The Ancient Ones: Age of Nothingness (IC)

[Prusselanden]

Village
Kalo had been listening to the story intently with interest.
"That is quite a long tale. And you had some pretty cool background music to accompany it too. Someone should scribe it into an epic."

He then realized something.

"Wait then, why would Orochi be here today if he was already slew by Susano? Does he come back to life every 100 years? Why does that happen?"

[Skylus]

village

Ammy tilted her head a bit.
"We do not know if Orochi has returned for certain...He might have though...."
"But if he has come back, we'll just teach him a lesson again!"

Meanwhile, in the church.....

Orochi was getting annoyed that no one had seen him yet.
"Hello? Do you not see the eight headed dragon standing nearby you?"

[The States of Balloon]

Land of Desert and Domes
Blare's House
>Inquire as to this kid's name
Despite the fact that his name was just mentioned, you decide to give this character a proper introduction. His name is BLARE GRAWNYK, and he fills you with an overwhelming sense of deja vu.
>Haven't we seen this kid before?
Yes, actually.
>So what gives. Why is he back here? Didn't he die?
Oh, I'm sure lots of people die and then are inexplicably alive once more. Something something parallel universes.
>That's not an explanation.
Actually, I quite like not being dead.
There, see? That's all the explanation you need.
>Become Blare
You officially become Blare Grawnyk.
>Blare: Retrieve item from inventory and show off Fetch Modus
You decide to remove a KEY from your deck. You need it anyway to ascend through your house and reach the next gate. Your server player accidentally made a bunch of copies of your FRONT DOOR that now stand in the path of your upward staircase. Only one of them is locked, but the key is needed nonetheless. Oh right, the key.
==>
You use a JUMBLE modus, which requires you to play that game you don't no the name of where you have to slide blocks around to create a path.
You just have to
no
the other way
just slide it
Whatever this is a stupid fetch modus anyway.

[Prusselanden]

village

Ammy tilted her head a bit.
"We do not know if Orochi has returned for certain...He might have though...."
"But if he has come back, we'll just teach him a lesson again!"

Meanwhile, in the church.....

Orochi was getting annoyed that no one had seen him yet.
"Hello? Do you not see the eight headed dragon standing nearby you?"

Kalo thought to himself for a moment, putting a hand on his chin.
"...I will help you fight if he comes back from the dead, then. He has eight heads, so there are only eight heads to chop off then." the alien smirked, clenching his fist. "I haven't fought anyone tough in a while."

[Arkeyana]

Karrakis fumbled around in a pocket of his cloak before pulling out a candy bar like food, he ate it and he was already feeling better. Getting off the tree, he looked at jules and said I'm fine, my speed consumes a lot of energy, and I haven't eaten since before I came out of that portal."

Bastion continued to tromp through the forest, either he knew abe was there and was just ignoring him, or he didn't know of his presence.

[Skylus]

Fighting a murderous bird in a strange new realm part 2 of 2

The bird screamed when the sword bit into him and he flew upwards, his massive wings creating powerful gusts of wind that brought trees down all around him and the strange human.
After flying around for a few minutes, the bird dove at Link again, but he merely aimed the Slate towards the bird and used Cryostasis.
The bird froze in place, covered in ice. However, the freezing was temporary, so Link darted up to the creature and placed as many bombs as he could around the creature, then darted away as Cryostasis went away. At the same time, all the bombs blew up.

The bird seemed to explode into millions of pieces, blood and gore raining down upon the clearing. Despite what he had done, Link felt as if he had escaped death. However, the feeling would quickly be replaced by fear as he heard another bird scream in the distance.
Oh Din, what now?
All he could do was retreat under the cover of the trees and hold his sword in the attack position.

It didn't take long for the bird to land, this one was slightly smaller and had different markings.
This was the bird's mate, and she was absolutely furious.
She wasted no time in flying into the air and dive bombing Link. who merely lifted his sword into the air. "Skyward Strike".*
It sounded like lightning had struck something.
A golden light shot down from the heavens and surrounded the bird, when it was gone, the bird was still flying.
"Not down yet....Hmmm....What to do...."
The bird then rushed him and Link raised his sword to point it at the creature and thrust forwards, impaling the beast.

