The Ancient Ones: Age of Nothingness (IC)

[Skylus]

Don Roith
Inside the Imperial Palace

Nightshade blinked her green eyes slowly before replying. Her name is Ruta and she is a gigantic mechanical elephant. Supposedly each Champion can fire a red laser at the barrier....But it will only break if we have all four...."

[Prusselanden]

Don Roith
Kalo, seeing no one else seemed to be in the palace at the moment, shifted back into a blue and gray alien.
"Since Ruta is a giant mechanical elephant she should not be hard to miss, correct?" He rubbed his chin with his hand. "Where would we find her though? Elephants live in forests and fields."

N-J
Julian suddenly awoke to Peter pouring some cold vodka onto her.
"PLAH! PWAH! What happened?" She sputtered the liquid and noticed that Aestus had his hands around her ears. "Aestus? Ah, I must have blacked out from that horrendous flute playing."

"No, Brother monarch's flauting sounds like an angel." Peter walked out to pick up Frederick who was cartoonishly scorched by Newton's attack.

"Oh no...the Natives!" Julian's eyes widened as she witnessed their slaughter. She broke away from Aestus and crouched over one, trying to heal them. First she washed the wound and then began to operate on it with a clean scalpel.

[Paketo]

N-J

Daniel and Maria covered their ears as the loud noise assaulted their eardrums. "What the hell is this?" Said Daniel dropping to a knee.

"Something terrible" replied Maria. The sound was effective howeve and ruptured the eardrums of the natives who seemed to have evolved superior hearing. It was a terrible weakness.

Daniel rose back to his feet as the sound ceased. He could read Takanuva's emotions, he didn't mean to do that. He didn't mean to hurt them for some reason or another.

He watched as he knelt next to Jules and tried to explain himself before shifting regret to anger towards F-5 asking why he slaughtered the natives.

"Why? You seriously asking why?" He said Takanuva "Were you not listening at all to Tex's tablet thing or F-5 himself? What do you think his purpose is? What do you think he was built for? He was a tool of war meant to be weapon for the colonizers against the natives. His actions are what he was made to do. The natives attacked so F-5 fulfilled what he was made to do."

Maria shook her head "Why? Why? Why? Why does anything happen in this world? Because it has a purpose. F-5's purpose was to fight the natives for his colonizers. It was what he was made for yet you are asking him why he would follow his purpose?"

[Wheatley Laboratories]

Metru Nui
Ignis petted Zeta's head.
"I mean, I kind of could tell he vas going to betray us." she smiled at him. "But don't vorry, you can Alvays trust me. I'll never leave, ok?"

"By the way, since this is over we should be getting Terry back from Xochipilli and Xochiquetzal." Quetz remarked. "Let's wait until we're someplace safer and then retrieve her."

"Wait, Terry...is that your kid?"

"Ja, I decided to keep her-" Ignis suddenly swore as her hair tie became loose and fell from her head. Luckily in the knock of time she managed to catch it.

Ignis stared at the delicately embroidered coconut crab that donned the ribbon. Was it a sign? That he...

"Hey Iggy? Iggy?"

"....." she crumpled it up and stared at the sky.

"Yeah..." Zeta nodded and flashed a smile at Ignis. He cocked his head at the information that Ignis had a child, surprised that he hadn't met... Him? Yet.
Though, Zeta reasoned, that made sense. You don't really want a child around while you're evading one of the most powerful beings in the universe.

[Arkeyana]

Bastion observed the argument. When he heard Maria say "Why? Why? Why? Why does anything happen in this world? Because it has a purpose. F-5's purpose was to fight the natives for his colonizers. It was what he was made for yet you are asking him why he would follow his purpose?", he was again, heavily offended. Moving beside F-5, he said "He did it on his own free will, what if he wasn't here, huh, what if Takanuva wasn't here, huh, Tex frickin DIED trying to get us here,and the first thing you do is get on to a robot? F-5 is sentient, and able to feel, judging by how he looked at his gun earlier, he regrets his actions". Bastion then straightened his position, standing like a soldier.

Karrakis chuckled at the Toa not dropping the barrier around him, he then accelerated to his top speed, cutting through the shadow. He stood his ground and observed the argument.

[The Palmetto]

N-J

F5 gave the corpses around him a look of empathy, then gave Takanuva a determined look.
"The two humans are correct. I was built to kill the tribals in order to protect the local colonists from them. I had killed them before to protect, I see this scenario as no different. Mind control or not, they were and are still a threat," he replied, speaking coldly and logically.

The native that Jules attempted to save expired, and any of the natives that had not been killed had fled. Those who were still alive yet did not flee were so gravely injured that they would die within the minute. Aestus put a firm hand on Jules's shoulder, then looked her in the eye.
"You did the best you could," he said with a small sigh. This was a rather frustrating situation, both physically and morally. They couldn't be sure that the natives were brainwashed, but there's a good chance they were. Even then, they didn't have time to go off to try and save them all, and possibly not even enough time to peacefully capture and disarm the opponents they came across.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

N-J

F5 gave the corpses around him a look of empathy, then gave Takanuva a determined look.
"The two humans are correct. I was built to kill the tribals in order to protect the local colonists from them. I had killed them before to protect, I see this scenario as no different. Mind control or not, they were and are still a threat," he replied, speaking coldly and logically.

“No, and that's my point! Those natives were never a threat. Armed with primitive melee weapons, no powers to speak of? They were like Matoran. Besides,” he continues, staring at F5, “even if they were, haven't you heard of shooting to disable? My friends, the Toa Mahri, managed it, and they had six entire legions of deadly undersea Rahi led by some of the most cunning warlords of my universe up against them!”

He sighs. “Anyway, we're missing the obvious: if they are being controlled, we need to find the source and cut it loose. That -” he looks pointedly at the warbot - “should fulfill all of our goals, shouldn't it?” He looks around at the group. “Does anybody here have Psionic abilities?”

Don Roith

Alistair nods. He then speaks into his smartphone’s microphone.

“Mipha. Ruta.”

“Candidate found.”

Smiling contentedly, he nods. “Excellent.” He looks up at Nightshade again. “There is one more thing that I will need to know before we can proceed. We know at this point that Mipha has what is known as a ‘Citadel’ - a place within her mind that shields her hidden desires from the world - and that that place corresponds in reality to the beast. The question is, therefore, the following: what form does that Citadel take? What does Mipha perceive Ruta as being in her subconscious?” He brings his left hand to his chin. “Hmm.”

