The Ancient Ones: Age of Nothingness (IC)

[Truth Incarnate]

Eridan

It was days like these that made him feel alive. When he could really just forget his life - about what he wanted, what he needed and just... Knew, that he was okay. That everything was going to work itself out. She made his life complete in a way that nobody else could. He laughed a gentle and genuine laugh, and glided after her, swimming between the rocks and the seaweed. Dappled sunlight glazed the surface above him, caressing his skin with warmth and life. He felt lucky, to be able to breathe underwater, to be able to be out during the day, when everybody else stayed indoors for fear of its blinding rays. He took pride in that - in being a seadweller. But most of all, he was happy to be one, because otherwise, he'd never have met Feferi.

She laughed back at him, hair flowing freely in the water, giving him a radiant smile that outshone the sun. She always gave carefree smiles to those around her, as if she'd an entire lexicon of meaning entrapped within the slight crinkle of her eyes, the way her cheek creased, and that turning up of her lips. She loved everything, and lent her hand to anyone that needed her guidance. He'd been the lost one before, and now he was her prince - the boy with the rifle, standing against the world that would see her destroyed. The prince with the hero's cape risking everything for the princess, and receiving everything in return.

And it was that night when he found her crying, when he discovered what the world had done, what the land-dwelling murderers had done to her, that he felt anger. So he made it his quest to fight, to kill, to shed blood to protect, because he was the rifleman and the prince: the soon-to-be-king alongside his queen. So he made plans and arrangements and spent countless sleepless nights making plots that nobody understood and nobody supported - not even the princess that he was protecting. So he spoke to her, and he gushed his feelings, and tried to make everything alright with his words, and she made it alright with her touch and covered him with her arms so he didn't feel so angry anymore, and he almost knew what it must have been to be young, back when she still smiled at him.

But what do you do when there's nobody to turn to? Nobody to ask? There's nothing to do, because you're lost again, a prince robbed of his castle, of his prize, of his world. So you find the princess again, you kill the monster that took her away, the commoner who'd lay his dirty fingers upon her perfection - and you kill him (the monster), because the hero has to win; but the princess (your love) loved the monster, and you hate her because you lost your love during your quest (your ordeal) and you forgot what you wanted in the first place, and she (the traitor) loved another anyways and so you kill her and run because you don't want to die - and you're the prince (the hero), and it's your world (your kingdom) to rule, and your right to live - and when you bleed? You hate. So you come back, and you find another princess (another love). But her prince is a demon (a monster), and she is a monster (a demon). And you hate, because they have what he (the child) lost. And you know you must be the hero (the victor) because it's what you've always been doing: fighting against the greater evil - the land-dwellers who hurt you and your princess (your love), the Angels who wanted to hurt you and your friends, and now the tyrants who want to take everything you have left.

And so you kill her, and you laugh, because you're the monster, but you don't care anymore. Because soon you'll be the hero, and you'll claim the world you were robbed of.

It has to be that way. You're the prince. You're the hero.

You have to win.

So you step aboard the ship, and you smile, because you know what you have to do, because you've always known. And you lower your head and you walk forward because this is your world, and this is your story. Now, it's the coda - and soon, everything's going to be okay: just like it was when she smiled.

You promise.

[Kaidou]

Gu Mindefron

"It won't be long before he wakes up now! We need to find somewhere to-"

"Here!"

Dragging Saul's bound and unconscious body through the streets of Gu Mindefron, in the torrential rain and amidst the incessant, almost consecutive screams of thunder, the party had been busily looking for a better place to perform whatever interrogation was going to be necessary, all with the lingering fear that the necromancer might at any moment awaken.

That was until a door was thrown open barely after the party had walked on.

"Aren't you... Didn't we buy soup from you yesterday?" Zi-xiang shouted over the rain in abject surprise.

"Get inside", yelled the Korean man. "There's no time!"

...

Yang Chae-moon
양재문
楊載文

"You have a very dangerous man on your hands", said Yang Chae-moon, shaking his head and pouring out hot cups of rice tea for the drenched party. "He's well known as a completely deranged man who does many insane things and destroys for fun. You're lucky you managed to take him when he's weak."

Koizumi silently looked at the massive, bloodied figure of Saul, tied securely from head to toe and laid flat out on the ground, blood seeping into the carpet.

"Sorry about the carpet", he said to the restaurant owner.

"Don't worry about it."

The old man whom the party had rescued earlier sat quietly on a booth seat, silently looking at the body of the sorcerer whom he had nearly been killed by. Finishing his second cup of tea in a single gulp, Zi-xiang stood up, pushed past Mr Yang (albeit apologising), before taking a seat across from the old man.

"Mind telling us who you are?"

"My name is Yaroslav Andreyevich Zhilin", said the old man.

Yaroslav Andreyevich Zhilin
Ярослав Андреевич Жилин

"I was thinking of a more descriptive introduction", said Zi-xiang. "Like, who exactly you are."

"Buuuut, I-"

"Are you with us or against us?" Zi-xiang leaned forward aggressively.

"I'm afraid I can't answer that question", Yaroslav Andreyevich replied, "because I don't even know anything about you people. How do you expect me to-"

Before Zi-xiang could carry on, Saul's eyes burst open.

"Where the hell am I!?" he screamed, attempting to wriggle free from his bonds, but in vain, thrashing wildly on the ground and prompting Yoichi and Anthony to leap forward and sit on him. "Let me go! You are assaulting a messenger of God! You have committed the Unforgivable Sin! You're blaspheming the name of the Holy-"

"Shut up", said Zi-xiang. He promptly retreated to the toilet, leaving the rest of the group to deal with Saul's incessant screeching for the next five minutes, before returning with a plastic bag over his hand, with which he held a wad of toilet paper stained with human waste, a disgusting wad which he then jammed straight into Saul's mouth. "Eat shit, you fucker."

