The Ancient Ones: Age of Nothingness (IC)

[Truth Incarnate]

Eridan and Vriska

Vriska watched as her dice moved into the air, hovering a few metres above her. The little fluorite gems glistened and crackled with blue flame, coursing in veins between their facets and edges. She looked with a mixture of anger and contemptuously fulfilled expectation at Alice, registering this obvious act of disarming as a prelude to combat.

"So you're playing dirty, huh? Well, lucky for you, I'm not in much of a 8itchy mood today."

Vriska flew into the air, wings bursting from the back of their orange god tier robes, folding open with a glistening burst of stardust. Gently floating upwards, she took her dice out of the air, and presented them to the assembly, daring them to come any closer. She crossed her arms, and stared pointedly at Alice, pointing out the futility of their efforts.

"And 8efore you start 8oring me with your lame stupid '8luh 8luh dumb asshole' schtick, I'll answer your questions for you. No, I'm not here to kill you. No, I'm not here to fetch anything. No, I am not serving some dark god. I'm just here on a little hate-vacation with my shitty excuse for a former former Kismet, alright? Now stop 8eing such xenopho8ic wigglers and just get to the part where we do something interesting!"

Eridan, meanwhile, felt himself being picked up by the Kongou's resident healers, despite the fact that he hadn't even gotten to the point where he was meant to collapse. He felt his rifle falling out the back of his cape, and felt his wand trying to fling itself out of his hand. He began to thrash and struggle, kicking Serena in the leg, and elbowing Mercy in the head. He wildly fired his wand, burning a large burning scar in the ship's roof, and struggled to get to Kadoor, his cape ripping as he went.

"No! Fuck! Let go a' me, you she-wwitches! I'vve got a score to settle wwith this here freak! You don't understand wwhat you're dealing wwith, you havve to just trust me on the fuckin' matter! I KNOWW WWHAT THEY REALLY ARE!"

"You listen to me, "Kadoor"! I don't knoww wwhat you're doin' wwith these gullible invvertebrate lowwbloods, but I'm onto you. I knoww you knoww damn wwell howw I got off a' the Saturn, freak. I knoww evverything!

[Kaidou]

Manichean Plane / Greater Multiverse
Several realms
Republic of Japan | 日本共和国

Zhou Yu-ke had made it through three or four streets by the time she was attacked by the three who had come straight from the Parliament House, against the orders of the generals who had posted them there.

The ambush came first as a flying arrow striking the Generalissimo in one of her prosthetic arms, ringing off and landing with a clatter on the ground, much to Itona's surprise. The soldiers accompanying her turned their guns on the perpetrators, but were promptly neutralised by Itona, the anachronistic projectiles piercing the gaps in their armour and felling them.

Having emptied her GPMG, Zhou Yu-ke hurled the weapon at Uska, before whirling her serrated dao and, in one fell sweep, sliced the head off of an old man hiding behind a crate. This unwarranted attack against a civilian was promptly responded to by an elegant yet forceful slash from Jan-ci, wielding the jian she had taken from Thero's colosseum. At the same time that Jan-ci attacked the Generalissimo, Ceiji drew her Russian sabre and thrust forward in a manner almost nonchalantly, a strike that was parried by Zhou Yu-ke's second weapon, a long parang.

Before Zhou Yu-ke had a chance to throw her two attackers off, Itona had fired another arrow at her, aiming for her head.

"Qiangbi!"

The moment the command left her lips, one of Zhou Yu-ke's remaining soldiers charged up to her and blocked the arrow with his body, collapsing onto the ground motionless with the projectile buried in his chest.

Neither Itona nor Ceiji nor Jan-ci had any intention of fighting clean. The Generalissimo had already demonstrated her willingness to brutalise and massacre innocent civilians; what was the sense in granting someone like that, a mass murderer and a totalitarian dictator, to have a fair fight?

"You, girl", spat the Generalissimo at Jan-ci, kicking Ceiji away with her robotic leg (it was a shockingly powerful kick, especially considering Zhou's age). She backflipped and whirled both her parang and her serrated dao in fearsome circles. "You are a traitor. As a Chinese, it is your divinely mandated duty to support me-"

Ignoring the Generalissimo, Jan-ci leapt at her once again, swinging her jian and slashing a few strands of Zhou Yu-ke's white hair straight off the side of her head. She staggered backwards, dropping her parang in shock, before tapping on the communication device behind her ear.

"General Gao Hai", she barked. "Prepare the nuclear weapons; once I'm out of here, we'll blow Migitō to kingdom come."

...

CNS Shen Mao

"No."

Much to the shock of the other subordinate generals gathered in the command room of the flagship, General Gao Hai had just flatly refused an order from Generalissimo Zhou Yu-ke.

"I beg your pardon... General?"

Gao Hai laughed wildly.

"In case you haven't noticed, my dear Yu-ke", he said, deliberately committing the taboo of addressing his superior by her given name, "this is a coup d'état. You are no longer in control of the nuclear weapons; I am. The ship you landed with has no nuclear capability."

"You dare challenge my authority?"

"Guards."

As Zhou Yu-ke fumed on the ground, the personal bodyguards of Gao Hai, dressed in flowing white robes with white masks and carrying pudao (swords with long, spear-like handles), stormed the command room and surrounded his subordinate generals menacingly, much to their horror.

"If any of you still supports Generalissimo Zhou Yu-ke", the young General declared, "then I shall let you meet her in the afterlife!"

Not a single one of the generals objected to Gao Hai's takeover. In fact, they all prostrated themselves before him in a manner suggesting a motivation that went beyond the fear of the white-robed bodyguards.

"Gao Hai! You traitorous bastard! You will be punished in hell for this perfidy!"

With a maniacal laugh, General Gao Hai inserted the activation keycard into the launch pad for the nuclear button, but before he had the chance to rain Armageddon upon the capital of the ROJ, the CNS Shen Mao was blasted by a broadside.

A broadside from, strangely, the flagship of Emperor Mukai.

...

Streets

The moment the communication channel with General Gao Hai was cut off, Zhou Yu-ke let off a bloodcurdling, bestial scream.

"What's the matter?" Ceiji asked sarcastically.

Zhou Yu-ke did not reply. Instead, she simply collapsed onto her knees, dropping her sword on the floor. Even she knew that there was little more she could do.

"Get her!" Itona commanded, his undomesticated grin decorating his youthful face. "Take her prisoner, now!"

...

[Prusselanden]

Manichean Plane
Uska had dispatched the latest group of enemy soldiers when he heard Itona command someone to capture Zhou-yu-ke as a prisoner. Uska made sure there were no more soldiers in the area and began making his way over to the group with the Generalissimo.

"I have some good parachord." He unraveled the chord her hand gotten from his pant pocket and grabbed Zhou, binding her tightly with the chord. "It is very difficult to break out of. I don't think she will be going anywhere in this." He finished tying the knots of the parachord and looked around for anyone to hand the prisoner over to.

