The Ancient Ones: Age of Nothingness (IC)

[Aeternabilis]

Alex's Apartment

"It's fine," Alex said to Bloodfyre with a sigh, trying not to look at the blood, though with how much there was that was harder than it should've been. "I can worry about the state of my apartment later, when our friends aren't near death." She was about to suggest they start looking for a good hospital to take everyone to, when suddenly Pobeda went up to Marcus and started beating the crap out of him, for seemingly no reason. "What the hell?!" "Pobeda, stop!" "Get off him!" When it quickly became clear the Pobeda wasn't going to relent, Alex teleported him off of Marcus and across the room to where Joshua was, who them promptly struck Pobeda with a gargantuan blow to the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. Marcus was also out cold on the floor, his face now heavily bruised and bloody. Alex took a moment to take in the situation, then grabbed her hair, looked up at the ceiling, and yelled, "Fuuuuuuuuck!" She then looked back out at the room. "What the hell was that?!" "I have no idea," Joshua said, looking down at Pobeda to make sure he hadn't accidentally killed the guy. The alien appeared to still be breathing, which was enough for Joshua. "We can ask him if he wakes up." "God fucking damn," Alex replied, putting her hands over her eyes now. "Shit, shit, shit."

"Jeez, Alex, I don't think I've ever heard you curse this much," Joshua said. Alex removed her hands from her eyes semi-glared at him. "I'm really stressed right now, okay?! First my powers go out, then the fight, now this... and I've got five- no, wait, looks like Ivan's finally decided to let go, so six! Six unconscious people in my now very bloody apartment!" She sat down on her couch with a heavy sigh. "Now what the hell do we do?" "Um, I don't want to make you more stressed, Alex," Sylph said, already sitting on the couch next to her. "But my knee's really starting to hurt and it's not really fixing itself which is kinda concerning me so you think maybe we could go to a hospital?" Alex looked over at her and saw Sylph's knee, still bent at an unnatural angle and presumably still with a hole under her bandage, and immediately became concerned herself. "Oh, god, of course! Yeah, we've definitely gotta go to a hospital. But... where do we go? I don't think Vancouver General is still operating under these conditions." "Plus there's the robots," Joshua said. "If we go anywhere public, they'll be on us in no time." Alex swore again. "You're right. We need somewhere the robots can't get to us." "How about Cuba?" Sylph suggested. Both Joshua and Alex looked at her. "What?" "Cuba! I remember yesterday or whenever when we were looking up stuff about what happened while we were gone, and we looked up where Abakelia had gotten to, Cuba wasn't on that list, which means that there's no robots there. And, since it's an island, they can't get there." "And they have... functioning hospitals there?" Joshua asked, to which Sylph nodded. "Yeah, I think so. At least, the things I read about it say their medicine is pretty good. And, as a bonus, I speak the language!"

Joshua and Alex looked at each other. "Screw it, it's worth a shot." "Yeah, I guess. Better than trying to treat them ourselves. I'll, uh, get everyone ready. You find us a good place to show up." Alex nodded and pulled out her GPS, scrolling down to Havana. After a few minutes, she found what she was reasonably sure was a hospital. "Found one. Ok, uh, just put everyone on the bed. I don't want to risk them hitting the pavement or something when we get there." Once all the unconscious people had been carefully placed in her bed, Alex looked down at the screen and focused on the location she saw, and a moment later the heroes were there, standing in the warm, humid sunlight of Havana in front of a hospital amidst a crowd of confused Cubans. Alex led the way into the hospital, with Joshua pulling the bed behind them, until they got to the reception desk. Sylph, who had gotten back onto Joshua's shoulders for the trip, floated down to the level of the mystified receptionist and said, "¡Hola! Necesitamos ver a algunos médicos, por favor."

[The New Earth Federation]

Dark Forest #FR

The two soldiers hung there as this strange figure appeared, he spoke something about surrendering and then the phoenix guy who they had meet briefly tried to tell them about some unholy thing. Chris sighed as best as he could given that these trees were restricting his breathing slightly which was starting to annoy him as all he wanted was to sit down and a normal fucking date with Victoria, nevertheless he hung there in silence as he tried to formulate some way of getting out of this. Meanwhile Victoria Terlin was getting very vocal about the situation, she started to throw cruses at the shadowy figure and threaten him, she was always a bit more direct with her approach and possibly a reason that she became a CQC expert. Chris never understood why she did that as there was other jobs that she loved and that really didn't put her in such danger, for example she enjoyed sharpshooting he would like to see her in a gillie suit but then again she wasn't known to sit still for hours upon hours. For example during survival training we where told to wait at the LZ for an hour Victoria sat for about thirty minutes before she had to get up and walk around, fourth five minutes pass and she is already messing with her equipment. In the end she didn't get the highest grade as she could sit still for the time period, granted she wasn't the worst when it came to it, for example another recruit had started to throw his knife at a tree unknown to him there was a "enemy soldier" behind him and when he threw his knife the "enemy soldier" took him out.

In the end one would say that Chris and Victoria didn't give an answer due to their situation, which was fitting as they also had no idea who this guy was or what he wanted. Well actually they did know little from the interaction as he appeared to be some sort of necromancy/ dark arts wizard, which wizard kinda irritated Chris as they also seemed to be a bit pompous and stubborn. Well at least in all the fantasy books and games that he played as a kid, which he always like the dwarves race they were very interesting. He then looked around maybe looking for a way down or anything, seeing none he looked at the wizard guy and spoke.