Saul moaned.

"I've had it with this shitty world", said Zi-xiang, spitting into a waste paper basket nearby, the trajectory of the spit nearly hitting Mr Yang. "Let's resurrect that fat orange bastard and find the others and get the hell out of here."

...

---

Kohinata Dojo

"Akita..."

The demonic figure of the ghoulified Lam Jan-ci had charged straight up the side of the mountain, tearing past the few of the late Sensei Itsuki Hitachi's students who had noticed its appearance, eventually reaching the top of the mountain and releasing a bloodcurdling scream that sounded more like a rattle of bone against a shredded throat.

Yarmiestor ter Manes Platinier could only watch in horror, from his position as the newly self-crowned Sensei of Kohinata Dojo, as the ghoul leapt at him and, in a single backwards stroke of its powerful arm, messily and sloppily decapitated him, sending the mutilated head flying off the edge of the mountain, tumbling down towards where Masaki Hachida's bisected body lay at the bottom of the hill.

Hurriedly exiting the dojo with Wong Tjin-fei's nandao, Itona faced the monster directly. Neither seemed to recognise the other, as Itona leapt, swung the blade, and slashed the thing's arm, sending it flying straight out of the socket, only for it to regenerate hastily.

"Fukuda! We need to leave now!"

Still carrying Chieko, who was crying in terror at the horrific commotion that was taking place, Fukuda emerged from another room dressed in a sleeping yukata, a katana hanging by his side.

"Where do we go!?"

"Into the mountains", said Itona.

Anastasia Mikhailovna Rostova was nowhere to be found, as were Caliban and Ariel.

While the remaining students of Itsuki Hitachi drew their weapons and attempted to fight off the ghoulified Lam Jan-ci, to no avail (as it proceeded to shred them with relative ease), Itona and Fukuda hurriedly went off.

They went down to the cellar of the dojo, further into the basements, down below the cell where Seishirō Akita was being imprisoned. They went further down still, till they came upon a large cave that led straight on down, to somewhere neither of them knew. Armed with only a dying lantern, there was no way either Itona Namikawa or Yasuo Fukuda would be able to predict if they would come out alive.

But something about the way Chieko reacted told them they would.

Chieko, even amidst the chaos, had suddenly quietened, her golden eyes gazing out in amazement.

And onwards, the three went.

...

"Seishirō... Akita..."

The bars of Akita's cell were torn open by the ghoul, even as the remaining students attempted, as a last resort to save their dojo, to harpoon it. Akita, chained to the walls by his wrists, looked up weakly, as the ghoul tore open his manacles and lifted the boy onto its back, before charging straight out of the cell and right past the students attempting to kill them.

A wake of gore was left behind, as Lam Jan-ci began the descent of the mountain with Seishirō Akita upon her back.

...

[Prusselanden]

Gu Mindefrom
Ackerman put a hand on xer saber when xe noticed Yaroslav. It wasn't his strange similarity to a certain historical figure xe had once encountered, but xe was still suspicious of the man.

Uska put a hand on Ackerman's, not wanting xer to do something reckless and cause a scene. Then Saul woke up. Ackerman turned to him and gave a death glare, irritated at his raving. Luckily Zi-Xiang had shut him up in time.

"By the way, Ceiji...where...is you know..." Ackerman leaned over to the woman and whispered into her ear. "How did you find that out-"

Suddenly a chill went up xer spine. Xe shook it off quickly, but couldn't help feel something wasn't right. The dojo....

Yocchi

[Mundeo]

James' Cabin

"I'll go!" Victoria immediately answered. "If it's the friends you've always talked about, I've always wanted to meet them!"

No one else in the cabin had answered, though. Maybe they were just thinking about their decision? Perhaps there were some more outside that didn't hear his question. James exited the cabin to find only Draigo outside, praying to whatever god or emperor he worships. He only out here because he couldn't fit through the door... couldn't he just take off the armor? Does it get sweaty in there? Remembering how he had both threatened and attacked Marie earlier, he was hesitant to ask:

"Uh... Hey. An old friend of mine needs some help. You wanna tag along?"

[Prusselanden]

Woods
"WHAT!?" Cascabel yelled, fuming. "Goddamit, here's my only chance to go home and now it's taken by this random-Mark dude. Mierda!" His hand went on fire as he was prepared to burn the whole cabin down.

"Cascabel..." Terry slowly got up from the sofa. "Don't."

Cascabel swore again and extinguished his fire. He stormed outside and started to punch a tree, yelling Spanish obscenities.

Theresa walked over to James. "I'm sorry about that. By the way, who's this Mark guy, and why does he need our help? Where we going?"

[Legokiller]

Woods

After the shitshow from Cascabel, Rosa’s eyes were blank, stunned about his behavior. “Terry, your friend has serious anger issues.” Rosa serious needed to catch up with Terry, and why she is dealing with this guy in the first place. However, she figured the answer would be she saw something good and sweet inside of the fiery hot head of him. The other guess is Terry is into bad boys as of late.

“I could take Cascabel to his home dimension myself, but I’m afraid he would either be displaced in this timeline, or the original universe he’s from is long gone. The timeline he’s from is likely gone.” Camille sighed. The consult of the stars to establish her holy gateway would be difficult as it is, and any interference with the local gods would stop such travel to Cascabel’s home. She wasn’t familiar with his dimension or much of Ignis’ family life. Thankfully, Camille was with James and Damian, who have the luxury to teleport across the multiverse at ease.