[Mundeo]

Zalgo's Palace: The Glass Ceiling

The statues and candles were destroyed with relative ease. Without those two to protect him, all Zalgo had were his beasts to separate himself from the heroes.

"͠Do ҉n̛o͜t͞ ̡t͠hink͘ th̛at͞ t̵h̶is͞ g̴iv̀e̶s̷ ́y̷ơu̶ an ͡a̕d̨vańt͞age! ͏I ͡a͞m̛ ̶invi͢n̵cibl͢e̸!̕"

Then, Draigo began his attack, cutting off pieces of the monstrosity by the dozen, making Zalgo let out a terrible, blood-curtling screech.

"͟W̶͢҉͏͜R̷̸͝͠͏Y̸̧͟Ỳ̷̷́͝Y͞҉Y̧̕͜͡͞Ỳ̶Y̴̧͜͠͡Y͏͢Ý̸̨̀͟Y̸̢͞Y̸͢͡Y̡̢͠Y͏̛҉Y̨͘͝Y̴̨̛Ỳ͘͝Y͘̕͠͠ỲY͜͝͏̴̕Y̵̸͟͏Ỳ̴͟͠Y̶̴͟҉͞Y̡̛͟͠҉Y̶͞͞͠Y͜Y͞͡Y̵͡Y̵̶͡͡͠Y̢͞͝Y̵͘͢͞Y̸̕Y̷͜͜Y̷̧̛͢͜"̡͠

A massive tentacle shot out from the pulsating mass, quickly wrapping around the knight.

"You ͏ar̡e̷ ̴n̡ơw ̕mi̴n̸e͏!"͘

As Zalgo laughed, the tentacle slowly became tighter and tighter around Draigo. Meanwhile, the last of Zalgo's beasts started to attack the rest of the heroes.

[Prusselanden]

N-J
Julian slowly let go of the native as they expired.
".....oh...ok."

She looked on dejectedly into the distance. Even though they didn't mean to, the group had still killed so many while defending themselves. Was it even worth it? Maybe if she had some kind of healing power, then she could have minimized the slaughter.

"I could have done so much more."

Newton and Peter merely walked past them. "So what do we do now? Don't we have a weapon to retrieve?"

Zalgo's palace
Cascabel swore and struggled to fight off the beasts with his fire blasts. The depression and sadness were crushing him like an iron weight.
"Cascabel! Stay back! Stay-Mmmm!"

Cascabel screamed, clutching is head. "Shut up! Shut up!"

His emotions started to manifest itself in huge explosions of fire around himself.

"C-Cascabel! Rosa!" Terry stammered and ran over to help them but found herself pinned down by a Lion. "Agh!"

Terry shot her laser eye which burned a hole through the beast's head. She then tore it aside and shot down a few of Rosa's attackers.

[Kaidou]

Don Roith
Imperial Palace

- Junichirō Koizumi | 小泉純一郎
- Stephen Vincent Strange
- Hex
- Fritze Ackerman
- Yasuo Fukuda | 福田康夫
- Chieko Namikawa | 奈南川千江子
- Wong Tjin-fei | 黃錦飛
- Sun Zi-xiang | 孫紫祥
- Anastasia Mikhailovna Rostova | Анастасия Михаиловна Ростова
- Ariel
- Caliban

Aside from a few guards here and there, of whom most surrendered immediately upon seeing the group, the Imperial Palace of Don Roith was left largely empty. There was nothing on the floors, walls, or furniture to suggest that the Emperor himself had been assassinated just about twelve hours ago; either the assassin had cleaned up all traces of whatever skirmishes he had caused, or the whole affair had been really quiet.

Nevertheless, they crept about the corridors with great caution, expecting at every moment to have to draw their weapons and fight off one enemy or another. Two stories up the palace and about an hour into their slowly securing each floor of the grand, deserted residence, that was hardly a necessity; the few guards they did encounter merely dropped their weapons and surrendered, allowing the group to tie them up.

Something was clearly wrong.

The only resistance they encountered was when Koizumi pushed open the door to the third-floor drawing room, only to come face to face with an old butler carrying a gigantic feather duster, pensively dusting the furniture.

"Don't go any further", said the butler, without averting his gaze from his job. "Behind this room is the throne room. You don't want to go into the throne room."

Gritting his teeth, Sun Zi-xiang inched closer to the butler, but before he could reach him, the old man flipped the feather duster around, using the handle to flick the young man's hand away, much to his chagrin.

"Go in at your own risk", he cautioned.

"Who are you?" demanded Zi-xiang.

"Me?" The butler's face betrayed an expression that suggested he thought Zi-xiang was the dumbest person in the world. "I'm just Lester. I'm the butler of this palace. Seventy-two years now. Ever since I was nine, in fact."

Lester
Butler of the Imperial Palace

"You're not a Nizangar or an Ucsanizangar", said Mr Wong incredulously, hobbling over to the butler, each step he took punctuated by his wooden leg's thump upon the parquet. "How did you-"

"Some questions were not meant to be asked", Lester replied cryptically, carrying on dusting the furniture. "Y'all can help yourselves to the furniture; just don't damage the parquet."

...

Throne Room

- Junichirō Koizumi | 小泉純一郎
- Wong Tjin-fei | 黃錦飛

The few who entered the throne room, against Lester's advice, were greeted to the sight of the entire royal family's bodies lying on the floor, gruesomely butchered and beginning to smell absolutely horrifying. There were no flies or insects (seeing as the altitude of the palace was rather high), but the stench of the rotting bodies was more than enough to tip a statue over.

And, standing in the midst of the horrifying carnage, was Seishirō Akita, one hand pressed to his temple, the other holding on tightly a bloodied, chipped sword with gruesome entrails dangling off it. It was clear who had killed the royals strewn all over the floor.

"Yocchi!" cried Mr Wong, inching closer to the pool of blood and gore on the ground before the defaced throne, while still trying to stay away from the carnage. "What have you done!?"

The boy did not look up, but instead, continued to dart his gaze back and forth on the ground agitatedly, clutching his temple and gritting his teeth, as if in agony.

"Can't you see?" he grimaced. "The hornets... the hornets are coming for us..."

