, he would quickly placed his right palm on the Alternate Elim's chest.

   Goodbye once again...Elim...   

Not Rome

Famine was quickly taken in by the black hole attack, and vanished deep into the dark beyond - the horseman was gone, and it appeared they could not regenerate from this one.

Meanwhile, the Gleam Bomb seemed to completely disrupt whatever was going on with War, and the monstrous Horseman was sent careening backward, barely seeming alive. The armor babbled some, laying there, half of it seeming split open, "Disgusting little vermin..."

It pointed a finger at him, "War...is an inevitable fact of life. You will not...escape the law of this world, golem."

By all appearances, all that was required now was one final hit...

Squad 4 – Apparently Not Rome

Iuvem stared the remains of War, who was barely clingling to life.

He chuckled.    You're talking about law to me, Channeler of Chaos? How pathetic of you...   , bluish-black tendrills bursted out of his back, radiating Chaos energy.

   Your time is up, shadow-borne evil   , the tendrills suddenly went on their way to ensnare the Horseman of War, fully covering him up. They were going to erase him, until nothing was left.

Iuvem vs. War

However, as the tendrils covered up the ruined armor of War, there was the slightest hint of a chuckle from inside the armor. That was when something sliced out from inside the armor, and then dispersed Iuvem's chaos tendrils in a flurry of blade strikes.

Leaping out of the armor was the jeering form of an all too humanoid Elim, face contorted into a psychotic grin. His right eye apparently replaced by a blue orb of strange metal with a red circle at the center.

"I'll bet you thought that was the end? You people are all morons!" Prodding the form of War with his sword, Elim stated, "Bet you all wanna know, how it is this whole fracas came to be? Well, just so ya know, wars can't be waged by one man...well, most of the time."

More darkness seemed to surge out of Elim's shadow, forming, one after the other, more copies of War's Armor - and quickly at that.

Before long, there were ten copies of the War Armor standing in front of Iuvem.

Squad 4 – Apparently Not Rome

   Wh-What?!   , this was a rather...peculiar twist for Iuvem.

Chaos Mode Iuvem slowly rectracted his tendrills back into his body. He scowled at Elim.    Of course you had to have another trick up your sleeve, you shadow-borne bastard!   , the Jovian golem was visibly starting to lose his cool. His sharp stare scanned Elim and the War Armor clones.

He started walking...then running...and then hovering, building more and more speed and power.

   Stay out of my way!   , he began to be covered by a bright light. He resembled a shining comet as he charged through the clones with strength and animosity.

After getting past the clones, he would try to extend an arm towards Elim's "throat" and forcefully pin him with furious might.

Vivian-Romanesque-War Comes Out To Plaaaayy

Well, this is annoying. The multiple copies of War were very annoying, clearly. She'd been wracking her brains to think of a proper way to use her broken armor to defeat him when ol' Planetary showed up to kick butt. She felt a brief flash of envy at the power he'd shown, similar to when Clay and Evelyn had displayed new gifts. Not fair! a tiny part of her mind screamed before she squelched it. Now was not the time.

Soaring down, she flew parallel to Iuvem's path toward Elim. The constructs didn't matter. As soon as she got close enough, she would....she would...the knife was in her hand already. She'd thrown it away, She knew she had. But that didn't matter. It was sharp and strong and she trusted it. As soon as she got close enough, she was going to turn him into a canoe. Yes.