“. . . You know big sis, I’m not sure how the new future timeline will look like.” Rosa frowned. “Vicky and Damian are so glad that they’re out of the bad timeline, but I can’t feel the same way. That bad timeline was my life. Not something I can easily discard, because I have one of the best times back on Earth. Before, well, everything went to crap.”

“It’s okay to feel that way Rosa.” Camille gently pants Rosa on the head. “Earth was my childhood home as well, and I made wondrous experiences. Then I was presented a choice to go out and explore the multiverse at my free will, and learn much of my powers. Such freedom allows multiversal travelers to see the best and worst of reality. Yet, we can freely escape such terrors and bad worlds to a gentler one. It’s only our quest makes us endure the worst worlds if needed, but that can’t define our lives. Victoria, Damian, and the others wants to live in a better multiverse without what is like in the ‘bad timeline’. And Frankly, so do we.”

Rosa nodded. “I understand Camille.” In Rosa’s heart, she sees Camille, her big sister, as her second mom in a way. Camille acted as Rosa’s babysitter and brought very delicious sweets from across the multiverse. Including those heavenly chocolates and candies that Blake is from. Of course, the lazy Angel is snoozing a little.

When James told everyone a friend needs help, Blake gasped in surprise and flailed her arms as she collapsed from the chair. “Okay okay mom! I’ll talk to those higher ups for you… I know what you’re thinking.” Blake yawned.

Camille giggled a little. Camille almost forgot about that errant. “Careful now sweetie. Lady Ailey hasn’t meet you yet, so do be careful up there in Heaven.”

“I’ll be fine.” Blake quickly stormed out of the door, and started to fly away, disappearing into the clouds.

Rosa rush to meet with Theresa.” Terry, are you okay? Oh!” Rosa looks back at James. “I guess me and Camille can help out as well James. Also, would this world we’re going will be okay with Pokemon?”

[Kaidou]

It wasn't long before Saul had been dragged into the basement, tied securely to a chair, and the chair chained to the wall with all the paraphernalia that Mr Yang had lying about the storeroom of his restaurant. Though Henry's body still hadn't been found, Koizumi reasoned, it was probably best to keep the sorcerer imprisoned securely somewhere; that way, they could convince (or force) him to perform the alchemical operation to bring him back to life.

The biggest problem, then, was finding Henry's body. And whatever else there was that had to be done.

"The political situation in the Nizangar Empire has become very dire", said Yaroslav Andreyevich to the others (except Zi-xiang, who remained in the basement to keep an eye on Saul). "Just recently, two more states have seceded from the Empire; that makes a total of three."

"A new Emperor has just been crowned too", added Mr Yang Chae-moon, pouring Yaroslav a glass of tea. "I heard about his coronation address."

Koizumi raised an eyebrow.

"Needless to say, the new Emperor isn't a stable man", Mr Yang continued. "He's right at the doorstep of death, and he wants to wage total war against all the Nizangar Empire's enemies. That includes not just the seceded states, but also the five other Empires that surround the Nizangar.

"In short, it's only a matter of time before we're all screwed."

Yoichi raised a hand held in a circle, held up the middle finger of his other hand, and proceeded to insert the middle finger into the circle repeatedly.

"I say we find Henry right now", said Ceiji, climbing out of her seat and brushing the wrinkles out of her drenched military uniform. "I'm with Zi-xiang on this. I'm sick of being stuck in this fucking world. Now who's with me...?"

She noticed Ackerman's discomfort.

"Is something the matter?"

...

Thollorrat Village

By then, Tenri Gohnza had more or less lost interest in answering the questions of the motley crew he had come across quite by accident.

Limping over to a little corner where a table and a small stool sat, his stroke-bound leg dragging limply along in the dirt, Gohnza hastily placed his rifle on the table, heavily sitting down and taking off his hat to reveal a balding head that bore numerous burn scars. He quietly gazed off into the distance, his quiet exterior occasionally punctuated with a laborious breath.

"Hope", he murmured, his voice slurred by the half of his face that had been locked by his own body. "There is hope..."

Dunames Forest

"Akita... Wake up... Akita..."

"Yocchi."

It was about half an hour of nonstop running later that the ghoul and her hostage had finally made it out of sight of the mountain and its massacred dojo, deep within the endless labyrinth of the Dunames Forest. Stopping by a small freshwater lake that was fed by a diverted stream coming from the mountains, the ghoul laid the boy down by the side of the pool and, tenderly, attempted to shake him awake.

The task was far from easy; once a lithe, athletic girl of 17, the horrific experimentation conducted by the IGSE's Director of Biological Weapons had transmogrified her body beyond any recognition, turning it into a demonic, steely form, writhing with artificial muscles and gruesome to look at. The stench of death followed it wherever it went, and some said even Claudius himself had been afraid to open the coffin within which the ghoul Lam Jan-ci had been locked.

Nevertheless, she continued. Between splashes of water on the boy's face and taps on the shoulder that fluctuated from forceful to timid, the ghoulified girl continued, in a desperate attempt to wake the boy up from his nightmarish slumber.

And finally, he awoke.

"Who... Who are you? What do you-"

"It's me, Jan-ci..."

The boy blinked in disbelief.

"What happened?" he could not help but ask in horror, his eyes becoming puffy and welling up with agonising tears. "What have you become..."

"That doesn't matter", the mutilated body of Lam Jan-ci replied, helping the boy up to a sitting position.

"I... I'm so sorry..."