....
Ackerman dragged xerself to a window and watched the carnage outside. Xer wounds still hurt, but xe was out of danger. Xe was waiting for Frederick to get up, and while xe did, Ackerman was horrified by the slaughter of civilians. Xe wished xe could do something...to kill every enemy in the vicinity. Ackerman took a rifle and made her way to the door.

[The Dark Brotherhood of Deros]

MU - Clairus
Clairus couldn't understand how there could possibly be a form of "romance" that was this agressive with Kadoor's people. On Veymia it was so simple: romance was a kind and gentle thing, where you devoted yourself completely to your lover. Somonium, the act of marriage on her world, was a permanent and wonderful thing. How could you possibly love someone, yet hate them at the same time?! Clairus would really have to have a chat with Kadoor about this subject at a later date.

It was then that Eridan tried to attack Kadoor, making Clairus yelp in surprise. She felt the troll's anger and hatred, and it greatly disturbed her. What had Kadoor done to deserve this kind of response? Clairus had to make sure her friend, no, best friend was safe. She charged two aura blasts in her hands, and then stepped in front of Kadoor with a determined look on her face. "Back off! I won't let you hurt my friend!" The kitsune exclaimed; trying her best to sound intimidating. Of course, with a voice as light and timid as her's, that was no easy task.

MU - Karzahni - Caves
The Toa were unsure how to respond to Calyx's story. On the one hand, he had slaughtered many Toa and Matoran alike, but on the other hand he had become a member of the mysterious Order of Mata Nui and renounced his evil ways. Tahu sighed as he thought over the situation, while Vuki looked at Calyx. "Why didn't you speak-tell us this Calyx?" He inquired. The Le-Matoran wasn't angry, but he was confused by this.

Onua finally spoke. "I see... I suppose your actions before the Order found you were not your own, they were Makuta's." The Toa of Earth said. "If you've truly renounced your allegiance to Makuta, then you are an ally to us." He continued. Tahu seemed to still be somewhat suspicious of the hulking figure, and Kopaka said nothing as always.

[The New Earth Federation]

Multiverse Restaurant

Chris and Victoria where both amazed by the speed of which the bipedal bird ripped their weapons out of their hands and flug them. Still shocked they both acted a little bit slower when the bird man attacked them, knocking Chris to the ground and repeatedly kicking Victoria. Chris recovered and quickly moved on the bird as he was about to punch in the stomach, the piano man was there yelling at them and then placed a bubble around them.

"Well this fucking sucks" replied Chris

"Yep"

It wasn't long until two androids flew up and assisted them from their bubbles, the two thanked the androids and retrieved their nearby weapons.....now they just need to see what they needed to do. Chris turned to one of the androids.

"Where do you require our assistance?"

#FR

[Aeternabilis]

Alex's Apartment

Marcus turned around to face Eric and Ann and shrugged. "I guess not. I'm not a very interesting person, you know? Aside from my superpowers and friends, of course. I just don't really like to bore people with my lame life story." He got up from the floor, stretched a second, then sat back down on the couch, leaving a space between himself and the other two. "Anyway, TV sounds great while we wait. There's this Canadian comedy I like that's usually on about now, I'll see if I can find it." He grabbed the remote and flicked Alex's TV on, showing the news channel they were watching the night before, currently doing a story about the attack on New York. Specifically, about thee sudden reappearance of the Constellation and their striking defeat. "Oh, this is just embarrassing," Marcus said, wrinkling his nose. "Why do they keep replaying clips of you getting blasted and you accidentally shooting Bloodfyre?" Ann asked. "Clearly the Canadian media has it out for me," Marcus said, changing the channel. "Oh hey, Spider-Man 2. You guys wanna watch this?"

Vancouver

"I don't think you really understand where we are right now," Sylph said, looking at Secesh with some concern. "I'll let Marcus or Alex explain it when we get back to the apartment, they're pretty smart." They made their way up to the counter with Joshua and Bloodfyre, adding their items to the very large pile of other goods. "That's a lot of aluminum foil!" Sylph said, looking up in awe. "How are we gonna carry that all back to Alex's place? I don't think they'll want us taking the carts with us..."

Meanwhile, the store's owner opened Bloodfyre's bag suspiciously and looked inside, quickly closing it again once he saw that Bloodfyre was telling the truth about its contents. "Little lady, for this much money you can take whatever you want from here," he said with an expression of joy. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go make sure this bag stays safe." He rushed off with the bag of coins, leaving the heroes alone. "Well, that was nice of you," Joshua said. "I think you just made that guy rich. Let's get back to the apartment."

The group then wheeled their carts of goodies out of the store and began the short trek back to Alex's apartment.

Krasnoyarsk

The gangsters opened fire on the trio as they attacked, with a couple more fleeing as they saw Pobeda easily flip a man over himself. A few took a second to actually aim and fired at Pobeda's head, but their bullets were pulled from midair by Alex and sent harmlessly into the dirt. Alex continued doing this instead of attacking, pulling bullets from midair before they could impact her friends or go off and hit something else that might be in their path. Ivan, meanwhile, ducked behind a nearby car and continued shooting his pistol with high deadly accuracy, taking out many a gangster with nonlethal disabling shots.

[Naval Monte]

Karzahni

Both Selene and Lillie were surprised to see what Calyx really was as they figured he was a mechincal being. "Wait you're a slug controlling a metal suit? How did you even get the suit anyway?" Lillie asked. Throughout the fight Selene did her very best to protect herself and Lille from the servants of Teridax and eventually the ninetail woman succeed. While the battle was won Selene felt that she should stay in her ninetail form just encase more arrived.

Calyx began to tell the Tao who he really was and how he became what he is now. The two thought over what Calyx told them and after thinking of the matter for a while the two step forward to Calyx. "If what you said is true then we will take your word for it." Selene said, Lillie agreeing with her. Both Selene and Lillie would hear follow by see the gate open and witness Elizabeth, Serena, and Alice walking out of the gate. The sniper was ready to fire but when he saw the gate open he panicked and fired while accidently moving his gun, making him miss the shot.

The bullet brushed aside Lillie's hair, making her panic. Selene moved to Lillie to shield her from any more gun fire while Alice also did the same with Serena. Alice used her powers to find where the man was and with a quick teleport appeared at behind him and grabbed him with telekinesis, teleportation back to the group. "Who is that?" Lillie asked. With a frown Serena told her everything about the cult that worships Infinity and how their leader threaten not only the life of a former member's child but those two as well if they don't stop them. "Looks like he was serious." Selene glared at the man. As the man reached for his pistol Selene grabbed his wrist and froze his hands.

"So is anyone going to tell me why one person here looks like a humanoid pokemon?" Elizabeth asked. Selene was hesitant but she soon told her about the race she belonged in and her shapeshifting powers. "Shapeshifter huh? That power can be useful." Elizabeth turn to the gate. "We'll tell you everything you want to know and you can introduce yourselves after we get back to the ship." she told the two.