He attempted to leave the room from the same entrance that the others had come in from, but his ivory leg slipped on an unidentifiable organ lying on the floor, and he fell face first on the ground, his chest hitting the parquet with a loud crack that brought out a scream of agony from him, as he dropped his sword and rolled into supine, clutching his chest; he'd fractured a rib from his violent, unbroken fall.

Poor, silly Yocchi. To think there was a time we thought you were our friend.

"Should we try to put him to-"

"No", Mr Wong stopped Koizumi, silently averting his gaze from the gruesome sight before him. "We can't kill him... not like this..."

So stupid! Why don't you go back home to Realm 0? Oh wait, you can't! Sad!

"Shut up... Shut up..." pleaded Akita, attempting to climb up to his feet, with much difficulty owing to his ivory leg's lack of articulation, tears streaming down his face and frothy blood dribbling down his lips. "You shut up... This isn't who I..."

He eventually managed to get up, but still seemed to be completely disoriented.

"Yocchi! Can you hear me!?" Mr Wong cried again.

This time, the boy did seem to notice, turning his head to face Mr Wong; it didn't seem to register, however.

"Mr Wong", he blubbered. "The hornets... can't you see them?!"

...

Drawing Room

- Yasuo Fukuda | 福田康夫
- Chieko Namikawa | 奈南川千江子
- Sun Zi-xiang | 孫紫祥
- Anastasia Mikhailovna Rostova | Анастасия Михаиловна Ростова

- Lester

孫紫祥
12 August 1889 -

孫偉祥
4 June 1892 - 11 January 1910

孫翎祥
19 September 1899 - 20 September 1899

"I said not to touch the parquet", said the butler to Sun Zi-xiang lazily, picking up a candlestick and wiping it patiently, "but I guess I didn't mention the paintings, so I suppose they're fair game."

Having found a stash of paints and brushes in one of the cabinets, Zi-xiang had pushed a sofa over to a portrait of the recently-deceased Emperor Road Theleng Roatu VII in his prime, before proceeding to irreverently wipe his face off with turpentine and, in its place, write three names in red ink with a brush.

"Me and my brothers", he said, while obsessively using the cloth to wipe away the remnants of the Emperor's face from the canvas with what little turpentine remained on the canvas. "I've been a shit stain of an elder brother. They're both dead now."

Fukuda silently and respectfully watched the young man deface the portrait.

"You know what the biggest joke is?" Zi-xiang added, clearly getting somewhat agitated. "I don't even know if Wei-xiang is really dead. He just disappeared into the crowd. That's right; that's just how much of a lowlife fuck I am."

Then, climbing off the sofa, he looked up at the painting and forcefully swore under his breath, "Chao jibai."

...

[Skylus]

Don Roith
Inside the Imperial Palace
"...Yeaaahhhh I don't think this Strange guy is gonna show up...Ammy, you don't happen to still have some of that Herbal Medicine, do you?"
Ammy nodded and dashed over to Link, who had seemingly fallen asleep, but Ammy knew better - he had actually passed out due to his wounds.
"Okay, Ammy, you know what to do."
With a nod, Ammy crept closer to the unaware man and gave him the Herbal Medicine.
It took a few minutes, but Link eventually came to. Ammy was shocked when he suddenly reached out and began to pet her, but she moved closer and laid down next to him, taking in the view of the others a few feet away.
"Alright! You pulled through! I was worried for a second that you wouldn't wake up. We're gonna leave any minute to look for this Ruta chick...Uhhhh....no, not...Um....Is she actually an Elephant?"
Issun hopped down from Ammy's head and bounced up to Link. "You said something about a wound on your back. Do you have any idea what it might be?"
Link shook his head and Issun nodded.
"Well....If we could see it, then maybe we'd know how to treat it."
At this, Link shot Issun a dismayed look and the Poncle simply stared at him.
"...What's that look for? Don't tell me you've never walked around without a shirt on before!
"...It...is improper to..."
"Whhhaatttt????!!!! Seriously?! What kind of person made up that?!"
Link didn't answer Issun and the Poncle silently noticed that he had closed his eyes and titled his head back against the wall.
".....Hey...You're looking a bit pale there...Are you sure you're okay?"
Still no response.
"....You aren't gonna be sick, are you? I mean, it's okay if you are...."
It was if Ammy knew that something was going to happen, because the white wolf scrambled to her paws, tossed Link onto her back and then darted outside.
".....Ammy....?" Issun bounced forwards a few inches but then stopped.
".....OOOhhhhhh.....Okay, yeah...uh...I'll just wait...."

It seemed to be at least a half hour before Link and Ammy returned.
Issun took his usual spot on Ammy's head.
"Stupid question, but do you feel well enough to let me look at your back?"
Then Issun noticed that Link had taken off his tunic and it was now lying across Ammy's back.
He was now wearing a very shiny set of chain-mail and just visible below that was a white undershirt.
"I believe so."
Link still looked a bit out of it, but he felt well enough to tend to his wounds however he could, so he got down from Ammy's back, took off the chain-mail and then turned around so that the others could see whatever wound he had.
"...What are you waiting for? Sooner you take off that undershirt, sooner we can check out that wound of yours."
However, before he could, Link pitched forwards, hit the tile flooring, and didn't get up.
".....Link?"
Issun approached Link and leapt up onto his back.
"....What.....Is....that blood?"
Starting in between his shoulder blades was a line of blood that ran down the entire length of the shirt.
Issun wasted no time drawing his sword, Denkomaru, and cutting away the cloth from there the most blood was.
".......Wow......How did he live this long?"
The wound in question was a very infected rather large brand of a winged beast rearing up on its hind legs, its mouth open.
"....They didn't even....treat it...."
Issun spun around.
"Ammy, please tell me you still have that Herbal Medicine!"
Ammy shook her head and Issun turned to the others.
"Do any of you have anything?"
Issun was now bouncing around frantically.

[Prusselanden]

Don Roith
Kalo furrowed his brow. Too bad Sweet S. wasn't here-if she was, she would have Link healed and ready to go in no time (Being extremely experienced at emergency medicine and first aid).But she wasn't, and Link's injuries were serious.

Kalo inhaled deeply. He was no medic but perhaps he could try to save Link.