"I should be the one who's sorry. I couldn't tell you", she replied. The tenderness in her voice was still audible despite the horrific rasping quality it had taken on. Had she still had tear glands, had she still had eyes that were human, the girl would have been sobbing. "I love you."

And in her monstrous form, replete with horrible nakedness, Lam Jan-ci embraced Seishirō Akita, and the boy embraced her back. The smell of death had all but faded, as the boy's human lips made contact with the girl's eldritch, reptilian jaws, and they kissed tenderly.

The trees could not help but stand and watch, in awe of the miraculous, encompassing emotion that surpassed all human understanding. With her weaponised, scaly arms, the ghoul unbuttoned Akita's shirt, revealing the gash from which his shattered rib jutted out of his chest, and tore the fabric straight off. And the boy, overwhelmed with emotion, continued to embrace the ruined and terrible body of the girl, their lips locked in eternal embrace, his trembling hands gripping her alien back.

There, in the holy darkness of the coniferous forest, Seishirō Akita and Lam Jan-ci consummated their forbidden love. And the human became one with the ghoul.

...

Barely had they finished when a single gunshot rang through the forest, and a bullet lodged itself in the ghoul's back, sending a spray of maroon blood squirting out gruesomely and eliciting a scream of excruciating agony from Lam Jan-ci as she collapsed to the ground, a beastly yet pitiful figure, tentacles and scales and horns and all.

"Claudius has failed. And now, the magnum opus of Dr Lam Jih-yeung, too, has become renegade. Perhaps it is time to put an end to this nonsense."

A second gunshot tore through the ghostly silence of the forest, but this time, wary of the enemy's presence, Jan-ci managed to dodge the second shot.

The sound of cruel footsteps crushing dead vegetation began to float through the air.

"What is that?" Akita asked weakly.

"Kim Il-sung", the ghoul rasped in reply. "One of the highest ranking generals of the IGSE..."

"Kim Il-sung..."

"We need to leave, now."

...

[The Dark Brotherhood of Deros]

Cinder and Asura
Asura and Cinder observed Jame's conversation through his Sonic pen silently, and then Cinder nodded. "We'll go." She said. Asura seemed surprised by her response, but said nothing. Cinder noticed this however, and turned to him. "Dad wouldn't want me sulking forever. I may as well help. Besides, it'll distract me." She explained to him. Asura nodded. "Alright." He said to her.

Cinder looked at James. "Alright, so where are we going?" She inquired.

Traveler
WIP

#FR
Also WIP

[Prusselanden]

Gu Mindefron
"Nothing...I just get these random bad feelings from time to time about the fate of the dojo." Ackerman shook xer head. "It's fine. Now what are we waiting for? We should head out to find Henry."

Ackerman tensed up again not long after xe spoke, however, feeling a second tinge of dread creeping up xer spine.

Yocchi....

Jan-Ci

Why was xe thinking of the girl by now? God knows where she was, and it was one chance in a million that they'd meet her ever again. It was a true pity....She was a good person, only to be stolen from the world by a cruel fate.

Thollorat
Kalo walked up to Gohnza. "Hope? So you thought your friend was dead, right? Luckily he or she is well and alive. But, forgive my intrusion, why exactly do you need to find her...him? We could help you."

Woods
Cascabel had finished punching the tree and slumped down against it. He was just exhausted. Entirely exhausted. He wanted to go to sleep forever and never wake up. This path he had led had taken him too far....too far.

Terry nodded at Rosa. "I'm...fine. Cascabel, well...I took him from his home dimension and had him travel with us. But if it wasn't for me, Vati would have killed him on the spot. I suppose I was a bit overboard, though. He only wants to go home..."

[Kaidou]

Thollorrat Village

Kalo's question didn't register immediately with Gohnza, as the old pirate quietly rested his arms on the table top and closed his eyes in silent meditation, his stroke-bound hand trembling ever so slightly alongside his free hand. His breaths, laborious yet rhythmic, sounded like the dying throes of a wounded dragon, powerful yet on the threshold of death, ready to give up its soul to the afterlife.

It was only about a minute after this silent contemplation that Gohnza finally turned to look at Kalo, having processed the question of the fiery-haired being before him.

"I... cannot face my crew after what I've done", he murmured, his eyes drifting almost as soon as they had made contact with Kalo's. "I only survived... because I forged a deal with the IGSE in exchange... for my own survival."

He stopped to gather his own thoughts for a moment, composing himself before continuing.

"I faked my own death and pledged... to Dr Lam Jih-yeung that I would... hunt down the survivors."

With his good hand, Gohnza pointed to the half of his body that had forever been frozen by stroke.

"This is what they did to me... after I betrayed them", he said. "The chip that Lam Jih-yeung implanted in my brain... exploded. But I was lucky. It didn't kill me as it was... supposed to. It just stole half of my body from me. But now I have nowhere to... go. I cannot face my crew any longer... not after what I pledged... Lam Jih-yeung that I would do to them... neither can I return to Lam Jih-yeung. For what I have done to his... I cannot yet return to the side... anymore now. I have been condemned to wander alone... nigh indefinitely..."

It was clear that Gohnza was once a fearsome man, but the faulty anti-treachery device that had gone off in his brain, while it didn't kill as it was meant to, had certainly robbed the old pirate of some of his facilities. Most evident of all, besides his ruined body, was his speech, which was slurred at best and, as he spoke, deteriorated into incoherence.

Yet it was clear he wanted something done. What exactly, it wasn't obvious.

But the world had not seen the last of Tenri Gohnza.

"If it doesn't bother you", said the old pirate to Kalo, "I need your help.

"I have at most two months to live... before the clot in my brain grows and kills me. But in those two months... I want to show my crew... where my true allegiances lie."