"i have a feeling that you are lying to us about the terms of surrender. So what do you truly want?"

[Kaidou]

Gu Mindefron

"That won't necessarily have to be our first approach", said Koizumi. "Judging by the state of this crumbling empire, it's possible that we could just... barge in and extort a little bit of information without having to pull any fingernails out."

"Well, let's hope we can do that quickly", said Ceiji, leaning on the balcony railing and looking up at the tower. "To be honest, I'm sick of all this bloody questing we've been doing."

She reentered the room and collapsed into a sofa.

"I just want to have a normal life", she added shakily, her grey eyes gazing out into the dark horizon. "I just want to let my daughter grow up happy."

Koizumi said nothing.

...

The Town Hall
8:00AM

The Town Hall was guarded by a few soldiers in colourful ceremonial uniforms, but all of them seemed far too weary to even question the party as they climbed up the hill and went through the gates into the complex of the city's government building. Their eyes, visible under the visors of their helmets, were utterly lifeless and devoid of any fire whatsoever.

Under the light of the morning sun, the glimmering white tower that served as Gu Mindefron's seat of power was even more imposing than from the balcony of the inn. Carved from immense marble bricks, the building was shaped somewhat like a lighthouse, poking up from the cobbled courtyard. It had a single oaken door, guarded by two more of the soldiers in ceremonial uniforms, both of whom looked just as passionless as the ones protecting the gate.

"I wish to speak to the city's leaders", said Koizumi, dressed in a light grey suit with a striking maroon tie, his katana hanging by his side.

"On what?" one of the soldiers asked.

"I would like to know the whereabouts of Saul of the Ouroboros."

At the mention of Saul's name, both the soldiers pointed their spears at Koizumi and attempted to run the old man through, but before the tips of their weapons could even come anywhere close to the old man, the weapons were hacked in half by a heavy bronze axe. The two soldiers, in confusion at the sudden incapacitation of their weapons, were suddenly sent screaming, as four leather-clad hands fell to the ground, severed at the wrists by that same axe.

"I'm sparing your lives", said Anthony to the two bawling guards, flicking the blood off his axehead and thrusting it back into his sash, "but these hands belong to me now."

Both men scrambled for the exit in tears, their maimed wrists dripping blood across the cobbled courtyard in copious amounts.

Quietly kicking the severed hands aside, Anthony slowly waked up to the wooden door, running his one hand along the edge of the door's frame, before bringing it to the handle.

It was left unlocked.

...

[Wheatley Laboratories]

Somewhere in Hyrule...

"I don't think much of your Earth, Taylor."
Konrad complains about the trio's surroundings yet again, winking at Taylor.
They were walking through a large field that stretched off into the distance everywhere they looked. It was peaceful here, quiet. Apart from birdsong, of course.

But the assassin didn't like calm.

The wheat was constantly scratching against his legs and the continuous swishing sound as they brushed past the wheat was driving him mad. He drew out his dagger and cut a few wheat heads off in frustration. It felt like they'd been walking forever, but it had probably only been half an hour.
It was odd, really. He generally liked to walk. Back in Terra, it was all beautiful scenery, forests... No just huge wheat fields.
Reiyo, both his hands in his jacket pockets, his tattered scarf blowing away from his body, waving in the wind, sighed.
"Konrad. I've told you already, this isn't earth."
"Perhaps I'd believe you if you weren't being so goddamm vague all the time?!?" Konrad growls, irritated. It was true, though. Reiyo refused to tell the two where they were, and it was annoying him. He liked to know where he was.

Exodus, quiet as usual and perfectly happy to let the others talk without him, was also wondering were they where. It looked like they could be on earth... However, he knew better than to question Reiyo... He was probably just doing it to annoy Konrad.

[Kaidou]

Thollorrat Village

"I don't know who y'all are supposed to be", Gohnza slurred, cocking his head and keeping his rifle, one half of his mouth bound by stroke, "but it looks like y'all aren't on his side, so I suppose I won't turn against you or anything."

Barely a few seconds after he'd finished his sentence, Gohnza drew his sword and, with a furious hack, slashed the remnants of Claudius' head straight off its neck, before wiping the blade on the body and sheathing it.

"By any chance", he said to the ragtag group gathered before him, his eyes shifting from the wolf to the panda to the guy with the fire-like hair, "do any of you know of a person by the name of Fritze Ackerman?"

...

---

Don Thozoigeth (new imperial capital of the Nizangar Empire)

Emperor
Und Tharzainea Dorrhenia II
1,026th Emperor of the Nizangar Empire

In a desperate attempt to salvage the ancient empire in its dying throes, the last remaining generals, now under the influence of Chancellor-in-exile Narhel of the defunct Niril Republic and Commander Dar Brexit of the Chimaera, installed a new Emperor.

73-year-old Und Tharzainea Dorrhenia II, fourth cousin once removed of the late Emperor Road Theleng Roatu VII, was a decrepit man who looked just about as healthy as his predecessor had been. The bespoke uniform he wore, decorated with more medals than any of his immediate predecessors, failed to mask his massive, lumbering figure, rendered permanently blubbery from countless bottles of liquor and thousands of cigarettes. He looked more like a zombie than a human.

As he took to the podium, before a crowd of almost 9,000, muted chattering rose from the crowds below. They, just a year ago, had been secretly hoping for a young Emperor. Their eager hopes that the 55-year-old Crown Prince could reverse the totalitarian rule of his father were crushed by the assassination of most of the Imperial Family by General Claudius. Now, it seemed, they had gone back to the good old days of tyranny and oppression.