She let out a screech and backed off, retreating to the other side of the clearing. Link swung the Master Sword off to the side, shedding the glowing blade of blood before walking over to the creature.
"I assume the bigger bird was your mate. I apologize for what I have done, I appeared here, frightening him...I had no choice but to defend myself." He had no idea why he was speaking to the creature, perhaps she would stop fighting him.
The bird, whatever species she was, was very wounded, more so than Link, but she wanted to teach this strange pointy eared human with the glowing sword a lesson for killing her mate. She suddenly rose up to her full height, which towered over the strange human, let out a death scream and brought her wrath, fury, and sorrow upon him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The bird was still in the clearing. Watching him. Merely watching as he ever so slowly succumbed to the wounds she had given him. Then for some reason the bird took off - someone was looking down at him, but who?

* Reference # 2- In Skyward Sword, this is the move where you lift the sword skyward and a beam of light comes down and surrounds the sword. You can use it for attacks or to move boxes from your location to Skyloft.

[Prusselanden]

Karrakis fumbled around in a pocket of his jacket before pulling out a candy bar like food, he ate it and he was already feeling better. Getting off the tree, he looked at jules and said I'm fine, my speed consumes a lot of energy, and I haven't eaten since before I came out of that portal."

Bastion continued to tromp through the forest, either he knew abe was there and was just ignoring him, or he didn't know of his presence.

Julian sighed in relief, reclining against the coral Karrakis leaned on.
"Then you must not strain your body much from now on. It needs rest. Rest now..we can head out after some time."
She let out a slow exhale when she remembered that Bastion was still out there. Julian stood up and started to head into the forest slowly.

"He better not have hurt anyone yet..or himself.."

Abe closed his eyes as he came out from behind a bush gradually, starting to call upon the forest creatures.
"Come to my aid, Forest critters!"

Forest creatures of the woods would come over to Abe, listening for his commands.

[Legokiller]

Well, I know this isn’t your exactly plan, but I do want to change the location to do something more interesting. If you don't mind that Skylus.

Kanto Region,
Serena's verse

Unbeknownst to Link, the woman who approach the gruesome scene called out to the wounded wild Pidgeot, disgusted by the cruel battle that happened. The bird’s eyes heard the chirping call from the woman as she offers a hand full of seeds and a potion to help out. The wild Pidgeot was hesitate towards the lady, wavy of another attacker that would surely slay it, but the small cue of a smile earned her trust. When approached the woman, she kneeled down, extending her hand out for the Pidgeot to feed.

“You poor beautiful thing.” She said calmly. “It’s okay, I won’t harm you. I’m here to help.”

The woman kept her word as Pidgeot safely pick the seeds, allowing her to attend the bird’s wounds with a potion. The troublesome bird was quickly healed up by the potion, yet flew off once the woman turn her sight to Link. She, Lusamine, sighed in disbelief.

“Kid, it’s not a good idea to attack a wild Pokemon with a sword...” Lusamine jaw dropped when she notice the pieces of a dead Pidgeot. “What have you done ?”

[Paketo]

N-J

As Bastion began to wildly fire, Daniel stood still while Maria hit the deck. "What the hell? What happened with the machine?" She yelled. She slowly rose back to her feet as Bastion stopped firing and marched off into the forest.

"Nothing good I would guess." said Daniel. His posture was stiff and his leg had a slight quiver. Suddenly, his eyes rolled back and he collapsed to the ground.

"Daniel!" Maria immediately ran to his said and propped his head on her lap. Within a few seconds, he regained consciousness and looked around.

"I hate rebound. I really hate rebound" he stated.

[Skylus]

Angry women are dangerous
???

The woman that had been standing over him was caring for the bird that he had nearly died to.
She seemed to have healed most of his wounds but he wasn't sure.
The bird flew off and the woman seemed to turn her rage on him.
"What have you done?!"
After looking up at the woman, Link decided to speak.
"I...I attacked in self defense... I suppose the two were together...As to how I got here, I came through a portal, landed in front of the male bird....He might have attacked in self-defense as well...."
He would sound like he had a Scottish/Elvish accent to the woman, and to anyone else.

[The Palmetto]

N-J

Aestus out his hand against his forehead, letting out a small sigh.
"I know you want to save these people, Takanuva, but we don't have the time to do so. We need to find that component as soon as possible, and since we know where it is, there is no point in going on yet another long quest to free the people from here mind control which they may or may not be under. Every minute is another minute closer to Aetherus becoming a universe destroying god, and we don't have the time to spare. If we can't stop Aetherus, he will result in the deaths of many, many more people than will die here," Aestus replied to to the Toa, staring him in the eye. He knew that some people may have trouble grasping the concept of a greater good, but it was frustrating at this point. They didn't know where the source of this mind control could be, and they didn't have much evidence that it existed, either. He wanted to go out to see if they were controlled and possibly save them, too, but they didn't have the time. Time wasn't on their side, and every moment, Aetherus crept closer and closer to unlimited power. He had faced the minster up close, and his plans for the multiverse were far, far worse than anything going on in this hellhole.