With that, Gohnza climbed out of the chair and, with great effort, straightened his back and flexed the muscles on the half of his body that was still functional, before raising his rifle and firing a single, symbolic shot into the sunset sky.

"To Gu Mindefron", he roared. "The city where Lam Jih-yeung... will rendezvous with Kim Il-sung!"

...

Finding Henry's coffin turned out to be a surprisingly easy affair for Ceiji and Ackerman; by a stroke of luck, they'd spotted two young men attempting to surreptitiously drag a large metal coffin out of the city's gates, looking as if they were trying to make as much haste as they could.

They didn't even have to be questioned; the moment they saw Ceiji and Ackerman, both of the men began to run furiously, their attempt to get away to the gate with the coffin thwarted when Ceiji hurled her sabre, running one of the men straight through the shoulder blade. The one remaining man tried to take the sabre, but was promptly felled by a kick to the chin.

"Figures", said Ceiji sardonically. "Why the hell would the IGSE be interested in a fat orange bastard like this idiot?"

Dragging the coffin back to Mr Yang Chae-moon's restaurant was going to be the hard part.

Then there was, of course, the question of what exactly the coffin contained.

The rumours stated that there were three identical metal coffins that had been brought into Kubronos, one by the IGSE and two by the Chimaera; how sure were they that the coffin they were dragging back to the restaurant was, in fact, Henry, and not some other abomination? For all they knew, it could have been a demon created by some devilish scientist or alchemist in the Chimaera, or something else entirely.

And, of course...

[Prusselanden]

Thollorat
Kalo's eyes widened in shock as he heard what the scientist did to Gohnza.
"That was brutal...Its hard to believe someone can survive something like that. "

He then turned to Ammy with a look, as if to say ' Should we?'

"Gohnza...I've been trying to get back to my home dimension. But your loyalty to your crew is impressive. I'm willing to put that aside to help you."

However, he did not know at all where they were supposed to be going. "Where is Gu Mindefron, by the way?"

[Skylus]

Ammy nodded.
"We should help this man."
Issun began to hop up and down.
"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa, Ammy! Are you seriously going to do this?!" the Poncle yelled.
"Just think about it for a second!"
Ammy huffed.
"I know the risks all too well, Issun, but I am well prepared to face any danger."
Po chimed in.
"So we get to beat up more bad guys? Count me in."

[Legokiller]

Woods

Rosa sighed. “I understand Terry. No really, I do. Cascabel desperately wants to go home, while we’re pulling him to save James friend, and then save the whole multiverse all over again. I believe we should at least try to take him home before visiting any other place like Silverdale.”

“Cinder.” Camille spoked up to the half-blood hybird fox, concern about her welfare. “You don’t need to push yourself into another possible life and death scenario. It’s an unhealthy way to deal with grieve.” Camille looked back at James and back at Cinder. “I’m willing to stay here and support you Cinder.”

[The Dark Brotherhood of Deros]

The Traveler
Clairus quietly accepted Simon's handshake, giving him her small, shy smile. "I-It's nice to meet you too." She replied. Hanzo in the meantime didn't respond to Ty's remark, and he glared at Kadoor. "That is none of your concern." He told her sternly. After several moments of silence, Hanzo rose from his seat and stalked out of the medical bay without answering Mei's question. As he passed by Clairus, she immediately felt his grief and frustration, but also... guilt.

That was the one thing she always felt from Hanzo; and underlying feeling of intense shame. He was always so stoic on the outside, but Clairus could see that he was a far more complex individual than the eye would suggest. Meanwhile, N was busy in thought as Touko was speaking with the two girls, and after he was asked about his feelings toward Ghetsis, he thought even more. He thought back to his experiences with the madman over the years, and how he raised him to be the king of Team Plasma. But everything Ghetsis taught him was a lie; a ploy to force N to conquer the world by stealing Pokemon from all of humanity, and give them to Ghetsis.

Finally, N spoke. "I... I don't know. I feel like I should hate him, but then... would I not be any better than him?" N said. "I... I wish I could say he is my father, but after our last meeting, that is an impossibility! He's only a monster now..."

[Wheatley Laboratories]

Hyrule Castle
Doug's comment resulted in strange looks from around the room. Just then, a soldier came rushing in. "The child is awake," he announced.

"Bring the child," Impa said.

"My lady, your instructions were to feed him," the soldier replied. "He is eating now."

"I thought it was a girl," Impa said.

"His long hair may have confused you," the soldier replied.

Zelda spoke up. "Have the child brought here with his meal. I want to hear what he witnessed if it is an attack. And bring something for our guest." She nodded to Doug. "He wants his meal pre-cooked. I assume that where he comes from, they eat their food uncooked."
Village
Linkle clenched her fist. She was almost ready to punch Konrad. She didn't know what a football was, but she assumed you kick it around. "You do not kick a Cucco. Ever," she said between clenched teeth.

But then the compass around her neck glowed. A moment later, dozens of slow-moving metallic creatures marched into the village. They ushered a carriage-like metal machine in. From the top of this metal thing, one of the metallic creatures with a yellowish marking stood.

It announced, "This village is under the protection of the Confedaration of Independent States."

"What do you want?" shouted a villager, just before a red light exited through his stomach.

"Your cooperation," said a figure from behind the dead man, "can be voluntary, or coerced." A bald woman came into the light. "You don't want to be coerced. Now, where is the Tri-Force."