"Ok. I have an idea but it is very risky. It might kill him and it will cause him a lot of pain. But if it works his life will be saved. Someone needs to get water so I can wash Link's wounds, and then I will use my hand to cut away the infected flesh. After that I will seal the wound shut by burning it. So, are you guys willing to do it?"

[Skylus]

"...He's not gonna wake up for anything for a while. So, if you think this is the best thing to do...Then go ahead...Wait a second." Issun turned to Nightshade, who was looking down at Link with huge round eyes.
"What about this Mipha?"
"She was a renowned Healer when she was alive. If worst comes to worst...."
"...We have to find her....But how...."
Ammy padded over and tossed Link over her back, Issun resumed his position on top of Ammy's head, and the two turned towards Alistair.
Then Nightshade meowed.
"...Hey...Nightshade sounded just like the messenger cat at the top of Catcall Tower..."

Then everything went white.

Ammy and Issun found themselves in a blue skied field of flowers.
"....This place feels like a cursed zone...Best be careful, Ammy."
In the distance, the two could see some sort of huge thing moving towards them.
"Woah....Is that...."
The fog cleared and the thing became more clearer.
The gigantic beast slowly heading towards them was tusked and covered in bronze.
Then Issun spotted a figure sitting on the head of the beast.
"...Is that...."
The figure was looking down at the threesome with a strange expression on their face and the beast lifted its trunk and let out a warning.
"....What have we gotten ourselves into...."

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

…Don Roith?

“Result found.”

Everything flashes purple. Then, suddenly, it as if time has rewound - the entire group has apparently returned to Hyrule, a fact that Alistair is immediately intrigued by. He looks around to confirm his surroundings - yes, those were the same buildings that he had seen before, only this time restored to their full glory. Hmm. Evidently she still sees this ‘Ruta’ as being bound to her homeland. Citadels and inter-universal travel… I will have to consider this further at a later time. Then he looks down at his clothes. Nothing has changed. She does not see us as a threat to her for now, then. Good; it will make things easier.

His gaze shifts to his smartphone; the Metaverse Navigator appears to have gained the word ‘tower’ in the entry field marked ‘Distortion’. I don’t remember saying anything like that… Did somebody else just happen to speak the word ‘tower’ and transport us to Mipha’s Citadel by accident?

Alistair turns to the others, gesturing expansively with his left hand. “Welcome, one and all, to the soul of Zora Princess Mipha. Trust me when I say that I have experience in this. Firstly: using your real names may imprint them on her unconscious mind. From now on, I am ‘Paladin’; it may be best for you to pick out callsigns for yourselves as well. Secondly: do not touch or attack anything unnecessarily; I do not know what effects it might have. Thirdly: your powers may not work as you expect. I have no prior experience of beings with outside abilities entering the Metaverse. With everything I know… It seems logical that the more self-assured you are the easier that it will be for you to manifest your powers; still, be on your guard.”

Looking around once more, he seeks to find the tower indicated by - Ah, yes, there it is. Looming behind those mountains. Excellent. The elephant at the top - that could possibly be the beast itself. He points to it with his bill. “That is where we need to go. We will set out immediately.” He looks directly at Nightshade. “Meanwhile, knowledge is power: please inform all of us what you told me about Mipha.”

[Skylus]

The song that I linked to is going to play until otherwise specified for the Metaverse scenes

Nightshade found herself sitting in a patch of blue flowers and looked around before speaking.

"Ammy, Issun, and Link are not with us..."

Then the elephant in the distance let out a warning.

"...Ahhh....I believe that Ammy was brought there for a reason...Perhaps we should stay back for a while..."

The cat then blinked and looked up at Alistair.

"I do not know much, mind you, I only know that her brother, Sipon, is now King over their domain, and that Link's ancestor and her were betrothed. He speculates that they were to wed after the battle....But that never came to be....She was renowned as a great Healer, if Ammy is up there now, I can only hope that she can heal him...Though I wonder what her reaction would be to seeing the Link we know and not him."
She looked thoughtful.
"Could he turn up here? His ancestor? If so, what age would he be?"

[Petrokovia]

Gold let out a "whoop!", running over to the meka and high-fiving Poly.
"Great work."

The stout frog smiled and nodded, content with his contribution.

Ty walked over to the two, powering down into his normal self. All of Gold's Pokemon aside from Ty returned to their balls, while Gold and Ty sat on the ground.
"Ugh, I'm glad that's over..." Ty muttered.
"Yeah..." Gold trailed off, pulling out his phone.

He dialed Krys, who after a few seconds, answered.
"Hey, honey."
"Oh, hey! How are you doing?"
"Great! We just beat Infinity again, and saved some world from some other bad guy... Name was... Teridax, I think."
"You fought Infinity, and didn't think to tell me beforehand!?"
"I didn't want you to worry, yo. I mean, if I told you, and you didn't hear back in like, five minutes, you'd think I was dead or something."
"N-no, I wouldn't."
"You totally would. You have like, zero patience."
"..."
"..."
"Well, I'm happy to hear from you now... And who's Teridax?"
"I dunno. We didn't see him or anything... He didn't even do a whole lot. He made a trench disappear, made an earthquake, and that's it... He said he was like, the god of this place, but some former leader or something took him out before we could actually see him."
"Ah... Well, at least that's all taken care of. So... What are you going to do now?"
"Eh, not sure. We'll probably just hang out for a bit... There's a different bad guy out there... Uh, Octavius. He pretended to help, double-crossed us, then disappeared. So, we'll probably be looking out for him."
"Oh... Well, be careful."
"Yeah, we've got it covered."
"No, I mean it."
"Okay, I'll be careful... Love you."
"I love you, too."
"Seeya."
"Bye."

With that, Gold hung up the phone, and stuck it in his pocket. He stood up, and helped Ty to his feet. The two wandered casually over to where Tadz was standing; The supersoldier was already conversing with Marguerite, Chase, Terrell, and Miyu about their next actions.

"Yo, what's the game plan?"

Tadayoshi turned to face the giant honey badger.
"Oh, uh, we're gonna see what IMPDO wants to do next, but for now, Corneria's sending one of its factory ships here in order to do modifications and upgrades to Kongou, and to do some scans... Studying her ship should help them make IMPDO the space fleet they've commissioned."
"Oh, neat... So, basically just chill for a while, right?"
"Yeah."
"Got it."