---

Sith Shrine

The skeleton's eye chest burst like a balloon, showering black slime all over Asura's fist. Papyrus in response to the punch delivered a powerful punch on his head followed by a stab on his chest. But before the skeleton can try to infect Asura Cinder stabbed him from behind, as the skeleton screamed in agony a wave of new dark emotions flared out of him to weaken the determination and serenity wave that was giving the heroes their boost in strength and fighting spirit.

The skeleton swiped at Cinder and not only scratched her but sent her flying away and soon he had more arms grabbed Jacob, the claws scratching his body just as he threw him to where he threw Cinder. A blaster appeared above Asura and it fired it's beam at the demi-god, destroying the floor below him and sending both him and the beam deeper underground. As Papyrus fired more bones at the group the ones headed for Marie and James were destroyed by the demonic huntress as she swung her sword to destroy them.

"Yes, if this is like last time we will get through it." As Marie saw her son using his powers against Papyrus Marie would have smiled if her form allowed her to do so. "I think we will have an easier time with Damian than with me when I had my episode." she told James, she brought her hand on the blade and rubbed the blade and coat it with her demonic energy. Marie made a stance and soon dash forward to join her son on fighting against Papyrus.

The hammer created several cracks on the blaster but it remain, this also happen with Papyrus as more cracks appeared on his melting body. Papyrus pointed the damage blaster and was going to fire it on Damian but the blaster was cut in two by Marie who after appearing before Papyrus delivered several fast slashes on him, cutting off several arms from the skeleton. From the oozing hole from his chest Papyrus fired a powerful beam that cut the two cambions, sending them flying to the wall.

As the two half demons fell back onto the floor papyrus saw the holy flames heading towards them and during the strike Camille also unleash holy psionic wave to join the flames. Papyrus brought forth his remaining blaster and it began to suck up the flames and even take the psionic wave. However the wave caused the blaster to be critically damaged just as the flames were causing internal damages inside the blaster, soon the blaster exploded and the flames contain within fell upon Papyrus as the shockwave also hit him and everyone close by, shrapnel covered in purifying flames also rain down upon the group.

Victoria used her gauntlets to form a shield while Rosa, Camille and Serena used their combined powers to create a psychic shield while Frisk joined to create shields for everyone to protect them from the shrapnel. Once the shrapnel stop falling down the barrier keepers let down their ground and found that Papyrus was still alive but heavily weaken as his body was beginning to melt and break apart into dust. "We're almost there. We just need to lay down the final blow and we will win." Victoria excitingly said, she and everyone having their hope soar as they were closed to victory.

"F..FRI..FRISK..." The group would hear the voice of Papyrus coming from the creature. "It can't be...
Papyrus is that you?" the startled woman asked. The skeleton looked at her. "FRISK... HELP... ME..." the skeleton begged. Frisk gasp in horror as she realize that Papyrus was still conscious.

"What the hell? How can he speak! None of the blight infected or abyssal monsters spoke before?" the now confused Victoria shouted. Rosa along with her sister and mother were also equally shocked but she was studying the abyssal entities somewhat to understand how they work to better fight against them. "I always wonder if those corrupted by the abyss can speak. My only theory can be is that the abyss may be restoring Papyrus's mind as it normally works by corrupting what it touches; making them work in ways they shouldn't before it starts breaking them down." Rosa theorized.

Papyrus looked at the group. IT... HURTS.. IT HURTS..." The skeleton kept repeating the words as the arms began to shoot out from the slime, a few going for Ashford. Marie sliced through the arms aim for her and Damian while the Bakers destroyed the arms aimed for him. "Papyrus may be coming back but the blight and abyss still control his body." Camille stated, feeling pity for the skeleton for living a horrible existence.

Serena cut through the arms and dodged them but as she did she had tears, she wept for her friend who was forced to suffer a fate worse than death. Even Frisk was in tears to know that this was Papyrus's fate. "We'll do something Papyrus, we will get you out of this state!" she swore that she will free Papyrus from this horrible condition in anyway. Frisk began to cough as more of the crystal growths began to grow. Frisk cursed internally at the sight, she knew that her time was drawing near, but she will not go down until she saved her friend.

"FRISK..." The woman turn her sight to Papyrus, she can feel the dark emotions he tried to use to weaken everyone but now she can feel Papyrus's true emotions, his pain, his sorrow, his pleads to be saved. She smiled at her old friend. "Don't worry papyrus, I promise I will save you." she told the skeleton as she dodged more bone strikes aimed at her.

Fallen Papyrus
Phase 2

The Bakers found it hard to willing lay another blow at Papyrus as they used their powers to protect everyone. He may be corrupted and infected but now they weren't fighting a mindless monster who seek to kill or infect them, it was their old friend being controlled by the foul virus and energy. Serena decided to gamble on a chance, she unleash her aura of serenity, calm, and love to help Papyrus try to fight for control over his body. When Frisk saw what Serena was doing she joined in, only she began to tell Papyrus all the good times they had together.

Marie dash forward to the skeleton, dodging each beam of energy, bones flying in the arm or coming out from the ground, or arms that came down to stab or grab her. Papyrus may be a good friend of hers but Marie can not let neither herself, James, or her kids be killed by him. The part of her mind that was responsible for emotions was screaming at her for what she was doing, reminding her that Papyrus was an ally but her instincts and more logical half both agreed that what she was doing was a lesser and necessary evil.

Marie soon appeared before Papyrus and brought her sword down to strike his head but new sets of arms grabbed the blade and fought to keep the blade from stabbing him. More eyes form and they floated to Serena and Frisk to stop them from casting their auras at Papyrus as more of the dark aura was unleashed by the skeleton. Rosa and Camille focus on destroying the eyes to protect their mother and Frisk as the two were helping the skeleton remember who he was to see if they can help him regain his senses. Victoria saw what they were doing and decided to help the two out though she had little faith in their plan.

Papyrus lifted Marie up with her sword and threw her to the mysterious swordsman as he open his mouth wide and a energy beam similar to a gaster blaster came out and headed towards them. From the hole on his face a smaller arm came out and traveled quickly to Draigo, the arm spinning rapidly like a drill as it strike the chest portion of his arm.

---

Kongou

Mercy nodded to what Kadoor told her on keeping the two away. Yoko looked at the two, she can sense that nothing good would come from him being in the ship and sure enough she was right when he kicked Serena and elbowed Mercy on her head, making the woman dropped her staff. Mei called out to Mercy and rushed to her AI along with Alice who floated to Serena. Sans used his soul powers and lifted up Eridan, sending him flying to the ceiling and slamming him back on the floor.

"smart move genius, we offer you peace and you attack the diplomat and healer while trying to attack someone who has done jack to you." Sans turn to Kongou. "sorry for breaking your rule but i can't let this guy go unpunished." Sans than sent Eridan back in the air and slammed him on the walls a few times before slamming him back on the same spot where he was.

Sans heard the Hulk roar and before anyone can do a thing the green giant was upon the troll. "HULK SMASH PUNY TROLL!" He shouted as he was going to pound the troll but Sans used his powers to lift the Hulk up and sent him flying through the ceiling and out of the ship. The avengers glared down at the skeleton. "no one wanted him dead and he was going to kill him." the skeleton said as a defense.