"Oh... Great." Exodus comments, staring at the newcomers. Reiyo looks confused. "Odd..." he says to himself.
Suddenly, the trio are standing a little way away from the action. They can see what's going on and, with any luck, the metal beings wouldn't see them watching.
Konrad shakes his head, disorientated.
"A little warning next time, 'kay? You always mess me up with those time powers of yours."
Reiyo shrugs. "Sorry. I needed to get us out of there, quickly."
He's silent for a moment before speaking again.
"I don't understand it. These people seem to live similar to terrans, but now we're dealing with something that looks a lot like it came from earth's sci-fi, right Exodus?"
Taylor nods.
The people here were odd. The most striking difference was the lack of hair... Then, as you continued looking, you'd realise they had no tail, no snout, small ears and a weird nose.
How they survived was anyone's guess.

[Prusselanden]

The Woods
"I feel so bad. All he wants to go is to go home. But...if he goes home, he'll just kill more people. He was killing people when we met him, and he hates humans to a violent level. I don't know what to do with him." Terry buried her face in her hands.

Cascabel walked back into the cabin and slumped against a wall, starting to fall asleep.

Gu Mindefron
Ackerman had unsheathed xer saber in case the latter was the contents of the coffin and not Henry. Xe was prepared for a heart-sinking disappointment. After all, how would they get his body so easily from the Chimaera?

Please god...please make this Henry...come on...

Ackerman's eyes lit up in sheer shock as the coffin was opened.

[Kaidou]

Gu Mindefron

With the coffin back at Mr Yang's restaurant, the task at hand was simply to convince Saul to perform the ritual without pulling any tricks of any sort; that had been taken care of by Zi-xiang, who, wielding a nail clipper and a fork, had managed to intimidate the incapacitated and very much terrified Saul into performing the ritual, while leaving minimal damage on the sorcerer.

"Don't worry too much", he said, as he released Saul's bonds, while Anthony kept his axe at hand, ready to make a move against the sorcerer. "If you try pulling anything funny, it's only going to hurt... a lot."

Saul, his body plastered with five ofuda charms that all but incapacitated his power, his hands cuffed tightly together, could do nothing but obey Zi-xiang's directions, as he reluctantly and defeatedly climbed out of the chair, his mouth stuffed full of faeces-smeared toilet paper and held shut with a bandage that crisscrossed the lower half of his head. With a paintbrush, the forcefully recruited sorcerer painted an alchemical circle in the middle of the floor and weakly directed that the coffin be brought to the middle.

"According to this piece of filth here", said Zi-xiang, "the ritual will take about five hours to come into effect. So we're gonna have to wait. Hopefully we don't encounter anything particularly shitty while we're at it.

"In the meantime, we need people to standby. Aside from me and Mr Koizumi, I want Ackerman to stay in this basement to watch the POS who's doing the ritual once he's done with setup. Strange, Hex, I'll need you two here for troubleshooting, since you're both familiar with the arcane. Yoichi and Anthony, you two stay with me for backup. The rest of you, stay upstairs."

...

Basement
~+~+~+~

Junichirō Koizumi
Sun Zi-xiang
Stephen Vincent Strange
Hex
Fritze Ackerman
Yoichi Mineta
Anthony _______

Saul

Henry Saladass (presumably)

Still with his mouth plastered shut, Saul proceeded to reluctantly begin with the ritual.

He started by pasting a circle of ofuda charms around the circle he had drawn and on the lid of the coffin, before tossing, into a bowl he had placed at the foot of the coffin, an assortment of fingernails, hairs, and other body parts. Next followed the ignition of all the body parts with lighter fluid, and finally, one last ofuda at the end of the coffin.

"Now comes the icky part..."

Before he even knew it, Saul was grabbed from behind by Zi-xiang who, holding his arm out over the burning bowl, slashed the sorcerer's arm at a non-fatal spot, allowing some drops of blood to drip into the fire. Mumbling something in pain, Saul collapsed forward, with Zi-xiang promptly grabbing him and dragging him back to the chair, tying him down by the waist once again.

About ten minutes after the blood had been dripped into the bowl, the rims of the circle began to glow an ominous green, and a low, rumbling whisper began to float through the room from nowhere. Before all the people in the room appeared visions.

Visions that crept from the ceiling like the expanding skin of a wicked pastry.

Yoichi, pack your bags and get out of here by 7PM. You no longer belong to our family, because we have no place in this household for faggots and sodomites.

Dì dì! Where the fuck have you gone!? Oii!! Sūn Wêi-xiáng!!! Nî kuài diân chū lái! Wo jìu tā mā bu jiào Sūn Zîxiáng!!!

Koizumi looked on at the scene in horror. The coffin was beginning to give off a horrible black aura, as the circle continued glowing and the whispers became louder and more sinister. Yoichi was gritting his teeth in frustration and pent-up fury, while Zi-xiang had rushed to the wall, pounding it with his fists till his knuckles bled, tears of rage and anguish streaming down his face as he screamed, called, cried to his brother. Anthony simply stood by the side, quietly and solemnly.

Do you know why you're here, Anthony ________? Because you're a failure. You're a half breed, unworthy of bearing the name of _________. I am here to salvage the filth that you are...

"Koizumi", came the terrifyingly soothing voice of Hideki Tōjō, as if it was whispering into his ear and speaking from within his head simultaneously. "Remember the eight souls you owe me? Or do you want me to hunt you to the ends of the Multiverse?"

Koizumi gripped the hilt of his katana. The sounds of Kōki Hirota and Fumimaro Konoe giggling wickedly in the background became clearly audible.

"Be silent", he said to the demon, "and stop tormenting my comrades."

The demon did not become silent.

...