Tadayoshi turned to Kongou.
"Kongou, could you help Conundrum up to the Traveler?"
Konogu glanced over at the unconscious man.
"I suppose."

The shipgirl picked up Conundrum without much care, as if carrying an inanimate object. Energy platforms began appearing in the sky, forming stairs up to the Traveler. Kongou began walking up them, making her way to the ship.

Tadayoshi looked up inquisitively at the energy stairs.
That's right, I forgot she could make those... Wait, if she can make energy constructs to walk on air, why did she need me to carry her earlier today?

Due to Tadayoshi's AR scanners, Kongou heard this thought in her head, and stopped in the middle of the staircase for a moment. Her face turning pink, she continued up the stairs, regaining her composure by the time she reached the Traveler. She stood, and waited for Aicy to open the airlock so she could enter. Once she was inside, Kongou placed Conundrum on a table (again, without much care).
"I believe this is your captain. He should recover well enough. I can not detect any troubles in his vitals."

Simon approached Kadoor, overhearing her.
"Yeah, I can't exactly go home either... Not until I find a cure for the crown, and find Betty."

Marguerite overheard this.
"That's right... Okay, explain this thing with the crown."

Simon turned to the French woman.
"Oh. From what I can gather, I am one of these 'Halfbloods'... I traveled the multiverse endlessly, but got tired of it, so locked my powers inside of this magic crown, along with my memories. I had fabricated a new life, in order to live a relatively normal life on Earth... But, as chance would have it I found the crown again, and unwittingly, put it on my head. The crown's original maker had imbued it with powerful ice magic, along with a curse that would slowly drive its wearer insane. On the other hand, when I had sealed away my memories, a part of my consciousness was put into the crown, too, and was trying to rejoin me. I did not know this was the case at the time... As a joke, I put the crown on my head, and the curse affected my mind, and I did something that drove my fiance Betty away from me; The actual memories are very fuzzy at this point. Despite this, the me that was inside the crown was able to establish telepathic contact with me, and was able to help me use the original powers of the crown to survive the Great Mushroom War-A world-ending nuclear catastrophe." he explained.

"Okay, Mr. Exposition... Twenty words or less." Chase sarcastically remarked.
"The crown makes me insane over time the more I wear it, and immediately upon placing it on my head."
"Better."
"I'm looking for my fiance in order to apologize to her." Simon further explained. "Maybe if I travel with Conundrum, I can find a more permanent cure for the crown's curse, and then return home to look for Betty."
"Uh, well, that would explain the different behavior you had earlier... Best of luck to you."

---

Searing pain.

That was all Bloodfyre could feel upon being hit by the beam. Luckily, his helmet was able to stop most of the attack from hitting him, but part of the beam was able to pass though the eye opening in his helmet. Bloodfyre let out a deep, blood-curdling shout of pain and he turned his body back around the corner, behind the wall. He inadvertently tightened his grip on the belt around Ivan's arm, as the knight writhed in pain.

Bloodfyre used his free hand to remove his helmet quickly. Blood spilled out down his face from where his left eye had been, staining his gambeson and glistening on the mail around his neck. The knight raised his hand to his eye, and it glowed a dim pink as he muttered a soft incantation.

As he had not devoted his life to learning healing magic, he was unable to repair all of the damage; He chose to simply close the wound, which was just enough to stop the bleeding. Unable to see out of his left eye, and still in considerable pain, Bloodfyre elected to stay behind his cover. He glanced over to the chalk on the ground, then back to Ivan's arm.

The knight tied off the belt, making sure it was still tight, then slowly reached over for the chalk. He slowly and carefully drew a circle on the floor next to him, making several different shapes inside.

We need to leave now... Too many of us are injured. If I can create a large enough distraction... I could demolish the hall that the robots are in, so we may be able to escape their fire.

"Everyone, get out of the hall, it is not safe!" Bloodfyre shouted, to make sure that no one was inside.

[Osnil Returns]

Flames Rekindled
Act I: The Relics
Chapter 2: The Box

Sine
Sine didn't laugh at Olisi's comment, but a sliver of a grin crawled up her face. This was a rewarding companion. Both the peacock and Omni were lousy. This one, Olisi, might be a bit hasty, but that was his only fault. So far. Time to see what else he could do. "Is there a way you can conceal your essence or turn yourself invisible?" she asked. It would make this mission much easier if her non-Gallifreyan companion could hide in plain sight.

Dark Forest: Jack
"Where are all of you?" Jack shouted, realizing that no one was around. Surely they should have all landed at the same place, right? Especially if they used the same ley line! Sure they might not end up at the same place as Utozai, but that would be much closer than not being in the same universe.

His train of thought was interrupted by a loud shriek close by. Jack dove into a bush to avoid it.

???
Jack, McCree, the Androids, Chris and Victoria. A crystal ball showed each of their locations. The owner of the ball, the sole resident of the Dark Forest, grimaced. He didn't like visitors. "Who do they think they are, walking into MY forest?" he demanded. "And why didn't my spies at the entrances not see this?"

"They probably got here from the ley lines," another voice chimed in.

"NOBODY ASKED YOU!" shouted the first voice. Suddenly, the voice calmed, "Well, we've got guests. Give them a welcome for me, my minions."

Near where McCree and the androids stood, two bats the size of a golden retriever flew out of the mist. Green liquid, poison, dripped from their fangs. One attacked each android while a huge swarm of flies swirled around McCree. Horseflies.

Chris and Victoria saw a more pressing matter. The trees nearby them came to life and ancient tree roots wrapped around them, each pulling them towards a dark hole where they had been from.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

The song that I linked to is going to play until otherwise specified for the Metaverse scenes

Nightshade found herself sitting in a patch of blue flowers and looked around before speaking.

"Ammy, Issun, and Link are not with us..."

Then the elephant in the distance let out a warning.

"...Ahhh....I believe that Ammy was brought there for a reason...Perhaps we should stay back for a while..."

The cat then blinked and looked up at Alistair.

"I do not know much, mind you, I only know that her brother, Sipon, is now King over their domain, and that Link's ancestor and her were betrothed. He speculates that they were to wed after the battle....But that never came to be....She was renowned as a great Healer, if Ammy is up there now, I can only hope that she can heal him...Though I wonder what her reaction would be to seeing the Link we know and not him."
She looked thoughtful.
"Could he turn up here? His ancestor? If so, what age would he be?"