Touko cautiously checked on Eridian and found that he was still conscious"Holy Arceus how is he still conscious after that beating!" Sans summoned his blasters and pointed them at Eridian. "the stubborn ones are always had to take out. I say we throw him into a cell and don't heal the bastard considering what he did to mercy." Yoko nodded as she folded her arms to her chest. "I agree with the skeleton, this troll must be thrown into a cell so he won't cause us any more trouble." Alice helped Serena get up.

The Gardevoir looked disdainfully at the female troll, throwing out claims that they hate her for being xenophobic when those two have given both them and their friends many reasons to be weary and distrustful on the two trolls. "You want to do something interesting how about you help us make these wards in the ship." Alice floated the papers with the wards drawn on them and several markers. "Draw these on the wall of the ship." Alice contact both Snake and as much she loathe to do it both Reaper and Sombra to keep an eye on the female troll as she tried to keep her and Eridian separated.

With Mei and Mercy the chinese woman helped the Swiss doctor go to a nearby chair to sit down as the latter rubbed her head. "Are you okay Angela?" the concerned woman asked. "Yes, I will need to sit down for a while though." Mercy replied back. Elizabeth soon got out from the private room that Kongou made for her and she saw the mess that was in the room and the two trolls present. "I'm not even going to bother asking what happened here." Elizabeth turn to Serena. "I know where Selene is." Still feel sore from the kick Serena asked Elizabeth to get Selene for her.

"Sure thing and before I go." Elizabeth walked forward and knelt down, gingerly place her fingers on Serena's leg and in a few minutes the pain that the champion felt disappeared. "I may complain a lot about my new powers but at least I can now use them to heal people." Serena was glad to hear the news that her friend can now use healing magic. "Since you feel better now let's go meet Selene." the champion nodded and soon Elizabeth created the gate and the two entered it.

Those still inside still looked at the troll. "We can't let the guy bleed out since Tadayoshi wouldn't look seeing a dead body in his ship." Snake said. Hawkeye looked at the hole. "Nor would he like that. I agree with the skeleton and cultist here, I saw we lock this troll and throw away the key." Most agreed with the idea, even the monsters agreed with the idea while Frisk stayed silent, hiding behind papyrus.

---

Gotham-Warehouse and Alley

Power Girls's head was snipping form the smashing the robot gave her but once Amazo ordered it to return back to him her head was clear enough to see an opening for her to strike. Power Girl flew straight to the robot and began to deliver a series of powerful punches to it while it had it's back turn to her. Robocop heard what the Android told him. "Yes. I was once a police officer named Alex Murphy, I was changed into what you see after being gundown by gang members." he told the android.

---

Manichean Plane / Greater Multiverse
Several realms
Republic of Japan | 日本共和国

Seeing the carnage being committed against the civilians Strange was silent as his fury consumed him. Without a word he turn around, his cape floating up as he enter a portal that he created and stepped through it. Hex also saw the carnage and as she and her robots army got out she told Connor one simple message. "Rain hell on them Connor." Before the group the now empty Aquila began to take off on it's own as Hex and the robots charged forward to the fight, firing their projectiles on them as the drones fired out grenades.

The Aquila began to rain down bullets from the gatling turrets, tungsten rounds from the rail cannons, laser, plasma bolts and even missiles down at the soldiers. The robots kept firing at the soldiers even as bullets hit them, only ever stopping once they have sustained too much damage to remain operational.

The robots and the Aquila went after the soldiers that were going after the citizens which was something Strange was doing but he was also going after their leader, he figured that he can deal with those soldiers along the way as well. By the time both Strange and Hex reached where Zhou Yu-ke was they saw what happened to her soldiers and their betrayal. Hex kept her rifle aim at the woman as Strange moved in with the others to arrest the woman, magic circles on his left hand ready to fire a spell on her should she try anything just as Hex was ready to open fire on her.

[Evergreen Pinetrees]

Sith Shrine

”Shoot!” The young man cursed under his breath as the giant skeleton started throwing his bones everywhere again, and this time, he wasn’t lucky enough to be spared. As the skeletal arms flashed through the air coming straight at him, he quickly switched his shroud using the Stigmata Key. The Golden Witch’s black dress were quickly drowned in blood, and he could feel the ectoplasmic matter within his veins boil.

The bony arms went straight through his chest.

One. Two. Three.

But they left no trace as they went through him. Ashford looked behind where the arms were, deeply entrenched into the extremely hard stone floors. It seems jaunting himself into the Twilight saved his skin for the time being, but keep doing that and the giant skeleton won’t even need to worry about slapping him cause he would burn himself to death. ”The energy. Use it. Or you will become one with me,” his geist whispered to him again.

Right. Becoming one with the Golden Witch was the last thing he needed, but he needed it. Unlocking the Marionette Manifestation using his Stigmata Key, the burst of grey energy approached him. It was plasmic, and he could use it to restore his energy source… But it was… polluted. Corrupting. There was no way she did not notice it, unless... There was something else in it. He would keep it in a tight leash and use it only when necessary, but for now… he had less than a minute before he would jaunt back into material plane.

He quickly approached the man that was warning him earlier – being ghost-like gave him the advantage of flight and intangibility so that saved him a lot of time and effort. By the time he shifted back into a human again (well, as human as he could be), he was standing next to the man (James) after a woman rushed off against the skeletal figure with her weapon in tow.

”As much as I want to stay away, not really a choice now that I’m forced to be involved. Thanks for the warning, by the way,” Ashford gave him a warm and friendly nod. ”I wish to help, but I can’t do much in terms of destroying things – but I’m pretty sure you all have got that covered anyways,” referring to all the punches, blades and lasers being thrown at the skeleton. ”If there is anything you can think of, maybe I can pitch in?”

Edit: Grammar

[Osnil Returns]

Destiny
Destiny could tell the girl was extremely shy. Which was an obvious contrast to herself. She tended to be very brash and bold, except around cultists. But otherwise, she was one of the bravest girls around. Maybe telling her a story would lighten things up?

Then all sorts of chaos happened that left Destiny severely confused. Something about locking someone up. "Apparently there's some kind of past between all of you and this person. Could someone explain it to me?" she asked to no one in particular.
Hope
Hope dashed forward and caught Marie before she smashed into the swordsman. "Mew, use Waterfall!" she shouted. Mew's eyes glowed and a jet of water levitated the skeleton momentarily. Mew charged the skeleton.

[Mundeo]

Sith Shrine

"Yeah... I don't think this the first time Damian had transformed" James said to Marie with a smirk before she ran off to fight Papyrus. James was right; this wasn't the first time. That was only reason why Damian was more in control of himself. Things could have gone a lot worse if he had not had some control over his demon form before this battle. Despite the sudden resurfacing of the skeleton's former personality, Damian lifted up his hammer and brought it back down once more.

Right after Marie ran off, the newcomer ran up to him and asked if there was anything that he can do. "My best advice:" James said. "Don't die" With that, he joined the charge.