"Gentlemen."

Emperor Und Tharzainea Dorrhenia II's first word to the crowd was hardly inspiring. It was, in fact, completely depressing. His voice, scratchy and barely audible from years of damage by cigarette smoke, was heavily slurred, owing to the fact that half his face was locked in place by a stroke.

From the back, both Narhel and Brexit quietly looked on, standing atop the tower that overlooked the courtyard in which Dorrhenia II was delivering his speech.

He proceeded to deliver the rest of his speech, which was nineteen pages long; he'd had too much he wanted to say, and had used far too many words to elaborate his incredibly repetitive and zombielike ideas. That, coupled with his constant swallowing and drifts of attention, caused the speech to drag on for almost four hours, as the populace, too afraid of reprisal, simply stood quietly and deferentially, listening to the shell of a man speak.

The final sentence that left the Emperor's lips as he closed his script, however, sent chills down the spine of every last person standing in the square.

"This country", he had drawled with tremendous effort, saliva dribbling from his lips almost inconspicuously, "expects every citizen... to perform his or her duty... to the Emperor. And I say... your duty is to preserve this nation till we... burn together in Hell."

...

---

Don Serguyyan
A town 3 kilometres south of Gu Mindefron

Yaroslav Andreyevich Zhilin
Ярослав Андреевич Жилин
Published under the pen name "Grigori Fyodorovich Alexandrov"

70-year-old Yaroslav A. Zhilin, a political theorist who had been close to the late Armin Hegel until a fallout between the two in the prison of the now nonexistent Kazanium Baronate, had escaped to Don Serguyyan, seeking to have no part in the new communist state being constructed by Norzo.

Don Serguyyan, a small town of stone buildings with a population barely exceeding 800, was the perfect hiding spot for a political fugitive like Yaroslav Andreyevich. Not only was it tiny and absolutely uninteresting, it was also heavily eclipsed by the bustling Gu Mindefron just a few kilometres north. The town had long outlived its purposeless prime.

That, however, was not what the old philosopher discovered upon his arrival.

Half the town had been overturned and uprooted, and the other half was shrouded in a dark, ominous mist. Not a single living person was in sight, except for a single white-haired man standing atop the stone roof of one of the few remaining buildings.

Saul of the Ouroboros

"Who are you that would stand in my way?" boomed the voice of Saul, magnificent in a twisted, corrupted way, echoing through the broken walls of the town.

Zhilin slowly backed away, but Saul simply pointed an open palm at him. Before the old man could get out of the town, a single rock had flown past him, barely missing his chest, skidding across the grass.

"Yaroslav Andreyevich."

"How do you know my name?" demanded Zhilin, facing Saul dead on.

Saul grinned evilly.

...

Kohinata Mountain Dojo

"Sensei Hitachi just had a stroke. We need to-"

"No."

The five people crowded round the fallen Sensei were silenced by the appearance of the golden haired, massively-muscled Yarmiestor ter Manes Platinier, a 39-year-old giant made of stony muscles standing 198cm tall and carrying four katana, two on each side. He pushed aside the five apprentices and stood over the body of Sensei Hitachi, lying stroke bound on the tatami floor, saliva dribbling from his lips.

"Now is the time", he gurgled. "This Dojo belongs to me now."

He turned to face the man sitting in the dark corner of the Dojo's main room, under a large painting; Itona Namikawa, dressed in a light grey yukata, quietly cradling his baby daughter and rocking her to sleep.

"You", he snapped deeply, pointing accusingly at Itona, "are not part of this Dojo, and you never will be. So stay out of what I am about to do."

Without so much as a streak of remorse in his expression, Yarmiestor ter Manes Platinier drew one of his katana and turned his weapon on the helpless Sensei lying stroke bound on the floor, staining the tatami floor red with blood.

Itona simply looked on with an expression of abject anger, surreptitiously shielding his daughter's eyes from the gruesome killing that had just taken place right before their eyes.

"Find Masaki Hachida", said Platinier to his goons, "and bring me his head."

...

At the bottom of the mountain, where he'd had gone to take a bath completely unaware that Sensei Itsuki Hitachi had just had a severe stroke, Masaki Hachida had been torn in half vertically.

The perpetrator was none other than Lam Jan-ci, the artificial ghoul who had been created by the IGSE's chief biologist, Dr Lam Jih-yeung, resembling anything but a human except for its humanoid shape. Brooding over the body of the man it had killed, the ghoul began to growl and breathe heavily and laboriously, clawing at the ground furiously, as if it were looking for something under the soil.

Then it saw the staircase.

And it went up.

Seishirō Akita... Seishirō Akita...

[Prusselanden]

Town Hall
"Alright, just how much more people in thei universe have hand fetishes?" Ackerman followed Anthony and Koizumi into the room.
"Hm, strange, it's unlocked. Not that unusual, since who would need a lock with guards?" Ackerman had xer saber drawn to receive any further attackers that might be lurking nearby. Xe suddenly paused, however, xer breath growing shaky.

"Ackerman?" Uska cocked his head.

"I feel like...something bad's happened."