"Aestus is correct. Once this is all over, those who want to can investigate this, and see what's going on here. But until then, we don't have any time to be whistling Dixie about being able to save these people and those that this Aetherus threatens to kill all at the same time. It's all about the greater good," F5 told his companions. He was prepared to move out as soon as possible, and didn't want to have to stop to save these folk.

"We can talk about this later," F5 said, glaring at Takanuva before looking towards Bastion.
"What's wrong with that chicken walker?" He asked. He didn't seem to care too much about Bastion, and he had no reason to. He had a mission, and empathy towards this malfunctioning robot was not part of it.

[Prusselanden]

N-J
"Yeah, Aestus is pretty right. It's not about how many people you sacrifice, it's about the results you get. Are we gonna let a few natives die by us or millions by Chicken Cthulu here." Frederick hopped down from a coral. "Let's go find what we need. Abe will catch up later anyways-he's done it a lot of times."

"Peter, keep a hold on that Doctor guy. He might come in handy later."

Peter looked at the Konrad he was carrying. "No worries, he try to fight the Czar, I give him my fist."

Newton glared at the two's callousness towards the situation, but knew not to mistrust Frederick at this moment. "What do you suggest we do now then, Aestus?"

[Legokiller]

Kanto Region

Lusamine glare lower as she closely examines the wounded Hylian and his claim about being from another world. Sure, Lusamine heard about extradimensional beings from other planes of existence out there, and studies about the multiverse beyond this world, but not encounter one like Link. Given his foreign accent, he wasn’t a cosplayer, and his actions to fight a Pidgeot without any clue was a tragedy. Now a poor Pokemon is dead because of it. Lusamine simply facepalmed before she processed to approach Link.

“The Pokemon you faced is called a Pidgeot. The couple likely been defending its territory from intruders and to safeguard the nest.” Lusamine sighed. “Great, you naturally reacted to fight than run away. Treating the poor thing as a monster to kill.”

Lusamine then pulled out a potion to help treat Link’s wounds, and kneeled down. “Promise me you won’t try to harm any other wild Pokemon, and I’ll help you out of here. I know how to handle Pokemon.” Lusamine then offered Link to drink the potion. Once he did, he could feel his wounds quickly healed up.

[Skylus]

....Po-key-mon....?
(pronunciation; misspelling is intentional)

As soon as Link was healed, he got up, walked over to his sword (which had flown from his hand when the ..."Pid je ought" had attacked him), picked it up, and turned to the woman.
"Thank you for coming to my aid. I sincerely do apologize for what has happened here, and thus I shall swear to not harm more of these....ah....Po-key-mon, as you call them."
Not really knowing what to do, Link merely began to try and clean his sword, having it been stained with blood and feathers from the male "Pid je ought".

[Petrokovia]

"Hey, actually, Gold?" Tadayoshi called back.
"Yeah?"
"It would be a good idea if we split up and covered more ground. Obviously, my crew will be traveling with me, but it'd probably be better if you went with Simon aboard the Traveler."
"Uh, yeah. Sure."
"Also, keep an eye on him... And the crown."
"Sure."

Pi exited his pokeball, and took Gold and Ty up to the Traveler with Psychic.
"Yo!" Gold yelled out, upon boarding the ship. "Is it fine if we crash here for a bit?"

The two walked around, until they found Aicy.
"Yo, know where Conundrum's at? Is he doin' okay?"

Simon walked up Kongou's energy platforms to the TUS Traveler, entering.
"Hello?" he asked, peering inside.

"Woah... This place looks high tech..." he muttered to himself.

Kongou passed by Simon on the way out, and turned to look at him.
"We are departing soon to meet with the Cornerian Factory Ship."

Simon paused.
"Oh, I figured I could travel with the crew of this ship for a while. Thanks for your help."
"That is fine."

Kongou left the Traveler, her makeshift stairs disappearing behind her as she walked. She made her way back to Tadayoshi and his crew, who were all waiting.

In the space near Matoran, a massive, two-mile long starship appeared with a flash; It bore the markings of a Cornerian military ship.

On the ground outside Metru Nui, Kongou suddenly turned to Tadayoshi.
"The ship has arrived. It is time to depart."
"Cool. Teleport us on board." Tadayoshi said, taking off his AR scanners.