The swordsman was prepared to catch Marie, but Hope was able to intercept the Halfblood before he had to. With Marie safe, there was one more thing that the swordsman had to take care of.

"I'm sorry that you have to go through this" He said to the skeleton in his raspy voice as he drew his glistening blade. "My friend, you will soon be free" With a sudden dash, the swordsman was upon Papyrus. He joined James and Damian as they all attacked from different directions.

[Truth Incarnate]

Vriska and Eridan

Well, Clairus stepping in front of Kadoor had been an entirely unneeded action on her behalf. Sans slamming Eridan on the roof and walls a bit however, was just excessive. He slowly got up on his elbows, spitting a mixture of blood and vomit onto the floor. He was used to being knocked around, living in the deepest, most heavy parts of the ocean, even dying at some points. It still hurt like hell though.

Eridan clutched his chest, and stood up. He'd learnt how to survive heavy hits like this a while ago. Lifting a bloodstained finger, he pointed at Kadoor with an accusatory glare.

"I'll nevver back dowwn from your threats. I knoww wwhat you're doin' to these people, and I knoww you just love being in control, huh? Wwhat, are you makin' up for your ancestor's pathetic demise? Are you tryin' to be so much more powwerful than you'vve evver deservved to be? Fine. I wwon't hurt you. I woon't just fuckin' HURT you, I'll fuckin' rip your intestines out and flay the skin from your body!"

Eridan wavered for a moment, looking at Sans, still in the room. He wasn't one for backing down, but... Well, Tzeentch had taught him the pitfalls of foolhardiness.

"But not today. If you havve any sense a' honour, you'll fight me fair and square, wwithout your lackeys and minions. Just us, and your broken corpse. You havve twelvve hours to fight me, scum-blood."

"And if any a' you ovver there, skeleton wwith the blue eye, girl wwith the glowwin' tails havve any problems wwith our little arranged duel, then you can tell it to me in a fair cod-damn fight! Cowwards, alwways havvin' to use your numbers against me."

Vriska meanwhile, disregarded the fact that their Kismet was almost trying to get himself killed. Well, if the reactions of the crew were to be trusted. Man, he only elbowed that white lady with the wings once in the face. How was that meant to justify breaking his legs?

"Yeah, sure. I'll "help". I mean, it's not like I have anything 8etter to 8e doing. Say, what are you freaks even doing here? What's the plan this time, genius?
Go on another adventure to steal a fancy gem, find a stupid treasure, or murder some intimidatingly named 8ad guy?"

Vriska chuckled to herself, and began to draw on the walls of the ship, replicating the wards with... Less than accurate portrayals, to say the least. She threw in a few Scorpio signs in there for good measure. What was this even going to do? Where was she meant to draw them all, or did the walls have to be completely covered in these stupid runes? Gah, the questions that stupid people asked were insufferable!

[The Palmetto]

Vancouver

Secesh's face reddened in response, and he grumbled as his metallic gold buttons shined in the light. He stormed out, infuriated and embarrassed by their seeming ignorance. How could they find the independence of Canada to be in anyway rational, yet at the same time find his nation's independence odd? He had fought hard for his nation to be free, but all he could imagine those Canadians doing for independence was crying and begging. He rolled his eyes, letting out a stressed sigh as they walked back to Alex's apartment. This was going to be a long adventure, and that seemed to make his wait for Ignis all the more worth it.

[The Dark Brotherhood of Deros]

MU - Karzahni
Right when Elizabeth and the others arrived, Lewa and his group also arrived through a passageway above the others. "Ah, it would seem you quick-beat us here!" He said, jumping down to join his brothers. Tahu and Lewa clanked their fists together as a form of greetings, and then they began to discuss what all they had been through.

Kongou
Clairus flinched at the sight of Sans beating Eridan into a pulp. "T-that was kinda... uh... excessive?" The kitsune said. Gaster was watching this all play out from his chair and smirked. "Sans tends to be excessive. That's not always a bad thing of course." The skeleton scientist explained. Clairus glared at Sans after he suggested that they not heal the Troll. "That's unnecessarily cruel!" She exclaimed. Gaster nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Sans, there's no need to stoop to that form of treatment. A cell will do." He told his son.

Then Eridan continued to threaten Kadoor, and he kept saying how he "knew what she was doing" to the group. Clairus glared. "What are you even talking about? Kadoor's done nothing to us! I would know if she had any ill will, and I assure you that I sense nothing wrong with her!" She told the troll, hoping to alleviate his concerns. Of course, Clairus doubted that anything she said would actually sway Eridan, as he seemed like an extremely stubborn person.

Sith Shrine
Asura growled as he was stabbed, and then he felt himself flying through the ground below him as a beam hit him from above. Cinder yelped as Papyrus's claws scratched her, tearing her jacket and shirt on her back, and cutting several painful gashes into her flesh. Then she felt herself flying through the air, and crash onto the wall hard. She screamed as she felt one of her ribs snap, and then she landed flat on the ground. Her father then landed beside her with deep gashes in his armor, and his helmet had fallen off.

Cinder attempted to stand, clutching her side with one hand, and holding on to her saber with the other. All she could manage was getting on to one knee, and she winced as pain shot through her chest. Jacob noticed this and moved to his daughter's side. "Stay down Little Kit, you're no good here anymore." He told her, earning a frustrated growl from Cinder. "But dad, I-" "No! Stay down, and stay safe!" Jacob snapped at her, startling the teen. Jacob sighed and put his hands on his daughter's shoulders, and looked into her eyes. "Cinder, you won't survive in your current condition. I... I need you to stay safe... I can't lose you too..." He said to her; tears starting to form in his eyes.

Cinder sighed. "Okay..." She relented at last, earning a nod from Jacob. Then Jacob jumped back into the fight, while Cinder slowly crawled away from the action, groaning and panting as she went. Jacob arrived back at the battle to see Papyrus's mind reemerging, and he hated that the skeleton was helpless to stop himself from fighting the heroes. Jacob jumped behind Papyrus, and then charged up his staff. "No hard feelings Papyrus..." He muttered, slamming the point of his staff in front of him, which unleashed a wave energy on the ground that would stagger Papyrus once it hit.

Suddenly the ground beneath Papyrus exploded as Asura burst from the ground and delivered an uppercut to the mutated skeleton.

[Petrokovia]

Kongou had had enough.

"You scorched my hull, and made that green man angry, which caused a hole in my hull." she said. The mental model walked towards Eridan, as her ship repaired itself.

"And now you threaten the others here. I will not allow it."

She bent over, bringing her face down to Eridan's level, only a few inches away. Her cold scowl remained unchanged as she continued to speak.
"Since you are so obsessed with dueling, why don't you fight me? One on one. Just you against me."

"Snake's right." Chase piped up. "The Colonel wouldn't appreciate any dead bodies on his ship... And when he left he was on the wire, so-"
"There won't be any dead bodies when he returns." Kongou remarked.