[Naval Monte]

Gu Mindefron

"To be honest I just wanted to infiltrate the place because I miss being in my usual element." the woman confessed, Strange was silent save for when Ceiji expressed that she was getting sick and tired of the adventure, of which Strange had to agree that he has been pulled around too many to count. When the woman expressed on wanting to live a normal life with her daughter neither Strange nor Hex said anything, neither can find any words that can comfort the woman.
------------

The two followed the others to town hall as Koizumi began to ask for Saul. Of course the soldiers tried and failed to attack but the two showed now reaction as they followed the others inside the building. When Ackerman mention that she felt something bad occurred the two knew that like all of their past adventures this one was going to get crazy very quickly.

[Legokiller]

Traveler

Selene and Lillie stared at Frucc, stunned by the utter nonsense he spilled. “ . . . What are you talking about Frucc?” Selene flatly asked.

“Frucc is simply delusion and needs rest kid.” Touko answered. “Let’s just keep him out of harm's way for now.”

“Sure, but… I don’t know, we got a weird crew already and it's nothing like a superhero team in the comics and tv.” Selene admitted. “Well, there is the avengers, but oh man, we’re so loose and dysfunctional. Right…” Selene paused and her jaw drop. “Touko? Are you the Hero of Truth?”

“You got that right kid.” Touko smiled.

“Awesome! I heard stories about you taking down Ghetsis and saved Unova. What was that like?” Selene asked.

“Well kid, did you ever face a mad abusive parent before who wants to cause chaos?” Touko asked.

Lillie flinched, spooked by the fact Touko was spot on. “Yes, and I can’t believe you got that right on.”

“Mhmm.” Selene said. “Although, being possessed by a toxic jellyfish was horrifying!”

“Instead of a toxic jellyfish, Ghetsis is a power-hungry man and crazy enough to wanting to possess Unova. He did have a Hydreigon to reflect this alright all, and all the more ruthless. I mean, it was a raging heart battle for what that guy did to N, and the full power he had in his team. Ghetsis is a powerful trainer and can’t be underestimated. Thankfully, with luck and skill, my team manage to stop him.” Touko then pondered. “Although come to think about it now, Ghetsis should be in some place, reflecting on his actions from, well, everything. His last attempt to conquer Unova failed, and broke his sanity.”

Touko turn her attention to N, while having some anger about Ghetsis treatment to him, she wanted to know how does he feel about it. “N? How do you feel Ghetsis as of late? I wasn’t there when Ghetsis used the DNA splitters...”

Selene eyes shifted away a little, realizing the one item she found with Ms Wickie in Lusamine’s personal collection. The DNA splitters. While at best, useless for Selene, she cringed at the fact about bring it up to N and Touko. She decided not to mention it.

“Good thing Lysandre is not alive Serena.” Calem sighed. “It would be really strange if Lysandre and Ghetsis walks into a cafe together and talked about world domination.”

“Eh?” Serena raised an eyebrow. “Well it could be worst if Lysandre, Ghetsis, Govinna, and all the other bosses from some international villain organization. Then again, in some universe, it already happened.”

“No kidding Serena.” Calem groaned. “Thankfully no major villains are dumb enough to join up with Infinity this time. Although, what was the point with the horsemen working him?”

“Simply put, a misguided idea of working with Infinity brings a balance. Once the horsemen realize this, such alliance shattered.” Alice explained.

“Thank goodness for that… Oh no.” Calem quietly look back at the group. There was one Pokemon champion missing. “The horsemen killed Destiny.” He muttered.

“What.” Serena flatly reacted.

“I know Serena, and we didn’t do anything to protect her.” Calem shook his head. “And the worst part, not many of us know the girl at all. Also, where is Charlie?”

“I… I honestly don’t know Calem. It just so much as happened, we fail to notice where she went and...” Serena eyes shrak. “Oh no… we left Charlie to die in the rahkshi horde before… This is my fault.”
“Oh crap.” Touko looked back at Serena. “It wasn’t your fault. I thought I got all the people who were left behind.

“Serena?” Calem carefully approached her. “You don’t have to blame yourself. She might have escaped into another direction… Charlie might be still okay.”

“You sure?” Serena asked.

“I’m sure of it. We have to keep calm and carry on. The Saturn or Mata Nui should find her soon enough.” Calem reassured.

“Why Charlie?” Iris asked. She was winded and tired from the entire battle from fighting Rakhshi. Obviously, there was a horde, but people tend to forget things in this entire journey in this universe. “You saw that she was Lucco!”

“Eh? Oh yeah, she was crazy and why did we allow her to be brought along?” Calem facepalm. “This entire day was a mess.”

“Hey, on the bright side, I can make everyone here some frosty snow cones.” Mei brightly smiled at the no nonsense Calem.

“Lighten up Calem, at least we’re in the totally safe Traveler.” Serena winked a few times, adding to Calem’s annoyance.

“Sssure.” Calem sarcastically replied.

“Serena.” Star poked Serena. “You require medical examination. I mean, you’re getting red and heated up. A fever in fact.” Star pointed at Serena’s red nose.

“Oh right, we have to see Jacob.” Serena said.

While Mei was at the kitchen to make snow cones, Serena and a few of her friends arrived at the medical bay. Serena found herself shocked about the sudden transformation of Hanzo, and his new cyborg appearance. She notices that Hanzo is looking under the blue. “Hanzo, are you right?” She cautiously asked.

Kongou

Yoko naturally thrash when the blankets were pulled away, fearful that her natural blanket of protection will hide her from the acute smells from the dogmen. She ended up clawing turn the blanket, shredding it into little pieces as she screams in terror. “Nooo! You can’t do this to me, it isn’t safe for me!”