Kongou teleported Tadayoshi and his crew on board her ship, and made a jump into space, next to the factory ship.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that..." Terrell muttered.
"It's very disorienting." Chase responded. "How do you do it?"
"Uh... You do really just have to get used to it over time... I've had six years."

"Beginning docking sequence." Kongou droned, as her ship entered one of several large airlocks in the side of the factory ship. Kongou's ship floated in place, as the air lock doors shut behind it. Large magnetic clamps attached to her hull, keeping her in place.
"Artificial gravity transfer. End of bay quarantine."
Lights inside the bay Kongou's ship was in turned on. Kongou lowered her own artificial gravity as the artificial gravity from the bay in the factory ship was raised.
"Docking sequence complete. We may now disembark."

The crew left Kongou's ship, and were greeted by several Cornerians, led by what looked to be a large, old frog. THe interior of the ship was bright, clean, and very spacious; Despite its cleanliness, it still smelled slightly like an auto shop.
"Hello, my name is Beltino Toad. I am in charge of the Weapons Development Branch of the Cornerian Military Research Authority. I trust you are... Colonel Petit, from IMPDO, correct?"
"Yes."
"Ah. You have a very nice ship."
"Thank you." Kongou responded
"Ah, so you're this 'mental model' I've heard about?"
"That would be correct."
"Interesting. So... We will need to scan your ship's systems."

On cue, one of the Cornerian maintenance officers stepped forward with a large computer system and several cables. He boarded Kongou, and plugged the computer into a terminal.

"No." Kongou said, abruptly. "Get out of my systems!"
"But we need to scan them for-"
"Get out of my systems. I do not want you there."
Tadayoshi turned to Kongou.
"Kongou-"
"They have no right looking inside my code."

On board Kongou, the maintenance officer would find that his computer overheated, sent out sparks, and was soon destroyed. He quickly ran down with the scraps of the analyzer, and whispered something into Beltino's ear. The frog looked up towards Kongou's mental model, and sighed.
"...You're right. We can't force a scan..."
He cleared his throat, before turning back to Kongou.
"Is there anyone that you wouldn't mind performing the scans?" the frog scientist asked.
After some hesitation, Kongou responded.
"My Captain is the only person that should have that access."
"Great!" the frog said. "We'll get another analyzer, and let Colonel Petit perform the scan. It should be easy; It does it automatically after connecting to a USB port."

The crowd dispersed, and soon Tadayoshi and Kongou were left alone, with one of the computers from maintenance. The two boarded, going up to Kongou's bridge.
"What was that about?"
"They were going to perform scans of my system."
"That's routine, though."
"I do not trust them; They might want to alter my code."
"I really don't think they would do anything to your coding."
"You can not fully understand how I feel during the process. You are a human, so you do not have anything comparable to preforming a system scan."

There was a brief moment of silence.
"...Can you sense when you're being scanned?"
"Yes, I can feel it. You humans would refer to it as a... tingling sensation? Pins-and-needles?"
"Oh..." Tadayoshi frowned, imagining what that would feel like.
"Do you understand why I do not want unknown groups performing a system scan on me?"
"Uh... Yeah. I understand now. But I know this group. They're fine."
"You might say I have a... 'history' with changing algorithms. I still do not want other people to have access to my systems."
"Okay." Tadayoshi replied. He could tell that something aside from general discomfort was at play, but decided not to press the matter.

Tadayoshi paused, holding the connection cord.
"You said you were okay with me performing the scan. Are you-"
"Yes, I am sure, as you know these people. I would still prefer if no one aside from your crew went on board."
"Okay."

Tadayoshi hooked up the computer, and began running the scan. Kongou felt a feeling as if her entire body fell asleep from poor circulation. This lasted around ten minutes, until the computer made a beep, and a light on its interface turned green.
"The system scan is complete. Everything seems to be in order."
"I guess we can drop this off at Beltino's office, then..."

Tadayoshi gathered the analyzer and the cord, and the two left the ship.
"Hey, have you seen any movies?" Tadayoshi asked.
"I have seen 13 operas, 3 independent mystery films, and 1 documentary on pigeons."
"Oh, cool. After dropping this off, how 'bout we find something to watch?"
"That would be nice. What would you recommend?"
"Star Wars is pretty good. The Original Trilogy, anyway... The second trilogy is kind of a joke. My favorite, though, is Indiana Jones."
"Indiana Jones?"
"Yeah..."

Kongou did a quick search of her databanks, and eventually found a picture of Harrison Ford in-costume.
"Is that why you were wearing a fedora when we met?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, no..." Tadayoshi chuckled. "It's just a nice hat."
"Will you get another one?"
"Probably not. I never really wore it during missions, 'cause it would fall off of my head."