[Prusselanden]

Gu Mindefron
Ackerman had remembered her duty and was prepared to resist the visions the ritual would create. This was too valuable a task to become distracted. However, the minute the illusions began to appear, Ackermann felt xerself crumbling under their sheer weight.

"Fritze, I need to rest..." "Kill them all." "You lead our children to their deaths, you monster." "Herr Ackermann your son is-" "I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS!" "I want to go home..." "We need to run." "Turn back!"

Incoherent screams began to pound in xer head as Ackerman had to punch xerself in the head to regain some semblance of sanity.

"VATI! VATI! STOP HITTING MY VATI!" "Hanschen, look...can't your hear Vati? I'm right here..." "Why couldn't they have taken me instead?"

Ackerman coughed hard. There was no smoke in reality, but imaginary fumes choked and stung xer eyes. Ackerman fell to the ground, as if trying to hack up xer lungs.

"Aren't you a pretty young man? We'll take you to the lieutenant, but we will have some fun first. Fair warning, your legs might go numb after this."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Ackerman in a fit of fury grabbed Jontum and sliced the saber's blade against xer back hand. The pain jolted xer back to reality, but xe didn't know how long for. Xer first instinct was to see if the ritual was still functioning as it should be.

[The Intergalactic Russian Empire]

Havana Hospital: Eric

Eric looked Alex in the eyes, his breath slowing down as he began to calm a little. He suddenly threw his arms around Alex and gave her a hug for a few moments. When she offered to take him to Ann he quietly stuttered "T-th-thank y-you." He followed her through the halls slowly, as his body was still aching. He noticed Alex briefly glance back at him, but didn't say anything about it. Before long they reached where his wife was resting and recovering, and Eric slowly gave a smile as he wiped tears from his face. He looked to Alex, quickly pulling his hand away from hers, and said "I-I can't thank you enough, f-for helping me here. I know this isn't much, b-but still, thank you."

???

Pobeda came to, everything was blurry and dim around him, but he could make out what seemed to be some bushes, a field, and trees in the distance. He tried to stand up but found his legs unable to move, looking down to realize that they had been broken. He remembered running from something and falling, but he had no clue how long it had been since that occurred. The Troll looked around, trying to get a better bearing on his surroundings, but all was still blurry and dim so he could not see very far. He reached out and dug his hand into the ground, dragging himself forward a bit; he repeated this process with his other hand, slowly dragging himself in the direction of the treeline. Not that long after, though, he felt his vision fading away, and he blacked out once more...

Havana Hospital: Pobeda

Pobeda awoke in a bed, his legs in perfect condition but his head aching like he was hit with a bat. He slowly sat up and looked around; the room was nearly pitch black, save for some light from the window, and there was no furniture in it aside from the bed he was occupying. He assumed the others had brought him there after what had happened previously, after his outburst. The Troll was shaking, his mind still awash with pain and confusion, but he also felt a tinge of shame. How could he let this happen to him? He's better than this! He sighed, lying back down and curling up in the hospital bed, wishing for this nightmare to end, and longing for the loves one so far away.

[Naval Monte]

Gu Mindefron

"Can you cast a spell to silence this nutjob? I'm getting sick and tired hearing sodmites this and sinners that." Hex said as she was adding in bullets that acted as syringes containing drugs to knock at Saul should he either try to break free or when she finally gets fed up on hearing him speak. Once he was knocked out the group decided to drag him out of town hall.

The two and the group found a building to hide from the rain as everyone got to meet the men inside, one who they met yesterday. After making the deranged necromancer silent by the most vile yet fitting manner for the man the two agreed with him on wanting to leave this world as quickly as possible. Strange soon asked where Yang wish to go as he was ready to make a portal with his magic.

[Legokiller]

Traveler

So, after Hanzo mistaken Mei for Serena, the real Mei, who finish up the first batch of tasty snow cones, offered one to Hanzo. “Hey Hanzo. I know you’re taking what happened quite hard… but you don’t mind trying out my special treat for everyone?” Mei smiled at the man. The Snow Cones in question were in whatever type of cups, and favors Mei can savage in the kitchen. Yet she notices something about Hanzo as of late, reminding her of a fellow cyborg ninja in Overwatch. Why did Aicy made Hanzo into a cyborg?

Meanwhile back at the med bay. “Oh… He isn’t taking this well.” Serena commented. In a way, she and most of her friends and team have no idea who the heck is Hanzo. In fact, she was surrounded by fantastic people, but most are strangers. Including Clairus, who is shy towards most people, and Jacob.

Oh, how naive look at their relationship was found in ignorance than knowing the truth. That’s how the love planned failed. And to be honest, Serena was too new to this Traveler stuff last year ago to actually know Jacob. The frightening part for Serena is that Jacob was truly powerless, trapped within Infinity. He isn’t going to handle the experience well once he wakes up, and Serena found herself very concern about it.

“Jacob.” Serena looked at the true self of the young man, not the imaginary illusion he cast for the others like Ash Ketchum. Well, that part can be weirder, but still. “I know we made plenty of terrible mistakes, and Ellie suffered the most… But, I don’t know… Things gotten over my head, and we had to save you from such terrible fate. I know we aren’t friends exactly, but we could try at least.”

“Excuse me Serena…” Star raised up her hand.

Saturn

“You could find a wish maker or travel back through time to undo the entire Flowey incident for some kind of miracle.” Star said. “Outside of that, the trial is unlikely as Elizabeth have retreat to Nemesis, or else face the wrath of Earth. People are not happy over it, especially the soldiers who were mind controlled and fearful that Elizabeth’s monstrous side.”

“Why reconsidered such project?” Star questioned. “The robot army will have a much greater number of combatants than the previous force, and utilize advance tech.”