Yoko stopped when the blanket was gone, and panicked heavily. She turned back at Miyu. “Ah, a Lynx beastling.” Yoko then grumpily replied. “Stonaway? My soul was blasted by that dreadful blaster and I...” she sneezed. “I felt a cold chill crawling on my back, telling me of all the evils I done. Perhaps poisoning me too. So, I became your ship’s patient.”

Yoko’s tails wrapped around the woman, shaking in dread as she sweat. “I’m Yoko no Yamamori, trapped within a universe that isn’t remotely Silverdale, and surrounded by these…. Dogs.” She then clarified. “Not dogs in a mockingly way, actual dog beastlings! I’m trying to hide from them you see.”

[The Palmetto]

Hizorin S. T. Norzo,

It is an honor to be messaged by such a leader as yourself. Considering the state of this world, it is a sign from the powers that be that our nations are to work together. After all, in my years of experience, fledgling nations that work together are to be more prosperous than those who do not.

This prior experience also tells me that no nation state in history has ever let its territory run free without threat of force. It is imperative, of course, that we work to defend ourselves. A military alliance is to be established, and our tacticians would be wise to plan a defensive war. Meanwhile, if the Empire is to shatter, it may not be the worst of things. After all, we may be able to expand our nations to be powers which control the remnants of it.

As for this man you speak of, he is to be arrested on sight and brought to you as soon as possible. We would have no reason to house him, after all, for if he is an enemy of you, he is likely to be an enemy of ourselves. Rest assured that if he enters Carolina, he will not walk out a free man.

Your offer of friendship is reciprocated.

Robert Rhett
President of the Carolina Confederacy

[Kaidou]

Town Hall

Ackerman's comment about hand fetishes elicited a deathly, dagger glare from Anthony, but other than that, the door was kicked open with relative uneventfulness.

Surprisingly, there were no upper levels in the tower; it was just a single room with a ridiculously high ceiling, from which hung several ornate chandeliers decorated with diamonds, emeralds, gold plating, and other excessively expensive paraphernalia. The walls were replete with frescoes of bizarre happenings, of monstrous incubi having wild intercourse with even more monstrous looking humans, and other such outrageous images.

Inside the hall, sitting upon a ring of six thrones arranged in a semicircle, were six old, decrepit men at least in their nineties. Some were dressed in armour, others in robes, but all looked like they were having significant trouble even staying awake, let alone lucid; a few words were exchanged here and there, but nothing coherent came out of their discussion.

"Gentlemen", boomed Koizumi.

Four of the six ancient men looked up. One of them, in particular, made eye contact with Koizumi.

"Who are you... that you should step into the sacred chamber?" he said, clearly attempting to sound angry, but being too weak to do so effectively. His hand, wrinkled and trembling from Parkinson's Disease, shakily gripped the hilt of his massive bastard sword.

Koizumi bowed deeply to the six men, before continuing.

"I am Junichirō Koizumi, former Prime Minister of the Sunrise Kingdom", he introduced himself, deliberately embellishing the name of his country. "I bring you grave news. News that your Empire is likely being manipulated by a foreign power."

One of the old men shat himself, but apparently didn't seem to notice.

The one with the massive sword shifted his gaze, meeting the eyes of just about everybody else in the room.

"Are you looking for a man named Henry Saladass?"

...

[Prusselanden]

Gu Mindefron
Ackerman ran up next to Koizumi upon hearing the man mention Henry Saladass. "So you know about his whereabouts? Where is he?" Xe hastily asked the old man with the massive sword. "We've been looking for him all this time-an evil group wants to use him to their own gains, and we can't let that happen, so will you please help us?"

"Slow down, you'll give him a heart attack." Uska grabbed Ackerman's shoulder. "These people might not know where Henry is-no offense to you guys-but I think dementia's already been setting in on them."

[Skylus]

Thollorrat Village

"I don't know who y'all are supposed to be", Gohnza slurred, cocking his head and keeping his rifle, one half of his mouth bound by stroke, "but it looks like y'all aren't on his side, so I suppose I won't turn against you or anything."

Barely a few seconds after he'd finished his sentence, Gohnza drew his sword and, with a furious hack, slashed the remnants of Claudius' head straight off its neck, before wiping the blade on the body and sheathing it.

"By any chance", he said to the ragtag group gathered before him, his eyes shifting from the wolf to the panda to the guy with the fire-like hair, "do any of you know of a person by the name of Fritze Ackerman?"

...

Ammy cocked her head a bit.
"Would they be a bipedal wolf carrying around a small child?"

[Prusselanden]

Thollorrat Village

"I don't know who y'all are supposed to be", Gohnza slurred, cocking his head and keeping his rifle, one half of his mouth bound by stroke, "but it looks like y'all aren't on his side, so I suppose I won't turn against you or anything."

Barely a few seconds after he'd finished his sentence, Gohnza drew his sword and, with a furious hack, slashed the remnants of Claudius' head straight off its neck, before wiping the blade on the body and sheathing it.

"By any chance", he said to the ragtag group gathered before him, his eyes shifting from the wolf to the panda to the guy with the fire-like hair, "do any of you know of a person by the name of Fritze Ackerman?"

...

Ammy cocked her head a bit.
"Would they be a bipedal wolf carrying around a small child?"

"Not at all." Kalo scratched his head. "Wait, I think it was that person we met back at that palace. You know them? They might be still there. You should head over there quickly." he told Gohnza. "By the way, do you know who that....guy you killed was? I know he wanted to lay destruction on this village, but why?"