Kongou imagined Tadayoshi running, stopping to pick up his hat, running, stopping to pick up his hat, and so on in a loop. She smiled, finding the thought quite amusing.

Meanwhile, Marguerite made her way to the cafeteria with Chase and Terrell. The three got some food, and sat down at a small circular table by themselves, among the chatter of various crew members in the large hall. Terrell looked down at his food.
"This looks kinda like school lunch."
"Yeah. The trays are even plastic, too."

Marguerite looked at the two, confused.
"Your school served this to you?" she asked, seemingly in a mix between disbelief and taking offense. "If your GDP weren't so high, I would think you Americans have it pretty rough."
"Wait, what did your school serve for lunch?" Chase asked.
"Many dishes, but here was my favorite: The first course was cabbage and tomato salad, the main course was roast beef, potatoes, and baked tomatoes with herbs, and there was also a piece of cheese, some bread, and a kiwi for dessert. Sometimes, they would get pastries from a nearby shop! It was wonderful!"
"Bullshit. You can't freeze most of that and have it taste right!" Chase said, mouth full of food.
"It was not frozen. The kitchen staff prepared the food same-day."
"Excuse me, what? What school did you go to?"
"I had a public education."

Chase and Terrell looked at each other, then back at Marguerite.
"Man, France must be spoiled." Chase muttered.
"No, you Americans just do not have the proper priorities."
Marguerite stood up, having already finished her meal, and walked out of the cafeteria.

"She sounds like Tadz."
"I dunno. He's even worse about it... Anyway, now that we're alone, we should find our equipment."
"Right."

The two stood up, returned their trays, and made their way through the ship, until they found the crates of food, water, small arms ammunition, and other miscellaneous equipment for delivery to Kongou. They approached the guard next to the crates, and flashed their badges. The guard left, getting the foreman in charge of the cargo bay.
"We're here to sign for the packages." Terrell stated.

A stout anthropomorphic bulldog, wearing a bright yellow reflective vest, walked slowly over to the two. He held out a clipboard with several papers, which Chase took. He produced a pen from his jacket, and began signing the various pages and slips. Terrell turned to the bulldog, and struck up a conversation, asking about a piece of equipment across the room. While the foreman was turned around and distracted, Chase quickly removed one of the pages from the clipboard and hid it in his jacket. When Terrell and the dog were finished talking, Chase returned the clipboard, sans one paper, to the foreman. The two amplificatae walked off.

"So, that takes care of the paperwork."
"I'm working on the electronic trail." Terrell said, as he looked at his phone. He plugged a small device into a port in the phone, and soon the phone was connected to the factory ship's network, via one of the office printers.
"What's the tracking number?"
"3357192-ABR53" Chase read out, slowly.
"Cool."
Terrell made a quick search through the system, finding the package. From there, he was able to delete its history using administrative privileges.
"Those cameras don't exist anymore."
"Nice work."

---

Bloodfyre's armor made a loud clattering sound as he was knocked across the room, hitting the floor. He rose to his feet slowly, only to have his eyes meet with Dal's. Before either could make their move, however, Pobeda tackled Ji-Yeong to the ground. Bloodfyre took this chance, leaping towards the transmutation circle he drew on the floor. He clapped his hands, then pressed them firmly onto the ground at the edge of the circle. Blue sparks ran from his hands, around the circle, then around the floor, walls, and ceiling of the hallway.

The walls cracked, and various creaking noises could be heard as the supports in the hallway gave in; Soon, the entire hallway collapsed in on itself, opening up the rooms on either side with the heroes, and burying the robots with rubble.
I must remember to thank Pobeda for his bravery after this battle.

Bloodfyre rushed to where his equipment laid, and quickly stuffed it into his pockets, picking up his shield after. He then picked up Ivan, supporting the Russian's weight on one arm, and headed for the new opening to rejoin the other heroes, laying Ivan down, then taking a knee. Bloodfyre seemed to be exhausted; an unusual look for him. His breathing was heavy. He rested his non-shield hand on the ground, supporting some of his weight. After several seconds, the knight seemed to regain his composure, and slowly rose to his feet.

"I remember a time when I had much energy to spare..." Bloodfyre muttered, frustrated.
The knight turned to the others.
"We may not have long. Of course, Abakelia is sure to send more machines."

[Naval Monte]

Don Roith
Imperial Palace

Hex saw how Akita was reacting to the handcuffs but she shown now sympathy to the man since she and the others have shown that and mercy before and allowed him to live to try and repent for his sins only for him to spit at their generosity, this time there would be none to give to him nor would there be mercy.