Mipha's Citadel

Alistair is already walking. “It will hinge on Mipha’s cognition of him. To my mind… It would make sense that he would be conspicuous by his absence. Either that or he will appear as incorporeal memories, taunting her by virtue of his lack of substance.”

He turns back for a moment. “Regardless, I say that we proceed; if it is as you say and the Citadel is reacting to the presence of the three then we merely have more incentive to head towards them. After all, as I say, I do not know how their powers will interact with the Metaverse; I, however, am a Persona user, trained by the world’s best. I can protect them; there is no guarantee that they can protect themselves. Besides,” he continues, turning away again to lead the group on, “in the highly unlikely event that this Citadel manifests a threat that I am incapable of besting, the option of returning to reality will always be open to us.”

[Prusselanden]

Don Roith
A voice could be heard from the hallway of the palace, getting louder and louder as if approached the room that Seishiro and Wong were in.
"I'm back...Ackerman? Ackerman!"

Heavy footsteps trudged forward, sounding like rumbling thunder. A wear hand pried the door of the room open and in walked an exhausted Uska. His state was alarming-Not only did he seem decades older from fatigue, but various horrific scars adorned his torso. Uska's shirt had been left in Tuonela and so he was now shirtless. He had also grown a significant layer of facial hair.

Uska paused as he spotted Wong and Seishiro.

"...hey."

Mysterious Dimension
Kalo's eyes widened as he found himself in the field and under a blue sky instead of in the musty land of Don Roith. He spotted Ruta the elephant and prepared a sword hand in caution.

"First may I ask, where the fuck are we, and what the fuck are we doing?"

[Skylus]

Metaverse/Citadel - Zora's Domain, Hyrule Kingdom (unknown time period)

"Who are you and what is your purpose here?" A sharp female voice came from the figure standing on the beast's head and Issun bowed.
"We came here for your help. Our friend is injured, and we would like for him to be healed, if at all possible."
Ammy titled her head back to look at the woman, only to discover that she was suddenly standing before them.
"My name is Mipha, Princess of the Zoras. And...."
Her voice changed when she saw who was on Ammy's back.
".....What.....No, it....It cannot be you...Yet...No, it isn't...."
Ammy lay down and Mipha knelt beside her.
"What ails him?"
Issun, meanwhile, was merely gawking at the woman.
".....Wow.......A fish woman....Never thought I'd be this lucky....unclothed AND stacked?
That's gotta be a new record.... Ah....Well, a rebel group captured him and uh...branded him..."
Ammy nodded.
"He bears a brand of a winged beast rearing on its hind legs, its mouth open, would you know anything of this branding?"
Mipha narrowed her eyes and shook her head.
"No...I am afraid not...but the fact that they dared do this...Let me see what I can do."
---------------------------------------------------------
"Hey, are you going to sleep all day? ...Well...At least you're alive...Mipha healed you, the others haven't shown up yet, though they might have got caught up in sightseeing...I know I would have...She wants to talk to you, by the way, And get this - there's a guy walking around with the same exact sword that you have, but he's...well...kinda transparent. Know who this guy is?"
Link found himself looking up at a cloud covered sky.
He risked looking to his right and saw just a few yards away stood the beast known as Ruta. In her shadow stood Ammy, and the figure speaking to her was...Mipha.
But she was transparent.
Issun was bouncing up and down practically right in front of him.
"How long have you been there for?"
Issun stopped bouncing.
"Uuuuhhhh....A few hours....Listen, I have no idea what she did...She...had this orb thing...It glowed...I dunno...She wants you to have it...whatever it is...But anyway, you should probably go and talk to her. And that other guy, if you want - see, he's just over there, hanging in the shadows."
Link was sitting up by now and he had quickly noticed that he was wearing different clothing altogether.
"...What's with the blue shirt....? The other guy was wearing it too...same tan pants and everything..."
"...Otherwise known as the Champion's Wear..."
He trailed off, because the two spirits had noticed each other.
But one of them was old and feeble, the other young and full of energy.
"...Hey....How old was your ancestor when he died...?"
Link slowly got to his feet and silently watched the two greet each other.
"...Very old. Over a century."
Then to his surprise, his ancestor turned and raised a hand.
"At last I get to greet you. Come over here..." The man's voice was hoarse and quiet, yet it carried over the wind with sense of authority.
"....Is this the Sacred Realm?"
The old man laughed and shook his head.
"No! Well...If you want to call this place the Sacred Realm, you are welcome to do so."
The man now standing before Link was decked out in a plate of armor, beneath the armor was the Champion's Tunic. The man also had the Slate tucked into a belt loop that was located on the side of his right pant leg.
He was currently turned towards Mipha.
"...If I were able to turn back the clock...make myself young again...Then maybe we'd have a second chance..."
"Yes..."
"You should have grown old besides me...It was an accident that I fell that day..."
"No, you lived, Link..."
Mipha then noticed him.
"Ah, I'm sorry about this...
Link could only nod at this, and then he directed his full attention to the last Hero.
"...I know how many questions you wish to ask me...I know all too well...The things that I saw, the lives I saved..."
The grey haired man slowly shook his head sighed before lifting his head to gaze at Link, his familiar colored eyes filled with both sadness and hope.
"I hope that you can follow in my footsteps. Hylia gave you half of Wisdom for a reason, you know. but you have to tap into it to find out."
"...Tap into Wisdom?"
The man's eyes turned teasing.
"Now, that would be giving too much away, wouldn't it? Both Mipha and I have something to give you before you go."
The other Hero reached up and took off the armor before offering it to Link.
"Do take it. It saved my life many a time, I hope it can save yours."
Then Link noticed which out stretched hand the armor was resting in.
"....You're right handed?"
"Is there some sort of decree that all of us have to be left handed? Because I'm afraid I was not around for its signing if there was...."
Then Ammy and Issun raced up.
"Alright! So this is the guy who last saved Hyrule...He's pretty old, though...Wonder if he can still fight with that sword of his....Link, didn't you learn some new techniques or something?"
Link nodded, reached to his side, and drew the Master Sword in one fluid movement. He was met with a flash of ringing steel.
"I still have it!! I won't duel you, of course, you have learnt from the best, after all, now don't you think it's time the three of you returned to your friends?"
Issun was on Ammy's head by now.
"Yeah! I bet they're all wondering what the heck even happened up here..."
Link had donned the armor by now and he looked to the original owner for his opinion.
"...Hmmm....It does fit you...Maybe even better than I...I hope you paid attention to what that allows you to do."
"Swim up waterfalls."
"Hah haahhhh!!! Yes! Very well. You may keep it. Wait, Mipha has something to give you as well."
The Zora Princess stepped forwards with a HUGE trident in her hands.
"Please, take this, I know that you believe that sword will always protect you, but it's too dangerous to just have a lone weapon."
Link took the trident and strung it across his back, somehow the weapon didn't fall off and numerous people would spend hours trying to figure out why later on.
Ammy tossed the current Hero onto her back and the three were off, Ruta lifting her trunk to the sky and calling a farewell as they began their descent.