Meanwhile, Miyu responded to Vriska.
"The last one sounds about right. We're going to fight some guy named Infinity, who wants us all dead. Right now, our Captain left with some of the locals to get some more forces. He should be back soon."

---

Kongou took in Captain America's words. The actions of Chell reminded Kongou, interestingly enough, of her own past.

"A rogue machine that needs to be destroyed...?" Kongou asked, quietly. It was clear that she had been insulted.
"Mister America," Kongou started-A part of her found some humor in how ridiculous his name was- "You should be more respectful of non-biological intelligence. I am sure she has feelings, too."

Kongou looked back to Chell.
"I believe we should let Chell speak. She may have changed her ways."

---

Tadayoshi looked at Elizabeth, who had just appeared from a portal.
"Something wrong on the ship?" he asked. "We were just about to come back. Speaking of which..."

He turned to Lewa.
"Okay, is everyone ready to leave? Because Kongou can teleport us strait back to the ship as soon as we're ready."

---

"Nonsense." Bloodfyre said. "I was worried that he wouldn't accept it, for I definitely do not have enough gold to my name to purchase such large quantities of aluminium. You should know, aluminium is easily worth many times its weight in gold. It is very difficult to produce in large quantities; In fact, the only people who can extract it from ore are alchemists like myself. I would be able to do it with field alchemy, but only the most skilled-far more so than myself-could ever do it through traditional alchemy. If he possessed this quantity of aluminium, then he is easily more wealthy than all of the Kings of Eprelia combined."

He began wheeling the carts outside, being careful to keep the stacks of aluminum foil from falling over.
"I do have to say, I am a small bit jealous." he joked. "He seemed oddly willing to part with the aluminium, which leads me to believe he is easily the richest man on this planet. One has to wonder how anyone could come across such wealth, and if it truly makes them happy."

[Kaidou]

Manichean Plane / Greater Multiverse
Several realms
Republic of Japan | 日本共和国

Zhou Yu-ke, still in a state of shock, had been hurriedly dragged away back to the HQ, where she was placed in a blindfold, gag, straitjacket and heavy chains for good measure (even though she was already in her 70s), before being locked in a detention cell awaiting the end of the battle, upon which, should the ROJ emerge victorious, she would be tried as a war criminal and hopefully sentenced.

President Seishirō Kakehashi had already been informed of her capture and Gao Hai's betrayal of her. Dispensing the duties of organising military strategies to his generals, the President proceeded to personally write out a verdict for the Generalissimo.

He had absolutely no intention of giving her a fair trial. A monster like Zhou Yu-ke, who had killed upwards of a billion people, torn open pregnant women on live telecast, ordered her soldiers to engage in cannibalistic acts, and kept a tyrannical, totalitarian grip on an entire nation for 50 years didn't deserve a fair trial.

"Ackerman, do you hear me?"

President Kakehashi held the phone to his ear, calling Frederick's bodyguard.

"If you've sufficiently recovered from your wounds, I would like to send you and a few others on a covert mission... to assassinate General Gao Hai and Emperor Mukai."

...

[The Palmetto]

Karzahni

"I am eternally grateful for your acceptance, my friends. I was once under the control of the Makuta, and the horrible things done in my past must never be forgotten. That is why, until the day I die, I will take up the mantle of hero to do the job they could not, and serve a cause grater than myself," He replied to the Toa with a sigh of relief that they had accepted his explanation.
"I apologize for not telling you earlier, Vuki, but most would not wish to introduce themselves as, what did she call me? A slug controlling a metal suit? Oh, and this suit was built by myself from spare armor that the Order had," He responded with a light chuckle. He could feel some stress evaporate from his body, but he still felt tense after what had happened. He wouldn't want the Toa Nuva to try and fight him, as he would surely lose against such superior opponents. But as several new beings popped up, he wondered if he could take them on either. The answer seemed to be a simple no, and he would lose against their flying craft alone. It was like nothing he had ever seen, and it could be a threat to the Matoran. He defensively stood between the Matoran and the newcomers, and raised his fists defensively. He knew he couldn't win, but he would die before letting anyone harm the Matoran.
He started to calm down as Selene explained everything.
"Infinity, and a cult around him? He sounds as bad as Teridax, if not worse than the tyrant of shadows himself!" he exclaimed. The thought of such a powerful being frightened him, as he would never be able to repel such a monster from the universe.

[Prusselanden]

Manichean Plane / Greater Multiverse
Several realms
Republic of Japan | 日本共和国

Zhou Yu-ke, still in a state of shock, had been hurriedly dragged away back to the HQ, where she was placed in a blindfold, gag, straitjacket and heavy chains for good measure (even though she was already in her 70s), before being locked in a detention cell awaiting the end of the battle, upon which, should the ROJ emerge victorious, she would be tried as a war criminal and hopefully sentenced.

President Seishirō Kakehashi had already been informed of her capture and Gao Hai's betrayal of her. Dispensing the duties of organising military strategies to his generals, the President proceeded to personally write out a verdict for the Generalissimo.

He had absolutely no intention of giving her a fair trial. A monster like Zhou Yu-ke, who had killed upwards of a billion people, torn open pregnant women on live telecast, ordered her soldiers to engage in cannibalistic acts, and kept a tyrannical, totalitarian grip on an entire nation for 50 years didn't deserve a fair trial.

"Ackerman, do you hear me?"

President Kakehashi held the phone to his ear, calling Frederick's bodyguard.

"If you've sufficiently recovered from your wounds, I would like to send you and a few others on a covert mission... to assassinate General Gao Hai and Emperor Mukai."

...

Manichean Plane
Ackerman picked up xer phone and received the President's call.
"Right away, Yocchi. Where should I head now?" Xe started to walk back towards the building, going to check on Frederck.

Frederick was still unconscious when xe arrived in the room. Ackerman knelt down beside him and picked up his hand, feeling his pulse-still faint, but his condition was stable. Ackerman could only pray for his recovery-he was completely at the mercy of God now. Lifting up his frigid hand to xer face, Ackerman kissed the back of it softly.

"I need someone to care for Frederick while I am gone...until then...I am completely at your disposal." Xe stood up and, having had gripped Frederick's hand tightly, Ackerman slowly let go and walked out of the doorway.

Clause 6 of their contract ("You must never abandon me, or else face 6 flogs") was broken.

[Wheatley Laboratories]

Kongou had had enough.

"You scorched my hull, and made that green man angry, which caused a hole in my hull." she said. The mental model walked towards Eridan, as her ship repaired itself.

"And now you threaten the others here. I will not allow it."

She bent over, bringing her face down to Eridan's level, only a few inches away. Her cold scowl remained unchanged as she continued to speak.
"Since you are so obsessed with dueling, why don't you fight me? One on one. Just you against me."

"Snake's right." Chase piped up. "The Colonel wouldn't appreciate any dead bodies on his ship... And when he left he was on the wire, so-"
"There won't be any dead bodies when he returns." Kongou remarked.