Just as the thought of pulling the trigger enter her mind Wong Tjin-fei walked past her and knelt down to the boy, claiming that no one would hurt him. "You are not gonna like what was brewing in my head than if you want to lie to him." she thought as she still kept the rifle aim at Akita. The boy of course panicked more and broke free from Wong's grasp as he kept raving on about wasps. "There are no Wasps Yocchi. They are in your head, they aren't real." Strange responded back as he suspect that the prison sentience drove him mad.

However the two soon heard a voice speaking and when Sun Zi-xiang enter the room warning everyone to be ready for another fight Hex took one last look at Yocchi. "So long as this one we can actually hit and not be captured by than I say we may have a decent chance on winning." However it turns out that they are against an army and they are gonna raze the place to the ground.

"Of course it is an army because getting out of here unseen would be too easy." she said as her eyes rolled and she removed the clip to check on how many bullets she have, inserting it back when she found that it had enough before she needed to reload in the middle of the battle. Strange was walked to a spot in the room and once he sat down cross legged projected his soul out of his body to see the army in the astral plane to scout for the group.

Hex looked out of the window, her back pressed against the wall as she used it for cover as she looked out. "I wish I brought more with me. I would have snuck in traps at their line. Oh well, I can work with what I got right now." she said as she moved her head away from the window. When the first strike was delivered just like Ackerman the captain of the Aquila responded to action and ran down the halls, hiding within as she tried to find a good location to leave the bullet and fight while remaining in cover.

Strange on the other hand saw what happen between the old man and female warrior and quickly return back to his body. Now back in the physical realm Strange created a magical portal and went through it, appearing in the air as he floated above close by to Koizumi.

[Naval Monte]

Zalgo's Palace

Damian and Marie along with Jephet were all struck by Zalgo's inky black tendrils as the corrupted entity tried to keep everyone away so he can completely his omnicidal ritual to return everything back to the endless void that the multiverse was before creation. The great power that was building up within the abomination was proving to be too much as even his own palace was straining to maintain its non euclidean structure in the face of the tremendous power seeping from its architect and owner.

As Zalgo fired his crimson beam and Victoria blocked the attack both Marie and Damian joined James in shouting for concern for her safety but the young half blood soon told everyone to take their chance to strike down Zalgo while they have the chance. "James she's right, now is the perfect time for you to use the sword to finally end Zalgo once and for all." Marie and Damian were about to spring forth into action but stopped when they heard what Camille had in mind.

"You can blow this place to pieces? Well I rather not be here for that, better to see that spectacle outside." he turn to his sister as the demi-goddess grew in size. "You heard the girl folks let's get the hell out of here." Damian was ready to teleport everyone along with his father.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

N-J

Takanuva clenches his fist. This is… They’re sacrificing their dignity for convenience. Convenience! After a moment, he mutters, “Let me prove it.”

He slams his Staff of Light on the ground to get everyone’s attention. Now he speaks loudly: “I am a Toa. My Duty is to protect. As such, I do not kill unless it is the only way to save another, innocent life - and, in my experience, it never is. You might consider that principle naïve but I ask you - when you start slaughtering those who get in your way in the name of some ‘greater good’, what separates you from your enemies? What makes you any better than them? After all - you are both killers.”

“But I know that that won’t convince you, so I’ll ask you now: let me prove it.” He takes his Staff in both hands. “Let me prove it,” he repeats. “We’ll head to this artefact - and I tell you, I will find my way back to this world and try to free the natives after this quest is over - but if we are ever threatened, I will deal with the obstacle on my own - and I will not kill it, because that is how a Toa acts. Will that be enough to show you that I just might have a point on this?”

A pair of glowing, yellow eyes glares at each of those who challenged the Toa Code in turn, daring any of them to answer in the negative.

[Arkeyana]

Bastion's audio receptors, having been advanced by the Combat programming that had been dormant for so many years, picked up Takanuva's speech. (He is weak, so much power kept at bay by naïve morals), he thought, suddenly his sensors caught movement behind him. (Trying to sneak up on me, huh?), he said to himself, suddenly, he broke into a sprint and ran around a large boulder that had an alcove just big enough to hide in, he ducked in and entered sentry configuration, waiting for his prey to take the bait.