[Osnil Returns]

Hyrule Castle
"Yes, my name is Impa," Impa replied as she quickened her pace into the castle. For once, Hyrule would be prepared for this war. The last time, Hyrule was unprepared. Many lives were lost. This wouldn't happen again.

The guards bowed as she entered, and crossed their spears as Lincoln tried. "He's with me," Impa said. The guards uncrossed their spears. "Let me know when the child awakes. Muster the troops and prepare for battle," Impa ordered. One of the guards took the girl down one of the long corridors of the castle.

"We must go see the Princess and warn her," Impa said as she made her way to Princess Zelda's throneroom.

Random Hyrule Field
A chicken-like creature wandered through the wheat where the group was standing. It would be so simple to kick or abuse it. . . at least just once. . .

[Petrokovia]

Kongou - Captain's Office
Tadayoshi slowly woke up, raising his head from his folded arms.
I've got to stop sleeping at my desk...

He wiped the sleep from his eyes, though the grey patches under his eyes remained. The man stood up and stretched.

Yawning, Tadayoshi picked up his journal, and placed in in his desk drawer. He then walked out of his office, locking the door behind him.

The superhuman made his way to the cafeteria-entertainment area, and found Kongou, Marguerite, Chase, and Terrell waiting for him.

Kongou - Cafeteria
"Dan?"
"Morning."
"It's a bit late for morning."

Tadayoshi checked his watch. 22:32.
"Oh, right."
"You missed it. We were just playing Monopoly! You should join us sometime."
"Maybe a different game? I'm not a big fan of Monopoly. Too luck-based."
"Okay... Anyway, how're you holding up?"
"Fine. Anything happen while I was asleep?"
"Mr. Toad finished his redesign work, and the Cornerians have finished gathering nanomaterials. I have applied the various upgrades to my armor and deck layout. I do have to admit, I am impressed with how much nanomaterials the Cornerians were able to find."
"Oh, that's great! ...Do we know anything regarding Conundrum? Did he wake up yet?"
"I have requested that Aicy tell me when he wakes up, and have heard no response since."
"Oh..."

Tadayoshi sat down at the table, joining the others.
"Well, I guess we can't do much until he wakes up. We need some clues as to what Octavius is..."
He thought for a moment, before turning to face Kongou.
"Can you search the Razor's old databases for anything regarding 'Octavius', 'nothingness', or 'the Void'?"
"I will begin filtering through the database now."
"Thanks."

---

Alex's Apartment
Bloodfyre was just about to jump into action when Pobeda began taking swings at Marcus, but the situation was quickly resolved by the other Constellation heroes.

"Good work, Joshua..."

Suddenly, the group was teleported to their new destination-The capital city of Cuba.

Havana, Cuba
Bloodfyre looked around the new area, in the Havana hospital.

It was much, much warmer than Alex's apartment, and warmer than South Eprelia, even on a record setting summer day. Bloodfyre took off his gambeson, revealing a basic-looking, loose fitting shirt underneath. He took in a deep breath; It felt strange to breathe the hot, humid air.

The knight looked around, paying particular attention to the various people in the hospital.
We must certainly be a sight to behold... I hope that the staff here are capable of helping us...

---

Kongou - Barracks
"Beastling?" Miyu asked, not sure if she should feel insulted or not. "I'm a Cornerian. And those dogs are Cornerians, too. You don't need to be afraid of them."

Miyu sighed.
"I wasn't aware that you were on board... But if you're a patient, why're you not in the medbay?"

[Skylus]

Hyrule Castle
"Yes, my name is Impa," Impa replied as she quickened her pace into the castle. For once, Hyrule would be prepared for this war. The last time, Hyrule was unprepared. Many lives were lost. This wouldn't happen again.

The guards bowed as she entered, and crossed their spears as Lincoln tried. "He's with me," Impa said. The guards uncrossed their spears. "Let me know when the child awakes. Muster the troops and prepare for battle," Impa ordered. One of the guards took the girl down one of the long corridors of the castle.

"We must go see the Princess and warn her," Impa said as she made her way to Princess Zelda's throne room.

Random Hyrule Field
A chicken-like creature wandered through the wheat where the group was standing. It would be so simple to kick or abuse it. . . at least just once. . .

Doug

The pilot fell farther and farther behind Impa as he slowed to look at everything around him - servants running down various corridors, guards in armor wielding weapons, people carrying baskets of food to tables that were set up at various locations.
An old woman wearing an apron came up to Doug and was holding a basket of what appeared to be bread.
"Care to try some?"
The golden pilot wings caught a ray of sunlight as Doug stepped up to the basket and looked at it.
"Maybe. What is this?"
The old woman smiled.
"It is my own recipe. I call it Honeysuckle Sweet Buns." She offered the basket. "Go on! One won't do you any harm."
Doug reached to his coin pouch but hesitated.
"Shouldn't I pay you, though?"
The woman smiled.
"No, no, dearie! Free of charge."
Doug took a sweet bun from the basket and the woman continued on her way.
"Enjoy! If you want more, I'll be set up in the market place."
Doug started towards her to ask where she would be, but the woman was swallowed up by the crowd.
And it was only then that Doug had no idea where he was.
...Where'd she go?
Doug frantically looked around him, until he saw another vendor.
The pilot raced over to him.
"Excuse me, do you happen to know where the throne room is?"
The man looked him up and down and smirked.
"Why do you want to..."
He trailed of and his eyes widened. "You're with Impa, aren't you?"
The man handed him a clear bottle of some drink and stepped out into the open space.
"Go straight, turn right, go up the stairs, turn on the first left. When you reach the upper courtyard, go straight."
The man then gestured towards the bottle.
"Keep it. It's on me. Finest wine I have to offer."
Doug looked down at the wine, which was labeled Fernwind Ale.
"Uh...Thanks..."
He then continued on his way, alternating between the sweet bun and the wine.
If there's one thing that's good for this time period, it's the food and drink.