Meanwhile, Miyu responded to Vriska.
"The last one sounds about right. We're going to fight some guy named Infinity, who wants us all dead. Right now, our Captain left with some of the locals to get some more forces. He should be back soon."

---

Kongou took in Captain America's words. The actions of Chell reminded Kongou, interestingly enough, of her own past.

"A rogue machine that needs to be destroyed...?" Kongou asked, quietly. It was clear that she had been insulted.
"Mister America," Kongou started-A part of her found some humor in how ridiculous his name was- "You should be more respectful of non-biological intelligence. I am sure she has feelings, too."

Kongou looked back to Chell.
"I believe we should let Chell speak. She may have changed her ways."

---

Tadayoshi looked at Elizabeth, who had just appeared from a portal.
"Something wrong on the ship?" he asked. "We were just about to come back. Speaking of which..."

He turned to Lewa.
"Okay, is everyone ready to leave? Because Kongou can teleport us strait back to the ship as soon as we're ready."

---

"Nonsense." Bloodfyre said. "I was worried that he wouldn't accept it, for I definitely do not have enough gold to my name to purchase such large quantities of aluminium. You should know, aluminium is easily worth many times its weight in gold. It is very difficult to produce in large quantities; In fact, the only people who can extract it from ore are alchemists like myself. I would be able to do it with field alchemy, but only the most skilled-far more so than myself-could ever do it through traditional alchemy. If he possessed this quantity of aluminium, then he is easily more wealthy than all of the Kings of Eprelia combined."

He began wheeling the carts outside, being careful to keep the stacks of aluminum foil from falling over.
"I do have to say, I am a small bit jealous." he joked. "He seemed oddly willing to part with the aluminium, which leads me to believe he is easily the richest man on this planet. One has to wonder how anyone could come across such wealth, and if it truly makes them happy."

Chell looked down at the floor as Captain America talked. Insulted, she glared at him. "Yes, I do in fact have feelings, Captain. I can feel every emotion known. That does include guilt. Please, stop treating A.Is like we're nothing but brainless machines, the complete opposite is true."
She took a deep breath.
"I'm not going to lie." she said, calmly. "Yes, that did happen and yes, that was me."
She blinked once, slowly.
"Here's the thing... The mainframe deploys a program into anyone connected to it exept GLaDOS. It's a control kind of thing. If you were given free will, you might not prioritize testing. You could reshape the enrichment center. You could destroy what Cave Johnson spent his life trying to achieve. Obviously, that's too much of a risk. As well as the testing itch, it manifests in diffrent ways. For Wheatley, it made him feel like nobody could stop him, he was finally above everyone who kicked him down."
She paused, taking in a deep and pointless breath. Of course, she wasn't actually breathing, just seeming too.
"In my case... I was a bit like a worse GLaDOS. I prioritized testing and science, with several side projects. You remember poketurrets right? That's still happening... Anyway, the mainframe made me feel like... finally, GLaDOS would be proud of me. If I continued testing them, sometime when I saw GLaDOS again, she would be... proud. She wasn't by the way. She ripped my optic out instead..."
She fell silent, looking quite dejected.

[Prusselanden]

Kongou
Possibility held Chell tighter and started to stroke her head.
"She's telling the truth, Captain. She never meant to do those things. The Mainframe corrupted Whatley, a fairly docile core. It's not hard to believe it could corrupt her too." he insisted.

"Even if you won't believe, I still believe and I know this is the truth. And I will not let an injustice be committed against her. If you try to take or hurt her, I will not hesitate to hurt you.."

[The Intergalactic Russian Empire]

Alex's Apartment

Eric nodded to Marcus "Yeah, my life is also pretty boring to be honest, or it was until the world ended and all that happened. Heh, guess that's what the apocalypse does." he then shrugged "Eh, I guess we can watch it. There are worse movies, I guess."

Krasnoyarsk

As Alex began to teleport the bullets away, Pobeda quickly looked back to her and gave a thumbs up before continuing into battle. The Troll then lunged out and grabbed another man's wrist and jerking hard, releasing an audible crack as the man's arm broke before Pobeda tossed the man at another mobster.

Kongou

Kadoor listened to what Eridan said in complete shock, just standing there and watching with her mouth agape. She then moved past Clairus and Kongou, standing before Eridan "......What? Just..... what? This is why you hate me? This is why you want me dead?! How did you even come up with those ideas? What made you think I'm evil?" she looked at the others and back to Eridan "There will be no duels, Eridan. Now come to your senses and stop this insanity."

Sith Shrine

Draigo frowned as Papyrus began speaking up, begging for help "It is time to end your misery, corrupted beast!" he charged the Blighted Monster once more, only to be struck in the chest by the arm attack. The arm cut through the center of his upper chest, puncturing his main lungs and heart. He grimaced, dropping his sword and pulling the arm out of his wound, breaking it before dropping the arm. His body quickly kicked into action, blood having clotted the moment the arm entered, now his flesh quickly began regenerating and closing the wound, but his armor was still damaged. "You will pay for that damage, abomination." he picked up his sword once more and began firing psychic lightning at the Blighted Papyrus.

[Naval Monte]

Sith Shrine

Marie was gonna try to change her direction to make sure not to land on the swordsman but Hope had other plans as she used her Pokémon to put her down. "Thank you." the huntress said to the trainer before joining her family in the charge against Papryus, Marie dashing forward and dodging several swipes from his arms and slicing them in half.

Papryus screamed in pain as Jacob and Kaldor's attack hit him, staggering and paralyzing the skeleton, leaving the arms coming from the slime and dark eyes floating to defend him. Yet when Asura came through the floor the arms and eyes all focus their attacks on him as the skeleton screamed in pain, pleading for everyone to stop hurting him as he began to cry.

Serena almost began to cry herself hearing the skeleton break down on tears pleading. "Don't worry Papryus this will be over soon." She told him. She saw Cinder and rush over to her. Her daughters covered their mother as she began to heal Cinder. Frisk still tried her best to get Papryus to take control of his body as the arms and eyes fired beams. The paws of the claws formed mouths and lunge to bite at the group, to rip chunks of their flesh and infect them with the blight.

---

Manichean Plane / Greater Multiverse
Several realms
Republic of Japan | 日本共和国

Hex kept a close eye on the war criminal as they bound her, she has been in this universe long enough to expect the unexpected. Before Zhou was placed in her cell Strange placed several wards to increase the walls so she won't be able to leave and no one can't break in to get her out. Neither Hex nor Strange want the woman to get out after all the hard work to capture her.

When Ackerman mention on someone to stay to watch over Fredrick Strange volunteer to stay and watch over his condition. "I will come with you. Covert Ops was one of the reasons I gain my current occupation." Hex told the bodyguard.

---

Kongou

Steve put his hand up defensively in front of the two mechincal women. "Ladies I'm friend with a hero who was once an AI made by an eccentric billionaire who made a power armor in a cave in the middle of a desert and now has a powerful cosmic stone. I know that AI can have feelings a d I support AI rights so long as they don't try to kill people. But I'm telling you what most of those leaders think of her and I can't blame them for thinking that. Chell attacked them at the worst possible time and many want blood after what she had done." Captain America knew that no one would like the news but he had to deliver the news encase she ever goes back to that universe.