Karrakis gave Takanuva an annoyed glare. We appreciate ya trying to be mr. goody-goodshoes, but you really need to figure out that your principles won't work every where

[Aeternabilis]

Abakelia's Base

Ji-Yeong raised her hand to blast Bloodfyre one final time, but for a split-second hesitated when he looked into her eyes and guilt washed over her. This wasn't right. Was getting her father back really worth killing these people? Before she could answer this question, however, she was tackled to the ground by Pobeda and her survival instincts kicked in. The girl struggled on the ground with the troll for a moment, wondering in the back of her mind how this demon-thing was so strong. As they fought she registered the hallway behind them collapsing, destroying a great deal of her support, but didn't think any further of it. Before long, Ji-Yeong found an opening. She grabbed Pobeda's right horn and fired a beam at its base, cutting it clean off. With Pobeda now screaming and reeling in pain, Ji-Yeong tossed the severed horn away and hit him with a much larger blast to the torso, sending the troll flying off of her and smacking into a nearby wall, where he fell to the floor. "Pobeda! Oh no!" Ann yelled, seeing this. She charged into the fray, not entirely sure on how'd she help yet but determined to somehow. Ji-Yeong spotted her rushing in as she got up off the ground and, almost without thinking, fired another massive beam at the Maid. The attack struck Ann square in the stomach, burning through her outfit to the skin underneath and sending her flying backward, making her hit the wall with enough force to significantly crack it on impact. Ann instantly lost consciousness on impact and fell to the ground, lying on her side unmoving.

"Oh my god!" Alex yelled upon seeing this, covering her mouth in shock. Making sure Marcus was safe behind some rubble, she rushed over to check on Ann, breathing a sigh of relief when she found a pulse. "What the hell is going on back there?!" Joshua yelled from the end of the hallway. Bloodfyre's attack had destroyed a significant number of robots, but they continued to stream in from new passages opened by the walls separating the rooms collapsing. Joshua was attempting to plug one such passage by stuffing it so full of robotic corpses and debris that nothing could fit through, but it was clear he was starting to falter, with his shirt in tatters from attacks and visible signs of exhaustion on his face. "Ann and Pobeda are down! We've got to get the hell out of here!"

[Prusselanden]

Zalgo's Palace
"Couldn't be better said." Cascabel picked Terry up by the waist under his arm and ran towards Damian.
Terry struggled. "Hey! Let me down! Rosa?"

"How quick can you get us out of this shithole?" Cascabel asked Damian.

The Woods of N-J
Abe had already called a few forest creatures to his side and noticed Bastion was missing.
"Where'd he go...?" The president muttered as he walked forward towards Bastion's cover, unaware of what awaited him. "Could he have gone this way?"

[The States of Balloon]

>Blare: Awkwardly insert yourself into a preexisting plot.
Hang on, you're getting to that.
>Switch to a more tolerable text color.
Will this do?
>Yes, that's fine.
You begin the slow journey upstairs, noting how the house is strangely devoid of imps. As you approach the roof, you examine the gate before you.
==>
It looks different. Almost three-dimensional. As if there's a whole tunnel of alternate-world weirdness behind it.
>Enter gate.
Your gate does not lead to its intended destination, instead sending you through a whirling vortex of interuniversal travel. You feel like you're going to vomit.

[Kaidou]

Don Roith
Imperial Palace

Castle Garden

- Junichirō Koizumi
- Fritze Ackerman
- Stephen Vincent Strange
- Anastasia Mikhailovna Rostova

The appearance of the Phoenixes from the castle wasn't that much of a surprise; there was, after all, something more than a little suspicious about an imperial palace being left on its own just like that, even if the new government did intend to have the entire city razed to the ground for one reason or another.

But there was a much larger number of Phoenixes than anybody had expected; at least thirty of them in the garden alone.

Already, Koizumi, Ackerman, and Strange had taken out at least six of them (not including the one who had been decapitated earlier), but the more of them around, the harder it was to fight them all off at once. For one, they were far more well trained than the average Nizangar soldier (who was little more than a brawler with a uniform).

"How much more can we take?" Koizumi yelled to the others somewhat rhetorically, over the sound of the endless battalions marching closer and closer to the city.

Grinning wildly, Anastasia continued to dart wispily across the Phoenixes attempting to attack her, effortlessly sliding her fingers through gaps in their armour to attack pressure points, the effects of which were clearly visible when blood came spurting from holes in their helmets as the female warriors collapsed onto the ground.

Before Koizumi even realised it, one of the Phoenixes had attempted to slice his head off, but before she could reach him, a dinner knife flew through the air and, with deadly accuracy, struck her straight in the jugular.

"Oh, it's you."