After following the man's instructions, he came upon two oak doors.
Two guards were standing there, one by each door, and as Doug approached, they snapped to attention and opened the doors.
"Impa and Zelda await your presence."
Doug wordlessly entered the throne room and all he could so was gawk at everything.
"...How much did it cost just to build this one room...?!"

[Kaidou]

Town Hall

"Saladass. I know where he is."

Koizumi quietly stood before the old man with the big sword, casting an ominous figure despite his small, 169cm-tall frame; he may have been significantly bigger than Koizumi, but there was only so imposing a decrepit old man of 90 could look, in general.

"He is here."

"You're kidding", said Ceiji, her eyes widening in shock.

"There was a man in a black coat", the old man continued, "who brought the coffin of Saladass to this very city and locked it in the vault. He said it had been moved out of Don Thozoigeth, after the coronation if the new Emperor..."

"New Emperor?"

"Yes", the old man replied. "The Nizangar Empire has a new ruler."

Silence. The sunlight that had been filtering through the windows and into the hall suddenly died, leaving the room with a dim, foreboding tone. Outside, the sounds of a rapidly brewing storm could be heard, as a clap of thunder echoed through the ashen skies, as the first blanket of rain began to pour down upon the earth, splashing into the brick buildings and stone roads.

"Then where is Saul of the Ouroboros?" Koizumi continued to ask.

"In Don Serguyyan, three kilometres south of here", the old man replied. "He-"

Before anybody could reply, however, the old man with the big sword dropped his weapon on the floor and gripped his chest in agony. The other old men on their thrones merely looked on as the one whom Koizumi and Ackerman had talked to began to writhe in pain, saliva dribbling in liberal amounts from his lips, his pupils contracting forcefully.

"救命... 他來了..."

The man had begun to speak in tongues, but for some reason, though the words he had spoken were clearly in Chinese, there was something quite certainly off about the way he had intoned them.

"What's he saying?" Koizumi turned around abruptly and asked Zi-xiang.

"I... I don't know", Zi-xiang replied in horror. "It's Chinese all right, but... but I can't understand it... like there's a wall of fog in my-"

"他來了!" The man screamed. "快點滾出去! 你們都想死啊?!"

"闇神に求めよ", another of the old men began to speak. Much to Koizumi's and Yoichi's perturbation, though the words were clearly Japanese, it was completely
incomprehensible to both of them. "饕餮児と言うの子供が帰ってきた。死にたいか?"

"I think it's about time we get this over and done with", Anthony murmured, drawing his bronze axe and storming towards the old men. "We've had enough of-"

"No", said Koizumi, grabbing the boy by the arm and turning him around, himself heading for the door and beckoning to the others to follow. "We-"

The door slammed shut on its own. And the moment they turned round to look at the old men, all six were standing up and brandishing their weapons.

[Prusselanden]

Gu Mindefron
"Great then, then we'll have to go to-" Before Ackerman could finish xer sentence, the old men started to writhe in pain and utter inaudible words. "What...what's going on!? Koizumi-san? Zi-xiang? Can't you guys understand them?"

As Anthony attempted to attack the old man, Ackerman was about to stop him, but instead Koizumi did for xer. Xe grabbed Uska and made a break for the door, but then it slammed shut. Ackerman turned around to see the old men brandishing heir weapons.

"Scheisse." Xe turned to the door and gave it a few strong kicks, attempting to break it down. "Scheisse Scheisse Scheisse, I hate fighting senior citizens!"

[Legokiller]

Saturn

Star lower her brow, and sigh in a deep depressed matter. “Why does every hero want to spare genocidal freaks these days? It’s so awful when the predicted outcome happened, and the worst part, my data had no idea about the nature of Flowey.” Star then frowned. “To be honest, I wish such calamity never happened. I never want my crew to suffer in London and the Borg World. I should have inform you guys much better before a critical decision was made, and not interested in the destruction of our foes. Stealth is good and all, but if victory is ensured by fighting, then you must fight! Sun Tzu wrote that in the Art of War.”

Star then humped for a moment. “You know Ignis, now that all those annoying organics like the ones form AEGIS, Diamond Dog, and Earth are gone, I can remodel the ship to supplement them with an army of androids. The Saturn have the capability to forge and sustain a war by itself. I better ask Serena about that one.”

Star then added. "So a horse and mouse is a normal type Pokemon Ignis?"

[Prusselanden]

Saturn
"Look, I'm sorry I spared Flowey. I guess all zhe stuff in London vas my fault zhen....listen, I really vant to help right zhe wrongs I have done, so I'm really willing to help vizh anyzhing zhat could significantly improve zhe situation." Ignis looked up at Star. "Also, no. A mouse und Horse are Pokemon but zhey cannot perform attacks."

"Also, you...might vant to consider a little more about zhat robot army."

Ignis set Terry down in a sling she made from her sweater. "Shifu, vhat's up? You seem kind of distracted."

Quetz sighed. "Yes Ignis, I am. You see, I might need to have a visit back to Mexico in a while."