[Kaidou]

Don Roith
A voice could be heard from the hallway of the palace, getting louder and louder as if approached the room that Seishiro and Wong were in.
"I'm back...Ackerman? Ackerman!"

Heavy footsteps trudged forward, sounding like rumbling thunder. A wear hand pried the door of the room open and in walked an exhausted Uska. His state was alarming-Not only did he seem decades older from fatigue, but various horrific scars adorned his torso. Uska's shirt had been left in Tuonela and so he was now shirtless. He had also grown a significant layer of facial hair.

Uska paused as he spotted Wong and Seishiro.

"...hey."

...

"It... Are you... Uska?" Mr Wong could hardly believe his eyes. Though the sniper had changed dramatically and looked significantly more dishevelled from when they had last seen him (namely, falling into a firestorm on Yabuq), it wasn't Mr Wong to forget a close friend so easily. His hand, hovering close to the hilt of his nandao, fell to his side.

Seishirō Akita continued to sob uncontrollably, his veined hands clutching his head, the manacle scars on his wrists clearly visible.

I, Lieutenant-colonel Shūmei Matsuo, acting Prime Minister, hereby declare the surrender of the Holy Japanese Empire on behalf of the Seijō Emperor and his court.

As all parties have signed the instruments of surrender, I, General Kyōshirō Yakumo, on behalf of President Vladimir Kirov, Prime Minister Kijūrō Yamamoto, Senior Minister Erwin Rommel, and the Cabinet of the United States of Humanity, hereby accept the surrender of the Holy Japanese Empire and declare said political entity to be defunct.

"No, it's not true", he cried, still clawing at his temples and limping away, his ivory leg thumping heavily on the ground with each step he took. "I... I am the Emperor... what do you want with me!?"

He attempted to run out of the room, but his ivory leg slipped on a streak of blood on the ground and caused him to fall flat on his back, wailing and bawling like a little boy.

...

Dunames Forest
Ceiji and Itona's house

While Ceiji and Itona were passionately tipping the velvet in their room, they were suddenly and rudely interrupted by the sound of heavy, steel-capped footsteps surrounding the house. The door, which was hanging loosely by its hinges, was kicked down without much effort, and a boy barely older than 15 years dressed in a strangely familiar uniform stepped into the house.

"Get out of bed", he demanded, drawing his sword, a katana with a slightly anodised blade. "Now."

Itona, stark naked, lifted up his arm to shield his eyes from the harsh afternoon sun that tore through the open door and illuminated the dark interior of the one-room house.

"Who are you?"

"Get the hell out", the boy in the uniform snapped, "and stand over there with your hands behind your head."

Unarmed, naked, utterly dejected, and caught completely off guard, Itona had no choice but to climb off of the equally naked, unarmed, and depressed Ceiji and do as the boy commanded. The remaining six soldiers, all dressed in the same uniforms, albeit less decorated than the boy's, entered the room and held their rifles, ready to fire.

Ceiji recognised the uniform instantly.

"What in the..."

With his gloved fingers clutching the katana so hard that his entire forearm trembled, the boy stormed up to the bed and, holding Ceiji down with his other hand, held the sword to her neck.

"SSGT-revoked Ceiji", he said, "On behalf of the Provisional Government-in-Exile of the Niril Republic, I, LCP Yūma Hirano, am hereby placing you under arrest for treason."

Lance-corporal
Yūma Hirano
平野優馬
Secret Police
Provisional Government-in-exile of the Niril Republic

"Who the hell are you?" she asked, still half in a sexually-charged stupor.

"Get dressed", snapped the boy, his eyes shifting to the uniform hanging from the wall. "Your execution awaits."

Left with no choice as well, Ceiji tiredly climbed out of bed, hastily put on her uniform, crumpled and covered in lint, the ribbons faded and the badges rusted, before making a halfhearted attempt to straighten out her hair by running her fingers through it. One of the soldiers lowered his rifle and, picking the small blanket off the stained, filthy mattress, tossed it to Itona, who embarrassedly wiped the bodily fluids off his body and, like Ceiji, got dressed, in a simple shirt and pants.

"What if I don't want to follow you?" Ceiji asked LCP Hirano rhetorically.

"Let's just say that we know the whereabouts of your daughter", the boy replied coldly.

That tipped Ceiji off the edge. Without so much as a flinch, she sent her bare knuckles flying straight into LCP Hirano's cheek, sending the boy reeling to the side in shock, blood dribbling from his mouth as his teeth accidentally sunk into his tongue, and then kicking past the soldiers and running out of the door, still in her half-buttoned-up uniform.

The men fired upon Itona, with one bullet hitting him in the abdomen. The young archer grunted, clutching his wound, before reaching deftly under the bed, pulling out his katana, and slicing off two heads, before running straight out the door, following closely behind Ceiji.

"After them", 15-year-old LCP Hirano spluttered to his remaining soldiers, covering his mouth with his hand as blood dribbled down his lip. "Make them suffer!"

...

"Where are we going?!"

Despite his wound, Itona could still run fast enough, although he clearly had trouble keeping up with Ceiji, who, despite subconsciously slowing down for her wounded husband, had been and was still a marginally faster runner than he was.

Ceiji, her grey eyes glimmering with fire rekindled, looked straight on towards the horizon visible through the thin outer rim of the forest.

"Don Roith", she said, charging on with reckless abandon.

...

[Prusselanden]

Don Roith
Uska breathes heavily and rests on one of his knees.
"Wong...yep...I'm back."