The one who had thrown the knife was none other than Ceiji, drenched in sweat and dressed in her military uniform, her sabre by her side. Accompanying her was a topless Itona, his shirt tied round his abdomen to bandage a still-bleeding wound, looking significantly more tired than his wife, but still holding a Chinese dao nonetheless.

"Apologies for our absence", said Itona with a tired grin, raising two fingers to his forehead. "Just need to check on y'all, that's all."

A pair of Phoenixes attempted to attack the couple, but were promptly dispatched by Koizumi and Anastasia, who attacked them from the back. The remainder of the Phoenix squad, numbering about twenty, slowly drew their sidearms and began forming a circle round the six people in the garden courtyard.

"And my little baby, of course", he added.

"Glad to see you two could come, whoever you are", said Anastasia cheekily.

...

5 minutes to the arrival of the Nizangar Main Army

...

Kubronos
Don Thozoigeth (new capital of the Nizangar Empire)

Chancellor Narhel of the Niril Republic's government-in-exile had personally gone down to Don Thozoigeth, the newly-established capital of the Nizangar Empire, to negotiate with the crumbling Empire's new military dictators.

They were not the only ones who had intentions of negotiating with the Nizangar Empire; Dar Brexit of the Chimaera was there too, now back in his human form and dressed in black robes, carrying with him two metallic coffins. The military rulers of the Nizangar Empire, though splendorous in their appearance, were now subject to the whim of these two powers.

"I would suggest to you all", said the 22-year-old Chancellor of the Niril Republic, crossing his legs irreverently and cheekily biting on the finger of one of his gloves, "that you surrender.

"At the moment, Generalissimos Akijima and Hu, who are both cooperating with me, are in possession of no less than 800,000 men each. If you are all willing to join me in favour of the Imperial Designated Survivor, I shall promise all sixteen of you special places in our government.

"As for you, Dar Brexit... let's just say we're not completely open to negotiating with you, considering it was you lot who destroyed our country in the first place."

Brexit, with the air of a man who had just been slapped in the face by his wife in public, said nothing. He simply rested one arm on one of the metal coffins.

There was some muted chattering among the Nizangar Empire's humiliated military leaders. After what seemed like a significant amount of adult bickering, an elderly general finally hobbled over to the edge of the table, subserviently resting his hands on its edge.

"What", he asked carefully, "if the Nizangar Empire refuses your offer?"

Narhel pulled off the glove he was biting and snapped his fingers. The doors of the room were thrown open, and six soldiers in the Niril Republic's uniform dragged in a wooden coffin, to which was attached, ominously and forebodingly, at least fifty paper charms.

"Would you like to know what is in this coffin?" he asked.

The old general shook his head.

"I'll tell you old fools, anyway."

Standing up on the chair, Narhel leapt onto the table and flicked his head to remove his fringe from his eyes. He walked across the table, casting a deriding glance at the surprisingly pensive Brexit, and then leapt straight over to where the sixteen Nizangar generals sat.

"The Niril Republic has, from the ruins of its former glory caused by the Chimaera", he explained, pointing at Brexit, "created a weapon with the power to kill God."

[Skylus]

Get ready for some Kung-Fu Action
Village near Don Roith, Greater Kubronos, Kubronos

It was sunset and everyone was well rested and helping out to repair the village.
They had been repairing the village for around two hours when a panicking guard ran into the village, screaming something about "invaders".

Po overheard this, stepped forwards, and cracked his knuckles. "Let them come, I'll show them how the Dragon Warrior deals with invaders...."

Several Minutes Later

The first one to arrive in the village was met with a fist to the face.
The man went flying over the heads of the others and landed in the woods somewhere nearby.
This caused the remaining men to charge into the village.

"WAAACCHHHAAA!!!!" Another man went flying - two - three.
Po used his Belly Bounce technique to send another man over to Ammy, who put the man out of commission with Power Slash.
"Issun! When I tell you to, hit me in the stomach!" Po then ran over to a plate of dumplings and shoved them in his mouth. "NOW!"
Issun was confused but jumped up and slammed the hilt of his sword into the panda's stomach.
Not even a second later, he began to rapid-fire dumplings from his mouth at the now very confused group of invaders.
They were all downed seconds later and the defenders came together.
"Is that all of them? You'd think they'd put up a fight...That was almost too easy..."

[Arkeyana]

Watchpoint Gibraltar

"Okay, this should work". Reinhardt said, charging up his rocket charge "honor! justice!
REINHARDT!" he yelled as he activated his experiment, he barreled through the portal into blackness...

Pokeverse
and hit a tree.

well, actually a few, he then landed and rolled across the ground before stopping. sitting up he said "Where the heck am I"?