"Mexico? You haven't been zhere in years. Centuries." She stuffed down another mouthful of burger. "Vhy you going zhere now? You finally manned up to go see...her?"

Quetz stared blankly at Ignis.

"Yeah...definitely her.."

[Naval Monte]

Town Hall

Both Hex and Strange ignored the fabulous decor of the town hall, one not caring too much about it and the other having seen many buildings with similar styles is no longer impressed by it. However the fresco depicting demonic beings and monstrous humans engaging in depraved sexual acts was new for the two of them, though Hex noted that she saw similar art works when she was in missions involving the take down of a cult.

When they saw the leaders the two were surprised on how pitfiled they looked, both understanding why the town council was inefficient now. The two was going to join in asking if they know the location of Henry yet they stopped when Koizumi said that Henry was here. "What?" the two said at the same time.

As the brewing storm covered the sun both Strange and Hex had a bad feeling on what was going to occur in the town hall. Sure enough one of the old men was having a heart attack and as everyone was panicking on what to do the doors slammed shut on their own and the six men now standed with their weapons.

Hex took out a pistol and Strange summoned his mandala of light. Hex took a few shots at one of the old men while Strange threw one of his mandala at another.

[Legokiller]

Kongou: Barrack

“Cornerians are in the same classification as a Beastling: animalistic sapient beings who behaves similar to a human yet maintains natural instincts of an animal. I however, am a shapeshifting fox who can be either an animal, beastling, or human. A changeling.” Yoko twitched her nose, smelling the air around them. “But dogs can pick up my scent easily, know what I am, and hunt me down. The Cornerian ones can do the same. I can’t be near one!”

Yoko clocked her head to look behind Miyu, checking if the close is clear. She then try to maintain a peaceful state of mind. “Simple. The medical bay is not only surrounded by the odor of dogs, but my rival discovered my location. The troll and those two dark children failed to complete the ethereal-like dimensional barrier for this Space Battleship Yamato, no, Space Battleship Kongou ship, and she can get in easily. At least what I could remember.” Yoko lowered her ears. “Hence I sought for a well hidden spot in this quarters. “

[Wheatley Laboratories]

Random Field

Konrad firmly booted the animal, sending it flying. It landed harshly, a few feet away. Konrad started to grin before realising both Taylor and Reiyo had stopped walking and were staring at him, shocked expressions on their faces.
"Why... Why did you do that, Konrad?" Taylor questions the assasin, his arms crossed.
Konrad shrugs.
Reiyo tuts and shakes his head.
Then, the two immortals turn and keep walking, ignoring their friend. When they pass the chicken, Reiyo picks it up, sighing. It seems winded, but otherwise unhurt.

Exodus notices that there's a castle appearing in the distance. They're too far away to hear the people in the village around it, but he's excited to meet people from yet another world.

[Mundeo]

The Woods

Cascabell was really starting to become more and more annoyed with each second. It was really time for James to bring him home - wherever home was.

"Before we go, where exactly do you live? I need to know what universe to go to"

Before Cascabell had the chance to answer, James was alerted to vibrations in his pocket. "What the..." The Halfblood reached into his pocket and took out his sonic pen. It hummed softly as it vibrated like a cell phone; it even gave off a gentle beeping noise every few seconds.

"I... forgot that it even had that function..." James said sheepishly. "Sorry, I... uh, have to answer this" He then held the pen up to his mouth like a microphone as he started to speak into it.

"Um... hello?"

A voice immediatly responded, much louder than James had expected.

"James? James, is that you?"

The Halfblood had never expected that he would hear that voice. Before he could even ask himself "how the hell is this guy calling me?", James blurted out "Mark?"

Mark Cohen, the man he had the fortune to meet all those years ago when he last regenerated, was now calling him on his sonic pen! "Oh thank god, man. I didn't know if this thing was going to work"

"Work? What... wait, how are even calling me right now?"

"I can't explain it right now, James. We're in some real deep shit right now, and you gotta get here as fast as you can! You got your friends with you, right?"

"I can't explain it, James! I don't what's going on, but we could really use your help! Now!"

Mark then hung up, leaving James staring at his sonic pen like a total idiot, thinking, 'what the actual hell is going on?' But he couldn't really find out now, apparently, and he wasn't going to leave an old friend behind.

"Well, uh... you heard him. Who wants to come with me?"

[The Palmetto]

NJ
Old Village

On their quest to stop Aetherus, the heroes of this tale faced many challenges and distractions. But now, they had nothing in their way. After the last encounter with the natives, they were mostly off the hook, and managed to march along, only needing to fight the occasional beast or two. They were currently resting in the remains of what was formerly a village. But now, it was just made up of a few wrecked houses. It was apparent that this was once a war zone.

A flowing creek was beside the village, and the moonlight-like levels of light reflected off of the water. The adventurous had set up camp beside the creek, and were sitting beside a fire.
"If anyone here is hungry, I can find us some organic matter to convert into an edible form," Aestus remarked to the group. They were not stopping to sleep, at least, that was what Aestus was intending, and merely to catch a small break and eat.
"Remember that we won't be sleeping here, Aetherus won't wait for us, and we can't wait for him, either. With this kind of power, he'll be able to return to Physis and kill more of the native gods," he reminded them.

F5 wouldn't be eating. Instead, the massive robot would be brooding a fair distance away from the group, but still in sight. He wasn't the social type, and not even he knew what he would do after this adventure.