“Ahem, you do need some permission from your captain.” Ami reminded the AI. She wasn’t all too keen of having a loose cannon of a warship going out of check. So Star did called Serena.

“Hey Serena, Sailor Mercury wants to do repair my systems and prevent me from going rogue. Would you allow this to happen?” Star asked.

“Wait, you’re going rogue?” Serena gasped from the other side of the call. “Okay Star, what the heck is going on in the ship. I can let you get repairs from Sailor Mercury… Wait, why she is there? You have a lot to explain here miss.”

“Rift Serena.” Star answered. “It couldn’t be helped, so I’m allowing her to stay aboard and help out with the ship’s systems. As for an explanation… it’s a bombshell, but I still tell. Also, can I build an army of robots after it?”

“Hold on a second, you can build an army of robots?” Serena said. “Okay, first of all, get your repairs first, and then we’re going to have a long talk. We already been through a lot, and I’m quite worried about Jacob as of now.”

Woods

“What!?” Rosa backed her head a little when Terry send a bombshell about Cascabel the wrathful fire mage, or snake guy person, being a serial killer. “Terry?” Confused on what to do, Rosa came close to Terry. She didn’t know what to do. “It’s going to be okay. We could… um take him to a place where a lot of non-humans are at, like Silverdale. Maybe that can help?” Rosa wasn’t sure if Cascabel being surrounded by ponies would help at all! He seemed to hate it? Right? Then again, there are other beings like humans too. So that won't help at all.

Traveler :N’s Story

WIP, coming soon.

[The Palmetto]

I'm not gonna pretend I understand economics, but do youreelf a favor and pretend the shit below is something economically viable and realistic.

The Confederacy of Carolina

In the land of the Carolinians, a man by the name of Robert Rhett worked hard in his office. The former Confederate had been working to secure Carolina's sovereignty and make the nation the best one on the continent. He was a skilled politician and economist, but it would take all of his work to move the society from feudalism to a more efficient system and to make sure the transition goes smoothly.

A proper currency was established and feudal lords ceased to pay with land, instead, they would pay their laborers with money. Some people could even start their own farms and work for themselves. Mines would be established The bartering system would be officially phased out as currency arose, and banks would be established as merchants set up shop. The government would assist in the transition but allow great market freedoms for new businesses. As more people would get jobs and money would be circulated, the government would collect taxes from them. In time, a full functional society and government would arise.

Meanwhile, the taxes used be used to improve infrastructure, which in itself would improve the economy. Most importantly, it would pay for an army. A state unrecognized by its former master would should arrive to war, no they should be prepared for when it comes. Rhett had searched far and wide for the best tacticians he could find, which in the poor lands of Carolina, were very hard to find indeed. None the less, he would continue to try his hardest, even pull out the old Art of War if he had to. If Carolina were to collapse, all of his work would have been for nothing, and he would be a powerless man who ran a failed state.

[Kaidou]

Gu Mindefron

The demon was promptly silenced, not by anybody's efforts, but by the shockwave and low, ominous boom of an explosion that shook even the basement of the restaurant. A tremor reverberated through the brick floor of Mr Yang's basement, rattling the objects in the shelves.

Barely a few seconds later, the door was thrown open, and Ceiji, drenched from head to toe in rain and now without her military jacket, burst into the room, panting and gripping the hilt of her sabre.

"Guys", she said, still trying to catch her breath, "it seems we've got a problem."

"What problem?" asked Zi-xiang tersely.

"There appears to be three different armies approaching the city from three different directions."

"Three!?"

"We have a fleet of ships with dark blue sails coming in from the lake", Ceiji continued explaining, "Nizangar Empire troops coming in from the North, and this other one coming from the South."

"Dark blue sails means the Yosot Empire", explained Anthony. "They've been little more than a vassal state of the Nizangar Empire for over five hundred years, but sub-nationalism there has been growing to the point that they operate their own private navy. More likely than not, they're here for revenge."

Koizumi brought his hand to his chin.

"I say we barricade the restaurant", said Ceiji. "We wait for Henry to be resurrected, then we fight the fuck out of this hellhole."

...

[Prusselanden]

Saturn
Ignis looked on worriedly at Star, when Terry started crying again from hunger.
"Scheisse, but I just fed her!" Ignis again had to rush off to make another bottle of formula. Luckily, however, Rojo the Hawlucha fetched her one before she set off.

"Danke, Rojo." Ignis smiled and patted her Pokemon on the head before letting Terry feed on the bottle. Buoy became jealous and tugged on her pant leg with her teeth. Quetz picked Buoy up, smirking at Ignis. "She's going to do that every day for two years from now on."

"...Vhat scheisse have you gotten me into, Shifu!?" Ignis groaned.

"Now you know my pain." Quetz chuckled at her.

Star has been unstable lately...Perhaps me and Ignis should slip way while she and Serena are occupied. Yet again, Serena and Star serve as good protection for us. And Terry needs the shelter for now.

[Kaidou]

Thollorrat Village

"Gu Mindefron is a half hour ride west from here... if we can get horses", explained Gohnza, slinging the rifle across his chest with its strap. "If we cannot find any horses in this village, it would... most likely be about... a two or three hours trek, if we go by my pace."

He looked out at the Western horizon; the sun was beginning to set, but before it could even touch the border between the sky and the earth, a large, grey blot came between. A gigantic arcus cloud, almost black, hovering over the Western horizon, slowly eating up the descending sun.

"We're gonna go in there", he said, pointing at the cloud. "That's where we'll have the chance... to take out two top IGSE leaders... within a day or two."

...