Ackerman, who had been looking for Strange also stumbled upon the room. Xe gingerly opened the door and let out a small gasp.

"Oh...."

Uska turned and smiled. He opened up his arms. Ackerman rushed in. Uska closed his eyes and readied himself for the coming embrace, only to open them and find out in never happened. Ackerman had rushed past him and knelt down next to Seishiro.

"Yocchi...Yocchi!" Ackerman started to hold the young man like a parent does to a distressed child. "What's wrong? Yocchi..."

Uska merely stared as his stomach fell into his bowels.

[Aeternabilis]

Abakelia's Base

Ivan made noises of pain when Bloodfyre inadvertently tightened the belt's grip on his arm and looked up at the knight. He caught sight of Bloodfyre's ruined eye and said, "Что не так с твоим глазом?" The hero still spoke in a fairly slurred and disoriented manner, but was minorly improved over how he sounded a few moments before as he slowly forced himself out of shock. Once Bloodfyre tied off the belt and got to work on his new plan, Ivan continued to lay still next to him holding his shoulder, either unable or unwilling to move from his cover.

The robots had no algorithms in place to counter the sudden appearance of lava inside their heads and their scanners did not recognize Antony as a threat, so they continued to press the attack and pay no attention to the tiny ant melting them from the inside.

"I don't think it's weird," Ann said to Eric. "We are the same person, after all, so it makes sense that you want to help her-me!" Ann was then hit in the back by a blast from Ji-Yeong, staggering her into falling into Eric's arms. "Ow!" she complained, sending a gust of wind back at her attacker. "You know, I really hope this fight ends soon!" Then, Bloodfyre yelled to clear the hall. Not one to ignore a shouted order by someone who clearly knew what they were doing, Ann grabbed Eric and pulled him back a ways into the former room they were taking cover in.

Marcus, Alex, Sylph, and Joshua also abandoned the main hallway in favor of the cover of the side rooms, leaving it virtually empty except for Ji-Yeong, the bots, and Secesh attacking the bots. Ji-Yeong immediately took notice of this- it probably was not a coincidence that the battlefield cleared after the large armored man yelled something she didn't understand. Leaving the robots to keep the heroes pinned down, Ji-Yeong went over to where Bloodfyre was. Upon seeing him carefully drawing something on the floor, she hit the knight in the chest with a blast strong enough to knock him back a few feet, away from his circle and chalk. Seeing this, Marcus stepped back out into the hallway and threw a piece of rubble at Ji-Yeong, shouting "Hey! Uh, StarCraft is overrated!" to draw the girl's attention away from Bloodfyre long enough for him to get back on his feet. The projectile struck her in the back of the head, but did little outside of annoy her, causing Ji-Yeong to turn around and glare at Marcus for a brief second before shooting a small, concentrated beam in the general direction of his face to get him away. The beam struck him just on the edge of his face at the right cheekbone, searing through the flesh and bone there and leaving a line several inches long. Marcus let out a yell of pain and fell to his knees, prompting Alex to rush to him. Ji-Yeong then turned her attention back to Bloodfyre.

[Naval Monte]

Don Roith
Imperial Palace

Hex and Strange were both glad that the guards that were still in the palace were the type to surrounded once they saw them, Hex even walking with the rest of the group instead of hiding once she was sure this was going to be the same with the rest of the guards. Yet even with the absent security and threats did not made them feel any more comfortable in the palace, if anything it made them more cautious on what can be lurking in the palace.

When they found the room with the butler Strange relax himself somewhat around the man but Hex stayed cautious around him encase the butler was an assassin. The man known as Lester warned the group not to enter the throne room and Strange wanted to say something to the old waiter but decided to save his questions for later.

Both he and Hex disregarded the advice of the old butler and enter the throne room and found the grisely sight that awaited anyone who enter the throne room. "My god, who could have done this?" Strange gasped, it didn't take long for him to see his answer before his eyes. Seeing the twisted shadow that was once the boy that accompanied the group back when they met him and his elderly guardian in the small restaurant it was hard to image that this would be his fate.

Strange felt pity for Yocchi for how everything turn for him, the nice and timid boy turning into a monster. "I hope Yotsuha never has to see Yocchi like this." Strange thought as a sigh escape from his lips, his eyes closed as he shook his head in shame for the sorry state of his former ally. When Yocchi walked forward both Strange and Hex took a stance to defend themselves from his attacks only for the boy to trip and fall, screaming in agony.

Strange was not one to attack an unarmed opponent who was also suffering so he didn't do anything as he approached Yocchi, Hex however had her pistol ready to shot the boy as he screamed in agony and talked about imaginary hornets. "I think the stress and trauma of all he had experience and being locked in prison has caused him to snap. I will agree that he would be a danger to our quest but I can't kill a person who is sick. I think we need to send Yocchi to a heavily secure facility that can not only keep a constant watch on him but also treat his mental illness as well." Strange suggested.

"Knowing our luck he is most likely possessed by something but we have met enough whackjobs before that maybe Yocchi has now close to joining their ranks. Right now he is more of the crazy murderous type that hasn't shown any signs of sexual deviance like the others we have meet like Ionian." Hex said, both her and Strange shuddering on remembering both Ionian and some of their more insane enemies from the past.

"Yocchi why did you do this and how did you escape? How do you think Yostuha will react when she hears about what you have become?" Strange said to the boy. The two soon turn when they heard someone else enter and found Uska before them. "Uska you're here as well?" Strange was glad to see yet another recognizable face after being away for so long. "You don't look so good with facial hair." Hex bluntly stated. When Yocchi made another failed attempt on running away Hex almost shot him but decided not too.

Instead the woman walked forward and when she knelt down grabbed him by the arms and cuffed the boy. "Now Yocchi, tell us everything we want to know and maybe you will get to leave this palace with your pitiful life." the woman threaten as she still held her firearm to show the boy that she wasn't bluffing.

[Prusselanden]

Don Roith
Uska raised an eyebrow irritably.
"I'm sorry Hex, but they don't have shaving tools in the goddamn underworld, so I had no say in this." He said with a hint of sarcasm.

Ackerman snarled as Hex grabbed Yocchi and put an arm in front of him protectively.
"Hex, stop! He probably can't tell us anything now! He probably can't even think straight! He needs help, not interrogation."