This time Cap turn to Chell. "So she rigged the mainframe to twist anyone but her? Somehow I'm not surprised she placed a trap on it. Have you ever found a way to disable that part of the mainframe while you were connected to it?" The things she did sounded disturbing but right now he had no idea and he can tell that Chell doesn't want to talk about them.

Elsewhere in the ship Sans heard everyone comment on his excessive use of force against Eridan. "well that guy killed frisk and many others on the saturn, what I did was nothing compare to what he truly deserves." when the others told him that not healing him was cruel the skeleton relented. "fine I will admit I'm being cruel because I'm still angry over what he did to frisk but I say we let a machine heal him cause at least we can fix a machine if he decides to break it."

Mercy had to agree with the skeleton as she doesn't want to be near the skeleton after he hit her head for healing him. As Eridan kept throwing out accusations of Kadoor controlling the group Papryus used his emotional powers to make the troll sleepy so he would pass out and he can be taken to a cell with no struggle. Frisk asked Destiny where she was and told her that she was inside the Kongou which was the new ship that belong to a old friend and that the woman in gothic attire was the mind of the ship itself.

With the twins both draw the fines with just skillful strokes that most would think they were making an art piece instead of arcane countermeasures and protection. As the twins kept doodling they would find some of the sloppy work made by Vriska. "Great someone is running our hard work." Cade sighed. "Well not everyone was train to have procise strokes on making wards and magic circles Cade." Aja used her powers to correct the mistakes.

The twi s would follow Vriska's path with Aja correcting the sloppy work of the troll, the twins sensing the magic now working after they fixed the mistakes, they also drew other astrological signs since they were also on the drawings for sigils.

With Elizabeth when Tadz asked what was wrong she looked nervous. "I don't know... You promise not to explode?" Elizabeth and Serena told the man about the troll's being in the Kongou and the chaos they caused especially Eridan firing his beam in the ship and making a large hole. "Also Dans sent the Hulk flying when he tried to smash the troll to a bloody paste." Elizabeth finished recounting her tale.

[Prusselanden]

Manichean Plane
"Thank you." Ackerman bowed deeply in gratitude to Strange. "Please, keep him safe. I will be back soon, hopefully. I trust you, Doctor. I trust you with his life."

The bodyguard turned to Hex.
"Thank you Captain. I won't let you down. By the way, has Yocchi notified you of where we should be going?" Ackerman started to load up xer guns and sharpened xer bladed weapons for the mission.

[Wheatley Laboratories]

Chell

Chell snorted. "No." she said. "GLaDOS didn't put that in. You can blame the engineers and scientists for that, the ones who designed Aperture. What? You thought it was entirely A.I run or something? Well, it is now, but it was mostly humans up to 2011, when GLaDOS was activated."
Chell would look sadly up at Possibility. She continued talking quietly.
"She... killed all of them. Within a few miliseconds, she had locked them all out of the controls. Then she soon opened the neurotoxin vents. An employee called Abby managed to connect the morality core, but there was too much toxin, so she died too. I came along... you know what happened next. Pretty much every precaution was created by them. You can't get rid of the code and components."

[Truth Incarnate]

Eridan and Vriska

Eridan looked up at Kadoor with contempt. But first, there was the pesky gothic girl to deal with.

"Wwell ain't this a sight for sore fuckin' eyes? A little girl tryin' to challenge all the authority and privvilege of royalty! I am the champion of the Angels, of The Elder Gods, of an entire univverse beyond wwhat you'vve evver dealt wwith. Wwhen we fight, it wwon't just be a fight, it'll be a reckoning. It wwill be your end, and it wwil be ovver before you could evven begin to fuckin' scream."

Eridan turned back to Kadoor, a burning hatred in his eyes that was, to say the least, irrational. Even then though, the beginnings of genius and unfathomably complex calculation stirred within. Something Eldritch stirred within the depths of his mind.

"Ha! Don't play dumb wwith me, fishstick! You'vve got evvery goddamn reason to not tell anyone wwhat's really going on here. I'm here to complete the cycle!
The karmic roundabout a' revvenge that started centuries ago! The one that's brought me full circle, and the one that's going to get me onto the throne I'vve alwways covveted and fuckin' DESERVVED!"

"It's the path that'll get you into the ground, sevven feet under. It's the task that I'vve fought for, sacrificed for, lost EVVERYTHING for, because a' you. You fuckin' murderer, I knoww wwhat you'vve done, and wwhat you'll do, more specifically. Wwell then, since you're actin' so oblivvious like the little lying FUCK you are, I guess I'll havve to spill the human beans! Your ancestor wwa-"

And then Eridan hit the floor.

"SNOOOOOORRRREEEEEEEEE"

Vriska meanwhile, kept pacing the halls of the ship, painting symbols that she didn't recognise. Turning back to Cade and Aja, she stopped painting for a moment, and checked that she wasn't dripping paint all over her only set of clothing.

"So, what are we doing this for, exactly? What, are we going up against some rational person who doesn't like to read literal walls of text? And who exactly are you people, anyway? It seems like you're giving Fishdick over there a hard time a8out something. What'd he do?"

[Evergreen Pinetrees]

Sith Shrine

Ever heard of the statement “the bigger it is, the harder it falls?” The skeleton obciously did not received the memo. By this point in time, he was sure that most of those who joined in the battle knew the skeleton… well, had known the skeleton. It seemed that those black goo… those were extremely dangerous in nature. His thoughts were trailing off, but he realized that he could do something more.

He was becoming bolder, now that he knew that those attacks couldn’t reach him in twilight, but oh the price he would have to pay after the adrenaline wore off.

There seemed to be a change in the flow of the battle as one of them were injured and was forced to take time to recover. A woman quickly left the attack as well, taking the time to heal her. He could see it from here, while her life was slipping away, it was returning to her just as quickly as it did. This could only be the act of mages, only they could be as powerful. He wasn’t sure what he could do to help, but he quickly ran towards them.

While he was sure that they don’t need his help, he must do what he could. He could sense the urgency, as if his time here was running out. As he reached in front of Serena and Cinder, he quickly summoned the Stigmata key into his hand. As he looked at the bloody key, he unlocked his manifestation as he felt that tendrils of plasm dug onto the ground that he stood. His eyes turned white and blood slowly flowed down from his eyes and the edge of his lips, and the Golden Witch seemingly manifested into the material plane. Her terrible and majestic form floated in the air, as an eerie stillness surrounded where they stood.

At the same time, beams of darkness were shot from the skeleton, and one of them came straight for them. But as the beam touched the boundary of his Boneyard, the beam was held back at bay until eventually, only a black ball of light remain… and dispersed. The Stigmata Boneyard can be used to ward the area against spiritual and arcane intrusion, and he had used his blood to strengthen it to the point where it could withstand such attacks.

”I’ll hold the beams off,” Ashford told them both, assuring them that he was there to help.